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Hypsizygus marmoreus has abundant proteins and is a potential source for the development of bioactive peptides. However, currently, the research on the bioactive components of H. marmoreus mainly focuses on polysaccharides, and there is no relevant research on the preparation of bioactive peptides. In this article, an ultrasound-assisted extraction method was used to extract proteins from H. marmoreus, and then, four peptides with different molecular weight ranges were prepared through protease hydrolysis and molecular classification. The antioxidant and antibacterial activities were also studied. Under the optimal conditions, the extraction rate of H. marmoreus proteins was 53.6%. Trypsin exhibited the highest hydrolysis rate of H. marmoreus proteins. The optimal parameters for enzymatic hydrolysis were a substrate concentration of 3.7%, enzyme addition of 5700 U/g, pH value of 7, extraction temperature of 55 °C, and time of 3.3 h. Under these conditions, the peptide yield was 59.7%. The four types of H. marmoreus peptides were prepared by molecular weight grading. Among them, peptides with low molecular weight (<1 kDa) had stronger antioxidant and antibacterial activities. This study provides a theoretical basis for the efficient preparation of H. marmoreus peptides and the development of antioxidant and antibacterial peptide products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ubiquitin-specific protease 38 (USP38), belonging to the USP family, is recognized for its role in controlling protein degradation and diverse biological processes. Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) following heart failure (HF) are closely linked to ventricular electrical remodeling, yet the specific mechanisms underlying VAs in HF remain inadequately explored. In this study, we examined the impact of USP38 on VAs in pressure overload-induced HF. Methods: Cardiac-specific USP38 knockout mice, cardiac-specific USP38 transgenic mice and their matched control littermates developed HF induced by aortic banding (AB) surgery. After subjecting the mice to AB surgery for a duration of four weeks, comprehensive investigations were conducted, including pathological analysis and electrophysiological assessments, along with molecular analyses. Results: We observed increased USP38 expression in the left ventricle of mice with HF. Electrocardiogram showed that the USP38 knockout shortened the QRS interval and QTc, while USP38 overexpression prolonged these parameters. USP38 knockout decreased the susceptibility of VAs by shortening action potential duration (APD) and prolonging effective refractory period (ERP). In addition, USP38 knockout increased ion channel and Cx43 expression in ventricle. On the contrary, the increased susceptibility of VAs and the decreased expression of ventricular ion channels and Cx43 were observed with USP38 overexpression. In both in vivo and in vitro experiments, USP38 knockout inhibited TBK1/AKT/CAMKII signaling, whereas USP38 overexpression activated this pathway. Conclusion: Our data indicates that USP38 increases susceptibility to VAs after HF through TBK1/AKT/CAMKII signaling pathway, Consequently, USP38 may emerge as a promising therapeutic target for managing VAs following HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil arching is a common phenomenon existing in the earth structures such as pile-supported embankments and buried pipes. Suffusion would be triggered in these structures during flood events after rainstorms and pipe ruptures, which poses significant threats to these infrastructures. A novel trapdoor-suffusion apparatus was developed in this study to investigate the initiation and progressive development of suffusion in infrastructures involving soil arching. A series of laboratory tests were conducted using gap-graded glass beads with an initial fine particle content of 15% by mass. Initial soil arching was established via trapdoor movement and then was subjected to a horizontal seepage flow with an increasing hydraulic gradient to induce suffusion in the arched soil. The presence of soil arching increased the susceptibility of local instability of the soil specimen within the stress reduction areas at significantly low local hydraulic gradients, due to the reduced stress restriction on fine particles. Subsequently, global suffusion was triggered at a critical hydraulic gradient much lower than the predicted value by the modified zero effective stress principle, and this critical hydraulic gradient decreased rapidly with the reduction of initial soil arching ratio (SAR). This study obtained an empirical formula in the form of power functions to characterize the variation of critical hydraulic gradient with the initial soil arching ratio. As the suffusion continued, the degradation of soil arching intensified under the low initial SAR, and became the dominant factor increasing the surface displacement of the soil. This paper reveals the increased risk of suffusion to earth structures with the presence of soil arching, and provides valuable guidance for the design and protection of earth structures against suffusion-induced challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a series of impulse response functions between acoustic quantities on the source plane and particle velocity on the hologram plane are derived. In virtue of these functions, real-time nearfield acoustic holography (RT-NAH) is extended from pressure-based to particle velocity. Pressure, normal velocity, acceleration, and displacement radiated from planar sources can be reconstructed by measuring time-dependent particle velocity signals on the hologram plane. A simulation of an excited aluminum plate is performed to evaluate the difference in accuracy between RT-NAHs based on pressure and based on particle velocity. This study also examines the impact of impulse response functions on the reconstruction results, allowing for detailed analysis of the reconstruction accuracy based on these functions. The simulation results demonstrate that using RT-NAH based on particle velocity obtains significantly higher-accuracy reconstruction results when reconstructing normal velocity and displacement and slightly more accurate reconstructed pressure and normal acceleration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonuniform stress distribution caused by soil arching can affect suffusion in soil under seepage. To investigate the development of suffusion in soil with arching and the evolution of soil arching during suffusion, coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete-element method (DEM) simulation of trapdoor tests under horizontal seepage flow was performed. A soil sample susceptible to suffusion was prepared by mixing particles in two sizes with a size ratio of 5.0. Soil arching consisting of stress reduction and concentration areas was formed by lowering the trapdoor at the bottom of the model and then a horizontal seepage flow was introduced to trigger soil suffusion. It was discovered that, due to the existence of soil arching, the fine particles within the stress reduction area were more prone to migrate, while the fine particles within the stress concentration areas were hindered by strong force chains. Soil arching degrading with the suffusion process was characterized as the decrease of critical soil arching height and soil arching ratio, the breakage of horizontal force chains, and the reconnection of vertical force chains. The degradation of soil arching during suffusion led to additional surface settlement during the postsuffusion stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploitation of key protected wild plant resources makes great sense, but their limited populations become the major barrier. A particular strategy for breaking this barrier was inspired by the exploration of a resource‐saving fungal endophyte Penicillium sp. DG23, which inhabits the key protected wild plant Schisandra macrocarpa. Chemical studies on the cultures of this strain afforded eight novel indole diterpenoids, schipenindolenes A−H (1–8), belonging to six diverse skeleton types. Importantly, semisyntheses suggested some key nonenzymatic reactions constructing these molecules and provided targeted compounds, in particular schipenindolene A (Spid A, 1) with low natural abundance. Remarkably, Spid A was the most potent HMG‐CoA reductase (HMGCR) degrader among the indole diterpenoid family. It degraded statin‐induced accumulation of HMGCR protein, decreased cholesterol levels and acted synergistically with statin to further lower cholesterol. Mechanistically, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling suggested that Spid A potentially activated the endoplasmic reticulum‐associated degradation (ERAD) pathway to enhance the degradation of HMGCR, while simultaneously inhibiting the statin‐activated expression of many key enzymes in the cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis pathways, thereby strengthening the efficacy of