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Entropy or information is a fundamental quantity contained in a system in statistical mechanics and information theory. In this paper, a definition of classical information entropy of parton distribution functions is suggested.The extensive and supper-additive properties of the defined entropy are discussed.The concavity is also deduced for the defined entropy. As an example, the classical information entropy of the gluon distribution of the proton is presented. There are some particular features of the evolution of the information entropy in the saturating domain,which could be used in finding the signals of gluon saturation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies in psychology and sociology have documented that anti-rich mentality is a threat to the stability of society and harms personal mental health, but few studies have investigated ways to intervene in anti-rich mentality. In the current work, we took an initial step to explore whether anti-rich mentality can be reduced by appreciative joy, a positive psychological concept that refers to feeling happy for others with an appreciative and unenvious attitude. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey in Study 1 (n = 632) first established a negative association between appreciative joy and anti-rich mentality. In Study 2, a randomized controlled trial further evaluated the effects of appreciative joy intervention (n = 499). The results showed that the intervention increased appreciative joy and decreased anti-rich mentality. Moreover, two concepts closely related to anti-rich mentality (i.e., perceived fairness in allocation and envy) were influenced by appreciative joy intervention. Our findings not only confirm the possibility of a positive psychology intervention to relieve anti-rich mentality but also highlight the effectiveness of appreciative joy in changing attitudes toward social groups. Implications for practices and prospects for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigated the potential applicability and the underlying mechanisms of flavokawain C, a natural compound derived from kava extracts, in liver cancer treatment. Methods: Drug distribution experiment used to demonstrate the preferential tissues enrichment of flavokawain C. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and migration effect of flavokawain C were determined by MTT, colony formation, EdU staining, cell adhesion, transwell, flow cytometry and western blot assay. The mechanism was explored by comet assay, immunofluorescence assay, RNA-seq-based Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analysis, molecular dynamics, bioinformatics analysis and western blot assay. The anticancer effect of flavokawain C was further confirmed by xenograft tumor model. Results: The studies first demonstrated the preferential enrichment of flavokawain C within liver tissues in vivo. The findings demonstrated that flavokawain C significantly inhibited proliferation and migration of liver cancer cells, induced cellular apoptosis, and triggered intense DNA damage along with strong DNA damage response. The findings from RNA-seq-based KEGG analysis, molecular dynamics, bioinformatics analysis, and western blot assay mechanistically indicated that treatment with flavokawain C notably suppressed the FAK/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in liver cancer cells. This effect was attributed to the induction of gene changes and the binding of flavokawain C to the ATP sites of FAK and PI3K, resulting in the inhibition of their phosphorylation. Additionally, flavokawain C also displayed the strong capacity to inhibit Huh-7-derived xenograft tumor growth in mice with minimal adverse effects. Conclusions: These findings identified that flavokawain C is a promising anticancer agent for liver cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter to the editor discusses the case of a 58-year-old man with Acute Wernicke Encephalopathy who underwent PET/CT imaging. The imaging revealed increased uptake in the midbrain, medial thalamus, and periaqueductal gray matter, which contrasts with previously reported decreased uptake associated with Wernicke encephalopathy. Treatment with vitamin B1 injection resulted in clinical improvement, and follow-up imaging showed decreased FDG uptake in the cerebral lesion areas. The study suggests that PET/CT can reflect glucose metabolism changes in vital organs affected by thiamine deficiency in Acute Wernicke's encephalopathy. [Extracted from the article]

We investigate the existence of invariant manifolds for a coupled problem of nonlinear hyperbolic–parabolic PDEs on a 3-D torus. The problem arises usually in the study of wave propagation phenomena with viscous damping which are heat generating. The spectral gap condition could fail for it. We prove that there exists a Lipschitz manifold which is locally invariant under the semiflow. The local asymptotic stability and regularity of the manifold are also considered. Moreover, under more assumptions on the nonlinearity, it is proved that the manifold is provided with the feature as that global manifold usually holds, i.e., it contains the global attractor. Through it all, no large damping and heat diffusivity are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a new tool, differential staining fluorescence microscopy (DSFM), to measure the biovolume and track the location of enteric pathogens in mixed-species biofilms which can pose a risk to food safety in beef processing facilities. DSFM was employed to examine the impact of pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and three different Salmonella enterica strains on mixed-species biofilms of beef processing facilities. Fourteen floor drain biofilm samples from three beef processing plants were incubated with overnight BacLight stained enteric pathogens at 7 °C for 5 days on stainless steel surface then counter-stained with FM-1-43 biofilm stain and analyzed using fluorescence microscopy. Notable variations in biovolume of biofilms were observed across the fourteen samples. The introduction of E. coli O157:H7 and S. enterica strains resulted in diverse alterations of biofilm biovolume, suggesting distinct impacts on mixed-species biofilms by different enteric pathogens which were revealed to be located in the upper layer of the mixed-species biofilms. Pathogen strain growth curve comparisons and verification of BacLight Red Stain staining effectiveness were validated. The findings of this study show that the DSFM method is a promising approach to studying the location of enteric pathogens within mixed-species biofilms recovered from processing facilities. Understanding how foodborne pathogens interact with biofilms will allow for improved targeted antimicrobial interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the detection speed of cow mounting behavior and the lightness of the model in dense scenes, this study proposes a lightweight rapid detection system for cow mounting behavior. Using the concept of EfficientNetV2, a lightweight backbone network is designed using an attention mechanism, inverted residual structure, and depth-wise separable convolution. Next, a feature enhancement module is designed using residual structure, efficient attention mechanism, and Ghost convolution. Finally, YOLOv5s, the lightweight backbone network, and the feature enhancement module are combined to construct a lightweight rapid recognition model for cow mounting behavior. Multiple cameras were installed in a barn with 200 cows to obtain 3343 images that formed the cow mounting behavior dataset. Based on the experimental results, the inference speed of the model put forward in this study is as high as 333.3 fps, the inference time per image is 4.1 ms, and the model mAP value is 87.7%. The mAP value of the proposed model is shown to be 2.1% higher than that of YOLOv5s, the inference speed is 0.47 times greater than that of YOLOv5s, and the model weight is 2.34 times less than that of YOLOv5s. According to the obtained results, the model proposed in the current work shows high accuracy and inference speed and acquires the automatic detection of cow mounting behavior in dense scenes, which would be beneficial for the all-weather real-time monitoring of multi-channel cameras in large cattle farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has linked cultural differences between a sojourner's home and host country with their cultural transformation. Nonetheless, the results of empirical studies are inconclusive due to different operationalizations of cultural differences and testing among different groups of sojourners. We extend previous investigations by examining the effects of cultural novelty (i.e., the subjective perception of cultural differences) on the experience of international students (N = 1114) in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the USA. Drawing on acculturation and social learning theories, we conceptualized a model of students' adjustment and satisfaction taking into account cultural novelty. We tested the model through multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) and examined the various relationships across subsamples from all five countries. We determined