Towards a better understanding of the surface smoothing effect in gas cluster ion beam processing with molecular dynamics simulation and experiment.

In recent years, the application of gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) technology has made great progress. Due to the similar essence of a monoatomic ion beam, the GCIB also shows flashes of brilliance in material processing. It has been reported that smoothness can be greatly improved after the rough surface is bombarded by the GCIB.

Multi-dimensional error figuring model for ion beams in X-ray mirrors.

X-ray mirrors are core optical elements in synchrotron light sources, which are typically figured by ion beams. However, traditional ion beam figuring (IBF) methods cannot effectively correct both the height and 2D slope errors. Thus, what we believe to be a novel multi-dimensional error figuring model (MEFM) is proposed to integrate the height and 2D slope errors into a linear system of equations for simultaneous multi-dimensional error convergence.

Competition between turbulence and thermal blooming of coherent vortex beam array propagating in non-Kolmogorov marine atmosphere.

The competition between turbulence and thermal blooming significantly affects the propagation characteristics of laser beams in the atmosphere. Here, taking the propagation of a vortex beam array in a non-Kolmogorov marine atmosphere as an example, we have quantitatively analyzed the competition between turbulence and thermal blooming. The atmospheric coherence length is adopted to evaluate the turbulence strength, while a modified thermal distortion parameter is developed to evaluate the thermal blooming strength of vortex beam arrays in non-Kolmogorov turbulence.

Characterization of a novel cold-active β-Xylosidase from Parabacteroides distasonis and its synergistic hydrolysis of beechwood xylan.

Although β-xylosidases have broad applications in fields such as food and medicine, there is limited research on cold-active β-xylosidases. This study cloned a novel cold-active β-xylosidase XYL13 from Parabacteroides distasonis. The purified XYL13 exhibited the highest activity at 40 °C, with 42 % and 25 % of its maximum activity at 4 °C and 0 °C, respectively.

Comprehensive Analysis of Mitotane-Related Adverse Events Using the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System.

Objective: Mitotane is currently the only product approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adrenocortical cancer. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on the adverse events of mitotane.

Methods: Adverse event reports for mitotane in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System database since 2004 were collected and analyzed to identify mitotane as the primary suspect drug.

Multifunctional acoustic and mechanical metamaterials prepared from continuous CFRP composites.

The imperative advance towards achieving "carbon neutrality" necessitates the development of porous structures possessing dual acoustic and mechanical properties in order to mitigate energy consumption. Nevertheless, enhancing various functionalities often leads to an increase in the structural weight, which limits the feasibility of using such structures in weight-sensitive applications. In accordance with the outlined specifications, a novel structural design incorporating carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites alongside mechanical and acoustic metamaterials has been introduced for the first time.

Clinical validation of a wearable ultrasound sensor of blood pressure.

Options for the continuous and non-invasive monitoring of blood pressure are limited. Cuff-based sphygmomanometers are widely available, yet provide only discrete measurements. The clinical gold-standard approach for the continuous monitoring of blood pressure requires an arterial line, which is too invasive for routine use.

A polynomial proxy model approach to verifiable decentralized federated learning.

Decentralized Federated Learning improves data privacy and eliminates single points of failure by removing reliance on centralized storage and model aggregation in distributed computing systems. Ensuring the integrity of computations during local model training is a significant challenge, especially before sharing gradient updates from each local client. Current methods for ensuring computation integrity often involve patching local models to implement cryptographic techniques, such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs.

The critical role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway in kidney fibrosis.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a condition in which the ER is overwhelmed and unable to manage its protein load properly. The precise activation mechanisms and role of ER stress in kidney disease remain unclear. To study this, we performed unbiased transcriptomics analysis to demonstrate ER stress in kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease and in mouse models of acute and chronic kidney injury (cisplatin and unilateral ureteral obstruction and reanalyzed previously published data on folic acid and mitochondrial transcription factor A(TFAM) knockout mice).

Preceramic polymer-hybridized phenolic aerogels and the derived ZrC/SiC/C ceramic aerogels with ultrafine nanocrystallines.

