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To modernize public service delivery, U.S. communities increasingly rely on 311 systems for residents to request government services. Research on 311 systems is relatively new, and there is mixed evidence on whether 311 can help bridge the gap between disadvantaged communities and governments. This study draws from research on immigration, race/ethnicity, and differential engagement to explore the link between immigrant concentration and 311 usage. We use longitudinal data on 311 requests in Baltimore City, Maryland (2014–2019) and spatial panel regression analysis to show that neighborhood racial/ethnic structure and the national policy environment can significantly influence whether immigrant concentration is a barrier for 311 service-seeking. Specifically, we find that immigrant concentration reduces 311 requests in high-immigrant neighborhoods with Latino or Black concentration, but not in high-immigrant neighborhoods with White/Asian concentration. We also find that in Latino high-immigrant neighborhoods, the relationship between immigrant concentration and 311 requests appears mainly after 2017, when the federal government adopted hostile immigration policies. By establishing and contextualizing the relationship between immigrant concentration and 311 usage, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of civic participation and the connection between immigrant communities and government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endometriosis, a complex gynecological condition, involves inflammation and immune dysregulation. The vaginal microbiota, characterized by its diversity, is an integral part of the vaginal microecology—interacting with vaginal anatomy, the endocrine system, and local mucosal immunity. Imbalances in this microecology are known to precipitate various inflammatory diseases. Despite extensive research, the connection between vaginal microbiota dysbiosis and endometriosis remains a subject of debate. Our study assesses the association between vaginal microecology dysbiosis and endometriosis. Methods: We systematically searched major electronic databases in English, including Embase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE (Ovid), BIOSIS (Ovid), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang, up to August 15, 2023. Selected articles underwent screening based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Normal vaginal microecology was defined as a negative Amsel/Spiegel test or Nugent score of 0–3, or Lactobacillus predominance determined by 16S rRNA gene amplification sequencing. Deviations from this norm were classified as dysbiosis, further categorized into bacterial vaginosis (BV) and intermediate BV. Data analysis utilized Revman 5.4, with effect sizes presented as Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Results: Out of 1081 articles, eight met the inclusion criteria. Utilizing fixed-effect models due to low heterogeneity, the analysis revealed a positive association between dysbiosis and endometriosis (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.81–1.70; I2 = 0%), but showed a slight negative association between normal vaginal microecology with endometriosis (OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.55–1.46; I2 = 29%). However, the association was not significant. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses corroborated the stability of these associations. Conclusion: A positive correlation exists between vaginal microecology dysbiosis and endometriosis, notably with intermediate BV. However, the mechanisms underpinning this relationship remain elusive, highlighting the need for further research to overcome limitations. Trial registration: Registration number: CRD42023445163. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P)‐hyperaccumulators for phytoextraction from P‐polluted areas generally show rapid growth and accumulate large amounts of P without any toxicity symptom, which depends on a range of physiological processes and gene expression patterns that have never been explored. We investigated growth, leaf element concentrations, P fractions, photosynthetic traits, and leaf metabolome and transcriptome response in amphibious P‐hyperaccumulators, Polygonum hydropiper and P. lapathifolium, to high‐P exposure (5 mmol L−1), with 0.05 mmol L−1 as the control. Under high‐P exposure, both species demonstrated good growth, allocating more P to metabolite P and inorganic P (Pi) accompanied by high potassium and calcium. The expression of a cluster of unigenes associated with photosynthesis was maintained or increased in P. lapathifolium, explaining the increase in net photosynthetic rate and the rapid growth under high‐P exposure. Metabolites of trehalose metabolism, including trehalose 6‐phosphate and trehalose, were sharply increased in both species by the high‐P exposure, in line with the enhanced expression of associated unigenes, indicating that trehalose metabolic pathway was closely related to high‐P tolerance. These findings elucidated the physiological and molecular responses involved in the photosynthesis and trehalose metabolism in P‐hyperaccumulators to high‐P exposure, and provides potential regulatory pathways to improve the P‐phytoextraction capability. Summary Statement: Amphibious Polygonum species upregulated genes expression associated with photosynthesis for rapid growth, allocated more metabolite P and Pi and changed trehalose metabolism for high‐P tolerance to achieve P‐hyperaccumulation and efficient P‐phytoextraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting stress is the experience of discomfort or distress that results from the demands associated with the role of parenting. Although there are numerous parenting stress scales, relatively few scales have been developed with consideration of the Chinese cultural context. This study aimed to develop and validate the Chinese Parenting Stress Scale (CPSS) with a multidimensional and hierarchical structure for Mainland Chinese preschoolers' parents (N = 1,427, M age = 35.63 years, SD = 4.69). In Study 1, a theoretical model and an initial 118 items were developed, drawing on prior research and existing measures of parenting stress. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 15 first-order factors with 60 items. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses supported a higher order solution consisting of 15 first-order factors covering four domains: Child Development (12 items), Difficult Child (16 items), Parent–Child Interaction (12 items), and Parent's Readjustment to Life (20 items). Measurement invariance indicated no gender differences between parents for the scale scores. The convergent, discriminant, and criteria validity of the CPSS scores was supported by its association with related variables in the expected directions. Moreover, the CPSS scores added significant incremental variance in predicting somatization, anxiety, and child's emotional symptoms more so than the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form-15. The CPSS total and subscale scores all had acceptable Cronbach's αs in both samples. The overall findings support the CPSS as a psychometrically sound tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: To clarify the allometric growth pattern and hunger tolerance of Hemibarbus maculatus Bleeker larvae, the morphological lengths of their functional organs were measured continuously and their primary feeding rates under a state of starvation were studied. A control group and starvation group were set up for this study, and 10 larvae were sampled from each group every day in order to study their allometric growth pattern and hunger tolerance. The results showed that the Hemibarbus maculatus larvae opened their mouths for feeding at 4 DAH (days after hatching), and the yolk sac disappeared completely at 11 DAH. The PNR (point of no return) of the Hemibarbus maculatus larvae was 12–13 DAH, and the ratio of the DAH in the mixed trophic period compared to the endotrophic period was 1.75, indicating that Hemibarbus maculatus larvae have strong starvation tolerance. Hemibarbus maculatus larvae preferentially developed their heads, fins, and eyes, related to the functions of feeding, balancing, and swimming, in order to cope with complex environments. Therefore, when considering a water temperature of 22.66 ± 1.56 °C, 4–5 DAH is the best time to cultivate in the pond, which should not be carried out later than 12 DAH. To clarify the allometric growth pattern and hunger tolerance of Hemibarbus maculatus Bleeker larvae, the morphological lengths of their functional organs were measured continuously and their primary feeding rates under a state of starvation were studied. A control group and starvation group were set up for this study, and 10 larvae were sampled from each group every day in order to study their allometric growth pattern and starvation tolerance. The results indicated that the Hemibarbus maculatus larvae opened their mouths for feeding at 4 days after hatching, and that the yolk sac disappeared completely at 11 days after hatching. The Hemibarbus maculatus larvae preferentially developed their heads, fins, and eyes, related to the functions of feeding, balancing, and swimming, in order to cope with complex environments. The growth inflection points for the head length, pectoral fin length, dorsal fin length, eye diameter, eye spacing, snout length, and body height were characterized by total lengths of 10.93 mm, 11.67 mm, 11.67 mm, 13.17 mm, 16.53 mm, 15.13 mm, and 15.13 mm, respectively. Prior to and following the inflection point, positive allometric growth was observed in all organs. After the inflection point, the dorsal fin continued to maintain positive allometric growth, while the others changed to isometric allometric growth. A growth inflection point was not observed for trunk length or the lengths