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EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has been promulgated. The steel industry is included in CBAM, which will undoubtedly affect the export trade of China's steel manufacturers to the EU. It is necessary to analyse the impact of CBAM on China's steel industry quantitatively. By establishing a system dynamics model that can simulate the operation mechanism of the steel supply chain in China, we have clarified the impacts of CBAM on the China's steel export and carbon reduction. Moreover, we have reasonably set up scenarios that represent the possible decarbonisation paths of China's steel industry and evaluated the implementation effect of each policy in these scenarios. The analysis shows that CBAM will lead to a decrease of 32% in export volume and a loss of 58% in export profits for China's steel exporters. The environmental benefits of CBAM are limited. Due to the low trade exposure, CBAM is unable to promote a large-scale carbon reduction in the China's steel industry. Although CBAM will bring great pressure to steel exporters, a comprehensive policy of adopting more emission reduction measures can greatly improve the carbon reduction efficiency, effectively reduce the negative impact of CBAM, and maintain the stability of steel exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coordination strategies of a two-echelon coal supply chain consisting of a coal enterprise and a downstream enterprise are proposed considering market low-carbon preference and carbon emissions reduction. The cleaning and matching degree (CMD) is introduced to measure the quality of commercial coal which have influence on the production cost and energy consumption of the downstream enterprise. Stackelberg models are established to investigate the coordination strategies using cost-sharing contracts. We use backward induction to solve the models and analyse the optimal decisions in four scenarios. It is revealed that promoting CMD level can extend the market portion and realise more profit. The cost-sharing contract can coordinate the supply chain members, obtain profit Pareto improvement in certain condition of cost-sharing ratio and establish a win-win situation. Additionally, the emission reduction is greater than that under decentralised decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a sensor capable of selectively detecting hydrogen levels in the environment holds immense importance for ensuring the safer utilization of hydrogen energy. In this study, a hydrogen sensor made of Ce-doped single-layer graphene (SLG)/SnO2 composite material was fabricated using a hydrothermal method. The study examined the impact of varying Ce doping concentrations on the hydrogen sensing capabilities of the SLG/SnO2 matrix. The results show that the SLG/SnO2 hydrogen sensor doped with 2 mol% Ce demonstrated optimal performance at a humidity of 20%. It operated most efficiently at 250 °C, with a response of 2.49, representing a 25.75% improvement over the undoped sample. The response/recovery times were 0.46/3.92 s, which are 54.9% shorter than those of the undoped sample. The enhancement in hydrogen sensitivity stems from the synergistic effect of Ce and SLG, which facilitates the coexistence of n–n and p–n heterojunctions, thereby increasing carrier mobility and refining grain structure. Analysis via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that Ce increases the material's oxygen vacancy concentration, enhancing its hydrogen sensitivity. Ce-doped SLG/SnO2, with its robust hydrogen sensitivity, represents one of the leading candidates for future hydrogen gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a class of fractional Sturm–Liouville advection–dispersion equations with instantaneous and noninstantaneous impulses is considered, in particular, the nonlinearities discussed here include Caputo fractional derivatives. Since the nonlinear terms contain fractional derivatives, this problem does not directly have variational structure, we need to combine critical point theory and an iterative method to deal with such problems. Finally, the existence of at least one nontrivial solution is proved by the mountain pass theorem and the iterative method. At the same time, an example is given to illustrate the main result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the performance of hepatobiliary MRI parameters as predictors of clinical response to chemotherapy in patients with initially unresectable colorectal cancer liver metastases (CRLM). Methods: Eighty-five patients with initially unresectable CRLM were retrospectively enrolled from two hospitals and scanned using gadobenate dimeglumine-enhanced MRI before treatment. Therapy response was evaluated based on the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1. Conventional parameters (i.e., signal intensity [SI]) and radiomics features of portal venous phase (PVP) and hepatobiliary phase (HBP) images were analyzed between the responders and non-responders. Next, the combined model was constructed, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was calculated. The relationship between the combined model and progression-free survival (PFS) was analyzed using Cox regression. Results: Of the 85 patients from two hospitals, 42 were in the response group, and 43 were in the non-response group. Upon conducting five-fold cross-validation, the normalized relative enhancement (NRE) of CRLM during the PVP yielded an AUC of 0.625. Additionally, a radiomics feature derived from the tumor area in the HBP achieved an AUC of 0.698, while a separate feature extracted from the peritumoral region in the HBP recorded an AUC of 0.709. The model that integrated these three features outperformed the individual features, achieving an AUC of 0.818. Furthermore, the combined model exhibited a significant correlation with PFS (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The combined model, based on baseline hepatobiliary MRI, aids in predicting chemotherapeutic response and PFS in patients with initially unresectable CRLM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow characteristics of falling film around a horizontal elliptical tube under column flow were numerically investigated with the volume of fluid method. The three-dimensional film thickness distributions for elliptical tubes with three ellipticities and two arrangements (the major axis oriented vertically and the major axis oriented horizontally) were captured. This investigation also considered the effects of spray Reynolds number and contact angle on film thickness distribution. A comparison between elliptical tube and circular tube was also performed under typical spray Reynolds number of 258 and tube spacing of 20 mm. The results show that the tube shape has a great influence on the film thickness and flow behaviors: The liquid film formed outside the elliptical tube with the major axis oriented vertically is thinner and more uniform than that of the circular tube. Conversely, the film on the elliptical tube with the major axis oriented horizontally is thicker and more non-uniform than that of the circular tube. The increasing of Reynolds number generally increases film thickness, particularly in the crest region. Under incompletely wetted condition, the increasing of ellipticity decreases the liquid film coverage rate around the tube. In addition, a correlation for predicting the film thickness around elliptical tubes was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to ring theoretic properties and representations of the quantum Galilei group F q (G) and its Hopf dual U q (g) . We classify the primitive ideals and simple modules of F q (G) and U q (g) over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic. We determine their groups of automorphisms over a field of characteristic zero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is one of the predominant locoregional therapeutic modalities for addressing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, achieving precise prognostic predictions and effective patient selection remains a challenging pursuit. The primary objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the efficacy of radiomics in forecasting the prognosis associated with TACE treatment. Methods: A comprehensive exploration of pertinent original studies was undertaken, encompassing databases of PubMed, Web of Science and Embase. The studies' quality was meticulously evaluated employing the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies 2 (QUADAS-2), the radiomics quality score (RQS) and the METhodological RadiomICs Score (METRICS). Pooled statistics, along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), were computed for sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), and negative