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Cervical cancer (CC) is a gynaecological malignancy tumour that seriously threatens women's health. Recent evidence has identified that interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5), a nucleoplasm shuttling protein, is a pivotal transcription factor regulating the growth and metastasis of various human tumours. This study aimed to investigate the function and molecular basis of IRF5 in CC development. IRF5, protein phosphatase 6 catalytic subunit (PPP6C) and methyltransferase‐like 3 (METTL3) mRNA levels were evaluated by quantitative real‐time (qRT)‐polymerase chain reaction (PCR). IRF5, PPP6C, METTL3, B‐cell lymphoma 2 and Bax protein levels were detected using western blot. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis and apoptosis were determined by using colony formation, 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine (EdU), transwell, tube formation assay and flow cytometry assay, respectively. Glucose uptake and lactate production were measured using commercial kits. Xenograft tumour assay in vivo was used to explore the role of IRF5. After JASPAR predication, binding between IRF5 and PPP6C promoter was verified using chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual‐luciferase reporter assays. Moreover, the interaction between METTL3 and IRF5 was verified using methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP). IRF5, PPP6C and METTL3 were highly expressed in CC tissues and cells. IRF5 silencing significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis and glycolytic metabolism in CC cells, while induced cell apoptosis. Furthermore, the absence of IRF5 hindered tumour growth in vivo. At the molecular level, IRF5 might bind with PPP6C to positively regulate the expression of PPP6C mRNA. Meanwhile, IRF5 was identified as a downstream target of METTL3‐mediated m6A modification. METTL3‐mediated m6A modification of mRNA might promote CC malignant progression by regulating PPP6C, which might provide a promising therapeutic target for CC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sluggish Zn2+ diffusion and high nucleation energy barrier induce uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites and detrimental parasitic reactions, severely hampering the commercialization of Zn metal anodes (ZMAs). Herein, hollow mesoporous carbon sphere opal with confined Sn/TiO2 clusters (HMCSST) is designed as the host to spatially regulate the Zn deposition. Owing to the capillary effect of the ordered hierarchical porous structure, the mass diffusion can be dramatically accelerated to promote a fast deposition kinetics at the interface between ZMA and electrolyte. Besides, the encapsulated ultrafine Sn/TiO2 clusters serve as zincophilic sites to achieve both the uniform Zn deposition on the hierarchical porous opal host and the high thermodynamic stability of ZMAs. Benefiting from the structural and componential merits, the HMCSST host effectively reduces the activation energy to enable a temporal‐spatial ordering of Zn nucleation and growth. As expected, the stable HMCSST‐Zn electrode guarantees steady Zn platting/stripping with long‐term stability over 1300 h in a symmetrical cell at a depth of discharge of 37.5%. As a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, an HMCSST‐Zn||ammonium vanadate full cell shows a long lifespan over 5000 cycles at 10.0 A g−1 with low polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO2 emulsions used for EOR have received a lot of interest because of its good performance on CO2 mobility reduction. However, most of them have been focusing on the high quality CO2 emulsion (high CO2 fraction), while CO2 emulsion with high water cut has been rarely researched. In this paper, we carried out a comprehensive experimental study of using high water cut CO2/H2O emulsion for enhancing oil recovery. Firstly, a nonionic surfactant, alkyl glycosides (APG), was selected to stabilize CO2/ H2O emulsion, and the corresponding morphology and stability were evaluated with a transparent PVT cell. Subsequently, plugging capacity and apparent viscosity of CO2/H2O emulsion were measured systematically by a sand pack displacement apparatus connected with a 1.95-m long capillary tube. Furthermore, a high water cut (40 vol%) CO2/H2O emulsion was selected for flooding experiments in a long sand pack and a core sample, and the oil recovery, the rate of oil recovery, and the pressure gradients were analyzed. The results indicated that APG had a good performance on emulsifying and stabilizing CO2 emulsion. An inversion from H2O/CO2 emulsion to CO2/H2O emulsion with the increase in water cut was confirmed. CO2/H2O emulsions with lower water cuts presented higher apparent viscosity, while the optimal plugging capacity of CO2/H2O emulsion occurred at a certain water cut. Eventually, the displacement using CO2/H2O emulsion provided 18.98% and 13.36% additional oil recovery than that using pure CO2 in long sand pack and core tests, respectively. This work may provide guidelines for EOR using CO2 emulsions with high water cut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective thermal management of electronic devices encounters substantial challenges owing to the notable power densities involved. Here, we propose layered MoS2 phononic crystals (PnCs) that can effectively reduce thermal conductivity (κ) with relatively small disruption of electrical conductivity (σ), offering a potential thermal management solution for nanoelectronics. These layered PnCs exhibit remarkable efficiency in reducing κ, surpassing that of Si and SiC PnCs with similar periodicity by ~100-fold. Specifically, in suspended MoS2 PnCs, we measure an exceptionally low κ down to 0.1 watts per meter kelvin, below the amorphous limit while preserving the crystalline structure. These findings are supported by molecular dynamics simulations that account for the film thickness, porosity, and temperature. We demonstrate the approach efficiency by fabricating suspended heat-routing structures that effectively confine and guide heat flow in prespecified directions. This study underpins the immense potential of layered materials as directional heat spreaders, thermal insulators, and active components for thermoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

bstract Aims Background Methods Results Conclusion Impact Patient or Public Contribution To explore the association between nurse managers' paternalistic leadership and nurses' perceived workplace bullying (WPB), as well as to examine the mediating role of organizational climate in this association.There is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the relationship between nurse managers' paternalistic leadership, organizational climate and nurses' perceived WPB. Clarifying this relationship is crucial to understand how paternalistic leadership influences WPB and for nursing managers to seek organizational‐level solutions to prevent it.A cross‐sectional survey was performed from 4 January to 10 February 2022, in six tertiary hospitals in mainland China. Demographic information, Paternalistic Leadership Scale, Organizational Climate Scale and Negative Acts Questionnaire‐Revised were used in the survey. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation analyses and a structural equation model were used for data analysis.A total of 5093 valid questionnaires were collected. Moral leadership and authoritarian leadership have both direct and indirect effects on WPB through the mediating effect of organizational climate. The former is negatively related to WPB and the latter is positively related to WPB. Benevolent leadership was only negatively associated with WPB via the mediating effect of organizational climate.The three components of paternalistic leadership have different effects on WPB through the mediating effect of organizational climate. Nurse managers are recommended to strengthen moral leadership, balance benevolent leadership, reduce authoritarian leadership and strive to create a positive organizational climate in their efforts to mitigate WPB among nurses.This study enhanced our comprehension of the relationship between different leadership styles and WPB. Greater emphasis should be placed on moral leadership in the promotion of nursing managers and nursing leadership training programs. Additionally, nursing managers should focus on establishing a positive organizational climate that helps to reduce WPB.No patient or public contribution. This study did not involve patients, service users, caregivers or members of the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To discuss the management of sigmoid sinus thrombophlebitis secondary to middle ear cholesteatoma. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all cases of sigmoid sinus thrombophlebitis caused by middle ear cholesteatoma over a period of 7 years. 