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The sustainable development of the sports industry has garnered extensive attention worldwide. In this study, after a rigorous explanation of the connotation of the sports industry development resilience coefficient (SIDRC), the Topsis model and exploratory spatial data analysis were comprehensively employed to evaluate and visualize the SIDRC of 285 cities in China. Additionally, a spatial econometric model was constructed to explore the influencing factors of SIDRC. The major conclusions drawn from this study are as follow: (1) While the SIDRC has improved significantly over the study period, it still remains overall at a low level of resilience with a widening gap between cities. (2) A strong spatial imbalance exists in the distribution of SIDRC, with coastal regions demonstrating greater resilience compared to the central and western regions, and provincial capital cities faring better than other cities. (3) Policy support index, economic development level, structural diversity of the sports industry, and social participation play crucial roles in promoting SIDRC. Finally, social participation has a positive impact on SIDRC in neighboring cities by facilitating resource sharing, market expansion, and extending the industrial chain. The paper concludes by offering recommendations such as increasing the construction of sports markets and public participation, which can optimize the layout of the sports industry and enhance industrial development resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In all living organisms, ferritins are a group of proteins important for maintaining iron homeostasis. Increasing amount of studies has shown that recombinant ferritins can be widely used in multimodal nanomedicine, especially for anticancer treatment and vaccination. Recombinant particles prepared by fusing viral proteins and ferritin subunits produce a better immune response and higher antibody titres. Moreover, actively-targeted ferritin nanoparticles can recognise receptors and deliver natural or chemical drugs specifically to the tumour tissue. In addition, ferritin-linked or loaded with contrast agents or fluorescent dyes can be used as multimodal particles useful cancer theranostics. In this review, we fully summarised the unitisation of recombinant ferritins in multimodal nanomedicine. The research progress of using recombinant ferritins as nanovaccines, nanozymes, and bioengineered nanocarriers for targeted therapy and bioimaging is emphasised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transverse flux linear motor is a special type of linear motor with a high thrust force density, and it has broad application prospects in the field of linear direct-drive systems. In the process of oil production, the vibration of the linear motor poses a significant amount of harm to the system due to its special slender structure. This paper focuses on the electromagnetic vibration of a transverse flux permanent magnet linear submersible motor (TFPMLSM). Firstly, the no-load air gap flux density is calculated based on the field modulation principle. Secondly, the radial electromagnetic force (REF) of the TFPMLSM is calculated, and the finite element method (FEM) is used to analyze the time-space and spectral characteristics of the REF. Then, the influence of secondary eccentricity on the frequency spectrum of the REF is further concluded. Finally, the natural frequencies of each vibration mode are calculated using the modal superposition method and the influence of the REF on the motor vibration is obtained through magnetic-structural coupling analysis. The research results found that the motor does not cause resonance at low speeds, and the fundamental frequency of REF has the greatest impact on electromagnetic vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) can deliver enhanced diagnosis for diabetic retinopathy (DR). This study evaluated a deep learning (DL) algorithm for automatic DR severity assessment using high-resolution and ultra-widefield (UWF) OCTA. Diabetic patients were examined with 6 × 6 mm 2 high-resolution OCTA and 15 × 15 mm 2 UWF-OCTA using PLEX®Elite 9000. A novel DL algorithm was trained for automatic DR severity inference using both OCTA acquisitions. The algorithm employed a unique hybrid fusion framework, integrating structural and flow information from both acquisitions. It was trained on data from 875 eyes of 444 patients. Tested on 53 patients (97 eyes), the algorithm achieved a good area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for detecting DR (0.8868), moderate non-proliferative DR (0.8276), severe non-proliferative DR (0.8376), and proliferative/treated DR (0.9070). These results significantly outperformed detection with the 6 × 6 mm 2 (AUC = 0.8462, 0.7793, 0.7889, and 0.8104, respectively) or 15 × 15 mm 2 (AUC = 0.8251, 0.7745, 0.7967, and 0.8786, respectively) acquisitions alone. Thus, combining high-resolution and UWF-OCTA acquisitions holds the potential for improved early and late-stage DR detection, offering a foundation for enhancing DR management and a clear path for future works involving expanded datasets and integrating additional imaging modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low‐cost and wearable heart sound sensors can facilitate early detection and monitoring of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Such sensors are currently limited by either the complexity of fabrication processes or low sensitivity and reliability for weak signal detection. Here, a hybrid near‐field/far‐field electrospinning approach is demonstrated that enables low‐cost fabrication and optimization of triboelectric heterostructures for heart sound sensing. Specifically, by combining the far‐field produced highly polarized and porous polyvinylidene difluoride network for triboelectric electrification and near‐field patterned polyurethane grid spacers for vibration enhancement and charge trapping, the greatly improved sensor output at the heart sound frequency (50–150 Hz) and intensity (<80 dB) range, demonstrating record high sensitivity of 7027 mV Pa−1 and low detection limit of 47 dB. The sensor exhibits excellent stability under both sudden physical disturbance and long‐term cycling stress, showing no degradation during 7 h of continuous operation. It is demonstrated that the sensor can be integrated with apparel and capture high‐quality heart sound signals at all five diagnostic auscultation points and distinguish characteristic heart sound patterns caused by different cardiovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning has been vastly applied in classification systems of speech signals. However, adversarial examples crafted by adding small perturbations to input speech signals can make those classification systems produce incorrect results. Beyond detecting and discarding adversarial examples when securing the classification systems, we consider to purify the input adversarial examples to normal ones in this paper. Speech enhancement is a technique known as removing background noises to enhance voice quality. By treating adversarial perturbations as noises, we hereby propose a unified speech enhancement approach to mitigate both background noises and adversarial perturbations. The approach is named by Speech Enhancement and Adversarial Defense Network (SEADNet), which performs model-level fusion of conventional speech enhancement and adversarial defenses. In SEADNet, a learnable noise-adding module is firstly created to adaptively putting noises to the input speech to destroy the functions of adversarial perturbations. Subsequently, a speech enhancement network is deployed to reconstruct clean speech from noisy inputs. Finally, an adversarial example detection module is designed as a discriminator to guide the reconstructed speech in the previous speech enhancement network to mitigate adversarial perturbations. The overall network is optimized by minimizing a joint loss function. Experiments are conducted on the tasks of speech enhancement and automatic speaker verification with benchmark datasets. The proposed SEADNet performs well on both tasks of conventional noise mitigation and adversarial defenses compared to the related competitive baselines. • The first work to unify speech enhancement and adversarial defense in one model. • A learnable noise-adding module to mitigate adversarial attack adaptively. • Adversarial example detection to regularize speech enhancement networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the antifungal activity of new butenolides containing oxime ether moiety, a series of new butenolide compounds containing methoxyacrylate scaffold were designed and synthesized, based on the previous reports. Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HR-MS spectra, and X-ray diffraction analysis. The in vitro antifungal activities were evaluated by the mycelium growth rate method. The results showed that the inhibitory activities of these new compounds against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were significantly improved, in comparison with that of the lead compound 3–8; the EC50 values of V-6 and VI-7 against S. sclerotiorum were 1.51 and 1.81 mg/L, nearly seven times that of 3–8 (EC50 10.62 mg/L). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation indicated that compound VI-3 had a significant impact on the structure and function of the hyphal cell of S. sclerotiorum mycelium and the positive control trifloxystrobin. Molecular simulation docking results indicated that the introduction of methoxyacrylate scaffold is beneficial to improving the antifungal activity of these compounds against S. sclerotiorum, which can be used as the lead for further structure optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the best fixture scheme for the TIG welding torch of nickel-base solid solution superalloy GH3536 in the welding process is explored. First of all, to meet the extremely high-dimensional accuracy requirements of the flame cylinder, a multifield coupling analysis model based on the flame cylinder is established on SYSWELD software. By studying the stress and deformation of welded parts under different line constraint positions and applied pressure, the trend of welding deformation is obtained, and the relevant mathematical model is established based on this. Finally, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to calculate the best fixture scheme to make the welding stress and deformation better. The simulation results show that the welding deformation is negatively related to the line constraint distance and positively related to the applied pressure. According to the optimized clamping scheme of PS0, through simulation calculation, the average axial deformation is reduced by 82.5%, the maximum radial shrinkage deformation is reduced by 60.6%, and the maximum residual stress is reduced by 60.3%. Finally, it is verified by the flame barrel experiment that it meets the acceptance requirements and successfully solves the problem of serious axial shrinkage during the TIG welding of the outer ring of the flame barrel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) induced by the overuse of antibiotics has become a serious threat to public health. Heavy metals will bring longer-term selection pressure to ARGs when the concentration of their residues is higher than that of antibiotics in environmental media. To explore the potential roles of montmorillonite (Mt) in the emergence of ARGs under divalent cadmium ion (Cd2+) stress, Escherichia coli (E. coli) was induced continuously for 15 days under Cd2+ gradient concentrations (16, 32, 64, 96, and 128 μg∙mL−1) with and without Mt. Subsequently, antibiotic resistance testing, transcriptomics, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared were conducted for analysis. The results of characterization analysis showed that Cd2+could enhance the expression of resistance genes such as penicillin, tetracycline, macrolactone, and chloramphenicol in E. coli. Moreover, compared with Cd2+, Mt-Cd could inhibit the promotion of these resistances by alleviating the expressions of genes involved in cell wall/membrane, protein synthesis, transport systems, signal transduction, and energy supply processes. Therefore, the study promoted the understanding of Cd2+ in triggering bacterial antibiotic resistance and highlighted a novel theme of clay's ability to mitigate ecological risk of antibiotic resistance caused by heavy metals. Key points: • Montmorillonite (Mt) could inhibit the promotion of antibiotic resistances. • E. coli formed a unique resistance mechanism by interacting with Mt and Cd2+. • Mt stimulated cellular signal transduction, cellular component, and energy supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key step to single channel speech enhancement is the orthogonal separation of speech and noise. In this paper, a dual branch complex convolutional recurrent network (DBCCRN) is proposed to separate the complex spectrograms of speech and noises simultaneously. To model both local and global information, we incorporate conformer modules into our network. The orthogonality of the outputs of the two branches can be improved by optimizing the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) related losses. However, we found the models trained by two existing versions of SI-SNRs will yield enhanced speech at a very different scale from that of its clean counterpart. SNR loss will lead to a shrink amplitude of enhanced speech as well. A solution to this problem is to simply normalize the output, but it only works for off-line processing, not for the streaming one. When streaming speech enhancement is required, the error scale will lead to the degradation of speech quality. From an analytical inspection of the weakness of the models trained by SNR and SI-SNR losses, a new loss function called scale-aware SNR (SA-SNR) is proposed to cope with the scale variations of the enhanced speech. SA-SNR improves over SI-SNR by introducing an extra regularization term that encourages the model to produce signals of similar scale as the input, which has little influence on the perceptual quality of the enhanced speech. In addition, the commonly used evaluation recipe for speech enhancement may not be sufficient to comprehensively reflect the performance of the speech enhancement methods using SI-SNR losses, where amplitude variations of input speech should be carefully considered. A new evaluation recipe called ScaleError is introduced. Experiments show that our proposed method improves over the existing baselines on the evaluation sets of the voice bank corpus, DEMAND and the Interspeech 2020 Deep Noise Suppression Challenge , by obtaining higher scores for PESQ, STOI, SSNR, CSIG, CBAK and COVL. • A dual-branch network to estimate speech and noise simultaneously. • Scale-aware loss to ensure speech waveforms with correct scale. • A new evaluation metric to measure the scale error. • The proposed method achieves state-of-the-art performance in speech enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing a 3 × 3 matrix spectral problem, a hierarchy of generalized Heisenberg equations is derived with the aid of the zero-curvature equation. The bi-Hamiltonian form for the hierarchy of generalized Heisenberg equations is established by using the trace identity. Furthermore, we construct the infinite conservation laws of the first nontrivial equation in the hierarchy by means of spectral parameter expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Mg-Zr composite oxide catalysts prepared by the hydrothermal process were used for the transesterification of glycerol (GL) with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) to produce glycerol carbonate (GC). The effects of the preparation method (co-precipitation, hydrothermal process) and Mg/Zr ratio on the catalytic performance were systematically investigated, and the deactivation of the catalyst was also explored. The Mg-Zr composite oxide catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, TPD, N2 adsorption-desorption, and XPS. The characterization results showed that compared with the co-precipitation process, the catalyst prepared by the hydrothermal process has a larger specific surface area, smaller grain size, and higher dispersion. Mg1Zr2-HT catalyst calcined at 600 °C in a nitrogen atmosphere exhibited the best catalytic performance. Under the conditions of reaction time of 90 min, reaction temperature of 90 °C, catalyst dosage of 3 wt% of GL, and GL/DMC molar ratio of 1/5, the GL conversion was 99% with 96.1% GC selectivity, and the yield of GC was 74.5% when it was reused for the fourth time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To locate multiple bugs in parallel, one common practice is to generate fault-focused clusters where failed test cases that are likely caused by the same bug are grouped together. With respect to the fault-focused clustering and fault localization, Spectrum-based fault localization (SBFL) technique and distance metric are two critical impact factors. This article proposes a method to evaluate the parallel fault localization performance of SBFL techniques and distance metrics where the fault-focused information for each failed