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This letter, published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology, discusses a case study of a patient with an NFKBIA gene mutation, which is associated with an immunodeficiency disease called anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency (EDA-ID). The patient exhibited various clinical manifestations, including ectodermal dysplasia, recurrent infections, and autoimmune diseases. The study found that the NFKBIA gene mutation led to defective T-cell function, as evidenced by impaired T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. The authors suggest that this research contributes to a better understanding of the role of the NFKBIA gene in T-cell function and highlights the need for further study in this area. [Extracted from the article]

Identification of long‐term calcium channel blocker (CCB) responders with acute vasodilator challenge is critical in the evaluation of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Currently there is no standardized approach for use of supplemental oxygen during acute vasodilator challenge. In this retrospective analysis of patients identified as acute vasoresponders, treated with CCBs, all patients had hemodynamic measurements in three steps: (1) at baseline; (2) with 100% fractional inspired oxygen; and (3) with 100% fractional inspired oxygen plus inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). Those meeting the definition of acute vasoresponsiveness only after first normalizing for the effects of oxygen in step 2 were labeled "iNO Responders." Those who met the definition of acute vasoresponsiveness from a combination of the effects of 100% FiO2 and iNO were labeled "oxygen responders." Survival, hospitalization for decompensated right heart failure, duration of CCB monotherapy, and functional data were collected. iNO responders, when compared to oxygen responders, had superior survival (100% vs. 50.1% 5‐year survival, respectively), fewer hospitalizations for acute decompensated right heart failure (0% vs. 30.4% at 1 year, respectively), longer duration of CCB monotherapy (80% vs. 52% at 1 year, respectively), and superior 6‐min walk distance. Current guidelines for acute vasodilator testing do not standardize oxygen coadministration with iNO. This study demonstrates that adjusting for the effects of supplemental oxygen before assessing for acute vasoresponsiveness identifies a cohort with superior functional status, tolerance of CCB monotherapy, and survival while on long‐term CCB therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, photonic therapy (photothermal and photodynamic therapy) has gradually aroused great interest among researchers in related fields as a new method of tumor treatment. However, a single phototherapy modality alone, such as photodynamic therapy or photothermal therapy, has shown limited therapeutic efficacy in tumor treatment. To overcome the limitations of monotherapy, a combined photothermal–photodynamic treatment strategy based on graphite-phase carbon nitride quantum dots (g-CNQDs) and silver nanospheres (AgNSs) has been employed in this work. Specifically, a g-CNQDs@AgNSs nanocomposite was prepared by loading g-CNQDs onto the surface of AgNSs through metal amino coordination and in situ reduction methods. g-CNQDs serve as the photosensitizer whereas AgNSs act as a photothermal agent. This nanocomposite not only has good biocompatibility but also has good photothermal properties and generates excellent reactive oxygen species under near-infrared light irradiation. In vitro or cellular experimental results show that combination therapy provides a significant improvement in photothermal and photodynamic efficacy as compared to monotherapy. In essence, this work offers a secure and powerful strategy for efficient combination therapy of tumors with promising applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parameters of subpopulations can be more relevant than those of superpopulations. For example, a healthcare provider may be interested in the effect of a treatment plan for a specific subset of their patients; policymakers may be concerned with the impact of a policy in a particular state within a given population. In these cases, the focus is on a specific finite population, as opposed to an infinite superpopulation. Such a population can be characterized by fixing some attributes that are intrinsic to them, leaving unexplained variations like measurement error as random. Inference for a population with fixed attributes can then be modelled as inferring parameters of a conditional distribution. Accordingly, it is desirable that confidence intervals are conditionally valid for the realized population, instead of marginalizing over many possible draws of populations. We provide a statistical inference framework for parameters of finite populations with known attributes. Leveraging the attribute information, our estimators and confidence intervals closely target a specific finite population. When the data are from the population of interest, our confidence intervals attain asymptotic conditional validity, given the attributes, and are shorter than those for superpopulation inference. In addition, we develop procedures to infer parameters of new populations with differing covariate distributions; the confidence intervals are also conditionally valid for the new populations under mild conditions. Our methods extend to situations where the fixed information has a weaker structure or is only partially observed. We demonstrate the validity and applicability of our methods using simulated data and a real-word dataset for predicting car prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study investigated the differences in target volumes between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRIpre) and postoperative MRI (MRIpost) for breast radiotherapy after breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) using deformable image registration (DIR). Methods and Materials: Seventeen eligible patients who underwent whole‐breast irradiation in the prone position after BCS were enrolled. On MRIpre, the gross tumor volume (GTV) was delineated as GTVpre, which was then expanded by 10 mm to represent the preoperative lumpectomy cavity (LC), denoted as LCpre. The LC was expanded to the clinical target volume (CTV) and planning target volume (PTV) on the MRIpre and MRIpost, denoted as CTVpre, CTVpost, PTVpre, and PTVpost, respectively. The MIM software system was used to register the MRIpre and MRIpost using DIR. Differences were evaluated regarding target volume, distance between the centers of mass (dCOM), conformity index (CI), and degree of inclusion (DI). The relationship between CILC/CIPTV and the clinical factors was also assessed. Results: Significant differences were observed in LC and PTV volumes between MRIpre and MRIpost (p < 0.0001). LCpre was 0.85 cm3 larger than LCpost, while PTVpre was 29.38 cm3 smaller than PTVpost. The dCOM between LCpre and LCpost was 1.371 cm, while that between PTVpre and PTVpost reduced to 1.348 cm. There were statistically significant increases in CI and DI for LCpost–LCpre and PTVpost–PTVpre (CI = 0.221, 0.470; DI = 0.472, 0.635). No obvious linear correlations (p > 0.05) were found between CI and GTV, primary tumor volume‐to‐breast volume ratio, distance from the primary tumor to the nipple and chest wall, and body mass index. Conclusions: Despite using DIR technology, the spatial correspondence of target volumes between MRIpre and MRIpost was suboptimal. Therefore, relying solely on preoperative diagnostic MRI with DIR for postoperative LC delineation is not recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis: We present a case of spontaneous umbilical artery thrombosis diagnosed antenatally with ultrasonography in the third trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare malignant tumors with limited treatment options. No established second‐line treatment regimen is available following the preferred first‐line chemotherapy, resulting in unsatisfactory efficacy and poor prognosis for patients with advanced TETs. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors as well as the prognostic factors for advanced TETs. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using data from a real‐world database. Clinical information and survival follow‐up data were collected from 52 patients with advanced TETs who received small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital between August 10, 2016 and August 10, 2022. The short‐term efficacy of the treatments, survival time of the patients, and relevant prognostic factors of advanced TETs were analyzed. Results: Out of the 52 patients included in this study, 16 had thymoma and 36 had thymic carcinoma. The 52 patients had an overall response rate of 21.1% and a disease control rate of 94.2%. In addition, the median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 8.05 months, and the overall survival (OS) was 25.00 months. Apatinib was given to 33 patients, anlotinib to 15 patients, and sunitinib or lenvatinib to four patients. Only seven patients received antiangiogenic inhibitors as their first‐line therapy, 27 patients as their second‐line therapy, and 18 patients as third‐line or subsequent therapy. Meanwhile, 42 patients received monotherapy with an antiangiogenesis inhibitor, while 10 patients received combination therapy. Univariate analysis indicated that the combined treatment was associated with a superior OS (p = 0.044); multivariate analysis indicated that the combined treatment was an independent prognostic factor for PFS (p = 0.014) and OS (p = 0.012). Conclusion: The findings suggest that small molecule multitarget antiangiogenic inhibitors are efficacious as second or post‐line treatments as a viable alternative treatment option for patients with advanced TETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the predictive value of the "soap bubble" sign on molecular subtypes (Group A [PFA] and Group B [PFB]) of posterior fossa ependymomas (PF-EPNs). Methods: MRI scans of 227 PF-EPNs (internal retrospective discovery set) were evaluated by two independent neuroradiologists to assess the "soap bubble" sign, which was defined as clusters of cysts of various sizes that look like "soap bubbles" on T2-weighted images. Two independent cohorts (external validation set [n = 31] and prospective validation set [n = 27]) were collected to validate the "soap bubble" sign. Results: Across three datasets, the "soap bubble" sign was observed in 21 PFB cases (7.4% [21/285] of PF-EPNs and 12.9% [21/163] of PFB); none in PFA. Analysis of the internal retrospective discovery set demonstrated substantial interrater agreement (1st Rating: κ = 0.71 [0.53–0.90], 2nd Rating: κ = 0.83 [0.68–0.98]) and intrarater agreement (Rater 1: κ = 0.73 [0.55–0.91], Rater 2: κ = 0.74 [0.55–0.92]) for the "soap bubble" sign; all 13 cases positive for the "soap bubble" sign were PFB (p = 0.002; positive predictive value [PPV] = 100%, negative predictive value [NPV] = 44%, sensitivity = 10%, specificity = 100%). The findings from the external validation set and the prospective validation set were similar, all cases positive for the "soap bubble" sign were PFB (p < 0.001; PPV = 100%). Conclusion: The "soap bubble" sign represents a highly specific imaging marker for the PFB molecular subtype of PF-EPNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a persistent neurological dysfunction, has an increasing prevalence with the aging of the world and seriously threatens the health of the elderly. Although there is currently no effective treatment for AD, researchers have not given up, and are committed to exploring the pathogenesis of AD and possible therapeutic drugs. Natural products have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique advantages. One molecule can interact with multiple AD-related targets, thus having the potential to be developed in a multi-target drug. In addition, they are amenable to structural modifications to increase interaction and decrease toxicity. Therefore, natural products and their derivatives that ameliorate pathological changes in AD should be intensively and extensively studied. This review mainly presents research on natural products and their derivatives for the treatment of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic flow detection provides significant information for intelligent transportation systems. However, as the mainstream research direction, vision-based traffic flow detection methods currently face the challenges of a trade-off between accuracy and speed. Furthermore, it is crucial that modularization be incorporated into the system design process to enhance the maintainability and flexibility of the system. To achieve this, we propose a modular design method that divides this task into three parts: vehicle detecting, vehicle tracking, and vehicle counting. As an important link of the system, vehicle detection greatly influences the accuracy and speed of the system. We therefore introduce a lightweight network called feature adaptive fusion-YOLOX, which is based on YOLOX. Specifically, in order to eliminate redundant information brought by bilinear interpolation, we propose a feature-level upsampling method called channel to spatial, which enables upsampling without additional calculations. Based on this module, we design a lightweight, multi-scale feature fusion module, feature adaptive fusion pyramid network (FAFPN). Compared with PA-FPN, FAFPN reduces FLOPs by 61% and parameters of the neck by 50% while maintaining comparable or even slightly improved performance. Through experimental tests, the traffic flow detection method proposed in this paper achieves high accuracy and adaptability in a series of traffic surveillance videos in different types of weather and perspectives and can realize traffic flow detection in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin waves in nanostructures have great potential to be future spintronic information carriers. Here, we report the excitation and modulation of exchange spin waves in Co20Fe60B20 (CoFeB) films by varying magnetic anisotropy. In a 50 nm-thick CoFeB film, the effective excitation of perpendicular standing spin waves (PSSWs) is achieved due to the uniaxial anisotropy induced by oblique sputtering. Additionally, patterning the films into a periodic array of rectangles enables the excitation of both exchange-dominated surface spin waves and PSSWs, with the modulation of spin waves achievable by altering the length–width ratio of the rectangle. It is worth noting that PSSWs are present in the easy axis, whereas surface spin waves are observed in the hard axis, emphasizing the significant influence of shape anisotropy on spin waves. Furthermore, we demonstrate the existence of PSSW in a CoFeB/Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-Pb0.7Ti0.3O3 (PMN-PT) multiferroic heterostructure. The resonance field of PSSW can be shifted by applying electric fields, which originates from the strain anisotropy driven by the piezoelectric effect. These findings are expected to provide valuable insights for the development of energy-efficient spintronic devices and high-frequency data processing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively decrease emissions and pollution emitted by equipment in container ports, many ports began to update equipment using diesel fuels to achieve the aim of green ports. This paper studies an internal truck renewal problem in container ports and proposes a two-stage stochastic programming model to optimally determine internal truck composition optimization adjustment including three renewal modes, i.e. purchasing, retrofitting, and chartering. An exact solution procedure based on Benders decomposition accelerating by Pareto-optimal cuts is developed for the proposed model. Given the problem background of Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port, comprehensive computational experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and the performance of the solution approach. According to the numerical experiments, some suggestions for the management of renewing internal trucks in green ports are summarized at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is little information on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of sacubitril/valsartan (SV) in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) complicated with hypertension or heart failure (HF). This study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of SV in PD patients with complications of hypertension or HF. Methods This was an open-label and cross-sectional study investigating PD patients diagnosed with hypertension or New York Heart Association Class II–IV HF. The concentrations of