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Comprehensive Summary: The privileged C2‐symmetric rigid phenol‐type ligand is more attractive but challenging in asymmetric catalysis. Herein, we designed and synthesized a class of rigid‐featured chiral tridentate Phenol‐2NO ligands, that incorporate the advantages of both the phenol skeleton and pyrroloimidazolone‐based N‐oxide moiety, from readily available L‐prolinamides in operationally simple two steps and up to 44% overall yield. More importantly, using an achiral quinoline derivative as an additive, the newly developed Phenol‐2NO ligand could serve as the anioic ligand upon deprotonative activation to coordinate to Zn(II) to form a highly enantioselective catalyst for the asymmetric Michael‐type Friedel‐Crafts alkylation reaction of indoles with 2,3‐dioxopyrrolidines. Excellent yields (up to 90%) and high enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) are obtained for a wide range of substrates under mild conditions. Experiments and DFT calculations revealed the reaction mechanism and the origins of the enantioselectivity. This also represented the first activation of phenol‐type ligand/metal complex by an achiral organic base as the additive in asymmetric catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scene text in natural images carries additional semantic information to aid in image classification. Existing methods lack full consideration of the deep understanding of the text and the visual text relationship, which results in the difficult to judge the semantic accuracy and the relevance of the visual text. This paper proposes image classification based on Cross modal Knowledge Learning of Scene Text (CKLST) method. CKLST consists of three stages: cross‐modal scene text recognition, text semantic enhancement, and visual‐text feature alignment. In the first stage, multi‐attention is used to extract features layer by layer, and a self‐mask‐based iterative correction strategy is utilized to improve the scene text recognition accuracy. In the second stage, knowledge features are extracted using external knowledge and are fused with text features to enhance text semantic information. In the third stage, CKLST realizes visual‐text feature alignment across attention mechanisms with a similarity matrix, thus the correlation between images and text can be captured to improve the accuracy of the image classification tasks. On Con‐Text dataset, Crowd Activity dataset, Drink Bottle dataset, and Synth Text dataset, CKLST can perform significantly better than other baselines on fine‐grained image classification, with improvements of 3.54%, 5.37%, 3.28%, and 2.81% over the best baseline in mAP, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Neoadjuvant treatments (nCRT) are becoming the standard treatment for patients with stage II or III mid‐low rectal cancer. Recently, some studies have shown that surgery alone may be sufficient for patients with T3 rectal cancer. This raises the question of whether nCRT is necessary for all patients with T3 rectal cancer. Therefore, this study compared the clinical outcomes of patients with MRI‐defined T3, clear MRF mid–low rectal cancer treated with surgery alone (TME group) or nCRT followed by surgery (nCRT + TME group). Methods: A total of 1509 patients were enrolled in this study. After a 1:1 propensity score matching analysis, 480 patients were included in each group. The primary endpoint was 3‐year disease‐free survival (DFS). The secondary endpoints included the perioperative outcomes, histopathologic outcomes, and other follow‐up outcomes. Results: nCRT had advantages in rates of sphincter‐preserving surgery and tumor downstaging, but it was accompanied by a higher rate of enterostomies. At 3 years after surgery, local recurrence occurred in 3.3% of patients in the TME group and in 3.5% of patients in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.914), the DFS rates were 78.3% in the TME group and 75.3% in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.188), and the overall survival rates were 90.3% in the TME group and 89.9% in the nCRT + TME group (P = 0.776). Conclusions: Surgery alone versus nCRT followed by surgery may provide similar long‐term oncological outcomes for patients with MRI‐defined T3, clear MRF, and mid–low rectal cancer. nCRT may cause overtreatment in some patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the optimum and fine values of the number and transmission angles of tilted plane waves for coherent plane‐wave compounding (CPWC)‐based high local pulse wave velocity (LPWV) estimation. Methods: A Verasonics system incorporating a linear array probe L14‐5/38 with 128 elements and a pulsatile pump, CompuFlow1000, were used to acquire radio frequency data of 3, 5, 7, and 9 tilted plane wave sequences with angle intervals from 0° to 12° with a coarse interval increment step of 1°, and the angle intervals from 0° to 2° with a fine interval increment step of 0.25° from a carotid vessel phantom with the LPWV of 13.42 ± 0.90 m/s. The mean value, standard deviation, and coefficients of variation (CV) of the estimated LPWVs were calculated to quantitatively assess the performance of different configurations for CPWC‐based LPWV estimation. Ten healthy human subjects of two age groups were recruited to assess the in vivo feasibility of the optimum parameter values. Results: The CPWC technique with three plane waves (PRF of 12 kHz corresponding to a frame rate of 4000 Hz) with an interval of 0.75° had LPWVs of 13.52 ± 0.08 m/s with the lowest CV of 1.84% on the phantom, and 5.49 ± 1.46 m/s with the lowest CV of 12.35% on 10 subjects. Conclusions: The optimum parameters determined in this study show the best repeatability of the LPWV measurements with a vessel phantom and 10 healthy subjects, which support further studies on larger datasets for potential applications. Access the CME test here and search by article title. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective cohort study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine investigated the effects of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prognostic factors on neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) in patients with T3 or N+ rectal cancer. The study found that patients with high-risk MRI features had worse survival outcomes compared to those with low-risk features. Primary surgery alone was sufficient for low-risk patients, while high-risk patients benefited from NAT. The study suggests that MRI prognostic factors can be used to stratify patients and guide the use of NAT in rectal cancer treatment. However, the study has limitations, and further research is needed to validate the findings. [Extracted from the article]

