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Background • Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a prevalent complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A comprehensive understanding of DPN’s causal factors is pivotal for effective prevention and treatment, but the precise clinical pathogenesis remains unclear. Objective • To investigate the correlation between blood selenium (Se) levels and DPN in T2DM patients and analyze factors contributing to lesion development. Methods • We selected 51 patients with DPN and 57 with T2DM alone between June 2021 and August 2022. Blood glucose, lipid, and Se levels were assessed. Electromyographic evoked potentials measured motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) in DPN patients. Results • DPN patients exhibited lower Se, MNCV, and SNCV compared to DM patients, with higher glucose and lipid levels (P < .05). Logistic regression analysis identified age (95%CI 1.256-9.631), disease duration (95%CI 2.160-11.816), fasting blood glucose (95%CI 2.160-11.816), and HbA1c (95%CI 1.064-7.632) as independent risk factors for DPN in T2DM, while Se (95%CI 0.324-1.126) emerged as an independent protective factor (P < .05). Conclusions • Blood selenium levels and DPN are closely related, with selenium emerging as a significant factor in DPN occurrence among T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite substantial efforts to investigate the inequalities in mental health among people with marginalized identities, most research has concentrated on single social identities rather than complete persons. The current study aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the intersectionality of multiple social identities with depression among US adults. Data for this study came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey waves between 2015 and 2018, including a total of 11,268 US adults. A latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify latent subpopulations based on sex, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, disability, household income, employment status, and education level. Interclass differences in lifestyle factors and depression were examined. Multiple mediation analysis was used to examine the mediating roles of lifestyle behaviors. LCA identified four potential subpopulations: "least marginalized", "immigrant minorities", "disabled, less-educated non-workers", and "low-income minorities" groups. There was enormous heterogeneity in mental health among immigrant minority individuals. The "disabled, less-educated non-workers" group had the highest rates of depression; in contrast, the "immigrant minorities" group had the best mental health, even better than that of the "least marginalized" group. Distributions of lifestyle factors followed a similar pattern. In addition, lifestyle behaviors significantly mediated the relationship between intersectional social identities and depression. The cross-sectional design prevented establishment of the causality of relationships. This study suggests that applying a person-centered approach is important when examining intersectional inequalities in mental health and highlights the effects of structural social hierarchies on individuals' health behaviors and mental health. • The intersectionality of social identities among US adults presented four latent subpopulations. • Depression and lifestyle varied across four latent subpopulations. • Structural social hierarchies shape individuals' health behaviors and mental health. • Lifestyle behaviors significantly mediated the relationship between intersectional social identities and depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parent‒child communication in migrant families is essential to family bonds and the mental health of left-behind children (LBC). Little is known about the different patterns of communication between migrant parents and LBC and associated communication quality and mental health outcomes. Methods: A sample of 2,183 Chinese children (mean age = 12.95 ± 1.29 years) from Anhui province, including LBC whose parents had both migrated (n = 1,025) and children whose parents had never migrated (never-LBC, n = 1,158), was analyzed. With the LBC sample, latent class analysis was applied to identify the patterns of parent‒child communication. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the associations between the sociodemographic variables and class membership of LBC. Analysis of covariance and chi-square tests were used to compare communication quality and mental health outcome differences among the classes of LBC and between each of the classes and never-LBC. Results: Five latent classes of communication formed through different media or channels between migrant parents and their LBC were identified. Higher household economic status (OR = 2.81, p < 0.05) was associated with adequate communication. LBC in Class 1, defined by frequent technologically-mediated and face-to-face communication, had a significantly higher quality of communication with their migrant parents (F = 8.92, p < 0.001) and better mental health than those in other latent classes; these children did not have significantly worse mental health outcomes compared to never -LBC. Conclusions: Facilitating multichannel parent‒child communication is a practical way of reducing mental health inequities between LBC and their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-sample hypothesis testing is a classical problem in statistics. Given i.i.d. samples X1, :::, Xm ~ P and Y1, :::, Yn ~ Q, the two-sample testing is to test whether P is significantly different from Q or not. Among the various statistical tests, the maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) has been proven to have excellent performance compared to traditional methods. In application of MMD, we are confronted with two challenges: (I) For large data set, MMD is computationally demanding with computational cost O((m + n)²); (II) The limiting distribution under the null hypothesis usually contains infinitely many unknown parameters. In this paper, we propose two testing methods that solve (I) and (II) respectively. To address (I), the data are independently and evenly divided into k groups, calculate the MMD on each group and then combine them by empirical likelihood to yield a test statistic Tk: It converges in distribution to the chi-square distribution with degree of freedom one (X1²) under the null hypothesis as k goes to infinity. To address (II), we propose to compute the two-sample jackknife pseudo-values on each group and combine them by empirical likelihood to get a new test statistic Rnm: Under the null hypothesis, Rnm converges in distribution to X1² if k = o(n): The simulation and real data application indicates that the proposed tests performs well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new type of hybrid eighth‐mode substrate integrated waveguide (EMSIW) and microstrip line (MSL) bandpass filter (BPF) with mixed electric and magnetic coupling. Firstly, two second‐order EMSIW BPFs with mixed coupling and wide stopband performance are investigated. Then, in order to realise high‐order BPF with decent performance, half‐wavelength (λ/2) open‐circuited MSL resonators are employed in the hybrid BPFs design. In the end, two third‐order BPFs and a fourth‐order BPF are developed by combining the EMSIW and MSL resonators together. Extra transmission zeros can be introduced due to the cross couplings in the trisection and quadruplet topologies. For demonstration, the proposed prototypes are designed, fabricated and measured. Reasonable agreements can be achieved between the measurement and simulation. The proposed third‐order BPFs compete against the state of the art, exhibiting the competitive characteristics of the operating bandwidth, physical footprint and upper‐stopband rejection with less order. The proposed fourth‐order BPF features a compact size of 0.34 × 0.34λ0, a low insertion loss of 1 dB, a broad 3‐dB fractional bandwidth of 22.9% and an excellent lower‐stopband suppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and anemia are related to some cardiovascular diseases and can predict poor outcomes. Both of them can damage the heart in their own ways, but their combined effects have not been well explored. This study aimed to explore the combined effects of T2DM and anemia and the interaction between left atrial (LA) and left ventricular (LV) function by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Materials and methods: A total of 177 T2DM patients without anemia, 68 T2DM patients with anemia and 73 sex-matched controls were retrospectively enrolled in this study from June 2015 to September 2022. Their LA phasic function and LV function parameters were compared to explore the combined effects of T2DM and anemia and the interaction between LA and LV function. Univariate and multivariate linear regression were done to explore the independent factors influencing LA phasic function and LV function. Results: Compared with controls and