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In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis for entropy source based on optical physical unclonable functions (PUFs). The randomness of speckle patterns is elaborated essentially according to its statistical characteristics. Various factors affecting the source of entropy have been analyzed in detail, including wavefront modulation, sensitivity, and universality of the optical PUF, and bit-depth settings of captured speckle patterns. In view of the above considerations, we demonstrate that the entropy source can achieve an ultra-high min-entropy (>0.985 bits/bit) while maintaining a high extraction rate of 75% and also verify its independent and identically distributed nature. These results provide an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the developed entropy source and offer a firm foundation for its practical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immobilization of imidazole molecules as proton carriers into MOFs to facilitate proton conduction is a general strategy for developing high proton conductive materials. Herein, we designed two imidazole substituted phthalic acid ligands and constructed two novel MOFs, {[Zr6(OH)16(H3L1)4]Cl8·20H2O}n [Zr-MOF; H3L1 = 2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl) methylaminoterephthalic acid] and {Gd(HCOO)(H2L2)2}n [Gd-MOF; H3L2 = 5-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)methylaminoisophthalic acid] and fully studied their porous nature, stability and water-assisted proton conduction. The resulting Zr-MOF exhibits a high proton conductivity of 1.82 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 98% RH and 80 °C, while Gd-MOF has a proton conductivity of 3.01 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 98% RH and 60 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal disorder affecting millions of adults worldwide, but a poor understanding of its pathogenesis has limited the effectiveness of therapy. In the current study, we integrated untargeted LC/MS metabolomics and magnetic resonance spectroscopy data to investigate metabolic profile alterations during IDD. Combined with validation via a large-cohort analysis, we found excessive lipid droplet accumulation in the nucleus pulposus cells of advanced-stage IDD samples. We also found abnormal palmitic acid (PA) accumulation in IDD nucleus pulposus cells, and PA exposure resulted in lipid droplet accumulation and cell senescence in an endoplasmic reticulum stress-dependent manner. Complementary transcriptome and proteome profiles enabled us to identify solute carrier transporter (SLC) 43A3 involvement in the regulation of the intracellular PA level. SLC43A3 was expressed at low levels and negatively correlated with intracellular lipid content in IDD nucleus pulposus cells. Overexpression of SLC43A3 significantly alleviated PA-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress, lipid droplet accumulation and cell senescence by inhibiting PA uptake. This work provides novel integration analysis-based insight into the metabolic profile alterations in IDD and further reveals new therapeutic targets for IDD treatment. Lipid droplet and palmitic acid accumulation in intervertebral disc degeneration nucleus pulposus cells drive endoplasmic reticulum stress-dependent cellular senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is a promising biodegradable flexible polymer but suffers from slow crystallization rate, making it less attractive for some applications like the injection-molded products in comparison with low-density polyethylene (LDPE). This work aimed to accelerate the crystallization of PBAT by adding a self-assembly nucleating agent octamethylenedicarboxylic dibenzoylhydrazide (OMBH). PBAT/OMBH composites with various OMBH contents (0 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 0.7 wt%, 1 wt%, 2 wt%, 3 wt% and 5 wt%) were prepared through melt-mixing. The effect of OMBH on the crystallization behavior, morphologies and mechanical properties of PBAT was investigated. The highest nucleation efficiency value of 59.6% was achieved for PBAT with 0.7 wt% OMBH, much higher than that of 22.7% for PBAT with 0.7 wt% talc. Atomic force microscopy results showed that OMBH formed fine fibers and induced the formation of transcrystalline layers of PBAT. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with two-dimensional correlation spectra suggested that the intermolecular dipole-dipole N—H⋯O=C interactions but not hydrogen bond between OMBH and PBAT promoted the crystallization of PBAT in the initial period of crystallization. The presence of OMBH did not change the crystal form of PBAT but had positive contribution in enhancing its crystallinity and mechanical properties. This work is essential for preparing PBAT with high crystallization rate, enhancing its potential applications in injection-molded products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant phyllodes tumors, typically exceeding 10 cm in size, are neoplastic lesions with malignant potential. Surgical excision in small-breasted Asian women presents unique challenges where expected poor aesthetic outcomes may delay timely medical intervention. The periareolar mastopexy technique offers a comprehensive solution, enabling complete tumor removal alongside mastopexy to achieve optimal breast contouring. This approach consistently delivers favorable aesthetic outcomes, enhancing symmetry and contour. Additionally, the periareolar approach minimizes visible scarring, thereby enhancing patient satisfaction with the cosmetic outcome. Herein, we present a case report of Asian women with giant phyllodes tumors exceeding 10 cm, successfully managed using the periareolar mastopexy technique, emphasizing the importance of optimizing aesthetic outcomes in these challenging cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of voltage source converter (VSC) and line commutated converter (LCC) technology and the relative concentration of power and load, the inverter station of the flexible DC system is fed into the same AC bus with the conventional DC rectifier station, and the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) parallel hybrid feed system is formed in structure. As the electrical distance between the converter stations is very close, when a fault occurs in the near area, the current on the AC wiring on the VSC side will fluctuate greatly, resulting in the misoperation of the AC wiring protection. For this reason, this paper proposes a fault identification method based on VSC/LCC hybrid multi-fed HVDC system, which discriminates the fault and outputs the protection signal according to the protection criterion, and logically judges the combination of the output protection signal to identify the fault type. The simulation results show that the method can identify all kinds of faults of hybrid multi-feed DC system and solve the problem of protection misoperation of the hybrid multi-feed DC system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron transfer (ET), electric double layer (EDL) charging, and ion transport (IT) are three elementary physicochemical processes in electrochemistry. These processes are coupled with each other in the way that the local reaction environment for the ET is shaped by EDL charging, which is nothing but IT in a nanoscale nonelectroneutral region. Herein, we investigate fingerprints of the coupling between these processes in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. EDL charging and IT are described uniformly using the Poisson–Nernst–Planck theory, and interfacial ET is described using the Frumkin–Butler–Volmer theory. Different diffusion coefficients for cations and anions (D+ ≠ D−) are considered. Exact analytical expressions are obtained when the potential of zero charge (Epzc), the equilibrium potential of the reaction (Eeq), and electrode potential (EM) are equal. The analytical solution shows that a decoupling treatment is valid only for the case of D+ = D−. Using a new scheme of calculating impedance response at any electrode potential, we observe an inductive loop in the low frequency range, which is a clear impedance fingerprint of the coupling effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a long‐distance non‐contact current measurement method is proposed based on the non‐contact sensor array measurement technology, combined with a new current algorithm. The sensor array is a vertical array composed of three three‐axis magnetic field (MF) sensors that is placed on the ground plane below the measured overhead line. The proposed current algorithm can optimize the geometry of the overhead line using the spatial MF values measured by the sensor array and then the three‐phase currents can be calculated. To improve the accuracy of current measurement, the spatial MF model in the algorithm considers the influence of cable sag. It enables a more accurate coupling matrix between the measured overhead line and the sensor array to be established. Additionally, the current algorithm architecture is designed using a composite algorithm to more optimally obtain the best three‐phase current values. A scale‐down overhead‐line measurement system is developed to test the proposed current measurement method. The results show whether a