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The large molecular weight and high viscosity of natural konjac glucomannan (KGM) limit its industrial application. Microbial degradation of low-molecular-weight KGM has health benefits and various biological functions; however, the available KGM strains used in the industry have microbial contamination and low degradation efficiencies. Therefore, exploring novelly adaptable strains is critical for industrial processes. Here, the Bacillus licheniformis Z7-1 strain isolated from decaying konjac showed high efficiency for KGM degradation. The monosaccharide composition of the degradation products had a reduced molar ratio of mannose to glucose, indicating that Z7-1 preferentially degraded glucose in KGM. The degraded component was further characterized by ESI-MS, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and it also exhibited good antibacterial activity against various food-spoilage bacteria. Genome sequencing and zymolytic analysis revealed that abundant carbohydrate-active enzymes exist in the Z7-1 genome, with at least five types of extracellular enzymes responsible for KGM degradation, manifesting multi-enzyme synergetic action. The extracellular enzymes had significant thermal stability, indicating their potential application in industry. This study provides an alternative method for obtaining low-molecular-weight KGM with antibacterial functions and supports foundational knowledge for its development as a biocatalyst for the direct conversion of biomass polysaccharides into functional components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

cis‐Prenyltransferases (cis‐PTs) catalyze the sequential head‐to‐tail condensation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) to allylic diphosphates, producing mixed E–Z prenyl diphosphates of varying lengths; however, the specific enzymes synthesizing cis‐C25 prenyl diphosphates have not been identified. Herein, we present the discovery and characterization of a cis‐geranylfarnesyl diphosphate synthase (ScGFPPS) from Streptomyces clavuligerus. This enzyme demonstrates high catalytic proficiency in generating six distinct cis‐polyisoprenoids, including three C25 and three C20 variants. We determined the crystal structure of ScGFPPS. Additionally, we unveil the crystal structure of nerylneryl diphosphate synthase (NNPS), known for synthesizing an all‐cis‐C20 polyisoprenoid. Comparative structural analysis of ScGFPPS and NNPS has identified key differences that influence product specificity. Through site‐directed mutagenesis, we have identified eight single mutations that significantly refine the selectivity of ScGFPPS for cis‐polyisoprenoids. Our findings not only expand the functional spectrum of cis‐PTs but also provide a structural comparison strategy in cis‐PTs engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

cis‐Prenyltransferases (cis‐PTs) catalyze the sequential head‐to‐tail condensation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) to allylic diphosphates, producing mixed E–Z prenyl diphosphates of varying lengths; however, the specific enzymes synthesizing cis‐C25 prenyl diphosphates have not been identified. Herein, we present the discovery and characterization of a cis‐geranylfarnesyl diphosphate synthase (ScGFPPS) from Streptomyces clavuligerus. This enzyme demonstrates high catalytic proficiency in generating six distinct cis‐polyisoprenoids, including three C25 and three C20 variants. We determined the crystal structure of ScGFPPS. Additionally, we unveil the crystal structure of nerylneryl diphosphate synthase (NNPS), known for synthesizing an all‐cis‐C20 polyisoprenoid. Comparative structural analysis of ScGFPPS and NNPS has identified key differences that influence product specificity. Through site‐directed mutagenesis, we have identified eight single mutations that significantly refine the selectivity of ScGFPPS for cis‐polyisoprenoids. Our findings not only expand the functional spectrum of cis‐PTs but also provide a structural comparison strategy in cis‐PTs engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein fibrils formed through self-assembly are expected to be used as a novel functional ingredient in food industry, on account of their abundant amino acids, straight morphology, and multi-level and multi-scale structures. The development and utilization of protein fibrils have become a research hotspot in the food field in recent years, notably the research on plant-derived protein self-assembled fibrils that are more in line with the needs of green and sustainable development has attracted considerable attention. In this paper, the formation mechanism and influencing factors of plant-derived protein fibrillization are introduced. Especially, the impact of fibrous self-assembly on the protein structure and techno -functional properties, as well as the application status and development prospects of protein fibrils in the food field are highlighted, with a view to provide a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of plant protein fibrils in the field of functional food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea polyphenols are considered one of the effective means to reduce protein sensitization, and it is necessary to study their binding mechanism. Therefore, this study investigated the major polyphenol theaflavin (TF) in black tea to investigate its interaction mechanism with egg white lysozyme (LYZ) using multispectral techniques and computer simulations. Molecular global docking and local docking showed that the binding sites of TF and LYZ overlapped highly with the sensitizing linear epitopes. Fluorescence spectroscopy experiments showed that TF formed a ground state complex with LYZ mainly through electrostatic forces to quench its endogenous fluorescence and lead to a decrease in surface hydrophobicity, and the binding reaction proceeded spontaneously; circular dichroism spectra indicated that the addition of TF affected the secondary structure of LYZ. In addition, enzymatic activity assays and in vitro antioxidant assays showed that this interaction slightly reduced the activity of LYZ on the one hand and the antioxidant activity of TF on the other. These results reveal the potential of TF to reduce the allergenicity of egg at the molecular level and provide a theoretical basis for applying tea polyphenols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates distributed optimization of high‐order nonlinear multi‐agent systems (MASs) with disturbance under switching topologies. First, we propose a class of new distributed control algorithms for high‐order MASs under switching topologies, such that all agents asymptotically reach consensus at the unique minimizer of the sum of cost functions. Then, by constructing disturbance observer, the proposed algorithms are extended to address distributed optimization problems for high‐order nonlinear MASs with disturbance under switching topologies. In particular, both of new presented methods do not require optimal reference signal generator, which can save the computational resources of systems. In final, simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a major threat to the food industry and human health owing to its strong protease production and biofilm formation abilities. However, information regarding regulatory factors or potential mechanisms is limited. Herein, we observed that temperature differentially regulates biofilm formation and protease production, and a cAMP receptor-like protein (Clp) negatively regulates thermosensor biofilm formation, in contrast to protease synthesis. Among four c-di-GMP-related two-component