Search

The dung beetle primarily feeds on the feces of herbivorous animals and play a crucial role in ecological processes like material cycles and soil improvement. This study aims to explore the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota of Catharsius molossus (a renowned dung beetle originating from China and introduced to multiple countries for its ecological value) and exploring whether these gut microbes are transmitted vertically across generations. Using 16S rRNA and ITS rRNA gene sequencing techniques, we described the diversity and composition of gut microbes in C. molossus from different localities and different developmental stages (Egg, young larvae and old larvae). We discovered that the diversity of gut microbiota of dung beetles varied obviously among different geographical localities and different developmental stages, and we also discussed the potential influencing factors. Interestingly, the microbial community structure within the brood balls is more similar to male dung beetle than to that of females, which is consistent with the observation that the brood ball is constructed by the male dung beetle, with the female laying egg in it at the final step. This unique breeding method facilitates offspring in inheriting microbial communities from both the mother and the father. Initially, the larvae's gut microbiota closely mirrors that of the parental gift in these brood balls. As larvae grow, significant changes occur in their gut microbiota, including an increase in symbiotic bacteria like Lactococcus and Enterococcus. Analysis of the gut bacteria of adult dung beetles across various localities and different developmental stages identified nine core genera in adults, contributing to 67.80% of the total microbial abundance, and 11 core genera in beetles at different developmental stages, accounting for 49.13% of the total. Notably, seven genera were common between these two core groups. Our results suggest that Parental gifts can play a role in the vertical transmission of microbes, and the abundance of probiotics increases with larval development, supporting the hypothesis that "larval feeding behavior occurs in two stages: larvae first feed on parental gifts to acquire necessary microbes, then enrich symbiotic microbiota through consuming their own feces." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown that the addition of platinum to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) improved outcomes for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, no studies have assessed the efficacy and safety of the combination of taxane and lobaplatin. In this study, we conducted a randomized controlled phase II clinical study to compare the efficacy and safety of taxane combined with lobaplatin or anthracycline. Methods: We randomly allocated patients with stage I–III TNBC into Arm A and Arm B. Arm A received six cycles of taxane combined with lobaplatin (TL). Arm B received six cycles of taxane combined with anthracycline and cyclophosphamide (TEC) or eight cycles of anthracycline combined with cyclophosphamide and sequential use of taxane (EC-T). Both Arms underwent surgery after NAC. The primary endpoint was the pathologic complete response (pCR). Secondary endpoints were event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), and safety. Results: A total of 103 patients (51 in Arm A and 52 in Arm B) were assessed. The pCR rate of Arm A was significantly higher than that of Arm B (41.2% vs. 21.2%, P = 0.028). Patients with positive lymph nodes and low neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) benefited significantly more from Arm A than those with negative lymph nodes and high NLR (Pinteraction = 0.001, Pinteraction = 0.012, respectively). There was no significant difference in EFS (P = 0.895) or OS (P = 0.633) between the two arms. The prevalence of grade-3/4 anemia was higher in Arm A (P = 0.015), and the prevalence of grade-3/4 neutropenia was higher in Arm B (P = 0.044). Conclusions: Neoadjuvant taxane plus lobaplatin has shown better efficacy than taxane plus anthracycline, and both regimens have similar toxicity profiles. This trial may provide a reference for a better combination strategy of immunotherapy in NAC for TNBC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop a simple but effective nomogram to predict risk of septic cardiomyopathy (SCM) in the intensive care unit (ICU). We analyzed data from patients who were first admitted to the ICU for sepsis between 2008 and 2019 in the MIMIC-IV database, with no history of heart disease, and divided them into a training cohort and an internal validation cohort at a 7:3 ratio. SCM is defined as sepsis diagnosed in the absence of other cardiac diseases, with echocardiographic evidence of left (or right) ventricular systolic or diastolic dysfunction and a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of less than 50%. Variables were selected from the training cohort using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression to develop an early predictive model for septic cardiomyopathy. A nomogram was constructed using logistic regression analysis and its receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration were evaluated in two cohorts. A total of 1562 patients participated in this study, with 1094 in the training cohort and 468 in the internal validation cohort. SCM occurred in 13.4% (147 individuals) in the training cohort, 16.0% (75 individuals) in the internal validation cohort. After adjusting for various confounding factors, we constructed a nomogram that includes SAPS II, Troponin T, CK-MB index, white blood cell count, and presence of atrial fibrillation. The area under the curve (AUC) for the training cohort was 0.804 (95% CI 0.764–0.844), and the Hosmer–Lemeshow test showed good calibration of the nomogram (P = 0.288). Our nomogram also exhibited good discriminative ability and calibration in the internal validation cohort. Our nomogram demonstrated good potential in identifying patients at increased risk of SCM in the ICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper clad laminates (CCLs) with low dielectric constants and dielectric losses are preferred for high-frequency and high-speed printed circuit boards (PCBs). However, the dielectric interlayer of CCLs with improved thermal and electrical performances still requires further exploration. Single component such as polymers or ceramics can hardly meet the developing needs of advanced CCLs. Thus, incorporation of functional nanofillers with polymer resins has been considered as an effective solution. However, chemical or physical modifications are generally conducted for the nanofillers, which is harmful and complex for the fabrication of CCLs. In this work, crystalline polyimide bond-linked covalent organic frameworks (PI-COFs) nanoparticles (NPs) with porous structures have been prepared. Due to the organic nature and preferable particles size, PI-COFs NPs show improved compatibility with epoxy resin (ER). Decreased viscosity, increased settle ability, and improved film-forming capability can be achieved with suitable additive amount of PI-COFs NPs. Due to their high thermal stability and intrinsic low dielectric property, the PI-COFs have been introduced as nanofillers for CCLs. The thermal decomposition temperatures (Td) and glass transition temperatures (Tg) can be improved, while the thermal conductivities show a decreased trend. A lowered dielectric constant of 5.52 with a dielectric loss of 0.00328 can be achieved at 1 MHz for 10 wt% PI-COFs filled CCLs. Higher electrical conductivities and Q factors can be obtained with the addition of PI-COFs NPs. Moreover, the PI-COFs-filled CCLs show improved signal integrity (SI) performances with reduced resonance peaks of insertion loss (IL, S21) and reduced return loss (RL, S11) values. The power integrity (PI) performances of PI-COFs-filled CCLs show reduced filtering effects due to the decreased dielectric properties. Considering the diversity of chemical compositions and porous structures of COFs, their application as resin-compatible nanofillers may provide a new avenue toward advanced high-frequency and high-speed CCLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current data on post-discharge mortality and rehospitalization is still insufficient among in-hospital survivors of cardiogenic shock (CS), including acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and non-AMI survivors. Methods: Patients with CS who survived after hospital discharge were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Each patient was followed up at 3-year intervals. Mortality and rehospitalization were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models. Results: There were 16,582 eligible patients. Of these, 42.4% and 57.6% were AMI-CS and non-AMI-CS survivors, respectively. The overall mortality and rehospitalization rates were considerably high, with reports of 7.0% and 22.1% at 30 days, 24.5% and 58.2% at 1 year, and 38.9% and 73.0% at 3 years, respectively, among in-hospital CS survivors. Cardiovascular (CV) problems caused approximately 40% mortality and 60% rehospitalization. Overall, the non-AMI-CS group had a higher mortality burden than the AMI-CS group owing to older age and a higher prevalence of comorbidities. In multivariable models, the non-AMI-CS group exhibited a lower risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.60 