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GeTe has been considered as a promising mid‐temperature thermoelectric (TE) candidate, but its zT value is severely limited by the excessive hole concentration and high thermal conductivity. Here, it is demonstrated that the TE properties of GeTe can be significantly improve by defect engineering of Sb‐Pb and AgCuTe codoping. The Sb‐Pb codoping is adopted to optimize the carrier concentration and manipulate the rhombohedral lattice distortion, leading to valence band convergence and enhanced power factor. The AgCuTe alloying introduces multiscale phonon scattering centers including dislocations and nano‐precipitates to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity in GeTe. Consequently, a maximum zT of 2.3 at 773 K and an average zT of 1.43 (300–773 K) are obtained in (Ge0.84Sb0.06Pb0.1Te)0.99(AgCuTe)0.01. Moreover, the fabricated thermoelectric module exhibits a high output power density of 0.59 W cm–2 and an energy conversion efficiency of 7.9% at ΔT = 500 K, suggesting hierarchical defect engineering is an effective strategy to realize high‐performance GeTe‐based thermoelectric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non‐coding RNAs that play pivotal roles in the host response to invading pathogens. Among these pathogens, Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is one of the main causes of substantial economic losses in sericulture, and there are relatively few studies on the specific functions of miRNAs in the B. mori–BmNPV interaction. Therefore, we conducted transcriptome sequencing to identify differentially expressed (DE) messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and miRNAs in the midgut of 2 B. mori strains (BmNPV‐susceptible strain P50 and BmNPV‐resistant strain A35) after BmNPV infection. Through correlation analysis of the miRNA and mRNA data, we identified a comprehensive set of 21 miRNAs and 37 predicted target mRNAs. Notably, miR‐3351, which has high expression in A35, exhibited remarkable efficacy in suppressing BmNPV proliferation. Additionally, we confirmed that miR‐3351 binds to the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of B. mori glutathione S‐transferase epsilon 6 (BmGSTe6), resulting in its downregulation. Conversely, BmGSTe6 displayed an opposite expression pattern to miR‐3351, effectively promoting BmNPV proliferation. Notably, BmGSTe6 levels were positively correlated with glutathione S‐transferase activity, consequently influencing intracellular glutathione content in the infected samples. Furthermore, our investigation revealed the protective role of glutathione against BmNPV infection in BmN cells. In summary, miR‐3351 modulates glutathione content by downregulating BmGSTe6 to inhibit BmNPV proliferation in B. mori. Our findings enriched the research on the role of B. mori miRNAs in the defense against BmNPV infection, and suggests that the antiviral molecule, glutathione, offers a novel perspective on preventing viral infection in sericulture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi2Te3‐based materials play a crucial role in solid cooling and power generation, but the rapidly deteriorated ZT with rising temperatures above 450 K severely limits further applications. Here, this paper reports a novel preparation method of annealing treatment for molten ingot, which can enhance the thermoelectric performance of n‐type Bi2Te2.4Se0.6 in a wide temperature range. Instead of conventional halides, copper is adopted to regulate the carrier concentration and grain size to optimal levels. During the process of annealing at 573 K for 4 h, the number of twins significantly increases and the grains of Cu‐doped samples become larger and more oriented. These optimizations lead to higher carrier mobility with similar carrier concentration compared with the sample without heat treatment. The synergistic effects of Cu doping and annealing treatment realize a high average ZT of 0.89 within 300–600 K in n‐type Cu0.02Bi2Te2.4Se0.6. Combined with p‐type (Bi,Sb)2Te3, the fabricated thermoelectric device exhibits a high conversion efficiency of 6.9% at a temperature difference of 300 K. This study suggests that annealing treatment is a simple and effective scheme to promote the applications of n‐type Bi2(Te,Se)3 in a wide temperature range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We analyzed quantitative computed tomography (CT) and chemical shift–encoded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from a Chinese cohort to investigate the effects of BMI and aging on different adipose tissue (AT) depots. Methods: In 400 healthy, community‐dwelling individuals aged 22 to 83 years, we used MRI to quantify proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of the lumbar spine (L2–L4) bone marrow AT (BMAT), the psoas major and erector spinae (ES) muscles, and the liver. Abdominal total AT, visceral AT (VAT), and subcutaneous AT (SAT) areas were measured at the L2‐L3 level using quantitative CT. Partial correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of each AT variable with age and BMI. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed in which each AT variable was evaluated in turn as a function of age and the other five independent AT measurements. Results: Of the 168 men, 29% had normal BMI (<24.0 kg/m2), 47% had overweight (24.0–27.9 kg/m2), and 24% had obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m2). In the 232 women, the percentages were 46%, 32%, and 22%, respectively. Strong or very strong correlations with BMI were found for total AT, VAT, and SAT in both sexes. BMAT and ES PDFF was strongly correlated with age in women and moderately correlated in men. In both sexes, BMAT PDFF correlated only with age and not with any of the other AT depots. Psoas PDFF correlated only with ES PDFF and not with age or the other AT depots. Liver PDFF correlated with BMI and VAT and weakly with SAT in men. VAT and SAT correlated with age and each other in both sexes. Conclusions: Age and BMI are both associated with adiposity, but their effects differ depending on the type of AT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial expression recognition (FER) is one of the popular research topics in computer vision. Most deep learning expression recognition methods perform well on a single dataset, but may struggle in cross‐domain FER applications when applied to different datasets. FER under cross‐dataset also suffers from difficulties such as feature distribution deviation and discriminator degradation. To address these issues, we propose a prototype‐oriented similarity transfer framework (POST) for cross‐domain FER. The bidirectional cross‐attention Swin Transformer (BCS Transformer) module