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Objective: The "Health" element is one of the elements in Significant Quality of Life Measure (SigQOLM) that measures quality of life and well-being of people. This study aims to evaluate the Health element (Health-SigQOLM) as a generic and dynamic scale to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with a broader spectrum of coverage. This study used a secondary data that developed SigQOLM. Only the "Health" element with 33 items is used for analysis. Results: The construct of Health-SigQOLM has a minimum factor loading of 0.425 with excellent model fit. The health status among healthcare workers is significantly associated with the Health-SigQOLM (p < 0.001). The Health-SigQOLM score can clearly distinguish between healthy people and those who have been afflicted with some diseases but have never been hospitalized due to disease progression or other associated complications (p = 0.002). The Health-SigQOLM is a generic and dynamic tool for assessing various aspects of health-related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modular multilevel converters (MMC) have the characteristics of high modularity, good availability and high-power quality. Thus, they are widely used in medium and high-power applications. To meet large capacity application requirements, a large number of capacitors is applied in parallel and series. However, capacitors are one of the most vulnerable components in MMCs. To identify abnormal capacitors, a condition monitoring method for capacitors is proposed in this paper using the cumulative sum detection of the sliding window algorithm. First, the bilateral cumulative sum algorithm of the sliding window is proposed to extract the switch-on time and switch-off time of the submodules (SMs). Second, the capacitance is calculated using the monitored capacitor voltage and arm current during the switch-on status. Finally, the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by an MMC system operating condition simulated experiment platform. The proposed condition monitoring method simplifies the calculation of capacitance with a high accuracy by removing the requirement of measuring the switching signal. In addition, it does not have an adverse influence on the normal operation of MMC systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In industrial practice, combining grain growth inhibitors (GGIs) with low carbon content effectively restrains WC grain growth in WC-Co cemented carbides. However, the intricate relationship between carbon content, WC grain microstructure, and GGI impact remains unresolved. This study investigates two WC-Co sample sets, maintaining constant VC inhibitor levels but varying carbon content near upper (HC) and lower (LC) limits. SEM analysis revealed distinct morphologies: HC displayed truncated prism shapes, exposing long basal and prismatic terraces, while LC exhibited a saw-tooth morphology with finer grains. EBSD stereology quantified anisotropic WC grain growth, revealing suppressed growth perpendicular to both basal (HC: 0.51 μm vs. LC: 0.38 μm) and prismatic planes (HC: 0.44 μm vs. LC: 0.37 μm) with decreased carbon content. Atomic-resolution EDS showed higher V solute excess in LC at WC(basal)-Co, WC(prismatic)-Co interfaces, and step corners (HC: 4.6, 0.9, and 4.4 atoms/nm2; LC: 5.5, 0.9, and 7.8 atoms/nm2). Our findings elucidate a clear physical understanding that a low carbon content enhances V atom solubility within liquid cobalt, increasing the thickness of complexions to quad-layer on WC (basal)-Co interfaces and forming V-rich nanoprecipitates at step corners. Those inhibitory effects further limited step flow, resulting in pronounced step bunching and a saw-tooth fine-grained morphology in LC sample. This study highlights that complexions housing more inhibitory solute elements exert a stronger drag effect on grain growth front migration. This approach has the potential for studying grain growth in anisotropic materials, highlighting the importance of constructing experimental complexion diagrams in engineering fine-structured ceramics and metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most traits are polygenic, and the contributing loci can be identified by genome-wide association studies. The genetic basis of adaptation (adaptive architecture) is, however, difficult to characterize. Here, we propose to study the adaptive architecture of traits by monitoring the evolution of their phenotypic variance during adaptation to a new environment in well-defined laboratory conditions. Extensive computer simulations show that the evolution of phenotypic variance in a replicated experimental evolution setting can distinguish between oligogenic and polygenic adaptive architectures. We compared gene expression variance in male Drosophila simulans before and after 100 generations of adaptation to a novel hot environment. The variance change in gene expression was indistinguishable for genes with and without a significant change in mean expression after 100 generations of evolution. We suggest that the majority of adaptive gene expression evolution can be explained by a polygenic architecture. We propose that tracking the evolution of phenotypic variance across generations can provide an approach to characterize the adaptive architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology and microstructure of crystalline blends of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) were examined using polarized optical microscopy (POM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As PEG was in the melt state during PLLA crystallization, it was rejected from the PLLA bundles. The size of PEG inclusions determined by their extraction is around 1 μm. The PEG/PLLA blends exhibited not only spherulites with Maltese crosses but also distinct extinction rings. The formation of ring-banded spherulites and the periodic distance between the rings were related to the degree of supercooling of the polymer. The ring-banded structure was easily obtained at a high PEG content (70 wt%) and high PLLA crystallization temperature (120 °C). The end group of PEG significantly affected the morphology of PEG/PLLA blends. PLLA blended with PEG containing both end groups as CH3 exhibited the greatest melting temperature depression and lowest degree of supercooling of PLLA, implying the formation of ring-banded spherulites with the smallest PEG content (30 wt%) and lowest PLLA crystallization temperature (85 °C). PEG morphology was also observed using POM after the formation of PLLA crystals. Because PLLA crystals confined the formation of PEG crystals, the chain growth direction of PEG was in association with that of PLLA. Therefore, a brighter POM image was obtained on PEG crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within WO 3 based photoanodes, a significant improvement in H 2 O 2 production has been achieved by increasing the proportion of (0 2 0) facet, and the optimal photoanode has presented highest performance for tetracycline degradation. [Display omitted] • Crystal facets ratio between (0 2 0) and (2 0 0) of WO 3 have been regulated. • Performance for H 2 O 2 production has been boosted by improving the ratio of (0 2 0) facet. • In-situ produced OH• radicals have been used for efficient tetracycline degradation. • Degradation products present much lower toxicity than tetracycline. Advanced oxidation processes utilizing hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) are widely employed for the treatment of organic pollutions. However, the conventional anthraquinone method for H 2 O 2 synthesis is unsuitable for this application owing to its hazardous and costly nature. Alternative approaches involve a photoelectrochemical method. Herein, tungsten trioxide (WO 3) photoanode has been used for the conversion of H 2 O into H 2 O 2 through oxidation reaction from a PEC system, simultaneously utilizing in-situ generated hydroxyl (OH•) radicals for tetracycline degradation. By manipulating the ratio of crystal facets between (0 2 0) and (2 0 0) of the WO 3 photoanode, a significant improvement in H 2 O 2 production has been achieved by increasing the proportion of (0 2 0) facet. The production rate of WO 3 photoanode enriched with the (0 2 0) facet is approximately 1.9 times higher than that enriched with (2 0 0) facet. This enhanced H 2 O 2 production performance can be attributed to the improved formation of OH• radicals and the accelerated desorption of H 2 O 2 on the (0 2 0) facet. Simultaneously, the in-situ generated OH• radicals are applied for tetracycline degradation. Under illumination of sunlight stimulator for 180 min, the optimal photoanode achieves a degradation rate of 86.7% for tetracycline. Furthermore, the resulting chemicals have been analyzed, revealing that C 8 H 10 O and C 7 H 8 O were formed as the primary products. Notably, these