likelihood ratio (NLR). Additionally, a summary receiver operating characteristic curve (sROC) was generated. To discern potential sources of heterogeneity, meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: The systematic review incorporated 29 studies, comprising a total of 5483 patients, with 14 studies involving 2691 patients qualifying for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The assessed studies exhibited commendable quality with regard to bias risk, with mean RQS of 12.90 ± 5.13 (35.82% ± 14.25%) and mean METRICS of 62.98% ± 14.58%. The pooled sensitivity was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78–0.87), specificity was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.79–0.92), PLR was 6.13 (95% CI: 3.79–9.90), and NLR was 0.20 (95% CI: 0.15–0.27). The area under the sROC was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87–0.93). Significant heterogeneity within all the included studies was observed, while meta-regression and subgroup analyses revealed homogeneous and promising findings in subgroups where principal methodological variables such as modeling algorithms, imaging modalities, and imaging phases were specified. Conclusion: Radiomics models have exhibited robust predictive capabilities concerning prognosis subsequent to TACE, thereby presenting promising prospects for clinical translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most important food crops in the world, rice yield is directly related to national food security. Lodging is one of the most important factors restricting rice production, and the cultivation of rice varieties with lodging resistance is of great significance in rice breeding. The lodging resistance of rice is directly related to the mechanical strength of the stalks. In this paper, we reviewed the cell wall structure, its components, and its genetic regulatory mechanism, which improved the regulatory network of rice stalk mechanical strength. Meanwhile, we analyzed the new progress in genetic breeding and put forward some scientific problems that need to be solved in this field in order to provide theoretical support for the improvement and application of rice breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cubature Kalman filter (CKF) based on maximum correntropy criterion (MCC) is robust under non‐Gaussian noises, but it may encounter numerical problems when there are large outliers. First, based on the MCC and weighted least square (WLS) methods, a new cost function is introduced to calculate the state and covariance updates, which can better solve numerical problems caused by large outliers. Then, a nonlinear measurement function is used, and the measurement information is updated through the latest iterative values, which can obtain more accurate results under various non‐Gaussian noises. In addition, the Gauss–Newton, Levenberg–Marquardt, and Quasi–Newton methods are used, and three iterative algorithms named GN‐IMCC‐CKF, LM‐IMCC‐CKF, and QN‐IMCC‐CKF are respectively derived for the updating steps. Compared with the existing algorithms, the simulation results of two classical models show that the proposed algorithms have better numerical stability and estimation accuracy under non‐Gaussian systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ultrasensitive electrochemical biosensor to detect trace Hg2+ in environmental samples was developed utilizing nanogold-decorated magnetic reduced graphene oxide (MrGO-AuNPs), exonuclease III-assisted target cycle (Exo III-ATC) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) synergistic triple signal amplification. The MrGO-AuNPs is a superior carrier for capture DNA (cDNA) and acts as magnetic media for automatic separation and adsorption. This innovative utilization of the magnetism and improved sensing efficiency obviates the need for direct modification and repeated polishing of the working electrode. Additionally, the three DNA hairpins (cDNA, methylene blue (MB) labeled HP1 and HP2) further contribute to biosensor specificity and selectivity. When cDNA captures Hg2+, it activates Exo III-ATC due to the formation of a sticky end in the cDNA stem via thymine-Hg2+-thymidine (T-Hg2+-T), this leads to the hydrolysis of self-folded cDNA by Exo III-ATC to form "key" DNA (kDNA). The kDNA subsequently initiates HCR, resulting in massive super-sandwich structures (kDNA-[HP1/HP2]n carrying signaling molecules on MrGO-AuNPs, and this overall structure serves as a signal probe (SP). Leveraging magnetic adsorption, the SP was automatically adsorbed onto the magneto-glass carbon electrode (MGCE), generating an amplified signal. This biosensor's detection limit (LOD) was 3.14 pmol/L, far below the limit of 10 nmol/L for mercury in drinking water set by the US EPA. The biosensor also showed excellent selectivity when challenged by interfering ions, and the results of its application in actual samples indicate that it has good potential for practical applications in environmental monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As laser scanning technology becomes readily available and affordable, there is an increasing demand of using point cloud data collected from a laser scanner to create as-built building information modeling (BIM) models for quality assessment, schedule control and energy performance within construction projects. To enhance the as-built modeling efficiency, this study explores an integrated system, called Auto-Scan-To-BIM (ASTB), with an aim to automatically generate a complete Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model consisted of the 3D building elements for the given building based on its point cloud without requiring additional modeling tools. Design/methodology/approach: ASTB has been developed with three function modules. Taking the scanned point data as input, Module 1 is built on the basis of the widely used region segmentation methodology and expanded with enhanced plane boundary line detection methods and corner recalibration algorithms. Then, Module 2 is developed with a domain knowledge-based heuristic method to analyze the features of the recognized planes, to associate them with corresponding building elements and to create BIM models. Based on the spatial relationships between these building elements, Module 3 generates a complete IFC model for the entire project compatible with any BIM software. Findings: A case study validated the ASTB with an application with five common types of building elements (e.g. wall, floor, ceiling, window and door). Originality/value: First, an integrated system, ASTB, is developed to generate a BIM model from scanned point cloud data without using additional modeling tools. Second, an enhanced plane boundary line detection method and a corner recalibration algorithm are developed in ASTB with high accuracy in obtaining the true surface planes. At last, the research contributes to develop a module, which can automatically convert the identified building elements into an IFC format based on the geometry and spatial relationships of each plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two isomers of a complex formed between thiazole and two water molecules, thi⋯(H2O)2, have been identified through Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy between 7.0 and 18.5 GHz. The complex was generated by the co-expansion of a gas sample containing trace amounts of thiazole and water in an inert buffer gas. For each isomer, rotational constants, A0, B0, and C0; centrifugal distortion constants, DJ, DJK, d1, and d2; and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, χaa(N) and [χbb(N) − χcc(N)], have been determined through fitting of a rotational Hamiltonian to the frequencies of observed transitions. The molecular geometry, energy, and components of the dipole moment of each isomer have been calculated using Density Functional Theory (DFT). The experimental results for four isotopologues of isomer I allow for accurate determinations of atomic coordinates of oxygen atoms by r0 and rs methods. Isomer II has been assigned as the carrier of an observed spectrum on the basis of very good agreement between DFT-calculated results and a set of spectroscopic parameters (including A0, B0, and C0 rotational constants) determined by fitting to measured transition frequencies. Non-covalent interaction and natural bond orbital analyses reveal that two strong hydrogen bonding interactions are present within each of the identified isomers of thi⋯(H2O)2. The first of these binds H2O to the nitrogen of thiazole (OH⋯N), and the second binds the two water molecules (OH⋯O). A third, weaker interaction binds the H2O sub-unit to the hydrogen atom that is attached to C2 (for isomer I) or C4 (for isomer II) of the thiazole ring (CH⋯O). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), defects in the devices continue to impede further improvements in power conversion efficiency and operational stability. In this work, the use of hydroxylamine‐O‐sulfonic acid as a bifunctional molecule to enhance the performance of PSCs is described. Strong coordination exists between the sulfonic acid group and uncoordinated Pb2+ of perovskite, while the NH bond on amino group interacts with uncoordinated I−. Thus, due to the synergistic contribution of sulfonic acid group and amino groups, the high‐quality perovskite film with good crystallinity and low defect density is achieved. As a result, the optimal devices exhibit an enhanced efficiency of 23.33%, which is much higher than that of the control device (21.53%). Notably, the optimized target device exhibits excellent long‐term operational stability, retaining over 90% of its initial efficiency after 480 h at 65 °C, over 93% after a continuous illumination test for 650 h, and over 96% after nearly 1400 h of air storage. In contrast, the control device demonstrates poorer stability. In these results, it is suggested that selecting a dual‐functional additive is a promising approach to enhance efficiency and maintain stability in PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture-dependent and metagenomic binning techniques were employed to gain an insight into the diversification of gut bacteria in Rhinopithecius bieti, a highly endangered primate endemic to China. Our analyses revealed that Bacillota_A and Bacteroidota were the dominant phyla. These two phyla species are rich in carbohydrate active enzymes, which could provide nutrients and energy for their own or hosts' survival under different circumstances. Among the culturable bacteria, one novel bacterium, designated as WQ 2009T, formed a distinct branch that had a low similarity to the known species in the family Sphingobacteriaceae, based on the phylogenetic analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequence or phylogenomic analysis. The ANI, dDDH and AAI values between WQ 2009T and its most closely related strains S. kitahiroshimense 10CT, S. pakistanense NCCP-246T and S. faecium DSM 11690T were significantly lower than the accepted cut-off values for microbial species delineation. All results demonstrated that WQ 2009T represent a novel genus, for which names Rhinopithecimicrobium gen. nov. and Rhinopithecimicrobium faecis sp. nov. (Type strain WQ 2009T = CCTCC AA 2021153T = KCTC 82941T) are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve higher economic returns, we employ inexpensive valley electricity for night-time supplementary lighting (NSL) of tomato plants, investigating the effects of various durations of NSL on the growth, yield, and quality of tomato. Tomato plants were treated with supplementary light for a period of 0 h, 3 h, 4 h, and 5 h during the autumn–winter season. The findings revealed superior growth and yield of tomato plants exposed to 3 h, 4 h, and 5 h of NSL compared to their untreated counterparts. Notably, providing lighting for 3 h demonstrated greater yields per plant and per trough than 5 h exposure. To investigate if a reduced duration of NSL would display similar effects on the growth and yield of tomato plants, tomato plants received supplementary light for 0 h, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h at night during the early spring season. Compared to the control group, the stem diameter, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis rate, and yield of tomatoes significantly increased upon supplementation with lighting. Furthermore, the input–output ratios of 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h NSL were calculated as 1:10.11, 1:4.38, and 1:3.92, respectively. Nonetheless, there was no detectable difference in yield between the 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h NSL groups. These findings imply that supplemental LED lighting at night affects tomato growth in the form of light signals. Night-time supplemental lighting duration of 1 h is beneficial to plant growth and yield, and its input–output ratio is the lowest, which is an appropriate NSL mode for tomato cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training large neural networks on big datasets requires significant computational resources and time. Transfer learning reduces training time by pre-training a base model on one dataset and transferring the knowledge to a new model for another dataset. However, current choices of transfer learning algorithms are limited because the transferred models always have to adhere to the dimensions of the base model and can not easily modify the neural architecture to solve other datasets. On the other hand, biological neural networks (BNNs) are adept at rearranging themselves to tackle completely different problems using transfer learning. Taking advantage of BNNs, we design a dynamic neural network that is transferable to any other network architecture and can accommodate many datasets. Our approach uses raytracing to connect neurons in a three-dimensional space, allowing the network to grow into any shape or size. In the Alcala dataset, our transfer learning algorithm trains the fastest across changing environments and input sizes. In addition, we show that our algorithm also outperformance the state of the art in EEG dataset. In the future, this network may be considered for implementation on real biological neural networks to decrease power consumption. Transfer learning has shown an advantageous performance in various tasks, however pretraining of the model with new dataset remains computationally expensive. The authors propose a biologically inspired three-dimensional neural network model for transfer learning, with improved training speed and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among various non-covalent interactions, selenium-centered chalcogen bonds (SeChBs) have garnered considerable attention in recent years as a result of their important contributions to crystal engineering, organocatalysis, molecular recognition, materials science, and biological systems. Herein, we systematically investigated π–hole-type Se∙∙∙O/S ChBs in the binary complexes of SeO2 with a series of O-/S-containing Lewis bases by means of high-level ab initio computations. The results demonstrate that there exists an attractive interaction between the Se atom of SeO2 and the O/S atom of Lewis bases. The interaction energies computed at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level range from −4.68 kcal/mol to −10.83 kcal/mol for the Se∙∙∙O chalcogen-bonded complexes and vary between −3.53 kcal/mol and −13.77 kcal/mol for the Se∙∙∙S chalcogen-bonded complexes. The Se∙∙∙O/S ChBs exhibit a relatively short binding distance in comparison to the sum of the van der Waals radii of two chalcogen atoms. The Se∙∙∙O/S ChBs in all of the studied complexes show significant strength and a closed-shell nature, with a partially covalent character in most cases. Furthermore, the strength of these Se∙∙∙O/S ChBs generally surpasses that of the C/O–H∙∙∙O hydrogen bonds within the same complex. It should be noted that additional C/O–H∙∙∙O interactions have a large effect on the geometric structures and strength of Se∙∙∙O/S ChBs. Two subunits are connected together mainly via the orbital interaction between the lone pair of O/S atoms in the Lewis bases and the BD*(OSe) anti-bonding orbital of SeO2, except for the SeO2∙∙∙HCSOH complex. The electrostatic component emerges as the largest attractive contributor for stabilizing the examined complexes, with significant contributions from induction and dispersion components as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data sets with missing values bring great challenges to k-means clustering (KMC). At present, most studies focus on KMC data with low missing ratio while few studies on KMC data with high missing ratio. The current imputation methods have the following problems when dealing with the KMC data: (1) the error between imputation value and original true value is large, which leads to the poor imputation precision; (2) the imputation results have a great influence on the clustering results, which reduce the accuracies of the clustering results. We propose a novel imputation method, to deal with the problems, called as trimmed scores regression (TSR), which obtains an imputation estimator from a regression equation with a trimmed score matrix, and a novel cluster with k-means method. Compared with other imputation methods in numerical analysis, the TSR method exhibits better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has presented a persistent challenge for public health prevention and treatment. However, studies that assess the public's access to anti-HBV drugs are absent. Aim: To examine the availability, pricing, and affordability of anti-HBV drugs in Jiangsu