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In this study, the plasma graft polymerization technique was used to graft glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polypropylene (PP) melt-blown fibers, which were subsequently aminated with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG) by a ring-opening reaction, resulting in the formation of a boron adsorbent denoted as PP-g-GMA-NMDG. The optimal conditions for GMA concentration, grafting time, grafting temperature, and the quantity of NMDG were determined using both single factor testing and orthogonal testing. These experiments determined the optimal process conditions to achieve a high boron adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectrum analysis (EDS), and water contact angle measurements were performed to characterize the prepared adsorbent. Boron adsorption experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of pH, time, temperature, and boron concentration on the boron adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of PP-g-GMA-NMDG for boron were also studied. The results demonstrated that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and a Langmuir isothermal model. At a pH of 6, the maximum saturation adsorption capacity of PP-g-GMA-NMDG for boron was 18.03 ± 1 mg/g. In addition, PP-g-GMA-NMDG also showed excellent selectivity for the adsorption of boron in the presence of other cations, such as Na+, Mg2+, and Ca2+, PP-g-GMA-NMDG, and exhibited excellent selectivity towards boron adsorption. These results indicated that the technique of preparing PP-g-GMA-NMDG is both viable and environmentally benign. The PP-g-GMA-NMDG that was made has better qualities than other similar adsorbents. It has a high adsorption capacity, great selectivity, reliable repeatability, and easy recovery. These advantages indicated that the adsorbents have significant potential for widespread application in the separation of boron in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergroup help contributes to the solution of global issues in particular. However, whether to teach an outgroup how to address their problem permanently, or to directly help them solve the current problem? Collective narcissism might play a crucial role in this process. Based on the core characteristics of collective narcissism, this research explored whether and how collective narcissism would affect people's willingness to give different types of intergroup help. Study 1 examined the correlation between collective narcissism and intergroup help. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the impacts of outgroup threat and ingroup image on the relationship between collective narcissism and intergroup help respectively. In Study 4, the interaction between outgroup threat and ingroup image was further examined. The results showed that collective narcissism reduced participants' willingness to offer intergroup help, especially autonomy‐oriented help. For low‐threat outgroups, collective narcissism increased participants' willingness to give dependency‐oriented help. In contrast, collective narcissism increased participants' willingness to give autonomy‐oriented help when refusal to intergroup help tarnished the ingroup image. For high‐threat outgroups, collective narcissism did not predict participants' willingness to give intergroup help. These findings suggest that collective narcissists' preferences for intergroup help change with outgroup threat and ingroup image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new time-dependent 2D/3D stochastic closed-loop geothermal system with multiplicative noise is developed and studied. This model considers heat transfer between the free flow in the pipe region and the porous media flow in the porous media region. Darcy’s law and stochastic Navier-Stokes equations are used to control the flows in the pipe and porous media regions, respectively. The heat equation is coupled with the flow equation to describe the heat transfer in these both regions. In order to avoid sub-optimal convergence, a new mixed finite element method is proposed by using the Helmholtz decomposition that drives the multiplicative noise. Then, the stability of the proposed method is proved, and we obtain the optimal convergence order o (Δ t 1 2 + h) of global error estimation. Finally, numerical results indicate the efficiency of the proposed model and the accuracy of the numerical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the association between autonomic dysfunction (AutD) and motor as well as non-motor symptoms (NMS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Fifty-three PD patients were divided into two groups based on the number of domains affected by AutD: a multi-domain AutD group (AutD-M) and a single-domain AutD group (AutD-S), as evaluated using the Scale for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease-Autonomic (SCOPA-AUT), which assesses autonomic symptoms, one of the NMS. A comprehensive comparison was conducted between the two groups, including clinical measures such as clinical scales, quantitative evaluations of motor function and exercise capacity. Spearman correlation analysis was employed to investigate the relationship between AutD severity and PD symptoms. Additionally, we performed multiple linear regression model analysis to determine whether associations between SCOPA-AUT scores and clinical assessments remained significant after adjusting for Hoehn and Yahr stage, sex, and age. PD patients in the AutD-M group exhibited significantly more severe NMS and motor symptoms compared to those in the AutD-S group. In correlation analysis, SCOPA-AUT scores showed significant correlations with multiple clinical symptoms, such as most of the NMS, 10-MWT and CPET parameters. Furthermore, regression analysis also revealed that more pronounced fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms, worse walking speed and impaired exercise capacity were associated with higher SCOPA-AUT scores. The presence of AutD is correlated with emotional disturbances, decreased exercise endurance, and impaired gait function in patients with PD. Early management of AutD may prove beneficial in alleviating some NMS and motor symptoms in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) precipitation prediction is highly desired due to the great socioeconomical implications, yet it remains one of the most challenging topics in the weather/climate prediction research area. As part of the Impact of Initialized Land Temperature and Snowpack on Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Prediction (LS4P) project of the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) program, twenty-one climate models follow the LS4P protocol to quantify the impact of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) land surface temperature/subsurface temperature (LST/SUBT) springtime anomalies on the global summertime precipitation. We find that nudging towards reanalysis winds is crucial for climate models to generate atmosphere and land surface initial conditions close to observations, which is necessary for meaningful S2S applications. Simulations with nudged initial conditions can better capture the summer precipitation responses to the imposed TP LST/SUBT spring anomalies at hotspot regions all over the world. Further analyses show that the enhanced S2S prediction skill is largely attributable to the substantially improved initialization of the Tibetan Plateau-Rocky Mountain Circumglobal (TRC) wave train pattern in the atmosphere. This study highlights the important role that initial condition plays in the S2S prediction and suggests that data assimilation technique (e.g., nudging) should be adopted to initialize climate models to improve their S2S prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Currently, the cause of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is unknown, and the effectiveness of current drug treatments is unsatisfactory. In March 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved risankizumab, a humanized immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) monoclonal antibody targeting the p19 subunit of interleukin (IL)-23, for the treatment of PsA in adults. This study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of risankizumab in moderate-to-severe PsA. Methods: We conducted a thorough search of relevant databases from the establishment of the databases to October 1, 2023. We conducted a meta-analysis using Stata 12.0 and utilized I2 and Egger tests to assess heterogeneity and publication bias among the studies. Bias assessment was performed using the risk