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The present research utilizes an inverse 3D CFD technique, coupled with the least squares approach and laboratory temperature readings, to predict the suitable turbulence flow model and unknown heat transfer rates within a cubic hot box. This enclosure features four cylindrical horizontal tubes arranged in a diamond configuration, functioning as heaters to generate heat within the space. Furthermore, the heat dissipation from each tube, flow field and temperature contours are also established. The energy equation for tubes and the governing equations for air are solved by coupling. The present estimates are obtained assuming a constant heat transfer rate. The range of the Rayleigh number is from 60,294 to 76,824. Testing various turbulence models revealed that the zero-equation turbulence model reduces the root mean square discrepancy between the simulated thermal behavior and laboratory outcomes compared to other methodologies. To verify the chosen flow model's accuracy, the Nusselt numbers and flow field distributions aress compared with existing correlations and interferometer photographs. The maximum errors between the estimates of heat loss and heat transfer rate and the corresponding values from previous studies are 44 and 28% for St = 0.036, 34 and 3% for St = 0.045, and 37 and 18% for St = 0.054. To assess the impact of tube surface and spacing on the flow field model, calculation results are compared with those from four square-arranged tubes, revealing a lack of existing studies on this specific investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the correspondence between the air track scenario and quantum database search algorithm was revealed. The conservation laws of linear momentum and nonlinear kinetic energy in the former case, which involve sequential elastic collisions, have their analogs in the latter case. Obviously, probability normalization combined with the Born rule serves as an analog for kinetic energy conservation. Here we explore the linear conservation laws in a generic quantum database search. Regarding the non-uniform distribution of the marked state, the uneven state is initially prepared. In this way, the Grover diffusion operator results in a linear but nonphysical conservation law. On the other hand, in the CTC-assisted database search with the vast reduction of query complexity, the nonlinear instead of linear conservation laws are found. Finally, we conjecture that there are no conservation laws in the generalized Grover’s algorithm including the imaginary number i. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the inverse 3D computational fluid dynamics method combined with the least squares method and excessive experimental temperature measurements is employed for the prediction of the unknown heat transfer rate and free convection heat transfer features and select an approximate flow model for the plate-finned tube heat exchanger. The results indicate that the heat transfer coefficient h ¯ f2 on the second fin estimated by the ZEM is closer to the existing inverse result than other flow models. In addition, its root-mean-square error is also small enough in all used flow models. The obtained values of h ¯ f2 and RMSE agree with those obtained from the isothermal assumption. Thus, this inverse technique has good accuracy and reliability. This inverse technique also needs less experimental temperature data than the isothermal assumption. The temperature and heat dissipation for each pipe and fin can also be estimated. The influence of the flow model and the vertical distance between two vertical pipes on the obtained estimates is also investigated. The mean dissipative heat transfer rates of per pipe for the vertical distances between centers of two pipes (Stv) of 0.054 m, 0.045 m, and 0.036 m are 10.72 W, 12.12 W, and 10.28 W, respectively. The heat losses in this study for Stv = 0.054 m, 0.045 m, and 0.036 m are 2.7%, 3.0%, and 4.5%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During orthodontic treatments, orthodontists want to simultaneously measure different kinds of intraoral pressure of a patient to determine a suitable orthodontic treatment plan for the patient. To achieve this, an intraoral pressure sensors-array with a specific arrangement in the oral cavity is needed. Hence, in this paper, we design a smart magnetic thin-sheet structure based wireless sensors-array arrangement for intraoral-pressure sensing for orthodontics to determine the above suitable treatment plan. In general, the sensors-array consists of multiple sensing modules. Each module consists of two parts: the first part is a transmitting/receiving electromagnet which is connected to a reference electromagnet in a balanced inductance bridge configuration while the second part is a smart magnetic thin-sheet structure based high-permeable sensing diaphragm. A voltage input is applied to the reference electromagnet and transmitting/receiving electromagnet, while the voltage output is measured from the transmitting/receiving electromagnet, respectively (the transmitting/receiving electromagnet can transmit the magnetic flux as well as receive or sense the change of magnetic flux). When the sensing diaphragm (which is placed in proximity to the transmitting/receiving electromagnet) undergoes a displacement, the gap between the sensing diaphragm and transmitting/receiving electromagnet changes. This subsequently changes surrounding magnetic flux, and consequently results in a change in magnetic reluctance between the sensing diaphragm and transmitting/receiving electromagnet. Thus, the voltage output of the transmitting/receiving electromagnet is changed accordingly. Based on this operation principle, furthermore, we use multiple transmitting/receiving electromagnets to form a compact (specifically arranged) sensors-array. The results show that specifically arranged sensors-array can provide measurement results in multiple points in the oral cavity to the orthodontists, as a simplified decision-making reference for the orthodontists to determine the clinical treatment plan for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular photoswitches are widely used in material sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology. As needs grow more complex, materials have to react more than one‐dimensionally. The use of multiple photoswitches at once opens manifold opportunities for further improved and more complicated systems. However, this requires independent addressability, i.e., orthogonality, and reversible processes. Herein, the first study on ultrafast excited state dynamics of two orthogonal photoswitches, a push‐pull azobenzene and a donor‐acceptor Stenhouse adduct is reported. In order to gain detailed insight in their interactions and mutual influences on their photoswitching behavior, they are addressed individually and simultaneously via transient absorption spectroscopy supported by quantum chemical calculations. They show reversible photoswitchability and in addition, can be used in 4D printing to provide easy access to a plethora of functional devices. Furthermore, environmental influences on the excited state dynamics are examined using different solvents and thin films. Both compounds photoisomerize independently when addressed individually or simultaneously and only little impacts on the excited state dynamics are found. Especially the vibrational relaxation is affected by different surroundings changing the energy dissipation while hardly affecting the electronic states involved. The orthogonal and simultaneous addressability is thereby crucial for their usage in 4D printed microactuators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Missing data in covariates can result in biased estimates and loss of power to detect associations. We consider Cox regression in which some covariates are subject to missing. The inverse probability weighted approach is often applied to regression analysis with missing covariates. Inverse probability weighted estimators typically are less efficient than likelihood‐based estimators, but in general are more robust against model misspecification. In this article, we propose a robust best linear weighted estimator for Cox regression with missing covariates. Our proposed estimator is the projection of the simple inverse probability weighted estimator onto the orthogonal complement of the score space based on a working regression model of the observed data. The efficiency gain is from the use of the association between the survival outcome variable and the available covariates, which is the working regression model. The asymptotic distribution is derived, and the finite sample performance of the proposed estimator is examined via extensive simulation studies. The methods are applied to a colorectal cancer study to assess the association of the microsatellite instability