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Abstract Due to intermittent renewable energy and fluctuating load demand, distribution networks with renewable distributed generation (DG) installations are more likely to suffer voltage issues and significant power losses. The performance of conservation voltage regulation (CVR) schemes may be adversely affected by the undesirable voltage profile at specific nodes. This paper aims to reduce power losses in CVR‐implemented networks by optimally planning new renewable DGs without changing the existing ones. A scenario‐based optimal renewable DG planning model is proposed with a novel scenario formation method. The uncertainties of load demand and renewables are captured jointly and formed into a finite number of scenarios based on a multivariate Gaussian mixture model (MultiGMM). The locations and capacities of different types of new renewable DGs are optimally planned for CVR performance improvements on power loss saving by aggregating the operation status and probabilities of the scenarios using mixed‐integer non‐linear programming (MINLP). A time‐series simulation is formulated for accuracy verification. The results of case studies show that the proposed model can significantly reduce power losses, active load demand, and reactive load demand. The accuracy of the planning results can be guaranteed with fewer scenarios compared to a widely used classical scenario‐based planning method.

Abstract Purpose Investigate the clinical characteristics of splenomegaly secondary to acute pancreatitis (SSAP) and construct a nomogram prediction model based on Lasso-Logistic regression. Methods A retrospective case-control study was conducted to analyze the laboratory parameters and computed tomography (CT) imaging of acute pancreatitis (AP) patients recruited at Xuanwu Hospital from December 2014 to December 2021. Lasso regression was used to identify risk factors, and a novel nomogram was developed. The performance of the nomogram in discrimination, calibration, and clinical usefulness was evaluated through internal validation. Results The prevalence of SSAP was 9.2% (88/950), with the first detection occurring 65(30, 125) days after AP onset. Compared with the control group, the SSAP group exhibited a higher frequency of persistent respiratory failure, persistent renal failure, infected pancreatic necrosis, and severe AP, along with an increased need for surgery and longer hospital stay (P

Abstract Background Colon cancer remains a major health concern worldwide, with genetic factors playing a crucial role in its development. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) has been implicated in various cancers, but their role in colon cancer is not well understood. This study aims to identify functional polymorphisms in the promoter and 3′UTR regions of TLRs and evaluate their association with colon cancer susceptibility. Methods We conducted a case-control study involving 410 colon cancer patients and 410 healthy controls from the Chinese population. Genotyping of polymorphisms in TLR3, TLR4, TLR5 and TLR7 was performed using PCR-RFLP and TaqMan MGB probes. Using logistic regression analysis, we evaluated the association of TLRs polymorphisms and the susceptibility to colon cancer. To understand the biological implications of the TLR4 rs1927914 polymorphism, we conducted functional assays, including luciferase reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Results Our results demonstrated that the G-allele of the TLR4 rs1927914 polymorphism is significantly associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer (OR = 0.68, 95%CI = 0.50–0.91). Stratified analysis showed that TLR4 rs1927914 AG or GG genotype contributed to a decreased risk of colon cancer among younger individuals (OR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.34–0.81), males (OR = 0.58, 95%CI = 0.38–0.87), non-smokers (OR = 0.58, 95%CI = 0.41–0.83) and non-drinker with OR (95%CI) of 0.66 (0.46–0.93). Functional assays demonstrated that in HCT116 and LOVO colon cancer cells, the luciferase activity driven by the TLR4 promoter with the rs1927914A allele was 5.43 and 2.07 times higher, respectively, compared to that driven by the promoter containing the rs1927914G allele. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) results indicated that the rs1927914G allele enhanced transcription factor binding. Using the transcription factor prediction tool, we found that the G allele facilitates binding of the repressive transcription factor Oct1, while the A allele does not. Conclusion The TLR4 rs1927914 polymorphism influence the susceptibility to colon cancer, with the G allele offering a protective effect through modulation of gene expression. These insights enhance our understanding of the genetic determinants of colon cancer risk and highlight TLR4 as a promising target for cancer prevention strategies.

