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Smart respiratory therapy is enabled by continual assessment of lung functions. This systematic review provides an overview of the suitability of equipment-to-patient acoustic imaging in continual assessment of lung conditions. The literature search was conducted using Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, SciELO Preprints, and Google Scholar. Fifteen studies remained for additional examination after the screening process. Two imaging modalities, lung ultrasound (LUS) and vibration imaging response (VRI), were identified. The most common outcome obtained from eleven studies was positive observations of changes to the geographical lung area, sound energy, or both, while positive observation of lung consolidation was reported in the remaining four studies. Two different modalities of lung assessment were used in eight studies, with one study comparing VRI against chest X-ray, one study comparing VRI with LUS, two studies comparing LUS to chest X-ray, and four studies comparing LUS in contrast to computed tomography. Our findings indicate that the acoustic imaging approach could assess and provide regional information on lung function. No technology has been shown to be better than another for measuring obstructed airways; hence, more research is required on acoustic imaging in detecting obstructed airways regionally in the application of enabling smart therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular pressure, a key physical parameter of the intracellular environment, has been found to regulate multiple cell physiological activities and impact cell micromanipulation results. The intracellular pressure may reveal the mechanism of these cells' physiological activities or improve the micro-manipulation accuracy for cells. The involvement of specialized and expensive devices and the significant damage to cell viability that the current intracellular pressure measurement methods cause significantly limit their wide applications. This paper proposes a robotic intracellular pressure measurement method using a traditional micropipette electrode system setup. First, the measured resistance of the micropipette inside the culture medium is modeled to analyze its variation trend when the pressure inside the micropipette increases. Then, the concentration of KCl solution filled inside the micropipette electrode that is suitable for intracellular pressure measurement is determined according to the tested electrode resistance–pressure relationship; 1 mol/L KCl solution is our final choice. Further, the measurement resistance of the micropipette electrode inside the cell is modeled to measure the intracellular pressure through the difference in key pressure before and after the release of the intracellular pressure. Based on the above work, a robotic measurement procedure of the intracellular pressure is established based on a traditional micropipette electrode system. The experimental results on porcine oocytes demonstrate that the proposed method can operate on cells at an average speed of 20~40 cells/day with measurement efficiency comparable to the related work. The average repeated error of the relationship between the measured electrode resistance and the pressure inside the micropipette electrode is less than 5%, and no observable intracellular pressure leakage was found during the measurement process, both guaranteeing the measurement accuracy of intracellular pressure. The measured results of the porcine oocytes are in accordance with those reported in related work. Moreover, a 90% survival rate of operated oocytes was obtained after measurement, proving limited damage to cell viability. Our method does not rely on expensive instruments and is conducive to promotion in daily laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone tissue engineering (BTE) utilizes a special mix of scaffolds, cells, and bioactive factors to regulate the microenvironment of bone regeneration and form a three-dimensional bone simulation structure to regenerate bone tissue. Silk fibroin (SF) is perhaps the most encouraging material for BTE given its tunable mechanical properties, controllable biodegradability, and excellent biocompatibility. Numerous studies have confirmed the significance of SF for stimulating bone formation. In this review, we start by introducing the structure and characteristics of SF. After that, the immunological mechanism of SF for osteogenesis is summarized, and various forms of SF biomaterials and the latest development prospects of SF in BTE are emphatically introduced. Biomaterials based on SF have great potential in bone tissue engineering, and this review will serve as a resource for future design and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Versatile Video Coding (VVC) is the latest video coding standard, but currently, most steganographic algorithms are based on High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The concept of symmetry is often adopted in deep neural networks. With the rapid rise of new multimedia, video steganography shows great research potential. This paper proposes a VVC steganographic algorithm based on Coding Units (CUs). Considering the novel techniques in VVC, the proposed steganography only uses chroma CUs to embed secret information. Based on modifying the partition modes of chroma CUs, we propose four different embedding levels to satisfy the different needs of visual quality, capacity and video bitrate. In order to reduce the bitrate of stego-videos and improve the distortion caused by modifying them, we propose a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) as an additional in-loop