status with colorectal cancer‐specific mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nasal obstruction exerts considerable physiological effects on the respiratory system and craniofacial morphology during the developmental stage. This study used MMP-3-LUC transgenic rats for in vivo tracking of long-term expression in the rat nasal region after unilateral nasal obstruction. Skeletal changes of the craniofacial, nasal, and sinus regions were measured through micro-computed tomography examination and analysis with 3D image processing and calculation. Matrix metalloproteinase-3 and olfactory marker protein expression were also investigated through immunohistochemistry (IHC). Unilateral nasal obstruction significantly reduced the MMP-3 signal in the nasal region of MMP-3-LUC transgenic rats, which was mainly expressed in the respiratory epithelium. Long-term obstruction also caused morphological changes of the craniofacial hard tissue, such as nasal septal deviation, longer inter-jaw distance, and increased maxillary molar dental height. It also caused compensatory growth in olfactory nerve bundles and the olfactory epithelium, as confirmed by IHC. In our study, long-term unilateral nasal obstruction caused nasal septal deviation toward the unobstructed side, hyper divergent facial development including longer molar dental height, and reduced MMP-3 production. However, further investigation is necessary to explore the mechanism in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), also known as osteopontin (OPN), is located on chromosome 4q22.1. This multifunctional secreted acidic glycoprotein is expressed intracellularly and extracellularly in various tissues, where it interacts with regulatory proteins and pro-inflammatory immune chemokines, contributing to the pathogenesis of multiple diseases. Nevertheless, the intricate genetic connections between SPP1 and ovarian aging remain largely unexplored. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by delving into ovarian aging and its associations with SPP1 using multi-omics data analysis. Our findings indicate that SPP1 is a potential gene related to ovarian aging. To comprehend the role of SPP1, we conducted spatial transcriptomic analyses on young and aged female mouse ovaries, revealing a significant decline in SPP1 expression in the aging group compared to the young group. Similarly, a significantly low level of SPP1 was found in the 73-year-old sample. Additionally, in-depth single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis identified associations between SPP1 and ITGAV, ITGB1, CD44, MMP3, and FN1. Notably, co-expression analysis highlighted a strong correlation between SPP1 and ITGB1. In summary, this study pioneers the identification of SPP1 as a gene implicated in ovarian aging. Further research into the role of SPP1 has the potential to advance precision medicine and improve treatment strategies for ovarian aging-related conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in soft robotics strongly rely on the development and manufacturing of new responsive soft materials. In particular, light‐based 3D printing techniques, and especially, digital light processing (DLP), offer a versatile platform for the fast manufacturing of complex 3D/4D structures with a high spatial resolution. In this work, DLP all‐printed bilayered structures exhibiting reversible and multi‐responsive behavior are presented for the first time. For this purpose, liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are used as active layers and combined with a printable non‐responsive elastomer acting as a passive layer. Furthermore, selective light response is incorporated by embedding various organic dyes absorbing light at different regimes in the active layers. An in‐depth characterization of the single materials and printed bilayers demonstrates a reversible and selective response. Last, the versatility of the approach is shown by DLP printing a bilayered complex 3D structure consisting of four different materials (a passive and three different LCE active materials), which exhibit different actuation patterns when irradiated with different wavelengths of light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somatic mutations in cancer patients are inherently sparse and potentially high dimensional. Cancer patients may share the same set of deregulated biological processes perturbed by different sets of somatically mutated genes. Therefore, when assessing the associations between somatic mutations and clinical outcomes, gene‐by‐gene analysis is often under‐powered because it does not capture the complex disease mechanisms shared across cancer patients. Rather than testing genes one by one, an intuitive approach is to aggregate somatic mutation data of multiple genes to assess their joint association with clinical outcomes. The challenge is how to aggregate such information. Building on the optimal transport method, we propose a principled approach to estimate the similarity of somatic mutation profiles of multiple genes between tumor samples, while accounting for gene–gene similarities defined by gene annotations or empirical mutational patterns. Using such similarities, we can assess the associations between somatic mutations and clinical outcomes by kernel regression. We have applied our method to analyze somatic mutation data of 17 cancer types and identified at least five cancer types, where somatic mutations are associated with overall survival, progression‐free interval, or cytolytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes to examine the tangled relationship between race and environment in the nineteenth-century American literary tradition by looking at the gothic representation of the three vagabond characters in relation to the Californian coastal landscape in Bret Harte's "Three Vagabonds of Trinidad" (1900). Critically seen as a reworking of Mark Twain's Adventures o f Huckleberry Finn (1884), Harte's story continues the questioning of the civilization/wilderness dichotomy in Twain's work, but the story complicates its racial-ecological dynamics by shifting the focus from a white boy and a black slave to a Chinese orphan, a Native American vagrant, and a dog, and relocating their tramping and foraging from the Mississippi river to the pine forest and marshland at the Pacific coast of a frontier town in California. Harte's repositioning of racialized (as well as politicized) persecution at the western frontier articulates an ecogothic allegory on a transcontinental (as well as trans-global) scale, in which a seemingly ordinary western settlement is turned from what Leo Marx considers a pastoral-industrial "middle landscape" into a liminal haunting (as well as hunting) ground. 1 The paper examines how Harte's account of Trinidad topographies reveals a multi-layered ecological space and a haunted Romantic landscape that unsettles environmental as well as social order, reflecting racialized political exclusions during the course of the nineteenth century through legalized policies, such as the 1830 Indian Removal Act, the 1855 Vagrancy Act, and the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act restricting the spatial mobilities of Native Americans, Chinese immigrants, and other minority groups. The paper will focus on the intersection of orientalism, settler colonialism, and environmentalism, rethinking how the enmeshed race-environment relationship in Harte's writing, informed by the social and political practices of westward expansionism and racial segregation of his time, might reveal a subtler process of ecological othering, unveiling the parasitical relationship between racial exploitation and environmental destruction. [End Page 97] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many multi-sensor navigation systems urgently demand accurate positioning initialization from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) in challenging static scenarios. However, ground blockages against line-of-sight (LOS) signal reception make it difficult for GNSS users. Steering local codes in GNSS basebands is a desirable way to correct instantaneous signal phase misalignment, efficiently gathering useful signal power and increasing positioning accuracy. Inertial navigation systems (INSs) have been used as effective complementary dead reckoning (DR) sensors for GNSS receivers in kinematic scenarios, resisting various forms of interference. However, little work has focused on whether INSs can improve GNSS receivers in static scenarios. Thus, this paper proposes an enhanced navigation system deeply integrated with low-cost INS solutions and GNSS high-accuracy carrier-based positioning. First, an absolute code phase is predicted from base station information and integrated solutions of the INS DR and real-time kinematic (RTK) results through an extended Kalman filter (EKF). Then, a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) leverages the predicted code phase to improve the alignment between instantaneous local code phases and received ones. The proposed algorithm is realized in a vector-tracking GNSS software-defined radio (SDR). Results of the time-of-arrival (TOA) and positioning based on real-world experiments demonstrated the proposed SDR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For microscale 4D photoresponsive actuators, light is crucial in two ways. First, the underlying additive manufacturing techniques rely on photopolymerization processes triggered by the absorption of light. Second, the absorption of light serves as the actuation stimulus. The two absorptions can be conflicting. While the microstructure requires strong absorption at the actuation wavelength(s), this absorption should not interfere with that of the manufacturing process. Herein, a simple strategy is proposed to overcome these limitations and allow for the fabrication of multi‐photoresponsive 3D microstructures that can be actuated at different wavelengths of light. Two‐photon 3D laser printing is selected as the fabrication technique and liquid crystalline (LC) elastomers as the functional materials. In a first step, 3D microstructures are fabricated using an aligned LC ink formulation. Thereafter, up to five different dyes exhibiting absorptions that extend over the entire visible regime (400–700 nm) are successfully incorporated into the LC microstructures by an exchange process enabling a programmable actuation by irradiating with the suitable wavelength. Furthermore, by combining dyes exhibiting orthogonal absorptions, wavelength‐selective actuations are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the theory of institution, this research investigated the effects of institutional responses, employees' sustainability behavior, and sustainability transformational leadership on sustainability performance at seaports. Data were collected from 296 employees of port corporations in Taiwan, and a moderated mediation model was developed. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, this study identified four port institutional response dimensions: coercive policy, normative training, communication, and motivation. The results showed that sustainability transformational leadership, employees' sustainability behavior, and port institutional responses positively affect sustainability performance. Employees' sustainability behavior plays a mediating role between sustainability transformational leadership and sustainability performance. Specifically, this study found that port institutional responses play a moderated mediation effect on the relationship between sustainability transformational leadership and sustainability performance through employees' sustainability behavior. Lastly, implications for port sustainability practices and institution theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) analysis is one of the important components of regulatory submission. The purpose of this study was to survey PopPK analysis reports in new drug applications (NDAs) and biological licensing applications (BLAs) submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to retrieve the information regarding PopPK-related issues in the US FDA review reports. Methods: We surveyed NDAs and BLAs over the period from 2012 to 2022 from Drug@FDA databases and extracted the review reports from the website. We explored the issues identified in these reports and sorted them into four categories: (i) data used for PopPK analysis, (ii) base model development, (iii) final model development, and (iv) model evaluation. The percentage of the issues in each category and the total issues were calculated. Results: Data from a total of 317 applications were analyzed. Of these, 122 applications had at least one PopPK-related issue, and the count went up to 168 issues. The proportion of issues for each category was ranked as follows: model evaluation (39%, 65 of 168), final model development (34%, 57 of 168), data used for PopPK analysis (14%, 24 of 168), and base model development (13%, 22 of 168). The most common issues were related to the goodness-of-fit plots, covariate selection, and high shrinkage of ETA, accounting for 17.9%, 15.5%, and 11.3% of the total issues, respectively. Conclusion: The findings from this study may help the applicant understand the FDA's thinking on the PopPK analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high precision three-dimensional (3D) visible light-based indoor positioning (VLIP) systems have gained much attention recently for people or robot navigation, access tracking, etc. In this work, we put forward and present the first demonstration, up to the authors' knowledge, of a 3D VLIP system utilizing a two-stage neural network (TSNN) model. The positioning performance would degrade when the distance between the light emitting diode (LED) plane and the receiver (Rx) plane increases; however, because of the finite LED field-of-view (FOV), light non-overlap zones are created. These light non-overlap zones will produce high positioning error particularly for the 3D VLIP systems. Here, we also propose and demonstrate the Received-Intensity-Selective-Enhancement scheme, known as RISE, to alleviate the light non-overlap zones in the VLIP system. In a practical test-room with dimensions of 200 × 150 × 300 cm3, the experimental results show that the mean errors in the training and testing data sets are reduced by 54.1% and 27.9% when using the TSNN model with RISE in the z-direction, and they are reduced by 39.1% and 37.8% in the xy-direction, respectively, when comparing that with using a one stage NN model only. At the cumulative distribution function (CDF) P90, the TSNN model with RISE can reduce the errors by 36.78% when compared with that in the one stage NN model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Octopamine and Tyramine are biogenic amines that have been demonstrated to play an important immunological role in white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. G protein-coupled receptors, known as seven-transmembrane domain receptors, are a variety of neurotransmitter receptors which are sensitive to biogenic amines for initiating the cell signaling pathway. In present study, we cloned and characterized an octopamine/tyramine receptor (LvOA/TA-R) from the hemocytes of L. vannamei , with a 1194 b.p. open reading frame that encodes 398 amino acids. Several bioinformatics analyses indicated that LvOA/TA-R had seven conserved hydrophobic transmembrane domains. The phylogenetic analysis and multiple sequence alignment indicated that LvOA/TA-R was orthologous to the OA/TA receptor of tiger shrimp, P. monodon. LvOA/TA-R was expressed in hemocytes and nervous tissue including circumoesphageal connective tissue and the thoracic and abdominal ganglia. Significant increases in LvOA/TA-R occurred in hemocytes of L. vannamei under Vibrio alginolyticus infection within 30–60 min of infection. Here, we demonstrated that LvOA/TA-R expression is upregulated in response to Vibrio alginolyticus infection and appears to be functionally responsible for the observed immune response. These results suggest that LvOA/TA-R mediates regulation of immunity, which promotes the resistance of L. vannamei to V. alginolyticus. • An octopamine/tyramine receptor is cloned and identified in Litopenaeus vannamei. • LvOA/TA-R mRNA expresses in haemocyte and nervous tissue. • LvOA/TA-R protein expresses in haemocyte and nervous tissue. • LvOA/TA-R participate in shrimp immunity and resistance to pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Ideally, many materials should have a "knob" that allows for changing its properties at will, including the possibility to flip the sign of its behavior. This "knob" could be used to continuously tune the properties or in the sense of a digital switch. Such extreme level of stimulus–responsiveness has come into reach with recently increased possibilities of manufacturing complex rationally designed artificial materials called metamaterials on the micrometer scale. Here, we present mechanical metamaterials composed of liquid–crystal elastomers, whose director field is arranged into a designed complex three-dimensional (3D) pattern during the 3D laser printing process. External light from a blue LED, with intensities in the range of 10–30 W/cm2, serves as the stimulus. In the first example, we repeatedly flip the sign of the Poisson's ratio of an achiral architecture within classical elasticity. In the second example, we flip the sign of the twist per strain in a chiral metamaterial beyond classical elasticity. The presented examples overcome major limitations in responsive mechanical metamaterials and we foresee many possible three-dimensional responsive micro-architectures manufactured along these lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart health applications have received significant attention in recent years. Novel applications hold significant promise to overcome many of the inconveniences faced by persons with disabilities throughout daily living. For people with blindness and low vision (BLV), environmental perception is compromised, creating myriad difficulties. Precise localization is still a gap in the field and is critical to safe navigation. Conventional GNSS positioning cannot provide satisfactory performance in urban canyons. 