Browse Articles

Multi-scale evaluation of land suitability and future land use scenario simulation in heavy-industry cities: a case study of Taiyuan, China

Fibronectin-induced overactivation of αVβ3-PI3K-PIP3-PDK1-ILK signaling drives aortic disease in Marfan syndrome

Prevalence and prognostic impact of unrecognized myocardial infarction detected by cardiac magnetic resonance in Thai patients with obesity

Background Unrecognized myocardial infarction (UMI) is associated with adverse outcomes and may occur in patients with obesity, who are at increased cardiovascular risk. Although cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) enables accurate detection of UMI, prognostic data in patients with obesity remain limited, particularly in Asian populations. This study evaluated the prevalence and prognostic impact of CMR-detected UMI in Thai patients with obesity. Methods This cohort study included 1,053 patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m 2 , without a prior diagnosis of myocardial infarction (MI) or coronary revascularization (mean age, 67 ± 11 years; 71.3% grade 1 and 28.7% grade 2 obesity), who underwent CMR at an academic hospital in Thailand between 2014 and 2016. The most common indication was suspected coronary artery disease (78.3%). UMI was identified using late gadolinium enhancement imaging. Patients were followed for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal MI, or hospitalization for heart failure. Results UMI was identified in 105 patients (9.9%). During a median follow-up of 9.2 (5.2–10.2) years, patients with UMI had a significantly higher rate of MACE compared with those without UMI (2.58 vs. 0.89 per 100 patient-years; HR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.68–4.88; p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, age, diabetes, cigarette smoking, history of heart failure, LVEF, and UMI were independently associated with MACE. The presence of UMI provided incremental prognostic value beyond traditional risk factors (Δχ 2  = 22.43; p < 0.001). Across all subgroups defined by age, sex, obesity grade, diabetes status, symptoms, LVEF, and myocardial ischemia, UMI was consistently associated with higher risks of MACE, with no significant interactions observed (all p for interaction>0.05). Conclusions In Thai patients with obesity undergoing CMR, the prevalence of UMI was 9.9% and was independently associated with MACE, providing incremental prognostic value. These findings suggest that CMR-detected UMI may play a role in risk stratification in this population.

Incorporation of Engineered Cu ⁰ /Cu ⁺ Interfaces in Metal‐Organic Frameworks for Boosting CO ₂ Hydrogenation to Methanol

ABSTRACT The Cu‐based materials are an important category of catalysts for CO 2 hydrogenation to methanol, in which Cu 0 and Cu + species have been widely acknowledged to play key roles in the reaction. Herein, a series of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), namely UiO‐66(n) with exposed ─COOH groups, are fabricated by employing both terephthalic acid and 1,2,4‐benzenetricarboxylic acid linkers. Following by introducing Cu nanoparticles, Cu@UiO‐66(n) are synthesized. By regulating the amount of exposed ─COOH groups on the MOF pore wall, the interaction between Cu and the MOF support is regulated. This ─COOH microenvironment regulates the overall Cu 0 /Cu + ratio in the supported Cu species, thereby tuning the Cu 0 /Cu + interfacial descriptor, which is closely associated with the CO 2 hydrogenation performance. The Cu@UiO‐66(25) featuring the longest Cu 0 /Cu + interface achieves a methanol space‐time yield of 694 g kg cat −1 h −1 and methanol selectivity of 92.8% at 250 °C and 4 MPa, far surpassing other counterparts. This work provides a deep understanding of the synergistic effect between Cu 0 and Cu + species in catalytic CO 2 hydrogenation.

Metal‐Complex‐Functionalized Terpolymer Donors Enabling Efficient Solar Cells via Enhanced Dielectric Constant and Minimized Triplet Exciton Loss

ABSTRACT The dielectric constant ( ε r ) critically influences exciton generation and subsequent dissociation into free charges, playing a pivotal role in the performance of polymer solar cells (PSCs). However, the intrinsically low ε r of conventional polymer donors leads to strong Coulombic interactions and significant energy loss ( E loss ). Herein, we address this challenge through a dielectric engineering strategy by incorporating zinc porphyrin units into the matrix polymer donor D18, resulting in a series of terpolymers D18‐Px (x = 5, 10, 15). The introduction of the zinc‐porphyrin‐based third component in the terpolymer donors significantly enhanced ε r and promoted favorable molecular aggregation. When blended with L8‐BO, the D18‐P5:L8‐BO blend film demonstrated improved miscibility, efficient charge extraction and transport, and critically minimized non‐radiative energy loss to 0.212 eV. Consequently, it achieved a record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 20.27% for metalated complex‐based PSCs. This work showcases a facile and effective approach for designing high‐efficiency polymer donors by strategically increasing the dielectric constant and minimizing non‐radiative losses.