the significant effects of cultural novelty and a range of factors impacting students' intercultural experience, such as their cultural intelligence, cultural background, second-language skills, time in the host country, and socialization with domestic students, and how the effects may vary by the host country. We discuss implications for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the detection speed of cow mounting behavior and the lightness of the model in dense scenes, this study proposes a lightweight rapid detection system for cow mounting behavior. Using the concept of EfficientNetV2, a lightweight backbone network is designed using an attention mechanism, inverted residual structure, and depth-wise separable convolution. Next, a feature enhancement module is designed using residual structure, efficient attention mechanism, and Ghost convolution. Finally, YOLOv5s, the lightweight backbone network, and the feature enhancement module are combined to construct a lightweight rapid recognition model for cow mounting behavior. Multiple cameras were installed in a barn with 200 cows to obtain 3343 images that formed the cow mounting behavior dataset. Based on the experimental results, the inference speed of the model put forward in this study is as high as 333.3 fps, the inference time per image is 4.1 ms, and the model mAP value is 87.7%. The mAP value of the proposed model is shown to be 2.1% higher than that of YOLOv5s, the inference speed is 0.47 times greater than that of YOLOv5s, and the model weight is 2.34 times less than that of YOLOv5s. According to the obtained results, the model proposed in the current work shows high accuracy and inference speed and acquires the automatic detection of cow mounting behavior in dense scenes, which would be beneficial for the all-weather real-time monitoring of multi-channel cameras in large cattle farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the impact of livelihood interventions on the livelihood resilience of farmers in undeveloped mountain areas can not only optimize interventions, but also provide experiential support for global poverty alleviation. To analyze the impact of multiple livelihood interventions on livelihood resilience, we constructed an analytical framework and analyzed the enjoyment of livelihood interventions and the heterogeneity of livelihood resilience among out-of-poverty farmers in the Longnan mountain areas, China. Then, we studied the impact of intervention intensity on livelihood resilience through the multiple linear regression model. The results revealed that: 1) the livelihood interventions enjoyed by out-of-poverty farmer in mountain areas were multiple. The proportion of farmers enjoyed diversified livelihood interventions was in descending order of high mountain areas, semi-mountain area and Chuanba valley areas. 2) The overall livelihood resilience of farmers in Longnan mountain areas was generally low, with an average of 0.299. There were significant differences in the livelihood resilience of farmers across different geographic areas in the study area and types of interventions. 3) The effects of industry interventions, employment interventions and education interventions were significant. The endogenous power of farmers not only had a significant positive effect on livelihood resilience, but also positively moderated the impact of the intensity of interventions on livelihood resilience. In addition, the household dependency ratio and the average altitude of the village area had a significant negative impact on their livelihood resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mode-pairing quantum key distribution (MP-QKD) is a potential protocol that is not only immune to all possible detector side channel attacks, but also breaks the repeaterless rate-transmittance bound without needing global phase locking. Here we analyze the finite-key effect for the MP-QKD protocol with rigorous security proof against general attacks. Moreover, we propose a six-state MP-QKD protocol and analyze its finite-key effect. The results show that the original protocol can break the repeaterless rate-transmittance bound with a typical finite number of pulses in practice. And our six-state protocol can improve the secret key rate significantly in long distance cases. Mode-pairing quantum key distribution (MP-QKD) is a potential protocol. Here the authors analyze the finite-key effect for the MPQKD protocol with rigorous security proof against general attacks. And they propose a six-state MP-QKD protocol and analyze its finite key effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a new tool, differential staining fluorescence microscopy (DSFM), to measure the biovolume and track the location of enteric pathogens in mixed-species biofilms which can pose a risk to food safety in beef processing facilities. DSFM was employed to examine the impact of pathogenic bacteria, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and three different Salmonella enterica strains on mixed-species biofilms of beef processing facilities. Fourteen floor drain biofilm samples from three beef processing plants were incubated with overnight BacLight stained enteric pathogens at 7 °C for 5 days on stainless steel surface then counter-stained with FM-1-43 biofilm stain and analyzed using fluorescence microscopy. Notable variations in biovolume of biofilms were observed across the fourteen samples. The introduction of E. coli O157:H7 and S. enterica strains resulted in diverse alterations of biofilm biovolume, suggesting distinct impacts on mixed-species biofilms by different enteric pathogens which were revealed to be located in the upper layer of the mixed-species biofilms. Pathogen strain growth curve comparisons and verification of BacLight Red Stain staining effectiveness were validated. The findings of this study show that the DSFM method is a promising approach to studying the location of enteric pathogens within mixed-species biofilms recovered from processing facilities. Understanding how foodborne pathogens interact with biofilms will allow for improved targeted antimicrobial interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the alterations of whole brain functional network using the degree centrality (DC) analysis in neovascular glaucoma (NVG) and the correlation between DC values and NVG clinical indices. Materials and methods: Twenty NVG patients and twenty normal controls (NC), closely matched in age, sex, and education, were recruited for this study. All subjects underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations and a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scan. The differences in DC values of brain network between NVG and NC groups were analyzed, and correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationships between DC values and clinical ophthalmological indices in NVG group. Results: Compared with NC group, significantly decreased DC values were found in the left superior occipital gyrus and left postcentral gyrus, while significantly increased DC values in the right anterior cingulate gyrus and left medial frontal gyrus in NVG group. (All P < 0.05, FDR corrected). In the NVG group, the DC value in left superior occipital gyrus showed significantly positive correlations with retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness (R = 0.484, P = 0.031) and mean deviation of visual field (MDVF) (R = 0.678, P = 0.001). Meanwhile, the DC value in the left medial frontal gyrus demonstrated significantly negative correlations with RNFL (R = − 0.544, P = 0.013) and MDVF (R = − 0.481, P = 0.032). Conclusions: NVG exhibited decreased network degree centrality in visual and sensorimotor brain regions and increased degree centrality in cognitive-emotional processing brain region. Additionally, the DC alterations might be complementary imaging biomarkers to assess disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Inappropriate irrigation and nitrogen fertilization caused high global warming potential (GWP) while reduced carbon sequestration of farmland systems in arid regions. Understanding the effects of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB) and its components are crucial to mitigate GWP and increase carbon sequestration. Methods: A field experiment was carried out to investigate the impact of irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, crop net primary productivity (NPP), NECB and net GWP from spring wheat farmland in arid Northwest China. Three irrigation depth levels, 180, 315, and 450 mm and three nitrogen fertilization levels, 170, 250, and 340 kg ha–1 were designed. Results: Irrigation and fertilization significantly affected GHG emissions and carbon sequestration of farmland system. Reducing irrigation depth from 450 to 315 mm reduced soil CO2 and N2O emissions but did not significantly reduce NPP. Increasing nitrogen fertilization from 170 kg ha–1 to 250 kg ha–1 improved NPP, but continuously increasing nitrogen input decreased NPP while increasing soil CO2 and N2O emissions. Therefore, the NECB first increased and then decreased, while the net GWP first decreased and then increased as the irrigation depth and nitrogen fertilization decreased. Overall, the moderate irrigation and fertilization treatment (i.e., 315 mm irrigation and 250 kg ha–1 nitrogen fertilization) obtained the highest NECB and the lowest net GWP. Conclusion: Improving irrigation and fertilization management can increase carbon sequestration and mitigate the net GWP of farmland systems by increasing crop NPP and reducing soil GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) plays a key role in the occurrence and development of chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic fibrosis, which is related to the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This study was designed to investigate the effect and mechanism of Tcf21 (one of tumor suppressor genes) on pancreatic inflammation and fibrosis in vivo and in vitro. Methods: C57BL/6 male mice were intraperitoneally injected with caerulein for 6 weeks to establish CP animal model. Fixed pancreatic tissue paraffin-embedded sections were used for immunohistochemistry staining of Tcf21, fibrosis-related markers (α-SMA), interstitial markers (Vimentin) and epithelial markers (E-cadherin). Western blotting and qRT-PCR assay were performed to analyze the change of expression of the above markers after stimulation of TGF-β1 or overexpressed Tcf21 lentivirus transfection in human pancreatic stellate cells (HPSCs). Results: The pancreatic expression of α-SMA and Vimentin of CP mice significantly increased, while the expression of Tcf21 and E-cadherin significantly decreased. TGF-β1 could promote activation and EMT process of HPSCs, and inhibited the expression of Tcf21. Overexpression of Tcf21 could significantly down-regulate the expression of α-SMA, Fibronectin and Vimentin, and up-regulated the expression of ZO-1 of HPSCs. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and scratch wound-healing assay results showed that overexpression of Tcf21 could significantly inhibit the cell migration and proliferation of HPSCs. Conclusions: Overexpression of Tcf21 could significantly alleviate the activation, proliferation, migration of PSCs by regulating the EMT process. Tcf21 had a potential prospect of a new target for CP therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When plates with edge cracks in the rolling process is straightened by cyclic tensile and compressive stress, the tip of edge crack always accompanied by stress concentration, which leads to crack propagation. In this paper, damage parameters are imported into the plate straightening model based on determining the GTN damage parameters of magnesium alloy materials by inverse finite element calibration method, the influence of different straightening process schemes and prefabricated V-shaped crack geometry on crack growth is analyzed through the way of the combination of simulation and straightening experiment. The results show that the peak values of equivalent stress and equivalent strain under each straightening roll appear at the crack tip. The value of longitudinal stress and equivalent stain decrease with the distance to crack tip becomes larger. The peak value of longitudinal stress appears when the crack circumferential angle is about 100°, and the crack tip is easy to form crack propagation; when the plate passes roll 2 and roll 4, the equivalent stress and strain concentration at the crack tip are most obvious; when the reduction reaches a certain degree, the void volume fraction (VVF) reaches the VVF of the material breaking; with the increase of the entrance reduction, the number of VVF at the crack tip which reaches the material fracture increases, and the length of crack propagation increases; the stress concentration at the tip of V-shaped crack with large length–width ratio is obvious, and the VVF is more likely to reach the VVF at the time of material fracture, crack initiates and propagates easily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Electron-ion collider in China (EicC) has recently been proposed, for imaging the precise and detailed internal structures of hadrons, understanding the emergent properties of nucleon (such as the nucleon mass and spin) and the emergence of nuclear medium effect, and studying the exotic hadronic states. By exploiting the abundant “pion cloud” around the proton, an experiment of measuring the pion structure is suggested, and it is one of the physics highlights at the EicC facility. In this paper, we present a simulation study of the proposed pion structure experiment. At EicC, the pion structure information is accessed via the leading-neutron tagged deep inelastic scattering—the widely acknowledged Sullivan process of pion exchange with small momentum transfer. We briefly discuss the theoretical framework of our event generator and the current design of the experimental setup for the experiment. We then evaluate the statistical errors of the pion structure function that would be extracted from the proposed measurement under the integrated luminosity of 50 fb - 1 . The sensitivity and precision to pion parton distribution functions are also demonstrated with a global fit. The precise quark distributions of the pion can be achieved at EicC in the range of 0.05 < x π < 0.95 , and the pion gluon distribution also can be constrained by the global fit of the pseudo-data at various Q 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) is an essential parameter for studying the ionosphere's dynamic variations, and its short-term forecast is essential for some research and applications. In this study, we attempt to combine the long short-term memory (LSTM) network and the convolutional LSTM (ConvLSTM) to obtain more stable and reliable VTEC prediction results with fewer data. First, in the data preprocessing stage, the time series stationarity test, difference processing, and correlation analysis were performed on the spherical harmonic (SH) coefficient time series. Then, the LSTM + ConvLSTM model is built by combining the LSTM network and ConvLSTM. Finally, the VTEC prediction performance of the model under different geomagnetic conditions is evaluated. The results show that the LSTM + ConvLSTM hybrid model has better forecasting performance than the single LSTM and ConvLSTM models. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) values between the LSTM + ConvLSTM model's predicted VTEC during quiet, weak, moderate, and strong geomagnetic storms and the CODG VTEC are 0.69, 0.80, 0.91, and 1.10 TECU, respectively. Even during strong geomagnetic storms, 99.60% of the differences are within ± 5 TECU, and the model still has reliable results. The average Structural Similarity Index measure (SSIM) indices under various geomagnetic activity levels are 0.905, 0.895, 0.894, and 0.863, respectively. Compared with the traditional ionospheric prediction products, the performance of the LSTM + ConvLSTM model is improved in different degrees for different levels of geomagnetic storm periods. During strong geomagnetic storms, the performance improvement in the model is most obvious, with an RMSE reduction rate of more than 76% and an average SSIM index improvement rate of more than 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the interest in the potential pharmacological application of dandelion, the chemical constituents and activities of Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz were studied. Box–Behnken response surface methodology was employed to optimize the protocol for extraction of flavonoid from dandelion. The molecular structures of different flavonoid compounds were acquired and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Several major flavonoid compounds were isolated and purified, namely, hesperetin-5′-O-β-rhamnoglucoside, hesperetin-7-glucuronide, kaempferol-3-glucoside, baicalein, hyperseroside, which were extracted for the first time from dandelion. Hesperetin-5′-O-β-rhamnoglucoside was identified as a new type of flavonoid that had never reported in the literature. This new flavonoid has outstanding antioxidant activity, as shown by its IC50 value (8.72 mg/L) for scavenging DPPH free radicals. The determination of the structure-related antioxidant activities could be interpreted based on DFT calculations. As such, we have not only illustrated the rich flavonoid contents in Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz, but also revealed new types of flavonoid compounds in dandelion in terms of structure and antioxidant properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of cancer in children (age 0–14 years); however, the etiology remains incompletely understood. Several environmental exposures have been linked to risk of childhood ALL, including air pollution. Closely related to air pollution and human development is artificial light at night (ALAN), which is believed to disrupt circadian rhythm and impact health. We sought to evaluate outdoor ALAN and air pollution on risk of childhood ALL. The California Linkage Study of Early-Onset Cancers is a large population-based case–control in California that identifies and links cancer diagnoses from the California Cancer Registry to birth records. For each case, 50 controls with the same year of birth were obtained from birth records. A total of 2,782 ALL cases and 139,100 controls were identified during 2000–2015. ALAN was assessed with the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness and air pollution