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Dystrophin is a critical interacting protein of Nav1.5 that determines its membrane anchoring in cardiomyocytes. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in the regulation of cardiac ion channels, while their influence on sodium channels remains unexplored. Our preliminary data showed that lncRNA-Dachshund homolog 1 (lncDach1) can bind to dystrophin, which drove us to investigate if lncDach1 can regulate sodium channels by interfering with dystrophin. Western blot and immunofluorescent staining showed that cardiomyocyte-specific transgenic overexpression of lncDach1 (lncDach1-TG) reduced the membrane distribution of dystrophin and Nav1.5 in cardiomyocytes. Meanwhile, peak INa was reduced in the hearts of lncDach1-TG mice than wild-type (WT) controls. The opposite data of western blot, immunofluorescent staining and patch clamp were collected from lncDach1 cardiomyocyte conditional knockout (lncDach1-cKO) mice. Moreover, increased ventricular arrhythmia susceptibility was observed in lncDach1-TG mice in vivo and ex vivo. The conservative fragment of lncDach1 inhibited membrane distribution of dystrophin and Nav1.5, and promoted the inducibility of ventricular arrhythmia. Strikingly, activation of Dystrophin transcription by dCas9-SAM system in lncDach1-TG mice rescued the impaired membrane distribution of dystrophin and Nav1.5, and prevented the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmia. Furthermore, lncDach1 was increased in transaortic constriction (TAC) induced failing hearts, which promoted the inducibility of ventricular arrhythmia. And the expression of lncDach1 is regulated by hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase subunit beta (hadhb), which binds to lncDach1 and decreases its stability. The human homologue of lncDACH1 inhibited the membrane distribution of Nav1.5 in human iPS-differentiated cardiomyocytes. The findings provide novel insights into the mechanism of Nav1.5 membrane targeting and the development of ventricular arrhythmias.

Abstract Shallow landslides of expensive soil slopes occur from time to time, and most engineering geological problems are directly or indirectly caused by soil structure cracks. The existence of tensile cracks can significantly affect the hydro-mechanical properties of soils. In this paper, the mechanism of expansive soil landslide formation is explored, and swelling pressures, and drying and wetting cycles are introduced into the discrete element method (DEM), and the landslide process of expansive soils is studied by the numerical simulation mothed. The relationship between the crack development and the instability of expansive soil slopes was investigated. The results show that under the condition of seasonal dry and wet alternation, the cracks of the expansive soil slope gradually develop, the rainwater infiltrates rapidly, the mechanical properties gradually deteriorate, and under the effect of such adverse cycle, the soil gradually softens and the stability decreases. Under the influence of human activities, vehicle loads and other factors, the slope body slides. These findings are helpful for the design and construction of expansive soil slopes and foundations.

Abstract Cardiomyocyte maturation is the final stage of heart development, and abnormal cardiomyocyte maturation will lead to serious heart diseases. CXXC zinc finger protein 1 (Cfp1), a key epigenetic factor in multi‐lineage cell development, remains underexplored in its influence on cardiomyocyte maturation. This study investigates the role and mechanisms of Cfp1 in this context. Cardiomyocyte‐specific Cfp1 knockout (Cfp1‐cKO) mice died within 4 weeks of birth. Cardiomyocytes derived from Cfp1‐cKO mice showed an inhibited maturation phenotype, characterized by structural, metabolic, contractile, and cell cycle abnormalities. In contrast, cardiomyocyte‐specific Cfp1 transgenic (Cfp1‐TG) mice and human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC‐CMs) overexpressing Cfp1 displayed a more mature phenotype. Mechanistically, deficiency of Cfp1 led to a reduction in trimethylation on lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4me3) modification, accompanied by the formation of ectopic H3K4me3. Furthermore, Cfp1 deletion decreased the level of H3K4me3 modification in adult genes and increased the level of H3K4me3 modification in fetal genes. Collectively, Cfp1 modulates the expression of genes crucial to cardiomyocyte maturation by regulating histone H3K4me3 modification, thereby intricately influencing the maturation process. This study implicates Cfp1 as an important molecule regulating cardiomyocyte maturation, with its dysfunction strongly linked to cardiac disease.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been widely used in the pretreatment of biomass. However, the effects of residual ILs on the enzymolysis and fermentation of biomass are still unknown. Therefore, a large quantity of water-washing is usually followed after biomass pretreatment to eliminate the inhibition of residual ILs on subsequent hydrolysis and fermentation steps. In this work, the effect of choline glycine ([Ch][Gly]) concentration on the activity of cellulase and Bacillus sp. strain P38 was systematically investigated to explore the impacts of residual ILs on enzymolysis and fermentation. The results confirmed that the activities of them were almost not inhibited in low concentrations (less than 0.5 wt%) of [Ch][Gly]. Under optimal pretreatment conditions, the maximum cellulose digestibility was 99.23%. Enzymatic hydrolysate was suitable for L-lactic acid fermentation without appreciable inhibition, and the highest sugar-acid conversion rate of 96.33% was obtained by simplified detoxification. This work provides an economic route to produce fermentable sugar and L-lactic acid, which shows an industrial application prospect in lignocellulosic biorefinery.

