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The commercial LED has the disadvantages of low thermal stability and poor luminous quality at high temperature due to the organic resin encapsulation phosphor, and luminous glass is one of the effective ways to solve this problem. A series of niobium silicate (SiO 2 –Nb 2 O 5 –Na 2 O–K 2 O–Dy 2 O 3 –Sm 2 O 3 , labeled as SNNKDS) luminous glasses have been obtained by melt quenching method. The results of differential thermal analysis prove the existence of high thermal stability. The infrared spectrum, Raman spectrum and the calculation of physical parameters reveal the excellent thermal stability and stable structure of the prepared glass. The optical properties of luminescent glass have been studied in detail, the energy transfer from Dy3+ ions to Sm3+ ions has been observed, the Dy3+/Sm3+ co-doping glasses can achieve warm white light emission by changing the excitation wavelength and the doping amount of Sm3+. The variable temperature emission spectrum of SNNK:0.8D0.4 S is analyzed. At 423 K, the comprehensive emission intensity is 79.91 % of that at room temperature, the Δ C value of colorimetric shift at 473 K is 2.1 × 10−2. The warm white light output with excellent correlated color temperature (3746 K) has been achieved using glass samples encapsulated with 395 nm LED chip. The analysis shows that Dy3+/Sm3+ co-doped niobium silicate glasses can be regarded as a candidate for the w -LED applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water evaporation–induced electricity generators (WEGs) are regarded as one of the most promising solutions for addressing the increasingly severe environmental pollution and energy crisis. Owing to the potential carbon emission in the preparation process of WEGs, whether WEG represents a clean electricity generation technology is open to question. Here, a brand‐new strategy is proposed for manufacturing negative carbon emission WEG (CWEG). In this strategy, the microalgae film is used as the electricity generation interface of WEG, which achieves a stable open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.25 V and a short‐circuit current (Isc) of 3.3 µA. Since microalgae can capture carbon dioxide during its growing process, CWEG holds great promise to generate electricity without carbon emissions in the full life cycle compared with other WEGs. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first work using microalgae films to fabricate WEG. Therefore, it is believed that this work not only provides a new direction for designing high‐efficiency and eco‐friendly WEG but also offers an innovative approach to the resource utilization of microalgae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The relationship between social participation and quality of life (QoL) remains unclear, and scant investigation has been conducted to explore its underlying mechanisms. This study is aimed at elucidating this connection among Chinese children, emphasizing the mediating roles of social skills and smartphone addiction, alongside the moderating effect of residential status. Data was gathered from Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, comprising 639 children (53.7% girls), aged between 12 and 18 years (mean age = 15 years, SD = 1.65). Results indicated that social participation was positively associated with children's QoL, with both social skills and smartphone addiction mediating the link. Additionally, residential status moderated the relationship between social participation and QoL, exhibiting a stronger effect on children in urban areas than their rural counterparts. These findings highlight the necessity to enhance social participation among children and further promote balanced development between rural and urban areas in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a widely used technique for discovering developmental trajectory of a specific field of science and technology, main path analysis armed with global search strategy prefers longer citation paths rather than shorter ones. An obvious feature of longer main paths is that the theme of documents may not be so coherent, though longer paths may provide more details on the development of a field than shorter ones. Thereupon, a new measure, named as intermediacy, was proposed in the literature for recognising important scientific publications. However, the intermediacy is only applicable to the citation network with one single target node and one single source node. For purpose of loosening this limitation of the intermediacy and benefitting from main path analysis and intermediacy, this work raises an alternative approach for discovering developmental trajectory by combining node importance and edge importance via edge and node integrated modes. Extensive experimental results on the weak signals and education fields indicate that similar trajectories can be obtained through these two integrated modes, and richer implications can be encoded in our discovered trajectories than those from main path analysis and intermediacy. In addition, our framework is able to scale very well to a large citation network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Dy3+ doped niobiosilicate luminescent glasses have been prepared by high temperature melting using the chemical composition of 35SiO 2 –35Nb 2 O 5 –10Na 2 O–20K 2 O-xDy 2 O 3 (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mol%). Results of differential scanning calorimetry (DCS) show that the glass matrix has good thermal stability. Presence of [SiO 4 ] and [NbO 6 ] structural units in the glass was confirmed by FTIR and Raman spectral analyses. Results of UV–Vis–NIR absorption spectra show that Dy3+ doped optical glass can be excited by ultraviolet light, and the transmittance curve displays the high transmittance of the glass. Photoluminescence (PL) analysis reveals that there are three emission peaks: 4F 9/2 → 6H 15/2 (blue light), 4F 9/2 → 6H 13/2 (yellow light), and 4F 9/2 → 6H 11/2 (red light); the highest intensity of the samples is obtained at x = 0.8 mol%, and the variable temperature emission spectrum shows that the emission intensity at 423 K remains above 78.85 % that of room temperature. The CIE chrominance coordinate diagram determines that the chrominance coordinate value is close to the standard white light, the correlation color temperature calculation proves that it is located in the cold white light region. The decay curve can be fitted with the double exponential attenuation equation. The above results show that Dy3+ doped niobiosilicate glass has the potential to be used as W-LED material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many science, technology and innovation (STI) resources are attached with several different labels. To assign automatically the resulting labels to an interested instance, many approaches with good performance on the benchmark datasets have been proposed for multilabel classification task in the literature. Furthermore, several open-source tools implementing these approaches have also been developed. However, the characteristics of real-world multilabel patent and publication datasets are not completely in line with those of benchmark ones. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to evaluate comprehensively seven multi-label classification methods on real-world datasets. Three real-world datasets (Biological-Sciences, Health-Sciences, and USPTO) from SciGraph and USPTO database are constructed. Seven multilabel classification methods with tuned parameters (dependency-LDA, MLkNN, LabelPowerset, RAkEL, TextCNN, TexRNN, and TextRCNN) are comprehensively compared on these three real-world datasets. To evaluate the performance, the study adopts three classification-based metrics: Macro-F1, Micro-F1, and Hamming Loss. The TextCNN and TextRCNN models show obvious superiority on small-scale datasets with more complex hierarchical structure of labels and more balanced documentlabel distribution in terms of macro-F1, micro-F1 and Hamming Loss. The MLkNN method works better on the larger-scale dataset with more unbalanced document-label distribution. Three real-world datasets differ in the following aspects: statement, data quality, and purposes. Additionally, open-source tools designed for multi-label classification also have intrinsic differences in their approaches for data processing and feature selection, which in turn impacts the performance of a multi-label classification approach. In the near future, we will enhance experimental precision and reinforce the validity of conclusions by employing more rigorous control over variables through introducing expanded parameter settings. The observed Macro F1 and Micro F1 scores on real-world datasets typically fall short of those achieved on benchmark datasets, underscoring the complexity of real-world multi-label classification tasks. Approaches leveraging deep learning techniques offer promising solutions by accommodating the hierarchical relationships and interdependencies among labels. With ongoing enhancements in deep learning algorithms and large-scale models, it is expected that the efficacy of multi-label classification tasks will be significantly improved, reaching a level of practical utility in the foreseeable future. (1) Seven multi-label classification methods are comprehensively compared on three real-world datasets. (2) The TextCNN and TextRCNN models perform better on small-scale datasets with more complex hierarchical structure of labels and more balanced document-label distribution. (3) The MLkNN method works better on the larger-scale dataset with more unbalanced document-label distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Potassium bismuth citrate is a gastric mucosal protector and a key drug for treating peptic ulcers. Objective: To evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety of 120-mg bismuth potassium citrate formulations administered orally under fasting conditions in healthy Chinese subjects. Method: A single-center open two-cycle trial was conducted on 12 healthy subjects who received a single oral dose of 120 mg of bismuth potassium citrate. The plasma concentration of bismuth was determined using a validated inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‒MS) method. The pharmacokinetic parameters, including maximum serum concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve concentration–time curve (AUC0–t and AUC0–∞), and safety were evaluated via noncompartment analysis. Results: The ratios of the least square geometric mean ratio between the test (T) and reference (R) formulations for Cmax, AUC0–t, and AUC0–∞ were 44.8%, 55.5%, and 64.4%, respectively; the bilateral 95% confidence intervals (Cis) for these parameters were 20.2–99.6%, 24.1–127.5%, and 23.7–175.0%, respectively, and the non-inferior limits for these parameters were 169.4%, 198.8%, and 200.5%, respectively. The upper limits of the one-sided 97.5% confidence interval for the least squares geometric mean ratio (T/R) were lower than the non-inferior limits. No serious adverse reactions or adverse reactions leading to detachment were observed among the subjects. Conclusion: The concentration of bismuth in the blood of healthy subjects in the T formulation was not greater than that in the R formulation. Similarly, the safety of oral administration of 120 mg of bismuth potassium citrate formulations to healthy subjects was good. The trial registration number (TRN) was [2018] 013, 6 December 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5G technology continues to evolve, and its potential to revolutionize various aspects of society is becoming increasingly evident. However, the successful adoption and utilization of 5G technology depends on various factors, particularly among consumers expected to be early adopters and critical drivers of technological advancements. This study investigates the effect of social influence, environmental awareness, and safety affordance on Chinese university students' actual use of 5G (AU5G) technologies. It also analyzed the mediating role of trustworthiness and intention to use 5G (ITU5G) between them and the moderating role of facilitation conditions between trustworthiness and ITU5G. Data was collected from university students (n = 364) in Beijing and was examined employing the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. The outcomes confirm that trustworthiness and ITU5G significantly mediate the relationship between social influence, environmental awareness, and safety affordance on AU5G technologies among Chinese students. Further, the supportive facilitation conditions strengthen the relationship between trustworthiness and ITU5G. These findings are backed by UTAUT2 models that support the technology acceptance and adoption among the users. The study outcomes can help policymakers design strategies to address potential barriers and encourage greater uptake of 5G services among university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein a class of structurally simple and operationally stable Au(I)‐TADF (TADF = thermally activated delayed fluorescence) materials, based on a carbene–metal–amide (CMA) molecular scaffold comprised of sterically bulky N‐heterocyclic carbene ligands with N‐heterocyclic π‐annulation, are reported. These CMA(Au) emitters are thermally stable, adopt coplanar or orthogonal geometry between the carbene and amide ligands, and show strong blue to deep red TADF emissions (466–666 nm) from thermally equilibrated singlet ligand‐to‐ligand‐charge‐transfer excited states with emission quantum yields of 0.63–0.99 and radiative decay rate constants of 0.68–3.2 × 106 s−1 in thin film samples at room temperature. The effects of increasing π‐extension and orthogonal molecular geometry are similarly manifested in the reduction of both singlet–triplet energy gap and S1 transition dipole moment. The vacuum‐deposited Au(I) organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) display superior electroluminescence characterized by ultrahigh brightness up to 300 000 cd m−2 and external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) up to 26.2% with roll‐offs down to 2.6% at 1000 cd m−2 alongside record‐setting device lifetimes (LT95) up to 2082 h. Ultrapure‐green TADF‐sensitized fluorescent OLEDs employing the CMA(Au) emitter as sensitizer and a multiresonance terminal emitter achieve EQEs of up to 25.