3'-Deoxyadenosin alleviates methamphetamine-induced aberrant synaptic plasticity and seeking behavior by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome

Methamphetamine addiction is a brain disorder characterized by persistent drug-seeking behavior, which has been linked with aberrant synaptic plasticity. An increasing body of evidence suggests that aberrant synaptic plasticity is associated with the activation of the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing-3(NLRP3) inflammasome. 3′-Deoxyadenosin, an active component of the Chinese fungus Cordyceps militaris, has strong anti-inflammatory effects. However, whether 3′-deoxyadenosin attenuates methamphetamine-induced aberrant synaptic plasticity via an NLRP3-mediated inflammatory mechanism remains unclear. We first observed that 3′-deoxyadenosin attenuated conditioned place preference scores in methamphetamine-treated mice and decreased the expression of c-fos in hippocampal neurons. Furthermore, we found that 3′-deoxyadenosin reduced the aberrant potentiation of glutamatergic transmission and restored the methamphetamine-induced impairment of synaptic plasticity. We also found that 3′-deoxyadenosin decreased the expression of NLRP3 and neuronal injury. Importantly, a direct NLRP3 deficiency reduced methamphetamine-induced seeking behavior, attenuated the impaired synaptic plasticity, and prevented neuronal damage. Finally, NLRP3 activation reversed the effect of 3′-deoxyadenosin on behavior and synaptic plasticity, suggesting that the anti-neuroinflammatory mechanism of 3′-deoxyadenosin on aberrant synaptic plasticity reduces methamphetamine-induced seeking behavior. Taken together, 3′-deoxyadenosin alleviates methamphetamine-induced aberrant synaptic plasticity and seeking behavior by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome.

双碳之光——利用光化学制氢实现“双碳”目标的希望之光

在能源需求不断增加和实现“双碳”目标的双重压力下,发展清洁能源迫在眉睫。氢能以其独特的优势脱颖而出,未来有望以氢循环助力碳循环实现“双碳”目标。本文聚焦于氢循环中的制氢环节,详细介绍光伏电催化和光催化两种分解水制氢方法,并针对不同群体设计了科普方案,使其了解光化学制取绿氢的优势,普及发展氢能的意义。

Genome-wide association with transcriptomics reveals a shade-tolerance gene network in soybean

Shade tolerance is essential for soybeans in inter/relay cropping systems.A genome-wide association study(GWAS)integrated with transcriptome sequencing was performed to identify genes and construct a genetic network governing the trait in a set of recombinant inbred lines derived from two soybean parents with contrasting shade tolerance.An improved GWAS procedure,restricted two-stage multi-locus genome-wide association study based on gene/allele sequence markers(GASM-RTM-GWAS),identified 140 genes and their alleles associated with shade-tolerance index(STI),146 with relative pith cell length(RCL),and nine with both.Annotation of these genes by biological categories allowed the construction of a protein–protein interaction network by 187 genes,of which half were differentially expressed under shading and non-shading conditions as well as at different growth stages.From the identified genes,three ones jointly identified for both traits by both GWAS and transcriptome and two genes with maximum links were chosen as beginners for entrance into the network.Altogether,both STI and RCL gene systems worked for shade-tolerance with genes interacted each other,this confirmed that shadetolerance is regulated by more than single group of interacted genes,involving multiple biological functions as a gene network.

The Clausena lansium genome provides new insights into alkaloid diversity and the evolution of the methyltransferase family

Wampee(Clausena lansium)is an important evergreen fruit tree native to southern China that has a long history of use for medicinal purposes.Here,a chromosome-level genome of C.lansium was constructed with a genome size of 282.9 Mb and scaffold N50 of 30.75 Mb.The assembled genome contains 48.70%repetitive elements and 24,381 protein-coding genes.Comparative genomic analysis showed that C.lansium diverged from Aurantioideae 15.91-24.95 million years ago.Additionally,some expansive and specific gene families related to methyltransferase activity and S-adenosylmethionine-dependent methyltransferase activity were also identified.Further analysis indicated that N-methyltransferase(NMT)is mainly involved in alkaloid biosynthesis and O-methyltransferase(OMT)participates in the regulation of coumarin accumulation in wampee.This suggested that wampee's richness in alkaloids and coumarins might be due to the gene expansions of NMT and OMT.The tandem repeat event was one of the major reasons for the NMT expansion.Hence,the reference genome of C.lansium will facilitate the identification of some useful medicinal compounds from wampee resources and reveal their biosynthetic pathways.

