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This article discusses a study that used machine learning to identify and validate plant peroxisome targeting signal type 1 (PTS1) tripeptides. Peroxisomes are organelles in eukaryotic cells that are involved in metabolic pathways. The researchers trained machine learning models using a dataset of functional PTS1 sequences and non-PTS1 sequences, achieving high accuracy and recall rates in predicting peroxisome targeting. They then used the models to predict novel PTS1 tripeptides and confirmed their peroxisome targeting through experimental validation. The study expands our understanding of peroxisomes in plants and has implications for predicting peroxisomal proteins and metabolic pathways in different plant species. However, it is important to consider that the presence of a PTS1 tripeptide does not guarantee peroxisome targeting, as other factors may also influence protein localization. [Extracted from the article]

Metal halide perovskites have attracted significant attention for high‐performance and cost‐effective photodetector (PD) arrays in recent years. Traditional perovskite photodetector arrays typically rely on planar structure and photolithography, which limit resolution and involve complex, costly processes. To address these challenges, an innovative, lithography‐free fabrication strategy is proposed utilizing direct laser writing ablation and a surface energy‐assisted selective growth process. A 10 × 10 self‐powered perovskite photodetector array is demonstrated with a vertical cross‐bar structure fabricated on a laser‐ablated textured Indium‐Tin Oxide (ITO) substrate which improves the device performance. The device exhibits a fast photoresponse and effective imaging capability. Moreover, the intrinsic physical disorder and randomness of perovskite provide highly secure entropy sources, making the photodetector array suitable for physical unclonable function (PUF) devices. This method offers a promising opportunity for simplifying the fabrication process, enhancing manufacturability, and advancing the application of perovskite PD arrays in secure imaging systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Vitiligo is a common depigmenting skin disorder. This work is performed to systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of fire needles combined with 308 nm excimer laser therapy in treating vitiligo. Methods: We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on fire needles combined with 308 nm excimer laser therapy with 308 nm excimer laser therapy alone for vitiligo were included. The Cochrane Collaborative Network Tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Statistical analysis was completed using RevMan5.3 software and Stata 15.0 software. The GRADE system was used to evaluate the quality of evidence for outcomes. Results: In this study, 10 RCTs and 1333 patients were included. The results showed that compared with 308 nm excimer laser therapy alone, fire needle combined with 308 nm excimer laser therapy is more effective in improving clinical effective rate (RR = 1.36, 95% CI [1.24, 1.50], p < 0.00001), serum CD4+ level (MD = 3.12, 95% CI [2.50, 3.74], p < 0.00001), CD4+/CD8+ ratio (MD = 0.24, 95% CI [0.09, 0.39], p = 0.001), and quality of life measured by the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) (MD = 3.76, 95% CI [3.33, 4.19], p < 0.00001), and reducing the Vitiligo Area Score Index (VASI) (MD = −5.47, 95% CI [−6.56, −4.37], p < 0.00001). The reported adverse events, including redness, swelling, pain, blisters, and itching, were controllable, and all these events were well tolerated. Conclusion: The current evidence indicates that fire needle combined with 308 nm excimer laser therapy is effective and safe for vitiligo. However, owing to the suboptimal quality of the included studies, more high‐quality and large‐scale RCTs are needed for comprehensive analysis and further validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the vertical static variation characteristics of CO2 and crude oil in porous medium under different experimental pressures are studied by using the CO2 miscible visual displacement device jointly developed. The process of change at the CO2 and crude oil interface is characterized by relative height and dissolution expansion rate. Experimental results demonstrate that with the increase of pressure, CO2 gradually reaches a supercritical state with strong extraction and mass transfer capacity, and CO2‐crude oil exhibits different contact forms under different pressures. Under the same pressure, there are also significant differences in contact forms between visual tube and porous medium. The existence of porous medium weakens the mass transfer and diffusion abilities between CO2 and crude oil and reduces the extraction of light components by CO2. In porous medium, the relative height of crude oil is a power function of time, which is 1/5 ≈ 3/10 of that in visual tube. And the dissolution expansion rate of CO2 and crude oil exhibits a negative logarithmic correlation with time, which is 1/4 ≈ 2/5 of that in visual tube. The impact of porous media on relative height and dissolution expansion rate of crude oil becomes more pronounced as the pressure decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreasing perovskite nanocrystal size increases radiative recombination due to the quantum confinement effect, but also increases the Auger recombination rate which leads to carrier imbalance in the emitting layers of electroluminescent devices. Here, we overcome this trade‐off by increasing the exciton effective mass without affecting the size, which is realized through the trace Cd2+ doping of formamidinium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals. We observe an ~2.7 times increase in the exciton binding energy benefiting from a slight distortion of the [BX6]4− octahedra caused by doping in the case of that the Auger recombination rate is almost unchanged. As a result, bright color‐saturated green emitting perovskite nanocrystals with a photoluminescence quantum yield of 96 % are obtained. Cd2+ doping also shifts up the energy levels of the nanocrystals, relative to the Fermi level so that heavily n‐doped emitters convert into only slightly n‐doped ones; this boosts the charge injection efficiency of the corresponding light‐emitting diodes. The light‐emitting devices based on those nanocrystals reached a high external quantum efficiency of 29.4 % corresponding to a current efficiency of 123 cd A−1, and showed dramatically improved device lifetime, with a narrow bandwidth of 22 nm and Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage coordinates of (0.20, 0.76) for color‐saturated green emission for the electroluminescence peak centered at 534 nm, thus being fully compliant with the latest standard for wide color gamut displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel material of acrylamide (AM) cross‐linked psyllium polysaccharides (PLP) derivative, PLP‐AM, which can be used as an effective polymeric flocculant for the removal of microplastics (MP) from water. PLP‐AM was produced by radical polymerization of PLP and AM using microwave irradiation instead of conventional radical initiators. The characterization of PLP‐AM was carried out by FT‐IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, intrinsic viscosity measurement and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). Polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were utilized to examine the flocculation performance of PLP‐AM. The optimum flocculation conditions were obtained by the comprehensive exploration of flocculant concentration, solution pH and temperature. In a solution with a pH 6 at 30 °C, the maximum removal percentages of PS and PVC by 60 mg/L of PLP‐AM were 92.55 % and 94.31 %, respectively, while 93.85 % of the maximum removal of PET percentage could be obtained by 80 mg/L of PLP‐AM. The results of zeta potential measurement revealed that there was adsorption electric neutralization between MP and PLP‐AM besides the adsorption bridging mechanism. These results suggest that PLP‐AM may bring an inspiration for the development of polymer flocculant to remove MP from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Human exhaled breath usually contains unique proteins that may provide clues to characterize individual physiological activities and many diseases. However, the concentration of exhaled proteins in exhaled breath is extremely low and usually does not reach the detection limits of all online breath mass spectrometry instruments. Therefore, developing a new breath sampler for collecting and characterizing exhaled proteins is important. Methods: In this study, a new mask‐based wearable sampler was developed by fixing metal materials into the inner surface of the KN95 mask. Human exhaled proteins could be directly adsorbed onto the metal material while wearing the mask. After sampling, the collected proteins were eluted, digested, and identified using nano‐liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (nano‐LC–MS/MS). Results: The adsorption of exhaled proteins was evaluated, showing that modified gold foil is an effective material for collecting exhaled proteins. Various endogenous proteins were successfully identified from exhaled breath, many of which can be potential biomarkers for disease diagnosis. Conclusions: By coupling the newly developed mask sampler with nano‐LC–MS/MS, human exhaled proteins were successfully collected and identified. Our results show that the mask sampler is wearable, simple, and convenient, and the method is noninvasive for investigating disease diagnosis and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) has been associated with disease progression and overall survival among cancer patients. Nonetheless, the association between PNI and mortality risk in adult cancer patients within the United States remains unexplored. This study aims to elucidate the connection between PNI and prognostic outcomes in American adult cancer patients. This cohort study derived data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination database, involving 4366 American adults diagnosed with cancer between 1999 and 2018. The nutritional status was assessed using the PNI, with higher PNI scores indicating a more favorable nutritional status. The study employed Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard regression to investigate the impact of PNI on various outcomes, including all‐cause mortality (ACM), cardiovascular mortality (CAM), and malignancy tumor mortality (MTM) among adult cancer patients. Furthermore, restricted cubic spline models were used to examine the potential nonlinear relationship between the variables by creating hazard ratio (HR) curves at four specific points. The median follow‐up duration was 84 months, during which 1530 (35.04%) cases of ACM occurred, including 331 (13.67%) CAM and 449 (10.45%) MTM. COX regression analysis revealed a significant inverse association between PNI and patient prognosis, with HRs of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93–0.96, p <.001) for ACM, 0.93 (95% CI: 0.90–0.96, p <.001) for CAM, and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91–0.97, p <.001) for MTM. Both Kaplan–Meier analyses and restricted cubic spline curves showed significant differences in mortality rates related to PNI (p <.001, nonlinear p <.001). Our study provides compelling evidence of a clear association between PNI and reduced risk of ACM, CAM, and MTM in adult cancer patients in the United States. These findings underscore the significance of incorporating PNI as a possible prognostic indicator for individuals diagnosed with cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our previous research, we proved that ailanthone (AIL) inhibits the growth of gastric cancer (GC) cells and causes apoptosis by inhibiting P23. However, we still find some GC organoids are insensitive to AIL. We have done some sequencing analysis and found that the insensitive strains are highly expressed in PARP1. In this study, we investigated whether AIL can enhance the anti‐tumour effect of PARPi in GC. CCK8 and spheroid colony formation assay were used to measure anti‐tumour effects. SynergyFinder software was used to calculate the synergy score of the drug combination and flow cytometry was used to detect apoptosis. Western blot, IHC, IF tests were used to measure protein expression. Finally, nude mouse xenograft models were used to verify the in vitro mechanisms. High expression of PARP1 was found to be the cause of drug insensitivity. When AIL is paired with a PARP1 inhibitor, olaparib (OLP), drug sensitivity improves. We discovered that this combination functions by blocking off HSP90‐BRCA1 interaction and inhibiting the activity of PARP1, thus in turn inhibiting the homologous recombination deficiency and base excision repair pathway to finally achieve synthetic lethality through increased sensitivity. Moreover, P23 can regulate BRCA1 in GC in vitro. This study proves that the inhibitory effect of AIL on BRCA1 allowed even cancer cells with normal BRCA1 function to be sensitive to PARP inhibitors when it is simultaneously administered with OLP. The results greatly expanded the scope of the application of PARPi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Human breath analysis has been attracting increasing interest in the detection of abused drugs in forensic and clinical applications because of its noninvasive sampling and distinctive molecular information. Mass spectrometry (MS)‐based approaches have been proven to be powerful tools for accurately analyzing exhaled abused drugs. The major advantages of MS‐based approaches include high sensitivity, high specificity, and versatile couplings with various breath sampling methods. Methods: Recent advances in the methodological development of MS analysis of exhaled abused drugs are discussed. Breath collection and sample pretreatment methods for MS analysis are also introduced. Results: Recent advances in technical aspects of breath sampling methods are summarized, highlighting active and passive sampling. MS methods for detecting different exhaled abused drugs are reviewed, emphasizing their features, advantages, and limitations. The future trends and challenges in MS‐based breath analysis of exhaled abused drugs are also discussed. Conclusions: The coupling of breath sampling methods with MS approaches has been proven to be a powerful tool for the detection of exhaled abused drugs, offering highly attractive results in forensic investigations. MS‐based detection of exhaled abused drugs in exhaled breath is a relatively new field and is still in the early stages of methodological development. New MS technologies promise a substantial benefit for future forensic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyopneumothorax with bronchopleural fistula is a rare complication of lung infection. We herein report a case of pyopneumothorax with bronchopleural fistula caused by Porphyromonas gingivalis infection, a common pathogenic pathogen of periodontitis, in a 49‐year‐old man with periodontitis. The patient was admitted with respiratory failure. Pleural puncture yielded a lot of gas continually and foul‐smelling light brown pus, which was found to be caused due to infection with P. gingivalis by the metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) and anaerobic culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The green peach aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer) is a harmful agricultural pest that causes severe crop damage by directly feeding or indirectly vectoring viruses. 