T2DM patients without anemia, T2DM patients with anemia were older and had higher heart rate, higher creatinine, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and lower hemoglobin (Hb) (all p < 0.05). LV global longitudinal peak strain (GLPS) significantly declined from T2DM patients with anemia to T2DM patients without anemia to controls (p < 0.001). LA volumetric function and strain were significantly impaired in T2DM patients with anemia compared with the other groups (all p < 0.05). In addition to age, eGFR, Hb and HbA1c, the LV GLPS was independently associated with all LA phasic strains (LA reservoir strain, β =0.465; LA conduit strain, β = 0.450; LA pump strain, β = 0.360, all p < 0.05). LA global conduit strain, total LA ejection fraction (LAEF) and active LAEF were independently associated with LV GLPS and LVEF. Conclusion: Both LA and LV function were severely impaired in T2DM patients with anemia, and T2DM and anemia were independently associated with LA phasic function. Deleterious interaction between LA function and LV function would happen in T2DM patients with or without anemia. Timely and effective monitoring and management of both LA and LV function will benefit T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes 30 listed enterprises in the manufacturing industry as samples, uses the KMV model to measure the default distance, and tests the validity of the measurement results to investigate whether issuing green bonds has a potential impact on the credit risk of enterprises. The results show that the KMV model has a better ability to predict corporate credit risk; and enterprises that have issued green bonds generally have lower credit risk due to signaling effects and other effects. Finally, this article puts forward relevant recommendations such as policy support and database construction based on the research results. This article provides a basis for enterprises to broaden financing channels and strengthen credit risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents are significantly important in shaping the screen use of children within a family system. This study aimed to examine the associations of Chinese children's screen time (ST) over four years with parents' attitudes toward their own screen use and physical activities (PA) and health behaviors including their ST, PA, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking. Methods: The current study utilized data from two waves (2011 and 2015) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), including 1,941 mother-father-child triads in 2011 and 2,707 mother-father-child triads in 2015 (with children aged 0-17-years-old). The ST of children and the parental attitudes and health behaviors were measured via self-report or proxy-report (for children under 6 years old) questionnaires. Pool-OLS regression models were used to assess the associations of parental attitudes and health behaviors with the ST of children. Moderation models were built to assess whether these associations depended on the gender, age, and family income of children, as well as whether paternal and maternal influences were moderated by the other parent. A multilevel cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) was used to assess parental influences on children's ST over four years. Results: Paternal ST (β = 0.09, p < 0.001), maternal ST (β = 0.10, p < 0.001), and paternal alcohol drinking (β = 0.30, p < 0.05) were positively associated with children's ST. In addition, maternal smoking had a positive association with girls' ST (β = 0.53, p < 0.05). Moreover, the association between maternal ST and children's ST was observed to decline as family income increased (β = -0.03, p < 0.001). Paternal ST had a larger positive association with children's ST when the ST of mothers exceeded 14 h/week (β = 0.06, p < 0.05). Furthermore, lagged associations were found between paternal attitudes toward PA (β = -1.63, p < 0.05) or maternal cigarette smoking (β = 1.46, p < 0.05) and children's ST measured four years later. Conclusion: Children establish a healthy lifestyle within the family system. From the perspective of the healthy family climate, the current study suggests that future programs for reducing children's ST should be built through an integrative approach with special attention to parental attitudes and health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extracting wholly impacted maxillary 3rd molars faces difficulty due to the narrow surgical field, adjacent teeth resistances and risk of oroantral communication. This study is designed to introduce and evaluate the applicability of a novel method-buccal rotation to extract maxillary 3rd molars. Materials and methods: In this cohort study, from October 1st 2020 to September 30th 2021, 72 wholly impacted maxillary 3rd molars were included. Based on the crowns with coronal 1/3, middle 1/3, apical 1/3 of the adjacent teeth roots, teeth were classified into position I, II, III. Based on the angles < 30°, ≥ 30°but < 60°, ≥ 60° to the adjacent teeth, teeth were classified into angulation A, B, C. Traditional method and novel method-buccal rotation were applied based on the surgical simulations. Surgical results were recorded. To analyze the data, Chi-square test was applied. Results: 82.00% of teeth in position I and 50.00% in position II were designed to use traditional method, 83.33% in position III were using the novel method (p < 0.05). 81.25% of teeth in angulation A and 52.63% in angulation B were designed to use traditional method, 80.00% in angulation C were using the novel method (p < 0.05). Four cases got temporary complications. Conclusion: Buccal rotation was applicable to extract the deep impacted maxillary third molars with large angles towards the adjacent teeth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the additive effects of anemia on left ventricular (LV) global strains in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with or without anemia via cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) feature tracking technology. Materials and methods: 236 T2DM patients with or without anemia and 67 controls who underwent CMR examination were retrospectively enrolled. LV function parameters, LV global radial peak strain (GRPS), longitudinal peak strain (GLPS), and circumferential peak strain (GCPS) were used to analyze the function and global strain of the heart. One-way analysis of variance and the chi-square test were used for intergroup analysis. Multivariable linear regression analysis was performed for the two T2DM groups to explore factors associated with LV global strains. Results: The T2DM group with anemia was oldest and had a lowest hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, lowest estimated glomerular filtration rate, highest LV end-systolic volume index, highest end-diastolic volume index and highest LV mass index than the control group and T2DM without anemia group (all P ≤ 0.001). Besides, The LV global peak strains in all three directions worsened successively from the control group to the T2DM without anemia group to the T2DM with anemia group (all p < 0.001). Among all clinical indices, the decrease in Hb was independently associated with the worsening in GRPS (β = 0.237, p = 0.001), GCPS (β = 0.326, p < 0.001), and GLPS (β = 0.265, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Anemia has additive deleterious effects on LV function and LV global strains in patients with T2DM. Regular detection and early intervention of anemia might be beneficial for T2DM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavior and controlling factors of natural gas adsorption in the Jurassic continental shale in the northeastern Sichuan Basin are studied based on the organic geochemical features, mineral compositions and pore structure parameters through a series of experiments on samples from the shale. Results show that the total gas content of the shale measured on-site is 0.1e5.3 cm3/g, with an average of 0.7 cm3/g. The methane isothermal adsorption curves show a trend of increasing first and then decreasing, indicating an obvious excessive adsorption. The shale has a maximum adsorption capacity (VL) of 0.44 e3.59 cm³/g, with an average of 1.64 cm³/g, lower than that of marine shale in the same basin. The organic matter content and pore structure characteristics are identified as the two main factors controlling the adsorption capacity of the shale. Micropores in the shale are the main storage space for gas to be adsorbed. Due to well developed shell laminae and interlayers in the shale, calcite plays a more important role than clay minerals in affecting the adsorption of gas to the rock. The formation temperature and water content also significantly inhibit the gas adsorption to the shale. Compared with marine shale in the basin, the Jurassic continental shale is more heterogeneous and lower in TOC values. Furthermore, with a more widely developed clayey shale lithofacies and shell limy shale lithofacies as well as relatively less developed organic pores and micropores, the continental shale is inferior to marine shale in terms of gas adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stigma has been recently identified as a crucial factor associated with the psychosocial burden of those who have chronic skin diseases. The self-stigma experiences of children living with atopic dermatitis (AD) have yet to be fully investigated, and questions of how these children respond to public stigma and how AD symptoms further affect their self-stigma experiences remain unresolved. The current qualitative study aimed to (1) describe the main manifestations of self-stigma in children living with AD; (2) investigate factors that might influence their self-stigma experiences; and (3) explore the potential mechanisms underlying the impacts of AD on their psychosocial well-being from the self-stigma perspective. