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The service capacity of a cruise homeport is the foundation of the cruise industry's rapid development. This paper investigates cruise homeports' service capacity in China in order to build a cruise homeport with high service capacity. First, we construct an evaluation index system by identifying the main factors that affect the service capacity of cruise homeports. Second, considering the cognitive uncertainty caused by decision-makers' limited accessibility of information for a given concept, the grey number with known possibility function is applied. Based on this, we introduce the grey clustering model to evaluate each cruise homeport's present service capacity and classify it based on the rank to which it belongs. The results reveal that the cruise homeports in China perform at different service capacity levels. On the whole, 69.23% of them have medium or higher service capacities, powerfully demonstrating development momentum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afterglow materials have attracted much attention owing to their long luminescence lifetimes, large Stokes shifts, and emission without real‐time excitation. Compared with traditional organic afterglow materials, carbon dots (CDs), as a new afterglow material, have superior properties such as easy preparation, low toxicity, and low cost. The emission color of afterglow CDs can be regulated by external factors such as excitation wavelength, temperature, and time, which is highly significant for expanding the diversified applications to make them available for biotechnology and information applications. This review summarizes the research progress of multicolor afterglow CDs in recent years, including luminescence regulation strategies, preparation methods, and applications. First, the multicolor afterglow CDs are classified into three strategies: multicolor room temperature phosphorescence (RTP), thermally activated delayed fluorescence converted to RTP, and delayed fluorescence based on Förster resonance energy transfer, and the strategies for regulating their luminescence properties are analyzed. Second, the preparation methods of achieving multicolor afterglow CDs are summarized in both matrix‐free and matrix‐confined aspects. Then, applications in anticounterfeiting and information encryption, sensing and bioimaging are introduced in detail. Finally, the future challenges and opportunities of multicolor afterglow CDs are prospected to provide ideas for their controlled design and wide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted extensive attention for their excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-fluorescence (SEF) and their potential applications in sensing, biomedicine, and imaging. The thickness of silica shell plays a crucial role in determining the SERS-SEF properties. However, a few studies have been made to synthesize Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs with controllable thickness of silica shell and systematic research about the optimized SERS-SEF enhancement. Here, Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs were prepared by a modified one-pot synthetic method via reducing AgNO3 using formaldehyde in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride and sequentially hydrolyzing tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The effects of the type of surfactant and the concentrations of NaOH and AgNO3 on the size and morphology of the resulting Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs were systematically investigated. The thickness of the silica shell could be finely tuned from 9.3 to 38.9 nm by easily adjusting the amount of TEOS. The crystal violet molecule was used for examining SERS and SEF properties of Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs with different SiO2 thicknesses. The current work will provide guidance for further understanding the growth mechanism of Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs and how the thickness of silica shell affects the SERS-SEF properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cotton is globally important crop. Verticillium wilt (VW), caused by Verticillium dahliae, is the most destructive disease in cotton, reducing yield and fiber quality by over 50% of cotton acreage. Breeding resistant cotton cultivars has proven to be an efficient strategy for improving the resistance of cotton to V. dahliae. However, the lack of understanding of the genetic basis of VW resistance may hinder the progress in deploying elite cultivars with proven resistance. Results: We planted the VW-resistant Gossypium hirsutum cultivar Zhongzhimian No.2 (ZZM2) in an artificial greenhouse and disease nursery. ZZM2 cotton was subsequently subjected to transcriptome sequencing after Vd991 inoculation (6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h post-inoculation). Several differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in response to V. dahliae infection, mainly involved in resistance processes, such as flavonoid and terpenoid quinone biosynthesis, plant hormone signaling, MAPK signaling, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and pyruvate metabolism. Compared to the susceptible cultivar Junmian No.1 (J1), oxidoreductase activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production were significantly increased in ZZM2. Furthermore, gene silencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COX1), which is involved in the oxidation-reduction process in ZZM2, compromised its resistance to V. dahliae, suggesting that COX1 contributes to VW resistance in ZZM2. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that the G. hirsutum cultivar ZZM2 responds to V. dahliae inoculation through resistance-related processes, especially the oxidation-reduction process. This enhances our understanding of the mechanisms regulating the ZZM2 defense against VW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the precise upstream and downstream regulatory mechanisms of inflammatory factors in osteoporosis (OP) progression and to establish a causal relationship between inflammatory factors and OP. We conducted bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using data for 41 cytokines obtained from three independent cohorts comprising 8293 Finnish individuals. Estimated bone mineral density (eBMD) data were derived from 426,824 UK Biobank White British individuals (55% female) and fracture data from 416,795 UK Biobank participants of European ancestry. The inverse variance-weighted method was the primary MR analysis approach. We employed other methods as complementary approaches for mutual corroboration. To test for pleiotropy and heterogeneity, we used the MR-Egger regression, MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier global test, and the Cochrane Q test. Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and interleukin (IL)-12p70 expression associated negatively and causally with eBMD (β = −0.017 [MIP-1α], β = −0.011 [IL-12p70]). Conversely, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand was associated with a decreased risk of fractures (Odds Ratio: 0.980). Additionally, OP influenced the expression of multiple inflammatory factors, including growth-regulated oncogene-α, interferon-gamma, IL-6, beta nerve growth factor, and IL-2. Finally, we discovered complex bidirectional causal relationships between IL-8, IL-10, and OP. Specific inflammatory factors may contribute to OP development or may be causally affected by OP. We identified a bidirectional causal relationship between certain inflammatory factors and OP. These findings provide new perspectives for early prediction and targeted treatment of OP. Larger cohort studies are necessary in the future to further validate these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To dissect which DDR pathways correlated with the immune landscape of SCLC, we performed correlation analysis between different DDR pathways and the different immune contents in SCLC patients. Furthermore, in multiple-plex immunofluorescence staining of RAD51/CD4/CD8/CD20/Foxp3 in SCLC tissue microarray, SCLC tissues with increased RAD51 staining showed decreased CD8+ lymphocyte infiltration (Supplementary Fig. E, qPCR array analysis of differentially expressed DNA damage and repair genes in SCLC cell versus BEP2D cells and NSCLC cells. [Extracted from the article]

