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With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, hand gesture detection has gradually become a research hotspot in human–computer interaction. However, the traditional hand gesture detection has low robustness and detection accuracy, and brings the problem of privacy protection. Therefore, this paper proposes a Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (F-RCNN) hand gesture detection method based on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar with 3-Dimensions deep convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks (3-DCGAN). In particular, the range Doppler and angle of the hand gestures are calculated by FMCW radar. Then, the semantic label maps of the Range-Time-Map, Doppler-Time-Map and Angle-Time-Map images are respectively sent to the 3-DCGAN to expand the datasets. After that, the original and the 3-DCGAN generated images are sent to F-RCNN for jointly training. The classifier function is designed, and a learning ranking based assessment called Rank based Quality Score (RQS) is applied to improve the detection performance. The experimental results show that the mean average precision reaches to 80.8%. Moreover, the RQS for hand gesture detection is as high as 96.3%, which is increased by 5.8% compared to the traditional F-RCNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Low values of heart rate deceleration capacity (DC) and heart rate asymmetry (HRA) are associated with cardiovascular risks. Slow respiration has been proven to enhance the magnitudes of these indexes, but individual inspiratory (TI) and expiratory (TE) durations were not controlled in most studies. This study aims to examine whether the effects of TI and TE on these indexes would be the same and, if not, how to adjust TI and TE to maximize the effect of slow respiration. Methods: We evaluated 14 seated healthy young adults who randomly controlled their breathing to nine combinations of TI and TE, each chosen respectively from 2, 4, and 6 s. A 5-min R-R interval time series was obtained from each study period for further analysis. Results: The magnitude of DC increased when TI or TE increased, while that of acceleration capacity (AC) remained almost unchanged by TI. We further defined a new index as 100 × DC2/(DC2 + AC2) and found it to be correlated with conventional Guzik's (r = 0.94) and Porta's (r = 0.99) indexes of HRA during different combinations of TI and TE. Increasing TI and increasing TE both enhanced the magnitudes of HRA indexes, with TI taking effect when ≤ 4 s, and TE taking effect when > 4 s. DC and HRA indexes were maximized with a TI of 4 s and a TE of 6 s. Conclusion: We suggest that a TI of 3–4 s with a TE of 7–6 s is an appropriate standard for slow respiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To date, carbohydrate antigen 19‐9 (CA19‐9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) have been widely used for the screening, diagnosis and prediction of biliary tract cancer (BTC) patients. However, few studies with large sample sizes of carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50) were reported in BTC patients. Methods: A total of 1121 patients from the Liver Cancer Clin‐Bio Databank of Anhui Hepatobiliary Surgery Union between January 2017 and December 2022 were included in this study (673 in the training cohort and 448 in the validation cohort): among them, 458 with BTC, 178 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 23 with combined hepatocellular‐cholangiocarcinoma, and 462 with nontumor patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy and clinical usefulness. Results: ROC curves obtained by combining CA50, CA19‐9, and AFP showed that the AUC value of the diagnostic MODEL 1 was 0.885 (95% CI 0.856–0.885, specificity 70.3%, and sensitivity 84.0%) in the training cohort and 0.879 (0.841–0.917, 76.7%, and 84.3%) in the validation cohort. In addition, comparing iCCA and HCC (235 in the training cohort, 157 in the validation cohort), the AUC values of the diagnostic MODEL 2 were 0.893 (95% CI 0.853–0.933, specificity 96%, and sensitivity 68.6%) in the training cohort and 0.872 (95% CI 0.818–0.927, 94.2%, and 64.6%) in the validation cohort. Conclusion: The model combining CA50, CA19‐9, and AFP not only has good diagnostic value for BTC but also has good diagnostic value for distinguishing iCCA and HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craniopharyngiomas are rare tumors of the central nervous system that typically present with symptoms such as headache and visual impairment, and those reflecting endocrine abnormalities, which seriously affect the quality of life of patients. Patients with craniopharyngiomas are at higher cardiometabolic risk, defined as conditions favoring the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying common pathogenic mechanisms of craniopharyngiomas and type 2 diabetes are not clear. Especially due to the difficulty of conducting in vitro or in vivo experiments on craniopharyngioma, we thought the common pathway analysis between craniopharyngioma and type 2 diabetes based on bioinformatics is a powerful and feasible method. In the present study, using public datasets (GSE94349, GSE68015, GSE38642 and GSE41762) obtained from the GEO database, the gene expression associated with adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma, a subtype of craniopharyngioma, and type 2 diabetes were analyzed using a bioinformatic approach. We found 11 hub genes using a protein–protein interaction network analysis. Of these, seven (DKK1, MMP12, KRT14, PLAU, WNT5B, IKBKB, and FGF19) were also identified by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analysis. Finally, single-gene validation and receptor operating characteristic analysis revealed that four of these genes (MMP12, PLAU, KRT14, and DKK1) may be involved in the common pathogenetic mechanism of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma and type 2 diabetes. In addition, we have characterized the differences in immune cell infiltration that characterize these two diseases, providing a reference for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China experienced an overwhelming COVID-19 pandemic from middle December 2022 to middle January 2023 after lifting the zero-COVID-19 policy on December 7, 2022. However, the infection rate was less studied. We aimed to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in children shortly after discontinuation of the zero-COVID-19 policy. Methods: From February 20 to April 10, 2023, we included 393 children aged 8 months to less than 3 years who did not receive COVID-19 vaccination and 114 children aged 3 to 6 years who received inactivated COVID-19 vaccines based on the convenience sampling in this cross-sectional study. IgG and IgM antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and subunit 1 of spike (S1) of SARS-CoV-2 (anti-N/S1) were measured with commercial kits (Shenzhen YHLO Biotech, China). Results: Of the 393 unvaccinated children (1.5 ± 0.6 years; 52.2% boys), 369 (93.9%) were anti-N/S1 IgG positive. Of the 114 vaccinated children (5.3 ± 0.9 years; 48.2% boys), 112 (98.2%) were anti-N/S1 IgG positive. None of the unvaccinated or vaccinated children was anti-N/S1 IgM positive. The median IgG antibody titers in vaccinated children (344.91 AU/mL) were significantly higher than that in unvaccinated children (42.80 AU/mL) (P < 0.0001). The positive rates and titers of anti-N/S1 IgG had no significant difference between boys and girls respectively. Conclusion: Vast majority of children were infected with SARS-CoV-2 shortly after ending zero-COVID-19 policy in China. Whether these unvaccinated infected children should receive COVID-19 vaccine merits further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian cytochrome P450 drug‐metabolizing enzymes rarely cleave carbon–carbon (C−C) bonds and the mechanisms of such cleavages are largely unknown. We identified two unusual cleavages of non‐polar, unstrained C(sp2)−C(sp3) bonds in the FDA‐approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor pexidartinib that are mediated by CYP3A4/5, the major human phase I drug metabolizing enzymes. Using a synthetic ketone, we rule out the Baeyer–Villiger oxidation mechanism that is commonly invoked to address P450‐mediated C−C bond cleavages. Our studies in 18O2 and H218O enriched systems reveal two unusual distinct mechanisms of C−C bond cleavage: one bond is cleaved by CYP3A‐mediated ipso‐addition of oxygen to a C(sp2) site of N‐protected pyridin‐2‐amines, and the other occurs by a pseudo‐retro‐aldol reaction after hydroxylation of a C(sp3) site. This is the first report of CYP3A‐mediated C−C bond cleavage in drug metabolism via ipso‐addition of oxygen mediated mechanism. CYP3A‐mediated ipso‐addition is also implicated in the regioselective C−C cleavages