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Yang Deng,1,* Si-Yu Wang,2,* Qing-Guang Wang,3,* Zhao-Han Xu,2 Qiang Peng,2 Shuai-Yu Chen,2 Lin Zhu,2 Ying-Dong Zhang,1,2 Rui Duan1,2 1Department of Neurology, Nanjing First Hospital, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurology, Jiangyin Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University, Jiangyin, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ying-Dong Zhang; Rui Duan, Department of Neurology, Nanjing First Hospital, China Pharmaceutical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China, Email zhangyingdong@njmu.edu.cn; duanruicpu@163.comPurpose: Our previous study has shown that AVE 0991, a nonpeptide analogue of Ang-(1-7), ameliorates cognitive decline and inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome of astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease model mice. Additionally, several studies have suggested that activation of autophagy appears to effectively inhibit the progression of neuroinflammation. However, it is unclear whether AVE 0991 can modulate astrocyte autophagy to suppress neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease.Materials and Methods: APP/PS1 mice and Aβ-treated primary astrocytes were used as the research objects in vivo and in vitro, respectively. Water maze test was used to evaluate cognitive function of mice, Nissl staining and immunofluorescence staining was used to assess neuronal damage. ELISA kits were used to detect the levels of Ang-(1-7) and Aβ in the cortex, and qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of cortical inflammation-related mediators. The expression of autophagy-related proteins in cortex were detected by Western blot. The upstream molecular responses involved in inflammation inhibition by AVE 0991 were validated by means of using the Mas1 antagonist and autophagy inhibitor.Results: We found that 30 days of intraperitoneal administration of AVE 0991 improved. Aβ deposition, neuronal death, and cognitive deficits in APP/PS1 Alzheimer’s disease model mice. Moreover, AVE 0991 treatment greatly suppressed astrocyte-mediated inflammation and up-regulated the expression of autophagy. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of AVE 0991 on the expression of inflammatory factors was reversed by 3-MA, an autophagy inhibitor.Conclusion: These findings suggest that regulation of autophagy is critical for inhibiting astrocyte neuroinflammatory responses and demonstrate a potential neuroprotective mechanism by which AVE 0991 could suppress neuroinflammatory responses by enhancing autophagy.Keywords: AVE 0991, neuroinflammation, Alzheimer, autophagy, astrocytes

A composite wetland (CECW) was constructed by introducing P-adsorption filler (EPAF) and activated sludge into traditional wetlands for treating actual sewage. The results showed that EPAF improved P removal through physico-chemical adsorption, and it could be stably regenerated after adsorption saturation without potential risks. Meanwhile, zeolite promoted NH 4 + -N reduction in sewage by cation exchange. In addition, simultaneous biological removal of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus was achieved through nitrification, denitrification, anammox, and aerobic P-accumulation processes induced by Nitrobacter, Proteus Hauser, Candidatus Paracaedibacter, and Brevundimonas. Under the coupling of filler interception/adsorption, microbial assimilation/transformation, flocculation, and plant uptake, CECW obtained the removal rates of 93.22 %, 85.75 %, 91.80 %, 95.38 %, 97.07 %, and 78.05 % for turbidity, TN, NH 4 + -N, TP, PO 4 3- -P, and TCOD, which met the Class 1A standard (GB18918-2002). Therefore, the experiment systematically investigated the effects and mechanism of CECW in treating actual sewage, which could provide reference for rural sewage treatment and sludge utilization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To compare the clinical efficacy between trigger-point (TrP) electroacupuncture and transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block in treatment of chronic abdominal wall pain (CAWP)., Methods: A total of 62 CAWP patients were randomly divided into a TrP electroacupuncture group (31 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a TAP block group (31 cases, 1 case dropped off). Electroacupuncture at trigger points was delivered in the TrP electroacupuncture group, and TAP block was administered under ultrasonic guidance in the TAP block group. Separately, the score of the numerical pain rating scale (NRS) was observed before treatment and in 1 week, 1 month and 3 months after treatment；the scores of the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and the self-rating depressive scale (SDS) observed before treatment and in 1 week and 3 months after treatment；and the score of the short form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) was observed before treatment and in 3 months after treatment. The utilization rate of remedial drugs was recorded during follow-up visit. The clinical efficacy was compared., Results: At each time point after treatment, NRS score decreased in comparison with that before treatment ( P <0.05), the scores of SAS and SDS 1 week and 3 months after treatment were reduced ( P <0.05) and the each item score of SF-36 increased ( P <0.05) 3 months after treatment of each group. Compared with the outcomes in the TAP block group, NRS scores were reduced 1 month and 3 months after treatment respectively ( P <0.05), the scores of SAS and SDS decreased ( P <0.05) and SF-36 score was elevated ( P <0.05) 3 months after treatment in the TrP electroacupuncture group. There was no significant difference in the utilization rate of remedial drugs between the two groups. The clinical efficacy of the TrP electroacupuncture group (96.7%) was superior to that of the TAP block group (83.3%, P <0.05)., Conclusions: Both TrP electroacupuncture and TAP block can markedly relieve pain, attenuate the emotional symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve the quality of life in the patients with chronic abdominal wall pain. The clinical efficacy of TrP electroacupuncture is better than that of TAP block 3 months after treatment.

