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Abstract Patients with distant metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) often have a poor prognosis. However, early diagnosis of distant metastasis is challenging in clinical practice, and distant metastasis is often only detected in the late stages of tumor metastasis through imaging techniques. In this study, we utilized data from HNSCC patients collected from the TCGA database. Patients were divided into distant metastasis and nonmetastasis groups based on the tumor–node–metastasis (TNM) stage. We analyzed the differentially expressed genes between the two groups (DM/non-M DEGs) and their associated lncRNAs and generated a predictive model based on 23 lncRNAs that were significantly associated with the occurrence of distant metastasis in HNSCC patients. On this basis, we built a nomogram to predict the distant metastasis of HNSCC patients. Moreover, through WGCNA and Cytoscape software analysis of DM/non-M DEGs, we identified the gene most closely related to HNSCC distant metastasis: EIF5A. Our findings were validated using GEO data; EIF5A expression was significantly increased in the tumor tissues of HNSCC patients with distant metastasis. We then predicted miRNAs that can directly bind to EIF5A via the TargetScan and miRWalk websites, intersected them with differentially expressed miRNAs in the two groups from the TCGA cohort, and identified the only overlapping miRNA, miR-424; we predicted the direct binding site of EIF5A and miR-424 via the miRWalk website. Immunohistochemistry further revealed high expression of EIF5A in the primary tumor tissue of HNSCC patients with distant metastasis. These results provide a new perspective for the early diagnosis of distant metastasis in HNSCC patients and the study of the mechanisms underlying HNSCC distant metastasis.

Ideal medical implant materials should have the qualities of osteoinduction, osteoconduction, nontoxicity, non-sensitivity and non-carcinogenicity to the body. Although its high melting point and high elastic modulus pose difficulties for processing technology, tantalum has become a popular research topic in the field of medical implant materials because of its excellent biocompatibility and bone inductivity. In this paper, the performance of the bone-inducing properties of tantalum in different applications, including its combination with other elements, its use as a coating, its porous structure and its surface modification ability, are summarized. The mechanism of promoting bone formation and the clinical application of tantalum are reviewed.

Abstract In 2017, one pair of Oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis) with color aberrations was found in Yongnianwa National Wetland Park, Hebei, China. The female bird exhibited white feathers on the head, neck, and upper back, and the base of the beak was flesh‐red in color. The male had a few feathers on the outer edges of the left and right primary wing coverts that were white, which was determined to be leucism after analysis. The breeding pairs laid their first egg on May 29, with a clutch size of four eggs. After an incubation period of 13 days, two chicks hatched on June 13, 2017. The nest was found empty on June 20 when the chicks were 7 days old and before fledging age; therefore, it was presumed that the chicks had been predated. A white parrot egg was added to the nest during the incubation period to test the egg recognition ability of breeding pairs and was successfully rejected. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of color aberrations in the Oriental reed warbler, and we found that this color aberrations did not affect some reproductive and antiparasitic behaviors of the birds, but whether it affects their breeding success needs to be further studied.

To explore the passivation effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on Ag nanowires (NWs), the structural evolution of PVP@Ag NWs was in situ induced under focused electron beam (e-beam) irradiation using transmission electron microscopy. Notably, interesting phenomena, including multiple necking and axial elongation, were observed at room temperature. By establishing a kinetic relationship, the passivation effect of PVP on the radial shrinkage of Ag NW was confirmed, with a determined surface energy index (b) of 0.2. The presence of PVP not only weakened the surface nanocurvature effect of Ag NW but also retarded the athermal activation effect of energetic e-beam irradiation. By taking into account two new concepts of nanocurvature effect and athermal activation effect, the structure evolution of PVP@Ag NW was well restored by COMSOL simulation. Additionally, the radial shrinkage of Ag NWs with and without PVP coating was compared extensively. The simulation vividly illustrated the evaporation and diffusion processes of atoms, showcasing how PVP effectively mitigates material loss.

Abstract This paper addresses the resource allocation (RA) for ultra‐dense network (UDN), where base stations (BSs) are densely deployed to meet the demands of future wireless communications. However, the design of RA in UDN is challenging, as the RA problem is non‐convex and NP‐hard. Therefore, this paper considers and studies a semi‐distributed resource block (RB) allocation scheme, in order to achieve a well‐balanced trade‐off between performance and complexity. In the context of semi‐distributed RB allocation scheme, the problem can be decomposed into the subproblem of clustering and the subproblem of cluster‐based RB allocation. We first improve the K‐means clustering algorithm by employing the Gaussian modified method, which can significantly decrease the number of iterations for carrying out the K‐means algorithm as well as the failure possibility of clustering. Then, bat algorithm (BA) is introduced to attack the problem of cluster‐based RB allocation. In order to make the original BA applicable to the problem of RB allocation, chaotic sequences are adopted to discretize the initial position of the bats, and simultaneously increase the population diversity of the bats. Furthermore, in order to speed up the convergence of BA, the logarithmic decreasing inertia weight is employed for improving the original BA. Our studies and performance results show that the proposed approaches are capable of achieving a desirable trade‐off between the performance and the implementation complexity.

BackgroundWeChat (Tencent) is one of the most important information sources for Chinese people. Relevantly, various health-related data are constantly transmitted among WeChat users. WeChat public accounts (WPAs) for health are rapidly emerging. Health-related WeChat public accounts have a significant impact on public health. Because of the rise in web-based health-seeking behavior, the general public has grown accustomed to obtaining cancer information from WPAs. Although WPAs make it easy for people to obtain health information, the quality of the information is questionable. ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the quality and suitability of cancer-related WeChat public accounts (CWPAs). MethodsThe survey was conducted from February 1 to 28, 2023. Based on the WPA monthly list provided by Qingbo Big Data, 28 CWPAs in the WeChat communication index were selected as the survey sample. Quality assessment of the included CWPAs was performed using the HONcode instrument. Furthermore, suitability was measured by using the Suitability Assessment of Materials. A total of 2 researchers conducted the evaluations independently. ResultsOf the 28 CWPAs, 12 (43%) were academic and 16 (57%) were commercial. No statistical difference was found regarding the HONcode scores between the 2 groups (P=.96). The quality of the academic and commercial CWPAs evaluated using the HONcode instrument demonstrated mean scores of 5.58 (SD 2.02) and 5.63 (SD 2.16), respectively, corresponding to a moderate class. All CWPAs’ compliance with the HONcode principles was unsatisfactory. A statistically significant difference between the 2 groups was observed in the Suitability Assessment of Materials scores (P=.04). The commercial WPAs reached an overall 55.1% (SD 5.5%) score versus the 50.2% (SD 6.4%) score reached by academic WPAs. The suitability of academic and commercial CWPAs was considered adequate. ConclusionsThis study revealed that CWPAs are not sufficiently credible. WPA owners must endeavor to create reliable health websites using approved tools such as the HONcode criteria. However, it is necessary to educate the public about the evaluation tools of health websites to assess their credibility before using the provided content. In addition, improving readability will allow the public to read and understand the content.