Interference of harmonics emitted by different tunneling momentum channels in laser fields

By numerically solving the semiconductor Bloch equation(SBEs),we theoretically study the high-harmonic generation of ZnO crystals driven by one-color and two-color intense laser pulses.The results show the enhancement of harmonics and the cut-off remains the same in the two-color field,which can be explained by the recollision trajectories and electron excitation from multi-channels.Based on the quantum path analysis,we investigate contribution of different ranges of the crystal momentum k of ZnO to the harmonic yield,and find that in two-color laser fields,the intensity of the harmonic yield of different ranges from the crystal momentum makes a big difference and the harmonic intensity is depressed from all k channels,which is related to the interferences between harmonics from symmetric k channels.

Functionalization Strategies of Iron Sulfi des for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors have emerged as a promising class of energy storage technologies,renowned for their impressive specifi c capacities and reliable cycling performance.These attributes are increasingly signifi cant amid the growing environmental challenges stemming from rapid global economic growth and increased fossil fuel consumption.The electrochemical performance of supercapacitors largely depends on the properties of the electrode materials used.Among these,iron-based sulfi de(IBS)materials have attracted signifi cant attention for use as anode materials owing to their high specifi c capacity,eco-friendliness,and cost-eff ectiveness.Despite these advantages,IBS electrode materials often face challenges such as poor electrical conductivity,compromised chemical stability,and large volume changes during charge–discharge cycles.This review article comprehensively examines recent research eff orts aiming at improving the performance of IBS materials,focusing on three main approaches:nanostructure design(including 0D nanoparticles,1D nanowires,2D nanosheets,and 3D structures),composite development(including carbonaceous materials,metal compounds,and polymers),and material defect engineering(through doping and vacancy introduction).The article sheds light on novel concepts and methodologies designed to address the inherent limitations of IBS electrode materials in supercapacitors.These conceptual frameworks and strategic interventions are expected to be applied to other nanomaterials,driving advancements in electrochemical energy conversion.

Biochar alleviates apple replant disease by reducing the growth of Fusarium oxysporum and regulating microbial communities

Apple replant disease(ARD)negatively affects plant growth and reduces yields in replanted orchards.In this study,biochar was applied to apple replant soil with Fusarium oxysporum.Our aim was to investigate whether biochar could promote plant growth and alleviate apple replant disease by reducing the growth of harmful soil microorganisms,changing soil microbial community structure and improving the soil environment.This experiment included five treatments:apple replant soil(CK),methyl bromide fumigation apple replant soil(FM),replant soil with biochar addition(2%),replant soil with F.oxysporum spore solution(8×10^(7)spores·mL^(-1)),and replant soil with biochar and F.oxysporum spore solution addition.Seedling biomass,the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the leaves and roots,and soil environmental variables were measured.Microbial community composition and community structure were analyzed using 16SrDNA and ITS2 gene sequencing.Biochar significantly reduced the abundance of F.oxysporum and increased soil microbial diversity and richness.Biochar also increased the soil enzyme activities(urease,invertase,neutral phosphatase,and catalase),the biomass(plant height,fresh weight,dry weight)and the activity of antioxidant enzymes(superoxide dismutase,peroxidase,and catalase).The root indexes of apple seedlings was also increased in replant soil by biochar.In sum,biochar promoted the growth of plants,improved the replant soil environment,and alleviated apple replant disease.

Tim4 deficiency reduces CD301b+macrophage and aggravates periodontitis bone loss

Periodontitis is a common chronic inflammatory disease that causes the periodontal bone destruction and may ultimately result in tooth loss.With the progression of periodontitis,the osteoimmunology microenvironment in periodontitis is damaged and leads to the formation of pathological alveolar bone resorption.CD301b^(+)macrophages are specific to the osteoimmunology microenvironment,and are emerging as vital booster for conducting bone regeneration.However,the key upstream targets of CD301b^(+)macrophages and their potential mechanism in periodontitis remain elusive.In this study,we concentrated on the role of Tim4,a latent upstream regulator of CD301b^(+)macrophages.We first demonstrated that the transcription level of Timd4(gene name of Tim4)in CD301b^(+)macrophages was significantly upregulated compared to CD301b^(-) macrophages via high-throughput RNA sequencing.Moreover,several Tim4-related functions such as apoptotic cell clearance,phagocytosis and engulfment were positively regulated by CD301b^(+)macrophages.The single-cell RNA sequencing analysis subsequently discovered that Cd301b and Timd4 were specifically co-expressed in macrophages.The following flow cytometric analysis indicated that Tim4 positive expression rates in total macrophages shared highly synchronized dynamic changes with the proportions of CD301b^(+)macrophages as periodontitis progressed.Furthermore,the deficiency of Tim4 in mice decreased CD301b^(+)macrophages and eventually magnified alveolar bone resorption in periodontitis.Additionally,Tim4 controlled the p38 MAPK signaling pathway to ultimately mediate CD301b^(+)macrophages phenotype.In a word,Tim4 might regulate CD301b^(+)macrophages through p38 MAPK signaling pathway in periodontitis,which provided new insights into periodontitis immunoregulation as well as help to develop innovative therapeutic targets and treatment strategies for periodontitis.