To inhibit eutrophication caused by endogenous pollutants release, the experiment explored the efficiency and mechanism of the synchronous control of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) release from sediments in shallow lakes under wind disturbance by modified Ca/Al-based sludge (MS) and modified zeolite (MZ). High-temperature calcination and NaCl impregnation increased the pore volume of MS and Na + content of MZ, and the adsorption capacity of MS for PO 4 3- -P and MZ for NH 4 + -N was as high as 42.01 and 20.28 mg g -1 . The results of a 90-day incubation experiment showed that the addition of MS and MZ increased the abundance of Thauera, Nitrospira, Denitratisoma, and Clostridium, while decreasing the proportion of Proteus Hauser and Saccharimonadales, thereby reducing the active N and P contents in sediments through microbial transformation. At the same time, the efficient adsorption performance of the MS and MZ resulted in a significant decrease in pollutants in the interstitial water and sediments. In addition, sediment resuspension caused by wind disturbance increased the contact between sediments and remediation agents, resulting in the action depth of covering materials exceeding 100 mm. Compared to adding MS or MZ alone, the combination of the two (MSZG) could synchronously, efficiently, and stably inhibit N and P release. Under the coupling effects of physical interception, physicochemical adsorption, and biotransformation, the average TN, NH 4 + -N, TP, and PO 4 3- -P in the overlying water of the MSZG decreased by 72.13%, 88.92%, 69.28%, and 81.26%, respectively, compared to Control, which satisfying the Class III standard for surface water. Therefore, this study could provide reference for controlling endogenous release, improving eutrophication in shallow lakes under wind disturbance, and recycling residual sludge from sewage plants., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To compare the difference in the clinical efficacy on piriformis syndrome between trigger-point (TrP) acupuncture and glucocorticoid injection., Methods: Sixty patients with piriformis syndrome were randomly allocated to an acupuncture group (30 cases, treated with TrP acupuncture) and a control group (30 cases, treated with glucocorticoid injection). In the two groups, the intervention was delivered once weekly and 2 treatments were required. Before treatment and 1 week, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months after treatment, the scores of the numerical rating scale (NRS) and Oswestry dysfunction index questionnaire (ODI), and the passive hip range of motion (PROM) were collected separately；the score of the 36-item short form of health survey (SF-36) was observed 3 months after treatment；and the administration of analgesic medication and the occurrence of adverse effects were recorded in the patients of 2 groups., Results: The scores of NRS and ODI were decreased, and PROM was increased at each time point compared with the baseline (before treatment) in both groups ( P <0.05). In comparison with the control group, the scores of NRS and ODI were decreased ( P <0.01, P <0.05) and the range of hip internal rotation (HIR) was increased in the acupuncture group 2 and 3 months after treatment ( P <0.01). Three months after treatment, the scores for physiological function, body pain, and vitality of SF-36 in the acupuncture group were higher than those of the control group ( P <0.05). The number of patients with analgesic drugs was less ( P <0.05) in the acupuncture group than that in the control group in 2 and 3 months after treatment. During treatment and in follow-up stage, no serious adverse reactions occurred in the patients of 2 groups., Conclusions: The clinical effect of TrP acupuncture is similar to that of glucocorticoid injection on piriformis syndrome in 1 month after treatment. In 2 months after treatment, TrP acupuncture is markedly effective for attenuating pain and the functional impairment of the lower limbs, improving the quality of life and reducing the use of analgesic drugs in comparison with glucocorticoid injection.

Neural network adaptive iterative learning control (ILC) is developed in this article to treat strict-feedback nonlinear systems with unknown state delays and input saturation. These delays are treated by constructing the Lyapunov-Krasovskii (L-K) functions for each subsystem. A command filter is employed to avoid the derivative explosion caused by continuous differentiation of the virtual controller. Corresponding auxiliary systems are designed and integrated into the backstepping procedure to compensate input saturation and the unimplemented part of the filter. Hyperbolic tangent functions and radial basis function neural networks (RBF NNs) are employed to treat singularity and related unknown terms, respectively. The convergence of the resultant strict-feedback systems is ensured in the framework of composite energy function (CEF). Finally, a simulation example is adopted to substantiate the validity of the proposed algorithm.

A 28-d experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of feed-conditioning temperature on the pellet quality, growth performance, intestinal development, and blood parameters of geese. A total of 180 one-day-old White Yuzhou goslings were randomly allotted to 5 treatment groups, with 6 replicates containing 6 birds each. Five diets were conditioned at 65, 70, 75, 80, and 85°C. Body weight and feed intake per pen basis were recorded from the arrival to the end of the trial. Blood and small intestine samples were collected on d 28 for analysis. The results showed that the pellet durability index (PDI), pellet hardness, and gelatinisation degree of starch (GDS) increased with increasing conditioning temperature (P < 0.05). The final body weight (FBW), average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of goslings significantly increased when conditioning temperature increased from 65 or 70°C to 80 or 85°C (P < 0.05), accompanied by unaffected feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P > 0.05). The villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH/CD) in the duodenum and ileum improved with increasing conditioning temperature (P < 0.05). Additionally, trypsin and amylase activity were enhanced when the conditioning temperature increased from 65 to 85°C (P < 0.05). No significant differences in the carcass traits and blood parameters of goslings were observed among the groups (P > 0.05). Overall, under the present experimental conditions, increasing the steam-conditioning temperature of pelleted feed improved pellet quality, growth performance, intestinal morphology, and digestive enzyme activity in goslings. Based on broken-line regression analysis, the lower critical conditioning temperature for ADG in geese from 1 to 28 d of age was 80.95°C., Competing Interests: DISCLOSURES There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This article presents an event-triggered adaptive acrlong NN command-filtered control for a class of multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems with unknown rate-dependent hysteresis in the actuator and the constraints on full states. The acrlong ETM is used to reduce the communication frequency between controller and actuator. The command filter technique is first employed to solve the dilemma between the nondifferentiable control signal at triggering instants and rate-dependent hysteresis input premise while avoiding the "explosion of complexity" problem. During the backstepping design, the barrier Lyapunov functions are utilized to guarantee that system states will stay in certain regions and the unknown nonlinear items are approximated by adaptive neural networks. The compensating signals are constructed to eliminate filtering errors. The estimates of unknown hysteresis parameters are updated by adaptive laws. The stability analysis is given and the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation.