of the tail and anal fins. The trunk length always maintained negative allometry, while the tail and anal fin lengths were reversed. The growth inflection point of the tail length was at a total length of 13.68 mm. Before and after the growth inflection point, negative and isometric allometric growths were observed, respectively. According to the relationship between the total length and number of days after hatching, the growth inflection point of the Hemibarbus maculatus larvae was concentrated at TL = 10.93–16.53 mm, which was observed 14–20 days after hatching. The point of no return for the Hemibarbus maculatus larvae was 12–13 days after hatching, and the ratio of days after hatching in the mixed trophic period to the endotrophic period was 1.75, indicating that the larvae had strong hunger tolerance. Therefore, when considering a water temperature of 22.66 ± 1.56 °C, 4–5 days after hatching is the best time to cultivate in the pond, and it should not be carried out later than 12 days after hatching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of sexual abstinence on sperm quality, particularly in pathological cases, is a subject of debate. We investigated the link between abstinence duration and semen quality in both normal and pathological samples. Methods: We analyzed semen samples from 4423 men undergoing fertility evaluation, comprising 1256 samples from healthy individuals and 3167 from those with conditions such as oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia, or a combination of these factors, namely oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). Parameters including sperm concentration, the percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa, total motile sperm count, and the percentage of spermatozoa with normal morphology were assessed at various abstinence durations (each day, 0–2, 3–7, and >7 days). Results: Extended abstinence correlated with higher sperm concentration overall (p < 0.001), except in oligozoospermia. Longer abstinence reduced progressive motility in normal (p < 0.001) and teratozoospermic samples (p < 0.001). Shorter abstinence was linked to higher morphologically normal sperm in normal samples (p = 0.03), while longer abstinence did so in oligoasthenoteratozoospermic samples (p = 0.013). Conclusion: The findings suggest that a prolonged abstinence time is linked to higher sperm concentration, while optimal sperm motility is observed after shorter abstinence periods. However, results regarding morphology remain inconclusive. Recommendations on abstinence duration should be tailored based on the specific parameter requiring the most significant improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Victims' willingness to report crime and their opinions about the police are important indicators of police performance, police legitimacy, and trust in the justice system. This study examines two decades of trends in police notification and victims' perceptions of the police in the United States and major metropolitan areas since 2000, using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). In contrast to previous studies indicating an increase in police notification in the 1980s and 1990s, the present study shows a progressive decline in police notification observed in the last two decades, especially since 2010. Furthermore, there has been a marked increase in victims' mistrust of police responsiveness since the mid-2000s. Using multivariable regression models that control for potential changes in the characteristics of crime and survey methodology, we find that the victims' rising distrust of the police is widespread in many metropolitan areas, in all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and especially so for victims of theft, burglary, and simple assault. In the discussion, we suggest that the changing policing strategies and the evolving economic, political, and social environments of the 21st century may help explain the trends identified by this research. Understanding victim reporting trends and victims' opinions of the police may affect data and policy and help the justice system to better serve victims and enhance public safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations of the vertical wind profile in Chongqing, a typical mountainous city in China, are important, but they are sparse and have low resolution. To obtain more wind profile data, this study matched the Aeolus track with ground-based wind observation sites in Chongqing in 2021. Based on the obtained results, verification and quality control studies were conducted on the wind observations of a wind profile radar (WPR) with radiosonde (RS) data, and a comparison of the Aeolus Mie-cloudy and Rayleigh-clear wind products (Aeolus winds measured in cloudy and aerosol-rich atmospheric conditions from Mie-channel-collected data and winds measured in clear-air conditions from Rayleigh-collected data) with WPR data was then performed. The conclusions can be summarized as follows: (1) a clear correlation between the wind observations of WPR and RS was found, with a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.71. Their root mean square deviation increased with height but decreased at heights between 3 and 4 km. (2) After quality control using Gaussian filtering (GF) and empirical orthogonal function construction (EOFc; G=87.23 %) of the WPR data, the R between the WPR and RS reached 0.83 and 0.95, respectively. The vertical distribution showed that GF could better retain the characteristics of WPR wind observations but with limited improvement in decreasing deviations, whereas EOFc performed better in decreasing deviations but considerably modified the original characteristics of the wind field, especially regarding intensive vertical wind shear in strong convective weather processes. (3) In terms of the differences between the Aeolus and WPR data, 56.0 % and 67.8 % deviations were observed within ±5 m s -1 for Rayleigh-clear and Mie-cloudy winds (Aeolus winds measured in cloudy and aerosol-rich atmospheric conditions from Mie-channel-collected data and winds measured in clear-air conditions from Rayleigh-collected data) vs WPR winds, respectively. Vertically, large mean differences of both Rayleigh-clean and Mie-cloudy winds versus WPR winds appeared below 1.5 km, which is attributed to the prevailing quiet and small winds within the boundary layer in Chongqing; in this case the movement of molecules and aerosols is mostly affected by irregular turbulence. Additionally, large mean differences at a height range between 4 and 8 km for Mie-cloudy versus WPR winds may be related to the high content of cloud liquid water in the middle troposphere of Chongqing. (4) The differences in both Rayleigh-clear and Mie-cloudy versus WPR winds had changed. Deviations of 58.9 % and 59.6 % were concentrated within ±5 m s -1 for Rayleigh-clear versus WPR winds with GF and EOFc quality control, respectively. In contrast, 69.1 % and 70.2 % of deviations appeared within ±5 m s -1 for Rayleigh-clear versus WPR and EOFc WPR winds, respectively. These results shed light on the comprehensive applications of multi-source wind profile data in mountainous cities or areas with sparse ground-based wind observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the accuracy of short-term multi-energy load prediction models for integrated energy systems, the historical development law of the multi-energy loads must be considered. Moreover, understanding the complex coupling correlation of the different loads in the multi-energy systems, and accounting for other load-influencing factors such as weather, may further improve the forecasting performance of such models. In this study, a two-stage fuzzy optimization method is proposed for the feature selection and identification of the multi-energy loads. To enrich the information content of the prediction input feature, we introduced a copula correlation feature analysis in the proposed framework, which extracts the complex dynamic coupling correlation of multi-energy loads and applies Akaike information criterion (AIC) to evaluate the adaptability of the different copula models presented. Furthermore, we combined a NARX neural network with Bayesian optimization and an extreme learning machine model optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA) to effectively improve the feature fusion performances of the proposed multi-energy load prediction model. The effectiveness of the proposed short-term prediction model was confirmed by the experimental results obtained using the multi-energy load time-series data of an actual integrated energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Our understanding of how immigration enforcement impacts crime has been informed exclusively by data from police crime statistics. This study complements existing research by using longitudinal multilevel data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for 2005–2014 to simultaneously assess the impact of the three predominant immigration policies that have been implemented in local communities. The results indicate that the activation of Secure Communities and 287(g) task force agreements significantly increased violent victimization risk among Latinos, whereas they showed no evident impact on victimization risk among non‐Latino Whites and Blacks. The activation of 287(g) jail enforcement agreements and anti‐detainer policies had no significant impact on violent victimization risk during the period. Policy Implications: Contrary to their stated purpose of enhancing public safety, our results show that the Secure Communities program and 287(g) task force agreements did not reduce crime, but instead eroded security in U.S. communities by increasing the likelihood that Latinos experienced violent victimization. These results support the Federal government's ending of 287(g) task force agreements and its more recent move to end the Secure