Strong Anisotropic Order Parameters at All-Nitride Ferromagnet/Superconductor Interfaces

Proximity effects between superconductors and ferromagnets(SC/FM)hold paramount importance in comprehending the spin competition transpiring at their interfaces.This competition arises from the interplay between Cooper pairs and ferromagnetic exchange interactions.The proximity effects between transition metal nitrides(TMNs)are scarcely investigated due to the formidable challenges of fabricating high-quality SC/FM interfaces.We fabricated heterostructures comprising SC titanium nitride(TiN)and FM iron nitride(Fe_(3)N)with precise chemical compositions and atomically well-defined interfaces.The magnetoresistance of Fe_(3)N/TiN heterostructures shows a distinct magnetic anisotropy and strongly depends on the external perturbations.Moreover,the superconducting transition temperatureT_(C) and critical field of TiN experience notable suppression when proximity to Fe_(3)N.We observe the intriguing competition of interfacial spin orientations near𝑇T_(C)(∼1.25 K).These findings not only add a new materials system for investigating the interplay between superconductor and ferromagnets,but also potentially provide a building block for future research endeavors and applications in the realms of superconducting spintronic devices.

Recent advances in electrochemical performance of Mg-based electrochemical energy storage materials in supercapacitors:Enhancement and mechanism

The application of Mg-based electrochemical energy storage materials in high performance supercapacitors is an essential step to promote the exploitation and utilization of magnesium resources in the field of energy storage.Unfortunately,the inherent chemical properties of magnesium lead to poor cycling stability and electrochemical reactivity,which seriously limit the application of Mg-based materials in supercapacitors.Herein,in this review,more than 70 research papers published in recent 10 years were collected and analyzed.Some representative research works were selected,and the results of various regulative strategies to improve the electrochemical performance of Mg-based materials were discussed.The effects of various regulative strategies(such as constructing nanostructures,synthesizing composites,defect engineering,and binder-free synthesis,etc.)on the electrochemical performance and their mechanism are demonstrated using spinelstructured MgX_(2)O_(4) and layered structured Mg-X-LDHs as examples.In addition,the application of magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide in electrode materials,MXene's solid spacers and hard templates are introduced.Finally,the challenges and outlooks of Mg-based electrochemical energy storage materials in high performance supercapacitors are also discussed.

The potential of Chinese herbal medicines in treating anxiety disorders

In recent years,there has not been much progress in developing anxiolytic drugs.Amongst the barriers are the lack of clarity on the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders,low product conversion rates for developing drugs targeting the receptors,and species variability.Some scientists have focused on natural medicines,especially herbal medicines in traditional Chinese medicine.New drugs with excellent anxiolytic activity are hoped to be found in herbal medicines with anxiolytic effects.This mini-review summarised three Chinese herbal medicines with anxiolytic effects and anxiolytic herbal formulas used in the traditional Chinese medicine clinic.Several key issues that block the development of new anxiolytic drugs are also discussed.We hope to provide some ideas for researching and developing new anxiolytic drugs and studying anxiolytic components in traditional Chinese medicine.

Scene-adaptive hierarchical data association and depth-invariant part-based appearance model for indoor multiple objects tracking

Indoor multi-tracking is more challenging compared with outdoor tasks due to frequent occlusion, view-truncation, severe scale change and pose variation, which may bring considerable unreliability and ambiguity to target representation and data association. So discriminative and reliable target representation is vital for accurate data association in multi-tracking. Pervious works always combine bunch of features to increase the discriminative power, but this is prone to error accumulation and unnecessary computational cost, which may increase ambiguity on the contrary. Moreover, reliability of a same feature in different scenes may vary a lot, especially for currently widespread network cameras, which are settled in various and complex indoor scenes, previous fixed feature selection schemes cannot meet general requirements. To properly handle these problems, first, we propose a scene-adaptive hierarchical data association scheme, which adaptively selects features with higher reliability on target representation in the applied scene, and gradually combines features to the minimum requirement of discriminating ambiguous targets; second, a novel depth-invariant part-based appearance model using RGB-D data is proposed which makes the appearance model robust to scale change, partial occlusion and view-truncation. The introduce of RGB-D data increases the diversity of features, which provides more types of features for feature selection in data association and enhances the final multi-tracking performance. We validate our method from several aspects including scene-adaptive feature selection scheme, hierarchical data association scheme and RGB-D based appearance modeling scheme in various indoor scenes, which demonstrates its effectiveness and efficiency on improving multi-tracking performances in various indoor scenes.

