Coupling acid catalysis and selective oxidation over MoO3-Fe2O3 for chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation of propane

Redox catalysts play a vital role in chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation processes, which have recently been considered to be a promising prospect for propylene production. This work describes the coupling of surface acid catalysis and selective oxidation from lattice oxygen over MoO₃-Fe₂O₃ redox catalysts for promoted propylene production. Atomically dispersed Mo species over γ-Fe₂O₃ introduce effective acid sites for the promotion of propane conversion. In addition, Mo could also regulate the lattice oxygen activity, which makes the oxygen species from the reduction of γ-Fe₂O₃ to Fe₃O₄ contribute to selectively oxidative dehydrogenation instead of over-oxidation in pristine γ-Fe₂O₃. The enhanced surface acidity, coupled with proper lattice oxygen activity, leads to a higher surface reaction rate and moderate oxygen diffusion rate. Consequently, this coupling strategy achieves a robust performance with 49% of propane conversion and 90% of propylene selectivity for at least 300 redox cycles and ultimately demonstrates a potential design strategy for more advanced redox catalysts.

Phase flicker-induced sharpness deterioration on 2D holographic displays with digitally driven phase-only LCoS devices

Phase flicker in liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) devices can decrease the effective phase modulation resolution by introducing overlapped phase oscillations between adjacent modulated gray levels, thus degrading the performance of LCoS devices in various applications. However, the effect of phase flicker on a holographic display is often overlooked. From an application angle, this paper investigates the quality of the holographic reconstructed image, especially sharpness, under the static and dynamic effects of different flicker magnitudes. Both the simulation and experimental results reveal that the increment in the magnitude of phase flicker causes an equal sharpness deterioration with the reduction of the numbers of hologram phase modulation levels.

Increasing steering angle of LCoS in a WSS system through integration with a metasurface

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) has been the dominant choice for wavelength selective switches (WSSs) in telecommunication industry due to its high spatial resolution and compatibility with software defined flexible grid feature. Current LCoS devices generally have a limited steering angle, which also limits the minimum footprint of the WSS system. The steering angle of LCoS devices is fundamentally determined by the pixel pitch, which is highly challenging to be optimized without resorting to other techniques. In this paper, we present an approach to increase the steering angle of LCoS devices through the integration with dielectric metasurfaces. Here a dielectric Huygens-type metasurface is integrated with an LCoS device to increase its steering angle by 10°. This approach can effectively minimize the overall size of the WSS system while maintaining a small form factor of the LCoS device.

Negative electrodes for supercapacitors with good performance using conductive bismuth-catecholate metal-organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted increasing research interest in various fields. Unfortunately, the poor conductivity of most traditional MOFs considerably hinders their application in energy storage. Benefiting from the full charge delocalization in the atomic plane, two-dimensional conductive coordination frameworks achieve good electrochemical performance. In this work, π-π coupling conductive bismuth-catecholate nanobelts with tunable lengths, Bi(HHTP) (HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene), are synthesized by a simple hydrothermal reaction and their length-dependent electrochemical properties are also investigated. The Bi(HHTP) nanobelts (about 10 μm in length) possess appropriate porosity, numerous redox active sites and good electrical conductivity. Being a negative electrode for supercapacitors, Bi(HHTP) nanobelts display a high specific capacitance of 234.0 F g^-1 and good cycling stability of 72% after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, the mechanism of charge storage is interpreted for both battery-type and surface-capacitive behavior. It is believed that the results of this work will help to develop battery-type negative electrode materials with promising electrochemical performance using some newly designed π-π coupling conductive coordination frameworks.

