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Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common forms of arthritis world widely. Some key genes and diagnostic markers have been reported due to the development of modern molecular biology technologies. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of OA remains unknown. In this study, an integrated network and pathway analysis towards the biological function of OA‐associated genes was conducted to provide valuable information to further explore the etiology and pathogenesis of OA. A total of 2,548 genes which reported a statistically significant association with OA were screened. An integrated network and pathway analysis was performed to identify the pathways and genes most associated to OA. Moreover, OA‐specific protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by cytocluster based on the Molecular Complex Detection Algorithm (MCODE) to screen its candidate biomarkers. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm the expression levels and to validate the results of MCODE cluster analysis by six genes. The pathway networks suggested that extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, collagen degradation and collagen formation showed important associations with OA. In top two PPI clusters, 61 of the OA‐associated genes were included in the OA‐specific PPI network, which also included 23 candidate genes that are likely to be highly associated with OA based on MCODE clusters. Analysis of mRNA showed that the expression levels of COL9A1, COL9A2, ITGA3, COL9A3, ITGA2, and LAMA1 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of OA patients were significantly lower than those of the normal controls (p<0.005). To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive and systematic report based on OA‐related genes demonstrating that the functional destruction of collagen in cartilage may be a very important contributing factor to OA. Quantitative detection of collagen synthesis may be of great help in early identification and prediction of OA. Maintaining the quality and quantity of collagen can be a potential target for clinical treatment of OA in the future practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting practices and relationships with peers are crucial aspects of youth socialization. Although theoretically expected reciprocal associations between changes in maladaptive parenting and adolescent peer victimization exist, there is a lack of studies that examine this link and address the mediating mechanisms at the within-person level. This longitudinal study examined reciprocal relations between peer victimization and two types of maladaptive parenting including harsh punishment and psychological control, and the potential mediating roles of internalizing and externalizing problems within these relations, by disentangling between- and within-person effects. A total of 4,731 Chinese early adolescents (44.9% girls; M age = 10.91 years, SD = 0.72) participated in a four-wave longitudinal study with 6-month intervals. The results of random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling showed: (a) harsh punishment did not directly predict peer victimization, and vice versa; (b) psychological control directly predicted peer victimization, and vice versa; (c) psychological control indirectly predicted peer victimization via internalizing problems, and peer victimization also indirectly predicted psychological control via internalizing problems. These findings provide evidence of a bidirectional spillover effect between psychological control and peer victimization at the within-person level, suggesting Chinese early adolescents may become caught in a vicious cycle directly or indirectly via their internalizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of ICG-mediated fluorescence molecular imaging (FMI) in debridement of necrotic tissue. 96 wound-infected rats were randomly divided into control group, ICG group, excitation light (EL)group and FMI group for debridement of necrotic tissue (n = 24). (I) Control group: only debridement; (II) ICG group: ICG injection before debridement; (III) EL group: Debridement under EL; (IV) FMI group: Debridement guided by ICG-mediated FMI. On the 3rd, 6th, and 9th days, the wound tissues of the rats in each group were collected for histological examination, and the levels of serum interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-γ (INF-γ) were analyzed. The wound healing rate, wound score and body weight of the rats in each group were followed up until the wound healed. The results showed that the infected wounds of the rats in the FMI group had significant fluorescence development. The level of serum IL-4 in the FMI group was higher than that in the other three groups on the 6th day (p<0.01), while the level of INF-γ was lower than that in the other three groups on the 6th and 9th day (p<0.05). The results of dynamic wound tissue H&E staining indicated that the wound healing in the FMI group was better than the other three groups. The in vivo follow-up results showed that the wound healing rate and wound score of the FMI group were better than the other three groups, and the growth of rats had no difference with the other groups. ICG-mediated FMI can achieve accurate imaging of necrotic tissue for debridement, and so can accelerate wound healing, which has good clinical application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunnelling-induced ground deformations inevitably affect the safety of adjacent infrastructures. Accurate prediction of tunnelling-induced deformations is of great importance to engineering construction, which has historically been dependent on numerical simulations or field measurements. Recently, some surrogate models originating from machine learning methods have been developed, showing satisfactory prediction performance with high computational efficiency. However, these purely data-driven models show weak robustness in the absence of sufficient training data. This study proposed a hybrid deep learning model integrating both data-driven and physics-based strategies to decrease calculation costs and eliminate the dependence on large numbers of training data. The underlying physical mechanism of ground deformation due to tunnel excavation is coupled into the deep learning framework to form a physics-informed neural network (PINN) model. The performance of the hybrid model is first assessed by comparing it with the classical Verruijt-Booker solution and a conventional purely data-driven model. The potential of the proposed PINN model for engineering applications is then illustrated. It is found that the proposed PINN model can reasonably reproduce ground deformation fields obtained numerically with only a small amount of training data. This paper provides a new paradigm for incorporating hybrid deep learning frameworks and field monitoring systems to predict ground deformation fields in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Aconitum genus is a crucial member of the Ranunculaceae family. There are 350 Aconitum species worldwide, with about 170 species found in China. These species are known for their various pharmacological effects and are commonly used to treat joint pain, cold abdominal pain, and other ailments. Codon usage bias (CUB) analysis contributes to evolutionary relationships and phylogeny. Based on protein-coding sequences (PCGs), we selected 48 species of Aconitum for CUB analysis. Results: The results revealed that Aconitum species had less than 50% GC content. Furthermore, the distribution of GC content was irregular and followed a trend of GC1 > GC2 > GC3, indicating a bias towards A/T bases. The relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) heat map revealed the presence of conservative codons with slight variations within the genus. The effective number of codons (ENC)-Plot and the parity rule 2 (PR2)-bias plot analysis indicate that natural selection is the primary factor influencing the variation in codon usage. As a result, we screened various optimal codons and found that A/T bases were preferred as the last codon. Furthermore, our Maximum Likelihood (ML) analysis based on PCGs among 48 Aconitum species yielded results consistent with those obtained from complete chloroplast (cp.) genome data. This suggests that analyzing mutation in PCGs is an efficient method for demonstrating the phylogeny of species at the genus level. Conclusions: The CUB analysis of 48 species of Aconitum was mainly influenced by natural selection. This study reveals the CUB pattern of Aconitum and lays the foundation for future genetic modification and phylogenetic analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess seizure semiology and disease evolution in a large number of hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) patients. Methods: Seizure semiology and associated medical records for 78 patients with HH‐related epilepsy were retrospectively reviewed. Potential predictors of seizure types were assessed through univariate and binary logistic regression analyses. Results: 57 (73.1%) patients presented with gelastic seizures at the onset of epilepsy, of whole 39 (68.4%) experienced additional seizure types with a mean latency interval of 4.59 years. Automatism, version, and sGTCs were increasingly common with disease evolution. The intraventricular size of HH was significantly negatively correlated with the disease evolution interval (r = −0.445, p = 0.009). A significantly higher rate of patients with automatism in the DF‐II group relative to the DF‐III group was found in both χ2 (X = 6.07, p = 0.014) and logistic regression analyses (B = 3.196, p = 0.020). Interpretation: Gelastic seizures are the most common initial seizure type in HH patients, but variable semiologies occur with disease evolution. The