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This paper studies the input‐to‐state stability of an uncertain switched linear system with external disturbances, whose feedback loop is closed over a digital communication network. In the network, only a finite bit rate can be provided to transmit the feedback signal and unknown network delay always exists. By using reachable set approximation and propagation methods, it can well handle with the effects of model uncertainty, external disturbances and network delay on the stability of the system. To save network resources, event‐triggered sampling is taken here. Under the event‐triggered sampling strategies, a new encoder is proposed, which consumes less feedback bits than the conventional time‐triggered encoders. It is proven that even in the existence of model uncertainty, external disturbances and network delay, the proposed event‐triggered sampling strategies require a lower feedback bit rate to stabilize the switched system than conventional periodic sampling methods. To save network resources, event‐triggered sampling is taken here. Under the event‐triggered sampling strategies, a new encoder is proposed, which consumes less feedback bits than the conventional time‐triggered encoders. It is proven that even in the existence of model uncertainty, external disturbances and network delay, the proposed event‐triggered sampling strategies require a lower feedback bit rate to stabilize the switched system than conventional periodic sampling methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sunk cost bias is a pervasive issue in the real world, manifesting in various domains, such as consumption and investment, influencing consumer well‐being. This bias often leads to a misallocation of resources towards less meaningful activities. In the current study, we explored a novel factor, specifically disease cues, that influences the sunk cost bias. Through a survey and four systematic experiments, using both lab and natural manipulations of disease cues, we demonstrate that disease cues encourage individuals to overvalue their prior investments, leading to an increased propensity for sunk cost bias in imagined decision scenarios and real choices. We have also ruled out alternative explanations for our findings. Significantly, we added a survey to directly explore the sunk cost bias and consumer subjective well‐being, showing a significant positive relationship between them. Our research contributes to understanding consumer irrational behavior and aims to improve consumer well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to their exceptional properties, high‐entropy alloys (HEAs) have received considerable attention in the field of electrocatalysis. However, few studies focus on the origin of their outstanding performance. Here, carbon‐supported PtFeCoNiMn (with an atomic ratio of 21:20:20:20:19) HEA nanoparticles via shock‐heating and shock‐cooling strategy are rationally designed and successfully prepared. The above five metal elements are rationally selected from the perspective of thermodynamics and geometric effects. Subsequently, the alloying process of the PtFeCoNiMn HEA is investigated via operando X‐ray diffraction characterizations. The electronic structures of each metal atom on the PtFeCoNiMn HEA and monometallic nanoparticles surface are revealed by density function theory calculations for illustrating the performance enhancement mechanism. It is found that Pt atoms on the PtFeCoNiMn HEA surface exhibit a wider range of d‐band center distribution range than the corresponding monometallic nanoparticles, which contributes to the enhanced selective adsorption of O2 reactants/intermediates. Importantly, some Fe, Co, Ni, and Mn atoms on the HEA surface manifest less positive d‐band center values than the corresponding monometallic nanoparticles, with similar d‐band center positions to some Pt atoms. This indicates that the inactive atoms in monometallic nanoparticles can be transformed into ORR active sites in the HEA matrix owing to the electronic interaction between adjacent atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objectives Methods Results Conclusions The pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics of nirmatrelvir (NMV) are unknown in Chinese patients with COVID‐19.To understand the PK, as well as PK–PD characteristics of NMV for optimizing the dose in Chinese patients with COVID‐19.We enrolled 141 participants who received NMV 300 mg/ritonavir (RTV) 100 mg b.i.d. for 5 days. The NMV concentrations were analyzed using 251 blood samples. PK/PD of NMV was investigated in these COVID‐19 patients using a nonlinear mixed‐effects model.The patients had a mean age of 82 years (range, 34–97). The absorption rate constant and apparent clearance of NMV in this Chinese cohort were 0.253 h−1 and 6.83 L/h, respectively, similar to Caucasian patients. No covariates affected NMV clearance. Predicted peak (Cmax) and trough concentration (Cmin) under 300 mg NMV/100 mg RTV b.i.d. were 4004 and 1498 ng/mL, respectively. Although higher AUC and Cmin were weakly associated with a slight increase in the number of cycle threshold (CT) of viral genes, no significant correlation was found, indicating a weak relationship between drug exposure and efficacy (CT).In all, our findings suggest no ethnic PK differences, a weak and clinically insignificant relationship between drug exposure and efficacy, suitable dosage for Chinese patients (including the elderly) based on PK parameters, and the need for further studies to determine optimal regimens for high‐risk patients due to inter‐individual variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cancer cells, short for sirtuin (SIRT7) stabilizes the transformed state via its nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)‐dependent deacetylase activity. Epigenetic factor SIRT7 plays important roles in cancer biology, reversing cancer phenotypes and suppressing tumor growth when inactive. In the present study, we got the SIRT7 protein structure from Alpha Fold2 Database and performed structure‐based virtual screening to develop specific SIRT7 inhibitors using the SIRT7 inhibitor 97,491 interaction mechanism. As candidates for specific SIRT7 inhibitors, compounds with high affinities to SIRT7 were chosen. ZINC000001910616 and ZINC000014708529, two of our leading compounds, showed strong interactions with SIRT7. Our MD simulation results also revealed that the 5‐hydroxy‐4H‐thioxen‐4‐one group and terminal carboxyl group were critical groups responsible for interaction of small molecules with SIRT7. In our study, we demonstrated that targeting SIRT7 may offer novel therapeutic options for cancer treatment. Compounds ZINC000001910616 and ZINC000014708529 can serve as chemical probes to investigate SIRT7 biological functions and provide starting points for the development of novel therapeutics against cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Periodontitis is an inflammatory, infectious disease of polymicrobial origin that can damage tooth‐supporting bone and tissue. Tree shrews, evolutionarily closer to humans than commonly used rodent models, have been increasingly used as biomedical models. However, a tree shrew periodontitis model has not yet been established. Materials and Methods: Periodontitis was induced in male tree shrews/Sprague–Dawley rats by nylon thread ligature placement around the lower first molars. Thereafter, morphometric and histological analyses were performed. The distance from the cemento‐enamel junction to the alveolar bone crest was measured using micro‐computed tomography. Periodontal pathological tissue damage, inflammation and osteoclastogenesis were assessed using haematoxylin and eosin staining and quantitative immunohistochemistry, respectively. Results: Post‐operatively, gingival swelling, redness and spontaneous bleeding were observed in tree shrews but not in rats. After peaking, bone resorption decreased gradually until plateauing in tree shrews. Contrastingly, rapid and near‐complete bone loss was observed in rats. Inflammatory infiltrates were observed 1 week post operation in both models. However, only the tree shrew model transitioned from acute to chronic inflammation. Conclusions: Our study revealed that a ligature‐induced tree shrew model of periodontitis partly reproduced the pathological features of human periodontitis and provided theoretical support for using tree shrews as a potential model for human periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To discuss the experience with a novel surgical approach in the treatment of varicocele for fertility or pain in 772 patients. Methods. Retrospective analysis of 772 patients undergoing microsurgical sub-subinguinal (SSI) varicocelectomy in our hospital and the discussion of historical surgical approaches. Results. A total of 690 patients with left varicocele underwent surgical treatment for infertility (n = 519) and pain (n = 171). The sperm concentrations (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) of 519 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 19.24 ± 3.69 (106/ml), 27.42 ± 10.32 (106/ml), and 34.20 ± 16.29 (106/ml) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. The sperm motilities (mean ± SD) of 519 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 13.78 ± 3.25, 20.98 ± 8.21, and 27.59 ± 13.71 (grade (a + b) %) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. Pain was released surgically in 131 (76.6%) of the 171 patients. A total of 82 patients with bilateral varicocele underwent surgical treatment for infertility (n = 58) and pain (n = 24). The sperm concentrations (mean ± SD) of 58 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 19.21 ± 3.24 (106/ml), 27.36 ± 10.26 (106/ml), and 33.87 ± 15.20 (106/ml) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. The sperm motilities (mean ± SD) of 58 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 13.54 ± 2.75, 20.75 ± 8.21, and 28.53 ± 14.83 (grade (a + b) %) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. Pain was released surgically in 19 (79.2%) of the 24 patients. The probability of occurrence in one artery, two arteries, three arteries, and more than three arteries was 29.5%, 28.8%, 19.9%, and 1.9%, respectively. Conclusion. This surgical approach achieves a small and esthetic skin wound with fewer complications. The SSI approach is a safe and widely adopted surgical approach option for the treatment of varicocele. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a common clinical feature of many acute and chronic conditions. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed RNA transcripts that are involved in various physiological and pathological processes, but their role in muscle atrophy remains unknown. Global circRNA expression profiling indicated that circRNAs are involved in the pathophysiological processes of muscle atrophy. circTmeff1 is identified as a potential circRNA candidate that influences muscle atrophy. It is further identified that circTmeff1 is highly expressed in multiple types of muscle atrophy in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the overexpression of circTmeff1 triggers muscle atrophy in vitro and in vivo, while the knockdown of circTmeff1 expression rescues muscle atrophy in vitro and in vivo. In particular, the knockdown of circTmeff1 expression partially rescues muscle mass in mice during established atrophic settings. Mechanistically, circTmeff1 directly interacts with TAR DNA‐binding protein 43 (TDP‐43) and promotes aggregation of TDP‐43 in mitochondria, which triggers the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into cytosol and activation of the cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase (cGAS)/ stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway. Unexpectedly, TMEFF1‐339aa is identified as a novel protein encoded by circTmeff1 that mediates its pro‐atrophic effects. Collectively, the inhibition of circTmeff1 represents a novel therapeutic approach for multiple types of skeletal muscle atrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The budding uninhibited by benzimidazoles (BUB) family is involved in the cell cycle process as mitotic checkpoint components. Abnormal proliferation is a vital process in the development of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Nevertheless, the roles of BUB1 in LUAD remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value and biological functions of BUB1 in LUAD using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), clinical LUAD samples, and in vitro experiments. Methods: The expression, prognostic significance, functions, immune infiltration, and methylation of BUB1 in LUAD were comprehensively analyzed using TCGA, GEO, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, Metascape, cBioPortal, MethSurv, and cancerSEA databases. Furthermore, we performed a battery of in vitro experiments and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to verify the bioinformatics results. Results: Multivariate analysis revealed that BUB1 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio = 1.499, p = 0.013). Functional enrichment analysis showed that BUB1 was correlated with cell cycle, proliferation, DNA repair, DNA damage, and invasion (p < 0.05). Finally, in vitro experiments showed that downregulation of BUB1 inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of LUAD cells and promoted LUAD cell apoptosis. IHC also showed that BUB1 was overexpressed in LUAD (p < 0.001) and was significantly associated with poor prognosis (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our bioinformatics and IHC analyses revealed that BUB1 overexpression was an adverse prognostic factor in LUAD. In vitro experiments demonstrated that BUB1 promoted tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in LUAD. These results indicated that BUB1 was a promising biomarker and potential therapeutic target in LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power gap of chorus waves at ∼0.5fce has been discovered for decades, but its generation mechanism is still under debate. Previous studies have revealed that electron plateau distributions are vitally important for the gap formation. By analyzing over one‐year Van Allen Probes data, we have studied chorus waves with (banded events) and without a power gap (no‐gap events), and their correlations with the electron plateau distribution. Although there is no significant difference in the morphology of velocity distributions in banded and no‐gap events, banded chorus events are typically accompanied by a plateau component with about one order higher number density than no‐gap events. The plateau components can cause severe damping at ∼0.5fce through cyclotron resonance rather than Landau resonance, and the gap frequency is roughly determined by the bulk velocity of plateau components. Our study provides new observational constraints on the generation mechanisms of power gap. Plain Language Summary: The generation mechanism of power gap at ∼0.5fce of chorus waves has been a long‐standing problem for decades. Although its generation mechanism is still under debate, there is a consensus that the electron plateau in the parallel velocity distribution is a key factor to solve this problem. Here, we try to find out what role the electron plateau plays in the gap formation based on a statistical analysis of Van Allen Probes data. First of all, we find banded chorus events indeed have a more pronounced plateau shape (about one order higher number density) than no‐gap events, confirming the importance of electron plateau. We further find that the electron plateau can cause the severe wave damping at ∼0.5fce via cyclotron resonance rather than Landau resonance, and the gap frequency is roughly determined by the bulk velocity of electron plateau based on the cyclotron resonance condition. We also compare the morphology of electron velocity distributions in banded and no‐gap events, but do not find an obvious difference between them. Our study provides new observational constraints on the generation mechanisms of the power gap, which may help scientists finally solve this problem. Key Points: Banded chorus events typically have a more pronounced plateau shape than no‐gap events in the parallel electron distributionThe electron plateau can cause severe damping at ∼0.5fce via cyclotron resonance, and roughly determine the gap frequencyThere is no significant difference between the normalized electron velocity distributions in banded and no‐gap events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, a metasurface‐based fiber‐to‐chip multiplexing coupler is presented that can realize flexible mode conversion and multiplexing coupling between few‐mode fibers and on‐chip single‐mode waveguides. The proposed approach makes use of the symmetrical characteristics of fiber eigenmodes and high freedom of light phase manipulation to obtain the functional phase distribution of metasurfaces. The use of cylindrical nanopillar as metasurface nanostructures ensures its polarization independent optical response. Several fiber‐to‐chip multiplexing couplers are demonstrated by using the angular spectrum methods and the finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) simulations. It is found that the two or three modes can be flexibly demultiplexed and then be coupled into the corresponding on‐chip waveguides with low crosstalk. Further, two possible fabrication schemes for multiplexing couplers are proposed and then the related fabrication tolerances and misalignment effects are evaluated and discussed. Compared with traditional on‐chip couplers, metasurface‐based couplers have advantages of ultracompact footprint and low crosstalk. Such study explores the application of metasurfaces in multiplexing coupling between few‐mode fiber and on‐chip single‐mode waveguides, which is expected to break through the bottleneck of current mode‐division multiplexing technologies in optical interconnection and meet the ever‐increasing demand for large data throughput of the photonic integrated chips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial poverty alleviation is one of the most important aspects of targeted poverty alleviation. Identifying the mechanism influencing the spatial differentiation of the benefits of industrial poverty alleviation plays an essential role in optimising an industrial layout for poverty alleviation, consolidating poverty alleviation achievements, and revitalising rural industries. This study examined the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of the benefits of industrial poverty