Search Results (3,695)

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent degenerative joint diseases, and there is no approved pharmacological therapy that can reliably reverse cartilage degeneration or restore cartilage structure. Allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown therapeutic potential for OA, but inflammatory conditions can enhance HLA expression and increase allogeneic immune recognition risk. Here, we generated B2M and CIITA double-knockout induced pluripotent stem cells (dKO-iPSCs) using CRISPR/Cas9 and subsequently differentiated them into dKO-iMSCs. B2M/CIITA double-knockout did not affect iPSC pluripotency, karyotype, or teratoma formation. dKO-iMSCs retained characteristic MSC phenotypes, exhibited greater proliferative capacity than tissue-derived MSCs, and could be expanded to passage 18. Notably, HLA-ABC and HLA-DR expression remained undetectable in dKO-iMSCs even after IFN-γ stimulation. In co-culture assays with PHA-L-stimulated allogeneic PBMCs, dKO-iMSCs suppressed PBMC and T-cell proliferation as effectively as wild-type iMSCs, indicating preservation of their immunomodulatory activity. Intra-articular administration of dKO-iMSCs significantly reduced cartilage degeneration in the destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) mouse model of OA. The treatment showed greater therapeutic efficacy than wild-type iMSCs and tissue-derived MSCs and did not cause evident systemic organ toxicity. Single-cell RNA sequencing of BM-MSCs and dKO-iMSCs after in vitro IFN-γ stimulation revealed enhanced extracellular matrix-associated cell–cell communication and markedly reduced IL1B expression in dKO-iMSCs, indicating a less pro-inflammatory and more matrix-supportive cellular state under inflammatory conditions. Collectively, B2M/CIITA double-knockout enables sustained reduction in HLA expression while preserving the MSC phenotype and immunomodulatory activity, and enhances the therapeutic efficacy of iMSCs in the mouse OA model, providing a potential strategy for developing iPSC-derived MSCs with reduced HLA expression for allogeneic cell therapy. Full article

In situ polymerized gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) offer a promising route to improve electrode–electrolyte interfacial compatibility in quasi-solid-state lithium metal batteries. Although LiClO₄ has been employed in such systems, its role beyond a lithium-ion source has not been systematically investigated. Here, we report a two-component electrolyte consisting of 1 M LiClO₄ and 0.3 M BF₃-THF (1-0.3PTHF) that enables the in situ formation of poly(tetrahydrofuran) (PTHF) with substantially reduced initiator loading. The incorporation of LiClO₄ not only provides mobile Li⁺ ions but also facilitates polymerization. Possible ionic interactions between LiClO₄ species and growing polymer chains may contribute to the improvement. The 1-0.3PTHF exhibited a narrow mass distribution (Đ = 1.23) and a low degree of crystallinity (4.7%) compared to commercial PTHF (Đ = 3.25) and the PTHF polymerized without LiClO₄. The in situ 1-0.3PTHF delivered a bulk ionic conductivity of 2.75 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹, an electrochemical window of 5.06 V, and stable lithium plating/stripping up to 3 mA cm⁻², suggesting its promise as a GPE. Post-mortem XPS confirms the coexistence of B-containing species and LiCl within the SEI. Full cell tests demonstrated the preliminary feasibility of the 1-0.3PTHF GPE with LFP, LCO, and NCM cathodes. This work highlights the multifunctional role of LiClO₄ in in situ polymerized PTHF. The resulting 1-0.3PTHF electrolyte simultaneously regulates polymerization, enhances ionic conduction, and promotes protective SEI formation. These findings broaden the role of lithium salts beyond lithium-ion sources to polymerization modulators in in situ polymerized GPEs. Full article

Soil salinization restricts potato yield by inducing excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative damage. Exogenous silicon (Si) can alleviate salt-induced oxidative injury, yet the concentration-dependent mechanisms remain unclear in potato. Here, we conducted a tiered investigation combining phenotypic, physiological, and transcriptomic analyses. An in vitro gradient screening under 0.3% NaCl stress identified 1.0 mM Si as optimal. Compared with NaCl-alone treatment, 1.0 mM Si enhanced Catalase (CAT), Peroxidase (POD), and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activities by approximately 2.1-fold, 2.3-fold, and 1.3-fold, respectively. This Si supplementation also dramatically reduced ROS accumulation and membrane lipid peroxidation, as evidenced by 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) staining and decreased Malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Subsequent pot experiments under 100 and 200 mM NaCl confirmed that 2.0 mM Si most effectively alleviated oxidative injury, accompanied by increased proline, higher relative water content, and reduced ROS and MDA. These data demonstrated that Si exerts dose-dependent protection by orchestrating both enzymatic (SOD, POD, CAT) and non-enzymatic (proline, glutathione) antioxidant systems. Transcriptome profiling coupled with Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and RT-qPCR revealed eight candidate hub genes, with antioxidant defense-related StGSH1 (glutathione synthesis) and StPRX52 (peroxidase) as key components, alongside genes involved in protein homeostasis and osmotic adjustment. Collectively, our findings establish optimal Si regimes and demonstrate that Si mitigates salt injury primarily through enhancing antioxidative capacity and ROS detoxification, providing candidate genes for antioxidative breeding in potato. Full article