province, China and provide recommendations for improvement. Method: An enhanced methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Action International was applied in a cross-sectional study that included 1026 healthcare facilities distributed in 13 prefectural-level cities in Jiangsu province. Results: Since almost all drugs had an availability of less than 30%, the accessibility of anti-HBV drugs was notably low. Primary healthcare facilities had the lowest availability, reporting 1.4% for Original Brands (OBs) and 1.7% for lowest-priced generics (LPGs). Furthermore, the northern Jiangsu region recorded the lowest availability at 0.7%. LPGs demonstrated higher availability than OBs, with median availability probabilities of 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively. The drugs listed on the WHO Essential Medicines List exhibited higher availability than those on other lists. The median price ratios for OBs, LPGs, and volume-based purchasing drugs were 0.83, 0.50, and 0.27, respectively, less than 1.5 times the international reference price. Despite favorable pricing, affordability rate was 23% for urban residents and 0% for rural residents, which was discouraging. Conclusion: Low availability and affordability of anti-HBV drugs were observed. Policy recommendations should emphasize the improvement of LPG availability by incentivizing priority prescribing. Healthcare subsidies should be provided more effectively and equitably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is favored by the industry for its high material utilization rate and low cost. However, wire-arc additive manufacturing of lattice structures faces problems with forming accuracy such as broken rod and surface morphology defects, which cannot meet the industrial demand. This article innovatively combines the melt pool stress theory with visual perception algorithms to visually study the force balance of the near-suspended melt pool to predict the state of the melt pool. First, the method for melt pool segmentation was studied. The results show that the optimized U-net achieved high accuracy in melt pool segmentation tasks, with accuracies of 98.18%, MIOU 96.64%, and Recall 98.34%. In addition, a method for estimating melt pool force balance and predicting normal, sagging, and collapsing states of the melt pool is proposed. By combining experimental testing with computer vision technology, an analysis of the force balance of the melt pool during the inclined rod forming process was conducted, showing a prediction rate as high as 90% for the testing set. By using this method, monitoring and predicting the state of the melt pool is achieved, preemptively avoiding issues of broken rods during the printing process. This approach can effectively assist in adjusting process parameters and improving welding quality. The application of this method will further promote the development of intelligent unmanned WAAM and provide some references for the development of artificial intelligence monitoring systems in the manufacturing field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to develop and validate a deep learning-based system using pre-therapy computed tomography (CT) images to detect epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant status in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and predict the prognosis of advanced-stage patients with EGFR mutations treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). This retrospective, multicenter study included 485 patients with NSCLC from four hospitals. Of them, 339 patients from three centers were included in the training dataset to develop an EfficientNetV2-L-based model (EME) for predicting EGFR-mutant status, and the remaining patients were assigned to an independent test dataset. EME semantic features were extracted to construct an EME-prognostic model to stratify the prognosis of EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients receiving EGFR-TKI. A comparison of EME and radiomics was conducted. Additionally, we included patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas lung adenocarcinoma dataset with both CT images and RNA sequencing data to explore the biological associations between EME score and EGFR-related biological processes. EME obtained an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.907 (95% CI 0.840–0.926) on the test dataset, superior to the radiomics model (P = 0.007). The EME and radiomics fusion model showed better (AUC, 0.941) but not significantly increased performance (P = 0.895) compared with EME. In prognostic stratification, the EME-prognostic model achieved the best performance (C-index, 0.711). Moreover, the EME-prognostic score showed strong associations with biological pathways related to EGFR expression and EGFR-TKI efficacy. EME demonstrated a non-invasive and biologically interpretable approach to predict EGFR status, stratify survival prognosis, and correlate biological pathways in patients with NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of cost-effective and eco-friendly fertilizers is crucial for enhancing iron (Fe) uptake in crops and can help alleviate dietary Fe deficiencies, especially in populations with limited access to meat. This study focused on the application of MgFe-layered double hydroxide nanoparticles (MgFe-LDHs) as a potential solution. We successfully synthesized and characterized MgFe-LDHs and observed that 1–10 mg/L MgFe-LDHs improved cucumber seed germination and water uptake. Notably, the application of 10 mg/L MgFe-LDHs to roots significantly increased the seedling emergence rate and growth under low-temperature stress. The application of 10 mg/L MgFe-LDHs during sowing increased the root length, lateral root number, root fresh weight, aboveground fresh weight, and hypocotyl length under low-temperature stress. A comprehensive analysis integrating plant physiology, nutrition, and transcriptomics suggested that MgFe-LDHs improve cold tolerance by upregulating SA to stimulate CsFAD3 expression, elevating GA3 levels for enhanced nitrogen metabolism and protein synthesis, and reducing levels of ABA and JA to support seedling emergence rate and growth, along with increasing the expression and activity of peroxidase genes. SEM and FTIR further confirmed the adsorption of MgFe-LDHs onto the root hairs in the mature zone of the root apex. Remarkably, MgFe-LDHs application led to a 46% increase (p < 0.05) in the Fe content within cucumber seedlings, a phenomenon not observed with comparable iron salt solutions, suggesting that the nanocrystalline nature of MgFe-LDHs enhances their absorption efficiency in plants. Additionally, MgFe-LDHs significantly increased the nitrogen (N) content of the seedlings by 12% (p < 0.05), promoting nitrogen fixation in the cucumber seedlings. These results pave the way for the development and use of LDH-based Fe fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the effects of different hydroxy-terminated silicones on the properties of polycarbonate-silicone copolymers (ICS-PC) by introducing flexible and hydrophobic silicone into isosorbide-based polycarbonate through melt transesterification- polycondensation method. Through compatibility and transesterification experiments, it is confirmed that the alcohol-hydroxyl polydimethylsiloxane (a-PDMS) has higher reactivity and silicone conversion than the phenol-hydroxyl polydimethylsiloxane (p-PDMS), but the conversion does not exceed 81%. Polyether-modified silicone (PEMS) exhibits better compatibility and higher reactivity, thus resulting in higher conversion that can reach 86%. Effects of the type and content of silicone on the glass transition temperature (Tg), optical transparency, saturated water absorption, and mechanical strength of ICS-PCs were also discussed. It is found that p-PDMS has higher Tg, hydrophobicity, and mechanical strength with similar silicone content, but the total transmittance does not exceed 60%. In contrast, the PEMS system exhibits better optical transparency due to its improved compatibility with the PC matrix, with a total transmittance of up to 73%, Tg exceeding 150 °C while maintaining excellent flexibility and hydrophobicity. These results are helpful to further improve the comprehensive properties of bio-based polycarbonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: The root system is important for the absorption of water and nutrients by plants. Cultivating and selecting a root system architecture (RSA) with good adaptability and ultrahigh productivity have become the primary goals of agricultural improvement. Exploring the correlation between the RSA and crop yield is important for cultivating crop varieties with high‐stress resistance and productivity. In this study, 277 cucumber varieties were collected for root system image analysis and yield using