1,8‐cineole synthase (CINS) is a multiproduct enzyme that synthesizes monoterpenes, with 1,8‐cineole dominating the volatile organic compound profile. However, the relationship between aphid preference and CINS remains elusive. RESULTS: Here, we present evidence that SoCINS, a protein from garden sage (Salvia officinalis), enhanced aphid repellence and increased trichome density in transgenic tobacco. Our results demonstrated that overexpression of SoCINS (SoCINS‐OE) led to the emission of 1,8‐cineole at a level of up to 181.5 ng per g fresh leaf. Subcellular localization assay showed that SoCINS localized to chloroplasts. A Y‐tube olfactometer assay and free‐choice assays revealed that SoCINS‐OE plants had a repellent effect on aphids, without incurring developmental or fecundity‐related penalties. Intriguingly, the SoCINS‐OE plants displayed an altered trichome morphology, showing increases in trichome density and in the relative proportion of glandular trichomes, as well as enlarged glandular cells. We also found that SoCINS‐OE plants had significantly higher jasmonic acid (JA) levels than wild‐type plants. Furthermore, application of 1,8‐cineole elicited increased JA content and trichome density. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that SoCINS‐OE plants have a repellent effect on aphids, and suggest an apparent link between 1,8‐cineole, JA and trichome density. This study presents a viable and sustainable approach for aphid management by engineering the expression of 1,8‐cineole synthase gene in plants, and underscores the potential usefulness of monoterpene synthase for pest control. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal ions in water can affect human health. Taking Pb2+ for an example, it can lead to kidney failure and tumor infection. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has been widely used as filter membranes in wastewater treatment. This paper uses citric acid (CA) as the connecting arm to graft carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) onto PVDF and prepare a novel granular molecular sieve‐supported PVDF derivative (s‐PVDF‐CA‐CMCS). The structure was characterized and the adsorption capacity for heavy metal ions was investigated. The results indicate that s‐PVDF‐CA‐CMCS has good adsorption performance for aqueous heavy metal ions, especially for Pb2+, with a removal rate of 99.39 % and an adsorption capacity of 198.41 μg/g. The adsorption data fits the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model (R2=0.9992), and the removal rate of Pb2+ was 78.48 % after 5 cycles of adsorptions, indicating that s‐PVDF‐CA‐CMCS may be potential applications for removing heavy metal ions in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An accurate migration velocity model is vital to seismic imaging. Conventional time‐domain migration velocity analysis techniques commonly obtain the velocity model by iteratively picking the velocity spectra of common reflection point gathers or scanning selection, which is usually laborious and computationally expensive. To solve these issues, we propose a more effective migration velocity analysis method for prestack time migration. This method is based on cross‐correlation stacked time shift functions of local migrated gathers and uses the very fast simulated annealing algorithm to semi‐automatically invert the migration velocity parameters. This new correlation‐based objective function can catch subtle bending features of the reflector in the local migrated gather. The proposed approach applies an efficient global optimization algorithm that does not depend on the initial parameter value and is easy to extend to the multiparameter complex case. Moreover, the strategy of using local migrated gathers can incorporate prior information in the inversion to avoid the effects of misidentifying reflection events and the interference of multiples. Furthermore, applying a dynamic parameter constraint strategy for the very fast simulated annealing algorithm improves the convergence speed. Both synthetic and real data examples demonstrate that the proposed migration velocity analysis method can efficiently build an accurate time migration velocity model, which can also provide a good initial velocity model for depth migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring continuous and sustainable lithium supply requires the development of highly efficient separation processes such as LLE (liquid‐liquid extraction) for both primary sources and certain waste streams. In this work, 4‐phosphoryl pyrazolones are used in an efficient pH‐controlled stepwise separation of Li+ from Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+. The factors affecting LLE process, such as the substitution pattern of the extractant, diluent/water distribution, co‐ligand, pH, and speciation of the metal complexes involved, were systematically investigated. The maximum extraction efficiency of Li+ at pH 6.0 was 94 % when Mg2+ and Ca2+ were previously separated at pH<5.0, proving that the separation of these ions is possible by simply modulating the pH of the aqueous phase. Our study points a way to separation of lithium from acid brine or from spent lithium ion battery leaching solutions, which supports the future supply of lithium in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibrotactile actuators can evoke mechanical stimulations on human skins to induce haptic feedbacks for various human machine interaction applications. However, efforts toward their practical usages encounter several engineering challenges, including wearable comfortability and output abilities. Here, air permeable actuators are developed and embedded in common fabrics for vibrotactile actuation, achieving excellent air permeability of 108 L m−2 s−1, low preload requirement of 10 mN, high output sensitivity of 0.2 mN/V, and good mechanical durability by surviving 11 million testing cycles. As demonstration examples, a wireless haptic feedback glove is shown to distinguish 32 different English characters and symbols with an overall accuracy of 97.8%, and large size actuators (10 × 10 cm2) are also proved for providing haptic feedback for parts of human body. As such, the proposed system opens a new class of wearable vibrotactile actuators for potential applications in wide fields of metaverse, teleoperation, smart textiles, and robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Zn‐incorporated titanium substrate with nano network structures was built, and its antibacterial activity against the gram positive and negative bacteria was tested. Ti plate was successively treated by hot alkaline, Zn2+ ion‐exchange, and ZnO nanoparticles deposit, where alkaline treated Ti plate (NTi), Zn2+ exchanged Ti plate (NZTi), Zn2+/ZnO incorporated Ti plate (NZZTi) were correspondingly generated. For Escherichia coli, the antibacterial percentage of NZTi and NZZTi after 24 h was 99.86 % and 99.98 %, while it was 99.95 % and 100 % for Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The result disclosed that NZZTi have a bit better antibacterial activity than NZTi, which indicates that Zn2+ shows fabulous antibacteria activity and the presence of ZnOnps can contribute the antibacterial ability of Ti plates, which agrees with result of NZZTi‐Cup antibacterial effect. The release tests of Zn2+ after 8 days from NZZTi‐Cup disclosed that Zn‐incorporated Ti plate could consecutively release trace Zn ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Without any doubt, the patient was diagnosed with secondary syphilis, and was treated with benzathine penicillin for three weeks before the lesions faded, resulting in pigmentation (Figures 1B and 2C). Dear Editor, Syphilis is a chronic infectious disease caused by I Treponema pallidum i that can affect multiple systems and have a variety of clinical manifestations. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) in thoracic surgery remains a significant cause of morbidity and prolonged hospitalization. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has significantly reduced the risk of SSI. We intended to compare whether there was difference between video‐assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and robotic‐assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) in SSI and highlight possible factors influencing SSI in lobectomy. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed patients who underwent minimally invasive lobectomy from January 2018 to December 2019. All patients' clinical characteristics and surgery‐related information which may be related to the likelihood of SSI were recorded. Results: A total of 1231 patients' records were reviewed with 806 VATS and 425 RATS. SSI was classified as deep or superficial SSI. Eighty‐six (7.0%) patients were found to develop an SSI with 62 patients having deep infections and 24 had superficial infection. No statistical difference in the incidence rate and category of SSI was observed between patients undergoing VATS and RATS. Conclusions: There was no difference in the incidence of SSI between VATS and RATS lobectomy. Male gender, heavy smoking, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, body mass index (BMI) > 27.9, more blood loss, and the higher National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) risk index score (1 or 2) were the independent risk factors of SSI following minimally invasive lobectomy, while male gender, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, BMI > 27.9, more blood loss and the higher NHSN risk index score (1 or 2) were the main predictors of deep SSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot‐injection methods are widely used for the synthesis of colloidal perovskite nanocrystals (PeNCs). However, the long‐chain hydrocarbon solvents with alkene groups, such as octadecene (ODE), cannot be removed completely due to the strong van der Waals force between ODE and surface ligands as well as the large difference in the polarity with ethyl acetate, which hinders the charge transport characteristic of PeNCs and thus reduces the performance of PeNC‐based light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs). Herein, an alkene‐free solvent‐assisted strategy is reported to synthesize high‐quality CsPbBr3 PeNCs in toluene and it is found that the alkene‐free solvent can significantly influence the morphology, composition, and optoelectronic properties of PeNCs. Compared to the traditional ODE solvent with alkene groups, toluene endows the higher solubility of precursors, which reduces the growth rate of PeNCs and allows sufficient time for the perovskite crystallization to suppress the bulk defects. Moreover, the similar polarity between toluene and ethyl acetate avoids long‐chain solvent residual on the PeNCs, thereby improving the charge transport characteristics. Making use of these PeNCs prepared with toluene solvent, the resulting PeLEDs present a peak external quantum efficiency of over 15%, 1.5‐fold higher than that of the device based on PeNCs that are prepared in ODE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective receptors for the separation of Li+ from a mixture with other alkali metal ions under mild conditions remains an important challenge that could benefit from new approaches. In this study, it is demonstrated that the 4‐phosphoryl pyrazolones, HL2‐HL4, in the presence of the typical industrial organophosphorus co‐ligands tributylphosphine oxide (TBPO), tributylphosphate (TBP) and trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO), are able to selectively recognise and extract lithium ions from aqueous solution. Structural investigations in solution as well as in the solid state reveal the existence of a series of multinuclear Li+ complexes that include dimers (TBPO, TBP) as well as rarely observed trimers (TOPO) and represent the first clear evidence for the synergistic role of the co‐ligands in the extraction process. Our findings are supported by detailed NMR, MS and extraction studies. Liquid‐liquid extraction in the presence of TOPO revealed an unprecedented high Li+ extraction efficiency (78 %) for HL4 compared to the use of the industrially employed acylpyrazolone HL1 (15 %) and benzoyl‐1,1,1‐trifluoroacetone (52 %) extractants. In addition, a high selectivity for Li+ over Na+, K+ and Cs+ under mild conditions (pH ∼8.2) confirms that HL2‐HL4 represent a new class of ligands that are very effective extractants for use in lithium separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the rice (Oryza sativa L.)–rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) rotation system is facing great challenges, including constantly growing demand, on‐going labor shortages, and increasing environmental burdens. Thus, producing more food and higher benefits while minimizing environmental costs is required for future development. A 2‐yr field experiment comparing three nitrogen (N) fertilization treatments (non‐N treatment as control [CK], conventional urea application [CU], one‐time application of controlled‐release urea [CRU]) was performed. Results showed that the rice season dominated annual CH4 emissions (>95%) and on average contributed more than 50% of the annual N2O emissions. Additionally, the main forms of mineral N leaching were different for rape and rice. Nitrate (NO3–)–N was the major component of leaching in rape season, while for rice season NO3––N and NH4+–N were equal. Relative to CU, CRU significantly increased the rapeseed yield by 10.7∼13.9% and maintained the rice productivity, reduced mineral N leaching losses by 19.6∼20.8% for the rice season, and resulted in less total methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (TGHGs) by 12.1% across the two rotations. Furthermore, a net economic benefit (NEB) considering yields, fertilizer input, labor, and other input costs indicated CRU increased the economic return by 58.3%. However, CRU did not improve partial factor productivity of nitrogen fertilizer (PFPN) and decreased the NEB by 3.1% without considering the labor cost. It indicated a one‐time application of the CRU for rice–rapeseed rotation system was an environmentally and economically profitable technology. This paper provided a promising solution for farmers to enhance rice–rapeseed productivity and increase income while minimizing the environmental footprint. Core Ideas: The integrated effects of controlled‐release urea on rice–rapeseed rotation were quantified.The rice‐growing season contributed more than 95 and 50% of the annual CH4 and N2O emissions.Nitrate was the main leaching loss in rape season, while for rice season NO3– and NH4+ were equal.Controlled‐release urea reduced mean annual total CH4 and N2O emissions and N leaching by 10.7 and 12.1%, without sacrificing crop yield.Labor cost savings could offset the high cost of controlled‐release urea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1D metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are known as excellent candidates for fabricating high‐performance optoelectronic devices, ranging from lasers to photodetectors (PDs). Nevertheless, their inherent limitations, such as high binding energy and limited carrier mobility, have restricted their further improvement in performance. To tackle this issue, hybrid MHP