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Accurate estimation of the state of charge (SOC) of lithium-ion batteries is very important for the development of energy storage systems. However, batteries are subject to characteristic changes in complex environments, making it difficult to accurately estimate SOC online. In this paper, an adaptive feedback particle swarm with multi-innovation singular decomposition unscented Kalman filtering method is proposed. The idea of the real-time change of inertia weight and learning factor is used to balance the particle searchability, and the information feedback mechanism is established to make the local optimal position constantly updated, which solves the problem that the standard particle swarm optimization algorithm is easy to fall into the local optimal solution. Singular decomposition (SVD) is used to replace Cholesky decomposition in traditional UKF to avoid algorithm divergence. At the same time, a strategy of noise variance Q varying with multi-time errors is introduced to further improve the estimation accuracy. The results show that under different working conditions, the SOC estimation accuracy based on adaptive feedback particle swarm optimization and multi-information singular decomposition unscented Kalman filter is improved by 76.6% and 67.6% respectively, and the algorithm convergence speed is improved by 88.9% and 77.5%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional preparation process for Phosphor bronze typically involves high-temperature long-duration solid solution treatment to address the issue of decreased workability caused by the precipitation of brittle Sn-rich phases during solidification. However, this solid solution treatment consumes significant energy and lowers production efficiency, which should be avoided. Herein, we propose a magnetic-controlled short process preparation technique that eliminates the need for solid solution treatment. This technique utilizes electromagnetic stirring to refine the grains, dendrites, and brittle Sn-rich phases simultaneously, aiming to relax the stress concentration during plastic deformation and then greatly enhance its workability. This resulting structure refinement offers additional grain refinement strengthening and dislocation strengthening during subsequent thermomechanical processing, thereby compensating for the lack of solid solution strengthening caused by the absence of solid solution treatment. As a result, the samples prepared by the magnetic-controlled short process and conventional process have comparable strength. Furthermore, because of the absence of solid solution treatment in the magnetic-controlled short process, the electrical conductivity of the samples exceeds that of those prepared by the conventional process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In situations where pathological acquisition is difficult, there is a lack of consensus on distinguishing between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma from imaging images, and each doctor can only make judgments based on their own experience. This study aims to extract imaging features of chest CT, extract sensitive factors through logistic univariate and multivariate analysis, and model to distinguish between lung squamous cell carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: We downloaded chest CT scans with clear diagnosis of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), extracted 19 imaging features by a radiologist and a thoracic surgeon, including location, spicule, lobulation, cavity, vacuolar sign, necrosis, pleural traction sign, vascular bundle sign, air bronchogram sign, calcification, enhancement degree, distance from pulmonary hilum, atelectasis, pulmonary hilum and bronchial lymph nodes, mediastinal lymph nodes, interlobular septal thickening, pulmonary metastasis, adjacent structures invasion, pleural effusion. Firstly, we apply the glm function of R language to perform logistic univariate analysis on all variables to select variables with P < 0.1. Then, perform logistic multivariate analysis on the selected variables to obtain a predictive model. Next, use the roc function in R language to calculate the AUC value and draw the ROC curve, use the val.prob function in R language to draw the Calibrat curve, and use the rmda package in R language to draw the DCA curve and clinical impact curve. At the same time, 45 patients diagnosed with lung squamous cell carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma through surgery or biopsy in the Radiotherapy Department and Thoracic Surgery Department of our hospital from 2023 to 2024 were included in the validation group. The chest CT features were jointly determined and recorded by the two doctors mentioned above and included in the validation group. The included image feature data are complete and does not require preprocessing, so directly entering statistical calculations. Perform ROC curves, calibration curves, DCA, and clinical impact curves in the validation group to further validate the predictive model. If the predictive model performs well in the validation group, further draw a nomogram to demonstrate. Results: This study extracted 19 imaging features from the chest CT scans of 75 patients downloaded from TCIA and finally selected 18 complete data for analysis. First, univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were performed, and a total of 5 variables were obtained: spicule, necrosis, air bronchogram Sign, atelectasis, pulmonary hilum and bronchial lymph nodes. After conducting modeling analysis with AUC = 0.887, a validation group was established using clinical cases from our hospital, Draw ROC curve with AUC = 0.865 in the validation group, evaluate the accuracy of the model through Calibrate calibration curve, evaluate the reliability of the model in clinical practice through DCA curve, and further evaluate the practicality of the model in clinical practice through clinical impact curve. Conclusion: It is possible to extract influential features from ordinary chest CT scans to determine lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The model we have set up performs well in terms of discrimination, accuracy, reliability, and practicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study how to use pulmonary functional imaging obtained through 4D-CT fusion for radiotherapy planning, and transform traditional dose volume parameters into functional dose volume parameters, a functional dose volume parameter model that may reduce level 2 and above radiation pneumonia was obtained. 41 pulmonary tumor patients who underwent 4D-CT in our department from 2020 to 2023 were included. MIM Software (MIM 7.0.7; MIM Software Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA) was used to register adjacent phase CT images in the 4D-CT series. The three-dimensional displacement vector of CT pixels was obtained when changing from one respiratory state to another respiratory state, and this three-dimensional vector was quantitatively analyzed. Thus, a color schematic diagram reflecting the degree of changes in lung CT pixels during the breathing process, namely the distribution of ventilation function strength, is obtained. Finally, this diagram is fused with the localization CT image. Select areas with Jacobi > 1.2 as high lung function areas and outline them as fLung. Import the patient's DVH image again, fuse the lung ventilation image with the localization CT image, and obtain the volume of fLung different doses (V60, V55, V50, V45, V40, V35, V30, V25, V20, V15, V10, V5). Analyze the functional dose volume parameters related to the risk of level 2 and above radiation pneumonia using R language and create a predictive model. By using stepwise regression and optimal subset method to screen for independent variables V35, V30, V25, V20, V15, and V10, the prediction formula was obtained as follows: Risk = 0.23656–0.13784 * V35 + 0.37445 * V30-0.38317 * V25 + 0.21341 * V20-0.10209 * V15 + 0.03815 * V10. These six independent variables were analyzed using a column chart, and a calibration curve was drawn using the calibrate function. It was found that the Bias corrected line and the Apparent line were very close to the Ideal line, The consistency between the predicted value and the actual value is very good. By using the ROC function to plot the ROC curve and calculating the area under the curve: 0.8475, 95% CI 0.7237–0.9713, it can also be determined that the accuracy of the model is very high. In addition, we also used Lasso method and random forest method to filter out independent variables with different results, but the calibration curve drawn by the calibration function confirmed poor prediction performance. The function dose volume parameters V35, V30, V25, V20, V15, and V10 obtained through 4D-CT are key factors affecting radiation pneumonia. Establishing a predictive model can provide more accurate lung restriction basis for clinical radiotherapy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the direct current (DC) on the solidification structure in the directional solidification of Al–15Sn–1Cu alloy under 10 T magnetic field was investigated experimentally and numerically. The experimental results show that coarse columnar grains are observed when no DC is applied. However, the microstructure transforms from columnar dendrites to irregular dendrites, and the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) occurs with the application of DC. The numerical results show that the Lorentz force acting on the dendrites can be increased by the application of DC. Additionally, the torque created by the Lorentz force results in the stress concentration at the roots of dendrites arms. The stress increases with the DC when it is larger than the thermoelectric current. Consequently, the dendrites break into fragments when the stress exceeds a certain value and CET occurs. The results indicate that the application of DC facilitates CET at higher withdrawal speeds. Furthermore, this work may initiate a novel method for CET via applying the DC in directional solidification under 10 T magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing global credit card usage has elevated it to a preferred payment method for daily transactions, underscoring its significance in global financial cybersecurity. This paper introduces a credit card fraud detection (CCFD) system that integrates federated learning (FL) with blockchain technology. The experiment employs FL to establish a global learning model on the cloud server, which transmits initial parameters to individual local learning models on fog nodes. With three banks (fog nodes) involved, each bank trains its learning model locally, ensuring data privacy, and subsequently sends back updated parameters to the global learning model. Through the integration of FL and blockchain, our system ensures privacy preservation and data protection. We utilize three machine learning and deep neural network learning algorithms, RF, CNN, and LSTM, alongside deep optimization techniques such as ADAM, SGD, and MSGD. The SMOTE oversampling technique is also employed to balance the dataset before model training. Our proposed framework has demonstrated efficiency and effectiveness in enhancing classification performance and prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction of twins into diamond can affect the hardness of diamond, but the underlying microcosmic mechanism remains unknown. Here we have compared the mechanical properties of diamond NPs with three different models, i.e. single crystal nanopillars (SC NPs), twin crystalline nanopillars (TC NPs), and five-fold twinned nanopillars (FT NPs), with diameters from 5 to 30 nm during both tension and compression by molecular dynamics simulations. Our study reveals that the mechanical properties of diamond NPs are closely related to the models of NPs, diameters, and loading modes. The stress–strain responses present significant asymmetry during tension and compression. And the yield strength and strain for FT NPs are always higher than those of TC and SC NPs due to the effect of five-fold twin boundary. The existence of plasticity in diamond NPs is confirmed by the abundance of dislocations after yield strain. The tension–compression asymmetry is also reflected by the differences in dislocation type, dislocation evolution processes, and the fracture shape of the NPs. Moreover, the typical characteristic during tension is that stacking faults are always found following the slip of dislocations, and during compression is that dislocation networks are observed for TC and FT NPs with diameters larger than 20 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entity alignment is an important and necessary step in the process of knowledge fusion, which aims to match entities with the same meaning in different knowledge graphs. In this paper, we propose a novel entity alignment method based on informative neighbors sampling and multi-embedding graph matching (Multi-EINS). The graphs are embedded by graph convolutional network and the informative neighbors sampling is used to extract the neighborhood region topological structure feature to enhance the entity embedding. Relation and attribution information are embedded to incorporate former entity embedding, resulting representation-level embedding. Semantic and the character information are considered from outcome-level by calculate the distances of entities. The distance matrixes of multi-embedding are fused and the graph matching algorithm is performed on the fused matrix to align entities from different knowledge graphs. Experimental results on real datasets show that our proposed model effectively solves the entity alignment problem and outperforms 14 previous methods by 1% to 3% at least. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transient two-dimensional axisymmetric model is developed to investigate the influence of the applied transverse static magnetic field (TSMF) on the grain morphology of the electroslag remelted (ESR) ingot. The cellular automata-finite element (CAFE) technique is employed to elucidate the nucleation and growth of the grains. Moreover, an equivalent treatment method by adjusting the effective thermal conductivity is introduced to model the effect of the electromagnetic vibration (EMV) generated by the applied 0.05T TSMF on the temperature distribution. The close correspondence between the experimental data and the simulation outcomes demonstrates the validity and reliability of the computational model. The results show that with the effective thermal conductivity increasing from η to 3 η , the proportion of equiaxed grain increases from 25.1 to 48.7 pct and the grains get refined. Furthermore, the increase in effective thermal conductivity correlates with a decrease in both the local solidification time (LST) and the second dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) at the central region, suggesting a finer microstructure of the ingot. In addition, as the effective thermal conductivity increases, a substantial decrease in the maximum depth of the metal pool is observed, reducing from 53.9 to 19.4 mm, which should be conductive to microstructure refinement and macrosegregation alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic diffusion is a natural phenomenon in liquid melt. Avoiding the melt convection is the most challenging when accuracy in measuring the diffusion coefficient of atoms is desired. The diffusion in liquid Al–Cu melts is studied under various static magnetic fields (SMFs). Thermoelectric magnetic convection is induced during the diffusion in the conductive crucible. It is suppressed by increasing the magnetic flux density or eliminated by using an insulated crucible. The interdiffusion coefficient can be accurately measured in the SMF greater than 3 T. The present work provides a new view to study the solidification of