intraventricular HH lesion size is an important determinant of epilepsy evolution. DF‐II HH lesions contribute to a higher chance of automatism evolution. The present study furthers our understanding of the dynamic organization of the seizure network affected by HH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weakly coordinating cluster [CB11H12]− is used as a versatile building block for the preparation of luminescent copper(I) complexes. Treatment of [CB11H11‐12‐C≡CH]− with CuI and ammonia affords {(CB11H11‐12‐C≡C)2Cu4(NH3)3}n (2). Addition of selected phosphine and pyridine ligands transforms 2 to a range of homometallic products 3–13. All compounds have been characterized by X‐ray crystallography, which reveals a surprising variety of structural complexity featuring cores with two to ten Cu+ centers. In the solid state, products 3–13 exhibit room‐temperature phosphorescence across the visible spectrum in colors from blue to deep red. Lifetimes at room temperature are in the microsecond regime, and quantum yields of up to Φ=0.99 are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a kind of chronic osteoarthropathy and degenerative joint disease. Epigenetic regulation in the gene expression dynamics has become increasingly important in OA. We performed a combined analysis of two types of microarray datasets (gene expression and DNA methylation) to identify methylation‐based key biomarkers to provide a better understanding of molecular biological mechanisms of OA. Methods: We obtained two expression profiling datasets (GSE55235, GSE55457) and one DNA methylation profiling data set (GSE63695) from the Gene Expression Omnibus. First, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between patients with OA and controls were identified using the Limma package in R(v3.4.4). Then, function enrichment analysis of DEGs was performed using a DAVID database. For DNA methylation datasets, ChAMP methylation analysis package was used to identify differential methylation genes (DMGs). Finally, a comprehensive analysis of DEGs and DMGs was conducted to identify genes that exhibited differential expression and methylation simultaneously. Results: We identified 112 DEGs and 2,896 DMGs in patients with OA compared with controls. Functional analysis of DEGs obtained that inflammatory responses, immune responses, and positive regulation of apoptosis, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway, and osteoclast differentiation may be involved in the pathogenesis of OA. Cross‐analysis revealed 26 genes that exhibited differential expression and methylation in OA. Among them, ADAMTS9, FKBP5, and PFKBF3 were identified as valuable methylation‐based biomarkers for OA. Conclusion: In summary, our study identified different molecular features between patients with OA and controls. This may provide new clues for clarifying the pathogenetic mechanisms of OA. We performed the combined analysis of two types of microarray datasets (gene expression and DNA methylation) to identify methylation‐based key biomarkers to provide a better understanding of molecular biological mechanisms of osteoarthritis (OA). We identified different molecular features between patients with OA and controls and identified ADAMTS9, FKBP5, and PFKBF3 as valuable methylation‐based biomarkers for OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tunnels are becoming more popular in the transportation system, which makes it imperative to study the surrounding soil tunnel stability. However, in previous studies, researchers generally regarded soil as an isotropic and homogeneous material, which is not consistent with real conditions. Therefore, on the basis of the upper bound theorem, the influence of the anisotropy and non-homogeneity of soil on the earth pressure and the failure mechanism of shallow square tunnels is studied in this paper. The failure mechanism of the surrounding soil for excavation tunnel is obtained using a discrete technique. Considering the anisotropy and non-homogeneity of soil, the earth pressure formula is derived and the optimal solution is obtained. Compared to other results, it is shown that the present approach is feasible and effective. In addition, taking the tunnel of Daganxi II, Longyong expressway of Hunan province as an example, a numerical calculation is conducted, in which the displacement field corresponds to the theoretical one proposed in this paper. After discussing the impact of the anisotropy and the non-homogeneity of soil on earth pressure, the tunnel stability is studied with the presence of the pore water pressure. The effect of pore water pressure and the change of the water table level are then investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive MIMO is considered as a promising technology to meet the explosive growth of data demand in fifth generation systems. To develop massive MIMO systems and industry standards, it is important to conduct thorough investigation of the underlying channel characteristics. This article provides an overview of the concept and ongoing research in the field of massive MIMO propagation channels, including the key differences from conventional MIMO, recent advances in channel measurement campaigns, and the channel modeling approaches. Furthermore, we also point out several key challenges and open issues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing with the traditional integer-order model, fractional-order systems have shown enormous advantages in the analysis of new materials and anomalous diffusion dynamics mechanism in the past decades, but the research has been confined to fractional-order systems without delay. In this paper, we study the fractional-delay system in the presence of both the colored noise and delayed feedback. The stationary density functions (PDFs) are derived analytically by means of the stochastic averaging method combined with the principle of minimum mean-square error, by which the stochastic bifurcation behaviors have been well identified and studied. It can be found that the fractional-orders have influences on the bifurcation behaviors of the fractional-order system, but the bifurcation point of stationary PDF for amplitude differs from the bifurcation point of joint PDF. By merely changing the colored noise intensity or correlation time the shape of the PDFs can switch between unimodal distribution and bimodal one, thus announcing the occurrence of stochastic bifurcation. Further, we have demonstrated that modulating the time delay or delayed feedback may control bifurcation behaviors. The perfect agreement between the theoretical solution and the numerical solution obtained by the predictor–corrector algorithm confirms the correctness of the conclusion. In addition, fractional-order dominates the bifurcation control in the fractional-delay system, which causes the sensitive dependence of other bifurcation parameters on fractional-order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective degradation of sulfonamides (SAs) in water is of global importance for decreasing its pathogenicity and bioaccumulation. In this study, Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 was used as a carrier to fabricate a novel and high-efficient catalyst with Co 3 O 4 anchored (Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2) for the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade SAs. Surprisingly, the catalyst exhibited superior performance, and nearly 100% of SAs (10 mg L−1) including sulfamethazine (SMZ), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and sulfisoxazole (SIZ) was degraded by Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 -activated PMS within 10 min. A series of characterization of the Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 composite were conducted and the main operational parameters of SMZ degradation were investigated. SO 4 •−, •OH, and 1O 2 were determined to be the dominating reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsible for the degradation of SMZ. Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 also exhibited excellent stability and the removal rate of SMZ still maintained over 99% even in the fifth cycle. The plausible pathways and mechanisms of SMZ degradation in the system of Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 /PMS were deduced on the basis of the analyses of LCMS/MS and XPS. This is the first report on high-efficient heterogeneous activating PMS by mooring Co 3 O 4 on Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 to degrade SAs, which provides us with a strategy to structure novel bimetallic catalysts for PMS activation. [Display omitted] • Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 was successfully fabricated via precipitation and calcination. • SAs was efficiently degraded by Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 -acivated PMS. • Co 3 O 4 @Mn 3 (PO 4) 2 was stable and over 99% of SMZ was degraded in fifth cycle. • Reactive oxygen species were determined to be SO 4.•−, 1O 2 , and •OH. • The possible degradation pathways of SMZ were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, many COVID-19 variants have emerged, causing several waves of pandemics and many infections. Long COVID-19, or long-term sequelae after recovery from COVID-19, has aroused worldwide concern because it reduces patient quality of life after rehabilitation. We aimed to characterize the functional differential profile of the oral and gut microbiomes and serum metabolites in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms associated with long COVID-19. Methods: We prospectively collected oral, fecal, and serum samples from 983 antibiotic-naïve patients with mild COVID-19 and performed a 3-month follow-up postdischarge. Forty-five fecal and saliva samples, and 25 paired serum samples were collected from patients with gastrointestinal symptoms of long COVID-19 at follow-up and from healthy controls, respectively. Eight fecal and saliva samples were collected without gastrointestinal symptoms of long COVID-19 at follow-up. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing of fecal samples and 2bRAD-M sequencing of saliva samples were performed on these paired samples. Two published COVID-19 gut microbiota cohorts were analyzed for comparison. Paired serum samples were analyzed using widely targeted metabolomics. Results: Mild COVID-19 patients without gastrointestinal symptoms of long COVID-19 showed little difference in the gut and oral microbiota during hospitalization and at follow-up from healthy controls. The baseline and 3-month samples collected from patients with gastrointestinal symptoms associated with long COVID-19 showed significant differences, and ectopic colonization of the oral cavity by gut microbes including 27 common differentially abundant genera in the Proteobacteria phylum, was observed at the 3-month timepoint. Some of these bacteria, including Neisseria, Lautropia, and Agrobacterium, were highly related to differentially expressed serum metabolites with potential toxicity, such as 4-chlorophenylacetic acid, 5-sulfoxymethylfurfural, and estradiol valerate. Conclusions: Our study characterized the changes in and correlations between the oral and gut microbiomes and serum metabolites in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms associated with long COVID-19. Additionally, our findings reveal that ectopically colonized bacteria from the gut to the oral cavity could exist in long COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, with a strong correlation to some potential harmful metabolites in serum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was to investigate the association of multidimensional sleep indicators with high blood pressure (HBP) of Chinese students. Participants in this cross-sectional study included 11561 students aged 9–18. Sleep was characterized by sleep timing (e.g., bedtime), sleep duration and sleep consistency (e.g., bedtime/wake-up time deviations and social jet lag (SJL)). We used odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) to assess the relationship between sleep and HBP. Primary school students who slept 8.00–9.00h had a lower risk of HBP compared with sleeping >10h (OR 0.370, 95% CI 0.208, 0.658), while junior middle school students reporting ≤8.00h on weekday night had a lower risk of HBP compared with sleeping >10h (OR 0.303, 95% CI 0.111, 0.829). Moreover, compared with deviations = 0h, the OR (95% CI) for wake-up time deviations <0h and bedtime deviations >0h in primary school students with HBP were 0.314 (0.125, 0.790) and 2.155 (1.205, 3.853). Furthermore, compared with SJL = 0h, senior high school students reporting SJL = 0.01–0.50h, SJL = 0.51–1.00h and SJL = 1.01–2.00h had greater risk of HBP (OR 1.566, 95% CI 1.039, 2.361; OR 1.760, 95% CI 1.177, 2.631; OR 1.660, 95% CI 1.124, 2.452, respectively). Bedtime at night was associated with HBP for three educational periods students, however, there was no significant association between mid-day nap and HBP. Sleep timing, sleep duration and sleep consistency are associated with high blood pressure in children and adolescents. • Adequate sleep duration can protect student's BP. • Bedtime was associated with HBP for students. • Regular routines may protect the BP of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavior of stair/escalator/elevator selection of passengers at the subway platform could directly affect the travel efficiency and even the service level of the station. This paper proposes a stair/escalator/elevator selection model of passengers at the subway platform, where the cellular automata model is used to simulate passenger movement, and the fuzzy logic theory is used to describe selection behavior. The distance to the stair/escalator/elevator and the density of passengers in front of the facility are selected as the main influence factors. The rationality and effectiveness of the selection model are verified by comparing the field data with simulation results of passengers choosing different stairs/escalators/elevators. The relationship between passenger quantity, passenger speed, escalator quantity, escalator location, and the traffic rate is analyzed based on simulation results, which can provide a theoretical reference for the facility layout optimization at the platform floor of the subway station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Plant interactions with soil microbes are important drivers of biodiversity and dynamics of alpine plant communities. However, little is known about the effects of these interactions on seed germination and plant establishment of alpine plants under global climate change. We investigated the individual and interactive effects of warming, soil microbes and shrubs on seed germination, survival, and growth of herbaceous species. Methods: We simulated warming and manipulated live and sterile soil microbes and microhabitat in the alpine meadow ecosystem dominated by the shrub (Dasiphora fruticosa) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We tested the interactive effects of warming, soil microbes, and shrubs on the germination, early life survival, and growth of herbaceous species. Soil microbial communities were determined by high-throughput sequencing. Results: Our results showed that seed germination was significantly reduced under warming; seed germination was higher in live soils than in sterile soils; early life survival was lower under shrub canopies. Additionally, in the warming treatment, the positive effect of soil microbes on seed germination shifted to negative on the early survival of herbaceous species. Furthermore, in the warming treatment, shrubs enhanced the positive effects of soil microbes on seed germination and reduced the negative effects of soil microbes on early survival. The effects of these individual and interactive factors on herbaceous species also depended on species identity and life stages. Conclusion: Overall, our work demonstrates that soil microbes were particularly critical at seed germination stage and plant interactions with soil microbes were significantly altered with experimental warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a severe lung disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation. Salmeterol and formoterol are two commonly used drugs in COPD therapy, which act as β2-receptor agonists. In the current study, a mouse model of COPD induced by airway lipopolysaccharide inhalation was established. The therapeutic efficacy of salmeterol and formoterol co-treatment was investigated in this model over a 56-day-long observation period. It was also identified that functional residual capacity and inspiratory resistance were significantly improved after salmeterol and/or formoterol treatment compared with the control group (all P<0.01). Furthermore, histological staining of lung tissue samples indicated that inflammation, thickening of the smooth muscle, goblet cell hyperplasia and pulmonary small vessel obstruction were reduced in the mice treated with salmeterol and/or formoterol, suggesting that salmeterol and formoterol were beneficial for ongoing airway and blood vessel remodeling in mice with COPD. The most common treatment-associated adverse events were hypertension and proteinuria. In conclusion, combined salmeterol and formoterol treatment was more effective compared with either single agent, suggesting that salmeterol and formoterol combined treatment has therapeutic value for the clinical treatment of patients with COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs) take advantages of synergy between forward osmosis (FO) and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for simultaneous wastewater treatment, bioenergy production, and water recovery. A unique feature for healthy operation of OsMFCs is an appropriate draw solute (DS) that can also act as a catholyte. Herein, polyelectrolytes (polyacrylic acid sodium salts, PAA-Na) was investigated as a DS/catholyte and reproduced with the aid of the high catholyte pH. Such a reproduction method is innovative, because it turns a drawback (high catholyte pH) into a useful resource, thereby reducing the demand for external input and leading to a clean production process. The results have showed that the OsMFC achieved a current density of 159 ± 6 A m −3 , water flux of 12.7 ± 0.2 LMH, and low reverse salt flux of 0.05 ± 0.00 gMH with 32 wt% PAA-Na (2000 Da) as the DS. The DS recovery efficiency could be as high as 99.86 ± 0.04%, and the reproduced DS was successfully applied in the subsequent operation. With this reproduction method, the highest total operation cost was estimated at 0.104 $ m −3 . Those results have demonstrated a new approach based on pH-dependent PAA DS reproduction towards further development of OsMFC technology for sustainable water/wastewater treatment and resource recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bioelectrochemical system (BES) containing membrane-aerated nitritation-anammox in its cathode has been developed for enhancing nitrogen removal. Long-term performance and microbial community structure were investigated. The BES using loop operation and external voltage achieved the highest total nitrogen removal efficiency of 94.8 ± 7.7%, and COD removal of 98.2 ± 3.3% at hydraulic retention time of 60 h and the lumen pressure of 10 psi. The energy consumption of the system was 0.90 kWh kg N −1 or 0.38 kWh kg COD −1 . Sequencing analyses revealed that ammonia oxidizing bacteria (0.2–7.4%), anammox bacteria (0.4–10.3%), denitrifying bacteria (5.8–13.1%), and electrogenic bacteria (4.6–12.8%) were in abundance of the microbial community in the cathode chamber, and their distributions