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Abstract\nIMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThe increasing prevalence of mobility impairments underscores the urgent need for accessible and affordable mobility aids. To overcome the mobility limitations of people with disabilities, there is an increasing need for the development of lightweight and portable powered wheelchairs that can be easily loaded. This study aimed to perform an early health technology assessment and a formative usability evaluation on a modular (detachable) powered wheelchair. It aimed to gauge device satisfaction among users, pinpoint areas for improvement, and detect any unforeseen errors to inform future development. Engaging 16 participants, including powered wheelchair users, healthcare professionals, and caregivers, the research evaluated the wheelchair’s functionality in various scenarios, emphasizing safety, effectiveness, and convenience. Statistical analyses of task performance and satisfaction surveys highlighted that, while powered wheelchair users successfully completed tasks focusing on driving and power control, healthcare professionals and caregivers encountered difficulties with the wheelchair’s assembly and disassembly. Despite general positivity, the surveys indicated mixed satisfaction levels regarding safety, validity, and convenience, with specific issues related to frame durability, seat comfort, and control mechanisms. These findings suggest that refining the wheelchair’s design and addressing user concerns could significantly enhance satisfaction and mobility services. Future efforts will include a thorough review of an advanced prototype and further satisfaction assessments.We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature by addressing a critical gap in the understanding of user-centric design and usability testing for powered wheelchairs.By emphasizing the importance of early assessments and incorporating user feedback into the development process, our research offers practical insights for creating more accessible and user-friendly mobility solutions.This contribution is particularly relevant in the context of advancing assistive technology and improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature by addressing a critical gap in the understanding of user-centric design and usability testing for powered wheelchairs.By emphasizing the importance of early assessments and incorporating user feedback into the development process, our research offers practical insights for creating more accessible and user-friendly mobility solutions.This contribution is particularly relevant in the context of advancing assistive technology and improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The localized nature of a flat band is understood by the existence of a compact localized eigenstate. However, the localization properties of a partially flat band, ubiquitous in surface modes of topological semimetals, have been unknown. We show that the partially flat band is characterized by a non-normalizable quasi-compact localized state (Q-CLS), which is compactly localized along several directions but extended in at least one direction. The partially flat band develops at momenta where normalizable Bloch wave functions can be obtained from a linear combination of the non-normalizable Q-CLSs. Outside this momentum region, a ghost flat band, unseen from the band structure, is introduced based on a counting argument. Then, we demonstrate that the Wannier function corresponding to the partially flat band exhibits an algebraic decay behavior. Namely, one can have the Wannier obstruction in a band with a vanishing Chern number if it is partially flat. Finally, we develop the construction scheme of a tight-binding model for a topological semimetal by designing a Q-CLS. Compact localized states constitute an auxiliary state representation for a flat-band lattice system with wave functions non-zero only in a finite portion of the lattice. Here, the authors show that in some flat-band systems, these states can be partially "hidden"; surprisingly, these ghost flat bands present an obstruction to be represented as maximally localized Wannier functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) in magnetic materials, resulting from inverted band topology, has emerged as a key adjustable function in spin‐torque devices and advanced magnetic sensors. Among systems with near‐half‐metallicity and broken time‐reversal symmetry, cobalt disulfide (CoS2) has proven to be a material capable of significantly enhancing its AHC. In this study, the AHC of CoS2 is empirically assessed by manipulating the chemical potential through Fe‐ (hole) and Ni‐ (electron) doping. The primary mechanism underlying the colossal AHC is identified through the application of density functional theory and tight‐binding analyses. The main source of this substantial AHC is traced to four spin‐polarized massive Dirac dispersions in the kz = 0 plane of the Brillouin zone, located slightly below the Fermi level. In Co0.95Fe0.05S2, the AHC, which is directly proportional to the momentum‐space integral of the Berry curvature (BC), reached a record‐breaking value of 2507 Ω−1cm−1. This is because the BCs of the four Dirac dispersions all exhibit the same sign, a consequence of the d‐wave‐like spin‐orbit coupling among spin‐polarized eg orbitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline core structure is prevalent in marine and other natural products. This article describes a tungsten-catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition aromatization of dihydroisoquinoline ester and maleic anhydride or an acrylate. The photochemical reaction tolerates a range of functional groups such as ester, cyano, ketone, bromide, and alkene. It is shown that the cycloaddition-aromatization of 2-substitued acrylate catalyzed by a tungsten photocatalyst can be used to evaluate the leaving ability of the leaving group. Experiments done to determine the reaction mechanism revealed that the formation of an ion-pair intermediate generated in situ from dihydroisoquinoline ester and (Z)-4-methoxy-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid via the solvolysis of maleic anhydride with methanol is crucial for the cascade process to occur. The key cycloadduct acid intermediate derived from [3+2] cycloaddition was isolated and determined by X-ray crystallography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in mRNA and 5-methylcytosine (5mC) in DNA have critical functions for regulating gene expression and modulating plant growth and development. However, the interplay between m6A and 5mC is an elusive territory and remains unclear mechanistically in plants. We reported an occurrence of crosstalk between m6A and 5mC in maize (Zea mays) via the interaction between mRNA adenosine methylase (ZmMTA), the core component of the m6A methyltransferase complex, and decrease in DNA methylation 1 (ZmDDM1), a key chromatin-remodeling factor that regulates DNA methylation. Genes with m6A modification were coordinated with a much higher level of DNA methylation than genes without m6A modification. Dysfunction of ZmMTA caused severe arrest during maize embryogenesis and endosperm development, leading to a significant decrease in CHH methylation in the 5′ region of m6A-modified genes. Instead, loss of function of ZmDDM1 had no noteworthy effects on ZmMTA-related activity. This study establishes a direct link between m6A and 5mC during maize kernel development and provides insights into the interplay between RNA modification and DNA methylation. The mRNA adenosine methylase ZmMTA interacts with decrease in DNA methylation 1 in maize and facilitates targeting to transcription start sites, contributing to the interplay of RNA N6-methyladenosine modification and DNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurological disorders, particularly stroke, pose significant public health challenges, prompting a comprehensive investigation into the intricate interplay between ferroptosis and immune responses. This study aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms of stroke, emphasizing the connection between ferroptosis and immune regulation. Objectives include identifying differentially expressed genes in stroke patients, assessing immune cell subtype activation, employing advanced predictive modeling to pinpoint key candidate genes such as STMN1 and ATG16L1, exploring associations with immune cell subtypes, and revealing critical pathways, such as matrix degradation and inflammatory responses, activated in stroke through Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA). A comprehensive approach was adopted, involving differential gene expression analysis, functional enrichment analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis, Lasso regularization, random forest models, and the CIBERSORT (https://cibersortx.stanford.edu) algorithm, to assess immune cell subtypes. The