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The thickness of X-ray detectors needs to reach hundreds of micrometers to absorb X-ray, and therefore, high voltages over tens or hundreds of volts should be applied to extract X-ray-generated carriers. Here, we propose a bulk Schottky junction for X-ray detection using interpenetrated macroporous-carbon electrodes and metal-halide perovskite networks. The X-ray-generated holes are extracted by the macroporous-carbon electrodes under the built-in electric field, while the electrons in the perovskite phase result in a high gain effect. A high sensitivity of 1.42×105 μC Gyair−1 cm−2 and a low detection limit of 48 nGyair s−1 at a low voltage of −1 V are achieved. We fabricated a dry battery-powered portable X-ray alarm prototype. The pixel detector shows a decent stability under X-ray exposure, and a spatial resolution of up to 5.0 lp mm−1, and the detector arrays also exhibit remarkable uniformity, demonstrating its potential application in X-ray imaging. Zhang et al. report a bulky Schottky junction constructed by interpenetrated macroporous-carbon electrode for hole extraction and perovskite network for electron trapping under X-ray irradiation. The efficient extraction of carriers enables a dry battery-powered portable X-ray radiation alarm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-documented risk factor of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). The current study was aimed to clarify the effects and mechanisms of NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit A3 (NDUFA3) in human nucleus pulposus cells (HNPCs) exposed to high glucose. NDUFA3 was overexpressed in HNPCs via lenti-virus transduction, which were co-treated with high glucose and rotenone (a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor) for 48 h. Cell activities were assessed for cell viability, cell apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) ratio, oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and mitochondrial complexes I activities. High glucose decreased cell viability, increased apoptotic cells, increased ROS production, decreased MMP levels and OCR values in HNPCs in a dose-dependent manner. Rotenone co-treatment augmented the high glucose-induced injuries on cell viability, apoptosis, ROS production and mitochondrial function. NDUFA3 overexpression counteracted the high glucose-induced injuries in HNPCs. HDAC/H3K27ac mechanism was involved in regulating NDUFA3 transcription. NDUFA3 knockdown decreased cell viability and increased apoptotic cells, which were reversed by ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine. HDAC/H3K27ac-mediated transcription of NDUFA3 protects HNPCs against high glucose-induced injuries through suppressing cell apoptosis, eliminating ROS, improving mitochondrial function and oxidative phosphorylation. This study sheds light on candidate therapeutic targets and deepens the understanding of molecular mechanisms behind DM-induced IVDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the prediction of MJO teleconnections in two versions of the NOAA Unified Forecast System (UFS): prototype 5 (UFS5) and prototype 6 (UFS6). The differences between the two prototypes in the number of vertical layers (64 in UFS5 vs. 127 in UFS6) and the model top (54 km in UFS5 vs. 80 km in UFS6) can potentially impact the prediction of MJO teleconnections. With respect to ERA-Interim, the global teleconnections of the MJO to the Northern Hemisphere show similar biases in 500 hPa geopotential height over the North Atlantic and European sectors in both prototypes, whereas UFS6 has slightly smaller biases over the North Pacific region. Both prototypes capture the extratropical cyclone activity occurring in weeks 3–4 over the North Atlantic after the MJO phases 6–7 and over the North Pacific and North America after MJO phases 4–5. Both prototypes successfully forecast the sign and approximate locations of 2-m temperature anomalies over the mid-to-high latitude continents occurring in weeks 3–4 after MJO phase 3 but fail to capture the sign reversal of anomalies over North America between weeks 3 and 4 after MJO phase 7. Overall, the two prototypes show similar performance in simulating the tropospheric basic state as well as prediction skill of the MJO and MJO teleconnections, suggesting that the increase in model vertical resolution and model top does not strongly improve the prediction of MJO teleconnections in the troposphere in UFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and safe hemostasis is crucial for the survival of bleeding patients in prehospital care. It is urgent to develop high performance hemostatic material to control the massive hemorrhage in the military field and accidental trauma. In this work, an efficient protein hemostat of thrombin was immobilized onto commercial gauze, which was mediated by self-polymerization and anchoring of tannic acid (TA). Through TA treatment, the efficient immobilization of thrombin was achieved, preserving both the biological activity of thrombin and the physical properties of the dressing, including absorbency, breathability, and mechanical performance. Moreover, in the presence of TA coating and thrombin, Gau@TA/Thr could obviously shortened clotting time and enriched blood components such as plasma proteins, platelets, and red blood cells, thereby exhibiting an enhanced in vitro coagulation effect. In SD rat liver volume defect and artery transection hemorrhage models, Gau@TA/Thr still had outstanding hemostatic performance. Besides, the Gau@TA/Thr gauze had inherent antibacterial property and demonstrated excellent biocompatibility. All results suggested that Gau@TA/Thr would be a potential candidate for treating uncontrollable hemorrhage in prehospital care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the shrinking-target problem with target at infinity induced by the injectivity radius function under the action of a regular diagonalizable flow on SL 3 (R) / SL 3 (Z) . In particular, we establish an explicit formula for the Hausdorff dimension of the subset of points p whose orbit approaches the cusp infinitely often with a rate γ ≥ 0 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Γ be a non-uniform lattice in PSL (2 , R) . Here, we show that there exists a constant γ 0 > 0 such that for any 0 < γ < γ 0 , any one-parameter unipotent subgroup { u (t) } t ∈ R and any p ∈ PSL (2 , R) / Γ which is not u(t)-periodic, the orbit { u (n 1 + γ) p : n ∈ N } is dense in PSL (2 , R) / Γ . We also prove that there exists N ∈ N such that for the set Ω (N) of N-almost primes, and for any p ∈ PSL (2 , R) / Γ which is not u(t)-periodic, the orbit { u (x) p : x ∈ Ω (N) } is dense in PSL (2 , R) / Γ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence indicates a strong correlation between the deposition of cuticular waxes and drought tolerance. However, the precise regulatory mechanism remains elusive. Here, we conducted a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of