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Iron-based Fischer–Tropsch synthesis (FTS) catalyst is widely used for syngas conversion, but its iron carbide active phase is easily oxidized into Fe3O4 by the water produced during reaction, leading to the deterioration of catalytic performance. Here, we show an efficient strategy for protecting the iron carbide active phase of FTS catalyst by surface hydrophobization. The hydrophobic surface can reduce the water concentration in the core vicinity of catalyst during syngas conversion, and thus inhibit the oxidation of iron species by water, which enhances the C − C coupling ability of catalyst and promotes the formation of long-chain olefins. More significantly, it is unraveled that appropriate shell thickness plays a crucial role in stabilizing the iron carbide active phase without Fe3O4 formation and achieving good catalytic performance. The iron carbide active phase is easily oxidized by the water produced during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which leads to a deterioration in catalytic performance. Here, the authors present a strategy to protect iron carbide by applying surface hydrophobization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitin, the most abundant renewable polysaccharide in the marine environment, presents restricted applications due to its low solubility. Chitin quaternization can produce a water-soluble chitin derivative with a wide pH range due to the existence of a permanent positive charge on the polymer backbone. Quaternized chitin (QC) has received increasing attention owing to its superior water solubility and antibacterial action. This review aims to outline synthesis techniques, functional materials, and multiple applications of QC. The synthesis techniques of QC, such as heterogeneous reactions and homogeneous reactions, are introduced first. Then we discuss some developed QC-based functional materials, especially micelles, hydrogels, coatings, and sponges. The progress in the applications of QC, such as wound dressings and drug/gene delivery, is also reviewed. We hope that this review can provide new inspiration for expanding the application scope of QC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic crystals as barocaloric materials exhibit the large entropy change rivalling freon, however, the limited pressure-sensitivity and large hysteresis of phase transition hinder the colossal barocaloric effect accomplished reversibly at low pressure. Here we report reversible colossal barocaloric effect at low pressure in two-dimensional van-der-Waals alkylammonium halides. Via introducing long carbon chains in ammonium halide plastic crystals, two-dimensional structure forms in (CH3–(CH2)n-1)2NH2X (X: halogen element) with weak interlayer van-der-Waals force, which dictates interlayer expansion as large as 13% and consequently volume change as much as 12% during phase transition. Such anisotropic expansion provides sufficient space for carbon chains to undergo dramatic conformation disordering, which induces colossal entropy change with large pressure-sensitivity and small hysteresis. The record reversible colossal barocaloric effect with entropy change ΔSr ~ 400 J kg−1 K−1 at 0.08 GPa and adiabatic temperature change ΔTr ~ 11 K at 0.1 GPa highlights the design of novel barocaloric materials by engineering the dimensionality of plastic crystals.The authors report the colossal barocaloric effect driven reversibly by low pressure in two dimensional van-der-Waals alkylammonium halides, underlyingly from the disordering of the organic alkyl chains within the two-dimensional structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to describe the burden of health care utilisation and early education outcomes of children with and without rare diseases. Using the Born in Bradford birth cohort and its linked routine health care and education data, we looked at cumulative primary care episodes, hospital admissions and medication prescriptions. We assessed education outcomes using Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and the National Curriculum Tests-Key Stage 1 results. Among analytical sample of 13,858, 1711 or 12.3% children were identified with a rare disease by an average age of 14 years. Children with rare diseases were twice more likely to be admitted to hospital compared to children without. Average length of stay was around 5 days in those with rare diseases group compared to less than 1 day in those without. The average number of primary care episodes was 45.4 in children with rare diseases and 28.2 visits in those without. These children were over three times more likely to be on multiple medications. Children with rare diseases had 30% higher risk of being below academic expectations at Foundation Year and, depending on subject, between 50 and 60% higher risks at KS1 tests. Conclusions: Children with rare diseases are significantly more likely to have increased primary care episodes and to have more regular medications. They are likely to have more hospital admissions with a longer stay also. Educationally, they are at higher risk of failing to achieve expected standards in early-year settings. What is Known: • Existing studies of rare diseases have used cross sectional data to describe secondary care data. Previous research has not explored the impact of rare diseases on academic outcomes in children. What is New: • Using Born in Bradford birth cohort and its linked primary and secondary care data, this study provides the most comprehensive estimate of prevalence of rare diseases in any study to date. Children with rare diseases were not only significantly more likely to have contact with primary care and to be admitted to hospitals; they were also more like to be on more regular medications and had higher risk of not achieving expected standards in early-year education outcomes. • Our study is unusual in being able to access linked health and education data and reinforces the importance of adopting a whole system approach to children's health and wellbeing that recognises the close links between health and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of Chinese patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) who were treated with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) blockade therapies. We retrospectively analyzed patients who were admitted to our hospital between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2022, diagnosed with PML and treated with PD1 blockade therapies. Four patients with PML who were treated with PD1 blockade therapies were identified. All patients were male, and their ages ranged from 19 to 54 years old. One patient (Case 2) exhibited mild pleocytosis, while three patients (Cases 2–4) had markedly reduced T lymphocyte cell counts prior to treatment. The time interval between symptom onset and treatment initiation ranged from six to 54 weeks. All patients received pembrolizumab treatment, with a total of two to four doses administered. Three patients who responded to pembrolizumab treatment showed clinical improvement starting around 8 weeks after the initiation of therapy. Although one patient did not show clinical improvement, they ultimately survived until the last follow-up. None of the patients in this study exhibited immune-related adverse events or immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. PD1 blockade appears to be a promising novel therapeutic option for PML; additional prospective studies are necessary to confirm its efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disproportionate cortical atrophy is an established biomarker for the pathophysiological process of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the genetic basis underlying the cortical atrophy remains poorly defined. Herein, we aim to illustrate the effect of the Wnt target genes on the cortical volumes of AD patients. 