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In this work, a donor‐acceptor (D‐A) type ligand is prepared to construct Cu(I) and Ag(I) complexes. These complexes possess similar molecular structures, distributions of molecular orbitals, and distributions of electrons and holes in excited states. However, they exhibit distinct photophysical properties, such as luminescent spectra and transient photo‐luminescent decay spectra. Through analysis of deep‐lying molecular orbitals in a tetrahedral field, it is determined that the variation in d‐p π conjugation between the metal cation's d‐orbitals and the π orbitals of the electron‐acceptor part of the D‐A ligand is the reason for the different photophysical properties. This research contributes to an in‐depth understanding of the role of metal ions in luminescent complexes, providing insights from the perspective of coordination chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the BCS theory, hydrogen, the lightest element, would be the prospect of room-temperature superconductor after metallization, but because of the difficulty of the hydrogen metallization, the theory about hydrogen pre-compression was proposed that the hydrogen-rich compounds could be a great option for the high Tc superconductors. The superior properties of TmH6, YbH6 and LuH6 indicated the magnificent potential of heavy rare earth elements for low-pressure stability. Here, we designed XTmH12 (X = Y, Yb, Lu, and La) to obtain higher Tc while maintaining low pressure stability. Most prominently, YbTmH12 can stabilize at a pressure of 60 GPa. Compared with binary TmH6 hydride, its Tc was increased to 48 K. The results provide an effective method for the rational design of moderate pressure stabilized hydride superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Berberine (Ber), an isoquinoline alkaloid, is a potential drug therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) because of its anti-inflammatory activity, high biological safety, and few side effects. Nevertheless, its clinical application is hindered by its limited water solubility and low bioavailability. Currently, compared to synthetic nanocarriers, exosomes as carriers possess advantages such as low toxicity, high stability, and high specificity. Human placental mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (HplMSC-Exos) have emerged as a promising drug delivery system, offering intrinsic anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Therefore, we engineered MSC-Exos loaded with Ber (Exos-Ber) to enhance the solubility and bioavailability of Ber and for colon targeting, revealing a novel approach for treating UC with natural compounds. Structurally and functionally, Exos-Ber closely resembled unmodified Exos. Both in vitro and in vivo investigations confirmed the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Exos-Ber. Notably, Exos-Ber exhibited reparative effects on injured epithelial cells and reduced cellular apoptosis. Furthermore, Exos-Ber concurrently demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, contributing to the mitigation of UC, possibly through its modulation of the MAPK signaling pathway. Overall, our findings demonstrate the potential of Exos-Ber as a promising therapeutic option for alleviating UC, highlighting its capacity to enhance the clinical applicability of Ber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, multifunctional MXene‐integrated wearable textiles (MWTs) are particularly appealing due to their various applications such as health monitoring, smart protection, and medical treatment. However, scalable manufacture of durable, stable, and high‐performance multifunctional MWTs still face challenges due to the poor oxidation stability of MXene and low utilization of precursor titanium aluminum carbide (MAX). Herein, an improved preparation strategy for zinc ion (Zn2+) intercalation is proposed to create high antioxidative MXene (ZM) and exceptionally conductive and printable gel ink based on MXene sediments (ZMS‐ink), while multifunctional wearable textiles are fabricated using spray‐coating and screen‐printing techniques on cellulosic nonwoven textiles (CNWs), achieving the complete utilization of MXene precursor. Benefiting from the inherent disordered stacking and porous structure of CNWs, along with the highly conductive ZM and ZMS‐ink, as‐prepared smart, wearable and green‐based pressure sensor offered proper breathability, high sensitivity (2602.26 kPa−1), wide sensing range (0–141 kPa), and excellent cycling stability (>5000 cycles). Additionally, the sensor exhibited efficient photothermal/photodynamic therapy antibacterial activity and exceptional electromagnetic interference shielding performance (57.5 dB). Therefore, this work paves the way for the future development of integrated and scalable multifunctional wearable devices building on the environmental‐friendly CNWs incorporated with fully utilized MAX, offering a green and cost‐effective approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary Sn-based sulfide materials are generally considered as potential candidate anode for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high capacity and superior ion/electrical conductivity. In the work, we successfully prepared the multiphase Cu4SnS4/CuS/SnS (CTS) nanoparticles uniformly anchored in the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets (CTS/RGO). The CTS/RGO composite exhibits superior cycling stability with negligible capacity decay under a current density of 200 mA g−1 as well as favorable rate capability compared with that of bare CTS particles. The improved electrochemical performance can be attributed to the existence of RGO as a buffer to restrain the huge volume variation during the charge/discharge processes, enhancing the conductivity and diffusion kinetics of Li+ in the composite. This work highlights the strengthening effect of RGO for the Li storage properties of Sn-based sulfides, which is beneficial to guide these composites with good electrochemical performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is mounting evidence that malnutrition and systemic inflammation status are involved in the prognosis of various cancers. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the pretreatment fibrinogen-albumin ratio index (FARI) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients receiving definite radiotherapy. NPC patients who received definite radiotherapy between January 2013 and December 2019 were included. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the optimal cutoff value. The clinicopathological characteristics of the patients were compared via the Chi-square test. Survival curves were analyzed by the Kaplan‒Meier method. The prognostic factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses via Cox hazards regression analysis. A total of 225 patients were enrolled, and the median follow-up time was 48.5 months. High FARI was correlated with worse ECOG score (p = 0.003), higher EBV-DNA titer (p = 0.047), and more advanced clinical stage (p < 0.001). In the multivariable analysis, FARI independently predicted OS (HR 2.399, 95% CI 1.294–4.450, P < 0.001), PFS (HR 2.085, 95% CI 1.200–3.625, P = 0.009), and DMFS (HR 2.527, 95% CI 1.288–4.958, P < 0.001). The current findings suggest that a high pretreatment FARI is an independent predictor of OS, PFS and DMFS in NPC patients undergoing definite radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia may impair airway mucosal function. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pressure-controlled ventilation-volume guaranteed (PCV-VG) on bronchial mucus transport velocity (BTV) in patients during laparoscopic surgery for gynecological oncology compared with volume controlled ventilation (VCV). Methods: 66 patients undergoing elective a laparoscopic surgery for gynecological oncology. The patients were randomized into two group receiving either PCV-VG or VCV. a drop of methylene blue was placed on the surface of the airway mucosa under the bronchoscopeand, then the distance the dye movement was measured after 2, 4, and 6 min. Outcomes were assessed at T0 (5 min after endotracheal intubation and before initiation of pneumoperitoneum), T1 and T2 (1 and 2 h after stabilization of pneumoperitoneum respectively). BTV at T0, T1 and T2 was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), body temperature, end-tidal CO2 pressure (PETCO2), tidal volume(VT), peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), mean inspiratory pressure (Pmean), respiratory rate (RR), and dynamic compliance (CDyn) at T0, T1, and T2. Results: 64 patients were included in the analysis. The median [interquartile range] BTV was significantly lower in VCV group at T1 and T2 that at T0 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, BTV was slightly reduced in PCV-VG compared with VCV. BTV in PCV-VG was significantly decreased at T2 compared with BTV at T0 (P < 0.05) and slightly decreased at T1 compared with T0(P > 0.05). Compared with the PCV-VG group, BTV in VCV group significantly decreased at T2 (P < 0.05). No participants experienced respiratory complications. Conclusions: PCV-VG is more suitable for patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery for gynecological oncology than VCV since it can protect mucociliary clearance function. Trial registration: This trial is registered on https://www.chictr.org.cn/ in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR.2200064564: Date of registration 11/10/2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive consumption of fossil fuels has resulted in massive carbon emissions and serious ecological and environmental crises. Therefore, achieving the efficient utilization of waste carbon sources is considered as an important pathway to addressing the aforementioned issues in the context of carbon neutrality. Developing and designing suitable catalyst materials has become the key to converting COx into valuable platform chemicals and value-added liquid fuels (e.g., CO, CH4, CH3OH, and C2+ hydrocarbons). A moderate interaction between nitrogen-doped carbon materials and active metals is more favorable for the progress of the COx hydrogenation reaction compared to traditional metal oxide carriers. In this work, we comprehensively summarize the synthesis methods of N-doped carbon materials and the relevant research progress in the field of COx hydrogenation. In addition, a general assessment of carbon-based catalysts for COx hydrogenation reactions, concerning the support and metal properties, the activity and product selectivity, and their interactions is systematically discussed. Finally, this review discusses the roles of N-doped carbon materials, the current challenges, and future development directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flap necrosis, the most prevalent postoperative complication of reconstructive surgery, is significantly associated with ischaemia–reperfusion injury. Recent research indicates that exosomes derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) hold potential therapeutic applications in several diseases. Traditionally, BMSCs are cultured under normoxic conditions, a setting that diverges from their physiological hypoxic environment in vivo. Consequently, we propose a method involving the hypoxic preconditioning of BMSCs, aimed at exploring the function and the specific mechanisms of their exosomes in ischaemia–reperfusion skin flaps. This study constructed a 3 × 6 cm2 caudal superficial epigastric skin flap model and subjected it to ischaemic conditions for 6 h. Our findings reveal that exosomes from hypoxia-pretreated BMSCs significantly promoted flap survival, decrease MCP-1, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels in ischaemia–reperfusion injured flap, and reduce oxidative stress injury and apoptosis. Moreover, results indicated that Hypo-Exo provides protection to vascular endothelial cells from ischaemia–reperfusion injury both in vivo and in vitro. Through high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis, we further compared the differential miRNA expression profiles between Hypo-Exo and normoxic exosomes. Results display the enrichment of several pathways, including autophagy and mTOR. We have also elucidated a mechanism wherein Hypo-Exo promotes the survival of ischaemia–reperfusion injured flaps. This mechanism involves carrying large amounts of miR-421-3p, which target and regulate mTOR, thereby upregulating the expression of phosphorylated ULK1 and FUNDC1, and subsequently further activating autophagy. In summary, hypoxic preconditioning constitutes an effective and promising method for optimizing the therapeutic effects of BMSC-derived exosomes in the treatment of flap ischaemia–reperfusion injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustibility of wood can be improved by physical and chemical means, thus expanding the use of wood products. In this study, two novel phosphorus-nitrogen flame retardants (UCPR and MCPR) were developed, and the intercalated modified layered double hydroxides (LDH) thereof were designated as UCPR-LDH and MCPR-LDH. By impregnating poplar veneer with UCPR-LDH and MCPR-LDH solutions, the study investigated the effects of different concentrations (1%, 5%, 10%), processes (vacuum-pressure impregnation, room temperature impregnation, normal-pressure impregnation), and impregnation times (2 h, 3 h, 24 h, 48 h) on the weight-gain rate of veneer. The optimal process was then selected for preparing formaldehyde-free three-layer plywood. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were used to characterize the UCPR and MCPR. Meanwhile, gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) demonstrated that the molecular weight of the synthesized flame retardants increased as their molecular distribution became more uniform. The impregnation process was performed at normal temperature and pressure for 48 h at a 5% flame retardant concentration. Results from cone calorimetry indicate that the UCPR-LDH plywood exhibits a peak heat release rate that is 30.43% lower than that of the control group, demonstrating superior thermal barrier performance. The smoke emission of the MCPR-LDH plywood was reduced by 33.62% compared to the control group, indicating superior smoke suppression performance. This method presents a viable approach for synthesizing organic-inorganic flame retardants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a partial histamine H1 receptor agonist and H3 antagonist, betahistine has been reported to partially prevent olanzapine-induced dyslipidemia and obesity through a combination therapy, although the underlying epigenetic mechanisms are still not known. Recent studies have revealed that histone regulation of key genes for lipogenesis and adipogenesis in the liver is one of the crucial mechanisms for olanzapine-induced metabolic disorders. This study investigated the role of epigenetic histone regulation in betahistine co-treatment preventing dyslipidemia and fatty liver caused by chronic olanzapine treatment in a rat model. In addition to abnormal lipid metabolism, the upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBPα), as well as the downregulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) in the liver induced by olanzapine, were significantly attenuated by betahistine co-treatment. In addition, betahistine co-treatment significantly enhanced the global expression of H3K4me and the enrichment of H3K4me binding on the promoter of Cpt1a gene as revealed by ChIP-qPCR, but inhibited the expression of one of its site-specific demethylases, lysine (K)-specific demethylase 1A (KDM1A). Betahistine co-treatment also significantly enhanced the global expression of H3K9me and the enrichment of H3K9me binding on the promoter of the Pparg gene, but inhibited the expression of two of its site-specific demethylases, lysine demethylase 4B (KDM4B) and PHD finger protein 2 (PHF2). These results suggest that betahistine attenuates abnormal adipogenesis and lipogenesis triggered by olanzapine through modulating hepatic histone methylation, and thus inhibiting the PPARγ pathway-mediated lipid storage, while at the same time promoting CP1A-mediated fatty acid oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of preoperative radiotherapy (RT) combined with surgery and preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) combined with surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were searched to collect published randomized controlled trials of preoperative radiotherapy or preoperative CRT combined with surgery for the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer. Studies were screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, and quality was evaluated; RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. Results: In total, 7 related studies involving 3100 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer were evaluated. The pathological complete response rate, negative lymph node rate, R0 resection rate, and incidence of grade III/IV adverse reactions were lower in the RT group than in the CRT group. In the absence of postoperative chemotherapy, the 5-year local recurrence rate of RT was higher than that of CRT, but there was no significant difference between the groups among those who underwent postoperative chemotherapy. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the groups with regard to the 5-year survival rate, anal-preserving rate, or incidence of anastomotic leakage. Conclusion: Preoperative CRT is better than preoperative RT for the treatment of advanced rectal cancer, though the adverse reaction rate is higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most sepsis deaths are due to the development of multiple organ failure, in which heart failure is a recognized manifestation of sepsis. To date, the role of liver X receptors α (NR1H3) in sepsis is still uncertain. Here, we hypothesized that NR1H3 mediates multiple essential sepsis‐related signalings to attenuate septic heart failure. Adult male C57BL/6 or Balbc mice and HL‐1 myocardial cell line were performed for in vivo and in vitro experiments, respectively. NR1H3 knockout mice or NR1H3 agonist T0901317 was applied to evaluate the impact of NR1H3 on septic heart failure. We found decreased myocardial expression levels of NR1H3‐related molecules while increased NLRP3 level in septic mice. NR1H3 knockout worsensed cardiac dysfunction and injury in mice subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), in association with exacerbated NLRP3‐mediated inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and apoptosis‐related markers. The administration of T0901317 reduced systemic infection and improve cardiac dysfunction in septic mice. Moreover, Co‐IP assays, luciferase reporter assays, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis, confirmed that NR1H3 directly repressed NLRP3 activity. Finally, RNA‐seq detection further clarified an overview of the roles of NR1H3 in sepsis. In general, our findings indicate that NR1H3 had a significant protective effect against sepsis and sepsis‐induced heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aconitum is known for being rich in toxic diterpenoid alkaloids, and many of them are unilateral medicinal materials constituting traditional Chinese medicine, which have important clinical uses. Previous liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry studies were mainly focused on a few common species, but lacked in‐depth and detailed research on other species in the same genus, although they have similar or even the same uses. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of the high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry data by semi‐quantitative comparisons of the accurate molecular weight and fragmentation pathway of standards was introduced to investigate the diterpenoid alkaloids in four dried root tubers of A. kusnezoffii Reichb., A. carmichaelii Radix., A. pendulum Busch., and A. brachypodum Diels. Thirty‐two diterpenoid alkaloids were identified by the molecular networking platform. Their structures were determined by tandem mass spectrometry fragmentation comparisons, and structures that connect fatty acyl groups with different modifications at the C‐8 position which in previous studies paid little attention may have better digestion and absorption behavior in drug clinic uses. This work provides a basis for further understanding the clinical efficacy of Aconitum herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid energy storage systems (HESSs) can simultaneouslyharness the advantages of batteries and supercapacitors (SCs) in various loading situations. Coupled with communication links, cyber-physical HESSs would be threatened by unexpected cyber attacks that may cause damage to electrical devices and even collapse the entire system. To overcome the adverse impacts of attacks, a resilience control scheme is proposed in this article. The proposed scheme provides a unified form integrated with adaptive laws to guarantee multifunctional HESS operations, i.e., dc bus voltage restoration, transient current allocation between batteries and SCs, proportional battery current sharing, and battery state-of-charge balancing, under cyber attacks. The proposed resilience control allows us to establish communication links only among batteries, whereas SCs are free of the data exchange process, which can save system capital costs. The stability of the proposed control is proved by the Lyapunov stability theory. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach are validated on a hardware-in-the-loop testing platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so‐called lower tungsten carbides W2C and Fe3W3C often appear in tungsten carbide–reinforced iron matrix (WC–Fe) composites. The effect of their presence on the mechanical properties of the material, such as hardness, is not well understood. In this study, we extensively measured the hardness distribution in the WC–Fe composites and also performed hundreds of microhardness measurements to determine the hardness values for the lower carbides. The hardness values calculated by ab initio were compared, where the theoretical values of Fe3W3C had little difference from the experimental values. However, the experimentally obtained hardness data for W2C were significantly smaller than the reported theoretical data. Moreover, the experimental hardness values for W2C reported in the literatures are very different. To understand the origin of the discrepancy, the focused‐ion‐beam–transmission‐electron‐microscopy technique was used to obtain the high‐resolution images of W2C, which revealed a high density of planar defects. As a further comparison, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations illustrate that the complex interactions between different atomic pairs in Fe3W3C make it difficult for this type of crystal defect to occur. The lattice of W2C can adjust—resulting in shuffle defects and stacking faults—to a certain degree affecting its hardness, which was not revealed in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) have attracted much attention as a potential cell-free therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC), mainly due to their anti-inflammatory, tissue repair, and immunomodulatory properties. Although intravenous injection of MSC-Exos is able to improve UC to a certain extent, oral administration of exosomes is the preferred method to treat gastrointestinal diseases such as UC. However, exosomes contain proteins and nucleic acids that are vulnerable to degradation by the gastrointestinal environment, making oral administration difficult to implement. Layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technology provides a promising strategy for the oral delivery of exosomes. Therefore, an efficient LbL-Exos self-assembly system was constructed in this study for the oral delivery of exosomes targeted to the colon to improve UC treatment. Biocompatible and biodegradable N-(2-hydroxyl) propyl-3-trimethyl ammonium chitosan chloride (HTCC) and oxidized konjac glucomannan (OKGM) polysaccharides were used as the outer layers to provide colon targeting and to protect exosomes from degradation. Similar to plain exosomes, LbL-Exos had a similar structure and features, but LbL provided controlled release of exosomes in the inflammatory colon. Compared with intravenous administration, oral administration of LbL-Exos could effectively alleviate UC using half the number of exosomes. Mechanistic studies showed that LbL-Exos were internalized by macrophages and intestinal epithelial cells to exert anti-inflammatory and tissue repair effects and therefore alleviate UC. Furthermore, the LbL-Exos system was able to improve UC via MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway inhibition. Overall, our data show that LbL-MSC-Exos can alleviate UC after oral administration and therefore may constitute a new strategy for UC treatment in the future. [Display omitted] • An efficient MSC-Exos oral delivery system to improve UC therapy • LbL self-assembly technology provides exosomes protection and colon targeting. • LbL-Exos had good biocompatibility, stability and sustained release behaviors. • LbL-Exos alleviate UC using half dosage of exosomes compared with i.v. • The underlying therapeutic mechanisms of LbL-Exos were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a cooperative resilient control method for dc microgrid (MG) is proposed to dispel the adverse influences of both communication delays and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. To avoid that the sampling period is captured by intelligent attackers, a new time-varying sampling period, and an improved communication mechanism are first introduced under the sampling control framework. Based on the designed sampling period and communication mechanism, a resilient secondary controller is designed. It is theoretically shown that the developed method can achieve the goals of bus voltage restoration and current sharing even in the presence of both DoS attacks and heterogeneous communication delays. Finally, a dc MG test system is built in a controller-hardware-in-the-loop testing platform to illustrate and verify the effectiveness of our developed method against both communication delays and DoS attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria may significantly impact the soil microbial community and the growth of plant roots and have critical roles in soil ecosystem functioning. However, the interactions between rhizobacteria and plants are extremely complicated and remain understudied. RESULTS: In this study, a Bacillus strain was isolated from a long‐term maize colonization soil and identified as Bacillus aryabhattai strain LAD. Laboratory tests showed that B. aryabhattai LAD had phosphate‐solubilizing and nitrogen‐fixing functions that benefit plant growth. The effects of LAD cultures on the root system development of corn seedlings and the structure of rhizosphere bacterial communities were studied. The most significant stimulations of LAD culture on plant growth were observed at a cell density of 102 CFU mL−1. Treatment with LAD culture in hydroponics caused an increase of 107%, 197%, and 25% in the shoot length, total root length, and main root thickness respectively. The LAD treatment also significantly affected the rhizosphere microbial abundance and community structure. The rhizobacterial abundance and species richness in the corn seedlings treated with LAD culture were significantly lower than those in the control group. However, the LAD‐treated samples had higher relative abundances of plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria like Bacillus and Burkholderia than the control samples did, suggesting that LAD treatment may facilitate the mutualistic relation between the rhizosphere microbiome and the plant. CONCLUSION: These results collectively demonstrated that LAD is capable of shaping the rhizosphere microbial community structure and functions as a plant growth‐promoting agent, which makes it a strong candidate for application as bio‐fertilizer in agricultural systems. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly focuses on the construction of a system dynamics model of an online lending platform and the application of Vensim simulation technology in the analysis of the evolution trend of the investment interest rate. The system dynamics flow graph models of the investment subsystem, loan subsystem, and interest rate subsystem of the online lending platform were innovatively constructed; the level variable, flow rate variable, auxiliary variable, and mathematical relations between these variables as they relate to the platform were innovatively studied. Based on the key variables of the online lending platform, a system dynamics model of the online lending platform was innovatively constructed. The parameters were assigned using data from China's online lending industry, and the logical consistency, sensitivity, and validity of the simulation data of the system dynamics model were tested. Finally, we used Vensim simulation technology to simulate and analyze the impact of emergency scenarios on the interest rate evolution trend. Overall, this paper provides a scientific simulation technology and data analysis method for examining online lending platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrological forecasting is of great importance for water resources management and planning, especially given the increasing occurrence of extreme events such as floods and droughts. The physics-informed machine learning (PIML) models effectively integrate conceptual hydrologic models with machine learning (ML) models. In this process, the intermediate variables of PIML models serve as bridges between inputs and outputs, while the impact of intermediate variables on the performance of PIML models remains unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, this study aims to encompass the construction of PIML models based on various hydrologic models, conduct comparative analyses of different intermediate variables based on a case study of 205 CAMELS basins, and further explore the relationship between the performance of PIML models and catchment characteristics. The optimal ML model for constructing PIML is first selected among four ML models within the 205 basins. The PIML models are then developed based on five monthly water balance models, namely TM, XM, MEP, SLM, and TVGM. To quantify the potential impact of difference in intermediate variables, two sets of experiments are further designed and performed, namely S1 with actual evapotranspiration as the intermediate variable and S2 with soil moisture as the intermediate variable. Results show that five PIML models generally outperformed the optimal standalone ML models, i.e., the Lasso model. Specifically, regardless of the choice of intermediate variables, the PIML-XM model consistently outperformed the other models within the same basins. Almost all constructed PIML models are affected by the intermediate variables in monthly runoff simulations. Typically, S1 exhibited better performance compared to S2. A greater impact of aridity index, forest fraction, and catchment area on model performance is observed in S2. These findings improve our understanding of constructing PIML models in hydrology by emphasizing their excellent performance in runoff simulations and highlighting the importance of intermediate variables. [Display omitted] • The general functions of the PIML model are constructed based on five MWBMs. • The effect of intermediate variables on runoff simulations is assessed in PIML model. • ET is more effective as an intermediate variable than SM. • Intermediate variables introduce uncertainty in catchment impact on model performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute abdominal conditions during pregnancy are significant risks to maternal and fetal health, necessitating timely diagnosis and intervention. The choice of surgical approach is a major concern for obstetricians.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TU-LESS procedure for acute abdomen in late pregnancy.We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients who underwent TU-LESS for acute abdominal conditions in the third trimester from 2020 to 2023. We reviewed medical records for clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, postoperative complications, and pregnancy outcomes.The study included patients with a median age of 27 (range 20–35) and a BMI of 24.33 kg/m2 (range 21.34–31.96). The median gestational age at surgery was 30 weeks (range, 28 + 3–32 + 4 weeks), with surgeries lasting an average of 60 min (range, 30–163 min). Blood loss was 2–20 mL, and the median hospital stay post-surgery was 6 days (range, 2–16 days). There were no significant complications. The median time to delivery after TU-LESS was 56 days (range, 26–66 days), resulting in 8 full-term deliveries, 2 preterm cesareans, and 2 preterm vaginal deliveries. All newborns were healthy, with no fetal losses or neonatal deaths.TU-LESS, performed by experienced obstetricians and gynecologists with proper preoperative preparation, is safe and effective for managing acute abdomen in late pregnancy, without the need to delay surgery due to gestational age.Objective: Acute abdominal conditions during pregnancy are significant risks to maternal and fetal health, necessitating timely diagnosis and intervention. The choice of surgical approach is a major concern for obstetricians.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TU-LESS procedure for acute abdomen in late pregnancy.We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients who underwent TU-LESS for acute abdominal conditions in the third trimester from 2020 to 2023. We reviewed medical records for clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, postoperative complications, and pregnancy outcomes.The study included patients with a median age of 27 (range 20–35) and a BMI of 24.33 kg/m2 (range 21.34–31.96). The median gestational age at surgery was 30 weeks (range, 28 + 3–32 + 4 weeks), with surgeries lasting an average of 60 min (range, 30–163 min). Blood loss was 2–20 mL, and the median hospital stay post-surgery was 6 days (range, 2–16 days). There were no significant complications. The median time to delivery after TU-LESS was 56 days (range, 26–66 days), resulting in 8 full-term deliveries, 2 preterm cesareans, and 2 preterm vaginal deliveries. All newborns were healthy, with no fetal losses or neonatal deaths.TU-LESS, performed by experienced obstetricians and gynecologists with proper preoperative preparation, is safe and effective for managing acute abdomen in late pregnancy, without the need to delay surgery due to gestational age.Methods: Acute abdominal conditions during pregnancy are significant risks to maternal and fetal health, necessitating timely diagnosis and intervention. The choice of surgical approach is a major concern for obstetricians.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TU-LESS procedure for acute abdomen in late pregnancy.We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients who underwent TU-LESS for acute abdominal conditions in the third trimester from 2020 to 2023. We reviewed medical records for clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, postoperative complications, and pregnancy outcomes.The study included patients with a median age of 27 (range 20–35) and a BMI of 24.33 kg/m2 (range 21.34–31.96). The median gestational age at surgery was 30 weeks (range, 28 + 3–32 + 4 weeks), with surgeries lasting an average of 60 min (range, 30–163 min). Blood loss was 2–20 mL, and the median hospital stay post-surgery was 6 days (range, 2–16 days). There were no significant complications. The median time to delivery after TU-LESS was 56 days (range, 26–66 days), resulting in 8 full-term deliveries, 2 preterm cesareans, and 2 preterm vaginal deliveries. All newborns were healthy, with no fetal losses or neonatal deaths.TU-LESS, performed by experienced obstetricians and gynecologists with proper preoperative preparation, is safe and effective for managing acute abdomen in late pregnancy, without the need to delay surgery due to gestational age.Results: Acute abdominal conditions during pregnancy are significant risks to maternal and fetal health, necessitating timely diagnosis and intervention. The choice of surgical approach is a major concern for obstetricians.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TU-LESS procedure for acute abdomen in late pregnancy.We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients who underwent TU-LESS for acute abdominal conditions in the third trimester from 2020 to 2023. We reviewed medical records for clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, postoperative complications, and pregnancy outcomes.The study included patients with a median age of 27 (range 20–35) and a BMI of 24.33 kg/m2 (range 21.34–31.96). The median gestational age at surgery was 30 weeks (range, 28 + 3–32 + 4 weeks), with surgeries lasting an average of 60 min (range, 30–163 min). Blood loss was 2–20 mL, and the median hospital stay post-surgery was 6 days (range, 2–16 days). There were no significant complications. The median time to delivery after TU-LESS was 56 days (range, 26–66 days), resulting in 8 full-term deliveries, 2 preterm cesareans, and 2 preterm vaginal deliveries. All newborns were healthy, with no fetal losses or neonatal deaths.TU-LESS, performed by experienced obstetricians and gynecologists with proper preoperative preparation, is safe and effective for managing acute abdomen in late pregnancy, without the need to delay surgery due to gestational age.Conclusion: Acute abdominal conditions during pregnancy are significant risks to maternal and fetal health, necessitating timely diagnosis and intervention. The choice of surgical approach is a major concern for obstetricians.