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The development of two-dimensional materials is currently rapid due to their outstanding electronic and optical properties, and research on them has never ceased. Our study explored the geometric and electro-optical characteristics of a novel BAs/ZnSe heterostructure through first-principles calculations. We also researched the effects of P atom doping and the stacking of rotated monolayers on the functioning of the BAs/ZnSe heterostructure. Findings from our analysis suggest that the BAs/ZnSe heterostructure embodies a type-II heterojunction, and its band gap is 0.38 eV. This configuration facilitates the efficient division of photoexcited electron–hole pairs at the heterointerface. When the layer spacing reaches 3.3 Å, the binding energy is the lowest and the heterojunction is the most stable. The introduction of an electric field and mechanical stress will lead to the modification of the heterostructure's band gap, ultimately reducing it to zero, thereby exhibiting metallic properties. It is noteworthy that when using an electric field range of −0.9 < Eext < −0.7 eV Å−1, the BAs/ZnSe heterostructure transfers from a type-II heterojunction to a type-I heterojunction, and becomes a direct band gap. A similar transition also occurs when the applied stress range is 3% < ε < 6%, and there's a type-I to type-II transition. In particular, compared to the individual monolayers, the BAs/ZnSe heterostructure exhibits enhanced optical absorption coefficients, notably in the ultraviolet absorption spectrum, exhibiting an expanded range of absorption. The light absorption capability will also vary with different electric fields and strains. This suggests that the BAs/ZnSe heterostructure can shine in a wider range of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the shear behavior and competitive failure mechanisms of headed stud connectors in steel–concrete composite (SCC) structures under the influence of freeze– thaw cycles (FTCs), the material performance test of C60 concrete after FTCs and the pushout test of 36 miniaturized specimens of headed stud connectors under FTCs were carried out. After various FTCs, the cubic compressive strength and dynamic elastic modulus of C60 concrete were measured. In the pushout tests, special attention was given to studying the failure modes, load–slip curves, shear capacity, and shear stiffness of stud connectors. A revised method for calculating the shear capacity of headed stud connectors, considering the effects of FTCs, is suggested based on current design codes. The study findings indicate that the performance of stud connectors is adversely affected by FTCs, leading to a degradation in their shear capacity and stiffness. As the FTCs' effect intensifies, the two failure modes, stud shearing and concrete cracking, undergo alterations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Economic pressure has become an important source of stress for employees. However, the conclusions regarding the relationship between financial stress and employees' work behavior are not consistent. The present study explored the relationship between financial stress and employee job performance with a Chinese sample and further explored how and when financial stress influenced job performance. Samples and Methods: The present study investigated five distinct companies operating in diverse sectors using a convenience sampling technique. Three hundred and twenty-one employees were recruited. Financial Stress, Job Performance, Work Engagement, and Emotional Exhaustion were measured for this investigation. The mediation effect was tested using a four-step procedure. The analysis of the moderated mediation model was performed using Hayes's PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results: The results found financial stress was positively related to job performance, and work engagement mediated the positive relationship between financial stress and job performance. In addition, emotional exhaustion moderated the mediating process between financial stress, work engagement, and job performance. Specifically, the beneficial effect of financial stress on work engagement disappeared when emotional exhaustion was high. Besides, a high level of emotional exhaustion weakened the positive relationship between work engagement and job performance. Conclusion: Financial stress plays a motivating role in employees' job performance in China. Work engagement is a key factor between financial stress and job performance. Notably, the positive effect of financial stress and work engagement on job performance is contingent upon the individual's level of emotional exhaustion. These results might explain the inconsistency of the effect of financial stress in previous research. Moreover, this finding suggests that emotional factors may not only be the result of stress but can also influence its effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The glucose-to-glycated hemoglobin ratio (GAR) represents stress hyperglycemia, which has been closely associated with adverse outcomes in cardio-cerebrovascular diseases. No studies have examined the association between stress hyperglycemia and atrial fibrillation (AF) in critically ill patients. This study aims to explore the relationship between GAR and the prognosis of critically ill patients with AF. Methods: A retrospective cohort of patients was selected from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV) database. The GAR was calculated based on fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin levels measured after admission. The primary outcome was the 30-day mortality rate, with secondary outcomes being the 90-day and 365-day mortality rates. The GAR was divided into tertiles, and Kaplan–Meier analysis was employed to compare differences in mortality rates between groups. The Cox proportional hazards model and restricted cubic splines (RCS) were utilized to evaluate the relationship between the GAR and mortality. Subsequently, a segmented regression model was constructed to analyze threshold effects in cases where nonlinear relationships were determined. Results: In this cohort, the second tertile of the GAR exhibited lower mortality rates at 30 days (10.56% vs 6.33% vs 14.51%), 90 days (17.11% vs 10.09% vs 17.88%), and 365 days (25.30% vs 16.15% vs 22.72%). In the third tertile, the risk of mortality at 30 days increased by 165% (HR = 2.65, 95% CI 1.99–3.54, p < 0.001), at 90 days increased by 113% (HR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.68–2.70, p < 0.001), and at 365 days increased by 70% (HR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.68–2.70, p < 0.001). The association between the GAR and patient mortality demonstrated a "J-shaped" non-linear correlation. Once the GAR exceeded 15.915, each incremental unit increase in the ratio was associated with a 27.2% increase in the risk of 30-day mortality in critically ill atrial fibrillation patients (HR = 1.262, 95% CI 1.214–1.333, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The GAR is associated with both short-term and long-term mortality in critically ill patients with AF in a J-shaped relationship. Both low and excessively high GAR values indicate poor prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report B(C6F5)3/CPA‐catalyzed enantioselective aza‐Diels–Alder reaction of 3,3‐difluoro‐2‐Aryl‐3H‐indoles with unactivated dienes to access chiral 10,10‐difluoro‐tetrahydropyrido[1,2‐a]indoles. This protocol allows the formation of pyrazole‐based C2‐quaternary indolin‐3‐ones with high enantioselectivities and regioselectivities. Moreover, gram‐scale synthesis of the 10,10‐difluoro‐tetrahydropyrido[1,2‐a]indole skeleton was successfully achieved without any reduction in both yield and enantioselectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastroparesis is a gastric disease characterized by delayed gastric emptying. "Vomiting" is the main clinical manifestation of this disease, while "atrophy" indicates dysfunction of the stomach. Based on the theory of "atrophy, dyspnea and vomiting are ascribed to the upper part", originating from the Chapter of "Zhi Zhen Yao Da Lun" from the Suwen(Basic Questions) section this paper explored the pathogenesis and treatment idea of gastroparesis from the function of the lung. It is put forward that failure of lung qi in dispersion, so the lung qi cannot maintain the circulation of harmonizing qi and blood, leading to malnutrition of stomach and loss of stomach receiving food and drink function. Melancholy impairing lung, so lung cannot govern diffusion, leading to stomach governing the disfunction of dredging and descending. Impaired depurative descending of lung qi, so the large intestine and stomach are lost in the alternating operation of deficiency and excess, leading to stomach governing the disfunction of transportation and transformation. Therefore, the treatment approach is proposed to improve the stomach's function to receive food and drink, transport and transform and promote the recovery of gastric motility by replenishing and restoring lung qi, regulating emotions and catharsis and smoothing lung. Analyzing the effect of function of the lung on gastric motility is of great value for expanding the application of traditional Chinese medicine in gastrointestinal motility disorders, and digging new connotations of classic theories in modern clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) is