filter in the VVC codec to achieve better restoration. Furthermore, the proposed steganography algorithm based on chroma components has an advantage in resisting most of the video steganalysis algorithms, since few VVC steganalysis algorithms have been proposed thus far and most HEVC steganalysis algorithms are based on the luminance component. Experimental results show that the proposed VVC steganography algorithm achieves excellent performance on visual quality, bitrate cost and capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-derived drug carriers have increasingly gained the interest of the scientific community due to their ability to imitate various natural properties of their source cells. We developed theranostics nanoplatforms composed of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), indocyanine green (ICG) molecules, microRNAs-137 (miR-137), red-blood-cell membranes (RM), and tumor-targeting cyclo Arg-Gly-Asp-d-Phe-Cys peptides (cRGD(fC)), which were abbreviated as MSNs/ICG/miR/RM/RGD particles. These particles possessed photothermal and gene therapy properties due to ICG and miR-137, respectively. The photothermal conversion efficiency was ~18.7%. Upon 808 nm light irradiation, the tumor inhibition rate reached 94.9% with dosage of 10 mg/kg. The developed nanoplatform possessed unique properties, such as exceptional biocompatibility, immune escaping, and specific recognition, which was also used for near-infrared fluorescence, photoacoustic (PA) bimodal imaging-guided tumor recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving accurate single snapshot direction of arrival (DOA) information significantly improves communication performance. This paper investigates an accurate and high-resolution DOA estimation technique by enabling single snapshot data collection and enhancing DOA estimation results compared to multiple snapshot methods. This is carried out by manipulating the incoming signal covariance matrix while suppressing undesired additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) by actively updating and estimating the antenna array manifold vector. We demonstrated the estimation performance in simulation that our proposed technique supersedes the estimation performance of existing state-of-the-art techniques in various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scenarios and single snapshot sampling environments. Our proposed covariance-based single snapshot (CbSS) technique yields the lowest root-mean-squared error (RMSE) against the true DOA compared to root-MUSIC and the partial relaxation (PR) approach for multiple snapshots and a single signal source environment. In addition, our proposed technique presents the lowest DOA estimation performance degradation in a multiple uncorrelated and coherent signal source environment by up to 25.5% with nearly negligible bias. Lastly, our proposed CbSS technique presents the best DOA estimation results for a single snapshot and single-source scenario with an RMSE of 0.05 ° against the true DOA compared to root-MUSIC and the PR approach with nearly negligible bias as well. A potential application for CbSS would be in a scenario where accurate DOA estimation with a small antenna array form factor is a limitation, such as in the intelligent transportation system industry and wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of repairing significant bone defects requires the recruitment of a considerable number of cells for osteogenesis-related activities, which implies the consumption of a substantial amount of oxygen and nutrients. Therefore, the limited supply of nutrients and oxygen at the defect site is a vital constraint that affects the regenerative effect, which is closely related to the degree of a well-established vascular network. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α), which is an essential transcription factor activated in hypoxic environments, plays a vital role in vascular network construction. HIF-1α, which plays a central role in regulating cartilage and bone formation, induces vascular invasion and differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells to promote and maintain extracellular matrix production by mediating the adaptive response of cells to changes in oxygen levels. However, the application of HIF-1α in bone tissue engineering is still controversial. As such, clarifying the function of HIF-1α in regulating the bone regeneration process is one of the urgent issues that need to be addressed. This review provides insight into the mechanisms of HIF-1α action in bone regeneration and related recent advances. It also describes current strategies for applying hypoxia induction and hypoxia mimicry in bone tissue engineering, providing theoretical support for the use of HIF-1α in establishing a novel and feasible bone repair strategy in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower Cambrian shale and lower Silurian shale are both typical of oil-prone kerogen and siliceous composition, but different in thermal maturities. Porosity differences were determined in marine shales between the two shales. Measurements were utilized including organic geochemistry, XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N2 gas adsorption. Pore volume (PV) of lower Silurian shale was approximately 1.5 times higher than that of lower Cambrian shale, and pore surface area (PSA) of lower Silurian shale was almost 2.5 times higher than that of lower Cambrian shale. Lower Cambrian shale and lower Silurian shale possess similar materials, but distinctive thermal degrees. Evolution mechanisms of different types of pores, especially organic matter (OM)-hosted pores, may trigger this