The Regulatory Axis of PD-L1 Isoform 2/TNF/T Cell Proliferation Is Required for the Canonical Immune-Suppressive Effects of PD-L1 Isoform 1 in Liver Cancer

Despite the well-studied effects of the full-length membrane-locating isoform Iso1 of Programmed Cell Death Protein-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) on immunosuppression, little is known about another membrane-locating isoform, Iso2. While expressional and survival analysis of liver cancer patients indicated that Iso2 plays a tumor-suppressive role, our results also indicated that the tumor-promoting and immune-suppressive effects of Iso1 depended on the positive expression of Iso2. Through mediation analysis, we discovered several downstream genes or pathways of Iso2 and investigated their effects on the Iso1-regulating survival. Among all potential downstream immune factors, Iso2 was inclined to activate the proliferation of T cells by regulating chemokine activity and increasing CD3 levels by promoting TNF expression. Similar results were confirmed in the Mongolian liver cancer cohort, and the Iso2/TNF/T-cell axis was verified in several other cancers in the TCGA cohort. Finally, we demonstrated the promoting effects of Iso2 in terms of producing TNF and increasing T cells both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings illustrate that PD-L1 Iso2 can increase the number of T cells in the tumor microenvironment by elevating TNF levels, which is a necessary part of the tumor-suppressive effects of Iso1 in liver cancer

The Hidden Dangers of Plant-Based Diets Affecting Bone Health: A Cross-Sectional Study with U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Data from 2005–2018

The plant-based dietary pattern has been recommended for its potential health and environmental benefits, but its association with bone loss needs to be further explored. This study aimed to investigate the association between three plant-based diet indexes and bone loss in 16,085 adults, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Three plant-based diet indexes (PDI, hPDI, and uPDI) were calculated from two NHANES 24-h dietary recall interviews, to characterize a plant-based diet. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Higher hPDI and PDI were associated with increased risk of bone loss (ORQ5 vs. Q1 = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.24–1.81 for hPDI; ORQ5 vs. Q1 = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.03–1.45 for PDI), while higher uPDI was associated with increased risk of osteoporosis (ORQ5 vs. Q1 = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.04–2.11). A harmful association between plant-based diet indexes (hPDI and PDI) and osteopenia was observed at the lumbar spine rather than the femoral neck. We conducted several sensitivity analyses to ensure the robustness of results, including subgroup analysis, exclusion of people taking anti-osteoporotic and estrogenic drugs, further adjustment for menopausal status, corticosteroid usage, and dietary supplements, and calculation of E-value. Our study demonstrates the deleterious effects of a plant-based diet on bone health and emphasizes the importance of a balanced diet

Batch Production of Wafer-Scale Monolayer MoS₂

Monolayer MoS2 has emerged as a highly promising candidate for next-generation electronics. However, the production of monolayer MoS2 with a high yield and low cost remains a challenge that impedes its practical application. Here, a significant breakthrough in the batch production of wafer-scale monolayer MoS2 via chemical vapor deposition is reported. Notably, a single preparation process enables the growth of multiple wafers simultaneously. The homogeneity and cleanliness of the entire wafer, as well as the consistency of different wafers within a batch, are demonstrated via morphology characterizations and spectroscopic measurements. Field-effect transistors fabricated using the grown MoS2 exhibit excellent electrical performances, confirming the high quality of the films obtained via this novel batch production method. Additionally, we successfully demonstrate the batch production of wafer-scale oxygen-doped MoS2 films via in situ oxygen doping. This work establishes a pathway towards mass preparation of two-dimensional materials and accelerates their development for diverse applications

Bone health and high-quality of diet: Unveiling the combined effect of plant-based diet and bone mineral density on all-cause mortality

Adhering to high-quality plant-based diets have been associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. However, it remains unclear whether adherence to high-quality plant-based diets can compensate for the detrimental effects of lower BMD on mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the combined effect of plant-based diets and BMD on all-cause mortality in 16,065 U.S. adults. Cox proportional hazards regression was employed to assess the combined associations of plant-based diet indexes and bone loss with all-cause mortality. Adherence to a higher hPDI (HR = 0.52; 95 % CI: 0.39–0.70 for individuals with osteopenia; HR = 0.47; 95 % CI: 0.30–0.73 for individuals with osteoporosis) can compensate for the negative impact of lower BMD on all-cause mortality. Meanwhile, there were significant interaction effects between plant-based diet indexes and bone loss on all-cause mortality. These findings highlight the potential benefits of adhering to high-quality plant-based diets, which can help compensate for the negative impact of lower BMD on all-cause mortality

A Novel Scheme for MIMO-SAR Systems Using Rotational Orbital Angular Momentum

The vortex electromagnetic (EM) wave with orbital angular momentum (OAM) brings a new degree of freedom for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, although to date, its application to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) SAR has not yet been widely reported. In this paper, an orbital angular momentum (OAM)-based MIMO-SAR system is proposed. The rotational Doppler Effect (RDE) of vortex EM waves offers a novel scheme for an OAM-based MIMO-SAR system. By transmitting the rotational vortex EM waves, echoes of different OAM modes can be discriminated by a bandpass filter in the range-Doppler domain. The performance of the proposed scheme is independent of the time-variant channel responses, and the wider beam width of the vortex EM waves delivers, for the same antenna aperture size, better performance in terms of swath width and azimuth resolution, in contrast to the plane EM waves. Moreover, the spatial diversity of vortex EM waves shows great potential to enhance the MIMO-SAR system applications, which involve high-resolution wide-swath remote sensing, 3-D imaging, and radar-communication integration. The proposed scheme is verified by proof-of-concept experiments. This work presents a new application of vortex EM waves, which facilitates the development of new-generation and forthcoming SAR systems

Exploring spatiotemporal pattern and agglomeration of road CO2 emissions in Guangdong, China

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162134Science of The Total Environment871162134-16213

Controllable Growth of Large-Scale Continuous ReS₂ Atomic Layers

In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have received significant attention due to their exceptional electrical and optical properties. Among these 2D materials, ReS2 distinguishes itself through its unique optical and conductance anisotropy. Despite concerted efforts to produce high-quality ReS2, the unique interlayer decoupling properties pose substantial challenges in growing large-area ReS2 thin films, with the preparation of single layers proving even more complex. In this work, large-scale continuous monolayer and bilayer ReS2 films were successfully grown on mica substrates using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD). Photodetectors were fabricated using the prepared high-quality ReS2 films, and the devices presented stable photoresponse and enhanced response sensitivity. The production of continuous ReS2 atomic layers heralds promising prospects for large-scale integrated circuits and advances the practical application of optoelectronics based on 2D layered materials