germination plates and greenhouse cultivation. Deep learning tools were used to train ResNet50 and U‐Net models for image classification and segmentation of seedlings and to perform quality inspection and productivity prediction of cucumber seedling root system images. The results showed that U‐Net can automatically extract cucumber root systems with high quality (F1_score ≥ 0.95), and the trained ResNet50 can predict cucumber yield grade through seedling root system image, with the highest F1_score reaching 0.86 using 10‐day‐old seedlings. The root angle had the strongest correlation with yield, and the shallow‐ and steep‐angle frequencies had significant positive and negative correlations with yield, respectively. RSA and nutrient absorption jointly affected the production capacity of cucumber plants. The germination plate planting method and automated root system segmentation model used in this study are convenient for high‐throughput phenotypic (HTP) research on root systems. Moreover, using seedling root system images to predict yield grade provides a new method for rapidly breeding high‐yield RSA in crops such as cucumbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When considering the temporal relationships, most previous video super-resolution (VSR) methods follow the iterative or recurrent framework. The iterative framework adopts neighboring low-resolution (LR) frames from a sliding window, while the recurrent framework utilizes the output generated in the previous SR procedure. The hybrid framework combines them but still cannot fully leverage the temporal relationships. Meanwhile, the existing methods are limited in the receptive field of the optical flow or lack semantic constrains on motion information. In this work, we propose an omniscient framework to fully explore the temporal relationships in the video, which encompasses both LR frames and SR outputs from the past, present, and future. The omniscient framework is more generic because the iterative, recurrent, and hybrid frameworks can be regarded as its special cases. Besides, when addressing the motion information, most previous VSR methods adopt the explicit motion estimation and compensation, while many recent methods turn to implicit alignment. In implicit alignment methods, because basic non-local means suffers from heavy computational costs, we improve it by capturing the non-local correlations in a relatively local manner to reduce the complexity. Moreover, we integrate the explicit and implicit methods into an explicit-implicit alignment module to better utilize motion information. We have conducted extensive experiments on public datasets, which show that our method is superior over the state-of-the-art methods in objective metrics, subjective visual quality, and complexity. In particular, on datasets of Vid4 and UDM10, our method improves PSNR by 0.19 dB, 0.49 dB against the most advanced method BasicVSR++, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slamming impacts on water are common occurrences, and the whipping induced by slamming can significantly increase the structural load. This paper carries out an experimental study of the water entry of rigid wedges with various deadrise angles. The drop height and deadrise angle are parametrically varied to investigate the effect of the entry velocity and wedge shape on the impact dynamics. A two-way coupled approach combing CFD method software STAR-CCM+12.02.011-R8 and the FEM method software Abaqus 6.14 is presented to analyze the effect of structural flexibility on the slamming phenomenon for a wedge and a ship model. The numerical method is validated through the comparison between the numerical simulation and experimental data. The slamming pressure, free surface elevation, and dynamic structural response, including stress and strain, in particular, are presented and discussed. The results show that the smaller the inclined angle at the bottom of the wedge-shaped body, the faster the entry speed into the water, resulting in greater impact pressure and greater structural deformation. Meanwhile, studies have shown that the bottom of the bow is an area of concern for wave impact problems, providing a basis for the assessment of ship safety design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper presents a building‐level post‐hazard functionality model for communities exposed to flood hazards including the interdependencies between the population, buildings, and infrastructure. An existing portfolio of building archetypes is used to model the post‐hazard physical flood functionality of different building typologies within the community with the goal of supporting resilience‐informed decision‐making. Specific fragility‐based flood functionality curves were developed for this portfolio to quantify the exceedance probability of a prescribed set of functionality states. While the physical functionality of buildings is significant to the total functionality of a building and community resilience assessment, the functionality of utilities such as power and water along with the accessibility of the household to essential services such as schools and hospitals is crucial to measure their total functionality. Therefore, functionality models for essential infrastructure were developed to assess housing unit‐ and building‐level functionality following flood hazards. This model also accounts for the functionality of the road network following a flood hazard to identify the level of accessibility of households to different services (e.g., schools, hospitals, gas stations, shopping centers, etc.). The main novelty of this paper is the ability to quantify the total functionality of buildings based on a socio‐physical formulation after including the interdependencies between the functionality of the physical systems and the subsequent functionality of the socio‐economic systems, which is key to measuring resilience at the community level. This was evident from the analysis results using a testbed community of Lumberton, NC, showing that the physical functionality is not sufficient to quantify the total post‐hazard functionality of buildings and that the functionality of other subsystems such as utilities and accessibility to essential services are also needed to quantify the total functionality of buildings and the livability of households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex conformational panorama of binary 4,4,4-trifluoro-1-butanol (TFB) aggregates was investigated using chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy, aided by conformational searches using CREST (Conformer-Rotamer Ensemble Sampling Tool) and quantum chemistry calculations. From nearly 1500 initial dimer geometries, 16 most stable binary candidates were obtained within a relative energy window of ∼4 kJ mol−1. Rotational spectra of five binary conformers were experimentally observed in supersonic expansion and assigned. Interestingly, three out of the five observed binary conformers are composed solely of monomer conformers, which were not observed in their isolated gas phase forms in jet expansion. In addition, an observed dimer that is made exclusively of the most stable TFB monomer subunits does not correspond to the global minimum. The intricate kinetically and thermodynamically controlled dimer formation mechanisms are discussed, and a modified kinetic-thermodynamic model was developed, providing conformational abundances that are in good agreement with the experiment. Subsequent non-covalent interaction analyses reveal that the observed conformers are held together by one primary O–H⋯O hydrogen bond and secondary intermolecular C–H⋯O, C–H⋯F, and/or O–H⋯F interactions, as well as C–H⋯H–C London dispersion interactions between the methylene groups. Further symmetry-adapted perturbation theory analyses of the TFB dimer conformers and related alcohol dimers reveal a considerable rise in dispersion contributions with increasing n-alkyl carbon chain length and highlight the role of dispersion interactions in preferentially stabilizing the global minimum of the TFB dimer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The cubature Kalman filter (CKF) based on the maximum correntropy criterion (MCC) has been widely used in the target tracking. However, numerical problems usually occur when there are outliers in the measurement noise. In order to solve the problems of state estimation under the non‐Gaussian measurement noise, a new combined cost function is defined based on the weighted least squares (WLS) method and MCC. In addition, a new method is also used to adaptively adjust the kernel size, then the improved maximum correntropy CKF (PMCCKF) and its corresponding improved maximum correntropy cubature information filter (PMCCIF) are proposed. Compared with the existing algorithms, the new method can not