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the qualitative literal transcription data which were collected earlier by using the participatory, drawing-based qualitative interviews with 17 children aged 8–12 who were diagnosed with severe or moderate AD. Results: The qualitative findings indicated that the visible and invisible symptoms of AD and its management exerted unique influences on self-stigma in children living with AD, which manifested in cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects and ultimately affected their psychosocial well-being. Conclusions: Findings of this study allowed us to advocate for eliminating public stigma of people with skin diseases and propose recommendations for helping children living with AD relieve their self-stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Lactobacillus and other probiotics are associated with many benefits, such as immune regulation, antioxidant properties, antitumor effect, and regulation of intestinal microbe homeostasis. In the present study, the modulatory effect of EPS produced by Lactobacillus rhamnosus ZFM231 on the intestinal flora of mice with inflammatory bowel disease induced by dextran sulfate solution was investigated. RESULTS: Results indicated that weight loss, colonic length, the disease activity index score and colonic tissue damage in mice were significantly improved by EPS treatment. Compared with the model group, in the EPS‐treated group, the diversity of and the composition of gut microbiota at both phylum and genus levels were found to recover to the levels of normal group, indicating the effective modulation on gut microbiota by EPS; short‐chain fatty acids, including acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid produced by intestinal microbial metabolism, increased significantly; the level of anti‐inflammatory factor transforning growth factor‐β significantly increased and the level of pro‐inflammatory factor tumor necrosis factor‐α significantly decreased in the colonic cells of EPS‐treated mice. CONCLUSION: It is clear that EPS produced by L. rhamnosus ZFM231 could find application in functional foods with the property of anti‐ulcerative colitis. The experimental results provide new insights into the probiotic effect of EPS. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We classify the discontinuity of loss in both five-param and eight-param rotated object detection methods as rotation sensitivity error (RSE) which will result in performance degeneration. We introduce a novel modulated rotation loss to alleviate the problem and a rotation sensitivity detection network (RSDet) which consists of an eight-param single-stage rotated object detector and the modulated rotation loss. Our proposed RSDet has several advantages: 1) it reformulates the rotated object detection problem as predicting the corners of objects while most previous methods employ a five-param-based regression method with different measurement units. 2) modulated rotation loss achieves consistent improvement on both five-param and eight-param rotated object detection methods by solving the discontinuity of loss. To further improve the accuracy of our method on objects smaller than 10 pixels, we introduce a novel RSDet++ which consists of a point-based anchor-free rotated object detector and a modulated rotation loss. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of both RSDet and RSDet++, which achieve competitive results on rotated object detection in the challenging benchmarks DOTA-v1.0, DOTA-v1.5, and DOTA-v2.0. We hope the proposed method can provide a new perspective for designing algorithms to solve rotated object detection and pay more attention to tiny objects. The codes and models are available at: https://github.com/yangxue0827/RotationDetection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current theories of morphological processing include form-then-meaning accounts, form-with-meaning accounts, and connectionist theories. Form-then meaning accounts argue that the morphological decomposition of complex words is based purely on orthographic structure, while form-with meaning accounts argue that decomposition is influenced by the semantic properties of the stem. Connectionist theories, however, argue that morphemes are encoded as statistical patterns of occurrences between form and meaning. The weight of evidence from the literature thus far suggests that morphological decomposition is best explained by form-then-meaning accounts. That said, conflicting empirical findings exist, and more importantly, semantic transparency effects in morphological processing have been examined almost exclusively with the lexical decision task, in which participants discriminate between words and nonwords. Consequently, the extent to which observed results reflect the specific demands of the lexical decision task remains unclear. The present study extends previous work by testing whether the processing dynamics of early morphological processing are moderated by task requirements. Using the masked morphological priming paradigm, this hypothesis was tested by examining semantic transparency effects for a common set of words across semantic categorisation and lexical decision. In both tasks, priming was stronger for transparent (e.g., painter-PAINT) than opaque (e.g., corner-CORN) prime–target pairs; these results speak against form-then-meaning accounts. These findings further inform theories of morphological processing and underscore the importance of examining the interplay between task-general and task-specific mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strengths of drawing‐based approaches for encouraging children's participation in health research and facilitating communication with them have been increasingly acknowledged in the medical literature. However, there is a lack of methodological discussion on drawing‐based approaches suitable for researching children living with physical health problems. The present study systematically reviewed qualitative research using drawing‐based approaches on the experiences of children living with physical health problems and summarised how the approaches were used as well. We identified 54 studies from five databases. The characteristics of qualitative methods and drawing‐based approaches were analysed. To obtain an overall understanding of the illness‐related experiences of these children, qualitative data generated from the included studies were synthesised using the thematic synthesis approach. This systematic review highlights the appropriateness and accuracy of the use of drawings‐based approaches in health research with children on their illness‐related experiences, fostering inclusive participation and engagement of young generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogenic fungi cause severe postharvest diseases on tomato, which has led to tremendous economic losses. In this study, we isolate 125 antagonistic bacteria from the roots of Fraxinus hupehensis , and screened them for antagonistic activity against Botrytis cinerea, Phytophthora infestans and Alternaria solani. Finally, the strain B17-12 was selected for further experiments. Based on sequence analyses of the 16S rDNA and rpoB genes, strain B17-12 was identified as Pseudomonas koreensis. The strain can produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that efficiently inhibit B. cinerea, P. infestans and A. solani, 25 VOCs were identified with solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS), and 7 VOCs had been reported to exhibit antimicrobial activity. P. koreensis B17-12 rapidly colonized on the root of tomato. The genome of B17-12 reveals numerous membrane-related genes and 7 secondary metabolite synthesis gene clusters that are crucial for its biological control properties. The study highlights that B17–12 may be an excellent candidate for biological control of postharvest diseases of tomato blight and gray mold. [Display omitted] • Isolate B17-12 from Fraxinus hupehensis was identified as Pseudomonas koreensis. • The fermentation broth and VOCs of B17-12 showed highest antagonistic activity. • The B17-12 exhibited stable colonization in tomato plants, persisting for at least 29 