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High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are highly anticipated due to their excellent properties (e.g. high strength, high hardness, excellent wear resistance). However, compared with numerous studies on the design and properties of HEAs, the research on the machinability of HEAs is extremely rare, which limits the application of HEAs. In this work, grinding experiments of (FeCoNi)86Al7Ti7 dual-phase HEA workpieces were carried out, and the results are analysed from general machinability perspective (the effect of machining parameters on grinding force and surface roughness value) to a more in-depth perspective, including grinding induced changes in morphology and microstructure on ground surface and subsurface. With SEM and EBSD information of subsurface, the deformation mechanisms have been studied, including the role of the second phase (Ni2AlTi) in the grinding process, the material removal modes of the different phases and the morphology of the nanoprecipitates in the matrix, based on the completely opposite properties of different phases in HEA. It is noticed that the hard and brittle property of the second phase brings support to the material, reduces the plastic deformation, and also makes its own removal brittle, while the plastic matrix experiences shear deformation in grinding, which makes the nanoprecipitates in it assume different morphologies. These detailed findings could be of help to understand the effect of grinding on material properties so as to improve the machining quality of this material.

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is one of the tumors with the highest mortality rates. It is of the utmost significance to make an accurate prognostic assessment and to tailor one’s treatment to the specific needs of the patient. Multiple lines of evidence point to the possibility that genetic variables and clinicopathological traits are connected to the onset and development of cancer. In the past, a number of studies have revealed that gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor subunit delta (GABRD) plays a role in the advancement of a number of different cancers. However, its function in COAD was rarely reported. In this study, we analyzed TCGA datasets and identified 29 survival-related differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in COAD patients. In particular, GABRD expression was noticeably elevated in COAD specimens. There was a correlation between high GABRD expression and an advanced clinical stage. According to the results of the survival tests, patients whose GABRD expression was high had a lower overall survival time and progression-free survival time than those whose GABRD expression was low. GABRD expression was found to be an independent predictive predictor for overall survival, as determined by multivariate COX regression analysis. Additionally, the predictive nomogram model can accurately predict the fate of individuals with COAD. In addition, we observed that GABRD expressions were positively associated with the expression of T cells regulatory (Tregs), macrophages M0, while negatively associated with the expression of T cells CD8, T cells follicular helper, macrophages M1, dendritic cells activated, eosinophils, and T cells CD4 memory activated. The IC50 of BI-2536, bleomycin, embelin, FR-180204, GW843682X, LY317615, NSC-207895, rTRAIL, and VX-11e was higher in the GABRD high-expression group. In conclusion, we have shown evidence that GABRD is a novel biomarker that is connected with immune cell infiltration in COAD and may be utilized to predict the prognosis of COAD patients.

Understanding the history of microcystins (MCs) pollution in large lakes can help inform future lake management. We collected sediment cores from Lake Taihu to: investigate the long-term record of MCs (MC-LR, MC-YR, and MC-RR), explore the main environmental drivers of MCs, and assess their public health and ecological risks. Results showed that MCs content in all cores increased over time. The core from north Taihu had the highest MC concentrations, with an average total MCs (sum of MC-LR, MC-YR, and MC-RR = TMCs) content of (74.31±328.55) ng/g. The core from eastern Taihu showed the lowest average TMCs content of (2.91±3.95) ng/g. PCA showed that sediment MCs at the three sites were positively correlated with sediment chlorophyll-a. MC-LR and MC-YR in northern and western Taihu negatively correlated with both the sediment total organic carbon/sediment total nitrogen ratio (STOC/STN) and water nitrate (NO

Topology impacts important network performance metrics, including link utilization, throughput and latency, and is of central importance to network operators. However, due to the combinatorial nature of network topology, it is extremely difficult to obtain an optimal solution, especially since topology planning in networks also often comes with management-specific constraints. As a result, local optimization with hand-tuned heuristic methods from human experts are often adopted in practice. Yet, heuristic methods cannot cover the global topology design space while taking into account constraints, and cannot guarantee to find good solutions. In this paper, we propose a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm, called Advantage Actor Critic-Graph Searching (A2C-GS), for network topology optimization. A2C-GS consists of three novel components, including a verifier to validate the correctness of a generated network topology, a graph neural network (GNN) to efficiently approximate topology rating, and a DRL actor layer to conduct a topology search. A2C-GS can efficiently search over large topology space and output topology with satisfying performance. We conduct a case study based on a real network scenario, and our experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of A2C-GS in terms of both efficiency and performance.

