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Deuteration has emerged as a significant method for investigating kinetic isotope effects in chemical reactions. In recent years, research on deuteration has revealed that this reaction often alters the pharmacokinetic or toxicological properties of drug molecules, thereby enhancing their therapeutic effect. Therefore, deuteration is considered as a potential avenue for drug research direction. Since the approval of the first deuterated drug, “deutetrabenazine,” by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017, deuteration has been applied in the development of a variety of novel drugs. Research on deuteration technology has matured with the publication of numerous deuteration strategies. This article reviews recently reported strategies for late‐stage selective deuteration, discusses the challenges associated with current deuteration strategies, and presents future prospects for the synthesis of deuterated drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyol esters are abundant bio‐based resources. Integration of polyol esters into the production chain of fine chemicals would reduce carbon emissions and improve the sustainability of the chemical industry. An efficient synthetic route to phenoxyethanols was developed through catalytic hydroxyethylation of phenols with ethylene glycol diacetate as the reagent. This method showed the potential of ethylene glycol diester as a safe and sustainable substitute for ethylene oxide, a useful but toxic reagent. A variety of phenoxyethanol esters were produced in high yield under simple catalytic conditions. Mechanistic studies revealed that the reaction underwent a neighboring group participation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euonymusfortunei polysaccharides (EFPs) have not been extensively investigated yet in terms of their extraction and biological activity. The orthogonal experimental design was employed in this study to evaluate the optimum yield of EFPs. A maximum yield of 2.63 ± 0.23% was attained using material-liquid ratios of 60 mL/g, extraction temperature of 80°C, ultrasonic power of 144 W, and extraction time of 75 mins. The polysaccharide content reached 53.47 ± 0.31% when deproteinized thrice. An analysis of monosaccharide composition revealed that these polysaccharides consist of Gal, Glc, Man, Fuc, and Rha with a molar ratio of 7.14 ∶ 23.99 ∶ 6.29 ∶ 6.55 ∶ 1.00, respectively, in EFPs. Subsequently, the in vitro scavenging capacities of 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ·OH and superoxide anion radicals, along with the reducing power of EFPs, were studied. Results revealed that EFPs have higher antioxidant activity, particularly ·OH scavenging, as well as reducing power, as compared to Astragalus polysaccharides (ASPs) and Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs). The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) method was used to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of polysaccharides on SKOV3 cell proliferation, and the results revealed their inhibition at concentrations in the range of 200–800 μg/mL. In addition, findings from flow cytometry further confirmed that EFPs blocked the cell cycle at G0/G1 and S phases and induced SKOV3 cell apoptosis. In a word, EFPs could be exploited and used further based on the experimental results from this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial Kramers-Kronig (KK) media offer a possible route to obtain omnidirectional light absorption within a thin layer of material. However, the experimental realizations are typically limited to a specific polarization, i.e., either transverse electric (TE) or transverse magnetic (TM), hence lacking specific implementations for the absorption of unpolarized light. In this work, we propose theoretically and demonstrate experimentally a polarization-independent KK medium which performs omnidirectional reflectionless absorption for both TE and TM polarized waves. Our design makes use of a special matryoshka metamaterial, whose electric and magnetic responses can be independently controlled with minimized crosstalk. To extend the absorption spectrum, the inner truncation boundary of the KK medium is set at a position far away from the spatial Lorentz resonance, where the constitutive parameter of the metamaterial remains unitary over a broad frequency band. A mini anechoic chamber, 6.83-wavelength in diameter, is constructed using the designed annulus-shaped KK medium. The measured fields for both TE and TM polarizations confirm the polarization-independent omnidirectional and nearly reflectionless absorption in a broadband frequency range. Spatial Kramers–Kronig (KK) media are inhomogeneous materials enabling omnidirectional light absorption, but the successful experimental realizations are polarization-dependent, i.e., they absorb either transverse electric or transverse magnetic fields. Using a matryoshka metamaterial, the authors report the experimental realization of a polarization-independent omnidirectional absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haze pollution (HP) is one of the most serious disasters in the Sichuan Basin (SCB), adversely affecting human health, transportation, tourism and agriculture. HP in December is severe and differs from the haze days in January and February in terms of their temporal variations. To improve the understanding of December haze days in the SCB (DHDSCB), this study not only shows the atmospheric circulations and local meteorological circumstances related with the haze variation, but also analyses its relationship with the prior atmospheric apparent heat source over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and the sea surface temperature (SST). The key circulation system associated with the interannual variation of the DHDSCB is that the SCB is controlled by the positive geopotential height anomalies and anomalous anticyclonic circulations with weak southwestward water vapour transport. Moreover, unfavourable local meteorological circumstances limit the vertical (horizontal) dispersion of pollutants. In addition, the DHDSCB during 1981–2022 is also found to have significant relationships with two preceding climate factors, which are the atmospheric apparent heat source (Q1) over the western TP in preceding November and the SST difference between the western Maritime Continent and western Australia in preceding autumn. The enhancement of Q1 over the western TP in preceding November is closely related to the midlatitude North Atlantic–southern Mediterranean Middle East–Arabian Sea–TP and its downstream region teleconnection pattern. Consequently, the anticyclonic circulation prevails over the SCB, and SCB is with less precipitation and more haze days in December. The western Maritime Continent and western Australia SST pattern in preceding Autumn is correlated with the Bay of Bengal–eastern TP and its downstream–Japan–Bering Sea teleconnection pattern, providing unfavourable moisture condition for the precipitation over the SCB and leading to the onset, development and maintenance of static weather in December. Therefore, the Q1 over the western TP and the SST pattern over the western Maritime Continent and western Australia may be potential indicators for the subseasonal prediction of HP in the SCB in December. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] People have been focusing on how to improve the specific capacity and cycling stability of lithium-sulfur batteries at room temperature, however, on some special occasions such as cold cities and aerospace fields, the operating temperature is low, which dramatically hinders the performance of batteries. Here, we report an iron carbide (Fe 3 C)/rGO composite as electrode host, the Fe 3 C nanoparticles in the composite have strong adsorption and high catalytic ability for polysulfide. The rGO makes the distribution of Fe 3 C nanoparticles more disperse, and this specific structure makes the deposition of Li 2 S more uniform. Therefore, it realizes the rapid transformation and high performance of lithium-sulfur batteries at both room and low temperatures. At room temperature, after 100 cycles at 1C current density, the reversible specific capacity of the battery can be stabilized at 889 ± 7.1 mAh/g. Even at −40 °C, in the first cycle battery still emits 542.9 ± 3.7 mAh/g specific capacity. This broadens the operating temperature for lithium-sulfur batteries and also provides a new idea for the selection of host materials for sulfur in low-temperature lithium-sulfur batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An imidazolyl hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF-T) with outstanding thermal and water stability was constructed by C–H⋯N hydrogen bonding and C–H⋯π interactions. UO22+ can be selectively captured by the imidazole group of HOF-T and rapidly reduced to UO2 under visible light irradiation, realizing exceptional uranium removal with high capacity and fast kinetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The talents of scientific and technological (sci-tech) innovators are crucial in maintaining the competitiveness of an organization. Based on organizational support theory, we examined the stimulation and effectiveness of sense of work gain in a survey of 459 sci-tech innovators under three types of paternalistic leadership: authoritarian, benevolent, and moral. The results showed that authoritarian leadership was negatively related to innovators' task performance, whereas both benevolent and moral leadership were positively related to their task performance. For sense of work gain, all three dimensions (survival, relationship, and growth gain) mediated the relationship between authoritarian leadership and task performance, and relationship gain and growth gain mediated the relationships between both benevolent and moral leadership, and task performance. Organizational support positively moderated the relationships between the three dimensions of sense of work gain and task performance. The findings provide theoretical and practical references for improving innovators' sense of work gain and task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MAPKKs, as one of the main members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade pathway, are located in the middle of the cascade and are involved in many physiological processes of plant growth and development, as well as stress tolerance. Previous studies have found that StMAPKK5 is responsive to drought and salt stress. To further investigate the function and regulatory mechanism of StMAPKK5 in potato stress response, potato variety 'Atlantic' was subjected to drought and NaCl treatments, and the expression of the StMAPKK5 gene was detected by qRT-PCR. StMAPKK5 overexpression and RNA interference-mediated StMAPKK5 knockdown potato plants were constructed. The relative water content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) activities, as well as proline (Pro) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents of plant leaves, were also assayed under drought and NaCl stress. The StMAPKK5 interacting proteins were identified and validated by yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). The results showed that the expression of StMAPKK5 was significantly up-regulated under drought and NaCl stress conditions. The StMAPKK5 protein was localized in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane. The expression of StMAPKK5 affected the relative water content, the enzymatic activities of SOD, CAT, and POD, and the proline and MDA contents of potatoes under drought and salt stress conditions. These results suggest that StMAPKK5 plays a significant role in regulating drought and salt tolerance in potato crop. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening identified four interacting proteins: StMYB19, StZFP8, StPUB-like, and StSKIP19. BiFC confirmed the authenticity of the interactions. These findings suggest that StMAPKK5 is crucial for potato growth, development, and response to adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Description of the driving forces for genetic divergence is important for understanding spatial pattern of biodiversity and development of conservation plans. Paleo‐climate, geographical barriers and habitat heterogeneity are considered to be the main influential factors; however, an integrative study is still lacking to reveal their interactions. Location: Eastern North America. Methods: Here, we generated MIG‐seq SNPs of 403 Sanguinaria canadensis samples and seven plastome data. The methods of phylogeography and landscape genomics were applied to infer their genetic divergence, demography, species distribution modelling, ecological differentiation and local adaptation. Results: We identified three distinct genetic lineages corresponding to geographical distributions isolated by the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Ecological niche modelling and population demographic inference demonstrated that the response of S. canadensis to Pleistocene climate changes was consistent with the pattern of southward contraction during the ice age and northward recolonization during the inter−/postglacial period. Isolation in multiple southern refugia was a key factor resulting in the genetic divergence, whereas secondary contact triggered by repeated range shifts allowed gene flow among different lineages. A greater effect of isolation‐by‐environment than isolation‐by‐distance was founded, which suggested heterogeneous environment was also a promotor of genetic differentiation. Candidate adaptive loci related to transposable elements were identified under the influence of divergent environmental selection. Ecological niche divergence also reflected adaptation to different environments. Main Conclusions: This study revealed that genetic divergence has occurred within S. canadensis populations under the combined effect of paleo‐climate, geographical barriers and habitat heterogeneity, and emphasized the necessity of establishing different conservation units in future biological conservation and management work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum coherence and quantum correlations are important components of quantum information theory, which play important roles in quantum information processing. In this paper, we quantify correlations from coherence. The correlations relative to channels via metric-adjusted skew information are put forward. The corresponding results are suitable for special channels, such as positive operator-valued measurements (POVMs), projection measurements and von Neumann measurements. In addition, we discuss the dynamics of quantum correlations in the Bell-diagonal state relative to some classical channels via metric-adjusted skew information. The typical two are the Werner state and the isotropic state. We find that some separable states in entanglement resources theory possess correlations. It also shows quantum channels will disturb quantum states and have a great influence on the correlations. The correlations relative to different channels via different versions of metric-adjusted skew information have their advantages. This has inspired one to study the problem of the existence and action of various quantum correlations in quantum theory to be easily applied to experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation optics (TO) provides an unprecedented technique to control electromagnetic (EM) waves by engineering the constitutive parameters of the surrounding medium through a proper spatial transformation. In general, ideal transformation optical devices require simultaneous electric and magnetic responses along all three dimensions. To ease the practical implementation, previous studies usually made use of reduced parameters or other simplified approaches, which inevitably introduce extra reflection or unwanted phase shift. Up to today, experimental realizations of full-parameter transformation optical devices in free space are still quite limited. Here, a general design strategy is proposed to solve this problem. As a specific example, a full-parameter spatial-compression TO medium with constitutive parameters taking the diagonal form diag(a, a , 1/ a) for the TM wave incidence was designed and realized experimentally. Such spatial-compression TO media were then applied to the implementation of an ideal omnidirectional invisibility cloak capable of concealing a large-scale object over a wide range of illumination angles. Both the simulation and experiment confirm that the cloak allows for nearly unity transmission of EM waves in the forward direction without introducing extra scattering or phase shift. This work constitutes an important stepping stone for future practical implementation of arbitrary full-parameter omnidirectional transformation optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mood disorders are often associated with hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction, and rumination