systems (TCSs), promoter fusion analysis revealed that clp transcription levels were predominantly controlled by LotS/LotR, partially controlled by both RpfC/RpfG and a novel TCS Sm0738/Sm0737, with no obvious effect caused by Sm1912/Sm1911. Biofilm formation in Δclp and ΔTCSs strains suggested that LotS/LotR controlled biofilm formation in a Clp-mediated manner, whereas both RpfC/RpfG and Sm0738/Sm0737 may occur in a distinct pathway. Furthermore, enzymatic activity analysis combined with c-di-GMP level indicated that the enzymatic activity of c-di-GMP-related metabolism proteins may not be a vital contributor to changes in c-di-GMP level, thus influencing physiological functions. Our findings elucidate that the regulatory pathway of c-di-GMP-related TCSs and Clp in controlling spoilage or the formation of potentially pathogenic factors in Stenotrophomonas expand the understanding of c-di-GMP metabolism and provide clues to control risk factors of S. maltophilia in food safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new distributed finite‐time optimization algorithm for agents under directed graphs. By employing the nonsmooth technique and graph theory, a distributed discontinuous algorithm for continuous‐time agents subject to strongly convex local cost functions is first designed with a finite‐time distributed estimator, where the gradients of the local cost functions are estimated in finite time. It is shown that for a strongly connected graph and arbitrary initial conditions, the proposed algorithms can achieve consensus, and the systems can converge to the optimal point in finite time. Then, a two‐step approach is proposed to achieve finite‐time optimization of high‐order agents with disturbances under directed graphs. Finally, the validity of the proposed finite‐time optimization algorithm is verified by two numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pork oxidation through modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on gel characteristics of myofibrillar proteins (MP) during the heat-induced gelation process. The pork longissimus thoracis (LT) was treated by MAP at varying oxygen concentrations (0, 20, 40, 60, and 80% O2) with a 5-day storage at 4 °C for the detection of MP oxidation and gel properties. The findings showed the rise of O2 concentration resulted in a significant increase of carbonyl content, disulfide bond, and particle size, and a decrease of sulfhydryl content and MP solubility (p < 0.05). The gel textural properties and water retention ability were significantly improved in MAP treatments of 0–60% O2 (p < 0.05), but deteriorated at 80% O2 level. As the concentration of O2 increased, there was a marked decrease in the α-helix content within the gel, accompanied by a simultaneous increase in β-sheet content (p < 0.05). Additionally, a judicious oxidation treatment (60% O2 in MAP) proved beneficial for crafting dense and uniform gel networks. Our data suggest that the oxidation treatment of pork mediated by O2 concentration in MAP is capable of reinforcing protein hydrophobic interaction and disulfide bond formation, thus contributing to the construction of superior gel structures and properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a finite-time, active fault-tolerant control (AFTC) scheme is proposed for a class of autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) with component faults. The designed AFTC framework is based on an integrated design of fault detection (FD), fault estimation (FE), and controller reconfiguration. First, a nominal controller based on the Barrier Lyapunov function is presented, which guarantees that the tracking error converges to the predefined performance constraints within a settling time. Then, a performance-based monitoring function with low complexity is designed to supervise the tracking behaviors and detect the fault. Different from existing results where the fault is bounded by a known scalar, the FE in this study is implemented by a finite-time estimator without requiring any prioir information of fault. Furthermore, under the proposed finite-time AFTC scheme, both the transient and steady-state performance of the ASV can be guaranteed regardless of the occurrence of faults. Finally, a simulation example on CyberShip II is given to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed AFTC method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Majority classes are easily to be found in imbalance datasets, instead, minority classes are hard to be paid attention to due to the number of is rare. However, most existing classifiers are better at exploring majority classes, resulting in that classification results are unfair. To address this issue of binary classification for imbalance data, this paper proposes a novel fuzzy support vector machine. The thought is that we trained two support vector machines to learn the majority class and the minority class, respectively. Then, the proposed fuzzy is used to estimate the assistance provided by instance points for the training of the support vector machines. Finally, it can be judged for unknown instance points through evaluating that they provided the assistance to the training of the support vector machines. Results on the ten UCI datasets show that the class accuracy of the proposed method is 0.747 when the imbalanced ratio between the classes reaches 87.8. Compare with the competitors, the proposed method wins over them in classification performance. We find that aiming at the classification of imbalanced data, the complexity of data distribution has negative effects on classification results, while fuzzy can resist these negative effects. Moreover, fuzzy can assist those classifiers to gain superior classification boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tetraspanin 8 (TSPAN8), a transmembrane glycoprotein, is implicated in various pathological conditions including human malignancies. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms of TSPAN8 in promoting gastric cancer(GC) progression are yet to be fully understood. Methods and results: Our study found that TSPAN8 expression was significantly elevated in GC tissues. We also observed a positive correlation between high TSPAN8 expression and various clinicopathological characteristics of GC, including tumor differentiation, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, and clinical stage. Moreover, the elevated TSPAN8 expression was indicative of poor prognosis. Functionally, we observed that knockdown of TSPAN8 significantly attenuated while overexpression of TSPAN8 promoted GC cell migration and invasion. In vivo experiments, knockdown of TSPAN8 suppressed lung metastasis in nude mice. We further explored the underlying mechanisms of TSPAN8 and found that it regulated EGFR expression in GC cells by accelerating phosphorylation of EGFR and AKT. Conclusions: Our study reveals that TSPAN8 plays a significant role in promoting tumor metastasis by activating the EGFR/AKT pathway, indicating that it may serve as a promising therapeutic target of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An increasing number of patients are discharged from a total hip or knee arthroplasty with a short length of hospital stay. Technologies, such as mobile applications, are used to provide remote support to patients' postoperative rehabilitation. Patients' experiences of receiving mobile application-based rehabilitation after total hip or knee arthroplasty have not been investigated extensively. Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study. Twenty-five participants who had completed a mobile application-based rehabilitation programme for total hip or knee arthroplasty were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via telephone between July 2021 and January 2022 regarding the participants' experiences using the programme. All interviews were audio-recorded and verbatim transcribed. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The reporting of this study followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results: Data analysis revealed five categories: (a) improved access to health care, (b) encouraged postoperative recovery, (c) established supportive relationships, (d) facilitated learning, and (e) future directions. Conclusion: The theory-underpinned mobile application-based rehabilitation programme demonstrated potential value in supporting patients' rehabilitation after arthroplasty. Nurses can consider using mobile technologies to expand their role in arthroplasty rehabilitation and improve the quality of rehabilitation care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An increasing number of patients are discharged from a total hip or knee arthroplasty with a short length of hospital stay. Technologies, such as mobile applications, are used to provide remote support to patients' postoperative rehabilitation. Patients' experiences of receiving mobile application-based rehabilitation after total hip or knee arthroplasty have not been investigated extensively. Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study. Twenty-five participants who had completed a mobile application-based rehabilitation programme for total hip or knee arthroplasty were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via telephone between July 2021 and January 2022 regarding the participants' experiences using the programme. All interviews were audio-recorded and verbatim transcribed. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The reporting of this study followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. Results: Data analysis revealed five categories: (a) improved access to health care, (b) encouraged postoperative recovery, (c) established supportive relationships, (d) facilitated learning, and (e) future directions. Conclusion: The theory-underpinned mobile application-based rehabilitation programme demonstrated potential value in supporting patients' rehabilitation after arthroplasty. Nurses can consider using mobile technologies to expand their role in arthroplasty rehabilitation and improve the quality of rehabilitation care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing distributed finite‐time optimization algorithms for continuous‐time multi‐agent systems require either undirected graphs or weight balanced digraphs, and distributed finite‐time optimization problems for weight unbalanced digraphs are still great challenging. Thus, the distributed finite‐time optimization problems for continuous‐time multi‐agent systems with strongly convex local cost functions are investigated under directed graphs in this article. First, a distributed finite‐time gradient estimator is constructed by using non‐smooth analysis and algebraic graph theory, then distributed finite‐time optimization algorithms and piecewise distributed finite‐time optimization algorithms are proposed based on the designed gradient estimator. The new proposed distributed finite‐time optimization algorithms which only require strongly connected graphs relax the balanced requirement. Furthermore, the communication bandwidth of systems could be saved by deploying the proposed piecewise distributed finite‐time optimization algorithms since the information exchange in the optimization process is reduced. Finally, simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of proposed distributed optimization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ORP5 is a transmembrane protein anchored to the endoplasmic reticulum, which mainly functions as a lipid transporter and has reportedly been linked to cancer. However, the specific mechanism of ORP5 action in cervical cancer (CC) is unclear. In this study, we found that ORP5 promotes the migration and invasive ability of CC cells in vitro and in vivo. In addition, ORP5 expression was linked to endoplasmic reticulum stress, and ORP5 encouraged CC metastasis by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress. Mechanistically, ORP5 inhibited endoplasmic reticulum stress in CC cells by stimulating ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of SREBP1 to reduce its expression. In conclusion, ORP5 promotes the malignant progression of CC by inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress, providing a therapeutic target and strategy for CC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that chronic arsenic exposure may be associated with a higher incidence of hypertension in the population. However, the effect of arsenic exposure on blood pressure remains unexplored in different populations, regions, and regarding arsenic biomarkers. This study investigated 233 arsenicosis patients and 84 participants from a non-arsenic-exposed area to explore the relationship between arsenic exposure and blood pressure and the occurrence of hypertension and wide pulse pressure (WPP) in patients with coal-burning arsenicosis. The results show that arsenic exposure is related to an increased incidence of hypertension and WPP in the arsenicosis population, primarily due to an induced increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse pressure (PP) (OR = 1.47, 1.65, all p < 0.05). The dose–effect relationships between monomethylated arsenicals (MMA), trivalent arsenic (As3+), hypertension, and WWP were characterized following trend analyses (all p-trend < 0.05) in the coal-burning arsenicosis population. After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and alcohol usage, compared with low-level exposure, the high level of MMA exposure increases the risk of hypertension by 1.99 times (CI: 1.04–3.80) and the WPP by 2.42 times (CI: 1.23–4.72). Similarly, the high level of As3+ exposure increases the hypertension risk by 3.68 times (CI: 1.86–7.30) and the WPP by 3.84 times (CI: 1.93–7.64). Together, the results revealed that urinary MMA and As3+ levels are mainly associated with increased SBP and induce a higher incidence of hypertension and WPP. This study provides preliminary population evidence that cardiovascular-related adverse events such as hypertension and WPP ought to be noticed in the coal-burning arsenicosis population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this review was to systematically evaluate the available evidence on the effectiveness of internet-based telerehabilitation among patients after total joint arthroplasty regarding pain, range of motion, physical function, health-related quality of life, satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Methods: This was a systematic review with meta-analysis based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions guidelines. Studies published in English or Chinese were searched using defined search periods, databases, and search terms. Two reviewers assessed independently the quality of studies. RevMan 5.3 was used for meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using the χ 2 and I 2 statistic. A random effect model and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was adopted. Standardised mean difference (SMD) was used if the outcome was measured by different scales. Results: Eleven studies with 1020 participants were analysed. Compared to face-to-face rehabilitation, internet-based telerehabilitation showed no significant difference in outcomes of pain (SMD–0.11, 95% CI–0.32 to 0.10), range of motion in flexion (MD 0.65, 95% CI–1.18 to 2.48) and extension (MD–0.38, 95% CI–1.16 to 0.40), patient-reported physical function (SMD 0.01, 95% CI–0.15 to 0.17), health-related quality of life (SMD–0.09, 95% CI–0.26 to 0.07), satisfaction (SMD–0.04, 95% CI–0.21 to 0.14), and psychological well-being (SMD 0.10, 95% CI–0.13 to 0.33). Internet-based telerehabilitation showed better outcomes in physical functional tests (SMD–0.54, 95% CI–1.08 to–0.01). Discussion: This review suggests that internet-based telerehabilitation has comparable effectiveness to face-to-face rehabilitation on rehabilitation outcomes among patients after total joint arthroplasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are concerned with distributed finite-time optimisation of multi-agent systems with unknown high-frequency gain signs under switching digraphs. First, a distributed finite-time gradient estimator-based optimal signal generator is constructed by adopting finite-time stability theory and graph theory. Then, considering the existence of unknown high-frequency gain signs in multi-agent systems, we propose new distributed asymptotic optimisation algorithms via the Nussbaum-type function. Additionally, in order to accelerate convergence, the novel distributed finite-time optimisation algorithms are presented. Both of the newly proposed algorithms can realise optimal consensus of multi-agent systems with unknown high-frequency gain signs under switching digraphs. Finally, two simulation examples are illustrated to verify the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate data consists of multiple high-dimensional time series and multiple-dimensional space series with unknown series. These unknown series in climate data hide the complex co-variation relation patterns. By exploring these co-variation relation patterns, we can further reveal the complex representations between time series and space series in climate data. Therefore, it is a tough task to explore what kinds of relation patterns from high-dimensional climate data containing unknown complicated multi-variables. To address this, we proposed neural networks with three layers according to Brenier's theorem. Brenier's theorem rigorously proves that the data distribution in the background space is consistent with the data distribution in the reconstructed feature space with greatest probability, thereby ensuring that the relation patterns extracted by the proposed model are as close as possible to the original relation patterns. For the three series sets (i.e., a time series set, a spatial series set containing longitude, and a spatial series set containing latitude) in the climate dataset, we adopted the compact coding manner that one layer encodes a series set correspondingly, in order to maintain the consistency between a time series and two spatial series. Results on the ECMWF climate datasets show that the proposed method gains deeper relation patterns than competitors, i.e., the relation patterns captured by our method outperforms competitors in terms of regularity (for spatial series) and periodicity (for time series). We demonstrate that by this compact coding manner, neural networks capture deeper relation patterns from high-dimensional data containing complicated multiple variables due to this coding manner can accurately filter out more non-eigenvalue information from those complicated data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a neuroinvasive parasite causing neuroinflammation, which in turn is associated with a higher risk for several psycho-behavioral disorders. There is an urgent need to identify drugs capable of improving cognitive deficits induced by T. gondii infection. β-Glucan, an active ingredient in mushrooms, could significantly enhance immunity. However, the effects of β-glucan against neuroinflammation and cognitive decline induced by T. gondii infection remain unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effect of β-glucan on goal-directed behavior of mice chronically infected by T. gondii Wh6 strain. Methods: A mice model of chronic T. gondii Wh6 infection was established by infecting mice by oral gavage with 10 cysts of T. gondii Wh6. Intraperitoneal injection of β-glucan was manipulated 2 weeks before T. gondii infection. Performance of the infected mice on the Y-maze test and temporal order memory (TOM) test was used to assess the goal-directed behavior. Golgi-Cox staining, transmission electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, real-time PCR and western blot assays were used to detect prefrontal cortex-associated pathological change and neuroinflammation. Results: The administration of β-glucan significantly prevented T. gondii Wh6-induced goal-directed behavioral impairment as assessed behaviorally by the Y-maze test and TOM test. In the prefrontal cortex, β-glucan was able to counter T. gondii Wh6-induced degeneration of neurites, impairment of synaptic ultrastructure and decrease of pre- and postsynaptic protein levels. Also, β-glucan significantly prevented the hyperactivation of pro-inflammatory microglia and astrocytes, as well as the upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines caused by chronic T. gondii Wh6 infection. Conclusions: This study revealed that β-glucan prevents goal-directed behavioral impairment induced by chronic T. gondii infection in mice. These findings suggest that β-glucan may be an effective drug candidate to prevent T. gondii-associated psycho-behavioral disorders including goal-directed behavioral injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polypharmacy is an increasing health concern among older adults and results in many health risks. Nurses have an important role to play in supporting medication management and promoting medication safety across different settings. This study aims to provide a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies investigating the perceptions and experiences of nurses in caring for older adults with polypharmacy. Electronic databases including PsycArticles, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, and ERIC were searched between September 2001 and July 2022. Potential studies were checked against inclusion and exclusion criteria. We included peer-reviewed studies reporting data on the experiences of nursing staff across different settings. Studies unitizing any qualitative approach were included, and the included studies were reviewed and analyzed using a thematic synthesis approach. Study quality was examined using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist for qualitative research. A total of nine studies with 91 nurses were included. Four major themes emerged: older adults suffering from polypharmacy, the importance of multidisciplinary teams, nursing roles in caring for older adults, and the complexity and barriers of implementing polypharmacy management. Healthcare professionals should pay attention to the impacts of polypharmacy in older adults' lives and should acknowledge the importance of team-based polypharmacy care in supporting older adults. Nurses play a key role in caring for older adults with polypharmacy, therefore, they should be empowered and be involved in medication management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma is a kind of invasive malignant tumor followed by hepatocellular carcinoma. miR-451 was suggested to function as regulator in various human tumors, but its role in mediating tumor progression and predicting the prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma remains unknown. The clinical significance and biological function of miR-451 in cholangiocarcinoma were assessed in this study. Results: The tissue and serum expression of miR-451 was decreased in cholangiocarcinoma compared with corresponding normal samples. The downregulation of miR-451 was associated with the progressive TNM stage and positive lymph node metastasis of patients. miR-451 was identified to be an indicator of the diagnosis and prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma distinguishing cholangiocarcinoma patients from healthy volunteers and predicting the poor outcome of patients. miR-451 also served as a tumor suppressor negatively regulating the cellular processes of cholangiocarcinoma. Conclusions: miR-451 played a vital role in the early detection and risk prediction of cholangiocarcinoma. miR-451 also suppressed the progression of cholangiocarcinoma, which provides a potential therapeutical target for cholangiocarcinoma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To obtain an in‐depth understanding of the specific needs of patients for rehabilitation services delivered via mobile applications after total hip or knee arthroplasty. Background: Due to increased demand for arthroplasty, the provision of face‐to‐face rehabilitation services for patients is becoming challenging. New approaches using digital technologies are being developed, such as mobile applications to deliver rehabilitation services. However, the perspectives of patients on the delivery of these services via mobile applications after total hip or knee arthroplasty have not been explored extensively. Design: A qualitative descriptive study. Methods: Twenty patients who had been discharged from the hospital after a total hip or knee arthroplasty were interviewed via telephone about their needs regarding the future use of mobile applications to conduct arthroplasty rehabilitation. Interview records were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive content analysis. Reporting of the findings complies with the COREQ checklist for qualitative studies. Results: Four categories emerged from the data collected from the participants: (1) assisting rehabilitation self‐management, (2) facilitating peer support, (3) facilitating contact with healthcare professionals and (4) supporting emotional well‐being. Conclusions: The study provided an in‐depth understanding of the specific needs of patients for rehabilitation services delivered via mobile applications after total hip or knee arthroplasty. The findings of the study could be used in the development or revision of mobile application rehabilitation programmes to better support the rehabilitation of patients. Future studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such programmes, especially including the self‐efficacy of patients as an outcome measure. Relevance to clinical practice: From the perspective of patients who have undergone arthroplasty, a mobile application rehabilitation programme should encourage patients in rehabilitation self‐management, assist them to contact healthcare professionals and other patients and support their postoperative emotional well‐being. The study findings will assist nurses with the preparation and delivery of telerehabilitation programmes after arthroplasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cryptococcus neoformans (C. neoformans) is commonly presented in immunocompromised individuals and causes cryptococcosis mostly in the respiratory and/or central nervous system. Liver cryptococcosis is exceedingly rare and sometimes difficult to diagnose through conventional assays. Case Presentation: The present study reports a rare case of liver cryptococcosis characterized by increased serum carbohydrate antigen 19– 9 (CA19-9) level and intrahepatic multiple nodules without other symptoms in an immunocompetent woman. Her cancer family history and imaging examinations initially suspected metastatic liver malignancy. But no sign of the malignant tumor was found after endoscopy, 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography, and liver biopsy. The histopathology of the liver biopsy specimen indicated chronic inflammatory granuloma and then infectious diseases were suspected. However, traditional microbiologic testing failed to identify any potential pathogen. Eventually, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was applied to identify the definite diagnosis of liver cryptococcosis by acquiring the genome sequence of C. neoformans. Fortunately, after 6-month diagnostic anti-fungal therapy of fluconazole, the liver nodules effectively faded away and the serum CA19-9 level gradually regressed to the normal range. Conclusion: We identified a rare case of hepatic cryptococcosis by mNGS in an immunocompetent patient. When conventional methods have difficulties in the diagnosis of a specific pathogen, mNGS has the advantage of early and accurate identification of potential pathogens from the specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The global increase in total hip or knee arthroplasty has led to concern about the provision of postoperative rehabilitation. Telerehabilitation may be a strategy to meet the patients' requirements for rehabilitation after arthroplasty. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a telerehabilitation programme delivered via the mobile application WeChat in patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty on the following outcomes: self-efficacy, physical function, pain, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life.Methods: This is a single-centre, single-blinded, parallel-group, superiority randomised controlled trial conducted in Shanghai, China. Eighty-four eligible participants who undergo primary total hip or knee arthroplasty will be recruited preoperatively in a university teaching hospital and randomly assigned to the experimental or control group with their informed consent. Once discharged, the control group (n = 42) will receive the usual care provided by the hospital. The experimental group (n = 42) will receive usual care and a 6-week mobile application rehabilitation programme that consists of physical exercises and techniques for enhancing participants' self-efficacy for rehabilitation. Baseline assessments will be conducted on the day before hospital discharge, and outcome assessments will be conducted 6 and 10 weeks postoperatively. The primary outcomes are changes in self-efficacy and physical function 6 weeks postoperatively, and the secondary outcomes include pain, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life. The approach of a generalised estimating equation will be used to analyse the effect of the intervention on outcomes at a significance level of 0.05.Discussion: This study is the first of its kind conducted in China to incorporate self-efficacy and learning theories as a framework to guide the development of a mobile application rehabilitation programme after arthroplasty. This study will contribute to the knowledge about the effectiveness of mobile application-based rehabilitation among patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty. If the findings are positive, they will support the implementation of mobile application-based rehabilitation in practice, which may potentially increase the accessibility of rehabilitation services as well as patient adherence to rehabilitation.Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12621000867897 . Retrospectively registered on July 6, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We innovatively used a polypropylene (PP) separator as a substrate and PEO-LiTFSI-SN as a paste to coat on both of the PP surfaces, and formed a sandwich-like solid polymer electrolyte (SPE). The SPE shows a conductivity of 4.22 × 10−3 S cm−1 at room temperature and 7.75 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 0 °C. The pyrene-4,5,9,10-tetraone (PTO)‖‖SPE‖‖Li battery shows a maximum discharge specific capacity of 187.8 mA h g−1 at a current density of 20 mA g−1 under 0 °C. After 100 cycles, the capacity could still be obtained at 88.4 mA h g−1, and the coulombic efficiency stayed stable at 98%. This work paved a new way for the development of solid-state organic batteries (SSOBs) at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six biota species were collected from Qilianyu Island, South China Sea to determine the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites (DDTs). Concentrations of ΣPCBs and ΣDDTs in biota from Qilianyu Island ranged from 6.88 to 519.1 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and 7.0 to 19,413 ng/g lw, respectively. Significant differences for PCBs and DDTs concentrations were found among the six biota species from Qilianyu Island. The levels of PCBs and DDTs in intermediate egret were significantly higher than the other five biota species, which can be attributed to their different feeding and living habits. Significantly negative relationships between concentrations of PCBs and DDTs and δ13C values in the six biota species confirmed that dietary source is an important factor to determine the levels of PCBs and DDTs in biota species. ΣPCBs, ΣDDTs, PCB 28/31, PCB 52, and p,p′-DDE were biomagnified in the biota species from Qilianyu Island, and native species are suitable for studying the biomagnification of the contaminants. The toxic equivalent concentrations in birds from Qilianyu Island were significantly and positively correlated with PCBs concentrations, indicating that high concentrations of non- and mono-ortho-PCB congeners may induce adverse effects on bird species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Elevated serum ferritin (SF), also defined as hyperferritinemia, is commonly seen in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the clinical significance of SF in NAFLD remains controversial. The aim of this study was to characterize the NAFLD patients with elevated SF and to explore the association of hyperferritinemia with the severity of NAFLD proved by liver biopsy in the Chinese population. Patients and Methods: A total of 136 NAFLD patients proved by liver biopsy were enrolled. The demographic, anthropometric, clinical historic, laboratory, and histological characteristics were compared between elevated and normal SF groups. The independent factors for elevated SF were determined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The median age and body mass index were 41.00 (33.00– 57.75) years and 28.28 (26.28– 31.34) kg/m2, respectively. Hyperferritinemia was detected in 57 (41.9%) patients. Patients in the elevated SF group presented with more severe lipo- and glucometabolic disorder, and higher aminotransferases compared to those in the normal SF group (p < 0.05). In terms of histopathology, elevated SF was associated with worse steatosis and a higher proportion of positive iron staining (p < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (OR: 1.170, 95% CI: 1.036– 1.322, p = 0.012), alanine aminotransferase (OR: 1.012, 95% CI: 1.005– 1.019, p < 0.001), and positive Perl's staining (OR: 4.880, 95% CI: 2.072– 11.494, p < 0.001) as independent risk factors of hyperferritinemia. Conclusion: NAFLD patients with hyperferritinemia were characterized as more severe metabolic dysfunction and liver injury. More attention should be paid to the metabolism state of NAFLD patients with elevated SF. Hyperferritinemia was correlated to hepatic steatosis in Chinese NAFLD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Heat‐induced composite gels were prepared with 20 g kg−1 myofibrillar protein (MP) sol, 20 g kg−1 modified starch and 100 g kg−1 lipid pre‐emulsified by MP in 0.6 mol L−1 NaCl, at pH 6.2. The effects of esterified potato starch (EPS) and emulsified lipid (lard or peanut oil) on the rheology, texture properties and nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of MP gel were evaluated. RESULTS: The addition of starch and lipid significantly improved the gel strength and water holding capacity (WHC) of the MP gel. Analysis of the relaxation time compared with the WHC tests showed that the variation range of the transverse T22 relaxation time of a gel was positively proportional to changes in WHC of the composite gel, and the lower the T22 relaxation time, the better the WHC of composite gel. Moreover, MP gel with starch and emulsified lard added at the same time has the lowest T2 relaxation time, and also the best WHC of the gel. Environmental scanning electron microscopy showed that emulsified oil droplets embedded the gaps in the protein network, and the gelatinized starch contributed to restrict the oil droplet size, resulting in thicker MP gel. CONCLUSION: Emulsified lipid and modified starch have an important influence on the rheology and microstructure of MP gels, indicating the subtle interaction between starch, lipid and protein. The results suggest the potential feasibility of modified starch and vegetable oil to improve the textural properties in comminuted meat products. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the adaptive output consensus problem of high-order nonlinear heterogeneous agents is addressed using only delayed, sampled neighbor output measurements. A class of auxiliary variables is introduced which are $n$ -times differentiable functions and include the agent’s output along with delayed, sampled output neighbor measurements. It is proven that if these variables are bounded and regulated to zero then asymptotic consensus among all agent outputs is ensured. In view of this property, an adaptive distributed backstepping design procedure is presented that guarantees boundedness and regulation of the proposed variables. This design procedure ensures not only the desired asymptotic output consensus but also the uniform boundedness of all closed-loop variables. The main feature of our approach is that, in the proposed control law for each agent, the entire state vector of the neighbors is not needed and only delayed sampled measurements of the neighbors’ outputs are utilized. The simulation results are also presented that verify our theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in females and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women worldwide. Midkine (MDK) is a heparin-binding growth factor that is abnormally expressed at high levels in various human malignancies. We aimed to uncover the biological function and molecular mechanism of MDK in BC cells. Methods and results: MDA-MB-231-shMDK and T47D-shMDK BC cells were established. The in vitro biological functions of MDK were demonstrated by CCK-8 assays, Transwell assays and Western blotting, whereas qPCR pathway arrays were implemented to explore the mechanism of MDK in BC cells. Functionally, we verified that silencing MDK significantly suppressed BC cell proliferation and migration by inhibiting the activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway and the nuclear distribution of NF-κB. Meanwhile, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) and a qPCR pathway array revealed that silencing MDK decreased the expression of NR3C1, a potential downstream target of the NF-κB pathway. We also confirmed that treatment with an NF-κB inhibitor suppressed NR3C1 expression in BC cells. Finally, we demonstrated that silencing NR3C1 repressed BC cell proliferation and migration. Conclusions: Our findings highlight a novel mechanism by which MDK influences BC progression via regulation