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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most common gastrointestinal malignancies worldwide. eIF3a is highly expressed in a variety of cancer types, yet its role in CRC remains unclear. We introduced ectopic eIF3a expression in CRC cells to investigate its relevance to various malignant behaviors. Further, we silenced eIF3a to explore its effect on tumor growth in a nude mouse tumor xenograft model. Finally, the molecular mechanisms through which eIF3a regulates malignancy in CRC cells were explored through bioinformatics analysis combined with the use of a specific PI3K inhibitor (LY294002). eIF3a was highly expressed in the peripheral blood and cancer tissue of CRC patients. Malignancy and tumor growth were significantly inhibited by silencing eIF3a, while overexpression promoted malignant behaviors, with a positive correlation between PI3K/AKT activation and eIF3a expression. Taken together, eIF3a plays an oncogenic role in CRC by regulating PI3K/AKT signaling and is a potential biomarker for CRC diagnosis and prognostic monitoring.

As the construction of the new power system progresses, pumped storage plays an important role in the system as a typical regulating resource. However, the regulating capacity of traditional fixed-speed pumped storage units is limited and it is difficult to meet the increasing flexibility demands of system regulation. This paper studies the operation and cost recovery of pumped storage power stations based on doubly-fed variable-speed technology in the market environment. Using a combination of theoretical analysis and case study, the working principles and technical advantages of doubly-fed variable-speed pumped storage technology are first explained. We then develop a revenue model encompassing both the energy and ancillary service markets and analyze the impact of different pricing mechanisms on cost recovery for variable-speed pumped storage power stations within the current situation of China’s electricity market. The research results indicate that under the combined effects of the electricity spot market and the ancillary service market, the flexibility value of variable-speed pumped storage power stations can be fully reflected, significantly increasing their revenues and enabling cost recovery and profitability. In the future, the pricing mechanisms of the electricity and ancillary service markets should be further improved, the functional positioning of pumped storage power stations should be optimized, and their support capabilities for the new power system should be enhanced.

The accurate probabilistic forecasting of ultra-short-term power generation from distributed photovoltaic (DPV) systems is of great significance for optimizing electricity markets and managing energy on the user side. Existing methods regarding cluster information sharing tend to easily trigger issues of data privacy leakage during information sharing, or they suffer from insufficient information sharing while protecting data privacy, leading to suboptimal forecasting performance. To address these issues, this paper proposes a privacy-preserving deep federated learning method for the probabilistic forecasting of ultra-short-term power generation from DPV systems. Firstly, a collaborative feature federated learning framework is established. For the central server, information sharing among clients is realized through the interaction of global models and features while avoiding the direct interaction of raw data to ensure the security of client data privacy. For local clients, a Transformer autoencoder is used as the forecasting model to extract local temporal features, which are combined with global features to form spatiotemporal correlation features, thereby deeply exploring the spatiotemporal correlations between different power stations and improving the accuracy of forecasting. Subsequently, a joint probability distribution model of forecasting values and errors is constructed, and the distribution patterns of errors are finely studied based on the dependencies between data to enhance the accuracy of probabilistic forecasting. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method was validated through real datasets.

The pressure oscillation caused by vortex–acoustic coupling is one of the main gain factors that results in the combustion instability of motors. Focusing on a solid rocket motor with a backward step configuration that can generate a corner vortex, this study aims to investigate the pressure oscillation characteristics in a combustion chamber under two-phase flow interactions through numerical simulations. The two-phase flow discrete phase model (DPM) was chosen to study particle motion and two-phase interactions. The numerical methodology was hence established by coupling the DPM with the large eddy simulation (LES) method. Taking the Clx motor as a reference and introducing aluminum oxide particles, two important particle parameters (diameter and concentration) and the key geometric parameters of the backward step were numerically studied. The numerical results show that both increased particle diameter and concentration can decrease the frequency and amplitude of pressure oscillations; additionally, the effects of geometric parameters on the pressure oscillations of the backward step, such as the downstream aspect ratio, the expansion ratio, and the step position, are basically consistent under both pure gas and two-phase flows. The influences of those geometric parameters are mainly reflected in defining the space for the development of upstream flow instability and the motion of downstream vortices. Compared with the pure-gas flow, the presence of aluminum oxide particles in two-phase flow globally decreases the vortex shedding frequency, the primary frequency, and the amplitude of pressure oscillations. It can also weaken the effects of vortex–acoustic coupling due to increased turbulent viscosity, which hinders the orderly development of vortices.