two wheat (Triticum aestivum) near-isogenic lines, the glaucous line G-JM38 rich in cuticular waxes and the non-glaucous line NG-JM31. We identified 85,143 protein-coding mRNAs, 4,485 lncRNAs, and 1,130 miRNAs. Using the lncRNA–miRNA–mRNA network and endogenous target mimic (eTM) prediction, we discovered that lncRNA35557 acted as an eTM for the miRNA tae-miR6206, effectively preventing tae-miR6206 from cleaving the NAC transcription factor gene TaNAC018. This lncRNA–miRNA interaction led to higher transcript abundance for TaNAC018 and enhanced drought-stress tolerance. Additionally, treatment with mannitol and abscisic acid (ABA) each influenced the levels of tae-miR6206, lncRNA35557, and TaNAC018 transcript. The ectopic expression of TaNAC018 in Arabidopsis also improved tolerance toward mannitol and ABA treatment, whereas knocking down TaNAC018 transcript levels via virus-induced gene silencing in wheat rendered seedlings more sensitive to mannitol stress. Our results indicate that lncRNA35557 functions as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate TaNAC018 expression by acting as a decoy target for tae-miR6206 in glaucous wheat, suggesting that non-coding RNA has important roles in the regulatory mechanisms responsible for wheat stress tolerance. Key message: LncRNA35557 functions as a competing endogenous RNA to modulate TaNAC018 expression by acting as a decoy target for tae-miR6206 in glaucous wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the stability of complex-valued neural networks (CVNNs) with semi-Markovian jump (sMJ) and generally uncertain transition rates. Each transition rate may be totally unknown or its estimate is determined. Firstly, two improved reciprocally convex inequalities (RCIs) and three less conservative integral inequalities are generalized to the complex-valued domain. Secondly, the existence and uniqueness of the addressed networks are proposed by the complex-valued homeomorphism theorem. Thirdly, by constructing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF), delay-dependent robust stability criteria of the CVNNs are obtained by utilizing the improved complex-valued RCIs and integral inequalities. Finally, simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectivenes and practicality of the established method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TianQin and LISA are space-based laser interferometer gravitational wave (GW) detectors planned to be launched in the mid-2030s. Both detectors will detect low-frequency GWs around 10−2 Hz; however, TianQin is more sensitive to frequencies above this common sweet-spot while LISA is more sensitive to frequencies below 10−2 Hz. Therefore, TianQin and LISA will be able to detect the same sources but with different accuracy depending on the source and its parameters. We consider some of the most important astrophysical sources—massive black hole binaries, stellar-mass black hole binaries, double white dwarfs, extreme mass ratio inspirals, light and heavy intermediate mass ratio inspirals, as well as the stochastic gravitational background of astrophysical origin—that TianQin and LISA will be able to detect. For each of these sources, we analyze how far they can be detected (detection distance) and how well their parameters can be measured (detection accuracy) using a Fisher Matrix analysis. We compare the results obtained by the three detection scenarios (TianQin alone, LISA alone, and joint detection by LISA and TianQin) highlighting the gains from joint detection as well as the contribution of TianQin and LISA to a combined study of astrophysical sources. In particular, we consider the different orientations, lifetimes, and duty cycles of the two detectors to explore how they can give a more complete picture when working together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove that certain sequences of periodic orbits of the diagonal group in the space of lattices equidistribute. As an application we obtain new information regarding the sequence of best approximations to certain vectors with algebraic coordinates. In order to prove these results we generalize the seminal work of Eskin, Mozes and Shah about the equidistribution of translates of periodic measures from the real case to the S-arithmetic case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A particular GTPase-activating protein called RACGAP1 is involved in apoptosis, proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance in a variety of malignancies. Nevertheless, the role of RACGAP1 in pan-cancer was less studied, and its value of the expression and prognostic of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been explored. Hence, the goal of this study was to investigate the oncogenic and immunological roles of RACGAP1 in various cancers and its potential value in NPC. We comprehensively analyzed RACGAP1 expression, prognostic value, function, methylation levels, relationship with immune cells, immune infiltration, and immunotherapy response in pan-cancer utilizing multiple databases. The results discovered that RACGAP1 expression was elevated in most cancers and suggested poor prognosis, which could be related to the involvement of RACGAP1 in various cancer-related pathways such as the cell cycle and correlated with RACGAP1 methylation levels, immune cell infiltration and reaction to immunotherapy, and chemoresistance. RACGAP1 could inhibit anti-tumor immunity and immunotherapy responses by fostering immune cell infiltration and cytotoxic T lymphocyte dysfunction. Significantly, we validated that RACGAP1 mRNA and protein were highly expressed in NPC. The Gene Expression Omnibus database revealed that elevated RACGAP1 expression was associated with shorter PFS in patients with NPC, and RACGAP1 potentially influenced cell cycle progression, DNA replication, metabolism, and immune-related pathways, resulting in the recurrence and metastasis of NPC. This study indicated that RACGAP1 could be a potential biomarker in pan-cancer and NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the stability of complex-valued (CV) fractional-order neural networks with uncertain parameters and neutral-type delay. Firstly, two improved reciprocally convex inequalities (RCIs) and three less-conservative integral inequalities are generalized to the complex-valued domain. Secondly, the existence, uniqueness and delay-independent robust stability conditions of the addressed networks are proposed based on the CV homeomorphism theorem. Thirdly, by constructing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, delay-dependent robust stability conditions of the considered networks are derived by utilizing the improved complex-valued RCIs and integral inequalities. Finally, two simulation examples are given to show the effectiveness and practicality of the presented method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geological environment of underground engineering is complex and full of various