statins and potentially reducing the side effects of statins. Collectively, this study suggests the potential of Spid A for treating cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploitation of key protected wild plant resources makes great sense, but their limited populations become the major barrier. A particular strategy for breaking this barrier was inspired by the exploration of a resource‐saving fungal endophyte Penicillium sp. DG23, which inhabits the key protected wild plant Schisandra macrocarpa. Chemical studies on the cultures of this strain afforded eight novel indole diterpenoids, schipenindolenes A−H (1–8), belonging to six diverse skeleton types. Importantly, semisyntheses suggested some key nonenzymatic reactions constructing these molecules and provided targeted compounds, in particular schipenindolene A (Spid A, 1) with low natural abundance. Remarkably, Spid A was the most potent HMG‐CoA reductase (HMGCR) degrader among the indole diterpenoid family. It degraded statin‐induced accumulation of HMGCR protein, decreased cholesterol levels and acted synergistically with statin to further lower cholesterol. Mechanistically, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling suggested that Spid A potentially activated the endoplasmic reticulum‐associated degradation (ERAD) pathway to enhance the degradation of HMGCR, while simultaneously inhibiting the statin‐activated expression of many key enzymes in the cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis pathways, thereby strengthening the efficacy of statins and potentially reducing the side effects of statins. Collectively, this study suggests the potential of Spid A for treating cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical properties and nutritional quality of H. marmoreus by-products (HMB) dried by different methods were comprehensively evaluated by a rigorous statistical method of grey correlation analysis. The results indicated that different drying methods had significant impacts on the characteristics of HMB. Heat pump drying (HPD) was conducive to the preservation of protein and reducing sugar, and hot air drying (HAD) maintained a high content of total flavonoids. The highest fat, polysaccharide, and total phenolic contents were obtained by heated vacuum freeze-drying (H-VFD) treatment. The unheated vacuum freeze-drying (UH-VFD) treatment achieved bright colour, lacunose texture profile, and looser organization structure. The grey correlation analysis showed that UH-VFD and H-VFD had higher-weighted correlation degrees than HPD and HAD. HMB had many higher nutritional components than commodity specifications, especially protein, fat, polyphenols, and amino acids, and had potential applications in the food industry as functional foods and nutraceutical agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new-generation multisatellite precipitation algorithm, namely, Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM-IMERG), version 6, provides a high resolution and large spatial extent and can be used to offset the lack of surface observations. This study aimed to evaluate the precipitation detection capability of GPMIMERG V06 Final Run products in different climatic and topographical regions of China for the 2014-20 period. This study showed that 1) GPM-IMERG could capture the spatial and temporal precipitation distributions in China. At the annual scale, GPM-IMERG performed well, with a correlation coefficient R .0.95 and a relative bias ratio (RBias) between 15.38% and 23.46%. At the seasonal scale, GPM-IMERG performed best in summer. At the monthly scale, GPM-IMERG performed better during the wet season (April-September) (RBias 5 7.41%) than during the dry season (RBias 5 13.65%). 2) GPMIMERG performed well in terms of precipitation estimation in Southwest China, Central China, East China, and South China, followed by Northeast China and North China, but it performed poorly in Northwest China and Tibet. 3) The climate zone, followed by elevation, played a leading role in the GPM-IMERG accuracy in China, and the main sources of GPM-IMERG deviation in arid and semiarid regions were missed precipitation and false precipitation. However, the influences of missed precipitation and false precipitation gradually increased with increasing elevation. Despite the obvious differences between the GPM-IMERG and surface precipitation estimates, the study results highlight the potential of GPM-IMERG as a valuable resource for monitoring high-resolution precipitation information that is lacking in many parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data about postoperative infections in male adults with spinal cord injury are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the association between prior exposure to pressure ulcers (PU) and the risk of postoperative infections in male adults with spinal cord injury (SCI). We conducted a prospective study of male adults receiving surgery of SCI from January 2007 to December 2019. Postoperative infection included septicemia, pneumonia, surgical incision infection and urinary tract infection. A logistic regression analysis was applied. Risk ratios (RRs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. There were 408 patients with SCI in this study, which comprised 204 patients with prior PU and 204 patients without. The rate of postoperative infections within 14 days in patients with PU was 23.5%, which was higher than that of patients without PU (6.9%). The amounts to a 4.18-folds elevated risk of any postoperative infections with 14 days in patients with PU (RR: 4.18, 95% CI: 2.30–7.60, p-value: <0.001). With respect to specific infections, positive associations in pneumonia (RR: 4.18, 95% CI: 2.30–7.60, p-value: <0.001), surgical incision infection (RR: 4.18, 95% CI: 2.30–7.60, p-value: <0.001), and urinary tract infection (RR: 4.18, 95% CI: 2.30–7.60, p-value: <0.001) were also statistically significant. These results did not materially alter adjustment for potential risk factors. The study suggests an elevated risk of postoperative infections after surgery for SCI in male patients with prior exposure to pressure ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate evolution of soil arching during suffusion in gap-graded soils, a new suffusion apparatus was developed for trapdoor tests under a horizontal seepage flow. Glass beads with fine-grain contents ranging from 15% to 45% were adopted to represent coarse-grain controlled soils and fine-grain controlled soils. Coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) models were developed to further investigate the evolution of soil arching from microscopic views. At the early stage of suffusion, soil arching degraded rapidly under seepage loads in both coarse-grain controlled and fine-grain controlled soils due to the compaction of soil skeleton and the clogging of voids, which increased in the number of fine particles connected to the stress-transfer matrix. At the later stage, soil arching was nearly maintained as the soil skeleton became stable in the coarse-grain controlled soils. In the fine-grain controlled soils, soil arching degraded continuously due to continuous loss of fine particles connected to the stress-transfer matrix. The decrease in the contact number of fine particles also made the soil skeleton more vulnerable to suffusion. The degradation of soil arching resulted in an increase of surface displacement and a decrease of soil arching height in fine-grain controlled soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of event‐triggered finite‐time trajectory tracking control of perturbed Euler–Lagrange systems with nonlinear dynamics and disturbances is addressed in this article. Extreme learning machine (ELM) framework is employed to formulate unknown nonlinearities, and adaptive technique is adopted to adjust output weights of the ELM networks and remedy the negative impacts of disturbances, nonlinearities, and residual errors. Then to ensure the system follows the desired position trajectory within a finite‐time, an adaptive ELM‐based sliding mode control strategy is developed. Moreover, event‐triggered control technique is proposed to regulate control outputs on the basis of the developed control strategy for reducing actuator actions and saving communication resources. Lyapunov stability theorem is utilized to confirm bounded trajectory tracking results and finite‐time convergence of the Euler–Lagrange system. Finally, the effectiveness of the developed adaptive ELM‐based event‐triggered sliding‐mode control strategies is substantiated by simulations in a robotic manipulator system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the consensus formation control problem of a class of networked quadrotor aircraft partially bounded and state-dependent perturbations. A general distributed consensus error model is first developed to formulate the formation behavior of the networked quadrotor aircraft. Then, by using adaptive techniques, virtual position control strategies are proposed