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the TU-LESS procedure for acute abdomen in late pregnancy.We retrospectively analyzed 12 patients who underwent TU-LESS for acute abdominal conditions in the third trimester from 2020 to 2023. We reviewed medical records for clinical characteristics, surgical interventions, postoperative complications, and pregnancy outcomes.The study included patients with a median age of 27 (range 20–35) and a BMI of 24.33 kg/m2 (range 21.34–31.96). The median gestational age at surgery was 30 weeks (range, 28 + 3–32 + 4 weeks), with surgeries lasting an average of 60 min (range, 30–163 min). Blood loss was 2–20 mL, and the median hospital stay post-surgery was 6 days (range, 2–16 days). There were no significant complications. The median time to delivery after TU-LESS was 56 days (range, 26–66 days), resulting in 8 full-term deliveries, 2 preterm cesareans, and 2 preterm vaginal deliveries. All newborns were healthy, with no fetal losses or neonatal deaths.TU-LESS, performed by experienced obstetricians and gynecologists with proper preoperative preparation, is safe and effective for managing acute abdomen in late pregnancy, without the need to delay surgery due to gestational age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the tremendous efforts on developing antibacterial wearable textile materials containing Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene, the singular antimicrobial mechanism, poor antibacterial durability, and oxidation susceptibility of MXene limits their applications. In this context, flexible multifunctional cellulosic textiles were prepared via layer-by-layer assembly of MXene and the in-situ synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). Specifically, the introduction of highly conductive MXene enhanced the interface interactions between the ZIF-8 layer and cellulose fibers, endowing the green-based materials with outstanding synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) activity and adjustable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. In-situ polymerization formed a MXene/ZIF-8 bilayer structure, promoting the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) while protecting MXene from oxidation. The as-prepared smart textile exhibited excellent bactericidal efficacy of >99.99 % against both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) after 5 min of NIR (300 mW cm−2) irradiation which is below the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limit. The sustained released Zn2+ from the ZIF-8 layer achieved a bactericidal efficiency of over 99.99 % within 48 h without NIR light. Furthermore, this smart textile also demonstrated remarkable EMI shielding efficiency (47.7 dB). Clearly, this study provides an elaborate strategy for designing and constructing multifunctional cellulose-based materials for a variety of applications. • Multifunctional wearable materials are fabricated through an organic-inorganic hybridization strategy. • Rapid and long-item antibacterial performance is achieved through multiple antibacterial mechanisms. • The antioxidant protection of MXene achieves persistent material functionalization. • Outstanding EMI shielding efficiency (47.7 dB) is exhibited. • Safe and comfortable personal protective wearable textiles are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the tremendous efforts on developing antibacterial wearable textile materials containing Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene, the singular antimicrobial mechanism, poor antibacterial durability, and oxidation susceptibility of MXene limits their applications. In this context, flexible multifunctional cellulosic textiles were prepared via layer-by-layer assembly of MXene and the in-situ synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). Specifically, the introduction of highly conductive MXene enhanced the interface interactions between the ZIF-8 layer and cellulose fibers, endowing the green-based materials with outstanding synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) activity and adjustable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. In-situ polymerization formed a MXene/ZIF-8 bilayer structure, promoting the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) while protecting MXene from oxidation. The as-prepared smart textile exhibited excellent bactericidal efficacy of >99.99 % against both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) after 5 min of NIR (300 mW cm−2) irradiation which is below the maximum permissible exposure (MPE) limit. The sustained released Zn2+ from the ZIF-8 layer achieved a bactericidal efficiency of over 99.99 % within 48 h without NIR light. Furthermore, this smart textile also demonstrated remarkable EMI shielding efficiency (47.7 dB). Clearly, this study provides an elaborate strategy for designing and constructing multifunctional cellulose-based materials for a variety of applications. • Multifunctional wearable materials are fabricated through an organic-inorganic hybridization strategy. • Rapid and long-item antibacterial performance is achieved through multiple antibacterial mechanisms. • The antioxidant protection of MXene achieves persistent material functionalization. • Outstanding EMI shielding efficiency (47.7 dB) is exhibited. • Safe and comfortable personal protective wearable textiles are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This retrospective study compared the efficacy and safety of nedaplatin-based chemoradiotherapy and cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in stage II-IVa nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Patients treated with cisplatin-based or nedaplatin-based chemoradiotherapy between January 2012 and December 2015 were evaluated. Survival was estimated by the Kaplan‒Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox proportional hazards model. A cohort of 538 NPC patients was enrolled. There were no significant differences in the 5-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional relapse-free survival (LRRFS), or distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) between the cisplatin and nedaplatin groups. During the whole treatment course, patients in the cisplatin group had higher incidences of grade 3‒4 vomiting and anorexia, while patients in the nedaplatin group had higher incidences of grade 3‒4 leucopenia and mucositis. In terms of late toxicities, patients in the cisplatin group had a higher incidence of xerostomia. In multivariate analysis, T stage, N stage, and clinical stage were prognostic factors for OS, PFS, and DMFS. In subgroup analyses, nedaplatin-based chemotherapy achieved comparable treatment outcomes in specific populations stratified by age, sex, ECOG PS score and clinical stage. Cisplatin and nedaplatin are effective choices for stage II-IVa NPC patients, with a different spectrum of side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Enable to instantly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 (>99.14%) and HCoV-229E (>98.83%). • Excellent growth inhibition (>99.51%) towards both E. coli and S. aureus. • Address the environmental concerns raised by non-biodegradable face masks. • Development of safe, comfortable, and biodegradable textiles for PPE. • A facile and scalable method to produce biocidal textiles for various applications. Face masks are regarded as effective Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the dominant polypropylene (PP)-based masks are devoid of antiviral/antibacterial activities and create enormous environmental burdens after disposal. Here we report a facile and potentially scalable method to fabricate biodegradable, breathable, and biocidal cellulose nonwovens (BCNWs) to address both environmental and hygienic problems of commercially available face masks. TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nonwovens are rendered antiviral/antibacterial via covalent bonding with disinfecting polyhexamethylene guanidine or neomycin sulfate through carbodiimide coupling chemistry. The obtained results showed that the BCNWs have virucidal rate of >99.14%, bactericidal efficiency of >99.51%, no leaching-out effect, and excellent air permeability of >1111.5 mm s−1. More importantly, the as-prepared BCNWs can inactivate SARS-CoV-2 instantly. This strategy provides a new platform for the green fabrication of multifunctional cellulose nonwovens as scalable bio-protective layers with superior performance for various PPE in fighting COVID-19 or future pandemics. Additionally, replacing the non-biodegradable non-antimicrobial PP-based masks with the cellulose-based masks can reduce the plastic wastes and lower the greenhouse gas production from the incineration of disposed masks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the