products exhibit significantly lower toxicity compared to tetracycline. This study presents a promising approach for the rational design of WO 3 based photoanodes for oxidation reaction, including not only H 2 O 2 production but also the efficient degradation of organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the acceptability and tolerability of three alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) at Sarawak General Hospital, Malaysia. Conducted from 12-26 November 2021 using a modified WHO Protocol, it involved a survey among health workers and concessionaires, with a 35% response rate (1,598 of 4,628 participants). The majority were nurses (60.8%), with the medical division most represented (28.4%). Most respondents (93.2%) used ABHRs at least five days a week and found them easily accessible (72.3%). Product B was the preferred ABHR (65%), primarily for its color and fragrance, surpassing WHO’s 50% approval rate in these aspects. However, no other product features met WHO criteria. There were no significant differences in self-reported skin tolerability across the products, and none achieved overall WHO approval. These results offer important insights for ABHR selection in developing countries and highlight the value of the WHO Protocol in assessing product acceptability and tolerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentally friendly poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymer blends have been used for commercial applications, primarily for food packaging applications. However, the mechanical strength of PLA decreases with the addition of PEG. In this study, a natural sugar derivative, 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol (DBS), was added to PLA/PEG blends. DBS is a well-known and inexpensive gelator of organic solvents. The results showed that DBS, when added to PLA/PEG, self-organized into nanofibrils with diameters of 30–50 nm. The DBS nanofillers acted as both reinforcements and nucleating agents in PLA/PEG. The reinforcement improved the mechanical strength of the nanocomposites, and the nucleation agent (together with PEG acting as a plasticizer) synergistically improved the overall crystallization rate of PLA. For instance, the crystallization rate of a PLA/PEG nanocomposites (mass ratio of 30/70) with 3 mass% DBS was nine times higher than that of pristine PLA. Because PLA, PEG, and DBS are eco-friendly materials, they can be promising candidates for biomedical and packaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frailty leads to multiple unfavourable outcomes in older adults. However, few studies have investigated correlations between frailty and its impacts on morbidity and mortality of elderly patients in intensive care units (ICUs) in Taiwan. Aims: To investigate the impact of frailty on the risk of hospital and 30‐day mortality and functional outcomes of elderly Taiwanese ICU patients. Study Design: A prospective observational study was conducted. Patients aged 65 years or older were recruited from three medical ICUs. We defined 'frailty' according to the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) higher than 4 within 1 month prior to admission. The primary outcomes were hospital and 30‐day mortality. The secondary outcome was CFS changes at ICU admission, hospital discharge, and 30‐day follow‐up. Logistic/Cox regression was used to analyse the data. Results: We recruited a total of 106 patients, 57 (54%) of whom were classified as frail. The overall mortality rate was 21%. Hospital mortality and mortality within 30 days after discharge were higher in the frail patients without a significant statistical difference (hospital mortality: 17.5% vs. 12.2%, p =.626; 30‐day mortality: 26.3% vs. 14.3%, p =.200). The risk of 30‐day mortality for frail patients was up to 2.84 times greater than that of non‐frail patients in the Cox model (hazard ratio = 2.84, 95% confidence interval [0.96, 8.38]). Both non‐frail and frail patients had a worse CFS score on admission, but the CFS score of surviving non‐frail patients improved significantly over the medium term. Conclusion: Frailty tended to increase short‐term ICU mortality risk and worsen functional outcomes in the elderly Taiwanese population. This information might guide critical medical decisions. Relevance to Clinical Practice: Frailty could be included in the prognostic evaluation of either mortality risk or functional outcome. Prompt palliative care might be one last piece of holistic elder care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kidney stone disease ranks as the world's third most prevalent urological condition, described by the formation of crystalline deposits within the urinary system due to dissolved minerals in the urine. These stone formations can be excruciatingly painful, causing urinary flow obstruction, urinary tract infections, swollen kidneys (hydronephrosis), excessive bleeding, and sometimes necessitate surgical intervention for their removal or fragmentation. While treatments like extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and pharmacotherapy are available, their utilization is limited due to high costs, the risk of residual stone fragments post-ESWL, and associated adverse effects such as acute kidney damage, impaired renal function, and increased stone recurrence. Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of plant-derived bioactive compounds, including polyphenols, flavonoids, phenolic acids, terpenes, and alkaloids, in the prevention and treatment of kidney stones. These phytochemicals exhibit diverse mechanisms such as diuretic properties, antioxidant effects, anti-inflammatory actions, inhibition of crystallization and aggregation, reduction of hyperoxaluria, diminishing stone size, and lowering urinary supersaturation. This paper aims to delve into the discussion of these anti-lithiatic phytochemicals and elucidate the mechanisms by which they function in preventing and treating kidney stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are some problems in the application of slurry preparation technology, such as wide fluctuation range of underflow concentration, long settling time and low efficiency of solid–liquid separation. This is an important basis for researching the thick settling law of tailings slurry under the action of mechanical vibration and its influencing factors to solve these problems. To this end, a small vibration thickening testing machine and vibrating rod were designed and developed. Physical simulation experiments were conducted to analyze the settling characteristics of tailings slurry under different vibration duration, start time, vibration frequency, and vibration inertia single factors. The results show that: (1) Mechanical vibration can effectively accelerate the settling speed of tailings particles, but the relationship between them is a non-positive correlation, and mechanical vibration time control with in 5 mins is the best. With the delay of starting the vibration time, the final mass concentration first increases and then decreases. (2) As the vibration frequency increases, the final mass concentration of tailings settlement first increases and then decreases. When the eccentric vibrator speed is 6000 r/min, the best slurry settlement effect is achieved. (3) When the vibration inertia of the eccentric oscillator is 0.158 g·cm2 and the final mass concentration reaches 70.1%, the settling time only takes 210 min. (4) The lower the slurry concentration, the faster the settling speed. As the initial concentration increases, the final thickening time is also gradually prolonged. The research results provide some insights for the rapid thickening technology of rake-free paste thickeners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article emphasizes the urgent need for worldwide cooperation to achieve net zero emissions (NZE) and combat climate change. It argues that China's involvement is crucial due to its significant manufacturing and research capabilities in areas such as lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, wind turbines, energy storage, and electric vehicles. The article highlights the interdependence of nations and the necessity for collaboration to overcome climate change. It calls on political leaders to prioritize NZE goals, implement free trade rules, establish expert international panels, and promote international cooperation to ensure the habitability of the planet for all. [Extracted from the article]