microwires (MWs) are fabricated by combining MHP MWs and an organic semiconductor via a facile self‐assembly method, forming a radial heterojunction. Meanwhile, an ultrathin insulating organic layer is introduced as an interlayer between MHP MWs and the organic semiconductor. The synthesized hybrid MWs are further applied in rigid and flexible PDs, which demonstrated a high light/dark current on‐off ratio (>2 × 105), a high responsivity (>400 A W−1), and robust bending stability. These impressive results make the hybrid MHP MWs with the unique radial heterostructure promising building blocks for high‐performance future optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deepening of the commercialization of flexible electronic products, it is urgently needed to develop a handleable solution for the applications of printing high‐performance and wearable energy storage devices. Herein, flexible, low‐cost, and high‐performance MXene/manganese dioxide (MnO2) composite film electrodes are reported to meet this urgent expectation. The MXene‐based composite film electrodes with different MnO2 content are prepared by inkjet printing using MXene/MnO2 ink. Characterization and test results show that there is a synergistic effect between MXene and MnO2, which can effectively achieve faster electron transfer and shorter diffusion path, thus improving the overall electrochemical performance of the composite. The inkjet‐printed MXene/10 wt% MnO2 composite film electrode, with an excellent conductivity of 3400 S m−1, exhibits an ultrahigh volumetric capacitance of 312 F cm−3 and retains 130.8% of the initial capacitance after 5000 charge/discharge cycles. Moreover, the fabricated flexible symmetrical supercapacitor shows a superior areal energy density of 0.51 μWh cm−2 at a power density of 12.5 μW cm−2. Taken together, inkjet printing technology provides a low‐cost, large‐area manufacturing route for different MXene‐based composites, which are expected to promote the development of novel energy storage technologies that exploit the attractions of MXene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a macro Q model for deabsorption migration using surface reflection data is challenging owing to interferences of the reflections resulting from stacked thin layers. The effective Q approach gives an alternative way to overcome this difficulty. However, manual processing is involved for effective Q estimation. This restricts the use of denser grids in building an inhomogeneous Q model. We therefore incorporate deep learning into the effective Q approach, thus yielding a deep learning‐based Q model building scheme. The resulting scheme improves the manual effective Q estimation by simultaneously accounting for the imaging resolution and induced noises using two networks. Moreover, most manual processing is reduced in spite of denser grids in building a 3D Q model. One of the networks used is a 1D convolutional neural network that determines the optimal upper cut‐off frequency for a selected Q with an input of multi‐channel amplitude spectra, and another is a residual neural network that determines the optimal Q for a series of Q values with an input of multi‐channel imaging sections inside the selected small window filtered under the corresponding upper cut‐off frequencies. As a result, a Q model that improves the imaging resolution in the absence of amplification of noises is gained. Transfer learning is used, thus reducing the training cost when applied to different geological targets. We test our scheme using 3D field data. Higher resolution images without induced noises are obtained by a deabsorption migration using the Q model built and compared to those obtained by the migration without absorption compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells have achieved incredible progress in recent years. However, the power conversion efficiency of the inorganic perovskite solar cells is still low compared with their hybrid counterparts due to the inescapable nonradiative losses from the charge recombination. Herein, a strategy is demonstrated to minimize the nonradiative recombination loss in CsPbI2Br solar cells by establishing a synergetic passivation from the mutual effect of alkali‐ and alkylammonium‐salt. Accordingly, a sequential passivation process employing KBr and phenethylammonium chloride overcomes their limited passivation effect in one single step. This dual passivation is beneficial to an improved CsPbI2Br film with reduced trap defects, enlarged grain size, as well as to form an ultrathin low‐dimensional perovskite surface layer. As a result, a very high power conversion efficiency of 16.9% is obtained for inorganic CsPbI2Br solar cells. The proposed dual passivation scheme provides a feasible route not only for the design of high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells but also for other perovskite‐related optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, impressive progress has been made in developing high‐performance perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) with efficiencies comparable to those of traditional organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs). It is convinced that the position of exciton recombination zone is crucial for the performance of the LEDs, however, the dynamics of the exciton recombination zone in PeLEDs and its influence on the performance of PeLEDs remain unclear. Herein, luminescent quantum‐dots (QDs) sensing layers with different energy band landscape and electric properties are introduced into PeLEDs as probers to investigate the position of recombination zone. Consequently, it is found that the band offset between the perovskite layer and the adjacent layer is vital to the position of recombination zone. Modulating the recombination zone towards the bulk of the emission layer helps to improve the device performance as well as the operational stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To systematically analyze the blood coagulation features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) patients to provide a reference for clinical practice. An electronic search in PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, Scopus, CNKI, WanFang Data, and VIP databases to identify studies describing the blood coagulation features of COVID‐19 patients from 1 January 2020 to 21 April 2020. Three reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, then, the meta‐analysis was performed by using Stata 12.0 software. Thirty‐four studies involving 6492 COVID‐19 patients were included. Meta‐analysis showed that patients with severe disease showed significantly lower platelet count (weighted mean differences [WMD]: −16.29 × 109/L; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −25.34 to −7.23) and shorter activated partial thromboplastin time (WMD: −0.81 seconds; 95% CI: −1.94 to 0.33) but higher D‐dimer levels (WMD: 0.44 μg/mL; 95% CI: 0.29‐0.58), higher fibrinogen levels (WMD: 0.51 g/L; 95% CI: 0.33‐0.69) and longer prothrombin time (PT; WMD: 0.65 seconds; 95% CI: 0.44‐0.86). Patients who died showed significantly higher D‐dimer levels (WMD: 6.58 μg/mL; 95% CI: 3.59‐9.57), longer PT (WMD: 1.27 seconds; 95% CI: 0.49‐2.06) and lower platelet count (WMD: −39.73 × 109/L; 95% CI: −61.99 to −17.45) than patients who survived. Coagulation dysfunction is common in severe COVID‐19 patients and it is associated with severity of COVID‐19. Highlights: 1.Covid‐19 is a new respiratory disease and it has spread rapidly around the world.2.Coagulation dysfunction is associated with severity of COVID‐19.3.Monitoring blood coagulation parameters during course of the disease may be helpful for the early identification of severe COVID‐19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wave‐mode separation is a critical step in anisotropic elastic‐wave imaging. To avoid high computational costs and additional corrections, we apply a separation formula in the space domain that projects Cartesian components of the elastic wavefield onto the polarization vectors in the orthogonal direction. By solving the Christoffel equation, we implement the conversion from the phase velocity direction to the polarization direction. We use similarity between the seismic wave propagation and the optical flow problem to calculate the phase angle based on the Horn–Schunck algorithm. Compared with the conventional Poynting vector, the optical flow vector is more robust, particularly for complex underground structures. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach for two‐dimensional transversely isotropic media with three numerical examples and discuss the potential extension to three‐dimensional media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The extracellular electron transfer (EET) between microbes and electrodes modified by graphene‐based functional material has attracted increasing attention. EET is an important process through which the anode can act as the acceptor for the electrons produced via microbial respiration, and it also plays a key role in organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling in the environment. RESULTS: Our results showed that the interaction between microbes and carbon felt (CF) electrodes decorated with bio‐reduced graphene oxide (GO‐br) was significantly enhanced compared to that between the unmodified CF electrode and microbes. The promoted biological current production and cyclic voltammetric (CV) current response indicated the considerable electro‐activity of the GO‐br‐CF electrode. diffusion resistance (Rdif) of the GO‐br‐CF electrode decreased significantly by 97.3% from 2.76 × 105 ± 7644 Ω at the initial incubation stage to 7341 ± 1322 Ω after 58 h of incubation time for GO‐br decoration. We also noticed that the GO‐br‐CF electrode intermittently poised at +0.1 V (vs Ag/AgCl/KCl sat.) was favorable for EET. The GO‐br‐CF electrode, which enhanced MFC performance significantly, was further used as the anode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). CONCLUSION: Overall, the results of this study indicated the decoration of CF electrode with GO‐br could regulate the electrochemical activity of the electrode and the EET process between the microbes and electrode. The elevated electrochemical activity and EET were attributed to the rapid decrease in the diffusion resistance (Rdif) of the GO‐br‐CF electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large herbivores grazing is a major disturbance that can cause significant changes of soil environment in grassland ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how soil microbial metabolic activity responses to different grazing intensities. We analyzed the relationships between soil microbial carbon source utilization and grazing intensity, and further assessed the main factors determining soil microbial metabolic activity in a meadow steppe. Soil samples were analyzed along different grazing intensities (no grazing, light grazing and heavy grazing) with community‐level physiological profiles (CLPP) using Biolog Eco‐plates incubation to estimate soil microbial carbon source utilization patterns. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was performed to explore the major factors influencing soil microbial metabolic activity in a five‐year grazing grassland in northeast of China. Grazing significantly improved soil microbial community carbon utilization and increased utilization of carbohydrates, amino acids, phenolic acids and amines, while significantly decreased utilization of carboxylic acids. Among edaphic properties and plant traits, plant density, total biomass (TB), soil water content (SW) and C:N ratio (C/N) were main driving forces contributing to the carbon source utilization structure of the soil microbial communities. Soil microbial metabolic activity was promoted by grazing through altering plant traits and abiotic soil properties, and soil‐related factors were primary and direct driving force for soil microbial metabolic activity in grasslands of northeast China. The present study demonstrated differential soil microbial responses along grazing intensities and has important applications for better management practices in the grassland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to systematically review the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Seven databases were searched to collect studies about the clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2020. Then, meta‐analysis was performed by using Stata12.0 software. A total of 38 studies involving 3062 COVID‐19 patients were included. Meta‐analysis showed that a higher proportion of infected patients was male (56.9%). The incidence rate of respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome was 19.5% and the fatality rate was 5.5%. Fever (80.4%), fatigue (46%), cough (63.1%), and expectoration (41.8%) were the most common clinical manifestations. Other common symptoms included muscle soreness (33%), anorexia (38.8%), chest tightness (35.7%), shortness of breath (35%), dyspnea (33.9%). Minor symptoms included nausea and vomiting (10.2%), diarrhea (12.9%), headache (15.4%), pharyngalgia (13.1%), shivering (10.9%), and abdominal pain (4.4%). The proportion of patients that was asymptomatic was 11.9%. Normal leukocyte counts (69.7%), lymphopenia (56.5%), elevated C‐reactive protein levels (73.6%), elevated ESR (65.6%), and oxygenation index decreased (63.6%) were observed in most patients. About 37.2% of patients were found with elevated D‐dimer, 25.9% of patients with leukopenia, along with abnormal levels of liver function (29%), and renal function (25.5%). Other findings included leukocytosis (12.6%) and elevated procalcitonin (17.5%). Only 25.8% of patients had lesions involving a single lung and 75.7% of patients had lesions involving bilateral lungs. The most commonly experienced symptoms of COVID‐19 patients were fever, fatigue, cough, and expectoration. A relatively small percentage of patients were asymptomatic. Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C‐reactive protein and ESR. Bilateral lung involvement was common. Highlights: COVID‐19 is a new respiratory disease which needs quick identification of infected patients.The most common symptoms of COVID‐19 patients were fever, fatigue, cough, and expectoration.A relatively small percentage of patients were asymptomatic.Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C‐reactive protein and ESR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We systematically reviewed the computed tomography (CT) imaging features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) to provide reference for clinical practice. Methods: Our article comprehensively searched PubMed, FMRS, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang databases, and VIP databases to collect literatures about the CT imaging features of COVID‐19 from 1 January to 16 March 2020. Three reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and then, this meta‐analysis was performed by using Stata12.0 software. Results: A total of 34 retrospective studies involving a total of 4121 patients with COVID‐19 were included. The results of the meta‐analysis showed that most patients presented bilateral lung involvement (73.