of several pexidartinib analogs. The regiospecificity of CYP3A‐catalyzed oxygen ipso‐addition under environmentally friendly conditions may be attractive and inspire biomimetic or P450‐engineering methods to address the challenging task of C−C bond cleavages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian cytochrome P450 drug‐metabolizing enzymes rarely cleave carbon–carbon (C−C) bonds and the mechanisms of such cleavages are largely unknown. We identified two unusual cleavages of non‐polar, unstrained C(sp2)−C(sp3) bonds in the FDA‐approved tyrosine kinase inhibitor pexidartinib that are mediated by CYP3A4/5, the major human phase I drug metabolizing enzymes. Using a synthetic ketone, we rule out the Baeyer–Villiger oxidation mechanism that is commonly invoked to address P450‐mediated C−C bond cleavages. Our studies in 18O2 and H218O enriched systems reveal two unusual distinct mechanisms of C−C bond cleavage: one bond is cleaved by CYP3A‐mediated ipso‐addition of oxygen to a C(sp2) site of N‐protected pyridin‐2‐amines, and the other occurs by a pseudo‐retro‐aldol reaction after hydroxylation of a C(sp3) site. This is the first report of CYP3A‐mediated C−C bond cleavage in drug metabolism via ipso‐addition of oxygen mediated mechanism. CYP3A‐mediated ipso‐addition is also implicated in the regioselective C−C cleavages of several pexidartinib analogs. The regiospecificity of CYP3A‐catalyzed oxygen ipso‐addition under environmentally friendly conditions may be attractive and inspire biomimetic or P450‐engineering methods to address the challenging task of C−C bond cleavages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of Ceph distributed storage systems, ensuring swift and symmetrical data recovery during severe data corruption scenarios is pivotal for data reliability and system stability. This paper introduces an innovative FPGA-based Multi-Dimensional Elastic Recovery Acceleration method, termed AMDER-Ceph. Utilizing FPGA technology, this method is a pioneer in accelerating erasure code data recovery within such systems symmetrically. By harnessing the parallel computing power of FPGAs and optimizing Cauchy matrix binary operations, AMDER-Ceph significantly enhances data recovery speed and efficiency symmetrically. Our evaluations in real-world Ceph environments show that AMDER-Ceph achieves up to 4.84 times faster performance compared with traditional methods, especially evident in the standard 4 MB block size configurations of Ceph systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the spatial and temporal changes in fractional vegetation coverage (FVC) and their driving forces in different regions of the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin, this paper observed the spatial trends and stability of FVC in these regions based on the MOD13Q1 information regarding the 2000–2020 period as a data source. It used the dimidiate pixel model to invert FVC, and based on the centre of gravity migration model, the coefficient of variation and the Mann–Kendall and Sen's slope estimator test, it studied the spatial variation trend and stability of FVC in the four relevant areas of the Inner Mongolia section; an attribution analysis using a geodetector was also conducted. The following results were found: (1) in terms of temporal FVC change in the relevant areas, from 2000 to 2020, the overall FVC showed an increasing trend, indicating an obvious hierarchy of change as per different seasonal scales (summer > growing season > fall > spring). There is a mutation point in FVC in different areas, and the FVC sequence is random. (2) Regarding spatial change, the overall FVC showed a trend of being high in the eastern regions and low in the western regions and low–high–low from the north to the south; the stability of the Hetao Irrigation District–Wuliangsuhai Area changed more significantly with the successive seasons, and the degraded areas of FVC were mainly distributed in the city centre of the Kundulun River–Daheihe River Area and in the Hetao Irrigation District in the summer. (3) In terms of driving factors, soil type had a relatively higher explanatory power regarding the Hetao Irrigation District–Wuliangsuhai Area, rainfall had a relatively higher explanatory power regarding the Morin River–Wuding River Area and the Kundulun River–Daheihe River Area, and land use had a relatively higher explanatory power regarding the Ten Kongtui–Heidaigou Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Dehydroepiandrosterone plays an important role in the human beings due to its ability to be converted into androgens and oestrogens. The aim of this paper is to synthesize a series of novel dehydroepiandrosteronyl 1,2,3-triazole derivatives and study the antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds. Methods: Novel dehydroepiandrosteronyl 1,2,3-triazole derivatives were synthesized across the Mitsunobu and click reaction, respectively. The cytotoxicities of the synthesized compounds against HeLa, HGC-27, and HEK-293T cells were determined by MTT assay. Results and Discussion: The results showed that compound (V) (3R,8R,9S,10R,13S,14S)3-(4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-10,13-dimethyl-1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16-tetradecahydro17H-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-17-one had better inhibitory activity against the tumor cell lines tested. The IC50 value of inhibitory activity on human cervical cancer cell (HeLa) and human gastric cancer cell (HGC-27) was 33.6 and 22.3 μmolL–1, respectively. Conclusions: This work provides useful strategies for the design and synthesis of new steroidal antitumor drugs. The synthesized compounds have certain inhibitory activity on tumor cell growth and proliferation, but have little damage on normal cells, which deserves further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rate of disability and mortality associated with cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury (CIRI) is high due to limited treatment options, making it a major challenge to clinical management. Calycosin is a biologically active compound hostile to inflammatory, neuroprotective, and tumor effects. Whether calycosin has an ischemia/reperfusion effect or mechanism is unclear. Materials and Methods: For in vivo experiments, we randomly divided rats into five groups: blank control group, middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) surgical group, calycosin + MCAO/R group (5 mg/kg), calycosin + MCAO/R group (10 mg/kg), and calycosin + MCAO/R group (20 mg/kg). Molding of the middle cerebral artery was performed. Calycosin's neuroprotective effects were evaluated using the neurological deficit score, brain edema rate, and cerebral infarct volume. For in vitro experiments, we divided PC12 cells into five groups: blank control group, oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) group, calycosin + OGD/R group (1 × 10−6 mol/L), calycosin + OGD/R group (4 × 10−6 mol/L), and calycosin + OGD/R group (16 × 10−6 mol/L). The optimal concentration of calycosin on PC12 cells was determined using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) cell activity assay. The expression of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)-related factors was detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Results: In rats, the MCAO/R model resulted in elevated neurological deficit scores, increased brain infarct volumes, and increased brain edema rates. The OGD/R model decreased rat adrenal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell activity, and calycosin had a significant cerebral protective effect on PC12 cells under OGD/R conditions. In addition, calycosin can inhibit the activation of the NF-κB pathway, and its neuroprotective effect may be related to the NF-κB pathway. Conclusion: Calycosin can reduce focal CIRI, and the neuroprotective effect of calycosin may be related to the inhibition of the high mobility group protein 1/toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual may response to drug treatment differently due to their genetic variants located in enhancers. These variants can alter transcription factor's (TF) binding strength, affect enhancer's chromatin activity or interaction, and eventually change expression level of downstream gene. Here, we propose a computational framework, PERD, to Predict the Enhancers Responsive to Drug. A machine learning model was trained to predict the genome-wide chromatin accessibility from transcriptome data using the paired expression and chromatin accessibility data collected from ENCODE and ROADMAP. Then the model was applied to the perturbed gene expression data from Connectivity Map (CMAP) and Cancer Drug-induced gene expression Signature DataBase (CDS-DB) and identify drug responsive enhancers with significantly altered chromatin accessibility. Furthermore, the