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Background: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a potential novel biomarker to predict molecular residual disease (MRD) in lung cancer after definitive treatment. Herein, we investigated the value of ctDNA in prognosing risk of relapse and monitoring the effect of adjuvant therapy in surgical non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We enrolled 58 NSCLC patients in a real-world setting, and 58 tumor tissues and 325 plasma samples were analyzed. Tumor tissues and plasma samples were subjected to targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 1021 cancer-related and ultra-deep targeted NGS covering 338 genes, respectively. Results: ctDNA was detected in 31.0% of cases at the first postoperative time, which was associated with advanced tumor stage, T stage and KEAP1 or GRIN2A mutations in tissues. ctDNA positivity at landmark and longitudinal indicated the shorter disease-free survival. For patients with ctDNA positivity at the first postoperative time, regardless of adjuvant therapy, all patients who were persistently ctDNA positive during postoperative surveillance had disease recurrence. Among the patients who were ctDNA negative, only two patients (15.4%, 2/13) receiving adjuvant therapy relapsed, while one patient (50.0%, 1/2) without adjuvant therapy relapsed. For the first postoperative ctDNA negative patients, the recurrence rate of patients with adjuvant therapy was and higher than without adjuvant therapy (22.6% [7/31] vs. 11.1% [1/9]). The patients who became ctDNA positive may also benefit from intervention therapy. Conclusion: Postoperative ctDNA is a prognostic marker, and ctDNA-detection may facilitate personalized adjuvant therapy, and applying adjuvant therapy to the patients with detectable ctDNA could bring clinical benefits for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The π-π interaction is acknowledged as the predominant factor to determine the molecular packing in organic photovoltaic materials, while other non-covalent intermolecular interactions especially the σ-π hyperconjugation are often ignored. Herein, a perylene diimide (PDI) derivative named FIDT-PDI is designed and synthesized to shed light into the effect of hyperconjugation on the molecular packing and further the photovoltaic performance. Dynamic NMR and 2D NOE NMR demonstrate the formation of intermolecular σ-π hyperconjugation between the C--H bond of the PDI moiety in one molecule and the phenyl sidechain in another molecule of FIDT-PDI. Benefiting from the σ-π hyperconjugation, FIDT-PDI with twisted backbone reversely exhibits more ordered packing and stronger crystallinity compared with another PDI derivative FIDTT-PDI which has better planarity, consequently achieving superior PCE and higher carrier mobility. This contribution is the first paradigm to unravel the structure-property relationship between σ-π hyperconjugation of conjugated materials and corresponding photovoltaic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-data-throughput and multimodal-acquisition experiments will prevail in next-generation synchrotron beamlines. Orchestrating dataflow pipelines connecting the data acquisition, processing, visualization and storage ends are becoming increasingly complex and essential for enhancing beamline performance. Mamba Data Worker (MDW) has been developed to address the data challenges for the forthcoming High Energy Photon Source (HEPS). It is an important component of the Mamba experimental control and data acquisition software ecosystem, which enables fast data acquisition and transmission, dynamic configuration of data processing pipelines, data multiplex in streaming, and customized data and metadata assembly. This paper presents the architecture and development plan of MDW, outlines the essential technologies involved, and illustrates its current application at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent increases in perovskite solar cell (PSC) efficiencies, long-term stability remains a barrier to manufacturing and marketing. SnO2 electron transport layers enable the low-temperature processing of planer n-i-p structured PSCs. However, ultraviolet radiation damages to the interface between the electron transport layer and the perovskite (PVK), which is a significant issue for n-i-p configuration. Herein, the insertion of a thin CeO2 passivation layer between the SnO2 and PVK is investigated to block the interface degradation. This CeO2 layer improves charge extraction and reduces defects in the PVK/CeO2 interface, resulting in 22.71% power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to the pristine SnO2 PSC devices, which has a PCE of 20.7%. In addition, after 1700 h of storage at room temperature and 5%-8% RH (dry box), the PCE stability of the reinforced SnO2-CeO2 PSC devices drops from 22% to 19%, whereas that of the pristine SnO2 PSC devices drops from 20% to 16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu-Ti-Ni-Mg and Cu-Ti-Ni-Mg-Ce alloys are prepared by vacuum induction melting. The hot deformation tests of the two alloys are carried out on the Gleeble-1500 simulator under the deformation temperatures of 550-950 °C and strain rates of 0.001-10 s-1. The true stress-strain curves of the two alloys are obtained and the constitutive equations are