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Garnet oxide is one of the most promising solid electrolytes for solid-state lithium metal batteries. However, the traditional interface modification layers cannot completely block electron migrating from the current collector to the interior of the solid-state electrolyte, which promotes the penetration of lithium dendrites. In this work, a highly electron-blocking interlayer composed of potassium fluoride (KF) is deposited on garnet oxide Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 (LLZTO). After reacting with melted lithium metal, KF in-situ transforms to KF/LiF interlayer, which can block the electron leakage and inhibit lithium dendrite growth. The Li symmetric cells using the interlayer show a long cycle life of ~3000 hours at 0.2 mA cm−2 and over 350 hours at 0.5 mA cm−2 respectively. Moreover, an ionic liquid of LiTFSI in C4mim-TFSI is screened to wet the LLZTO|LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM) positive electrode interfaces. The Li|KF-LLZTO | NCM cells present a specific capacity of 109.3 mAh g−1, long lifespan of 3500 cycles and capacity retention of 72.5% at 25 °C and 2 C (380 mA g−1) with an average coulombic efficiency of 99.99%. This work provides a simple and integrated strategy on high-performance quasi-solid-state lithium metal batteries. Formation of dendrites in solid-state lithium batteries hampers their application. Here, authors deposit a thin film of potassium fluoride on a garnet solid electrolyte that in-situ transforms to a mixed fluoride layer, which blocks electron leakage and inhibits lithium dendrite growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the built heritage studies, the intricate web of social and selective processes that define heritage is evident. These processes are, in many cases, intertwined with the notion of scale, examplified through the production of heritage sites at the local, national, and transnational scales. While heritage and geography scholars have articulated the role played by scale in heritage-making and argue against a rigid, fixed, and hierarchical understanding of scale, they highlight the constant reproduction of scale. There is, so far, limited explanation of how the perception of scale gets reproduced and how crucial actors manipulate scalar power and resources for heritage making and the reproduction of scale. To fill this gap, this paper delves into mainland China's heritage-making, using the southern Anhui historical villages as an example. Based on intensive 5-month field research, this paper has three findings: 1) The nomination process for a World Heritage Site is notably influenced by politics and selectivity; 2) Diverse stakeholders are pivotal in shaping heritage narratives; 3) Individual contributions to heritage creation directly interact with, and subsequently reshape, 'scale', an entity that is simultaneously discursive and tangible. By integrating the notion of 'scale' into heritage discussions, we illuminate two concurrent processes: creating hierarchies through rule assimilation by interpreting the UNESCO standard internally and evolving socio-spatial dynamics via the manifestation of individual agency with resource manipulation, scale jumping, and reproduction of scale. This approach aligns with the material orientation in human geography and repositions 'scale'. Here, it's not just an epistemological framework but also a tangible force that steers individual perceptions and actions and yields measurable material impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the growing demand for high-resolution rainfall data to support disaster prevention in Taiwan, this study presents an innovative approach for downscaling precipitation data. We employed a hierarchical architecture of Multi-Scale Residual Networks (MSRN) to downscale rainfall from a coarse 0.25-degree resolution to a fine 0.0125-degree resolution, representing a substantial challenge due to a resolution increase of over 20 times. Our results demonstrate that the hierarchical MSRN outperforms both the one-step MSRN and linear interpolation methods when reconstructing high-resolution daily rainfall. It surpasses the linear interpolation method by 15.1 and 9.1% in terms of mean absolute error and root mean square error, respectively. Furthermore, the hierarchical MSRN excels in accurately reproducing high-resolution rainfall for various rainfall thresholds, displaying minimal biases. The threat score (TS) highlights the hierarchical MSRN's capability to replicate extreme rainfall events, achieving TS scores exceeding 0.54 and 0.46 at rainfall thresholds of 350 and 500 mm per day, outperforming alternative methods. This method is also applied to an operational global model, the ECMWF's daily rainfall forecasts over Taiwan. The evaluation results indicate that our approach is effective at improving rainfall forecasts for thresholds greater than 100 mm per day, with more significant improvement for the 1- to 3-day lead forecast. This approach also offers a realistic visual representation of fine-grained rainfall distribution, showing promise for making significant contributions to disaster preparedness and weather forecasting in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Increasing people's subjective well-being (SWB) remains a critical challenge for all countries. However, few studies have been dedicated to examining the influence of environmental governance programs on SWB, especially in developing and non-democratic societies. This paper aims to fill this void by taking the Rural Living Environment Improvement (RLEI) program in China—the largest rural living environment governance program in history, as an example to understand the role of environmental governance programs in SWB in the world's biggest developing and non-democratic country. Based on 3747 individual samples from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey database, we found that RLEI can significantly improve rural residents' SWB. This effect remains significant after using the propensity score matching method and the instrumental variable approach to address potential selection bias and endogenous problems. The indirect analysis shows that RLEI can increase rural residents' SWB mainly through improving their income, consumption expenditure, and health. Compared with rural sewage and livestock manure RLEI programs, rural waste RLEI program has a greater enhanced impact on rural residents' SWB. The monetary value of RLEI based on the life satisfaction approach shows that the resulting improvement in rural residents' SWB created by RLEI is almost equivalent to the effect of household income. While the monetary value of rural sewage, livestock manure, and rural waste RLEI program is equivalent to 1.2, 3.67, and 1.1 times the effect of household income. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that RLEI has a greater positive impact on SWB for junior and old-aged, low-educated, Midwestern and Northeastern, and working rural residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Various surgical techniques have been proposed to manage acetabular fractures involving both columns with posterior wall displacement. However, the optimal surgical approach to achieve satisfactory reduction quality remains controversial. Materials and methods: This retrospective study evaluated 34 patients with fractures who were treated at a single medical institution. The patients were divided into two groups according to the ventral/dorsal surgical approach employed: simultaneous (SI) and sequential (SE). Perioperative parameters, as well as radiological and functional outcomes, were analyzed and compared between the two groups. Results: The SI and SE groups comprised 9 and 23 out of the 34 patients, respectively. The SI group exhibited a significantly shorter surgical time and lower estimated blood loss than the SE group (p = 0.04 and 0.03, respectively). The quality of reductions of the anterior and posterior columns was similar between the two groups; however, superior reduction in the fracture gap of the posterior wall was observed in the SI group, as revealed by axial and coronal computed tomography scans. Conclusions: A simultaneous ventral and dorsal approach through the pararectus and the modified Gibson approach confer clinical advantages in reducing the fracture gap, surgical time, and intraoperative blood loss when managing acetabular fractures involving both columns and a displaced posterior wall. Therefore, these surgical approaches may be considered to be optimal for achieving satisfactory reduction quality in such fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melody-conditioned