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The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2 and CUC2) transcription factors are ubiquitously distributed in plants and play critical roles in the construction of plant organs and abiotic stress response. In this study, we described the cloning of a Suaeda liaotungensis K. NAC transcription factor gene SlNAC4, which contained 1450 bp, coding a 331 amino acid. We found that SlNAC4 was highly expressed in stems of S. liaotungensis, and the expression of SlNAC4 was considerably up-regulated after salt, drought, and ABA treatments. Transcription analysis and subcellular localization demonstrated that the SlNAC4 protein was located both in the nucleus and cytoplasm, and contained a C-terminal transcriptional activator. The SlNAC4 overexpression Arabidopsis lines significantly enhanced the tolerance to salt and drought treatment and displayed obviously increased activity of antioxidant enzymes under salt and drought stress. Additionally, transgenic plants overexpressing SlNAC4 had a significantly higher level of physiological indices. Interestingly, SlNAC4 promoted the expression of ABA metabolism-related genes including AtABA1, AtABA3, AtNCED3, AtAAO3, but inhibited the expression of AtCYP707A3 in overexpression lines. Using a yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay, we identified that the SlNAC4 transcription factor could bind to the promoters of those ABA metabolism-related genes. These results indicate that overexpression of SlNAC4 in plants enhances the tolerance to salt and drought stress by regulating ABA metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) can progressively narrow arteries due to plaque accumulation on the inner walls of the blood vessels, which results in an obstructed blood flow, leading to heart attack, stroke, and even death if the obstruction is severe. A popular treatment for the disease is to use an intravascular mechanical device called the stent to achieve an immediate restoration of blood flow. However, the physical stimulation induced by the stent expansion can cause inflammation of the vessel tissue. As one of the most common post‐stenting complications, re‐narrowing of the vessel is the main pathology that leads to in‐stent restenosis (ISR), induced by the excess growth of the tissue over the deployed stent. The ISR is widely recognized as a significant cause of death globally if early symptoms are not detected. Hence, monitoring and early diagnosis indeed matter when it comes to treatment. The latest technologies for monitoring and treatments of ISR were reviewed in this work, and the potential issues and suggestions related to the reported technologies were presented. The target of this review aims to positively prompt researchers to develop an advanced stent system in terms of its electromechanical performance, size, functional feature, feasibility, and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of high-dose amoxicillin-proton pump inhibitor dual therapy, and to provide a new eradication regimen as a first-line option for patients with H. pylori infection. A total of 971 H. pylori positive patients who received initial treatment were recruited from March to August 2020, and randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The treatment group received of 20 mg esomeprazole four times daily and 750 mg amoxicillin four times daily for 14 days. Control group received of 220 mg bismuth potassium citrate twice daily, 20 mg esomeprazole twice daily, 1000 mg amoxicillin twice daily and 250 mg clarithromycin capsule twice daily for 14 days. Four weeks after the end of treatment, the urea breath test was reviewed to detect whether H. pylori was eradicated. There were no statistical differences in age, gender, the total clinical symptom scores before and after initial treatment, the compliance, and the degree of remission of symptoms before and after initial treatment between the two groups. The eradication rates of H. pylori between dual therapy and quadruple therapy were 88.31% and 85.26% (p=.158) by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, 88.66% and 85.44% (p=.186) by modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analysis, and 91.63% and 90.60% (p=.116) by PP analysis, respectively. Adverse events in dual therapy group were significantly lower than quadruple therapy group (13.3% vs. 28.2% (p<.01)). For the initial treatment of H. pylori infection, the high-dose dual therapy regimen has the same efficacy as the bismuth-containing quadruple therapy regimen, good compliance, less adverse reactions and high safety, so it can be recommended as the empirical first-line treatment regimen for the eradication of H. pylori (KY2019173). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binder‐free two‐dimensional mesh‐like structure of nickel‐zinc metal‐organic framework on in‐situ‐coated carbon cloth (Ni−Zn MOF/CC) and Ni−Zn MOF powder were developed via a solvo‐hydrothermal reaction for electrochemical storage application. The electrochemical properties of these electrodes show that the electrodes self‐assembled on carbon cloth substrates exhibit remarkably excellent performance. The Ni−Zn MOF/CC electrode exhibited a capacitance of 653.54 F/g at 1 A/g through a capacity retaining of 87.65% after 10000 cycles. Furthermore, the Ni−Zn MOF//AC coin‐cell asymmetric supercapacitor device (CASD) exhibited remarkable energy and power densities of 54.31 Wh/kg and 825 W/kg, respectively, with adequate capacitance retention up to 94.63% over 5000 cycles at 1.5 V. The CASD also exhibited a significant power density of 4950 W/kg at 19.67 W h/kg, which suggests that these in‐situ developed MOF‐based electrodes may discover application in energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined how sexual behaviors transit over time among men who have sex with men (MSM) and whether these transitions were associated with acute and early HIV (AEH) infection. An open cohort study was conducted using snowball sampling to recruit MSM via physical venues and Internet venues from 2011 to 2019, in China. Cox models were used to estimate the correlates of risk factors and AEH infection. We used Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) to describe