High-Throughput Screening of Electrocatalysts for Nitrogen Reduction Reactions Accelerated by Interpretable Intrinsic Descriptor

Numerous activity descriptors have been developed to rationally design single-atom catalysts (SACs), such as energy-based or electronic descriptors. However, their computationally costly and experimentally unobtainable properties limit the understanding of the structure-activity relationship to a case-by-case basis. This paper describes a simple and interpretable descriptor directly related to activity, which can be not only easily obtained from the atomic databases, but also experimentally verified by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The defined descriptor proves to accelerate high-throughput screening of more than 700 graphene-based SAC models without computations, universal for 3-5d transition metals and C/N/P/B/O-based coordination environments. Meanwhile, the analytical formula of this descriptor reveals the intrinsic relations of various crucial features in the complicated metal-ligand interaction, thus the structure-activity relationship is clarified at the molecular orbital level. Using electrochemical nitrogen reduction as an example, this descriptor's guidance role has been experimentally validated by 13 previous reports as well as our synthesized 4 SACs. Several other new advanced catalysts are also identified. Orderly combining machine learning with physical insights, this work provides a new generalized strategy for crossing the chasm between low-cost high-throughput screening and a comprehensive understanding of the structure-mechanism-activity relationship.

Maternal and infant outcomes of pregnancy associated with anti-SSA/RO antibodies: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The relationship between anti-SSA/RO antibodies and pregnancy has been reported previously, and we aim to visualize the rates of maternal and infant outcomes with anti-SSA/RO.

METHODS

We systematically searched records from Pubmed, Cochrane, Embase, and Web of Science databases, pooled incidence rates of adverse outcomes of pregnancy, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were performed with RStudio.

RESULTS

A total of 890 records comprising 1675 patients and 1920 pregnancies were searched from the electronic databases. For maternal outcomes, the pooled estimate rates were 4% for termination of pregnancy, 5% for spontaneous abortion, 26% for preterm labor, and 50% for cesarean operation. While for fetal outcomes, the pooled estimate rates were 4% for perinatal death, 3% for intrauterine growth retardation, 6% for endocardial fibroelastosis, 6% for dilated cardiomyopathy, 7% for congenital heart block, 12% for congenital heart block recurrence, 19% for cutaneous neonatal lupus erythematosus, 12% for hepatobiliary disease and 16% for hematological manifestations. A subgroup analysis of congenital heart block prevalence was performed, diagnostic method and study region were found to affect heterogeneity to some extent.

CONCLUSION

Cumulative analysis of data from real-world studies confirmed adverse pregnancy outcomes of women with anti-SSA/RO, serves as a reference and a guide for the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of these women, thereby enhancing maternal and infant health. Additional studies with real-world cohorts are required to validate these results.

A method and its validation for measuring the absolute time-delay of the read-out system of a space electrostatic accelerometer

High-precision accelerometers play an important role in satellite gravity field missions to measure the non-conservative forces acting on the satellites. To map the Earth's gravity field, the accelerometer data must be time-tagged using the on-board global navigation satellite system time reference. For example, in the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission, the time-tag error of the accelerometers must be within 0.1 ms with respect to the satellite clock. To realize this requirement, the time delay between the actual measurement time and the nominal time of the accelerometer should be considered and corrected. This paper presents the techniques for measuring the absolute time delay of an electrostatic accelerometer on the ground, where this delay is mainly introduced by the low-noise scientific data read-out system, which is based on a Σ-Δ (sigma-delta) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). First, the time-delay sources of the system are theoretically analyzed. Then, a time-delay measurement method is proposed, and its principle and system error are presented. Finally, a prototype is built to demonstrate and investigate the feasibility of the method. Experimental results show that the absolute time delay of the read-out system is 150.80 ± 0.04 ms. This important value is the basis for the final time-tag error correction of the scientific accelerometer data. Meanwhile, the time-delay measurement method described in this paper is also useful for other data acquisition systems.

[Expression of HSP27 and BAX/BCL-2 apoptosis factor in silicosis rat model of fibrosis]

OBJECTIVE

To study the expression of heat shock protein 27(HSP27), BAX and BCL-2 apoptosis in silicosis rat model, and to explore the correlation between HSP27 and BAX and BCL-2 apoptosis.

