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Abstract Background Although men with premature ejaculation (PE) always show more negative emotions, including embarrassment, guilt and worry, this may be related to the stigma of PE. To investigated stigma and its associations with self-confidence and sexual relations in 4 PE syndromes, a survey was conducted in our hospital from December 2018 to December 2019 among 350 men with self-reported PE and 252 men without self-reported PE. The stigma, self-confidence and sexual relations were assessed by the Social Impact Scale (SIS) and Self-Esteem and Relationship questionnaire (SEAR), respectively. Ejaculation control, sexual life satisfaction and distress caused by PE were evaluated by the Index of PE. Results Men with self-reported PE had higher internalized shame and social isolation scores and lower SEAR scores than control subjects. The highest score of internalized shame and social isolation and the lowest score of SEAR appeared in men with lifelong PE (LPE). After age adjustment, the positive relationships were stronger between distress about PE and internalized shame. Whereas, the stronger negative associations were found between social isolation and sexual satisfaction. The strongest association was observed between social isolation and sexual relationship. Therefore, the stigma associated with PE adversely affects the self-confidence, self-esteem, and sexual relationships of men with PE. Conclusion Men with PE, especially LPE, have a high level of stigma and disharmonious sexual relations, and often lack self-confidence and self-esteem, which have a certain negative impact on their physical and mental health and life. These will be the key issues to be considered when we formulate a personalized treatment plan for PE.

Abstract To investigate the endothelialization of covered and bare stents deployed in the canine carotid arteries and subclavian arteries for treating experimental aneurysms and arteriovenous fistulas, twenty aneurysms were created in 10 dogs, and 20 fistulas in another 10 dogs. The Willis balloon-expandable covered stent and a self-expandable covered stent were used to treat these lesions, and a self-expandable bare stent was deployed in the subclavian artery for comparison. Followed up for up to 12 months, the gross observation, pathological staining, and scanning electronic microscopic data were analyzed. Two weeks after creation of animal model, thirty self-expandable covered stents and ten balloon-expandable covered stents were deployed. Fifteen bare stents were deployed within the left subclavian arteries. Twenty days after stenting, the aneurysm significantly shrank. At 6 months, the thrombi within the aneurysm cavity were organized. Three to 12 months later, most covered and bare stents were covered by a thin transparent or white layer of endothelial intima. Layers of intima or pseudomembrane were formed on the stent 20–40 days after stent deployment. Over three months, the pseudomembrane became organized, thinner, and merged into the vascular wall. Under scanning electronic microscopy, the surface of covered and bare stents had only deposition of collagen fibers and rare endothelial cells 20–40 days after stenting. From three to ten months, the endothelial cells on the internal surface of stent became mature, with spindle, stripe-like or quasi round morphology along the blood flow direction. Over time, the endothelial cells became mature. In conclusion, three months after deployment in canines’ arteries, the self-expandable bare and covered stents have mostly been covered by endothelial cells which become maturer over time, whereas the balloon-expandable covered stents do not have complete coverage of endothelial cells at three months, especially for protruding stent struts and areas. Over time, the endothelialization will become mature.

Terahertz (THz) communication is a crucial technique in sixth generation (6G) mobile networks, which allow for ultra-wide bandwidths to enable ultra-high data rate wireless communication. However, the current subcarrier spacing and the size of fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in 5G NR are insufficient regarding the bandwidth requirements of terahertz scenarios. In this paper, a novel waveform is proposed to address the ultra-wideband issue, namely the generalized filter bank orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (GFB-OFDM) waveform. The main advantages are summarized as follows: (1) The K-point IFFT is implemented by two levels of IFFTs in smaller sizes, i.e, performing M-point IFFT in N times and performing N-point IFFT in M times, where K=N×M. (2) The proposed waveform can accommodate flexible subcarrier spacings and different numbers of the subbands to provide various services in a single GFB-OFDM symbol. (3) Different bandwidths can be supported using a fixed filter since the filtering is performed on each subband. In contrast, the cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in 4G/5G requires various filters. (4) The existing detection for CP-OFDM can be directly employed as the detector of the proposed waveform. Lastly, the comprehensive simulation results demonstrate that GFB-OFDM outperforms CP-OFDM in terms of the out-of-band leakage, complexity and error performance.