the difference between the observed and predicted values of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), which is closely associated with a variety of poor prognoses. However, there are still no studies on the correlation between HGI and poor prognosis in patients with critical coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between HGI and all-cause mortality in patients with critical coronary artery disease using the MIMIC-IV database. Methods: The HGI was calculated by constructing a linear regression equation between HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). A Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis model was constructed based on the HGI quartiles to clarify the differences in all-cause mortality rates between groups, and the log-rank test was used to assess the differences between groups. The hazard ratio (HR) of HGI as a risk factor for outcome events was assessed using the Cox proportional risk model and restricted cubic spline (RCS), with the Q2 group serving as the reference group. Results: A total of 5260 patients were included in this study. The 30-day mortality rate of the patients was 4.94% and the mortality rate within 365 days was 13.12%. A low HGI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, (1.38, 2.78); P < 0.001) and 365-day mortality (HR, 1.48; 95% CI, (1.19, 1.85); P < 0.001) in patients with critical coronary artery disease in the completely adjusted Cox proportional risk model. In addition, high levels of HGI were associated with 365-day mortality (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, (1.02, 1.69); P < 0.05). RCS analysis revealed a U-shaped relationship between HGI and outcome events. According to the stratified analysis, the interaction test revealed that the correlation between HGI and outcome events remained stable. Conclusion: There was a significant correlation between HGI and all-cause mortality in patients with critical coronary artery disease, particularly in those with low HGI. HGI can be used as a potential indicator for assessing the short- and long-term risk of mortality in such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive Summary: Binary polyantimony clusters, namely [Cu2Sb14]4– and [Ag2Sb14]4–, containing coinage metals, were successfully synthesized and characterized, in which two homoatomic Sb73– subunits are bridged by two coinage metals in η4:η1 and η1:η1 coordination modes, respectively. In [Cu2Sb14]4–, two bridging Cu ions and two Sb atoms form a planar rhombic unit, which was revealed to have antiaromatic properties by theoretical calculations. Further electron structure and bonding analysis confirmed the presence of delocalized bonds in the rhombic unit and the metallophilic interaction between two formal M+ ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonate gravelly soils are widely distributed in sub-tropical marine areas. During construction and engineering operations, carbonate gravel undergoes considerable particle crushing, which has remarkable effects on their engineering properties. A series of large-diameter oedometer tests, large-diameter drained and undrained triaxial shear tests were conducted on carbonate gravel specimens taken from the South China Sea. The carbonate gravel specimens exhibit significant particle crushing at common engineering pressure levels, and the particle crushing highly depends on the initial density, loading history and stress path. Three fragmentation modes, fracture, attrition, and abrasion, are notable in carbonate gravel specimens, which induces significant variations of PSD curves and greatly effects the mechanical properties. Particle crushing in carbonate gravel specimens increases the compressibility resulting in the compression index increases with the increase of surcharge pressure; decreases the pressure-hardening resulting in the initial Young's and secant moduli slightly increase with the increase of initial confining pressure; and decreases the dilatancy resulting in the peak and critical state friction angles significantly deceases with the increase of initial confining pressure. Particle crushing also shows great effect on the CSL of the carbonate gravel specimens in both p ′ - q space and e - p ′ space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, rapid, cost-effective and validated scores or models are critical for the prognosis and prediction of patients received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). In this retrospective study, 182 patients with NSCLC receiving ICIs from 2015 to 2022 were divided 1:1 into a training cohort and a validation cohort. We identified a score established by three factors and analyzed the prognostic implications by Kaplan–Meier approach (Log rank test) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. A non-tumor-related score (NTRS) was established that could be used as a prognostic factor (HR 2.260, 95% CI 1.559–3.276, P < 0.001 in training cohort; HR 2.114, 95% CI 1.493–2.994, P < 0.001 in validation cohort) and had a high time-dependent ROC for overall survival (OS) (AUC 0.670–0.782 in training cohort; AUC 0.682–0.841 in validation cohort). PD-L1 (1–49%) and NTRS (score = 0, 1, 2, 3) combination significantly improved the assessment of patients’ OS and progress-free survival (PFS), which was statistically different in training cohorts (P < 0.001 for OS, 0.012 for PFS) and validation cohorts (P = 0.01 for OS, < 0.001 for PFS). The NTRS provided a better assessment of durable clinical benefit (DCB) compared to PD-L1 expression (P = 0.009 vs. 0.232 in training cohort; P = 0.004 vs. 0.434 in validation cohort). NTRS may help improve prognosis stratification of patients receiving ICIs in first-line NSCLC and may be combined with tumor-related parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) is the world's largest hydroelectric dam, little is known about the spatial–temporal patterns and community assembly mechanisms of meio- and micro-eukaryotes and its two subtaxa (zooplankton and zoobenthos). This knowledge gap is particularly evident across various habitats and during different water-level periods, primarily arising from the annual regular dam regulation. To address this inquiry, we employed mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene-based environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding technology to systematically analyze the biogeographic pattern of the three communities within the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). Our findings reveal distinct spatiotemporal characteristics and complementary patterns in the distribution of meio- and micro-eukaryotes. The three communities showed similar biogeographic patterns and assembly processes. Notably, the diversity of these three taxa gradually decreased along the river. Their communities were less shaped by stochastic processes, which gradually decreased along the longitudinal riverine-transition-lacustrine gradient. Hence, deterministic factors, such as seasonality, environmental, and spatial variables, along with species interactions, likely play a pivotal role in shaping these communities. Environmental factors primarily drive seasonal variations in these communities, while hydrological conditions, represented as spatial distance, predominantly influence spatial variations. These three communities followed the distance-decay pattern. In winter, compared to summer, both the decay and species interrelationships are more pronounced. Taken together, this study offers fresh insights into the composition and diversity patterns of meio- and micro-eukaryotes at the spatial-temporal level. It also uncovers the mechanisms behind community assembly in various environmental niches within the dam-induced river-reservoir systems. Key points: • Distribution and diversity of meio- and micro-eukaryotes exhibit distinct spatiotemporal patterns in the TGR. • Contribution of stochastic processes in community assembly gradually decreases along the river. • Deterministic factors and species interactions shape meio- and micro-eukaryotic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict between two major agricultural powers has posed significant threats and challenges to the global food system and world food security. Focusing on the impact of the conflict on the global agricultural market, we propose a new analytical framework for tail dependence, and combine the Copula-CoVaR method with the ARMA-GARCH-skewed Student-t model to examine the tail dependence structure and extreme risk spillover between agricultural futures and spots over the pre- and post-outbreak periods. Our results indicate that the tail dependence structures in the futures-spot markets of soybean, maize, wheat, and rice have all reacted to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Furthermore, the outbreak of the conflict has intensified risks of the four agricultural markets in varying degrees, with the wheat market being affected the most. Additionally, all the agricultural futures markets exhibit significant downside and upside risk spillovers to their corresponding spot markets before and after the outbreak of the conflict, whereas the strengths of these extreme risk spillover effects demonstrate significant asymmetries at the directional (downside versus upside) and temporal (pre-outbreak versus post-outbreak) levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics for a large cohort of