Background: Gliomas stand out as highly predominant malignant nervous tumors and are linked to adverse treatment outcomes and short survival periods. Current treatment options are limited, emphasizing the need to identify effective therapeutic targets. The heterogeneity of tumors necessitates a personalized treatment approach with an effective grouping system. Meox1 has been implicated in promoting tumor progression in diverse cancers; nonetheless, its role in gliomas remains unelucidated. Material/methods: Utilized immunohistochemistry to assess the expression of Meox1 protein in glioma tissues. Proliferation and invasion assays were conducted on wild-type and meox1-overexpressed glioma cells using the CCK8 and Transwell assays, respectively. The expression levels of meox1 and its related genes in gliomas were obtained from Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA), along with the corresponding patient survival periods. LASSO regression modeling was employed to construct a scoring system for patients with gliomas, categorizing them into high-/low-risk groups. Additionally, a nomogram for predicting the survival period of patients with glioma was developed using multivariate logistic analysis. Results: We attempted, for the first time, to demonstrate heightened expression of Meox1 in glioma tumor tissues, correlating with significantly increased invasion and proliferation abilities of glioma cells following meox1 overexpression. The scoring system effectively stratified patients with glioma into high-/low-risk groups, revealing differences in the survival period and immunotherapy efficacy between the two groups. The integration of this scoring system with other clinical indicators yielded a nomogram capable of effectively predicting the survival period of individuals with gliomas. Conclusions: Our study established a stratified investigation system based on the levels of meox1 and its related genes, providing a novel, cost-effective model for facilitating the prognosis prediction of individuals with glioma.

Abstract Egg recognition and rejection are the most common and effective anti‐parasitic strategies against avian brood parasitism in terms of maintaining stability over time and plasticity in response to environmental cues. Conversely, parasites have evolved multiple counter‐adaptations to the anti‐parasitic defenses of hosts. Among them, the crypsis hypothesis suggests that eggs that appear more cryptic in color and are closely matched to the environment are helping to counter the egg recognition strategy of the host. In this study, we investigated whether the egg recognition ability of Oriental reed warblers (Acrocephalus orientalis), a common host of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus), changed during different reproductive stages by using model egg experiments. The effect of the crypsis hypothesis on the egg recognition ability of the hosts was also investigated by controlling the color contrast between the inside of the experimental nests and the model eggs. The results showed that the Oriental reed warbler retained strong egg recognition abilities, which were similar to the incubation stage (GLMMs: F1,27 = 0.424, p = .521), even after entering the nestling stage and preferentially rejected model eggs with distinct contrasting colors (binomial test: Fisher's exact, p = .016). These results are consistent with the crypsis hypothesis. The present study suggests that the host retains a strong egg recognition ability even during the nestling stage and that cryptic‐colored eggs that are closely matched with the breeding nest environment help counter the host's egg recognition abilities and increase the chances of successful parasitism by cuckoos. However, the effectiveness of cryptic egg may be weaker than mimic egg in countering egg recognition and rejection by hosts with open‐cup nests.

The transmission characteristics of circular–linear edge dislocation vortex (CLEDV) beams in optical nonlocal medium is investigated analytically and numerically in detail. The analytical expression for the transmission of CLEDV beams is derived, and the transmission characteristics of CLEDV beams are illustrated in figures. The influence of various parameters of CLEDV beams on transmission characteristics is discussed, including statistical spot size, input power, topological charge, etc. The results indicate that the main transverse intensity of CLEDV beams can maintain a crescent shaped distribution and rotate periodically under the influence of topological charges. For different input powers, the variations of the statistical spot size of CLEDV beams in two transverse directions exhibit diverse behaviors: they can be diametrically opposite, simultaneously expand or compress, remain constant in one direction while periodically changing in the other. This complexity highlights the intricate dynamics of CLEDV beams in optical nonlocal medium.

The addition of silicon (Si) and organic fertilizers to soil conditioners can inhibit the transfer of heavy metal ions from soil to crops. However, it is not clear how Si and organic fertilizers affect soil properties and the micro-ecological environment and thereby reduce cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice. In this study, the effects of L-type soil conditioners containing Si and organic fertilizers on bacterial and fungal community diversity, soil pH, organic matter, and available Si were analyzed with field experiments at two sites in Liuzhou City and Hezhou City, respectively, in Guangxi, China. With the increase of Si and organic fertilizer content in soil conditioner, rice yield respectively increased by 16.8–25.8 and 6.8–13.1%, and rice Cd content decreased significantly by 8.2–21.1 and 10.8–40.6%, respectively, at the two experimental sites. Soil microbiome analysis showed that the increase in abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteriota bacteria associated with Cd adsorption and sequestration, and Basidiomycota fungal populations associated with degradation of macromolecules favored the inhibition of soil Cd activity (soil exchangeable Cd decreased by 14.4–14.8 and 18.1–20.6%). This was associated with an increase in organic matter and Si content caused by applying soil conditioners. In conclusion, L-type soil conditioners, rich in Si and organic fertilizer, can reduce soil Cd bioavailability by regulating the dominant Cd passivating flora in the soil and ultimately reduce Cd accumulation in rice.

This paper proposes the novel concept of retrofitting damaged reinforced concrete frame with self-centering and energy-dissipating rocking wall. Parametric studies were carried out base on pushover and time-history analysis. In both pushover and time-history analysis, the soft-story mechanism was effectively mitigated through the rocking wall retrofit of the damaged structures. The results demonstrated that the stiffness and bearing capacity of the retrofitted system were improved compare to its intact state. Additionally, the seismic response of the damaged frame retrofitted using rocking wall in combination with post-tension and shear-type damper fell within the relevant design limits. Pushover analysis of the rocking wall indicated that there is a linear relationship between the wall thickness and the initial stiffness of the retrofitted system. The addition of post-tension tendon to the rocking wall system enables the wall to self-center and increases lateral stiffness and bearing capacity of the retrofitted system. When the shear-type damper was installed, the energy dissipation of the system was increased, and the stiffness and bearing capacity of the retrofitted system were also improved. In the time-history analysis, it was found that the thickness of the rocking wall is directly related to the maximum inter-story drift and the distribution patterns of inter-story drift of the frame. As the post-tension was added to the system, the maximum inter-story drift under rare earthquake excitation improved significantly. With the addition of shear-type dampers, the overall drift magnitude of the retrofitted system was fundamentally decreased.