valsartan, sacubitril and sacubitrilat (LBQ657) were measured by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in plasma, urine and peritoneal dialysate samples. Pharmacodynamics were evaluated by comparing changes in mean sitting systolic blood pressure (msSBP), mean sitting diastolic blood pressure (msDBP), mean sitting heart rate, N-terminal-pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Results Forty patients with PD were enrolled including 27 (67.5%) patients with hypertension, 4 (10%) patients with HF and 9 (22.5%) patients with both hypertension and HF. This study included three treatment cohorts: 50 mg twice daily (BID), 100 mg once daily and 100 mg BID. The plasma maximum drug concentrations in the 100 mg BID group were 1995 ± 1499 ng/mL for valsartan, 171 ± 148 ng/mL for sacubitril and 13 686 ± 7418 ng/mL for LBQ657. The 24-h recovery rate of LBQ657 was 3.77% in urine and 2.23% in peritoneal dialysate. After taking SV, msSBP and msDBP decreased by 19.25 ± 10.32 mmHg and 10.10 ± 8.00 mmHg from baseline, respectively. NT-proBNP decreased by 1436.50 (0.00–18 198.00) from baseline, while LVEF increased by 5.00 (–0.25 to 9.25) from baseline after SV treatment. Conclusions PD and residual renal function contributed only to a minor degree to the elimination of LBQ657. Additionally, a dose of 100 mg BID SV is safe and effective in patients with PD with complications of hypertension or HF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpreting natural language is an increasingly important task in computer algorithms due to the growing availability of unstructured textual data. Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications rely on semantic networks for structured knowledge representation. The fundamental properties of semantic networks must be taken into account when designing NLP algorithms, yet they remain to be structurally investigated. We study the properties of semantic networks from ConceptNet, defined by 7 semantic relations from 11 different languages. We find that semantic networks have universal basic properties: they are sparse, highly clustered, and many exhibit power-law degree distributions. Our findings show that the majority of the considered networks are scale-free. Some networks exhibit language-specific properties determined by grammatical rules, for example networks from highly inflected languages, such as e.g. Latin, German, French and Spanish, show peaks in the degree distribution that deviate from a power law. We find that depending on the semantic relation type and the language, the link formation in semantic networks is guided by different principles. In some networks the connections are similarity-based, while in others the connections are more complementarity-based. Finally, we demonstrate how knowledge of similarity and complementarity in semantic networks can improve NLP algorithms in missing link inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizoma coptidis (CR) is traditionally used for treating gastrointestinal diseases. Wine-processed CR (wCR), zingiber-processed CR (zCR), and evodia-processed CR (eCR) are its major processed products. However, the related study of their specific mechanisms is very limited, and they need to be further clarified. The aim of this study is to compare the intervening mechanism of wCR/zCR/eCR on rats via faecal metabolomics and 16S rDNA gene sequencing analysis. First, faecal samples were collected from the control and CR/wCR/zCR/eCR groups. Then, a metabolomics analysis was performed using UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS to obtain the metabolic profile and significantly altered metabolites. The 16S rDNA gene sequencing analysis was carried out to analyze the composition of gut microbiota and screen out the significantly altered microbiota at the genus level. Finally, a pathway enrichment analysis of the significantly altered metabolites via the KEGG database and a functional prediction of relevant gut microbes based on PICRUSt2 software were performed in combination. Together with the correlation analysis between metabolites and gut microbiota, the potential intervening mechanism of wCR/zCR/eCR was explored. The results suggested that wCR played a good role in maintaining immune homeostasis, promoting glycolysis, and reducing cholesterol; zCR had a better effect on protecting the integrity of the intestinal mucus barrier, preventing gastric ulcers, and reducing body cholesterol; eCR was good at protecting the integrity of the intestinal mucus barrier and promoting glycolysis. This study scientifically elucidated the intervening mechanism of wCR/zCR/eCR from the perspective of faecal metabolites and gut microbiota, providing a new insight into the processing mechanism research of Chinese herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the pharmacokinetics (PK) characteristics and safety of continuous lidocaine infusion during hepatectomy in liver cancer patients. Methods: This study included thirty-five patients undergoing laparoscopic hepatectomy from January 2021 to December 2021. Patients received a short infusion of 1% lidocaine at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg based on ideal body weight, followed by a continuous infusion of 1 mg/kg/h during the operation. The plasma concentrations of lidocaine and its active metabolites were measured using validated ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Safety was evaluated by monitoring and recording all adverse events (AEs). Results: The concentrations of lidocaine were within the safe range, except one patient's concentration of lidocaine which reached the toxic range (> 5 μg/mL). The mean half-life (T1/2), the mean time to maximum observed concentration (Tmax), and the mean maximum observed concentration (Cmax) of lidocaine were 3.96 h, 2.85 h, and 2030 ng/mL, respectively; the mean T1/2, Tmax, and Cmax (n = 32) of MEGX were 6.59 h, 5.05 h, and 333.28 ng/mL, respectively; and the mean T1/2, Tmax, and Cmax of GX (n = 18) were 25.98 h, 7.33 h, and 75.81 ng/mL. Although eight subjects with AEs were reported, there were no serious AEs or deaths. No patients had serious postoperative complications. No deaths occurred within 30 days after the operation. Conclusions: Under the administration regimen of this study, intravenous infusion of lidocaine is safe and tolerable for liver cancer patients with laparoscopic hepatectomy. Fine safety and PK characteristics support the application of lidocaine in such patients and further clinical research. Trial registration: China Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR2100042730), Registered 27 January 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study optimal variance reduction solutions for count and ratio metrics in online controlled experiments. Our methods apply flexible machine learning tools to incorporate covariates that are independent from the treatment but have predictive power for the outcomes, and employ the cross-fitting technique to remove the bias in complex machine learning models. We establish CLT-type asymptotic inference based on our estimators under mild convergence conditions. Our procedures are optimal (efficient) for the corresponding targets as long as the machine learning estimators are consistent, without any requirement for their convergence rates. In complement to the general optimal procedure, we also derive a linear adjustment method for ratio metrics as a special case that is computationally efficient and can flexibly incorporate any pretreatment covariates. We evaluate the proposed variance reduction procedures with comprehensive simulation studies and provide practical suggestions regarding commonly adopted assumptions in computing ratio metrics. When tested on real online experiment data from LinkedIn, the proposed optimal procedure for ratio metrics can reduce up to 80% of variance compared to the standard difference-in-mean estimator and also further reduce up to 30% of variance compared to the CUPED approach by going beyond linearity and incorporating a large number of extra covariates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a case study of a 58-year-old woman who underwent minimally invasive surgery to remove migrated intrauterine devices (IUDs). The woman had an IUD inserted 25 years ago, and imaging tests revealed that the IUDs had migrated to different locations within her pelvic cavity. The surgery was successful in removing both IUDs. The article also provides information on the use of IUDs, the complications associated with them, and the recommended intervention for removing migrated IUDs. The study was conducted by Ying Jin, Tenglan Wu, Jianmei Liao, Ying Liu, and Xiaoqin Gan, and it was supported by funding from Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau and Chengdu Municipal Health Commission. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Stress urinary incontinence during pregnancy is closely related to the occurrence of postpartum and long-term urinary incontinence. Early pelvic floor management is of great significance in promoting the recovery of pelvic floor tissues in pregnant women. However, effective management of urinary incontinence is far from achievable owing to the low adherence of pregnant women in partaking in pelvic floor rehabilitation. As a comprehensive framework for behavioural theory, the Theoretical Domain Framework allows for comprehensive identification of behavioural determinants. Using Theoretical Domain Framework, this study aimed to identify barriers and enablers of pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours in pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence. Methods: A descriptive, qualitative design was used in this study. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence based on the Theoretical Domain Framework. The data were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive methods. Results: Twenty pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence were interviewed. Seven themes were summarised and used to explain the pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours of pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence. The seven themes were (1) individual knowledge and experience of pelvic floor management, (2) judgments about expected outcomes, (3) interactions of interpersonal situations, (4) environment, resources, and decision-making processes, (5) personal goal-setting and efforts towards behaviour change, (6) emotional influences on decision-making, and (7) personal characteristics. Besides the "Optimism" domain, 13 of the 14 Theoretical Domains Framework domains were found to influence pregnant patients' pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours after deductive mapping of themes to the Theoretical Domains Framework. In addition, the inductive analysis generated a theme of personal characteristics that did not map to any of the Theoretical Domains Framework domains. Conclusions: The pelvic floor rehabilitation behaviours of pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence are complex and are affected by many factors. The findings confirm the need for multiple interventions to support pelvic floor management in pregnant women with stress urinary incontinence, focusing on enhancing knowledge and skills in pelvic floor care and using appropriate behaviour change techniques (such as prompts) to provide a supportive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sequence of physiological events during drought strongly impacts plants' overall performance. Here, we synthesized the global data of stomatal and hydraulic traits in leaves and stems of 202 woody species to evaluate variations in the water potentials for key physiological events and their sequence along the climatic gradient. We found that the seasonal minimum water potential, turgor loss point, stomatal closure point, and leaf and stem xylem vulnerability to embolism were intercorrelated and decreased with aridity, indicating that water stress drives trait co‐selection. In xeric regions, the seasonal minimum water potential occurred at lower water potential than turgor loss point, and the subsequent stomatal closure delayed embolism formation. In mesic regions, however, the seasonal minimum water potential did not pose a threat to the physiological functions, and stomatal closure occurred even at slightly more negative water potential than embolism. Our study demonstrates that the sequence of water potentials for physiological dysfunctions of woody plants varies with aridity, that is, xeric species adopt a more conservative sequence to prevent severe tissue damage through tighter stomatal regulation (isohydric strategy) and higher embolism resistance, while mesic species adopt a riskier sequence via looser stomatal regulation (anisohydric strategy) to maximize carbon uptake at the cost of hydraulic safety. Integrating both aridity‐dependent sequence of water potentials for physiological dysfunctions and gap between these key traits into the hydraulic framework of process‐based vegetation models would improve the prediction of woody plants' responses to drought under global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel for an integrated fault and states estimator was proposed for the generalized linear discrete-time system with disturbances. The proposed scheme was based on a Self-Organizing fuzzy Luenberger system to estimate the states and approximate the fault information simultaneously for the generalized linear discrete-time system. For this purpose, a generalized linear discrete-time system with disturbances was transformed into an equivalent standard state-space system with disturbances and faults. Then, the faults and disturbances of generalized linear discrete-time system can be separated with the coordinate transform, meanwhile the Self-Organizing fuzzy Luenberger estimator was designed to obtain the accurate fault information. Based on the obtained fault information, the fault detection experiments were performed, and the fault feature parameters required for fault isolation were determined. Finally, the proposed strategy was applied for a direct current motor to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator (TENS) has been demonstrated to be beneficial in glycemic control in animal models, but its application in humans has not been well studied. We randomly assigned 160 patients with type 2 diabetes on oral antidiabetic drugs 1:1 to the TENS study device (n = 81) and placebo (n = 79). 147 (92%) randomized participants (mean [SD] age 59 [10] years, 92 men [58%], mean [SD] baseline HbA1c level 8.1% [0.6%]) completed the trial. At week 20, HbA1c decreased from 8.1% to 7.9% in the TENS group (− 0.2% [95% CI − 0.4% to − 0.1%]) and from 8.1% to 7.8% in the placebo group (− 0.3% [95% CI − 0.5% to − 0.2%]) (P = 0.821). Glycemic variability, measured as mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE) at week 20 were significantly different in the TENS group vs. the placebo group (66 mg/dL [95% CI 58, 73] vs. 79 mg/dL [95% CI 72, 87]) (P = 0.009). Our study provides the clinical evidence for the first time in humans that TENS does not demonstrate a statistically significant HbA1c reduction. However, it is a safe complementary therapy to improve MAGE in patients with type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from user comments to the official social networking account of the Hubei Red Cross Foundation on a participatory web platform, this study attends to the offensive and hateful comments produced by ordinary Internet users to blame the elite authorities for their malfeasance in managing the donation during the COVID-19 in China. Drawing on Discursive Psychology, we focus on the rhetorical strategies that users employ to legitimise their actions as well-founded evidential blame against a norm-breaking act rather than radical extremist speech. The associated hatred among discussants are moral, social judgements. That said, hate speech also helps construct the moral standards of a normalised society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superior cervical ganglion (SCG) is part of the autonomic nervous system providing sympathetic innervation to the head and neck, and has been regularly used to prepare postnatal neuronal cultures for cell biological studies. We found that during development these neurons change tau expression from the low molecular weight (LMW) isoforms to Big tau, with the potential to affect functions associated with tau such as microtubule dynamic and axonal transport. Big tau contains the large 4a exon that transforms tau from LMW isoforms of 45–60 kDa to 110 kDa. We describe tau expression during postnatal development reporting that the transition from LMW tau to Big tau which started at late embryonic stages is completed by about 