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nitro-azolo-pyridine compounds have planar molecular backbones with high nitrogen content, which are considered as a candidate system of insensitive high-energetic explosive (IHE). In this work, 30969 energetic molecules were generated based on 7 kinds of azolo-pyridine backbones; among them 2000 sample molecules were chosen to perform high-throughput calculations (HTC) of detonation velocity and pressure, then the machine learning (ML) models were constructed according to the computed molecular descriptors and detonation parameters; the detonation parameters for the other molecules besides the HTC samples were predicted by the ML models, and the molecular stability for the highest energy molecules were computed using quantum chemistry. Finally, 3 nitroazolo-pyridine compounds with high-energy and low-sensitivity were screened, and their synthetic accessibility were verified. A combined high-throughput quantum chemistry calculations and machine learning strategy was performed on a kind of nitrogen-rich azolo-pyridine molecules, in order to find candidate energetic compounds with high-energy, low-sensitivity and synthetic accessibility. [Display omitted] • More than 30000 molecules are generated and investigated, and the molecular screening space is greatly enlarged. • A large dataset containing 2000 samples is obtained from high-throughput computation, thus improve the model accuracy. • The detonation parameters of all generated molecules can be efficiently predicted by machine learning models. • Target molecules can be selected in a very short time, which greatly improve the efficiency of molecular discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let A\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\cal{A}$$\end{document} be a unital C*-algebra and B\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\cal{B}$$\end{document} a unital C*-algebra with a faithful trace τ. Let n be a positive integer. We give the definition of weakly approximate diagonalization (with respect to τ) of a unital homomorphism ϕ:A→Mn(B)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\phi:\cal{A}\rightarrow M_{n}(\cal{B})$$\end{document}. We give an equivalent characterization of McDuff II1 factors. We show that, if A\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\cal{A}$$\end{document} is a unital nuclear C*-algebra and B\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\cal{B}$$\end{document} is a type II1 factor with faithful trace τ, then every unital *-homomorphism ϕ:A→Mn(B)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\phi:\cal{A}\rightarrow M_{n}(\cal{B})$$\end{document} is weakly approximately diagonalizable. If B\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$\cal{B}$$\end{document} is a unital simple infinite dimensional separable nuclear C*-algebra, then any finitely many elements in Mn(B)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$$M_{n}(\cal{B})$$\end{document} can be simultaneously weakly approximately diagonalized while the elements in the diagonals can be required to be the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heptamethine cyanine dyes are one kind of promising near-infrared (NIR) compounds, holding great potential in both diagnostic and therapeutic regions. Remolding such structures to realize detection of unclarified biotargets or interfering with them seems to be important in the field of chemical biology. In this study, we developed a fluorescent ligand (IR1) targeting mitochondrial G-quadruplexes (mitoG4s) by a slight variation on the typical NIR scaffold (IR780). This ligand could be applied for sensing mitoG4s by fluorescence, making it different from the unmodified dye whose fluorescence was quenched by mitoG4s. Then, IR1 was demonstrated to accumulate in the mitochondria through a mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) dependent manner. Some of IR1 then bound to mitoG4s, causing mtDNA loss and mitochondrial dysfunction, which thereby triggered PANoptosis, including apoptosis, autophagy and pyroptosis. To the best of our knowledge, IR1 was the first NIR fluorescent ligand with emission centered at above 800 nm for mitoG4s, and the first example causing PANoptosis among the reported mitoG4-targeted ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Acupuncture upregulates A 3 R of superficial fascia of acupoint areas in CFA rats. • Acupuncture inhibits inflammatory signaling molecules. • Acupuncture has analgesic effects by inhibiting inflammation via A 3 R. Adenosine A 3 receptor (A 3 R) exerts analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-nociceptive effects. In this study, we determined the analgesic mechanism of manual acupuncture (MA) in rats with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced arthritis and explored whether MA ameliorates inflammation in these rats by upregulating A 3 R. Sixty Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the following groups: Control, CFA, CFA + MA, CFA + sham MA, CFA + MA + DMSO, CFA + MA + IB-MECA, and CFA + MA + Reversine groups. The arthritis rat model was induced by injecting CFA into the left ankle joints. Thereafter, the rats were subjected to MA (ST36 acupoint) for 3 days. The clinical indicators paw withdrawal latency (PWL), paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), and open field test (OFT) were used to determine the analgesic effect of MA. In addition, to explore the effect of A 3 R on inflammation after subjecting arthritis rats to MA, IB-MECA (A 3 R agonist) and Reversine (A 3 R antagonist) were injected into ST36 before MA. MA ameliorated the pathological symptoms of CFA-induced arthritis, including the pain indicators PWL and PWT, number of rearing, total ambulatory distance, and activity trajectory. Furthermore, after MA, the mRNA and protein expression of A 3 R was upregulated in CFA-induced arthritis rats. In contrast, the protein levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, Rap1, and p-p65 were downregulated after MA. Interestingly, the A 3 R agonist and antagonist further downregulated and upregulated inflammatory cytokine expression, respectively, after MA. Furthermore, the A 3 R antagonist increased the degree of ankle swelling after MA. MA can alleviate inflammatory pain by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway via upregulating A 3 R expression of the superficial fascia of the ST36 acupoint site in CFA-induced arthritis rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX) has attracted considerable attention in energy-related fields. However, the safety performance of RDX needs to be improved in terms of various external stimuli. Herein, such issues of RDX could be well balanced through hydrothermal assembly with the assistance of insensitive 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) in a low content of 10 wt% (named RT co-particles). The TATB spread outside and were embedded inside of the resultant RT co-particles, which were examined via X-ray computed tomography and a three-dimensional laser scanning confocal microscope. As a result, the impact safety performance of RT co-particles could be drastically enhanced to 17.5 J by the TATB lubricant effect, demonstrating over twice the value of that of raw RDX (6 J) and mixtures (7 J). Moreover, an interfacial reconstruction between RDX and TATB was witnessed due to the strong interfacial interaction, as examined by theoretical simulation. Inspired by this, a delayed exothermic decomposition temperature of RT co-particles (244.4 °C) has been achieved when compared with that of RDX (241.4 °C). As demonstrated, an energetic co-particle strategy may provide an effective pathway toward remarkably improved mechanical and thermal safety performance, shedding light on other energetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tex264 is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein that was recently demonstrated to act as an ER-phagy receptor under starvation conditions to mediate endoplasmic reticulum autophagy. However, how Tex264 functions in the central nervous system (CNS) and tumors is unclear. Here, we identified 89 proteins from the rat brain that may specifically interact with Tex264 and confirmed the interaction between sorting nexin 27 (SNX27) and Tex264 by coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. Our results indicated that Tex264 may promote recycling of membrane proteins from endosomes to the cell plasma membrane by recruiting SNX27 retromer vesicles. siRNA-mediated knockdown of TEX264 in HeLa cells did not affect cell proliferation but did significantly inhibit cell migration through a mechanism that may involve a reduction in SNX27-mediated Itgα5 receptor membrane recycling. Results of this study helped identify potential binding Tex264 partners and provide insights into Tex264 functions in the CNS and in tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals, such as Cd and Pb, are present in the particulate matter (PM) suspended in ambient air. Once internalized, they often