Conductive metal–organic frameworks (c‐MOFs) have aroused extensive attention due to their excellent properties by integrating the features of both conductive and porous crystalline materials. Recent investigations in miniaturization of c‐MOFs into nanostructured conductive MOFs (nc‐MOFs) endow them with additional advantages such as reduced diffusion distance, accelerated mass/electron transfer, enhanced active site exposure, and accessibility, further widening their applications with reinforced performances compared to the conventional bulk counterparts. Herein, a timely review on the latest achievements in the field of nc‐MOFs is provided. First, we systematically introduce the synthetic strategies for producing nc‐MOFs with controllable morphologies and compositions. Second, the enhanced performance of nc‐MOFs in electrocatalysis, supercapacitors, batteries, sensors, and photocatalysis is highlighted. Finally, a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of the synthesis and applications of nc‐MOFs is presented. It is expected that this review will shed light on the future development of nc‐MOFs with promising application potential.

Accurate and prompt determination of fire types is essential for effective firefighting and reducing damage. However, traditional methods such as smoke detection, visual analysis, and wireless signals are not able to identify fire types. This paper introduces FireSonic, an acoustic sensing system that leverages commercial speakers and microphones to actively probe the fire using acoustic signals, effectively identifying fire types. By incorporating beamforming technology, FireSonic first enhances signal clarity and reliability, thus mitigating signal attenuation and distortion. To establish a reliable correlation between fire type and sound propagation, FireSonic quantifies the heat release rate (HRR) of flames by analyzing the relationship between fire-heated areas and sound wave propagation delays. Furthermore, the system extracts spatiotemporal features related to fire from channel measurements. The experimental results demonstrate that FireSonic attains an average fire type classification accuracy of 95.5% and a detection latency of less than 400 ms, satisfying the requirements for real-time monitoring. This system significantly enhances the formulation of targeted firefighting strategies, boosting fire response effectiveness and public safety.

Abstract Construction of two-dimensional nanosheets into three-dimensional regular structures facilitates the mass transfer and exploits the maximum potential of two-dimensional building blocks in applications such as catalysis. Here, we report the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks with an orthogonal nanosheet array. The assembly involves the epitaxial growth of single crystalline metal-organic framework nanosheets with a naturally non-preferred facet exposure as the shell on a cubic metal-organic framework as the core. The nanosheets, despite of two typical shapes and crystallographic orientations, also form a single crystalline orthogonally arrayed framework. The density and size of nanosheets in the core-shell-structured composite metal-organic frameworks can be well adjusted. Moreover, metal-organic frameworks with a single composition and hollow orthogonal nanosheet array morphology can be obtained. Benefiting from the unusual facet exposure and macroporous structure, the designed structure exhibits improved electrocatalytic oxygen evolution activity compared to conventional nanosheets.

HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high spatial resolution X-ray imaging (

Gait is an important basic function of human beings and an integral part of life. Many mental and physical abnormalities can cause noticeable differences in a person’s gait. Abnormal gait can lead to serious consequences such as falls, limited mobility and reduced life satisfaction. Gait analysis, which includes joint kinematics, kinetics, and dynamic Electromyography (EMG) data, is now recognized as a clinically useful tool that can provide both quantifiable and qualitative information on performance to aid in treatment planning and evaluate its outcome. With the assistance of new artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the traditional medical environment has undergone great changes. AI has the potential to reshape medicine, making gait analysis more accurate, efficient and accessible. In this study, we analyzed basic information about gait analysis and AI articles that met inclusion criteria in the WoS Core Collection database from 1992–2022, and the VosViewer software was used for web visualization and keyword analysis. Through bibliometric and visual analysis, this article systematically introduces the research status of gait analysis and AI. We introduce the application of artificial intelligence in clinical gait analysis, which affects the identification and management of gait abnormalities found in various diseases. Machine learning (ML) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) are the most often utilized AI methods in gait analysis. By comparing the predictive capability of different AI algorithms in published studies, we evaluate their potential for gait analysis in different situations. Furthermore, the current challenges and future directions of gait analysis and AI research are discussed, which will also provide valuable reference information for investors in this field.