3D mapping-aided (3DMA) GNSS may serve as an urban GNSS solution, since the availability of 3D city models has widely increased. As a result, this study developed a real-time 3DMA GNSS-positioning system based on state-of-the-art 3DMA GNSS algorithms. Shadow matching was integrated with likelihood-based ranging 3DMA GNSS, generating positioning hypothesis candidates. To increase robustness, the 3DMA GNSS solution was then optimized with Doppler measurements using factor graph optimization (FGO) in a loosely-coupled fashion. This study also evaluated positioning performance using an advanced wearable system's recorded data in New York City. The real-time forward-processed FGO can provide a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of about 21 m. The RMSE drops to 16 m when the data is post-processed with FGO in a combined direction. Overall results show that the proposed loosely-coupled 3DMA FGO algorithm can provide a better and more robust positioning performance for the multi-sensor integration approach used by this wearable for persons with BLV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factor graph optimization (FGO) is a well-known approach in the robotics field. Due to multiple iterations and application of large amounts of data, it usually could superior performance than the Kalman Filter (KF) under complex scenarios. However, it is rarely used in the underwater environment, especially for applications based on fiber-optic inertial navigation. Taking the ultra-short baseline system (USBL) as the application background, a novel inertial navigation system (INS)/USBL integrated navigation scheme based on FGO is presented in this paper. The traditional pre-integration factor simplifies the earth rotation and coordinate system, which limits its application in high-precision sensors. This paper proposed an improved pre-integration model using the high precision measurements of fiber optics gyroscope in FGO. Simulation and field tests proved that, with the FGO method, improved accuracy of INS/USBL integration was obtained compared to the traditional KF method. It confirms the potential of FGO in the applications of underwater navigation and positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of hyperthermal (34 °C) and hypothermal (14 °C) stress on the expression of the octopamine/tyramine receptor (LvOA/TA-R) and immune parameters in Litopenaeus vannamei , which is a species critical to the aquaculture industry. Given the sensitivity of aquatic organisms to climate change, understanding the physiological and immune responses of L. vannamei to temperature variations is essential for developing strategies to mitigate adverse effects. This research focuses on the immune response and expression changes of LvOA/TA-R under acute (0.5, 1, and 2 h) and chronic (24, 72, and 168 h) thermal stress conditions. Our findings reveal that thermal stress induces changes in LvOA/TA-R expression and impacts immune responses. Immune parameters such as total haemocyte count, differential haemocyte count, phenoloxidase activity, respiratory bursts, lysozyme activity, clearance efficiency, and phagocytosis exhibited a general trend of significant decline under the stress conditions. LvOA/TA-R had a higher expression in haemocyte under hyperthermal stress. The study elucidated that thermal stress modifies the expression of the LvOA/TA-R and diminishes immune functionality in L. vannamei , underscoring the potential influence of climate change on industry. • Hyperthermal stress increases LvOA/TA-R expression in shrimp hemocytes. • Both hyperthermal and hypothermal stresses weaken shrimp immune responses. • Thermal stress shifts energy allocation, impacting carbohydrate metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experimentally investigated how the flow structure influences heat transfer. • Flow structures were captured clearly to interpret variation of Nusselt number. • Five mechanisms of flow affecting heat transfer were identified. • Similar heat transfer mechanisms were found at lower and higher Reynolds numbers. • Staggered cylinder arrangements enhance heat transfer better than tandem ones. Two cylinders in staggered and tandem configurations were experimentally investigated to understand how the flow structure influences heat transfer. The results indicate the heat transfer of downstream cylinder exhibits more variability than that of the upstream cylinder as the stagger angle changes. The heat transfer characteristics for each flow pattern and the mechanisms governing heat transfer for the cylindrical array were clarified. Additionally, the significant effects of flow motion on the local Nusselt number of the cylinder surfaces resulting from varying stagger angles were elucidated. The overall Nusselt number in a staggered array system increases with the stagger angle, whereas in a tandem array system, it increases with the distance ratio. Notably, staggered cylinder arrangements exhibited a more pronounced enhancement in heat transfer compared to the tandem arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building upon prior research on intergenerational income mobility, we assess class effects versus racial effects on the probability of becoming a poor adult, broken down by gender. We define the class effect (for each race-and-gender group) as the difference between the probability that a person who was born into the lowest income quintile becomes poor and the probability that a person who was born into the highest income quintile becomes poor. For each minority-by-gender group, using Whites as the baseline, the racial effect is defined as the average racial differential in the probability of becoming a poor adult, irrespective of class origins. The results indicate that, for all minority-by-gender groups, the class effect is larger than the racial effect. Our findings underscore the continuing significance of the comparatively large effects of class origins, which have not been adequately acknowledged in recent research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liyuephenol (1), a new homosesquiterpene, has been isolated from the stems of Cinnamomum reticulatum Hayata (Lauraceae). The structure was characterized and identified by spectral analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexpected drill breakage can be foreseen and prevented. We observed a factory and identified the warning signs of tool breakage for micro gun drills, as well as a laboratory experiment for micro drills. The vibrations of stable drilling and the vibrations that warn of tool breakage were analyzed based on the time and frequency domain features. We developed a prognostic model. We conducted physical drilling experiments on a Swiss turning machine and a laboratory research platform. Stainless steel was drilled with two types of 0.9-mm-diameter tools: 125-mm-long micro gun drills on Swiss turning machine and 25-mm-long micro drills. In both types of testing, two accelerometers were installed on the tool holder to collect two-directional vibration signals; a linear discriminant function processed the Z-axis and Y-axis signals for the telltale warning signs of impending tool breakage, and obtained a 100% classification rate. To confirm the effect of drilling disturbances on the prognostic system, the entries and exits of tools to and from workpieces were studied. The results demonstrate that both types of signal features can be used without causing any misclassification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different revolutionary applications, like the unmanned autonomous systems, require a highly precise positioning with centimetre-level accuracies. And real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS positioning stands a chance to these potential applications. RTK positioning can provide a centimetre-level positioning in open-sky or suburban environments. However, the performance is limited in a deep urban canyon with severe multipath and cycle slip effects. The measurements with noise will introduce error and results in bad solution quality. Therefore, removal on the bad measurements and remain those good-condition signals become essential for performing RTK in the urban environment. Based on this idea, this article proposes using 3D building model with position hypothesis to select the healthy satellites for RTK positioning. We believed that using the 3D