Isotherm modeling and kinetic adsorption performance of nickel–cobalt ferrite nano-adsorbent for the removal of copper ions from wastewater

A virulent bacterial signature is associated with the development of recurrence following colorectal cancer surgery

Abstract The primary treatment for non-metastatic colorectal cancer is surgical resection. Despite the use of neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant chemoradiation, up to 30% of patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer will develop a postoperative recurrence. Why patients develop postoperative tumors despite all known cancer being resected at the time of surgery is largely unknown, and novel biomarkers that can predict the development of recurrence are lacking. Here, we report a unique bacterial signature present in the gut during the perioperative period that is strongly associated with the development of postoperative tumors. By studying patients undergoing resection for colorectal cancer, we demonstrate that the gut microbiome on the day of surgery is enriched with collagenase-producing bacteria in patients who later develop a recurrence. This bacterial community demonstrated enhanced antimicrobial resistance, was not eradicated by the standardized perioperative bowel preparation, and could promote cancer cell migration and invasion. Our study establishes that microbiota may contribute to postoperative colorectal cancer recurrence and serve as a prognostic biomarker for postoperative oncologic outcomes.

Semantic congruence impacts audiovisual processing in the Colavita effect

The Colavita effect is a phenomenon that occurs when participants are presented with auditory, visual, and audiovisual stimuli and are tasked to identify the modality of the stimuli. When audiovisual stimuli are presented, participants occasionally miss the auditory component and report that the stimulus was visual only – reflecting visual dominance. The Colavita effect has been shown to be resistant to manipulations of semantic correspondence, which is surprising considering that semantic information impacts multiple perceptual tasks. It is possible that the brief auditory stimuli used for Colavita tasks do not allow for recognition, preventing the recruitment of semantics. We first replicated the Colavita effect using words as stimuli. We then manipulated semantic correspondence by pairing the auditory (sounds or words) and visual (pictures) components of the stimuli either with the same concept (e.g., the picture of a cat with the sound of a cat or the word ‘cat’) or different concepts (e.g., the picture of a cat with the sound of a dog or the word ‘dog’). In Experiment 2, we observed that semantic correspondence influenced the magnitude of the Colavita effect: when the visual and auditory component corresponded to different concepts, the size of the Colavita effect was reduced. Finally, in Experiment 3 we observed that using visual and auditory stimuli from different categories further reduced the effect. We suggest semantic congruence influences the unity of bimodal stimuli: congruent stimuli are more easily perceived as a single entity while incongruent stimuli are not as easily perceived as a single entity, leading to a reduction of ‘visual-only’ responses.

An in Situ Deposited Covalent Triazine Framework Photocathode for Electric Bias‐Free Solar‐to‐Hydrogen Peroxide Conversion in a Photoelectrochemical Cell

ABSTRACT Innovative technology for sustainable hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) production in neutral aqueous media using solar energy displaces the current industrial production of H 2 O 2 , which primarily relies on the Riedel‐Pfleiderer process involving critical issues on the use of organic solvents and high energy consumption to supply H 2 gas. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) O 2 reduction to produce H 2 O 2 by visible light irradiation was approached by a new covalent triazine framework photocathode with carbazole donor moieties (Cz‐CTF) in situ‐deposited on a mesoporous indium tin oxide (meso‐ITO) film (Cz‐CTF/meso‐ITO). The Cz‐CTF/meso‐ITO photocathode exhibited outstanding performances with IPCE of 4.7 and 2.9% (at 420 nm and 1.05 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)), Faraday efficiency (FE H2O2 ) of 96 and 95% for H 2 O 2 production at pH 3.0 and 7.0, respectively, and the high onset potential of ≈1.4 V for PEC O 2 reduction among the state‐of‐the‐art organic polymer photocathodes. The visible light‐driven overall H 2 O 2 production using water as an electron source was first achieved without electric bias in a two‐electrode system in a neutral aqueous medium (pH 7.0) by coupling the Cz‐CTF/meso‐ITO photocathode with a BiVO 4 ‐based photoanode for water oxidation. This sheds light on the sustainable method for solar‐driven overall H 2 O 2 production in neutral aqueous media in the future industry.

Catalytic Enantioselective Multicomponent Reactions of Sulfoxonium Ylides Enabled by a Formal Rearrangement—A Versatile Entry to Enantioenriched α‐Sulfanyl Carbonyl Compounds

ABSTRACT Sulfur ylides have emerged as versatile carbenoids for catalytic enantioselective X–H insertion reactions (X = C, N, O, and S), while offering a better safety profile compared to traditional diazo‐based metal carbene precursors. However, the realization of valuable multicomponent reactions (MCRs) with sulfur ylides has been so far out of reach. Here, we report the enantioselective MCR of sulfoxonium ylides, aldehydes, and thiols catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid. Departing from carbenoid reactivity, the reaction pathway entails two sequential but nonoverlapping catalytic cycles, where the assembly of the components is followed by a delayed stereodetermining rearrangement across the central C─C bond of the molecule. The organocatalytic MCR delivers β‐hydroxy‐α‐sulfanyl carbonyl products as single anti‐diastereoisomers and generally in high yields and enantioselectivities. These products cannot be readily accessed by other catalytic means and are synthetic linchpins to a variety of α‐sulfanyl carbonyl compounds via stereospecific substitutions of their hydroxy group.