distributed adaptive fault-tolerant control problem for heterogeneous linear multiagent systems with actuator faults and nonuniform time-varying communication delays. First, novel distributed switching observers are proposed to estimate the system matrix and the state of the exosystem. The observers allow each agent to share its information with its underlying neighbors only at sampled instants of time, thus making a distinct difference from the existing results that require the exosystem matrix to be accessible to all agents at every continuous instant of time. Second, a sufficient condition is derived such that the observer error systems are exponentially stable under the influence of communication delays among interacting agents. Third, new distributed adaptive fault-tolerant controllers, which promise fewer adaptive parameters, are presented to compensate for the actuator faults. It is shown that the developed controllers are capable to effectively and efficiently solve the cooperative fault-tolerant output regulation problem with reduced computational complexity. Finally, three illustrative examples, including an inverted pendulum system, an electronic double-integrator circuit system, and an AC microgrid system, are presented to show the validity and efficiency of the developed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis comparing the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic versus open resection for gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) larger than 5 cm.Method: We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase for relevant articles. Randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials were identified and included in this study. Searching for related articles on large GIST (>5 cm) for laparoscopic resection (laparoscopic group [LAPG]) and open resection (open group [OG]), RevMan 5.3 was used for data analysis, comparing 2 groups of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, complications, length of hospital stay, recurrence rate, disease-free survival, and overall survival.Results: Seven studies including 440 patients were identified for the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis revealed that LAPG had less bleeding, shorter postoperative hospital stay, and a better 5-year disease-free survival. There was no significant difference between LAPG and OG in operation time, postoperative complications, recurrence rate, and overall survival.Conclusion: Laparoscopic resection of large (>5 cm) GIST is safe and feasible and has the advantages of less intraoperative blood loss and fast postoperative recovery, with a good outcome in the recent oncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme therapy has important implications for the treatment of metabolic disorders and biological detoxification. It remains challenging to prepare enzymatic nanoreactors with high therapeutic efficiency and low emission of cytotoxic reaction intermediates. Here, we propose a novel strategy for the preparation of enzymes-loaded polypeptide microcapsules (EPM) with concentrically encapsulated enzymes to achieve higher cascade reaction rates and minimal emission of cytotoxic intermediates. Mesoporous silica spheres (MSS) are used as a highly porous matrix to efficiently load a therapeutic enzyme (glucose oxidase, GOx), and a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly strategy is employed to assemble the scavenging enzyme (catalase) and polyelectrolyte multilayers on the MSS surface. After removal of the MSS, a concentrically encapsulated EPM is obtained with the therapeutic enzyme encapsulated inside the capsule, and the scavenging enzyme immobilized in the polypeptide multilayer shell. Performance of the concentrically encapsulated GOx-catalase capsules is investigated for synergistic glucose metabolism disturbance correction and cytotoxic intermediate H2O2 clearance. The results show that the EPM can simultaneously achieve 99% H2O2 clearance and doubled glucose consumption rate. This strategy can be extended to the preparation of other dual- or multi-enzyme therapeutic nanoreactors, showing great promise in the treatment of metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy after 8 weeks (long interval, LI) between neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer. Methods: The PubMed database, EMBASE database, and the Cochrane Library (deadline: September 25, 2021) were searched to select clinical studies that compared two intervals between neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery for locally advanced rectal cancer: after 8 weeks (long interval, LI) and within 8 weeks (short interval, SI). The included studies were screened and evaluated according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software. Results: Eighteen studies were included, with 9070 cases in the LI group and 14,207 cases in the SI group. The analysis results showed that the pathologic complete response (PCR) rate in the LI group was higher than that in the SI group (P < 0.00001). There was no significant difference in the R0 resection rate (P = 0.85), anal preservation rate (P = 0.89), morbidity rate (P = 0.60), anastomotic leakage rate (P = 0.06), operation time (P = 0.58), local recurrence rate (P = 0.56), distant metastasis rate (P = 0.32), or overall survival (OS) rate (P = 0.17) between the two groups. Conclusion: A longer interval between neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery can improve the PCR rate; however, it has no significant impact on the clinical efficacy or long-term prognosis. Due to some limitations in the number and quality of the studies, these findings still need to be further verified by multicenter, large-sample high-quality RCTs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impact of satellite actual evapotranspiration assimilation on runoff simulations is assessed for 149 CAMELS basins. • The assimilation of GLEAM, REA-ET, and GLDAS ETa products shows relatively small improvements in runoff simulations. • The data assimilation using GLEAM ETa data yielded the best performance in runoff simulations. • The influence of multiple catchment characteristics is evaluated for the runoff simulation. Data assimilation (DA) techniques that integrate remotely sensed observations and in-situ measurements into hydrological models have been extensively implemented, but few studies have applied multisource actual evapotranspiration (ETa) products to evaluate its impacts on the DA performances through a large number of basins with different catchment conditions. This study performs a DA experiment to assess the influence of remotely sensed ETa products on streamflow simulations over 149 Catchment Attributes and Meteorology for Large-sample Studies basins across the contiguous United States, and the relationships between the DA results and multiple catchment characteristics are further analyzed. In this experiment, three satellite ETa products from the GLEAM, REA-ET, and GLDAS are assimilated into a conceptual rainfall-runoff model (i.e., HYMOD) using the ensemble Kalman filter. The results show that assimilating the three ETa products provides relatively small improvements compared to the open loop (OL) scenario in approximately 48%-58% of the study basins, and around 14%-19% of these basins exhibit an increase in Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency over 0.01. Specifically, the GLEAM ETa shows the greatest improvements in runoff, followed by the GLDAS and REA-ET products. The OL performance plays a significant role in runoff improvements, greater improvements are achieved for basins with poor OL runoff simulations. The assimilation efficiency is revealed to be relevant to the accuracy of the satellite ETa products. While the catchment conditions such as the aridity index, mean slope, the fraction of forest, and catchment area are found to have a limited effect on the spatial pattern of ET assimilation performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactivation of pre-existing structures and their influence on subsequent rift evolution have been extensively analysed in previous research on rifts that experienced multiple phases of rifting, where pre-existing structures were deemed to affect nucleation, density, strike orientation, and displacement of newly formed normal faults during later rifting stages. However, previous studies paid less attention to the extensional structures superimposing onto an earlier compressional background, leading to a lack of understanding of, e.g. the reactivation and growth pattern of pre-existing thrust faults as low-angle normal faults and the impact of pre-existing thrust faults on newly formed high-angle faults and subsequent rift structures. This study investigating the spatial relationship between intra-basement thrust and rift-related faults in the Enping sag, in the northern South China Sea, indicates that the rift system is built on the previously deformed basement with pervasive thrusting structures and that the low-angle major fault of the study area results from reactivation of intra-basement thrust faults. It also implies that the reactivation mode of basement thrust faults is dependent on the overall strain distribution across rifts, the scale of basement thrust faults, and the strain shadow zone. In addition, reactivated basement thrust faults