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By virtue of its ultra-high strength, toughness and specific surface area, graphene oxide (GO) has been a research hotspot in nano-cement because of its excellent electrical, thermal and mechanical properties. The GO-cement composite owns greatly improved microstructure, and mechanical and permeability-related performances compared with plain cement. Clarifying the reinforcing mechanisms of GO on cementitious composites is a prerequisite for the large-scale application of GO in the cement industry. Hence, in this work, the effect of the GO nanosheets on the shear properties of the calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) composites and the corresponding reinforcing mechanisms were investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The simulated results reveal that the orientation angle between GO nanosheets and C–S–H layers is a significant factor influencing the enhancing effects of GO on the shear behaviour of C–S–H/GO composites. As the orientation angle ranges from 30° to 60°, the shear strain would cause bending deformation of GO nanosheets in composites. The bent GO nanosheets then absorb the deformation energy in the system, effectively isolating the transfer of shear-induced force chains. The ultimate shear strength reaches about 861.2 MPa for the orientation angle equalling 30°, increasing 23.5% compared with that of plain C–S–H. The microstructural damage characteristics analysis further indicates that it is crucial to trade off the effective anchorage of GO nanosheets in C–S–H gel and the structural integrity of C–S–H matrix when using GO nanosheets to enhance the shear performance of C–S–H composites. We expect the findings from this work can enhance the understanding of GO-reinforced cementitious composites and assist GO-based cement design in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathogenesis of microbial infections and sepsis is partly attributable to dysregulated innate immune responses propagated by late-acting proinflammatory mediators such as procathepsin L (pCTS-L). It was previously not known whether any natural product could inhibit pCTS-L-mediated inflammation or could be strategically developed into a potential sepsis therapy. Here, we report that systemic screening of a NatProduct Collection of 800 natural products led to the identification of a lipophilic sterol, lanosterol (LAN), as a selective inhibitor of pCTS-L-induced production of cytokines [e.g., Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6)] and chemokines [e.g., Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) and Epithelial Neutrophil-Activating Peptide (ENA-78)] in innate immune cells. To improve its bioavailability, we generated LAN-carrying liposome nanoparticles and found that these LAN-containing liposomes (LAN-L) similarly inhibited pCTS-L-induced production of several chemokines [e.g., MCP-1, Regulated upon Activation, Normal T Cell Expressed and Presumably Secreted (RANTES) and Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-2 (MIP-2)] in human blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In vivo, these LAN-carrying liposomes effectively rescued mice from lethal sepsis even when the first dose was given at 24 h post the onset of this disease. This protection was associated with a significant attenuation of sepsis-induced tissue injury and systemic accumulation of serval surrogate biomarkers [e.g., IL-6, Keratinocyte-derived Chemokine (KC), and Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor I (sTNFRI)]. These findings support an exciting possibility to develop liposome nanoparticles carrying anti-inflammatory sterols as potential therapies for human sepsis and other inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The control of branching density and branching distribution in long-chain olefin polymerization are readily available by the modification of α-diimine Ni(II) catalysts. • The different coordination geometry of the catalysts was observed and Ni4 adopts a rare square planar geometry. • The semicrystalline polymer with good mechanical properties and the amorphous polymer could be prepared respectively using the catalyst with varied steric substituent. The tuning of polyolefin microstructure, including the branching density and branching distribution, through the ligand modification in transition metal-based catalysts has received considerable interest. In this work, we present the synthesis and characterization of a series of α-diimine Ni(II) catalysts containing bulky diarylmethyl moiety and varied steric substituents, and a systematic investigation on the catalytic behavior of these catalyst for 1-octene and 1-decene polymerization. Ni3 with ortho -diisopropyl substituents adopts a common distorted tetrahedral geometry, while a rare square planar geometry is observed for Ni4 with ortho -phenyl substituents. The ortho -substituent effect on the preference of insertion fashion (1,2 or 2,1-insertion) and chain-walking in long chain α-olefin polymerization is also established. Highly branched amorphous polyolefin can be obtained by the unsymmetrical catalyst with ortho -alkyl substituents (H, Me, iPr) in which the major 1,2-insetion pathway was observed, whereas moderate branched semicrystalline polyolefin can be produced by the unsymmetrical catalyst with ortho -phenyl substituents, which showed a significant increase in 2,1-insertion. Most interestingly, the branching distribution analysis through 13C NMR indicated that the polymer obtained by Ni3 gave the higher percentage of long-chain branches relative to methyl branches, while Ni4 afforded the polymer with methyl branches being predominant. These significant differences in coordination geometry and catalytic behavior between Ni3 and Ni4 may be associated with the unique steric congestion of the ortho -phenyl substituents. In particular, the comparative investigation of the mechanical properties of the polymers obtained by Ni3 and Ni4 was also performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Acute traumatic intraparenchymal hematoma (tICH) expansion is a major cause of clinical deterioration after brain contusion. Here, an accurate prediction tool for acute tICH expansion is proposed. Methods: A multicenter hospital-based study for multivariable prediction model was conducted among patients (889 patients in a development dataset and 264 individuals in an external validation dataset) with initial and follow-up computed tomography (CT) imaging for tICH volume evaluation. Semi-automated software was employed to assess tICH expansion. Two multivariate predictive models for acute tICH expansion were developed and externally validated. Results: A total of 198 (22.27%) individuals had remarkable acute tICH expansion. The novel Traumatic Parenchymatous Hematoma Expansion Aid (TPHEA) model retained several variables, including age, coagulopathy, baseline tICH volume, time to baseline CT time, subdural hemorrhage, a novel imaging marker of multihematoma fuzzy sign, and an inflammatory index of monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio. Compared with multihematoma fuzzy sign, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, and the basic model, the TPHEA model exhibited optimal discrimination, calibration, and clinical net benefits for patients with acute tICH expansion. A TPHEA nomogram was subsequently introduced from this model to facilitate clinical application. In an external dataset, this device showed good predicting performance for acute tICH expansion. Conclusions: The main predictive factors in the TPHEA nomogram are the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, baseline tICH volume, and multihematoma fuzzy sign. This user-friendly tool can estimate acute tICH expansion and optimize personalized treatments for individuals with brain contusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a model-based voltage quality analysis and optimization method for post-fault reconfigured N-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) inverter. It is found that the voltage quality of post-fault reconfigured multilevel inverters (MLIs) has significant degradation which could cause issues in critical applications. To analyze and solve the voltage quality problem, existing voltage quality and mathematical analyses of MLIs were reviewed. Significant limitations of existing voltage quality analysis methods and shortages of existing mathematical analysis were found. Thus, a suitable mathematical model of N-level NPC inverter is proposed in this article to accurately describe voltage quality of a reconfigured N-level NPC inverter. The mathematical model is validated by simulation and experimental results and used for voltage quality analysis. In addition, based on the accurate mathematical model and results of voltage quality analysis, an optimization method is proposed to alleviate the voltage quality degradation of post-fault reconfigured N-level NPC inverter. A five-level NPC inverter and a reconfiguration method were used as an example to illustrate the proposed optimization method. Experimental and simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an unsupervised learning approach for fault prognosis of silicon carbide (SiC) mosfets. The proposed approach utilizes the changing trend of a device's