Chinese patients with Bietti crystalline retinopathy (BCR). Methods: A total of 208 Chinese BCR patients from 175 families were recruited. Comprehensive clinical evaluations and genetic analysis were performed. Genotype-phenotype correlations were evaluated through statistical analysis. Results: The patients' median age was 37 years (range, 20–76 years). The median best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.8 LogMAR unit (range, 2.8 to −0.12). A significant decline of BCVA was revealed in patients over 40 years old (P<0.001). Two clinical types were observed: peripheral type (type P) and central type (type C). Significantly more type C patients had a worse central visual acuity, but a more preserved retinal function (P<0.05). Molecular screening detected biallelic CYP4V2 pathogenic variants in 98.3% (172/175) of the families, including 19 novel ones. The most frequent pathogenic variant was c.802-8_810del17insGC, with the allele frequency of 55.7% (195/350), followed by c.992A>C (28/350, 8%) and c.1091-2A>G (23/350, 6.6%). BCR patients with one c.802-8_810del17insGC and one truncating variant (IVS6-8/Tru) had BCVA>1.3 LogMAR unit (Snellen equivalent<20/400) at a younger age than those with homozygous c.802-8_810del17insGC variants (homo IVS6-8) (P=0.031). Conclusions: BCR patients preserved relatively good vision before 40 years old. Two distinct clinical types of BCR were observed. BCR patients with IVS6-8/Tru had an earlier decline in visual acuity than those with homo IVS6-8. Our findings enhance the knowledge of BCR and will be helpful in patient selection for gene therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, little is known about the spatial–temporal patterns and community assembly mechanisms of meio- and micro-eukaryotes and its two subtaxa (zooplankton and zoobenthos). This knowledge gap is particularly evident across various habitats and during different water-level periods, primarily arising from the annual regular dam regulation. To address this inquiry, we employed mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene-based environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding technology to systematically analyze the biogeographic pattern of the three communities within the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). Our findings reveal distinct spatiotemporal characteristics and complementary patterns in the distribution of meio- and micro-eukaryotes. The three communities showed similar biogeographic patterns and assembly processes. Notably, the diversity of these three taxa gradually decreased along the river. Their communities were less shaped by stochastic processes, which gradually decreased along the longitudinal riverine-transition-lacustrine gradient. Hence, deterministic factors, such as seasonality, environmental, and spatial variables, along with species interactions, likely play a pivotal role in shaping these communities. Environmental factors primarily drive seasonal variations in these communities, while hydrological conditions, represented as spatial distance, predominantly influence spatial variations. These three communities followed the distance-decay pattern. In winter, compared to summer, both the decay and species interrelationships are more pronounced. Taken together, this study offers fresh insights into the composition and diversity patterns of meio- and micro-eukaryotes at the spatial-temporal level. It also uncovers the mechanisms behind community assembly in various environmental niches within the dam-induced river-reservoir systems. Key points: • Distribution and diversity of meio- and micro-eukaryotes exhibit distinct spatiotemporal patterns in the TGR. • Contribution of stochastic processes in community assembly gradually decreases along the river. • Deterministic factors and species interactions shape meio- and micro-eukaryotic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum signature has become a hot topic in the current research of digital signature schemes due to its unconditional security. As a special kind of digital signature, ring signatures are frequently employed in practical situations because of their superior anonymity. In this work, we propose a quantum ring signature scheme based on secret sharing that does not use entanglement states. To guarantee the complete security of the participants' secret keys, the idea of secret sharing is incorporated into the quantum key distribution process during the key distribution stage. Each ring member contributes his private key share to the final verification formula through a recursive relationship throughout the signing and verification phases, and the verifier can utilize his private key share along with the user's public key to confirm the ring members' authenticity; The ε -AS2U hash function is used to encrypt the ring signer's identity during the entire signature process, which assures the signer's identity's complete anonymity, effectively protects the signer's privacy, and is more in line with practical requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to propose an effective approach to evaluate the seismic stability of heterogeneous slopes reinforced by inclined soil nails. The modified pseudo dynamic approach is applied to properly describe the characteristics of seismic loads with time and space. The discretization-based failure mechanism generated from the slope crest is divided horizontally into many blocks to incorporate the heterogeneous soil properties and depth-dependent seismic accelerations into the analysis of the stability issue. The critical seismic acceleration coefficient is then determined to assess the slope stability using the kinematic approach of limit analysis. The proposed method is validated by comparisons with existing solutions and numerical results for some available cases. A systematic parametric analysis is conducted to discuss the effects of model parameters on the slope stability. Results show that there exist optimal relative nail lengths and optimal incline angles of soil nails to obtain the maximum critical seismic acceleration coefficient for reinforced slopes. Finally, an application of the proposed model to spatially variable soil strength properties is performed to illustrate that the proposed method has the potential to serve as a benchmark for the slope stability under complex geological conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Patients undergoing lung tumor surgery may experience various complications after discharge from the hospital. Using patient-reported outcomes (PROs), this study attempted to identify relevant indicators of postdischarge complications after lung tumor surgery and develop a predictive nomogram model to evaluate the risk for individual patients. Methods Patients who underwent lung tumor surgery between December 2021 and June 2022 were included in this study. PROs were assessed using the Perioperative Symptom Assessment for Lung Surgery scale and were assessed preoperatively at baseline, on postoperative day 1 (POD1) 1 to POD4, and then weekly until the fourth week. A random forest machine learning prediction model was built to rank the importance of each PRO score of patients on POD1 to POD4. We then selected the top 10 variables in terms of importance for the multivariable logistic regression analysis. Finally, a nomogram was developed. Results PROs, including coughing (POD3 and POD4), daily activity (POD1), and pain (POD1 and POD2), were associated with postdischarge complications in patients undergoing lung tumor surgery. The predictive model showed good performance in estimating the risk of postdischarge complications, with an area under the curve of 0.833 (95% confidence interval: 0.753–0.912), while maintaining good calibration and clinical value. Conclusion We found that PRO scores on POD1 to POD4 were associated with postdischarge complications after lung tumor surgery, and we developed a helpful nomogram model to predict the risk of postdischarge complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the role of soluble epoxide hydrolase for hyperglycemia induced‐disruption of blood‐brain barrier (BBB) integrity after diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Methods: Rat DAI hyperglycemia model was established by a lateral head rotation device and intraperitoneal injection of 50% glucose. Glial fibrillary acidic protein, ionized calcium‐binding adapter molecule‐1, β‐amyloid precursor protein, neurofilament light chain, and neurofilament heavy chain was detected by immunohistochemistry. Cell apoptosis was examined by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick‐end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The permeability of blood‐brain barrier (BBB) was assessed by expression of tight junction proteins, leakage of Evans blue and brain water content. The soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) pathway was inhibited by 1‐trifluoromethoxyphenyl‐3‐(1‐propionylpiperidin‐4‐yl) urea (TPPU) and the nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF‐κB) pathway was inhibited by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate and activated by phorbol‐12‐myristate‐13‐acetate in vivo and/or vitro, respectively. The inflammatory factors were detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Hyperglycemia could exacerbate axonal injury, aggravate cell apoptosis and glial activation, worsen the loss of BBB integrity, increase the