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections constitute a threat to public health, and KPC and NDM are the major carbapenemases of concern. Rapid diagnostic tests are highly desirable in point-of-care (POC) and emergency laboratories with limited resources. Here, we developed a multiplex lateral flow assay based on asymmetric PCR and barcode capture probes for the simultaneous detection of KPC-2 and NDM-1. Biotinylated barcode capture probes corresponding to the KPC-2 and NDM-1 genes were designed and cast onto two different sensing zones of a nitrocellulose membrane after reacting with streptavidin to prepare a multiplex lateral flow strip. Streptavidin-coated gold nanoparticles (SA-AuNPs) were used as signal reporters. In response to the target carbapenemase genes, biotin-labelled ssDNA libraries were produced by asymmetric PCR, which bond to SA-AuNPs via biotin and hybridise with the barcode capture probe via a complementary sequence, thereby bridging SA-AuNPs and the barcode capture probe to form visible red lines on the detection zones. The signal intensities were proportional to the number of resistance genes tested. The strip sensor showed detection limits of 0.03 pM for the KPC-2 and 0.07 pM for NDM-1 genes, respectively, and could accurately distinguish between KPC-2 and NDM-1 genes in CRE strains. For the genotyping of clinical isolates, our strip exhibited excellent consistency with real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and gene sequencing. Given its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and rapid analysis accomplished by the naked eye, the multiplex strip is promising auxiliary diagnostic tool for KPC-2 and NDM-1 producers in routine clinical laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creaky voice, a non-modal aperiodic phonation that is often associated with low pitch targets, has been found to not only correlate linguistically with prosodic boundary, tonal categories, and pitch range, but also socially with age, gender, and social status. However, it is still not clear whether co-varying factors such as prosodic boundary, pitch range, and tone could, in turn, affect listeners' identification of creak. To fill this gap, this current study examines how creaky voice is identified in Mandarin through experimental data, aiming to enhance our understanding of cross-linguistic perception of creaky voice and, more broadly, speech perception in multi-variable contexts. Our results reveal that in Mandarin, creak identification is context-dependent: factors including prosodic position, tone, pitch range, and the amount of creak all affect how Mandarin listeners identify creak. This reflects listeners' knowledge about the distribution of creak in linguistically universal (e.g., prosodic boundary) and language-specific (e.g., lexical tone) environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most organismal phenotypes have a polygenic basis, which enables adaptive phenotypic responses on ecological time scales. While adaptive phenotypic changes are highly parallel in replicate populations, this does not apply to the contributing loci. In particular for small populations, the same phenotypic shift can be fueled by different sets of alleles at alternative loci (genetic redundancy). Although this phenomenon is empirically well supported, the molecular basis of the genetic redundancy is not yet understood. To fill this gap, we compared the heterogeneity of the evolutionary transcriptomic and metabolomic response in ten Drosophila simulans populations which evolved parallel high-level phenotypic changes in a novel temperature environment but used different allelic combinations of alternative loci. We showed that the metabolome evolved more parallel than the transcriptome, confirming a hierarchical organization of molecular phenotypes. Different sets of genes responded in each evolved population but led to the enrichment of similar biological functions and a consistent metabolic profile. Since even the metabolomic response was still highly heterogeneous across evolved populations, we propose that selection may operate on pathways/networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the majority of oncology clinical trials are conducted in Western Europe and North America. Globalization of drug development has resulted in sponsors shifting their focus to the Asia‐Pacific region. In Malaysia, implementation of various government policies to promote clinical trials has been initiated over a decade ago and includes the establishment of Clinical Research Malaysia, which functions as a facilitator and enabler of industry‐sponsored clinical trials on a nationwide basis. Although oncology clinical trials in Malaysia have seen promising growth, there are still only a limited number of early phase oncology studies being conducted. Hence, the Phase 1 Realization Project was initiated to develop Malaysia's early phase clinical trial capabilities. In addition, the adaptation of good practices from other countries contribute to the effective implementation of existing initiatives to drive progress in the development of early phase drug development set up in Malaysia. Furthermore, holistic approaches with emphasis in training and education, infrastructure capacities, strategic alliances, reinforcement of upstream activities in the value chain of drug development, enhanced patient advocacy, coupled with continued commitment from policy makers are imperative in nurturing a resilient clinical research ecosystem in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spherulitic morphology and crystallization behaviors of binary crystalline blends of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and polyarylate (PAr), based on bisphenol A, (27:73 isophthalic:terephthalic acids), are investigated herein. PBT and PAr crystallize simultaneously or sequentially; various crystallization behaviors and morphologies are observed. In the PBT-rich blends, PAr does not crystallize; the PBT spherulites coarsen as the PAr concentration increases. Non-crystallizable PAr is trapped inside the spherulites. The PBT spherulitic growth rate decreases when PAr is added and remains constant thereafter. For the 50/50 blends, PBT and PAr crystallize simultaneously, and their spherulites co-exist separately. The spherulitic growth rate of PBT increases with time while PAr is crystallizing, but it remains constant if PAr crystallizes prior. At a crystallization temperature of 250 °C, only PAr crystallizes; the non-crystallizable PBT is expelled from the PAr spherulites because the crystallization rate of PAr is low. The spherulites of PAr do not fill the space in the final crystallization stage. The crystallization rate of the binary crystalline PBT/PAr blends was notably influenced by the prior crystallization of the other component, and was due to the change of the amorphous composition in addition to the constraints of the crystals on the chain mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is one of the most important outcome measures to be assessed by medical research. This study aims to develop and validate an instrument called the "health-related quality of life with six domains" (HRQ-6D), which aims to measure an individual's health-related quality of life within a 24 h period of time. This is a questionnaire development study involving five phases, which are (i) to explore the subject matter content for gaining a better understanding of the topic, (ii) to develop the questionnaire, (iii) to assess both its content validity and face validity, (iv) to conduct a pilot study, and finally, (v) to undertake a field testing of the questionnaire. For the field-testing phase, a cross-sectional study involving a self-administered survey for HRQ-6D items was conducted among healthcare workers with various health conditions. Exploratory factor analysis was initially applied to construct the major dimensions of the HRQ-6D. Confirmatory factor analysis was subsequently applied to evaluate the model fit of the overall framework of the HRQ-6D. The clinical utility of this HRQ-6D was also assessed via its association with actual clinical evidence. A total of 406 respondents participated in the survey. Six domains were identified from the analysis, namely "pain", "physical strength", "emotion", "self-care", "mobility", and "perception of future health" comprising two items in each domain. Each domain was reported to have a minimum value of Cronbach's alpha of 0.731, and the model fit for the overall framework of the HRQ-6D was also found to be excellent. Exploratory factor analysis was undertaken for the 12 items of the HRQ-6D. All the domains can be categorized into three major dimensions, namely "health", "body function", and "future perception", with a minimum value for their factor loadings of at least 0.507. A notable finding was that the HRQ-6D was significantly associated with an individual's existing comorbidities and current status of health (p < 0.05). This study successfully validated the HRQ-6D, and we found it to possess both excellent levels of reliability and validity and a satisfactory degree of model fit; it was also significantly associated with actual clinical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the existing quantum-inspired models are based