Abstract Background Lung cancer, with its high morbidity and mortality, presents a major significant public health challenge. CD147, linked to cancer progression and metastasis, is a promising therapeutic target, including for lung cancer. The genetic variation may influence the expression of the gene and consequently the risk of lung cancer. This study aims to investigate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CD147 to understand their association with the risk of developing lung cancer in the Han Chinese population. Methods A hospital-based case–control investigation was conducted, enrolling 700 lung cancer patients and 700 cancer-free controls. TagSNPs were selected using Haploview v4.2, and genotype data from the 1000 Genomes Project database were utilized. The selected SNPs (rs28992491, rs67945626, and rs79361899) within the CD147 gene were evaluated using the improved multiple ligation detection reaction method. Statistical analysis included chi-square tests, logistic regression models, and interaction analyses. Results Baseline characteristics of the study population showed no significant differences in gender distribution between cases and controls, but there was a notable difference in smoking rates. No significant associations were found between the three TagSNPs and lung cancer susceptibility in the codominant model. However, stratification analyses revealed interesting findings. Among females, the rs79361899 AA/AG genotype was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. In individuals aged ≥ 65 years old, the rs28992491 GG and rs79361899 AA genotypes were linked to a higher susceptibility. Furthermore, an interaction analysis demonstrated significant genotype × gender interactions in the rs79361899 recessive model, indicating an increased lung cancer risk in female carriers of the heterozygous or homozygous polymorphic genotype. Conclusions CD147 polymorphisms play an important role in lung cancer development, particularly in specific subgroup of age and gender. These findings highlight the significance of incorporating genetic variations and their interactions with demographic factors in comprehending the intricate etiology of lung cancer.

To improve the microstructure and properties of Cu-Sn-Ti brazing alloy through component control, the effect of Si on the microstructure and properties of Cu-20Sn-15Ti brazing filler metals was studied using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and EDS energy spectrum analysis. The results show that the microstructure of Cu-20Sn-15Ti brazing filler metal is composed of large-sized polygonal CuSn3Ti5 phase, eutectic structure and α-Cu phase. A small amount of Si (≤ 2.0wt%) refines the polygonal-shaped CuSn3Ti5 phase in the brazing filler metal and generates small-sized Si3Ti5 phase. In contrast, a larger amount of Si (≥ 3.0wt%) differentiates the polygonal-shape CuSn3Ti5 phase, reduces the proportion of eutectic structure, and increases the content and size of the Si3Ti5 phase. When the Si content increases to 5.0wt%, the filler metal no longer generates polygonal-shaped CuSn3Ti5 phase and eutectic structure. Instead, Ti primarily forms Ti5Si3 phase, and the microstructure mainly consists of Ti5Si3 phase, α- Cu phase, Cu41Sn11 phase, and a small amount of strip-shaped CuSn3Ti5 phase. Compared with Cu and Sn, Si has a stronger chemical affinity with Ti and preferentially reacts with Ti to form Ti5Si3 phase. The three-dimensional structure of Ti5Si3 phase is prismatic and exhibits agglomerated growth characteristics. The coarse strip Ti5Si3 phase has central or lateral pore defects, which are mainly related to the growth mechanism. As the Si content increases, the shear strength of the filler metals shows a trend of “increasing-decreasing-increasing”, and the fracture morphology transitions from a mixed morphology of quasi-cleavage fracture and cleavage fracture to cleavage fracture. The CuSn3Ti5 phase is prone to breakage and cracking, becoming the source of cracking. The presence of coarse CuSn3Ti5 phase in different states can deteriorate the shear strength of the brazing filler metals to some extent.

