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The present study aims to clarify the role of ball pitch in Al 2 O 3 –SiC–C (ASC) refractory castables and investigate the influence of low temperature treatment on the composition, microstructural evolution, and properties of ASC refractory castables. By utilizing the expansion properties of ball pitch during heating, the castables undergo a low temperature treatment to induce the flow and expansion of ball pitch within the castables. This, in turn, fills the surrounding pores and enhances the physical properties of the castables. The results of this study demonstrate that low-temperature heat treatment of the castables at temperatures at 350 °C significantly improves the hot modulus of rupture, oxidation resistance, and slag resistance after sintering. This improvement is attributed to the optimized microstructure. In comparison to the corresponding samples without low temperature treatment, the high temperature modulus of rupture (HMOR) of the calcined castables treated at 350 °C increases by 33.3%. Additionally, the oxidation index and slag corrosion index after sintering at 1500 °C decrease by 39.6% and 87.31% respectively for the samples low temperature treated at 350 °C, as compared to the samples low temperature treated at 110 °C. This study provides a fresh perspective on the production of ASC castables with exceptional high temperature performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to mortality rates, with family income being a quantifiable marker of SES. However, the precise association between the family income-to-poverty ratio (PIR) and all-cause mortality in adults aged 40 and older remains unclear. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from NHANES III, including 20,497 individuals. The PIR was used to assess financial status, and various demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors were considered. Mortality data were collected from the NHANES III linked mortality file. The study revealed a non-linear association between PIR and all-cause mortality. The piecewise Cox proportional hazards regression model showed an inflection point at PIR 3.5. Below this threshold, the hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality was 0.85 (95% CI 0.79–0.91), while above 3.5, the HR decreased to 0.66 (95% CI 0.57–0.76). Participants with lower income had a higher probability of all-cause mortality, with middle-income and high-income groups showing lower multivariate-adjusted HRs compared to the low-income group. This study provides evidence of a non-linear association between PIR and all-cause mortality in adults aged 40 and older, with an inflection point at PIR 3.5. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the non-linear relationship between family income and mortality when addressing socioeconomic health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning to recognize novel visual classes from few samples is challenging but promising. Previous studies have shown that few-shot model tends to overfit and lead to poor generalization performance, which is because it finds a biased distribution based on a few samples. In addition, in agriculture-specific domains, there are more serious research challenges such as imbalanced disease distribution, one-shot representation biases, fine-grained recognition, and granularity shift. As far as we know, this study is the first work on the fine-grained "Coarse-to-Fine" few-shot plant disease classification, which classifies "fine-grained novel classes" (specific to disease severity) based on "coarse-grained base classes" (specific to plant species). A complete two-stage in-use calibration strategy is presented in this paper. Firstly, we propose an attention-based inverse Mahalanobis distance weighted prototype calibration module (AIPCM). By transferring statistics from sample-rich coarse-grained base classes to sample-scarce fine-grained novel classes, we achieve prototype calibration for 1-shot sample and obtain an unbiased distribution in the feature space. Secondly, to generate more reasonable decision boundaries, we propose a prior-driven task-adapted decision boundary calibration module (TDBCM) based on class-covariance metric. The original Euclidean/Cosine distance is updated to the Mahalanobis distance by introducing the prior mean and covariance of the high-dimensional features. Experimental results on several datasets demonstrate that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art (SOTA) models. It can be said that our work is a valuable supplement to the domain-specific agricultural applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine factors, healthcare utilization, and medical costs associated with potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines in persons living with HIV (PLWH). We used big data from Medicare claims in 2017. Potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines was defined as having any benzodiazepine claims in individuals 65+ years or having benzodiazepine claims for more than four weeks in individuals 18–64 years. Logistic regressions, zero-inflated negative binomial regressions, and generalized linear models were used. This study included 1,211 PLWH and 235 (19.41%) had potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines. PLWH who were 65+ years (OR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.96), non-Hispanic blacks (OR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.41), or Hispanics (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.88) were less likely to use benzodiazepines inappropriately. PLWH who had potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines had more inpatient (IRR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.94), outpatient (IRR: 1.14; 95% CI 1.02, 1.28), and emergency room (IRR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.68) visits. Potentially inappropriate use of benzodiazepines was associated with higher total (β: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.25), Medicare (β: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.28), and out-of-pocket (β: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.36) costs. This study provides real-world evidence to support deprescribing benzodiazepines in PLWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of excited‐state charge transfer (CT) in second near‐infrared (NIR‐II) fluorophore proceeds with conformational change that govern fluorescence. Unveiling the relationship between CT dynamics and conformational change in excited state is of great fundamental significance in optimizing NIR‐II fluorescence but remains less explored. This study unveils the pivotal role of large conformational change in promoting the evolution of emissive CT state into nonemissive CT state in NIR‐II fluorophore (CA‐BBT). Spectroscopic and computational results reveal that large conformational rotation/twisting leads to a pronounced increase in the CT character in excited state. This heightened CT character in CA‐BBT enables a rapid evolution of emissive CT state into a nonemissive CT state within 1.4 ps, as observed by ultrafast spectroscopy. Subsequently, this nonemissive state dominates nonradiative decay, resulting in very low NIR‐II fluorescence. Preventing such detrimental evolution by constraining the conformational dynamics of CA‐BBT results in a 10‐fold enhancement of NIR‐II fluorescence, enabling high‐resolution dynamic visualization of vasculature within osteosarcoma. This study offers a profound understanding of the relationship between CT dynamics and conformational changes in NIR‐II fluorescence, presenting innovative perspectives to develop bright NIR‐II fluorophores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing technology with horizontal wells is a highly efficient approach to stimulate the unconventional reservoir by creating lots of fractures to increase the oil and gas recovery rate. However, some field monitoring data indicate that multiple fractures could not propagate uniformly due to stress interference, which leads to a lower stimulation volume and production capacity. Therefore, investigating the stress interference mechanism between multiple fractures is important to obtain a higher production capacity for unconventional reservoirs. In this study, a two-dimensional XFEM (expanded finite element method) model was established to investigate the influence of stress interference on the fracture propagation of multiple fractures in horizontal wells. The different injection parameters, completion parameters, and fracturing patterns were investigated by sixteen simulation cases. The results show that first the influencing degree of stress interference from different parameters is fracture spacing, injection flow rate, number of fractures, and fluid viscosity, respectively. Second, compared to the simultaneous fracturing and sequential fracturing, the zip fracturing pattern (sides fractures created first and then mid-fracture) could create more uniform fractures in the reservoir. Third, a small fracture spacing and a higher injection flow rate could lead to a faster stress interference, but the fluid viscosity and the number of fractures have little effect on the occur timing of stress interference. This study could provide some meaningful perspective on the field fracturing design in horizontal wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of drug-target interactions (DTI) is a valuable step in the drug discovery and repositioning process. However, traditional laboratory experiments are time-consuming and expensive. Computational methods have streamlined research to determine DTIs. The application of deep learning methods has significantly improved the prediction performance for DTIs. Modern deep learning methods can leverage multiple sources of information, including sequence data that contains biological structural information, and interaction data. While useful, these methods cannot be effectively applied to each type of information individually (e.g., chemical structure and interaction network) and do not take into account the specificity of DTI data such as low- or zero-interaction biological entities. To