METHODS

Silicosis model was established by the oropharyngeal and endotracheal intubation. Forty SPF healthy adult Wistar male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, with 10 rats in each group. Silicosis group for 6 weeks(feeding for 6 weeks), silicosis group for 8 weeks(feeding for 8 weeks): oropharyngeal and tracheal perfusion of 50 mg/mL SiO_2 suspension 1.0 mL/mouse; Model control group for 6 weeks and model control group for 8 weeks: 1.0 mL saline was infused into the oropharynx and trachea. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of HSP27, BAX and BCL-2 in the right lower lung of silicosis model group at 6 and 8 weeks and model control group at 6 and 8 weeks. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of HSP27, BAX and BCL-2 in the left lower lobe lung tissue of silicosis model group at 6 and 8 weeks and model control group at 6 and 8 weeks, respectively. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the colocalization of HSP27 with pro-apoptotic factor BAX and HSP27 with anti-apoptotic factor BCL-2.

RESULTS

Compared with the model control group at 6 weeks and 8 weeks, the expression of HSP27 and pro-apoptotic factor BAX in fibrotic region increased, and the expression of anti-apoptotic factor BCL-2 decreased in silicosis model group at 6 weeks and 8 weeks(P<0.05). Immunofluorescence staining showed that there was colocalization of HSP27 and pro-apoptotic factor BAX in the fibrotic region. Correlation analysis showed that the correlation coefficient between HSP27 and pro-apoptotic factor BAX was r=0.94, indicating a positive correlation between them, while the correlation coefficient between HSP27 and anti-apoptotic factor BCL-2 was r=-0.81, indicating a negative correlation between them.

CONCLUSION

High expression of HSP27 and pro-apoptotic factor BAX and low expression of anti-apoptotic factor BCL-2 exist in silicosis rats, and their expression is correlated.

Nature of Catalytic Behavior of Cobalt Oxides for CO2 Hydrogenation

Cobalt oxide (CoO _x ) catalysts are widely applied in CO₂ hydrogenation but suffer from structural evolution during the reaction. This paper describes the complicated structure-performance relationship under reaction conditions. An iterative approach was employed to simulate the reduction process with the help of neural network potential-accelerated molecular dynamics. Based on the reduced models of catalysts, a combined theoretical and experimental study has discovered that CoO(111) provides active sites to break C-O bonds for CH₄ production. The analysis of the reaction mechanism indicated that the C-O bond scission of *CH₂O species plays a key role in producing CH₄. The nature of dissociating C-O bonds is attributed to the stabilization of *O atoms after C-O bond cleavage and the weakening of C-O bond strength by surface-transferred electrons. This work may offer a paradigm to explore the origin of performance over metal oxides in heterogeneous catalysis.

Electrically tuned active metasurface towards metasurface-integrated liquid crystal on silicon (meta-LCoS) devices

Active metasurfaces add a new dimension to static metasurfaces by introducing tunability, and this has received enormous attention from industry. Although various mechanisms have been proposed over the past few years in literature, solutions with good practicality are limited. Liquid crystal (LC)-based active metasurface is one of the most promising approaches due to the well-established LC industry. In this paper, an electrically tunable active metasurface was proposed and experimentally demonstrated using photoaligned nematic LC. The good quality of the LC photoalignment on the metasurface was demonstrated. Tunable transmission was obtained for telecommunication C band and the modulation depth in transmission amplitude of 94% was realized for 1530 nm. Sub-millisecond response time was achieved at operating a temperature of 60°C. The progress made here presents the potential of LC-based active metasurfaces for fast-switching photonic devices at optical communication wavelengths. More importantly, this work lays the foundations for the next-generation liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) devices that are integrated with metasurfaces (meta-LCoS).

