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Aims Methods Results Conclusions The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of self‐management behaviour and illness perceptions and to examine illness perceptions in relation to self‐management behaviour in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).A cross‐sectional study was conducted, and 152 elderly COPD patients were recruited via the convenience sampling method. The COPD Self‐Management Scale and the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire for COPD patients were used to examine self‐management behaviour and illness perceptions. Pearson correlation analysis, univariate analysis and hierarchical linear regression analysis were used to explore illness perceptions in relation to self‐management behaviour.The mean overall score for self‐management behaviour was 2.90 ± 0.39. Among the subscales of self‐management behaviour, information management had the lowest score of 2.20 ± 0.76. Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, including educational level, smoking status, type of primary caregiver, home oxygen therapy and COPD duration, were found to be significant determinants of self‐management behaviour. After controlling for these variables, several illness perception subscales, including treatment control, personal control, coherence, timeline cyclical and identity, were significantly correlated with self‐management behaviour.This study confirmed that elderly COPD patients' self‐management behaviour was unsatisfactory and that illness perceptions were significant determinants of self‐management behaviour. The findings may contribute to the development of self‐management interventions for elderly COPD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: A promising approach to combat aggressive prostate cancer involves androgen receptor degraders, which break down the crucial protein driving cancer progression. In contrast to traditional drugs, these degraders offer a potential solution to drug resistance. Methods like PROTACs have shown promise in reducing androgen receptor levels in cells and clinical benefits in patients. Six PROTACs and two other degraders have entered early clinical trials for potential treatment. While progress has been made in understanding these degraders, it is essential to stay updated on emerging developments. This article provides an overview of advancements in this field since 2020. Induced protein degradation has emerged as an innovative drug discovery approach, complementary to the classical method of suppressing protein function. The androgen receptor signaling pathway has been identified as the primary driving force in the development and progression of lethal castration-resistant prostate cancer. Since androgen receptor degraders function differently from androgen receptor antagonists, they hold the promise to overcome the drug resistance challenges faced by current therapeutics. Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), monomeric degraders, hydrophobic tagging, molecular glues, and autophagic degradation have demonstrated their capability in downregulating intracellular androgen receptor concentrations. The potential of these androgen receptor degraders to treat castration-resistant prostate cancer is substantiated by the advancement of six PROTACs and two monomeric androgen receptor degraders into phase I or II clinical trials. Although the chemical structures, in vitro and in vivo data, and degradation mechanisms of androgen receptor degraders have been reviewed, it is crucial to stay updated on recent advances in this field as novel androgen receptor degraders and new strategies continue to emerge. This review thus provides insight into recent advancements in this paradigm, offering an overview of the progress made since 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Purpose/Significance] Generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been widely used in many fields, and the application of this technology has become popular among researchers. However, there are few studies on the willingness of researchers willingness to accept generative AI. This leads to an insufficient understanding of the psychological mechanism, cognitive process and behavioral pattern of users' acceptance of generative AI, which limits the ability of theoretical innovation and practical exploration in user information behavior. This study focuses on researchers acceptance of generative AI. By studying the evaluation process of ChatGPT by college students, it explores the acceptance behavior of generative AI. At the same time, it verifies the applicability of the AIDUA model in the new context, and introduces the new variable of school identity, which further extends the AIDUA model. [Method/Process] Based on the cognitive assessment theory and the AI acceptance framework (AIDUA), this paper constructs a theoretical model of the intention to use generative artificial intelligence, and develops and empirically tests the theoretical model of the intention to use generative AI. Taking college students as the main research object, based on the maturity scale in authoritative literature at home and abroad, 8 variables and 29 observation variables such as social influence, hedonic motivation and anthropomorphism were designed. College students with experience in using generative AI were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey. SPSS26.0 was used to analyze the data from 294 valid questionnaires collected. SmartPLS 3.2.9 was used to construct a structural equation model to test the hypothesis, and the JN method was used to detect the regulatory effect. [Results/Conclusions] The study found that users went through three stages of decision making before using generative AI. The PLS-SEM results show that: 1) Social influence, hedonic motivation and anthropomorphism significantly affect performance expectancy and effort expectancy, and anthropomorphism is the strongest variable affecting performance expectancy and effort expectancy. 2) Performance expectancy and effort expectancy are significantly negatively correlated with negative emotions, while hedonic motivation has no significant effect on negative emotions. 3) Negative emotions are significantly negatively correlated with users' intension to use. 4) School identity moderates the relationship between effort expectancy and negative emotions. This study combines anthropomorphic research on college students' acceptance of generative AI, and provides a framework for the acceptance of generative AI. Researchers can use this framework to better study the acceptance of AI. This study has some limitations. In the future, we will focus on the following three aspects: 1) to evaluate the users' acceptance of generative AI in different usage scenarios. 2) to use samples of other groups to test the applicability of the model, such as civil servants, librarians, researchers and other groups. 3) to incorporate variables from other technology acceptance models into the model, such as ease of use and practicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, the prognostic and reproductive outcomes of women who underwent excision of uterine myomas and were sutured using different techniques while undergoing a cesarean section were investigated. Methods: A total of 299 females who underwent cesarean section between January 2015 and June 2022 due to a scarred uterus were enrolled in this study. These participants were segregated into two categories: the experimental group (comprising 155 cases) in which uterine myoma (single lesion) was excised during the cesarean procedure, and the control group (consisting of 144 cases) in which only the cesarean section was conducted. A comparison between the two groups was carried out based on the following parameters: volume of intraoperative bleeding (mL), additional measures taken for intraoperative hemostasis (n, %), percentage (%) of patients experiencing postoperative fever, duration required for the passage of gas (hours [h]), length of hospital stay (days [d]), weight of newborns (kg) and their Apgar scores, and the reproductive outcomes of the experimental group assessed two years after the surgical procedure. Results: In the experimental group, the amount of bleeding during surgery, occurrence of postoperative fever among women, time taken for patients to resume passing gas, and length of hospital stay were 540.65 ± 269.12 mL, 9.03%, 15.99 ± 4.68 h, and 5.08 ± 1.18 days, respectively. In contrast, the control group had values of 409.03 ± 93.24 mL, 2.77%, 16.24 ± 4.92, and 4.47 ± 0.70 days, respectively (P < 0.05). No notable increase was observed in the need for additional intraoperative hemostasis measures, and there was no significant difference in the time it took for patients to pass gas after the surgery. All newborns had positive health status. In the experimental group, 25 patients underwent subsequent pregnancies, and 15 of them successfully reached full-term