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Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum), an anaerobic resident of the oral cavity, is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor to ulcerative colitis (UC). The adhesive properties of F. nucleatum are mediated by its key virulence protein, FadA adhesin. However, further investigations are needed to understand the pathogenic mechanisms of this oral pathogen in UC. The present study aimed to explore the role of the FadA adhesin in the colonization and invasion of oral F. nucleatum in dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice via molecular techniques. In this study, we found that oral inoculation of F. nucleatum strain carrying the FadA adhesin further exacerbated DSS-induced colitis, leading to elevated alveolar bone loss, disease severity, and mortality. Additionally, CDH1 gene knockout mice treated with DSS presented increases in body weight and alveolar bone density, as well as a reduction in disease severity. Furthermore, FadA adhesin adhered to its mucosal receptor E-cadherin, leading to the phosphorylation of β-catenin and the degradation of IκBα, the activation of the NF-κB signalling pathway and the upregulation of downstream cytokines. In conclusion, this research revealed that oral inoculation with F. nucleatum facilitates experimental colitis via the secretion of the virulence adhesin FadA. Targeting the oral pathogen F. nucleatum and its virulence factor FadA may represent a promising therapeutic approach for a portion of UC patients.

E-commerce with the immersive scene of live streaming gives users a new interaction and consumption experience, extending a new path for traditional marketing. Live barrage, being the primary means of users’ social engagement in live e-commerce, encapsulates their inclination to purchase products, commonly referred to as consumption intention. The mining of live barrage enables the exploration of latent user behavior and consumption intention. The current methods employed for mining consumption intention in e-commerce live barrage encounter challenges including insufficient corpus, excessively brief text, and significant semantic deficiencies. Therefore, this study proposes a paradigm of consumption intention recognition by combining the text features of barrage: by constructing a dataset of Live barrage, cleaning the original dataset, and then using a fused BERT’s feature network model BERT-BiLSTM to identify the consumption intention in live e-commerce Live barrage. The experimental results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method for recognizing consumption intention. Finally, this study conducted text mining on live barrage containing consumption intent, including word cloud visualization, topic extraction, and co-occurrence analysis, further investigating consumers’ purchasing needs and intentions.

Abstract Background Many studies have confirmed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) mediate the malignant progression of various tumors including osteosarcoma (OS). Our study is to uncover novel molecular mechanisms by which circ_0000376 regulates OS progression. Methods The expression of circ_0000376, microRNA (miR)-577, hexokinase 2 (HK2) and lactate dehydrogenase-A (LDHA) was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. OS cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion were measured using cell counting kit 8 assay, colony formation assay, EdU assay, flow cytometry and transwell assay. Besides, cell glycolysis was assessed by testing glucose consumption, lactate production, and ATP/ADP ratios. Protein expression was examined by western blot analysis. The interaction between miR-577 and circ_0000376 or HK2/LADA was verified by dual-luciferase reporter assay. The role of circ_0000376 on OS tumor growth was explored by constructing mice xenograft models. Results Circ_0000376 had been found to be upregulated in OS tissues and cells. Functional experiments revealed that circ_0000376 interference hindered OS cell growth, invasion and glycolysis. Circ_0000376 sponged miR-577 to reduce its expression. In rescue experiments, miR-577 inhibitor abolished the regulation of circ_0000376 knockdown on OS cell functions. MiR-577 could target HK2 and LDHA in OS cells. MiR-577 suppressed OS cell growth, invasion and glycolysis, and these effects were reversed by HK2 and LDHA overexpression. Also, HK2 and LDHA expression could be regulated by circ_0000376. In vivo experiments showed that circ_0000376 knockdown inhibited OS tumorigenesis. Conclusion Circ_0000376 contributed to OS growth, invasion and glycolysis depending on the regulation of miR-577/HK2/LDHA axis, providing a potential target for OS treatment. Graphical Abstract

We address mathematical modelling of respiratory mechanics and put forward a model based on double-exponential and fractional calculus for parameter estimation, model simulation, and evaluation based on actual data. Our model has been implemented on a publicly available executable code with adjustable parameters, making it suitable for different applications. Our analysis represents the first application of fractional calculus and double-exponential modelling to respiratory mechanics, and allows us to propose a hybrid model fitting experimental data in different ventilation modes. Furthermore, our model can be used to study the mechanical features of the respiratory system, improve the safety of ventilation techniques, reduce ventilation damages, and provide strong support for fast and adaptive determination of ventilation parameters.

Purpose: Online integrated marketing is arousing extensive attention from industry and academia, whereas no uniform conclusion on the effectiveness of integrated versus single marketing has been reached thus far. Accordingly, the integrated marketing effectiveness of paid search advertising and social advertising, and the moderating role of product type in it are primarily investigated in this study. Design/methodology/approach: The interaction between paid search advertising and social advertising and purchase is elucidated. Moreover, the moderating effects of product type on the relationship are examined. The hypotheses are tested using an empirical model in accordance with the natural transaction data from Taobao. Findings/results: An empirical analysis confirms a complementary relationship between paid search and social advertising on enhancing purchase. Furthermore, this study suggests that paid search advertising is more probably employed for the purchase of hedonic products, and social advertising more markedly affects the sales of utilitarian products. Moreover, the above-described two advertisements jointly increase the sales of hedonic products. Practical implications: The results provide applicable guidance for sellers’ advertising strategies on online shopping platforms. Sellers should stimulate sales by strategically using integrated marketing tools, and they should adopt different marketing strategies in accordance with different product types. Originality/value: The findings reveal the complementary relationship between paid search and social advertising. Furthermore, this study expands the application of dual-process theory and analyses the information processing of utilitarian and hedonic products.

Osteocytes play an important role in the development and progression of tumour-associated bone disease. Here the authors report an interaction between malignant plasma cells and osteocytes in multiple myeloma and show that the osteocyte-expressed major histocompatibility complex class II transactivator (CIITA) contributes to myeloma-induced bone lesions.

Abstract Background Therapeutic resistance occurs in most patients with multiple myeloma (MM). One of the key mechanisms for MM drug resistance comes from the interaction between MM cells and adipocytes that inhibits drug-induced apoptosis in MM cells; MM cells reprogram adipocytes to morph into different characterizations, including exosomes, which are important for tumor-stroma cellular communication. However, the mechanism by which exosomes mediate the cellular machinery of the vicious cycle between MM cells and adipocytes remains unclear. Methods Adipocytes were either isolated from bone marrow aspirates of healthy donors or MM patients or derived from mesenchymal stem cells. Co-culturing normal adipocytes with MM cells was used to generate MM-associated adipocytes. Exosomes were collected from the culture medium of adipocytes. Annexin V-binding and TUNEL assays were performed to assess MM cell apoptosis. Methyltransferase activity assay and dot blotting were used to access the m6A methylation activity of methyltransferase like 7A (METTL7A). RIP, MeRIP-seq, and RNA–protein pull down for assessing the interaction between long non-cording RNAs (LncRNAs) and RNA binding proteins were performed. Adipocyte-specific enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) knockout mice and MM-xenografted mice were used for evaluating MM therapeutic response in vivo. Results Exosomes collected from MM patient adipocytes protect MM cells from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Two LncRNAs in particular, LOC606724 and SNHG1, are significantly upregulated in MM cells after exposure to adipocyte exosomes. The raised LncRNA levels in MM cells are positively correlated to worse outcomes in patients, indicating their clinical relevancy in MM. The functional roles of adipocyte exosomal LOC606724 or SNHG1 in inhibition of MM cell apoptosis are determined by knockdown in adipocytes or overexpression in MM cells. We discovered the interactions between LncRNAs and RNA binding proteins and identified methyltransferase like 7A (METTL7A) as an RNA methyltransferase. MM cells promote LncRNA package into adipocyte exosomes through METTL7A-mediated LncRNA m6A methylation. Exposure of adipocytes to MM cells enhances METTL7A activity in m6A methylation through EZH2-mediated protein methylation. Conclusion This study elucidates an unexplored mechanism of how adipocyte-rich microenvironment exacerbates MM therapeutic resistance and indicates a potential strategy to improve therapeutic efficacy by blocking this vicious exosome-mediated cycle.

