Browse Articles

N-cadherin–mimetic 3D hydrogels program pro-regenerative and immunomodulatory states in human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Elucidating the Critical Role of Water in Selective Hydrogenation of <i>N</i> ‐heterocycles on a Cobalt Catalyst

Abstract The ambiguous role of water as a solvent in regulating liquid‐phase hydrogenation activity and selectivity is of great significance to modern organic synthesis, yet remains challenging to identify. Here, we present a carbon‐coated cobalt nanoparticle catalyst with a high number of functional groups, synthesized using a simple approach. This catalyst exhibits exceptional water‐promoted N ‐heterocycle hydrogenation activity and selectivity. Remarkably, 100% quinoline conversion and &gt;99% 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinoline selectivity can be achieved at 100 °C and 0.5 MPa H 2 , surpassing the performance of most reported heterogeneous catalysts. Using a combination of advanced mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and theoretical analysis, we elucidate the water‐promoted hydrogenation mechanism. Water is a crucial solvent because it provides protons directly and enhances H 2 diffusion, thereby facilitating a favorable water‐mediated 1–4–2–3 hydrogenation pathway on the surface of this catalyst. Based on this finding, the catalyst exhibits universal water‐promoted hydrogenation performance for a wide range of N ‐heterocycles (14 examples with yields of over 96%). This work highlights the crucial role of water in liquid‐phase hydrogenation reactions and provides a new research paradigm for the future development of such reactions.

Butyrate prevents chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal toxicity and microbial dysbiosis

Synthesis and characterization of novel zinc–organic framework for the effective removal of Alizarin Red S

Abstract Water treatment has become a pressing global issue due to the increasing number of pollution sources. Among the major contributors to water contamination is the widespread use of dyes, such as Alizarin Red S, across various industries. In this study, Zn-MOF nanoparticles were prepared using the conventional solvothermal method and characterized through Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis as well as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption performance of Zn-MOF nanoparticles for removing Alizarin Red S (ARS) was investigated using batch adsorption experiments. Key parameters, including Zn-MOF dosage, initial ARS concentration, pH and contact time were evaluated under ambient conditions. The results demonstrated an ARS removal efficiency of approximately 71% at pH 4, a Zn-MOF dosage of 1 g/L and a primary ARS concentration of 20 ppm within 40 min. Additionally, the material exhibited reusability for up to three cycles, maintaining a removal efficiency of 60%. Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin were three isotherm and kinetic models applied to illustrate the adsorption mechanism. Adsorption was found to align with the Langmuir isotherm model as well as following pseudo-second-order kinetics.

Endogenous Template‐Directed Topological Engineering of Lignite‐Derived Hard Carbons for Kinetically Accelerated Sodium Storage

Abstract Coal is a promising precursor for the preparation of hard carbon, which shows great commercial potential as an anode material for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). However, the π–π interactions between planar aromatic molecules and the trend toward graphitization lead to a highly ordered carbon structure with narrow interlayer spacing. In this study, a self‐templating strategy is proposed to regulate the closed‐pore structures of coal‐based hard carbon at the molecular level, and finally improve the plateau capacity. The ‐OH is beneficial for the formation of closed‐pore structure during carbonization by chelation with metal ions, and C═O can help to prevent graphitization, increase the interlayer spacing and form hybrid organic–inorganic SEI through surface functional remodeling with salt in ether‐based electrolytes. The coal‐based hard carbon displays good cycling stability, exhibiting a high reversible capacity (350 mAh g −1 ) at 50 mA g −1 and capacity retention of up to 88% after 8000 cycles at 5 A g −1 . Moreover, the full battery assembled with NVP demonstrates a stable cycling performance. This work provides new insights into the construction of closed pores and the role of carbonyl groups in hard carbons for enhancing sodium storage performance.

Explainable machine learning methods for predicting electricity consumption in a long distance crude oil pipeline

Achiral Catalyst‐Induced Stereoselectivity Switch at Quaternary Stereocenter: Diastereodivergent Ring‐Opening Alkylation and Enantiodivergent Arylation of Oxindoles