lyrics generation aims to create novel lyrics based on the melodies by learning the relationship between lyrics and melodies, which is an attractive topic in the music field. However, two serious issues, called deficiency of inter-dependency between melody attributes and text degeneration, degrade the quality of the lyrics generation. To solve these issues, this paper proposes a new model called semantic dependency network with two key components: (i) N-gram CNN block is used to compress the information from the single melody attribute and extract the inter-dependency from the multiple melody attributes. (ii) In lyrics, unlikelihood training is exploited to mitigate the syllables mismatching and logic missing and keep the intra-syllable integrity and logic by learning semantic dependency. Extensive evaluation experiments on a large-scale dataset demonstrate that our model can generate higher quality and more harmonic lyrics from the melodies compared with the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Medialization thyroplasty (MT) using various implants has been employed as a corrective procedure for unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). A newly developed APrevent® vocal implant system (VOIS) offers an innovative solution with a finely adjustable design. This study aimed to investigate the long-term functional voice outcomes and benefits of postoperative adjustments in patients receiving MT using the VOIS-implant. Methods: This is a prospective case series study at single tertiary medical center. Fourteen adult patients diagnosed with UVFP received MT with the VOIS implant and were followed up for more than 1 year. Implant adjustment procedure by injecting 0.9% physiological saline solution was performed both during and after the surgery to optimize glottal closure and voice quality. Objective voice outcomes and acoustic parameters were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively at various timepoints. Results: Thirteen patients (93%) received intraoperative balloon adjustment, ranging from 0.05to 0.12 ml. Four patients underwent adjustments postoperatively and exhibited a positive trend towards immediately improving acoustic voice quality. Our long-term results demonstrated a notable improvement after the surgery in voice quality, with significant decreases in VHI-30 and improvements in perceptual parameters of GRBAS scale, acoustic measures such as jitter and signal-to-noise ratio (p < 0.001) and cepstral peak prominence smoothed in sustained vowel and short sentences. The voice outcomes remained stable more than 1 year follow-up. Conclusions: Overall, MT with VOIS implantation provides a favorable long-term outcomes and stability in voice quality for patients with UVFP and also an effective tool for postoperative adjustment without major revision surgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The normalized subband adaptive filtering algorithm provides fast convergence rate for colored input signals as compared to the normalized least mean square algorithm, but it suffers from a poor convergence issue in the α -stable noise. In light of this, the normalized subband p-norm (NSPN) algorithm, which is based on the least mean p-power error (MPE) criterion, is proposed in this study. This technique is not only robust against impulsive noise samples, but it also maintains a fast convergence rate when colored input signals are used. In addition to this, we develop both the steady-state and the transient models of the NSPN algorithm and provide some insights. Then, in order to solve the problem of making a choice regarding the order p in the NSPN algorithm, we design an autonomous system and come up with the NSPN algorithm with a variable p-norm (VP-NSPN). In addition, we offer the TFC-based VP-NSPN algorithm with a fast convergence rate and low steady-state misadjustment simultaneously by making use of the tap-weights feedback-based convex combination (TFC) scheme. In conclusion, simulation results on system identification and acoustic echo cancellation are undertaken in order to validate the superiority of the proposed algorithms and validate the usefulness of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heart is the most energy-demanding organ throughout the whole body. Perturbations or failure in energy metabolism contributes to heart failure (HF), which represents the advanced stage of various heart diseases. The poor prognosis and huge economic burden associated with HF underscore the high unmet need to explore novel therapies targeting metabolic modulators beyond conventional approaches focused on neurohormonal and hemodynamic regulators. Emerging evidence suggests that alterations in metabolic substrate reliance, metabolic pathways, metabolic by-products, and energy production collectively regulate the occurrence and progression of HF. In this review, we provide an overview of cardiac metabolic remodeling, encompassing the utilization of free fatty acids, glucose metabolism, ketone bodies, and branched-chain amino acids both in the physiological condition and heart failure. Most importantly, the latest advances in pharmacological interventions are discussed as a promising therapeutic approach to restore cardiac function, drawing insights from recent basic research, preclinical and clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a subband Hammerstein spline adaptive filtering (SHSAF) algorithm with the exponential hyperbolic cosine (EHC) cost to acquire robustness against non-Gaussian noises, which is called the SHSAF-EHC algorithm. The delayless multiband-structured subband strategy is employed to enhance the convergence property in the Hammerstein-type nonlinear filtering structure. In addition, the statistical performance analysis of SHSAF-EHC is rigorously derived in the mean and mean-square senses. Numerical experiments under non-Gaussian noise scenarios corroborate the accuracy of theoretical findings and validate the superiority of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Women who have intraspinal anesthesia for delivery are more likely to experience postpartum urinary retention (PUR), which, if not recognized and treated promptly, can result in long-term urinary dysfunction. Many factors influencing PUR have been proposed, but no study has been conducted to investigate the relationship between them. This study is aimed at determining the influencing factors of PUR and to explore the relationship between them. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional survey using self-made questionnaires was conducted among 372 puerperae in a Grade A hospital in Guangzhou, China, from April to September 2022. SPSS25.0 and AMOS24.0 were used for data analysis, and a path analysis model was established to determine the relationship between the influencing factors. Results: The incidence of PUR was 49.85%. Residence, the level of postpartum pain, and the change of postnatal urination position had a direct effect on PUR. Episiotomy and analgesic duration have both direct and indirect effects on PUR. Forceps delivery, perineal edema and oxytocin had an indirect effect on PUR. Variables could influence the occurrence of PUR by mediating the analgesic duration, episiotomy, postpartum pain level, and postnatal urination position changes. Conclusions: This study provides an empirical model to illustrate the relationship between PUR and related factors in women who delivered under intraspinal anesthesia. In future management, more attention should be paid to women who live in cities, have higher levels of postpartum pain, longer analgesic duration, higher grade of perineal edema, and received episiotomy, forceps delivery, and oxytocin during labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to explore the clinical and pathological characteristics, survival outcomes, and prognostic factors of colorectal hepatoid adenocarcinoma. Methods: We performed two cases of colorectal hepatoid adenocarcinoma treated at the Oncology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University. We also reviewed literature up to the present and performed a retrospective study of colorectal hepatoid adenocarcinoma. Results: Among the 39 patients included in this study, 28 had primary tumors in the colon, 9 in the rectum, and 2 in the rectosigmoid junction. The median age was 52 years (range 31–75 years); 28 patients (71.8%) were male. Out of the 32 patients for whom survival data were available, 24 patients succumbed to disease-related causes. The median overall survival of 32 patients was 8 months, with 1-year and 2-year overall survival rates of 31.0% and 16.0%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that