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer patients in China encounter distinctive challenges stemming from cultural disparities and variations in the healthcare systems. This meta‐analysis aimed to provide a synthesis of the expressive writing (EW) interventions delivered to Chinese cancer patients and assess the pooled effect of EW on their well‐being. The review adheres to the latest PRISMA 2020 guidelines to ensure transparency and rigour. Randomized control trials (RCTs) published before 1 April 2023, and meeting the inclusion criteria were included. Keywords searching was performed in both English and Chinese electronic databases. Ten RCTs were identified and included in the analysis. The results showed that EW usually encompassed four to six writing sessions; the most common writing themes were 'emotional expression', 'cognitive appraisal', 'benefit finding', 'coping strategies' and 'looking to the future'. The meta‐analysis suggested that EW had a substantial impact on reducing anxiety levels (Hedges' g = −1.22, 95% CI [−1.54, −0.90], I2 = 0.00%). It is worth noting that although the results of these studies could not be statistically synthesized, their individual findings suggest that EW may be beneficial in reducing anxiety, self‐perceived burden and depressive symptoms, as well as increasing self‐efficacy in Chinese cancer patients. In conclusion, this review highlights the importance and effectiveness of Ewin alleviating anxiety among Chinese cancer patients and underscores the potential benefits of incorporating EW into comprehensive care programmes for cancer patients in China. More RCTs are needed to explore the broader impact of EW in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green emitting NaCl:XTb [ X = 0.0, 0.002, 0.004, 0.006, 0.008, 0.01 and 0.02] single crystals were grown by adopting the Czochralski method and their structural, mechanical and optical properties were studied by carrying out X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-hardness, optical absorption, photoluminescence (PL), thermo-luminescence (TL), etc. measurements. XRD results revealed the absence of lattice distortion due to doping with Tb ions. Hardness analysis displayed more hardness for the Tb-doped crystals than for the pure NaCl crystal. Optical absorption spectra confirmed five main peaks corresponding to 4f8→4f75 d1(8S) and 7F 6 →5L J=9,10 transitions of the Tb3+ ions. PL emission spectra (excitated at 372 nm) indicated the maximum intensity peak at 545 nm corresponding to 5D 4 →7F 5 transition of the Tb3+ ions. The emission peak intensity was found to increase with the increase in Tb concentration; and the CIE coordinates of NaCl:0.02 Tb were found as x = 0.3008 and y = 0.5000, located in the green region. TL glow curves exhibited higher intense peaks for the NaCl:0.02 Tb crystal irradiated with γ-ray; the peak parameters (E , s , μ g and b) were also estimated. Dose response and energy storage stability of the NaCl:0.02 Tb crystal irradiated with γ-ray were studied for dosimetry application. The research results show that the NaCl:Tb crystal would be potential candidates for the WLEDs and TLD applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of event-triggered control for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown control coefficients, time-varying delays, full state constraints and external disturbances, simultaneously. Firstly, based on integral Barrier-Lyapunov Functionals, an adaptive event-triggered controller is designed to account for the impacts of complete state constraints, unknown time-varying delays and external disturbances. Using fuzzy logic systems, the unknown functions of systems are then roughly estimated. The system redundancy can be significantly reduced by implementing the event-triggered control technique in the meanwhile. By introducing the separation technique and Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals, it is shown that the strategy can ensure tracking performance greatly and all the closed-loop signals of the system are bounded. Compared with the existing results, the proposed design scheme is less conservative and has a wilder application range. Finally, the simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to systematically identify, appraise, and summarize the psychometric properties of instruments used to measure the quality of dying and death in Asian countries. Methods: The Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) was closely followed. The literature was searched using the following keywords and their synonyms: "death and dying," "measurement," and "Asian country" in CINAHL, PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from inception to April 2021. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts and reviewed the full text. Two other reviewers independently assessed the quality of the identified studies in three steps: methodological quality evaluation, good measurement properties evaluation, and quality of evidence evaluation. Results: This review retrieved 37,195 studies, of which seven were finally included. Four instruments that assessed the quality of dying and death in Asian countries were identified: the Good Death Inventory (GDI), the Good Death Scale (GDS), and two versions of the Quality of Dying and Death (QODD) Questionnaires. All included studies failed to evaluate all the recommended psychometric properties, and none of the instruments provided strong evidence of their quality among Asian populations. Overall, the grade of evidence quality for the GDI was moderate, the highest among all identified instruments. Conclusion: The GDI is by far the most reliable instrument for assessing the quality of dying and death in Asian populations. A lack of validation studies in Asian and Western cultures, however, warrants caution when drawing conclusions from the GDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to solve the problems caused by the growing volumes of pre-annotated literature and variety-oriented annotations, including teamwork, quality control and time effort. Design/methodology/approach: An annotation collaboration workbench is developed, which is named as Bureau for Rapid Annotation Tool (Brat). Main functionalities include an enhanced semantic constraint system, Vim-like shortcut keys, an annotation filter and a graph-visualizing annotation browser. With these functionalities, the annotators are encouraged to question their initial mindset, inspect conflicts and gain agreement from their peers. Findings: The collaborative patterns can indeed be leveraged to structure properly every annotator's behaviors. The Brat workbench can actually be seen as an experienced-based annotation tool by harnessing collective intelligence. Compared to previous counterparts, about one-third of time can be saved on Xinhuanet military news and patent corpora with the workbench. Originality/value: The various annotations are very popular in real-world annotation tasks with multiple annotators. Though, it is still under-discussed on variety-oriented annotations. The findings of this study provide the practitioners valuable insight into how to govern annotation projects. In addition, the Brat workbench takes the first step for future research on annotating large-scale text resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fusarium wilt disease, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Foc), leads to widespread yield loss and quality decline in cucumber. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Foc resistance remain poorly understood.We report the mapping and functional characterisation of CsChi23, encoding a cucumber class I chitinase with antifungal properties. We assessed sequence variations at CsChi23 and the associated defence response against Foc. We functionally characterised CsChi23 using transgenic assay and expression analysis. The mechanism regulating CsChi23 expression was assessed by genetic and molecular approaches.CsChi23 was induced by Foc infection, which led to rapid upregulation in resistant cucumber lines. Overexpressing CsChi23 enhanced fusarium wilt resistance and reduced fungal biomass accumulation, whereas silencing CsChi23 causes loss of resistance. CsHB15, a homeodomain leucine zipper (HD‐Zip) III transcription factor, was found to bind to the CsChi23 promoter region and activate its expression. Furthermore, silencing of CsHB15 reduces CsChi23 expression. A single‐nucleotide polymorphism variation −400 bp upstream of CsChi23 abolished the HD‐Zip III binding site in a susceptible cucumber line.Collectively, our study indicates that CsChi23 is sufficient to enhance fusarium wilt resistance and reveals a novel function of an HD‐Zip III transcription factor in regulating chitinase expression in cucumber defence against fusarium wilt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has shown remarkable benefit in the treatment of a range of cancer types, although it may initiate immune related adverse events (irAEs) in patients. Some studies have shown that there is a close relationship between the occurrence of irAEs and prognosis. In present study, we have attempted to establish whether the occurrence of irAEs after the use of anti PD-1 antibodies is associated with treatment efficacy in people with advanced gastric cancer (AGC).Methods: This study included patients treated with the anti-PD-1 antibodies for AGC patients at The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University. IrAEs were identified clinically and graded as per the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events ver. 4.03. Efficacy was evaluated with objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The analysis was performed to determine the association between irAEs and clinical outcomes.Result: Of the 74 AGC patients in our study, 24 developed irAEs. The DCR of the irAE displayed a trend better than that of non-irAE group but without statistical difference (41.70% VS 6.0%, p = 0.118). Median PFS in the irAE group was superior to that in the non-irAE group (176 days VS 94 days, p = 0.001). Median OS also showed this trend of difference at borderline statistical level (292 days VS 239 days, p = 0.057). Multivariate analysis also demonstrated irAE (HR = 0.269, 95%CI: 0.088 to 0.822, p = 0.021) were associated independently with the better prognosis for AGC patients.Conclusion: In advanced gastric cancer treated with anti PD-1 antibodies, the occourence of irAEs might contribute to the improved prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Effect of social influence, environmental awareness, and safety affordance on actual use of 5G technologies among Chinese students" published in Scientific Reports. The correction addresses errors in Table 2 and the Reference list. The corrected values for the construct "Actual use of 5G" in Table 2 are provided, and the incorrect source is corrected. Additionally, there was an error in the ordering of the References, and a new Reference is added. The original article has been corrected. [Extracted from the article]

Achieving multiple vortex beams with different modes in a planar microstrip array is pivotal, yet still extremely challenging. Here, a hybrid method combining both Pancharatnam−Berry (PB) phase that is induced by the rotation phase and excitation phase of a feeding line has been proposed for decoupling two orthogonal circularly polarized vortex beams. Theoretical analysis is derived for array design to generate quad vortex beams with different directions and an arbitrary number of topological charges. On this basis, two 8 × 8 planar arrays were theoretically designed in an X band, which are with topological charges of l1 = −1, l2 = 1, l3 = −1, and l4 = 1 in Case I and topological charges of l1 = −1, l2 = 1, l3 = −1, and l4 = 1 in Case II. To further verify the above theory, the planar array in Case I is fabricated and analyzed experimentally. Dual-LP beams are realized by using rectangular patch elements with two orthogonally distributed feeding networks on different layers based on two types of feeding: proximity coupling and aperture coupling. Both the numerical simulation and experimental measurement results are in good agreement and showcase the corresponding quad-vortex-beam characteristics within 8~12 GHz. The array achieves a measured S11 < −10 dB and S22 < −10 dB bandwidth of more than 33.4% and 29.2%, respectively. In addition, the isolation between two ports is better than −28 dB. Our strategy provides a promising way to achieve large capacity and high integration, which is of great benefit to wireless and radar communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical step in advancing the practical application of copper‐based organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) is to bridge the large gap between device efficiency and operational stability at practical luminance. Described is a panel of air‐ and thermally stable two‐coordinate CuI emitters featuring bulky pyrazine‐ (PzIPr) or pyridine‐fused N‐heterocyclic carbene (PyIPr*) and carbazole (Cz) ligands with enhanced amide‐Cu‐carbene bonding interactions. These CuI emitters display thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) from the 1LL′CT(Cz→PzIPr/PyIPr*) excited states across the blue to red regions with exceptional radiative rate constants of 1.1–2.2×106 s−1. Vapour‐deposited OLEDs based on these CuI emitters showed excellent external quantum efficiencies and luminance up to 23.6 % and 222 200 cd m−2, respectively, alongside record device lifetimes (LT90) up to 1300 h at 1000 cd m−2 under our laboratory conditions, highlighting the practicality of the CuI‐TADF emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical step in advancing the practical application of copper‐based organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) is to bridge the large gap between device efficiency and operational stability at practical luminance. Described is a panel of air‐ and thermally stable two‐coordinate CuI emitters featuring bulky pyrazine‐ (PzIPr) or pyridine‐fused N‐heterocyclic carbene (PyIPr*) and carbazole (Cz) ligands with enhanced amide‐Cu‐carbene bonding interactions. These CuI emitters display thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) from the 1LL′CT(Cz→PzIPr/PyIPr*) excited states across the blue to red regions with exceptional radiative rate constants of 1.1–2.2×106 s−1. Vapour‐deposited OLEDs based on these CuI emitters showed excellent external quantum efficiencies and luminance up to 23.6 % and 222 200 cd m−2, respectively, alongside record device lifetimes (LT90) up to 1300 h at 1000 cd m−2 under our laboratory conditions, highlighting the practicality of the CuI‐TADF emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niobium silicate based materials have become a research focus due to their interesting photoelectric properties. In this study, a series of 35SiO 2 –35Nb 2 O 5 –10Na 2 O–20K 2 O- x Sm 2 O 3 (with x = 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0/1.2 mol%) luminous glasses were prepared and characterized. Presence of Si–O–Si and O–Nb–O bonds makes these glass samples to have extremely high thermal stability; and addition of alkali metal ions increases their