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Polymer microspheres (PMs), such as polyacrylamide, have been widely applied for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), yet with environmental concerns. Here, we report a microfluid displacement technology containing a bio-based eco-friendly material, i.e., calcium alginate (CaAlg) microspheres for EOR. Two dominant mechanisms responsible for EOR over CaAlg fluid have been verified, including the microscopic oil displacement efficacy augmented by regulating capillary force (determined by the joint action of interfacial tension and wettability between different phases) and macroscopic sweep volume increment through profile control and mobility ratio reduction. This comprehensive effectiveness can be further impacted when the CaAlg microsphere is embellished ulteriorly by using appropriate amount of sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS). The core flooding and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests demonstrate that CaAlg-SDS microsphere can balance the interphase property regulation (wettability alteration and IFT reduction) and rheology properties, enabling simultaneous profile control and oil displacement. Excessive introduction of SDS will have a negative impact on rheological properties, which is not favored for EOR. Our results show that the involvement of 4-mM SDS will provide the best behavior, with an EOR rate of 34.38%. This cost-effective and environmentally-friendly bio-microspherebased microfluidic displacement technology is expected to achieve "green" oil recovery in future oilfield exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shortest travel time in long-distance transportation systems (LDTS) is a key indicator for measuring regional connectivity and mapping accessibility at national and global levels. For traditional methods, it is a great challenge to calculate the shortest travel time with millions of origin-destination pairs and evaluate the overall performance. To fill this technique gap, this study proposed a novel model to get all the trips with different numbers of transfers through a series of set-based methods and then calculate all the shortest travel time between stops. The set-based model was tested for calculating the shortest travel time in LDTS of China. Using the optimization algorithm, we can significantly reduce the number of transfer trips that need to be calculated. For instance, the number of transfer trips decreased by 96.17%, 98.15%, and 79.02%, for conventional railway, high-speed railway, and air transportation, respectively, when the number of transfers was two. The set-based model can be extended to calculate the door-to-door travel time between places, for instance, mapping the fine-scale accessibility at the national level. Furthermore, we proved that this set-based model, proposed in this study, could also be parallelized and applied to any other LDTS in the General Transit Feed Specification format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wire meshes are widely used in deployable antennas, and the structure of the wire mesh directly affects the structural and electrical properties of the antenna. This study proposes a set of automated geometric modeling and mechanical analysis processes to realize the automated mechanical analysis and design of complex wire mesh structures. First, considering the tilt in the wire mesh structure owing to the traction of the underlap on the loop, a three-dimensional (3D) geometric model of the repeating unit of the wire mesh structure was established using periodic cubic spline curves. Subsequently, a method using sensitivity matrix adjustment is proposed to eliminate the interstructure inlay phenomenon, and an optimization model is established. The vector superposition method established a 3D geometric model of the overall wire mesh structure without an inlay problem. Finally, a finite element model of the wire mesh considering the contact problem was established by the adaptive matching method for contact pairs of the finite element model of the wire mesh. Mechanical simulation experiments were carried out on the model, comparing the theoretical analysis with the experimental results and verifying its reasonableness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary batteries are a core technology for clean energy storage and conversion systems, to reduce environmental pollution and alleviate the energy crisis. Oxide cathodes play a vital role in revolutionizing battery technology due to their high capacity and voltage for oxide-based batteries. However, oxygen vacancies (OVs) are an essential type of defect that exist predominantly in both the bulk and surface regions of transition metal (TM) oxide batteries, and have a crucial impact on battery performance. This paper reviews previous studies from the past few decades that have investigated the intrinsic and anionic redox-mediated OVs in the field of secondary batteries. We focus on discussing the formation and evolution of these OVs from both thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives, as well as their impact on the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of oxide cathodes. Finally, we offer insights into the utilization of OVs to enhance the energy density and lifespan of batteries. We expect that this review will advance our understanding of the role of OVs and subsequently boost the development of highperformance electrode materials for next-generation energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li-rich layered oxides (LRLO) exhibit significant potential for use in all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) owing to their high capacities and wide range of operating voltages. However, the practical application of LRLO in ASSLBs is hindered by the severe failure of carrier transport at the solid--solid interface, which subsequently limits the electrochemical activity of these batteries. Here, the spatially asynchronous activation mechanism of the LRLO in ASSLBs is presented. A spectroscopic study extending from the surface into the bulk interior of LRLO indicates that the activation kinetics of anionic oxygen prefers hysteretic delivery over uniform delivery and fast transition metals (TMs) activation. This spatial hetero activation is dominated by the failure of carrier transport at the interface, which is induced by microstructural defects in the composite cathode. This study is expected to facilitate the microstructural design of high-performance LRLO-based ASSLBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking trajectories of the unconnected vehicles contributes to the improvement of traffic efficiency and safety. However, the effects of occlusions on the accuracy and reliability of the tracking results are nonnegligible. To address this issue, a modified multiple objects tracking algorithm was proposed to reduce the loss of trajectories caused by occlusions. The proposed algorithm was based on the multiple objects detection results, in which the motion states of the detected objects were determined. Further, the Kalman filter was employed to predict the trajectories, and each trajectory was uniquely matched to the detected object labeled with a tracking identity (ID) using the Hungarian algorithm. Afterward, a flexible life cycle strategy was proposed in terms of the speeds and accelerations of the detected objects, which controls the life cycle of the labeled trajectories when the occlusion occurred and guarantees the continuity of trajectories. The proposed tracking algorithm was tested on the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Toyota Technological Institute (KITTI) data set, and the classification of events, activities, and relationships workshops, multiple object tracking (CLEAR-MOT) metrics was introduced to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The results indicated that the proposed algorithm with appropriate life cycle apparently increased the precision and accuracy and reduced the influence of occlusions on multiple objects tracking. Future work will concentrate on field implementations of the algorithm, and various scenarios and weather conditions will be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the increasing global prevalence of hypertension, a condition that can severely affect multiple organs, there is a growing need for effective treatment options. Uncaria rhynchophylla-Alisma plantago-aquatica L. (UR-AP) is a traditional drug pair used for treating hypertension based on the liver-kidney synergy concept. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying its efficacy remain unclear. Methods: This study utilized an integrative approach combining network pharmacology, cluster analysis, and molecular docking to uncover the bioactive components and targets of UR-AP in the treatment of hypertension. Initially, we extracted data from public databases to identify these components and targets. A Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network was constructed, followed by enrichment analysis to pinpoint the bioactive components, core targets, and pivotal pathways. Cluster analysis helped in identifying key subnetworks and hypothesizing primary targets. Furthermore, molecular docking was conducted to validate the interaction between the core targets and major bioactive components, thus confirming their potential efficacy in hypertension treatment. Results: Network pharmacological analysis identified 58 bioactive compounds in UR-AP, notably quercetin, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol (from Uncaria rhynchophylla), and Alisol B, alisol B 23-acetate (from Alisma plantagoaquatica L.), as pivotal bioactives. We pinpointed 143 targets common to both UR-AP and hypertension, highlighting MAPK1, IL6, AKT1, VEGFA, EGFR, and TP53 as central targets involved in key pathways like diastolic and endothelial function, anti-atherosclerosis, AGE-RAGE signaling, and calcium signaling. Cluster analysis emphasized IL6, TNF, AKT1, and VEGFA's roles in atherosclerosis and inflammation. Molecular docking confirmed strong interactions between these targets and UR-AP's main bioactives, underscoring their therapeutic potential. Conclusion: This research delineates UR-AP's pharmacological profile in hypertension treatment, linking traditional medicine with modern pharmacology. It highlights key bioactive components and their interactions with principal targets, suggesting UR-AP's potential as a novel therapeutic option for hypertension. The evidence from molecular docking studies supports these interactions, indicating the relevance of these components in affecting hypertension pathways. However, the study acknowledges its limitations, including the reliance on in silico analyses and the need for in vivo validation. These findings pave the way for future clinical research, aiming to integrate traditional medicine insights with contemporary scientific approaches for developing innovative hypertension therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of virtual reality technology, its application in basketball game scenes has become more and more extensive. Taking optics as the main research content, this paper puts forward a method of combining optical image enhancement with virtual reality to automatically generate basketball game scenes and training data simulation. Firstly, by enhancing the brightness, contrast and color saturation of the light image, the visibility and realism of the basketball game scene are improved. Then, using virtual reality technology, a virtual basketball game scene is generated, including elements such as the stadium, players and spectators. Finally, by simulating the training data in the virtual scene, the simulation and testing of various situations in the basketball game are realized. The research results show that the combination of light image enhancement and virtual reality has good effect and application value in the automatic generation of basketball game scenes and the simulation of training data. This study provides a new method and technical platform for the simulation and training of basketball game scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article primarily addresses the task of legal judgment prediction (LJP) by introducing a supervised contrastive learning framework to improve the prediction of judgment results in legal cases, particularly in the areas of relevant law article prediction, and term-of-penalty prediction. It emphasizes the significance of capturing fine-grained differences between similar law articles and charges, enhancing the model's performance in simulating the decision-making process of human judges.

Physical dormancy (PY) commonly present in the seeds of higher plants is believed to be responsible for the germination failure by impermeable seed coat in hard seeds of legume species, instead of physiological dormancy (PD). In this study, a non-destructive approach involving multispectral imaging was used to successfully identify hard seeds from non-hard seeds in Medicago sativa, with accuracy as high as 96.8%-99.0%. We further adopted multiple-omics strategies to investigate the differences of physiology, metabolomics, methylomics, and transcriptomics in alfalfa hard seeds, with non-hard seeds as control. The hard seeds showed dramatically increased antioxidants and 125 metabolites of significant differences in non-targeted metabolomics analysis, which are enriched in the biosynthesis pathways of flavonoids, lipids and hormones, especially with significantly higher ABA, a hormone known to induce dormancy. In our transcriptomics results, the enrichment pathway of "response to abscisic acid" of differential expressed genes (DEG) supported the key role of ABA in metabolomics results. The methylome analysis identified 54,899, 46,216 and 54,452 differential methylation regions for contexts of CpG, CHG and CHH, and 344 DEGs might be regulated by hypermethylation and hypomethylation of promoter and exon regions, including four ABA- and JA-responsive genes. Among 8% hard seeds in seed lots, 24.5% still did not germinate after scarifying seed coat, and were named as non-PY hard seeds. Compared to hard seeds, significantly higher contents of ABA/IAA and ABA/JA were identified in non-PY hard seeds, which indicated the potential presence of PD. In summary, the significantly changed metabolites, gene expressions, and methylations all suggested involvement of ABA responses in hard seeds, and germination failure of alfalfa hard seeds was caused by combinational dormancy (PY + PD), rather than PY alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Root-zone temperature (RZT) is an indispensable environmental factor for the proper growth and development of plants. Low RZT is one of the major limitations for agricultural production during cold seasons. In this study, the physiological responses of tomato seedlings to low RZT stress (10 °C) and its recovery were investigated with hydroponic cultivation in an artificial climate-controlled chamber. The stress reaction of tomato seedlings was evaluated by combining various indexes, including photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, root activity, hydrogen peroxide, and antioxidants. The results showed that low RZT adversely affected root activity, and in response to the limited root-source water and mineral elements, supply for shoot metabolism, leaf photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence were negatively influenced, which led to inhibited leaf area development and biomass accumulation. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA), and proline accumulated with the time of low RZT stress. When restored to normal temperature (~20 °C), the physiological parameters recovered to a certain degree, although most parameters were not at a similar level with the control. In crop production during cold seasons, it is necessary to improve the RZT to achieve high quality and yield production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice tiller angle, as a component of plant architecture, affects rice grain yield via plant density. However, the molecular mechanism underlying rice tiller angle remains elusive. We report that the key domestication gene PROSTRATE GROWTH 1 (PROG1) controls rice tiller angle by regulating shoot gravitropism and LAZY1 (LA1)-mediated asymmetric distribution of auxin. Acting as a transcriptional repressor, PROG1 negatively regulates the expression of LA1 in light-grown rice seedlings. Overexpression of LA1 partially rescued the larger tiller angle of the PROG1 complementation transgenic plant (prog1-D). Double-mutant analysis showed that PROG1 acts upstream of LA1 to regulate shoot gravitropism and tiller angle. Mutation of Suppressors of lazy1 (SOL1), encoding DWARF3 (D3) acting in the strigolactone signal pathway, suppressed the large tiller angle of prog1-D by rescuing the transcription of LA1. The discovery of a light-sensitive PROG1-LA1 transcription regulatory module controlling rice shoot gravitropism and tiller angle sheds light on the genetic control of rice tiller angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) manufactured