Browse Articles

Overlap of depressive symptoms and low physical activity is associated with social frailty in Japanese community-dwelling older adults

Abstract Although depressive symptoms (DS) and physical activity (PA) have each been associated with social frailty (SF), their combined associations remain unclear. This study examined the associations of DS and objectively measured PA with SF in community-dwelling older adults. This cross-sectional study included 147 adults aged ≥ 65 years. DS were assessed using the Japanese version of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, and PA was measured objectively via accelerometer-based daily step counts, classified as < 4,000 or ≥ 4,000 steps/day. SF was evaluated using the five-item criteria proposed by Makizako et al. A two-way analysis of covariance was performed with DS (yes/no) and step count (≥ 4,000/<4,000) as independent variables and the total number of positive SF components (0–5) as the dependent variable, adjusting for relevant covariates. Participants with DS and those walking < 4,000 steps/day had significantly higher SF scores (both P  < 0.001). A significant interaction between DS and step count was also observed ( P  = 0.006); however, this finding should be interpreted cautiously because the subgroup with both DS and low step counts was small ( n  = 6). These findings suggest that both DS and low PA are associated with higher SF scores, while the potential combined association of these factors warrants further investigation in larger studies.

Evidence for multiple motivational accounts of willful ignorance in prosocial decision making beyond moral wiggling

Abstract People are generally expected to seek information, especially when it informs their decisions. As such, the phenomenon of willful ignorance—avoiding behaviorally relevant information—remains puzzling. This research explores plausible motivations behind willful ignorance in prosocial decision making, a behavior with negative societal implications. While it is traditionally attributed to selfish motives (moral wiggling), alternative explanations like tradeoff aversion and inattention have received little attention. In a within-subject design ( N  = 878), we examined behavioral patterns across decision contexts designed to render specific kinds of motivations more or less plausible. Specifically, we compare decision shifts when the option to ignore is given vs not given across contexts that systematically vary the plausible motivational relevance of ignorance. Our results suggest that approximately one fifth of ignorance cases are consistent with moral wiggling, another fifth with tradeoff aversion, and roughly one third with inattention. In addition, about one sixth of ignorance cases occurred in situations in which the information was not instrumental to participants’ decisions. These findings challenge the traditional view that ignorance is mainly selfishly motivated, underscoring the complexity of human behavior. By highlighting the possibility of multiple motivational accounts of willful ignorance, this study calls for a nuanced approach to mitigating its societal consequences.

Anxiety and emotion regulation strategies in middle school students: subjective well-being as a mediator and physical activity as a buffer

Less severe endothelial injury and vascular pathway activation in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant compared to Alpha

Application and field validation of dual-reference-point fuzzy-gain Stanley path tracking for four-wheel independent drive agricultural robots

Synthesis and One‐Electron Reduction of Donor‐Acceptor‐Stabilized Si ^II –E ^II –Si ^II Trimetallylenes (E = Ge, Sn, Pb)

ABSTRACT Herein, we report isolable donor–acceptor‐stabilized Si II –E II –Si II trimetallylenes (E = Ge ( 2 ), Sn ( 3 ), Pb ( 4 ); Si II = Mes(cAAC)Si; Mes = 2,4,6‐Me 3 C 6 H 2 ; cAAC = C(CH 2 )(CMe 2 ) 2 N‐2,6‐ i Pr 2 C 6 H 3 ), stabilized by a cyclic alkylaminocarbene attached to the divalent Si atoms. They were synthesized through salt‐metathesis reactions of the dimeric silanylidene anion (Si II K) 2 1a and EX 2 precursors (X = Cl, N(SiMe 3 ) 2 ). Computational analyses reveal that 2–4 adopt bent donor–acceptor‐stabilized Si II –E II –Si II frameworks featuring polarized Si–C(cAAC) π interactions together with delocalized Si–E π interactions involving the Lewis‐acidic E II center. This donor–acceptor electronic structure results in small HOMO–LUMO gaps, giving rise to pronounced near‐infrared (NIR) absorption. Remarkably, the one‐electron reduction of 2 and 3 leads to the Ge I ‐ and Sn I ‐ radical anions 2 •− and 3 •− , respectively, thereby highlighting that this donor–acceptor motif can even stabilize heavy Group 14 elements in lower oxidation states.