To expand the chemical space of chiral N‐oxides and chiral furan‐containing ligands, herein we designed and synthesized a new class of rigid‐featured tertiary amine‐derived C2‐symmetric chiral furan‐N,N′‐dioxide (Fu‐2NO) ligands from optically pure l‐prolinamides/hydroxylprolinamides in operationally simple two steps and up to 57 % overall yield. The newly developed rigid‐featured chiral Fu‐2NO ligands possesses two pyrroloimidazolone‐based N‐oxides as non‐flat chiral walls, and afforded the opportunity for fine‐tuning the ligand electronic and conformational properties by judicious choice of the substituent in the nonligating nitrogen atom. More importantly, The Fu‐2NO ligands can tolerate air and moisture such that no special handling is needed for their storage, and can be applied in the Ni(II)‐catalyzed asymmetric Friedel‐Crafts alkylation reaction of indole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EsophageaL squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common and lethal tumors, however, its underlying molecular mechanisms are not completely understood and new therapeutic targets are needed. Here, we found that the transcription factor basonuclin 1 (BNC1) was significantly upregulated and closely related to the differentiation and metastasis of ESCC. Furthermore, BNC1, LINC01305, and G‐protein pathway suppressor 1 (GPS1) had significant oncogenic roles in ESCC. In addition, in vivo experiments showed that knockdown of BNC1 indeed significantly inhibited the proliferation and metastasis of ESCC. We also revealed the molecular mechanism by which LINC01305 recruits BNC1 to the promoter of GPS1, and then GPS1 could mediate the JNK signaling pathway to promote the proliferation and metastases of ESCC. Taken together, we discovered the novel molecular mechanism by which LINC01305/BNC1 upregulates GPS1 expression to promote the development of ESCC, providing a new therapeutic target for ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Coagulation system dysfunction is associated with adverse outcomes of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and bacterial infection. We investigated the association between coagulation system and treatment failure of peritoneal dialysis‐related peritonitis (PDRP). Methods: We collected records of patients aged ≥18 years with PDRP. PDRP episodes were divided into: shortened activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) group and prolonged APTT group, low D‐dimer (DD) group and high DD group. The baseline characteristics of the groups were collected and compared. The association between APTT, DD and treatment failure of PDRP was analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results: Thirty episodes of treatment failure were observed in 110 episodes of PDRP in our study. After adjusting for variables, prolonged APTT (OR = 1.166 [1.049–1.296], p = 0.004) or high level of DD (OR = 1.374 [1.057–1.787], p = 0.017) was associated with treatment failure of PDRP. Conclusion: Prolonged baseline APTT or high level of DD increased the risk of treatment failure of PDRP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small object detection remains a bottleneck because there is little visual information about them, especially in the deep layers. To improve the detection performance of small objects, here, Swin Transformer is introduced as the model backbone network to extract rich features of small objects. Then, a multilevel receptive field expansion network (MRFENet) is proposed based on the characteristics of different stages in the Swin Transformer. Specifically, a receptive field expansion block (RFEB) is designed to acquire contextual cues and extract detailed information. The RFEB is carefully designed to target the required receptive fields of different layers and further refine the features. MRFENet combined with RFEBs implements the retention of small object context cues and the acquisition of receptive fields for the adaptive detection tasks. Finally, a union loss function is designed to enhance the localization ability. Experiments on the MS COCO dataset demonstrate that the proposed MRFENet has a significant improvement against other state‐of‐the‐art methods, which further validates that MRFENet can effectively utilize small object information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Distant metastasis (DM) and neoadjuvant treatment response prediction remain critical challenges in the management of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of viable circulating tumor cells (CTCs) for DM or response in patients with LARC in a neoadjuvant setting. Methods: The detection of viable CTCs at different stages of treatment was planned for consecutive patients from a prospective trial. The Kaplan-Meier method, Cox proportional hazards model, and logistic regression model were utilized to analyze factors associated with DM or pathological complete response (pCR) and clinical complete response (cCR). Results: Between December 2016 and July 2018, peripheral blood samples from 83 patients were collected before any treatment (median follow-up time, 49.3 months). CTCs were present in 76 of 83 patients (91.6%) at baseline, and more than three CTCs detected in the blood sample was considered high risk. Only the CTC risk group was significantly associated with 3-year metastasis-free survival (MFS) (high risk vs. low risk, 57.1% (95% CI, 41.6-72.6) vs. 78.3% (95% CI, 65.8-90.8), p = 0.018, log-rank test). When all the important variables were entered into the Cox model, the CTC risk group remained the only significant independent factor for DM (hazard ratio (HR), 2.74; 95% CI, 1.17-6.45, p = 0.021). The pCR and continuous cCR rates were higher in patients with a decreased number of CTCs of more than one after radiotherapy (HR, 4.00; 95% CI, 1.09-14.71, P = 0.037). Conclusions: The dynamic detection of viable CTCs may strengthen pretreatment risk assessment and postradiotherapy decision making for LARC. This observation requires further validation in a prospective study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is a metalloenzyme with a type III copper core that is abundant in nature. As one of the most essential enzymes in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis), the further regulation of PPO is critical for enhancing defensive responses, cultivating high‐quality germplasm resources of tea plants, and producing tea products that are both functional and sensory qualities. Due to their physiological and pharmacological values, the constituents from the oxidative polymerization of PPO in tea manufacturing may serve as functional foods to prevent and treat chronic non‐communicable diseases. However, current knowledge of the utilization of PPO in the tea industry is only available from scattered sources, and a more comprehensive study is required to reveal the relationship between PPO and tea obviously. A more comprehensive review of the role of PPO in tea was reported for the first time, as its classification, catalytic mechanism, and utilization in modulating tea flavors, compositions, and nutrition, along with the relationships between PPO‐mediated enzymatic reactions and the formation of functional constituents in tea, and the techniques for the modification and application of PPO based on modern enzymology and synthetic biology are summarized and suggested in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In order to design compounds with fresh molecular skeleton to break through the limitation of available agrochemicals, a series of 36 novel selenenyl sulfide compounds were chemically synthesized, and their biological activities were fully evaluated against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), 14 plant pathogenic fungi, three insect species and plant acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS). RESULTS: All the target compounds were characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H‐NMR), carbon‐13 (13C)‐NMR, selenium‐77 (77Se)‐NMR, and high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The crystal structure of 10j indicated that the Se–S bond was successfully constructed. Compounds 10d, 10h, 10s, 10u, 10aa, 10ac, 10ae, 10ag, and 10ai exhibited 40%, 43%, 39%, 41%, 47%, 46%, 47%, 42%, and 39% anti‐TMV activities at 500 mg L−1, better than that of ribavirin. The median effective concentration (EC50) against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum of 10ac was 6.69 mg L−1 and EC50 values against Physalospora piricola and Pyricularia grisea of 10z were 12.25 mg L−1 and 15.27 mg L−1, respectively, superior to the corresponding values of chlorothalonil. Compounds 10c and 10v demonstrated 100% larvicidal activity against Culex pipiens pallens at 5 mg L−1, while 10a displayed 100% insecticidal activity against Mythimna separata at 200 mg L−1. Compounds 10c, 10j, and 10o showed > 60% inhibitions against plant AHAS at 10 μmol L−1. From the quantum calculation, highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) was considered as a factor that affects the anti‐TMV activity. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results suggested that more efforts should be devoted to exploring the selenenyl sulfides for the discovery of new leads of antiviral agent, fungicide, insecticide or AHAS inhibitors as potential agrochemicals for crop protection. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peptides have gained popularity in the global market during recent years and have been placed between small molecule drugs and biologics. However, little is known about the comprehensive landscape of peptide drugs in obstetrics and gynaecology. Herein, we analysed new peptide drug‐related clinical trials in obstetrics and gynaecology registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. The number and percentage were used for statistical analysis, and a time trend analysis was conducted by calculating the annual growth rate. We aimed to provide the first overview of the changing landscape and status of global peptide drugs in this prospective field, including exploring drug targets, the cutting‐edge oncotherapy of peptide vaccines and peptide–drug conjugates, and unsolved challenges with oral administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new hybrid perovskite of [FCH2CH2NH3][Mn(HCOO)3] has been successfully prepared by utilizing the ammonium of FCH2CH2NH3+, and it is the first example incorporating F‐substituted ammonium in the class of ammonium metal formate framework. The compound crystallizes in polar, orthorhombic space group Pna21, and the cell parameters are a=8.5901(3)–8.7158(6), b=8.4613(3)–8.5216(6), c=12.4837(4)–12.6106(9) Å and V=907.36(5)–936.6(1) Å3 from 80 K up to 410 K just before the decomposition, showing positive thermal expansions in all directions and no structural phase transition in the temperature region. The FCH2CH2NH3+ cation in the cavity of the NaCl‐like Mn‐formate framework adopts N−C−C−F gauche conformation, and its NH3+ and F ends are anchored to the anionic framework by N−H⋅⋅⋅O and C−H⋅⋅⋅F H‐bonds. The large dislocation of the NH3+ end from the anionic framework, about 1.4 Å, results in an estimated high electric polarization about 10 μCcm−2 for the polar structure. The material is also a spin‐canted antiferromagnet with the Néel temperature of 8.3 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral ischaemia reperfusion (CIR) affects microRNA (miR) expression and causes substantial inflammation. Here, we investigated the influence and underlying mechanism of miR‐27a‐3p in rats with CIR. First, biliverdin treatment relieved cerebral infarction and decreased the levels of serum interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α. Through our previous study, we found key miR‐27a‐3p and its targeted gene LITAF might involve in the molecular mechanism of CIR. Then, the regulation between miR‐27a‐3p and LITAF was verified by the temporal miR‐27a‐3p and LITAF expression profiles and luciferase assay. Moreover, intracerebroventricular injection of the miR‐27a‐3p mimic significantly decreased the LITAF, TLR4, NF‐κB, and IL‐6 levels at 24 h post‐surgery, whereas miR‐27a‐3p inhibitor reversed these effects. Furthermore, miR‐27a‐3p mimic could relieve cerebral infarct and neurologic deficit after CIR. In addition, injection of miR‐27a‐3p mimic decreased neuronal damage induced by CIR. Taken together, our results suggest that miR‐27a‐3p protects against CIR by relieving inflammation, neuronal damage, and neurologic deficit via regulating LITAF and the TLR4/NF‐κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerged photocatalyst, perovskites have attracted enormous interest in photocatalysis due to their excellent photoelectronic properties. However, most of the photoexcited electron–hole pairs recombine together before they reach the surface of perovskite for photocatalysis. The undesired charge recombination would compete with the surface photocatalytic reaction. Hence, the regulation of charge carriers is essential for improving the photocatalytic performance of perovskites. Herein, the charge transfer dynamics by doping Mn2+ in CsPbCl3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) is manipulated and the role of the charge carriers with a prolonged lifetime in photocatalysis is investigated. The photogenerated charge carriers with a prolonged lifetime at both Mn2+ dopants and conduction band (CB) endow Mn:CsPbCl3 NCs with an enhanced photocatalytic activity toward CO2 reduction. The doping strategy provides us with a powerful tool to regulate the charge transfer dynamics in perovskite NCs for photocatalysis. It is believed that the long‐lived charge carriers in perovskite NCs have great potential in promoting charge separation and suppressing charge recombination in solar‐to‐fuel conversions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of depression is increasing, especially in the young adult population. Impaired cognitive function is one of the characteristics of depression, which may be related to impaired cerebral autoregulation (CA). We investigated the characteristics of CA in young adults with mild depression, as well as its validity for identifying patients with depression. Patients (aged 18–35 years) with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores ranging from 8 to 17 and a first episode of mild depression were enrolled in this study. Healthy volunteers were recruited as controls. Noninvasive continuous arterial blood pressure and bilateral middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity were simultaneously recorded from each subject. Transfer function analysis was applied to derive phase difference, gain, coherence and rate of recovery for the assessment of CA. Forty‐three patients and 43 healthy controls were enrolled. Phase difference values were significantly compromised in young adults with mild depression and were negatively correlated with HAMD scores. Rate of recovery values estimated from depressed patients was significantly lower. The validity in identifying patients with depression was favorable for the phase difference. The cutoff