drug responsive enhancers were related to the pharmacogenomics genome-wide association studies (PGx GWAS). Stepping on the traditional drug-associated gene signatures, PERD holds the promise to enhance the causality of drug perturbation by providing candidate regulatory element of those drug associated genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stroke is a devastating disease affecting populations worldwide and is the primary cause of long-term disability. The inflammatory storm plays a crucial role in the progression of stroke. In the acute phase of ischemic stroke, there is a transient increase in anti-inflammatory M2 microglia followed by a rapid decline. Due to the abundant phospholipid in brain tissue, lipid peroxidation is a notable characteristic of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), constituting a structural foundation for ferroptosis in M2 microglia. Slowing down the decrease in M2 microglia numbers and controlling the inflammatory microenvironment holds significant potential for enhancing stroke recovery. Results: We found that the ferroptosis inhibitor can modulate inflammatory response in MCAO mice, characterizing that the level of M2 microglia-related cytokines was increased. We then confirmed that different subtypes of microglia exhibit distinct sensitivities to I/R-induced ferroptosis. Adipose-derived stem cells derived exosome (ADSC-Exo) effectively decreased the susceptibility of M2 microglia to ferroptosis via Fxr2/Atf3/Slc7a11, suppressing the inflammatory microenvironment and promoting neuronal survival. Furthermore, through plasmid engineering, a more efficient M2 microglia-targeted exosome, termed M2pep-ADSC-Exo, was developed. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that M2pep-ADSC-Exo exhibits significant targeting specificity for M2 microglia, further inhibiting M2 microglia ferroptosis and improving neurological function in ischemic stroke mice. Conclusion: Collectively, we illustrated a novel potential therapeutic mechanism that Fxr2 in ADSC-Exo could alleviate the M2 microglia ferroptosis via regulating Atf3/Slc7all expression, hence inhibiting the inflammatory microenvironment, improving neurofunction recovery in cerebral I/R injury. We obtained a novel exosome, M2pep-ADSC-Exo, through engineered modification, which exhibits improved targeting capabilities toward M2 microglia. This provides a new avenue for the treatment of stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery materials research is of crucial importance to the development of next‐generation batteries. However, the transition from lab‐scale studies, typically in gram quantities, to industrially relevant ones (i.e., kilogram scale) has been holding back by challenges in scale‐up synthesis and a lack of reliable approaches to verify the electrochemical performance of the lab‐made materials. Here the design and assembly procedures of sub‐Ah‐scale pouch cells that provide validations of several lab‐made Li‐ion and Na‐ion cathode materials available in a limited quantity (<5 g) are reported. These lab‐made pouch cells show superior cycle stability and consistency over the widely used coin cells, exemplified by multiple Ni‐rich layered oxide‐graphite full batteries retaining 84.29 ± 0.16% of the initial capacities over 1000 cycles. A four‐electrode pouch cell with a reparable reference electrode is further designed to monitor impedance growth and Li plating during long‐term electrochemical tests. It can be further integrated with in situ ultrasonic imaging to enable multi‐modal studies. This work provides a powerful platform to evaluate and boost the technology readiness levels of laboratory‐discovered battery materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olefin [2+2] photocycloaddition reactions based on coordination-bond templates provide numerous advantages for the selective synthesis of cyclobutane compounds. This review outlines the recent advances in the design and construction of single crystal platforms of olefinic coordination polymers for precise organic synthesis, in situ exploration of reaction mechanisms, and possible developments as comprehensively as possible. Numerous examples are presented to illustrate how the arrangements of the olefin pairs influence the solid-state photoreactivity and examine the types of cyclobutane products. Furthermore, the photocycloaddition reaction mechanisms are investigated by combining advanced techniques such as single crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, laser scanning confocal microscopy and theoretical calculations. Finally, potential applications resulting from promising physicochemical properties before and after photoreactions are discussed, and existing challenges and possible solutions are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, thermomechanical treatment (single-pass rolling at 800 °C and solution treatment) was applied to nuclear-grade hot-rolled austenitic stainless steel to eliminate the mixed grain induced by the uneven hot-rolled microstructure. By employing high-temperature laser scanning confocal microscopy, microstructure evolution during solution treatment was observed in situ, and the effect of single-pass rolling reduction on it was investigated. In uneven hot-rolled microstructure, the millimeter-grade elongated grains (MEGs) possessed an extremely large size and a high Schmid factor for slip compared to the fine grains, which led to greater plastic deformation and increased dislocation density and deformation energy storage during single-pass rolling. During subsequent solution treatment, there were fewer nucleation sites for the new grain, and the grain boundary (GB) was the main nucleation site in MEGs at a lower rolling reduction. In contrast, at a higher reduction, increased uniformly distributed rolling deformation and more nucleation sites were developed in MEGs. As the reduction increased, the number of in-grain nucleation sites gradually exceeded that of GB nucleation sites, and in-grain nucleation preferentially occurred. This was beneficial for promoting the refinement of new recrystallized grains and a reduction in the size difference of new grains during recrystallization. The single-pass rolling reduction of 15–20% can effectively increase the nucleation sites and improve the uniformity of rolling deformation distribution in the MEGs, promote in-grain nucleation, and finally refine the abnormally coarse elongated grain, and eliminate the mixed-grain structure after solution treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of austenitizing and austempering temperatures on the bainite transformation kinetics and the microstructural and mechanical properties of a medium-carbon high-silicon ultra-fine bainitic steel were investigated via dilatometric measurements, microstructural characterization and mechanical tests. It is demonstrated that the optimum austenitizing temperature exists for 0.3 wt.%C ultra-fine bainitic steel. Although the finer austenite grain at 950 °C provides more bainite nuclei site and form finer bainitic ferrite plates, the lower dislocation density in plates and the higher volume fraction of the retained austenite reduces the strength and impact toughness of ultra-fine steel. When the austenitizing temperature exceeds 1000 °C, the true thickness of bainitic ferrite plates and the volume fraction of blocky retained austenite in the bainite microstructure increase significantly with the increases in austenitizing temperature, which do harm to the plasticity and impact toughness. The effect of austempering temperature on the transformation behavior and microstructural morphology of ultra-fine bainite is greater than that of austenitizing temperature. The prior martensite, formed when the austempering temperature below Ms, can refine the bainitic ferrite plates and improve the strength and impact toughness. However, the presence of prior martensite divides the untransformed austenite and inhibits the growth of bainite sheaves, thus prolonging the finishing time of bainite transformation. In addition, prior martensite also strengthens the stability of untransformed austenite though carbon partition and enhances the volume fraction of blocky retained austenite, which reduces the plasticity of ultra-fine bainitic steel. According to the experimental results, the optimum austempering process for 0.3 wt. %C ultra-fine bainitic steel is through austenitization at 1000 °C and austempering at 340 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and comprehensive detection of pavement cracks is important for maintaining road quality and ensuring traffic safety. However, the complexity of road surfaces and the diversity of cracks make it difficult for existing methods to accomplish this challenging task. This paper proposes a novel network named the global graph multiscale network (GGMNet) for automated pixel-level detection of pavement cracks. The GGMNet network has several innovations compared with the mainstream road crack detection network: (1) a global contextual Res-block (GC-Resblock) is proposed to guide the network to emphasize the identities of cracks while suppressing background noises; (2) a graph pyramid pooling module (GPPM) is designed to aggregate the multi-scale features and capture the long-range dependencies of cracks; (3) a multi-scale features fusion module (MFF) is established to efficiently represent and deeply fuse multi-scale features. We carried out extensive experiments on three pavement crack datasets. These were DeepCrack dataset, with complex background noises; the CrackTree260 dataset, with various crack structures; and the Aerial Track Detection dataset, with a drone's perspective. The experimental results demonstrate that GGMNet has excellent performance, high accuracy, and strong robustness. In conclusion, this paper provides support for accurate and timely road maintenance and has important reference values and enlightening implications for further linear feature extraction research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructed from a dataset capturing the seasonal and annual water body distribution of the lower Qarqan River in the Taitma Lake area from 2017 to 2022, and combined with the meteorological and hydraulic engineering data, the spatial and temporal change patterns of the Taitma Lake watershed area were determined. Analyses were conducted using Planetscope (PS) satellite images and a deep learning model. The results revealed the following: ① Deep learning-based water body extraction provides significantly greater accuracy than the conventional water body index approach. With an impressive accuracy of up to 96.0%, UPerNet was found to provide the most effective extraction results among the three convolutional neural networks (U-Net, DeeplabV3+, and UPerNet) used for semantic segmentation; ② Between 2017 and 2022, Taitma Lake's water area experienced a rapid decrease, with the distribution of water predominantly shifting towards the east–west direction more than the north–south. The shifts between 2017 and 2020 and between 2020 and 2022 were clearly discernible, with the latter stage (2020–2022) being more significant than the former (2017–2020); ③ According to observations, Taitma Lake's changing water area has been primarily influenced by human activity over the last six years. Based on the research findings of this paper, it was observed that this study provides a valuable scientific basis for water resource allocation aiming to balance the development of water resources in the middle and upper reaches of the Tarim and Qarqan Rivers, as well as for the ecological protection of the downstream Taitma Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave irradiation was postulated to reduce time and energy for deep eutectic solvent (DES) production which is in line with the principle of green chemistry. In this study, the choline chloride (ChCl)‐malic acid (MA) DES was prepared using microwave‐assisted (DES‐Mic) and conventional (DES‐Con) approaches. Microwave was a relatively greener approach as it was rapid (5 min) and consumed 92.8 % energy less than DES‐Con. Moreover, DES‐Mic and DES‐Con exhibited similar physicochemical profiles (pH, solubility, density) and rheological properties. Structural profiling through FTIR analysis suggested hydrogen bond formation between the functional groups of ChCl and MA. The FTIR spectra also did not show structural differences in the DES synthesized using different methods. DES‐Mic and DES‐Con exhibited superior 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (80.8±0.1 and 83.2±0.3 %, respectively) free radical scavenging activities than ChCl (15.6±0.8 %), MA (20.0±1.4 %) and ChCl:MA aqueous mixture without subjected to DES synthesis conditions (ChCl:MAaq; 23.3±0.8 %). Both DES were also proven as more efficient solvents for the extraction of polysaccharides from ramie leaf, as they recorded higher yields (21.4±1.9 and 22.2±1.0 %, respectively) than equimolar of MA (17.7±2.6 %) and ChCl (6.4±0.2 %). Overall, microwave was proven as a more sustainable approach for DES preparation compared to conventional method, which could be further improvised for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lattice mismatch significantly influences microscopic transport in semiconducting devices, affecting interfacial charge behavior and device efficacy. This atomic‐level disordering, often overlooked in previous research, is crucial for device efficiency and lifetime. Recent studies have highlighted emerging challenges related to lattice mismatch in perovskite solar cells, especially at heterojunctions, revealing issues like severe tensile stress, increased ion migration, and reduced carrier mobility. This review systematically discusses the effects of lattice mismatch on strain, material stability, and carrier dynamics. It also includes detailed characterizations of these phenomena and summarizes current strategies including epitaxial growth and buffer layer, as well as explores future solutions to mitigate mismatch‐induced issues. We also provide the challenges and prospects for lattice mismatch, aiming to enhance the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells, and contribute to renewable energy technology advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-structure has been used for vibration isolation due to its nonlinear characteristic. Here, the use of an inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator is proposed to improve the dynamic performance of the traditional X-structure vibration isolator by exploiting the mass amplification characteristic of the inerter while satisfying the lightweight design requirement. Based on the arrangement of the inerter and X-structure, transverse-mounted, series-connected and parallel-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolators are designed. The relevant dynamic equations for these isolators are established using the Lagrange principle, their dynamic responses are obtained using the harmonic balance method and pseudoarc-length method, and their isolation performances are evaluated by three performance indices and compared with those of the X-structure and traditional linear vibration isolators. The results show that the transverse-mounted inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator has nonlinear inertial, nonlinear conservative forcing and nonlinear stiffness characteristics and that the series-connected and parallel-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolators have linear inertial and nonlinear stiffness characteristics. The transverse-mounted and parallel-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolators have a smaller relative dynamic displacement peak, absolute dynamic displacement peak, absolute displacement transmissibility peak and resonance frequency and wider isolation frequency band than the X-structure isolator, and only the high-frequency absolute displacement transmissibility is larger for the transverse-mounted and parallel-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolators. A series-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator can isolate a relatively low-frequency vibration because of the antiresonance frequency and thus can improve the high-frequency absolute displacement transmissibility, while the relative dynamic displacement peak, absolute dynamic displacement peak and absolute displacement transmissibility peak are larger for the series-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator than for the X-structure isolator. The parallel-connected inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator exhibits the best isolation performance and the transverse-mounted inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator exhibits the best shock performance among the four X-structure and linear vibration isolators studied. In addition, the experimental prototype of the inerter-based X-structure vibration isolator is built to test its performance, the theoretical and experimental results are compared to verify the validity of the theoretical modelling. This paper verifies the benefit of introducing the inerter in the X-structure and offers a better choice for effective vibration isolation in practical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we generalize the homomorphisms of modules over groups and Lie algebras as being morphisms in the category of (non-symmetric) Yetter–Drinfel'd modules. These module homomorphisms play a key role in the conjecture of Yau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO)‐releasing coatings have promising potential for biomedical applications notably in implant safety and wound dressing by promoting healing and