test case is already given. Case studies are conducted using the proposed method to evaluate five SBFL techniques and five distance metrics on three programs with multiple bugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JAK3 differs from other JAK family members in terms of tissue distribution and functional properties, making it a promising target for autoimmune disease treatment. However, due to the high homology of these family members, targeting JAK3 selectively is difficult. As a result, exploiting small changes or selectively boosting affinity within the ATP binding region to produce new tailored inhibitors of JAK3 is extremely beneficial. PubChem CID 137321159 was used as the lead inhibitor in this study to preserve the characteristic structure and to collocate it with the redesigned new parent core structure, from which a series of 1,7-dihydro-dipyrrolo [2,3-b:3′,2′-e] pyridine derivatives were obtained using the backbone growth method. From the proposed compounds, 14 inhibitors of JAK3 were found based on the docking scoring evaluation. The RMSD and MM/PBSA methods of molecular dynamics simulations were also used to confirm the stable nature of this series of complex systems, and the weak protein–ligand interactions during the dynamics were graphically evaluated and further investigated. The results demonstrated that the new parent core structure fully occupied the hydrophobic cavity, enhanced the interactions of residues LEU828, VAL836, LYS855, GLU903, LEU905 and LEU956, and maintained the structural stability. Apart from this, the results of the analysis show that the binding efficiency of the designed inhibitors of JAK3 is mainly achieved by electrostatic and VDW interactions and the order of the binding free energy with JAK3 is: 8 (−70.286 kJ/mol) > 11 (−64.523 kJ/mol) > 6 (−51.225 kJ/mol) > 17 (−42.822 kJ/mol) > 10 (−40.975 kJ/mol) > 19 (−39.754 kJ/mol). This study may provide a valuable reference for the discovery of novel JAK3 inhibitors for those patients with immune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point cloud semantic segmentation has played an important role in the scan-to-BIM process of the Ming and Qing Dynasties' official-style architecture roof. To overcome the complexity of roof components' shape and the scale differences between different roof component types, a point cloud semantic segmentation method for the MQDOAs roof considering the construction regulations is proposed in this paper. This method is composed of two stages. In the first stage, the features from the construction rules of MQDOAs, including the normalized symmetrical distance (NSD), relative height (RH) and local height difference (LHD), are extracted alongside the regular geometric features. To lower the influence of scale differences, a multi-scale feature connection strategy is also applied to construct the feature classification vector. In the second stage, RF method is applied to classify the point cloud. To verify the efficiency of the proposed method, we took the Hall of Complete Harmony as the study case. The experiments showed that our method achieved segmentation result in overall classification accuracy and reached 96.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One month later, on June 06, 2021, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was applied, and new lymph node metastases were developed in the submental area, bilateral submandibular area, and bilateral neck areas (Figure 1A-C). Therefore, the appearance of vitiligo after immunotherapy may reflect the activation of melanocyte-specific cytotoxic T cells, which may be a predictor of immunotherapy effects in melanoma.[6] In conclusion, the melanoma patients developing vitiligo after anti-PD-1 treatment may indicate a good treatment response. [Extracted from the article]

A novel recessed gate graded AlGaN high-electron-mobility transistor (RGGA HEMT) for high-sensitivity terahertz (THz) detectors is reported, which exhibits significant potential for high-sensitivity THz detectors, and consequently. The simulation results indicate the exceptional field-effect factor of the proposed RGGA HEMT, which is largely attributed to the three-dimensional electron gas generated by the graded AlGaN barrier layer and the subsequent enhancement of channel conductance. The responsivity and noise equivalent power reach 58 mA / W and 43 pW / Hz respectively at 227 GHz by utilizing a technical computer-aided design platform. As compared to conventional structure GaN HEMT experimental data, the current responsivity is improved by 2.64 times, and the NEP is reduced by 43.4 %. The unprecedented improvement in detection performance renders the RGGA HEMT a highly promising approach for future THz real-time single-pixel imaging applications at room temperature. • The study innovatively introduces a recessed gate and three-dimensional electron gas into this type of detector for the first time. • This structure not only significantly improves the field-effect factor of the detectors but also reduces the channel resistance. • The method demonstrates a degree of universality, making it potentially extendable to transistor detectors composed of other material types. • It would be a promising approach to achieve terahertz imaging at room temperature and broad-spectrum detection of chemicals, owing to its outstanding responsivity and noise equivalent power (NEP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), an ocular complication of diabetes, is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Traditionally, DR is monitored using Color Fundus Photography (CFP), a widespread 2-D imaging modality. However, DR classifications based on CFP have poor predictive power, resulting in suboptimal DR management. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) is a recent 3-D imaging modality offering enhanced structural and functional information (blood flow) with a wider field of view. This paper investigates automatic DR severity assessment using 3-D OCTA. A straightforward solution to this task is a 3-D neural network classifier. However, 3-D architectures have numerous parameters and typically require many training samples. A lighter solution consists in using 2-D neural network classifiers processing 2-D en-face (or frontal) projections and/or 2-D cross-sectional slices. Such an approach mimics the way ophthalmologists analyze OCTA acquisitions: (1) en-face flow maps are often used to detect avascular zones and neovascularization, and (2) cross-sectional slices are commonly analyzed to detect macular edemas, for instance. However, arbitrary data reduction or selection might result in information loss. Two complementary strategies are thus proposed to optimally summarize OCTA volumes with 2-D images: (1) a parametric en-face projection optimized through deep learning and (2) a cross-sectional slice selection process controlled through gradient-based attribution. The full summarization and DR classification pipeline is trained from end to end. The automatic 2-D summary can be displayed in a viewer or printed in a report to support the decision. We show that the proposed 2-D summarization and classification pipeline outperforms direct 3-D classification with the advantage of improved interpretability. • An algorithm to quickly and efficiently classify 3-D images is presented. • 3-D images are summarized by one or a few 2-D images as an intermediate step. • The pipeline is trained from end to end: the 2-D summary is thus problem-specific. • This multiview 2-D summarization allows interpretability and knowledge discovery. • It is applied to diabetic retinopathy severity assessment using OCT angiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethylene response factor (ERF) Group VII members generally function in regulating plant growth and development, abiotic stress responses, and plant immunity in Arabidopsis; however, the details of the regulatory mechanism by which Group VII ERFs mediate plant immune responses remain elusive. Here, we characterized one such member, ERF72, as a positive regulator that mediates resistance to the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Compared with the wild-type (WT), the erf72 mutant showed lower camalexin concentration and was more susceptible to B. cinerea , while complementation of ERF72 in erf72 rescued the susceptibility phenotype. Moreover, overexpression of ERF72 in the WT promoted camalexin biosynthesis and increased resistance to B. cinerea. We identified the camalexin-biosynthesis genes PAD3 and CYP71A13 and the transcription factor WRKY33 as target genes of ERF72. We also determined that MPK3 and MPK6 phosphorylated ERF72 at Ser151 and improved its transactivation activity, resulting in increased camalexin concentration and increased resistance to B. cinerea. Thus, ERF72 acts in plant immunity to coordinate camalexin biosynthesis both directly by regulating the expression of biosynthetic genes and indirectly by targeting WRKK33. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model-based testing has been highlighted in the last few decades. Many improvements have been proposed for this testing method. One improvement is the use of extended regular expressions (EREs) for modeling software behavior, and then using the ERE model to generate test paths. To improve the theory of test generation based on the ERE model, this article presents an algebraic system, named transition algebra, by extending Kleene algebra. Eight operations and their corresponding operational properties, including basic and nonbasic operational properties, are designed for transition algebra, and all such properties are proven. Five examples are given to illustrate the use of ERE modeling and algebraic operations. To ensure the automatic generation of test paths from the ERE model, the article proves that any ERE model constructed by transition algebra can be converted to a set of transition sequences. Compared to Kleene algebra with tests, transition algebra has more operations to build a powerful ERE model and more operational properties to process the ERE model for the generation of test paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under investigation in this paper is a two‐component generalized Sasa–Satsuma equation associated with a 4 × 4 matrix spectral problem. We construct Darboux transformation for the two‐component generalized Sasa–Satsuma equation on basis of the gauge transformation between the Lax pairs. The corresponding N‐fold Darboux transformation is derived in terms of both iterative representation and compact determinant form. As applications of the Darboux transformation together with the limit technique, some interesting solutions including traveling soliton solutions, breather soliton solutions, and rogue wave solutions are explicitly obtained and graphically illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The urea-to-albumin ratio (UAR), as a new marker of the systemic inflammatory response, is associated with the mortality in pneumonia patients. However, the association between the UAR and in-hospital mortality in severe pneumonia (SP) has received little attention. Methods. In this single-center retrospective cohort study, 212 SP patients in intensive care unit (ICU) from June 1, 2016, to June 1st, 2020, with baseline UAR were enrolled. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. The association of UAR with in-hospital mortality was assessed using a multivariable-adjusted Cox model. Results. Of 212 patients, the median age was 73.0 (61.0, 82.8) years, 70.8% of patients were male, and the APACHE II score was 20.0 (16.0, 26.0). During the hospital period, 101 (47.6%) patients died. In-hospital mortality rates for the lower and higher UAR were 16 (27.6%) and 85 (55.2%), respectively P < 0.001 . Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that survival rates were significantly different between the two groups (log rank = 13.71, P < 0.001). After adjusted for confounding factors, the higher UAR group was significantly associated with a hazard ratio (HR) for in-hospital mortality of 2.234 (95% confidence interval: 1.146–4.356, P = 0.018). Besides, this pattern persisted in subgroup analyses considering sex (HR = 9.380; 95% CI: 2.248–39.138; P = 0.002). Conclusions. Higher UAR levels at the commencement of admission to ICU may be independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality in SP patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End‐stage renal disease patients on dialysis experience frequent hospitalizations. In addition to known temporal patterns of hospitalizations over the life span on dialysis, where poor outcomes are typically exacerbated during the first year on dialysis, variations in hospitalizations among dialysis facilities across the US contribute to spatial variation. Utilizing national data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), we propose a novel multilevel spatiotemporal functional model to study spatiotemporal patterns of hospitalization rates among dialysis facilities. Hospitalization rates of dialysis facilities are considered as spatially nested functional data (FD) with longitudinal hospitalizations nested in dialysis facilities and dialysis facilities nested in geographic regions. A multilevel Karhunen‐Loéve expansion is utilized to model the two‐level (facility and region) FD, where spatial correlations are induced among region‐specific principal component scores accounting for regional variation. A new efficient algorithm based on functional principal component analysis and Markov Chain Monte Carlo is proposed for estimation and inference. We report a novel application using USRDS data to characterize spatiotemporal patterns of hospitalization rates for over 400 health service areas across the US and over the posttransition time on dialysis. Finite sample performance of the proposed method is studied through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Internet Plus" era has established a closer connection between sports and individuals. This study used data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies and focused on the middle- and younger-aged population aged 15 to 59 years. Employing a negative binomial regression model, this study empirically analyzed the impact of Internet use on physical exercise and its internal mechanisms among this population. The findings revealed that (1) Internet use significantly promoted physical exercise in the middle- and younger-aged population, with the frequency of physical exercise increasing to 1.549 times the original value; (2) The positive effects of the internet on physical exercise outweighed the negative effects, with online learning and entertainment enhancing physical exercise and online socialization limiting it. Specifically, online learning and entertainment increased the frequency of physical exercise among the middle- and younger-aged population by 0.063 and 0.018, respectively. Online socialization reduced the frequency by 0.023; and (3) The influence of internet use on physical exercise varies; significantly, it positively affects the exercise frequency among individuals over 35 years old and shows a positive correlation with employment status, including both employed individuals and those out of the labor market. The positive role of Internet use in encouraging physical exercise participation among the middle- and young-aged groups should be valued and enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Orbitrap mass spectrometer has recently been proved to be a powerful instrument to accurately measure gas-phase and particle-phase organic compounds with a greater mass resolving power than other widely used online mass spectrometers in atmospheric sciences. We develop an open-source software tool (Orbitool, https://orbitrap.catalyse.cnrs.fr , last access: 4 February 2021) to facilitate the analysis of long-term online Orbitrap data. Orbitool can average long-term data while improving the mass accuracy by re-calibrating each mass spectrum, assign molecular formulae of compounds and their isotopes to measured signals, and export time series and mass defect plots. The noise reduction procedure in Orbitool can separate signal peaks from noise and reduce the computational and storage expenses. Chemical ionization Orbitrap data from laboratory experiments on ozonolysis of monoterpenes and ambient measurements in urban Shanghai were used to test Orbitool. For the test dataset, the average mass accuracy was improved from <2 to <0.5 ppm by mass calibrating each spectrum. The denoising procedure removed 97 % of the noise peaks from a spectrum averaged for 30 min while maintaining the signal peaks, substantially helping the automatic assignment of unknown species. To illustrate the capabilities of Orbitool, we used the most challenging and complex dataset we have collected so far, which consists of ambient gas-phase measurements in urban Shanghai. These tests showed that Orbitool was able to automatically assign hundreds of molecular formulae as well as their isotopes with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The theoretical model was established for the winding of CORC cable, and its deformation characteristics were elaborated. • The internal strain of the superconducting layer can be calculated