Electrochemical splitting of methane in melts: Producing and tuning high-value carbon materials with controllable morphology.

Catalytic decomposition of methane offers a viable solution for producing pure hydrogen and nanocarbon without emitting carbon dioxide. However, conventional thermal catalytic processes and catalysts have limitations in terms of poor carbon quality and catalyst deactivation due to carbon deposition. The newly developed electrochemical splitting of methane (ESM) in molten salt has emerged as a promising alternative that allows for the separate production of hydrogen at the anode and carbon deposition at the cathode.

Haplotype-based pangenomes reveal genetic variations and climate adaptations in moso bamboo populations.

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), an ecologically and economically important forest species in East Asia, plays vital roles in carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. However, intensifying climate change threatens moso bamboo survival. Here we generate high-quality haplotype-based pangenome assemblies for 16 representative moso bamboo accessions and integrated these assemblies with 427 previously resequenced accessions.

Risk-stratified screening and colorectal cancer incidence and mortality: A retrospective study from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

Objective: To determine whether risk stratification can optimize the benefits of flexible sigmoidoscopy (FSG) screening.

Methods: The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial was conducted from 1993 to 2001 in the United States. A colorectal cancer (CRC) risk stratification tool was developed in the control arm (n = 64,207) from the PLCO cohort and validated in the UK Biobank (n = 270,726).

Molecular Dynamics Simulation Reveal the Structure-Activity Relationships of Kainoid Synthases.

Kainoid synthases are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of kainoids. Kainoids, as represented by DA and KA, are a class of naturally occurring non-protein amino acids with strong neurotransmitter activity in the mammalian central nervous system. Marine algae kainoid synthases include PnDabC from diatoms, which synthesizes domoic acid (DA), and DsKabC and GfKabC from red algae, which synthesize kainic acid (KA).

Self-Assembled DNA Microflowers for Platelet-Derived Extracellular Vesicle Isolation and Infected Wound Healing.

Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (PEVs) showing great potential in wound healing have attracted increasing attention recently. Nondestructive isolation and effective utilization strategies are highly conducive for PEVs developing into recognized therapeutic entities. Here, we present an efficient strategy for PEV isolation and bacterial infected wound healing based on self-assembled DNA microflowers.

Effects of joint screening for prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer - results from a controlled trial.

Background: Although screening is widely used to reduce cancer burden, untargeted cancers are frequently missed after single cancer screening. Joint cancer screening is presumed as a more effective strategy to reduce overall cancer burden.

Methods: Gender-specific screening effects on PLCO cancer incidence, PLCO cancer mortality, all-neoplasms mortality and all-cause mortality were evaluated, and meta-analyses based on gender-specific screening effects were conducted to achieve the pooled effects.

Gold(I)-Thiolate Coordination Polymers as Multifunctional Materials: The Case of Au(I)--Fluorothiophenolate.

Gold-sulfur interaction has vital importance in nanotechnologies and material chemistry to design functional nanoparticles, self-assembled monolayers, or molecular complexes. In this paper, a mixture of only two basic precursors, such as the chloroauric acid (HAu(III)Cl) and a thiol molecule (-fluorothiophenol (-HSPhF)), are used for the synthesis of gold(I)-thiolate coordination polymers. Under different conditions of synthesis and external stimuli, five different functional materials with different states of [Au(I)(-SPhF)] can be afforded.

Designing Atomic Interface in SbS/CdS Heterojunction for Efficient Solar Water Splitting.

In the emerging SbS-based solar energy conversion devices, a CdS buffer layer prepared by chemical bath deposition is commonly used to improve the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. However, the cation diffusion at the SbS/CdS interface induces detrimental defects but is often overlooked. Designing a stable interface in the SbS/CdS heterojunction is essential to achieve high solar energy conversion efficiency.

Dynamics of rhizosphere microbial structure and function associated with the biennial bearing of moso bamboo.

Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) is a valuable nontimber forestry product with a biennial cycle, producing abundant bamboo shoots within one year (on-year) and few shoots within the following year (off-year). Moso bamboo plants undergo clonal reproduction, resulting in similar genetic backgrounds. However, the number of moso bamboo shoots produced each year varies.

Synthesis of sewage sludge biochar in molten salt environment for advanced wastewater treatment: Performance enhancement, carbon footprint and environmental impact reduction.

Sewage sludge (SS) pyrolysis to produce biochar is a vital approach for treating and utilizing SS, while reducing the carbon footprint of SS disposal. However, the high inorganic content in SS results in low carbon content and underdeveloped pore structure of biochar prepared under inert atmospheres. There is a significant risk of secondary pollutant emissions, including CO, SO, and NO.

Butyrate Alleviates High-Fat-Induced Metabolic Disorders Partially through Increasing Systematic Glutamine.

Obesity has emerged as a worldwide epidemic. Both butyrate and glutamine counteract obesity-related metabolic disorders; however, whether and how they synergistically cooperate with each other remains a mystery. In the study, a high-fat diet (HFD, 60% calories from fat) was used to develop a model of obesity-related metabolic disorder and compared with administrated saline and sodium butyrate (SB, 300 mg/kg body weight) daily by gavage.

Creating glassy states of dicarboxylate-bridged coordination polymers.