were affected by the aeration and physical locations. These results encourage further investigation of membrane-aerated nitritation-anammox in BES for optimization and potential applications with actual wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations resting on rock masses under earthquakes using upper-bound limit analysis. A modified pseudodynamic method (MPD) that considers the influence of Rayleigh waves is initially used to characterize the spatiotemporal variation in earthquake acceleration. The strength of rock masses is governed by the generalized Hoek‒Brown criterion and the plastic flow at failure is assumed to respect the associated flow rule. The generalized tangential technique is introduced to provide a linear approximation of the strength envelope for capturing the equivalent Mohr‒Coulomb strength parameters. The classic nonsymmetrical multi-block translational mechanism, which is capable of assessing a rock-foundation system under asymmetrical load, is reconstructed to portray the velocity discontinuity of the plastic failure region. Based upon the energy equilibrium theorem of the limit analysis, an analytical solution of seismic bearing capacity is derived and then formulated as a multivariate optimization problem. Comparisons show good agreement with the literature and validate the correctness and rationality of this work. Parametric study indicates that the seismic foundation capacity obtained by MPD tends to be conservative compared to the pseudostatic method with the same seismic coefficients, and that the period of a Rayleigh wave has only a slight effect on the bearing capacity. The failure region is more sensitive to the disturbance coefficient than it is to the other rock strength parameters. • A modified pseudodynamic method considering Rayleigh waves is used to evaluate the bearing capacity of rock foundations. • A Marine Predators Algorithm is applied to optimize the multivariable nonlinear optimization problem (2 N + 2 variables). • A direct optimization method instead of the superposition method is applied to the calculation of ultimate bearing capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploration the role of promotor in the Fischer-Tropsch zeolite (FTO-ZEO) tandem catalyst systems is of paramount importance in improving the selectivity of target products. Herein, by varying the contents of Na promotor in x Na-FeO x , the evolution of Na in FTO-ZEO system during reaction and the resultant catalytic performance for FT synthesis have been investigated. When the content of Na falls in the range of 0.5–5 %, the syngas conversion performance on bare FeO x catalysts reaches a performance-platform period, while that on tandem catalysts show a volcano-like trend. With a set of control experiments, it is speculated that there is a migration process of Na from x Na-FeO x to the H-ZSM-5 moiety. The changed acidity of H-ZSM-5 causes the transformation of products toward higher carbon alkanes and aromatics in the gasoline range with a selectivity of 71.5 %. This work makes an important progress by showing the phenomenon of Na migration during reaction, which puts forward the influence of promoters on FTO-ZEO system and gives a new insight of zeolites modification. [Display omitted] • A performance-platform period on bare Na-promoted Fe-based catalysts has been examined in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction. • We disclose that a Na migration process from x Na-FeO x to H-ZSM-5 occur during the FT reaction, which cannot be simply replaced by Na impregnation on H-ZSM-5. • The migration of Na shows great hindrance of C 2 H 4 hydrogenation on zeolites, which renders the products moving toward gasoline range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to give a more accurate prediction of the required face pressure, this work revisits the three-dimensional (3D) face stability problems of rock tunnels excavated in Hoek-Brown media. The Piecewise Linear Method (PLM) is introduced to account for the nonlinearity of the rock strength rather than the simple linear substitution for the strength envelope. A novel multi-cone rotational mechanism consisting of n truncated curvilinear cones is generated respecting the plastic normality flow rule. Two typical linearized measures: Generalized Tangential Technique (GTT) and Equivalent Mohr-Coulomb parameters Method (EMM) are also included in this study for comparison and analysis. In terms of the energy-work balance equation, the required face pressure is formulated as an optimization problem depending on 2 n variables and is resolved by a recently-proposed Marine Predators Algorithm (MPA). Parametric study implies that the solution of two-dimensional (2D) analysis is very conservative, despite being safe in engineering, it is uneconomical compared with 3D analysis. In 3D analysis, the required face pressure predicted by PLM is significantly improved by 9 % compared with that of GTT, and the results calculated from EMM show a good consistency with PLM and GTT for heavily fractured rock mass, while for high-quality rock masses, the diversity between the results of EMM and other two methods is distinct. To further extend the application of such modified mechanism, design charts of the normalized face pressure are calculated for a quick assessment of face stability in rock masses with different quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent stable antifogging (AF) and anti-frosting (AFR) coatings were fabricated via layer-by-layer dip coating self-assembly (Dip-LbL self-assembly) of just triple-layer oppositely charged nanoparticles (NPs) followed by calcination. The nanoparticles we prepared naturally carried a certain electrical charge. The positively charged NPs (ZrO 2 or TiO 2 ) and the negatively charged SiO 2 NPs were bound firmly together via electrostatic interaction. Morphologies and structures were observed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Transparency was examined using an optical clarity test and a UV-Vis transmittance test. AF/Superhydrophilic and AFR properties were studied using a water contact angle test, a constant temperature (100 °C) AF test, an AFR test and an aspirating test. Mechanical stabilities were investigated using a water-bath shaking test, an ultrasonic test and a pencil hardness test. The results showed that the TiO 2 /SiO 2 /ZrO 2 , ZrO 2 /SiO 2 /TiO 2 and SiO 2 /ZrO 2 /SiO 2 coatings with the 3D micro- and nanometer-scale hierarchical structure on the surface had excellent AF and AFR properties, and presented high mechanical stability and durability. The high availability of the materials and the simplicity of this method for the coating preparation might make the low-cost, non-toxic and eco-friendly AF and AFR coatings potentially useful in optical and display devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, to improve the catalytic activity of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts, some design strategies, such as the decrease of the catalyst particle size, the formation of the porous structure and the couple of carbon-based materials, are receiving increased attention in energy-related systems. Herein, based on metal organic framework (MOF), we develop an effective strategy to synthesize Ni nanoparticles embedded in N doped carbon nanotubes (Ni NPs@N-CNTs) catalyst. In consequence, the Ni NPs@N-CNTs integrates the advantageous features of NPs and N-CNTs towards OER, such as more catalytic sites, large surface area, pore-rich structure and good electrical conductivity. Benefiting from the favorable features, the Ni NPs@N-CNTs exhibits a better OER performance than commercial RuO 2 in alkaline medium, which includes a lower onset potential (1.49 V), a smaller Tafel slope (106 mV dec −1 ). The present work opens a new window for the construction of the coupling materials between NPs and carbon-based materials to increase the electrocatalytic activity of transition metal catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful pH control plays a key role in hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Herein, periodic polarity reversal (PPR) is applied to a dual-cathode MEC and achieves the enhanced hydrogen production. The MEC with PPR produces 1.3 ± 0.1 m 3 H 2 m −3 d −1 with 50-mM NaCl as the catholyte, much higher than 0.9 ± 0.1 m 3 H 2 m −3 d −1 from the MEC with dual-working cathodes or 0.8 ± 0.1 m 3 H 2 m −3 d −1 from the MEC with one working cathode. Such enhancement benefits from a slower increase in the catholyte pH, for example, it takes 15.3 h to increase the 10-mM NaCl pH from 7.00 to 12.00 in the MEC with PPR, 1.7–3.6 times that of the MECs without PPR, which is due to the decrease in the catholyte pH of the reversed cathode during PPR. The potential of the reversed electrode is more positive than the anode, suggesting that the reversed electrode acts as a second anode electrode using residue hydrogen gas as an electron source. Thus, a mechanism of in situ oxidation of hydrogen gas for pH buffering is proposed and discussed. These findings have provided a simple but effective pH control strategy for enhancing hydrogen production in MECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stability of non-circular tunnel face reinforced by bolts under seepage is assessed. • Upper-bound estimations to the safety factor of tunnel faces are provided. • Pore pressures considerably influence the required bolt layouts. This paper aims to develop a three-dimensional (3D) analytical framework to assess the safety factors of realistic non-circular tunnel faces reinforced by longitudinal bolts under seepage conditions from a discretization-based perspective. The axial failure mode of bolts (including the tensile failure of the bolt and the pull-out failure at the bolt-soil interface) paired with the introduction of the interaction