to predict the damage cracks of the tape. • The effects of twist parameters on the deformation characteristics of the superconducting tape have been elucidated. The conductor on round core (CORC) cable exhibits superior mechanical properties compared with single superconducting tape due to its unique twisted cable structure, which allows for expansion through spiral winding. However, the deformation characteristics have not yet been effectively elucidated during the winding process. Especially, the shapes and distributions of internal damaged cracks are difficult to predict resulting from the multilayer structure of the superconducting tape. In this work, the theoretical model considering the spiral winding of CORC cables has been established and the deformation characteristics caused by the Poisson effect have been elaborated. Meanwhile, the theoretical model was confirmed by comparing finite element simulations, the accuracy and reliability were also verified by the stereo digital image correlation (stereo-DIC) experiments. It is shown that this model can predict the distribution characteristics of damaged cracks inside the superconducting tape multilayer structure during the winding process, which was further checked by magneto-optical imaging (MOI) experiments. Furthermore, the effects of twisted cable parameters on the deformation characteristics of the superconducting tape have been elucidated. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of deformation in CORC cables during the winding process and offer guidance for their preparation and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For patients on dialysis, hospitalizations remain a major risk factor for mortality and morbidity. We use data from a large national database, United States Renal Data System, to model time‐varying effects of hospitalization risk factors as functions of time since initiation of dialysis. To account for the three‐level hierarchical structure in the data where hospitalizations are nested in patients and patients are nested in dialysis facilities, we propose a multilevel mixed effects varying coefficient model (MME‐VCM) where multilevel (patient‐ and facility‐level) random effects are used to model the dependence structure of the data. The proposed MME‐VCM also includes multilevel covariates, where baseline demographics and comorbidities are among the patient‐level factors, and staffing composition and facility size are among the facility‐level risk factors. To address the challenge of high‐dimensional integrals due to the hierarchical structure of the random effects, we propose a novel two‐step approximate EM algorithm based on the fully exponential Laplace approximation. Inference for the varying coefficient functions and variance components is achieved via derivation of the standard errors using score contributions. The finite sample performance of the proposed estimation procedure is studied through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Orbitrap mass spectrometer has recently been proved to be a powerful instrument to accurately measure gas-phase and particle-phase organic compounds with a greater mass resolving power than other widely-used online mass spectrometers in atmospheric sciences. We develop an open-source software tool (Orbitool, https://orbitrap.catalyse.cnrs.fr) to facilitate the analysis of long-term online Orbitrap data. Orbitool can average long-term data while maintaining the mass accuracy by re-calibrating each mass spectrum, identify chemical compositions and isotopes of measured signals, and export time series and mass defect plots. The noise reduction procedure in Orbitool can separate signal peaks from noise and greatly reduce the computational and storage expenses. Chemical-ionization Orbitrap data from laboratory experiments on ozonolysis of monoterpenes and ambient measurements in urban Shanghai were used to successfully test Orbitool. For the test dataset, the average mass accuracy was improved from < 2 ppm to < 0.5 ppm by mass calibrating each spectrum. The denoising procedure removed 97% of the noise peaks from a spectrum averaged for 30 min while maintaining the signal peaks, greatly helping the automatic identification of unknown species. To illustrate the capabilities of Orbitool, we used the most challenging/complex dataset we have collected so far, which consists of ambient measurements in urban Shanghai. These tests showed that Orbitool was able to automatically separate and identify hundreds of compounds as well as their isotopes with a very high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Although mean platelet volume (MPV) appears to be associated with poor outcome of pneumonia, the relationship between MPV and in-hospital mortality is unclear in severe pneumonia (SP) patients. Methods. In this retrospective cohort study, 115 SP patients from June 1st, 2016, to September 29th, 2019, were included and divided into two groups. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to assess the predictive ability for in-hospital mortality. Kaplan-Meier cumulative incidence curves were applied to observe the incidence of mortality. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the hazard ratios (HRs). Besides, a formal test for interaction was investigated to analyze the relationship between MPV and sex. Results. During the course of hospitalization, 63 cases of mortality were recorded. ROC analysis suggested that MPV had a modest power for predicting in-hospital mortality (AUC = 0.723 , 95% CI: 0.628-0.818, P < 0.001). Yet the cutoff value of MPV was 10.5 (sensitivity = 73.02 %; specificity = 73.08 %). Compared to the low-MPV group, the high-MPV group had significantly increased in-hospital mortality (log-rank test = 13.501 , P < 0.001), while the adjusted Cox model indicated that the high-MPV group was associated with an elevated risk of in-hospital mortality (HR: 2.267, 95% CI: 1.166-4.406, P = 0.016). Moreover, analyses of in-hospital mortality suggested a significant interaction between optimal MPV level and sex (P = 0.011). In a multivariate Cox model which included females only, a high MPV level was associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality (HR: 11.387, 95% CI: 1.767-73.380, P = 0.011). Conclusion. High MPV level is an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality in patients with SP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deficiency of essential mineral nutrients caused by xenobiotics often results in plant mortality or an inability to complete its life cycle. Imazethapyr, a widely utilized imidazolinone herbicide, has a long-lasting presence in the soil-plant system and can induce toxicity in non-target plants. However, the effects of imazethapyr on mineral nutrient homeostasis remain poorly comprehended. In this study, Arabidopsis seedlings exposed to concentrations of 4 and 10 μg/L imazethapyr showed noticeable reductions in shoot development and displayed a distinct dark purple color, which is commonly associated with phosphorus (P) deficiency in crops. Additionally, the total P content in both the shoots and roots of Arabidopsis significantly decreased following imazethapyr treatment when compared to the control groups. Through the complementary use of physiological and molecular analyses, we discovered that imazethapyr hinders the abundance and functionality of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) transporters and acid phosphatase. Furthermore, imazethapyr impairs the plant's Pi-deficiency adaptation strategies, such as inhibiting Pi transporter activities and impeding root hair development, which ultimately exacerbate P starvation. These results provide compelling evidence that residues of imazethapyr have the potential to disrupt plant P homeostasis and acquisition strategies. These findings offer valuable insights for risk assessment and highlight the need to reconsider the indiscriminate use of imazethapyr, particularly under specific scenarios such as nutrient deficiency. [Display omitted] • Imazethapyr could decrease P contents and induce anthocyanin formation in plants. • Imazethapyr affected the uptake and translocation of Pi, disturbing P homeostasis. • Imazethapyr impaired Pi deficiency-triggered root hair development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Fulvic acid could cause the collapse of octahedral structure of iron minerals. • Van der Waals forces dominated fulvic acid and iron mineral interaction. • Fulvic acid could enhance the adsorption capacity of Fe minerals for Cu(II). • Hydrated Cu(II) was more inclined to coordination with –OH of fulvic acid. The dynamic interactions among