deliveries, all of which had positive outcomes. Conclusion: Combining myomectomy with various suture methods during cesarean delivery did not cause excessive bleeding and resulted in healthy newborns. This approach offers the advantage of avoiding additional surgeries under anesthesia and can be considered a viable option. Subsequent pregnancies after myomectomy were considered high-risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the influence of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) on the risk of high-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV) infection. Retrospective analysis of the HR-HPV infection results of 1183 patients with POP who were treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Liangping District People's Hospital affiliated to Chongqing Medical University, and the 13th People's Hospital of Chongqing between October 2018 and October 2021. Patients without POP who underwent HR-HPV examination at the same time were selected as the control group, and the HR-PV infection rate was compared between the two groups. Patients diagnosed with POP were stratified to analyse whether age, menopausal status, degree of POP, location of POP and duration of POP were associated with HR-HPV infection. The rate of HR-HPV infection was lower for patients with POP compared with patients without POP over the same time period. The highest rate of infection was seen in patients aged 60–69 years (14.7%) and the lowest rate (7.5%) was seen in patients aged 50–59 years; differences between age groups were significant. The rate of HR-HPV infection in postmenopausal patients with POP was slightly higher than that in non-menopausal patients with POP, but the difference was not significant. No significant differences in the rate of HR-HPV infection were associated with location of POP, duration of POP or degree of POP. POP does not increase the risk of HR-HPV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic conductivity (EC) of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is sensitive to strongly oxidizing guest molecules. Water is a relatively mild species, however, the effect of H2O on the EC of MOFs is rarely reported. We explored the effect of H2O on the EC in the MOFs (NH2)2‐MIL‐125 and its derivatives with experimental and theoretical investigations. Unexpectedly, a large EC increase of 107 on H2SO4@(NH2)2‐MIL‐125 by H2O was observed. Brønsted acid–base pairs formed with the −NH2 groups, and H2SO4 played an important role in promoting the charge transfer from H2O to the MOF. Based on H2SO4@(NH2)2‐MIL‐125, a high‐performance chemiresistive humidity sensor was developed with the highest sensitivity, broadest detection range, and lowest limit of detection amongst all reported sensing materials to date. This work not only demonstrated that H2O can remarkably influence the EC of MOFs, but it also revealed that post‐modification of the structure of MOFs could enhance the influence of the guest molecule on their EC to design high‐performance sensing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic conductivity (EC) of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is sensitive to strongly oxidizing guest molecules. Water is a relatively mild species, however, the effect of H2O on the EC of MOFs is rarely reported. We explored the effect of H2O on the EC in the MOFs (NH2)2‐MIL‐125 and its derivatives with experimental and theoretical investigations. Unexpectedly, a large EC increase of 107 on H2SO4@(NH2)2‐MIL‐125 by H2O was observed. Brønsted acid–base pairs formed with the −NH2 groups, and H2SO4 played an important role in promoting the charge transfer from H2O to the MOF. Based on H2SO4@(NH2)2‐MIL‐125, a high‐performance chemiresistive humidity sensor was developed with the highest sensitivity, broadest detection range, and lowest limit of detection amongst all reported sensing materials to date. This work not only demonstrated that H2O can remarkably influence the EC of MOFs, but it also revealed that post‐modification of the structure of MOFs could enhance the influence of the guest molecule on their EC to design high‐performance sensing materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive dysfunction and brain white matter (WM) injury have been found in adults exposed to hypoxia. However, the mechanisms underlying these impairments remain unclear, and moreover, it is also unclear whether these impairments are reversible after reoxygenation. In this study, adult male mice were exposed to hypoxia for 15 days at a simulated altitude of 4300 m and then reoxygenated for 2 months. Control mice were raised under normoxic conditions. Mice showed a significant decrease in arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and an increase in heart rate and breath rate after hypoxic exposure, and they displayed anxiety-like emotion and impaired cognitions. Hypoxic mice showed decreased brain WM fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusion (MD) mainly in the corpus callosum and internal capsule. The reason for the adult brain WM injury was myelin rather than axon. Further, the myelin injury was due to the obstruction of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) differentiation and eventually led to behavioral deficits. More importantly, the changes in physiological indicators, behavioral disorders, and WM injury caused by hypoxia can be recovered after reoxygenation. Taken together, our data indicate that adult brain WM injury caused by hypoxia is reversible after reoxygenation and enhancing OPCs differentiation may be a promising therapy for clinical hypoxic diseases associated with brain injury. Schematic diagram of brain WM and behavioral changes induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation in adult mice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Prostate cancer is one of topmost health concerns, and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is the fatal form. Two taxanes, docetaxel and cabazitaxel, are the only two FDA-approved chemotherapeutics that can provide survival benefits to patients with the lethal version of prostate cancer. Taxanes, alongside numerous other naturally occurring products, can promote the assembly and stability of microtubules to halt cell division and promote various cancer cell deaths. Additionally, this group of compounds, named microtubule stabilizing agents, can impede the androgen–androgen receptor complex from moving into the cell nucleus, conquering androgen receptor-containing prostate cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. This review aims to overview the preclinical and clinical studies, clinical uses, and the mechanisms of action of microtubule-stabilizing agents as anti-prostate cancer agents. A variety of microtubule-stabilizing cytotoxic agents (MSA) with diverse chemical scaffolds have been discovered from marine sponges, microorganisms, and plants. Two MSAs, docetaxel and cabazitaxel, are the exclusive chemotherapeutics that convey a survival benefit in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Additional MSAs have been investigated for their potential in treating prostate cancer in both clinical and preclinical settings. Independent of promoting mitotic arrest, MSAs can suppress the nuclear accumulation of androgen receptor (AR), which is the driving force for prostate cancer cell growth and progression. The alternative mechanism not only helps to better understand the clinical efficacy of docetaxel and cabazitaxel for AR-driven CRPC but also provides an avenue to seek better treatments for various forms of prostate cancer. The dual mechanisms of action enable MSAs to suppress AR-null prostate cancer cell proliferation by cell mitosis pathway and to interfere with the AR signaling pathway in AR positive cells. MSA chemotherapeutics, being administered alone or in combination with other therapeutics, may serve as the optimal therapeutic option for patients with either castration-sensitive or castration-resistant prostate cancer. This review provides an overview of the anti-prostate cancer profiles (including preclinical and clinical studies, and clinical use) of diverse MSAs, as well as the mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global coal plants are gradually decreasing to improve sustainability, resulting in the possible resource shortage of fly ash (FA) as the main raw material of engineered cementitious composite (ECC). In order to seek good candidates, this paper systematically studied the possibility of using ground granulated blast-furnace slag (or slag, GGBS) as the partial FA replacement for preparing ECC (i.e., GGBS-ECC). Using the uniaxial tensile and compressive tests, the macromechanical properties were achieved; at mesoscale, the three-point bending, single crack tensile, and single fiber pullout tests were performed to explain the tensile ductility; the microscopic techniques including gas permeation and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) were applied to measure the