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"Objective To explore the level of serum triglyceride (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in different Fazekas score, and its correlationship with white matter hyperintensities (WMH). Methods The data of MRI were collected of 529 T2DM patients admitted to the Department of Endocrinology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital from January to June 2021, and Fazekas scores were independently assessed by specialised individuals. The patients were divided into four group according to Fazekas score: grade 0 (n=210), grade 1 (n=257), grade 2 (n=48), and grade 3 (n=14). General information and laboratory results were collected for a retrospective cross-sectional study. The relationship between TG/HDL-C and Fazekas score was assessed by multivariate ordinal logistic regression, and the relationship between TG/HDL-C and the risk of WMH was fitted using restricted cubic spline plots. Results Of the 529 patients, 319 were WMH positive, accounting for 60.3%. Differences in gender, age, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, duration of diabetes, fasting blood glucose, albumin and history of hypertension were statistically significant between the four groups of grade 0, 1, 2 and 3 (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in TG/HDL-C［M（IQR）］ among the four groups [1.4(1.8) vs 1.4(1.6) vs 1.3(1.1) vs 1.6(1.6), H=5.361, P=0.147]. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that TG/HDL-C was independently associated with Fazekas score (OR= 1.119, 95%CI: 1.031-1.214, P=0.007). Adjusted multivariate restricted cube splines showed that there was a dose-response relationship between TG/HDL-C and the risk of WMH. When TG/HDL-C＞1.385, the risk of WMH was increased significantly. Conclusion TG/HDL-C levels are independently associated with the risk and severity of WMH in patients with T2DM."

PURPOSE: The combination chemotherapy of fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) has provided clinically meaningful improvement for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We previously uncovered a role for the serine hydrolase carboxylesterase 2 (CES2) in mediating intratumoral activation of the prodrug irinotecan, a constituent of FOLFIRINOX. We aimed to further test the predictive value of CES2 for response to irinotecan using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and to elucidate the determinants of CES2 expression and response to FOLFIRINOX treatment among patients with PDAC. METHODS: PDXs were engrafted subcutaneously into nude mice and treated for 4 weeks with either saline control or irinotecan. CES2 and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A) expression in PDAC tissues was evaluated by immunohistochemical and Western blot analysis. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were applied to assess the association between overall survival and hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels in patients who underwent neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX treatment. RESULTS: High CES2 activity in PDAC PDXs was associated with increased sensitivity to irinotecan. Integrated gene expression, proteomic analyses, and in vitro genetic experiments revealed that nuclear receptor HNF4A, which is upregulated in diabetes, is the upstream transcriptional regulator of CES2 expression. Elevated CES2 protein expression in PDAC tissues was positively associated with a history of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio, 4.84; P = .02). High HbA1C levels were associated with longer overall survival in patients who received neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX treatment (P = .04). CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we provide, for the first time, evidence that CES2 expression is associated with a history of type 2 diabetes in PDAC and that elevated HbA1C, by predicting tumor CES2 expression, may represent a novel marker for stratifying patients most likely to respond to FOLFIRINOX therapy.