The replacement of WC-Co cermet coating partially or entirely has evolved as one of the most promising research hotspots in terms of coating properties as well as economic reasons. In this study, the TiC reinforced AlCoCrFeNi high entropy alloy (HEA) composite coating based on new sintering method was explored. Firstly, the combination of spray drying and plasma spheroidization is proposed to fabricate TiC/HEA composite powder for thermal spraying application. After that, the corresponding composite coating was deposited by high velocity air-fuel (HVAF) process. The results show that the developed TiC/HEA powder has a more compact structure and higher sphericity, which helps to improve powder fluidity, meanwhile, with 50 wt% TiC incorporation, the porosity、hardness、bonding strength and fracture toughness of TiC/HEA composite coating are 0.8 % 765.2 HV0.3, 68.1 Mpa and 2.7 MPa m−1/2, respectively, showing simultaneous hardening, densifying and toughening effects after introducing dual-sized TiC particles. Besides, the good wear performances of TiC/HEA composite coating including low wear rate (4.2 × 10−5 mm3 N−1 m−1) and coefficient of friction (0.34) are obtained，indicating a valuable application prospect. In addition, the wear mechanisms of TiC/HEA composite coating are determined by abrasive and oxidation wears and that of grinding ball is abrasive wear and adhesive wears.

Transient voltage stability of power system with high penetration of renewable energy faces challenges. This paper proposes a method for quantitatively evaluating the impact of renewable energy penetration rate on transient voltage stability. Based on input-to-state stability (ISS) theory, security and stability indices are constructed to evaluate the stability characteristics, and a quantitative transient voltage stability assessment framework for power system with high penetration of renewable energy is established. Case studies are performed on MATLAB/Simulink, and security/stability indices under different renewable energy penetration rates are calculated. Finally, the critical scale of renewable energy integration is obtained through the coupling relationship between stability characteristics and renewable energy penetration rate.

Oxide dispersion strengthening (ODS) is an effective way to optimize mechanical performance, radiation tolerance and wear resistance in alloys. Therefore, in this research, lightweight and oxyphilic element Ti was utilized to induce oxides particles for in-situ fabricating ODS alloys. We investigated systematically the influence of Ti content on the phase evolution and mechanical behaviors of Ni1.5Co1.5CrTix (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, molar ratio) multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs) fabricated by mechanically alloying and high-pressure sintering (HPS). The Ni1.5Co1.5CrTix powders presented BCC phase, FCC phase and few additional oxides. Following HPS, the BCC phase transformed to FCC phase in these MPEAs. Ni1.5Co1.5Cr MPEA was composed of FCC, Cr7C3 and Cr2O3 phases. As Ti content increased, Cr oxides or carbides gradually transformed into Ti oxides or carbides. The Ni1.5Co1.5CrTix (x = 0.2, 0.4) MPEAs after HPS displayed ultrafine grained FCC matrix and uniformly dispersed ultrafine/nano Cr-C or TiOC complex compounds. With Ti content increasing, the grain sizes of FCC matrix and precipitates had a tendency to decrease. Quantitative increment of precipitation-strengthening and fine-grain-strengthening clarifies the influence of Ti content on MPEAs. The investigations may provide key insights into tuning Ti content into the MPEAs for being available structural materials.