In situ growth of Prussian blue analogue-derived Fe-doped NiS on Ni(OH)2 for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

The energy industry is placing more and more emphasis on the need for effective and affordable electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). In this work, an iron-doped NiS/Ni(OH)₂/CC composite material was synthesized by simple hydrothermal sulfurization processes of bimetallic Prussian blue analogue (PBAs) precursors grown in situ on three-dimensional (3D) Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets. The overpotential can be 103 mV to attain current densities of 10 mA cm^-2. The excellent catalytic activity of Fe-NiS/Ni(OH)₂/CC is because of the unique 3D structure and the uniform doping of iron caused by the in situ growth of PBA, as well as the high conductivity of the self-supported electrode carbon cloth.

Intrinsic Therapeutic Link between Recuperative Cerebellar Con-Nectivity and Psychiatry Symptom in Schizophrenia Patients with Comorbidity of Metabolic Syndrome

Components of metabolic syndrome might be predictors of the therapeutic outcome of psychiatric symptom in schizophrenia, whereas clinical results are inconsistent and an intrinsic therapeutic link between weaker psychiatric symptoms and emergent metabolic syndrome remains unclear. This study aims to reveal the relationship and illustrate potential mechanism by exploring the alteration of cerebellar functional connectivity (FC) in schizophrenia patients with comorbidity metabolic syndrome. Thirty-six schizophrenia patients with comorbidity of metabolic syndrome (SCZ-MetS), 45 schizophrenia patients without metabolic syndrome (SCZ-nMetS) and 39 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. We constructed FC map of cerebello-cortical circuit and used moderation effect analysis to reveal complicated relationship among FC, psychiatric symptom and metabolic disturbance. Components of metabolic syndrome were significantly correlated with positive symptom score and negative symptom score. Importantly, the dysconnectivity between cognitive module of cerebellum and left middle frontal gyrus in SCZ-nMetS was recuperative increased in SCZ-MetS, and was significantly correlated with general symptom score. Finally, we observed significant moderation effect of body mass index on this correlation. The present findings further supported the potential relationship between emergence of metabolic syndrome and weaker psychiatric symptom, and provided neuroimaging evidence. The mechanism of intrinsic therapeutic link involved functional change of cerebello-cortical circuit.

Neural Network Accelerated Investigation of the Dynamic Structure-Performance Relations of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction over SnO x Surfaces

Heterogeneous catalysts, especially metal oxides, play a curial role in improving energy conversion efficiency and production of valuable chemicals. However, the surface structure at the atomic level and the nature of active sites are still ambiguous due to the dynamism of surface structure and difficulty in structure characterization under electrochemical conditions. This paper describes a strategy of the multiscale simulation to investigate the SnO _x reduction process and to build a structure-performance relation of SnO _x for CO₂ electroreduction. Employing high-dimensional neural network potential accelerated molecular dynamics and stochastic surface walking global optimization, coupled with density functional theory calculations, we propose that SnO₂ reduction is accompanied by surface reconstruction and charge density redistribution of active sites. A regulatory factor, the net charge, is identified to predict the adsorption capability for key intermediates on active sites. Systematic electronic analyses reveal the origin of the interaction between the adsorbates and the active sites. These findings uncover the quantitative correlation between electronic structure properties and the catalytic performance of SnO _x so that Sn sites with moderate charge could achieve the optimally catalytic performance of the CO₂ electroreduction to formate.

Enantio- and Diastereodivergent Synthesis of Fused Indolizines Enabled by Synergistic Cu/Ir Catalysis

Highly diastereo-/enantioselective assembly of 2,3-fused indolizine derivatives could be easily available through a cascade allylation/Friedel-Crafts type reaction enabled by a synergistic Cu/Ir catalysis. This designed protocol provides an unprecedented and...

The Influence of Stereotypes on Trust in Doctors from Patients' Perspective: The Mediating Role of Communication

Purpose

To investigate the relationship among patients' stereotypes of doctors, effectiveness of doctors' communication skills evaluated by patients, and patients' trust in doctors.