established. The activation energy of the Cu-Ti-Ni-Mg alloy is 344.02 kJ mol-1, and the activation energy of the Cu-Ti-Ni-Mg-Ce alloy is 389.87 kJ mol-1. Based on the processing maps, the optimal processing parameters of the two alloys are obtained. The microstructure of the two alloys is analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The addition of Ce reduces the dislocation density and texture strength. The CuNi2Ti precipitates are found in both alloys, and there are more precipitates in the Cu-Ti-Ni-Mg-Ce alloys. The addition of Ce increases the flow stress and activation energy, promotes precipitation, and improves the deformation resistance of the alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating circular RNAs (circRNAs) are emerging as novel biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Machine learning can provide optimal predictions on the diagnosis of diseases. Here we performed a proof-of-concept study to determine if combining circRNAs with an artificial intelligence approach works in diagnosing CVD. We used acutemyocardial infarction (AMI) as a model setup to prove the claim. We determined the expression level of five hypoxia-induced circRNAs, including cZNF292, cAFF1, cDENND4C, cTHSD1, and cSRSF4, in the whole blood of coronary angiography positive AMI and negative non-AMI patients. Based on feature selection by using lasso with 10-fold cross validation, prediction model by logistic regression, and ROC curve analysis, we found that cZNF292 combined with clinical information (CM), including age, gender, body mass index, heart rate, and diastolic blood pressure, can predict AMI effectively. In a validation cohort, CM + cZNF292 can separate AMI and non-AMI patients, unstable angina and AMI patients, acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and non-ACS patients. RNA stability study demonstrated that cZNF292 was stable. Knockdown of cZNF292 in endothelial cells or cardiomyocytes showed anti-apoptosis effects in oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation. Thus, we identify circulating cZNF292 as a potential biomarker for AMI and construct a prediction model "CM + cZNF292.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing (AM), which is often referred to as three-dimensional printing, revolutionizes manufacturing by providing a high degree of design freedom and customization. Several AM methods entail precise control of droplet interfacial properties to ensure the high quality of the printed products. At the same time, the rapid growth of AM technology has made it possible to prepare novel surfaces with complex structures, further expanding the range of potential applications of droplet interface. To provide a unified framework to guide the continuous development of AM that involves droplet interface, this manuscript reviews related work in this field from two aspects--the droplet interface phenomenon in AM processes and the applications of droplet interface prepared by AM. Limitations of existing works are discussed, and potential future directions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) is a major cause of brain damage in neonates. Mitochondrial dysfunction acts as a hub for a broad spectrum of signaling events, culminating in cell death triggered by HI. A neuroprotective role of melatonin (MT) has been proposed, and mitophagy regulation seems to be important for cell survival. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying MT-mediated mitophagy during HI treatment are poorly defined. Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing protein X1 (NLRX1) has emerged as a critical regulator of mitochondrial dynamics and neuronal death that participates in the pathology of diverse diseases. This study aimed to clarify whether NLRX1 participates in the regulation of mitophagy during MT treatment for hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD). We demonstrated that MT protected neonates from HIBD through NLRX1-mediated mitophagy in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, MT upregulated the expression of NLRX1, Beclin-1, and autophagy-related 7 (ATG7) but decreased the expression of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and translocase of the inner membrane of mitochondrion 23 (TIM23). Moreover, the neuroprotective effects of MT were abolished by silencing NLRX1 after oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). In addition, the downregulation of mTOR and upregulation of Beclin-1 and ATG7 by MT were inhibited after silencing NLRX1 under OGD. In summary, MT modulates mitophagy induction through NLRX1 and plays a protective role in HIBD, providing insight into potential therapeutic targets for MT to exert neuroprotection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomography imaging methods at synchrotron light sources keep evolving, pushing multi-modal characterization capabilities at high spatial and temporal resolutions. To achieve this goal, small probe size and multi-dimensional scanning schemes are utilized more often in the beamlines, leading to rising complexities and challenges in the experimental setup process. To avoid spending a significant amount of human effort and beam time on aligning the X-ray probe, sample and detector for data acquisition, most attention has been drawn to realigning the systems at the data processing stages. However, postprocessing cannot correct everything, and is not time efficient. Here we present automatic alignment schemes of the rotational axis and sample pre- and during the data acquisition process using a software approach which combines the advantages of genetic algorithms and human intelligence. Our approach shows excellent sub-pixel alignment efficiency for both tasks in a short time, and therefore holds great potential for application in the data acquisition systems of future scanning tomography experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cell division cycle 42 (CDC42) regulates neurite outgrowth, neurotransmitter, and T help (Th) cell-mediated neuroinflammation, while its clinical implication in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not clear. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation of CDC42 with Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells, as well as CDC42' longitudinal change and relation to cognitive function decline in AD patients. Methods: 150 AD patients were enrolled, then their blood Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells were quantified by flow cytometry at baseline; CDC42 was detected by RT-qPCR and MMSE score was assessed at baseline and during 3-year follow-up. Meanwhile, CDC42, Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells were quantified in 30 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 30 healthy controls (HCs). Results: CDC42 (p < 0.001) and Th2 cells (p < 0.001) were lowest in AD patients, followed by PD patients, highest in HCs; but Th1 cells (p = 0.001) and Th17 cells (p < 0.001) showed opposite trends. CDC42 was not related to Th1 cells (p = 0.134), positively correlated with Th2 cells (p = 0.023) and MMSE (p < 0.001), while negatively associated with Th17 cells (p < 0.001) in AD patients. CDC42 was only related to Th17 cells (p = 0.048) and MMSE (p = 0.048) in PD patients; and it was not linked with Th1, Th2, Th17 cells, or MMSE in HCs (all p > 0.05). During a 3-year follow-up, CDC42 was gradually declined in AD patients (p < 0.001), its decline was positively correlated with MMSE decline at 1 year (p = 0.004), 2 years (p = 0.005), and 3 years (p = 0.026). Interpretation: CDC42 might have the potency to serve as a biomarker for estimating AD risk and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the predigestion of the dynamic model of the intelligent firefighting vehicle, a linear 2‐DOF lateral dynamic model and a preview error model are established. To solve the problems of a highly non‐linear vehicle model, time‐varying parameters, output chattering, and poor robustness, the Radial Basis Function neural network sliding mode controller is designed. Then, different driving speeds are used to conduct simulation tests under standard double‐shifting and smooth curve road conditions, and the simulation results are used to analyse the tracking effect of the lateral motion controller on the desired path. The simulation results reveal that the controller designed has high accuracy in tracking the desired path and has good robustness to the disturbance of intelligent firefighting vehicle speed changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An undesirable p--n heterojunction interface of Sb2Se3 absorber with Cd-free electron transport layer (ETL) is one of the key problems hindering the efficiency improvement of Sb2Se3 solar cell. Herein, a promising SnO2/TiO2 ETL coupled with SbCl3 treatment is introduced to improve the performance of Sb2Se3 solar cell. The mechanism of SbCl3 treatment on the crystal orientation of Sb2Se3 thin film and the p--n heterojunction interface of Sb2Se3 solar cell is disclosed combined with different characterization methods. The carrier transport property for Sb2Se3 thin film is enhanced, and the conduction band offset (CBO) of TiO2/Sb2Se3 interface is reduced from 0.57 to 0.20 eV by forming Sb2O3 interlayer at TiO2/Sb2Se3 interface after SbCl3 treatment, by which the interface recombination and the open circuit voltage deficit of the device can be effectively decreased, and the interface bonding at TiO2/Sb2Se3 interface can be effectively improved. Ultimately, the Cd-free Sb2Se3 solar cell with configuration of ITO/SnO2/TiO2/Sb2Se3/Au achieves an efficiency of 5.82%, which is the highest efficiency in vapor transport deposition (VTD)- processed Cd-free Sb2Se3 solar cell at present. This work is expected to fill in the blank of VTD-processed Cd-free Sb2Se3 solar cell and offers a valuable reference for future band alignment of Sb2Se3 solar cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-dimensional heterostructures which combine materials with different dimensions have emerged to expand the scope and functionality of van der Waals heterostructures. Here, a direct synthesis method of molybdenum disulfide/double-wall carbon nanotube (MoS2/DWCNT) mixed-dimensional heterostructures by sulfurating a molten salt, Na2MoO4, on a substrate covered with a DWCNT film is reported. The synthesized heterostructures are comprehensively characterized and their stacking order is confirmed to be MoS2 under the DWCNTs, although the DWCNT film is transferred on the substrate first. Moreover, field-effect transistors based on the heterostructure are fabricated for photodetection, and an abnormal negative photoresponse is discovered due to the strong