on amplitude-phase embedding to model natural language, which maps words into Hilbert space. In quantum-computing theory, the vectors corresponding to quantum states are all complex values, so there is a gap between these two areas. Presently, complex-valued neural networks have been studied, but their practical applications are few, let alone in the downstream tasks of natural language processing such as sentiment analysis and language modeling. In fact, the complex-valued neural network can use the imaginary part information to embed hidden information and can express more complex information, which is suitable for modeling complex natural language. Meanwhile, quantum-inspired models are defined in Hilbert space, which is also a complex space. So it is natural to construct quantum-inspired models based on complex-valued neural networks. Therefore, we propose a new quantum-inspired model for NLP, ComplexQNN, which contains a complex-valued embedding layer, a quantum encoding layer, and a measurement layer. The modules of ComplexQNN are fully based on complex-valued neural networks. It is more in line with quantum-computing theory and easier to transfer to quantum computers in the future to achieve exponential acceleration. We conducted experiments on six sentiment-classification datasets comparing with five classical models (TextCNN, GRU, ELMo, BERT, and RoBERTa). The results show that our model has improved by 10% in accuracy metric compared with TextCNN and GRU, and has competitive experimental results with ELMo, BERT, and RoBERTa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aging of neck and jawline skin is caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors and is evidenced by wrinkling, laxity, skin dyspigmentation, loss of the mandibular contour, accumulation of submental fat, density loss, and prominent platysma bands. Early intervention with topical cosmeceuticals, especially in younger subjects with "tech neck," can offer a solution and potentially mitigate aging of the neck and jawline. Aim: The objective of this prospective, open‐label, single‐center clinical study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a topical anti‐aging neck treatment (TNT) in a cohort of Chinese women with mild to moderate signs of aging on the neck and jawline. Subjects/Methods: This study was approved by an ethics committee and involved healthy Chinese subjects. Thirty‐five female subjects, 25–50 years old, with mild to moderate signs of aging of the neck and jawline were recruited. Subjects applied the TNT to the neck and jawline twice daily for 84 days. Long‐term efficacy and tolerability, clinical photography, bioinstrumentation, and a self‐assessment questionnaire were performed at baseline and post‐baseline. Results: The TNT significantly improved horizontal neck fold lines and neck skin elasticity, hydration, gloss/radiance, and skin tone evenness post‐baseline. Clinical photography and ultrasound corroborated these findings. The product was well perceived and well tolerated by subjects. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the TNT was effective against both extrinsic and intrinsic aging of the neck and jawline. The TNT provides a topical solution for Chinese women concerned with an aging appearance of the neck including "tech neck." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop an efficient bioinoculant for amelioration of adverse effects from chilling stress (10°C), which are frequently occurred during rice seedling stage. Seed germination bioassay under chilling condition with rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. Tainan 11 was performed to screen for plant growth-promoting (PGP) bacteria among 41 chilling-tolerant rice endophytes. And several agronomic traits were used to evaluate the effects of bacterial inoculation on rice seedling, which were experienced for 7-d chilling stress in walk-in growth chamber. The field trials were further used to verify the performance of potential PGP endophytes on rice growth. A total of three endophytes with multiple PGP traits were obtained. It was demonstrated that Pseudomonas sp. CC-LS37 inoculation led to 18% increase of maximal efficiency of Photosystem II (PSII) after 7-d chilling stress and 7% increase of chlorophyll a content, and 64% decline of malondialdehyde content in shoot after 10-d recovery at normal temperature in walk-in growth chamber. In field trial, biopriming of seeds with strain CC-LS37 caused rice plants to increase shoot chlorophyll soil plant analysis development values (by 2.9% and 2.5%, respectively) and tiller number (both by 61%) under natural climate and chilling stress during the end of tillering stage, afterward 30% more grain yield was achieved. In conclusion, strain CC-LS37 exerted its function in increase of tiller number of chilling stress-treated rice seedlings via improvement of photosynthetic characteristics, which in turn increases the rice grain yield. This study also proposed multiple indices used in the screening of potential endophytes for conferring chilling tolerance of rice plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic phase change materials (PCMs) are inexpensive, safe, and do not segregate. However, they exhibit a low thermal conductivity. Several papers have reported the synthesis of organic–inorganic hybrid PCMs by adding inorganic fillers to increase the thermal conductivity. However, large amounts of fillers are needed to support the shape for the encapsulation of PCMs. Herein, we propose a facile synthesis strategy that yields composite PCMs with enhanced thermal performance. Initially, 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene sorbitol (DBS) organogel was added as an organic filler to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) PCMs for maintaining the form and prevent leakage. Subsequently, a small amount of an inorganic filler, graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), was added to these organic PCMs. Consequently, the thermal conductivity and shape stabilization of the PEG/GNPs/DBS PCMs were significantly improved. These prepared composite PCMs, with excellent shape stabilization, appropriate latent heat, and ideal thermal conductivity, are potential as fillers in solar-thermal systems and energy-efficient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After spinal cord injury (SCI) in mammals, neuronal regeneration is limited; in contrast, such regeneration occurs quickly in zebrafish. Member A of the acidic nuclear phosphoprotein 32 (ANP32a) family is involved in neuronal development, but its function is controversial, and its involvement in zebrafish SCI remains unknown. To determine the role of zebrafish ANP32a in the neuronal regeneration of SCI embryos, we microinjected ANP32a mRNA into embryos from zebrafish transgenic line Tg(mnx1:GFP) prior to SCI. Compared to control SCI embryos, the results showed that the regeneration of spinal cord and resumption of swimming capability were promoted by the overexpression of ANP32a mRNA but reduced by its knockdown. We next combined fluorescence-activated cell sorting with immunochemical staining of anti-GFAP and immunofluorescence staining against anti-PH3 on Tg(gfap:GFP) SCI embryos. The results showed that ANP32a promoted the proliferation and cell number of radial glial cells at the injury epicenter at 24 h post-injury (hpi). Moreover, when we applied BrdU labeling to SCI embryos derived from crossing the Tg(gfap:GFP) and Tg(mnx1:TagRFP) lines, we found that both radial glial cells and motor neurons had proliferated, along with their increased cell numbers in Anp32a-overexpression SCI-embryos. On this basis, we conclude that ANP32a plays a positive role in the regeneration of zebrafish SCI embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Coronavirus disease 2019 is a global pandemic. Studies suggest that folic acid has antiviral effects. Molecular docking shown that folic acid can act on SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Phosphoprotein (SARS-CoV-2 N). Objective: To identify novel molecular therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2. Materials and methods: Traditional Chinese medicine targets and virus-related genes were identified with network pharmacology and big data analysis. Folic acid was singled out by molecular docking, and its potential target SARS-CoV-2 N was identified. Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 N of folic acid was verified at the cellular level. Results: In total, 8355 drug targets were potentially involved in the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2. 