phase difference value was 29.66. Our findings suggest that dynamic CA was impaired in young patients with mild depression and negatively correlated with HAMD scores. CA represented by phase difference can be used as an objective auxiliary examination of depression, and has clinical diagnostic value for the early identification of patients with depression. Cognitive impairment is one of the most common features of depression, which may be related to impaired cerebral autoregulation (CA). The current study, for the first time, investigated the characteristics of CA in young adults with mild depression. The findings suggested that dynamic CA was compromised in young patients with mild depression. CA represented by phase difference has clinical diagnostic value for the early identification of patients with depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) play a vital role in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, but the mechanism remains largely unknown. Herein, we found that ADSCs isolated from CRC patients produced more cysteine‐rich 61 (Cyr61) than those from healthy donors, and the elevated serum Cyr61 levels were associated with advanced TNM stages. Moreover, serum Cyr61 displayed a better diagnostic value for CRC compared to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA19‐9). Mechanistically, integrin αVβ5 was identified as the functional receptor by which Cyr61 promotes CRC cell metastasis in vitro and in vivo by activating the αVβ5/FAK/NF‐κB signaling pathway. In addition, Cyr61 promotes vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation, thereby promoting tumor growth and metastasis through a αVβ5/FAK/HIF‐1α/STAT3/MMP2 signaling cascade. Histologically, xenografts and clinical samples of CRC both exhibited VM, which was correlated with HIF‐1α and MMP2 activation. Notably, we demonstrated the synergistic effect of combined anti‐VM therapy (integrin αVβ5 inhibitor) and anti‐VEGF therapy (bevacizumab) in patient‐derived xenograft models. Further investigation showed that CRC cell‐derived exosomal STAT3 promoted Cyr61 transcription in ADSCs. These findings indicate that Cyr61 derived from ADSCs plays a critical role in promoting CRC progression via integrin αVβ5 and provides a novel antitumor strategy by targeting Cyr61/αVβ5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terraces are striking artificial landforms on slopes and are widely distributed in the world. Terraces are vital to soil and water conservation and agricultural production. However, the automatic extraction of terraces entails certain drawbacks, such as low accuracy and poor generalization ability. This study proposes a novel approach to automatically extract terraces from remote sensing images and digital elevation models (DEMs) with high precision. First, terrace samples with annotated images are collected to train the model. Then, three sample areas with varying field conditions in the Loess Plateau are selected as the experimental data to extract the terraces. DEMs are used to eliminate the noise. Subsequently, the visual interpretation results are used to evaluate the accuracy of the extraction results. Furthermore, the proposed approach is compared with the spectral angle mapper approach. Results indicate the advantages of adopting the proposed approach, which is flexible and applicable to complex terrace conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dense Sialon fibers/barium aluminosilicate (BAS) matrix self‐reinforced composite was synthesized by one‐step method without applying pressure before or during sintering process. In this work, BAS matrix and internal Sialon fibers were synthesized successfully by directly sintering precursor powders at 1400°C for 4 h. The BAS is not only introduced as a structural matrix material, but also as an effective liquid phase sintering aid to attain full densification bulk sample. The results show that the diameter of fibers is about 100–200 nm, and the quantity of the fibers can be changed with different temperatures. The obtained Sialon fibers/BAS matrix composites exhibit better toughness due to fiber bridging, crack deflection, and pullout. The sample with 3.5 wt% carbon content has maximum value of flexural strength (74.5 ± 3.5 MPa) and fracture toughness (3.2 ± 0.20 MPa·m1/2). The growth of the Sialon fibers follows a vapor‐liquid‐solid (V‐L‐S) mechanism. These findings featured with a green and simple preparation process provide a facile strategy to design and fabricate the bulk ceramic matrix composites in complex shapes and different sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to explore whether cystatin C (CysC) could be used as a potential predictor of clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV‐tPA). Methods: We performed an observational study including a retrospective analysis of data from 125 AIS patients with intravenous thrombolysis. General linear models were applied to compare CysC levels between groups with different outcomes; logistic regression analysis and receiver‐operating characteristic curves were adopted to identify the association between CysC and the therapeutic effects. Results: Compared with the "good and sustained benefit" (GSB) outcome group (defined as ≥4‐point reduction in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale or a score of 0–1 at 24 h and 7 days) and the "good functional outcome" (GFO) group (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2 at 90 days), serum CysC baseline levels were increased in the non‐GSB and non‐GFO groups. Logistic regression analysis found that CysC was an independent negative prognostic factor for GSB (odds ratio [OR] 0.010; p = 0.005) and GFO (OR 0.011; p = 0.021) after adjustment for potential influencing factors. Receiver‐operating characteristic curves showed the CysC‐involved combined models provided credible efficacy for predicting post‐90‐day favorable clinical outcome (area under the curve 0.86; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Elevated serum CysC is independently associated with unfavorable clinical outcomes after IV‐tPA therapy in AIS. Our findings provide new insights into discovering potential mediators for neuropathological process or treatment in stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loess gullies are the most active and changeable landform unit on the Loess Plateau of China. Under the influence of inhomogeneous internal and external forces, various gully morphologies have been identified as specific forms of asymmetrical loess gullies in the northeastern Loess Plateau. Thus, the formation mechanisms of asymmetrical gullies should be examined to better understand the gully evolution processes in this area. In this study, a typical asymmetrical gully area and its geological background in the northeastern Loess Plateau are investigated. Then, the asymmetrical gullies are extracted and ordered under different watershed hierarchies using 5 m horizontal resolution digital elevation models. The asymmetrical gullies are characterized using the gully deviation index and gully asymmetrical coefficient to quantitatively and qualitatively describe the gully formation from the perspective of gully morphology. Subsequently, environmental factors, such as the bedrock, climate, vegetation