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Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) shares high structural and antigenic homology with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) and border disease virus (BDV). Because all three viruses can infect swine and elicit cross-reactive antibodies, it is necessary to differentiate among them with regard to serological diagnosis of classical swine fever. To understand the mechanism of cross-reactivity, it is important to define common or specific epitopes of these viruses. For this purpose, epitope mapping of six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was performed using recombinant expressed antigenic domains of CSFV and BDV E2 proteins. One CSFV-specific conformational epitope and one CSFV and BDV common epitope within domain B/C of E2 were identified. Site-directed mutagenesis confirmed that residues G725 and V738/I738 of the CSFV-specific epitope and P709/L709 and E713 of the second epitope are important for mAbs binding. Infection of CSFV in porcine cells was significantly reduced after pre-incubation of the cells with the domain B/C of E2 or after pre-incubation of CSFV with the mAbs detecting domain B/C. 3D structural modeling suggested that both epitopes are exposed on the surface of E2. Based on this, the identified epitopes represent a potential target for virus neutralization and might be involved in the early steps of CSFV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise localization of the infrasound source is important for infrasound event monitoring. The localization of infrasound sources is influenced by the atmospheric propagation environment and infrasound measurement equipment in the large-scale global distribution of infrasound arrays. A distributed infrasound source localization method based on sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) and Bayesian information fusion is proposed to reduce the localization error. First, the arrival azimuth of the infrasound source is obtained based on the SBL algorithm. Then, the infrasound source localization result is obtained by the Bayesian information fusion algorithm. The localization error of the infrasound source can be reduced by this infrasound source method, which incorporates the uncertainty of the infrasound propagation environment and infrasound measurement equipment into the infrasound source localization results. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was validated using rocket motor explosion data from the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). The experimental results show that the arrival azimuth estimation error can be within 2° and the localization distance error is 3.5 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although B‐acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B‐ALL) patients' survival has been improved dramatically, some cases still relapse. This study aimed to explore the prognosis‐related novel differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for predicting the overall survival (OS) of children and young adults (CAYAs) with B‐ALL and analyze the immune‐related factors contributing to poor prognosis. Methods: GSE48558 and GSE79533 from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and clinical sample information and mRNA‐seq from Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database were retrieved. Prognosis‐related key genes were enrolled to build a Cox proportional model using multivariate Cox regression. Five‐year OS of patients, clinical characteristic relevance and clinical independence were assessed based on the model. The mRNA levels of prognosis‐related genes were validated in our samples and the difference of immune cells composition between high‐risk and low‐risk patients were compared. Results: One hundred and twelve DEGs between normal B cells and B‐ALL cells were identified based on GSE datasets. They were mainly participated in protein binding and HIF‐1 signaling pathway. One hundred and eighty‐nine clinical samples were enrolled in the study, both Kaplan–Meier (KM) analysis and univariate Cox regression analysis showed that CYBB, BCL2A1, IFI30, and EFNB1 were associated with prognosis, CYBB, BCL2A1, and EFNB1 were used to construct prognostic risk model. Moreover, compared to clinical indicators, the three‐gene signature was an independent prognostic factor for CAYAs with B‐ALL. Finally, the mRNA levels of CYBB, BCL2A1, and EFNB1 were significantly lower in B‐ALL group as compared to controls. The high‐risk group had a significantly higher percentage of infiltrated immune cells. Conclusion: We constructed a novel three‐gene signature with independent prognostic factor for predicting 5‐year OS of CAYAs with B‐ALL. Additionally, we discovered the difference of immune cells composition between high‐risk and low‐risk groups. This study may help to customize individual treatment and improve prognosis of CAYAs with B‐ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel method was proposed to identify RNA m2G sites using hybrid features. • The over-sample method SMOTE was adopted to deal with the problem of data imbalance. • After using MRMD to select features, the performance of the model is improved. • The RFhy-m2G is superior to other methods, which can effective identify m2G sites. N2-methylguanosine is a post-transcriptional modification of RNA that is found in eukaryotes and archaea. The biological function of m2G modification discovered so far is to control and stabilize the three-dimensional structure of tRNA and the dynamic barrier of reverse transcription. To discover additional biological functions of m2G, it is necessary to develop time-saving and labor-saving calculation tools to identify m2G. In this paper, based on hybrid features and a random forest, a novel predictor, RFhy-m2G, was developed to identify the m2G modification sites for three species. The hybrid feature used by the predictor is used to fuse the three features of ENAC, PseDNC, and NPPS. These three features include primary sequence derivation properties, physicochemical properties, and position-specific properties. Since there are redundant features in hybrid features, MRMD2.0 is used for optimal feature selection. Through feature analysis, it is found that the optimal hybrid features obtained still contain three kinds of properties, and the hybrid features can more accurately identify m2G modification sites and improve prediction performance. Based on five-fold cross-validation and independent testing to evaluate the prediction model, the accuracies obtained were 0.9982 and 0.9417, respectively. The robustness of the predictor is demonstrated by comparisons with other predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose a method qualitatively connecting the hadron nuclear modification factor to its quark component nuclear modification factor. A parton and hadron cascade model, PACIAE, based on PYTHIA6 is then employed calculating the hadron (in final hadronic state) and its quark component (in final partonic state) nuclear modification factors in the 0%â€"5% most central Pb + Pb collisions at s N N = 2.76 TeV. It turns out that the hadron nuclear modification factor is usually smaller than its quark component factor. On the other hand, the flavor (mass) ordering of the nuclear modification factor is investigated for a hadron in the final hadronic state and a quark in the final partonic state. It is found that the nuclear modification factor is more likely to be identified with the quarks and mesons but not with the baryons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, block copolymer nanostructures have been fabricated using porous templates via traditional wetting methods, such as the thermal annealing method and the solution wetting method. The microphase-separated morphologies of most prepared block copolymer nanostructures, however, can only be controlled by tuning the pore sizes of the templates or by changing the molecular weights of the polymer blocks, limiting the potential applications of block copolymer nanostructures. Here, we present an ingenious approach to form polystyrene- block -poly (ethylene oxide) (PS- b -PEO) nanorods in the nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates via the solvent vapor annealing method. The solvent vapors not only induce the PS- b -PEO chains to wet the nanopores but also control the microphase-separated morphologies of the nanorods. By changing the annealing solvents, the internal morphologies of the PS- b -PEO nanorods can be well-controlled because of the change of the solvent-polymer interactions and the effective volume fractions. When the samples are annealed in THF, THF/water (1:1 by weight), and THF/MeOH (1:1 by weight) vapors, PS- b -PEO nanorods with helical, spherical, and cylindrical morphologies can be achieved, respectively. The sizes of the self-assembled nanodomains are also measured and compared quantitatively. Furthermore, the morphologies of the PS- b -PEO nanorods can be reversibly converted by annealing in different solvents alternately. Thanks to the possibility to selectively introduce precursor materials into the hydrophilic PEO domains of the PS- b -PEO nanorods, this work provides a powerful technique to fabricate functional nanomaterials with unique morphologies for further applications. [Display omitted] • Polystyrene- block -poly (ethylene oxide) (PS- b -PEO) nanorods are formed. • The nanorods are introduced via the solvent vapor annealing method. • PS- b -PEO nanorods with helical, spherical, and cylindrical morphologies can be achieved. • The morphologies of the PS- b -PEO nanorods can be reversibly converted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposed a kinetic model for RP-3, the most widely used military-civilian aviation fuel in China. Four hydrocarbons within the typical size of major components in RP-3, i.e., n-dodecane, iso-dodecane (2,2,4,6,6-pentamethylheptane), decalin and n-butylbenzene, were included in the component palette to improve the ability of the surrogate to mimic the properties related