alleviation at the village level using the household data collected from Jiangjin District, Chongqing, China. The results show that the benefits of industrial poverty alleviation presented obvious spatial differentiation in the villages with the overall performance being high in the north and low in the south and decreasing from the south of the county to the north and south. Spatially, there was a significant positively correlated agglomeration effect. High‐value agglomeration areas were concentrated in the north with the characteristics of 'one centre and two subcentres'. However, low‐value and outlier agglomeration effects were not obvious, presenting sporadic distribution. Seven major factors affect industrial poverty alleviation in Jiangjin District, including average altitude and land transfer rate. The interaction between any two of the seven factors has a more significant impact than that of a single factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interface exciplex represents a promising host material for organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) with barrier‐free charge injection and highly confined recombination region. However, the efficiency of radiative recombination in pristine exciplex is usually low and needs to be improved by doping various emitters. In this study, the interface exciplex OLEDs doped with fluorescence, phosphorescence, and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is fabricated to investigate the relationship between their excited‐state properties and electroluminescence efficiencies. A maximum external quantum efficiency of 20% is achieved in interface exciplex OLEDs doped with TADF emitter, which corresponds to nearly 100% exciton utilization and is superior to those of fluorescence and phosphorescence emitters. Furthermore, optical spectroscopy and magneto‐electroluminescence method are used to study the advantages of TADF emitter in interface exciplex host. The large dipole of TADF emitter is beneficial for harvesting energy from the charge‐transfer state at the interface, and its reverse intersystem crossing avoids the accumulation of triplet excitons that leads to triplet‐triplet annihilation in interface exciplex OLEDs. These results demonstrate that the photophysical process needs to be carefully considered in designing high‐performance emitters for exciplex host materials, and it may bring in‐depth understanding on improving exciton utilization and electroluminescence efficiency in interface exciplex OLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Apolipoprotein A‐1 (ApoA‐1), the major apolipoprotein of high‐density lipoprotein, plays anti‐atherogenic role in cardiovascular diseases and exerts anti‐inflammation effect in various inflammatory and infectious diseases. However, the role and mechanism of ApoA‐1 in hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury is unknown. Methods: In this study, we measured ApoA‐1 expression in human liver grafts after transplantation. Mice partial hepatic I/R injury model was made in ApoA‐1 knockout mice, ApoA‐1 mimetic peptide D‐4F treatment mice and corresponding control mice to examine the effect of ApoA‐1 on liver damage, inflammation response and cell death. Primary hepatocytes and macrophages were isolated for in vitro study. Results: The results showed that ApoA‐1 expression was down‐regulated in human liver grafts after transplantation and mice livers subjected to hepatic I/R injury. ApoA‐1 deficiency aggravated liver damage and inflammation response induced by hepatic I/R injury. Interestingly, we found that ApoA‐1 deficiency increased pyroptosis instead of apoptosis during acute phase of hepatic I/R injury, which mainly occurred in macrophages rather than hepatocytes. The inhibition of pyroptosis compensated for the adverse impact of ApoA‐1 deficiency. Furthermore, the up‐regulated pyroptosis process was testified to be mediated by ApoA‐1 through TLR4–NF‐κB pathway and TLR4 inhibition significantly improved hepatic I/R injury. In addition, we confirmed that D‐4F ameliorated hepatic I/R injury. Conclusions: Our study has identified the protective role of ApoA‐1 in hepatic I/R injury through inhibiting pyroptosis in macrophages via TLR4–NF‐κB pathway. The effect of ApoA‐1 may provide a novel therapeutic approach for hepatic I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testis‐specifically expressed genes are important for male reproduction according to their unique expression patterns. However, the functions of most of these genes in reproduction are unclear. Here, we showed that mouse 4930590J08Rik was a testis‐specifically expressed gene. 4930590J08Rik knockout mice exhibited a delay in the first wave of spermatogenesis and a reduction of cauda epididymal sperm. Furthermore, knockout spermatozoa exhibited defective acrosome reactions and decreased progressive motility, which led to impaired in vivo fertilization. Transcriptome analysis of testes revealed that most of the differentially expressed genes in knockout testes were associated with metabolic processes. 4930590J08Rik knockout sperm exhibited oxidative phosphorylation deficiency and were highly dependent on increased anaerobic glycolysis to compensate for ATP demands. Taken together, the 4930590J08Rik‐disrupted mouse partially mimics the phenotypes of human asthenospermia and oligozoospermia, which provides a new model for further understanding the pathogenesis of idiopathic male infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2D perovskites are relatively stable but possess poor charge transport compared to 3D perovskites. To boost charge transport, novel 2D perovskites mixed with 3D perovskites are developed, where Pb2+ are partially substituted by the heterovalent neodymium cations (Nd3+) within both 2D and 3D perovskites (termed Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites. Systematical studies reveal that the Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites possess larger crystals, superior crystallinity, suppressed non‐radiative charge recombination, and enhanced and balanced charge transport compared to the 2D:3D mixed perovskites. As a result, perovskite photovoltaics based on the Nd3+‐substituted 2D:3D mixed perovskites exhibit a power conversion efficiency of 22.11%, a photoresponsibility of over 700 mA W−1, a photodetectivity of 4.29 × 1014 cm Hz1/2 W−1, a linear dynamic range of 165 dB at room temperature, and dramatically boosted stability. These results demonstrate that, a facile way is developed to realize high‐performance perovskite photovoltaics through partially heterovalent substituted Pb2+ by Nd3+ within 2D:3D mixed perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite communication, especially low earth orbit satellites, an important part of the space‐air‐ground integrated network, is a promising solution to support global coverage and reliable communication. However, the originally connected links will be off, when the satellites move into polar regions. In addition, the condition of the path broken will dramatically increase with the number of satellites increasing. Thus, it is a continually considerable challenge to design an efficient and stationary routing algorithm for intra‐satellites. This paper presents a waypoint segment routing algorithm to realise persistent routes when the satellites move into polar regions. The waypoint selection problem is modelled and solved in stages. One of the source‐based routing algorithms, segment routing, is applied in low earth orbit satellite network to provide stable, efficient and reliable packets forwarding. By adding the selected waypoints into the segment list of the segment routing, the next‐snapshot broken links can be avoided. Based on the proposed waypoint segment routing algorithm, the problem of the path broken can be effectively solved. By comparing the packet loss, the delay and the delay jitter of the satellite simulation networks, the proposed algorithm is preferable to the popular optimised link‐state routing algorithm for the satellite mega‐constellation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satellite communication, especially low earth orbit satellites, an important part of the space‐air‐ground integrated network, is a promising solution to support global coverage and reliable communication. However, the originally connected links will be off, when the satellites move into polar regions. In addition, the condition of the path broken will dramatically increase with the number of satellites increasing. Thus, it is a continually considerable challenge to design an efficient and stationary routing algorithm for intra‐satellites. This paper presents a waypoint segment routing algorithm to realise persistent routes when the satellites move into polar regions. The waypoint selection problem is modelled and solved in stages. One of the source‐based routing algorithms, segment routing, is applied in low earth orbit satellite network to provide stable, efficient and reliable packets forwarding. By adding the selected waypoints into the segment list of the segment routing, the next‐snapshot broken links can be avoided. Based on the proposed waypoint segment routing algorithm, the problem of the path broken can be effectively solved. By comparing the packet loss, the delay and the delay jitter of the satellite simulation