X. Wendy Gu

Objective: In recent years, the incidence of functional constipation in children and adolescents has been increasing annually, seriously affecting their physical and mental development and quality of life, and placing a significant burden on society and families. This study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the prevalence and influencing factors of functional constipation among children and adolescents in China, providing evidence-based evidence for developing scientific intervention strategies for patients with functional constipation. Methods: We systematically searched relevant studies in databases including CNKI, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, SinoMed, VIP, PubMed, EmBase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from their inception until December 28, 2025. Two researchers independently screened and cross-checked the studies. The quality of cross-sectional studies was assessed using the evaluation tool from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 17.0 software. Results: We finally included 27 studies, involving a total of 112,801 cases. The results showed that the prevalence of functional constipation among children and adolescents in China was 7.8% (95% CI (6.0, 9.9%)). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that children and adolescents aged 5-12 years, females, those residing in North China, those diagnosed according to the Rome IV criteria, and those studied from 2021 onwards had a higher prevalence of functional constipation. Risk factors for functional constipation included female, family history of constipation, inadequate water intake, low intake of vegetables and fruits, low physical activity, being scolded for poor bowel habits in early childhood, non-breastfeeding, picky eating, food allergy, obesity, and high household income. Protective factors included adequate sleep and the development of good bowel habits. Conclusion: Current evidence indicates a relatively high prevalence of functional constipation among children and adolescents in China and is impacted by diverse factors. Therefore, future initiatives should prioritize training for primary healthcare professionals, conducting health education campaigns, raising parents' awareness of the risks associated with functional constipation in children and adolescents, reducing the prevalence of the condition, and improving the quality of life for affected children and their families.

Nanostructured metamaterials with complex 3D geometries can be fabricated using two-photon lithography but are typically limited to specific materials by the available photoresists. Here, we develop a two-photon lithography photoresist for fabricating mechanically robust and optically active metamaterials. This photoresist consists of silver nanocluster photointiators in a polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) polymer matrix. Printed nanocomposites show a 216% increase in elastic modulus and 166% increase in energy absorption compared to structures made of POSS, while retaining 96% elastic recovery. Nanocomposite gyroid nanolattices reach 80% strain at failure. The nanolattice energy absorption is among the highest for lightweight nanoporous materials. Thermal annealing is used to convert the printed nanocomposites to nanoparticle-embedded glass with 54% higher energy absorption than fused silica. The annealed gyroid nanolattices contain silver nanoparticles and exhibit plasmonic activity. Right and left-handed chiral nanolattices result in different transmission spectra under linearly polarized light.

Hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1), due to its crucial intracellular negative regulation of T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling, has emerged as a promising target of antitumor immunotherapy. Macrocyclization is an effective strategy to address the major challenges faced in the development of HPK1 inhibitors, as it can balance inhibitory efficacy, kinase selectivity, and pharmacokinetic properties. Herein, we continued this strategy and report a series of N-sulfonyl-pyrazole macrocyclic HPK1 inhibitors. Compound 14 exhibited excellent HPK1 inhibition with an IC50 value of 1.7 nM, as well as significant selectivity against GLK and LCK, which was confirmed in our molecular modeling studies to be caused by the interactions of cyclopropyl-sulfonyl group with different residues in the kinase domain. Compound 14 also displayed favorable human liver microsomal stability (T1/2 = 147.3 min) and considerable oral bioavailability (F = 22.8 %) in mice. More importantly, compound 14 demonstrated an additive synergistic effect with anti-PD-1 in a MC38 syngeneic tumor mouse model with a TGI% value of 89 % which was exhibited more pronouncedly in further subgroup analysis. These results indicated that compound 14 provided a perspective vision when used in combination of anti-PD-1 antibody as a new treatment regimen for patients who have insufficient response to current immunotherapy.

Solid-state batteries (SSBs) hold notable promise for advancing energy storage technologies. However, their commercial viability is limited by the poor cycle stability and complex degradation mechanism. This study underscores the pivotal role of electro-chemo-mechanical interactions in driving the failure of SSBs. Leveraging advanced x-ray imaging and spectroscopy techniques, we analyzed LiNi 0.8 Mn 0.1 Co 0.1 O 2 (NMC811) cathodes from cycled Li x In||Li 6 PS 5 Cl (LPSC)||NMC811 SSBs, uncovering the interplay between microstructure, chemical heterogeneity, mechanical characteristics, and electrochemical performance. Our results show that revealing electro-chemo-mechanical interactions is essential to develop strategies to suppress the degradation of SSBs. Particularly, we revisit a LiNbO 3 (LNO) coating layer to mitigate electrochemical degradation. The LNO@NMC811 cathode retains 116 milliampere-hours per gram after 200 cycles, showing excellent stability, while the uncoated NMC811 cathode keeps degrading over time, with suppressed chemical heterogeneity and mechanical failure. This work highlights the importance of synergizing advanced material design with coating techniques, ensuring uniform lithium flux and improving mechanical properties to achieve stable, high-performance SSBs.