cable sag exists when the three‐phase currents are approximately balanced, with errors less than 2.0%. Moreover, it can be determined whether cable sag exists when the three‐phase currents are unbalanced, with less than 3.4% errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid progress of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), integer ambiguity resolution has gradually become one of the key factors that affecting Precise Point Positioning (PPP) to achieve high-precision positioning results and fast convergence. Fortunately, the proposal of observable-specific code/phase biases (OSB) has greatly alleviated this problem tremendously. Different from obtaining OSB by dual-frequency linear combinations, this research proposed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) OSB estimation method from raw observations. This method allows for more flexible estimation in a global network, without the need to compose the complex linear combinations when involving multi-frequency measurements processing. The BDS-3 observation data collected from 112 stations over one month (October 2022), containing B1C/B1I/B2a/B2b/B3I frequencies, were used for five-frequency phase OSBs estimation. Subsequently, static and kinematic PPP were executed utilizing two different ambiguity resolution strategies to corroborate the efficacy of this method. The results revealed that the BDS-3 five-frequency phase OSBs possessed good monthly stability, with standard deviation less than 0.3 cycle. High position accuracy was achieved in the static mode by fixing the ambiguity directly, with root mean square (RMS) of 3.0, 4.8 and 9.9 mm. Meanwhile, the ambiguity fixed rate was maintained at a high level around 96 % in multi-frequency tests. Simultaneously, the kinematic mode also presented the centimeter-level dynamic positioning results and the positioning accuracy improved by 55, 31 and 17 % in the East, North and Up components, respectively. Compared to the float solutions, the adoption of multi-frequency OSBs significantly accelerated the convergence speed by 55 % on average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting hip−knee−ankle (HKA) angle following Oxford medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (MUKA). A retrospective analysis of 200 patients who underwent Oxford MUKA from June 2018 to October 2020 was conducted. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the impact of surgical and radiographic characteristics on the postoperative HKA angle. The mean HKA angle was 9.5 ± 4.3° before surgery and 3.6 ± 3.7° after surgery (p < 0.001). The postoperative HKA angle significantly correlated with the preoperative HKA angle, bearing size, tibial component alignment angle, and BMI (r = 0.71, p < 0.001; r = − 0.24, p = 0.001; r = 0.21, p = 0.004; r = − 0.18, p = 0.011). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the preoperative HKA angle (β = 0.68, p < 0.001), bearing size (β = − 0.31, p < 0.001), tibial component alignment angle (β = 0.14, p = 0.003), and BMI (β = − 0.09, p = 0.047) significantly affected the postoperative HKA angle. In conclusion, larger preoperative varus deformity, smaller bearing size, greater varus alignment of the tibial component, and lower BMI lead to greater postoperative varus alignment of the lower limb in Oxford MUKA. With this concept, surgeons can more accurately predict postoperative lower limb alignment and avoid malalignment in Oxford MUKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Most studies investigating the association between physical activity and osteoporosis prevention only focused on specific types of physical activity. This study's evidence regarding the combined effects or interaction of sleep duration and physical activity. The findings emphasize the role of sleep duration and physical activity in association with osteoporosis. Purpose: The associations between physical activity, sleep duration, and prevalent osteoporosis in Taiwanese adults were studied in this cross-sectional study. Methods: The Taiwan Biobank enrolled a community-based cohort of ~ 120,000 volunteers (as of April 30, 2020) between 30 and 76 years of age with no history of cancer. Amongst, bone mineral density (BMD) measures by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were available in 22,402 participants. After excluding individuals who had no complete data of BMI (n = 23), MET score (n = 207), T-score (n = 8,826), and sleep duration (n = 16), 13,330 subjects were included as the primary cohort. Univariate and multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine the associations between the presence of osteoporosis, physical activity level, sleep duration, and other variables. Results: The results showed that after adjustment, subjects with physical activity < 20 METs/week and ≥ 20 METs/week (aOR = 1.017 and 0.767, respectively) were associated with risk of osteoporosis than those with zero MET. The odds of osteoporosis were not significantly lower in subjects who slept for ≥ 8 h/day (aOR = 0.934,p=0.266). In addition, compared to short sleepers with no physical activity, adults with increased physical activity ≥ 20 METs/week and sleep ≥ 8 h/day had a significantly lowest likelihood of osteoporosis (aOR = 0.702). Those with medium physical activity (< 20 METs/week) plus average sleep duration (6.5–8 h/day) did not have significant higher odds of osteoporosis (aOR = 1.129,p=0.151). Conclusion: The findings emphasize the joint role of sleep duration and physical activity in association with osteoporosis. Adults with high physical activity plus high sleep hours have the highest BMD and lowest risk of osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertrophic scar (HS), which results from prolonged inflammation and excessive fibrosis in re‐epithelialized wounds, is one of the most common clinical challenges. Consequently, sophisticated transdermal transfersome nanogels (TA/Fu‐TS) are prepared to control HS formation by synergistically inhibiting inflammation and suppressing fibrosis. TA/Fu‐TSs have unique structures comprising hydrophobic triamcinolone acetonide (TA) in lipid multilayers and hydrophilic 5‐fluorouracil in aqueous cores, and perform satisfactorily with regard to transdermal co‐delivery to macrophages and HS fibroblasts in emerging HS tissues. According to the in vitro/vivo results, TA/Fu‐TSs not only promote macrophage phenotype‐switching to inhibit inflammation by interleukin‐related pathways, but also suppress fibrosis to remodel extracellular matrix by collagen‐related pathways. Therefore, TA/Fu‐TSs overcome prolonged inflammation and excessive fibrosis in emerging HS tissues, and provide an effective therapeutic strategy for controlling HS formation via their synergy of macrophage phenotype‐switching and anti‐fibrosis effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of antibacterial biodegradable polymers is of great importance nowadays in medical applications. In this manuscript, poly(butylenes adipate-co-terephthalate)/poly(lactic acid) blend-based antibacterial bionanocomposites were prepared by melt-processing. We use organically modified montmorillonite (MMT) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) as antibacterial property enhancers which are both processing platelike structure, while ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CFX·HCl) was chosen as a biocide. Either MMT or GNP increases the antibacterial properties during the whole study and tunes the release of CFX·HCl from the bionanocomposites. This was proven by agar diffusion tests and antimicrobial release measurements. The morphology of the bionanocomposites was conducted by using scanning and transmission electron microscopies, and evidence of exfoliation was observed. Contact angle and water uptake of the bionanocomposites were studied showing hydrophilic performance and more percentage water uptake. The final effect on mechanical and blood compatibility was also investigated. The results reveal excellent possibility of using MMT- and GNP-modified PLA/PBAT polymer blends to tune antibacterial properties for specific biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from national meteorological stations in 90 counties of Jiangxi province during 2012-2021 and 8 microclimate stations in rice fields during 2017-2021 were used to analyze the differences in temperature between rice fields and stations, and the statistical results based on H1 (NS)(daily max temperature of national stations ≥35 °C), H1 (RS)(daily max temperature of rice fields ≥35 °C), H2 (NS)(daily max temperature of national stations ≥37°C) and H2 (RS) (daily max temperature of rice fields ≥ 37 °C ) were compared. Furthermore, proposing high-temperature damage indicators more suitable for early rice in Jiangxi, which would promoting capabilities of high-temperature monitoring and defense. The results showed that: (1) compared with the national stations, the rice fields had a cooling effect, and the Tmax(daily maximum temperature), T(daily average temperature), and Tmin(daily minimum temperature) were 0.6 °C, 0.4 °C, and 0.3 °C lower than national stations. What's more, the cooling effect increased with the growth of early rice, which showed as heading-maturity period>transplanting-booting period>sowing-transplanting period. (2) The cooling effect was