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Recent oncological research has intensely focused on the tumor immune microenvironment (TME), particularly the functions of CD4 + T lymphocytes. CD4+ T lymphocytes have been implicated in antigen presentation, cytokine release, and cytotoxicity, suggesting their contribution to the dynamics of the TME. Furthermore, the application of single-cell sequencing has yielded profound insights into the phenotypic diversity and functional specificity of CD4+ T cells in the TME. In this review, we discuss the current findings from single-cell analyses, emphasizing the heterogeneity of CD4+ T cell subsets and their implications in tumor immunology. In addition, we review the critical signaling pathways and molecular networks underpinning CD4+ T cell activities, thereby offering novel perspectives on therapeutic targets and strategies for cancer treatment and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, nano-sized Al 2 O 3 and Gd 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 1.95 (GDC) particles are added to La 0.6 Sr 0.4 Co 0.2 Fe 0.8 O 3-δ (LSCF) cathode material as sintering inhibitors for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) to improve the stability of the cell performance. Studies reveal that as the amount of the inhibitors increases, the sintering activation energy of the composite LSCF sample increases, resulting in retarded sintering kinetics indicated by the suppressed grain size of the sintered composite LSCF cathode. Long-term durability tests show that due to the enhanced stability of the microstructure of the composite LSCF cathode, the composite cathode exhibits improved performance stability. Furthermore, both the Al 2 O 3 and GDC additions can improve the hardness and elastic modulus of the cathode, while the electrical conductivity of both cathodes exceed 100 S/cm and can still meet the requirements for the SOFC in the operation temperature range of 600–800 °C. In light of the boosted electrochemical durability of the Al 2 O 3 -added LSCF cathode and much lower cost of Al 2 O 3 compared to the rare-earth element based GDC materials, LSCF cathode with a proper amount of the nano-sized Al 2 O 3 inhibitors is a good solution to enhance the mechanical property, electrochemical durability of LSCF cathode for the SOFCs at low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and timely monitoring of pests is an effective way to minimize the negative effects of pests in agriculture. Since deep learning-based methods have achieved good performance in object detection, they have been successfully applied for pest detection and monitoring. However, the current pest detection methods fail to balance the relationship between computational cost and model accuracy. Therefore, this paper proposes a lightweight, locality-aware faster R-CNN (LLA-RCNN) method for effective pest detection and real-time monitoring. The proposed model uses MobileNetV3 to replace the original backbone, reduce the computational complexity, and compress the size of the model to speed up pest detection. The coordinate attention (CA) blocks are utilized to enhance the locality information for highlighting the objects under complex backgrounds. Furthermore, the generalized intersection over union (GIoU) loss function and region of interest align (RoI Align) technology are used to improve pest detection accuracy. The experimental results on different types of datasets validate that the proposed model not only significantly reduces the number of parameters and floating-point operations (FLOPs), but also achieves better performance than some popular pest detection methods. This demonstrates strong generalization capabilities and provides a feasible method for pest detection on resource-constrained devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a detailed description of the development and experimental results of the supercritical flow experiment payload carried on the TZ-6 cargo spacecraft, as well as a systematic verification of the out-of-cabin deployment experiment. The technical and engineering indicators of the payload deployment experiment are analyzed, and the functional modules of the payload are shown. The paper provides a detailed description of the design, installation location, size, weight, temperature, illumination, pressure, radiation, control, command reception, telemetry data, downlink data, and experimental procedures for the out-of-cabin payload in the extreme conditions of space. The paper presents the annular liquid surface state and temperature oscillation signals obtained from the space experiment and conducts ground matching experiments to verify the results, providing scientific references for the design and condition setting of space experiments and comparisons for the experimental results to obtain the flow field structure under supercritical conditions. The paper provides a specific summary and discussion of the space fluid science experiment project, providing useful references for future long-term in-orbit scientific research using cargo spacecraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polymer/nano-inorganics composite microsphere possesses excellent application prospects, but it is difficult to resolve the problem of the aggregation of nano-inorganic particles in polymer and the affinity between inorganics and polymer matrix. In this study, the preparation and characterization of polystyrene (PS)/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)/CaCO3 microspheres fabricated via a novel phase inversion emulsion process are described. By this one-pot method, the PS/EVA/CaCO3 microspheres are obtained by firstly converting styrene monomer containing EVA and nano CaCO3 into droplets dispersed in water with help of emulsifiers and a following polymerization. Because the inorganic nanoparticles are ultrasonically dispersed in liquid monomer mixture before the polymerization, the aggregation of nano-inorganic particles could be prevented to a great extent. The EVA is designed to enhance toughness of polystyrene matrix and increase the affinity between polymer and inorganic particles. The morphological structure of PS/EVA/CaCO3 microspheres is that nano CaCO3 particles are embedded both in the interior and on the surface of the microspheres. The micro-sized PS/EVA/CaCO3 microspheres showed a significantly improved mechanical property and a better heat resistance. This technique also offers the possibility for fabricating many kinds of new and useful polymer/inorganic microspheres with tailored performance by using special monomers and inorganic particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short text semantic matching is a core issue in the field of natural language processing, which can be widely used in automatic question answering, search engines, and other fields. In the past, most of the work only considered the similar parts between texts, while ignoring the different parts between texts, making the model unable to fully utilize the key information to determine whether texts match. In response to the above issues, this paper proposes a short text semantic matching strategy based on BERT sentence vectors and differential attention. BERT is used to vectorize sentence pairs, BiLSTM is used, and a multi-header differential attention mechanism is introduced to obtain attention weights that represent intention differences between the current word vector and the global semantic information of the text. A one-dimensional convolutional neural network is used to reduce the dimension of the semantic feature vectors of the sentence pairs, Finally, the word sentence vector is spliced and sent to the full connection layer to calculate the semantic matching degree between the two sentences. Experiments on LCQMC and BQ datasets show that this strategy can effectively extract text semantic difference information, thereby enabling the model to display better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most space shuttle fuel tanks use a center column to hold the Propellant Management Device (PMD). This paper analyzes the gas–liquid interface state in the tanks with a central column during microgravity experiments conducted in the Chinese Space Station. It launches an extended study to investigate the gas–liquid interface state under different gravity conditions. Using the perturbation method and boundary layer theory, we numerically calculated the morphology of the gas–liquid interface under varying gravity conditions based on the Young–Laplace equation. The results were then compared to those obtained from existing commercial software and were found to be consistent. Based on this, the study develops two types of calculation procedures. The first procedure generates the corresponding shape of the liquid surface by inputting the height of the liquid surface endpoints and the gravity level. The second procedure is based on the targeting method and generates the corresponding liquid surface by inputting the volume of the liquid in the storage tank and the gravity level. The procedures were used to analyze the variation of gas–liquid interface properties under different gravity conditions. This study offers theoretical support for liquid management in aerospace engineering fuel tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, alumina ceramics with hierarchical pores were successfully fabricated using freeze casting. Experimental studies show that both the solid loading of the slurry and the thermal insulation layer at the interface of the slurry and cooling plate can influence the pore characteristics of cast samples. In order to examine the pore characteristics and evaluate the permeability of the freeze-cast samples fabricated under different conditions, a generative adversarial network (GAN) method was employed to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) microstructure from two-dimensional (2D) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the samples. Furthermore, GAN 3D reconstruction was validated against X-ray tomography 3D reconstruction results. Based on the GAN reconstructed microstructures, the permeability and pore distribution of the various samples were analyzed. The sample cast with 35 wt.