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Background: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of uric acid on hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH) in young and middle-aged hypertensive patients at high altitude. Methods: High-altitude and low-altitude HICH patients were analyzed retrospectively, and the influence of uric acid on hemorrhage was analyzed by the correlations between age and uric acid, between age and hemoglobin, and between uric acid and hemoglobin. The individuals in the highand low-altitude groups were assigned to a young/middle-aged group and an elderly group, and the correlation between age and uric acid was analyzed. The risk factors for HICH were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. ROC curve analysis was used to investigate the relationship between risk factors and cerebral hemorrhage. Results: Age was negatively correlated with uric acid concentration in patients with HICH at high altitudes but not in patients with HICH at low altitudes. In addition, age was negatively correlated with hemoglobin in patients with HICH at high altitudes but not in patients with HICH at low altitudes. Uric acid was negatively correlated with age in young and middle-aged adults at high altitudes but not in elderly individuals. Diastolic pressure, uric acid and sex were risk factors for HICH in young and middle-aged adults at high altitudes. ROC curve showed that uric acid and diastolic pressure had diagnostic significance. Conclusions: High levels of uric acid is correlated with increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage in young and middle-aged adults with hypertension in high altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discussed the impact of economic development on carbon emissions in Sichuan Province from 1990 to 2020 and put forward some suggestions to accelerate the development of a low-carbon economy. Firstly, the land use type was reclassified, then the IPCC coefficient method was used to calculate the land use carbon emissions, and then the driving factors affecting the carbon emissions were obtained by the log-average factor index (LMDI) method. Finally, the decoupling elasticity index and its influencing factors were obtained using Tapio decoupling model. The results showed that: (1) Carbon emissions in Sichuan Province increased significantly, with a growth rate of 218.7% from 1990 to 2020. Per capita GDP, land use structure and land use intensity per unit GDP were the main reasons for carbon emissions change. (2) Sichuan Province achieved strong decoupling during 1995-2000 and 2015-2020. However, it was in a state of expanding connection during 2000-2005, and the economic pressure on the environment reached the maximum. (3) Per capita GDP was the main factor promoting the elastic growth of decoupling index, while land use intensity per unit GDP is the main reason inhibiting the elastic growth of decoupling index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a highly prevalent cancer that typically exhibits indolent behavior and is associated with a favorable prognosis. The treatment of choice is surgical intervention; however, this approach carries the risk of complications, including scarring and loss of thyroid function. Although active surveillance can mitigate the risk of PTC overtreatment, the possibility of tumor growth and metastasis can elicit anxiety among patients. Ultrasoundguided thermal ablation has emerged as a safe and effective alternative for individuals who are ineligible for or decline surgery. This article provides a review of the clinical research on radiofrequency ablation as a treatment for PTC, offering a thorough examination of its efficacy, safety, and future perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new generation of high-performance batteries, lithium-ion batteries have found extensive applications in electric cars, as well as energy storage systems and various other industries. State of charge (SOC) estimation is one of the most important indicators. SOC estimation model of lithium-ion battery based on deep learning neural networks employs diverse external measurement parameters and internal battery parameters as input information, and adopts feed-forward neural network (FNN), convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory network (LSTM) as predictors to realize the accurate SOC estimation. The model based on deep learning neural networks takes into account the influence of various input parameters and can understand the state of the battery more comprehensively. By using FNN, CNN and LSTM networks, the influence of noise and instability of battery data on SOC estimation can be effectively avoided. After many times of training and verification, the high accuracy and stability of the model can meet the need of SOC estimation for lithium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress impairs crop growth and development. BEL1-like family transcription factors may be involved in plant response to drought stress, but little is known of the molecular mechanism by which these proteins regulate plant response and defense to drought stress. Here we show that the BEL1-like transcription factor GhBLH5-A05 functions in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) response and defense to drought stress. Expression of GhBLH5-A05 in cotton was induced by drought stress. Overexpression of GhBLH5-A05 in both Arabidopsis and cotton increased drought tolerance, whereas silencing GhBLH5- A05 in cotton resulted in elevated sensitivity to drought stress. GhBLH5-A05 binds to cis elements in the promoters of GhRD20-A09 and GhDREB2C-D05 to activate the expression of these genes. GhBLH5- A05 interacted with the KNOX transcription factor GhKNAT6-A03. Co-expression of GhBLH5-A05 and GhKNAT6-A03 increased the transcription of GhRD20-A09 and GhDREB2C-D05. We conclude that GhBLH5-A05 acts as a regulatory factor with GhKNAT6-A03 functioning in cotton response to drought stress by activating the expression of the drought-responsive genes GhRD20-A09 and GhDREB2C-D05. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Hounsfield units (HU), vertebral bone quality (VBQ), and bone mineral density (BMD) can all serve as predictive indicators for thoracolumbar fragility fractures. This study aims to explore which indicator provides better risk prediction for thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Methods: Patients who have received medical attention from The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University for thoracolumbar fragility fractures were selected. A total of 78 patients with thoracolumbar fragility fractures were included in the study. To establish a control group, 78 patients with degenerative spinal diseases were matched to the fracture group on the basis of gender, age, and body mass index. The lumbar vertebral HU, the VBQ, and the BMD were obtained for all the 156 patients through computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The correlations among these parameters were analyzed. The area under curve (AUC) analysis was employed to assess the predictive efficacy and thresholds of lumbar vertebral HU, VBQ, and BMD in relation to the risk of thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Results: Among the cohort of 156 patients, lumbar vertebral HU exhibited a positive correlation with BMD (p < 0.01). Conversely, VBQ showed a negative correlation with HU, BMD (p < 0.05). HU and BMD displayed a favorable predictive efficacy for thoracolumbar fragility fractures (p < 0.01), with HU (AUC = 0.863) showcasing the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the DEXA-measured BMD (AUC = 0.813). VBQ (AUC = 0.602) ranked lowest among the 3 indicators. The thresholds for predicting thoracolumbar fragility fractures were as follows: HU (88), VBQ (3.37), and BMD (0.81). Conclusion: All 3 of these indicators, HU, VBQ, and BMD, can predict thoracolumbar fragility fractures. Notably, lumbar vertebral HU exhibits the highest predictive efficacy, followed by the BMD obtained through DEXA scanning, with VBQ demonstrating the lowest predictive efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective • Generally autoimmune encephalitis (AE) cases present with central nervous system symptoms. Many types of autoantibodies are associated with autoimmune encephalitis, with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor being the most commonly reported. However, autoimmune encephalitis cases with autoantibodies targeting unknown epitopes are increasingly recognized. This article aims to summarize the clinical experience and assess the feasibility of modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) as an adjunctive treatment method for autoimmune encephalitis patients with poor response to first-line immunotherapy and mainly displaying psychiatric symptoms. Methods • This work reports three cases of which two have been diagnosed as autoantibodies targeting unknown epitope