voltage, current, temperature, and other device characteristics with its degradation. The failure modes of semiconductors are reviewed along with existing methods for fault prognosis. The proposed approach is the first to address prognostics of SiC devices, and it can avoid the effects from system noise and data errors. It is not limited to offline analysis and is targeted at online implementation. It is easy to implement on standard digital platforms, and has fast computational speed. Offline data analysis is performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, and a processor-in-the-loop system is used to verify its ability to perform online fault prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In response to external stress, cells alter their morphology, metabolic activity, and functions to mechanically adapt to the dynamic, local environment through cell allostasis. To explore mechanotransduction in cellular allostasis, we applied an integrated micromechanical system that combines an 'ultrasound tweezers'-based mechanical stressor and a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based molecular force biosensor, termed "actinin-sstFRET," to monitor in situ single-cell allostasis in response to transient stimulation in real time. Methods: The ultrasound tweezers utilize 1 Hz, 10-s transient ultrasound pulses to acoustically excite a lipid-encapsulated microbubble, which is bound to the cell membrane, and apply a pico- to nano-Newton range of forces to cells through an RGD-integrin linkage. The actinin-sstFRET molecular sensor, which engages the actin stress fibers in live cells, is used to map real-time actomyosin force dynamics over time. Then, the mechanosensitive behaviors were examined by profiling the dynamics in Ca2+ influx, actomyosin cytoskeleton (CSK) activity, and GTPase RhoA signaling to define a single-cell mechanical allostasis. Results: By subjecting a 1 Hz, 10-s physical stress, single vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were observed to remodeled themselves in a biphasic mechanical allostatic manner within 30 min that caused them to adjust their contractility and actomyosin activities. The cellular machinery that underscores the vital role of CSK equilibrium in cellular mechanical allostasis, includes Ca2+ influx, remodeling of actomyosin CSK and contraction, and GTPase RhoA signaling. Mechanical allostasis was observed to be compromised in VSMCs from patients with type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which could potentiate an allostatic maladaptation. Conclusions: By integrating tools that simultaneously permit localized mechanical perturbation and map actomyosin forces, we revealed distinct cellular mechanical allostasis profiles in our micromechanical system. Our findings of cell mechanical allostasis and maladaptation provide the potential for mechanophenotyping cells to reveal their pathogenic contexts and their biophysical mediators that underlie multi-etiological diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, or aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Wastewater containing heavy metal ions such as lead should be treated for cleanup before discharge to environment. This work reports new nanomaterials of orthohexagonal iron oxide for efficient removal of lead (II), which were doped with cobalt (Co Fe 2 O 3) or Nickel (Ni Fe 2 O 3) ions through a simple method. The structure of adsorbents and adsorption mechanism were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and so on. The results showed that the concentration of nitrate concentration has a tiny effect on the Pb(II) adsorption and the kinetic adsorption experiments showed that Co Fe 2 O 3 and Ni Fe 2 O 3 took less time to achieve the equilibrium state than Fe 2 O 3 without doping And the isotherm batch experiments showed that Langmuir model matched well with the data of Fe 2 O 3 , Freundlich model fitted well in Co Fe 2 O 3 and Ni Fe 2 O 3 experiments data, indicating that cobalt/nickel doping changes the adsorption mechanism. XPS analysis showed that the hydroxyl at surface played an important role in Pb(II) removal and the hydrogen bond was replaced by metal-oxygen bond. Furthermore, the adsorption capacities of, Co Fe 2 O 3 and Ni Fe 2 O 3 for Pb(II) removal were 136.0 mg/g and 97.5 mg/g respectively, which were superior to pristine Fe 2 O 3 (93.9 mg/g). This study clearly showed that Co Fe 2 O 3 and Ni Fe 2 O 3 are promising candidates for lead ion removal in aqueous solution. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • Ortho-hexagonal iron oxides at nanometer scale have been synthesized through a cost-effective simple method. • The crystal structure of α-Fe 2 O 3 was transformed into γ-Fe 2 O 3 by doping with cobalt or nickel. • The doping with cobalt greatly enhanced the adsorption capacity of the iron oxides. • The adsorption mechanism of lead on the materials was extensively studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, detonation initiation in supersonic premixed flow is experimentally investigated using hot jets with different strength. Two types of shock interaction models, B/S (bow/separated) and S/S (separated/separated), are observed, respectively. In the case with the high-strength hot jet, the ignition of the combustible mixture is triggered by the interaction between jet-induced bow and bottom separated shocks, which results in the generation of a Mach stem further initiating the detonation. Finally, the structure of SSIC (separated shock-induced combustion)/LD (local detonation)/SSIC (separated shock-induced combustion) is observed. For the low-strength hot jet, detonation initiation could not be realized by the interaction between bow and separated shocks, and only the separated shock-induced combustion is observed. The interaction of shock surfaces in the flow field is dominated by the upper separated shock. Finally, a V-shaped SSIC/SSIC structure is generated associated with the forward propagation of separated shocks in the supersonic flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metasurfaces, composed of micro-nano-structured planar materials, offer highly tunable control over incident light and find significant applications in imaging, navigation, and sensing. However, highly efficient polarization devices are scarce for the extended shortwave infrared (ESWIR) range (1.7~2.5 μm). This paper proposes and demonstrates a highly efficient all-dielectric diatomic metasurface composed of single-crystalline Si nanocylinders and nanocubes on SiO2. This metasurface can serve as a nanoscale linear polarizer for generating polarization-angle-controllable linearly polarized light. At the wavelength of 2172 nm, the maximum transmission efficiency, extinction ratio, and linear polarization degree can reach 93.43%, 45.06 dB, and 0.9973, respectively. Moreover, a nonpolarizing beam splitter (NPBS) was designed and deduced theoretically based on this polarizer, which can achieve a splitting angle of ±13.18° and a phase difference of π. This beam splitter can be equivalently represented as an integration of a linear polarizer with controllable polarization angles and an NPBS with one-bit phase modulation. It is envisaged that through further design optimization, the phase tuning range of the metasurface can be expanded, allowing for the extension of the operational wavelength into the mid-wave infrared range, and the splitting angle is adjustable. Moreover, it can be utilized for integrated polarization detectors and be a potential application for optical digital encoding metasurfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents generalized logic-based methods for intelligent fault diagnosis in power electronic converters based on correlation between faults and basic measurements. Fault recovery is then applied based on this correlation by using necessary signals and quantities from existing measurements. The main purpose of the proposed fault diagnosis methods is for power electronic systems to survive from fault conditions that could occur in various components, to cope with the notion of a smart grid and extend their lifetime. The proposed methods are online, i.e., real-time or near-real-time, and can be applied to any power electronic system. Existing intelligent control of power electronic systems along with various short- and open-circuit faults in major power electronic components are reviewed. Two methods are established to diagnose faults and engage redundancy for fault recovery with one method using combinational logic and another using fuzzy logic. In both methods, two quantities are observed for each of the measured signals: 1) the signal's average value and 2) the signal's RMS value. Total harmonic distortion is also used in some simulations but is not required in experimental implementation. A systematic methodology to reduce the number of measured quantities while maintaining effective diagnosis is introduced. A solar PV microinverter in standalone mode is used as an example testing platform for the proposed methods. A simulation model is experimentally validated and the effect of each fault on different voltage and current measurements are observed, then both methods are tested in simulation and hardware. Results show the ability of both methods to diagnose several faults in the inverter's power stage along with