permeability and pore structure. The results revealed that adding GGBS into ECC increased the tensile and compressive strength at either 7 days or 28 days and changed little (reduced) the tensile and compressive strain capacity at 7 days (28 days). The calculated pseudo strain hardening indices based on the mesoscale experimental results were higher, accompanied by the higher tensile strain capacity; incorporation of GGBS could improve the interfacial chemical bonding between fiber and matrix. Moreover, the GGBS-ECC exhibited a lower gas permeability and a smaller average pore size than the ECC without GGBS. Based on these findings, it was concluded that GGBS could be utilized in the development of ECC with appropriate ductility and facilitate the compactness of the matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The local topography hugely impacts the characteristic of earthquake ground motion, further affecting the seismic response of the train-bridge coupled system. Based on the theory of viscous-spring artificial boundary, an analytical model for a train-bridge system subjected to multi-support seismic excitations considering valley topography is established, by applying the displacement time histories of the seismic ground motion to the bridge supports. The influences of the height-to-width ratio of the valley topography, the shear wave velocity of the site soil, and the incident angle of the seismic wave on the seismic responses and running safety of the train-bridge coupled system are investigated by means of parametric investigations, with a 344 m long bridge subjected to the obliquely incident P-wave taken as a case study. The results from the case study demonstrate that the shear wave velocity of the site soil and the incident angle of the seismic wave affect the seismic responses of the train-bridge coupled system in terms of peak occurrence time. The peak values of seismic responses are mainly influenced by the height-to-width ratio of the valley topography as well as the incident angle of the seismic wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an event-triggered model predictive control (MPC) strategy with learning terminal cost for robotic manipulators containing model uncertainty and input constraints. In the proposed MPC structure, an adaptive predictive model for the robotic system is established by radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) firstly. Then, a terminal cost adjusted by the global learning mechanism is constructed. Both global steady-state optimization and transient fast convergence are achieved by adding the learning terminal cost to the MPC scheme. After that, a triggering condition of the MPC solving is developed based on the predictive model’s weights and the predictive tracking error. Besides, the condition to avoid Zeno behavior is obtained. The recursive feasibility of the proposed MPC strategy is verified, and the ultimately uniformly boundedness (UUB) of all variables is proved according to the Lyapunov theorem. Finally, experiments based on an xMate7 Pro robot are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented method. Note to Practitioners—The tracking control of robotic manipulators is a common and important problem in industrial applications, such as grasping, loading, unloading, et al. There exist some limitations in existing control methods. For example, general control strategies such as adaptive control, sliding mode control neglect the balance between control costs and expected performance; existing optimal control approaches rarely consider global steady-state optimization and transient fast convergence under the influence of model uncertainty. This paper is motivated by these limitations of robotic control design and inspired by model predictive control and optimal control theory. It develops a novel strategy for tracking control of robotic manipulators, which includes three following items: (1) adopt an approximation model constructed by neural networks as the predictive model for estimating the robotic system; (2) introduce a critic network into the terminal cost of the objective function of MPC for learning global optimal solution; (3) establish an event-triggered mechanism for solving of the optimization problem. The proposed method is verified by experimental results. In our future work, the proposed control strategy will be applied to more industrial processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Abnormal activation of immune system is an important pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, but the relationship between peripheral inflammation, central microglia activation and dopaminergic degeneration remains unclear.Objectives: To evaluate the brain regional microglia activation and its relationship with clinical severity, dopaminergic presynaptic function, and peripheral inflammatory biomarkers related to adaptive immunity.Methods: In this case-control study, we recruited 23 healthy participants and 24 participants with early-stage Parkinson's disease. 18F-PBR06 PET/MR for microglia activation, 18F-FP-DTBZ for dopaminergic denervation, total account of T cells and subpopulations of T helper (Th1/Th2/Th17) cells, and the levels of serum inflammatory cytokines were assessed. Sanger sequencing was used to exclude the mix-affinity binders of 18F-PBR06-PET.Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with Parkinson's disease had an increased 18F-PBR06-PET standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) in the putamen, particularly in the ipsilateral side of the motor onset. 18F-PBR06-PET SUVR was positively associated with 18F-FP-DTBZ-PET SUVR in the brainstem and not associated with disease severity measured by Hoehn and Yahr stage, MDS-UPDRS III scores. Patients with Parkinson's disease had elevated frequencies of Th1 cells and serum levels of IL10 and IL17A as compared to healthy controls. No significant association between peripheral inflammation markers and microglia activation in the brain of PD was observed.Conclusion: Parkinson's disease is associated with early putaminal microglial activation and peripheral phenotypic Th1 bias. Peripheral adaptive immunity might be involved in microglia activation in the process of neurodegeneration in PD indirectly, which may be a potential biomarker for the early detection and the target for immunomodulating therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To propose a novel functional Coronary Artery Disease–Reporting and Data System (CAD-RADS) category system integrated with coronary CT angiography (CCTA)–derived fractional flow reserve (FFRCT) and to validate its effect on therapeutic decision and prognosis in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Firstly, we proposed a novel functional CAD-RADS and evaluated the performance of functional CAD-RADS for guiding treatment strategies with actual clinical treatment as a reference standard in a retrospective multicenter cohort with CCTA and invasive FFR performed in all patients (n = 466). Net reclassification improvement (NRI) of functional CAD-RADS over anatomical CAD-RADS was calculated. Secondly, the prognostic value of functional CAD-RADS in a prospective two-arm cohort (566 [FFRCT arm] vs. 567 [CCTA arm]) was calculated, after a 1-year follow-up, functional CAD-RADS in FFRCT arm (n = 513) and anatomical CAD-RADS in CCTA arm (n = 511) to determine patients at risk of adverse outcomes were compared with a Cox hazard proportional model. Results: Functional CAD-RADS demonstrated superior value over anatomical CAD-RADS (AUC: 0.828 vs. 0.681, p < 0.001) and comparable performance to FFR (AUC: 0.828 vs. 0.848, p = 0.253) in guiding therapeutic decisions. Functional CAD-RADS resulted in the revision of management plan as determined by anatomical CAD-RADS in 30.0% of patients (n = 140) (NRI = 0.369, p < 0.001). Functional CAD-RADS was an independent predictor for 1-year outcomes with indexes of concordance of 0.795 and the corresponding value was 0.751 in anatomical CAD-RADS. Conclusion: The novel functional CAD-RADS gained incremental value in guiding therapeutic decision-making compared with anatomical CAD-RADS and comparable power in 1-year prognosis with anatomical CAD-RADS in a real-world scenario. Key Points: • The novel functional CAD-RADS category system with FFRCTintegrated into the anatomical CAD-RADS categories was originally proposed. • The novel functional CAD-RADS category system was validated superior value over anatomical CAD-RADS (AUC: 0.828 vs. 0.681, p < 0.001) in guiding therapeutic decisions and revised management plan in 30.0% of patients as determined by anatomical CAD-RADS (net reclassification improvement index = 0.369, p < 0.001). • Functional CAD-RADS was an independent predictor with an index of concordance of 0.795 and 0.751 in anatomical CAD-RADS for 1-year prognosis of adverse outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore downstream management and outcomes of machine learning (ML)–based CT derived fractional flow reserve (FFRCT) strategy compared with an anatomical coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) alone assessment in participants with intermediate coronary artery stenosis. Methods: In this prospective study conducted from April 2018 to March 2019, participants were assigned to either the CCTA or FFRCT group. The primary endpoint was the rate of invasive coronary angiography (ICA) that demonstrated non-obstructive disease at 90 days. Secondary endpoints included coronary revascularization and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 1-year follow-up. Results: In total, 567 participants were allocated to the CCTA group and 566 to the FFRCT group. At 90 days, the rate of ICA without obstructive disease was higher in the CCTA group (33.3%, 39/117) than that (19.8%, 19/96) in the FFRCT group (risk difference [RD] = 13.