Refinery water treatment sludge (RWTS) is a hazardous organic waste that requires effective treatment prior to disposal, yet its resource potential remains underexplored. In this work, the physicochemical properties and pyrolysis product distribution of RWTS collected from a refinery in Xinjiang, China, were systematically investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric and derivative thermogravimetric (TG-DTG) analysis, and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Proximate analysis revealed a high volatile matter content (64.69%), while ultimate analysis showed a carbon content of 49.18% and an H/C molar ratio of 1.80, indicating that RWTS is a hydrocarbon-rich feedstock. FTIR analysis demonstrated that aliphatic C-H groups dominate the organic structure, while aromatic C=C and oxygen-containing functional groups are present in minor proportions. TG-DTG profiles revealed three distinct decomposition stages, with maximum weight-loss rates at 305, 445, and 655 °C, corresponding to the staged release of volatile compounds and the progressive cleavage of organic structures. Py-GC/MS analysis further showed a pronounced temperature dependence of the pyrolysis products. At 305 °C and 445 °C, the products were mainly alkanes, with relative contents of 84.9% and 89.1%, respectively, mainly distributed in the C₁₁–C₃₀ carbon-number range. In contrast, at 655 °C, extensive thermal cracking of long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons generated large amounts of light hydrocarbons (C₄–C₁₀, 42.20%) and alkenes (56.0%), accompanied by the formation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Results demonstrate that increasing the pyrolysis temperature shifts the dominant conversion pathway from the volatilization of indigenous hydrocarbons to the thermal cracking of long-chain aliphatic structures, providing new insights into the thermal conversion mechanism and resource utilization of RWTS. Full article

Offshore wind power substations serve as fixed bases for unmanned aerial vehicle logistics distribution. In the mixed-fleet scheduling of multiple unmanned aerial vehicle types, parking spot allocation, configuration decisions, and transfer timing are deeply coupled, rendering traditional scheduling algorithms ineffective for efficient solution. To address this, this paper takes the context of substations performing material delivery and inspection missions to surrounding wind turbines, maintenance vessels, and other offshore facilities. An optimization model is constructed that comprehensively considers group priority, aircraft type differentiation, and configuration transition factors, with objectives of minimizing total transfer time, number of configuration changes, and workload variance among transfer crews. An event-driven configurable greedy initial solution generation strategy is introduced, and an adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm is designed, incorporating domain-knowledge-driven destruction and repair operators, an adaptive weight mechanism, and a simulated annealing acceptance criterion. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves the optimal mean objective values across all six test cases, outperforming the conventional adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm by 7.0–7.9% and the genetic algorithm by 14.4–22.1%, while maintaining the lowest standard deviation. The algorithm exhibits robust stability and practical applicability, providing effective decision support for unmanned aerial vehicle logistics distribution scheduling at offshore wind power substations. Full article

Hydrogen fuel cell hybrid trains are normally sized so that the fuel cell supplies the average or base power demand, while the traction battery accommodates short-duration power transients and regenerative braking. Even when the adopted steady-state power ratings satisfy the specified operating duties, however, the finite fuel-cell ramp rate and command-to-power delay can create brief power mismatches during abrupt operating-mode transitions. This paper proposes a route-informed, prediction-assisted feedforward power coordination strategy. A Transformer predictor estimates the 10 s traction-power demand using route information and simulated operating-state data, and the predicted sequence is supplied to a constrained model predictive control (MPC) controller as preview information. A reduced-order first-order fuel-cell response model is used to characterize the dominant command-to-power lag and determine the advance-command timing at the train energy-management level, while the unit-level ramp-rate limits are retained as implementation constraints. An offline normalized Pareto sweep is further conducted to determine the MPC weighting coefficients for hydrogen consumption, fuel-cell power fluctuation, and state-of-charge (SOC) deviation. The present simulations quantitatively evaluate the traction-power prediction and delay-aware advance-command mechanisms within the proposed constrained MPC framework. For the investigated flat-track operating cycle, the predictor achieves a root mean square error (RMSE) of 414.93 kW, a mean absolute error (MAE) of 140.65 kW, and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9883 on held-out samples from the same operating distribution. Among 231 feasible supervisory-layer candidate weight combinations, 134 non-dominated solutions are retained, and the knee-point criterion yields $w_1=0.50$, $w_2=0.50$ and $w_3=0.00$. During a representative transition to regenerative braking, the advance command reduces the pre-saturation battery charging-power request from 3.7 MW to 3.0 MW. Relative to the adopted aggregate converter-side charging limit, the corresponding peak residual braking power decreases from 1.3 MW to 0.6 MW. The contribution lies in explicitly coordinating route information, short-horizon power prediction, fuel-cell response delay, and constrained power allocation. The present results are simulation-based; nonlinear balance-of-plant dynamics, battery degradation, cross-route generalization, and train control and management system (TCMS) hardware-in-the-loop timing remain to be validated. Full article