4–5 weeks postnatally. We confirmed the presence of Big tau in dissociated postnatal SCG neurons making them an ideal system to study the function of Big tau in neurons. We used SCG explants to examine the response of SCG neurons to lesion and found that Big tau expression returned gradually along the regrowing neurites suggesting that it does not drives regeneration, but facilitates the structure/function of mature SCG neurons. The structural/functional roles of Big tau remain unknown, but it is intriguing that neurons that express Big tau appear less vulnerable to tauopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacing aptamers with carbon fiber microelectrodes (CFEs) provides a versatile platform to probe the chemical activity in a living brain at the molecular level. However, new approaches are needed for the efficient and stable modification of electrode surfaces with aptamers. Here, we present an electrochemical conjugation strategy to covalently couple aptamers onto CFEs with high chemoselectivity, efficiency, and stability for sensing in the brain. The strategy employs an initial electrochemical coupling of catechol on an CFE, thereby generating a thin layer of quinone intermediates that couple rapidly with thiol‐containing oligonucleotides under a controlled potential. This approach dramatically simplifies and improves the efficiency for modifying carbon surfaces, thereby allowing direct conjugation of high levels of aptamers on CFEs within 5 minutes. Importantly, the covalent linkage between the aptamers and carbon surfaces enables a greatly improved sensitivity and stability for the sensing of dopamine, offering a robust system for continuously probing dopamine dynamics in the living brains of animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacing aptamers with carbon fiber microelectrodes (CFEs) provides a versatile platform to probe the chemical activity in a living brain at the molecular level. However, new approaches are needed for the efficient and stable modification of electrode surfaces with aptamers. Here, we present an electrochemical conjugation strategy to covalently couple aptamers onto CFEs with high chemoselectivity, efficiency, and stability for sensing in the brain. The strategy employs an initial electrochemical coupling of catechol on an CFE, thereby generating a thin layer of quinone intermediates that couple rapidly with thiol‐containing oligonucleotides under a controlled potential. This approach dramatically simplifies and improves the efficiency for modifying carbon surfaces, thereby allowing direct conjugation of high levels of aptamers on CFEs within 5 minutes. Importantly, the covalent linkage between the aptamers and carbon surfaces enables a greatly improved sensitivity and stability for the sensing of dopamine, offering a robust system for continuously probing dopamine dynamics in the living brains of animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Periodontitis is considered to be the leading cause of tooth loss in adults, and it interacts with some serious systemic diseases. Periodontal basic therapy is the cornerstone of periodontal disease treatment and long-term maintenance and has a positive impact on the treatment of systemic diseases. Aim. To explore the potential gene targets of periodontitis therapies by bioinformatics method. Methods. We analyzed the expression database (GSE6751) downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) to confirm the functional gene modules. Pathway enrichment network analyses the key genes in functional modules and verified the candidate genes from the samples in peripheral blood sources of GSE43525. Moreover, we confirmed the expression of target protein in the periodontal tissues of experimental periodontitis-afflicted mice using western blotting. Results. The functional gene modules were found to have biological processes, and ARRB2, BIRC3, CD14, DYNLL1, FCER1G, FCGR1A, FCGR2B, FGR, HCK, and PRKCD were screened as candidates' genes in functional modules. The 921 DEG from GSE43525 and 418 DEG is from the green module of GSE6751 and identified AMICA1, KDELR1, DHRS7B, LMNB1, CTSA, S100A12, and FCGR1A as target genes. Finally, FCGR1A (CD64) was confirmed as the key gene that affects periodontal treatment. Western blot analysis showed an increasing trend in the expression level of FCGR1A protein in the periodontal tissues of experimental periodontitis mice compared to normal mice. Conclusions. FCGR1A (CD64) may be a key gene target for periodontal therapy in patients with periodontitis and other systemic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FeRh has been extensively studied because of metamagnetic phase transitions between the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and the ferromagnetic (FM) phase observed in this material. In this work, Brillouin light scattering is used to detect magnons in metamagnetic FeRh. Appearance and disappearance of magnon scattering peaks with variation of temperature illustrate the transformation of FeRh into the FM and AFM phases, respectively. The dependence of frequency on temperature indicates significant change thus characterizing metamagnetic phase transitions in FeRh, since the temperature dependence of the magnon frequency shift mainly follows the saturation magnetization temperature dependence. In addition, a considerable increase of full width at half maximum linewidth of the Stokes peak for FeRh is explained by the enhancement of magnetic damping. It is further found that the Dzyaloshinskiiâ€"Moriya interaction (DMI) takes place in single-layer FeRh with the DMI energy D affected by the first-order phase transitions in FeRh. These results provide an insight into the magnon dynamics in metamagnetic materials as well as offering new ways toward a modulation of magnetic damping in a wide range, which will be useful in the design of multifunctional spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate fire warning is very important for people's life and property safety. The most commonly used fire alarm is based on the detection of a single factor of gases, smoke particles, or temperature, which easily causes false alarm due to complex environmental conditions. A facile multi‐factor route for fabricating an accurate analog fire alarm using a Pb5S2I6 nanowire mesh based on its photoelectric and gas‐sensing dual function is presented. The Pb5S2I6 nanowire mesh presents excellent photoelectric detection capabilities and is sensitive to ppm‐level NO2 at room temperature. Under the "two‐step verification" circuit of light and gas factors, the bimodal simulation fire alarm based on this Pb5S2I6 nanowire mesh can resist the interference of complex environmental factors and effectively reduce the false alarm rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of urban morphology, crucial for understanding the evolutionary trajectories of cityscapes, has traditionally depended on manual classification methods. The surge in deep learning and computer vision technologies presents an opportunity to automate and enhance urban typo-morphology studies. This research addresses three critical shortcomings in the current body of work: the neglect of urban fabric's three-dimensional qualities, the homogeneity of spatial scales in dataset creation and the dependence on a single-perspective for urban fabric classification. A novel deep learning-based model, UrbanClassifier, is introduced, trained on a substantial dataset that encapsulates the three-dimensionality of urban fabric along with morphological types and development periods. Extensive experimentation across four European cities highlights the model's ability to incorporate diverse spatial scales and viewpoints in urban fabric analysis. The UrbanClassifier exemplifies a method integrating features from various scales and perspectives, thus laying the groundwork for scalable and accessible urban typo-morphology studies, aiding practitioners in discerning the spatio-temporal evolution of urban fabric. • Merges open-source data for detailed 3D urban morphology and historical period labels. • Innovative assimilation of multi-scale, multi-view features for classifying urban typologies. • Facilitates scalable studies, aiding visualization of global urban growth patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A CO 2 fiber sensor based on four-leaf clover fiber mode interferometer is proposed. • The sensor