to the molecular weight. Seven properties, cetane number, molecular weight, H/C ratio, threshold sooting index, lower heating value, the proportion of -CH 3 and -CH 2 in the total carbons were selected as targets aiming at the comprehensive emulation of the chemical and physical propensities of RP-3. By sequential use of the genetic algorithm and a local search method, a surrogate containing 27.44% n-dodecane, 28.81% iso-dodecane, 26.12% decalin and 17.63% n-butylbenzene by mole was formulated. The autoignition delay times of the surrogate were measured using a heated rapid compression machine at pressures of 10, 15, 20 bar and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 over low-to-intermediate temperature range. Results show that the surrogate can not only emulate the target properties but also the key non-targeted properties. A kinetic model of 3065 species and 11,898 reactions was then developed based on the proposed surrogate to describe the chemical process during the combustion of RP-3. Simulations show that the model can predict the fundamental combustion datasets in the present work and literature satisfactorily, suggesting the rationality and applicability of the model. Rate of production and evolution histories of OH and HO 2 were then conducted using the kinetic model to provide insight into the combustion of RP-3. Analysis suggests that negative temperature coefficient behavior also exists in the first stage ignition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transfer joint is the key structurally functioning part of the transmission tower. The reliability of the transfer joint directly affects the stress and deformation characteristics of the whole tower structure. This paper studies experimentally and numerically the performance of a novel steel transfer joints formed with the integration of single- and double-angles respectively at the upper and lower parts of the connection. Two specimens with different sizes of gusset plates have been designed and tested with tensile loading. Moreover, finite element models have been constructed and validated with experimental findings for a detailed behavior analysis of yielding. The mechanical behavior in terms of stress distribution contours, deformation, yield locations, and failure mode of the gusseted steel joint has been evaluated. Combining observations made from simulation and test results, existing theoretical models for the design of the gusseted plate are discussed and improved. For engineering design convenience, the existing theoretical model is then updated to be experimentally-complying. • The performance of steel joints integrated with single and double-angles was studied. • Specimens with different sizes of gusset plates were tested with tensile loading. • Finite element models were constructed for a detailed behavior study of yielding. • The theoretical models of the gusseted plate are checked and improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: An Optimizing Performance through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning theory-based motor learning intervention delivering autonomy support and enhanced expectancies (EE) shows promise for reducing cognitive-motor dual-task costs, or the relative difference in primary task performance when completed with and without a secondary cognitive task, that facilitate adaptive injury-resistant movement response. The current pilot study sought to determine the effectiveness of an autonomy support versus an EE-enhanced virtual reality motor learning intervention to reduce dual-task costs during single-leg balance. Design: Within-subjects 3 x 3 trial. Methods: Twenty-one male and 24 female participants, between the ages of 18 and 30 years, with no history of concussion, vertigo, lower-extremity surgery, or lower-extremity injuries the previous 6 months, were recruited for training sessions on consecutive days. Training consisted of 5 x 8 single-leg squats on each leg, during which all participants mimicked an avatar through virtual reality goggles. The autonomy support group chose an avatar color, and the EE group received positive kinematic biofeedback. Baseline, immediate, and delayed retention testing consisted of single-leg balancing under single- and dual-task conditions. Mixed-model analysis of variances compared dual-task costs for center of pressure velocity and SD between groups on each limb. Results: On the right side, dual-task costs for anterior-posterior center of pressure mean and SD were reduced in the EE group (mean Δ = -51.40, Cohen d = 0.80 and SD Δ = -66.00%, Cohen d = 0.88) compared with the control group (mean Δ = -22.09, Cohen d = 0.33 and SD Δ = -36.10%, Cohen d = 0.68) from baseline to immediate retention. Conclusions: These findings indicate that EE strategies that can be easily implemented in a clinic or sport setting may be superior to task-irrelevant AS approaches for influencing injury-resistant movement adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungal keratitis (FK) is a vision-threatening infection. We aimed to explore the antifungal and anti-inflammatory effects of pseudolaric acid B (PAB) on FK and the underlying mechanisms involved. Network pharmacology utilized to acquire the potential target genes, and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) was consistently downregulated in Gene Expression Omnibus dataset and clinical samples. Molecular docking analysis showed that PAB and SIRT1 had good binding activity. No toxicity was observed in vivo and in vitro with a PAB concentration below 0.3 μM. PAB exerted its antifungal activity by destroying the integrity of hyphae, and alleviated the severity of FK in rats by decreasing clinical scores, fungal burden and inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration. PAB increased SIRT1 to regulate the crosstalk between nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), decreasing the levels of inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6; and pattern recognition receptors, C-type lectin domain containing 7A (Dectin-1), lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX-1), toll like receptor (TLR)-2, and TLR4 both in vivo and in vitro. However, this anti-inflammatory effect of PAB was abolished by the SIRT1 inhibitor EX527. This study provides new evidence that PAB has antifungal and anti-inflammatory effects in FK and may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of FK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are fast-flow vascular malformations and refer to important causes of intracerebral haemorrhage in young adults. Getting deep insight into the genetic pathogenesis of AVMs is necessary. Herein, we identified two vital missense variants of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) associated sorting protein 1 (GPRASP1) in AVM patients for the first time and congruously determined to be loss-of-function variants in endothelial cells. GPRASP1 loss-of-function caused endothelial dysfunction in vitro and in vivo. Endothelial Gprasp1 knockout mice suffered a high probability of cerebral haemorrhage, AVMs and exhibited vascular anomalies in multiple organs. GPR4 was identified to be an effective GPCR binding with GPRASP1 to develop endothelial disorders. GPRASP1 deletion activated GPR4/cAMP/MAPK signalling to disturb endothelial functions, thus contributing to vascular anomalies. Mechanistically, GPRASP1 promoted GPR4 degradation. GPRASP1 enabled GPR4 K63-linked ubiquitination, enhancing the binding of GPR4 and RABGEF1 to activate RAB5 for conversions from endocytic vesicles to endosomes, and subsequently increasing the interactions of GPR4 and ESCRT members to package GPR4 into multivesicular bodies or late endosomes for lysosome degradation. Notably, the GPR4 antagonist NE 52-QQ57 and JNK inhibitor SP600125 effectively rescued the vascular phenotype caused by endothelial Gprasp1 deletion. Our findings provided novel insights into the roles of GPRASP1 in AVMs and hinted at new therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the biggest threats to cruciferous plants and one of the most economically significant diseases worldwide. However, our current understanding of its pathogenic mechanisms remains limited. In this study, we have identified an effector, Pb257, which plays a crucial role in the virulence of P. brassicae. The expression pattern analysis revealed continuous induction of Pb257 during both primary and secondary infections. Ectopic expression of Pb257 strongly triggered cell death in Nicotiana benthamiana and several other plants, which was dependent on SOBIR1 and the salicylic acid pathway but not BAK1, a central molecular regulator, to mediate classical defense pathways. Overexpression of Pb257 increased susceptibility of Brassica rapa to P. brassicae. Silencing of the Pb257-encoding gene led to reduce root swelling. Further investigation showed that the conserved GOLD domain within Pb257 was essential for inducing root enlargement, which is similar to the mild symptoms of clubroot, indicating that it is an important effector for promoting root cell enlargement. GOLD domain-containing family proteins were widely present in the kingdoms of protozoa, fungi, and animalia, and Pb257 was clustered into a clade of protozoa, suggesting the encoding gene as a potential marker gene for classification of P. brassicae. The GOLD domain-containing proteins are known regulators involved in human cell proliferation and immune system disruption, however, no previous reports have described a pathogen-derived GOLD domain protein with elicitor activity. Our findings demonstrate that Pb257 functions as a crucial effector contributing to the virulence of P. brassicae and could be used as a potential molecular target for controlling clubroot disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct Z-schemes for photocatalytic overall water splitting for hydrogen generation are constructed for Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 and Sc 2 CCl 2 /Hf 2 CO 2 heterostructures on the basis of the calculated band alignment and built-in electric field. Solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (η STH ′), which is evaluated using the overpotentials of the band edges and band gaps, can reach 22.09 % for Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 and 19.07 % for Sc 2 CCl 2 /Hf 2 CO 2. Tensile strains have little effect on η STH ′. Compressive strains substantially increase the η STH ′ of Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 and boost that of the Sc 2 CCl 2 /Hf 2 CO 2 heterostructure only slightly. Nonadiabatic dynamics simulations reveal that the lifetime of the photogenerated electron in one of the stacking patterns of Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 is much larger than that of the other configurations, indicating that the reduction ability of the electron is well protected. However, the interlayer electron–hole recombination in Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 is faster than that in Sc 2 CCl 2 /Hf 2 CO 2 , implying that the Z-schemes with the former are more efficient than the Z-schemes with the latter. The hydrogen and oxidation evolution reactions with the two heterostructures are thermodynamically feasible but the reactions cannot proceed spontaneously. These findings provide a helpful guide for the development of photocatalytic materials for photocatalytic hydrogen generation from overall water splitting based on the title heterostructures. [Display omitted] • Maximum solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of the constructed schemes can reach 22.09 %. • 4 % compressive biaxial strain can boost the efficiency of Sc 2 CCl 2 /MoTe 2 to 33.77 %. • Reduction ability of SM-AA is well protected by its long electron transfer time. • Minimum Gibbs free energy of HER/OER on the heterostructures reaches 0.89/1.99 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aging-related and heterogeneous hematopoietic malignancy. In this study, a total of 1,474 newly diagnosed AML patients with RNA sequencing data were enrolled, and targeted or whole exome sequencing data were obtained in 94% cases. The correlation of aging-related factors including age and clonal hematopoiesis (CH), gender, and genomic/transcriptomic profiles (gene fusions, genetic mutations, and gene expression networks or pathways) was systematically analyzed. Overall, AML patients aged 60 y and older showed an apparently dismal prognosis. Alongside age, the frequency of gene fusions defined in the World Health Organization classification decreased, while the positive rate of gene mutations, especially CH-related ones, increased. Additionally, the number of genetic mutations was higher in gene fusion--negative (GF-) patients than those with GF. Based on the status of CH- and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)-related mutations, three mutant subgroups were identified among the GF-AML cohort, namely, CH-AML, CH-MDS-AML, and other GF-AML. Notably, CH-MDS-AML demonstrated a predominance of elderly and male cases, cytopenia, and significantly adverse clinical outcomes. Besides, gene expression networks including HOXA/B, platelet factors, and inflammatory responses were most striking features associated with aging and poor prognosis in AML. Our work has thus unraveled the intricate regulatory circuitry of interactions among different age, gender, and molecular groups of AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia (NH3) has been widely considered as a promising carbon-free energy and hydrogen carrier for various applications. The large-scale direct utilization of NH3 as fuel in gas turbine engines is currently attracting significant interest, with strong focuses on improving the efficiency and stability of the system and reducing the emissions of pollutants. The present study experimentally examined the impacts of swirl intensity on combustion stability and emissions in an NH3-enriched premixed swirl-stabilized CH4/air combustor under a wide range of equivalence ratios. Simultaneous high-speed OH* chemiluminescence and particle image velocimetry measurements suggested that increasing swirl intensity resulted in more compact flame shapes and expanded the recirculation zone, which promoted flame stability at higher NH3 ratios. However, under specified conditions, enhancing swirl intensity could increase the instability frequency and amplitude of pressure oscillations. The flame dynamics exhibited different behaviors depending on the swirl intensity. At high swirl intensity, the flames underwent high-frequency, small-amplitude periodic motion. At low swirl intensity, the flames oscillated axially with large amplitude and low frequency. For flow dynamics, the stability of the vortex at high swirl intensity contrasted with the periodic vortex shedding at low swirl intensity. Furthermore, the two-dimensional Rayleigh index indicated that the dominant positive thermoacoustic coupling regions were located near the flame shear layers and flame tail at low and high swirl intensities, respectively. Finally, the experimental results showed that swirl intensity affected pollutant emissions by influencing the temperature of combustion chamber and gas mixing efficiency. The pathway of fuel-type NOx was found to be dominant in the NOx emission of the NH3/CH4/air flames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallurgical solid waste blast furnace water quenched slag (WBFS) was employed as carrier materials to prepare Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS composite photocatalyst using a sol-gel method for improving both the photocatalytic activity and the high-value utilization of metallurgical solid waste. The Fe3+ doping technology was adopted to increase the utilization of solar energy. The influencing factors and photocatalytic activity were systematically evaluated by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analyser (TG-DSC), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, scanning electron microscopy-energy spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis absorption spectrum and photoluminescence spectra technology through the degradation rate of methylene blue (MB) solution. The results showed that the Fe3+ ions were successfully incorporated into the TiO 2 lattice, which had no effect on the crystalline phase of TiO 2 and expanded the spectral response range of TiO 2 from the ultraviolet region to the visible light region. When the calcination temperature was at 450 °C and the number of Fe–TiO 2 sol loading cycles was two times, the photocatalytic activity of Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS presented the strongest, and the degradation ratio of MB reach the maximum value of 98.9 %. A uniform and dense anatase TiO 2 thin film was wrapped on the surface of WBFS. The photocatalytic activity first improved and then weakened with an increase of calcination temperature, Fe3+ doping amounts and the loading cycles of sol. The TiO 2 film changed from thin to thick and uneven to uniform, until cracking and spalling phenomenon finally occurred with an increase of Fe–TiO 2 sol loading cycle from 1 to 3 times. When the Fe–TiO 2 /WBFS was reused for four times, the degradation rate of MB could still show 67.4 %, being far higher than that of TiO 2 /WBFS of 25.4 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately identifies the cellular composition of complex tissues, which is critical for understanding disease pathogenesis, early diagnosis, and prevention. However, current methods for deconvoluting bulk RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) typically rely on matched single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) as a reference, which can be limiting due to differences in sequencing distribution and the potential for invalid information from single‐cell references. Hence, a novel computational method named SCROAM is introduced to address these challenges. SCROAM transforms scRNA‐seq and bulk RNA‐seq into a shared feature space, effectively eliminating distributional differences in the latent space. Subsequently, cell‐type‐specific expression matrices are generated from the scRNA‐seq data, facilitating the precise identification of cell types within bulk tissues. The performance of SCROAM is assessed through benchmarking against simulated and real datasets, demonstrating its accuracy and robustness. To further validate SCROAM's performance, single‐cell and bulk RNA‐seq experiments are conducted on mouse spinal cord tissue, with SCROAM applied to identify cell types in bulk tissue. Results indicate that SCROAM is a highly effective tool for identifying similar cell types. An integrated analysis of liver cancer and primary glioblastoma is then performed. Overall, this research offers a novel perspective for delivering precise insights into disease pathogenesis and potential therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial cystitis, a commonly occurring urinary tract infection (UTI), is renowned for its extensive prevalence and tendency to recur. Despite the extensive utilization of levofloxacin as a conventional therapeutic approach for bacterial cystitis, its effectiveness is impeded by adverse toxic effects, drug resistance concerns, and its influence on the gut microbiota. This study introduces Lev@PADM, a hydrogel with antibacterial properties that demonstrates efficacy in the treatment of bacterial cystitis. Lev@PADM is produced by combining levofloxacin with decellularized porcine acellular dermal matrix hydrogel and exhibits remarkable biocompatibility. Lev@PADM demonstrates excellent stability as a hydrogel at body temperature, enabling direct administration to the site of infection through intravesical injection. This localized delivery route circumvents the systemic circulation of levofloxacin, resulting in a swift and substantial elevation of the antimicrobial agent's concentration specifically at the site of infection. The in vivo experimental findings provide evidence that Lev@PADM effectively prolongs the duration of levofloxacin's action, impedes the retention and invasion of E.coli in the urinary tract, diminishes the infiltration