carrier transfer in the mixed-dimensional heterostructures under light incidence. The MoS2/DWCNT heterostructure results provide a new approach for the synthesis and applications of mixed- dimensional heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic high salt intake is one of the leading causes of hypertension. Salt activates the release of the key neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus such as vasopressin to increase blood pressure, and neuropepetide Y (NPY) has been implicated in the modulation of vasopressin levels. NPY in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (Arc) is best known for its control in appetite and energy homeostasis, but it is unclear whether it is also involved in the development of salt‐induced hypertension. Here, we demonstrate that wild‐type mice given 2% NaCl salt water for 8 weeks developed hypertension which was associated with marked downregulation of NPY expression in the hypothalamic Arc as demonstrated in NPY‐GFP reporter mice as well as by in situ hybridization analysis. Furthermore, salt intake activates neurons in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) where mRNA expression of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vasopressin was found to be upregulated, leading to elevated serum vasopressin levels. This finding suggests an inverse correlation between the Arc NPY level and expression of vasopressin and BDNF in the PVN. Specific restoration of NPY by injecting AAV‐Cre recombinase into the Arc only of the NPY‐targeted mutant mice carrying a loxP‐flanked STOP cassette reversed effects of salt intake on vasopressin and BDNF expression, leading to a normalization of salt‐dependent blood pressure. In summary, our study uncovers an important Arc NPY‐originated neuronal circuitry that could sense and respond to peripheral electrolyte signals and thereby regulate hypertension via vasopressin and BDNF in the PVN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and mechanical properties of the stomatopod dactyl club have been studied extensively for its extreme impact tolerance, but a systematic in situ investigation on the multiscale mechanical responses under high-speed impact has not been reported. Here the full dynamic deformation and crack evolution process within projectile-impacted dactyl using combined fast 2D X-ray imaging and high-resolution ex situ tomography are revealed. The results show that hydration states can lead to significantly different toughening mechanisms inside dactyl under dynamic loading. A previously unreported 3D interlocking structural design in the impact surface and impact region is reported using nano X-ray tomography. Experimental results and dynamic finite-element modeling suggest this unique structure plays an important role in resisting catastrophic structural damage and hindering crack propagation. This work is a contribution to understanding the key toughening strategies of biological materials and provides valuable information for biomimetic manufacturing of impact-resistant materials in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To cater for the diverse experiment requirements at the High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) with often limited human resources, Bluesky was chosen as the basis for our software framework, Mamba. In our attempt to address Bluesky's lack of integrated graphical user interfaces (GUIs), command injection with feedback was chosen as the main way for the GUIs to cooperate with the command line interface; a remote-procedure-call service is also provided, which covers functionalities unsuitable for command injection, as well as pushing of status updates. In order to fully support high-frequency applications like fly scans, Bluesky's support for asynchronous control is being improved; furthermore, to support high-throughput experiments, Mamba Data Worker is being developed to cover the complexity in asynchronous online data processing for these experiments. To systematically simplify the specification of metadata, scan parameters and data-processing graphs for each type of experiment, an experiment parameter generator will be developed; experiment-specific modules to automate preparation steps will also be made. The integration of offthe-shelf code in Mamba for domain-specific needs is under investigation, and Mamba GUI Studio is being developed to simplify the implementation and integration of GUIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acidic nucleoplasmic DNA-binding protein 1 (And-1), an important factor for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) replication and repair, is overexpressed in many types of cancer but not in normal tissues. Although multiple independent studies have elucidated And-1 as a promising target gene for cancer therapy, an And-1 inhibitor has yet to be identified. Using an And-1 luciferase reporter assay to screen the Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds (LOPAC) in a high throughput screening (HTS) platform, and then further screen the compound analog collection, we identified two potent And-1 inhibitors, bazedoxifene acetate (BZA) and an uncharacterized compound [(E)-5-(3,4-dichlorostyryl)benzo[c][1,2]oxaborol-1(3H)-ol] (CH3), which specifically inhibit And-1 by promoting its degradation. Specifically, through direct interaction with And-1 WD40 