higher in sunny days than in cloudy and rainy days during the high temperature period, and T, Tmax and Tmin of early rice field were 0.7 °C, 0.8 °C and 0.6 °C lower than that of the national stations. On cloudy and rainy days, the decrease in temperature of rice fields was similar. (3) There were significant differences in daily and hourly air temperature between 6 rice fields and the corresponding national stations during H1 (NS) heat damage occurred, and the cooling intensity of the rice field was greater at night than in the daytime. The Tmax, T and Tmin of the 6 fields were generally about 1.2 °C lower, which was strongest in Jinxi filed with T, Tmax and Tmin was 1.5 °C, 1.1 °C and 2.6 °C lower. (4) H1 (NS) was the largest and H2 (RS) was the smallest in terms of the number of counties affected by heat damage, the average duration, the average yield reduction simulation value of affected counties and the simulation value of the whole in recent 10 years based on different heat damage index. There was no significant difference in the result of average duration, the simulated average yield reduction rate of affected counties, and the simulated yield reduction rate of the whole based on H2 (NS) and H1 (RS), while they were all different with the result based on H1 (NS) or H2 (RS). And the simulated value of the reduction rate of the whole calculated by H2 (NS) was closer to the actual value. Therefore, national stations Tmax ≥37°C was more suitable as an index of heat damage for early rice in Jiangxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultraviolet (UV) photodetector is a device that converts optical signals into electrical signals and is the core component of all UV detection systems. A UV photodetector based on a combination of Graphene (Gr, 2D) and GaN (3D) has been reported in this work. High-performance ultra-shallow van der Waals heterojunction ultraviolet photodetectors were realized in this work, and the effects of an interfacial HfO2 tunneling layer on their photoelectric characteristics were investigated in detail. The findings of the study indicated that interfacial defects were effectively repaired by depositing a thin insulating tunneling layer of HfO2 between GaN and Gr using the ALD method with a 3 nm thick layer of HfO2 providing the best results. It was also found that the high-speed carriers underwent ion collision during the tunneling process, resulting in multiplication of the photocurrent. Consequently, the device exhibited a high R value of 318.6 A/W and a large D* value of 1.046 × 1015 Jones under an illuminated power density of 5 μW/cm2 with an external bias voltage of −2 V. The results of this study further validated the application of interfacial engineering technology, while providing insights into the carrier transport mechanism between 2D and 3D materials for the fabrication of high-performance optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N‐alkyl anilines are a series of common and versatile compounds which not only have been used as reaction solvents, acid‐accepters, and organic‐bases, but also in synthesis of dyes, pharmaceuticals, and anti‐colodal. The N‐methyl and/or N,N‐dimethyl anilines are the most representative ones among these. Due to their widespread uses, numerous works have been reported on synthetic strategies in the past decades. The studies on N−H methylations of anilines mainly focus on selection of reagents, selection of catalysts, or ligands design. Different transition‐metals, e. g., Ir, Ru, Pd, and et. al, with different ligands have been used in the methylation protocols. Methanol (CH3OH), carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), or dimethyl carbonate ((CH3)2CO3) was used as C source, and hydrogen (H2) or silanes as H source. In this work, we would like to summarize the latest advances on the synthesis of N‐methyl (N,N‐dimethyl included) anilines and derivatives. This review provides an overview of reactants and catalyst, as well as an emphasis on the scope of substrates and proposed reaction mechanism for each work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite structures material such as the doped barium cerate-zirconates possessing high concentration and mobility of proton defects have drawn substantial attention. However, the low thermodynamic stability of alkaline earth cations hinders it further application in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). From this point of view, lanthanum-based perovskites without alkaline earth metals can be considered as suitable electrolyte material for SOFC. In this study, a new perovskite material La(Mg 2/3 Nb 1/3)O 3 (LMN) is introduced as a high performing electrolyte with considerable proton conduction conductivity of 0.0023S cm−1 at 550 °C for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs). LMN electrolyte is characterized in terms of phase structure, morphological feature and surface properties. It is found that LMN sample is stable under fuel cell condition and deliver promising performance with a maximum output power density of 742 mW cm−2 at 550 °C. Moreover, concentration cells experiment confirmed that the LMN possessed hybrid proton/oxide conduction and was dominated by proton conduction surface properties. Our work thus vouch that LMN can be an efficient alternative electrolyte for low temperature fuel cell applications. • A new perovskite material La(Mg 2/3 Nb 1/3)O 3 was applied as electrolyte in SOFC. • The SOFC with LMN electrolyte achieved P max of 742 mW cm−2 under 550 °C. • LMN electrolyte delivered hybrid protonic/oxide ion conduction. • Proton conduction predominates in LMN materials with the intrinsic proton conductivity up to 0.0023 S cm−1 at 550 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adventitious root formation is a key step in vegetative propagation via cuttings. It is crucial for establishing birch plantations and preserve birch varieties. Although previous studies have highlighted role of WOX11 in controlling adventitious root formation, no such study has been conducted in birch. Understanding the mechanism of adventitious root formation is essential for improvement of rooting or survival rate using stem cuttings in birch. In this study, we cloned BpWOX11 and produced BpWOX11 overexpression (OE) transgenic lines using the Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation. OE lines exhibited early initiated adventitious root formation, leading to increase the rooting rate of stem cuttings plants. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that OE lines induced the gene expression related to expansin and cell division pathway, as well as defense and stress response genes. These may be important factors for the BpWOX11 gene to promote adventitious root formation in birch cuttings. The results of this study will help to further understand the molecular mechanisms controlling the formation of adventitious roots in birch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable advances in the role of oxytocin (OT) effect on behavior and the brain network have been made, but the effect of OT on the association between inter‐individual differences in functional connectivity (FC) and behavior is elusive. Here, by using a face‐perception task and multiple connectome‐based predictive models, we aimed to (1) determine whether OT could enhance the association among behavioral performance, resting‐state FC (rsFC), and task‐state FC (tsFC) and (2) if so, explore the role of OT in enhancing this triangular association. We found that in the OT group, the prediction performance of using rsFC or tsFC to predict task behavior was higher than that of the PL group. Additionally, the correlation coefficient between rsFC and tsFC was substantially higher in the OT group than in the PL group. The strength of these associations could be partly explained by OT altering the brain's FCs related to social cognition and face perception in both the resting and task states, mainly in brain regions such as the limbic system, prefrontal cortex, temporal poles, and temporoparietal junction. Taken together, these results provide novel evidence and a corresponding mechanism for how neuropeptides cause increased associations among inter‐individual differences across different levels (e.g., behavior and large‐scale brain networks in both resting and task‐state), and may inspire future research on the role of neuropeptides in the cross levels association of both clinical and nonclinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DR plays a crucial role in the immune response against hepatitis B virus (HBV). We aimed to investigate the associations of HLA-DR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with the generation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-related HBV mutations. The effects of HLA-DR SNPs and their interactions with HBV mutations on HCC risks were also determined. Methods: Five HLA-DR SNPs (rs3135363, rs9268644, rs35445101, rs24755213, and rs984778) were genotyped in 792 healthy controls, 586 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, 536 liver cirrhosis (LC) patients, and 1500 HCC patients using quantitative PCR. Sanger sequencing was used to identify the HBV mutations. Logistic regression model was performed to evaluate the association of HLA-DR SNPs with HCC risk and