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Understanding the social feasibility of wildlife conservation approaches is essential to reducing social conflicts over wildlife and public backlash toward wildlife agencies and organizations. The Potential for Conflict Index2 (PCI2) and geospatial analyses of conflict can help wildlife practitioners strategically engage their publics, but these two tools have yet to be combined. Using data from a 2021 survey about white‐tailed deer in Indiana (n = 1806), we analyzed conflict levels among stakeholder self‐identities and political ideologies regarding the acceptability of six possible management methods, three lethal and three nonlethal. We then conducted a hotspot analysis of gridded PCI2 values to map areas of high and low social conflicts across the state. Conflict potentials showed more consistent covariation with political ideologies than with stakeholder self‐identities, aligning with urban–rural divides in wildlife experiences. Data on political leanings and residency may thus be more reliable than stakeholder categories to predict social conflicts over wildlife management. Hotspots of conflict over lethal methods clustered around urban areas, indicating that agencies should focus on engaging urban residents about deer management. Our conflict hotspots can be combined with other spatial data to create social units of analysis, which can help practitioners develop targeted and socially accepted strategies for wildlife conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present temporal compressive holographic microscopy to achieve high-speed phase imaging with a low-speed camera. In this method, alternating deep denoising network and total variation denoiser are combined into a plug-and-play framework to reconstruct ten high-speed holographic frames from a single-shot measurement. Therefore, we can observe a 500 frame per second (fps) holographic scene when the camera works at 50 fps. This technique provides an effective tool to detect dynamic phase change scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Rice taste is closely associated with endosperm composition, which varies among different rice layers. Although clarifying the relationship between this difference and nutritional taste can guide rice breeding and cultivation practices, research on this topic is limited. RESULTS: Here, typical rice varieties having excellent and poor taste characteristics were selected to analyze the distribution characteristics and differences of their components. The varieties with excellent taste exhibited lower apparent amylose content (AAC) and protein content (PC), lesser short‐chain (Fa) and long‐chain (Fb3) amylopectin (AP) and more medium‐chain (Fb1+2) AP, higher long‐to‐short chain ratio (Fa:Fb3), and higher nitrogen (N), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) content in layer 1 (L1) than the varieties with poor taste. Layer 2 (L2) played a key role in AAC and PC regulation in the varieties with excellent taste by reducing AAC and appropriately increasing PC, consequently improving rice taste. AP structure in layer 3 (L3) substantially affected the taste of the two types of varieties. The mineral content was the highest in L1, and increased potassium (K), Ca, and Mg content improved taste in all varieties. CONCLUSION: AAC in each layer contributes to rice taste. PC and minerals primarily act on L1 and L2, whereas AP acts on L2 and L3. Therefore, the endosperm formation process should be exploited for improving rice taste. Furthermore, key resources and cultivation should be identified and regulated, respectively, to improve rice taste. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionizing radiation induces brain inflammation and the impairment of neurogenesis by activating microglia and inducing apoptosis in neurogenic zones. However, the causal relationship between microglial activation and the impairment of neurogenesis as well as the relevant molecular mechanisms involved in microRNA (miR) remain unknown. In the present study, we employed immunohistochemistry and real-time RT-PCR to study the microglial activation and miRNA expression in mouse brains. Real-time RT-PCR, western blot, ELISA, cell proliferation and cytotoxicity assay were used in BV2 and mouse neural stem cells (NSCs). In the mouse model, we found the acute activation of microglia at 1 day and an increased number of microglial cells at 1, 7 and 120 days after irradiation at postnatal day 3 (P3), day 10 (P10) and day 21 (P21), respectively. In cell models, the activation of BV2, a type of microglial cell line, was observed after gamma irradiation. Real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed a deceased expression of miR-181b-2-3p and an increased expression of its target SRY-related high-mobility group box transcription factor 21 (SOX21) in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. The results of the luciferase reporter assay confirmed that SOX21 was the target of miR-181b-2-3p. Furthermore, SOX21 knockdown by siRNA inhibited the activation of microglia, thereby suggesting that the direct interaction of 181b-2-3p with SOX21 might be involved in radiation-induced microglial activation and proliferation. Interestingly, the gamma irradiation of NSCs increased miR-181b-2-3p expression but decreased SOX21 mRNA, which was the opposite of irradiation-induced expression in BV2 cells. As irradiation reduced the viability and proliferation of NSCs, whereas the overexpression of SOX21 restored the impaired cell viability and promoted the proliferation of NSCs, the findings suggest that the radiation-induced interaction of miR-181b-2-3p with SOX21 may play dual roles in microglia and NSCs, respectively, leading to the impairment of brain neurogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peru has shifted away from centralized mining management to governance among government, companies, and communities. Various mechanisms facilitate community participation, including the mining canon, dialogues, and corporate social responsibility programs. Even with these laws and mechanisms, mining pollution and conflicts continue. In this study, we ask: how do communities perceive and participate in mining governance? And what are some alternative ways, driven by community priorities, to address governance in mining contexts? We collected 53 semi-structured with agricultural actors in two Peruvian districts with mining activity and analyzed those perspectives through the lens of community-centered governance. Our analyses revealed how centering community priorities in data collection and analysis illuminates context-specific factors that shape community attitudes toward mining and highlights community-driven approaches to addressing mining governance. Such communitydriven approaches could include integrating understandings of local livelihoods and historical contexts, implementing transparent participatory processes, and improving laws to give communities decisionmaking power over mining development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart conversion of supramolecular structures in vivo is an attractive strategy in cancer nanomedicine, which is usually achieved via specific peptide sequences. Here we developed a lysosomal targeting small‐molecule conjugate, PBC, which self‐assembles into nanoparticles at physiological pH and smartly converts to nanofibrils in lysosomes of tumor cells. Such a transformation mechanically leads to lysosomal dysfunction, autophagy inhibition, and unusual cytoplasmic vacuolation, thus granting PBC a unique anticancer activity as a monotherapy. Importantly, the photo‐activated PBC elicits significant phototoxicity to lysosomes and shows enormous advantages in overcoming autophagy‐caused treatment resistance frequently occurring in conventional phototherapy. This improved phototherapy achieves a complete cure of oral cancer xenografts upon limited administration. Our work provides a new paradigm for the construction of nonpeptide nanotransformers with biomedical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart conversion of supramolecular structures in vivo is an attractive strategy in cancer nanomedicine, which is usually achieved via specific peptide sequences. Here we developed a lysosomal targeting small‐molecule conjugate, PBC, which self‐assembles into nanoparticles at physiological pH and smartly converts to nanofibrils in lysosomes of tumor cells. Such a transformation mechanically leads to lysosomal dysfunction, autophagy inhibition, and unusual cytoplasmic vacuolation, thus granting PBC a unique anticancer activity as a monotherapy. Importantly, the photo‐activated PBC elicits significant phototoxicity to lysosomes and shows enormous advantages in overcoming autophagy‐caused treatment resistance frequently occurring in conventional phototherapy. This improved phototherapy achieves a complete cure of oral cancer xenografts upon limited administration. Our work provides a new paradigm for the construction of nonpeptide nanotransformers with biomedical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision‐making is central to restoration practice, from the framing of objectives to the employment of tools and strategies. Yet, it remains largely unclear how decisions are made during restoration and this limits understanding of how restoration managers design and implement restoration projects and what restoration approaches may be most effective. This is true for tallgrass prairies in the Midwestern United States, which are commonly restored through seed sowing. To understand how managers make decisions during prairie restoration, we used a mixed‐methods approach including interviews, a focus group, and an online survey, to ask managers about: restoration objectives, factors influencing seed mix design, tools and resources used in seed mix design, seeding methods, and monitoring. Respondents considered biodiversity the most important restoration objective, and