behavioral profile and explore latent behavioral "trans-phenotypes," then examined the effect between different "trans-phenotypes" and AEH infection risk and explored the effect of characteristics as possible predictors of sexual behavior transition. Of 6502 MSM, a total of 1974 individuals with negative human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests at baseline and at least 2 visit records were included in the final analysis from 2011 to 2019. During an average 1.84 years of follow-up, 64 AEH infections were documented. In the multivariable Cox model, the association between condom use in last anal sex (HR: 0.095, 0.038-0.205), fewer sexual partners (HR: 0.375, 0.205-0.712), low frequency of condom use (HR: 3.592, 1.186-11.272), and AEH acquisition were found. The percentage of MSM with "maintain/develop safety-profile," "consistent risky-profile," and "safety-profile to risky-profile" were 52.48, 40.17, and 7.35%, respectively. Compared with "maintain\develop safety-profile," "consistent or develop risky-profile" had an increasing likelihood of AEH infection. Meanwhile, male sex workers (MSWs) or older MSM were more likely to consist or transit in "risky-profile." Having middle education is a risk factor to transit in "risky-profile" for MSM with "safety-profile" at baseline. In addition, MSM who accept health services in the past year engaged in higher proportion of developing safety-profile. Approximately half of MSM maintain or develop risky behavior with the increasing likelihood of AEH acquisition in China, which suggested that targeted and intensive interventions should be prioritized to maintain safety-profile. Clinical Trial Number: ChiCTR2000039500. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The machinability of the hybrid machining method for electrical discharge assisted milling (EDAM) has been validated in previous research. The influence of three different dielectrics (kerosene, EDM oil, and deionized water) on the performance of the EDAM was investigated in this study. An analysis of the discharged signal, surface morphology, and elemental composition of the electrode under different machining parameters reveals the influence of different dielectrics. The results show that compared with deionized water, kerosene and EDM oil have a higher discharge frequency. After long-term discharge, debris and carbides will be generated during processing, which will affect the microhardness and discharge stability of the processed material. Among the result of EDAM, EDM oil produced the best surface integrity, with surface roughness values 34.93%, 87.92%, and 121.68% lower than those of kerosene, deionized water, and conventional milling (CM), respectively. The results show that EDAM reduces the microhardness after machining by reducing the plastic deformation of the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultrasonic and electrical discharge–assisted milling (US-EDAM) is a new machining method designed for machining difficult-to-cut materials. It combines two machining technologies: electrical discharge machining (EDM) and conventional milling with ultrasonic vibration. The EDM in the proposed method is used to soften the surface of the material to be machined and thereby reduce the cutting force. In the meanwhile, the ultrasonic vibration of the proposed method is used to improve the discharge efficiency of the EDM and reduce the cutting force. Likewise, the milling in the present method is used to remove the workpiece's EDM-softened surface accurately and quickly. The effects of different machining methods (including the conventional milling (CM), the ultrasonic-assisted machining (USM), the electrical discharge–assisted machining (EDAM), and the US-EDAM) on the machined material's surface topography, plastic deformation, microscopic appearance, surface microhardness, and residual stress on the surface were compared for different machining parameters. The results confirmed that the EDM in the US-EDAM softened the surface of the material to be removed and reduced the cutting force. Furthermore, the ultrasonic vibration assistance in the US-EDAM reduced the cutting force with intermittent cutting. Notably, the surface integrity of the machined workpiece under the US-EDAM was better than the ones under the other machining methods. Hence, the US-EDAM demonstrated its capability as a new hybrid machining combining EDM, ultrasonic vibration assistance, and milling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon aluminum alloy with Si weight percentage in 50% (Al-50wt% Si) is a typical difficult-to-machine composite. In order to improve its machinability, it is necessary to optimize the friction state at the tool-Si-Al alloy interface by cooling/lubrication. Using appropriate cooling and lubricating media can drive machining operations towards cleaner and more sustainable targets. However, the synergy between Si-Al alloy special material structure, material properties, and multiphase coolants/lubricants is still unknown. In this study, the machining performance of Al-50wt% Si alloy under three milling environments (MEs), namely, dry, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), supercritical carbon dioxide–based minimum quantity lubrication (scCO2-MQL), was discussed. The theoretical analysis was made to understand the scCO2-MQL permeation mechanism. The effects of various cutting parameters and MEs on cutting force, cutting temperature, surface roughness, and surface morphology were investigated. The results show that the lowest cutting force and temperature can be found in scCO2-MQL ME owing to its excellent cooling/lubrication and heat transfer performance. The scCO2-MQL coolant/lubricant can inhibit the spalling and crushing of Si particles. Therefore, the lowest surface roughness which is reduced by 32.34% compared with dry milling and the best surface morphology can be obtained in scCO2-MQL milling. An interaction model between tool cutting edge-Si particles in scCO2/scCO2-MQL MEs has also been presented. The results indicate that the performance of scCO2-MQL as a clean and sustainable cooling/lubrication technique can result in an appreciable improvement in milling Al-50wt% Si alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]