of innate immune cells into infected tissues, and simultaneously preserves the composition of the intestinal microbiota. These results indicate that, in comparison to the exclusive administration of levofloxacin, Lev@PADM offers notable benefits in terms of preserving the integrity of the bladder epithelial barrier and suppressing the recurrence of urinary tract infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silicon nanocrystal (Si NC) white light-emitting (λ = ∼400–900 nm) thin film with a relatively low resistivity of 1.6 × 104 Ω m has been prepared as an active medium for electrically driven Si light sources. The average size of Si NC is 2.4 ± 0.4 nm. To enhance the light emission efficiency of this low-resistivity Si NC thin film, approach of hydrogen passivation suitable for the traditional high-resistivity (1.2 × 107 Ω m in this work for example) red light-emitting Si NC thin film has been tried and found unavailable unfortunately. Our first principles simulation shows that Si NCs bonded to −O, −NH2, −OH, and −H ligands are responsible for red, green, and blue (RGB) primary color emissions in this white light-emitting sample, respectively. Passivation of the sample in NH3 and H2O atmosphere is then conducted, aiming to increase the number of the RGB light emitters. The light emission is significantly enhanced, with photoluminescence intensity, photoluminescence quantum yield, electroluminescence intensity, and net optical gains increased by factors of 4.6, 4.2, 4.0, and ∼3.0, respectively, after 10-day passivation. Further enhancements are expected for longer passivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the effects of aging treatment on the microstructures of a TC18 alloy are studied. The influence of aging treatment on the tensile properties and failure mechanisms is systematically analyzed. It is found that the size and morphology of the primary α (αp) phases are insensitive to aging temperature and time. Furthermore, the aging temperature and time dramatically influence the precipitation of the secondary α (αs) phases. Massive αs phases precipitate and gradually coarsen, and finally weave together by increasing the aging temperature or extending the aging time. The variations in αp and αs phases induced by aging parameters also affect the mechanical properties. Both yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) first increase and then decrease by increasing the aging temperature and time, while ductility first decreases and then increases. There is an excellent balance between the strengths and ductility. When the aging temperature is changed from 450 to 550 °C, YS varies from 1238.6 to 1381.6 MPa, UTS varies from 1363.2 to 1516.8 MPa, and the moderate elongation ranges from 9.0% to 10.3%. These results reveal that the thickness of αs phases is responsible for material strengths, while the content of α phases can enhance material ductility. The ductile characteristics of the alloy with coarser αs phases are more obvious than those with thinner αs phases. Therefore, the aging treatment is helpful for the precipitation and homogeneous distribution of αs phases, which are essential for balancing the strengths and ductility of the studied Ti alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gengma-Lancang-Menghai seismic belt, the southernmost part of the North-South seismic belt, is controlled by four active faults: the Nantinghe fault (NTHF), the Sanjianshan fault (SJSF), the Hanmuba-Lancang fault (HMB-LCF), and the Heihe fault (HHF), from northwest to southeast. However, the tectonic activity of the faults in the Gengma-Lancang-Menghai seismic belt has not been fully studied yet. In the present work, we conducted tectonic geomorphic indices to analyze the relative tectonic activity along the faults in the seismic belt based on the digital elevation model. We interpreted asymmetric factor, index of drainage basin shape, hypsometric integral, normalized stream-length gradient, valley floor-to-width to height ratio, and longitudinal profiles to show that the relative tectonic activity is higher in the north and lower in the south, and is strong in the region from Shanjia to Huimin in the center of the seismic belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paenibacillus polymyxa is a beneficial bacterium for plant health. P. polymyxa TP3 exhibits antagonistic activity toward Botrytis cinerea and alleviates gray mold symptoms on the leaves of strawberry plants. Moreover, suppression of gray mold on the flowers and fruits of strawberry plants in field trials, including vegetative cells and endospores, was demonstrated, indicating the potential of strain TP3 as a biological control agent. To examine the anti-B. cinerea compounds produced by P. polymyxa TP3, we performed matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and fusaricidin-corresponding mass spectra were detected. Moreover, fusaricidin-related signals appeared in imaging mass spectrometry of TP3 when confronted with B. cinerea. By using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-based molecular networking approach, we identified several fusaricidins including a new variant of mass/charge ratio 917.5455 with serine in the first position of the hexapeptide. Via advanced mass spectrometry and network analysis, fusaricidin-type compounds produced by P. polymyxa TP3 were efficiently disclosed and were presumed to play roles in the antagonism against gray mold pathogen B. cinerea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A capacitance humidity sensor with a nitrogen-doped zinc oxide (N-doped ZnO) sensing film has been completed in this research. The N-doped ZnO material serves as a semiconductor sensing film with the Hall type of hole carriers (p-type). The carrier concentration and carrier mobility of p-type N-doped ZnO sensing films of capacitance humidity sensors without a polymer buffer layers are, respectively, 7.18 $\times 10^{{15}}$ cm $^{-{3}}$ and 3.69 $\times 10^{{2}}$ cm2/ $\text{V}\,\cdot$ s. Besides, the carrier concentration and carrier mobility of p-type N-doped ZnO sensing films of capacitance humidity sensors with a polymer buffer layer are, respectively, $\vphantom {_{\int }}\,\,1.06\,\,\times 10^{{18}}$ cm $^{-{3}}$ and 3.34 $\times 10^{{2}}$ cm2/ $\text{V}\,\cdot$ s. The electrical resistivity of sensing films without and with the buffer layer reaches 4 $\times 10^{{2}}$ and 8 $\times 10^{-{2}}\,\,\Omega $ -cm, respectively. In the measurements of the moisture adsorption and desorption processes, the dielectric constant of the capacitance humidity sensor without a buffer layer exhibits a capacitance effect of about 460 nF/m. The sensitivity of 45 pFm $^{-{1}}$ /%RH for the relative humidity measurement of N-doped ZnO sensing films at the upper electrode terminal of the capacitance humidity sensor with a polymer buffer layer is also obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel hybrid equalizer circuit (HEC) for a battery management system (BMS) to implement the passive HEC (P-HEC), active HEC (A-HEC), or active/passive (AP-HEC) with the same equalizer circuit architecture. The advantages of an HEC are that it is simple, cost-effective, highly energy efficient, and fail safe. The P-HEC can further use a cooling fan or heater instead of a conventional resistor as a power dissipation element to convert the energy of the waste heat generated by the resistor to adjust the battery temperature. Even if the P-HEC uses the resistor to consume energy as in conventional methods, the P-HEC still dramatically improves the component lifetime and reliability of the BMS because the waste heat generated by the equalizer resistor is outside of the BMS board. Three significant advantages of an A-HEC are its (1) low cost, (2) small volume, and (3) higher energy efficiency than the conventional active equalizer circuits (AECs). In the HEC design, the MOSFETs of the switch array do not need high-speed switching to transfer energy as conventional AECs with DC/DC converter architecture because the A-HEC uses an isolated battery charger to charge the string cell. Therefore, the switch array is equal to a cell selector with a simple ON/OFF function. In summary, the HEC provides a small volume, cost-effective, high efficiency, and fail-safe equalizer circuit design to satisfy cell balancing demands for all kinds of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies have shown that according to the expression levels of achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1), neurogenic differentiation factor 1 (NEUROD1), and POU class 2 homeobox 3 (POU2F3), small cell lung cancer (SCLC) can be divided into four subtypes: SCLC-A (ASCL1-dominant), SCLC-N (NEUROD1-dominant), SCLC-P (POU2F3-dominant), and SCLC-I (triple negative or SCLC-inflamed). However, there are limited data on the clinical characteristics and prognosis of molecular subtypes of SCLC. Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression levels of ASCL1, NEUROD1, and POU2F3 in 53 patient samples of resectable SCLC. The subtype was defined by the differential expression of the transcription factors for ASCL1, NEUROD1, and POU2F3 or the low expression of all three factors with an inflamed gene signature (SCLC-A, SCLC-N, SCLC-P, and SCLC-I, respectively). The clinicopathological characteristics, immunological features (programmed death ligand 1 [PD-L1] expression and CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocyte [TIL] density), and patient outcomes of the four subtypes of SCLC were analyzed. Results: Positive ASCL1, NEUROD1, and POU2F3 staining was detected in 43 (79.2%), 27 (51.0%), and 17 (32.1%) SCLC specimens by IHC. According to the results of IHC analysis, SCLC was divided into four subtypes: SCLC-A (39.6%), SCLC-N (28.3%), SCLC-P (17.0%), and SCLC-I (15.1%). The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of these four subtypes were 61.9%, 69.3%, 41.7%, and 85.7%, respectively (P=0.251). There were significant differences in smoking status among different subtypes of SCLC (P= 0.031). However, we did not confirm the correlation between subtypes of SCLC and other clinicopathological factors or immune profiles. Cox multivariate analysis showed that N stage (P=0.025), CD8+ TILs (P=0.024), Ki-67 level (P=0.040), and SCLC-P (P=0.023) were independent prognostic factors for resectable SCLC. Conclusions: Our IHC-based study validated the proposed classification of SCLC using the expression patterns of key transcriptional regulatory factors. We found that SCLC-P was associated with smokers and was one of the poor prognostic factors of limited-stage SCLC. In addition, no correlation was found between PD-L1 expression or CD8+ TIL density and SCLC subtypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study on gene editing in Salvia miltiorrhiza, a plant used in Eastern medicine to treat cardiovascular diseases. The researchers developed a protoplast regeneration system for S. miltiorrhiza using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. They targeted seven transcription factor genes involved in the production of bioactive compounds in the plant. The study demonstrated high-efficiency gene editing and the regeneration of knockout plants, which could potentially enhance the contents of active compounds in medicinal plants. [Extracted from the article]