Recent evidence points out the role of the gut microbiota in the aging process. However, the specific changes and relevant interventions remain unclear. In this study, Senescence Accelerated Mouse-Prone 8 (SAMP8) mice were divided into four groups; young-FMT-group transplanted fecal microbiota from young donors (2–3°months old) and old-FMT-group transplanted from old donors (10–11°months old); additionally, other two groups either adult mice injected with saline solution or untreated mice served as the saline and blank control groups, respectively. All mice were intervened from their 7-months-old until 13-months-old. The open field test at 9 and 11°months of age showed that the mice transplanted with gut microbiota from young donors had significantly better locomotor and exploration ability than those of transplanted with old-donors gut microbiota and those of saline control while was comparable with the blank control. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that the gut microbiome of recipient mice of young donors was altered at 11°months of age, whereas the alternation of the gut microbiome of old-donor recipient mice was at 9°months. For comparison, the recipient mice in the blank and saline control groups exhibited changes in the gut microbiome at 10°months of age. The hallmark of aging-related gut microbiome change was an increase in the relative abundance of Akkermansia, which was significantly higher in the recipients transplanted with feces from older donors than younger donors at 9°months of age. This study shows that fecal microbiota transplantation from younger donors can delay aging-related declines in locomotor and exploration ability in mice by changing the gut microbiome.

Nowadays, the commercial potential of live e-commerce is being continuously explored, and machine vision algorithms are gradually attracting the attention of marketers and researchers. During live streaming, the visuals can be effectively captured by algorithms, thereby providing additional data support. This paper aims to consider the diversity of live streaming devices and proposes an extremely lightweight and high-precision model to meet different requirements in live streaming scenarios. Building upon yolov5s, we incorporate the MobileNetV3 module and the CA attention mechanism to optimize the model. Furthermore, we construct a multi-object dataset specific to live streaming scenarios, including anchor facial expressions and commodities. A series of experiments have demonstrated that our model realized a 0.4% improvement in accuracy compared to the original model, while reducing its weight to 10.52%.

Facial expressions, whether simple or complex, convey pheromones that can affect others. Plentiful sensory input delivered by marketing anchors' facial expressions to audiences can stimulate consumers' identification and influence decision-making, especially in live streaming media marketing. This paper proposes an efficient feature extraction network based on the YOLOv5 model for detecting anchors' facial expressions. First, a two-step cascade classifier and recycler is established to filter invalid video frames to generate a facial expression dataset of anchors. Second, GhostNet and coordinate attention are fused in YOLOv5 to eliminate latency and improve accuracy. YOLOv5 modified with the proposed efficient feature extraction structure outperforms the original YOLOv5 on our self-built dataset in both speed and accuracy.

Transcription factor Rme1 regulates meiosis and pseudohyphal growth in baker’s yeast, but its role in the meiosis-defective pathogen Candida albicans is unclear. Here, Hernández-Cervantes et al. show that Rme1 activates the expression of genes required for formation of asexual spores in Candida species.

Abstract Background Neuroinflammation is the major pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. Microglia are activated and polarized to either the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype or anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype, which act as a critical mediator of neuroinflammation. Sestrin2 has pro-survival properties against ischemic brain injury. However, whether sestrin2 has an anti-inflammatory function by shifting microglia polarization and its underlying mechanism is unknown. Methods Adult male C57BL/6 mice (N = 108) underwent transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) and were treated with exogenous sestrin2. Neurological deficit scores and infarct volume were determined. Cell apoptosis was examined by TUNEL staining and Western blotting. The expression of inflammatory mediators, M1/M2-specific markers, and signaling pathways were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunostaining, and Western blotting. To explore the underlying mechanism, primary neurons were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) and then treated with oxygenated condition medium of BV2 cells incubated with different doses of sestrin2. Results Sestrin2 attenuated the neurological deficits, infarction volume, and cell apoptosis after tMCAO compared to those in the control (p < 0.05). Sestrin2 had an anti-inflammatory effect and could suppress M1 microglia polarization and promote M2 microglia polarization. Condition medium from BV2 cells cultured with sestrin2 reduced neuronal apoptosis after OGD in vitro. Furthermore, we demonstrated that sestrin2 drives microglia to the M2 phenotype by inhibiting the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway and restoring autophagic flux. Conclusions Sestrin2 exhibited neuroprotection by shifting microglia polarization from the M1 to M2 phenotype in ischemic mouse brain, which may be due to suppression of the mTOR signaling pathway and the restoration of autophagic flux.

Abstract Background Ophiocordyceps sinensis, which is only naturally found in the high-elevation extreme environment of the Tibetan Plateau, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Information concerning the evolutionary and geologic context of O. sinensis remains limited, however. Methods We constructed the high-quality genome of O. sinensis and provided insight into the evolution and ecology of O. sinensis using comparative genomics. Results We mapped the whole genome of the anamorph/asexual form Hirsutella of O. sinensis using Illumina and PacBio sequencing technologies and obtained a well assembled genome of 119.2 Mbp size. Long-read Single Molecule Real Time (SMRT) sequencing technology generated an assembly with more accurate representation of repeat sequence abundances and placement. Evolutionary analyses indicated that O. sinensis diverged from other fungi 65.9 Mya in the Upper Cretaceous, during the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. Gene family expansions and contractions in addition to genome inflation via long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon insertions were implicated as an important driver of O. sinensis divergence. The insertion rate of LTR sequences into the O. sinensis genome peaked ~ 30–40 Mya, when the Tibetan Plateau rose rapidly. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis suggested that O. sinensis contained more genes related to ice binding compared to other closely related fungi, which may aid in their adaptability to the cold Tibetan Plateau. Further, heavy metal resistance genes were in low abundance in the O. sinensis genome, which may help to explain previous observations that O. sinensis tissues contain high levels of heavy metals. Conclusions Our results reveal the evolutionary, geological, and ecological context for the evolution of the O. sinensis genome and the factors that have contributed to the environmental adaptability of this valuable fungus. These findings suggest that genome inflation via LTR retrotransposon insertions in O. sinensis coincided with the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. LTRs and the specific genetic mechanisms of O. sinensis contributed to its adaptation to the environment on the plateau.