disorder. The lower optical bandgap and higher Urbach energies obtained prove that it is conducive to the microenvironment of luminescence. They exhibit strong absorption in the ultraviolet region and small chromaticity shift at high temperature. Glass with x = 0.8 mol% has been found to have the highest emission intensity, 84.85 % transmittance, and 98.83 % color purity, which proves the feasibility of the prepared luminous glass as the red light composition of LED. Concentration quenching can be associated mainly to the nearest neighbor ion interaction; increase of Sm3+ concentration causes decreasing distance of luminescent ions. The temperature range of 298–423 K shows promising application potential in optical temperature measurement, with maximum absolute sensitivity of 0.521 % K−1 and maximum relative sensitivity of 0.550 % K−1 being observed. Unique properties observed for the Sm3+ doped niobium silicate glasses indicate their development value in the field of multifunctional materials. • Luminous glasses used for LED and temperature sensors were prepared by high-temperature melting method. • At x = 0.8 mol%, the emission intensity reaches its peak, with a transmittance of 84.85 % and a color purity of 98.83 %. • The luminescent glass exhibits high stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niuhuang Jiedu Tablets (NJT) is a popular over-the-counter traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation. It is composed of realgar (As2S2) and seven other TCMs. The safety of NJT is of growing concern because arsenic (As) is carcinogenic to humans. The toxicity of realgar in vivo can mainly be attributed to the absorbed and accumulated As. This study investigated the correlation between the detoxification effects of the other TCMs in NJT on realgar and their influences on arsenic accumulation of realgar in mice. Histopathological examination, clinical biochemical test, and metabolic profiling analysis were used to evaluate the toxicity of realgar. The concentration of arsenic in mice whole blood as the hazard indicator was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The compatibility of NJT could decrease arsenic bioaccumulation of realgar in mice whole blood and consequently reduce the toxicity of realgar, which could be considered as one detoxification mechanism to realgar in NJT. The combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Platycodonis Radix, and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma exhibited almost the same effects as NJT in regulating the serum biochemical parameters and metabolic profiles disturbed by realgar and in reducing arsenic accumulation of realgar in mice whole blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niuhuang Jiedu Tablets (NJT) is a popular over-the-counter traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preparation. It is composed of realgar (As2S2) and seven other TCMs. The safety of NJT is of growing concern because arsenic (As) is carcinogenic to humans. The toxicity of realgar in vivo can mainly be attributed to the absorbed and accumulated As. This study investigated the correlation between the detoxification effects of the other TCMs in NJT on realgar and their influences on arsenic accumulation of realgar in mice. Histopathological examination, clinical biochemical test, and metabolic profiling analysis were used to evaluate the toxicity of realgar. The concentration of arsenic in mice whole blood as the hazard indicator was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The compatibility of NJT could decrease arsenic bioaccumulation of realgar in mice whole blood and consequently reduce the toxicity of realgar, which could be considered as one detoxification mechanism to realgar in NJT. The combination of Rhei Radix et Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Platycodonis Radix, and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma exhibited almost the same effects as NJT in regulating the serum biochemical parameters and metabolic profiles disturbed by realgar and in reducing arsenic accumulation of realgar in mice whole blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is among the most common digestive system malignancies worldwide, and its pathogenesis and gene signatures remain unclear. This study explored the genetic characteristics and molecular mechanisms underlying colon cancer development. Three gene expression data sets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. GEO2R was used to determine differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between COAD and normal tissues. Then, the intersection of the data sets was obtained. Metascape was used to perform the functional enrichment analyses. Next, STRING was used to build protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Hub genes were identified and analysed using Cytoscape. Next, survival analysis and expression analysis of the hub genes were performed. ROC curve analysis was performed for further test of the diagnostic efficacy. Finally, alterations in the hub genes were predicted and analysed by cBioPortal. Altogether, 436 DEGs were detected. The DEGs were mainly enriched in cell cycle phase transition, nuclear division, meiotic nuclear division, and cytokinesis. Based on PPI networks, 20 hub genes were selected. Among them, 6 hub genes (CCNB1, CCNA2, AURKA, NCAPG, DLGAP5, and CENPE) showed significant prognostic value in colon cancer (P < 0.05), while 5 hub genes (CDK1, CCNB1, CCNA2, MAD2L1, and DLGAP5) were associated with early colon cancer diagnosis and ROC curve analysis showed good diagnostic accuracy. In conclusion, integrated bioinformatics analysis was used to identify hub genes that reveal the potential mechanism of carcinogenesis and progression of colon cancer. The hub genes might be novel biomarkers for early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect and doping are effective methods to modulate the physical and chemical properties of materials. In this report, the structural stability, electronic properties, and quantum capacitance (Cdiff) of Zr2CO2 MXene are investigated by the introduction of Si, Ge, Sn, N, B, S, and F atoms. The doping of F, N, and S atoms makes the system undergo the semiconductor‐to‐conductor transition, while the doping of Si, Ge, and Sn atoms maintains the semiconductor characteristics. The B‐doped system can be used as cathode materials, while the systems doped by S, F, N, Sn atoms are promising anode materials of asymmetric supercapacitors, especially for the S‐doped system. The effect of temperature on Cdiff is further explored. The result indicates that the maximum Cdiff of the studied systems gradually decreases with the increasing temperature. Our investigation can provide useful theoretical basis for designing and developing the ideal electrode materials for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A simple and sensitive DNA nanogear sensor has been proposed for grading analysis of gliomas by retrieval exosomes. • The designed DNA nanogear sensor can detect the target exosomes as low as 20 particles/μL. • The gear movement of the sensor on the surface of the exosomes showed a high-gain fluorescence signal. • Dual aptamers targeting exosomes improved the recognition specificity and capture efficiency of the sensor. Direct and accurate analysis of low concentrations of tumor-derived exosomes in complex biological samples is essential for non-invasive