Background: Periodontitis is a chronic progressive disease and the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Recent studies have shown the impact of oral microbial communities on systemic health and diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease. In previous case control studies investigatin the relationship between periodontal disease and the oral microbiota, little attention has been paid to the intersections of these domains. Methods: Here, we used high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing to analyse the differences in the microbial composition in saliva between a group of patients with chronic periodontitis (C; n = 51) and a healthy control group (H; n = 61) and predicted the functional gene composition by Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States. Results: We found significant alterations in oral microbial diversity between C and H (P = 0.002). Sixteen genera were significantly different between C and H, and 15 of them were enriched in C linear discriminant analysis (LDA > 2). Fifty functional genes were significantly different between C and H, and 34 of them were enriched in C (P < .025). Conclusions: Periodontitis is associated with significant changes in the oral microbial community.

Abstract Studies have suggested that endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is involved in neurological dysfunction and that electroacupuncture (EA) attenuates neuropathic pain (NP) via undefined pathways. However, the role of ERS in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in NP and the effect of EA on ERS in the ACC have not yet been investigated. In this study, an NP model was established by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the left sciatic nerve in rats, and mechanical and cold tests were used to evaluate behavioral hyperalgesia. The protein expression and distribution were evaluated using western blotting and immunofluorescence. The results showed that glucose-regulated protein 78 (BIP) and inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE-1α) were co-localized in neurons in the ACC. After CCI, BIP, IRE-1α, and phosphorylation of IRE-1α were upregulated in the ACC. Intra-ACC administration of 4-PBA and Kira-6 attenuated pain hypersensitivity and downregulated phosphorylation of IRE-1α, while intraperitoneal injection of 4-PBA attenuated hyperalgesia and inhibited the activation of P38 and JNK in ACC. In contrast, ERS activation by intraperitoneal injection of tunicamycin induced behavioral hyperalgesia in naive rats. Furthermore, EA attenuated pain hypersensitivity and inhibited the CCI-induced overexpression of BIP and pIRE-1α. Taken together, these results demonstrate that EA attenuates NP by suppressing BIP- and IRE-1α-mediated ERS in the ACC. Our study presents novel evidence that ERS in the ACC is implicated in the development of NP and provides insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in the analgesic effect of EA.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most challenging breast cancer subtype. Molecular stratification and target therapy bring clinical benefit for TNBC patients, but it is difficult to implement comprehensive molecular testing in clinical practice. Here, using our multi-omics TNBC cohort (N = 425), a deep learning-based framework was devised and validated for comprehensive predictions of molecular features, subtypes and prognosis from pathological whole slide images. The framework first incorporated a neural network to decompose the tissue on WSIs, followed by a second one which was trained based on certain tissue types for predicting different targets. Multi-omics molecular features were analyzed including somatic mutations, copy number alterations, germline mutations, biological pathway activities, metabolomics features and immunotherapy biomarkers. It was shown that the molecular features with therapeutic implications can be predicted including the somatic PIK3CA mutation, germline BRCA2 mutation and PD-L1 protein expression (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.78, 0.79 and 0.74 respectively). The molecular subtypes of TNBC can be identified (AUC: 0.84, 0.85, 0.93 and 0.73 for the basal-like immune-suppressed, immunomodulatory, luminal androgen receptor, and mesenchymal-like subtypes respectively) and their distinctive morphological patterns were revealed, which provided novel insights into the heterogeneity of TNBC. A neural network integrating image features and clinical covariates stratified patients into groups with different survival outcomes (log-rank P < 0.001). Our prediction framework and neural network models were externally validated on the TNBC cases from TCGA (N = 143) and appeared robust to the changes in patient population. For potential clinical translation, we built a novel online platform, where we modularized and deployed our framework along with the validated models. It can realize real-time one-stop prediction for new cases. In summary, using only pathological WSIs, our proposed framework can enable comprehensive stratifications of TNBC patients and provide valuable information for therapeutic decision-making. It had the potential to be clinically implemented and promote the personalized management of TNBC.