Annotation-efficient weed detection using DINOv3-distilled YOLOv12

Topological failure mode taxonomy and variation-aware design space exploration of carbon nanotube field-effect transistor flip-flops under process-induced geometric perturbations

Abstract Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors (CNTFETs) represent a promising post-CMOS technology, yet their adoption in sequential logic remains hindered by device-level non-idealities. This work presents a comprehensive device-to-system evaluation of flip-flop topologies in 32nm CNTFET technology using the Stanford compact model. N-type and p-type CNTFET I-V characteristics are characterized across three chiral vectors, establishing physical design constraints. Screening 25 flip-flop architectures from recent literature identifies that only 11 (44%) maintain functionality in CNTFET, with failure modes attributed to threshold voltage asymmetry, ambipolar conduction, and insufficient drive current. The 11 functional topologies undergo rigorous multi-corner analysis: voltage scaling (0.7–1.1 V), chirality variation, data activity dependence, and 200-run Monte Carlo simulations with 10% standard deviation in channel length, oxide thickness, and pitch. System-level validation via a 3-bit shift register confirms cascadability for robust designs while revealing functional failures in three topologies that operated correctly in isolation. Among all candidates, Lin’s FF achieves optimal energy efficiency (0.046 aJ) with robust corner-to-corner operation, while Mishra’s FF demonstrates superior variation tolerance (81.5% Monte Carlo yield). Eight actionable design guidelines are distilled for CNTFET sequential circuits, including prioritization of TSPC architectures, avoidance of ratioed logic, and early chirality-aware validation. This study provides a foundational reference for emerging-technology digital design, demonstrating that careful topology selection enables robust, energy-efficient sequential logic in CNTFET technology despite significant device-level challenges.

A Domino‐Synthesized Dicoordinate Copper(I) Bis‐imidazopyridine Complex Triggering Cuproptosis/Ferroptosis for Enhanced Cancer Immunotherapy

ABSTRACT Novel synthetic methods offer significant potential to accelerate drug development, yet there remains a largely unexplored area for efficiently synthesizing metal‐based anticancer agents. Herein, we report a novel solvothermal domino reaction of pyridine‐2‐methylamine (and its 4‐OCH 3 ‐substituted derivative), benzaldehyde, and CuCl 2 ∙2H 2 O, which simultaneously achieves ligand synthesis and coordination assembly in one pot and facilely affords innovative dinuclear dicoordinate copper(I) complexes ( Cu1 and Cu2 ) with the in situ‐formed bulky steric‐hindering tetraarylethane ligands featuring the bis‐imidazo[1,5‐ a ]pyridine scaffold. The unique geometry of Cu1 and Cu2 confers physiological stability and vacant coordination sites for efficiently catalyzing Fenton‐like reactions. Further studies reveal that Cu2 effectively elevates intracellular copper ion levels to induce cuproptosis, concurrently disrupting cellular redox homeostasis to trigger ferroptosis. The concurrent cuproptosis‐ferroptosis activation finally elicits significantly enhanced immunogenic cell death (ICD), which facilitates the antitumor activity of Cu2 . Moreover, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor α PD‐1, Cu2 exhibits improved immunotherapy effects. This work introduces the first small‐molecule copper complex that achieves immunotherapy potentiation through cuproptosis‐ferroptosis‐ICD induction and provides a new pathway for accessing innovative metal‐based antitumor agents through such a rationally designed domino reaction.

A deep learning optimized model for classification and detection of rice leaf diseases

Metabolomic dynamics of flavor compound synthesis in Pu’er green tea produced from Camellia sinensis var. assamica under seasonal variation

Reprogramming Photosensitization Mechanisms for Hypoxic Tumor Therapy via Organic Photovoltaic‐Inspired Heterojunctions

ABSTRACT Conventional Type II photodynamic therapy (PDT) is severely compromised by tumor hypoxia. Drawing inspiration from the charge‐separation principles of organic photovoltaics (OPV), we herein show that a molecularly predefined donor‐acceptor interface can re‐route the excited‐state fate of a classical Type II photosensitizer. Electrostatic co‐assembly of cationic Y6‐2Pr with anionic Rose Bengal (RB) furnishes a stoichiometrically defined 1:2 heterojunction, in which ultrafast intermolecular electron transfer gives rise to an interfacial charge‐transfer‐to‐charge‐separated (CT → CS) evolution. This process strongly attenuates triplet‐mediated singlet‐oxygen sensitization and redirects the photochemistry of RB toward a hypoxia‐tolerant Type I pathway dominated by superoxide generation. The photogenerated holes concurrently oxidize NADH, establishing an interfacial photoredox cycle that weakens intracellular reductive defense. By translating a central concept of organic photovoltaic interfaces to photomedicine at the level of a stoichiometrically defined molecular complex, this work provides a route to retrofit classical Type II photosensitizers with Type I photoredox function.