三间隙引流术在腺源性肛周脓肿治疗中有效性和安全性的前瞻性队列研究

背景肛周脓肿是一种常见的肛肠疾病,主要由肛腺感染引起,脓肿一旦形成应及时手术治疗.目前有多种治疗肛周脓肿的方法,但均存在一定的缺点,我们根据肛周脓肿发病的生理病理机制设计了一种新的手术方式-三间隙引流术,以最大限度保护肛门括约肌功能,减轻患者痛苦.目的探讨三间隙引流术(three-cavity clearance,TCC)在腺源性肛周脓肿治疗中的有效性和安全性.方法以2017-01/2018-01在南京中医药大学第二附属医院肛肠诊疗中心收治的行肛周脓肿TCC的患者作为研究对象,以此建立队列;对照组选取同期行肛周脓肿单纯切开引流术的患者,以年龄差距5岁以内、性别相同且脓肿部位相同与实验组进行1:1配对,比较两组患者住院时间、创面愈合时间、肛瘘形成率及肛门失禁情况.结果每组各32例,共64例患者纳入本研究,三间隙引流组的肛瘘形成率为6%,明显低于单纯切开引流组(34.0%,P<0.01);三间隙引流组与单纯切开引流组均未出现肛门失禁的情况;两组的住院时间、创面愈合时间没有统计学差异(P>0.05).结论肛周脓肿TCC是一种安全的完全肛门括约肌保留的治疗肛周脓肿的术式,能有效降低术后肛瘘形成率,值得临床进一步推广和应用.

High-performance synaptic transistors for neuromorphic computing

The further development of traditional von Neumann-architecture computers is limited by the breaking of Moore’s law and the von Neumann bottleneck, which make them unsuitable for future high-performance artificial intelligence (AI)systems. Therefore, new computing paradigms are desperately needed. Inspired by the human brain, neuromorphic computing is proposed to realize AI while reducing power consumption. As one of the basic hardware units for neuromorphic computing, artificial synapses have recently aroused worldwide research interests. Among various electronic devices that mimic biological synapses, synaptic transistors show promising properties, such as the ability to perform signal transmission and learning simultaneously, allowing dynamic spatiotemporal information processing applications. In this article, we provide a review of recent advances in electrolyte-and ferroelectric-gated synaptic transistors. Their structures, materials,working mechanisms, advantages, and disadvantages will be presented. In addition, the challenges of developing advanced synaptic transistors are discussed.

Effects of Drought Stress Simulated by Polyethylene Glycol on Seed Germination, Root and Seedling Growth, and Seedling Antioxidant Characteristics in Job’s Tears

Two Job’s tears cultivars, yy18-1 (high resistance to drought stress) and yy12-7 (susceptible to drought stress) were used to investigate the responses of seed germination, root and seedling growth, and seedling antioxidant characteristics to drought stress simulated by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 solutions with 0, -0.05, -0.1, -0.15, and -0.2 MPa osmotic potentials. The results showed that the germination energy, germination rate, germination index, root and seedling lengths, root and seedling diameters, root and seedling fresh masses, root and seedling dry masses, and seedling relative water content (RWC) decreased with the decrease of the osmotic potential of PEG 6000 solution. The contents of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA), and proline in seedling increased with the decrease of the osmotic potential of PEG 6000 solution. The activities of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) in seedling increased and then decreased with the decrease of osmotic potential of PEG 6000 solution. -0.1 MPa was the optimal osmotic potential of PEG 6000 solution simulated drought stress at germination stage for Job’s tears. The proline content and activities of POD and CAT were important mechanisms for the maintenance of drought resistance in Job’s tears seedling.

Combating climate change calls for a global technological cooperation system built on the concept of ecological civilization

Climate change has been considered as the most paramount global environmental problem and the biggest externality throughout the history of human development. Accordingly, the world is facing unprecedented technological innovation and collaborative demands to deal with climate change. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, a long-term vision of technology development and transfer implementation was proposed, and policy and financial support for technological innovation in the area of climate change was advocated. These terms aim to enable developing countries to acquire the necessary technology in the early stage of the technology cycle to address climate change challenge. However, the traditional technological innovation and cooperation mode based on industrial civilization can hardly meet the technical demands of global climate protection. To ensure the continuous development and deployment of technology in a required scale and pace, a new global technical cooperation system is proposed to develop based on the philosophy of ecological civilization. The core contents of this system are supposed be as follows:to implement all-win cooperation targets, adhering to cooperation principles of Eco-man, adopt cooperation content that reflects synergy, pursue cooperation based on mutual trust, encourage participation of multiple actors, and promote sharing of cooperative outputs.