bias map and bias risk summary diagram generated by Revman5.4 software. The review protocols were registered on PROSPERO (CRD42023451894) and adhered to the preferred reporting item of system evaluation (PRISMA) guideline. Results: Six randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 5038 patients with PsA treated with either risankizumab or placebo were included in the analysis. At 24 weeks, the risankizumab group demonstrated a significantly higher American College of Rheumatology-20 (ACR20) response rate compared to the placebo group (RR 1.760, 95% CI 1.568–1.977, P < 0.001). Additionally, the risankizumab group showed a significantly higher Minimal Disease Activity (MDA) response rate compared to the placebo group (RR 1.827, 95% CI 1.048–3.184, P < 0.05). The risankizumab group also exhibited improvement in Short Form 36 Questionnaire (SF-36) score (SMD 0.51, 95% CI 0.33–0.69, P < 0.001), with significantly lower Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score (SMD − 0.27, 95% CI − 0.37 to − 0.17, P < 0.001) and higher Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) score (SMD 0.27, 95% CI 0.20–0.35, P < 0.001) compared to the placebo group. Moreover, the risankizumab group had a significantly lower Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score (SMD − 6.12, 95% CI − 10.02 to 2.23, P < 0.001). A study by Mease et al. indicated that patients receiving risankizumab generally demonstrated numerical improvements in the Leeds Enthesitis Index (LEI), although the small sample size limits the evidence. Further research is necessary to provide evidence-based guidelines. There were no significant differences in the incidence of serious adverse events (SAE) and serious treatment-emergent adverse events (STEAE) between the risankizumab and placebo groups (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.45–1.28, P = 0.31; RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.49–1.99, P = 0.97, respectively), and the overall incidence of adverse events (AE) was not comparable (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.63–1.94, P = 0.73). Conclusion: Risankizumab showed superior efficacy across multiple outcome measures compared to placebo, with no significant increase in adverse events. Our findings endorse risankizumab as an excellent treatment option for PsA, offering valuable insights for clinicians and patients when choosing appropriate therapeutic interventions. Trial Registration: Retrospectively registered (CRD42023451894, 16 August 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a second-order adaptive DLN algorithm with different subdomain variable time steps for the 3D closed-loop geothermal system. Theoretically, the stability and convergence of the algorithm in the case of variable time steps are analyzed. In numerical experiments, the DLN algorithm is combined with an adaptive algorithm to verify not only its effectiveness and second-order convergence under any arbitrary sequence of time steps but also to improve computational efficiency. We overcome the difficulty of 3D programming, and verify the applicability and accuracy of the proposed algorithm by simulating the flow characteristics and heat transfer of the closed-loop geothermal system with 3D convection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain the optimal hot deformation process, the rheological and dynamic recrystallization behaviors of A100 steel were researched through isothermal compression tests. Firstly, a Hensel-Spittel constitutive model was established based on the stress–strain curves. Secondly, dynamic recrystallization percentage and grain size models were established to identify the necessary conditions for complete dynamic recrystallization. Finally, microstructural analysis was employed to validate the accuracy of the recrystallization model. The results indicate that the flow stress is highly sensitive to both the strain rate and the temperature, and the HS model demonstrates a high predictive accuracy, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9914. There exists a contradictory relationship between decreasing the average grain size and increasing the recrystallization percentage. The higher the percentage of dynamic recrystallization, the larger the average grain size tends to be. This situation should be avoided when devising the actual processing procedures. The optimal hot working processes for achieving complete dynamic recrystallization and a smaller average grain size are as follows: a strain equal to or greater than 0.6, a temperature between 1193 and 1353 K, and a strain rate between 0.1 and 1 s−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SnSe‐based materials have attracted widespread attention in thermoelectrics due to their outstanding thermoelectric performance. However, the pristine and unmodified polycrystalline SnSe reveals poor electrical properties. Doping and constructing nanostructured composite architectures to produce energy filtering effect proved to be an effective method to strengthen thermoelectric performance. In this study, Ti3C2/Sn0.98Cd0.02Se composites are successfully fabricated by the solvothermal method combined with the electrostatic self‐assembly method and spark plasma sintering. The phase interface introduced by incorporating Ti3C2 into Sn0.98Cd0.02Se can effectively filter low‐energy carriers due to its generation of energy barriers, thereby the Seebeck coefficient of x wt% Ti3C2/Sn0.98Cd0.02Se x = (0.05, 0.5, 1) samples is better than that of the pristine Sn0.98Cd0.02Se over the whole temperature range. Meanwhile, high conductivity was also obtained in 1 wt% Ti3C2/Sn0.98Cd0.02Se sample so that the high power factor of 3.31 μWcm−1K−2 was acquired at 773 K. Ultimately, a peak ZT value of 0.41 was obtained at 773 K, compared with pristine Sn0.98Cd0.02Se, and the thermoelectric performance improved by 24%. This study offers an available approach to efficiently enhance the thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline SnSe‐based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to investigate the effects of 'Zhang Za Gu' on the semen quality and serum biochemical indexes in male breeder rabbits. Thirty-six healthy adult Iraqi male rabbits with good sexual desire were randomly divided into six groups, with six replicates in each group and one breeder rabbits in each replicate. Rabbits in each group were fed diets containing 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25% 'Zhang Za Gu', respectively. The pretrial period was seven days, and the pretrial period was 90 days. The results showed that, compared to day 30, sperm motility and sperm density of the experimental groups increased on the 60th day and the 90 th day ( P<0.05), while semen volume and sperm abnormality rate showed no significant changes ( P>0.05). Different levels of 'Zhang Za Gu' had no significant impact on the serum biochemical indices of male breeder rabbits ( P>0.05). The study indicates that considering factors such as feed cost and semen quality, the optimal effect is observed when 'Zhang Za Gu' appending proportion is 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To adapt to the development trend of intelligent air combat, it is necessary to research the autonomous generation of maneuvering decisions for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV). This paper presents a maneuver decision-making method for UCAV based on a hybridization of deep Q-network (DQN) and extended Kalman filtering (EKF). Firstly, a three-dimensional air combat simulation environment is constructed, and a flight motion model of UCAV is designed to meet the requirements of the simulation environment. Secondly, we evaluate the current situation of UCAV based on their state variables in air combat, for further network learning and training to obtain the optimal maneuver strategy. Finally, based on the DQN, the system state equation is constructed using the uncertain parameter values of the current network, and the observation equation of the system is constructed using the parameters of the target network. The optimal parameter estimation value of the DQN is obtained by iteratively updating the solution through EKF. Simulation experiments have shown that this autonomous maneuver decision-making method hybridizing DQN with EKF is effective and reliable, as it can eliminate the opponent and preserve its side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Existing therapies of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are efficacious only in certain patients. Developing new treatment methods is urgent. This meta‐analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of