overcome these limitations, we propose a method called MFA-DTI (Multi-feature Fusion Adopted framework for DTI). MFA-DTI consists of three modules: an interaction graph learning module that processes the interaction network to generate interaction vectors, a chemical structure learning module that extracts features from the chemical structure, and a fusion module that combines these features for the final prediction. To validate the performance of MFA-DTI, we conducted experiments on six public datasets under different settings. The results indicate that the proposed method is highly effective in various settings and outperforms state-of-the-art methods. • A novel DTI prediction model that explores both the graph and structural features of drugs and proteins is proposed. • A graph processing algorithm for biological networks is designed. • A module for generating sequence structure vectors is developed. • The results on 6 public datasets show it outperforms existing methods in all observed metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-cluster fracturing technology with horizontal wells is significant for the production enhancement of unconventional reservoirs. However, affected by the natural fracture distribution in the reservoir, stress shadowing between multi-fractures and perforation erosion has non-negligible influence on the multi-fracture uniform propagation, which results in uneven reservoir stimulation and lower production capacity. In this study, a multi-field coupled stress-seepage-fracture model for hydraulic fracturing of fractured reservoirs based on the continuum–discontinuum method was developed, adequately simulating the full scenario of stress disturbances, perforation erosion, and fracture interactions during the fracturing process. The effect of different geological and engineering parameters on the competing propagation of multi-fractures was investigated in detail, and the results show: Different geological and engineering parameters have significant influence on the competitive propagation of multi-fractures; among the geological parameters, the elastic modulus has the highest impact on the uniform fluid intake of multi-fractures, while the horizontal stress difference has the least impact on the uniform fluid intake of multi-fractures. Among the engineering parameters, the effect of natural fracture angle on the standard deviation of the fluid injection volume is gradually reduced with the increase in perforation number, flow rate, and fluid viscosity. For a low number of perforations and high fluid viscosity, both have great influence on promoting uniform fluid entry in multiple fractures. In addition, geological parameters have a significantly greater influence on the merging of multi-fractures than engineering parameters, and the probability of merging of multi-fractures increases significantly under low stress differentials and long natural fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTo evaluate the co-transplantation efficacy of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) as a novel approach for refractory or relapsed severe aplastic anemia (R/R SAA) in children and adolescents, thirty-two children and adolescents diagnosed with R/R SAA underwent a retrospective chart review. The patients were categorized into two groups based on the source of PBSCs: the matched sibling donor (MSD) group and the unrelated donor (UD) group. No adverse events related to UC-MSC infusion occurred in any of the patients. The median time for neutrophil engraftment was 13 days (range: 10–23 days), and for platelets, it was 15 days (range: 11–28 days). Acute GVHD of Grade I–II and moderate chronic GVHD were observed in 21.8 and 12.5% of cases, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found between the MSD and UD groups in terms of engraftment, GVHD, and complications, including infection and hemorrhagic cystitis. The median follow-up time was 38.6 months (range: 1.4–140.8 months). As of October 31, 2021, five patients had succumbed, while 27 (84.4%) survived. The 5-year OS rate showed no statistically significant difference between the MSD and UD groups (84.8 ± 10.0 vs. 82.4 ± 9.2%, p = 0.674). In conclusion, the application of UC-MSCs in the treatment of R/R SAA in PBSC transplantation is reliable and safe, they had no graft rejection, low incidence of severe GVHD which may have been contributed by the co-infusion of MSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to adjust the pore structures and improve the thermal insulation property and mechanical strength of fly ash‐based insulation materials prepared by a foaming gel‐casting technique, the rheological behaviors of foaming slurries were adjusted. Furthermore, the effects of heating temperatures on the properties and microstructure of the insulation materials were investigated. The results showed that as the content of the dispersant increased, the viscosity of slurries increased first and then decreased. When the content of the dispersant reached 0.2 wt.%, the slurries showed excellent flow ability, which caused a lot of big pores to generate in the matrix. Moreover, the thickening agent, binder and solid content had a great influence on the thixotropy of the slurries. As the content of the thickening agent and binder were 0.25 wt % and 5.0 wt.%, respectively, the slurries with 45 wt.% solid content exhibited outstanding thixotropy, which was beneficial to improve the stability of generated closed pores. After treating at 1300°C for 2 h, the bulk density, compressive strengths, and thermal conductivity of the insulation materials prepared using the optimized slurries were 0.44 g cm−3, 3.27 MPa, and 0.13 W·m−1·K−1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method has been widely used for growing large-scale graphene films on a metal substrate. Due to the drawbacks of single metal substrates, alloy substrates have gradually attracted attention owing to the exceptional characteristics derived from different metals, making them an enticing choice. In this study, a novel liquid Cu–Zn alloy catalyst was introduced for the first time for the preparation of millimeter-sized, single-crystal monolayer graphene using the CVD approach. Notably, the graphene synthesized on the liquid Cu–Zn alloy catalyst exhibited distinct advantages in terms of its larger size and lower nucleation density compared to graphene grown on the conventional liquid Cu catalyst. The uniformity of large-sized graphene's electrical properties was confirmed by 2D resistivity measurements and tests on field effect transistor (FET) devices. This work was put forward to inspire the novel design of alloy catalysts and the synthesis of graphene films bearing desirable properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), a global pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has posed a catastrophic threat to human health worldwide. Human stem cell‐derived organoids serve as a promising platform for exploring SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Several review articles have summarized the application of human organoids in COVID‐19, but the research status and development trend of this field have seldom been systematically and comprehensively studied. In this review, we use bibliometric analysis method to identify the characteristics of organoid‐based COVID‐19 research. First, an annual trend of publications and citations, the most contributing countries or regions and organizations, co‐citation analysis of references and sources and research hotspots are determined. Next, systematical summaries of organoid applications in investigating the pathology of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, vaccine development and drug discovery, are provided. Lastly, the current challenges and future considerations of this field are discussed. The present study will provide an objective angle to identify the current trend and give novel insights for directing the future development of human organoid applications in SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the immune mechanism of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis may provide a promising therapeutic strategy. Here, we investigated the regulatory role of macrophage CAPN4 in the phenotypic transformation of macrophages and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation. We found that CAPN4 was the most upregulated subtype of the calpain family in CVB3-infected bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and Raw 264.7 cells after CVB3 infection and was upregulated in cardiac macrophages from CVB3-infected mice. Conditional knockout of CAPN4 (CAPN4flox/flox; LYZ2-Cre, CAPN4-cKO mice) ameliorated inflammation and myocardial injury and improved cardiac function and survival after CVB3 infection. Enrichment analysis revealed that macrophage differentiation and the interleukin signaling pathway were the most predominant biological processes in macrophages after CVB3 infection. We further found that CVB3 infection and the overexpression of CAPN4 promoted macrophage M1 polarization and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, while CAPN4 knockdown reversed these changes. Correspondingly, CAPN4-cKO alleviated CVB3-induced M1 macrophage transformation and NLRP3 expression and moderately increased M2 transformation in vivo. The culture supernatant of CAPN4-overexpressing or CVB3-infected macrophages impaired cardiac fibroblast function and viability. Moreover, macrophage CAPN4 could upregulate C/EBP-homologous protein (chop) expression, which increased proinflammatory cytokine release by activating the phosphorylation of transducer of activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and 3 (STAT3). Overall, these results suggest that CAPN4 increases M1-type and inhibits M2-type macrophage polarization through the chop-STAT1/STAT3 signaling pathway to mediate CVB3-induced myocardial inflammation and injury. CAPN4 may be a novel target for viral myocarditis treatment. [Display omitted] • Macrophage CAPN4 regulates cell polarization and NLRP3 inflammasome activation after coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection. • Chop expression was altered by the effects of