their ability to engage redundancy for fault recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this issue of Molecular Cell , Tan et al. (2017) provide novel perspectives into the regulatory role of WHIP-TRIM14-PPP6C signalosome in enhancing RIG-I-mediated viral RNA sensing pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising prevalence of arthritogenic alphavirus infections, including chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Ross River virus (RRV), and the lack of antiviral treatments highlight the potential threat of a global alphavirus pandemic. The immune responses underlying alphavirus virulence remain enigmatic. We found that pentraxin 3 (PTX3) was highly expressed in CHIKV and RRV patients during acute disease. Overt expression of PTX3 in CHIKV patients was associated with increased viral load and disease severity. PTX3-deficient (PTX3-/-) mice acutely infected with RRV exhibited delayed disease progression and rapid recovery through diminished inflammatory responses and viral replication. Furthermore, binding of the N-terminal domain of PTX3 to RRV facilitated viral entry and replication. Thus, our study demonstrates the pivotal role of PTX3 in shaping alphavirus-triggered immunity and disease and provides new insights into alphavirus pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Extending band-limited constructions of orthonormal refinable functions, a special class of periodic functions is used to generate a family of band-limited refinable functions. Characterizations of Riesz bases and frames formed by integer shifts of these refinable functions are obtained. Such families of refinable functions are employed to construct band-limited biorthogonal wavelet bases and biframes with desirable time-frequency localization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present study, two piperazine-substituted quinazolin-4(3 H)-one derivatives, namely 2-phenyl-3-(2-(4-phenylpiperazin-1-yl)ethyl)quinazolin-4(3 H)-one (PPQ) and 3-(2-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)ethyl)-2-phenylquinazolin-4(3 H)-one (MPPQ), have been designed and investigated as effective corrosion inhibitors for mild steel in HCl, providing a strong basis for the development of new inhibitor platform in the field of corrosion. The corrosion inhibition performance of PPQ and MPPQ has been studied by using weight loss tests, electrochemical techniques, surface analytical techniques, quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The experimental results revealed that PPQ and MPPQ are effective corrosion inhibitors for mild steel in 1.0 M HCl solution, and their maximum corrosion inhibition efficiencies at 0.4 mM are 96.6% and 96.1%, respectively. The effects of immersion time and temperature were studied by weight loss tests to assess the stability of the adsorbed film in protecting mild steel surface. Both PPQ and MPPQ behave as mixed-type inhibitors based on potentiodynamic polarization studies, and their adsorption on the mild steel surface follows the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further confirmed the formation of a protective film on the steel surface. Quantum chemical calculations and MD simulations were used to investigate the correlation between the molecular structure of inhibitors and their corrosion inhibition performances, which agree well with the experimental results. The inhibition mechanism has also been discussed in terms of the mixed type of chemical and physical interactions that lead to its adsorption on the steel surface. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence regarding the relationship between serum vitamin C levels and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether serum vitamin C levels are independently associated with HPV infection.Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2006. A total of 2174 women, 18-59 years of age, were enrolled in this study. The associations between serum vitamin C levels (continuous and categorical forms) and cervicovaginal HPV infection were estimated using weighted logistic regression.Results: The adjusted binary logistic regression showed that serum vitamin C was not associated with the risk of HPV infection after adjusting for age, race, poverty income ratio, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index, education, and health condition (odds ratio [OR] 0.998, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.994-1.001). Serum vitamin C levels were converted from a continuous variable to a categorical variable for the analysis. Compared with the vitamin C deficiency and hypovitaminosis groups, there was a negative correlation between vitamin C and HPV infection when vitamin C was adequate (OR 0.7, 95% CI: 0.52-0.94); however, when the serum vitamin C level was inadequate and saturated, this negative correlation was weaker or nonexistent (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.56-1.03 and OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.55-1.04, respectively). A nonlinear relationship was detected between vitamin C level and HPV infection. Furthermore, we performed subgroup analysis of different models and found that serum vitamin C concentration was negatively associated with HPV infection in women ≥ 25 years of age; however, in women < 25 years of age, serum vitamin C levels were not associated with HPV infection.Conclusion: The results from this United States nationally representative sample supported the hypothesis that there was a U-shaped relationship between serum vitamin C levels and HPV infection. Future studies are warranted to assess the association between vitamin C and HPV persistence and clarify the underlying mechanisms of these associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gypsum rock is highly sensitive to a water environment due to its unique physical and chemical properties, such as high solubility. After wetting, the internal microstructure of gypsum rock is damaged, and the mechanical properties deteriorate accordingly, leading to serious engineering problems for gypsum-bearing geotechnical structures. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to investigate the mechanical deterioration behavior of gypsum rock after wetting. In this paper, the mechanical behavior of gypsum rocks with different water contents were studied. The relationship between the rock water content and the water immersion time was established through the water content test. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the gypsum rock after the water immersion showed that the internal microstructure of the gypsum rock became looser and more complex as the immersion time increased. The fractal dimensions of the SEM images were calculated to quantify the degree of damage to the gypsum rocks after wetting. These images showed that the degree of damage increased with the increasing immersion time, but the increase rate tended to be slow. The relationship between the rock water content and the mechanical responses of gypsum rock were established by triaxial compression tests, and the concomitant acoustic emission (AE) characteristics in the loading processes showed that the immersion time had a positive correlation with the AE frequency and a negative correlation with the AE cumulative count. Based on the AE characteristics, a damage constitutive model of gypsum rock as a function of immersion time was developed and this can reproduce the mechanical responses of gypsum rock after wetting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has various effects on human cells and tissues, which can lead to a variety of skin diseases and cause inconvenience to people's lives. Among them, solar dermatitis is one of the important risk factors for malignant melanoma, so prevention and treatment of solar dermatitis is very necessary. Additionally, liquiritin (LQ) has anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and pro-wound healing effects of liquiritin carbomer gel cold paste (LQ-CG-CP) in vitro and in vivo. The results of MTT experiments showed no cytotoxicity of LQ at concentrations of 40 μg/mL and below and cell damage at UVB irradiation doses above 60 mJ/cm2. Moreover, LQ can promote cell migration. ELISA results also showed that LQ inhibited the elevation of the inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) after UVB irradiation. In the mouse model of solar dermatitis, 2% LQ-CG-CP showed the best therapeutic efficacy for wound healing and relief of itching compared to MEIBAO moist burn moisturizer (MEBO). What is more, the results of skin histopathological examination show that LQ-CG-CP promotes re-epithelialization, shrinks wounds, and promotes collagen production, thus promoting wound healing. Simultaneously, LQ-CG-CP reduced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 expression. In addition, LQ-CG-CP was not observed to cause histopathological changes and blood biochemical abnormalities in mice. Overall, LQ-CG-CP has great potential for the treatment of solar dermatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) has emerged as a key player in cancer and diabetes since it targets thioredoxin (TRX)-mediated redox regulation and glucose transporter (GLUT)-mediated metabolism. TXNIP consists of two arrestin (ARR, N-ARR and C-ARR) domains at its amino-terminus and two PPxY (PY) motifs and a