release of inflammatory factors, and upregulate the expression of sEH and NF‐κB. Inhibition of sEH could reverse all these damages and protect BBB integrity by upregulating the expression of tight junction proteins and downregulating the levels of inflammatory factors in vivo and vitro, while the agonist of NF‐κB pathway abrogated the protective effects of TPPU on BBB integrity in vitro. Conclusions: sEH was involved in mediating axonal injury induced by hyperglycemia after DAI by disrupting BBB integrity through inducing inflammation via the NF‐κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review is to summarize the reports published in the past 10 years on the protective mechanism of 74 different intervention methods on lung injury through restraining nuclear factor kappa-B (NF- κ B) signaling pathway. We summarized the experimental studies on animal lung injury models of NF- κ B, MAPK/NF- κ B, PI3K/Akt/NF- κ B, TLR4/NF- κ B, NF- κ B/NALP3, NF- κ B/NLRP3 and other NF- κ B-related signal pathways. Lung injury leads to high mortality worldwide. Many potential mechanisms for the treatment and prevention of lung injury are still unclear. In addition to the use of lung protection strategies, currently, there are no effective drugs for lung injury treatment. Preemptive NF- κ B inhibition protects cells from damage, but inhibition at the decomposition stage delays tissue repair. Therefore, we think there is a need to conduct further studies that can provide more insights for future treatment and prevention of lung injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Seizures are associated with a decrease in γ-aminobutyric type A acid receptors (GABAaRs) on the neuronal surface, which may be regulated by enhanced internalization of GABAaRs. When interactions between GABAaR subunit α-1 (GABRA1) and postsynaptic scaffold proteins are weakened, the α1-containing GABAaRs leave the postsynaptic membrane and are internalized. Previous evidence suggested that neuroplastin (NPTN) promotes the localization of GABRA1 on the postsynaptic membrane. However, the association between NPTN and GABRA1 in seizures and its effect on the internalization of α1-containing GABAaRs on the neuronal surface has not been studied before. Methods: An in vitro seizure model was constructed using magnesium-free extracellular fluid, and an in vivo model of status epilepticus (SE) was constructed using pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). Additionally, in vitro and in vivo NPTN-overexpression models were constructed. Electrophysiological recordings and internalization assays were performed to evaluate the action potentials and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents of neurons, as well as the intracellular accumulation ratio of α1-containing GABAaRs in neurons. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of GABRA1 and NPTN both in vitro and in vivo. Immunofluorescence co-localization analysis and co-immunoprecipitation were performed to evaluate the interaction between GABRA1 and NPTN. Results: The expression of GABRA1 was found to be decreased on the neuronal surface both in vivo and in vitro seizure models. In the in vitro seizure model, α1-containing GABAaRs showed increased internalization. NPTN expression was found to be positively correlated with GABRA1 expression on the neuronal surface both in vivo and in vitro seizure models. In addition, NPTN overexpression alleviated seizures and NPTN was shown to bind to GABRA1 to form protein complexes that can be disrupted during seizures in both in vivo and in vitro models. Furthermore, NPTN was found to inhibit the internalization of α1-containing GABAaRs in the in vitro seizure model. Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence that NPTN may exert antiepileptic effects by binding to GABRA1 to inhibit the internalization of α1-containing GABAaRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS) is an inherited disorder characterized by retinal schisis cavities, which can be observed in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Monitoring disease progression necessitates the accurate segmentation and quantification of these cavities; yet, current manual methods are time consuming and result in subjective interpretations, highlighting the need for automated and precise solutions. We employed five state-of-the-art deep learning models—U-Net, U-Net++, Attention U-Net, Residual U-Net, and TransUNet—for the task, leveraging a dataset of 1500 OCT images from 30 patients. To enhance the models' performance, we utilized data augmentation strategies that were optimized via deep reinforcement learning. The deep learning models achieved a human-equivalent accuracy level in the segmentation of schisis cavities, with U-Net++ surpassing others by attaining an accuracy of 0.9927 and a Dice coefficient of 0.8568. By utilizing reinforcement-learning-based automatic data augmentation, deep learning segmentation models demonstrate a robust and precise method for the automated segmentation of schisis cavities in OCT images. These findings are a promising step toward enhancing clinical evaluation and treatment planning for XLRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) modeling is an important approach to facilitating language learning for individuals with complex communication repertoires. This study examines the implementation of this approach during COVID-19 virtual schooling. Key implementation challenges are identified, along with implications for educational practice to facilitate language learning. We conducted a qualitative case study of a 5-year-old child with Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, who used an eye-tracking AAC device. We collected and triangulated data using participant observation of three one-on-one story reading sessions involving the child, her caregiver, and her teacher during virtual schooling as well as a semi-structured interview with the teacher. The study identified key steps for successful language modeling during virtual sessions. These included: ensuring access to the device, promoting attention through gestural and verbal prompts, providing modeling of AAC symbols, confirming responses, providing feedback, using visual supports, a collaborative approach, and positive reinforcement. Our findings suggest these strategies can help facilitate effective language development for children using AAC devices in online schooling contexts. The virtual context presented significant barriers to the practice of aided AAC modeling. Active participation of caregivers and teacher–caregiver collaboration is essential for effective implementation of aided AAC modeling during such schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is a deadly malignancy with an increasing incidence year by year. The purpose of this study was to explore the function of CENPN in ESCA. Based on TCGA public data platform, the transcription level of CENPN in ESCA was analyzed. Subsequently, ESCA cells with CENPN overexpression or knockdown were constructed. The proliferation and migration levels of ESCA cells were evaluated by CCK-8, colony formation assay, and transwell analysis. Western blotting was used to detect protein levels associated with CyclinD1, CDK2, GLUT1, and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. Cell cycle distribution was measured by flow cytometry. Glucose consumption and lactate production in ESCA cells were measured. CENPN was overexpressed in ESCA. In vitro experiments showed that CENPN promoted the proliferation and migration of ESCA cells, and upregulated the levels of CyclinD1, CDK2, and GLUT1, promoting the cell cycle process, increasing glucose consumption and lactic acid production. In addition, CENPN overexpression increased the phosphorylation levels of PI3K and AKT. The results suggest that the abnormal expression of CENPN in ESCA may enhance the malignant phenotype of ESCA cells by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. CENPN is expected to be a new target for ESCA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The separator is an essential component of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), and polyimide (PI), a high-performance polymer with outstanding mechanical and thermal properties and a strong electrolyte affinity, has received substantial research as a potential separator material. In this work, we fabricated a PI composite separator (PI/WO3) by combining the components in one step with concurrently electrospinning the precursor solution and electrospraying the WO3 nanoparticles. The one step mixing method made the WO3 uniformly distribute on the PI nanofiber surfaces with a result of porosity decrease. Although the introduction of WO3 nanoparticles did not alter the chemical structure and the excellent thermal stability, the electrolyte wettability, mechanical strength and electrochemical performance of PI separator were all significantly improved by the nanoparticles, endowing the composite separator with superior cycle stability. Therefore, the use of WO3 in a polyimide separator has practical significance for high safety and high performance of LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the distribution of chromosomal abnormalities in a recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) cohort and explore the associations between chromosomal abnormalities and clinical characteristics. Method: Over a 5-year period, fresh products of