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A new Zn-based metal–organic framework with 8-connected hex topology constructed from bipyridine and carboxylate ligands, namely [Zn(cpna)3(tmbpy)]n·4DMF (1) (H2cpna = 6-(4-carboxyphenyl)nicotinic acid; tmbpy = 3,3′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridine), has been synthesized under solvothermal conditions. The Zn-MOF was structurally characterized and retained a good crystal structure after activation (1a), an indication of permanent porosity. 1a exhibits a BET surface of 770 m2 g−1 and the maximum aperture of 8.60 Å. Single component adsorption isotherm measurements of C2H2, CO2, CH4, CO and N2 on 1a were performed both at 273 K and 298 K, and the selectivities for C2H2/CH4, C2H2/CO2, CO2/CO, CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 were estimated on the basis of the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST). 1a shows the uptake of C2H2 (3.89 mmol g−1) and CO2 (3.52 mmol g−1) at 273 K and 100 kPa, respectively. Due to the Lewis basic pyridyl sites inside the channel of the framework, 1a showed good adsorption selectivities for C2H2/CH4(50 : 50) and C2H2/CO2(50 : 50) at 298 K (100 kPa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional vertical resistive random access memory (VRRAM) is proposed as a promising candidate for increasing resistive memory storage density, but the performance evaluation mechanism of 3-D VRRAM arrays is still not mature enough. The previous approach to evaluating the performance of 3-D VRRAM was based on the write and read margin. However, the leakage current (LC) of the 3-D VRRAM array is a concern as well. Excess leakage currents not only reduce the read/write tolerance and liability of the memory cell but also increase the power consumption of the entire array. In this article, a 3-D circuit HSPICE simulation is used to analyze the impact of the array size and operation voltage on the leakage current in the 3-D VRRAM architecture. The simulation results show that rapidly increasing leakage currents significantly affect the size of 3-D layers. A high read voltage is profitable for enhancing the read margin. However, the leakage current also increases. Alleviating this conflict requires a trade-off when setting the input voltage. A method to improve the array read/write efficiency is proposed by analyzing the influence of the multi-bit operations on the overall leakage current. Finally, this paper explores different methods to reduce the leakage current in the 3-D VRRAM array. The leakage current model proposed in this paper provides an efficient performance prediction solution for the initial design of 3-D VRRAM arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the zinc roasting process, the stability of the roasting temperature directly affects the product quality. However, the stabilizing control of the temperature inside a large-scale zinc roaster encounters complex process characteristics, fluctuating working conditions and delayed detection of product quality. The complex concentrate supply gives rise to fluctuations of zinc concentrate composition, which in turn affects the reaction atmosphere and working conditions. The trend of the roasting temperature, which contains abundant information on the potential change of working conditions, is underused in traditional controllers, leading to difficulties in stabilizing control of large-scale zinc roasters. In this work, a trend-based event-triggering fuzzy control strategy, incorporating qualitative trend analysis and an event-triggering mechanism in fuzzy control design, is proposed for the temperature stabilizing control of a large-scale zinc roaster. Qualitative trend analysis is adopted to extract the trend information of the roasting temperature. An embedded event-triggering mechanism can handle the underlying transition of working conditions timely. Hence, the fuzzy controller increases the utilization rate of the information contained in the temperature measurements. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed fuzzy controller. • A fuzzy controller incorporating qualitative trend analysis strategy and event-triggering mechanism is proposed. • The temperature trend is extracted by qualitative trend analysis strategy to provide a more comprehensive description of working conditions. • An event-triggering strategy combined with qualitative trend analysis is designed to handle the transition of working conditions in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the low qualified rate in the blending of zinc concentrate caused by uncertainty of zinc concentrate composition in individual warehouses, we proposed a nonlinear stochastic optimization framework to handle uncertainties in the zinc concentrate blending problem. First, we obtained the distribution characteristics of uncertainty of zinc concentrate. Second, to minimize the pessimistic value of the objective function, we transformed the nonlinear stochastic optimization model into a nonlinear MiniMin chance-constrained programming model, which was easy to handle. Then, we used a hybrid intelligent optimization algorithm to solve the problem effectively. Finally, we verified the validity of the method using the actual production data of a zinc smelter's batching process. Compared with the deterministic optimization method, the model not only gave the probability that each component of the mixed zinc concentrate met the requirements but also achieved a higher qualified rate under the same conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal cell culture technology in the production of slaughter-free meat offers ethical advantages with regards to animal