As a convenient and fraud-proof biometric, finger vein has received increasing attention from researchers. However, the deformation problem in finger vein images is still a challenge preventing the performance of finger vein recognition from prefect. In our opinion, the deformations are distinguishable between genuine and imposter fingers rather than performing as disturbing noises. It is because that the diversity between genuine images is mainly caused by different finger postures, and this difference can be characterized and utilized. While in the imposter matching, it is not the case. In this paper, we design a framework to ensemble the encoded deformation information with traditional texture-based method to improve the recognition performance. First, the pixel-level features are extracted to represent the finger vein images. Next, the best matching for each pixel is discovered by an optimized matching. Consequently, the displacement of each pixel is obtained, and the texture features of deformation is extracted from the displacement matrices. Furthermore, the results of direct and optimized matching for pixel-level features, together with the encoded deformations are fused using weights learned by the Support Vector Machine (SVM) model. Evaluated on the publicly available databases HKPU and SDU-MLA, extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method, with the Equal Error Rates (EERs) of 0.0040 and 0.0266 respectively on the two databases, which are much lower than recognition solely with deformation information. The proposed method is also applicable in high security scenarios, the False Reject Rate at zero False Accept Rate (FRR-at-0-FAR) can be reduced to 0.0363 on the HKPU database through adjusting the fusion parameters.

Gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely associated with ulcerative colitis (UC). Prebiotic therapy is a potential approach for UC management especially remission maintaining. Xylo-oligosaccharide (XOS) is an efficient prebiotic with proven health benefits and few side effects. However, the effects of XOS on the gut microbiota of patients with UC have not been investigated previously. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prebiotic effects of XOS on the fecal microbiota of patients with UC in clinical remission using an in vitro fermentation model. Five patients with UC in clinical remission and five healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Fresh fecal samples of UC patients were diluted and inoculated in yeast extract, casitone and fatty acid (YCFA) medium alone or with XOS. After fermentation for 48 h, samples were collected for 16S rDNA sequencing to investigate the gut microbiota composition. Differences in the gut microbiota between healthy volunteers and UC patients in clinical remission were detected using original fecal samples. Subsequently, the differences between the YCFA medium alone or with XOS samples were analyzed to illustrate the effects of XOS on the gut microbiota of UC patients. In both principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and principal component analysis (PCA), the fecal samples of UC patients differed from those of healthy volunteers. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis revealed that the relative abundances of g_Roseburia and g_Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group were higher in healthy volunteers than in UC patients, while o_Lactobacillales abundance showed the opposite trend (P < 0.05). Wilcoxon rank-sum test bar plot showed that the abundances of g_Eubacterium_halli_group and g_Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group were higher in the healthy volunteers than in the UC patients (P < 0.05). In addition, in UC patients, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test showed that XOS fermentation promoted the growth of bacterial groups including g_Roseburia, g_Bifidobacterium, and g_Lactobacillus, which is beneficial for recovery of intestinal diseases. These results suggest that XOS can relieve dysbiosis in the feces of UC patients in clinical remission and thus represent a potential prebiotic material for maintaining remission.

Osteolytic destruction is a hallmark of multiple myeloma and impairs myeloma patients’ quality of life. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of myeloma-associated bone disease remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate the role of myeloma cell-expressed integrin α6 in bone. Integrin α6 binds to laminin 8 and epidermal growth factor receptor on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to form a trimer complex and upregulates the secretion of osteolytic cytokines from both myeloma cells and MSCs, leading to enhanced bone resorption and reduced bone formation. Thus, this study elucidates an important mechanism for myeloma-induced bone lesions and implicates that targeting integrin α6 may be a viable approach for bone healing in myeloma patients.

As an important tool for loading, unloading, and distributing palletized goods, forklifts are widely used in different links of industrial production process. However, due to the rapid increase in the types and quantities of goods, item statistics have become a major bottleneck in production. Based on machine vision, the paper proposes a method to count the amount of goods loaded and unloaded within the working time limit to analyze the efficiency of the forklift. The proposed method includes the data preprocessing section and the object detection section. In the data preprocessing section, through operations such as framing and clustering the collected video data and using the improved image hash algorithm to remove similar images, a new dataset of forklift goods was built. In the object detection section, the attention mechanism and the replacement network layer were used to improve the performance of YOLOv5. The experimented results showed that, compared with the original YOLOv5 model, the improved model is lighter in size and faster in detection speed without loss of detection precision, which could also meet the requirements for real-time statistics on the operation efficiency of forklifts.

In this study, 69 lactobacilli isolated from Tibetan Qula, a raw yak milk cheese, were screened for their potential use as probiotics. The isolates were tested in terms of: Their ability to survive at pH 2.0, pH 3.0, and in the presence of 0.3% bile salts; tolerance of simulated gastric and intestinal juices; antimicrobial activity; sensitivity against 11 specific antibiotics; and their cell surface hydrophobicity. The results show that out of the 69 strains, 29 strains (42%) had survival rates above 90% after 2 h of incubation at pH values of 2.0 or 3.0. Of these 29 strains, 21 strains showed a tolerance for 0.3% bile salt. Incubation of these 21 isolates in simulated gastrointestinal fluid for 3 h revealed survival rates above 90%; the survival rate for 20 of these isolates remained above 90% after 4 h of incubation in simulated intestinal fluid. The viable counts of bacteria after incubation in simulated gastric fluid for 3 h and simulated intestinal fluid for 4 h were both significantly different compared with the counts at 0 h (p

Myosin light chain kinase is a key enzyme in smooth muscle cell contraction. However, whether myosin light chain kinase plays a role in the occurrence or development of intracranial aneurysms is not clear. The present study explored the function of myosin light chain kinase in human intracranial aneurysm tissues. Five aneurysm samples and five control samples were collected, and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) were dissociated and cultured. A label-free proteomic analysis was performed to screen the differentially expressed proteins between aneurysm and control samples. The expression and function of myosin light chain kinase in aneurysms were examined. We found that 180 proteins were differentially expressed between the aneurysm and control samples, among which 88 were increased and 92 (including myosin light chain kinase) were decreased in aneurysms compared to control tissues. In a model of the inflammatory environment, contractility was weakened and apoptosis was increased in aneurysm SMCs compared to human brain SMCs (p < 0.05). The knock down of myosin light chain kinase in human brain SMCs caused effects similar to those observed in aneurysm SMCs. These results indicated that myosin light chain kinase plays an important role in maintaining smooth muscle contractility, cell survival and inflammation tolerance.