to eliminate the impacts of perturbations, so that the following quadrotor aircraft can boundedly track the desired position trajectory with a satisfying pattern. Furthermore, based on the designed virtual position control strategies, the attitude reference angles are constructed and adaptive attitude control strategies are further designed to guarantee that the attitude angles track the reference angles asymptotically. In terms of the asymptotic tracking results of attitude control systems, the bounded consensus formation results are obtained based on the Lyapunov stability theorem. Numerical simulations are carried out to verify the efficiency of the designed position formation as well as attitude tracking control strategies of the networked quadrotor aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple emission metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are superior materials for ratiometric fluorescence sensing and visible detection applications. The guest-encapsulation strategy is a simple method for the integration of the open structure of MOFs and the abundant choice of emissive guests. Herein, we reveal the factors that affect the performance of host–guest multi-emission MOFs based on the choice of ligands, metal nodes, and guest dyes. The size of organic dyes is often larger than 1 nm, which is incompatible with the small pores of traditional MOFs. Therefore, we selected a flexible ligand, i.e., 1,3,5-tris(5-methoxy-1,3-benzene dicarboxylic acid)benzene (L), to enlarge the pore size of the MOF to 18 Å. Energy transfer may occur from the ligand and guest dye to the metal nodes; thus, we selected the Gd3+ ion because of its high excited state level. L and Gd3+ ions were used to form the Gd–L MOF with the pore size of 18 Å, as revealed by the single crystal result. Rhodamine B (RhB), as the guest dye with the size of 15.9 × 11.8 × 5.6 Å3, was encapsulated in Gd–L MOF, which was denoted as RhB@MOF. The matched size between RhB and the MOF pore and the breathing effect of the flexible MOF effectively prevented the leakage of RhB. Accordingly, dual emission was observed at 360 nm and 583 nm under the excitation of 290 nm from RhB@MOF. Alternatively, Cu2+ quenched the emission at 360 nm due to the electron transfer process, while Fe3+ interacted with both L and RhB, and thus quenched the two emissions simultaneously. However, other metal ions showed little effect on the two emissions. Consequently, the differentiation between Cu2+ and Fe3+ as well as them from other metal ions was realized with the dual-emission MOF. Thus, the guest-encapsulation strategy is simple and flexible ligands are efficient to encapsulate molecular dyes for dual-emission MOFs to improve their sensing performance, while flexible ligands are powerful to enhance the capacity and extend the applications of MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Two hydrothermal mineralization events in this deposit are identified: quartz-sericite-pyrite-native gold (I) stage and chlorite-quartz-sericite-chalcopyrite-electrum (stage II). • This study provides additional age constraints on the host rocks (Caledonian granitic rocks) in the Hebaoshan area, with ages ranging from 441 to 446 Ma, as well as two mineralization events at approximately 238.46 ± 2.01 Ma and 179.54 ± 7.28 Ma. • The combination of ages and geological evidence suggests that the first mineralization event is associated with the intracontinental orogeny of the Yangtze Block and Cathaysia Block, as well as the flat subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate. The second mineralization event is related to the extensional tectonic activity following the collision between the Yangtze Block and Huaxia Block. The Hebaoshan gold deposit (41.5 t Au @ 3.5 g/t) is located in the southeastern region of the South China Block, central part of the Wuyishan metallogenic belt. The ore-hosting rocks in this area are predominantly Precambrian metasedimentary rocks and Caledonian granitic rocks. Two hydrothermal mineralization stages can be distinguished: a quartz-sericite-pyrite-native gold (stage I) and a chlorite-quartz-sericite-chalcopyrite-electrum (stage II), with hydrothermal monazite and rutile are firstly identified in separate stages. The complex geological history of the region has resulted in ongoing debates regarding the age of gold mineralization and the genesis of the major gold deposits in this area. In order to precisely constrain the mineralization age of the deposit and further establish a genetic model for the ore deposit, LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating and trace element analysis on accessory minerals were conducted. Based on the textures mineral assemblages, and geochemical features of the accessory minerals, magmatic apatite, hydrothermal rutile, and both magmatic and hydrothermal monazite were identified. The U-Pb ages of magmatic apatite and monazite are determined to be 445.3 ± 15.80, 441.3 ± 15.10 Ma and 446.57 ± 1.03 Ma, respectively, suggesting that these ages represent the emplacement ages of the Caledonian intrusive rocks. The ages of hydrothermal monazite and hydrothermal rutile are determined to be 238.46 ± 2.01 Ma (single-mineral analysis), 238.46 ± 2.01 Ma (in-suit analysis) and 179.54 ± 7.28 Ma, respectively, suggesting that represent two mineralization events during the Late Triassic to early Jurassic in the Hebaoshan area. These data provide new constraints on the mineralization process in the Hebaoshan deposit and excludes the link between gold mineralization and the intrusion of the Caledonian granites. Regionally, It is speculated that the two mineralization events at Hebaoshan are respectively associated with intracontinental orogenic movements between the Yangtze Block and Cathaysia Block, the flat-slab subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate (stage I), and the subsequent extensional tectonics related to the collision between the Yangtze Block and Cathaysia Block (stage II). Our study indicates that the timing of multiple episodic mineralization can be constrained by analysis of accessory minerals, which provides a geological basis for better genetic model for the deposit and provide geological evidence for unraveling the relationships between magmatic activities and mineralization events in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures for controlling ozone (O 3) pollution in Jinshan District, Shanghai, China during the summer months of June 2022–August 2022. The study period was divided into a control period (CP) when measures were enforced and a non-control period (NCP) without interventions. The concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were compared between the two periods, with the ranking of various types of identical VOCs, in which alkanes exhibited the highest (39.48%) concentrations, followed by aromatics (24.35%), halohydrocarbons (19.94%) and alkenes (16.23%). Compared to NCP, the mean levels of VOCs were 32.67% lower in CP, indicating the control measures significantly reduced the concentrations of VOCs during the months when control measures were in effect. The typical bimodal O 3 pattern was eliminated during CP along with the absence of peak VOC levels between 10:00 Hrs and 16:00 Hrs, which surpassed the level of 40 μg/m3 during NCP. The analyses of O 3 formation potential (OFP) and rate of loss of OH radicals (L OH) indicated that alkenes and aromatics were the most chemically active VOCs driving the production of O 3. Following six types of sources were determined for VOCs using positive matrix factorization (PMF): (1) solvent use (8.2%); (2) fuel evaporation (25.1%); (3) petrochemical plant (17.3%); (4) LPG (20.1%); (5) industrial process (16.1%); (6) vehicular emissions (13.2%). Emissions from vehicles and solvent use declined by 19.21% and 15.43%, respectively, underscoring their importance as controllable VOC sources in Shanghai, China. Overall, the study demonstrated the effectiveness of regional control measures in improving air quality by reducing the production of O 3 and related VOCs. [Display omitted] • Characteristics and sources of VOCs in industrial parks in Shanghai were analyzed under different management periods. • Industrial process and vehicle exhaust were major sources of VOCs. • Controlling the emissions of alkenes and aromatics was crucial for mitigating regional ozone pollution. • Control measures in the summer of 2022 effectively reduced the VOCs emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin–orbit torque (SOT) has been extensively applied to magnetization manipulation in low power consumption logic and memory devices. However, it is believed that materials with strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC) are indispensable for magnetic torque generation. Recently, theoretical studies have indicated that the oxides of light materials with weak SOC can provide a sizable orbital torque (OT), inducing magnetization switching. Here, we experimentally report the extreme enhancement of torque efficiency