% solid loading shows an optimal permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated in China's arid and semi-arid zones, the Xinjiang region heavily relies on groundwater for its freshwater supply. This study utilizes data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission, covering the years 2003 to 2021, to quantitatively evaluate the temporal and spatial changes in groundwater storage anomalies (GWSA) in the Xinjiang region. Furthermore, we incorporate the HydroSHEDS dataset to examine the spatial variations in groundwater storage anomalies across watersheds of varying scales. Based on our findings, the GWSA decreased during the study period at a mean rate of −0.381 mm/month, marked by a consistent trend and notable interannual variability. In addition, significant regional disparities are observed; while groundwater storage in the southeastern watersheds is on an upward trend, a general decline is noted in the northern and central regions. The most pronounced depletion is detected in the northwest, especially in the Ili River basin and along the western slopes of the Tianshan Mountains. These changes are intricately linked to anthropogenic factors, including population growth and escalating water demands. In response, the study advocates for the development and enforcement of more rigorous and scientifically informed groundwater management strategies to promote sustainable water use in Xinjiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose highly efficient certificate-less (CL) protocols for the infrastructure used by authenticated key exchange (AKE). The construction is based on elliptic curves (EC) without pairing, which means it can be easily supported by most industrial cryptography libraries on constrained devices. Compared with other pairing-free CL solutions, the new CL-AKE protocol enjoys the least number of scalar multiplications over EC groups. We use a unified game-based model to formalize the security of each protocol, while most previous works only assess the security against a list of attacks, provide informal theorems without proper modeling, or use separate models for protocols in different stages. We also present an efficient integration of the core protocols into the TLS cipher suites and a stand-alone implementation for constrained devices. The performance is evaluated on constrained devices in real-world settings, which further confirms the efficiency of our proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge graphs (KGs) serve as a crucial resource for numerous artificial intelligence tasks, significantly contributing to the advancement of the AI field. However, the incompleteness of existing KGs hinders their effectiveness in practical applications. Consequently, researchers have proposed the task of KG completion. Currently, embedding-based techniques dominate the field as they leverage the structural information within KGs to infer and complete missing parts. Nonetheless, these methods exhibit limitations. They are limited by the quality and quantity of structural information and are unable to handle the missing entities in the original KG. To overcome these challenges, researchers have attempted to integrate pretrained language models and textual data to perform KG completion. This approach utilizes the definition statements and description text of entities within KGs. The goal is to compensate for the latent connections that are difficult for traditional methods to obtain. However, text-based methods still lag behind embedding-based models in terms of performance. Our analysis reveals that the critical issue lies in the selection process of negative samples. In order to enhance the performance of the text-based methods, various types of negative sampling methods are employed in this study. We introduced prompt learning to fill the gap between the pre-training language model and the knowledge graph completion task, and to improve the model reasoning level. Simultaneously, a ranking strategy based on KG structural information is proposed to utilize KG structured data to assist reasoning. The experiment results demonstrate that our model exhibits strong competitiveness and outstanding inference speed. By fully exploiting the internal structural information of KGs and external relevant descriptive text resources, we successfully elevate the performance levels of KG completion tasks across various metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apatite, an important mineral widely distributed in various geological environments, can be used for in situ U–Pb dating and Sr–Nd isotope analyses. The LA-ICPMS U–Pb dating and Sr–Nd isotopic determinations require suitable matrix-matched reference materials. Current apatite standards are rare and have some defects. Most natural apatite references display high and variable common Pb, which may be the most difficult issue in microbeam determination. We provided a gem-quality apatite MAP-3, subjected to detailed major- and trace element composition, U–Pb dating, and Sr–Nd isotopic analyses to assess its homogeneity of chemical composition and suitability as a reference material for microbeam U–Pb dating and Nd isotope analyses. Through comprehensive analyses, we show that the MAP-3 apatite is free of mineral inclusions and is uniform at the level of analytical precision of major- and trace element, U–Pb isotopic, and Nd isotopic ratios despite compositional zones from CL images. The MAP-3 apatite has ID-TIMS determined mean isotopic ratio values of 0.13222 ± 0.00016 for 206Pb/238U, 1.2084 ± 0.0030 for 207Pb/235U, and 0.0663 ± 0.0001 for 207Pb/206Pb and the weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 800.5 ± 0.9 Ma (2 s, MSWD = 1.5, n = 11). The 143Nd/144Nd isotopic results determined by (ID)-TIMS are 0.511248 ± 0.000006 (2 s, MSWD = 4.2, n = 11) with moderate Nd contents of ∼1532 ppm. U–Pb age and Nd isotopic compositions obtained by LA-(Q, SF-SC, MC)-ICPMS analysis are reproducible and agree with the values of TIMS, which indicates that MAP-3 apatite has the potential to be a primary reference material for microbeam determination of U–Pb ages and Nd isotope analyses. To validate the effectiveness of the potential, we dated some apatite reference materials of known age and two geological apatites. The results demonstrated the high-quality U–Pb dating reference materials used with MAP-3 apatite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetically assisted separation method is a rapid and easy technique based on the separation and isolation of magnetic substance by the application of an external magnetic field. However, the service life of absorbents using polystyrene as skeleton is heavily shorted by the intrinsic brittleness of polystyrene. A novel method of preparing porous magnetic polystyrene particles modified with EVA targeting to eliminate the problems of homogeneous polystyrene is described. The optimum hydrophile-lipophilic-balance (HLB) value, phase inversion temperature, and cloud point of the combined emulsifier selected in this work are analyzed and the optimized preparation conditions are determined accordingly. TEM and SEM show that the particles have a morphology structure that most of Fe3O4 particles are embedded in the interior. The dimension distribution of the pores in porous PS/EVA/Fe3O4 particles mainly belongs to mesopore. XRD indicates that the Fe3O4 particles keep their intrinsic crystal structure in the prepared porous magnetic particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel porous poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (PEGDMA) microspheres were prepared by utilizing different types of porogens, including toluene (TOL), cyclohexane (CYC), butyl acetate (BA) and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP). Their porous structure, specific surface area and particle size were systematically investigated. The SEM observation and the data derived from N 2 sorption showed that the PEGDMA microspheres using TOL or CYC as porogen had a very low BET surface area near zero. Whereas, the PEGDMA microspheres possessed obvious porous structure at both surface and inner when BA or DNOP were used as porogens. The microspheres using BA had significantly higher surface area, smaller pore diameter, narrower distribution of pore diameter, and larger particle size than the microspheres with DNOP under the same initial ratios of porogen to monomer. The mixed-porogen of BA and DNOP can also produce porous structure, but the addition of DNOP caused significantly larger pore size and lower specific surface area. The finally obtained PEGDMA microspheres using BA porogen were constructed of abundant micropores and mesopores with a high BET surface area. It is believed that the PEGDMA microspheres prepared in this work can be greatly in favor of the adsorption of metallic ions or small molecules. [Display omitted] • Porous PEGDMA microspheres were synthesized via a simple and easy-on method by suspension polymerization. • Effects of different types of porogens on porous structure and specific surface area were systematically investigated. • Porous PEGDMA microspheres using butyl acetate as porogen were constructed of micropores and mesopores with a high BET surface area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hybrid Janus nanomaterials have captured considerable attention since the asymmetric