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• Study identifies temporal dynamics of VLPFC and DLPFC during negative emotional processing. • VLPFC was found to work at 400 ms, while DLPFC was found to work at 0 ms and 600 ms during emotional processing. • Results offer insights into the neural mechanisms underlying emotional processing with potential for intervention development. • Online single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (spTMS) used for investigation is a promising research tool. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) have been found to play important roles in negative emotion processing. However, the specific time window of their involvement remains unknown. This study addressed this issue in three experiments using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We found that TMS applied over the VLPFC at 400 ms after negative emotional exposure significantly enhanced negative feelings compared to the vertex condition. Furthermore, TMS applied over the DLPFC at both 0 ms and 600 ms after negative emotional exposure also resulted in deteriorated negative feelings. These findings provide potential evidence for the VLPFC-dependent semantic processing (∼400 ms) and the DLPFC-dependent attentional and cognitive control (∼0/600 ms) in negative emotion processing. The asynchronous involvement of these frontal cortices not only deepens our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying negative emotion processing but also provides valuable temporal parameters for neurostimulation therapy targeting patients with mood disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To establish a health emergency competency evaluation index system for public health personnel, so as to provide a theoretical basis for building a health emergency team. Methods The competency index was screened and the evaluation index frame was established by literature research method, expert association commercial method and Delphi method. The analytic hierarchy process was used to calculate the weight value of the importance of indicators at all levels, and the evaluation index system was formed. Results A total of 21 experts were invited to conduct letter inquiries, and the recovery rate of the two rounds of expert letter inquiries was 100%. The Cronbach's a coefficients of the expert letter consultation form were 0.968 and 0.963, expert authority level 0.865, Kendall's W coordination coefficient in 2 rounds of correspondence suggested that experts had a high consistency (P < 0.05) . The evaluation index system of public health personnel's competency in health emergency work included 3 first-level indicators, 11 second-level indicators and 68 third-level indicators. The weights of the first-level indicators are respectively health emergency literacy (0.517 4), professional literacy (0.336 1) and personal literacy (0.146 6). Conclusion Good health emergency literacy is the basis for public health personnel to respond to public health emergencies. The weight of each index in this index system is determined by Delphi method and analytic hierarchy process, and the results are scientific and reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To understand the incidence of postoperative constipation and the risk factors of constipation in patients with lumbar interbody fusion, we constructed and verified the constipation risk prediction model, so as to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of postoperative constipation. Methods: The data of patients undergoing lumbar interbody fusion in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed from December 2021 to December 2022. According to postoperative constipation, the patients were divided into constipation group and non-constipation group. Univariate logistic regression analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to determine independent risk factors for postoperative constipation. Based on independent risk factors, a nomogram was developed to predict the risk of constipation after lumbar interbody fusion. The prediction performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA). Finally, bootstrapping method for internal validation was further evaluated the nomogram. Results: A total of 282 patients participated in the study. 176 patients (62.41%) after lumbar interbody occurred constipation, and 106 patients were asymptomatic. Multivariate regression analysis showed independent risk factors, including the use of calcium channel blockers, polypharmacy, postoperative bed time, and constipation history. Multivariate regression analysis was used to establish the model. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.827 (95% CI 0.779–0.875), and the C-index of interval bootstrapping validation was 0.813 (95% CI 0.765–0.861), and the area under the AUC was 0.800. The nomogram showed good discrimination ability. Conclusions: The use of calcium channel blockers, polypharmacy, postoperative bed time, and history of constipation are independent risk factors for postoperative constipation in patients undergoing lumbar interbody fusion. The constructed risk prediction model has good discriminative ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro-physical characteristics of a typical sea of clouds process in Jiuxian Mountain are investigated by comprehensively analyzing parameters that delineate the micro-physical characteristics of clouds and atmospheric stratification based on data from a cloud radar, wind profiler, meteorological gradient observation in high mountains, and other observations. The results show that water vapor condenses into cloud particles via an entrained and mixing process accompanied by an updraft originating from orographic uplift. During the thickening stage of the sea of clouds, atmospheric motion within the clouds is featured as "downdraft on the top—updraft on the bottom". The zero vertical velocity area is located closely to the maximum of liquid water content. The thermal inversion layer is formed during the maintenance stage; however, the enhancement of inversion on the cloud top could suppress updraft in areas with a high liquid water content. The values mainly concentrate on the cloud top, and repetitively lifting and falling processes caused by the atmospheric upward and downward motion are in favor of the coalescence growth of cloud particles, which result in the persistence of strong radar echo. At the dissipation stage, warming on the cloud top is greater than that on the cloud bottom due to the short-wave absorption of clouds as the solar radiation enhances. As a result, the inversion layer thickens and elevates, evaporation caused by heating outweighs the condensation caused by cooling, a strong radar echo band descends from the top to the middle part of clouds, a sea of clouds dissipates gradually as cloud particles evaporates, and the particle size and concentration number of cloud particles decrease simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People value the opportunity to exercise control over the environment or make their own choices. Recent studies have revealed that simply having the opportunity to make choices can facilitate memory performance, suggesting an interaction between reward (due to choice making) and memory systems. However, little is known about the electrophysiological basis of choice‐related memory. In the current study, we used scalp electroencephalography combined with a choice encoding task to examine the role of theta oscillations (which have been widely connected to reward and memory processing) in choice‐related memory formation. The encoding task had two conditions. In the choice condition, participants were asked to choose between two occluded memoranda by themselves, whereas in the fixed condition, the decision was made by the computer. Behavioral results showed the choice effect, with better performance in the choice condition than the fixed condition on the recognition test given after a 24‐h delay. Increases in theta power during an early latency of encoding period predicted successful memory formation in the choice condition, but not in the fixed condition. Furthermore, decreases in theta power during a late latency predicted successful memory formation in both the fixed and the choice conditions. Finally, we observed increased theta power in the choice condition compared to the fixed condition during an early latency of encoding period and decreased theta power in the choice condition compared to the fixed condition during a late latency. Our results suggest that theta oscillations play a significant role in choice‐related memory formation. This study explores the novel role of theta oscillations in shaping choice‐related memory formation. It uncovers distinct patterns of theta power during different latency phases of the encoding period. Specifically, in the choice condition, theta power during the early latency positively predicts subsequent memory performance, while during the late latency, it negatively predicts memory performance in both choice and fixed conditions. These findings advance our knowledge of active and motivational learning mechanisms by establishing a link between theta activity and the formation of choice‐based memories, thus highlighting their unique contributions beyond existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the association between lipoprotein lipase (LPL) polymorphisms and susceptibility to diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and early renal function decline in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: The association of eight LPL single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with DKD was analysed in 2793 patients with T2D from the third China National Stroke Registry. DKD was defined as either an urine albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio (UACR) of 30 mg/g or higher at baseline and 3 months, or an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 at baseline and 3 months. Rapid decline in kidney function (RDKF) was defined as a reduction in the eGFR of 3 mL/min/1.73 m2 or greater per year. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association of LPL SNP and DKD with an additive model. Results: The SNPs rs285 C>T (OR = 1.40, P =.0154), rs328 C>G (OR = 2.24, P =.0104) and rs3208305 A>T (OR = 1.85, P =.0015) were identified to be significantly associated with DKD defined by eGFR. Among 1241 participants with follow‐up data, 441 (35.5%) showed RDKF over a mean follow‐up period of 1 year, and the rs285 C allele was associated with higher odds of RDKF (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.04‐1.66; P =.025) after adjustment for multiple variables. Conclusions: These results suggest that LPL‐related SNPs are new candidate factors for conferring susceptibility to DKD and may promote rapid loss of renal function in Chinese patients with T2D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the rapid development of the global economy has led to a substantial increase in energy consumption, subsequently resulting in the emission of a significant quantity of toxic gases into the environment. So far, gas sensors based on polymer field-effect transistors (PFETs), a highly practical and cost-efficient strategy, have garnered considerable attention, primarily attributed to their inherent advantages of offering a plethora of material choices, robust flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Notably, the development of functional organic semiconductors (OSCs), such as poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT), has been the subject of extensive scholarly investigation in recent years due to its widespread availability and remarkable sensing characteristics. This paper provides an exhaustive overview encompassing the production, functionalization strategies, and practical applications of gas sensors incorporating P3HT as the OSC layer. The exceptional sensing attributes and wide-ranging utility of P3HT position it as a promising candidate for improving PFET-based gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tialite (Al 2 TiO 5) is attracting as a high-temperature ceramic host matrix, but the decomposition of Al 2 TiO 5 at 780–1280 °C is a serious obstacle for practical application. Herein we prepared successfully ultrafine Cr,Mg-codoped Al 2 TiO 5 green ceramic pigment with the nanocrystal sizes less than 50 nm and high-temperature stability of up to 1200 °C via nonhydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) method followed by heating treatment of 750 °C. The effects of Cr and Mg content on phase composition, crystal structure, thermal stability and color property were well investigated. The optimum Cr,Mg-codoped Al 2 TiO 5 pigment with 20 mol% Mg and 6 mol% Cr exhibited an excellent green color (L* = 76.94, a* = −9.62, b* = 14.17), which can be reasonably maintained in exposed air by a heating treatment at 1200 °C for 10 h or in transparent ceramic glaze at 1200 °C for 30 min. These enhanced performances were mainly attributed to synergistic effect of Cr and Mg doping, which hindered the tendency of Al 2 TiO 5 toward decomposition, indicative of its potential application in high-temperature ceramic decoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In large-scale high-throughput sequencing projects and biobank construction, sample tagging is essential to prevent sample mix-ups. Despite the availability of fingerprint panels for DNA data, little research has been conducted on sample tagging of whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) data. This study aims to construct a pipeline and identify applicable fingerprint panels to address this problem. Results: Using autosome-wide A/T polymorphic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) obtained from whole genome sequencing (WGS) and WGBS of individuals from the Third China National Stroke Registry, we designed a fingerprint panel and constructed an optimized pipeline for tagging WGBS data. This pipeline used Bis-SNP to call genotypes from the WGBS data, and optimized genotype comparison by eliminating wildtype homozygous and missing genotypes, and retaining variants with identical genomic coordinates and reference/alternative alleles. WGS-based and WGBS-based genotypes called from identical or different samples were extensively compared using hap.py. In the first batch of 94 samples, the genotype consistency rates were between 71.01%-84.23% and 51.43%-60.50% for the matched and mismatched WGS and WGBS data using the autosome-wide A/T polymorphic SNV panel. This capability to tag WGBS data was validated among the second batch of 240 samples, with genotype consistency rates ranging from 70.61%-84.65% to 49.58%-61.42% for the matched and mismatched data, respectively. We also determined that the number of genetic variants required to correctly tag WGBS data was on the order of thousands through testing six fingerprint panels with different orders for the number of variants. Additionally, we affirmed this result with two self-designed panels of 1351 and 1278 SNVs, respectively. Furthermore, this study confirmed that using the number of genetic variants with identical coordinates and ref/alt alleles, or identical genotypes could not correctly tag WGBS data. Conclusion: This study proposed an optimized pipeline, applicable fingerprint panels, and a lower boundary for the number of fingerprint genetic variants needed for correct sample tagging of WGBS data, which are valuable for tagging WGBS data and integrating multi-omics data for biobanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the features and effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on China's policy banks' overseas renewable energy development finance in BRI countries. To this end, this study uses the financing for energy projects' data in China's Global Energy Finance database and performs regression analysis using Differences-in-differences (DID) and Difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) methods. The main findings are as follows. First, compared with non-renewable energy finance, the BRI can increase the number of renewable energy projects financing by China's policy banks in BRI countries; however, this positive effect is mainly reflected in hydropower projects and Southeast Asia. Second, from the perspective of the providers' features, the BRI has a more significant role in promoting the financing of renewable energy by China Export and Import Bank. In terms of recipients' features, China's development finance is mainly directed to high credit risk, low-income countries and regions that traditional donors have disregarded; thus, the policy banks tend to cooperate with government recipients. Third, the BRI has facilitated China's policy banks' renewable energy finance in high carbon intensity countries, breaking the carbon lock-in effect and strengthening renewable energy financing through the establishment of energy partnerships, reflecting the features of joint contribution and cooperation. Our findings alleviate some scholars' concerns about the environmental effects of the BRI to a certain degree and show that proactive policies of investing countries can guide development finance to contribute to the global energy transition and climate goals. • BRI boosts the frequency of China's policy banks' renewable energy (RE) financing. • BRI significantly affects the promotion of RE financing by CHEXIM in BRI countries. • China's RE financing is directed to high credit risk, low-income countries. • China emphasizes joint-construction RE projects to break carbon lock-in effects. • BREP provides an effective cooperation platform for China's energy financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, an innovative approach to fabricate lightweight, highly sensitive three-dimensional (3D) conductive nanofiber sponges for pressure sensors was reported. 