low‐dose IL‐2 (LD‐IL‐2). Methods: According to published data from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, MEDLINE, MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library, and FDA.gov, eight trials were included. Results: After the LD‐IL‐2 treatment, 54.8% of patients had distinct clinical remission. The SRI‐4 response rates were 0.819 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.745–0.894), and the SELENA‐SLEDAI scores were significantly decreased (SMD = −2.109, 95% CI: [−3.271, −0.947], p <.001). Besides, the proportions of CD4+ T (SMD = 0.614, 95% CI: [0.250, 0.979], p =.001) and Treg cells (SMD = 1.096, 95% CI: [0.544, 1.649], p <.001) were increased dramatically after LD‐IL‐2 treatment, while there were no statistical differences in the proportions of CD8+ T cells, Th1 cells, Th2 cells, and Th17 cells (p >.05). Besides, the proportions of Th17 (SMD = 1.121, 95% CI: [0.709, 1.533], p <.001) and Treg (SMD = 0.655, 95% CI: [0.273, 1.038], p =.001) were significantly increased after receiving subcutaneously 0.5 million IU of LD‐IL‐2 treatment per day for 5 days, but there were no statistical differences in the proportions of Treg after receiving 1 million IU every other day subcutaneously of LD‐IL‐2 treatment. Injection site reaction and fever were common side effects of IL‐2, which occurred in 33.1% and 14.4% of patients. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: LD‐IL‐2 was promising and well‐tolerated in treating SLE, which could promote Treg's proliferation and functional recovery. Injecting 0.5 million IU of IL‐2 daily can better induce the differentiation of Treg cells and maintain immune homeostasis than injecting 1 million IU every other day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoplastic polycarbonate polyurethanes (PCUs) are multiblock copolymers that have been applied for medical devices for long time. Aliphatic diols are common chain extenders (CE) involved in the composition of the hard segments of PCU. However, limited knowledge was discovered about how the chemical structure of CE affects the hydrogen bonding organization within PCUs and their mechanical properties. To investigate this problem, a group of PCUs were synthesized respectively by extending the polymer chain with 1,4-butanediol (BDO), aminoethanol (MEA), ethanediol (EO) as three kinds of chain extenders. Tiny differences in the CE chemical structure results in remarkable variations in phase separation, condensed morphologies, thermal and mechanical properties, which are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, atomic force microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile tests. The microstructural evolution during unilateral deformation and the different mechanism induced by the different CEs was probed and unveil by in situ wide- and small-angle X-ray diffraction. Symmetry of CE can improve the organization of the hydrogen bonding. The coherence strength of the urethane/urea group also plays a key role by comparing the two PCUs with ethanediol and aminoethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective climate sensitivity in the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) has decreased from 5.3 K in version 1 to 4.0 K in version 2. This reduction is mainly due to a weaker positive cloud feedback that leads to a stronger negative radiative feedback. Present‐day atmosphere‐only experiments with uniform 4 K sea surface temperature warming are used to separate the contributions of individual model modifications to the reduced cloud feedback. We find that the reduced cloud feedback is mostly driven by changes over the tropical marine low cloud regime, mainly related to a new trigger function for the deep convection scheme and modifications in the cloud microphysics scheme. The new trigger function helps weaken the low cloud reduction by increasing the cloud water detrainment at low levels from deep convection under warming. Changes to the formula of autoconversion rate from liquid to rain and an introduced minimum cloud droplet number concentration threshold in cloud microphysical calculations help sustain clouds against dissipation by suppressing precipitation generation with warming. In the midlatitudes, the increased Wegener‐Bergeron‐Findeisen (WBF) efficiency strongly reduces present‐day liquid water and leads to a stronger negative cloud optical depth feedback. The reduced trade cumulus cloud feedback in v2 is closer to estimates from recent observational and large‐eddy modeling studies but might not be due to the right physical reasons. The reduced mid‐latitude cloud feedback may be more plausible because more realistic present‐day mixed‐phase clouds are produced through the change in the WBF efficiency. Plain Language Summary: Understanding how the Earth responds to greenhouse gas increases is important for climate change research. In the Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model, the global temperature response to an abrupt quadrupling of atmospheric carbon dioxide has decreased from 5.3 K in version 1 to 4.0 K in version 2. This reduction is mainly because low‐level clouds over the tropical oceans decrease less as the planet warms in version 2: a weaker amplifying cloud feedback. To understand the reasons behind this reduction, warming simulations were conducted to separate the contributions of individual model changes. We find that the reduced cloud feedback is primarily due to changes in the representation of the vertical movement of air through the depth of the lower atmosphere and of the microscopic properties of clouds. The findings highlight some unexpected impacts on cloud feedback resulting from modifications to the model's physics and emphasize the importance of monitoring and understanding changes in cloud feedback during model development. Key Points: E3SM's effective climate sensitivity is lower in version 2 mainly due to the reduced positive cloud feedback over marine low cloud regionsThe feedback reduction is primarily due to altered cloud microphysical parameters and a new deep convection trigger functionProcess‐level analysis is conducted to understand the impact of these model modifications on cloud feedbacks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoporous films have potential applications in thermoelectric cooling on a chip, sensors, solar cells, and desalination. For phonon transport, amorphization and other pore-edge defects introduced by the nanofabrication processes can eliminate wave effects by diffusively scattering short-wavelength phonons and thus destroying the phonon phase coherence. As a result, phononic effects can only be observed at 10 K or below, when long-wavelength phonons become dominant for thermal transport. In this work, a 70-nm-thick silicon thin film with approximately 100-nm-diameter nanopores was annealed under a high vacuum, and the change of pore-edge defects was observed with in situ transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the pore-edge defects can be minimized to a sub-1-nm layer by annealing between 773 and 873 K for 30 min, without changing the pore sizes. The largely reduced pore-edge defects are critical to the desired phonon wave effects within a periodic nanoporous structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with limited therapeutic targets or clinical outcome predictors. This study aimed to gain more insights into the underlying immunological pathways and prognostic biomarkers of SLE. Integrated analyses of RNA-seq data from 64 SLE and 62 healthy controls, examining 27 immune cell types to explore the key pathways and driver genes in SLE pathogenesis. Single-cell RNA sequencing data from the skin and kidney were used to determine the association of COX5A expression with organ damage. The associations of COX5A with SLE phenotypes were further evaluated in two independent cohorts, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to assess the value of COX5A as a biomarker for disease activity and organ damage in SLE. We found that oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) is the most significantly altered metabolic pathway in SLE, especially in effector T cells. Notably, we identified an OXPHOS-related enzyme, COX5A, whose expression was significantly higher in effector T cells than in naïve T cells and showed associations with disease activity, organ damage, and steroid treatment of SLE. Furthermore, ROC curves showed that COX5A is a robust biomarker for disease activity, kidney involvement, and new-onset skin lesions, with the area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.880, 0.801, and 0.805, respectively. Our