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Accurate identification of Seriola dumerili (SD) offers crucial technical support for aquaculture practices and behavioral research of this species. However, the task of discerning S. dumerili from complex underwater settings, fluctuating light conditions, and schools of fish presents a challenge. This paper proposes an intelligent recognition model based on the YOLOv8 network called SD-YOLOv8. By adding a small object detection layer and head, our model has a positive impact on the recognition capabilities for both close and distant instances of S. dumerili, significantly improving them. We construct a convenient S. dumerili dataset and introduce the deformable convolution network v2 (DCNv2) to enhance the information extraction process. Additionally, we employ the bottleneck attention module (BAM) and redesign the spatial pyramid pooling fusion (SPPF) for multidimensional feature extraction and fusion. The Inner-MPDIoU bounding box regression function adjusts the scale factor and evaluates geometric ratios to improve box positioning accuracy. The experimental results show that our SD-YOLOv8 model achieves higher accuracy and average precision, increasing from 89.2% to 93.2% and from 92.2% to 95.7%, respectively. Overall, our model enhances detection accuracy, providing a reliable foundation for the accurate detection of fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most likely alternatives to traditional vapor compression refrigeration technology, solid refrigeration technology based on the barocaloric effect (BCE) has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Spin-crossover (SCO) compounds are considered suitable for working at low driving pressures due to high-pressure sensitivity and small hysteresis width. However, the entropy change (ΔSSCO) of the SCO compound is smaller than that of other excellent barocaloric materials (plastic crystals and two-dimensional perovskites). Here, we report the BCE of the SCO compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} (pz = pyrazine) with a smaller molar mass and a third source of entropy change besides electron and vibrational entropy changes. Compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} exhibits high pressure sensitivity ( d T 1 / 2 d P = 20.2 K kbar−1) as well as entropy change (Δ S SCO = 202 J kg−1 K−1). The maximum values of reversible isothermal entropy change (ΔSit,rev,max) and adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad,rev,max) at 1 kbar are only 103 J kg−1 K−1 and ∼0 K, respectively, due to the hysteresis behavior. However, at sufficiently high driving pressures, ΔSit,rev,max exceeds 200 J kg−1 K−1, and ΔTad,rev,max can reach ∼47 K, which exceeds all SCO compounds reported in BCE studies and is comparable to some plastic-crystalline and two-dimensional perovskite barocaloric materials. The excellent BCE of the SCO compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} is mainly due to its small molar mass, which makes the unit mass compound exhibit higher ΔSSCO, while the introduction of the third source of entropy change—the reorientation entropy change (ΔSreo), only plays a small role. This is expected to promote the practical application of SCO compounds as barocaloric refrigerants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Disulfidptosis is a novel type of cell death induced by disulphide stress that depends on the accumulation of cystine disulphide, causing cytotoxicity and triggering cell death. However, the direct prognostic effect and regulatory mechanism of disulfidptosis-related genes in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) remain unclear. Methods: To explore the role of 10 disulfidptosis-related genes, the multiomic data of 10 genes were comprehensively analysed. Next, based on seven disulfidptosis-related differentially expressed genes, a novel disulfidptosis-related gene score was developed to help predict the prognosis of BLCA. Immunohistochemistry, EDU, Real-time PCR and western blot were used to verify the model. Results: Significant functional differences were found between the high- and low-risk score groups, and samples with a higher risk score were more malignant. Furthermore, the tumour exclusion and Tumour Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion scores of the high-risk score group were higher than those of the low-risk score group. The risk score was positively correlated with the expression of immune checkpoints. Drug sensitivity analyses revealed that the low-risk score group had a higher sensitivity to cisplatin, doxorubicin, docetaxel and gemcitabine than the high-risk score group. Moreover, the expression of the TM4SF1 was positively correlated with the malignancy degree of BLCA, and the proliferation ability of BLCA cells was reduced after knockdown TM4SF1. Conclusion: The present study results suggest that disulfidptosis-related genes influence the prognosis of BLCA through their involvement in immune cell infiltration. Thus, these findings indicate the role of disulfidptosis in BLCA and its potential regulatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eltrombopag (EPAG) can improve the efficacy of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) consisting of antithymocyte immunoglobulin (ATG) and cyclosporin in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients. This study explored whether patients with SAA could benefit from continuous usage of EPAG beyond 6 months. Seventy-four treatment-naive Chinese patients with SAA were administrated with rabbit ATG-based IST plus EPAG for 6 months. Patients not achieving complete remission (CR) at 6 months were treated with EPAG for another 6 months. At 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after IST, the cumulative response rates were 31%, 61%, 82% and 90%, and the cumulative CR rates were 0, 14%, 27% and 45%, respectively. The cumulative effect curve showed that 93% and 53% of all remission and CR occurred within 6 months, while 98% and 83% of all remission and CR occurred within 12 months. Thirty-seven percent of patients (11 of 30) with partial remission (PR) at 6 months continuously exposed to EPAG improved to CR within 3 (1–5) months of the extended median time. Six patients failing at 6 months continued to use EPAG. Three patients showed improved responses with an extended median time of 6 (1–6) months. The 2-year event-free survival (EFS) was better in those continuing with EPAG (89% vs. 49%, P = 0.006) for patients with PR or non-remission at 6 months. Continuous administration with EPAG could improve the hematologic response and EFS in patients without achieving CR at 6 months. This trial has been registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100045895). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adipose tissue is essential for maintaining systemic metabolic homeostasis through traditional metabolic regulation, endocrine crosstalk, and extracellular vesicle production. Adipose dysfunction is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The heart is a traditional pump organ. However, it has recently been recognized to coordinate interorgan cross-talk by providing peripheral signals known as cardiokines. These molecules include specific peptides, proteins, microRNAs and novel extracellular vesicle-carried cargoes. Current studies have shown that generalized cardiokine-mediated adipose regulation affects systemic metabolism. Cardiokines regulate lipolysis, adipogenesis, energy expenditure, thermogenesis during cold exposure and adipokine production. Moreover, cardiokines participate in pathological processes such as obesity, diabetes and ischemic heart injury. The underlying mechanisms of the cardiac-to-adipose axis mediated by cardiokines will be further discussed to provide potential therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases and support a new perspective on the need to correct adipose dysfunction after ischemic heart injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates rhythmic jaw movement (RJM) patterns and masticatory muscle activities during electrical stimulation in two cortical masticatory areas in obese male Zucker rats (OZRs), compared to their counterparts—lean male Zucker rats (LZRs) (seven each). At the age of 10 weeks, electromyographic (EMG) activity of the right anterior digastric muscle (RAD) and masseter muscles, and RJMs were recorded during repetitive intracortical micro-stimulation in the left anterior and posterior parts of the cortical masticatory area (A-area and P-area, respectively). Only P-area-elicited RJMs, which showed a more lateral shift and slower jaw-opening pattern than A-area-elicited