Patients and Methods

A cross-sectional survey with a total of 3289 patients from 103 hospitals in eastern, central and western China was conducted.

Results

There were strong correlations among patients' stereotypes, patients' evaluation on doctors' communication skills, and patients' trust (r = 0.50-0.67, p < 0.01 for all). Patients' trust was predicted by patients' stereotypes directly (β = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.27-0.37) and indirectly (β = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.16-0.23) through patients' evaluation on doctors' communication skills.

Conclusion

Both patients' stereotypes and patients' evaluation on doctors' communication skills have predictive effects on patients' trust. Patients' stereotypes are not only a direct predictor of patients' trust but also an indirect predictor via doctors' communication skills as a mediator. This national survey underlines the significance of patients' stereotypes, and emphasizes the importance of developing doctors' communication skills on patients' trust. In order to build a more trustful doctor-patient relationship, there should be a joint effort at social and individual level to reinforce positive impression and suppress negative stereotypes of doctors. As far as communication skills are concerned, doctors are encouraged to use helpful verbal and nonverbal techniques that benefit their profession impression management.

Cultural and demic co-diffusion of Tubo Empire on Tibetan Plateau

A high point of Tibetan Plateau (TP) civilization, the expansive Tubo Empire (618-842 AD) wielded great influence across ancient western China. However, whether the Tubo expansion was cultural or demic remains unclear due to sparse ancient DNA sampling. Here, we reported ten ancient genomes at 0.017- to 0.867-fold coverages from the Dulan site with typical Tubo archaeological culture dating to 1308-1130 BP. Nine individuals from three different grave types have close relationship with previously reported ancient highlanders from the southwestern Himalayas and modern core-Tibetan populations. A Dulan-related Tubo ancestry contributed overwhelmingly (95%-100%) to the formation of modern Tibetans. A genetic outlier with dominant Eurasian steppe-related ancestry suggesting a potential population movement into the Tubo-controlled regions from Central Asia. Together with archeological evidence from burial styles and customs, our study suggested the impact of the Tubo empire on the northeast edge of the TP involved both cultural and demic diffusion.

Design of Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets@NiMoO4 Nanofibers' Hierarchical Structure for Asymmetric Supercapacitors

Transition-metal-based materials show great promise for energy conversion and storage due to their excellent chemical properties, low cost, and excellent natural properties. In this paper, through simple strategies such as classical electrospinning, air calcination, and the one-step hydrothermal method, a large area of Ni(OH)₂ nanosheets were grown on NiMoO₄ nanofibers, forming NiMoO₄@Ni(OH)₂ nanofibers. The one-dimensional nanostructure was distributed with loose nanosheets, and this beneficial morphology made charge-transfer and diffusion more rapid, so the newly developed material showed good capacitance and conductivity. Under the most suitable experimental conditions, the optimal electrode exhibited the highest specific capacitance (1293 F/g at 1 A/g) and considerable rate capability (56.8% at 10 A/g) under typical test conditions. Most interestingly, the corresponding asymmetrical capacitors exhibited excellent electrochemical cycle stability, maintaining 77% of the original capacitance. NiMoO₄@Ni(OH)₂ nanofibers were verified to be simple to prepare and to have good performances as energy-storage devices within this experiment.

Ratiometric detection and imaging of endogenous alkaline phosphatase activity by fluorescein-coumarin-based fluorescence probe

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a type of enzyme that widely exists in various tissues of the human body; it plays an important role in regulating many cell functions. The development of a sensitive and accurate tool to detect the changes of ALP activity in organisms can contribute to research in the fields of biochemistry, cytology, clinical medicine, etc. In this paper, a small organic molecule-based ratiometric fluorescent probe (FCP) was designed based on the hydroxyl electron-donating group in fluorescein-coumarin protected by the phosphate group. ALP can trigger the fluorescence change through the enzyme-catalyzed cleavage of phosphoryl ester groups, and the ratio of ALP can be measured at wavelengths of 465 nm and 530 nm. The probe had high selectivity and sensitivity to ALP, and the detection limit measured under the optimal conditions in an aqueous medium reached 0.006 mU/mL. The ALP activity of human serum samples was determined using the probe and found to be in good agreement with that measured using commercial ALP kits. Finally, the probe was also successfully applied to image ALP in living hepatocytes with good selectivity and sensitivity.

