Membrane lipid homeostasis dually regulates conformational transition of phosphoethanolamine transferase EptA.

The phosphoethanolamine transferase EptA utilizes phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in the bacterial cell membrane to modify the structure of lipopolysaccharide, thereby conferring antimicrobial resistance on Gram-negative pathogens. Previous studies have indicated that excessive consumption of PE can disrupt the cell membrane, leading to cell death. This implies the presence of a regulatory mechanism for EptA catalysis to maintain a balance between antimicrobial resistance and bacterial growth.

Ultrabright and Efficient Green Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes Enabled by Well-Crystallized Dense CsPbBr Nanocubes.

Perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) are promising for next-generation high-definition displays. One of the keys to achieving high performance PeLEDs lies in how to fabricate crystalline and dense perovskite films. However, there exist challenges to directly grow well-crystallized CsPbBr nanocrystal thin films on transport layers due to low solubility in solvents and fast precipitation of all-inorganic CsPbBr, and the corresponding bright, efficient, and stable green PeLEDs have rarely been reported.

A generalized model for accurate wheat spike detection and counting in complex scenarios.

Wheat is a crucial crop worldwide, and accurate detection and counting of wheat spikes are vital for yield estimation and breeding. However, these tasks are daunting in complex field environments. To tackle this, we introduce RIA-SpikeNet, a model designed to detect and count wheat spikes in such conditions.

Hetero-Nucleation Induced [111]-Oriented Mixed Halide Perovskite for Stable Pure Red Light-Emitting Diodes.

Mixed halide 3D perovskites are promising for bright, efficient, and wide-color gamut light-emitting diodes (LEDs) due to their excellent carrier transport, high luminescence, and easily tunable bandgaps. However, serious halide ion migration inside mixed halide 3D perovskite results in poor operational and spectral stability of the as-fabricated LEDs. Here, a hetero-nucleation crystallization strategy is reported to grow [111]-orientation preferred mixed halide 3D perovskite CsPbIBr thin films for stable pure red LEDs.

Direct response of liquid crystal to pH changes for wide range pH sensing via the whispering gallery mode.

pH sensing is essential in various fields including healthcare, environmental monitoring, food safety, and agriculture. In this Letter, we propose a method for a wide-range pH measurement based on the direct response of liquid crystal (LC) to pH variations via the whispering gallery mode (WGM). The liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) is selected for its excellent optoelectronic properties and the birefringence of 5CB microdroplets serving as spherical resonators.

Heat shock factor ZmHsf17 positively regulates phosphatidic acid phosphohydrolase ZmPAH1 and enhances maize thermotolerance.

Heat stress adversely impacts plant growth, development, and grain yield. Heat shock factors (Hsf), especially the HsfA2 subclass, play a pivotal role in the transcriptional regulation of genes in response to heat stress. In this study, the coding sequence of maize ZmHsf17 was cloned.

Improve energy use efficiency through free trade policy: evidence from the establishment of free trade zones in China.

In the context of increasing global resource and environmental problems, it is of great practical significance to accurately test the impact of various factors on energy use efficiency for maintaining national energy security and formulating relevant policies. This paper measures firms' total factor energy efficiency (TFEE) using the two-stage stochastic frontier method within the data envelopment analysis (DEA) framework, leveraging data from listed firms in China spanning 2010 to 2022. Employing the establishment of free trade zones (FTZs) as a quasi-natural experiment, we apply the staggered differences-in-differences (DID) and stacked DID methods and analyze the impact of FTZs on firms' TFEE.

Enhanced Sampling Molecular Dynamics Simulations Reveal Transport Mechanism of Glycoconjugate Drugs through GLUT1.

Glucose transporters GLUT1 belong to the major facilitator superfamily and are essential to human glucose uptake. The overexpression of GLUT1 in tumor cells designates it as a pivotal target for glycoconjugate anticancer drugs. However, the interaction mechanism of glycoconjugate drugs with GLUT1 remains largely unknown.