di-leucine (LL) motif for endocytosis at its carboxyl-terminus. Here, we report that TXNIP shuffles between TRX and GLUTs to regulate homeostasis of intracellular oxidative stress and glucose metabolism. While TXNIP functions as a gatekeeper of TRX by default, it robustly interacted with class I GLUTs through its C-ARR domain upon increase of intracellular reactive oxygen species. This interaction prompted the surface expression downregulation and lysosomal degradation of GLUTs by its carboxyl-terminal LL endocytic signaling motif to attenuate glucose uptake. Consequently, TXNIP expression significantly limited glucose uptake, leading to the suppression of glycolysis, hexosamine biosynthesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway. Our findings establish a fundamental link between ROS and glucose metabolism through TXNIP and provide a promising target for the drug development against GLUT-related metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging of the vasculature is associated with detrimental changes in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) mechanosensitivity to extrinsic forces in their surrounding microenvironment. However, how chronological aging alters VSMCs' ability to sense and adapt to mechanical perturbations remains unexplored. Here, we show defective VSMC mechanosensation in aging measured with ultrasound tweezers‐based micromechanical system, force instantaneous frequency spectrum, and transcriptome analyses. The study reveals that aged VSMCs adapt to a relatively inert mechanobiological state with altered actin cytoskeletal integrity, resulting in an impairment in their mechanosensitivity and dynamic mechanoresponse to mechanical perturbations. The aging‐associated decline in mechanosensation behaviors is mediated by hyperactivity of Piezo1‐dependent calcium signaling. Inhibition of Piezo1 alleviates vascular aging and partially restores the loss in dynamic contractile properties in aged cells. Altogether, our study reveals the signaling pathway underlying aging‐associated aberrant mechanosensation in VSMC and identifies Piezo1 as a potential therapeutic mechanobiological target to alleviate vascular aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests and 3D scanning technologies were adopted to investigate the creep failure mechanism of sandy mudstone from a micromesoscopic view. The SEM test results showed that the fracture surface micromorphology of the specimens that suffered creep loading was more fractured and rougher. It was also found by the fractal analysis of the SEM microscopic images that the fractal dimensions of the creep failure specimens were larger than those of the uniaxial compression failure, indicating that the creep damage increased the irregularity and a larger degree of roughness fluctuation. The 3D scanning technologies combining with the 3D reconstruction methods proved that the crack expansion path of crept specimens was more complicated, showing a more prominent asperity height and slope angle. Finally, a mesostrain dilating microelement model of the sandy mudstone specimen's fracture surface was proposed to prove that the dilatancy effect would be more pronounced in the creep process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently reported an important role of Connexin 43 (Cx43) hemichannels in the pathogenesis of lethal sepsis through facilitating ATP efflux to potentiate the double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase R (PKR)-dependent macrophage activation. Here we further elucidated the possible role of Pannexin 1 (Panx1) hemichannel in lethal sepsis by assessing its expression along with the impact of a Panx1-specific mimetic inhibitory peptide, 10Panx, on macrophage hemichannel activity in vitro and animal sepsis lethality in vivo. Both crude bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and purified serum amyloid A (SAA) effectively induced the expression and extracellular release of Panx1 by macrophages or monocytes as judged by Western blotting and immunocytochemistry assays. In animal model of lethal sepsis, Panx1 expression levels were significantly elevated in the heart, but reduced in the kidney, lung, spleen, and blood. At relatively lower doses (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg), the Panx1 mimetic peptide, 10Panx, reproducibly exacerbated the sepsis-induced animal lethality, reducing survival rates from 60-70% to 0-10%. Consistently, 10Panx did not inhibit, but rather promoted, the LPS-induced elevation of Lucifer Yellow dye uptake, ATP release, and Nitric Oxide (NO) production. Collectively, these findings suggested that elevated macrophage Panx1 expression and hemichannel activation contribute to the pathogenesis of lethal sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ferroptosis is a regulated cell death mode triggered by iron-dependent toxic membrane lipid peroxidation. As a novel cell death modality that is morphologically and mechanistically different from other forms of cell death, such as apoptosis and necrosis, ferroptosis has attracted extensive attention due to its association with various diseases. Evidence on ferroptosis as a potential therapeutic strategy has accumulated with the rapid growth of research on targeting ferroptosis for tumor suppression in recent years. Methods: We summarize the currently known characteristics and major regulatory mechanisms of ferroptosis and present the role of ferroptosis in cellular stress responses, including ER stress and autophagy. Furthermore, we elucidate the potential applications of ferroptosis in radiotherapy and immunotherapy, which will be beneficial in exploring new strategies for clinical tumor treatment. Result and conclusion: Based on specific biomarkers and precise patient-specific assessment, targeting ferroptosis has great potential to be translated into practical new approaches for clinical cancer therapy, significantly contributing to the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the predictive value of the multiplication of neutrophil and monocyte counts (MNM) in peripheral blood, and develop a new predictive model for the prognosis of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Methods: This is a retrospective analysis that included 2 separate cohorts of patients undergoing endovascular coiling for aSAH. The training cohort consisted of 687 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College; the validation cohort consisted of 299 patients from Sun Yat‐sen University's Affiliated Jieyang People's Hospital. The training cohort was used to develop 2 models to predict unfavorable prognosis (modified Rankin scale of 3–6 at 3 months): one was based on traditional factors (e.g., age, modified Fisher grade, NIHSS score, and blood glucose), and another model that included traditional factors as well as MNM on admission. Results: In the training cohort, MNM upon admission was independently associated with unfavorable prognosis (odds ratio after adjustment, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.10). In the validation cohort, the basic model that included only traditional factors had 70.99% sensitivity, 84.36% specificity, and 0.859 (95% CI, 0.817–0.901) area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Adding MNM increased model sensitivity (from 70.99% to 76.48%), specificity (from 84.36% to 88.63%), and overall performance (AUC 0.859 [95% CI, 0.817–0.901] to 0.879 [95% CI, 0.841–0.917]). Interpretation: MNM upon admission is associated with unfavorable prognosis in patients undergoing endovascular embolization for aSAH. The nomogram including MNM is a user‐friendly tool to help clinicians quickly predict the outcome of patients with aSAH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies showed that TNF-α could activate voltage-gated Na(+) channels (VGSCs) in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Since TNF-α is implicated in many central nervous system (CNS) diseases, we examined potential effects of TNF-α on VGSCs in the CNS.Methods: Effects of TNF-α (1-1000 pg/mL, for 4-48 h) on VGSC currents were examined using whole-cell voltage clamp and current clamp techniques in primary culture of mouse cortical neurons. Expression of Nav1.1, Nav1.2, Nav1.3, and Nav1.6 were examined at both the mRNA and protein levels, prior to and after TNF-α exposure.Results: TNF-α increased Na(+) currents by accelerating the activation of VGSCs. The threshold for action potential (AP) was decreased and firing rate were increased. VGSCs were up-regulated at both the mRNA and protein levels. The observed effects of TNF-α on Na(+) currents were inhibited by pre-incubation with the NF-κB inhibitor BAY 11-7082 (1 μM) or the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) inhibitor SB203580 (1 μM).Conclusions: TNF-α increases Na(+) currents by accelerating the channel activation as well as increasing the expression of VGSCs in a mechanism dependent upon NF-κB and p38 MAPK signal pathways in CNS neurons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Large hepatocellular carcinoma (LHCC) is prone to short‐term recurrence and poor long‐term survival after hepatectomy, and there is still a lack of effective neoadjuvant treatments to improve recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in solitary LHCC (≥5 cm). Materials and Methods: A multicenter medical