study pinpointed genes with significant expression differences in stroke patients, highlighting the activation of Th17 cells and the NF-κ B signaling pathway. Key candidate genes, including STMN1 and ATG16L1, were identified using advanced predictive modeling. The relative abundance of immune cell subtypes, particularly natural killer cells (NK cells) and T cell subgroups, was associated with stroke through CIBERSORT. GSVA uncovered the activation of critical biological pathways such as matrix degradation and inflammatory responses. The analysis pinpointed STMN1 and ATG16L1 as robust predictors, emphasizing their potential as therapeutic targets. Th17 cells and the NF-κ B signaling pathway emerged as pivotal contributors to stroke pathogenesis. Notably, NK cells and specific T cell subgroups demonstrated significant associations with stroke. GSVA further illuminated the activation of key pathways, providing deeper insights into the biological processes underlying stroke. This study sheds light on crucial genes and pathways implicated in stroke, emphasizing the roles of ferroptosis and immune cell subtypes. The identified genes and pathways offer promising avenues for targeted therapeutic interventions in stroke, with a broader implication for advancing neurological disorder treatments through innovative perspectives on ferroptosis and immune regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Overactive bladder (OAB) and dyskinesia are frequent complications in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the correlation between OAB and dyskinesia has been insufficiently explored. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dyskinesia, OAB, and clinical characteristics among individuals with PD. Methods: 1338 PD patients were included in the present study. Demographic features were compared between patients with or without dyskinesia and OAB symptoms. Logistic regression was conducted on dyskinesia to screen clinically relevant factors. Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) was further used to stratify the association between the severity of OAB and the occurrence of dyskinesia. Results: This study indicates that both dyskinesia and OAB are significantly related to disease severity and cognitive status. PD patients with dyskinesia and OAB having higher UPDRS scores (p < 0.001), H-Y scores (p < 0.001), NMSQ (p < 0.001) and MoCA scores (p < 0.001), and lower MMSE scores (p < 0.001) are identified. The multivariate logistic regression confirms that disease duration (p = 0.041), LEDD (p < 0.001), UPDRSII (p < 0.001), MoCA (p = 0.024), urgency (p < 0.001), frequency (p < 0.001), and nocturia (p = 0.002) are independent risk factors for dyskinesia. Trend analysis indicates that the risk of dyskinesia significantly increases when patients exhibit moderate to severe OAB symptoms (OABSS > 5) (p < 0.001). No significant interactions were found between OABSS and age, gender, disease duration, LEDD, and NMSQ scores in different subgroups, indicating that dyskinesia is more pronounced in patients with OABSS > 5. Discussion: This study provides compelling evidence supporting the strong correlation between OAB and dyskinesia in PD patients, emphasizing the presence of shared pathogenic mechanisms between these two conditions. Our findings underscore the importance of considering both OAB and dyskinesia in the clinical management of PD, investigating the intricate connections between OAB and dyskinesia could unveil valuable insights into the complex pathophysiology of PD and potentially identify novel therapeutic targets for more effective PD treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Overactive bladder (OAB) and dyskinesia are frequent complications in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the correlation between OAB and dyskinesia has been insufficiently explored. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between dyskinesia, OAB, and clinical characteristics among individuals with PD. Methods: 1338 PD patients were included in the present study. Demographic features were compared between patients with or without dyskinesia and OAB symptoms. Logistic regression was conducted on dyskinesia to screen clinically relevant factors. Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) was further used to stratify the association between the severity of OAB and the occurrence of dyskinesia. Results: This study indicates that both dyskinesia and OAB are significantly related to disease severity and cognitive status. PD patients with dyskinesia and OAB having higher UPDRS scores (p < 0.001), H-Y scores (p < 0.001), NMSQ (p < 0.001) and MoCA scores (p < 0.001), and lower MMSE scores (p < 0.001) are identified. The multivariate logistic regression confirms that disease duration (p = 0.041), LEDD (p < 0.001), UPDRSII (p < 0.001), MoCA (p = 0.024), urgency (p < 0.001), frequency (p < 0.001), and nocturia (p = 0.002) are independent risk factors for dyskinesia. Trend analysis indicates that the risk of dyskinesia significantly increases when patients exhibit moderate to severe OAB symptoms (OABSS > 5) (p < 0.001). No significant interactions were found between OABSS and age, gender, disease duration, LEDD, and NMSQ scores in different subgroups, indicating that dyskinesia is more pronounced in patients with OABSS > 5. Discussion: This study provides compelling evidence supporting the strong correlation between OAB and dyskinesia in PD patients, emphasizing the presence of shared pathogenic mechanisms between these two conditions. Our findings underscore the importance of considering both OAB and dyskinesia in the clinical management of PD, investigating the intricate connections between OAB and dyskinesia could unveil valuable insights into the complex pathophysiology of PD and potentially identify novel therapeutic targets for more effective PD treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has indicated that the Phyllagathis (raphides) clade (Sonerileae, Melastomataceae) is only distantly related to the type of Phyllagathis and should be separated as a distinct genus. Phylogeny of this clade is here reconstructed with expanded taxon sampling. Four strongly supported subclades have been identified. The possible affinities of taxa that were not sampled in the analysis are discussed, based on morphological data. Perilimnastes is resurrected as the generic name of the Phyllagathis (raphides) clade. A generic description, colour figures, map of distribution, a list of included species and a key are provided for Perilimnastes. Fifteen new combinations are made plus the description of a new species. As interpreted here, Perilimnastes consists of twenty species and two varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lip squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) was one of the most common cancer types of head and neck tumors. This study aimed to find more predictors of the prognosis in postoperative LSCC patients. Methods: A total of 147 LSCC patients between June 2012 and June 2018 were collected from two tertiary care institutions. There were 21 clinicopathological factors included and analyzed in our study. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to find the independent prognostic factors for predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in postoperative LSCC patients. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy in various subgroups was displayed by Kaplan–Meier plots. Results: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year PFS of postoperative LSCC patients were 88.4%, 70.1%, and 57.8%, respectively. Similarly, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of postoperative LSCC patients were 94.6%, 76.9%, and 69.4%, respectively. The results suggested that postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, grade with moderate or poor differentiate, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IV, higher systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), surgical margin < 5, and age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) ≥ 5 tend to have a poorer PFS (all P < 0.05). Besides, postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, AJCC stage IV, higher GPS, higher SII, and ACCI ≥ 5 tend to have a worse OS (all P < 0.05). Additionally, postoperative patients with LSCC in the subgroup of ACCI < 5 and AJCC III–IV stage was more likely to benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy, but not for the other subgroups. Conclusion: We identified a series of significant immune-inflammation-related and comorbidity-related clinicopathological factors associated with the prognosis of postoperative LSCC patients by local data from two tertiary care institutions in China, which can be helpful for patients and surgeons to pay more attention to nutrition, inflammation, and complications and finally obtained a better prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently discovered regular X-ray bursts known as quasi-periodic eruptions have a proposed model that suggests a tidal stripping white dwarf inspiralling into the galaxy's central black hole on an eccentric orbit. According to this model, the interaction of the stripping white dwarf with the central black hole would also emit gravitational wave signals, their detection can help explore the formation mechanism of quasi-periodic eruptions and facilitate multimessenger observations. In this paper, we investigated the horizon distance of TianQin on this type of gravitation wave signal and found it can be set to 200 Mpc. We also find that those stripping white dwarf model sources with central black hole mass within |$10^4 \!