Under low-density hypersonic flight conditions, conventional aerodynamic control authority is markedly reduced, making transverse jets a promising approach for direct force control. However, the interaction mechanisms of multiple jets under such conditions remain unclear. In this paper, numerical simulations were employed to investigate the flowfield structure, aerodynamic characteristics, and their coupling-induced variations in twin transverse jets under low-density hypersonic crossflow. The results show that the twin-jet flow is not a simple superposition of two isolated single jets, but exhibits distinct near-wall separation, compression, and wake evolution patterns induced by jet–jet interaction. The upstream jet aerodynamically shields the downstream injector, modifies its local crossflow conditions, and consequently enhances downstream jet penetration and wake development. Conversely, the downstream jet affects the upstream flow through the near-wall boundary layer by pushing the primary separation region farther upstream, restricting the free expansion of the upstream jet, and intensifying compression and recirculation in the inter-jet and near-wake regions. Macroscopically, the aerodynamic force analysis reveals that the control force coefficient increases with jet strength, whereas the control force amplification factor decreases continuously. Compared with a single-jet configuration at matched total jet mass flow rate, the twin-jet configuration yields a higher control force and a lower total moment. These findings provide fundamental physical insights into the design and optimization of multi-jet direct force control systems under low-density hypersonic flows. Full article

In the context of urban renewal, spaces beneath elevated bridges are gradually becoming important public activity areas, with their microclimate and landscape quality influenced by multiple factors including bridge structure, vegetation configuration, and traffic conditions. This study focuses on 12 typical elevated bridge underpass spaces in Fuzhou and Xiamen, two hot–humid subtropical cities in China, and integrates field environmental monitoring, questionnaire surveys, spatial landscape metrics, and statistical analysis to explore how plant landscape factors are significantly associated with thermal and acoustic conditions and overall comfort levels. Results show the following: (1) Overall comfort refers to the overall subjective evaluation of the elevated bridge underpass environment under combined thermal and acoustic conditions. Thermal and acoustic comfort jointly explained 71.3% of its variance (R² = 0.713), with thermal comfort contributing more strongly. (2) Bridge orientation was associated with differences in shading conditions and microclimatic characteristics, with east–west-oriented elevated bridge underpass spaces generally offering better overall comfort. (3) Green coverage rate, green buffer width, distance from roads, and hard paving proportion were identified as key landscape factors associated with overall comfort. Controlled regression showed significant associations, with green coverage rate showing the strongest positive association with OCV (β = 0.612), whereas hard paving proportion showed the strongest negative association (β = −0.628); the models explained 66.8–68.4% of OCV variance. (4) Appropriate plant landscape configurations were associated with more favorable microclimatic conditions under bridges. Within the studied sites, higher comfort was associated with approximately 40–55% green coverage, 8–15 m green-buffer width, a road distance above 60 m, and a hard paving ratio below 50%. These values should be regarded as context-specific design references derived from the observed regression patterns rather than universal optimal thresholds. This study identifies associations among plant landscape configuration, microclimate, and environmental comfort in elevated bridge underpass spaces based on field evidence from Fuzhou and Xiamen, providing context-specific references for landscape renewal in similar hot–humid subtropical settings. Full article