building model can better exclude the unhealthy or nonline-of-sight satellite compared to using a fixed high elevation angle mask. Therefore, this article will compare the position results between 3D mapping-aided GNSS RTK and the GNSS RTK with a fixed elevation angle mask. Geodetic- and commercial-grade receivers are employed to perform experiments in the urban environment of Hong Kong. The experiment results with geodetic-grade receiver showing that 3DMA GNSS RTK can provide a positioning accuracy with 10 cm averagely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To ensure therapeutic equivalence between the long-acting injectable (LAI) products, additional PK metrics other than C max and AUC were considered necessary. However, regarding the selection of additional PK metrics for bioequivalence (BE) assessment of exenatide LAI, a discrepancy existed between EMA's and USFDA's product-specific guidance. The EMA recommends that both the maximum plasma concentration in the initial-release phase (C max,1) and the extended-release phase (C max,2) should be determined. Nevertheless, the USFDA recommends the use of the partial area under the curve (i.e., the area under the curve from week 4 to the last sampling point; pAUC 4w-t). The focus of this study was to compare the sensitivity of different PK metrics, including C max,1 , C max,2 , pAUC 4w-t , early and late pAUC metrics truncated at different time points (three, four, five, six and seven weeks), to formulation-related parameters and pharmacodynamic (PD) markers of glycemic control. A sensitivity analysis was conducted using the published PK/PD model of exenatide LAI. The results indicated that C max,1 and C max,2 exhibited comparable sensitivities. AUC 4w-t was sensitive to changes in detecting the differences in formulation-related parameters and PD markers of glycemic control, but did not provide superior sensitivity performance compared to C max,1 and C max,2. Among all tested PK metrics, AUC 7w-t was found to be the most sensitive. The optimal cut-off time point for the pAUC should be set at the time of maximum plasma concentration in the extended-release phase (approximately 6–7 weeks). These results may provide useful insights into the selection of appropriate PK metrics for BE determination of exenatide LAI. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background and purposes Stroke is a leading cause of death and serious disability worldwide. Now, evidences indicate that dyslipidemia may play an important role in stroke. APOA1 and APOA5 involve in lipid metabolism. In this study, we investigated the association of APOA1 rs670 and APOA5 rs662799 with different stroke subtypes in the Han Chinese population of Taiwan. Methods A total of 1751 participants, including 459 control subjects, 606 large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), 339 small vessel occlusion (SVO), and 347 hypertensive intracranial hemorrhage (HICH), were enrolled. The presence of rs670 and rs662799 was analyzed through polymerase chain react ion and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time-of-flight–mass spectrometry. Results Notably, the frequency of the rs662799 C allele was significantly lower in the SVO patients than in the controls (24.36% vs. 29.74%, P = 0.024). The frequencies of heterozygote TC [odd ratio (OR) = 0.732, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.544–0.984, P = 0.038] and TC + CC (OR = 0.719, 95% CI = 0.542–0.953, P = 0.022) genotypes were significantly lower in the SVO patients than in the controls. In addition, triglyceride levels in individuals carrying the rs662799 TC + CC genotype were significantly higher than in those carrying the TT genotype, especially in older age, female, and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 groups. On the contrary, the low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was significantly lower in rs662799 TC + CC genotype than TT genotype. The BMI was significantly lower in subjects with rs662799 TC + CC genotype than those with TT genotype, especially in older age and female. High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were higher in individuals carrying the rs670 GG genotype than in those carrying the AG + AA genotype, especially in BMI < 25 group. Logistic regression analysis showed that the rs662799 C allele (TC + CC) was an independent protective factor for SVO after adjustment for conventional risk factors (OR = 0.709, 95% CI = 0.526–0.956; P = 0.024). Conclusion GG genotype of rs670 is correlated with high serum HDL-C levels, whereas TC + CC genotype of rs662799 is associated with high serum triglyceride and low LDL and BMI levels. In addition, the rs662799 C allele (TC + CC) is an independent protective factor for SVO in the Han Chinese population in Taiwan. Highlights • Dyslipidemia plays an important role in stroke mechanism. • APOA1 and APOA5 were known involved in lipid metabolism. • The ApoA5 rs662799 C allele (TC + CC) is an independent protective factor for SVO in Taiwan. • In addition to SVO, the ApoA5 gene polymorphism may play a critical role in triglyceride and BMI levels. • The ApoA5 gene polymorphism may be a useful diagnostic marker for SVO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GNSS performance is significantly degraded in urban canyons because of the signal interferences caused by buildings. Besides the multipath and non‐line‐of‐sight (NLOS) receptions, the diffraction effect frequently occurs in urban canyons, which will severely attenuate the signal strength when the satellite line‐of‐sight (LOS) transmitting path is close to the building edge. It is essential to evaluate the performance of current diffraction models for GNSS before applying mitigation. The detailed steps of applying the knife‐edge model and the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) model on GNSS are given, including the C/N0 and pseudorange simulation of the diffracted signal. The performances of both models are assessed using real data from two typical urban scenarios. The result shows the UTD can adequately model the GNSS diffraction effect even in a complicated urban area. Compared with the knife‐edge model, the UTD achieves better modeling accuracy, whereas it requires higher computational loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Array antenna beam forming has high potential to improve the performance of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in urban areas. However, the widespread application of array antennas for GNSS multipath mitigation is restricted by many factors, such as the complexity of the system, the computation load and conflicts between required performance, cost budget and limited room for the antenna placement. The scope of this work is triplicate. (1) The pre-correlation beam forming structure is first suggested for multipath mitigation to decrease the system complexity. (2) With the pre-correlation structure, the equivalence of adaptive beam forming to quiescent beam forming is revealed. Therefore, the computational load for beam forming is greatly decreased. (3) A theoretical model is established to link the benefits of beam forming with GNSS performance improvement in terms of pseudorange quality. The model can be used by industry to balance the aforementioned restrictions. Numerical results with different array settings are given, and a 2 × 2 rectangle array with $0.4\lambda $ element spacing is suggested as a cost-effective choice in GNSS positioning applications in urban canyon areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The currently recommended dosages of atezolizumab for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and urothelial carcinoma (UC) is 840 mg every 2 weeks, 1200 mg every 3 weeks (q3w), and 1680 mg every 4 weeks (q4w). However, it has been argued that these dosages may not be optimal. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of extended dosing regimens by population pharmacokinetics (PK) simulations and exposure–response (E-R) relationships. Methods: All simulations were conducted based on the established population PK and E-R model for safety (i.e., adverse events of special interest, AESI) and efficacy (i.e., objective response rate, ORR) for patients with NSCLC or UC. The PK, AESI, and ORR profiles of the following dosing regimens were simulated: (i) 840 mg q4w, (ii) 1200 mg every 6 weeks (q6w), and (iii) 1680 mg q8w. These regimens were compared with those of the 1200 mg q3w standard regimen. Results: The simulation revealed that the ranking of efficacy for different extended dosing regimens were 1680 mg q8w ≅ 1200 mg q3w ≅ 1200 mg q6w > 840 mg q4w based on the predicted probability of ORR in patients with NSCLC and UC, and this ranking order was similar to that of the safety outcome of the AESI. The minimum serum concentration at steady-state (Cmin,ss) values for all dosing regimens was all higher than the target effective concentration of 6 μg/mL. Conclusion: The findings from this simulation suggest that extended dosing regimens are unlikely to significantly impair clinical outcomes and may provide more therapeutic benefits to patients in terms of safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the survival time of a cancer patient based on his/her genome-wide gene expression remains a challenging problem. For certain types of cancer, the effects of gene expression on survival are both weak and abundant, so identifying non-zero effects with reasonable accuracy is difficult. As an alternative to methods that use variable selection, we propose a Gaussian process accelerated failure time model to predict survival time using genome-wide or pathway-wide gene expression data. Using a Monte Carlo expectation-maximization algorithm, we jointly impute censored log-survival time and estimate model parameters. We demonstrate the performance of our method and its advantage over existing methods in both simulations and real data analysis. The real data that we analyze were collected from 513 patients with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma and include survival time, demographic/clinical variables, and expression of more than 20 000 genes. In addition to the right-censored survival time, our method can also accommodate left-censored or interval-censored outcomes; and it provides a natural way to combine multiple types of high-dimensional -omics data. An R package implementing our method is available in the Supplementary material available at Biostatistics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with heightened emotional sensitivity can perceive better how others feel. Students admitted to medical school by interviews for assessing pre-set personal qualities, such as emotional sensitivity, may be more likely to meet patients' satisfaction in the future. We tested whether a student enrolled by passing the interview would have more emotional sensitivity than those by taking an exam. We also investigated what impact the enrolment protocols might have on students' internship performance. Participants were first- and second-year medical students and assigned into the interviewed group or examined group according to the entrance protocols. Two emotion-related tasks and one control task were adopted. Subsequently, the performance evaluation of clinical work from students' advisors about these two groups of participants were collected after they finished the internship training at the hospital. Students selected through the pre-programmed interview which is based on personal qualities showed greater emotional sensitivity than those selected by the exam. Those students with better emotional sensitivity also performed better when they were in the internship training. Emotional sensitivity is a valid index to predict students' future performance and could be used in the selection protocol for medical students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay of mechanical grinding and aniline vapor fuming on the fluorescence of the pentiptycene‐anthracene‐pentiptycene π‐conjugated molecules PAP‐Cn, where n is 4, 8, 12, or 16 and refers to the number of carbon atom in the terminal alkyl chains, in solid films are reported. The differences and similarities among the four homologs have led to a conclusion of the formation of an emissive triplex state for the ground and fumed films. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals the guest‐host molar ratio and the retention ability of the aniline on the various types of films. A stepwise protocol of fuming‐grinding‐annealing is developed for fluorimetric differential sensing of eight substituted aniline vapors with a single probe of PAP‐C8. The role of the bulky pentiptycene groups in the observed fluorescence properties is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many diseases such as cancer and heart diseases are heterogeneous and it is of great interest to study the disease risk specific to the subtypes in relation to genetic and environmental risk factors. However, due to logistic and cost reasons, the subtype information for the disease is missing for some subjects. In this article, we investigate methods for multinomial logistic regression with missing outcome data, including a bootstrap hot deck multiple imputation (BHMI), simple inverse probability weighted (SIPW), augmented inverse probability weighted (AIPW), and expected estimating equation (EEE) estimators. These methods are important approaches for missing data regression. The BHMI modifies the standard hot deck multiple imputation method such that it can provide valid confidence interval estimation. Under the situation when the covariates are discrete, the SIPW, AIPW, and EEE estimators are numerically identical. When the covariates are continuous, nonparametric smoothers can be applied to estimate the selection probabilities and the estimating scores. These methods perform similarly. Extensive simulations show that all of these methods yield unbiased estimators while the complete‐case (CC) analysis can be biased if the missingness depends on the observed data. Our simulations also demonstrate that these methods can gain substantial efficiency compared with the CC analysis. The methods are applied to a colorectal cancer study in which cancer subtype data are missing among some study individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthracene–pentiptycene hybrid systems 1‐Cn, where n refers to the number of carbon atoms in the linear alkyl chain, crystallize in three different polymorphs, denoted Y (yellow), G (green), and B (blue) forms in terms of the fluorescence color. While all Y‐form crystals show the same yellow‐to‐blue fluorescence color response to the photomechanical stress generated by the anthracene [4+4] photodimerization reaction, the four G forms exhibit distinct photomechanofluorochromism (PMFC): from green to blue for G‐1‐C4, to orange for G‐1‐C7, to red for G‐1‐C8, and to red then blue for G‐1‐C9, and the B forms show no photochromic activity. The intriguing RGB three‐color PMFC and abnormal topochemical reactivity of G‐1‐C9 are attributed to inherent softness of the crystal lattice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hemoptysis, a common symptom of different lung diseases, engenders shortness of breath and increased mortality. Tranexamic acid (TXA), a commonly used antifibrinolytic agent, can control bleeding. However, the effects of its use on pulmonary hemorrhage have rarely been discussed. Objective: We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TXA for hemoptysis to investigate its effectiveness in reducing hemoptysis volume and duration. Methods: We searched the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed (including MEDLINE), and Scopus databases for relevant RCTs. Two of the authors individually assessed study quality by using the Cochrane risk-of-bias (RoB) 2.0 tool, and the pooled results were evaluated using RevMan 5.3. Results: We obtained 617 articles, of which four RCTs met eligibility criteria. The pooled results demonstrated no significant differences in bleeding duration or hemoptysis resolution between the TXA and control groups. Nevertheless, TXA use reduced bleeding volume (mean difference [MD] = − 56.21 mL; 95% CI − 94.70 to − 17.72 mL), further intervention risk (Peto odds ratio = 0.24; 95% CI 0.08–0.67; I2 = 0%), and length of hospital stay (MD = − 1.62 days; 95% CI − 2.93 to − 0.31; I2 = 0%). Conclusion: TXA use was observed to reduce bleeding volume, further intervention risk, and length of hospital stay in patients with hemoptysis; however, our results may have low statistical power because of limited sample size. Additional large-scale RCTs are thus warranted to confirm the effectiveness and safety of TXA use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow past a circular cylinder with a slit results in local perturbation, which affects the flow pattern, vortex shedding and the aerodynamic forces. This study uses spectral element method to simulate flow past a cylinder with a normal slit or an inclined slit at Reynolds numbers of Re=100 to 500. For a cylinder with a normal slit, the drag and amplitude of the oscillating lift both increase as the width of the slit increases. There are two modes for a cylinder with an inclined slit: an injection mode and a blowing/suction mode. The drag also increases as the angle of inclination of the slit increases and is greater than that for a cylinder that has no slit for flow in the blowing/suction mode, except at low Reynolds numbers, such as Re=100. Increasing the width of slit or the angle of inclination of the slit increases the frequency of vortex shedding. However, a wider slit or larger angle of inclination also results in additional drag. There is a similarity between the external surface and the slit in that the aerodynamic