conception (POC) from women with RPL were analyzed by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array at our hospital. After obtaining the information on clinical characteristics, we investigated the associations between the causative chromosomal abnormalities and clinical characteristics by the chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test and logistic regression. Results: A total of 2383 cases were enrolled. Overall, 56.9% (1355/2383) were identified with causative chromosomal abnormalities, of which 92.1% (1248/1355) were numerical abnormalities, 7.5% (102/1355) were structural variants, and 0.4% (5/1355) were loss of heterozygosity (LOH). The risk of numerical abnormalities was increased in women with maternal age ≥ 35 years (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.41–2.07), gestational age at pregnancy loss ≤ 12 weeks (OR, 2.78; 95% CI, 1.79–4.33), less number of previous pregnancy losses (twice: OR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.84–2.94; 3 times: OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.23–2.05, respectively), and pregnancy with a female fetus (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.15–1.62). The OR of pregnancy loss with recurrent abnormal CMA was 4.00 (95% CI: 1.87–8.58, P < 0.001) and the adjusted OR was 5.05 (95% CI: 2.00–12.72, P = 0.001). However, the mode of conception was not associated with the incidence of numerical abnormality. No association was noted between structural variants and clinical characteristics. Conclusion: Chromosomal abnormality was the leading cause of RPL. Numerical chromosome abnormality was more likely to occur in cases with advanced maternal age, an earlier gestational age, fewer previous pregnancy losses, and pregnancy with a female fetus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has a very poor prognosis due to the disease's lack of established targeted treatment options. Glia maturation factor γ (GMFG), a novel ADF/cofilin superfamily protein, has been reported to be differentially expressed in tumors, but its expression level in TNBC remains unknown. The question of whether GMFG correlates with the TNBC prognosis is also unclear. In this study, data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC), Human Protein Atlas (HPA), and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases were used to analyze the expression of GMFG in pan-cancer and the correlation between clinical factors. Gene Set Cancer Analysis (GSCA) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were also used to analyze the functional differences between the different expression levels and predict the downstream pathways. GMFG expression in breast cancer tissues, and its related biological functions, were further analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunoblotting, RNAi, and function assay; we found that TNBC has a high expression of GMFG, and this higher expression was correlated with a poorer prognosis in TCGA and collected specimens of the TNBC. GMFG was also related to TNBC patients' clinicopathological data, especially those with histological grade and axillary lymph node metastasis. In vitro, GMFG siRNA inhibited cell migration and invasion through the EMT pathway. The above data indicate that high expression of GMFG in TNBC is related to malignancy and that GMFG could be a biomarker for the detection of TNBC metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Naïve transfer techniques lead to feature space collapse in anomaly detection and segmentation area. • Topology-preserve constraint can mitigate collapse conspicuously. • Significant improvement over previous methods on BTAD and CIFAR100/10 datasets. Models pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset are introduced to be exploited for knowledge transfer in numerous downstream computer vision tasks, including the weakly-supervised anomaly detection and segmentation area. Specifically, in anomaly segmentation, the former study shows that representing images with feature maps extracted by pre-trained models significantly improves over previous techniques. This kind of representation method requires both high-quality and task-specific features, but feature extractors obtained from ImageNet directly are very general. One intuition for obtaining stronger features is by transferring a pre-trained model to the target dataset. However, in this paper, we show that under weakly-supervised settings, naïve fine-tune techniques that typically work for supervised learning can lead to catastrophic feature space collapse and reduce performance greatly. Thus, we propose to apply a topology-preserving constraint during transferring. Our method preserves the topology graph to keep the feature space from collapsing under weakly-supervised settings. And then we combine the transferred model with a simple anomaly detection and segmentation baseline for performance evaluation. The experiments show that our method achieves competitive accuracy on several benchmarks meanwhile setting a new state-of-the-art for anomaly detection on CIFAR100/10 and BTAD datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose brane web configurations for D-type and E-type N =(1,0) little string theories based on a trivalent or quadrivalent gluing of 5-brane web diagrams. Tri-/quadri-valent gluing is a powerful way of computing 5d/6d partition functions for supersymmetric gauge theories based on the topological vertex. We generalize the gluing techniques to little string theories by introducing a new compact direction and compute their supersymmetric partition functions on Omega-deformed ℝ4×T2. As concrete examples, we consider little string theories arising from Type IIB NS5-branes probing D4 or D5 singularity. Their effective gauge theory descriptions as the affine D4 or D5 quiver gauge theory can be realized with quadrivalent or trivalent gluing, respectively. Based on these gluings of 5-brane webs, we compute their refined partition functions and compare them with the known results. We extend the computation of the partition function to little string theory engineered from IIB NS5-branes probing E6 singularity based on a trivalent gluing. We also discuss the generalization to higher rank cases and the symmetries of the partition functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-dimensional structure and excellent optical properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials have made them a hot theme for research in materials science. In this study, the geometrical properties, electrical properties, and optical characteristics of a new SnSe2/GaP heterostructure are explored using first principles. We also calculated the effect of different rotational angle stacking and doping on the optoelectronic properties of the SnSe2/GaP heterostructure. The results show that the SnSe2/GaP heterostructure is a type-II heterostructure with an indirect bandgap of 0.439 eV, and the photogenerated electron–hole pairs can be effectively separated at the heterogeneous interface. The heterostructure bandgap can be adjusted to zero by modulating the interlayer distance or by applying electric fields and strains, enabling semiconductor–metal leapfrogging. It is noteworthy that when imposing an electric field of 0.4 V Å−1, the SnSe2/GaP heterostructure varies from type-II heterostructure into type-I. In particular, unlike the two monolayers, the formation of the SnSe2/GaP heterostructure results in a significant increase in absorbance, especially in the UV absorption region, and has a wider light absorption range. This shows that SnSe2/GaP heterostructure has great potential for future multifunctional optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain adaptive object detection refers to training a cross-domain object detector through a large number of labeled source domain datasets and unlabeled target domain datasets and learning the domain invariant features between two domains to reduce or eliminate the domain discrepancy. However, factors such as data privacy protection, limited storage space, and high labor costs often make many source domain-labeled samples unavailable in real-time situations. In this work, we propose a pseudo-supervised mean teacher model for source-free domain adaptive object detection that alternates between generating pseudo-labels and fine-tuning the model and utilizes a pixel-level distillation loss method and the weight regularization module for model adaptation. We use the mean teacher model to assist training to achieve object detection task in the source-free domain. Experiments are carried out on multiple datasets such as Cityscapes, Foggy Cityscapes, and SIM10K. Extensive experiments on multiple domain adaptation scenarios show that our method achieves better performance than the baseline (Faster R-CNN) and multiple state-of-the-art domain adaptation methods which require access to source domain data, demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging imaging technique for diagnosing ophthalmic diseases and the visual analysis of retinal structure changes, such as exudates, cysts, and fluid. In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused on applying machine learning algorithms, including classical machine learning and deep learning methods, to automate retinal cysts/fluid segmentation. These automated techniques can provide ophthalmologists with valuable tools for improved interpretation and quantification