82 sporadic AD patients were recruited. All the subjects had history survey, blood biochemical examination, cognitive assessment, MRI morphometry and whole exome sequencing. This report focused on 84 common variants (minor allele frequency > 0.01) of 32 Wnt target genes, including the APC, DAAM1, DACT1, DISC1, LATS2, TLR2, WDR61, and the AXIN, DVL, FZD, LRP, TCF/LEF, WNT family genes. The Wnt target genes showed asymmetric effects on the cortical volumes of AD patients. The right temporal/parietal/occipital cortices were more affected than left temporal/parietal/occipital cortices. Nevertheless, the reverse applied to the frontal cortex. The DACT1 affected the cortical thickness most, followed by the TCF3 and APC. The DACT1 rs698025-GG genotype displayed greater right temporal pole and left medial orbito-frontal gyrus than rs698025-GA genotype (2.4 ± 0.4 vs. 2.0 ± 0.6, P = 0.005; 5.2 ± 0.6 vs. 5.0 ± 0.6, P = 0.001). The brain region most influenced by the Wnt target genes was the right calcarine cortex. In conclusion, the common variants of the Wnt target genes exert asymmetric effects on the cortical volumes of AD patients. The Wnt signaling pathway may play a role in the cortical atrophy of AD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review summarizes the self-assembly of block molecules forming unconventional two-dimensional (2D) periodic nanopatterns. Especially, we emphasize the structural evolution from simple columnar phases to complex 2D tiling morphologies in soft materials including block copolymers, liquid crystals, giant molecules, etc. Then, the state-of-the-art nanofabrication technologies for making sophisticated nanostructures with specific functions via combining both bottom-up assembly and top-down lithography-based methods are discussed, highlighting the use of directed self-assembly processes. Finally, we provide our perspective on this area. By further increasing the complexity of block molecules and the designability of lithography, low-dimensional ordered morphologies will be particularly promising for further application in nanotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic performance of high-resolution contrast-enhanced MRI (hrMRI) with three-dimensional (3D) fast spin echo (FSE) sequence by comparison with conventional contrast-enhanced MRI (cMRI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (dMRI) with 2D FSE sequence for identifying pituitary microadenomas. Methods: This single-institutional retrospective study included 69 consecutive patients with Cushing's syndrome who underwent preoperative pituitary MRI, including cMRI, dMRI, and hrMRI, between January 2016 to December 2020. Reference standards were established by using all available imaging, clinical, surgical, and pathological resources. The diagnostic performance of cMRI, dMRI, and hrMRI for identifying pituitary microadenomas was independently evaluated by two experienced neuroradiologists. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUCs) were compared between protocols for each reader by using the DeLong test to assess the diagnostic performance for identifying pituitary microadenomas. The inter-observer agreement was assessed by using the κ analysis. Results: The diagnostic performance of hrMRI (AUC, 0.95–0.97) was higher than cMRI (AUC, 0.74–0.75; p ≤.002) and dMRI (AUC, 0.59–0.68; p ≤.001) for identifying pituitary microadenomas. The sensitivity and specificity of hrMRI were 90–93% and 100%, respectively. There were 78% (18/23) to 82% (14/17) of the patients, who were misdiagnosed on cMRI and dMRI and correctly diagnosed on hrMRI. The inter-observer agreement for identifying pituitary microadenomas was moderate on cMRI (κ = 0.50), moderate on dMRI (κ = 0.57), and almost perfect on hrMRI (κ = 0.91), respectively. Conclusions: The hrMRI showed higher diagnostic performance than cMRI and dMRI for identifying pituitary microadenomas in patients with Cushing's syndrome. Key Points: • The diagnostic performance of hrMRI was higher than cMRI and dMRI for identifying pituitary microadenomas in Cushing's syndrome. • About 80% of patients, who were misdiagnosed on cMRI and dMRI, were correctly diagnosed on hrMRI. • The inter-observer agreement for identifying pituitary microadenomas was almost perfect on hrMRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To validate the correlation between histopathological findings and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) fat fraction (FF) and water T2 mapping in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). Methods: The study included 13 patients with histopathologically confirmed IIM who underwent dedicated thigh qMRI scanning within 1 month before open muscle biopsy. For the biopsied muscles, FF derived from the iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least-squares estimation quantitation (IDEAL-IQ) and T2 time from T2 mapping with chemical shift selective fat saturation were measured using a machine learning software. Individual histochemical and immunohistochemical slides were evaluated using a 5-point Likert score. Inter-reader agreement and the correlation between qMRI markers and histopathological scores were analyzed. Results: Readers showed good to perfect agreement in qMRI measurements and most histopathological scores. FF of the biopsied muscles was positively correlated with the amount of fat in histopathological slides (p = 0.031). Prolonged T2 time was associated with the degree of variation in myofiber size, inflammatory cell infiltration, and amount of connective tissues (p ≤ 0.008 for all). Conclusions: Using the machine learning-based muscle segmentation method, a positive correlation was confirmed between qMRI biomarkers and histopathological findings of patients with IIM. This finding provides a basis for using qMRI as a non-invasive tool in the diagnostic workflow of IIM. Relevance statement: By using ML-based muscle segmentation, a correlation between qMRI biomarkers and histopathology was found in patients with IIM: qMRI is a potential non-invasive tool in this clinical