the frequencies of HCC-related HBV mutations. Results: The variant genotypes at rs3135363, rs9268644, rs35445101, rs24755213, and rs984778 were associated with decreased HCC risks. In genotype C HBV-infected subjects, variant genotypes of these SNPs were associated with decreased frequencies of HCC-related HBV mutations such as C1653T, T1674C/G, G1719T, T1753A/C, A1762T/G1764A, A1846T, G1896A, G1899A, and preS deletion. AG genotype at rs3135363, CA genotype at rs9268644, and AG genotype at rs24755213 reduced the generation of T1753A/C and G1896A in genotype B HBV-infected subjects, respectively. In addition, the interactions of rs3135363, rs9268644, rs24755213 with C1653T, T1753A/C, A1846T, and G1896A decreased the risks of HCC. Conclusions: HLA-DR genetic polymorphisms might predispose the host to immunoselection of HCC-related HBV mutations and affect the HCC risks possibly through interacting with HBV mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabric‐based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) exhibit superior output performance, flexibility, and wearability. However, the fabric structure often creates gaps that accumulate contaminants, which weaken the performance and durability of the TENGs. To address this challenge, a novel eco‐friendly superhydrophobic fabric‐based TENG (SF‐TENG) woven with superhydrophobic electroconductive bacterial cellulose fiber (SEBC fiber) is presented. To construct durable superhydrophobicity, an ingenious bio‐fabricated method is employed for the shell–core structure. SEBC fibers with bio‐fabricated shell–core structure exhibit excellent electroconductibility, mechanical property, biodegradability, and durable superhydrophobicity. SF‐TENG displays a maximum open‐circuit voltage of 266.0 V, a short‐circuit current of 5.9 µA, and an output power of 489.7 µW, and successfully powers devices such as stopwatch and calculator. Abilities of self‐cleaning and anti‐fouling guarantee the stable output performance of SF‐TENG under harsh environmental conditions such as liquids pouring. Furthermore, the intelligent clothing is designed based on SF‐TENG to detect motion signals, and it is further utilized to construct a Sports and Health Monitoring System as a deep application. In summary, this study provides a novel strategy of bio‐fabrication for the design and preparation of superhydrophobic electroconductive fiber with shell–core structure. The SF‐TENG demonstrates practicability, stability and is promising for wearable devices in harsh environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fast-growing and highly fatal blood cancer, and recent research has shown that targeting metabolism may be a promising therapeutic approach for treating AML. One promising target is the human mitochondrial NAD(P)+-dependent malic enzyme (ME2), which is involved in the production of pyruvate and NAD(P)H and the regulation of the NAD+/NADH redox balance. Inhibition of ME2 via silencing ME2 or utilizing its allosteric inhibitor disodium embonate (Na2EA) causes a decrease in pyruvate and NADH, leading to a decrease in producing ATP via cellular respiration and oxidative phosphorylation. ME2 inhibition also decreases NADPH levels, resulting in an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress, which ultimately leads to cellular apoptosis. Additionally, ME2 inhibition reduces pyruvate metabolism and the biosynthetic pathway. ME2 silencing inhibits the growth of xenotransplanted human AML cells, and the allosteric ME2 inhibitor Na2EA demonstrates antileukemic activity against immune-deficient mice with disseminated AML. Both of these effects are a result of impaired energy metabolism in mitochondria. These findings suggest that the targeting ME2 may be an effective strategy for treating AML. Overall, ME2 plays an essential role in energy metabolism of AML cells, and its inhibition may offer a promising approach for AML treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the capitellum is a joint defect that is common among adolescent athletes. It is important to diagnose OCD as early as possible, because early-stage OCD lesions have a high rate of spontaneous healing with rest. Medical ultrasound could potentially be used as a screening tool for OCD but is limited by the use of delay-and-sum (DAS) reconstruction. In this study, we tested conventional delay-multiply-and-sum (DMAS) and novel low-pass DMAS reconstruction algorithms for better visualization of OCD lesions. We created phantom and cadaveric OCD models that simulated a range of OCD lesion severities and stabilities. We also imaged an in vivo case of OCD in a patient study. In the reconstructed images, several profiles were taken to measure OCD lesion contrast, cartilage contrast, crack thickness error and bone interface clarity. In the phantom and cadaveric OCD models, we found that histogram-matched conventional DMAS reconstruction improved lesion contrast by up to 16%, cartilage contrast by 26% and bone interface clarity by 15% on average compared with DAS reconstruction. Histogram-matched low-pass DMAS reconstruction improved lesion contrast by up to 22%, cartilage contrast by 45%, and bone interface clarity by 29% on average compared with DAS reconstruction. In the in vivo case of OCD, we found that histogram-matched conventional and low-pass DMAS reconstruction improved lesion contrast by 22% and 26%, respectively. The application of DMAS reconstruction improved the ability of medical ultrasound to detect OCD lesions of the capitellum when compared with DAS reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Littoraria melanostoma (Gray, 1839) is one of the most common species of gastropods in mangroves. They quickly respond during the early stage of mangrove restoration and usually form a dominant community within a certain period. We characterized the complete mitochondrial genome of this species. The whole mitogenome of L. melanostoma was 16,149 bp in length and its nucleotide composition showed a high AT content of 64.16%. It had 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes, and 1 control region between tRNA-Phe and COX3. The A/T composition in the control region was 74.7%, and is much higher than the overall A/T composition of the mitochondrial genomes. The amino acid composition and codon usage of the mitochondrial genomes from seven superfamilies of Littorinimorpha were analyzed, and the results showed that CUU (Leu), GCU (Ala), AUU (Ile), UCU (Ser), UUA (Leu), GUU (Gly), and UUU (Phe) are the commonly used codons. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree reconstructed using 62 species of Littorinimorpha presented consistency between the molecular and morphological classifications, which provide a basis to understand the phylogeny and evolution of this order. In the phylogenetic tree, L. melanostoma is located within Littorinoidea and is closely related to L. sinensis, a rock-dwelling species that is widespread in the coastal intertidal zone of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In principle, the local cosmic void can be simply modeled by the spherically symmetric Lemaitre–Tolman–Bondi (LTB) metric. In practice, the real local cosmic void is probably not spherically symmetric. In this paper, to reconstruct a more realistic profile of the local cosmic void, we divide it into several segments. Each segment with certain solid angle is modeled by its own LTB metric. Meanwhile, we divide the 1048 type Ia supernovae (SNIa) of the Pantheon Survey into corresponding subsets according to their distribution in the galactic coordinate system. Obviously, each SNIa subset can only be used to reconstruct the profile of one segment. Finally, we can patch together an irregular profile for the local cosmic void with the whole Pantheon sample. Note that, the paucity of each data subset lead us to focus on the inner part of each void segment and assume that the half radii of the void segments are sufficient to constrain the whole segment. We find that, despite 2 σ signals of anisotropy limited to the depth of the void segments, the constraints on every void segment are consistent with Λ CDM model at 95% CL. Moreover, our constraints are too weak to challenge the cosmic homogeneity and isotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Variated anti-cancer therapies are combined with immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs) for improving ICB therapeutic efficacy. Occurrence of tissue damage is common that triggers multiple inflammatory cytokine generation. Gastrointestinal organs are the commonly affected. We investigated the impact of acute colitis on tumor infiltration of antigen-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) for controlling tumor growth and responding to antibody against PD-1 (anti-PD-1). Methods: Several tumor cell lines were inoculated into syngeneic mice subcutaneously or intra-hepatically. When tumor mass formed, activated CTLs were intravenously transferred into the tumor-bearing mice, that were given the drinking water containing 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) for acute colitis induction. Tumor growth, infiltration of two exhausted CTL subsets, and the CTL interaction with tumor vascular endothelium were examined. Results: Acute colitis dampened CTL-mediated antitumor effects, correlating