A DNN architecture referred to as GPRInvNet was proposed to tackle the challenges of mapping the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) B-Scan data to complex permittivity maps of subsurface structures. The GPRInvNet consisted of a trace-to-trace encoder and a decoder. It was specially designed to take into account the characteristics of GPR inversion when faced with complex GPR B-Scan data, as well as addressing the spatial alignment issues between time-series B-Scan data and spatial permittivity maps. It displayed the ability to fuse features from several adjacent traces on the B-Scan data to enhance each trace, and then further condense the features of each trace separately. As a result, the sensitive zones on the permittivity maps spatially aligned to the enhanced trace could be reconstructed accurately. The GPRInvNet has been utilized to reconstruct the permittivity map of tunnel linings. A diverse range of dielectric models of tunnel linings containing complex defects has been reconstructed using GPRInvNet. The results have demonstrated that the GPRInvNet is capable of effectively reconstructing complex tunnel lining defects with clear boundaries. Comparative results with existing baseline methods also demonstrated the superiority of the GPRInvNet. For the purpose of generalizing the GPRInvNet to real GPR data, some background noise patches recorded from practical model testing were integrated into the synthetic GPR data to retrain the GPRInvNet. The model testing has been conducted for validation, and experimental results revealed that the GPRInvNet had also achieved satisfactory results with regard to the real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of imposing infection control programmes (ICPs) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) by monitoring the antimicrobial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing guidelines. ICPs and AMS were initiated at the Fourth Hospital from 2013 to 2018. Results and discussion: A total of 2,886 P. aeruginosa isolates were assessed. The antimicrobial resistance trends of the P. aeruginosa strains improved after the intervention measures. Multidrug‐resistant (MDR) and extensively drug‐resistant (XDR) P. aeruginosa contributed to 18.5% and 3.5% of the total P. aeruginosa strains, respectively. Colistin was the most effective antibiotic against 97.6% of XDR‐P. aeruginosa and 99.41% of MDR‐P. aeruginosa. The consumption of alcohol‐based hand gel (ABHG) increased from 0.6 L to 10.8 L per 1,000 patient‐days (PD) (p = 0.005). The yearly consumption of antibiotics decreased from 45 to 37.5 defined daily doses (DDD) per 1,000 PD(p = 0.04). After 2013, the incidence rate of MDR‐P. aeruginosa showed a significant decrease from 22% to 14.1% (p = 0.04), and XDR‐P. aeruginosa decreased from 5.8% to 0.9%. The use of ABHG was negatively related to MDR‐P. aeruginosa morbidity (r = −0.86; p = 0.021). The consumption of antibiotics was positively related to MDR‐P. aeruginosa morbidity (r = 0.86; p = 0.021). What is new and Conclusion: Successful control of MDR‐P. aeruginosa resistance was achieved by imposing comprehensive ICPs and AMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion recognition in conversation (ERC) is an important research topic in artificial intelligence. Different from the emotion estimation in individual utterances, ERC requires proper handling of human interactions in conversations. Several approaches have been proposed for ERC and achieved promising results. In this paper, we propose a correction model for previous approaches, called "Dialogical Emotion Correction Network (DECN)". This model aims to automatically correct some errors made by emotion recognition strategies and further improve the recognition performance. Specifically, DECN employs a graphical network to model human interactions in conversations. To further utilize the contextual information, DECN also employs the multi-head attention based bi-directional GRU component. Since DECN is a correction model for ERC, it can be easily integrated with any emotion recognition strategy. Experimental results on the IEMOCAP and MELD datasets verify the effectiveness of our proposed method. DECN can improve the performance of emotion recognition strategies with few parameters and low computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-dependent shear motion of dust particles in a three-dimensional (3-D) strongly coupled dusty plasma under microgravity conditions was investigated using the European Space Agency–Roscosmos facility Plasma-Kristall 4 (PK-4) on the International Space Station (ISS). The dust particles, which were negatively charged, were trapped in a glow discharge plasma powered by a dc voltage that switched its polarity periodically. They self-organized themselves into a structure resembling a cold liquid. A manipulation laser beam of a circular cross section pushed a stream of particles, moving them through the surrounding sample region; its power was modulated using a rectangular pulse, causing an impulsive unsteady flow. At the onset of the impulsive motion, the flow was observed as it grew in space and time. Later, during the steady manipulation, we find the thickness of the flow region fluctuated significantly over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the low redox potential of −3.04 V (vs SHE) and ultrahigh theoretical capacity of 3862 mAh g−1, lithium metal has been considered as promising anode material. However, lithium metal battery has ever suffered a trough in the past few decades due to its safety issues. Over the years, the limited energy density of the lithium‐ion battery cannot meet the growing demands of the advanced energy storage devices. Therefore, lithium metal anodes receive renewed attention, which have the potential to achieve high‐energy batteries. In this review, the history of the lithium anode is reviewed first. Then the failure mechanism of the lithium anode is analyzed, including dendrite, dead lithium, corrosion, and volume expansion of the lithium anode. Further, the strategies to alleviate the lithium anode issues in recent years are discussed emphatically. Eventually, remaining challenges of these strategies and possible research directions of lithium‐anode modification are presented to inspire innovation of lithium anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although commonly thought to produce prostacyclin (prostaglandin I2; PGI2) that evokes vasodilatation and protects vessels from the development of diseases, the endothelial cyclooxygenase (COX)‐mediated metabolism has also been found to release substance(s) called endothelium‐derived contracting factor(s) (EDCF) that causes endothelium‐dependent contraction and implicates in endothelial dysfunction of disease conditions. Various mechanisms have been proposed for the process; however, the major endothelial COX metabolite PGI2, which has been classically considered to activate the I prostanoid receptor (IP) that mediates vasodilatation and opposes the effects of thromboxane (Tx) A2 produced by COX in platelets, emerges as a major EDCF in health and disease conditions. Our recent studies from genetically altered mice further suggest that vasomotor reactions to PGI2 are collectively modulated by IP, the vasoconstrictor Tx‐prostanoid receptor (TP; the prototype receptor of TxA2) and E prostanoid receptor‐3 (EP3; a vasoconstrictor receptor of PGE2) although with differences in potency and efficacy; a contraction to PGI2 reflects activities of TP and/or EP3 outweighing that of the concurrently