with an ensemble-based air pollution model of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). After adjusting for known and suspected risk factors, the highest tertile of ALAN was associated with an increased risk of ALL in Hispanic children (odds ratio [OR] = 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.32). There also appeared to be a borderline association between PM2.5 level and risk of ALL among non-Hispanic White children (OR per 10 µg/m3 = 1.24, 95% CI 0.98–1.56). We observed elevated risk of ALL in Hispanic children residing in areas of greater ALAN. Further work is needed to understand the role of ALAN and air pollution in the etiology of childhood ALL in different racial/ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA interference (RNAi), known for the highly efficient targeted gene silencing, has been demonstrated to be a promising means for cancer treatment. Meanwhile, an effective approach for siRNA delivery is urgently needed to meet the needs for its clinical application. Herein, we constructed a polymeric vector labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visible siRNA delivery. EGFR antibody was also modified to the surface of nanodrug to enhance the delivery effect. Our results showed that the vector exhibited great siRNA complexation ability and mediated an increased endocytosis of siRNA without obvious cytotoxicity. Besides, both in vitro and in vivo studies evidenced the vector could effectively deliver siRNA into tumor cells, exert highly interfering effect, and show potent MR imaging capacity. The study provides a promising MRI-visible and EGFR targeting delivery system to improve RNAi efficacy for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether negative stereotypes are responsible for the effect of ASD knowledge on social distance from individuals with ASD among college students. A sample of 869 neurotypical Chinese college students completed a cross-sectional survey to assess social distance, ASD knowledge, and negative stereotypes. Pearson correlation analysis yielded significant correlations between social distance, ASD knowledge, and negative stereotypes. Multiple mediation analysis showed that negative stereotypes mediated the link between social distance and ASD knowledge. Specifically, greater ASD knowledge predicted reduced social distance through decreased stereotyping related to dangerousness, personal responsibility for the disorder, and discontinuity, but also predicted greater social distance through increased stereotyping related to social inappropriateness. The findings deepen our understanding of the association between ASD knowledge and social distance by revealing the mediating role of negative stereotypes, and provide information that can help improve anti-stigma initiatives in college settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trace anomalous energy contribution to the proton mass is a very important topic in non-perturbative QCD and hadron physics. In experiments, it is under the hot discussions on how to measure the trace anomalous energy. The QCD interpretation of proton trace anomaly is still not clear. To connect the theory with the experiment, we extract the trace anomaly by analyzing the near-threshold photo-production data of ϕ and J/ ψ vector mesons. Based on the vector-meson-dominance model and QCD Van der Waals representation, we find that the percentage of trace anomaly in the proton mass ranges from 16 to 24 % , which is of similar order of magnitude as the 23 % given by Lattice QCD. We also provide the approximate magnitudes of the systematic uncertainties of the extracted results from the model assumptions as well as the data fitting procedures. We give relative statistical uncertainties of 17.2 % , 17.7 % , 3.6 % , and 8.2 % , total relative systematic uncertainties of 21.4 % , 54.2 % , 37.2 % , and 25.7 % , for the analyses of the GlueX, LEPS, CLAS, and SAPHIR data, respectively. We argue that the near-threshold Υ photo-production experiments are more beneficial for the measurement of trace anomaly in proton mass in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically study the orbital-resolved photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) of neon atoms in time-delayed bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses by numerically solving the two-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation (2D-TDSE). The active electron can reach the continuum state at the same momentum by absorbing m 2 high-energetic photons or m 1 low-energetic photons sequentially, and coherent electron wave packets (CEWPs) from these two pathways can interfere with each other. We show the PMDs exhibit an asymmetrical round when the single-photon ionization channel dominates, while spiral structures with the number of arms are m 1 - m 2 ( m 1 + m 2 ) for the corotating (counter-rotating) scheme. Furthermore, we find that interference patterns in PMDs are sensitive to the amplitude ratio, frequency combinations, dichroism, time delay and ellipticity of bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses, which offers possibilities for controlling the interference of CEWPs in atoms by shaping the bichromatic elliptically polarized attosecond pulses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There was a special kind of glass in the Warring States period of China—lead-barium glass—which is also called lead-barium imitating-jade glass. Based on the current archeological excavations, the authors discuss the archeological information of the lead-barium glass, such as the age, spatial distribution, users, decorative pattern, and size. Secondly, this paper discusses the recipe and jade-like mechanism of lead-barium glass based on the analysis of chemical composition and results of simulation experiment. Finally, the origin of lead-barium glass is discussed in this paper, combining the lead-glass in the west of the Old Continent with the high-temperature products such as lead bronze, lead-barium faience, lead-barium glazed pottery, and copper-barium silicate in the east of the Old Continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Plant and microbial residues are the primary drivers mediating soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how plant residues and microbial residues affect SOC accumulation and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially in the succession process of different vegetation types.In this study, grasslands (GL) and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations (RP) restored for 10, 20, 30, and 40 years were used as research subjects on the Loess Plateau, and farmland was used as a control. Several indicators of soil physicochemical and plant characteristics, enzyme activity, amino sugar, lignin phenols were measured.The results indicated that the contents of microbial and plant residue carbon in GL and RP increased with the increasing restoration years. However, the contribution of plant residue carbon to the SOC in GL and RP gradually decreased, while microbial residue carbon showed the opposite trend. In contrast, microbial residues were the main contributor to SOC in GL (62.8–75.1%), while plant residues were the main contributor to SOC in RP (47.2–58.3%). There was a difference in the bacterial and fungal residue carbon contribution to SOC between GL and RP. In GL, the dominant contributor to SOC changed from bacterial (47.7–37.2%) to fungal residues (15.1–37.9%). But in RP, it has always been dominated by fungal residue carbon (17.4–33.3%).More SOC accumulated in GL and RP in the form of microbial and plant residue carbon, respectively. In GL and RP, the contribution of carbon from fungal residues increased with the increase of recovery years. Overall, our research not only contributes to understanding the complexity of the carbon cycle in ecosystems, but also provides a valuable scientific basis for the management of soil carbon pools in different vegetation types under climate change.Methods: Plant and microbial residues are the primary drivers mediating soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how plant residues and microbial residues affect SOC accumulation and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially in the succession process of different vegetation types.In this study, grasslands (GL) and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations (RP) restored for 10, 20, 30, and 40 years were used as research subjects on the Loess Plateau, and farmland was used as a control. Several indicators of soil physicochemical and plant characteristics, enzyme activity, amino sugar, lignin phenols were measured.The results indicated that the contents of microbial and plant residue carbon in GL and RP increased with the increasing restoration years. However, the contribution of plant residue carbon to the SOC in GL and RP gradually decreased, while microbial residue carbon showed the opposite trend. In contrast, microbial residues were the main contributor to SOC in GL (62.8–75.1%), while plant residues were the main contributor to SOC in RP (47.2–58.3%). There was a difference in the bacterial and fungal residue carbon contribution to SOC between GL and RP. In GL, the dominant contributor to SOC changed from bacterial (47.7–37.2%) to