uncertainties, and ensuring the reliability of tunnel surrounding rock rating results is crucial for projects. In this study, we first analyze the interrelationships and indicator weights of international mainstream rating methods of tunnel surrounding rock, and summarize the applicability of each method. Next, based on dialectical materialism, we propose that the uncertainties can be divided into multiple levels. Then we analyze the probability distribution law of rating indicators such as rock strength and rock integrity, introduce and use the theory of system reliability analysis, and build functions for the surrounding rocks of different classes. Finally we calculate the reliability probability of surrounding rock rating using Monte Carlo method. The study results indicate that, in view of the uncertainty of surrounding rock rating, the proposed approach fully considers the information of each rating method, and also the data dispersion of local fractured zones, weak interlayers and other tunnel face surrounding rock. Moreover, based on the parameters summary, the proposed approach is proved to be applicable to the current rock mass, and thus makes it possible to evaluate the reliability probability of the tunnel surrounding rock rating. This study helps site personnel to assess surrounding rock rating results more conveniently and accurately, and provides precise guidance for reasonably determining the construction method transition interval and optimizing support parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permeability is an essential factor used for evaluating the commercial exploitation of unconventional energy. The pressure pulse decay method is one of the most effective methods to measure permeability and has been improved by adding a pressure transducer upstream and a chamber upstream and downstream. The relationship between the pulse pressure and equilibrium time under different storage volumes is investigated based on a developed apparatus. Moreover, the effect of compressive storage on permeability measurements has been examined by comparing the Brace's et al.'s solution and Jones' solution. The following results were obtained for the constant injection pressure. 1) The equilibrium pressure increases with a decrease in the upstream storage volume and decreases with an increase in the downstream storage volume. 2) The equilibrium time increases with an increase in the storage volume, and the similar volume of the upstream and downstream can accelerate the test procedure. 3) A linear relationship between the storage volume and equilibrium time is not apparent when the volume of the upstream and downstream are asymmetric. However, this linear relationship is evident when the volume of the upstream and downstream are symmetrical. 4) The influence of the downstream storage volume is more significant than the upstream volume on the measurement of permeability. The results are of guiding significance for selecting the proper storage volume to measure permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the clinical characteristics and the prognostic risk factors in non-neutropenic patients with candidemia. Data were retrospectively collected through the medical record information system. Non-neutropenic patients with candidemia were relatively aged, with a more than one-third rate of in-hospitalization mortality. In multivariate analysis, APACHE II score (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.138; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.067–1.213), septic shock (aOR, 5.704; 95% CI, 2.639–12.326) and RRT (aOR, 16.152; 95% CI, 2.628–99.275) (all P < 0.01) were independent related with non-survivors. In conclusion, non-neutropenic patients with candidemia have a high in-hospitalization mortality, and APACHE II, septic shock, and RRT are independently factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Patients with vestibular schwannoma undergoing definitive radiotherapy commonly experience hearing loss due to tumor and treatment effects; however, there is limited data evaluating concurrent medication use and other clinicopathologic factors associated with hearing preservation during and after radiotherapy. We performed a retrospective cohort study reviewing consecutive patients from 2004 to 2019 treated with radiotherapy for vestibular schwannoma at our institution. Methods: Ninety four patients with concurrent medications, baseline audiograms, and post-radiotherapy audiograms available were evaluable. We performed chi-squared analyses of the frequency of various clinicopathologic factors and t-tests evaluating the degree of hearing loss based on audiograms. Results: At a median follow-up of 35.7 months (mean: 46.5 months), the baseline pure-tone average (PTA) of the ipsilateral ear worsened from 38.4 to 59.5 dB following completion of radiotherapy (difference: 21.1, 95% CI 17.8–24.4 dB, p < 0.001). 36 patients (38.3%) reported regular use of cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors (including acetaminophen and NSAIDs) during radiotherapy. The mean increase in PTA was significantly higher for patients taking COX inhibitors (25.8 dB vs 18.1 dB, p = 0.024) in the ipsilateral ear but not for the contralateral side. COX inhibitor use remained independently associated with worse PTA in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: COX inhibitor use during definitive radiotherapy is associated with worse hearing loss in the affected ear but not for the contralateral side. This suggests the ototoxic effects of COX inhibitors may influence the effects of radiotherapy. These results could have clinical implications and warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytic fungi play important roles in regulating plant growth and development and usually used as a promising strategy to enhance the biosynthesis of host valuable secondary metabolite, but the underlying growth-promoting mechanisms are only partly understood. In this study, the wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings co-cultured with fungal endophyte Epichloë bromicola showed auxin (IAA)-stimulated phenotypes, and the growth-promoting effects caused by E. bromicola were further verified by the experiments of spatially separated co-culture and fungal extract treatment. IAA was detected and identified in the extract of E. bromicola culture by LC-HRMS/MS, whereas 2,3-butanediol was confirmed to be the predominant volatile active compound in the diethyl ether and ethyl acetate extracts by GC–MS. Further study observed that IAA-related genes including synthesis key enzyme genes (CYP79B2, CYP79B3, NIT1, TAA1 and YUCCA1) and controlling polar transport genes (AUX1, BIG, EIR1, AXR3 and ARF1), were highly expressed at different periods after E. bromicola inoculation. More importantly, the introduction of fungal endophyte E. bromicola could effectively promote the growth and accumulation of coixol in Coix under soil conditions. Our study showed that endophytic fungus E. bromicola