Abstract Caenorhabditis elegans embryos have been widely used to study cellular processes and developmental regulation at early stages. However, most existing microfluidic devices focus on the studies of larval or adult worms rather than embryos. To accurately study the real-time dynamics of embryonic development under different conditions, many technical barriers must be overcome; these can include single-embryo sorting and immobilization, precise control of the experimental environment, and long-term live imaging of embryos. This paper reports a spiral microfluidic device for effective sorting, trapping, and long-term live imaging of single C. elegans embryos under precisely controlled experimental conditions. The device successfully sorts embryos from a mixed population of C. elegans at different developmental stages via Dean vortices generated inside a spiral microchannel and traps the sorted embryos at single-cell resolution through hydrodynamic traps on the sidewall of the spiral channel for long-term imaging. Through the well-controlled microenvironment inside the microfluidic device, the response of the trapped C. elegans embryos to mechanical and chemical stimulation can be quantitatively measured. The experimental results show that a gentle hydrodynamic force would induce faster growth of embryos, and embryos developmentally arrested in the high-salinity solution could be rescued by the M9 buffer. The microfluidic device provides new avenues for easy, rapid, high-content screening of C. elegans embryos.

IntroductionColorectal adenoma can develop into colorectal cancer. Determining the risk of tumorigenesis in colorectal adenoma would be critical for avoiding the development of colorectal cancer; however, genomic features that could help predict the risk of tumorigenesis remain uncertain.MethodsIn this work, DNA and RNA parallel capture sequencing data covering 519 genes from colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer samples were collected. The somatic mutation profiles were obtained from DNA sequencing data, and the expression profiles were obtained from RNA sequencing data.ResultsDespite some similarities between the adenoma samples and the cancer samples, different mutation frequencies, co-occurrences, and mutually exclusive patterns were detected in the mutation profiles of patients with colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer. Differentially expressed genes were also detected between the two patient groups using RNA sequencing. Finally, two random forest classification models were built, one based on mutation profiles and one based on expression profiles. The models distinguished adenoma and cancer samples with accuracy levels of 81.48% and 100.00%, respectively, showing the potential of the 519-gene panel for monitoring adenoma patients in clinical practice.ConclusionThis study revealed molecular characteristics and correlations between colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer, and it demonstrated that the 519-gene panel may be used for early monitoring of the progression of colorectal adenoma to cancer.

Abstract No fully validated risk-stratification strategies have been established in China where colonoscopies resources are limited. We aimed to develop and validate a fecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based risk-stratification model for colorectal neoplasia (CN); 10,164 individuals were recruited from 175 centers nationwide and were randomly allocated to the derivation (n = 6776) or validation cohort (n = 3388). Multivariate logistic analyses were performed to develop the National Colorectal Polyp Care (NCPC) score, which formed the risk-stratification model along with FIT. The NCPC score was developed from eight independent predicting factors and divided into three levels: low risk (LR 0–14), intermediate risk (IR 15–17), and high risk (HR 18–28). Individuals with IR or HR of NCPC score or FIT+ were classified as increased-risk individuals in the risk-stratification model and were recommended for colonoscopy. The IR/HR of NCPC score showed a higher prevalence of CNs (21.8%/32.8% vs. 11.0%, P

Due to the advantages of Mg on inclusions and carbides in H13 steel, Mg wire was added into industrial ladle after VD process to replace traditional Ca treatment in this paper, which is of great significance for industrial production of H13 steel. This paper focuses on the effects of Mg treatment and traditional Ca treatment on the inclusions, carbides, microstructure and mechanical properties in H13 steel. The results show that feeding Mg wire during EAF→ LF→ VD → CC steelmaking process can ensure the submerged nozzle not being blocked under the condition of continuous casting 15 heats of steel ladle, which means feeding Ca wire can be replaced with Mg wire from the aspect of steelmaking production. The primary carbides in Mg treatment steel are mainly precipitated with MgO or MgAl2O4 as the cores and small in size, while the primary carbides in Ca treatment steel are almost large-size carbides without core. The samples taken from the intermediate ladle show that the primary carbide types are all V-rich, Mo-rich and V–Mo-rich composite, and the size of primary carbides in Mg treatment steel is much smaller than that in Ca treatment steel. Adding Mg is helpful to improve the equiaxed crystal rate of continuous casting ingot. The annealed hot rolling samples show that Mg treatment could interrupt the M23C6 (M = Cr, Fe) chain carbides distributed along the grain boundary. The impact test shows that the dimple fracture surface become small and deep after adding Mg, which improves impact toughness significantly.

Abstract Background Modified radical mastectomy (MRM) is the most effective and common type of invasive surgery for breast cancer. However, it causes moderate to severe acute pain and even lasts for a long postoperative period. Transversus thoracic muscle plane-pectoral nerve block (TTP-PECS) is a novel and promising interfacial plane block which can provide analgesia for MRM while thoracic paravertebral nerve block (TPVB) is also widely used for this purpose. This study compared the postoperative analgesia between the ultrasound-guided TTP-PECS and TPVB in patients undergoing MRM. Methods In this randomized controlled trial, eighty female breast cancer patients undergoing unilateral MRM with sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) and axillary dissection (ALND) were enrolled. Patients were randomized to receive either ultrasound-guided TTP-PECS (TTP-PECS group, n = 40) or TPVB (TPVB group, n = 40) with 0.5% ropivacaine 30 ml. Evaluated variables included 24 h postoperative total PCA fentanyl consumption, including PCA background consumption and PCA press consumption (per bolus dosage multiply by the effective pressing times), and intraoperative fentanyl consumption, as well as postoperative flurbiprofen axetil requirement, duration of analgesia, blocking area, pain intensity at rest and during activity, ability to reduce the inflammatory response, and the quality of recovery 40 (QoR-40) score of patients. Results Compared with the TPVB, the main blocking area was T 2–T 6 in the TTP-PECS group, which was more suitable for the MRM. TTP-PECS has a longer analgesia duration than TPVB; 24 h postoperative total PCA fentanyl consumption, especially the PCA press consumption, and the postoperative flurbiprofen axetil requirement were decreased in the TTP-PECS group than those in the TPVB group. Furthermore, the VAS scores at rest and during activity and inflammatory response were lower in the TTP-PECS group compared with the TPVB group at 12 h postoperatively. Finally, the total QoR-40 score, especially for the scores of pain; emotional state; and patient support were better in the TTP-PECS group. Conclusion Compared with the TPVB, TTP-PECS can provide better postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing MRM, simultaneously reduce the inflammatory response, and prompt early recovery. These results suggest that TTP-PECS is an attractive alternative to TPVB for postoperative analgesia of modified radical mastectomy.