only obtain similar or even better estimation performance, but also avoid numerical problems. Moreover, when the kernel size is infinite, the performance of proposed algorithms will reduce to the standard CKF and corresponding cubature information filter (CIF) respectively, but the classical maximum correntropy CIF (MCCIF) will not, and even the performance is poor in this case. The advantages of the proposed algorithms are verified by four classical nonlinear models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeting ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death triggered by the lethal overload of lipid peroxides, in cancer therapy is impeded by our limited understanding of the intersection of tumour's metabolic feature and ferroptosis vulnerability. In the present study, arginine is identified as a ferroptotic promoter using a metabolites library. This effect is mainly achieved through arginine's conversion to polyamines, which exerts their potent ferroptosis-promoting property in an H2O2-dependent manner. Notably, the expression of ornithine decarboxylase 1 (ODC1), the critical enzyme catalysing polyamine synthesis, is significantly activated by the ferroptosis signal——iron overload——through WNT/MYC signalling, as well as the subsequent elevated polyamine synthesis, thus forming a ferroptosis-iron overload-WNT/MYC-ODC1-polyamine-H2O2 positive feedback loop that amplifies ferroptosis. Meanwhile, we notice that ferroptotic cells release enhanced polyamine-containing extracellular vesicles into the microenvironment, thereby further sensitizing neighbouring cells to ferroptosis and accelerating the "spread" of ferroptosis in the tumour region. Besides, polyamine supplementation also sensitizes cancer cells or xenograft tumours to radiotherapy or chemotherapy through inducing ferroptosis. Considering that cancer cells are often characterized by elevated intracellular polyamine pools, our results indicate that polyamine metabolism exposes a targetable vulnerability to ferroptosis and represents an exciting opportunity for therapeutic strategies for cancer. Ferroptosis plays an important role in response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, however, the sensitivity of cancer cell to ferroptosis varies. Here, the authors show that ODC1-mediated polyamine synthesis induces ferroptosis and demonstrate the potential of targeting this axis by combining polyamine supplements with radiotherapy or chemotherapy in preclinical lung cancer models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is increasingly recognized as a major problem for children and their families in China. However, its influence on parental mental health has been seldom explored. Objective: To examine the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a community sample of children aged 6–13 years, and the extent to which it impacts parental mental health. Method: Cross-sectional study of primary school pupils (number = 2497) in Deyang, Sichuan Province, South-West China. We used standardized instruments to identify children with ADHD symptoms and parent depression. Results: The prevalence of ADHD was 9.8%. Factors associated with the likelihood of ADHD, included family environment(P = 0.003), time spent with children(P = 0.01), parenting style(P = 0.01), and parental relationship, pupils self-harm and lower academic ability (P = 0.001). After controlling for other factors, having a child with ADHD increased the likelihood of parents' depression (OR = 4.35, CI = 2.68~7.07), additional factors included parent relationship. Conclusions: ADHD may be a common disorder among Chinese children, the symptoms of which may increase the likelihood of parent depression. There is a need for greater detection of ADHD in schools, acknowledgement of the challenges the disorder creates for academic success and family wellbeing, and psychoeducational tools for supporting parents of children with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The underrepresentation of human genomic resources from Southern Chinese populations limited their health equality in the precision medicine era and complete understanding of their genetic formation, admixture, and adaptive features. Besides, linguistical and genetic evidence supported the controversial hypothesis of their origin processes. One hotspot case was from the Chinese Guangxi Pinghua Han people (GPH), whose language was significantly similar to Southern Chinese dialects but whose uniparental gene pool was phylogenetically associated with the indigenous Tai-Kadai (TK) people. Here, we analyzed genome-wide SNP data in 619 people from four language families and 56 geographically different populations, in which 261 people from 21 geographically distinct populations were first reported here. Results: We identified significant population stratification among ethnolinguistically diverse Guangxi populations, suggesting their differentiated genetic origin and admixture processes. GPH shared more alleles related to Zhuang than Southern Han Chinese but received more northern ancestry relative to Zhuang. Admixture models and estimates of genetic distances showed that GPH had a close genetic relationship with geographically close TK compared to Northern Han Chinese, supporting their admixture origin hypothesis. Further admixture time and demographic history reconstruction supported GPH was formed via admixture between Northern Han Chinese and Southern TK people. We identified robust signatures associated with lipid metabolisms, such as fatty acid desaturases (FADS) and medically relevant loci associated with Mendelian disorder (GJB2) and complex diseases. We also explored the shared and unique selection signatures of ethnically different but linguistically related Guangxi lineages and found some shared signals related to immune and malaria resistance. Conclusions: Our genetic analysis illuminated the language-related fine-scale genetic structure and provided robust genetic evidence to support the admixture hypothesis that can explain the pattern of observed genetic diversity and formation of GPH. This work presented one comprehensive analysis focused on the population history and demographical adaptative process, which provided genetic evidence for personal health management and disease risk prediction models from Guangxi people. Further large-scale whole-genome sequencing projects would provide the entire landscape of southern Chinese genomic diversity and their contributions to human health and disease traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HPC) have a poor prognosis mainly because of lymphatic metastasis. This research aimed to determine the PKM2 role in lymphatic metastasis in HPC and the underlying molecular mechanism contributing to this phenomenon. Methods: PKM2 in HPC was studied for its expression and its likelihood of overall survival using TCGA dataset. Western blotting, qRT-PCR, and IHC were employed to confirm PKM2 expression. Methods including gain- and loss-of-function were used to examine the PKM2 role in HPC metastasis in vitro and in vivo. In vitro and in vivo studies also confirmed lymphatic metastasis's mechanism. Results: Prominent PKM2 overexpression was seen in patients with lymphatic metastasis of HPC, and there was an inherent relationship between a high PKM2 level and poor prognosis. In vitro research showed that knocking down PKM2 decreased tumor cell invasion, migration, and proliferation while promoting apoptosis and inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition, but overexpressing PKM2 had the reverse effect. Animal studies suggested that PKM2 may facilitate tumor development and lymphatic metastasis. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that PKM2 may be a tumor's promoter gene of lymphatic metastasis, which may promote lymphatic metastasis of HPC by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition. PKM2 may be a biomarker of metastatic potential, ultimately providing a basis for exploring new therapeutic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment response and prognosis estimation in advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma are challenged by the significant heterogeneity of the disease. The current Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, despite providing a basis for solid tumor response evaluation, do not fully encompass this heterogeneity. To better represent these nuances, we introduce the intertumoral heterogeneity response score (THRscore), a measure built upon and expanding the RECIST criteria. This retrospective study included patients with 3–10 measurable advanced lung adenocarcinoma lesions who underwent first‐line chemotherapy or targeted therapy. The THRscore, derived from the coefficient of variation in size for each measurable tumor before and 4–6 weeks posttreatment, unveiled a correlation with patient outcomes. Specifically, a high THRscore was associated with shorter progression‐free survival, lower tumor response rate, and a higher tumor mutation burden. These associations were further validated in an external cohort, confirming THRscore's effectiveness in stratifying patients based on progression risk and treatment response, and enhancing the utility of RECIST in capturing complex tumor behaviors in lung adenocarcinoma. These findings affirm the promise of THRscore as an enhanced tool for tumor response assessment in advanced lung adenocarcinoma, extending the RECIST criteria's utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene terephthalate microplastics (PET MPs) are widespread in natural environment, and can enter organisms and accumulate in the body, but its toxicity has not been well studied. Therefore, in order to investigate the toxic effects of PET microplastics on mammals, this study investigated the toxic effects of PET MPs on ICR mice and H9C2 cells by different treatment groups. The results indicated the cardiac tissue of mice in the PET-H (50 µg/mL) group showed significant capillary congestion, myocardial fiber breakage, and even significant fibrosis compared to the PET-C (control) group (P < 0.01). Results of the TUNEL assay demonstrated significant apoptosis in myocardial tissue in the PET-H and PET-M (5 µg/mL) groups (P < 0.01). Meanwhile, Western blotting showed increased expression of the apoptosis-related protein Bax and decreased expression of PARP, caspase-3, and Bcl-2 proteins in both myocardial tissues and H9C2 cells. In addition, flow cytometry confirmed that PET MPs decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis in H9C2 cells; however, this trend was reversed by N-acetylcysteamine application. Moreover, PET MP treatment induced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in H9C2 cells, while the MDA level in the myocardial tissue was elevated, and the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were decreased (P < 0.01), indicating a change in the redox environment. In conclusion, PET MPs promoted cardiomyocyte apoptosis by inducing oxidative stress and activating mitochondria-mediated apoptotic processes, ultimately leading to myocardial fibrosis. This study provides ideas for the prevention of PET MP toxicity and promotes thinking about enhancing plastic pollution control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate whether T2-weighted imaging (T2WI)-based intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics can predict extranodal extension (ENE) and prognosis in patients with resectable rectal cancer. Methods: One hundred sixty-seven patients with resectable rectal cancer including T3T4N + cases were prospectively included. Radiomics features were extracted from intratumoral, peritumoral 3 mm, and peritumoral-mesorectal fat on T2WI images. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression were used for feature selection. A radiomics signature score (Radscore) was built with logistic regression analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the performance of each Radscore. A clinical-radiomics nomogram was constructed by the most predictive radiomics signature and clinical risk factors. A prognostic model was constructed by Cox regression analysis to identify 3-year recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: Age, cT stage, and lymph node-irregular border and/or adjacent fat invasion were identified as independent clinical risk factors to construct a clinical model. The nomogram incorporating intratumoral and peritumoral 3 mm Radscore and independent clinical risk factors achieved a better AUC than the clinical model in the training (0.799 vs. 0.736) and validation cohorts (0.723 vs. 0.667). Nomogram-based ENE (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.625, 95% CI = 1.233–5.586, p = 0.012) and extramural vascular invasion (EMVI) (HR = 2.523, 95% CI = 1.247–5.106, p = 0.010) were independent risk factors for predicting 3-year RFS. The prognostic model constructed by these two indicators showed good performance for predicting 3-year RFS in the training (AUC = 0.761) and validation cohorts (AUC = 0.710). Conclusion: The nomogram incorporating intratumoral and peritumoral 3 mm Radscore and clinical risk factors could predict preoperative ENE. Combining nomogram-based ENE and MRI-reported EMVI may be useful in predicting 3-year RFS. Critical relevance statement: A clinical-radiomics nomogram could help preoperative predict ENE, and a prognostic model constructed by the nomogram-based ENE and MRI-reported EMVI could predict 3-year RFS in patients with resectable rectal cancer. Key points: • Intratumoral and peritumoral 3 mm Radscore showed the most capability for predicting ENE. • Clinical-radiomics nomogram achieved the best predictive performance for predicting ENE. • Combining clinical-radiomics based-ENE and EMVI showed good performance for 3-year RFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic value of monoexponential, biexponential, and diffusion kurtosis MR imaging (MRI) in distinguishing invasive placentas. Methods: A total of 53 patients with invasive placentas and 47 patients with noninvasive placentas undergoing conventional diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) were retrospectively enrolled. The mean, minimum, and maximum parameters including the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and exponential ADC (eADC) from standard DWI, diffusion kurtosis (MK), and diffusion coefficient (MD) from DKI and pure diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) from IVIM were measured and compared from the volumetric analysis. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve and logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of different diffusion parameters for distinguishing invasive placentas. Results: Comparisons between accreta lesions in patients with invasive placentas (AL) and lower 1/3 part of the placenta in patients with noninvasive placentas (LP) demonstrated that MD mean, D mean, and D* mean were significantly lower while ADC max and D max were significantly higher in invasive placentas (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that D mean, D max and D* mean differed significantly among all the studied parameters for invasive placentas. A combined use of these three parameters yielded an AUC of 0.86 with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.91%, 76.60%, and 80%, respectively. Conclusion: The combined use of different IVIM parameters is helpful in distinguishing invasive placentas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ectopic fat accumulation plays a significant role in obesity-related metabolic dysfunction, and few studies have reported an association between ectopic gastric fat and metabolic risk factors. We aim to fulfill this need by assessing the degree of gastric submucosal fat accumulation in pathologic sections of 190 sleeve gastrectomy specimens. Methods: Study patients were divided into two groups (D1 and D2) based on whether fat accumulation exceeded 1/3 of the submucosa of the stomach. Demographic and metabolic risk factors were compared between the two groups. Metabolic risk variables that might be associated with the degree of fat accumulation were screened in the original cohort. After balancing for possible confounders, the robustness of the correlations was assessed using binary and conditional logistic regression analyses. Results: All study patients had fat accumulation in the submucosa of the stomach. C-reactive protein (CRP), body mass index (BMI), visceral fat area (VFA), and insulin resistance (IR) were higher in the D2 group than in the D1 group in the original cohort (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that BMI and IR may be associated with increased fat accumulation. After balancing variables other than obesity indicators and IR using propensity score matching, BMI and IR remained significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). Further analysis of the matched cohort using two logistic regression analyses showed that IR was an independent risk factor for increased fat accumulation. Conclusion: This study indicated that gastric submucosal fat accumulation was prevalent in patients with obesity and was associated with IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology has gradually become widespread in the past 20 years, which greatly boosts the development of disease treatment. Contrary to small inhibitors that act on protein kinases, transcription factors, ion channels, and other targets they can bind to, targeted protein degraders could target "undruggable targets" and overcome drug resistance through ubiquitin–proteasome pathway (UPP) and lysosome pathway. Nowadays, some bivalent