networks, the proposed algorithm is preferable to the popular optimised link‐state routing algorithm for the satellite mega‐constellation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the risk factors of miscarriage in patients attempted cervical polypectomy during the first and second trimester pregnancy. Methods: Pregnant women with singleton infants who underwent cervical polypectomy during the first and second trimester between January 2013 and May 2019 were investigated. The study retrospectively reviewed the clinical features and pregnancy outcomes after cervical polypectomy. A multivariable regression was performed to predict the risk factors of miscarriage. Results: A total of 307 pregnant females were eventually included in our study. Twenty‐seven patients (8.8%, 27/307) had a miscarriage before 28 weeks, 37 patients (12.1%, 37/307) had a preterm delivery. After univariate analysis, we found that the presence of decidual polyps and vaginal bleeding after polypectomy were the risk factors for miscarriage. Moreover, the incidence of miscarriage was significantly higher in the patients with decidual polyps than in those with endocervical polyps (14.9% vs. 5.6%, p = 0.010). Conclusions: The most suitable hemostasis method should be taken in the cervical polypectomy during pregnancy. The risk of miscarriage associated with polypectomy during pregnancy is higher in females with decidual polyps. If decidual polyps are highly suspected and they do not cause excessive vaginal bleeding and can be ruled out the possibility of malignancy, conservative treatment may lead to a better outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves are one of the most common plasma waves in the Earth's magnetosphere, and they are considered to be excited by the electron loss‐cone distributions near the magnetic equator. Using the Magnetospheric Multiscale data, we report an unusual event of ECH waves at L = ∼12.4 and MLT = ∼16.0 hr, where the ECH waves are locally excited inside non‐propagating magnetic oscillations, that is, mirror mode structures. The observation reveals that the mirror mode structures are generated by anisotropic ions (Ti⊥/Ti∥ ${T}_{i\perp }/{T}_{i{\Vert} }$ ∼ 1.3 – 1.7), and electron mirror loss‐cone distributions are formed due to the magnetic configuration of the mirror mode structures. Combing with the linear instability analysis, we confirm that the ECH waves are locally excited by the electron mirror loss‐cone distributions inside the mirror mode structures. Therefore, we propose that the mirror mode structures provide another potential source region for ECH waves in the Earth's magnetosphere. Plain Language Summary: Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves are widely observed in the Earth's magnetosphere, which are important for the diffusion auroral precipitation. Previous studies have shown that the main source region of ECH waves in the magnetosphere is near the magnetic equator, and the electron loss‐cone distribution provides the free energy to excite ECH waves. In this study, we reveal that there also exists another potential source region of ECH waves, that is, mirror mode structures. Using the Magnetospheric Multiscale data, we report an unusual event of ECH waves inside the mirror mode structures in the Earth's outer magnetosphere. By analyzing the plasma conditions, we show that the mirror mode structures are generated by anisotropic ions, and electron mirror loss‐cone distributions are formed due to the magnetic configuration of the mirror mode structures. Based on the linear instability analysis, we demonstrate that the ECH waves are excited by the electron mirror loss‐cone distributions within the mirror mode structures. These results provide new insights into the generation of ECH waves in the Earth's magnetosphere. Key Points: Using the Magnetospheric Multiscale data, we report the first observation of electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves within mirror mode structures in the Earth's outer magnetosphereThe mirror mode structures observed as quasi‐periodic magnetic oscillations are excited by anisotropic ionsThe simultaneously detected ECH waves are excited by the electron mirror loss‐cone distributions inside the mirror mode structures [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apart from presenting peptides to T cells, class I HLA molecules serve as ligands for killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIRs) and regulate the response of natural killer (NK) cells. The role played by HLA and KIR in the acute rejection (AR) following liver transplantation has been controversial. In this retrospective study, we assessed the influence of class I HLA alleles, HLA matching between donor–recipient pairs, recipient KIR and donor HLA ligands on AR following liver transplantation in southern Chinese. In total, 143 recipients and 78 donors obtained from a single transplant center were included in the study cohort. Thirty‐three recipients with histologically confirmed AR were observed. We found that the incidence of AR did not correlate with donor or recipient class I HLA alleles and HLA matching. Neither recipient KIR gene nor the KIR genotype was associated with AR, moreover, high‐resolution genotyping of 14 functional KIR genes of recipients showed that no KIR allele was independently associated with AR. However, the frequency of HLA‐C2+ donor significantly increased in AR group compared with NAR group (52.9% vs. 24.6%, p = 0.03). In the presence of HLA‐C2 by the donor allograft, AR was more frequently observed in recipients with normal expressed KIR2DS4 (43.8% vs. 15.0%, p = 0.03). Donor with HLA‐C2 is therefore a major determinant of AR, which can confer risk effect in liver transplantation. Our findings can provide valuable clues for better understanding pathogenesis of AR and have important clinical implications in liver transplantation for Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chorus waves, discovered as a series of repetitive coherent emissions, are well known for producing hazard radiation environments in Earth's magnetosphere. Its repetitive nature directly causes the rapid modulation of pulsating aurora in the upper atmosphere and microburst in the ionosphere, but its origin remains a decades‐old puzzle. Recent simulation suggested the energetic electrons, injected from the magnetotail and drifting eastward around the Earth, are critical to form the repetitive pattern. Based on a survey of 1.5 year data from Van Allen Probes, we provide the first observational evidence for the origin of repetitive chorus emissions. We find there exists universally an inverse correlation between the repetitive period and drift velocity of energetic electrons, uncovering how the drifting energetic electrons tune the repetitive period of chorus emissions, which is also supported by kinetic simulations. Our finding may apply to understand the generation of repetitive emissions in planetary magnetospheres and laboratory plasmas. Plain Language Summary: Whistler‐mode chorus waves pervasively exist in the Earth's and other planetary outer space, which are the major contributor to hazard radiative environment near Earth and specular diffuse aurora in the upper atmosphere. They are characterized by a series of repetitive coherent emissions with the frequency chirping. Scientists have widely believed chorus waves are generated by electron injections during active periods. Although the great progress has been made on the formation of frequency chirping, the origin of its repetitive nature still challenges the community since the early space age. Here, we present a thorough analysis of 1.5 year high‐resolution data from advanced NASA Van Allen Probes, and find there universally exists an inverse correlation between the repetitive period of chorus emissions and drift velocity of electrons. This result firstly uncovers how the rate of energy supplies tunes the repetitive period of chorus waves. This mechanism can also explain the well‐known day‐night asymmetry of the repetitive period of chorus waves. Our finding may help scientists better understand the generation of repetitive waves in an open system, such as other planetary magnetospheres and laboratory plasmas. Key Points: Using Van Allen Probes data, we provide the first observational evidence for the origin of repetitive chorus emissionsThere universally exists an inverse correlation between the repetitive period of chorus emissions and drift velocity of electronsWe propose that the day‐night asymmetry of the repetitive period of chorus emissions is caused by the asymmetry of drift velocity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) represent a promising next‐generation photovoltaic technology considering their high efficiency and low cost. At the current stage, resolving the stability bottleneck is extremely urgent to realize PSCs' commercialization since the efficiencies of these cells are improved to a level comparable to that of crystalline silicon solar cells. Similar to other functional layers, a proper choice of the rear electrode atop the perovskite layer is equally important for achieving the device's long‐term stability. This topic has not been comprehensively reviewed before. Here, recent progress in the development of rear electrodes based on metals, carbon‐based