Polo-like protein kinase 1 (PLK1) plays a key role in lung cancer cell mitosis. The knockout of PLK1 gene by the CRISPR–Cas9 system can effectively inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, but there is no suitable vector for in vivo delivery. In this study, CRISPR–Cas9 gene knockout plasmids encoding sgRNA, Cas9 and green fluorescent protein were constructed. Then, the plasmids were packaged with liposome (Lip) and cholesterol-modified Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin (CASF) to obtain the CASF/Lip/pDNA ternary complex. The CASF/Lip/pDNA complex was transfected into lung cancer cells A549 to investigate the transfection efficiency, the PLK1 gene knockout effect and the inhibitory effect on lung cancer cells. The results showed that the transfection efficiency of the CASF/Lip/pDNA complex was significantly higher than that of the Lip/pDNA binary complex, and the expression of PLK1 in cells transfected with CASF/Lip/pDNA complexes was significantly lower than that in cells transfected with Lip/pDNA complexes. The CASF/Lip/pDNA complex significantly increased the apoptosis rate and decreased the proliferation activity of lung cancer cells compared with Lip/pDNA complexes. The cytotoxicity of the complexes was evaluated by coculture with the human bronchial epithelial cells BEAS2B. The results showed that CASF/Lip/pDNA complexes exhibited lower cytotoxicity than Lip/pDNA complexes. The fibroin-modified liposome/PLK1 gene knockout system not only effectively inhibited the growth of lung cancer cells but also showed no obvious toxicity to normal cells, showing potential for clinical application in lung cancer therapy.

The development of a wound dressing with both antibacterial and healing-guiding functions is a major concern in the treatment of open and infected wounds. In this study, poly(hexamethylene biguanide) hydrochloride (PHMB) was loaded into a 3D silk fibroin (SF) scaffold based on electrostatic interactions between PHMB and SF, and PHMB/SF hybrid scaffolds were prepared via freeze-drying. The effects of the PHMB/SF ratio on the antibacterial activity and cytocompatibility of the hybrid scaffold were investigated. The results of an agar disc diffusion test and a bacteriostasis rate examination showed that when the mass ratio of PHMB/SF was greater than 1/100, the scaffold exhibited obvious antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. L-929 cells were encapsulated in the PHMB/SF scaffolds and cultured in vitro. SEM, laser scanning confocal microscopy, and CCK-8 assay results demonstrated that hybrid scaffolds with a PHMB/SF ratio of less than 2/100 significantly promoted cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation. In conclusion, a hybrid scaffold with a PHMB/SF ratio of approximately 2/100 not only effectively inhibited bacterial reproduction but also showed good cytocompatibility and is expected to be usable as a functional antibacterial dressing for wound repair.

Internet data center buildings have great importance for maintaining the post-earthquake functionality of telecommunication networks. It is essential to maintain the functionality of internet data center buildings during earthquakes or recover immediately after earthquakes, which is referred to as seismic resilience. In this study, a seismic resilience assessment framework based on the Chinese code GB/T 38591-2020 is introduced first. The seismic damage and post-earthquake repair of both structural components and non-structural components are considered in the resilience assessment framework. A method for post-earthquake functionality loss quantification is proposed based on damage state and functionality loss of component. The subsystem level and system level functionality loss can be obtained by an integration principle. The seismic resilience of a typical internet data center building was evaluated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. To enhance the seismic resilience level, different disaster mitigation techniques including the energy dissipation technology using buckling restrained braces and the base-isolation technology using lead-rubber bearings are adopted. The seismic resilience is quantified and the corresponding seismic resilience curves under different earthquake intensities are developed based on evaluation results.

Background and aimsCompared with self-prepared LRD, a prepackaged low-residue diet (LRD) can improve patient compliance, but whether it can further improve the quality of bowel preparation is uncertain. The study aimed to compare the application of the prepackaged formula LRD with self-prepared LRD in bowel preparation for colonoscopy.MethodsA multicenter randomized controlled trial was conducted in 15 centers. The eligible subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the formula LRD group and the self-prepared LRD group. On the day before the colonoscopy, subjects in the self-prepared LRD group were instructed to consume a restricted LRD prepared by themselves, while subjects in the formula LRD group were given six bags of prepackaged formula LRD and instructed to consume them according to their individual need. The primary outcome was an adequate bowel preparation rate. Secondary outcomes mainly included Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS) scores, dietary restriction compliance rate, tolerance, satisfaction, adenoma detection rate (ADR), and adverse reactions. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier NCT03943758.ResultsA total of 550 subjects were recruited. Compared with the self-prepared LRD group, the formula LRD group showed a higher adequate bowel preparation rate (94.5 vs. 80.4%; P < 0.01), BBPS scores (7.87 ± 1.13 vs. 6.75 ± 1.47; P < 0.01), dietary compliance rate (92.4 vs. 78.9%; P < 0.01), tolerance (P < 0.01 in degree of hunger, intensity of physical strength, and negative influence on daily activities), satisfaction (8.56 ± 1.61 vs. 7.20 ± 2.02; P < 0.01), and ADR (25.6 vs. 16.0%; P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in adverse reactions.ConclusionCompared with self-prepared LRD, the formula LRD showed similar safety and higher bowel preparation quality, compliance, and tolerance in bowel preparation. More formula LRDs could be designed according to different dietary habits and ethnic populations, and further researches are warranted to confirm their effect.Clinical trial registrationhttps://register.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT03943758.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has been a popular model organism for several decades since its first discovery of the huge research potential for modeling human diseases and genetics. Sorting is an important means of providing stage- or age-synchronized worm populations for many worm-based bioassays. However, conventional manual techniques for C. elegans sorting are tedious and inefficient, and commercial complex object parametric analyzer and sorter is too expensive and bulky for most laboratories. Recently, the development of lab-on-a-chip (microfluidics) technology has greatly facilitated C. elegans studies where large numbers of synchronized worm populations are required and advances of new designs, mechanisms, and automation algorithms. Most previous reviews have focused on the development of microfluidic devices but lacked the summaries and discussion of the biological research demands of C. elegans, and are hard to read for worm researchers. We aim to comprehensively review the up-to-date microfluidic-assisted C. elegans sorting developments from several angles to suit different background researchers, i.e., biologists and engineers. First, we highlighted the microfluidic C. elegans sorting devices' advantages and limitations compared to the conventional commercialized worm sorting tools. Second, to benefit the engineers, we reviewed the current devices from the perspectives of active or passive sorting, sorting strategies, target populations, and sorting criteria. Third, to benefit the biologists, we reviewed the contributions of sorting to biological research. We expect, by providing this comprehensive review, that each researcher from this multidisciplinary community can effectively find the needed information and, in turn, facilitate future research.

Removing sericin from the periphery of silk without damage to silk fibroin (SF) to obtain high-molecular-weight SF is a major challenge in the field of SF-based biomaterials. In this study, four neutral proteases, subtilisin, trypsin, bromelain and papain, were used to degum silk, and the degumming efficiency of the proteases and their influence on the molecular weight (MW) of regenerated silk fibroin were studied. The results indicated that all four neutral proteases could remove sericin from silk almost completely, and they caused less damage to SF fibers than Na2CO3 degumming did. The degumming efficiency of trypsin and papain was strong, but they caused relatively high damage to SF, whereas bromelain caused the least damage. The results of sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, gel permeation chromatography and shear viscosity showed that the MWs of regenerated SF derived from neutral protease degumming were significantly higher than that of SF derived from Na2CO3 degumming. The MW of regenerated SF derived from bromelain degumming was the highest, while the MWs of regenerated SF derived from papain and trypsin degumming were relatively low. This study provides an efficient and environmentally friendly biological degumming method for obtaining high-molecular-weight silk fibroin.