is designed to aggregate local facial feature similarities across different domains, enabling the extraction of relevant cross‐domain features. The dual learnable category prototypes is designed to represent potential space samples for both source and target domains, ensuring enhanced domain alignment by leveraging both cross‐domain and specific domain features. We further introduce the self‐training resampling (STR) strategy to enhance similarity transfer. The experimental results with the RAF‐DB dataset as the source domain and the CK+, FER2013, JAFFE and SFEW 2.0 datasets as the target domains, show that our approach achieves much higher performance than the state‐of‐the‐art cross‐domain FER methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of vector magnetic fields at nanoscale dimensions is critical in applications ranging from basic material science and fundamental physics to information storage and medical diagnostics. So far, nanoscale vector magnetic field sensing is achieved solely by exploiting a single nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) center in a diamond, by evaluating the Zeeman splitting of NV spin qubits by using the technique of an optically‐detected magnetic resonance. This protocol requires a complex optical setup and expensive detection systems to detect the photoluminescence light, which may limit miniaturization and scalability. Here, a simple approach with all‐electric operation to sensing a vector magnetic field at 200 × 200 nm2 dimensions is experimentally demonstrated, by monitoring a stochastic nanomagnet's transition probability from a metastable state, excited by a driving current due to spin‐orbit torque, to a settled state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevations in circling branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) levels associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Morus alba L. water extracts (MLE) show hypoglycemic function, but the precise mechanism remains obscure. This study is designed to investigate the association of the antidiabetes effect of MLE with the BCAAs co‐metabolism modulated by host and gut microbiota. Tissue‐specific expressions of BCAA‐catabolizing enzymes were detected by RT‐PCR and western blot, respectively. The components of the intestinal microflora were analyzed by high‐throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that MLE administration improved blood glucose and insulin level, decreased inflammatory cytokines expression, and lowered serum and feces BCAAs levels. Furthermore, MLE reversed the abundance changes of the bacterial genera correlated with serum and feces BCAAs, such as Anaerovorax, Bilophila, Blautia, Colidextribacter, Dubosiella, Intestinimonas, Lachnoclostridium, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136, Oscillibacter, and Roseburia. Functionality prediction indicated that MLE potentially inhibited bacterial BCAAs biosynthesis, and promoted the tissue‐specific expression of BCAAs catabolic enzyme. More importantly, MLE had obvious impacts on BCAA catabolism in germ‐free‐mimic T2DM mice. Those results indicated that MLE improving T2DM‐related biochemical abnormalities is associated with not only gut microbiota modification but also the tissue‐specific expression of BCAAs catabolic enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The good co‐existence of midgap state and valence band degeneracy is realized in Bi‐alloyed GeTe through the In‐Cd codoping to play different but complementary roles in the valence band structure modification. In doping induces midgap state and results in a considerably improved Seebeck coefficient near room temperature, while Cd doping significantly increases the Seebeck coefficient in the mid‐high temperature region by promoting the valence band convergence. The synergistic effects obviously increase the density of state effective mass from 1.39 to 2.65 m0, and the corresponding carrier mobility still reaches 34.3 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. Moreover, the Bi‐In‐Cd co‐alloying introduces various phonon scattering centers including nanoprecipitates and strain field fluctuations and suppresses the lattice thermal conductivity to a rather low value of 0.56 W m−1 K−1 at 600 K. As a result, the Ge0.89Bi0.06In0.01Cd0.04Te sample obtains excellent thermoelectric properties of zTmax ≈2.12 at 650 K and zTavg ≈1.43 between 300 and 773 K. This study illustrates that the thermoelectric performance of GeTe can be optimized in a wide temperature range through the synergy of midgap state and valence band convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The present study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of serum ferritin in critically ill patients with sepsis by using the MIMIC-IV database. Methods. Data were extracted from the MIMIC-IV database. Adult patients who met the sepsis-3 criteria and had the test of ferritin were included. Patients were divided into subgroups according to the initial serum ferritin. The association between initial serum ferritin and in-hospital mortality was performed by using Lowessregression, logistic regression, and ROC analysis. Subgroup analysis was used to search for the interacting factors and verify the robustness of the results. Results. Analysis of the 2,451 patients revealed a positive linear relationship between serum ferritin and in-hospital mortality. Patients with high-ferritin had a higher risk of in-hospital mortality, but no significant association was found in the low-ferritin subgroup compared with those whose ferritin was in the normal reference range. Serum ferritin had moderate predictive power for in-hospital mortality (AUC = 0.651), with an optimal cut-off value of 591.5 ng/ml. Ferritin ≥591.5 ng/ml acted as an independent prognostic predictor of in-hospital mortality, which increased the risk of in-hospital mortality by 119%. Our findings were still robust in subgroup analysis, and acute kidney injury and anemia were considered interactive factors. Conclusion. High-level serum ferritin was an independent prognostic marker for the prediction of mortality in patients with sepsis. Further high-quality research is needed to confirm the relationship between ferritin and the prognosis of septic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analog arithmetic operations are the most fundamental mathematical operations used in image and signal processing as well as artificial intelligence (AI). In‐memory computing (IMC) offers a high performance and energy‐efficient computing paradigm. To date, in‐memory analog arithmetic operations with emerging nonvolatile devices are usually implemented using discrete components, which limits the scalability and