of retinal features, leading to more accurate diagnosis and informed treatment decisions for retinal diseases. This review summarized the state-of-the-art algorithms for the three essential steps of cyst/fluid segmentation: image denoising, layer segmentation, and cyst/fluid segmentation, while emphasizing the significance of machine learning techniques. Additionally, we provided a summary of the publicly available OCT datasets for cyst/fluid segmentation. Furthermore, the challenges, opportunities, and future directions of artificial intelligence (AI) in OCT cyst segmentation are discussed. This review is intended to summarize the key parameters for the development of a cyst/fluid segmentation system and the design of novel segmentation algorithms and has the potential to serve as a valuable resource for imaging researchers in the development of assessment systems related to ocular diseases exhibiting cyst/fluid in OCT imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discuss the therapeutic effect of the back-shu and front-mu point combinations acupuncture method combined with Qi-Boosting and Phlegm-Dissolving Formula in the treatment of stroke associated pneumonia. Methods: A total of 82 cases of stroke associated pneumonia patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2017 to October 2019 were selected. The patients were randomly divided into two groups as the control group and the study group according to a random number table. Patients in the control group were treated with routine treatment of the modern medicine, including antihypertensive, lipid-lowering, anti-infection, anticoagulation, expectorant and nutritional support treatment. Patients in the study group were treated with the back-shu and front-mu point combinations acupuncture method combined with Qi-Boosting and Phlegm-Dissolving Formula treatment on the base of routine treatment in the control group. After treatment, the clinical curative effect was compared between the two groups. The recovery time of body temperature and white blood cells, full absorption time of lesion and hospital stay of the two groups were compared. The pneumonia severity index (PSI) was used to evaluate the severity of pneumonia. The levels of c-reactive protein (CRP), soluble triggering receptor of myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of patients in the two groups were measured before and after treatment. Results: After treatment, curative effect of the study group was 95.00%, and the control group was 77.50%. Curative effect of the study group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After treatment, the recovery time of body temperature and white blood cells, full absorption time of lesion and hospital stay in the study group were less than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). After treatment, the PSI of the two groups obviously decreased compared with that before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, decreased degree in the study group was more obvious than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After treatment, the CRP, sTREM-1 and NLR of the two groups obviously decreased compared with those before treatment, and differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, the decreased degrees of the study group were lower than those of the control group, and differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The back-shu and front-mu point combinations acupuncture method combined with Qi-Boosting and Phlegm-Dissolving Formula treatment can increase the curative effect of stroke associated pneumonia. Moreover, the therapeutic method can further alleviate the clinical symptoms and signs, control development of disease condition and decrease level of inflammatory factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are one attractive hardware platform for computing the eigenvalue decomposition of low-dimensional symmetric matrices. For this, one popular method is using the parallel Jacobi algorithm based on coordinate rotations digital computer (CORDIC). We here present a novel efficient FPGA architecture for computing the eigenvalue decomposition, whose main idea is from the fact that rotation matrices in Jacobi's method belong to a category of special sparse matrices. Based on the above characteristic, matrix multiplications in the parallel Jacobi algorithm can be performed by FPGA efficiently. In addition, we provide one solution for Jacobi's method to decompose the complex Hermitian matrix. Then, our proposed design is compared with state-of-the-arts on one Xilinx XC7V690T FPGA. Due to the high real-time requirement, we finally take the subspace-based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in wireless communication as an application example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays a vital role in a variety of biological processes, including the regulation of gene expression, cell differentiation, early embryonic development, genomic imprinting, and X chromosome inactivation. PGC7 is a maternal factor that maintains DNA methylation during early embryonic development. One mechanism of action has been identified by analyzing the interactions between PGC7 and UHRF1, H3K9 me2, or TET2/TET3, which reveals how PGC7 regulates DNA methylation in oocytes or fertilized embryos. However, the mechanism by which PGC7 regulates the post-translational modification of methylation-related enzymes remains to be elucidated. This study focused on F9 cells (embryonic cancer cells), which display high levels of PGC7 expression. We found that both knockdown of Pgc7 and inhibition of ERK activity resulted in increased genome-wide DNA methylation levels. Mechanistic experiments confirmed that inhibition of ERK activity led to the accumulation of DNMT1 in the nucleus, ERK phosphorylated DNMT1 at ser717, and DNMT1 Ser717-Ala mutation promoted the nuclear localization of DNMT1. Moreover, knockdown of Pgc7 also caused downregulation of ERK phosphorylation and promoted the accumulation of DNMT1 in the nucleus. In conclusion, we reveal a new mechanism by which PGC7 regulates genome-wide DNA methylation via phosphorylation of DNMT1 at ser717 by ERK. These findings may provide new insights into treatments for DNA methylation-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperglycemia aggravates brain damage after diffuse axonal injury (DAI), but the underlying mechanisms are not fully defined. In this study, we aimed to investigate a possible role for hyperglycemia in the disruption of blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity in a rat model of DAI and the underlying mechanisms. Accordingly, 50% glucose was intraperitoneally injected after DAI to establish the hyperglycemia model. Hyperglycemia treatment aggravated neurological impairment and axonal injury, increased cell apoptosis and glial activation, and promoted the release of inflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. It also exacerbated BBB disruption and decreased the expression of tight junction-associated proteins, including ZO-1, claudin-5, and occludin-1, whereas the PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone (RSG) had the opposite effects. An in vitro BBB model was established by a monolayer of human microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Hyperglycemia induction worsened the loss of BBB integrity induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) by increasing the release of inflammatory factors and decreasing the expression of tight junction-associated proteins. Hyperglycemia further reduced the expression of PPARγ and caveolin-1, which significantly decreased after DAI and OGD. Hyperglycemia also further increased the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which significantly increased after OGD. Subsequently, the PPARγ agonist RSG increased caveolin-1 expression and decreased TLR4 expression and inflammatory factor levels. In contrast, caveolin-1 siRNA abrogated the protective effects of RSG in the in vitro BBB model of hyperglycemia by increasing TLR4 and Myd88 expression and the levels of inflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. Collectively, we demonstrated that hyperglycemia was involved in mediating secondary injury after DAI by disrupting BBB integrity by inducing inflammation through the PPARγ/caveolin-1/TLR4 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although existing hyperspectral image (HSI) denoising methods have exhibited promising performance in synthetic noise removal, they are seriously restricted in real-world scenarios with complicated noises. The major reason is that model-based methods largely rely on the noise type assumption and parameter setting, and learning-based methods perform poorly in generalizability due to the scarcity of real-world clean–noisy data pairs. To overcome this long-standing challenge, we propose a novel denoising method with degradation information learning (termed DIBD), which attempts to approximate the joint distribution of the clean–noisy HSI pairs in a Bayesian framework. Specifically, our framework learns the mappings of noisy-to-clean and clean-to-noisy in a priority dual regression scheme. We develop more comprehensive auxiliary information to simplify the joint distribution approximation process instead of only estimating noise intensity. Our method can leverage both labeled synthetic and unlabeled real data for learning. Extensive experiments show that the proposed DIBD achieves state-of-the-art performance on synthetic datasets and has better generalization to real-world HSIs. The source code will be available to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have empirically examined the role of peer microsystem in the intergenerational transmission of depression, and more importantly, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this potential pathway of intergenerational transmission. The purpose of the current study was to examine the sequential mediation effects of adolescent hostile attribution bias, empathic concern, and social self-concept on the association between maternal depression and adolescent depression. An urban Chinese sample of 761 mother-child dyads was investigated when the adolescents were in secondary school (M = 14.36 years, range =12.33–16.92 years, 52.3% female). The results provided evidence of cross-generational continuity in depression during adolescence, and the hypothesized sequential mediation model was supported. The findings highlight the importance of peer-related factors during the intergenerational transmission of depression and have important implications for interpersonal interventions that aim to prevent depression during adolescence. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept design evaluation phase of the new product launch is extremely important. However, current evaluation information relies mainly on the a priori knowledge of decision makers and is subjective and ambiguous. For this reason, a conceptual design solution decision model based on Pythagorean fuzzy sets in a big data environment is proposed. Firstly, we use the ability of big data to mine and analyze information to construct a new standard for product concept design evaluation in the big data environment. Secondly, the Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are integrated into a decision model. AHP, extended by the Pythagorean fuzzy set, is used to determine the weights of new conceptual design criteria in a big data environment. The Pythagorean fuzzy TOPSIS is used to prioritize alternative conceptual design solutions. The feasibility of the approach is proven with a practical case, the generalizability of the method is confirmed with two descriptive digital cases, and the reliability, validity, and superiority of the process are demonstrated with sensitivity analysis, comparative analysis, and computational complexity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through anatomy, microscope, histopathology, and simulating needle knife operation on specimens, to accumulate the relevant parameters of the A1 pulley of thumb, and to provide an anatomical evidence for the needle knife therapy of stenosing flexor tenosynovitis. A total of 20 fingers were selected from 20 intact adult upper limb specimens, a small amount of emerald green waterproof dye was injected from the needle insertion point, dissected layer by layer, and the A1 pulley and neurovascular bundle were observed. Observe the loosening of the thumb A1 pulley after 5 and 10 times of simulated needle knife cutting on the specimen; observe the relationship between the needle knife entry point and the A1 pulley under the thumb extension and abduction, and the thumb extension neutral position respectively; further observe the histological characteristics, and the relationship between needle entry point and A1 pulley by microscope. ① In general observation, the A1 pulleys of each finger were transverse fibers perpendicular to the flexor tendon, tough in texture, connected with synovial fibers at the proximal end. It is difficult to distinguish, and connected with oblique fibers at the distal end. ② The release rate of the thumb A1 pulley after 5 and 10 times of simulated needle knife cutting on the specimen were (40.46 ± 2.22)% and (63.52 ± 4.49)%, respectively. ③ In the neutral position of the thumb straightening, the needle entry point is 3.06 ± 0.14 mm from the proximal side of the proximal edge of the A1 pulley, which overlaps with the needle entry point where the thumb is straight and abducted. ④ Observed under a microscope, the A1 pulley is a dense transverse fiber with a pale yellow dense connective tissue, both ends are continuous with the synovial fibers. It is thin and translucent, and loose connective tissue. The A1 pulley is a dense transverse fiber with a pale yellow dense connective tissue. The anatomical key points of the needle knife therapy lie in the extended and abducted position of the thumb. Currently, it is believed that cutting the proximal edge of the A1 pulley is sufficient, and there is no need to cut the entire A1 pulley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work concentrates on the issue of leader-following bipartite synchronization of multiple memristive neural networks with Markovian jump topology. In contrast to conventional coupled neural network systems, the coupled neural network model under consideration possesses both cooperative and competitive connections among neuron nodes. Specifically, the interaction between neighbors' nodes is described by a signed graph, in which a positive weight represents an alliance relationship between two neuron nodes while a negative weight represents an adversarial relationship between two neuron nodes. By designing a pinning discontinuous controller that makes full use of the mode information, some effective criteria that ensure the stability of bipartite synchronization error states are obtained. All network nodes can synchronize the target node state bipartitely. Finally, two simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the viability of the suggested bipartite synchronization control approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Numerous etiologies may lead to non-immune hydrops fetalis (NIHF). However, the causes remain unclear in half of NIHF cases following current standard assessment. The application of prenatal chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and exome sequencing (ES) can improve the identification of the etiologies. This study aimed to investigate the etiologies of NIHF in the era of next-generation sequence (NGS) following a unified prenatal work-up flow for diagnosis. (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on NIHF cases that were collected prospectively to explore the underlying etiologies according to a unified prenatal diagnosis work-up flow at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital between Jan 2016 and Dec 2019. The medical records for all NIHF cases were reviewed, and the causes of NIHF were classified as confirmed (diagnostic), suspected, or unknown. (3) Results: Prenatal and postnatal medical records for a total of 145 NIHF cases were reviewed, 48.3% (70/145) of the cases were identified to be with confirmed etiologies, and 10.3% (15/145) with suspected etiologies. Among 85 cases with confirmed or suspected etiologies, 44.7% were diagnosed with genetic disorders, 20% with chylothorax/chyloascites diagnosed postnatally, 12.9% with fetal structural anomalies, 12.9% with fetal anemia, 7% (6 cases) with fetal arrhythmia, and 2.3% (2 cases) with placenta chorioangioma. In cases with genetic disorders, 8 aneuploidies were detected by CMA, and 30 cases had single-gene disorders identified by ES (29/30) or targeted gene panel (1/30). There were still 41.4% cases (60/145) with unknown causes after this unified prenatal diagnostic work-up flow. (4) Conclusions: In the era of NGS, the causes of NIHF were identified in 58.6% of cases, with genetic disorders being the most common ones. NGS is helpful in determining the genetic etiology of NIHF when CMA results cannot explain NIHF, but 41.4% of cases were still with unknown causes under the unified prenatal diagnostic work-up flow in this single-center study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Routing optimization for FANETs is a kind of NP-hard problem in the field of combinatorial optimization that is simple to model but difficult to solve. The quality of routing has a direct impact on the network quality of FANETs, and the design of routing protocols becomes a very challenging topic. In this paper, we study the characteristics of dynamic routing, combine the characteristics of FANETs themselves, and use the energy of nodes, bandwidth, link stability, etc., as the metric of routing and use a Boltzmann machine for routing search to form an optimized dynamic routing protocol. The NS3 simulator is used to compare and study the traditional MANET dynamic routing methods AODV and DSR, and the simulation results show that the routes obtained by using the Boltzmann machine search are better than those of AODV and DSR in many aspects, such as end-to-end average delay, average route survival time and control overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the singular boundary method (SBM) in conjunction with the exponential window method (EWM) is firstly extended to simulate the transient dynamic response of two-dimensional saturated soil. The frequency-domain (Fourier space) governing equations of Biot theory is solved by the SBM with a linear combination of the fundamental solutions. In order to avoid the perplexing fictitious boundary in the method of fundamental solution (MFS), the SBM places the source point on the physical boundary and eliminates the source singularity of the fundamental solution via the origin intensity factors (OIFs). The EWM is