database was used to analyze preoperative TACE's effects on RFS, OS, and perioperative complications in patients with solitary LHCC who received surgical treatment from January 2005 to December 2015. The patients were divided into Group A (5.0–9.9 cm) and Group B (≥10 cm), with 10 cm as the critical value, and the effect of preoperative TACE on RFS, OS and perioperative complications was assessed in each subgroup. Results: In the overall population, patients with preoperative TACE had better RFS and OS than those without preoperative TACE. However, after stratifying the patients into the two HCC groups, preoperative TACE only improved the survival outcomes of patients with Group B (≥10 cm). Multivariate Cox‐regression analysis showed that lack of preoperative TACE was an independent risk factor for RFS and OS in the overall population and in Group B but not in Group A. Conclusions: Preoperative TACE is beneficial for patients with solitary HCC (≥10 cm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden flood disasters cause serious damage to agricultural production. Rapidly extracting information such as the flooding extent of agricultural land and capturing the influence of flooding on crops provides important guidelines for estimating the flood-affected area, promoting post-disaster farmland restoration, and providing an auxiliary decision-making basis for flood prevention and disaster relief departments. Taking the flood event in Henan and Shanxi Provinces as example, based on the characteristics of the variations in radar data and optical data before and after the disaster, we propose an extent information extraction method for the flood inundation area and the flood-affected area of agricultural land. This method consists of change detection, threshold extraction, and superposition analysis, which weakens the negative impact of the radar data speckle noise and cloud contamination of the optical data on the extraction of the agricultural land flooding to a certain extent. The method was developed based on a flood event in Henan Province and validated in Shanxi Province. The results show that the production of this method have a clear boundary and accurate extent, and the overall precisions of the flood inundation area and flood-affected area extraction are 0.87 and 0.92, respectively. The proposed method combines the advantages of both radar and optical remote sensing data in extracting the specific extents of the flood inundation area and the flood-affected area in large spatial scale. Finally, the impact of time window size to the performance of the method is further analyzed. In the application of the proposed method, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform provides a low-cost, fast, and convenient way to extract flood information from remote sensing data. The proposed scheme provides a scientific data basis for restoring production of agricultural land after a flood disaster, as well as for national post-disaster damage assessment and disaster relief decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human serum amyloid A (SAA) has been demonstrated as a chemoattractant and proinflammatory mediator of lethal systemic inflammatory diseases. In the circulation, it can be sequestered by a high-density lipoprotein, HDL, which carries cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids and apolipoproteins (Apo-AI). The capture of SAA by HDL results in the displacement of Apo-AI, and the consequent inhibition of SAA’s chemoattractant activities. It was previously unknown whether HDL similarly inhibits SAA-induced sPLA2 expression, as well as the resultant HMGB1 release, nitric oxide (NO) production and autophagy activation. Here we provided compelling evidence that human SAA effectively upregulated the expression and secretion of both sPLA2-IIE and sPLA2-V in murine macrophages, which were attenuated by HDL in a dose-dependent fashion. Similarly, HDL dose-dependently suppressed SAA-induced HMGB1 release, NO production, and autophagy activation. In both RAW 264.7 cells and primary macrophages, HDL inhibited SAA-induced secretion of several cytokines (e.g., IL-6) and chemokines (e.g., MCP-1 and RANTES) that were likely dependent on functional TLR4 signaling. Collectively, these findings suggest that HDL counter-regulates SAA-induced upregulation and secretion of sPLA2-IIE/V in addition to other TLR4-dependent cytokines and chemokines in macrophage cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsupervised person re-identification has achieved great success through the self-improvement of individual neural networks. However, limited by the lack of diversity of discriminant information, a single network has difficulty learning sufficient discrimination ability by itself under unsupervised conditions. To address this limit, we develop a population-based evolutionary gaming (PEG) framework in which a population of diverse neural networks are trained concurrently through selection, reproduction, mutation, and population mutual learning iteratively. Specifically, the selection of networks to preserve is modeled as a cooperative game and solved by the best-response dynamics, then the reproduction and mutation are implemented by cloning and fluctuating hyper-parameters of networks to learn more diversity, and population mutual learning improves the discrimination of networks by knowledge distillation from each other within the population. In addition, we propose a cross-reference scatter (CRS) to approximately evaluate re-ID models without labeled samples and adopt it as the criterion of network selection in PEG. CRS measures a model's performance by indirectly estimating the accuracy of its predicted pseudo-labels according to the cohesion and separation of the feature space. Extensive experiments demonstrate that (1) CRS approximately measures the performance of models without labeled samples; (2) and PEG produces new state-of-the-art accuracy for person re-identification, indicating the great potential of population-based network cooperative training for unsupervised learning. The code is released on github.com/YunpengZhai/PEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Flavonoids are necessary for plant growth and resistance to adversity and stress. They are also an essential nutrient for human diet and health. Among the metabolites produced in Cannabis sativa (C. sativa), phytocannabinoids have undergone extensive research on their structures, biosynthesis, and biological activities. Besides the phytocannabinoids, C. sativa is also rich in terpenes, alkaloids, and flavonoids, although little research has been conducted in this area. Results: In this study, we identified 11 classes of key enzyme-encoding genes, including 56 members involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis in C. sativa, from their physical characteristics to their expression patterns. We screened the potentially step-by-step enzymes catalyzing the precursor phenylalanine to the end flavonoids using a conjoin analysis of gene expression with metabolomics from different tissues and chemovars. Flavonol synthase (FLS), belonging to the 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD) superfamily, catalyzes the dihydroflavonols to flavonols. In vitro recombinant protein activity analysis revealed that CsFLS2 and CsFLS3 had a dual function in converting naringenin (Nar) to dihydrokaempferol (DHK), as well as dihydroflavonols to flavonols with different substrate preferences. Meanwhile, we found that CsFLS2 produced apigenin (Api) in addition to DHK and kaempferol when Nar was used as the substrate, indicating that CsFLS2 has an evolutionary relationship with Cannabis flavone synthase I. Conclusions: Our study identified key enzyme-encoding genes involved in the biosynthesis of flavonoids in C. sativa and highlighted the key CsFLS genes that generate flavonols and their diversified functions in C. sativa flavonoid production. This study paves the way for reconstructing the entire pathway for C. sativa's flavonols and cannflavins production in heterologous systems or plant culture, and provides a theoretical foundation for discovering new cannabis-specific flavonoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major risk factor for the development of lung adenocarcinoma (AC). AC often develops on underlying COPD; thus, the differentiation of both entities by biomarker is challenging. Although survival of AC patients strongly depends on early diagnosis, a biomarker panel for AC detection and differentiation from COPD is still missing. Plasma samples from 176 patients with AC with or without underlying COPD, COPD patients, and hospital controls were analyzed using mass-spectrometry-based proteomics. We performed univariate statistics and additionally evaluated machine learning algorithms regarding the differentiation of AC vs. COPD and AC with COPD vs. COPD. Univariate statistics revealed significantly regulated proteins that were significantly regulated between the patient groups. Furthermore, random forest classification yielded the best performance for differentiation of AC vs. COPD (area under the curve (AUC) 0.935) and AC with COPD vs. COPD (AUC 0.916). The most influential proteins were identified by permutation feature importance and compared to those identified by univariate testing. We demonstrate