Phenolic and carbon aerogels have important applications for thermal insulation and ablative resistance materials in aerospace field. However, their antioxidant ability in long-term high-temperature aerobic environments faces serious challenges. To solve this problem, Zr/Si preceramic polymer hybridized phenolic resin (PR-ZS) aerogels were prepared a facile sol-gel method.

Printed High-Entropy Prussian Blue Analogs for Advanced Non-Volatile Memristive Devices.

Non-volatile memristors dynamically switch between high (HRS) and low resistance states (LRS) in response to electrical stimuli, essential for electronic memories, neuromorphic computing, and artificial intelligence. High-entropy Prussian blue analogs (HE-PBAs) are promising insertion-type battery materials due to their diverse composition, high structural integrity, and favorable ionic conductivity. This work proposes a non-volatile, bipolar memristor based on HE-PBA.

Identification of BocLys-Linked Ethacrynic Acid and Its Analogues As Efficient Glutathione S-Transferase Degraders.

Targeted protein degradation has been emerging as a promising strategy for drug design and a useful tool for the research of intracellular protein function by specifically downregulating the protein level via promoted degradation. Aside from proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTAC) that utilize a specific E3 ligase ligand as a tag to recruit polyubiquitin onto the targeted protein and subsequently induce degradation, BocArg was also reported an efficient tag to induce degradation through directly localizing the protein to the 20S proteasome. Based on the similarity of BocLys and BocArg, we identified that BocLys also efficiently induced targeted protein degradation, taking glutathione S-transferase as an example.

Subgrid-scale model for large eddy simulations of incompressible turbulent flows within the lattice Boltzmann framework.

Large eddy simulations are a popular method for turbulent simulations because of their accuracy and efficiency. In this paper, a coupling algorithm is proposed that combines nonequilibrium moments (NM) and the volumetric strain-stretching (VSS) model within the framework of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). This algorithm establishes a relation between the NM and the eddy viscosity by using a special calculation form of the VSS model and Chapman-Enskog analysis.

Smart β-cyclodextrin-dominated helical supramolecular dendritic assemblies improve the foliar affinity and biofilm disruption for treating alarming bacterial diseases.

Recent outbreaks of alarming bacterial diseases have significantly impacted global agricultural productivity. Conventional bactericides exhibit certain limitations in efficiently impeding biofilm formation and annihilating biofilm-dispersed pathogens, and often expose to high off-target movement during foliar spraying. Here, we produce an innovative helical dendrimer-like supramolecular material (PhA28@β-CD) assembled by a bioactive small-molecule 2-chlorophenylisopropanolamine (PhA28) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) through host-guest recognition principle.

Lysosomal catabolic activity promotes the exit of murine totipotent 2-cell state by silencing early-embryonic retrotransposons.

During mouse preimplantation development, a subset of retrotransposons/genes are transiently expressed in the totipotent 2-cell (2C) embryos. These 2C transcripts rapidly shut down their expression beyond the 2C stage of embryos, promoting the embryo to exit from the 2C stage. However, the mechanisms regulating this shutdown remain unclear.

β-catenin disruption decreases macrophage exosomal α-SNAP and impedes Treg differentiation in acute liver injury.

Hepatic macrophages and regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in the maintenance of liver immune homeostasis, but the mechanism by which hepatic macrophages regulate Tregs in acute liver injury remains largely unknown. Here, we found that the hepatic Treg proportion and β-catenin expression in hepatic macrophages were associated with acetaminophen (APAP) and D-galactosamine (D-GalN)/ lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver injury. Interestingly, β-catenin was markedly upregulated only in infiltrating macrophages, but not in resident Kupffer cells.

LNK/SH2B3 Loss Exacerbates the Development of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms in CBL-deficient Mice.

Genetic variations of signaling modulator protein LNK (also called SH2B3) are associated with relatively mild myeloproliferative phenotypes in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). However, these variations can induce more severe MPN disease and even leukemic transformation when co-existing with other driver mutations. In addition to the most prevalent driver mutation JAK2V617F, LNK mutations have been clinically identified in patients harboring CBL inactivation mutations, but its significance remains unclear.