has been implicated in delayed cortisol recovery. However, research findings on the impact of rumination on cortisol recovery have been inconsistent. The moderating effects of scalp prefrontal–limbic connections on the relationship between rumination and cortisol recovery may explain these discrepancies. Method: Acute stress was induced by a 5‐min simulated job interview. Salivary samples and affective ratings were collected at seven pre‐determined time points. After the simulated job interview, 35 healthy adult participants were randomly assigned to either the rumination condition (n = 17) or the distraction condition (n = 18). Results: Inducing stress and rumination led to increased cortisol levels, negative mood, and state rumination. Compared with the distraction group, the rumination group displayed delayed cortisol recovery and decreased scalp prefrontal–limbic connectivities, that is, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (LVLPFC) and left temporal area (LTMP) [ps <.05], and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (RDLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) [ps <.05]. The relationship between rumination and cortisol recovery was moderated by connectivities between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) and LTMP, RDLPFC and LTMP, LDLPFC and ACC, and RDLPFC and ACC [B = −0.98 to −0.35, SE = 0.15–0.34, ps <.05]. Higher rumination combined with reduced scalp prefrontal–limbic connectivities to predict delayed cortisol recovery. Conclusion: The current findings suggest that scalp prefrontal–limbic connectivity is a neural underpinning related to emotion regulation for the effects of state rumination on stress recovery. These findings also provide a potential target for non‐invasive intervention in HPA axis dysregulation. Our study identifies a potential neural mechanism for emotion regulation explaining how rumination affects the HPA axis and providing a neural target for non‐invasive interventions in HPA axis regulation. We complement previous evidence that scalp prefrontal–limbic connectivity moderates the rumination‐HPA axis recovery relationship. Specifically, higher rumination combined with reduced prefrontal–limbic connectivity, which is related to impaired emotion regulation, together predict delayed cortisol recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exosome-derived long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications of lncRNAs have been shown crucial functions in prostate cancer (PCa). Herein, we aim to investigate the detailed mechanism of exosome-derived lncRNA A1BG-AS1 in PCa process. Methods: PCa cell exosomes were extracted, exosomal marker proteins (CD63, CD9) were detected utilizing western blotting, and exosomes with overexpressing A1BG-AS1 were co-cultured with targeted PCa cells. qRT-PCR was used to detect A1BG-AS1 expression and m6A methyltransferase ZC3H13 in PCa. Transwell, colony formation and CCK-8 assays were utilized to assess the invasion, migration, and proliferation ability of PCa cells. Then, we performed actinomycin D and MeRIP assays to analyze the regulatory effect of ZC3H13 on A1BG-AS1 mRNA stability and m6A modification level. Results: We observed that A1BG-AS1 and ZC3H13 expression was restricted in PCa tumors. The invasion, proliferation and migratory capacities of PCa cells could be inhibited by up-regulating A1BG-AS1 or by co-culturing with exosomes that up-regulate A1BG-AS1. Additionally, ZC3H13 promoted stable A1BG-AS1 expression by regulating the m6A level of A1BG-AS1. Conclusion: Exosomal A1BG-AS1 was m6A-modified by the m6A methyltransferase ZC3H13 to stabilize expression and thus prevent PCa cell malignancy. These findings offer a possible target for clinical therapy of PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Shokurov's idea, we give a simple proof of the ACC conjecture for minimal log discrepancies for surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The condensation of ethyl cyanoacetate and salicylaldehyde would afford either coumarin-3-carboxylate ester or 3-cyancoumarin as the final product. Herein, comparative experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were investigated to pursue a deeper understanding of the critical factor in this reaction. Experimental results indicated that condensation is accomplished through a cascade process, including the Knoevenagel procedure followed by selective cyclization of the phenolic hydroxyl group to the cyano or ester carbonyl group within the intermediate. Product distribution correlates well with the acid–base properties of the catalyst and the ability of the catalyst for forming complex by hydrogen bonds. Also, an efficient and facile approach was developed for the preparation of coumarin-3-carboxylate ester as a major product from the reaction of ethyl cyanoacetate with salicylaldehyde. Low-transition-temperature mixture (LTTM) formed from L-proline and oxalic acid was proved as an inexpensive, easily available, and efficient promoter which not only affords the products in high yields but also avoids the use of hazardous solvent and tedious isolation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precision and predictive power of perturbative QCD (pQCD) prediction depends on both a precise, convergent, fixed-order series and a reliable way of estimating the contributions of unknown higher-order (UHO) terms. It has been shown that by applying the principle of maximum conformality (PMC), which applies the renormalization group equation recursively to set the effective magnitude of α s of the process, the remaining conformal coefficients will be well matched with the corresponding α s at each order, leading to a scheme-and-scale invariant and more convergent perturbative series. The PMC series, being satisfied with the standard renormalization group invariance, has a rigorous foundation. Thus it not only can be widely applied to virtually all high-energy hadronic processes, but also can be a reliable platform for estimating UHO contributions. In this paper, by using the total decay width Γ (H → γ γ) which has been calculated up to N4LO QCD corrections, we first derive its PMC series by using the PMC single-scale setting approach and then estimate its unknown N5LO contributions by using a Bayesian analysis. The newly suggested Bayesian-based approach estimates the magnitude of the UHO contributions based on an optimized analysis of the probability density distribution, and the predicted UHO contribution becomes more accurate when more loop terms have been known to tame the probability density function. Using the top-quark pole mass M t = 172.69 GeV and the Higgs mass M H = 125.25 GeV as inputs, we obtain Γ (H → γ γ) = 9.56504 keV , and the estimated N5LO contribution to the total decay width is Δ Γ H = ± 1.65 × 10 − 4 keV for the smallest credible interval of 95.5 % degree of belief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown that changes in the microbial community of the female urogenital tract are associated with Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. However, research on this association was mostly focused on a single site, and there are currently few joint studies on HPV infection and multiple sites in the female urogenital tract. Methods: We selected 102 healthy women from Yunnan Province as the research object, collected cervical exfoliation fluid, vaginal, urethral, and rectal swabs for microbial community analysis, and measured bacterial load, and related cytokine content. The link between HPV, microbiota, and inflammation was comprehensively evaluated using bioinformatics methods. Findings: The impact of HPV infection on the microbial composition of different parts varies. We have identified several signature bacterial genera that respond to HPV infection in several detection sites, such as Corynebacterium, Lactobacillus, Campylobacter, and Cutibacterium have been detected in multiple sites, reflecting their potential significance in cross body sites HPV infection responses. There was a solid microbial interaction network between the cervix, vagina, and urethra. The interrelationships between inflammatory factors and different bacterial genera might also affect the immune system's response to HPV infection. Interpretation: It might be an effective strategy to prevent and treat HPV infection by simultaneously understanding the correlation between the microbial changes in multiple parts of the female urogenital tract and rectum and HPV infection, and controlling the microbial network related to HPV infection in different parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the effects of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (LncRNA) repulsive guidance molecules B-antisense chain (RGMB-AS1) on the proliferation, migration and invasion of human prostate cancer cells (DU145), and explore its targeting effect on miR-574-3p. Methods Human prostate cancer cells (DU145) were cultured and used in the study. Cell tests were divided into 9 groups including RGMB-AS1 upregulation group (transfected with pcDNA3. 