Noise source localization is considered a key technology for the low-noise design of machinery and equipment. The spatial resolution of conventional beamforming localization methods is effectively improved by the fast iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm(FISTA). The application of FISTA for sound source localization in reverberant environments is limited by the selection of reflection parameters. In this paper, FISTA extends to FISTA-Net and is proposed to solve the problem of adaptive fitting of reflection parameters to improve the performance of sound source localization in a reverberant environment. In FISTA-Net, the network model can be established by expanding and truncating the FISTA algorithm based on a fixed number of iterations. The parameter iteration steps, shrinkage thresholds and update operators are updated in the FISTA-Net model by training. A series of simulations are conducted for various frequencies, reverberation times, and signal-to-noise ratios and compared to several de-reverberation algorithms to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The loudspeaker source localization experiment was conducted in a closed room to verify the effectiveness of FISTA-Net in real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfer learning techniques have been extensively developed for the intelligent diagnosis of rotating machinery as a critical and valuable tool dedicated to minimizing the distributional discrepancies between different working conditions of the machine. However, conditional probability information about fault classes and the geometric features of data distribution is rarely considered in traditional distance metrics, invalidating cross-domain diagnostic models when faced with significant distributional discrepancies. To address these issues, a new cross-domain diagnostic algorithm is proposed via joint conditional Wasserstein distance matching. First, the conditional Bures–Wasserstein distance is constructed based on the second-order statistic cross-covariance operator, approximating the distributions in the source and target domains while constraining the geometry. Then, to avoid losing first-order fault data information, the conditional probability 1-Wasserstein distance is embedded to construct a joint distance adaptation. The entropy loss is introduced into the training process to build reliable pseudo labels for the target domain samples. In the proposed method, the samples and label features of different domains are mapped to the reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), and the Feature Extractor and Classifier modules of the model are jointly optimized to obtain a more robust diagnostic model. The proposed cross-domain diagnostic model is experimentally validated on bearing and gearbox datasets under variable loads and speeds with significant diagnostic performance compared to existing transfer models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a complex and fatal cardio-pulmonary vascular disease. Decompensated right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) caused by cardiomyocyte hypertrophy often leads to fatal heart failure, the leading cause of mortality among patients. Sodium butyrate (SB), a compound known to reduce cardiac hypertrophy, was examined for its potential effect and the underlying mechanism of SB on PAH-RVH. The in vivo study showed that SB alleviated RVH and cardiac dysfunction, as well as improved life span and survival rate in MCT-PAH rats. The in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that SB could attenuate cardiomyocyte hypertrophy by reversing the expressions of H19, let-7g-5p, insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1 receptor), and p ERK. H19 inhibition restored the level of let-7g-5p and prevented the overexpression of IGF1 receptor and p ERK in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes. In addition, dual luciferase assay revealed that H19 demonstrated significant binding with let-7g-5p, acting as its endogenous RNA. Briefly, SB attenuated PAH-RVH by inhibiting the H19 overexpression, restoring the level of let-7g-5p, and hindering IGF1 receptor/ERK activation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2'-O-methylation (Nm) is a post-transcriptional modification of RNA that is catalyzed by 2'-O-methyltransferase and involves replacing the H on the 2′-hydroxyl group with a methyl group. The 2'-O-methylation modification site is detected in a variety of RNA types (miRNA, tRNA, mRNA, etc.), plays an important role in biological processes and is associated with different diseases. There are few functional mechanisms developed at present, and traditional high-throughput experiments are time-consuming and expensive to explore functional mechanisms. For a deeper understanding of relevant biological mechanisms, it is necessary to develop efficient and accurate recognition tools based on machine learning. Based on this, we constructed a predictor called NmRF based on optimal mixed features and random forest classifier to identify 2'-O-methylation modification sites. The predictor can identify modification sites of multiple species at the same time. To obtain a better prediction model, a two-step strategy is adopted; that is, the optimal hybrid feature set is obtained by combining the light gradient boosting algorithm and incremental feature selection strategy. In 10-fold cross-validation, the accuracies of Homo sapiens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were 89.069 and 93.885%, and the AUC were 0.9498 and 0.9832, respectively. The rigorous 10-fold cross-validation and independent tests confirm that the proposed method is significantly better than existing tools. A user-friendly web server is accessible at http://lab.malab.cn/∼acy/NmRF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein post-translational modifications (PTM) play vital roles in cellular regulation, modulating functions by driving changes in protein structure and dynamics. Exploring comprehensively the influence of PTM on conformational dynamics can facilitate the understanding of the related biological function and molecular mechanism. Currently, a series of excellent computation tools have been designed to analyze the time-dependent structural properties of proteins. However, the protocol aimed to explore conformational dynamics of post-translational modified protein is still a blank. To fill this gap, we present PTMdyna to visually predict the conformational dynamics differences between unmodified and modified proteins, thus indicating the influence of specific PTM. PTMdyna exhibits an AUC of 0.884 tested on 220 protein–protein complex structures. The case of heterochromatin protein 1α complexed with lysine 9-methylated histone H3, which is critical for genomic stability and cell differentiation, was used to demonstrate its applicability. PTMdyna provides a reliable platform to predict the influence of PTM on protein dynamics, making it easier to interpret PTM functionality at the structure level. The web server is freely available at http://ccbportal.com/PTMdyna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Brown root rot (BRR) caused by Phellinus noxius is a destructive tree disease in tropical and subtropical areas. To understand how BRR affects the composition of the plant rhizoplane‐enriched microbiota, the microbiomes within five root‐associated compartments (i.e., bulk soil, old/young root rhizosphere soil, old/young root tissue) of Ficus trees naturally infected by P. noxius were investigated. The level of P. noxius infection was determined by quantitative PCR. Illumina sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer and 16S rRNA revealed that P. noxius infection caused a significant reduction in fungal diversity in the bulk soil, the old root rhizosphere soil, and the old root tissue. Interestingly, Cosmospora was the only fungal genus positively correlated with P. noxius. The abundance and composition of dominant bacterial taxa such as Actinomadura, Bacillus, Rhodoplanes, and Streptomyces differed between BRR‐diseased and healthy samples. Furthermore, 838 isolates belonging to 26 fungal and 35 bacterial genera were isolated and tested for interactions with P. noxius. Antagonistic activities were observed for isolates of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Trichoderma. Cellophane overlay and cellulose/lignin utilization assays suggested that Cosmospora could tolerate the secretions of P. noxius and that the degradation of lignin by P. noxius may create suitable conditions for Cosmorpora growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The chemokine CXCL1, known as growth-related oncogene α (GRO-α), is a potent chemoattractant and regulator of neutrophils. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the regulatory response of CXCL1 in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the active stage of disease and to assess whether it was implicated in the pathogenesis/inflammatory process in lupus. Methods: CXCL1 serum concentrations were examined in 90 SLE patients, 56 other autoimmune diseases (OADs) patients and 100 healthy controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent methodology. Results: SLE patients exhibited significant increases in serum CXCL1 concentrations [1492.86 (735.47–2887.34) pg/ml] compared with OADs patients [155.88 (10.77–366.78) pg/ml] and healthy controls [13.58 (8.46–37.22) pg/ml] (p < 0.001). Moreover, the level of CXCL1 decreased as the level of anti-dsDNA IgG decreased after treatment between the anti-dsDNA-positive SLE patients and the anti-dsDNA-negative SLE patients. Additionly, serum CXCL1 concentrations were related to different disease activity levels in SLE and lupus nephritis (LN) and high avidity of IgG ANAs (HA IgG ANAs) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, CXCL1 serum concentrations were significantly correlated with the SLE Disease Activity Index(SLEDAI) score, relative avidity index (RAI) of HA IgG ANAs and the levels of anti-dsDNA IgG, CRP, ESR, albumin, C3 and C4.Additionally, Statistical analysis revealed that positivity for IgG ANA (p < 0.001), the presence of HA IgG ANAs (p = 0.001) and the logarithmic level of anti-dsDNA IgG (p = 0.021) were significantly associated with the logarithmic level of CXCL1 with standard partial regression coefficients (95% CI) of 2.371 (1.734–3.009), 1.231 (0.52–1.937) and 0.409 (0.062–0.755), respectively. Finally, using cutoff points of 1182.17 pg/mL and 1500.31 pg/mL, serum CXCL1 levels had a similar sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 100% and 75% for the diagnosis of active SLE and LN, respectively. Conclusions: Serum CXCL13 concentrations might represent a potential marker of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nozzle flowmeter is widely used in industry. In this paper, in order to study the influence of different flow rates and inner wall temperatures on the thermal effect and flow field of the nozzle flowmeter, the fluid-solid coupling numerical calculation of the thermal effect and flow field of nozzle flowmeter is carried out under four different flow rates and five different inner wall temperatures. It is found that, with the increase of flow rate, the heat transfer effect of the nozzle flowmeter is weakened under different inner wall temperatures. The pressure distribution in the fluid domain, the dynamic stress, and fluid-induced vibration deformation generated by the fluid of the nozzle flowmeter are less affected by inner wall temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Osteoporosis is the most susceptible disease for people over 60. The main cause of osteoporosis is the decreased osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Here we showed that upstream stimulatory factor 2 (USF2)/microRNA-34a (miR-34a)/bone morphogenetic protein 3 (BMP3) axis regulated osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Materials and methods: USF2 and miR-34a expression were examined using qPCR. Protein levels of BMP3 and osteogenic markers expression were evaluated using both western blot and qPCR. Activity of ALP was determined by ALP assay kit. Mineralization capacity of hBMSCs was assessed using ARS. Besides, CHIP assay was employed to verify whether USF2 could bind to miR-34a promoter. Finally, RIP assay and dual-luciferase reporter assay were employed to verify whether miR-34a directly bound to BMP3. Results: Our results suggested that miR-34a was upregulated during osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, and miR-34a overexpression could enhance osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. USF2 could positively regulate miR-34a expression by interacting with its promoter. USF2 overexpression enhanced osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, while miR-34a inhibition reversed the effect. Besides, BMP3 was the target of miR-34a. MiR-34a overexpression enhanced osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs, which was abolished by BMP3 overexpression. Conclusion: Taken together, USF2 enhanced osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs via downregulating BMP3 by interacting with miR-34a promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cavitation vortex rope widely occurs in hydraulic machinery, leading to the decrease in performance characteristic and increase in pressure fluctuation. The objective of this study was to explore the generation and transformation of cavitation vortex ropes in a swirling flow. A visual swirling-flow generator platform was designed to investigate their spatiotemporal evolution mechanism. A flow pattern observation system with a high-speed camera was built to capture the vortex rope forms, and pressure fluctuation experiments were carried out to present fluctuating characteristics of corresponding cavitation vortex ropes. Cavitation vortex rope forms and pressure fluctuation characteristic under different operating conditions were exhibited. Four types of stable cavitation vortex ropes (broken, dual, single, and subulate) were observed. Regional distribution of vortex ropes under different Reynolds and cavitation numbers was characterized, which showed that broken and subulate vortex ropes account in large Reynolds and cavitation ranges. Pressure fluctuation analyses revealed dominant characteristic frequencies were 2.13, 1.98, 1.74, and 1.93 times the rotational frequency of the runner for the broken, dual, single, and subulate cavitation vortex ropes, respectively. In addition, two unstable transitions were identified during the conversion process. One is an unstable transitional triple-vortex rope during from a dual- to single-vortex rope process, and the other is an unstable subulate-vortex rope between the occurrence of the single- and stable subulate-vortex ropes. The present study could give a deep understanding of the generation of cavitation vortex ropes and provide some references to improve the hydraulic instabilities induced by cavitation vortex ropes in hydraulic machinery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submerged cavitating waterjet micro-forming is a novel jetting technology. Existing detection devices cannot accurately detect bubble distribution in still water domains and target workpiece processing areas. To investigate bubble generation and distribution in still water domains and their influence on target micro-forming, a submerged cavitating waterjet micro-forming fluid–solid coupling numerical model was established in this paper. The distribution of submerged cavitating waterjet cavitation effects and the hammering of micro waterjets on metal plates under the action of cavitation bubbles, as well as the coupled forces, were analyzed. The results show that bubble distribution in still water domains is closely related to turbulence, vortices, and pressure distributions. The collapse of cavitation bubbles generates enormous pressure, and the pressure generated by the collapse of cavitation bubbles causes the micro waterjet hammers to produce annular deformation zones on the metal plates. The bubble distribution laws and theoretical basis of cavitation micro-forming technology in submerged waterjets are provided in this study, which has very important engineering application significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 dry fracturing is a promising alternative method to water fracturing in tight gas reservoirs, especially in water-scarce areas such as the Loess Plateau. The CO2 flowback efficiency is a critical factor that affects the final gas production effect. However, there have been few studies focusing on the flowback characteristics after CO2 dry fracturing. In this study, an extensive core-to-field scale study was conducted to investigate CO2 flowback characteristics and CH4 production behavior. Firstly, to investigate the impact of core properties and production conditions on CO2 flowback, a series of laboratory experiments at the core scale were conducted. Then, the key factors affecting the flowback were analyzed using the grey correlation method based on field data. Finally, taking the construction parameters of Well S60 as an example, a dual-permeability model was used to characterize the different seepage fields in the matrix and fracture for tight gas reservoirs. The production parameters after CO2 dry fracturing were then optimized. Experimental results demonstrate that CO2 dry fracturing is more effective than slickwater fracturing, with a 9.2% increase in CH4 recovery. The increase in core permeability plays a positive role in improving CH4 production and CO2 flowback. The soaking process is mainly affected by CO2 diffusion, and the soaking time should be controlled within 12 h. Increasing the flowback pressure gradient results in a significant increase in both CH4 recovery and CO2 flowback efficiency. While, an increase in CO2 injection is not conducive to CH4 production and CO2 flowback. Based on the experimental and field data, the important factors affecting flowback and production were comprehensively and effectively discussed. The results show that permeability is the most important factor, followed by porosity and effective thickness. Considering flowback efficiency and the influence of proppant reflux, the injection volume should be the minimum volume that meets the requirements for generating fractures. The soaking time should be short which is 1 day in this study, and the optimal bottom hole flowback pressure should be set at 10 MPa. This study aims to improve the understanding of CO2 dry fracturing in tight gas reservoirs and provide valuable insights for optimizing the process parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal post-remission treatment for individual favorable and intermediate risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients has not yet been established. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-mismatched stem cell microtransplantation (MST), may improve outcomes and avoid graft-versus-host disease in patients with first complete remission of AML. We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy, safety, and survival of 63 patients with favorable- or intermediate-risk AML who received MST, autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), or cytarabine single agent (CSA) as post-remission treatment from January 2014 to August 2021. The neutrophil recovery time was shorter in the MST group than in the CSA group. The 2-year cumulative incidences of relapse in the MST, ASCT, and CSA groups were 27.27%, 29.41%, and 41.67%, respectively. During follow-up, 21 patients (33.30%) died of relapse, including six (9.52%), five (7.94%), and 10 (15.84%) in the MST, ASCT, and CSA groups, respectively. The estimated 2-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were 62.20% vs. 50.00% (P = 0.101) and 57.10% vs. 50.00% (P = 0.136), in the >60 years MST and CSA groups (P = 0.101). The estimated 2-year OS was 100%, 66.20%, and 69.10% in the MST, ASCT, and CSA groups (MST vs CSA, P = 0.044), meanwhile, the estimated 2-year RFS was 100%, 65.40%, and 59.80% in patients ≤60 years. MST, ASCT, and CSA are acceptable post-remission treatments for patients with favorable- and intermediate-risk AML and may not only improve the prognosis of the elderly but also prolong the OS and RFS of favorable- or intermediate-risk patients ≤60 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and prognostic significance of common cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities in patients with TP53-mutated and non-TP53-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 326 patients with newly diagnosed AML hospitalized in our institution between October 2015 and June 2021. Classification variables were reported as percentages and compared by χ2 tests. Survival rates were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The incidence of TP53 mutations in AML patients in this clinic was 9.8%, of whom 87.5% patients were over 50 years old. The common concurrent mutations of TP53 were DNMT3A, IDH2, NRAS and TET2. Patients with a TP53 variant allele frequency (VAF) ≤ 40% had better overall survival (OS) than patients with a VAF >40%. Compared with non-TP53-mutated patients, significantly more TP53-mutated patients were gene-fusion negative, +mar, – 7/del (7q), – 5/del (5q), – 17/17p-, – 12/12p-, incomplete (inc) karyotype, or complex karyotype (CK), and had FLT3-ITD or IDH2 mutations, as well as a lower complete remission (CR) rate (31.3%) and higher recurrence rate (80.0%). The 2-year OS rates of TP53-mutated and non-TP53-mutated patients were 18.8% and 47.3%, respectively (P < 0.001). Univariate analysis showed that non-TP53-mutated patients with MLL family gene fusion, +mar or – 17/17p – karyotype, and FLT3-ITD mutations had a poor prognosis, while t(8; 21) karyotype was associated with a better prognosis. TP53-mutated patients with – 7/del (7q) or – 5/del (5q) karyotype had a poor prognosis. The cytogenetic and molecular landscapes differed between TP53-mutated and non-TP53-mutated patients, and some abnormalities had different values between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies validated the prognostic significance of lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) in patients with solid tumors and some hematologic malignancies. However, the correlation between LMR and Myelodysplastic Neoplasms (MDS) was unclear. The study intends to investigate the prognostic impact of LMR on MDS patients. 91 newly diagnosed MDS patients were included in this retrospective study. The cut-off of LMR was 3.2 by X-Tile. All patients were divided into the low LMR group (<3.2) and the high LMR group (≥3.2). Clinical characteristics were compared between the two groups. Patients in the high LMR group (n = 67) had better OS (P = 0.007) from the Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The results of the univariate analysis demonstrated that LMR was a prognostic factor for OS [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.070, 95%CI 1.201-3.571, P = 0.009]. After multivariate cox analysis, low LMR was confirmed to be an independent predictor of poor OS in MDS patients (HR = 1.872, 95%CI 1.084-3.230, P = 0.024). LMR, a representative marker of systematic inflammation and immune response, has potential prognostic significance in MDS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the clinical outcomes and characteristics of TP53-mutated primary myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). A total of 74 de novo primary MDS patients who were diagnosed and treated in the Department of Hematology of our hospital from January 2018 and September 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. All patients had evaluable blood cell counts, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), bone marrow (BM) morphology, biopsy, and MDS-related 20-gene mutations sequencing. In addition, 69 of 74 patients had complete cytogenetic analysis through conventional chromosome analysis and fluorescence in-situ hybridization. Patients were divided into two cohorts, the TP53-mutated type (TP53Mut) group (n = 19) and TP53 wild type (TP53WT) group (n = 55). Compared with the TP53WT group, patients in the TP53Mut group had higher ratios of cytogenetic abnormalities (82.4% vs. 30.8%, P < 0.001), with 5q- karyotype (64.70% vs. 38.5%, P < 0.001), complex karyotype(CK) (64.70% vs. 38.5%, P < 0.001), HR-MDS (94.7% vs. 61.8%, P = 0.008), and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) transformation (26.3% vs. 12.7%, P < 0.001). Interestingly, patients in the TP53Mut group had lower median MCV than the TP53WT group (94.40 fl vs. 101.90 fl, P = 0.008). Furthermore, MCV = 100 fl as cutoff, and found that MCV ≤ 100 fl was more common in the TP53Mut group (73.7% vs. 38.2%, P < 0.001). After 1–4 courses of HMA ± chemotherapy, the overall response rate of the TP53Mut group was higher than the TP53WT group (83.3% vs. 71.4%, P = 0.012). With the median follow-up 12.0 months (1–46 months), the results show that the median OS and leukemia-free survival (LFS) of TP53Mut group was significantly shorter than the TP53WT group (P = 0.0018; P = 0.0310). Results of multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses show TP53 mutation was an independent prognostic factor for the OS (HR 2.724, 95%CI 1.099–6.750, P = 0.030). TP53-mutated primary MDS patients were associated with higher frequency of cytogenetic abnormalities, with 5q- karyotype, CK, AML transformation, higher risk IPSS-R, lower MCV and sensitive to HMA treatment, but worse survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prognostic nutritional index has been found to be related to the clinical outcomes of patients with cancer. However, its role in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) patients is unclear. We aimed to assess the value of nutritional status in predicting the prognosis of MDS patients. Totally 121 MDS patients were analyzed retrospectively. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) was used to assess nutritional status of the patients. The bio-informatics tool X-tile was used to define the threshold, and accordingly patients were divided into PNIlow and PNIhigh groups, the characteristics were compared between two groups. The PNIhigh was associated with better OS (Overall Survival) than PNIlow in MDS patients (Median OS, 28.03 months versus 19.63 months, P = 0.0205). But there were no statistical differences in PFS (Progression-Free-Survival) between the two groups (P = 0.9373). The univariable and multivariable COX proportional hazard analysis adjusted for age, gender, platelet count, HB level and IPSS-R scores, and the results showed that PNI is a useful index in the evaluation of the OS of MDS (HR 0.588, 95%CI 0.374–0.926, P = 0.024). PNI would be a simple and immediately available tool for predicting the prognosis of MDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shenling Baizhu Powder is a traditional Chinese medicine formula that has been used for thousands of years to invigorate spleen, nourish stomach and regulate immune function. The multi-herbal extracts, an improved formular from Shenling Baizhu Powder, were used in our study to investigate its immune-enhancing effects and underling mechanisms. Based on UPLC-Q-TOF-MS and SPME-GC-MS analysis, 106 chemical compounds were identified from the extracts. In vitro assays indicated that the extracts could promote cell proliferation and NO secretion of RAW264.7 cells. RNA-seq and RT-qPCR showed that RAW264.7 cells treated with extracts increased the expression of pro-inflammatory factors IL-1ß, iNOS, TNF-a, and TGF-ß. Western-Blot revealed that the extracts could significantly enhance ERK phosphorylation level, and slightly increased JNK and p38 phosphorylation levels. These data suggest that multi-herbal extracts have a potential of regulating immune response via the JNK/p38/ERK signalling of MAPK pathways in RAW264.7 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to investigate the feasibility of the anterior transpedicular root screw (ATPRS) intervertebral fusion system for the cervical spine and provide a basis for the design of the ATPRS intervertebral fusion system. Methods: A total of 60 healthy adult cervical spine CT images examined from our hospital were selected, including 30 males and 30 females, with an average age of 39.6 ± 4.8 years. The image data was imported into Mimics 21.0 software in DICOM format for 3D model reconstruction. Simulated screw insertion was performed on both sides of the midline of the intervertebral space. The entry point (P1) was determined when the upper and lower screw paths did not overlap. When the screw was tangent to the medial edge of the Luschka joint, the insertion point was determined as the entry point (P2). Measurements were taken and recorded for the following parameters: distance from the screw entry point to the midline of the intervertebral space (DPM), the simulated screw length, inclination angle, cranial/caudal tilted angle, the