reducing bacterial growth. Yet, the production of NO‐films remains difficult through classic approaches. In this study, plasma polymerized NO‐coatings are produced using a helium‐isopentyl nitrite mixture under two power settings and deposited on aluminum samples. Analyses of the plasma phase by mass spectroscopy reveal the presence of nitrosoxy groups (O–N═O) in monomer and quasi‐monomer at low power, and a higher fragmentation rate at high power. Static and no‐static samples are made and analyzed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy showing the presence of these group for both power conditions, with a better retention on the sample's center for the latest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population aging and housing price can affect household consumption, and population aging can indirectly affect household consumption through housing price. This study uses panel data from 31 provinces and cities in China between 2001 and 2018 to construct a panel vector autoregression model for analyzing the impact of population aging and housing price on household consumption level. We determine that population aging and housing price positively impact household consumption level, and population aging also has a positive effect on housing price. The mediating effect model using time series data from 2001 to 2018, with housing price as the mediating variable reveals that population aging directly increases household consumption level, and indirectly increases it through housing price. Finally, this study proposes suggestions such as optimizing the population structure, improving the housing system, and advancing the development of the older adult industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we obtain a Lichnerowicz-type formula for J -Witten deformation and give the proof of the Kastler–Kalau–Walze-type theorems associated with J -Witten deformation on four-dimensional and six-dimensional almost product Riemannian manifold with (respectively, without) boundary. We give an explanation of the Einstein–Hilbert action for J -Witten deformation on four-dimensional manifold with boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dabrowski et al. [Spectral metric and Einstein functionals for Hodge–Dirac operator, preprint (2023), arXiv:2307.14877] gave spectral Einstein bilinear functionals of differential forms for the Hodge–Dirac operator d + δ on an oriented even-dimensional Riemannian manifold. In this paper, we generalize the results of Dabrowski et al. to the cases of 4-dimensional oriented Riemannian manifolds with boundary. Furthermore, we give the proof of Dabrowski–Sitarz–Zalecki-type theorems associated with the Hodge–Dirac operator for manifolds with boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moderate non‐covalent interaction of protein and polyphenols can improve the emulsifying property of protein itself. The corn protein hydrolysate (CPH) and tannic acid (TA) complex was successfully used to construct nanoemulsion for algal oil delivery. There has been no study on the feasibility of this nanoemulsion delivery system for other food functional components, for example, β‐carotene (β‐CE). CPH/TA complex‐based nanoemulsion system for β‐CE delivery was studied, focusing on the effect of β‐CE content on the physicochemical stability of the nanoemulsions. The nanoemulsion delivery systems (dia. 150 nm) with low viscosity and good liquidity were easily fabricated by two‐step emulsification. The nanoemulsions with high β‐CE content (>71.5 μg/mL) significantly increased (p < .05) the emulsion droplet size. However, there was no significant (p > .05) effect of β‐CE content on polydispersity index (PDI) and zeta potential of the nanoemulsions. The storage (30 days) experiment results demonstrated that the droplet size of the nanoemulsions with varying β‐CE content increased slightly during storage. However, the PDI values showed a slightly decreasing trend. Zeta potentials of the nanoemulsions showed no noticeable change during storage. Moreover, after storage of 30 days, the retention ratios of β‐CE were found to be up to 90%, which suggests an excellent protective effect for β‐CE by the nanoemulsion systems. The CPH/TA complex stabilized nanoemulsions could aggregate in gastric condition, but the β‐CE content did not have obvious effect on the digestive stability of the nanoemulsions. The CPH/TA complex could be employed as an emulsifier to construct a physicochemical stable nanoemulsion delivery system for lipophilic active components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although there is evidence that ribonucleotide reductase subunit M2 (RRM2) is associated with numerous cancers, pan-cancer analysis has seldom been conducted. This study aimed to explore the potential carcinogenesis of RRM2 in pan-cancer using datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Methods: Data from the UCSC Xena database were analyzed to investigate the differential expression of RRM2 across multiple cancer types. Clinical data such as age, race, sex, tumor stage, and status were acquired to analyze the influence of RRM2 on the clinical characteristics of the patients. The role of RRM2 in the onset and progression of multiple cancers has been examined in terms of genetic changes at the molecular level, including tumor mutational burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), biological pathway changes, and the immune microenvironment. Results: RRM2 was highly expressed in most cancers, and there was an obvious correlation between RRM2 expression and patient prognosis. RRM2 expression is associated with the infiltration of diverse immune and endothelial cells, immune checkpoints, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI). Moreover, the cell cycle is involved in the functional mechanisms of RRM2. Conclusions: Our pan-cancer study provides a comprehensive understanding of the carcinogenesis of RRM2 in various tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe heat pipe reactor represents a promising high-temperature microreactor design comprising heat pipes, fuel rods, and monoliths. Prolonged operation at elevated temperatures leads to an obvious thermal creep and thermal stress within the monolith. The monolith may have structural failure due to creep damage and fatigue damage caused by temperature fatigue load. This paper presents an analysis of the creep fatigue damage in the monolith of the MegaPower heat pipe reactor using the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section III, Division 5 (BPVC Sec. III, Div. 5) inelastic design-by-analysis rules.The research findings demonstrate pronounced stress relaxation in the monolith caused by thermal creep, resulting in a redistribution of thermal stress. The region experiencing peak thermal stress within the monolith transitions from the thinnest web between the fuel rods to the edge of the monolith after 50 000 h of operation at full power. Thermal creep results in a 40.5% decrease in peak thermal stress and a 0.023% increase in the displacement amplitude of the monolith. The creep fatigue damage in the monolith at full power for 50 cycles, each lasting 1000 h, adheres to the design rule limitation of the ASME BPVC. The damage is primarily concentrated in the thinnest web region at the edge of the monolith, predominantly attributed to creep damage. The creep fatigue damage check in the monolith should carefully consider the effect of stress relaxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have unequivocally demonstrated that the vitamin D (VD) metabolism pathway significantly influences prognosis and sensitivity to hormone therapy in prostate cancer (PCa). However, the precise underlying mechanism remains unclear. Methods: We performed molecular profiling of 1045 PCa patients, leveraging genes linked to VD synthesis and VD receptors. We then identified highly variable gene modules with substantial associations with patient stratification. Subsequently, we intersected these modules with differentially expressed genes between PCa and adjacent paracancerous tissues. Following a meticulous process involving single-factor regression and LASSO regression to eliminate extraneous variables and construct a prognostic model. Within the high-risk subgroup defined by the calculated risk score, we analyzed their differences in cell infiltration, immune status, mutation landscape, and drug sensitivity. Finally, we selected Apolipoprotein E (APOE), which featured prominently in this model for further experimental exploration to evaluate its potential as a therapeutic target. Results: The prognostic model established in this study had commendable predictive efficacy. We observed diminished infiltration of various T-cell subtypes and reduced expression of co-stimulatory signals from antigen-presenting cells. Mutation analysis revealed