1-RGMB-AS1), RGMB-AS1 upregulation control group (transfected with pcDNA3. 1 control), RGMB-AS1 downregulation group (transfected with si-RGMB-ASl), RGMB-AS1 downregulation control group (transfected with si-NC), miR-574-3p upregulation group (transfected with miR-574-3p mimics), miR-574-3p upregulation control group (transfected with miR mimics NC ), miR-574-3p downregulation group (transfected with miR-574-3 p inhibitor), miR-574-3p downregulated control group (transfected with miR inhibitor NC) and blank group, and 3 wells in each group. After 48 hours culture, cell proliferation activity was detected by CCK-8 assay. Cell migration ability was evaluated by wound healing assay. Cell invasive ability was assessed by Matrigel invasion assay (Transwell chamber). The expression of LncRNA RGMB-AS1, the expression of miR-574-3p, and the gene expressions of Cyclin D1, P21, ZEB1, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and Vimentin were detected by LncRNA-RT-qPCR, miRNA-RT-qPCR and RT-qPCR, respectively. The protein expressions of Cyclin Dl, P21, ZEB1, N-cadherin, E-cadherin, and VIM were measured by western blot. The dual luciferase gene reporter assay was used to determine whether LncRNA RGMB-AS1 targets miR-574-3p. Results Compared with those in the blank group, RGMB-AS1 up-regulated control group, RGMB-AS1 down-regulated control group, miR-574-3p up-regulated control group, and miR-574-3p down-regulated control group, the D value, scratch healing rates, invasive cell counts, Cyclin Dl, ZEB1, N-cadherin, and VIM expressions in the RGMB-AS1 up-regulated group and miR-574-3p up-regulated group were all decreased (P <0. 05), while the proliferation inhibition rates, P21, and E-cadherin expressions were all increased (P <0.05). Simultaneously, the D value, scratch healing rates, invasive cell counts, Cyclin Dl, ZEB1, N-cadherin, and VIM expressions in the RGMB-AS1 down-regulated group and miR-574-3p down-regulated group were all increased (P <0. 05), while the proliferation inhibition rates, P21, and E-cadherin expressions were all decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the miR-NC group, the miR-574-3p mimics group showed a decrease in Wt-RGMR-AS1 luciferase activity (P<0. 05), but little change in Mut RGMB-AS1-luciferase activity (P > 0. 05). Conclusion Upregulation of LncRNA RGMB-AS1 can target upregulation of miR-574-3p to inhibit the proliferation, migration, and invasion of human prostate cancer cells, which may be attributed to downregulation of Cyclin D1, ZEB1, N-cadherin, VIM expressions, and upregulation of P21 and E-cadherin expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the desensitization treatment of patients waiting for kidney transplantation, this article comparative analysis of the effect of splenic irradiation on mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values of HLA antibodies of 4 presensitized patients. After splenic irradiation, the mean MFI values of HLA-I antibody in 4 patients all decreased (P ≤.001, P ≤.001, P ≤.001, P ≤.001), and 3 patients had a decrease in intensity level (P ≤.001, P =.001, P ≤.001); as for HLA-II antibody, the mean MFI values in 3 patients also decreased (P ≤.001, P =.025, P =.016), 1 patient had a decrease in intensity level (P ≤.001) and the other 2 cases had no significant changes (P = 1.000, P =.564). On the other hand, splenic irradiation reduces MFI values in different levels of HLA antibody. So, splenic irradiation can reduce the MFI values of HLA antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have indicated that some blood metrics play a crucial role in the diagnostic and prognostic values of various solid tumours. However, their comprehensive and unbiased comparison for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been performed. Twenty blood metrics evaluated in tumours or noncancerous diseases were selected. We selected 1089 patients with NPC and analyzed the relationship between these metrics, clinical characteristics, and overall survival (OS). The albumin and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) exhibited a high area under the curve (AUC) value (> 0.7) together with high "sensitivity (Sen) + specificity (Spe) (> 1.5)" or Youden index (> 0.5) when compared to healthy populations. In comparing NPC and nasal polyps, 9 of 20 blood metrics showed a high AUC value (> 0.7). However, only the PNI and international normalised ratio show a sufficiently high Sen + Spe or Youden Index. None of them could distinguish the status of the TNM classification well. Only the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) could predict the OS of patients with NPC (cut-off, 4.91; p = 0.0069). Blood metrics as non-invasive biomarkers are valuable tools for clinical management. Among these indicators, PNI is the most ideal indicator to distinguish NPC from healthy and nasal polyps. The LMR has good prognostic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In all-day-all-weather tasks, well-aligned multi-modality images pairs can provide extensive complementary information for image-guided UAV target detection. However, multi-modality images in real scenarios are often misaligned, and images registration is extremely difficult due to spatial deformation and the difficulty narrowing cross-modality discrepancy. To better overcome the obstacle, in this paper, we construct a General Cross-Modality Registration (GCMR) Framework, which explores generation registration pattern to simplify the cross-modality image registration into a easier mono-modality image registration with an Image Cross-Modality Translation Network (ICMTN) module and a Multi-level Residual Dense Registration Network (MRDRN). Specifically, ICMTN module is used to generate a pseudo infrared image taking a visible image as input and correct the distortion of structural information during the translation of image modalities. Benefiting from the favorable geometry correct ability of the ICMTN, we further employs MRDRN module which can fully extract and exploit the mutual information of misaligned images to better registered Visible and Infrared image in a mono-modality setting. We evaluate five variants of our approach on the public Anti-UAV datasets. The extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed architecture achieves state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resource theory of imaginarity provides a valuable framework for understanding the role of complex numbers. Quantum channels play a vital role in extraction and transmission of information, and they can both destroy and create imaginarity in quantum states. In this article, we introduce the concepts of imaginaring and deimaginaring power of quantum channels to describe quantum channels' ability to create and destroy imaginarity. Furthermore, the imaginaring and deimaginaring power for several typical single-qubit channels based on l 1 norm, robustness and relative entropy of imaginarity were computed. In addition, we define the non-imaginarity-generating channel as the completely positive trace-preserving map which does not generate quantum imaginarity from an real state. Several properties of non-imaginarity-generating channels are investigated. Finally, we explore the trade-off relationship between imaginarity and entanglement. The relationship between the deimaginaring power of quantum channels based on relative entropy of the imaginarity and entanglement is studied. Additionally, we explore the creation of imaginarity in a bipartite state. We demonstrate that it is dependent on both the mixedness of initial system and the minimum amount of entanglement that can be created. Our work further studies imaginarity, which will contribute to the development of quantum mechanics and quantum techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides the well-known DNA double-helix, non-canonical nucleic acid structures regulate crucial biological activities. Among these oddities, guanine-rich DNA sequences can form unusual