A novel amidoxime-functionalized carbon fiber adsorbent (CFAO) was successfully fabricated via surface grafting modification for U(VI) removal. The sorption behaviors of the CFAO were systematically explored under various experimental conditions involving solution pH, contact time, initial U(VI) concentration, temperature, and complex competing ion environments. With a fixed adsorbent dosage of 10 mg in 30 mL solution, the maximum experimental equilibrium adsorption capacity was 56.25 mg/g at an initial U(VI) concentration of 60 mg/L, with sufficient contact time to attain full adsorption equilibrium. The Langmuir model yielded a theoretical saturated adsorption capacity of 63.78 mg/g. The adsorption process was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models, while thermodynamic results confirmed the spontaneous and endothermic nature of U(VI) sorption. Benefiting from grafted amidoxime chelating groups, CFAO exhibited significantly improved uranium uptake compared with pristine carbon fibers. The material presented selectivity toward U(VI) in simulated seawater and nuclear wastewater, and retained over 90% of its original capacity after five adsorption–desorption cycles. With good recyclability and U(VI) selectivity, as reflected by the retained adsorption performance upon cycling, CFAO shows potential as a reusable adsorbent for U(VI) recovery from complex aqueous systems under laboratory batch conditions. Full article

Existing data-fusion-driven photovoltaic (PV) power-forecasting methods do not fully exploit cloud-image information. Simple feature concatenation cannot explicitly describe high-order interactions between cloud imagery and historical power, whereas full high-order fusion tensors introduce substantial parameter and computational overhead. This paper proposes a short-term PV power-forecasting method that fuses ground-based cloud-image features with historical-power data. MAGAN is used to enhance the brightness and texture representation of ground-based cloud images. An improved CNN-Transformer with a multi-scale separable convolution (MSC) module extracts multi-scale spatial cloud features. Low-rank tensor fusion (LTF) models cross-modal interactions between cloud-image and power features under a low-rank constraint and the fused sequence is fed into an improved Pyraformer with an i-Pyra module to forecast four 15 min steps over the next hour. Experiments using 2021 measurements from a 100 kW PV station in Jiangxi Province show that MAGAN-enhanced cloud images reach a PSNR of 7.25 dB and an SSIM of 0.75. On the independent test set, the proposed method obtains MAE, MAPE, and RMSE values of 21.8%, 17.6%, and 32.4%, respectively, reducing the three errors by 13.1%, 15.8%, and 15.2% compared with a cloud-feature and sample-weighted Pyraformer, while reducing fusion-layer parameters by 46.7% relative to full bilinear fusion. Full article

Mulberry anthocyanins are promising natural pigments and bioactive compounds, but their efficient recovery is limited by processing-induced degradation. In this study, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-assisted ultrasound extraction was investigated for recovering anthocyanins from Morus nigra fruits. Four PEG grades (PEG 200, 300, 400, and 600) were initially screened, after which PEG 200 was selected for process optimization using response surface methodology with a central composite design. The effects of PEG concentration, extraction time, ultrasonic power, and temperature on total monomeric anthocyanin content were evaluated. The optimized conditions were 75% PEG 200, 18 min, 420 W, and 40 °C, yielding 515.78 ± 0.53 mg cyanidin-3-O-glucoside equivalents/100 g dry weight. C18 solid-phase extraction was subsequently used to obtain an anthocyanin-enriched fraction for spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric characterization. FT-IR analysis indicated functional groups consistent with phenolic and glycosidic constituents, while UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS enabled the tentative annotation of five anthocyanin-related compounds. The optimized crude extract exhibited antioxidant, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory and antibacterial activities under the respective in-vitro assay conditions. Anthocyanin retention was higher under dark and low-temperature conditions than under fluorescent illumination and elevated temperatures. Overall, the results demonstrate the feasibility of PEG 200-assisted ultrasound extraction for recovering anthocyanin-rich mulberry extracts and provide complementary information on their chemical characteristics, in-vitro bioactivities, and stability. Full article

Rice panicle architecture plays a critical role in determining grain yield; however, the regulatory networks influencing axillary meristem formation remain inadequately elucidated. A previous study identified LAX1 as a canonical bHLH transcription factor, detailing its direct targets and global transcriptomic alterations in lax1 mutants. In this study, an independent CRISPR/Cas9 LAX1 knockout mutant was generated, followed by transcriptome profiling of young panicles. The lax1-KO mutant displayed a reduction in secondary branches and grain number. Applying a more stringent threshold (|log₂ fold change (log₂FC)| ≥ 1), 518 high-confidence differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, 131 of which overlapped with previously reported DEGs (direction concordance: 88.5%), supporting the core LAX1-regulated network. The analysis revealed member-specific PIN regulation (OsPIN1c/1d and OsPIN2 downregulated; OsPIN3t and OsPIN9 upregulated), expression changes in hormone-associated genes (OsPP2C09, OsPP2C49, OsRR3, OsRR9, OsGASR9) and OsTPP genes (OsTPP1, OsTPP4, OsTPP9), and altered expression of panicle regulators (IPA1, OsTB1, DEP1, DEP3, CUC, and MADS-box genes). Motif enrichment analysis further identified bHLH motifs as the most frequently represented, whereas CAMTA and FRS/FRF motifs exhibited the highest statistical significance in DEG promoters, suggesting a possible multi-layered transcriptional architecture. Collectively, these findings validate and refine the LAX1-regulated network, positioning LAX1 as a pivotal coordinator of rice panicle development. Full article