autoimmune encephalitis while one has been diagnosed as anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis and all were effectively treated with MECT. Results • All three cases that otherwise failed to respond to standard immunotherapy for controlling psychiatric symptoms exhibited excellent clinical outcomes following MECT. The underlying mechanism of action of MECT is unclear and whether such an effect involves a neurotransmitter rebalance in the brain remains uncertain. At present, we have observed only a small number of clinical cases, warranting further research among a larger number of clinical cases and more systematic multicenter retrospective analysis. Conclusions • It should be noted that, while our experience supports the utility of MECT in the treatment of certain cases of AE, this option should be regarded as an adjuvant therapy after standard immunosuppressive therapy. Clinicians must be aware that patients should be provided with psychiatric or neurological services for timely diagnosis along with timely and appropriate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content • Metabolic fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a common chronic liver disease, and its incidence is increasing year by year. The existing treatments mainly include drugs, surgery, and lifestyle interventions. At present, no effective treatment exists for the disease. Objective • The review intended to examine the progress of research on MAFLD in recent years, to find a future research direction and focus and identify different therapeutic targets in the treatment of patients. Design • The research team performed a narrative review by searching Pubmed databases. The search used the keywords including metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), metabolic syndrome, liver, fibrosis, and lipotoxicity. Results • The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the recent research advancements in the treatment of MAFLD from three perspectives: drug therapy, surgical treatment, and non-drug/non-surgical treatment. The aim is to identify future research directions and key areas of focus in the management of MAFLD, as well as to determine various treatment targets for patients. Conclusions • Given the complexity of MAFLD’s pathogenesis, drug therapy alone isn’t ideal. In caring for patients with fatty liver, clinicians must emphasize a change in lifestyle to a healthier one. At the same time, clinicians, dieticians, psychological experts, and exercise physiologists should provide, in addition to clinical medication, multidisciplinary and cooperative efforts to help patients improve the quality of their lives through diet and exercise to control disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the phenotype and genotype of fermentative prokaryotes, revealing that fermentation is widespread in approximately 30% of prokaryotes and involves complex combinations of metabolites. This study highlights the need for further research to understand the diversity and traits of organisms involved in fermentation.

Steam flooding is a widely used technique to enhance oil recovery of heavy oil. Thermal viscosity reduction and distillation effect are considered as two main displacement mechanisms in steam flooding process. However, the molecular composition understanding and contribution for oil production are still unclear. In this study, the composition analysis of the heavy oil was investigated in the core scale steam flooding process with the temperature from 120 to 280 °C. The crude oil, produced oils and residual oils were characterized comprehensively by gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry. It is found that steam flooding preferentially extracts aromatics and remains more resins in the residual oil. Viscosity reduction is the dominant mechanism when steam is injected at a low temperature. Large molecular heteroatoms with high carbon number and high double bond equivalent (DBE) are eluted into the produced oil, while compounds with low carbon number and low DBE are remained in the residual oil. As the steam temperature rises, the increased distillation effect results in the extraction of light hydrocarbons from the residual oil to the produced oil. More small heteroatoms with low carbon number and low DBE enter into the produced oil, especially in the none water cut stage. The compositional difference of produced oils is characterized in DBE versus carbon number distribution of the N and O containing compound classes. This work uses a variety of composition analysis methods to clarify the steam flooding mechanism and provides a novel understanding of steam flooding mechanisms with various temperatures and production stages from the molecular perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spotted seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus) is a popular food fish in Asian countries. Not only does the fish tasted well, but it is also widely utilized as nutraceuticals. However, the knowledge about the composition of the fish is lack. In this work, the proximate composition of spotted seabass flesh was determined. The content of proximate composition (moisture, proteins, fat, and ash) of spotted seabass flesh was fell within the range of other reported fish species, while it was a high-quality food fish with low oil-very high protein. The ratio of essential amino acids (EAAs) to nonessential amino acids (NEAAs) was 0.74, and the amount of EAAs accounted for approximately 42.34% of the total amino acids. Unsaturated fatty acids composed the majority of the fatty acid components, with linoleic acid was the predominate one. The content of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were abundant in spotted seabass flesh. The proximate composition of the dorsal, ventral, lateral, and tail flesh was similar, except for the ventral flesh exhibited a higher content of fatty acids and lower content of moisture. Our research will be helpful for the general population to know the nutritional traits of spotted seabass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-term passenger flow prediction of urban rail transit based on historical data mining can guide the work of station organization, train scheduling, and passenger flow induction effectively and dynamically. We propose the RFBiLSTM prediction model, which combines the random forest algorithm (RF) and bi-directional long short-term memory neural network (BiLSTM). Firstly, the time series features of the flow are obtained by clustering algorithm and correlation analysis. Secondly, RF is used to obtain the importance of the features. Finally, we compare the prediction performance of 7 models and investigate the impact of feature selection on deep learning models. Through case analysis, the prediction accuracy of RF is the highest when using a single model for prediction, and the MAPE is 0.102. When using the combined prediction model, the MAPE of RF-BiLSTM is 0.074. The accuracy of RF-BiLSTM is better compared with the results of a single model. The performance of BiLSTM is improved by 46.6% after the features are optimized using feature selection methods. The findings demonstrate the suitability of the combined prediction model RF-BiLSTM for predicting shortterm inbound passenger flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When operating at high speed, aeroengines mounted on the aircrafts also perform complicated maneuvering flights along with the aircrafts. The engine rotor systems will undergo forced motions excited by base movements and mass unbalance, which may lead to severe vibrations. Squeeze film damper (SFD) is generally used for vibration damping in aeroengine, but it also introduces structural nonlinearity like bistable jump. Moreover, the reliability of SFD is also affected by base excitations. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nonlinear dynamic behavior of rotor-SFD-support system excited by base motions. Taking a muti-disk rotor shaft supported by two SFDs with squirrel cages as the research object to simulate a gas generator in a turboshaft engine, the steady-state responses of the rotor system were calculated by multidimensional harmonic balance combined with alternating frequency/time domain method (MHB-AFT). The effects of base harmonic rotations and mass unbalance on steady-state responses of rotor system were investigated. The results indicate that the time-varying parametric excitations of base motions have strong effects on amplitude-frequency response of transverse displacement of rotor system. The critical speeds and resonant amplitudes of responses change with the magnitude and frequency of several base harmonic rotations. The variation of the frequency of base harmonic motion has the most significant impact on the amplitude-frequency response of transverse displacement of rotor system. The increase of base harmonic frequency will lead to multiple local peaks in the response curves, especially in the case of base harmonic rolling motion. In addition, the combination of base harmonic rotation around pitching and yawing axes results in significantly different response characteristics. Therefore, the influence of base harmonic motions should be considered during the structural design and damping optimization of SFDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of wheat to adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions is determined mostly by allelic diversity among genes regulating vernalization requirement. Vrn-1 is a major regulator of this requirement. In this study, two novel alleles of Vrn-A1 were discovered in Chinese cultivars: vrn-A1n was identified in two landraces, Jiunong 2 and Ganchun 16, and Vrn-A1o was detected in Duanhongmangmai. Both novel alleles showed a linked duplication in the promoter region. The common copy of these two alleles was identical to the recessive allele vrn-A1. Compared with the recessive allele vrn-A1, the other copy of vrn-A1n contained a 54-bp deletion in the promoter region and the distinct copy of Vrn-A1o contained an 11-bp deletion in the promoter region. In segregating populations in the greenhouse under nonvernalizing (20–25° C) and long-day (16 h light) conditions, plants with the novel vrn-A1n allele did not head earlier than those with the recessive vrn-A1 allele. However, plants that were either homozygous or heterozygous for the novel Vrn-A1o allele headed earlier than those with the recessive vrn-A1 allele. To identify the novel allele with the small-sized product and facilitate screening, a DNA marker for the novel dominant allele Vrn-A1o was designed. Analysis of the novel-allele distribution showed that two cultivars carrying the vrn-A1n allele were dispersed in the northwestern spring wheat zone, and 12 cultivars carrying the dominant Vrn-A1o allele were widely distributed in the northwestern spring wheat zone, Xinjiang winter and spring wheat zone, Yellow and Huai River valley winter wheat zone, and QinghaiTibetan Plateau spring and winter wheat zone. Our study identifies useful germplasm and a DNA marker for wheat breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petrocodon wui F.Wen & R.B.Zhang (Gesneriaceae), a typically lithophyte occurring in the Danxia areas of north-western Guizhou, China, is described and illustrated as new to science. The new species shows overall similarity with P. chishuiensis Z.B.Xin, F. Wen & S.B.Zhou, which is also its sister species, based on molecular evidence. The new species can be distinguished from P. chishuiensis by the elongated rhizome, the relatively long indumentum on the peduncle, the shape, size and indumentum of calyx lobes, the location of the stamens in the corolla tube and the shape, size and indumentum of the stigma. We provide a diagnosis, detailed description, photographic images and a table with taxonomic notes to distinguish several other morphologically similar Petrocodon species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) poses significant challenges to clinical practice. Currently, there is no recommended therapy to treat DILI; therefore, it is vital to explore new therapeutic agents. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of silybin meglumine tablets in treating DILI. Methods: This study analysed 34 296 DILI cases assessed by the updated RUCAM from a nationwide database. A total of 301 patients with RUCAM scores ≥6 were directly enrolled in this study, while an additional 340 patients with RUCAM scores <6 who were adjudged as probable DILI by a panel of three hepatologists were also included in the analysis. The enrolled patients were divided into the silybin meglumine group and the control group. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to obtain comparable characteristics between the two groups. Results: There were 129 cases in the silybin meglumine group and 512 cases in the control group. After applying PSM, 129 matched pairs were obtained. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) resumption rates in the silybin meglumine group were significantly higher than the control group (58.91% vs. 20.93%, P ≤ .0001 and 63.49% vs. 37.50%, P ≤ .0001). The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that grouping factor (odds raio [OR], 5.42; 95% confidenxe interval [CI], 3.12–9.39; P < .0001 and OR, 6.10; 95% CI, 2.98– 12.48; P < .0001) and ALT levels (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93–0.98; P = .0015 and OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92–0.99; P = .0157) were essential influencing factors for ALT normalization. Conclusions: Silybin meglumine tablets are safe and effective in DILI treatment. Large-scale and randomized controlled trials are required to further confirm their efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The relationship between dietary folate intake and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is controversial. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary folate equivalent (DFE) intake and NAFLD in U.S. adults. Methods and Study Design: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2014 were used. NAFLD was defined as a US fatty liver index (FLI) value ≥30. DFE intake was assessed by two 24-hour dietary recall interviews. Multivariable logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline models were used to investigate the association between DFE intake and NAFLD risk. Results: A total of 6,603 adult participants were included in this study. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of NAFLD for the highest quartile versus lowest quartile of DFE intake was 0.77(0.59-0.99). In stratified analyses by sex, age, and body mass index (BMI), there were statistically significant negative associations between DFE intake and NAFLD risk in women and participants with BMI ≥25. Dose-response analysis indicated a negative linear correlation between DFE intake and NAFLD risk. Conclusions: Dietary folate equivalent intake is negatively associated with NAFLD risk in the general U.S. adult population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to realize the accurate judgment of the ground fault and improve the fault discrimination effect, this paper proposes a low-current ground fault discrimination method for the primary and secondary fusion complete sets of equipment under the calculation of three-phase asymmetric harmonic power flow. The three-phase asymmetric harmonic power flow calculation is carried out, the ground fault line selection model is constructed according to the calculation results, and the faulted line is obtained by the zero-sequence active component method and the zero-sequence reactive power component method; the wavelet packet transform method is used to extract the transient zero-sequence power direction, and use it as a line selection criterion to identify whether a ground fault occurs. The amplitude characteristic enhancement value of each section is obtained by calculation. According to the distribution characteristics of the zero-sequence current amplitude of the faulted feeder, the corresponding section is selected as the fault section, and the mutation logic array is used in the determined fault section to realize the low-current grounding fault judgment. The experimental results show that the method has high judgment accuracy in practical application, and the highest value is 98.5 %, which indicates that the method can accurately judge the fault line and determine whether ground fault occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been an unprecedented disaster for people around the world. A point particularly worth noting is that herbal medicines have made great contributions to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in China. Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as the critical functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2. It can bind to the receptorbinding domain (RBD) of the spike protein (S protein), which is responsible for the entry of the coronavirus into host cells. Therefore, ACE2 can be regarded as an important intervention target for COVID-19. Recently, many herbal medicines have exhibited a high affinity for ACE2 in treating COVID-19. The current work summarized these herbal medicines including formulas (such as Lianhua Qingwen capsules, Xuebijing injection, Qingfei Paidu Decoction, Huashi Baidu formula, Shufeng Jiedu capsules, and Maxing Shigan decoction), single herbs including Ephedra sinica Stapf (Mahuang), Scutellariae radix (Huangqin), Lonicera japonica (Jinyinhua), and Houttuynia cordata (Yuxingcao), and active ingredients (such as ursodeoxycholic acid, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhizin, salvianolic acid, quercetin, and andrographidine C), which have exhibited a high affinity for ACE2 in treating COVID-19. We hope this work may provide meaningful and useful information on further research to investigate the mechanisms of herbal medicines against SARS-CoV-2 and follow-up drug discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halochromic cotton fabrics were fabricated based on a layer-by-layer technique. The formation of multiple layers from polyelectrolytes with opposite charges was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. UV-vis spectroscopy and color analysis revealed that the obtained fabrics produce a clear and rapid color response. The color change is reversible, and the switching process can be repeated 10 times. It was also found that dyes located in the surface layers were more likely to leach when immersed in NaCl solutions. Due to its efficiency and simplicity, this halochromic cotton fabric could be utilized as a naked-eye sensing label or test strip to monitor pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) epidemic has raged around the world, with more than 500 million people diagnosed. Relevant medical research and analysis results on Covid-19 indicate that wearing masks is an effective method to prevent and restrain virus transmission. Mask detection stations have been set up in hospitals, railway stations, schools, where there is large crowd flow, but results are not as good as expected. In order to ameliorate pandemic preventing and control measures, a mask wearing detection algorithm YOLOv3-M3 was designed and proposed in this paper. The algorithm can effectively detect people without mask, while consequently reminding them. Firstly, we substituted the feature extraction network of YOLOv3 with MobileNetv3, a lightweight convolutional neural network. Secondly, we utilized K-Means++ to substitute the original ground truth clustering algorithm to improve prediction precision. In addition, the bounding box regression loss function was revised as CIoU loss function. This loss function solves the issues of overlapping between the ground truth and the anchor box, which has increased the training speed. After experiments, the precision of YOLOv3 algorithm on mAP 0.5 and mAP 0.75 is 93.5% and 71.9%, respectively. Elevating 3.1% and 2.6%, respectively, higher than that of YOLOv3 algorithm, and it was superior to SSD, SSD Lite, YOLOv3-Tiny and other one-stage object detection algorithms. The detection speed can reach 13.6 frame/s, which has met the requirements of pandemic prevention and control in most places and can be deployed on terminal devices for object detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an indispensable part of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Chinese patent medicines have played an important role in preventing and treating diseases in China. Since they are easy to use, easy to store, and cost-effective, Chinese patent medicines have been generally accepted and widely used in Chinese clinical practice as a vital medical resource. In recent years, as TCM has developed and it has been accepted around the world, many Chinese patent medicine companies have gained international market access and successfully registered several Chinese patent medicines as over-thecounter (OTC) or prescription drugs in regions and countries that primarily use Western medicine such as the EU, Russia, Canada, Singapore, and Vietnam. Moreover, several Chinese patent medicines have been obtained the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval conducting phase II or III clinical trials in the US. The current work has focused on several Chinese patent medicines that have been successfully registered or that have been submitted for registration abroad. Summarized here are recent advances in the efficacy and molecular mechanisms of these Chinese patent medicines to treat respiratory infectious diseases (Lianhua Qingwen capsules, Jinhua Qinggan granules, and Shufeng Jiedu Capsules), cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (Compound Danshen Dripping Pills, Huatuo Zaizao pills, and Tongxinluo Capsules), cancers (a Kanglaite injection and a Shenqi Fuzheng Injection), and gynecological diseases (Guizhi Fuling Capsules). The hope is that this review will contribute to a better understanding of Chinese patent medicines by people around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare and analyze the clinical effects of ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotripsy and X-ray-guided percutaneous nephrolithotripsy in the treatment of complex renal calculi without hydronephrosis. Methods: Eighty patients with multiple stones without hydronephrosis were admitted at Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, The first medical center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 21, 2020 to December 21, 2020 randomly divided into two groups: experimental group and control group, with 40 cases in each group. Patients in the experimental group were treated with ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy, while those in the control group were treated with X-ray-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy. The differences in operation time, channel establishment time, channel number, blood loss and stone clearance rate between the two groups were compared and analyzed. Venous blood was drawn before surgery and on the first day after surgery, and serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, blood β2- microglobulin, blood uric acid and other renal indexes were detected. Moreover, renal parenchymal injury was compared between the two groups by renal static imaging, and the incidence of postoperative complications such as pain, fever, urination through incision and injury of surrounding organs were compared and analyzed. Results: The operation time, channel establishment time, channel number and blood loss in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The postoperative renal injury score of the experimental group was 1.03±0.37, which was lower than 1.85±0.63 of the control group (p=0.00); Postoperative Cr, BUN, blood β 2-microglobulin and other indicators in the control group were significantly higher than those in the experimental group, with statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The incidence of peripheral organ injury in experimental group was lower than that in control group, with a statistically significant difference (p=0.04). Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a safe and effective treatment regimen, boasting various advantages such as real-time monitoring of the surgical process, more accurate and clear channel establishment, avoidance of large vessel injury, shortening of surgical time, alleviation of kidney injury and reduction of surgical complications, which is more advantageous for the treatment of complex renal calculi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 22 GHz water-maser survey was conducted towards 178 O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars with the aim of identifying maser emission associated with the Sagittarius stellar stream. In this survey, maser emissions were detected in 21 targets, 20 of which were new detections. We studied the Galactic distributions of H2O- and SiO-maser-traced AGBs towards the Sgr orbital plane, and found an elongated structure towards the (l ,  b) ∼ (340°, 40°) direction. In order to verify its association with the Sagittarius tidal stream, we further studied the 3D motion of these sources, but found that, kinematically, these maser-traced AGBs are still Galactic disc sources rather than stream debris. In addition, we found a remarkable outward motion, ∼50 km s−1 away from the Galactic Centre of these maser-traced AGBs, but with no systermatic lag of rotational speed as reported in 2000 for solar-neighbourhood Miras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable cycle turbofan-ramjet (VCTR) engine is a promising propulsion system candidate for future Mach 4+ vehicles. Compared with conventional turbine engines, the VCTR engine has a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, a smaller diameter and a more compact structure. A component-based simulation model is developed to explore the operating characteristics of a high-speed VCTR concept. Modeling methods of variable-geometry components are characterized in this paper, and then, the way to build the VCTR model solver is described. The VCTR engine simulation model is validated by the numerical and experimental results of double bypass (DB) variable cycle engines from NASA technical reports. Performance and control law of the VCTR engine along the flight trajectory with flight Mach number varying from 0.5 to 4.0 are obtained to maximize net thrust and compared with that of a conventional two-spool afterburning mixed-flow turbofan (MFTF). Results show that the VCTR's performance is highly dependent on the fan characteristics and limited by various operating constraints, such as fan surge margin, turbine inlet temperature, and compressor discharge temperature. In addition, the thrust level of the MFTF with the variable-area low-pressure turbine is close to the VCTR engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oscillatory behaviors, which