Abstract The exostosin (EXT) protein family is involved in diverse human diseases. However, the expression and prognostic value of EXT genes in human lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed the association between expression of EXT1 and EXT2 genes and survival in patients with LUSC using bioinformatics resources such as Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) server and Kaplan–Meier plotter. Furthermore, regulatory microRNAs (miRNAs) were predicted for EXT1 and used to establish a potential miRNA‐messenger RNA (mRNA) regulation network for LUSC using the ENCORI platform. We observed that EXT1 and EXT2 expression levels were higher in LUSC than those in normal tissues. However, only EXT1 expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) in LUSC patients. Functional annotation enrichment analysis showed that genes co‐expressed with the EXT1 gene were enriched in biological processes such as cell adhesion and migration, and KEGG pathways such as extracellular matrix receptor interactions, complement and coagulation cascades, and cell death. Furthermore, three miRNAs, hsa‐mir‐190a‐5p, hsa‐mir‐195‐5p, and hsa‐mir‐490‐3p, were identified to be potentially involved in the regulation of EXT1. In summary, we identified EXT1 expression as a novel potential prognostic marker for human LUSC and the regulatory miRNAs that could possibly contribute to the prognosis of the disease.

The close proximity and the necessity of coordination between multiple high-voltage direct currents (HVDCs) raise the issue of grid partitioning in multi-infeed HVDC systems. A multi-objective partition strategy is proposed in this paper. Several types of relationships to be coordinated and complemented are analyzed and formulated using quantitative indices. According to the graph theory, the HVDC partition is transformed into a graph-cut problem and solved via the spectral clustering algorithm. Finally, the proposed method is validated for a practical multi-HVDC grid, confirming its feasibility and effectiveness.

Individuals with autistic traits display impaired social interaction and communication in everyday life, but the underlying cognitive neural mechanisms remain very unclear and still remain controversial. The mind-blindness hypothesis suggests that social difficulties in individuals with autistic traits are caused by empathy impairment in individuals; however, the intense world theory suggests that these social difficulties are caused by sensory hyper-reactivity and sensory overload, rather than empathy impairment. To further test these two theories, this study investigated event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the cognitive neural processing of repetitive expressions in individuals with autistic traits. This study employed the Mandarin version of the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) to assess autistic traits in 2,502 healthy adults. Two subset groups were used, e.g., the participants of a high-AQ group were randomly selected among the 10% of individuals with the highest AQ scores; similarly, the participants in the low-AQ group were randomly selected from the 10% of participants with the lowest AQ scores. In an experiment, three different facial expressions (positive, neutral, or negative) of the same person were presented successively and pseudo-randomly in each trial. Participants needed to define the expression of the face that was presented last. The results showed that compared with the low-AQ group, the high-AQ group exhibited higher P1 amplitudes induced by the second and third presented expressions, as well as higher P3 amplitudes induced by the third presented negative expressions. This indicates that individuals with autistic traits may experience overly strong perception, attention, and cognitive evaluation to repetitive expressions, particularly negative expressions. This result supports the intense world theory more strongly than the mind-blindness hypothesis.

In recent years, small-size, low-weight aerospace propulsion systems have developed rapidly for space exploration, on-orbit scientific instruments and extra space missions, while additional electron emission devices are commonly required in those propulsion systems. Carbon nanotube (CNT) based field emission cathodes exhibit extraordinary field emission properties and are regarded to be an ideal alternative of conventional thermionic or hollow cathodes. In this study, the authors give an overview of present status of researches on CNT-based electron emission cathodes for utilising as neutralisers or electron sources particularly in space electric propulsion systems, the theory and characteristics of CNT are also illustrated. Furthermore, challenges, problems and possible solutions before actual applications of CNT in a space mission are discussed accordingly.

Streamer discharges in liquids have received lots of attention with respect to their considerable applications in various disciplines. Much effort has been spent to understand the basis of streamer ignition and propagation in dielectric liquids, but a comprehensive mechanism is far from conclusive. In this review, based on an introduction to the streamer physics and experimentally observed characteristics in various liquids, the authors emphasise on the current status of streamer discharge ignition mechanisms and present their understanding for each theory.