to 0.78) and CV mortality (aHR 0.65, 95% CI 0.54 to 0.78) compared to the AMI-CS group. However, these risks diminished and even reversed after one year (aHR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.25 for all-cause mortality; aHR 1.27, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.49 for CV mortality).This reversal was not observed in all-cause and CV rehospitalization. For rehospitalization, AMI-CS was associated with the risk of CV rehospitalization in the entire observation period (aHR:0.80, 95% CI:0.76–0.84). Conclusions: In-hospital AMI-CS survivors had an increased risk of CV rehospitalization and 30-day mortality, whereas those with non-AMI-CS had a greater mortality risk after 1-year follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the interplay between exit selection models and local pedestrian movement patterns within floor field frameworks. Specifically, this investigation analysed the performance of a multinomial logit exit choice model, incorporating both expected utility theory and cumulative prospect theory frameworks when coupled with three distinct local-level pedestrian movement models (FF-Von Neumann, FF-Moore, and NSFF). The expected utility theory framework considers the deterministic component as a linear relationship, while the cumulative prospect theory framework further considers the decision-maker's risky attitudes by transforming objective terms into subjective terms using a power value function. The core objective was to comprehend how local movement dynamics, as represented by the floor field models, influence decision-making during exit selection. Comparative analyses revealed intriguing variations between the three local models, despite their shared expected utility theory-based exit choice framework. These discrepancies stemmed from the diverse pedestrian trajectory behaviours generated by each model. Consequently, these local dynamics impacted the decision-maker's assessment of critical factors, such as the number of evacuees close to the decision-maker ( N C D M ) and the number of evacuees close to an exit ( N C E ), which the exit choice model incorporates. These assessments, in turn, significantly affected higher-level decision-making. The integration of the three models with the multinomial logit exit choice model, using either cumulative prospect theory and expected utility theory frameworks, further strengthened the observed bilateral relationship. While the specific nature of this relationship varied depending on the chosen framework and its implementation details, these consistent findings demonstrate the robustness of the results. This reinforced the influence of local-level pedestrian dynamics on higher-level exit selection, highlighting the importance of accurate crowd dynamics modelling, especially when advanced exit choice models consider local movement factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast optical modulation of nanoplasmonics is fundamental for on-chip integration of all-optical devices. Although various strategies have been proposed for dynamic modulation of surface plasmons, critical issues of device compatibility and extremely low efficiency in the visible spectrum hamper the application of optoplasmonic nanochips. Here we establish an optoplasmonic system based on Au@Cu2–xS hybrid core–shell nanoparticles. The optical excitation of hot electrons and their charge transfer to the semiconductor coating (Cu2–xS) lead to lowered electron density of Au, which results in the red shift of the localized surface plasmon resonance. The hot electrons can also transport through the Cu2–xS layer to the metal substrate, which increases the conductance of the nanogap. As such, the coupled gap plasmon blue-shifts with a magnitude of up to ∼15 nm, depending on the excitation power and the thickness of the coatings, which agrees with numerical simulations. All of this optoelectronic tuning process is highly reversible, controllable and fast with a modulated laser beam, which is highly compatible and sufficiently useful for on-chip integration of nanophotonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet C (UVC) light has a great promising application in the field of sterilization. However, how to obtain efficient UVC emission with peak maximum at 265 nm that is called 'golden sterilization wavelength' remains a great challenge. Herein, we propose a defect-engineering strategy to obtain enhanced UVC emission at the golden sterilization wavelength of 265 nm through introducing oxygen vacancies into Pr3+ doped Ba 2 MgSi 2 O 7 melilite phosphors. Combined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and thermoluminescence (TL) characterizations, it is confirmed that the calcination of Ba 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :Pr3+ in an inert atmosphere could efficiently increase oxygen vacancy concentration, promoting the efficient energy transfer from the melilite host to Pr3+ ions. It could lead to a significant enhancement of the luminescence intensity to 2.43 times of the initial one with less oxygen vacancies. The optimized Ba 2 MgSi 2 O 7 :0.4%Pr3+ phosphor could effectively inactivate 100 % of Staphylococcus aureus within 8 min, showing higher efficiency than commercially available mercury lamp. This work provides an effective solution for the design and preparation of UVC phosphors using defect engineering to achieve golden UVC emission. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of terrain features poses a substantial challenge in the effective processing and application of airborne LiDAR data, particularly in regions characterized by steep slopes and diverse objects. In this paper, we propose a novel multiscale filtering method utilizing a modified 3D alpha shape algorithm to increase the ground point extraction accuracy in complex terrain. Our methodology comprises three pivotal stages: preprocessing for outlier removal and potential ground point extraction; the deployment of a modified 3D alpha shape to construct multiscale point cloud layers; and the use of a multiscale triangulated irregular network (TIN) densification process for precise ground point extraction. In each layer, the threshold is adaptively determined based on the corresponding α. Points closer to the TIN surface than the threshold are identified as ground points. The performance of the proposed method was validated using a classical benchmark dataset provided by the ISPRS and an ultra-large-scale ground filtering dataset called OpenGF. The experimental results demonstrate that this method is effective, with an average total error and a kappa coefficient on the ISPRS dataset of 3.27% and 88.97%, respectively. When tested in the large scenarios of the OpenGF dataset, the proposed method outperformed four classical filtering methods and achieved accuracy comparable to that of the best of learning-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the impact of upwarp deformation in the ballastless track on the jumping behavior of the high-speed vehicle, utilizing UM and ANSYS joint simulation, a vertical vibration model of high-speed vehicle on CRTS II slab ballastless track was developed based on the non-Hertz wheel–rail contact model of virtual penetration theory. By using the single-wave cosine curve simulating the characteristics of upwarp deformation in the track slab, we calculated the whole process of wheel jumping. This allowed us to analyze how the amplitude and wavelength of the track slab upward deformation influence the vibration response of the vehicle–track system. Our findings indicate that when a wheel passes through the arch section of the track slab, the entire wheel jumping process consists of distinct stages: “wheel–rail bonding, wheel–rail separation, wheel–rail impact (one or more times), and wheel–rail bonding.” As the amplitude of upwarp deformation increases and the wavelength decreases, significant changes occur in several parameters, including the vertical force between the wheel and rail, wheel unloading rate, wheel jump height, frequency, duration, and vertical displacement of the rail. Additionally, when the wavelength is between 2 and 6m and the amplitude is 8mm, the vertical force between the wheel and rail becomes zero, the wheel load reduction rate is one, and the wheel jumps. When the wavelength is less than 3m, the wheel jump height exceeds the flange height, increasing the risk of derailment. Meanwhile, during the first wheel–rail impact, the wheel–rail vertical force and the rail vertical displacement reach their maximum, potentially impacting rail service performance negatively. Finally, compared to the amplitude of the track slab camber deformation, its wavelength has a greater impact on the entire process of wheel jumping. It is recommended that attention be paid to the change in the wavelength of the track slab camber during the maintenance and repair of the ballastless track. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SRY‐box transcription factor 30 (SOX30) participates in tumor cell apoptosis in lung cancer. The occurrence of somatic SOX30 mutations, the expression signature of SOX30 in normal and cancer tissues, the correlation of SOX30 with immune cells and immune‐related genes, and the clinical significance of SOX30 in various cancers have stimulated interest in SOX30 as a potential cancer biomarker. SOX30 influences drug sensitivity and tumor immunity in specific cancer types. In this review, we have comprehensively summarized the latest research on the role of SOX30 in cancer by combining bioinformatics evidence and a literature review. We summarize recent research on SOX30 in cancer regarding somatic mutations, trials, transcriptome analysis, clinical information, and SOX30‐mediated regulation of malignant phenotypes. Additionally, we report on the diagnostic value of SOX30 mRNA expression levels across different cancer types. This review on the role of SOX30 in cancer progression may provide insights into possible research directions for SOX30 in cancer and a theoretical basis for guiding future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six new species of Cryptochironomus Kieffer, 1918, C. absum Liu, sp. nov., C. beardi Liu, sp. nov., C. dentatus Liu, sp. nov., C. ferringtoni Liu, sp. nov., C. parallelus Liu, sp. nov. and C. taylorensis Liu, sp. nov., are described and illustrated based on adult males. The specimens were collected from various water systems in the United States and preserved by Dr. Leonard Charles Ferrington Jr. An updated key to adult males of all known Cryptochironomus species in the Nearctic region is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In salt lake areas, cast-in situ concrete structures are subjected to long-term corrosion by sulfate and magnesium ions. The properties of concrete can be improved by adding materials like basalt fiber (BF). To investigate the degradation process and mechanism of cast-in situ concrete with premixed BF under the dual corrosion of sulfate and magnesium salts, concrete with a content of BF ranging from 0 to 0.5% was prepared. Specimens were subjected to different internal and external corrosion conditions and immersed for 180 days. Dimension, mass, and appearance changes at different immersion times were recorded. The compressive and flexural strength of the specimens were tested and continually observed throughout the immersion time. Mineral and microstructural changes at different immersion times were determined by the XRD, TG, and SEM analysis methods. Results indicated that external sulfate–internal magnesium combined attack had a significant negative effect on the early strength. The compressive and flexural strength of the corroded specimens decreased by 17.2% and 14.1%, respectively, compared to the control group at 28 days. The premixed magnesium ions caused the decomposition of the C-S-H gel, resulting in severe spalling and lower mechanical properties after immersing for a long time. As the BF can inhibit crack development, the properties of the concrete premixed with BF were improved. Specimens exhibited superior performance at a BF content of 0.5%, resulting in a 16.2% increase in flexural strength. This paper serves as a valuable reference for the application of basalt fiber-reinforced concrete under the challenging conditions of sulfate–magnesium combined attack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on COVID-19 outcomes remains uncertain. To address this, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, analyzing 30 studies, to investigate the impact of ICS on patients with COVID-19. Our study focused on various outcomes, including mortality risk, hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation (MV) utilization, and length of hospital stay. Additionally, we conducted a subgroup analysis to assess the effect of ICS on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Our findings suggest that the prior use of ICS did not lead to significant differences in mortality risk, ICU admission, hospitalization, or MV utilization between individuals who had used ICS previously and those who had not. However, in the subgroup analysis of patients with COPD, prior ICS use was associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to non-users (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.90–1.00). Overall, while the use of ICS did not significantly affect COVID-19 outcomes in general, it may have beneficial effects specifically for patients with COPD. Nevertheless, more research is needed to establish a definitive conclusion on the role of ICS in COVID-19 treatment. PROSPERO registration number:CRD42021279429. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been the third most prevalent cancer worldwide. Liver metastasis is the critical factor for the poor prognosis of CRC. Here, we investigated the expression and role of PLOD3 in CRC. Methods: Different liver metastasis models were established by injecting PLOD3 stable knockdown or overexpression CT26 or MC38 mouse CRC cells into the spleen of mice to verify the tumorigenicity and metastasis ability in vivo. Results: We identified PLOD3 is significantly overexpressed in liver metastasis samples of CRC. High expression of PLOD3 was significantly associated with poor survival of CRC patients. The knockdown of PLOD3 exhibited remarkable inhibition of proliferation, migration, and invasion in CRC cells, while the opposite results could be found in different PLOD3-overexpressed CRC cells. Stable knockdown of PLOD3 also significantly inhibited liver metastasis of CRC cells in different xenografts models, while stable overexpression of PLOD3 promotes liver metastasis and tumor progression. Further studies showed that PLOD3 facilitated the T cell activation in the tumor microenvironment and affected the TNF-α/ NF-κB pathway. Conclusions: This study revealed the essential biological functions of PLOD3 in colon cancer progression and metastasis, suggesting that PLOD3 is a promising translational medicine target and bioengineering targeting PLOD3 overcomes CRC liver metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal stability and phase transition rate are two important issues that restrict the engineering applications of phase change memories. In this paper, GeSb/Sb multilayer films were prepared by multilayer stacking, and their phase transition properties were investigated. GeSb/Sb multilayer films had higher crystallization temperature, better data retention, and lower resistance drift than pure Sb films, which indicated that they had excellent thermal stability and accuracy of resistance identification. The test results of X‐ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy showed that GeSb spacer layers could inhibit grain growth of Sb film layers, thus reducing the roughness and potential fluctuation of the film surface. X‐ray reflectivity experiments showed that the GeSb/Sb multilayer films before and after crystallization had small volume changes. The devices based on [GeSb(7 nm)/Sb(3 nm)]8 multilayer films could achieve reversible resistive transition operation between SET and RESET at a pulse width of 10 ns, showing satisfactory transition rate and operational power consumption. The low resistance drift and ultra‐fast phase transition speed make GeSb/Sb multilayer films one of the promising choices for phase change memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The demand for high-performance electric vehicle (EV) batteries, specifically all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs), has been on the rise. Although notable advancements have taken place, there's still a noticeable gap to achieve the targets set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Designing and fabricating thin solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) are crucial to achieve high energy densities and boost the practical application of ASSLBs. However, the thickness reduction in SSEs introduces challenges such as a heightened risk of dendrite growth. This review focuses on reducing the thickness of SSEs to boost the energy density and overall efficiency of ASSLBs. Strategies such as optimizing manufacturing processes for thin SSE films and enhancing mechanical strength and ion conductivity at room temperature for thin SSE films are critically reviewed. The review highlights the cost-effective and scalable methods to produce thin SSEs, and discusses future opportunities in this burgeoning area, ranging from fundamental research to practical applications, to further accelerate the transition from conventional lithium-ion batteries to ASSLBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of introducing the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) nursing model on postoperative delirium occurrence and rehabilitation quality in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures. Methods: A total of 160 elderly patients with femoral neck fractures, who met the inclusion criteria and were admitted between March 2021 to March 2023, were divided into two groups: the traditional care group and the ERAS nursing model group. In addition to traditional care measures, the ERAS nursing model group received interventions based on the principles of the ERAS nursing model. The occurrence of delirium and sleep quality were observed at 24, 48, and 72 h postoperatively, as well as during the overall hospital stay. The duration of hospitalization, time to first mobilization, and post-discharge follow-up on quality of life were compared between the two groups. Results: The ERAS nursing model group exhibited a significant difference in the occurrence of delirium at 48 and 72 h postoperatively, as well as during the overall hospital stay (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the occurrence of delirium at 24 h postoperatively (P > 0.05). The sleep