accumulate in the human body and cannot be metabolized for long periods. Most previous studies on Cd and Pb metabolism used high concentrations of these heavy metals. In this study, we analysed the effects of low concentrations of Cd or Pb (similar to their concentrations in the PM) on the viability of lung epithelial cells and the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors, IL-6 and IL-8. A549 cells were cultured in the presence of Cd and Pb at 1 µg/L and 1 mg/L for 0, 4, 12, and 24 h and analysed using WST-8 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays and ELISA. Our results revealed that Cd and Pb induced comparable cytotoxicity and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and IL-8, in a time-dependent manner, even at low concentrations. Altogether, our results suggest that heavy metals present in PM can cause chronic long-term effects on human lungs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Central lymph node status in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) plays an important role in treatment decision-making clinically, however, it is not easy to predict central lymph node metastasis (CLNM). The present work focused on finding the more rational alternative for evaluating central lymph node status while identifying influencing factors to construct a model to predict CLNM incidence. Methods: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the typical sonographic and clinicopathologic features of 546 PTMC patients who underwent surgery, among which, the data of 382 patients were recruited in the training cohort and that of 164 patients in the validation cohort. Based on the outcome of the training cohort, significant influencing factors were further identified through univariate analysis and were considered as independent variables in multivariable logistic regression analysis and incorporated in and presented with a nomogram. Results: In total, six independent predictors, including the age, sex, tumor size, multifocality, capsular invasion, Hashimotos thyroiditis were entered into the nomogram. Both internal validation and external validation revealed the favorable discrimination of our as-constructed nomogram. Calibration curves exhibited high consistency. As suggested by decision-curve analyses, the as-constructed nomogram might be applied in clinic. Besides, the model also distinguished patients according to risk stratification. Conclusions: The novel nomogram containing remarkable influencing factors for CLNM cases was established in the present work. The nomogram can assist clinicians in clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Central lymph node status in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) plays an important role in treatment decision-making clinically, however, it is not easy to predict central lymph node metastasis (CLNM). The present work focused on finding the more rational alternative for evaluating central lymph node status while identifying influencing factors to construct a model to predict CLNM incidence.Methods: In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the typical sonographic and clinicopathologic features of 546 PTMC patients who underwent surgery, among which, the data of 382 patients were recruited in the training cohort and that of 164 patients in the validation cohort. Based on the outcome of the training cohort, significant influencing factors were further identified through univariate analysis and were considered as independent variables in multivariable logistic regression analysis and incorporated in and presented with a nomogram.Results: In total, six independent predictors, including the age, sex, tumor size, multifocality, capsular invasion, Hashimotos thyroiditis were entered into the nomogram. Both internal validation and external validation revealed the favorable discrimination of our as-constructed nomogram. Calibration curves exhibited high consistency. As suggested by decision-curve analyses, the as-constructed nomogram might be applied in clinic. Besides, the model also distinguished patients according to risk stratification.Conclusions: The novel nomogram containing remarkable influencing factors for CLNM cases was established in the present work. The nomogram can assist clinicians in clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intra-class variability and inter-class similarity challenges caused by diverse viewpoints, illumination, and similar appearances are crucial in Re-Identification (Re-ID). Previous vehicle Re-ID methods propose to mine more discriminate and fine-grained clues for alleviating the problem, which costs extra computation and time during inference since the use of additional modules, e.g., detection modules, segmentation modules, or attention modules. We propose a multi-branch architecture to mining the discriminative and fine-grained information without additional time and computation cost during inference. Specifically, we focus on three problems: 1) how can knowledge transfer among multi-branches; 2) what knowledge should be utilized for more effective and more functional transfer; 3) where can be used as the input of multi-branches? For the first problem, we introduce a novel complementary learning scheme named partner learning which transfers the knowledge between global and local branches, and thus we only need the global branch during inference. For the second problem, we propose a hierarchical structural knowledge transfer (HSKT) approach to mine knowledge from partners in three different levels hierarchically. For the last problem, to effectively mine more fine-grained clues, we propose two local specifications: one supervised with the specification of the window area being discriminatively crucial as an expert knowledge while the other unsupervised with horizontal stripe cuts. Extensive ablation studies and experimental result discussions show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four isomorphic P2 chalcogenide clusters named [Sn11In9Cu6S44]·11(H+DBU) (1) (DBU = 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0] undec-7-ene), [Sn10In10Cu6Se44]·6(H22+DMAPA)·2(DMAPA)·9EG (2) (DMAPA = 3-dimethylaminopropylamine, EG = ethylene glycol), [Sn10In10Cu6S40O4]·6[H22+PMDETA]·10EG (3) (PMDETA = pentamethyldiethylenetriamine), [Sn10Ga10Cu6S40O4]·6(H22+DMAPA)·7EG (4) have been isolated via organotin precursor and mixed-metal strategy. These clusters exhibit excellent solubility in organic solvents. The continuous-regulation of optical band and optical limiting performance have been realized through precise controlled substituting engineering of cationic and anionic elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver (Ag)-containing nanomaterials have emerged as promising alternatives or adjuvants to antibiotics. Ongoing research is dedicated to enhance their antimicrobial efficacy, stability, biocompatibility, and environmental sustainability. Microorganism-synthesized Ag-containing nanomaterials offer distinct advantages, especially for various surface modification, which potentially fulfill these objectives. In this study, we present the synthesis of silver-selenium (Bio-Ag 2 Se) nanoparticles using a yeast strain, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa PA-1. These Bio-Ag 2 Se nanoparticles have small size with a narrow size distribution (12.3 ± 2.9 nm) and long-term stability. They demonstrate a broad antimicrobial spectrum and high antimicrobial efficacy at very low concentrations, effectively targeting microorganisms including Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Bacillus subtilis , Staphylococcus aureus , as well as pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. Furthermore, Bio-Ag 2 Se nanoparticles exhibit excellent efficacy to inhibit and eliminate biofilms formed by notorious pathogen S. aureus. In contrast, Bio-Ag 2 Se nanoparticles at effective antibacterial concentrations demonstrate favorable biocompatibility and do not show obvious cytotoxic effects on human and plant cells. To elucidate the antibacterial mechanisms of Bio-Ag 2 Se nanoparticles against S. aureus and E. coli , transcriptomic analysis and phenotypic examination were employed. The results reveal significant and broad up-regulation in carbon metabolism pathways in both S. aureus and E. coli , suggesting it as one of the major antibacterial mechanisms of Bio-Ag 2 Se. This study presents a green synthesis strategy for Ag-containing nanoparticles with promising applications. [Display omitted] • A yeast strain was used to synthesize silver-selenium nanoparticles (Bio-Ag 2 Se). • These nanoparticles are stable and small with a narrow size distribution. • They have a strong antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. • They have excellent anti-biofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus. • They show no cytotoxicity to human and plant cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic lethality is a phenomenon wherein the simultaneous deficiency of two or more genes results in cell death, while the deficiency