zone is employed to describe the reinforcement effect of bolts. A numerical fluid calculation is performed to simulate the 3D seepage towards the non-circular tunnel face, and the resulting pore pressure distribution is extracted and further interpolated to determine the pore pressure of each discrete point on the 3D discretization-based failure mechanism. Within the kinematical approach of limit analysis, the work rate balance equation incorporating the role of the axial force along the interaction zone and the pore pressure due to the 3D seepage is established based on the discretization-based failure mechanism. Afterward, combining the strength reduction method with the dichotomy, the upper-bound estimations of safety factors can be obtained by an optimization process. The developed framework is compared with numerical fluid-mechanical calculations and other analytical methods with respect to an actual horseshoe tunnel, which proves that the developed framework is effective in providing fast and reasonable estimates of reinforced tunnel face under seepage conditions. Parametric analyses are performed to investigate the effect of bolt layouts (including the length and density of bolts) and seepage conditions (including the groundwater level and permeability anisotropy). Finally, a series of design nomograms for various water levels and soil strength parameters are provided for reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There was inconsistent results between UPLC and metabolome analysis. • The content and types of flavonoids in black rice (BR) varieties were high. • Different flavonoids have different antioxidant capacities. • Both red rice (RR) and BR were found to possess significant antioxidant capacity. • Quercetin and catechin had peak antioxidant capacity in BR and RR, respectively. Black and red rice are flavonoid-rich and nutritious. However, comprehensive information of flavonoid components in different pigmented rice varieties remain unclear. Here, we analyze the differences in flavonoid components in black, red, and white rice by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) and metabolome analysis. Cyanidin-3-glucoside (Cy-3-G), peonidin-3-glucoside (Pe-3-G), quercetin, dihydromyricetin, naringin, and taxifolin contents were significantly high in black rice. By contrast, catechin and epicatechin contents were substantial in red rice. Cy-3-G was the main anthocyanin and its content was more than four times that of Pe-3-G in black rice varieties. Trifolin hardly showed specificity and exhibited a high content in all rice varieties. The antioxidant capacity of the red and black rice varieties was significantly higher than that of white rice. Moreover, in black and red rice, quercetin and catechin respectively exhibited the strongest antioxidant capacity and a good contribution toward the total flavonoid content, and mean time, white rice possessed antioxidant capacity main derived from quercetin and trifolin. Besides, the study also found that there was slightly inconsistent results between UPLC and metabolome, because certain components with trace by metabolome were not detected by UPLC, but their combination could play a complementary role in the exploration of metabolic components to confirm the ingredients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observed ostracism refers to a form of exclusion in which one observes others' experience of exclusion while also feeling the experience of exclusion. Previous studies have shown that individuals who observe the situation of exclusion will tend to produce more compensatory behaviors toward the excluded. However, these studies did not reveal the psychological mechanism of the observer's compensatory behavior. Through the experimental method, from the dynamic theoretical model of empathy and the theoretical perspective of individual-environment interaction, this study constructs a moderated mediation model with observed ostracism as the independent variable, compensation behavior as the dependent variable, empathy as the mediating variable, and observer justice sensitivity as moderating variable. The results showed that: (1) Empathy played a partial mediating role between the observed ostracism and compensation behavior. (2) Observer justice sensitivity can not only be moderating the relationship between observed ostracism and compensation behavior, but also be moderating the relationship between observed ostracism and empathy. The results of this study supported the dynamic theoretical model of empathy and bring some enlightenment to the maintenance of social norms. • Observed ostracism can induce the observer's empathy response to the excluded. • Observed ostracism can induce the observer's compensatory behavior to the excluded. • The stronger the individual's empathy response, the more compensatory behaviors to the excluded. • The higher the individual's observer justice sensitivity, the stronger the empathy response. • The higher the individual's observer justice sensitivity, the more compensation behaviors to the excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of COVID-19 with a soluble version of ACE2 that binds to SARS-CoV-2 virions before they enter host cells is a promising approach, however it needs to be optimized and adapted to emerging viral variants. The computational workflow presented here consists of molecular dynamics simulations for spike RBD-hACE2 binding affinity assessments of multiple spike RBD/hACE2 variants and a novel convolutional neural network architecture working on pairs of voxelized force-fields for efficient search-space reduction. We identified hACE2-Fc K31W and multi-mutation variants as high-affinity candidates, which we validated in vitro with virus neutralization assays. We evaluated binding affinities of these ACE2 variants with the RBDs of Omicron BA.3, Omicron BA.4/BA.5, and Omicron BA.2.75 in silico. In addition, candidates produced in Nicotiana benthamiana, an expression organism for potential large-scale production, showed a 4.6-fold reduction in half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) compared with the same variant produced in CHO cells and an almost six-fold IC50 reduction compared with wild-type hACE2-Fc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Mild cognitive impairment is an age-dependent pre-dementia state caused by varied reasons. Early detection of MCI helps handle dementia. Vascular factors are vital for the occurrence of MCI. This study investigates the correlation between deep medullary veins and multi-dimensional cognitive outcomes. Materials and methods: A total of 73 participants with MCI and 32 controls were enrolled. Minimum Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment were used to examine the global cognitive function, and different cognitive domains were measured by specific neuropsychological tests. MRI was used to assess the visibility of the DMV and other neuroimage markers. Results: DMV score was statistically significantly higher in the MCI group compared with the control group (P = 0.009) and independently related to MCI (P = 0.007). Linear regression analysis verified that DMV score was linearly related to global cognition, memory, attention, and executive function after adjusting for cerebrovascular risk factors. Conclusion: DMV score was independently related to the onset of MCI, and correlates with overall cognition, memory, attention, and executive function in outpatients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practical engineering, slopes near reservoirs are susceptible to collapse during the rising and falling of water levels, resulting in huge financial losses. Three-dimensional (3D) upper-bound analysis is an effective vehicle to assess slope stability under water drawdown. However, in previously published 3D upper-bound analysis, the pore water pressure distribution caused by drawdown is often approximately determined by employing a pore-pressure coefficient, which is not theoretically sound and fails to give rigorous upper-bound estimations of slope stability. To overcome this shortcoming, the hydraulic head distribution of a slope subjected to drawdown was determined numerically using seepage flow calculations. The obtained hydraulic head distribution was subsequently incorporated into the 3D rotational failure mechanism of the kinematic approach of limit analysis, so as to deliver an upper-bound solution to slope safety factors. To validate the proposed approach, a case study on the Chenjiawan slope at the Three Gorges Reservoir, China, and comparisons with numerical calculations and previous studies are performed. Four different drawdown conditions are considered in this study and corresponding stability charts are provided for directly assessing the safety factors of slopes subjected to different drawdown conditions. The effects of different drawdown processes on the slope's stability are studied, showing the unfavorable effect of the external drawdown process and the beneficial effect of the internal drawdown process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is a major cause of neonatal neurodevelopmental disorders and serious complications in organ transplantation. Previous HCMV vaccines focused on humoral immunity but had limited effect on viral infection. T-cell responses are essential to prevent HCMV infection, indicating that effective vaccines require T cells activation. In this study, we designed a novel polypeptides vaccine conjugated to a CRM197 carrier protein, encoding 15 CD8+ T-cell epitopes, five CD4+ T-cell epitopes, and four B-cell epitopes from gB 287 – 320 and pp150 311 – 325 of HCMV to induce T-cell immune responses. To evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, we subsequently measured the expression of surface molecule markers and proinflammatory cytokines from antigen