structure can combine the properties of each component and display synergistic applications. However, the precise design of the specific hybrid Janus nanostructures still remains a formidable challenge. Here, we for the first time report the fabrication of novel and highly uniform inorganic/organic hybrid Janus nanotubes via disassembling the mesoporous inorganic nanoparticles (NPs)/polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) hybrid sheets, which are generated through the in situ reduction of functional metal precursors on the prepared PS-b-P4VP mesoporous scaffolds. More importantly, the internal pore size of the hybrid Janus nanotubes can be precisely tuned by readily controlling the swelling time of the PS-b-P4VP sheet-like assemblies in a selective solvent for P4VP domains, thus generating the particular inorganic/organic hybrid Janus nanotubes with adjustable inner diameter size. We believe that our finding will provide an efficient and universal route to fabricate the particular inorganic/organic hybrid nanotubes for hierarchical functional devices and nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of porous crystalline materials with high surface areas, tunable pore sizes, and customizable surface chemistry, making them ideal for selective metal ion separation. This review explores the nanoarchitectonics, mechanisms, and applications of COFs in metal ion separation. We highlight the diverse bonding types (e.g., imine, boronic ester) and topologies (2D and 3D) that enable precise separation for alkali, alkaline earth, transition, and precious metals. The influence of COFs' pore characteristics, such as surface area, pore size, and distribution, on their adsorption capacity and selectivity is discussed. Additionally, surface functionalization enhances ion adsorption through electrostatic, coordination, and polarity interactions. Despite significant progress, challenges remain, including optimizing functional design for complex metal systems, improving material stability, and developing cost-effective synthesis methods. COFs also show promise in energy material recovery, biomedical diagnostics, and environmental remediation. Combining COFs with other separation technologies can enhance performance, and integrating AI and robotics in COF design may address current limitations, enabling broader industrial and environmental applications. [Display omitted] • Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) offer high surface areas and tunable pores, making them ideal for selective metal ion separation. • COFs' diverse bonding types and topologies enable precise separation of various metal ions. • Challenges in COF development include optimizing designs for complex metal systems, improving stability, and achieving cost-effective synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stability control of the convection flow field has always been a focal issue. The annular flow discussed in this work is a typical research model of microgravity fluid physics, which is extracted from the industrial crystal growth by the Czochralski method. It is believed that the instability of thermal convection is the key factor affecting the quality of crystal growth. Combining the reinforcement learning algorithm with the neural network, this paper proposes a control policy that makes forced convection compete with thermocapillary convection by changing the dynamic boundary conditions of the system. This control policy is successfully applied to the control of the quasi-equilibrium state of annular flow, and the global stability of the flow field is well maintained. It first experimentally makes the annular flow field under low and medium M a numbers achieve a quasi-equilibrium state, which is different from that before the onset of flow oscillations. Then, a simulation environment is created to imitate the experimental conditions. After training in the simulation environment, with the self-optimized algorithm, the machine learning approach can successfully maintain the simulation environment in a quasi-equilibrium state for a long period of time. Finally, the learning method is validated in the experimental environment, and a quasi-equilibrium state control policy is completely optimized by using the same optimization policy and similar neural network structure. This work demonstrates that the model can understand the physical environment and the author's control objectives through reinforcement learning. It is an important application of reinforcement learning in the real world and a clear demonstration of the research value of microgravity fluid physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of recent research has demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia exhibit significant changes in visual function and ocular tissue structure in the early stages of onset. It is therefore possible to explore a novel scientific breakthrough in the etiology of schizophrenia by transforming the traditional study of brain structure and function with a view to examining the potential field of eye tissue and function. However, few studies have investigated the correlation between iris characteristics and schizophrenia, and evidence is lacking in this regard. Thus, further exploration is needed. This study was designed to analyze the characteristics of iris structure, color vision function and cognitive function, as well as the changes therein in patients with the first-episode drug-free schizophrenia before and after antipsychotic treatment. It aimed to preliminarily identify easily-measurable biomarkers for early clinical screening and diagnosis of schizophrenia. This study recruited 61 patients (22 males) with first-episode schizophrenia. Prior to the commencement of treatment with antipsychotic drugs, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Farnsworth-Munsell Dichotomous (D-15 Hue Test) were used as assessment tools to evaluate cognitive function and color vision function, respectively. Over a 6-week period, patients received a second-generation antipsychotic treatment (all converted to olanzapine equivalent dose) as prescribed by the doctor, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was applied to evaluate the clinical treatment effects before treatment (baseline), as well as at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weeks after drug treatment. On the basis of iris characteristics, the patients were divided into groups. The observed differences in drug treatment effects between the groups were then compared and analyzed to further clarify the relationship between treatment efficacy and iris characteristics. Finally, changes in the cognitive function and color vision function of patients at baseline and at the 6th week after drug treatment were compared, and the effects of antipsychotic drug treatment on the above-mentioned functions were analyzed. On the basis of structural iris characteristics, 61 patients were classified as follows: 28 patients without iris crypts and 33 with iris crypts; 35 without iris pigment dots and 26 with iris pigment dots; 42 without iris wrinkles and 19 with iris wrinkles. No significant difference was observed in the PANSS scores of all of the patients at baseline; however, significant differences were found in patients with iris crypts and iris pigment dots at each follow-up timepoint (i.e., at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th week). Moreover, it is noteworthy that, compared with other patients, the PANSS scores of patients without specific iris structure characteristics (iris crypts and pigment dots) decreased significantly (P< 0.05), which indicated that the drug therapy was highly effective. Excluding the interference of drug factors, a significant correlation was found between the results of the D-15 (color vision function) and MoCA (cognitive function) in first-episode untreated patients (r = −0.401, P < 0.05). In addition, the MoCA scores (mean difference = 2.36, t = 10.05, P ˂ 0.01) were significantly higher after 6 weeks of antipsychotic drug treatment compared to conditions at baseline. The findings of this study demonstrated that color vision function of patients with schizophrenia improved with the improvement of cognitive function. The structural characteristics of the iris with crypts and pigment dots could have a significant impact on the drug treatment effect of schizophrenia and could be considered as a potential biomarker for detecting and recognizing schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recently, researchers have conducted many studies on the potential contribution of the retina and other eye structures on schizophrenia. This study aimed to evaluate differences in iris characteristics between patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals so as to find more easily accessible and easily measurable biomarkers with a view to improving clinical assessments and furthering our understanding of the disease. Methods: Overall, 80 patients with schizophrenia and 52 healthy individuals were included in the case group and the control group, respectively. Iris images were collected from all subjects to compare differences in the structure and color of the iris. The Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) were used to evaluate the clinical symptoms and characteristics of 45 first-episode untreated schizophrenics, and analyzed correlations between iris characteristics and schizophrenia symptoms. Results: There were significant differences in iris crypts (P< 0.05) and pigment spots (P< 0.01) between the case and control group, but no significant difference was found in iris wrinkles (P< 0.05). The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the total iris crypts [odds ratio (OR) 1.166, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.022– 1.330] and total iris pigment spots (OR 1.815, 95% CI 1.186– 2.775) increased the risk of suffering from schizophrenia. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the number of iris crypts was positively associated with the MOAS score (r=0.474, P< 0.01). Moreover, the number of the iris pigment spots (r=0.395, P< 0.01) and wrinkles (r=0.309, P< 0.05) were positively correlated with the subjects' negative symptom scores, respectively. Conclusion: Iris crypts and pigment spots were identified as potential biomarkers for detecting schizophrenia. In patients with first-episode untreated schizophrenia, iris characteristics may help psychiatrists to identify the illness and its severity, and to detect characteristic clinical symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In smart systems, attackers can use botnets to launch different cyber attack activities against the Internet of Things. The traditional methods of detecting botnets commonly used machine learning algorithms, and it is difficult to detect and control botnets in a network because of unbalanced traffic data. In this article, we present a novel and highly efficient botnet detection method based on an autoencoder neural network in cooperation with decision trees on a given network. The deep flow inspection method and statistical analysis are first applied as a feature selection technique to select relevant features, which are used to characterize the communication-related behavior between network nodes. Then, the autoencoder neural network for feature selection is used to improve the efficiency of model construction. Finally, Tomek-Recursion Borderline Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique generates additional minority samples to achieve class balance, and an improved gradient boosting decision tree algorithm is used to train and establish an abnormal traffic detection model to improve the detection of unbalanced botnet data. The results of experiments on the ISCX-botnet traffic dataset show that the proposed method achieved better botnet detection performance with 99.10% recall, 99.20% accuracy, 99.1% F1 score, and 99.0% area under the curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High‐flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy reduces the arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide and acute exacerbation but does not increase exercise capacity or decrease hospitalisation or mortality. The study aimed to test the hypothesis that in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, the use of high‐flow nasal cannula decreases arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide and increases the partial pressure of oxygen and 6‐min walking distance. Methods: PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane library were searched for eligible studies published from database inception to November 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses checklist). The primary outcomes were partial pressure of carbon dioxide and partial pressure of oxygen, and the secondary outcomes were transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and 6‐min walking distance. Results: Nine studies (680 patients) were included. high‐flow nasal cannula did not decrease partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with the control interventions (mean difference = −0.81, 95% confidence interval: −2.68 to 1.06, p =.395; I2 = 42.9%, pheterogeneity =.105). high‐flow nasal cannula decreased partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with long‐term oxygen therapy (mean difference = −3.25, 95% confidence interval: −5.65 to −0.85, p =.008; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.375); no difference was observed for the control modalities. high‐flow nasal cannula resulted in better partial pressure of carbon dioxide compared with control interventions in hypoxemic patients (mean difference = −2.59, 95% confidence interval: −4.82 to −0.35, p =.023; I2 = 32.5%, pheterogeneity =.224), but not in other types of patients. high‐flow nasal cannula did not increase partial pressure of oxygen compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 1.17, 95% confidence interval: −1.50 to 3.83, p =.390; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.660). high‐flow nasal cannula decreased transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension (transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide) compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 2.37, 95% confidence interval: 0.07–4.68, p =.044; I2 = 8.7%, pheterogeneity =.295). high‐flow nasal cannula increased 6‐min walking distance compared with the control interventions (mean difference = 18.22, 95% confidence interval: 0.86–,35.57, p =.040; I2 = 0%, pheterogeneity =.918). The sensitivity analyses showed that the results were robust. Conclusions: High‐flow nasal cannula did not significantly decrease partial pressure of carbon dioxide or increase partial pressure of oxygen in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, which is different from the previous meta‐analysis, but it decreases transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and increased 6‐min walking distance. Relevance to clinical practice: This meta‐analysis shows that in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high‐flow nasal cannula improves both transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide and 6‐min walking distance, suggesting the high‐flow nasal cannula has benefits in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Considering that the literature suggests no impact of high‐flow nasal cannula on hospitalisation and mortality, the benefits of high‐flow nasal cannula might be limited to the patients who survive the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease events. Still, the global impact of high‐flow nasal cannula on the quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the theoretical basis to analyze the hydrodynamics mechanism of ionic liquid in an electrostatic field to ensure that the ionic liquid electrospray thruster possesses good wettability. Stable and continuous electrowetting emitters are closely related to thrust noise, resolution, and stability. Therefore, it is urgent to explore the law of ionic liquid electrowetting emitters in an electrostatic field to improve the performance of thrusters. The article proposes a new hybrid emitter structure, which consists of a V-blade emitter and a square capillary. It also carries out numerical simulation of emitter electrowetting under normal gravity and atmospheric conditions and emission experiments to explore the process of ionic liquid layer spreading on the external surface of the emitter. The dimensions of the emitter d1, d2, and θ and the physical properties of ionic liquids jointly determine the electrowetting velocity, the threshold of wetting voltage, and the liquid layer thickness. By analyzing the influence of various variables on electrowetting, a complete emitter electrowetting law of ionic liquid electrospray thrusters is summarized, which provides an important basis for the optimization of the emitter structure. Considering the scale of the emitter and bond ≈1, the meniscus in the electrostatic field is mainly affected by gravity, surface tension, viscous force, and electrophoretic force. Accordingly, it is worth noting that electrophoretic force is calculated by the Maxwell stress tensor method that treats ionic liquids as a dielectric to ensure the continuity of the meniscus. Although it can satisfy the electrowetting study at the macroscale, the interaction between anions and cations at the micro-scale is ignored. The numerical simulation results and the experimental results are correlated. It is proved that the method used in this article is accurate enough to simulate electrowetting before the liquid layer breaks up to form ion emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A direct-seeding experiment of early rice with 8 sowing dates was carried out in Nanchang county in 2017 and two main conventional early Indica rice varieties in Jiangxi province were was selected in this study. The 8 sowing dates were defined as early sowing (a: March 11, March 16, March 21, March 26) and normal sowing (b: March 31, April 5, April 10, April 15). Growth period, leaf area index, biomass and meteorological data observed in field experiments were applied to the ORYZA_V3 rice model to analyze the suitability of the ORYZA_V3 rice model for direct seeding of early rice in Jiangxi. The results showed that the ORYZA_V3 rice model simulates the growth period of direct-seeded early rice well with (determination coefficient)R² >0.99, and the fluctuation range of NRMSE (normalized root mean square error) was between 0.61% and 3.12%. The simulation verification results of leaf area index, total biomass, and panicle biomass at the early sowing seeding period showed that the earlier the sowing date, the worse the simulation effected, and the closer to the normal sowing date, the better the simulation effected. The suitability of different direct-seeding early rice varieties of ORYZA_V3 rice model was different. Among them, the simulation value of the growth period of the early sowing and the measured value of Zhongzao 35 was differed from -1 to 1 days, and differed from -1 to 4 days in Zhongzao 39. Studies had shown that when the ORYZA_V3 rice model was used to simulate the double-cropping early direct-seeding rice, it was necessary to calibrate the model parameters of the corresponding rice sowing date and variety based on multi-year observation data to improve the local simulation effect of the ORYZA_V3 rice model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro-newton thrust generated by an ionic liquid electrospray thruster (ILET) can be used for drag-free control, attitude precise control, networking, and formation flight of micro-nano-satellites or spacecraft. Fabrication of high-quality emitters is one of the key technologies for the application of ILETs. A new method for fabricating externally wetted emitters is presented in this article. This method uses low-speed wire cutting (LSWC) combined with electrochemical etching, and the externally wetted emitter is fabricated in three steps. First, the tungsten cuboid is shaped by LSWC to get the geometry of the emitter. Second, the emitter is cleaned by superacid to remove the oxide layer that critically prevents the ionic liquid from wetting the emitter. Finally, microchannels are etched on the emitter surface by electrochemical etching. The tungsten emitter fabricated by the above-mentioned steps can obtain excellent wettability, and its microchannel can reduce the contact angle between the wall and the ionic liquid and enhance the capillary force that promotes the ionic liquid to climb along the emitter. The ionic liquid is spread into a uniform liquid film on the emitter surface to ensure a stable and continuous flow supply so that the thruster can work in pure ionic emission mode for a long time with low noise, high resolution, and a high thrust power ratio. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of all elements before and after the pickling emitter proves the feasibility of removing the oxide layer. The morphology features of the emitter are measured and observed using a metallographic microscope and profilometer, including the microchannel structure and its size and tip size and the thickness of the liquid film. Through repeated observation and evaluation, the etching parameters are recorded, including the amplitude and frequency of AC voltage, the etching time, the depth of emitter immersion in the solution, and the concentration of NaOH solution. In order to compare the performance of an externally wetted emitter and a porous emitter, the same process is used to fabricate two kinds of emitters. The conclusions on beam current, the resolution and noise of beam current, ignition reliability, and emission time are summarized during the emission testing. The emission tests indicate that the externally wetted emitter exhibits outstanding performance, which depends on its better wettability and the fact that the microchannels are not easily blocked by the products of electrochemical reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface tension tanks exploit the liquid surface tension in liquid transport and gas–liquid separation to provide gas-free propellant for the thruster. High transport efficiency of deflectors can ensure liquid relocation in the microgravity environment within a short period of time, which is helpful for providing gas-free propellant. This paper explores transport efficiency of deflectors through drop tower experiments and numerical simulations with the volume of fluid method. The experimental and numerical results show that both the liquid flow speed and the mass flow rate along deflectors increase as the widths of deflectors increase. Besides, a new type of propellant management device, which consists of four deflectors and four anti-sloshing baffles, is verified with numerical simulations and drop tower experiments. Moreover, long-term conditions are predicted by using similarity theories. These results can provide important references for the design of plate tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Very limited studies on the CFDST wind turbine tower system have been carried out. • The dynamic response of CFDST wind turbine towers is numerically investigated. • The effects of seismic incidence angles and various loads are discussed. • A comparative study on the CFDST towers and traditional steel towers is conducted. The dynamic response of monopile-supported offshore wind turbine tower (OWT) structures under seismic action in undrained conditions is analyzed using ABAQUS. A typical example is established by using the NREL5MW OC3 Monopile wind turbine tower as a prototype. The aim is to compare the seismic performance of concrete-filled double-skin steel tubes (CFDST) and steel structural wind turbine tower systems. The impact of seismic incidence angles on the dynamic response of both types of wind turbine towers is investigated. Combining OpenFAST, a sophisticated numerical model for the multi-hazard coupling is also established for both CFDST and steel structural offshore monopile wind turbine tower systems. The influence of various loads on the tower top acceleration, tower top displacement, base shear, and base moment for the aforementioned two types of wind turbine tower systems is studied. The results indicate that under the coupling effects of wind, waves, and seismic forces, the monopile CFDST wind turbine tower system exhibits superior seismic performance, operational stability, and safety compared to traditional steel wind turbine tower systems, and has better development prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 3D ultrasound features of patients with pelvic organ prolapses (POP) were analyzed using deep learning algorithms to explore the diagnostic efficacy of deep learning in identifying the types of POP and evaluate the feasibility of pelvic floor 3D ultrasound in diagnosing POP. Forty-four POP patients were included as the research objects, including 17 cases of anterior cavity prolapse, 23 cases of middle cavity prolapse, and four cases of posterior cavity prolapse. Twenty healthy women without POP were the control group. The 3D perineum ultrasound images of the patients were collected. A feature classification model for pelvic floor ultrasound images was built using deep learning algorithms. The proposed model was then compared with three convolutional neural network (CNN) models: support vector machine (SVM), radial basis function (RBF), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN), to evaluate its diagnostic efficiency in identifying the types of POP. Furthermore, the POP-Q score was performed based on ultrasound features. The results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the deep learning model was 0.79, and the 95% confidence interval was 0.76–0.80, higher than those of the CNN models. The accuracy (0.86), sensitivity (0.89), and specificity (0.84) of the deep learning model were higher than those of the three CNN models. The pelvic mouths of the study group and the control group were significantly more extensive than that of the nonproductive group (p < 0.05). The levator ani muscle of the POP group was significantly more extensive than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The model based on deep learning has high efficiency in identifying the types of POP. The 3D ultrasound examination has important clinical significance for POP diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To observe the effect of acupuncture assisted three-step analgesic therapy for cancer pain and its influence to quality of life. Methods: A total of 100 patients with cancer pain who were admitted to Shanghai Affiliated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital from May 2016 to October 2018 were randomly divided into two groups with 50 cases in each group. Patients in the control group were treated with three-step analgesic therapy. Patients in the observation group were treated with acupuncture on the basis of the control group. Patients in the two groups were treated for continuous 7 days. After treatment, the clinical total effective rate of the two groups were compared. Moreover, the pain relief time, digital pain intensity scale (NRS) score, and quality of life (physical function, psychological function, social function, living environment, general feeling) were compared between the two groups. The changes of serum pain mediators [Serotonin (5-HT), endodermin-1 (ET-1), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)] in the two groups before and after treatment were compared. The occurrence of adverse reaction in the two groups were analyzed. Results: In the observation group, the total effective rate was 92% (46/50), which was significantly higher than that of the control group, 78% (39/50). Moreover, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The NRS scores of the two groups after treatment significantly decreased comparing with those before treatment respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the decreasing degree of the NRS score in the observation group was more obvious than the control group (P < 0.05). The pain relief time of the observation group after treatment was significantly shorter than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The scores of physical function, psychological function, social function, living environment, and general feeling of the two groups after treatment increased comparing with those before treatment respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the increasing degree in each aspect of the observation group was more obvious than the control group respectively (P < 0.05). The 5-HT, ET-1 and PGE2 levels of the two groups after treatment significantly decreased comparing with those before treatment respectively (P < 0.05). Moreover, the decreasing degree in each mediator of the observation group was more obvious than the control group respectively (P < 0.05). There were no significant changes in blood pressure, heart rate, blood routine test, ECG, liver and kidney function in the two groups before and after treatment. The incidence rate of adverse reaction of the observation group was 6% (3/50), which was significantly lower than that of the control group, 24% (12/50). Moreover, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture assisted three-step analgesic therapy could