Electrolyte-gated transistors for neuromorphic applications

Von Neumann computers are currently failing to follow Moore’s law and are limited by the von Neumann bottleneck.To enhance computing performance,neuromorphic computing systems that can simulate the function of the human brain are being developed.Artificial synapses are essential electronic devices for neuromorphic architectures,which have the ability to perform signal processing and storage between neighboring artificial neurons.In recent years,electrolyte-gated transistors(EGTs)have been seen as promising devices in imitating synaptic dynamic plasticity and neuromorphic applications.Among the various electronic devices,EGT-based artificial synapses offer the benefits of good stability,ultra-high linearity and repeated cyclic symmetry,and can be constructed from a variety of materials.They also spatially separate“read”and“write”operations.In this article,we provide a review of the recent progress and major trends in the field of electrolyte-gated transistors for neuromorphic applications.We introduce the operation mechanisms of electric-double-layer and the structure of EGT-based artificial synapses.Then,we review different types of channels and electrolyte materials for EGT-based artificial synapses.Finally,we review the potential applications in biological functions.

Interfacial-Strain-Induced Structural and Polarization Evolutions in Epitaxial Multiferroic BiFeO_3(001) Thin Films

Varying the film thickness is a precise route to tune the interfacial strain to manipulate the properties of the multiferroic materials.Here,to explore the effects of the interfacial strain on the properties of the multiferroic BiFeO_3films,we investigated thickness-dependent structural and polarization evolutions of the BiFeO_3 films.The epitaxial growth with an atomic stacking sequence of BiO/TiO_2 at the interface was confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy.Combining X-ray diffraction experiments and first-principles calculations,a thickness-dependent structural evolution was observed from a fully strained tetragonality to a partially relaxed one without any structural phase transition or rotated twins.The tetragonality(c/a) of the BiFeO_3 films increases as the film thickness decreases,while the polarization is in contrast with this trend,and the size effect including the depolarization field plays a crucial role in this contradiction in thinner films.These findings offer an alternative strategy to manipulate structural and polarization properties by tuning the interfacial strain in epitaxial multiferroic thin films.

A Valence Electron Structure Criterion of Ionic Conductivity of Sr- and Mg-doped LaGaO_3 Ceramics

The valence electron structures of Sr- and Mg-doped LaGaO3 ceramics with different compositions were calculated by Empirical Electron Theory of Solids and Molecules （EET）. A criterion for the ionic conductivity was proposed, i.e. the 1/（nAnB） increases with increasing the ionic conductivity when x or y〈20% （in molar fraction）.

Research on China’s technology lists for addressing climate change

The compilation of technology lists addressing climate change has a guiding effect on promoting technological research and development,demonstration,and popularization.It is also crucial for China to strengthen ecological civilization construction,achieve the carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality target,and enhance global climate governance capabilities.This study first proposes the existing classification outline of the technology promotion lists,technology demand lists,and future technology lists.Then,different methodologies are integrated on the basis of the existing outline of four technology lists:China’s existing technological promotion list for addressing climate change,China’s demand list for climate change mitigation technology,China’s key technology list for addressing climate change,and China’s future technology list for addressing climate change.What’s more,core technologies are analyzed in the aspects of technology maturity,carbon reduction cost,carbon reduction potential,economic benefits,social influence,uncertainty,etc.The results show that:key industries and sectors in China already have relatively mature mitigation/adaptation technologies to support the achievement of climate change targets.The multi-sectoral system of promoting climate friendly technologies has been established,which has played an active role in tackling climate change.Currently,climate technology needs are concentrated in the traditional technology and equipment upgrading,renewable energy technology,and management decision-making support technology.The key technologies are concentrated in 3 major areas and 12 technological directions that urgently need a breakthrough.For carbon emmission peak and nentrality,carbon depth reduction and zero carbon emissions and geoengineering technology(CDR and SRM)have played an important role in forming the structure of global emissions and achieving carbon neutrality in the future.Thus,the uncertainty assessment for the comprehensive technology cost effectiveness,technology integration direction,technical maturity,ethics and ecological impacts is supportive to the national technology strategy.Finally,the presented study proposes several policy implications for medium-and long-term technology deployment,improving technology conversion rate,promoting the research and development of core technologies,and forming a technology list collaborative update and release mechanism.