Abstract This paper proposes and investigates a novel 4H‐SiC trench MOSFET (TMOS) with integrated high‐K deep trench and gate dielectric (INHK‐TMOS). The integrated high‐K (INHK) consists of a high‐K gate dielectric and an extended high‐K deep trench dielectric in the drift region. Firstly, the high‐K gate dielectric together with the metal‐forming high‐K metal gate structure, which increases the gate oxide capacitance (COX), reduces the threshold voltage (VTH) and the specific on‐resistance (Ron,sp). Secondly, the extended high‐K deep trench dielectric not only modulates the electric field in the drift region by introducing a new electric field peak at the bottom of the high‐K deep trench dielectric, thereby enhancing the breakdown voltage (BV), but also improves the doping concentration (ND) of the drift region by the assist depletion effect of the high‐K dielectric, further optimizing the forward conduction characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate that when compared to the conventional TMOS, the INHK‐TMOS using HfO2 exhibits a 52.6% reduction in VTH, a 52.1% reduction in Ron,sp, a 20.3% increasement in BV and a 202.3% improvement in figure of merit.

Abstract Hippocampal place cells represent the position of a rodent within an environment. In addition, recent experiments show that the CA1 subfield of a passive observer also represents the position of a conspecific performing a spatial task. However, whether this representation is allocentric, egocentric or mixed is less clear. In this study we investigated the representation of others during free behavior and in a task where female mice learned to follow a conspecific for a reward. We found that most cells represent the position of others relative to self-position (social-vector cells) rather than to the environment, with a prevalence of purely egocentric coding modulated by context and mouse identity. Learning of a pursuit task improved the tuning of social-vector cells, but their number remained invariant. Collectively, our results suggest that the hippocampus flexibly codes the position of others in multiple coordinate systems, albeit favoring the self as a reference point.

On Earth, high-speed rotating blades and rotors experience hypergravity, which is mainly derived from centrifugal force. Aluminum alloys are widely used in high-speed rotating machines. In particular, 7075 aluminum has excellent properties, providing it with great potential for application in high-temperature rotating parts. In this work, the cracking behavior and microstructural evolution characteristics of high-speed rotating blades under different stresses were studied. A specifically designed instrument and blades with multiple necks were assembled, and the stress was tuned by adding weight to the blade tip. Each rotating blade cracked on its root neck, indicating that the gradient hypergravitational force decreased from the root to the tip. The degree of high-temperature cracking obviously increased with a sawtooth-like tip, but the degree of low-temperature cracking did not obviously increase with a smooth tip. A comparison under a constant uniaxial force required a greatly increased ultimate cracking strength that was approximately 10–18 times greater than that under hypergravitational force at the same temperature. Force analysis indicated that the coupling of hypergravitational forces in the normal direction and torsional forces in the tangential direction accelerated cracking. A uniaxial force caused grains to extend along the blade direction. However, a tangential force cut these extended grains to accelerate cracking and grain refining. In this study, real-world simulated service conditions for commercial alloys rotating at high speeds and a new understanding of the mechanical properties of alloys under various severe conditions were provided.

Introduction: Diuretics are the mainstay of maintaining and restoring euvolemia in the management of heart failure. Loop diuretics are often preferred, however, combination diuretic therapy (CDT) with a thiazide diuretic is often used to overcome diuretic resistance and increase diuretic effect. We performed an analysis of the GUIDE-IT study to assess all-cause mortality and time to first hospitalizations in patients necessitating CDT. Methods: Patients from the GUIDE-IT dataset were stratified by their requirement for CDT with a thiazide to achieve euvolemia. A total of 894 patients were analyzed, 733 of which were treated with loop diuretics alone vs 161 used either chlorothiazide or metolazone in addition to loop diuretics. Kaplan-Meir curves were derived with log-rank p-values to evaluate for differences between the groups. Results: There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality regardless of CDT utilization status (mean survival of 612.704 days vs 603.326 days, p = 0.083). On subgroup analysis, there was no significant difference in all-cause mortality amongst those using loop diuretics compared to CDT in the BNP-guided therapy group, (mean survival time 576.385 days vs 620.585 days, p = 0.0523), nor the control group (614.1 days vs 588.9 days; p = 0.5728). Time to first hospitalization was reduced in all using CDT compared to loop diuretics alone (280.5 days vs 407.2 days, p