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.4%, 18.6%; p = 0.03). The ICA referral rate was higher in the CCTA group (27.5%, 156/567) than in the FFRCT group (20.3%, 115/566) (RD = 7.2%, 95% CI: 2.3%, 12.1%; p = 0.003). The revascularization-to-ICA ratio was lower in the CCTA group than that in the FFRCT group (RD = 19.8%, 95% CI: 14.1%, 25.5%, p = 0.002). MACE was more common in the CCTA group than that in the FFRCT group at 1 year (HR: 1.73; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.95; p = 0.04). Conclusion: In patients with intermediate stenosis, the FFRCT strategy appears to be associated with a lower rate of referral for ICA, ICA without obstructive disease, and 1-year MACE when compared to the anatomical CCTA alone strategy. Key Points: • In stable patients with intermediate stenosis, ML-based FFRCT strategy was associated with a lower referral ICA rate, a lower normalcy rate of ICA, and higher revascularization-to-ICA ratio than the CCTA strategy. • Compared with the CCTA strategy, ML-based FFRCTshows superior outcome prediction value which appears to be associated with a lower rate of 1-year MACE. • ML-based FFRCT strategy as a non-invasive "one-stop-shop" modality may be the potential to change diagnostic workflows in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastodynamic responses of the multilayered transversely isotropic medium subjected to uniform pressures occupying a rectangular flexible domain are precisely investigated by virtue of the precise integration approach (PIA) and the mixed dual vector technique. The dynamic rectangular distributed loadings are prescribed either at the external surface or within the stratified soil. The axes of material symmetry for different strata are assumed to be normal to the interfaces of adjacent layers and thus parallel with each other. As for the introduced technology, there is no limit of the thickness and number of soil layers to be discussed. The classical two-dimensional Fourier integral transformation is applied to convert the governing partial differential equilibrium equations corresponding to elastic displacements in the Cartesian coordinate system, and a set of easily solved second-order ordinary differential equations are acquired. Aided by the mixed dual vectors, the second-order ordinary differential equations are further reduced into first-order ordinary differential matrix equation and its general solution is analytically expressed as the exponential matrix. The PIA is adopted to estimate the changing patterns of displacement components by means of solving the exponential matrix in the Fourier-transformed domain. As a highly precise methodology, the PIA is advantageous to obtain the dynamic solutions with any desired accuracy. The physical-domain counterpart is then derived with the aid of the double Fourier inverse transform. Finally, comparisons with existing numerical results are provided to validate the high accuracy of the employed scheme. Selected numerical examples are presented to portray the dependence of the dynamic responses of the multilayered media on material properties, thicknesses, frequencies of excitation and dimensions of the loading size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Screening ligands directly binding to an ensemble of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP) to discover potential hits or leads for new drugs is an emerging but challenging area as IDPs lack well-defined and ordered 3D-protein structures. To explore a new IDP-based rational drug discovery strategy, a differential binding score (DIBS) is defined. The basis of DIBS is to quantitatively determine the binding preference of a ligand to an ensemble of conformations specified by IDP versus such preferences to an ensemble of random coil conformations of the same protein. Ensemble docking procedures performed on repeated sampling of conformations, and the results tested for statistical significance determine the preferential ligand binding sites of the IDP. The results of this approach closely reproduce the experimental data from recent literature on the binding of the ligand epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) to the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of the tumor suppressor p53. Combining established approaches in developing a new method to screen ligands against IDPs could be valuable as a screening tool for IDP-based drug discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the non-smoothness of the Hinge loss in SVM, it is difficult to obtain a faster convergence rate with modern optimization algorithms. In this paper, we introduce two smooth Hinge losses ψ G (α ; σ) and ψ M (α ; σ) which are infinitely differentiable and converge to the Hinge loss uniformly in α as σ tends to 0. By replacing the Hinge loss with these two smooth Hinge losses, we obtain two smooth support vector machines (SSVMs), respectively. Solving the SSVMs with the Trust Region Newton method (TRON) leads to two quadratically convergent algorithms. Experiments in text classification tasks show that the proposed SSVMs are effective in real-world applications. We also introduce a general smooth convex loss function to unify several commonly-used convex loss functions in machine learning. The general framework provides smooth approximation functions to non-smooth convex loss functions, which can be used to obtain smooth models that can be solved with faster convergent optimization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to its potential superiorities in terms of flexibility, compliance, and robustness, the musculoskeletal robotic system has become a promising direction for next-generation robots. However, motion learning and generalization of musculoskeletal systems are still challenging problems. In this article, a muscle-synergies-based neuromuscular control is proposed. First, a new computational model of time-varying muscle synergies is constructed, which utilizes both phasic and tonic muscle synergies to characterize the basic features of muscle excitations more sufficiently. Second, a novel neuromuscular control method is proposed for realizing the motion learning and generalization of musculoskeletal systems. Therein, a radial basis function (RBF) neural network is designed to modulate muscle synergies according to different movement targets. Muscle excitations are computed with the combination of modulated muscle synergies. Covariance matrix adaptation evolutionary strategy is applied to realize the synchronous optimization of muscle synergies and the RBF neural network. In the experiment, a sophisticated musculoskeletal system learns to perform center-out reaching tasks through trial-and-error learning on a few targets. With the muscle synergies and neural modulation learned from a few targets, the musculoskeletal system can also reach many unexperienced targets. The proposed method not only improves the speed and accuracy of motion learning but also enhances motion generalization. This article also promotes the development of the musculoskeletal robotic system and the fusion of neuroscience and robotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a biomarker targeting vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), 18F‐9‐fluoropropyldihydrotetrabenazine (18F‐FP‐DTBZ) positron emission tomography (PET) is highly accurate in diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD) and assessing its severity. However, evidence is insufficient in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Objective: We evaluated the striatal and extrastriatal monoaminergic disruption of PSP and differences in patterns between patients with PSP, PD, and healthy controls (HCs) using 18F‐FP‐DTBZ PET, as well as its correlations with the clinical characteristics of PSP. Methods: We recruited 58 patients with PSP, 23 age‐ and duration‐matched patients with PD, as well as 17 HCs. Patients were scanned using 18F‐FP‐DTBZ PET/computed tomography, and images were spatially normalized and analyzed based on the volume of interest. Results: VMAT2 binding differed significantly in the striatum and substantia nigra among the groups (P < 