activated IP. Here, we discuss the history of endothelium‐dependent contraction, evidences that support the above hypothesis, proposed mechanisms for the varied reactions to endothelial PGI2 synthesis as well as the relation of its dilator activity to the effect of another NO‐independent vasodilator mechanism, the endothelium‐derived hyperpolarizing factor. Also, we address the possible pathological and therapeutic implications as well as questions remaining to be resolved or limitations of our above findings obtained from genetically altered mouse models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bonding quality of bronze/steel bimetallic laminated composite is the key factor to whether it can be used in poor working conditions. In this study, bimetallic billets were prepared by the protective atmosphere casting process. The microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties and interface bonding mechanism of the bronze/steel bimetallic composites were analyzed comprehensively through a series of microstructure analysis (inicluding OM, SEM, and EDS) and mechanical properties tests. The experimental results demonstrate that the vaporization of lead (Pb) element in the bronze is only 0.4% in weight, and alloy elements are diffused into both sides at the interface. Moreover, the hardness in the bronze region exceeds 100.0 HV which indicates excellent wear resistance. Tensile and shear tests indicate that the fractures mainly occur on the bronze side with the interaction of the brittle fracture of Pb particles and the ductile fracture of Cu-Sn solid solution. The maximum tensile strength and shear strength reach 204.0 MPa and 211.0 MPa, respectively. These results demonstrate that the protective atmosphere casting process is applicable for the preparation of bronze/steel bimetallic laminated composite with high quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the large time behavior of a quasilinear attraction–repulsion chemotaxis model with nonlinear secretion: ut = ∇ · (D(u)∇u − χΦ(u)∇v + ξΨ(u)∇w) + λu − μuϵ; 0 = Δ v − α 1 v + β 1 u γ 1 ; 0 = Δ w − α 2 w + β 2 u γ 2 , x ∈ Ω, t > 0. We show that the global-in-time bounded smooth solution of the system converges exponentially/algebraically to steady state in the large time limit. Those results generalize some of our previous results [G. Ren and B. Liu, Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci. 30(13), 2619–2689 (2020) and G. Ren and B. Liu, J. Differ. Equations 268(8), 4320–4373 (2020)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the decreasing cost and availability of many newly developed bioinformatics pipelines, next‐generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized plant systematics in recent years. Genome skimming has been widely used to obtain high‐copy fractions of the genomes, including plastomes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). In this study, through simulations, we evaluated the optimal (minimum) sequencing depth and performance for recovering single‐copy nuclear genes (SCNs) from genome skimming data, by subsampling genome resequencing data and generating 10 data sets with different sequencing coverage in silico. We tested the performance of four data sets (plastome, nrDNA, mtDNA, and SCNs) obtained from genome skimming based on phylogenetic analyses of the Vitis clade at the genus level and Vitaceae at the family level, respectively. Our results showed that optimal minimum sequencing depth for high‐quality SCNs assembly via genome skimming was about 10× coverage. Without the steps of synthesizing baits and enrichment experiments, coupled with incredibly low sequencing costs, we showcase that deep genome skimming (DGS) is as effective for capturing large data sets of SCNs as the widely used Hyb‐Seq approach, in addition to capturing plastomes, mtDNA, and entire nrDNA repeats. DGS may serve as an efficient and economical alternative and may be superior to the popular target enrichment/Hyb‐Seq approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the Keller–Segel–Navier–Stokes model with indirect signal production in a three-dimensional (3D) bounded domain with smooth boundary. When the logistic-type degradation here is weaker than the usual quadratic case, it is proved that for any sufficiently regular initial data, the associated no-flux/no-flux/no-flux/Dirichlet problem possesses at least one globally defined solution in an appropriate generalized sense, and that this solution is uniformly bounded in L 1 (Ω) × L p (Ω) × L 2 (Ω) × L 2 (Ω ; ℝ 3) with any p ≥ 1. Moreover, under an explicit condition on the chemotactic sensitivity, these solutions are shown to stabilize toward the corresponding spatially homogeneous state in the sense of some suitable norms. We underline that the same results were established for the corresponding system with direct signal production in a well-known result if the degradation is quadratic. Our result rigorously confirms that the indirect signal production mechanism genuinely contributes to the global solvability of the 3D Keller–Segel–Navier–Stokes system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the nature of gas hydrates in the Makran area, new high-resolution geophysical data were acquired between 2018–2019. The data collected comprise multibeam and two-dimensional multi-channel seismic reflection data. The multibeam bathymetry data show East-North-East (ENE) ridges, piggy-back basins, canyon and channel systems, and the morphology of the abyssal plain. Continuous and discontinuous bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) occur in the piggy-back basins on most of the seismic profiles available. The BSRs cut the dipping layers with strong amplitude and reversed polarity. Discontinuous BSRs indicate a transition along a dipping high-permeable sand layers from gas-rich segment to the gas hydrate-bearing segment and suggest alternating sediments of fine and relatively coarse grain size. Double BSRs are highly dynamic and attributed to slumps occurring in the study area. The BSRs induced by slumps are located both at deep and shallow depths, responding to the temperature or pressure variation. For the first time, BSRs are observed in the abyssal plain of the Makran area, being associated with anticline structures, which do not show large spatial continuity and are strongly conditioned by structural conditions such as anticlines and fluid migration pathways, including deep fault, gas chimney, and high-permeable sedimentary layer. Our results may help to assess the gas hydrate potential within the piggy-back basins and to determine the most promising target areas. Moreover, results about the abyssal plain BSR may help to locate hydrocarbon reservoirs in the deep ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Critical illness in the intensive care unit (ICU) has been a global health priority. Systemic nutritional status has turned out to be related to the prognosis of critically ill patients. The albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) has been reported to be a novel prognostic factor of many diseases. This study is aimed at investigating whether the AGR could predict the mortality risk in critically ill patients. Methods. We enrolled 582 adult patients admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU). We collected the clinical and laboratory data. X-tile software was used to determine the optimal cut-off values for the AGR. Patients were divided into three groups according to the AGR (low AGR group with AGR < 0.8 , medium AGR group with AGR ranging from 0.8 to 1.1, and high AGR group with AGR > 1.1). Kaplan-Meier analysis was used for survival analysis. A Cox proportional hazard model was applied to the univariate and multivariate analyses for the potential predictors associated with survival. Results. Our present study showed that the AGR was related to the 28-day survival of critically ill patients in the RICU. The rate of pneumonia in the low AGR group was significantly higher