and spin Hall angle through the natural oxidation of Cu with weak SOC in the perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co/Cu–CuOx multilayers. The values of torque efficiency and spin Hall angle increase by approximately five times by tuning the surface oxidation at room temperature. The comparative analysis of the effective field reveals that the significant enhancement mainly originates from the collaborative drive of the OT at the Cu/CuOx interface and the SOT from the Pt layer. This finding provides a powerful way to engineer the high-efficient spintronic devices through combining OT and SOT to improve the torque efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Minimization of both cloud service cost and request peak is addressed using game theory. • Nash equilibrium of the formalized game is proven theoretically. • A distributed Peak Clipping Algorithm (DPCA) is proposed to calculate the Nash equilibrium solution. • Experiments validate the request peak and the payment cost of customer are reduced simultaneously, thereby increasing the benefit. The rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the popularity of Artificial Intelligence (Al) technology research have brought new opportunities for the development of cloud computing (CC). With the increasing number of mobile Internet access devices and IoT access devices, the number of task requests from CC customers for AI services in the network has also experienced an explosive growth. In this paper, the focus is on the possible overload of cloud providers during the peak period of cloud service requests. Thetime attributes of cloud task execution are classified to avoid overloading the cloud provider as much as possible. In a distributed cloud environment, it is necessary to consider the time flexible attributes of cloud tasks to reasonably compete for cloud resources. In this work, game theory (GT) is introduced to formulate a cloud service scheduling game, in which participants are cloud customers who participate in the purchase of cloud services. The players' strategies are the time flexibility of each cloud task. The problem is formulated as minimizing the cost of scheduling cloud services and a noncooperative game among the customers (as players) is presented. Then the existence of the Nash equilibrium (NE) solution of the game has been proved and a new algorithm has been proposed in this paper to compute it. In addition, the analysis process of the convergence of the proposed PCA algorithm and the proof of its convergence to NE are also included in this paper. At the end of the paper, simulations were performed to verify the theoretical analysis presented. The experimental results show that the proposed PCA algorithm can converge to the Nash equilibrium very quickly, effectively reducing the peak value and increasing profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased work of breathing or fatigue of respiratory muscles has been suggested to reduce exercise performance. The present study investigated the effects of continuous inspiratory resistive breathing (IRB) on the responsiveness of corticospinal pathway innervating the vastus lateralis (VL) to determine whether respiratory muscle fatigue affects the central motor output to exercising limb muscles. Eight subjects underwent a 6-min IRB trial three times (IRB1–3) in two experiments. During each IRB trial, the subjects performed voluntary hyperventilation through a mask attached with an inspiratory resistive load (approximately 30% of maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax)). In Experiment 1, PImax was measured at baseline and after each IRB trial. In Experiment 2, VL responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and cortical silent periods were assessed during 5 s isometric knee extension at an intensity of 15% of the maximal voluntary contraction over the same time course as in Experiment 1. PImax decreased from baseline after IRB2 and IRB3 (P < 0.05). MEPs increased from baseline after IRB1 and IRB2 (P < 0.05), whereas MEPs after IRB3 were not significantly different from baseline. Cortical silent periods did not change from baseline after IRB1 and IRB2, whereas cortical silent periods after IRB3 increased from baseline (P < 0.05). These results suggest that as inspiratory muscle fatigue progresses, the corticospinal tract controlling the lower limb muscles can shift from excitatory dominance to inhibitory dominance as a whole, affecting the central motor output to working limb muscles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a novel control algorithm to deal with trajectory tracking control problems of robotic manipulators based on adaptive backstepping integral nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (BINTSMC). The proposed approach is developed based on an integration between the integral nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (INTSMC) and stability analysis procedure of backstepping control technique. In addition, the extreme learning machine (ELM) learning algorithm is introduced to approximate lumped uncertain component of the dynamics model. The approximated lumped uncertain terms are transmitted to rebuild the dynamics and provide a compensation feedback for control systems. Moreover, the robust term is utilized to counteract the approximation residual error, wherein the nonconstant ELM approximation error is analyzed. The superior performance of the BINTSMC is validated by comparing conventional NTSMC in the simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Bone metastasis (BM) has been proven to be responsible for the poor prognosis of primary malignant bone neoplasms (PMBNs). We aimed to identify the prevalence, risk factors, and prognostic factors for PMBNs patients with BM based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Methods. 4,758 patients diagnosed with PMBNs from 2010 to 2018 were selected from the SEER database. All patients were divided into two groups: the BM group or the non-BM group. Pearson's chi-square test and Fisher's exact method were used to assess baseline characteristics, and logistic regression analysis was applied to assess risk factors. In addition, a nomogram was constructed based on the results of Cox regression analysis among 227 patients with BM. The good performance and clinical applicability of the nomogram were tested by the concordance index, operating characteristic curve, area under the curve, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis. Results. 227 (4.8%) patients had metastasis to bone at diagnosis. Primary site outside the extremities (axial: odds ratio, OR = 1.770 ; others: OR = 1.951), Ewing sarcoma (OR = 2.845), larger tumor size (5–8 cm: OR = 3.403 ; >8 cm: OR = 5.562), tumor extension beyond the periosteum (OR = 2.477), and regional lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.900) were associated with a higher risk of BM at the initial diagnosis of PMBNs. Five independent prognostic factors were found in the survival analysis: pathological type (chondrosarcoma vs. osteosarcoma: hazard ratio, HR = 0.342 ; Ewing sarcoma vs. osteosarcoma: HR = 0.592 ; and chordoma vs. osteosarcoma: HR = 0.015), marital status (HR = 2.457), pulmonary metastasis (HR = 1.934), surgery at the primary site (HR = 0.164), and chemotherapy (HR = 0.084). A nomogram based on these prognostic factors could be a good predictor of cancer-specific survival. Conclusions. We identified the prevalence, risk factors, and prognostic factors correlated with BM in PMBNs patients. The related nomogram could be a practical tool for therapeutic decision-making and individual counseling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph pooling is a commonly used operation in graph neural networks to reduce the size of graph representation. To extract key information, pooling and representation need to be coupled. We propose a graph pooling method for weighted graphs called WGDPool (Weighted Graph Dual Pooling). Unlike traditional graph representation learning methods, the weight information of edges is also fed into convolutional graph neural networks (ConvGNN) to obtain graph representations. Dual branch convolutional graph neural networks is designed to learn the nodes' and edges' embeddings independently, and they are fused into a comprehensive representation of graph data. Pooling, as a tool of feature extraction and scale reduction of graph representation, adopts a differentiable version of k-means clustering and a multi-item parameterized loss function. Cut loss, orthogonality loss, clustering loss, and reconstruction loss are simultaneously considered. By parameterization, WGDPool is competent for diverse graph tasks. WGDPool outperformed other graph pooling methods in such common supervised and unsupervised tasks as biological or chemical classification, bibliography clustering and integrated circuit partition, demonstrating the effectiveness of our proposed pooling method. • Dual branch representation is proposed for weighted graphs. • Differentiable