blocks large scale integration. Here, a prototypical implementation of in‐memory analog arithmetic operations (summation, subtraction and multiplication) is experimentally demonstrated, based on in‐memory electrical current sensing units using spin‐orbit torque (SOT) devices. The proposed structures for analog arithmetic operations are smaller than the state‐of‐the‐art complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) counterparts by several orders of magnitude. Moreover, data to be processed and computing results can be locally stored, or the analog computing can be done in the nonvolatile SOT devices, which are exploited to experimentally implement the image edge detection and signal amplitude modulation with a simple structure. Furthermore, an artificial neural network (ANN) with SOT devices based synapses is constructed to realize pattern recognition with high accuracy of ≈95%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The neural basis of rosacea is not well understood. This study aimed to determine whether cerebral glucose metabolism (CGM) changes on 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (18F‐FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans can detect functional network changes in specific brain areas in patients with rosacea. Materials and methods: Eight adults with rosacea and 10 age/sex‐matched healthy adults (controls) were enrolled in the study. 18F‐FDG PET/CT brain images for all eight patients and whole‐body images for two of the patients were analyzed qualitatively and semi‐quantitatively. Differences between the study groups were examined using Fischer's exact test and a Student's t‐test. A voxel‐based analysis using statistical parametric mapping was performed to compare the brain metabolism of the patients with that of the controls. Results: Compared with the controls, the patients with rosacea showed extensive changes in the CGM signals in the cerebral cortex and limbic system, with less CGM shown in the right superior parietal lobule, right postcentral gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, and lateral posterior thalamic nucleus and more CGM in the right precentral gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, and cerebellar tonsil. No dysmetabolic lesions were found in the whole‐body 18F‐FDG PET/CT images. Conclusion: Specific neural functional changes occur in patients with rosacea that may explain its pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerged strategy of entropy engineering provides new ideas for realizing high‐performance thermoelectric materials, but it is still much unresolved how to achieve delicate trade‐off between the carrier mobility mH and the lattice thermal conductivity κph in taking advantage of configurational entropy ΔS. Herein, the significant advances of ultralow κph yet decent mH in a new medium‐entropy system of well‐designed (Pb, Ge, Sb, Cd) co‐alloyed SnTe is reported. Moreover, the co‐alloying also optimizes the carrier concentration nH and promotes the valence band convergence, thereby yielding an excellent Seebeck coefficient and compensating for decreased electrical conductivity. Consequently, a high peak ZT of 1.5 at 800 K, a record average ZT of 0.84 (300−800 K), and a remarkable Vickers hardness of 134 HV are concurrently attained in Cd0.02(Sn0.59Pb0.15Ge0.2Sb0.06)0.98Te. Benefiting from the synergistically increased ZT and mechanical strength, the fabricated 17‐couple SnTe‐based thermoelectric module exhibits a competitive conversion efficiency of 6.3% at ΔT = 350 °C. This study not only provides a paradigm of the medium‐entropy design for thermoelectric materials but also puts forward an innovative scheme for low‐grade heat harvest by SnTe‐based TE module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive research on photoelectric sensors that typically output signals to indicate the transient ultraviolet (UV) intensity, developing wearable, electrometric photodetectors that can reveal the cumulative UV exposure remains challenging. Here, an organic–inorganic hybrid bulk heterojunction (BHJ) is used to construct a skin‐mimicking, wearable photodetector, based on conductive polymer sensitized with semiconducting nanoparticles. Owing to the UV‐induced reduction reactions, the BHJ photodetectors (PDs) can long remember the UV radiation previously exposed. Moreover, based on the solution processability of bulk heterojunction blends and rich surface functional groups of polydopamine, BHJ PDs can fully inherit the ultraflexibility from electrospun fiber‐networked structure. Thus, this fiber‐configured photodetector is working well even at the strains of up to 60%. Without requiring any complicated analytical tool, its memory effect and simple‐to‐process output facilitate the working mechanism of power‐free UV monitor, while catering to the individual need of different skin types. This work combines the bottom materials design to the top device application, pointing out a new direction in wearable UV sensor technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bank personal credit is affected by factors such as inadequate management and lagging risk information management system. Bank default risk analysis is needed to improve the ability of bank credit risk management. Therefore, a bank customer default risk analysis based on embedded microprocessor wireless communication is proposed. Firstly, it analyzes the risk assessment parameter evaluation system of personal credit, constructs the quantitative analysis model of personal credit risk, calculates the grade gradient value in the bank's personal credit risk standard, carries out the mathematical modeling of bank customer default risk assessment, strengthens the implementation of "three checks," tracks and manages the borrower, supervises the use of credit funds, improves the social credit investigation system, and on this basis, optimizes the mathematical model of bank customer default risk assessment. The experimental results show that this method can realize the bank's quantitative evaluation and control of personal credit risk, improve the bank's credit risk prevention and control ability, and provide a reliable basis for the bank's credit risk evaluation operation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gut microbiota plays a key role in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Mulberry leaf has a hypoglycemic effect, but the potential mechanism is not fully understood. This study aimed to explore the influences and potential mechanisms of mulberry leaf water extract (MLWE) intervention on mice with T2D induced through a high‐fat and high‐sucrose diet combined with streptozotocin by the combination of fecal metabolomics and gut microbiota