and interactions with neighbouring watersheds, are combined to achieve an in‐depth understanding of the mechanisms of asymmetrical gully formation. The results show that most watersheds shift to the right side of the watershed geometric centre line, thereby forming a specific asymmetrical gully morphology. The phenomenon in which the asymmetrical degree characteristics decrease with the increase in drainage area suggests evident morphological differences on both sides of the main channel on a small scale, and relatively weak morphological differences on both sides of the main channel on a large scale. The degree of loess gully asymmetry appears higher in the area where only the windward slope is covered by loess than in areas where all slopes are covered by loess. The interaction between adjacent watersheds also influences the formation of asymmetrical gullies. These results support the understanding of asymmetrical gully formation in relation to the underlying bedrock structure and gully reorganization, thereby contributing to the development of process‐based gully evolution models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis‐associated interstitial lung disease (RA‐ILD) is an irreversible pathologic condition of unknown cause, commonly involving the joint and the lung with variable amounts of fibrotic change. In contrast to rheumatoid arthritis or other chronic interstitial lung diseases such as interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, there is so far no extensively accepted or implemented animal model for this disease. Aims: To provide guidance for those who are investigating the pathogenesis of RA‐ILD with animal models. Materials and Methods: An analysis of papers from PubMed during 1978‐2020. Results: We outline the present status quo for animal models of RA‐ILD about their modeling methods and pathogenesis, compare their pros and cons with respect to their ability to mimic the clinical and histological features of human disease and discuss their applicability for future research. Discussion: There is no doubt that these animal models do provide valuable information relating to the pathogenesis of RA‐ILD and the development of effective therapeutic drugs. Nevertheless, these animal models can not entirely recapitulate clinical pathology and have some limitations in experimental research application. Therefore, it should be emphasized that we should improve and explore animal models in more accordance with the pathogenesis and clinical characteristics of human RA‐ILD. Conclusion: These established animal models of the disease can significantly progress our understanding of the etiology of RA‐ILD, the fundamental mechanisms of its pathogenesis and the identification of new bio‐markers, and can contribute to the development and implementation of novel treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the chemistry and biology of chromone, a method for the construction of spirooxindole‐based tetrahydrocyclopenta[b]chromanones is reported with good regio‐ and diastereoselectivity (all cases >20:1 dr) and moderate yields (up to 67%). This method leads to the construction of four contiguous stereogenic tertiary centers and one spiro quaternary center via a one‐step γ‐regioselective cascade [3+2] cycloaddition of an oxindole‐chromone synthon with 3‐methyl‐4‐nitro‐5‐alkenyl‐isoxazole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the left ventricular myocardial work of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by echocardiographic pressure–strain loop (PSL) analysis. Methods: Ninety‐three patients with CKD and forty‐two age‐ and sex‐matched controls were included in the study. CKD patients were divided into group 1 (stages 2–4) and group 2 (stage 5). Left ventricular blood pressure was estimated noninvasively according to echocardiographic valvular events and brachial artery systolic pressure. Left ventricular myocardial work parameters were acquired by echocardiographic PSL analysis. Results: The CKD groups had a significantly lower global work index (WI), global work efficiency (GWE), global constructive strain (GCW) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) and higher global waste work (GWW) than the control group. Segmental analysis showed that the myocardial WI, work efficiency (WE), and constructive work (CW) were lower in group 2 than the control group (P <.05), while the regional myocardial waste work (WW) was higher (P <.05). A Pearson correlation analysis revealed that GWE and GWW have good correlations with the LVEF and GLS. A multiple regression analysis showed that the systolic blood pressure (SBP), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), end‐diastolic volume (EDV), and GLS were associated with global work index (GWI) (b′ = 0.476, 0.252, −0.407, and −0.355, P <.05). Conclusions: Left ventricular PSL analysis can be applied to assess global and regional myocardial work in CKD patients. This approach may serve as a noninvasive method for the detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction at an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of inorganic salt composite nanomaterials to form nanocomposite humidity‐sensing materials is considered to be an effective way to promote the integral performances of humidity sensors. In this work, by combining the advantages of SnSe nanosheet and LiCl, a novel composite structure of LiCl nanoparticles and SnSe nanosheet (LiCl:SnSe nanosheet) is constructed as the humidity‐sensing materials in humidity sensors. Compared with the properties of a resistance‐type humidity sensor based on SnSe nanosheet, the integral humidity‐sensing properties of LiCl:SnSe nanosheet are improved, especially in response and recovery times (shorten to 12 s/4 s) and sensitivity (up to 3.21 × 105%). These results indicate that LiCl:SnSe nanosheet may be a potential humidity‐sensing material for fabricating humidity sensors with high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radical cascade cyclizations of o‐allyloxybenzaldehydes have emerged as a powerful strategy for the synthesis of 3‐substituted chroman‐4‐ones. This minireview summarizes the incorporation of various functional groups into the C3‐position of chroman‐4‐ones by employing appropriate radical precursors through transition‐metal‐free systems, silver‐catalyzed systems, or visible‐light‐promoted systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphoinositide 3-kinases, delta (PI3Kδ) and gamma (PI3Kγ) are enriched in immune cells and regulate the development and function of innate and adaptive immunity. Dual PI3Kδγ inhibitors are considered high value targets for their potential to treat a variety of immune-mediated diseases, but their discovery has been challenging. Here we describe the preclinical pharmacology of HM5023507, an orally active dual inhibitor of δγ isoforms in immune signaling. HM5023507 inhibited PI3Kδ and PI3Kγ isoforms with greater than 100-fold selectivity against PI3Kα and PI3Kβ in recombinant enzymatic assays and in primary human immune cells with an exquisite selectivity against other targets. HM5023507 attenuated the PI3Kδ/γ signaling in human basophils (IC50: 42/340 nmol/L; selectivity ratio ~1:8). HM5023507 attenuated the activation and function of human B and T cells, Th17 differentiation