results identified the OXPHOS signature as a prominent feature in SLE T cells, and COX5A as a potential candidate biomarker for disease activity and organ damage in SLE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the pathogenesis of Bell's palsy using the diffusion tensor image on 3.0 T MR. The healthy people and the patients with Bell's palsy underwent intraparotid facial nerve scanning by using the DTI and T1 structural sequence at 3.0 T MR. The raw DTI data were performed affine transformation and nonlinear registration in the common MNI152_T1 space and resampled to the 0.4 mm3 voxel size. A group of 4 spherical seed regions were placed on the intratemporal facial nerves in the common space, bilaterally and symmetrically. The DTI data in the common space were used to track the intratemporal facial nerve fibers by using TrackVis and its Diffusion Toolkit. Each tractography was used to construct the maximum probability map (MPM) according to the majority rule. The fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were calculated and extracted on the basis of MPM. For healthy people, there was no significant difference in FA, MD, RD and AD of bilateral facial nerves. For patients with Bell's palsy, there was no significant difference in AD, there was significant difference in FA, MD and RD between the affected nerve and the healthy nerve (P < 0.02). This study showed that the myelin sheath injury of the intratemporal facial nerve is the main cause of Bell's palsy. Most neural axons are not damaged. The results may explain the pathogenesis of the Bell's palsy, which is self-limited for most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin sulfide (SnS), as a low-cost and eco-friendly thermoelectric (TE) material, exhibits relatively poor phonon and charge transport capacities when the long-range ordered layered crystal structure is broken by the grain boundaries of polycrystalline. Nevertheless, doping and compositing are effective strategies for improving the electrical and thermal conductivity. Herein, utilizing the composite powders synthesized via Cu-doped SnS nanosheets grown in-situ on the surface of Cu-doped SnS nanofibers, we design a homogeneous nanofibers composited Cu-doped SnS polycrystalline bulk to boost its TE performance. Comparing with pure phase SnS, Cu doping can effectively increase the carrier concentration and mobility of SnS, realizing an increase of electrical conductivity from 4.11 S·cm−1 to 31.57 S·cm−1. Simultaneously, quite a number of fiber/matrix composite interfaces for phonon scattering are formed due to incorporating of composite nanofibers, which significantly reduce the lattice thermal conductivity of Cu-doped SnS polycrystalline bulk. The results show that thermal conductivity reduced as low as 0.64 W·m−1 K−1 at 324 K when the additive amount of nanofibers was fix at 2 wt%. Ultimately, the power factor and ZT value are markedly enhanced at low and medium temperature ranges (300–500 K) compared with SnS polycrystalline bulk without fiber incorporation. This provides an effective strategy for optimizing the thermoelectric performance of SnS-based polycrystalline. [Display omitted] • In-situ growth of SnS-based nanofiber composite thermoelectric materials synthesized using a simple approach. • Cu doping increased the carrier concentration and increased the conductivity from 4.11 S·cm−1 to 31.57 S·cm−1. • The composite SnS fibers reduced the thermal conductivity from 1.38 W·m−1·K−1. to 0.64 W m−1·K−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes and analyzes a second-order decoupled Backward Euler method plus time filter for the evolutionary Stokes/Darcy model, which allows different variable time steps in the free fluid flow region and the porous media flow region. Furthermore, this algorithm, which is a combination of first order Backward Euler method and time filter scheme, uncouples the Stokes/Darcy model into the Stokes and Darcy problems per time step. In particular, adaptive algorithm is constructed to improve the computational efficiency. Moreover, we mainly deduce the stability and error estimation in theoretical analysis. In addition, numerical experiments are used to verify the effectiveness, second order convergence and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although silica‐based ceramic cores have important applications in the precision casting of metallic devices, their high‐temperature stability and removal performances are seriously affected by the liquid phase sintered fused silica. Herein, we develop a manufacturing strategy of high‐collapse silica‐based ceramic core via using cristobalite crystals as the sintering inhibitor, waterglass as the binder, and injection moulding at 100°C and 80 MPa, followed by heat treatment simulating the casting process for sintering at 1200°C and 1500°C. The results demonstrated that the addition of cristobalite crystals could effectively form the core skeleton to ensure high‐temperature performance. Meanwhile, it inhibited the liquid flow during sintering and induced the crytsallization from fused SiO2 glass into cristobalite crystals, and the resulting plenty of micropores and microcracks within the microstructure effectively improve the removal performance. Especially, the porosity was highest up to 35.36% and the flexural strength was only 6.74 MPa when the addition of cristobalite reached 45%, realizing a 100% removing by high‐frequency and fast‐speed specific mechanical vibration. And, the casting is guaranteed to be flat and free of defects. This work provides a simple and flexible strategy to manufacture high‐collapse silica‐based ceramic cores, which can be removed by specific mechanical vibration without immersion in acid or alkali solutions after casting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: The p–n segment thermoelectric aerogel fiber was fabricated through an alternating coaxial wet-spinning strategy. Resultant alternating p–n segment thermoelectric fiber was electrically connected in series (two p–n pairs with a length of 3 cm) with an outstanding electrical conductivity of 23.76 S m−1. Thermoelectric textile-based self-powered fire warning electronics exhibited sensitivity (trigger time within 1.43 s) and repeatable temperature sensing performance for firefighting clothing. Firefighting protective clothing is a crucial protective equipment for firefighters to minimize skin burn and ensure safety firefighting operation and rescue mission. A recent increasing concern is to develop self-powered fire warning materials that can be incorporated into the firefighting clothing to achieve active fire protection for firefighters before the protective clothing catches fire on fireground. However, it is still a challenge to facilely design and manufacture thermoelectric (TE) textile (TET)-based fire warning electronics with dynamic surface conformability and breathability. Here, we develop an alternate coaxial wet-spinning strategy to continuously produce alternating p/n-type TE aerogel fibers involving n-type Ti3C2Tx MXene and p-type MXene/SWCNT-COOH as core materials, and tough aramid nanofiber as protective shell, which simultaneously ensure the flexibility and high-efficiency TE power generation. With such alternating p/n-type TE fibers, TET-based self-powered fire warning sensors with high mechanical stability and wearability are successfully fabricated through stitching the alternating p–n segment TE fibers into aramid fabric. The results indicate that TET-based fire warning electronics containing 50 p–n pairs produce the open-circuit voltage of 7.5 mV with a power density of 119.79 nW cm−2 at a temperature difference of 300 °C. The output voltage signal is then calculated as corresponding surface temperature of firefighting clothing based on a linear relationship between TE voltage and temperature. The fire alarm response time and flame-retardant properties are further displayed. Such self-powered fire warning electronics are true textiles that offer breathability and compatibility with body movement, demonstrating their potential application in firefighting clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have established a relationship between Chinese L3 English learners' learning strategies, environment, self-efficacy, and motivation. However, limited research has examined these interconnections concerning Chinese L3 learners' phonetic symbol learning (PSL), and it is hard to determine the extent or manner in which the aforementioned factors have an impact on the motivation toward PSL and their interactions among Chinese L3 English learners according to existing related studies. Structural equation modeling (SEM) can be utilized to tackle this question given its advantages in analyzing various factors in language learning motivation based on specific theories. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of learning strategies and learning environment on the motivation towards PSL among Chinese L3 English learners and offer some pedagogical advice to teachers in Chinese L3 English instruction. To achieve this, a PSL Motivation Scale was developed, using data collected from 45 minority college students and analyzed via SEM. The results revealed that learning strategies and learning environment have direct impacts on the motivation towards PSL among Chinese L3 English learners, as well as indirect impacts on motivation through the mediation of self-efficacy. This study may provide a methodological and pedagogical reference for English pronunciation teaching in China and other contexts that we can stimulate students' motivation toward PSL either directly or through the mediating effect of self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic HBV infection patients who do not conform to any of the usual immune states are regarded as 'grey zone' patients. We aimed to investigate the proportion of chronic HBV infection patients in the grey zone, and evaluate the clinical characteristics and liver pathological changes in grey zone patients. Clinical data of 1391 treatment‐naive chronic HBV infection patients with liver biopsy were collected. Natural history of HBV infection was determined based on European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) 2017, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2018 and Chinese 2019 guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic HBV infection. Significant liver histological changes and associated risk factors of normal ALT grey zone patients were analysed. According to EASL, AASLD and Chinese criteria, there were 50.0%, 28% and 37.4% chronic HBV infection patients in the grey zone. Among the 353 grey zone patients with normal ALT, 72.4% had significant liver histological changes. ALT (optimal cut‐off value 25 IU/L) and HBV DNA (optimal cut‐off value 18,000 IU/mL) were independent risk factors of significant liver histological abnormalities. In conclusion, a substantial proportion of grey zone patients with normal ALT have significant liver histological changes that can be predicted by levels of serum ALT and HBV DNA. These results provide guidance of antiviral treatment in grey zone patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a parasitic time-grating angular displacement sensor for detecting the position of the turntable bearing. The sensor is mainly composed of probe, rotor, and supporting signal circuit. The probe consists of two separated measuring units on the left and right, and each measuring unit is composed of four sensing units with iron cores, excitation windings, and induction windings arranged according to specific rules. The rotor is made of sinusoidal isometric grooves based on the bearing end cover of the original turntable bearing. The signal processing circuit is used to filter, amplify, and compare the induction signal; meantime, it can generate the excitation signal. The high-frequency clock pulse signal is used as the measurement benchmark to realize the analysis of the position information of the induction signal. The structure and working principles of the sensor are presented in detail. Through the finite element method simulation, the feasibility of sensor scheme is verified, and the theoretical resolution of the prototype sensor is estimated to be about 1.33e−5. A sensor prototype is designed for testing, and the experimental results show that its accuracy can reach −0.003611° to 0.002583° in the range of [0°, 360°] after compensating the error point-by-point through the look-up table method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper involves a novel adaptive control approach of a flexible wing system with hysteresis nonlinearity. The usual control design strategies based on the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are inapplicable due to the flexible wing system described in the partial differential equations (PDEs), and the design of the control algorithm becomes highly intricate. Firstly, the inverse dynamic model of hysteresis is introduced to compensate for the hysteresis nonlinearity. Considering the unknown external disturbances, an adaptive technique is utilized for compensation. Then, the direct Lyapunov approach is employed to prove the bounded stability of the system. Lastly, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated via simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the pathogenesis of Bell's palsy using the diffusion tensor image on 3.0 T MR. The healthy people and the patients with Bell's palsy underwent intraparotid facial nerve scanning by using the DTI and T1 structural sequence at 3.0 T MR. The raw DTI data were performed affine transformation and nonlinear registration in the common MNI152_T1 space and resampled to the 0.4 mm3 voxel size. A group of 4 spherical seed regions were placed on the intratemporal facial nerves in the common space, bilaterally and symmetrically. The DTI data in the common space were used to track the intratemporal facial nerve fibers by using TrackVis and its Diffusion Toolkit. Each tractography was used to construct the maximum probability map (MPM) according to the majority rule. The fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were calculated and extracted on the basis of MPM. For healthy people, there was no significant difference in FA, MD, RD and AD of bilateral facial nerves. For patients with Bell's palsy, there was no significant difference in AD, there was significant difference in FA, MD and RD between the affected nerve and the healthy nerve (P < 0.02). This study showed that the myelin sheath injury of the intratemporal facial nerve is the main cause of Bell's palsy. Most neural axons are not damaged. The results may explain the pathogenesis of the Bell's palsy, which is self-limited for most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of covalent organic cages built from fluorophores capable of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) were elegantly prepared through the reduction of preorganized M2(LA)3(LB)2‐type metallacages, simultaneously taking advantage of the synthetic accessibility and well‐defined shapes and sizes of metallacages, the good chemical stability of the covalent cages as well as the bright emission of AIE fluorophores. Moreover, the covalent cages could be further post‐synthetically modified into an amide‐functionalized cage with a higher quantum yield. Furthermore, these presented covalent cages proved to be good energy donors and were used to construct light‐harvesting systems employing Nile Red as an energy acceptor. These light‐harvesting systems displayed efficient energy transfer and relatively high antenna effect, which enabled their use as efficient photocatalysts for a dehalogenation reaction. This research provides a new avenue for the development of luminescent covalent cages for light‐harvesting and photocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of covalent organic cages built from fluorophores capable of aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) were elegantly prepared through the reduction of preorganized M2(LA)3(LB)2‐type metallacages, simultaneously taking advantage of the synthetic accessibility and well‐defined shapes and sizes of metallacages, the good chemical stability of the covalent cages as well as the bright emission of AIE fluorophores. Moreover, the covalent cages could be further post‐synthetically modified into an amide‐functionalized cage with a higher quantum yield. Furthermore, these presented covalent cages proved to be good energy donors and were used to construct light‐harvesting systems employing Nile Red as an energy acceptor. These light‐harvesting systems displayed efficient energy transfer and relatively high antenna effect, which enabled their use as efficient photocatalysts for a dehalogenation reaction. This research provides a new avenue for the development of luminescent covalent cages for light‐harvesting and photocatalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we propose a second order, unconditionally stable artificial compression method for the fully evolutionary Stokes/Darcy and Navier‐Stokes/Darcy equations that model the coupling surface and groundwater flows. It uncouples the surface from the groundwater flow by the Crank‐Nicolson Leapfrog scheme for the discretization in time, and