Van der Waals quantum dots on layered hexagonal boron nitride.

Semiconductor quantum dots (QD) promise unique electronic, optical, and chemical properties, which can be exquisitely tuned by controlling the composition, size, and morphology. Semiconductor QDs have been synthesized primarily via two approaches, namely, epitaxial growth and wet-chemical synthesis. However, the properties of epitaxial QDs (eQDs) are susceptible to wetting layer formation and substrate dislocations, while colloidal QDs (cQDs) face fluorescence intermittency issues.

Comparative transcriptome analysis identified genes involved in testicular development in Takifugu rubripes.

To identify candidate genes and pathways involved in testicular development in Takifugu rubripes, a comparative transcription analysis was conducted across the various developmental stages of the testis (stages II to V). A total of 9520 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified among the different stages, and they were significantly clustered into six clusters (P < 0.05).

Comparative transcriptome analysis identified genes involved in ovarian development in Takifugu rubripes.

Ovarian development is a complex process involving multiple genes, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this process in Takifugu rubripes remain poorly understood. This study aimed to identify genes associated with ovarian development in T. rubripes and to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of oocyte maturation.

Physiological responses to different temperature in the liver of Takifugu rubripes larvae revealed by integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses.

Water temperature plays a vital role in shaping the physical conditions crucial for the growth, development and reproduction of fish species. Since limited comprehensive multi-omics analyses exploring the molecular mechanisms of temperature influences on the early life stages of fish. Here, the effects of temperature variations on the growth of Takifugu rubripes, a commercial teleost farmed in Asia were investigated.

Preparation of red mud-modified sludge char through microwave-assisted one-step pyrolysis and steam activation and its adsorption properties for hydrogen sulfide.

To improve the hydrogen sulfide (HS) adsorption performance of sludge-derived char, a type of red mud-modified sludge char (RSC) was prepared through microwave-assisted one-step pyrolysis and steam activation of sludge and red mud (RM). The effects of pyrolysis temperature, RM mass percentage, and steam flow rate on the cumulative adsorption capacity of HS were systematically investigated using response surface method. The results indicated that the sludge char showed a significant increase in cumulative adsorption capacity from 1.

Optimization of nitrogen-doped sludge char preparation and mechanism study for catalytic oxidation of NO at room temperature.

Catalytic oxidation of NO at room temperature was carried out over nitrogen (N)-doped sludge char (SC) prepared from pyrolysis of municipal sewage sludge, and urea was adopted as nitrogen source. The effects of different N-doping methods (one-step and two-step method), dried sludge (DS)/urea mass ratios (5:1, 4:1, 3:1, 2:1, and 1:1), SC preparation procedures (pyrolysis only, pyrolysis with acid washing, and pyrolysis with KOH activation and acid washing), and different pyrolysis temperatures (500, 600, 700, and 800°C) on the catalytic oxidation of NO were compared to optimize the procedure for SC preparation. The results indicated that N-doping could obviously promote the catalytic performance of SC.

Long-term trend forecast of chlorophyll-a concentration over eutrophic lakes based on time series decomposition and deep learning algorithm.

Long-term trend forecast of chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla) holds significant implications for eutrophication management and pollution control planning on lakes, especially under the background of climate change. However, it is a challenging task due to the mixture of trend, seasonal and residual components in time series and the nonlinear relationships between Chla and the hydro-environmental factors. Here we developed a hybrid approach for long-term trend forecast of Chla in lakes, taking the Lake Taihu as an instantiation case, by the integration of Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess (STL), wavelet coherence, and Convolutional Neural Network with Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (CNN-BiLSTM).

The potential regulatory role of the non-coding RNAs in regulating the exogenous estrogen-induced feminization in Takifugu rubripes gonad.

Estrogen plays a pivotal role in the early stage of sex differentiation in teleost. However, the underlying mechanisms of estrogen-induced feminization process are still needed for further clarification. Here, the comparative analysis of whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing was conducted between 17beta-Estradiol induced feminized XY (E-XY) gonads and control gonads (C) in Takifugu rubripes.

Ferroelectric Nitride Heterostructures on CMOS Compatible Molybdenum for Synaptic Memristors.

Achieving ferroelectricity in III-nitride (III-N) semiconductors by alloying with rare-earth elements, e.g., scandium, has presented a pivotal step toward next-generation electronic, acoustic, photonic, and quantum devices and systems.

Ultrathin Nitride Ferroic Memory with Large ON/OFF Ratios for Analog In-Memory Computing.

Computing in the analog regime using nonlinear ferroelectric resistive memory arrays can potentially alleviate the energy constraints and complexity/footprint challenges imposed by digital von Neumann systems. Yet the current ferroelectric resistive memories suffer from either low ON/OFF ratios/imprint or limited compatibility with mainstream semiconductors. Here, for the first time, ferroelectric and analog resistive switching in an epitaxial nitride heterojunction comprising ultrathin (≈5 nm) nitride ferroelectrics, i.

Delineating the molecular landscape of different histopathological growth patterns in colorectal cancer liver metastases.