3D sponges were prepared by self-assembly of electrospun carbon nanofibers/aminated Fe 3 O 4 and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets. Specifically, an external magnetic field was applied to further regulate the orientation and distribution of the graphene nanosheets through the induction of the magnetic field on the nanomagnetons to improve the performance of the sponge. After the external magnetic field conditions were changed, the prepared rGOF/CF composite sponge material showed high sensitivity (0.56 Kpa−1), the volume conductivity of the conductive sponge significantly improved, the conductivity measured at both ends dropped sharply by more than 30–60 times from 6154.4 Ω m. The rGOF/CF composite sponge has certain magnetic properties. It could be applied to the switch of magnetic attraction. Meanwhile, the composite sponge material exhibited good cyclic stability under different pressure compressions and an obvious response to small pressures. [Display omitted] • The composites sponges were made from electrospun carbon nanofibers, aminated Fe 3 O 4 Nanoparticles and rGO. • An external magnetic field was applied to further regulate the orientation and distribution of the graphene nanosheets. • The prepared rGOF/CF composite sponge material showed high sensitivity. • The composite sponge material showed that the sponge material had good electromagnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Shortening telomere length (TL), as an indicator of aging, has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and incident stroke. However, there are limited data relating to the association between TL and recurrent stroke. Methods: Patients from the Third China National Stroke Registry who had whole genome sequencing (WGS) were selected. TL was estimated using TelSeq based on binary sequence alignment/map files derived from WGS data. Cox proportional hazards regression models were performed to assess the association of TL with recurrent stroke. Results: A total of 8041 patients with ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) were included. Mean TL was 2.14 ± 0.82 kb. Patients in the lowest tertile of TL had higher incidence of stroke recurrence compared to those in the middle and highest tertile (6.4% vs 5.9% vs 5.2%), but the difference was not longer significant after adjusting for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors and stroke severity. Similarly, when analyzing TL as a continuous variable, the HR per 1000 bp increase in TL was significant 0.88 (0.79–0.98), but after adjusting for co-variates, was no longer significant (0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.81–1.02). In patients aged > 65 years, but not in younger patients, after adjusting for co-variates, TL was significantly associated with stroke recurrence. Compared to the lowest tertile, HRs (95% CI) after adjustment for all co-variates for the middle and highest tertiles were 0.78 (0.55–1.10) and 0.67 (0.46–0.98), respectively, with p for trend of 0.03. In analyses using TL as a continuous variable, adjusted HR (95% CI) per 1000 bp increase in TL was 0.80 (0.66–0.96). However, there was no significant interaction between TL and age on risk of stroke recurrence (p for interaction = 0.09). Conclusions: In Chinese IS or TIA patients, no independent association was found between TL and risk of stroke recurrence after adjusting for co-variates. We found a possible association in older patients but this needs replicating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium–rich cathodes have excess lithium in the transition metal layer and exhibit an extremely high specific capacity and good energy density. However, they still have some disadvantages. Here, we propose LiCoMnO4, a new nanolayer coating material with a spinel structure, to modify the surface of lithium cathode oxide (Li7/6Mn1/2Ni1/6Co1/6O2) with a layered structure. The designed cathode with nanolayer spinel coating delivers an excellent reversible capacity, outstanding rate capability, and superior cycling ability whilst exhibiting discharge capacities of 300, 275, 220, and 166 mAh g−1 at rates of 0.1 C at 2.0−4.8 V formation and 0.1, 1, and 5 C, respectively, between 2.0 and 4.6 V. The cycling ability and voltage fading at a high operational voltage of 4.9 V were also investigated, with results showing that the nanolayer spinel coating can depress the surface of the lithium cathode oxide layer, leading to phase transformation that enhances the electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted variability in intensity of care. We aimed to characterize intensity of care among hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Objectives: Examine the prevalence and predictors of admission code status, palliative care consultation, comfort-measures-only orders, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among patients hospitalized with COVID-19.Methods: This cross-sectional study examined data from an international registry of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. A proportional odds model evaluated predictors of more aggressive code status (i.e., Full Code) vs. less (i.e., Do Not Resuscitate, DNR). Among decedents, logistic regression was used to identify predictors of palliative care consultation, comfort measures only, and CPR at time of death.Results: We included 29,923 patients across 179 sites. Among those with admission code status documented, Full Code was selected by 90% (n = 15,273). Adjusting for site, Full Code was more likely for patients who were of Black or Asian race (ORs 1.82, 95% CIs 1.5-2.19; 1.78, 1.15-3.09 respectively, relative to White race), Hispanic ethnicity (OR 1.89, CI 1.35-2.32), and male sex (OR 1.16, CI 1.0-1.33). Of the 4951 decedents, 29% received palliative care consultation, 59% transitioned to comfort measures only, and 29% received CPR, with non-White racial and ethnic groups less likely to receive comfort measures only and more likely to receive CPR.Conclusion: In this international cohort of patients with COVID-19, Full Code was the initial code status in the majority, and more likely among patients who were Black or Asian race, Hispanic ethnicity or male. These results provide direction for future studies to improve these disparities in care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score and prognostic nutrition index (PNI) are immune-nutritional biomarkers that are related to clinical prognosis. Previous studies have reported using them to predict the prognosis of traumatic brain injury, tumours and other diseases. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the PNI and CONUT score and the one-year prognosis of patients with spinal tuberculosis (STB). In this study, the clinical characteristics of 97 patients with STB who underwent debridement and internal fixation at our institution between 2015 and 2020 were retrospectively analysed. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, patients were divided into two groups: a high CONUT group and a low CONUT group. Patients were also divided into a high PNI group and a low PNI group. One-year postoperative prognosis was evaluated by the clinical cure standard. Patients in the favourable group were younger and had a lower rate of pneumonia and urinary tract infection, higher PNI and lower CONUT score than those in the favourable group (P < 0.05). There was an obvious correlation between the PNI and CONUT score (r = − 0.884, P < 0.05). The areas under the curve (AUCs) of the CONUT score and PNI for predicting unfavourable prognosis were 0.888 (95% CI 0.808–0.943, P < 0.001) and 0.896 (95% CI 0.818–0.949, P < 0.001), respectively. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of the CONUT score and PNI for predicting unfavourable outcomes were 2.447 (95% CI 1.518–4.043, P < 0.001) and 0.689 (95% CI 0.563–0.843, P < 0.001), respectively. Higher CONUT scores and a lower PNI were associated with adverse outcomes in patients with spinal tuberculosis, and the CONUT score and PNI might be independent predictors of adverse outcomes of spinal tuberculosis postoperatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping the thunderstorm electrical structure could provide an effective way for lightning-sensitive facilities protection, such as aircraft and maritime assets. However, the weather radar that is normally used to forecast storms and rainfall mainly detects precipitation in the atmosphere and indicates the existence of liquid raindrops and ice particles by reflectivity. Here, we use intra-cloud events of eight thunderstorm days in the warm season, which are detected by VLF/LF Total Lightning monitoring system, to reveal the thunderstorm electrical structures in the 300 × 300 km area of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. The differences in height range in four types of time intervals and three types of intro-cloud events proportions are compared on 16 May. With the proportion between 20% and 80% in the time interval of 15 min, the height distribution and the electrical structure of eight thunderstorm days are clearly exhibited. The positive IC events lie in the average height between 7.5 and 12.4 km, while the negative IC events are located between 5.3 and 11.7 km. The electrical structures show the variations during the evolution process, with a dipole structure in most circumstances, while temporary reversions are identified in the initial and the dissipating stage of thunderstorms, presenting the inverted dipole and the tripole structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immiscible polymer blends are an important family of polymer materials. The interfacial thickness between different phases is a very important parameter that dictates, to a great extent, the morphology and properties of such a blend. This work explores and optimizes an up-to-date atomic force microscopy (AFM) of type NanoIR2™ system in order to quantitatively measure the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends. This system is equipped with two nano-probes capable of detecting the response of a material to an infrared pulse called AFM-infrared spectroscopy mode (AFM-IR) or conducting resonance called AFM-Lorentz Contact Resonance mode (AFM-LCR), respectively. Its potential for quantitatively measuring the interfacial thickness of immiscible polymer blends is evaluated using blends composed of polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyolefin elastomer (POE) in the presence or absence of a POE containing maleic anhydride (POE-g-MAH) as a compatibilizer. Surface roughness affects adversely the signal intensity and consequently an accurate measurement of the interfacial thickness. Optimum sample surface preparation procedures are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study outlines the feasibility, safety, and short-term clinical outcomes of posterior lateral endoscopic cervical discectomy (PLECD) through