through the artificial compression method without artificial pressure boundary conditions to decouple the velocity and pressure of the incompressible flow. Finally, we have verified the stability and second‐order convergence of the algorithm from theoretical analysis and numerical experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and analyze a second-order partitioned method with multiple-time-step technique for the nonstationary Stokes-Darcy model. This method allows different time steps in different subdomains and improves the accuracy by the time filters. Besides, by designing new error estimate and time step adjustment strategy, we extend this method to variable timestep and develop single and double adaptive algorithms. Constant and variable time step tests are given to confirm the theoretical analysis and illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) have attracted increasing attention in the field of regenerative medicine. ADSCs appear to be the most advantageous cell type for regenerative therapies owing to their easy accessibility, multipotency, and active paracrine activity. This review highlights current challenges in translating ADSC‐based therapies into clinical settings and discusses novel strategies to overcome the limitations of ADSCs. To further establish ADSC‐based therapies as an emerging platform for regenerative medicine, this review also provides an update on the advancements in this field, including fat grafting, wound healing, bone regeneration, skeletal muscle repair, tendon reconstruction, cartilage regeneration, cardiac repair, and nerve regeneration. ADSC‐based therapies are expected to be more tissue‐specific and increasingly important in regenerative medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To aggregate and synthesize the findings of qualitative studies exploring the challenges perceived by nurses in home health nursing. A qualitative meta-synthesis. A comprehensive search of multiple databases was conducted in December 2020 and updated in October 2022. Data were analyzed using the meta-aggregation method, and the analytical process used to derive themes was inductive. Eleven qualitative studies were included, and four major challenges perceived by nurses were identified: (1) challenges in the performance of duties, (2) struggles with specific and restricted factors related to practice, (3) underestimation of the value of emotion, and (4) a difficult-to-surmount relationship gap. Home health nursing is associated with numerous challenges due to its complexity and high demand. The findings of this study are beneficial with respect to obtaining a deeper understanding of the challenges associated with home nursing. After considering the existing problems, it is necessary to take measures to overcome these challenges, and individuals, families and society should make efforts to develop this profession further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz (THz) band, which owns abundant and underexplored frequency spectrum, has provided rich scientific and technological opportunities in numerous research fields, such as radio astronomy, atmospheric science and high‐speed communication. As one of the key components in THz systems, the multiplexer cannot only separate/combine different bands, but can also promote the development of THz instruments toward wider band and more multibands. Thanks to the high‐precision computer numerical control milling and micromachining technologies, a lot of THz waveguide multiplexers have been reported in recent years. According to the classification of design configurations, this article offers a brief overview on the developed THz multiplexers. In addition, the performance and system applications of different waveguide‐typed multiplexers are discussed. Therefore, this review will provide a valuable reference for the further development of THz waveguide multiplexers with high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the variable time-stepping decoupled algorithm proposed by Dahlquist, Liniger, and Nevanlinna (DLN algorithm) is used to discretize the coupled Stokes-Darcy model in time. In theory, we prove the stability and second-order convergence of DLN algorithm. Further, we combine DLN algorithm with the time adaptive algorithm to improve the computational efficiency. Numerical experiments verify the stability and second-order convergence of the DLN algorithm at any arbitrary sequence of time steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Water shortage caused by global warming seriously affects the yield and quality of vegetable crops. β-carotene, the lipid-soluble natural product with important pharmacological value, is abundant in celery. Transcription factor MYB family extensively disperses in plants and plays regulatory roles in carotenoid metabolism and water scarcity response. Results: Here, the AgMYB5 gene encoding 196 amino acids was amplified from celery cv. 'Jinnanshiqin'. In celery, the expression of AgMYB5 exhibited transactivation activity, tissue specificity, and drought-condition responsiveness. Further analysis proved that ectopic expression of AgMYB5 increased β-carotene content and promoted drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, AgMYB5 expression promoted β-carotene biosynthesis by triggering the expression of AtCRTISO and AtLCYB, which in turn increased antioxidant enzyme activities, and led to the decreased contents of H2O2 and MDA, and the inhibition of O2− generation. Meanwhile, β-carotene accumulation promoted endogenous ABA biosynthesis of transgenic Arabidopsis, which resulted in ABA-induced stomatal closing and delayed water loss. In addition, ectopic expression of AgMYB5 increased expression levels of AtERD1, AtP5CS1, AtRD22, and AtRD29. Conclusions: The findings indicated that AgMYB5 up-regulated β-carotene biosynthesis and drought tolerance of Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 19 July 2022 to 31 August 2022, a rare persistent drought and heat event occurred in the middle of the Yangtze River basin (MYRB). Normalized difference vegetation Index (NDVI) over 25% of the area decreased more than 0.05 compared with the climatology, causing extremely agricultural drought disaster and economic losses to China. Previous studies have shown that the occurrence of compound drought and heat events (CDHEs) in the MYRB was associated with intra-seasonal oscillations (ISOs) from different latitudes. Nevertheless, what was the role of ISOs at different latitudes in the formation of the CDHE? To address this question, this paper designed a numerical simulation experiment of partial lateral forcing to investigate the changes in meteorological elements by removing the signals of ISOs on different lateral boundaries. We found that the wave series formed in the upper troposphere at 200 hPa played a significant role in the occurrence of the CDHE in the northern part of the MYRB in this progress. It was found that the ISO component of the northern boundary caused the mean temperature to rise by 2.4 °C and aggravated the drought in 53.7% of the region. On the other hand, the anticyclone anomaly in the lower troposphere at 800 hPa had a continuous impact on the southern and eastern boundaries. It was found that the ISO component of these two boundaries can increase the average temperature by 1.93 °C in the MYRB and intensify the drought in 49.7% of the area. In the developing period of the CDHE, the South Asian high and the Western North Pacific subtropical high were coupled with each other and jointly controlled the MYRB, so that the significant positive geopotential height anomaly stayed above the MYRB for a long time, which was conducive to the development of local subsidence. The results of this paper will help to better understand the formation mechanism of CDHEs in the MYRB and assist meteorologists to prevent and forecast the occurrence of CDHEs in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The permeation of hydrogen in the X80 steel was studied in this paper through thermal desorption spectroscopy, stepwise hydrogen permeation experiments and finite element modelling. Firstly, one kind of shallow trap and deep traps in X80 steel were identified through thermal desorption spectroscopy and the corresponding binding energies were obtained. According to the experiment and simulation, the deep hydrogen traps can significantly retard the first hydrogen permeation process but have almost no effect during the following charging. The X80 steel used in hydrogen compressed natural gas pipelines is exposed to hydrogen for long periods and deep traps are filled, its hydrogen permeation