113 hub genes were screened by further association analysis between targets and virus-related genes. The hub genes related compounds were analysed and folic acid was screened as a potential new drug. Moreover, molecular docking showed folic acid could target on SARS-CoV-2 N which inhibits host RNA interference (RNAi). Therefore, this study was based on RNAi to verify whether folic acid antagonises SARS-CoV-2 N. Cell-based experiments shown that RNAi decreased mCherry expression by 81.7% (p<0.001). This effect was decreased by 8.0% in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 N, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 N inhibits RNAi. With increasing of folic acid concentration, mCherry expression decreased, indicating that folic acid antagonises the regulatory effect of SARS-CoV-2 N on host RNAi. Discussion and conclusions: Folic acid may be an antagonist of SARS-CoV-2 N, but its effect on viruses unclear. In future, the mechanisms of action of folic acid against SARS-CoV-2 N should be studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a learning-based approach for removing unwanted obstructions, such as window reflections, fence occlusions, or adherent raindrops, from a short sequence of images captured by a moving camera. Our method leverages motion differences between the background and obstructing elements to recover both layers. Specifically, we alternate between estimating dense optical flow fields of the two layers and reconstructing each layer from the flow-warped images via a deep convolutional neural network. This learning-based layer reconstruction module facilitates accommodating potential errors in the flow estimation and brittle assumptions, such as brightness consistency. We show that the proposed approach learned from synthetically generated data performs well to real images. Experimental results on numerous challenging scenarios of reflection and fence removal demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a typical representative of the PARP enzyme family and is mainly related to DNA repair, gene transcription regulation, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Studies have found that PARP1 is involved in the pathophysiological processes of a variety of cardiovascular diseases. Chaperone‐mediated autophagy (CMA) is involved in the molecular regulation of various diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, and plays a critical role in maintaining intracellular metabolism balance. However, the link between PARP1 and CMA in cardiomyocytes remains unclear. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate whether CMA is involved in PARP1 regulation and to further clarify the specific molecular mechanisms. Earle's balanced salt solution (EBSS)‐induced activation of autophagy reduced PARP1 expression, whereas the autophagy lysosomal inhibitor CQ had the opposite effect. Correspondingly, treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3‐methyladenine did not abolish the autophagy‐inducing effects of EBSS. Additionally, PARP1 binds to heat shock cognate protein 70 and lysosome‐associated membrane protein 2A (LAMP2A). Moreover, adenovirus‐mediated LAMP2A overexpression to activate the CMA signaling pathway in cardiomyocytes reduces PARP1 (cleaved) expression and further decreases cardiomyocyte apoptosis caused by oxidative stress. In contrast, downregulation of LAMP2A increased PARP1 (cleaved) expression and the degree of apoptosis. More importantly, we report that appropriate concentrations of H2O2 triggered the nuclear translocation of PARP1, which subsequently promoted the degradation of PARP1 through the CMA pathway. In summary, our data are the first to reveal that CMA targeted PARP1 for lysosomal degradation in cardiomyocytes, which ultimately inhibited apoptosis by promoting the degradation of the PARP1 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is most commonly caused by embolism. Evidence showed that hematocrit (Hct) levels are often associated with embolic events. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between Hct levels and RAO. This retrospective study enrolled RAO patients between January 2011 and March 2020, who were 1:4 matched by age, gender, index date, and relevant comorbidities with the non-RAO group. Patient characteristics and laboratory data were collected. Univariate conditional logistic regression was applied by estimating crude matched odds ratios to determine the relevant factors for the occurrence of RAO. Furthermore, a narrative review of the relevant study was conducted to explore the association between Hct levels and embolism. Between January 2011 to March 2020, 82 RAO patients and 328 non-RAO patients matched with age, gender, index date, comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, stroke, and atrial fibrillation were enrolled after excluding ineligible individuals. Conditional logistic regression analysis showed that Hct level ≥ 40% was associated with developing RAO. A forest plot showed a trend of a non-linear dose-response association between Hct levels and ischemic vascular events in male patients. Hct levels ≥ 40% in patients older than 65 years with at least six comorbidities could be associated with RAO. We suggest that older patients who have multiple comorbidities, combined with elevated Hct levels, should be informed of the possible occurrence of RAO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Device-to-Device (D2D) communication introduced in 3GPP's Release 12 is a promising option for the accommodation of increasing traffic demand and the alleviation of core networks' loading. The D2D communication mode prevails in scenarios where mobile users in proximity form a communication group sharing the same interest in digital content. A user can download intended content from peers in the same communication group rather than from the Internet via the base station. This article addresses the routing issue within D2D communication groups. It is, in effect, a path selection problem. We define a utility function considering both delay and throughput. The path selection problem can be formulated as an NP-hard optimization problem. A Bidirectional and InCremental A-star (BICA*) algorithm incorporating the concept of bidirectional search and lifelong planning is developed to tackle the NP-hard optimization problem. Simulations reveal that the proposed approach outperforms existing ones in terms of less delay, higher throughput, and higher satisfaction ratio. The Greedy approach, Two-Stage Relay Selection (TSRS), and the standard A* algorithm were included in the comparative study. The throughput improvements of the proposed scheme are up to 23% and 46.5% compared to TSRS and Greedy, respectively. The proposed scheme possesses the lowest delay and the highest satisfaction rate, among others. With less computational time, the proposed BICA* is more responsive than the standard A* in dynamic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are two major causes of chronic liver disease (CLD) that can cause liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is a trend to superimpose NAFLD on chronic HBV infection in Asia. This review presents the epidemiology of concurrent NAFLD in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and focuses on the impact of concurrent NAFLD on the outcome of CHB patients in Asia. Although CHB patients tend to have a lower prevalence and incidence of NAFLD than the general population, concurrent NAFLD among CHB patients is still common and has an upward trend over time. Concurrent NAFLD can promote hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance and might inhibit HBV replication but exacerbate liver fibrosis. The impacts of concurrent NAFLD on HCC risk, all-cause mortality and antiviral treatment response in CHB patients remain controversial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving charge transfer efficiency via vibronic coupling is vital to the performance of semiconducting surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Previous attempts have focused on defects‐based metastable‐state assisted band structure matching strategy to enhance vibronic coupling. However, defect‐related charge transfer transitions can be easily deteriorated due to enhanced phonon‐assisted relaxation upon continuous laser irradiation. Herein, perovskite‐based steady‐state assisted band structure matching strategy is proposed to enhance vibronic coupling within perovskite‐molecule charge transfer complex, leading to remarkable Raman enhancement up to 5.9 × 106. Particularly, vibronic coupling can be modulated by tuning valence band position and introducing ultrathin Au coating, which allows selective enhancement of molecules with different band structures, including narrow‐bandgap molecules and wide‐bandgap molecules. Importantly, based on intrinsically stable conduction band and valence band states, this system achieves ultrahigh photostability, preserving 91.3% of the original intensity after 50 000 s of irradiation. This system also provides an outstanding tool for trace molecular detection, allowing sensitive and selective identification of 9 types of gastric cancer related aldehydes, which enables distinguishing the breath of gastric cancer patients from healthy controls with a discriminatory accuracy of 81.09%. This study is anticipated to shed new light into the future strategy design of efficient and stable semiconducting SERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accommodate the ever-increasing traffic demands, numerous approaches have been developed to improve spectrum utilization. Among others, the coexistence of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and Wi-Fi, addressed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) with hyper access points (HAPs) as bridges, is well recognized as a promising candidate solution. Aimed at improving the spectrum utilization of the unlicensed bands by following LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), this article contributes to the determination of the optimal time ratio, δ, for the time-division multiplexing of LTE and Wi-Fi over unlicensed bands. Symmetric allocation with a duty cycle of 50% cannot be an optimal option. Asymmetric allocation according to the quality of service (QoS) requirements and traffic demands should be considered. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem optimizing the total throughput. The lower and upper bounds of δ are obtained according to the QoS requirements of Wi-Fi and the admission control requirements of LTE. The detailed procedure for finding an adequate δ is developed and presented. A series of simulations are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Simulation results show that the proposed approach improves the total throughput without compromising the fairness of Wi-Fi, as intended. Ten percent of improvement in throughput compared with LTE-U can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malignant fungating wounds (MFWs) occur among 5%–15% of patients with terminal cancers, the uncontrollable symptoms result in serious psychosocial issues, thereby reducing the quality of life. Caring for MFWs impacts caregivers, including healthcare personnel. While existing studies are patient-focused, the impact of care experiences and associated support for nurses has not been examined. To explore the experiences in caring for patients with MFWs among nurses in Taiwan. Qualitative study with a phenomenological approach by thematic analysis was conducted with semi-structured interviews. About 15 nurses who cared for patients with MFWs at local district hospitals in Southern Taiwan. Four themes were identified to describe the phenomenon: (1) Fear of Unpredictability (2) Maintaining Professionalism (3) Feeling Helpless (4) Rationalizing the Negatives. The themes illustrated the distress of managing physical symptoms and highlighted how nurses strived to promote comfort for patients. Nurses felt helpless about the incurable nature of MFWs but found a way to suppress their feelings. The findings suggested the need for addressing the emotional well-being of nurses who take care of patients with MFWs. Future studies should identify effective coping strategies for nurses' health when caring for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing strategies to enhance the recognition ability of immune cells is important to the success of cell‐based cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we report programming receptor clustering on membrane with DNA probabilistic circuits for enhanced immune cell recognition. By designing the circuit output to activate receptors for binding to adjacent receptors, we can engineer DNA probabilistic circuits for programmable regulation of receptor clustering. The generated receptor clusters show higher binding affinity to target cancer cells and improved membrane‐anchoring stability compared with monomers. We demonstrate that programming receptor clustering could allow to modulate the recognition capability of natural killer cells and control natural killer cell–cancer cell interactions to promote efficient cancer cell killing. This work provides insights for precise control over cellular recognition and opens new opportunities for the development of cell‐based immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing strategies to enhance the recognition ability of immune cells is important to the success of cell‐based cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we report programming receptor clustering on membrane with DNA probabilistic circuits for enhanced immune cell recognition. By designing the circuit output to activate receptors for binding to adjacent receptors, we can engineer DNA probabilistic circuits for programmable regulation of receptor clustering. The generated receptor clusters show higher binding affinity to target cancer cells and improved membrane‐anchoring stability compared with monomers. We demonstrate that programming receptor clustering could allow to modulate the recognition capability of natural killer cells and control natural killer cell–cancer cell interactions to promote efficient cancer cell killing. This work provides insights for precise control over cellular recognition and opens new opportunities for the development of cell‐based immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium garnet oxides are a family of fast-ion conductors with appreciable lithium ionic conductivity in the solid state, making them promising candidates as electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. In their structures, lithium is partially (along with vacancy) distributed among more than one crystallographically distinct sites, just as with other fast-ion conductors. This disorder has a great influence on lithium's transport properties such as diffusivity and ionic conductivity. We review atomistic simulation studies in conjunction with complementary experimental investigations, which offer atomic-scale visualization of and insight into lithium transport phenomena in lithium garnet oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video blogs and selfies are popular social media formats, which are often captured by wide-angle cameras to show human subjects and expanded background. Unfortunately, due to perspective projection, faces near corners and edges exhibit apparent distortions that stretch and squish the facial features, resulting in poor video quality. In this work, we present a video warping algorithm to correct these distortions. Our key idea is to apply stereographic projection locally on the facial regions. We formulate a mesh warp problem using spatial-temporal energy minimization and minimize background deformation using a line-preservation term to maintain the straight edges in the background. To address temporal coherency, we constrain the temporal smoothness on the warping meshes and facial trajectories through the latent variables. For performance evaluation, we develop a wide-angle video dataset with a wide range of focal lengths. The user study shows that 83.9% of users prefer our algorithm over other alternatives based on perspective projection. The video results can be found at https://www.wslai.net/publications/video_face_correction/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) are common conditions in community and clinical practice. As specialized enteroendocrine cells, enterochromaffin (EC) cells produce up to 95% of total body serotonin and coordinate luminal and basolateral communication in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. EC cells affect a broad range of gut physiological processes, such as motility, absorption, secretion, chemo/mechanosensation, and pathologies, including visceral hypersensitivity, immune dysfunction, and impaired gastrointestinal barrier function. We aim to review EC cell and serotonin-mediated physiology and pathophysiology with particular emphasis on DGBIs. We explored the knowledge gap and attempted to suggest new perspectives of physiological and pathophysiological insights of DGBIs, such as (1) functional heterogeneity of regionally distributed EC cells throughout the entire GI tract; (2) potential pathophysiological mechanisms mediated by EC cell defect in DGBIs; (3) cellular and molecular mechanisms characterizing EC cells and gut microbiota bidirectional communication; (4) differential modulation of EC cells through GI segment-specific gut microbiota; (5) uncover whether crosstalk between EC cells and (i) luminal contents; (ii) enteric nervous system; and (iii) central nervous system are core mechanisms modulating gut-brain homeostasis; and (6) explore the therapeutic modalities for physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms mediated through EC cells. Insights discussed in this review will fuel the conception and realization of pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic clues to improve the management and clinical care of DGBIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results on developing an ensemble