Millet bran contains an abundance of phytochemicals, among which polyphenols exhibit a wide range of pharmacological and medicinal properties. Polyphenols in millet bran are found in the free as well as bound forms and exist mainly in the bound form. Bound polyphenols in millet bran exhibit higher biological activities, including antioxidant, antitumour, immunomodulation, antifungal and anti-hyperglycaemia effects, while the underlying mechanisms of antitumour effects towards human colorectal cancer HCT-116 cells are not investigated. In this study, bound polyphenols of inner shell (BPIS) were isolated from foxtail millet bran that could inhibit the growth and induce apoptosis in human colorectal cancer HCT-116 cell and in HCT-116-bearing nude mice. Furthermore, the data implicated that the anti-colon cancer effects of BPIS were realized by promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in HCT-116 cell. Mechanistically, its pro-apoptotic activity was mainly attributed to the activation of mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathways and the blockage of NF-κB signalling pathway of the downstream of ROS. The results indicated that millet bran-derived BPIS displayed anti-colon cancer functions though its pro-oxidant activity. It suggests that the millet bran-derived BPIS can act as a natural therapeutic agent against colon cancer.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is one of the most important food crops in Northern China. The millet-derived antioxidant components play important roles in disease prevention. Here, we reported a peroxidase from foxtail millet bran, named FMBP, could display anti-migration effects on human colon cancer cells of DLD1. Notably, it had no effects on the normal colon epithelial cells of FHC. The anti-migration effects of FMBP were mainly realized by virtue of antagonizing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mechanistically, FMBP treatment decreased the phosphorylation of JAK1 and its downstream signaling molecular STAT3, followed by the reduced expression of c-Myc and Snail1, both of them are critical regulators of EMT. Consistently, STAT3 overexpression could partially reverse the migration inhibition caused by FMBP. It demonstrated that FMBP hampered colon cancer cell migration by targeting the STAT3 pathway. Therefore, the millet bran-derived peroxidase may be exploited as a natural therapeutic agent against colon cancer metastasis.

Penicillium capsulatum is a rare Penicillium species used in paper manufacturing, but recently it has been reported to cause invasive infection. To research the pathogenicity of the clinical Penicillium strain, we sequenced the genomes and transcriptome of the clinical and environmental strains of P. capsulatum. Comparative analyses of these two P. capsulatum strains and close related strains belonging to Eurotiales were performed. The assembled genome sizes of P. capsulatum are approximately 34.4 Mbp in length and encode 11,080 predicted genes. The different isolates of P. capsulatum are highly similar, with the exception of several unique genes, INDELs or SNP in the genes coding for glycosyl hydrolases, amino acid transporters and circumsporozoite protein. A phylogenomic analysis was performed based on the whole genome data of 38 strains belonging to Eurotiales. By comparing the whole genome sequences and the virulence-related genes from 20 important related species, including fungal pathogens and non-human pathogens belonging to Eurotiales, we found meaningful pathogenicity characteristics between P. capsulatum and its closely related species. Our research indicated that P. capsulatum may be a neglected opportunistic pathogen. This study is beneficial for mycologists, geneticists and epidemiologists to achieve a deeper understanding of the genetic basis of the role of P. capsulatum as a newly reported fungal pathogen.

Abstract Aims Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is frequently detected via echocardiography in individuals with Fabry disease (FD), sometimes leading to confusion with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) of other aetiologies. Considering this diagnosis challenge, FD should be included in the list of differential diagnosis for patients presenting with LVH. To address this concern, we conducted a prospective screening study in China, using dried blood spot (DBS) testing, to evaluate patients with unexplained LVH. Methods Our study was designed as a nationwide, multicentre prospective investigation. A total of 1015 patients from 55 different centres who were diagnosed with LVH by echocardiography were screened in the study from September 2022 to December 2023. Demographic information, biochemistry data, echocardiography parameters and clinical observations were meticulously collected from all participants. The DBS method was used to assess α‐galactosidase A (α‐Gal A) activity in males and both α‐Gal A and globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso‐Gb3) levels in females. Results The final screening population included 906 patients (589 males, 65%) with LVH, characterized by a mean maximal myocardial thickness of 14.8 ± 4.6 mm and an average age of 56.9 ± 17.2 years. In total, 43 patients (38 males, 5 females) exhibited low α‐Gal A activity measurement (1.1 ng/mL). Among these patients, eight individuals (7 males and 1 female) were genetically confirmed to harbour pathogenic GLA mutations, resulting in a total prevalence of 0.88%. Compared with patients without FD, patients with FD tended to have proteinuria (75% vs. 21.2%, P = 0.001), family history of HCM (37.5% vs. 2.3%, P T) and c.547+3A>G, were deemed potentially pathogenic. Subsequent familial validation post‐diagnosis identified an additional 14 confirmed cases. Conclusions This pioneering screening study for FD among Chinese patients with unexplained LVH using DBS measurement, revealed an FD detection rate of 0.88%. Our findings confirmed that the combined measurement of lyso‐Gb3 and α‐Gal A activity is beneficial for primary screening of FD in patients with LVH. Given the availability of efficacious therapies and the value of cascade screening in extended families, early detection of FD in LVH patients is clinically important.

Abstract Aims Limited literature shows the existence of sex differences in the long‐term prognosis of heart failure (HF) patients with frailty. In this study, whether sex differences exist in the impact of frailty on death from cardiovascular causes in patients with HF was investigated by conducting a retrospective cohort study. Methods and results Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study (2009–2018) were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study of 958 participants with HF. Patients were grouped based on sex and frailty index (FI). The relationship between death from cardiovascular causes and baseline frailty was assessed by Cox proportional hazard analysis and the Kaplan–Meier (K‐M) plot. The study population had an age of 67.3 ± 12.3. Among them, around 54.5% were male. A median follow‐up of 3.6 years was performed. After that, females who died from cardiovascular causes exhibited higher baseline FI values, while males did not show this trend (P

The composite charge structure may have the potential to enhance the overall damage capability of the weapon. In this regard, three-dimensional LS-DYNA simulation software (dynamics calculation software from LSTC) was used to simulate the explosion process of charges in a partially confined space. The effects of different aluminized charge structures on the propagation and parameters of blast waves in a cubic cabin structure with a pressure relief port were obtained. The results showed that the reflected waves generated local pressure convergence at the junction and corner areas of adjacent walls in the cabin structure. The numbers of significant reflections of the blast waves at the center and corners of the wall were 3 and 2, respectively. The overpressure of the reflected wave at the corner was more than 3.2 times that at the center of the sidewall. Moreover, the number of reflections, overpressure ratio, and charge structure were not directly related. The advantages of composite structure charges in enhancing the overpressure and wave velocity of incident waves and the overpressure and impulse of reflected waves were not significant. However, the internal and external composite charge structure had more advantages than did the upper and lower structures, and its impulse TNT equivalent reached more than 70% of that of a single-structure explosive. The results can provide theoretical support and technical guidance for the design of charge structures and cabin structures.