Abstract The development of a unified strategy to achieve both diastereodivergence and enantiodivergence is a prominent yet challenging objective. In this study, a new strategy involving achiral Lewis acid ‐directed stereodivergence has been developed. An achiral metal salt is used as a control element to achieve a diastereoselectivity switch, which is unusual. By simply changing the achiral Lewis acids from a non‐lanthanide d ‐block metal salt (ZnCl 2 ) to a lanthanide f ‐block metal salt (DyCl 3 ), a diastereodivergent asymmetric ring‐opening alkylation of racemic oxindoles with oxabicyclic alkenes has been achieved, leading to a new series of chiral 3,3‐disubstituted oxindoles with three contiguous stereocenters bearing a dihydronaphthalen‐1‐ol motif with excellent enantioselectivities (up to &gt; 99% ee) and diastereoselectivities (up to &gt; 95:5 dr). Next, by simply switching the achiral metal Lewis acid cocatalysts while maintaining the same chiral catalyst, an enantiodivergent formal arylation has been achieved, providing chiral 3,3‐diaryl oxindoles featuring a triaryl‐substituted quaternary stereocenter. Diverse transformations of the chiral 3,3‐oxindoles delivered synthetically useful compounds. Those chiral 3,3‐disubstituted oxindoles have shown significant antiproliferative activity against HCT116 colorectal cancer cells. The relative and absolute configurations of these compounds exert prominent effects on the bioactivities, further highlighting the remarkable importance of catalytic asymmetric stereodivergent synthesis.

A novel biomarker for identifying HER2-low breast cancer using synthetic MRI

Metal‐Free Singlet Oxygen Generation via Excited‐State Intramolecular Proton‐Transfer‐Driven Intersystem Crossing in 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks

Abstract Singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) is a key reactive species in photodynamic therapy and organic synthesis. Conventional generation of 1 O 2 relies on metal‐containing sensitizers to promote intersystem crossing (ISC) and thereby activate molecular oxygen ( 3 O 2 ), which limits biocompatibility and scalability. Here, we report a metal‐free strategy leveraging excited‐state intramolecular‐proton‐transfer (ESIPT) to enhance 1 O 2 production. Two classes of ESIPT‐active materials, 1D polymers and 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs), were systematically compared. Interestingly, while the ESIPT transition in the 1D polymer is incomplete and unstable, 2D COF enables a highly stabilized tautomeric transition, resulting in a persistent metastable state that acts as a gateway to enhanced ISC. This difference is due to a reversed ESIPT pathway dictated by ground‐state geometry. Time‐resolved spectroscopic studies reveal that the ESIPT transition process in the 2D COF triggers ISC, facilitating 1 O 2 generation. Thermodynamic analysis reduces the singlet–triplet energy gap and increases dipole moment changes, while spin–orbit coupling and frontier molecular orbital reorganization indicate kinetic facilitation of ISC. This work highlights the unique advantages of 2D‐COF‐based ESIPT transformations, offering a groundbreaking approach to boosting ISC efficiency and 1 O 2 generation, expanding the scope of ESIPT in photocatalytic applications.

Remnant cholesterol associated with contrast-induced acute kidney injury in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction following percutaneous coronary intervention

Study on the mesoscopic failure and fractal characteristics of concrete with holes and cracks

Glucocorticoid inhibits lung cancer cells proliferation and migration by suppressing smad2/3 activation

Directional Electron Transfer in Porphyrin‐Based Heteroleptic Metallacages for Enhanced Visible Light‐Driven Photocatalysis

Abstract The rational design of supramolecular architectures capable of mediating directional photoinduced electron transfer (PET) remains a central challenge in confined photocatalysis. Herein, we report two porphyrin‐based heteroleptic metallacages, constructed via multicomponent coordination‐driven self‐assembly, for the visible light‐driven oxidative coupling of tetraorganoborates. Both metallacages feature well‐defined, positively charged cavities that enable selective substrate encapsulation and efficient catalytic turnover. In particular, one metallacage incorporates electron‐rich triphenylamine units that engage in directional interligand PET with the porphyrin moieties, as supported by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. This intramolecular PET promotes long‐lived charge separation and enhances superoxide anion generation, resulting in markedly improved photocatalytic activity compared to control systems lacking donor–acceptor motifs. This study demonstrates a modular strategy for integrating electron donor and acceptor functionalities within a single supramolecular scaffold and highlights the potential of PET‐enhanced cage‐based photocatalysis, providing a versatile platform for sustainable light‐driven chemical transformations.