analysis. Results showed that MLWE could decrease fasting blood glucose and body weight while ameliorating lipid profiles, insulin resistance, liver inflammation, and the accumulation of lipid droplets in T2D mice. MLWE could reverse the abundances of the phyla Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes and the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes, and increase the abundances of the phyla Cyanobacteria and Epsilonbacteraeota in the feces of T2D mice. The abundances of genera Alloprevotella, Parabacteroides, Muribaculaceae, and Romboutsia in the feces of T2D mice could be reversed, while Oscillatoriales_cyanobacterium and Gastranaerophilales could be reinforced by MLWE supplementation. The levels of nine metabolites in the feces of T2D mice were improved, among which glycine, Phe‐Pro, urocanic acid, phylloquinone, and lactate were correlated with Romboutsia and Gastranaerophilales. Taken together, we conclude that MLWE can effectively alleviate T2D by mediating the host–microbial metabolic axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroelectric devices have attracted intensive research in memory and logic applications due to their non‐volatility, scalability, and energy efficiency. As an emerging technology, the ferroelectric nanocrack device offers a simple and efficient way to manipulate the device resistance states with a high on/off ratio. Meanwhile, its complementary switching enables the construction of logic gates with a similar way as the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Here, it is demonstrated that the memory and logic functions can be realized by the same device structure with superior electrical performance, such as reliable metallic on‐state contacts, zero off‐state leakage current, and wide working temperature range (–110 to 150 °C). Moreover, the scaling performance has been investigated and the operating voltage can be reduced to average 2.5 V with device scaling down to sub‐micrometers. Following the scaling rule, the operating voltage can shrink largely to sub‐1 V at 100 nm nodes. In addition, the logic gates including NOT, 2:1 MUX, AND, and OR functions have been experimentally demonstrated. It is believed that this work can expand the scope of ferroelectronics and be applicable to logic‐in‐memory computing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth telluride is widely used in thermoelectric cooling, but the commercial zone‐melting materials suffer the poor mechanical property and dramatically decrease thermoelectric performance at intermediate temperature. Herein, a low‐cost and high‐efficiency preparation technique named microdroplet deposition is demonstrated to synergistically improve the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of Bi0.48Sb1.52Te3 alloy. It is found that a weakly preferred alignment with fine grains occurs during the molten droplets flattening and stacking processes. Although the obtained power factor is not further improved, the corresponding κl is significantly suppressed due to the increased interfacial thermal resistance between flakes by the micropores and dense grain boundaries. Consequently, a peak ZT of 1.12 and a Vickers hardness of 0.60 GPa are simultaneously achieved in the microdroplet‐deposited sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The upscaling of perovskite solar cells to achieve high‐throughput and highly efficient photovoltaic devices is still challenging. In this work, spray deposition of MAPbI3‐xBrx mixed halide perovskite is achieved using a ternary channel pumping system to deposit methylammonium iodide, PbI2, and PbBr2 precursor solutions. The compositions of six kinds of perovskite films (x = 0–0.5) are manipulated by adjusting the flow rate of the syringe pump rather than through traditional methods of preparing and changing the chemical management of the halogen precursors. Large clusters in highly oriented crystalline perovskite films are fabricated as MAPbI2.91Br0.09 film (x = 0.09) with a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 15.60%. When vacuum‐assisted thermal annealing is used, the optimized PCE increased further up to 17.07%. To confirm the homogeneity of the perovskite film over the large area (7 × 10 cm2), eight divided subcells with dimensions of 2.5 × 2.5 cm2 showed the highest and average PCE of 17.11% and 16.25 ± 0.77%, respectively. These findings highlight the relevance of high‐throughput screening of perovskite compositions and the versatility of scalable solution process, in which active layers are deposited by spray‐coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isoliquiritigenin (ILG) and isoliquiritin (ILQ), two kinds of major flavonoids in licorice, are biological active substances with antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and tumor‐suppressive effects. However, their in vivo metabolites, possible material basis of this two licorice chalcones for the treatment of diseases, have not been studied completely. To determine the metabolism of ILG and ILQ, after oral administration of 100 mg/kg/day of these compounds for consecutive 8 days, the metabolites of these two licorice chalcones in mice plasma, urine, feces, and bile were determined using liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry in this study. The structures of those metabolites were tentatively identified according to their fragment pathways, accurate masses, characteristic product ions, metabolism law, and reference standards‐matching. As a result, a total of 25 and 29 metabolites of ILG and ILQ were identified, respectively. Seven main metabolic pathways, oxidation and reduction, deglycosylation and glycosylation, dehydroxylation and hydroxylation, demethoxylation and methoxylation, acetylation, glucuronidation, and sulfation, were summarized to tentatively explain how the metabolites were biologically transformed. These results provide the important information on the metabolism of ILG and ILQ, which may be helpful for the further research of their pharmacological mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Study Aims: Small polyps are occasionally missed during colonoscopy. This study was conducted to validate the diagnostic performance of a polyp‐detection algorithm to alert endoscopists to unrecognized lesions. Methods: A computer‐aided detection (CADe) algorithm was developed based on convolutional neural networks using training data from 1991 still colonoscopy images from 283 subjects with adenomatous polyps. The CADe algorithm was evaluated on a validation dataset including 50 short videos with 1–2 polyps (3.5 ± 1.5 mm, range 2–8 mm) and 50 videos without polyps. Two expert colonoscopists and two physicians in training separately read the