CAPN4 and CVB3 infection. • Chop regulates M1 polarization and NLRP3 inflammasome activation via the STAT1/STAT3 signaling pathway. • Macrophage CAPN4 is a novel therapeutic target for infectious, inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-world industrial applications, learning to recognize novel visual categories from a few samples is challenging and promising. Although some efforts have been made in the academic field for few-shot classification studies, there is still a lack of high-precision fine-grained few-shot classification models in some specific fields, especially in the fine-grained agricultural field. As far as we know, this study is the first work on meta-learning few-shot classification for fine-grained plant disease classification (specific to disease severity). We propose a multi-perspective hybrid attention meta-learning model based on a Batch Nuclear-norm constraint. The model explores discriminative features by focusing on key regions, and the hybrid attention module is divided into two sub-modules, soft attention model and patch-hard attention model. The discriminability and diversity constraint module is introduced in the loss function to constrain the Batch Nuclear-norm of the classification matrix, which improves the discriminative properties of the classification model and increases its diversity at the same time. In this paper, a large number of experiments have been carried out on multiple datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that our work has better performance than state-of-the-art models. It can be said that our work is a valuable supplement to the domain-specific industrial application models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though previous studies have investigated the effect of environmental regulation policy on stock price crash risk, little is known about how the firm-specific environmental punishment would impact stock price crash risks. By applying difference-in-difference method with manually collected firm-specific environmental punishment data for the listed firms in China, our study finds that the implemented environmental punishment leads to larger stock price crash risk accumulation of the punished firms. This effect can be mitigated by better information disclosure behavior, higher media reputation, healthy fundamentals, and optimal capital structure. Our study also finds the consecutive punishment effect only exists in a long period. Our work is among the first to rigorously analyze the effect of firm-specific environmental punishment on firm's stock price crash risk. This research provides relevant policy suggestions on the environmental punishment practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are an increasing number of manufacturing service resources appeared on the cloud manufacturing (CMfg) service platform recently, which leads to a serious information overloading problem to the enterprises that need these resources. To tackle this problem, a graph neural network-based recommendation method for CMfg service resources is proposed, which effectively overcomes some limitations of the traditional recommendation methods. Specifically, we first use different similarity calculation methods (e.g., Cosine similarity, Pearson correlation coefficient, etc.) to calculate the similarities between different resources based on the feature information of CMfg service resources. A resource graph dataset is accordingly established. A graph neural network is then used to perform representation learning of nodes in these graphs, obtaining the vector representations of these nodes. Finally, new links that may appear in a graph are predicted by performing dot product calculations on these nodes' vector representations. And these links can be used to recommend suitable resources. Experiments mainly show that (i) the proposed method obtains better link prediction accuracy compared with that of other link prediction algorithms; (ii) when the network density used for training is relatively high, the predictive performance of the proposed method is improved significantly. Our method can shed light on how to choose suitable CMfg service resources from the CMfg service platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Deepfake information poses more ethical risks than traditional disinformation in terms of fraud, slander, rumors and other malicious uses. However, owing to its high entertainment value, deepfake information with ethical risks has become popular. This study aims to understand the role of ethics and entertainment in the acceptance and regulation of deepfake information. Design/methodology/approach: Mixed methods were used to qualitatively identify ethical concerns and quantitatively evaluate the influence of ethical concerns and perceived enjoyment on the ethical acceptability and social acceptance of deepfake information. Findings: The authors confirmed that informed consent, privacy protection, traceability and non-deception had a significantly positive impact on ethical acceptability and indirectly influenced social acceptance, with privacy protection being the most sensitive. Perceived enjoyment impacts the social acceptance of deepfake information and significantly weakens the effect of ethical acceptability on social acceptance. Originality/value: The ethical concerns affecting acceptance behavior identified in this study provide an entry point for the ethical regulation of deepfake information. The weakening effect of perceived enjoyment on ethics serves as a wake-up call for regulators to guard against pan-entertainment deepfake information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical management of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is progressing to include chronic/metabolic complications, which may impose a significant economic burden on beneficiaries and Medicare. We assessed the national economic impact of comorbid Type-II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) on HIV/AIDS patients and potential raical disparities. This study was a cross-sectional study of Medicare database 2013–2017. Analytical sample included HIV/AIDS positive beneficiaries continuously enrolled in Part A/B. Total medical costs, prescription costs, inpatient costs, outpatient costs, out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, and Medicare costs were assessed from Medicare claims. Generalized linear models with log-link and gamma distribution were used to examine the impact of T2DM on different costs. A total of 2,509 eligible HIV/AIDS positive beneficiaries were identified of which 19.9% (n=498) had T2DM. After adjusting for covariates, T2DM beneficiaries had higher inpatient costs: 63.34% (95% CI: 42.73%−86.94%), outpatient costs: 50.26% (95% CI: 30.70%−72.75%), Medicare costs: 27.95% (95% CI: 13.81%−43.84%), OOP costs: 59.15% (95% CI: 40.02%−80.92%), and total medical costs: 27.83% (95% CI: 14.27%−43.00%) than non-T2DM beneficiaries. Incremental costs were higher among African Americans than Caucasians. Comorbid T2DM mposes a significant economic burden on HIV/AIDS patients and Medicare, which is higheramong African Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Association between protease inhibitors (PI) and Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients is largely debated. This study examined the odds of developing T2DM among HIV/AIDS Medicare beneficiaries treated with PI and possible racial disparities in the odds. We performed a nested casecontrol study of Medicare database 2013–2017. We included HIV/AIDS positive beneficiaries who were enrolled continuously in Medicare Part A/B with no previous history of T2DM. PI-users were matched to non-PI users and non-anti-retroviral therapies (ART) users using a1:1 greedy propensity score (PS) matching. Multivariablee logistic regressions were performed to assess the odds of developing T2DM. The analysis included 2,353 HIV/AIDS beneficiaries. Matched samples were generated for PI vs. non-PI groups (n = 484) and PI vs. non-ART groups (n = 490). Compared to the non-PI group, the odds of developing T2DM were higher in PI-users (AOR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.17–2.64), in Caucasian PI-users (AOR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.02–3.22) and in African-American PI-users (AOR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.03–3.36). Compared to the non-ART group, the odds of developing T2DM were higher in PI-users (AOR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.25–2.81), in Caucasian PI-users (AOR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.14–3.39) and in African-American PI-users (AOR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.03–4.09). The use of PI is associated with higher odds of T2DM; odds were higher among African-Americans than Caucasians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a lot of factors affecting the oxidation resistance of Al2O3-SiC-C castables. The density of the castables plays a key role and influences the Al2O3-SiC-C castables' physical properties, oxidation resistance, thermal shock resistance, and corrosion resistance. The aim of this work is to use spodumene as an additive to improve the oxidation resistance of the Al2O3-SiC-C castables. The results showed that at high-temperature, solid phases of spodumene transformed into liquid phases, which filled the pores in the Al2O3-SiC-C matrix. Therefore, the silicon carbide, carbon source, and micro silicon in the matrix were protected from oxidation, which promoted the generation of the silicon carbide and mullite whiskers in the matrix during sintering processes. In addition, the mechanical strength, thermal shock resistance, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance of specimens were improved with an increase in the content of spodumene. When the content of spodumene reached 2.0 wt.%, the specimens exhibited excellent properties. However, due to the volume expansion of the α-spodumene phase transformation, with a further increase in the content of spodumene, the properties of specimens degraded sharply. Therefore, an optimum content ~ 2.0 wt.