than that in the other groups. Patients with a lower AGR present an increased risk of 28-day mortality compared to patients with a higher AGR. Cox regression analysis showed that the AGR might be an independent predictor of prognosis to 28-day survival in critically ill patients in the RICU. Medium and high AGR values remained independently associated with better 28-day survival than low AGR values (HR: 0.484 (0.263-0.892) (p = 0.02); HR: 0.332 (0.166-0.665) (p = 0.002)). Conclusion. The AGR might be an independent predictor of prognosis in critically ill patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological studies have illustrated that speech can be used as a biomarker to analyze the severity of depression and different frequency bands of the speech spectrum contribute unequally for depression detection. To this end, we propose a Time-Frequency Attention (TFA) component and combine it with the Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE) component to form our Time-Frequency Channel Attention (TFCA) block for emphasizing those discriminative timestamps, frequency bands and channels. In addition, considering the time-frequency attributes of the data, a Time-Frequency Channel Vectorization (TFCV) block is proposed to vectorize the tensor. Furthermore, we merge the proposed blocks (i.e., TFCA and TFCV blocks) and the two blocks (i.e., Dense block and Transition Layer) of the DenseNet into a unified architecture to form our Time-Frequency Channel Attention and Vectorization (TFCAV) network. In this way, to predict the depression level of an individual, we firstly introduce the sphere embedding normalization method to preprocess the long-term logarithmic amplitude spectrum for maintaining the time-frequency attributes and divide it into segments. Then, these segments are input into the TFCAV network to obtain the depression scores. Finally, the average of scores is taken as the result corresponding to the long-term spectrum. Our method is validated on two challenging databases, i.e., AVEC2013 and AVEC2014 depression databases. The experimental performance illustrates the superiority of the proposed network over some previous methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doped semiconductor, a newly discovered plasmonic nanomaterial, has attracted tremendous interest due to its tunable properties. In the field of photocatalysis, the perfect combination of metal-like and semiconductor properties makes it the replacement and supplement of metal plasmonic nanomaterials. This new plasmonic photocatalysis offers high conversion efficiencies and wide optical absorption range with low fabrication costs. This article reviews the recent developments and achievements by which the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in non-metal plasmonic nanomaterial for photocatalytic applications, including pure non-metal plasmonic photocatalysts and various enhancement strategies such as doping, co-catalyst, heterojunction, LSPR coupling and upconversion luminescence enhancement. It broadens the horizons for plasmonics in the study of photocatalysis and even in energy-related applications. • LSPR in doped semiconductor opens up a new strategy of plasmonic. • It has unique advantage of integrating metal-like and semiconductor properties. • This allows photocatalyst to expand absorption range and promote charges separation. • Non-toxic and low cost are key supplement for the promising wide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact damage tolerance of ceramic matrix composites and contrasts their tensile and compression strengths under impact and nonimpact conditions. The representative C/SiC composites from PIP are examined under the dropped tip system. In this paper, the surface impact test of C/SiC composites is carried out. By testing a series of specimens of various impact energies, the tensile and compression properties after impact are studied. Meanwhile, by comparing the changes of the specimens after impact and nonimpact, the fracture process, fracture modes, and residual strength are investigated. The results indicate that the residual tensile strength after impact reduces greatly, compared with the nonimpact material, by about 25%–45%, while the compression strength reduces slightly. The residual strength of tension and compression illustrates that low-energy impact effect on the structural integrity must be given priority in the thermal protection structure design of astronautics and aeronautics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many proposed scenarios for black hole (BH) mergers involve a tertiary companion that induces von Zeipel–Lidov–Kozai (ZLK) eccentricity cycles in the inner binary. An attractive feature of such mechanisms is the enhanced merger probability when the octupole-order effects, also known as the eccentric Kozai mechanism, are important. This can be the case when the tertiary is of comparable mass to the binary components. Since the octupole strength [∝(1 − q)/(1 + q)] increases with decreasing binary mass ratio q , such ZLK-induced mergers favour binaries with smaller mass ratios. We use a combination of numerical and analytical approaches to fully characterize the octupole-enhanced binary BH mergers and provide semi-analytical criteria for efficiently calculating the strength of this enhancement. We show that for hierarchical triples with semimajor axial ratio a / a out ≳ 0.01–0.02, the binary merger fraction can increase by a large factor (up to ∼20) as q decreases from unity to 0.2. The resulting mass-ratio distribution for merging binary BHs produced in this scenario is in tension with the observed distribution obtained by the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration, although significant uncertainties remain about the initial distribution of binary BH masses and mass ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing depth of coalbed methane (CBM) exploitation, temperature becomes the main factor affecting the efficiency of CBM exploitation. The change of temperature has significant influence on the mineral composition and pore structure of coal. To study the effects of thermal treatment on mineral composition and pore structure of coal, X-ray diffraction (XRD) test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test, and mercury intrusion test were carried out for three groups of coal. The mineral composition and pore structure of coal specimens after thermal treatment (25, 50, 75, and 100°C) were analyzed. The results show that the main mineral compositions of three groups of coal specimens after different temperatures are basically unchanged, and the maximum diffracted intensity after different temperature treatments decreases first and then increases with the increasing temperature. The count of fissures decreases first and then increases with temperature, and the count of pores increases first and then decreases with the increasing temperature. The velocity of mercury injection in high pressure (100~400 MPa) of coal specimens increases first and then decreases with temperature. The porosity, pore area, median pore diameter, and average pore diameter increase with the increasing temperatures. The volume of microfracture decreases, then increases, and finally decreases. The volume of macropore and mesopore increases slowly, and that of transition pore decreases slowly with the increasing temperature. Meanwhile, the volume of micropore increases first and then decreases during the process of thermal treatment. The fractal dimension of pore size ranges from 2.6 to 2.9 and increases linearly with the increasing temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxin response factors (ARFs) play crucial roles in auxin-mediated response, whereas molecular genetics of ARF genes was seldom investigated in Setaria italica, an important crop and C4 model plant. In the present study, genome-wide evolutionary analysis of ARFs was performed in S. italica. Twenty-four SiARF genes were identified