Abstract Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) can act as microRNA (miRNA) sponges, thus regulating gene expression. The role of circRNAs in the process of oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) is unclear. Here, we explored the mechanism underlying Circ VRK1 in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMVECs) injury induced by OGD/R. Methods The OGD/R cell model was established in HBMVECs. The microarray was applied to detect differentially expressed circRNAs, followed by subcellular fractionation assay. Colony formation assay, flow cytometry, ELISA, tube formation, Transwell and western blot assays were performed for loss-of-function assay. HE staining, TTC staining, immunohistochemistry and western blot were performed in an established mouse model. The relationships between Circ VRK1 and miR-17, and between miR-17 and PTEN were detected by bioinformatics and dual-luciferase assays. Rescue experiments were conducted in vitro and in vivo, and PI3K/AKT activity was detected by Western Blot. Results Circ VRK1, predominantly present in the cytoplasm of cells, was upregulated in the HBMVECs exposed to OGD/R. Circ VRK1 downregulation decreased proliferation, migration, tube formation, inflammatory factors and oxidative stress, while increased apoptosis in HBMVECs. Moreover, Circ VRK1 silencing reduced neurological damage, cerebral infarct size, CD34-positive cell counts and VEGF expression in mice. Circ VRK1 mediated PTEN expression and the PI3K/AKT pathway by targeting miR-17. Deletion of miR-17 inhibited the effects of Circ VRK1 siRNA, and silencing of PTEN suppressed the effects of miR-17 inhibitor. Conclusion Circ VRK1 was upregulated during OGD/R. Circ VRK1 downregulation regulates PTEN expression by targeting miR-17, thereby promoting PI3K/AKT pathway activity to alleviate OGD/R injury.

This paper presents a low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) modulation scheme and demodulation method for low-cost terminals in sixth-generation (6G), which is called one plus delay (1 + D) pi/2(N + 1) BPSK. Explicitly, the modulation scheme is first generated based on pi/2 BPSK, then proceeded by interpolation and (1 + D) transformation. Simulation results show that the proposed (1 + D) pi/2(N + 1) BPSK scheme has lower PAPR and smaller out-of-band leakage in discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM). Moreover, better performance can be attained by increasing the value of N. Finally, similar block error ratio (BLER) performance can be obtained at the same spectral efficiency of the conventional pi/2 BPSK scheme.

Assembly of MOF-on-MOF hybrids with complex structures and properties is of interest, but achieving sophisticated ternary heterostructures is challenging. Here, the authors synthesize three types of ternary MOF-on-MOF heterostructures with tunable complexity via a multiple selective assembly strategy.

To understand the surface evolution in unsteady thermal environment of diesel engine, piston Al–Si–Cu alloy was ablated by a high frequent pulsing carburizing oxyacetylene combustion. The tested samples displayed good correlation with the characteristics of some bench tested pistons. As the loading cycles increased, the roughness slightly declined first and then rose sharply. Hardness evolution, micro-morphology, element and phase analysis suggested the surface roughness was mainly controlled by the thermal stress induced defects. And in combination with thermodynamics, the source of Al in surface deposited rimous carbon was ascertained to be chemical reactions between carburizing combustion and the Al–Si–Cu alloy.

Background and objective Non-small cell lung cancer with left atrial tumor thrombus accounts for a small proportion of local advanced lung cancer. Whether surgery could bring benefits, as well as surgical options are still controversial, and have always been hot spots in surgical research. We report a single center experience of surgical treatment to non-small cell lung cancer with left atrial tumor thrombus, aim to figure out more reasonable treatment strategy. Methods From August 2006 to July 2017, a total of 11 cases of non-small cell lung cancer with left atrial tumor thrombus underwent surgery in Thoracic Surgery Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Clinical data, treatment options, pathological types and prognosis of these patients were collected to perform a retrospective study. Results Of the 11 patients (mean age of 57.9), 7 were men and 4 were women. Six of them received neoadjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. All patients underwent smooth operation, including 3 cases with cardiopulmonary bypass, 1 case of posterolateral approach under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, 6 cases of conventional posterolateral approach and 1 case of video-assisted minithoracotomy. Nine patients were evaluated as R0 resection while 2 cases were evaluated as R1 resection. The Surgeries cost an average of 292 min (210 min-380 min), with an average of 436 mL (100 mL-1,600 mL) blood loss. One patient (9.1%) died within 90 days after surgery, and another 4 cases (36.4%) suffered postoperative complications such as arrhythmia, cerebral infarction or hypoxemia. Six cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 4 cases of adenocarcinoma and 1 case of sarcomatoid carcinoma were identified by pathology. Seven cases were staged as pT4N0M0 while 4 cases were staged as pT4N1M0. Nine patients underwent adjuvant chemotherapy, and two patients underwent radiotherapy during follow-up. The overall follow-up time was 2 to 53 months, the 3-year disease-free survival rate was 30.7%, the median disease-free survival time was 31 months, the 3-year overall survival rate was 49.1% and the median overall survival time was 33 months. Conclusion For selected patients of non-small cell lung cancer complicated with left atrial tumor thrombus, choose a reasonable surgical approach to resect both the tumor and the thrombus, strengthen the perioperative management and apply neoadjuvant/adjuvant radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, might obtain satisfying prognosis.