Purpose: Consistent hearing device use in young children with hearing loss is challenging for families. A hearing aid accessory, called a pilot cap, is often recommended to families to help mitigate the issues around device retention. Although pilot caps are commonly suggested to families, there is sparse data available about how acoustically transparent they are when used with a hearing aid. The purpose of this study was to measure the acoustic transparency when a hearing aid functions under a pilot cap accessory. Method: The Verifit 2 Hearing Aid Analyzer and the Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) were used to measure acoustic transparency related to access of aided speech. Measurements involved four hearing aids that are commonly fit on pediatric patients and four different commercially available pilot caps. SII data were collected at two intensity levels for four simulated sensorineural hearing losses (SNHLs). Response differences between acoustic measurements with a hearing aid plus a pilot cap compared with the hearing aid alone (control) were collected. Results: A total of 80 SII measurements were made. There were 16 SII measurements of the hearing aid alone (control conditions) and 64 SII measurements with combinations of the hearing aids and pilot caps selected for this study. For each hearing aid, there was no significant difference between the SII measurements collected for the hearing aid alone and the hearing aid plus a pilot cap. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the different pilot caps used with each hearing aid tested. Conclusions: Pilot cap use with the four types of hearing aids in this study results in no significant differences in acoustic transparency compared with the control condition. The data in this study support the use of the pilot caps for hearing device retention in children with hearing loss. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.22647217

Studying the anisotropy of seismic wave velocity can provide a theoretical basis for understanding the characteristics of seismic wave propagation in anisotropic media, such as forward modeling of seismic wavefield and simultaneous inversion of anisotropic parameters. It is an important work to calculate the group velocities of three kinds of seismic waves (qP, qS1, and qS2) and the analytical expressions of the partial derivatives of the group velocities with respect to 21 elastic parameters in general anisotropic media. Therefore, a new relationship between the phase and group velocity in general anisotropic medium is introduced first, and then the analytical expressions of the group velocity of three kinds of waves are deduced. Then the analytical formulas of partial derivatives of group (or phase) velocity with respect to 21 elastic parameters are derived. Finally, the distribution of partial derivatives of group slowness with respect to 21 elastic parameters with varied ray angles is analyzed and discussed. The final analytical expressions of group velocity and its partial derivatives are relatively concise and can deal with the singular points and multivalued problems of qS waves. By comparing with the numerical solution of the eigenvector method, the accuracy of the analytical formula of group velocity and its partial derivatives with respect to elastic parameters are verified. The numerical simulation results show that the algorithm can accurately obtain the partial derivatives of group slowness with respect to 21 elastic parameters, and would provide a theoretical basis for seismic ray tracing and traveltime inversion in general anisotropic media.

Background In this study we explored whether one pleural catheter plus single chest tube drainage could achieve a noninferior drainage effect when compared with the traditional two chest tubes in uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for an upper pulmonary lobectomy. Methods Patients that underwent an upper pulmonary lobectomy from January to November 2020 were enrolled in this single-center, randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial. Prior to closure, patients were randomized to an intervention group who received an improved drainage strategy involving one pleural catheter with one chest tube (24 Fr), while traditional double chest tube drainage was applied for the control group. Results A total of 390 patients entered the study, although 190 were excluded for changing nonuniportal surgical approaches or opting for nonlobectomy resections. Finally, 200 patients were randomized (100 in the intervention group and 100 in the control group). The baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable between the groups. The incidence of pneumothorax in the intervention and control groups was similar on postoperative Day 1 (noninferiority, 10% vs. 13%, p = 0.658). In addition, there were no significant differences in secondary outcomes such as incidence of pneumothorax by Day 30, postoperative chest tube/pleural catheter removal time, amount of drainage on Day 1, total amount of drainage after operation, or postoperative hospitalization. A significantly lower pain score was observed in the intervention group (3.33 ± 0.68 vs. 3.68 ± 0.94, p = 0.003). Conclusions The new strategy is noninferior to double chest tube drainage after an upper pulmonary lobectomy offers superior pain control, and is recommended for an upper lobectomy by uniportal VATS.