same videos, blinded to the presence of polyps. The CADe algorithm was also evaluated using eight full videos with polyps and seven full videos without a polyp. Results: The per‐video sensitivity of CADe for polyp detection was 88% and the per‐frame false‐positive rate was 2.8%, with a confidence level of ≥30%. The per‐video sensitivity of both experts was 88%, and the sensitivities of the two physicians in training were 84% and 76%. For each reader, the frames with missed polyps appearing on short videos were significantly less than the frames with detected polyps, but no trends were observed regarding polyp size, morphology or color. For full video readings, per‐polyp sensitivity was 100% with a per‐frame false‐positive rate of 1.7%, and per‐frame specificity of 98.3%. Conclusions: The sensitivity of CADe to detect small polyps was almost equivalent to experts and superior to physicians in training. A clinical trial using CADe is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mg2Si1−xSnx solid solution is one of the most representative examples of band engineering, in which the thermoelectric performance is significantly improved by the conduction band convergence. The mechanism behind it is simply explained by the chemical differences between Si and Sn. Here a systematically theoretical study is reported based on Wannier function analysis. It is revealed that the band convergence in Mg2Si1−xSnx is actually driven by the variation of lattice constant, since the heavy and light conduction valleys have different dependence on the bonding length. Alternatively, the band engineering can also be achieved by introducing cation dopants to tune the relative strength of the two chemical bonds directly. In Mg2−xSrxSi, a similar band convergence to Mg2Si1−xSnx is predicted by the band structure calculations. This work provides an insightful understanding of the band convergence in Mg2Si‐based materials, and it enables a more efficient and plentiful design for experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphyne, a theorized carbon allotrope possessing only sp‐ and sp2‐hybridized carbon atoms, holds great potentials in many fields, especially in catalysis and energy‐transfer/storage devices. Using a bottom‐up strategy, we synthesized a new N‐doped graphyne analogue, triazine‐ and 1,4‐diethynylbenzene‐based graphyne TA‐BGY, in solution in gram‐scale. The unique sp/sp2 carbon‐conjugated TA‐BGY possesses an extended porous network structure with a BET surface area of approximately 300 m2 g−1. Owing to its low optical band gap (1.44 eV), TA‐BGY was expected to have many applications, which were exemplified by the photodegradation of methyl orange and photocatalytic bacterial inactivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. We performed the current study primarily to characterize the independent association of blood pressure with heart rate-corrected QT (QTc) interval after adjusting for cardiovascular confounding factors and left ventricular mass (LVM) in a large general population in China. Methods. All enrolled 10,553 permanent residents with age ≥ 35 years from Liaoning Province were investigated by a questionnaire and then subjected to physical examinations, laboratory analyses, and electrocardiogram (ECG) as well as echocardiogram at the same visit. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the independent association of blood pressure with QTc interval. Results. Hypertensive subjects had significantly longer QTc interval and higher prevalence of prolonged QTc interval compared with normotensive ones in all subgroups stratified by gender and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (all Ps ≤ 0.001). Multiple relevant clinical confounding factors and LVM were all adjusted in the multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses. As a result, both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were independently associated with QTc interval (β = 0.12 and 0.16, respectively; Ps < 0.001). Furthermore, as categorical variables, hypertension was independently associated with prolonged QTc interval (OR = 1.71; P < 0.001). Sex-specific analyses revealed that the independent associations were detected in both males and females (all Ps < 0.001). Conclusions. These key findings of the current study highlighted the fact that hypertension was significantly associated with prolonged QTc interval and the correlations were independent of confounding factors and LVM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylation of the fifth carbon atom in cytosine is an epigenetic modification of deoxyribonucleic acid that plays important roles in numerous cellular processes and disease pathogenesis. Three additional states of cytosine, that is, 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine, 5‐formylcytosine and 5‐carboxylcytosine, have been identified and associated with the diagnosis and/or prognosis of diseases. However, accurate measurement of those intermediates is a challenge since their global levels are relatively low. A number of innovative methods have been developed to detect and quantify these compounds in biological samples, such as blood, tissue and urine, etc. This review focuses on recent advancement in detection and quantification of four cytosine modifications, based on which, the development, diagnosis, and prognosis of diseases could be monitored through non‐invasive procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dear Editor, Naevus sebaceous is a congenital skin hamartoma predominantly composed of sebaceous glands but also involving epidermal, hair follicle and apocrine gland abnormalities.[1] Various types of epithelial neoplasms, sometimes multiple, have been reported in retrospective studies. However, no English database is available in Northeast China and only one large Asian study has been published in recent decades.[2] Therefore, we performed a retrospective analysis of 251 naevus sebaceous patients in Shen Yang, China. Only two types of malignant tumours were found: 4 cases of basal cell carcinoma (13.3% of all neoplasms) and 2 sebaceous carcinomas (SC, 6.7% of all neoplasms). [Extracted from the article]