are ubiquitous in transcriptional regulatory networks, are often subject to inevitable biological noise. Thus, a natural question is how transcriptional regulatory networks can robustly achieve accurate oscillation in the presence of biological noise. Here, we search all two- and three-node transcriptional regulatory network topologies for those robustly capable of accurate oscillation against the parameter variability (extrinsic noise) or stochasticity of chemical reactions (intrinsic noise). We find that, no matter what source of the noise is applied, the topologies containing the repressilator with positive autoregulation show higher robustness of accurate oscillation than those containing the activator- inhibitor oscillator, and additional positive autoregulation enhances the robustness against noise. Nevertheless, the attenuation of different sources of noise is governed by distinct mechanisms: the parameter variability is buffered by the long period, while the stochasticity of chemical reactions is filtered by the high amplitude. Furthermore, we analyze the noise of a synthetic human nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signaling network by varying three different topologies and verify that the addition of a repressilator to the activator-inhibitor oscillator, which leads to the emergence of high-robustness motif--the repressilator with positive autoregulation--improves the oscillation accuracy in comparison to the topology with only an activator- inhibitor oscillator. These design principles may be applicable to other oscillatory circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of fractional Duffing system are analyzed and studied by using the improved short memory principle method. This method has small amount of calculation and high precision, and can effectively improve the problem of large amount of calculation caused by the memory of fractional order. The influence of frequency change on the dynamic performance of the fractional Duffing system is studied using nonlinear dynamic analysis methods, such as Phase Portrait, Poincare Map and Bifurcation Diagram. Moreover, the dynamic behaviour of the fractional Duffing system when the fractional order and excitation amplitude changes are investigated. The analysis shows that when the excitation frequency changes from 0.43 to 1.22, the bifurcation diagram contains four periodic and three chaotic motion regions. Periodic motion windows are found in the three chaotic motion regions. It is confirmed that the frequency and amplitude of the external excitation and the fractional order of damping have a greater impact on system dynamics. Thus, attention shall be paid to the design and analysis of system dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most mammalian cells have an intrinsic circadian clock that coordinates metabolic activity with the daily rest and wake cycle. The circadian clock is known to regulate cell differentiation, but how continuous daily oscillations of the internal clock can control a much longer, multiday differentiation process is not known. Here, we simultaneously monitor circadian clock and adipocyte-differentiation progression live in single cells. Strikingly, we find a bursting behavior in the cell population whereby individual preadipocytes commit to differentiate primarily during a 12-h window each day, corresponding to the time of rest. Daily gating occurs because cells irreversibly commit to differentiate within only a few hours, which is much faster than the rest phase and the overall multiday differentiation process. The daily bursts in differentiation commitment result from a differentiation-stimulus driven variable and slow increase in expression of PPARG, the master regulator of adipogenesis, overlaid with circadian boosts in PPARG expression driven by fast, clock-driven PPARG regulators such as CEBPA. Our finding of daily bursts in cell differentiation only during the circadian cycle phase corresponding to evening in humans is broadly relevant, given that most differentiating somatic cells are regulated by the circadian clock. Having a restricted time each day when differentiation occurs may open therapeutic strategies to use timed treatment relative to the clock to promote tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a reliable diffusion bonding of Ti 3 Si(Al)C 2 ceramic is achieved by applying Au foil as an interlayer at 650 °C for 30 min with an axial pressure of 20 MPa. This novel method significantly decreases the bonding temperature, which is about 150 °C lower than the lowest bonding temperature from current research to the best of our knowledge. Maximum shear strength of 58 MPa is achieved at 650 °C among the bonding temperature range of 600 °C~800 °C. The microstructure evolution mechanism and the relationship between microstructure and mechanical property are discussed. The facile mutual diffusion of Au with de-intercalated Al and Si from Ti 3 Si(Al)C 2 is considered critical in achieving sound interfacial bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed the epidemiological characteristics of the syphilis epidemic in Nanchong City of Sichuan Province to provide a theoretical basis for syphilis prevention and control. The syphilis epidemic data reported in the China Disease Control and Prevention Information System within the Nanchong City from 2017 to 2021. Chi-squared test and linear trend Chi-squared test were used to analyse the distribution of syphilis in terms of time, region, population and development stage. From 2017 to 2021, a total of 16,819 syphilis cases were reported in Nanchong City, with an average incidence rate of 52.35 × 10-5. The number of reported cases and the incidence rate showed an increasing trend and then decreasing. There were 8315 males with an incidence rate of 51.45 × 10-5 and 8504 females with an incidence rate of 53.26 × 10-5. The male to female ratio is 0.98:1. The age group is mainly middle-aged and older people over 50 years old. Occupations are primarily farmers, houseworkers and unemployed workers. Conclusions: In the past five years, the incidence of syphilis has first increased and then decreased in Nanchong City, but the epidemic situation remains severe. In order to effectively curb syphilis epidemic as soon as possible. It is necessary to increase comprehensive intervention efforts for high-risk groups, propose feasible measures to control the epidemic. An effective coordination mechanism needs to be established and extensively mobilise the whole society to participate in publicity and cooperate. At the same time, develop an efficient follow-up service to control the spread of syphilis and to improve the health of syphilis patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudomonas fluorescens 2P24 is a beneficial plant root-associated microorganism capable of suppressing several soilborne plant diseases. The capacity of P. fluorescens to aggressively colonize the rhizosphere is an important requirement for its biocontrol trait. We previously found that the PcoI/PcoR quorum-sensing system (QS) is involved in regulating the rhizosphere colonization of P. fluorescens. Here, we revealed a sophisticated regulatory network that connects PcoR, RsaL, and MvaT proteins to fine-tune the PcoI/PcoR QS system. Our data showed that PcoR could directly bind to the promoter region of pcoI thereby inducing the PcoI/PcoR QS system, whereas RsaL binds simultaneously with PcoR to the promoter region of pcoI and represses the PcoR-dependent activation of pcoI gene. In addition, RsaL indirectly downregulates the expression of pcoR. Furthermore, we showed that disruption of mvaT enhanced the expression of pcoI, pcoR, and rsaL, whereas MvaT controls the PcoI/PcoR QS in a RsaL-independent manner. Overall, this study elucidates that PcoR, RsaL, and MvaT regulate the PcoI/PcoR QS through a multi-tiered regulatory mechanism and that PcoR is necessary in the RsaL- and MvaT-mediated repression on the expression of pcoI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties and heat budget of marine heat waves (MHWs) on the northern South China Sea (SCS) continental shelf are investigated. MHWs with warming amplitudes above 1.58C occur mainly along the coast, and their temperature anomaly decreases toward the open sea. MHWs with 18-1.58C warming and duration, 20 days dominate the northern SCS continental shelf. A heat budget analysis indicates that the main heat source is the sea surface net heat flux. Oceanic processes are dominated by the advection of mean temperature by the anomalous horizontal velocity (advha). The net contribution of advha always cools the upper layer of the ocean, resulting in the decay of MHWs. Active crossslope water exchanges exist at the east and west sides of the northern SCS continental shelf edge, which makes the dominant contributions to the advha. In the MHW developing phase, the west (east) side makes a positive (negative) contribution to the advha. In the decay phase, both sides make a negative contribution to the advha, resulting in the rapid decay of MHWs. Although the contribution of advha to the heat budget varies along the northern SCS continental shelf edge, its net effect always cools the MHWs over the shelf. These results provide new insight into the characteristics and formation mechanism of MHWs on the northern SCS continental shelf; in particular, they clarify the respective contributions of air-sea flux and oceanic processes to MHWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) compose a large gene family in plant genomes and implement essential functions in diverse plant physiology progress, including defence against pathogens. However, a systematic analysis of LRR-RLKs has not been accomplished in the economically important cucumber. 