might be considered as a potential inoculant for improving medicinal plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D virtual try-on based on a single image can provide an excellent shopping experience for Internet users and has enormous business potential. The existing methods of processing the clothed 3D human body generated from the virtual try-on images are reconstructed in 3D models by extracting the depth information from the input images. However, the generated results are unstable and often fail to capture the high-frequency information loss detail features in the larger spatial background during the process of downsampling for depth prediction, and the loss of the generator gradient when predicting the occluded areas in the high-resolution images. To address this problem, we propose a multi-resolution parallel approach to obtain low-frequency information and retain as much of the high-frequency depth features in the images during depth prediction; at the same time, we use a multi-scale generator and discriminator to more accurately infer the feature images of the occluded regions to generate a fine-grained dressed 3D human body. Our method not only provides better details and effects to the final 3D mannequin generation for 3D virtual fitting, but also significantly improves the user's try-on experience than previous studies, as evidenced by our higher quantitative and qualitative evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enones are privileged structural motifs in bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals, but the γ-hydroxylation of enones is challenging. Here we show a mild and efficient method for the direct C(sp3)–H hydroxylation of enones via visible-light-induced hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT), which facilitates γ-hydroxylation of primary, secondary, and tertiary C–H bonds of different enones without involving metal and peroxide. The mechanism study shows that Na2-eosin Y serves as both the photocatalyst and the source of catalytic bromine radical species in the HAT-based catalytic cycle, and finally sacrifices itself completely by oxidative degradation to produce bromine radical and a major product phthalic anhydride in an environmentally friendly way. This scalable method was demonstrated by plenty of substrates (41 examples) including 10 clinical drugs and 15 natural products to be useful for the late-stage functionalization of enone-containing compounds, and, in particular, has potential application in industry for large-scale production.Enones are privileged structural motifs in bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals, but the γ-hydroxylation of enones is challenging. Here, the authors report on a mild and efficient method for the direct C(sp3)–H hydroxylation of enones via visible-light-induced hydrogen-atom transfer, without the need for a metal and peroxide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to improve the efficiency in estimating the average causal effect (ACE) on the survival scale where right censoring exists and high-dimensional covariate information is available. We propose new estimators using regularized survival regression and survival Random Forest (RF) to adjust for the high-dimensional covariate to improve efficiency. We study the behavior of the adjusted estimators under mild assumptions and show theoretical guarantees that the proposed estimators are more efficient than the unadjusted ones asymptotically when using RF for the adjustment. In addition, these adjusted estimators are n - consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. The finite sample behavior of our methods is studied by simulation. The simulation results are in agreement with the theoretical results. We also illustrate our methods by analyzing the real data from transplant research to identify the relative effectiveness of identical sibling donors compared to unrelated donors with the adjustment of cytogenetic abnormalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for systematic measurement error in self-reported data is an important challenge in association studies of dietary intake and chronic disease risk. The regression calibration method has been used for this purpose when an objectively measured biomarker is available. However, a big limitation of the regression calibration method is that biomarkers have only been developed for a few dietary components. We propose new methods to use controlled feeding studies to develop valid biomarkers for many more dietary components and to estimate the diet disease associations. Asymptotic distribution theory for the proposed estimators is derived. Extensive simulation is performed to study the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators. We applied our method to examine the associations between the sodium/potassium intake ratio and cardiovascular disease incidence using the Women's Health Initiative cohort data. We discovered positive associations between sodium/potassium ratio and the risks of coronary heart disease, nonfatal myocardial infarction, coronary death, ischemic stroke, and total cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, short online videos have been highly recognized by video market users and have developed rapidly. This study aims to explore why users enjoy watching and sharing short online videos by applying the theory of flow experience. Previous research has extensively examined traditional video arts such as TV and movies and text or image based, while research on short online videos has increased only in recent years. To improve the precision and comprehensiveness of the research, social influence is also used as a variable. This study takes the short video representative platform DouYin as a case study and the Chinese user market as the background. Through questionnaires, 406 users' data about short online video experiences were collected. After statistical analysis, the study finds that flow experience has a significant impact on participative behaviour and sharing behaviour for short online videos. According to further analyses, the flow experience, social norms, perceived critical mass and participative and sharing behaviour constitute three groups of mediating relationships. Finally, the discussion of the research results provides help to broaden the academic scope of the flow experience and video art, improve the short online video platform environment, and upgrade short online video services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Soil microorganisms in grassland ecosystem exhibit varying spatial–temporal patterns. However, the underlying mechanisms shaping microbial community assembly during grassland restoration are largely unknown. Here, we assessed the relative importance of stochastic and deterministic processes in the assembly of soil fungal communities in a semiarid grassland during different grazing exclusion periods (i.e., 0, 20 and 40 years). Materials and methods: The patterns of soil fungal