Ultra-short-term photovoltaic power forecasting based on TCN contrastive encoding and xLSTM

Abstract The inherent intermittency and non-stationarity of photovoltaic (PV) power challenge high-renewable power systems. Conventional methods struggle with diurnal non-stationarity, and standard long short-term memory (LSTM) networks are limited by scalar hidden states. We propose CL-TCN-xLSTM, an ultra-short-term PV forecasting model that combines contrastive scene encoding with extended LSTM (xLSTM). A trend-relative power ratio decomposition decouples the raw power into a deterministic trend and a stationary relative power ratio, reducing prediction complexity. A temporal convolutional network (TCN) encoder, pre-trained via contrastive learning, extracts scene embeddings from historical weather sequences, which are used to initialize the xLSTM predictor. The xLSTM then employs matrix memory to capture multi-timescale fluctuations, forecasting the relative power ratio that is finally multiplied by the trend to obtain the power. Experiments on two-year data from eight PV plants show that CL-TCN-xLSTM achieves the lowest MAE and RMSE across all forecast horizons from 1 to 4 h. For the 4-h forecast, it also yields the best nMAE and nRMSE. Compared with the best baseline TCR-Reformer, CL-TCN-xLSTM reduces MAE by 25.8% and RMSE by 24.8%. The model exhibits the slowest error accumulation and the strongest cross-site generalization. On a highly volatile day, its forecast curve follows the actual power fluctuations reasonably well without excessive extrapolation. Semantic analysis of the learned scene embeddings reveals that the contrastively pre-trained encoder captures meaningful weather regimes with a linear probe accuracy of 92.7%, even without any labels. Furthermore, the model handles dawn and dusk transitions smoothly, showing no abrupt error spikes. Ablation studies further confirm that the trend-relative power ratio decomposition is the most critical pillar, the xLSTM memory mechanism excels at suppressing large errors, contrastive pre-training provides substantial gains, and the TCN contrastive encoder captures meteorological patterns in its scene embeddings.

Green Synthesis of Ultrathin MWW Zeolites With Tunable Al‐T Sites Using Nitrogen‐Free Secondary OSDAs for Catalytic Cracking

ABSTRACT The direct synthesis of ultrathin MWW zeolites with precisely controllable aluminum location represents a significant challenge. Herein, we report a sustainable approach using cycloketones as secondary nitrogen‐free organic structure‐directing agents (NF‐OSDAs) to fabricate two‐dimensional (2D) MWW zeolites. Cyclobutanone (Cy4) directs the formation of ultrathin nanosheets featuring expanded interlayer spacing and tunable aluminum distribution. We demonstrate that Na + ‐cycloketone complexes selectively occupy specific pore environments, effectively reducing the population of T 6 –T 7 framework aluminum (Al F ) sites and migrating to T 2 Al F sites, promoting external Brønsted acidity. The resulting Cy4‐MWW catalyst exhibits outstanding performance in bulky‐molecule transformations. Mechanistic studies reveal that cycloketones undergo in situ self‐condensation to generate dimeric species that function as pivotal structural directors. Their steric presence affects layer thickness and nanosheet packing, whereas their Na + ‐coordinated forms strongly interact with T 2 Al F sites, thereby driving aluminum migration from the confined T 6 –T 7 Al F positions to accessible T 2 Al F sites. This strategy exhibits broad versatility across a range of cycloketones (Cy4–Cy10), enabling the concurrent tuning of both the MWW architecture and its aluminum distribution.

Catalytic synthesis of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines and pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinolins via a cooperative vinylogous anomeric based oxidation using a new H-bond magnetic-MOFs

Stabilizing Ru Atomic Clusters and Activating Interfacial Water Structure via Bridged <i>p</i> ‐Block In‐N ₃ O ₁ Single Sites for High‐Performance Alkaline Fuel Cells

ABSTRACT Ru atomic clusters (AC) are promising cost‐effective platinum‐group‐metal anode catalysts for the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in anion‐exchange‐membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), yet their practical application remains limited by insufficient structural robustness and sluggish proton transport across the electrolyte/electrode interface. Herein, we report a design concept that leverages p ‐block indium single atoms with In‐N 3 O 1 coordination as electronic bridges to stabilize Ru AC and reconstruct a proton‐conductive interfacial hydrogen‐bond network for efficient and durable HOR catalysis in practical AEMFCs. We find that the bridged In‐N 3 O 1 sites establish strong covalent Ru‐In anchoring interactions through pronounced d‐p orbital hybridization, stabilizing Ru AC against coalescence and detachment for markedly improved operational durability. Meanwhile, electronic coupling between Ru AC and bridged In‐N 3 O 1 sites tunes surface oxophilicity of Ru to promote higher coverage of hydroxyl adsorbate species and drive dynamic reorientation of interfacial water from cation‐bound states toward free water in the gap region, thereby reinforcing hydrogen‐bond connectivity and enabling more efficient interfacial proton transport. The resulting Ru AC/In 1 @CNO delivers a mass activity of 7.17 A mg Ru −1 , surpassing Pt/C by 9.0‐fold. Particularly, Ru AC/In 1 @CNO‐based AEMFCs achieve a high peak power density of 1.33 W cm −2 and maintain stable operation for over 50 h at 500 mA cm −2 .