four-stranded secondary structures called G-quadruplexes (G4s). G4-prone sequences have been found in the genomes of most species, and G4s play important roles in essential processes such as transcription, replication, genome integrity and epigenetic regulation. Here, we present a short overview of G-quadruplexes followed by a detailed description of the biophysical and biochemical methods used to characterize G4s in vitro. The principles, experimental details and possible shortcomings of each method are discussed to provide a comprehensive view of the techniques used to study these structures. We aim to provide a set of guidelines for standardizing research on G-quadruplexes; these guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, but should rather provide useful information on the methods currently used to study these fascinating motifs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-doped ZnO thin films have attracted much attention in the field of transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) in solar cells, displays, and other transparent electronics. Unlike conventional single-doped ZnO, co-doped ZnO utilizes two different dopant elements, offering enhanced electrical properties and more controllable optical properties, including transmittance and haze; however, most previous studies focused on the electrical properties, with less attention paid to obtaining high haze using co-doping. Here, we prepare high-haze Ga- and Zr-co-doped ZnO (GZO:Zr or ZGZO) using atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) systems. We conduct a detailed analysis to examine the interplay between Zr concentrations and film properties. UV-Vis spectroscopy shows a remarkable haze factor increase of 7.19% to 34.8% (+384%) for the films prepared with 2 at% Zr and 8 at% Ga precursor concentrations. EDS analysis reveals Zr accumulation on larger and smaller particles, while SIMS links particle abundance to impurity uptake and altered electrical properties. XPS identifies Zr mainly as ZrO2 because of lattice stress from Zr doping, forming clusters at lattice boundaries and corroborating the SEM findings. Our work presents a new way to fabricate Ga- and Zr-co-doped ZnO for applications that require low electrical resistivity, high visible transparency, and high haze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crush syndrome (CS), also known as traumatic rhabdomyolysis, is a syndrome with a wide clinical spectrum; it is caused by external compression, which often occurs in earthquakes, wars, and traffic accidents, especially in large-scale disasters. Crush syndrome is the second leading cause of death after direct trauma in earthquakes. A series of clinical complications caused by crush syndrome, including hyperkalemia, myoglobinuria, and, in particular, acute kidney injury (AKI), is the main cause of death in crush syndrome. The early diagnosis of crush syndrome, the correct evaluation of its severity, and accurate predictions of a poor prognosis can provide personalized suggestions for rescuers to carry out early treatments and reduce mortality. This review summarizes various methods for the diagnostic and predictive evaluation of crush syndrome, including urine dipstick tests for a large number of victims, traditional and emerging biomarkers, imaging-assisted diagnostic methods, and developed evaluation models, with the aim of providing materials for scholars in this research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Typical LiNi x Co y Mn 1- x - y O 2 (NCM) layered oxides are a promising research area for high-energy–density cathode materials. However, they still suffer from structural disorder due to severe Li/Ni mixing caused by solid-state reactions at high temperatures (700–900 °C). To address these problems, most strategies focus on increasing the energy barrier of Ni2+ migration towards Li+ sites, such as doping or annealing in an O 2 -rich atmosphere. Herein, we report a new strategy of lowering processing temperature for effectively regulating Li/Ni mixing, achieved by hydrothermal ion exchange. The ion exchange can achieve a rapid substitution of Li+ ions for Na+ ions at relatively low temperatures (160–220 °C), allowing the NCM to maintain low Li/Ni mixing (<1%). Our ab initio calculations further demonstrate that the Ni2+ diffusion rate in ion-exchanged NCM523 at 200 °C is significantly slower in the order of 10−12 than that in NCM523 calcined at 900 °C, indicating that processing temperature is crucial to regulating Li/Ni mixing. That is, Li/Ni mixing of NCM523 materials is effectively regulated during ion exchange, further enhancing the structural stability and electrochemical performance. In addition, the universality of hydrothermal ion exchange was further proved by synthesizing NCM materials with good structural stability for different nickel contents (x = 0.5, 0.65, 0.7, 0.85). We anticipate that our ion-exchange strategy opens a new door towards regulating Li/Ni mixing by lowering processing temperature, enabling layered oxide materials with enhanced structural stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have indicated that some blood metrics play a crucial role in the diagnostic and prognostic values of various solid tumours. However, their comprehensive and unbiased comparison for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has not been performed. Twenty blood metrics evaluated in tumours or noncancerous diseases were selected. We selected 1089 patients with NPC and analyzed the relationship between these metrics, clinical characteristics, and overall survival (OS). The albumin and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) exhibited a high area under the curve (AUC) value (> 0.7) together with high "sensitivity (Sen) + specificity (Spe) (> 1.5)" or Youden index (> 0.5) when compared to healthy populations. In comparing NPC and nasal polyps, 9 of 20 blood metrics showed a high AUC value (> 0.7). However, only the PNI and international normalised ratio show a sufficiently high Sen + Spe or Youden Index. None of them could distinguish the status of the TNM classification well. Only the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) could predict the OS of patients with NPC (cut-off, 4.91; p = 0.0069). Blood metrics as non-invasive biomarkers are valuable tools for clinical management. Among these indicators, PNI is the most ideal indicator to distinguish NPC from healthy and nasal polyps. The LMR has good prognostic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypersaline wastewater management is a crucial issue for water‐energy nexus. Evaporation‐based zero liquid discharge (ZLD) desalination shows great promise to detoxify the hypersaline wastewater. However, salt formed on the evaporation surface compromises the efficiency and continuity of desalination. Here, the study reports a photothermal lubricant‐infused surface (PLIS), capable of inducing mobile salt crystallization and eliminating salt scaling during desalination. Few nuclei initiate away from the PLIS, followed by migration inward as salt growth, leading to compact crystal. The final dewetting process leaves only scattered protrusions from crystal bottom contacting with the PLIS. Such a converged small area plus pinpoint contacting mode produce an ultralow adhesion of salt to the substrate (≈2 mN mg−1), ≈40 times lower than that on a regular‐used hydrophobic surface. The salt crystal precipitated on the PLIS can be blown off easily by air flow, refreshing the evaporating surface for continuous desalination and realizing ZLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In all-day-all-weather tasks, well-aligned multi-modality images pairs can provide extensive complementary information for image-guided UAV target detection. However, multi-modality images in real scenarios are often misaligned, and images registration is extremely difficult due to spatial deformation and the difficulty narrowing cross-modality discrepancy. To better overcome the obstacle, in this paper, we construct a General Cross-Modality Registration (GCMR) Framework, which explores generation registration pattern to simplify the cross-modality image registration into a easier mono-modality image registration with an Image Cross-Modality Translation Network (ICMTN) module and a Multi-level Residual Dense Registration Network (MRDRN). Specifically, ICMTN module is used to generate a pseudo infrared image taking a visible image as input and correct the distortion of structural information during