0.001). A more severe disruption in the caudate was noted in the PSP group (P < 0.001) than in the PD group. However, no differences were found in the nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, amygdala, or raphe between the PD and PSP groups. Within the PSP group, striatal VMAT2 binding was significantly associated with the fall/postural stability subscore of the PSP Rating Scale, especially in the putamen. Furthermore, VMAT2 binding was correlated with Mini‐Mental State Examination or Montreal Cognitive Assessment in the hippocampus. Conclusions: Caudate disruptions showed prominent differences among the groups. VAMT2 binding in the striatum and hippocampus reflects the severity of fall/postural stability and cognition, respectively. © 2024 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present herein is the first example of aluminium nanoring assembly by fatty acids. And the auxiliary alcohol sites can be modified either by monohydric alcohols (AlOC-33 to AlOC-35) or diols (AlOC-36 to AlOC-38). The monohydric alcohol modified ten-membered aluminium (Al10) rings are coplanar, while the diol modified ones possess a saddle-shaped configuration. Interestingly, the diol modified Al10 ring (AlOC-36) can convert into a coplanar ring (AlOC-33-B). AlOC-33-B possesses a similar molecular structure but a different supramolecular structure with AlOC-33. The structural transformation is confirmed to be a thermodynamically spontaneous process through density-functional theory (DFT) calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrolysis of earth‐abundant AlIII has implications in mineral mimicry, geochemistry and environmental chemistry. Third‐order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials are important in modern chemistry due to their extensive optical applications. The assembly of AlIII ions with π‐conjugated carboxylate ligands is carried out and the hydrolysis and NLO properties of the resultant material are studied. A series of Al32‐oxo clusters with hydrotalcite‐like cores and π‐conjugated shells are isolated. X‐ray diffraction revealed boundary hydrolysis occurs at the equatorially unsaturated coordination sites of AlIII ions. Charge distribution analysis and DFT calculations support the proposed boundary substitution. The Al32‐oxo clusters possess a significant reverse saturable absorption (RSA) response with a minimal normalized transmittance up to 29 %, indicating they are suitable candidates for optical limiting (OL) materials. This work elucidates the hydrolysis of AlIII and provides insight into layered materials that also have strong boundary activity at the edges or corners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrolysis of earth‐abundant AlIII has implications in mineral mimicry, geochemistry and environmental chemistry. Third‐order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials are important in modern chemistry due to their extensive optical applications. The assembly of AlIII ions with π‐conjugated carboxylate ligands is carried out and the hydrolysis and NLO properties of the resultant material are studied. A series of Al32‐oxo clusters with hydrotalcite‐like cores and π‐conjugated shells are isolated. X‐ray diffraction revealed boundary hydrolysis occurs at the equatorially unsaturated coordination sites of AlIII ions. Charge distribution analysis and DFT calculations support the proposed boundary substitution. The Al32‐oxo clusters possess a significant reverse saturable absorption (RSA) response with a minimal normalized transmittance up to 29 %, indicating they are suitable candidates for optical limiting (OL) materials. This work elucidates the hydrolysis of AlIII and provides insight into layered materials that also have strong boundary activity at the edges or corners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-terrorism research is an important academic topic in current societies. The crucial features of attacked incidents can be obtained effectively by identifying phase division of terrorism history. To handle time-series issues, complex networks theories are efficient and reliable analysis solutions. Therefore, we propose an original community detection method for complex time-series networks. Especially, we consider the improved local density operator and bi-directional neighbor retrieval (ILD-BNR). First, complex networks of threatened countries are established by incidents feature and time-series principles. Then, cores of networks are selected by improved density operator. After that, attributes of unstable nodes are revised iteratively until initialization is finished. The optimal classification results are obtained by retrieval pattern of bi-directional neighbor. Finally, on the basis of clustering consequences, historical phases are divided ultimately. The mechanism of each phase is discussed simultaneously. The experiments demonstrate some important conclusions: a) The accuracy of proposed method is better than other evaluated algorithms on real time-series networks; b) The historical phase number is reduced reasonably, which is beneficial to analysis of information; and c) Classification consequences can reflect the historical tendency of terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long history in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) based on the syndrome identification. Previous studies reported CHB patients with damp-heat (DH) syndrome accompanied with a severe liver function damage, but lacked the medication analysis. In this study, we analyzed 999 CHB patients with unidentified individual-level data from database to explore clinical features of two common syndromes of CHB patients based on the real world. Compared with the spleen deficiency (SD) syndrome, the CHB patients with DH syndrome had a significantly higher level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P < 0.05) but took more immunomodulators and hepatoprotective drugs (P < 0.1). Similarly, in the follow-up of 207 patients after 3 months, the improvement trend of ALT and AST of patients with sustained SD syndrome was significantly better than those whose TCM syndrome changed from SD to DH (P < 0.05). The logistic model indicated DH syndrome was a significant negative factor for reducing ALT level in CHB patients (OR = 4.854, P = 0.032). This study suggests that CHB patients with DH syndrome have potentially more serious and sustained liver damage than the SD syndrome, which provides a reference for the personalized management of CHB patients from the perspective of TCM syndromes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the abstract evolution equation with delay. Firstly, we establish some sufficient conditions to ensure the existence results for the S -asymptotically periodic solutions by means of the compact semigroup. Secondly, we consider the global asymptotic behavior of the delayed evolution equation by using the Gronwall-Bellman integral inequality involving delay. These results improve and generalize the recent conclusions on this topic. Finally, we give an example to exhibit the practicability of our abstract results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigated the impact of machine learning (ML)–based fractional flow reserve derived from computed tomography (FFRCT) compared to invasive coronary angiography (ICA) for therapeutic decision-making and patient outcome in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: One thousand one hundred twenty-one consecutive patients with stable chest pain who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) followed ICA within 90 days between January 2007 and December 2016 were included in this retrospective study. Medical records were reviewed for the endpoint of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs). FFRCT values were calculated using an artificial intelligence (AI) ML platform. Disagreements between hemodynamic significant stenosis via FFRCT and severe stenosis on qualitative CCTA and ICA were also evaluated. Results: After FFRCT results were revealed, a change in the proposed treatment regimen chosen based on ICA results was seen in 167 patients (14.9%). Over a median follow-up time of 26 months (4–48 months), FFRCT ≤ 0.80 was associated with MACE (HR, 6.84 (95% CI, 3.57 to 13.11); p < 0.001), with superior prognostic value compared to severe stenosis on ICA (HR, 1.84 (95% CI, 1.24 to 2.73), p = 0.002) and CCTA (HR, 1.47 (95% CI, 1.01 to 2.14, p = 0.045). Reserving ICA and revascularization for vessels with positive FFRCT could have reduced the rate of ICA by 54.5% and lead to 4.4% fewer percutaneous interventions. Conclusions: This study indicated ML-based FFRCT had superior prognostic value when compared to severe anatomic stenosis on CCTA and adding FFRCT may direct therapeutic decision-making with the potential to improve efficiency of ICA. Key Points: • ML-based FFRCTshows superior outcome prediction value when compared to severe anatomic stenosis on CCTA. • FFRCTnoninvasively informs therapeutic