different pore features. Pores of rigid framework are the residue of primary interparticle pores during the burial history. Pores associated with clay flakes can be preserved well adjacent to rigid grains or secondary minerals acting as rigid frameworks or grain supporters. Dissolved pores in both lower Cambrian shale and lower Silurian shale barely contribute to the total porosity and mean little to the permeability. Both excessive OM content and over thermal maturity are detrimental to development of OM-hosted pores. Rigid particles, clay flakes, and OM commonly co-exist within shale matrix. Rigid grains act as supporters, clay flakes confine ample space, and OM first migrates into and provides secondary OM-hosted pores. In this condition, pores can be preserved owing to associating matrix with good mechanic and chemical stability. The significant differences of structural settings result into various hydrocarbon explosion efficiency and different pressure circumstance, which consequently leads to the different pore features between the two shales. For lower Cambrian shale, overpressure circumstance diminish if hydrocarbon expels outside of the shale system, and OM-hosted pores destroy through compaction. Sustaining overpressure and abundant residue hydrocarbon (migrated OM) make positive contributions to the pore properties, in terms of numbers, diameters and connectivity of the lower Silurian shale samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Currently, as a neoadjuvant conversion therapy (NCT), pazopanib combined with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy could improve the pathological response of unresectable soft tissue sarcoma (uSTS). However, there is no available evidence of its effectiveness with respect to tumor reduction and surgical margins. In China, anlotinib is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is approved for STS. In this study, adding anlotinib to adriamycin and ifosfamide resulted in an increased rate of tumor regression, surgical conversion and R0 resection in patients with uSTS, particularly for synovial sarcoma and liposarcoma. Severe toxicities are more frequent than monotherapy, but they are controllable. (1) Background: This study investigated the safety and efficiency of adriamycin and ifosfamide combined with anlotinib (AI/AN) as a neoadjuvant conversion therapy in uSTS. (2) Methods: Patients with uSTS were eligible to receive AI/An, including adriamycin (20 mg/m2/d) and ifosfamide (3 g/m2/d) for the first to the third day combined with anlotinib (12 mg/d) for 2 weeks on/1 week off, all of which combine to comprise one cycle. Surgery was recommended after four cycles of treatment. (3) Results: A total of 28 patients were enrolled from June 2018 to December 2020. The best tumor responses included eight patients with partial responses and 20 with a stable disease. Patients with synovial sarcoma and liposarcoma had a significant decrease in the number of tumors compared with fibrosarcoma (p = 0.012; p = 0.042). The overall response rate and disease control rate were 28.57% and 100%, respectively. In total, 24 patients received surgery, while the rates of limb salvage and R0 resection were 91.67% (n = 22/24) and 87.50% (n = 21/24), respectively. Until the last follow-up visit, the mean PFS and RFS were 21.70 and 23.97 months, respectively. During drug administration, 67.87% of patients had grade ≥3 AEs. No treatment-related death occurred. (4) Conclusions: AI/AN followed by surgery showed favorable efficiency and manageable safety in patients with uSTS. A randomized controlled study with a large cohort should be performed for further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of myocarditis/pericarditis incidences has been reported after coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccination in adolescents and young adults. This study was designed to investigate the incidence rate of—and risk for—myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination in the United States according to age and vaccine type. This study used the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) from 11 December 2020 to 13 August 2021. A population-based data mining approach was performed based on the reporting odds ratio (ROR). Adverse events of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination were rare, with an incidence rate of 5.98 (95% CI = 5.73–6.24) cases per million doses administered. The incidence rate was higher in adolescents and after the administration of the second dose of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Overall, two mRNA vaccines were significantly associated with increased risks for myocarditis/pericarditis (mRNA-1273 (Moderna): ROR = 2.91, 95% CI = 2.21–3.83; BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech): ROR = 5.37, 95% CI = 4.10–7.04) compared to all other vaccines from VAERS. The viral vector vaccine of Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen) was not associated with signals of myocarditis/pericarditis (ROR = 1.39; 95% CI = 0.99–1.97). This study found increased risks for myocarditis/pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. For patients at high risk for myocarditis/pericarditis or with myocardial injuries, the viral vector vaccine may be an alternative for consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subphthalocyanines (SubPcs) are a kind of tripyrrolic macrocycle with a boron atom at their core. Incorporating different units onto the SubPc periphery can endow them with various unique properties. Herein, a series of novel fluorinated low-symmetry SubPc derivatives containing chlorine groups (F8-Cl4-SubPc, F4-Cl8-SubPc) and methoxy groups (F8-(OCH3)2-SubPc) were synthesized and characterized by spectral methods (MS, FT-IR, 1H, 13C, 11B, and 19F NMR spectroscopy), and the effect of the peripheral substituents on their electronic structure of low-symmetry macrocycle was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, theoretical calculation, electronic absorption, and emission spectroscopy. In contrast to perfluorinated SubPcs, these low-symmetry SubPcs revealed non-degenerate LUMO and LUMO + 1 orbitals, especially F8-(OCH3)2-SubPc, which was consistent with the split Q-band absorptions. The cyclic voltammetry revealed that these SubPcs exhibited two or three reduction waves and one oxidation wave, which is consistent with the reported SubPcs. Finally, an intracellular fluorescence imaging study of these compounds revealed that these compounds could enter cancer cells and be entrapped in the lysosomes, which provides a possibility of future applications in lysosome fluorescence imaging and targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity incorporates both domain-general and domain-specific ideas. While previous studies have explored the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) on creativity in both domains, a consensus has not been reached, and the mechanism is currently unclear. In the present study, we examined which aspect of creativity EI was most strongly associated with in a group of undergraduates. Moreover, we explored the moderated mediation effect between EI and domain-specific creativity. In Study 1, 532 undergraduates completed questionnaires measuring EI, convergent and divergent creative thinking, and creative achievement. The results revealed that the most reliable positive correlations were between EI and domain-specific creativity. In Study 2, 926 undergraduates completed measurements of EI, resilience, gratitude, and creative achievement. The results revealed that resilience mediates the relationship between EI and creative achievement. Furthermore, gratitude moderated the indirect effect of EI on creative achievement through resilience. The indirect effect of EI on creative achievement was stronger for high-gratitude individuals than for low-gratitude individuals. This orientation and other results are discussed. Overall, our findings add further nuance to the relationship between EI and creativity in different domains. This study serves as a basis for other contributions aligned with these concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glutathione (GSH) is involved in and regulates important physiological functions of the body as an essential antioxidant. GSH plays an important role in anti-oxidation, detoxification, anti-aging, enhancing immunity and anti-tumor activity. Herein, based on the physiological properties of GSH in different diseases, mainly including the strong reducibility of GSH, high GSH content in tumor cells, and the NADPH depletion when GSSH is reduced to GSH, we extensively report the design principles, effect, and potential problems of various nano-drugs in diabetes, cancer, nervous system diseases, fluorescent probes, imaging, and food. These studies make full use of the physiological and pathological value of GSH and develop excellent design methods of nano-drugs related to GSH, which shows important scientific significance and prominent application value for the related diseases research that GSH participates in or responds to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman microlasers form on-chip versatile light sources by optical pumping, enabling numerical applications ranging from telecommunications to biological detection. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) lasing has been demonstrated in optical microresonators, leveraging high Q factors and small mode volume to generate downconverted photons based on the interaction of light with the Stokes vibrational mode. Unlike redshifted SRS, stimulated anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SARS) further involves the interplay between the pump photon and the SRS photon to generate an upconverted photon, depending on a highly efficient SRS signal as an essential prerequisite. Therefore, achieving SARS in microresonators is challenging due to the low lasing efficiencies of integrated Raman lasers caused by intrinsically low Raman gain. In this work, high-Q whispering gallery microresonators were fabricated by femtosecond laser photolithography assisted chemo-mechanical etching on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), which is a strong Raman-gain photonic platform. The high Q factor reached 4.42 × 106, which dramatically increased the circulating light intensity within a small volume. And a strong Stokes vibrational frequency of 264 cm−1 of lithium niobate was selectively excited, leading to a highly efficient SRS lasing signal with a conversion efficiency of 40.6%. And the threshold for SRS was only 0.33 mW, which is about half the best record previously reported on a TFLN platform. The combination of high Q factors, a small cavity size of 120 μm, and the excitation of a strong Raman mode allowed the formation of SARS lasing with only a 0.46 mW pump threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A smart watch is a kind of emerging wearable device in the Internet of Things. The security and privacy problems are the main obstacles that hinder the wide deployment of smart watches. Existing security mechanisms do not achieve a balance between the privacy-preserving and data access control. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained privacy-preserving access control architecture for smart watches (FPAS). In FPAS, we leverage the identity-based authentication scheme to protect the devices from malicious connection and policy-based access control for data privacy preservation. The core policy of FPAS is two-fold: (1) utilizing a homomorphic and re-encrypted scheme to ensure that the ciphertext information can be correctly calculated; (2) dividing the data requester by different attributes to avoid unauthorized access. We present a concrete scheme based on the above prototype and analyze the security of the FPAS. The performance and evaluation demonstrate that the FPAS scheme is efficient, practical, and extensible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the mechanical behaviors and flow aspects of sandstone have been previously investigated, studies of the effect of the intermediate principal stress (σ2) on the strength, deformation, and permeability of sandstone are lacking. In this work, the mechanical behaviors and permeability of sandstone under true triaxial stress conditions were investigated using a newly developed true triaxial geophysical apparatus. The experimental results showed that with increasing σ2, the peak strength, octahedral effective normal stress, and octahedral effective shear stress of the sandstone increased, and the rate of increase decreased. This is because a larger intermediate principal stress coefficient b has an inhibitory effect on rock strength. In our study, as the ratio of σ2/σ3 increased, the specimen entered compressive strain in the σ2 direction during the first stress drop. The stress and strain path deviations occur during rock failure. The amount of deviation increased as the σ2 increased before the peak stress. This phenomenon indicates that elastic mechanics are not suitable for understanding this sandstone rock during its failure. The permeability evolution of the sandstone under true triaxial stress conditions was measured and analyzed to investigate the effect of σ2. During the complete true triaxial stress-strain experiments, the variation we found in gas seepage velocity could be divided into two stages. Before the first pressure drop, the gas seepage velocity was mainly affected by volume strain. After the first pressure drop, the seepage velocity was affected by the deviator strain, which can change the seepage channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The uterus is an important organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals. The normal growth and development of ruminant uterus caruncles are crucial to maintain gestation and fetal health in goats. The aim of this study was to screen a set of candidate housekeeping genes (HKGs) in Carpra hircus uterus caruncles. Four programs and one comprehensive index were applied to assess the stability of 22 selected HKGs expression during non-pregnant and pregnancy stages. The most and least stable HKGs were used to normalize the target genes expression of SPP1, VEGFA, and PAG8. Traditional reference genes were not suitable for target gene normalization, while PPIB and EIF3K, POP4, PPIA, and SDHA showed the least variation and were recommended as the best HKGs during the nonpregnant stage and the whole stages of goat uterus caruncle tissue, respectively. This study found the suitable HKGs in uterus caruncle tissues at different stages of non-pregnancy and pregnancy. The uterus is a critical pregnancy organ for mammals. The normal growth and development of ruminant uterus caruncles are crucial to maintain gestation and fetal health in goats. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a reliable tool to study gene expression profiling for exploring the intrinsic mechanism underlying the conversion process of uterus caruncle tissue. However, the candidate housekeeping genes (HKGs) are required for normalizing the expression of function genes. In our study, 22 HKGs were selected from analyzing transcriptome data at non-pregnancy and pregnancy processes and previous reports about HKGs in goat tissues. We assessed them for expression suitability in 24 samples from uterus tissues at 15 non-pregnant days (Stage 1), early (Stage 2), and medium-later pregnant days (Stage 3). The expression stability of these genes was evaluated by using geNorm, Normfinder, Bestkeeper, and Delta Ct algorithms and, comprehensively, by ReFinder. In addition, the most and least stable HKGs were used to normalize the target genes expression of SPP1, VEGFA, and PAG8. It was found that traditional reference genes, such as ACTB and GAPDH, were not suitable for target gene normalization. In contrast, PPIB selected from RNA sequencing data and EIF3K selected from previous references showed the least variation and were recommended as the best HKGs during the nonpregnant stage and the whole stages of goat uterus caruncle tissue, respectively. It is the first time the HKGs genes in uterus during the non-pregnant day and throughout the total pregnancy have been explored. These findings found suitable HKGs in uterus caruncle tissues at various stages of non-pregnancy and pregnancy; these can be useful for gene expression studies to reveal the molecular mechanisms of uterus development in goats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A patent false lumen (FL) in patients with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR)-treated type B aortic dissection (TBAD) can cause a significant risk for late aortic expansion (LAE). We hypothesize that preoperative features can predict the occurrence of LAE. Methods: Sufficient preoperative and postoperative follow-up clinical and imaging feature data for patients treated with TEVAR in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 2018 to December 2020 were collected. A univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to