of the NF-κB-NR3C1 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-component signal system (TCS) is the predominant bacterial sense-and-response machinery. RpfC/RpfG TCS involved in quorum sensing molecule Diffuse Signal Factor (DSF) signal perception and transduction was well studied in many bacteria. However, whether other environmental factors participating in the signal perception and transduction of RpfC/RpfG was still unclear. Here, we showed that RpfC/RpfG could integrate temperature and DSF signal partially controlling the production of the temperature-dependent protease (SmtP) in S. maltophilia FF11, a strain isolated from frozen Antarctic krill, exhibited spoilage potential due to secret more protease at low temperatures involving in protein degradation. qRT-PCR analysis revealed rpf system mediating approximately 60% transcription activity of Clp, a critical transcription factor linking with LotS/LotR, consisting a signal network controlling completely the SmtP production in previous study. Protease production was partially reduced in rpfF (coding DSF synthetase) mutant strains at 15 °C or 25 °C, not be increased through addition DSF or overexpression RpfF in WT at 37 °C, indicating that DSF was effective for protease production only at low temperatures in S. maltophilia. Additionally, biochemical analysis revealed the enzymatic activity of RpfG from strain FF11 cultured at 37 °C or DSF-deficient strains grown at 25 °C was significantly reduced compared to that of RpfG from strain FF11 cultured at 25 °C. These findings outline an interplay mechanism that allows S. maltophilia to integrate quorum sensing and temperature cues controlling protease production, and imply a potential relationship between two distinct systems of RpfC/RpfG and LotS/LotR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed primal-dual methods have been widely used for solving large-scale constrained optimization problems. The majority of existing results focus on the problems with decoupled constraints. Some recent works have studied the problems subject to separable globally coupled constraints. This paper considers the distributed optimization problems with globally coupled constraints over networks without requiring the separability of the globally coupled constraints. This is made possible by the local estimates of the constraint violations. For solving such a problem, we propose a primal-dual algorithm in the augmented Lagrangian framework, combining the average consensus technique. We first establish a non-ergodic convergence rate of $\mathcal {O}(1/k)$ in terms of the objective residual for solving a distributed constrained convex optimization problem, where $k$ is the iteration counter. Specifically, the global objective function is the aggregate of the local convex and possibly non-smooth costs, and the coupled constraint is the sum of the local linear equality constraints. The numerical results illustrate the performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the research results of mobile teaching mode at home and abroad have been involved in all aspects of education and teaching and provided a lot of useful reference for subsequent researchers, the lack of research on WeChat interactive translation teaching mode makes the practical research in this field urgent. As China's education industry continues to pursue international development, it is necessary to train a large number of international talents who have an international perspective, are familiar with international rules, and can participate in international affairs and international competition. However, to become an international talent, you must first have superior English communication skills and be able to deal with various international situations proficiently. The English education goals at the basic education stage are simply beyond reach and can only be cultivated through professional and systematic college English courses. This shows that college English education is at a crucial position in the future development of education. This study attempts to explore how to apply the interactive teaching mode supported by WeChat network platform in translation teaching and English learning of high school students, so as to improve students' autonomy in translation practice, promote students' personalized learning, and improve students' interest and ability in English learning. Based on the investigation of a senior high school in our city, the school began to implement the interactive translation mobile teaching mode based on WeChat in September 2018. The experiment selected the change of students' English learning achievements in a certain semester and judged whether the mobile teaching mode was conducive to the improvement of learning performance based on t-test. We also need to collect the needs of teachers and parents for the WeChat based mobile teaching mode and judge whether the mode can be promoted. The experimental results show that this teaching mode has an obvious effect on the improvement of students' English scores, especially in the eighth grade, whose scores have increased from 72.6 to 75. Through the construction of WeChat based interactive translation mobile teaching mode, parents can fully understand the key points of English learning and make English tutoring more targeted and timely. This teaching mode is worthy of promotion in senior high school English course learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gut microbiota dysbiosis plays an important role in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and no approved drugs are available for NAFLD treatment. In this study, we aimed to explore the dynamic changes of gut microbiota at the different stages of NAFLD and determine whether ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) could improve liver histopathological features of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) mice induced by a high-fat high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet and its impact on gut microbiota. 6-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were fed with a HFHC or normal diet for 12, 18, and 24 weeks, respectively, to simulate the different stages of NAFLD. 16s ribosomal RNA genes from mice fecal samples at the different time points were sequenced to evaluate the dynamic changes of the gut microbiota. Then, C57BL/6 mice were fed with a HFHC diet for 24 weeks to establish the NASH model. Different doses of UDCA were administered intragastrically for additional 4 weeks. Normal diet–fed mice were taken as control. Serum samples, liver, and intestine tissues were harvested for biochemical tests and histopathological examinations. 