influence the nucleation, dip, and displacement of nearby new faults, causing them to nucleate at or merge into downwards it, which is representative of the coupled and decoupled growth models of reactivated thrust faults and nearby new faults. This work not only provides insights into the growth pattern of rift-related faults interacting with reactivated low-angle faults but also has broader implications for how basement thrust faults influence rift structures, normal fault evolution, and syn-rift stratigraphy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although type 1 diabetes is thought to be an organ-specific autoimmune disease, mediated by effective CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, it has recently become clear that B cells participate in the initiation and progress of this disease. Indeed, B cell deletion can prevent or reverse autoimmune diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice and even result in partially remaining β cell function in patients with new-onset type 1 diabetes. This review summarizes the dual role of B cells in this process not only of pathogenic effect but also of immunoregulatory function in type 1 diabetes. We focus on the impact that B cells have on regulating the activation, proliferation, and cytokine production of self-reactive T cells along with regulatory T cells, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the interactions between T and B cells in immunopathogenesis and improving the efficacy of interventions for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the secondary frequency restoration as well as active power allocation problem in an ac microgrid (MG) system subject to bounded varying-time delays are addressed. For each distributed generator, a distributed dynamic event-triggered control law is proposed. Besides, benefiting from using dynamic event-triggered mechanisms, the communication burdens can be measurably reduced. By analyzing the resulting system through a Lyapunov function, a sufficient condition is established to ensure stability and achieve asymptotic frequency restoration and active power sharing. Based on the sufficient condition, an explicit tolerable upper bound of all time delays is obtained. The upper bound can be used for the MG system design guideline in the planning phase, which would enhance real time operating safety. Beisides, no Zeno behavior will exist. To test the proposed control method, the experiments are conducted on the real-time simulator OPAL-RT with DSP controllers. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fault-tolerant formation control problem of a class of nonlinear multiagent systems with actuator/sensor faults under directed and switching network topology is addressed in this article. The main contributions are as follows: 1) the developed controller is effective to compensate for actuator/sensor faults and unknown nonlinearity simultaneously and 2) in contrast to the existing fault-tolerant formation control results, the more general directed and switching network topology is considered. In particular, by using a fuzzy logic system to approximate unknown nonlinearity and by introducing fault estimators to estimate actuator/sensor faults, a novel distributed fuzzy formation controller is developed. By virtue of introducing a modification technique in adaptive law, the phenomenon of strictly increase in adaptive law caused by actuator/sensor faults and unknown nonlinearity can be avoided. In addition, the uniformly ultimately bounded of the formation errors can be shown by introducing a novel Lyapunov function and a new analysis method. The efficiency of the developed method can be shown by an illustrative example demonstrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactivation of pre-existing structures and their influence on subsequent rift evolution have been extensively analysed in previous researches on rifts that experienced multiple phases of rifting, where pre-existing structures were deemed to affect nucleation, density, strike direction and displacement of newly-formed normal faults during later rifting stage. However, previous studies paid less attention to the extensional structures superimposing on an earlier compressional background, leading to a lack of understanding, e.g., reactivation and growth pattern of pre-existing thrust fault as low-angle normal fault, and impact of pre-existing thrust fault on newly-formed high-angle faults and subsequent rift structure. This study investigating the spatial relationship between intrabasement thrust and rift-related faults in the Enping sag, northern South China Sea, indicates that the rift system is built on the previously deformed basement with pervasive thrusting structures, and that the low-angle major fault of the study area results from reactivation of intrabasement thrust fault. In addition, reactivated basement thrust fault can affect the nucleation and dip of nearby new faults, cause new faults to nucleate at or merge into it in vertical, and finally generate typical fault interactions, i.e., merging, abutting and crosscutting faults. This work not only provides insights into understanding growth pattern of rift-related faults interacting with reactivated low-angle faults, but also has broader implications on how basement thrust faults influence rift structure, normal fault evolution and syn-rift stratigraphy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • DMSN with highly loaded hydrophobic drug was used as the drug delivery vehicle. • DMSN featured with small particle size, high pore volume and large pore size. • A vacuum rotary evaporation-mediated casting method was applied for drug loading. • A GSH-responsive PMAsh shell and Tf were functionalized for tumor-targeting therapy. The efficacy of hydrophobic chemotherapy drugs in cancer treatment is often hampered by their poor solubility in the physiological environment, which causes their low delivery efficiency in the body. This manuscript develops an intelligent nanocarrier (~100 nm) drug delivery system that can highly load a water-insoluble drug, and possesses desirable tumor-targeting properties for cancer therapy. In this system, highly porous silica nanoparticles (pore volume ~ 1.4 cm3 g−1) with a dendritic pore structure (denoted as DMSN) are applied as a matrix for drug loading. A facile, vacuum rotary evaporation-mediated casting method is applied to quantitatively load a high content of a hydrophobic drug (i.e., paclitaxel) in the DMSN matrix. A thiol-modified poly(methacrylic acid) (denoted as PMAsh) shell is then assembled and crosslinked via disulfide bonds on the particle surface to improve the dispersibility of the particles in an aqueous environment. After functionalization of the PMAsh shell with the targeting ligand transferrin (Tf), the nanocarriers exhibit accumulation ability on tumor cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Combining the fascinating properties of high drug-loading, excellent colloidal stability, low cytotoxicity, targeting ability and glutathione-responsive PMAsh shell deconstruction properties, the nanocarriers described here hold great promise for the efficient delivery of hydrophobic drugs and tumor treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triphenylphosphine (TPP)‐based luminescent compounds are rarely investigated because of the low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Here, we demonstrate that introducing steric hindrance groups to the TPP moiety and separating the orbitals involved in the transition can drastically suppress the non‐radiative decay induced by structural distortion of TPP in the excited state. High PLQY up to 0.89 as well as thermally activated delayed fluorescence are observed from the intramolecular charge‐transfer (ICT) molecules with substituted TPP donors (sTPPs) in doped films. The red organic light‐emitting diodes employing these emitters achieve comparable external quantum efficiencies to the control device containing a classical phosphorescent dye, revealing the great potential of the ICT emitters based on electrochemically stable sTPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triphenylphosphine (TPP)‐based luminescent compounds are rarely investigated because of the low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). Here, we demonstrate that introducing steric hindrance groups to the TPP moiety and separating the orbitals involved in the transition can drastically suppress the non‐radiative decay induced by structural distortion of TPP in the excited state. High PLQY up to 0.89 as well as thermally activated delayed fluorescence are observed from the intramolecular charge‐transfer (ICT) molecules with substituted TPP donors (sTPPs) in doped films. The red organic light‐emitting diodes employing these emitters achieve comparable external quantum efficiencies to the control device containing a classical phosphorescent dye, revealing the great potential of the ICT emitters based on electrochemically stable sTPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Li-carbon composites as anodes in high-energy-density lithium batteries leads to significant improvements in cycling life and safety compared with lithium metal. Li 2 C 2 consisting of dumbbell anions is the most thermodynamically stable phase in the family of lithium-carbon materials, however its low