alloys under the SMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transverse static magnetic field (TSMF) is implemented in a laboratory electroslag remelting (ESR) experiment to control eutectic carbides morphology of Cr8 die steel herein. Under action of a TSMF, the temperature distribution of the molten pool becomes homogeneous, the local solidification time is shortened, and the interdendritic region space shrinks, which result in an evenly spaced distribution of solute atoms and a reduction in interdendritic segregation. Therefore, the formation and subsequent growth of eutectic carbides are further inhibited, thereby causing the generation of smaller and more uniform distributed eutectic carbides due to the application of the TSMF. Moreover, the increase of the number of Al2O3–(Ti,V)N inclusions serves to be the heterogeneous nucleus of carbides (inclusions also become finer) caused by TSMF, which also contributes to the refinements of eutectic carbides in Cr8 ingots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The roughness of the airfield runway is significant for the stability and safety of aircraft taking-off and landing. In view of the problem that the airfield runway roughness measuring instrument cannot accurately measure the large wavelength uneven information, an accurate and efficient method of the airfield pavement roughness measurement is proposed in this paper. Using data collector and data transfer unit control the robotic total station to track and capture the prism, then record the elevation between the prism and the robotic total station. At the same time, the data collector and data transfer unit also control the laser-ranging sensors to measure the elevation between the prism and the measuring points on the pavement. Knowing the elevation of the robotic total station, the elevation of the measuring points can be calculated using the data of the elevation. The curve of the runway surface profile can be measured. Considering the deviation caused by the roll or pitch angle of the vehicle while driving, a revised elevation method is proposed and deduced in this paper. It is verified by experiments that using the new device and the method mentioned in this paper is simple and efficient with high precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation aims to propose a novel framework for designing and manufacturing cranial prostheses through incremental sheet metal forming (ISF). First, the three-dimensional models of the defective crania and the prosthesis were constructed from the CT data. Then, to verify the formability of the prosthesis model, a method for testing the mesh sheet's incremental forming limit (IFL) was proposed with a variable angle cone model. The angle between the normal vector of the fracture point and the Z-axis calculated the IFL. The tests showed that the method could realize the testing of the IFL of the mesh sheet with the reduction of processing time and cost. In addition, finite element modeling and experimental trials were used to evaluate the ISF process of the prosthesis, including thickness distribution and geometric accuracy. The results showed that the incremental forming can form prosthesis samples with high precision, while the thickness distribution is relatively uniform without excessive thinning. Finally, the obtained prosthesis sample was practically assembled with the cranial defect model to verify the fitting effect and feasibility of the prosthesis formed by the ISF process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transient two-dimensional (2D) coupled mathematical model was developed to study the effect of external axial static magnetic field (ASMF) on the evolution of metal pool profiles. Electromagnetic flow, heat transfer, and solidification were explored simultaneously in this model. The growth of the ingot was predicted with the dynamic mesh technique. The calculated results indicated that the temperature distribution became more uniform both in slag and metal pool with 0.05-T ASMF. To characterize the metal pool profile more reasonable, the actual depth (H a = H m - H c) is defined to represent the depth of the metal pool. Compared with the case without applying ASMF, the calculated actual metal pool profile was flattened remarkably from 23 to 17.5 mm. Meanwhile, the calculated actual metal pool depth was compared with the measurement, which was from 25.5 to 16 mm, in experiments on a laboratory scale to validate the model. In addition, the mechanisms how ASMF improved the metal pool profile were elaborated thoroughly. Under the interaction of ASMF and the direct current component (DCC), the induced rotating Lorentz force makes the temperature field of slag pool more uniform. As a result, the heat transfer from slag to metal pool becomes more well distributed. On the other hand, the forced flow of metal pool by the drag of slag pool can enhance the effective thermal conductivity of metal pool and then reduce the temperature gradient in radial direction. All of above ultimately lead to a shallower metal pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exact solutions of spherically symmetric black hole and gravitational wave are explored in f(R) gravity in arbitrary dimension. We find two exact solutions for the radiation and absorption of null dust. In the framework of general relativity, the Birkhoff theorem strictly forbids the existence of spherical gravitational waves in vacuum space. We find spherical non-perturbative gravitational waves, which are shear-free, twist-free, but expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cotton‐based metal–air batteries without any catalyst are constructed. Especially, the continuous electrolyte flowing depends on the capillary force and the gravity from the height difference between the inlet and outlet. The performance of the cotton‐based metal–air batteries under 2 mol L−1 NaOH or NaCl solutions is compared. The Al–air battery performance in the NaOH solution is better, while the Mg–air battery performance in the NaCl solution is the best. Considering the battery performance and cost, the alkaline cotton‐based Al–air battery is investigated for the subsequent experiments. The Al–air battery performance is evaluated under the different cotton cloth makeups, NaOH concentrations, height differences between the inlet and outlet. The results show that under the conditions of the cotton makeup (20 (warp) × 60 (yarn)), 4 mol L−1 NaOH and 60 mm height difference, the battery performance is optimal, with the peak power density of 12.33 ± 0.38 mW cm−2 and limiting current density of 35.28 ± 0.73 mA cm−2. To apply the cotton‐based Al–air battery, the two‐battery stack connected in series powers 15 light‐emitting diodes. The experiments demonstrate the cotton‐based Al–air battery without catalysts owns low cost and high power output, which has great potential as a micropower device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics are not effective against newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here, we developed the metallo-enzyme domain of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)—the cellular receptor of SARS-CoV-2—into an IgM-like inhalable molecule (HH-120). HH-120 binds to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein with high avidity and confers potent and broad-spectrum neutralization activity against all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. HH-120 was developed as an inhaled formulation that achieves appropriate aerodynamic properties for rodent and monkey respiratory system delivery, and we found that early administration of HH-120 by aerosol inhalation significantly reduced viral loads and lung pathology scores in male golden Syrian hamsters infected by the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain (GDPCC-nCoV27) and the Delta variant. Our study presents a meaningful advancement in the inhalation delivery of large biologics like HH-120 (molecular weight (MW) ~ 1000 kDa) and demonstrates that HH-120 can serve as an efficacious, safe, and convenient agent against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Finally, given the known role of ACE2 in viral reception, it is conceivable that HH-120 has the potential to be efficacious against additional emergent coronaviruses. In this study, the authors report the development of an inhalable IgM-like ACE2 and show that it broadly neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants, lowers viral loads and lung pathology in hamsters when administered early, and has good safety profiles in rats and monkeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In smart elderly care communities, optimizing the design of building energy systems is crucial for improving the quality of life and health of the elderly. This study pioneers an innovative adaptive optimization design methodology for building energy systems by harnessing the cutting-edge capabilities of deep reinforcement learning. This avant-garde method initially involves modeling a myriad of energy equipment embedded within the energy ecosystem of smart elderly care community buildings, thereby extracting their energy computation formulae. In a groundbreaking progression, this study ingeniously employs the actor–critic (AC) algorithm to refine the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm. The enhanced DDPG algorithm is then adeptly wielded to perform adaptive optimization of the operational states within the energy system of a smart retirement community building, signifying a trailblazing approach in this realm. Simulation experiments indicate that the proposed method has better stability and convergence compared to traditional deep Q-learning algorithms. When the environmental interaction coefficient and learning ratio is 4, the improved DDPG algorithm under the AC framework can converge after 60 iterations. The stable reward value in the convergence state is −996. When the scheduling cycle of the energy system is between 0:00 and 8:00, the photovoltaic output of the system optimized by the DDPG algorithm is 0. The wind power output fluctuates within 50 kW. This study realizes efficient operation, energy saving, and emission reduction in building energy systems in smart elderly care communities and provides new ideas and methods for research in this field. It also provides an important reference for the design and operation of building energy systems in smart elderly care communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the influence of a superimposed axial static magnetic field (ASMF) on the morphology of metal pool and eutectic carbides (ECs) in electroslag remelted M2 high-speed steel (HSS). The application of ASMF caused the metal pool to become shallower, and the solidified structure to expand axially, along with finer (i.e., more uniformly distributed and crystallographically oriented) ECs. Lorentz force-driven unidirectional circulation in slag pool was the primary cause of the metal pool's morphological adjustment; this resulted in a more homogenous temperature distribution in slag pool. Thus, the heat transfer from the slag pool to the metal pool became more uniform, creating a metal pool that is shallower. Additionally, local solidification time (LST) became shorter, while the number of (Ti, V)N-Al2O3 inclusions serving as heterogeneous nuclei for EC formation increased due to ASMF, enabling finer EC with more crystallographic orientations in ESR ingots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the concept of quality education put forward, students' sports activities have received extensive attention from society. As a result, sports injuries among students during sports have also aroused widespread concern, so it is an irreversible trend to detect sports injuries. The development of multimedia intelligent 3D image technology also provides technical support for sports injury detection, which makes it possible to automatically detect sports injuries. In this paper, an automatic detection system for sports injuries was designed based on multimedia intelligent three-dimensional image technology, and the related content was evaluated. In the investigation of the parts of students' sports injuries, it was concluded that the injury rate of the students' ankle joints was the highest; in the investigation of the types of sports injuries among students, it was concluded that students were more likely to suffer from joint sprains; in the project investigation of students' sports injuries, it was concluded that students were more prone to sports injuries in ball games with a large amount of exercise; in the investigation of the causes of students' sports injuries, it was concluded that the main reasons for students' sports injuries were physical insufficiency and a bad venue environment; in terms of the performance evaluation of the sports injury detection system, it was concluded that the accuracy, effectiveness, authenticity, and efficiency of the sports injury automatic detection system based on multimedia intelligent three-dimensional image processing technology had been improved to different degrees compared with the traditional sports injury detection methods. Therefore, the detection efficiency of the sports injury automatic detection system proposed in this paper was improved by 5.7% compared with the traditional sports injury detection method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic field-assisted approach had been applied in the synthesis of Mn-doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductor via the hydrothermal method. The effect of high static magnetic field (HSMF) on the structures, morphologies and magnetic properties of the samples were characterised. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron analysis revealed that Mn ions had been doped in the hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and there were no any other detectable phases observed. Energy dispersive spectroscopy revealed that the content ratio of Zn to Mn was about 19:1. In addition, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies confirmed that Zn0.95Mn0.05O was nanorods in shape, and the growth rate of the nanorod was obviously restrained. While more oxygen vacancies (VO) had been introduced with increasing the magnetic flux density. Finally, magnetisation measurements implied that all of the Zn0.95Mn0.05O samples were room-temperature ferromagnetism and their magnetism was improved by the HSMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic wounds have become one of the major issues in medicine today, the treatments for which include dressing changes, negative pressure wound therapy, hyperbaric oxygen, light irradiation, surgery and so forth. Nevertheless, the application of diode lasers in chronic wounds has rarely been reported. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of diode laser (810 nm) irradiation on chronic wounds. Eighty‐nine patients were enrolled in the study. The control group (41 patients) received traditional dressing change therapy, while the diode laser treatment group (48 patients) were patients received additional treatment with diode laser (810 nm) irradiation for 10 min at each dressing change. Wound healing time was compared between two groups, while the pain relief index was creatively introduced to evaluate the effect of relieving wound pain, which was calculated by the difference in pain scores between the first and last dressing changes divided by the number of treatment days. The wound healing time of the diode laser treatment group was 22.71 ± 8.99 days, which was significantly shorter than that of the control group (37.44 ± 23.42 days). The pain relief index of the diode laser treatment group was 0.081 ± 0.055, which was significantly increased compared with that of the control group (0.057 ± 0.033). Our findings suggest that diode laser irradiation has the potential to promote healing in chronic wounds and relieve wound pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compounds derived from Traditional Chinese Medicines have shown various pharmacological activities with unique advantages, especially in the aspect of antitumor. Neferine (Nef), a natural compound, extracted from green seed embryos of Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) also exerts antitumor effects on cancers. In this study, the effects and mechanisms of Nef on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were evaluated. The results showed that Nef had the antitumor effects in vivo and in vitro. Nef significantly suppressed cell viability and induced apoptosis in NSCLC cells, with elevated reactive oxygen species and reduced BCL2/BAX ratio. Nef was also demonstrated to inhibit the invasion, metastasis and EMT process of NSCLC cells, and attenuate EMT-related changes of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vimentin at both transcriptional and translational levels. Moreover, we concluded that the inhibitory effects of Nef on EMT was achieved by targeting Rho-associated protein kinase 1, a protein mediating the process of EMT in various cancers. These results showed that Nef had a significant antitumor effect on NSCLC cells by inducing apoptosis and blocking EMT, providing the therapeutical prospect on NSCLC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zn0.95Mn0.05O nanorods were synthesized via hydrothermal process and then treated with vacuum atmosphere annealed at different temperatures. Effects of annealing temperatures on microstructure, relative concentration of oxygen vacancy (VO), and magnetic properties were studied. SEM images clarified that the length and width of nanorods increased, while the aspect ratio decreased with increasing annealing temperatures. The elemental mappings showed that Mn was homogeneous without any Mn-rich wurtzite clusters. XRD and XPS results revealed that Mn ions had been introduced in wurtzite ZnO lattice and there were not any second phase observed. Furthermore, more VO had been produced in the samples as the annealing temperature increased. Finally, magnetization measurements implied that all of the Zn0.95Mn0.05O nanorods were ferromagnetism at room temperature. The saturated magnetization (Ms) of the unannealed samples was about 34.5 memu/g. When the nanorods were annealed under vacuum atmosphere, Ms became 35.5, 37.5, 50.5, and 71.6 memu/g, respectively, which corresponded to the annealing temperature of 100 ℃, 300 ℃, 500 ℃, and 700℃. The annealing temperature could significantly improve the magnetism of the products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The study systematically compared the N2O-reducing functional performances and the genomic features of two N2O-reducing isolates, aimed to screen out effective N2O-reducing bacteria with strong environmental adaption, and explore the possible regulation. Methods and Results Two N2O reducers, namely, Pseudomonas veronii DM15 (DM15) and Pseudomonas frederiksbergensis DM22 (DM22), isolated from paddy soil were selected. Their N2O-reducing abilities, and nosZ gene transcript abundance were determined under different temperatures (20°C, 30°C, 40°C) and oxygen concentrations (0%, 10%, 21%), and the whole genomes were sequenced by Illumina sequencing. The results showed that both DM15 and DM22 exhibited the strongest N2O reducing activity at 30°C and under anaerobic conditions. In comparison, DM15 generally exhibited significantly higher N2O reducing abilities and nosZ gene expression than DM22 under all tested conditions. In addition, DM15 possessed obviously higher expression potentials (codon adaptation index (CAI) value) of nos genes than DM22, and the nos cluster of the former contained a transcriptional regulator gene of dnr , while the latter did not. Conclusions The results indicate that DM15 showed obviously stronger N2O-reducing abilities than DM22 under various conditions, which might be closely associated with its dnr transcriptional regulator, and thus promoting the higher transcriptional activities of nos genes. Although anaerobic conditions were the optimal conditions for N2O reduction in both strains, DM15 still reduced a certain amount of N2O even under aerobic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic charge of molecules can move on time scales when the nuclei stand practically still, from few hundreds of attoseconds to few femtoseconds. This ultrafast process is called "charge migration". A typical consequence is rapid change of electronic dipole, which points to the center of charge. Corresponding linear (one-dimensional, 1D) and planar (2D) dipolar motions have already been well documented. Here we construct the first case of charge migration which causes chiral 3D dipolar motion, specifically along a helix about oriented iodo-acetylene (HCCI). Quantum dynamics simulations show that this can be induced by well-designed laser pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the effect of magnetic flux density (MFD) on the morphology of the metal pool and the refinement of eutectic carbides in magnetic controlled electroslag remelting (MC-ESR, M2 high speed steel). When a transverse static magnetic field (TSMF) with a larger MFD was used, it was easier to obtain a shallower metal pool and finer eutectic carbides. These phenomena are explained by the smashing effect of the droplet neck (stronger at higher MFD values) induced by electromagnetic vibration, resulting in smaller/more dispersed droplets and thus a more uniform temperature distribution in the metal pool. Additionally, as MFD increased, the local solidification time (LST) decreased (0 to 140 mT) and the number of inclusions serving as heterogeneous nuclei for eutectic carbide formation increased (0 to 65 mT), resulting in a gradual size reduction of eutectic carbides. However, the refinement of eutectic carbides in MC-ESR must consider the above two factors comprehensively, and the MFD of applied TSMF need not be excessively large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An axial static magnetic field (ASMF) is superimposed during the electroslag remelting (ESR) process to regulate the inclusion removal (GCr15 bearing steel) in the current study. After applying a 50 mT ASMF, the metal pool of the ESR ingot becomes shallower and the solidified dendritic structure tends to grow axially, together with a higher inclusion removal efficiency. The number of inclusions in ESR ingot decreases, and the inclusion with larger size (>10 μm) is almost eliminated. By tailoring the morphology of the liquid melt film (LMF), droplet, and metal pool, the ASMF applied in this study strengthens the kinetic conditions (inclusion migrated to slag/metal interface) for the inclusion removal, thus realizing the multi‐stage enhanced removal of inclusion during ESR process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a disorder characterized by elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) that predominantly affects young obese women. IIH is a diagnosis of exclusion. That is, if increased ICP is suspected, magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance venography of the brain are recommended to exclude secondary causes. Imaging findings, such as empty sella, orbital findings, meningocele, and encephalocele, are not diagnostic of ICP, nor does their absence exclude ICP either. Therefore, venous manometry is recommended as the gold standard for evaluation, regardless of previous anatomic imaging results. Venous manometry is an invasive examination that is frequently applied to derive physiologic information concerning the nature of the pressure gradient. However, the pathogenesis of IIH has not been fully elucidated. The presence of venous sinus stenosis in a subset of patients has provided some support for the potential mechanisms underlying this condition. Hence, this review provides an up‐to‐date discussion on the potential pathogenic mechanisms of IIH with a special