the most important biodiversity measures were species richness and functional group diversity. Seed mix design was influenced by seed availability. We identified 141 taxa that managers would like to use in restoration, but cannot due to factors like cost, availability, or problems with germination or establishment. Managers most frequently used their own experience and consultation with other practitioners to guide seed mix design; and commonly used tools developed within their organization. Most managers agreed that monitoring was important for assessing restoration outcomes, but were unable to devote enough time to monitoring. These findings illustrate opportunities for partnerships, among restoration managers, and among managers, seed producers, and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cynanchum otophyllum C.K.Schneid.PI.Wilson, commonly referred as "Qingyangshen" (QYS), is a traditional folk medicine from Yunnan, renowned for its efficacy in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Glycosides isolated from QYS have shown promise in alleviating epilepsy, however, mechanisms of action and specific molecular targets remain to be elucidated. The study aimed to evaluate the anticonvulsant effects of Qingyangshen glycosides M1 (M1), a C 21 steroidal glycoside from QYS, on pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced convulsions in zebrafish (Danio rerio), and its neuroprotective effect on Glutamate (Glu)-induced damage to PC12 cells, and importantly to identify its potential molecular targets. To evaluate anticonvulsant activity of M1, 7 days-post-fertilization (7-dpf) animals were pretreated (by immersion) and then exposed to PTZ (10 mM) solution. Furthermore, Glu-induced PC12 cell damage was employed to investigate the neuroprotective and anti-apoptotic capacity. Cells were pretreated with various concentrations of M1 (0–10 μM) for 12 h and then co-treated with Glu (15 mM) for an additional 24 h. The cell viability, apoptosis rate and apoptosis-related proteins (p-PI3K, PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, CREB, p-CREB, BDNF, Bax and Bcl-2) were measured using CCK-8, annexin V/PI and Western blot assays. To model the expected interaction between M1 and candidate cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB 1 R), ERK phosphorylation, molecular docking, and drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) techniques were employed. Finally, CB 1 R antagonist Rimonabant (Rim) was validated by co-administration in both zebrafish and cells to confirm the requirement of CB 1 R for M1 efficacy. At a concentration of 400 μM, M1 dramatically reversed PTZ-induced convulsive-like behaviors in zebrafish, as evidenced by a significant reduction in locomotor activity. In the context of Glu-induced cytotoxicity, M1 (10 μM) demonstrated a notable increase in cell viability and suppressed apoptosis through modulation of the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and activation of the PI3K/Akt/CREB/BDNF signaling axis. These effects were facilitated through CB 1 R activation. In contrast, Rim dampened the beneficial activities of M1 as a cannabinoid agonist. These results demonstrated that M1 as a potential CB 1 R activator, exhibiting anticonvulsive effects in a PTZ-induced zebrafish model and neuroprotective properties via the PI3K/Akt/CREB/BDNF signaling axis in a Glu-induced PC12 cell injury model. Notably, the observed seizure relief attenuated by CB 1 R chemical antagonism. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is the main mechanism responsible for the intracellular degradation of misfolded or damaged proteins. Under inflammatory conditions, the immunoproteasome, an isoform of the proteasome, can be induced, enhancing the antigen-presenting function of the UPS. Furthermore, the immunoproteasome also serves nonimmune functions, such as maintaining protein homeostasis and regulating signalling pathways, and is involved in the pathophysiological processes of various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the current research on the involvement of the immunoproteasome in cardiovascular diseases, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel strategies for the treatment of these conditions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The performance of Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 solar cells were studied by SCAPS simulation. • The efficiency exhibited an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease with the rise of Se/(S + Se) ratio. • The optimal device possessed efficiency of 17.91 % when absorber thickness was 1.5 μm. • Series resistance exerted a more substantial influence on photovoltaic efficiency than shunt resistance. • Series resistance should be kept below 2 Ω·cm2, and shunt resistance should be maintained above 600 Ω·cm2. The effect of Se/(S + Se) ratio, absorber thickness, series and shunt resistance on Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 (CZTSSe) solar cells were studied by one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS-1D). The efficiency exhibited an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease as Se/(S + Se) ratio increased, achieving peak efficiency of 17.38 % at Se/(S + Se) ratio of 0.2. As absorber thickness increased from 0.5 to 1.5 μm, both the short circuit current and efficiency exhibited continuous improvement, which was attributed to the enhanced absorption and utilization of sunlight. However, when the thickness of absorber exceeded 1.5 μm, the transport of carriers across the absorber was difficult due to the excessive thickness, and the efficiency was almost not improved. The optimal device possessed efficiency of 17.91 %. Series resistance exerted a more substantial influence on efficiency than shunt resistance. To achieve high-efficiency CZTSSe devices, series resistance should be controlled below 2 Ω·cm2, and shunt resistance should be controlled above 600 Ω·cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with previous encapsulation methods, the emerging microfluidic approach has the potential of preparing monodispersed particles with considerable advantages, such as controlled size and morphology, stable yield, and enhanced repeatability. In addition to introducing probiotics to the intestine with high-viability, designing a novel carrier matrix to improve the mucoadhesion of probiotics in the intestine is imperative. Thus, in this study, the thiol groups of cysteine were grafted to chitosan to form disulfide bonds with the cysteine residues on the bacterial surface and mucus to achieve the dual function of probiotic adhesion and mucoadhesion. Upon examination, the adhesion rate of Bifidobacterium bifidum FL-276.1 (FL-276.1) to thiolated chitosan film increased by 1.33 times compared with non-modified chitosan film. Thiolated chitosan microspheres prepared by microfluidic method assisted by a crosslinking unit with a crosslinker of genipin had a uniform size distribution, high loading efficiency (80%) to FL-276.1, and improved resistance to simulated gastrointestinal digestion with a survival rate of FL-276.1 up to 92%. Moreover, the results of mucoadhesion test of thiolated chitosan microspheres demonstrated that the amount of thiolated chitosan microspheres adhered to the HT-29 cells was 2.27 times higher than that of chitosan microspheres. The monodispersed cysteine modified chitosan microspheres with dual adhesion function prepared by microfluidic technology has the potential to enhance the viability and function of probiotics after gastrointestinal digestion and intestinal adhesion. Monodispersed cysteine-modified chitosan microspheres proposed by microfluidic strategy and its dual function of bacterial adhesion and mucoadhesion. [Display omitted] • Thiolated chitosan microspheres were fabricated by a microfluidic platform. • Probiotics were successfully encapsulated in thiolated chitosan microspheres. • Encapsulation enhanced the viability of the probiotics during in vitro digestion. • Chitosan grafted with thiol moieties acts as a bridge to link probiotics and mucus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including rising cultural marketplace of the China's early reform era, 1978–1989; cultural officials working at provincial and municipal levels; and intensity of political scrutiny.

In order to solve the problem of diversified low-carbon energy supply with renewable energy as the main body, concentrating solar power (CSP) stations are introduced to act as cogeneration units. Taking full advantage of the flexible coupling and multienergy complementarity of electric, heat, and gas, an economic dispatch method for combined heat and power microgrid systems (CHP microgrid) with interconnected electric, heat, and gas is proposed. First, build the CSP-CHP microgrid structure and model the main equipment. Then, aiming at the minimum operating cost of the system, a regular scheduling model of the CSP-CHP microgrid system is established. On this basis, in order to deal with the uncertainty of renewable energy output, a distributionally robust optimization (DRO) model is introduced. In the DRO model, the Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence is used to construct an ambiguity set about the predicted error of renewable energy output, and finally, the CSP-CHP microgrid DRO economic dispatch model is established. Finally, the system is simulated and analyzed in a typical CSP-CHP microgrid system, and the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by analysis. In addition, the necessity of introducing CSP and the advantages of the DRO model is further explained by comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing compressed ultrafast photography (CUP) mainly acquires the light intensity and loses the phase information that characterizes the spatial features. In this paper, we propose a compressed ultrafast holographic imaging system to achieve phase measurement in ultrafast dynamic samples. In the proposed imaging system, the Mach-Zehnder interference structure is incorporated into compressed ultrafast photography. Based on this imaging system, a reconstruction method combining the plug-and-play generalized alternating projection (PnP-GAP) framework and the depth filtering of prior FastDVDNet is proposed to recover the hologram sequence in ultrafast temporal resolution. FastDVDNet employs the correlation between frames to enhance denoising performance and maintain temporal continuity, thus obtaining better results for ultrafast hologram sequence reconstruction. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method outperforms other reconstruction methods in terms of average peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM). • A compressed ultrafast off-axis holographic imaging system was developed to achieve phase measurement in ultrafast dynamic samples. • Based on this imaging system, a reconstruction method combining the plug-and-play generalized alternating projection (PnP-GAP) framework and the deep filtering of prior FastDVDNet was proposed. • The performance of different reconstruction algorithms for reconstructing dynamic holograms was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The impact of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) remains a crucial consideration. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at different levels of coronary artery calcium score (CACS).We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant articles on CCTA, CT-FFR, and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). Ten studies were included to evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at the per-patient and per-vessel levels in four CACS groups. Invasive FFR was used as the reference standard. Except for the CACS ≥ 400 group, the AUC of CT-FFR was higher than those of CCTA in other subgroups of CACS (in CACS < 100 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.92) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.28–0.36); per-vessel, 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.62–0.7); both p < 0.001), CACS ≥ 100 (per-patient, 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) vs. 0.44 (95% CI 0.4–0.48); per-vessel, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.9) vs. 0.51 (95% CI 0.46–0.55); both p < 0.001), and CACS < 400 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.93) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78), p < 0.001; per-vessel, 0.8 (95% CI 0.76–0.83) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78); p = 0.02)).CT-FFR demonstrates superior diagnostic performance in low CACS groups (CACS < 400) than CCTA in detecting hemodynamic stenoses in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be utilized to determine the necessity of invasive coronary angiography in coronary artery disease patients with coronary artery calcium score < 400.• There is a lack of meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic performance of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve and coronary computed tomography angiography at different levels of calcification.• Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve only has a better diagnostic performance than coronary computed tomography angiography with low amounts of coronary calcium.• For the low coronary artery calcium score group, computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be a good non-invasive method to detect hemodynamic stenoses in coronary artery disease patients.Methods and results: The impact of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) remains a crucial consideration. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at different levels of coronary artery calcium score (CACS).We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant articles on CCTA, CT-FFR, and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). Ten studies were included to evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at the per-patient and per-vessel levels in four CACS groups. Invasive FFR was used as the reference standard. Except for the CACS ≥ 400 group, the AUC of CT-FFR was higher than those of CCTA in other subgroups of CACS (in CACS < 100 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.92) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.28–0.36); per-vessel, 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.62–0.7); both p < 0.001), CACS ≥ 100 (per-patient, 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) vs. 0.44 (95% CI 0.4–0.48); per-vessel, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.9) vs. 0.51 (95% CI 0.46–0.55); both p < 0.001), and CACS < 400 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.93) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78), p < 0.001; per-vessel, 0.8 (95% CI 0.76–0.83) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78); p = 0.02)).CT-FFR demonstrates superior diagnostic performance in low CACS groups (CACS < 400) than CCTA in detecting hemodynamic stenoses in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be utilized to determine the necessity of invasive coronary angiography in coronary artery disease patients with coronary artery calcium score < 400.• There is a lack of meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic performance of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve and coronary computed tomography angiography at different levels of calcification.• Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve only has a better diagnostic performance than coronary computed tomography angiography with low amounts of coronary calcium.• For the low coronary artery calcium score group, computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be a good non-invasive method to detect hemodynamic stenoses in coronary artery disease patients.Conclusions: The impact of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) remains a crucial consideration. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at different levels of coronary artery calcium score (CACS).We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant articles on CCTA, CT-FFR, and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). Ten studies were included to evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at the per-patient and per-vessel levels in four CACS groups. Invasive FFR was used as the reference standard. Except for the CACS ≥ 400 group, the AUC of CT-FFR was higher than those of CCTA in other subgroups of CACS (in CACS < 100 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.92) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.28–0.36); per-vessel, 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.62–0.7); both p < 0.001), CACS ≥ 100 (per-patient, 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) vs. 0.44 (95% CI 0.4–0.48); per-vessel, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.9) vs. 0.51 (95% CI 0.46–0.55); both p < 0.001), and CACS < 400 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.93) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78), p < 0.001; per-vessel, 0.8 (95% CI 0.76–0.83) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78); p = 0.02)).CT-FFR demonstrates superior diagnostic performance in low CACS groups (CACS < 400) than CCTA in detecting hemodynamic stenoses in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be utilized to determine the necessity of invasive coronary angiography in coronary artery disease patients with coronary artery calcium score < 400.• There is a lack of meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic performance of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve and coronary computed tomography angiography at different levels of calcification.• Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve only has a better diagnostic performance than coronary computed tomography angiography with low amounts of coronary calcium.• For the low coronary artery calcium score group, computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be a good non-invasive method to detect hemodynamic stenoses in coronary artery disease patients.Clinical relevance statement: The impact of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) remains a crucial consideration. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at different levels of coronary artery calcium score (CACS).We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant articles on CCTA, CT-FFR, and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). Ten studies were included to evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at the per-patient and per-vessel levels in four CACS groups. Invasive FFR was used as the reference standard. Except for the CACS ≥ 400 group, the AUC of CT-FFR was higher than those of CCTA in other subgroups of CACS (in CACS < 100 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.92) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.28–0.36); per-vessel, 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.62–0.7); both p < 0.001), CACS ≥ 100 (per-patient, 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) vs. 0.44 (95% CI 0.4–0.48); per-vessel, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.9) vs. 0.51 (95% CI 0.46–0.55); both p < 0.001), and CACS < 400 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.93) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78), p < 0.001; per-vessel, 0.8 (95% CI 0.76–0.83) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78); p = 0.02)).CT-FFR demonstrates superior diagnostic performance in low CACS groups (CACS < 400) than CCTA in detecting hemodynamic stenoses in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be utilized to determine the necessity of invasive coronary angiography in coronary artery disease patients with coronary artery calcium score < 400.• There is a lack of meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic performance of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve and coronary computed tomography angiography at different levels of calcification.• Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve only has a better diagnostic performance than coronary computed tomography angiography with low amounts of coronary calcium.• For the low coronary artery calcium score group, computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be a good non-invasive method to detect hemodynamic stenoses in coronary artery disease patients.Key Points: The impact of coronary calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) remains a crucial consideration. This meta-analysis aims to compare the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at different levels of coronary artery calcium score (CACS).We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant articles on CCTA, CT-FFR, and invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR). Ten studies were included to evaluate the diagnostic performance of CT-FFR and CCTA at the per-patient and per-vessel levels in four CACS groups. Invasive FFR was used as the reference standard. Except for the CACS ≥ 400 group, the AUC of CT-FFR was higher than those of CCTA in other subgroups of CACS (in CACS < 100 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.92) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.28–0.36); per-vessel, 0.92 (95% CI 0.89–0.94) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.62–0.7); both p < 0.001), CACS ≥ 100 (per-patient, 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.88) vs. 0.44 (95% CI 0.4–0.48); per-vessel, 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.9) vs. 0.51 (95% CI 0.46–0.55); both p < 0.001), and CACS < 400 (per-patient, 0.9 (95% CI 0.87–0.93) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78), p < 0.001; per-vessel, 0.8 (95% CI 0.76–0.83) vs. 0.74 (95% CI 0.7–0.78); p = 0.02)).CT-FFR demonstrates superior diagnostic performance in low CACS groups (CACS < 400) than CCTA in detecting hemodynamic stenoses in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be utilized to determine the necessity of invasive coronary angiography in coronary artery disease patients with coronary artery calcium score < 400.• There is a lack of meta-analysis comparing the diagnostic performance of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve and coronary computed tomography angiography at different levels of calcification.• Computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve only has a better diagnostic performance than coronary computed tomography angiography with low amounts of coronary calcium.• For the low coronary artery calcium score group, computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve might be a good non-invasive method to detect hemodynamic stenoses in coronary artery disease patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stanley's inequalities for partially ordered sets establish important log-concavity relations for sequences of linear extensions counts. Their extremals however, i.e., the equality cases of these inequalities, were until now poorly understood with even conjectures lacking. In this work, we solve this problem by providing a complete characterization of the extremals of Stanley's inequalities. Our proof is based on building a new "dictionary" between the combinatorics of partially ordered sets and the geometry of convex polytopes, which captures their extremal structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the required climatic factors to guarantee the healthy growth of crops, the magnitude, variation and spatial distribution of air temperature, precipitation and solar radiation potentially can determine the planting structure and grain yield of regional agriculture. The dependence of crops on "temperature-humidity-wind" climate condition elevates its sensitiveness on climate changes, as that exhibited by thermophiles and hydrophilic maize widely planted in China. Thus, under modern climate situation with an increasing intensity of changes, it is essential to further understand the related response of crop yields in serving the food and agriculture security. The climatic characteristics in Xinmin and Chaoyang stations were firstly analyzed in this study based on the historical meteorological data over past 40 years, and then constructed different climate scenarios according to the required climate factors coupled with warming-drying trend of regional climate change, and adopted different ground data suits to calibrate WOFOST model and verify its performance. Authors used the localized WOFOST model to simulate grain yield trends of typical rain-fed spring maize in Liaoning under configured climate scenarios. The results showed that: (1) the simulation accuracy of localized WOFOST model had good performance with the normalized root mean square errors of 8.78% and 5.96%, and the agreement index of 0.82 and 0.96, respectively for simulated and measured results. (2) Spring maize yields of both Xinmin and Chaoyang showed negative correlation with temperature and positive relationship with precipitation over the discussed climate scenarios. Under different gradients (increasing temperature, decreasing precipitation and increasing radiation) of climate scenarios, the yield decrease of Xinmin (temperature +1.2°C, precipitation -25%, radiation +4%) and Chaoyang (temperature +1.4°C, precipitation -25%, radiation +3%) spring maize yields respectively reached 92.5% and 85.9% relative to that of normal condition, which can be used as a cautionary scenario for rain-fed spring maize crop failure in the study area. (3) Compared with the significance effect of precipitation on the spring maize yields of Xinmin, Chaoyang showed apparent sensitiveness to temperature, but yields of both stations haven't shown a marked variation within the given changes of solar radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An interactive design system to design sculpting styles and robotically fabricate on clay material. • A divide-and-conquer strategy for independent assigning of sculpting styles over complex geometries. • Multi-objective optimization for path planning of toolpath-driven robotic fabrication. • Sculpting style exploration and analysis inspired by painting brushstroke for robotic clay sculpting. [Display omitted] This paper presents an interactive design system that allows the user to create and fabricate stylized sculptures in water-based clay, using a standard 6-axis robot arm. This system facilitates the materialization of abstract design intentions into clay, through the algorithmic formulation of sculpting styles, the optimal path planning of the sculpting toolpaths, and a subtractive robotic fabrication process using customized tools. Unlike other precision-driven fabrication technologies, the authors embrace artistic uncertainty by conducting manual and robotic sculpting experiments and incorporating prominent parameters that affect the fabrication quality. The versatility of the described approach is demonstrated by designing a series of sculpting styles over a wide range of 3D models and robotically fabricating them in clay. Additionally, the paper explores various strategies for designing stylized robotic sculpting patterns by generating toolpaths informed by different techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the construction of the tunnel, there may be water-bearing anomalous structures such as fault fracture zone. In order to ensure the safety of the tunnel, it is necessary to carry out advanced tunnel detection. The traditional linear inversion method is highly dependent on the initial model in the tunnel resistivity inversion, which makes the inversion results falling into the local optimal optimum rather than the global one. Therefore, an inversion method for tunnel resistivity advanced detection based on ant colony algorithm is proposed in this paper. In order to improve the accuracy of tunnel advanced detection of deep anomalous bodies, an ant colony optimization (ACO) inversion is used by integrating depth weighting into the inversion function. At the same time, in view of the high efficiency and low cost of one-dimension inversion and the advantages of L1 norm in boundary characterization, a one-dimensional ant colony algorithm is adopted in this paper. In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm, two sets of numerical simulations were carried out. Finally, the application of the actual tunnel water-bearing anomalous structure was carried out in a real example to evaluate the application effect, and it was verified by excavation exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes the abnormal reflux of acid and bile salts, which would induce Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). EGFR, as one of main components of the exosome, plays an important role in cancer progression. Here, we investigated the role of acidic bile salts (ABS)-induced exosomal EGFR in EAC cell proliferation. Methods: Electronic microscopic examination and Western blot were used to identify exosomes. Western blot, siRNA transfection, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, qRT-PCR, cell viability detection, mouse xenograft tumor models, and immunohistochemical staining were performed to study the function of ABS-induced exosomal EGFR in cell proliferation. Results: We found that ABS improved the exosomal EGFR level of normal human esophageal epithelial cells, BE cells, and BE-associated adenocarcinoma cells. The results were confirmed in the serum-derived exosomes from healthy persons and patients suffering from GERD, BE with or without GERD, and EAC with or without GERD. Moreover, cell line-derived exosomal EGFR was found to promote macrophage M2 polarization through the PI3K-AKT pathway. The co-incubation medium of macrophages and exosomes improved cell proliferation and tumor growth, which depended on the exosomal EGFR level. CCL18 was identified as the most effective component of the co-incubation medium to