of CD4 T cells in the blood of healthy donors and rheumatoid arthritis patients, and cytokine and IgG production in human T and B cell cocultures, in vitro. Orally dosed HM5023507 attenuated PI3K δ/γ-mediated immune signaling in the rat in a dose-related manner. In addition, HM5023507 inhibited semiestablished collageninduced arthritic inflammation in the rats (ED50 of 0.25mg/kg, p.o. BID or 0.5 mg/kg, QD, AUC: 1422 ng/mL*h), improved histopathology- and micro-computed tomography (μCT)-based indices of joint damage, bone destruction, and attenuated the levels of anticollagen antibody, with an overall anti-inflammatory profile matching that of a TNFα neutralizing antibody. The PI3K δγ inhibitory profile of HM5023507 and its selectivity make it a useful tool to further delineate immunobiology of dual PI3K δγ targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New multipurpose arylation/acylation/transamination reagents, N‐acylisatins, have been developed by selective 'inside‐outside' C−N bond cleavage under different catalytic conditions. As activated amides, N‐acylisatins undergo Rh‐catalyzed C−H arylation and Pd‐catalyzed acylation by cleavage outside the C−N bond, and the desired biaryls and diaryl ketones were obtained in good to excellent yields. Generally, the combination of N‐acylisatins with amines leads to a ring‐opening reaction and formation of transamination products in a predictable manner through inside C−N bond cleavage. Interestingly, treatment of N‐acylisatins with amines lead to unexpected outer‐ring transamination products when CsF is added, which shows that CsF can favor the outside C−N bond cleavage path. Notably, this work presents a new strategy for multiple chemical transformations of a single amide to achieve various products by selective C−N bond cleavage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first example of bifunctional oxindole‐chromone C3 synthon directed organocatalytic cascade cycloaddition reaction is developed, serving as a fruitful strategy for the facile access of optically active tetrahydrocyclopenta[b]chromanone bearing one spirooxindole with five contiguous stereocenters. All the products are smoothly obtained with up to 83% yield, >20:1 d.r. and >99% ee. This is also the first asymmetric catalytic construction of tetrahydrocyclopenta[b] chromanone and tetrahydrocyclopenta[b]chromanone‐spirooxindole scaffold, thus to facilitate the search for new bioactive entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: fibre initiation; fibre elongation; secondary cell wall deposition; sucrose; sugar transporter; reactive oxygen species EN fibre initiation fibre elongation secondary cell wall deposition sucrose sugar transporter reactive oxygen species 1092 1094 3 06/15/21 20210601 NES 210601 Cotton fibre is a single cell that derived from the ovule epidermis. We also suggest a strategy to improve cotton quality and yield through sugar manipulation: up-regulating the sugar content in fibre initiation and early elongation stage to increase fibre number (thus enhancing fibre yield), while down-regulating the sugar content in fibre SCW synthesis period to increase fibre length and fibre strength. [Extracted from the article]

A highly efficient strategy for stereocontrolled construction of potentially bioactive and structurally rigid isoxazole-fused spirocyclohexane oxindole-based hexahydroxanthones via an organocatalytic domino Michael/Michael cycloaddition of multifunctional chromone-based oxindole as a 4C building block and 3-methyl-4-nitro-5-alkenyl-isoxazole as an activated Michael acceptor is reported. Complex and skeleton-diversified hexahydroxanthones bearing five continuous stereocenters including one spiro quaternary carton center were smoothly afforded in up to 92% yield, >20:1 d.r. and >99% ee. Further transformation of the product into other potentially bioactive molecules has also been demonstrated. This method could also forge the libraries of medicinally relevant molecules with skeletal diversity, thus to facilitate the search for new bioactive entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression filling is a critical step in distributed hydrological modeling using digital elevation models (DEMs). The traditional Priority‐Flood (PF) approach is widely used due to its relatively high efficiency when dealing with a small‐sized DEM. However, it seems inadequate and inefficient when dealing with large high‐resolution DEMs. In this work, we examined the relationship between the PF algorithm calculation process and the topographical characteristics of depressions, and found significant redundant calculations in the local micro‐relief areas in the conventional PF algorithm. As such calculations require more time when dealing with large DEMs, we thus propose a new variant of the PF algorithm, wherein redundant points and calculations are recognized and eliminated based on the local micro‐relief water‐flow characteristics of the depression‐filling process. In addition, depressions and flatlands were optimally processed by a quick queue to improve the efficiency of the process. The proposed method was applied and validated in eight case areas using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model (SRTM‐DEM) with 1 arc‐second resolution. These selected areas have different data sizes. A comparative analysis among the proposed method, the Wang and Liu‐based PF, the improved Barnes‐based PF, the improved Zhou‐based PF, and the Planchon and Darboux (P&D) algorithms was conducted to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The results showed that the proposed algorithm is 43.2% (maximum) faster than Wang and Liu's variant of the PF method, with an average of 31.8%. In addition, the proposed algorithm achieved similar performance to the improved Zhou‐based PF algorithm, though our algorithm has the advantage of being simpler. The optimal strategies using the proposed algorithm can be employed in various landforms with high efficiency. The proposed method can also achieve good depression filling, even with large amounts of DEM data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Anthranilic diamide insecticides control lepidopteran pests through selectively binding and activating insect ryanodine receptors. In order to search for potential insecticides targeting the ryanodine receptors, a series of anthranilic diamide analogs including trifluoromethyl, nitro, or chloro groups were designed and synthesized by the principle of bioisosterism and structural optimization. RESULTS: Insecticidal data indicated that some compounds displayed good activity against oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) and diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). In particular, the larvicidal activity of 6p against P. xylostella was 95% at 0.01 mg L−1, equivalent to chlorantraniliprole (85%, 0.01 mg L−1). The comparative molecular similarity index analysis model obtained indicated that hydrogen bond acceptor and electron‐withdrawing groups in the R′3 group are favourable for insecticidal activity against M. separata, which is consistent with the structure–activity relationships. Moreover, the calcium imaging experiment indicated, like chlorantraniliprole, that 6h and 6p are interacting with the ryanodine receptor. CONCLUSION: Introducing trifluoromethyl, nitro, or chloro groups to a specific position in the N‐phenylpyrazole could improve or maintain the activity against M. separata and P. xylostella. 