welfare, rendering it a more socially acceptable approach for dog meat production. In this study, edible plant-derived scaffold was used as a platform for cell expansion to construct cell-cultured dog meat slices. Primary dog skeletal muscle satellite cells (MSCs) and adipose stem cells (ASCs) were isolated and cultured as seed cells, and 3D spheroid culture in vitro promoted MSCs and ASCs myogenic and adipogenic differentiation, respectively. Natural leaf veins (NLV) were produced as edible mesh scaffolds to create 3D engineered dog muscle and fat tissues. After MSCs and ASCs adhered, proliferated and differentiated on the NLV scaffolds, and muscle and fat slices were produced with cultured dog muscle fibers and adipocytes, respectively. These findings demonstrate the potential of plant-derived NLV scaffolds in the production of cultured dog meat., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Tuberculosis (TB), a highly contagious respiratory disease, presents a significant global health threat, with a notable increase in incidence reported by the WHO in 2022. Particularly, the interplay between TB and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) gains attention, especially considering the rising use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer treatment. This interplay may influence TB diagnostics and reactivation, warranting a closer examination., Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of NSCLC patients with positive T-SPOT results before undergoing anti-tumor treatment at Zhongshan Hospital (Xiamen), Fudan University, from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. We assessed the incidence of tuberculosis reactivation and treatment outcomes among these patients. Moreover, we compared the differences in tuberculosis activity between the ICIs and non-ICIs treatment groups. Additionally, we observed the changes in T-SPOT spot count before and after immunotherapy, analyzing their association with tuberculosis activity and prognosis., Results: A total of 40 NSCLC patients with positive T-SPOT results before treatment were included in the study, with 26 patients in the ICIs treatment group and 14 patients in the non-ICIs treatment group. The study found no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, stage, histological type, performance status, driver gene expression, and distant metastasis. With a median follow-up time of 10.0 (6.0-14.5) months, three cases (11.5%) in the ICIs treatment group developed tuberculosis activity, diagnosed at 2, 3, and 12 months after ICIs treatment initiation. Conversely, no tuberculosis activity was observed in the non-ICIs treatment group, and the difference between the two groups was not significant (P = 0.186). Among the 32 patients who received ICIs treatment, spot count dynamics were diverse: four cases (12.5%) showed an increase, 12 cases (37.5%) had no change, and 16 cases (50.0%) had a decrease. During the follow-up, the progression rate (PD) was 50.0%, 75.0%, and 62.5% in the three groups, respectively (P = 0.527). Similarly, the mortality rate was 0%, 25.0%, and 25.0%, respectively (P = 0.106). Interestingly, among the patients with decreased spot counts, three cases (18.75%) were diagnosed with active pulmonary tuberculosis., Conclusions: For NSCLC patients with a positive T-SPOT response undergoing ICIs treatment, our study observed indications of active tuberculosis. The varied T-SPOT spot count changes post-ICIs treatment suggest a complex interaction, potentially linking T-SPOT spot count reduction to tuberculosis reactivation risk. These preliminary findings underscore the importance of further research to more accurately assess T-SPOT's diagnostic utility in this context., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common condition in veterinary medicine that is difficult to manage.Veterinary regenerative therapy based on adipose mesenchymal stem cells seem to be an effective strategy for the treatment of traumatic brain injury. In this study, we evaluated therapeutic efficacy of canine Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs)in a rat TBI model, in terms of improved nerve function and anti-neuroinflammation., Results: Canine AD-MSCs promoted neural functional recovery, reduced neuronal apoptosis, and inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocytes in TBI rats. According to the results in vivo, we further investigated the regulatory mechanism of AD-MSCs on activated microglia by co-culture in vitro. Finally, we found that canine AD-MSCs promoted their polarization to the M2 phenotype, and inhibited their polarization to the M1 phenotype. What's more, AD-MSCs could reduce the migration, proliferation and Inflammatory cytokines of activated microglia, which is able to inhibit inflammation in the central system., Conclusions: Collectively, the present study demonstrates that transplantation of canine AD-MSCs can promote functional recovery in TBI rats via inhibition of neuronal apoptosis, glial cell activation and central system inflammation, thus providing a theoretical basis for canine AD-MSCs therapy for TBI in veterinary clinic., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Altrenogest (ALT), a synthetic progestogen, serves a critical role in estrus synchronization among animals like gilts and mares. However, its practical application in animal husbandry is hampered due to its poor solubility and limited oral bioavailability. To address this challenge, a solvent evaporation method was employed to create an inclusion complex of ALT with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (ALT/HP-β-CD). The formation of this inclusion complex