conductivity is a critical obstacle to the practical applications. sp 2 -hybridizing carbon is one promising option for unique electronic structures. Here, Li 2 C 2 alloy nanosheets composed of sp 2 -hybridized carbon atoms are directly formed from Li element and carbon during ball milling process, presenting a metallic feature at ambient conditions. After removing lithium from these alloy nanosheets, amorphous carbon ultrathin nanosheets are obtained. A vertically aligned Li 2 C 2 nanosheet foil prepared by pressing the milled powder, can be used as free-standing, binder-free electrodes for fabricating various types of lithium batteries, and their excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to a highly reversible Li atoms uptake in amorphous carbon nanosheets. [Display omitted] • Free-standing, binder-free, vertically aligned Li 2 C 2 nanosheet foils are developed. • A high reversible absorption of Li metal atoms in amorphous carbon nanosheets. • The outstanding cycling stability can be attributed to the 3D nanostructures. • High-quality amorphous carbon ultrathin nanosheets are directly realized. • Formation mechanism is attributed to a solid-state intercalation and exfoliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. During the initial stage of type 1 diabetes, prolonged exposure of pancreatic β-cell to proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ results in a decreased capacity to produce and release insulin, as well as cell loss by apoptosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new class of endogenous noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) with closed loop with no free ends. circRNAs have been reported to be participated in the development of many diseases. As little is known about their role in insulin-secreting cells, this study is aimed at evaluating their contribution in the process of inflammation-induced β-cell damage. Methods. circRNA expression profile of MIN6 cells stimulated with a mix of cytokines, including IL-1β, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, was detected by circRNA microarrays. Four dysregulated circRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR. The involvement of the selected circRNAs in β-cell dysfunction was tested after their inhibition in MIN6 cells. MicroRNA target prediction software and multiple bioinformatic approaches were used to predict the targeting genes of circRNAs and analyze possible functions of the circRNAs. Results. 1020 upregulated and 902 downregulated circRNAs were identified in cytokines-treated β-cells. Inhibition of circRNAs 000286 and 017277 in β-cells could promote β-cell apoptosis and affect insulin biosynthesis and secretion. GO analysis enriched terms such as regulation of transcription and regulation of gene expression and KEGG analysis enriched top pathways included TGF-β and MAPK signaling pathways. Conclusions. The data shows that circRNAs may be involved in proinflammatory cytokines-mediated β-cell dysfunction and suggests the involvement of circRNAs in the development of type 1 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distributed generators (DGs) and energy storages systems (ESSs) have different droop characteristics for power sharing in autonomous microgrids (MGs). In previous research, the distributed secondary control is proposed for only one specific type of units, and relies on periodic communications among neighbors. In this paper, a unified distributed real power sharing control scheme based on the dynamic event-triggered mechanism is proposed for droop-governed DGs and ESSs. A unified power sharing strategy is proposed where the power are fairly shared among all DGs and ESSs considering their different power ratings and capacities, while state-of-charges among ESSs are balanced. In the meantime, a distributed event-triggered control scheme with a novel dynamic triggering mechanism is designed to reduce the communications among controllers. Besides, the proposed event-triggered mechanism is sample-based and only uses the largest and the second smallest eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix to design the controller gain and event-triggered parameters. To validate the proposed control design, a MG test system with detailed component models is built in the OPAL-RT real-time simulator. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Neurovascular-related genes have been implicated in the development of cancer. Studies have shown that a high expression of neuropilins (NRPs) promotes tumourigenesis and tumour malignancy. Method. A multidimensional bioinformatics analysis was performed to examine the relationship between NRP genes and prognostic and pathological features, tumour mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and immunological features based on public databases and find the potential prognostic value of NRPs in pancancer. Results. Survival analysis revealed that a low NRP1 expression in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (CESC), low-grade glioma (LGG), and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) was associated with poor prognosis. A high NRP2 expression in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA), kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma (KIRP), and mesothelioma (MESO) was associated with poor prognosis. Moreover, NRP1 and NRP2 were associated with TMB and MSI. Subsequent analyses showed that NRP1 and NRP2 were correlated with immune infiltration and immune checkpoints. Genome-wide association analysis revealed that the NRP1 expression was strongly associated with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), whereas the NRP2 expression was closely associated with BLCA. Ultimately, NRP2 was found to be involved in the development of BLCA. Conclusions. Neurovascular-related NRP family genes are significantly correlated with cancer prognosis, TME, and immune infiltration, particularly in BLCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the frequency regulation and power-sharing problems for cyber-physical microgrids (MGs) under network denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and time-varying communication delays. Compared to conventional distributed controllers based on a system model with ideal communication, a distributed security control protocol is designed. Benefiting from the developed security control method, the adverse effects of network DoS attacks and communication delays can be resisted. Then, a sufficient condition, which is used to achieve the achieve frequency restoration and power-sharing, is established according to the frequency and duration of DoS attacks. By using the average dwell time method and the Lyapunov stability theory, it is theoretically proved that the proposed control scheme can guarantee the stability of the overall AC microgrid system. In order to illustrate the proposed scheme, simulation studies are carried out based on an islanded AC microgrid system with four distributed generators (DGs) built in the simulation. The results do show its effectiveness and also verify the established theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compressive sensing technique allows capturing fast phenomena at a much higher frame rate than the camera sensor, by recovering a frame sequence from their encoded combination. However, most conventional compressive video sensing methods limit the achieved frame rate improvement to tenfold and only support low resolution recovery. Making use of the camera's redundant spatial resolution for further frame rate improve, here we report a novel compressive video acquisition technique termed Sinusoidal Sampling Enhanced Compressive Camera (S2EC2) to encode denser frames within a snapshot. Specifically, we decompose the dense frames into groups and apply combinational coding: random codes within each group for compressive acquisition; group specific sinusoidal codes to multiplex different groups onto the high resolution sensor. The sinusoidal codes designed for these groups would shift their frequency components by different offsets in the Fourier domain and staggered the dominant frequencies of the coded measurements of these groups. Correspondingly, the reconstruction successfully separate coded measurements of different groups and recovers frames within each group. Besides, we also solve the implementation problem of insufficient gray scale spatial light modulation speed, and build a prototype achieving 2000 fps reconstruction with a 15.6 fps camera (the actual compression ratio is 0.009). The extensive experiments validate the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new Cu(II)-based coordination polymers (CPs) {[Cu3(btc)2(bpfp)2(H2O)2](H2O)2}n (1, H3btc = 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid, bpfp = bis(4-pyridylformyl)piperazine) and {[Cu(cca)(bpfp)]·2H2O}n (2, H2cca = 2-carboxycinnamic acid) have been successfully prepared by reaction of Cu(NO3)2·3H2O with the bpfp ligand in the presence of different carboxylate ligands. Compounds 1 and 2 were synthesized for the evaluation of anti-cancer activity on the ovarian cancer cells CoC1. First of all, the cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion ability were determined. Subsequently, the marker of the ovarian cancer cells-miRNA16 was also measured with real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]