effectively inhibit the expression of paincausing substances in the body of patients with cancer pain, improve the analgesic effect, relieve the pain of patients, improve the quality of life of patients, and could significantly reduce the adverse reaction caused by western medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play a crucial role in cancer development and tumor resistance to therapy in prostate cancer, but the influence of MSCs on the stemness potential of PCa cells by cell–cell contact remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of direct contact of PCa cells with MSCs on the stemness of PCa and its mechanisms. Methods: First, the flow cytometry, colony formation, and sphere formation were performed to determine the stemness of PCaMSCs, and the expression of stemness-related molecules (Sox2, Oct4, and Nanog) was investigated by western blot analysis. Then, we used western blot and qPCR to determine the activity levels of two candidate pathways and their downstream stemness-associated pathway. Finally, we verified the role of the significantly changed pathway by assessing the key factors in this pathway via in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results: We established that MSCs promoted the stemness of PCa cells by cell–cell contact. We here established that the enhanced stemness of PCaMSCs was independent of the CCL5/CCR5 pathway. We also found that PCaMSCs up-regulated the expression of Notch signaling-related genes, and inhibition of Jagged1-Notch1 signaling in PCaMSCs cells significantly inhibited MSCs-induced stemness and tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: Our results reveal a novel interaction between MSCs and PCa cells in promoting tumorigenesis through activation of the Jagged1/Notch1 pathway, providing a new therapeutic target for the treatment of PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the initial stage of a radio frequency ion thruster (RIT) ignition, an influx of electrons is required from an external source into the discharge chamber and ionization of the neutral gas propellant. A neutralizer-free method for Townsend breakdown discharge ignition based on Paschen's law was developed in this study. The feasibility of the ignition method was confirmed by performing thousands of ignition experiments. Metallic Molybdenum (Mo), pyrolytic graphite (PG) and Zr 4 1. 2 Ti 1 3. 8 Cu 1 2. 5 Ni 1 0 Be 2 2. 2 alloy acceleration grids were prepared, and ignition-induced damage on the grids was investigated. A field-emission scanning electron microscope was used to inspect surface damage on the grids after multiple ignitions and to analyze the influence of the ignition method on the lifetime of the ion optical system. Grid materials for space missions that require multiple RIT ignitions (10 3) should be high-strength blocks that are resistant to sputtering corrosion and high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Taiji-1" satellite is a test satellite for the verification of those key technologies involved in the "Taiji Program in Space", China's space gravitational wave detection project; and the spacecraft drag-free control technology is one of its key technologies used to improve the microgravity level of spacecraft. Thus, a demand for a high-precision and continuously adjustable micronewton-level thrust has been proposed on the spacecraft micro-propulsion system. In allusion to such a task, a set of micronewton-level RF ion propulsion system was designed based on the principle of self-sustained discharge of RF plasma so as to conduct studies on the parameter optimization and engineering of RF ion thruster, and an engineering prototype of the micronewton-level continuously adjustable RF ion thruster was successfully developed to meet the design index requirements. The operating parameters have been solidified through further studies on the extreme operating conditions of the engineering prototype, and a series of ground simulation tests of space environment were successfully passed. The ground test and calibration experiment results of the micro-propulsion engineering prototype show that the engineering prototype has fully met the requirements of the Taiji-1 mission, thus having laid a solid foundation for the successful space verification of the key technologies for the "Taiji-1" satellite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new emitter structure of needle-capillary ionic liquid electrospray thruster and carries out numerical simulation and theoretical analysis to discover the emitter infiltration effect under the conditions of no liquid supply and liquid supply. Emitter physical dimensions L, d, θ , β and the contact angles α , γ between the ionic fluid and the structure jointly determine the configuration of the meniscus. By analyzing the influence of various variables on the infiltration, a complete emitter infiltration law of needle-capillary ionic liquid electrospray thruster is summarized. In addition, the phenomena of infiltration relaxation and periodical infiltration oscillation are found in the numerical simulation under the condition of liquid supply, which provide an important basis for the optimization of the emitter structure. Considering Bond number ≪ 10−2 and working in a space environment, the liquid is mainly affected by surface tension and viscous force. Meanwhile, the meniscus formed by the ionic fluid satisfies the requirement that it has rotational axis symmetry and constant mean curvature surface, thereby obtaining the mathematical analytical expression of the quasi-static meniscus, the Delaunay surface. The numerical simulation results and analytical solutions are fitted, and an excellent consistency is obtained with an extremely small fitting deviation. Besides, the classification inferences of the type of Delaunay surface to which the meniscus belongs to are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The sudden outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a dramatic effect on the mental health of the public. In the present study, we demonstrated the psychological effects on children and adolescents associated with the epidemic .Methods: By using convenience sampling method, questionnaires, such as Spence Child Anxiety Scale, Child Depression Inventory and Coping style Scale, were distributed to participating 359 children and 3254 adolescents online.Results: The anxiety levels of children and adolescents were (23.87 ± 15.79) and (29.27 ± 19.79), respectively. 22.28% respondents were suffering from depressive symptoms. Seven significant factors associated with increased levels of anxiety, including female, resident in urban regions, emotion-focused coping style. Nine factors associated with increased levels of depression, such as smartphone addiction (OR 1.411, 95% CI 1.099-1.180), Internet addiction (OR 1.844, 95% CI 1.209-2.811), and resident in Hubei province (OR 3.107, 95% CI 1.252-7.708). Two additional factors associated with decreased levels of depressive symptoms: hours spend on Internet per day before the epidemic (OR 0.652, 95% CI 0.609-0.697) and tendency to apply problem-focused coping style (OR 0.937, 95% CI 0.923-0.951).Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant psychosocial impact on children and adolescents. Findings of current levels of anxiety and depression not only highlight the need to address emotional distress for children and adolescents during the epidemic but also provide researchers with scientific fundamentals to formulate targeted interventions based on the significant influencing factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the effects of the nanostructure, phase change behaviors on flat and nanostructured surfaces display distinct features. In this work, the molecular dynamics simulation method is employed to investigate the onset temperature of explosive boiling (Ts) with various film thicknesses, pillar heights, and wettability. The simulation results show that Ts decreases with the film thickness on both wettability flat surfaces. However, the decreasing rates have the significant distinctions, where the difference between two surfaces of Ts with the identical film thickness decreases. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that all the values of Ts on nanostructured surfaces are lower than those on flat surfaces with the same film thickness. With the increase of the film thickness, Ts presents a decreasing trend on both wettability and nanostructured surfaces, especially with the liquid film with the thickness over 6 nm, where a completely opposite conclusion compared to the flat surface is represented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been carried out to study dynamical stability of intra-protein hydrogen bonds based on two set of atomic charges, the standard AMBER charge and the polarized protein-specific charge (PPC). The latter is derived from quantum mechanical calculation for protein in solution using a recently developed molecular fractionation with conjugate caps-Poisson-Boltzmann (MFCC-PB) approach and therefore includes electronic polarization effect of the protein at native structure. MD simulations are performed for a number of benchmark proteins containing helix and/or beta sheet secondary structures. The computational result shows that occupancy percentage of hydrogen bonds averaged over simulation time, as well as the number of hydrogen bonds as a function of simulation time, is consistently higher under PPC than AMBER charge. In particular, some intra-protein hydrogen bonds are found broken during MD simulation using AMBER charge but they are stable using PPC. The breaking of some intra-protein hydrogen bonds in AMBER simulation is responsible for deformation or denaturing of some local structures of proteins during MD simulation. The current