the great potential of machine learning for differentiation of highly similar disease entities and present a panel of biomarker candidates that should be considered for the development of a future biomarker panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human host-associated microbial communities in body sites can reflect health status based on the population distribution and specific microbial properties in the heterogeneous community. Bacteria identification at the single-cell level provides a reliable biomarker and pathological information for clinical diagnosis. Nevertheless, biosamples obtained from some body sites cannot offer sufficient sample volume and number of target cells as required by most of the existing single-cell isolation methods such as flow cytometry. Herein we report a novel integrated microfluidic system, which consists of a microemulsion module for single-bacteria encapsulation and a sequential microdroplet capture and release module for selectively extracting only the single-bacteria encapsulated in microdroplets. We optimize the system for a success rate of the single-cell extraction to be > 38%. We further verify applicability of the system with prepared cell mixtures (Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 and Methylomicrobium album BG8) and biosamples collected from human skin, to quantify the population distribution of multiple key species in a heterogeneous microbial community. Results indicate perfect viability of the single-cell extracts and compatibility with downstream analyses such as PCR. Together, this research demonstrates that the reported single-bacteria extraction system can be applied in microbiome and pathology research and clinical diagnosis as a clinical or point-of-care device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, wound infection is considered to be one of the major healthcare problems, with bacterial infections being the most critical threat, leading to poor and delayed wound healing, and even death. As a superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes a profound hazard to public health safety, prompting us to search for alternative treatment approaches. Herein, the MTT test and Hoechst/propidium iodide (PI) staining demonstrated that PD was slightly less toxic to human fibroblasts including Human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell line than Silver sulfadiazine (SSD), and Vancomycin (Van). In the MRSA-infected wound model, PD hydrogel (1%, 2.5%) was applied with for 14 days. The wound healing of PD hydrogel groups was superior to the SSD, Van, and control groups. Remarkably, the experimental results showed that PD reduced the number of skin bacteria, reduced inflammation, and upregulated the expression of PCNA (keratinocyte proliferation marker) and CD31 (angiogenesis manufacturer) at the wound site by histology (including hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining, Masson staining) and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, no toxicity, hemocompatibility or histopathological changes to organs were observed. Altogether, these results suggested the potential of PD hydrogel as a safe, effective, and low toxicity hydrogel for the future clinical treatment of MRSA-infected wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an advanced task for image synthesis without labelled data, unsupervised image‐to‐image translation refers to the overall conversion of a certain characteristic image domain X to another domain Y. The key point is to learn a mapping relationship that can be transformed between different image domains. Existing methods mainly adopt GANs to generate authentic images. While the discriminators will be abandoned after the training process is completed. In order to avoid this waste of training resources, a feature encoder reusing method is proposed, which could reduce the number of parameters and accelerate the training speed. In addition, we add the adaptive perceptual loss for the purpose of paying more attention to the quality of generated images. This loss directly uses the encoder during training to perform feature‐level constraints, and applies the L1‐norm on the intermediate feature layer of the generated samples. The experiments illustrate that our framework can generate more natural images and provide an effective solution for unsupervised translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolonged exposure to volatile anesthetics, such as isoflurane and sevoflurane, causes neurodegeneration in the developing animal brains. Recent studies showed that dexmedetomidine, a selective α2-adrenergic agonist, reduced isoflurane-induced cognitive impairment and neuroapoptosis. However, the mechanisms for the effect are not completely clear. Thus, we investigated whether exposure to isoflurane or sevoflurane at an equivalent dose for anesthesia during brain development causes different degrees of neuroapoptosis and whether this neuroapoptosis is reduced by dexmedetomidine via effects on PI3K/Akt pathway that can regulate cell survival. Seven-day-old (P7) neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly exposed to 0.75% isoflurane, 1.2% sevoflurane or air for 6 h. Activated caspase-3 was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Phospho-Akt, phospho-Bad, Akt, Bad and Bcl-xL proteins were detected by Western blotting in the hippocampus at the end of exposure. Also, P7 rats were pretreated with various concentrations of dexmedetomidine alone or together with PI3K inhibitor LY294002, and then exposed to 0.75% isoflurane. Terminal deoxyribonucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and activated caspase-3 were used to detect neuronal apoptosis in their hippocampus. Isoflurane, not sevoflurane at the equivalent dose, induced significant neuroapoptosis, decreased the levels of phospho-Akt and phospho-Bad proteins, increased the expression of Bad protein and reduced the ratio of Bcl-xL/Bad in the hippocampus. Dexmedetomidine pretreatment dose-dependently inhibited isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis and restored protein expression of phospho-Akt and Bad as well as the Bcl-xL/Bad ratio induced by isoflurane. Pretreatment with single dose of 75 µg/kg dexmedetomidine provided a protective effect similar to that with three doses of 25 µg/kg dexmedetomidine. Moreover, LY294002, partly inhibited neuroprotection of dexmedetomidine. Our results suggest that dexmedetomidine pretreatment provides neuroprotection against isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis in the hippocampus of neonatal rats by preserving PI3K/Akt pathway activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A challenge in biogeography is to understand what are the factors and how they regulate soil microbial communities. To explore the coexistence pattern of bacterial community and the factors shaping agricultural soil bacterial community at spatial scale, 135 soil samples were collected from a typically agricultural province in the North China Plain and analyzed with high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. As expected, bacterial community dissimilarity showed significant distance-decay relationships with 42.2% variation explained by geographic distance and physicochemical factors. Bacterial phyla abundance showed different responses to environmental factors among which soil pH was the primary factor shaping soil bacterial community structure. Bacterial communities in acidic soils suggest lower phylotype richness and phylogenetic diversity and its associated network structure showed greater connectivity and stability compared to those in neutral and alkaline soils. Soil bacterial community diversity was also varied with soil type. Unlike the simplest topological features of co-occurrence network in Cinnamon soil, bacterial community structure was more connected and stable in Lime concretion black soil and Kallotenuales but not the predominant taxa were identified as kinless hub. However, Neisseriales, Anaerolineaceae and Nannocystaceae from Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi with higher relative abundance might support higher levels of ecosystem functions in Fluvo-aquic soil. Taken together, our results suggest that geographic distance and pH variation strongly shaped bacterial community structure with correspondingly diverse co-occurrence patterns observed in different soil pH ranges and types. • Geographic distance significantly shaped bacterial community structure. • Bacterial community composition and structure were strongly related to soil pH. • Rhodospirillaceae played a key role in bacterial community of agricultural soils. • Connectivity and stability of co-occurrence network decreased with increasing pH. • Co-occurrence network features were distinct among soil types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abscopal effects are characterized by the emergence of neoplasms in regions unrelated to the primary radiation therapy site, displaying a gradual attenuation or regression throughout the progression of radiation therapy, which have been of interest to scientists since Mole's proposal in 1953. The incidence of abscopal effects in radiation therapy is intricately linked to the immune system, with both innate and adaptive immune responses playing crucial roles. Biological factors