% of spodumene was regarded as an improvement agent additive in the Al2O3-SiC-C castables system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart respiratory therapy is enabled by continual assessment of lung functions. This systematic review provides an overview of the suitability of equipment-to-patient acoustic imaging in continual assessment of lung conditions. The literature search was conducted using Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, SciELO Preprints, and Google Scholar. Fifteen studies remained for additional examination after the screening process. Two imaging modalities, lung ultrasound (LUS) and vibration imaging response (VRI), were identified. The most common outcome obtained from eleven studies was positive observations of changes to the geographical lung area, sound energy, or both, while positive observation of lung consolidation was reported in the remaining four studies. Two different modalities of lung assessment were used in eight studies, with one study comparing VRI against chest X-ray, one study comparing VRI with LUS, two studies comparing LUS to chest X-ray, and four studies comparing LUS in contrast to computed tomography. Our findings indicate that the acoustic imaging approach could assess and provide regional information on lung function. No technology has been shown to be better than another for measuring obstructed airways; hence, more research is required on acoustic imaging in detecting obstructed airways regionally in the application of enabling smart therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss is rarely achieved with nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) treatment, most patients require life-long NA treatment. Previous studies have shown that some patients remain virologically responsive even after NA cessation. However, there is still controversy surrounding whether NA discontinuation increases the HBsAg loss rate. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the cumulative rate of HBsAg loss and identify the predictors of HBsAg loss after NA discontinuation. Methods: This multicenter prospective study included HBV e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients without cirrhosis from 12 hospitals in China who met the inclusion criteria. The enrolled patients stopped NA and were followed up with clinical and laboratory assessments every 3 months for 24 months after NA cessation or until clinical relapse (CR) occurred. Results: Overall, 158 patients were classified into two groups. Group A included patients with HBsAg positivity at NA cessation (n = 139), and Group B included patients with HBsAg negativity at NA cessation (n = 19). In Group A, the 12-month and 24-month cumulative rates of HBsAg loss were4.3%and 9.4%, respectively. End of treatment (EOT) HBsAg (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.152, P < 0.001) and EOT hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) (HR = 0.257, P = 0.001) were associated with HBsAg loss. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for EOT HBsAg and HBcrAg levels were 0.952 (P < 0.001) and 0.765 (P < 0.001), respectively. Patients with EOT HBsAg ≤ 135 IU/mL (59.2% vs. 1.3%, P < 0.001) or HBcrAg ≤ 3.6 logU/mL (17% vs. 5.4%, P = 0.027) had a higher 24-month cumulative HBsAg loss rate. In Group B, none of the patients experienced virological relapse after NA cessation. Only 1 (5.3%) patient had HBsAg reversion. Conclusions: EOT HBsAg ≤ 135 IU/mL or HBcrAg ≤ 3.6 logU/mL can be used to identify patients with a higher likelihood of HBsAg loss after NA cessation. Patients with HBsAg negativity after NA cessation have favorable clinical outcomes, and HBsAg loss was durable in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular pressure, a key physical parameter of the intracellular environment, has been found to regulate multiple cell physiological activities and impact cell micromanipulation results. The intracellular pressure may reveal the mechanism of these cells' physiological activities or improve the micro-manipulation accuracy for cells. The involvement of specialized and expensive devices and the significant damage to cell viability that the current intracellular pressure measurement methods cause significantly limit their wide applications. This paper proposes a robotic intracellular pressure measurement method using a traditional micropipette electrode system setup. First, the measured resistance of the micropipette inside the culture medium is modeled to analyze its variation trend when the pressure inside the micropipette increases. Then, the concentration of KCl solution filled inside the micropipette electrode that is suitable for intracellular pressure measurement is determined according to the tested electrode resistance–pressure relationship; 1 mol/L KCl solution is our final choice. Further, the measurement resistance of the micropipette electrode inside the cell is modeled to measure the intracellular pressure through the difference in key pressure before and after the release of the intracellular pressure. Based on the above work, a robotic measurement procedure of the intracellular pressure is established based on a traditional micropipette electrode system. The experimental results on porcine oocytes demonstrate that the proposed method can operate on cells at an average speed of 20~40 cells/day with measurement efficiency comparable to the related work. The average repeated error of the relationship between the measured electrode resistance and the pressure inside the micropipette electrode is less than 5%, and no observable intracellular pressure leakage was found during the measurement process, both guaranteeing the measurement accuracy of intracellular pressure. The measured results of the porcine oocytes are in accordance with those reported in related work. Moreover, a 90% survival rate of operated oocytes was obtained after measurement, proving limited damage to cell viability. Our method does not rely on expensive instruments and is conducive to promotion in daily laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone tissue engineering (BTE) utilizes a special mix of scaffolds, cells, and bioactive factors to regulate the microenvironment of bone regeneration and form a three-dimensional bone simulation structure to regenerate bone tissue. Silk fibroin (SF) is perhaps the most encouraging material for BTE given its tunable mechanical properties, controllable biodegradability, and excellent biocompatibility. Numerous studies have confirmed the significance of SF for stimulating bone formation. In this review, we start by introducing the structure and characteristics of SF. After that, the immunological mechanism of SF for osteogenesis is summarized, and various forms of SF biomaterials and the latest development prospects of SF in BTE are emphatically introduced. Biomaterials based on SF have great potential in bone tissue engineering, and this review will serve as a resource for future design and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a double-barrier structure AlGaN-InGaN/ GaN MQWs-AlGaN solar cell materials containing high indium components was grown on (001)-oriented patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technology. Compared with the MQWs solar cell material containing AlGaN electron barrier structure with low indium, it is found that the material of this structure has a smaller full width at half maximum (FWHM) by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy analysis, and the dislocation density of this structural material is also reduced by an order of magnitude to 107 cm-2 by the dislocation density formula; at the same time, the strain relaxation in the active region decreases by 51%. In addition, luminous intensity of this structural material is enhanced by 35%. The results show that the epitaxial material containing AlGaN double barrier structure can reduce the dislocation density in the active region, decrease the number of non-radiative recombination centers, and increase the number of effective photo-generated carriers in the active region, which provides experimental basis for the preparation of high efficiency solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Versatile Video Coding (VVC) is the latest video coding standard, but currently, most steganographic algorithms are based on High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The concept of symmetry is often adopted in deep neural networks. With the rapid rise of new multimedia, video steganography shows great research potential. This paper proposes a VVC steganographic algorithm based on Coding Units (CUs). Considering the novel techniques in VVC, the proposed steganography only uses chroma CUs to embed secret information. Based on modifying the partition modes of chroma CUs, we propose four different embedding levels to satisfy the different needs of visual quality, capacity and video bitrate. In order to reduce the bitrate of stego-videos and improve the distortion caused by modifying them, we propose a novel convolutional neural network (CNN) as an additional in-loop filter in the VVC codec to achieve better restoration. Furthermore, the proposed steganography algorithm based on chroma components has an advantage in resisting most of the video steganalysis algorithms, since few VVC steganalysis algorithms have been proposed thus far and most HEVC steganalysis algorithms are based on the luminance component. Experimental results show that the proposed VVC steganography algorithm achieves excellent performance on visual quality, bitrate cost and capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Common mental disorders are general term for mental disorders with high disability rates and significant social burden. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of long-term disability associated with common mental disorders and to interpret the relationship between common mental disorders and long-term disability. Methods: Participants in the 2013 China Mental Health Survey were followed up by telephone between April and June 2018. This study evaluated long-term disability over a five-year period using the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Poisson regression was used to analyze the relationship between common mental disorders and long-term disability. Results: A total of 6269 patients were followed up by telephone. In patients with common mental disorders, the prevalence of disability ranged from 7.62% to 43.94%. The long-term disabilities were significantly associated with dysthymic disorder (DD, RR:2.40; 95% CI:1.87-3.03), major depressive disorder (MDD, RR:1.63; 95% CI:1.34-1.98), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD, RR:1.95; 95% CI:1.15-3.09), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD, RR:1.68; 95% CI:1.24-2.22) and alcohol use disorder (AUD, RR: 1.42; 95% CI:0.99-1.96). Conclusions: In China, common mental disorders raise the risk of long-term disability, and there is a critical need for monitoring patients with DD, MDD, GAD, OCD, and AUD. For improved quality of life and reduced disability levels, more resources need to be dedicated to mental health in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: In vitro fertilization‐embryo transfer (IVF‐ET) may increase the risk of mother‐to‐child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact and safety of IVF‐ET on MTCT in women with chronic HBV infection (CHB). Methods: The data of 298 women who got pregnant by IVF‐ET and their 375 children were collected retrospectively. Mothers were divided into the CHB group (n = 224) and the control group (HBsAg negative, n = 74). After birth, newborns were routinely vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine, and infants in the CHB group were injected with hepatitis B immunoglobulin within 2 h after birth. Demographic information, clinical data and laboratory test results were collected. The primary outcome measures were the MTCT rate of HBV, and the secondary outcome measures were the safety of the mother and infant. Results: There was no case of HBV MTCT in all 282 newborns born in the CHB group and 93 neonates born in the control group. Of the two groups, the birth weight (3056.74 ± 601.65 vs. 2926.24 ± 704.86, P =.083), length (49.22 ± 1.97 vs. 48.74 ± 3.09, P =.167), 5‐min Apgar score (9.97 ± 0.21 vs. 9.90 ± 0.51, P =.212), days of pregnancy (265.70 ± 12.73 vs. 262.02 ± 17.50, P =.064) and neonatal malformation rate (0.71% vs. 0, P = 1.000) were similar. Two cases of neonatal malformation occurred in the CHB group. The incidences of pregnancy and childbirth complications were similar between the two groups. Conclusion: IVF‐ET does not increase the risk of MTCT in women with chronic HBV infection, and it is safe for mothers and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucose oxidase (GOx) triggered starvation therapy has attracted great attention in cancer treatment, which is tremendously inhibited under a tumor hypoxia environment. Here a neutrophil membrane camouflaged hybrid nanozyme (GOx/HPB/NEM) is fabricated based on hollow Prussian blue loaded with GOx for enhanced starvation/photothermal tumor therapy. The hybrid nanozyme possesses catalase properties that originated from Prussian blue to produce oxygen from H2O2, which consequently reacts with glucose catalyzed by GOx. Thus GOx-driven oxidation effectively eliminates glucose inside tumors for starvation therapy. Meanwhile, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production in tumor cells is inhibited, accompanied by heat shock protein (HSP) depletion. Furthermore, hollow Prussian Blue (HPB) mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) is coupled with GOx-mediated starvation therapy to obtain more effective tumor therapy. The neutrophil membrane on the nanozyme surface helps noninvasive tumor active targeted accumulation. In vivo studies demonstrate that the GOx/HPB/NEM nanozyme presents remarkable capability in tumor ablation with a tumor growth inhibition rate of 97.7%. The proposed treatment paradigm may encourage more hybrid nanozyme nanoplatforms involving effective cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we successfully applied an external magnetic field for the first time in preparing oriented steel fiber reinforced mullite castable (OSFRMC). The impact of the castable's rheology, duration of exposure to the magnetic field and strength of the magnetic field on the orientation of steel fibers and the properties of the refractory castable was investigated. When the duration of exposure to the magnetic field was set at 60 seconds and the strength of the magnetic field was 2.5 mT, an orientation index of steel fibers in the refractory castable of 0.96 was achieved. This specific castable contained 6 wt% of microsilica. Moreover, the castable with a high orientation index (0.96) of steel fibers exhibited significant improvement in mechanical strength and thermal shock resistance compared to the untreated castable. In order to investigate the fracture behavior of steel fiber-reinforced refractory castables with different fiber orientations, a comparative study was conducted using force-displacement curves and digital image correlation techniques. The primary factor behind this improvement is the directional alignment of steel fibers, which enhances the bridging effect and crack deflection toughness within the material. • Optimization of castables' rheology was a key step to prepare the castables. • The orientation of steel fiber had a great influence on the properties of castables. • Magnetic field was applied to prepare the castable with oriented steel fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-stages in-fracture temporary plugging and diverting fracturing technology (ITPDF) is significant for the stimulation of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. However, the propagation pattern of hydraulic fracture and the pressure response law after temporary plugging still lacks some understanding affected by many factors. Hence, to deeply understand the fracture diverting propagation mechanism and pressure response law after in-fracture temporary plugging, the study developed first a numerical model of cohesive zone considering in-fracture temporary plugging, seepage and fracture propagation based on the effective viscosity characterization method and the USDFLD (user defined field) subroutine. In addition, the accuracy of the numerical model is verified by comparing with laboratory results. The effect of different parameters such as temporary plugging body permeability, temporary plugging body length, temporary plugging location, temporary plugging times, and stress difference on the temporary plugging and diverting behavior of hydraulic fractures and natural fractures are deeply investigated. The fracture diverting pattern, fracture initiation sequence, and pressure response mechanism are clarified for different in-fracture plugging conditions. The results show that the physical properties of the temporary plugging body are vital to the effectiveness of the in-fracture temporary plugging fracturing. The lower the permeability of the temporary plugging body, the longer the length of the temporary plugging body, and the closer the position of the temporary plugging body, the easier it is to activate the natural fractures. In addition, when there are many natural fractures, the more times of temporary plugging, the more range and number of natural fractures are activated. This study can provide a new method to further understand the fracture behavior after in-fracture temporary plugging fracturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastic hetero-aggregates are stable forms of microplastics in the aqueous environment. However, when disinfecting water containing microplastic hetero-aggregates, the response of them in water to different oxidizing agents and the effect on water quality have not been reported. Our results showed that Ca(ClO) 2 , K 2 S 2 O 8 , and sodium percarbonate (SPC) treatment could lead to the disaggregation of microplastic hetero-aggregates as well as a rise in cell membrane permeability, which caused a large amount of organic matter to be released. When the amount of oxidant dosing is insufficient, the oxidant cannot completely degrade the released organic matter, resulting in DOC, DTN, DTP and other indicators being higher than before oxidation, thus causing secondary pollution of the water body. In comparison, K 2 FeO 4 can purify the water body stably without destroying the microplastic hetero-aggregates, but it only weakly inhibits the toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis and Pseudanabaena , which may cause cyanobacterial bloom as well as algal toxin and odorant contamination in practical application. Compared with the other oxidizers, K 2 S 2 O 8 provides better inhibition of toxic cyanobacteria and has better ecological safety. Therefore, when treating microplastic-containing water bodies, we should consider both water purification and ecological safety, and select appropriate oxidant types and dosages to optimize the water treatment. [Display omitted] • Microplastics adsorb organics and microorganisms to raise water quality. • Ca(ClO) 2 , K 2 S 2 O 8 and SPC destroy hetero-aggregates, leading to secondary pollution. • K 2 FeO 4 does not cause the release of organics adsorbed by hetero-aggregates. • K 2 FeO 4 is not effective in controlling the proliferation of toxic cyanobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of the study is to investigate the role and possible mechanism of fascin-1 (FSCN1) in the invasion, migration, glycolysis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of prostate cancer. Methods. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to determine the mRNA expression level of FSCN1 in prostate cancer tissues and prostate cancer cells PC-3 and DU145. The transwell and the scratch test were applied to detect the invasion and migration abilities of cells, respectively. A metabolic assay was used for measuring the glucose consumption, lactate production, and the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) in cells; western blot was used for checking FSCN1, EMT, and yes-associated protein/transcriptional co-activators with the PDZ-binding motif (YAP/TAZ) signaling pathway-related protein expression level in cells or tissues. Results. FSCN1 was significantly highly expressed in prostate cancer tissues and cells. On the one hand, interference with the expression of FSCN1 could inhibit the invasion, migration, EMT, and glycolysis of prostate cancer cells. On the other hand, overexpression of FSCN1 promoted the invasion, migration, EMT, and glycolysis of prostate cancer cells. Besides, further mechanistic studies revealed that FSCN1 could activate the YAP/TAZ signaling pathway in prostate cancer cells. Conclusion. FSCN1 promotes invasion, migration, EMT, and glycolysis in prostate cancer cells by activating the YAP/TAZ signaling pathway. FSCN1 may be used as a biomarker for the diagnosis or treatment in prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several hepatitis B virus (HBV) serum markers have been identified as risk factors for liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection, and several noninvasive fibrosis tests based on serum indexes are now used to identify the severity of liver fibrosis. We aimed to identify the relationship between hepatitis B core‐related antigen (HBcrAg) serum levels and liver fibrosis in treatment‐naive chronic HBV infection patients. A total of 246 treatment‐naive chronic HBV infection patients were enrolled in this study. All of the patients underwent liver biopsies at baseline. Using the METAVIR fibrosis stages, there were 15, 140, 50, 26 and 15 patients in the F0, F1, F2, F3 and F4 stages (METAVIR scoring system), respectively. The biochemical, serological and virological parameters were measured using standard laboratory procedures. The HBcrAg serum levels of the patients were examined via ELISA. HBcrAg serum levels of F2, F3 and F4 stage patients were significantly higher than those of nonsignificant liver fibrosis patients (METAVIR F0‐F1), but there were no significant differences among F2, F3 and F4 stage patients. Serum HBcrAg (OR, 2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.51–3.16), albumin (ALB) (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.41–0.87), prothrombin activity (PTA) (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.40–0.83) and platelet (PLT) counts (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.25–0.57) were associated with significant liver fibrosis (METAVIR F2‐F4). The serum HBcrAg value enabled the correct identification of patients with significant fibrosis, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.75–0.88). The APRI, FIB‐4 index and ALBI score can identify significant liver fibrosis with an area under the ROC curve of 0.74 (95% CI, 0.66–0.81), 0.73 (95% CI, 0.65–0.80) and 0.63 (95% CI, 0.55–0.72), respectively. Compared with these three indexes, the accuracy rate of diagnosis of significant fibrosis based on HBcrAg was higher than that of the FIB‐4 index (p = 0.0479) and ALBI score (p = 0.0030). HBcrAg, ALB, PTA serum levels and PLT counts were associated with significant liver fibrosis in treatment‐naive chronic HBV infection patients. HBcrAg serum levels enabled the correct identification of patients with significant fibrosis (METAVIR F2–F4), and HBcrAg was more effective than the FIB‐4 index and ALBI score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-derived drug carriers have increasingly gained the interest of the scientific community due to their ability to imitate various natural properties of their source cells. We developed theranostics nanoplatforms composed of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), indocyanine green (ICG) molecules, microRNAs-137 (miR-137), red-blood-cell membranes (RM), and tumor-targeting cyclo Arg-Gly-Asp-d-Phe-Cys peptides (cRGD(fC)), which were abbreviated as MSNs/ICG/miR/RM/RGD particles. These particles possessed photothermal and gene therapy properties due to ICG and miR-137, respectively. The photothermal conversion efficiency was ~18.7%. Upon 808 nm light irradiation, the tumor inhibition rate reached 94.9% with dosage of 10 mg/kg. The developed nanoplatform possessed unique properties, such as exceptional biocompatibility, immune escaping, and specific recognition, which was also used for near-infrared fluorescence, photoacoustic (PA) bimodal imaging-guided tumor recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a facile method to enhance the photoluminescence of 6Y–ZrO 2 : Er3+ translucent ceramics prepared via the vacuum sintering technique by introducing Ag. Ag atoms could be incorporated into the host at high temperatures; these atoms partially precipitated to form Ag nanoparticles during cooling. The intensities of green up-conversion, 1.5 and 2.7 μm emissions under 980 nm excitation, and the green down-conversion luminescence upon 377 nm excitation were improved via co-doping with Ag due to the modification of the local crystal field and the surface plasmon resonance effect. Based on the fluorescence intensity ratio of 2H 11/2 → 4I 15/2 versus 4S 3/2 → 4I 15/2 , 6Y–ZrO 2 : 1 mol%Er3+, 0.67 μmol%Ag exhibited the maximal relative sensing sensitivity of 1.12 %K−1, which could be applied as a potential thermometer with good sensitivity. The present work sheds light on how to simultaneously enhance the emission intensity and thermal sensitivity of Er3+ in ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving accurate single snapshot direction of arrival (DOA) information significantly improves communication performance. This paper investigates an accurate and high-resolution DOA estimation technique by enabling single snapshot data collection and enhancing DOA estimation results compared to multiple snapshot methods. This is carried out by manipulating the incoming signal covariance matrix while suppressing undesired additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) by actively updating and estimating the antenna array manifold vector. We demonstrated the estimation performance in simulation that our proposed technique supersedes the estimation performance of existing state-of-the-art techniques in various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scenarios and single snapshot sampling environments. Our proposed covariance-based single snapshot (CbSS) technique yields the lowest root-mean-squared error (RMSE) against the true DOA compared to root-MUSIC and the partial relaxation (PR) approach for multiple snapshots and a single signal source environment. In addition, our proposed technique presents the lowest DOA estimation performance degradation in a multiple uncorrelated and coherent signal source environment by up to 25.5% with nearly negligible bias. Lastly, our proposed CbSS technique presents the best DOA estimation results for a single snapshot and single-source scenario with an RMSE of 0.05 ° against the true DOA compared to root-MUSIC and the PR approach with nearly negligible bias as well. A potential application for CbSS would be in a scenario where accurate DOA estimation with a small antenna array form factor is a limitation, such as in the intelligent transportation system industry and wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and analyze a first-order and a second-order time-stepping schemes for the anisotropic phase-field dendritic crystal growth model. The proposed schemes are based on an auxiliary variable approach for the Allen-Cahn equation and delicate treatment of the terms coupling the Allen-Cahn equation and temperature equation. The idea of the former is to introduce suitable auxiliary variables to facilitate construction of high order stable schemes for a large class of gradient flows. We propose a new technique to treat the coupling terms involved in the crystal growth model, and introduce suitable stabilization terms to result in totally decoupled schemes, which satisfy a discrete energy law without affecting the convergence order. A delicate implementation demonstrates that the proposed schemes can be realized in a very efficient way. That is, it only requires solving four linear elliptic equations and a simple algebraic equation at each time step. A detailed comparison with existing schemes is given, and the advantage of the new schemes is emphasized. As far as we know this is the first second-order scheme that is totally decoupled, linear, unconditionally stable for the dendritic crystal growth model with variable mobility parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• ChCl-Ur was selected as a green efficient media for extracting PN saponins. • NADES-based extraction process obtained higher yield of PN saponins. • PN saponins were successfully recovered from the NADES extract. • PN NADES extract showed stronger anti-inflammatory effect than its water extract. • PN NADES extract showed stronger anticoagulant effect than its water extract. In this study, we employed ultrasound-assisted extraction in conjunction with natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) to investigate an innovative and sustainable approach for the selective extraction of Panax notoginseng (PN) saponins. Fifteen NADES were prepared, of which choline chloride-urea (ChCl-Ur) was selected as the optimal solvent because of the higher solubility of PN saponins. Response surface methodology using Box-Behnken design was adopted to optimize the extraction process. According to the results, NADES with a water content of 45 % (v/v) and a ChCl/Ur ratio of 1:2 (mol/mol) exhibited superior efficacy as a solvent for extracting saponins from PN. The optimal extraction conditions include a liquid–solid ratio of 40 mL/g, an extraction temperature of 47 °C, and an extraction duration of 36 min. The extraction efficiency of NADES for saponins was superior to that of water and comparable to that of 70 % (v/v) methanol. Additionally, we assessed the anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties of the resulting extraction solution. The TNF- α and IL-1 β inhibiting test showed that the NADES extract of saponins exhibited a stronger inhibitory effect on the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines TNF- α and IL-1 β when compared to an aqueous extract. And a dose-dependent relationship was observed. In the anticoagulation activity assay, the NADES extract of saponins at a concentration of 25 mg/mL significantly prolonged the activated partial thromboplastin time (p < 0.05). Additionally, concentrations of 12.5 and 25 mg/mL exhibited