6h and 6p could be used as potential lead compounds for ryanodine receptor modulators. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry 6h and 6p could be considered as potential ryanodine receptor modulators for further structural optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple electrolytes exist in almost all soil systems, and in this work, molecular dynamics was employed to tackle the adsorption of different binary electrolytes (PbCl2/CdCl2, PbCl2/NaCl, PbCl2/CsCl and KCl/CsCl) at montmorillonite-water interfaces, providing insights to the mechanisms of co-adsorption and the impacts of co-ions. In all cases, the adsorption modes of metal ions are not altered by co-ions, while co-ions exhibit the pronounced impacts on the adsorption numbers and strengths, and the main rather than minor adsorption modes are always more affected. In addition to these general principles, each type of binary systems has the peculiarities: Coexistence promotes Pb2+ adsorption while inhibits Cd2+ adsorption; Coexistence inhibits Pb2+ adsorption while promotes Cs+ adsorption; Coexistence promotes each other's adsorption of Pb2+ and Na+; Coexistence promotes Cs+ adsorption while inhibits K+ adsorption; All co-ions improve Pb2+ stabilities, while coexistence of Pb2+ reduces Cd2+ stabilities and improves Cs+ and Na+ stabilities; Competition for inner-sphere binding sites is not beneficial for the stabilities of both K+ and Cs+. Heavy and radioactive metal ions are a focus of this study and results are also helpful to manage their pollutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieved herein is a novel diversity‐oriented one‐pot multicomponent synthesis of polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles 3. The key pyrrolidine forming reaction is the 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition event of isatylidenyl‐chromanones 2 with azomethine ylides (thermally generated in situ from isatins and proline or thioproline). Products bearing four consecutive stereocenters consist of two oxindole moieties and a pyrrolidinyl core, including vicinal spiroquaternary stereocenters fused in one ring structure, were smoothly obtained in high yields (up to 89% yield) with good diastereoselectivity (up to >20:1). Valuable feature of this method was the design of new hybrid architectures for biological screenings through creating molecular diversity and complexity by means of the generation of several bonds and rings in a single operation. In particular, their biological activity against human leukemia cells K562 and normal L929 cells have been evaluated. These results suggested changes of this chromanone group could obviously impact the activity, and a chromanone group located in the polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles is beneficial for the activity. What is more, the results also indicated that chromanone‐fused polycyclic pyrrolidinyl‐dispirooxindoles 3 have selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells K562 compared with normal cells L929. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and Aims: Accurate assessment of liver functional reserve pre‐operatively is vital for safe hepatic resection. The ALBI score is a new model for assessing liver function. This study aimed to evaluate the value of combining ALBI score with sFLR in predicting post‐operative morbidity and PHLF in HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy. Methods: Patients undergoing three‐dimensional CT reconstruction prior to hepatectomy for HCC between January 2015 and January 2017 were enrolled. The values of the CP score, ALBI score and sFLR in predicting post‐operative outcomes were evaluated. Results: A total of 229 HCC patients were enrolled; 24 (10.5%) experienced major complications and 21 (9.2%) developed PHLF. The incidence of major complications and PHLF increased with increasing ALBI grade. The ALBI grade classified patients with CP grade A into two subgroups with different incidences of PHLF (P=.029). sFLR and ALBI scores were identified as independent predictors of PHLF. The AUC values for the CP score, ALBI score, sFLR and sFLR×ALBI for predicting major complications were 0.600, 0.756, 0.660 and 0.790 respectively. The AUC values of the CP score, ALBI score, sFLR and sFLR×ALBI for predicting PHLF were 0.646, 0.738, 0.758 and 0.884 respectively. Conclusions: The ALBI score showed superior predictive value of post‐operative outcomes over CP score, and the combination of sFLR and ALBI score was identified as a stronger predictor of post‐operative outcomes than the sFLR or ALBI score alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Described herein is a facile and efficient methodology toward the synthesis of novel convolutamydine A‐incorporated β‐ionone scaffold 3 from an Aldol addition event of β‐ionone to isatins via enamine Et2NH catalysis. Products featuring a quaternary carbon center were smoothly obtained in good yields (up to 96% yield). This protocol also represents the first construction of ionone skeleton‐fused oxindole molecules, thus leading to new knowledge in the fields of both molecular complexity and diversity‐oriented synthesis and the lead compound discovery. Furthermore, their biological activities against human leukemia cells K562 have been preliminarily demonstrated by in vitro assays. The results demonstrated that most of these compounds obtained by this protocol showed comparable with or even much better than the positive control of Cisplatin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activation of apoptotic signalling in endothelial cells contributes to the detrimental effects of a variety of pathological stimuli. In investigating the molecular events underlying the anti-apoptotic effect of human plasma in cultured human endothelial cells, we unexpectedly uncovered a novel mechanism of apoptosis suppression by human plasma through an interaction between two previously unrelated proteins. Human plasma inhibited hypoxia-serum deprivation-induced apoptosis and stimulated BADS136 and AktS473 phosphorylation. Akt1 silencing reversed part (~52%) of the anti-apoptotic effect of human plasma, suggesting the existence of additional mechanisms mediating the anti-apoptotic effect other than Akt signalling. Human plasma disrupted the interaction of BAD with protein phosphatase 1 (PP1). Mass spectrometry identified fourteen PP1-interacting proteins induced by human plasma. Notably, a group of serine protease inhibitors including plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI1), a major inhibitor of fibrinolysis, were involved. Silencing of PAI1 attenuated the anti-apoptotic effect of human plasma. Furthermore, combined Akt1 and PAI1 silencing attenuated the majority of the anti-apoptotic effect of human plasma. We conclude that human plasma protects against endothelial cell apoptosis through sustained BAD phosphorylation, which is achieved by, at least in part, a novel interaction between PP1 with PAI1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) show loss of white matter connectivity and cortical thinning on