Introduction: Erythropoietin producing hepatocyte receptor A2 (EphA2) is widely presented in the tumor cells, closely related to tumor cell migration, not cell apoptosis and proliferation. Based on its high expression in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), we herein develop a CRISPR-Cas9-based genome-editing nanomedicine to target erythropoietin producing hepatocyte receptor A2 for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.Methods: To this end, TAT was designed to stabilize the distribution of calcium, and then bound to ribonucleoprotein (RNP) to form nanoparticles RNP@CaP-TAT.Results: This nanoparticle has a simple synthesis process with good biocompatible, to achieve the knockout of tumor cells (PC-3) targeting erythropoietin producing hepatocyte receptor A2 gene and to effectively suppress the migration of tumor cells.Discussion: This delivery genome editing system provides a promising gene therapy strategy for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer, showing good potential against castration-resistant prostate cancer tumor metastasis. In addition, it can be extended to other types of cancer with highly heterogeneous gene expression.

Abstract The aim of this paper was to identify DNA methylation based biomarkers for predicting overall survival (OS) of stage I–II lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients. Methylation profile data of patients with stage I–II LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to determine methylation sites-based hallmark for stage I–II LUAD patients’ OS. The patients were separated into training and validation datasets by using median risk score as cutoff. Univariate Cox, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox analyses were employed to develop a DNA methylation signature for OS of patients with stage I–II LUAD. As a result, an 11-DNA methylation signature was determined to be critically associated with the OS of patients with stage I–II LUAD. Analysis of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) suggested a high prognostic effectiveness of the 11-DNA methylation signature in patients with stage I–II LUAD (AUC at 1, 3, 5 years in training set were (0.849, 0.879, 0.831, respectively), validation set (0.742, 0.807, 0.904, respectively), entire TCGA dataset (0.747, 0.818, 0.870, respectively). Kaplan–Meier survival analyses exhibited that survival was significantly longer in the low-risk cohort compared to the high-risk cohort in the training dataset (P = 7e − 07), in the validation dataset (P = 1e − 08), and in the all-cohort dataset (P = 6e − 14). In addition, a nomogram was developed based on molecular factor (methylation risk score) as well as clinical factors (age and cancer status) (AUC at 1, 3, 5 years entire TCGA dataset were 0.770, 0.849, 0.979, respectively). The result verified that our methylomics-associated nomogram had a strong robustness for predicting stage I–II LUAD patients’ OS. Furthermore, the nomogram combined clinical and molecular factors to determine an individualized probability of recurrence for patients with stage I–II LUAD, which stood for a major advance in the field of personalized medicine for pulmonary oncology. Collectively, we successfully identified a DNA methylation biomarker and a DNA methylation-based nomogram to predict the OS of patients with stage I–II LUAD.

This study investigated the predictive value of narrow-band imaging (NBI) endoscopic staging of different mucosal vascular patterns (MVPs) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) for histological healing or clinical recurrence of patients with UC. A total of 124 patients with UC in clinical remission attending the First Affiliated Hospital of Weifang Medical College were included in the study and underwent NBI colonoscopy. Inflammatory activity was assessed in the intestine using the Mayo endoscopic score (MES) and the MVP. Mucosal inflammation was histologically graded using the Nancy index (NI). The colons of 124 patients with UC were staged according to NBI endoscopic MVP staging criteria. The differences between NBI colonoscopy MVP typing and white light endoscopic MES in assessing histological healing (HH) were statistically significant (p < 0.001), and there was a moderate correlation between MES and the degree of HH (r = 0.471, p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant correlation between the severity of mucosal activity determined by white light endoscopy (WLE) and MVP staging (r = 0.811, p < 0.001). The differences between NBI endoscopic MVP staging and white light endoscopic MES in assessing UC recurrence were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Spearman's correlation analysis showed a moderate correlation between NBI endoscopic MVP staging and clinical recurrence. NBI endoscopic MVP staging can predict HH and clinical recurrence status better than WLE.

Existing carbon quantum dot (CQD) synthesis approaches for the detection of dopamine (DA) require additional processes for separating quantum dots, which makes them complex and decreases the yield. Therefore, a facile CQD synthesis approach without complicated processing steps or reaction conditions is required. In this study, CQDs were synthesized via an environment-friendly one-step hydrothermal approach using glucose and potassium phosphate as the starting materials. The fluorescent colors emitted by the synthesized CQDs were dependent on the amount of potassium phosphate used. The mechanism of CQDs emitting different colors of fluorescence was theoretically speculated by computational simulation. The electronic and optical properties of CQDs models with different sizes are studied by density functional theory (DFT). An electroluminescence (ECL) sensing platform based on the fluorescent CQDs was developed for the detection of DA. Under optimal conditions, the ECL intensity of the CQDs decreased linearly when the DA concentration was controlled within the range of 10−8–10−4 M. The results showed that the ECL sensing platform can be successfully applied for the determination of DA content within a certain concentration range, with a detection limit of 62 nM.

BackgroundColon cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies and causes high mortality worldwide. Exploring the tumor-immune interactions in the tumor microenvironment and identifying new prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers will assist in decoding the novel mechanism of tumor immunotherapy. BGN is a typical extracellular matrix protein that was previously validated as a signaling molecule regulating multiple processes of tumorigenesis. However, its role in tumor immunity requires further investigation.MethodsThe differentially expressed genes in three GEO datasets were analyzed, and BGN was identified as the target gene by intersection analysis of PPIs. The relevance between clinical outcomes and BGN expression levels was evaluated using data from the GEO database, TCGA and tissue microarray of colon cancer samples. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were conducted for identifying the risk factors correlated with clinical prognosis of colon cancer patients. Next, the association between BGN expression levels and the infiltration of immune cells as well as the process of the immune response was analyzed. Finally, we predicted the immunotherapeutic response rates in the subgroups of low and high BGN expression by TIS score, ImmuCellAI and TIDE algorithms.ResultsBGN expression demonstrated a statistically significant upregulation in colon cancer tissues than in normal tissues. Elevated BGN was associated with shorter overall survival as well as unfavorable clinicopathological features, including tumor size, serosa invasion and length of hospitalization. Mechanistically, pathway enrichment and functional analysis demonstrated that BGN was positively correlated with immune and stromal scores in the TME and primarily involved in the regulation of immune response. Further investigation revealed that BGN was strongly expressed in the immunosuppressive phenotype and tightly associated with the infiltration of multiple immune cells in colon cancer, especially M2 macrophages and induced Tregs. Finally, we demonstrated that high BGN expression presented a better immunotherapeutic response in colon cancer patients.ConclusionBGN is an encouraging predictor of diagnosis, prognosis and immunotherapeutic response in patients with colon cancer. Assessment of BGN expression represents a novel approach with great promise for identifying patients who may potentially benefit from immunotherapy.