and unevenly distributed on eight of the nine chromosomes in S. italica. Duplication mode exploration implied that 13 SiARF proteins were originated from whole-genome duplication and suffered purifying selection. Phylogeny reconstruction of SiARFs by maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining trees revealed SiARFs could be divided into four clades. SiARFs clustered within the same clade shared similar gene structure and protein domain composition, implying functional redundancy. Moreover, amino acid composition of the middle regions was conserved in SiARFs belonged to the same clade. SiARFs were categorized into either activators or repressors according to the enrichment of specific amino acids. Intrinsic disorder was featured in the middle regions of ARF activators. Finally, expression profiles of SiARFs under hormone and abiotic stress treatment not only revealed their potential function in stress response but also indicate their functional redundancy. Overall, our results provide insights into evolutionary aspects of SiARFs and benefit for further functional characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-independent estimation of H0 and ΩK can provide clues about the origin of the intractable Hubble constant tension and the current cosmic-curvature crisis. Strongly lensed fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been proposed as precision probes of the universe since the time delay ∼ (10 days) between images could be precisely measured due to short durations ∼ of this kind of bright radio pulses. Here, on the basis of the distance sum rule, we investigate the capacity of model-independently estimating these two parameters from time-delay distances of strongly lensed FRBs and luminosity distances of the upcoming Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) type Ia supernovae observations. Considering the expected FRB detection rate of upcoming facilities, we find that H0 could be determined to a ∼1% precision and ΩK could be constrained to ∼0.1 simultaneously from 10 lensed FRBs. These estimations, which are independent of the energy contents of the universe and validity of Einstein's equation on cosmological scales, will be complementary to popular probes and of great importance for clarifying the current crises of cosmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterise bounded and compact generalised weighted composition operators acting from the weighted Bergman space Apω, where 0 and ω belongs to the class D of radial weights satisfying a two-sided doubling condition, to a Lebesgue space Lqν. On the way, we establish a new embedding theorem on weighted Bergman spaces Apω which generalises the well-known characterisation of the boundedness of the differentiation operator Dnn(ƒ) = ƒ(n) from the classical weighted Bergman space Apα to the Lebesgue space Lqμ, induced by a positive Borel measure μ, to the setting of doubling weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operational performance in the low-voltage distribution network (LVDN) can be undermined by its inherent unbalances, which may become worse as the penetration of rooftop solar continuously increases. To address this issue, load balancing via phase-reconfiguration devices (PRDs), which can change phase positions of residential customers as required, provides a cost-efficient option. However, most reported approaches to control PRDs require that demands of all residential customers are available, which are not viable for many LVDNs without smart meters or advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) installed. To bridging the gap in this field, this paper proposes a novel method to control PRDs purely based on measurable data from PRDs, and its controller. Based on limited information, sensitivity analysis in the network with PRDs is studied, followed by the optimization model that comprehensively considers operational requirements in the network. Moreover, slack variables are introduced to the model, and penalized in the objective function to assure either a strategy that is secure or with minimized violations can always be provided. The model is a challenging mixed-integer non-convex programming (MINCP) problem, which is reformulated as an efficient solvable mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) based on exact reformulations or accurate linear approximations. Simulations based on two modified IEEE systems, and a real system in Australia demonstrate that an efficient strategy can be provided to mitigate unbalances in the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C10H6BrCl2N3, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 9.2229(13) Å, b = 14.709(2) Å, c = 8.6472(13) Å, β = 104.851(3)°, V = 1133.9(3) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0312, wRref(F2) = 0.0839, T = 173 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C10H6BrCl2N3, monoclinic, P21/c (no. 14), a = 9.2229(13) Å, b = 14.709(2) Å, c = 8.6472(13) Å, β = 104.851(3)°, V = 1133.9(3) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0312, wRref(F2) = 0.0839, T = 173 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in a variety of biological functions, including tumor proliferation, apoptosis, progression, and metastasis. lncRNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is overexpressed in various cancers, as well as osteosarcoma (OS); however, its underlying mechanism in OS is poorly understood. This investigation aims to elucidate the mechanisms of MALAT1 in OS proliferation and migration and to provide theoretical grounding for further targeted therapy in OS. Methods. In the present study, we applied qRT-PCR to assess the MALAT1 expression in OS tissues and cell lines. The effects of MALAT1 and miR-124-3p on OS cell proliferation and migration were studied by CCK-8 and scratch assays. Cell cycle and apoptosis were tested using a flow cytometer. The competing relationship between MALAT1 and miR-124-3p was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results. MALAT1 was overexpressed in OS cell lines and tissue specimens, and knockdown of MALAT1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration and increased cell apoptosis and the percentage of G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, MALAT1 could directly bind to miR-124-3p and inhibit miR-124-3p expression. Moreover, MALAT1 overexpression significantly relieved the inhibition on OS cell proliferation mediated by miR-124-3p overexpression, which involved the derepression of sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1). Conclusions. We propose that lncRNA MALAT1 interacts with miR-124-3p to modulate OS progression by targeting SphK1. Hence, we identified a novel MALAT1/miR-124-3p/SphK1 signaling pathway in the regulation of OS biological behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we concern with the haptotaxis system modeling oncolytic virotherapy. We present the global classical solution under appropriate regularity assumptions on the initial data. Our results generalize some well‐known results in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Salmonella is a major bacterial pathogen associated with a large number of outbreaks of foodborne diseases. Many highly virulent serovars that cause human illness belong to Salmonella serogroup C1, and Salmonella ser. Choleraesuis is a prominent cause of invasive infections in Asia. Comparative genomic analysis in our previous study showed that two homologous genes, SC0368 and SC0595 in Salmonella ser. Choleraesuis were unique to serogroup C1. In this study, two single-deletion mutants (Δ0368 and Δ0595) and one double-deletion mutant (Δ0368Δ0595) were constructed based on the genome. All these mutants and the wild-type strain were subjected to RNA-Seq analysis to reveal functional relationships of the two serogroup C1-specific genes. Results: Data from RNA-Seq indicated that deletion of SC0368 resulted in defects in motility through repression of σ28 in flagellar regulation Class 