the translation of image modalities. Benefiting from the favorable geometry correct ability of the ICMTN, we further employs MRDRN module which can fully extract and exploit the mutual information of misaligned images to better registered Visible and Infrared image in a mono-modality setting. We evaluate five variants of our approach on the public Anti-UAV datasets. The extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed architecture achieves state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clustering the trajectories of vehicles moving on road networks is a key data mining technique for understanding human mobility patterns, as well as their interactions with urban environments. The development of efficient and scalable trajectory clustering algorithms, however, still faces challenges because of the computational costs when measuring similarities among a large number of network-constrained trajectories. To address this problem, a novel trajectory clustering framework based on the well-developed Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) approach is proposed. This proposed framework accurately quantifies similarities using a trajectory representation of continuous polylines in the space and time dimensions, and does not require trajectory discretization. Further, the proposed framework utilizes the space-time buffering concept to formulate ε -neighborhood queries that directly retrieve the ε -neighbors of trajectories and thus avoids computing a trajectory similarity matrix. State-of-the-art trajectory databases and index structures are incorporated to further improve trajectory clustering performance. A comprehensive case study was carried out using an open dataset of 20,161 trajectories. Results show that the proposed framework efficiently executed trajectory clustering on the large test dataset within 3 min. This was approximately 2,700 times faster than existing DBSCAN algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A formulation is given for the spectral transformation of the generalized eigenvalue problem through the decomposition of the second‐order differential operators. This allows us to construct some Laurent biorthogonal polynomial systems with gaps in the degree of the polynomial sequence. These correspond to an exceptional‐type extension of the orthogonal polynomials, as an extension of the Laurent biorthogonal polynomials. Specifically, we construct the exceptional extension of the Hendriksen–van Rossum polynomials, which are biorthogonal analogs of the classical orthogonal polynomials. Similar to the cases of exceptional extensions of classical orthogonal polynomials, both state‐deletion and state‐addition occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequentist semiparametric theory has been used extensively to develop doubly robust (DR) causal estimation. DR estimation combines outcome regression (OR) and propensity score (PS) models in such a way that correct specification of just one of two models is enough to obtain consistent parameter estimation. An equivalent Bayesian solution, however, is not straightforward as there is no obvious distributional framework to the joint OR and PS model, and the DR approach involves a semiparametric estimating equation framework without a fully specified likelihood. In this paper, we develop a fully semiparametric Bayesian framework for DR causal inference by bridging a nonparametric Bayesian procedure with empirical likelihood via semiparametric linear regression. Instead of specifying a fully probabilistic model, this procedure is only realized through relevant moment conditions. Crucially, this allows the posterior distribution of the causal parameter to be simulated via Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. We show that the posterior distribution of the causal estimator satisfies consistency and the Bernstein–von Mises theorem, when either the OR or PS is correctly specified. Simulation studies suggest that our proposed method is doubly robust and can achieve the desired coverage rate. We also apply this novel Bayesian method to a real data example to assess the impact of speed cameras on car collisions in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers a promising hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) synthetic strategy, especially the one‐step two‐electron (2e−) ORR route holds great potential in achieving highly efficient and selectivity. However, efficient one‐step 2e− ORR is rarely harvested and the underlying mechanism for regulating the ORR pathways remains greatly obscure. Here, by loading sulfone units into covalent organic frameworks (FS‐COFs), we present an efficient photocatalyst for H2O2 generation via one‐step 2e− ORR from pure water and air. Under visible light irradiation, FS‐COFs exert a superb H2O2 yield of 3904.2 μmol h−1 g−1, outperforming most reported metal‐free catalysts under similar conditions. Experimental and theoretical investigation reveals that the sulfone units accelerate the separation of photoinduced electron‐hole (e−‐h+) pairs, enhance the protonation of COFs, and promote O2 adsorption in the Yeager‐type, which jointly alters the reaction process from two‐step 2e− ORR to the one‐step one, thereby achieving efficient H2O2 generation with high selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers a promising hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) synthetic strategy, especially the one‐step two‐electron (2e−) ORR route holds great potential in achieving highly efficient and selectivity. However, efficient one‐step 2e− ORR is rarely harvested and the underlying mechanism for regulating the ORR pathways remains greatly obscure. Here, by loading sulfone units into covalent organic frameworks (FS‐COFs), we present an efficient photocatalyst for H2O2 generation via one‐step 2e− ORR from pure water and air. Under visible light irradiation, FS‐COFs exert a superb H2O2 yield of 3904.2 μmol h−1 g−1, outperforming most reported metal‐free catalysts under similar conditions. Experimental and theoretical investigation reveals that the sulfone units accelerate the separation of photoinduced electron‐hole (e−‐h+) pairs, enhance the protonation of COFs, and promote O2 adsorption in the Yeager‐type, which jointly alters the reaction process from two‐step 2e− ORR to the one‐step one, thereby achieving efficient H2O2 generation with high selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the potential of H2-calponin (CNN2) as a serum biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), this study employed the serological analysis of recombinantly expressed cDNA clone (SEREX) technique to identify the presence of CNN2 antibody in the serum of patients with HCC and other tumors. The CNN2 protein was produced through genetic engineering and used as an antigen to determine the positive rate of serum CNN2 autoantibodies via indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, the mRNA and protein expressions of CNN2 in cells and tissues were evaluated using RT-PCR, in situ RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry methods. The HCC group exhibited a significantly higher positive rate of anti-CNN2 antibody (54.8%) compared to gastric cancer (6.5%), lung cancer (3.2%), rectal cancer (9.7%), hepatitis (3.2%), liver cirrhosis (3.2%), and normal tissues (3.1%). The positive rates of CNN2 mRNA in HCC with metastasis, non-metastatic HCC, lung cancer, gastric cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, liver cirrhosis, and hepatitis were 56.67%, 41.67%, 17.5%, 10.0%, 20.0%, 53.13%, and 41.67%, respectively. Meanwhile, the positive rates of CNN2 protein were 63.33%, 37.5%, 17.5%, 27.5%, 45%, 31.25%, and 20.83%, respectively. The down-regulation of CNN2 could inhibit the migration and invasion of liver cancer cells. CNN2 is a newly identified HCC-associated antigen that is implicated in the migration and invasion of liver cancer cells, making it a promising target for liver cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered oxide cathodes such as Ni‐rich ternary and Li‐rich layered cathode materials have been widely used for lithium‐ion batteries owing to their excellent Li+ transport properties, high energy density, and relatively low cost. However, such layered cathode materials synthesized by high‐temperature sintering face inherent issues such as low structural stability, irreversible migration of transition metal ions, and irreversible redox reactions of oxygen anions. To make a breakthrough from the perspective