that the high-risk cohort harbored a higher frequency of mutations in the TP53 and FOXA genes. Notably, drug sensitivity analysis suggested the heightened responsiveness of high-risk patients to molecular inhibitors targeting the Bcl-2 and MAPK pathways. Finally, our investigation also confirmed that APOE upregulates the proliferative and invasive capacity of PCa cells and concurrently enhances resistance to androgen receptor antagonist therapy. Conclusion: This comprehensive study elucidated the potential mechanisms through which this metabolic pathway orchestrates the biological behavior of PCa and findings hold promise in advancing the development of combination therapies in PCa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the ERA‐5 reanalysis datasets, NCEP/NCAR sea ice concentration (SIC) and observed winter surface wind speed (WSWS) in northwest China during 1979–2020, this study examined the regime shift of the leading mode of observed WSWS in northwest China and investigated its possible link with the winter Barents–Kara Sea (BKS) SIC. The leading mode of observed WSWS in northwest China showed negative anomalies in southern and northeastern Xinjiang, Gansu, western and northern Shaanxi Provinces, and positive anomalies in northwestern and middle Xinjiang, Qinghai and Ningxia Provinces. The signs of WSWS in the leading mode is generally opposite to their trends during 1979–2020. Leading principal component (PC1) of observed WSWS in northwest China underwent an obvious decreasing regime shift in 2003/04, as well as the winter BKS SIC. There are significant correlations between PC1 and BKS SIC on both interdecadal and interannual timescales. Decadal decrease of BKS SIC is accompanied with a positive phase of Scandinavia pattern (SP) with positive anomalies of 500‐hPa geopotential height over subtropical North Atlantic, Arctic‐Ural region and southern Asia, and negative anomalies over northern North Atlantic‐West Europe and Siberia regions. BKS SIC and SP significantly influenced the Northern China Wind Index (NCWI) at 200 hPa on interdecadal timescale, which was related to the PC1 on both interdecadal and interannual timescales after removing the signal of Arctic Oscillation. Meridional configuration of Siberian cyclonic anomaly and southern Asian anticyclonic anomaly associated with the winter BKS SIC could enhance the intensity of NCWI, which favoured the increase of observed WSWS in northwest China and thereby may contribute to the regime shift in 2003/04 of the leading mode. However, there were still some stations showing decreasing regime shift, which mainly located at the region of steeping terrain. These decreasing changes of WSWS may be related to circumfluence effect of terrain, urbanization and local microclimate, and these reasons still need further detailed study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zing-Yang Kuo (1898–1970), hailed as China's behaviorist psychologist, earned "Out-Watsons Mr. Watson" in the international anti-instinct movement. His contributions to the field on behavioral neuroembryology (1929–1939) are often overlooked in comparison to his achievements in psychology. We retrieved the titles of all of Kuo's publications from 1929 to 1939 and examined those related to his research on the origins and development of embryonic behavioral ontogeny and the neural basis of embryonic behavior. Remarkably, Kuo concurrently focused on embryos during the same period as North American neuroembryologists. He maintained an independent stance in the debate over the sequence of behavioral ontogeny, represented by the embryonic neuroscientists Coghill and Windle, and critically pointed out limitations in research on both sides of the debate. Drawing from his experiments with chicken embryos, Kuo proposed the theory of behavioral epigenesis, which attempted to end the nature–nurture dichotomy and promote the transformation of the research path of behavioral embryology from elementary physiological anatomy toward a deep "comprehensive science." Kuo's achievements directly laid the foundation for the interdisciplinary field of developmental psychobiology, constructing a new conceptual framework for the systematic analysis of behavioral development and promoting the establishment and development of a new approach to epiphenotype epigenetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Quaternary strata on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau contain rich information about the paleoclimate and environmental evolution, record the evolution process of the Quaternary regional tectonics, paleogeography, and geomorphology of the plateau, and are extremely important areas for studying the Quaternary geological events and regional environmental evolution. According to a comprehensive analysis of the regional stratigraphic data and the development and evolution characteristics of the biota, based on the differences in the lithostratigraphic units, sedimentary characteristics, landforms, and drainage systems, the Quaternary strata on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas are divided into five stratigraphic regions: the Tarim region, Loess Plateau region, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau region, and India-Ganges region. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau stratigraphic region is divided into seven stratigraphic sub-regions: the West Kunlun-Karakorum, Altun-Qilian Mountains, Qaidam-Hehuang, East Kunlun-Bayan Har, Qiangtang, East Xizang-West Yunnan-West Sichuan, and Gangdise-Himalayan sub-regions. This paper briefly describes the lithostratigraphic units of the seven stratigraphic sub-regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to the lithostratigraphic sequence and its sedimentary characteristics, stratigraphic contact relationship, formation age, and evolution of the biota in each stratigraphic sub-region, the Quaternary tectonic paleogeographic evolution of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is divided into four stages. (1) The inherited differential uplift stage since the Pliocene (2.6−1.8/1.5 Ma): the regional sedimentary differences were significant, and the stratigraphic distribution was limited, the alluvial-proluvial sandy conglomerate was widely developed along the piedmont, and fluvial and lacustrine deposits were developed in the low-lying areas between the mountains. (2) The mountain range flattening stage (1.8/1.5−1.2/0.8 Ma): the erosion unconformity surfaces around the plateau were widely distributed, large rivers were formed, and lake sediments developed in the intermountain basins and the hinterland of the plateau. (3) 1.2/0.8−0.128 Ma: the plateau continued to rise in a large range, with significant topographic differences and intensified mountain erosion. At about 0.8 Ma, the plateau uplifted above the snow line and entered the cryosphere, mountain glaciers developed, and the alpine arid environment gradually formed. (4) 0.128 Ma-: the mountains rose and erosion intensified, and intermountain basins and lakes were widely distributed. There were significant differences in the regional sedimentary characteristics, and the sedimentary types developed toward diversification. The modern plateau landform pattern was basically formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the current situation and development trend of coupling coordination between medical and health resource allocation and service utilization in eastern, central, and western regions and provinces of China, and to provide suggestions for promoting the coordinated development of medical and health resource allocation and service utilization. Methods The related index data of medical and health resource allocation and service utilization from 2018 to 2022 were selected, and the comprehensive development level index and relative development degree were used to evaluate the medical and health resource allocation and service utilization. The coupled coordination degree model was used to analyze the coupling coordination relationship and development trend of the two systems. Results There were significant differences in the comprehensive development level of medical and health resource allocation among provinces, and the overall structure of relative development degree in 2021 was "9-11-11". From 2017 to 2021, the coupling coordination degree of medical and health resource allocation and service utilization decreased, showing a decreasing trend from east to west as a whole. The overall coordination between the allocation of medical and health resources and the utilization of services in China was poor. Only 12 provinces achieved coordinated development in 2021. Xizang was still in the dilemma of serious imbalance. Conclusion It is suggested to improve the accuracy of medical and health resources allocation, reduce the differences in the develop-ment