of any individual gene does not lead to cell death. In recent years, synthetic lethality has emerged as a significant topic in the field of targeted cancer therapy, with certain drugs based on this concept exhibiting promising outcomes in clinical trials. Nevertheless, the presence of tumor heterogeneity and the intricate DNA repair mechanisms pose challenges to the effective implementation of synthetic lethality. This review aims to explore the concepts, development, and ethical quandaries surrounding synthetic lethality. Additionally, it will provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical application and underlying mechanism of synthetic lethality. [Display omitted]. • Synthetic lethality has emerged as a significant topic in the field of targeted cancer therapy. • Certain drugs based on synthetic lethality exhibiting promising outcomes in clinical trials. • The presence of tumor heterogeneity poses challenges to the effective implementation of synthetic lethality. • This review aims to explore the concepts, development, and ethical quandaries surrounding synthetic lethality. • We provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical application and underlying mechanism of synthetic lethality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription factor Broad Complex (BR‐C) is an ecdysone primary response gene in insects and participates in the regulation of insect growth and development. In this study, we performed a genome‐wide identification of BR‐C target genes in silkworm (Bombyx mori) using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high‐throughput sequencing (ChIP‐seq). As a result, a total of 1006 BR‐C ChIP peaks were identified, and 15% of peaks were located in the promoter regions of 133 protein‐coding genes. Functional annotation revealed that these ChIP peak‐associated genes, as potential BR‐C targets, were enriched in pathways related to biosynthetic process, metabolic process, and development. Transcriptome analysis and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) examination revealed that developmental changes in expression patterns of a portion of potential BR‐C targets, including HR96 and GC‐α1, were similar to those of BR‐C. ChIP‐PCR examination confirmed that BR‐C could directly bind to the promoters of potential targets. Further, dual luciferase assays demonstrated that HR96 promoter activity was significantly upregulated following BR‐C overexpression, and this upregulation was abolished when the binding motif in the promoter was truncated. This study will be helpful for deciphering the regulatory roles of BR‐C during insect growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most cancer therapies are suffering from side effects to varying degrees, which might compromise the body functions and long-term health of patients. Balancing treatment efficacy and side effects has become a priority. Inspired by the concept that cellular ion homeostasis can lead to apoptosis, we developed a novel therapeutic strategy by incorporating the K+ transporter valinomycin into liposomes (Lipo-VM). Valinomycin is a naturally occurring polypeptide showing good biodegradation in vivo with reduced long-term side effects. Lipo-VM facilitates the K+ efflux of cells and triggers a caspase-dependent pathway of apoptosis by causing the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential. With the help of a liposome-based nano-delivery system, Lipo-VM shows enhanced cell uptake and accumulation at the tumor site, which results in significant inhibition of tumor growth in a liver cancer model. The proposed valinomycin-anchored liposome provides an efficient and safe approach for cancer therapy. [Display omitted] • A cancer therapeutic system of valinomycin-anchored liposomes (Lipo-VM) is proposed. • Lipo-VM shows enhanced cell uptake and accumulation at the tumor site. • Cell membrane fused Lipo-VM facilitates K+ efflux of cells inhibiting tumor growth. • A caspase-dependent pathway of apoptosis is proposed. • Lipo-VM provides an efficient and safe approach for cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tumor mutation burden (TMB) is an emerging prognostic biomarker of immunotherapy for bladder cancer (BLCA). We aim at investigating radiomic features' value in predicting the TMB status of BLCA patients.Methods: Totally, 75 patients with BLCA were enrolled. Radiomic features extracted from the volume of interest of preoperative pelvic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) were obtained for each case. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering analysis was performed based on radiomic features. Sequential univariate Logistic regression, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and the backward stepwise regression were used to develop a TMB-predicting model using radiomic features.Results: The unsupervised clustering analysis divided the total cohort into two groups, i.e., group A (32.0%) and B (68.0%). Patients in group A had a significantly larger proportion of having high TMB against those in group B (66.7% vs. 41.2%, p = 0.039), indicating the intrinsic ability of radiomic features in TMB-predicting. In univariate analysis, 27 radiomic features could predict TMB. Based on six radiomic features selected by logistic and LASSO regression, a TMB-predicting model was built and visualized by nomogram. The area under the ROC curve of the model reached 0.853. Besides, the calibration curve and the decision curve also revealed the good performance of the model.Conclusions: Our work firstly proved the feasibility of using radiomics to predict TMB for patients with BLCA. The predictive model based on radiomic features from pelvic CECT has a promising ability to predict TMB. Future study with a larger cohort is needed to verify our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Costello syndrome (CS, OMIM 218040) is a rare congenital disorder caused by mutations in HRAS. Previous studies reported that approximately 80% of patients with CS share the same pathogenic variant in HRAS gene in c.34G> A (p.G12S). Here, we report a CS patient with c.34G> A (p.G12D) variant in HRAS gene and she presented with special manifestation. Methods and Results: We describe a 31‐year‐old female patient who presented with distinctive facial appearance, intellectual disability, dental abnormalities, hyperkeratosis of palmer and planter, loose skin at birth, papillomata on the face and nipples. The whole‐exome sequencing (WES) technology provided by Haotian Biotechnology (China) confirmed p.G12D variant in HRAS gene. To elucidate the typical features of CS with p.G12D variant, we further reviewed these previously reported cases and found that patients with G12D variant died within three months after birth due to multiple organ failure. They had the typical facial characteristics, failure to thrive, skin and cardiac abnormalities, and gene testing confirmed the diagnosis of CS. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first article to report a patient with a p.G12D variant that had special but mild manifestation. Moreover, this report and literature review casts new light on the clinical features of p.G12D variant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis, exhibits complex host-pathogen interactions. Pattern recognition receptors and their downstream signaling pathways play crucial roles in determining the outcome of infection. In particular, the scaffold protein b-arrestin 2 mediates downstream signaling of G protein-coupled receptors. However, the role of b-arrestin 2 in conferring immunity against M. tuberculosis has not yet been explored. We found that b-arrestin 2 was upregulated in the lesioned regions of lung tissues in patients with tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis infection upregulated b-arrestin 2 expression in human macrophages, and silencing of β-arrestin 2 significantly enhanced bactericidal activity by enhancing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. β-Arrestin 2 was shown to inhibit the activation of the TLR2/ERK1/2 pathway and its transcriptional regulation activity upon M. tuberculosis infection. Furthermore, b-arrestin 2 transcriptionally regulates TNF-α by binding to CREB1. These observations revealed that the upregulation of β-arrestin 2 is critical for M. tuberculosis to escape immune surveillance through an unknown mechanism. Our research offers a novel interference modality to enhance the immune response against tuberculosis by targeting b-arrestin 2 to modulate the TLR2-β-arrestin 2-ERK1/2-CREB1-TNF-α regulatory axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Tooth avulsion is the most severe traumatic tooth injury. Immediate replantation after avulsion provides the highest success rate, whereas delayed replantation with dehydration for >1 h always results in ankylosis, replacement resorption, and eventual tooth loss. The aim of this study was to investigate the geomorphologic change of ultrastructure on tooth root surfaces due to dehydration. Material and Methods: Twenty‐four sound human