communities were assessed using high-throughput genomic tools and multivariate statistical analyses. Results and discussion: The mobility and alpha diversity of soil fungal communities peaked in grasslands where grazing had been excluded for 20 years, indicating that the soil fungal community had a higher dispersal ability and was more conducive to the increase of soil fungal community diversity. It was also noted that the soil fungal community compositions varied with grazing exclusion periods. However, Mantel tests, variance partitioning analysis (VPA), and hierarchical partitioning theory (HP) showed vegetation characteristics and soil properties had a small impact on soil fungal community compositions. The neutral community model (NCM), PER-SIMPER, and dispersal-niche continuum index (DNCI) highlighted that the formation of soil fungal community was primarily mediated by stochastic processes. Conclusions: Taken together, the results of this research provided a better understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of soil fungal communities and the mechanisms underlying soil fungal community assembly during the restoration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weak interaction between common carbon support and Pt nanoparticles results in low efficiency for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with high overpotentials, which greatly limits the practical application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Employing strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) is a promising method for tuning the electronic structure of Pt to boost the ORR, accompanied by rapid improvement in durability. Herein, titanium carbide (TiC) was grown on the surface of carbon black by the sol–gel method coupled with high-temperature treatment (denoted as TiC-C). Based on the SMSI that occurred between TiC and Pt, the obtained Pt/TiC-C catalyst exhibits higher mass ORR activity, which is twice that of the commercial Pt/C-JM under the same conditions. In addition, the Pt/TiC-C exhibits superior durability relative to the Pt/C-JM by preventing the aggregation and dissolution of Pt nanoparticles during the ORR process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is devoted to reveal the influence of weaving architectures and impact locations on the ballistic resistance of UHMWPE (ultrahigh high molecular weight polyethylene) fabrics. Firstly, a mesoscopic model of UHMWPE fabric is established and the accuracy of the numerical method is verified. Subsequently, the models with different weaving architectures are further established, and the impact resistance performances are evaluated. Finally, the influence factors on the fabric ballistic resistance is explored. It is proved that the ballistic resistance of UHMWPE fabric mainly dominated by the tensile strength of yarn under high-velocity impact. The plain fabric shows best anti-ballistic performance, while basket and woven fabric are slightly inferior. The damage pattern of fabrics with different weaving architectures changes greatly. In addition, this study proposes a residual impact velocity correction model for projectile based on the probability distribution of impact positions, which can better characterize the protective ability of fiber fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the shear performance and failure mechanism of a complicated jointed rock mass by simulating the compression and shear of a layered jointed rock mass through the global insertion of a zero-thickness cohesive element. The feasibility of the model was confirmed through the comparison between the results of the indoor shear test and numerical simulation. Then, we studied the macro- and mesoscopic mechanical properties of jointed rock mass from the aspects of deformation and failure characteristics and shear strength variation. The major findings of this study are as follows. First, the stress concentration and shear failure of double-joint layered rock mass occur initially in the interlayer. The double-joint rock mass in the shear process suffers from not only the slip failure of the joint plane but also the brittle failure of the interlayer, which complicates the stress state of double-joint rock mass. Second, the peak shear strength of double-joint rock mass is positively correlated with the normal load, while the change in the shear performance of the multijoint rock mass shows little relation with the roughness of the joint plane. Therefore, more attention should be given to the interlayer material strength during actual construction. During construction around a layered jointed rock mass, the confining pressure should be observed first, especially in areas with high ground stress, and the layered jointed rock mass should be reinforced in time. This study provides theoretical guidance and a scientific basis for tunnel excavation and support optimization in complex layered jointed rock masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superoxide dismutase (SOD) protein significantly influences the development and growth of plants and their reaction to abiotic stresses. However, little is known about the characteristics of rubber tree SOD genes and their expression changes under abiotic stresses. The present study recognized 11 SOD genes in the rubber tree genome, including 7 Cu/ZnSODs, 2 MnSODs, and 2 FeSODs. Except for HbFSD1, SODs were scattered on five chromosomes. The phylogenetic analysis of SOD proteins in rubber trees and a few other plants demonstrated that the SOD proteins contained three major subgroups. Moreover, the genes belonging to the same clade contained similar gene structures, which confirmed their classification further. The extension of the SOD gene family in the rubber tree was mainly induced by the segmental duplication events. The cis-acting components analysis showed that HbSODs were utilized in many biological procedures. The transcriptomics data indicated that the phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II might control the cold response genes through the CBF pathway and activate the SOD system to respond to cold stress. The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of HbCSD1 was significantly downregulated under drought and salt stresses, which might dominate the adaption capability to different stresses. Additionally, salt promoted the expression levels of HbMSD1 and HbMSD2, exhibiting their indispensable role in the salinity reaction. The study results will provide a theoretical basis for deep research on HbSODs in rubber trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the stochastic stability for genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) with semi-Markov switching and time-varying delays where the transition rates (TRs) of the modes are partially unknown. By proposing vectors with three Legendre polynomials and three weighted Legendre polynomials, two free-matrix-based integral inequalities are derived, which involves several existing ones as their