3. Consistent with RNA-Seq data, results from transmission electron microcopy (TEM) showed that flagella were not present in △0368 and △0368△0595 mutants resulting in both swimming and swarming defects. Interestingly, the growth rates of two non-motile mutants △0368 and △0368△0595 were significantly greater than the wild-type, which may be associated with up-regulation of genes encoding cytochromes, enhancing bacterial proliferation. Moreover, the △0595 mutant was significantly more invasive in Caco-2 cells as shown by bacterial enumeration assays, and the expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core synthesis-related genes (rfaB, rfaI, rfaQ, rfaY, rfaK, rfaZ) was down-regulated only in the △0368△0595 mutant. In addition, this study also speculated that these two genes might be contributing to serotype conversion for Salmonella C1 serogroup based on their apparent roles in biosynthesis of LPS and the flagella. Conclusion: A combination of biological and transcriptomic (RNA-Seq) analyses has shown that the SC0368 and SC0595 genes are involved in biosynthesis of flagella and complete LPS, as well as in bacterial growth and virulence. Such information will aid to revealing the role of these specific genes in bacterial physiology and evolution within the serogroup C1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of a freely vibrating circular cylinder subject to cross buoyancy are numerically investigated at low Reynolds numbers. The structural responses and onset of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) are documented over a range of parameter space, 2.0 ≤ reduced velocity (Ur) ≤ 10.0 , 0.7 ≤ Prandtl number (Pr) ≤ 10.0 and 0.5 ≤ Richardson number (Ri) ≤ 2.0. The fluid and structural coefficients are chosen as Reynolds number (R e) = 100 , mass ratio (m *) = 10.0 , and damping ratio (ζ) = 0.01. A phenomenon of secondary VIV lock-in is found in the cases of Ri = 2.0 (the cross buoyancy effect becomes influential), P r ≲ 2.0 and U r ≳ 7.0. An extended VIV lock-in region is formed over a wide range of reduced velocity values together with a tremendous kinetic energy transfer between fluid and structure. This finding is significant for the research of hydropower harvesting. On the other hand, the influence of structural dynamics on heat convection over the surface of a heated circular cylinder is recorded and discussed as well. The significance and mutual influence between Prandtl and Richardson numbers on hydrodynamics, structural dynamics, and heat convection are discussed in detail. The temperature contours are found concentrating around the cylinder's surface in the cases of high Prandtl numbers, which are also associated with higher mean Nusselt number ( N u ¯ ) values. The influence on heat convection over a cylinder's surface is quantified via the computation of N u ¯ and its fluctuation for different circumstances. The energy transfer coefficient is employed to quantify the kinetic energy transfer between the fluid and a heated structure in mixed convective flow. The phase angle difference between the transverse displacement and lift force is used to support the discussions of energy transfer in fluid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of heat priming, triggering alteration of secondary metabolite pathway fluxes and pools to enhance heat tolerance is not well understood. Achillea millefolium is an important medicinal herbal plant, rich in terpenoids and phenolics. In this study, the potential of heat priming treatment (35°C for 1 hr) to enhance tolerance of Achillea plants upon subsequent heat shock (45°C for 5 min) stress was investigated through recovery (0.5–72 hr). The priming treatment itself had minor impacts on photosynthesis, led to moderate increases in the emission of lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway volatiles and isoprene, and to major elicitation of monoterpene and benzaldehyde emissions in late stages of recovery. Upon subsequent heat shock, in primed plants, the rise in LOX and reduction in photosynthetic rate (A) was much less, stomatal conductance (gs) was initially enhanced, terpene emissions were greater and recovery of A occurred faster, indicating enhanced heat tolerance. Additionally, primed plants accumulated higher contents of total phenolics and condensed tannins at the end of the recovery. These results collectively indicate that heat priming improved photosynthesis upon subsequent heat shock by enhancing gs and synthesis of volatile and non‐volatile secondary compounds with antioxidative characteristics, thereby maintaining the integrity of leaf membranes under stress. Heat priming of Achillea millefolium plants improved tolerance of photosynthesis to subsequent heat shock stress and increased terpene emissions and phenolics accumulation, emphasizing the functional role of secondary metabolites in enhancing resistance to severe heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that the demagnetization effect of the pipeline wall affects the detection accuracy and detection range of the pipelines’ weak magnetic stress internal detection (WMSID). This study deals with mathematical modeling of the WMSID under the demagnetization effect. Moreover, the interference characteristics of the demagnetization effect on the weak magnetic signal (WMS) are analytically calculated, and the transfer features of WMSs are studied. Obtained results show that, in the transmission medium, the demagnetization effect produces an interfering magnetic field. It is found that performing the demagnetization effect calculation can reduce the calculation error of the mathematical model by 27.6%. Moreover, the demagnetization impact on the pipeline wall material complicates detecting the stress concentration zone (SCZ) on the pipeline’s outer wall. Normal component WMS has high stability in the pipeline wall material so that it is an appropriate choice for detecting the SCZ on the pipeline’s outer wall. Finally, the BiHill function is introduced to fit the excitation curve of the WMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metal magnetic memory (MMM) inspection technology is an effective method to detect the stress damage of ferromagnetic materials, and it especially possesses great application potential in the field of long-distance oil and gas pipeline weld crack detection. In order to study the MMM generation mechanism and the signal feature of weld cracks, a model to quantitatively calculate the MMM signal of nonuniform magnetic charge of internal inspection is proposed. The effect of changes to the crack depth, the crack width, and the pipeline internal pressure on the MMM signal is studied, and the theoretical results have been proved by extensive experimental studies. The results indicate that the axial component has only one peak value, while the radial component has two pairs of independent and zero-crossing peak-to-peak values, of which the outside pair corresponds to the weld and the inside pair corresponds to the crack. The feature values change nonlinearly with the crack depth, and the growth rate decreases gradually. The feature values increase linearly with the crack width, and the radial component is more sensitive to width than the axial component. The internal pressure will increase the stress concentration around the weld and the crack, but the stress around the crack responds more sensitively. Therefore, the MMM signal is positively correlated with the internal pressure, and the feature value will increase linearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low cost, wearable textile-based respiratory sensing system is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A highly sensitive D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor that responds to bending is integrated into an elastic band structure to form a respiratory sensing system. The curvature sensing experiments were conducted on the D-shaped POF sensor, which has a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9977. The