a lateral mass approach for treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR). This single-center retrospective observational study involved 30 patients with single-level CSR who had failed conservative treatment and presented with clinical symptoms consistent with imaging findings undergoing PLECD via a lateral mass approach. Primary outcomes included the visual analog scale (VAS) for neck and arm pain, the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, and the modified MacNab criteria. Radiographic follow-up consisted of static and dynamic cervical radiographs and computed tomographic scans. Thirty patients (13 men and 17 women; mean age 48.8 ± 11.9 years) underwent this procedure, and the mean operative time was 74.90 ± 13.52 minutes. Mean follow-up was 7.37 ± 2.17 months. The VAS scores for the neck and arm decreased significantly at the last follow-up (neck, 26.80 ± 4.75 to 9.87 ± 1.78; arm, 71.30 ± 8.48 to 14.73 ± 4.00) (P < 0.05). The JOA score also decreased from 13.47 ± 1.36 to 15.90 ± 0.92 at the last follow-up (P < 0.05). Twenty-nine patients demonstrated satisfactory outcomes based on the modified MacNab criteria at the last follow-up. All patients exhibited a positive clinical response, experiencing relief from symptoms. Postoperative computed tomography (CT) scans confirmed the complete removal of lesions. PLECD through a lateral mass approach, as an alternative to conventional "keyhole" approaches, proves to be a novel and viable therapeutic option for CSR, demonstrating both high efficacy and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Halogen-free and ambient slot-die coating of the small-molecule organic solar cell and module. • Thermal annealing for mass production, good photo-stability and indoor lighting performance. • Tunable BHJ film morphologies of sheet-to-sheet and flexible roll-to-roll slot-die coatings. • Efficiency of S2S and flexible R2R slot-died SMOSC achieve 7.6% and 7.3%, respectively, • Characteristic, structural and systematic study correlating processing and performance. The upscale fabrication of the inverted small-molecule organic solar cell (SMOSC) from spin coating to large-area slot-die coating using halogen-free solvent under the ambient air environment is developed. This work successfully adopts thermal annealing treatment to tune the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structure for two advantages of compatibility to mass production and good photo-stability. By tuning the respective optimum film structure, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) values under AM 1.5G light and indoor light (T5 lamp with 500 lx) illuminations for the ambient spin-coated device achieve 8.5% and 13.26%, respectively. The photo-bleaching and light-soaking tests under the AM 1.5G illumination show that the photo-stability of the thermally-annealed DRCN5T:PC 71 BM device is much better than PTB7-Th:PC 71 BM device. The tunable BHJ film morphologies of large-area ITO/glass-based sheet-to-sheet (S2S) and flexible roll-to-roll (R2R) slot-die coatings of DRCN5T:PC 71 BM SMOSCs are based on different dry-film formation and crystallization mechanisms. The structural control during the drying-film process for S2S and R2R coatings is a critical key to determine the optimum performance. The PCEs of the ITO/glass-based and flexible ITO/PET-based SMOSCs achieve 7.6% and 7.3%, respectively. The PCE of the ambient flexible R2R slot-die-coated SMOSC using halogen-free solvent is much higher than that of the currently flexible R2R coated SMOSCs. The PCEs of S2S slot-die-coated cell device of 1 × 5 cm2 and module achieve 5.1%. We conduct a characteristic, structural and systematic study of how to scale-up SMOSC via slot-die coatings, demonstrating the relationship among processing control, performance and structure for different coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is a worldwide popular drink with high nutritional and medicinal values as it is rich in nutrients, such as polyphenols, amino acids, vitamins, glycosides, and so on. Among them, tea polyphenols (TPs) are the current research hotspot. TPs are known to have multiple biological activities such as anti‐oxidation, anti‐tumor, anti‐inflammation, anti‐bacteria, lowering lipid, and liver protection. By reviewing a large number of literatures, we explained the mechanism of TPs exerting biological activity and a wide range of applications. We also discussed the deficiencies and development potential of TPs, in order to provide theoretical reference and scientific basis for the subsequent development and utilization of TPs. Practical applications: We summarized the bioactivity mechanisms of TPs in anti‐tumor, anti‐oxidation, antibacterial, anti‐inflammatory, lipid‐lowering, and liver protection, focused on its application fields in food and medicine, and discussed the deficiency and development potential of current research on TPs, so as to provide a certain convenient way for scholars studying TPs. It is expected to contribute to the subsequent discovery of biological activity and the broadening of the field of TPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of the missing data of radiator during the aerial war, and to address the problem that traditional algorithms rely on prior knowledge and specialized systems too much, an algorithm for radiator threat evaluation with missing data based on improved Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has been proposed. The null estimation algorithm based on Induced Ordered Weighted Averaging (IOWA) is adopted to calculate the aggregate value for predicting missing data. The attribute reduction is realized by using the Rough Sets (RS) theory, and the attribute weights are reasonably allocated with the theory of Shapley. Threat degrees can be achieved through quantization and ranking of radiators by constructing a TOPSIS decision space. Experiment results show that this algorithm can solve the incompleteness of radiator threat evaluation, and the ranking result is in line with the actual situation. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is highly automated and does not rely on prior knowledge and expert systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacture of ambient roll-to-roll (R2R) slot-die-coated organic photovoltaic (OPV) is the basis toward commercialization of OPV. The low-cost large-area encapsulation technique of stability improvement of flexible OPV module is under-investigated. The related reports on flexible encapsulation up-scaled from cell were limited. The present study develops an effective and easy encapsulation method and architecture design based on the inverted structure of ambient R2R slot-die-coated PET/ITO/ZnO/active layer/hole transport layer (HTL)/Ag. All module areas are greater than 48 cm2. The P3HT:PCBM and PV2000:PC 71 BM adopted as active layers have the performance conversion efficiencies of modules of 1–2.2% and 4.2%, respectively. The thermally-deposited MoO 3 and slot-die-coated PEDOT:PSS HTLs are used to compare the effect of HTL on T 80 lifetime of the large-area flexible R2R module under the accelerated test. The accelerated stability tests regarding to different encapsulation architectures, including damp-heat and light soaking stresses, were conducted. The intrinsic and extrinsic degradation effects are analyzed. We develop the simple encapsulation design effectively suppressing the lateral ingress of oxygen and moisture. The T 80 lifetime of P3HT:PCBM-based module can be improved to be 1500 h under the damp-heat test (65 °C/65% RH). The T 80 lifetime of PV2000:PC 71 BM-based module can last for 7000 h under the dark and ambient environment (30 °C/50 ± 20% RH). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomarkers can be used to enrich a clinical trial for patients at higher risk for an outcome, a strategy termed "prognostic enrichment." Methodology is needed to evaluate biomarkers for prognostic enrichment of trials with time-to-event endpoints such as survival. Key considerations when considering prognostic enrichment include: clinical trial sample size; the number of patients one must screen to enroll the trial; and total patient screening costs and total per-patient trial costs. The Biomarker Prognostic Enrichment Tool for Survival Outcomes (BioPETsurv) is a suite of methods for estimating these elements to evaluate a prognostic enrichment biomarker and/or plan a prognostically enriched clinical trial with a time-to-event primary endpoint. BioPETsurv allows investigators to analyze data on a candidate biomarker and potentially censored survival times. Alternatively, BioPETsurv can simulate data to match a particular clinical setting. BioPETsurv's data simulator enables investigators to explore the potential utility of a prognostic enrichment biomarker for their clinical setting. Results demonstrate that both modestly prognostic and strongly prognostic biomarkers can improve trial metrics such as reducing sample size or trial costs. In addition to the quantitative analysis provided by BioPETsurv, investigators should consider the generalizability of trial results and evaluate the ethics of trial eligibility criteria. BioPETsurv is freely available as a package for the R statistical computing platform, and as a webtool at www.prognosticenrichment.com/surv. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions between cyclopentanocucurbit[6]uril (abbreviated as CyP6Q[6]) and a series of dialkyl-4,4′-bipyridinium and diaryl-4,4′-bipyridinium dicationic guest molecules, where the alkyl group is CH3(CH2) n with n = 0–6 (expressed as G1 to G7) and the aryl group is phenylene (G8) and xylene (G9), have been investigated in aqueous solution using 1H NMR spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and electronic absorption spectroscopy. Our results show that G1 and G2 form 1 : 1 host–guest inclusion complexes with CyP6Q[6], in which the bipyridinium core is partially embedded in the cavity of CyP6Q[6]. G3 – G9 form 2 : 1 dumbbell-type host–guest inclusion complexes, in which the substituents are encapsulated by CyP6Q[6]. At the same time, CyP6Q[6] was compared with several other cucurbit[n]urils (Q[n]s) and their derivatives, such as Q[6], Q[7], and TMeQ[6], which have been reported to interact with this type of guest molecule. In its binding mode, CyP6Q[6] shows many interesting and different properties, and this difference was mainly reflected with G1 and G2. Although the host–guest chemistry of cucurbit[ n ]urils continues to flourish, that of the related cyclopentanocucurbit[6]uril (CyP6Q[6]) is at an embryonic stage. We are interested in the ability of CyP6Q[6] to include viologens, CyP6Q[6] shows many interesting and different properties, compared with other cucurbit[n]urils (Q[n]s) and their derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-situ anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS) technique was used to investigate the strain glass transition (SGT) in as-quenched Ti48.7Ni51.3 shape memory alloy during a thermal cycle of 30 °C to the SGT temperature Tg (−50 °C) and then to 30 °C again. The Ni atoms play a critical role as point defects in the SGT mechanism and are very difficult to characterize using conventional tools. ASAXS identified the distribution of Ni atoms in nanodomains, which have a disk-like core–shell configuration with a Ni-rich shell and a highly Ni-rich core. Moreover, the morphological evolution, growth and shrinkage of the highly Ni-rich core domains during the thermal cycle through Tg are demonstrated. The enhancement and reversible behavior of the local lamellar ordering arrangement of nanodomains during the SGT process at Tg are revealed. The structural evolution and local ordering arrangement of nanodomains can play a role in hindering martensitic transformation. The ASAXS results provide new knowledge about the SGT beyond that from current simulation works. However, this corresponding structure of the nanodomains was destroyed when the specimen was heated to 250 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of a robust and efficient stationary phase for chromatographic biopharmaceutical purification is of prime importance but remains challenging. Herein, we have developed a series of protein A-mesoporous silica composites for the first time by covalently coupling protein A with the tagged carbonyl imidazole moieties in the column, which constitutes a facile and efficient route for the preparation of protein A immunoaffinity materials. The resultant composites are employed as the stationary phase for chromatographic purification of immunoglobulin G (IgG). The effect of silica's pore size and coupled protein A on the antibody purification is systematically investigated. When the pore size of silica increased from 100 to 1000 Å, the amount of coupled protein A decreased, and the surface coverage on the silica significantly improved, accompanied by an increase in the amount of purified rabbit IgG. With an increasing coupled protein A, the surface coverage increased at first and decreased subsequently, which shows a similar trend to the amount of purified IgG and specific activity. When practically implemented for purifying several immunoglobulins that are central for commercial ELISA Kits, the protein A-mesoporous silica composite exhibited superior performance compared to the GE-Mabselcetxtra rProtein A column, particularly in the purification of immunoglobulin M (IgM), which cannot be realized by the GE-Mabselcetxtra rProtein A column. This study sheds new light on the rational development of protein-affinity chromatography for biopharmaceutical purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The host–guest binding characteristics of cyclopentanocucurbit[6]uril (CyP6Q[6]) and cyanine dye trans-4-[4-(dimethylamino)styryl]-1-methylpyridinium iodide (t-DSMI) have been studied. The results show that CyP6Q[6] and t-DSMI form a 1:1 inclusion system, generating strong fluorescence. On this basis, the fluorescent probe t-DSMI@CyP6Q[6] has been constructed, and its anion recognition ability has been investigated. In a neutral environment, BF4−, H2PO4−, and I− elicit obvious specific responses from the probe, since they have stronger binding forces. This probe shows greater sensitivity than the previously reported probe t-DSMI@HMeQ[6]. Since the complex formed by CyP6Q[6] and t-DSMI can produce strong fluorescence at pH > 4.6, t-DSMI@CyP6Q[6] was constructed to recognize the anions at pH ≅ 5. The results show that in a near neutral environment, BF4−, H2PO4−, and I− elicit obvious specific responses from the probe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Infertile red soil benefited from 23 years of organic and inorganic fertilization. • Applying pig manure had overwhelmingly positive effects on soil fertility. • Use of pig manure fertilizer increased contamination risk for Cu, Zn, and Cd. • Micronutrients properly added to fertilizers further enhance overall soil health. • The comprehensive assessment revealed the development trends of soil health. To optimize soil health, land use, and soil management decisions need to be guided by an understanding of the underlying soil health. Although widely used fertilizers guarantee crop production, they ultimately damage agricultural soil environmental quality and threaten the overall food chain safety. Thus, an integrative assessment considering both environmental safety and soil fertility is required for the sustainable development of long-term fertilization systems. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of soil health using 20 soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators and assessed them according to four heavy metals—copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead. This experiment was conducted in an area where there is an ongoing, 23-year-long fertilization experiment in a typical red soil region of southern China, including four treatments of common inorganic chemical fertilizer (CF), CF mixed with micronutrients (CF + T), CF mixed with pig manure (PM), and PM mixed with micronutrients (PM + T). To assess the soil fertility quality, we selected a minimum data set consisting of soil water-stable aggregates mean weight diameter, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, and dehydrogenase activity. The results revealed that soil fertility quality followed the order of PM + T ≈ PM > CF + T > CF. We also used a modified potential ecological risk index to assess the soil environmental quality. This approach considered the acid-soluble and exchangeable fraction of heavy metals as the bioavailability component. Both PM and PM + T treated soils were significantly contaminated by heavy metals, with particularly large amounts of Cd contamination. The soil health index escalated from CF, CF + T, PM to PM + T, which indicated that the use of pig manure allowed for more fertile soil relative to standard chemical fertilization. Moreover, applying additional micronutrients also had a significant influence on soil fertility. Therefore, our study revealed that long-term fertilization using organic pig manure was beneficial to overall soil fertility; however, these benefits were coupled with significant limitations regarding heavy metal contamination. Collectively, this study provides a better supporting method for soil health management and long-term fertilization strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the effect of interpersonal distance on forgiveness has been investigated over the past few years, it remains unclear whether this facilitating effect holds even when measured implicitly. Meanwhile, though cognitive control and the corresponding prefrontal cortex play a prominent role in forgiveness processing, the neural mechanism underlying forgiveness toward varied wrongdoers is largely unexplored. Here, forty-two participants initially underwent noise offense either from their friend or stranger, followed by a word identification test to examine their implicit attitude, during which they were presented with word-name combinations and required to categorize forgive- or complain-label words while ignoring the names of their friends or strangers below. A shorter reaction time reflects more congruence with one's implicit attitude. Electroencephalogram was recorded during the word identification test. Behaviorally, while individuals reacted faster to forgive-friend relative to complain-friend pairings, no such reaction bias was found for the stranger-wrongdoer, which suggests that individuals were more inclined to forgive someone close. Regarding the EEG/ERP results, forgive-friend elicited lower alpha oscillation and more negative frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) value than complain-friend combinations, suggesting increased and dominant activity in the right prefrontal network during forgiveness toward friends. Whereas complain- relative to forgive-stranger combinations elicited larger P3 amplitudes, suggesting a neural encoding bias to information associated with complaints about stranger-wrongdoer. These multimodal findings provide evidence for the benefits of closeness in forgiveness and shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying forgiveness toward different types of wrongdoers. • The effect of interpersonal distance on forgiveness is widely investigated explicitly. • This study provides multimodal evidence via implicit paradigm and electrophysiological measures. • Forgiveness is more likely to occur within a close interpersonal relationship, even when measured implicitly. • Participants exhibit neural biases toward information associated with complaints about stranger-wrongdoer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) have been widely used in films, pipes, plates, fibers, and electronic devices, etc. due to a good balance between mechanical properties, processability and cost. They are apolar and chemically relatively inert. Sometimes these characteristics may restrain their application. A solution to making them polar and/or chemically reactive is to graft polar and/or functional groups onto their backbones. This can be done by free radical chemistry via a reactive extrusion process which is continuous, solventless and of short residence time (

