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Summary: The starch‐fatty acid (FA) complex belongs to a new type of resistant starch (RS5) and has become a prevalent research topic because of its slow‐digestion and enzymatic resistance properties. In this study, the starch‐FA complexes were prepared from potato starch (PS) and FAs with various carbon chain lengths and unsaturation by hydrothermal treatment (HT), alcohothermal treatment (AT) or ultrasound treatment (UT), and their physicochemical properties and digestibility were interpreted. The PS‐8% lauric acid (Lau) with the highest complex index value (approximately 95%) and RS content (approximately 31%) was obtained by HT; meanwhile, it had a slow glucose diffusion rate and a low free fatty acid release rate in simulated gastrointestinal digestion compared to native PS. Besides, the V‐type crystalline structure was formed obviously after HT, but it was too weak for AT and UT samples to be detected. The gelatinisation viscosity was reduced due to the physical combination of PS and Lau. Therefore, HT was a relatively efficient and safe approach to prepare starch‐FA complex with high RS content, and the obtained starch‐FA complex has the potential to become an alternative functional food ingredient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive researches have linked air pollutants with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory diseases (RD), however, there is limited evidence on causal effects of air pollutants on morbidity of CVD or RD with comorbidities, particularly diabetes mellitus in elder patients. We included hospital admissions for CVD or RD among elder (≥65 years) diabetic patients between 2014 and 2019 in Beijing. A time‐stratified case‐crossover design based on negative‐control exposure was used to assess causal associations of short‐term exposure to air pollutants with CVD and RD among diabetic patients with the maximum lag of 7 days. A random forest regression model was used to calculate the contribution magnitude of air pollutants. A total of 493,046 hospital admissions were recorded. Per 10 μg/m3 uptick in PM1, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, and 1 mg/m3 in CO was associated with 0.29 (0.05, 0.53), 0.14 (0.02, 0.26), 0.06 (0.00, 0.12), 0.36 (0.01, 0.70), 0.21 (0.02, 0.40), −0.08 (−0.25, 0.09), and 4.59 (0.56, 8.61) causal effect estimator for admission of CVD among diabetic patients, corresponding to 0.12 (0.05, 0.18), 0.09 (0.05, 0.13), 0.05, 0.23 (0.06, 0.41), 0.10 (0.02, 0.19), −0.04 (−0.06, −0.01), and 3.91(1.81, 6.01) causal effect estimator for RD among diabetic patients. The effect of gaseous pollutants was higher than particulate pollutants in random forest model. Short‐term exposure to air pollution was causally associated with increased admission of CVD and RD among elder diabetic patients. Gaseous pollutants had a greater contribution to CVD and RD among elder diabetic patients. Plain Language Summary: Although researches for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory diseases (RD) with air pollutants are widely reported, there is little evidence for causal associations of air pollution with CVD combined with diabetes mellitus (CVD‐DM) and RD combined with diabetes mellitus (RD‐DM) in elder patients. We included elder hospital admissions (aged ≥65 years) on comorbid CVD‐DM and RD‐DM patients between 2014 and 2019 in Beijing, China, to assess associations and causal inferences between air pollutants with CVD‐DM and RD‐DM. Random forest regression model was used to calculate the contribution magnitude of air pollutants. We found that exposure to air pollution increased admissions of CVD‐DM and RD‐DM in the elderly. Gaseous pollutants had a greater contribution to CVD‐DM and RD‐DM. The finding may lead to policy changes to reduce air pollution concentration, particularly gaseous pollutants to decrease hospital admissions. Key Points: Investigated causal associations of air pollutants on comorbid elderly populationA stable and accurate effect of air pollution was gained base on large sample sizesThe effects of gaseous pollutants are stronger than those of PM for the elderly [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroautophagy/autophagy is critically involved in the process of salivary gland (SG) diseases such as xerostomia, which has a serious impact on quality of life. KRT14+ progenitor cells are found to be the main progenitors for maintaining the ductal homeostasis of the submandibular SGs. In this study, we investigated the role of ATG5 in SG KRT14+ cells in mice and humans. Human labial salivary glands (LSG) from primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) and non‐pSS patients (normal), and submandibular glands (SMG) from Atg5flox/flox; Krt14‐Cre (cKO) mice were used. ATG5+KRT14+ and p62+KRT14+ cells were detected by immunofluorescence staining in LSG. TUNEL, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and western blot were performed to detect cell death in SMG. Saliva was collected in 12‐week‐old (12 W) and 32‐week‐old (32 W) mice, then the concentration of calcium and buffering capacity were detected to analyze the function of SG. We found that LSG from pSS patients showed increased p62 and decreased ATG5 in KRT14+ cells. We further revealed that in 32 W, (1) the function of salivary glands was significantly impaired in cKO mice, (2) cell death increased in cKO mice, but cl‐Caspase 3 was not significantly changed, and (3) cleaved gasdermin D increased and was highly expressed in KRT14+ cells of cKO mice. After applying a pyroptosis inhibitor to 32 W mice, the reduced saliva flow rate was rescued. In addition, pyroptosis was also found in KRT14+ cells of pSS patients. Collectively, our results indicate that Atg5 deficiency would induce pyroptosis in mice SG, which could lead to functional impairments of SG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Aberrant lipid metabolism is recognized as a key feature of cancer cells. Our initial research on MS‐based analysis of lipids in a multiple myeloma (MM) cell line showed a significant accumulation of lipids in multiple myeloma cells after proteasome inhibition. This finding prompted us to hypothesize that multiple myeloma cell survival depends on the maximal utilization of abnormally accumulated lipids. Therefore, we explored whether lipid metabolism‐modulating agents would synergize with proteasome inhibitors. Experimental Approach Lipid accumulation in multiple myeloma cells was measured by MS. Synergism between lipid regulators and proteasome inhibitors was assessed by cell viability and apoptosis. A novel stable derivative of fenofibrate (FCE) was synthesized and used to treat multiple myeloma cells in vitro and in vivo along with the proteasome inhibitor ixazomib. ChIP‐seq, western blotting and RT‐qPCR were performed to explore the potential mechanism(s) underlying the increase in lipid levels in multiple myeloma cells after proteasome inhibition. Key Results: Accumulation of lipids in multiple myeloma cells was induced by proteasome inhibition. Lipid‐lowering drugs and MG‐132 exerted a synergistic effect to kill multiple myeloma cells. FCE showed significant synergistic activity in vitro and in vivo with ixazomib. The abnormal lipid accumulation in multiple myeloma cells that was enhanced by proteasome inhibitors might be due to the elevated SREBP1/2 expression induced by ATF4. Conclusions and Implications: Our results provide a proof of principle and support for the further clinical evaluation of the combination of lipid‐modulating drugs with proteasome inhibitors in the treatment of multiple myeloma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a facile and controllable strategy to synthesize self‐hydroxylated TiO2 nanocrystals with promoted photocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution is demonstrated. Various colors (yellow, light yellow, blueish gray and gray) in appearance are induced by controlling the molar ratio of titanium source to oxidant during the hydrothermal treatment. Compared with commercial P25 TiO2 nanoparticles, the as‐obtained self‐hydroxylated TiO2 nanocrystals exhibit better photocatalytic performance in H2 evolution. Specifically, the maximum hydrogen evolution rate under solar light illumination (10.0 mmol/h/g) is 4.6 times superior to that of P25. The characterization results confirm the presence of abundant hydroxyls resulting from the hydrothermal treatment, which decreases the recombination rate of carriers and the energy barrier of hydrogen formation while facilitates light absorption for promoting photocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing applications of high‐voltage direct current inverters in heavy‐load grids, commutation failures (CFs) pose a severe threat to the safe and stable operation of power systems. This study first sorts methods of CF inhibition into different categories and then investigates their effectiveness, adaptability and limitations. Considering the economic benefits and applicability, CF inhibition calls for integrated methods involving supplementary power devices, control strategies and prediction techniques. Finally, this study makes clear potential future research directions, suggesting first control potential is