Al-5024 alloy has gained worldwide interest due to its ability to fabricate high-performance complex components. This work focuses on quantitative characterization and synergic optimization of the microhardness, tensile strength, and corrosion resistance of an LPBF manufactured Al-5024 alloy by optimization of heat treatment parameters. The effect of the isothermal heat treatment (IHT) process on the microstructure evolution, mechanical properties, and electrochemical properties of an LPBF-processed Al-4.2Mg-0.4Sc-0.2Zr alloy was systematically revealed. Results showed that superior tensile strength of 506.7 ± 10.4 MPa combined with inferior corrosion resistance was simultaneously obtained at a peak-aging condition. Based on microstructure observations by electron microscopy in backscattered mode (BSE) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the enhanced mechanical properties were attributed to the generation of a high number density (3.8 × 109/mm2) of grain interior precipitates, while the reduced corrosion resistance was related to the massive Al3(Sc,Zr) precipitates generated along grain boundaries. As aging time further increased, the size and spacing of the precipitates were increased, which blocked the corrosion path along grain boundaries and led to a reduction of mechanical properties and an enhancement of corrosion resistance. Unlike the expected synergistic improvement in mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, an opposite evolution tendency of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of LPBF-processed Al-5024 alloy during heat treatment was revealed in this paper, and its intrinsic mechanism is further analyzed based on microstructure characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) manufactured Al-5024 alloy has gained worldwide interest due to its ability to fabricate high-performance complex components. This work focuses on quantitative characterization and synergic optimization of the microhardness, tensile strength, and corrosion resistance of an LPBF manufactured Al-5024 alloy by optimization of heat treatment parameters. The effect of the isothermal heat treatment (IHT) process on the microstructure evolution, mechanical properties, and electrochemical properties of an LPBF-processed Al-4.2Mg-0.4Sc-0.2Zr alloy was systematically revealed. Results showed that superior tensile strength of 506.7 ± 10.4 MPa combined with inferior corrosion resistance was simultaneously obtained at a peak-aging condition. Based on microstructure observations by electron microscopy in backscattered mode (BSE) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the enhanced mechanical properties were attributed to the generation of a high number density (3.8 × 109/mm²) of grain interior precipitates, while the reduced corrosion resistance was related to the massive Al3(Sc,Zr) precipitates generated along grain boundaries. As aging time further increased, the size and spacing of the precipitates were increased, which blocked the corrosion path along grain boundaries and led to a reduction of mechanical properties and an enhancement of corrosion resistance. Unlike the expected synergistic improvement in mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, an opposite evolution tendency of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of LPBF-processed Al-5024 alloy during heat treatment was revealed in this paper, and its intrinsic mechanism is further analyzed based on microstructure characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to predict traffic accidents based on IoTs and deep learning to address the current problem of inaccurate traffic accident prediction. Since traditional traffic accident prediction often applies classical prediction algorithms to a small portion of data, the obtained models can only predict a small range of traffic accidents. Most accident prediction models are limited by the lack of data features, do not consider the problems of practical application scenarios, and do not incorporate regional heterogeneity, so the prediction accuracy of accident prediction models is poor. This paper analyzes and summarizes the relationship between traffic accidents and influencing factors from five aspects, such as people, vehicles, roads and environment, and proves the influence of regional heterogeneity on accidents, which paves the way for traffic accident prediction. The data and heterogeneous spatial data are preprocessed and feature selected, respectively. Logistic regression and random forest algorithm are used to train the corresponding prediction models. The results show that the prediction model combined with regional heterogeneity has better comprehensive performance than the original data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GARCH-type models have been widely used for forecasting crude oil price volatility, but often ignore the structural changes of time series, which may lead to spurious volatility persistence. Therefore, this paper focuses on the smooth and sharp structural changes in crude oil price volatility, i.e., smooth shift and regime switching, respectively, and investigates which structural change based GARCH models have better performance for forecasting crude oil price volatility. The empirical results indicate that, first, the flexible Fourier form (FFF) GARCH-type models considering smooth shift can accurately model structural changes and yield superior fitting and forecasting performance to traditional GARCH-type models. Second, the Markov regime switching (MRS) GARCH model incorporating regime switching exhibits superior fitting performance compared to the single-regime GARCH-type models, but it does not necessarily beat the counterparts for forecasting. Finally, the FFF-GARCH-type models outperform MRS-GARCH for forecasting crude oil price volatility and portfolio performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working temperature is a critical parameter that influences the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Appropriate thermal management can improve the efficiency of PEMFCs and prevent irreversible internal damage such as membrane degradation. To solve the slow response and poor dynamic performance of traditional temperature control strategies, the dynamic temperature mode of PEMFCs is established and a temperature control strategy based on the sparrow search algorithm-proportional integral differential (SSA-PID) is proposed in this study. The performance of the SSA-PID temperature control is verified by the simulations of current step change, vehicle dynamic load, and working parameter variation. The results show that the proposed method has the advantages of fast convergence, better dynamic performance, and anti-disturbance ability. The maximum power density of the SSA-PID temperature controller is 6.58% and 12.94% higher than GA (genetic algorithm)-PID and traditional PID controllers, respectively. Moreover, the proposed method can ensure temperature fluctuations within 0.5 K under dynamic disturbance. • The PEMFC temperature control strategy based on sparrow search algorithm is proposed. • The performance of the temperature control strategy under external disturbance is discussed. • The proposed control method is compared with the GA-PID and traditional PID controllers. • The proposed method can ensure temperature fluctuations within 0.5 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: If language production is impaired, will gestures compensate? Evidence in favor of this prediction has often been argued to come from aphasia, but it remains contested. Here, we tested whether thought content not present in speech due to language impairment is manifested in gestures, in 20 people with dysfluent (Broca’s) aphasia, 20 people with fluent (Wernicke’s) aphasia, and 20 matched neurotypical controls. Method: A new annotation scheme was created distinguishing types of gestures and whether they co-occurred with fluent or dysfluent/absent speech and were temporally aligned in content with coproduced speech. Results: Across both aphasia types, noncontent (beat) gestures, which by their nature cannot compensate for lost speech content, constituted the greatest proportion of all types of gestures produced. Content (i.e., descriptive, referential, and metaphorical) gestures were largely coproduced with fluent rather than dysfluent speech and tended to be aligned with the content conveyed in speech. They also did not differ in quantity depending on whether the dysfluencies were eventually resolved or not. Neither aphasia severity nor