anterior–posterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) diameters of the cervical intervertebral space, the heights of the anterior, middle, and posterior edges of the cervical intervertebral space, and the curvature diameter of the lower end plate of the cervical vertebral body. Statistical analysis was performed on the measurement results. Results: The screw entry area (P1P2) showed an increasing trend from C3-C7 in both male (2.92–6.08 mm) and female (2.32–5.12 mm) groups. There were statistical differences between men and women at the same level (P < 0.05). The average screw length of men and women was greater than 20 mm, and the upper and lower screw lengths showed an increasing trend from C3 to C7. In the area where screws could be inserted, the range of screw inclination was as follows: male group upper screw (47.73–66.76°), lower screw (48.05–65.35°); female group upper screw (49.15–65.66°) and lower screw (49.42–63.29°); The range of cranial/caudal tilted angle of the screw was as follows: male group upper screw (32.06–39.56°), lower screw (29.12–36.95°); female group upper screw (30.97–38.92°) and lower screw (27.29–37.20°). The anterior–posterior diameter and mediolateral diameter of the cervical intervertebral space showed an increasing trend from C3 to C7 in both male and female groups. The middle height (MH) of the cervical intervertebral space was greater than the anterior edge height (AH) and posterior edge height (PD), with statistical differences (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Through the study of CT images of the cervical spine, it was determined that the ATPRS intervertebral fusion system has a feasible area for screw insertion in the cervical intervertebral space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment of blood blister-like aneurysms (BBAs) of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery (ICA) with flow diverters (FDs) has become widespread in recent years. However, ruptured blood blister-like aneurysm (BBA) of ICA treatment with flow diverter-assisted coil embolization (FDAC) remains controversial. Moreover, limited direct comparative studies have been conducted between the two treatment modalities, FDs and FDAC, for BBAs. The purpose of this study was to document our experience and evaluate the effectiveness and safety of FDAC. We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical and radiological information from ten patients who experienced ruptured BBAs of the supraclinoid ICA at our center from January 2021 to February 2023. The technical details of FDAC for ruptured BBAs were described, and the technical steps were named "pipeline embolization device (PED)-Individualized shaping(microcatheter)-Semi deploying-Rivet(coils)-Massage(microwire)" as the PEISSERM technique. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), whereas radiological results were determined through angiography. A pooled analysis was implemented, incorporating data from literature sources that reported perioperative and long-term clinical and angiographic outcomes of ruptured BBAs treated with FD and FDAC strategies, along with our data. Data in our analysis pool were categorized into FD and FDAC strategy groups to explore the preferred treatment modalities for BBAs. The PEISSERM technique was utilized to treat ten patients, seven males, and three females, with an average age of 41.7 years. A single PED was deployed in conjunction with coils in all ten patients. All PEDs were documented to have good wall apposition. The immediate postoperative angiograms demonstrated Raymond grade I in ten aneurysms. Angiographic follow-up of nine patients at 4–25 months showed total occlusion of the aneurysms. At the most recent follow-up, the mRS scores of nine patients hinted at a good prognosis. Pooled analysis of 233 ICA-BBA cases of FD revealed a technical success rate of 91% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.88 to 0.95], a rate of complete occlusion of 79% (95% CI, 0.73 to 0.84), a recurrence rate of 2% (95% CI, 0.00 to 0.04), a rebleed rate of 2% (95% CI, 0.00 to 0.04), and the perioperative stroke rate was 8% (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.11). The perioperative mortality was 4% (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.07). The long-term good clinical outcome rate was 85% (95% CI, 0.80 to 0.90). The mortality rate was 6% (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.09). Results from the subgroup analysis illustrated that the FDAC strategy for BBAs had a significantly higher immediate postoperative complete occlusion rate (P < 0.001), total occlusion rate (P = 0.016), and a good outcome rate (P = 0.041) compared with the FD strategy. The FDAC strategy can yield a higher rate of good outcomes than the FD strategy. The PEISSERM technique employed by the FDAC is a reliable and effective treatment approach as it can minimize the hemodynamic burden of BBA's fragile dome, thereby achieving an excellent occlusion rate. The PEISSERM technique in the FDAC strategy contributes to understanding the BBA's treatment and offers a potentially optimal treatment for BBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of formate from hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is an atom‐economic reaction but is confronted with challenges in developing high‐performance non‐precious metal catalysts for application of the process. Herein, we report a highly durable edge‐rich molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to formate at 200 °C, which delivers a high selectivity of over 99 % with a superior turnover frequency of 780.7 h−1 surpassing those of previously reported non‐precious metal catalysts. Multiple experimental characterization techniques combined with theoretical calculations reveal that sulfur vacancies at MoS2 edges are the active sites and the selective production of formate is enabled via a completely new water‐mediated hydrogenation mechanism, in which surface OH* and H* species in dynamic equilibrium with water serve as moderate hydrogenating agents for CO2 with residual O* reduced by hydrogen. This study provides a new route for developing low‐cost high‐performance catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to formate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of formate from hydrogenation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is an atom‐economic reaction but is confronted with challenges in developing high‐performance non‐precious metal catalysts for application of the process. Herein, we report a highly durable edge‐rich molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to formate at 200 °C, which delivers a high selectivity of over 99 % with a superior turnover frequency of 780.7 h−1 surpassing those of previously reported non‐precious metal catalysts. Multiple experimental characterization techniques combined with theoretical calculations reveal that sulfur vacancies at MoS2 edges are the active sites and the selective production of formate is enabled via a completely new water‐mediated hydrogenation mechanism, in which surface OH* and H* species in dynamic equilibrium with water serve as moderate hydrogenating agents for CO2 with residual O* reduced by hydrogen. This study provides a new route for developing low‐cost high‐performance catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to formate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, airway remodeling, and protease-antiprotease imbalance have been implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the exact pathogenesis is still obscure. Gene transcription and post-transcriptional regulation have been taken into account as key regulators of COPD occurrence and development. Identifying the hub genes and constructing biological regulatory networks at the post-transcriptional level will help extend current knowledge on COPD pathogenesis and develop potential drugs. Methods: All lung tissues from non-smokers (n = 6), smokers without COPD (smokers, n = 7), and smokers with COPD (COPD, n = 7) were collected to detect messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA (miRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression and identify the hub genes. Biological regulatory networks were constructed at the post-transcriptional level, including the RNA-binding protein (RBP)-hub gene interaction network and the competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network. In addition, we assessed the composition and abundance of immune cells in COPD lung tissue and predicted potential therapeutic drugs for COPD. Finally, the hub genes were confirmed at both the RNA and protein levels. Results: Among the 20 participants, a total of 121169 mRNA transcripts, 1871 miRNA transcripts, 4244 circRNA transcripts, and 122130 lncRNA transcripts were detected. There were differences in the expression of 1561 mRNAs, 48 miRNAs, 33 circRNAs, and 545 lncRNAs between smokers and non-smokers, as well as 1289 mRNAs, 69 miRNAs, 32 circRNAs, and 433 lncRNAs between smokers and COPD patients. 18 hub genes were identified in COPD. TGF-β signaling and Wnt/β-catenin signaling may be involved in the development of COPD. Furthermore, the circRNA/lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA ceRNA networks and the RBP-hub gene interaction network were also constructed. Analysis of the immune cell infiltration level revealed that M2 macrophages and activated NK cells were increased in COPD lung tissues. Finally, we identified that the ITK inhibitor and oxybutynin chloride may be effective in treating COPD. Conclusions: We identified several novel hub genes involved in COPD pathogenesis. TGF-β signaling and Wnt/β-catenin signaling were the most dysregulated pathways in COPD patients. Our study constructed post-transcriptional biological regulatory networks and predicted small-molecule drugs for the treatment of COPD, which enhanced the existing understanding of COPD pathogenesis and suggested an innovative direction for the therapeutic intervention of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]