promote EAC cell proliferation by binding to its receptor PITPNM3 in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that ABS-induced exosomal EGFR regulates macrophage M2 polarization to promote EAC proliferation. This study provides an important insight into the role of ABS in EAC development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an attractive alternative in cancer therapy, but its therapeutic effects are limited by the nonselective subcellular localization and poor intratumoral retention of small‐molecule photosensitizes. Here a fiber‐forming nanophotosensitizer (PQC NF) that is composed of mitochondria targeting small molecules of amphiphilicity is reported. Harnessing the specific mitochondria targeting, the light‐activated PQC NFs produce approximately 110‐fold higher amount of reactive oxygen species in cells than free photosensitizers and can dramatically induce mitochondrial disruption to trigger intense apoptosis, showing 20–50 times better in vitro anticancer potency than traditional photosensitizers. As fiber‐shaped nanomaterials, PQC NFs also demonstrated a long‐term retention in tumor sites, solving the challenge of rapid clearance of small‐molecule photosensitizers from tumors. With these advantages, PQC NFs achieve a 100% complete cure rate in both subcutaneous and orthotopic oral cancer models with the administration of only a single dose. This type of single small molecule‐assembled mitochondria targeting nanofibers offers an advantageous strategy to improve the in vivo therapeutic effects of conventional PDT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preconceived notions exist about small-scale farmers in the U.S. Beyond research on new and beginning farmers, few empirical studies have learned directly from small-scale farmers in the U.S. about their perspectives and experiences. By analyzing semi-structured interviews of small-scale farmers in Indiana, this study develops an in-depth understanding of the multi-dimensional motivations and experiences of small-scale farmers and the interconnected, multi-scalar challenges they face. The lack of social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers becomes paramount as they contend with dilemmas of engaging in pluriactivity, securing reliable labor, and navigating relationship building with consumers and peers for both short-term profits and long-term social capital. This study contributes to understanding how small-scale farmers' motivations, experiences, challenges, and strategies interact to shape their relationship to the land, their farming enterprise, and their perception of and position in the larger agro-ecological-social-economic system, and highlights the need to improve social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coumarin is an allelochemical that is widely present in the plant kingdom and has great potential for weed control. However, its mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. This study employed metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses along with evaluations of amino acid profiles and related physiological indicators to investigate how coumarin inhibits the germination and seedling growth of Eleusine indica by modifying metabolic pathways. At 72 h of germination at 50 and 100 mg L−1 coumarin, E. indica had lower levels of soluble sugar and activities of amylases and higher levels of starch, O 2 −, H 2 O 2 , auxin (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA) compared to the control. Metabolomic analysis demonstrated that coumarin treatments had a significant impact on the pathways associated with amino acid metabolism and transport and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. Exposure to coumarin induced significant alterations in the levels of 19 amino acids, with a decrease in 15 of them, including Met, Leu and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Additionally, transcriptomic analysis showed that coumarin significantly disrupted several essential biological processes, including protein translation, secondary metabolite synthesis, and hormone signal transduction. The decrease in TCA cycle metabolite (cis-aconitate, 2-oxoglutarate, and malate) contents was associated with the suppression of transcription for related enzymes. Our findings indicate that the inhibition of germination and growth in E. indica by coumarin involves the suppression of starch conversion to sugars, modification of the amino acid profile, interference of hormone signalling and the induction of oxidative stress. The TCA cycle appears to be one of the most essential pathways affected by coumarin. • The mechanisms of coumarin to inhibit seed germination were investigated in Eleusine indica. • Seed germination of Eleusine indica were sensitive to coumarin. • Exposure to coumarin induced significant alteration in the amino acid profile. • The metabolites and genes related to the TCA cycle was dramatically affected by coumarin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) RNA methylation, one of the common RNA modifications, has been determined to execute crucial functions in tumorigenesis and cancer development. The m6A "writers" including methyltransferase like 3 (METTL3), METTL14, and Wilms tumor 1‐associated protein (WTAP) contribute to the m6A modification process initiation. However, the coordination of m6A methyltransferase complex is not fully understood in endometrioid epithelial ovarian cancer (EEOC). In this study, mRNA and protein levels of METTL3, METTL14, and WTAP were detected in 33 EEOC cases using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), immunohistochemistry, and western blot analysis. The overall m6A methylation was detected by dot plot. The METTL3 expression and overall m6A level were elevated in EEOC tissues, while the expressions of METTL14 and WTAP have no significant difference in EEOC compared to the adjacent tissues. The expression of METTL3 was an independent factor that correlated with poor malignancy and survival of EEOC patients. Moreover, METTL3 knockdown in TOV‐112D and CRL‐11731D cells weakened the capability of cell proliferation and migration, and promoted cell apoptosis compared to negative control and cells with WTAP or METTL14 knockdown using CCK‐8 assay, transwell assay, wound healing assay, and TUNEL assay. Furthermore, METTL3 knockdown also reduced m6A enrichment of the genes associated with ovarian cancer including EIF3C, AXL, CSF‐1, FZD10 in TOV‐112D, and CRL‐11731D cells by RIP‐qPCR assay. Taken together, the high expressed METTL3 indicated poor malignancy and survival of EEOC via modulating the aberrant m6A RNA methylation. METTL3‐mediated m6A modification, independent of WTAP and METTL14, was considered as a novel mechanism underlying m6A modulation and a potential therapeutic target of EEOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of KYIPIQ, an angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide found in yak milk casein, on the production of nitric oxide (NO) in human vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs). Additionally, we also sought to study the transport pathway of this peptide across monolayers of the human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (Caco-2). Treatment with peptide KYIPIQ increased NO synthesis and expression of phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in HUVECs. Our results demonstrate that KYIPIQ-induced eNOS phosphorylation is dependent on the protein kinase B (Akt) activation pathway. Furthermore, our data indicate that the peptide KYIPIQ can be transported across the Caco-2 cell monolayer and that paracellular transport is the main transcellular mechanism. Thus, our studies suggest that KYIPIQ can be potentially used as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thermal-sensitive "jelly" was used to control the diffusion of a diamine monomer for synthesizing polyamide free-standing nanofilms with an adjustable thickness of 5–35 nm. The reduced reaction rate of the interfacial polymerization at the hexane–"jelly" interface made the synthesized nanofilms show high water permeation flux and suitable salt rejection, and they also have highly negative surface charges and fairly smooth surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important public concern worldwide is soil pollution caused by organophosphorus pesticides and their primary metabolites. To protect the public's health, screening these pollutants on-site and determining their soil bioavailability is important, but doing so is still challenging. This work improved the already-existing organophosphorus pesticide hydrolase (mpd) and transcriptional activator (pob R), and it first designed and constructed a novel biosensor (Escherichia coli BL21/pNP-LacZ) that can precisely detect methyl parathion (MP) and its primary metabolite p-nitrophenol with low background value. To create a paper strip biosensor, E. coli BL21/pNP-LacZ was fixed to filter paper using bio-gel alginate and sensitizer polymyxin B. According to the calibrations of the paper strip biosensor for soil extracts and standard curve, the color intensity of the paper strip biosensor collected by the mobile app may be used to compute the concentration of MP and p-nitrophenol. This method's detection limits were 5.41 µg/kg for p-nitrophenol and 9.57 µg/kg for MP. The detection of p-nitrophenol and MP in laboratory and field soil samples confirmed this procedure. Paper strip biosensor on-site allows for the semi-quantitative measurement of p-nitrophenol and MP levels in soils in a simple, inexpensive, and portable method. [Display omitted] • E. coli BL21/pPNP-LacZ constructed by optimal key genes has low background values for detection. • Novel paper strip biosensor is a portable tool for on-site applications. • This new method is capable of measuring p-nitrophenol and methyl parathion concentrations in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upper mediastinal lymph node (LN) metastasis is the extremely