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to determine if computed tomographic (CT) texture analysis measurements of the tumor are independently associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), including both unresectable locally advanced and metastatic PDAC, who were treated with chemotherapy.Methods: After an institutional review board waiver was obtained, contrast material-enhanced CT studies in 41 patients with unresectable PDAC who underwent contrast-enhanced CT before chemotherapy between 2014 and 2017 were analyzed in terms of tumor texture, with quantification of mean gray-level intensity (Mean), entropy, mean of positive pixels (MPP), kurtosis, standard deviation (SD), and skewness for fine to coarse textures (spatial scaling factor (SSF) 0-6, respectively). The association between pretreatment and posttreatment texture parameters, as well as Δ value (difference between posttreatment and pretreatment texture parameters), and survival time was assessed by using Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier analysis.Results: Findings from the multivariate Cox model indicated that tumor size, tumor SD (HR, 0.942; 95% CI: 0.898, 0.988) and skewness (HR, 0.407; 95% CI: 0.172, 0.962) measurements with SSF = 3, and tumor SD (HR, 0.958; 95% CI: 0.92, 0.997) measurements with SSF = 4 were significantly and independently associated with PFS, while tumor size and tumor SD (HR, 0.928; 95% CI: 0.882, 0.976) measurements with SSF = 3 were significantly and independently associated with OS. None of the post-therapy texture parameters or Δ value had a significant association with OS or PFS in multivariate Cox regression models. Medium SD (SSF = 3) of more than 38.38 and coarse SD (SSF = 4) of more than 40.67 were associated with longer PFS after chemotherapy (for SSF = 3, median PFS was 10.0 vs 6.0 months [P = 0.024], and for SSF = 4, median PFS was 12.0 vs 6.0 months [P = 0.003]). SD of 38.38 or greater (SSF = 3) as a dichotomized variable was a significant positive prognostic factor for OS (median OS, 20.0 vs 9.0 months [P = 0.04]). Survival models that included a combination of pretreatment SD (SSF = 3) with tumor size, had the potential to perform better than SD alone, while having no statistical significance in this study (area under the ROC curve, 0.756 vs 0.715 [P = 0.066]).Conclusions: Pretreatment CT quantitative imaging biomarkers from texture analysis are associated with PFS and OS in patients with unresectable PDAC who were treated with chemotherapy, and the combination of pretreatment texture parameters and tumor size have the potential to perform better in survival models than imaging biomarker alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique was used to reveal the evolution and growth kinetics of nano-precipitates (ppts) of severely cold-rolled CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy aged at 350–500 °C for different times. The nano-ppts in the as cold-rolled alloy have a radius of ∼1.2 nm, grow drastically in the early 30 min of aging at 500 °C, and reach the saturation stage at 60 min aging. The rapid increase in the size/volume fraction of the nano-ppts with the aging time is also quantitatively correlated with significant precipitation hardening, as indicated by measurements of the corresponding hardness and tensile stress-strain curve. TEM observation of the specimen aged at 500 °C for 60 min reveals many homogeneously distributed nano-ppts in the matrix, which have a radius of 2.0–2.5 nm. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Existence of nano-precipitates with radius of ∼1.2 nm in as severely cold-rolled CoCrFeMnNi HEA. • Evolution of nano-precipitates in terms of the size and volume fraction studied by synchrotron SAXS. • Growth kinetics of nano-precipitates correlated with the alloy's hardness and tensile stress-strain curve, indicating the precipitation hardening. • The nano-precipitates observed by HRTEM exhibit the homogeneous distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial risk not only affects the development of the company itself, but also affects the economic development of the whole society; therefore, the financial risk assessment of company is an important part. At present, numerous methods of financial risk assessment have been researched by scholars. However, most of the extant methods neither integrated fuzzy sets with quantitative analysis, nor took into account the historical data of the past few years. To settle these defects, this paper proposes a novel financial risk assessment model for companies based on heterogeneous multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and historical data. Subjective and objective indexes are comprehensively taken into consideration in the financial risk assessment index system of the model, which combines fuzzy theory with quantitative data analysis. Moreover, the assessment information obtained from historical financial information of company, credit rating agency and decision makers, including crisp numbers, triangular fuzzy numbers and neutrosophic numbers. Furthermore, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is used to determine the ranking order of companies according to their financial risk. Finally, an empirical study of financial risk assessment for companies is conducted, and the results of comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis suggest that the proposed model can effectively and reliably obtain the company with the lowest financial risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a tropical $q$ -difference analogue of the lemma on the logarithmic derivative for doubling tropical meromorphic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that investigated the electro-optical properties of polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) materials. Analysis of the transmittance of PDLC film; Observations on the microphase structure of PDLC films via scanning electron microscopy; Effect of liquid crystal domain size and microstructure on light scattering properties.

Online detection of methanol electro-oxidation reaction products [e.g., formaldehyde (HCHO)] by mass spectrometry (MS) is challenging, owing to the high salt content and extreme pH of the electrolyte solution as well as the difficulty in ionizing the reaction products. Herein we present an online ambient mass spectrometric approach for analyzing HCHO generated from methanol electro-oxidation, taking the advantage of high salt tolerance of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS). It was found that HCHO can be detected as PhNHNH=CH ( m/z 121) by DESI after online derivatization with PhNHNH. With this approach, the analysis of HCHO from methanol electro-oxidation by MS was carried out not only in acidic condition but also in alkaline media for the first time. Efficiencies of different electrodes for methanol oxidation at different pHs were also evaluated. Our results show that Au electrode produces more HCHO than Pt-based electrodes at alkaline pH, while the latter have higher yields at acidic solution. The presented methodology would be of great value for elucidating fuel cell reaction mechanisms and for screening ideal fuel cell electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fast and ultrasensitive test-strip system combining quantum dots (QDs) with a lateral-flow immunoassay strip (LFIAS) was established for detection of Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) antibody. The highly luminescent water-soluble carboxyl-functionalized QDs were used as the signal output and were conjugated to streptococcal protein G (SPG), which was capable of binding to immunoglobulin G (IgG) from many species through an amide bond to capture the target PPRV IgGs. The PPRV N protein, which was immobilized on the detection zone of the test strip, was expressed by transfecting recombinant Bacmid-PPRV-N with Lipofect into Sf9 insect cells. When exposed to PPRV IgG, QD-SPG bound to PPRV N protein, resulting in the formation of a complex that subsequently produced a bright fluorescent band in response to 365 nm ultraviolet excitation. Sensitivity evaluation showed that the QD-LFIAS limit of detection (LOD) for PPRV antibody was superior to competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) and the immunochromatographic strip. No cross reaction was observed when the positive sera of bluetongue virus, canine distemper virus, goat pox virus, and foot-and-mouth disease virus were tested. Further evaluation using field samples indicated that the diagnostic