special cases. Then, two appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals (LKFs) are established to be apt for the acquired inequalities. By introducing some free-weight matrices and utilizing the acquired integral inequalities, new sufficient conditions are proposed to ensure the stochastically asymptotic stability of analyzed networks in the mean-square sense. Finally, two simulation examples are put forward to show the effectiveness and less conservatism of the presented criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OIP5-AS1, a conserved lncRNA, has been reported to be involved in several biological and pathological processes, including oncogenesis. OIP5-AS1 exerts its oncogenic or antitumor functions via regulation of different miRNAs in various cancer types. In this review, we describe the dysregulation of OIP5-AS1 expression in a variety of human cancers. Moreover, we discuss the multiple functions of OIP5-AS1 in cancer, including in proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, cell cycle, migration, metastasis, invasion, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, angiogenesis, cancer stem cells and drug resistance. Furthermore, we provide a future perspective for OIP5-AS1 research. We conclude that targeting OIP5-AS1 might be a promising cancer therapy approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Objective biomarkers of dietary exposure are needed to establish reliable diet-disease associations. Unfortunately, robust biomarkers of macronutrient intakes are scarce. We aimed to assess the utility of serum, 24-h urine and spot urine high-dimensional metabolites for the development of biomarkers of daily intake of total energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat, and the percent of energy from these macronutrients (%E). Methods: A 2-week controlled feeding study mimicking the participants' habitual diets was conducted among 153 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Fasting serum metabolomic profiles were analyzed using a targeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) assay for aqueous metabolites and a direct-injection-based quantitative lipidomics platform. Urinary metabolites were analyzed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at 800 MHz and by untargeted gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Variable selection was performed to build prediction models for each dietary variable. Results: The highest cross-validated multiple correlation coefficients (CV-R2) for protein intake (%E) and carbohydrate intake (%E) using metabolites only were 36.3 and 37.1%, respectively. With the addition of established dietary biomarkers (doubly labeled water for energy and urinary nitrogen for protein), the CV-R2 reached 55.5% for energy (kcal/d), 52.0 and 45.0% for protein (g/d, %E), 55.9 and 37.0% for carbohydrate (g/d, %E). Conclusion: Selected panels of serum and urine metabolites, without the inclusion of doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen biomarkers, give a reliable and robust prediction of daily intake of energy from protein and carbohydrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection of cervical lesions, accurate diagnosis of cervical lesions, and timely and effective therapy can effectively avoid the occurrence of cervical cancer or improve the survival rate of patients. In this paper, the spectra of tissue sections of cervical inflammation (n = 60), CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) I (n = 30), CIN II (n = 30), CIN III (n = 30), cervical squamous cell carcinoma (n = 30), and cervical adenocarcinoma (n = 30) were collected by a confocal Raman micro-spectrometer (LabRAM HR Evolution, Horiba France SAS, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France). The Raman spectra of six kinds of cervical tissues were analyzed, the dominant Raman peaks of different kinds of tissues were summarized, and the differences in chemical composition between the six tissue samples were compared. An independent sample t test (p ≤ 0.05) was used to analyze the difference of average relative intensity of Raman spectra of six types of cervical tissues. The difference of relative intensity of Raman spectra of six kinds of tissues can reflect the difference of biochemical components in six kinds of tissues and the characteristic of biochemical components in different kinds of tissues. The classification models of cervical inflammation, CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and cervical adenocarcinoma were established by using a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. Six types of cervical tissues were classified and identified with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 85.7%. This study laid a foundation for the application of Raman spectroscopy in the clinical diagnosis of cervical precancerous lesions and cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermentation and chemical methods for industrial cytidine diphosphate choline (CDP-choline) catalytic production both suffer from several disadvantages such as relatively low efficiency and productivity. To overcome these problems, we applied the concept of synthetic biology to develop a new one-pot multi-enzyme system to produce CDP-choline from orotic acid. Enzymes from different sources were selected and optimized as building blocks of the system, and parameters such as oxygen supply were also optimized. This system shows a titer of 37.6 ± 1.1 mM and a reaction rate of 1.6 mM L-1 h−1, both increase 66 % from traditional processes. It also has an efficiency of energy of 25.4%, improves 2-folds. This new one-pot CDP-choline-producing system has a potential for industrial use, and the procedure to design one-pot multi-enzyme system can be applied to build other one-pot system producing energy-rich compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fractional statistics is one of the most intriguing features of topological phases in 2D. In particular, the so-called non-Abelian statistics plays a crucial role towards realizing topological quantum computation. Recently, the study of topological phases has been extended to 3D and it has been proposed that loop-like extensive objects can also carry fractional statistics. In this work, we systematically study the so-called three-loop braiding statistics for 3D interacting fermion systems. Most surprisingly, we discover new types of non-Abelian three-loop braiding statistics that can only be realized in fermionic systems (or equivalently bosonic systems with emergent fermionic particles). On the other hand, due to the correspondence between gauge theories with fermionic particles and classifying fermionic symmetry-protected topological (FSPT) phases with unitary symmetries, our study also gives rise to an alternative way to classify FSPT phases. We further compare the classification results for FSPT phases with arbitrary Abelian unitary total symmetry Gf and find systematical agreement with previous