depth of infiltration, presence of liver metastases, TNM stage, and the completeness of surgical resection were significantly associated with the overall survival period of colorectal hepatoid adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: Colorectal hepatoid adenocarcinoma exhibits a high degree of aggressiveness and poor prognosis. The major strategy for early-stage HAC was radical surgery and chemoradiotherapy demonstrates limited efficacy for extending survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer context is a pivotal social process shaping adolescent health behavior. Using a representative youth cohort, we aimed to characterize the dynamics in friendship networks among Taiwanese adolescents, and further examined the reciprocal effects between substance use and delinquent behaviors that we hypothesized to manifest via the impacts of dynamic changes of the friendship network. The data were retrieved from the Taiwan Youth Project (N = 2,566; 51% boys; Mage at baseline = 12.3 ± 0.48 years). Participants were requested to nominate their best friends at school and to report their substance use, delinquent behaviors, and pubertal development. Stochastic actor-based modeling was used for the networking analyses. While taking their network structure into account, adolescents select friends based on similarity in class at school (β = 0.929 [standard error = 0.088], p < 0.001) and gender (β = 1.787 [0.188], p < 0.001), but not in their externalizing behaviors. In the behavior dynamics submodel, affiliation with male friends (β = 0.452 [0.178], p = 0.005) and peer substance use status (β = 0.613 [0.124], p = 0.004) were associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in delinquent behavior. Our findings highlight the influence of peers on the co-development of substance use and delinquent behavior in adolescents. Workers in healthcare and the public health sector should be aware of this and formulate prevention policies accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft arms have shown great application potential because of their flexibility and compliance in unstructured environments. However, soft arms made from soft materials exhibit limited cargo-loading capacity, which restricts their ability to manipulate objects. In this research, a novel soft arm was developed by coupling a rigid origami exoskeleton with soft airbags. The joint module of the soft arm was composed of a deployable origami exoskeleton and three soft airbags. The motion and load performance of the soft arm of the eight-joint module was tested. The developed soft arm withstood at least 5 kg of load during extension, contraction, and bending motions; exhibited bistable characteristics in both fully contracted and fully extended states; and achieved a bending angle of more than 240° and a contraction ratio of more than 300%. In addition, the high extension, contraction, bending, and torsional stiffnesses of the soft arm were experimentally demonstrated. A kinematic-based trajectory planning of the soft arm was performed to evaluate its error in repetitive motion. This work will provide new design ideas and methods for flexible manipulation applications of soft arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In today's rapidly changing economy, efficient lifestyle has become the current situation of most mobile product users. With the development of performance tools and technologies, a fast lifestyle has brought more wealth and opportunities to users. The slow pace and fluctuating time are indirect income losses, which cause user anxiety to some extent. When the waiting time exceeds the user's waiting threshold, users would experience negative emotions, such as boredom, anxiety and anger, and product satisfaction would drop significantly. Therefore, by analyzing the uniqueness of mobile Internet products and the characteristics of users, this paper studied the reasons and influencing factors of product interactive waiting, and then used machine learning algorithm to analyze the cost function of interactive waiting experience. Finally, the corresponding interactive waiting experience design strategy was proposed. By comparison, the user experience after product interaction optimization design was 8.4% higher than that before product interaction optimization design, and the user frequency was also 14.7% higher after optimization design. In short, user experience plays an important role in product interaction design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have durable and remarkable antimicrobial effects on pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, in dental plaques. As such, they are widely added to dental restoration materials, including composite resins, denture bases, adhesives, and implants, to solve the problems of denture stomatitis, peri-implant inflammation, and oral infection caused by the long-term use of these dental restoration materials. However, AgNPs can be absorbed into the blood circulatory system through the nasal/oral mucosa, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and other pathways and then distributed into the lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, and testes, thereby causing toxic injury to these tissues and organs. It can even be transported across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and continuously accumulate in brain tissues, causing injury and dysfunction of neurons and glial cells; consequently, neurotoxicity occurs. Other nanomaterials with antibacterial or remineralization properties are added to dental restoration materials with AgNPs. However, studies have yet to reveal the neurotoxicity caused by dental restoration materials containing AgNPs. In this review, we summarize the application of AgNPs in dental restoration materials, the mechanism of AgNPs in cytotoxicity and toxic injury to the BBB, and the related research on the accumulation of AgNPs to cause changes of neurotoxicity. We also discuss the mechanisms of neurotoxicity caused by AgNPs and the mode and rate of AgNPs released from dental restorative materials added with AgNPs to evaluate the probability of neurotoxic injury to the central nervous system (CNS), and then provide a theoretical basis for developing new composite dental restoration materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of carbonized wood in various functional devices is attracting considerable attention due to its low cost, vertical channels, and high electrical conduction. However, the conventional carbonization method requires a long processing time and an inert atmosphere. Here, a microwave-assisted ultrafast carbonization technique was developed that carbonizes natural wood in seconds without the need for an inert atmosphere, and the obtained aligned-porous carbonized wood provided an excellent electrochemical performance as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. This ultrafast carbonization technique simultaneously produced ZnO nanoparticles during the carbonization process that were uniformly distributed on the aligned-porous carbon. The hierarchical structure of carbonized wood functionalized with ZnO nanoparticles was used as a host for achieving high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries: the highly conductive carbonized wood framework with vertical channels provided good electron transport pathways, and the homogeneously dispersed ZnO nanoparticles effectively adsorbed lithium polysulfide and catalyzed its conversion reactions. In summary, a new method was developed to realize the ultrafast carbonization of biomass materials with decorated metal oxide nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our study aimed to determine the impact of a novel technique of anesthesia administration on the clinical outcomes and complications in geriatric patients with severe systemic disease undergoing hip surgery. Methods: We retrospectively identified patients aged > 65 years with severe systemic disease that was a constant of life [American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) IV] who underwent surgery for hip fracture between January 2018 and January 2020. The patients were divided into two groups: Group I [fascia iliaca compartment block plus propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (FICB + TIVA)] and Group II [general anesthesia (GA)]. The primary outcomes were 30-day and 1-year mortality. The secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, postoperative morbidity, Visual Analog Scale score, and consumption of analgesics. Results: There was no significant difference in the 30-day mortality (5 vs. 3.8%, p = 0.85) and 1-year mortality (15 vs. 12%, p = 0.73) between the groups. Group I had significantly lower ICU requirements (p = 0.01) and shorter lengths of ICU stay (p < 0.001) and hospital stay (p < 0.001). Moreover, a smaller proportion of patients in Group I required postoperative morphine or oral opiates. Conclusion: Geriatric patients who underwent hip surgery under FICB + TIVA required fewer ICU admissions, shorter lengths of ICU and hospital stay, and had lesser postoperative opioid consumption than those who were under GA. Hence, we recommend the novel FICB + TIVA technique for hip fracture surgery in geriatric patients with poor general health status and high surgical risks (ASA IV). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mango (Mangifera indica) is a widely enjoyed tropical fruit that is rich in numerous nutrients, but it is also a common allergenic fruit that can induce anaphylactic shock in some mango-sensitized individuals. To protect allergic consumers, a TaqMan real-time PCR is developed herein by targeting the major mango allergen GAPDH gene to identify mango in foods. To prevent interference by other ingredients in the foods, an internal amplification control (IAC) is established and incorporated into the developed qPCR. Under the optimized assay conditions, the developed assay can detect mango genomic DNA down to 10 pg/μL and effectively differentiate mango from 21 other fruits and vegetables. In the incurred assay, the developed qPCR has a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 μg/g and 330 μg/g of mango powder in juice and cookie, respectively. The assay exhibits a board spectrum, successfully detecting six mango cultivars, and has good accuracy and precision as calculated intra- and inter-assay CV values < 10%. Forty commercial processed foods were simultaneously analyzed using the developed method and a qPCR method that is officially recognized by the Taiwan FDA. The sensitivity and specificity of this assay were estimated to be 85% and 100%, respectively, based on the ingredient labeling of these products. Hence, this developed qPCR is an effective method for screening mango in processed foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to determine whether ULBP2 was associated with prognosis and immune infiltration in colon cancer (CC) and provided important molecular basis in order to early non-invasive diagnosis and immunotherapy of CC. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas database (TCGA) and ImmPort database, we extracted messenger RNA (mRNA) data of CC and immune-related genes, then we used "limma" package, "survival" package, and Venn overlap analysis to obtain the differentially expressed mRNA (DEmRNA) associated with prognosis and immunity of CC patients. "pROC" package was used to analyze receiver operating characteristics (ROC) of target gene. We used chi-square test and two-class logistics model to identify clinicopathological parameters that correlated with target gene expression. In order to determine the effects of target gene expression and clinicopathological parameters on survival, univariate and multivariate cox regression analyses were performed. We analyzed the related functions and signaling pathways of target gene by enrichment analysis. Finally, the correlation between target gene and tumor immune infiltrating was explored by ssGSEA and spearman correlation analysis. Results showed that ULBP2 was a target gene associated with immunity and prognosis in CC patients. CC patients with higher ULBP2 expression had poor outcomes. In terms of ROC, ULBP2 had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.984. ULBP2 was associated with T stage, N stage, and pathologic stage of CC patients, and served as an independent predictor of overall survival in CC patients. Functional enrichment analysis revealed ULBP2 was obviously enriched in pathways connected with carcinogenesis and immunosuppression. The expression of ULBP2 was significantly associated with tumor immune cells and immune checkpoints according to ssGSEA and spearman correlation analysis. To conclude, our study suggested that ULBP2 was associated with tumor immunity, and might be a biomarker associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of CC patients, and a potential target of CC immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Varus collapse followed by osteosynthesis for distal femoral fractures with conventional implants has been well documented but is seldom mentioned in fractures managed with locking plates. The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of varus collapse after treating complex supra-intercondylar fractures of the distal femur (AO type C3) using a Single Plate (SP) or Double Plate (DP) fixation technique. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 357 patients with distal femoral fractures who were treated at our hospital between 2006 and 2017. After excluding cases of infection, malignancy, periprosthetic fracture, revision surgery, pediatric fracture, and extra-articular fracture, 54 patients were included in the study. All demographic data and radiological and clinical outcomes were reviewed and analyzed. Results: There were 54 patients enrolled into this study with age from 15 to 85 years old (mean 41.6, SD = 19.9), and 32 of them were open fractures (59%). The patients were further divided into either an SP (n = 15) or a DP group (n = 39). Demographics, including age, sex, injury severity score, and open fracture type, were all compatible between the two groups. The overall nonunion rate was 25.9% (n = 14; 6 from the SP and 8 from the DP group; p = 0.175). The varus collapse rate was 9.3% (n = 5; 4 from the SP and 1 from the DP group (p = 0.018). Conclusions: The varus collapse rate after osteosynthesis with a single lateral locking plate could be as high as 26.7% in AO type C3 fractures of the distal femur, which would be decreased to 2.6% by adding a medial buttress plate. Surgeons should consider DP fixation to avoid varus collapse in severely comminuted complete intra-articular fractures of the distal femur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-modal audio–visual correlation learning has been an interesting research topic, which aims to capture and understand semantic correspondences between audio and video. We face two challenges during audio–visual correlation learning: (i) audio and visual feature sequences, respectively, belong to different feature spaces, and (ii) semantic mismatch between audio and visual sequences inevitably happens. To solve these challenges, existing works mainly focus on how to efficiently extract discriminative features, while ignoring the abundant granular features of audio and visual modalities. In this work, we introduce the multi-scale network with shared cross-attention (MSNSCA) module for audio–visual correlation learning, a supervised representation learning framework for capturing semantic audio–visual correspondences by integrating a multi-scale feature extraction module with strong cross-attention into an end-to-end trainable deep network. MSNSCA can extract more effective audio–visual particle features with excellent audio–visual semantic matching capability. Experiments on various audio–visual learning tasks, including audio–visual matching and retrieval on benchmark datasets, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MSNSCA model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lyrics-to-melody generation is an interesting and challenging topic in AI music research field. Due to the difficulty of learning the correlations between lyrics and melody, previous methods suffer from low generation quality and lack of controllability. Controllability of generative models enables human interaction with models to generate desired contents, which is especially important in music generation tasks towards human-centered AI that can facilitate musicians in creative activities. To address these issues, we propose a controllable lyrics-to-melody generation network, ConL2M, which is able to generate realistic melodies from lyrics in user-desired musical style. Our work contains three main novelties: (1) to model the dependencies of music attributes cross multiple sequences, inter-branch memory fusion (Memofu) is proposed to enable information flow between multi-branch stacked LSTM architecture; (2) reference style embedding (RSE) is proposed to improve the quality of generation as well as control the musical style of generated melodies; (3) sequence-level statistical loss (SeqLoss) is proposed to help the model learn sequence-level features of melodies given lyrics. Verified by evaluation metrics for music quality and controllability, initial