quality of the two groups showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The ERAS nursing model group had shorter time to first mobilization, reduced hospitalization duration, and higher Harris and SF-36 scores during post-discharge follow-up, compared to the traditional care group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The implementation of the ERAS nursing model in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures improved postoperative sleep quality, reduced delirium occurrence, shortened average hospitalization duration, and enhanced patients' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate river level prediction is vital in water resource management and flood mitigation. Recent advances in data-driven modeling, especially in deep learning, provide profound insights into predicting river levels when mechanistic hydrological knowledge is absent. However, they often do not capture predictive uncertainty well, making them less robust in the hydrological prediction as they overconfidently extrapolate. Moreover, they are not flexible in handling hydrological variables with heterogeneous characteristics. In this work, we present the Temporal Fusion Transformer-Gaussian Process (TFT-GP), a novel model for multi-horizon probabilistic river level prediction. We show how TFT-GP inherits the nice properties of the Gaussian process and deep neural networks, giving it excellent representative power and uncertainty quantification ability. The performance of TFT-GP is thoroughly compared with existing well-known deep learning models in three real-world hydrological datasets, and the results showed that TFT-GP is not only more accurate in point prediction but also more reasonable in uncertainty quantification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 80 million people worldwide permanently live at high altitudes, and living in such a hypoxic environment can impair cognitive functions. However, it is largely unknown how long-term exposure to high altitude affects neural oscillations underlying these cognitive functions. The present study employed a Go/NoGo task to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to high altitude on neural oscillations during cognitive control. We compared event-related spectral perturbations between the low-altitude and high-altitude groups, and the results revealed increased theta event-related synchronization (ERS) and decreased alpha and beta event-related desynchronizations (ERDs) during the NoGo condition compared to the Go condition. Importantly, the high-altitude group showed reduced alpha and beta ERDs compared to the low-altitude group, while the theta ERS was not affected by altitude. We suggest that long-term exposure to high altitude has an impact on top-down inhibitory control and movement preparation and execution in the Go/NoGo task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertain delay characteristic of actuators is a critical factor that affects the control effectiveness of the active suspension system. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a control algorithm that takes into account this uncertain delay in order to ensure stable control performance. This study presents a novel active suspension control algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) that specifically addresses the issue of uncertain delay. In this approach, a twin-delayed deep deterministic policy gradient (TD3) algorithm with system delay is employed to obtain the optimal control policy by iteratively solving the dynamic model of the active suspension system, considering the delay. Furthermore, three different operating conditions were designed for simulation to evaluate the control performance: deterministic delay, semi-regular delay, and uncertain delay. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves excellent control performance under various operating conditions. Compared to passive suspension, the optimization of body vertical acceleration is improved by more than 30%, and the proposed algorithm effectively mitigates body vibration in the low frequency range. It consistently maintains a more than 30% improvement in ride comfort optimization even under the most severe operating conditions and at different speeds, demonstrating the algorithm's potential for practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In herringbone gears transmission, the pinion generally adopts the axial floating installation through the axial movement to realize the balance of axial force at both ends, which is called the load-sharing phenomenon. Load-sharing is an important characteristic of herringbone gears transmission, the essence of load-sharing analysis is the calculation of axial displacement at low rotation speed. The axial displacement at low rotation speed periodically changes with the tooth meshing (tooth frequency) and shaft rotation (shaft frequency), which is one of the excitation of the system vibration at high speed. However, it is not considered in the current dynamic characteristics study of herringbone gears. Therefore, the axial displacement under low rotation speed is calculated and is treaded as a kind of error excitation to put in the dynamic model of herringbone gears in this paper. Further, the impact of load-sharing on dynamic characteristics of herringbone gears is studied and the results show that the displacement, velocity, and acceleration in direction of bending, torsion, and axial all have changed, the maximum variation is up to 81,651% while considering the axial displacement. Therefore, the impact of load-sharing should not be ignored in the dynamic characteristics analysis, especially for the accurate analysis of dynamic characteristics for herringbone gears. The study enriches the theory of dynamic characteristic analysis of herringbone gears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WD40 transcription factors (TFs) constitute a large gene family in eukaryotes, playing diverse roles in cellular processes. However, their functions in the major ornamental plant, Rhododendron simsii, remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified 258 WD40 proteins in the R. simsii genome, which exhibited an uneven distribution across chromosomes. Based on domain compositions and phylogenetic analysis, we classified these 258 RsWD40 proteins into 42 subfamilies and 47 clusters. Comparative genomic analysis suggested that the expansion of the WD40 gene family predates the divergence of green algae and higher plants, indicating an ancient origin. Furthermore, by analyzing the duplication patterns of RsWD40 genes, we found that transposed duplication played a major role in their expansion. Notably, the majority of RsWD40 gene duplication pairs underwent purifying selection during evolution. Synteny analysis identified significant orthologous gene pairs between R. simsii and Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Vitis vinifera, and Malus domestica. We also investigated potential candidate genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis during different flower development stages in R. simsii using RNA-seq data. Specifically, we identified 10 candidate genes during the bud stage and 7 candidate genes during the full bloom stage. GO enrichment analysis of these candidate genes revealed the potential involvement of the ubiquitination process in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Overall, our findings provide a valuable foundation for further investigation and functional analysis of WD40 genes, as well as research on the molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis in Rhododendron species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The natural products, metabolites, of gut microbes are crucial effect factors on diseases. Comprehensive identification and annotation of relationships among disease, metabolites, and microbes can provide efficient and targeted solutions towards understanding the mechanism of complex disease and development of new markers and drugs. Results: We developed Gut Microbial Metabolite Association with Disease (GMMAD), a manually curated database of associations among human diseases, gut microbes, and metabolites of gut microbes. Here, this initial release (i) contains 3,836 disease-microbe associations and 879,263 microbe-metabolite associations, which were extracted from literatures and available resources and then experienced our manual curation; (ii) defines an association strength score and a confidence score. With these two scores, GMMAD predicted 220,690 disease-metabolite associations, where the metabolites all belong to the gut microbes. We think that the positive effective (with both scores higher than suggested thresholds) associations will help identify disease marker and understand the pathogenic mechanism from the sense of gut microbes. The negative effective associations would be taken as biomarkers and have the potential as drug candidates. Literature proofs supported our proposal with experimental consistence; (iii) provides a user-friendly web interface that allows users to browse, search, and download information on associations among diseases, metabolites, and microbes. The resource is freely available at http://guolab.whu.edu.cn/GMMAD. Conclusions: As the online-available unique resource for gut microbial metabolite-disease associations, GMMAD is helpful for researchers to explore mechanisms