comprehension ability had an impact on the total amount of content gesture produced in people with aphasia, which was instead positively correlated with speech fluency. Conclusions: Together, these results suggest that gestures are unlikely to have a role in compensating for linguistic deficits and to serve as a representational system conveying thought content independent of language. Surprisingly, aphasia rather is a model of how gesture and language are inherently integrated and aligned: Even when language is impaired, it remains the essential provider of content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex patterns of latitudinal diversity gradients (LDGs) in deep time has been hampered by the absence of long-term records of LDGs through multiple climatic changes. We used records of marine invertebrate fossils to generate LDGs in each age bin from the Carboniferous icehouse to the Triassic greenhouse climates. We evaluated LDGs by subsampling, calculated evolutionary rates for different latitudinal zones, and assessed the modularity of the fossil data within latitudinal zones using the Louvain algorithm. Our results suggest that the LDG peaks may be shaped by multiple factors rather than alternating icehouse and greenhouse climates, although icehouse climates usually restrict diversity at high latitudes. In nearly all clades, peak diversity shifted northward during the late Carboniferous and early Permian, reflecting the northward drift of plates and increased habitat area. Changes in the steepness of the LDG was most pronounced at low latitudes and during biotic crises and recovery, while icehouse to greenhouse transitions created more deviation at high latitudes. Our results show a strong historical influence from previous LDG patterns in LDG dynamics, but one that was interrupted by upheavals in composition after dramatic environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrying out a comprehensive and comparative study on the characteristics of land use transition in typical mountainous areas in China can essentially reveal the dynamic changes in the relationship between man and land. It’s significant to research on the land use transition of the mountain-basin system, for the land use transition and sustainable land use in mountainous areas. This study took four mountain-basin systems in Puding county of Guizhou province, Southwest China as a typical case. Based on high-resolution remote sensing images for 1973-2020, combined with field survey to verify data, we used the ArcGIS platform’s land use transfer matrix and importance value index method to quantitatively analyze the characteristic of land use transition of typical mountain-basin systems in the past 50 years. Furthermore, this study probed the stage and diversity of land use transition and inspirations of rural revitalization. The results showed that: (1) The basin system was based on the transition of cultivated land, which was mainly transformed into agricultural facility land, garden land and transportation land. Affected by the transition of cultivated land, the land use function had transformed from a single traditional agricultural production function to a complex modern agricultural production function. The mountain system was dominated by the transition of cultivated land, which was transformed into forest land. With the shrinkage of cultivated land, its land use function was dominated by a single ecological conservation function. (2) There were significant differences in the stage and evolutionary path of the land use transition in the mountain-basin system, going through a single-function dominant stage, a single-function to multi-function transition stage and a multi-function combined stage. The land use of the basin system was transformed into non-agriculturalization, non-grain and intensification. Nevertheless, the land use in the mountain system became more extensive and marginalized. (3) The combined effects of physical factors, socioeconomic factors, policies and actors have driven the transition of land use in the mountain-basin system. The results provide a scientific reference for rural land use transition and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speed-dependent interlimb coordination allows animals to maintain stable locomotion under different circumstances. The V3 neurons are known to be involved in interlimb coordination. We previously modeled the locomotor spinal circuitry controlling interlimb coordination (Danner et al., 2017). This model included the local V3 neurons that mediate mutual excitation between left and right rhythm generators (RGs). Here, our focus was on V3 neurons involved in ascending long propriospinal interactions (aLPNs). Using retrograde tracing, we revealed a subpopulation of lumbar V3 aLPNs with contralateral cervical projections. V3OFF mice, in which all V3 neurons were silenced, had a significantly reduced maximal locomotor speed, were unable to move using stable trot, gallop, or bound, and predominantly used a lateral-sequence walk. To reproduce this data and understand the functional roles of V3 aLPNs, we extended our previous model by incorporating diagonal V3 aLPNs mediating inputs from each lumbar RG to the contralateral cervical RG. The extended model reproduces our experimental results and suggests that locally projecting V3 neurons, mediating left-right interactions within lumbar and cervical cords, promote left-right synchronization necessary for gallop and bound, whereas the V3 aLPNs promote synchronization between diagonal fore and hind RGs necessary for trot. The model proposes the organization of spinal circuits available for future experimental testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the works and life of Eric Li, founder of "Guancha", the Chinese venture capitalist & a leading nationalist online media outlet, on the anti-liberal nationalism in China. It mentions that he helped launch Chengwei Capital, a venture fund that manages about 2 billion dollar and has invested in many companies that are household names in China. It also mentions that he has mastered the vernacular of American liberalism, using terms like "broadening," "pluralizing," and "diversity" to promote authoritarianism. Also mentions that he tried to get Francis Fukuyama to sign on to his idea that informal information collection conducted by the party as an alternative to elections.

In order to cope with the frequent fire accidents in modern society, it is crucial to develop efficient fire extinguishing agents to stamp out fires in its early stage. In this work, a new composite ultrafine dry powder extinguishing agent containing ammonium molybdate ((NH4)2MoO4) is prepared, and its fire extinguishing efficiency is studied. The cup burner experimental results show that with the increase of the mass fraction of (NH4)2MoO4, the flame temperature drop and flame height variation rate show a trend of increasing and then decreasing, while the MEC and extinguishing time present a trend of a decrease and then an increase. It is indicated that the composite dry powder has the best fire extinguishing efficiency when the mass fraction of (NH4)2MoO4 is 7%. Besides, in terms of the pyrolysis results of TGA and DSC, it is found that the degree of thermal decomposition is significantly promoted under the condition of 7% addition. Based on the gas-solid two-phase flow theory and multiphase flow model, a simplified simulation model of the cup burner is established by the ANSYS-FLUENT software to analyze the variation of temperature and particle motion trajectory. The simulation results demonstrate that the ultra-fine dry powder mediums have a good dispersibility after entering the cup burner. This can achieve a full submerged state at a faster speed, and the flame temperature of the entire fire suppression stage is consistent with the experimental results. This article mainly develops the application of fire extinguishing media in the field of fire protection from the perspective of process safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Rare coexistence of disease or pathology Background: Pituitary carcinomas are rare tumors that are histologically indistinguishable from pituitary adenoma. This report describes an extremely rare case of pituitary carcinoma in a patient with clinically diagnosed Cowden syndrome (CS). CS is a rare multisystemic hereditary disease with increase risks of cancer and benign overgrowth of different types of tissues. Case Report: A 52-year-old woman with history of CS presented with pituitary adenoma and multiple meningiomata. After surgical resection, there was recurrence of the pituitary tumor. Partial resection of the recurrent pituitary tumor revealed an adenoma. Radiotherapy was administered due to the histopathological aggressive features of the resected pituitary tumor and growth of the residual pituitary tumor on follow-up. Although the pituitary tumor shrank after radiotherapy, there was development of multiple new intracranial extra-axial lesions. Resection of a rapidly growing extra-axial tumor in the parietal convexity region was performed. Given the similar histopathological features of the convexity tumor with the prior pituitary specimen, the diagnosis of pituitary carcinoma was established. A subsequent MRI scan showed metastatic deposits along the spine. The patient’s condition deteriorated and she died shortly after the last surgery. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, there is no prior report of pituitary carcinoma in a patient with CS in the literature. Pituitary carcinomas frequently spread within the craniospinal axis, in addition to hematogenous dissemination. Given the high risks of developing malignant tumors in patients with CS, multidisciplinary management including diagnostic imaging and close surveillance are of paramount importance in patient management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flash floods show strong regional differentiation in spatial-temporal distribution and driving forces, thereby hindering their effective prevention and control. This study analyzed the spatiotemporal characteristics of flash floods in Shaanxi Province, China, differentiated among the northern Shaanxi (NS), Guanzhong (GZ), and southern Shaanxi (SS) regions based on the Mann-Kendall, Theil-Sen Median, and standard deviation ellipse methods. The main factors driving disasters and their interactions in each region were then identified within the three categories of precipitation factor (PPF), surface environment factor, and human activity factor (HAF) based on a geographical detector. Finally, the differences in flash flood characteristics among the NS, GZ, and SS regions were analyzed. The results showed that flash floods in Shaanxi Province are greatly affected by the PPF and the HAF, although the spatial-temporal characteristics and disaster-causing factors were significantly different in each region. The regions were ranked according to the number and growth trends of flash floods as follows: SS.GZ.NS. Furthermore, flash floods were affected by multiple factors, with the interaction between factors acting as a driving force of flash floods. The results of this study can provide a reference for the management of flash floods under regional differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese herbal formula JiaWeiSiNiSan (JWSNS) has been widely used to prevent stress-induced neuropsychiatric ailments in clinics and proven to have therapeutic anti-stress effects on rats. However, the mechanism remains unclear. Based on the proteomics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), this study explores the possible mechanism and target proteins of JiaWeiSiNiSan raising stress resilience and preventing stress damage. A 6-week Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress (CUMS) model was applied on adult Wistar male rats to observe the effects of JWSNS on improving mental stress resilience. Tandem Mass Tag (TMT) proteomics and bioinformatics analysis were used to screen and analyze differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in CSF. Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) was used to validate target DEPs. Significantly decreased sucrose preference, locomotion activity level and accuracy of T-maze, as well as increased immobility time, were observed in CUMS rats compared to CON rats while JWSNS improved above depression-like behaviours. The quantitative proteomics and bioinformatics analysis showed that JWSNS decreased the expression of Rps4x, HSP90AA1, Rps12, Uba1, Rsp14, Tuba1b in CUMS rats CSF (p < 0.05, FDR < 0.5). Immunofluorescence results showed that the number of BrdU/DCX positive cells (p < 0.01) and the relative number of neurons (p < 0.01) in the hippocampus dentate gyrus (DG) of the JSWNS group significantly increased, compared with the CUMS group. JWSNS could increase mental stress resilience and prevent stress damage by regulating proteins in CSF. This study provides a scientific basis for further study on Chinese formulas preventing mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a low-frequency sound-absorbing metamaterial for underwater applications and verify that its sound-absorbing coefficient reaches above 0.7 within 45 to 300 Hz bandwidth and remains more than 0.9 within 110 to 300 Hz bandwidth by finite element method. The metamaterial unit structure consists of five groups of conical and cylindrical cavities, a rubber matrix, two metal vibrators and a steel backing. We first analyze that the high sound absorption performance of this structure at low-frequency is the result of two mechanisms of local resonance and wave-mode transformation. The finite element method results prove good sound absorption performance of the structure and explain the influence of changing the geometrical parameters of the structure on the sound absorption coefficient. The combined effect of the local resonance, wave-mode transformation and sound wave scattering mechanism made a great contribution to the structure's high sound absorption efficiency. The innovative design propose in this study has potential value in the research and application fields of underwater sound absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies show that abnormal lipoprotein metabolism can increase the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study prospectively investigated the association of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio and renal dysfunction in the Chinese population. Methods: This longitudinal cohort research examined 7,316 participants (age range: 22–93) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), including 6,560 individuals with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (normal renal function, NRF) group and 756 with eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (impaired renal function, IRF) group. In NRF group, reduction in renal function was defined as eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 at exit visit and in IRF group, it was defined as decline in eGFR category, average eGFR decline > 5 mL/min/1.73 m2 per year or > 30 % decrease in eGFR from baseline. Results: The study results showed that TG/HDL-C ratio was positively associated with the risk of renal function decline in the NRF group (OR 1.30, 95 %CI 1.03–1.65, P = 0.03) and the IRF group (OR 1.90, 95 %CI 1.21–3.23, P = 0.02) when adjusting for age, gender, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, waist circumference, drinking, smoking, history of heart disease and stroke, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and eGFR category. Analysis of the IRF group indicated that relative to the group of TG/HDL-C < 1.60, the group of TG/HDL-C ≥ 2.97 had an increased risk for the decline of eGFR category (OR 1.89, 95 %CI 1.12–3.21, P = 0.02) and > 30 % decline in eGFR (OR 2.56, 95 %CI 1.05–6.38, P = 0.04). Conclusions: The high TG/HDL-C ratio was an independent risk factor for declining renal function in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: To evaluate the effect of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) on community elderly people with malnutrition or risk of malnutrition. Methods and Study Design: A single arm intervention trial for 3 months was conducted. Whole nutrient powder was given to all the participants. Dietary intakes were measured by 3-day diet record. Nutritional status was evaluated using body weight, body mass index (BMI), calf circumference (CC), and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) scores. Muscle mass was measured by bioimpedance analysis (BIA). All these parameters as well as muscle strength, physical function, and quality of life were measured at both the baseline and the end. Results: Compared with the baseline, ONS increased protein intake (58.32±16.67 vs 41.90±18.49 g/d, p<0.001), body weight (57.03±8.31 vs 56.68±8.23 kg, p<0.05), BMI (22.16±2.13 vs 22.02±2.08 kg/m2, p<0.05), CC (34.21±2.53 vs 33.80±2.53 cm, p<0.001), MNA-SF scores (12.61±1.43 vs 10.48±0.99, p<0.05), hand grip strength (24.54±8.05 vs 23.27±7.74 kg, p<0.001), and 6-m gait speed (1.11±0.33 vs 0.96±0.28 m/s, p<0.001). Moreover, SF-36 scores of