machine learning model to combine commercial gas sensors for accurate concentration detection. Commercial gas sensors have the low-cost advantage and become key components of IoT devices in atmospheric condition monitoring. However, their native coarse resolution and poor selectivity limit their performance. Thus, we adopted recurrent neural network (RNN) models to extract the time-series concentration data characteristics and improve the detection accuracy. Firstly, four types of RNN models, LSTM and GRU, Bi-LSTM, and Bi-GRU, were optimized to define the best-performance single weak models for CO, O3, and NO2 gases, respectively. Next, ensemble models which integrate multiple single weak models with a dynamic model were defined and trained. The testing results show that the ensemble models perform better than the single weak models. Further, a retraining procedure was proposed to make the ensemble model more flexible to adapt to environmental conditions. The significantly improved determination coefficients show that the retraining helps the ensemble models maintain long-term stable sensing performance in an atmospheric environment. The result can serve as an essential reference for the applications of IoT devices with commercial gas sensors in environment condition monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously identified Candida albicans GPH1 (orf19.7021) whose protein product was associated with C. albicans Cdc4. The GPH1 gene is a putative glycogen phosphorylase because its Saccharomyces cerevisiae homolog participates in glycogen catabolism, which involves the synthesis of β-glucan of the fungal cell wall. We made a strain whose CaCDC4 expression is repressed, and GPH1 is constitutively expressed. We established a GPH1 null mutant strain and used it to conduct the in vitro virulence assays that detect cell wall function. The in vitro virulence assay is centered on biofilm formation in which analytic procedures are implemented to evaluate cell surface hydrophobicity; competence, either in stress resistance, germ tube formation, or fibronection association; and the XTT-based adhesion and biofilm formation. We showed that the constitutively expressed GPH1 partially suppresses filamentation when the CaCDC4 expression is repressed. The C. albicans Gph1 protein is reduced in the presence of CaCdc4 in comparison with the absence of CaCdc4. Compared with the wild-type strain, the gph1Δ/gph1Δ mutant displayed a reduction in the capability to form germ tubes and the cell surface hydrophobicity but an increase in binding with fibronectin. Compared with the wild-type strain, the gph1Δ/gph1Δ mutant showed a rise in adhesion, the initial stage of biofilm formation, but displayed a similar capacity to form a mature biofilm. There was no major impact on the gph1Δ/gph1Δ mutant regarding the conditions of cell wall damaging and TOR pathway-associated nutrient depletion. We conclude that GPH1, adversely regulated by the filament suppressor CDC4, contributes to cell wall function in C. albicans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A potential myocardial injury can be induced by intensive sporting activities, which may be due to ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation when individuals continue to exercise during the maximum physical loading period (the aerobic capability plateau, ACP). Herein, we conducted an incremental exercise test with the RR-interval and SV-series measurements as the input and output of the circulatory system. Through time and frequency analyses, we aimed to identify the indicators for distinguishing the normal stage (S1), last stage before ACP (S2), and ACP stage (S3) during different incremental physical loads. The cross-correlation results of the RR interval and SV series showed that the maximum coefficient of S2 was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than that of S1 (median 0.91 to 0.87), and also significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of S3 (median 0.87 to 0.60). The corresponding spectrum shows that the decreasing correlation coefficient of SVV and Heart rate variability can be used to assess whether the body has reached the ACP. These findings can be used as a guide for exercise healthcare. Pausing or reducing the exercise load before entering the ACP could effectively reduce the risk of myocardial injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium and sulfur offer a promising application in rechargeable batteries due to their low cost, abundant resources and high energy density. Room‐temperature (RT) Na–S batteries have been proposed by paring S cathodes with Na anodes in non‐aqueous liquid electrolytes. Over decades, researchers have mainly focussed on the development of superior electrodes by nano‐engineering efficient S cathodes and stable Na anodes. These studies have effectively improved the electrochemical performance of RT Na–S batteries, validating their bright prospects as stationary energy storage devices for the modern renewable energy trajectory. In comparison, the research on electrolytes receives much less attention, and there is a lack of understanding regarding the impacts of different electrolytes on electrode interfaces and overall battery mechanisms. In this review, multiple‐kinds of electrolytes and the interfaces between electrolytes and electrodes in RT Na–S batteries are comprehensively discussed. Challenges and recent progress are presented in terms of the sulfur electrochemical mechanisms: The solid‐solid and solid‐liquid conversions. With the presentation of the S redox mechanism, future prospects of electrolyte optimizations, cathode, and anode as well as interfacial improvement are systematically discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifts in trait means are widely considered as evidence for adaptive responses, but the impact on phenotypic variance remains largely unexplored. Classic quantitative genetics provides a theoretical framework to predict how selection on phenotypic mean affects the variance. In addition to this indirect effect, it is also possible that the variance of the trait is the direct target of selection, but experimentally characterized cases are rare. Here, we studied gene expression variance of Drosophila simulans males before and after 100 generations of adaptation to a novel hot laboratory environment. In each of the two independently evolved populations, the variance of 125 and 97 genes was significantly reduced. We propose that the drastic loss in environmental complexity from nature to the laboratory may have triggered selection for reduced variance. Our observation that selection could drive changes in the variance of gene expression could have important implications for studies of adaptation processes in natural and experimental populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tested speaker-specificity vs. phonetic-similarity in /s/-/ʃ/ perceptual learning. • Tested male-to-female generalization with similar or different sibilant acoustics. • Offered a phonetics-phonology mismatch account for blocked generalization. • Highlighted the role of phonetics-phonology mapping in perceptual generalization. Previous studies on whether perceptual learning generalizes across multiple speakers have produced inconsistent results between generalization and speaker-specificity. A prior proposal is that the critical phonemes produced by two different speakers need to be phonetically similar for perceptual learning to generalize. To test this account, we investigated the perceptual generalization of sibilants across two pairs of speakers. In both cases, sibilants of the same male speaker were manipulated to induce either an /s/-favoring perceptual bias or an /ʃ/-favoring one in a training phase. We then examined whether the perceptual biases would generalize in a test phase to the /s/-/ʃ/ continua of two different female speakers, one resembling the training speaker and the other differing from the training speaker in the spectral frequency distributions of their sibilants. We found that generalization of perceptual learning occurred in both /s/-favoring and /ʃ/-favoring conditions between the speaker pair with similar sibilant productions. For the speaker pair with different sibilants, we found perceptual generalization in the /s/-favoring training condition but not in the /ʃ/-favoring condition, which is not predicted by the phonetic similarity account. To explain these unexpected results, we offer a novel phonetics–phonology mismatch account as a refinement of our understanding of when and why perceptual generalization might be blocked. The results shed light on the constant influence of the mapping between phonetics and phonology during the learning and generalization of phonetic variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial therapy in terminally ill patients remains controversial as goals of care tend