iron (Fe) oxides and organic matter (OM) play vital roles in controlling the geochemical cycling of carbon (C) and toxic trace metals. Although the effects of OM on the Fe oxides transformation, and dynamic with toxic trace metals have been studied previously, it is still poor to understand the mechanistic and quantitative on the C sequestration during the Fe(III) mineralization process, and kinetics with hydrated Cu(II) in the acid drainage. In this study, Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and density functional theory (DFT) were used to elucidate the underlying mechanism for the fine structure of iron minerals, fulvic acid (FA) sequestration and hydrated Cu(II) coordination on Fe oxides. FA dosages played an essential role in the formation of Fe oxides, which can inhibit the formation of Fe-O octahedrons and benefit to the Fe-O tetrahedron. FA molecules were mainly sequestrated on the surfaces of Fe oxides and van der Waals forces were the main interaction between FA and Fe oxides. The hydrated Cu(II) oxides mainly distributed on the surface of iron oxides as divalent oxidation states, and feasible coordinated with phenolic hydroxyl group of FA and Fe oxides. The knowledge of the dynamic coupling between Fe oxide transformation under the effect of FA and the fate of hydrated Cu(II) on Fe oxides provided the basis for predicting the geochemical process of Fe, C and toxic trace metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For chronic dialysis patients, a unique population requiring continuous medical care, methodologies to monitor patient outcomes, such as hospitalizations, over time, after initiation of dialysis, are of particular interest. Contributing to patient hospitalizations is a number of multilevel covariates such as demographics and comorbidities at the patient level and staffing composition at the dialysis facility level. We propose a varying coefficient model for multilevel risk factors (VCM-MR) to study the time-varying effects of covariates on patient hospitalization risk as a function of time on dialysis. The proposed VCM-MR also includes subject-specific random effects to account for within-subject correlation and dialysis facility-specific fixed effect varying coefficient functions to allow for the modeling of flexible time-varying facility-specific risk trajectories. An approximate EM algorithm and an iterative Newton-Raphson approach are proposed to address the challenge of estimation of high-dimensional parameters (varying coefficient functions) for thousands of dialysis facilities in the United States. The proposed modeling allows for comparisons between time-varying effects of multilevel risk factors as well as testing of facility-specific fixed effects. The method is applied to model hospitalization risk using the rich hierarchical data available on dialysis patients initiating dialysis between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 from the United States Renal Data System, a large national database, where 331 443 hospitalizations over time are nested within patients, and 89 889 patients are nested within 2201 dialysis facilities. Patients are followed-up until December 31, 2013, where the follow-up time is truncated five years after the initiation of dialysis. Finite sample properties are studied through extensive simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phytohormones brassinosteroid (BR), auxin, and gibberellin (GA) regulate photomorphogenesis-related hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis via the co-operative interaction of BZR-ARF-PIF/DELLA (BAP/D) transcription factors/regulators. In addition, ethylene activates the PIF3 or ERF1 pathway through EIN3/EIL1 to balance hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis seedlings. However, the mechanism by which ethylene is co-ordinated with other phytohormones to produce light-regulated hypocotyl growth remains elusive. In this study, we found that hypocotyl cell elongation is regulated by a network involving ethylene, auxin, and BR signalling, which is mediated by interactions among ERF72, ARF6, and BZR1. ERF72 interacted directly with ARF6 and BZR1 in vitro and in vivo , and it antagonised regulation by ARF6 and BZR1 of the transcription of BEE3 and XTH7. In addition, light modulated the subcellular localisation of ERF72 and transcription of ERF72 through the EIN2-EIN3/EIL1 pathway, facilitating the function of ERF72 in photomorphogenesis. The expression of BEE3 and XTH7 was also regulated by the EIN2-EIN3/EIL1 pathway. Our findings indicate that a revised BZR-ARF-PIF/DELLA-ERF (BAP/DE) module integrates light and hormone signals to regulate hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CPKs) play an essential role in the regulation of pollen tube growth. Although CPK genes have been identified in maize, and some have been functionally characterized, the molecular function of ZmCPKs associated with pollen tube development remains less well studied. Here, we report that a pollen-specific CPK, ZmCPK32, is involved in the regulation of pollen germination and tube extension. ZmCPK32 exhibited CPK activity and was localized on the plasma membrane and punctate internal membrane compartments via N-terminal acylation. In situ hybridization and real-time PCR revealed that ZmCPK32 transcripts accumulated in pollen and expression was dramatically upregulated during shedding. To elucidate the function of this gene, we transiently expressed a ZmCPK32-GFP fusion protein in tobacco pollen using microparticle bombardment. ZmCPK32 accumulation inhibited pollen germination and reduced pollen tube growth, but this effect was abolished when the kinase-inactive variant was expressed, indicating that kinase activity is critical for its regulatory function. In addition, the plasma membrane localization of ZmCPK32 is essential for regulating polar growth, as pollen expressing the cytosol-localized kinase displayed reduced tube length but germinated well. Moreover, the constitutively active form of ZmCPK32 enhanced the reduction in the germination rate, indicating that the specific activation of ZmCPK32 via calcium ions at the cortical growth point is essential for regulating appropriate germination. The results suggest that ZmCPK32 is functionally associated with pollen tube growth, and could represent a potential target for breeding male-sterile maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth and development of plants under drought stress depends mainly on the expression levels of various genes and modification of proteins. To clarify the molecular mechanism of drought-tolerance of plants, suppression subtractive hybridisation cDNA libraries were screened to identify drought-stress-responsive unigenes in Grimmia pilifera, and a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase gene, GpDSR7, was identified among the 240 responsive unigenes. GpDSR7 expression was induced by various abiotic stresses, particularly by drought. GpDSR7 displayed E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro and was exclusively localised on the ER membrane in Arabidopsis mesophyll protoplasts. GpDSR7-overexpressing transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed a high water content and survival ratio under drought stress. Moreover, the expression levels of some marker genes involved in drought stress were higher in the transgenic plants than in wild-type plants. These results suggest that GpDSR7, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is involved in tolerance to drought stress at the protein modification level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic interactions among iron (Fe) oxides, dissolved organic matter (DOM) and toxic trace metals play crucial roles in risk assessment and environmental remediation. Although the inhibitory effects of DOM on the iron oxides transformation process have been studied previously, there is still a lack of mechanistic and quantitative understanding on the kinetics of Cr(VI) and ferrihydrite transformation in the present of DOM. In this study, we investigated the fractionation process of DOM on ferrihydrite and its influence on the fate of Cr(VI) and transformation of ferrihydrite. The result of three-dimension excitation emission matrix (3D-EEM), Q-Exactive LC-MS/MS, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) indicated that fulvic acid-like compounds of DOM were the mainly fractionated compounds on the surface of ferrihydrite, which further inhibited the transformation of ferrihydrite. Besides, bracewellite (CrO(OH)) generated as an accompanied mineral during the transformation of ferrihydrite in the present of Cr(VI). Based