Beta diversity has emerged as a crucial factor in conservation efforts, particularly through the measurement of local contributions to beta diversity (LCBD), which is increasingly recognized for their value in conservation planning. This study investigated the distribution, interrelationships, and determinants of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic LCBD from 147 sampling sites in the Thousand Islands Lake catchment in China, and explored the taxa that contribute most to beta diversity (SCBD) in the region. By adopting distance-based methods, we applied a framework combining biotic and abiotic uniqueness (local contributions to environmental heterogeneity, LCEH) based on macroinvertebrate and environmental data to enhance ecological conservation and restoration strategies within the region. Our findings indicate: (1) significant correlations between biotic uniqueness and insignificant correlations between biotic and abiotic uniqueness emphasize the importance of simultaneously considering abiotic and biotic uniqueness; (2) key physicochemical factors such as pH, nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio (NPR), and stream width significantly influence LCBD; (3) a significant negative correlation between biotic uniqueness and species richness, suggesting that areas of high uniqueness may require more targeted restoration efforts; (4) protecting approximately 35–50% of the sampling sites preserves about 60% of the area’s ecological uniqueness. This integrative approach promises to guide future conservation and restoration initiatives effectively by combining biological community data with stable environmental characteristics. Continued research is essential to further explore the interplay between environmental factors and LCBD, and to integrate this approach with metacommunity theory across diverse ecological and geographical contexts.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) is the key technology for climate change mitigation. The sustainability of LIB supply chain has caused widespread concern since the material utilization efficiency of LIB supply chain has not been well investigated. This study aims to fill this research gap by conducting a dynamic material flow analysis of lithium in China from 2015 to 2021. Results indicate that within the temporal boundary, lithium flow and in-use stock grew significantly in China due to the rapid development of the EV market, with lithium flow in domestic production of basic chemicals increasing by 614% to 100 kt, end-use consumption increasing by 160% to 35 kt, and in-use stock increasing by 62% to 195 kt. China has been a net importer of lithium, of which cumulative imports and exports were 343 kt and 169 kt, respectively. In addition, 103 kt of lithium was converted to inventories or was lost during the processing from 2015 to 2021. By optimizing inventory and processing, developing substitutes for lithium for non-battery applications, and improving lithium recycling, China's net import dependency of lithium could be reduced from 27%-86% to 0%-16%. Our study demonstrates that it is urgent to improve material utilization efficiency so that the lithium resource supply can be secured.

Abstract Understanding the processes and mechanisms that shape the distribution patterns and variations of biodiversity along spatial gradients continues to be a priority for ecological research. We focused on the biodiversity of benthic diatom communities within a large near‐natural watershed. The objectives are: (1) to explore the overall spatial patterns of benthic diatom biodiversity; (2) to investigate the effects associated with watercourse position and environmental variables, as well as both common and rare species on two facets (i.e., taxonomic and functional) of alpha and beta diversity; and (3) to unveil the mechanisms underlying their spatial variations. Alpha diversity indices along the stream watercourse showed a clear increasing trend from upstream to downstream sites. Results of random forest regression identified conductivity as the primary factor influencing functional alpha diversity, while elevation emerged as the predominant factor for taxonomic alpha diversity. Beta diversity partitioning revealed that taxonomic beta diversity generally exceeded functional beta diversity. These diversity measures exhibited different patterns along the watercourse position: taxonomic beta diversity remained relatively consistent along the watercourse, whereas functional total beta diversity and its two components of middle stream sites were lower than those of upstream and downstream sites. Functional beta diversity was sustained by dominant and common species, while rare species made significant contributions to taxonomic beta diversity. Both taxonomic and functional beta diversity and its components displayed a stronger influence from spatial factors than from local environmental, geo‐climatic, and nutrient variables. Collectively, taxonomic and functional alpha and beta diversity demonstrated distinct responses to the main environmental gradients and spatial factors within our catchment, highlighting their different insights into diatom diversity. Furthermore, research is required to assess the generalizability of our findings to similar ecosystems. In addition, this study presents opportunities for expansion to include other taxa (e.g., macroinvertebrates and fish) to gain a comprehensive understanding of the driving mechanisms behind stream biodiversity.

Insight into the non-random distribution patterns of species in different regions is a foundational aim of research in community ecology and biogeography. The nestedness pattern, which investigates changes in species composition and abundance, has been widely used in numerous studies. However, studies on the nestedness of benthic diatoms are extremely rare, and consequently little has been mentioned of their assemblage mechanisms. To fill this gap, based on 168 benthic diatom species from 147 sampling sites in the Thousand Island Lake (TIL) catchment, we calculated their nestedness and niche width with the aim of i) analyzing the nestedness of benthic diatoms communities with different attachment abilities in TIL; ii) calculating niche width differences between nested and idiosyncratic species with different attachment abilities; iii) investigating the differences in alpha and beta diversity between nested and idiosyncratic sites; iv) examining whether environmental variables influencing the nestedness of benthic diatom communities are dependent on attachment ability. The results demonstrated a significant nestedness pattern in the benthic diatom metacommunity, and the sampling sites of low attachment species not only exhibited a nestedness pattern, but also with a lower nestedness value compared to the sampling sites of all species. Nested and idiosyncratic species differed in niche width, whereas differences between nested and idiosyncratic species of low attachment species were smaller. Additionally, significant differences in alpha and beta diversity were observed between nested and idiosyncratic sites. Furthermore, it was revealed that the nestedness of benthic diatom metacommunity in our study area were mostly influenced by local environmental variables. Our study contributes to the understanding of the significant nestedness observed in benthic diatom metacommunity in TIL, highlighting its relevance to biodiversity conservation efforts.

The vehicle-road collaborative intelligence approach has become an industry consensus. It can efficiently tackle the technical hurdles and reduce the performance requirements and costs of on-board perception and computing devices. There is a need for in-depth quantitative studies to optimize the allocation of vehicle-road intelligent capabilities for collaborative intelligence. However, current research tends to focus more on qualitative analysis, and there is little research on the redistribution of vehicle and roadside intelligent capabilities. In this paper, we present a model for distributing perception and computing capabilities between vehicle-side and roadside, ensuring to meet the needs of various autonomous driving levels. Meanwhile, the collaborative intelligence approach will also introduce the costs of intelligent infrastructure deployment, energy, and maintenance. Different roads have varying scene characteristics and usage intensities. It is necessary to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of the intelligent deployment of different road types. A vehicle-road cost allocation model is developed based on the lifecycle traveled distance of vehicles and the lifecycle traffic flow of various roads to evaluate the function-cost effectiveness. Our study presents several vehicle-road intelligent schemes that meet the needs of various autonomous driving levels and selects Beijing for case analysis. The results indicate that primary intelligent infrastructure can reduce the lifecycle cost of the vehicle-side intelligent scheme for intermediate autonomous driving from ¥65,301 to ¥37,703, and advanced intelligent infrastructure can reduce the lifecycle cost for advanced autonomous driving from ¥126,938 to ¥42,180. Considering the distributed cost of vehicle-side and roadside, urban roads in Beijing have higher function-cost effectiveness compared to highways, especially urban expressways, which are expected to generate 43.3 times the vehicle-function-cost benefits after the advanced intelligent upgrades. The corresponding research findings can serve as a reference for city managers to make decisions on intelligent road deployment.

Abstract The metacommunity theory proposes that community structure and biodiversity are influenced by both local processes (such as environmental filtering) and regional processes (such as dispersal). Despite the extensive use of traditional bioassessments based on species‐environment relationships, the impact of dispersal processes on these assessments has been largely overlooked. This study aims to compare correlations between various bioassessment indices, including Shannon Weiner (H′), Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP), average score per taxon (ASPT), biotic index (BI), and EPT taxa index (EPT), based on macroinvertebrates collected from 147 sampling sites in a subtropical Chinese near‐natural catchment. Modified indices were calculated by removing species strongly influenced by dispersal processes to address the influence of dispersal processes. Their relationship with environmental factors was then compared to the original indices. The study employed random forest regression (RFR) to compare the explanatory power of environmental factors using the two sets of indices. The spearman rank correlation analysis was conducted to examine the correlation between indices and environmental factors. The river health assessment was performed based on both modified and original indices. The results reveal significant differences between original and modified indices (especially H′ and BI) providing a more accurate reflection of environmental conditions. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the different indices to various environmental factors varied, leading to differences in the bioassessment results between the modified and the original indices. Notably, original H′, BMWP, and ASPT overestimated the bioassessment results, whereas the original BI underestimated them. These findings offer valuable insights into bioassessment and river health assessment evaluation within the catchment and other interconnected freshwater ecosystems, such as lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands. Our study underscores the importance of assessing and mitigating the impact of dispersal processes on bioassessment to obtain a more precise representation of the status of freshwater ecosystems.