of material synthesis, a new ion‐exchange synthesis has emerged in recent years, which is a promising strategy for synthesis of Li‐ion cathodes. Herein, the fundamentals of ion‐exchange synthesis and their implications in layered oxide cathodes for lithium‐ion batteries is presented. Specifically, ion‐exchange synthesis and mechanisms of ion exchange are introduced in detail, followed by a discussion of the reduction of synthetic temperature, the synthesis of novel crystal structures, the inhibited migration of transition metal ions, the increased reversibility of anionic redox, and the optimized surface reconstruction. Finally, a summary and outlook is provided for ion‐exchange synthesis of layered oxide cathodes for lithium‐ion batteries. It is anticipated that this ion‐exchange synthesis will facilitate the commercialization of high‐performance cathode materials for next generation Li‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For high cutting slopes, it is quite necessary to set pre-reinforced structures before the slope excavation to avoid the slope failure during the excavating. In this paper, the multi-wedge translation mechanism is used to analyze the stability of high cutting slopes pre-reinforced with piles. First, the multivariate functions are established to calculate safety factor for the slope during the excavating. Based on the safety factor of the slope during the excavating process, it can be determined that whether the slope need set the pre-reinforced piles before excavating. If need, the most significant factor for pre-reinforced pile design is the stabilising force. Then the expressions are derived to calculate the stabilising force provided by the pre-reinforced piles to increase the safety factor to assure the high cutting slope is stable. At last, an example is taken to illustrate the method proposed in this study. The result shows that the safety factor for the slope is change with the excavating. The stabilising force is influenced by the location of pre-reinforced piles, excavation distance and slope angle. The most suitable location of pre-reinforced piles within the high cutting slope also had been determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Because of the low regeneration efficiency and unclear underlying molecular mechanism, tooth regeneration applications are limited. In this study, we explored the influence of residual periodontal ligament on the dentin regeneration potential of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in the jaw. Methods: To establish a tooth regeneration model, the incisors of New Zealand white rabbits were extracted while preserving residual periodontal ligament, followed by the implantation of DPSCs. After 3 months, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to observe the volume, morphology and microstructure of regenerated tissue. Histological staining and immunostaining analyses were used to observe the morphological characteristics and expression of the dentin-specific proteins DMP1 and DSPP. To explore the mechanism, DPSCs and periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) were cocultured in vitro, and RNA was collected from the DPSCs for RNA-seq and bioinformatic analysis. Results: The results of micro-CT and stereomicroscopy showed that the number of sites with regeneration and the volume of regenerated tissue in the DPSCs/PDL group (6/8, 1.07 ± 0.93 cm3) were larger than those in the DPSCs group (3/8, 0.23 ± 0.41 cm3). The results of SEM showed that the regenerated dentin-like tissue in the DPSCs and DPSCs/PDL groups contained dentin tubules. Haematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical staining indicated that compared with the DPSCs group, the DPSCs/PDL group showed more regular regenerated tissue and higher expression levels of the dentin-specific proteins DMP1 and DSPP (DMP1: P = 0.02, DSPP: P = 0.01). RNA-seq showed that the coculture of DPSCs with PDLSCs resulted in the DPSCs differentially expressing 427 mRNAs (285 upregulated and 142 downregulated), 41 lncRNAs (26 upregulated and 15 downregulated), 411 circRNAs (224 upregulated and 187 downregulated), and 19 miRNAs (13 upregulated and 5 downregulated). Bioinformatic analysis revealed related Gene Ontology function and signalling pathways, including extracellular matrix (ECM), tumour necrosis factor (TNF) signalling and chemokine signalling pathways. Conclusions: Residual periodontal ligament in the extraction socket promotes the dentin regeneration potential of DPSCs in the jaw. RNA-seq and bioinformatic analysis revealed that ECM, TNF signalling and chemokine signalling pathways may represent the key factors and signalling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop clustering procedures for longitudinal trajectories based on a continuous‐time hidden Markov model (CTHMM) and a generalized linear observation model. Specifically, in this article we carry out finite and infinite mixture model‐based clustering for a CTHMM and achieve inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). For a finite mixture model with a prior on the number of components, we implement reversible‐jump MCMC to facilitate the trans‐dimensional move between models with different numbers of clusters. For a Dirichlet process mixture model, we utilize restricted Gibbs sampling split–merge proposals to improve the performance of the MCMC algorithm. We apply our proposed algorithms to simulated data as well as a real‐data example, and the results demonstrate the desired performance of the new sampler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of Spatiotemporal Big Data has provided a golden opportunity for time geographical studies that have long been constrained by the lack of individual-level data. However, how to store, manage, and query a huge number of time geographic entities effectively and efficiently with complex spatiotemporal characteristics and relationships poses a significant challenge to contemporary GIS platforms. In this article, a hierarchical compressed linear reference (CLR) model is proposed to transform network-constrained time geographic entities from three-dimensional (3D) (x, y, t) space into two-dimensional (2D) space. Accordingly, time geographic entities can be represented as 2D spatial entities and stored in a classical spatial database. The proposed CLR model supports a hierarchical linear reference system (LRS) including not only underlying a link-based LRS but also multiple higher-level route-based LRSs. In addition, an LRS-based spatiotemporal index structure is developed to index both time geographic entities and the corresponding hierarchical network. The results of computational experiments on large datasets of space–time paths and prisms show that the proposed hierarchical CLR model is effective at storing and managing time geographic entities in road networks. The developed index structure achieves satisfactory query performance in milliseconds on large datasets of time geographic entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the phase setting method for a spherical conformal antenna array to achieve a wide beamwidth circularly polarized radiation pattern. A dodecahedral spherical array was fabricated and measured to validate the phase setting method. The array adopts a regular dodecahedron spatial distribution structure composed of 11 dual‐polarization elements. By exciting 11 elements simultaneously with designed phase distributions, the proposed spherical array can achieve a wide beamwidth of more than 210° with circular polarization by selecting the radius of the dodecahedron. In addition, the power division network of the array is designed and processed, and the feed network is simplified by rotating the antenna element port to control the phase. Measurements agree well with the simulations. The measured results show that the proposed spherical antenna array achieves a half‐power beamwidth of more than 210° and an axial‐ratio beamwidth of larger than 240°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Corneal edema (CE) affects the outcome of phacoemulsification. Effective ways to predict the CE after phacoemulsification are needed. Methods: On the basis of data from patients conforming to the protocol of the AGSPC trial, 17 variables were selected to predict CE after phacoemulsification by constructing a CE nomogram through multivariate logistic regression, which was improved via variable selection with copula entropy. The prediction models were evaluated using predictive