significant prolongation of the prothrombin time (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that NADES can be used as a solvent to extract PN saponins in an efficient way, and the specific concentrations of the extract possess potent bioactivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In deep underground geotechnical engineering, water–rock interaction emerges as a critical factor influencing the stability of engineering rock masses. This study delves into the macroscopic nonlinear mechanical behavior and fracture characteristics of natural water-bearing and saturated sandstone samples under various true triaxial stress states. The objective is to systematically elucidate the impact of actual three-dimensional stress conditions and water content on the mechanical behavior and fracture mechanisms of sandstone formations. The findings reveal significant anisotropic deformation in sandstone under 3D stress, while saturated sandstone exhibits robust plastic deformation capacity. Moreover, changes in the strain ratio coefficient are identified as precursors to rock fracture. The dilatation behavior of sandstone weakens progressively with increasing σ2, indicating reduced expansion in saturated sandstone. To account for the influence of σ2, a novel dilation index is proposed. The true triaxial strength of sandstone demonstrates a close relationship with both σ2 and water content, with strength initially increasing before declining as σ2 rises. In addition, water significantly undermines sandstone strength, although this weakening trend moderates with increasing σ2. Morphological analysis and SEM observations unveil three-dimensional volume fracturing characteristics in rock fractures, primarily characterized by shear accompanied by tensile fractures. Saturated sandstone samples, in contrast, exhibit numerous tensile and intergranular fractures. Overall, this study holds paramount practical significance for the evaluation of rock stability and the design of water-bearing engineering rock masses, encompassing domains, such as geology, water conservancy, and mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent heat fluids (LHFs) suffer suspension stability challenges when used in cooling fields. Herein, hectorite with natural stable suspension are used to encapsulate paraffin and prepare microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM), which were dispersed into liquid water to prepare microencapsulated phase change slurry (MPCS) with preferable suspension stability. It was found that the hectorite was electrostatic adsorbed onto the paraffin surface and formed a core-shell structure microcapsule. SEM (scanning electronic microscope) identified that MPCM exhibited a well-defined, core−shell structure with spherical morphology. DSC (differential scanning calorimeter) analysis demonstrated that phase change enthalpy of MPCM is 144.74 J/g with encapsulation efficiency of 61.45%. TGA (thermogravimetric analysis) revealed that hectorite contributed in improving the thermal stability of MPCM. It was observed that the MPCS could maintain stable suspension at least 30 days. The heat dissipation experiment showed that the MPCS with 5%, 8%, and 10% MPCM concentrations increased heat dissipation by 8.7%, 11.1%, and 13.7%, respectively, compared to pure water. This work reports a new strategy through introducing hectorite into phase change fluids to enhance suspension stability. The MPCS, with its preferable suspension stability and heat dissipation performance, has promising potential for applications in energy storage, cooling, and heat dissipation. [Display omitted] • Core-shell Paraffin@Hectorite MPCM were synthesized by electrostatic self-assembly. • Hectorite is used to improve the stability of microcapsules. • The MPCM had a high latent heat value (144.74 J/g) and preferable thermal stability. • Paraffin@Hectorite/water LHF is stable in suspension for 30 days. • Compared with pure water, the heat dissipation effect of the LHF can be increased by 13.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing and water/nanoemulsion flooding technology are effective stimulation measures for tight oil production. The complex pore structure of ultra-low permeability sandstone greatly affects oil recovery. At present, scholars have done a lot of research on the characteristics of oil-water flow in micro-nano pores of ultra-low permeability sandstone reservoirs. However, few scholars have comprehensively studied the whole process of ultra-low permeability sandstone reservoirs from hydraulic fracturing to enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, the whole process from fracturing to production of ultra-low permeability sandstone reservoirs is comprehensively studied at the laboratory scale by combining triaxial fracturing, CT scanning, online LF-NMR and other technologies, aiming to promote the understanding of tight oil development. The results show that the high confining pressure (45 MPa) inhibits the propagation of fractures in the rock samples more than the low confining pressure (15 MPa) during the triaxial fracturing process. The oil recovery of the rock sample with high fracture volume (1213.42 mm3) is 16.32 % higher than that of the rock sample with low fracture volume (674.22 mm3). Whether it is fractured rock or non-fractured rock, nanoemulsion can further improve the oil recovery of micropores on the basis of water flooding, with a maximum increase of 28.21 %. The oil recovery of the nanoemulsion with a concentration of 0.3 wt% was 25.34 % higher than that of the nanoemulsion with a concentration of 0.05 wt%. Confining pressure conditions have an important impact on oil recovery. The oil recovery of non-fractured rock samples with initial confining pressure of 5 MPa is 8.15 % lower than that of non-fractured rock samples with initial confining pressure of 30 MPa. At the same time, we propose a new T 1 -T 2 map region division scheme based on sandstone to better characterize oil displacement behavior at the pore scale. The research results can guide the exploitation of ultra-low permeability sandstone reservoirs. • A systematic experimental process from hydraulic fracturing to enhancing oil recovery was presented. • The fluid dynamics and flooding behavior at the pore scale were revealed. • MRI and 2D NMR techniques can easily distinguish oil signals from different pores. • A T 1 -T 2 map region division scheme based on sandstone is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly infectious pathogen with a high mortality rate, which poses a serious threat to newborn piglets. A rapid, safe and effective vaccine is necessary for protecting pigs from PED infection. Nanoparticles have become molecular scaffolds for displaying soluble antigens due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Here, a vaccine candidate was based on the display of PEDV S1 protein on a mi3 nanoparticle platform using SpyTag/SpyCatcher technology. The size, zeta potential and microstructure of the S1-mi3 NPs were investigated, and their effects on the uptake of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) were analyzed. Mice were immunized via muscular and intranasal administrations, and the levels of humoral, cellular and mucosal immune responses were analyzed. As a result, S1 proteins were surface-displayed on NPs successfully, which self-assembled into nanoparticles composed of 60 subunits and showed superior safety and stability. In addition, mi3 NPs promoted antigen internalization and dendritic cell (DCs) maturation. In the mouse model, S1-mi3 NPs significantly increased the PEDV-specific antibody including serum IgG, secretory IgA (SIgA) and neutralizing antibodies (NAb). Furthermore, S1-mi3 NPs elicited more CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cell and cellular immune-related cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-4) compared to monomeric S1. In particular, it can induce an effective germinal center-specific (GC) B cell response, which is closely related to the production of neutralizing antibodies. Overall, S1-mi3 NPs are a promising subunit vaccine candidate against PEDV, and this self-assembly NPs also provide an attractive platform for improving vaccine efficacy against emerging pathogens. ● S1-mi3 nanoparticles significantly enhance humoral, mucosal and cellular immune responses. ● Nanoparticle-based S1 vaccine induces high-level neutralizing antibodies. ● S1-mi3 NPs elicit potent GC B cell responses in vivo. ● mi3 NPs promote the internalization and retention of S1 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manufacturing of mullite porous ceramics with high strength and low thermal conductivity was achieved through foam gel-casting processes using fly ash coated with alumina sol layers. This research aimed to investigate the effect of alumina sol concentration on foaming slurry rheology, as well as the influence of alumina sol coating layers on the microstructure, phase compositions and properties of the resulting mullite porous ceramics. Increasing the alumina sol concentration from 5 to 20 wt% improved both the viscosity and thixotropy of the foaming slurries while enhanced the shear thinning behavior. Porous ceramics prepared with fly ash coated with alumina sol exhibited smaller pore size compared to the untreated fly ash porous ceramics. Moreover, the distribution of pores gradually became more homogenous in the porous ceramics with treated fly ash. Meanwhile, the weight-reduction, compressive strength and thermal insulation properties of the porous ceramics were improved significantly. The use of fly ash coated with alumina sol (with a concentration of 20 wt%) in the preparation of porous ceramics resulted in the formation of mullite whiskers within the pore walls. This created micron-size gaps between the whiskers, greatly enhancing the thermal insulation of the porous ceramics. Finally, the porous ceramics that were prepared using fly ash coated with alumina sol (with a concentration of 20 wt%) and sintered at a temperature of 1400 °C had a bulk density of 0.45 g/cm3, a compressive strength of 8 MPa, and a thermal conductivity of 0.15 W/m·k. • Fly ash coated with alumina sol for optimizes