with IL-17A elevation in the inflamed intestine. In the tumor bed, stem-like exhausted CTLs, which were defined as PD-1+Slamf6+Tim3−, expressed higher IL-17A receptor heterodimers and lower leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) than terminally exhausted CTLs did, that were defined as PD-1+Slamf6−Tim3+. IL-17A stimulation reduced LFA-1 surface expression on stem-like exhausted CTLs and the counterpart ICAM-1 (intracellular adhesion molecule-1) on tumor vascular endothelium. IL-17A stimulation suppressed the extravasation across tumor vascular endothelium and self-renewal of stem-like, not the terminally exhausted CTLs. Administration of anti-IL-17A neutralizing antibody to the colitis mice restored the CTL tumor infiltration and enhanced anti-PD-1 treatment efficacy against tumors. In 33 hepatocellular carcinoma patients being treated with anti-PD-1 plus antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor, disease progression of 15 patients, that exhibited serum IL-17A increase 24 h post-therapy as compared to pre-therapy level, was poorer than that of 18 patients that exhibited serum IL-17A no-increase. Conclusions: Abnormal generation of IL-17A mainly repressed tumor infiltration of stem-like exhausted CTLs. ICB-based immunotherapeutic efficacy could be upgraded with administration of anti-IL-17A, when treatment-related IL-17A elevation occurred due to tissue damage, such as acute colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In passive microwave remote sensing of the Earth's surface, it is essential to relate the emission to geophysical parameters. The emissivity ranges between 0 and 1. Hence, a slight emissivity variation leads to a significant change in brightness temperature. Many sources of error contribute to such tiny variations in emission. This paper quantifies microwave emission variability from a rough surface through model simulation due to the non-Gaussianity in height probability density (HPD) and power spectrum density (PSD). We considered Gaussian and exponential distributions for surface height and correlation functions, representing two extremes of asperity and skewness. Additionally, the surface under consideration contains multiscale roughness. The impact of the HPD and multiscale roughness on the polarization index of the emissivity is evaluated as a function of frequency and roughness. In general, assuming that Gaussian-distributed height leads to an underestimation of the emissivity, with V polarization being less sensitive to the non-Gaussian HPD and PSD effects than H polarization, the emissions are enhanced at high roughness with small look angles but are reduced for smooth surfaces at large look angles under non-Gaussian PSD. In a specific scenario, the dynamic range of the difference between exponential and Gaussian HPD is 0~10%, and the difference in emissivity caused by non-Gaussian PSD ranges from −2% to 16%. These results should be helpful in interpreting the radiometric measurements that exhibit fluctuations and differences with model predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop and validate the predictive value of an 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) model for breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) efficacy based on the tumor-to-liver ratio (TLR) radiomic features and multiple data pre-processing methods. Methods: One hundred and ninety-three breast cancer patients from multiple centers were retrospectively included in this study. According to the endpoint of NAC, we divided the patients into pathological complete remission (pCR) and non-pCR groups. All patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging before NAC treatment, and CT and PET images volume of interest (VOI) segmentation by manual segmentation and semi-automated absolute threshold segmentation, respectively. Then, feature extraction of VOI was performed with the pyradiomics package. A total of 630 models were created based on the source of radiomic features, the elimination of the batch effect approach, and the discretization method. The differences in data pre-processing approaches were compared and analyzed to identify the best-performing model, which was further tested by the permutation test. Results: A variety of data pre-processing methods contributed in varying degrees to the improvement of model effects. Among them, TLR radiomic features and Combat and Limma methods that eliminate batch effects could enhance the model prediction overall, and data discretization could be used as a potential method that can further optimize the model. A total of seven excellent models were selected and then based on the AUC of each model in the four test sets and their standard deviations, we selected the optimal model. The optimal model predicted AUC between 0.7 and 0.77 for the four test groups, with p-values less than 0.05 for the permutation test. Conclusion: It is necessary to enhance the predictive effect of the model by eliminating confounding factors through data pre-processing. The model developed in this way is effective in predicting the efficacy of NAC for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Most spinal osteotomy procedures applied for spinal deformity and concomitant malalignment cases are associated with varied complications. This study evaluates the short- to midterm clinical and radiographic efficacy of the transpedicular anterior opening osteotomy technique. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled six patients who underwent transpedicular anterior opening osteotomy due to symptomatic rigid kyphotic deformity from May 2005 to 2016. During surgery, we created a new fracture line at the collapsed anterior vertebral body through bilateral pedicles, filled spaces with compacted bone grafts while preserving posterior elements, including lamina, and secured structure using posterior instrumentation. The kyphotic Cobb angle, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) before and after surgery were measured and analyzed. Results: The mean preoperative kyphotic Cobb angle was 3 1. 4 1 ± 4. 7 7 ∘ while the postoperative value was 1 5. 7 5 ± 1. 6 6 ∘ . The mean correction angle was 1 5. 5 5 ± 6. 6 6 ∘ . The mean follow-up duration was 5 0. 1 7 ± 4 4. 1 6 months. During the final follow-up, the mean kyphotic angle was not statistically different from the postoperative values. All patients with documented VAS Back and ODI had improved values postoperatively. Conclusions: Transpedicular anterior opening osteotomy with posterior element preservation improves clinical outcomes and is safe and effective in correcting regional, fixed kyphotic deformities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flow analysis method based on TRIZ theory identifies the effective flow and harmful flow in the heat transfer process of the heated tobacco device, and proposes an optimization scheme for reducing energy consumption of the heated tobacco device, such as the structure optimization of the containing tube, the simplification of the airway tube, and the adjustment of the temperature distribution of the heater, and the scientificalness and practicability of the method in the energy consumption control process of iRod was verified. The results showed that: under the same taste, iRod reduced energy consumption by 11. 1%, and increased the usage of 2 heated tobacco; at the same time, the temperature on the surface of the iRod was reduced by more than 3. 3 °C, the sense of touch is improved obviously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human mitochondrial NAD(P)+-dependent malic enzyme (ME2) is well-known for its role in cell metabolism, which may be involved in cancer or epilepsy. We present potent ME2 inhibitors based on cyro-EM structures that target ME2 enzyme activity. Two structures of ME2-inhibitor complexes demonstrate that 5,5'-Methylenedisalicylic acid (MDSA) and embonic acid (EA) bind allosterically to ME2's fumarate-binding site. Mutagenesis studies demonstrate that Asn35 and the Gln64-Tyr562 network are required for both inhibitors' binding. ME2 overexpression increases pyruvate and NADH production while decreasing the cell's NAD+/NADH ratio; however, ME2 knockdown has the opposite effect. MDSA and EA inhibit pyruvate synthesis and thus increase the NAD+/NADH ratio, implying that these two inhibitors interfere with metabolic changes by inhibiting cellular ME2 activity. ME2 silence or inhibiting ME2 activity with MDSA or EA decreases cellular respiration and ATP synthesis. Our findings suggest that ME2 is crucial for mitochondrial pyruvate and energy metabolism, as well as cellular respiration, and that ME2 inhibitors could be useful in the treatment of cancer or other diseases that involve these processes. Two specific inhibitors for emerging cancer therapy target malic enzyme 2 (ME2) are identified and are shown to bind to one of ME2 allosteric sites, resulting in inactive open conformation, inhibiting ME2-mediated cellular respiration and ATP production in the cell [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to report the incidence of anterior mid-portion capsular tears identified during arthroscopic Bankart repair (ABR), the clinical outcomes of repairing this combined lesion, and to evaluate the associated bone defects. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients undergoing ABR between January 2014 and December 2017. Data from patients with capsular tears identified during ABR were included and analyzed. Age, number of dislocations, repair technique, follow-up results, and X-rays were reviewed. The size of the glenoid defect and Hill–Sachs lesion were reviewed via magnetic resonance imaging or magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA). Results: Records of 95 patients undergoing ABR during the study period were reviewed, and nine were included. The overall incidence of capsular tears was 9.5% and the mean age at surgery was 45.3 ± 14.3 years. All cases had > 3 dislocations before treatment. All patients had labral lesions, and one had a glenoid defect. Hill–Sachs lesions were observed in eight patients. Seven patients underwent MRA examination, and all seven showed axillary pouch disruption. Over 3.9 ± 1.1 years of follow-up, there was no instability recurrence, and Rowe scores improved from 42.2 to 96.7 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: There was no recurrent shoulder instability after combined arthroscopic repair of capsular and Bankart lesions. There were Rowe score improvements over at least three years of follow-up. Although our case number was small, we found that mid-portion capsular tear occurred in patients over 30 years with multiple recurrent dislocations, with or without small glenoid bone defects, and with axillary pouch disruption on MRA images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Metabolic reprogramming is one of the important mechanisms of cell differentiation, and different cells have different preferences for energy sources. During the differentiation of naive CD4 + T cells into Th17 and Treg cells, these cells show specific energy metabolism characteristics. Th17 cells depend on enhanced glycolysis, fatty acid synthesis, and glutaminolysis. In contrast, Treg cells are dependent on oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid oxidation, and amino acid depletion. As a potent antimalarial drug, artesunate has been shown to modulate the Th17/Treg imbalance and regulate cell metabolism. Methodology: Relevant literatures on ART, cellular metabolism, glycolysis, lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, CD4 + T cells, Th17 cells, and Treg cells published from January 1, 2010 to now were searched in PubMed database. Conclusion: In this review, we will highlight recent advances in which artesunate can restore the Th17/Treg imbalance in disease states by altering T-cell metabolism to influence differentiation and lineage selection. Data from the current study show that few studies have focused on the effect of ART on cellular metabolism. ART can affect the metabolic characteristics of T cells (glycolysis, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism) and interfere with their differentiation lineage, thereby regulating the balance of Th17/Treg and alleviating the symptoms of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Preventing suicide in US youth is of paramount concern, with rates increasing over 50% between 2007 and 2018. Statistical modeling using electronic health records may help identify at-risk youth before a suicide attempt. While electronic health records contain diagnostic information, which are known risk factors, they generally lack or poorly document social determinants (e.g., social support), which are also known risk factors. If statistical models are built incorporating not only diagnostic records, but also social determinants measures, additional at-risk youth may be identified before a suicide attempt. Methods: Suicide attempts were predicted in hospitalized patients, ages 10–24, from the State of Connecticut's Hospital Inpatient Discharge Database (HIDD; N = 38943). Predictors included demographic information, diagnosis codes, and using a data fusion framework, social determinants features transferred or fused from an external source of survey data, The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Social determinant information for each HIDD patient was generated by averaging values from their most similar Add Health individuals (e.g., top 10), based upon matching shared features between datasets (e.g., Pearson's r). Attempts were then modelled using an elastic net logistic regression with both HIDD features and fused Add Health features. Results: The model including fused social determinants outperformed the conventional model (AUC = 0.83 v. 0.82). Sensitivity and positive predictive values at 90 and 95% specificity were almost 10% higher when including fused features (e.g., sensitivity at 90% specificity = 0.48 v. 0.44). Among social determinants variables, the perception that their mother cares and being non-religious appeared particularly important to performance improvement. Discussion: This proof-of-concept study showed that incorporating social determinants measures from an external survey database could improve prediction of youth suicide risk from clinical data using a data fusion framework. While social determinant data directly from patients might be ideal, estimating these characteristics via data fusion avoids the task of data collection, which is generally time-consuming, expensive, and suffers from non-compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attenuated live bacterial therapy and medical BSA materials have their own advantages in anti-cancer research, and their combination is expected to overcome some of the disadvantages of conventional anti-cancer therapeutics. Methods and objective: Utilizing the high affinity between biotin and streptavidin, BSA modification on the surface of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was achieved. Then, the adhesion and targeting abilities of BSA modified E. coli was explored on different bladder cancer cells, and the underlying mechanism was also investigated. Results: BSA modification on the surface of E. coli enhances its ability to adhere and target cancer cells, and we speculate that these characteristics are related to the expression of SPARC in different bladder cancer cell lines. Conclusion: BSA and live bacteria have their own advantages in anti-cancer research. In this study, we found that E. coli surface-modified by BSA had stronger adhesion and targeting effects on bladder cancer cells with high expression of SPARC. These findings pave the way for the future studies exploring the combination of BSA combined with live bacteria for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: The skin-inspired multifunctional ultra-tough electronic skin with tunable mechanical properties was developed by a physically cross-linking salting-freezing-thawing method. The hydrogel integrates transparency (>60%), super toughness (up to 13.96 MJ m−3), good antibacterial properties (E. coli and S. aureus), UV protection (Filtration: 80%–90%), high electrical conductivity (4.72 S m−1), anti-swelling and recyclability. As a human–machine interface, it can be used for complex underwater activities, information encryption/decryption and finger joint rehabilitation training. Multifunctional supramolecular ultra-tough bionic e-skin with unique durability for human–machine interaction in complex scenarios still remains challenging. Herein, we develop a skin-inspired ultra-tough e-skin with tunable mechanical properties by a physical cross-linking salting-freezing-thawing method. The gelling agent (β-Glycerophosphate sodium: Gp) induces the aggregation and binding of PVA molecular chains and thereby toughens them (stress up to 5.79 MPa, toughness up to 13.96 MJ m−3). Notably, due to molecular self-assembly, hydrogels can be fully recycled and reprocessed by direct heating (100 °C for a few seconds), and the tensile strength can still be maintained at about 100% after six recoveries. The hydrogel integrates transparency (> 60%), super toughness (up to 13.96 MJ m−3, bearing 1500 times of its own tensile weight), good antibacterial properties (E. coli and S. aureus), UV protection (Filtration: 80%–90%), high electrical conductivity (4.72 S m−1), anti-swelling and recyclability. The hydrogel can not only monitor daily physiological activities, but also be used for complex activities underwater and message encryption/decryption. We also used it to create a complete finger joint rehabilitation system with an interactive interface that dynamically presents the user's health status. Our multifunctional electronic skin will have a profound impact on the future of new rehabilitation medical, human–machine interaction, VR/AR and the metaverse fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, with symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia with rigidity, and depression appearing in the late stage of life. The key hallmark of PD is the loss or death of dopaminergic neurons in the region substantia nigra pars compacta. Neuroinflammation plays a key role in the etiology of PD, and the contribution of immunity-related events spurred the researchers to identify anti-inflammatory agents for the treatment of PD. Neuroinflammation-based biomarkers have been identified for diagnosing PD, and many cellular and animal models have been used to explain the underlying mechanism; however, the specific cause of neuroinflammation remains