the overall subjects have been improved in all dimensions (p<0.05). Conclusions: The study demonstrated that ONS can effectively increase protein intake and improve nutritional status, muscle strength, physical function and quality of life of the elderly with malnutrition or malnutrition risk in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), presents an urgent health crisis. More recently, an increasing number of mutated strains of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified globally. Such mutations, especially those on the spike glycoprotein to render its higher binding affinity to human angiotensin-converting enzyme II (hACE2) receptors, not only resulted in higher transmission of SARS-CoV-2 but also raised serious concerns regarding the efficacies of vaccines against mutated viruses. Since ACE2 is the virus-binding protein on human cells regardless of viral mutations, we design hACE2-containing nanocatchers (NCs) as the competitor with host cells for virus binding to protect cells from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The hACE2-containing NCs, derived from the cellular membrane of genetically engineered cells stably expressing hACE2, exhibited excellent neutralization ability against pseudoviruses of both wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and the D614G variant. To prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections in the lung, the most vulnerable organ for COVID-19, we develop an inhalable formulation by mixing hACE2-containing NCs with mucoadhesive excipient hyaluronic acid, the latter of which could significantly prolong the retention of NCs in the lung after inhalation. Excitingly, inhalation of our formulation could lead to potent pseudovirus inhibition ability in hACE2-expressing mouse model, without imposing any appreciable side effects. Importantly, our inhalable hACE2-containing NCs in the lyophilized formulation would allow long-term storage, facilitating their future clinical use. Thus, this work may provide an alternative tactic to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infections even with different mutations, exhibiting great potential for treatment of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, immunization with inactivated influenza virus vaccines is the most prevalent method to prevent infections. However, licensed influenza vaccines provide only strain-specific protection and need to be updated and administered yearly; thus, new vaccines that provide broad protection against multiple influenza virus subtypes are required. In this study, we demonstrated that intradermal immunization with gp96-adjuvanted seasonal influenza monovalent H1N1 split vaccine could induce cross-protection against both group 1 and group 2 influenza A viruses in BALB/c mouse models. Vaccination in the presence of gp96 induced an apparently stronger antigen-specific T cell response than split vaccine alone. Immunization with the gp96-adjuvanted vaccine also elicited an apparent cross-reactive CD8+ T cell response that targeted the conserved epitopes across different influenza virus strains. These cross-reactive CD8+ T cells might be recalled from a pool of memory cells established after vaccination and recruited from extrapulmonary sites to facilitate viral clearance. Of note, six highly conserved CD8+ T epitopes from the viral structural proteins hemagglutinin (HA), M1, nucleoprotein (NP), and PB1 were identified to play a synergistic role in gp96-mediated cross-protection. Comparative analysis showed that most of conservative epitope-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) apparently induced by heterologous virus infection were also activated by gp96-adjuvanted vaccine, thus resulting in broader protective CD8+ T cell responses. Our results demonstrated the advantage of adding gp96 to an existing seasonal influenza vaccine to improve its ability to provide better cross-protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that long non-coding RNAs are related to plenty of human diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to predict potential lncRNA-disease associations for disease prognosis, diagnosis and therapy. Dozens of machine learning and deep learning algorithms have been adopted to this problem, yet it is still challenging to learn efcient low-dimensional representations from high-dimensional features of lncRNAs and diseases to predict unknown lncRNA-disease associations accurately. Results: We proposed an end-to-end model, VGAELDA, which integrates variational inference and graph autoencoders for lncRNA-disease associations prediction. VGAELDA contains two kinds of graph autoencoders. Variational graph autoencoders (VGAE) infer representations from features of lncRNAs and diseases respectively, while graph autoencoders propagate labels via known lncRNA-disease associations. These two kinds of autoencoders are trained alternately by adopting variational expectation maximization algorithm. The integration of both the VGAE for graph representation learning, and the alternate training via variational inference, strengthens the capability of VGAELDA to capture efcient low-dimensional representations from high-dimensional features, and hence promotes the robustness and preciseness for predicting unknown lncRNA-disease associations. Further analysis illuminates that the designed co-training framework of lncRNA and disease for VGAELDA solves a geometric matrix completion problem for capturing efcient low-dimensional representations via a deep learning approach. Conclusion: Cross validations and numerical experiments illustrate that VGAELDA outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods in lncRNA-disease association prediction. Case studies indicate that VGAELDA is capable of detecting potential lncRNA-disease associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the health attributes of urban green spaces in the Yangtze River Delta. This study analyses the mechanisms at play between ecological preferences, place attachment and place identity in urban green spaces in the Yangtze River Delta based on SEM. AHP and entropy-weighted and TOPSIS were used to analyse the influence relationships and spatial differentiation structure of the health benefits of green spaces in the study area. The study shows that, firstly, environmental preferences have a significant positive impact on place attachment, place identity and health benefit evaluation. Place attachment mediates the positive influence of environmental preferences on health outcomes. Second, the focus should be on improving the activity spaces and services in urban green spaces. Attention should also be paid to increasing the density of interactive spaces and the richness of interactive space types. Third, the health indices in the Yangtze River Delta region are roughly proportional to the urbanization rate and the degree of urban development. Emphasis should be placed on the development of urban green spaces in Anhui, strengthening exchanges between cities in the Yangtze River Delta, and standardizing and improving the construction of green belts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that mind-wandering (MW) is associated with changes in eye movement parameters, but have not explored how MW affects the sequential pattern of eye movements involved in making sense of complex visual information. Eye movements naturally unfold over time and this process may reveal novel information about cognitive processing during MW. The current study used Recurrence Quantification Analysis (Anderson, Bischof, Laidlaw, Risko, & Kingstone, 2013) to describe the pattern of refixations (fixations directed to previously inspected regions) during MW. Participants completed a real-world scene encoding task and responded to thought probes assessing intentional and unintentional MW. Both types of MW were associated with worse memory of the scenes. More important, RQA showed that scanpaths during unintentional MW were more repetitive than during on-task episodes, as indicated by a higher recurrence rate and more stereotypical fixation sequences. This increased repetitiveness suggests an adaptive response to processing failures through reexamining previous locations. Moreover, this increased repetitiveness contributed to fixations focusing on a smaller spatial scale of the stimuli. Finally, we were also able to validate several traditional measures: both intentional and unintentional MW were associated with fewer and longer fixations; eye-blinking increased numerically during both types of MW but the difference was only