premolars and fully developed third molars without periodontitis were selected for the experiment. Roots were separated into 6–7 pieces with an intact root surface area (3 × 3 mm2) and then divided into the following groups: fresh group, prolonged dehydration groups (air drying for 1, 2, 4, 12, or 24 h), and dehydrated teeth (air drying for 2 h) treated with acid (Tris‐HCl buffer or citric acid buffer). More than six pieces of root from each group were subjected to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation. Captured images were exported to ImageJ software to quantitatively analyze the areas covered with fibers. Statistical significance was determined by comparing the means of the different groups using t‐testing or one‐way analysis of variance followed by post hoc testing. Results: Fibrous "vegetation" covering the cementum was observed on the fresh root surface by SEM. This was destroyed by dehydration (>1 h), resulting in a root surface resembling the "Gobi Desert." The difference was statistically significant (p <.001). Root surface deteriorated by dehydration could be recovered by the re‐use of the fibers embedded in the cementum as acid demineralization of the outer layer of cementum exposed the embedded fibers to simulate the geomorphology of fresh root surface. Conclusions: Dehydrated teeth had deteriorated geomorphology of the root surface, which could be reversed by the re‐use of the fibers embedded in the cementum using citric acid. Direct evidence from SEM gives new insights into the replantation of dehydrated avulsed teeth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-label learning deals with training examples each represented by a single instance while associated with multiple class labels, and the task is to train a predictive model which can assign a set of proper labels for the unseen instance. Existing approaches employ the common assumption of equal labeling-importance, i.e., all associated labels are regarded to be relevant to the training instance while their relative importance in characterizing its semantics are not differentiated. Nonetheless, this common assumption does not reflect the fact that the importance degree of each relevant label is generally different, though the importance information is not directly accessible from the training examples. In this article, we show that it is beneficial to leverage the implicit relative labeling-importance (RLI) information to help induce multi-label predictive model with strong generalization performance. Specifically, RLI degrees are formalized as multinomial distribution over the label space, which can be estimated by either global label propagation procedure or local k -nearest neighbor reconstruction. Correspondingly, the multi-label predictive model is induced by fitting modeling outputs with estimated RLI degrees along with multi-label empirical loss regularization. Extensive experiments clearly validate that leveraging implicit RLI information serves as a favorable strategy to achieve effective multi-label learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: CT-derived fractional flow reserve (FFRCT) and diagnostic accuracy rely on good image quality during coronary CT angiography (CCTA). OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether heart rate (HR) and coronary artery calcium (CAC) score decrease image quality and diagnostic performance of two advanced CT scanners including 96-row detector dual source CT (DSCT) and 256-row multidetector CT (MDCT). METHODS: First, 79 patients who underwent CCTA (42 with DSCT and 37 with MDCT) and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) are enrolled. Next, coronary segments with excellent image quality are evaluated and the percentage is calculated. Then, diagnostic accuracy in detecting significant diameter stenosis is presented with ICA as the reference standard. RESULTS: Compared with the DSCT, the percentage of coronary segments with excellent image quality is lower (P = 0.010) while diagnostic accuracy on per-segment level is improved (P = 0.037) using MDCT. CAC score≥400 is the only independent factor influencing the percentage of coronary segments with excellent image quality [odds ratio (OR): DSCT, 3.096 and MDCT, 1.982] and segmental diagnostic accuracy (OR: DSCT, 2.630 and MDCT, 2.336) for both scanners. HR≥70 bpm (OR: 5.506) is the independent factor influencing the percentage of coronary segments with excellent image quality with MDCT. CONCLULSION: During CCTA, CAC score≥400 still decreases the proportion of coronary segments with excellent image quality and diagnostic accuracy with advanced CT scanners. HR≥70 bpm is another factor causing image quality decreasing with MDCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a number of tools have been developed for researchers to compute the lexical characteristics of words, extant resources are limited in their useability and functionality. Specifically, some tools require users to have some prior knowledge of some aspects of the applications, and not all tools allow users to specify their own corpora. Additionally, current tools are also limited in terms of the range of metrics that they can compute. To address these methodological gaps, this article introduces LexiCAL, a fast, simple, and intuitive calculator for lexical variables. Specifically, LexiCAL is a standalone executable that provides options for users to calculate a range of theoretically influential surface, orthographic, phonological, and phonographic metrics for any alphabetic language, using any user-specified input, corpus file, and phonetic system. LexiCAL also comes with a set of well-documented Python scripts for each metric, that can be reproduced and/or modified for other research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the associations of impaction patterns of mandibular third molars (M3Ms) with pathologies caused by them. In this study, 262 patients with 432 impacted M3Ms who referred in Shanghai Xuhui District Center were reviewed. The pathologies include pericoronitis, mandibular second molar (M2M) caries, and M2M distal periodontal pathology. The impaction patterns of M3Ms and the pathologies were examined, while the M2M outcomes after surgeries were evaluated. A χ2 test was used to analyze the data, with a p value of <0.05 being considered statistically significant. Pericoronitis was the major symptom in all patients, whereas the propensities of M2M distal caries and periodontal pathologies increased in older patients. Soft tissue impacted and vertically angulated teeth were more associated with pericoronitis (p < 0.05); mesio-angular impacted teeth in less deep positions had greater risks of M2Ms distal caries (p < 0.05); mesio-angular and horizontal impacted teeth in relative deep positions were more likely to cause M2Ms distal periodontal pathologies (p < 0.05). Extractions of soft tissue impacted teeth in vertical angulations should be considered, while removals of mesially and horizontally angulated or bony impacted teeth could be delayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-bonded explosives (PBX) are commonly-used form of energetic materials in weapon systems. However, the effects of polymers on the reactions and thermal decomposition of composites have rarely been investigated. In order to reveal the role of the interfacial polymers on the reaction mechanism and thermal sensitivity, reactive molecular dynamics (RMD) simulations were carried out using typical interface models for explosive crystals with polymers, and classic molecular dynamics simulations were also performed to investigate the interfacial interactions. The results show that the reactions and interaction energies are anisotropic along different crystalline directions, and not only the interfacial interactions but also the F-containing free radical reactions will influence the thermal sensitivity of the composite. This research is of significance for the design of advanced insensitive energetic composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UBE2T is an E2 ubiquitin ligase critical for ubiquitination of substrate and plays important roles in many diseases. Despite the important function, UBE2T is considered as an undruggable target due to lack of a pocket for binding to small molecules with satisfied properties for clinical applications. To develop potent and specific UBE2T inhibitors, we adopted a high-throughput screening assay and two compounds-ETC-6152 and ETC-9004 containing a sulfone tetrazole scaffold were identified. Solution NMR study demonstrated the direct interactions between UBE2T and compounds in solution. Further co-crystal structures reveal the binding modes of these compounds. Both compound hydrolysation and formation of a hydrogen bond with the thiol group of the catalytic cysteine were observed. The formation of covalent complex was confirmed with mass spectrometry. As these two compounds inhibit ubiquitin transfer, our study provides a strategy to develop potent inhibitors of UBE2T. • A HTS was performed against UBE2T and