Rosa multiflora , originated from East Asia, is one of the original ancestors of modern roses. It is also an important genetic resource and rootstock for rose cultivation. Due to its high resistance and vigorous growth, R. multiflora has become an invasive species in some introduction sites, such as North America. To explore the correlation between the suitable habitat of R. multiflora and climate change, we predicted its potential geographic distribution with an optimized MaxEnt model based on 1246 distribution records and nine bioclimatic variables. The results showed that the mean temperature of the coldest quarter, minimum temperature of the coldest month, precipitation of the warmest quarter, and isothermality were significant bioclimatic variables affecting the potential geographic distribution of R. multiflora. Under current climate conditions, R. multiflora naturally distributed in the plains and hilly areas to the east and south of the Loess Plateau. The distribution pattern in the mid-holocene was similar to its current distribution, but the highly suitable distribution area was in the south of North China Plain, the Sichuan Basin, and parts of the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain. During the last interglacial, the suitable areas generally contrac-ted southward, while the highly suitable areas significantly expanded and mainly located in the Sichuan Basin, the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plains, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and the Southeast Hills. Beyond its natural distribution in East Asia, R. multiflora had been introduced and spread to most parts of Europe and the central and eastern United States. The distribution area of R. multiflora would expand under three warming scenarios of different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) during 2041-2060 and 2081-2100. Its average distribution center (centroid) would shift towards higher latitude, indicating that the distribution of R. multiflora was closely related to climate change and that global warming might lead to an expansion of its distribution area. These results would improve our understanding of the ecological adaptability of R. multiflora , facilitate the predicting of its future distribution, and provide a theoretical basis for monitoring and early warning measures following its introduction.

This brief presents a modified event-triggered command filter backstepping tracking control scheme for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown input saturation based on the adaptive neural network (NN) technique. First, the virtual control functions are reconstructed to address the uncertainties in subsystems by using command filters. A piecewise continuous function is employed to deal with the unknown input saturation problem. Next, an event-triggered tracking controller is developed by utilizing the adaptive NN technique. Compared with standard NN control schemes based on multiple-function-approximators, our controller only requires a single NN. The closed-loop system stability is analyzed based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, and it is shown that the Zeno behavior is also avoided under the designed event-triggering mechanism. Simulation studies are performed to validate the effectiveness of our controller.

This article investigates the problem of command-filtered event-triggered adaptive fuzzy neural network (FNN) output feedback control for stochastic nonlinear systems (SNSs) with time-varying asymmetric constraints and input saturation. By constructing quartic asymmetric time-varying barrier Lyapunov functions (TVBLFs), all the state variables are not to transgress the prescribed dynamic constraints. The command-filtered backstepping method and the error compensation mechanism are combined to eliminate the issue of "computational explosion" and compensate the filtering errors. An FNN observer is developed to estimate the unmeasured states. The event-triggered mechanism is introduced to improve the efficiency in resource utilization. It is shown that the tracking error can converge to a small neighborhood of the origin, and all signals in the closed-loop systems are bounded. Finally, a physical example is used to verify the feasibility of the theoretical results.

This paper proposes an extended state observer (ESO) based data-driven set-point learning control (DDSPLC) scheme for a class of nonlinear batch processes with a priori P-type feedback control structure subject to nonrepetitive uncertainties, by only using the process input and output data available in practice. Firstly, the unknown process dynamics is equivalently transformed into an iterative dynamic linearization data model (IDLDM) with a residual term. A radial basis function neural network is adopted to estimate the pseudo partial derivative information related to IDLDM, and meanwhile, a data-driven iterative ESO is constructed to estimate the unknown residual term along the batch direction. Then, an adaptive set-point learning control law is designed to merely regulate the set-point command of the closed-loop control structure for realizing batch optimization. Robust convergence of the output tracking error along the batch direction is rigorously analyzed by using the contraction mapping approach and mathematical induction. Finally, two illustrative examples from the literature are used to validate the effectiveness and advantage of the proposed design., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Qinzhizhudan Formula (QZZD) is composed of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (Huang Qin) extract, Gardenia jasminoides (Zhizi) extract and Suis Fellis Pulvis (Zhudanfen) (ratio of 4:5:6). This formula is optimized from Qingkailing (QKL) injection. Regarding brain injury, QZZD is protective. However, the mechanism by which QZZD treats vascular dementia (VD) has not been elucidated., Aim of the Study: To ascertain QZZD's effect on the treatment of VD and further investigate the molecular mechanisms., Materials and Methods: In this study, we screened the possible components and targets of QZZD against VD and microglia polarization using network pharmacology (NP), then an animal model of bilateral common carotid artery ligation method (2VO) was induced. Afterward, The Morris water maze was employed to evaluate cognitive ability, and pathological alterations in the CA1 area of the hippocampus were detected using HE and Nissl staining. To confirm the affect of QZZD on VD and its molecular mechanism, the contents of inflammatory factors IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-4, and IL-10 were performed to detect by ELISA, the phenotype polarization of microglia cells was detected by immunofluorescence staining, and the expressions of MyD88, p-IκBα and p-NF-κB p65 in brain tissue were detected by western blot., Results: A total of 112 active compounds and 363 common targets of QZZD, microglia polarization, and VD were identified, according to the NP analysis. 38 hub targets were screened out from the PPI network. GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis showed that QZZD may regulate microglia polarization through anti-inflammatory mechanism such as Toll-like receptor signaling pathway and NF-κB signaling pathway. The further results showed that QZZD can alleviate the memory impairment induced by 2VO. QZZD profoundly rescued brain hippocampus neuronal damage and increased the number of neurons. These advantageous outcomes were linked to the control of microglia polarization. QZZD decreased M1 phenotypic marker expression while increasing M2 phenotypic marker expression. QZZD may controll the polarization of the M1 microglia by blocking the core part of Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, that is the MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, which reduced the neurotoxic effects of the microglia., Conclusion: Here, we explored the anti-VD microglial polarization characteristic of QZZD for the first time and clarified its mechanisms. These findings will provide valuable clues for the discovery of anti-VD agents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