16s ribosomal RNA genes from mice fecal samples were sequenced to assess the structural changes of gut microbiota. HFHC diet–fed mice developed simple steatosis, steatohepatitis, and fibrosis at 12, 18, and 24 weeks, respectively. The profile of gut microbiota dynamically changed with the different stages of NAFLD. NASH mice had significantly higher abundance of Fecalibaculum, Coriobacteriaceae _UCG-002, and Enterorhabdus , and lower abundance of norank_f_ Muribaculaceae , Bacteroides, and Alistipes, which were partially restored by UDCA treatment. UDCA treatment significantly attenuated hepatic inflammation of NASH mice as indicated by the sum of ballooning and lobular inflammation of the NALFD activity score (3.2 ± 0.8 vs 1.8 ± 0.8, p = 0.029), and partially restored gut microbiota dysbiosis, and increased the expression of Claudin-1 and ZO-1 in the intestine, but did not activate the suppressed Farnesoid X receptor signal pathway. Conclusions: The gut microbiota dynamically changes with the different stages of NAFLD. UDCA treatment (120 mg/kg) could partially restore gut microbiota, repair gut barrier integrity, and attenuate hepatic inflammation in the NASH mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to arsenic-contaminated air and food caused by the burning of coal in unventilated indoor stoves is a major environmental public health concern in Guizhou Province, China. The liver is one of the main target organs for coal-fired arsenic exposure; however, there is little information about the risk assessment between cumulative arsenic exposure and the prevalence of liver damage. This study first evaluated the chronic daily intake (CDI) for two exposure pathways (inhalation and ingestion) and five environmental media (i.e., indoor and outdoor air, drinking water, rice, corn, and chili peppers) in 1998, 2006, 2014, and 2017. Then, the dose-effect and dose-response relationship between hair arsenic (HA) and cumulative arsenic (CA) levels and liver damage was analyzed. The results clearly show that the CDI in 1998 was 34.9 μg·kg−1·d−1, 22.9 μg·kg−1·d−1 in 2006, 11.7 μg·kg−1·d−1 in 2014, and 6.7 μg·kg−1·d−1 in 2017 in the arsenic exposure area. All of these values were higher than the daily baseline level of 3.0 μg·kg−1·d−1 as recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and the increased HA and CA can increase the risk of coal-fired arsenic-induced liver damage. In addition, we analyzed the possible maximum acceptable CA exposure level for coal-fired arsenic-induced liver damage using the Bayesian benchmark dose. The recommended maximum acceptable CA exposure level for liver damage caused by coal-burning arsenic is 7120 mg. This study provides scientific insight into understanding the dose-response relationship of liver damage caused by coal-burning arsenic exposure and the monitoring and prevention of arsenic poisoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to establish a risk model of hub genes to evaluate the prognosis of patients with cervical cancer. Methods: Based on TCGA and GTEx databases, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened and then analyzed using GO and KEGG analyses. The weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA) was then used to perform modular analysis of DEGs. Univariate Cox regression analysis combined with LASSO and Cox-pH was used to select the prognostic genes. Then, multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to screen the hub genes. The risk model was established based on hub genes and evaluated by risk curve, survival state, Kaplan-Meier curve, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: We screened 1265 DEGs between cervical cancer and normal samples, of which 620 were downregulated and 645 were upregulated. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that most of the upregulated genes were related to the metastasis of cancer cells, while the downregulated genes mostly acted on the cell cycle. Then, WGCNA mined six modules (red, blue, green, brown, yellow, and gray), and the brown module with the most DEGs and related to multiple cancers was selected for the follow-up study. Eight genes were identified by univariate Cox regression analysis combined with the LASSO Cox-pH model. Then, six hub genes (SLC25A5, ENO1, ANLN, RIBC2, PTTG1, and MCM5) were screened by multivariate Cox regression analysis, and SLC25A5, ANLN, RIBC2, and PTTG1 could be used as independent prognostic factors. Finally, we determined that the risk model established by the six hub genes was effective and stable. Conclusions: This study supplies the prognostic value of the risk model and the new promising targets for the cervical cancer treatment, and their biological functions need to be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of patients underwent PVP for OVCF as day surgery with the outcomes of patients managed as traditional inpatients. Methods: According to the selection criteria, patients who underwent PVP for single-segment thoracolumbar OVCF were included retrospectively in the day surgery procedure (DSP) group and the traditional inpatient procedure (TIP) group between April 2018 and September 2019. The visual analog scale score (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score were recorded preoperatively and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery. Duration of hospital stay, preoperative waiting time, hospital cost, and postoperative complications were recorded and analyzed. Results: A total of 335 patients (53 in DSP group; 282 in TIP group) were enrolled and completed 12-month follow-up. The mean duration of hospital stay, the mean preoperative waiting time, and the mean hospital costs were significant lower in the DSP group. The postoperative VAS and ODI scores in both groups were significantly improved after surgery. Moreover, both VAS and ODI scores at each follow-up stage were also significantly lower than the previous follow-up stage. However, the ODI score in the DSP group was significantly lower at 1-day, 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-up, respectively. For cement leakage and secondary vertebral compression fractures, there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Conclusions: We suggest that PVP for OVCFs in day surgery procedure is worthy of wide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper investigates the formation control of connected autonomous vehicle (CAV) platoons moving in multi lanes using distance‐based formation control techniques based on rigid graphs and V2V communication. A hierarchical architecture is proposed to decompose the cooperative control into velocity planning and vehicle dynamic control. A new velocity planning method is first developed via a distributed distance‐based formation controller so that each vehicle can keep platoon and change lane. Then, for the vehicle dynamics with nonlinearities and bounded disturbances, an adaptive controller is designed for regulating driving/braking torque to achieve the longitudinal velocity output of the velocity planner. The steering controller is designed to adjust the yaw angle of each vehicle to track and change lanes. Furthermore, stability analysis is conducted based on the Lyapunov theory. Finally, the applications of the proposed control designs to various of automated highway system (AHS) scenarios including lane‐change, curve lane and platoon overtaking, are simulated and numerically analysed to validate the effectiveness of theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the possibility of designing a continuous control algorithm for time‐varying networks of high‐order nonlinear agents with input saturation. A class of neural network‐based (NN) distributed control algorithms are proposed for the consensus of nonlinear agents with input saturation and nonidentical unknown control directions (UCDs) under uniformly quasi‐strongly δ‐connected graphs. An NN is used to cancel the unknown part of agent dynamics due to the well known NN function approximation property. Also, an adaptive smooth term is employed to compensate for the bounded disturbance, the approximation error. Moreover, an auxiliary system is designed to counteract the effect of input saturation. Furthermore, the control law is augmented with the Nussbaum‐type function to obtain an estimation of the UCDs. It is proven rigorously that the consensus of nonlinear agents with input saturation and nonidentical UCDs can be guaranteed, and the boundedness of all signals of closed‐loop systems is ensured. Finally, simulation examples are given to show the effectiveness of our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]