7 male and 2 female patients, ranging in age from 9 to 66 years, were diagnosed with sigmoid sinus thrombophlebitis by clinical presentation and radiological examination. By executing a modified mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty (canal wall-down tympanoplasty) to entirely remove the cholesteatoma-like mastoid epithelium, all patients were effectively treated surgically without opening the sigmoid sinus. All patients were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics, but no anticoagulants were used. Results: 9 patients had otogenic symptoms such as ear pus, tympanic membrane perforation, and hearing loss. In the initial stage of the surgery, modified mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty were performed on 8 of the 9 patients. 1 patient with a brain abscess underwent puncturing (drainage of the abscess) to relieve cranial pressure, and 4 months later, a modified mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty were carried out. Following surgery and medication, the clinical symptoms of every patient improved. After the follow-up of 6 months to 7 years, 3 patients were re-examined for MRV and showed partial sigmoid sinus recovery with recanalization. 4 months following middle ear surgery, the extent of a patient's brain abscess lesions was significantly reduced. 1 patient experienced facial paralysis after surgery and recovered in 3 months. None of the patients had a secondary illness, an infection, or an abscess in a distant organ. Conclusion: The key to a better prognosis is an adequate course of perioperative antibiotic medication coupled with surgical treatment. A stable sigmoid sinus thrombus can remain for a long time after middle ear lesions have been removed, and it is less likely to cause infection and abscesses in the distant organs. The restoration of middle ear ventilation is facilitated by tympanoplasty. It is important to work more closely with multidisciplinary teams such as neurology and neurosurgery when deciding whether to perform lateral sinusotomies to remove thrombus or whether to administer anticoagulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to a very high surface-to-volume ratio, nanoparticles (NPs) have unique physical and chemical properties distinguishable from those of their bulk counterparts. They have become innovative constituents in the strategy of designing and developing advanced functional materials and medical materials. So far, there have been few studies on the theory and practice of applying NPs to promote the growth of a more protective oxide scale at high temperatures. In this contribution, we report the research progress by application of specific metal and metal oxide NPs in: (i) developing chromia- and alumina-forming coatings; (ii) facilitating the selective oxidation of alloys; (iii) assisting direct thermal growth of α-alumina on Ni–Al intermetallic compounds; and (iv) increasing the oxidation resistance of thermally-grown oxides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Musashi-2 (MSI2) is a critical RNA-binding protein (RBP) whose ectopic expression drives the pathogenesis of various cancers. Accumulating evidence suggests that inducing ferroptosis of tumor cells can inhibit their malignant biological behavior as a promising therapeutic approach. However, it is unclear whether MSI2 regulates cell death in colorectal cancer (CRC), especially the underlying mechanisms and biological effects in CRC ferroptosis remain elusive. Methods: Experimental methods including qRT‒PCR, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, western blot, co-immunoprecipitation, CCK-8, colony formation assay, in vitro cell transwell migration and invasion assays, in vivo xenograft tumor experiments, liver and lung CRC metastasis models, CAC mice models, transmission electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, histopathology, 4D label-free proteomics sequencing, bioinformatic and database analysis were used in this study. Results: Here, we investigated that MSI2 was upregulated in CRC and positively correlated with ferroptosis inhibitor molecules. MSI2 deficiency suppressed CRC malignancy by inhibiting cell proliferation, viability, migration and invasion in vitro and in vivo; and MSI2 deficiency triggered CRC ferroptosis by changing the intracellular redox state (ROS levels and lipid peroxidation), erastin induced cell mortality and viability, iron homeostasis (intracellular total irons and ferrous irons), reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and mitochondrial injury. Mechanistically, through 4D-lable free proteomics analysis on SW620 stable cell lines, we demonstrated that MSI2 directly interacted with p-ERK and MSI2 knockdown downregulated the p-ERK/p38/MAPK axis signaling pathway, which further repressed MAPKAPK2 and HPSB1 phosphorylation, leading to decreased expression of PCNA and Ki67 and increased expression of ACSL4 in cancer cells. Furthermore, HSPB1 could rescue the phenotypes of MSI2 deficiency on CRC ferroptosis in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: This study indicates that MSI2 deficiency suppresses the growth and survival of CRC cells and promotes ferroptosis by inactivating the MAPK signaling pathway to inhibit HSPB1 phosphorylation, which leads to downregulation of PCNA and Ki67 and upregulation of ACSL4 in cancer cells and subsequently induces redox imbalance, iron accumulation and mitochondrial shrinkage, ultimately triggering ferroptosis. Therefore, targeted inhibition of MSI2/MAPK/HSPB1 axis to promote ferroptosis might be a potential treatment strategy for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BiFeO3-BaTiO3 is a promising high-temperature lead-free piezo-ceramics due to its high Curie temperature (TC > 500 °C) and excellent piezoelectric properties. However, a high leakage current was often detected in this system, which severely affects its applications. In this work, the 0.7BiFe(1−x)GaxO3-0.3BaTiO3 (BFGax-BT, 0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) system was designed to reveal the reason of leakage-current density decreased by their leakage mechanism. Because of the suppression of generation of Fe2+ and oxygen vacancy ( V O ∙ ∙ ), the leakage mechanism from space charge limited conduction mechanism found in Ga-free BF-BT ceramics turns into Ohmic conduction and Schottky emission mechanism as Fe3+ was replaced with Ga3+. A good combination of piezoelectric properties (d33 = 174 pC N−1 and kp = 29%) and high Curie temperature (TC = 497 °C) was achieved in the BFGa0.06-BT ceramic owning the lowest leakage-current density. This work will provide the clues for preparing the high insulation and high piezoelectric performance BF-BT-based ceramics by suppressing the valence change of Fe3+ and V O ∙ ∙ appearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the aperiodic sampled‐data consensus control problems for nonlinear homogeneous and heterogeneous multi‐agent systems (MASs). For homogeneous MASs, the consensus conditions, with and without time delays are derived by using a two‐sided‐looped functional. This less conservative approach takes full account of the information on the intervals δ(t)$$ \delta (t) $$ to δ(tk)$$ \delta \left({t}_k\right) $$ and δ(t)$$ \delta (t) $$ to δ(tk+1)$$ \delta \left({t}_{k+1}\right) $$. On this basis, two aperiodic sampled‐data controllers are designed, and additional results on the estimate for the upper bound of the maximum allowable sampling interval are given as well. For heterogeneous MASs, the bounded consensus tracking criterion is derived based on the improved looped functional method. In addition, a corresponding heterogeneous sampled‐data controller is designed for each follower to ensure that the consensus tracking error exponentially converges to a bounded ellipsoid region. Finally, three illustrative examples are provided to show the efficiency and superiority of the proposed results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz radiation from two-color femtosecond laser-induced gas filament is investigated in a wide range of the ambient gas pressure from 0 to 606 kPa (i.e., 0–6 atm). We observed that the output energy of terahertz radiation first increased quickly to the strongest strength at the optimal pressure around 25 kPa then decreased gradually with increase of the gas pressure. We found a linear dependence of the time delay of the terahertz signals on increasing gas pressure under a wide range of gas pressure and nearly unchangeable plasma density profile of the filament in the high pressure range from ~ 50 kPa to 606 kPa if keeping the same pump laser energy. Our numerical simulation results reproducing the experimental dependence of decreasing terahertz strength on the increasing gas pressure in this high pressure range indicate that this dependence could be attributed mainly to the decreasing coupling of the two-color laser pulses in the plasma filament due to different changes of their propagating velocities in the ambient gas with increasing pressure. Our results would be helpful for understanding deeply the mechanism of terahertz radiation and remind a possible strategy for improvement of terahertz output under higher gas pressures and pumped by more laser energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Also, the reactions between an electron-rich aryl chloride, such as 1-chloro-4-methylbenzene ( B 1c b ), and an electron-deficient aryl bromide, such as 1-bromo-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzene or 1-bromo-4-fluorobenzene, were attempted but no further transformations were detected. As there are two separate aryl halides involved in the reaction system, various aryl bromides were explored firstly with 2-chloronaphthalene ( B 1b b ) as the model aryl chloride substrate (Table 3). Keywords: iron-catalyzed; cross-coupling; one-pot reaction; aryl chlorides; aryl bromides EN iron-catalyzed cross-coupling one-pot reaction aryl chlorides aryl bromides 2253 2260 8 07/03/23 20230718 NES 230718 Biaryl compounds play an important role in various fields of organic chemistry. In summary, we have developed a practical protocol for the iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of aryl chlorides and aryl bromides, which features an in situ formation of Grignard reagents. [Extracted from the article]