degraders such as proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have aroused great interest in drug discovery, and some of them have successfully advanced into clinical trials. In this review, to better understand the mechanism of degraders, we elucidate the targeted protein degraders according to their action process, relying on the ubiquitin–proteasome system or lysosome pathway. Then, we briefly summarize the study of PROTACs employing different E3 ligases. Subsequently, the effect of protein of interest (POI) ligands, linker, and E3 ligands on PROTAC degradation activity is also discussed in detail. Other novel technologies based on UPP and lysosome pathway have been discussed in this paper such as in-cell click-formed proteolysis-targeting chimeras (CLIPTACs), molecular glues, Antibody-PROTACs (Ab-PROTACs), autophagy-targeting chimeras, and lysosome-targeting chimeras. Based on the introduction of these degradation technologies, we can clearly understand the action process and degradation mechanism of these approaches. From this perspective, it will be convenient to obtain the development status of these drugs, choose appropriate degradation methods to achieve better disease treatment and provide basis for future research and simultaneously distinguish the direction of future research efforts. Protein is degraded by proteasome pathway and lysosome pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a case of infantile scabies that was misdiagnosed and treated as Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), a clonal disease characterized by increased Langerhans cells. The misdiagnosis led to unnecessary costs, chemotherapy, and complications. The case involved a 6-month-old Chinese infant who presented with rashes and was initially diagnosed with LCH based on a skin biopsy. However, further examination revealed mite parts in the epidermis and subcutaneous fat layer, indicating scabies. The patient and their family members were subsequently treated for scabies, and the rashes resolved completely. The article emphasizes the importance of ruling out scabies and other diseases before diagnosing LCH and highlights the atypical manifestations of scabies that can be confused with other conditions. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The hydrolysis and transphosphatidylation of phospholipase D (PLD) play important roles in the interconversion of phospholipids (PLs), which has been shown to profoundly impact lipid metabolism in plants. In this study, the effect of the PLD1 gene of Schizochytrium limacinum SR21 (S. limacinum SR21) on lipid metabolism was investigated. Results: PLD1 knockout had little impact on cell growth and lipid production, but it significantly improved the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in lipids, of which docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content increased by 13.3% compared to the wild-type strain. Phospholipomics and real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed the knockout of PLD1 reduced the interexchange and increased de novo synthesis of PLs, which altered the composition of PLs, accompanied by a final decrease in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and an increase in phosphatidylinositol, lysophosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidic acid levels. PLD1 knockout also increased DHA content in triglycerides (TAGs) and decreased it in PLs. Conclusions: These results indicate that PLD1 mainly performs the transphosphatidylation activity in S. limacinum SR21, and its knockout promotes the migration of DHA from PLs to TAGs, which is conducive to DHA accumulation and storage in TAGs via an acyl CoA-independent pathway. This study provides a novel approach for identifying the mechanism of DHA accumulation and metabolic regulation strategies for DHA production in S. limacinum SR21. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States, with an estimated 52,000 deaths in 2023. Though significant progress has been made in both diagnosis and treatment of CRC in recent years, genetic heterogeneity of CRC—the culprit for possible CRC relapse and drug resistance, is still an insurmountable challenge. Thus, developing more effective therapeutics to overcome this challenge in new CRC treatment strategies is imperative. Genetic and epigenetic changes are well recognized to be responsible for the stepwise development of CRC malignancy. In this review, we focus on detailed genetic alteration information about the nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling, including both NF-κB family members, and their regulators, such as protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), and outer dynein arm docking complex subunit 2 (ODAD2, also named armadillo repeat-containing 4, ARMC4), etc., in CRC patients. Moreover, we provide deep insight into different CRC research models, with a particular focus on patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and organoid models, and their potential applications in CRC research. Genetic alterations on NF-κB signaling components are estimated to be more than 50% of the overall genetic changes identified in CRC patients collected by cBioportal for Cancer Genomics; thus, emphasizing its paramount importance in CRC progression. Consequently, various genetic alterations on NF-κB signaling may hold great promise for novel therapeutic development in CRC. Future endeavors may focus on utilizing CRC models (e.g., PDX or organoids, or isogenic human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived colonic cells, or human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC)-derived colonic organoids, etc.) to further uncover the underpinning mechanism of these genetic alterations in NF-κB signaling in CRC progression. Moreover, establishing platforms for drug discovery in dishes, and developing Biobanks, etc., may further pave the way for the development of innovative personalized medicine to treat CRC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open in new tab Download slide OBJECTIVES This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of three-dimensional printing (3DP) in patients with complex hypertrophic cardiomyopathy requiring combined transaortic and transapical septal myectomy. METHODS We created 3DP models for 7 patients undergoing this surgery approach between June and October 2022 using silicone-like resin and conducted mock operations. The models were compared with echocardiography to identify abnormal muscle bundles and heart structures. These patients were then compared with a 1:2 matched group without 3DP, considering age, sex and additional operations. RESULTS The models mostly presenting with midventricular obstruction showed high consistency with original computed tomography data (r  = 0.978, P  <   0.001). 3DP identified more abnormal muscle bundles than echocardiography, primarily between the interventricular septum and apex. Excised specimens in mock operations mirrored those in actual myectomies. While cardiopulmonary bypass time was not significantly different, a near-20-min decrease was observed in the 3DP group (135.5 ± 31.1 vs 154.4 ± 36.6 min, P  =   0.054). CONCLUSIONS While no significant differences in surgical outcomes were observed, 3DP appeared to enhance the visualization and understanding of spatial structures (average Likert scale score 4.0), potentially contributing to surgical proficiency (overall rating score 3.9). The use of 3DP may offer additional value in the preparation and execution of operations for complex hypertrophic cardiomyopathy cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loess-paleosol sequences have been used in Asia to study climate and environmental changes during the Quaternary. The scarcity of age control datasets and proxy indices analysis data for Asian loess has limited our understanding of loess depositional processes and the reconstruction of paleoclimatic changes from loess-paleosol records. In this study, we present a dataset that includes 1785 quartz optically stimulated luminescence ages and 1038 K-feldspar post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence ages from 128 loess-paleosol sequences located in different regions of Asia. We generate 38 high-resolution age-depth models of loess records based on the provided datasets. We provide data on 12,365 grain size records, 14,964 magnetic susceptibility records, 2204 CaCO3 content records, and 3326 color reflection records. This dataset contains the most detailed and accurate chronologies and proxy index data for loess records in Asia yet published. It provides fundamental data for understanding the spatial-temporal variations in loess depositional processes and climatic changes across the continent during the mid-late Quaternary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]