study provides strong evidence that hydrogen bonding is dynamically more stable using PPC than AMBER charge, highlighting the stabilizing effect of electronic polarization on protein structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a fully quantum mechanical calculation for binding interaction between HIV-1 protease (PR) and the water molecule W301 which bridges the flaps of the protease with the inhibitors of PR. The quantum calculation is made possible by applying a recently developed molecular fractionation with conjugate caps (MFCC) method which divides a protein molecule into capped amino acid-based fragments and their conjugate caps. These individual fragments are properly treated to preserve the chemical property of bonds that are cut. Ab initio methods at HF, B3LYP, and MP2 levels with a fixed basis set 6-31+G* have been employed in the present calculation. The MFCC calculation produces a quantum mechanical interaction “map” representing interactions between individual residues of PR and W301. This enables a detailed quantitative analysis on binding of W301 to specific residues of PR at quantum mechanical level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bénard-Marangoni convection can be used to self-organize hexagonal convective cells, but defects easily emerge in the hexagonal pattern, which hinders its application in industry. The dynamics of front propagation and defect generation are studied in this paper. We focus especially on the onset process of a local disturbance of a hexagonal pattern, named the "nucleus." The front propagation of the nucleus has been researched through numerical simulations of a model equation and experiments. In the numerical simulations, a single nucleus can evolve into a perfect hexagon pattern under critical or subcritical conditions, and a random disturbance can generate multiple nuclei which evolve into grain boundaries. In addition, under supercritical conditions, defects also emerge as a single nucleus grows. The instability of front propagation is considered to be the mechanism for the generation of irregular patterns. The curvature effect makes the protrusion of the front have a larger velocity in supercriticality, which results in a wavy front, and defects are generated in the concave portion of the front. Also, because of the curvature effect, the front of an irregular pattern has a larger velocity than that of the regular pattern since the protrusion of the front in the irregular pattern increases the average velocity. Experiments have also been carried out by using an infrared camera to analyze front propagation. The results are qualitatively in agreement with the results of numerical simulations. Through the study of defect generation in front propagation, we put forward a method for generating a hexagon pattern which greatly reduces the number of defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) has devastating consequences. Dorsal root ganglion as a pivotal locus participates in the process of neuropathic pain and nerve regeneration. In recent years, gene sequencing technology has seen rapid rise in the biomedicine field. So, we attempt to gain insight into in the mechanism of neuropathic pain and nerve regeneration in the transcriptional level and to explore novel genes through bioinformatics analysis. Methods: The gene expression profiles of GSE96051 were downloaded from GEO database. The gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed, and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was constructed by Cytoscape software. Results: Our results showed that both IL-6 and Jun genes and the signaling pathway of MAPK, apoptosis, P53 present their vital modulatory role in nerve regeneration and neuropathic pain. Noteworthy, 13 hub genes associated with neuropathic pain and nerve regeneration, including Ccl12, Ppp1r15a, Cdkn1a, Atf3, Nts, Dusp1, Ccl7, Csf, Gadd45a, Serpine1, Timp1 were rarely reported in PubMed database, these genes may provide us the new orientation in experimental research and clinical study. Conclusions: Our results may provide more deep insight into the mechanism and a promising therapeutic target. The next step is to put our emphasis on an experiment level and to verify the novel genes from 13 hub genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is an important antioxidant enzyme in the body. The weakening of the antioxidant system causes damage to the cells and tissues that make up the organism, adversely affects the function of the nervous system, and ultimately leads to schizophrenia (SCZ). Previous studies have yielded inconsistent results across different ethnic populations. Purpose: This case–control study was carried out to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms in GST could be associated with SCZ in the Chinese Han population. Patients and Methods: A total of 794 participants, including 379 SCZ patients (case group) and 415 healthy individuals (control group), were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length for polymorphisms in GST genes. Results: The study found that the frequency of the GSTM1 null genotype was higher in case group than control group (p=0.003). The frequency of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 double null genotype was also higher in case group than control group (p=0.008). Conclusion: We conclude that the GSTM1 null genotype and the GSTM1 and GSTT1 double null genotype may be related to the onset of SCZ in Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading neuroscientific theories posit a central role for the functional integration of cortical areas in conscious states. Considerable evidence supporting this hypothesis is based on network changes during anesthesia, but it is unclear whether these changes represent state-related (conscious vs unconscious) or drug-related (anesthetic vs no anesthetic) effects. We recently demonstrated that carbachol delivery to prefrontal cortex (PFC) restored wakefulness despite continuous administration of the general anesthetic sevoflurane. By contrast, carbachol delivery to parietal cortex, or noradrenaline delivery to either prefrontal or parietal cortices, failed to restore wakefulness. Thus, carbachol-induced reversal of sevoflurane anesthesia represents a unique state that combines wakefulness with clinically relevant anesthetic concentrations in the brain. To differentiate the state-related and drug-related associations of cortical connectivity and dynamics, we analyzed the electroencephalographic data gathered from adult male Sprague Dawley rats during the aforementioned experiments for changes in functional cortical gamma connectivity (25-155 Hz), slow oscillations (0.5-1 Hz), and complexity (< 175 Hz). We show that higher gamma (85-155 Hz) connectivity is decreased (p < 0.02) during sevoflurane anesthesia, an expected finding, but was not restored during wakefulness induced by carbachol delivery to PFC. Conversely, for rats in which wakefulness was not restored, the functional gamma connectivity remained reduced, but there was a significant decrease (p < 0.001) in the power of slow oscillations and increase (p < 0.001) in cortical complexity, which was similar to that observed during wakefulness induced after carbachol delivery to PFC. We conclude that the level of consciousness can be dissociated from cortical connectivity, oscillations, and dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide the first provable linear-time (in terms of the number of nonzero entries of the input) algorithm for approximately solving the generalized trust region subproblem (GTRS) of minimizing a quadratic function over a quadratic constraint under some regularity condition. Our algorithm is motivated by and extends a recent linear-time algorithm for the trust region subproblem by Hazan and Koren [Math. Program., 158 (2016), pp. 363–381]. However, due to the nonconvexity and noncompactness of the feasible region, such an extension is nontrivial. Our main contribution is to demonstrate that under some regularity condition, the optimal solution is in a compact and convex set and lower and upper bounds of the optimal value can be computed in linear time. Using these properties, we develop a linear-time algorithm for the GTRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thorough structural exploration was performed for MgB6 combining the global structure searching method with first-principles calculations. Besides the known Cmcm phase, new phases, i.e. I4/mmm, C2/m-I, C2/m-II and P21/m, were predicted to be stable in the pressure range of 18–100 GPa. Unexpectedly, Cmcm-MgB6 was found to be a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 0.38 eV with the HSE06 functional, in good agreement with the experimental finding. I4/mmm-MgB6 stabilized above 18 GPa exhibits semimetallic behaviour with a topological node-line near the Fermi level. Consequently, C2/m-I MgB6 with a sandwich structure similar to MgB2 is predicted to be a superconductor with a critical temperature (Tc) of 9.5 K. By analysing the electronic structure, the intriguing semiconductor–semimetal–superconductor transition may be ascribed to the delocalization of more B-p electrons in the boron sublattice. The novel functions uncovered for MgB6 may inspire more efforts to discover materials with intriguing properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beam column is an important structure of a building, and its mechanical properties can directly affect the quality of buildings. The traditional wooden beam-column structure has defects in quality and dimension; to avoid the defects, laminated wood emerges. To prove the mechanical properties of plywood beams and columns, the three-layer plywood beam-column structure was made using larch wood and taking melamine resin as adhesive. The