RJMs, were affected by obesity. During P-area stimulation, the jaw-opening duration was significantly shorter (p < 0.01) in OZRs (24.3 ms) than LZRs (27.9 ms), the jaw-opening speed was significantly faster (p < 0.05) in OZRs (67.5 mm/s) than LZRs (50.8 mm/s), and the RAD EMG duration was significantly shorter (p < 0.01) in OZRs (5.2 ms) than LZR (6.9 ms). The two groups had no significant difference in the EMG peak-to-peak amplitude and EMG frequency parameters. This study shows that obesity affects the coordinated movement of masticatory components during cortical stimulation. While other factors may be involved, functional change in digastric muscle is partly involved in the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clothing can absorb fine particulate pollutants from the atmosphere outdoors and then release them after entering the room in a form similar to three-handed smoke. In this study, the experimental site in Zhengzhou, a typical city with heavy pollution in central China, was used to investigate the adsorption and diffusion patterns of three different fabrics of polyester, polyester-cotton, and cotton clothing for fine particle pollutants, to guide people's behavior patterns and indoor air distribution, and to reduce indoor pollution exposure. The results showed that when garments of three different fabrics were exposed to moderate and heavy PM2.5 pollution for 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h, respectively, and then transferred to the diffusion chamber, polyester always released the highest PM2.5 concentration to indoor air during the same release cycle, followed by cotton and polyester-cotton. In addition, the concentration of indoor air pollutants will be periodically affected by the diffusion of fine particulate adsorbed by clothing fabrics. With the increase in outdoor pollution and exposure duration, the indoor PM2.5 concentration takes longer to stabilize at certain levels after the clothing is transferred to the indoor side. Finally, the comparison of natural ventilation experiments proved that it is not feasible to rely solely on natural ventilation to improve the influence of clothing pollution sources on indoor air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, thermal deep drawing and thermoelectric coupling drawing tests were performed on an annealed ZK60 magnesium alloy sheet to investigate the effect of the pulse current on the formability of the ZK60 magnesium alloy during the drawing process. The effects of thermal deep drawing and the thermoelectric coupling on the forming of drawn parts were studied, and the changes of the thinning rate and hardness were obtained. The results showed that the using of pulse current improved the formability of the ZK60 magnesium alloy and increased the ultimate depth of drawing. The hardness value of the drawn part showed an overall increasing trend, followed by thermoelectric coupling deep drawing, which was significantly higher than the sheet after annealing without deep drawing. The deep-drawn parts had different grain sizes in different places, and dynamic recrystallization occurred to varying degrees in each region. Furthermore, the degree of dynamic recrystallization in the punch fillet and cylinder wall was significantly higher than in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine tailings are stored in tailings storage facilities (TSF), normally in the form of tailings dams. High-stacked tailings dams (HTD) are failure-prone for several reasons, such as overtopping, seepage failure, and strength deterioration. The investigation of compressibility and permeability of tailings material with different particle sizes under high pressure is essential for safety stability. By self-developed high-pressure consolidation permeability apparatus (HCPA), the laboratory conjoined consolidation permeability tests are carried out on tailings with different particle sizes at the maximum consolidation pressure (σ'v) of 5 MPa. For compressibility of tailings in the high-pressure stage (σ'v > 2 MPa), the void ratio e of tailings with different particle sizes has a new linear relationship with σ'v. Coarse-grained tailings have a "secondary- compression-like property" due to particle breakage under high pressure. The hydraulic conductivity of tailings under high pressure presents a piecewise linear k-σ'v relationship. With the decrease in particle size and the increase of σ'v, the seepage pattern of tailings changes from channel seepage to micropore seepage. σ'v = 2 MPa is regarded as the critical value for high-pressure compression of tailing, and the corresponding microscopic critical value of the average particle spacing is 1.2–1.8 nm. This research explored useful information on the compressibility and permeability of tailings with different particle sizes under high pressure that can provide a reference for improving the stabilization of HTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three key geometrical dimensions such as XL3 (constant pressure mixing chamber length), D5 (diameter of the throat of the ejector), and XL5 (length of the throat of the ejector) were separately or sequentially optimized under different lengths and angles of two sections of the primary nozzle. Furthermore, shock cluster number and shock chain length or area of low static pressure zone were used to analyze the effect of geometries on ejector performance, which is normally indicated by entrainment ratio (ER, or the ratio between the mass flow rate of secondary flow and the mass flow rate of primary flow). The results show that: (1) the improvement of ejector performance with only optimization of the primary nozzle is quite limited, in comparison, the impact of length and angle of nozzle diverging section on ejector performance is higher than that of converging section; (2) the relative sensitivity of ER to three key dimensions is much higher than that to the angles and lengths of the primary nozzle; (3) with the increase of XL3 and D5, ER needs a larger angle and smaller length of nozzle converging section; (4) the impact of key geometries on ejector performance can be analyzed with the help of shock cluster number and shock chain length or area of low static pressure zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eltrombopag (EPAG), a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, was approved for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) combined with immunosuppressive therapy (IST). However, the effects of real-life use of low doses of EPAG combined with rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG)-based IST in Asian patients with SAA are yet unknown. A total of 121 previously untreated Chinese patients with SAA were enrolled in a multicenter registry of the Chinese Eastern Collaboration Group of Anemia (2014-2020): 67 patients received IST alone and 54 patients received additional EPAG. Patients receiving IST plus EPAG had a higher overall response rate (ORR) at 1 month (P = 0.002), 3 months (P = 0.028), 6 months (P = 0.006), and 12 months (P = 0.031) compared to those receiving IST alone. EPAG was the favorable factor for response efficacy at 6 months. The complete response rate in the EPAG plus IST group was 17% at 3 months, 27% at 6 months, and 32% at 12 months, compared to 7% (P = 0.069), 14% (P = 0.11), and 33% (P = 0.92) for those treated with IST alone. The 2-year overall survival rate in EPAG plus IST and IST alone groups was 98% and 88%, respectively (P = 0.078). The rate of adverse events, including clonal evolution, infection, and transaminitis, was similar in the two cohorts. The addition of EPAG to IST was well-tolerated and associated with high rates of hematologic responses among the previously untreated Chinese patients with SAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency noise is a key limitation factor for frequency sensitive ultra-high precision measurement. An excellent methodology for its calibration is the error signal extracting from a cavity length locking process via Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) technique, and also can be applied as a noise discriminator for active feedback control. However, the stabilized laser frequency noise performance was poor to meet the applications for ultra-high precision measurement, and no literature has analyzed the cause in detail. In this Letter, we found that various of noise floors in the in-loop sensing and modulation depth in the PDH error signal should be responsible for the poor noise performance. Meanwhile, differing from the theoretical prediction (1.08), the modulation depth in frequency noise feedback controlling should be optimized by simultaneously considering the detector's