find potential risk factors of LAE. Results: Ninety-six patients were finally included in this study. The mean age was 54.5 ± 11.7 years and 85 (88.5%) were male. LAE occurred in 15 (15.6%) of 96 patients after TEVAR. Two preoperative factors showed strong associations with LAE according to the multivariable logistic regression analysis: preoperative partial thrombosis of the FL (OR = 10.989 [2.295–48.403]; p = 0.002) and the maximum descending aortic diameter (OR = 1.385 [1.100–1.743] per mm increase; p = 0.006). Conclusions: Preoperative partial thrombosis of the FL and an increase in the maximum aortic diameter are strongly associated with late aortic expansion. Additional interventions of the FL may help to improve the prognosis of patients with the high risk of late aortic expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperatures are often used to preserve fruits and vegetables. However, low-temperature storage also causes problems, such as chilling injury, nitrite accumulation, and browning aggravation in plants. This study investigated the effects of brassinolide (BR,1.0 mg L−1) solution soaking, storage temperatures (−2 ± 0.5 °C, 4 ± 0.5 °C, and 20 ± 1 °C), and their combinations on nitrite content, color change, and quality of stored Toona sinensis bud. The results showed that low temperature (LT, 4 ± 0.5 °C) and near freezing-point temperature (NFPT, −2 ± 0.5 °C) storage effectively inhibited the decay of T. sinensis bud compared to room temperature (20 ± 1 °C, the control). The combined treatments of BR with LT or NFPT reduced nitrite content and maintained the color and the contents of vitamin C, carotenoids, saponins, β-sitosterol, polyphenol, anthocyanin, flavonoids, and alkaloids in T. sinensis bud. BR soaking delayed the occurrence of chilling injury during NFPT storage. Meanwhile, BR soaking enhanced the DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS activity, and FRAP content by increasing SOD and POD activity and the contents of proline, soluble, and glutathione, thus decreasing MDA and hydrogen peroxide content and the rate of superoxide radical production in T. sinensis bud during NFPT storage. This study provides a valuable strategy for postharvest T. sinensis bud in LT and NFPT storage. BR soaking extended the shelf life during LT storage and maintained a better appearance and nutritional quality during NFPT storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Root-zone CO2 is essential for plant growth and metabolism. However, the partitioning and assimilation processes of CO2 absorbed by roots remain unclear in various parts of the oriental melon. We investigated the time at which root-zone CO2 enters the oriental melon root system, and its distribution in different parts of the plant, using 13C stable isotopic tracer experiments, as well as the effects of high root-zone CO2 on leaf carbon assimilation-related enzyme activities and gene expressions under 0.2%, 0.5% and 1% root-zone CO2 concentrations. The results showed that oriental melon roots could absorb CO2 and transport it quickly to the stems and leaves. The distribution of 13C in roots, stems and leaves increased with an increase in the labeled root-zone CO2 concentration, and the δ13C values in roots, stems and leaves increased initially, and then decreased with an increase in feeding time, reaching a peak at 24 h after 13C isotope labeling. The total accumulation of 13C in plants under the 0.5% and 1% 13CO2 concentrations was lower than that in the 0.2% 13CO2 treatment. However, the distributional proportion of 13C in leaves under 0.5% and 1% 13CO2 was significantly higher than that under the 0.2% CO2 concentration. Photosynthetic carbon assimilation-related enzyme activities and gene expressions in the leaves of oriental melon seedlings were inhibited after 9 days of high root-zone CO2 treatment. According to these results, oriental melon plants' carbon distribution was affected by long-term high root-zone CO2, and reduced the carbon assimilation ability of the leaves. These findings provide a basis for the further quantification of the contribution of root-zone CO2 to plant communities in natural field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is a complex disease that is driven by genetic alterations. There has been a rapid development of genome-wide techniques during the last decade along with a significant lowering of the cost of gene sequencing, which has generated widely available cancer genomic data. However, the interpretation of genomic data and the prediction of the association of genetic variations with cancer and disease phenotypes still requires significant improvement. Missense mutations, which can render proteins non-functional and provide a selective growth advantage to cancer cells, are frequently detected in cancer. Effects caused by missense mutations can be pinpointed by in silico modeling, which makes it more feasible to find a treatment and reverse the effect. Specific human phenotypes are largely determined by stability, activity, and interactions between proteins and other biomolecules that work together to execute specific cellular functions. Therefore, analysis of missense mutations’ effects on proteins and their complexes would provide important clues for identifying functionally important missense mutations, understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and facilitating treatment and prevention. Herein, we summarize the major computational approaches and tools that provide not only the classification of missense mutations as cancer drivers or passengers but also the molecular mechanisms induced by driver mutations. This review focuses