was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, power X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and docking calculations. In addition, we further conducted pharmacokinetic investigation involving gilts, comparing ALT/HP-β-CD inclusion complex to an ALT oral solution. The physicochemical characterization results unveiled a transformation of ALT's crystal morphology into an amorphous state, with ALT effectively entering the cavity of HP-β-CD. Compared with ALT, the solubility of ALT/HP-β-CD inclusion complex increased by 1026.51-fold, and its dissolution rate demonstrated significant improvement. Pharmacokinetic assessments further revealed that the oral bioavailability of ALT/HP-β-CD inclusion complex surpassed that of the ALT oral solution, with a relative bioavailability of 114.08 %. In conclusion, complexation with HP-β-CD represents a highly effective approach to improve both the solubility and oral bioavailability of ALT., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The remaining authors declared that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In the global war for talent, traditional recruiting methods are failing to cope with the talent competition, so employers need the right recruiting tools to fill open positions. First, we explore how talent acquisition has transitioned from digital 1.0 to 3.0 (AI-enabled) as the digital tool redesigns business. The technology of artificial intelligence has facilitated the daily work of recruiters and improved recruitment efficiency. Further, the study analyzes that AI plays an important role in each stage of recruitment, such as recruitment promotion, job search, application, screening, assessment, and coordination. Next, after interviewing with AI recruitment stakeholders (recruiters, managers, and applicants), the study discusses their acceptance criteria for each recruitment stage; stakeholders also raised concerns about AI recruitment. Finally, we suggest that managers need to be concerned about the cost of AI recruitment, legal privacy, recruitment bias, and the possibility of replacing recruiters. Overall, the study answers the following questions: (1) How artificial intelligence is used in various stages of the recruitment process. (2) Stakeholder (applicants, recruiters, managers) perceptions of AI application in recruitment. (3) Suggestions for managers to adopt AI in recruitment. In general, the discussion will contribute to the study of the use of AI in recruitment, as well as providing recommendations for implementing AI recruitment in practice., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Purpose: This article explores the workplace stresses faced by home working (HW) employees in the COVID-19 outbreak; what strategies human resource manager (HRM) may deal with the present circumstances., Design/ Methodology/approach: We refer to the views and perceptions of HRM and review the current state of stress faced by home-based workers and their responses through the lens of HRM., Findings: (1) The types as eustress, acute stress, and chronic stress and the stressors as work, family, and psychological were analyzed. (2) HW brought more adverse effects caused by work-related stress than benefits. (3) HRM can provide stress mitigation from job support, work-family balance, and psychological relief., Originality/value: By focusing on those employees who are most vulnerable to pandemic fatigue and work-related stress, HRM can build better organizations for all employees. HRM practices may consider measures related to job itself, family, or psychology to reduce the stress of HW under the COVID-19 crisis., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

In mammals, oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of granulosa cells is one of the major causes of follicular atresia, affecting ovarian physiological function. Protegrin-1 (PG-1) is an antimicrobial peptide with effective antimicrobial activity, immunomodulatory function, and porcine growth-promoting effects. PG-1 has been detected in porcine ovaries follicles. This study aimed to investigate the effect of PG-1 on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of porcine ovarian granulosa cells and the underlying molecular mechanism. Granulosa cells were obtained from porcine follicles and treated with H 2 O 2 to establish the oxidative stress model, and then treated with or without PG-1 (10 μg/mL). PG-1 significantly suppressed H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis in granulosa cells after 24 h of treatment. Furthermore, these results revealed that PG-1 increased the mRNA and protein expression of anti-apoptotic B cell lymphoma/leukemia 2 (BCL2) and the BCL2/Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX) ratio while decreasing the expression of pro-apoptotic BAX and active caspase-3. Using Western blot analysis, it was found that PG-1 decreased the phosphorylation of RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) and the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) as well as the protein expression level of CCAAT enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), all of which were increased by H 2 O 2 . Moreover, inhibitors against PERK and phospho-eIF2ɑ both suppressed the H 2 O 2 -induced granulosa cells apoptosis and enhanced the anti-apoptosis effect of PG-1. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that PG-1 inhibited porcine ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis from oxidative stress via the PERK/eIF2α/CHOP signaling pathway in vitro, which suggests the novel regulatory function of the antimicrobial peptide in the ovary., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are widely involved in plant growth and stress responses. However, UGT family are not well understood in cassava. Here, we identified 121 MeUGT genes and classified them into 14 subfamilies by phylogenetic analysis. All MeUGT proteins have typical feature of the UGTs family. Tandem duplications are the crucial driving force for the expansion of MeUGT family. Cis-Acting elements analysis uncovered those 14 kinds of cis-elements associated with biotic and abiotic stress responses. Transcriptomic and qRT-PCR analyses indicated that MeUGT genes participate in postharvest physiological deterioration of storage root and the responses of biotic and abiotic stresses. Of which, MeUGT-14/41 were significantly induced after Xam treatment. Silencing of MeUGT-14 or MeUGT-41 reduced cassava resistance to Xam, verifying the accuracy of transcriptomic data for function prediction. Together, this study characterized the MeUGTs family and revealed their potential functions, which build a solid foundation for MeUGTs associated genetic improvement of cassava., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is one of the most important animal pathogens in the world. FMDV naturally infects swine, cattle, and other cloven-hoofed animals. FMD is not adequately controlled by vaccination. An alternative strategy is to develop swine that are genetically resistant to infection. Here, we generated FMDV-specific shRNA transgenic cells targeting either nonstructural protein 2B or polymerase 3D of FMDV. The shRNA-positive transgenic cells displayed significantly lower viral production than that of the control cells after infection with FMDV (P < 0.05). Twenty-three transgenic cloned swine (TGCS) and nine non-transgenic cloned swine (Non-TGCS) were produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In the FMDV challenge study, one TGCS was completely protected, no clinical signs, no viremia and no viral RNA in the tissues, no non-structural antibody response, another one TGCS swine recovered after showing clinical signs for two days, whereas all of the normal control swine (NS) and Non-TGCS developed typical clinical signs, viremia and viral RNA was determined in the tissues, the non-structural antibody was determined, and one Non-TGCS swine died. The viral RNA load in the blood and tissues of the TGCS was reduced in both challenge doses. These results indicated that the TGCS displayed resistance to the FMDV infection. Immune cells, including CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + , CD21 + , and CD172 + cells, and the production of IFN-γ were analyzed, there were no significant differences observed between the TGCS and NS or Non-TGCS, suggesting that the FMDV resistance may be mainly derived from the RNAi-based antiviral pathway. Our work provides a foundation for a breeding approach to preventing infectious disease in swine., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is crucial for various human cancers, but the function and mechanism of lncRNAs is largely unknown in human intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), the second most common liver cancer. In this study, we performed transcriptomic profiling of ICC and normal tissues, and found 2148 lncRNAs and 474 mRNAs were significantly upregulated, whereas 568 lncRNAs and 409 mRNAs were downregulated in ICC tissues. Enrichment analysis suggests these differentially expressed genes mainly focus on response to stimulus, development, and cell proliferation. Further, potential lncRNAs involved in five signaling pathways (ERBB, JAK/STAT, MAPK, VEGF and WNT) were constructed by highly co-expressed with mRNAs in these signaling pathways. The differentially expressed lncRNA-mRNA co-regulated signaling pathways in ICC were further confirmed by lncRNA target prediction. Finally, the differentially expressed lncRNAs were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR in 32 paired ICC and adjacent tissues. The correlation analysis between the expression levels of lncRNAs and clinicopathologic characteristics showed that EMP1-008, ATF3-008, and RCOR3-013 were observed significantly downregulated in ICC with tumor metastasis. These findings suggested that lncRNA expression profiling in ICC is profoundly different from that in noncancerous tissues, and lncRNA may be used as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for ICC metastasis.

Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of DEB-TACE in the treatment of patients with intermediate-stage HCC., Methods: Studies published in PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, were systematically reviewed to identify those that assessed the efficacy and toxicity of DEB-TACE in the treatment of patients with HCC. Hazard ratio, risk ratioand 95% confidence intervalswere calculated, using a fixed-effects model or a random-effects model., Results: Nine studies with a total of 830 patients met the inclusion criteria were included in this study. DEB-TACE significantly improved overall survivaland progression free survival, and also increased objective response rateand disease control rate. However, in subgroup analyses, pooled results showed that, the survival benefits of DEB-TACE were not found in the randomized controlled trials, but were observed in Non-RCTs. The incidence of most common adverse events, including nausea, pain, fever, and fatigue, was not significant difference between the DEB-TACE group and conventional TACEgroup., Conclusions: Despite DEB-TACE significantly prolonged the survival and response rate in the patients with HCC, the conclusion about the survival benefits should be interpreted with caution, since these findings were only found in retrospective Non-RCTs, and not in prospective RCTs.