To understand the changes in the components of volatile organic compounds(VOCs), the contribution proportion of each component to ozone, and the VOCs sources, we monitored the VOCs for a year in Lishui. The results showed that the ρ (TVOC) was 223.46 μg·m -3 , ρ (alkanes) was 49.45 μg·m -3 (22.3%), ρ (OVOCs) was 50.63 μg·m -3 (22.66%), ρ (halogenated hydrocarbons) was 64.73 μg·m -3 (28.95%), ρ (aromatic hydrocarbons) was 35.46 μg·m -3 (15.87%), ρ (alkenes) was 18.26 μg·m -3 (8.19%), and ρ (others) was 4.9 μg·m -3 (2.2%). ρ (TVOC) was higher in summer(263.75 μg·m -3 ) and lower in winter(187.2 μg·m -3 ), with 246.11 μg·m -3 in spring and 204.77 μg·m -3 in autumn. The daily concentration of VOCs showed two peaks, one from 9:00 to 10:00 and another from 14:00 to 15:00, and the high concentration was mainly found in the urban main road area with dense human activities. The ozone formation potential(OFP) was 278.92 μg·m -3 , and those of olefin and aromatic hydrocarbon were 114.47 μg·m -3 (41.1%) and 113.49 μg·m -3 (40.8%), respectively, contributing over 80%, which was an important precursor of ozone. On the other hand, the ratio of characteristic compounds to toluene/benzene(T/B) was 4.13, which indicated that it was greatly affected by the solvent usage. In the end, the results of positive matrix factorization(PMF) source apportionment showed that VOCs mainly came from solvent usage, industrial production, and traffic emissions. The VOCs pollution had a great influence on ozone, so it was necessary to strengthen the treatment of industrial production, solvent usages, and traffic emissions.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of plerixafor (PXF) combined with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (PXF+G-CSF) and cyclophosphamide (Cy) combined with G-CSF (Cy+G-CSF) in the mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM)., Methods: The clinical data of 41 MM patients who underwent PBSC mobilization using PXF+G-CSF (18 cases) or Cy+G-CSF (23 cases) in Shanxi Bethune Hospital from January 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including the count of collected CD34 + cells, acquisition success rate, failure rate, and optimal rate. The correlation of sex, age, disease type, DS staging, ISS staging, number of chemotherapy cycle, disease status before mobilization, and mobilization regimen with the collection results was analyzed, and the adverse reactions, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization costs were compared between the two mobilization regimens., Results: The 41 patients underwent 97 mobilization collections, and the median number of CD34 + cells collected was 6.09 (0-34.07)×10 6 /kg. The acquisition success rate, optimal rate, and failure rate was 90.2%, 56.1%, and 9.8%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that sex, age, disease type, and disease stage had no significant correlation with the number of CD34 + cells collected and acquisition success rate ( P >0.05), but the patients with better disease remission than partial remission before mobilization were more likely to obtain higher CD34 + cell count ( P <0.05). The PXF+G-CSF group had a larger number of CD34 + cells and higher acquisition success rate in the first collection than Cy+G-CSF group (both P <0.05), and had lower infection risk and shorter length of hospital stay during mobilization (both P <0.05), but the economic burden increased ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: PXF+G-CSF used for PBSC mobilization in MM patients has high first acquisition success rate, large number of CD34 + cells, less number of collection times, and short length of hospital stay, but the economic cost is heavy.

Tuning the electron-donating ability (EDA) of the donor units of hole transporting materials (HTMs) is an efficient strategy to modulate the optoelectronic properties of HTMs. Based on this strategy, we first theoretically investigated the effects of the EDA of donor units on D-A-π-A-D architectural HTMs. The results show that the enhanced EDA of the donor unit leads to larger hole reorganization energy and poorer molecular stability of HTMs. In contrast, meta -substitution of side groups is an effective strategy to reduce the EDA of the donor unit. We found that the application of the meta -substitution strategy in the D-A-π-A-D system not only successfully improves the molecular stability, but also achieves higher hole mobility by promoting the electronic coupling between the molecular dimers and decreasing the hole reorganization energies simultaneously. Studies on interfacial properties indicate that intermolecular coupling also synergistically enhances the interfacial charge extraction performance and reduces carrier recombination. In conclusion, by utilizing the meta -substitution strategy to reduce the EDA of donor units on D-A-π-A-D architectural HTMs, we successfully designed four superior performance HTMs mD1, mD2, mD3, and mD4.

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is life-threatening and needs urgent and highly invasive surgery. So far, there is no comprehensive review of the status quo of ATAAD studies. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify and identify the global trends of ATAAD research over the past two decades through bibliometric analysis and to provide reference for clinical practice, research funding allocation, and decision-making., Methods: The original research articles and reviews related to ATAAD research were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection on March 19, 2023. CiteSpace (6.2.1) and VOSviewer (1.6.18) were used for bibliometric analysis of the number of publications by each country, institution, and authors and the establishment of knowledge maps. The raw data collected were examined using the Online Analysis Platform of Bibliometric to assess the collaboration of countries in the field., Results: The number of documents on ATAAD research increased continuously. A total of 1,943 publications published from 2002 to 2022 from 66 countries/regions were identified: 637 (32.78%) were conducted in China and 360 (18.53%) in the United States; 152 (cited frequency 941) were conducted by Capital Medical University and 107 (cited frequency 370) by Fujian Medical University. The Journal of Cardiac Surgery was the most frequently published journal (143 publications, cited frequency 695). The highest citation and co-cited journal was the Annals of Thoracic Surgery (cited frequency 3,888, co-cited frequency 6,224). We identified 8,050 authors among which Lizhong Sun (61 publications, cited frequency 721) had the largest number of publications, and Nienaber Christoph A (cited frequency 1,536, co-cited frequency 392) was co-cited most often. Meanwhile, the most common keywords were acute type A aortic dissection (occurrences, 1,211), surgery (occurrences, 657), repair (occurrences, 404), and management (occurrences, 386). The earliest and latest used keywords were "axillary artery" (average publication year: 2011.23) and "inflammation" (average publication year: 2019.09), respectively. The keyword "surgical treatment" (strength 12.31) and the co-cited reference "Evangelista A, 2018, Circulation " (strength 28.55) had the highest citation bursts. The keywords "impact" and "acute kidney injury" remained high citation bursts. The co-cited references with the largest and smallest size clusters were "cerebral protection" (#0, size = 126) and "pregnancy" (#12, size = 11). The reference "Hagan PG, 2000, JAMA " (cited frequency, 350) had the highest co-citations., Conclusions: The bibliometric and visualized analysis generated objective evidence for a comprehensive understanding and evaluation of ATAAD research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