materials, transparent conductive oxides, and conductive polymers is summarized, especially focusing on their different impacts on the device's long‐term stability and associated degradation mechanisms. In the context of practical applications, the impacts of rear electrode materials on the device's overall efficiency and cost‐effectiveness are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamide insecticides, represented by chlorantraniliprole (CHL), were widely applied in the control of lepidopteran insects. In efforts to develop bioactive diamides with novel scaffolds, we design and synthesized a series of diamides containing central amino acids to conformationally simulate CHL. Bioassay results indicated that most compounds containing 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylic acid exhibited excellent larvacidal potency against Mythimna separate and Plutella xylostella. After a systematic structure–activity relationship study, 1–23 was identified as a potential insecticidal candidate with LC50 values of 34.920 mg·L−1 against M. separate and 61.992 mg·L−1 on P. xylostella. Finally, molecular docking revealed the possible binding mode of 1–23 with the target protein, ryanodine receptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report describes the clinical and histological findings, genetic study, and treatment in a 1.3‐year‐old rhesus macaque with bilateral cataracts and unilateral secondary glaucoma. Intravitreal injection of gentamicin decreased the intraocular pressure from 56 to <2 mm Hg. A putative genetic cause of the cataracts was not identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A second‐order time stepping scheme is developed for the binary fluid‐surfactant phase‐field model coupled with hydrodynamics by using the scalar auxiliary variable approach and pressure correction method. The free energy contains a double‐well potential, a nonlinear coupling entropy, and a Flory–Huggins potential. By introducing one scalar auxiliary variable, the system is transformed into an equivalent form so that the nonlinear terms can be treated semi‐explicitly. The scheme is linear and decoupled, and thus, they can be solved efficiently. We further prove that the semidiscretized scheme in time is unconditionally energy stable. Numerical experiments are performed to validate the accuracy and energy stability of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evapotranspirative (ET) landfill covers release soil moisture stored therein by grass root–water uptake during the drying process. The reduction of soil water content during this process, however, would cause an increase in gas permeability and landfill gas emission. Few studies have focused on the mechanisms of water release and gas emission in ET covers under drying conditions and how different cover configurations might affect the water–gas transport mechanisms. In this study, a series of soil column tests were conducted to investigate the water and gas transport in three configurations of ET covers, namely monolithic cover, two‐layer capillary barrier cover (CBC), and three‐layer CBC. All columns were subjected to the same drying treatment for 42 h followed by the application of a constant gas pressure at the column base. Vertical distributions of pore water pressure, volumetric water content, and pore gas pressure, as well as any gas emission rate from the top of each cover were measured. Compared with the monolithic ET cover, the two‐layer capillary barrier ET cover did not adversely affect the cumulative amount of water release, but the presence of the coarse‐grained layer, which has relatively high gas permeability, caused a higher gas emission rate. In the three‐layer cover, the addition of a low‐permeability layer underneath the capillary barrier effectively minimized gas emission. On the other hand, the upper two‐layer capillary barrier can avoid desiccation cracks of the low‐permeability layer during the drying period. Core Ideas: The water‐release capacity of three ET landfill covers was similar.The presence of a coarse‐grained layer in the ET covers caused a higher gas emission rate.The addition of a low‐permeability layer to the ET covers effectively minimized gas emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Haploinsufficiency is widely accepted as the pathogenic mechanism of spastic paraplegia type 4 (SPG4). However, there are some cases that cannot be explained by reduced function of the spastin protein encoded by SPAST. Objectives: To identify the causative gene of autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraplegia in three large Chinese families and explore the pathological mechanism of a spastin variant. Methods: Three large Chinese hereditary spastic paraplegia families with a total of 247 individuals (67 patients) were investigated, of whom 59 members were recruited to the study. Genetic testing was performed to identify the causative gene. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to analyze the effects of the mutant proteins in vitro. Results: In the three hereditary spastic paraplegia families, of whom three index cases were misdiagnosed as other types of neurological diseases, a novel c.985dupA (p.Met329Asnfs*3) variant in SPAST was identified and was shown to cosegregate with the phenotype in the three families. The c.985dupA mutation produced two truncated mutants (mutant M1 and M87 isoforms) that accumulated to a higher level than their wild‐type counterparts. Furthermore, the mutant M1 isoform heavily decorated the microtubules and rendered them resistant to depolymerization. In contrast, the mutant M87 isoform was diffusely localized in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm, could not decorate microtubules, and was not able to promote microtubule disassembly. Conclusions: SPAST mutations leading to premature stop codons do not always act through haploinsufficiency. The truncated spastin may damage the corticospinal tracts through an isoform‐specific toxic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence has been emerging of the importance of long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in genome instability. However, no study has established how to classify such lncRNAs linked to genomic instability, and whether that connection poses a therapeutic significance. Here, we established a computational frame derived from mutator hypothesis by combining profiles of lncRNA expression and those of somatic mutations in a tumor genome, and identified 185 candidate lncRNAs associated with genomic instability in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Through further studies, we established a six lncRNA‐based signature, which assigned patients to the high‐ and low‐risk groups with different prognosis. Further validation of this signature was performed in a number of separate cohorts of LUAD patients. In addition, the signature was found closely linked to genomic mutation rates in patients, indicating it could be a useful way to quantify genomic instability. In summary, this research offered a novel method by through which more studies may explore the function of lncRNAs and presented a possible new way for detecting biomarkers associated with genomic instability in cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A progressive average chart usually triggers initial out‐of‐control (OC) signals more simply and quickly than other memory‐type charts. In this paper, two progressive average control procedures are proposed for monitoring the coefficient of variation (CV) of a normally distributed process variable, namely, the progressive CV (PCV) and progressive resetting CV (PRCV) control charts , respectively. The implementation of the proposed charts is presented, and the necessary design parameters are provided. Through extensive numerical simulations, it is shown that the proposed PCV and PRCV charts outperform several existing control charts to detect the initial OC signals, especially for the small and moderate CV shifts, under each combination of the shift size, the sample size, and the in‐control target value of the CV. In addition, the application of the proposed control charts is illustrated by a detection example for a spinning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Starch is the main component of quinoa seeds. However, quinoa starch has poor solubility in cold water and poor mechanical resistance and is easily aged, which limit its application. Therefore, modification of its structure to improve its functional properties is necessary. RESULTS: This research used acetic anhydride and sodium trimetaphosphate to modify the structure of starch molecules and investigated their influence on bread quality. The results showed that both esterification and crosslinking prevented the aggregation behavior of starch molecules. Moreover, they both decreased the gelatinization enthalpy change and relative crystallinity of the starch. Compared with native starch, modification significantly decreased the gelatinization temperature from 57.01 to 52.01 °C and the esterified starch exhibited the lowest enthalpy change with a 44.2% decrease. Modified starch increased the specific volume and decreased the hardness and chewiness of bread. Modification did not influence the moisture content in bread but impacted the water retention capacity, depending on the degree of modification. Low and medium degrees of modification improved the water retention capacity during storage. By contrast, a high degree of modification (10 g kg−1 crosslinking agent) decreased the water retention capacity. The dually modified quinoa starch (esterified and crosslinked) showed no influence on the textural properties of bread. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that both esterification and crosslinking significantly improved the functional properties of quinoa starch. Crosslinked or esterified quinoa starches have the potential to improve the textural properties of bakery products. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of diamide derivatives containing α‐amino acids were designed and synthesized. These compounds were evaluated for their insecticidal activities against Plutella xylostella, Mythimna separate, Myzus persicae, and Tetranychus cinnabarinus. Most of the title compounds containing an l‐phenylglycine skeleton were endowed with good activities at the concentration of 500 mg·L−1. Compounds (R)‐A6 showed a potential value for further optimization as an insecticidal lead with the LC50 value of 86.8 mg·L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium alginate‐polyglutamic acid was used to develop a new diffusive gradient in thin films (SA‐PGA‐DGT) device, which was proven to be suitable for the investigation of labile Cd in soil. The adsorption capacity of Cd was calculated to be approximately 16.8 μg/cm2, which was hardly affected by factors including pH (5–9), ionic strength (0.1–100 mM), and the presence of other metals (Pb, Cu, Ni, and Cr). The SA‐PGA gel has dense and uneven pores with large specific surface area, which ensures the adsorption of Cd by functional groups of the gel. A kinetics study indicated that the adsorption rate of Cd by the binding gel can be described as a pseudo‐second‐order reaction. Deployment of the SA‐PGA‐DGT in the soils of Tang Gu (located in Binhai New District, Tianjin, China) showed a strong positive linear correlation between Cd measured by the device and exchangeable Cd measured by the Tessier method (R = 0.73, p < 0.01). Cadmium determined by the SA‐PGA‐DGT device was less affected by soil properties. This new SA‐PGA‐DGT has obvious advantages over other methods in respect of the labile Cd analysis in soil. The innovative novel device expands the variety of existing DGT technologies and can be utilized to monitor the level of labile Cd in soil effectively. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:1559–1569. © 2021 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a new class of miniaturized full‐metal bandpass filters (BPFs) and multiplexers using circular spiral resonators (CSRs). The proposed metal CSR is supported on the metal cavity's wall, which serves as a short‐end resonator. This CSR has obvious size reduction compared to traditional cavity resonators and owns low insertion loss, high power capacity and high selectivity. Then, three BPFs using two, three and four CSRs are designed and analysed. All the proposed filters have transmission zeroes (TZs) produced by the source‐load coupling without introducing additional coupling structure. The proposed CSR is further used to design diplexer and quadruplexer. All the proposed filters have ultra‐compact size, especially, the size of quadruplexer is only 0.23λ0 × 0.081λ0 × 0.067λ0. Finally, the fourth‐order filter and quadruplexer are fabricated and measured, the good agreement between the measured results and the simulated results validates the proposed design concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main observation and conclusion: The controllable achievement of C—C and C—P bond formations is developed via visible‐light‐promoted bromoalkyne dimerization or its further transformation with secondary phosphine oxides. The 1,1‐dibromo‐1‐en‐3‐ynes are formed when bromoalkyne is exposed to visible‐light. While alkynylphosphine oxides are generated when bromoalkynes are mixed with secondary phosphine oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present observational support for whistler mode waves guidance by the plasmapause gradients based on a case study and statistical analyses. Due to the combined effects of inhomogeneous magnetic fields and plasma densities, whistler mode waves near the inner edge of plasmapause (plasmasphere side) will be guided by a high density duct‐like (HDD) gradient, and tend to have very small wave normal angles (WNAs ≤ 20°) relative to the ambient magnetic field,B0. In contrast, whistler mode waves near the outer edge of the plasmapause (plasmatrough side) guided by a low density duct‐like (LDD) gradient, tend to have quite large WNAs (≥∼60°). Statistical analyses emphasize these remarkably different properties of waves in the plasmapause gradients. The results indicate that the wave ducting effects at the plasmapause may lead to unusual and anomalous energetic pitch angle scattering. Plain Language Summary: The plasmapause is a naturally formed transition region with a sharp gradient in density, dividing the Earth's magnetosphere into two physically distinct plasma regions: a dense inner region (i.e., plasmasphere) and a tenuous outer region (i.e., plasma trough). Whistler mode waves guidance by the inner and outer edges of plasmapause have been predicted by ray tracing studies and electron magnetohydrodynamics simulations. However, to date no direct observational evidence has been reported due to the lack of simultaneous measurements of waves and detailed plasma densities with sufficiently high resolution and reliability. We use Van Allen Probes (RBSP) orbiting satellite data to present in situ observations of whistler wave guidance by plasmapause gradients. Our analyses reveal that whistler mode waves near the inner edge of plasmapause are guided by a high density duct (HDD)‐like density gradient, and tend to have small wave normal angles (WNAs ≤ 20°). Whistler mode waves near the outer edge of the plasmapause are guided by a low density duct (LDD)‐like density gradient, and tend to have large WNAs (≥∼60°). These results reveal that the plasmapause can guide whistler waves and lead to unusual and anomalous pitch angle scattering. Key Points: We present in situ observation of the guiding effect of whistler mode waves by the plasmapause with NASA's Van Allen Probes dataThe guiding effect is resulted from the combined effect of the inhomogeneous magnetic field and plasma densityWhistler mode waves around the inner (outer) edge of plasmapause guided by high density duct‐like (low density duct‐like) density gradient, tend to have small (large) wave normal angles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy with neoantigens presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is one of the most promising approaches in cancer treatment. Using this approach, cancer vaccines can be designed to target tumor‐specific mutations that are not found in normal tissues. Clinical trials have demonstrated an increased immune response and eradication of tumors after injecting synthetic peptides selected from the immunopeptidome. Although the sequence of MHC binding peptides can be predicted from genome sequencing and prediction algorithms, this approach results in large numbers of predicted peptides, requiring the confirmation by mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. Identification of MHC peptides by direct MS analysis of immunopeptidome is accurate and sensitive, with tens of thousands of unique peptides potentially identified from either cancer cell line or tumor tissue. Peptides with mutations can also be identified with patient‐specific protein databases constructed from genome or transcriptome sequencing data. MS analysis also enables the characterization of the post‐translational modifications (PTMs) of those antigens that cannot be predicted. Moreover, PTMs were found to be more efficient in triggering an immune response. In addition to reviewing recent advances in the identification of neoantigens using MS, the techniques for cancer vaccine candidate selection and formulation, vaccine delivery systems, and the potential for use in combination with other therapeutics are also discussed. It is anticipated that MS‐based techniques will play an important role in future cancer vaccine development. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Mass Spec Rev 40:110–125, 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Rear Electrode Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells," was published in Advanced Functional Materials. The authors apologize for an incorrect citation in the Figure 9a,b caption on Page 11 of the original manuscript. The corrected text provides energy band diagrams and charge kinetic behaviors of HTM-based PSCs and C-PSCs. The error does not impact the report's conclusions. The authors express regret for any inconvenience caused. The article is authored by Rui Chen, Wenjun Zhang, Xinyu Guan, Hasan Raza, Shasha Zhang, Yiqiang Zhang, Pavel A. Troshin, Sergei A. Kuklin, Zonghao Liu, and Wei Chen. [Extracted from the article]