In South China Sea, the natural gas hydrates are usually reserved in argillaceous siltstones. These argillaceous siltstones are weakly cemented and incorporated with the solid hydrates. During the drilling process, the natural gas hydrates may decompose unexpectedly, resulting in the wellbore collapse. To improve the stability of the wellbore, this study develops a wellbore strengthener for water-based drilling fluids used in argillaceous siltstones. Tannic acid/polyvinyl (TA/PVA) alcohol has been adopted for preparing the wellbore stabilizer. A series of experiments have been conducted to investigate the effects of newly developed wellbore strengthener on the mechanical properties of the argillaceous siltstones as well as its mechanisms on the wellbore stability. The experimental results show that the wellbore strengthener developed in this study can significantly improve the compressive strengths of the argillaceous siltstone cores. The AFM characterizations indicate that the adhesion force between the silica (the major compound in argillaceous siltstones) microspheres and the wellbore strengthener can reach up to 2138 nN. Moreover, the SEM images visually show good cementation of the argillaceous siltstones after being treated by the wellbore strengthener. In addition, the wellbore strengthener can also assist in reducing the fluid losses of water-based drilling fluids. It is hopeful that the wellbore strengthener provided in this study help the development of underwater natural gas hydrates.

BACKGROUND: The Ling sound test cannot provide the test of Chinese tone for preschool children with hearing aid and cochlear implants. OBJECTIVE: The paper tries to design a new tone test method composed of the Ling sound test and four Chinese tones to evaluate the hearing level of Chinese hearing-impaired children. METHODS: The tone identification rates of 20 cochlear implant children were statistically analyzed to verify the validity of the Ling sound test in the Chinese tone version. In addition, this paper analyzed the pronunciation characteristics of the Ling sound test in the Chongqing-accented Mandarin version of 20 subjects. RESULTS: The identification rate of Ling six sounds was more than 97.0%, the identification rate of tone was more than 81.0%, and the identification rate of vowels was 83.1%, which was higher than that of consonants 79.0%. The Ling sound test n the Chongqing-accented Mandarin version has a narrower frequency range. CONCLUSION: The results verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the Ling sound test in the Chinese tone version in the assessment of frequency range and tone identification for cochlear implant users.

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are one of the most abundant DNA lesions and are mainly repaired by AP endonucleases (APEs). While most eukaryotic genomes encode two APEs, plants usually possess three APEs, namely APE1L, APE2, and ARP. To date, the biological relevance and functional divergence of plant APEs are unclear. Here, we show that the three plant APEs have ancient origins, with the APE1L clade being plant-specific. In Arabidopsis thaliana, simultaneously mutating APE1L and APE2, but not ARP alone or in combination with either APE1L or APE2, results in clear developmental defects linked to genotoxic stress. Genetic analyses indicated that the three plant APEs have different substrate preferences in vivo. ARP is mainly responsible for AP site repair, while APE1L and APE2 prefer to repair 3′-blocked single-stranded DNA breaks. We further determined that APEs play an important role in DNA repair and the maintenance of genomic integrity in meiotic cells. The ape1l ape2 double mutant exhibited a greatly enhanced frequency of sporulation 1 (SPO11-1)-dependent and SPO11-1-independent double-stranded DNA breaks. The DNA damage response (DDR) was activated in ape1l ape2 to trigger pollen abortion. Our findings suggest functional divergence of plant APEs and reveal important roles of plant APEs during vegetative and reproductive development.

Extra copies of centrosomes are frequently observed in cancer cells. To survive and proliferate, cancer cells have developed strategies to cluster extra-centrosomes to form bipolar mitotic spindles. The aim of this study was to investigate whether centrosome clustering (CC) inhibition (CCi) would preferentially radiosensitize non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Griseofulvin (GF; FDA-approved treatment) inhibits CC, and combined with radiation treatment (RT), resulted in a significant increase in the number of NSCLC cells with multipolar spindles, and decreased cell viability and colony formation ability in vitro. In vivo, GF treatment was well tolerated by mice, and the combined therapy of GF and radiation treatment resulted in a significant tumor growth delay. Both GF and radiation treatment also induced the generation of micronuclei (MN) in vitro and in vivo and activated cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) in NSCLC cells. A significant increase in downstream cGAS-STING pathway activation was seen after combination treatment in A549 radioresistant cells that was dependent on cGAS. In conclusion, GF increased radiation treatment efficacy in lung cancer preclinical models in vitro and in vivo. This effect may be associated with the generation of MN and the activation of cGAS. These data suggest that the combination therapy of CCi, radiation treatment, and immunotherapy could be a promising strategy to treat NSCLC.