beam-column structure was divided into three groups, group A, B and C, 5 each group, for compression resistance, bending resistance and ultimate load tests. The results showed that the larch plywood beam-column structure had favourable compression and bending resistance and had an ultimate load which was close to the theoretical one, but was slight small. To sum up, the beam-column structure which was made of the three-layer larch plywood that is glued using melamine resin has good mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Concus-Finn condition, based on the local microscopic contact angle, can be used to predict discontinuous behavior of a liquid drop in an ideally sharp corner. However, since ideally sharp corners do not exist in reality, it is important to understand the effect of rounded corners on the behavior of liquid drops. In this paper, we use theoretical calculations to study the behavior of two-dimensional liquid drops in rounded corners, including the case in which the contact angles on the two sides of the corner may differ. A new discontinuous behavior was discovered in our study, which is different from the case in sharp corners. Comparing the situation in sharp corners, our study shows that the behavior of a drop in a rounded corner depends on the dimensionless volume of the drop, in addition to its dependence on the opening angle and contact angles that is covered by the Concus-Finn condition. We also use energy-minimization approach to successfully explain why this discontinuous behavior occurs in rounded corners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new solution framework to solve the generalized trust region subproblem (GTRS) of minimizing a quadratic objective over a quadratic constraint. More specifically, we derive a convex quadratic reformulation (CQR) via minimizing a linear objective over two convex quadratic constraints for the GTRS. We show that an optimal solution of the GTRS can be recovered from an optimal solution of the CQR. We further prove that this CQR is equivalent to minimizing the maximum of the two convex quadratic functions derived from the CQR for the case under investigation. Although the latter minimax problem is nonsmooth, it is well structured and convex. We thus develop two steepest descent algorithms corresponding to two different line search rules. We prove global sublinear convergence rates for both algorithms. We also obtain a local linear convergence rate of the first algorithm by estimating the Kurdyka– Lojasiewicz exponent at any optimal solution under mild conditions. We finally demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithms with numerical experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Nowadays, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are emerging as a new type of green and sustainable solvents for efficient extraction of bioactive compounds from natural products. In the present study, to evaluation of DESs for the extraction of flavone C -glycosides, a total of twelve choline chloride based DESs were tailored for simultaneous extraction three main bioactive flavone C -glycosides (2″‑ O ‑galactopyranosylorientin, orientin and vitexin) from Flos Trollii. The DES composed of choline chloride and zinc bromide showed the best extraction efficiency for the flavone C -glycosides compared with conventional organic solvents (methanol and 50% methanol). Subsequent, the extraction parameters for the three flavone C -glycosides, including liquid-solid ratios, water content (%) in the selected DESs, and extraction time were optimized using response surface methodology and the optimal extraction condition are liquid-solid ratio, 42 mL/g; water content, 48%; extraction time, 28 min. In addition, the three flavone C -glycosides were recovered from DESs by macroporous resin (D101) with a satisfactory yield between 75.4% and 80.5%. The present research indicated that DESs were efficient and sustainable for extraction main flavone C -glycosides from Flos Trollii and the data acquired in this study could contribute to further DESs application in extraction of bioactive compounds from natural products. Highlights • Choline chloride based DESs were tailored for efficiently extraction flavone C -glycosides from Flos Trollii. • The tailor-made DESs exhibit enhanced extraction yields for flavone C -glycosides than conventional organic solvents. • The extraction parameters for the flavone C -glycosides by DES were optimized using response surface methodology. • The target compounds were successfully recovered from DESs by macroporous resin. • The developed extraction method was efficient and green. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new julolidine based Schiff base receptor (L) was synthesized and characterized. L forms a 1:1 complex with Al 3+ in methanol, resulting in an immediate color change from chartreuse to orange and a remarkable enhancement in its emission intensity along with a bathochromic shift from 540 nm to 570 nm. Addition of trace amounts of water significantly quenches the fluorescence emission, where a decomplexation of Al 3+ from the L-Al 3+ complex takes place. The significant quenching effect indicated that the L-Al 3+ ensemble system can be used to detect trace water in commercial methanol. From the fluorescence titration, the detection limit for sensing water in methanol was estimated to be 0.0047%. We have also made an easy-to-prepare test strip of L-Al 3+ to detect water in methanol through naked-eye observation, which is possible to realize in situ monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hepatic VX2 carcinoma model in rabbits is widely used for the preclinical study of hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present study, a modification was made to the conventional method to establish the animal model, as the conventional method gives rise to frequent tumor seeding due to the drop-out of tumor fragments. In order to evaluate each distinct method of establishing the model, the rabbits were divided into two groups: Group A (the conventional method; n=20) and group B (the modified method; n=20). All surgical details were recorded for reference. At 14 days post-surgery, contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and autopsy were conducted. Microscopic morphology of tumor cells was observed using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cluster of differentiation (CD)31 were detected via immunochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. In total, 19 rabbits in each group succeeded in model establishment. Throughout the surgery, group A experienced a longer surgery time compared with group B (group A vs. group B, 22.57±1.34 vs. 20.17±1.50 min; P<0.001), an increased tumor fragment drop-out frequency (group A vs. group B, 1.84±0.96 vs. 1.16±0.38; P=0.008) and an increased peritoneal nodule incidence (group A vs. group B, 35 vs. 5%, P=0.042). As for CECT, H&E and TEM, hepatic VX2 allografts in the two groups demonstrated similar imaging presentations and tumor cell morphology. In addition, VEGF and CD31 levels did not differ between the two groups. In conclusion, the modified method for the establishment of hepatic VX2 carcinoma model in rabbits may decrease tumor fragment drop-out frequency during surgery and incidence of tumor seeding without affecting the properties of VX2 carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diesel particulate filter (DPF) is one of the most effective devices for reducing particulate emissions from diesel engines so as to satisfy emission regulations, and it has been widely utilized worldwide. After prolonged operation of the DPF, the accumulated non-combustible ash particulates can be sintered with filter walls and form ash-bridges, which will deteriorate DPF performance and increase emissions. Understanding physicochemical characteristics of ash-bridges is essential for elucidating the generation and evolution mechanisms of ash-bridges. Since lubricant additives are the main source of ash particulates, this study prepared four DPFs containing ash-bridges through accelerate ash loading experiments based on Zn-based, Ca-based, Mg-based, and composite lubricant additives. Subsequently, X-ray computed tomography (X-CT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to analyze the structural characteristics, micro-morphology, and chemical composition of ash-bridges inside each DPF. The results indicate that Zn-based and composite ashes formed numerous fine ash-bridges in the middle of the DPF, whereas Ca-based and Mg-based ashes resulted in fully shaped and highly blocked ash-bridges. These ash-bridges aggregated into compact ash plugs downstream in all DPFs. The micro-morphology of Zn-based ash-bridges appeared as ball-and-stick, Ca-based ash-bridges aggregated into large ash aggregates in DPF downstream, Mg-based ash-bridges exhibited characteristics of high porosity, and the micro-morphology of composite ash-bridges is spherical in DPF downstream. The primary components of ash-bridges in Zn-based, Ca-based, and Mg-based DPFs are Zn 2 P 2 O 7 , CaSO 4 , and MgO, respectively. The main components of ash-bridges in composite DPF include Ca 7 Mg 2 P 6 O 24 , Zn 3 (PO 4) 2 (H 2 O) 4 , and CaSO 4. These findings provide valuable insights into the understanding of ash-bridges, contributing to the enhancement of DPF performance and durability. • Ash derived from different lubricant additives can form ash-bridges in DPF channels. • The structural characteristics of ash-bridges in the upstream, middle, and downstream of DPF were observed. • The micro-morphologies of ash-bridges from upstream to downstream of DPF center and edge channels were characterized. • The main element and chemical compound of ash-bridges were detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]