This research aimed to investigate the effects of drinking water temperatures on growth performance, water consumption, surface temperature, organ indices, blood parameters, and intestinal development of geese, and determine the optimal drinking water temperature for 21 to 49-d geese. A total of 192 twenty-one-day male Yuzhou white geese were allocated randomly to 4 groups with 8 replicate pens per group according to the drinking water temperature (drinking water temperature [7℃-12℃] at ambient temperature [T C ], 18℃ [T 1 ], 27℃ [T 2 ], and 36℃ [T 3 ], respectively). The results showed that increasing drinking water temperature did not significantly improve the BW, ADG, and ADFI of geese (P > 0.05), whereas drinking warm water of 36℃ for geese had a trend to increase FCR (0.05 < P < 0.1). Geese in group T 2 drank the most water per day on average, whereas geese in group T C drank the least (P < 0.001). Geese in groups T 1 , T 2 , and T 3 had higher eyes temperatures than group T C (P < 0.001). No significant differences were found on the organ indices and blood biochemical parameters (P > 0.05). Geese from group T 1 had higher crypt depth and muscularis thickness of duodenum (P < 0.05), and lower ratio of villus height to crypt depth than other groups (P < 0.001). Geese from group T 1 had higher activities of trypsin in duodenum and jejuna and amylase in jejuna at 49 d than other groups (P < 0.01). Overall, these data indicate drinking water at 18℃ can increase water consumption and eyes temperature, and improve the activity of digestive enzymes and promote intestinal development. Under our experimental conditions, we recommend that the optimal drinking water temperature for geese from 21 to 49 d of age is 18°C., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Vascular and neurological damage are the typical outcomes of ischemic strokes. Vascular endothelial cells (VECs), a substantial component of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), are necessary for normal cerebrovascular physiology. During an ischemic stroke (IS), changes in the brain endothelium can lead to a BBB rupture, inflammation, and vasogenic brain edema, and VECs are essential for neurotrophic effects and angiogenesis. Non-coding RNAs (nc-RNAs) are endogenous molecules, and brain ischemia quickly changes the expression patterns of several non-coding RNA types, such as microRNA (miRNA/miR), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and circular RNA (circRNA). Furthermore, vascular endothelium-associated nc-RNAs are important mediators in the maintenance of healthy cerebrovascular function. In order to better understand how VECs are regulated epigenetically during an IS, in this review, we attempted to assemble the molecular functions of nc-RNAs that are linked with VECs during an IS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Frequent in-out-in femoral neck screws were reported potential huge iatrogenic-injury risks, related to axial safe target area (ASTA) of femoral neck screws channel. However, orientated-quantitative ASTA based on stable coordinate system was unreported before., Methods: Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed on computed tomography (CT) images of 139 intact normal hips, and the intersection area, defined as ASTA, was obtained by superimposing the axial CT images of each femoral neck. Taking anterior cortex of femoral neck basilar (AC-FNB) as landmark, a coordinate system was established to measure the anterior-posterior diameter (D-AP), the superior-inferior diameter (D-SI) and the oblique angle respectively. Each intersection was overlaid up to the axial CT images to determine the coronal location of the ASTA boundaries., Results: Each ASTA presented an inclined rounded triangle with a flat anterior base coincided with AC-FNB. There were significant sex differences in D-SI (male: 33.6±2.3 vs. female: 29.4±1.9 mm) and D-AP (male: 25.3±2.1 vs. 21.9±1.9 mm), P <0.001. D-SI was found to be positively correlated with D-AP ( R2 =0.6). All fluoroscopic visible border isthmus completely matched the corresponding ASTA boundaries. The oblique angle was 5-53° (male: 28.1±10.3°, female: 27.1±8.2°) without significant difference between sexes., Conclusion: The intersection method was employed to conveniently acquire orientated-quantitative individualized ASTA. Under this coordinate system, x-ray data of screws could be converted to axial coordinates in CT ASTA, which could help surgeons design combined screws configuration preoperatively and evaluate quantitatively their axial position intraoperatively., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Size-segregated particulate matter (PM) samples were collected in different seasons from 2016 to 2017 at the Xianlin Campus of Nanjing University. Mass concentrations of water-soluble inorganic ions, carbonaceous components, and elements were analyzed for PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1.1 μm (PM 1.1 ; <0.4 μm, 0.4-0.7 μm, and 0.7-1.1 μm). The results showed that PM 1.1 , OC, NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , and NH 4 + exhibited higher ambient levels in fall-winter than those in spring-summer, which was attributed to the changes in local diffusion conditions, evaporation, and decomposition of non-refractory components. Elemental carbon (EC) reached its maximum concentration[(1.87±0.98) μg·m -3 ]in spring due to the increase in industrial and road dust resuspension. According to the characteristic ratio between bulk components, the anions in PM 1.1 were dominated by NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , and Cl - in Nanjing, and the carbonaceous components were mainly from fossil fuel combustions and associated aging processes. As the ambient temperature increased, the size distributions of thermo-unstable components including NH 4 + , NO 3 - , and OC shifted towards finer particles, whereas EC became more enriched in coarse particles, possibly due to the increase in emission intensity of motor vehicles and fugitive dust contributions. Since high relative humidity (>70%) is often accompanied by high temperature (>20℃) and improved diffusion conditions, a relative humidity of 60%-70% was more conducive to the formation of secondary inorganic ions in PM 1.1 . Source apportionment results based on the speciation data of PM 1.1 showed that secondary formation processes[(66.6±18.3)%]and dust resuspension[(16.8±14.8)%]were the main contributors to PM 1.1 in Nanjing, and further control of the emissions of gaseous precursors and dust is necessary.