exploited by machine learning‐based control, and then auxiliary devices to be added if necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient transient simulation of large power grid is of great importance for system operation and dispatching, fault repetition, operator training etc. Online stability estimation and testing on system control and protection require hard real‐time performance of transient simulation. The conventional real‐time simulation, which splits an entire grid into sub‐grids and solves them in parallel, lacks generality for various case systems. This study proposes a new efficiency enhancement method without grid partitioning. Three key techniques are involved. First, parallel solving format is proposed to distribute two‐layer computational burdens into central processing unit cores in balance. Second, to calculate the fault changing the grid structure, the inverse current compensation is employed instead of re‐forming impedance matrix and repeating lower‐upper (LU) decomposition. Third, dual‐loop forward and backward substitutions to solve grid equations are modified to a single‐loop iteration, which further improves the computational efficiency. At last, the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) play a critical role in the future energy Internet pattern. Therefore, proper models for the simulation of complex systems with multiple MMCs are required. This study proposes a simplified equivalent model (SEM) based on the implicit trapezoidal method and Thevenin equivalent. The model can accurately simulate arm voltages of the MMC and is thus capable of simulating system‐level transients after faults and disturbances, circulating currents and subsynchronous oscillation components. Subsequently, a hybrid model combining SEM and a detailed equivalent model (DEM) is built to improve the overall simulation speed in scenarios where submodule‐level transients are mixed with system‐level ones. Finally, this study notes that the major difference between DEM and SEM results only from the voltage‐balancing cycle. An experiential formula is given to regulate SEM when the voltage‐balancing cycle is large, where the difference may become obvious/insufferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report herein a practical method for taming Langlois' reagent CF3SO2Na to generate CuSCF3 by a triphenylphospine-mediated deoxygenative reduction process. This chemistry highlights a novel utilization of the inherent CF3S skeleton of Langlois' reagent as a CF3S feedstock under mild conditions. The CuSCF3 intermediate generated by this protocol can react with a wide array of supporting ligands to furnish several air-stable [LCu(SCF3)] complexes as valuable trifluoromethylthiolating agents. In addition, the CuSCF3 intermediate can be directly employed for the trifluoromethylthiolation of (hetero)aryl iodides with operational simplicity and atomic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental heterogeneity and plant competition influence plant vegetative sprouting and ramets growth. Many major invasive plants reproduce largely or exclusively by vegetative propagation. The terrestrial invasive Alternanthera philoxeroides mainly regenerates from fleshy roots. Here, it is tested whether resource heterogeneity and intraspecific competition influence the fleshy root sprouting and ramet growth of this species. Four or twelve similar‐sized fleshy roots of A. philoxeroides are grown in two soil substrates that are either homogeneous or heterogeneous but have the same total amount of nutrients. After 6 months, the sprouting and ramet growth traits (i.e., ramet number, leaf traits, biomass and biomass allocation) are analyzed. The fleshy root density significantly affects the sprouting and ramet growth traits, but the soil nutrient heterogeneity does not. The sprouting and ramet growth traits decrease in the treatments with high densities of fleshy roots. These results suggest that intraspecific competition has a greater influence on the root sprouting and ramet growth of the invasive terrestrial A. philoxeroides than soil nutrient heterogeneity. Thus, intraspecific competition can limit the establishment of terrestrial A. philoxeroides. Environmental heterogeneity and plant competition influence plant vegetative sprouting and ramets growth. Here, it is tested whether resource heterogeneity and intraspecific competition influence the fleshy root sprouting and ramet growth of Alternanthera philoxeroides. The results show that intraspecific competition can limit the establishment of terrestrial A. philoxeroides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]