189 LRR-RLK genes were identified in the cucumber genome and further divided into 22 subgroups based on the sequence similarities in this study. A total of 31 segmental duplication events and 15 tandem duplication events were present in the genome, indicating that the two duplications were the main driving forces for the expansion of the LRR-RLK family in the cucumber. The expression profile analysis revealed that most of the CsLRR-RLKs were upregulated during a downy mildew infection, and resistant cucumbers comprised more upregulated CsLRR-RLKs than the sensitive lines. Taken together, our results provided information on the LRR-RLK gene family in the cucumber and contributed valuable information for the further research of CsLRR-RLKs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a harmful mycotoxin and secondary metabolite produced by several species of Aspergillus and Penicillium. It is of vital importance to establish a sensitive method to detect OTA in various grains. Objective: A novel, highly sensitive chemiluminescence immunoassay was developed to determine OTA in wheat, corn, and poultry feed. Methods: The immunomagnetic beads were used as solid phase carriers and separators in the competitive chemiluminescence method. Anti-OTAmonoclonal antibodies coated on themagnetic beads were applied as the capturing antibodies, in which OTA would compete with OTA-alkaline phosphatase in binding with OTA antibodies. Results: The proposed method exhibited good linearity (R2 - 0.999), adequate OTA recovery rate (83.60-102.50%), and good repeatability. The sensitivity of the proposed method was 2.05 pg/mL. In addition, the method was highly selective and showed no cross-reactions with other mycotoxins (e.g., AFB1, DON, ZEN). The developed method was applied in the analysis of wheat, corn, and two animal feeds successfully. The results obtained by the chemiluminescence method showed a high correlation with those obtained by the HPLC method (correlation coefficient 0.9958). Conclusion: This strategy shows great potential for other toxic and harmful mycotoxin detection. Highlights: A novel highly rapid and sensitive chemiluminescence immunoassay was established for quantitation of OTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trehalose is the major "blood sugar" of insects and it plays a crucial role in energy supply and as a stress protectant. The hydrolysis of trehalose occurs only under the enzymatic control of trehalase (Treh), which plays important roles in growth and development, energy supply, chitin biosynthesis, and abiotic stress responses. Previous reports have revealed that the vital hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) regulates Treh, but the detailed mechanism underlying 20E regulating Treh remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the function of HaTreh1 in Helicoverpa armigera larvae. The results showed that the transcript levels and enzymatic activity of HaTreh1 were elevated during molting and metamorphosis stages in the epidermis, midgut, and fat body, and that 20E upregulated the transcript levels of HaTrehl through the classical nuclear re-ceptor complex EcR-B1/USP1. HaTreh1 is a mitochondria protein. We also found that knockdown of HaTreh1 in the fifth- or sixth-instar larvae resulted in weight loss and increased mortality. Yeast two-hybrid, coimmunoprecipitation, and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down experiments demonstrated that HaTreh1 bound with ATP synthase subunit alpha (HaATPs-α) and that this binding increased under 20E treatment. In addition, 20E enhanced the transcript level of HaATPs-α and ATP content. Finally, the knockdown of HaTreh1 or HaATPs-α decreased the induction effect of 20E on ATP content. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that 20E controls ATP production by up-regulating the binding of HaTreh1 to HaATPs-α in H. armigera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acupuncture has been used to treat various disease for more than 3,000 years in China and other Asian countries. As a complementary and alternative therapy, it has gained increasing popularity and acceptance among public and healthcare professionals in the West. Over the past few decades, basic and clinical research on acupuncture has made considerable progress. Internationally recognized evidence from clinical studies has been published, a preliminary system to clinically evaluate acupuncture has been created, and some clinical guidelines have been formulated. Moreover, scientists have strived to explore the physiological and biological mechanisms of acupuncture. Some basic studies have indicated that acupuncture has various actions, such as analgesic, muscle relaxing, antiinflammatory, mild anxiolytic, and antidepressant actions, with possible biological mechanisms such as central sensitization, neurotransmitters, the intestinal flora, immune regulation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. The current review describes the common indications for acupuncture recommended by the WHO and the use of acupuncture in China, the United States, Australia, and several other countries. This review then summarized the mechanisms by which acupuncture treats common conditions including lower back pain (LBP), ischemic stroke, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and it also cited specific acupuncture points for treating these conditions. The hope is that this review will provide useful information for both acupuncturists and researchers to better understand the mechanisms of acupuncture and reasons for its usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In NMR the polarisation of the Zeeman system may be routinely probed and manipulated by applying resonant rf pulses. As with spin-1/2 nuclei, at low temperature the quantum tunnelling states of a methyl rotor are characterised by two energy levels and it is interesting to consider howthese tunnelling states might be probed and manipulated in an analogous way to nuclear spins in NMR. In this paper experimental procedures based on magnetic field-cycling NMR are described where, by irradiating methyl tunnelling sidebands, the polarisations of the methyl tunnelling systems are measured and manipulated in a prescribed fashion. At the heart of the technique is a phenomenon that is closely analogous to dynamic nuclear polarisation and the solid effect where forbidden transitions mediate polarisation transfer between 1H Zeeman and methyl tunnelling systems. Depending on the irradiated sideband, both positive and negative polarisations of the tunnelling system are achieved, the latter corresponding to population inversion and negative tunnelling temperatures. The transition mechanics are investigated through a series of experiments and a theoretical model is presented that provides good quantitative agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we study the existence of localized nodal solutions for semiclassical quasilinear Choquard equations with subcritical growth ... V is a bounded function. By the perturbation method and the method of invariant sets of descending ow, for small ξ we establish the existence of a sequence of localized nodal solutions concentrating near a given local minimum point of the potential function V. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, augmented reality (AR), especially markerless augmented reality (MAR), has been used more prevalently to create training games in an attempt to improve humans' cognitive functions. This has been driven by studies claiming that MAR provides users with more immersive experiences that are situated in the real world. Currently, no studies have scientifically investigated the immersion experience of users in a MAR cognitive training game. Moreover, there is an observed lack of instruments on measuring immersion in MAR cognitive training games. Objective: This study, using two existing immersion questionnaires, investigates students' immersion experiences in a novel MAR n-back game. Methods: The n-back task is a continuous performance task that taps working memory (WM) capacity. We compared two versions of n-back training. One was presented in a traditional 2D format, while the second version used MAR. There were 2 experiments conducted in this study that coordinated with 2 types of immersion questionnaires: the modified Immersive Experiences Questionnaire (IEQ) and the Augmented Reality Immersion (ARI) questionnaire. Two groups of students from two universities in China joined the study, with 60 participants for the first experiment (a randomized controlled experiment) and 51 participants for the second. Results: Both groups of students experienced immersion in the MAR n-back game. However, the MAR n-back training group did not experience stronger immersion than the traditional (2D) n-back control group in the first experiment. The results of the second experiment showed that males felt deeply involved with the AR environment, which resulted in obtaining higher levels of immersion than females in the MAR n-back game. Conclusions: Both groups of students experienced immersion in the MAR n-back game. Moreover, both the modified IEQ and ARI have the potential to be used as instruments to measure immersion in MAR game settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We used U-shaped convolutional neural network (U_Net) multi-constraint image segmentation method to compare the diagnosis and imaging characteristics of tuberculosis and tuberculosis with lung cancer patients with Computed Tomography (CT). Methods: We selected 160 patients with tuberculosis from the severity scoring (SVR) task is provided by Image CLEF Tuberculosis 2019. According to the type of diagnosed disease, they were divided into tuberculosis combined with lung cancer group and others group, all patients were given chest CT scan, and the clinical manifestations, CT characteristics, and initial suspected diagnosis and missed diagnosis of different tumor diameters were observed and compared between the two groups. Results: There were more patients with hemoptysis and hoarseness in pulmonary tuberculosis combined with lung cancer group than in the pulmonary others group (P<0.05), and the other symptoms were not significantly different (P>0.05). Tuberculosis combined with lung cancer group had fewer signs of calcification, streak shadow, speckle shadow, and cavitation than others group; however, tuberculosis combined with lung cancer group had more patients with mass shadow, lobular sign, spines sign, burr sign and vacuole sign than others group. Conclusion: The symptoms of hemoptysis and hoarseness in pulmonary tuberculosis patients need to consider whether the disease has progressed and the possibility of lung cancer lesions. CT imaging of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with lung cancer usually shows mass shadows, lobular signs, spines signs, burr signs, and vacuoles signs. It can be used as the basis for its diagnosis. Simultaneously, the U-Net-based segmentation method can effectively segment the lung parenchymal region, and the algorithm is better than traditional algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous animal lineages have maternally inherited symbionts that are required for host reproduction and growth. Endosymbionts also pose a risk to their hosts because of the mutational decay of their genomes through genetic drift or to selfish mutations that favor symbiont fitness over host fitness. One model for heritable endosymbiosis is the association of aphids with their obligate bacterial symbiont, Buchnera. We experimentally established heteroplasmic pea aphid matrilines containing pairs of closely related Buchnera haplotypes and used deep sequencing of diagnostic markers to measure haplotype frequencies in successive host generations. These frequencies were used to estimate the effective population size of Buchnera within hosts (i.e., the transmission bottleneck size) and the extent of within-host selection. The within-host effective population size was in the range of 10 to 20, indicating a strong potential for genetic drift and fixation of deleterious mutations. Remarkably, closely related haplotypes were subject to strong within-host selection, with selection coefficients as high as 0.5 per aphid generation. In one case, the direction of selection depended on the thermal environment and went in the same direction as between-host selection. In another, a new mutant haplotype had a strong within-host advantage under both environments but had no discernible effect on host-level fitness under laboratory conditions. Thus, within-host selection can be strong, resulting in a rapid fixation of mutations with little impact on host-level fitness. Together, these results show that within-host selection can drive evolution of an obligate symbiont, accelerating sequence evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a limit cycle oscillation (LCO) suppression method of nonlinear aeroelastic system based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy control. A prototypical 2D wing section with a single control surface at the trailing edge of the main wing, which contains a symmetrical freeplay nonlinearity in the pitch degree of freedom, is modelled by SIMULINK (Matlab 2016R) to illustrate the proposed method. Proportional integral differential (PID) controller is used to suppression the LCO of nonlinear aeroelastic system. The control law of the PID controller is identified by neural network. A new fuzzy control law of the nonlinear aeroelastic system is obtained by adjusting the parameters of the fuzzy control system. A nonlinear aeroelastic system with measurement noise in the measurement feedback loop is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transpressional shear zones commonly occur in ancient and modern convergent plate boundaries to accommodate oblique plate convergence. The early Paleozoic Qilian orogen in northeastern Tibet records the subduction of Proto-Tethyan Ocean lithosphere and the accretion-collision of various magmatic arcs and continental terranes. This study focused on the Datong ductile shear zone, which represents the central part of the WNW-ESE-striking ductile shear zone along the northern margin of the Qilian block in the Qilian orogen. This structure bears key information about the evolution of oblique convergence during the early Paleozoic orogeny. The kinematics and timing of the Datong ductile shear zone were investigated via fieldbased, microstructural, and mica 40Ar/39Ar dating analyses. Mesostructural and microstructural data showed predominantly dextral strike-slip shearing within the Datong ductile shear zone. Microstructural features and quartz c-axis crystallographic preferred orientation patterns indicated that dextral ductile shearing occurred under lower-amphibolite-facies conditions (~500-550 °C and ~5.6 kbar) within the shear zone. Microstructures of quartz showed subgrain rotation (SGR) and grain boundary migration (GBM), suggesting dislocation creep-dominated deformation. A strain rate of 10-12 s-1 and a differential stress of 25-39 MPa were estimated by the rheological flow law and quartz paleopiezometry. Finite strain measurements indicated that all deformed rocks of the Datong ductile shear zone exhibit a weakly oblate ellipsoid near the plane strain. Kinematic vorticity (ranging 0.47-0.83) analysis suggested the coexistence of simple shear and pure shear strains within the Datong ductile shear zone, indicating a transpressional setting. Biotite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar data showed that transpressional shearing deformation started in the Ordovician (before 453 Ma) and lasted to the Silurian (ca. 430 Ma). Our new data combined with regional geological data show that the deformation type, kinematics, and dynamics of the Datong ductile shear zone were controlled by the southward oblique subduction of the Paleo-Qilian Ocean (Proto-Tethyan Ocean) and the following oblique collision between the Qilian block and the Alxa block. The intensive transpressional deformation along the northern Qilian block may reflect strong coupling between the subducting Paleo-Qilian oceanic slab and the overriding Qilian block as well as a high degree of convergence obliquity during the ongoing early Paleozoic convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acceleration of electron beams with multiple transverse structures in wakefields driven by Laguerre-Gaussian pulses has been studied through three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulations. Under different laser-plasma conditions, the wakefield shows different transverse structures. In general cases, the wakefield shows a donut-like structure and it accelerates the ring-shaped hollow electron beam. When a lower plasma density or a smaller laser spot size is used, besides the donut-like wakefield, a central bell-like wakefield can also be excited. The wake sets in the center of the donut-like wake. In this case, both a central on-axis electron beam and a ring-shaped electron beam are simultaneously accelerated. Further, reducing the plasma density or laser spot size leads to an on-axis electron