setting. Key points: • Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging measurements using machine learning-based muscle segmentation have good consistency and reproductivity. • Fat fraction of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) correlated with the amount of fat at histopathology. • Prolonged T2 time was associated with muscle inflammation in IIM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immune-excluded tumors (IETs) show limited response to current immunotherapy due to intrinsic and adaptive immune resistance. In this study, it is identified that inhibition of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor 1 can relieve tumor fibrosis, thus facilitating the recruitment of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes. Subsequently, a nanovesicle is constructed for tumor-specific co-delivery of a TGF-β inhibitor (LY2157299, LY) and the photosensitizer pyropheophorbide a (PPa). The LY-loaded nanovesicles suppress tumor fibrosis to promote intratumoral infiltration of T lymphocytes. Furthermore, PPa chelated with gadolinium ion is capable of fluorescence, photoacoustic and magnetic resonance triple-modal imaging-guided photodynamic therapy, to induce immunogenic death of tumor cells and elicit antitumor immunity in preclinical cancer models in female mice. These nanovesicles are further armored with a lipophilic prodrug of the bromodomain-containing protein 4 inhibitor (i.e., JQ1) to abolish programmed death ligand 1 expression of tumor cells and overcome adaptive immune resistance. This study may pave the way for nanomedicine-based immunotherapy of the IETs. Targeting the TGF-β signaling pathway has been exploited to relieve immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment. Here the authors describe the design of a nanoplatform integrating the TGF-β receptor 1 inhibitor LY2157299 and the ROS-responsive JQ1 pro-drug, promoting anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical cancer models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-field detection measures both the intensity of light rays and their precise direction in free space. However, current light-field detection techniques either require complex microlens arrays or are limited to the ultraviolet–visible light wavelength ranges1–4. Here we present a robust, scalable method based on lithographically patterned perovskite nanocrystal arrays that can be used to determine radiation vectors from X-rays to visible light (0.002–550 nm). With these multicolour nanocrystal arrays, light rays from specific directions can be converted into pixelated colour outputs with an angular resolution of 0.0018°. We find that three-dimensional light-field detection and spatial positioning of light sources are possible by modifying nanocrystal arrays with specific orientations. We also demonstrate three-dimensional object imaging and visible light and X-ray phase-contrast imaging by combining pixelated nanocrystal arrays with a colour charge-coupled device. The ability to detect light direction beyond optical wavelengths through colour-contrast encoding could enable new applications, for example, in three-dimensional phase-contrast imaging, robotics, virtual reality, tomographic biological imaging and satellite autonomous navigation.Lithographically patterned perovskite nanocrystal arrays were used to determine radiation vectors from X-rays to visible light and the emission colours of the nanoparticles was used to create images of three-dimensional objects and for phase-contrast imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminescence intensity in photodetectors, radiation imagers and light-emitting diodes is proportional to the thickness of the light-emitting layer. However, a thick emitting layer reduces light output because of incoherent photon scattering and attenuation. Here we present the design of double-tapered optical-fibre arrays that can drastically increase the light output of thick light-emitting layers by progressively filling more propagation modes along the fibre's depth. To enhance the light-collection efficiency and imaging resolution, the upper taper angle of each fibre is greater than the lower angle. By filling the fibre substrate with perovskite nanocrystals from a scale of micrometres thick to centimetres thick, large-scale pixel-dense X-ray or gamma-ray detector arrays can be fabricated. We demonstrate X-ray imaging with a spatial resolution of 22 lp mm−1. Pixelated gamma-ray imaging is also demonstrated using a nanocrystal scintillator film with a thickness of 4 mm and ~10,000 pixels under focused 6-MeV irradiation. Dynamic changes in the energy spectrum (5 keV to 10 MeV) and dose rate (3.5 nGy s−1 to 96 mGy s−1) can be conveniently monitored using a hemispherical fibre array dosimeter with a field of view of 150°. This study presents a high-throughput approach for fabricating thick emitter layers that could be applied to biomolecular or mechanical force sensing, medical imaging and ion beam therapy. Researchers engineer double-tapered optical-fibre arrays and use perovskite nanocrystal substrates for X-ray imaging with a three orders of magnitude output gain and spatial resolution of 22 lp mm−1. Arrayed gamma-ray imaging is also demonstrated using a nanocrystal scintillator film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the clustered path travelling salesman problem. In this problem, we are given a complete graph G = (V , E) with an edge weight function w satisfying the triangle inequality. In addition, the vertex set V is partitioned into clusters V 1 , … , V k and s, t are two given vertices of G with s ∈ V 1 and t ∈ V k . The objective of the problem is to find a minimum Hamiltonian path of G from s to t, where all vertices of each cluster are visited consecutively. In this paper, we deal with the case that the start-vertex and the end-vertex of the path on each cluster are both specified, and for it we provide a polynomial-time approximation algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the utility of an automatic deep learning (DL) method for segmentation of T2 maps in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) against healthy controls, and also the association of quantitative T2 values in patients with laboratory and pulmonary findings. Methods: Structural MRI and T2 mapping of bilateral thigh muscles from patients with IIM and healthy volunteers were segmented using dedicated software based on a pre-trained convolutional neural network. Incremental and federated learning were implemented for continuous adaptation and improvement. Muscle T2 values derived from DL segmentation were compared between patients and healthy controls, and T2 values of patients were further analyzed with serum muscle enzymes, and interstitial lung disease (ILD) which was diagnosed and graded based on chest HRCT. Results: Overall, 64 patients (27 patients with dermatomyositis, 29 with polymyositis, and 8 with antisynthetase syndrome (ASS)) and 10 healthy controls were included. By using DL-based muscle segmentation, T2 values generated from T2 maps accurately differentiated patients from those of controls (p < 0.001) with a cutoff value of 36.4 ms (sensitivity 96.9%, and specificity 100%). In patients with IIM, muscle T2 values positively correlated with all the serum muscle enzymes (all p < 0.05). ILD score of patients with ASS was markedly higher than that of those without ASS (p = 0.011), while dissociation between the severity of muscular involvement and ILD was observed (p = 0.080). Conclusion: Automatic DL could be used to segment thigh muscles and help quantitatively assess muscular inflammation of IIM through T2 mapping. Key Points: • Muscle T2 mapping automatically segmented by deep learning can differentiate IIM from healthy controls. • T2 value, an indicator of active muscle inflammation, positively correlates with serum muscle enzymes. • T2 mapping can detect muscle disease in patients with normal muscle enzyme levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is scarce evidence about the surgeon learning curve of acute type A aortic dissection surgery and whether the optimal procedure number exists when training a cardiovascular surgeon. A total of 704 patients with acute type A aortic dissection surgery performed by 17 junior surgeons who can identify their first career surgery from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2018, are included. The surgeon experience volume is defined as the cumulative number of acute type A aortic dissection surgery of the surgeon since January 1, 2005. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. The possibility of non-linearity and cutoffs for surgeon experience volume level was explored using a restricted cubic spline model. The results revealed that more surgeon experience volume is significantly correlated to a lower in-hospital mortality rate (r = − 0.58, P = 0.010). The RCS model shows for an operator who reaches 25 cumulative volumes of acute type A aortic dissection surgery, the average in-hospital mortality rate of the patients can be below 10%. Furthermore, the longer duration from the 1st to 25th operations of the surgeon is significantly correlated to a higher average in-hospital mortality rate of the patients (r = 0.61, p = 0.045). Acute type A aortic dissection surgery has a prominent learning curve in terms of improving clinical outcomes. The findings suggest fostering high-volume surgeons at high-volume hospitals can achieve optimal clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a physical viewpoint, any external stimuli including noise disturbance can inject energy into the media, and the electric response is regulated by the equivalent electric stimulus. For example, mode transition in electric activities in neurons occurs and kinds of spatial patterns are formed during the wave propagation. In this paper, a feasible criterion is suggested to explain and control the growth of electric synapse and memristive synapse between Hindmarsh-Rose neurons in the presence of noise. It is claimed that synaptic coupling can be enhanced adaptively due to energy diversity, and the coupling intensity is increased to a saturation value until two neurons reach certain energy balance. Two identical neurons can reach perfect synchronization when electric synapse coupling is further increased. This scheme is also considered in a chain neural network and uniform noise is applied on all neurons. However, reaching synchronization becomes difficult for neurons in presenting spiking, bursting, and chaotic and periodic patterns, even when the local energy balance is corrupted to continue further growth of the coupling intensity. In the presence of noise, energy diversity becomes uncertain because of spatial diversity in excitability, and development of regular patterns is blocked. The similar scheme is used to control the growth of memristive synapse for neurons, and the synchronization stability and pattern formation are controlled by the energy diversity among neurons effectively. These results provide possible guidance for knowing the biophysical mechanism for synapse growth and energy flow can be applied to control the synchronous patterns between neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External stimulus and noisy disturbance can inject energy into nonlinear systems, and the energy propagation between different branch circuits is regulated to control the oscillatory states completely. In this work, memristive synapse is activated under energy diversity and the energy flow is guided to control the coupling channels adaptively between Chua circuits (in presenting periodic and/or chaotic states). The field energy in each nonlinear circuit is described by an equivalent Hamilton energy function and adaptive mechanism for field coupling is explained. For identical Chaotic Chua circuits, complete synchronization is controlled under energy balance. Transient chaos occurs in the Chua systems when the memristive parameter for coupling channel is below a saturation value, and then chaos is suppressed to present synchronous oscillation with stronger coupling intensity. In a chain network composed of Chua circuits, local energy balance is helpful to develop regular spatial patterns. Applying distinct diversity for initials will induce large diversity in energy for all nodes, the memristive channel can increase its parameter for reaching a higher value beyond the threshold, and a higher synchronization factor is obtained. These results indicate that local energy balance controls the collective behaviors of nonlinear oscillators and energy flow can be guided to control the synchronization stability in the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple studies across global populations have established the primary symptoms characterising Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and long COVID. However, as symptoms may also occur in the absence of COVID-19, a lack of appropriate controls has often meant that specificity of symptoms to acute COVID-19 or long COVID, and the extent and length of time for which they are elevated after COVID-19, could not be examined. We analysed individual symptom prevalences and characterised patterns of COVID-19 and long COVID symptoms across nine UK longitudinal studies, totalling over 42,000 participants. Conducting latent class analyses separately in three groups ('no COVID-19', 'COVID-19 in last 12 weeks', 'COVID-19 > 12 weeks ago'), the data did not support the presence of more than two distinct symptom patterns, representing high and low symptom burden, in each group. Comparing the high symptom burden classes between the 'COVID-19 in last 12 weeks' and 'no COVID-19' groups we identified symptoms characteristic of acute COVID-19, including loss of taste and smell, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath and muscle pains or aches. Comparing the high symptom burden classes between the 