specificity and sensitivity of the QD-LFIAS was 99.47 and 97.67 %, respectively, with excellent agreement between QD-LFIAS and c-ELISA. The simple analysis step and objective results that can be obtained within 15 min indicate that this new method shows great promise for rapid, sensitive detection of PPRV IgG for onsite, point-of-care diagnosis and post vaccination evaluation (PVE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variation in monthly sediment load is greatly influenced by climate and vegetation changes which are generally coupled and interconnected. However, few studies have quantified the relative magnitudes of the direct and indirect influences of climate variability and vegetation dynamics on monthly sediment load. The objective of this study was to decouple the impacts of climate and vegetation changes on the monthly sediment load in a karst watershed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Monthly sediment load, runoff, climatic factors (temperature and precipitation), and vegetation data (NDVI, EVI, and LAI) were collected from 2003 to 2017. Results indicated that climatic factors and vegetation dynamics explained 73% of the variation in monthly runoff, while climatic factors, vegetation dynamics, and runoff accounted for 62% of the monthly sediment load changes. Climate change can not only directly alter vegetation and hydrological characteristics, but also indirectly affect hydrological characteristics by changing vegetation dynamics, thus affecting the cooperative processes of runoff and sediment load. Specifically, runoff (direct effect = 0.84) and precipitation (indirect effect = 0.67) had a positive impact on monthly sediment load, while antecedent temperature (indirect effect = −0.02), temperature (indirect effect = −0.03), antecedent precipitation (indirect effect = −0.01), and vegetation dynamics (direct effect = −0.12; indirect effect = 0.07) had a negative impact. Compared with traditional methods, PLS-SEM can more completely describe the relationship among the observed variables and other potential influencing variables and may provide relevant references for eco-hydrological management and land resource optimization in karst watersheds. [Display omitted] • Vegetation, climate, and runoff accounted for 62% of monthly sediment load (MSL) changes. • Runoff and precipitation had the most direct and indirect effects on MSL, respectively. • The direct and indirect influence of vegetation on MSL were both relatively limited. • PLS-SEM can accurately decouple the climate and vegetation changes for MSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristics of the strain glass transition exhibited in as-quenched and 250 °C 1–5 h aged Ti 48.7 Ni 51.3 SMA were studied by various tests/measurements. The results of frequency-dependent storage modulus vs. temperature measurement, the temperature-dependent resistivity, thermal conductivity, and specific heat tests demonstrated the signature and characteristics of the strain glass transition exhibited in as-quenched and 250 °C early-aged Ti 48.7 Ni 51.3 SMA. The plate-/disk-like morphology and spatially heterogeneous distribution of the real Ni-rich nanodomains in as-quenched and 250 °C 1–5 h aged specimens were quantitatively characterized using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. The formative origin of the real nanodomains and the relationship between the real nanodomains and the strain nanodomains are proposed accordingly. Experimental results indicated R-like phase and Ti 3 Ni 4 -like precipitates co-existing in the strain glass of 250 °C early-aged specimens, and they also demonstrated the growth behavior of the real nanodomains exhibited in specimens during thermal aging. It was also found that increasing the aging time can elevate the T g from ∼−60 °C to ∼−20 °C, which indicates the tunable characteristic of T g for as-quenched Ti 48.7 Ni 51.3 SMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoporous carbon that contains magnetic cobalt nanoparticles (Co-NPC) was fabricated by direct carbonization of a Zn-Co bimetallic zeolitic imidazolate framework. After carbonization, the magnetic Co-NPs are well dispersed in the porous carbon matrix, with the result that the Co-NPC displays strong magnetism. The Co-NPC possesses a high specific surface area, large pore volumes and a microstructure comprised of mesopores and macropores. This results in fast molecular diffusion of the analytes along with excellent adsorption. The Co-NPC was used as a magnetic adsorbent for the enrichment of the benzodiazepine drug flunitrazepam (rohypnol) from tea and Ginger ale prior to high-resolution mass spectrometric analysis. The calibration plot is linear (with a correlation coefficient of >0.9869) in the 1 to 500 ng mL concentration range. The limits of detection are 0.2 ng mL for Ginger ale and 1.0 ngmL for Arizona Tea samples, respectively, which is lower by about 4 orders of magnitude than those reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neotuberostemonine (NTS) is one of the main antitussive alkaloids in the root of Stemona tuberosa Lour. This study aimed to investigate the effects of NTS on bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice and the underlying mechanism. After BLM administration, NTS were orally administered to mice at 20 and 40 mg/kg per day from days 8 to 21, with nintedanib as a positive control. The effect of NTS on BLM-induced mice was assessed via histopathological examination by HE and Masson's trichrome staining, TGF-β1 level and macrophage recruitment by immunohistochemical staining, expression of profibrotic media and M1/M2 polarization by western blot. RAW 264.7 cells were used to evaluate whether NTS (1, 10, 100 μM) directly affected macrophages. The results revealed that NTS treatment significantly ameliorated lung histopathological changes and decreased inflammatory cell counts in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The over-expression of collagen, α-SMA and TGF-β1 was reduced by NTS. Furthermore, NTS markedly lowered the expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 while raised the expression of MMP-9. A further analysis showed that NTS was able to decrease the recruitment of macrophages and to inhibit the M2 polarization in mice lung tissues. The experiment in vitro showed that NTS significantly reduced the arginase-1 (marker for M2) expression in a dose-dependent manner but down-regulated the iNOS (marker for M1) expression only at 100 μM. In conclusion, our study demonstrated for the first time that NTS has a significant protective effect on BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis through suppressing the recruitment and M2 polarization of macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) plays a vital role in the maturation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) from the mice immunized with human β 2 -glycoprotein I (β 2 GPI). However, the roles of TLR4 in the activation of B cells and production of anti-β 2 GPI antibodies in vivo have been rarely studied. This study aimed to investigate the activation of B cells from TLR4-defective (C3H/HeJ) and TLR4-intact (C3H/HeN) mice pre-immunized with human β 2 GPI. After β 2 GPI injection, the level of anti-β 2 GPI antibody in the serum of TLR4-defective and TLR4-intact mice was gradually increased and the number and size of germinal centers in the spleen were also significantly increased. Compared with C3H/HeJ mice, we observed significantly higher anti-β 2 GPI antibody titer and more germinal centers in C3H/HeN mice. Moreover, the β 2 GPI-induced expression of CD40L, CD40, CD80, CD86 and MHC II in C3H/HeN mice was significantly higher than that in C3H/HeJ mice. Furthermore, the β 2 GPI-induced expression of B cell activating factor (BAFF) in the spleen and IL-6 and IL-10 in B cells from C3H/HeN mice was also significantly increased compared to C3H/HeJ mice. Taken together, our results suggest that TLR4 is required for the activation of B cells and the production of autoantibody in mice treated with β 2 GPI, but the immunological mechanisms of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) need further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) is a recent and important advance in the field that has extensive applications in surface analysis of solid samples but has also been extended to analysis of liquid samples. The liquid sample DESI typically employs a piece of fused silica capillary to transfer liquid sample for ionization. In this study, we present the improvement of liquid sample DESI-MS by replacing the sample transfer silica capillary with a trap column filled with chromatographic stationary phase materials (e.g., C4, C18). This type of trap column/liquid sample DESI can be used for trace analysis of organics and biomolecules such as proteins/peptides (in nM concentration) in high salt content matrices. Furthermore, when the sample transfer capillary is modified with enzyme covalently bound on its inside capillary wall, fast digestion (<6 min) of proteins such as phosphoproteins can be achieved and the online digested proteins can be directly ionized using DESI with high sensitivity. The latter is ascribed to the freedom to select favorable spray solvent for the DESI analysis. Our data show that liquid sample DESI-MS with a modified sample transfer capillary has significantly expanded utility in bioanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Four methods were used to decomposed the effects of climate change and human activities effects on sediment discharge (SD). • Human activities had the larger influence