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of anti-IgE monoclonal antibody (omazumab) in the treatment of allergic united airway disease (UAD) in the real-wold. Methods: Retrospective cohort study summarizes the case data of patients with allergic united airway disease who were treated with anti IgE monoclonal antibody (omalizumab) for more than 16 weeks from March 1, 2018 to June 30, 2022 in the Peking University First Hospital.The allergic UAD is defined as allergic asthma combined with allergic rhinitis (AA+AR) or allergic asthma combined with chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps (AA+CRSwNP) or allergic asthma combined with allergic rhinitis and nasal polyps (AA+AR+CRSwNP). The control of asthma was evaluated by asthma control test (ACT), lung function test and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). The AR was assessed by total nasal symptom score (TNSS). The CRSwNP was evaluated by nasal visual analogue scale (n-VAS), sino-nasal outcome test-22 (SNOT-22), nasal polyps score (TPS) and Lund-Mackay sinus CT grading system. The global evaluation of omalizumab for the treatment of allergic UADwas performed by Global Evaluation of Treatment Effectiveness(GETE).The drug-related side effects were also recorded. Matched t test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to compare the score changes of IgE monoclonal antibody (omazumab) before and after treatment, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the influencing factors of IgE monoclonal antibody (omazumab) response. Results: A total of 117 patients with UAD were enrolled, ranging in age from 19 to 77 years; The median age of patients was 48.7 years; Among them, 60 were male, ranging from 19 to 77 years old, with a median age of 49.9 years; There were 57 females, ranging from 19 to 68 years old, with a median age of 47.2 years. There were 32 cases in AA+AR subgroup, 59 cases in AA+CRSwNP subgroup, and 26 cases in AA+AR+CRSwNP subgroup. The total serum IgE level was 190.5 (103.8,391.3) IU/ml. The treatment course of anti IgE monoclonal antibody was 24 (16, 32) weeks. Compared with pre-treatment, omalizumab increased ACT from 20.0 (19.5,22.0) to 24.0 (23.0,25.0) ( Z =-8.537, P <0.001), increased pre-bronchodilator FEV1 from 90.2 (74.8,103.0)% predicted value to 95.4 (83.2,106.0)% predicted value ( Z =-5.315, P <0.001), increased FEV1/FVC from 80.20 (66.83,88.38)% to 82.72 (71.26,92.25)% ( Z =-4.483, P <0.001), decreased FeNO from(49.1±24.8) ppb to (32.8±24.4) ppb ( t =5.235, P <0.001), decreased TNSS from (6.5±2.6)to (2.4±1.9) ( t =14.171, P <0.001), decreased n-VAS from (6.8±1.2) to (3.4±2.0)( t =14.448, P <0.001), decreased SNOT-22 from (40.0±7.9) to (21.3±10.2)( t =15.360, P <0.001), decreased TPS from (4.1±0.8) to (2.4±1.0)( t =14.718, P <0.001) and decreased Lund-Mackay CT score from (6.0±1.3) to (3.1±1.6)( t =17.012, P <0.001). The global response rate to omalizumab was 67.5%(79/117). The response rate in AA+AR (90.6%,29/32) was significantly higher than that in AA+CRSwNP (61.0%,36/59) and AA+AR+CRSwNP (53.8%,14/26) subgroups ( χ 2 =11.144, P =0.004). Only 4 patients (3.4%,4/117) had mild side effects. Conclusion: The real-world study showed favorable effectiveness and safety of anti-IgE monoclonal antibody for treatment of allergic UAD. To provide basis for preventing the progress and precise treatment of allergic UAD.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of citric acid (CA) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, intestinal microbiota, and blood parameters of geese from 1 to 28 d of age and evaluate the optimum additional level of citric acid. A total of 180 one-day-old male goslings were randomly allotted to 5 treatment groups of 36 birds with 6 replications. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the other groups were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00% of citric acid, respectively. The results showed that goslings fed the diet supplemented with 1.00% CA had higher final body weight (FBW) and average daily gain (ADG) than other groups (P < 0.05). The CA supplementation at 0.25 to 1.00% improved the morphology of duodenum or jejunum (P < 0.05). The jejunal content pH value was significantly reduced with the addition of CA compared with the control group (P < 0.05). As citric acid levels increased, the IgA concentrations in plasma increased and then decreased, and the goslings fed 1.00% CA supplementation had the highest IgA concentrations (P < 0.05). The supplementation of 1.00% and 2.00% CA in diet significantly reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plasma (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found on some indices related to liver function in plasma (P > 0.05), while creatinine significantly increased by the 2.00% CA supplementation (P < 0.05). Besides, the higher Coliform level in cecal content and worse intestinal morphology were observed when CA supplementation was up to 2.00%. Hence, the dietary CA supplementation (especially 1.00%) in goslings improves the growth performance, intestinal morphology, immunity and antioxidant, while excessive CA addition may cause negative effects. According to the quadratic polynomial model, the addition of CA in diet for obtaining maximum average daily feed intake (ADFI) should be 1.09% (10.9 g/kg diet) for goslings from 1 to 28 d of age., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To acquire a deeper understanding about the impact of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan (APPCAP) on ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), measurements of PM 2.5 chemical components were conducted in the urban area of Nanjing during the implementation of the APPCAP. Evolution characteristics of several properties of the PM 2.5 were studied, including the concentrations, proportions, and enrichment factors of major PM 2.5 components and the acidity of the PM 2.5 . In addition, the source apportion of the PM 2.5 was analyzed using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model. The results showed that during the implementation of the APPCAP, the proportion of sulfate (SO 4 2- ) in PM 2.5 decreased, whereas the proportions of nitrate (NO - 3 ) and ammonium (NH + 4 ) increased significantly together, from 25.58% in 2014 to 37.15% in 2017. The concentrations of carbon components (OC and EC) decreased in the early stage of the APPCAP; however, the decreasing trend slowed down in the later stage. In particular, the proportion of organic carbon (OC) increased, especially for the secondary organic carbon (SOC). The acidity of the PM 2.5 decreased significantly, with the molar equivalent ratio of cations and anions increasing from 0.83 in 2014 to 1.13 in 2017. The contributions of coal combustion and the metallurgical and petrochemical industry to the PM 2.5 generally showed a downward trend, whereas the contribution of vehicle emissions increased rapidly, from 8.78% in 2014 to 13.92% in 2017. The contribution of general fugitive dust fluctuated greatly, but that of soil fugitive dust showed an upward trend. This study suggested that the direct PM 2.5 emissions, such as those from coal combustion and industries, were effectively controlled during the implementation of the APPCAP; however, the contribution of secondary aerosols became increasingly prominent, which indicates that future policies of PM 2.5 pollution control should focus on emission reduction of the precursors such as NO x , NH 3 , and VOCs. In addition, the effects of increasing alkalization of the PM 2.5 and enhanced oxidizability of the atmosphere on the PM 2.5 pollution also require further attention.