'COVID-19 > 12 weeks ago' and 'no COVID-19' groups we identified symptoms characteristic of long COVID, including fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle pain or aches, difficulty concentrating and chest tightness. The identified symptom patterns among individuals with COVID-19 > 12 weeks ago were strongly associated with self-reported length of time unable to function as normal due to COVID-19 symptoms, suggesting that the symptom pattern identified corresponds to long COVID. Building the evidence base regarding typical long COVID symptoms will improve diagnosis of this condition and the ability to elicit underlying biological mechanisms, leading to better patient access to treatment and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type II toxin-antitoxin (T-A) HicAB system is abundant in several bacteria and archaea, such as Escherichia coli, Burkholderia Pseudomallei, Yersinia pestis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. This system engages in stress response, virulence, and bacterial persistence. This study showed that the biofilm-forming ability of the hicAB deletion mutant was significantly decreased to moderate ability compared to the extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) parent strain and the complemented strain, which are strong biofilm producers. Congo red assay showed that the hicAB mutant maintained the ability to form curli fimbriae. Using RNA-seq and comparative real-time quantitative RT-PCR, we observed the difference in gene expression between the hicAB mutant and the parent strain, which was associated with biofilm formation. Our data indicate that the HicAB type II T-A system has a key role in biofilm formation by ExPEC, which may be associated with outer membrane protein (OMP) gene expression. Collectively, our results indicate that the hicAB type II T-A system is involved in ExPEC biofilm formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, first-principles calculations are performed to investigate the interfacial bonding properties of the TiC(001)/TiAl(100) interface. After convergence tests, 5-layer TiC(001) and 5-layer TiAl(100) surface slabs are chosen to construct four kinds of TiC(001)/TiAl(100) interface structures with different atomic stacking characteristics. The adhesive work and interfacial energy are calculated to analyze the interfacial bonding strength and thermodynamic stability. The interfacial electronic structure is revealed by the charge density difference and the partial density of states (PDOS). Research shows that the TiC(001)/TiAl(100) TOP(C) interface stacking structure has the largest interfacial adhesive work (2.966 J/m2) and the lowest interfacial energy (0.233 J/m2), which indicates that it has the greatest interfacial bonding strength and stability, and is the most ideal balanced structure for TiC(001)/TiAl(100) interface. Based on the analysis of the interfacial electronic structure, the interfacial bonding of the TiC(001)/TiAl(100) TOP(C) interface is mainly composed of Ti-C covalent bond and Al-C covalent bond, and these strong interactions contribute to its optimal interfacial bonding properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let A be a tame Hecke algebra of type A . We construct two comparison maps between the minimal projective bimodule resolution and the reduced bar resolution of A by the contracting homotopy, and then we determine the Gerstenhaber algebraic structure and Batalin–Vilkovisky algebraic structure on Hochschild cohomology of A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the Batalin–Vilkovisky structure on the Hochschild cohomology of quantum zigzag algebras A q of type A ~ 1 . We first calculate the dimensions of Hochschild homology groups and Hochschild cohomology groups of A q . Based on these computations, we determine the Hochschild cohomology ring of A q , and give the Batalin-Vilkovisky operator and the Gerstenhaber bracket on Hochschild cohomology ring of A q explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to their low-cost, high-temperature processability, and excellent optoelectronic properties, fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) films are widely used as transparent conductive materials to replace indium-tin-oxide films. Dry etching is increasingly preferred for the patterning of FTO films considering the high-resolution patterning process required for microdevice applications. This study investigates the dry etching of FTO thin films using CF4-based plasma treatment and analyzes the changes in the etching characteristics and surface properties based on various conditions. The highest etching rate was observed under pure CF4 conditions, indicating that the chemical etching effect is the primary mechanism during the etching process. Based on the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and optical emission spectroscopy results, we determined that the etching of the FTO thin film was caused by the CFX radical in the CF4-based plasma. Additionally, the X-ray diffraction results indicate that the plasma etching increased the crystal defects in the FTO film. The etching process smoothened the surface morphology of the FTO film, and the transmittance and bandgap energy were slightly changed as a function of the etching conditions. Additionally, the resistivity of the FTO film improved slightly. The obtained results can benefit the development of high-performance optical devices that use FTO as transparent electrodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD) is rare but exhibits worse prognosis than either ALS or FTD alone. However, cognitive onset ALS-FTD (ALS-FTD-C) confers significantly better patient survival than does motor onset ALS-FTD (ALS-FTD-M), underscoring a meager understanding of pathological group differences. This study aimed to assess disparities in cortical atrophy and perfusion shown by patients with the above disease variants. A total of 38 participants (ALS-FTD-C, 8; ALS-FTD-M, 6; simultaneous-onset ALS-FTD [ALS-FTD-S], 4; healthy controls [HC], 20) qualified for the study and underwent magnetic resonance imaging scan. Three-dimensional T1-weighted structural brain imaging and 3D-pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeled imaging were routinely collected. Gray matter volume (GMV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) in ALS-FTD-C and ALS-FTD-M were compared through voxel-based analysis. Correlations between imaging parameters and clinical data were also assessed. Compared with HC, ALS-FTD had significant GMV reduction mainly in bilateral limbic system. GMV reduction in ALS-FTD-C was similar in pattern but less widespread, whereas ALS-FTD-M lacked any significant GMV reduction. In CBF analyses, ALS-FTD displayed hypoperfusion in bilateral motor cortex, frontotemporal lobe, and left basal ganglia. Hypoperfusion involved bilateral temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex, and putamen in ALS-FTD-C but was limited to left