on SD , especially dam construction. • Sediment identify factor analysis indicated that sediment concentration greatly influenced SD , accounting for 100% to 154%. • The four quantitative methods were compared and their relative merits were summarized. Quantifying the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to changes in sediment discharge is closely related to regional water resources, soil management, and healthy ecosystem function. However, few studies have used different methods to decompose influences of climatic variability and human activities on changes to sediment discharge, especially in karst regions of southwest China which are experiencing severe soil erosion. This study systematically reviewed four methods (simple linear regression, double mass curve, sediment identify factor analysis, and elastic coefficient method) to separate the contribution of climate change and human activities to sediment discharge variation in four karst watersheds of southwest China during 1955 to 2015. The trend and abrupt change year of sediment discharge in the four watersheds were obtained using a nonparametric Mann-Kendall trend test and sequential test method, respectively. Result showed that the sediment discharge in all four watersheds all decreased significantly (P < 0.05), and the abrupt change years were 2003 or 2004 for these watersheds. The simple linear regression method, double mass curve method, and elastic coefficient method all indicated that the sediment discharge was mainly influenced by human activities, which contributed more than 73% of the observed change. For the sediment identify factor analysis method, sediment concentration was the principal factor influencing sediment discharge variation. The results provide a reference for evaluating the influence of climate and human activities on sediment discharge, and can aid in preparing regional soil conservation policy in karst watersheds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance The root of Aster tataricus L. f., recorded in all versions of Chinese Pharmacopoeia, is a traditional Chinese medicine with the function of dispelling phlegm and relieving cough for more than 2000 years. This study was designed to evaluate the expectorant, antitussive, and anti-inflammatory activities of the root of A. tataricus and to explore the chemical substances responsible for these activities. Materials and methods The 70% ethanol extract of the root of A. tataricus (RA-70) was divided into three fractions, Fr-0, Fr-50 and Fr-95. They were all orally administrated to the mice to investigate their potential expectorant activities by a tracheal phenol red secretion method. The most effective fraction, together with shionone, was evaluated the expectorant, antitussive and anti-inflammatory activities by the mouse models of phenol red secretion, ammonia-induced cough, and xylene-induced ear swelling. Furthermore, the chemical components of the effective fraction were analyzed and identified by an HPLC-Q-TOF/MS method. Results Treatment with RA-70, Fr-0 and Fr-50 increased the amount of phenol red secretion by 65.3%, 56.5%, and 76.9%, respectively. Fr-50 was chosen for the further investigation and the results showed that Fr-50 at 40, 80 mg/kg significantly enhanced the phenol red secretion of tracheas, increased the latent period and decreased the frequency of cough and inhibited the ear edema in mice. Shionone at 80 mg/kg showed the trend of enhancing sputum secreting, but had no effect on ammonia-induced cough and xylene-induced ear edema. HPLC-Q-TOF/MS analysis indicated that Fr-50 was mainly composed of 12 caffeoylquinic acids (40.8%, in relative peak area), 7 astersaponins (12.0%) and 13 astins/asterinins (pentapeptides, 26.5%). Conclusions The root of A. tataricus has significant expectorant, antitussive and anti-inflammatory effects. Caffeoylquinic acids, astersaponins, and aster peptides, rather than shionone, may be the main constituents responsible for the expectorant and antitussive activities of A. tataricus and act in a synergistic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen storage performance of Pd-doped oxidized activated carbon (Pd/AC-ox) with various oxygen contents or functional groups was investigated. The surface chemistry of the Pd/AC-ox sample was modified by treatment with hydrogen gas. Temperature-programmed desorption was performed to characterize the oxygen functional groups in each sample. In this study, low- and high-pressure hydrogen adsorption isotherm experiments were conducted using a static volumetric measurement at room temperature (RT) and pressures of up to 8 MPa. The results showed that increasing the oxygen content and functional groups on the surface of the Pd/AC-ox significantly improved the reversible RT hydrogen storage capacity due to the spillover effect. The hydrogen spillover enhancement factors at 0.12 MPa were greater than 100% for all samples. The hydrogen uptake of Pd/AC-ox1 at RT and 8 MPa with an oxygen content of 8.94 wt.% was 0.37 wt.%, which was 48% greater than that of Pd-free AC-ox (0.25 wt.%). In addition, the hydrogen uptake of Pd/AC-ox3 with lower oxygen contents demonstrates that the hydrogen spillover enhancement gradually disappears when the pressure is increased to more than 2 MPa (i.e., a transition from spillover to physisorption). The surface diffusion, or reversible adsorption, of the spiltover H atoms, which is enhanced by oxygen functional groups, was affected by a threshold amount of oxygen groups (such as hydroxyl groups). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a surface self-cleaning wood was obtained by loading Bi2O3-doped silica–titanium composite film on the surface of wood by the sol–gel method. The effects of different Bi doping amounts on the structure and photocatalytic properties of the modified wood were investigated. The doping of Bi2O3 inhibited the growth of TiO2 crystals and the phase transition from anatase to rutile. In addition, Bi2O3 could improve the photocatalytic activity of the composite film by appropriately reducing the grain size of TiO2 and increasing the crystallinity of TiO2. Furthermore, doping with Bi2O3 shifted the absorption wavelength of the wood samples back into the visible range, indicating that the increase in Bi content favoured light absorption. The wood samples loaded with Bi2O3-doped Si–Ti composite membranes had the best photocatalytic activity and the highest reaction rate when n (Ti):n (Bi) = 1:0.015. Degradation rates of 96.0% and 94.0% could be achieved for rhodamine B and gaseous formaldehyde, respectively. It can be seen that wood samples loaded with Bi2O3-doped Si–Ti composite films on the surface exhibit excellent photocatalytic activity against both gaseous and liquid pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has a high tendency among illicit drug abusers. Recently, it is reported that abuse of fentanyl, a potent synthetic μ receptor–stimulating opioid, is an independent risk factor for HIV-1 infection. However, the mechanism of action in augmenting HIV-1 infection still remains elusive. In this study, we found that fentanyl enhanced infection of HIV-1 in MT2 cells, primary macrophages and Jurkat C11 cells. Fentanyl up-regulated CXCR4 and CCR5 receptor expression, which facilitated the entry of virion into host cells. In addition, it down-regulated interferon-β (IFN-β) and interferon-stimulated genes (APOBEC3F, APOBEC3G and MxB) expression in MT2 cells. Our findings identify an essential role of fentanyl in the positive regulation of HIV-1 infection via the upregulation of co-receptors (CXCR4/CCR5) and downregulation of IFN-β and ISGs, and it may have an important role in HIV-1 immunopathogenesis. • Fentanyl enhances infection of HIV-1 in MT2, primary macrophages, Jurkat C11 cells. • Fentanyl promotes the expression of CXCR4 and CCR5 receptors. • Fentanyl inhibits interferon-β and interferon-stimulated genes expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of left-behind children (LBC) in school bullying has raised concern in China. However, the susceptibility of LBC to engage in bullying is controversial, and comprehensive, representative studies covering the entire country are lacking. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of school bullying among LBC. The Chinese National Knowledge Network, WanFang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and EBSCO databases were searched for literature on being left-behind and bullying before April 2022. The effect size was measured by odds ratio (ORs), standard mean difference (SMD), and 95% confidence interval (CI). Random-effects or fixed-effects models were selected for meta-analysis, and subgroup analysis was used to explore the sources of heterogeneity. The meta-analysis included 25 studies of school bullying among LBC and non-LBC (NLBC). The prevalence of bullying perpetration and victimization among LBC were 18.58% (95% CI [3.72%, 33.44%], p <.05) and 40.62% (95% CI [25.47%, 55.78%], p <.05), respectively. Compared with NLBC, the risk of bullying perpetration and victimization among LBC increased 1.97 times (OR = 1.97, 95% CI [1.77, 2.20], p <.05) and 2.17 times (OR = 2.17, 95% CI [1.43, 3.29], p <.05), respectively. The severity of bullying experienced by LBC was higher than that of NLBC (SMD = 0.49, 95% CI [0.20, 0.79], p <.05). The prevalence and severity of school bullying were higher in LBC than in NLBC, and left-behindness was positively associated with school bullying. LBC are a crucial population to protect when developing bullying interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]