Background: Histopathological growth patterns (HGPs) have shown important prognostic values for patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases, but the potential molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Methods: We performed an exploratory analysis by conducting the RNA sequencing of primary colorectal lesions, colorectal liver metastatic lesions and normal liver tissues.

Findings: We found that desmoplastic HGPs of the metastatic lesions were significantly enriched in EMT, angiogenesis, stroma, and immune signaling pathways, while replacement HGPs were enriched in metabolism, cell cycle, and DNA damage repair pathways.

Monitoring tumour resistance to the BRAF inhibitor combination regimen in colorectal cancer patients via circulating tumour DNA.

Aims: This study aimed to identify mechanisms of drug resistance to the combination of vemurafenib, irinotecan, and cetuximab (VIC) in BRAF metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Methods: Forty-one patients with BRAF mCRC from July 2018 and June 2020 were evaluated, with tissue and/or plasma samples collected. We profiled tissue and plasma samples using whole-exome sequencing and targeted sequencing of 425 cancer-relevant genes.

Facile, Atom-Economic, Chemical Thinning Strategy for Ultrathin Lithium Foils.

Metallic lithium is considered as the ultimate anode material for lithium-based batteries due to its highest energy density. However, as an anode, commercial Li metal foils are too thick, with a large amount of trouble to balance its exorbitant areal capacity with common cathodes in full cells. Here, a new chemical thinning strategy is proposed via a simple surface dissolving reaction between lithium and naphthalene, which enables scalable, continuous, and roll-to-roll preparation of ultrathin Li foil.

Preparation of binder-less activated char briquettes from pyrolysis of sewage sludge for liquid-phase adsorption of methylene blue.

Binder-less activated char briquettes from sewage sludge were prepared and used for the liquid-phase adsorption of methylene blue. The properties of sludge char briquettes prepared under the different initial sludge moisture content, compression pressure, and heating rate were systematically investigated through the tests of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface and mechanical properties, burn-off rates, methylene blue adsorption kinetics and isotherms. All of the prepared briquettes presented hierarchical structures and microporous/mesoporous characteristics, and the increase of initial sludge moisture content from 10 to 30 wt% resulted in a great increase of surface area (S), total pore volume (V), apparent density, and a slight decrease of mechanical performance.

Circulating PD-L1 is associated with T cell infiltration and predicts prognosis in patients with CRLM following hepatic resection.

Background: Exosomal PD-L1 (exoPD-L1) could induce immunosuppression functionally, thus impairing patients' survival in melanoma, NSCLC, and gastric cancer. However, no evidence demonstrates the feasibility of circulating exoPD-L1 and soluble PD-L1 (sPD-L1) as biomarkers for prognosis and early recurrence in colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) patients following hepatectomy or their association with T cell infiltration at liver metastases.

Methods: In cohort 1, exoPD-L1 and sPD-L1 were preoperatively tested using ELISA.

Paclitaxel plus cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil induction chemotherapy for locally advanced borderline-resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a phase II clinical trial.

Purpose: This phase II trial aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of paclitaxel in combination with cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) induction chemotherapy followed by surgery for locally advanced borderline-resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (BR-ESCC).

Methods: Patients with primary tumor or bulky lymph nodes that might invade nearby organs were eligible. Treatment started with 2-3 cycles of TPF induction chemotherapy, followed by surgery if the tumor was assessed resectable, or by radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy if unresectable.

A quantitative score of immune cell infiltration predicts the prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by an extensive and dense fibrous stroma, which plays an active role in tumor growth and metastasis. Despite the growing importance of the tumor microenvironment in PDAC prognosis, the immune cell infiltration landscape of PDAC has not been elucidated. In this study, we applied a credible computational algorithm to comprehensively estimate the immune cell infiltration (ICI) patterns of 876 PDAC patients.

Dynamic monitoring of circulating tumor DNA to predict prognosis and efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of colorectal liver metastases.

Hepatectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy after resection of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) may improve survival, however, patients which may benefit cannot currently be identified. Postoperative circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis can detect minimal residual disease (MRD) and predict the prognosis and efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy. Our study aims to determine the impact of serial ctDNA analysis to predict the outcome among patients undergoing resection of CRLM.

Efficacy and safety of modified FOLFIRINOX as salvage therapy for patients with refractory advanced biliary tract cancer: a retrospective study.

Background Gemcitabine plus cisplatin is regarded as the standard first-line therapy for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC); however, no standard chemotherapy has yet been recommended after treatment failure. Modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) appears to be a better-tolerated regimen, which leads to improved survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer that has histological and molecular similarities with BTC. We assessed the efficacy and safety of mFOLFIRINOX as salvage therapy in advanced BTC patients who were refractory to previous chemotherapy.

Stabilization of heavy metals during co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and excavated waste.

In this paper, excavated waste was added to sewage sludge for co-pyrolysis, aiming to stablize the heavy metals in sewage sludge. The effect of co-pyrolysis with various pretreatment (e.g.