Grant-free multiple-access (GFMA) allows to significantly reduce the overhead of granted multiple-access. However, information detection in GFMA is challenging, as it has to be executed along with the activity detection of user equipments (UEs) and channel estimation. In this paper, we study the channel estimation and propose the UE activity identification (UAI) algorithms for the massive connectivity supporting GFMA (mGFMA) systems. For these purposes, the channel estimation is studied from several aspects by assuming different levels of knowledge to the access point, and based on which five UAI approaches are proposed. We study the performance of channel estimation, the statistics of estimated channels, and the performance of UAI algorithms. Our studies show that the proposed approaches are capable of circumventing some of the shortcomings of the existing techniques designed based on compressive sensing and message passing algorithms. They are robust for operation in the mGFMA systems where the active UEs and the number of them are highly dynamic.

Instrumented indentation test inside SEM has become a versatile method for nanomechanical characterization and studying of deformation and failure mechanisms of coating materials at nano-to micro-scale thickness. However, the existing SEM-based nanoindentation instrument cannot acquire surface roughness of coating materials at nano-to micro-scale thickness before nanoindentation and the morphology of residual imprints in real-time inside SEM after nanoindentation. To overcome those two limitations, a new SEM-based nanoindentation instrument integrated with AFM function has been developed. This paper presents a miniature piezoresistive transducer capable of measuring force up to ±2.5N with a resolution of 0.5μN, and measuring displacement up to ±36μm with a resolution of 0.01nm for new developed SEM-based nanoindentation instrument. The transducer design, optimization, readout electronics and characterization are described. Cross-shape compliant mechanism is adopted considering the influence of the lateral force during nanoindentation process. Moreover, four piezoresistive bar-type semiconductor strain gauges (SCSG) have been glued on the cross-shape compliant mechanism enabling the transducer has a compact structure. A new temperature compensation method for SCSG sensors is proposed and solves the problem of amplifier saturation compared with traditional temperature compensation method. Compared with the existing widely used capacitive-based transducer for instrumented indentation test inside SEM, cross-shape piezoresistive transducer shows larger measured ranges. Compared with the existing piezoresistive-based transducer for instrumented indentation test inside SEM, cross-shape piezoresistive transducer shows better resolutions. In the end, the validation test of AFM imaging inside HITACHI SU5000 using standard AFM calibration chip SiC/0.75 is tested.

This article addresses the uplink information transmission in the massive distributed antenna (mDA) systems, where the density of antenna elements (AEs) can be much higher than the density of users. We conceive that such mDA systems are user-centric and provide various advantages for practical operations, and that there are evident challenges in the signal detection, which is very different from that in the conventional cellular systems with co-located antennas at base-stations (BS). Therefore in this article, based on the theory of stochastic geometry, some insightful analysis for the achievable performance of mDA systems is first provided, to show that local detection can be more practical than global detection. Then, by exploiting the sparsity of the channel matrices describing mDA systems, a channel estimator is proposed based on the orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm. We will show that the OMP-based channel estimation can not only provide channel state information (CSI), but also assist to select the users to be served by an AE. Furthermore, benefiting from the above-mentioned sparsity, we propose a distributed low-complexity message passing algorithm (MPA)-assisted multiuser detector. Finally, we investigate the performance of the mDA systems employing the proposed detection schemes and with various system settings. Our studies show that the OMP-based channel estimation and MPA-assisted detector are capable of achieving a good trade-off among BER performance, complexity and resource usage.

Low-cost diagnostic tools for point-of-care immunoassays, such as the paper-based enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), have become increasingly important, especially so in the recent COVID-19 pandemic. ELISA is the gold-standard antibody/antigen sensing method. This paper reports an easy-to-fabricate nitrocellulose (NC) paper plate, coupled with a desktop scanner for ELISA, which provides a higher protein immobilization efficiency than the conventional cellulose paper-based ELISA platforms. The experiments were performed using spiked samples for the direct ELISA of rabbit IgG with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.016 μg/mL, in a measurement range of 10 ng/mL to 1 mg/mL, and for the sandwich ELISA of sperm protein (SP-10) with an LOD of 88.8 ng/mL, in a measurement range of 1 ng/mL to 100 μg/mL. The described fabrication method, based on laser-cutting, is a highly flexible one-step laser micromachining process, which enables the rapid production of low-cost NC paper-based multi-well plates with different sizes for the ELISA measurements.

The stability and reliability of braking system are essential factors for the safe operation of high-speed trains. In the proposed work, tribological properties of a newly developed brake disc material namely BD-1 were studied considering the thermal-mechanical effects, as well as the evolutions of wear debris, were particularly examined. The tribological properties were also compared with an existing commercial brake disc material namely BD-2 in text. Friction and wear tests were carried out on BD-1 and BD-2 against a commercial brake pad material (BP) to simulate the real emergence braking conditions of a 350 km/h high-speed railway. The thermal-mechanical coupling effects of the friction velocity, wear mass, temperatures and the friction coefficient were investigated. Local wear track and wear debris were analyzed by using SEM and EDS. Results show that the shape and size of wear debris evolve as the dominant wear mechanism varies during braking tests. As the sliding speed increases from 250 to 1250 rpm, the debris may become fine particles, then into a mixture of lamellar shape and flake shape, and finally becomes fine particles again at high speed. The maximum size of wear debris is first from 20 μm to 65 μm, and then down to 10 μm. As the local area temperature increased by more than 400 °C, debris adhere to the surface forming an adhesive layer that may act as a lubricant. Debris may help to form an adhesive lubrication layer and undertake plastics defor-mation at the speed range of 500–1000 rpm. The local area temperatures prompted the wear debris adhesion and oxidation. After reaching a certain speed limit, a uniform third body appears to protect the material surface from high speed and high temperature. Results suggested that the BD-1 could be a good candidate braking material for high-speed railway applications.

With the expansion of the scale and complexity of multimedia software, the detection of software defects has become a research hotspot. Because of the large scale of the existing software code, the efficiency and accuracy of the existing software defect detection algorithms are relatively low. We propose an intelligent memory leak detection scheme MLD based on defect modes in software. Based on the analysis of existing memory leak defect modes, we summarize memory operation behaviors (allocation, release and transfer) and present a state machine model. We employ a fuzzy matching algorithm based on regular expression to determine the memory operation behaviors and then analyze the change in the state machine to assess the vulnerability in the source code. To improve the efficiency of detection and solve the problem of repeated detection at the function call point, we propose a function summary method for memory operation behaviors. The experimental results demonstrate that the method we proposed has high detection speed and accuracy. The algorithm we proposed can identify the defects of the software, reduce the risk of being attacked to ensure safe operation.