studies. Non-Abelian statistics plays a crucial role towards realizing topological quantum computation. Here, the authors discover new types of non-Abelian three-loop braiding statistics that can only be realized in 3D interacting fermionic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper probes into the synchronization for memristor-based hybrid neural networks via nonlinear coupling. At first, a new condition is established to judge whether quadratic functions are negative or not on a closed interval regardless of their concavity or convexity. Then, by utilizing Legendre orthogonal polynomials, a recent extended integral inequality with free matrices is popularized to get tighter lower bound of some integral terms. Next, based on a novel Lyapunov functional, by applying our new integral inequality with free matrices, linear convex combination method and the new criterion, a new delay-dependent condition is gained to reach the global synchronization for the considered neural networks. At last, an example is presented to account for the validity of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescence biosensors that enable highly sensitive detection of glutathione (GSH) are in great demand for various biological investigations and early disease diagnoses. Here, we report a turn-on fluorescence nanoplatform based on fluorescent semiconducting polymer nanoparticle@MnO2 nanosheets (P-dot@MnO2) nanocomposites for rapid homogeneous determination of GSH. The near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent P-dots were prepared by doping NIR dyes into polymer matrix and then encompassed by MnO2, which resulted in a remarkable fluorescence quenching. Owing to the selective decomposition of MnO2 by GSH, the fluorescence recovery was achieved in the presence of GSH. On the basis of the target-induced turn-on fluorescence response, the developed nanoplatform can readily detect GSH with a high sensitivity up to 0.26 μM, as well as a superior specificity. Furthermore, it was successfully applied in monitoring the intracellular GSH in living cells, revealing its great potential in biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In survival analysis, Cox model is widely used for most clinical trial data. Alternatives include the additive hazard model, the accelerated failure time (AFT) model and a more general transformation model. All these models assume that the effects for all covariates are on the same scale. However, it is possible that for different covariates, the effects are on different scales. In this paper, we propose a shape-invariant hazard regression model that allows us to estimate the multiplicative treatment effect with adjustment of covariates that have non-multiplicative effects. We propose moment-based inference procedures for the regression parameters. We also discuss the risk prediction and the goodness of fit test for our proposed model. Numerical studies show good finite sample performance of our proposed estimator. We applied our method to the HIVNET 012 study, a milestone trial of single-dose nevirapine in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. From the HIVNET 012 data analysis, single-dose nevirapine treatment is shown to improve 18-month infant survival significantly with appropriate adjustment of the maternal CD4 counts and the virus load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of Corona Virus Disease 2019 in Taizhou, China. Methods: A single center retrospective observational study was performed between Jan 1, 2020 and Mar 11, 2020 at Taizhou Public Health Medical Center, Zhejiang, China. All patients with confirmed Corona Virus Disease 2019 were enrolled, and their clinical data were gathered by reviewing electronic medical records. Outcomes of severely ill patients and non-severely ill patients were compared. Results: Of 145 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the average age was 47.5 years old (standard deviation, 14.6) and 54.5% were men. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (15.2%), followed by diabetes mellitus (9.7%). Common symptoms included dry cough (81.4%), fever (75.2%), anorexia (42.8%), fatigue (40.7%), chest tightness (32.4%), diarrhea (26.9%) and dizziness (20%). According to imaging examination, 79.3% patients showed bilateral pneumonia, 18.6% showed unilateral pneumonia, 61.4% showed ground-glass opacity, and 2.1% showed no abnormal result. Compared with non-severely ill patients, severely ill patients were older (mean, years, 52.8 vs. 45.3, p < 0.01), had a higher proportion of diabetes mellitus (16.3% vs. 6.9%, p = 0.08), had a higher body mass index (mean, 24.78 vs. 23.20, p = 0.02) and were more likely to have fever (90.7% vs. 68.6%, p = 0.01), anorexia (60.5% vs. 35.3%, p = 0.01), chest tightness (60.5% vs.20.6%, p < 0.01) and dyspnea (7.0% vs. 0%, p = 0.03). Of the 43 severely ill patients, 6 (14%) received high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy, and 1 (2.3%) received invasive mechanical ventilation. Conclusions: Older patients or patients with comorbidities such as obesity or diabetes mellitus were more likely to have severe condition. Treatments of COVID-19 is still experimental and more clinical trials are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somatic inactivating mutations of ARID1A, a SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling gene, are prevalent in human endometrium-related malignancies. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying how ARID1A deleterious mutation contributes to tumorigenesis, we establish genetically engineered murine models with Arid1a and/or Pten conditional deletion in the endometrium. Transcriptomic analyses on endometrial cancers and precursors derived from these mouse models show a close resemblance to human uterine endometrioid carcinomas. We identify transcriptional networks that are controlled by Arid1a and have an impact on endometrial tumor development. To verify findings from the murine models, we analyze ARID1AWT and ARID1AKO human endometrial epithelial cells. Using a system biology approach and functional studies, we demonstrate that ARID1A-deficiency lead to loss of TGF-β tumor suppressive function and that inactivation of ARID1A/TGF-β axis promotes migration and invasion of PTEN-deleted endometrial tumor cells. These findings provide molecular insights into how ARID1A inactivation accelerates endometrial tumor progression and dissemination, the major causes of cancer mortality. ARID1A, which is often mutated in human endometrial cancer, is a component of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complex. Here, the authors show that Arid1a mutations in the mouse endometrium and primary human endometrial epithelial cells cause widespread reprogramming of gene transcription and result in a loss of response to TGFβ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expansin (EXP) plays an important role in plant root formation. The EXP genes associated with chrysanthemum roots have not yet been