domain, CH3 interrupts the polymerization of And-1. Depolymerization of And-1 promotes its interaction with E3 ligase Cullin 4B (CUL4B), resulting in its ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. Furthermore, CH3 suppresses the growth of a broad range of cancers. Moreover, And-1 inhibitors resensitize platinum-resistant ovarian cancer cells to platinum drugs in vitro and in vivo. Since BZA is an FDA approved drug, we expect a clinical trial of BZAmediated cancer therapy in the near future. Taken together, our findings suggest that targeting And-1 by its inhibitors is a potential broad-spectrum anti-cancer chemotherapy regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The long noncoding RNA, cardiac autophagy inhibitory factor (CAIF), and microRNA (miR)-16 are reported to be involved in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory responses and cell apoptosis in many diseases. Herein, we investigated the interaction between CAIF and miR-16 in sepsis-induced chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods: The expression of CAIF and miR-16 in plasma samples from sepsisinduced CHF patients (n = 60) and healthy controls (n = 60) were measured using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlations between CAIF and miR-16 across plasma samples from patients with sepsis-induced CHF and healthy controls were analyzed using linear regression. The messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase, C-C motif chemokine 2 (CCL2), growth-regulated alpha protein (CXCL1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were evaluated using qRT-PCR while nuclear factor κB activation was evaluated using luciferase assay. Results: The expression levels of CAIF and miR-16 were downregulated in the plasma of sepsis-induced CHF patients and were positively correlated in these patients. In cardiomyocytes, LPS treatment dose-dependently decreased CAIF and miR-16 levels. CAIF overexpression increased miR-16 expression by demethylating miR-16. CAIF and/or miR-16 overexpression suppressed LPSinduced CCL2, CXCL1, and IL-6 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels. Analysis of cell apoptosis and western blot analysis showed that CAIF and/or miR-16 overexpression inhibited LPS-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by reducing Bax and cleaved caspase 3 levels and enhancing Bcl-2 levels. Conclusion: Our study is the first to report the abnormal expression of CAIF and miR-16 in heart disease. CAIF plays a protective role in sepsis-induced CHF by inhibiting cardiomyocyte apoptosis and inflammation, possibly by regulating miR-16 demethylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an important cellular metabolite-sensing enzyme that can directly sense changes not only in ATP but also in metabolites associated with carbohydrates and fatty acids. However, less is known about whether and how AMPK senses variations in cellular amino acids. Here, we show that cysteine deficiency significantly triggers calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2)- mediated activation of AMPK. In addition, we found that CaMKK2 directly associates with cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS), which then binds to AMPKc2 under cysteine deficiency to activate AMPK. Interestingly, we discovered that cysteine inhibits the binding of CARS to AMPKc2, and thus, under cysteine deficiency conditions wherein the inhibitory effect of cysteine is abrogated, CARS mediates the binding of AMPK to CaMKK2, resulting in the phosphorylation and activation of AMPK by CaMKK2. Importantly, we demonstrate that blocking AMPK activation leads to cell death under cysteinedeficient conditions. In summary, our study is the first to show that CARS senses the absence of cysteine and activates AMPK through the cysteine-CARS-CaMKK2-AMPKc2 axis, a novel adaptation strategy for cell survival under nutrient deprivation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we describe a new rat model of vertebral inflammation-induced caudal intervertebral disc degeneration (VI-IVDD), in which IVD structure was not damaged and controllable segment and speed degeneration was achieved. VI-IVDD model was obtained by placing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the caudal vertebral bodies of rats. Rat experimental groups were set as follows: normal control group, group with a hole drilled in the middle of vertebral body and not filled with LPS (Blank group), group with a hole drilled in the middle of vertebral body and filled with LPS (Mid group), and group with hole drilled in the vertebral body in proximity of IVD and filled with LPS (NIVD group). Radiological results of VI-IVDD rats showed a significant reduction in the intervertebral space height and decrease in MRI T2 signal intensity. Histological stainings also revealed that the more the nucleus pulposus and endplate degenerated, the more the annulus fibrosus structure appeared disorganized. Immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated that the expression of Aggrecan and collagen-II decreased, whereas that of MMP-3 increased in Mid and NIVD groups. Abundant local production of pro-inflammatory cytokines was detected together with increased infiltration of M1 macrophages in Mid and NIVD groups. Apoptosis ratio remarkably enhanced in Mid and NIVD groups. Interestingly, we found