Since Google introduced the concept of Knowledge Graphs (KGs) in 2012, their construction technologies have evolved into a comprehensive methodological framework encompassing knowledge acquisition, extraction, representation, modeling, fusion, computation, and storage. Within this framework, knowledge extraction, as the core component, directly determines KG quality. In military domains, traditional manual curation models face efficiency constraints due to data fragmentation, complex knowledge architectures, and confidentiality protocols. Meanwhile, crowdsourced ontology construction approaches from general domains prove non-transferable, while human-crafted ontologies struggle with generalization deficiencies. To address these challenges, this study proposes an Ontology-Aware LLM Methodology for Military Domain Knowledge Extraction (LLM-KE). This approach leverages the deep semantic comprehension capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) to simulate human experts’ cognitive processes in crowdsourced ontology construction, enabling automated extraction of military textual knowledge. It concurrently enhances knowledge processing efficiency and improves KG completeness. Empirical analysis demonstrates that this method effectively resolves scalability and dynamic adaptation challenges in military KG construction, establishing a novel technological pathway for advancing military intelligence development.

Lithium metal solid-state batteries offer advantages of high energy density and improved safety compared with lithium ion batteries. However, solid-state batteries fail through short-circuiting even at low charging rates (<1 mA/cm2) due to lithium dendrite initiation and propagation. The location of dendrite initiation is still under debate, particularly between initiation at the surface and within the interior of the solid electrolyte. Here, we develop an in-plane biaxial compression method that provides direct evidence of dendrite initiation within the interior of garnet solid electrolytes. The biaxial compression also deflects dendrite propagation to be perpendicular to the electric field direction and prevents short-circuiting at extreme fast charging of 100 mA/cm2. This approach demonstrates the use of mechanics to address pressing challenges in next generation batteries.

Mechanical metamaterials with nanoscale features exhibit exceptional properties, including high specific strength, modulus, energy absorption, and recoverability. The ability to fabricate these metamaterials out of complex nanocomposites could further boost their mechanical properties. Recently, two-photon lithography (TPL) has been used to fabricate architected microlattices out of high-performance polymer nanocomposites that contain metallic nanoclusters. However, the mechanism that leads to unique mechanical properties of the nanocomposites, such as high strain hardening, remains unclear. Here, TPL is used to fabricate nanocluster-based polymer nanocomposite micropillars and investigate how nanocluster content and chemical bonding with the polymer matrix impact their mechanical properties. The nanocomposites are tested in compression at strain rates of 10 –3 to 10 2 s –1, and after heat treatment up to 550 °C. Findings show that nanoclusters establish hydrogen bonds and exhibit strong interfacial bonding with the polymer, restricting polymer chain movement and significantly enhancing mechanical strength compared to unfilled polymers.

Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) metamaterials show promise for thermal management systems but are challenging to integrate into existing packaging with strict mechanical requirements. Composite TPMS lattices may offer more control over thermal and mechanical properties through material and geometric tuning. Here, we fabricate copper-plated, 3D-printed triply periodic minimal surface primitive lattices and evaluate their suitability for battery thermal management systems. We measure the effects of lattice geometry and copper thickness on pressure drop, mechanical properties, and thermal conductivity. The lattices as internal filling structures in a multichannel cold plate exhibited pressure drops under 6.5 kPa at a 1 LPM flow rate. Pressure drop decreased when the number of channels (width of the cold plate) was increased. With a 0.43% copper volume loading, the lattice more than tripled in thermal conductivity but still retained a polymer-like compliance. A higher lattice relative density did not affect the thermal conductivity but caused a higher elastic modulus and compressive strength, and a stiffer cyclic loading response. The lattice design demonstrates that the structural parameters that control pressure drop, mechanical, and thermal conductivity can be decoupled, which can be used to achieve a wide range of disparate properties in complex multiphysics systems.

The forces generated by action potentials in muscle cells shuttle blood, food and waste products throughout the luminal structures of the body. Although non-invasive electrophysiological techniques exist1, 2–3, most mechanosensors cannot access luminal structures non-invasively4, 5–6. Here we introduce non-toxic ingestible mechanosensors to enable the quantitative study of luminal forces and apply them to study feeding in living Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms. These optical ‘microgauges’ comprise upconverting NaY0.8Yb0.18Er0.02F4@NaYF4 nanoparticles embedded in polystyrene microspheres. Combining optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy to study microgauges in vitro, we show that force evokes a linear and hysteresis-free change in the ratio of emitted red to green light. With fluorescence imaging and non-invasive electrophysiology, we show that adult C. elegans generate bite forces during feeding on the order of 10 µN and that the temporal pattern of force generation is aligned with muscle activity in the feeding organ. Moreover, the bite force we measure corresponds to Hertzian contact stresses in the pressure range used to lyse the bacterial food of the worm7,8. Microgauges have the potential to enable quantitative studies that investigate how neuromuscular stresses are affected by ageing, genetic mutations and drug treatments in this organ and other luminal organs. Nanoparticle-based ‘microgauges’ are developed for in vivo force sensing and deployed in C. elegans to investigate how mechanical force correlates with electrical signalling in neuromuscular organs.