presenting cells in vivo and in vitro as well as the activation of T cells and antibodies. The results demonstrated that this polypeptide vaccine could activate innate immunity including up-regulating MHCI, II, CD80, CD86, and cytokine expression through the TLR4/NF-κB pathway. Meanwhile, vaccinations elicited potent neutralizing antibody and cellular immune responses producing TNF-α, INF-γ and IL-2, indicating Th1-biased polarization. This finding underlines that CRM197-conjugated polypeptide vaccines facilitate a synergism of humoral and cellular immunity, providing enhanced protection against HCMV, which could be a potential strategy to prevent CMV-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Chronic liver disease (CLD) patients and liver transplant (LT) recipients have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). The immunogenicity of COVID‐19 vaccines in CLD patients and LT recipients is poorly understood. The present study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity of COVID‐19 vaccines in CLD patients and LT recipients. Methods: We searched electronic databases for eligible studies. Two reviewers independently conducted the literature search, extracted the data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. The rates of detectable immune response were pooled from single‐arm studies. For comparative studies, we compared the rates of detectable immune response between patients and healthy controls. The meta‐analysis was conducted using the Stata software with a random‐effects model. Results: In total, 19 observational studies involving 4191 participants met the inclusion criteria. The pooled rates of detectable humoral immune response after two doses of COVID‐19 vaccination in CLD patients and LT recipients were 95% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 88%–99%) and 66% (95% CI = 57%–74%) respectively. After two doses of vaccination, the humoral immune response rate was similar in CLD patients and healthy controls (risk ratio [RR] = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.90–1.02; p =.14). In contrast, LT recipients had a lower humoral immune response rate after two doses of vaccination than healthy controls (RR = 0.68; 95% CI = 0.59–0.77; p <.01). Conclusions Our meta‐analysis demonstrated that COVID‐19 vaccination induced strong humoral immune responses in CLD patients but poor humoral immune responses in LT recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is expected to exhibit a better imaging performance in the second near‐infrared (NIR‐II) windows with weak tissue scattering and autofluorescence. However, the indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) detectors currently used for imaging in the NIR‐II region are prohibitively expensive, hampering its extensive biomedical applications. In this study, a novel NIR‐II CLSM system is developed by using the inexpensive silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) that can perform the multicolor biological imaging in vivo. Using IR‐780 iodide as the contrast agent, the NIR‐II imaging capability of constructed CLSM is inspected, demonstrating a spatial resolution of 1.68 µm (close to the diffraction limit) and a fluorophore detection sensitivity as low as 100 nm. In particular, it is discovered that the multicolor imaging performance in both NIR‐I and NIR‐II windows is comparable to those from multialkali and InGaAs photomultiplier tubes. In addition, 3D NIR‐II CLSM is also conducted for in vivo imaging of the vascular structure in mouse ear and subcutaneous tumors. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first time that a low‐cost detector based on a SiPM has been used for microscopic imaging of trailing fluorescence signals in the NIR‐II region of an NIR fluorescent probe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glutamine metabolism is critical both for the proliferation of cancer cells and the activation of CD8T cells to kill cancer cells. We aim to explore the relationship between the glutamine metabolism of CD8T cells and cancer cells and tumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment. In a TCGA cohort, we found that patients with high scores of glutamine-metabolism-related genes showed poor prognoses, and that a high score of glutamine-metabolism-related genes was an independent risk factor for HCC patients. In single-cell RNA-seq data, we found that, in some patients, the glutamine metabolism gene scores of tumor cells were significantly higher than those of CD8T cells, while decreased ratios of CD8-Tef-GZMA and suppressed tumor-killing activity of CD8-Tef-APOC2 were observed. A further genetic dynamics pseudotime analysis suggested that immune remodeling of these two subpopulations was accompanied by metabolic reprogramming. CD8-Tef-APOC2 in the dominant group tended to metabolize exogenous lipids, while the metabolic program of CD8-Tef-GZMA in the nondominant group was characterized by amino acid and endogenous lipid synthesis. In addition, we found that the glutamine metabolism inhibitor JHU083 promoted the proliferation of CD8T cells and improved the efficacy of PD-1 blockers. We proposed a new tool to quantify the glutamine partitioning between tumor cells and CD8T cells, through which the unique immune microenvironment could be identified at the transcriptome level. Furthermore, the simultaneous destruction of the glutamine metabolism in tumor cells and CD8T cells facilitated the enrichment of tumor-infiltrating CD8T cells and enhanced the efficacy of immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An assignment scheme of guides is established in subway station. • A multi-objective optimization model is developed for guide path planning. • The total evacuation efficiency can be improved by about 13%. • The optimization model ensures more people leave within the threshold time. • Passengers induced by different guides avoid reaching the same node at the same time window. The reasonable setting of guides can directly improve the evacuation capacity in the subway station. The important role of guide assignment scheme and evacuation path planning of guided passengers is particularly prominent. Considering the distribution of passengers in the station, one contribution is that an assignment scheme of the initial number and location of guides is firstly established based on Gaussian mixture model and cost function method, so as to increase the guidance range and reduce the waste of human resources. Another contribution is that a multi-objective optimization model is developed for guide path planning and NSGA-II method is used to find the optimal solution, which could help avoiding the evacuation bottlenecks in advance. Massmotion embedded with social force model and minimum cost model is adopted to simulate the movement of people, which is verified by the independent sample t -test in this paper. Evacuation experiments under the random distribution of passengers are carried out to demonstrate the significance of the proposed guidance method. The results indicate that the total evacuation efficiency can be improved by about 13% in the scenario with guides, and the passengers' choice of stairs/escalators is more balanced. Moreover, passengers induced by different guides can avoid reaching the same evacuation node at the same time window, which alleviates the pressure of nodes. The results could provide theoretical support for passenger safety management and even improve the service level of stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In terms of mortality and survival, pancreatic cancer is one of the worst malignancies. Known as a unique type of programmed cell death, cuprotosis contributes to tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Cuprotosis programmed-cell-death-related lncRNAs (CRLs) have been linked to PAAD, although their functions in the tumor microenvironment and prognosis are not well understood. This study included data from the TCGA-PAAD cohort. Random sampling of PAAD data was conducted, splitting the data into two groups for use as a training set and test set (7:3). We searched for differentially expressed genes that were substantially linked to prognosis using univariate Cox and Lasso regression analysis. Through the use of multivariate Cox proportional risk regression, a risk-rating system for prognosis was developed. Correlations between the CRL signature and clinicopathological characteristics, tumor microenvironment, immunotherapy response, and chemotherapy sensitivity were further evaluated. Lastly, qRT-PCR was used to compare CRL expression in healthy tissues to that in tumors. Some CRLs are thought to have strong correlations with PAAD outcomes. These CRLs include AC005332.6, LINC02041, LINC00857, and AL117382.1. The CRL-based signature construction exhibited outstanding predictive performance and offers a fresh approach to evaluating pre-immune effectiveness, paving the way for future studies in precision immuno-oncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Castleman disease (CD) is a lymphoproliferative disorder that rarely occurs in the pancreas. We reported a 46-year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to recurrent minor epigastric pain for 7 days. The abdominal enhanced CT showed irregular foci in the body of the pancreas with abundant blood supply considered a neuroendocrine tumor. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor by an ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy. Therefore, he underwent an open pancreatic mass resection. The ultimate diagnosis was CD and belonged to hyaline vascular type based on the postoperative pathology. After a 13-month follow-up, no recurrence of abdominal pain or lesions was observed. This case suggests that fine needle aspiration biopsy is not conclusive and unsuitable for pancreatic CD and highlights the importance of routine pathology due to the absence of typical signs and symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Gouty arthritis (GA) is a type of self‐limiting inflammatory arthritis caused by deposition of monosodium urate (MSU). This study aimed to analyze the expression variation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in GA patients and investigated the role of mRNAs in GA pathogenesis. Methods: Five patients with acute GA (AGA), 5 with non‐acute GA (NAGA), and 5 healthy controls (HC) were recruited to examine differential mRNA expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and explore whether mRNA is involved in the pathogenesis of AGA. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases were used to study the biological functions of differentially expressed mRNA and the relationship between genes and signal pathways. Results: Compared with HC, the AGA group had 1456 differentially expressed mRNAs, while the NAGA group had 437 differentially expressed mRNAs and compared with the NAGA group, 115 differentially expressed mRNAs were found in the AGA group. GO analysis showed that the differentially expressed mRNA in the AGA group was mainly enriched in processes related to leukocyte activation and immune response, while KEGG analysis showed that "Staphylococcus aureus infection" and "Cytokine‐cytokine receptor interaction" are enriched in the up‐regulated mRNAs in the AGA group. Conclusion: This study identified genes and pathways that are differentially expressed during the onset of AGA, which might reveal part of the pathogenesis of the disease and provide clues to explaining the severe pain associated with disease onset and the rapid development of inflammatory response that subsides by itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the pore water effect on the potential progressive failure subjected to varying water table. Theoretically, the falling blocks under the water level suffer from the pressure created by water while there would be no water pressure imposed on the failure above the water level. In this case, the previous failure mechanisms are no longer appropriate for the analysis of crown stability; therefore, a novel collapse mechanism should be introduced to characterize the velocity discontinuities. Based on this, and to better describe the 2D and 3D characteristics of progressive collapse, a novel 2D and 3D failure pattern composed of multi-surfaces in deep tunnels are proposed and then applied to estimate the impending roof collapse, respectively. On the basis of Hoek–Brown yield criterion, the upper bound solutions of collapsing blocks are obtained in the framework of plasticity theory with upper bound theorem and variational principle. In the application of kinematic approach, one assumption is made that the mechanical properties of rock materials are not influenced by the presence of underground water, which means that the geomaterials can be regarded as isotropic media with same values of strength parameters under and above the water table. Subsequently, the analytic and numerical results calculated in this literature are compared with existing research findings, which shows great consistency and validity of postulated progressive mechanisms. To analyze the influence of diverse parameters on the collapsing dimensions of surrounding rock masses, some examples and sensitivity analysis are conducted to gain the corresponding relationship from the perspective of 2D and 3D conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluated the topological properties of whole brain networks using graph theoretical concepts and investigated the time-evolution characteristic of brain network in mild cognitive impairment patients during a selective attention task. Electroencephalography (EEG) activities were recorded in 10 MCI patients and 17 healthy subjects when they performed a color match task. We calculated the phase synchrony index between each possible pairs of EEG channels in alpha and beta frequency bands and analyzed the local interconnectedness, overall connectedness and small-world characteristic of brain network in different degree for two groups. Relative to healthy normal controls, the properties of cortical networks in MCI patients tend to be a shift of randomization. Lower σ of MCI had suggested that patients had a further loss of small-world attribute both during active and resting states. Our results provide evidence for the functional disconnection of brain regions in MCI. Furthermore, we found the properties of cortical networks could reflect the processing of conflict information in the selective attention task. The human brain tends to be a more regular and efficient neural architecture in the late stage of information processing. In addition, the processing of conflict information needs stronger information integration and transfer between cortical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zanthoxylum plants are usually deciduous trees or shrubs of Rutaceae , as industrial crops widely cultivated in China. Three representative Zanthoxylum species, Z. bungeanum , Z. schinifolium , and Z. armatum , are well-known for their pericarps rich in bioactive compounds and can be utilized as functional additives or phytomedicine. These mentioned Zanthoxylum species are distributed and intermixed with each other as " Zanthoxylum " on markets, which creates obstacles for consumers to identify them. In the present study, 49 batches of Zanthoxylum extracts were examined for anti-inflammatory activity and then employed in acquiring corresponding multi-constituent profiles by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-HRMS and UHPLC-MS/MS. The obtained data were further used for the construction of extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) classification and regression models. A Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) algorithm was subsequently applied to interpret the XGBoost classification/regression model output for desirable information. Isoquercitrin, rutin, and arctigenin were identified as the important chemical markers for discriminating Zanthoxylum origins through the classification algorithm. Furthermore, six constituents, consisting of hydroxy- γ -sanshool, avicularin, bergapten, rutin, scopoletin, and narcissoside, were screened for their major anti-inflammatory activity by modeling using the regression approach. Unraveling the diversities and connections of constituents and biological activities in these three species could contribute to their reasonable industrial and medicinal applications. [Display omitted] • Chemical profiling of three Zanthoxylum species was depicted. • Anti-inflammatory effects of Zanthoxylum extracts and phytochemicals were evaluated. • XGBoost and SHAP were used to classify species and identify bioactive metabolites. • Three chemicals were identified for discriminating against three Zanthoxylum species. • Six chemicals contribute to the major anti-inflammatory potential of Zanthoxylum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Lipid differences between yak colostrum (YC) and mature milk (YM) were analyzed. • A total of 851 lipid species from 28 lipid subclasses were identified. • Forty-three significantly different lipids (SDLs) between YC and YM were screened. • These SDLs were mainly enriched in the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. • Lipid species information for GLs, STs, GPs, SPs, and FAs in YC and YM was added. Yak milk is essential to maintain the normal physiological functions of herders in Tibetan areas of China. However, the lipid components of yak colostrum (YC) and mature milk (YM) have not been systematically studied. We employed a quantitative lipidomics to comprehensively describe the alterations in the milk lipid profile of lactating yaks. Herein, totally 851 lipids from 28 lipid subclasses in YC and YM were identified and screened for 43 significantly different lipids (SDLs; variable importance in projection > 1, fold change < 0.5 or > 2 with P < 0.05), with cholesterol ester (CE, 16:0) and triacylglycerol (TAG, 54:6 (20:5), 50:1 (16:0), 56:6 (20:5)) were the potential lipid biomarkers. Fourteen SDLs were modulated downwards, and 29 SDLs were modulated upwards in YM. Moreover, by analyzing lipid metabolic pathways in these SDLs, glycerophospholipid metabolism was the most critical. Our results furnish integral lipid details for evaluating yak milk's nutritional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For tunnels excavated in the unsaturated soils with changing water levels, there may be steady-state unsaturated flow above the water table and saturated flow below the water table toward the tunnel face due to the excavation. Changing water levels affect the adverse effect of the underwater saturated flow and the contribution of the unsaturated flow to the shear strength. To figure out the regularity concerning the region and magnitude of unsaturated and saturated flow effects, an analytical framework is developed within the kinematic approach of limit analysis combined with the numerical simulation. A suction stress-based equation is employed to express the contribution of unsaturated flow to shear strength. The development of the saturated flow below the water table is numerically simulated, and the resulting pore pressure distribution is extracted and interpolated on a 3D discrete rotational failure mechanism. The work rate balance equation incorporating the apparent cohesion due to unsaturated flow and the pore pressure affected by the saturated flow is established to optimize the critical face pressure. The proposed analytical framework is verified by comparisons with previous literature and numerical simulations of hydromechanical analysis. A parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of groundwater levels, flow