The Pb-accumulator Sedum alfredii is a good phytoremediation material, and widely used in the phytoremediation research of soils contaminated with Pb. The root exudates from it may be playing a significant role in the process of phytoremediation. In this study, the metabonomics method which based on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and pattern recognition analysis was used to identify the remarkable root exudates from S. alfredii under different Pb stresses, including exposure concentrations (0, 10, 50, 200 and 1000 µmol/L) and times (4 and 8 days). And batch extraction experiments were used to verify the roles of these remarkable root exudates. According to the results, 11 metabolites were considered as the remarkable metabolites. Oxalic acid, galactonic acid and glyceric acid can remove Pb in soil, and the removal effect was: oxalic acid > galactonic acid > glyceric acid. Xylose, glucose and maltose have no removal effect for Pb in soil.

The pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans forms large, so-called ‘titan cells’ during infection. Here, Cao et al. show that a ubiquitin ligase inhibits this process by targeting for degradation a CDK-related kinase that stimulates titan cell formation.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a widespread fungal pathogen that can infect the human central nervous system (CNS) and cause fungal meningitis, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide each year. Previous studies have demonstrated that many signal transduction pathways are crucial for the morphological development and virulence of C. neoformans. In this review, data from over 116 research articles have been compiled to show that many signaling pathways control various characteristics of C. neoformans, individually or in association with other pathways, and to establish strong links among them to better understand C. neoformans pathogenesis. Every characteristic of C. neoformans is closely linked to these signaling pathways, making this a rich area for further research. It is essential to thoroughly explore these pathways to address questions that remain and apply a molecular mechanistic approach to link them. Targeting these pathways is crucial for understanding the exact mechanism of infection pathogenesis and will facilitate the development of antifungal drugs as well as the diagnosis and prevention of cryptococcosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on one-dimensional water hammer theory and combined with an engineering example, the selection of the flow characteristics of the end control valve of gravity flow system with wide-range flow variation is numerically studied from three aspects: the influence of flow characteristics of control valve on its steady-state opening-degree, the determination of the most unfavorable flow conditions of valveclosing water hammer, and the influence of flow characteristics of contrive valve on valve-closing water hammer. And the flow characteristics of linear type, parabola type and equal percentage type are compared. The results show that: 1 The equal percentage flow characteristic is more conducive to the stable operation of the control valve under the low flow condition. Under this condition, the steady-state opening-degree of the equal percentage type control valve is larger, which can avoid cavitation and vibration caused by too small opening. 2 The most unfavorable flow condition of the valve-closing water hammer should consider the minimum initial flow condition, under which the water hammer pressure of the input point of the control valve is largest because of the largest initial pressure and the shortest closing time. 3 The equal percentage flow characteristic is more conducive to reducing the control valve-closing water hammer pressure. Under the same initial flow rate and valve closing rate, the control valve with equal percentage type flow characteristics has a larger initial opening-degree, a longer actual closing time, and a smaller change gradient of flow coefficient in the small opening-degree range, so the extreme value of the valve-closing water hammer pressure is smaller, which is more conducive to pipeline safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptococcosis is a prevalent fungal infection of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by Cryptococcus neoformans, a yeast with a polysaccharide capsule in the basidiomycete group. Normally, C. neoformans infects the respiratory tract and then breaches the blood–brain barrier (BBB), leading to meningitis or meningoencephalitis, which leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Although the mechanism by which C. neoformans infiltrates the BBB to invade the brain has yet to be fully understood, research has revealed that C. neoformans can cross the BBB using transcellular penetration, paracellular traversal, and infected phagocytes (the "Trojan horse" mechanism). The secretion of multiple virulence factors by C. neoformans is crucial in facilitating the spread of infection after breaching the BBB and causing brain infections. Extensive research has shown that various virulence factors play a significant role in the dissemination of infection beyond the lungs. This review explores the mechanisms of C. neoformans entering the CNS and explains how it bypasses the BBB. Additionally, it aims to understand the interplay between the regulatory mechanisms and virulence factors of C. neoformans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although carbon dots (CDs) have been widely investigated as the fluorescence material, research on room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) CDs is still limited. In this work, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) was employed as the raw material to synthesize carbon quantum dots (denoted as CQDs-1) by a hydrothermal method. The resulting CQDs-1 inherited CO groups and N atoms from DTPA, which promoted the formation of triplet excitons under light excitation. On this basis, the CQDs-1 were dispersed in a poly-(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix to prepare CQDs-1-PVA composites that exhibited an optimal emission peak at ∼466 nm and emitted the visible afterglow lasting for 8 s. Moreover, tartaric acid (TA) was combined with DTPA as the raw material to synthesize CQDs-2, which induced the formation of π–π conjugated areas in CQDs. As a result, the emission wavelength was slightly red-shifted, and the duration time of afterglow of the CQDs-2-PVA composite was increased to 9 s. Due to the ultralong-lifetime RTP properties of the CQDs-based composites, their applications in the fields of information encryption and anticounterfeiting have also been investigated. Overall, our work offered a convenient avenue for the synthesis of high-quality RTP CQDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy (macroautophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved degradation pathway involved in bulk degradation of cytoplasmic organelles, old protein, and other macromolecules and nutrient recycling during starvation. Extensive studies on functions of autophagy-related genes have revealed that autophagy plays a role in cell differentiation and pathogenesis of pathogenic fungi. In this study, we identified and characterized 14 core autophagy machinery genes (ATGs) in C. neoformans. To understand the function of autophagy in virulence and fungal development in C. neoformans, we knocked out the 14 ATGs in both α and a mating type strain backgrounds in C. neoformans, respectively, by using biolistic transformation and in vivo homologous recombination. Fungal virulence assay showed that virulence of each atgΔ mutants was attenuated in a murine inhalation systemic-infection model, although virulence factor production was not dramatically impaired in vitro. Fungal mating assays showed that all the 14 ATGs are essential for fungal sexual reproduction as basidiospore production was blocked in bilateral mating between each atgΔ mutants. Fungal nuclei development assay showed that nuclei in the bilateral mating of each atgΔ mutants failed to undergo meiosis after fusion, indicating autophagy is essential for regulating meiosis during mating. Overall, our study showed that autophagy is essential for fungal virulence and sexual reproduction in C. neoformans, which likely represents a conserved novel virulence and sexual reproduction control mechanism that involves the autophagy-mediated proteolysis pathway.