Abstract Cranial defect repair remains a significant challenge in neurosurgery, and designing material complexes that can support bone regeneration while minimizing complications such as infection and inflammation could help alleviate this clinical challenge. This study presents a photothermal hydrogel complex with a controlled rapid gelation process, PDA-G-A-H, which integrates photothermal polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) with gentamycin (G) and alendronate acid (A). Furthermore, the incorporation of the injectable hydrogel Pluronic F127 and collagen (H) made this composite hydrogel (PDA-G-A-H) suitable for the multifaceted needs of cranial defects. The PDA-G-A-H hydrogel exhibited superior biocompatibility, as evidenced by high cell viability and minimal hemolysis, making it a safe candidate for biomedical applications. In vitro assessments with MC3T3-E1 cells demonstrated that this hydrogel enhanced mineralization and osteogenic differentiation, and significant upregulation of key osteogenic markers was subsequently detected. The antibacterial activity of the hydrogel against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis was also investigated. The results of the RT‒PCR analysis revealed the potential for inhibiting biofilm formation. The hydrogel composite combines biocompatibility, osteoinductive, and antibacterial potential. It has translational potential for cranial defect repair and other bone regeneration therapies.

• This study develops hybrid TPMS-based architectured materials (HTAM), expanding the design space to enable unique structures. • Multi-objective Bayesian optimization with Gaussian processes explores this space using PHVI and EHVI in parallel, improving efficiency. • Optimized HTAMs are validated via additive manufacturing (2PP, SLS) and compression tests, showing superior performance across scales. • Experiments further demonstrate HTAM's enhanced behavior beyond the elastic regime. This study introduces hybrid TPMS-based architectured materials (HTAM), achieved by superimposing several triply periodic bicontinuous structures (TPBSs). This approach allows for the creation of structures that were previously unattainable using conventional single TPBS concept. We investigate the optimization of these architectured materials to enhance mechanical stiffness while reducing weight. To explore this expanded design space and identify optimal designs, we employed multi-objective Bayesian optimization (MBO) integrated with Gaussian process regression (GPR). By utilizing both the probability of hypervolume improvement (PHVI) and expected hypervolume improvement (EHVI) acquisition functions in parallel during the optimization process, we improved the efficiency of time and data usage. This facilitated the development of HTAM that form a Pareto front, approaching closer to the upper bound in the relative density and relative stiffness space. The optimized HTAM exhibited markedly higher specific Young’s modulus across various relative densities compared to conventional structures. Following optimization and manufacturability considerations, optimized HTAM designs selected from Pareto front were fabricated using selective laser sintering (SLS) at the macro scale and two-photon polymerization (2PP) at the micro scale. Compression tests confirmed the superior stiffness and exceptional yield strength of the HTAM, validating their potential for advanced engineering applications.

Metallic glass is a frozen liquid with structural disorder that retains degenerate free energy without spontaneous symmetry breaking to become a solid. For over half a century, this puzzling structure has raised fundamental questions about how structural disorder impacts glass-liquid phase transition kinetics, which remain elusive without direct evidence. In this study, through single-pulse, time-resolved imaging using X-ray free-electron lasers, we visualized the glass-to-liquid transition, revealing a previously hidden dormant phase that does not involve any macroscopic volume change within the crossover regime between the two phases. Although macroscopically inactive, nanoscale redistribution occurs, forming channeld low-density bands within this dormant phase that drives the glass transition. By providing direct microscopic evidence, this work presents a new perspective on the phase transition process in disordered materials, which can be extended to various liquid and solid phases in other complex systems.

The widespread application of metal additive manufacturing (AM) is limited by the ability to control the complex interactions between the energy source and the feedstock material. Here, we develop a generalizable process to introduce nanoscale grooves to the surface of metal powders which increases the powder absorptivity by up to 70% during laser powder bed fusion. Absorptivity enhancements in copper, copper-silver, and tungsten enable energy-efficient manufacturing, with printing of pure copper at relative densities up to 92% using laser energy densities as low as 83 joules per cubic millimeter. Simulations show that the enhanced powder absorptivity results from plasmon-enabled light concentration in nanoscale grooves combined with multiple scattering events. The approach taken here demonstrates a general method to enhance the absorptivity and printability of reflective and refractory metal powders by changing the surface morphology of the feedstock without altering its composition.