on the discussion of annotation and prediction methods based on structural and biophysical data, analysis of somatic cancer missense mutations in 3D structures of proteins and their complexes, predictions of the effects of missense mutations on protein stability, protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, and assessment of conformational changes in protein conformations induced by mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal and gas outburst is one of the major serious natural disasters during underground coal, and the shock air flow produced by outburst has a huge threat on the mine safety. In order to study the two-phase flow of a mixture of pulverized coal and gas of a mixture of pulverized coal and gas migration properties and its shock effect during the process of coal and gas outburst, the coal samples of the outburst coal seam in Yuyang Coal Mine, Chongqing, China were selected as the experimental subjects. By using the self-developed coal and gas outburst simulation test device, we simulated the law of two-phase flow of a mixture of pulverized coal and gas in the roadway network where outburst happened. The results showed that the air in the roadway around the outburst port is disturbed by the shock wave, where the pressure and temperature are abruptly changed. For the initial gas pressure of 0.35 MPa, the air pressure in different locations of the roadway fluctuated and eventually remain stable, and the overpressure of the outburst shock wave was about 20~35 kPa. The overpressure in the main roadway and the distance from the outburst port showed a decreasing trend. The highest value of temperature in the roadway increased by 0.25 °C and the highest value of gas concentration reached 38.12% during the experiment. With the action of shock air flow, the pulverized coal transportation in the roadway could be roughly divided into three stages, which are the accelerated movement stage, decelerated movement stage and the particle settling stage respectively. Total of 180.7 kg pulverized coal of outburst in this experiment were erupted, and most of them were accumulated in the main roadway. Through the analysis of the law of outburst shock wave propagation, a shock wave propagation model considering gas desorption efficiency was established. The relationships of shock wave overpressure and outburst intensity, gas desorption rate, initial gas pressure, cross section and distance of the roadway were obtained, which can provide a reference for the protection of coal and gas outburst and control of catastrophic ventilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from the early stage of a novel infectious disease outbreak provide vital information in risk assessment, prediction, and precise disease management. Since the first reported case of COVID-19, the pattern of the novel coronavirus transmission in Wuhan has become the interest of researchers in epidemiology and public health. To thoroughly map the mechanism of viral spreading, we used the patterns of data at the early onset of COVID-19 from seven countries to estimate the time lag between peak days of cases and deaths. This study compared these data with those of Wuhan and estimated the natural history of disease across the infected population and the time lag. The findings suggest that comparative analyses of data from different regions and countries reveal the differences between peaks of cases and deaths caused by COVID-19 and the incomplete and underestimated cases in Wuhan. Different countries may show different patterns of cases peak days, deaths peak days, and peak periods. Error in the early COVID-19 statistics in Brazil was identified. This study provides sound evidence for policymakers to understand the local circumstances in diagnosing the health of a population and propose precise and timely public health interventions to control and prevent infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether smokers respond to anti-cancer drugs differently than non-smokers remains controversial. The objective of this study is to explore whether the better response of the smokers is specific to therapy of anti-PD-1/PD-L1, anti-checkpoint inhibitor, individual drugs on the cell surface, or lung cancer. Our results showed that among all non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, when the data from anti-PD-1/PD-L1, anti-CTLA-4, and anti-MUC1 drugs are combined, the mean hazard ratios (HR) of smokers and non-smokers were 0.751 and 1.016, respectively. A meta-analysis with a fixed effect (FE) model indicated that the smokers have an HR value of 0.023 lower than that of the non-smokers. A stratified subgroup meta-analysis indicated that when treated with anti-CTLA-4 drugs, smokers had reduced HR values of 0.152 and 0.165 on average and FE model meta-analysis, respectively. When treated with an anti-MUC1 drug, smokers had reduced HR values of 1.563 and 0.645, on average and FE model meta-analysis, respectively. When treated with a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab drugs, smokers had, on average, reduced HR and FE model meta-analysis values (0.257 and 0.141), respectively. Smoking is a clinical response predictor for anti-PD/PD-L1 monotherapy or first-line treatment in lung, urothelial carcinoma, and head and neck cancer. Smokers treated with other drugs have shown worse responses in comparison to non-smokers. These data suggest that, along with the progress in the development of new drugs for cancer, drugs acting on specific genotypes of smokers likely will arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TSP1 was reported to be involved in multiple biological processes including the activation of TGF-β signaling pathways and the regulation of angiogenesis during wound repair and tumor growth, while its role in ovarian folliculogenesis remains to be elucidated. In the present study, Tsp1a was found to be expressed in the oogonia and granulosa cells of phase I to phase IV follicles in the ovaries of Nile tilapia by immunofluorescence. tsp1a homozygous mutants were generated by CRISPR/Cas9. Mutation of tsp1a resulted in increased oogonia, reduced secondary growth follicles and delayed ovary development. Expression of the cell proliferation marker PCNA was significantly up-regulated in the oogonia of the mutant ovaries. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis revealed that expressions of DNA replication related genes were significantly up-regulated, while cAMP and MAPK signaling pathway genes which inhibit cell proliferation and promote cell differentiation were significantly down-regulated. In addition, aromatase (Cyp19a1a) expression and serum 17β-estradiol (E2) concentration were significantly decreased in the mutants. These results indicated that lacking tsp1a resulted in increased proliferation and inhibited differentiation of oogonia, which in turn, resulted in increased oogonia, reduced secondary growth follicles and decreased E2. Taken together, our results indicated that tsp1a was essential for ovarian folliculogenesis in Nile tilapia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein–RNA interactions are crucial for many cellular processes, such as protein synthesis and regulation of gene expression. Missense mutations that alter protein–RNA interaction may contribute to the pathogenesis of many diseases. Here, we introduce a new computational method PremPRI, which predicts the effects of single mutations occurring in RNA binding proteins on the protein–RNA interactions by calculating the binding affinity changes quantitatively. The multiple linear regression scoring function of PremPRI is composed of three sequence- and eight structure-based features, and is parameterized on 248 mutations from 50 protein–RNA complexes. Our model shows a good agreement between calculated and experimental values of binding affinity changes with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.72 and the corresponding root-mean-square error of 0.76 kcal·mol−1, outperforming three other available methods. PremPRI can be used for finding functionally important variants, understanding the molecular mechanisms, and designing new protein–RNA interaction inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sox family member Sox30 is highly expressed in the testis of several vertebrate species and has been shown to play key roles in spermiogenesis. However, its transcription regulation remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the Sox30 promoter from the teleost fish Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and predicted a putative cis-regulatory element (CRE) for doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 1 (Dmrt1), a male-specific transcription factor involved in male sex differentiation. Transcriptional profiling revealed that Sox30 and Dmrt1 similarly exhibited a high expression in tilapia testes from 90 days after hatching (dah) to 300 dah, and the transcription of the Sox30 gene was reduced about one-fold in the testes of male tilapia with Dmrt1 knockdown. Further dual-luciferase reporter assay confirmed that Dmrt1 overexpression significantly promoted transcriptional activity of the Sox30 promoter and this promotion was decreased following the mutation of putative CRE for Dmrt1 within the Sox30 promoter. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-based PCR (ChIP-PCR) and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) demonstrated that Dmrt1 directly binds to putative CRE within the Sox30 promoter. These results together indicate that Dmrt1 positively regulates the transcription of the tilapia Sox30 gene by directly binding to specific CRE within the Sox30 promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing is an effective technology for enhancing the extraction of reservoir methane, as proved by field experience and laboratory experiments. However, unlike conventional reservoirs, coal seams had high stress sensitivity and high anisotropy. Therefore, the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing in coal seams needs to be investigated. In this study, hydraulic fracturing was performed at Nantong mine in the southeast Sichuan basin, China. The field investigation indicated that the hydraulic fracturing could significantly enhance the methane extraction rate of boreholes ten times higher than that of normal boreholes in one of the minable coal seams (named #5 coal seam). The performance of hydraulic fracturing in three districts revealed that compared with south flank, the fluid pressure was higher and the injection rate was lower in north flank. The methane extraction rate of south flank was inferior to that of north flank. It indicated hydraulic fracturing had less effect on #5 coal seam in south flank. Moreover, the injection of high-pressure water in coal seams could also drive methane away from boreholes. The methane extraction rate of the test boreholes demonstrated the existence of methane enrichment circles after hydraulic fracturing. It indicated that hydraulic fracturing did act on #5 coal seam in south flank. However, due to the high stress sensitivity of coal seams and the high geo-stress of south flank, the induced artificial fractures in #5 coal seam might close with the decline of the fluid pressure that led to a sharp decline of the methane extraction rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]