Effective integration and wide sharing of geospatial data is an important and basic premise to facilitate the research and applications of geographic information science. However, the semantic heterogeneity of geospatial data is a major problem that significantly hinders geospatial data integration and sharing. Ontologies are regarded as a promising way to solve semantic problems by providing a formalized representation of geographic entities and relationships between them in a manner understandable to machines. Thus, many efforts have been made to explore ontology-based geospatial data integration and sharing. However, there is a lack of a specialized ontology that would provide a unified description for geospatial data. In this paper, with a focus on the characteristics of geospatial data, we propose a unified framework for geospatial data ontology, denoted GeoDataOnt, to establish a semantic foundation for geospatial data integration and sharing. First, we provide a characteristics hierarchy of geospatial data. Next, we analyze the semantic problems for each characteristic of geospatial data. Subsequently, we propose the general framework of GeoDataOnt, targeting these problems according to the characteristics of geospatial data. GeoDataOnt is then divided into multiple modules, and we show a detailed design and implementation for each module. Key limitations and challenges of GeoDataOnt are identified, and broad applications of GeoDataOnt are discussed.

In order to gain insights into the potential and behavior of training-based MIMO systems, the relationship of joint decoding scheme and separate decoding scheme is considered, and the equivalence between these two decoding schemes is proved. For the considered joint decoding scheme, receiver decodes out data by joint processing of received signals of both training symbols and data symbols in the maximum likelihood (ML) sense. We refer it as the joint ML-decoder. By contrast, in the considered separate decoding scheme, receiver first estimates channels in the minimum mean-square-errors (MMSE) sense, and then, based on the estimated channel information and the received signals of data symbols, the receiver decodes out data in the ML sense. We refer it as the separate MMSE-ML decoder. Notice that this separate MMSE-ML decoder is different from the decoder appeared in the most of existing works, where a kind of mismatched ML decoding is used after the phase of channel estimation. Although the above-mentioned decoding schemes have different decoding procedures, we prove that the joint ML-decoder and the separate MMSE-ML decoder are equivalent, while they outperform the mismatched ML decoder. With this equivalence, it is implied that the MMSE channel estimator is optimal when the overall system performance is considered, and the separate MMSE-ML decoding scheme can achieve the same performance with that of joint ML decoding scheme. Furthermore, this equivalence also provides us another way to analyze the system performance of the considered separate or joint decoding scheme. Namely, the results obtained from the considered joint decoding scheme can be directly applied to the considered separate decoding scheme, and vice versa.

Abstract The Sertoli cell is the only somatic cell within the seminiferous tubules, and is vital for testis development and spermatogenesis. Rosiglitazone (RSG) is a member of the thiazolidinedione family and is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) agonist. It has been reported that RSG protects various types of cells from fatty acid-induced damage. However, whether RSG serves a protective role in Sertoli cells against palmitic acid (PA)-induced toxicity remains to be elucidated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of RSG on PA-induced cytotoxicity in Sertoli cells. MTT assay and Oil Red O staining revealed that RSG ameliorated the PA-induced decrease in TM4 cell viability, which was accompanied by an alleviation of PA-induced lipid accumulation in cells. In primary mouse Sertoli cells, RSG also showed similar protective effects against PA-induced lipotoxicity. Knockdown of PPARγ verified that RSG exerted its protective role in TM4 cells through a PPARγ-dependent pathway. To evaluate the mechanism underlying the protective role of RSG on PA-induced lipotoxicity, the present study analyzed the effects of RSG on PA uptake, and the expression of genes associated with both fatty acid oxidation and triglyceride synthesis. The results demonstrated that although RSG did not affect the endocytosis of PA, it significantly elevated the expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT)-1A, a key enzyme involved in fatty acid oxidation, which indicated that the protective effect of RSG may have an important role in fatty acid oxidation. On the other hand, the expression of CPT1B was not affected by RSG. Moreover, the expression levels of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (DGAT)-1 and DGAT2, both of which encode enzymes catalyzing the synthesis of triglycerides, were not suppressed by RSG. The results indicated that RSG reduced PA-induced lipid accumulation by promoting fatty acid oxidation mediated by CPT1A. The effect of RSG in protecting cells from lipotoxicity was also found to be specific to Sertoli cells and hepatocytes, and not to other cell types that do not store excess lipid in large quantities, such as human umbilical vein endothelial cells. These findings provide insights into the cytoprotective effects of RSG on Sertoli cells and suggest that PPARγ activation may be a useful therapeutic method for the treatment of Sertoli cell dysfunction caused by dyslipidemia.

This paper explores factors associated with intergenerational differences in home-based acculturation (HBA) and the attitude of Chinese college students and their parents toward intercultural marriage with a focus on China’s cultural context where parents have a strong influence on child’s decisions. In two related studies, we recruited a total of 749 Chinese college students and parents (387 in Study 1 and 362 in Study 2; all are living in China) to participate in the survey. The results indicate that (a) online intercultural contact is positively associated with HBA; (b) HBA is a strong predictor of attitude of intercultural marriages by Chinese parents and college students and the socioeconomic status has a divergent effect on the two groups; and (c) Chinese college students and parents differ in terms of their HBA and online intercultural contact. Findings from the research add knowledge to our understanding of the impact of globalization and digitalization on acculturation and Chinese residents’ perspectives on intercultural marriage.

It’s well known that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) exerts a critical role in the regulator of immune cells and is associated with T cells dysfunction in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Antigen-induced T-cell proliferation via mTORC1 suppressed by Rapamycin has been used to improve SLE primarily. Previously it has showed that INK128, a highly potent, specific orally inhibitor of mTORC1 and mTORC2, significantly attenuates SLE in pristine-induced lupus mice. Herein we compared the cure effects of INK128 and rapamycin on lupus mice. We treated MRL/lpr mice with INK128 or rapamycin at 12 weeks-age. The effect of the two inhibitors on the lupus mice was determined by immunohistochemistry. The effect of the two inhibitors on T cell populations was investigated by flow cytometry. The mTOR signaling was measured by Western Blot. INK128 remarkably alleviated SLE by reducing splenomegaly, renal inflammation and damage, and resuming T-cell dysfunction. The more effective of INK128 on SLE than rapamycin. INK128 effectively suppressed mTORC1 and mTORC2 activity in T cells, but rapamycin just suppressed mTORC1 activity. Thus, our results show that INK128 is can effectively alleviate SLE and be used as one of the potential clinical therapeutic candidates for SLE.

In a linear programming for horizontally partitioned data, the equality constraint matrix is divided into groups of rows. Each group of the matrix rows and the corresponding right-hand side vector are owned by different entities, and these entities are reluctant to disclose their own groups of rows or right-hand side vectors. To calculate the optimal solution for the linear programming in this case, Mangasarian used a random matrix of full rank with probability 1, but an event with probability 1 is not a certain event, so a random matrix of full rank with probability 1 does not certainly happen. In this way, the solution of the original linear programming is not equal to the solution of the secure linear programming. We used an invertible random matrix for this shortcoming. The invertible random matrix converted the original linear programming problem to a secure linear program problem. This secure linear programming will not reveal any of the privately held data.