Efficient photo-Fenton catalysis requires the simultaneous optimization of light harvesting, photogenerated-charge utilization, and metal-mediated H₂O₂ activation. Herein, amorphous Cu-FeOOH clusters were assembled on oxygen-vacancy-rich Fe-doped BiOCl nanoflowers (Fe-BOCov) to construct a Cu-FeOOH/Fe-BOCov composite for efficient photo-Fenton catalysis. Oxygen-vacancy engineering and Cu-FeOOH coupling extended visible-light absorption and improved interfacial charge separation, as supported by the enhanced photocurrent response and reduced electrochemical impedance. Under AM 1.5G simulated solar irradiation, the optimized catalyst removed more than 90% of levofloxacin (LEV) within 10 min and exhibited an apparent pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.271 min⁻¹. Radical-quenching and electron spin resonance measurements identify •OH and •O₂⁻ as the principal reactive species, with photogenerated holes also contributing. A mechanism is proposed in which electrons generated in oxygen-vacancy BiOCl migrate to Cu-FeOOH sites, facilitate Fe(III)/Fe(II) and Cu(II)/Cu(I) cycling, and accelerate H₂O₂ activation. This work demonstrates a defect-and-interface strategy for coupling solar-energy utilization with bimetallic Fenton chemistry. Full article

Background/Objectives: Frailty and delirium represent critical geriatric syndromes with profound implications for older adults’ health outcomes. This study aimed to quantitatively map global research trends and thematic developments in frailty and delirium among older adults through a bibliometric approach. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection up to 11 May 2026. Bibliometric analyses were performed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and the R package “bibliometrix”. Results: The analysis included 911 publications published between January 2006 and May 2026, involving 6805 authors from 337 journals. The USA dominated research output with 185 articles (20.3%) and the highest total citations (8507). Harvard University led institutional contributions (139 articles), while Age and Ageing emerged as the most influential journal (h-index = 21). Bellelli Giuseppe was the most productive and impactful author. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified six thematic clusters: adverse outcomes and comprehensive geriatric assessment, cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric disorders, perioperative and intensive care settings, postoperative delirium and geriatric complications, prediction and validation tools, and epidemiology and management-related themes. Temporal keyword bursts revealed recent emphases on “anesthesia” (2022–2026) and “cardiac surgery” (2023–2024). Conclusions: This bibliometric analysis demonstrated a sustained increase and diversification in research on frailty and delirium in older adults over the past two decades. The field has evolved from foundational clinical and epidemiological studies to multidisciplinary, outcome-oriented research, with growing attention to perioperative care and comprehensive assessment. Full article

Background: Epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent results in associations between soy consumption and bladder cancer (BC). Therefore, this research aims to find more conclusive answers on the influence of soy consumption on the development of BC risk by bringing together 12 worldwide available cohort studies on this topic. Materials and Methods: The risk of developing BC was investigated in a pooled analysis of 12 cohort studies comprising 549,458 participants, including 3164 incident BC cases. Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to obtain the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: No association between total soy intake and risk of development of BC was observed. However, after adjustment for potential confounders, soybean oil intake was associated with an increased risk (HR_model2 = 1.49, 95% CI 1.03–2.16) comparing never consumption with ever consumption as well as with moderate (HR_model2 1.69, 95% CI 1.08–2.67; HR_model3 1.65, 95% CI 1.03–2.64) and high (HR_model2 1.57, 95% CI 1.06–2.33; HR_model3 1.50, 95% CI 1.00–2.26) consumption. Overall, no significant associations were observed for soybean, soy milk or unfermented soy paste intake. For females a significant decreased BC risk for moderate soybean consumption was observed (HR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.22–0.89). For males a significant increased BC risk in ever soybean oil consumers as well as in high soy consumers was found (HR = 1.63, 95% CI 1.00–2.66; HR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.02–2.80, respectively). Conclusions: This research suggests that different sub-categories of soy consumption may have different associations with BC risk, showing differences between sexes exist. Full article