-\! 10^{5.5}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$| are more likely to be detected by TianQin. We assessed the parameter estimation precision of TianQin on those stripping white dwarf model sources. Our result shows that, even in the worst case, TianQin can determine the central black hole mass, the white dwarf mass, the central black hole spin, and the orbital initial eccentricity with a precision of 10−2. In the optimistic case, TianQin can determine the central black hole mass and the white dwarf mass with a precision of 10−7, determine the central black hole spin with a precision of 10−5, and determine the orbital initial eccentricity with a precision of 10−8. Moreover, TianQin can determine the luminosity distance with a precision of 10−1 and determine the sky localization with a precision of 10−2–10  |$\rm deg^2$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud Manufacturing (CMfg) has attracted lots of attention from scholars and practitioners. The purpose of quality of service (QoS)-aware manufacturing cloud service composition (MCSC), as one of the key issues in CMfg, is to combine different available manufacturing cloud services (MCSs) to generate an optimized MCSC that can meet the diverse requirements of customers. However, many available MCSs, deployed in the CMfg platform, have the same function but different QoS attributes. It is a great challenge to achieve optimal MCSC with a high QoS. In order to obtain better optimization results efficiently for the QoS-MCSC problems, a whale optimization algorithm (WOA) with adaptive weight, Lévy flight, and adaptive crossover strategies (ASWOA) is proposed. In the proposed ASWOA, adaptive crossover inspired by the genetic algorithm is developed to balance exploration and exploitation. The Lévy flight is designed to expand the search space of the WOA and accelerate the convergence of the WOA with adaptive crossover. The adaptive weight is developed to extend the search scale of the exploitation. Simulation and comparison experiments are conducted on various benchmark functions and different scale QoS-MCSC problems. The QoS attributes of the problems are randomly and symmetrically generated. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed ASWOA outperforms other compared cutting-edge algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study area is located in the south margin of the North China Block, the south end of the junction between the Ordos Block and the Hehuai Block, and is part of the Fenwei Graben System and the Shanxi Cenozoic fault basin in the central part of the North China Craton. The study area has a complex regional geological structure, intense tectonic movement, and frequent magmatic activities. Based on the latest high-precision aeromagnetic data, an integrated interpretation was completed by combining the regional geology, regional gravity, and magnetic susceptibility information. In this paper, the magnetic field characteristics and the relationship with the structure division are described in detail based on the block features in different zones of the reduction-to-the-pole aeromagnetic data. We showed that the different characteristics of the magnetic field depend on the concentrated reflection such as tectonic movement, magmatic activity, and stratigraphic distribution, and the fault structures were inferred and studied, especially the deep and large fault structures. The fault structures were distributed to the northeast (NE) and northwest (NW) directions. On the aeromagnetic map, faults are reflected as a boundary of different magnetic fields and aeromagnetic gradient belts. Under the interaction of NE and NW faults, an X-shaped fault structural system is formed. The NE faults control the magnetic field division, the sedimentary formation, magmatism, metamorphism, and mineral distribution, whereas the NW faults control the magmatism only. The NW faults are characterized by dislocation of NE faults, and the formation time of NE faults is earlier than that of NW trending faults. This study provides insight into the geophysical basis and reference for basic geological research and potential analysis for iron and other metal minerals in the study area in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractEnsemble methods such as bagging and random forests are ubiquitous in various fields, from finance to genomics. Despite their prevalence, the question of the efficient tuning of ensemble parameters has received relatively little attention. This article introduces a cross-validation method, Extrapolated Cross-Validation (ECV), for tuning the ensemble and subsample sizes in randomized ensembles. Our method builds on two primary ingredients: initial estimators for small ensemble sizes using out-of-bag errors and a novel risk extrapolation technique that leverages the structure of prediction risk decomposition. By establishing uniform consistency of our risk extrapolation technique over ensemble and subsample sizes, we show that ECV yields δ-optimal (with respect to the oracle-tuned risk) ensembles for squared prediction risk. Our theory accommodates general predictors, only requires mild moment assumptions, and allows for high-dimensional regimes where the feature dimension grows with the sample size. As a practical case study, we employ ECV to predict surface protein abundances from gene expressions in single-cell multiomics using random forests under a computational constraint on the maximum ensemble size. Compared to sample-split and K-fold cross-validation, ECV achieves higher accuracy by avoiding sample splitting. Meanwhile, its computational cost is considerably lower owing to the use of the risk extrapolation technique. Supplementary materials for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the progress in understanding left atrial substrate and arrhythmogenesis, only little is known about conduction characteristics in atrial fibrillation patients with various stages of fibrotic atrial cardiomyopathy (FACM). This study evaluates left atrial conduction times and conduction velocities based on high-density voltage and activation maps in sinus rhythm (CARTO®3 V7) of 53 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (LVEF 60% (55–60 IQR), LAVI 39 ml/m2 (31–47 IQR), LApa 24 ± 6 cm2). Measurements were made in low voltage areas (LVA ≤ 0.5 mV) and normal voltage areas (NVA ≥ 1.5 mV) at the left atrial anterior and posterior walls. Maps of 28 FACM and 25 no FACM patients were analyzed (19 FACM I/II, 9 FACM III/IV, LVA 14 ± 11 cm2). Left atrial conduction time averaged to 110 ± 24 ms but was shown to be prolonged in FACM (119 ms, + 17%) when compared to no FACM patients (101 ms, p = 0.005). This finding was pronounced in high-grade FACM (III/IV) (133 ms, + 31.2%, p = 0.001). In addition, the LVA extension correlated significantly with the left atrial conduction time (r = 0.56, p = 0.002). Conduction velocities were overall slower in LVA than in NVA (0.6 ± 0.3 vs. 1.3 ± 0.5 m/s, -51%, p < 0.001). Anterior conduction appeared slower than posterior, which was significant in NVA (1 vs. 1.4 m/s, -29%, p < 0.001) but not in LVA (0.6 vs. 0.8 m/s, p = 0.096). FACM has a significant influence on left atrial conduction characteristics in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. Left atrial conduction time prolongs with the grade of FACM and the quantitative expanse of LVA up to 31%. LVAs show a 51% conduction velocity reduction compared to NVA. Moreover, regional conduction velocity differences are present in the left atrium when comparing anterior to posterior walls. Our data may influence individualized ablation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a critical prognostic factor in resectable pancreatic cancer (PC) patients, determining treatment strategies. This study aimed to develop a clinical model to adequately and accurately predict the risk of LNM in PC patients. Methods: 13,200 resectable PC patients were enrolled from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database, and randomly divided into a training group and an internal validation group at a ratio of 7:3. An independent group (n = 62) obtained from The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University was enrolled as the external validation group. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to screen independent risk factors for LNM. The minimum Akaike's information criterion (AIC) was performed to select the optimal model parameters and construct a nomogram for assessing the risk of LNM. The performance of the nomogram was assessed by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA). In addition, an online web calculator was designed to assess the risk of LNM. Result: A total of six risk predictors (including age at diagnosis, race, primary site, grade, histology, and T-stage) were identified and included in the nomogram. The areas under the curves (AUCs) [95% confidential interval (CI)] were 0.711 (95%CI: 0.700–0.722), 0.700 (95%CI: 0.683–0.717), and 0.845 (95%CI: 0.749–0.942) in the training, internal validation and external validation groups, respectively. The calibration curves showed satisfied consistency between nomogram-predicted LNM and actual observed LNM. The concordance indexes (C-indexes) in the training, internal, and external validation sets were 0.689, 0.686, and 0.752, respectively. The DCA curves of the nomogram demonstrated good clinical utility. Conclusion: We constructed a nomogram model for predicting LNM in pancreatic cancer patients, which may help oncologists and surgeons to choose more individualized clinical treatment strategies and make better clinical decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perilimnastes is a genus currently treated in the polyphyletic Phyllagathis. Recent phylogenomic analyses have identified a morphologically cohesive lineage referred to as the Phyllagathis (raphides) clade, which should be excluded from Phyllagathis and treated as a distinct genus under the name Perilimnastes. Morphological and phylogenomic data have confirmed that four new species collected from Vietnam are part of the Phyllagathis (raphides) clade. They are described herein as Perilimnastes multisepala, P. setipetiola, P. uniflora, and P. banaensis. Perilimnastes multisepala is phylogenetically closest to Phyllagathis setotheca, and morphologically to P. fruticosa and P. stenophylla, but is distinct in the 4- to 8-lobed calyx, 28 x 9 mm, apically long acuminate petals, and 1-2 mm pedicel at fruiting stage. Perilimnastes setipetiola, P. uniflora, and P. banaensis are phylogenetically most closely related. Perilimnastes uniflora is characterized by its prostrate habit, small size, glabrous, obovate to obovate-lanceolate leaf blade, and solitary flower. Perilimnastes setipetiola and P. banaensis resemble each other in habit, leaf size and shape, and sessile or near sessile inflorescences but can be easily distinguished by the indumentum of the stems and leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dehydroxylation, alcohols, cyanation, hydroxyl group, nucleophilic substitution Keywords: dehydroxylation; alcohols; cyanation; hydroxyl group; nucleophilic substitution EN dehydroxylation alcohols cyanation hydroxyl group nucleophilic substitution 1593 1596 4 07/31/23 20230815 NES 230815 Graph The cyano group (-CN) is a unique moiety that is commonly found in biologically active molecules [1] and synthetic intermediates. Chem. 1941, 6: 795 26 Erhardt, S. Grushin, V V. Kilpatrick, A H. Macgregor, S A. Marshall, W J. Roe, D C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130: 4828 27 Kim, J. Chang, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132: 10272 28 Ushkov, A V. Grushin, V V. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133: 10999 29 Mondal, B. Acharyya, K. Howlader, P. Mukherjee, P S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138: 1709 30 Zanon, J. Klapars, A. Buchwald, S L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125: 2890 31 Ratani, T S. Bachman, S. Fu, G C. Peters, J C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137: 13902 32 Miwa, N. Tanaka, C. Ishida, S. Hirata, G. Song, J. Torigoe, T. Kuninobu, Y. Nishikata, T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142: 1692 33 Yu, P. Morandi, B. Angew. On the other hand, Ph SB 3 sb P SP + sp I I SP - sp might also directly activate alcohols B D b (path II), permitting a nucleophilic substitution. [Extracted from the article]

Dehydroxylation, alcohols, cyanation, hydroxyl group, nucleophilic substitution On the other hand, Ph SB 3 sb P SP + sp I I SP - sp might also directly activate alcohols B D b (path II), permitting a nucleophilic substitution. Chem. 1941, 6: 795 26 Erhardt, S. Grushin, V V. Kilpatrick, A H. Macgregor, S A. Marshall, W J. Roe, D C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130: 4828 27 Kim, J. Chang, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132: 10272 28 Ushkov, A V. Grushin, V V. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133: 10999 29 Mondal, B. Acharyya, K. Howlader, P. Mukherjee, P S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138: 1709 30 Zanon, J. Klapars, A. Buchwald, S L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125: 2890 31 Ratani, T S. Bachman, S. Fu, G C. Peters, J C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137: 13902 32 Miwa, N. Tanaka, C. Ishida, S. Hirata, G. Song, J. Torigoe, T. Kuninobu, Y. Nishikata, T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142: 1692 33 Yu, P. Morandi, B. Angew. Keywords: dehydroxylation; alcohols; cyanation; hydroxyl group; nucleophilic substitution EN dehydroxylation alcohols cyanation hydroxyl group nucleophilic substitution 1593 1596 4 07/31/23 20230801 NES 230801 Graph The cyano group (-CN) is a unique moiety that is commonly found in biologically active molecules [1] and synthetic intermediates. [Extracted from the article]

Summary: Effects of immersion freezing (IF), osmo‐dehydrofreezing (ODF) and air freezing (AF) on freezing parameters and physicochemical properties of frozen mango were studied. Results showed that IF had the shortest freezing time, followed by ODF and AF. In ODF groups, dehydrofreezing in 50% glucose (G‐50) showed the highest quality. Mangoes pre‐treated in glucose had higher quality than those pre‐treated in trehalose. The quality of osmo‐dehydrofrozen mangoes was more affected by freezing rate than by difference between freezing temperature and the glass transition temperature (T−Tg′). Compared with the AF, IF in 60% ethylene glycol (EG‐60) and ODF in G‐50 significantly improved the quality of mangoes, including colour change and drip loss reduced by 43.7%, 28.6%, 41.4% and 19.6%, hardness increased by 540.7% and 413.6%, and contents of vitamin C and total phenol increased by 30.7%, 24.3%, 18.3% and 6.4%, respectively. Overall, IF in EG‐60 was the most favourable method for frozen mangoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of mobile intelligence and wearable computing promotes the rise of quantified-self. Users quantify themselves and realize self-tracking and self-cognition through the connection between mobile phone terminals and wearable computing devices. The characteristics of immersive quantified information design in the convergence mode of mobile intelligence and wearable computing attract many users to immerse into it. Based on the stimulus-body-response (S-O-R) model, this paper constructs an influence mechanism model that affects the immersive experience of quantified-self and adopts empirical research methods. This paper analyzes the influence of the information platform and content characteristics (interaction, ease of use, usefulness, entertainment) of the convergence of mobile intelligence and wearable computing on users' immersive experience of quantified-self and the moderating effect of privacy concern and potential affordance on immersive experience and continuous participation. The results show that interaction, ease of use, usefulness, and entertainment all have a significant impact on users' quantified-self immersive experience, and the influence is in the order of usefulness>ease of use>entertainment>interaction. Potential affordance and privacy concerns play a significant role in regulating the state of immersion and continuous participation. The conclusion of this study not only analyzes the influencing factors of users' immersive experience of quantified-self from the characteristics of the convergence of mobile intelligence and wearable computing but also analyzes the relationship between users' immersive experience of quantified-self and continuous participation from the perspective of potential affordance and privacy concerns. It provides opinions and suggestions for the interaction design and user information management of the convergence of mobile intelligence and wearable computing and has practical reference significance for related enterprises to improve user stickiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expanding number of assets offers more opportunities for investors but poses new challenges for modern portfolio management (PM). As a central plank of PM, portfolio selection by expected utility maximization (EUM) faces uncontrollable estimation and optimization errors in ultrahigh-dimensional scenarios. Past strategies for high-dimensional PM mainly concern only large-cap companies and select many stocks, making PM impractical. We propose a sample-average-approximation-based portfolio strategy to tackle the difficulties above with cardinality constraints. Our strategy bypasses the estimation of mean and covariance, the Chinese walls in high-dimensional scenarios. Empirical results on S&P 500 and Russell 2000 show that an appropriate number of carefully chosen assets leads to better out-of-sample mean-variance efficiency. On Russell 2000, our best portfolio profits as much as the equally weighted portfolio but reduces the maximum drawdown and the average number of assets by 10% and 90%, respectively. The flexibility and the stability of incorporating factor signals for augmenting out-of-sample performances are also demonstrated. Our strategy balances the tradeoff among the return, the risk, and the number of assets with cardinality constraints. Therefore, we provide a theoretically sound and computationally efficient strategy to make PM practical in the growing global financial market. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most fatal gynecological malignancies among elderly patients. We aim to construct two nomograms to predict the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in elderly EOC patients. Methods: Elderly patients with EOC between 2000 and 2019 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Enrolled patients were randomly divided into the training and validation set at a ratio of 2:1. The OS and CSS were recognized as endpoint times. The independent prognostic factors from the multivariate analysis were used to establish nomograms for predicting the 3-, 5- and 10-year OS and CSS of elderly EOC patients. The improvement of predictive ability and clinical benefits were evaluated by consistency index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC), calibration curve, decision curve (DCA), net reclassification improvement (NRI), and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Finally, the treatment efficacy of surgery and chemotherapy in low-, medium-, and high-risk groups were displayed by Kaplan–Meier curves. Results: Five thousand five hundred eighty-eight elderly EOC patients were obtained and randomly assigned to the training set (n = 3724) and validation set (n = 1864). The independent prognostic factors were utilized to construct nomograms for OS and CSS. Dynamic nomograms were also developed. The C-index of the OS nomogram and CSS nomogram were 0.713 and 0.729 in the training cohort. In the validation cohort, the C-index of the OS nomogram and CSS nomogram were 0.751 and 0.702. The calibration curve demonstrated good concordance between the predicted survival rates and actual observations. Moreover, the NRI, IDI, and DCA curves determined the outperformance of the nomogram compared with the AJCC stage system. Besides, local tumor resection had a higher benefit on the prognosis in all patients. Chemotherapy had a better prognosis in the high-risk groups, but not for the medium- risk and low-risk groups. Conclusions: We developed and validated nomograms for predicting OS and CSS in elderly EOC patients to help gynecologists to develop an appropriate individualized therapeutic schedule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, namely Kennedy disease, is a rare progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat in the first exon of the androgen receptor gene on the X chromosome. We assessed the clinical history, laboratory findings, functional scales and electrophysiological data, as well as the levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and testosterone, in 157 Korean patients with genetically confirmed spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (mean age at data collection = 56.9 years; range = 33–83 years). Hand tremor was the first symptom noticed by patients at a median age of 35 years, followed by gynaecomastia, orofacial fasciculation, cramps and fatigability in ascending order. Clinical symptoms such as paraesthesia and dysphagia appeared during the later stages of the disease. Cane use during ambulation began at a median age of 62 years. There were statistically significant differences between patients and controls in the results of sensory nerve studies, motor conduction velocity, and distal latencies. Furthermore, among the hormone markers analysed, the level of luteinizing hormone exhibited a negative correlation with the spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy functional rating scale, Korean version. However, among the patients with a disease duration of ≤5 years, the levels of luteinizing hormone showed a significant correlation with assessments using the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis functional rating scale-revised, spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy functional rating scale, Korean version and the 6-minute walk test. In conclusion, our findings provide clinical information from a substantial number of patients with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy in Korea that accorded with that of patients with this disease worldwide but with updated clinical features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bagging is a commonly used ensemble technique in statistics and machine learning to improve the performance of prediction procedures. In this paper, we study the prediction risk of variants of bagged predictors under the proportional asymptotics regime, in which the ratio of the number of features to the number of observations converges to a constant. Specifically, we propose a general strategy to analyze the prediction risk under squared error loss of bagged predictors using classical results on simple random sampling. Specializing the strategy, we derive the exact asymptotic risk of the bagged ridge and ridgeless predictors with an arbitrary number of bags under a well-specified linear model with arbitrary feature covariance matrices and signal vectors. Furthermore, we prescribe a generic cross-validation procedure to select the optimal subsample size for bagging and discuss its utility to eliminate the non-monotonic behavior of the limiting risk in the sample size (i.e., double or multiple descents). In demonstrating the proposed procedure for bagged ridge and ridgeless predictors, we thoroughly investigate the oracle properties of the optimal subsample size and provide an in-depth comparison between different bagging variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campylobacter is regarded as the leading cause of zoonotic diseases and Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the predominant pathogenic species. To track C. jejuni infections, various genotyping methods have been used. In this study, amplified intergenic locus polymorphism (AILP) was used to type C. jejuni for the first time. To confirm its feasibility, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed as a control, and the results obtained by the AILP and PFGE methods were compared. Fifty-one isolates were resolved into 34 and 29 different genotypes with Simpson's indices of 0.976 and 0.967 using the AILP and PFGE methods, respectively. The adjusted Rand coefficient of the two approaches was as high as 0.845. In summary, the data showed that the two genotyping methods were similar for discriminating isolates and were both appropriate methods to distinguish whether two isolates were indistinguishable, but the AILP was faster and less costly than PFGE. Therefore, the AILP is a reliable, rapid, and highly discriminative method to genotype C. jejuni collected from poultry meat, which is helpful to effectively monitor C. jejuni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in single-cell technologies enable joint profiling of multiple omics. These profiles can reveal the complex interplay of different regulatory layers in single cells; still, new challenges arise when integrating datasets with some features shared across experiments and others exclusive to a single source; combining information across these sources is called mosaic integration. The difficulties lie in imputing missing molecular layers to build a self-consistent atlas, finding a common latent space, and transferring learning to new data sources robustly. Existing mosaic integration approaches based on matrix factorization cannot efficiently adapt to nonlinear embeddings for the latent cell space and are not designed for accurate imputation of missing molecular layers. By contrast, we propose a probabilistic variational autoencoder model, scVAEIT, to integrate and impute multimodal datasets with mosaic measurements. A key advance is the use of a missing mask for learning the conditional distribution of unobserved modalities and features, which makes scVAEIT flexible to combine different panels of measurements from multimodal datasets accurately and