MRI, primarily in posterior brain regions. Here we examined whether a potential causal relationship exists between these markers of subcortical and cortical brain injury by examining whether changes in cortical thickness progress in tandem with changes in their underlying connections. Thirty-one patients with probable CAA with brain MRI at two time points were included (follow- up time: 1.3±0.4 years). Brain networks were reconstructed using diffusion MRI-based fiber tractography. Of each network node, we calculated the change in fractional anisotropy-weighted connectivity strength over time and the change in cortical thickness. The association between change in connectivity strength and cortical thickness was assessed with (hierarchical) linear regression models. Our results showed that decline in posterior network connectivity over time was strongly related to thinning of the occipital cortex (β=0.65 (0.35-0.94), P<0.001), but not to thinning of the other posterior or frontal cortices. However, at the level of individual network nodes, we found no association between connectivity strength and cortical thinning of the corresponding node (β=0.009±0.04, P=0.80). Associations were independent of age, sex and other brain MRI markers of CAA. To conclude, CAA patients with greater progressive loss of posterior white matter connectivity also have greater progression of occipital cortical thinning, but our results do not support a direct causal relationship between them. The association can be better explained by a shared underlying mechanism, which may form a potential target for future treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The objective of this study was to assess left atrial (LA) function with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) in addition to standard echocardiographic assessments in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) before and 1 year after septal ablation (SA). Methods The study included 31 patients with HOCM, who underwent SA. Each patient with HOCM underwent a complete two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography before and 1 year after the SA. The measurements included basal septal thickness, left ventricular outflow trace (LVOT) gradient, mitral regurgitation (MR) grade, LA dimensions, left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, and tissue Doppler parameters of lateral mitral annular e ′ and septal mitral annular e ′. The LA wall was tracked on a frame-by-frame basis using 2DSTE, and LA volume waveforms were generated. The maximum LA volume (LAVmax), minimal LA volume (LAVmin), and the LA volume before atrial contraction (LAVpre-a) were measured. The LA reservoir function was calculated as the expansion index and diastolic emptying index. The LA conduit function was calculated as the passive emptying percentage of total emptying (PE) and the passive emptying index (PEI). The LA booster function was calculated as the active emptying percentage of total emptying (AE) and the active emptying index (AEI). Results The LVOT gradient, end-diastolic septal base thickness, the grade of MR, and LA end-diastolic size were significantly decreased in patients with HOCM before and 1 year after the SA (All P<.05). The lateral mitral annular e ′ was significantly increased ( P<.05), and the E/lateral e ′ ratio was significantly decreased ( P<.05), whereas septal mitral annular e ′ was significantly decreased ( P<.05), and the E/septal e ′ ratio was significantly increased ( P<.05). LAVImax, LAVImin, and LAVIpre-a were significantly decreased 1 year after the SA (All P<.05). The expansion and diastolic emptying indices were significantly increased (All P<.05) at 1 year after the SA. PE and PEI were significantly increased (All P<.05). The AE and AEI were significantly decreased (All P<.05). LAVImax, LAVImin, and LAVIpre-a of the responders group were significantly lower than those of the nonresponders group (All P<.05). The expansion and diastolic emptying indices of the responders group were significantly higher than those of the nonresponders group (All P<.05). The PE and PEI of the responders were significantly higher than those of the nonresponders group (All P<.05). The AE and AEI of the responders were significantly lower than those of the nonresponders group (All P<.05). Conclusions We found an improvement in the LA reservoir and conduit function but a reduction in LA booster pump function 1 year after the SA in the responders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high-performance polyindole containing a pyridine ring ( P1) was successfully prepared by the catalyst-free nucleophilic substitution polycondensation of 4-hydroxyindole with 2,6-difluoropyridine via a C − N and C − O coupling reaction process. This semirigid polyindole P1 exhibits good thermal stability, and it can be dissolved well in common organic solvents. Fluorescent spectral studies indicate that the resulting polymer shows blue-light emission at 402 nm due to the effect of intramolecular charge transfer caused by the donor − acceptor interaction between its indole and pyridine units. Moreover, the fluorescence intensity of P1 could be altered by protonation and deprotonation. Such behaviour enables it to be utilized as one kind of acid response fluorescent polymer sensor. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underlying pre-existing paleotopography directly influences the loess deposition process and shapes the morphology of current loess landforms. An understanding of the controlling effects of the underlying paleotopography on loess deposition is critical to revealing the mechanism of loess-landform formation. However, these controlling effects exhibit spatial variation as well as uncertainty, depending on a study's data sources, methodologies and particular research scope. In this study, the geological history of a study area in the Loess Plateau of China that is subject to severe soil erosion is investigated using detailed geological information and digital elevation models (DEMs), and an underlying paleotopographic model of the area is constructed. Based on the models of modern terrain and paleotopography, we introduce a watershed hierarchy method to investigate the spatial variation of the loesslandform inheritance relationship and reveal the loess deposition process over different scales of drainage. The landform inheritance relationships were characterized using a terrain-relief change index (TRCI) and a bedrock terrain controllability index (BTCI). The results show that the TRCI appears to have an inverse relationship with increasing research scope, indicating that, compared with the paleotopography of the region, modern terrain has lower topographic relief over the entire area, while it has higher topographic relief in the smaller, local areas. The BTCI strengthens with increasing drainage area, which demonstrates a strong controlling effect over the entire study area, but a weak effect in the smaller, local areas because of the effect of paleotopography on modern terrain. The results provide for an understanding of the spatial variation of loess deposition in relation to paleotopography and contribute to the development of a process-based loess-landform evolution model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]