This article is concerned with passivity analysis of neural networks with a time-varying delay. Several techniques in the domain are improved to establish the new passivity criterion with less conservatism. First, a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) is constructed with two general delay-product-type terms which contain any chosen degree of polynomials in time-varying delay. Second, a general convexity lemma without conservatism is developed to address the positive-definiteness of the LKF and the negative-definiteness of its time-derivative. Then, with these improved results, a hierarchical passivity criterion of less conservatism is obtained for neural networks with a time-varying delay, whose size and conservatism vary with the maximal degree of the time-varying delay polynomial in the LKF. It is shown that the conservatism of the passivity criterion does not always reduce as the degree of the time-varying delay polynomial increases. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the proposed criterion and benchmark against the existing results.

In the traditional feeding pattern of geese, the feed trough will be placed on the ground for a long time and hurts the living environment. This research aimed to investigate the effect of 4 different feed trough positioning heights on growth performance, blood parameters, feed loss, water consumption, feeding environment, and behavior of geese and determine the optimal trough positioning height for 28 to 70-d geese. A total of one hundred ninty-two 28-d male Yuzhou white geese were allocated randomly to 4 groups with 6 replicate pens per group according to the trough positioning height (on the ground [D], one-third [L], two-thirds [M], and the same height of geese's beak above the ground [H], respectively). The results show that the growth performance and blood biochemical parameters have no significant difference among groups (P > 0.05). The average daily feed loss and water consumption presented the lowest value in group H (P < 0.01). The hygienic condition index of the feed and feed trough increased as trough positioning height. Feed from group H had a higher cleanliness score than other groups (P < 0.001). The count of microbes (total bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli) on the surface of the feed trough from group H was lower than other groups (P < 0.001). Geese from group H had shorter daily feeding and drinking time than other groups (P < 0.05). Overall, these data indicate the same trough positioning height with geese's beaks could lower feed loss, and water consumption and improve hygienic conditions without damage to growth performance and will be the optimal choice for geese., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The previously established 38-plex InDel system was optimized and its performance was validated according to the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Method (SWGDAM) application guidelines. The ancestry inference accuracy of individuals from East Asian, European, African and mixed populations was verified., Methods: DNA standard sample 9947A was used as the template to establish the optimal amplification conditions by adjusting primer balance, Mg 2+ final concentration and optimizing PCR thermal cycle parameters and amplification volume. The allelic dropout, nonspecific amplification and whether the origin of the inferred samples matched the known information were compared to evaluate the performance of this system., Results: The optimal dosage of this system was 0.125-2 ng DNA template. The results of InDel typing were accurate, the amplification equilibrium was good, and the species specificity was good. This system showed certain tolerance to DNA samples including the inhibitor such as hemoglobin (≤80 μmol/L), indigo (≤40 mmol/L), calcium ion (≤1.0 mmol/L), and humic acid (≤90 ng/μL). The system enabled the direct amplification of DNA from saliva and blood on filter paper, and the results of ethnic inference were accurate. The system successfully detected the mixed DNA sample from two individuals. The test results of the system for common biological materials in practical cases were accurate., Conclusions: The results of the 38-plex InDel system are accurate and reliable, and the performance of the system meets the requirement of the SWGDAM guidelines. This system can accurately differentiate the ancestry origins of individuals from African, European, East Asian, and Eurasian populations and can be implemented in forensic practice.

Plant invasion is one of the most serious global problems, destroying ecosystem structure and function. With the severity of plant invasion, it is particularly important to understand the mechanisms of plant invasion in order to control and solve the problem. We summarized different mechanisms of plant invasion and the synergy among them, expounded the allelopathy, the plant-soil feedbacks, the reciprocal symbiosis, the effects of plant functional traits and phenotype plasticity in the process of plant invasion, and comprehensively analyzed the synergy of multiple mechanisms on plant invasion trajectory. According to the results, the invasion trajectory of alien plants in the invasive site was divided into four stages: introduction, colonization, establishment, and invasion. Integrating all kinds of obstacles and promoting factors encountered into it and putting forward the invasion curve of plants would contribute to the future research and management of invasive plants. We further highlighted the current research deficiencies and future research directions and objectives based on analyzing current research methods of plant invasion.

Pericytes, as the mural cells surrounding the microvasculature, play a critical role in the regulation of microcirculation; however, how these cells respond to ischemic stroke remains unclear. To determine the temporal alterations in pericytes after ischemia/reperfusion, we used the 1-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion model, which was examined at 2, 12, and 24 hours after reperfusion. Our results showed that in the reperfused regions, the cerebral blood flow decreased and the infarct volume increased with time. Furthermore, the pericytes in the infarct regions contracted and acted on the vascular endothelial cells within 24 hours after reperfusion. These effects may result in incomplete microcirculation reperfusion and a gradual worsening trend with time in the acute phase. These findings provide strong evidence for explaining the "no-reflow" phenomenon that occurs after recanalization in clinical practice., Competing Interests: None

Size regulation of uniform polymer nanospheres (PNSs) and carbon nanospheres (CNSs) below 100 nm has been difficult and is limited by multiple factors, such as ongoing nucleation, Ostwald ripening, minimization of surface energy, and high viscosity during the nucleation and growth process. In this study, a kinetics-controlled regulation is reported for the synthesis of monodispersed PNSs and corresponding CNSs with adjustable size below 100 nm. During the synthesis of PNSs, three distinct stages including surface energy control, surface tension control and viscosity control have been observed, where the concentration of block copolymer F127 ( C F127 ) plays a vital role in affecting the nucleation rate of PNSs and tunes the diffusion rate of monomers and migration of particles during the nucleation and growth process. As a consequence, the size of monodisperse CNSs can be customized from 100 nm down to 41 nm with PDI below 5%.