significant for unintentional MW. Overall, the results advanced our understanding of how visual processing is affected during MW by highlighting the sequential aspect of eye movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical carbon nanotube arrays (VACNT), as a result of its flexibility and axial high thermal conductivity, exert a huge potential and play an increasingly important role in thermal interface materials. This paper proposed a model which can predict the contact thermal resistance of VACNT. The contact thermal resistance of VACNT under different pressures is calculated and compared with the experimental data. Also, the effect of variations in the surface roughness and VACNT parameters on the contact thermal resistance is investigated. Results show that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The contact thermal resistance is composed of interfacial thermal resistance, constriction thermal resistance, and VACNT resistance. Among which the interfacial thermal resistance is the major thermal resistance. The variations in VACNT length and diameter can change the bending degree of VACNT under the same pressure, which presents important implications on contact thermal resistance and can be used to optimize the contact thermal resistance of VACNT. The surface roughness exerts little effect on contact thermal resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Predicting disease-related genes is helpful for understanding the disease pathology and the molecular mechanisms during the disease progression. However, traditional methods are not suitable for screening genes related to the disease development, because there are some samples with weak label information in the disease dataset and a small number of genes are known disease-related genes. Results: We designed a disease-related gene mining method based on the weakly supervised learning model in this paper. The method is separated into two steps. Firstly, the differentially expressed genes are screened based on the weakly supervised learning model. In the model, the strong and weak label information at different stages of the disease progression is fully utilized. The obtained differentially expressed gene set is stable and complete after the algorithm converges. Then, we screen disease-related genes in the obtained differentially expressed gene set using transductive support vector machine based on the difference kernel function. The difference kernel function can map the input space of the original Huntington's disease gene expression dataset to the difference space. The relation between the two genes can be evaluated more accurately in the difference space and the known disease-related gene information can be used effectively. Conclusions: The experimental results show that the disease-related gene mining method based on the weakly supervised learning model can effectively improve the precision of the disease-related gene prediction compared with other excellent methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To observe changes in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity and phosphorylation changes in AMPK signaling pathway in gastric smooth muscle cells of rats with diabetic gastroparesis (DGP), investigate the effect of AMPK on apoptosis and explore the underlying mechanism. After establishing rat model of DGP, rats were divided into normal control (NC) and DGP groups. The phosphorylation changes in AMPK pathway were detected by AMPK Signaling Phospho-Antibody Array, and the apoptosis-related proteins were determined. Rat gastric smooth muscle cells were cultured in vitro under different glucose conditions, and divided into normal and high glucose groups. The AMPK activity and intracellular Ca2+ changes in cells were observed. After AMPK silencing, cells were divided into high glucose-24h, high glucose-48h and high glucose-48h+siRNA groups. Changes in expression of apoptosis-related proteins were observed. AMPK activity and apoptosis rates were both increased in gastric smooth muscle tissues in DGP rats (P<0.05, P<0.001, respectively). A total of 14 apoptosis-related differentially phosphorylated proteins were identified. Under high-glucose condition, AMPK activity and intracellular Ca2+ concentrations in rat gastric smooth muscle cells were increased (both P<0.05). After AMPK silencing, p53 expression was decreased, Akt and p70 S6 ribosomal protein kinase (p70S6K) activities were were increased, Bcl-2 expression was increased, CaMKII activity was decreased in the high glucose-48h group. Under high-glucose condition, activated AMPK can directly or indirectly promote cells apoptosis by regulating the expression and activity of p53, Akt, p70S6K, Protein kinase A (PKA), Phospholipidol C (PLC)-ß3, CaMKII, CaMKIV and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein1 (4E-BP1) in rat gastric smooth muscle cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese medicine plays an increasingly important role in cancer treatment for the property of the complex components and multi-targets. Peperomia dindygulensis, belonging to Piperaceae family, was proved to be effective to the treatment of cancer, but the action mechanism is incomprehensive. In this study, we employed molecular docking and network pharmacology methods to predict the effective compositions, potential target proteins and potential biological pathways. Six compounds were predicted to have potential activity for liver-cancer target proteins. Meanwhile, we analyzed the biological pathways based on compounds-target network, which may be play an important role in liver cancer. This article is presented to explore the active ingredients of P. dindygulensis and provide crucial material for the further research and development of the plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wire mesh is a key component of a cable-mesh deployable antenna; it is laid on the cable net to reflect electromagnetic waves. The knitting form, mesh size, and wire mesh ductility directly affect the accuracy of the reflector. In this paper, a form-finding design method that considers wire mesh properties is proposed for cable-mesh deployable reflector antennas. First, a three-dimensional geometric model of the wire mesh is established. Based on the augmented Lagrange multiplier method, the finite element method model of the wire mesh is derived, and its accuracy is verified by experimental data. Second, to simplify the computation for a large-scale flexible wire mesh structure, the mechanical model is made equivalent to an anisotropy membrane. Third, based on the nonlinear finite element method, the form-finding design method of the cable-membrane composite structure is proposed. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the significant influence of the mechanical properties of wire mesh and the validity of the proposed design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution network nodes are numerous and monitoring devices are widely distributed. All monitoring data are uploaded to the cloud master for centralized processing may cause serious problems, such as network congestion, information delay and high computational complexity. The edge computing can provide a good solution, which requires reasonable distribution network partition. This paper proposes a Monte Carlo optimized spectral clustering (MCOSC) distribution network partition method for edge server configuration. Firstly, the objective function of distribution network partition number is constructed with economic and real-time communication indexes, which are more suitable for edge computing than electrical distance and voltage sensitivity indexes. Then the optimal number of partitions is obtained by particle swarm optimization (PSO) with the constraints of communication reliability. Secondly, to solve the problem that the traditional spectral clustering is easy to fall into the local optimal solution, a Monte Carlo optimized spectral clustering method is proposed to make the distribution network partition results more reasonable. Finally, the performance of the proposed method is evaluated by IEEE 33 bus and 69 bus systems distribution network models. The results indicate that the Monte Carlo optimization partition method has better accurate, robustness and convergence speed than traditional spectral clustering method. • The economic and real-time indexes are defined based on edge computing to optimize the number of network partitions. • A Monte Carlo optimized spectral clustering method is proposed to improve the distribution network partition results. • IEEE 33 and 69 