MWW zeolites is an important catalyst in petrochemical industry. However, the efficient preparation of MWW zeolites still faces challenges, and the origin of influential factors for regulating its structure properties also remains obscure. Herein, we designed a nanoscale amorphous silica-alumina species denoted as active precursor (APS), and adopt the APS in the HMI mixture to synthesize MCM-22 zeolite (APS-MWW) successfully. To reveal the distinctive role of APS in promoting the crystallization of MWW zeolites, two crystal materials (ITQ-1 and MCM-22) and one mother liquor (ML) as seeds to synthesize three types of MWWzeolites. Typically, when adding APS in the synthetic mixture, the HMI amount was reduced to less than a quarter and crystallization time was reduced to 36 h. APS-MWW sample provides a smaller particle size (2-4 µm) and thinner stacked layer thickness (5e20 nm). Synchrotron radiation Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) shows each seed has a different impact on the species' fractal structure and size distribution in the mixture, which is highly related to the nucleation and growth of MWW zeolites. APS shows a large number of 6 membered ring (MR) structure units which play a significant role in boosting the rapid nucleation and growth of APS-MWW zeolite. Among the synthesized MWW zeolites, the APS-MWW performs the highest ethylbenzene yield in the alkylation reaction of benzene-ethylene, which is attributed to its moderate flake thickness, appropriate texture properties and more external surface acidity. The results will provide a new perspective for producing MWW-types zeolites by using the available and effective active precursor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The red cultural resources in Yimeng region have a long history and are an indispensable part of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation. From the perspective of cultural and tourism integration, this paper investigates and evaluates the red cultural resources in Yimeng old revolutionary base area, analyzes combined with the development status of red tourism, and puts forward targeted suggestions on the development of Yimeng red cultural resources through the investigation and analysis of tourists' feelings about red tourism in Yimeng region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate how the negative regulation of CD44st by miR-138-5p affects the invasive ability of breast cancer cell lines and prognosis in postoperative breast cancer patients. Methods: RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, and western blot assays were used to detect the expression of CD44s, CD44v6, and CD44st at both mRNA and protein levels. The expression of miR-138-5p in breast cancer cell lines was also evaluated. The binding ability of miR-138-5p to CD44st was determined via a dual-luciferase assay. The CD44 protein expression in breast cancer tissues was detected using immunohistochemistry. A Transwell assay was used to detect the invasive ability of tumor cells. The correlation between CD44st and miR-138-5p mRNA expression in breast cancer tissues was evaluated using qRT-PCR, and the relationship between clinicopathological features was statistically analyzed. Results: CD44s and CD44v6 were highly expressed in MDAMB-231 cell line, while CD44st was highly expressed in MCF-7/Adr and Skbr-3 cells. None of the CD44 isoforms were expressed in MCF-7 cells. The miR-138-5p was highly expressed in MCF-7 cells, but not in MCF-7/Adr, Skbr-3, and MDAMB-231 cells. The dual-luciferase assay suggested that miR-138-5p could bind to wild-type CD44st 3'-UTR, miR-138-5p overexpression significantly inhibited the expression level of CD44 protein in MCF-7/Adr cells, and miR-138-5p + CD44st (3'-UTR)-treated MCF-7/Adr and Skbr-3 cells were significantly less invasive than those in the control group (P < 0.05). RT-PCR results for 80 postoperative breast cancer patients showed that the mRNA expression rate for CD44st was higher in cancer tissues than in paracancerous tissues, and the expression rate of miR-138-5p was higher in paracancerous tissues than in cancerous tissues (P < 0.01). In cancer tissues, CD44st was negatively correlated with miR-138-5p expression, with correlation coefficient r = -0.76 (Pearson's correlation), coefficient of determination R2 = 0.573, F = 106.89, and P < 0.001. The median overall survival value for patients in the low miR-138-5p expression group was 40.39 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 35.59–45.18 months] and 56.30 months (95% CI: 54.38–58.21 months) for patients in the high-expression group, with a log rank (Mantel-Cox) of 13.120, one degree of freedom, and P < 0.001. Conclusion: In breast cancer cell lines, miR-138-5p negatively regulated expression of CD44st and affected the invasive ability of tumor cells and patient prognosis after breast cancer surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: SFTs are thought to have an unpredictable clinical course and currently have no recognized prognostic criterion. Our study aimed to determine the relationship between clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis of patients with orbital SFTs. Methods: The clinicopathological features of these patients were extracted from clinical records. The relationships between these features and prognosis were analysed. Results: The positive rates of CD34, CD99, Blc2, and STAT6 expression were 90.3%, 90.3%, 83.9%, and 100%, respectively. The tumour recurrence rate was 38.7%. A higher recurrence rate was observed in patients with Ki67 index ≥ 5 (56.25% vs. 20%, P = 0.038). Conclusion: A Ki67 index ≥ 5 was an effective parameter for predicting tumour recurrence of orbital SFTs. Close follow-up is needed for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, nano hexagonal boron nitride grafted with silane coupling agent (APTES-hBN) is selected to modify the natural ester, conducts thermal aging tests on the modified natural ester insulating oil and explores the mechanism of the nanoparticles on the improvement of natural ester properties from a microscopic perspective combining with molecular dynamics. The experimental results show that the addition of Nano APTES-hBN inhibited the production of acids in oil-paper insulating, leading to a corresponding decrease in the number of polar molecules in the oil. Compared with crude oil, the acid value and dielectric loss factor in the modified oil are reduced by 8.4% and 43.8%, respectively at the end of aging, and the rate of increase is smaller. Through its mechanism study, it is found that the addition of Nano APTES-hBN results in a tighter interfacial bonding between oil and paper insulation, and the adsorption energy of modified natural ester insulating oil to H 3 O+ is greater. The addition of Nano APTES-hBN introduced a large number of electron traps, providing a medium for the transition of valence electrons. At the same time, there are hydroxyl groups with strong electrostatic potential on Nano APTES-hBN, which have strong adsorption effect on charged particles. In addition, the Nano APTES-hBN is able to form hydrogen bonds with acids, which slows down the promotion of hydrolysis of ester molecules by acids, and thus improves the thermal stability of the modified natural ester insulating oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfur hexafluoride decompositions have been studied to analyze their adsorption properties on pristine graphene (PG) and Mg‐doped graphene (MgG). First of all, after calculating the formation energy of three Mg doping sites, the T doping site of Mg‐doped graphene is the most stable one. Then, several characteristic structures with different orientations and positions of the gas molecules have been carried out to adsorb on PG and MgG, respectively. By calculating the adsorption energies and distance, the most stable adsorption structure of each gas molecule is obtained. In