k-means and assembled loss function are designed for pooling. • Weighted Graph Dual Pooling model is implemented and validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal phthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on a metal substrate exhibit rich spin-related phenomena such as magnetic anisotropy, spin excitation, and Kondo effect. In this work, we investigate theoretically few-layer cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecular assembly stacking on Pb(111) surface with the use of a combined density functional theory (DFT) and hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach. Calculation results indicate that the local spin properties of CoPc/Pb(111) composites depend critically on the number of adsorption layers. The first layer of CoPc on the Pb(111) surface serves as a spin-insulating buffer, while the CoPc molecules in the second layer exhibit spin-1/2 Kondo effect with a Kondo temperature of about 22 K. In a triple-layer CoPc assembly stacking on Pb(111), the antiferromagnetic coupling between the second and third layers leads to local spin-flip excitations under finite bias voltages, which gives rise to characteristic signatures in the differential conductance spectra. The DFT+HEOM approach thus provides a practical means for investigating the local electronic and spin properties of two-dimensional molecular assemblies adsorbed on the metal surface. The insights obtained from the first-principles based simulations could be useful for experimental manipulation or design of magnetic composite systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with the robust adaptive fault-tolerant consensus control and the circuital implementation problems for a class of homogeneous multiagent systems with external disturbances and actuator faults. A robust adaptive consensus control strategy is developed to automatically eliminate the effects of actuator bias and partial loss-of-control-effectiveness faults, and simultaneously specify the $L_{2}$ performance of systems. The achievement of exponential consensus of the closed-loop disturbed and faulty multiagent system is provided on the basis of the Lyapunov stability theory. Furthermore, a physical implementation method is developed based on circuit theory to translate the proposed adaptive consensus control strategy into analog circuits. By using a professional tool for circuit simulations, effectiveness of the developed circuits is verified via a multiagent system composed by mobile robots with two independent driving wheels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was employed to monitor the change in chemical structures, olefin units (cis, trans and vinyl) and hydroxyl value on stabilized Hydroxyl‐terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) under accelerated ageing condition. Thermal ageing of HTPB was carried out at 65 °C for 10‐weeks and periodically withdrawn sample for NMR analysis. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy provided detailed structural information for all HTPB samples, including the quantification of olefin units and the determination of hydroxyl value. The analysis revealed a decrease in signal intensity, particularly for the olefin near or at the molecular end, suggesting that they were oxidized before those in the middle position within the chain. The quantitative assessment of olefin units indicates a slight decrease of 2 % in 1,2‐vinyl unit after 10‐weeks of ageing. The NMR spectra did not show any detectable signals corresponding to epoxides, peroxides or alcohols in any HTPB samples. However, a slight increase in the OH value was observed after 8 and 10 weeks of ageing, suggesting the possible incorporation of new hydroxyl groups due to thermal‐oxidation. The antioxidants used to stabilize HTPB exhibited limited effectiveness in preventing degradation reactions, even after 4 weeks of ageing at 65 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a distorted hologram data repair approach for sound field reconstruction. In this approach, an equivalent source model is established by placing a set of equivalent sources near the hologram surface to represent the measured hologram pressures. Each hologram pressure is simultaneously assigned an indicator to describe whether its measurement is corrupted by errors or not. This model is then formulated within a modal framework by utilizing the modes generated through the singular value decomposition of the transfer matrix between the hologram and nearby equivalent source surfaces. Subsequently, the indicators and modal coefficients are assigned the 0–1 and Gaussian prior distributions, respectively, and their posterior distributions are derived using the Bayesian method. The means of the posterior distributions are calculated to discriminate corrupted measurements and repair distorted hologram pressures. Repaired hologram pressures are finally utilized for reconstructions using the equivalent source method. Results from both numerical simulations conducted under various parameter settings and two experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in automatically discriminating all the corrupted measurements and accurately repairing the distorted hologram pressures. Furthermore, the accuracy of the reconstructions using the repaired hologram pressures is comparable to that achieved with the correctly measured pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple yet effective method based on methanol treatment is proposed to enhance the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the photomultiplication type organic photodetector with a structure of Glass/ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3H:PC71BM (100:1, wt./wt.)/Al. By modifying the PEDOT:PSS film surface with methanol, the EQE of photodetector significantly improved within a broad wavelength range of 300–700 nm. The maximum EQE of 25300% occurs at the wavelength of 350 nm in the methanol-treated device under −9 V bias, which more than doubles that (11500%) of the device without treatment. In addition, as a result of the methanol treatment, the detectivity of the device improved from 3.72 × 1012 to 7.24 × 1012 Jones at −9 V under 350 nm light illumination. The large improvement is attributed to the fact that the methanol treatment can improve the electrical performance of the PEDOT:PSS by removing the insulator PSS within the film and also result in PC71BM aggregations in the active layer. The latter can enhance the tunneling hole injection by the intensified energy-level bending, which is induced by both the trapped electrons in these aggregations and accumulated ones near Al electrode. As a result, the modification of both the PEDOT:PSS layer and the active layer increases the response current, resulting in the EQE improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a comprehensive analysis of TNF family members in colorectal cancer (CRC) was conducted and a TNF family-based signature (TFS) was generated to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response. Using the expression data of 516 CRC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, TNF family members were screened to construct a TFS by using the univariate Cox proportional hazards regression and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator- (LASSO-) Cox proportional hazards regression method. The TFS was then validated in a meta-Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) cohort (n = 1162) from the GEO database. Additionally, the tumor immune characteristics and predicted responses to immune checkpoint blockade in TFS-based risk subgroups were analyzed. Eight genes (TNFRSF11A, TNFRSF10C, TNFRSF10B, TNFSF11, TNFRSF25, TNFRSF19, LTBR, and NGFR) were used to construct the TFS. Compared to the high-risk patients, the low-risk patients had better overall survival, which was verified by the GEO data. In addition, a high TFS risk score was associated with high infiltration of regulatory T cells (Tregs), nonactivated macrophages (M0), natural killer cells, immune escape phenotypes, poor immunotherapy response, and tumorigenic and metastasis-related pathways. Conversely, a low TFS risk score was related to high infiltration of resting CD4 memory T cells and resting dendritic cells, few immune escape phenotypes, and high sensitivity to immunotherapy. Thus, the eight gene-based TFS is a promising index to predict the prognosis, immune characteristics, and immunotherapy response in CRC, and our results also provide new understanding of the role of the TNF family members in the prognosis and treatment of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this article, the robust adaptive output tracking control problem is addressed for a class of nonlinear systems with nonlinear dynamics and unknown system parameters. The nonlinear dynamics including internal parameter uncertainties and external disturbances are formulated as time‐varying state/input‐dependent perturbations. Radial‐basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) are developed to approximate the perturbations. A robust adaptive RBFNN‐based output feedback control strategy against the perturbations is developed by using backstepping technique with immeasurable states and without knowing any system parameter. Based on Lyapunov stability theorem, the asymptotic output tracking results of the closed‐loop nonlinear system are obtained in the presence of perturbations, immeasurable states, and unknown system parameters. The efficacy of the proposed adaptive RBFNN‐based output feedback control strategy is validated by simulation in a DC–DC buck converter system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human serum albumin has shown remarkable efficacy in rodent models of ischemic stroke, while results from relevant clinical research on albumin therapy remain controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to quantitatively analyze the neurofunctional outcomes of patients with ischemic stroke treated with albumin. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched in July 2020. A total of four studies and 1611 patients were included. The aggregated results indicated that there were 635 patients with good neurological outcomes, among which 321 patients were in the albumin group (39.8%) and 314 patients in the control group (39.1%), showing no statistically significant difference between the albumin and control groups (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.85–1.27). The results suggest that albumin therapy at the acute stage of ischemic stroke has no beneficial effect on the long-term neurological function of patients with ischemic stroke. Considering pulmonary edema and other complications are more likely to occur in such patients after albumin infusion, the administration of albumin therapy for acute ischemic stroke should be done with utmost caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore effects of orbital relaxation on Kohn-Sham frontier orbital energies in density functional theory by using a nonempirical scaling correction approach developed in Zheng et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 174105 (2013)]. Relaxation of Kohn-Sham orbitals upon addition/removal of a fractional number of electrons to/from a finite system is determined by a systematic perturbative treatment. The information of orbital relaxation is then used to improve the accuracy of predicted Kohn-Sham frontier orbital energies by Hartree-Fock, local density approximation, and generalized gradient approximation methods. The results clearly highlight the significance of capturing the orbital relaxation effects. Moreover, the proposed scaling correction approach provides a useful way of computing derivative gaps and Fukui quantities of N-electron finite systems (N is an integer), without the need to perform self-consistent-field calculations for (N ± 1)-electron systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding electronic dynamics on material surfaces is fundamentally important for applications including nanoelectronics, inhomogeneous catalysis, and photovoltaics. Practical approaches based on time-dependent density functional theory for open systems have been developed to characterize the dissipative dynamics of electrons in bulk materials. The accuracy and reliability of such approaches depend critically on how the electronic structure and memory effects of surrounding material environment are accounted for. In this work, we develop a novel squared-Lorentzian decomposition scheme, which preserves the positive semi-definiteness of the environment spectral matrix. The resulting electronic dynamics is guaranteed to be both accurate and convergent even in the long-time limit. The long-time stability of electronic dynamics simulation is thus greatly improved within the current decomposition scheme. The validity and usefulness of our new approach are exemplified via two prototypical model systems: quasi-one-dimensional atomic chains and two-dimensional bilayer graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compressive-equivalent source method (C-ESM) has been developed for the sound field reconstruction by solving the l 1 minimization with the predetermined sparsity of the equivalent source strengths. However, the C-ESM would reconstruct the sound field with the error proportional to the measurement noise-related data fidelity constraint that increases with the decrease of the signal-to-noise ratio. Apart from that, the reconstruction stability of the C-ESM would not be guaranteed due to the existence of the measurement noise. To address such problem, the present paper proposes a compressed separable projection-based equivalent source method. In the method, the projections of the measured pressures in the predesigned basis that combines the priors of the sound radiation of the equivalent sources and the measurement noise are obtained by solving the l 1 minimization. This not only leads to the data fidelity constraint being small and unrelated to the measurement noise, but also separates the measurement noise from the measured sound field. Therefore, the proposed method can theoretically reconstruct the sound field more accurately and stably than the C-ESM. Numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite numerous investigations into the relationship between physical activities (PA) and epilepsy, the causal effects remain contentious. Thus, we conducted a two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to assess the potential causality. Methods: Single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) predisposed to self‐reported moderate and vigorous physical activities (MPA and VPA) and overall acceleration average (OAA) calculated through wrist‐worn accelerometers were selected as exposure instrumental variables. Five subtypes of epilepsy, including all epilepsy, focal epilepsy and generalized epilepsy (with or without each other), focal epilepsy‐strict definition and generalized epilepsy‐strict definition (without overlap), were chosen as the outcomes. The MR study utilized the inverse‐variance weighted (IVW) method as the primary analytical tool, supplemented by MR‐Egger, simple mode, weighted mode, and weighted median methods. Cochran's Q and MR‐Egger intercept tests were employed to assess heterogeneity and pleiotropy, while MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier and leave‐one‐out analyses were conducted to identify potential SNP outliers. Results: The study indicated that OAA was genetically linked to a decreased risk of both focal epilepsy (OR = 0.812, 95% CI: 0.687–0.960, p =.015, IVW) and focal epilepsy‐strict definition (OR = 0.732, 95% CI: 0.596–0.900, p =.003, IVW; OR = 0.749, 95% CI: 0.573−0.979, p =.035, Weighted median). Genetically predicted MPA and VPA did not exhibit a causal association with all epilepsy or its subtypes (p>.05). No evidence of heterogeneity, pleiotropy, or SNP outlier was observed. Conclusions: Our findings suggested that PA with accelerometer monitoring may potentially reduce the risk of focal epilepsy, while there is no evidence supporting causal association between self‐reported MPA or VPA and either focal or generalized epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a sound field separation technique based on the time-domain equivalent source method with single layer pressure-velocity measurements to extract the nonstationary sound field radiated by the target source in a reverberant environment. This technique constructs a formulation that relates the pressures and particle velocities on a measurement surface to the strengths of time-domain equivalent sources arranged for modelling the outgoing and incoming waves. By solving the strengths of time-domain equivalent sources, the sounds coming from different sides of the measurement surface can be separated independently. In the proposed technique, the use of a time-domain equivalent source model allows the measurement surface to be arbitrarily shaped, thus providing the ability to analyze the arbitrarily shaped sources in a reverberant environment. Numerical simulations investigated the performance of the proposed technique when using different types of arrays, including planar, semi-cylindrical, and semi-spherical arrays, and an experiment with three loudspeakers located at two sides of the measurement surface was carried out to test the validity of the proposed technique. Both numerical and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique can remove the influence of disturbing sources in both time and space domains and separate out the target sound fields effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining the density functional theory (DFT) and a hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach, we investigate the Kondo phenomena in a composite system consisting of a dehydrogenated cobalt phthalocyanine molecule (d-CoPc) adsorbed on an Au(111) surface. DFT calculations are performed to determine the ground-state geometric and electronic structures of the adsorption system. It