decision-making with potential to change diagnostic workflows and enhance efficiencies in patients with suspected CAD. • Reserving ICA and revascularization for vessels with positive FFRCTmay reduce the normalcy rate of ICA and improve its efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gene expression is tightly regulated temporally and spatially to ensure the plant and animal proper development, function, growth, and survival under different environmental conditions. Chromatin regulation plays a central role in the gene expression by providing transcription factors and the transcription machinery with dynamic access to an otherwise tightly packaged genome. In this review, we will summarize recent progress in understanding the roles of chromatin regulation in the gene expression, and their contribution to the plant hormone and stress responses. We highlight the most recent publications within this topic and underline the roles of chromatin regulation in gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is one of the most widely used separations and analysis methods, which has become an indispensable part of the separation and detection of mixtures, qualitative and quantitative analysis and other scientific research and social production fields. Because of the decisive effect of the chromatographic column on analysis and separation, it has become the core of research in the chromatographic system. In the past decades, the research and development of new chromatographic column stationary phase have been highly concerned. Monodisperse polymer microsphere, because of its special large pore structure, has good permeability and high specific surface area, which can be used as special materials in various fields, such as adsorption materials in the separation process, HPLC column packing, catalyst carrier, preparation template of nanomaterials and nuclear fusion targeting materials. When it is used in HPLC, because of the good permeability of microspheres, it can effectively improve the separation efficiency and performance. In this article, based on the previous work, a number of new polymer microspheres were prepared, and the prepared microspheres were used for the separation and detection of HPLC, and their physical and chemical properties were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making oppositely charged metal‐organic cages (MOCs) into a tightly ordered structure may bring interesting functions. Herein, we report a novel structure composed of anionic (Zr4L6)8− (L=embonate) tetrahedral cages and in situ‐formed cationic [Zn4(Bim)4]4+ (Bim=[BH(im)3]−; im=imidazole) cubic cages. Chiral transfer is observed from enantiopure (Zr4L6)8− cage to enantiopure [Zn4(Bim)4]4+ cage. A pair of enantiomers (PTC‐373(Δ) and PTC‐373(Λ)) are formed. PTC‐373 exhibits high chemical and thermal stabilities, affording an interesting single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal transformation. More importantly, the combination of ionic pair cages significantly enhances its third‐order nonlinear optical property, and its thin‐film exhibits an excellent optical limiting effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making oppositely charged metal‐organic cages (MOCs) into a tightly ordered structure may bring interesting functions. Herein, we report a novel structure composed of anionic (Zr4L6)8− (L=embonate) tetrahedral cages and in situ‐formed cationic [Zn4(Bim)4]4+ (Bim=[BH(im)3]−; im=imidazole) cubic cages. Chiral transfer is observed from enantiopure (Zr4L6)8− cage to enantiopure [Zn4(Bim)4]4+ cage. A pair of enantiomers (PTC‐373(Δ) and PTC‐373(Λ)) are formed. PTC‐373 exhibits high chemical and thermal stabilities, affording an interesting single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal transformation. More importantly, the combination of ionic pair cages significantly enhances its third‐order nonlinear optical property, and its thin‐film exhibits an excellent optical limiting effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic Core-shell nanoparticles coated with an adenine-imprinted polymer layer were successfully synthesized. The morphology of the nanoparticles was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The nanoparticles have a definite core-shell structure and an imprinted polymer layer. The adsorption, recognition and reusability of the molecularly imprinted nanoparticles were analyzed by static/dynamic adsorption, competitive adsorption and reproducibility experiment. The magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles exhibit fast adsorption, high adsorption capacity, strong specificity and satisfactory recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We first developed a well-aligned mesoporous CoFe 2 O 4 thin film from surface epitaxial growth of oriented CoFe-based prussian blue analogue thin film (CoFe-PBA thin film) for efficient electrocatalytic OER. CoFe-PBA thin film with preferred [100] orientation is first prepared on the substrate surface by employing liquid-phase epitaxial method without any structure-directing surfactants. After thermal pyrolysis, such CoFe-PBA thin film was transformed into well-aligned mesoporous CoFe 2 O 4 thin film with remarkable catalytic performance and durable stability. This study provides an effective paradigm for preparing binder-free, self-support and low-cost spinel oxide electrocatalyst for efficient OER derived from surface epitaxial growth of oriented PBA thin film. • Epitaxial growth of oriented prussian blue analogue derived a bimetallic oxide film. • Obtained CoFe 2 O 4 film has higher electrocatalytic OER than commercial RuO 2. • Homogeneous and continuous bimetallic oxide film increased the OER performance. • Synergistic effect of Co and Fe promote the low-cost and high-efficient OER. The development of cost-effective, high-efficiency, and non-noble metal based electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is considered to be the most pivotal portion for electrochemical water splitting to generate renewable energy. Herein, well-aligned mesoporous CoFe 2 O 4 thin film is first developed from surface epitaxial growth of oriented CoFe-based prussian blue analogue thin film (CoFe-PBA thin film) for efficient electrocatalytic OER. CoFe-PBA thin film with preferred [100] orientation is first prepared on the substrate surface by employing liquid phase epitaxial method without any structure-directing surfactants. After thermal pyrolysis, such CoFe-PBA thin film was transformed into well-aligned mesoporous CoFe 2 O 4 thin film. Interestingly, the self-support CoFe 2 O 4 thin film electrode with the mass loading of 1.6 mg cm−2 delivers an oxygen evolution current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 266 mV and exhibits durable stability in 1 M KOH aqueous solution. The remarkable and stable catalytic performance of the CoFe 2 O 4 thin film can be mainly owing to the mesoporous structure of CoFe 2 O 4 , efficient charge/electron transfer, the numerous exposed active sites, and the well-structured configuration of the electrode. Hence, this work provides an effective paradigm for preparing binder-free, self-support, and low-cost spinel oxide electrocatalyst for efficient OER derived from surface epitaxial growth of oriented PBA thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Community detection algorithms have important significance in the research and practical application of complex network theory. This paper proposes a community detection method by improved label propagation and fuzzy C-means. Due to low accuracy and instability detection results, we modify original label propagation framework. Primarily, initial labels of vertexes are assigned by neighbor evaluation method. Secondarily, the labels of vertexes with large diversity in each community are revised by fuzzy C-means membership vectors. Tertiarily, parameters are updated until communities status is stabilized ultimately. The results showed that this method can achieve better accuracy on synthetic and real network. Highlights • Research on complex network community detection algorithm based on improved label propagation and fuzzy C-means. • The algorithm completes initialization classification of communities by neighbor evaluation method. • The algorithm adjusts the labels of unstable vertexes by fuzzy C-means membership vectors. • The accuracy of community detection is improved on synthetic and real network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method for calculating the evolutionary power spectral density (EPSD) of the seismic response of bridges using the convolution summation. With zero initial values, a formula for the dynamic component of the response of bridges to spatially varying seismic ground motions is derived as the convolution summation, by assuming the seismic acceleration to vary linearly between two adjacent time stations. The convolution summation is used for calculating the convolution integral of the dynamic component response factor in the EPSD, in