This study considers to asymptotically stabilise a switched linear system which transmits its feedback signals through a digital communication network. Such network can only provide a finite bit rate to represent feedback signals. In the concerned switched linear system, the mode mismatch may occur between the sensor and the controller due to the unknown switching time instants. It assumes that the mode switching is slow enough in the sense of combined dwell time and average dwell time, each individual mode is stabilisable and the available feedback bit rate is high enough, but still finite. In order to save network bandwidth resources, novel event‐triggering strategies are implemented, i.e. only when pre‐defined events are triggered, the system samples and transmits feedback signals. Then under the proposed event‐triggering strategies, a stabilising bit rate condition for the concerned switched linear system is derived. Moreover, this study proves that the obtained stabilising bit rate under the proposed event‐triggering strategies can be strictly lower than the stabilising bit rate required by the earlier work based on periodic sampling. Simulations are done to illustrate the bit rate superiority of the proposed event‐triggering strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to their large surface‐area‐to‐volume ratios, 2D titanium carbides and nitrides (MXenes) have emerged as promising materials for energy storage devices. However, poor interlayer and interparticle conductivity of MXenes (due to its anisotropic nature) is a bottleneck for widening their applications. Additionally, the stacked structure of MXene sheets limits the exposed surface area and renders a complex electrolyte diffusion. To address these issues, a unique composite comprising of homogeneously grown multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on carbon cloth (CC)‐supported MXene sheets (denoted as MWCNTs‐MXene@CC) is proposed. The MWCNTs‐MXene@CC reveal the synergistic combination of exfoliated large surface area and excellent conductivity. Consequently, the fabricated electrode exhibits a specific capacitance of 114.58 mF cm−2 at a discharge current of 1 mA cm−2, while maintaining high retention after 1.6 × 104 cycles at 10 mA cm−2. Such high performance of the composite structure is attributed to the superb interlayer and interparticle conductivity imparted by the grown MWCNTs. Furthermore, the grown MWCNTs also serve as the interlayer pillar in MXene sheets, thus preventing the spontaneous collapse of the latter. The approach can be extended to other electrocatalyst systems in which ion transport and electrolyte diffusion need to be addressed simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation method is an important ranging and positioning technology for indoor localisation and navigation. In this Letter, a novel TOA estimation method for smartphones based on a built-in microphone sensor is proposed, which utilises the propagation delay between optical and acoustic signals to achieve distance estimation. Unlike other TOA estimation technologies based on multi-sensors, a single MEMS microphone of a smartphone is used as the receiving sensor for both optical and acoustic signals, which is beneficial for eliminating the synchronisation error and improving ranging precision. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed TOA estimation method is effective and accurate with an average ranging error of <0.29 m under a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 1.18 dB for the smartphones tested in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated retrieval‐induced forgetting of motor sequences in samples of Chinese participants. Retrieval‐induced forgetting occurs when selective retrieval of a subset of information stored in memory causes forgetting for the non‐retrieved rest. This phenomenon critically depends on the organised storage of separate categories of memory representations. In studies with participants from a Western culture (Germany), a categorization in left‐ and right‐hand movements previously had been supported by letter stimuli based on a spatial mental representation of the Roman alphabet. The same assignment of letters from the beginning or end of the alphabet to motor sequences performed either with the left‐ or the right‐hand did not entail retrieval‐induced forgetting in the present study, however (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, visual features of displaying to‐be‐learned sequences additionally supported a distinction into left and right. In Experiment 3, learning trials provided verbal category labels. The occurrence of retrieval‐induced forgetting in the latter two experiments suggests language‐dependent organisation of non‐verbal items in memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the clinicopathologic characteristic and fertility results of patients with mucinous borderline ovarian tumors (MBOTs), and the effects of intraepithelial carcinoma (IECA) on them. Methods: Fifty‐two patients treated for MBOTs with or without IECA were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Patients with IECA were more frequently observed at stage Ic (3/12 vs 1/40, P = 0.034) and accompanied by microinvasive carcinoma (3/12 vs 1/40, P = 0.034). The detected rate of IECA by intraoperative frozen section (5/12, 41.7%) was much lower than that of MBOTs (82.5%, P = 0.010). About 61.5% patients in our study underwent fertility‐sparing surgery. Follow‐up information was retained completely in 41 patients. And all four tumor recurrences were observed (9.8%) in conservative surgery group in 66 months, though there was no statistical association (P = 0.280). There were three patients who recurred more than once, even one occurred tumor‐related death. Only one recurrent patient was in IECA group (P > 0.05). However, patients with IECA were more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy (3 of 12 vs 0 of 40, P = 0.010) and surgical staging (75% vs 52.5%, P = 0.200). As for fertility results, nine patients wished to be pregnant and seven of them (77.8%) were successful. Conclusion: For young patients with MBOTs, fertility results are satisfactory after conservative surgery. But patients should be fully informed about the relative high recurrent rate. And IECA has no statistical negative effects on MBOTs till now, but a long‐term follow‐up is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND To investigate the effect of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, muscle anaerobic glycolysis and antioxidant capacity of transported broilers, 1‐day‐old partridge‐shank‐broiler‐chickens (n = 192) were randomly divided into three groups for a 50‐day feeding trial. The broilers in the control group were fed a basal diet, and experienced 0.75‐h transport before slaughter. The broilers in the other three groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 500 or 1000 mg kg−1 betaine, respectively, and experienced 3‐h transport before slaughter (T, T + BET500 or T + BET1000 groups). RESULTS: Dietary betaine supplementation increased (P < 0.05) average daily gain of broilers, and feed conversion ratio was also improved (P < 0.05) by 500 mg kg−1 betaine supplementation. Compared with the control group, 3‐h transport increased (P < 0.05) live weight loss, serum corticosterone and cortisol concentrations, as well as muscle lactate and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, and decreased (P < 0.05) muscle pH24h, glycogen content and total superoxide dismutase activity. Compared with the T group, betaine supplementation decreased (P < 0.05) serum corticosterone and cortisol concentrations and muscle MDA content, and increased (P < 0.05) muscle a*24 h. In addition, 1000 mg kg−1 betaine supplementation further decreased (P < 0.05) muscle drip loss, lactate content and lactate dehydrogenase activity, and increased (P < 0.05) muscle glutathione content and glutathione peroxidase activity. CONCLUSION: Betaine supplementation not only improved growth performance of broilers, but also alleviated meat quality deterioration of transported broilers through altering muscle anaerobic glycolysis and antioxidant capacity. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel band‐stop filter (BSF) using coaxial‐fed slotted substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) is proposed in this article. The proposed BSF is designed using coaxial‐fed line with extended probes penetrating through the substrate and connecting each other, instead of using the main transmission line to dispose the resonators. The SIW cavities perform the resonators excited by the probes to produce a stopband. Then, two BSFs with one and two SIW cavities are firstly designed, both of them have SIW cavity resonator modes and lower‐band reflection zeroes. Then, two types of third‐order BSFs using two cavity resonators and one slot resonator are presented, the high selectivity is achieved by the RZs at both sides of the stopband. Finally, one of the proposed third‐order BSFs is fabricated and measured to verify the design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we have investigated the correlation between lower band chorus waves and electron beam‐like distribution with long‐term THEMIS data. Cold, hot, and beam electrons are assumed in the plasma. For quasi‐parallel chorus waves, they are usually observed along with a relatively weak electron beam. Moreover, the density ratio between beam and hot electrons nb/nh is positively correlated with the wave parallel electric field and inversely correlated with the hot electron density, in agreement with a formation of the beam by Landau acceleration during wave propagation, while, along with oblique waves, there typically exists a strong electron beam. Notably, the nb/nh is found to be independent of both the parallel electric field and hot electron density, indicating that the electron beam‐like distribution should be a precondition for exciting oblique waves rather than caused by waves. Our study provides some new insights into understanding the generation and evolution of chorus waves. Plain Language Summary: The interaction between whistler‐mode chorus waves and electrons has long been a hot topic, which is important for understanding the evolution and generation of chorus waves. Both theoretical and simulation studies have indicated that quasi‐parallel chorus waves are initially excited near the magnetic equator and then propagate toward high‐latitude regions with increasing wave normal angles and enhanced parallel electric fields. During the propagation, the Landau resonance between chorus waves and electrons begins to take effect, causing the damping of waves and the formation of local electron beam. Within the equatorial region, there also exist a number of oblique chorus waves with large wave normal angles, which should be also locally excited. To generate oblique waves, a beam‐like electron distribution is needed to suppress the Landau damping of oblique chorus waves, which should already exist before those waves. Although the two physical pictures are well known in this community, actually, there is still a lack of observational support. In this paper, we have made some new progress in understanding these two different scenarios by studying the correlation between chorus waves and electron beam‐like distribution with long‐term THEMIS data. Key Points: We have investigated the correlation between lower‐band chorus waves and electron beam‐like distribution using THEMIS data.Along with quasi‐parallel chorus waves, a weak elelctron beam can be observed, which is caused by Landau resonance with waves.But for oblique chorus waves, the electron beam‐like distribution should be a precondition for exciting waves rather than caused by waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core Ideas Large‐scale sloping 3‐layer flume model tests were carried out. Core Ideas Infiltration increased with slope angle due to lower soil water potential in upper two layers. Core Ideas Lateral water flow in the upper two layers increased with slope angle due to water backfill effect. Core Ideas Slope angle had negligible effects on bottom clay layer due to its low permeability. --> A three‐layer capillary barrier soil cover has been recently proposed for minimizing rainwater percolation in humid climates. Its performance has been preliminarily investigated by both physical and numerical modeling at a fixed slope angle of 10°. However, the slope angle of soil cover is varied in engineering practice and hence it is an essential design parameter. In this study, the influence of slope angle on water flow in the three‐layer soil cover was investigated via flume model tests subjected to heavy rainfall. A 3‐m long flume model of soil cover was instrumented to monitor matric potential and volumetric moisture content as well as components of water balance at slope angles of 3°, 10° and 18°. Furthermore, numerical simulations of transient seepage were conducted to back‐analyze the experiments. Both experimental and numerical results showed that the infiltration ratio increased as the slope angle increased because of the increase in the soil water potential gradient normal to the slope gradient. Meanwhile, the lateral water flow in the upper two layers was enhanced by the increase of slope angle due to water backfill effect at the top of clay layer. Correspondingly, the steeper the slope, the lower the matric potential, volumetric moisture content and soil water potential in the upper two layers were. Due to low hydraulic conductivity of the bottom clay layer, the percolation through the cover remained virtually nil at each slope angle. The above findings could have significant implications for the design of sloping three‐layer capillary barrier soil cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Porous graphic carbon chromatography (PGC) has a different mechanism in the retention of tryptic peptides compared with reversed‐phase chromatography and in this study we show that coupling PGC with tandem mass spectrometry offer advantages for the quantitation of phosphorylation stoichiometry and characterization of site‐specific glycosylation. Methods: Digests of protein standards (horse myoglobin, bovine fetuin and β‐casein) were analyzed with a capillary liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) system by coupling an Agilent 1100 HPLC system to a Synapt G2‐Si HDMS (Waters). Peptides were separated using a HyperCarb PGC column (300 μm i.d. × 100 mm) packed with 3 μm particles. MS/MS data were collected in data‐dependent mode and three MS/MS scans were acquired after the full MS scan. RAW data were transformed to.mgf by PLGS (Waters) and searched against the Swissprot database by Mascot. Chromatograms and MS/MS spectra of identified compounds were extracted with Masslynx (Waters) and imported to Origin for analysis. Glycan composition and peptide sequence were manually annotated. Results: PGC/MS/MS enabled accurate quantitation of the stoichiometry of specific phosphorylation sites from β‐casein by efficient separation of the phosphopeptide and its non‐phosphorylated counterpart, which cannot be achieved by reversed‐phase chromatography. PGC/MS/MS also enabled comprehensive characterization of protein sialoglycosylation as isomeric glycopeptides with different combinations of α2‐3‐ and α2‐6‐linked sialic acids can be separated and the ratios of each combination were verified by exoglycosidase digestion. Conclusions: PGC has demonstrated superior separation of peptides with phosphorylation and glycosylation and can be used as an alternative in the proteomic characterization of post‐translational modifications (PTMs) by polar groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper aims to stabilize a scalar continuous‐time linear system that transmits its feedback information through a digital communication network. The finite bit rate of the feedback network plays a critical role in the input‐to‐state stability of that system. Stabilizing bit rate conditions depend on not only the system matrix but also the uncertainty of the system matrix and the unknown clock offset between the transmitter (sensor) and the receiver (controller). Compared with the current literature, this paper can handle the system matrix uncertainty and clock offset through implementing an event‐triggered sampling strategy and derive stabilizing conditions that require lower bit rates than those of periodic sampling strategies. Such bit rate saving mainly comes from the fact that our event‐triggered strategy can extract state information from the receive time instants of feedback packets without any extra communication cost. Simulations are done to confirm the effectiveness of the obtained stabilizing bit rate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of dietary betaine supplementation on growth performance, carcass characteristics, muscle amino acid contents, meat quality, antioxidant capacity, myogenic gene expression and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling pathway in Cherry Valley ducks were evaluated. A total of 720 1‐day‐old Cherry Valley ducks were randomly distributed into four groups with six replicates of 30 birds for a 42‐day feeding trial. Ducks were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0 (control), 250, 500 or 1,000 mg/kg betaine, respectively. Growth performance was not affected by betaine. Incremental levels of betaine linearly (p < 0.05) increased the breast muscle yield and linearly (p < 0.05) decreased the subcutaneous fat thickness and the abdominal fat yield. The contents of methionine, serine, glycine, glutamate and total non‐essential amino acid in breast muscle were linearly (p < 0.05) increased by betaine supplementation. With increasing betaine levels, the drip loss and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were linearly (p < 0.05) decreased, and the redness of meat (linear p < 0.05), the activities of catalase (CAT) (linear p < 0.05) and total superoxide dismutase (T‐SOD) (linear p < 0.05, quadratic p < 0.05) were increased. Moreover, the myogenic differentiation factor 1 (MyoD1) mRNA expression and the mTOR mRNA expression and protein phosporylation were linearly (p < 0.05) up‐regulated, and the myostatin (MSTN) mRNA expression was linearly (p < 0.05) down‐regulated by betaine supplementation. Overall, this study indicated that betaine supplementation did not affect the growth performance of Cherry Valley ducks, but could linearly increase some amino acid contents in breast muscle, especially glycine, and increase muscle antioxidant activity to improve meat quality. Moreover, betaine supplementation could improve the breast muscle yield by increasing MyoD1 mRNA expression, decreasing MSTN mRNA expression and regulating mTOR signalling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]