is found that the singly occupied dz² orbital of Co forms a localized spin, which could be screened by the substrate conduction electrons. This screening leads to the prominent Kondo features as observed in the scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. We then employ the HEOM approach to characterize the Kondo correlations of the adsorption system. The calculated temperaturedependent differential conductance spectra and the predicted Kondo temperature agree well with the experiments, and the universal Kondo scaling behavior is correctly reproduced. This work thus provides important insights into the relevant experiments, and it also highlights the applicability of the combined DFT+HEOM approach to the studies of strongly correlated condensed matter systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A time domain angular spectrum method is proposed to reconstruct nonstationary sound fields. In this method, the sound field is expressed as a superposition of a series of plane wave bases, and the plane wave basis is constructed by an impulse response function that relates the time domain angular spectrum to the field point pressure. The impulse response function consists of two parts, the propagating plane waves and the evanescent plane waves, and their physical interpretation is provided. By discretizing the time convolution between the plane wave strength and the impulse response function, the reconstruction can be carried out at each time step, thus providing the advantage of real-time reconstructing sound fields. Since the real-time reconstruction process is non-recursive, it can provide a stable reconstruction. In the reconstruction process, the Tikhonov regularization is introduced at each time step to obtain an appropriate estimation of the plane wave strength. Numerical simulations with an unsteady excitation plate and an experiment with an impacted plate were carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method on reconstructing nonstationary sound fields. The effect of numerical parameters on the reconstruction accuracy was also investigated in the numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norcantharidin (NCTD) is a potential anti-renal interstitial fibrotic drug. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of how NCTD works remains unclear. In this study, using both in vivo and in vitro models, we report that the level of β-catenin is positively correlated to the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF). Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) binds to β-catenin and suppresses its phosphorylation, thereby increasing the total β-catenin expression. Additionally, NCTD dramatically elevates the level of phosphorylated β-catenin and decreases total β-catenin expression in a dose-dependent manner, consequently leading to the reduction of RIF. Mechanistically, PP2A-mediated suppression of β-catenin phosphorylation is an essential target for the anti-renal interstitial fibrotic effect of NCTD. Therefore, we report a potential theoretical basis for clinical application of NCTD in treating RIF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current task scheduling is separated from the virtual machine (VM) allocation, which, to some extent, wastes resources or degrades application performance. The scheduling algorithm influences the demand of VMs in terms of service-level agreement, while the number of VMs determines the performance of task scheduling. Workload plays an indispensable role in both dynamic VM allocation and task scheduling. To address this problem, we coordinate task scheduling and VM allocation based on workload characteristics. Workload is empirically time-varying and stochastic. We demonstrate that the acquired workload data set has Markov property which can be modeled as a Markov chain. Then, three workload characteristic operators are extracted: persistence, recurrence and entropy, which quantify the relative stability, burstiness, and unpredictability of the workload, respectively. Experiments indicate that the persistence and recurrence of workloads has a direct bearing on the average response time and resource utilization of the system. A nonlinear model between the load characteristic operators and the number of VMs is established. In order to test the performance of the collaborative framework, we design a scheduling algorithm based on genetic algorithm (GA), which takes the estimated number of VMs as input and the task completion time as the optimization target. Simulation experiments have been performed on the CloudSim platform, testifying that the estimated average absolute VMs error is only 2.6%. The GA-based task scheduling algorithm could improve resource utilization and reduce task completion time compared with the first come first serve and greedy algorithm. The proposed coordination mechanism in this paper has proved able to find the optimal match and reduce the resource cost by utilizing the interaction between VM allocation and task scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is the most common antineuronal antibody encephalitis in autoimmune encephalitis found at present. It has complex clinical manifestations such as psychiatric and behavioral abnormalities, seizures, movement disorders, consciousness, and autonomic dysfunction. The relationship between those manifestations and prognosis is unclear. Electroencephalography (EEG) is gradually becoming useful in the evaluation of the prognosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis patients, while imaging and antibody testing have a limited prognostic value. Starting the patients on adequate treatments (such as immunotherapy) in a timely fashion has a positive impact on their prognosis. Nevertheless, research on the prognosis of anti-NMDAR encephalitis remains scarce. Here, we review the current advances of prognosis-related research from the clinical manifestations of the disease and auxiliary examinations such as EEG, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 18F fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and antibody measurement. In addition, we also discuss the impact of different treatment options on prognosis. In-depth research on the prognosis of patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis will contribute to a better understanding of this disease, leading to better treatments options and, ultimately, a better prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. CRC currently has no specific biomarkers to promote its diagnosis and treatment and the underlying mechanisms regulating its pathogenesis have not yet been determined. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small, non-coding RNAs that exhibit regulatory functions and have been demonstrated to serve a crucial role in the post-transcriptional regulatory processes of gene expression that is associated with cell physiology and disease progression. Recently, abnormal miR-20a expression has been identified in a number of cancers types and this has become a novel focus within cancer research. High levels of miR-20a expression have been identified in CRC tissues, serum and plasma. In a recent study, miR-20a was indicated to be present in feces and to exhibit a high sensitivity to CRC. Therefore, miR-20a may be used as a marker for CRC and an indicator that can prevent the invasive examination of patients with this disease. Changes in the expression of miR-20a during chemotherapy can be used as a biomarker for monitoring resistance to treatment. In conclusion, miR-20a exhibits the potential for clinical application as a novel diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for use in patients with CRC. The present study focused on the role and mechanisms of miR-20a in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose pricing models for two different types of organizations. • We prove the existence of the Nash equilibrium solution and propose an IPA for the Nash equilibrium solution. • The goal is to maximize the expected net income among multiple ad hoc cloud providers. • Our analysis finds that the proposed algorithm will converge to the Nash equilibrium when certain conditions are satisfied. • We perform experiments and the results show that the theory and proof of our analysis is correct. With the rapid cloud technological advancement and economic growth, more and more organizations have purchased cloud resources for daily business operations besides building their own IT infrastructures. Thus, it is very important to understand the economy of cloud computing. In this paper, we mainly focus on examining the private idle computing resources owned by various organizations who are willing to form a network of ad hoc cloud provider and sell the services to cloud users. In such a case, the organizations cannot only meet their own demands, but also sell their idle computing resources in the form of ad hoc cloud. Naturally, the organizations, as provider, aim at maximizing their own profit through adjusting business costs