fungal residues (15.1–37.9%). But in RP, it has always been dominated by fungal residue carbon (17.4–33.3%).More SOC accumulated in GL and RP in the form of microbial and plant residue carbon, respectively. In GL and RP, the contribution of carbon from fungal residues increased with the increase of recovery years. Overall, our research not only contributes to understanding the complexity of the carbon cycle in ecosystems, but also provides a valuable scientific basis for the management of soil carbon pools in different vegetation types under climate change.Results: Plant and microbial residues are the primary drivers mediating soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how plant residues and microbial residues affect SOC accumulation and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially in the succession process of different vegetation types.In this study, grasslands (GL) and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations (RP) restored for 10, 20, 30, and 40 years were used as research subjects on the Loess Plateau, and farmland was used as a control. Several indicators of soil physicochemical and plant characteristics, enzyme activity, amino sugar, lignin phenols were measured.The results indicated that the contents of microbial and plant residue carbon in GL and RP increased with the increasing restoration years. However, the contribution of plant residue carbon to the SOC in GL and RP gradually decreased, while microbial residue carbon showed the opposite trend. In contrast, microbial residues were the main contributor to SOC in GL (62.8–75.1%), while plant residues were the main contributor to SOC in RP (47.2–58.3%). There was a difference in the bacterial and fungal residue carbon contribution to SOC between GL and RP. In GL, the dominant contributor to SOC changed from bacterial (47.7–37.2%) to fungal residues (15.1–37.9%). But in RP, it has always been dominated by fungal residue carbon (17.4–33.3%).More SOC accumulated in GL and RP in the form of microbial and plant residue carbon, respectively. In GL and RP, the contribution of carbon from fungal residues increased with the increase of recovery years. Overall, our research not only contributes to understanding the complexity of the carbon cycle in ecosystems, but also provides a valuable scientific basis for the management of soil carbon pools in different vegetation types under climate change.Conclusions: Plant and microbial residues are the primary drivers mediating soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems. However, how plant residues and microbial residues affect SOC accumulation and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood, especially in the succession process of different vegetation types.In this study, grasslands (GL) and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations (RP) restored for 10, 20, 30, and 40 years were used as research subjects on the Loess Plateau, and farmland was used as a control. Several indicators of soil physicochemical and plant characteristics, enzyme activity, amino sugar, lignin phenols were measured.The results indicated that the contents of microbial and plant residue carbon in GL and RP increased with the increasing restoration years. However, the contribution of plant residue carbon to the SOC in GL and RP gradually decreased, while microbial residue carbon showed the opposite trend. In contrast, microbial residues were the main contributor to SOC in GL (62.8–75.1%), while plant residues were the main contributor to SOC in RP (47.2–58.3%). There was a difference in the bacterial and fungal residue carbon contribution to SOC between GL and RP. In GL, the dominant contributor to SOC changed from bacterial (47.7–37.2%) to fungal residues (15.1–37.9%). But in RP, it has always been dominated by fungal residue carbon (17.4–33.3%).More SOC accumulated in GL and RP in the form of microbial and plant residue carbon, respectively. In GL and RP, the contribution of carbon from fungal residues increased with the increase of recovery years. Overall, our research not only contributes to understanding the complexity of the carbon cycle in ecosystems, but also provides a valuable scientific basis for the management of soil carbon pools in different vegetation types under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nonlinear synchronous resonance or internal resonance in coupled oscillators has great potential for sensing applications, while a higher quality factor is desirable for its low-frequency excitation and high-frequency vibration characteristics. Two types of coupled oscillators are designed to explore the effect of the coupling element geometry on the support loss, one of the main energy dissipation mechanisms relevant to quality factor. Firstly, if the coupling elements are attached to the substrate, a "jump down" phenomenon is confirmed. Secondly, if the coupling elements are detached from the substrate, the proposed support-limited coefficient decreases monotonously with the increase of the coupling width, while both the high-frequency and low-frequency modes have asynchronous maximum values with the changing of coupling position and coupling length respectively. Thirdly, a parallelogram geometry is found to be capable of making the maximum value of the high-frequency mode shift to synchronize with that of the low-frequency mode. Finally, a support-limited quality factor enhancement scheme is therefore proposed by regulating the parallelogram geometry with both the coupling position and the coupling length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a passively-mode-locked Pr3+: LuLiF4 laser operated at the 604 nm orange wave-length, using monolayer graphene as a saturable absorber. The graphene saturable absorber mirror (SAM) is fabricated by a chemical vapour deposition method and transferred to on a highly reflective plane mirror. With a blue laser diode as the pump source, picosecond ultrafast laser pulses are generated at a repetition rate of 105 MHz with an average output power of 92 mW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a complicated and deadly disorder. Dysregulation of miRNAs in SAH has been widely reported. This investigation elucidated the function of miR-23a-3p in the in vivo and in vitro models of SAH. The miR-23a-3p and VCAN levels in SAH rats and sham controls were detected by RT-qPCR. The SAH rats were intracerebrally administrated with miR-23a-3p antagomir. Morphological changes and brain function were assessed. The isolated brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), identified by immunofluorescence staining, were used as the model of SAH in vitro. The viability and apoptosis of BMECs were evaluated using MTT, flow cytometry, and western blotting analyses. Targeted relationship between miR-23a-3p and VCAN was predicted in miRDB and validated by a luciferase reporter assay. We found that the miR-23a-3p level was upregulated in rats after SAH, while VCAN was downregulated. Silencing miR-23a-3p attenuated neurological deficits and neuronal apoptosis in rats after SAH. VCAN was verified to be targeted by miR-23a-3p. Functionally, miR-23a-3p downregulation or VCAN overexpression inhibited BMEC apoptosis and promoted cell activity. Moreover, knockdown of VCAN eliminated the influence of miR-23a-3p inhibition in BMECs. Overall, suppression of miR-23a-3p improves cognitive function after SAH by targeting VCAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the internal structures of the nucleon and the nuclear matter is one of the hot scientific topics in the filed of high-energy nuclear physics, which can answer the fundamental questions about the emergent properties of the nucleon and the nuclear force that binds the nucleons together forming an atomic nucleus. The high-energy lepton-proton/nucleus scattering is a well-established and clear way to probe the inner structure of these subatomic particles, which attracts a lot of interests from the nuclear physicists worldwide. To pursue such scientific goals, an Electron-ion collider in China (EicC) has been proposed as a future high-energy nuclear physics project in China. EicC will focus on the sea quarks in the nucleon, which well compliments the projects of electron-ion collider in US and JLab 12 GeV upgrade. In this article, the plans and conceptual designs of the accelerator and the detectors of EicC are briefly discussed. We illustrate some highlights of the experiments that will be performed at EicC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses a major challenge the nonprofit sector is facing: low organizational commitment from employees. In response to the call to take into consideration contextual and institutional factors, it draws from the stakeholder theory and the organizational support theory to investigate how internal and external organizational processes could influence organizational commitment. The quantitative data collected from over 200 nonprofit employees revealed that organizational commitment was positively related to engaged leadership, community engagement effort, degree of formalization in daily operations, and perceived intangible support for employees. Further analysis showed that tangible support measured as perceived fair pay has an indirect effect, which is