a strong activation of the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase/stimulator of interferon gene signalling pathway, which is strictly related to inflammatory and degenerative diseases. In this study, we generated a new, reliable and reproducible IVDD rat model, in which controllable segment and speed degeneration was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface tension of a series of poly(ethylene glycol)-octyl sulfosuccinates at different temperatures was measured, and the interfacial properties were investigated in the absence and presence of inorganic salts. Surface tension results indicate that critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of five surfactants (C8-PEG200, C8-PEG400, C8-PEG600, C8-PEG800, and C8-PEG1000) decrease as the molecular weight of polyethylene glycol (PEG) segments and the experimental temperature increases. The surface activity of the C8-PEG series changes with temperature, and the surface tension at the CMC (γCmC) of the C8-PEG series decreases initially and then increases as the PEG molecular weight increases. This behavior may be attributed to the dehydration of the surfactant molecules, resulting in the change of hydrophile-lipophile balance for the different EO numbers in the surfactant molecules, which form a different surface energy film at the air-water interface. Negative ΔGm indicates that the micellization process of these surfactants is spontaneous and an entropically driven process. For the water/alkane interface, these surfactants have low interfacial activity. The interfacial tension (IFT) between these surfactants and alkanes increases first and then decreases with the increase in the molecular weight of PEG segments. After the addition of salt, the interfacial activity of the investigated surfactants increases significantly. The IFT between C8-PEG800 and 10-12 alkanes and between C8-PEG1000 and 12-16 alkanes reaches a low IFT magnitude of 10-2 mN m-1 in the presence of 0.5% CaCl2 or the mixed inorganic salts 0.5% NaCl+0.5% CaCl2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a serious cardiovascular disease. The ACS risk prediction model is of great significance during the hospitalisation of ACS patients. However, traditional machine learning methods are not effective in predicting risk events in the ACS treatment process because of sample imbalance and noise. In this letter, the multilayer perceptron (MLP) and ensemble method are combined and then ensemble‐MLPs are proposed, which has made two innovations: 1) increase the diversity of the base MLP classifier at the data level, structure level, and parameter level and 2) improve the ensemble performance by proposing a new ensemble method using f1‐score weighted average. Experiments have shown that the proposed method outperforms conventional ensemble MLP method and other traditional machine learning methods on the task of predicting risk events in the ACS treatment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical stimulation to enhance molecular release and transdermal drug delivery has aroused extensive research and clinical medical interest owing to its unique advantages such as being stimuli-responsive, sensitive, flexible, and controllable. Herein, a self-powered system driven by piezoelectric substrate is designed to promote the release and transdermal delivery of polar molecules. Notedly, the electric signals generated by piezoelectric substrate contribute to trigger the electricresponsive drug release and transdermal drug delivery. In addition, the system can be considered as a layer-by-layer drug depot with mesoporous silica particles assembled on a piezoelectric flexible composite film, through which the electric signals can be gathered and stored from biomechanical energy. As a result, the ginsenoside Rb1, a representative polar Chinese medicine molecule, can be facilely released from the integrated device in response to finger press. Importantly, the amount of penetration through skin tissues and cells was significantly increased under mechanical stimuli, and the cell bioactivity results manifested that the system also supported high cell viabilities. The integrated device is anticipated to achieving high efficiency in drug release and transdermal delivery via acting as a transdermal patch in the field of biomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Precise segmentation of clinical target volume (CTV) is the key to stomach cancer radiotherapy. We proposed a novel stochastic width‐deep neural network (SW‐DNN) for better automatically contouring stomach CTV. Methods: Stochastic width‐deep neural network was an end‐to‐end approach, of which the core component was a novel SW mechanism that employed shortcut connections between the encoder and decoder in a random manner, and thus the width of the SW‐DNN was stochastically adjustable to obtain improved segmentation results. In total, 150 stomach cancer patient computed tomography (CT) cases with the corresponding CTV labels were collected and used to train and evaluate the SW‐DNN. Three common quantitative measures: true positive volume fraction (TPVF), positive predictive value (PPV), and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) were used to evaluate the segmentation accuracy. Results: Clinical target volumes calculated by SW‐DNN had significant quantitative advantages