process is more in line with the stepwise hydrogen charging. Therefore, the stepwise hydrogen charging experiments were performed and the apparent diffusion coefficients (D app) and the hydrogen trap density involved in the hydrogen permeation transient (N 1) were obtained using three different thickness samples. Then, a quantitative relationship in X80 steel was fitted between the N 1 and the variation of hydrogen concentration. Based on the quantitative relationship and the hydrogen trap binding energies, a hydrogen permeation model in X80 steel was established. By comparing the hydrogen permeation curves obtained by our model under different boundary conditions with experiment curves, it is found that the constant concentration boundary condition model can better describe the hydrogen permeation kinetic in X80 steel under electrochemical hydrogen charging. As a result, this model can be used to predict the distribution of hydrogen in X80 steel, laying the foundation for predicting the occurrence of hydrogen embrittlement in pipeline steels. [Display omitted] • The two hydrogen traps were first found in X80 pipeline steels and obtained their corresponding binding energies. • Second hydrogen charging and stepwise charging were used to study the hydrogen permeation kinetics. • A quantitative relationship between the hydrogen trap density and the variation of subsurface hydrogen concentration. • A model based on the Mcnabb-Foster equation was applied and verified by electrochemical hydrogen charging experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In prodromal and early schizophrenia, disorders of attention and perception are associated with structural and chemical brain abnormalities and with dysfunctional corticothalamic networks exhibiting disturbed brain rhythms. The underlying mechanisms are elusive. The non‐competitive NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine simulates the symptoms of prodromal and early schizophrenia, including disturbances in ongoing and task & sensory‐related broadband beta−/gamma‐frequency (17–29 Hz/30–80 Hz) oscillations in corticothalamic networks. In normal healthy subjects and rodents, complex integration processes, like sensory perception, induce transient, large‐scale synchronised beta/gamma oscillations in a time window of a few hundred ms (200–700 ms) after the presentation of the object of attention (e.g., sensory stimulation). Our goal was to use an electrophysiological multisite network approach to investigate, in lightly anesthetised rats, the effects of a single psychotomimetic dose (2.5 mg/kg, subcutaneous) of ketamine on sensory stimulus‐induced oscillations. Ketamine transiently increased the power of baseline beta/gamma oscillations and decreased sensory‐induced beta/gamma oscillations. In addition, it disrupted information transferability in both the somatosensory thalamus and the related cortex and decreased the sensory‐induced thalamocortical connectivity in the broadband gamma range. The present findings support the hypothesis that NMDA receptor antagonism disrupts the transfer of perceptual information in the somatosensory cortico‐thalamo‐cortical system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To reveal the key genes involved in the phenylpropanoid pathway, which ultimately governs the fragrance of Rhododendron fortunei, we performed a comprehensive transcriptome and metabolomic analysis of the petals of two different varieties of two alpine rhododendrons: the scented R. fortunei and the unscented Rhododendron 'Nova Zembla'. Results: Our transcriptomic and qRT–PCR data showed that nine candidate genes were highly expressed in R. fortunei but were downregulated in Rhododendron 'Nova Zembla'. Among these genes, EGS expression was significantly positively correlated with various volatile benzene/phenylpropanoid compounds and significantly negatively correlated with the contents of various nonvolatile compounds, whereas CCoAOMT, PAL, C4H, and BALDH expression was significantly negatively correlated with the contents of various volatile benzene/phenylpropanoid compounds and significantly positively correlated with the contents of various nonvolatile compounds. CCR, CAD, 4CL, and SAMT expression was significantly negatively correlated with the contents of various benzene/phenylpropanoid compounds. The validation of RfSAMT showed that the RfSAMT gene regulates the synthesis of aromatic metabolites in R. fortunei. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that key candidate genes and metabolites involved in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway may govern the fragrance of R. fortunei. This lays a foundation for further research on the molecular mechanism underlying fragrance in the genus Rhododendron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immobilization of ciprofloxacin on chloromethyl polystyrene resin can be used as an efficient recyclable ligand for promoting a copper-catalyzed coupling reaction of (hetero)aryl halides and amines, and provides excellent results. The ligand is easily recovered and reused without significantly reducing its catalytic ability. It is environmentally friendly, and no ciprofloxacin was detected in the reaction solution. Thus, many important structural units for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries can be assembled utilizing this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an absolute-type inductive angle sensor for detecting the position of the YRT turntable bearing. The sensor comprises a multispeed incremental measuring unit and a single-speed absolute measuring unit sharing the same stator, rotor, and excitation circuit. The stator is composed of a ferromagnetic gear groove, two groups of excitation coils, and one group of induction coils arranged according to certain rules. The end cover of the YRT turntable bearing is machined as rotor and it rotated eccentrically relative to the rotation of the stator. A bridge circuit is used to acquire and process the sensor signal from the single-speed measuring unit. Compared with the traditional dual-channel absolute measurement, the proposed measurement method avoids the effects of different magnetic circuit disturbances on signal quality and measurement accuracy, and has more advantages in the volume and weight of the sensor. The structure and working principles of the sensor are presented in detail, the feasibility of sensing scheme is verified via simulation, and a sensor prototype is designed for the final experiment. Experimental results show that the accuracy of the sensor prototype is –0.06758° to 0.1203° before compensation and –0.001139° to 0.0015° after compensation in the range of [0°, 360°], respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image segmentation plays an important role in the sensing systems of autonomous underwater vehicles for fishing. Via accurately perceiving the marine organisms and surrounding environment, the automatic catch of marine products can be implemented. However, existing segmentation methods cannot precisely segment marine animals due to the low quality and complex shapes of collected marine images in the underwater situation. A novel multi-scale transformer network (MulTNet) is proposed for improving the segmentation accuracy of marine animals, and it simultaneously possesses the merits of a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a transformer. To alleviate the computational burden of the proposed network, a dimensionality reduction CNN module (DRCM) based on progressive downsampling is first designed to fully extract the low-level features, and then they are fed into a proposed multi-scale transformer module (MTM). For capturing the rich contextural information from different subregions and scales, four parallel small-scale encoder layers with different heads are constructed, and then they are combined with a large-scale transformer layer to form a multi-scale transformer module. The comparative results demonstrate MulTNet outperforms the existing advanced image segmentation networks, with MIOU improvements of 0.76% in the marine animal dataset and 0.29% in the ISIC 2018 dataset. Consequently, the proposed method has important application value for segmenting underwater images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Colorectal cancer is a digestive tract malignant tumor, ranking the second mortality and the third incidence cancer worldwide. The abnormal expression of NEAT1 is related to the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer. However, the specific mechanism of NEAT1 mediated-inflammatory pathway in the progression of colorectal