parahippocampal gyrus in ALS-FTD-M. Correlations between clinical data and GMV/CBF changes in specific regions were also identified in ALS-FTD. Group-specific patterns of cortical atrophy and perfusion were evident in ALS-FTD-C and ALS-FTD-M. ALS-FTD-C showed pronounced cortical atrophy and hypoperfusion, which were otherwise minimal in ALS-FTD-M. Above findings preliminarily revealed the pathological group differences that may help in classifying patients with ALS-FTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) has been exploited to degrade putative protein targets. However, the antitumor performance of PROTACs is impaired by their insufficient tumour distribution. Herein, we present de novo designed polymeric PROTAC (POLY-PROTAC) nanotherapeutics for tumour-specific protein degradation. The POLY-PROTACs are engineered by covalently grafting small molecular PROTACs onto the backbone of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer via the disulfide bonds. The POLY-PROTACs self-assemble into micellar nanoparticles and sequentially respond to extracellular matrix metalloproteinase-2, intracellular acidic and reductive tumour microenvironment. The POLY-PROTAC NPs are further functionalized with azide groups for bioorthogonal click reaction-amplified PROTAC delivery to the tumour tissue. For proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that tumour-specific BRD4 degradation with the bioorthogonal POLY-PROTAC nanoplatform combine with photodynamic therapy efficiently regress tumour xenografts in a mouse model of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer. This study suggests the potential of the POLY-PROTACs for precise protein degradation and PROTAC-based cancer therapy. Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have emerged as promising cancer therapy agents but have suffered from systemic toxicity issues. Here, the authors report on the creation of polymeric PROTAC nanoparticles for tumour targeting delivery and demonstrate protein degradation in vivo, in combination with photodynamic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the parallel-machine scheduling problem with release dates and submodular rejection penalties. In this problem, we are given m identical parallel machines and n jobs. Each job has a processing time and a release date. A job is either rejected, in which case a rejection penalty has to be paid, or accepted and processed on one of the m identical parallel machines. The objective is to minimize the sum of the makespan of the accepted jobs and the rejection penalty of the rejected jobs which is determined by a submodular function. Our main work is to design a 2-approximation algorithm based on the primal-dual framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conductive metal-organic frameworks (c-MOFs) are promising active electrode materials for electrochemical double-layer capacitors with a performance that already exceeds most carbon-based materials. However, their excellent supercapacitance is primarily based on organic or alkaline electrolytes, which largely impede their broad applications and sustainabilities. In this work, we propose a new synthesis approach for fabricating carbon nanotubes and c-MOFs (CNT@MOFs) core-shell structures, which result in high supercapacitance in neutral aqueous electrolytes. We identify that CNTs provide abundant active sites to ensure high capacitance, and Ni3(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene (HITP))2 nanoarrays that in situ grow on the surface of CNTs bundles can significantly improve the conductivity and provide enough ion transport pathways in aqueous electrolytes. Specifically, using CNT@MOFs core-shell structures as an electrode, we obtained a high initial capacitance of 150.7 F·g−1 at 0.1 A·g−1 in 1 M Na2SO4 solution and good capacity retention of 83.5% after 10,000 cycles at 4 A·g−1. We also found that the carboxyl groups on the surface of CNTs provide better anchor sites for the in situ growth of c-MOF, which promotes the uniform growth of c-MOF shells on the CNT surface and improves aqueous electrolyte accessibility. We believe that the high supercapacitance in aqueous electrolytes reported in this work would provide a good prospect for deploying c-MOF based energy storage devices into biomedical and other healthcare electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency of, and risk factors for, long COVID are unclear among community-based individuals with a history of COVID-19. To elucidate the burden and possible causes of long COVID in the community, we coordinated analyses of survey data from 6907 individuals with self-reported COVID-19 from 10 UK longitudinal study (LS) samples and 1.1 million individuals with COVID-19 diagnostic codes in electronic healthcare records (EHR) collected by spring 2021. Proportions of presumed COVID-19 cases in LS reporting any symptoms for 12+ weeks ranged from 7.8% and 17% (with 1.2 to 4.8% reporting debilitating symptoms). Increasing age, female sex, white ethnicity, poor pre-pandemic general and mental health, overweight/obesity, and asthma were associated with prolonged symptoms in both LS and EHR data, but findings for other factors, such as cardio-metabolic parameters, were inconclusive. Current understanding of Long COVID is limited, in part, due to lack of evidence from population-representative studies. Here, the authors analyse data from ten UK population-based studies and electronic health records, and find wide variation in the frequency of Long COVID between studies but some consistent risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Γ be a non-bipartite distance-regular graphs with valancy k, diameter D and a smallest eigenvalue θ min . In 2019, Qiao, Jing and Koolen classified the non-bipartite distance-regular graphs with θ min ≤ - D - 1 D k for D = 4 , 5 . In this paper, we classify the non-bipartite distance-regular graphs with θ min ≤ - D - 2 D - 1 k for D = 5 , 6 . We remark that the technique of this paper is an extension of the approach taken by Qiao, Jing and Koolen on the study of non-bipartite distance-regular graphs in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the optimal imaging tool for clinical evaluation of pancreatic neoplasm by comparing the performance of 18F-FDG PET/MRI and PET/CT.Procedures: Patients with suspected pancreatic neoplasms underwent PET/MRI and PET/CT in the same day prior to resection or endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration. Histology served as the golden standard of lesion classification. Visual assessment on lesion type and lesion malignancy via PET/MRI and PET/CT images was compared. Standard uptake values (SUVs) of PET images from the two scanners were measured and their correlations were further evaluated.Results: Thirty-nine patients were included for the final analysis. In visual assessment, we found MRI achieved better performance than CT in differentiating solid and cystic neoplasms, with accuracy of 100% vs. 