The development of the vehicle-road cooperative intelligence can effectively resolve the current technical impediment and cost quandary associated with high-level autonomous driving. Nevertheless, the intelligent infrastructure entails initial deployment costs and ongoing energy consumption and maintenance costs, necessitating a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the costs of intelligent infrastructure and the corresponding changes in comprehensive costs. The cost evaluation model for the cooperative intelligent system is designed in this paper, considering the corresponding intelligent infrastructure layout scheme for different road types within the technical framework. The intelligent configuration and corresponding cost transfer from roadside to vehicle side under the synergy effect is also analyzed. Using Beijing as a case study, the results indicate that the deployment of intelligent infrastructure will effectively reduce acquisition and usage costs of high-level intelligent vehicles and achieve a greater “reuse” effect by serving more intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs). Compared to the vehicle intelligence, collaborative intelligence will reduce cumulative total costs by more than ¥200 billion from 2023 to 2050, even with the inclusion of intelligent infrastructure’s costs.

A more profound comprehension of various facets of biodiversity is essential for advancing sustainable governance of biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services. In this study, we delved into the composition of beta diversity within macroinvertebrates communities in the Thousand Islands Lake catchment area. Subsequently, we investigated the factors influencing the diverse facets of macroinvertebrates alpha and beta diversity, and ultimately employed structural equation modeling to analyze the pathways through which both regional environmental factors, like climate and land use, and local environmental variables collectively impact distinct facets of alpha and beta diversity within the ecosystem. Our results showed that (i) taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversities were primarily determined by turnover, while functional beta diversity is predominantly determined by nestedness; (ii) alpha and beta diversity are primarily influenced by spatial variables, with local environment and climate ranking the second, and land use explaining the lowest proportion according to the results of variance partitioning; (iii) alpha diversity is mainly affected by regional variables, especially climatic factors (precipitation) while beta diversity is more affected by local variables, especially hydrological factors (depth) revealed by the structural equation modeling. These results offer compelling evidence that biodiversity composition, ecological drivers, and the specific pathways of influence vary across different scales. Future studies of macroinvertebrates could focus on different facets of alpha and beta diversity as well as consider the effects of environment variables at different scales, which would provide new insights into potential patterns of community associations.

ObjectiveThe study aimed to explore the changes in the electrical power spectrum of the brain and its correlation with neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with cognitively impaired cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and to explore its clinical application.MethodsA total of 61 patients with CSVD who attended the People’s Hospital of Shaanxi Province from September 2021 to September 2022 were divided into the group with cognitive impairment (cerebral small vascular with cognitive impairment, CSVCI group, n = 29) and the group without cognitive impairment (CSVD group, n = 32) based on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) score, while 20 healthy subjects were recruited as the control group (healthy control, HC group). EEG was performed in the three groups, and the difference in whole brain quantitative EEG power spectral density (PSD) was calculated and compared between the three groups.ResultsThe PSD values in the δ and θ bands of the CSVCI group were higher than those of the CSVD group, while the PSD values in the α band were lower than those of the CSVD and HC groups. In addition, PSD values in the δ-band in the CSVD group were lower than those in the HC group (all p

Abstract Aims The study aims to explore the real‐world titration patterns of sacubitril/valsartan in a chronic heart failure (HF) follow‐up management system and the effect on the recovery of ventricular remodelling and cardiac function in China. Methods and results This is a single‐centre, observational study of 153 adult outpatients with HF and reduced ejection fraction who were managed in the chronic HF follow‐up management system and prescribed with sacubitril/valsartan from August 2017 to August 2021 in China. All patients tried to titrated sacubitril/valsartan to the tolerant dose during follow‐up. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who reached and maintained the target dose of sacubitril/valsartan. The main secondary outcomes were the changes in left atrium diameter, left ventricular end‐diastolic diameter (LVEDD), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) from baseline to 12 months. Among the patients, 69.3% were male, with a median age of 49 years. The baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 117.6 ± 18.3 mmHg before starting the treatment of sacubitril/valsartan. Benefiting from the management system, 117 (76.5%) patients achieved the target dose of sacubitril/valsartan, and the median time to reach the target dose was 3 (IQR 1–5) months. Advanced age and lower SBP may be predictors of failure to reach the target dose. Compared with baseline, standard treatment resulted in a pronounced improvement in left ventricular geometry and cardiac function. The patients showed a significant increase in LVEF [28 (IQR 21–34) % vs. 42 (IQR 37.0–54.3) %, P 40%, and 81.1% experienced an increase in LVEF of ≥10%. After 12 month follow‐up, the proportion of patients with New York Heart Association classification I or II increased from 41.8% to 96.4%. Additionally, there was a significant improvement in N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide (P

Abstract Aims Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are more vulnerable to intracardiac thrombus than other types of cardiomyopathies, although explicit anticoagulant strategy is not sure. Too aggressive anticoagulation therapy can lead to severe bleeding events. Hence, we want to construct a risk stratification model for intracardiac thrombus in PPCM patients. Methods and results A total of 159 suspected PPCM cases were initially screened, whereas 123 confirmed cases were enrolled in the final analysis. The study population was randomly assigned as derivation group (N = 83) and validation group (N = 40). The derivation cohort was utilized to develop the model, and the validation cohort was used to internal validate the discriminatory ability of the model. Formation of intracardiac thrombus was detected in 22 patients. After adjusted by multivariable logistic regression analysis, left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF, OR 0.772, 95% CI 0.665–0.897, P = 0.001), haemoglobin levels (OR 1.050, 95% CI 1.003–1.099, P = 0.038), and thrombocyte counts (OR 1.018, 95% CI 1.006–1.029, P = 0.003) were identified as risk factors independently associated with intracardiac thrombus and were finally included in the tentative risk stratification model with a C‐indexes of 0.916 (95% CI: 0.850–0.982, P

Abstract This study aimed to develop and validate a novel nomogram risk assessment model to predict the possibility of type II endoleak (T2EL)-related re-intervention. The data of 455 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms who underwent elective endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) procedures between January 2018 and December 2021 at our single center were retrospectively reviewed. Following the implementation of exclusion criteria, 283 patients were finally included and divided into T2EL-related re-intervention (n = 42) and non-T2EL (n = 241) groups. The overall T2EL-related re-intervention rate for 283 patients was 14.8% (42/283). Using multivariate analysis, significant risk factors for re-intervention included age (OR, 1.172; 95% CI, 1.051–1.307; P = 0.004), smoking (OR, 13.418; 95% CI, 2.362–76.215; P = 0.003), diameter of inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) (OR, 21.380; 95% CI, 3.060–149.390; P = 0.002), and number of patent lumbar arteries (OR, 9.736; 95% CI, 3.175–29.857; P 2.77 mm for the diameter of the inferior mesenteric artery and a proportion of