A new moving boundary method using virtual particles in smoothed particle hydrodynamics is designed and applied to numerical simulation of underwater explosion. The wave structure in underwater explosion was semi-analyzed, which provides references for the understanding of numerical results in various dimensions. The results show that the boundary point between the near-field and middle-field, with the specific distance R/a = 6, is a demarcation point in the wave structure. Piecewise power fitting computational results in the near-field underwater explosion are in good agreement with the numerical results.

In this study, an innovative approach based on multimodal data and the transformer model was proposed to address challenges in agricultural disease detection and question-answering systems. This method effectively integrates image, text, and sensor data, utilizing deep learning technologies to profoundly analyze and process complex agriculture-related issues. The study achieved technical breakthroughs and provides new perspectives and tools for the development of intelligent agriculture. In the task of agricultural disease detection, the proposed method demonstrated outstanding performance, achieving a precision, recall, and accuracy of 0.95, 0.92, and 0.94, respectively, significantly outperforming the other conventional deep learning models. These results indicate the method’s effectiveness in identifying and accurately classifying various agricultural diseases, particularly excelling in handling subtle features and complex data. In the task of generating descriptive text from agricultural images, the method also exhibited impressive performance, with a precision, recall, and accuracy of 0.92, 0.88, and 0.91, respectively. This demonstrates that the method can not only deeply understand the content of agricultural images but also generate accurate and rich descriptive texts. The object detection experiment further validated the effectiveness of our approach, where the method achieved a precision, recall, and accuracy of 0.96, 0.91, and 0.94. This achievement highlights the method’s capability for accurately locating and identifying agricultural targets, especially in complex environments. Overall, the approach in this study not only demonstrated exceptional performance in multiple tasks such as agricultural disease detection, image captioning, and object detection but also showcased the immense potential of multimodal data and deep learning technologies in the application of intelligent agriculture.

Introduction: The principal voltage-gated Na+ channel, NaV1.5 governs heart excitability and conduction. NaV1.5 dysregulation is responsible for ventricular arrhythmias and subsequent sudden cardiac death (SCD) in post-infarct hearts. The transcription factor Meis1 performs a significant role in determining differentiation fate and regenerative capability of cardiomyocytes. However, the functions of Meis1 in ischemic arrhythmias following myocardial infarction (MI) are still largely undefined. Objectives: Here we aimed to study whether Meis1 could act as a key regulator to mediate cardiac Na+ channel and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: Heart-specific Meis1 overexpression was established by AAV9 virus injection in C57BL/6 mice. The QRS duration, the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac conduction velocity were evaluated by ECG, programmed electrical stimulation and optical mapping techniques respectively. The conventional patch clamp technique was performed to explore the INa characteristics of isolated mouse ventricular myocytes. In vitro, Meis1 was also overexpressed in hypoxic-treated neonatal cardiomyocytes. The analysis of immunoblotting and immunofluorescence were used to detect the changes in the expression of NaV1.5 in each group. Results: We found that forced expression of Meis1 rescued the prolongation of QRS complex, produced anti-arrhythmic activity and improved epicardial conduction velocity in infarcted mouse hearts. In terms of mechanisms, cardiac electrophysiological changes of MI mice can be ameliorated by the recovery of Meis1, which is characterized by the restoration of INa current density and NaV1.5 expression level of cardiomyocytes in the marginal zone of MI mouse hearts. Furthermore, in vitro studies showed that Meis1 was also able to rescue hypoxia-induced decreased expression and dysfunction of NaV1.5 in ventricular myocytes. We further revealed that E3 ubiquitin ligase CDC20 led to the ubiquitination and degradation of Meis1, which blocked the transcriptional regulation of SCN5A by Meis1 and ultimately led to the electrophysiological remodeling in ischemic-hypoxic cardiomyocytes. Conclusion: CDC20 mediates ubiquitination of Meis1 to govern the transcription of SCN5A and cardiac electrical conduction in mouse cardiomyocytes. This finding uncovers a new mechanism of NaV1.5 dysregulation in infarcted heart, and provides new therapeutic strategies for malignant arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death following MI.

Overexpression of long non-coding RNA, lncCIRPIL protects the heart from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. LncCIRPIL binds and sequesters p53 in the cytoplasm to exert the cardioprotective action.