accuracy, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results: Data from 178 patients were used to construct prediction models. After copula entropy variable selection, which shifted the variables used for prediction in the CE nomogram from diabetes, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), lens thickness and cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) to CDE and BCVA in the Copula nomogram, there was no significant change in predictive accuracy (0.9039 vs. 0.9098). There was also no significant difference in AUCs between the CE nomogram and the Copula nomogram (0.9637, 95% CI 0.9329–0.9946 vs. 0.9512, 95% CI 0.9075–0.9949; p = 0.2221). DCA suggested that the Copula nomogram has clinical application. Conclusions: This study obtained a nomogram with good performance to predict CE after phacoemulsification, and showed the improvement of copula entropy for nomogram models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ultramild reaction condition for the hydrocarbonylation of alkynes, which is performed under atmospheric pressure of CO in the absence of acids, has been developed. Palladium hydride (Pd-H) generated from triethylsilane (Et3SiH) rather than the traditionally used strong acid (HX) is applied for the first time in this transformation. In addition, an unusual counteranion-controlled linear and branch selectivity for terminal alkynes is observed under otherwise identical conditions. A wide range of 1,1-, 1,2-, and 1,2,2-substituted α,β-unsaturated thioesters or amides are regioselectively obtained from terminal and internal alkynes in moderate to excellent yields. Furthermore, the first enantioselective construction of indolone derivatives with a C–N chiral axis is achieved when using 2-(tert-butyl)-N-(2-alkynylphenyl)aniline as the substrate in the presence of TMS-SYNPHOS as the chiral ligand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluidics system is an indispensable and primary component of phacoemulsification. Both the gravity-fluidics system and active-fluidics system are commonly used in practice. The irrigation pressure of the gravity-fluidics system is determined by the bottle height, which is relatively constant, while the active-fluidics system is paired with a cassette that contains pressure sensors to monitor intraocular pressure changes. The active-fluidics system allows surgeons to preset a target intraocular pressure value, and it replenishes the fluids proactively; thus, the intraocular pressure is consistently maintained near the target value. Under such circumstances, stable intraocular pressure and anterior chamber volume values could be acquired. Research on surgical safety, efficiency and results have reported several strengths of the active-fluidics system. It is also advantageous in some complicated cataract surgeries. However, the system is not widely used at present, mainly due to its low penetration rate and high equipment cost. Some of its updates such as the new Active Sentry handpiece showed potential superiority in laboratory studies recently, but there is still further research to be conducted. This article gives an overview of the mechanism and performance of the active-fluidics system, and it is expected to provide clues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties and functions of BMSCs were altered by the diabetic microenvironment, and its mechanism was not very clear. In recent years, the regulation of the function of BMSCs by microRNA has become a research hotspot, meanwhile, HOX genes also have been focused on and involved in multiple functions of stem cells. In this study, we investigated the role of miR‐139‐5p in diabetes‐induced BMSC impairment. Since HOXA9 may be a target gene of miR‐139‐5p, we speculated that miR‐139‐5p/HOXA9 might be involved in regulating the biological characteristics and the function of BMSCs in diabetes. We demonstrated that the miR‐139‐5p expression was increased in BMSCs derived from STZ‐induced diabetic rats. MiR‐139‐5p mimics were able to inhibit cell proliferation, and migration and promoted senescence and apoptosis in vitro. MiR‐139‐5p induced the down‐regulated expression of HOXA9 and c‐Fos in BMSCs derived from normal rats. Moreover, miR‐139‐5p inhibitors reversed the tendency in diabetic‐derived BMSCs. Further, gain‐and‐loss function experiments indicated that miR‐139‐5p regulated the functions of BMSCs by targeting HOXA9 and c‐Fos. In vivo wound model experiments showed that the downregulation of miR‐139‐5p further promoted the epithelialization and angiogenesis of diabetic BMSC‐mediated skin. In conclusion, induction of miR‐139‐5p upregulation mediated the impairment of BMSCs through the HOXA9/c‐Fos pathway in diabetic rats. Therefore, miR‐139‐5p/HOXA9 might be an important therapeutic target in treating diabetic BMSCs and diabetic complications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. It was initially detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Compared to healthy individuals, patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) are at a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the potential mechanisms remain unclear. This study explores the underlying molecular mechanisms and therapeutic agents for the management of IgAN and COVID-19 using the bioinformatics and system biology way. Methods: We first downloaded GSE73953 and GSE164805 from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to obtain common differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Then, we performed the functional enrichment analysis, pathway analysis, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, gene regulatory networks analysis, and potential drug analysis on these common DEGs. Results: We acquired 312 common DEGs from the IgAN and COVID-19 datasets and used various bioinformatics tools and statistical analyses to construct the PPI network to extract hub genes. Besides, we performed gene ontology (GO) and pathway analyses to reveal the common correlation between IgAN and COVID-19. Finally, on the basis of common DEGs, we determined the interactions between DEGs-miRNAs, the transcription factor-genes (TFs-genes), protein-drug, and gene-disease networks. Conclusion: We successfully identified hub genes that may act as biomarkers of COVID-19 and IgAN and also screened out some potential drugs to provide new ideas for COVID-19 and IgAN treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband coplanar waveguide‐fed printed monopole antenna is proposed. The wideband performance of the monopole is achieved by compressing the third‐ and fifth‐order modes. By loading the bending line at the zero point of the third‐order mode of the monopole current distribution, the fifth‐order mode resonant frequency decreases significantly, while the third‐order mode resonant frequency remains almost constant. Therefore, a wideband impedance match is achieved. A fully functional prototype was fabricated and characterized. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated results. A wideband from 2.92 to 3.66 GHz (22.5%) was achieved in a thin structure of 85 × 33 mm2, exhibiting a measured omnidirectional radiation pattern with 2.4–4.9 dBi gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on the carbonation resistance of concretes incorporating dolomite powder with water–binder ratio (w/b) of 0.55 and 0.36. The micro-morphology, micro-pore structure and carbonation depth of cement-based materials incorporating dolomite powder were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and carbonization test box. The 28-day carbonation depth of concretes with a w/b of 0.55 in the case of dolomite powder at 50 wt% replacement level decreased by 39.62% compared with that of pure concretes. The carbonation resistance of concretes was improved with increasing dolomite powder dosage due to the fact that dolomite powder had the pore refinement efficiency on the carbonated cement pastes. The service life of concretes with a w/b of 0.55 incorporating dolomite powder under natural carbonation condition was obtained based on Alekseyev's carbonation correction model. The durability life of concrete structure with a w/b of 0.55 was prolonged with the addition of dolomite powder. After carbonation for 28 days, concretes with a w/b of 0.36 were hardly affected by carbonation corrosion. The pore structure of concretes with a w/b of 0.36 became dense, inhibiting the penetration of CO2 into the concretes due to a lower water–binder ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]