Abstract Aims There is limited evidence for the correlation between short‐term mortality and red cell distribution width (RDW) in critical patients with heart failure. Herein, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to investigate whether RDW was independently associated with short‐term mortality in critically ill patients with heart failure. Methods and results As a retrospective cohort study, it involved a total of 9465 patients with heart failure from the MIMIC‐IV database. The target‐dependent and independent variables were in‐hospital mortality, 90 day mortality and RDW measured at baseline, respectively. The relationship between all‐cause death and baseline RDW in hospital and after 90 days of admission to ICU was evaluated by using the Kaplan–Meier plot and Cox proportional hazard analysis. The average age of participants was 74.4 (64.2, 83.5) years old, among whom about 54.6% were male. Results of the adjusted Cox proportional hazard model revealed that RDW had a positive association with both in‐hospital and 90 day mortality risk after the adjustment of confounders (HR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04–1.15, P

The metacommunity concept has been widely used to explain the biodiversity patterns at various scales. It considers the influences of both local (e.g., environmental filtering and biotic interactions) and regional processes (e.g., dispersal limitation) in shaping community structures. Compared to environmental filtering and spatial processes, the influence of biotic interactions on biodiversity patterns in streams has received limited attention. We investigated the relative importance of three ecological processes, namely environmental filtering (including local environmental and geo-climatic factors), spatial processes and biotic interactions (represented by interactions of macroinvertebrates and diatom), in shaping different traits of macroinvertebrate communities in subtropical streams, Eastern China. We applied variance partitioning to uncover the pure and shared effects of different ecological processes in explaining community variation. The results showed that environmental filtering, spatial processes, and biotic interactions jointly determined taxonomic and trait compositions of stream macroinvertebrates. Spatial processes showed a stronger influence in shaping stream macroinvertebrate communities than environmental filtering. The contribution of biotic interactions to explain variables was, albeit significant, rather small, which was likely a result of insufficient representation (by diatom traits) of trophic interactions associated with macroinvertebrates. Moreover, the impact of three ecological processes on macroinvertebrate communities depends on different traits, especially in terms of environmental filtering and spatial processes. For example, spatial processes and environmental filtering have the strongest effect on strong dispersal ability groups; spatial processes have a greater effect on scrapers than other functional feeding groups. Overall, our results showed that the integration of metacommunity theory and functional traits provides a valuable framework for understanding the drivers of community structuring in streams, which will facilitate the development of effective bioassessment and management strategies.

Summary: Some automotive companies develop battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with an ultra-long range to address consumers’ range anxiety. However, ultra-long-range BEVs have many problems, and whether they can truly solve consumers’ range anxiety has not been studied. Thus, we build a technology-rich, bottom-up approach model to evaluate BEVs’ performance, economy, and total cost of ownership (TCO) to reveal the necessity of developing ultra-long-range BEVs. The results show that the ultra-long-range BEVs’ dynamic, safety, and economy performances are poor compared to short-range BEVs. Based on the TCO analysis considering battery replacement and alternative transportation costs, 400 km is the optimal range of BEVs for consumers. In addition, consumers’ range anxiety is essentially anxiety about energy replenishment. Ultra-long-range BEV cannot really solve consumers’ range anxiety except by reducing charging frequency. In the case of gradually improving the charging and swapping infrastructure, we believe that automotive companies do not need to develop ultra-long-range BEVs.

Summary: The autonomous vehicle is profoundly changing the future of transportation safety. The reduction in collisions with different injury degrees and the savings of crash-related economic costs if nine autonomous vehicle technologies were promoted to be wildly available in China are evaluated. The quantitative analysis was divided into three main parts: (1) Calculate the technical effectiveness of nine autonomous vehicle technologies in collisions through a systematic literature review; (2) Apply the technical effectiveness to estimate the potential effects on avoiding collisions and saving crash-related economic costs in China if all vehicles had these technologies; and (3) Quantify the influence of current technical limitations in speed applicability, weather applicability, light applicability, and active rate on potential effects. Definitely, these technologies have different safety benefits in different countries. The framework developed and technical effectiveness calculated in this study can be applied to evaluate the safety impact of these technologies in other countries.

Evaluating the economic benefits of traffic optimization from connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and relevant traffic organization methods is significant, which will help to put forward suggestions for policymakers to promote the application of CAVs. The impacts and related benefits from CAVs with level 2 automation (L2 CAVs) on traffic efficiency and energy consumption of expressways are analyzed in this paper. Average travel time and actual road capacity are on behalf of traffic efficiency while average electric energy consumption is used to compute traffic energy consumption. The corresponding traffic economic benefits consist of travel-time-saving benefits, road construction benefits, and energy-saving benefits. A benefit evaluation framework is newly proposed and microscopic traffic simulation software is applied as the experiment platform. Different market penetration rates of L2 CAVs and various traffic flow statuses are considered. Besides, dedicated lanes for CAVs are also involved in this research, which are regarded as a traffic organization method expected to promote the realization of CAV’s traffic benefits. It is found that L2 CAVs can save the average travel time and reduce average energy consumption for a single vehicle in most scenes. However, negative impacts on energy consumption are observed in several scenes due to the increase of actual road capacity. Positive economic benefits are obtained as soon as the traffic flow rate is out of saturation, which become increasingly higher as CAV’s market penetration rate turns larger. Additionally, amplification in traffic economic benefits appears only if CAV lanes are provided under proper conditions.

A large number of epidemiological studies have confirmed that arteriosclerosis (AS) is a risk factor for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). However, the relationship between AS and AAA remains controversial. The objective of this work is to better understand the association between the two diseases by identifying the co-differentially expressed genes under both pathological conditions, so as to identify potential genetic biomarkers and treatment targets for atherosclerosis-related aneurysms. Differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) shared by both AS and AAA patients were identified by bioinformatics analyses of Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets GSE100927 and GSE7084. These DEGs were then subjected to bioinformatic analyses of protein-protein interaction (PPI), Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Finally, the identified hub genes were further validated by qRT-PCR in AS (n = 4), AAA (n = 4), and healthy (n = 4) individuals. Differential expression analysis revealed a total of 169 and 37 genes that had increased and decreased expression levels, respectively, in both AS and AAA patients compared with healthy controls. The construction of a PPI network and key modules resulted in the identification of five hub genes (SPI1, TYROBP, TLR2, FCER1G, and MMP9) as candidate diagnostic biomarkers and treatment targets for patients with AS-related AAA. AS and AAA are indeed correlated; SPI1, TYROBP, TLR2, FCER1G and MMP9 genes are potential new genetic biomarkers for AS-related AAA.