to be focused on optimizing comfort. International guidelines recommend for antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) involvement in antibiotic decisions in palliative patients. The primary objective was to evaluate the clinical impact of ASP interventions made to stop broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics in terminally ill patients. This was a retrospective chart review of 459 terminally ill patients in Singapore General Hospital audited by ASP between December 2010 and December 2018. Antibiotic duration, time-to-terminal discharge for end-of-life care, time-to-mortality, and mortality rates of patients with antibiotics ceased or continued upon ASP recommendations were compared. A total of 283 and 176 antibiotic courses were ceased and continued post-intervention, respectively. The intervention acceptance rate was 61.7%. The 7-day mortality rate (47.3% vs 61.9%, p = 0.003) was lower in the ceased group, while 30-day mortality rate (76.0% vs 81.2%, p = 0.203) and time-to-mortality post-intervention (3 [0–24] vs 2 [0–27] days, p = 0.066) did not differ between the ceased and continued groups. After excluding the 57 patients who had antibiotics continued until death within 48 h of intervention, only time-to-mortality post-intervention was statistically significantly shorter in the ceased group (3 [0–24] vs 4 [0–27], p < 0.001). Of the 131 terminally discharged patients, antibiotic duration (4 [0–17] vs 6.5 [1–14] days, p = 0.001) and time-to-terminal discharge post-intervention (6 [0–74] vs 10.5 [3–63] days, p = 0.001) were shorter in the ceased group. Antibiotic cessation in terminally ill patients was safe, and was associated with a significantly shorter time-to-terminal discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Head and neck cancer was the fourth-most common cause of cancer death among Taiwanese men in 2018. Hospice care has been proven to reduce the use of invasive medical interventions and expenditures in caring for cancer patients. Aim: This study examined the effects of hospice care for terminal head and neck cancer patients. Design: A matched cohort study was used to compare the use of invasive interventions and expenditures among hospice care and nonhospice care patients. Setting/Participants: The investigated patients consisted of patients who died of head and neck cancer in Taiwan from 2004 to 2013 and were included in the Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patients in Taiwan and the Taiwan National Health Research Insurance Database. Results: A total of 45,948 terminal head and neck cancer patients were identified, and 9883 patients remained in each group after matching for comorbidities. After that matching, the rates of intensive care unit admission (23.9% vs. 38.94%, p < 0.0001), endotracheal intubation (10.05% vs. 31.32%, p < 0.0001), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (2.93% vs. 20.18%, p < 0.0001), defibrillation (0.51% vs. 4.36%. p < 0.0001), ventilator use (21.92% vs. 46.47%, p < 0.0001), blood transfusion (71.25% vs. 73.45%, p = 0.006), and hemodialysis (1.06% vs. 3.26%. p < 0.0001) were significantly lower in the hospice group than the nonhospice group, although the rates of parenteral nutrition for the two groups were similar (7.74% vs. 7.97%, p = 0.5432). The mean medical expenditure per person in the six months before death was 460,531 New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) for the nonhospice group and 389,079 NTD for those provided hospice care for more than three months, which was the lowest amount among various hospice enrollment durations. Conclusions: Hospice care can effectively reduce the use of invasive medical interventions in caring for terminal head and neck cancer patients and may improve their quality of death. Moreover, hospice care enrollment for more than three months can save on unnecessary medical expenditures for terminal head and neck cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work has shown that individuals vary in phonetic behaviors in ways that deviate from group norms and are not attributable to sociolinguistically relevant dimensions such as gender or social class. However, it is unknown whether these individual differences observed in the lab are stable characteristics of individuals or whether they simply reflect noise or sporadic fluctuations. This study investigates the individual-level stability in imitation of a model talker's artificially-lengthened VOT. We use a test–retest design in which the same set of participants perform the same lexical shadowing task on two separate occasions and find that degree of convergence or divergence is highly correlated on an individual basis across visits. Further, we find a strong correlation between individual VOT shifts toward a male model talker and shifts toward a female model talker. Findings contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that averaging over groups of participants masks the complexity of phonetic behaviors, such as imitation, and suggest that individual differences in phonetic behavior are an area of promising future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical water splitting to produce H 2 in high efficiency with earth-abundant-metal catalysts remains a challenge. Here, we describe a simple "cyclic voltammetry + ageing" protocol at room temperature to activate Ni electrode (AC-Ni/NF) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), by which Ni/Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure is formed at the surface. In situ Raman spectroscopy reveals the gradual growth of Ni/Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure during the first 30 min of the aging treatment and combined with polarization measurements, it suggests a positive relation between the Ni/Ni(OH) 2 amount and HER performance of the electrode. The obtained AC-Ni/NF catalyst, with plentiful Ni–Ni(OH) 2 interfaces, exhibits remarkable performance towards HER, with the low overpotential of only 30 mV at a H 2 -evolving current density of 10 mA/cm2 and 153 mV at 100 mA/cm2, as well as a small Tafel slope of 46.8 mV/dec in 1 M KOH electrolyte at ambient temperature. The excellent HER performance of the AC-Ni/NF could be maintained for at least 24 h without obvious decay. Ex situ experiments and in situ electrochemical-Raman spectroscopy along with density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that Ni/Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure, although partially reduced, can still persist during HER catalysis and it is the Ni–Ni(OH) 2 interface reducing the energy barrier of H∗ adsorption thus promoting the HER performance. [Display omitted] • The Ni/Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure is synthesized via electrochemical and ageing treatments under mild conditions. • The in situ formation of Ni/Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure is recorded by Raman spectroscopy. • The Ni/Ni(OH) 2 shows excellent HER performance with only 30 mV to reach 10 mA/cm2. • In situ Raman spectroscopy shows catalysis process during HER of Ni/Ni(OH) 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc finger-homeodomain (ZF-HD) proteins encode a family of plant-specific transcription factors that play essential roles in regulating plant growth and development as well as responses to abiotic/biotic stresses by activating or repressing the target genes. In this study, genome-wide characterization and expression profiling of the ZF-HD gene family in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) were performed for the first time. By using bioinformatics approaches, a total of 13 ZF-HD genes (designated as CsMIF1–CsMIF3 and CsZHD1–CsZHD10) were identified in the cucumber genome, which were unevenly distributed on six chromosomes. According to the phylogenetic analysis of cucumber and other species, they were divided into two distinct families, MINI ZINC FINGER (MIF) and zinc finger-homeodomain (ZHD), and the ZHD family was further divided into six subfamilies (ZHDI–ZHDVI). CsZF-HD members were mostly conserved in each subfamily with minor variations in motif distribution, and gene structure analysis showed that the CsZF-HD genes had only one intron or no intron at all. Expression analysis showed that most CsZF-HD genes had tissue-specific expression patterns, and some of them exhibited highly variable expression during fruit development. qRT-PCR results indicated that the selected CsZF-HD genes were responsive to drought stress, and some of them were differentially expressed in response to the inoculation of powdery mildew (PM) and downy mildew (DM) based on publicly available RNA-seq data. The results lay the foundation for further functional analysis of the ZF-HD genes and explore their potential application to the improvement of stress tolerance in cucumber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]