of disease- metabolite-microbe and screen the drug and marker candidates for different diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mo–Si–B alloys are a crucial focus for the development of the next generation of ultra-high-temperature structural materials. They have garnered significant attention over the past few decades due to their high melting point and superior strength and oxidation resistance compared to other refractory metal alloys. However, their low fracture toughness at room temperature and poor oxidation resistance at medium temperature are significant barriers limiting the processing and application of Mo–Si–B alloys. Therefore, this review was carried out to compare the effectiveness of doped metallic elements and second-phase particles in solving these problems in detail, in order to provide clear approaches to future research work on Mo–Si–B alloys. It was found that metal doping can enhance the properties of the alloys in several ways. However, their impact on oxidation resistance and fracture toughness at room temperature is limited. Apart from B-rich particles, which significantly improve the high-temperature oxidation resistance of the alloy, the doping of second-phase particles primarily enhances the mechanical properties of the alloys. Additionally, the application of additive manufacturing to Mo–Si–B alloys was discussed, with the observation of high crack density in the alloys prepared using this method. As a result, we suggest a future research direction and the preparation process of oscillatory sintering, which is expected to reduce the porosity of Mo–Si–B alloys, thereby addressing the noted issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The dietary habits of animals that inhabit the same region can reveal valuable information about their food composition, nutritional strategies, and competition for resources. Analysis of their dietary habits can provide insight into differences in food consumption, thus identifying the potential overlap and competition for resources. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to investigate the winter dietary habits of Tibetan macaques and grey snub-nosed monkeys through an analysis of 40 fecal samples. The results showed that Tibetan macaques consumed plants from 117 families and 184 genera, while grey snub-nosed monkeys consumed plants from 109 families and 165 genera. The aim of the research was to assess the winter dietary habits of both monkey species living in the same area, to increase our knowledge of their food preferences and its composition, and to reveal the possible relationship between the overlap of their food niche and interspecific relations, providing useful information for the conservation of the resources in their natural habitat. Assessing the trophic niche and interspecific relationships between related species and determining how the species maintain differences in nutritional niches while coexisting in the same area are important topics in ecological research. Therefore, exploring the mechanism of food resource utilization, competition and coexistence among species distributed in the same region is important. In this study, we used fecal samples and metagenome sequencing technology to study the plant feeding habits and coexistence mechanisms of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) and grey snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus brelichi) within the same area. In the winter of 2020, we collected a total of 40 fecal samples from Tibetan macaques and grey snub-nosed monkeys; of those, 29 samples were considered valid and were analyzed using DNA metabarcoding. The results showed that in winter, Tibetan macaques consumed plants from 117 families and 184 genera, whereas grey snub-nosed monkeys consumed plants from 109 families and 165 genera. Diversity analysis revealed that there was a significant difference in the food composition of Tibetan macaques and grey snub-nosed monkeys. Tibetan macaques had a broader food niche width than grey snub-nosed monkeys at the family and genus levels. In winter, the food niches of Tibetan macaques and grey snub-nosed monkeys almost entirely overlapped (0.99). Our research provides detailed dietary data for Tibetan macaques and grey snub-nosed monkeys and valuable information that can aid in conservation efforts targeting these species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HCV self-testing (HCVST) may be an effective strategy to address low rates of HCV test uptake among men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluated the effectiveness and cost of providing HCVST to increase HCV test uptake among MSM in China. Methods: Two parallel, unmasked, individual-level randomized controlled trials were conducted. HIV-negative MSM and MSM living with HIV were enrolled from 22 cities in China. Men in both trials were randomly assigned (1:1) into standard-of-care (SOC) or HCVST arms. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants who tested for HCV during the trial period. Intervention effects were estimated using multiply imputed data in the main analysis. Costs were measured using a micro-costing approach. Results: A total of 84 men who were HIV-negative (trial 1) and 84 men living with HIV were enrolled (trial 2). Overall, the proportion of individuals who underwent HCV testing during the trial period was higher in the HCVST arm compared to SOC in trial 1 (estimated risk difference (RD): 71.1%, 95% CI: 54.6 to 87.7%) and trial 2 (estimated RD: 62.9%, 95% CI: 45.7 to 80.1%). Over half (58.6%, 34/58) of HCV self-testers reported the self-test was their first HCV test. The cost per person tested in trial 1 was $654.52 for SOC and $49.83 for HCVST, and in trial 2 was $438.67 for SOC and $53.33 for HCVST. Conclusions: Compared to the standard of care, providing HCVST significantly increased the proportion of MSM testing for HCV in China, and was cheaper per person tested. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number: ChiCTR2100048379. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the technology scales down, two-dimensional (2D) NAND flash memory has reached its bottleneck. Three-dimensional (3D) NAND flash memory was proposed to further increase the storage capacity by vertically stacking multiple layers. However, the new architecture of 3D flash memory leads to new sources of errors, which severely affects the reliability of the system. In this paper, for the first time, we derive the channel probability density function of 3D NAND flash memory by taking major sources of errors. Based on the derived channel probability density function, the mutual information (MI) for 3D flash memory with multiple layers is derived and used as a metric to design the quantization. Specifically, we propose a dynamic programming algorithm to jointly optimize read-voltage thresholds for all layers by maximizing the MI (MMI). To further reduce the complexity, we develop an MI derivative (MID)-based method to obtain read-voltage thresholds for hard-decision decoding (HDD) of error correction codes (ECCs). Simulation results show that the performance with jointly optimized read-voltage thresholds can closely approach that with read-voltage thresholds optimized for each layer, with much less read latency. Moreover, the MID-based MMI quantizer almost achieves the optimal performance for HDD of ECCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzymatic reactions are crucial to explore the mechanistic function of metabolites and proteins in cellular processes and to understand the etiology of diseases. The increasing number of interconnected metabolic reactions allows the development of in silico deep learning-based methods to discover new enzymatic reaction links between metabolites and proteins to further expand the landscape of existing metabolite–protein interactome. Computational approaches to predict the enzymatic reaction link by metabolite–protein interaction (MPI) prediction are still very limited. In this study, we developed a Variational Graph Autoencoders (VGAE)-based framework to predict MPI in genome-scale heterogeneous enzymatic reaction networks across ten organisms. By incorporating molecular features of metabolites and proteins as well as neighboring information in the MPI networks, our MPI-VGAE predictor achieved the best predictive performance compared to other machine learning methods. Moreover, when applying the MPI-VGAE framework to reconstruct hundreds of metabolic pathways, functional enzymatic reaction networks and a metabolite–metabolite interaction network, our method showed the most robust performance among all scenarios. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first MPI predictor by VGAE for enzymatic reaction link prediction. Furthermore, we implemented the MPI-VGAE framework to reconstruct the disease-specific MPI network based on the disrupted metabolites and proteins in Alzheimer's disease and colorectal cancer, respectively. A substantial number of novel enzymatic reaction links were identified. We further validated and explored the interactions of these enzymatic reactions using molecular docking. These results highlight the potential of the MPI-VGAE framework for the discovery of novel disease-related enzymatic reactions and facilitate the study of the disrupted metabolisms in diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li-Cs-Ta (LCT) rare-element pegmatites occur as late-stage and highly fractionated bodies at the margins of regionally zoned granite pegmatite fields. The evolution of the granitic pegmatite system, including its rare-metal metallogeny, is often difficult to determine due to complex textures involving variable crystal size and a heterogeneous chemical composition. The Renli-Chuanziyuan pegmatite field (South China) displays a well-developed regional zonation sequence, involving a core of biotite-, two-mica- and muscovite monzogranites (MMs) that grades outward into microcline (K-zone), microcline-albite (K-Na-zone), albite (Na-zone) and albite-spodumene (Na-Li-zone) pegmatites. Monazite and the Th, Ca–end-member (i.e. cheralite) provide valuable age, rare earth element (REE) geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic data for understanding the regional zoning process within the Renli-Chuanziyuan pegmatite. Monazite (from the MM and the K-, K-Na- and Na-zone pegmatites) and cheralite (from the Na-Li-zone pegmatite) have variable compositions and complex internal microtextures. The monazite and cheralite grains contain irregular areas with subtle heterogeneous BSE response along cracks and grain margins, suggesting that they have experienced alkali-bearing fluid-aided modification. However, these features are rarely seen in monazite from the K-zone pegmatite. Common Pb contamination and/or Pb loss during fluid-aided modification may have disturbed the monazite and cheralite U-Th-Pb isotopic system, due to the differential mobility of U, Th and Pb. The unaltered Na-zone monazite and Na-Li-zone cheralite yielded Th-Pb ages of 140.42 ± 2.30 Ma (2 σ, mean standard weighted deviation (MSWD) = 2.4, n = 14) and 139.58 ± 2.15 Ma (2 σ, MSWD = 2.9, n = 21), respectively. The unaltered MM, K-zone and K-Na-zone monazite yielded 206Pb-238U ages of 138.03 ± 2.18 (2 σ, MSWD = 2.5, n = 18), 140.39 ± 2.18 (2 σ, MSWD = 3.0, n = 20) and 140.58 ± 2.14 Ma (2 σ, MSWD = 2.0, n = 52), respectively. These ages for the four pegmatite zones are temporally consistent with a syngenetic origin for the magmatic sequence of biotite-, two-mica- and MM and the pegmatite system and rare-metal (Li-Nb-Ta-Rb-(Cs)-(Be)) mineralization. The Sm-Nd isotopic analyses of the unaltered monazite and cheralite from the MM and four pegmatite zones yield similar initial Nd isotopic composition with εNd(t) = −9.9 to −7.9, indicating an identical single-source region (i.e. the Neoproterozoic South China lower crust). The Sm/Nd ratios display a gradual decrease across the four pegmatite zones from the unaltered K-zone monazite to Na-Li-zone cheralite, i.e. 0.39–0.63 (avg. = 0.43) for K-zone, 0.29–0.35 (avg. = 0.31) for K-Na-zone, 0.26–0.30 (avg. = 0.28) for Na-zone and 0.21–0.27 (avg. = 0.24) for Na-Li-zone. Such progressive variations suggest their derivation from the same parental magma, which experienced varying degrees of fractionation before the extraction of pegmatitic melts. Comprehensive monazite and cheralite geochemistry, as well as in situ U-Th-Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic results indicate that Rayleigh-type fractional crystallization controls the mineralogical and geochemical evolution from a chemically zoned granite source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating the charge migration and separation in photoactive materials is a great challenge for developing photoelectrochemical (PEC) applications. Herein, inspired by capacitors, well‐defined CuInSe2/N‐doped carbon (CISe/N‐C) nanorod arrays are synthesized by Cu/In‐metal organic frame‐derived method. Like the charge process of capacitor, the N‐doped carbon can capture the photogenerated electron of CISe, and the strong interfacial coupling between CISe and N‐doped carbon can modulate the charge migration and separation. The optimized the CISe/N‐C photoanode achieves a maximum photocurrent of 4.28 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in neutral electrolyte solution under AM 1.5 G simulated sunlight (100 mW cm‐2), which is 8.4 times higher than that of the CuInSe2 photoanode (0.51 mA cm‐2). And a benefit of the strong electronic coupling between CISe and N‐doped carbon, the charge transfer rate is increased to 1.3–13 times higher than that of CISe in the range of 0.6–1.1 V versus RHE. The interfacial coupling effects on modulating the carrier transfer dynamics are investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy analysis and density functional theory calculation. This work provides new insights into bulk phase carrier modulation to improve the performance of photoanode for PEC water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Damages of sensory hair cells (HCs) are mainly responsible for sensorineural hearing loss, however, its pathological mechanism is not yet fully understood due to the fact that many potential deafness genes remain unidentified. N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (ndrg2) is commonly regarded as a tumor suppressor and a cell stress-responsive gene extensively involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and invasion, while its roles in zebrafish HC morphogenesis and hearing remains unclear. Results of this study suggested that ndrg2 was highly expressed in the HCs of the otic vesicle and neuromasts via in situ hybridization and single-cell RNA sequencing. Ndrg2 loss-of-function larvae showed decreased crista HCs, shortened cilia, and reduced neuromasts and functional HCs, which could be rescued by the microinjection of ndrg2 mRNA. Moreover, ndrg2 deficiency induced attenuated startle response behaviors to sound vibration stimuli. Mechanistically, there were no detectable HC apoptosis and supporting cell changes in the ndrg2 mutants, and HCs were capable of recovering by blocking the Notch signaling pathway, suggesting that ndrg2 was implicated in HC differentiation mediated by Notch. Overall, our study demonstrates that ndrg2 plays crucial roles in HC development and auditory sensory function utilizing the zebrafish model, which provides new insights into the identification of potential deafness genes and regulation mechanism of HC development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. It is the single largest infectious disease that kills children worldwide. According to a 2019 World Health Organization survey, pneumonia caused 740,180 deaths in children under 5 years of age, accounting for 14% of all deaths in children under 5 years of age but 22% of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5 years. This shows that early recognition of pneumonia in children is particularly important. In this study, we propose a pneumonia binary classification model for chest X-ray image recognition based on a deep learning approach. We extract features using a traditional convolutional network framework to obtain features containing rich semantic information. The adjacency matrix is also constructed to represent the degree of relevance of each region in the image. In the final part of the model, we use graph inference to complete the global modeling to help classify pneumonia disease. A total of 6189 children's X-ray films containing 3319 normal cases and 2870 pneumonia cases were used in the experiment. In total, 20% was selected as the test data set, and 11 common models were compared using 4 evaluation metrics, of which the accuracy rate reached 89.1% and the F1-score reached 90%, achieving the optimum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better solve anti-impact problem of hydraulic support, based on the previous study of anti-impact device by the author's team, a thin-walled tube component with vertical strip which works as an energy absorbing component is designed and simulation model of the component is established, and energy absorption characteristics of the component is studied. Experimental verification is done and the simulation model is optimized based on the experimental data. Based on the above works, parameters of the component are re-optimized and energy absorption characteristics of the component are tested. Through supporting reaction force–deformation curve of the thin-walled tube component with vertical strip, it can be seen that deformation stability of the component is high, and the initial peak force difference ratio of energy absorbing components before and after structural optimization is reduced from 4.8% to 1.04%. The results show that energy absorption characteristics of the thin-walled tube component with vertical strip are further improved, and accuracy of the simulation model is also further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate whether the combination scheme of deep learning score (DL-score) and radiomics can improve preoperative diagnosis in the presence of micropapillary/solid (MPP/SOL) patterns in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC). A retrospective cohort of 514 confirmed pathologically lung ADC in 512 patients after surgery was enrolled. The clinicoradiographic model (model 1) and radiomics model (model 2) were developed with logistic regression. The deep learning model (model 3) was constructed based on the deep learning score (DL-score). The combine model (model 4) was based on DL-score and R-score and clinicoradiographic variables. The performance of these models was evaluated with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and compared using DeLong's test internally and externally. The