gain and saturation power, cavity impedance matching, and control loop gain. In our case, it was fixed to be 0.17. The experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis well. Finally, the stabilized laser frequency noises are reduced to 10 − 1 Hz / Hz for out-of-loop and 3 × 10 − 2 Hz / Hz for in-loop. The results demonstrate an efficient settlement solution for active frequency noise feedback control. • Optimizing modulation depth for frequency noise suppression is modelled. • Difference in frequency noise between in-loop and out-of-loop is demonstrated. • In-loop noise is observed on-line with the performance of out-of-loop. • Under optimal parameters, a minimum out-of-loop noise of 10 − 1 Hz / Hz so far is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises immune-infiltrating cells that are closely linked to tumor development. By screening and analyzing genes associated with tumor-infiltrating M0 cells, we developed a risk model to provide therapeutic and prognostic guidance in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). First, the infiltration abundance of each immune cell type and its correlation with patient prognosis were analyzed. After assessing the potential link between the depth of immune cell infiltration and prognosis, we screened the infiltrating M0 cells to establish a risk model centered on three key genes (TMEN174, LRRC19, and SAA1). The correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the risk score and various stages of the tumor immune cycle, including B-cell recruitment. Furthermore, the risk score was positively correlated with CD8 expression and several popular immune checkpoints (ICs) (TIGIT, CTLA4, CD274, LAG3, and PDCD1). Additionally, the high-risk group (HRG) had higher scores for tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) and exclusion than the low-risk group (LRG). Importantly, the risk score was negatively correlated with the immunotherapy-related pathway enrichment scores, and the LRG showed a greater therapeutic benefit than the HRG. Differences in sensitivity to targeted drugs between the HRG and LRG were analyzed. For commonly used targeted drugs in RCC, including axitinib, pazopanib, temsirolimus, and sunitinib, LRG had lower IC50 values, indicating increased sensitivity. Finally, immunohistochemistry results of 66 paraffin-embedded specimens indicated that SAA1 was strongly expressed in the tumor samples and was associated with tumor metastasis, stage, and grade. SAA1 was found to have a significant pro-tumorigenic effect by experimental validation. In summary, these data confirmed that tumor-infiltrating M0 cells play a key role in the prognosis and treatment of patients with ccRCC. This discovery offers new insights and directions for the prognostic prediction and treatment of ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Although maternity care in developed countries is safe, fear of childbirth is a common problem. There is limited research in this area on nulliparous and multiparous women. The aim of this study was to compare fear of childbirth, its risk factors and birth outcomes between Australian nulliparous and multiparous women. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 141 nulliparous women and 212 multiparous women were recruited from antenatal clinics. Data were collected using standardised questionnaires and analysed. Results: A third of nulliparous (33%) and multiparous women (31%) feared childbirth. Nulliparous women with high–severe fear were more likely to have a lower family income, attend antenatal education classes, undergo assisted conception and report higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. They also had greater odds of prelabour cervical ripening, oxytocin for induction or augmentation of labour, instrumental birth, episiotomy and greater volume of blood loss during birth than multiparous women. Conclusions: To empower and support women with fear of childbirth, their unique needs must be recognised. A assistance in coping with fear and anxiety must be made available to contribute to a positive pregnancy experience and birth outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: A real-world experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia The correct article title should be "A real-world experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit -antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia". The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-022-04966-w B Correction to: Annals of Hematology b https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-022-04966-w The article "A real-word experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit -antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia" was published with a mistake in the title. [Extracted from the article]

• Classical phase noise is the main limited factor for phase sensitive precision measurement. • Mode cleaner plays a low-pass filtering role not only for amplitude quadrature but also for phase one. • The noise suppression process for one quadrature noise is accomplished by a noise intercoupling between the two quadratures. • A complete experimental scheme for a full phase to amplitude noise conversion has been designed for phase noise characterization. Suppression phase noise of a laser is a great practical significance in applications of phase-sensitive precision measurement. To suppress the phase noise, an ultra-stable cavity incorporating with an electrical feedback control loop is always the popular choice, in which the linewidth of the cavity should be narrower than that of the laser to provide a stable reference standard. Here, we experimentally verify that mode cleaner plays a noise suppression role for phase quadrature in the whole frequency range of the photoelectric detectors, even though its linewidth is 10 3 larger than the laser one. Meanwhile, we found that the noise suppression for one quadrature is codetermined by the noise of the two quadratures of the input field. Our demonstration provides a new and in-depth interpretation for phase noise suppression in a mode cleaner with larger linewidth than the laser one that is important in phase-sensitive sensing application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One characteristic of tumor-associated CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) is the high expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (TNFR2), a receptor that mediates the decisive effect of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the activation and expansion of Tregs. There is increasing evidence that inhibition of TNFR2 can enhance anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, we screened Chinese herbal extracts for their capacity to block TNF-TNFR2 interaction. The results showed that the treatment with a Chinese herb extract could inhibit TNFR2-induced biological responses in vitro , including the proliferation of TNFR2+ Tregs. Our subsequent study led to the identification of flavonoid compound scutellarin was responsible for the activity. Our results showed that scutellarin is able to disrupt the interaction of TNF-TNFR2 and inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, a down-stream signaling component of TNFR2. Importantly, in vivo scutellarin treatment markedly enhanced the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide in mouse CT26 colon cancer model. This effect of scutellarin was associated with the reduction of the number of tumor-infiltrating TNFR2-expressing Tregs and increased tumor infiltration of interferon-γ–producing CD8+ T cells. Our result also suggests that scutellarin or its analogs may be used as an adjuvant to enhance the anti-tumor effect of immunotherapeutic agent by eliminating TNFR2+ Treg activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is the most common congenital variant of the lateral meniscus, which is prone to degeneration and lesions, and often leads to knee osteoarthritis. At present, there is no consensus on the clinical practice of DLM, and this expert consensus and practice guidelines on DLM was developed and approved by Chinese Society of Sports Medicine according to the Delphi method. Among 32 statements drafted, 14 statements were excluded for redundant information, and 18 statements achieved consensus. This expert consensus focused on the definition, epidemiology, etiology, classification, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and rehabilitation of DLM. Restoring the normal shape, retaining appropriate width and thickness, and ensuring the stability of the remnant meniscus is critical to sustaining the physiological function of the meniscus and preserving the knee. The