addition, transferred charge (Qt), the density of states (DOS), the energy of highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) were used to further analyze the conductivity change and chemical stability of each adsorption system. The results indicate that the adsorption interactions of H2S, SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 on PG are weak. H2S adsorbed on MgG presented physical adsorption, while the adsorption behaviors of SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 on MgG are chemisorption. And the adsorption strength was SO2F2 > SOF2 > SO2. In short, MgG shows better selectivity and higher sensitivity to SO2, SOF2, and SO2F2 than PG, demonstrating that the MgG material can be used as suitable gas sensing equipment based on SF6 decomposition products detection, which provides a meaningful guide of alkaline earth metal‐doped graphene in the detection of partial discharge and partial overheat in gas‐insulated switchgears (GIS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of insulating paper cellulose is an important factor affecting the normal operation of electric power equipment. This paper uses molecular dynamics methods to establish pure cellulose, hBN‐modified cellulose, 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550), 3‐glyoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH560), and 3‐methylpropoxypropyltris (KH570) grafted with hBN modified cellulose models. The effect of cohesive energy density (CED), thermal conductivity (TC), mean square displacement (MSD), free volume, glass transition temperature (Tg), and mechanical properties on the thermomechanical properties of cellulose are investigated and compared. The results indicate that all three silane coupling agents can enhance TC, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of the cellulose models. Among them, KH550 is the best grafting method for hBN/cellulose system as KH550 graft not only significantly enhances TC by 114.29% and Tg by 23.88% but also significantly strengthens the toughness and resistance to deformation of cellulose by over 50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of nurse‐to‐nurse horizontal violence in Chinese hospitals and examine the effects of head nurse's caring and nurse's group behaviour on horizontal violence. Background: Horizontal violence is a serious global problem affecting the nursing profession, but little is known of the issue in Chinese hospitals. Increasing evidence has showed that leadership and group factors are important in facilitating horizontal violence. Whether the head nurse's caring and group behaviour perceived by nurses has protective effects against horizontal violence remains unclear. Methods: A cross‐sectional online‐based questionnaire study was performed in seven general hospitals in Hubei Province, China. Data related to the demographic information, horizontal violence, head nurse's caring and group behaviour were collected. Descriptive analyses, chi‐squared tests and logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: In total, 1942 valid questionnaires were collected, with a 92.70% effective response rate (1942/2095). Of those, 59.1% (1148/1942) of respondents had experienced horizontal violence at least once in the previous 6 months. Covert negative behaviours were more frequently reported. Compared with the low level, moderate and high levels of the head nurse's caring showed a lower risk of horizontal violence (odds ratio [OR] = 0.400, p <.001; OR = 0.128, p <.001); moderate and high levels of group behaviour also showed a reduced risk (OR = 0.601, p <.001; OR = 0.221, p <.001). Conclusion: Horizontal violence is common among Chinese nurses. The head nurse's caring and maintaining a good climate of nurses' group behaviours could serve as protective factors for preventing horizontal violence. Implications for Nursing Management: This study helps nursing managers identify which specific negative behaviours occur frequently and require special attention. It suggests that nursing managers attach importance to improving their caring ability towards nurses and to creating an amicable climate of group behaviour to buffer against horizontal violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong terahertz (THz) waves can induce a series of biological effects including morphology changes in living cells. Morphology change is an intuitive indicator of biological effects and would be helpful for understanding these effects. Up to now, only several cells' morphology changes induced by THz waves have been investigated. Related reports are not found for tumor or cancer cells. We preliminary investigated in vitro the effects of melanoma cells exposed to our strong broadband pulsed THz source (500 mW/cm2, 1 kHz repetition rate). After 3 h irradiation, we observed obvious morphological changes on most of these cancer cells with an increase of 4° in temperature. Under the same conditions but suppressing the increase of temperature by reducing the repetition rate of THz source to 100 Hz, morphological changes were not observed. Those morphological changes in melanoma cells exposed to THz source with an intensity of 500 mW/cm2 and a repetition rate of 1 kHz could be attributed mainly to the thermal effects caused by THz waves. The recovery of morphology of the irradiated melanoma cells as well as the similar apoptosis rate of the THz-irradiated melanoma cells and that of the controls indicates that both the thermal and nonthermal effects would not induce fatal and permanent damages to the melanoma cells under the condition of current parameters of our THz source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic and protected buildings are increasingly valued due to their valuable historical and cultural value. The assessment of the safety state of historic buildings has received more attention. Emerging machine learning algorithms, with their excellent computational performance, provide new ideas and new means to solve practical problems in various fields. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for assessing the safety state of historic buildings based on machine learning techniques. Firstly, based on the analysis of the characteristics of historical buildings and common security problems, the application of wireless sensor networks to the security monitoring of historical buildings is proposed in order to improve the automation of monitoring. Then, in order to improve the accuracy of the assessment, a combination of kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA) and support vector machine (SVM) is used to establish the security monitoring model. The experimental results show that by choosing a suitable KCCA function, the redundant features of the data can be reduced while the comprehensiveness of the building structure identification features can be retained, thus effectively improving the prediction accuracy of the SVM. The KCCA-SVM model can accurately predict the physical quantities such as relative structural displacement of historical buildings with good reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: To systematically summarize the prevalence of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and the alcohol-attributable proportions of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases in Asia. Methods: The Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, CINAHL, WanfangMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched from 01 January 2000 to 01 December 2021 for reports of ALD prevalence and alcohol-attributable proportions of liver cirrhosis/HCC in Asian populations. Study characteristics were extracted, and meta-analyses were conducted. Results: Our literature search identified 13 studies reporting the ALD prevalence, 62 studies reporting the alcohol-attributable proportion of liver cirrhosis and 34 studies reporting the alcohol-attributable proportion of HCC. The overall prevalence of ALD was 4.81% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.67%, 6.09%). The ALD prevalence was higher in men (7.80% [95% CI 5.70%, 10.19%]) than in women (0.88% [95% CI 0.35%, 1.64%]) and increased significantly over time from 3.82% (95% CI 2.74%, 5.07%) between 2000 and 2010 to 6.62% (95% CI 4.97%, 8.50%) between 2011 and 2020. Among 469 640 cases of liver cirrhosis, the pooled alcohol-attributable proportion was 12.57% (95% CI 10.20%, 15.16%). Among 82 615 HCC cases, the pooled alcohol-attributable proportion was 8.30% (95% CI 6.10%,11.21%). Significant regional differences were observed in alcohol-attributable proportions of liver cirrhosis and HCC. Conclusions: The prevalence of ALD and the proportions of alcohol-related liver cirrhosis and HCC in Asia are lower than those in western populations. However, a gradual increasing trend was observed over the last 21 years. ALD is likely to emerge as a leading cause of chronic liver disease in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer, characterized by uncontrolled tumor cells growth, is a highly fatal disease worldwide. Molecular