system can be used to monitor not only the respiratory rate (RR) of the human body under different movement states (resting, walking, and running) but also the RR of steady and unsteady respiratory signals due to different physiological states. In addition, using the proposed signal processing technique, the interference of motion noise can be removed and the influence of body movement on the sensor response can be eliminated. The advantages of the system are its low cost, compactness, and simplicity in design. Thus, the application of the proposed respiratory sensing system provides a simple and inexpensive optical solution for wearable health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A good novel can often elicit from a reader strong sentiments similar to the moods, feelings, and attitudes depicted in the novel. With the rapid progress in AI, sentiment-based arcs in novels can now be reliably extracted and used to summarize the novel's plot in the story arc. Are there salient mathematical properties that underlie such story arcs and have far-reaching implications in the writing, adaptation, and reading of the novel? To gain insights into this question, we employ multifractal theory to characterize the narrative coherence and dynamic evolution of sentiments of the novel, Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature as an example. Three methods are compared for fractal scaling analysis, the classic variance-time method, an improvement of the variance-time relation based on adaptive filtering, and adaptive fractal analysis. We find that while variance-time relation fails to accurately extract the fractal scaling exponent, adaptive fractal analysis succeeds in fully characterizing the fractal variations in the sentiment dynamics. The finding may be indicative of the potential that multifractal theory has for computational narratology and large-scale literary analysis, especially for inferring the degree of narrative coherence and variation of the plot of a novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production function has always been an active field in the research and application of economics. Researchers generally use the production function of constant elasticity of substitution, i.e., the C–D (Cobb–Douglas) production function and the CES (Constant Elasticity of Substitution) production function, to explore economic growth, but rarely use the VES (Variable Elasticity of Substitution) production function. The paper gives an extended VES production function model in the case the elasticity of substitution is a time linear function. With regard to the parameter estimation, the paper uses a modern intelligent algorithm, i.e., the PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) algorithm. The conventional PSO algorithm has a low rate and the poor accuracy of convergence, so the paper proposes an improved PSO algorithm. In the final part, the paper calculates the contribution rates of influencing factors to Chinese economic growth, and the results are consistent with the actual situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature segregates fundamental tasks such as information storage/transmission and catalysis between two different compound classes (e.g. polynucleotides for replication and folded polyamides for catalysis). This division of labor is likely a product of evolution, raising the question of how simpler systems in which replicators and folded macromolecules co‐exist may emerge in the transition from chemistry to biology. In synthetic systems, achieving co‐existence of replicators and foldamers in a single molecular network remains an unsolved problem. Previous work on dynamic molecular networks has given rise to either self‐replicating fibers or well‐defined foldamer structures (or completely un‐sorted complex systems). We report a system in which two cross‐reactive dithiol (nucleobase‐ and peptide‐based) building blocks self‐sort into a replicator fiber and foldamer that both emerge spontaneously and co‐exist. The self‐sorting behavior remains prevalent across different building block ratios as two phases of emergence occur: replicator growth followed by foldamer formation. This is attributed to the autocatalytic formation of the replicator fiber, followed by enrichment of the system in the remaining building block, which is subsequently incorporated into a foldamer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature segregates fundamental tasks such as information storage/transmission and catalysis between two different compound classes (e.g. polynucleotides for replication and folded polyamides for catalysis). This division of labor is likely a product of evolution, raising the question of how simpler systems in which replicators and folded macromolecules co‐exist may emerge in the transition from chemistry to biology. In synthetic systems, achieving co‐existence of replicators and foldamers in a single molecular network remains an unsolved problem. Previous work on dynamic molecular networks has given rise to either self‐replicating fibers or well‐defined foldamer structures (or completely un‐sorted complex systems). We report a system in which two cross‐reactive dithiol (nucleobase‐ and peptide‐based) building blocks self‐sort into a replicator fiber and foldamer that both emerge spontaneously and co‐exist. The self‐sorting behavior remains prevalent across different building block ratios as two phases of emergence occur: replicator growth followed by foldamer formation. This is attributed to the autocatalytic formation of the replicator fiber, followed by enrichment of the system in the remaining building block, which is subsequently incorporated into a foldamer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The five-axis tool path generated by CAM software usually consists of a series of linear paths. The tangent direction at the corner of the adjacent line segment will suddenly change, and the curvature is also discontinuous, which will cause vibration and shock during the machining process. Thus, a global corner smoothing algorithm based on cubic NURBS interpolation is proposed to smooth the linear paths in this paper, so as to achieve G2 continuous for five-axis linear paths. The algorithm proposed does not require matrix operations to solve the control points, and it can also reduce the number of control points while satisfying the interpolation error. The algorithm is then used to generate smooth NURBS path for ceramic core burrs and blockage repair. The simulation and experiment show that the algorithm proposed can satisfy the error constraints, reduce the vibration of the motion axis, and improve the surface quality of laser cutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large amounts of anthropogenic CO2 emissions associated with increased fossil fuel consumption have led to global warming. Upgrading CO2 and water into solar fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, etc., is believed to be one of the best methods to address this serious problem. Herein, we focus on introducing our endeavor of developing the photoelectrochemical water splitting reaction system, constructing the (photo)electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction system, and realizing the artificial leaves. This paper consists of a brief introduction, representative applications, and related mechanisms. These research results would be helpful to achieve sustainable development in our society based on the use of solar energy. What is the most important personality for scientific research? Courage and perseverance to overcome difficulties in new research fields. Who influences you mostly in your life? George M. Whitesides. What is the most favorite and original chemistry developed in your research group? Regulating electronic structure and defects of catalysts for artificial photosynthesis. How do you supervise your students? Share the latest research results with students and discuss with them