and sale prices. Due to the uncertainty of the amount of idle computing resources, dynamic pricing is challenging. We approach the problem from the perspective of game theory and formulate it as a non-cooperative game among multiple organizations, i.e., the game player. For each player, a utility function is used to represent its profits. The players choose request strategies and sales service strategies to maximize the utility function. This paper has proved that there exists Nash equilibrium for this game problem. We proposed an iterative proximal algorithm (IPA) for calculating the Nash equilibrium. After analyzing the convergence of the IPA , we found that the algorithm converges to the Nash equilibrium solution when reasonable conditions are satisfied and conforms to the theoretical proof. Experimental results show that our proposed algorithm can quickly converge to a stable state, and by calculating the appropriate service (resource) request strategies and selling service strategies for all organizations, organizations' profit are increased compared to without IPA algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ZNF382 can regulate expression of its downstream target genes, thus affecting cell proliferation, metastasis, and apoptosis. • ZNF382 was down-regulated due to hypermethylation of the promoter in multiple tumors. • The expression of ZNF382 can be restored by demethylation drugs 5-azacytidine and 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. • Low-toxicity and specific hypomethylation drug development is a great direction for cancer treatment. Zinc finger protein 382 (ZNF382), a member of the Krüppel-associated box zinc finger proteins (KRAB-ZFPs) family, plays critical roles in regulating certain downstream genes expression as a transcription inhibitor. ZNF382 is downregulated in multiple tumors due to hypermethylation of its promoter, to be more specific, methylation of promoter CpG island may contributes to inhibition of gene expression as found in many studies. With application of DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) 5-azacytidine and 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, hypomethylation of ZNF382 gene may contribute to anti-tumor effects. This review summerized the structure, biological functions, expression and the roles of ZNF382 in multiple cancers, and, expression of ZNF382 regulated by promoter methylation was further discussed to show the possibilities of DNA hypomethylation treatment as a potential treatment in clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolactinoma is a clinically common intracranial tumor. When serum prolactin levels are not controlled despite administration of a dopamine agonist, the condition is referred to as drug-resistant prolactinoma. The mechanism underlying persistent prolactin secretion in drug-resistant prolactinoma remains unclear. MicroRNAs play an important role in tumorigenesis and development as well as chemotherapeutic resistance. This study was conducted to investigate the mechanism by which miRNA regulates prolactin secretion in drug-resistant prolactinoma. We first found that miR-1299 was elevated in drug-resistant prolactinoma and inhibited FOXO1 in a targeted manner through miRNA sequencing and luciferase assays. We then confirmed that FOXO1 binds to the promoter of the prolactin gene to inhibit its expression through chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR and cytological experiments. Finally, inhibition or overexpression of miR-1299 in primary tumor cells confirmed that drug-resistant prolactinoma promoted prolactin secretion by promoting miR-1299 expression and reducing intracellular FOXO1. These results indicate that FOXO1 and miR-1299 are potential therapeutic targets for drug-resistant prolactinoma as well as other pituitary diseases. • Drug-resistant prolactinomas can target and inhibit the expression of FOXO1 by up-regulating miR-1299. • We also found a low FOXO1 level in tumor cells leads to high-level synthesis and secretion of prolactin and poor control of serum prolactin levels. • miR-1299 and FOXO1 may be useful in treating drug-resistant prolactinomas and other related pituitary diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on our earlier works [X. Zheng et al., Phys. Rev. B 75, 195127 (2007); J. S. Jin et al., J. Chem. Phys. 128, 234703 (2008)], we propose a rigorous and numerically convenient approach to simulate time-dependent quantum transport from first-principles. The proposed approach combines time-dependent density functional theory with quantum dissipation theory, and results in a useful tool for studying transient dynamics of electronic systems. Within the proposed exact theoretical framework, we construct a number of practical schemes for simulating realistic systems such as nanoscopic electronic devices. Computational cost of each scheme is analyzed, with the expected level of accuracy discussed. As a demonstration, a simulation based on the adiabatic wide-band limit approximation scheme is carried out to characterize the transient current response of a carbon nanotube based electronic device under time-dependent external voltages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of conductive graphene-molecule-graphene junction is investigated through first-principles electronic structure calculations and quantum transport calculations. The junction consists of a conjugated molecule connecting two parallel graphene sheets. The effects of molecular electronic states, structure relaxation, and molecule-graphene contact on the conductance of the junction are explored. A conductance as large as 0.38 conductance quantum is found achievable with an appropriately oriented dithiophene bridge. This work elucidates the designing principles of promising nanoelectronic devices based on conductive graphene-molecule-graphene junctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient electronic dynamics of a single-lead double-quantum-dot system is significantly affected by intrasystem or lead-mediated interdot coupling. Unique occupancy-state transition features are distinguished in the response current spectrum, due to the presence of irreducible frequency-dependent correlation functions. The complex non-Markovian effects are demonstrated numerically by implementing the exact theory, based on the hierarchical equations of motion for the reduced dynamics of quantum transport systems. They are expected to play a prevalent and nontrivial role in the quantum dynamics of realistic nanoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a comprehensive theoretical investigation on the dynamic electronic response of a noninteracting quantum dot system to various forms of time-dependent voltage applied to the single contact lead. Numerical simulations are carried out by implementing a recently developed hierarchical equations of motion formalism [J. S. Jin et al., J. Chem. Phys. 128, 234703 (2008)], which is formally exact for a fermionic system interacting with grand canonical fermionic reservoirs, in the presence of arbitrary time-dependent applied chemical potentials. The dynamical characteristics of the transient transport current evaluated in both linear and nonlinear-response regimes are analyzed, and the equivalent classic circuit corresponding to the coupled dot-lead system is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalized quantum master equation theory that governs the exact, nonperturbative quantum dissipation and quantum transport is formulated in terms of hierarchically coupled equations of motion for an arbitrary electronic system in contact with electrodes under either a stationary or a nonstationary electrochemical potential bias. The theoretical construction starts with the influence functional in path integral, in which the electron creation and annihilation operators are Grassmann variables. Time derivatives on the influence functionals are then performed in a hierarchical manner. Both the multiple-frequency dispersion and the non-Markovian reservoir parametrization schemes are considered for the desired hierarchy construction. The resulting hierarchical equations of motion formalism is in principle exact and applicable to arbitrary electronic systems, including Coulomb interactions, under the influence of arbitrary time-dependent applied bias voltage and external fields. Both the conventional quantum master equation and the real-time diagrammatic formalism of Schön and co-workers can be readily obtained at well defined limits of the present theory. We also show that for a noninteracting electron system, the present hierarchical equations of motion formalism terminates at the second tier exactly, and the Landuer–Büttiker transport current expression is recovered. The present theory renders an exact and numerically tractable tool to evaluate various transient and stationary quantum transport properties of many-electron systems, together with the involving nonperturbative dissipative dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]