partial meniscectomy with or without repair should be the first‐line treatment when possible, given that the clinical and radiological long‐term outcomes of total or subtotal meniscectomy are worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we employ the certain theory of Lie symmetry analysis to discuss the time-fractional Gardner equation with time-dependent coefficients. The Lie point symmetry is applied to realize the symmetry reduction of the equation, and then the power series solutions in some specific cases are obtained. By virtue of the fractional conservation theorem, the conservation laws are constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale water infrastructure such as immersed tunnels remain in a seawater environment for a long time, and gradually deteriorate under the action of high water head, soil pressure and corrosive ions in seawater solution. In order to simulate the corrosion damage and deterioration of concrete in seawater environment, 10% Na2SO4 solution was used to conduct indoor corrosion tests on concrete samples under different water heads and for different durations. The corrosion damage and micro-mechanical properties of concrete under the coupled action of high water head and sulfate are studied by micro-indentation tests. The effect of sulfate ion corrosion and complex mechanical loading was studied. The effect of micro-mechanical properties of concrete is studied on time and space. Numerical simulation and test results show that the results of micro-indentation are in good agreement with the fitting curves. The chemical damage rate and the corrosion depth increase with the increase of water head; the numerical simulation analysis shows that the sulfate concentration is high in the area where the mechanical damage variable is large, which indicates that the two kinds of corrosion occur in concrete and interact with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging phase change materials (PCMs) have attracted much attention due to their unique properties and applications. However, the optical properties of PCM at high pressures have not been well explored. In this work, the microstructure and optical properties of GeTe and Sn-substituted GeTe at high pressures up to 30 GPa have been systematically investigated. We find that the substitution of small amounts of Sn for Ge combined with the introduction of high pressure can induce an optical contrast of 117% in crystalline GeTe, which is even higher than the highest optical contrast reported so far (90%) caused by amorphous GeTe to crystalline GeTe. The pressure-induced contrast does not originate from any phase transition as previously, but from the combined effect of Peierls distortion elimination and Ge vacancy formation, which leads to an increase in carrier concentration. The relationship between pressure/atomic composition, Peierls distortion/vacancy formation, and optical contrast can be well explained by a combination of experiments and theoretical calculations. Therefore, this study reveals the effect of high pressure on the optical properties of PCMs and provides new ideas for the design of high-optical-contrast PCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Constructing donor–acceptor structures in polymeric carbon nitride (CN) provides an attractive pathway for facilitating charge carrier separation in photocatalytic reactions. However, achieving the implantation of donor or acceptor moieties at molecule level precision remains challenging. Here we develop a three-dimensional (3D) porous thiophene implanted carbon nitride (TCN) with donor–acceptor structure via a supramolecular assembly strategy. The specific-designed triazine derivatives with similar hydrogen bonding sites allow for the uniform introduction of thiophene groups at molecule level precision during the supramolecular assemble stage. The electron-donating thiophene groups in TCN can continuously tune electronic band structure, expand visible light absorption range, and promote charge carriers' separation. The optimized properties enable TCN-3 an outstanding H 2 evolution rate of 5620 μmol h−1 g−1, greatly exceeding bulk CN (95 μmol h−1 g−1). Briefly, our work may offer opportunities to prepare highly active photocatalysts with molecule level precise donor–acceptor structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel method. Based on the characterization and experimental results, the adsorbent was found to have an average particle size of approximately 120 nm, a pore size range of 2–5 nm and superparamagnetic properties. It exhibited electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions during adsorption of methyl orange (MO). The adsorption of MO on the magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles exhibited pseudo-second-order kinetics, the adsorption process is a spontaneous endothermic adsorption process, which conforms to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. he maximum amount of MO was adsorbed at pH = 2, T = 45 °C and t = 30 min, and the highest adsorption capacity was 182.503 mg/g; The unit adsorption capacity of the Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles still reached 83% of the original capacity after 5 cycles, so the material was reusable and met the requirements of environmental protection. This study reveals the great potential of magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles for removal of dyes from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we synthesized a bayberry-like Ni–Co–Mn ternary hydroxide with a secondary nanoneedle structure using a modified and cost-effective hydrothermal process assisted by the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The incorporation of CTAB and graphene in the preparation process significantly enhances the electrochemical performance of NiCoMn–OH. The achieved results are truly impressive, with a high specific capacity of 1450 ​F ​g−1 and an outstanding capacity retention of 52.57% over 5000 cycles. The superior performance could be attributed to the specific bayberry-like microstructure with high effective specific surface area, which allowed for facile and rapid transport of ions and electrons. Moreover, the synergistic effect of CTAB and graphene proved to be crucial in stabilizing the Co2+ and Mn2+ ions within the ternary hydroxide structure. We developed a hybrid capacitor using a NiCoMn–OH-CTAB/Graphene composite electrode and an active electrode, which delivered a superior energy density of 50.79 ​Wh kg−1 at a power density of 400 ​W ​kg−1 and a cycling stability of 60.37% after 10000 cycles. These results indicate that the NiCoMn–OH-CTAB/Graphene composite electrode has great potential as an electrode material for energy storage devices. • Ni–Co–Mn ternary hydroxide is prepared by CTAB-Assisted cost-effective method. • CTAB and graphene significantly improve the electrochemical performance of NiCoMn–OH. • A high specific capacity of 1450 ​F g-1 and 52.57% capacity retention for 5000 cycles are achieved. • The bayberry-like microstructure enables fast ion and electron transport. • The synergistic effect of CTAB and G stabilizes Co2+ and Mn2+ ions in ternary hydroxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase change materials (PCMs) are recognized as a promising passive energy retrofit technology for existing buildings, as they are applied to the internal and external surfaces of the building with less impact on the original structure. However, the effectiveness of PCMs varies from region to region. Taking the Central Plains of China as an example, this paper investigated the effect of phase change temperature and material thickness variation on the energy efficiency of PCM when it was arranged on 14 placements including furniture through EnergyPlus (E+). And further explored the applicability of coupling PCMs with natural ventilation (NV). The results showed that: for the Central Plains of China, PCMs arranged on the internal surface of building roofs were optimal, and the reduction rate of uncomfortable degree hours could reach 38%, 26%, 24% and 40% after integrating PCMs into the roof, floor, external wall and furniture. The uncomfortable degree hour reduction rate per unit mass of PCM was 0.052%/kg for the roof, and the value of furniture was very close to the external wall and floor, which achieved 0.033%/kg. In addition, the coupling of PCM with NV improved the energy efficiency of PCM by more than twice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a DC microgrid, the negative damping characteristics of a constant power load can deteriorate the stability of the whole system. To improve the robustness and stability of the DC microgrid, a hybrid passivity-based control of damping injection is presented in this paper. The stability of the closed-loop system is ensured by the energy dissipation property of the passivity-based control. A proportional-integral controller is integrated with the passivity-based controller to form a hybrid passivity-based control to improve control robustness. A small-signal model of a DC power system with constant power load is derived in detail, and the stability of the system is analyzed with the Lyapunov eigenvalue method. The proposed hybrid passivity-based control provides the system with a faster recovery and a larger power boundary when compared with the typical voltage-current dual-loop control. First, the proposed control is verified by simulation of the DC power system based on MATLAB/Simulink, and the feasibility and superiority of the proposed control are further verified by hardware-in-loop (HIL) experiments based on real-time laboratory (RT-Lab) and a TI DSP TMS320 F28335. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstruction of severe alveolar bone defects remains a complex and challenging field for clinicians. Three-dimensional-printed scaffolds can adapt precisely to the complicated shape of the bone defects, which is an alternative solution to bone tissue engineering. Our previous study constructed an innovative low-temperature 3D-printed silk fibroin/collagen I/nano-hydroxyapatite (SF/COL-I/nHA) composite scaffold with a stable structure and remarkable biocompatibility. However, the clinical translation of most scaffolds is limited by insufficient angiogenesis and osteogenesis. In this study, we investigated the effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal-stem-cell-derived exosomes (hUCMSC-Exos) on bone regeneration, especially from the perspective of inducing angiogenesis. HUCMSC-Exos were isolated and characterized. In vitro, the effect of hUCMSC-Exos on the proliferation, migration, and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was examined. Moreover, the loading and release of hUCMSC-Exos on 3D-printed SF/COL-I/nHA scaffolds were evaluated. In vivo, hUCMSC-Exos and 3D-printed SF/COL-I/nHA scaffolds were implanted into alveolar bone defects, and bone regeneration and angiogenesis were investigated by micro-CT, HE staining, Masson staining, and immunohistochemical analysis. The results showed that hUCMSC-Exos stimulated HUVEC proliferation, migration, and tube formation in vitro, and the effect increased with increasing exosome concentrations. In vivo, the combination of hUCMSC-Exos and 3D-printed SF/COL-I/nHA scaffolds promoted alveolar bone defect repair by enhancing angiogenesis and osteogenesis. We constructed an elaborate cell-free bone-tissue-engineering system by combining hUCMSC-Exos with 3D-printed SF/COL-I/nHA scaffolds, potentially providing new ideas for treating alveolar bone defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microglia, as innate immune cells in the brain, closely monitor changes in the internal environment and participate in the maintenance of homeostasis in the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia can be polarized to the M1 or M2 phenotype in response to various stimuli in vivo or in vitro, affecting the functions of peripheral neurons. M2 microglia have attracted increasing attention in recent years owing to their beneficial effects on various diseases and injuries of the CNS, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. They exert neuroprotective effects by various mechanisms, e.g., suppressing inflammation, promoting the degradation of misfolded and aggregated proteins, promoting neurite growth, enhancing neurogenesis, inhibiting autophagy and apoptosis, promoting myelination, maintaining blood–brain barrier integrity, and enhancing phagocytic activity.This review summarizes the molecular mechanisms by which M2 microglia exert protective effects on neurons and provides a reference for the selection of therapeutic targets for CNS diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Endocrine treatment, particularly tamoxifen, has shown significant improvement in the prognosis of patients with estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancer. However, the clinical utility of this treatment is often hindered by the development of endocrine resistance. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving ER-positive breast cancer carcinogenesis and endocrine resistance is crucial to overcome this clinical challenge. In this study, we investigated the expression of MICAL-L2 in ER-positive breast cancer and its impact on patient prognosis. We observed a significant upregulation of MICAL-L2 expression in ER-positive breast cancer, which correlated with a poorer prognosis in these patients. Furthermore, we found that estrogen-ERβ signaling promoted the expression of MICAL-L2. Functionally, our study demonstrated that MICAL-L2 not only played an oncogenic role in ER-positive breast cancer tumorigenesis but also influenced the sensitivity of ER-positive breast cancer cells to tamoxifen. Mechanistically, as an estrogen-responsive gene, MICAL-L2 facilitated the activation of the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in ER-positive breast cancer cells. Collectively, our findings suggest that MICAL-L2 could serve as a potential prognostic marker for ER-positive breast cancer and represent a promising molecular target for improving endocrine treatment and developing therapeutic approaches for this subtype of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cervical cancer has ranked the top one in gynecological malignancies for incidence. Radioresistance is now becoming a leading reason of recurrence. Methods: Our microRNA array data indicated that the miRNA-100 level decreased significantly during radioresistance. In this study, we up-regulated miR-100 in Hela and Siha cells by using miR-100 mimics and observed proliferation and invasion. Results: It turned out that with overexpression of miR-100, the cells had less invasiveness as well as proliferation. It may target gene mTOR, and it deed reduced EMT. To examine the role of miR-100 in radioresistance, there was no significant result showed by BSP. While the circCASC15 has been identified with sponge function according to RNA pull down and ISH. Conclusion: The conclusions indicate miR-100 is a tumor suppressor gene and could be a therapeutic target in radio-resistant cervical cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and potential of sparse random arrays driven by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to generate multiple-focus patterns and a large scanning range without grating lobes, which extends the scanning range of focused ultrasound in the treatment of brain tumors, opening the blood–brain barrier, and neuromodulation. Operating at 1.1 MHz, a random spherical array with 200 square elements (sparseness 58%) and a sparse random array with 660 square elements (sparseness 41%) driven by PSO are employed to simulate different focus patterns. With the same radius of curvature and diameter of transducer and element size, the scanning range of the off-axis single focus of a random 200-element array is two times that of an ordinary array using symmetric arrangement. The focal volume of multiple-focus patterns of the random array is 18 times that of the single focus. The single focus of the sparse random array with 660 elements could steer up to ±23 mm in the radial direction, without grating lobes. The maximum distance between two foci in a multiple-focus “S”-shaped deflection is approximately 25 mm. Simulation results illustrate the capability of a focused beam steered in 3-D space. Multiple-focus patterns could significantly increase the focal volume and shorten the treatment time for large target volumes. Simulation results show the feasibility and potential of the method combining PSO with a sparse random array to generate flexible focus patterns that can adapt to different needs in different tissue treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grain number per spike (GNPS) is an important yield component, and much attention is given to the increase in GNPS for current yield improvement of common wheat. Here, a panel of 259 pre-breeding lines and elite commercial varieties were collected for the investigation of 12 agronomic traits, especially for spike-related traits, with 2-year replicates. The high correlation between GNPS and kernel number per spikelet (KNS) suggested that the high GNPS trait in our pre-breeding lines was mainly controlled by grain set number per spikelet. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using the 660K SNP genotyping assay suggested that a major locus on chromosomes 4BS contributed to the high GNPS trait, which contributed to 33% and 48% of the variation in KNS and GNPS, respectively. A good diagnostic KASP marker AX-109286577 flanking the 4BS locus was developed for easy selection of the large spike trait. Taken together, the results suggested that untapped rare allele variation in our pre-breeding lines can be used for improvement of the yield component of set grain number per spike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mandibular defect repair has always been a clinical challenge, facing technical bottleneck. The new materials directly affect technological breakthroughs in mandibular defect repair field. Our aim is to fabricate a scaffold of advanced biomaterials for repairing of small mandibular defect. Therefore, a novel dual-channel scaffold consisting of silk fibroin/collagen type-I/hydroxyapatite (SCH) and polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) was fabricated by cryogenic 3D printing technology with double nozzles. The mechanical properties and behaviors of the dual-channel scaffold were investigated by performing uniaxial compression, creep, stress relaxation, and ratcheting experiments respectively. The experiments indicated that the dual-channel scaffold was typical non-linear viscoelastic consistent with cancellous tissue; the Young’s modulus of this scaffold was 60.1 kPa. Finite element analysis (FEA) was employed performing a numerical simulation to evaluate the implantation effect in mandible. The stress distribution of the contact area between scaffold and defect was uniform, the maximum Mises stress of cortical bone and cancellous bone in defect area were 54.520 MPa and 3.196 MPa, and the maximum displacement of cortical bone and cancellous bone in defect area were 0.1575 mm and 0.1555 mm respectively, which distributed in the incisor region. The peak maximum Mises stress experienced by the implanted scaffold was 3.128 × 10–3 MPa, and the maximum displacement was 6.453 × 10−2 mm distributed near incisor area. The displacement distribution of the scaffold was consistent with that of cortical and cancellous bone. The scaffold recovered well when the force applied on it disappeared. Above all, the dual-channel scaffold had excellent bio-mechanical properties in implanting mandible, which provides a new idea for the reconstruction of irregular bone defects in the mandible and has good clinical development prospects.Graphical Abstract: Mandibular defect repair has always been a clinical challenge, facing technical bottleneck. The new materials directly affect technological breakthroughs in mandibular defect repair field. Our aim is to fabricate a scaffold of advanced biomaterials for repairing of small mandibular defect. Therefore, a novel dual-channel scaffold consisting of silk fibroin/collagen type-I/hydroxyapatite (SCH) and polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) was fabricated by cryogenic 3D printing technology with double nozzles. The mechanical properties and behaviors of the dual-channel scaffold were investigated by performing uniaxial compression, creep, stress relaxation, and ratcheting experiments respectively. The experiments indicated that the dual-channel scaffold was typical non-linear viscoelastic consistent with cancellous tissue; the Young’s modulus of this scaffold was 60.1 kPa. Finite element analysis (FEA) was employed performing a numerical simulation to evaluate the implantation effect in mandible. The stress distribution of the contact area between scaffold and defect was uniform, the maximum Mises stress of cortical bone and cancellous bone in defect area were 54.520 MPa and 3.196 MPa, and the maximum displacement of cortical bone and cancellous bone in defect area were 0.1575 mm and 0.1555 mm respectively, which distributed in the incisor region. The peak maximum Mises stress experienced by the implanted scaffold was 3.128 × 10–3 MPa, and the maximum displacement was 6.453 × 10−2 mm distributed near incisor area. The displacement distribution of the scaffold was consistent with that of cortical and cancellous bone. The scaffold recovered well when the force applied on it disappeared. Above all, the dual-channel scaffold had excellent bio-mechanical properties in implanting mandible, which provides a new idea for the reconstruction of irregular bone defects in the mandible and has good clinical development prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring new therapeutic diseases for existing drugs plays an essential role in reducing drug development costs. However, existing methods for predicting drug–disease association (DDA) lack fusion to multi-neighborhood information, which limits their ability to generalize and forces them to rely on prior knowledge. To this end, we propose a novel DDA model called the Neighborhood Contrastive Learning Heterogeneous Networks (NCH-DDA). NCH-DDA uses both single-neighborhood and multi-neighborhood feature extraction modules to extract important features of drugs and diseases in parallel from multiple potential spaces, such as heterogeneous networks and similarity networks. NCH-DDA fuses single-neighborhood and multi-neighborhood features using contrastive learning to enhance information interaction in different neighborhood spaces, ultimately obtaining universal domain features of drugs and diseases. NCH-DDA uses a combination of predictive loss and triplet loss to reduce dependence on prior knowledge. In different partition schemes of multiple datasets, NCH-DDA achieved the best performance in predicting DDA, outperforming several current state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, NCH-DDA demonstrated better performance in experiments on data sparsity and drug repositioning for Alzheimer's disease, indicating its greater potential in DDA prediction with sparse omics data and drug repositioning applications. • Neighborhood contrastive model for heterogeneous representation and DDA prediction. • MNFEM and SNFEM capture the important features in multiple potential spaces. • Contrast learning aggregated generic neighborhood features of drugs and diseases. • Presented a mixing optimization strategy to reduce the dependence on prior knowledge. • Four of the top five drugs recommended for AD by NCH-DDA were proved to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of quantum computing and other fields, dilution refrigerators are required to have greater cooling capacity. More cooling power means larger 3He flow rate and the corresponding gas circulation system. In dry dilution refrigerators, 3He needs to be pressurized by compressor for the high inlet pressure. This paper introduces a dry dilution refrigerator driven by a designed high-power two-stage linear compressor, and the reliability of the compressor is verified by experiments. 3He can be pressurized to a pressure above 200 kPa at a flow rate of nearly 1 mmol/s and be condensed successfully in the condensatiion process. The refrigerator, precooled by a pulse tube cryocooler, can obtain a minimum temperature of 19 mK and a cooling capacity of 250 μW at about 100 mK at the total flow rate of about 0.45 mmol/s. The maximum power of 3He compressor can reach 300 W and the maximum compression ratio is over 10, which can be used as the 3He driver of high-power dilution refrigerators or closed-cycle space dilution refrigerators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rationale exists for combining immune checkpoint inhibitors and PARP inhibitors (PARPi), and results of clinical trials in ovarian cancer are promising, but data in other cancers are limited. Method: Efficacy and safety of PARPi/anti-PD-1 in advanced solid tumors were retrospectively analyzed. The efficacy measures included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: This retrospective study included data from 40 patients. The ORR was 27.5% (95% CI, 13.0–42.0%), with a DCR of 85.0% (95% CI, 73.4–96.6%). Except four patients in first-line treatment (three with PR and one with SD), the ORR of ≥second-line treatment, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was 22.2%, 23.1% and 28.6%, and the DCR was 83.3%, 84.6% and 71.4%, separately. The median PFS of all patients, ≥second-line treatment, NSCLC and SCLC was 4.6 m, 4.2 m, 4.5 m and 3.7 m. The median OS was 9.4 m, 11.4 m, 12.7 m and 5.4 m, respectively. Multivariable analysis revealed that BRCA1/2 mutation was positively correlated with ORR (P = 0.008), and LDH≥250U/L was negatively correlated with lowered DCR (P = 0.018), while lymphocyte number, ECOG and LDH significantly influenced both PFS and OS. We found that the possible resistant mechanisms were sarcomatous degeneration and secondary mutation, including BRCA2 truncation mutation, A2M, JAK1,T790M, KEAP1 and mTOR mutation. 