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 65.9%‐81.1%) or multilobar involvement (67.3%, 95% CI: 54.8%‐78.7%) and just little patients showed normal CT findings (8.4%). We found that the most common changes in lesion density were ground‐glass opacities (68.1%, 95% CI: 56.9%‐78.2%). Other changes in density included air bronchogram sign (44.7%), crazy‐paving pattern (35.6%), and consolidation (32.0%). Patchy (40.3%), spider web sign (39.5%), cord‐like (36.8%), and nodular (20.5%) were common lesion shapes in patients with COVID‐19. Pleural thickening (27.1%) was found in some patients. Lymphadenopathy (5.4%) and pleural effusion (5.3%) were rare. Conclusion: The lung lesions of patients with COVID‐19 were mostly bilateral lungs or multilobar involved. The most common chest CT findings were patchy and ground‐glass opacities. Some patients had air bronchogram, spider web sign, and cord‐like. Lymphadenopathy and pleural effusion were rare. Highlights: COVID‐19 cases now confirmed in multiple countries. It is critical to understand and identify the CT imaging features of COVID‐19 patients in order to help in early detection and isolation of infected individuals, as well as minimize the spread of the disease. Our comprehensive CT imaging features of COVID‐19 will inform healthcare providers in their efforts to treat patients and contain the current outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization emission from halide perovskite is expected to bring a lot of benefits for next‐generation displays, such as cost down, wide color gamut, and structure simplification. In this work, strong linearly polarized luminescence from emissive halide perovskites modulated by photoaligned azobenzene dye AD1 is demonstrated. The azobenzene dye functionalized halide perovskite thin films not only exhibit exceptionally high degree of polarization (DOP) of 86.2–93.1% for red, green, and blue emission, but also promise an improved environmental stability originating from the hydrophobic nature of the azobenzene dye. When these perovskite/AD1 composite films are applied in liquid crystal display panels to replace the conventional thick polarizer, the energy efficiency can be doubled and the color gamut can be extended to >120% NTSC. Furthermore, the AD1 functionalized strategy is successfully employed to generate linearly polarized electroluminescence from an inverted perovskite light‐emitting diode, showing a high DOP of 47%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a complex auditory scene, speech comprehension involves several stages: for example segregating the target from the background, recognizing syllables and integrating syllables into linguistic units (e.g., words). Although speech segregation is robust as shown by invariant neural tracking to target speech envelope, whether neural tracking to linguistic units is also robust and how this robustness is achieved remain unknown. To investigate these questions, we concurrently recorded neural responses tracking a rhythmic speech stream at its syllabic and word rates, using electroencephalography. Human participants listened to that target speech under a speech or noise distractor at varying signal‐to‐noise ratios. Neural tracking at the word rate was not as robust as neural tracking at the syllabic rate. Robust neural tracking to target's words was only observed under the speech distractor but not under the noise distractor. Moreover, this robust word tracking correlated with a successful suppression of distractor tracking. Critically, both word tracking and distractor suppression correlated with behavioural comprehension accuracy. In sum, our results suggest that a robust neural tracking of higher‐level linguistic units relates to not only the target tracking, but also the distractor suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A combination of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and functional (f)MRI is a promising method for studying brain activity. Negative results have, however, produced uncertainty as to the validity of the approach. Using a MEGA-PRESS sequence adapted to suppress the macromolecule signal (GABA-) has been suggested as a key methodological improvement, but there is some doubt as to the relationship between such estimates and those from the standard sequence (GABA+), making interpretation difficult.Purpose: To investigate the relationship between GABA+ and GABA- estimates from the posterior cingulate and occipital cortices. The second aim was to test for a correlation between occipital GABA and blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) responses in the visual cortex to establish which of the two MEGA-PRESS sequences was more related to the functional responses.Study Type: Prospective.Subjects: Thirty-one healthy participants.Field Strength/sequence: 3T/single-voxel 1 H-MRS and gradient-echo echo planar imaging (EPI).Assessment: GABA estimates were made using the Gannet toolbox. fMRI data were analyzed with FSL and Python scripts.Statistical Test: Relationships between different variables were tested with Pearson's correlation.Results: GABA+ and GABA- concentrations were found to be correlated in both regions (r = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.35 0.66, pFDR  = 0.002). No relationship was found between either the GABA+ or the GABA- concentrations and the amplitude of the BOLD response in the occipital cortex (GABA+, r = -0.14, pFDR  > 0.1; GABA-, r = -0.29, pFDR  >0.1). However, adding these results to those of prior studies in a meta-analysis of correlation coefficients did provide overall support for a negative correlation between GABA and BOLD response amplitudes (r = -0.39, 95% CI = -0.15-0.64).Data Conclusion: The current findings highlight potential methodological issues that continue to interfere with relating MRS GABA estimates with fMRI responses but, taken in sum, provide support for this general approach.Level Of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1285-1294. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the progress in computational power and seismic acquisition, elastic reverse time migration is becoming increasingly feasible and helpful in characterizing the physical properties of subsurface structures. To achieve high‐resolution seismic imaging using elastic reverse time migration, it is necessary to separate the compressional (P‐wave) and shear (S‐wave) waves for both isotropic and anisotropic media. In elastic isotropic media, the conventional method for wave‐mode separation is to use the divergence and curl operators. However, in anisotropic media, the polarization direction of P waves is not exactly parallel to the direction of wave propagation. Also, the polarization direction of S‐waves is not totally perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. For this reason, the conventional divergence and curl operators show poor performance in anisotropic media. Moreover, conventional methods only perform well in the space domain of regular grids, and they are not suitable for elastic numerical simulation algorithms based on non‐regular grids. Besides, these methods distort the original wavefield by taking spatial derivatives. In this case, a new anisotropic wave‐mode separation scheme is developed using Poynting vectors. This scheme can be performed in the angle domain by constructing the relationship between group and polarization angles of different wave modes. Also, it is performed pointwise, independent of adjacent space points, suitable for parallel computing. Moreover, there is no need to correct the changes in phase and amplitude caused by the derivative operators. By using this scheme, the anisotropic elastic reverse time migration is more efficiently performed on the unstructured mesh. The effectiveness of our scheme is verified by several numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: There are scarce comparative data on efficacy and procedural safety between radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) and surgical ablation (SA) combined with mitral valve (MV) surgery for patients with nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) and moderate mitral regurgitation (MR). Methods and Results: This single‐center, retrospective, and observational study enrolled 155 consecutive patients with nonparoxysmal AF and moderate MR, of which 98 underwent RFCA and 57 underwent SA combined with MV surgery. Circumferential pulmonary vein ablation, bidirectional block of lines, and disappearance of complex fractionated atrial electrograms were the endpoints of RFCA, while pulmonary vein isolation and left and right atrial incisions were performed in SA. At median 24‐month follow‐up, the primary outcome of atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATa) recurrence‐free rate estimated by Kaplan‐Meier analysis was higher in SA + MV surgery vs RFCA groups (64.2% vs 38.3%; P = 0.002), and comparable between patients with and without MV prolapse in SA + MV surgery group (64.7% vs 63.1%; P = 0.972). In adjusted Cox model, RFCA was associated with a hazard ratio for ATa recurrence of 2.27 (95% confidence interval, 1.02‐5.05; P = 0.045). Patients with higher MR jet/LA (left atrial) area ratio had a higher risk of ATa recurrence in RFCA (P = 0.037) but not SA + MV (P = 0.529) groups. Conclusion: SA + MV surgery yielded more favorable outcomes than RFCA for treating nonparoxysmal AF in patients with moderate MR. The MR jet/LA area ratio was positively associated with ATa recurrence rate in patients undergoing RFCA. MV prolapse did not affect prognosis in patients undergoing SA + MV surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In reverse time migration, we can produce angle‐domain common‐imaging gathers in either the scattering‐angle domain or the dip‐angle domain. The latter, although not used as widely as the former, still provides a unique view to look into seismic imaging. The reverse time migration dip‐angle angle‐domain common‐image gather can be computed via the subsurface offset extension, which is a bit costly in storage. We here obtain dip‐angle angle‐domain common‐imaging gathers efficiently in acoustic reverse time migration by using the normalized Poynting vectors. Poynting vector, an indicator of the directional energy flux, is easy to compute during wavefield propagation. Similar to the subsurface‐offset method, our method also has dip‐angle angle‐domain common‐imaging gathers of blocky horizontal coherence. In the theory of local semblance analysis, the signal with better horizontal coherence has a higher semblance score, and vice versa. Based on the estimated semblance scores, we can thus design a specularity filter to preserve valid signals and suppress noises. We validate our method with two data sets. Both the Marmousi data and the real data show that our method works effectively in eliminating noises and enhancing resolution in the acoustic reverse time migration imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kirchhoff prestack time migration, which works trace‐by‐trace, remains appealing to academia and industry due to its robustness and efficiency. However, like the other prestack migration methods, Kirchhoff prestack time migration also suffers from the angle‐dependent stretching effect, which narrows the amplitude spectra of seismic data. This effect gets more severe as the incident angle increases. In this paper, we propose a novel approach, which attaches a prediction shaping filter to the Kirchhoff prestack time migration, to mitigate the stretching effect. Our approach takes advantage on the trace‐by‐trace implementation of the prestack time migration algorithm, without the output of the angle‐domain common‐imaging gather. Also, our method can cascade with Q‐compensation in prestack time migration. We demonstrate our method with both a numerical example and a field data example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variability quenching is a widespread neural phenomenon in which trial‐to‐trial variability (TTV) of neural activity is reduced by repeated presentations of a sensory stimulus. However, its neural mechanism and functional significance remain poorly understood. Recurrent network dynamics are suggested as a candidate mechanism of TTV, and they play a key role in consciousness. We thus asked whether the variability‐quenching phenomenon is related to the level of consciousness. We hypothesized that TTV reduction would be compromised during reduced level of consciousness by propofol anesthetics. We recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging signals of resting‐state and stimulus‐induced activities in three conditions: wakefulness, sedation, and unconsciousness (i.e., deep anesthesia). We measured the average (trial‐to‐trial mean, TTM) and variability (TTV) of auditory stimulus‐induced activity under the three conditions. We also examined another form of neural variability (temporal variability, TV), which quantifies the overall dynamic range of ongoing neural activity across time, during both the resting‐state and the task. We found that (a) TTM deceased gradually from wakefulness through sedation to anesthesia, (b) stimulus‐induced TTV reduction normally seen during wakefulness was abolished during both sedation and anesthesia, and (c) TV increased in the task state as compared to resting‐state during both wakefulness and sedation, but not anesthesia. Together, our results reveal distinct effects of propofol on the two forms of neural variability (TTV and TV). They imply that the anesthetic disrupts recurrent network dynamics, thus prevents the stabilization of cortical activity states. These findings shed new light on the temporal dynamics of neuronal variability and its alteration during anesthetic‐induced unconsciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated interleukin-6 is associated with severity of COVID-19: A meta-analysis Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world since its emergence in humans last December. Previous studies suggested that numerous markers of inflammation were elevated in patients with severe disease relative to patients with milder conditions,1,2 and an elevated level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was associated with a high case fatality of COVID-19 infection.3 Two recent meta-analyses also suggested that IL-6 levels were significantly increased in COVID-19 patients with severe diseases.4,5 Yet several large related clinical studies have been conducted since then. [Extracted from the article]

ABSTRACT: Layer thickness is an important factor in judging the quality of a water‐assisted coinjection molding (WACIM) part. Here, a novel nondestructive method for measuring layer thickness via ultrasonic technology is proposed. The reflected signals from the interface of a WACIM part were measured by an immersed pulse‐echo method and calculated using a transfer function of the medium. Two objective functions were employed to describe the nonsimilarity between the measured signals and the calculated signals. By solving a multiobjective optimization problem, the optimum parameter was obtained and used to calculate the thickness of each layer in a WACIM part. The proposed method was employed to measure the layer thickness of WACIM specimens with different cross sections along the flow direction. Experimental results showed that the proposed method can correctly measure the variation in layer thickness of each layer of a WACIM part. The proposed method has broad application prospects in nondestructively measuring the layer thickness of polymeric parts. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46540. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]