in an end-to-end manner. Imputing the masked features serves as a supervised learning procedure while preventing overfitting by regularization. Focusing on gene expression, protein abundance, and chromatin accessibility, we validate that scVAEIT robustly imputes the missing modalities and features of cells biologically different from the training data. scVAEIT also adjusts for batch effects while maintaining the biological variation, which provides better latent representations for the integrated datasets. We demonstrate that scVAEIT significantly improves integration and imputation across unseen cell types, different technologies, and different tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catheter ablation is an effective method of rhythm therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF). AF recurrence is a common problem after catheter ablation. The aim of this study was to investigate influence factors of early recurrence after catheter ablation for AF. One hundred and three consecutive patients with AF were enrolled and underwent catheter ablation. Venous blood (Marked as A) was collected before ablation and left atrial blood (Marked as B) was collected after successful atrial septal puncture to detect serum periostin. After 3 months of follow-up, statistical analysis was made based on the recurrence of AF. 27 (26.2%) patients had a recurrence of atrial arrhythmia after catheter ablation. Patients with recurrent atrial arrhythmia had a larger left atrial volume (162.31 ± 47.76 vs. 141.98 ± 41.64,p = 0.039), and higher serum periostin levels (periostin A. 99.71 ± 16.475 vs. 90.36 ± 13.63, p = 0.005; periostin B. 103.95 ± 13.09 vs. 94.46 ± 15.85, p = 0.006) compared with the non-recurrent group. The numbers of patients with left atrial low-voltage areas (LVAs) were more in the recurrence group (p < 0.001). Left atrial volume, serum periostin and left atrial LVAs were included in univariate and multivariate COX regression analysis. It showed that left atrial LVAs (HR3.81; 95% CI 1.54 to 9.44; p = 0.004) and serum periostin A (HR1.07; 95% CI 1.02 to1.13; p = 0.008) were the independent predictors of AF recurrence. The cut-off value of serum periostin A was 87.95 ng/ ml (AUC, 0.681; sensitivity 88.9% and specificity 53.9%). Kaplan–Meier survival curve showed that the recurrence rate of AF was higher in patients with left atrial LVAs and higher serum periostin. The venous serum periostin level and left atrial LVAs were independent predictors of early recurrence of AF after catheter ablation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this technical note, we add to the literature the analytical solution of the heat equation with radiation boundary conditions for an instantaneous point source in a hollow sphere. Instead of using the conventional method of the Laplace transfer and inverse Laplace transfer that requires intricate integral in the complex plane, we present a new approach to derive the analytical solution in the time domain. First, we express the instantaneous point source as the initial condition in terms of Dirac delta, e.g., Eq. (2), which is further expressed in the form of the general solution, i.e., Eq. (18). Subsequently, we determine the solution coefficients and obtain the analytical solution. Two special cases with prescribed surface temperature and no-flux boundaries are presented to demonstrate the solution. This solution is of practical importance in many scientific and engineering applications, such as pore pressure prediction in reservoir engineering, thermal analysis of casing in drilling engineering, and determining the relaxation process in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation is the core driving force for the high-quality development of regional integration in the Yangtze River Delta, and the free flow of innovative elements represented by green technology across cities is the due meaning of the construction of ecological green integration in the Yangtze River Delta. Based on the inter-city green patent transfer data from 2001 to 2020, this study analyzed the characteristics of the spatial evolution of green technology diffusion in the Yangtze River Delta, and discussed the development degree of ecological green integration in the area from the three levels of overall development, green technology supply, and green technology sales. This study found that the core area of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, consisting of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou- Zhenjiang-Nanjing urban belt and the Hangzhou Bay city agglomeration, is the core supporting space whether in terms of the intra-region green technology flow or inter-region green technology flow. Beijing-Tianjin area and the Pearl River Delta are not only the main external purchasers, but also the main external suppliers of green technologies in the Yangtze River Delta. The ecological green integration of the Yangtze River Delta under the inter-city green technology flow has been realized at the overall level and the green technology sales level, but it has rapidly declined in the green technology supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work reports a series of new organic electro‐optic salt crystals possessing unusual orthogonal dipole‐coupling assembly that act as dimple‐free THz generators. In the new crystals, optically anisotropic aromatic anions introducing highly electronegative fluorinated substituents are orthogonally assembled with optically anisotropic nonlinear optical benzothiazolium cations. These orthogonal cation–anion assembled crystals exhibit strong suppression of intrinsic THz phonon modes along the polar axis, which results in a wide THz absorption‐free range from 1.5 to 4.0 THz without substantial absorption peaks. This is sharply in contrast to previous benchmark crystals with parallel cation–anion assembly; for example, in analogous crystals, several strong absorption peaks appear in this frequency range. This absence of strong absorption peaks is attributed to the orthogonal cation–anion dipole coupling assembly, the formation of fluorinate‐induced strong interionic interactions, and a high packing ability of uniaxial anions. With top‐level macroscopic optical nonlinearity, new orthogonal‐dipole assembled crystals make dimple‐free THz wave generation possible in the range of about 1.5–4.0 THz, which is very beneficial for characterizing signature peaks related to molecular phonon motions of analytes in THz spectroscopy. Therefore, orthogonal molecular assembly of optically highly anisotropic molecules provides an efficient way to substantially reduce and control intrinsic THz phonon modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor necrosis factor‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces death receptor‐mediated extrinsic apoptosis, specifically in cancer cells, and Bid (BH3‐interacting domain death agonist) plays an important role in TRAIL‐induced apoptosis. Ferroptosis is a newly defined form of regulated cell death known to be distinct from other forms of cell death. However, our previous studies have shown that ferroptosis shares common pathways with other types of programmed cell death such as apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the role of Bid in the crosstalk between the ferroptotic agent‐induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response and TRAIL‐induced apoptosis. When human colorectal carcinoma HCT116 cells were treated with the ferroptosis‐inducing agents artesunate and erastin in combination with TRAIL, TRAIL‐induced activation of caspase‐8 was enhanced, and subsequently, the truncation of Bid was increased. Similar results were observed when ovarian adenocarcinoma OVCAR‐3 cells were treated with the ferroptotic agents in combination with TRAIL. Results from studies with Bid mutants reveal that the truncation of Bid and the presence of intact BH3 domains are critical for synergistic apoptosis. Nonfunctional Bid mutants were not able to activate the mitochondria‐dependent apoptosis pathway, which is required for the conversion of p19 to p17, the active form of caspase‐3. These results indicate that Bid plays a critical role in the crosstalk between the ferroptotic agent‐induced ER stress response and TRAIL‐induced apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of service (QoS)-aware manufacturing cloud service composition (QoS-MCSC) is one of the key issues in Cloud manufacturing (CMfg). More and more manufacturing cloud services offering the same or similar functionality but different QoS attributes are provided in the CMfg platform. It is a challenging issue to construct an optimal composite service satisfying customers' requirements. In this study, a novel hybrid teaching-learning-based optimization algorithm is proposed to solve QoS-MCSC problems. It integrates the advantages of uniform mutation, adaptive flower pollination algorithm, and teaching-learning-based optimization algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm finds higher quality results than other compared algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic access to the targeted site is a major challenge for the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients undergoing Roux-en-Y (R-Y) reconstruction after total or subtotal gastrectomy. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility, reproducibility, and safety of mechanistic loop resolution strategies using a short-type single-balloon enteroscopy (short SBE) system. Methods: Between February 2020 and March 2022, consecutive patients with a previous R-Y gastrectomy requiring ERCP were prospectively enrolled. Different mechanistic loop resolution strategies for two-dimensional loops, three-dimensionally rotated loops, and loops making a cane or S-shape were applied during the SBE approach. Results: Forty-three short SBE-ERCP procedures were performed on 37 patients, with an approach success rate of 100.0% (43/43). The mean time to reach the jejunojejunal anastomosis and target site were 8.0 (6.0–11.0) minutes and 26.0 (16.0–36.0) minutes, respectively. The major challenges for the approach were the cane or S-shaped loop in the jejunojejunal anastomosis or Treitz ligament. The retroflex positioning of a SBE in front of the papilla was achieved in 86.0% (37/43), and the cannulation success rate in patients with an intact papilla was 90.9% (30/33). The initial, overall therapeutic successes, median total procedure time, and adverse event rate were 87.8%, 92.7%, 77.0 (IQR 56–100.5) minutes, and 11.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Short SBE-ERCP using standardized mechanistic loop resolution strategies is effective and reproducible in patients with R-Y reconstruction after gastrectomy. Trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT04847167). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials with remarkable optical, mechanical, and electrical properties have shed new light on various fields including optoelectronics, sensors, biomedicine, and ultrafast photonics. Particularly, owing to their nonlinear optical properties, fast recovery time, and broadband operation, nanomaterials are well qualified as saturable absorbers in ultrafast pulsed lasers. Over the development of the past decades, various nanomaterials have been developed as saturable absorbers, which contribute to a diversity of lasers with excellent performance. Therefore, it is important for researchers to provide a landmark of the applications of nanomaterials in ultrafast photonics concerning cutting‐edge development. Herein, the integration and applications of nanomaterials in ultrafast photonics are reviewed. First, end‐face, lateral, as well as photonic crystal fibers padding integration methods are introduced along with their process and characteristics. Then the ultrafast applications of nanomaterials including carbon‐based (carbon nanotubes and graphene), typical 2D (topological insulators, transition metal dichalcogenides, black phosphorus, and MXenes), and metal‐based nanomaterials (gold, silver, copper, and metal oxides) are summarized. Major parameters of ultrafast lasers and features of each nanomaterial are presented simultaneously. Finally, the perspectives of nanomaterials for further development in ultrafast photonics are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) is a neuronal migration disorder that occurs during early brain development. Patients with PNH may be asymptomatic and have normal intelligence; however, PNH is also known to cause various symptoms such as seizures, dyslexia, and cardiovascular anomalies. PNH is not commonly diagnosed during early infancy because of the lack of clinical manifestations during this period. We present the case of a female infant diagnosed with PNH based on brain magnetic resonance imaging, who had symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus that had to be ligated surgically and had prolonged feeding cyanosis with frequent apneic spells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limbal stem cells constitute an important cell population required for regeneration of the corneal epithelium. If insults to limbal stem cells or their niche are sufficiently severe, a disease known as limbal stem cell deficiency occurs. In the absence of functioning limbal stem cells, vision-compromising conjunctivalization of the corneal epithelium occurs, leading to opacification, inflammation, neovascularization, and chronic scarring. Limbal stem cell transplantation is the standard treatment for unilateral cases of limbal stem cell deficiency, but bilateral cases require allogeneic transplantation. Herein we review the current therapeutic utilization of limbal stem cells. We also describe several limbal stem cell markers that impact their phenotype and function and discuss the possibility of modulating limbal stem cells and other sources of stem cells to facilitate the development of novel therapeutic interventions. We finally consider several hurdles for widespread adoption of these proposed methodologies and discuss how they can be overcome to realize vision-restoring interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of smooth solutions of an anisotropic surface quasi-geostrophic equation with horizontal dissipation remains an open problem. In this work, we present a partial answer to this problem in a rougher function space. More precisely, if the initial data θ0 belong to anisotropic Sobolev space H0,s with 1 2 < s < 1 , then there exists a global small solution, provided that the initial data are small in H0,s. The stability problem in the space H0,1 or more regular spaces remains open. The main tools used are the Littlewood–Paley theory and standard techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid‐state molecular phonons play a crucial role in the performance of diverse photonic and optoelectronic devices. In this work, new organic terahertz (THz) generators based on a catechol group that acts as a phonon suppressing intermolecular adhesive are developed. The catechol group is widely used in mussel‐inspired mechanical adhesive chemistry. Newly designed organic electro‐optic crystals consist of catechol‐based nonlinear optical 4‐(3,4‐dihydroxystyryl)‐1‐methylpyridinium (DHP) cations and 4‐(trifluoromethyl)benzenesulfonate anions (TFS), which both have multiple interionic interaction capability. Interestingly, compared to benchmark organic crystals for THz generators, DHP‐TFS crystals concomitantly achieve top level values of the lowest void volume and the highest crystal density, resulting in an exceptionally small amplitude of solid‐state molecular phonons. Simultaneously achieving small molecular phonon amplitude, large optical nonlinearity and good phase matching at infrared optical pump wavelengths, DHP‐TFS crystals are capable of generating broadband THz waves of up to 16 THz with high optical‐to‐THz conversion efficiency; one order of magnitude higher than commercial inorganic THz generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing hybrid photoelectrodes with graphene capable of efficient charge-carrier transfer and excellent chemical stability is an effective strategy for developing high-performance photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells. However, it remains unclear how the PEC properties are enhanced and how to control the junction properties in graphene/metal oxide heterojunction-based photoelectrodes. Here, we develop a deterministic junction to enhance PEC performance in graphene/tungsten trioxide (WO 3)-based photoelectrodes by tuning the work function of graphene. It reveals that the band structure of graphene/WO 3 heterojunctions can be modified by ultraviolet (UV) treatment on WO 3 thin films. This modification is supported by the observation that a single-layer graphene/UV-treated WO 3 photoelectrode exhibits significantly enhanced PEC activities toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) (evidenced by features like a threefold increase in photocurrent, an onset potential shift, and improved stability), whereas the single-layer graphene/untreated WO 3 electrode demonstrates improved properties for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Additionally, defects in the graphene layer formed during PEC water splitting contribute to high catalytic activities of the graphene/WO 3 photoelectrode due to a decrease in the Gibbs free energy for OER and HER. These results emphasize that band structure engineering via work function tuning in graphene/WO 3 heterostructures can provide multiple benefits for high PEC performance and long-term stability. [Display omitted] • Graphene offers efficient charge transfer and chemical stability in photoelectrode. • The work function of graphene is tuned with a deterministic junction. • UV treatment on WO 3 modifies the band structure of graphene/WO 3 heterojunctions. • The SLG/WO 3 (UV)/Nb:STO exhibits