Taphofacies analysis of rhynchosaurs from the Late Triassic Maleri Formation, Pranhita–Godavari basin, India, using multivariate and spatial statistics

FLOWR.ROOT – A flow matching-based foundation model for joint multi-purpose structure-aware 3D ligand generation and affinity prediction

Abstract We present FLOWR.ROOT, an S E (3)-equivariant flow-matching foundation model that unifies pocket-aware 3D ligand generation with multi-endpoint binding affinity prediction (pIC 50 , p K i , p K d , pEC 50 ) and pLDDT-based confidence estimation in a single backbone. One trained model supports de novo pocket-conditional generation, interaction- and pharmacophore-conditional sampling, scaffold hopping and elaboration, and fragment growing or replacement, enabled by a mixed isotropic–anisotropic prior placement strategy. Training proceeds in three stages: large-scale pre-training on billions of ligand conformations and millions of mixed-fidelity protein–ligand complexes, refinement on curated co-crystal data, and project-specific adaptation via parameter-efficient LoRA finetuning. Joint structure–affinity modelling enables inference-time importance-sampling guidance for single- and multi-objective design without external scoring functions. Case studies on kinase selectivity (CK2 α /CLK3) and scaffold elaboration on TYK2, ER α , and BACE1 illustrate utility from hit identification through lead optimization.

National and subnational burden and attributable risk factors of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and low back pain in Iran: 1990–2019 findings of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study

Background The prevalence of chronic diseases has increased concurrent with the increase in life expectancy and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are among them. They have a high burden all over the world and are among the leading causes of years lived with disability (YLDs). MSDs are generally divided into six categories, and osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and low back pain (LBP) are among most of the most prevalent MSDs. In this study, we aimed to assess the burden of these three disorders in Iran. Methods Data were retrieved from the global burden of disease (GBD) study 2019 to investigate the epidemiological features of the burden of RA, OA, and LBP and the attributed burden to their risk factors in Iran and its provinces. Results The total number of OA, RA, and LBP increased from 1990 to 2019. Although the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of LBP decreased by −8.4%, the ASIR of OA and RA increased by 7.3% and 7.6% (reached 445.0 (95% uncertainty interval 395.9 to 501.9) and 5.0 (4.5 to 5.6) per 100,000 population in 2019, respectively). The age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) of OA and RA increased by 7.0% and 9.3%, respectively (5588.2 (5041.2 to 6228.6) and 109.1 (97.8 to 120.9) in 2019) while, the ASPR of LBP decreased by 9.5% (8,486.5 (7,533.8 to 9,528.3) in 2019). Females were more prone to establish OA and RA, but males were more predisposed to developing LBP. The highest OA incidence rate was presented in 55–59 years with a decreasing pattern over 59 years, 35–39 years with a decreasing pattern for older patients for RA, and 75–79 years with an increasing LBP incidence observed as age increased. Conclusion LBP, OA, and RA are still significant health issues, and the number of patients is increasing, which imposes much burden. The increase in the prevalence of MSDs in Iran alarmingly highlights the need for immediate policies designed to reduce their burden. Therefore, epidemiological information helps make policies and reallocate sources that can improve healthcare services.

In Situ Tracking of Programmable Reconstruction in Metal‐Organic Frameworks Toward Ampere‐Level Urea Oxidation

ABSTRACT Understanding the dynamic evolution of catalyst coordination structures during electrochemical nucleophilic oxidation reactions (NORs) is essential for deliberately controlling phase reconstruction to define active motifs, yet remains elusive to date. Herein, a lattice‐strained NiMn‐based metal‐organic framework (L/NiMn‐MOF) engineered with abundant unsaturated coordination motifs was used as a model system to systematically investigate the dynamic phase transformation pathway during urea oxidation reaction (UOR). By integrating a multimodal in situ and operando diagnostic platform, we reveal a programmable phase evolution from the pristine MOF to metal hydroxides and subsequently to active oxyhydroxide phases, ultimately driving chemical hydrogen transfer via a three‐step chemical‐electrochemical‐chemical (C‐E‐C) oxidation mechanism toward UOR. Enabled by a programmable in situ reconstruction pathway that yields well‐defined active phases, the L/NiMn‐MOF‐derived NiMnOOH achieves 1.5 A cm −2 at 2.1 V in a urea‐assisted membrane‐electrode assembly‐based device (MEA) and maintains robust stability across a broad operational window of 200–1000 mA cm −2 . This work outlines a general in situ framework for clarifying reconstruction‐activity relationships toward an efficient urea‐assisted MEA device, with potential extension to related NOR catalysis.