study of controllable lyrics-to-melody generation shows better generation quality and the feasibility of interacting with users to generate the melodies in desired musical styles when given lyrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is common in patients with trauma, and thromboprophylaxis has been advocated. However, conflicting results regarding VTE rates in the Asian population following orthopaedic procedures have been presented. We aimed to investigate the VTE incidence in Taiwanese patients with pelvic and/or acetabular fractures and identify the associated risk factors. We included 402 patients who underwent surgery for pelvic and/or acetabular fractures. All patients received mechanical thromboprophylaxis with graduated compression stockings. Duplex scanning was performed postoperatively or during follow-up when signs or symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) developed. Variables with a significance level of ≤ 0.1 in the univariate analyses were introduced into the multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify DVT risk factors. The overall DVT and symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) rate was 3.48% (14/402 patients). Among patients with DVT, 46.1% were asymptomatic. Patients with VTE were significantly older than those without. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age was a VTE risk factor. The incidence of DVT and symptomatic PE in our cohort was low. Advanced age was a risk factor for VTE. These findings could help clinicians develop appropriate prevention and treatment strategies for VTE in Taiwanese patients with pelvic and/or acetabular fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous iliosacral (IS) screw fixation and trans-iliac trans-sacral (TITS) screw fixation are clinically effective treatments of posterior pelvic sacroiliac fractures. In order to accurately assess the sacrum position relative to the pelvis, pelvic incidence (PI) is a commonly utilized radiographic parameter in sagittal view. This study aimed to investigate and compare the surgical outcomes and radiographic parameters of IS or TITS screw fixations for the treatment of posterior sacroiliac complex fractures with different PI values. Materials and methods: The data on patients with posterior pelvic sacroiliac fractures who underwent percutaneous IS or TITS screw fixations, or both, at a single level I trauma center between January 2017 and June 2020 were reviewed. We documented the patient characteristics and fracture types, reviewed surgical records, and measured the radiographic parameters via plain films and multi-planar computed tomography (mpCT) images. Radiographic variations in PI, sacral slope, pelvic tilt, sacral dysmorphism, pelvic ring reduction quality, screw deviation angles, screw malposition grading, and iatrogenic complications were documented and analyzed. Results: A total of 85 patients were included, and 65 IS and 70 TITS screws were accounted for. Patients were divided into two groups according to screw fixation method and further divided into four sub-groups based on baseline PI values. The PI cutoff values were 49.85° and 48.05° in the IS and TITS screw groups, respectively, according to receiver operating characteristic analysis and Youden's J statistic. Smaller PI values were significantly correlated with sacral dysmorphism (p = 0.027 and 0.003 in the IS and TITS screw groups, respectively). Patients with larger PI values were at a significantly increased risk of screw malposition in the TITS screw group (p = 0.049), with no association in the IS screw group. Logistic regression confirmed that a larger PI value was a significant risk factor for screw malposition in the TITS screw group (p = 0.010). The post-operative outcomes improved from poor/fair (at 6 months) to good/average (at 12 months) based on the Postel Merle d'Aubigné and Majeed scores, with no significant differences between subgroups. Conclusions: Both percutaneous IS and TITS screw fixations are safe and effective treatments for posterior pelvic sacroiliac fractures. Due to the higher risk of screw malposition in patients with larger PI values, it is crucial to identify potential patients at risk when performing TITS screw fixation surgery. Level of evidence: Level III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer nanocomposites with nanoparticles dispersed in polymer matrices have attracted extensive attention due to their significantly improved overall performance, in which the nanoparticle-polymer interface plays a key role. Understanding the structures and properties of the interfacial region, however, remains a major challenge for polymer nanocomposites. Here, we directly observe the presence of two interfacial polymer layers around a nanoparticle in polar polymers, i.e., an inner bound polar layer (~10 nm thick) with aligned dipoles and an outer polar layer (over 100 nm thick) with randomly orientated dipoles. Our results reveal that the impacts of the local nanoparticle surface potential and interparticle distance on molecular dipoles induce interfacial polymer layers with different polar molecular conformations from the bulk polymer. The bilayer interfacial features lead to an exceptional enhancement in polarity-related properties of polymer nanocomposites at ultralow nanoparticle loadings. By maximizing the contribution of inner bound polar layer via a nanolamination design, we achieve an ultrahigh dielectric energy storage density of 86 J/cm3, far superior to state-of-the-art polymers and nanocomposites. The nanoparticle-polymer interface plays a key role in nanoparticle-polymer composites but understanding the structures and properties of the interfacial region remains challenging. Here, the authors directly observe the presence of two interfacial polymer layers around a nanoparticle in polar polymers with different polar molecular conformations from the bulk polymer leading to an enhancement in polarity-related properties of polymer nanocomposites [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cucurbits are a diverse plant family that includes economically important crops, such as cucumber, watermelon, melon, and pumpkin. Knowledge of the roles that long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) have played in diversification of cucurbit species is limited; to add to understanding of the roles of LTR-RTs, we assessed their distributions in four cucurbit species. We identified 381, 578, 1086, and 623 intact LTR-RTs in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. var. sativus cv. Chinese Long), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus subsp. vulgaris cv. 97103), melon (Cucumis melo cv. DHL92), and Cucurbita (Cucurbita moschata var. Rifu), respectively. Among these LTR-RTs, the Ale clade of the Copia superfamily was the most abundant in all the four cucurbit species. Insertion time and copy number analysis revealed that an LTR-RT burst occurred approximately 2 million years ago in cucumber, watermelon, melon, and Cucurbita, and may have contributed to their genome size variation. Phylogenetic and nucleotide polymorphism analyses suggested that most LTR-RTs were formed after species diversification. Analysis of gene insertions by LTR-RTs revealed that the most frequent insertions were of Ale and Tekay and that genes related to dietary fiber synthesis were the most commonly affected by LTR-RTs in Cucurbita. These results increase our understanding of LTR-RTs and their roles in genome evolution and trait characterization in cucurbits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D point cloud recognition is fundamental and popular in vision perceptual systems such as autonomous driving, robotics, and virtual reality. Due to the sparse distribution and irregularity of point clouds, previous 3D point networks perform convolution on nearby points, ignoring the long-range dependence on the global structure. To solve this problem, we propose a Viewport Group Point Cloud Network for 3D Shape Recognition (VGPCNet) in which features are grouped according to viewports instead of local neighbor points to model the long-range global context. First, we propose to use viewport as proxy to capture both local and global features from an outside view of the object. The related points are grouped by visibility attribute effectively and efficiently which can not only capture the inside local geometry details but also obtain the global structure from the outside viewport. Second, we use a graph-based feature consolidation module to enhance the viewport features by modeling interactions between different viewports. Finally, to aggregate a global representation from multiple