Rural populations face a much higher burden of child undernutrition than urban populations, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa, a continent where many households still live in remote rural areas. Despite this, relatively little research has analyzed nutrition differences across rural and urban populations, or across gradients of rural remoteness. In this article, we study these differences in sub‐Saharan Africa by linking spatial data on travel times to urban centers with 20,000 or more people as our measure of remoteness to Demographic Health Survey data covering 74,398 children from 10,900 communities in 23 countries. We find that children in rural communities have much worse linear growth and dietary outcomes than urban children, but that children in more remote rural communities face only a small nutritional penalty compared to children from less remote communities. Moreover, the harmful effects of remoteness and rural living largely disappear once we control for education, wealth, and social/infrastructural services. This implies that the key nutritional disadvantages faced by rural populations stem chiefly from social and economic poverty. Combating these problems requires a combination of innovative cost‐effective mechanisms for extending basic services to isolated rural communities and facilitating welfare‐enhancing migration to urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims The aims of this study are to apply a theory-based mechanistic model to describe the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of S- and R-warfarin. Methods Clinical data were obtained from 264 patients. Total concentrations for S- and R-warfarin were measured by ultra-high performance liquid tandem mass spectrometry. Genotypes were measured using pyrosequencing. A sequential population PK parameter with data method was used to describe the international normalized ratio (INR) time course. Data were analyzed with NONMEM. Model evaluation was based on parameter plausibility and prediction-corrected visual predictive checks. Results Warfarin PK was described using a one-compartment model. CYP2C9 *1/*3 genotype had reduced clearance for S-warfarin, but increased clearance for R-warfarin. The in vitro parameters for the relationship between prothrombin complex activity (PCA) and INR were markedly different (A = 0.560, B = 0.386) from the theory-based values (A = 1, B = 0). There was a small difference between healthy subjects and patients. A sigmoid Emax PD model inhibiting PCA synthesis as a function of S-warfarin concentration predicted INR. Small R-warfarin effects was described by competitive antagonism of S-warfarin inhibition. Patients with VKORC1 AA and CYP4F2 CC or CT genotypes had lower C50 for S-warfarin. Conclusion A theory-based PKPD model describes warfarin concentrations and clinical response. Expected PK and PD genotype effects were confirmed. The role of predicted fat free mass with theory-based allometric scaling of PK parameters was identified. R-warfarin had a minor effect compared with S-warfarin on PCA synthesis. INR is predictable from 1/PCA in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As essential endogenous compounds, nucleobases and nucleosides fulfill various functions in living organisms. This study presents the development and validation of a new hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous quantification of 19 nucleobases and nucleosides in rat plasma. For the sample preparation, 15 kinds of protein precipitants were evaluated according to the chromatographic profile and ion response of analytes. The optimization of chromatographic separation was respectively performed using reversed-phase liquid chromatography and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode; each separation mode included two test columns with different stationary phases. The chromatographic profile and parameters such as half-width ( W1/2), capacity factor ( K′) and tailing factor ( ft) were used to evaluate the separation efficiencies. Furthermore, the adopted composition of two mobile phase systems and the concentrations of the additives in the optimum buffer system were also investigated. The developed method was fully validated and successfully applied quantitatively to determine 19 nucleobases and nucleosides in plasma from normal and diabetic nephropathy (DN) rats. Significant differences between normal and DN rats were found in plasma levels of cytosine, xanthine, thymidine, adenosine, guanosine, inosine and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine. This information may provide a useful reference for the discovery of potential biomarkers of DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the treatment given to osteoporotic fracture patients by orthopaedists at major hospitals in China. Methods A 25-item quantitative questionnaire survey, categorized into five domains, including primary purpose of osteoporosis treatment, anti-osteoporosis therapy, calcium and vitamin D supplement, monitoring of osteoporosis, and knowledge of osteoporosis treatment, was designed to elicit information on orthopaedists' views on the treatment of osteoporotic fracture. A pre-survey test was conducted with a sample of 40 orthopaedic specialists to confirm the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Each interview of the survey took approximately 15 min and did not directly involve any patients. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews at 119 tier 3 hospitals in 28 cities across Mainland China. Results A total of 484 valid responses were received. Seven in ten respondents have ≥10 years of professional practice. While two-thirds believed that osteoporosis treatment was to prevent fractures or re-fractures, 95.0% agreed that anti-osteoporosis medication should be administered to patients with a history of fragility fractures. Three in four would prescribe anti-osteoporosis medication perioperatively. Of these, 79.0% regarded bisphosphonates as the first-line drug. Approximately 86.0% of the 21-30 years cohort chose bisphosphonates compared to 71.4% for those with ≤10 years. More of the younger (≤10 years) cohort chose calcitonin compared to their older (21-30 years) colleagues (25.7% vs 11.6%). The most commonly prescribed daily dose is 800 IU for vitamin D supplements and 600 mg/day for calcium. Conclusions Our respondents generally adhered to guidelines for the treatment and management of osteoporosis. A significant number had recommended lower dosages of vitamin D and calcium. Some differences exist between the younger cohort and their older colleagues in the prescription of pharmacological therapies. The criteria for initiating therapy should be more holistic and include other factors besides bone mineral density ( BMD). Our results demonstrated that more comprehensive guidelines for osteoporosis management and a greater awareness of these guidelines by orthopaedists are needed to enable them to better manage their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) image registration is an essential step for diffusion tensor image analysis. Most of the fiber bundle based registration algorithms use deterministic fiber tracking technique to get the white matter fiber bundles, which will be affected by the noise and volume. In order