frequently to help them develop their scientific skills. How do you keep balance between research and family? Organize and plan ahead of time. Make flexible schedules. What are your hobbies? Hiking and swimming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here on protein–antibody conjugates (PACs) that are used for antibody‐directed delivery of protein therapeutics to specific cells. PACs have the potential to judiciously combine the merits of two prolific therapeutic approaches—biologics and antibody–drug conjugates. We utilize spherical polymer brushes to construct PACs using the combination of two simple and efficient functionally orthogonal click chemistries. In addition to the synthesis and characterization of these nanoparticles, we demonstrate that PACs are indeed capable of specifically targeting cells based on the presence of target antigen on the cell surface to deliver proteins. The potentially broad adaptability of PACs opens up new opportunities for targeted biologics in therapeutics and sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moods, feelings, and attitudes represented in a novel will resonate in the reader by activating similar sentiments. It is generally accepted that sentiment analysis can capture aspects of such moods, feelings, and attitudes and can be used to summarize a novel's plot in a story arc. With the availability of a number of algorithms to automatically extract sentiment-based story arcs, new approaches for their utilization becomes pertinent. We propose to use nonlinear adaptive filtering and fractal analysis in order to analyze the narrative coherence and dynamic evolution of a novel. Using Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature as an illustrative example, we show that: (1) nonlinear adaptive filtering can extract a story arc that reflects the tragic trend of the novel; (2) the story arc displays persistent dynamics as measured by the Hurst exponent at short and medium timescales; (3) the plot's dynamic evolution is reflected in the time-varying Hurst exponent. We argue that these findings are indicative of the potential that multifractal theory has for computational narratology and large-scale literary analysis. Specifically that the global Hurst exponent of a story arc is an index of narrative coherence that can identify bland, incoherent, and coherent narratives on a continuous scale. And, further, that the local time-varying Hurst exponent captures variation of a novel's plot such that the extrema have specific narratological interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report here on protein–antibody conjugates (PACs) that are used for antibody‐directed delivery of protein therapeutics to specific cells. PACs have the potential to judiciously combine the merits of two prolific therapeutic approaches—biologics and antibody–drug conjugates. We utilize spherical polymer brushes to construct PACs using the combination of two simple and efficient functionally orthogonal click chemistries. In addition to the synthesis and characterization of these nanoparticles, we demonstrate that PACs are indeed capable of specifically targeting cells based on the presence of target antigen on the cell surface to deliver proteins. The potentially broad adaptability of PACs opens up new opportunities for targeted biologics in therapeutics and sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the chemotaxis system with indirect signal production and logistic-type source under homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a bounded domain with smooth boundary. A unique global classical solution is obtained under a critical parameter condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wilson's disease (WD) is a rare autosomal recessive disease associated with defective biliary excretion of copper. The simultaneous occurrence of WD and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has seldom been reported. Therefore, this study aimed to report the co-occurrence of SLE and WD with hepatic involvement in a patient so as to improve the understanding of the coexistence of these two conditions.Case Presentation: A 35-year-old woman with SLE was found to have liver fibrosis during a routinely abdominal ultrasound examination. Her laboratory evaluation showed low serum ceruloplasmin and high 24 h urine copper levels. The slit-lamp examination revealed the presence of Kayseri-Fleischer ring in her cornea. Liver biopsy demonstrated the enlargement of the portal area with hyperplasia of the fibrous tissue, infiltration of lymphoid plasma cells, swelling of hepatocytes, and steatosis, demonstrating liver fibrosis. Ensuing genetic testing confirmed the diagnosis of WD.Conclusions: Clinicians should bear in mind that unexplained liver fibrosis in patients with SLE may be related to WD, so as to avoid a missed or delayed diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is more commonly associated with young patients, featuring high histological grade, visceral metastasis, and distant recurrence. Follistatin (FST) is a secreted extracellular regulatory protein that antagonizes TGF-β superfamily such as activin and TGF-β related superfamily such as bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). The implication of FST in the proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis of solid tumors documents good or poor outcome of patients with BC. However, the role of FST in TNBC remains unclear. Methods: Data of 935 patients with breast cancer (BC) were extracted from TCGA. Case–control study, Kaplan–Meier, uni-multivariate COX, and ROC curve were utilized to investigate the relationship between FST expression and the clinical characteristics and prognosis of BC. Functional studies were used to analyze the effect of FST expression on proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion of TNBC cell lines. Bioinformatic methods such as volcanoplot, GO annd KEGG enrichment, and protein–protein interactions (PPI) analyses were conducted to further confirm the different roles of FST in the apoptotic pathways among mesenchymal and mesenchymal stem-like cells of TNBC. Results: Data from TCGA showed that low FST expression correlated with poor prognosis (for univariate analysis, HR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.27–0.82, p = 0.008; for multivariate analysis, HR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.21–0.75, p = 0.004). Low FST expression provided high predicted value of poor prognosis in TNBC amongst BCs. FST knockdown promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of BT549 and HS578T cell lines. FST inhibited the apoptosis of mesenchymal cells by targeting BMP7. Conclusions: Low FST expression is associated with poor prognosis of patients with TNBC. FST expressions exhibit the anisotropic roles of apoptosis between mesenchymal and mesenchymal stem-like cells but promote the proliferation, migration, invasion in both of two subtypes of TNBC in vitro. FST may be a subtype-heterogeneous biomarker for monitoring the progress of TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until now, the photogenerated charge separation mechanism is not clear in photocatalysis. Based on the structures at the atomic scale of the polar crystal facets with photocatalytic activities, a general separation model of photogenerated charge between polar facets under a spontaneous electric field is presented. This charge separation model is proven by photo‐induced selective redox reactions on polar planes, photovoltaic and rectification effects in the polar direction orientated thin films, and electric field assisted assembly and alignment of semiconductor nanowires grown along the polar direction. This polar structure is similar to a semiconductor p–n junction, which can control the movement of electronic carriers and can be used to fabricate high‐efficiency photocatalysts and electronic and optoelectronic devices based on a new principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]