uncertain, and more research is underway. So far, microglia and astrocyte dysregulation has been reported in PD. Patients with PD develop neural toxicity, inflammation, and inclusion bodies due to activated microglia and a-synuclein–induced astrocyte conversion into A1 astrocytes. Major phenotypes of PD appear in the late stage of life, so there is a need to identify key early-stage biomarkers for proper management and diagnosis. Studies are under way to identify key neuroinflammation-based biomarkers for early detection of PD. This review uses a constructive analysis approach by studying and analyzing different research studies focused on the role of neuroinflammation in PD. The review summarizes microglia, astrocyte dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and key biomarkers in PD. An approach that incorporates multiple biomarkers could provide more reliable diagnosis of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing infrastructure for overhead lines, the demand for overhead‐line condition‐monitoring technologies has become increasingly urgent. Traditional current transformers used to measure three‐phase currents are bulky and difficult to install, which further increases the cost of monitoring. In order to meet the current state assessment needs of transmission and distribution networks, this study uses a novel magnetic‐field sensor array to realize nonintrusive overhead‐line current detection. Based on the magnetic fields measured by magnetic‐field sensors placed on the ground under the overhead line, the proposed algorithm can be used to calculate the three‐phase current values. The proposed method does not require on‐site calibration before the field measurements are conducted. With partially known overhead‐line geometry specifications from utilities, the algorithm can optimize the overhead‐line geometry and finally achieve accurate current detection. The simulation and experimental results verify that the proposed current‐detection technique can accurately calculate the three‐phase currents of the overhead line with only three three‐axis magnetic‐field sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a closed‐form synthesis method for wideband bandpass filters with suppressed harmonics, where stepped‐impedance resonators (SIRs), scaled lines, and vertically installed planar (VIP) structures are introduced to improve the in‐band and out‐of‐band performances. By combining SIRs and scaled lines, the rejection level of the filter is greatly improved and a more compact size is achieved. And the VIP structures help to bring wide passband as well as suppressed harmonics. Then, a 3rd‐order filter is designed to verify the validity of the proposed method and topology. The simulated and measured results demonstrate that the proposed design has a wide passband (FBW = 52.9%), low insertion loss (<0.4 dB), and suppressed harmonics with the level of 20 dB up to 7.1f0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inverse methodology is proposed to estimate a time-varying heat transfer coefficient (HTC) for a hollow cylinder with time-dependent boundary conditions of different kinds on inner and outer surfaces. The temperatures at both the inner surface and the interior domain are measured for the hollow cylinder, while the time history of HTC of the outer surface will be inversely determined. This work first expressed the unknown function of HTC in a general form with unknown coefficients, and then regarded these unknown coefficients as the estimated parameters which can be randomly searched and found by the self-learning particle swarm optimization (SLPSO) method. The objective function which wants to be minimized was found with the absolute errors between the measured and estimated temperatures at several measurement times. If the objective function converges toward the null, the inverse solution of the estimated HTC will be found eventually. From numerical experiments, when the function of HTC with exponential type is performed, the unknown coefficients of the HTC function can be accurately estimated. On the contrary, when the function of HTC with a general type is conducted, the unknown coefficients of HTC are poorly estimated. However, the estimated coefficients of an HTC function with the general type can be regarded as the equivalent coefficients for the real function of HTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) is an intelligent material that can bend rapidly to produce large deformation and large strain when subjected to external electrical stimulation. And it is widely used in the actuation of underwater bionic robots. In this paper, two sets of IPMCs were fabricated by chemical reduction on the surface of commercial Nafion films. An experimental platform was built, the maximum displacement of IPMCs was 13.07 mm and the maximum output force was 12.14 mN, and it is found that IPMCs with high driving performance could generate displacements of 3.47 mm∼0.26 mm under high frequency voltage. The piezoelectric bicrystal model of IPMC was constructed and validated by Pearson correlation, proving that the model can effectively predict the experimental values and providing theoretical support for the subsequent research on the tail fin drive of IPMC miniature robot fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of hysteresis on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) still faces uncertainties despite the rapid development of perovskite photovoltaics. Although ion migration in perovskites is regarded as the chief culprit for hysteresis, charge carrier recombination pathways in PSCs are proposed to be necessary for the occurrence of hysteresis. Here, the impact of both bulk recombination and interface recombination on hysteresis in PSCs is investigated via drift–diffusion modeling. The simulation results demonstrate a direct correlation between recombination pathways and hysteresis in PSCs with ion migration. The simulation reveals that recombination pathways in PSCs will react to the variation in charge carrier distribution under different voltage scanning directions induced by ion migration in absorber layers, which leads to hysteresis in PSCs. Moreover, the hysteresis in normal (N-I-P) PSCs with different electron transport layers (ETLs) including sintered SnO2, SnO2 nano crystals and TiO2 is experimentally explored. The results demonstrate that multiple recombination pathways coupled with ion migration can lead to obvious hysteresis in fabricated PSCs which is consistent with simulation results. This work provides great insight into hysteresis management upon composition, additive and interface engineering in PSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current action mechanisms for aptamer‐based therapeutics depend on occupancy‐driven pharmacology to mediate protein functions. We report a new mechanism where aptamers leverage cellular proteasomal degradation system to degrade proteins for cancer treatment. A DNA aptamer (hereinafter referred to as c‐Met‐Ap) binds to the extracellular domain of mesenchymal‐epithelial transition factor (c‐Met) and selectively induces c‐Met phosphorylation at Y1003 and Y1349. The phosphorylation of Y1003 recruits E3 ubiquitin ligase casitas B‐lineage lymphoma, causing c‐Met ubiquitination and degradation in the proteasome. Furthermore, c‐Met‐Ap can induce a decrease in the heterodimeric partner proteins of c‐Met and the downstream effector proteins in the c‐Met signal axis, effectively inhibiting tumor growth in A549 tumor‐bearing BALB/c mice. Our study uncovers a novel, actionable mechanism for aptamer therapeutics and opens a new avenue for developing highly efficient anticancer drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current action mechanisms for aptamer‐based therapeutics depend on occupancy‐driven pharmacology to mediate protein functions. We report a new mechanism where aptamers leverage cellular proteasomal degradation system to degrade proteins for cancer treatment. A DNA aptamer (hereinafter referred to as c‐Met‐Ap) binds to the extracellular domain of mesenchymal‐epithelial transition factor (c‐Met) and selectively induces c‐Met phosphorylation at Y1003 and Y1349. The phosphorylation of Y1003 recruits E3 ubiquitin ligase casitas B‐lineage lymphoma, causing c‐Met ubiquitination and degradation in the proteasome. Furthermore, c‐Met‐Ap can induce a decrease in the heterodimeric partner proteins of c‐Met and the downstream effector proteins in the c‐Met signal axis, effectively inhibiting tumor growth in A549 tumor‐bearing BALB/c mice. Our study uncovers a novel, actionable mechanism for aptamer therapeutics and opens a new avenue for developing highly efficient anticancer drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-ignition impact and heat stimuli are the most common external stimuli loaded on energetic materials. Nevertheless, there is thereby an urgent need, but it is still a significant challenge to comprehend their coupling effects on the decay and safety mechanisms of energetic materials. Then, reactive molecular dynamics simulation was employed to mimic practical situations and reveal the impact heat coupling effect on the decay mechanism of FOX-7. The temperature and the degree of compression of the crystal caused by the impact are considered variables in the