on the DFT theoretical calculation, we concluded that Cr(VI) mainly in the form of HCr O 4 − was more inclined to be adsorbed on iron-oxide tetrahedron by inner-sphere monodentate mononuclear configurations. The findings on the dynamic coupling among Fe oxide transformation and Cr(VI) sequestration under the effect of DOM provided the basis for accurately predicting the fate of trace elements and iron mineral. • Dissolved organic matter (DOM) and toxic trace metals were studied. • Fulvic acid-like compounds of DOM were fractionated on ferrihydrite. • Fulvic acid-like compounds inhibited the transformation of ferrihydrite. • Bracewellite (CrO(OH)) was also generated in the transformation of ferrihydrite. • Cr(VI) mainly in the form of HCrO 4 − was adsorbed on iron-oxide tetrahedron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Phenol, 4-Chlorophenol (4-CP), 2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) were selected as model pollutants to explore the oxidant mechanism by ferrate (Fe(VI)). The reactions between ferrate (1000 μM) and four phenolic compounds (100 μM) were conformed to the second-order reaction kinetics at pH 9.2, and the order of k obs followed as: k 4-CP (129 M−1 s−1) > k 2,4-DCP (96 M−1 s−1) > k 2,4,6-TCP (44 M−1 s−1) > k Phenol (12 M−1 s−1). Meanwhile, the degradation rates of all four compounds by Fe(VI) increased with increased pH (3.1–9.2). A total of 14 degradation products were identified by Liquid chromatography-Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS), and two pathways including hydroxylation of benzene ring and substitution of chlorine atom were proposed. Hydroxyl radicals, played a vital role during the degradation of phenolic compounds. Moreover, density functional theory calculations were used to explore the degradation mechanisms. The results showed that the hydroxyl radical was more favorable to substitute chlorine atom than hydrogen atom, and the substitution on ortho-position was more favorable than para-position for all four compounds. The findings of this study could greatly improve our understanding on the degradation mechanism of chlorophenol-like compounds by Fe(VI) for environmental remediation. [Display omitted] • The degradation rates of compounds decrease with increase number of chlorine atoms. • Neutral compounds are more difficult to be degraded than anionic. • Hydroxyl radicals are favorable to substitute chlorine atom than hydrogen atom. • The reaction of substitution on ortho-position is favorable than para-position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among all types of TGFβ signal blockers, small molecule kinase inhibitors (SMKIs) have attracted wide attention due to their economical production, obvious stability, and ease of oral administration. Nevertheless, SMKIs of TGFβRItypically have low druggability so there are none on the market. In this study, structure-based drug design (SBDD) was performed focusing on the pyrrolopyrimidin scaffold of BMS22 to find TGFβRIinhibitors with excellent medical potential. The binding mode, druggability, and target affinity were assessed by molecular docking, ADMET predictions, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the designed TGFβRIinhibitors. Finally, the highly druggable compound W8 was discovered and then synthesized, which inhibited TGFβRIwith an IC50 value of about 10 μM. In addition, the binding free energies (ΔGbind) of W8 (−42.330 ± 3.341 kcal/mol) and BMS22 (−30.560 ± 6.076 kcal/mol) indicate that the high binding affinity is not necessarily accompanied by high inhibitory activity. Last but not least, the per-residue interaction analysis revealed that the contribution energy of ASP351 to binding was the most significant difference between BMS22 and W8, −2.195 kcal/mol and 1.707 kcal/mol, respectively. As a result, increasing the affinity between SMKIs and ASP351 of TGFβRImay effectively improve the inhibitory activity. The insights gained from this study could help with structure-guided optimization in searching for better SMKIs of TGFβRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A waterlogging assessment framework based on the stormwater management model (SWMM), considering the microtopography, is proposed (taking into account the complexity of the underlying surface, which contains various micro-surface features within the Chinese ancient city site). We used the ancient city site of PuZhou as the study case and the framework is detailed in this paper. First, the land cover was classified by combining the analysis of UAVs and field surveys; subsequently, a revised sub-catchment division method considering the land cover was proposed to obtain more accurate and reliable sub-catchments; thirdly, the parameters used in SWMM were determined by analyzing the micro-surface features; finally, the inundation area was calculated based on the SWMM-GIS. To verify the advantage of our proposed framework, two comparative experiments where the land cover and the micro-surface features were not considered in the stages of the sub-catchment division and parameter estimations were carried out. The simulated inundation area derived from our proposed framework with the return periods of 10a., 50a., 100a., and 1000a. were (separately) 22,500 m2, 29,500 m2, 33,600 m2, and 44,200 m2, which are more in line with the actual situation compared with the two designed comparative experiments. The experimental results show that our proposed framework has significant meaning to the waterlogging assessment on the Chinese ancient city site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing voice conversion methods focus primarily on separating speech content from speaker information while overlooking the decoupling of pitch information. Additionally, the quality of converted speech significantly degrades when the speech of the target speaker is contaminated by noises. To address these issues, this paper proposes a noise-robust voice conversion model with multi-feature decoupling based on adversarial training. The proposed framework utilizes three distinct encoders to encode speech content, speaker identity, and pitch information independently, which aims to enhance the performance of decoupling by minimizing their mutual information and reduce the correlations between feature vectors. Moreover, a gradient reversal layer and a noise decoupling discriminator are incorporated into the framework, which extracts noise-resistant speaker representations and content representations through adversarial training to facilitate the synthesis of high-quality speech. In order to optimize the learning process, a training strategy is developed which involves alternating between clean and noisy data during the training of the encoder. This strategy effectively guides and expedites the convergence of the model. Experimental results demonstrate that compared to the state-of-the-art baselines of noise-robust voice conversion, the proposed model achieves improvements around 0.31 and 0.39 in terms of speech naturalness and speaker similarity evaluation metrics, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrochemical aptasensor was established for the fast and sensitive determination of tetracycline based on the synergistic effect of MoS2-thionine nanocomposite and aptamer. The glassy carbon electrode was coated with MoS2 nanosheets of thionine to immobilize the tetracycline aptamer. In the absence of tetracycline, large quantities of thionin were loaded on the surface of the MoS2 nanosheet to serve as the electrochemical probe. After tetracycline was added to the surface of the electrode, an aptamer analyte complex was produced on the modified electrode. Through intercalation and electrostatic interactions, the complex was substantially adsorbed onto thionine, and the peak currents of the redox signal of thionine decreased. Therefore, the concentration of tetracycline was monitored by the change in signal intensity. Under optimized conditions, the developed electrochemical strategy with MoS2-thionine composite and aptamer exhibited an excellent linear detection range of 1.0 nM–1.0 μΜ and a low detection limit of 0.6 nM with suitable selectivity and stability. Therefore, the fabricated platform offers great potential for food safety, medical detection, and drug analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetrical isomerization with prochiral π-distortion is useful to precisely construct nonplanar arenes as promising wide band gap (>2.2 eV) semiconductors. A series of asymmetrical benzoacridine regioisomers (ADs) were designed and obtained via a two-step procedure including Ullmann C-N coupling, intramolecular Friedel-Crafts