to overcome the above problem, we proposed a Diffusion Tensor Imaging image registration method under probabilistic fiber bundles tractography learning. Probabilistic tractography technique can more reasonably trace to the structure of the nerve fibers. The residual error estimation step in active sample selection learning is improved by modifying the residual error model using finite sample set. The calculated deformation field is then registered on the DTI images. The results of our proposed registration method are compared with 6 state-of-the-art DTI image registration methods under visualization and 3 quantitative evaluation standards. The experimental results show that our proposed method has a good comprehensive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Two-dimensional liquid chromatography has become an attractive analytical tool for the separation of complex samples due to its enhanced selectivity, peak capacity, and resolution compared with one-dimensional liquid chromatography. Recently, more attention has been drawn on the application of this separation technique in studies concerning traditional Chinese medicines, metabonomes, proteomes, and other complex mixtures. In this review, we aim to examine the application of two-dimensional liquid chromatography in traditional Chinese medicine analysis and metabonomic investigation. The classification and evaluation indexes were first introduced. Then, various switching methods were summarized when used in an on-line two-dimensional liquid chromatography system. Finally, the applications of this separation technique in traditional Chinese medicine analysis and metabonomic investigation were discussed on the basis of specific studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A one-dimensional AgI coordination complex, catena-poly[[silver(I)-μ-{2-[2-(pyridin-4-yl)-1 H-benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl]phenol-κ2 N2: N3}] perchlorate monohydrate], {[Ag(C19H15N3O)]ClO4·H2O} n, was synthesized by the reaction of 2-[2-(pyridin-4-yl)-1 H-benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl]phenol ( L) with silver perchlorate. In the complex, the L ligands are arranged alternately and link AgI cations through one benzimidazole N atom and the N atom of the pyridine ring, leading to an extended zigzag chain structure. In addition, the one-dimensional chains are extended into a three-dimensional supramolecular architecture via O-H...O hydrogen-bond interactions and π-π stacking interactions. The complex exhibits photoluminescence in acetonitrile solution, with an emission maximum at 390 nm, and investigation of the thermal stability reveals that the network structure is stable up to 650 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the neuroprotective effect of Coeloglossum viride var. bracteatum extract (CE) against oxidative stress in rat cortical neurons. The results demonstrated that administration of CE inhibited hydrogen peroxide-induced neurotoxicity tested by MTT, LDH release, and TUNEL assays. We further found that CE inhibited the activation of caspase-3 (Csp3) induced by hydrogen peroxide. Moreover, CE was found to reverse the hydrogen peroxide-induced downregulation of active AKT and Bcl-2. We then showed that the neuroprotective effect of CE was blocked by adding the AKT inhibitor, Ly294002. Thus, our data strongly indicated that CE played a neuroprotective role against oxidative stress-induced neurotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between adipose and bone tissues is still being debated. The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether the distribution and volume of abdomen adipose tissue are correlated to trabecular bone mineral density in the lumbar spine. In this cross-sectional study, 320 Chinese women, being divided into two groups according to age ≥55 years and <55 years, were evaluated with quantitative computed tomography (QCT) of the spine to simultaneously evaluate the average trabecular BMDof L2-L4, VAT, and SAT. Possible covariates of height, weight, age, and comorbidities were considered. In the <55-year-old sample, multiple linear regression analyses indicated that VAT volume was negatively correlated to trabecular BMD (P value = 0.0003) and SAT volume had no correlation to trabecular BMD. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between VAT or SAT and BMD in the ≥55- year-old sample. Our results indicate that high VAT volume is associated with low BMD in Chinese women aged <55 years and SAT has no relation with BMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is a rare neoplasm of apocrine gland-bearing skin. It is known that over-expression of survivin and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) correlates with malignancies. We investigated the expression of hTERT and survivin by Paget's cells and their role in the tissue invasion and recurrence of EMPD. Method: Forty-two patients were enrolled into the study. Expression of survivin and hTERT were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques. The variables including the expression level of survivin and hTERT, gender, age, lesion location, invasion level and number of surgeries were statistically analyzed using Fisher's exact test. Results: Survivin was positively stained in 18 of 22 cases (81.8%), and hTERT in 18 of 29 cases (62.1%). Significantly higher level of survivin expression was detected in patients with multiple surgeries than those with single one (p = 0.0458). Expression of hTERT was significantly higher in the patients with micro-invasive and invasive lesions than those with non-invasive lesions (p = 0.0478). Conclusions: Over-expression of survivin and hTERT correlated strongly with recurrence and local invasion of EMPD lesions. EMPD has male gender predominance in Oriental population. Shan S-J, Zhang N, Geng S-L, Zhou Z, Chen X, Nie T, Guo Z, Li C, Liu Q, Guo Y, Wei H, Chen H-D. Expression of survivin and human telomerase reverse transcriptase in extramammary Paget's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to review the experience of this department with the treatment of post-common bile duct exploration residual stones using choledochoscopy and to analyze the complications of choledochoscopy and explore effective methods of prevention. A choledochoscope (PENTAX fibercholedochoscope and electronic choledochoscope PENTAX ECN-1530) was used. A total of 2,882 postoperative percutaneous choledochoscopy (POC) sessions were performed on 986 patients with residual bile duct stones from 1980 to 2008 (408 men, 578 women; ages range, 21–82 years). Forty-five of these had undergone laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (LCBDE); the rest had open bile duct exploration. Seventy-six