presents high wavelength sensitivity of 445 pm/% and short response time of 24/28 s. • The has high research value in CCUS project. A highly sensitive and quick response gaseous carbon dioxide (CO 2) fiber sensor based on sol–gel film coated four-leaf clover fiber (FLCF) mode interferometer (MI) is proposed. The MI is constructed by using porous polymer tube to connect two sections of multi-mode fiber (MMF) with FLCF. By depositing thymol blue sol–gel film on the cladding wall of the FLCF, interference spectrum caused by the core mode and cladding mode of the MI can be modulated by CO 2 concentration through the reaction between sol–gel film and CO 2. By observing the shift of peak wavelength at 1555.7 nm, 1552.9 nm and 1549.3 nm, it is found that the interference spectrum changes linearly with CO 2 concentration. Experimental results show that the FLCF-MI CO 2 sensor has high wavelength sensitivity of 445 pm/% and short response time of 24/28 s. Besides, the sensor exhibits good temperature, humidity stability, and well selectivity, which shows great prospect in detecting CO 2 concentration in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient out-of-plane anti-damping spin–orbit torque (SOT) is in great demand for high-density spintronic devices with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Despite its importance, direct realization of such SOT in a single magnetic layer is scarce and has remained challenging. Here, we present experimental evidence uncovering unconventional out-of-plane anti-damping torques in the Co film deposited on the ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–Pb0.7Ti0.3O3 (PMN–PT) substrate. We show via spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance that both Rashba- and unconventional-type SOT give rise to a high-efficient charge-to-spin conversion. The strong magnetoelectric effect at the Co/PMN-PT interface allows further directly electric-field control of the conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Erenumab is the first-in-class, selective, and competitive human monoclonal antibody antagonist of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor that has been shown to be effective and well-tolerated in the preventive therapy of episodic and chronic migraine. The pharmacokinetics of erenumab may be affected by differences in race and ethnicity, which can lead to suboptimal outcomes. The present study was conducted to assess the single-dose pharmacokinetics and safety of erenumab in healthy Chinese subjects. Methods: This was an open-label, randomized, parallel group, non-confirmatory, single-dose study in healthy Chinese subjects. A total of 24 healthy Chinese subjects of both sexes aged between 14 and 45 years were administered a single subcutaneous injection of erenumab 70 mg or 140 mg. The serum concentration of erenumab was quantified using a validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using non-compartmental models. Safety was also assessed. Results: A total of 55 subjects were screened for eligibility and 25 subjects were randomized to receive study treatments (12 subjects to the 70-mg erenumab group and 13 subjects to the 140-mg erenumab group). Erenumab was absorbed slowly with maximum serum concentration (Cmax) occurring 3–11 days after administration. The mean Cmax and area under the serum concentration versus time curve from time 0 to infinity with extrapolation of the terminal phase (AUC0-∞) were 9.20 µg/mL and 296 day·µg/mL for the 70 mg dose group, and 15.6 µg/mL and 569 day·µg/mL for the 140 mg dose group, respectively. Serum concentrations of erenumab exhibited low to high variability, with variable coefficients ranging from 17.1 to 72.2% for the 70-mg dose and 32.5 to 88.5% for the 140-mg dose. All adverse events were mild or moderate in intensity, and all resolved without intervention. Conclusions: Erenumab was safe and well tolerated after a single subcutaneous injection in healthy Chinese subjects. The systemic exposure in Chinese subjects in terms of AUC0-∞ was 70% higher than that in White subjects as previously reported. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry no.: ChiCTR2000032435. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a type of response token that involves emotional displays, interjections have received a substantial amount of scholarly interest in linguistics. Yet a paucity of research focuses on how emotion is displayed via interjections in interactions in situ. This article focuses on how surprise and other associated emotions are accomplished via wow in Mum's turn when interacting with the child. Using Conversation Analysis and prosody analysis, we show three major functions of wow in mothers' turns: showing/inviting alignment and affiliation, indicating high and low engagement, and making compliments. Importantly, we argue that although affiliation-invitation/display is a generic function of wow, it could be designed as part and parcel of other actions, indicating that something more is going on here. Data are in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitive sports has always been the front line of high-tech applications, from electronic timers to "shark skin" swimsuits, from "bird's nest" and "water cube" to blood lactic acid detectors; from electronic science to material science, from architecture to biology chemistry. To find more suitable sports equipment materials, we prepared the composite multiferroic material 0.2NiFe2O4/0.8BaTiO3 by solution casting, spin coating, and hot pressing, and used various instruments to understand its various properties. The study found that the two exothermic peaks of the material in the range of 110–220 °C are attributed to the large amount of adsorbed water and the degradation of hydroxyl compounds. The 20% weight loss associated with the strong exothermic peak at 300 °C is due to the degradation of inorganic salts and citric acid. What is more worth mentioning is that there is almost no weight loss when the temperature exceeds 340 °C, which proves that 80% of the total mass of organic species (such as: citric acid), inorganic nitrates, and other adsorbents (such as: water, ethanol, etc.) have been completely removed. In addition, the heat treatment process can change the crystallinity and physical and chemical properties of the material. In competition sports, 0.2NiFe2O4/0.8BaTiO3 material has the characteristics of good bounce and excellent balance. It can be applied to ski poles. Its good ductility and light weight make it very useful in bow, arrow and hull design space. In folk sports, 0.2NiFe2O4/0.8BaTiO3 composite sports equipment can be widely used in various sports and various types of sports equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' mental health has always been a hot topic in colleges and universities. How to make students integrate into the collective and society faster and better is also one of the most difficult problems for educators. Students want to improve their competitiveness; not only must they have superb professional skills, but at the same time, they must have good social adaptability. Only in this way can they quickly complete their identity change and quickly adapt to workplace life. Students' social adaptability is not innate, but gradually formed through long-term positive mental health education. Considering the relationship between psychoeducation and social adaptability, in general, a good psychoeducation system is conducive to the development of students' social adaptability, and they promote each other. Good mental health education is multifaceted and sustainable for the development of social adaptability. In this context, it is necessary to formulate a targeted positive mental health education plan according to the actual situation of students, so as to comprehensively improve the comprehensive quality of students in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has suggested that a rigid dichotomy between small and professional talk is misleading given the porous nature of 'types' of talk. Yet, other research considers this distinction helpful in understanding the functions of talk in situated contexts. This article contributes to this discussion by discussing one type of small talk—co-topical small talk (CST). Drawing from Hudak and Maynard's (2011) understanding of CST as talk that combines instrumental and small talk, we further discuss the bigness of such talk in holistic medical encounters. Specifically, we focus on the ambiguity embedded in participants' turns that allows the navigation of topics between the small/big talk distinctions. We use Conversation Analysis focusing on a routine traditional Chinese medicine doctor–patient encounter. Our data present a case where CST comfortably and appropriately emerges and develops into extensive troubles talk that forms the main activity in caring for older adults. We conclude that the smallness/bigness of talk is determined by the nature of the context and the relevancy of the topic to the encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has been the primary anticoagulant of choice on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). However, it is debatable whether bivalirudin (BIV), a direct thrombin inhibitor, may be considered a better alternative anticoagulant option. Methods: We searched Embase, Pubmed, Cochrane library, Clinicaltrials.gov, CNKI and Wanfang databases up to 15 June 2021. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies were considered eligible for inclusion. Random‐effects meta‐analyses, including subgroup analyses, were conducted. Results: A total of 9 studies containing 994 patients were enrolled. All articles were retrospective cohort studies. Compared with UFH, BIV was associated with lower risks of major bleeding (risk ratio [RR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.22–0.49), ECMO in‐circuit thrombosis (RR: 0.57, 95% CI 0.43–0.74), stroke (RR: 0.52, 95% CI 0.29–0.95) and in‐hospital mortality (RR: 0.82, 95% CI 0.69–0.99), and higher rates of survival to ECMO decannulation (RR: 1.18, 95% CI 1.03–1.34). Pooled risk estimates did not show a significant association with clinical thrombotic events (RR: 0.69, 95% CI 0.45–1.07). Moreover, BIV was associated with a lower risk of ECMO in‐circuit thrombosis and in‐hospital mortality in the adult subgroup but not in the paediatric subgroup. However, leave‐one‐out sensitivity analyses indicated that the results of stroke, survival to ECMO decannulation and in‐hospital mortality should be interpreted with caution. Conclusion: BIV appears to be a potential alternative to UFH in paediatric and adult patients requiring ECMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scale is the range or measurement unit of the characteristics of natural or human ontology in the temporal or spatial dimension and is widely used in daily life and the study of various disciplines. Scale effect pertains to certain laws and characteristics that can only be reflected on a specific scale, so choosing the appropriate scale remains the basic premise of scientific research. The concept of the urban spatial system is complex and has the characteristics of scale dependence, and the selection of an appropriate spatial scale is important for the accurate estimation and description of urban issues. In this paper, we discuss spatial scale in urban research using cases that primarily come from the Chinese experience, provide some examples that demonstrate the importance of appropriate scale in urban research, including urban shrinkage, and highlight problems in spatial research. Ultimately, we suggest that scale consciousness should be the basic consciousness required in empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Urinary incontinence is a common and burdensome problem amongst women. Although it can be prevented, little progress has been made. Identifying individuals at risk remains the key to the prevention of urinary incontinence. Methods: Eligible women were enrolled in the obstetric wards of a tertiary maternity hospital in 2020. Urinary incontinence was measured using a well-accepted questionnaire. Logistic regression with a backward stepwise process was used for predictor selection. The discrimination and calibration of the nomogram were measured using the area under the ROC curve (AUC), Hosmer–Lemeshow test and calibration curve respectively. Bootstrapping procedure with 1000 resamples was used for internal validity. A temporal split (7:3) was made and data collected from the later period were used for temporal validation. Results: Seven predictors including birth mode, urinary incontinence before and during pregnancy, place of residence, feeding pattern, parity, and age at first birth remained in the final model. The AUC was 0.757 (95% CI: 0.72–0.80) and 0.759 (95% CI: 0.70–0.82) in the derivation and validation cohorts respectively. No significant differences were detected in the Hosmer–Lemeshow test and calibration curve in both cohorts. Conclusions: The nomogram proved to be a convenient and reliable tool in the clinical setting for risk assessment of postpartum incontinence, which can be applied during pregnancy and the postnatal period for individual risk estimates of postpartum incontinence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although with the impressive efficacy, several patients showed intrinsic resistance or an unsatisfactory response to Osimertinib. We aim to explore the impact of clinical and molecular features on efficacy and outcome of patients with EGFR T790M-mutation non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving second-line Osimertinib.Methods: Patients with EGFR T790M-mutant NSCLC who had acquired resistance to the first-generation EGFR TKI and then received Osimertinib as second-line treatment were included. Patients' demographic and clinical information, as well as molecular data were extracted from electronic medical records. The impact of clinical and molecular features on treatment response and patients' outcome were assessed.Results: Among the 99 patients, 60 patients were tissue/pleural effusion T790M positive and 69 patients were plasma positive with a median PFS of 12.1 m and 9.9 m (P = 0.25), respectively. In addition, median PFS were similar between patients of plasma T790M + and patients of plasma T790M- (P = 0.94). The Pearson correlation test showed no significant relationship between plasma T790M abundance and PFS (r = 0.074, P = 0.546). In subgroup analyses, PFS was significantly improved in elder patients (P = 0.009) and patients with longer PFS to the first-generation EGFR TKI (P = 0.0008), while smokers tended to have worse PFS compared with non-smokers (P = 0.064). PARP1 mutant-type patients had a worse PFS compared with wild-type group (P = 0.0003). Patients with MYC amplification also had a worse PFS than MYC wild-type patients (P = 0.016). A significant PFS shrinkage was observed in TMB-High group as 6.77 m, compared with 19.10 m in TMB-Low group. The multivariate Cox analysis revealed that years ≥ 65 was an independent positive feature for PFS, while PARP1 mutation and TMB-H were negative features for PFS.Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings in this study demonstrated that clinical and molecular features can be served as predictive biomarkers to stratify patients with EGFR T790M-mutant NSCLC receiving second-line Osimertinib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate public awareness of colorectal cancer (three components: total knowledge, confidence and anticipated delay) in the Chinese population, to explore factors associated with total knowledge and to elucidate relationships among three components of public awareness of colorectal cancer. Methods: We recruited 562 adult Chinese participants with no history of colorectal cancer between March and May 2020 by convenience sampling method. Data were collected online using a self‐designed demographic questionnaire and a simplified Chinese version of the Bowel Cancer Awareness Measure. Univariate analysis and multivariate linear regression were applied. Results: The mean score for total knowledge was 10.56 (SD: 5.89). Over half of the participants (58.2%) lacked confidence about detecting warning signs. For 42.7% of participants, the anticipated delay was not within the acceptable range (2 weeks). Totally eight demographic variables were identified as significant predictors of total knowledge, accounting for 36.2% of the variance. Total knowledge was positively correlated with confidence (r = 0.126, p < 0.01) and negatively associated with anticipated delay (F = 8.891, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Public awareness of colorectal cancer was low in the Chinese population. Hence, educational interventions targeted for improving knowledge, enhancing individuals' confidence