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are important catalytic materials for producing emission after-treatment devices in internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) and fuel cells in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). There are high resource and technical barriers along the supply chain of PGM catalysts, for which assessing the associated supply risks is essential to understand the potential challenges. This study maps the supply chains of PGM catalysts used in ICEVs and FCVs for the period of 2010–2020, and compares the associated supply risks. The results show that significant supply risks can be identified in both the upstream and downstream stages of PGM catalyst supply chains for ICEV and FCV uses. Specifically, the ICEV-related PGM catalyst supply chain maintained high levels of supply risks with slight decline over the assessed period. With recycling considered, supply risks in the refining stage can be reduced by over 30%. Supply risks embodied in the FCV-related PGM catalyst supply chain were relatively higher, with significant fluctuations during the period 2015–2020. Relevant suggestions are propounded aiming to mitigate supply risks of PGM catalysts used in ICEVs and FCVs.

Developing electric vehicle (EV) energy storage technology is a strategic position from which the automotive industry can achieve low-carbon growth, thereby promoting the green transformation of the energy industry in China. This paper will reveal the opportunities, challenges, and strategies in relation to developing EV energy storage. First, this paper clarifies the strategic value and potential of developing EV energy storage under the carbon neutrality goal. Second, this paper demonstrates strategic opportunities and challenges during the development. Third, this paper proposes methods for creating a good market environment and business models. Finally, this paper suggests that relevant policies and regulations should be formulated and charts the course of technology development. The results show that EV energy storage technology has potential in terms of technology, the scale of development, and the user economy. The proposal of the carbon neutrality goal, the increasing market share of EVs, lower-cost and higher-efficiency batteries, etc., have all further accelerated the development of EV energy storage. The EV energy storage field should focus on developing battery technology, make advancements toward delivering longer cycle lives and improving the safety and availability of battery materials, and ramp up the R&D efforts with respect to developing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) management technologies. Simultaneously, it is necessary to create a business ecosystem centered on V2G operating platforms, constituting a process to which various players can contribute and achieve mutually beneficial results. It is also essential to formulate top-level strategic plans across industries and organizations, develop an electricity-trading mechanism as soon as possible, and promote the implementation of technical standards related to EV energy storage.

Temporal knowledge graphs (KGs) have recently attracted increasing attention. The temporal KG forecasting task, which plays a crucial role in such applications as event prediction, predicts future links based on historical facts. However, current studies pay scant attention to the following two aspects. First, the interpretability of current models is manifested in providing reasoning paths, which is an essential property of path-based models. However, the comparison of reasoning paths in these models is operated in a black-box fashion. Moreover, contemporary models utilize separate networks to evaluate paths at different hops. Although the network for each hop has the same architecture, each network achieves different parameters for better performance. Different parameters cause identical semantics to have different scores, so models cannot measure identical semantics at different hops equally. Inspired by the observation that reasoning based on multi-hop paths is akin to answering questions step by step, this paper designs an Interpretable Multi-Hop Reasoning (IMR) framework based on consistent basic models for temporal KG forecasting. IMR transforms reasoning based on path searching into stepwise question answering. In addition, IMR develops three indicators according to the characteristics of temporal KGs and reasoning paths: the question matching degree, answer completion level, and path confidence. IMR can uniformly integrate paths of different hops according to the same criteria; IMR can provide the reasoning paths similarly to other interpretable models and further explain the basis for path comparison. We instantiate the framework based on common embedding models such as TransE, RotatE, and ComplEx. While being more explainable, these instantiated models achieve state-of-the-art performance against previous models on four baseline datasets.

An ideal pole number combination of motor and suspension windings is essential for bearingless motors. In this study, the performance of a high-speed, high-power buried permanent magnet bearingless motor using several pole combinations is compared. The torque, power factor, efficiency, suspension force amplitude and fluctuation, and eddy current loss are compared for a 37000 r/min bearingless motor with an output of 60 kW. The basic experimental results of the test bearingless motor with the optimum pole number combination are presented. The test machine has an output of 61.9 kW with an efficiency of 94.9% at a speed of 37000 r/min and a static radial force of 530 N. The radial force and torque density are as high as 1.01 kgf/cm2 and 64 Nm/L, respectively. The output of 61.9 kW is the highest experimentally obtained for bearingless motors.

Summary: The on-going COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns cast significant impacts on global economy in the short run. Their impact on stability of global electric vehicles (EVs) supply chain and thus our climate ambition in the long run, however, remains hitherto largely unexplored. We aim to address this gap based on an integrated model framework, including assessing supply risks of 17 selected core commodities throughout the EV supply chain and further applying the supply constraints to project future EV sales until 2030. Our model results under three pandemic development scenarios indicate that if the pandemic is effectively contained before 2024, the global EV industry will recover without fundamentally scathed and thus can maintain the same growth trend as in the no-pandemic scenario by 2030. We suggest that fiscal stimulus in the postpandemic era should be directed more toward upgrading the quality of battery products, rather than expanding the production capacity.

China has already committed to peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 (referred to as the 30·60 Target), which has brought both daunting challenges and great opportunities to the automobile industry in China. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive and in-depth studies on the challenges, paths, and strategies for reducing carbon emissions to fulfill the 30·60 Target in automobile industries. Therefore, this paper proposes low-carbon development strategies for China’s automobile industry. This study’s method is to integrate the results from different literature to summarize the status, challenges, opportunities, and refine the coping strategies for carbon emission of the automobile industry. The results indicated that the paths for achieving the 30·60 Target include joint carbon emission reduction by upstream and downstream enterprises inside the industry. It also needs cross-industry and cross-sector coordinated decarbonization outside the industry. Meanwhile, the low-carbon policy and regulation system should be established to provide a direct driving force and fundamental guarantee for the low-carbon development of China’s automobile industry.

Intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) have become the focus and development direction of the automobile industry. As a flexible intelligent terminal, ICVs will become a necessary part of the intelligent transportation system. The routes of developing ICVs based on “vehicle to X” (V2X) can effectively alleviate the demands of vehicles for intelligent functions and cut related research costs, accelerating commercialization of ICVs and leading to many social benefits. At present, China has made it clear to develop ICVs based on V2X, which requires simultaneous intelligent upgrades of vehicles and transportation infrastructure. Therefore, intelligent upgrades of transportation infrastructure must match the functional requirements of ICVs. In addition, the investment in intelligent upgrades of transportation infrastructure is mainly from the government, so the costs must be controlled reasonably to find the most cost-effective upgrade route. In this paper, the types of intelligent transportation infrastructures were determined by sorting out the demands of ICVs for transportation infrastructure, and the deployment methods and upgrade routes of intelligent transportation infrastructures were designed. Then, the cost evaluation model for intelligent upgrade of transportation infrastructures was established, based on which, the cost evaluation of different intelligent upgrade routes of transportation infrastructure was carried out in closed highway and open urban road scenarios to determine the optimal route. Besides, the key elements affecting the cost of transportation infrastructure upgrades were identified, and their impact degrees on transportation infrastructure upgraded were analyzed by scenario analysis. The results show that the intelligent transportation infrastructure for advanced ICVs mainly includes communication base stations, roadside units (RSUs), vision sensors, millimeter-wave radars, laser radars (LiDARs), meteorological sensors, intelligent signal machines, edge computing servers, and cloud computing centers. The route of deploying primary intelligent transportation infrastructure at first and then directly upgrading them to advanced level can well match the functional requirements of ICVs on the basis of lower costs. The costs of RSUs, LIDARS, and edge computing servers as well as data transmission rate of 5G are key elements affecting the costs of intelligent upgrades of transportation infrastructure.