level of resource allocation between provinces, and build a multi-party co-governance pattern. The improvement strategy of coordination level should be accurately formulated according to the relative development of medical and health resource allocation and service utilization in each province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health problem, and chronic HBV infection significantly increases the risk of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma in patients. Current first-line therapeutics such as nucleos(t)ide analogues and interferons are unable to completely clear cccDNA, so the vast majority of patients need to take long-term or even lifelong medication. However, long-term virological and biochemical responses can be achieved in some patients after drug withdrawal. Successfully screening these patients with drug withdrawal advantages is difficult. Hepatitis-B-core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is a new HBV serological marker that which can reflect the level and transcription activity of cccDNA in hepatocytes. Therefore, HBcrAg has potential value in guiding patients in drug withdrawal. This review summarizes previous reports on HBcrAg and evaluates the application value of HBcrAg in safe drug discontinuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new hybrid numerical approach is presented that couples "ghost cell" based immersed boundary (IB) method with the finite volume lattice Boltzmann method (FVLBM). In the implementation process, the grid cells are classified into three types, i.e., " f l u i d c e l l ", " s o l i d c e l l " and " g h o s t c e l l ", where the " g h o s t c e l l " is the first layer of " s o l i d c e l l " near the " f l u i d c e l l ". As the wall boundary condition is reflected in the " g h o s t c e l l ", the high–accuracy reconstruction of variables in it will be the key point of present approach. Then, a FVLBM scheme is used to update the distribution function in the " f l u i d c e l l ", and a least square interpolation based formulation is derived to construct the distribution functions in it. Further, the bounce–back scheme embedded in the streaming–collision lattice Boltzmann method will be employed as the wall boundary condition. Besides, for the class of moving boundary problems, the construction of the distribution function in the " f r e s h c e l l " is also considered. A number of typical benchmarking incompressible viscous fluid flows over both stationary and moving objects are simulated to justify the present method, using obstacles ranging from a stationary and a translating circular cylinders, a rotationally oscillating cylinder, to two more complex flows around an oscillating cylinder in the stationary fluid and in the free–stream. Besides, the temporal and spatial accuracy also are testified by the simulation of Taylor–Couette flow. The obtained accurate simulation results demonstrate the capability of the present hybrid IB–FVLBM for computer simulations of both stationary and moving boundary problems in the incompressible flow regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lack of effective understanding of the pain mechanism of McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS) has made the treatment of pain in this disease a difficult clinical challenge, and new therapeutic targets are urgently needed to address this dilemma. Objective: This paper summarizes the novel mechanisms, targets, and treatments that may produce pain in MAS and fibrous dysplasia (polyfibrous dysplasia, or FD). Methods: We conducted a systematic search in the PubMed database, Web of Science, China Knowledge Network (CNKI) with the following keywords: “McCune–Albright syndrome (MAS); polyfibrous dysplasia (FD); bone pain; bone remodeling; G protein coupled receptors; GDNF family receptors; purinergic receptors and glycogen synthase kinase”, as well as other keywords were systematically searched. Papers published between January 2018 and May 2023 were selected for finding. Initial screening was performed by reading the titles and abstracts, and available literature was screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: In this review, we systematically analyzed the cutting-edge advances in this disease, synthesized the findings, and discussed the differences. With regard to the complete mechanistic understanding of the pain condition in FD/MAS, in particular, we collated new findings on new pathways, neurotrophic factor receptors, purinergic receptors, interferon-stimulating factors, potassium channels, protein kinases, and corresponding hormonal modulation and their respective strengths and weaknesses. Conclusion: This paper focuses on basic research to explore FD/MAS pain mechanisms. New nonneuronal and molecular mechanisms, mechanically loaded responsive neurons, and new targets for potential clinical interventions are future research directions, and a large number of animal experiments, tissue engineering techniques, and clinical trials are still needed to verify the effectiveness of the targets in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coke plays a key role as the skeleton of the charge column in BF. The gas path formed by the coke layer in the BF has a decisive influence on gas permeability. At high temperatures, the interface between coke and ore undergoes a melting reaction of coke and a reduction reaction of ore. The better the reducibility of the ore, the more conducive it is to the coupling reaction of ore and coke. The melting loss reaction of coke becomes more intense, and the corresponding strength of coke will decrease, which will affect the permeability of the blast furnace and is not conducive to the smooth operation of the blast furnace. Especially with a deterioration in iron ore quality, BF operation faces severe challenges, which makes it necessary to find an effective way to strengthen BF operation. In this study, a melting-dropping furnace was used to develop and clarify the high-temperature interaction between coke and iron ores with different layer thicknesses. The influencing factors were studied by establishing a gas permeability mathematical model and observing the metallographic microscope images of samples after the coke solution loss reaction. The relationships between coke layer thickness, distribution of gas flow, and pressure drop were obtained. The results showed that, under certain conditions, the gas permeability property of a furnace burden has been improved after the coke layer thickness increased. Upon observing the size of coke particles at the interface reaction site, the degree of melting loss reaction can be determined. A smaller particle size indicates more melting loss reaction. A dripping eigenvalue for molten metal was introduced to evaluate the dynamic changes in the comprehensive dripping properties of molten metal of furnace burden, which showed that the dripping eigenvalue for the molten metal could deteriorate because of the unruly thickness and the coke layer thickness should be limited through considering the operational indicators of the blast furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-sequence time-series data forecasting based on deep learning has been applied in many practical scenarios. However, the time-series data sequences obtained in the real world inevitably contain missing values due to the failures of sensors or network fluctuations. Current research works dedicate to imputing the incomplete time-series data sequence during the data preprocessing stage, which will lead to the problems of unsynchronized prediction and error accumulation. In this article, we propose an improved multi-headed self-attention mechanism, DecayAttention, which can be applied to the existing X-former models to handle the missing values in the time-series data sequences without decreasing their prediction accuracy. We apply DecayAttention to Transformer and two state-of-the-art X-former models, and the best prediction accuracy improves by 8.2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pathogenic variants of the IRF2BPL gene have been reported to cause neurodevelopmental disorders; however, studies focused on IRF2BPL in zebrafish are limited. Results: We reported three probands diagnosed with developmental delay and epilepsy and investigated the role of IRF2BPL in neurodevelopmental disorders in zebrafish. The clinical and genetic characteristics of three patients with neurodevelopmental disorder with regression, abnormal movements, loss of speech and seizures (NEDAMSS) were collected. Three de novo variants (NM_024496.4: c.1171 C > T, p.Arg391Cys; c.1157 C > T, p.Thr386Met; and c.273_307del, p.Ala92Thrfs*29) were detected and classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic according to ACMG guidelines. Zebrafish crispants with disruption of the ortholog gene irf2bpl