Effects of chemically-reductive trace gas contaminants on non-thermal plasma inactivation of an airborne virus.

Transmission of airborne infectious diseases poses great risk for public health and socio-economic stability, thus, there is a need for an effective control method targeting the spread and transmission of pathogenic aerosols. The existence of chemically-reductive trace air contaminants in animal agriculture may affect the oxidation inactivation process of pathogens. In this study, we report how the presence of such gasses impacts the effectiveness of using non-thermal plasma (NTP) within a packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor to inactivate MS2 bacteriophage.

Design and Study of a Two-Dimensional (2D) All-Optical Spatial Mapping Module.

Sequentially timed all-optical mapping photography is one of the main emerging ultra-fast detection technologies that can be widely applicable to ultra-fast detection at the picosecond level in fields such as materials and life sciences. We propose a new optical structure for an all-optical spatial mapping module that can control the optical field of two-dimensional imaging while improving spectral resolution and detector sensor utilization. The model of optical parameters based on geometrical optics theory for the given structure has been established, and the theoretical analysis of the inter-frame energy crosstalk caused by incident beam spot width, chromatic aberration, and main errors of the periscope array has been conducted.

Preoperatively predicting vessels encapsulating tumor clusters in hepatocellular carcinoma: Machine learning model based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography.

Background: Recently, vessels encapsulating tumor clusters (VETC) was considered as a distinct pattern of tumor vascularization which can primarily facilitate the entry of the whole tumor cluster into the bloodstream in an invasion independent manner, and was regarded as an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Aim: To develop and validate a preoperative nomogram using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) to predict the presence of VETC+ in HCC.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 190 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent CECT scanning and immunochemical staining for cluster of differentiation 34 at two medical centers.

Associations between the use of red yeast rice preparations and adverse health outcomes: An umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Red yeast rice (RYR), a natural lipid-lowering agent, is widely used in clinical practice. However, the existing meta-analyses concerning the safety of RYR preparations have yielded inconsistent results, and the credibility of the evidence has not been quantified.

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the existing evidence and offer a comprehensive understanding of the associations between the use of RYR preparations and various adverse health outcomes.

Upregulation of Wheat Heat Shock Transcription Factor by ABA Contributes to Drought Tolerance.

Drought stress can seriously affect the yield and quality of wheat (). So far, although few wheat heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) have been found to be involved in the stress response, the biological functions of them, especially the members of the HsfC (heat shock transcription factor C) subclass, remain largely unknown. Here, we identified a class C encoding gene, , based on our previous omics data and analyzed its biological function in transgenic plants.

The evolution of indium precipitation in gallium focused ion beam prepared samples of InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells under electron beam irradiation.

Gallium ion (Ga ) beam damage induced indium (In) precipitation in indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs)/indium aluminium arsenide (InAlAs) multiple quantum wells and its corresponding evolution under electron beam irradiation was investigated by valence electron energy loss spectroscopy (VEELS) and high-angle annular dark-field imaging (HAADF) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Compared with argon ion milling for sample preparation, the heavier projectiles of Ga ions pose a risk to trigger In formation in the form of tiny metallic In clusters. These are shown to be sensitive to electron irradiation and can increase in number and size under the electron beam, deteriorating the structure.

Identification and validation of PCSK9 as a prognostic and immune-related influencing factor in tumorigenesis: a pan-cancer analysis.

Introduction: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin-9 (PCSK9) has been primarily studied in the cardiovascular field however, its role in cancer pathophysiology remains incompletely defined. Recently, a pivotal role for PCSK9 in cancer immunotherapy was proposed based on the finding that PCSK9 inhibition was associated with enhancing the antigen presentation efficacy of target programmed cell death-1 (PD-1). Herein, we provide results of a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of PCSK9 that assessed its prognostic and immunological functions in cancer.