frequent metastasis lymph node site and dissection of this site of lymph node harbors a high risk of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Prediction of LN metastasis before dissection is necessary for personalized therapy. We developed a pre-training unsupervised deep learning model based on Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers (BERT) to extract features from pre-operational CT images and detect patients with LN metastasis. A total of 3769 esophageal cancer patients from 2012 to 2020 with complete post-surgical pathology in our institute were included in this study, 823 of which had upper mediastinal LN metastasis. The extracted features of CT images were labeled with the LN metastasis status of the corresponding patients and then divided into training and validation groups (7:3) for training. In order to keep balancing of the positive and negative ratio in the test dataset, 800 patients were randomly selected from the validation group (1:1). The BERT-based pretrained learning model achieved a AUROC of 0.651 on detection of upper mediastinal LN metastasis. The specificity of this model could reach up to 0.732. Our model can be used to improve diagnostic ability of upper mediastinal LN metastasis before surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A model of adhesive contact under plane strain deformation is established. • Rolling adhesion and its dependence on the mode-mixity has been taken into account. • Contact instability and shear induced peeling is predicted. • The critical tangential force at instability as the friction force agrees with experiments well. A model of adhesive contact between a cylinder and a substrate under mixed-mode loading (namely normal and tangential forces along with moments) is proposed by considering elastic mismatch and the effect of rolling adhesion. The dependence of apparent adhesion work and adhesion hysteresis on the mode mixity is taken into account. The contact behavior has been analyzed in depth. It has been found that resistance moment of rolling is proportional to the adhesion hysteresis but virtually independent of mode mixity. The shear induced peeling along with the instability can be predicted. With account of adhesion hysteresis, the tangential forces at the instability may better explain the sliding friction in experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The microRNA plays an important role in tumor progression. MiR-1236-3p acts as a tumor suppressor in various malignancies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of present study was to explore the expression of miR-1236-3p in gastric cancer (GC) and its correlation with clinicopathological features, and evaluate the feasibility of using it as a prognostic biomarker in GC. METHODS: Seventy-six pairs of tissue specimens were collected from GC patients. MiR-1236-3p expression level was detected by using qRT-PCR. The diagnostic value of miR-1236-3p was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, and Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the overall survival. Prognosis analysis was performed using multivariate cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS: The expression of miR-1236-3p was significantly reduced in tumor tissues (P < 0.001). In addition, miR-1236-3p expression was correlated with TNM stage (P = 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.005) and differentiated degree (P = 0.001). The area under the curve was 0.7016, and its specificity and sensitivity were 60.53% and 73.68%. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with high miR-1236-3p expression had better overall survival than those with low expression (P = 0.0190). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the miR-1236-3p expression (P = 0.033) was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of GC prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that miR-1236-3p is downregulated in GC tissues, and low expression of miR-1236-3p is associated with a poor prognosis in GC. It may be a new diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aim Furowanin A (Fur A) is a flavonoid isolated from Millettia pachycarpa Benth. Studies show its potent anti-neoplastic effects against leukemia cells. The aim of the present study was to determine the potential therapeutic effect of Fur A against colorectal cancer (CRC), and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Material and methods Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to determine cell, and TUNEL and Annexin-V/PI staining was used to detect apoptosis and the cell cycle distribution. The expression levels of specific proteins in the CRC cells were analyzed by Western blotting. A xenograft model was also established to evaluate the therapeutic effect of Fur A in vivo. Key findings Fur A suppressed proliferation, blocked cell cycle progression, induced apoptosis and promoted autophagy in CRC cells. Interestingly, Fur A-induced autophagy functioned not only as a survival mechanism against apoptosis but also intensified the cell cycle arrest in CRC cells. In addition, Fur A mediated its effects via the inactivation of the STAT3/Mcl-1 axis. Significance Fur A is a promising drug candidate for the treatment and prevention of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Comparable steady chemical performance can be achieved for all three different SPTRRs. • Methanol conversion in SPTRR1 and SPTRR2 are improved by 10.5 and 9.8% under transient condition. • SPTRR1 and SPTRR2 show better production selectivity under transient condition. • SPTRR1 can more effectively attenuate the effect of solar radiation fluctuation than SPTRR2. Abstract To alleviate the effect of solar radiation fluctuation on solar thermochemical reaction, phase change material (PCM) is applied in solar-chemical reactor to buffer the temperature vibration induced by solar radiation fluctuation. In order to comprehensively study the effect of PCM on chemical reactor, a two-dimensional model was employed to compare the steady performance of 3 different kinds of solar parabolic trough receiver reactors (SPTRR): without PCM (SPTRR0), with PCM near the outer wall (SPTRR1) and with PCM in the center (SPTRR2). Then, the transient performance of three SPTRRs under continuously pulsed solar radiation and real solar radiation fluctuation are, respectively, analyzed. The results showed that comparable chemical performance can be achieved for all three different SPTRRs although the amount of catalysts in SPTRR1 and SPTRR2 are 13.2% less than that in SPTRR0. When the time interval of cloud presence is 3 min, compared with SPTRR0, the averaged methanol conversions in SPTRR1 and SPTRR2 are, respectively, improved by 10.5 and 9.8% and production selectivity (higher H 2 /CO) is better. And when under a real solar radiation fluctuation, compared to SPTRR0, the averaged methanol conversions in SPTRR1 and SPTRR2 are relatively improved by about 10.7% and 7.2%. SPTRR1 can more effectively attenuate the effect of solar radiation fluctuation and shows better chemical performance than SPTRR2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A geometrical analysis approach that views auxetic mechanism as a four-bar linkage study. • The hinges of the linkage can be parameterized while maintain the system’s degree of freedom. • Auxetic mechanism can be configured to create bending or twisting materials • 3D printed physical models matches our analysis and simulation. Graphical abstract Abstract This paper describes a group of auxetic-inspired material structures that can transform into various shapes upon compression. We developed four cellular-based material structure units composed of rigid plates and elastic/rotary hinges. Different compositions of these units lead to a variety of tunable shape-changing possibilities, such as uniform scaling, shearing, bending and rotating. By tessellating those transformations together, we can create various higher level transformations for product design. In the paper, we first give a geometrical and numerical description of the units’ configuration and their degrees of freedom. An interactive simulation tool is developed for users to input designed structures and preview the transformation. Finally we present three application prototypes that utilize our proposed structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral-magnetic/ferroelectric composite systems offer the possibility of electrically inducing magnetic Bloch skyrmions [Wang and Grimson, Phys. Rev. B 94, 014311 (2016)]. They are appealing for potential applications in spintronics due to their self-protection behavior. To realize skyrmion-based spintronic devices, it is essential to control the motions of the skyrmions. In this work, we propose a mechanical technique to manipulate skyrmions collinearly with a mobile external electric field that is imposed on the chiral-magnetic/ferroelectric system. The role of propagation velocity strongly impacts on the quality of magnetic skyrmions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-tank molten salt thermocline heat storage system can reduce capital cost due to the use of cheap heat storage materials as compared with two-tank molten salt heat storage system. In order to develop a convenient method for the evaluation and design of the one-tank thermocline heat storage system, the idea of effectiveness-number of transfer unit method ( ε-NTU ) for heat exchanger design was employed in which three dimensionless design parameters are defined including the ratio between overall thermal conductance and the total thermal capacity of heat transfer fluid flowing through the system during discharging process (i.e., NTU ), the ratio between thermal capacity of solid particles and total thermal capacity of heat transfer fluid through the system during the discharging process (i.e., C s ∗ ), the ratio between overall thermal conductance in the charging process and that in the discharging process (i.e., ( hA ) ∗ ). A transient one-dimensional dispersion-concentric model is then applied to study the effects of three dimensionless parameters on the effectiveness of one-tank system. It is shown that the effectiveness of the one-tank thermocline heat storage system is closely related to NTU , C s ∗ and ( hA ) ∗ . Based on the simulated results, general performance evaluation charts and the related effectiveness correlations are also proposed for evaluation and design of the one-tank system. Moreover, the proposed effectiveness correlations are finally applied in the design of a one-tank molten salt thermocline heat storage system in a 50 MW e CSP plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholder farmers in the Loess Plateau Region of China are highly vulnerable to climate change. Effective adaptation governance requires in-depth, situated understanding of how adaptation is embedded in particular environmental, social, political, economic, and institutional contexts. Drawing on 93 qualitative interviews with smallholder households in five counties across three provinces on the Loess Plateau, we use a multi-scalar pathways approach to analyze two particular adaptations (planting maize and adopting drip irrigation). Our results show (1) how historical and ongoing multi-scalar, social–ecological processes interact to shape smallholder adaptation decision-making, leading to synergies, tensions, and contradictions across risk management domains and social institutions; (2) whether an adaptation strategy persists over time is in part determined by the extent to which the strategy allows smallholder households to manage various forms of risk and uncertainty in both the present and future; and (3) how past and ongoing multi-scalar adaptation pathways determine not only smallholder exposure to current stressors but also possible choices for future adaptation. Specifically, we find some smallholder adaptive strategies, such as planting maize, stabilize over time because they enable smallholders to manage market risk, climatic risk, and water pollution challenges, allow them to take advantage of opportunities to diversify their livelihoods through local wage work and labor migration, and, at the same time, fit the local social institutions that guide their agricultural management decisions. We also find some adaptive strategies promoted by non-local actors, such as drip irrigation, are abandoned because they create tensions with the ways smallholders construct their livelihoods to manage various forms of uncertainty and risk, and contradict the local social relations and cultural values embedded in their day-to-day lives. Together, these results provide insight into why particular smallholder adaptation pathways become stabilized and reproduced over time, and the cross-scalar environmental, social, political, economic, and institutional processes that underpin them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Society is confronted by interconnected threats to ecological sustainability. Among these is the devastation of forests by destructive non-native pathogens and insects introduced through global trade, leading to the loss of critical ecosystem services and a global forest health crisis. We argue that the forest health crisis is a public-good social dilemma and propose a response framework that incorporates principles of collective action. This framework enables scientists to better engage policymakers and empowers the public to advocate for proactive biosecurity and forest health management. Collective action in forest health features broadly inclusive stakeholder engagement to build trust and set goals; accountability for destructive pest introductions; pooled support for weakest-link partners; and inclusion of intrinsic and nonmarket values of forest ecosystems in risk assessment. We provide short-term and longer-term measures that incorporate the above principles to shift the societal and ecological forest health paradigm to a more resilient state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Polyamide nanofilms around 10 nm are facilely synthesized by a scalable process. • A sequential process of coating-spraying-interfacial polymerization is developed. • Organic solvent consumption reduces by 99 % compared with conventional process. • The polyamide nanofilms represent high performance as desalination membranes. Thin film composite (TFC) membranes composed of polyamide nanofilms and porous substrates have received enhancing attention to desalination for overcoming the nexus of serious scarcity and huge demand for fresh water. Up to now, it is still a big challenge to avoid the complex interference of the porous substrates on the interfacial polymerization of amine and acyl chloride monomers for synthesizing polyamide nanofilms at lower carbon footprint. Herein, we report a sequential process of blade coating–spraying–interfacial polymerization for scalable preparation of polyamide nanofilms that shine in high-performance desalination. Our sequential process consists of 1) blade coating the viscous solution of water/glycerol/m-phenylenediamine (MPD) to form an anti-interference aqueous film, 2) spaying the organic solution of Isopar H/trimesoyl chloride (TMC) under a controlled and economical way onto the water/glycerol/MPD film, and 3) conducting the interfacial polymerization of MPD and TMC at the constructed organic-aqueous interface. The whole process highly reduces the utilization of organic solvents to meet the demands of lower carbon footprint. The synthesized polyamide nanofilms exhibit extremely low roughness and 10 nm thickness in an area larger than 200 cm2, which can be composited with various porous substrates. The as-prepared TFC membranes represent a high desalination performance of water permeance of 1.89 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 with 97.4% NaCl rejection. Our strategy broadens the way to large-scale synthesis of polyamide nanofilms for high-efficiency desalination membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C10H6Cl3NO, monoclinic, P21/n (no. 14), a = 9.7097(10) Å, b = 10.6037(11) Å, c = 10.1735(10) Å, β = 96.580(4)°, V = 1040.55(18) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt(F) = 0.0214, wRref(F2) = 0.0574, T = 101 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A anhydrous orthoborate Na 3 Tb(PO 4 ) 2 has been prepared and its crystal structure was determined by X-Ray diffraction of a non-merohedral twinned single crystal. The results show that the compound crystallizes in monoclinic space group C 2/ c and the structure features a 3D framework containing PO 4 , NaO 6 , NaO 7 , NaO 8 and TbO 8 polyhedra. Under near-UV excitation (370 nm), Na 3 Tb(PO 4 ) 2 shows intense characteristic emission bands of Tb 3+ (490 nm, 543 nm, 585 nm and 620 nm) with the CIE coordinate of (0.3062, 0.5901), corresponding to greenish color. The excitation spectrum covers a wide range from 340 nm to 390 nm, which indicates that phosphor Na 3 Tb(PO 4 ) 2 can be efficiently activated by near-UV LED ship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensemble trick has been widely used in extreme learning machine (ELM), and most paradigms concern about the training phase with expectation of improving their generalization ability. Unlike traditional strategies, this paper pays more attention to the prediction phase and proposes a discriminatory approach called ensemble based reactivated regularization ELM (ER 2 -ELM). In short, the novel literature consists of two interrelated steps where the probability density estimation is first conducted to show the degree of difficulty of identifying an instance, and then a random factor is adopted to determine whether the ELM base learner is sequentially reactivated. As such, instances easily to identify cost less computing burden, while the vague ones are taken carefully consideration. Compared with other ensemble methods, the prediction computation overhead decreases. In the end, a number of examples, including UCI benchmark datasets, handwritten digits, object detection, etc., are employed so as to illustrate its state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The Optical Surface Management System (OSMS) is a simple, fast, reproducible, and accurate solution for patient set-up and can minimize random day-to-day set-up errors. However, studies in breast cancer patients are rare. Objective. To analyze 200 patient set-ups in 20 patients with breast cancer by comparing the OSMS with the conventional cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Method. Displacements from concurrent OSMS and CBCT registrations were compared in a total of 200 setups of 20 patients to analyze the interfractional displacement and positioning displacement in three dimensions (lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions). Results. The interfractional displacement on the lateral, longitudinal, and vertical directions for OSMS versus CBCT was 0.049±0.254 versus 0.041±0.244 centimeters (cm); 0.018±0.261 versus 0.040±0.242 cm; 0.062±0.254 versus 0.065±0.240 cm, respectively, without any significant difference (all P>0.05). The duration for CBCT scan was about 60 seconds (s), while that for image processing, matching, and couch displacement was at least 5 minutes (min). The average scanning time with OSMS was less than 20 s, and the total duration for positioning was less than 1 min. Conclusion. OSMS is an efficient tool to improve the accuracy and increase the speed for verifying the patient positioning in radiotherapy for breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retina is a critical component of the central nerve system that is responsible for the conversion of light stimulus into electrical spikes. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) comprises a heterogeneous group of inherited retinal dystrophies leading to blindness. We examined retinal neuroglobin (Ngb) expression in a pharmacologically induced RP animal model, the N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) administered mice. The retinal Ngb expression in MNU administered mice attenuated following a time dependent manner, suggesting Ngb was involved in the photoreceptor degeneration. Conversely, the intravenous delivery of Hemin, a Ngb up-regulator, enhanced the Ngb expressions in the retinas of MNU administered mice. Optokinetic behavioral tests and Electroretinogram (ERG) examination suggested that the Hemin treatment could improve the visual function of MNU administered mice. The retinal morphology of the Hemin treated group was much more intact than the MNU group as evidenced by retinal sections and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations. Moreover, immunostaining experiments showed the cone photoreceptors in the MNU administered mice were also rescued by Hemin treatment. Furthermore, mechanism studies suggested the Hemin treatment not only alleviated the oxidative stress, but also rectified the apoptotic changes in the retinas of MNU administered mice. In conclusion, the intraperitoneally delivery of Hemin can enhance the Ngb expressions in the MNU administered retinas, thereby ameliorating the photoreceptor degeneration and associated visual impairments. These findings would shed light on the opportunity to develop Ngb into a therapeutic molecular against RP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Over the past 30 years, direct transfers to beneficiaries have become an increasingly important tool for addressing society’s need for effective, efficient, and equitable conservation and development, and have been widely used to generate socially desirable outcomes in human capital development (HCD) programs and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs. Yet, the two types of programs have been examined in distinct bodies of literature without much reference to each other. By systematically reviewing peer-reviewed journal articles, dissertations, and select working papers, we suggest important similarities and differences between HCD cash transfer and PES programs that have been overlooked, particularly in how direct transfers are conceptualized and operationalized and how intended and unintended program outcomes are produced. Rather than considering HCD cash transfers and PES as two distinct tools, a common framework that conceptualizes direct transfers as an umbrella mechanism to produce socially desirable outcomes can contribute to effectively engaging target populations, addressing the needs of beneficiaries in a holistic way, comprehensively evaluating program impacts, and enabling opportunities to build synergies and minimize redundancies and competition across programs. We conclude by offering five insights into future research, program development, and policy innovations. Specifically, PES programs can learn from HCD cash transfer programs to (1) incorporate considerations of economic and gender inequalities to better sustain long-term environmental outcomes; (2) enhance collaboration among PES scholars, program practitioners, and policy makers to improve PES design and implementation and minimize adverse unintended impacts; (3) use randomized control trials to measure the causal impacts of PES; and (4) reconsider the role of conditionality to promote simultaneous production of environmental, economic, and social benefits. HCD cash transfer programs can learn from PES programs to (5) explore collaborative, community-based program design and implementation to facilitate not only adoption of socially desirable behaviors but also long-term human capital gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For online monitoring of complex temperature distributions, an acoustic tomography system based on sound travel‐time measurement is developed. For coping with the reverberation phenomenon in actual measurement, an anti‐reflection interference measurement method for sound travel‐time is proposed based on cross‐correlation and peak recognition. In view of the fact the pixel number provided by commonly used reconstruction algorithms, such as least‐squares methods, is very limited, radial basis function approximation and regularisation technique are used, which leads to the pixel number of the reconstruction image increasing dramatically. Mixed programming with LabVIEW and MATLAB is used. Queue structure is adopted to make data acquiring program and data processing program parallel. Test results show that the system can run normally as designed. The measurement values of sound travel‐time acquired by the proposed method are stable even in strong reflection interference. Test results show that the system can run normally as designed. The measurement values of sound travel‐time acquired by the proposed method are stable even in strong reflection interference. The temperature fields reconstructed are coincided with actual fields, and correctly reflect the temperature changes in the measured area with the heater number, heater location and heating time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directly measurement of the bioavailable concentration of soil contaminants is essential for their accurate risk assessment. In this study, we successfully modified and identified the key genetic elements (pob R1-3) for the bio-detection of p -nitrophenol and synthesized five novel whole-cell biosensors (Escherichia coli BL21/pPNP-mrfp, E. coli BL21/pPNP-CFP, E. coli BL21/pPNP-YFP, E. coli BL21/pPNP-GFP, and E. coli BL21/pPNP-amilCP) to directly detect the concentration of p -nitrophenol in soils. These biosensor methods contained a simple biosensor activation and sample extraction step, a cost-effective detection means, and a fast detection process (5 h) by using a 96-microwell plate with a low background value and high-reliability equation for p -nitrophenol detection. These biosensors had a detection limit of 6.21–25.2 μg/kg and a linear range of 10–10000 μg/kg for p -nitrophenol in four soils. All biosensors showed better detection performance in the detection of p -nitrophenol in soil samples. The biosensors method can help to quickly and directly assess the actual bioavailable fractions of p -nitrophenol in soils, thus facilitating to understand the environmental cycling of p -nitrophenol. [Display omitted] • E. coli BL21contained functional plasmids were used to detect p -nitrophenol. • New developed biosensor method is simple and fast to quantify p -nitrophenol in soils. • Using pobR1-3 gene greatly reduces the background value of biosensor detection. • The new method can directly assess the bioavailable fraction of p -nitrophenol in soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is deemed as a silver bullet that the mass production of desalination membranes will solve the exacerbated water scarcity, which normally uses polyamide nanofilm as the perm-selective layer through interfacial polymerization. Although there have been significant breakthroughs in laboratory research in recent years, the same good results cannot all be reproduced owing to many differences between pilot tests and mass production, such as the use of organic solvents. Herein, a new perspective is proposed for elucidating the deep reason that viscous isoalkanes are welcomed in the industrial production of desalination membranes. Interfacial polymerization of amine and acyl chloride is dissected from the initial stage including the distribution and enrichment of monomers at the aqueous–organic interface, as well as the diffusion and solvation state of polyamide oligomers. The viscous isoalkanes not only suppress the diffusion of acyl chloride monomer but also provide a better solvation environment for polyamide oligomers. Polyamide nanofilms with reduced thickness and roughness are obtained with an enhanced cross-linking density. The corresponding desalination membranes exhibit improved water permeance (~3 Lm−2h−1bar−1) and rejection to NaCl (~99 %) that surpasses the performance of free-standing polyamide nanofilms recently reported. Our facile strategy will facilitate the transformation of laboratory results into the mass production of customized high-performance desalination membranes. [Display omitted] • Viscous isoalkanes are discussed in detail as solvents in producing desalination membranes. • The viscous isoalkanes are demonstrated to suppress the diffusion of acyl chloride monomer. • The viscous isoalkanes also provide a better solvation environment for polyamide oligomers. • Corresponding polyamide-based membranes exhibit improved desalination performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer with lymph node metastasis shows poor prognosis, while the biomarker to predict the metastasis is lacking. The relative mRNA or protein expression of cyclin D1 (CCND1) and autophagy-related molecules were detected in real-time PCR and Western blot. Correlation analysis was applied to identify any significant patterns, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) was performed to assess the prediction value. CCND1 vector was transfected in Ishikawa (ISK) cells, and the relative expression of autophagy-related molecules was detected with Western blot. CCND1 was overexpressed in endometrial cancer and correlated with lymph node metastasis. ROC analysis found that CCND1 had a predictive value to discriminate tumors from normal tissues (cut off=1.455; sensitivity, 71%; specificity, 84%; area under curve (AUC) 0.82; p<0.001) and had a predictive value to indicate metastasis (cut off=1.871; sensitivity, 54.17%; specificity, 75%; AUC 0.674; p=0.003). Increased BECLIN1 (r=0.39, p<0.001) and ATG5 (r=0.41, p<0.001) expression were positively correlated to CCND1. On the other hand, the relative protein expression of CCND1, BECLIN1, ATG5, ATG7, and LC3 I/II were also increased in tumor tissues. CCND1 overexpressed ISK cells showed upregulated BECLIN1, ATG5, ATG7, and LC3 I/II expression. CCND1 promoted autophagy may contribute to lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]