two inhibitors were identified. • UBE2T-inhibitor binding was investigated using NMR. • Co-crystal structures reals the inhibitor binding modes. • The mechanism of covalent inhibitors was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed a potential dual-function ligand targeting G-quadruplexes (G4s) by introducing a triazole rotor onto the dibenzoquinoxaline scaffold. This ligand not only had potential in high-contrast imaging of G4s either in vitro or in cellulo, but also proved to inhibit cancer cell growth as well as migration possibly through a G4-mediated action of mechanism. Altogether, this ligand had possibility to develop into a theranostic agent for cancer diagnosis and therapy in the future. • A dual-function fluorescent ligand targeting G4s was developed. • The ligand showed high-contrast fluorescence upon interaction with G4s. • The ligand was able to label and stabilize the DNA G4s in live cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food parenting practices, especially Autonomy Support practices and Structure practices, have not been comprehensively studied among parents of children born with low birth weight in Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate food parenting practices among parents of preschoolers who were born with low (<2500 g) and normal birth weight (≥2500 g) in Singapore. We recruited 197 parents of pre-school children (aged 3–5 years) who completed a socio-demographic questionnaire and the HomeSTEAD questionnaire, which examined food parenting practices. Among parents, 98 (49.8%) and 99 (50.2%) had children who were normal (NBW) and low birth weight (LBW) respectively. Parents of children with LBW had lower scores in one Autonomy Support practice (Encouragement) and three Structure practices (Meal setting, Planning and preparation of healthy meals, Rules and limits around unhealthy foods), after controlling for ethnicity and parental education. Parents of children with LBW also scored higher in one Autonomy Support practice (Guided choices: when food is given). There were no significant differences in Coercive Control practices between parents of both groups. Healthcare professionals could use this information to assess parental needs when facilitating parents' positive food parenting practices, especially among children with low birth weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibody in Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric cancer (EBVaGC) was debatable, and no predictive biomarkers for efficacy have been reported. Public reports on anti-PD-1 antibody monotherapy-treated EBVaGC with available programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression status were summarized and analyzed. Relevance with clinicopathologic characteristics of PD-L1 expression by immunohistochemistry was analyzed in 159 patients diagnosed with EBVaGC. Relevance with genomic transcriptome and mutation profile of PD-L1 status in EBVaGC was assessed with three datasets, the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) GSE51575, and GSE62254. Based on the data from 8 reports, patients with positive PD-L1 expression (n = 30) had significantly superior objective response rate (ORR) than patients with negative PD-L1 expression (n = 9) (63.3% vs. 0%, P = .001) in EBVaGC receiving anti-PD-1 antibody monotherapy. PD-L1 positivity was associated with less aggressive clinicopathological characteristics and was an independent predictor for a longer disease-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] and 95% CI: 0.45 [0.22-0.92], P = .03) and overall survival (HR and 95% CI: 0.17 [0.06-0.43], P < .001). Analysis of public EBVaGC transcriptome and mutation datasets revealed enhanced immune-related signal pathways in PD-L1high EBVaGC and distinct mutation patterns in PD-L1low EBVaGC. PD-L1 positivity indicates a subtype of EBVaGC with 'hot' immune microenvironment, lower aggressiveness, better prognosis, and higher sensitivity to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore dynamic changes of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and the relationship with stroke severity and long‐term outcomes. Methods: A total of 96 consecutive patients with AIS and 28 age‐ and gender‐matched healthy controls were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected, and the percentages of lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. The dynamic changes in lymphocyte subsets and their correlation with clinical parameters, such as National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at onset and modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores 3 months later, were evaluated. Results: In our study, we observed a decrease in the percentages of T‐lymphocytes (T cells), helper/inducible T‐lymphocytes (Th cells) and suppressor/cytotoxic T‐lymphocytes (Ts cells) in AIS patients as compared to controls. The frequencies of T cells and Ts cells on day 8–14 after stroke in NIHSS ≤4 group were significantly higher than those in NIHSS >4 group. The percentages of T cells and Th cells on day 1–3 after stroke in the mRS ≤2 group were higher than those in the mRS >2 group. Conclusion: The frequencies of T cells, Th cells, and Ts cells in AIS are declined dramatically at least 14 days after stroke. Lower frequencies of T cells and Ts cells on day 8–14 after stroke represent more severe disease conditions, and the percentages of T cells and Th cells within 72 hr after stroke are negatively correlated with 3‐month outcomes, which might have a potential for predicting long‐term prognosis of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistency reflects the mapping between spelling and sound. That is, a word is feedforward consistent if its pronunciation matches that of similarly spelled words, and feedback consistent if its spelling matches that of similar pronounced words. For a quasi-regular language such as English, the study of consistency effects on lexical processing has been limited by the lack of readily accessible norms. In order to improve current methodological resources, feedforward (spelling-to-sound) and feedback (sound-to-spelling) consistency measures for 37,677 English words were computed. The consistency measures developed here are operationalized at the composite level for multisyllabic words, and at different sub-syllabic segments (onset, nucleus, coda, oncleus, and rime) for both monosyllabic and multisyllabic words. These measures constitute the largest database of English consistency norms to be developed, and will be a valuable resource for researchers to explore the effects of consistency on lexical processes, such as word recognition and spelling. The norms are available as supplementary material with this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying novel prognostic biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and then, develop an effective individualized treatment strategy remain extremely warranted. The prognostic role of sulfiredoxin‐1(SRXN1), an antioxidant enzyme, remains unknown in HCC. This study aimed to explore the prognostic implications of SRXN1 in HCC patients after partial hepatectomy. The expression of SRXN1 in HCC and normal tissue were analyzed using the patients from the public databases and Zhongshan Hospital. The Cox regression, Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis, and time‐dependent receiver operating characteristic curves were performed to identify the predictive role of SRXN1 expression on HCC patients. A prognostic nomogram based on SRXN1 expression was constructed and validated to further confirm the predictive power of SRXN1 as a prognostic biomarker. Finally, functional enrichment analysis and protein‐protein interaction network analysis of SRXN1 and its associated genes were conducted. The results showed that SRXN1 was upregulated in HCC samples compared with the normal liver tissues. Patients with SRXN1 upregulation had shorter survival time. SRXN1 overexpression was significantly correlated with advanced clinicopathological parameters. The prognostic nomogram based on SRXN1 expression was proved to be more accurate than routine staging systems for the prediction of overall survival. Protein‐protein interaction network analysis demonstrated the first neighbor genes of SRXN1 mainly participated in response to oxidative stress. In brief, SRXN1 could be a prognostic biomarker for the management of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A practical metal-free and additive-free approach for the synthesis of 6/7/8-membered oxacyclic ketone-fused isoxazoles/isoxazolines tetracyclic or tricyclic structures is reported through Csp3–H bond radical nitrile oxidation and the intramolecular cycloaddition of alkenyl/alkynyl-substituted aryl methyl ketones. This convenient approach enables the simultaneous formation of isoxazole/isoxazoline and 6/7/8-membered oxacyclic ketones to form polycyclic architectures by using tert-butyl nitrite (TBN) as a non-metallic radical initiator and N–O fragment donor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]