demonstrated a reduced body length and spontaneous ictal-like and interictal-like discharges in an electrophysiology study. After their spasms were controlled, they gain some development improvements. Conclusion: We contribute two new pathogenic variants for IRF2BPL related developmental epileptic disorder which provided evidences for genetic counseling. In zebrafish model, we for the first time confirm that disruption of irf2bpl could introduce spontaneous electrographic seizures which mimics key phenotypes in human patients. Our follow-up results suggest that timely cessation of spasmodic seizures can improve the patient's neurodevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a background calibration method assisted with noise-shaping, for a 10-b bridged SAR ADC. It proposes calibrating the mismatches from the MSB capacitors using the LSBs. First-order noise-shaping has been employed to facilitate the calibration as well as the analog-to-digital conversion. Since noise-shaping is able to shape both the comparator input and quantization noise, it is expected to improve the calibration effects as well as the SNR, for the SAR ADC. Measurement results show, upon the proposed calibration, the SAR’s INL and SNR are improved by 3LSB and 9dB, respectively, compared to when the noise shaping is off. Fabricated using a 55nm CMOS MOMCAP technology and tested with a −2.5dB sinewave input, the bridged SAR ADC achieves an SNR of 62.2dB and an INL better than 1LSB, when consuming a power of 72μW, at a supply voltage of 1.2V and sampling frequency of 50kHz. The ADC’s active area is 300 × 380μm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mining belt conveyor is one of the most important modules in coal mine, whose safety always be threatened by the foreign objects. Although the traditional target detection methods achieve promising results in various computer vision tasks, the performance heavily depends on sufficient labelled data. However, in real-world production scenario, it is difficult to acquire huge number of images with foreign objects. The obtained datasets lacking of capacity and diversity are not suitable for training supervised learning-based foreign objects detection models. To address this concern, we propose a novel method for detecting the foreign objects on the surface of underground coal conveyor belt via improved GANomaly. The proposed foreign objects detection method employs generative adversarial networks (GAN) with attention gate to capture the distribution of normality in both high-dimensional image space and low-dimensional latent vector space. Only the normal images without foreign object are utilized to adversarially train the proposed network, including a U-shape generator to reconstruct the input image and a discriminator to classify real images from reconstructed ones. Then the combination of the difference between the input and generated images as well as the difference between latent representations are utilized as the anomaly score to evaluate whether the input image contain foreign objects. Experimental results over 707 images from real-world industrial scenarios demonstrate that the proposed method achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.864 and is superior to the previous GAN-based anomaly detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiO/C is currently considered the most favorable anode material for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, its potential applications are constrained because of its inherent capacity decay and thermal safety concerns engendered by its volumetric expansion during extended cycling periods. The present study investigated the effectiveness of 4,5-difluoro-1,3-dioxolane-2-one (DFEC) as a film-forming additive to augment the safety and electrochemical efficacy of LIBs. A blank electrolyte (BE) was used as a control. Electrochemical test and characterization results revealed that the capacity retention rate of a battery containing the DFEC additive improved significantly; specifically, it increased from 45.23% (for a battery with the BE) to 73.14%. DFEC also increased the quantity of LiF components on the anode surface, resulting in the formation of a robust and stable solid electrolyte interphase film, which enhanced the battery's cycling stability. Differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and thermokinetic analysis revealed that DFEC inhibited exothermic reactions between the electrolyte and the lithiated anode. Notably, the initial reaction temperature for the electrolyte slowly transitioned from 232.17 to 238.67 °C. The apparent activation energy increased from 439.56 to 506.995 kJ/mol. This study presents a practical approach for the development of safe, high-energy-density batteries by incorporating DFEC as a film-forming additive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) are garnering significant attention as a promising energy storage system owing to their high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness. Among various cathode materials, one-dimensional (1D) tunnel vanadium-based cathode materials have been extensively studied for their excellent electrochemical performance. In this mini review, we present a summary of recent research progress on 1D tunnel VO2(B) cathode materials for AZIBs. Specifically, we delve into their crystal structure, morphology, and charge–discharge mechanism, and the impact of various synthesis and modification methods on their morphology and electrochemical performance. Additionally, we provide insights into key strategies employed to enhance the electrochemical performance of VO2(B). Furthermore, we underscore both the opportunities and challenges in this domain while also discussing the future prospects for the development of 1D tunnel VO2(B) cathode materials in AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather data errors affect energy management by influencing the accuracy of building energy predictions. This study presents a long short-term memory (LSTM) prediction model based on the "Energy Detective" dataset (Shanghai, China) and neighboring weather station data. The study analyzes the errors of different weather data sources (Detective and A) at the same latitude and longitude. Subsequently, it discusses the effects of weather errors from neighboring weather stations (Detective, A, B, C, and D) on energy forecasts for the next hour and day including the selection process for neighboring weather stations. Furthermore, it compares the forecast results for summer and autumn. The findings indicate a correlation between weather errors from neighboring weather stations and energy consumption. The median R-Square for predicting the next hour reached 0.95. The model's predictions for the next day exhibit a higher Prediction Interval Mean Width (139.0 in summer and 146.1 in autumn), indicating a greater uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury is a common cause of liver dysfunction in patients post liver partial resection and liver transplantation. However, the cellular defense mechanisms underlying IR are not well understood. Macrophage mediated sterile inflammation plays critical roles in liver IR injury. Sorting nexin (SNX) 10, a member of the SNX family which functions in regulation of endosomal sorting. This study aimed to explore the role of sorting nexin 10 (SNX10) during liver IR injury with a focus on regulating macrophage function. Both the gene and protein expression levels of SNX10 were analyzed in human specimens from 10 patients undergoing liver partial resection with ischemic insult and in a mouse model of liver IR. The in vivo effects of SNX10 in liver IR injury and sterile inflammation in mice were investigated. Bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) were used to determine the role of SNX10 in modulating macrophage function in vitro. Increased expression of SNX10 was observed both in human specimens and mice livers post IR. SNX10 knockdown alleviated IR induced sterile inflammation and liver damage in mice. SNX10 promoted M1 polarization of macrophage treated with LPS and facilitated inflammatory response by activating NLRP3 inflammasome. We report for the first time that SNX10 is upregulated in IR-stressed livers. SNX10 activation aggravates liver IR injury and sterile inflammation by facilitating macrophage M1 polarization and inflammatory response suggesting SNX10 as a potential therapeutic target for liver IR injury. • SNX10 enhances macrophage M1 polarization leading to aggravated liver IR injury. • SNX10 plays critical roles in several inflammatory and metabolic diseases. • SNX10 promotes IR-induced inflammatory response by activating NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages. • SNX10 may be a potential therapeutic target for managing liver IR injury in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]