Sympathetic skin response for early detection of type 2 diabetic peripheral neuropathy and nephropathy.

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) are common complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although nerve conduction studies (NCS) and sympathetic skin response (SSR) can detect DPN, the more sensitive method for early diagnosis remains unclear. Furthermore, whether DPN can be used as a predictor for diabetic nephropathy needs clarification.

Protein-protein interactions and related inhibitors involved in the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway.

NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain-associated protein 3 (NLRP3) receptor serves as the central node of immune sensing in the innate immune system, and plays an important role in the initiation and progression of chronic diseases. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has provided insights into the conformation of various oligomers within the NLRP3 activation pathway, significantly advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Despite the extensive network of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) involved in the assembly and activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, the utilization of protein-protein interactions has been relatively overlooked in the development of NLRP3 inhibitors.

Development and validation of prediction models for the prognosis of colon cancer with lung metastases: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Current studies on the establishment of prognostic models for colon cancer with lung metastasis (CCLM) were lacking. This study aimed to construct and validate prediction models of overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) probability in CCLM patients.

Method: Data on 1,284 patients with CCLM were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Combination of Chinese herbal medicine and conventional western medicine for coronavirus disease 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) plus conventional western medicine (CWM) in comparison with CWM against COVID-19.

Methods: We searched eight electronic databases and three trial registers spanning from January 1, 2020 to May 18, 2023. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the effectiveness and safety of CHM plus CWM and CWM against COVID-19 in our study.

Molecular dynamics simulations identify the topological weak spots of a protease CN2S8A.

Thermophilic enzymes are highly desired in industrial applications due to their efficient catalytic activity at high temperature. However, most enzymes exhibit inferior thermostability and it remains challenging to identify the optimal sites for designing mutations to improve protein stability. To tackle this issue, we integrated topological analysis and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to efficiently pinpoint the thermally-unstable regions in protein structures.

Efficient Discrete Clustering With Anchor Graph.

Spectral clustering (SC) has been applied to analyze varieties of data structures over the past few decades owing to its outstanding breakthrough in graph learning. However, the time-consuming eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) and information loss during relaxation and discretization impact the efficiency and accuracy especially for large-scale data. To address above issues, this brief proposes a simple and fast method named efficient discrete clustering with anchor graph (EDCAG) to circumvent postprocessing by binary label optimization.

Pseudohalogen Resurfaced CsPbBr Nanocrystals for Bright, Efficient, and Stable Green-Light-Emitting Diodes.

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (LHP NCs) are regarded as promising emitters for next-generation ultrahigh-definition displays due to their high color purity and wide color gamut. Recently, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of LHP NC based light-emitting diodes (PNC LEDs) has been rapidly improved to a level required by practical applications. However, the poor operational stability of the device, caused by halide ion migration at the grain boundary of LHP NC thin films, remains a great challenge.

Fast Sparse Discriminative K-Means for Unsupervised Feature Selection.

Embedded feature selection approach guides subsequent projection matrix (selection matrix) learning through the acquisition of pseudolabel matrix to conduct feature selection tasks. Yet the continuous pseudolabel matrix learned from relaxed problem based on spectral analysis deviates from reality to some extent. To cope with this issue, we design an efficient feature selection framework inspired by classical least-squares regression (LSR) and discriminative K-means (DisK-means), which is called the fast sparse discriminative K-means (FSDK) for the feature selection method.

Time-Series Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Molecular Mechanism of Ethylene Reducing Cold Sensitivity of Postharvest 'Huangguan' Pear.

'Huangguan' pear ( Rehd) fruit is susceptible to cold, characterized by developing peel browning spots (PBS) during cold storage. Additionally, ethylene pretreatment reduces chilling injury (CI) and inhibits PBS occurrence, but the mechanism of CI remains unclear. Here, we deciphered the dynamic transcriptional changes during the PBS occurrence with and without ethylene pretreatment via time-series transcriptome.