Influence of Modified PVA Fiber on Ultra-High Performance Concrete and Its Enhancing Mechanism.

In this study, the properties of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) were enhanced by adding modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers. The specimens with different curing ages were evaluated in various aspects to investigate the effects of different dosages, lengths, and surface treatments of PVA fibers on the performance of UHPC. The performance was compared with that of steel fiber-reinforced UHPC with the same ratio and multiple dosages.

Roles of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) holds a prominent position among global cancer types. Classically, HCC manifests in individuals with a genetic predisposition when they encounter risk elements, particularly in the context of liver cirrhosis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which are transcription factors activated by fatty acids, belong to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily and play a pivotal role in the regulation of energy homeostasis.

Ingenious designed a HER2-Specific macrophage biomimetic multifunctional nanoplatform for enhanced bio-photothermal synergistic therapy in HER2 positive breast cancer.

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has garnered extensive attention as an efficient strategy for cancer therapy. Unfortunately, there are currently no suitable photothermal agents (PTAs) capable of effectively treating HER2-positive breast cancer (HER2 BC) due to the challenges in addressing blood circulation and tumor accumulation. Here, we propose a HER2-specific macrophage biomimetic nanoplatform IR820@ZIF-8@EM (AMBP) for enhanced bio-photothermal therapy of HER2 BC.

Tomato leaf disease recognition based on multi-task distillation learning.

Introduction: Tomato leaf diseases can cause major yield and quality losses. Computer vision techniques for automated disease recognition show promise but face challenges like symptom variations, limited labeled data, and model complexity.

Methods: Prior works explored hand-crafted and deep learning features for tomato disease classification and multi-task severity prediction, but did not sufficiently exploit the shared and unique knowledge between these tasks.

Deep learning architectures for diagnosing the severity of apple frog-eye leaf spot disease in complex backgrounds.

Introduction: In precision agriculture, accurately diagnosing apple frog-eye leaf spot disease is critical for effective disease management. Traditional methods, predominantly relying on labor-intensive and subjective visual evaluations, are often inefficient and unreliable.

Methods: To tackle these challenges in complex orchard environments, we develop a specialized deep learning architecture.

Interfacial polymerization at unconventional interfaces: an emerging strategy to tailor thin-film composite membranes.

Interfacial polymerization is a well-known process to synthesize separation layers for thin film composite membranes at an immiscible organic liquid-aqueous liquid interface. The organic-aqueous interface determines the diffusion dynamics of monomers and the chemical environment for polymerization, exerting a critical influence on the formation of polymer thin films. This review summarizes recent advances in tailoring interfacial polymerization using interfaces beyond the conventional alkane-water interface to achieve high-performance separation films with designed structures.

Molecular Stacking and Aggregation Optimization of Photoactive Layer through Solid Additive Enables High-Performance Organic Solar Cells.

Regulating molecular packing and aggregation of photoactive layer is a critical but challenging issue in developing high-performance organic solar cells. Herein, two structurally similar analogues of anthra[2,3-b : 6,7-b']dithiophene (ADT) and naphtho[1,2-b : 5,6-b']dithiophene (NDT) are developed as solid additive to exploit their effect in regulating the molecular aggregation and π-stacking of photoactive layer. We clarify that the perpendicular arrangements of NDT can enlarge the molecular packing space and improve the face-on stacking of Y6 during the film formation, favoring a more compact and ordered long-range π-π stacking in the out-of-plane direction after the removal of NDT under thermal annealing.

Reduced bimolecular charge recombination in efficient organic solar cells comprising non-fullerene acceptors.

Bimolecular charge recombination is one of the most important loss processes in organic solar cells. However, the bimolecular recombination rate in solar cells based on novel non-fullerene acceptors is mostly unclear. Moreover, the origin of the reduced-Langevin recombination rate in bulk heterojunction solar cells in general is still poorly understood.

Engineered Macrophages-Based uPA-Scavenger Load Gemcitabine to Prompt Robust Treating Cancer Metastasis.

The majority of cancer patients die of metastasis rather than primary tumors, and most patients may have already completed the cryptic metastatic process at the time of diagnosis, making them intractable for therapeutic intervention. The urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) system is proved to drive cancer metastasis. However, current blocking agents such as uPA inhibitors or antibodies are far from satisfactory due to poor pharmacokinetics and especially have to face multiplex mechanisms of metastasis.

Morphology Optimization of the Photoactive Layer through Crystallinity and Miscibility Regulation for High-performance Polymer Solar Cells.

On the premise of strongly crystalline materials involved, it is a challenge to control the phase separation of bulk-heterojunction donor/acceptor active layer to fabricate high-performance polymer solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we develop a molecular design strategy of the third component to synthesize three guest materials (namely BTPT, BTP-Th, and BTP-2Th) to address this issue. We investigate and reveal the effect of crystallinity and miscibility of the third component in controlling the phase separation of Y6-derivatives-based blend film.

Bioorthogonally activatable cyanine dye with torsion-induced disaggregation for in vivo tumor imaging.

Advancement of bioorthogonal chemistry in molecular optical imaging lies in expanding the repertoire of fluorophores that can undergo fluorescence signal changes upon bioorthogonal ligation. However, most available bioorthogonally activatable fluorophores only emit shallow tissue-penetrating visible light via an intramolecular charge transfer mechanism. Herein, we report a serendipitous "torsion-induced disaggregation (TIDA)" phenomenon in the design of near-infrared (NIR) tetrazine (Tz)-based cyanine probe.