participants had choledochoscopy examination (for diagnosis only), and in 910 patients it was performed for both diagnosis and therapy (calculi extraction). In 68 cases, plasma shock wave lithotripsy (PSWL) was performed for larger stones before choledochoscopy extraction. The mean duration of choledochoscopy was 25 min (range, 10 min to 2 h), with a mean frequency of 2.85 times (range, 1–11). No mortalities occurred. The procedure was unsuccessful in 28 cases in which stones were not accessible because they were embedded in distal hepatic ducts or because they were in proximal ducts that were severely stenosed. Complications resulted in 13 cases and included perforated sinus, biliary peritonitis, sinus hypoplasia, destruction of the T-tube system leading to obstruction, basket incarceration, bleeding, and intestinal fistular. Choledochoscopic stone clearance was achieved in 95.5% of the cases. Choledochoscopy is an important treatment option for hepatolithus. It has a high efficiency for stone extraction and fewer complications. However, it should be noted that some of its complications are potentially life-threatening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, a technical program was developed to convert biogas into hydrogen-rich gas, and to demonstrate the possibility of applying the acquired hydrogenous gas to the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The gas conversion was accomplished in two steps, successively, in a desulfurizer that removes the hydrogen sulfide in biogas and in a hydrogen-rich gas producer that converts the desulfurized biogas into hydrogen-rich gas containing CO less than the PEFC-tolerable value of 10 ppm. The gas producer consisted of four catalytic reactors, in succession, a steam reformer, two water-gas-shift reactors, and a selective CO oxidizer. Determining the necessary conditions for all such reactors and the applicability of the produced hydrogen-rich gas to a 50-watt model PEFC stack is examined. Experiments were conducted using clean model biogas over commercial catalysts. A successful production of the PEFC-usable hydrogen-rich gas was fulfilled, and the gas showed a composition of about 70 vol. % H2, 30 vol. % CO2, and residual CH4 (<1.0 vol. %). Directly applying the gas to the downstream model PEFC stack generated stable powers higher than 50 watts, provided the equivalent hydrogen feed was sufficient. Nonetheless, the C02 in the gas obviously reduced the stack performance. Compared to the case running on pure hydrogen, the stack exhibited not only a lower voltage (power) at a given current, but also a smaller limit current that restricts the maximal output from the stack at each specified hydrogen feed rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic feasibility evaluation method is presented for batch reactive distillation columns with extractive feed streams. In this batch configuration, one feasibility criterion is obtained for quaternary reactive systems by using residue curve maps and reaction equilibrium manifolds. If all reaction products are saddles and one of the binary azeotropes between the desired products and the other components is an unstable node, then a reactive rectifier with a side-feed entrainer can produce pure products regardless of the type and number of azeotropes involved in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Background Objective Methods Results Conclusions Maternal obstructed labour and uterine rupture (MOLUR) are among the major maternal labour complications that threaten maternal and child health.The objective of this study was to systematically analyse the global burden of MOLUR using the Global Burden of Disease 2021 (GBD 2021) database to inform further improvements in maternal‐related public health policies.Incidence and disability‐adjusted life‐year (DALY) data on MOLUR from 1990 to 2021 were collected in the GBD 2021. The joinpoint and Bayesian age–period–cohort models were used to analyse and predict time burden trends. The slope index and concentration index were used to evaluate health inequality. Frontier analysis was used to visualise the potential for burden reduction in individual countries or territories.In 2021, 13,471,093 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8,938,373, 19,008,282) incident cases of MOLUR were reported worldwide, which caused 1,067,270 (95% UI 896,161, 1,275,042) DALYs. Over the past three decades, there has been an overall downward trend in the age‐standardised incidence rate (ASIR) and age‐standardised DALY rate (ASDR) of MOLUR globally, with the ASIR decreasing from 554.0 (95% UI 355.6, 786.3) per 100,000 in 1990 to 347.0 (95% UI 228.8, 489.4) in 2021. The ASDR decreased from 65.4 (95% UI 56.0, 75.7) per 100,000 in 1990 to 27.0 (95% UI 22.7, 32.2) in 2021. By 2040, the global ASIRs and ASDRs projections for MOLUR will likely continue to decline. Socioeconomic‐related inequalities are narrowing, but the burden remains concentrated in low socioeconomically developed countries. Israel and Afghanistan showed the largest differences from the frontier boundaries of ASIR and ASDR.Although the global burden of MOLUR has declined in the last three decades, it remains high and is still concentrated in economically underdeveloped countries. The reduction in DALYs attributable to MOLUR globally reflects significant progress in improving maternal health and reducing complications of childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Such device can condense the memory and logic functions into a single device level, offering a new energy-efficient hardware platform for logic-in-memory applications. Ferroelectric-nanocrack Device: Ferroelectric-Nanocrack Switches for Memory and Complementary Logic with Zero Off-current and Low Operating Voltage (Adv. An emerging ferroelectric-nanocrack device with excellent electrical performance, even at scaled dimensions, is demonstrated in article 2100023 by Long You and co-workers. [Extracted from the article]

Large-area, mixed halide, perovskites, solar cells, spray-coating Ultrasonic Spray-Coatings: Multi-Channel Pumped Ultrasonic Spray-Coating for High-Throughput and Scalable Mixed Halide Perovskite Solar Cells (Adv. Keywords: large-area; mixed halide; perovskites; solar cells; spray-coating EN large-area mixed halide perovskites solar cells spray-coating 1 1 1 03/12/21 20210309 NES 210309 In article number 2001509, Cheng-Liang Liu and coworkers demonstrate the scalable ultrasonic spray-coating method combined with ternary channel pumping of precursor solutions and vacuum-assisted thermal annealing to fabricate large-area MAPbI SB 3- I x i sb Br SB I x i sb mixed halide perovskite films of size 7 × 10 cm SP 2 sp . [Extracted from the article]