Piezoelectric stick–slip drive nanopositioners are of central importance in in situ SEM nanorobotic systems due to their high precise positioning, large stroke, high speed, and compact structure. However, the output velocity under high load will be seriously influenced. In this paper, a new piezoelectric stick–slip drive nanopositioner with large velocity under high load by introducing the adjust bolts to decouple the driving unit and moving unit is presented. A MATLAB simulation model has been created to optimize the nanopositioner for a certain velocity, and a FEM is used to confirm that the leaf hinge has sufficient stiffness. The size of the prototype is 30 × 32 × 25 mm3. Testing results indicate that the nanopositioner achieves a maximum velocity of 3.467 mm/s and a minimum resolution of 6 nm. When the load increases from 0.4 kg to 2 kg, the maximum velocities only decrease from 3.457 mm/s to 3.143 mm/s. The proposed piezoelectric stick–slip nanopositioner shows large velocity under high load.

Use of food additives, such as colorants and preservatives, is highly regulated because of their potential health risks to humans. Therefore, it is important to detect these compounds effectively to ensure conformance with industrial standards and to mitigate risk. In this paper, we describe the preparation and performance of an ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor for detecting a key food additive, sunset yellow. The sensor uses graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as the luminescent agent and potassium persulfate as the co-reactant. Strong and sensitive ECL signals are generated in response to trace amounts of added sunset yellow. A detection limit (signal-to-noise ratio = 3) of 7.6 nM and a wide linear range from 2.5 nM to 25 μM are demonstrated. A further advantage of the method is that the luminescent reagents can be recycled, indicating that the method is sustainable, in addition to being simple and highly sensitive.

The intestinal tract consists of various types of cells, such as epithelial cells, Paneth cells, macrophages, and lymphocytes, which constitute the intestinal immune system and play a significant role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis by producing antimicrobial materials and controlling the host-commensal balance. Various studies have found that the dysfunction of intestinal homeostasis contributes to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As a novel mediator, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as effective communicators, not only between cells but also between cells and the organism. In recent years, EVs have been regarded as vital characters for dysregulated homeostasis and IBD in either the etiology or the pathology of intestinal inflammation. Here, we review recent studies on EVs associated with intestinal homeostasis and IBD and discuss their source, cargo, and origin, as well as their therapeutic effects on IBD, which mainly include artificial nanoparticles and EVs derived from microorganisms.

Background/foreground separation has become an inevitable step in numerous image/video processing applications, such as image/video inpainting, anomaly detection, motion segmentation, augmented reality, and so on. Recent low-rank based approaches, such as robust principal component analysis separating a data matrix into a low-rank matrix with a sparse matrix, have achieved encouraging performance. However, these approaches usually need relatively high computation cost, mainly due to calculation of full or partial singular value decomposition of large matrices. On the other hand, the nuclear norm is widely exploited as a convex surrogate of the original rank function, while it is not a tighter envelope of the original rank function. To address these above-mentioned issues, this paper proposes a fast background/foreground separation algorithm in which the low-rank constraint is solved by a matrix factorization scheme, thus heavily reducing the computation cost. We further adopt two non-convex low-rank approximations to improve the robustness and flexibility of the traditional nuclear norm. In comparison with the state-of-the-art low-rank reconstruction methods, experimental results on challenging data sets, which contain different real data sets, show our superior performance in both image clarity and computation efficiency.

For a massive multiple-input multiple-output system in the multi-cell scenarios, it generally suffers from pilot contamination due to the fact that the adjacent cells may use the same pilot sequences. In order to reduce the impact of pilot contamination on the system performance, a novel iterative channel estimation method is proposed. Specifically, in the proposed method, besides the pilot sequences, the data symbols decoded with high reliability are selected to enhance the channel estimation. Furthermore, the selection criteria are derived to determine which data symbols are reliably decoded. The simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the channel estimation accuracy and the error performance of the considered systems.

During the process of electroslag remelting (ESR) of steel containing titanium and aluminum, the activity ratio between titania and alumina in CaF2-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-TiO2 slag must be fixed in order to guarantee the titanium and aluminum contents in the ESR ingots. Under the condition of fixed activity ratio between titania and alumina in the slag, the melting temperature of slag should be investigated to improve the surface quality of ESR ingots. Therefore, this paper focuses on finding a kind of slag with low melting temperature that can be used for producing steel containing titanium. In the current study, the thermodynamic equilibrium of 3[Ti] + 2(Al2O3) = 4[Al] + 3(TiO2) between SUS321 steel and the two slag systems (CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:25:(25 − x):x and CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:(25 − 0.5 x):(25 − 0.5 x):x) are studied in an electrical resistance furnace based on Factsage software. After obtaining the equilibrium slag with fixed activity ratio between titania and alumina, the melting temperatures of the two slag systems are studied using slag melting experimental measurements and phase diagrams. The results show that the slag systems CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3:TiO2 = 46:4:25:(25 − x):x, which consists of pre-melted slag S0 (CaF2:MgO:CaO:Al2O3 = 46:4:25:25) and pre-melted slag F1 (CaF2:MgO:CaO:TiO2 = 46:4:25:25), can not only control the aluminum and titanium contents in steel, but also have the desired low melting temperature property.

One of the major challenges for lung cancer gene therapy is to find a gene delivery vector with high efficiency and low toxicity. In this study, low-molecular-weight polyethyleneimine (PEI, 1.8 kDa) was grafted onto the side chains of Bombyx mori silk fibroin (BSF) to prepare cationized BSF (CBSF), which was used to package the plasmid DNA (pDNA) encoded by the inhibitor of growth 4 (ING4) and interleukin-24 (IL-24). FTIR and 1H-NMR spectra demonstrated that PEI was effectively coupled to the side chains of BSF by amino bonds. The results of the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid method and zeta potential showed that the free amino group content on BSF increased from 125.1 ± 1.2 µmol/mL to 153.5 ± 2.2 µmol/mL, the isoelectric point increased from 3.68 to 8.82, and the zeta potential reversed from − 11.8 ± 0.1 mV to + 12.4 ± 0.3 mV after PEI grafting. Positively charged CBSF could package pDNA to form spherical CBSF/pDNA complexes. In vitro, human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and human embryonic lung fibroblast WI-38 cells were transfected with CBSF/pDNA complexes. Confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis and flow cytometry tests showed that CBSF/pDNA complexes can effectively transfect A549 cells, and the transfection efficiency was higher than that of 25 kDa PEI/pDNA complexes. CCK-8 assay results showed that CBSF/pDNA complexes significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells but had no significant effect on WI-38 cells and exhibited lower cytotoxicity to WI-38 cells than 25 kDa PEI. Therefore, a gene delivery system, constructed with the low-molecular-weight PEI-modified silk fibroin protein and the ING4-IL-24 double gene coexpression plasmid has potential applications in gene therapy for lung cancer.