reported. Here we isolated a root-specific EXP gene in chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), namely CmEXPA4. Bioinformatics analysis showed that CmEXPA4-encoded protein has a conserved DPPB (Double-Psi Beta-Barrel) domain in the N-terminal with a series of Cys residues, an HFD (His-Phe-Asp) motif in the central region, and a pollen allergen domain in the C-terminal. The protein also has a specific α-insertion of WCNP (Trp-Cys-Asn-Pro), which suggests that it belongs to the A-subgroup of the EXP family. In the present study, we cloned the 1,129 bp promoter region upstream of CmEXPA4, and the analysis revealed an abundance of cis-acting elements associated with hormones, light and stress-related responses, and some root-specific regulatory elements in particular. Subcellular localization results indicated that CmEXPA4 locates in the cell wall. Exogenous indole butyric acid induced the up-regulation of CmEXPA4 expression, whereas exogenous abscisic acid inhibited its expression. Tissue expression analysis showed that CmEXPA4 was preferentially expressed in the roots and was synchronized with the rapid emergence of the root. These results suggested that CmEXPA4 may act on the growth and development of chrysanthemum roots. The function of CmEXPA4 was further tested by virus-induced gene silencing, and the results showed that CmEXPA4 silencing inhibited the normal development of the chrysanthemum root system. The roots appeared thinner and shorter, and several important root parameters, including total length, average diameter, surface area, total volume, and root tip number, decreased significantly. The cortical cells of the transgenic plant roots were significantly smaller and shorter than those of the control. Collectively, our results demonstrated that CmEXPA4 gene plays a key role in the growth and development of chrysanthemum roots and affects the root system by acting on the individual cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel biologic markers have been used to predict clinical outcomes of many diseases. One specific feature of biomarkers is that they often are measured with variations due to factors such as sample preparation and specific laboratory process. Statistical methods have been proposed to characterize the effects of underlying error-free quantity in association with an outcome, yet the impact of measurement errors in terms of prediction has not been well studied. We focus in this manuscript on using biomarkers for predicting an individual's future risk for survival outcome. In the setting where replicates of error-prone biomarkers are available in a 'training' population and risk projection is applied to individuals in a 'prediction' population, we propose two-step measurement-error-corrected estimators of absolute risks. We conducted numerical studies to evaluate the predictive performance of the proposed and routine approaches under various assumptions about the measurement error distributions to pinpoint situations when correction of measurement errors might be necessary. We studied the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators. We applied the estimators to a liver cancer biomarker study to predict risk of liver cancer incidence using age and a novel biomarker, α -Fetoprotein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we give a definition of Diophantine points of type γ for γ ≥ 0 in a homogeneous space G / Γ and compute the Hausdorff dimension of the subset of points which are not Diophantine of type γ when G is a simple Lie group of real rank one. We also deduce a Jarník–Besicovitch Theorem on Diophantine approximation in Heisenberg groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper focuses on the stochastic synchronization problem for a class of fuzzy Markovian hybrid neural networks with random coupling strengths and mode-dependent mixed time delays in the mean square. First, a novel free-matrix-based single integral inequality and two novel free-matrix-based double integral inequalities are established. Next, by employing a novel augmented Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional with several mode-dependent matrices, applying the theory of Kronecker product of matrices, Barbalat's Lemma and the new free-matrix-based integral inequalities, two delay-dependent conditions are established to achieve the globally stochastic synchronization for the mode-dependent fuzzy hybrid coupled neural networks. Finally, two numerical examples with simulation are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the hierarchical Mn3O4 microsphere assembled by two-dimensional ultrathin nanosheets was initially synthesized successfully through ethanol thermal reduction method. When used as the anode materials for lithium ion batteries, the hierarchical Mn3O4 microsphere exhibited large reversible capacity (640 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 for 100 cycles), high rate capability (391 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1) and outstanding long-time cycling stability (324 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 1300 cycles). The excellent performances might be related with their hierarchical microsphere structure and two-dimensional nanostructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiblock copolymers of polyether-modified amino silicone softener (ETSO-PEA) were successfully synthesized with epoxy-terminated polysiloxane (ETSO) and polyether amine. The chemical structure of ETSO-PEA was characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR and TGA. Single-factor and orthogonal array design experiments affecting the conversion rate of product were carried out to investigate the optimal reaction conditions. In the first two steps, the data between viscosity/conversion rate and reaction time showed that the two steps were both kinetic first-scale reaction. The application of ETSO-PEA used as softener on cotton fabrics was studied. The results showed that the ETSO-PEA-treated cotton fabrics expressed better hydrophilicity, wettability and whiteness than traditional amino silicone softener-treated samples. The morphology images indicated that the scales and clearance on the surface of the untreated cotton fibers were covered with a smooth film after treating with the silicones solution. Amino silicone softener was fixed onto the cotton fabrics, and the surface was modified with a formation of network structure. Meanwhile, the extent of networking and crosslinking was enhanced a lot, which provided a good soft handle. The polyether segment with less bending on the ETSO-PEA disrupted the continuous arrangement of Si-CH3 groups and limited the movement of polysiloxane segment, giving the cotton fabric a better hydrophilic and slightly rougher surface than ATSO-treated samples. This work provided an optimized and cost-effective method to synthesize high-performance multiblock polyether functional amino silicone softener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]