Interfacial Water Orientation in Neutral Oxygen Catalysis for Reversible Ampere-scale Zinc-air Batteries.

The neutral oxygen catalysis is an electrochemical reaction of the utmost importance in energy generation, storage application, and chemical synthesis. However, the restricted availability of protons poses a challenge to achieving kinetically favorable oxygen catalytic reactions. Here, we alter the interfacial water orientation by adjusting the Brønsted acidity at the catalyst surface, to break the proton transfer limitation of neutral oxygen electrocatalysis.

The Impact of Sinus Surgery for Chronic Rhinosinusitis on Concomitant Depression and Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Both anxiety and depression are prevalent among patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and associated with poorer outcomes following treatment for CRS. However, the impact of treatment on CRS on mental health remains uncertain. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate if surgical intervention for CRS may alleviate comorbid depression and anxiety.

Utilizing deep learning to predict Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment with optical coherence tomography.

Introduction: Diagnostic performance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remains limited. We aimed to develop a deep-learning algorithm using OCT to detect AD and MCI.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study involving 228 Asian participants (173 cases/55 controls) for model development and testing on 68 Asian (52 cases/16 controls) and 85 White (39 cases/46 controls) participants.

Emerging trends in the optimization of organic synthesis through high-throughput tools and machine learning.

The discovery of the optimal conditions for chemical reactions is a labor-intensive, time-consuming task that requires exploring a high-dimensional parametric space. Historically, the optimization of chemical reactions has been performed by manual experimentation guided by human intuition and through the design of experiments where reaction variables are modified one at a time to find the optimal conditions for a specific reaction outcome. Recently, a paradigm change in chemical reaction optimization has been enabled by advances in lab automation and the introduction of machine learning algorithms.

Robustness of machine learning predictions for Fe-Co-Ni alloys prepared by various synthesis methods.

Developing high-performance alloys is essential for applications in advanced electromagnetic energy conversion devices. In this study, we assess Fe-Co-Ni alloy compositions identified in our previous work through a machine learning (ML) framework, which used both multi-property ML models and multi-objective Bayesian optimization to design compositions with predicted high values of saturation magnetization, Curie temperature, and Vickers hardness. Experimental validation was conducted on two promising compositions synthesized using three different methods: arc melting, ball milling followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS), and chemical synthesis followed by SPS.

Roles for the long non-coding RNA / in pancreatic beta cell function.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as crucial regulators of beta cell function. Here, we show that an lncRNA-transcribed antisense to Pax6, annotated as Pax6os1/PAX6-AS1, was upregulated by high glucose concentrations in human as well as murine beta cell lines and islets. Elevated expression was also observed in islets from mice on a high-fat diet and patients with type 2 diabetes.

Carbon nanotubes at bilayer in-plane graphene/hBN with interlayer twist angles abnormally enhance its interlayer stress transfer.

A possibility of unprecedented architecture may be opened up by combining both vertical and in-plane heterostructures. It is fascinating to discover that the interlayer stress transfer, interlayer binding energy, and interlayer shear stress of bi-layer Gr/hBN with CNTs heterostructures greatly increase (more than 2 times) with increase the numbers of CNTs and both saturate at the numbers of CNTs = 3, but it causes only 10.92% decrease in failure strain.

Vedolizumab serum trough concentrations with and without thiopurines in ulcerative colitis: The prospective VIEWS pharmacokinetics study.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory condition requiring continuous treatment and monitoring. There is limited pharmacokinetic data on vedolizumab during maintenance therapy and the effect of thiopurines on vedolizumab trough concentrations is unknown.

Aim: To investigate the exposure-response relationship of vedolizumab and the impact of thiopurine withdrawal in UC patients who have achieved sustained clinical and endoscopic remission during maintenance therapy.

Struggling with memory: anguish and hope in selected pandemic poems by migrant workers in Singapore.

The pandemic has tested the fortitude and resilience of a huge swath of humanity. Even measures undertaken to address the pandemic, primarily the massive vaccination campaigns, revealed a glaring disparity between and within societies. The collective grief, anxiety, and desire for survival have led to creative ways to contend with the crisis.

Viscous damping of tremor using a wearable robot with an optimized mechanical metamaterial.

Pathological tremors can often be debilitating to activities of daily living and significantly affect the quality of life. Such tremulous movements are commonly observed in wrist flexion-extension (FE). To suppress this tremor we present a wearable robot (WR) with a customized mechanical metamaterial (MM) as the physical human-robot interface (pHRI).

NIR-II photo-accelerated polymer nanoparticles boost tumor immunotherapy via PD-L1 silencing and immunogenic cell death.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy is a widely favored anti-tumor treatment, but it shows limited response to non-immunogenic "cold" tumors and suffers from drug resistance. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as a powerful localized treatment approach, can convert a "cold tumor" into a "hot tumor" by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumor cells, thereby enhancing tumor immunogenicity and promoting tumor immunotherapy. However, the effectiveness of PDT is largely hindered by the limited penetration depth into tumor tissues.

Correlation of the Radiographic Grading of Knee Osteoarthritis With Physical Function but Not Emotional Quality of Life Scores.