carried out for the inverse Fourier transform, which transforms the frequency-domain solutions into the time-domain solutions. The accuracy and feasibility of the SBM-EWM are verified by three numerical examples. The numerical comparison between the MFS and SBM indicates that the SBM takes a quarter of the time taken by the MFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power distribution network (PDN) is an essential component in high speed circuits, and the impedance calculation of PDN becomes a hot topic. In this paper, we proposed a method to calculate the impedance of power ground grid (PGG), which is one type of the PDN, by using artificial neural network (ANN). First, the PGG is equivalent to a simple power ground plane (PGP). The equivalent PGP has the same dimension and port location but different relative permittivity εg and relative permeability μg of the substrate compared to the original PGG. Then, ANN is used to calculate the equivalent εg and μg of the equivalent PGP. Thus, the impedance of equivalent PGP can be obtained by using Green's function. The proposed method has been validated by numerical and measurement examples. The agreement and difference of the impedance results in both examples are also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The singular boundary method is developed to solve the Biot's model and predict the ground-borne vibrations. • The fundamental solutions and their origin intensity factors are presented. • No extra boundary is required for the unbounded domains in the SBM. In this study, the singular boundary method (SBM) is extended to simulate the dynamic response of the half-space saturated soils in the frequency domain. The SBM employs the fundamental solutions of the governing equations as basis functions. Thus, the domain of interest can be discretized into several source points merely on the boundary, which makes the SBM available to describe the wave propagation in the half-space soil medium. The source singularity caused by the coincidence of collocation points and source points is overcome by the origin intensity factors (OIFs), which is given for the unclosed boundary. Two numerical examples exhibit the feasibility and advantages of the proposed SBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The InP/MoTe 2 heterojunctions possess a narrower band gap and a higher optical absorption coefficient compared to both the MoTe 2 monolayer and the InP monolayer, rendering them more suitable for use in photoelectric detector applications. • The InP/MoTe 2 heterojunction features a Type-II band alignment, which greatly promotes the dissociation of photogenerated electrons and holes. • By manipulating the electric field and stress, it is feasible to fine-tune the dimensions and characteristics of the band gap, as well as the quantity of migrating carriers within the InP/MoTe 2 heterojunction. • The optical properties of InP/MoTe 2 heterojunction can be changed under the action of electric field and stress. We employed first-principles methods grounded in density functional theory to explore the geometric arrangement of the InP/MoTe 2 heterojunction. Various configurations were examined to identify the stable state of the heterojunction. The findings highlight that the H1-type heterojunction, featuring an interlayer distance of 3.286 Å, shows notable stability, displaying a type-II alignment with an indirect bandgap of 0.630 eV. Under the influence of external electric fields and strain, shifts in the bandgap and charge transfer of the heterojunction are observed, as indicated by the study. The heterojunction shifts to a metal state from a semiconductor under the influence of electric fields and strain, while still retaining the intrinsic properties of each layer. InP/MoTe 2 heterojunctions are harnessed to boost material absorption and expand the range of detectable wavelengths, particularly in the ultraviolet spectrum. Importantly, external electric fields and mechanical strain have the capability to adjust the optical properties of the heterojunction, expanding its applicability and future development potential in optoelectronic devices. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our research, we delved into the geometric, electrical, and optical attributes of an innovative MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunction employing a first-principles approach. We further constructed heterostructure configurations of MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 with different relative positions. The heterojunction in the H1 configuration achieves its highest stability. Upon investigating the electronic characteristics of the heterojunction, it was observed to display Type-II heterojunction behavior, featuring an indirect band gap measuring 0.69 eV. Under the influence of electric fields and stress, the band gap of the heterojunction can shift from a semiconductor to metallic state. Specifically, with a −0.4 VÅ⁻1 electric field, shifting its configuration from Type-II to Type-I. Via an analysis of the optical characteristics of MoTe 2 monolayers, ZnI 2 monolayers, and the heterojunction. The heterojunction exhibits a generally higher absorbance rate compared to a single layer of ZnI 2 and surpasses the absorbance rate of a single layer of MoTe 2 in the near-ultraviolet area. [Display omitted] • MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunctions have a narrower band gap and higher optical absorption, ideal for photoelectric detectors. • MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunctions with Type-II band alignment efficiently separate photogenerated electrons and holes. • External electric fields and stress can alter the electronic properties of the MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunction. • The optical properties of MoTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunction can be changed under the action of electric field and stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural arrangement, as well as the electrical characteristics and optical attributes, of the ZnI 2 /WTe 2 heterojunction are determined using Density Functional Theory (DFT) first principles. Final results demonstrate the ZnI 2 /WTe 2 heterojunction as a type II van der Waals heterojunction featuring a band gap of 0.54eV, enabling the effective division of electron-hole pairs generated by light absorption. Applying electric field and strain to the heterojunction allows for the adjustment of the band gap to zero, facilitating the successful transition from a semiconductor to metal. This change is accompanied by the conversion of the indirect band gap to a direct band gap. Interestingly, the ZnI 2 /WTe 2 heterojunction exhibits a greater light absorption capacity compared to the two monolayers. The properties suggest that the ZnI 2 /WTe 2 heterojunction holds significant promise in the field of photoelectronic devices, including photodetectors. [Display omitted] • The WTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunctions possess a narrower band gap and a higher optical absorption coefficient compared to both the WTe 2 monolayer and the ZnI 2 monolayer, rendering them more suitable for use in photoelectric detector applications. • The WTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunction features a Type-II band alignment, it greatly promotes the dissociation of photoexcited charge carriers. • By manipulating the electric field and stress, it is feasible to fine-tune the dimensions and characteristics of the band gap, as well as the quantity of migrating carriers within the WTe 2 /ZnI 2 heterojunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting anomaly patterns from images is a crucial artificial intelligence technique in industrial applications. Recent research in this domain has emphasized the necessity of a large volume of training data, overlooking the practical scenario where, post-deployment of the model, unlabeled data containing both normal and abnormal samples can be utilized to enhance the performance. Consequently, this paper focuses on addressing the challenging yet practical few-shot online anomaly detection and segmentation (FOADS) task. Under the FOADS framework, models are trained on a few-shot normal dataset, followed by inspection and improvement of their capabilities by leveraging unlabeled streaming data containing both normal and abnormal samples simultaneously. Since the data stream has no ground truth labels, the model needs to filter the anomalous data by detection to avoid contaminating its parameters, which presents a significant challenge when initial samples are insufficient. To tackle this issue, we propose modeling the feature distribution of normal images using a Neural Gas network, which offers the flexibility to adapt the topology structure to identify outliers in the data flow. In order to achieve improved performance with limited training samples, we employ multi-scale feature embedding extracted from a CNN pre-trained on ImageNet to obtain a robust representation. Furthermore, we introduce an algorithm that can incrementally update parameters without the need to store previous samples. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrate that our method can achieve substantial performance under the FOADS setting, while ensuring that the time complexity remains within an acceptable range on MVTec AD and BTAD datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]