impacting abscopal effects ultimately exert their influence on the intricate workings of the immune system. Although abscopal effects are rarely observed in clinical cases, the underlying mechanism remains uncertain. This article examines the biological and physical factors influencing abscopal effects of radiotherapy. Through a review of preclinical and clinical studies, this article aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of abscopal effects and proposes new avenues for future research in this field. The findings presented in this article serve as a valuable reference for researchers seeking to explore this topic in greater depth. [Display omitted] • Our review focused on elucidating the biological determinants that modulate the manifestation of abscopal effects, such as the innate and adaptive immune systems, as well as molecular factors encompassing p53 genes, mitochondria, and exosomes. • An overview was conducted on the physical variables that impact abscopal effect, encompassing radiation modality, radiation dosage, and radiation fractionation. • A comprehensive review was performed on clinical instances and research studies, yielding crucial references and substantiating evidence for further investigation into the clinical investigation of abscopal effects. • The findings presented in this article serve as a valuable reference for researchers seeking to explore this topic in greater depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover legend: The cover image is based on the Research Article Aging‐associated decline in vascular smooth muscle cell mechanosensation is mediated by Piezo1 channel by Ngoc Luu et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.14036.By Ngoc Luu; Apratim Bajpai; Rui Li; Seojin Park; Mahad Noor; Xiao Ma and Weiqiang ChenReported by Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

In this study, we have achieved the successful fabrication of PtSe 2 /MoS 2 heterojunction through a novel hybrid approach. Platinum (Pt) sputtering-selenization two-step growth method is adopted enabling the direct growth of PtSe 2 thin films on MoS 2 nanosheet. With the utilization of the photovoltaic effect (PVE) [9], the device demonstrates remarkable self-drive capabilities while exhibiting a wide spectral response spanning from 405 nm to 1550 nm. [Display omitted] • Platinum (Pt) sputtering-selenization two-step growth method is adopted enabling the direct growth of PtSe 2 thin films on MoS 2 nanosheet. • The in-situ Fabrication of PtSe 2 /MoS 2 heterojunction photodetector has a high responsivity of 5.42 A/W at 1 V bias voltage. • Without any external bias, this photodetector has a broadband optical response in the 405 to 1550 nm wavelength range. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2DTMDs) and their van der Waals heterojunctions (vdWHs) have garnered significant attention working as the channel material of optoelectronics. The development of new heterojunction growth schemes may also provide better performance for optoelectronic devices. In this paper, PtSe 2 thin films with controllable size and thickness are directly grown on MoS 2 nanosheet by sputtering-selenization two-step growth method. The photodetector with PtSe 2 /MoS 2 heterojunction exhibits a type-I band alignment and leads to an impressive broadband spectral photoresponse (405 to 1550 nm). It can achieve responsivity as high as 5.42 A/W, a detectivity of 2.52 × 1010 Jones, and a fast response rate (92/112 μs for rise/fall time respectively). In addition, the device has excellent stability in the air atmosphere and keeps its photoresponse after even six months. The in-situ growth method provides a new scheme to construct heterojunctions of 2DTMDs and develop energy-efficient photodetectors with enhanced performance. It also supplements the practical production and application of large-scale broadband detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: The existing evidence has indicated that hyperthermia ablation (HA) and HA combined with transarterial chemoembolization (HATACE) are the optimal alternative to surgical resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the COVID‐19 crisis. However, the evidence for decision‐making is lacking in terms of comparison between HA and HATACE. Herein, a comprehensive evaluation was performed to compare the efficacy and safety of HATACE with monotherapy. Materials and Methods: Worldwide studies were collected to evaluate the HATACE regimen for HCC due to the practical need for global extrapolation of applicative population. Meta‐analyses were performed using the RevMan 5.3 software (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). Results: Thirty‐six studies involving a large sample of 5036 patients were included finally. Compared with HA alone, HATACE produced the advantage of 5‐year overall survival (OS) rate (OR:1.90; 95%CI:1.46,2.46; p < 0.05) without increasing toxicity (p ≥ 0.05). Compared with TACE alone, HATACE was associated with superior 5‐year OS rate (OR:3.54; 95%CI:1.96,6.37; p < 0.05) and significantly reduced the incidences of severe liver damage (OR:0.32; 95%CI:0.11,0.96; p < 0.05) and ascites (OR:0.42; 95%CI:0.20,0.88; p < 0.05). Subgroup analysis results of small (≤3 cm) HCC revealed that there were no significant differences between the HATACE group and HA monotherapy group in regard to the OS rates (p ≥ 0.05). Conclusions: Compared with TACE alone, HATACE was more effective and safe for HCC. Compared with HA alone, HATACE was more effective for non‐small‐sized (>3 cm) HCC with comparable safety. However, the survival benefit of adjuvant TACE in HATACE regimen was not found for the patients with small (≤3 cm) HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pressure injuries are common complications occurred duration hospitalization, whether the interface pressure distribution in full body memory cotton chest-lumbar cushion was superior than traditional chest cushion remains unclear.Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effects that the full body memory cotton chest-lumbar cushion versus traditional chest cushion on interface pressure.Methods: A total of 66 healthy individuals were recruited. The volunteers were placed in the left lateral position and left armpit and iliac spine pressure and level of comfort were measured. Group differences were assessed using the paired t-test or Wilcoxon test according to data distribution. Additionally, multivariate regression analysis was applied to determine the potential role of sex, age, and body mass index on left armpit and iliac spine pressure and overall comfort.Results: Compared with the traditional chest cushion, we noted that the full body chest-lumbar cushion made of memory cotton was associated with less pressure on the left armpit (38.17 ± 10.39 mmHg vs. 67.93 ± 14.67 mmHg, respectively; P < 0.0001) and iliac spine (43.32 ± 13.70 mmHg vs. 50.77 ± 20.94 mmHg, respectively; P = 0.0004). Moreover, we noted that the overall comfort with the memory cotton chest-lumbar cushion was higher than that with the traditional chest cushion (8.48 ± 1.08 vs. 6.36 ± 1.45, respectively; P < 0.0001). Finally, the multivariate regression analyses found iliac spine pressure could affect by sex (P = 0.0377) and body mass index (P = 0.0380).Conclusions: The full body chest-lumbar cushion made of memory cotton had beneficial effects on left armpit and iliac spine pressure and on comfort. These findings should be applied to future clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of targeted therapeutic options for squamous cell lung cancer (SCC). Accelerated hypertension is an issue with many targeted therapies for lung cancer. This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of anlotinib, based on progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with SCC, stratified by hypertension and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score. Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of a multicenter, double‐blind, phase III ALTER0303 randomized controlled trial. Only patients with SCC were included. The occurrence of hypertension during the study period was defined according to CTCAE 4.03. OS and PFS were the primary and secondary endpoints, respectively. The patients were stratified according to hypertension and ECOG score, respectively. Results: The median PFS in the patients who developed hypertension was longer than in those who did not (7.2 (95% CI: 3.5–11.0) versus 3.2 (95% CI: 1.2–5.3) months, p = 0.001; HR (95% CI), 0.4 (0.2–0.8)). In the ECOG 0 patients, the median PFS in the patients who developed hypertension versus those who did not was 5.6 vs. 1.8 months, respectively (Figure 2(d)). In the ECOG 1 patients, the median PFS in the patients who developed hypertension versus those who did not was 7.0 (95% CI: 3.0–11.0) vs. 4.8 (95% CI: 1.2–8.5) months (p = 0.043). No statistically significant differences were found in OS in the stratified analyses. Conclusions: The occurrence of hypertension might be a clinical indicator predicting the efficacy of third‐line anlotinib treatment in patients with SCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been proposed to capture the inflammatory status of patients with various conditions involving the brain. This retrospective study aimed to explore the association between the NLR and the early