simplification of natural compounds is a modern and less costly strategy in drug discovery. Mono-carbonyl analogs of curcumin (MACs) are curcumin-originated anticancer agents possessing potent bioactivity in vitro. In this work, the cytotoxicity of methoxyl-substituted MACs toward HepG2 cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Among these, 2,2′-methoxyl MAC exhibited the most potent anti-proliferation activity, and it could promote the ROS production, redox imbalance, lipid peroxidation, the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and ultimately lead to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of HepG2 cells. These results suggest that enhancing ROS generation may be a potent strategy for the expansion of new anti-hepatocellular carcinoma agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Method for non-targeted screening and relative quantification of carbonyls. • A local LC-MS database for carbonyls in aged seed oil and biodiesels. • Revealing the effect of biodiesel processing method on carbonyl formation. • Theoretical calculation of bond dissociation energy of acids and esters. The exploration of appropriate feedstock and catalytic transesterification hinders the practical application of biodiesel. Here, we introduced rational biodiesel production from oxidation stability perspective and evaluated the lipid-soluble carbonyl-containing oxidation products in long-term stored biodiesel samples that prepared from different oil source, catalyst for production, and ester bond type. A stable isotope labeling method based on liquid chromatography-high resolution-mass spectrometry (SIL-LC-HRMS) detection is established using a pair of labeling reagents namely1-(2-hydrazinyl-2-oxoethyl)pyridin-1-ium chloride (GP) and [2H 5 ]1-(2-Hydrazinyl-2-oxoethyl)pyridin-1-ium chloride ([2H 5 ]GP) for lipid-soluble carbonyl-containing oxidation products, including aldehydes and ketones. The main benefits of SIL-LC-HRMS are its sensitivity, selectivity, and feature coverage towards carbonyl-containing compounds and realized their non-targeted screening and relative quantification from complex matrices. Using SIL-LC-HRMS analysis, it was estimated the distribution and formation of 131 carbonyl compounds in three different kinds of second-generation feedstock and biodiesels with one-year storage in the dark. Double bond equivalent (DBE)-number of carbon (nC) plots and hierarchical clustering heatmap analysis reveal the effect of the oil source, catalyst type, and alkyl ester bond type on the variance in carbonyl compound formation during long-term biodiesel storage, arguably the most crucial factor oxidation stability in rational biodiesel production. The carbonyl formation and their variations in biodiesel samples are also discussed by theoretically calculating the bond dissociation energy for the primary constituent of seed oil and biodiesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet prominent disagreement for the water gas shift reaction (WGSR) equilibrium constant values obtained from various conventional empirical correlations and mitigate the strong dependence on plenty of experimental data points, here, we report a novel WGSR equilibrium constant formulation representation approach with direct algebraic operation, which only involves experimental data of 3–6 molecular constants for each reactants and products and does not contain the fitting of any experimental equilibrium constant data. The reliability of the developed approach is demonstrated by comparing the predicted values with experimentally measured data and the calculated results with other previous WGSR equilibrium constant correlations. The average absolute deviations between the theoretical values predicted from the developed technique and the directly measured data reported in the literature are 3.993%, 5.970%, 2.418%, 2.083%, 8.659%, 3.733%, and 3.755% for 7 experimental data sets, respectively. [Display omitted] • We report a novel WGSR equilibrium constant formulation representation approach. • This approach only involves 6–3 molecular constants of the reactants and products. • Practical applications of this method are verified from comparing the deviations. • The developed approach provides direct algebraic operation and high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Tephritidae fruit flies sense odorants mainly through antennal olfactory sensilla with nanopores. Therefore, theoretically, the development of nanopore-targeted pest control technologies is an important direction in the future. Here, we report naturally occurring abnormal antennal trichoid and basiconic olfactory sensilla phenotypes consisting of abnormal bulges and reduced nanopore numbers in a long-term laboratory rearing colony of the guava fruit fly Bactrocera correcta, and further find that the reduction of nanopore numbers in these sensilla led to an olfactory deficit. Our findings provide a basis for developing nanopore-targeted pest control technologies in the future. The guava fruit fly, Bactrocera correcta, is one of the most destructive pests in the genus Bactrocera and detects environmental odorants mainly through antennal olfactory sensilla phenotypes with nanopores. However, it is unclear whether there are naturally occurring abnormal antennal olfactory sensilla phenotypes that affect olfaction. Here, we found that there were abnormal bulges besides nanopores on the surface of trichoid and basiconic olfactory sensilla in the antennal flagellum of long-term laboratory rearing colony (LTC), and that nanopore number in these olfactory sensilla was also remarkably reduced. Notably, the electroantennogram (EAG) responses of LTC insects to methyl eugenol or β-caryophyllene were inhibited, and their behavioral responses elicited by the same odorants were also impaired. These results revealed naturally occurring abnormal antennal olfactory sensilla phenotypes which were involved in olfactory deficit in B. correcta, providing a platform to further study nanopore-targeted pest control technologies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simultaneous achievement of multiple functional attributes, such as flexibility, stretchability, transparency, comfortability, biodegradability, and self‐powered ability into electronic skins (e‐skins) is vital to their long‐term practical applications. Due to the internal contradiction between functional material combination and simple structural design, this kind of multifunctional e‐skin has rarely been fabricated or even reported. To this end, chitosan (CS), a natural material with remarkable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and electron‐donating ability, is integrated with a single‐mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to develop a multifunctional e‐skin, which includes sweat permeability, controllable biodegradability, high transparency, and self‐powered sensing ability. In addition, a facile, efficient, and large‐scale fabrication strategy is proposed to construct stretchable, ultrathin, transparent, and shape‐adaptable gold nanofibers (Au NFs) electrodes. Furthermore, the e‐skin can achieve a voltage response pressure sensitivity of 0.012 kPa−1 in the pressure range of 0–70 kPa and a fast response time of 70 ms. Finally, it shows controllable and excellent degradability in various solutions. It is believed that the proposed e‐skin based on the design and integration of CS and Au NFs will provide a paradigm shift for the next‐generation self‐powered transient electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal transport property in low-dimensional structures has been studied theoretically taking into account the effect of temperature on phonon–phonon coupling. New thermal-transport equations are developed to discriminatively treat the ballistic and diffusive thermal transport in quantum structures. Using the new thermal transport equations, the thermal transport properties in GaAs nanowire and zigzag graphene nanoribbon are investigated to demonstrate the crossover from ballistic to diffusive thermal transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to develop a theoretical model of caring leadership in nursing. Background: Nurse leader's role plays an integral part in complex health care institutions. As a common feature of leaders, leaders' caring leadership can positively influence the stakeholders in health care institutions. Still, little is known about caring leadership in nursing, especially in the Chinese cultural background. Methods: Grounded theory was used to develop the theoretical model of caring leadership. Both semi‐structured interviews and open‐ended questionnaire surveys were used to collect data for constructing the theory model. Ten nurse leaders and 11 nurse staff were recruited for an interview, and 168 nurse leaders and 286 nurses were recruited for an open‐ended questionnaire survey. Results: A theoretical model of caring leadership was developed using five core attributions: benevolent to others, appreciate the uniqueness, facilitate