Abstract Background Clinical skill training (CST) is indispensable for first-year surgical residents. It can usually be carried out through video-based flipped learning (FL) within a web-based learning environment. However, we found that residents lack the process of reflection, blindly imitating results in losing interest and passion for learning in the traditional teaching pattern. The teaching method of "spot the difference" (SDTM), which is based on the fundamentals of the popular game of "spot the difference," is designed to improve students' participation and reflective learning during skill training. This study aimed to evaluate this novel educational model's short-term and long-term effectiveness for surgical residents in China. Methods First-year residents who required a three-month rotation in the head and neck surgery department were recruited to participate in a series of CSTs. They were randomized into SDTM and traditional FL (control) groups. Clinical skill performance was assessed with validated clinical skill scoring criteria. Evaluations were conducted by comparing the scores that contain departmental rotation skill examinations and the first China medical licensing examination (CMLE) performance on practical skills. In addition, two-way subjective evaluations were also implemented as a reference for the training results. Training effects were assessed using t tests, Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests, chi-square tests, and Cohen’ s effect size (d). The Cohen’ s d value was considered to be small (0.8). Results The SDTM group was significantly superior to the control group in terms of after-department skill examination (t=2.179, p0.8). There were no significant differences between the two groups on clinical competence (t=0.819, p=0.415, d=0.18), the first-time pass rate for CMLE (χ2 =1.663, p=0.197, d=0.29), and short-term operational skills improvement (t=1.747, p=0.084, d=0.39). Conclusions SDTM may be an effective method for enhancing residents' clinical skills, and the effect is significant both short- and long-term. The improvement effect seemed to be more significant in the peer-involved SDTM than training alone. However, despite positive objective results, SDTM still risks student learning burnout. Trial registration ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN10598469 , 02/04/2022，retrospectively registered.

Rapidity and agility are equally important to unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). In this study we developed a UUV equipped with a hybrid propulsor which consists of a screw propeller and four bio-inspired flippers. The bionic flippers rely on their flapping motion to generate both thrust and lateral forces, and the screw propeller provides additional thrust for fast cruise. The maneuverability is greatly improved while the capability of sailing fast is maintained. For the typical sailing requests, the flapping motions of the flippers were designed meticulously, and a control algorithm based on central pattern generators (CPGs) was built to produce rhythmic locomotor signals considering the motion periodicity. Simultaneously, a feedback control method was merged to correct the deviation of the course. A compact concentric-shafts transmission mechanism was employed to overcome the inadequacy of the inside space, and the vehicle was built. Finally, the sailing and maneuvering performance were tested. It was demonstrated that, the UUV’s overall sailing performance was enhanced significantly due to the combination of the flapping flippers and the screw propeller. The hybrid-propulsor vehicle is capable of sailing in multiplicate environments.

Cardiac ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury represents a key threat to human health. This study reveals that the long noncoding RNA lncRNA-CIRBIL is protective against I/R injury by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of Bclaf1.

It is very difficult to directly spin the lignocellulose without pretreatment. Ionic liquids (ILs) are promising solvent to dissolve lignocellulose to prepare cellulose fiber. However, the degree of cellulose polymerization（DP）is reduced when lignocellulose is dissolved in ILs, and the lignin removal rate is low. The elongation at break and tensile strength of the fibers obtained by spinning the lignocellulose dissolved in ILs are poor. In this paper, preparing cellulose fiber directly from lignocellulose based on dissolving corn stalk via [C4mim]Cl-L-arginine binary system is achieved. It shows that the removal rate of lignin can reach 92.35% and the purity of cellulose can reach 85.32% after corn stalk was dissolved at 150 °C for 11.5 h when the mass fraction of arginine is 2.5%. The elongation at break of fiber reached 10.12% and the tensile strength reached 420 MPa. It is mainly due to the fact that L-arginine not only inhibits the degradation of cellulose but also promotes the delignination. Without any pulping or pretreatment, preparing cellulose fibers via direct dissolution and extrusion may provide a simple and effective way to prepare many novel cellulose materials.

Perovskite based photodetectors and hybrid devices possess distinctive properties which have enabled considerable practical applications since perovskite is an ideal candidate for higher sensitivity and response speed. In this work, an elegant approach of fabricating hybrid photodetectors based on perovskite-metallic nanostructures is shown. By combining gold triangle nanoantennae with a CH3NH2PbI3 film, a simple yet effective fabrication method of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite photodetectors with improved performanceis experimentally demonstrated. Finite difference time domain calculations agree well with experimental results. Perovskite-assisted devices are highly attractive due to their unique properties and the results shown in this work may find extensive potential applications for novel flexible photodetectors and other related optical devices.