Colloidal crystals are used to understand fundamentals of atomic rearrangements in condensed matter and build complex metamaterials with unique functionalities. Simulations predict a multitude of self-assembled crystal structures from anisotropic colloids, but these shapes have been challenging to fabricate. Here, we use two-photon lithography to fabricate Archimedean truncated tetrahedrons and self-assemble them under quasi-2D confinement. These particles self-assemble into a hexagonal phase under an in-plane gravitational potential. Under additional gravitational potential, the hexagonal phase transitions into a quasi-diamond two-unit basis. In-situ imaging reveal this phase transition is initiated by an out-of-plane rotation of a particle at a crystalline defect and causes a chain reaction of neighboring particle rotations. Our results provide a framework of studying different structures from hard-particle self-assembly and demonstrates the ability to use confinement to induce unusual phases.

The widespread application of metal additive manufacturing (AM) is limited by the ability to control the complex interactions between the energy source and the feedstock material. Here we develop a generalizable process to introduce nanoscale grooves to the surface of metal powders which increases the powder absorptivity by up to 70% during laser powder bed fusion. Absorptivity enhancements in copper, copper-silver, and tungsten enables energy efficient manufacturing, with printing of pure copper at relative densities up to 92% using laser energy densities as low as 82 J/mm^3. Simulations show the enhanced powder absorptivity results from plasmon-enabled light concentration in nanoscale grooves combined with multiple scattering events. The approach taken here demonstrates a general method to enhance the absorptivity and printability of reflective and refractory metal powders by changing the surface morphology of the feedstock without altering its composition.

Colloidal crystals are used to understand fundamentals of atomic rearrangements in condensed matter and build complex metamaterials with unique functionalities. Simulations predict a multitude of self-assembled crystal structures from anisotropic colloids, but these shapes have been challenging to fabricate. Here, we use two-photon lithography to fabricate Archimedean truncated tetrahedrons and self-assemble them under quasi-2D confinement. Under a small gravitational potential, these particles self-assemble into a hexatic phase, which has not yet been observed or reported for this shape. Under additional gravitational potential, the hexatic phase transitions into a quasi-diamond two-unit basis. In-situ imaging reveal this phase transition is initiated by an out-of-plane rotation of a particle at a crystalline defect and causes a chain reaction of neighboring particle rotations. Our results provide a framework of studying different structures from hard-particle self-assembly and demonstrates the ability to use confinement to induce unusual phases.

Thin Films In article number 2210562, Ruijuan Xu, Kevin J. Crust, Varun Harbola, and co-workers report intrinsic size-driven scaling in lead-free antiferroelectric thin films. They demonstrate an intriguing antiferroelectric-to-ferroelectric transition upon reducing the thickness of antiferroelectric NaNbO3 membranes. The image shows the coexistence of ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases in freestanding NaNbO3 membranes.

Abstract Despite extensive studies on size effects in ferroelectrics, how structures and properties evolve in antiferroelectrics with reduced dimensions still remains elusive. Given the enormous potential of utilizing antiferroelectrics for high‐energy‐density storage applications, understanding their size effects will provide key information for optimizing device performances at small scales. Here, the fundamental intrinsic size dependence of antiferroelectricity in lead‐free NaNbO 3 membranes is investigated. Via a wide range of experimental and theoretical approaches, an intriguing antiferroelectric‐to‐ferroelectric transition upon reducing membrane thickness is probed. This size effect leads to a ferroelectric single‐phase below 40 nm, as well as a mixed‐phase state with ferroelectric and antiferroelectric orders coexisting above this critical thickness. Furthermore, it is shown that the antiferroelectric and ferroelectric orders are electrically switchable. First‐principle calculations further reveal that the observed transition is driven by the structural distortion arising from the membrane surface. This work provides direct experimental evidence for intrinsic size‐driven scaling in antiferroelectrics and demonstrates enormous potential of utilizing size effects to drive emergent properties in environmentally benign lead‐free oxides with the membrane platform.

Colloidal nanoparticles can be coated with a conformal shell to form multifunctional nanoparticles. For instance, plasmonic, magnetic, and catalytic properties, chemical stability and biocompatibility can be mixed and matched. Here, a facile synthesis for depositing metal boride amorphous coatings on colloidal metallic nanocrystals is introduced. The synthesis is independent of core size, shape, and composition. We have found that the shell synthesis is limited to nanoparticles capped with short molecular weight and low binding energy ligands, and does not work with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-coated Ag nanoparticles or thiol-coated Au nanoparticles. Shell thickness can be as thin as 3 nm with no apparent pinholes. High pressure studies show that the coatings are highly resistant to crystallization and are strongly bonded to the crystalline core. By choosing either CoB or NiB for the coating, the composite nanoparticles can be either ferromagnetic or paramagnetic at room temperature, respectively.