87%, respectively. In visual malignancy diagnosis, the accuracy of PET/CT was 92.3% for overall lesions and 90.9% for cysts, while the accuracy of PET/MRI was 92.3% and 86.4%, respectively. Besides, semi-quantitative analysis achieved better specificity than visual assessment for both hybrid modalities (100% vs. 87.5% for PET/CT; 100% vs. 81.5% for PET/MR). Furthermore, strong correlation of SUV was found between PET/CT and PET/MRI, with Pearson's correlation coefficients > 0.82.Conclusions: In this study, we found PET/MRI and PET/CT, both using 18F-FDG as tracer, had comparable overall performance in identification of pancreatic neoplasms. Interestingly, for patients who had suspected pancreatic neoplasm but invisible FDG uptake, PET/MRI had shown exceptionally better performance, probably because MR images could detect tiny abnormal structures to improve diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel GaN-based vertical power FinFET with an embedded p-base structure is proposed and investigated by TCAD simulations. Owing to the p-base region and heavily doped n-GaN channels, the electrical performance is significantly improved. Among performance measures, the threshold voltage exceeds 1.7 V, which increases the compatibility in the system applications. Also, the specific on-resistance and the breakdown voltage reach 0.277 mΩ cm2 and 881 V, respectively, indicating a high figure of merit of 2.81 GW/cm2. Meanwhile, the p-base region is also employed to flatten the electric field beneath the bottom of each trench, ensuring blocking capability even without a source field plate in the proposed device. The source field plate-free structure of the proposed device exhibits smaller capacitance characteristics, resulting in shorter switching time and smaller switching energy loss. In summary, the proposed device combines the advantages of high threshold voltage, high breakdown voltage, low specific on-resistance and better switching performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future satellite platform and 5G communication systems place high demands on antennas, in which the antenna should offer low-cost, lightweight, electronically steerable features. In this paper, the design of a digital slot antenna element based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is proposed. SIW guides the microwave inside the substrate confined with planar metallic covers and through-hole synthetized side-walls in conventional applications, and can also radiate the microwave towards free space in antenna applications through opening slots in its metallic covers. The slot antenna element is realized by implementing PIN diodes across the gaps on both sides of the pad in the center of the slot antenna, to provide the switching freedom of the slot antenna element between radiating and non-radiating states. Besides, radial decoupling stubs are introduced into the bias line so as to reduce the leakage of the energy in the SIW structure. Applying a series of on/off states to the diodes produces various radiation patterns, thus wide range scanning is possible supposing that enough array elements are equipped. Finally, a digital SIW-slot array composed of 8 by 4 elements with tunable field programmable gate array circuits are fabricated and measured. The measured results validate the reconfigurable characteristics for the radiation pattern of the proposed digital SIW-slot antenna array without heavy engineering of phase shifter in conventional antenna arrays. The antenna is consisted by 4 by 8 elements and its dimension, simulated gain and radiation efficiency are 145 mm × 127 mm × 1.524 mm, 15 dBi and 53.5%, respectively. Our designed SIW antenna has the advantage of both size and weight. Furthermore, its digitalized control of beamforming allows a programming-friendly interface for smart antenna development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microtia-atresia is a congenital malformation of the external ear, often affecting one side and being associated with severe-to-profound unilateral conductive hearing loss (UCHL). Although the impact of unilateral hearing loss (UHL) on speech recognition, sound localization and brain plasticity has been intensively investigated, less is known about the subjects with unilateral microtia-atresia (UMA). Considering these UMA subjects have hearing loss from birth, we hypothesize it has a great effect on brain organization. A questionnaire on speech recognition and spatial listening ability was administered to 40 subjects with UMA and 40 age- and sex-matched controls. UMA subjects showed poorer speech recognition in laboratory and poorer spatial listening ability. However, cognitive scores determined by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) did not differ significantly in these two groups. The impact of hearing loss in UMA on brain functional organization was examined by comparing resting-state fMRIs (rs-fMRI) in 27 subjects with right-sided UMA and 27 matched controls. UMA subjects had increased nodal betweenness in visual networks and DMN but decreases in auditory and attention networks. These results indicate that UCHL in UMA causes significant abnormalities in brain organization. The impact of UCHL on cognition should be further examined with a battery of tests that are more challenging and better focused on the cognitive networks identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of La doped Co3O4 catalysts were synthesized through hydrothermal routes and employed in C3H8 combustion to investigate the effect of La doping on the structural and catalytic properties of Co3O4 catalysts. The results showed that the presence of La could induce lattice distortion in Co3O4, which facilitated the formation of oxygen vacancies, thus improving the activation and adsorption of gas phase oxygen. Moreover, the DRIFT experiments indicated that the dopant of La was not only beneficial to the adsorption of C3H8 but also helpful in the inhibition of surface carbonates accumulation. As a result, the Co3O4 doped with 1.8% molar ratio of La (CoLa-1.8) exhibited the best catalytic performance towards C3H8 combustion with T50 and T90 as low as 230 °C and 264 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the k-generalized Steiner forest (k-GSF) problem, which is a natural generalization of the k-Steiner forest problem and the generalized Steiner forest problem. In this problem, we are given a connected graph G = (V , E) with non-negative costs c e for the edges e ∈ E , a set of disjoint vertex sets V = { V 1 , V 2 , ... , V l } and a parameter k ≤ l . The goal is to find a minimum-cost edge set F ⊆ E that connects at least k vertex sets in V . Our main work is to construct an O (l) -approximation algorithm for the k-GSF problem based on a greedy approach and an LP-rounding technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the submodular multicut problem in trees with linear penalties (SMCLP(T) problem). In the SMCLP(T) problem, we are