ortho -aroylation. Interestingly, crystallization induced enantiomer division (CIED) of four prochiral ADs was observed. The corresponding ten divided enantiomers or diastereoisomers were carefully anatomized and distinguished from their "monozygotic and/or dizygotic twins" in crystals. The precise structures of four ADs were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, HiRes MALDI-TOF MS, FT-IR and single crystal X-Ray diffraction. According to the absorbance spectra, ADs possess wide optical band gaps (2.90–2.98 eV) in film state and potential ability for high performed electronic devices. "The Big Bang of Acrid-Universe" : A family of four symmetrical benzoacridine analogues with π-expansion was discovered in the form of regioisomers, enantiomers, and diastereoisomers in single crystals. This interesting phenomenon is regarded as crystallization induced enantiomer division (CIED) behavior in favor of wide optical band gaps (2.90–2.98 eV) in film state as potential high performed materials for organic electronics. Image 1 • This work is the first systematical and accurate investigation on crystallization induced enantiomer division (CIED) phenomenon of prochiral and π-expanded benzoacridine regioisomers (ADs) with wide optical band gap. • All four single crystals of four ADs provided the most direct and precise evidence to disclose the difficult, ambiguous, and misery "world" of asymmetrical isomerization including regioisomers, enantiomers, and diastereoisomers. • This work clarified and figured out the relationship between the selectivity and competivity of Friedel-Crafts ortho- aroylation on the basis of 1-aminonaphthalene and 2-aminonaphthalene derived precursors of ADs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving user satisfaction with electric vehicles (EVs) is crucial for their widespread diffusion and the development of sustainable transportation. Although numerous studies have investigated the impact of EV service factors on satisfaction, the nonlinear and asymmetric effects have been largely neglected. This study aims to fill this gap by comparing the factor differences in user perceptions, satisfaction asymmetries, and improvement priorities among heterogeneous adopters within two EV segments: Mini EVs and full-size EVs. Two common methods, the regression with dummy variables (RDV) and the Importance Grid (IG), are utilized to examine satisfaction asymmetry and determine which one is more appropriate for describing the relationship between service factors and overall satisfaction. Empirical evidence from EV segments in China indicates that the RDV method is more suitable than the IG method for characterizing factor attribute and asymmetry. Female, multi-vehicle, and daily users report higher levels of satisfaction and importance for service factors compared to male, single-vehicle, and weekly users. Based on the RDV method, the results emphasize the importance of improving charging satisfaction to enhance the overall satisfaction of Mini EV adopters, particularly for those who have multiple vehicles and frequent travel demands. For males and daily users of full-size EVs, it is critical to enhance vehicle performance and technology. This study not only expands the limited application of satisfaction asymmetry to the transportation field but also provides policy implications for Mini EV diffusion. • User satisfaction with Mini EVs and full-size EVs is compared. • Users are analyzed based on their gender, vehicle ownership and travel frequency. • The satisfaction ratings of both Mini and full-size EV users are above 3.000. • Regression with dummy variable method is used to identify satisfaction asymmetry. • The top improvement priorities are 'charging' and 'policy'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 720,000 patients with end‐stage renal disease in the United States require life‐sustaining dialysis treatment. In this population of typically older patients with a high morbidity burden, hospitalization is frequent at a rate of about twice per patient‐year. Aside from frequent hospitalizations, which is a major source of death risk, overall mortality in dialysis patients is higher than other comparable populations, including Medicare patients with cancer. Thus, understanding patient‐ and facility‐level risk factors that jointly contribute to longitudinal hospitalizations and mortality is of interest. Towards this objective, we propose a novel methodology to jointly model hospitalization, a binary longitudinal outcome, and survival, based on multilevel data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), with repeated observations over time nested in patients and patients nested in dialysis facilities. In our approach, the outcomes are modeled through a common set of multilevel random effects. In order to accommodate the USRDS data structure, we depart from the literature on joint modeling of longitudinal and survival data by including multilevel random effects and multilevel covariates, at both the patient and facility levels. An approximate Expectation‐Maximization algorithm is developed for estimation and inference where fully exponential Laplace approximations are utilized to address computational challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing dielectric ceramics with both negative temperature coefficient of capacitance (NTCC) and excellent energy storage performance is beneficial to obtain multifunctional dielectric ceramic capacitors. An effective strategy of composite modulation in the superparaelectric (SPE) state is proposed in BaTiO 3 -BaZrO 3 -CaTiO 3 (BT-BZ-CT) system to achieve the above two points. The simultaneous addition of BZ and CT to BT ferroelectrics can move the SPE state to the normal use temperature zone and the NTCC characteristic with enhanced energy storage performance can be obtained; and the intentional precipitation of CT at grain boundaries can refine the grain size, increase the bandgap, and strengthen the local electric field distribution as well, thus enhancing the breakdown electric field (E b). Benefiting from these features, EIA class I-R3L code NTCC together with a high W rec (∼3.46 J/cm3) and η (90.8%) were achieved in 20BT-40BZ-40CT system, providing a paradigm for building NTCC dielectric materials with high energy-storage performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence indicated that leukocyte telomere length (LTL) was related to sarcopenia. However, it is still not clear whether the association of changes in LTL with sarcopenia is likely to be causal, or could be explained by reverse causality. Thus, we carried on bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) and multivariable MR analyses to identify the causal relationship between LTL and sarcopenia-related traits. Summary-level data and independent variants used as instruments came from large genome-wide association studies of LTL (472,174 participants), appendicular lean mass (450,243 participants), low grip strength (256,523 participants), and walking pace (450,967 participants). We identified suggestive association of longer LTL with larger appendicular lean mass [odds ratio (OR) = 1.053; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.009–1.099; P = 0.018], and causal association of longer LTL with a lower risk of low grip strength (OR = 0.915; 95% CI, 0.860–0.974; P = 0.005). In the reverse MR analysis, we also observed a positive causal association between walking pace and LTL (OR = 1.252; 95% CI, 1.121–1.397; P < 0.001). Similar results can be repeated in sensitivity analyses. While in the multivariable MR analysis, the estimate of the impact of walking pace on LTL underwent a transformation after adjusting for T2DM (OR = 1.141; 95%CI: 0.989–1.317; P = 0.070). The current MR analysis supported a causal relationship between shorter telomere length and both low muscle mass and strength. Additionally, walking pace may affect LTL through T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vector nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) system is studied through the generalized Darboux transformation (DT). We begin with the nonzero seed solution in the exponential form of evolution variable t$$ t $$ and explore the eigenfunction of the n$$ n $$‐component NLS equation. With the formulae of the eigenfunction, localized wave solutions of the two‐component and three‐component NLS equations are studied. By choosing different free parameters, some special solutions and the dynamic evolutions are presented, including breather–rogue wave, breather fission, breather fusion, and breather–soliton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]