forces due to pressure or shear stress vary with the angle of inclination of the slit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When topography is incorporated into models of barrier dune dynamical states, how it is represented determines the dynamical properties inferred. Bottom-up representations rely on elevation and localized biogeomorphic modification. Top-down representations incorporate constraints imposed by the spatial patterns of topography. These spatial patterns emerge from island morphological context and the extent localized biogeomorphic processes can expand and structure the larger landscape. We compared topographies across 30 sites among seven barrier islands of the Virginia (U.S.A) coast to gauge the importance of elevation, the bottom-up variable often weighted most in dune biogeomorphic models, relative to top-down patch and continuous surface landscape representations of topography. LiDAR-derived digital elevation models of each site were characterized with non-metric multidimensional scaling to assess how these bottom-up and top-down metrics structured dune topographic variability. Multiple response permutation procedures gauged the strength of topographic differences among sites grouped according to island morphology versus groupings defined by clustering of topographic metrics. Elevation was the dominant metric structuring topography for these low relief islands. Spatial structure was weakly developed. Topographic differences were more robust when based on clusters defined largely by elevational properties rather than by island or island morphological type. For the Virginia barrier islands, storm inputs may more directly shape topography and override landscape-extent top-down spatial structure. The dominance of elevation suggests that resistance may be the more relevant dynamical property for this coast. Properties like resilience may be greater on higher islands with longer storm-free intervals in which biogeomorphic elements can configure relief and act as recursive top-down controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To determine factors associated with nurses' spiritual care competencies. Background: Holistic nursing care includes biopsychosocial and spiritual care. However, nurses are limited by a lack of knowledge, time constraints and apprehension of assessing spiritual issues, which leaves them unable to assess and meet patients' spiritual needs. Thus, when patients experience spiritual distress, clinical nurses lose the opportunity to support spiritual growth and self‐actualisation. In Taiwan, spiritual care, religion and culture are unique compared to those in other countries. Overall, factors associated with Taiwanese nurses' spiritual care competencies lack comprehensive exploration. Methods: This study adopted a descriptive correlational design using cross‐sectional survey (see Appendix S1). Cluster sampling was used to select clinical nurses from fourteen units of a medical centre and a regional hospital. Data were collected from January–June 2018 with a 97.03% response rate. Clinical nurses completed a background questionnaire, spiritual care practice questionnaire, spirituality and spiritual care‐related scales. Data were analysed using descriptive and linear regression. This report followed the STROBE checklist. Results: Spiritual care competence ranged from 44–123 (mean 84.67 ± 12.88; range 27–135). The majority of clinical nurses rated their spiritual care competence as moderate (64–98). The significant factors associated with nurses' spiritual care competence were education, religion, interest in spiritual care, having role models, past life events, barriers to providing spiritual care of the spiritual care practice score, and spiritual attitude and involvement score. The overall model was significant (p <.001) and accounted for 55.0% of variance (adjusted R2 =.488). Conclusions: Most clinical nurses have moderate spiritual care competence. Objective factors identified affect clinical nurses' spiritual care competencies. Relevance to clinical practice: To improve nurses' spiritual care competencies, objective factors that affect clinical nurses' spiritual care competencies must be emphasised. Multiple strategies for enhancing nurses' own spiritual well‐being can be provided via employee health promotion projects and activities, and promoting nurses' spirituality and spiritual care competencies can be explored in clinical settings through bedside teaching, situational simulation, objective structured clinical examinations and self‐reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compared two biogeomorphic models that postulate how vegetation is intertwined in the response and recovery of barrier island dunes. Each model was developed in a separate coastal region using different methods. Both relied on simple elevational representations of topography. By comparing topographies among more islands of these two regions and by linking multiple representations of topographic pattern to resistance and resilience, we provide a synthesis that shows the validity of both models and the consequences of reifying one over the other. Using airborne LiDAR, topographic metrics based on point, patch, and gradient representations of topography were derived for fifty-two sites across eleven islands along the Georgia Bight and Virginia. These seventeen metrics were categorized in terms of resistance and resilience to disturbance from storm-forced high water levels and overwash. Resistance refers to intrinsic properties that directly counter expressions of power from disturbance. Resilience refers to the degrees of freedom to adjust and adapt to disturbance. Using a cross-scale data modeling approach, these data were visualized as topographic state space using multidimensional scaling. In this state space, similarity in topography as well as resistance and resilience were inferred through a site's position along low-dimension axes representing geomorphic resistance and high-dimension axes representing the spatial landscape properties of biogeomorphic resilience. The two models overlap in how they account for barrier dune resistance and resilience along the U.S. south Atlantic coast. Islands of the Georgia Bight have a propensity for higher resistance and resilience. The Virginia islands have lower resistance and resilience. Key Words: barrier islands, biogeomorphology, cross-scale structure, dunes, resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitin‐proteasome system (UPS) governs the protein degradation process and balances proteostasis and cellular homeostasis. It is a well‐controlled mechanism, in which removal of the damaged or excessive proteins is essential in driving signal pathways for cell survival or death. Accumulation of damaged proteins and failure in removal may contribute to disease initiation such as in cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. In this notion, specific protein‐protein interaction is essential for the recognition of targeted proteins in UPS. WW domain plays an indispensable role in the protein‐protein interactions during signaling. Among the 51 WW domain‐containing proteins in the human proteomics, near one‐quarter of them are involved in the UPS, suggesting that WW domains are crucial modules for driving the protein‐protein binding and subsequent ubiquitination and degradation. In this review, we detail a broad spectrum of WW domains in protein‐protein recognition, signal transduction, and relevance to diseases. New perspectives in dissecting the molecular interactions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We critically review and discuss several methodological problems with their analysis. Their definition of the occupational hierarchy is unclear, and their inadequate statistical models exacerbate the vagueness of their results. They ignore gender interactions, and the age range of their target population seems too narrow for their research concerns. Their interpretation of their own statistical findings on occupational attainment is fundamentally flawed although they refuse to acknowledge it. Their reported results cannot be replicated based on the information that they are willing to reveal about their analysis which suggests additional, undisclosed errors. In our reanalysis of their data using more appropriate methods, we find that rather than being systematically disadvantaged, the occupational attainment of most second-generation Asian Americans has either achieved parity with whites or has exceeded them after controlling for age, educational level, and survey year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of feeding diets containing tyramine (TA) to Litopenaeus vannamei at levels of 10 (TA10), 50 (TA50), and 100 (TA100) mg/kg on growth performance, immune parameters, hemolymph glucose and lactate level, biogenic amine synthesis, and resistance against Vibrio alginolyticus