growth of traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage (tICH) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: A multicentre, observational cohort study was conducted. Patients with cerebral contusion undergoing baseline computed tomography for haematoma volume analysis within 6 h after primary injury and follow‐up visits within 48 h were included. Routine blood tests were performed upon admission, and early growth of tICH was assessed. Prediction accuracies of the NLR for the early growth of tICH and subsequent surgical intervention in patients were analysed. Results: There were a total of 1077 patients who met the criteria included in the study cohort. Univariate analysis results showed that multiple risk factors were associated with the early growth of tICH and included in the following multivariate analysis models. The multivariate logistic regression analysis results revealed that the NLR was highly associated with the early growth of tICH (p < 0.001) while considering other risk factors in the same model. The prediction accuracy of the NLR for the early growth of tICH in patients is 82%. Interpretation: The NLR is easily calculated and might predict the early growth of tICH for patients suffering from TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Aggregates with different PSDs respond differently to CWRB under dynamic impact. • CWRB selectively maintains partial compressive strength after being impacted. • A compressive model is established for CWRB under dynamic impact. • Porosity significantly affects the compressive behavior of CWRB at a high ISR. Cement waste rock backfill (CWRB) is an essential component of green mining. Recent studies have demonstrated that the CWRB can slow surface settlement and provide economic advantages. However, there has been only limited research into the susceptibility of CWRB to dynamic impacts such as rock bursts, especially as mining depth increases. This study aims to investigate the dynamic peak stress, elastic modulus, and dissipated energy of CWRB specimens using a split Hopkinson pressure bar system. The results demonstrated that the responses of aggregate with different particle size distributions to the system's impact strain rate (ISR) were inconsistent. Specifically, the highest dynamic peak stress of 23.71 MPa was achieved for the CWRB (Talbot index = 0.6) at a low ISR (30 s−1–35 s−1) and 62.33 MPa for the CWRB (Talbot index = 0.4) at a high ISR (40 s−1–50 s−1). A strain nephogram and fractal dimension analysis further suggested that the CWRB (Talbot index = 0.4, 0.6) could continue to provide partial compressive resistance after impact. Moreover, a compressive model was developed to determine the "change point" between the low and high ISR. The model indicated that different particle size distributions influenced the porosity, and at a high ISR, the pore structures further worsened the dynamic compressive behavior of CWRB. This study not only enhances our understanding of the compressive performance of CWRB under dynamic impact, but also contributes to the safety and efficiency of filling mining operations. In addition, it offers a theoretical explanation of the effects on the dynamic compressive behavior of CWRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute traumatic intraparenchymal hematoma (tICH) expansion is a devastating neurological complication that is associated with poor outcome after cerebral contusion. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel noncontrast computed tomography (CT) (NCCT) multihematoma fuzzy sign to predict acute tICH expansion. In this multicenter, prospective cohort study, multihematoma fuzzy signs on baseline CT were found in 212 (43.89%) of total 482 patients. Patients with the multihematoma fuzzy sign had a higher frequency of tICH expansion than those without (90.79% (138) vs. 46.71% (71)). The presence of multihematoma fuzzy sign was associated with increased risk for acute tICH expansion in entire cohort (odds ratio [OR]: 16.15; 95% confidence interval (CI) 8.85–29.47; P < 0.001) and in the cohort after propensity-score matching (OR: 9.37; 95% CI 4.52–19.43; P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated a better discriminative ability of the presence of multihematoma fuzzy sign for acute tICH expansion (AUC = 0.79; 95% CI 0.76–0.83), as was also observed in an external validation cohort (AUC = 0.76; 95% CI 0.67–0.84). The novel NCCT marker of multihematoma fuzzy sign could be easily identified on baseline CT and is an easy-to-use predictive tool for tICH expansion in the early stage of cerebral contusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To explore the potential of monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) at hospital admission for predicting acute traumatic intraparenchymal hematoma (tICH) expansion in patients with cerebral contusion. Patients and Methods. This multicenter, observational study included patients with available at-hospital admission (baseline) and follow-up computed tomography for volumetric analysis (retrospective development cohort: 1146 patients; prospective validation cohort: 207 patients). Semiautomated software assessed tICH expansion (defined as ≥33% or 5 mL absolute growth). MLR was acquired from routine blood tests upon admission. We constructed two predictive models: basic combined model of clinical and imaging variables and MLR combined model of both MLR and other variables in the basic model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to estimate the performance of MLR for predicting acute tICH expansion. Results. MLR was significantly larger in patients with acute tICH expansion compared to those without acute tICH expansion (mean [SD], 1.08 [1.05] vs. 0.59 [0.37], P < 0.001). A nonlinear positive relationship between MLR and the incidence of acute tICH expansion was observed. Multivariate logistic regression indicated MLR as an independent risk factor for acute tICH expansion (odds ratio (OR), 5.88; 95% confidence interval (CI), 4.02-8.61). The power of the multivariate model for predicting acute tICH expansion was substantially improved with the inclusion of MLR (AUC 0.86 vs. AUC 0.74, P < 0.001), as was also observed in an external validation cohort (AUC 0.83 vs. AUC 0.71, P < 0.001). The net benefit of MLR model was higher between threshold probabilities of 20-100% in DCA. For clinical application, a nomogram derived from the multivariate model with MLR was introduced. In addition, MLR was positively associated with 6-month unfavorable outcome. Conclusion. MLR is a novel predictor for traumatic parenchymatous hematoma expansion. A nomogram derived from the MLR model may provide an easy-to-use tool for predicting acute tICH expansion and promoting the individualized treatment of patients with hemorrhagic cerebral contusion. MLR is associated with long-term outcome after cerebral contusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T‐cell transfer is a novel paradigm of adoptive T‐cell immunotherapy. When coming into contact with a target cancer cell, CAR T‐cell forms a nonclassical immunological synapse with the cancer cell and dynamically orchestrates multiple critical forces to commit cytotoxic immune function. Such an immunologic process involves a force transmission in the CAR and a spatiotemporal remodeling of cell cytoskeleton to facilitate CAR activation and CAR T‐cell cytotoxic function. Yet, the detailed understanding of such mechanotransduction at the interface between the CAR T‐cell and the target cell, as well as its molecular structure and signaling, remains less defined and is just beginning to emerge. This article summarizes the basic mechanisms and principles of CAR T‐cell mechanoimmunology, and various lessons that can be comparatively learned from interrogation of mechanotransduction at the immunological synapse in normal cytotoxic T‐cell. The recent development and future application of novel bioengineering tools for studying CAR T‐cell mechanoimmunology is also discussed. It is believed that this progress report will shed light on the CAR T‐cell mechanoimmunology and encourage future researches in revealing the less explored yet important mechanosensing and mechanotransductive mechanisms involved in CAR T‐cell immuno‐oncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to design a new vortex generator (VG) and effectively induce and properly control the vibrations of elastic coil pipes (ECPs) in heat exchanger (HE), the effects of the fluid flow parameters, vortex element size and external flow field on vortex flows in a fluid domain with variable cross-section were analyzed. The vibration and heat transfer characteristics of the ECPs were studied based on the new VG. The numerical results show that the fluid flow parameters, vortex element size and external flow field have influence on the frequency and intensity of vortex flow. The VG designed in this paper can generate vortex flows with basically the same frequency and intensity at each branch outlet. Under the action of the new VG, the vibration amplitudes of the ECPs are significantly enhanced and the vibration uniformity is improved. Meanwhile, the new VG can increase the heat transfer coefficients of the ECPs and improve the consistency of the heat transfer performances of the ECPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]