37.5% patients had ≥grade 3 adverse events. Conclusion: PARPi/anti-PD-1 is an effective and tolerable method for patients with advanced solid tumors, and BRCA1/2 is a potential biomarker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new air conditioning system is explored by experiment. • The system starts mode H is the most stable, and the maximum superheat is 11°C. • A unique phenomenon occurs in the production of hot water. • The system fluctuates periodically in the refrigeration mode. • The drop in discharge pressure can be used as a parameter for defrost control. Air source heat pump (ASHP) and heat pump water heater (HPWH) have the advantages of convenience and high efficiency. The newly proposed refrigeration, heating and hot water combined air-conditioning system (RHHAC) combines traditional ASHP with HPWH. The demands of users for cooling, heating and hot water are effectively satisfied with this equipment. In this study, five groups of experiments were conducted to study the starting and operating characteristics of the system. Besides, two sets of experimental cases were carried out to explore the operating characteristics of the system under the frosting process. Results show that the maximum superheat degree is 11°C when the system starts in hot water mode, while the maximum superheat degree is more than 22°C when the system starts in the other modes. As the temperature of hot water rises when the system runs in hot water mode, the maximum value of the discharge pressure can reach 3.7MPa. Besides, the analysis parameters will have regular pulsations when the system is in cooling mode. For example, in the experimental case 5, the fluctuation range of the superheat degree is 5.1°C-16.2°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microglia, as the intrinsic immune cells in the brain, are activated following ischemic stroke. Activated microglia participate in the pathological processes after stroke through polarization, autophagy, phagocytosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, apoptosis, and necrosis, thereby influencing the injury and repair following stroke. It has been established that polarized M1 and M2 microglia exhibit pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects, respectively. Autophagy and phagocytosis in microglia following ischemia are dynamic processes, where moderate levels promote cell survival, while excessive responses may exacerbate neurofunctional deficits following stroke. Additionally, pyroptosis and ferroptosis in microglia after ischemic stroke contribute to the release of harmful cytokines, further aggravating the damage to brain tissue due to ischemia. This article discusses the different functional states of microglia in ischemic stroke research, highlighting current research trends and gaps, and provides insights and guidance for further study of ischemic stroke. • Microglia is important in the repair of ischemic stroke. • Microglial polarization is a double-edged sword in ischemic stroke. • Microglial proper autophagy and phagocytosis contribute to functional recovery after ischemic stroke, while excessive activation may worsen the damage. • Microglial pyroptosis, ferroptosis, apoptosis and necrosis in ischemic stroke is in the preliminary stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important emerging pollutant, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) monitoring is crucial to protect the ecological environment and public health, but its rapid and accurate detection is still a major challenge. In this study, a new single-labeled dual-signal output ratiometric electrochemical genosensor (E-DNA) was developed for the rapid and highly sensitive detection of ARGs using a synergistic signal amplification strategy of T 3 C 2 @Au nanoparticles (T 3 C 2 @AuNPs) and isothermal strand displacement polymerase reaction (ISDPR). Specially, two-dimensional monolayer T 3 C 2 nanosheets loaded with uniformly gold nanoparticles were prepared and used as the sensing platform of the E-DNA sensor. Benefiting from excellent conductivity and large specific surface area of Ti 3 C 2 @AuNPs, the probe immobilization capacity of the E-DNA sensor is doubled, and electrochemical response signals of the E-DNA sensor were significantly improved. The proposed single-labeled dual-signal output ratiometric sensing strategy exhibits three to six times higher sensitivity for the sul2 gene than the single-signal sensing strategy, which significantly reduces cost meanwhile retaining the advantages of high sensitivity and reliability offered by conventional dual-labeled ratiometric sensors. Coupled with ISDPR amplification technology, the E-DNA sensor has a wider linear range from 10 fM to 10 nM and a limit of detection as low as 2.04 fM (S/N=3). More importantly, the E-DNA sensor demonstrates excellent specificity, good stability and reproducibility for target ARGs detection in real water samples. The proposed new sensing strategy provides a highly sensitive and versatile tool for the rapid and accurate quantitative analysis of various ARGs in environmental water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A high accuracy deformation measurement method for semi-continuous materials is proposed. • The deformation field of 3D printed scaffolds is accurately measured. • The first visualization of cell differentiation on scaffolds was achieved by experimental measurements. • The effects of loading in vitro and water content on cell differentiation were investigated. • This work corroborates that in vitro loading culture and modulation of scaffold pore structure can be exploited to design scaffolds with regions that guide specific tissue development. Three-dimensional (3D) mechanical microenvironments, such as 3D strain fields in tissue engineering scaffolds have a crucial impact on the interactions between scaffold architecture, mechanical stimuli, and tissue differentiation. However, the discontinuity induced by the pores poses a challenge to the measurement of the 3D strains of the scaffolds. Herein, we present a tissue engineering scaffold optical coherence elastography (TES-OCE) method to visualize the full-field 3D strain fields of the tissue engineering scaffolds when cells are cultured on them and to explore the relationship between mechanical stimulation and cell differentiation. A semi-continuous digital volume correlation (SC-DVC) method based on a material component identification algorithm was proposed to automatically extract the scaffold architecture information and obtain the 3D strain fields with high accuracy. The non-uniform deformation field of a 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold with various water contents under loading in vitro was measured by the TES-OCE method, based on the tissue shear strain field obtained above, the area of cell differentiation phenotype on tissue engineering scaffolds was accurately predicted. Experimental results show that the loads and water absorption of the scaffold significantly affects the 3D tissue shear strain field in the tissue engineering scaffold. Thus, the cell differentiation fate can be modulated by loading culture and scaffold pore structure. The TES-OCE provides a new experimental method to delineate the interrelationship between tissue engineering scaffolds, the mechanical microenvironment, and cell proliferation and differentiation. It may be further developed as an effective tool to guide the design and development of superior tissue engineering scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Building a complete gas-gap heat switch model that covers the entire switching process. • Integrating activated carbon's adsorption characteristics into the theoretical model. • Designing the 4He gas-gap heat switch based on the model and testing its performance to validate the model. • Applying the gas-gap heat switch to a 4He sub-Kelvin sorption cooler and achieving a temperature of 773 mK. Gas-gap heat switches (GGHSs) are significant components in sub-Kelvin sorption coolers (SKSCs). To develop an effective GGHS for SKSCs, a complete GGHS theoretical model is proposed by integrating the adsorption characteristics of activated carbon and the principle of GGHSs. This model establishes a relationship between the temperature of activated carbon and the corresponding thermal conductance of GGHSs. Based on this model, a 4He GGHS was designed, which consists of two cylindrical copper blocks separated by a 0.2 mm gas gap and a surface area of 9.896 cm2. The device was charged with 100 kPa of 4He at 297 K. Near the base temperature of the GM cryocooler of 3 K, an ON thermal resistance of 20 K/W and an OFF thermal resistance of 21,650 K/W with 1 mW applied to the hot end were obtained, achieving a switching ratio of 1082.5. The experimental results were analyzed and compared with the theoretical data, and proved to be in good agreement. Finally, the GGHS was integrated with a SKSC, achieving an ultimate temperature of 773 mK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biomaterial that can remove remaining oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and repair oral mucosal damage is urgently needed. This graphical abstract described a composite scaffold that would simultaneously kill OSCC cells and promote the regeneration of the oral mucosa. [Display omitted] • Quercetin acts as an inhibitor when heat shock proteins make tumor cells more resistant to photothermal therapy. • Ti 3 C 2 MXene and quercetin are effectively carried by scaffold made of collagen and silk fibroin. • The composite scaffold successfully limits tumor cells migration and promotes oral mucosal defects regeneration. The most prevalent oral and maxillofacial cancer is oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Patient survival is compromised by relapse due to post-operative tumor remnants and significant mucosal defects. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is used to ablate local malignancies, but the capacity of tumor cells to resist it is correlated with the overexpression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). In this work, PTT and tissue engineering scaffold were rationally integrated to construct a Ti 3 C 2 MXene, collagen, silk fibroin and quercetin composite scaffold (M-CSQ scaffold), a 3D printed biomaterial that simultaneously kill OSCC cells and promote the regeneration of the mucosal defects. The M-CSQ scaffolds were prepared by cryogenic 3D printing and freeze-drying techniques with sufficient pores that allow an abundant cell migration and provide a proliferation space. Ti 3 C 2 MXene has excellent photothermal conversion ability and stability. Quercetin targeted HSP70 to decrease its expression in OSCC cells, consequently weakening their resistance to high temperature and enhancing the effect of PTT. The M-CSQ scaffold effectively killed OSCC cells in vitro and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. In addition, the M-CSQ scaffold provided adhesion sites for Sprague-Dawley rat (SD rat) buccal mucosal fibroblasts and promoted the repair of buccal mucosal wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The tissue engineering is a promising method for cartilage regeneration studies. The rough in vivo initial repair environment of articular cartilage is a challenge for the development of cartilage tissue engineering. Hereon, in this study, a silk fibroin/collagen type II scaffold was designed. The optimal mechanical environment for chondrocyte/scaffold complex in vitro maturation culture was determined and in vitro cultured mature artificial cartilage was evaluated for in vivo defect repair. Our research shows that the silk fibroin/collagen type II scaffold has good performance and can meet the special requirements of cartilage repair. 10 % compressive strain is the optimal compressive loading in vitro. Under optimal compression loading in vitro , chondrocytes can proliferate and grow rapidly on the scaffold to achieve better "maturation". The in vitro cultured chondrocyte/scaffold complex effectively improves the cartilage repair effect after implantation. The compressive elastic modulus of the new tissue reached 0.682 ± 0.010 MPa after 12 weeks of repair (0.714 ± 0.011 MPa for the surrounding host cartilage). Therefore, this study not only enhance the effect of cartilage repair but also provides a promising strategy for mechanical stimulation to promote functional in situ regeneration of articular cartilage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed at exploring a new tooth development evaluation method for age assessment and investigating the dynamic alteration and potential trend of tooth development by orthopantomograms (OPGs), in order to provide references for tooth development prediction and forensic purpose.Materials and Methods: A total of 132 OPGs of children aged 3-8 years were collected. The developmental stages of the permanent mandibular second molar (M2)were evaluated by experienced examiners according to the Nolla method and Mimics software, respectively. Quantitative analysis of the ratio of the radiopaque calcified area to the dental follicle (RCA/DF) in different stages, ages, sexes and quadrants were evaluated and compared via descriptive statistics and Spearman's correlation coefficient analysis.Results: There was a strong, positive correlation between the examiners' evaluation and mimics analysis results. With the age increased, the Nolla stage of M2 observed by OPGs increased, and the RCA/DF showed increased trends both in males and females. There were significant differences of the RCA/DF of the M2 at various ages. The tooth calcification development of female was 9.08% earlier than that of male between 3 and 8 years old. However, teeth of male seemed to develop faster than that of female during this period. There was no significant difference between left and right quadrant either according to the Nolla stage or RCA/DF.Conclusions: The RCA/DF value obtained from OPGs of the developmental mandibular second permanent molars could be used as a reliable indicator for tooth maturity and age estimation in children aged 3-8 years.Clinical Relevance: Age assessment based on radiographs is considered as a reliable and efficient indicator for judging different types of malocclusion, making suitable orthodontic treatment plan, deciding the extraction time of retained deciduous teeth in clinic practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We assessed effects of chronic UNO on motor representation of AD muscle during growth. • UNO during growth induces motor representation changes in cortical masticatory area. • This may affect respiratory and orofacial functions. • Respiratory dysfunction onset should be monitored and corrected in a timely manner. The cortical masticatory area (CMA) regulates masticatory movements. However, there is limited information regarding the effect of respiratory disturbances on the functional development of the CMA. This study aimed to examine the effect of chronic unilateral nasal obstruction (UNO) on the CMA during the growth period. Forty-eight 8-day-old male Wistar albino rats were randomized into control (CONT, n = 24) and UNO (n = 24) groups. Arterial oxygen saturation (SpO 2) and the number of positive intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) sites in the anterior digastric (AD) muscle were recorded at 5, 7, and 9 weeks of age. ICMS was performed under anesthesia. The CONT group exhibited significantly higher SpO 2 values than the UNO group at each age. Furthermore, the number of positive ICMS sites in the AD muscle was significantly higher in the UNO group than in the CONT group at each age. The right AD was more strongly affected by UNO than the left AD. In addition, it was found that the P-area was more strongly affected by UNO than the A-area. These findings suggest that UNO during development induces changes in the motor representation in the CMA, which may affect respiratory and orofacial functions in rats. Therefore, we suggest that the development of respiratory dysfunction needs to be monitored and corrected promptly to avoid complications in physiological function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cracks may change the mechanical properties of articular cartilage, and further lead to early osteoarthritis. The study aimed to probe the mechanical properties of cracked cartilage under uniaxial tensile loading. The fracture process of cracked cartilage can be divided into two stages, namely crack-tip blunting stage and crack growth stage. The creep strain of cracked cartilage increases rapidly and then slowly with time, and it is well predicted by the nonlinear viscoelastic creep model. Compared with intact cartilage, cracked cartilage shows larger creep strain. During cyclic loading, the mean strain, degree of necking and crack-tip blunting of cracked cartilage increase with the increase of peak stress, while they decrease with the increase of loading frequency. The crack-tip morphology shows that cyclic loading has induced irreversible deformation in cartilage with a large number of collagen fibrils yielding, and further damaged the collagen fibril network of cartilage. However, no obvious crack growth is observed under the testing conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]