Communities program. Additionally, the results of our study add to the evidence challenging claims that anti‐detainer policies pose a threat to violence risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the adverse effects of low-concentration isocyanate exposure on airway inflammation and lung function and to explore the application of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in occupational health examinations of isocyanate-exposed workers. Methods From 2016 to 2017, a total of 192 workers exposed to isocyanates were selected as the exposure group, and 91 with similar age and gender composition (office and/or logistics personnel) without any exposure to occupational hazards (as references) were studied. Monitoring data of airborne isocyanate concentration in workplaces in the past 5 years were collected. The basic information of all workers was collected, and their lung function, FeNO, and salbutamol bronchial dilation tests were performed. The differences in various indicators among these two groups of workers were compared. Results The airborne isocyanate concentration in workplaces over the past 5 years was significantly lower than the national occupational exposure limit. The forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) of the exposed workers were higher than those of the reference group, while FEV1/FVC was lower than that of the reference group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in FeNO levels between the exposed workers and the reference workers (P > 0.05). The FEV1/FVC ratio was higher in the exposed workers with exposure time < 7 years than workers with exposure time≥ 7 years (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in FeNO levels between these two groups (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in various indicators of lung function among different workers grouped according to the FeNO levels (P > 0.05). Among 192 exposed workers, 13 had FeNO levels higher than 50 ppb (1 ppb = 1 × 10-9), and among 9 workers receiving bronchial dilation tests 3 workers were positive. Conclusions FEV1/FVC could better reflect the adverse effect of isocyanate, a type of asthmagens, on lung function. FeNO levels cannot indicate the occupational low -level isocyanate exposure, while positive changes shown by bronchial dilation tests in exposed populations occur earlier than changes in lung function. The combination of FeNO measurement and bronchial dilation tests could have certain predictive value for diagnosing and screening occupational asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mouse models are critical tools in tuberculosis (TB) research. Recent studies have demonstrated that the wild mouse gut microbiota promotes host fitness and improves disease resistance. Here we examine whether the wild mouse gut microbiota alters the immunopathology of TB in BALB/c mice. Conventional BALB/c mice (LabC) and mice born to germ-free BALB/c mothers reconstituted with the wild mouse gut microbiota (WildR) were used in our studies. WildR mice controlled initial TB infection better than LabC mice. The microbial gut communities of LabC mice and WildR mice had similar richness but significantly different composition prior to infection. TB reduced the gut community richness in both cohorts while differences in community composition remained indicating a general TB-induced dysbiosis. The wild mouse gut microbiota did not alter the typical lung histopathology of TB in the BALB/c model that includes unstructured immune cell infiltrates with infected foamy macrophages invading alveolar spaces. Animals of both cohorts mounted robust T cell responses in lungs and spleen with lower absolute counts of CD4 and CD8 T cells in lungs of WildR mice during acute infection, corresponding with observed differences in pathogen load. In summary, LabC mice and WildR mice showed largely overlapping TB immunopathology and pathogen kinetics, with WildR mice controlling early acute infection better than LabC mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen blended gas turbines (HBGTs) are pivotal for the carbon emission reduction (CER) of urban integrated energy systems (UIESs). However, the traditional rough modeling performed in the existing research on optimal scheduling is not suitable for the implementation of HBGTs. To reflect the influence of hydrogen blending on the operation performance of HBGTs, a novel HBGT model is developed in this study based on the multidisciplinary integration modeling methodology with chemical reaction kinetics and system thermodynamics. This model can describe carbon emission and co-combustion power generation properties of HBGT. When the tracking of hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) composition is considered, the model can be further applied to the stochastic optimal scheduling of electricity–HCNG UIESs with internal and external uncertainties to solve the carbon emission and renewable energy source (RES) consumption problems of UIESs. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed HBGT modeling method has low-carbon economy and offers accurate operation performance. Furthermore, HBGT power generation can reduce the carbon emissions of an electricity–HCNG UIES by 22.62%. Meanwhile, the economy and wind power consumption are improved by more than 0.71% and 6.53%, respectively. The proposed optimal scheduling model considering multiple uncertainties is more reliable with the improvement of confidence level, which is an important guide for obtaining the optimal hydrogen blending ratio and promoting the CER of UIES. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a renewed interest in germanium (Ge) as a material for beyond the silicon (Si) era for electronic and photonic applications, the GeO2/Ge interface remains to be controlled for making the best of Ge's advantages. Not only electrical challenges but also structural challenges must be considered. The crystallization of GeO2 on Ge without the desorption of GeO is clearly demonstrated. This demonstration means that the desorption of GeO observed in a GeO2/Ge stack is not the sole indicator of deterioration of the GeO2/Ge gate stack. Moreover, a study using atomic force microscopy demonstrates that a nonuniform reaction at the GeO2/Ge interface [with root mean square (rms) roughness of 2.3 nm] is observed on the initially flat Ge surface (rms: 0.3 nm). Furthermore, a reaction at the GeO2/Si interface is experimentally investigated in comparison with the GeO2/Ge case, and crystalline Ge islands are demonstrated to form on Si. These findings are of fundamental interest as well as of technical importance from the viewpoint of Ge-based electronics and photonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD is a painful complication of intraoperative urinary catheterization after anaesthesia. We conducted this study to compare the effect of tramadol and lornoxicam for the prevention of postoperative CRBD. Methods: One-hundred twenty patients (aged 18–60 years, ASA physical status 1–2, undergoing elective uterine surgery requiring intraoperative urinary catheterization were randomly divided into three groups with 40 patients in each group. Group T received 1.5 mg/kg tramadol, group L received 8-mg lornoxicam, and group C received normal saline. The study drugs were administered intravenously at the end of the surgery. The incidence and severity of CRBD were reported at 0, 1, 2, and 6 h after arrival at the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU). Results: The incidence of CRBD was significantly lower in groups T and L than in group C at 1, 2, and 6 h after surgery. The incidence of moderate to severe CRBD was also significantly lower in groups T and L than in group C at 0, 1, and 2 h after surgery. The severity of CRBD reported as mild, moderate, and severe was reduced in groups T and L compared with group C at most times after surgery. Group T had a higher incidence of nausea than group C, and there were no differences in dizziness, drowsiness, or vomit among the three groups. Conclusions: Tramadol and lornoxicam administered intravenously at the end of the surgery were both effective in preventing the incidence and severity of CRBD after uterine surgery. However, tramadol increased the incidence of nausea compared with saline, but there was no difference between tramadol and lornoxicam. Trial registration: ChiCTR2100052003. Registered on 12/10/2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This article is mainly about that molecular characterization and expression pattern of leptin in yellow cheek carp (Elopichthys bambusa) and its transcriptional changes in response to fasting and refeeding. In this study, the authors used PCR to clone the CDS of leptin in yellow cheek carp, and analyzed the sequence differences of the gene with other species, constructed the phylogenetic tree, used real-time PCR for analyzing the expression of leptin in different tissues, including the expression of leptin in the brain and liver after fasting–refeeding of yellow cheek carp. This paper found that the full-length cDNA sequence of Eblep was 1140 bp and the length of the open reading frame (ORF), which can encode a protein of 174 amino acids, was 525 bp. The Eblep mRNA transcript was detected in all tested tissues, with the highest expression in the liver and lowest expression in the spleen. It was found that the change in the mRNA expression of EbLep may be an adaptive strategy for different energy levels by studying the expression of EbLep mRNA in the brain and liver under fasting and refeeding. Leptin, a secretory protein encoded by obese genes, plays an important role in regulating feeding and energy metabolism in fish. To study the structure and function of the Leptin gene in yellow cheek carp (Elopichthys bambusa), the full-length cDNA sequence of leptin was cloned, named EbLep. The full-length cDNA of Eblep was 1140 bp, and the length of the open reading