Background: Schisandrin B (Sch B), which inhibits hepatic steatosis caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is one of the most active dibenzocyclooctadienes isolated from Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill with various pharmacological activities. In this study, the role of Sch B-induced autophagy in lipid-lowering activities of Sch B was examined and the underlying mechanisms were elucidated., Methods: Free fatty acid (FFA)-stimulated HepG2 cells and mouse primary hepatocytes (MPHs) and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice were used as NAFLD models. The role of Sch B-induced autophagy in lipid-lowering effects of Sch B was assessed using ATG5/TFEB-deficient cells and 3-methyladenine (3-MA)-treated hepatocytes and mice., Results: Sch B simultaneously active autophagy through AMPK/mTOR pathway and decreased the number of lipid droplets in FFA-treated HepG2 cells and MPHs. Additionally, siATG5/siTFEB transfection or 3-MA treatment mitigated Sch B-induced autophagy and activation of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and ketogenesis in FFA-treated HepG2 cells and MPHs. Sch B markedly decreased hepatic lipid content and activated the autophagy through AMPK/mTOR pathway in HFD-fed mice. However, the activities of Sch B were suppressed upon 3-MA treatment. Sch B upregulated the expression of key enzymes involved in FAO and ketogenesis, which was mitigated upon 3-MA treatment. Moreover, changes in hepatic lipid components and amino acids may be related to the Sch B-induced autophagy pathway., Conclusion: These results suggested that Sch B inhibited hepatic steatosis and promoted FAO by activation of autophagy through AMPK/mTOR pathway. Our study provides novel insights into the hepatic lipophagic activity of Sch B and its potential application in the management of NAFLD., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The stability of neural networks with a time-varying delay is studied in this article. First, a relaxed Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) is presented, in which the positive-definiteness requirement of the augmented quadratic term and the delay-product-type terms are set free, and two double integral states are augmented into the single integral terms at the same time. Second, a new negative-definiteness determination method is put forward for quadratic functions by utilizing Taylor's formula and the interval-decomposition approach. This method encompasses the previous negative-definiteness determination approaches and has less conservatism. Finally, the proposed LKF and the negative-definiteness determination method are applied to the stability analysis of neural networks with a time-varying delay, whose advantages are shown by two numerical examples.

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been spreading rapidly in South Africa (SA) since its first case on 5 March 2020. In total, 674,339 confirmed cases and 16,734 mortality cases were reported by 30 September 2020, and this pandemic has made severe impacts on economy and life. In this paper, analysis and long-term prediction of the epidemic dynamics of SA are made, which could assist the government and public in assessing the past Infection Prevention and Control Measures and designing the future ones to contain the epidemic more effectively. A Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered model is adopted to analyse epidemic dynamics. The model parameters are estimated over different phases with the SA data. They indicate variations in the transmissibility of COVID-19 under different phases and thus reveal weakness of the past Infection Prevention and Control Measures in SA. The model also shows that transient behaviours of the daily growth rate and the cumulative removal rate exhibit periodic oscillations. Such dynamics indicates that the underlying signals are not stationary and conventional linear and nonlinear models would fail for long-term prediction. Therefore, a large class of mappings with rich functions and operations is chosen as the model class and the evolutionary algorithm is utilized to obtain the optimal model for long term prediction. The resulting models on the daily growth rate, the cumulative removal rate and the cumulative mortality rate predict that the peak and inflection point will occur on November 4, 2020 and October 15, 2020, respectively; the virus shall cease spreading on April 28, 2021; and the ultimate numbers of the COVID-19 cases and mortality cases will be 785,529 and 17,072, respectively. The approach is also benchmarked against other methods and shows better accuracy of long-term prediction., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of ambient temperature on the growth performance, fat deposition, and intestinal morphology of geese from 28 to 49 d of age. A total of 120 twenty-eight-day-old geese were randomly allotted to 5 environmentally controlled chambers with ambient temperatures set at 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30°C from 28 to 49 d of age, respectively. The feed intake, 49 d body weight, and weight gain decreased linearly or quadratically (P < 0.05) as ambient temperature increased and declined to a minimum when the temperature increased to 30°C. The feed/gain showed a linear or quadratic (P < 0.05) increasing response to increasing temperature. According to broken-line regression, the upper critical levels of ambient temperature from 28 to 49 d of age for weight gain and feed intake were 25.19 and 23.97°C, respectively. As ambient temperature increased from 18 to 30°C, the abdominal fat weight, abdominal fat rate, and subcutaneous fat thickness decreased linearly (P < 0.05) and were accompanied by linearly increasing liver fat content (P < 0.05), but the ambient temperature had no effect on intermuscular fat width or breast muscle fat content (P > 0.05). There were no differences in jejunal, ileal, or cecal morphology for geese raised at 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30°C (P > 0.05). The duodenal villus height showed a linear decreasing response to increasing ambient temperature, but the ambient temperature had no effect on crypt depth, villus width, muscularis thickness, or villus height/crypt depth of the duodenum (P > 0.05). These results indicate that high ambient temperature decreased growth performance and fat deposition and impaired duodenal morphology of geese. Under our experimental conditions, we recommend that the upper critical ambient temperature for geese from 28 to 49 d of age be 25.19°C., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)