MiR-381-3p targets the CREB1/PRDX6 axis to regulate ferroptosis in intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury

Abstract Ferroptosis, an iron-dependent type of cell death, has attracted significant attention in recent years. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that ferroptosis critically contributes to the pathogenesis of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) primarily through triggering excessive lipid peroxidation, disrupting iron homeostasis, and disabling endogenous antioxidant system. Therefore, targeted inhibition of ferroptosis represents a promising therapeutic strategy to alleviate intestinal I/R damage. However, the upstream molecular regulatory networks governing ferroptosis in intestinal I/R, especially miRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, are not fully understood. MiRNA microarray analysis revealed that the expression of miR-381-3p is upregulated following intestinal I/R insult. Bioinformatic prediction combined with dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that miR-381-3p directly targets and negatively regulates cAMP response element-binding protein 1 (CREB1), a key transcription factor closely implicated in ferroptosis modulation. Subsequent experiments confirmed that CREB1 specifically binds to the promoter region of peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) to facilitate its transcriptional activation, as quantified by quantitative real-time PCR. Both in vivo intestinal I/R injury mouse models and an in vitro Caco-2 cell hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) model were utilized for functional verification. The results revealed that upregulation of the CREB1/PRDX6 axis significantly suppressed the expression of acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 4 (ACSL4), which is a key marker of ferroptosis. Meanwhile, enhanced GPX4 activity and elevated intracellular glutathione (GSH) content were observed, accompanied by reduced intracellular iron overload and alleviated histological and cellular morphological damage. Conversely, inhibition of the CREB1/PRDX6 axis exacerbated ferroptosis, with corresponding adverse changes in these ferroptosis-related indicators. In conclusion, the miR-381-3p/CREB1/PRDX6 signaling axis protects against intestinal I/R by suppressing ferroptosis, providing novel molecular targets and a theoretical basis for the prevention of intestinal I/R injury.

Programmed cryogenic fabrication of cuttlebone-inspired lightweight cellular materials with enhanced energy absorption

Research on robot path tracking method based on IDDPG-MPC

In complex marine environments, path-following control of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) faces numerous challenges, including environmental disturbances, dynamic nonlinearities, and underactuated systems. To overcome the limitations of traditional line-of-sight/PID control in terms of robustness and adaptability, this study proposes a hybrid control architecture combining improved deep deterministic policy gradient (IDDPG) and model predictive control (MPC). The IDDPG algorithm, as the upper-level decision-making module, utilizes deep reinforcement learning to generate optimal heading angle increment commands by learning the environmental state. The MPC, as the lower-level execution module, optimizes control variables such as thrust and rudder angle through rolling optimization based on the USV’s three-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamics model. This study constructs a closed-loop “perception-decision-execution-learning” paradigm and employs gradient pruning and a customized reward function to ensure the stability of algorithm training and the optimality of control decisions. Lateral deviation and heading angle error are used as evaluation metrics to verify the control performance. Simulation results show that this method effectively solves the adaptability challenge of traditional control strategies in complex environments. Compared with the traditional ALOS-PID method, the average lateral deviation is reduced by 37% and the heading angle error is reduced by 21%, thus realizing high-precision path tracking control for unmanned surface vessels and providing a new method for autonomous surface vehicle navigation.

Correction to “Discovery of Selective and Potent ATR Degrader for Exploration Its Kinase‐Independent Functions in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells”

Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting vitamin B1 deficiency in critically ill patients: a bi-center prospective cohort study

Evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo

Abstract The evolution of cranial morphology in the genus Homo is marked by increasing encephalization and reduced facial robusticity through time. These changes are often assumed to be the product of directional natural selection for larger brain size, presumed to be associated with greater cognitive abilities, and for decreasing facial size to lower energetic costs, as masticatory demands were reduced through food processing and tool use. Here, we test this hypothesis by exploring the goodness-of-fit of the predictions of six evolutionary processes to the observed cranial morphological variation in Homo . We analyzed comprehensive neurocranial and facial 3D landmark coordinate datasets, grouped into eight Operational Taxonomic Units starting with early Homo and representing two lineages, Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis . Our neurocranial analysis found strongest support for models of neutral evolution (Unbiased Random Walk) and stasis across both lineages. Similarly, the face shows strongest support for models of stasis, strict stasis, and neutral evolution (Unbiased Random Walk). Our findings suggest a limited role for gradual directional selection and underscore the importance of stabilizing selection and constraints in our lineage’s evolution, highlighting the importance of environmental constraints and possibly cultural behaviors as core drivers of human evolution.