FIT-based risk-stratification model effectively screens colorectal neoplasia and early-onset colorectal cancer in Chinese population: a nationwide multicenter prospective study

No fully validated risk-stratification strategies have been established in China where colonoscopies resources are limited. We aimed to develop and validate a fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based risk-stratification model for colorectal neoplasia (CN); 10,164 individuals were recruited from 175 centers nationwide and were randomly allocated to the derivation (n = 6776) or validation cohort (n = 3388). Multivariate logistic analyses were performed to develop the National Colorectal Polyp Care (NCPC) score, which formed the risk-stratification model along with FIT. The NCPC score was developed from eight independent predicting factors and divided into three levels: low risk (LR 0–14), intermediate risk (IR 15–17), and high risk (HR 18–28). Individuals with IR or HR of NCPC score or FIT+ were classified as increased-risk individuals in the risk-stratification model and were recommended for colonoscopy. The IR/HR of NCPC score showed a higher prevalence of CNs (21.8%/32.8% vs. 11.0%, P < 0.001) and ACNs (4.3%/9.2% vs. 2.0%, P < 0.001) than LR, which was also confirmed in the validation cohort. Similar relative risks and predictive performances were demonstrated between non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms (NSGS) and asymptomatic cohort. The risk-stratification model identified 73.5% CN, 82.6% ACN, and 93.6% CRC when guiding 52.7% individuals to receive colonoscopy and identified 55.8% early-onset ACNs and 72.7% early-onset CRCs with only 25.6% young individuals receiving colonoscopy. The risk-stratification model showed a good risk-stratification ability for CN and early-onset CRCs in Chinese population, including individuals with NSGS and young age.

Diagnostic value of multi-slice spiral computed tomography after adiponectin treatment of tracheal malignancies

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic value of multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT) after adiponectin treatment of tracheal malignancies. Methods: Sixty patients with tracheal malignancies admitted to Emergency General Hospital from February 2017 to February 2021 were assigned to the study group. After physical examination, 60 healthy subjects in the same period served as the control group. All patients were treated with adiponectin. The control group was subjected to serum tumor marker testing before and after treatment, while the study group received multi-slice spiral CT before and after adiponectin treatment. Results: The 60 patients enrolled in the study group comprised 30 cases of squamous carcinoma, 22 cases of adenocarcinoma, and 8 cases of mucosa-associated lymphoma. Multi-slice spiral CT before treatment showed that 35 patients with tracheal malignant tumors had expansive lumen hyperplasia, while 25 patients with bulging tumors had saddle-like hyperplasia with irregular surfaces, uneven margins, and mean thickness of 5.96 ± 0.65 mm in the tracheal and bronchial walls adjacent to the luminal nodule. After treatment, the thickness of the tracheal and bronchial walls adjacent to the luminal nodule decreased to a mean value of 4.65 ± 0.48 mm. Prior to treatment, the mean enhancement value of contrast-enhanced CT was 18.98±1.23 Hu, and mean tumor diameter was 3.68 ± 0.23 cm. However, after treatment, the mean enhancement value increased to 25.98 ± 1.44 Hu, while mean tumor diameter decreased to 2.54 ± 0.20 cm in the study group. Conclusion: Multi-slice spiral CT has promising diagnostic value for patients with tracheal malignancies after adiponectin treatment. Therefore, it can potentially be used in the diagnosis of patients with tracheal malignancies.