which the constant coefficients are independent of the harmonically modulated excitation. The constant coefficients are obtained by the time-history analysis using triangular unit impulse acceleration excitations. The computational cost of the EPSD depends mainly on the amount of degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) numbers of bridge supports in contact. The corresponding computational scheme is proposed, and its validity is indirectly verified with a single DOF system, by comparing the results obtained with those of the existing methods. Finally, a three-span continuous rigid-frame bridge is taken as a case study to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional image clustering methods take a two-step approach, feature learning and clustering, sequentially. However, recent research results demonstrated that combining the separated phases in a unified framework and training them jointly can achieve a better performance. In this paper, we first introduce fully convolutional auto-encoders for image feature learning and then propose a unified clustering framework to learn image representations and cluster centers jointly based on a fully convolutional auto-encoder and soft k -means scores. At initial stages of the learning procedure, the representations extracted from the auto-encoder may not be very discriminative for latter clustering. We address this issue by adopting a boosted discriminative distribution, where high score assignments are highlighted and low score ones are de-emphasized. With the gradually boosted discrimination, clustering assignment scores are discriminated and cluster purities are enlarged. Experiments on several vision benchmark datasets show that our methods can achieve a state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Objective: Growing evidence has implicated dysfunction of the thalamus and its projection cortical targets in depression. However, the anatomical specificity of thalamo‐cortical connectivity in major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unknown due to the regional heterogeneity of the thalamus and limited methods to examine this. Methods: Resting‐state fMRI was collected on 70 MDD patients and 70 healthy controls. The thalamus was parcellated based on connectivity with six predefined cortical regions of interest (ROIs). The segmented thalamic nuclei were used as seeds to map connectivity with the rest of the whole brain. The cortical‐to‐thalamus connectivity values and thalamus‐based connectivity maps were compared between groups. Results: The cortical ROIs demonstrated correlations with spatially distinct zones within the thalamus. We found a trend toward reduced parietal ROI‐to‐thalamus connectivity in MDD. Importantly, MDD patients demonstrated reduced connectivity between prefrontal and parietal thalamus ROIs and bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and the right posterior default mode network (DMN) and between the prefrontal and motor thalamus ROIs and lateral temporal regions. Conversely, increased connectivity emerged between the motor thalamus ROI and right MFG and right medial frontal gyrus/anterior cingulate; between motor/somatosensory thalamus ROIs and right posterior DMN; between prefrontal/somatosensory thalamus ROIs and cerebellum; and between the parietal thalamus ROI and left insula. Conclusions: This study is the first to examine the anatomical specificity of thalamo‐cortical connectivity disturbances in MDD. Subjects with MDD demonstrated altered thalamo‐cortical connectivity characterized by a complex pattern of region‐dependent hypo‐ or hyperconnectivity. We therefore speculate that selectively modulating the connectivity of thalamo‐cortical circuitry may be a potential novel therapeutic mechanism for MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The widespread emergence of pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae has intensified the need to find new contact mosquitocides for indoor residual spraying and insecticide treated nets. With the goal of developing new species-selective and resistance-breaking acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibiting mosquitocides, in this report we revisit the effects of carbamate substitution on aryl carbamates, and variation of the 1-alkyl group on pyrazol-4-yl methylcarbamates. Compared to aryl methylcarbamates, aryl dimethylcarbamates were found to have lower selectivity for An. gambiae AChE (Ag AChE) over human AChE (hAChE), but improved tarsal contact toxicity to G3 strain An. gambiae. Molecular modeling studies suggest the lower species-selectivity of the aryl dimethylcarbamates can be attributed to a less flexible acyl pocket in Ag AChE relative to hAChE. The improved tarsal contact toxicity of the aryl dimethylcarbamates relative to the corresponding methylcarbamates is attributed to a range of complementary phenomena. With respect to the pyrazol-4-yl methylcarbamates, the previously observed low An. gambiae -selectivity of compounds bearing α-branched 1-alkyl groups was improved by employing β- and γ-branched 1-alkyl groups. Compounds 22a (cyclopentylmethyl), 21a (cyclobutylmethyl), and 26a (3-methylbutyl) offer 250-fold, 120-fold, and 96-fold selectivity, respectively, for inhibition of Ag AChE vs. hAChE. Molecular modeling studies suggests the high species-selectivity of these compounds can be attributed to the greater mobility of the W84 sidechain in the choline-binding site of Ag AChE, compared to that of W86 in hAChE. Compound 26a has reasonable contact toxicity to G3 strain An. gambiae (LC 50 = 269 μg/mL) and low cross-resistance to Akron strain (LC 50 = 948 μg/mL), which bears the G119S resistance mutation. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Aryl and pyrazol-4-yl carbamates were explored as An. gambiae and human AChE inhibitors. • Dimethylcarbamates have lower inhibition selectivity than methylcarbamates. • Beta- and gamma-branched alkyl groups confer An. gambiae AChE inhibition selectivity. • Comparison of hAChE and G119S AgAChE crystal structures explains these selectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an essential role in plant growth and responses to environmental stresses. Plant cells sense and transduce ROS signaling directly via hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)–mediated posttranslational modifications (PTMs) on protein cysteine residues. Here, we show that the H2O2-mediated cysteine oxidation of NAC WITH TRANS-MEMBRANE MOTIF1-LIKE 1 (GmNTL1) in soybean (Glycine max) during salt stress promotes its release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane and translocation to the nucleus. We further show that an oxidative posttranslational modification on GmNTL1 residue Cys-247 steers downstream amplification of ROS production by binding to and activating the promoters of RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOG B (GmRbohB) genes, thereby creating a feed-forward loop to fine-tune GmNTL1 activity. In addition, oxidation of GmNTL1 Cys-247 directly promotes the expression of CATION H+ EXCHANGER 1 (GmCHX1)/SALT TOLERANCE-ASSOCIATED GENE ON CHROMOSOME 3 (GmSALT3) and Na+/H+ Antiporter 1 (GmNHX1). Accordingly, transgenic overexpression of GmNTL1 in soybean increases the H2O2 levels and K+/Na+ ratio in the cell, promotes salt tolerance, and increases yield under salt stress, while an RNA interference–mediated knockdown of GmNTL1 elicits the opposite effects. Our results reveal that the salt-induced oxidation of GmNTL1 promotes its relocation and transcriptional activity through an H2O2-mediated posttranslational modification on cysteine that improves resilience of soybean against salt stress. Oxidation of transcription factor GmNTL1 triggers its translocation to the nucleus, where it activates the transcription of several target genes to regulate soybean (Glycine max) salt tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C30H24N4NiO6, triclinic, P1̄ (no. 2), a = 10.5870(2) Å, b = 10.6944(2) Å, c = 13.6830(3) Å, α = 100.700(1)°, β = 110.090(1)°, γ = 104.735(1)°, Z = 2, V = 1342.02(5) Å3, Rgt(F) = 0.0388, wRref(F2) = 0.0925, T = 298(2) K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The substructure method is applied to the dynamic analysis of a train-bridge system considering the soil-structure interaction. With this method, the integrated train-bridge-foundation-soil system is divided into the train-bridge subsystem and the soil-foundation subsystem. Further, the train-bridge subsystem is divided into the train and bridge components. The frequency-dependent impedance function of the soil-foundation subsystem is transformed into time domain by rational approximation and simulated by a high-order lumped-parameter model with masses. The equations of motion of the train and bridge components are established by the rigid-body dynamics method and the modal superposition method, respectively. Finally, the dynamic responses of the two subsystems are obtained by iterative procedures, with the influence of the soil shear velocity studied. The case study reveals that it is important to consider the effect of soil-foundation interaction in the dynamic analysis of train-bridge systems, but with the increase of the shear velocity of the soil, such influence becomes weaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer microparticles with size-controlled single pore was synthesized successfully using seeded emulsion polymerization. The pore size can be changed with relevant parameters. A scanning electron microscope(SEM) was used to characterize their pore size and morphology. Through measurement and calculation of SEM images, the change rules of pore size with the amount of monomer and porogen were taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of intelligent manufacturing, more and more nonstandard parts are used in high-precision assembly. The robotic assembly method based on attractive region in environment (ARIE) has been proven to have good performance in the high-precision assembly under the limitation of robot system accuracy or sensing accuracy. However, for the assembly of nonstandard parts, especially nonconvex parts, the existing ARIE-based strategy lacks a targeted design. In the assembly process, the nonconvex structure may cause blocking problems, which will lead to assembly failure when using the strategy. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a new assembly method by using the geometric features of constraint region based on the concept of ARIE. Specifically, first, when using the ARIE-based classic strategy, the reasons for the possible blocking problem in the assembly of a class of nonconvex axisymmetric parts are analyzed in detail. Second, a multi-step sliding strategy is proposed based on the theory of ARIE to solve the possible blocking problem in the assembly process. Third, impedance control is used to enable the peg to achieve the desired compliant motion in the proposed strategy. The improvement in the success rate of the proposed method is verified by the comparison experiment of small clearance peg-in-hole assembly, where the structure of the peg is nonconvex and axisymmetric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correspondence between point sets is a fundamental problem in pattern recognition, which is often formulated and solved by graph matching. In this paper, we propose to solve the correspondence problem by a new third order graph matching algorithm. Compared with some previous hyper-graph matching algorithms, the proposed one achieves considerable memory reduction and is applicable to both undirected and directed graphs. Specifically, the correspondence is formulated by the matching between adjacency tensors encoding the third order structural information of each graph, which is then transformed to be a tractable matrix form. Two types of gradient based optimization methods, the graduated nonconvexity and concavity procedure (GNCCP) and graduated assignment (GA) algorithm, are generalized to solve the problem. Comparative experiments with state-of-the-art algorithms on both synthetic and real data witness the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

XK469 is identified as a potent quinoxaline antineoplastic agent based on its significant clinical efficacy. It probably exerts its activity via DNA topoisomerase II (topo II) inhibition. To obtain more effective antineoplastic agents, a spectrum of peptidomimetic-type quinoxaline analogues of XK469 was herein designed, synthesized, and evaluated. Few compounds ( e.g . 13a and 13b ) exhibited obvious cytotoxicity indicated by in vitro anti-proliferative assay. SAR investigation revealed that introducing of hydrophobic tert -butylamine or dodecylamine moiety at the 3-position of quinoxaline core is favorable for achieving a better anti-proliferative potency, while peptidomimetic derivatives only yielded moderate cytotoxicity. Compounds with improved anti-proliferative activities also demonstrated decent anti-metastatic potencies comparable with that of doxorubicin (Doxo) based on in vivo mouse model study. The topo II-mediated kinetoplast DNA ( k DNA) decatenation assay as well as molecular docking studies implicated that these compounds tend to be potent topo II inhibitors. Overall, compounds 13a and 13b , 13b in particular, standed out from various assessments and might be promising candidates for further chemical optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fisher Determination Dictionary Learning (FDDL) has shown to be effective in image classification. However, the Original FDDL (O-FDDL) method is time-consuming. To address this issue, a fast Simplified FDDL (S-FDDL) method was proposed. But S-FDDL ignores the role of collaborative reconstruction, thus having an unstable performance in classification tasks with unbalanced changes in different classes. This paper focuses on developing an Efficient FDDL (E-FDDL) method, which is more suitable for such classification problems. Precisely, instead of solving the original Fisher Discrimination based Sparse Representation (FDSR) problem, we propose to solve an Approximate FDSR (A-FDSR) problem whose objective function is an upper bound of that of FDSR. A-FDSR considers the role of both the discriminative reconstruction and the collaborative reconstruction. This makes E-FDDL stable when dealing with classification tasks with unbalanced changes in different classes. Furthermore, fast optimization strategies are applicable to A-FDSR, thus leading to the high efficiency of E-FDDL which can be explained by analysis on convergence rate and computational complexity. We also use E-FDDL to accelerate the Shared Domain-adapted Dictionary Learning (SDDL) algorithm which is a FDDL based new method for domain adaptation. Experimental results on face and object recognition demonstrate the stable and fast performance of E-FDDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation demonstrates that programmed cell death (PCD) in a cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, resulting from allelopathic stress induced by a submerged macrophyte, Myriophyllum spicatum, in a co-culture system. The hallmarks of PCD, caspase-3-like protease activity, DNA fragmentation, and destruction of cell ultrastructure, as well as intracellular PCD signaling radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO), were measured in M. aeruginosa cells co-cultured with M. spicatum for 7 days. The results showed a dose-response relationship between M. spicatum biomass and M. aeruginosa mortality. A caspase-3-like protease was activated and elevated from day 3. Thylakoid disintegration, cytoplasmic vacuolation, and fuzzy nuclear zone were observed by transmission electron microscopy, and distinct DNA fragmentation was detected in M. aeruginosa cells at a M. spicatum biomass of 6.0 g fresh weight (FW) L during the 7 days. Allelochemicals of total phenolic compounds (TPCs) were determined in co-culture water, and the concentration increased with increasing of M. spicatum biomass and co-culture time. Compared with the level of ROS production in the control group, a significant overproduction of ROS was detected in M. aeruginosa cells in the treatment group, and this was positively correlated with TPC concentration. Furthermore, the level of intracellular NO increased with the percent mortality of M. aeruginosa. The results indicated that a PCD pathway was induced in the cyanobacterium M. aeruginosa when co-cultured with the submerged macrophyte M. spicatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the magnesium pollution in the salt lake of western China, research based on existing corrosion of steel bar in the process of use of magnesium cement reinforced concrete was developed. In combination with the practical environment of salt lake region, similar simulation experiment and theory analysis method was used to study the reinforced corrosion in magnesium cement concrete. One group of test blocks of magnesium cement reinforced concrete with the bare steel bar was a control group and the other groups with the steel bar covered with different coating were the experimental groups. By CS350 electrochemical workstation, the electrochemical corrosion of steel bar in magnesium cement concrete was studied, and a cycle of collecting data was 60 d. The results show that through analysis of alternating current impedance and the polariSation curve, effective data consisting of the corrosion potential, corrosion current density, corrosion rate, resistance of steel bar with coating and the capacitance of steel bar with coating were regarded as evaluation index of steel corrosion. The order from high to low about anticorrosion performance of different kinds of steel bar with coating is: steel bar with MAGNI coating, steel bar with ZINTEK coating, and bare steel bar; the gap of anticorrosive effects of steel bar with coating is very big, but it obviously is better than that of the bare steel bar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]