beam acceleration only. The research is beneficial for some potential applications requiring special pulse beam structures, such as positron acceleration and collimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many bacteria and other organisms carry out fermentations forming acetate. These fermentations have broad importance for foods, agriculture, and industry. They also are important for bacteria themselves because they often generate ATP. Here, we found a biochemical pathway for forming acetate and synthesizing ATP that was unknown in fermentative bacteria. We found that the bacterium Cutibacterium granulosum formed acetate during fermentation of glucose. It did not use phosphotransacetylase or acetate kinase, enzymes found in nearly all acetate-forming bacteria. Instead, it used a pathway involving two different enzymes. The first enzyme, succinyl coenzyme A (succinyl-CoA):acetate CoA-transferase (SCACT), forms acetate from acetyl-CoA. The second enzyme, succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS), synthesizes ATP. We identified the genes encoding these enzymes, and they were homologs of SCACT and SCS genes found in other bacteria. The pathway resembles one described in eukaryotes, but it uses bacterial, not eukaryotic, gene homologs. To find other instances of the pathway, we analyzed sequences of all biochemically characterized homologs of SCACT and SCS (103 enzymes from 64 publications). Homologs with similar enzymatic activity had similar sequences, enabling a largescale search for them in genomes. We searched nearly 600 genomes of bacteria known to form acetate, and we found that 6% encoded homologs with SCACT and SCS activity. This included .30 species belonging to 5 different phyla, showing that a diverse range of bacteria encode the SCACT/SCS pathway. This work suggests the SCACT/SCS pathway is important for acetate formation in many branches of the tree of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Impaired esophageal and gastric motilities are known to contribute to symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, there is a lack of GERDtherapy, targeting both gastric and esophageal functions. This study was designed to investigate the effects of transcutaneous electrical acustimulation (TEA) on symptoms of GERD and gastroesophageal functions and possible mechanisms in patients with GERD. METHODS: Thirty patients with GERD with ineffective esophageal motility were equally divided and randomized into a 4-week sham-TEA or 4-week TEA treatment. The GERD questionnaire (GerdQ), GERD healthrelated quality-of-life questionnaire, high-resolution esophageal manometry, a nutrient drink test, the electrogastrogram, and ECG were performed to assess the severity of reflux symptoms, low esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure, distal contractile integral (DCI), gastric accommodation, gastric slow waves (GSW), and autonomic functions, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with sham-TEA, the 4-week TEA treatment significantly decreased the GerdQ score (P 5 0.011) and GERD health-related quality of life (P = 0.028) and improved nutrient drink-induced fullness (P < 0.001) and belching (P < 0.001) in patients with GERD. Although only acute TEA significantly enhanced LES pressure (P < 0.05), both acute and chronic TEA remarkedly increased DCI (P < 0.05) and reduced the incidence of ineffective esophageal contractions during wet swallows (P 5 0.02). In addition, chronic TEA significantly increased gastric accommodation and the percentage of postprandial normal GSW compared with sham-TEA and baseline. Concurrently, TEA-enhanced vagal activity (P=0.02) and the vagal activity positively correlated with LES pressure (r=0.528; P=0.003) and DCI (r = 0.522; P = 0.003). DISCUSSION: The TEA treatment performed in this study improves reflux-related symptoms, increases DCI, reduces the incidence of ineffective esophageal contractions during wet swallows, and improves gastric accommodation and slow waves. The improvement in GERD symptoms might be attributed to the integrative effects of TEA on these gastroesophageal functions mediated via the vagal mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protein–protein interaction (PPI) is a basic strategy for life to operate. The analysis of PPIs in multicellular organisms is very important but extremely challenging because PPIs are particularly dynamic and variable among different development stages, tissues, cells, and even organelles. Therefore, understanding PPI needs a good resolution of time and space. More importantly, understanding in vivo PPI needs to be realized in situ. Proximity-based biotinylation combined with mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a powerful approach to study PPI networks and protein subcellular compartmentation. TurboID, the newly engineered promiscuous ligase, has been reported to label proximate proteins effectively in various species. In Drosophila, we systematically apply TurboID-mediated biotinylation in a wide range of developmental stages and tissues, and demonstrate the feasibility of TurboID-mediated labeling system in desired cell types. For a proof-of-principle, we use the TurboID-mediated biotinylation coupled with MS to distinguish CTP synthase with or without the ability to form filamentous cytoophidia, retrieving two distinct sets of proximate proteomes. Therefore, this makes it possible to map PPIs in vivo and in situ at a defined spatiotemporal resolution, and demonstrates a referable resource for cytoophidium proteome in Drosophila. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for producing biomass seedling trays with cow manure was developed based on heating to above the glass transition point of the lignin in cow dung. The maize seedling tray, manufactured through heat compression molding, could potentially meet the demand for transplanting maize seedlings. A scanning electron microscope and universal testing machine were used to compare the changes in the internal structure and mechanical properties of the seedling tray before and after the seeding period through a compression molding technique at normal temperature before seeding and a heat compression molding technique after seeding. The results showed that the strength of the seedling tray was mainly derived from the mechanical setting force of the fiber laminated in the seedling tray. Meanwhile, the moisture in the seedling tray hindered the lignin from filling in the gaps between the stem fibers in cow manure, as well as it reduced the protective effect of lignin on the laminated inlay structure of the stem fibers in cow manure. Therefore, under the premise that the material could be completely filled in the mold, the study concluded that a lower moisture content resulted in better strength and water resistance of the seedling tray. As such, this study provides an idea for the functional utilization of cow manure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination of self-consistent field theory and density functional theory was used to examine the effect of particle size on the stable, 3-dimensional equilibrium morphologies formed by diblock copolymers with a tethered nanoparticle attached either between the two blocks or at the end of one of the blocks. Particle size was varied between one and four tenths of the radius of gyration of the diblock polymer chain for neutral particles as well as those either favoring or disfavoring segments of the copolymer blocks. Phase diagrams were constructed and analyzed in terms of thermodynamic diagrams to understand the physics associated with the molecular-level self-assembly processes. Typical morphologies were observed, such as lamellar, spheroidal, cylindrical, gyroidal, and perforated lamellar, with the primary concentration region of the tethered particles being influenced heavily by particle size and tethering location, strength of the particle-segment energetic interactions, chain length, and copolymer radius of gyration. The effect of the simulation box size on the observed morphology and system thermodynamics was also investigated, indicating possible effects of confinement upon the system self-assembly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct polarization-dependent ultrafast spectroscopy to study the dynamics of singlet fission (SF) in tetracene single crystals. The spectrotemporal species for singlet and triplet excitons in transient absorption spectra are found to be strongly dependent on probe polarization. By carefully analyzing the polarization dependence, the signals contributed by different transitions related to singlet excitons have been disentangled, which is further applied to construct the correlation between dynamics of singlet and triplet excitons. The anisotropy of exciton dynamics provides an alternative approach to tackle the long-standing challenge in understanding the mechanism of singlet fission in organic semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]