frame (ORF), which can encode a protein of 174 amino acids, was 525 bp. The signal peptide was predicted to contain 33 amino acids. Sequence alignment showed that the amino acid sequence of Leptin was conserved in cyprinid fish. Despite large differences between primary structures, the tertiary structure of the EbLep protein was similar to that of the human protein and had four α-helices. The EbLep mRNA transcript was detected in all tested tissues, with the highest expression in the liver and lowest expression in the spleen. In this study, short-term fasting significantly increased the mRNA expression of EbLep in the liver, which returned to a normal level after 6 days of refeeding and was significantly lower than the normal level after 28 days of refeeding. In the brain, the mRNA expression of EbLep significantly decreased during short-term fasting and significantly increased to a higher value than the control group after 1 h of refeeding. It then rapidly decreased to a lower value than the control group after 6 h of refeeding, returning to the normal level after 1 day of refeeding, and significantly decreasing to a lower value than the control group after 28 days of refeeding. To sum up, the change in the mRNA expression of EbLep in the brain and liver may be an adaptive strategy for different energy levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moslae herba is considered to be a functional food ingredient or nutraceutical due to its rich bioactive components. The present research was carried out to investigate the effects of different temperatures (40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C) on the drying characteristics, textural properties, bioactive compounds, flavor changes and final quality attributes of Moslae herba during the hot air-drying process. The results showed that the Midilli model could effectively simulate the drying process of Moslae herba. The effective moisture diffusivity ranged from 3.14 × 10−5 m2/s to 7.39 × 10−5 m2/s, and the activation energy was estimated to be 37.29 kJ/mol. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of Moslae herba samples showed the shrinkage of the underlying epidermal layers and glandular trichomes. In total, 23 volatile compounds were detected in Moslae herba. Among them, the content of thymol increased from 28.29% in fresh samples to 56.75%, 55.86% and 55.62% in samples dried at temperatures of 40 °C, 50 °C and 60 °C, respectively, while the other two components, p-cymene and γ-terpinene, decreased with an increase in the temperature. Furthermore, both radar fingerprinting and principal component analysis (PCA) of the electronic nose (E-nose) showed that the flavor substances significantly altered during the drying process. Eventually, drying Moslae herba at 60 °C positively affected the retention of total phenolics, total flavonoids and the antioxidant capacity as compared with drying at 40 °C and 50 °C. The overall results elucidated that drying Moslae herba at the temperature of 60 °C efficiently enhanced the final quality by significantly reducing the drying time and maintaining the bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pea enation mosaic disease (PEMD) causes significant yield losses worldwide. PEMD is caused by two taxonomically unrelated but symbiotic viruses, pea enation mosaic virus 1 (PEMV-1) and pea enation mosaic virus 2 (PEMV-2). In this study, the complete genomes of four isolates of PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 from Yunnan Province of China were determined and analyzed. The four isolates of PEMV-1 or PEMV-2 shared ≥ 98.7% nucleotide sequence identities at whole genome level. The four Chinese PEMV-1 isolates were most closely related to PEMV-1-Ramsey-1 with nucleotide sequence identities of 97.8–98.0%, while the four Chinese PEMV-2 isolates were most closely related to PEMV-2-DSMZ PV-0088, with nucleotide sequence identities of 94.3–94.5%. The two full-length infectious cDNA clones of the Yunnan-Dali isolates of the two viruses (PEMV-1-YDL and PEMV-2-YDL) were constructed. Co-inoculation of PEMV-1-YDL and PEMV-2-YDL in pea seedlings caused systemic infection, with typical enation and mosaic symptoms on new leaves after inoculation, while the inoculated Nicotiana benthamiana plants showed curling symptoms. Inoculation of pea seedlings with either PEMV-1-YDL or PEMV-2-YDL did not cause obvious symptoms on the new leaves. It has been known that PEMV-2 helps the systemic infection of PEMV-1. However, our results showed that PEMV-1-YDL alone could cause a systemic infection. The pathogenicity of the two infectious clones was tested on different pea cultivars, and some cultivars were PEMD-tolerant. This is the first report of the infectious clones constructed from the Chinese isolates of PEMV-1 and PEMV-2. The current approach will facilitate determination of the synergistic relationship between PEMV-1 and PEMV-2 and their interactions with the host plant by reverse genetic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) can lead to various postoperative complications. The risk assessment model of PONV is helpful in guiding treatment and reducing the incidence of PONV, whereas the published models of PONV do not have a high accuracy rate. This study aimed to collect data from patients in Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital to develop models for predicting PONV based on machine learning algorithms, and to evaluate the predictive performance of the models using the area under the receiver characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy, precision, recall rate, F1 value and area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC). The AUC (0.947) of our best machine learning model was significantly higher than that of the past models. The best of these models was used for external validation on patients from Chengdu First People's Hospital, and the AUC was 0.821. The contributions of variables were also interpreted using SHapley Additive ExPlanation (SHAP). A history of motion sickness and/or PONV, sex, weight, history of surgery, infusion volume, intraoperative urine volume, age, BMI, height, and PCA_3.0 were the top ten most important variables for the model. The machine learning models of PONV provided a good preoperative prediction of PONV for intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic and extreme climate disasters cause ecological changes in natural rivers and lakes, increasing the risk of starvation in yellowcheek (Elopichthys bambusa). Therefore, the impact of starvation on the metabolism and wild population of yellowcheek should be explored. In this study, we used transcriptome sequencing technology to analyze the effects of short (8 d) and long-term (28 d) starvation on the liver transcriptome, growth, and serum indicators of yellowcheek. Our results showed that short-term starvation significantly reduced the visceral weight and viscera index of yellowcheek. Long-term starvation significantly reduced the body weight and Fulton's condition factor, and it maintained significant reductions in visceral weight and viscera index. These results indicate that glycogen is the preferred energy source, rather than muscle protein, under starvation. Short-term starvation limited N-glycan and fatty acid biosynthesis, fatty acid elongation in the endoplasmic reticulum in the liver, and upregulated fatty acid degradation. However, long-term starvation alleviated the reduction in N-glycan and fatty acid biosynthesis caused by early starvation, and it significantly reduced fatty acid elongation in the mitochondria, as well as fatty acid degradation. These results provide important experiment information for assessing the starvation levels and nutritional status of wild yellowcheek. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphologically dynamic dendritic spines are the major sites of neuronal plasticity in the brain; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying their morphological dynamics have not been fully elucidated. Phldb2 is a protein that contains two predicted coiled-coil domains and the pleckstrin homology domain, whose binding is highly sensitive to PIP 3. We have previously demonstrated that Phldb2 regulates synaptic plasticity, glutamate receptor trafficking, and PSD-95 turnover. Drebrin is one of the most abundant neuron-specific F-actin-binding proteins that are pivotal for synaptic morphology and plasticity. We observed that Phldb2 bound to drebrin A (adult-type drebrin), but not to drebrin E (embryonic-type drebrin). In the absence of Phldb2, the subcellular localization of drebrin A in the hippocampal spines and its distribution in the hippocampus were altered. Immature spines, such as the filopodium type, increased relatively in the CA1 regions of the hippocampus, whereas mushroom spines, a typical mature type, decreased in Phldb2 -/- mice. Phldb2 suppressed the formation of an abnormal filopodium structure induced by drebrin A overexpression. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that Phldb2 is pivotal for dendritic spine morphology and possibly for synaptic plasticity in mature animals by regulating drebrin A localization. • Phldb2 interacts with drebrin A, but not drebrin E. • Phldb2 rescues abnormal filopodia, induced by drebrin A overexpression. • Mature dendritic spine number decreases in Phldb2 -/- mice; immature spines increase. • Phldb2 regulates the location and expression of drebrin A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on understanding the corrosion behavior of LaZrCeO/YSZ (LZC/YSZ) coatings exposed to molten NaCl at high temperatures and compares it with that of YSZ coating. There is significant damage in LZC/YSZ coatings compared with YSZ coating, attributed to the synergistic effect of the thermal growth stress introduced by thermal growth oxide thickening, thermal stress caused by the thermal expansion mismatch between the double ceramic layers (DCLs), and the degradation of the bond coating. The lifetime of LZC/YSZ coatings was reduced significantly in the molten NaCl. The thermal mismatch stress between the DCLs was considered to be the main reason why the damage to the LZC/YSZ coatings was more serious than that to the YSZ coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the compound Poisson phase-type process is defined and analyzed. This paper proves that for a non-negative compound Poisson phase-type process, the compound value for all the arrivals by a given time can be approximated by a phase-type distribution. As an application of this process, three different shock models are studied: the cumulative shock model, a degradation-threshold-shock model, and a shock model for the multi-component system. A novel approach is proposed to compute the system's reliability under the aforementioned shock models for a general counting process. Numerical illustrations are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fly ash from waste incineration and waste poplar bark from furniture manufacturing are domestic wastes. In this study, fly ash and poplar bark were used as raw materials to prepare activated carbon via carbonization, steam activation and reagent modification. The effects of the raw material mixing ratio, carbonization temperature, activator concentration and modifier concentration on the physicochemical properties of the semi-coke and activated carbon were investigated through experiments. The experiment showed that when the carbonization temperature was 300 °C, the steam concentration was 20%, the mixing ratio of the poplar bark and fly ash (B:F) was 5:1, and the modifier was 6% K2CO3 reagent and 9% CaCl2. The prepared activated carbon had a better yield, specific surface area and pore structure, and had an abundant surface functional group structure. This paper points out the direction for the industrial directional production of activated carbon adsorbents with excellent physical and chemical properties, which has practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease involving multiple systems. Immunopathology believes that abnormal T cell function and excessive production of autoantibodies by B cells are involved in multi-organ damage. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) therapies have endowed with promise in SLE, while the function of MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) was still unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are subcellular components secreted by a paracellular mechanism and are essentially a group of nanoparticles. EVs play a vital role in cell-to-cell communication by acting as biological transporters. New evidence has shown beneficial effects of MSC-EVs on autoimmune diseases, such as their immunomodulatory properties. In this study, we investigated whether hUCMSCs derived extracellular vesicles (hUCMSC-EVs) could regulate abnormal immune responses of T cells or B cells in SLE. We isolated splenic mononuclear cells from MRL/lpr mice, a classical animal model of SLE. PBS (Phosphate-buffered saline), 2 × 105 hUCMSCs, 25 µg/ml hUCMSC-EVs, 50 µg/ml hUCMSC-EVs were co-cultured with 2 × 106 activated splenic mononuclear cells for 3 days in vitro, respectively. The proportions of CD4+ T cell subsets, B cells and the concentrations of cytokines were detected. Both hUCMSCs and hUCMSC-EVs inhibited CD4+ T cells, increased the production of T helper (Th)17 cells, promoted the production of interleukin (IL)-17 and transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-β1) (P < 0.05), although they had no significant effects on Th1, Th2, T follicular helper (Tfh), regulatory T (Treg) cells and IL-10 (P > 0.05); only hUCMSCs inhibited CD19+ B cells, promoted the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IL-4 (P < 0.05). hUCMSCs exert immunoregulatory effects on SLE at least partially through hUCMSC-EVs in vitro, therefore, hUCMSC-EVs play novel and potential regulator roles in SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The system performance of the supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle for the Sodium Fast Reactor with a partial-cooling layout was studied, and an economic analysis was carried out. The energetic, exergetic, and exergoeconomic analyses are presented, and the optimized results were compared with the recompression cycle. The sensitivity analyses were conducted by considering the variations in the pressure ratios and inlet temperatures of the main compressor and the turbine. The exergy efficiency of the partial-cooling cycle reached 63.65% with a net power output of 34.39 MW via optimization. The partial-cooling cycle obtained a minimum total cost rate of 2230.36 USD/h and exergy efficiency of 63.65% when the pressure ratio was equal to 3.50. The inlet temperature of the main compressor was equal to 35 °C, and the inlet temperature of the turbine was equal to 480 °C. The total cost of recuperators decreased with the increase in the pressure ratio and the inlet temperatures of the main compressor. In addition, the total cost of recuperator could be reduced by increasing the outlet temperature of the turbine. The change in cost from exergy loss and destruction with the pressure ratio was substantially larger than with the inlet temperature of the turbine or the main compressor. Manipulating the pressure ratio is an essential method to guarantee good economy of the system. Moreover, capital investment, operation, and maintenance costs normally accounted for large proportions of the total cost rate, being almost double the cost from the exergy loss and destruction occurring in each condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The (La 0.2 Gd 0.2 Y 0.2 Yb 0.2 Er 0.2) 2 (Zr 1- x Ti x) 2 O 7 (x = 0–0.5) high-entropy ceramics were successfully prepared by a solid state reaction method and their structures and thermo-physical properties were investigated. It was found that the high-entropy ceramics demonstrate pure pyrochlore phase with the composition of x = 0.1–0.5, while (La 0.2 Gd 0.2 Y 0.2 Yb 0.2 Er 0.2) 2 Zr 2 O 7 shows the defective fluorite structure. The sintered high-entropy ceramics are dense and the grain boundaries are clean. The grain size of high-entropy ceramics increases with the Ti4+ content. The average thermal expansion coefficients of the (La 0.2 Gd 0.2 Y 0.2 Yb 0.2 Er 0.2) 2 (Zr 1- x Ti x) 2 O 7 high-entropy ceramics range from 10.65 × 10−6 K−1 to 10.84 × 10−6 K−1. Importantly, the substitution of Zr4+ with Ti4+ resulted in a remarkable decrease in thermal conductivity of (La 0.2 Gd 0.2 Y 0.2 Yb 0.2 Er 0.2) 2 (Zr 1- x Ti x) 2 O 7 high-entropy ceramics. It reduced from 1.66 W m−1 K−1 to 1.20 W m−1 K−1, which should be ascribed to the synergistic effects of mass disorder, size disorder, mixed configuration entropy value and rattlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring precious‐metal‐free catalysts for efficient photocatalytic H2 evolution is highly desirable but still challenging. Herein, a novel 2D/2D Co‐ZIF‐9/Ti3C2 composite was fabricated by a facile electrostatic self‐assembly strategy. Owing to higher flux of photogenerated electron‐holes and lower rate of recombination, the resultant composite exhibited better photocatalytic H2 evolution compared to Co‐ZIF‐9. When the content of Ti3C2 was 2.5 wt %, a maximum photocatalytic H2‐generation rate of 3538.5 μmol g−1 ⋅ h−1 was achieved, which is 9.6 times that of bare Co‐ZIF‐9. Moreover, the Co‐ZIF‐9/Ti3C2 composite displayed high photocatalytic stability. This study demonstrated for the first time the great potential of Co‐ZIF‐9/Ti3C2 as a noble‐metal‐free catalyst for photocatalytic H2 generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel Enspectrumix methodology is proposed to extract machine fault components from vibration mixtures; • Healthy signals are utilized as prior knowledge instead of using impulsiveness and cyclostationarity; • Enpsectrumix can simultaneously extract fault components in several frequency bands; • Enspectrumix makes signal decomposition methods easy for fault component extraction. Machine condition monitoring is important in industry to monitor machine health conditions and avoid unexpected machine breakdowns. Vibration mixtures contain sufficient machine health information, but they have lots of vibration interferences. Therefore, it is crucial to adaptively extract fault components from vibration mixtures. Blind-filter-based methods have been extensively studied to extract fault components and they use impulsiveness and cyclo - stationarity properties as prior knowledge to optimize signal processing parameters. The difficulties of state-of-the-art methods include that: (1) statistical indices (e.g., kurtosis, Gini index, correlated kurtosis, etc.) cannot simultaneously characterize impulsiveness and cyclo - stationarity properties so that blind-filter-based methods are always affected by impulsive noise and low-frequency components, resulting in unreliable performance for fault components extraction; (2) optimization of signal processing parameters is time-consuming; (3) band-in noise cannot be removed; (4) only a frequency band rather than several frequency bands can be adaptively selected, resulting in the incomplete fault components extraction. Instead of using the aforementioned prior knowledge, this paper reports a new perspective that use healthy vibration mixtures as prior knowledge to improve the existing blind-filter-based methods and provide more reliable fault components extraction for practical implementation in industry. Firstly, an ensemble difference spectrum-based new index is proposed to provide a completely new perspective for traditionally existing statistical indices. Subsequently, it is theoretically proved that the new index satisfies two new properties for quickly and better quantifying fault components. Next, a new methodology named Enspectrumix is designed to decompose a raw vibration