BACKGROUND: To analyze early changes in white blood cells (WBCs), C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) in children with multiple trauma, before secondary inflammation develops. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study collected data from patients with blunt traumatic injury admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). According to the prognostic outcome of 28 d after admission to the PICU, patients were divided into survival group (n=141) and non-survival group (n=36). Characteristics between the two groups were compared. Receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to evaluate the capacity of different biomarkers as predictors of mortality. RESULTS: The percentages of children with elevated WBC, CRP, and PCT levels were 81.36%, 31.07%, and 95.48%, respectively. Patients in the non-survival group presented a statistically significantly higher injury severity score (ISS) than those in the survival group: 37.17±16.11 vs. 22.23±11.24 (t=6.47, P<0.01). WBCs were also higher in non-survival group than in the survival group ([18.70±8.42]×109/L vs. [15.89±6.98] ×109/L, t=2.065, P=0.040). There was no significant difference between the survival and non-survival groups in PCT or CRP. The areas under the ROC curves of PCT, WBC and ISS for predicting 28-day mortality were 0.548 (P=0.376), 0.607 (P=0.047) and 0.799 (P<0.01), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Secondary to multiple trauma, PCT levels increased in more patients, even if their WBC and CRP levels remained unchanged. However, early rising WBC and ISS were superior to PCT at predicting the mortality of multiple trauma patients in the PICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the aerodynamics including the global performance and flow characteristics of a longshrouded contra-rotating rotor by developing a full 3D RANS computation. Through validations by current experiments on the same shrouded contra-rotating rotor, the computation using sliding mesh method and the computational zone with an extended nozzle downstream flow field effectively works; the time-averaged solution of the unsteady computation reveals that more uniform flow presents after the downstream rotor, which implies that the rear rotor rotating at opposite direction greatly compensates and reduces the wake; the unsteady computations further explore the flow field throughout the whole system, along the span and around blade tips. Complex flow patterns including the vortices and their interactions are indicated around the blade roots and tips. For further identifying rotor configurations, the rotor- rotor distance and switching two rotor speeds were studied. The computation reveals that setting the second rotor backwards decreases the wake scale but increases its intensity in the downstream nozzle zone. However, for the effect of switching speeds, computations cannot precisely solve the flow when the rear rotor under the windmill because of the upstream rotor rotating much faster than the other one. All the phenomena from computations well implement the experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review assessed the safety and efficacy of the disposable circumcision suture device (DCSD) and conventional circumcision (CC) in the treatment of redundant prepuce and phimosis. Two independent reviewers conducted a literature search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using the DCSD and CC for the treatment of redundant prepuce or phimosis in China and abroad. Nine RCTs (1898 cases) were included. Compared with the CC group, the DCSD group had a shorter operative time (standardized mean difference [SMD] = −21.44; 95% confidence intervals [95% CIs] [−25.08, −17.79]; P < 0.00001), shorter wound healing time (SMD = −3.66; 95% CI [−5.46, −1.85]; P < 0.0001), less intraoperative blood loss (SMD = −9.64; 95% CI [−11.37, −7.90]; P < 0.00001), better cosmetic penile appearance (odds ratio [OR] =8.77; 95% CI [5.90, 13.02]; P < 0.00001), lower intraoperative pain score, lower 24-h postoperative pain score, lower incidence of infection, less incision edema, and fewer adverse events. There were no differences between the CC and DCSD groups in the incidences of dehiscence, or hematoma. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that the DCSD appears to be safer and more effective than CC. However, additional high-quality RCTs with larger study populations are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to quantify the benefits of a shrouded coaxial rotor configuration through experimental comparisons with free (not shrouded) rotors in hover. The experiment shows that both the figure of merit of contrarotating rotors and the system power loading are improved by the shroud inclusion. Improvements are induced by a suction effect at the inlet, which can be optimized by a regulation effect of the mass flow. Compared to free rotors, the strong suction peak formed on the shroud leading edge by a 65% increase in mass flow, allowing the shroud to contribute up to 56% of the total thrust. More uniform pressure distribution in the downstream rotor and less contraction of the slipstream decrease losses and increase the rotor efficiency. The shrouded system efficiency is further improved if the upstream rotor rotates slower than the rear one, for a given total shaft power, because a stronger pressure depression occurs upstream of the rotors to generate more mass flow. On the other hand, the system behavior is insensitive to the interrotor distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) play crucial roles in the deconjugation of conjugated bile acids and therefore are key targets for modulating bile acid metabolism. This study aimed to identify efficacious BSH inhibitors from a natural compound library and to characterize their inhibitory mechanisms. The inhibitory potential of more than 100 natural compounds against BSH produced by Lactobacillus salivarius (lsBSH) was assayed, and several chalcones with strong or moderate lsBSH inhibitory activity were identified. Of all tested chalcones, licochalcone C and isobavachalcone showed the most potent lsBSH inhibitory activity (IC50 < 1 μM). Inhibition kinetic analyses demonstrated that both licochalcone C and isobavachalcone reversibly inhibited lsBSH-catalyzed CA-AMCA hydrolysis via a mixed manner. Docking simulations suggested that they bind lsBSH at two distinct sites mainly via hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Additionally, licochalcone C and isobavachalcone were found to inhibit various BSHs and decrease the total BSH activity in mouse feces, thus suggesting that these agents are broad-spectrum BSH inhibitors. Collectively, our findings revealed that licochalcone C and isobavachalcone are naturally occurring inhibitors of BSH, which may serve as promising lead compounds in the development of more efficacious BSH inhibitors for modulating bile acid metabolism.

Pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitor therapy is one of the most effective ways to treat obesity and obesity-associated metabolic disorders. Herein, bioactivity and liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS) guided fractionation strategy was used to identify the naturally occurring PL inhibitors in Styrax, a popular folk medicine in Asia and Turkey. The results clearly showed that five pentacyclic triterpenoid acids in Styrax displayed strong inhibition on PL, with IC50 values ranging from 0.49 µM to 6.35 µM. Further investigations demonstrated that oleanonic acid and betulonic acid (the most two potent PL inhibitors in Styrax) potently inhibited PL in a reversible and mixed inhibition manner, while molecular dynamics simulations showed that these two agents could stably bind at the entrance to the active site of PL. Collectively, our findings revealed the molecular basis for the anti-obesity effects of Styrax, while the newly identified PL inhibitors in this herb could be used for development of novel anti-obesity agents.

Background: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is generally considered as a cause of stroke, disability, gait disturbances, vascular cognitive impairment, and dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the total SVD burden can be used to predict functional outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods: From April 2017 to January 2018, consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent baseline MRI scan were evaluated. The functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days and defined as i) excellent outcome (mRS ≤ 1) and ii) good outcome (mRS ≤ 2). Brain MRI was performed and assessed for lacunes, white matter hyperintensities (WMH), and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS). The total SVD burden was calculated based on lacunes, WMH, and EPVS and then summed up to generate an ordinal “total SVD burden” (range 0–3). Bivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the association between SVD and functional outcome.Results: A total of 416 patients were included in the final analysis; 44.0, 33.4, 19.2, and 3.4% of the patients had 0, 1, 2, and 3 features of SVD, respectively. In regard to individual SVD feature, lacunes (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.32–0.71; OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.31–0.77) and WMH (OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.34–0.82; OR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.33–0.85) were negatively associated with excellent outcome and good outcome. As to the total burden of SVD, three SVD features had strongest negative associations with functional outcomes (excellent outcome, OR: 0.13, 95% CI: 0.03–0.48; good outcome, OR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.06–0.54). After adjustment for potential confounders, a high SVD burden (3 features, OR: 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01–0.41) and the score of total SVD burden (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.44–0.93) remained negatively associated with excellent outcome.Conclusion: Total SVD burden negatively associated with functional outcome at 3 months in patients with acute ischemic stroke and is superior to individual SVD feature in prediction of functional outcome. MRI-based assessment of total SVD burden is highly valuable in clinical management of stroke victims and could help guide the allocation of resources to improve outcome.