Influence of micro and nano particles on the mechanical, morphological and thermal properties of HDPE/PP blends

Abstract Improving the mechanical performance of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) blends remains a significant challenge in materials science. Due to their inherent immiscibility and weak interfacial adhesion, these blends require suitable additives to enhance interfacial interaction and improve mechanical properties for practical applications. In this study, a series of HDPE/PP blends with HDPE contents of 25, 50, and 75 wt%, in addition to neat HDPE and PP were examined to determine the optimal base composition. The blend containing 75% HDPE was selected as the optimal composition due to its balanced mechanical performance. This blend was subsequently modified with silica, carbon black, Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), and their hybrid combinations at 5 wt% to evaluate their effectiveness in enhancing the overall performance of the material. In addition, fumed nano-silica was incorporated at 1, 3, and 5 wt% to examine its influence on the morphological, mechanical and thermal behavior of the blends. Mechanical performance was evaluated using tensile, hardness tests and impact tests, while phase morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal behavior was evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results demonstrate that micro-silica improved yield strength, elongation, and toughness by approximately 17%, 43%, and 72%, respectively, compared with the neat blend, while carbon black mainly enhanced yield strength by 19%. In contrast, EPDM led to an overall reduction in mechanical performance. Nano-silica produced the most significant enhancement, even at low concentrations. At only 1 wt%, nano-silica increased yield strength, elongation and toughness by nearly 11%, 98% and 120%, respectively, whereas the 3 wt% nano-silica formulation achieved the highest overall improvement, with yield strength, elongation and toughness enhanced by 13%, 120% and 150%, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the thermal stability of HDPE/PP blends influenced by both composition and additive type. Nano-silica exhibited the most pronounced stabilizing effect compared to micro-additives. These findings demonstrate that nano-silica is a highly efficient modifier for HDPE/PP blends and provides a practical route for producing high-performance and functional polyolefin materials for engineering and industrial applications.

Enantioselective Radical Cascade Cyclization to Axially Chiral Medium‐Sized Lactones

ABSTRACT We report a synergistic photoredox/copper‐catalyzed radical cascade cyclization for the enantioselective synthesis of axially chiral medium‐sized lactones. Compared with conventional ionic pathways that require stringent polarity matching and substrate prefunctionalization, the present strategy employs alkyl halides as radical precursors, wherein photoredox mediated single electron transfer (SET) generates radicals that undergo radical addition to non‐polarized alkenes followed by C–O bond formation. High stereocontrol and efficiency are achieved through a carboxylate‐coordinated chiral copper complex (up to 83% yield, up to 96% e.e., &gt;20:1 d.r.). The synthetic utility is demonstrated by the late‐stage diversification of bioactive molecules. Theoretical calculations reveal that the stereodetermining step occurs during C–O bond formation, and that thermodynamic stability facilitates a central‐to‐axial chirality relay, thereby governing axial stability in the flexible seven‐membered scaffolds.

Ten-year prospective cohort study on the dynamic changes of metabolic syndrome and its determinants in the adult population of Iran

Mirror‐Symmetric Organic Two‐Dimensional Crystals for Alternative Photon Transport Pathways

ABSTRACT Two‐dimensional (2D) organic crystals have attracted significant attention due to their highly ordered structures and exceptional optoelectronic properties. However, the conventional forms are often limited to simple geometries, restricting functional diversity. Therefore, developing structural designs to overcome the limitation is of critical importance. Herein, we report a preparation route for mirror‐symmetric V‐shaped 2D organic crystals by utilizing differential attachment energies across crystal facets, combined with temperature, solution concentration, and viscosity to promote crystal growth, resulting in the synthesis of V‐shaped crystals and the transition from 1D to 2D architectures. The two arms of the V‐shaped crystal exhibit mirror symmetry, and half of the angle between the two arms is approximately 67°. According to the optical waveguide tests, 2D crystal exhibits an optical loss coefficient as low as 0.075 dB/µm. In the V‐shaped 2D homostructure, photons propagate uniformly within each arm but exhibit an abrupt intensity change at the interface, revealing asymmetric waveguide behavior and altering photon transport pathways, forming an angle of about 134° with the original path. This work provides new insights into the precise fabrication and functional integration of unconventional organic crystals.