viewport features, we propose a novel attention-based feature aggregation module. We evaluate our VGPCNet on three widely used benchmarks including ModelNet40/10, ScanObjectNN, and ShapeCore55 for shape classification and retrieval tasks. Extensive experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness and superior performance (94.1% on ModelNet40) of our method over state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine whether adolescents select friends based on their friends' levels of depressive symptoms, and to determine whether the potential homophily phenomenon for depressive symptoms is attenuated after considering pubertal maturation and gender. Data were from the first three waves of the Taiwan Youth Project, a longitudinal study that annually surveys 7th graders from 40 junior high schools. Participants were asked at each wave to fill out a survey including depressive symptoms, pubertal maturation, and to name three best friends in school. Stochastic actor-oriented models were built to explore the dynamic changes in friendship networks by estimating the probability of the friendship connections and behavioral changes depending on the individual's current network position and behavioral status. We used a sample of 2,336 adolescents. From 8 to 9th grade, adolescents tended to select friends who were similar in terms of their levels of depressive symptoms (B = 0.358, SE = 0.131, p <.001), without adjusting for gender and pubertal maturation. This homophily effect based on depressive symptoms became non-significant when pubertal maturation was included. Adolescents' depressive symptoms did not further influence their friends' depression levels, after controlling for pubertal maturation and gender. Future studies should further examine the mechanisms and group dynamics within clusters of adolescents who are depressed. Providing a supportive environment and tools is warranted to help adolescents cope with negative emotions within their peer group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Osteosynthesis for acetabular fractures with ipsilateral sacroiliac joint (SIJ) injuries remains challenging for orthopedic surgeons, despite the evolution of surgical approaches, such as the pararectus approach, and treatment sequences. The study aimed to describe the details of the treatment of acetabular fracture with ipsilateral SIJ injury by the pararectus approach and to report its surgical outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively assessed patients with acetabular fractures and ipsilateral SIJ injuries undergoing osteosynthesis by the pararectus approach over a three-year period. Evaluation parameters of the quality of reduction of both acetabulum and pelvis injuries were, among others, Matta's criteria, Lefaivre's criteria, inlet/outlet ratios, and maximal gap measured on computed tomography (CT) scans. Results: Ten patients (seven men and three women) were enrolled. Pelvic ring injuries classified as AO B2.3 and acetabular fractures involving two columns were the most common fractures, accounting for 70% and 60%, respectively. Radiological evaluation for pelvic ring injury revealed three excellent and seven good results according to Matta's criteria, as well as five excellent, three good, and one fair results according to Lefaivre's criteria. Inlet and outlet ratios were between 0.84–1.06 and 0.93–1.60, respectively. The distance of the sacroiliac joints significantly improved postoperatively in both axial and coronal views (P = 0.002). Further, the maximal articular gap and step-off of acetabular fractures on axial, coronal, and sagittal view CT scans showed statistically significant improvements after osteosynthesis. Conclusion: Simultaneous reduction and fixation of acetabular fractures with ipsilateral SIJ injuries using the pararectus approach achieved satisfactory radiological outcomes. Level of evidence: IV. Trial registration: Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The relationships between the outcome of frozen-thaw embryo transfer (FET) cycle and endometrial compaction were not quite consistent. Objective: To analyze the relationship between the outcome of FET cycle and endometrial compaction. Materials and methods: A total of 1420 women using FET were researched. The change in endometrial thickness on ET day and those on the day of progesterone (P) administration start is the basis for grouping. Group 1 was endometrial compaction group, and group 2 was the endometrial non-compaction group. Outcome measure was clinical pregnancy, estradiol (E2) levels, progesterone (P) levels, endometrial morphology, and thickness in each period of FET cycle. Results: A significantly lower clinical pregnancy rate was observed in group 2 in comparison with group 1 (43.4% vs. 55.1%, P < 0.01). In addition, P levels on the day of P administration start were lower in group 2 (0.73 ± 0.93 ng/ml vs. 0.90 ± 1.85 ng/ml, P = 0.006), while E2 levels on ET day were higher in group 2 (316.42 ± 304.95 pg/ml vs. 257.88 ± 219.15 pg/ml, P = 0.001) than in group 1. The binary logistic regression analysis showed a lower rate of clinical pregnancy in group 2 (aOR = 0.617, 95% CI 0.488-0.779, P = 0.001). Conclusions: Clinical pregnancy rates were significantly higher in women with endometrial compaction on ET day compared to women with no changes or thickening. Therefore, we recommend paying closer attention to endometrial compaction in women undergoing FET as a method to estimate endometrial receptivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the clinicopathological characteristics, survival outcomes, and prognosis of very young gastric cancer (GC). From January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021, GC patients under 30 years old treated in three tertiary hospitals were enrolled. Clinicopathological characteristics were summarized, prognostic factors and survival outcomes including overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were retrospectively analyzed. One hundred patients were finally included, with a median age of 23 years.73 (73.0%) were female. Most patients had initial symptoms of abdominal pain (66.0%). The most common tumor locations were gastric antrum (38.0%) and gastric body (37.0%). The main histological types were diffuse (81.0%) and poorly differentiated (91.0%). Most patients presented with stage III–IV disease (82.0%) at diagnosis and the common sites of metastasis were ovary (39.5%) and peritoneum (27.6%). The mOS of the whole group was 23.3 months (95% CI 17.2–29.4). Moreover, the mOS of patients at stage I–II was not reached. The mOS of patients at stage III and stage IV was 40.6 months (95% CI 10.2–70.9) and 10.3 months (95% CI 8.9–11.6), respectively. The mDFS of stage I–III patients was 28.5 months (95% CI 14.7–42.3), and the mPFS of the metastatic patients was 4.5 months (95% CI 4.0–5.0). TNM stage (P = 0.005) and radical surgery (P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factors of overall survival. The very young GC were predominantly female, diffuse type, and advanced diagnosis. TNM stage and radical surgery were independent prognosis factors for overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Restorative Justice," firstly a research concept and later a criminal justice practice, was introduced into Taiwan at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This paper reviews how RJ grounded in the Taiwanese district prosecutors' offices and gradually grows into a grassroots social movement. We propose that the RJ advancement benefits from open-minded policymakers, dedicated academics, and innovative facilitators. The facilitators trained from 2011 to 2012 became key players to spread the RJ practices to other criminal justice sectors and beyond. In addition, the third wave of judicial reform further enabled the embedding of the RJ procedure in the Juvenile Justice Act, the Code of Criminal Justice Procedure, the Prison Act, and the Detention Act. We compare the discourse of RJ advocacy in the east and the west and address the importance of cultural sensitivity, terminology translation, and the meaning of localized practice. In conclusion, we reflect on the existing evaluation reports of the Taiwanese RJ model and provide recommendations for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the incidence and causative factors of surgical site infection (SSI) following osteosynthesis for pelvic ring injury by reviewing the data of 97 consecutive patients with pelvic ring injuries treated between 2014 and 2019. Osteosyntheses, including internal or external skeletal fixation with plates or screws, were performed based on fracture type and patient's condition. Fractures