types, unsaturated properties, and hydraulic hysteresis on the tunnel face stability. The results show that it is only necessary to consider the effect of unsaturated flow and the differences caused by various unsaturated characteristics when the unsaturated zone is large enough. This work can provide a good reference for the design of face supports in the initial stage for tunnels excavated in unsaturated soils with changing groundwater levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial charge transfer efficiency and electronic states of active sites are two essential issues to restrict catalytic activity of electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, we show that although Au is recognized to be inert towards OER, the catalytic activity of Fe 3 O 4 catalyst for OER was highly boosted by coupling Fe 3 O 4 with Au to address these two issues. Here, Au nanoparticles were attached to hierarchical Fe 3 O 4 microsphere through electrochemical deposition, a mild and rapid approach that can be accomplished within 3 min and requires no sophisticated equipment. With the coupling of Au, interfacial charge transfer resistance of Fe 3 O 4 declined remarkably. On the other hand, oxidability of Fe sites and electron accepting capability of Au sites was elevated due to strong interaction between Au and Fe 3 O 4. Owing to these two merits induced by Au, Fe 3 O 4 exhibited enhanced catalytic activity for OER. The potential of Fe 3 O 4 to obtain 10 mA/cm2 decreased by 640 mV, the current density was amplified up to 2.5 fold at the potential of 2 V (vs SCE), and the Tafel slop was reduced by 146 mV/dec. This work shows that the catalytic activity of an earth-abundant electrocatalyst (Fe 3 O 4) for OER reaction was boosted by coupling it with OER-inert Au. It is found that the coupling of Au not only facilitated charge transfer efficiency of the catalyst, but elevated the oxidability of Fe sites and electron accepting capability of Au sites. Thereby, when coupled with Au, Fe 3 O 4 exhibited enhanced current density, reduced overpotential, and smaller Tafel slop. [Display omitted] • Enhance catalytic activity of Fe 3 O 4 for OER reaction via coupling of OER-inert Au. • Effectively promoted interfacial charge transfer with the decoration of Au. • Modify the state of Fe sites and Au sites by strong interaction of Au with Fe 3 O 4. • An easy-to-handle and rapid way to couple Au with hierarchical Fe 3 O 4 microspheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on the invariance principle of differential equation, a simple adaptive control method is proposed to synchronize the dynamical networks with the general coupling functions. Comparing with other adaptive control methods, the weighted average of a few nodes' states is used as target orbit to design controller. To show the effectiveness of proposed method, some numerical simulations are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxylated chitosan oligosaccharide (C–COS) was prepared by selective oxidation of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) using laccase/2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO) system to change its hydroxyl group on C6 to carboxyl group. Free radical-induced in vitro lipid oxidation experiments were performed using linoleic acid as the experimental subject. Inhibitory effects of COS and C–COS on lipid peroxidation were assessed by comparing the generation of a conjugated diene, MDA, and superoxide. Combining FTIR, 1H NMR, and GC-MS for structural analysis. Results show that C–COS and COS treatment suppressed lipid oxidation, and C–COS has better inhibition effects than COS. The primary inhibition mechanism lies in the carboxylic acid root of C–COS on C6 chelates with metal ions, reducing the generation of free radicals. Meanwhile, it exposes more C2 amino sites outside the sugar chain, promoting the capture of free radicals. This two-way action plays a synergistic role, effectively inhibiting free radicals from attacking fatty acids, avoiding lipid peroxidation. [Display omitted] • C–COS were prepared by oxidizing the hydroxyl group at C6 position of COS into carboxyl group. • C–COS perform better anti lipid oxidation efficiency than COS. • The mechanism for inhibiting lipid oxidation derived from the synergistic effect of amino and carboxyl groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Arc synthesis of Ag@G with tailorable nanostructure and surface functionality. • Tailoring thickness enabled the synergy of π-π uptake and electron transfer for 4-NP. • Amino groups with proper densities induced the capture of Cr(VI) ultrafast. • Negative relation of shell thickness with formic acid-induced reduction of Cr(VI). • Reductive N heteroatoms with proper densities ensured a favorable reduction of Cr(VI). Encapsulation of plasmonic nanoparticles in nanoshells is a promising strategy to overcome their oxidation-coalescence in the heterogeneous catalysis process. Tailoring of nanostructure/functionality to enable the efficient synergistic integration of core and shell is highly desired to enhance the plasmonic catalysis. This study applied a one-step arc discharge to design graphite-encapsulated silver (Ag@G) catalysts with tunable morphologies (14.3–46.9 nm of cores, 1.38–3.43 nm of shells) and surface functionalities (hydrophobization, or amination with maximum 2.70 × 1017/mg of Ag@G). Highly nanostructure/functionality-dependent catalysis of aquatic pollutants was established. Specifically, tailoring defective shells with thinner thickness enabled the efficient synergism of strong π-π coordination of 4-nitrophenol and effective electron transfer of donors. Aminated Ag@G with ultrathin shells presented an optimal reduction for Cr(VI), establishing a negative relation of thickness with formic acid-induced reduction. Amino with proper densities (9.6–20.9/nm2) induced the capture of Cr(VI) ultrafast. Moreover, reductive N heteroatoms with proper densities (e.g. , 27.7 of N/nm2) provided abundant lone pair electrons without the dramatic decline of conductivity, ensuring a favorable reduction of Cr(VI). Since arc discharge was versatile for the industrial production of nanomaterials, our work would trigger a new upsurge to arc-design nanostructures/functionalities for the catalysis and decontamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1 Development of an allooctaploid (AABBCCRR) via interspecific hybridization. 2 Identification of this allooctaploid was checked by PCR and FISH. 3 Morphology of this allooctaploid was well described. 4 The allooctaploid is an important germplasm for Brassica crops. Interspecific hybridization, which leads to the combination of the genomes from different species, not only contributes to speciation but also enriches the genetic stock of crops. Production of interspecific/intergenetic hybrids between Brassica species or Brassica and relative species has been a desirable goal for plant breeders and genetic researchers. In this study, we initially generated the allotetraploid Raphanobrassica (CCRR, 2n = 36) through a cross between maternal Raphanus sativus (RR, 2n = 18) and paternal Brassica oleracea (CC, 2n = 36). We then developed an allooctaploid (AABBCCRR, 2n = 72) that incorporated three Brassica subgenomes and radish genomes through crosses between the newly formed Raphanobrassica and B. juncea (AABB, 2n=36), followed by the chromosome doubling. PCR amplification of genome-specific primers and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis were employed to identify the true hybrids and their chromosome complements. The new allooctaploid showed a mosaic morphology of three parents and produced some seeds, despite the very low pollen stainability. The chromosome pairing and segregation of the allooctaploid were largely normal during the meiosis of pollen mother cells. So the first allooctaploid can be used as an intermediate germplasm to transfer desirable traits into Brassica crops, or as the founder for the experimental synthesis of new species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aims of the study were to investigate the relationship between aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A2 (ALDH1A2) and Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), explore the effects of the rs3204689 polymorphism and methylation status on the expression levels of ALDH1A2, and further clarify the pathogenesis of KBD. Materials and methods: The genotype of ALDH1A2 rs3204689 was detected by PCR–RFLP in 103 KBD patients and 109 healthy controls in the whole blood. The mRNA level of ALDH1A2 was measured by qRT-PCR, and the protein expression was detected using IHC staining and Western blotting. The MSP-PCR was used to identify the ALDH1A2 methylation level. Results: There were significant differences in G/G, G/C, and C/C frequencies of ALDH1A2 rs3204689 between the KBD and control groups (χ2 = 7.113, P = 0.029); the minor allele G of ALDH1A2 was associated with the risk of KBD (χ2 = 5.984, P = 0.014). The mRNA and protein levels of ALDH1A2 were increased in the whole blood and cartilage of KBD patients compared with the controls (P = 0.049, P < 0.0001, P = 0.019). Meanwhile, a statistically significant difference was observed between G/G, G/C and C/C genotype on mRNA expression (P = 0.039). The methylation level of the ALDH1A2 gene promoter region showed no significant difference between the KBD and control groups (χ2 = 0.317, P = 0.573). Conclusion: Our case–control study indicates that the common variant rs3204689 near ALDH1A2 is associated with KBD in Chinese population. The risk allele G of rs3204689 is statistically linked to the high expression of ALDH1A2, which is up-regulated in the cartilage and whole blood of KBD patients. Our findings suggest a potential role of ALDH1A2 in the pathogenesis of KBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]