contingent upon how well the nonprofits engage with internal and external stakeholders. Findings suggest that nonprofit employees' personal tangible gains may come second when assessing their commitment to the organization; instead, how well their employer manages stakeholder relationships in a larger community plays a more significant role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interplay between coding theory and combinatorial t-designs has attracted a lot of attention. It is well known that the supports of all codewords of a fixed Hamming weight in a linear code may hold a t-design. In this paper, we first settle the weight distributions of two classes of linear codes, and then determine the parameters of infinite families of 2-designs held in these codes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ionospheric mapping function (MF) converts the line-of-sight slant total electron content (STEC) into the vertical total electron content (VTEC) and vice versa, and it is an important function in the creation and use of ionospheric models. Most of the existing MFs are only related to satellite elevation angle, the accuracy is low, and it is necessary to establish a MF with higher accuracy. Therefore, this paper considers the differences of MF for different local time (LT) and DOY (day of year), and uses the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) STEC observation data from International GNSS Service (IGS) tracking stations in the northern hemisphere mid-latitude region in 2016–2020 to establish a novel MF model. First, we retrieve the mapping coefficient α h for different LT and DOY, where the results show significant correlation with LT and DOY, and other periodic variations. Then, we use the empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) to decompose the time series, and the first four order EOF components can describe 98.31% of the total variability. Finally, the periodic function is used to fit the time series of EOF, and a small number of model coefficients are obtained. This work employs the differential STEC of 28 IGS tracking stations in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere in 2020 to verify the accuracy of the new MF and compare it with the widely used modified single-layer model (MSLM) MF. The results show that the accuracy of the new MF is higher than the existing MSLM MF when using JPLG (Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s final Global Ionospheric Maps) to convert VTEC to STEC. Compared with MSLM MF, the RMS of the new MF is reduced by 0.24 TECU on average, and the maximum reduction is close to 0.4 TECU (~ 25%). Among the 28 tracking stations that participated in the verification, the new MF is better than MSLM MF on most days, with 7 stations reaching 100% and 20 stations exceeding 95%. For nearly 60% of the days in 2020, the accuracy of the new MF for all tracking stations is better than that of MSLM MF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A π-shaped oscillator, composed of a π-shaped low-frequency cantilever with a rectangular high-frequency one, is proposed in this paper for synchronized sensing applications. The sensing application based on synchronous resonance of this type of coupling oscillators has been demonstrated in our previous studies. Focus on π-shaped oscillator, this paper analyzed the effects of multiple structural parameters on anchor-limited quality factor in the proposed synchronized oscillator using Finite element analysis. Concerning the synchronized sensing application with low frequency excitation and high frequency vibration pickup, a structural optimization scheme was proposed to reduce anchor loss, which can improve the quality factor of low frequency mode and high frequency mode simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astroviruses (AstVs) are among the most important viruses causing diarrhea in human infants and many animals, posing a threat to public health safety and a burden on the economy. Five porcine AstV (PAstV) genotypes have been identified in various countries, including China. However, the epidemiology of PAstV in Yunnan province, China, remains unknown. In this study, 489 fecal samples from pigs in all 16 prefectures/cities of Yunnan were collected between April and August of 2020 for epidemiological investigation. The total infection rate of PAstV-2 or PAstV-5 was 39.9%, with suckling piglets having the highest infection rate (62.3%). The ORF2 genes of seven PAstV-2 and 10 PAstV-5 isolates were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. In addition to coinfections with PAstV-2 and PAstV-5, coinfections of PAstV with other diarrhea-inducing viruses (e.g., porcine bocavirus) were also discovered. A comparison of ORF2-encoded capsid protein sequences revealed that there were multiple insertions and deletions in the seven Yunnan PAstV-2 sequences, while point mutations, but no deletions or insertions, were found in the 10 Yunnan PAstV-5 sequences, which were very similar to the reference sequences. This is the first epidemiological investigation and genetic characterization of PAstV-2 and PAstV-5 in Yunnan province, China, demonstrating the current PAstV infection situation in Yunnan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple speaker localization and tracking in noisy and reverberant environments is a challenging task. A distributed multiple speaker tracking method based on unscented particle filter and data association is proposed in microphone array networks. First, the generalized cross correlation (GCC) function is estimated at each node and the time difference of arrival (TDOA) is viewed as observation for tracking. Considering the ambiguity of the observations caused by the interference of other acoustic sources and multipath, the data association technique is used at each node to associate the available observations with each speaker. Then according to the characteristics of GCC function, the association probability of valid observations for each speaker is calculated by combining the amplitude of the valid observations with the statistical distance. After that, the local state of speakers is obtained at each node based on unscented particle filter. Finally, according to the reliability of the local state of each node, a dynamic weighted consensus fusion algorithm is presented to approximate the global state estimation and obtain good multiple speakers tracking performance. The proposed method can track multiple speakers under reverberant and noisy environments in a distributed manner and is scalable and robust against node failure in DMA. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a progressive, heterogeneous rare disease manifesting as ATTR polyneuropathy (ATTR-PN), ATTR cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), or a mixed phenotype. Tafamidis meglumine (20 mg po qd) is approved in some markets to delay neurologic progression in ATTR-PN, while high-dose tafamidis (80/61 mg po qd) is approved worldwide to reduce cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular-related hospitalization in ATTR-CM. The objective of this study was to assess the real-world benefit of high-dose tafamidis for delaying neurologic progression in patients with mixed-phenotype variant ATTR-CM (ATTRv-CM). Methods: This exploratory, retrospective, observational cohort study evaluated anonymized electronic medical records and included adult patients with mixed-phenotype ATTRv-CM treated with high-dose tafamidis for at least 6 months. Neurologic assessments included the Medical Research Council (MRC) Scale for Muscle Strength, Neuropathy Impairment Score (NIS) muscle weakness subscale, and Polyneuropathy Disability (PND) instrument. Modified body mass index (mBMI) was also assessed. Results: Patients (N = 10) started tafamidis treatment an average of 3.8 months after diagnosis, with an average treatment duration of 20.8 months. Seven of 10 patients demonstrated normal muscle strength on the MRC scale throughout the study, and 9 of 10 patients had no decline in muscle strength during the post-treatment period. The NIS muscle weakness subscale score was ≤ 60 for all patients in the study at all time points, suggesting normal function to mild impairment. Six of 10 patients had no change in walking capacity as measured by the PND instrument at pre- and post-assessments, while one-third of patients had a decrease in PND stage (signaling improvement) from pre- to post-assessment. mBMI remained relatively stable throughout the study. Conclusion: This is the first real-world study to demonstrate the potential value of high-dose tafamidis for delaying neurologic disease progression in patients with mixed-phenotype ATTRv-CM. The findings underscore the importance of multidisciplinary assessment for patients with ATTR amyloidosis. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05139680. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In peer-to-peer(P2P) networks, content delivery is very critical, but there are not many relevant research results in content delivery technology. In this paper, in order to simulate content delivery in P2P mode, the number of online players is abstracted into the number of servers that can provide services, the peers write content to buffer is abstracted into the arrival of customers, and the players read content from buffer is abstracted into the service process of the servers. Based on the consideration of the effect of the number of P2P online players on energy consumption, an M/M/c queueing model with random variation in the number of servers is developed, and negative customers and preemptive priority policies are introduced. The matrix–geometric solution method and Gauss-Seidel iterative method are used to derive the performance measures of the system at steady state for two types of contents. And some numerical examples are given using Matlab for analyzing the trend of performance measures in P2P networks with parameters. The benefit function is established to obtain the parameter values that make the social benefit optimal by Nash equilibrium and social optimal strategy, and provide the theoretical basis for the scheduling of P2P peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twin-field quantum key distribution (TF-QKD) can overcome the fundamental rate-loss limit without quantum repeaters, which has stimulated intense research interests both in theory and experiment. Recently, TF-QKD protocols with discrete-phase-randomized sources have been widely studied. However, all these protocols require the phase postselection step in the test mode. To bypass this step, we propose a discrete-phase-randomized TF-QKD protocol without phase postselection in the test mode, which reduces the amount of information transmitted in the classical post-processing stage and thus reduces the consumption of secret keys in the authentication of classical information. Moreover, the numerical simulation of our protocol can be easily solved by linear programming. Simulation results show that, with only a few number of discrete phases, our protocol can beat the rate-loss bound and approximate the case of continuous phases, which is very practical in some real-life implementations of TF-QKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, prognostic biomarkers of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are fewer. The aim of this study was to explore the predictive value of soluble osteoclast-associated receptor (sOSCAR) level for the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) occurring within 30 days after ACS. From January to August 2020, a total of 108 patients with ACS who were admitted to our hospital, were enrolled in this study. Of the 108 patients, 79 were men and 29 women. Patient-related data, including age, sex, body mass index, history of type 2 diabetes, history of hyperlipidemia and serum sOSCAR level, were collected. All patients were followed up for 30 days. Based on MACE occurrence, the 108 patients were divided into MACE group (n = 17) and non-MACE group (n = 91). The baseline data were compared between the two groups, MACE-independent risk factors were identified by multivariate regression analysis, and the predictive value of sOSCAR for MACE occurring within 30 days after CAS was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. At the same time, according to the type of ACS, the 108 patients with ACS were divided into unstable angina (UA) group (n = 29), non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (USTEMI) group (n = 45) and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) group (n = 34), and then the sOSCAR level and MACE incidence were observed in each group. The serum sOSCAR level was significantly lower in the MACE group [130(100,183)] than in the non-MACE group [301(220,370)] (P = 0.000). The area under ROC curve of sOSCAR level for MACE occurring within 30 days after CAS was 0.860 with 95%CI 0.782–0.919, P < 0.001. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that the sOSCAR level was an independent risk factor for the MACE occurring within 30 days after CAS (OR 0.26, 95%CI 0.087–0.777, P = 0.04). The MACE incidence (0%) was the lowest but the sOSCAR level was the highest in the UA group, while in the STEMI group, the MACE incidence (23.53%) was the higest but the sOSCAR level was the lowest among the UA, STEMI and NSTEMI groups. Serum sOSCAR level may be used as a predictor of MACE occurring within the short-term after ACS. The higher the sOSCAR level, the lower the MACE incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and construction of a novel magnetic resonance sensor (MRS) is presented for bisphenol A (BPA) detection. The MRS has been built based on the core component of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (~ 40 nm), which were uniformly distributed in nanoporous carbon (abbreviated as Fe3O4@NPC). The synthesis was derived from the calcination of the metal organic framework (MOF) precursor of Fe-MIL-101 at high temperature. Fe3O4@NPC was confirmed with enhanced transversal relaxation with r2 value of 118.2 mM−1 s−1, which was around 1.7 times higher than that of the naked Fe3O4 nanoparticle. This enhancement is attributed to the excellent proton transverse relaxation rate of Fe3O4@NPC caused by the reduced self-diffusion coefficient of water molecules in the vicinity of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the nanoporous carbon. BPA antibody (Ab) and antigen (Ag)-ovalbumin (OVA) were immobilized onto the Fe3O4@NPC to form Ab-Fe3O4@NPC and Ag-Fe3O4@NPC, respectively. These two composites can cause the three-dimensional assembly of Fe3O4@NPC via immunological recognition. The presence of BPA can compete with antigen-OVA to combine with Ab-Fe3O4@NPC, thereby breaking the assembly process (disassembly). The difference in the change of the T2 value before and after adding BPA can thus be used to monitor BPA. The proposed MRS not only revealed a wide linear range of BPA concentration from 0.05 to 50 ng mL−1 with an extremely low detection limit of 0.012 ng mL−1 (S/N = 3), but also displayed high selectivity towards matrix interferences. The recoveries of BPA ranged from 95.6 to 108.4% for spiked tea π, and 93.4 to 104.7% for spiked canned oranges samples, respectively, and the RSD (n = 3) was less than 4.4% for 3 successive assays. The versatility of Fe3O4@NPC with customized relaxation responses provides the possibility for the adaptation of magnetic resonance platforms for food safety development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The helical polyaniline (PANI) was synthesized through introducing the chiral chemical D-camphor-10-sulfonic acid (D-CSA) into the liquid crystal, which resulted in the typical conical texture of lamellar phase pattern, owing to the reorientation and rearrangement of liquid crystal. The morphology and the structures of helical PANI were characterized through TEM, Uv-vis, FTIR and XRD, and the influence of the factors such as the amount of D-CSA, stirring, the strength of the electric field on PANI was investigated. Besides, according to the electrochemical data of helical PANI, it was obtained the capacitance of helical PANI synthesized in the presence of electric field was higher, compared with other samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Previous studies have suggested that aggressive hydration with lactated ringer solution are one of the protective factors in preventing post endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (post-ERCP). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the efficacy aggressive hydration with lactated Ringer solution in preventing PEP. Methods: All published and unpublished articles on aggressive hydration with lactated ringer solution in those underwent ERCP procedure for any reasons were screened for eligibility. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed. This paper doesn't need the IRB approval. Results: Seven RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis indicates that aggressive hydration with lactated Ringer solution were associated with lower PEP rate.[odds ratio (OR) 0.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18–0.48]; lower incidence of hyperamylasemia (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.35, 0.69) and lower risk of pain (OR 0.28; 95% CI 0.10–0.81). The association between aggressive hydration with lactated Ringer solution and incidence of moderate severity PEP were unclear (OR 0.57; 95% CI 0.22, 1.45). Sensitivity analyses also showed that omitting 1 study from analysis of PEP rate could reduce the heterogeneity but did not change the conclusion of this meta-analysis. A cumulating meta-analysis was performed statistically which showed a stable result of overall incidence of PEP. Conclusions: Aggressive hydration with lactated Ringer solution was a protective factor in reducing the overall incidence of PEP, hyperamylasemia and risk of abdominal pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simple solvothermal self-assemble of CuI, 1,4-bis(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)butane (L1) and HI in a C2H5OH solvent at pH = 2 created a new H2(L1)2+-templated 1-D chained iodocuprate(I) [H2(L1)][Cu3I5] 1. The crystal data reveal that the Cu-I chain mode in 1 is rare. Two folded Cu2I2 cores first aggregate into a trinuclear cluster by sharing an edge. Then the extra I− ions doublely bridge these trinuclear clusters into the title 1-D chain of 1. Synchronously, a non-folded Cu2I2 cluster is formed. In 1, all of the Cu···Cu distances are smaller than 2.8 Å. The investigation on photoluminescence property indicates that with the decrease of the temperature, the photoluminescence emission for 1 exhibits a minor change from the green-yellow light (298 K) to yellow light (77 K). This means that 1 might possess the fluorescent thermochromic property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the alterations of spontaneous neuronal activity and functional connectivity pattern using fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) in patients with primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) and fALFF relationship with the glaucoma clinical indices. Materials and methods: Forty-two PACG patients and 21 normal controls were enrolled in this study. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was firstly analyzed by fALFF and brain regions with altered fALFF between groups were selected as seeds for the further FC analysis. The relationships between fALFF/FC values of abnormal regions and ophthalmological measures, including mean deviation of visual field (MDVF) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, were also analyzed. Results: Compared with NC, PACG had significant lower fALFF values in the left cuneus, left middle temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right precentral gyrus, while higher fALFF values in the bilateral superior frontal gyrus (P < 0.05 after correction). Furthermore, PACG showed increased FC between left cuneus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus/bilateral posterior cingulate gyrus; between left middle temporal gyrus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus; and between right middle temporal gyrus and bilateral insular (P < 0.05 after correction). In addition, in the PACG group, the mean fALFF values of the left cuneus were positively correlated with MDVF (R = 0.419, P = 0.005) and RNFL thickness (R = 0.322, P = 0.038). Meanwhile, the mean fALFF values of bilateral superior frontal gyrus were negatively correlated with MDVF (R = − 0.454, P = 0.003) and RNFL thickness (R = − 0.556, P < 0.001). Conclusions: PACG exhibited abnormal spontaneous neural activity and connectivity in several brain regions mainly associated with visual and visual-related functions. In addition, the fALFF values of the left cuneus and bilateral superior frontal gyrus may be complementary biomarkers for assessing the disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puma Yumco Lake (PYL) is an ultraoligotrophic freshwater lake that sits an altitude of 5030 m within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. The bacterial and archaeal diversity of the lake remains poorly understood, despite their potential to inform on biogeochemical cycling and environment-microbial associations in these unique environments. Here, the bacterial and archaeal communities of PYL were investigated using high-throughput sequencing analysis of community 16S rRNA gene sequences. Further, the relationships among dominant taxa and environmental factors were comprehensively evaluated. Bacterial diversity comprised 31 phyla and 371 genera (10,645 operational taxonomic units [OTUs], Shannon index values of 5.21–6.16) and was significantly higher than that of Archaea (five phyla and 24 genera comprising 1141 OTUs and Shannon index values of 1.18–3.28). The bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria (48.42–59.97% relative abundances), followed by Bacteroidetes (12.5–32.51%), Acidobacteria (2.07–11.56%), Firmicutes (0.65–6.32%), Planctomycetes (0.99–3.56%), Gemmatimonadetes (0.38–3.57%), Actinobacteria (1.67–3.52%), Verrucomicrobia (0.87–2.01%), and Chloroflexi (0.5–1.17%). In addition, archaeal communities were dominated by Thaumarchaeota (33.22–93.00%), followed by Euryarchaeota (2.89–35.47%), Woesearchaeota (0.99–31.04%), and Pacearchaeota (0.01–1.14%). The most abundant bacterial genus was Rhodoferax (5.73–26.62%) and the most abundant archaeal genus was the ammonia-oxidizing Nitrososphaera (29.18–91.46%). These results suggest that the Rhodoferax and Nitrososphaera are likely to participate in biogeochemical cycles in these environments through photoheterotrophy and nitrification, respectively. Taken together, these results provide valuable data for better understanding microbial interactions with each other and with these unique environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To retrospectively analyze the difference between triple-modal pre-rehabilitation and common treatment in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: A total of 145 patients with CRC diagnosed by pathology and admitted to our hospital for surgery between June 2020 and June 2022 were included in the study. All patients were divided into two groups: the triple-modal pre-rehabilitation group (pre-rehabilitation group) and the common treatment group. The triple-modal pre-rehabilitation strategy included exercise (3–5 times per week, with each session lasting more than 50 min), nutritional support, and psychological support. The study was designed to assess the potential of the pre-rehabilitation intervention to accelerate postoperative recovery by assessing the 6-min walk test, nutritional indicators, and HADS score before and after surgery. Results: The pre-rehabilitation intervention did not reduce the duration of initial postoperative recovery or the incidence of postoperative complications, but it did increase the patients’ exercise capacity (as determined by the 6-min walk test), with the pre-rehabilitation group performing significantly better than the common group (433.0 (105.0) vs. 389.0 (103.5), P < 0.001). The study also found that triple-modal pre-rehabilitation was beneficial for the early recovery of nutritional status in surgical patients and improved anxiety and depression in patients after surgery, especially in those who had not received neoadjuvant therapy. Conclusion: The triple-modal pre-rehabilitation strategy is of significant importance for reducing stress and improving the functional reserve of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) during the perioperative period. The results of our study provide further support for the integration of the triple-modal pre-rehabilitation strategy into the treatment and care of CRC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the gluon distribution functions of the pion and kaon in small-x and large-x regions, and compare them with the results obtained from lattice QCD and continuum Schwinger function methods. Whether in the small-x region or the large-x region, our gluon distribution of the pion is consistent with the results of lattice QCD and continuum Schwinger function methods. We also calculate the first four moments of gluon distributions of the pion and kaon at different Q 2 scales. In addition, we present the mass decomposition of the pion and kaon with the dynamical parton distribution functions calculated by the DGLAP equation with parton–parton recombination corrections. The mass structures of the pion and kaon are completely different from that of the proton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trace of the stress tensor characterizes the transformation of a theory under rescaling. In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), this trace contains contributions from the bare masses of the quarks and also from a purely quantum effect, called the QCD trace anomaly. It affects all masses in the theory. We present an estimation of the QCD trace anomaly from the near-threshold J / Ψ photo-production data of the GlueX experiment, at JLab. We apply a vector meson dominance model to describe the photo-production of J / Ψ and a running strong coupling which includes the nonperturbative effects in the low μ 2 region. Despite the large uncertainty, we find that the experimental data favors a small value of the trace anomaly parameter b = 0.07 ± 0.17 . We report the resulting proton mass decompositions at μ 2 = 0.41 GeV 2 and μ 2 = 4 GeV 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new macluravirus infecting Pinellia ternata in China was identified by high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and tentatively named "crow-dipper mosaic-associated virus" (CrdMV). The complete genome sequence of CrdMV was determined by reverse transcription (RT) PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) PCR. The genomic RNA of CrdMV consists of 8,454 nucleotides (nt), excluding the poly(A) tail at the 3′ end. CrdMV has a genomic structure typical of macluraviruses, with large open reading frame encoding a polyprotein of 2,696 amino acids (aa). CrdMV shares 54.40%–59.37% nt sequence identity at the genome sequence level, 48.00%–58.58% aa sequence identity, at the polyprotein sequence level and 37.27%–49.22% aa sequence identity at the CP sequence level with other members of the genus Macluravirus. These values are well below the species demarcation threshold for the family Potyviridae. Phylogenetic analysis based on the amino acid sequences of polyproteins confirmed that CrdMV clusters closely with broad-leafed dock virus A (BDVA, GenBank accession no. KU053507). These results suggest that CrdMV should be considered a distinct member of the genus Macluravirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]