focus on venous sinus stenosis. Level of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy Stage: 2 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise digital transformation is a must-go phase in today's market, for both large and small businesses. This is determined by the development of the market economy and people's consumption concept. However, enterprises will face many challenges and factors in the process of digital transformation. For enterprise managers, it is more difficult to deal with these complex data and factors. Moreover, the digital transformation of enterprises needs to consider more development goals. For small businesses, the digital transformation of a business is even more difficult. This requires a full understanding of the key factors and development paths of the enterprise in the process of enterprise digital transformation. If the key factors of the enterprise and the reasonable development path of the enterprise cannot be fully grasped in the process of digital transformation of the enterprise, it will easily lead to the failure of the transformation of the enterprise. Therefore, in the process of enterprise transformation, it is necessary to fully consider the key factors faced by the enterprise and the reasonable development path of the enterprise. This study uses the multicriteria optimization algorithm and ConvLSTM method to study the key factors and paths in the digital transformation of enterprises. The research results show that the multicriteria optimization algorithm can efficiently handle multiple development goals in the digital transformation of enterprises, and the ConvLSTM algorithm can also accurately predict the key factors in the digital transformation of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of 'Industrial 4.0', industrial robots are becoming increasingly widespread. Thus, this study proposes a novel robot-based tube bending forming technology (RTBF) to increase the flexibility of manufacturing thin-walled complex-shaped tubes and to improve their quality. The forming mechanism and characteristics of the proposed technology are investigated using finite element modelling. Besides, the theoretical models for calculating the tube's inner and outer sides' equivalent stress are also presented. The obtained results showed that the bending die feeds in the tube axis direction while rotating in the novel robot-based tube bending forming, and the axial tensile stress T on the tube during the bending process is reduced. Comparing these results with the traditional rotary draw bending (RDB), the tensile stress and strain on the outer side of the bent tube and the thinning wall rate are both lower. On the other hand, the compressive stress and strain on the inner side of the bent tube and the wall thickening rate are higher in the robot-based tube bending process. The maximum cross-sectional distortion of a bent tube in the robot-based tube bending forming process remains unchanged with increasing bending angle and is always smaller than in the RDB process: the larger the bending angle, the more noticeable the difference. In summary, the robot-based tube bending forming technology significantly reduces the small diameter tube's wall thickness and cross-sectional distortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sound-induced flash illusion (SiFI) refers to an auditory dominance effect in which observers misperceive the number of visual flashes due to the simultaneous presentation of a different number of auditory beeps. Although the SiFI remains robust despite many factors, little is known about how the dominance of audition over vision changes as a function of spatial location in 3D space and how this corresponds with aging. In the present study, we recruited younger (18–26 years old) and older adults (60–76 years old) and presented visual stimuli in near space and auditory stimuli in far space (Vnear_Afar) or visual stimuli in far space and auditory stimuli in near space (Vfar_Anear), with the aim of exploring the effect of aging on spatial dominance in SiFI. The results showed that both participant groups exhibited a SiFI auditory dominance effect; however, older adults were more susceptible to illusions than younger adults. More importantly, for younger adults, when auditory stimuli were presented in far space, the accuracy and d' indicated that SiFI was significantly enhanced in the fission illusion, and the reaction time (RT) results showed that RT became longer in the fusion illusion. However, for older adults, the SiFI was not affected by the spatial location. Therefore, the present results reveal for the first time that the SiFI effect is modulated by the depth of auditory stimuli. Moreover, older adults were not susceptible to the depth dimension, thus showing age-related sensory decline and specifically showing a decreased ability to localize visual and auditory stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamic simulations were performed to investigate the indentations of CdTe crystal on (100), (110) and (111) surfaces. We found that the incipient plasticity, hardness, elastic recovery ratio and the structural evolution of CdTe during the indenting process depend strongly on the orientation of the indented surfaces due to the anisotropic nature of CdTe. The obtained load–displacement curves showed abrupt drops at critical indentation depths, indicating the occurrence of incipient plasticity. We found that the (001) plane yields first during the indenting process, followed by (110) plane, and the (111) plane yields last. For all the indented planes of CdTe, the incipient plasticity should be resulted from the nucleation and propagation of 1/2 < 110 > dislocations, which is consistent with the results from both experiments and the calculations of the generalized stacking fault energy. We found that the dislocation distribution under the indented (110) plane shows a twofold rotation symmetry, while those under the indented (111) and (001) planes show three- and fourfold rotation symmetry, respectively. The temperature effect on the indentation responses and structural evolution were also studied. This paper will not only answer the question about the orientation-dependent indentation responses of CdTe crystals, but also reveal the dislocation activities under the indentations in real time. The results of this paper are generally applicable to CdTe single-crystal systems and may provide reference data to improve the design and ultimately performance of the related CdTe-based devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The objective of the study was to examine the expression profiles of mitochondrial proteins in at‐death and 24 h postmortem (PM) using tandem mass tag (TMT) approach to characterize the mitochondria possible mechanisms that are affiliated with tenderization. RESULTS: Results showed that the tender meat at 24 h PM emerged with more serious mitochondrial damage. Altogether 456 mitochondrial proteins were identified, including 442 down‐regulated and 14 up‐regulated proteins. These differentially‐expressed proteins were primarily involved in the progress of PM energy metabolism, apoptosis, and the morphological alterations of mitochondrial. Among them, 47 subunits (such as NDUFA2, COX4I1, and ATP5PB) were annotated into the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. VDAC1, VDAC2, and VDAC3 involving in the damage of MPTP, and IMMT, CHCHD3, APOL and APOO modulating the morphology of mitochondria, and DIABLO and AIFM1 released from mitochondria affect caspase's activation. HSPD1 and HSPE1 involved in apoptosis, mitochondrial physiological and morphological alterations. CONCLUSION: The earlier‐mentioned proteins were validated as potential indicators of tenderness regulated by mitochondrial damage. These results highlighted that mitochondrial damage possibly participate in PM tenderization of beef muscles by energy metabolism and cell apoptosis status. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients with monoclonal light-chain deposition may be at potential risk of hematological progression. However, whether the clinical characteristics of the patients with predominant lambda or kappa light-chain deposition were consistent with monoclonal light-chain deposition is limited to anecdotes. Methods: We retrospectively studied patients in whom immunofluorescence showed IgA-alone deposits (n = 617) between January 2016 and January 2020. We divided the patients into two groups, the predominant lambda or kappa light-chain deposition group and the control group. Predominant lambda or kappa light-chain deposition was defined as the deposition intensity of kappa or lambda being + − and the other deposition intensity being ≥ 2 +. Results: Nineteen patients had predominant lambda or kappa light-chain deposition. The patients had a median age of 32 years. The median proteinuria was 0.9 g/day. The median eGFR was 79.8 ml/min per 1.73 m2. Two patients had a mildly abnormal FLC ratio, but serum immunofixation electrophoresis showed polyclonal immunoglobulin. Eighteen patients showed lambda light chain-dominated deposition. In electron microscopy, organized structures in dense deposits were not observed in all patients. Nine patients with proteinuria ≥ 1.0 g/day received corticosteroids and immunosuppressants. The median follow-up time was 21 months. The rate of proteinuria remission was 50%. The clinical and pathological characteristics and outcomes were not significantly different between the predominant lambda or kappa light-chain deposition group and the control group. Conclusion: The result for IgAN patients with predominant kappa/lambda light-chain deposition seemed to be the same as that of IgAN patients with light-chain codeposition. However, as this was a single-center study with a small size, further multicenter studies and long-term follow-up are needed to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pairing a single visual stimulus with multiple auditory stimuli will lead to the illusory perception of multiple visual stimuli, which is known as sound-induced flash illusion (SIFI). The present study adopted the classic SIFI paradigm to investigate whether value-associated tasks could affect the SIFI. By adjusting the sequence of reward and nonreward conditions, we also examined the effect of reward history on SIFI. The results showed that the fission illusion was reduced when associated with momentary reward, demonstrating significantly higher accuracy and discriminability than the nonreward condition. However, the fusion illusion was not affected by the momentary reward, and the explanation was that the fusion illusion was not as stable as the fission illusion and disappeared across different trials and conditions. Moreover, the robustness of reward history in the present study was not as strong as previous studies have suggested, indicating that the effect of sound on the perceptual representation of visual stimuli is strong and robust to reward history. These findings demonstrated that the reward could reduce the SIFI and broaden the existing dichotomy of SIFI. New evidence for the operation of value-driven attention mechanisms is also provided, suggesting that the underlying value-driven attention operates across multiple sensory systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plastic deformation behavior of welded tube is affected by the non-uniform distribution of the mechanical properties of welded tube during the free bending process. To explore the influence of weld position on the forming quality and axis dimensional accuracy of welded tube, the free bending experiment and numerical simulation of welded tube were conducted in this paper. First, the principle of free bending was theoretically deduced and the stress distribution of bent tube was analyzed. Then, the hardness test and uniaxial tensile test were conducted to obtain the mechanical properties of weld zone and parent zone of welded tube. The material strength in the weld zone of welded tube is significantly higher than that in the parent zone. Finally, the free bending experiment and numerical simulation with different weld positions were carried out, and the influence of weld position on the bending radius, cross-sectional distortion, and wall thickness of bent tube was discussed. All these findings advance the insight into the free bending deformation behavior of welded tube and help to improve the forming quality of welded tubes and facilitate the application of free bending technology in welded tube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of dc characteristics in partially depleted silicon on insulator (PDSOI) pMOSFETs under different negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) and total ionizing dose (TID) conditions was investigated. The threshold voltage, trans-conductance, and subthreshold swing (SS) of the devices were compared before and after irradiation under NBTI conditions, and the lifetime of the devices was predicted. The contributions of interface-trap charges and oxide-trap charges to the threshold voltage degradation were analyzed under the combined effect of TID and NBTI. Based on the reaction-diffusion (R-D) model, the degradation of device parameters under the combined effect of TID and NBTI was explained in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-coordinate mononuclear copper(I) halide complexes (1 (I) and 2 (Br)) that bear a novel rigid diphosphine ligand derived from a benzimidazole skeleton were prepared and characterized. Structural analyses of 1 and 2 reveal that the rigidity of the functionalized diphosphine ligand leads to weak Cu⋯πimidazole interactions. Solid state luminescence studies show that the existence of cation–π interactions and the heavy atom effect facilitate orange-red emission (630 nm for 1 and 615 nm for 2) with high photoluminescence quantum yields (65% and 72% for 1 and 2, respectively) and decay times of a few tenths of microseconds. The combination of experimental results and quantum-chemical calculations reasonably reveals that the emission origin is assigned to TADF-assisted phosphorescence based on (metal + halide) to ligand transitions. This systematic study demonstrates that the introduction of a functional π-conjugated bridging moiety between the two P atoms in the diphosphine ligands is a promising strategy for developing new structures with high luminescence performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether immunosuppressive therapy in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients with less than 25% crescents (C1) and mild proteinuria can improve the renal outcome is still unclear. Methods: We recruited 140 IgAN patients with C1 and proteinuria < 1 g/24 h who received supportive care (n = 52) or steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy (n = 88) in Xijing Hospital from July 2008 to December 2016. The primary outcome was the rate of renal function decline. Results: The median of proteinuria was 575.5 mg/24 h, the fraction of crescents was 7% (5%, 12%) and follow-up time was 69.1 months. The rate of renal function decline [0.5 (− 1.5, 3.2) vs − 0.7 (− 3.5, 0.5) ml/min per 1.73 m2 per year; P = 0.01] was slower in steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy group than supportive care group. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy significantly slowed down the rate of renal function decline (β = − 0.220, 95% CI − 3.804 to − 0.449, P = 0.013) after adjusting age, sex, MAP, proteinuria, eGFR, M1, E1, S1, T1–2, the fraction of crescents and RASB. In the matched cohort, the rate of renal function decline was also slower in steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy group. The incidence of adverse events was similar between the two groups. Conclusion: Steroid-based immunosuppressive therapy may slow down the rate of renal function decline of IgAN patients with C1 and proteinuria ≤ 1 g/24 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the appropriate rectal volume for external irradiation of cervical cancer. Methods: A retrospective study of 143 patients with cervical cancer who underwent external radiotherapy from January 2017 to September 2020 was conducted. Average rectum volumes and the cumulative dose (V30, V40, V50, D2cc) to organs at risk (bladder, rectum, and small bowel) during radiotherapy were evaluated using the treatment planning system. Rates of radiation cystitis and radiation proctitis were assessed. Results: The median follow-up was 48 months, and the included patients had a median age of 53 years. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on their average rectum volume: Group A: <40 ml; Group B: 40–70 ml; and Group C: ≥70 ml. V30 and V40 in the rectum bladder and small bowel were highest in Group A (mean ± SD standard deviation), but V50 and D2cc in the rectum and bladder were highest in Group C (mean ± SD). Patients in Group B had the lower incidence of both radiation cystitis and radiation proctitis. (p<0.05). Conclusions: For external irradiation in patients with cervical cancer, a rectum volume of 40–70 ml seems most appropriate, whereas >70 ml increases the risk of severe radiation cystitis and radiation proctitis, and <40 ml increases the risk of mild radiation cystitis and mild radiation proctitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transgenic technology can transfer favorable traits regardless of reproductive isolation and is an important method in plant synthetic biology and genetic improvement. Complex metabolic pathway modification and pyramiding breeding strategies often require the introduction of multiple genes at once, but the current vector assembly systems for constructing multigene expression cassettes are not completely satisfactory. In this study, a new in vitro gene stacking system, GuanNan Stacking (GNS), was developed. Through the introduction of Type IIS restriction enzyme-mediated Golden Gate cloning, GNS allows the modular, standardized assembly of target gene expression cassettes. Because of the introduction of Gateway recombination, GNS facilitates the cloning of superlarge transgene expression cassettes, allows multiple expression cassettes to be efficiently assembled in a binary vector simultaneously, and is compatible with the Cre enzyme-mediated marker deletion mechanism. The linked dual positive-negative marker selection strategy ensures the efficient acquisition of target recombinant plasmids without prokaryotic selection markers in the T-DNA region. The host-independent negative selection marker combined with the TAC backbone ensures the cloning and transfer of large T-DNAs (>100 kb). Using the GNS system, we constructed a binary vector containing five foreign gene expression cassettes and obtained transgenic rice carrying the target traits, proving that the method developed in this research is a powerful tool for plant metabolic engineering and compound trait transgenic breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), an NAD+-dependent III class histone deacetylase, plays crucial roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, senescence, metabolism, and stress responses. Nevertheless, the role of SIRT1 in tumorigenesis remains unclear.Methods: In the present study, we measured expression levels of SIRT1 and HPV16 E7 protein in cervical cancer (CC) tissue and calculated their correlations. We measured the effect of silencing SIRT1 on the proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis in human CC SiHa cells.Results: Immunohistochemistry results revealed that the expression of SIRT1 was upregulated with progression from CIN II-III to CC, but was not expressed in normal cervical tissues and CIN I. There was a positive correlation between SIRT1 expression and HPV16 E7 expression in CC tissues, and silencing of HPV16 E7 downregulated the expression of SIRT1. Depletion of SIRT1 downregulated SIRT1 expression, and inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion of SiHa cells, inducing apoptosis.Conclusions: Taken together, the data suggest that SIRT1 promotes CC carcinogenesis. SIRT1 inhibition is a potential treatment strategy for CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of new luminescent cycloplatinated(II) complexes (5a–8a and 5b–8b) with formulas Pt(bt)(N^O) and Pt(bt)(N^P) have been synthesized [bt = phenylbenzothiazole, N^O = (2-(1H-benzimidazole)-phenyl)diphenylphosphine oxide derivatives for 1a–4a and N^P = (2-(1H-benzimidazole)-phenyl)diphenylphosphine derivatives for 1b–4b]. The crystal structures of the complexes show distorted square planar geometries around the platinum centers. There are no obvious π–π and Pt–Pt intermolecular interactions in the crystal lattice due to the presence of sterically bulky ancillary ligands. Consequently, these complexes exhibit structured monomeric emissions in the range of 527–540 nm in CH2Cl2 solution. The photoluminescent quantum yields of Pt(bt)(N^O) (5a–8a) in CH2Cl2 solution at room temperature are higher than those of Pt(bt)(N^P) (5b–8b). The above result is well consistent with the crystal structural characteristics of the complexes. The structured emission with microsecond radiative lifetimes and the result of TD-DFT calculations indicate that the emissions of these complexes are mainly attributed to a mixed 3LC-MLCT state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is debated whether patients with IgAN with heavy proteinuria and decreased eGFR benefit from aggressive treatment consisting of corticosteroids alone or combined with immunosuppressive agents. A retrospective study was performed between January 2008 and December 2016 on patients with IgAN who had urinary protein excretion > 1.0 g/d and an eGFR between 15 and 59 mL/min/1.73 m2. These patients were assigned to receive supportive care alone or supportive care plus immunosuppressive therapy. The primary outcome was defined as the first occurrence of a 50% decrease in eGFR or the development of ESKD. All 208 included patients were followed for a median of 43 months, and 92 (44%) patients experienced the primary outcome. Cumulative kidney survival was better in the immunosuppression group than in the supportive care group (p <.001). The median annual rate of eGFR decline in the immunosuppression group was −2.0 (−7.3 to 4.2), compared with −8.4 (–18.9 to −4.1) mL/min/1.73 m2 in the supportive care group (p <.001). In multivariate Cox regression analyses, immunosuppressive therapy was associated with a lower risk of progression to ESKD, independent of age, sex, eGFR, proteinuria, MAP, kidney histologic findings and the use of RASi agents (HR = 0.335; 95% CI 0.209–0.601). Among the adverse events, infection requiring hospitalization occurred at similar rates in both groups (p =.471). Immunosuppressive therapy attenuated the rate of eGFR decline and was associated with a favorable kidney outcome in IgAN patients with heavy proteinuria and decreased eGFR, and the side effects were tolerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total ionizing dose (TID) degradation is caused by radiation-induced charge buildup in oxides. Radiation hardening of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices with deep submicrometer nodes or nanonodes is mainly concerned with the field oxide and buried oxide. In this article, a back-channel adjustment technique for TID hardening is proposed. The technique is compatible with the 130-nm partially depleted silicon on an insulator (PDSOI) commercial process with no extra effort applied to the design. After testing the key electrical parameters and characterizing the radiation tolerance of the typical T-gate I/O nMOS devices, the results show that the radiation tolerance of the devices can reach more than 1 Mrad(Si) with the back-channel adjustment technique, and electrical performance is comparable to that of commercial process devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]