prediction nomogram was plotted, and clinical utility depicted with decision curve. The performance of model 1, model 2, model 3 and model 4 was supported by AUCs of 0.848, 0.896, 0.906, 0.921 in the Internal validation set, that of 0.700, 0.801, 0.730, 0.827 in external validation set, respectively. These models existed statistical significance in internal validation (model 4 vs model 3, P = 0.016; model 4 vs model 1, P = 0.009, respectively) and external validation (model 4 vs model 2, P = 0.036; model 4 vs model 3, P = 0.047; model 4 vs model 1, P = 0.016, respectively). The decision curve analysis (DCA) demonstrated that model 4 predicting the lung ADC with MPP/SOL structure would be more beneficial than the model 1and model 3 but comparable with the model 2. The combined model can improve preoperative diagnosis in the presence of MPP/SOL pattern in lung ADC in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sequential template-engaged method was applied to design and construct unique Pt-NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA hollow nanocages. Impressively, constructing heterointerfaces and incorporating ultralow Pt could induce strong synergistic effects and modify electronic configurations to optimize the binding energy of intermediates, thus achieving prominent electrocatalytic performance. [Display omitted] • Exploiting a partial phosphidation strategy to ingeniously construct heterostructures. • Ultralow Pt-loading to regulate electronic structure and increase active sites of catalysts. • Three-dimensional cage-like nanostructure could promote efficient charge transfer. • Pt-NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA exhibits admirable electrocatalytic activity toward OER. Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts based on appropriate heterojunction engineering and electronic structure modification for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been extensively recognized as an effective approach to increase the efficiency of water splitting. Herein, ultralow Pt-loaded (1 %) NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA hollow nanocages with well-defined heterointerfaces and modified electronic environment are successfully fabricated. As expected, the obtained Pt-NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA exhibits outstanding performance with a low overpotential of 255 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 57.2 mV dec-1. More specifically, the highly open three-dimensional structure, exquisite interior voids and abundant surface defects endow Pt-NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA nanocages with more electrochemical active sites. Meanwhile, experimental results and mechanism studies also reveal that the construction of heterogeneous interfaces as well as incorporation of noble metals could readily induce strong synergistic effects and significantly tailor electronic configurations to optimize the binding energy of the intermediates, thereby achieving prominent OER performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Platelet parameters during pregnancy were associated with the risk of preeclampsia (PE), but the predictive value of these parameters for PE remained unclear. Our aim was to clarify the individual and incremental predictive value of platelet parameters, including platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT), and platelet distribution width (PDW) for PE. Methods: This study was based on the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study in China. Data on platelet parameters were extracted from medical records of routine prenatal examinations. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to analyze the predictive ability of platelet parameters for PE. Maternal characteristic factors proposed by NICE and ACOG were used to develop the base model. Detection rate (DR), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) and continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) were calculated compared with the base model to assess the incremental predictive value of platelet parameters. Results: A total of 30,401 pregnancies were included in this study, of which 376 (1.24%) were diagnosed with PE. Higher levels of PC and PCT were observed at 12–19 gestational weeks in women who developed PE later. However, no platelet parameters before 20 weeks of gestation reliably distinguished between PE complicated pregnancy and non-PE complicated pregnancy, with all values of the areas under the ROC curves (AUC) below 0.70. The addition of platelet parameters at 16–19 gestational weeks to the base model increased the DR for preterm PE from 22.9 to 31.4% at a fixed false positive rate of 5%, improved the AUC from 0.775 to 0.849 (p = 0.015), and yielded a NRI of 0.793 (p < 0.001), and an IDI of 0.0069 (p = 0.035). Less but significant improvement in prediction performance was also observed for term PE and total PE when all the four platelet parameters were added to the base model. Conclusions: Although no single platelet parameter at the early stage of pregnancy identified PE with high accuracy, the addition of platelet parameters to known independent risk factors could improve the prediction of PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We applied hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system to distinguish early caries from sound and pigmented areas. It will provide a theoretical basis and technical support, for research and development of an instrument that could be used for screening and detection of early dental caries. Methods: Eighteen extracted human teeth (molars and premolars), with varying degrees of natural pathology and no degree of decay involving dentin were obtained. HSI system with a wavelength range from 400 to 1000 nm was used to obtain images of all 18 teeth containing sound, carious and pigmented areas. We compared the spectra of the wavebands at both 500 nm and 780 nm from the different tooth states, and the reflectance difference between sound versus carious lesions and sound versus pigmented areas, respectively. Results: There was a slight difference in reflectance between carious areas and pigmented areas at 500 nm. A substantial difference was additionally noted in reflectance between carious areas and pigmented areas at 780 nm. Conclusion: The results have shown that the interference of tooth surface pigment can be eliminated in the near-infrared (NIR) waveband, and the caries can be effectively identified from the pigmented areas. Thus, it could be used to detect carious areas of teeth in place of the traditional visual inspection method or white light endoscopy. Clinical significance: The NIR diffused light signal enables the identification of early caries from pigment and other interference, providing a reasonable detection tool for early detection and early treatment of teeth diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 360° standing seam roof system (360° SSRS) often suffers structural damage or even failure under wind uplift pressure with varied strength ratings. Under the action of wind uplift pressure, the prediction of 360° SSRS damage degree plays an important role in the risk assessment and postdisaster measures for buildings. In this work, a wind-uplift fragility assessment method is proposed to forecast the damage degree of 360° SSRS, which considers the multistage performance levels in the whole wind-induced failure process of 360° SSRS. First, a refined finite-element (FE) model, including roof panels, sliding support, and purlin, is established to analyze the wind-induced failure process of 360° SSRS. Meanwhile, the existing experimental results are used to verify the correctness of the FE model. Second, according to the whole wind-induced failure process of 360° SSRS, the failure process is qualitatively classified into three-stage performance levels (i.e., PL I, PL II, and PL III) and four damage states (i.e., slight damage, moderate damage, severe damage, and tripping failure). On this basis, the damage indicator, which is the node relative displacement of the female buckle, is defined to quantitatively derive the three-stage performance levels. Thirdly, the Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) technology in conjunction with derived multistage performance levels is employed to carry out the wind-uplift fragility assessment, which can reflect the probabilistic characterization between wind uplift pressure and damage state of 360° SSRS. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a 360° SSRS of an ultrahigh-voltage (UHV) converter station in actual engineering, in which wind tunnel tests are used to determine extreme wind pressure coefficients of 360° SSRS. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible and suitable, and the obtained fragility curves can be applied as a reference for predicting wind-induced damage degree, failure probability, and wind-resistance capacity of 360° SSRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We herein successfully prepared the surface-bulged trimetallic PdAgCu nanospheres which showed superb photoelectronic response performance to EGOR. [Display omitted] • The surface-bulged trimetallic PdAgCu NSs were prepared via a facial co-reduction strategy. • The incorporation of Cu into PdAg NSs can modify the optical absorption property. • The photoelectrocatalytic performances of PdAgCu NSs were further enhanced with the assistance of visible light. • The introduction of Cu can strengthen the whole SPR effect of PdAgCu NSs. The notable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of some metals has been applied to improve the efficiency of alcohol oxidation reactions, whereas the comprehensive investigation of Cu-assisted photoelectrocatalysis remains challenging. We herein successfully prepared trimetallic PdAgCu nanospheres (NSs) with abundant surface bulges for the advanced ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) and compared them with bimetallic PdAg NSs to investigate the performance enhancement mechanism. Impressively, the as-optimized PdAgCu NSs exhibited superb mass activity and electrochemical stability. Moreover, under visible light illumination, the mass activity of PdAgCu NSs increased to 1.62 times compared to that in the dark, and in contrast, the mass activity of PdAg NSs only increased to 1.48 times that in the dark. A mechanistic study indicated that the incorporation of Cu not only strengthens the whole SPR effect of PdAgCu NSs but also further modifies the electronic structure of Pd. This work highlighted that the incorporation of Cu into PdAg NSs further enhanced the photoelectrocatalytic performance and increased noble metal atom utilization, which may provide guidance to fabricate novel and promising nanocatalysts in the field of photoelectrocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small, membrane-bound structures that are released from cells into the surrounding environment. These structures can be categorized as exosomes, microvesicles, or apoptotic vesicles, and they play an essential role in intercellular communication. These vesicles are attracting significant clinical interest as they offer the potential for drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention. To fully understand the regulation of intercellular communication through EVs, it is essential to investigate the underlying mechanisms. This review aims to provide a summary of the current knowledge on the intercellular communications involved in EV targeting, binding, and uptake, as well as the factors that influence these interactions. These factors include the properties of the EVs, the cellular environment, and the recipient cell. As the field of EV-related intercellular communication continues to expand and techniques improve, we can expect to uncover more information about this complex area, despite the current limitations in our knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-specific TCP transcription factors regulate several plant growth and development processes. Nevertheless, little information is available about the TCP family in orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.). This study identified 22 DgTCP transcription factors in orchardgrass and determined their structure, phylogeny, and expression in different tissues and developmental stages. The phylogenetic tree classified the DgTCP gene family into two main subfamilies, including class I and II supported by the exon–intron structure and conserved motifs. The DgTCP promoter regions contained various cis-elements associated with hormones, growth and development, and stress responses, including MBS (drought inducibility), circadian (circadian rhythms), and TCA-element (salicylic acid responsiveness). Moreover, DgTCP9 possibly regulates tillering and flowering time. Additionally, several stress treatments upregulated DgTCP1, DgTCP2, DgTCP6, DgTCP12, and DgTCP17, indicting their potential effects regarding regulating responses to the respective stress. This research offers a valuable basis for further studies of the TCP gene family in other Gramineae and reveals new ideas for increasing gene utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite element method (FEM) has been proved to be powerful in studying the process of shot peening (SP). The random representative cell model is frequently utilized to simulate the SP process more realistically. In order to investigate the sensitivity of the random representative cell models to the finite element simulation results of the SP-induced stress field, Almen arc height, and surface roughness, the three-dimensional random representative cell model was developed to simulate the process of SP of Almen strip, and the SP-induced stress field and surface roughness were analyzed resultantly. A novel numerical calculation framework linking the random representative cell model with the finite element model of the whole Almen strip was further proposed to calculate the SP-induced Almen arc height, and the numerical prediction results of the Almen intensities are in good agreement with the experimental data with regard to the shot velocities of 30 m/s, 50 m/s, and 100 m/s. The effects of the shot velocity and SP coverage on the sensitivity of the random representative cell models to the simulation results of SP were accordingly discussed comprehensively and systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary structural and functional abnormalities of the neurovascular unit are important pathological mechanisms following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The neurovascular unit maintains blood–brain barrier and vascular integrity through interactions among glial cells, pericytes and endothelial cells. Trauma-induced neuroinflammation and oxidative stress may act as initiating factors for pathological damage after TBI, which in turn impairs cerebral microcirculatory function. Studies have shown that the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway regulates inflammation and oxidative damage, but its role in pericyte-mediated cerebral microcirculation are currently unknown. Herein, we assessed TNF-α/NF-κB signaling and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the effects of the TNF-α inhibitor infliximab after TBI. Whether pericyte damage is dependent on the TNF-α/NF-κB/iNOS axis was also evaluated to explore the mechanisms underlying disturbances in the microcirculation after TBI. Microglia are activated after TBI to promote inflammatory factors and free radical release, and upregulate NF-κB and iNOS expression. After lipopolysaccharide treatment, the activity of TNF-α/NF-κB/iNOS in BV2 cells was also upregulated. Inhibition of TNF-α using infliximab reduced NF-κB phosphorylation and nuclear translocation and downregulated iNOS expression, which attenuated the inflammation and oxidative damage. Meanwhile, inhibition of TNF-α reversed pericyte marker loss, and improved pericyte function and microcirculation perfusion after TBI. In conclusion, our study suggests that microglia released TNF-α after TBI, which promoted neuroinflammation and oxidative stress by activating downstream NF-κB/iNOS signals, and this led to pericyte-mediated disturbance of the cerebral microcirculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal boride, especially the hafnium boride Hf-B, is important and attractive to various applications. Understanding the correlations of material structure to mechanical properties is crucial for designing and synthesizing Hf-B compounds. In this paper, potential structures of the Hf-B system are systematically explored, and their hardness-enhancing and strength failure mechanisms are revealed through first-principle calculations. The results show that hardness of the compounds is estimated to be hard or superhard and is found to be sensitive to the B concentrations and types of sandwich-like structures. For Hf-B with sandwiches II structure, the bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus, hardness and ideal strength have linear relationship with B concentrations. Strong boron covalent bonding leads to the superhardness of Hf-B compounds with sandwiches I structure and B/(Hf + B) > 0.66. The newly predicted structure C2-HfB6 is estimated to have a superhardness of up to 50 GPa. When applying large deformation, the weakest ideal strengths of the calculated compounds are lower than 20 GPa, due to the breaking of specific Hf-B bonds and the shifting of specific angles of B atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain yield is the most critical and complex quantitative trait in maize. Kernel length (KL), kernel width (KW), kernel thickness (KT) and hundred-kernel weight (HKW) associated with kernel size are essential components of yield-related traits in maize. With the extensive use of quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses, thousands of QTLs and quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) have been discovered for controlling these traits. However, only some of them have been cloned and successfully utilized in breeding programs. In this study, we exhaustively collected reported genes, QTLs and QTNs associated with the four traits, performed cluster identification of QTLs and QTNs, then combined QTL and QTN clusters to detect consensus hotspot regions. In total, 31 hotspots were identified for kernel size-related traits. Their candidate genes were predicted to be related to well-known pathways regulating the kernel developmental process. The identified hotspots can be further explored for fine mapping and candidate gene validation. Finally, we provided a strategy for high yield and quality maize. This study will not only facilitate causal genes cloning, but also guide the breeding practice for maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]