in detecting symptoms and reducing barriers to seeking medical help may be urgently required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This correction notice is for an article titled "Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Erenumab after a Single Subcutaneous Injection Dose in Healthy Chinese Subjects." The correction addresses mistakes in the original article, specifically regarding the comparison of systemic exposure in Chinese and White subjects. The corrected details clarify that the comparison was based on a study of limited sample size and should not be generalized to the broader population. Other factors such as safety, efficacy, and variability of exposure should also be considered for ethnic comparison. The correction also acknowledges the contribution of the China NIBR team to the study. [Extracted from the article]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have brought new hope for the treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) over the past decades. However, the overall response rate is limited, and is lower than that in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This is in part because of the lack of pre-existing tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TITLs), especially cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), in the SCLC tumor microenvironment (TME), resulting in insufficient anti-tumor immune response. To unleash the full potential of ICIs, the trafficking and infiltration of TITLs to the tumor is necessary and tightly regulated, the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment blunts the infiltration and function of TITLs that reach the tumor in SCLC. Here, we review the characteristics of TITLs, the effects of various factors on T cell infiltration, and possible strategies to restore or promote T cell infiltration in the TME of SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning applications in shaping ad hoc planning proposals are limited by the difficulty of integrating professional knowledge about cities with artificial intelligence. We propose a novel, complementary use of deep neural networks and planning guidance to automate street network generation that can be context-aware, learning-based, and user-guided. The model tests suggest that the incorporation of planning knowledge (e.g., road junctions and neighborhood types) in the model training leads to a more realistic prediction of street configurations. Furthermore, the new tool provides both professional and lay users an opportunity to systematically and intuitively explore benchmark proposals for comparisons and further evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To determine whether music engagement influences middle-aged and older adults' performance on episodic memory tasks. Method Secondary data analysis of a sample (N = 4,592) of cognitively healthy adults from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study was used for this study. Multivariable regression models were used to analyze the cross-sectional differences in performance on tasks of episodic memory between participants who listened to music (n = 3,659) or sang or played an instrument (n = 989). Results On average, participants recalled 10.3 words out of a possible 20. Regression analyses showed that both listening to music and singing or playing an instrument were independently associated with significantly better episodic memory. Discussion The findings provide the first population-based evidence that music engagement is associated with better episodic memory among middle-aged and older adults. Future studies should examine whether the relationship between music engagement and episodic memory can be replicated in other populations and that the association persists in longitudinal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancers are immunologically heterogeneous. A range of immunotherapies target abnormal tumor immunity via different mechanisms of actions (MOAs), particularly various tumor-infiltrate leukocytes (TILs). We modeled loss of function (LOF) in four common anti-PD-1 antibody-responsive syngeneic tumors, MC38, Hepa1-6, CT-26 and EMT-6, by systematical depleting a series of TIL lineages to explore the mechanisms of tumor immunity and treatment. CD8+-T-cells, CD4+-T-cells, Treg, NK cells and macrophages were individually depleted through either direct administration of anti-marker antibodies/reagents or using DTR (diphtheria toxin receptor) knock-in mice, for some syngeneic tumors, where specific subsets were depleted following diphtheria toxin (DT) administration. These LOF experiments revealed distinctive intrinsic tumor immunity and thus different MOAs in their responses to anti-PD-1 antibody among different syngeneic tumors. Specifically, the intrinsic tumor immunity and the associated anti-PD-1 MOA were predominately driven by CD8+ cytotoxic TILs (CTL) in all syngeneic tumors, excluding Hepa1-6 where CD4+ Teff TILs played a key role. TIL-Treg also played a critical role in supporting tumor growth in all four syngeneic models as well as M2-macrophages. Pathway analysis using pharmacodynamic readouts of immuno-genomics and proteomics on MC38 and Hepa1-6 also revealed defined, but distinctive, immune pathways of activation and suppression between the two, closely associated with the efficacy and consistent with TIL-pharmacodynamic readouts. Understanding tumor immune-pathogenesis and treatment MOAs in the different syngeneic animal models, not only assists the selection of the right model for evaluating new immunotherapy of a given MOA, but also can potentially help to understand the potential disease mechanisms and strategize optimal immune-therapies in patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the stage of vehicle demonstration and development, equipment finalization test, and equipment service, an important role is played by the mobility prediction and evaluation method of tracked vehicles under complex road conditions, in which vehicle vibration response evaluation is the main content of off-road mobility prediction and evaluation. In this paper, based on the principle of multibody dynamics, a high-speed tracked vehicle action system model was established by using the simulation analysis method. The vibration response of the vehicle on uneven pavement was evaluated from four aspects: driver comfort, driver absorbed power, occupant handling efficiency, and suspension dynamic travel. Simultaneously, the shock vibration peak value was utilized to evaluate the vibration response of the vehicle during obstacle crossing. Three fitting methods, namely polynomial response surface, Kriging method, and radial basis function neural network, were used to establish approximate models between the design variables and the objective function, respectively. The pros and cons of each approximate model were analyzed by comparing the approximate errors between the predicted values of the fitting model and the actual response values of the simulation model. The results of this paper are of reference significance for the prediction and evaluation of the off-road mobility of high-speed tracked vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale synthesis of electrode materials in the field of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is highly depending on the synthetic technique. In this paper, we developed a facile route to synthesize N-doped carbon coated silicon (Si/C) materials. In that, commercial Si flakes were ball-milled with asphalt as a carbon source and dopamine as a nitrogen source, followed by carbonization in inert atmorsphere to obtain N-doped Si/C materials. As a result, the N-doped Si/C material achieved better cycling stability and slightly higher initial charging capacity of 2265.1 mA h g–1 than that of undoped Si/C at the current density of 200 mA g–1. After 50 cycles, a charge capacity of 1359.1 mA h g–1 was retained, representing 36.7% capacity enhancement compared with that of the Si/C sample (994.4 mA h g–1). Moreover, the rate performance of the Si-based material was also effectively improved by the N-doping. It can be explained that the N-doped carbon layer can facilitate the Li-ions diffusion. Overall, the N-doped Si/C material obtained by a simple technique is promising for the high energy density LIBs application as the anode material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]