Mitogen-activating protein kinase kinase kinase kinase-3, inhibited by Astragaloside IV through H3 lysine 4 monomethylation, promotes the progression of diabetic nephropathy by inducing apoptosis.

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is a bioactive saponin extracted from the Astragalus root and has been reported to exert a protective effect on diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we found that AS-IV treatment alleviated DN symptoms in DN mice accompanied by reduced metabolic parameters (body weight, urine microalbumin and creatinine, creatinine clearance, and serum urea nitrogen and creatinine), pathological changes, and apoptosis.

Molecular Optimization on Polymer Acceptor Enables Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cell with High Open-Circuit Voltage of 1.10 V.

Currently, rational design of polymer acceptors is desirable but there is still a challenge to develop high-performance all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). In this work, brominated thienyl-fused malononitrile-based monomer is employed to copolymerize with indacenodithiophene (IDT) and benzodithiophene (BDT)-based linking units to develop two polymerized small molecule acceptors (PSMAs) PIDT and PBDT, respectively, for all-PSCs. The two PSMAs show similar absorption edges, while PBDT shows a slightly higher lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level than PIDT.

Effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on patients with severe depression: a study protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials.

Introduction: Depression is characterised by easy recurrence, high disability and high burden, and antidepressant therapy is the standard treatment. However, its treatment effect on patients with severe depressive disorder has been unsatisfactory. Previous studies have shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), as a neurotherapy, can effectively mitigate the severity of depressive symptoms.

Volatilizable Solid Additive-Assisted Treatment Enables Organic Solar Cells with Efficiency over 18.8% and Fill Factor Exceeding 80.

Controlling the self-assembling of organic semiconductors to form well-developed nanoscale phase separation in the bulk-heterojunction active layer is critical yet challenging for building high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs). Particularly, the similar anisotropic conjugated structures between nonfullerene acceptors and p-type organic semiconductor donors raise more complexity on manipulating their aggregation toward appropriate phase separation. Herein, a new approach to tune the morphology of photoactive layer is developed by utilizing the synergistic effect of dithieno[3,2-b:2',3'-d]thiophene (DTT) and 1-chloronaphthalene (CN).

Indacenodithiophene-based small-molecule donor with strong crystallinity for efficient organic solar cells.

Two indacenodithiophene (IDT)-based small-molecule analogues (IDBT and IDBT-Cl) are designed as donor materials for organic solar cells. Relative to the amorphous IDBT-Cl, the IDBT with strong crystallinity shows overall better photovoltaic performance when blended with a Y6 acceptor. The results demonstrate the great potential of IDT units in designing efficient small-molecule donors.

Astragaloside IV protects against diabetic nephropathy via activating eNOS in streptozotocin diabetes-induced rats.

Background: Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) was reported to play a role in improving diabetic nephropathy (DN), however, the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether AS-IV ameliorates DN via the regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS).

Methods: DN model was induced in Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats by intraperitoneal injection of 65 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ).

Regioselective synthesis and structures of anti-cancer 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg derivatives.

Regioselective synthesis of three novel palmitates of 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg was accomplished via a facile strategy, along with complete assignment of their H and C NMR resonances by 1D and 2D NMR (H-H COSY, DEPT 135, HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY) techniques. The derivatives were tested for anti-proliferative activities against pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells. Compounds , , and exhibited more potent activity than did 20(R)-ginsenoside Rg.

Irregular structural networks of gray matter in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) induces dementia and cognitive decrements indicating the impairment of the central nervous system. While there is evidence showing abnormalities in white-matter structural networks in T2DM, the topological features of gray matter are still unknown. The study enrolled 30 right-handed T2DM patients and 20 healthy control subjects with matched age, gender, handedness, and education.

Surface degeneration of W crystal irradiated with low-energy hydrogen ions.

The damage layer of a W (100) crystal irradiated with 120 eV hydrogen ions at a fluence of up to 1.5 × 10(25)/m(2) was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). The periodic surface degeneration of the W crystal at a surface temperature of 373 K was formed at increasing hydrogen fluence.

Nanostructured fuzz growth on tungsten under low-energy and high-flux He irradiation.

We report the formation of wave-like structures and nanostructured fuzzes in the polycrystalline tungsten (W) irradiated with high-flux and low-energy helium (He) ions. From conductive atomic force microscope measurements, we have simultaneously obtained the surface topography and current emission images of the irradiated W materials. Our measurements show that He-enriched and nanostructured strips are formed in W crystal grains when they are exposed to low-energy and high-flux He ions at a temperature of 1400 K.

Altered default mode network functional connectivity in schizotypal personality disorder.

The default mode network (DMN) has been identified to play a critical role in many mental disorders, but such abnormalities have not yet been determined in patients with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). The purpose of this study was to analyze the alteration of the DMN functional connectivity in subjects with (SPD) and compared it to healthy control subjects. Eighteen DSM-IV diagnosed SPD subjects (all male, average age: 19.

Core-expanded naphthalene diimides fused with 2-(1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene)malonitrile groups for high-performance, ambient-stable, solution-processed n-channel organic thin film transistors.

A new class of n-type semiconductors for organic thin film transistors (OTFTs), based on core-expanded naphthalene diimides fused with 2-(1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene)malonitrile groups, is reported. The first two representatives of these species, derived from long branched N-alkyl chains, have been successfully used as active layers for high-performance, ambient-stable, solution-processed n-channel OTFTs. Their bottom-gate top-contact devices fabricated by spin-coating methods exhibit high electron mobilities of up to 0.