cancer diagnosis, but this remains challenging due to the lack of convenient and highly sensitive methods. Herein, we have proposed a novel strategy based on super spherical nucleic acids (SSNAs) combined with nicking enzyme triggering signal amplification for the direct detection of exosomes derived from gliomas. SSNAs utilize AuNPs as carriers, loaded with multifunctional DNA probes. And exosomes are simultaneously labeled by two aptamers. When SSNAs accurately recognize the labeled exosomes, the two make relative gear movement. During the gear movement, the probes act as an exosome-specific retrieval on the one hand, and serves as a fuel that is continuously consumed by the exosomes on the other hand, thus outputting a high-gain fluorescent signal. This strategy exhibits excellent specificity and ultra-high sensitivity for the detection of target exosomes as low as 20 particles/μL. The practicability of this method is further verified by the detection of clinical samples, which retains potential for early glioma diagnosis and grading analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale application of hydrogen steelmaking technology is expected to substantially accelerate the decarbonization process of the iron and steel industry. However, hydrogen steelmaking projects are still in the experimental or demonstration stage, and scientific investment decision-making methods are urgently needed to support the large-scale development of the technology. When assessing the investment value, existing studies usually only consider the intrinsic project value under a specific pathway, while ignoring the option value under realistic multiple uncertainties in terms of technology, market, and policy, leading to an underestimation of the investment value. To address this issue, this study constructs a real options model to explore the optimal investment timing and revenue of the hydrogen steelmaking project, by taking into account multi-dimensional uncertainties stemming from price fluctuations in the steel market, the development of the carbon market, and technological advances. Additionally, the impacts of various subsidy policies on the investment strategy are also investigated. Least Squares Monte Carlo method is applied to overcome computational challenges posed by dynamic programming under multi-dimensional uncertainties. The results show that: (i) Investment is not recommended based on current crude steel price and hydrogen price. (ii) When the annual reduction rate of hydrogen price reaches 5%, the optimal investment timing would advance to 2036. (iii) On this basis, with the introduction of a 20% green hydrogen subsidy policy, the optimal investment timing would be further brought forward to 2033. The implementation of tax incentives would significantly increase the investment value. The investment value would surge from 170 million CNY to 262 million CNY as the tax rate decreases from 20% to zero. The findings could provide reasonable suggestions for investment decisions under realistic volatile environments, as well as scientific references for policy design, thus facilitating the large-scale and high-level development of hydrogen-based steelmaking technology. • Considering multiple uncertainties in hydrogen steelmaking project decision making. • Building Real Option Model for investment strategy of hydrogen steelmaking project. • Best time to invest is 2036 at 5% decline rate of H 2 price and current steel price. • Analyzing incentive effects of one-time subsidy, H 2 incentives and tax incentives. • Subsidy for H 2 is the most effective incentive to advance the investment timing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key enabling technology of underwater acoustic sensor networks, underwater routing feature a variety of unique characteristics, including limited energy supply, high end-to-end delay and low delivery ratio. All these problems pose challenges in the design of efficient and effective routing protocols. To address such challenges, we propose an adaptive multi-zone geographic routing protocol(AMGR). First, AMGR dynamically adjusts the neighbor information acquisition interval according to the topology change speed, which not only reduces the excessive energy consumption of updating information, but also improves the performance of routing in high dynamic underwater environment. Second, according to the characteristics of different forwarding zones, the multi-region cooperative forwarding mechanism is adaptive used to improve the end-to-end delay and increase delivery ratio under the premise of reducing energy consumption as much as possible. Third, in priority calculation, we consider both the impact of packet transmission advancement and energy consumption, which can ensure less hops and avoid some high advancement nodes running out of energy in advance. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol outperforms AHH-VBF, PCR and restrictive flooding in delivery ratio, end-to-end delay and energy tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Understanding the spectrum of ocular pathogens in a given geographic region is important for devising appropriate practical treatment. Therefore, we examined the pathogen spectrum and antibiotic resistance of microbial keratitis in northeast China. Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we reviewed the microbiology laboratory records of patients diagnosed with microbial keratitis in a tertiary eye hospital in Harbin, northeast China, between 2017 and 2019, and analysed the pathogen spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility. Results: We collected 462 specimens, of which 282 exhibited positive cultures. Among these cultures, 257 were bacterial and 25 were fungal. Of the 257 bacterial isolates, 214 (83.27%) were gram positive whereas 43 (16.73%) were gram negative. The most prevalent gram‐positive pathogen was coagulase‐negative staphylococcus (CoNS; 58.37%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; 20.62%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (2.33%). Of the gram‐negative bacterial isolates, 10 were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3.89%). The most frequently detected ocular pathogens from fungal isolates were Fusarium species (40%). We also found more culture‐positive cases of bacterial keratitis in summer. Overall, 16.98% S. aureus and 64.00% CoNS isolates were methicillin resistant. These methicillin‐resistant bacteria were also more likely to be resistant to other antibiotics, with multidrug resistance found in 77.78% methicillin‐resistant S. aureus and 90.63% methicillin‐resistant CoNS. However, all gram‐positive isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. Conclusion: Coagulase‐negative staphylococcus are the most common ocular pathogens in northeast China. We also show the prevalence of methicillin resistance and concurrent multidrug resistance among staphylococcal isolates. Monitoring the patterns of antimicrobial resistance could help in the management selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose. Poststroke aphasia (PSA) often coexists with upper extremity (UE) motor dysfunction. However, whether the presence of PSA affects UE motor performance, and if language function associates with UE motor performance, are unclear. This study is aimed at (1) comparing the motor status of UE between patients with PSA and without PSA and (2) investigating the association between language function and UE motor status in patients with PSA. Methods. Patients with stroke were compared and correlated from overall and three periods (1-3 months, 4-6 months, and >6 months). Fugl-Meyer assessment for the upper extremity (FMA-UE) and action research and arm test (ARAT) were used to compare the UE motor status between patients with PSA and without PSA through a cross-sectional study among 435 patients. Then, the correlations between the evaluation scale scores of UE motor status and language function of patients with PSA were analyzed in various dimensions, and the language subfunction most closely related to UE motor function was analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. Results. We found that the scores of FMA-UE and ARAT in patients with PSA were 14 points ((CI) 10 to 18, p < 0.001) and 11 points lower ((CI) 8 to 13, p < 0.001), respectively, than those without PSA. Their FMA-UE (r = 0.70 , p < 0.001) and ARAT (r = 0.62 , p < 0.001) scores were positively correlated with language function. Regression analysis demonstrated that spontaneous speech ability may account for UE motor function ( R 2 = 0.51 , p < 0.001 ; R 2 = 0.42 , p < 0.001). Consistent results were also obtained from the analyses within the three time subgroups. Conclusion. Stroke patients with PSA have worse UE motor performance. UE motor status and language function showed positive correlations, in which spontaneous speech ability significantly accounts for the associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose. Poststroke aphasia (PSA) often coexists with upper extremity (UE) motor dysfunction. However, whether the presence of PSA affects UE motor performance, and if language function associates with UE motor performance, are unclear. This study is aimed at (1) comparing the motor status of UE between patients with PSA and without PSA and (2) investigating the association between language function and UE motor status in patients with PSA. Methods. Patients with stroke were compared and correlated from overall and three periods (1-3 months, 4-6 months, and >6 months). Fugl-Meyer assessment for the upper extremity (FMA-UE) and action research and arm test (ARAT) were used to compare the UE motor status between patients with PSA and without PSA through a cross-sectional study among 435 patients. Then, the correlations between the evaluation scale scores of UE motor status and language function of patients with PSA were analyzed in various dimensions, and the language subfunction most closely related to UE motor function was analyzed by multiple linear regression analysis. Results. We found that the scores of FMA-UE and ARAT in patients with PSA were 14 points ((CI) 10 to 18, p < 0.001) and 11 points lower ((CI) 8 to 13, p < 0.001), respectively, than those without PSA. Their FMA-UE (r = 0.70 , p < 0.001) and ARAT (r = 0.62 , p < 0.001) scores were positively correlated with language function. Regression analysis demonstrated that spontaneous speech ability may account for UE motor function ( R 2 = 0.51 , p < 0.001 ; R 2 = 0.42 , p < 0.001). Consistent results were also obtained from the analyses within the three time subgroups. Conclusion. Stroke patients with PSA have worse UE motor performance. UE motor status and language function showed positive correlations, in which spontaneous speech ability significantly accounts for the associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers, and the noninvasive diagnostic methods for monitoring GC are still lacking. Growing evidence shows that human microbiota has potential value for identifying digestive diseases. Aims: The present study aimed to explore the association of the tongue coating microbiota with the serum metabolic features and inflammatory cytokines in GC patients and seek a potential, noninvasive biomarker for diagnosing GC. Methods: The tongue coating microbiota was profiled by 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes sequencing technology in the original population with 181 GC patients and 112 healthy controls (HCs). Propensity score matching method was used to eliminate potential confounders including age, gender, and six lifestyle factors and a matching population with 66 GC patients and 66 HCs generated. Serum metabolomics profiling was performed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) in the matching population. Random forest model was constructed for the diagnosis of GC. Results: Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) revealed that the differential bacterial taxa between GC patients and HCs in the matching population were similar to that in the original population, while the differential fungal taxa between GC patients and HCs dramatically changed before and after PSM. By random forest analysis, the combination of six bacterial genera (Peptostreptococcus, Peptococcus, Porphyromonas, Megamonas, Rothia, and Fusobacterium) was the optimal predictive model to distinguish GC patients from HCs effectively, with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.85. The model was verified with a high predictive potential (AUC = 0.76 to 0.96). In the matching population, eighteen specific HCs-enriched bacterial genera (Porphyromonas, Parvimonas, etc.) had negative correlations with lysophospholipids metabolites, and three of them had also negative correlations with serum IL-17α. Conclusions: The alteration of tongue coating microbiota had a possible linkage with the inflammations and metabolome, and the tongue coating bacteria could be a potential noninvasive biomarker for diagnosing GC, which might be independent of lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A qualitative screening method using ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) was developed for the detection of 16 commonly found illicit additives in herbal pharmaceuticals and health foods, including ibuprofen, nitrazepam, nitrendipine, indomethacin, phenobarbital, sibutramine, diclofenac sodium, diazepam, estazolam, melatonin, phenolphthalein, prednisone acetate, betamethasone, metformin HCl, glibenclamide, and tadalafil. A substance database suitable for the rapid on-site analysis of these compounds was then established based on the matching algorithm of some key parameters, such as reduced mobility calculated and tolerance estimated, etc. The developed measurement was successfully applied to assess 15 real samples after full validation in respect of sensitivity, matrix effect, recovery, precision, and stability. The suspected illicit additives were all consistently confirmed and further quantified with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Two sampling introduction methods of direct swabbing with swab paper and a simple extraction procedure with methanol were also compared, and no significant difference was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional operations, e.g. graph edit distance (GED), are no longer suitable for processing the massive quantities of graph-structured data now available, due to their irregular structures and high computational complexities. With the advent of graph neural networks (GNNs), the problems of graph representation and graph similarity search have drawn particular attention in the field of computer vision. However, GNNs have been less studied for efficient and fast retrieval after graph representation. To represent graph-based data, and