Inflammatory transcriptomic signatures in a human cellular NMOSD model reveal upregulation of NF-κB and IL6 pathways

The Effect of Cap Structure and Poly(A) Positioning on mRNA Translation Efficiency

Abstract We investigated the relationship between mRNA structure and translation activity using our recently developed chemical method to add a cap structure to an oligonucleotide and a technique for purifying capped mRNAs via reversed‐phase high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) employing a photoreactive tag. Specifically, we designed and synthesized mRNA constructs in which the typical eukaryotic elements—the 5′ cap and the 3′ poly(A) tail—were interchanged in position. We examined how this inversion affected translation efficiency. The results revealed that this reversed configuration abolished the synergistic enhancement of translation typically observed with correctly positioned cap and poly(A) tail, resulting in a substantial decrease in activity compared to the native orientation. Interestingly, focusing solely on the cap structure, capping at the 3′ end—though less effective than at the 5′ end—still promoted a measurable increase in translation. Moreover, the poly(A) sequence placed at the 5′ end was found to suppress translation. We also prepared mRNAs containing a poly(A) tail with reversed 3′–5′ orientation and demonstrated that this inverted poly(A) could still enhance protein synthesis.

Research on operational protection area of ILS localizer

Development and testing of a novel compact system for municipal wastewater treatment and irrigation using advanced technologies

Abstract Growing water scarcity and increasing food demand are driving interest in municipal Wastewater Treatment (WWT) for crop irrigation. However, centralised WWT systems require substantial capital and infrastructure investment, which poses challenges for small agricultural communities. Decentralised compact systems are simpler to operate, more cost-effective, and better suited to rural areas. This study presents a novel, compact municipal WWT system specifically designed for crop irrigation. The system utilises four WWT technologies, integrating an ultrafiltration Membrane Bioreactor with mechanical sieving, extended aeration, and a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor. A detailed sampling and testing methodology was implemented to experimentally evaluate system performance. The results showed significant reductions in major ions, with Total Dissolved Solids decreasing from 2348.8 to 1157.2 mg/L (50.7% reduction), and removal rates ranging from 25 to 98.9% for heavy metal ions from the municipal wastewater. The sanitary biological quality of the wastewater also improved substantially, with coliform and total microbial counts reduced by 81% and 18%, respectively. Overall, the product water met the Egyptian irrigation standards for edible crops, indicating the potential of this compact system as a practical solution for municipal WWT in rural areas.

Evaluation of climate prediction models in Yunnan, China: traditional methods and AI approaches

Analyzing and reducing common mode noise in high power inductive power transfer systems for electric vehicles using precise balance technique

Abstract In inductive power transfer (IPT) charging systems for electric vehicles (EVs), shielding metals are commonly used to reduce electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation emitted by the coils. Nevertheless, these components also introduce additional common mode (CM) noise to the system and affect the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance. To mitigate the impact of the CM noise, this paper investigates the asymmetric character of CM impedance of the IPT coils and proposes a distributed circuit model to reflect the stray capacitances of the IPT coils. A comprehensive analysis is conducted to determine the CM impedance and a complete CM noise model is subsequently derived for the IPT system. Based on the novel CM noise model, a balance technique is built on a symmetric compensation circuit topology, without the need for additional hardware. The balance technique is provided to ensure compliance with the CISPR 22 standard for CM noise. An 11 kW IPT prototype with the LCC (Inductor-Capacitor-Capacitor) compensation network has been implemented and experiments have been conducted. At low frequency (150 kHz to 5 MHz), the conductive CM noise is reduced by 5 dB; at high frequency (5 MHz to 30 MHz), is reduced by 13 dB, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed balance technique.

Supramolecular Engineering of Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer (TICT) Dyes into Bright Fluorophores with Large Stokes Shifts

Abstract Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) dyes are promising candidates for bioimaging and sensing due to their environment‐sensitive fluorescence and large Stokes shifts. However, their inherently low fluorescence quantum yields in aqueous media have limited their practical applications. Here, we present a general supramolecular strategy to transform a broad range of TICT dyes into bright fluorophores with large Stokes shifts. By noncovalently dispersing the dyes into the rigid microdomain of a cyclic peptide‐based supramolecular scaffold in water, the formation of the non‐radiative TICT state is effectively suppressed. The resulting supramolecular TICT dyes exhibit dramatically enhanced fluorescence quantum yields (up to 42.3%), while preserving large Stokes shifts of up to 107 nm. Particularly, supramolecular TICT dyes emitting in the NIR region display excellent photostability, enabling applications in long‐term bioimaging and single‐excitation multi‐color imaging in live cells. This work offers a versatile and modular supramolecular approach to generate high‐performance fluorophores from otherwise low‐ or non‐emissive TICT dyes, greatly broadening their potential in biological and optical applications.