cancer is still unclear. Methods. In this study, expression of NEAT1 in colorectal cancer patients was analyzed by bioinformatics. Clinical samples including peripheral blood and colorectal cancer tissues were collected for qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry assay. The role of NEAT1 in the colorectal cancer progression was further confirmed by both in-vivo and in-vitro functional experiments. Results. By bioinformatics prediction, it is found that NEAT1 expression level is significantly higher in the peripheral blood of patients with colorectal cancer and is associated with poor prognosis. In-vitro functional studies indicated that NEAT1 knockdown suppressed the proliferation and migration of colorectal cancer cells by mediating inflammatory response. In-vivo tumorigenesis experiments showed that NEAT1 knockdown suppressed tumor growth. Conclusion. Abnormal high expression level of NEAT1 in colorectal cancer tissues and cells leads to poor prognosis. Mechanistically, NEAT1 triggers off the proliferation and migration of colorectal cancer cells through promoting the inflammatory reaction. Clinically, the expression level of NEAT1 in serum may be a marker for diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of servo motors plays a greatly indispensable role in preventing abnormal and inefficient operation of servo drive system and even major safety accident. In this article, a novel variant of recurrent neural networks, called gated adaptive hierarchical attention unit (GAHAU), is constructed to efficiently predict the RULs of servo motors, which can not only pay attention to the outputs of reset and update gates but also adaptively divide the hierarchy of the sequence information in attention gate. The updating formulas of GAHAU are derived. With the raw vibration signals of servo motors, a quadratic function-based deep convolutional autoencoder is used for automatically generating the health indicator vector. Based on the constructed HI vector, the RULs of servo motors are accurately predicted by GAHAU. The experiments on servo motors demonstrate that the presented GAHAU has remarkable prediction performance especially for the long-term prediction. Compared to the existing typical RUL prediction methods, the proposed methodology has stronger predictive ability according to the comparative results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disease related to reproductive endocrine abnormalities in women of reproductive age, often accompanied by metabolic diseases such as hyperandrogenemia, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. However, the etiology and mechanism of PCOS are still unclear. In recent years, more and more studies have found that epigenetic factors play an important role in PCOS. DNA methylation is the most widely studied epigenetic modification. At present, changes of DNA methylation have been found in serum, ovarian, hypothalamus, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue of PCOS patients, and these changes are closely related to insulin resistance, lipid metabolism and follicular development of PCOS. Although the current research on DNA methylation in PCOS is not in-depth, it indicated up a good direction for future research on the etiology and mechanism of PCOS. This review discussed the relationship between DNA methylation and PCOS. It is expected to help accelerate the application of DNA methylation in the diagnosis and treatment of PCOS. • The pathogenesis of PCOS may be related to DNA methylation. • Changes in DNA methylation are closely related to the pathogenesis of PCOS. • Changes in DNA methylation are closely related to the metabolic disorders of PCOS. • Differentially methylated genes affected by PCOS are related to related pathways. • Epigenetic perturbation may be one of the reasons for the follicle and oocyte defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a leading cause of dementia and no therapy that reverses underlying neurodegeneration is available. Recent studies suggest the protective role of artemisinin, an antimalarial drug, in neurological disorders. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of artesunate, a water‐soluble derivative of artemisinin, on amyloid‐beta (Aβ)‐treated challenged microglial BV‐2, neuronal N2a cells, and the amyloid precursor protein/presenilin (APP/PS1) mice model. We found that Aβ significantly induced multiple AD‐related phenotypes, including increased expression/production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines from microglial cells, enhanced cellular and mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species, promoted mitochondrial fission, inhibited mitochondrial fusion, suppressed mitophagy or biogenesis in both cell types, stimulated apoptosis of neuronal cells, and microglia‐induced killing of neurons. All these in vitro phenotypes were attenuated by artesunate. In addition, the over‐expression of the mitochondrial fission protein Drp‐1, or down‐regulation of the mitochondrial fusion protein OPA‐1 both reduced the therapeutic benefits of artesunate. Artesunate also alleviated AD phenotypes in APP/PS1 mice, reducing Aβ deposition, and reversing deficits in memory and learning. Artesunate protects neuronal and microglial cells from AD pathology, both in vitro and in vivo. Maintaining mitochondrial dynamics and simultaneously targeting multiple AD pathogenic mechanisms are associated with the protective effects of artesunate. Consequently, artesunate may become a promising therapeutic for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We measured the water slip length and evaporation flux in graphene nanochannels. • The slip length decreased with rising temperature and smaller channel depth. • The evaporation flux increased with rising temperature and greater channel depth. The discovery of ultrafast water flow in graphene channels holds significant implications for various applications like electronics cooling, thermally driven energy harvesting, and solar-driven desalination. However, existing slip flow measurements on graphene are confined to room temperature, limiting our understanding of temperature-dependent behaviors and constraining potential thermal applications. Here, we simultaneously measured water slip lengths and evaporation fluxes in graphene nanochannels with depths ranging from 78 to 290 nm, spanning a temperature range from room temperature up to 85 °C. This was achieved by employing a capillary flow model combined with evaporation, a factor that cannot be disregarded at elevated temperatures. The measured water slip lengths ranged from 20 nm to 80 nm, exhibiting a decrease with increasing temperature and an increase with greater channel depths. The temperature-dependent slip length can be attributed to enhanced momentum transfer at the solid-liquid interface at elevated temperatures, while the observed channel depth dependence may result from stronger electrical-double-layer interactions with decreased channel depths. Additionally, the capillary evaporation fluxes increased with rising temperatures and greater channel depths, effectively explained by the capillary evaporation theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In actual engineering, insufficient bearing samples for each fault category presents a substantial obstacle to the intelligent fault diagnosis of rolling bearings. To address sample imbalance, this work explores a novel bearing fault data–generation approach based on digital twin technique. First, an inverse physics–informed neural network (PINN) is built to recognize dynamic model parameters by embedding a bearing dynamic model into a neural network. In this network, a boundary loss is designed to quickly determine the approximate ranges of parameters that can accelerate network convergence, and a true value loss is constructed for the assessment of spectral discrepancy between simulated and actual data. Then, using an inverse PINN, a bearing fault dynamic model, and real vibration data, we propose a digital twin–based fault data–generation method for producing high-quality bearing fault samples under multiple working conditions and fault modes. Finally, the developed approach is applied to generate bearing fault vibration samples under a specific working condition. The samples are used for training the diagnostic network, thus solving the issue of sample imbalance. The comparison results of several experiments suggest that the developed data-generation method effectively improves the precision of cross-working-condition bearing fault diagnosis and surpasses multiple state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]