were investigated. Results showed that shrimp fed with TA-containing diets had significantly higher feed efficiency and percent weight gain for a period of 56 days. The total hemocyte count increased in TA10, TA50 and TA100 after 7 and 28 days, and increased in TA100 after 14 days. The phenoloxidase activity increased in TA100 after 7 days, and respiratory bursts increased in TA100 after 7 and 14 days. In terms of resistance against V. aliginolyticus infection, the phagocytic activity increased in TA10, TA50 and TA100 after 7–28 days. The clearance efficiency increased in TA10, TA50 and TA100 after 7 and 14 days, and increased in TA 100 after 28 days. Shrimp fed with TA50 and TA100 for 28 days then challenged with V. aliginolyticus had a higher survival rate compared to those fed the basal diet at 48 h–168 h post challenges. The hemolymph glucose level was significantly decreased after being fed with TA10 at 28 days and TA100 for 56 days, while the octopamine synthesis in shrimp was improved after 14 days of being fed with TA50 and TA100, and after 28 days of being fed with TA100. These findings suggest that administering a TA diet regulated the growth performance, immune response and V. aliginolyticus resistance in L. vannamei. • Dietary administration of tyramine enhances the growth performance of L. vannamei after 56 days. • Survival rate of L. vannamei increased when fed 50 and 100 mg/kg of tyramine for 28 days under V. alginolyticus infection. • Dietary administration of tyramine at 100 mg/kg increases the octopamine synthesis in L. vannamei after 14 and 28 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic structures of Ni[sub 3]Al, Ni[sub 3]Ga, Ni[sub 3]In, and NiGa are studied by x-ray absorption near-edge spectra (XANES) at the Ni and Ga K edges. The XANES spectra are compared with those calculated with theory. The experimental XANES features for these compounds reflect the Ni- and Ga-p unoccupied density of states. The calculated magnetic moments for Ni[sub 3]Al, Ni[sub 3]Ga, and Ni[sub 3]In are between 0.7-0.8 μ[sub B]/cell. The number of 3 d holes per Ni atom is calculated for Ni[sub 3]Al, Ni[sub 3]Ga, and Ni[sub 3]In. These numbers show correlation with heats of formation of the bulk compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asia Pacific region, home to two-thirds of the world's population and ten of the least developed countries, is considered a regional hot-spot for the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Despite this, there is a dearth of high-quality regional data on the extent of AMR. Recognising the urgency to close this gap, Singapore organised a meeting to discuss the problems in the region and frame a call for action. Representatives from across the region and beyond attended the meeting on the "Antimicrobial Resistance in the Asia Pacific & its impact on Singapore" held in November 2018. This meeting report is a summary of the discussions on the challenges and progress in surveillance, drivers and levers of AMR emergence, and the promising innovations and technologies that could be used to combat the increasing threat of AMR in the region. Enhanced surveillance and research to provide improved evidence-based strategies and policies are needed. The major themes that emerged for an action plan are working towards a tailored solution for the region by harnessing the One Health approach, enhancing inter-country collaborations, and collaboratively leverage upon new emerging technologies. A regionally coordinated effort that is target-driven, sustainable and builds on a framework facilitating communication and governance will strengthen the fight against AMR in the Asia Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diet polyphenol can reportedly prevent the formation of breast-cancer cells. Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract (NLE) is enriched with polyphenols and has several cellular functions, such as anti-atherosclerosis, anti-inflammation, and antitumor. In this study, we investigated the role of NLE in the prevention of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (NMU)-induced mammary tumor formation. Cotreatment with NLE significantly reduced the NMU-induced tumor incidence, number, and volume. NLE administration significantly repressed the tumor growth and weight of nude mice upon inoculation with BT-474 cancer cells. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that fatty acid synthetase, estrogen receptor (ER)- α , and phosphorylated ER- α were obviously reduced in the cancer part of BT-474 inoculated nude mice upon administration of 2% NLE. Western blot analysis revealed that NLE and NLPE (polyphenol-rich NLE) repressed ER- α expression and phosphorylation and decreased the phosphorylation of Her-2 without affecting their expression. Overall, NLE and NLPE exhibited more effective antitumor abilities in NMU-induced mammary cancer formation than with tamoxifen and Herceptin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many enterprises recognize that social media is a valuable source of information propagation for brands. Using the self-congruity and social identity theories as theoretical bases, the purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated conceptual model and explore the effects of brand-evangelism-related behavioral decisions of enterprises on virtual community members. Design/methodology/approach: This study targeted community members who had purchased a specific cosmetic brand's products and had been members of an official brand fan page for at least one year. Using a survey of 488 valid samples and structural equation modeling was used to conduct path analyses. Findings: The results indicated that seven hypothetical paths were supported and exhibited desirable goodness of fit. Value congruity can be used to explain effects of dual identification on various relationships. Relationships among variables of brand evangelism are not independent. Specifically, the effect of brand purchase intentions on positive brand referrals is higher than that on oppositional brand referrals. Practical implications: The findings can help brand community managers to adopt innovative and effective strategies to gain community members' identification and maintain a desirable relationship between business and community members. In addition, this study should help marketers to increase the opportunity of maximizing the brand evangelism effect. Originality/value: This study contributes to the understanding for multiple perspectives of value congruity and adopts the extension viewpoint to understand community members not only have brand value and self-congruity problems but also have community membership goals and values related to the fit problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Caring for cancer patients is a complex process that requires considerable knowledge and a wide range of skills. Aim: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that outcome-based course design would bring about significant differences in the nursing students' knowledge, confidence, and skills. Method: This was a randomized controlled trial with two-group pretest and post-test experimental study in 2014 involving a total of 213 students. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean cancer nursing knowledge test score of the experimental group was higher than the control group at the post-test. The mean cognitive load score of the experimental group was lower than the control group at the post-test. The mean learning satisfaction and self-confidence score of the experimental group was higher than the control group. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing an outcome-based educational intervention in baccalaureate nursing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay investigates diverging transatlantic attitudes towards mechanisation in the mid-nineteenth century by looking at the portrayals of steam engines in Anglo-American Romantic literary works by Wordsworth, Emerson, De Quincey and Dickinson. Wolfgang Schivelbusch notes how time and space are 'annihilated' with the speed of industrialization. Walter Benjamin, alternatively, indicates how the metaphoric dressing up of steam engines as living creatures was a retreat from industrialization and modernization. Those conflicting perceptions of what David Nye calls the 'technological sublime' became sources of joy as well as sorrow for these authors. The essay examines how the literary representations of transportation show various literary attempts to make sense of and rewrite the technological promise of the future into distinct aesthetic experiences of modernity. Their imaginative engagement with the railway showcases a genealogy of metaphorical as well as mechanic transportation that indicates an evolving process of Romantic thought across the Atlantic Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]