mixture into sub-signals and use the newly designed index to adaptively select informative sub-signals existing in different frequency bands. The effectiveness and superiorities of the proposed Enspectrumix are validated by two real-world dataset cases. Moreover, the Enspectrumix can be extended to extract concerned difference components in many other domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different types of FMLs are discussed in detail in terms of metal, reinforcement and matrix, and their characteristics are analyzed. • The interfacial adhesion theories of FMLs are comprehensively elaborated. • The methods for improving metal-polymer interfacial adhesion are comprehensively discussed from two aspects of surface treatment and nanoparticles. Fiber metal laminates (FMLs) have the advantages of both metals and composite materials, making them highly promising materials in the aviation industry. The metal-polymer interfacial adhesion has an extremely important impact on the overall performance of FMLs. The present review provides a comprehensive review on the classification of FMLs, interfacial adhesion theories and methods for improving metal-polymer interfacial adhesion. First, the development history of FMLs is briefly reviewed and different types of FMLs are discussed in detail in terms of metal, reinforcement and matrix. Then, several currently known interfacial adhesion theories are elaborated. Finally, a comprehensive discussion on methods of surface treatment and nanoparticle addition is presented for improving metal-polymer interfacial adhesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impulsive mode is formally defined and its characteristics include band-limited and sparse energy distribution features. • New geometrical mean-based pq-mean as an optimization objective function is proposed to quantify impulsive mode. • Impulsive mode decomposition is innovatively proposed to decompose a signal into impulsive and non-impulsive modes. • Impulsive mode decomposition is essentially an adaptive filterbank for impulsive signal analysis. Pulse components commonly exist in natural signals and their extraction has received extensive concerns in many domains, such as machinery fault diagnosis, ECG denoising, non-destructive testing, chatter analysis, etc. Even though many signal decomposition methods (SDMs) have been applied to pulse component extraction, they are not originally tailored for pulse component extraction and cannot accurately and fully extract all pulse components. In this paper, impulsive mode decomposition (IMD) is originally tailored for adaptive pulse component extraction, and it can decompose a signal into impulsive modes and non-impulsive residual modes. This work mainly contributes three aspects: (i) A formal definition of impulsive mode; (ii) Geometrical mean-based pq-mean with four essential properties for quantification of impulsive modes; (iii) a novel iteratively-searching adaptive filterbank for extraction of impulsive modes. The effectiveness and ability of the proposed IMD are validated by a simulation case and three real-world application cases in machinery fault diagnosis and ECG signal denoising. Comparisons with variational mode decomposition, empirical wavelet transform, and minimum entropy deconvolution demonstrated the superiority of the IMD. The proposed IMD is promising to be used in various domains to extract pulse components of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint effects of stimulus quality and semantic context in visual word recognition were examined with event-related potential (ERP) recordings. In one-character Chinese word recognition, we manipulated stimulus quality at two degradation levels (highly vs. slightly degraded) and semantic context at two priming levels (semantically related vs. unrelated). In a prime–target–probe trial flow, ERPs were recorded to the target character which was presented in either high or slight degradation and which was preceded by either a semantically related or unrelated prime character. The target character was then followed by a probe character which was either identical to or different from the target character. Subjects were instructed to make target–probe matching judgments. The ERP results demonstrated a degradation by priming interaction, with larger N400 semantic priming effects for slightly degraded targets. Moreover, the degradation effects were observed on the P200, N250, and N400. These findings provided evidence for the cascaded model of visual word recognition such that the visual processing cascaded into the semantic stage and thus interacted on the N400 amplitude. The results were compared to an earlier study with a null ERP degradation by priming interaction. The ramifications of these results for models of visual word recognition are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Generating chromosome-scale haplotype resolved assembly is important for functional studies. However, current de novo assemblers are either haploid assemblers that discard allelic information, or diploid assemblers that can only tackle genomes of low complexity. Results: Here, Using robust programs, we build a diploid genome assembly pipeline called gcaPDA (gamete cells assisted Phased Diploid Assembler), which exploits haploid gamete cells to assist in resolving haplotypes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of gcaPDA based on simulated HiFi reads of maize genome which is highly heterozygous and repetitive, and real data from rice. Conclusions: With applicability of coping with complex genomes and fewer restrictions on application than most of diploid assemblers, gcaPDA is likely to find broad applications in studies of eukaryotic genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma (PEAC) has distinctive clinical outcomes, radiographic, pathological and molecular characteristics. The prognosis of patients with PEAC was poor. However, molecular profiles and therapeutic biomarkers of PEAC remain elusive. Methods: In the present study, the hospitalized patients with PEAC admitted to Tongji Hospital in Wuhan from January 1, 2014 to November 20, 2020 were retrospectively enrolled and followed until December 10, 2020. Comprehensive genomic profiling of tumor tissue from the PEAC patients were performed and compared with lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer and metastatic colorectal carcinoma. Tumor immune microenvironment analysis were evaluated. Results: There were 10 patients with PEAC enrolled. 70% of patients were male and the median age of onset was 63 years (interquartile range, 55–72). There were six early-stage patients (Stage IA to IIB) and four stage IV patients. Molecular analysis revealed the most common gene mutations included TP53 (57%, 4/7) and KRAS (57%, 4/7) mutations. There were 40% mutations occurred in genes encoding receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). 100% of patients (8/8) were microsatellite stability (MSS). The median level of TMB was 6.0 (interquartile range, 4.5–7.0) mutations/Mb. Three of 10 patients showed low PD-L1 expression (tumor proportion score < 10%) and the others were PD-L1 negative. A small subset of CD8+, CD3+, CD68+ T cells were observed and were mainly distributed in the cancer stroma. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that PEAC was characterized by low-frequency RTK gene mutation, high KRAS mutation, low PD-L1 expression, low TMB, and low CD8+ T cells infiltration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ion–molecule reaction is one of the most important pathways for the formation of new interstellar chemical species. Herein, infrared spectra of cationic binary clusters of acrylonitrile (AN) with methanethiol (CH3SH) and dimethyl sulfide (CH3SCH3) are measured and compared to those previous studies of AN and methanol (CH3OH) or dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3). The results suggest that the ion–molecular reactions of AN with CH3SH and CH3SCH3 only yield products with S...HN H-bonded or S∴N hemibond structures, rather than the cyclic products as observed in AN-CH3OH and AN-CH3OCH3 studied previously. The Michael addition-cyclization reaction between acrylonitrile and sulfur-containing molecules does not occur due to the weaker acidity of CH bonds in sulfur-containing molecules, which results from their weaker hyperconjugation effect compared to oxygen-containing molecules. The reduced propensity for the proton transfer from the CH bonds hinders the formation of the Michael addition-cyclization product that follows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Growing studies have demonstrated that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in tumor progression. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential roles of lncRNA LINC00958 (LINC00958) and its biological functions in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods. The expression of LINC00958 in 11 cases of EOC and adjacent nontumor specimens and five cell lines was detected by qRT-PCR. CCK-8, colony formation, and flow cytometry assays were conducted to study the cell viabilities of EOC cells. Wound scratch and transwell analyses were carried out for the examination of cell invasion and migration of EOC cells. The targeting associations between LINC00958 and STAT1 were demonstrated by ChIP analyses combined with luciferase reporter assays. The related proteins of Wnt/β-catenin signaling were determined using RT-PCR. Results. Higher levels of LINC00958 were observed in EOC tissues and cell lines. Our data also revealed that high LINC00958 expression was partly induced by STAT1. Functionally, knockdown of LINC00958 suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of EOC cells. Mechanistic investigation showed that the inhibitory effect of LINC00958 knockdown on EOC cells was mediated by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Conclusion. Our findings suggested that STAT1-induced overexpression of LINC00958 promoted EOC progression by modulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, national‐level data on criminal victimization in the United States did not include information on immigrant or citizenship status of respondents. This data‐infrastructure limitation has hindered scientific understanding of whether immigrants are more or less likely than native‐born Americans to be criminally victimized and how victimization may vary among immigrants of different statuses. We address these issues in the present study by using new data from the 2017–2018 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to explore the association between citizenship status and victimization risk in a nationally representative sample of households and persons aged 12 years and older. The research is guided by a theoretical framing that integrates insights from studies of citizenship with the literature on immigration and crime, as well as with theories of victimization. We find that a person's foreign‐born status (but not their acquired U.S. citizenship) confers protection against victimization. We also find that the protective benefit associated with being foreign born does not extend to those with ambiguous citizenship status, who in our data exhibit attributes similar to the known characteristics of undocumented immigrants. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings and the potential ways to extend the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is a risk factor for various renal problems like recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), pyelonephritis, renal scarring, hypertension, and other renal parenchymal defects. The interventions followed by pediatricians include low-dose antibiotic treatment, surgical correction, and endoscopy. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the advantages and drawbacks of various primary VUR treatment options. Search Strategy: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, EMBASE, reference lists of journals, and abstracts from conference proceedings were all used to find randomized controlled trials. The articles were retrieved from 1985 till 2020. Twenty articles were used for the data analysis. Criteria for Selection: Surgery, long-term antibiotic prophylaxis, noninvasive techniques, and any mix of therapies are also options for treating VUR. Collection and Interpretation of Data: Two authors searched the literature separately, determining research qualifications, assessing accuracy, and extracting and entering results. The odds ratio (OR) of these studies was used to construct the forest plot. The random-effects model was used to pool the data. Also, the random-effects model was used with statistical significance at a p value < 0.05 to assess the difference in side effects after treatment of VUR using different modalities. Results: We found no statistically significant differences between surgery plus antibiotics and antibiotic alone-treated patients in terms of recurrent UTIs (OR = 0.581; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.259–1.30), renal parenchymal defects (OR = 1.149; 95% CI 0.75–1.754), and renal scarring (OR = 1.042; 95% CI 0.72–1.50). However, the risk of developing pyelonephritis after surgical treatment of VUR was lesser than that in the conservative approach, that is, antibiotics (OR = 0.345; 95% CI 0.126–0.946.), positive urine culture (OR = 0.617; 95% CI 0.428–0.890), and recurrent UTIs were more common in the placebo group than in the antibiotic group (p < 0.05; OR = 0.639; 95% CI 0.436–0.936) which is statistically significant. Conclusion: Based on current research, we recommend that a child with a UTI and significant VUR be treated conservatively at first, with surgical care reserved for children who have issues with antimicrobials or have clinically significant VUR that persists after several years of follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5G networks provide novel features that have generated huge expectations. Therefore, implementation and validation become crucial. In order to achieve this, the following concepts are important: first, to have a technical insight on the 5G technology and to understand better its advantages; second, to understand the specific needs and requirements of the use cases; and third, to know from an implementation point of view how to match the 5G technical features with the needs of the use cases. In this context, the main focus of this article is to describe the implementation approach followed to deliver 5G services to specific use cases with concrete high throughput and low latency requirements, and to present the current lessons learned, challenges, and open issues identified. This article uses as reference the integration work done by the authors of the Horizon 2020 projects, where the target is to design and implement an advanced and accessible 5G facility (5G-VINNI), and validate vertical use cases by the use of 5G technology (5G-HEART), providing the technology, use cases, and integration knowledge needed to understand better how to bring from theory to practice the 5G technology into the verticals world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failures of high-consequence systems can cause serious harm to humans, including loss of human health, life security, finance, and even social chaos. To protect high-consequence systems, both optimal system design and maintenance activities contribute to improving system reliability and social safety. The existing works generally optimize these two problems sequentially and assume that the degradation process of components is precisely known. However, sequential optimization often results in significant losses due to redundancies, and such a presumption usually cannot be guaranteed in practice, due to limited historical data or a lack of expert knowledge, referred to as epistemic uncertainty. To fill this gap, in this article, we consider an integrated optimization of system design and maintenance scheduling for multi-state high-consequence systems in which the component's degradation is known with limited distributional information. To address this issue, we utilize the framework of distributionally robust optimization to provide a risk-averse decision to decision-makers even under the worst realizations of random parameters, and develop a two-stage integer distributionally robust model with moment-based ambiguity set to determine the system design and maintenance scheduling simultaneously. The proposed model can be converted to a tractable approximation as an integer linear stochastic programming problem. In order to solve large-scale problems, we develop a sample-based adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm to find the optimal system designs. In the numerical experiments, we present a case study on feedwater heating systems in nuclear power plants and demonstrate that an integrated optimization consideration creates significant benefits in profitability. We also present the out-of-sample performance of the distributionally robust design to avoid extreme risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the limitations of current grinding robots' path planning for complex curved surface grinding, a novel path planning technology and post-processing method based on NX and Tecnomatix were proposed. Firstly, the equal chord height error algorithm is used to discretize the machining path, and the posture of the path point is confirmed according to the workpiece surface and the grinding path orientation, so as to obtain the complete grinding path position and posture information. Then, according to the pose of the grinding points, the position and posture planning for grinding the complex surface workpiece is carried out using the customized development method with NX. Finally, the virtual robot workstation and actual grinding system is built for experiments on the generated path. The experimental results show that the robot offline path planning technology of combining the NX customized development method and digital twin simulation technology can not only meeting the needs of more refined path planning tasks but also presenting a complete the grinding process of robot workstation based on logic control event-driven. Thus, the overall planning of robot grinding process can be effectively carried out, and the processing effect of robot grinding can be predicted, improving the machining accuracy and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The redistribution of electrons is driven by the electric field at the heterogeneous interface, optimizing the electronic structure of the anode material and improving the reaction kinetics. This optimization contributes to the enhanced sodium storage performance of transition metal selenides with the dual-carbon-confined strategy. [Display omitted] Transition metal selenides (TMSs) stand out as a promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to their natural resources and exceptional sodium storage capacity. Despite these advantages, their practical application faces challenges, such as poor electronic conductivity, sluggish reaction kinetics and severe agglomeration during electrochemical reactions, hindering their effective utilization. Herein, the dual-carbon-confined CoSe 2 /FeSe 2 @NC@C nanocubes with heterogeneous structure are synthesized using ZIF-67 as the template by ion exchange, resorcin-formaldehyde (RF) coating, and subsequent in situ carbonization and selenidation. The N -doped porous carbon promotes rapid electrolyte penetration and minimizes the agglomeration of active materials during charging and discharging, while the RF-derived carbon framework reduces the cycling stress and keeps the integrity of the material structure. More importantly, the built-in electric field at the heterogeneous boundary layer drives electron redistribution, optimizing the electronic structure and enhancing the reaction kinetics of the anode material. Based on this, the nanocubes of CoSe 2 /FeSe 2 @NC@C exhibits superb sodium storage performance, delivering a high discharge capacity of 512.6 mA h g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 150 cycles and giving a discharge capacity of 298.2 mA h g−1 at 10 A g−1 with a CE close to 100.0 % even after 1000 cycles. This study proposes a viable method to synthesize advanced anodes for SIBs by a synergy effect of heterogeneous interfacial engineering and a carbon confinement strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to appraise the impact of the changing national childbirth policy since 2002, currently allowing two children per family, on obstetric workload in a regional referral center in China.Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, temporal changes were examined in relation with maternal demographics, incidence of women with high risk pregnancies and resource statistics in our hospital in managing singleton viable pregnancies (birth from 28 weeks gestational age onwards) for the period 2005-2017.Results: During this 13-year period, the number of singleton livebirths from 28 weeks gestational age onwards was 49,479. Annual numbers of births increased from 1,941 to 2005 to 5,777 in 2017. There were concomitant and significant increases in the incidence of multiparous women (10.6-50.8 %), of age ≥35 years (6.5-24.3 %), with prior caesarean Sec. (2.6-23.6 %), with ≥3 previous pregnancy terminations (1.0-4.9 %), with pre-gestational diabetes (0.2-0.9 %), and with chronic hypertension (0.2-1.2 %). There were associated increases in beds and staff complement and reduced average hospital stay. Nevertheless, while the workload of medical staff remained stable with increasing staff complement, that of midwives increased significantly as reflected by the total births: midwife ratio which increased from 194.1:1 to 320.9:1 (p < 0.001).Conclusions: In our hospital, progressively increasing numbers of annual births in combination with an increased incidence of women with high risk pregnancies took place following the revised national childbirth policy. Only the increase in medical and nursing, but not midwifery, staff was commensurate with workload. Remedial measures are urgently required before the anticipated progressive increase in care demand would overwhelm maternity care with potentially disastrous consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally believed that excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during cardiovascular diseases impairs endothelial function. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether miR-214-3p is involved in the endothelial dysfunction induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL). In cultured vascular endothelial cells (VECs), the effects of miR-214-3p on endothelial injury induced by 100 mg/L ox-LDL were evaluated by knockdown of miR-214-3p. Western blotting was used to determine the expression of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in VECs under different conditions. A luciferase reporter assay was used to identify GPX4 as the target of miR-214-3p. Our data showed that 100 mg/L ox-LDL significantly decreased the expression of GPX4 and eNOS, which was associated with increases in ROS levels and impairments of VEC viability and migration. Knockdown of miR-214-3p could partially reduce the increase in ROS, restore the decreased expression of GPX4 and eNOS, and thus rescue the impaired endothelial function caused by ox-LDL. Our data demonstrated that ox-LDL could induce upregulation of miR-214-3p and result in suppression of GPX4 in VECs. Downregulation of miR-214-3p could protect VECs from ROS-induced endothelial dysfunction by reversing its inhibitory effect on GPX4 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling is a pathological feature of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our results showed that centromere-associated protein E (CENPE) expression in PH patients and hypoxia-induced PH rats was significantly higher than that in normal controls. In addition, CENPE deficiency significantly inhibited the development of pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular hypertrophy. Moreover, knocking out CENPE effectively inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of primary pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) in vivo. Furthermore, CENPE silencing by small interference significantly inhibited abnormal proliferation, apoptosis resistance, migration, and cell cycle arrest in hypoxia-induced PASMCs. Interestingly, we found that CENPE might exert its biological effect by targeting the transcription of CDK1 proteins. • CENPE was involved in pulmonary vascular remodeling of PH. • CENPE deficient significantly alleviated PH and hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling. • CENPE deficiency inhibited the proliferation of hypoxic PASMCs and promoted its apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to a local severe infection that may lead to multiple organ failure and death. Previous studies have shown that 40–50% of patients with sepsis have diverse myocardial injuries and 70 to 90% mortality rates compared to 20% mortality in patients with sepsis without myocardial injury. Therefore, uncovering the mechanism of sepsis-induced myocardial injury and finding a target-based treatment are immensely important. Objective: The present study elucidated the mechanism of sepsis-induced myocardial injury and examined the value of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (huMSCs) for protecting cardiac function in sepsis. Methods: We used cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to induce sepsis in mice and detect myocardial injury and cardiac function using serological markers and echocardiography. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis and heart tissue ultrastructure were detected using TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling (TUNEL) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. Fura-2 AM was used to monitor Ca2+ uptake and efflux in mitochondria. FQ-PCR and Western blotting detected expression of mitochondrial Ca2+ distribution regulators and PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1). JC-1 was used to detect the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) of cardiomyocytes. Results: We found that expression of PINK1 decreased in mouse hearts during sepsis, which caused cardiomyocyte mitochondrial Ca2+ efflux disorder, mitochondrial calcium overload, and cardiomyocyte injury. In contrast, we found that exosomes isolated from huMSCs (huMSC-exo) carried Pink1 mRNA, which could be transferred to recipient cardiomyocytes to increase PINK1 expression. The reduction in cardiomyocyte mitochondrial calcium efflux was reversed, and cardiomyocytes recovered from injury. We confirmed the effect of the PINK1-PKA-NCLX axis on mitochondrial calcium homeostasis in cardiomyocytes during sepsis. Conclusion: The PINK1-PKA-NCLX axis plays an important role in mitochondrial calcium efflux in cardiomyocytes. Therefore, PINK1 may be a therapeutic target to protect cardiomyocyte mitochondria, and the application of huMSC-exo is a promising strategy against sepsis-induced heart dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for effective and highly selective photocatalysts for CO 2 transformation is exceptionally desirable yet challenging. Herein, a novel BiVO 4 @PCN-224(Cu) heterostructure was constructed by growing BiVO 4 nanosheets on the surface of PCN-224(Cu) rods for visible-light-driven CO 2 photoreduction. The obtained BiVO 4 @PCN-224(Cu) heterostructure could selectively reduce CO 2 into CO in the absence of sacrificial reagents. The CO yield over the optimized sample reached 70.5 μmol g−1 h−1 (corresponding to an apparent quantum yield of 0.42% at 450 nm), a 5.1-fold increase over pristine PCN-224(Cu). The boosted activity of the hybrid could be credited to the S-scheme heterojunction formed at the interface of PCN-224(Cu) and BiVO 4 , which facilitated the separation of photogenerated charges and ameliorated the redox capability. In-situ XPS and hydroxyl radical determination confirmed the S-scheme charge transfer mode. This study provides a new strategy for constructing S-scheme heterojunctions involving metalloporphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks for high-performance CO 2 conversion. [Display omitted] • Novel BiVO 4 @PCN-224(Cu) S-scheme heterojunction was fabricated. • The resultant heterostructure could selectively reduce CO 2 to CO. • The maximum yield of CO reached 70.5 μmol·g−1·h−1 under visible light. • S-scheme heterojunction greatly promoted the separation of photogenerated charges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bio-lubricant from the agro-waste resource is a promising substitute to the petroleum-based lubricants, which conforms to waste utilization and sustainable development. In this work, a high performance biolubricant was obtained by dihydroxylation modifying the extract from the abandon aerial parts of Codonopsis pilosula. This biolubricant exhibits high resistance to thermal decomposition till 298.8 °C and excellent lubricity within the temperature range of 50–250 °C, characterized by the low friction coefficients of 0.108–0.129 and wear rates of 10−8-10−7 mm3/Nm. These excellent properties are superior and comparable to other biolubricant and mineral oils, resulting from the high adsorption ability of diol onto the solid frictional interfaces that forms a thick lubricity carbon film demonstrated by the transmission electron microscope. Due to the excellent thermal-stability and wide temperature lubricity, this biolubricant can be applied in the open mechanical systems like chainsaw and metal machining in agricultural and manufacturer industries. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]