bus systems test results indicate the proposed method has better accurate, robustness and convergence speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanosensitive PIEZO channels constitute potential pharmacological targets for multiple clinical conditions, spurring the search for potent chemical PIEZO modulators. Among them is Yoda1, a widely used synthetic small molecule PIEZO1 activator discovered through cell-based high-throughput screening. Yoda1 is thought to bind to PIEZO1's mechanosensory arm domain, sandwiched between two transmembrane regions near the channel pore. However, how the binding of Yoda1 to this region promotes channel activation remains elusive. Here, we first demonstrate that cross-linking PIEZO1 repeats A and B with disulfide bridges reduces the effects of Yoda1 in a redox-dependent manner, suggesting that Yoda1 acts by perturbing the contact between these repeats. Using molecular dynamics-based absolute binding free energy simulations, we next show that Yoda1 preferentially occupies a deeper, amphipathic binding site with higher affinity in PIEZO1 open state. Using Yoda1's binding poses in open and closed states, relative binding free energy simulations were conducted in the membrane environment, recapitulating structure-activity relationships of known Yoda1 analogs. Through virtual screening of an 8 million-compound library using computed fragment maps of the Yoda1 binding site, we subsequently identified two chemical scaffolds with agonist activity toward PIEZO1. This study supports a pharmacological model in which Yoda1 activates PIEZO1 by wedging repeats A and B, providing a structural and thermodynamic framework for the rational design of PIEZO1 modulators. Beyond PIEZO channels, the three orthogonal computational approaches employed here represent a promising path toward drug discovery in highly heterogeneous membrane protein systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Basin (YRB) is an essential location for the development of eco-civilization in China, and the state of water environment in the watershed is still unsatisfactory at this stage. Therefore, 11 provinces (cities) of YRB were selected for the present study. The Water Resources Carrying Capacity (WRCC) indicator scheme is founded on the conceptual structure of Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem (SENCE), and 21 indicators in 3 aspects are con-structed. The entropy-weightedTOPSIS method and grey relational analysis (GRA) were used to measure the WRCC of YRB from 2012 to 2021 and determine the driving factors. The results show that, first, there are large differences in WRCC levels in different regions, with an overall up-stream>midstream>downstream. The top three provinces (cities) in order are Szechwan (0.4721), Qinghai (0.4682) and Tibet (0.4655). Second, the trend of WRCC change is divided into three phases, fluctuating decline (2012-2015), recovery (2016-2018), and growth (2019-2021). Third, the subsystems of WRCC show stability, equilibrium, and variance, respectively. (4) The main drivers of WRCC are total fish production (0.8780), per capita daily domestic water consumption (0.8640), and total agricultural water consumption (0.8630) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The permeability of deep rock is closely related to the stability and safety of underground engineering. The rocks in deep stratum are mostly with high stress and high osmotic pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the coupling effect between porewater pressure and in situ stress on rock mass. A series of triaxial cyclic loading and unloading experiments under hydraulic-mechanics coupling conditions are carried out to studied the mechanical and hydraulic properties of granite in the depth of 1300 m to 1500 m. Especially, the effect of the disturbance on the permeability of fractured rocks are investigated by unloaded the confining pressure. Tests results presented that the stress-strain curves of deep granite showed typical brittle characteristics. The principal stress of granite exhibited a linear relationship under the high confining pressure of 34-40 MPa and high osmotic pressure of 13-15 MPa. Dissipated energy of the rock decreased to a relatively low level after 2-3 loading cycles and then slowly increased. Permeability showed a decreasing trend as the loading and unloading cycles increase. Finally, acoustic emission technology was used to monitor the fracture evolution in rocks, the acoustic emission signal released as the fractures develop and energy dissipated. The results would provide basic data for the exploitation and excavation in the deep galleries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy pile becomes a new application of foundation, instead of the traditional ground source heat pump system. The heat exchange efficiency and its structural response induced by thermal stress is an urgent issue for the usage of shallow geothermal in foundations. In this study, the field experiments are systematically carried out by using engineering test pile as energy pile, the comprehensive thermal conductivity and heat exchange rate of each pile are achieved by thermal performance tests. Then the deformation and stress-strain of a heating or cooling pile at different temperature are analyzed to explore the influence of thermal stress on pile structure. Finally, the thermal stress distribution along the pile is calculated, and its bearing capability is analyzed. The results are applied to the design and application of energy piles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancers enduring treatment with chemotherapy may be enriched for cancer stem cells or tumor-initiating cells, which have an enhanced capacity for self-renewal, tumor initiation, and/or metastasis. Breast cancer cells that express the type I tyrosine kinaselike orphan receptor ROR1 also may have such features. Here we find that the expression of ROR1 increased in breast cancer cells following treatment with chemotherapy, which also enhanced expression of genes induced by the activation of Rho-GTPases, Hippo-YAP/TAZ, or B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog (BMI1). Expression of ROR1 also enhanced the capacity of breast cancer cells to invade Matrigel, form spheroids, engraft in Rag2-/-γ-/-cγc-/- mice, or survive treatment with paclitaxel. Treatment of mice bearing breast cancer patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) with the humanized anti-ROR1 monoclonal antibody cirmtuzumab repressed expression of genes associated with breast cancer stemness, reduced activation of Rho-GTPases, Hippo-YAP/TAZ, or BMI1, and impaired the capacity of breast cancer PDXs to metastasize or reengraft Rag2-/-γ-/-cγc-/- mice. Finally, treatment of PDX-bearing mice with cirmtuzumab and paclitaxel was more effective than treatment with either alone in eradicating breast cancer PDXs. These results indicate that targeting ROR1 may improve the response to chemotherapy of patients with breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study is to improve the preoperative diagnostic accuracy and treatment results by investigating the clinical features and prognosis of primary liver sarcoma (PLS). Methods: Clinical data, surgical treatments, adjuvant chemotherapy, and prognosis of 17 PLS patients whose diseases were pathologically confirmed were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The main clinical symptoms included epigastric pain in 9 patients, epigastric distention in 7, and loss of appetite in 4; these symptoms were detected during the postoperative follow-up for gastric carcinoma in 1. The resection rate was 64.7% (12/17), including R0 resection in 10 patients and R1 resection in 2, and laparotomy with biopsy in 5. Five patients accepted an adjuvant selective hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (mitomycin C 16–20 mg+ 5-fluorouracil 5.0 g+ epirubicin 40–50 mg), and 4 accepted adjuvant systemic chemotherapy (vincristin, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, and adriamycin). All 5 patients with simple laparotomy died within 1 year, and the overall 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates for all patients were 58.8% (10/17), 29.4% (5/17) and 11.7% (2/17), respectively, whereas those were 100.0% (10/10), 50.0% (5/10), and 20.0% (2/10) for R0 resected patients respectively. Conclusions: The diagnosis of PLS is difficult before operation due to its nonspecific manifestations, and the high survival rate can be achieved by radical resection with adjuvant chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]