Background Multiple studies have shown that symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA) weakly correlate with the radiographic severity of the disease. Our objective was to determine possible correlations between the radiographic severity of knee OA and clinical manifestations such as disability, pain scores, and emotional health. Methods A retrospective review of registry data of 305 patients with knee OA was collected.

Continuous reference intervals for plasma cystatin C and creatinine in Vietnamese children.

Background: Serum (plasma) creatinine and cystatin C are widely used in pediatric clinical practice to assess glomerular filtration rate. Both markers have limitations due to the low index of individuality, which affects the clinical sensitivity of population-based reference intervals, especially when wide age ranges are considered. This study aimed to establish age-related reference intervals for plasma cystatin C and creatinine in Vietnamese children.

Study Design and Baseline Characteristics of ALIGN, a Randomized Controlled Study of Atrasentan in Patients With IgA Nephropathy.

Introduction: Endothelin A (ETA) receptor activation is a driver of proteinuria, kidney inflammation, and fibrosis in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Atrasentan, a selective ETA receptor antagonist, has potential to reduce proteinuria and preserve kidney function in IgAN. ALIGN (NCT04573478) is a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of atrasentan in patients with IgAN at high risk of kidney function loss.

All-Optical Generation and Detection of Coherent Acoustic Vibrations in Single Gallium Phosphide Nanoantennas Probed near the Anapole Excitation.

Nanostructured high-index dielectrics have shown great promise as low-loss photonic platforms for wavefront control and enhancing optical nonlinearities. However, their potential as optomechanical resonators has remained unexplored. In this work, we investigate the generation and detection of coherent acoustic phonons in individual crystalline gallium phosphide nanodisks on silica in a pump-probe configuration.

Toward a Generalizable Machine-Learned Potential for Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Machine-learned potentials (MLPs) have transformed the field of molecular simulations by scaling "quantum-accurate" potentials to linear time complexity. While they provide more accurate reproduction of physical properties as compared to empirical force fields, it is still computationally costly to generate their training data sets from ab initio calculations. Despite the emergence of foundational or general MLPs for organic molecules and dense materials, it is unexplored if one general MLP can be effectively developed for a wide variety of nanoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with different chemical moieties and geometric properties.

Breathing Transition and Effective Iodine Adsorption in a Temperature-Responsive Zn-Based Flexible Metal-Organic Framework.

A porous and flexible Zn-MOF was synthesized under solvothermal conditions by using the ligand 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (2,5-FDA). This flexible Zn-MOF demonstrates a temperature-triggered breathing effect. At low temperature (100 K), we obtained the high-symmetry MOF denoted as with a unit cell volume of 1958 Å, characterized by triangular narrow pore (np) channels.

Effectiveness of Mobile Health Applications for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in Urban and Rural India: A Pilot, Randomized Controlled Study.

Introduction: mHealth technology has the potential to deliver personalized health care; however, data on cardiometabolic risk factors are limited. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of mobile health applications (apps) on cardiometabolic risk factor reduction in adults aged 25 to 60 years in urban and rural India.

Methods: The study design was a pilot randomized controlled trial conducted in Tamil Nadu, India.

Social Responsibility Appeal and Cross-Lagged Effects of Perceived Norms on Mask-Wearing Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study extends the Theory of Normative Social Behavior by examining the cross-lagged effects of perceived norms on mask-wearing intention and behavior during an evolving COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigate the normative mechanisms of how social responsibility appeals improve compliance with mask-wearing behavior. A two-wave panel survey ( = 767) was conducted in Singapore in March and April 2020.

Diabetes in China: epidemiology, pathophysiology and multi-omics.

Although diabetes is now a global epidemic, China has the highest number of affected people, presenting profound public health and socioeconomic challenges. In China, rapid ecological and lifestyle shifts have dramatically altered diabetes epidemiology and risk factors. In this Review, we summarize the epidemiological trends and the impact of traditional and emerging risk factors on Chinese diabetes prevalence.

Cryo-EM structure and evolutionary history of the conjugation surface exclusion protein TraT.

Conjugation plays a major role in dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes. Following transfer of IncF-like plasmids, recipients become refractory to a second wave of conjugation with the same plasmid via entry (TraS) and surface (TraT) exclusion mechanisms. Here, we show that TraT from the pKpQIL and F plasmids (TraT and TraT) exhibits plasmid surface exclusion specificity.

Advancing canopy-level entomological surveillance to monitor vector-borne and zoonotic disease dynamics.

Faced with the increased frequency of zoonotic spillover in recent decades, emerging vector-borne diseases from nonhuman primates pose a significant threat to global public health. Understanding transmission dynamics driven by arthropod vectors between wildlife populations is critical for surveillance, modeling, and mitigation. Elevated canopy-level sampling is a valuable approach for elucidating vector behavior and sylvatic transmission.

In-Plane Polarization-Triggered WS-Ferroelectric Heterostructured Synaptic Devices.

To date, various kinds of memristors have been proposed as artificial neurons and synapses for neuromorphic computing to overcome the so-called von Neumann bottleneck in conventional computing architectures. However, related working principles are mostly ascribed to randomly distributed conductive filaments or traps, which usually lead to high stochasticity and poor uniformity. In this work, a heterostructure with a two-dimensional WS monolayer and a ferroelectric PZT film were demonstrated for memristors and artificial synapses, triggered by in-plane ferroelectric polarization.