over three state‐of‐the‐art methods. The average DSC value of SW‐DNN was 2.1%, 2.8%, and 3.6% higher than that of three state‐of‐the‐art methods. The average DSC, TPVF, and PPV values of SW‐DNN were 2.1%, 4.0%, and 0.3% higher than that of the corresponding constant width DNN. Conclusions: Stochastic width‐deep neural network provided better performance for contouring stomach cancer CTV accurately and efficiently. It is a promising solution in clinical radiotherapy planning for stomach cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw incorporation is an important measure to improve soil fertility and soil acidification. However, fresh straw that is returned to the field cannot be decomposed in a short time. Accumulation of undecomposed straw in the soil changes humus composition and the C structure. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of decomposed straw on soil fertility and microbial communities. Soil samples were collected from a rice--rice--tobacco region in south western China (The ricewas Hongyou No 7, which was a new variety applied in 2007 by the Honghe State Agricultural Science Institute, Yunnan province, China). (The tobacco was K326. K326 was an excellent variety which Imported from Northup King Seed Company (USA) to China in 1985). The soil was mixed with different kinds of straw and incubated in a greenhouse. The responses of the soil fertility, microbial diversity, and microbial population were analyzed after 0, 16, and 33 d of incubation. Overall, we found that (a) the soil organic matter and the organic C content of each humus component were significantly increased after 33 d of incubation. In addition, the condensation and oxidation degrees of the soil C structure were decreased. (b) Community dynamics changes in the soil were accompanied by changes of incubation times. (c) Decomposed straw incorporation could stimulate potentially beneficial microbial populations. (d) Decomposed straw incorporation with microbial agent application could be the best practice for the application of biofertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effects of high and low levels of energy intake during the entire gestation period on the skeletal muscle development, organ development, and adipose tissue accumulation in fetuses of Wagyu (Japanese Black) cows, a breed with highly marbled beef. Cows were allocated to a high-nutrition (n = 6) group (fed 120% of the nutritional requirement) or low-nutrition (n = 6) group (fed 60% of the nutritional requirement). The cows were artificially inseminated with semen from the same sire, and the fetuses were removed by cesarean section at 260 ± 8.3 days of fetal age and slaughtered. The whole-body, total muscle, adipose, and bone masses of the fetal half-carcasses were significantly higher in the high-nutrition group than the low-nutrition group (p = 0.0018, 0.009, 0.0004, and 0.0362, respectively). Fifteen of 20 individual muscles, five of six fat depots, nine of 17 organs, and seven of 12 bones that were investigated had significantly higher masses in the high-nutrition group than the low-nutrition group. The crude components and amino acid composition of the longissimus muscle significantly differed between the low- and high-nutrition groups. These data indicate that maternal nutrition during gestation has a marked effect on the muscle, bone, and adipose tissue development of Wagyu cattle fetuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model to classify the lifespan of Drosophila, the fruit fly, into short- and long-lived categories based on a sleep characteristic, extracted from activity data, is developed using a two-stage process. Stage 1 models the per-minute activity counts of each fly using a zero-inflated autoregressive conditional Poisson model. These probabilities are allowed to vary hourly, reflecting the circadian and other cycles present in a fly's sleep architecture. A 5-day moving window is used to model data allowing the model parameters to vary over the course of the fly's life. The resulting probabilities capture information about changes in sleep patterns with age and are hypothesized to contain features that help categorize flies into short- and long-lived groups. The resulting hourly zero-inflation probabilities over a 24-day period are utilized to create a 'heat map' containing information on the 24-hour daily sleep cycle and its changes across the 24-day observation period. In Stage 2, the heat maps for individual flies are used as inputs to a convolutional neural network to build a classification model. The estimated model provides a reasonably accurate way to group flies into lifespan categories. Grouping flies into such categories would facilitate the discovery of biochemical markers of aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports a multi-layered dual-mode substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) bandpass filter (BPF), in which the input and output ports are located on the same substrate layer (i.e. the upper one). The dual-mode SIW cavity in the lower substrate layer is coupled to the upper dual-mode SIW cavity by two crossed slots, which can independently control the inter-couplings. The proposed filter can be modelled by a dual-extended doublet coupling scheme with considering bypass couplings between source and load. Based on the proposed