were treated surgically, with a 36 months minimum follow-up period. Eight (8.2%) patients experienced SSI. The most common causative pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus. Patients with SSI had significantly worse functional outcomes at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months than those without. For patients with SSI, the average Merle d'Aubigné and Majeed scores at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months after injury were 2.4, 4.1, 8.0, 11.0, and 11.3, and 25.5, 32.1, 47.9, 61.9, and 63.3, respectively. Patients with SSI had a higher likelihood of undergoing staged operations (50.0 vs. 13.5%, p = 0.02), more surgeries for associated injuries (6.3% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.04), higher likelihood of Morel–Lavallee lesions (50.0% vs. 5.6%, p = 0.002), higher incidence of diversional colostomy (37.5% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.05), and longer intensive care unit stay (11.1 vs. 3.9 days, p = 0.001) than those without. The contributing factors for SSI were Morel–Lavallee lesions (odds ratio [OR] 4.55, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 3.34–50.0) and other surgeries for associated injuries (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.07–5.28). Patients with SSI after osteosynthesis for pelvic ring injuries may have worse short-term functional outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Open pelvic fractures have high mortality rates, and survivors may have ongoing functional deficits from severe trauma and invasive life-saving procedures. However, there are limited reports regarding the functional status evaluation following open pelvic fractures. We aimed to report the treatment experiences and short-term functional outcomes of patients with open pelvic fractures. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 19 consecutive patients with pelvic fractures who underwent treatment at a single institute between January 2014 and June 2018. The resuscitation protocol, osteosynthesis strategy, reduction quality of the pelvic ring, and functional outcomes were analyzed. Results: The incidence and mortality rates in patients with open pelvic fractures were 4.9 and 21.6%, respectively. Ten, one, and seven of the open wounds related to the pelvic fractures were located in Faringer zones I, II, and III, respectively. Fractures of four patients were categorized as classes 1 and 2, and those of 11 patients as class 3, according to the Jones–Powell classification. Eleven of 19 (57.9%) and 9 of 19 (47.5%) revealed excellent reduction quality by Matta/Torenetta and Lefaivre criteria, respectively. The Merle d'Aubigné score improved at each evaluation but stagnated after 24 months. The Majeed hip score also improved at the 12-month evaluation but the improvement stopped thereafter. At a 3-year follow-up, the patients with excellent reduction of the pelvic ring showed the highest functional performances. Conclusion: Improvements in functional status of patients with open pelvic fractures can be anticipated based on the reduction quality of the pelvis ring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pararectus approach is used to treat acetabular fractures; however, it remains unclear whether it can be used to treat pelvic fractures. This study aimed to examine the outcomes of patients with a pelvic ring fracture treated with this approach. Methods: Seven patients with AO B2.2 pelvic fractures treated with the pararectus approach were included. Patients' pain was assessed pre- and postoperatively with a numerical rating scale. Radiological evaluations included inlet and outlet ratios and pelvic symmetry. Functional outcomes, including Merle d'Aubigné and Majeed scores, were also recorded for 12 months. Results: One patient experienced obturator nerve neuropraxia. Pain scores ranged from 2.3–8.0 to 2.0–3.1 points before and after surgery, respectively. Radiological findings revealed satisfactory outcomes. The maximal gap of the affected ilium reduced from 8.6–20.2 to 0–3.4 mm, from 6.8–17.9 to 0–4.4 mm, and from 3.7–20.3 to 0–3.2 mm in the axial, sagittal, and coronal views, respectively. Based on multiple evaluations, functional outcomes were improved for all patients. Conclusion: The pararectus approach can be used safely and satisfactorily to treat AO B 2.2 pelvic fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to assess the interdecadal and interannual variability of autumn extreme rainfall (ER) in Taiwan from 1979 to 2019. Three types of ER events were identified based on a clustering analysis augmented by a deep autoencoder-based neural network model. This method outperforms other methods in obtaining the optimal number of clusters by extracting the synoptic features in advance. The patterns associated with these three types include a tropical cyclone covering Taiwan (TC), a TC-like circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) accompanied by northeasterly near northern Taiwan (TC-NE), and northeasterly near northern Taiwan (NE). The differences in the rainfall pattern caused by the three types were discernable over Taiwan. How the PDO or ENSO modulates the regional large-scale environment to favor the occurrence of these ER events was investigated. The occurrence of TC-NE events was simultaneously correlated with the negative phases of PDO/ENSO in the interdecadal/interannual scale. In the negative phases of PDO/ENSO, a low-level anomalous cyclone over SCS accompanied by background northeasterly favored the regional TC activities and may cause more TC-NE events. The occurrence of NE events is simultaneously correlated with the cold phase of ENSO. An anomalous low-level anticyclone in Northeast Asia strengthened the northeasterly toward northern Taiwan, and with the seasonal background moisture, provided favorable conditions for the occurrence of the NE events. Overall, the occurrence of the TC events did not correlate with the PDO or ENSO signals; the reasons for the lack of correlation were discussed herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grape is an economically important crop but recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation and in vitro regeneration. Here, we have developed a protocol for transient transformation of grapes by investigating the effects of explant pre-culture and duration of vacuum infiltration on transformation efficiency. Using sliced grape berries of "Shine-Muscat" (Vitis labrusca × Vitis vinifera) between the end of fruit expansion phase and the mature stage as explants, we firstly compared the effect of pre-culture explants into a susceptible state (incubation on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar plate in the dark at 25 ± 1 °C for 48 h) with no pre-culture and then tested different vacuum infiltration times on transformation efficiency using β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter system. Pre-culture increased the susceptibility of explants to the agrobacteria infection and increased transient transformation efficiency as assessed by histochemical GUS activity, with intense blue coloration compared with the faint staining observed in the non-susceptible explants. Using a Circulating Water Vacuum Pump system to facilitate agrobacteria entry into berry cells, we tested vacuum durations of 5, 10, and 15 min and observed that transformation efficiency increased with vacuum duration of infiltration. These results were confirmed by relative gene expression of GUS transgene as assessed by RT-qPCR and GUS activity assay. To further confirm the usefulness of our protocol, we transiently transformed grape berries with the hydrogen peroxide sensor gene VvHPCA3, and this was confirmed by gene expression analysis as well as increased sensitivity of the explants to hydrogen peroxide treatment. Overall, this study has resulted in a simple but efficient transient transformation protocol for grape berries and would be a valuable tool for the rapid testing of gene function and the study of key regulatory networks in this important crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reasons for the increased use of closed reduction and internal fixation (CRIF) for traumatic sacral fractures (SFs) are unclear in the literature. Therefore, we aimed to report the annual changes in the number of patients, mechanisms of injury, fracture patterns, and fixation methods. Methods: In this retrospective study, we extracted data of 271 patients (mean age, 37.5 years) from the trauma register over an 8-year period. Annual records regarding the number of patients, injury mechanisms, fracture types, and treatment options were statistically analyzed to examine the interactions among these factors. Results: The number of patients with SFs increased significantly each year. The rate of admission to the intensive care unit after resuscitation was high (64.9%). Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) type C pelvic ring injury (PRI), Dennis zone II injury, Roy-Camille type 2 injury, and U/H-type injury were the most common fracture types. Trans-iliac trans-sacral screws were mainly used in AO type B PRI, and their use significantly increased each year. For AO type C PRI, open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with rigid fixation was the main treatment, and the use of CRIF with iliosacral screws decreased each year. Stepwise statistical analysis revealed that the increase in AO type B PRI and ORIF for anterior PRI were the factors contributing to the increased use of CRIF for SFs. Conclusions: While the use of osteosynthesis for SFs is increasing, an increased use of CRIF for traumatic SFs has also been observed in clinical practice. This increase can be attributed to the increase in AO type B PRIs and ORIF for anterior PRIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) accounts for the majority of all stroke, globally the second leading cause of death. Due to its rapid development after onset, its early diagnosis is crucial. Objectives: We aim to identify potential highly reliable blood-based biomarkers for early diagnosis of AIS using quantitative plasma lipid profiling via a machine learning approach. Methods: Lipidomics was used for quantitative plasma lipid profiling, based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Our samples were divided into a discovery and a validation set, each containing 30 AIS patients and 30 health controls (HC). Differentially expressed lipid metabolites were screened based on the criteria VIP > 1, p < 0.05, and fold change > 1.5 or < 0.67. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and random forest algorithms in machine learning were used to select differential lipid metabolites as potential biomarkers. Results: Three key differential lipid metabolites, CarnitineC10:1, CarnitineC10:1-OH and Cer(d18:0/16:0), were identified as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of AIS. The former two, associated with thermogenesis, were down-regulated, whereas the latter, associated with necroptosis and sphingolipd metabolism, was upregulated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions showed that these three lipid metabolites and the resulting diagnostic model exhibited a strong ability in discriminating between AIS patients and HCs in both the discovery and validation sets, with an area under the curve above 0.9. Conclusions: Our work provides valuable information on the pathophysiology of AIS and constitutes an important step toward clinical application of blood-based biomarkers for diagnosing AIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the insertion process of cochlear implant (CI) electrode array (EA) is important to ensure successful, sufficient, and safe implantation. A three-dimensional finite element (FE) model was developed to simulate the insertion process. The cochlear structures were reconstructed from an average statistical shape model (SSM) of human cochlea. The electrode is simplified as a long and tapered beam of homogeneous elastic materials, contacting and interacting with the stiff cochlear structures. A quasi-static insertion simulation was conducted, the insertion force and the contact pressure between the electrode and the cochlear wall, were calculated to evaluate the smoothness of insertion and the risk of potential cochlear trauma. Based on this model, different EA designs were analyzed, including the Young's modulus, the straight or bended shape, the normal or a more tapped section size. The influence of the insertion angle was also discussed. Our simulations indicate that reducing the EA Young's modulus, tapering and pre-bending are effective ways to ensure safe and successful EA implantation. This model is beneficial for optimizing EA designs and is potentially useful for designing patient-specific CI surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure is the final destination of most cardiovascular diseases, and its complex molecular mechanisms remain largely uncertain. This study aimed to systematically investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms and diagnostic and therapeutic targets of heart failure using bioinformatics. We obtained 8 healthy samples and 8 heart failure samples from GSE8331 and GSE76701. After removing the batch effect, we performed a differential analysis on it and obtained 185 differentially expressed ID. The results of enrichment analysis showed that the molecular mechanisms of heart failure were mostly related to immune, inflammation, and metabolism-related pathways. Immune cell infiltration analysis showed that the degree of infiltration of Tgd cells and Neurons was significantly enriched in heart failure samples, whereas pDCs and NKTs were in healthy tissue samples. We obtained Hub genes including EGR1, EGR2, FOS and FOSB by PPI network analysis. We established a 4-gene diagnostic model with Hub gene, and validated it in GSE21610 and GSE57338, and evaluated the discriminative ability of Hub gene by ROC curve. The 4-gene diagnostic model has an AUC value of 0.775 in GSE21610 and 0.877 in GSE57338. In conclusion, we explored the underlying molecular mechanisms of heart failure and the immune cell infiltration environment of failing myocardium by performing bioinformatic analysis of the GEO dataset. In addition, we identified EGR1, EGR2, FOS and FOSB as potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for heart failure. More importantly, a diagnostic model of heart failure based on these 4 genes was developed, which leads to a new understanding of the pathogenesis of heart failure and may be an interesting target for future in-depth research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garnet-type oxide solid electrolytes are the critical materials for all-solid-state lithium ion batteries. Nanoscale spectroscopic analysis on solid electrolytes plays a key role in bridging the gap between microstructure and properties. In this work, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), which can directly detect lithium element and distinguish its valence state, was applied to characterize the garnet-type Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 (LLZTO). Different spectroscopy parameters were evaluated and optimal acquisition conditions were provided. Electron induced precipitation of lithium metal from LLZTO was observed. By exploring the influence factors of precipitation and combining transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) experiments, the underlying mechanism of the phenomenon was revealed and previous controversy was resolved. The analysis method was also extended to other types of solid electrolytes, and this work provides a reference for future in-depth research on the structure–property relationship of solid electrolytes using AES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditional sequence generation aims to instruct the generation procedure by conditioning the model with additional context information, which is an interesting research issue in AI and machine learning. Unfortunately, current state-of-the-art generative models for music fail to generate good melodies due to the discrete-valued property of music attributes. In this paper, we propose a novel conditional hybrid GAN (C-Hybrid-GAN) for melody generation from lyrics. Three discrete sequences corresponding to music attributes, namely pitch, duration, and rest, are separately generated by melody generation model conditioned on the same lyrics. Gumbel-Softmax is used to approximate the distribution of discrete-valued samples so as to directly generate discrete melody attributes. Most importantly, a hybrid structure is proposed, which contains three independent branches (each for one melody attribute) in the generator and one branch for distinguishing concatenated attributes in the discriminator. Relational memory core is exploited to model not only the dependency inside each sequence of attribute during the training of the generator, but also the consistency among three sequences of attributes during the training of the discriminator. Through extensive experiments using evaluation metrics, e.g., maximum mean discrepancy, average rest value, and MIDI number transition, we demonstrate that the proposed C-Hybrid-GAN outperforms the existing methods in melody generation from lyrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]