PurposeThe aim of this work is to introduce the 2019 International Planning Competition and to analyze its results.Methods and materialsA locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) case using the simultaneous integrated boost approach was selected. The plan quality was evaluated by using a ranking system in accordance with practice guidelines. Planners used their clinical Treatment Planning System (TPS) to generate the best possible plan along with a survey, designed to obtain medical physics aspects information. We investigated the quality of the large population of plans designed by worldwide planners using different planning and delivery systems. The correlations of plan quality with relevant planner characteristics (work experience, department scale, and competition experience) and with technological parameters (TPS and modality) were examined.ResultsThe number of the qualified plans was 287 with a wide range of scores (38.61–97.99). The scores showed statistically significant differences by the following factors: 1) department scale: the mean score (89.76 ± 8.36) for planners from the departments treating >2,000 patients annually was the highest of all; 2) competition experience: the mean score for the 107 planners with previous competition experience was 88.92 ± 9.59, statistically significantly from first-time participants (p = .001); 3) techniques: the mean scores for planners using VMAT (89.18 ± 6.43) and TOMO (90.62 ± 7.60) were higher than those using IMRT (82.28 ± 12.47), with statistical differences (p

ObjectiveFindings regarding the prognostic value of soluble suppression of tumorigenecity-2 (sST2) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) remain inconsistent. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to investigate the long-term prognostic value of sST2 in patients with CAD.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted across the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to June 3, 2020. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). The secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality, cardiovascular (CV) death, heart failure (HF), and myocardial infarction (MI). Pooled estimations and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed using a random-effects model.ResultsTwenty-two articles that enrolled a total of 17,432 patients with CAD were included in the final analysis. CAD patients in the highest categories of baseline sST2 had a significantly higher risk of MACEs (HR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.09-1.76), all-cause mortality (HR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.54-2.46), and CV death (HR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.15-1.68), HF (HR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.87-2.94), but not that of MI (HR: 1.15, 95% CI: -0.73-3.04), than those in the lowest categories. These results were consistent when baseline sST2 was presented as continuous values in one unit increments. Moreover, subgroup analysis showed that elevated baseline sST2 levels increased the long-term risk of MACEs in the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) population (HR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.39-2.09) but only showed a trend toward higher risk of MACEs in the non-ACS population (HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.87-1.30).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that a higher concentration of baseline sST2 is associated with a higher risk of MACEs, all-cause mortality, CV death, and HF in patients with CAD. Elevated sST2 levels could significantly predict future MACEs in the ACS population but not in the non-ACS population.

The influence of high temperature effects on the protrusion of Mach stem in strong shock reflection over a wedge was numerically investigated. A two-dimensional inviscid solver applies finite volume method and unstructured quadrilateral grids were employed to simulate the flow. Theoretical analysis was also conducted to understand the phenomenon. Both numerical and theoretical results indicate a wall-jet penetrating forward is responsible for the occurrence of Mach stem protrusion. The protrusion degree seems to depend on the thermal energy buffer capacity of the testing gas. Approaches to increase the energy buffer capacity, such as vibrational relaxation, molecular dissociation, and increase of frozen heat capacity, all tend to escalate the protrusion effect.

Hyperlensing devices have drawn great attention in recent years due to their ability to amplify the subwavelength image of objects with more detail and information. In this work, a hyperlens with a radian inner surface is designed and demonstrated. The proposed hyperlens is capable of imaging different types of sub-wavelength objects efficiently. Plasmonic resonant cavity is also employed in order to achieve a super-resolution imaging effect. Different objects are investigated to test the performance of the proposed hyperlens. As expected, our hyperlens shows better tolerance than the conventional hyperlensing designs and can achieve imaging resolution down to 60 nm for different types of objects.

One of the ultimate goals of studies on visualization literacy is to improve users’ visualization literacy through education and training. Even though users’ cognitive characteristics may significantly affect learning and responding processes in general, studies have addressed the relationships between users’ cognitive characteristics and visualization literacy. As a first step toward discovering the relationships, we conducted an empirical study to investigate the correlation between cognitive characteristics and visualization literacy. Our first study focuses on testing the correlation between visualization and three cognitive characteristics: numeracy, need for cognition, and visualizer-verbalizer style. In this study, we measured 178 participants’ visualization literacy and the level of the three cognitive characteristics using the Visualization Literacy Assessment Test (VLAT), the Decision Research Numeracy Test (DRNT), the Need for Cognition Scale (NCS), and the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ) through a crowdsourcing experiment. Our test results confirmed that a correlation exists between visualization literacy and both numeracy and need for cognition. Based on our test results, we discuss the implications for education to enhance visualization literacy and future studies to investigate on related user characteristics.