simulation. Both increasing the degree of compression and elevating the temperature promotes the decay of FOX-7. However, their underlying response mechanism is not the same. The acceleration of decomposition is due to the elevated potential energy of the FOX-7 molecules because of elevating the temperature. In addition to the elevated potential energy of the molecule, the main contribution to the decomposition from the compression is to change the decomposition path. The results of the analysis show that compression reduces the stability of the C=C bond, so that chemical reactions related to the double bond occur. In addition, interestingly, the compression along the c direction has an almost equal effect on the final product as the compression along the b direction. Finally, the decay reaction networks are proposed to provide insights into the decomposition mechanism on atomic level. All these findings are expected to pave a way to understand the underlying response mechanism for the FOX-7 against external stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural rough surfaces have inherent multiscale roughness. This article presents the modeling and analysis of microwave emission from a multiscale soil surface. Unlike the linear superposition of different correlation functions with various correlation lengths, we applied the frequency modulation concept to characterize the multiscale roughness, in which the modulation does not destroy the surface's curvature but only modifies it. The multiscale effect on emission under different observation geometries and surface parameters was examined using an AIEM model. The paper provides new insights into the dependence of polarized emissivity on multiscale roughness: V-polarized emissivity is much less sensitive to multiscale roughness across the moisture content from dry to wet (5–30%). The H-polarized is sensitive to multiscale roughness, especially at higher moisture content. The predicted emissivity will have considerable uncertainty, even for the same baseline correlation length, without accounting for the multiscale roughness effect. V-polarized emissivity is less sensitive to the multiscale effect than H-polarized and the higher modulation ratio indicates larger emissivity. The higher modulation ratio indicates larger emissivity. Multiscale roughness weakens the polarization difference, particularly in higher moisture conditions. In addition, ignoring the multiscale effect leads to underestimated emissivity to a certain extent, particularly at the larger RMS height region. Finally, when accounting for multiscale roughness, model predictions of emission from a soil surface are in good agreement with two independently measured data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant polyploidization changes its leaf morphology and leaf development patterns. Understanding changes in leaf morphology and development patterns is a prerequisite and key to studying leaf development in polyploid plants. In this study, we quantified and analyzed the differences in leaf morphology, leaf growth polarity, and leaf size between diploid and tetraploid birches (Betula pendula subsp. pendula), and preliminarily investigated genes involved in leaf growth and development in birch. The results showed significant changes in leaf morphology in tetraploid birches, especially the basal part of the leaf. In addition, the proximal growth rate of tetraploid leaves was altered. The changed proximal growth rate did not affect the growth polarity pattern of tetraploid leaves. The leaf area of tetraploid was significantly larger than that of diploid birch. The difference in leaf size was mainly due to differences in their growth rates in the middle and late stages of leaf development. Increased cell expansion capacity was the major reason for the enormous leaves of tetraploid birch; however, cell proliferation did not contribute to the larger tetraploid leaf. The gene expression of ATHB12 was associated with cell size and leaf area, and may be a critical gene affecting the leaf size in diploid and tetraploid birches. The results will provide valuable insights into plant polyploid leaf development and a theoretical basis for later investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying the gigantism of tetraploid birch leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the complexity of the multicore system grows, the large workload diversity results in serious thermal problems. In a practical way, the number of placed thermal sensors is usually limited due to the manufacturing cost. In recent years, the compressive sensing (CS) theory is proven as an efficient way to reconstruct the original signal by using fewer sampling data. However, due to the high computational complexity during the signal reconstruction, the CS theory is not appropriate to apply to the real-time temperature monitoring in the current multicore system. In this article, we propose a grid-based sensor placement approach to placement the number-limited thermal sensors on the target multicore system. On the other hand, we adopt the matrix inversion bypass (MIB) property to reduce the computational complexity of two widely used signal reconstruction approaches in CS theory [i.e., the orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) and stagewise OMP (StOMP)]. Due to the characteristic of random sampling in CS theory, the complexity of thermal sensor placement for multicore systems can be reduced significantly. In addition, the proposed MIB-based temperature reconstruction method helps to satisfy the requirement of real-time temperature estimation. The experimental results show that the proposed approach can reduce 57%–93% average full-system temperature reconstruction error compared with the previous non-CS-based approaches. Besides, we can also reduce 22%–41% computing latency compared with the current CS-based reconstruction algorithm. Due to the MIB-based operation, we can bypass the matrix inversion operation for temperature reconstruction. Therefore, the hardware overhead of the temperature reconstruction unit can be reduced significantly. Compared with the conventional approaches, we can reduce 24%–87% area overhead and improve 50%–220% hardware efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect detection of petrochemical pipelines is an important task for industrial production safety. At present, pipeline defect detection mainly relies on closed circuit television method (CCTV) to take video of the pipeline inner wall and then detect the defective area manually, so the detection is very time-consuming and has a high rate of false and missed detections. To solve the above issues, we proposed an automatic defect detection system for petrochemical pipeline based on Cycle-GAN and improved YOLO v5. Firstly, in order to create the pipeline defect dataset, the original pipeline videos need pre-processing, which includes frame extraction, unfolding, illumination balancing, and image stitching to create coherent and tiled pipeline inner wall images. Secondly, aiming at the problems of small amount of samples and the imbalance of defect and non-defect classes, a sample enhancement strategy based on Cycle-GAN is proposed to generate defect images and expand the data set. Finally, in order to detect defective areas on the pipeline and improve the detection accuracy, a robust defect detection model based on improved YOLO v5 and Transformer attention mechanism is proposed, with the average precision and recall as 93.10% and 90.96%, and the F1-score as 0.920 on the test set. The proposed system can provide reference for operators in pipeline health inspection, improving the efficiency and accuracy of detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Navigation Satellite System interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR), a new and inexpensive technique, has become available to the broader scientific community for detecting surface environmental information, such as soil moisture, snow depth and vegetation growth. However, there have been limited experiments focusing on the potential of crop height retrieval, especially the performance evaluation of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) with other GNSS. Accuracy and reliability are challenging to achieve with traditional methods utilizing a single GNSS, and few measured verification data. In this study, an improved method that includes segmentation processing and multi-GNSS fusion is proposed based on GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BDS multi-frequency data. Furthermore, experiments were carried out on a farmland in Fengqiu County, Henan Province, China. The results show that the height retrievals from four GNSS were in good agreement with the in situ observations during the whole growth cycle of the wheat after overwintering. Meanwhile, the retrievals based on the proposed method exhibited greater correspondence than the single frequency results, the correlation coefficient was increased and the root-mean-square error (RMSE) was reduced, respectively. Therefore, this study illustrates the feasibility of the proposed method to precisely estimate wheat height and its potential for use in the early warning of wheat lodging based on GNSS-IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]