The vibration of high-speed trains induced by track irregularities is a main factor affecting ride comfort. Especially, the long-wavelength track irregularities can reduce the passengers' ride comfort by increasing the vibration of the high-speed trains. A three-dimensional human body model coupled to a vehicle body and tracks is established to form a coupled human-seat-vehicle-track system for investigating the influence of the long-wavelength track irregularities on ride comfort. The parameters of the seated human model are determined by measurement based on the multi-island GA method. The coupled model is then used to evaluate the ride comfort of high-speed trains using ISO 2631 under the excitation of the track longitudinal level irregularities. The effects of primary, secondary suspension, and seat support vertical stiffness and damping on ride comfort are analysed. The results show that the track's longitudinal irregularities lead to high human body vibration levels and large ride comfort indices (lower ride comfort), especially when the irregularity excitation frequency is near the natural frequency of the high-speed train. The passengers' ride comfort is more sensitive to the vertical secondary suspension stiffness than the other suspension parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 3D rigid-flexible human-seat-vehicle-track coupling model is proposed to analyze high-speed train ride comfort. The seated human model is built based on the multi-body dynamic method. The human multi-axis excitation measurement data determines the model parameters. The detailed FE (finite element) car body model is built, and the model is calibrated by laboratory modal tests. The dynamic behavior of the high-speed train, running on both straight and curved tracks, is analyzed by using the rigid-flexible human-seat-vehicle-track coupling model. Then, the effect of the seat support parameters on the ride comfort of the high-speed train is analyzed, when the train travels on curved tracks. The results show that using the rigid car body model can overestimate the ride comfort of the high-speed train. The lateral and rolling motion of the car body, induced by curves can worsen the lateral dynamic performance of the passenger seats. At the different seat positions and for the different configurations of seats (three-abreast and two-abreast), selecting proper stiffness of the seat-floor and seat-sidewall supports can achieve comfort for the passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Promoters with desirable properties are crucial in biotechnological applications. Generative AI (GenAI) has demonstrated potential in creating novel synthetic promoters with significantly enhanced functionality. However, these methods' reliance on various programming frameworks and specific task-oriented contexts limits their flexibilities. Overcoming these limitations is essential for researchers to fully leverage the power of GenAI to design promoters for their tasks. Results Here, we introduce GPro (Generative AI-empowered toolkit for promoter design), a user-friendly toolkit that integrates a collection of cutting-edge GenAI-empowered approaches for promoter design. This toolkit provides a standardized pipeline covering essential promoter design processes, including training, optimization, and evaluation. Several detailed demos are provided to reproduce state-of-the-art promoter design pipelines. GPro's user-friendly interface makes it accessible to a wide range of users including non-AI experts. It also offers a variety of optional algorithms for each design process, and gives users the flexibility to compare methods and create customized pipelines. Availability and implementation GPro is released as an open-source software under the MIT license. The source code for GPro is available on GitHub for Linux, macOS, and Windows: https://github.com/WangLabTHU/GPro , and is available for download via Zenodo repository at https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10681733. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly-decamethylene terephthalamide (PA10T) is one of high temperature special engineering plastics, which is widely used in aviation automobile, and electronic industries. However, its bad processability, poor crystallinity, and toughness may affect its further applications. In this work, the melting polycondensation synthesis of thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester (TLCP) prepolymer was explored. This synthesized TLCP was then added into PA10T via in-situ compounding, to obtain the polydecamethylene terephthalamide / thermotropic liquid crystalline polyester composites (TLCP/PA10T). The TLCP was found easy to be oriented, which can reduce the entanglement of PA10T and improve the processing properties of PA10T. Moreover, the anisotropy under tensile conditions after the TLCP orientation can form microfibers and improve the mechanical properties of the composites. The relationship between crystallization properties, tensile strength and TLCP content of TLCP/PA10T composites was also studied. Such TLCP/PA10T composites can serve as a high temperature special engineering plastic in industrial manufacturing.

A corporate site visit is an effective way to obtain information on a firm. Most studies focus on the information advantages of corporate site visits, but evidence of their impact on firm operations is limited. In this paper, we investigate whether investors' corporate site visits affect cost stickiness. Using data on investor corporate site visits to Chinese listed firms from 2013 to 2018, we find that these visits can inhibit cost stickiness. This finding holds in robustness tests and when controlling for endogeneity, including firm fixed effects, and using the Heckman selection model and the instrumental variables method. Further analyses reveal this inhibition is more pronounced for nonstate‐owned enterprises and the results are more significant regarding cost stickiness in firms consuming nonlabor materials and firms visited by institutional investors. Moreover, we explore plausible mechanisms through which corporate site visits inhibit cost stickiness, such as through a monitoring channel and a learning channel. Our study contributes to academic evidence on the benefit and value of corporate site visits to firm operations, showing these visits can be a useful way to build connections between investors and firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The coal is the basic raw material for energy in China. It has strategic role in national economy,while the problems of roller surface adhesion,belt jitter,falling coal along return trip caused by coal freezing adhesion seriously restrict coal transportation in winter. Prior studies show that surface roughness has an important effect on freezing adhesion,in order to alleviate the freezing adhesive problems of coal by improving the material’s surface shape,our research group designed the freezing adhesive strength test device,under the certain frozen condition,freezing adhesive characteristics of six different roughness steel plates with moisture content 40% of the coal slime were tested. The results show that,the coal freezing adhesive strength with the change of roughness in W curve,appears minimum value when Ra= 9 10 μm,further suggest that appropriate surface roughness can reduce coal freezing adhesive strength. Thesis has guiding significance on mechanism research of freezing adhesion and other anti-freezing adhesive engineering fields.

In order to solve the freezing adhesive problem on roller and belt during coal transportation process in winter,on the basis of referring to relevant freezing adhesive theory,inspired by bionics,we did the theoretical analysis and experimental research about the application of bionic convex hull geometry structure on the roller and belt. In theory,it is verified bionic convex hull geometry structure can increase the the water contact angle,to a certain extent,it can reduce the freezing adhesive strength. We referred to the existing anti-freezing adhesive experimental study,used the UHMW-PE,designed and processed a bionic convex hull template,the height is 1. 0 mm,projected radius is 1. 0 mm,the center distance is 6. 4 mm,and another same material smooth template,by homemade freezing adhesive strength test device,under conditions of-25℃ temperature and3 h freezing time,we tested the freezing adhesive characteristics of two kinds of templates with moisture content 40% of the coal slime. The results showed that the normal freezing adhesive strength and tangential freezing adhesive strength of bionic convex hull template reduced about 8% and 12% respectively,we verified the bionic geometric convex hull indeed had certain antifreezing ability from the experiment aspect,hope can be used in anti-freezing adhesive field.