We report the direct formation of dicarboxylate-based coordination polymer glasses through thermal dehydration. The rearrangement of the coordination networks caused by dehydration was monitored by powder X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and synchrotron X-ray characterizations. The microporosity and mechanical properties of these glasses were investigated.

Synthesizing Interpenetrated Triazine-based Covalent Organic Frameworks from CO.

Crystalline triazine-based covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are aromatic nitrogen-rich porous materials. COFs typically show high thermal/chemical stability, and are promising for energy applications, but often require harsh synthesis conditions and suffer from low crystallinity. In this work, we propose an environmentally friendly route for the synthesis of crystalline COFs from CO molecules as a precursor.

The long noncoding RNA lnc-H19 is important for endurance exercise by maintaining slow muscle fiber types.

Skeletal muscle consists of different muscle fiber types whose heterogeneity is characterized by different metabolic patterns and expression of MyHC isomers. The transformation of muscle fiber types is regulated by a complex molecular network in which long noncoding (lnc) RNAs play an important role. In this study, we found that lnc-H19 is more enriched in slow muscle fibers.

Associations of chest X-ray trajectories, smoking, and the risk of lung cancer in two population-based cohort studies.

Objectives: Despite the increasing use of computed tomography (CT), chest X-ray (CXR) remains the first-line investigation for suspected lung cancer (LC) in primary care. However, the associations of CXR trajectories, smoking and LC risk remain unknown.

Methods: A total of 52,486 participants from the PLCO and 22,194 participants from the NLST were included.

Risk-stratified multi-round PSA screening for prostate cancer integrating the screening reference level and subgroup-specific progression indicators.

Background: Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is widely used in prostate cancer (PCa) screening, nearly half of PCa cases are missed and less than one-third of cases are non-lethal. Adopting diagnostic criteria in population-based screening and ignoring PSA progression are presumed leading causes.

Methods: A total of 31,942 participants with multi-round PSA tests from the PLCO trial were included.

Enhanced Spatial Charge Separation in a Niobium and Tantalum Nitride Core-Shell Photoanode: In Situ Interface Bonding for Efficient Solar Water Splitting.

Tantalum nitride (Ta N ) has emerged as a promising photoanode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the inefficient electron-hole separation remains a bottleneck that impedes its solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate that a core-shell nanoarray photoanode of NbN -nanorod@Ta N ultrathin layer enhances light harvesting and forms a spatial charge-transfer channel, which leads to the efficient generation and extraction of charge carriers.

Higher risk of cardiovascular mortality than cancer mortality among long-term cancer survivors.

Background: Previous studies focused more on the short-term risk of cardiovascular (CV) death due to traumatic psychological stress after a cancer diagnosis and the acute cardiotoxicity of anticancer treatments than on the long-term risk of CV death.

Methods: Time trends in the proportions of CV death (P), cancer death (P), and other causes in deaths from all causes were used to show preliminary relationships among the three causes of death in 4,806,064 patients with cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Competing mortality risk curves were used to investigate when the cumulative CV mortality rate (CMR) began to outweigh the cumulative cancer mortality rate (CMR) for patients with cancer who survived for more than 10 years.

Co-pyrolysis technology for enhancing the functionality of sewage sludge biochar and immobilizing heavy metals.

Sewage sludge (SS) is a frequent and challenging issue for countries with big populations, due to its massive output, significant hazard potential, and challenging resource utilization. Pyrolysis can simultaneously realize the reduction, harmlessness and recycling of SS. Co-pyrolysis offers a wide range of potential in terms of increasing product quality and immobilizing heavy metals (HMs), thanks to its capacity to use additives to address the mismatch between SS characteristics and pyrolysis.

Development and validation of an artificial neural network model for non-invasive gastric cancer screening and diagnosis.

Non-invasive and cost-effective diagnosis of gastric cancer is essential to improve outcomes. Aim of the study was to establish a neural network model based on patient demographic data and serum biomarker panels to aid gastric cancer diagnosis. A total of 295 patients hospitalized in Nanjing Drum Tower hospital diagnosed with gastric cancer based on tissue biopsy, and 423 healthy volunteers were included in the study.

Decoupling light absorption and carrier transport via heterogeneous doping in TaN thin film photoanode.

The trade-off between light absorption and carrier transport in semiconductor thin film photoelectrodes is a major limiting factor of their solar-to-hydrogen efficiency for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Herein, we develop a heterogeneous doping strategy that combines surface doping with bulk gradient doping to decouple light absorption and carrier transport in a thin film photoelectrode. Taking La and Mg doped TaN thin film photoanode as an example, enhanced light absorption is achieved by surface La doping through alleviating anisotropic optical absorption, while efficient carrier transport in the bulk is maintained by the gradient band structure induced by gradient Mg doping.

Crystallization Kinetics of a Liquid-Forming 2D Coordination Polymer.

We investigated a mechanism of crystal melting and crystallization behavior of a two-dimensional coordination polymer [Ag(L1)(CFSO)] (, L1 = 4,4'-biphenyldicarbonitrile) upon heating-cooling processes. The crystal showed melting at 282 °C, and the following gentle cooling induced the abrupt crystallization at 242 °C confirmed by DSC. A temperature-dependent structural change has been discussed through calorimetric, spectroscopic, and mechanical measurements.