self‐actualization, maintain mutual benefit and motivate with charisma. Caring leadership in nurse leaders works through the caring and leading process, resulting in nurses' well‐being, patients' healing and organisational excellence. Conclusion: A caring leadership model was developed through grounded theory, revealing Chinese nurses' perspectives on caring leadership in Chinese cultural background. According to the model, the concept of caring leadership has been further explained, and it makes contributions to the measurement and leaders' practice in health care institutions. Implications for Nursing Management: This caring leadership model developed in our study provides a new perspective and understanding of caring and leadership for nurse leaders. Nurse leaders need to strengthen their responsibilities and personal qualities while caring for nurse staff to improve leadership efficacy based on the theoretical model. And caring leadership can help nurse leaders to balance the interests of stakeholders, leading to positive consequences for nurse staff, patients and health care organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight naphtho-gamma-pyrones (NγPs) (1–8), together with four known biosynthetically related coumarin derivatives (9–12), were isolated from the potato dextrose agar media of a marine-derived fungus Aspergillus niger S-48. Among them, natural compounds 1 and 2 were tentatively subjected to benzohydrazide reaction to evaluate the importance of pyran rings in NγPs. Their structures were elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data and MS spectra. Compounds 1–4 showed obvious activity for reducing cholesterol absorption verging on ezetimibe. This work highlighted the potential of natural NγPs as NPC1L1 inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a new operator – a modified λ-differential operator – from a usual differential operator. We construct the free (modified) λ-differential (k , ∂) -algebra on a (modified) differential (k , ∂) -module, and apply it to erect the universal enveloping (modified) differential algebra of a (modified) λ-differential Lie (k , ∂) -algebra. The corresponding Poincaré-Birchoff-Witt theorems are obtained. The Wronskian envelope of a modified λ-differential Lie (k , − λ i d k) -algebra is also constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites and side reactions are the major restrictions for the commercialization of Zn metal anodes. Herein, we develop a TiOx/Zn/N‐doped carbon inverse opal (denoted as TZNC IO) host to regulate the Zn deposition. Amorphous TiOx and Zn/N‐doped carbon can serve as the zincophilic nucleation sites to prevent the parasitic reactions. More importantly, the highly ordered IO host homogenizes the local current density and electric field to stabilize Zn deposition. Furthermore, the three‐dimensional open networks could regulate Zn ion flux to enable stable cycling performance at large current densities. Owing to the abundant zincophilic sites and the open structure, granular Zn deposits could be realized. As expected, the TZNC IO host guarantees the steady Zn plating/stripping with a long‐term stability over 450 h at the current density of 1 mA cm−2. As a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, a TZNC@Zn||V2O5 full cell shows long lifespan over 2000 cycles at 5.0 A g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncontrolled growth of Zn dendrites and side reactions are the major restrictions for the commercialization of Zn metal anodes. Herein, we develop a TiOx/Zn/N‐doped carbon inverse opal (denoted as TZNC IO) host to regulate the Zn deposition. Amorphous TiOx and Zn/N‐doped carbon can serve as the zincophilic nucleation sites to prevent the parasitic reactions. More importantly, the highly ordered IO host homogenizes the local current density and electric field to stabilize Zn deposition. Furthermore, the three‐dimensional open networks could regulate Zn ion flux to enable stable cycling performance at large current densities. Owing to the abundant zincophilic sites and the open structure, granular Zn deposits could be realized. As expected, the TZNC IO host guarantees the steady Zn plating/stripping with a long‐term stability over 450 h at the current density of 1 mA cm−2. As a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, a TZNC@Zn||V2O5 full cell shows long lifespan over 2000 cycles at 5.0 A g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel bi-modular elastic algorithm is proposed in Particle Flow Code to model the bi-modular elastic behaviors of rock. • A new thermal force calculation method based on Flat-Joint Model is proposed. • The correctness of the bi-modular elastic algorithm is verified by several cases. • Different thermal cracking behaviors in the thermal–mechanical coupling process are compared and described. Experimental studies indicated that most rocks exhibit distinct elastic moduli under compressive and tensile loading, leading to intricate stress conditions in rock mass under thermal–mechanical coupling. It is an urgent demand for advanced numerical methods that can simultaneously consider the bi-modular elasticity of rock, thermal–mechanical coupling effects, and thermal cracking behaviors to improve understanding of geological science. The Balanced Interface Method (BIM), a novel bi-modular elastic algorithm is proposed in Particle Flow Code to investigate the thermal–mechanical behavior of bi-modular elastic materials. Firstly, this study introduces the calculation principle of BIM and presents the calibration procedure for bi-modular elastic materials, which is further validated through two case exercises. Subsequently, the thermal–mechanical coupling algorithm is improved by utilizing the Flat-Joint Model (FJM), and a correction method for the position of the compression-tension interface based on BIM for the thermal–mechanical coupling process is introduced, which is then verified by a comprehensive transient heat conduction case with different elastic assumptions. Lastly, a cracking example induced by thermal–mechanical coupling is simulated. The numerical results demonstrate consistency with previous studies and reveal a significant improvement in the thermal cracking behavior of rock, proving the developed algorithm's necessity in investigating the coupled thermal–mechanical problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.) tuber meal as the major by-product of tiger nut oil production is a promising starch source. Starches obtained from tiger nut meal using different isolation methods were compared: distilled water (DWS), citric acid (CAS), enzyme (ESS), 0.5 g/L NaOH (LNS-0.5), 2 g/L NaOH (MNS-2), and 5 g/L NaOH (HNS-5). The highest yield (36.2% of tiger nut meal) was observed in HNS-5. Moreover, HNS-5 demonstrated the smallest particle size (7.69 μm), the highest amylose ratio (13.7%), and strongest freeze-thaw stability. ESS showed the highest relative crystallinity (20.0%), pasting temperature (79.1 °C), and its gel demonstrated higher hardness and adhesiveness compared to others. The average chain length of amylopectin (degrees of polymerization: 20.0−20.6), and the proportion of the amorphous phase (7.67%–8.66%) in starches were slightly affected by different isolation methods. Nevertheless, the crystalline pattern (C-type) of all starches was not changed, and all starch gels exhibited a similar single rate constant (0.037 min−1) during the simulated digestion process. Therefore, different isolation methods could be used to achieve different processing objectives, such as high yield or obtaining starch with enhanced properties. • The alkaline extraction method achieved the highest starch yield. • Enzyme-extracted starch had the greatest relative crystallinity. • Gel of enzyme-extracted starch showed the highest hardness and adhesiveness. • Alkali-extracted starch exhibited stronger freeze-thaw stability than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy is an important treatment modality in cancer, but it can also cause adverse reactions, with skin toxicity being the most common. The increasing number of immune checkpoint inhibitors being used in the clinic will inevitably cause an increase in the rate of adverse skin reactions that markedly affect the patient's quality of life. A 58-year-old patient with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma developed bullous pemphigoid (BP) nearly a year after using immune checkpoint inhibitors, which is different from what has been reported in the literature within two weeks of treatment. Pathologically, the skin biopsy diagnosis was epidermal hyperplasia and focal sub-epidermal pustule formation, consistent with drug-induced dermatitis. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone, minocycline, colchicine, nicotinamide, triamcinolone, and traditional Chinese medicine decoction. No new blisters developed after 1 week of treatment. The medication was gradually discontinued, and BP did not recur. Clinicians should carefully consider the risk-benefit ratio when using PD-1 inhibitors, particularly concerning rash severity. Further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between adverse skin reactions and drug efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) pretreatment is a promising approach to decrease "biomass recalcitrance" and boost the cellulose bioconversion as well as lignin valorization. In this study, a short-time DES pretreatment strategy was performed to enhance the production of high-yield fermentable sugars and tailored lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) from abaca. The glucose yield reached 92.4% under the optimal pretreatment condition (110 °C, 30 min), which was dramatically increased in comparison with that (9.5%) of control abaca. Simultaneously, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) techniques indicated that the removed and regenerated DES lignin fractions displayed depolymerized structures and have relatively low molecular weight with relatively homogeneous morphology and narrow size distribution. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis indicated that these lignin fractions are LNPs and the size of the optimal LNPs fraction is ranged from 30 nm to 50 nm. Moreover, all the DES lignin exhibited excellent antioxidant activities as compared to the commercial antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which can be used as a promising natural antioxidant in industry. In short, this study demonstrated that the short-time DES pretreatment will improve the enzymatic digestibility and facilitate the controllable production and valorization of LNPs from abaca biomass, which will further promote the economic and overall benefits of biorefinery. [Display omitted] • Short-time deep eutectic solvent pretreatment was developed for deconstructing abaca. • The glucose yield reached 92.4% under the optimal condition (110 °C, 30 min). • The obtained lignin fractions are lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) with size of 30–50 nm. • DES lignin exhibited excellent antioxidant activities (RSI = 21.14) under the optimal condition. • The effects of recyclable DES on the fermentable sugars and lignin was preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To characterize and compare clinical and immunological features of para(p)-autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) and non-para(np)-AIR and to assess the clinical significance of the presence of serum anti-retinal antibodies (ARAs). We retrospectively reviewed 48 Chinese patients with p-AIR or np-AIR who took comprehensive ophthalmic examinations and lab tests of the presence of serum ARAs. p-AIR patients differed from np-AIR patients in terms of disease progression, ocular inflammation, findings of OCT, FFA, and presence of ARAs. No significant difference was found in the band number of serum ARAs between AIR patients and healthy controls. The prevalence of antibodies to recoverin and ɑ-enolase in the sera of p-AIR was significantly higher than that of the healthy individuals. While having many similar clinical signs, patients with p-AIR or np-AIR nevertheless displayed unique characteristics. Detection of ARAs subtypes, rather than their quantity, may be helpful in evaluating the conditions in the verified instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A non‐collocated output tracking problem for a flexible string with tip payload at one end was studied in this paper, which is expected to describe by a wave equation coupled ordinary differential equation (ODE) system. The regulated output and the reference trajectory signal with unknown frequency and amplitude are non‐collocated with the boundary control input. An adaptive approach has been developed to determine the unknown frequency of a disturbance by constituting an auxiliary trajectory and an internal model structure. In order to regulate exponential output tracking, the proposed error‐based adaptive dynamic compensation controller is employed. Closed‐loop stability and well‐posedness is established by exploiting the principle of semigroup theory. Finally, simulation experiments are performed to show the proposed scheme is very effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Screening is a confirmed way to reduce the incidence and mortality rates of CRC. This study aimed to identify a fecal-based, noninvasive, and accurate method for detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenoma (AA).Methods: Through detection in tissue (n = 96) and fecal samples (n = 88) and tested in an independent group of fecal samples (n = 294), the methylated DNA marker ITGA4 and bacterial markers Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) and Pepetostreptococcusanaerobius (Pa) were identified from the candidate biomarkers for CRC and AA detection. A prediction score (pd-score) was constructed using the selected markers and fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for distinguishing AA and CRC from healthy subjects by logistic regression method. The diagnostic performance of the pd-score was compared with FIT and validated in the external validation cohort (n = 117) and in a large CRC screening cohort.Results: The pd-score accurately identified AA and CRC from healthy subjects with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.958, at a specificity of 91.37%; the pd-score showed sensitivities of 95.38% for CRC and 70.83% for AA, respectively. In the external validation cohort, the sensitivities of the pd-score for CRC and AA detection were 94.03% and 80.00%, respectively. When applied in screening, the pd-score identified 100% (11/11) of CRC and 70.83% (17/24) of AA in participants with both colonoscopy results and qualified fecal samples, showing an improvement by 41.19% compared to FIT.Conclusions: The current study developed a noninvasive and well-validated approach for AA and CRC detection, which could be applied widely as a diagnostic and screening test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Textile triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) that integrate the newly developed TENG science and traditional textile technology have attracted intense attentions, due to their broad potential applications in wearable power supply and self-powered sensors. However, the limited electrical output ability has greatly hindered the development of textile TENGs. Here, with the help of the advanced three-dimensional (3D) warp-knitted structure, a scalable and washable 3D warp-knitted spacer power fabric (3D-WSF) with high compression elasticity and enhanced power output is developed. Under the applied force of 20 N, the 3D-WSF can generate an open-circuit voltage of 32 V and a peak power density of 2.6 mW m−2, which is able to light up dozens of LEDs and charge capacitors. In addition, the 3D-WSF can also act as self-powered sensor that can monitor human motions, such as walking states and sitting postures. This work may provide an enlightening design idea for high output textile TENGs for potential applications in wearable micro/nano power sources, self-powered sensors, and human–machine interactive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable or transient electronics is an emerging technology whose key characteristic is an ability to dissolve, resorb, physically disappear or disintegrate in physiological environments after fulfilling their functions over prescribed time frames. Biodegradable electronics as temporary implants can be safely absorbed by the body, and as green electronics can effectively alleviate landfill and environmental issues caused by electronic wastes, which are expected to ultimately eliminate associated costs and risks resulting from recycling operations. In this review, the state of the art of the biodegradable polymers, their fabrication techniques, and potential applications in environment friendly electronic skins (e-skins) are comprehensively summarized and systematically discussed. In addition, the future outlook for the development of biodegradable e-skins is also discussed at the end. It is expected that this review will potentially provide vital tools and beneficial strategies for the design of biodegradable e-skins with the functions of diagnosis, therapy and green sensing that are beneficial for human healthcare and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on insomnia of tumor patients. Methods: A total of 208 tumor patients with insomnia were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group, with 104 cases in each group. The treatment group was treated with acupuncture and moxibustion, and the control group was treated with Estazolam Tablets orally. The changes of the total effective rate and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before treatment, after treatment and in the follow-up were observed respectively. Results: After treatment, the sleep state of the patients in the two groups got different degrees of improvement. The total effective rate significantly improved after treatment and in the follow-up, and the comparison between the two groups