given a tree T = (V , E) with a submodular function c (·) : 2 E → R ≥ 0 , a set of k distinct pairs of vertices P = { (s 1 , t 1) , (s 2 , t 2) , ... , (s k , t k) } with non-negative penalty costs π j for the pairs (s j , t j) ∈ P . The goal is to find a partial multicut M ⊆ E such that the total cost, consisting of the submodular cost of M and the penalty cost of the pairs not cut by M, is minimized. Let P j be the unique path from s j to t j in the tree, where 1 ≤ j ≤ k and let m be the maximal length of all P j . Our main work is to present an m-approximation algorithm for the SMCLP(T) problem via the primal-dual method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nodal chain (NC) semi-metals have the degeneracy of interlacing rings in their band structure in momentum space. With the projection of degenerate rings towards crystal boundaries, there is a special type of surface dispersion appearing at surface Brillouin zone and termed drumhead surface state (DSS). Previously, experimental investigations on photonic NC and DSS have been done on metallic photonic crystals at microwave frequencies. However, far-field detection of DSS and its coupling to radiative modes in free space have not been studied. In the work, we analyze the photonic DSS in a metallic lattice by angle-resolved far-field reflection measurement and numerical simulation at terahertz (THz) frequencies, and reveal its flatness and boundness in band structure, even in the radiation continuum. Particularly, the DSS band can be tuned being from negatively dispersive via flat to positively dispersive by a single surface parameter, and the DSS at Γ point in surface Brillouin zone is in fact a symmetry-protected bound state in the continuum. Our results might have some potential applications towards THz photonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) in dialysis patients have recently attracted much attention, and the different locations of CMBs indicate different pathological processes. Previous studies on the relationship between CMBs and cognitive impairment (CI) in the general population and in dialysis patients have reported controversial results. A total of 180 chronic dialysis patients were enrolled in our study. Based on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis of CMBs, the patients were divided into 4 groups (without-CMBs group, strictly lobar group, strictly deep group, and mixed group). A wide range of cognitive tests was administered to evaluate cognitive function. The risk factors for CMBs were explored, and the correlation between CMB distribution and CI was investigated by regression analysis. The prevalence of CMBs was 32.8% in the total study population, 36.1% in the haemodialysis (HD) subgroup and 26.2% in the peritoneal dialysis (PD) PD subgroup. Sixteen subjects (8.9%) were classified as the lobar group, 12 subjects (6.7%) as the mixed group, and 31 subjects (17.2%) as the deep group. A significant association was shown between deep CMBs and impaired cognitive function, involving overall cognitive function, memory, language ability and executive function. Deep CMBs were significantly associated with dialysis vintage, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and lacunar infarcts number, while deep CMBs showed no correlation with dialysis modality and current heparin medication. Deep CMBs are closely associated with global and specific CI in dialysis patients. Blood pressure control may prevent deep CMBs and their associated CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For simultaneous analysis of four fat-soluble tocopherols (α-, β-, γ-, and δ-) in edible oils, an efficient and green method using deep eutectic solvent-based liquid-phase microextraction (DES-LPME) coupled with reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed. The DESs formed by different quaternary ammonium salts and ethanol were used as the extractants. Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBAC)-ethanol DES at a molar ratio of 1:2 achieved the best extraction efficiency. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits were in the range of 2.1–3.0 ng mL−1. The intra-day and inter-day repeatability were in the ranges of 3.9–5.3% and 4.8–7.1%, respectively, and the recoveries for the real samples varied from 80.7% to 105.4%. The developed method was successfully employed for the determination of all four tocopherol homologues with an RP-HPLC system containing a COSMOSIL π-NAP column in five edible oils collected locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a graph G = (V , E) , a vertex set C ⊆ V is an m-foldouter-connecteddominatingset (m-foldOCDS) of G if every vertex in V \ C has at least m neighbors in C and the subgraph of G induced by V \ C is connected. In this paper, we present a greedy algorithm to compute an m-fold OCDS in general graphs, which returns a solution of size at most α + 1 + ln (Δ + m + 1) times that of a minimum m-fold OCDS, where Δ is the maximum degree of the graph and α is a positive number at most Δ +m+1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hitting set problem is a generalization of the vertex cover problem to hypergraphs. Xu et al. (Theor Comput Sci 630:117–125, 2016) presented a primal-dual algorithm for the submodular vertex cover problem with linear/submodular penalties. Motivated by their work, we study the submodular hitting set problem with linear penalties (SHSLP). The goal of the SHSLP is to select a vertex subset in the hypergraph to cover some hyperedges and penalize the uncovered ones such that the total cost of covering and penalty is minimized. Based on the primal-dual scheme, we obtain a k-approximation algorithm for the SHSLP, where k is the maximum number of vertices in all hyperedges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, a series of sulfonic polymer-based acid catalyst PDS-x's was obtained by hydrothermal method. The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, pyridine-adsorbing IR, acid–base titration, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and CHNS elemental analysis. The carbonylation of formaldehyde was chosen as a probe reaction to test the catalytic performance. The results show that the content of acid sites and specific surface area can be adjusted by changing the molar ratio of sodium 4-vinylbenzenesulfonate (SVBS) to divinylbenzene (DVB). The catalyst performance results show that the PDS-x's can efficiently catalyze glycolic acid synthesis. And a high glycolic acid yield up to 96% was obtained on PDS-2.1 due to its large specific surface area, plentiful mesoporosity as well as suitable acid concentration. This data are even higher than those on super-strong CF3SO3H and commercial resin Amberlyst-15. Moreover, the carbonylation of formaldehyde is a structure-sensitive reaction, the isolated and monolayer dispersed -SO3H is much more active than aggregated −SO3H. Furthermore, the catalyst has high stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]