structure, single- and dual-band filtering responses with four controllable finite-transmission zeros (FTZs) are realised and analysed. For the demonstration, a single-band filter and a dual-band filter were fabricated and measured. The measured results agree well with simulated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel basic quasi-elliptic response bandpass filter in quadruplet based on coupled TE101-mode-based eighth-mode substrate integrated waveguide (EMSIW) cavities is proposed and analysed firstly. The negative cross coupling is achieved by the nature of coupled fringe electric-field components of the first and fourth cavities. Then, based on the proposed basic quadruplet structure, two methods using a step-impedance resonator and meandered feeding lines, respectively, are introduced and analysed to realise S-L coupling to improve the upper stopband performance further. Finally, two possible structures with quasi-inline and quasi-folded layouts, respectively, are proposed to realise sixth-order EMSIW filters. Five EMSIW filters are designed, fabricated, and measured to demonstrate and verify the proposed structures. The proposed filters have the advantages of compact size, good out-of-band rejection and realisation of higher-order filtering function. The size of the realised 4th-/6th-order filter is less than 0.13/0.17-λg ². The out-of-band rejection higher than 28 dB can reach 2.32f0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing O2/Ar flow ratio from 2/18 to 20/0, TiO2 films were deposited by the direct current pulsed magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of O2/Ar flow ratio on plasma properties was discussed, which controlled the growth behaviour of TiO2 film. The growth behaviour influenced the value of roughness exponent α of TiO2 film, which reflected the dynamic scaling of the morphological evolution of TiO2 film. Finally, the relation between the dynamic scaling of the morphological evolution of TiO2 film and O2/Ar flow ratio was discussed systematically. The results indicate that with the other parameters constant, the growth behaviour of TiO2 film is dominated by O2/Ar flow ratio. By increasing O2/Ar flow ratio from 2/18 up to 6/14, the growth behaviour of TiO2 film transforms from the shadowing effect controlling to diffuse effect controlling, which results in the density of island structure on TiO2 film surface decreases, the size of island structure on TiO2 film surface increases, and the roughness exponent α of film decreases. When O2/Ar flow ratio exceeds 6/14, the density of island structure on TiO2 film surface remains constant. In this situation, the crystallographic orientation effect controls the growth behaviour of TiO2 film, which increases roughness exponent α. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxy‐fuel combustion technology has been recognized as the most promising technology for controlling CO2 emission in coal‐fired boilers. The slagging characteristics of oxy‐fuel combustion (O2/CO2) are very different from those of air combustion (O2/N2). In this paper, an ash sample collection of Shenhua coal with high Ca and Fe content was carried out in a muffle furnace and a tubular furnace under different conditions. The ash melting point, X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for characterization. The characteristics of Shenhua coal ash slagging in different atmospheres were studied, and the mineral transformation trend was obtained. It was concluded that the melting point of the ash samples under oxy‐fuel combustion was lower than that under an air atmosphere, and the slagging tendency was enhanced under conditions of high oxygen combustion. Under oxy‐fuel combustion, CaCO3 was found. This did not occur under an air atmosphere. The atmosphere has no obvious effect on the crystal minerals of Fe. The decrease in high melting point oxide, the formation of carbonate, and the increase in glass state and sulfate under an oxy‐fuel atmosphere all make the ash melting point lower than under an air atmosphere. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a sensorless current model control algorithm for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is investigated based on intelligent proportion integration differentiation (IPID) with two-dimensional cloud model online optimisation. To obtain a relatively accurate rotor position and speed estimation, in virtual γ − δ rotating coordinate system, estimation of the position and speed is performed using a current error between an actual current and the model current obtained from a current model of the motor. Simultaneously, a type of IPID with parameter dynamic real-time self-tuning function is designed to adjust the speed and current loop in the current model control. By introducing the chaos particle swarm optimisation (CPSO) algorithm to optimise the control parameters offline, the entire control system is in the optimised state, then the two-dimensional cloud model online adjustment module is used to perform real-time tuning. The experimental results show that the new control algorithm proposed can accurately estimate the real-time rotor position and speed, which effectively avoids the influence of back EMF harmonics, and it has the robustness to motor internal parameter perturbation and external load disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]