HEX-P is a probe-class mission concept that will combine high spatial resolution X-ray imaging (<10" FWHM) and broad spectral coverage (0.2-80 keV) with an effective area far superior to current facilities' (including XMM-Newton and NuSTAR). These capabilities will enable revolutionary new insights into a variety of important astrophysical problems. We present scientific objectives and simulations of HEX-P observations of the Galactic Center (GC) and Bulge. We demonstrate the unique and powerful capabilities of the HEX-P observatory for studying both X-ray point sources and diffuse X-ray emission. HEX-P will be uniquely equipped to explore a variety of major topics in Galactic astrophysics, allowing us to 1) investigate broad-band properties of X-ray flares emitted from the supermassive black hole (BH) at Sgr A* and probe the associated particle acceleration and emission mechanisms; 2) identify hard X-ray sources detected by NuSTAR and determine X-ray point source populations in different regions and luminosity ranges; 3) determine the distribution of compact object binaries in the nuclear star cluster and the composition of the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission; 4) identify X-ray transients and measure fundamental parameters such as black hole spin; 5) find hidden pulsars in the Galactic Center; 6) search for BH-OB binaries and hard X-ray flares from young stellar objects in young massive clusters; 7) measure white dwarf (WD) masses of magnetic CVs to deepen our understanding of CV evolution and the origin of white dwarf magnetic fields; 8) explore primary particle accelerators in the GC in synergy with future TeV and neutrino observatories; 9) map out cosmic-ray distributions by observing nonthermal X-ray filaments; 10) explore past X-ray outbursts from Sgr A* through X-ray reflection components from giant molecular clouds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]