indicated that there was statistical significance (P < 0.05). Except sleep disorder, other scoring factors in the treatment group after treatment and in the follow-up were compared with those before treatment respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Each scoring factor in the treatment group was compared after treatment and in the follow-up, and the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Except wake-up discomfort, other scoring factors in the control group were compared before and after treatment, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The sleep time, sleep disorder and wake-up discomfort in the control group were compared before treatment and in the follow-up, and the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Except sleep disorder and wake-up discomfort, other scoring factors in the control group were compared after treatment and in the follow-up, and the differences were statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture and moxibustion treatment can significantly improve the sleep state of the tumor patients, and the long-term effect is much better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A novel predictive model was rarely reported based on inflammation-related genes to explore clinical outcomes of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. Methods. Using TCGA database, we screened nine inflammation-related genes with a prognostic value, and LASSO regression was applied for model construction. The predictive value of the prognostic signature developed from inflammation-related genes was assessed by survival assays and multivariate assays. PCA and t-SNE analysis were performed to demonstrate clustering abilities of risk scores. Results. Thirteen inflammation-related genes (BTG2, CCL20, CD69, DCBLD2, GPC3, IL7R, LAMP3, MMP14, NMUR1, PCDH7, PIK3R5, RNF144B, and TPBG) with prognostic values were finally identified. LASSO regression further screened nine candidates (BTG2, CCL20, CD69, IL7R, MMP14, NMUR1, PCDH7, RNF144B, and TPBG). Then, a prognostic prediction model using the above nine genes was constructed. A reliable clustering ability of risk score was demonstrated by PCA and t-SNE assays in 500 LUAD patients. The survival assays revealed that the overall survivals of the high-risk group were distinctly poorer than those of the low-risk group with 1-, 3-, and 5-year AUC values of 0.695, 0.666, and 0.694, respectively. Finally, multivariate assays demonstrated the scoring system as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival. Conclusions. Our study shows that the signature of nine inflammation-related genes can be used as a prognostic marker for LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human respiration is an indispensable physiological behavior of the body, which is an important indicator to evaluate health status, especially for sleep‐related diseases. A real‐time respiratory monitoring and sleep breathing detecting system with convenience, high sensitivity, simple fabrication, and wearing comfort still remains a challenge and urgently desirable. Here, a breathable, highly sensitive, and self‐powered electronic skin (e‐skin) based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is reported for real‐time respiratory monitoring and obstructive sleep apnea‐hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) diagnosis. By using multilayer polyacrylonitrile and "polyamide 66" nanofibers as the contact pairs, and deposited gold as the electrodes, a contact‐separation type of TENG‐based all‐nanofiber e‐skin is developed. The e‐skin has a peak power density of 330 mW m−2, high pressure sensitivity of 0.217 kPa−1, excellent working stability, and good air permeability. Therefore, the e‐skin is simultaneously capable of energy autonomy and accurate real‐time subtle respiration monitoring. Meanwhile, a self‐powered diagnostic system for real‐time detection and severity evaluation of obstructive sleep apnea‐hypopnea syndrome are further developed to prevent the occurrence of OSAHS, delay its development, and improve sleep quality. This study hopes to pave a new and practical pathway for real‐time respiration monitoring and sleep breathing diseases clinical detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: IgA nephropathy is virtually known as the most common glomerulopathy to end-stage renal failure in the world. Mycophenolate mofetil is a selective immunosuppressant widely used in organ transplantation, yet its tolerance and effectiveness in IgAN is controversial. Methods: This is a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis, searching PubMed, Embase, Te Cochrane Library, Science Citation Index, Ovid evidence-based medicine, Chinese Biomedical Literature and Chinese Science and Technology Periodicals. Screen out randomized controlled trials on patients with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy and analysis mycophenolate mofetil treatment regimens used for therapy of IgA nephropathy. Complete remission and partial remission, doubling of creatinine level, proteinuria, incidence of end-stage kidney disease, infection, Cushing syndrome, diabetes, hepatic dysfunction or gastrointestinal symptoms, neurologic or visual ambiguity, acne, and alopecia were observed. Results: Nine relevant trials were conducted with 587 patients enrolled. In Mycophenolate mofetil or plus medium/low-dose steroid comparing full-dose steroid alone or placebo, there was no significant difference. The risk of Cushing syndrome and diabetes had been significantly lowered with Mycophenolate mofetil-treated patients, while the risk of infection had been increased. Conclusions: Mycophenolate mofetil therapy did not differ in reducing proteinuria and Scr in patients with IgAN who had persistent proteinuria, while having fewer Cushing syndrome and diabetes risk and more infection risk. However, larger randomized studies are needed to reveal these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Involving a symmetric Hochschild 1-cocycle condition, we equip the space of decorated planar rooted forests with a coproduct which turns the space into a dendriform-Nijenhuis bialgebra. We combine dendriform-Nijenhuis bialgebras with operated algebras and introduce the notation of an Ω-operated DN-bialgebra. Applying the universal property of the underlying operated algebras, we construct free objects in the category of Ω-cocycle DN-bialgebras. We introduce the notation of a DN-associative Yang-Baxter equation (AYBE) and show that the dendriform-Nijenhuis bialgebra offers an algebraic framework of the DN-associative Yang-Baxter equation. We construct a Leroux's TD operator from a solution of the DN-AYBE. We also give two different ways to derive Lie algebras from quasitriangular DN-bialgebras. Finally, we classify the solutions of the DN-AYBE in the unitary algebras of dimensions two and three over the field of complex numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, the interplay between contagion dynamics of social influences (e.g., human awareness, risk perception, and information dissemination) and biological infections has been extensively investigated within the framework of multiplex networks. The vast majority of existing multiplex network spreading models typically resort to heterogeneous mean-field approximation and microscopic Markov chain approaches. Such approaches usually manifest richer dynamical properties on multiplex networks than those on simplex networks; however, they fall short of a subtle analysis of the variations in connections between nodes of the network and fail to account for the adaptive behavioral changes among individuals in response to epidemic outbreaks. To transcend these limitations, in this paper we develop a highly integrated effective degree approach to modeling epidemic and awareness spreading processes on multiplex networks coupled with awareness-dependent adaptive rewiring. This approach keeps track of the number of nearest neighbors in each state of an individual; consequently, it allows for the integration of changes in local contacts into the multiplex network model. We derive a formula for the threshold condition of contagion outbreak. Also, we provide a lower bound for the threshold parameter to indicate the effect of adaptive rewiring. The threshold analysis is confirmed by extensive simulations. Our results show that awareness-dependent link rewiring plays an important role in enhancing the transmission threshold as well as lowering the epidemic prevalence. Moreover, it is revealed that intensified awareness diffusion in conjunction with enhanced link rewiring makes a greater contribution to disease prevention and control. In addition, the critical phenomenon is observed in the dependence of the epidemic threshold on the awareness diffusion rate, supporting the metacritical point previously reported in literature. This work may shed light on understanding of the interplay between epidemic dynamics and social contagion on adaptive networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]