outstanding water oxidation performance. • Graphene also serves as surface passivation and co-catalyst layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar produced from bio-wastes has been widely used to promote the performance of anaerobic digestion. Waste activated sludge (WAS) is considered as a kind of popular precursor for biochar preparation, but the abundant resources in WAS were neglected previously. In this study, the roles of biochar prepared from raw, pretreated, and fermented sludge on anaerobic digestion were investigated. That is, parts of carbon sources and nutrients like polysaccharides, proteins, and phosphorus were firstly recovered after sludge pretreatment or fermentation, and then the sludge residuals were used as raw material to prepare biochar. The methane yield improved by 22.1% with adding the biochar (AK-BC) prepared by sludge residual obtained from alkaline pretreatment. Mechanism study suggested that the characteristics of AK-BC like specific surface area and defect levels were updated. Then, the conversion performance of intermediate metabolites and electro-activities of extracellular polymeric substances were up-regulated. As a result, the activity of electron transfer was increased with the presence of AK-BC, with increase ratio of 21.4%. In addition, the electroactive microorganisms like Anaerolineaceae and Methanosaeta were enriched with the presence of AK-BC, and the potential direct interspecies electron transfer was possibly established. Moreover, both aceticlastic and CO 2 -reducing methanogenesis pathways were improved by up-regulating related enzymes. Therefore, the proposed strategy can not only obtain preferred biochar but also recover abundant resources like carbon source, nutrients, and bioenergy. [Display omitted] • Biochar from raw, pretreated, and fermented sludge residuals were optimized. • Methane yield increased by 22.1% with biochar from alkaline pretreated sludge. • Alkaline pretreated sludge biochar increased electron transport activity by 21.4%. • Both aceticlastic and CO 2 -reducing methanogenesis pathways were improved. • A green and sustainable strategy for final disposal of sludge was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug resistance causes therapeutic failure in refractory cancer. Cancer drug resistance stems from various factors, such as patient heterogeneity and genetic alterations in somatic cancer cells, including those from identical tissues. Generally, resistance is intrinsic for cancers; however, cancer resistance becomes common owing to an increased drug treatment. Unfortunately, overcoming this issue is not yet possible. The present study aimed to evaluate a clinical approach using candidate compounds 19 and 23, which are sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) inhibitors, discovered using the evolutionary chemical binding similarity method. mRNA sequencing indicated SERCA as the dominant marker of patient-derived anti-cancer drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but not of patient-derived anti-cancer drug-sensitive HCC. Candidate compounds 19 and 23 led to significant tumor shrinkage in a tumor xenograft model of anti-cancer drug-resistant patient-derived HCC cells. Our results might be clinically significant for the development of novel combinatorial strategies that selectively and efficiently target highly malignant cells such as drug-resistant and cancer stem-like cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignant tumor that accounts for approximately 90% of all cases of primary liver cancer worldwide. Microtubule alterations may contribute to the broad spectrum of resistance to chemotherapy, tumor development, and cell survival. This study aimed to assess the value of ribonucleic acid export 1 (RAE1), as a regulator of microtubules, in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC, and to analyze its correlation with genetic mutations and pathways in HCC. Results: The mRNA and protein levels of RAE1 were significantly elevated in HCC tissues compared with those in normal tissues. The high expression level of RAE1 was correlated with T stage, pathologic stage, tumor status, histologic grade, and alpha-fetoprotein level. HCC patients with a higher expression level of RAE1 had a poorer prognosis, and the expression level of RAE1 showed the ability to accurately distinguish tumor tissues from normal tissues (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.951). The AUC values of 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were all above 0.6. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that RAE1 expression level was an independent prognostic factor for a shorter overall survival of HCC patients. The rate of RAE1 genetic alterations was 1.1% in HCC samples. Gene ontology and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway enrichment analyses indicated the co-expressed genes of RAE1 were mainly related to chromosome segregation, DNA replication, and cell cycle checkpoint. Protein–protein interaction analysis showed that RAE1 was closely correlated with NUP205, NUP155, NUP214, NUP54, and NXF1, all playing important roles in cell division and mitotic checkpoint. Conclusion: RAE1 can be a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker associated with microtubules and a therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies have assessed the fingerprint and quantitative analysis of Ginkgo biloba preparations, but the fingerprint mainly focuses on flavonoid glycosides. However, according to our previous study, the differences among diverse manufacturers mainly involve organic acids. Methods: A novel reverse-phase liquid chromatography assay using diode array detection was developed for evaluating Ginkgo biloba preparations for quality based on a chromatographic fingerprint allowing the simultaneous assessment of eleven compounds, including four organic acids, six flavonol glycosides and one flavonoid aglycone. And the method was applied to 51 batches of Ginkgo biloba preparations from manufacturers in China. Chemometric approaches were performed for evaluating 51 batches of Ginkgo biloba preparations from various manufacturers. Results: The similarity values among the chromatograms of 51 samples ranged from 0.45 to 1.00, showing that the quality of Ginkgo biloba preparations produced by different manufacturers varied greatly. Data analysis of the 51 batches of GBP samples suggested significant variations of the total contents of all 11 targets, also demonstrating the quality difference of GBP samples. There were significant differences in organic acids in particular. Conclusion: Combining the chemical fingerprint and quantitative assessment revealed significant variations in the examined commercial products with regard to organic acids. Thus, this study provided a more comprehensive tool for monitoring the quality consistency of Ginkgo biloba preparations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the postoperative treatment of oocyte carcinoma, CT and CT ultrasonography combined with microscopic intraperitoneal should be combined with peritoneal heat perfusion chemotherapy. The authors selected 50 patients who received treatment for ovarian cancer from 2017 to 2018 and divided them into two groups (observation group, 30 cases, control group, 20 cases). Cisplatin, associated with peritoneal hyperthermia, led the control group, and we monitored all patients for 1 year and provided clinical trials, lifestyle, and results for both disease group. The experimental results showed that the target reduction rate of the control group was 70%, while that of the control group was only 40%, lower than that of the control group P < 0.05. The life expectancy of the control group was higher than that of the control group, P < 0.05. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, bone marrow compression, and constipation in the study group were slightly higher than those in the control group (35%), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Chemotherapy combined with intraperitoneal infusion of loplatin has no side effects, helps improve survival, and can be used in a variety of clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent few decades, exploiting and exploring the quantum world has been drawing more attention. Entanglement, especially, which plays an extraordinary role in quantum world and is regarded as an important recourse in quantum information, has been studied deeply. Mastering the properties of entanglement can promote the development of quantum information. What’s more, discord which is usually regarded as very different quantum correlations with entanglement also has its own significance in quantum information. In this paper, we study entanglement measurement and show a link between entanglement and Tsallis q-discord (0 < q ≤ 1) and reveal that entanglement can be viewed as a special Tsallis q-discord. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]