the rheology of foaming slurry. • Pore distribution became more homogenous in porous ceramics with treated fly ash. • Alumina sol layer can improve strength and thermal insulation of porous ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment options for myocarditis are currently limited. Inhibition of calpains has been shown to prevent Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced cardiac injuries, but the underlying mechanism of action of calpains has not been elucidated. We investigated whether NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome participated in CVB3-induced myocarditis, and investigated the effects of calpain-1 on CVB3-induced cardiac injury. NLRP3 inflammasome was activated in CVB3-infected hearts, evidenced by elevated protein levels of NLRP3, N-terminal domain of Gasdermin D, and cleaved caspase-1, and the increased co-localization of NLRP3 and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein. The intraperitoneal administration of MCC950, a selective inhibitor of the NLRP3 inflammasome, led to decreased levels of serum creatine kinase-MB, cardiac troponin I, lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin-18, interleukin-1β, prevention of the infiltration of inflammatory cells, and improvement of cardiac function under CVB3 infection. Transgenic mice overexpressing the endogenous calpain inhibitor calpastatin (Tg-CAST mice) exhibited not only decreased apoptosis, inflammation, fibrosis, and enhanced cardiac function but also inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome and pyroptosis. The selective inhibition of calpain-1 using PD151746 protected cardiomyocytes in vitro from CVB3 infection by downregulating NLRP3 inflammasome and, thus, preserved cell viability. Mechanistically, we showed that mitochondrial dysfunction preceded inflammatory response after CVB3 treatment and elimination of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) using mitochondria-targeted antioxidants (mito-TEMPO) recapitalized the phenotype observed in Tg-CAST mice. Furthermore, the promotion or inhibition of calpain-1 activation in vitro regulated the mitochondrial respiration chain. Mito-TEMPO reversed calpain-1-mediated NLRP3 inflammation activation and cell death. We also found that mitochondrial calpain-1, which was increased after CVB3 stimulation, activated the NLRP3 inflammasome and resulted in cell death. Furthermore, ATP synthase-α (ATP5A1) was revealed to be the cleaving target of calpain-1 after CVB3 treatment. Downregulating ATP5A1 using ATP5A1-small interfering RNA impaired mitochondrial function, decreased cell viability, and induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In conclusion, CVB3 infection induced calpain-1 accumulation in mitochondria, and led to subsequent ATP5A1 cleavage, mitochondrial ROS overproduction, and impaired mitochondrial function, eventually causing NLRP3 inflammasome activation and inducing pyroptosis. Therefore, our findings established the role of calpain in viral myocarditis and unveiled its underlying mechanism of its action. Calpain appears as a promising target for the treatment of viral myocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-derived nanomaterials have received extensive attention due to their ability to mimic partial natural characteristics originating from source cells. Herein, the red blood cell (RBC) membrane camouflaged core–shell upconversion/mesoporous silica nanoparticles (UCNPs@mSiO2 NPs) were fabricated for synergistic chemophotodynamic therapy. The mesoporous silica shell was covalently grafted with photosensitizer Chlorin e6 (Ce6) and physically adsorbed chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX). The bionic nanoplatform possessed the excellent biocompatibility and immune escaping capabilities from the RBC membrane, high specific surface area from the mesoporous silica, and the multicolor emission capability from the UCNPs. Upon excitation, a 980 nm laser was converted to visible light via UCNPs (NaYF4:Yb,Er@NaYF4) to trigger Ce6 to produce singlet oxygen (1O2), not just for photodynamic therapy (PDT), but also for stimulating RBC membrane cleavage and on-demand DOX release for chemotherapy. In vivo, the tumor growth inhibition ratio of synergistic chemophotodynamic therapy was 1.6 and 1.7 times higher than that of single chemotherapy and PDT, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea ice has a significant effect on climate change and ship navigation. Hence, it is crucial to draw sea-ice maps that reflect the geographical distribution of different types of sea ice. Many automatic sea-ice classification methods using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are based on the polarimetric characteristics or image texture features of sea ice. They either require professional knowledge to design the parameters and features or are sensitive to noise and condition changes. Moreover, ice changes over time are often ignored. In this article, we propose a new SAR sea-ice image classification method based on a combined learning of spatial and temporal features, derived from residual convolutional neural networks (ResNet) and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks. In this way, we achieve automatic and refined classification of sea-ice types. First, we construct a seven-type ice data set according to the Canadian Ice Service ice charts. We extract spatial feature vectors of a time series of sea-ice samples using a trained ResNet network. Then, using the feature vectors as inputs, the LSTM network further learns the variation of the set of sea-ice samples with time. Finally, the extracted high-level features are fed into a softmax classifier to output the most recent ice type. Taking both spatial features and time variation into consideration, our method can achieve a high classification accuracy of 95.7% for seven ice types. Our method can automatically produce more objective sea-ice interpretation maps, allowing detailed sea-ice distribution and improving the efficiency of sea-ice monitoring tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there is enthusiastic effort to develop luminescent thermometers used for remote and high-sensitivity temperature readout over a wide sensing range. Herein, Pr3+ and Gd3+ co-doped ZrO2 nanocrystals are designed, prepared and investigated by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, TEM, EDS, DRS, PLE and PL spectroscopy. Upon 275 nm irradiation, the PL spectrum of ZrO2:Pr3+,Gd3+ is found to be composed of a narrow emission peak at 314 nm (Gd3+ 6P7/2–8S7/2), a broad defect-related emission band at 400 nm, and several emission peaks in the wavelength region of 585–700 nm (Pr3+ 1D2–3H4, 3P0–3H6, and 3P0–3F2), which exhibit different thermal responses owing to the effects of the various non-radiative relaxation processes and trap energy levels. Accordingly, the luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) between the Pr3+ 1D2–3H4 and Gd3+ 6P7/2–8S7/2 transitions demonstrates excellent relative sensing sensitivity values ((2.32 ± 0.01)% K−1–(8.32 ± 0.05)% K−1) and low temperature uncertainties (0.08 K–0.28 K) over a wide temperature sensing range of 303 K to 573 K, which are remarkably better than those of many other luminescence thermometers. What is discussed in the present study may be conducive to broadening the research region of RE3+ doped luminescence thermometric phosphors, especially for materials with rich 4f–4f transition lines and defect-related luminescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil microbiomes play important roles in both transformation and utilization of phosphorus (P) in agroecosystems. By targeting at 18S rRNA, pqqC, and phoD genes, respectively, the community compositions of soil arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and inorganic P‐solubilizing and organic P‐mineralizing prokaryotes were investigated across fields with annual crops or vegetables and orchards with peach trees or tea bushes in a common Agri‐technology Park, representing four typical agricultural land‐use types in Eastern China. Both annual crop and vegetable fields exhibited higher soil fertility and phosphatase activity, while both peach tree and tea bush orchards contained greater abundances of AM fungal and pqqC genes. Land‐use type also significantly affected the community compositions of soil AM fungi, and pqqC‐ and phoD‐harboring prokaryotes, with soil available P as the common driver for all functional groups above. Three main ecological clusters (modules) with distinctive interactive features, that is, synergistic, competitive, and inactive were observed in the co‐occurrence network comprised of the three groups involved in P‐cycling. The modules exhibited various distributions among the four land‐use types, and the correlations with soil pH, available P and K, and N:P were shown. Altogether, the results demonstrated the changes in gene abundances, diversity indices, community compositions, and interrelationships of functional groups involved in P‐cycling in response to distinct land‐use types, and highlighting the synergistic potential among groups to alleviate P deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse genetics approaches are critical for uncovering complex biological processes and genetic engineering. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated (Cas) system (CRISPR/Cas9) has been widely used for generating mutants in a large number of species. The Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), a gonochoristic teleost with XX/XY sex determination system, is a good model for studying fish sex determination and reproduction. Here, we describe a detailed procedure for gene mutation in tilapia by CRISPR/Cas9. This protocol covers selection of target sites, in vitro RNA transcription, artificial insemination and microinjection of one cell stage embryos. We also provide details for detection of somatic and germline transmitted mutations, fast establishment of mutant lines and discuss some practical advices. This protocol will facilitate broader applications of CRISPR/Cas9 in studies of tilapia as well as other aquaculture fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]