maintain fast retrieval while doing so, we introduce an efficient hash model with graph neural networks (HGNN) for a newly designed task (i.e. fast graph-based data retrieval). Due to its flexibility, HGNN can be implemented in both an unsupervised and supervised manner. Specifically, by adopting a graph neural network and hash learning algorithms, HGNN can effectively learn a similarity-preserving graph representation and compute pair-wise similarity or provide classification via low-dimensional compact hash codes. To the best of our knowledge, our model is the first to address graph hashing representation in the Hamming space. Our experimental results reach comparable prediction accuracy to full-precision methods and can even outperform traditional models in some cases. In real-world applications, using hash codes can greatly benefit systems with smaller memory capacities and accelerate the retrieval speed of graph-structured data. Hence, we believe the proposed HGNN has great potential in further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polychromatic X-rays generated by a linear accelerator (Linac) often result in noticeable hardening artifacts in images, posing a significant challenge to accurate defect identification. To address this issue, a simple yet effective approach is to introduce filters at the radiation source outlet. However, current methods are often empirical, lacking scientifically sound metrics.This study introduces an innovative filter design method that optimizes filter performance by balancing the impact of ray intensity and energy on image quality.Firstly, different spectra under various materials and thicknesses of filters were obtained using GEometry ANd Tracking (Geant4) simulation. Subsequently, these spectra and their corresponding incident photon counts were used as input sources to generate different reconstructed images. By comprehensively comparing the intensity differences and noise in images of defective and non-defective regions, along with considering hardening indicators, the optimal filter was determined.The optimized filter was applied to a Linac-based X-ray computed tomography (CT) detection system designed for identifying defects in graphite materials within high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR), with defect dimensions of 2 mm. After adding the filter, the hardening effect reduced by 22%, and the Defect Contrast Index (DCI) reached 3.226.The filter designed based on the parameters of Average Difference (AD) and Defect Contrast Index (DCI) can effectively improve the quality of defect images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super‐partnerships exist between scholars connected within densely‐knit collaboration networks. Understanding how such relationships affect scholars' careers is of great importance. In this paper, focusing on the longitudinal aspects of scientific collaboration, we analyze collaboration profiles from the egocentric perspective and use analytic extreme value thresholds to identify super‐partners. A total of 5722 pairs of super‐partners are found in the field of economics. The several interesting findings about super‐partners are summarized as follows. (1) The collaboration pattern of super‐partners can be divided into three types: the dual‐core, bridge, and triangle types. (2) Gender disparities are reflected in the collaboration among super‐partners, and the stability of super‐partnerships involving different combinations of genders displays different characteristics. The random‐effect model is constructed to explore the effect of a super‐partnership on both parties from the aspects of productivity and influence, which also shows gender disparities. (3) A super‐partnership contributes to above‐average productivity and citation impacts of the publication for three collaboration patterns, and the research improvement of the triangle type is the greatest among the three types. Overall, this paper explores the characteristics of super‐partners and the added value of a long‐term commitment, which provides quantitative insights into the effect on scientific collaboration associated with close collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with normal stimulus such as light and heat, ultrasonic possesses much deeper penetration into tissues and organs and has lower scattering in heterogeneous systems as a noninvasive stimulus. Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization (RAFT) in aqueous media is performed in a commercial ultrasonic wash bath with 40 kHz frequency ultrasonic, in the presence of piezoelectric tetragonal BaTiO3 (BTO) nanoparticles. Owing to the electron transfer from BTO under the ultrasonic action, the water can be decomposed to produce hydroxyl radical (HO•) and initiate the RAFT polymerization (piezo‐RAFT). The piezo‐RAFT polymerization exhibits features of controllable and livingness, such as linear increase of molar mass and narrow molar mass distributions (Mw/Mn < 1.20). Excellent temporal control of the polymerization and the chain fidelity of polymers are illustrated by “ON and OFF” experiment and chain extension, separately. Moreover, this ultrasonic‐driven piezoelectric‐induced RAFT polymerization in aqueous media can be directly used for the preparation of piezoelectric hydrogel which have potential application for stress sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional sugars have unique structural and physiological characteristics with applied perspectives for modern biomedical and biotechnological sectors, such as biomedicine, pharmaceutical, cosmeceuticals, green chemistry, and agro-food. They can also be used as starting matrices to produce biologically active metabolites of interests. Though numerous chemical synthesis routes have been proposed and deployed for the synthesis of rare sugars, however, many of them are limited and economically incompetent because of expensive raw starting feedstocks. Whereas, the biosynthesis by enzymatic means are often associated with high catalyst costs and low space-time yields. Microbial production of rare sugars via green routes using bio-renewable resources offers noteworthy solutions to overcome the aforementioned limitations of synthetic and enzymatic synthesis routes. From the microbial-based synthesis perspective, the lipogenic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is rapidly evolving as the most prevalent and unique "non-model organism" in the bio-production arena. Due to high flux tendency through the tri-carboxylic acid cycle intermediates and precursors such as acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, this yeast has been widely investigated to meet the increasing demand of industrially relevant fine chemicals, including functional sugars. Incredible interest in Y. lipolytica originates from its robust tolerance to unstable pH, salt levels, and organic compounds, which subsequently enable easy bioprocess optimization. Meaningfully, GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status creates Y. lipolytica as an attractive and environmentally friendly microbial host for the manufacturing of nutraceuticals, fermented food, and dietary supplements. In this review, we highlight the recent and state-of-the-art research progress on Y. lipolytica as a host to synthesize bio-based compounds of interest beyond the realm of well-known fatty acid production. The unique physicochemical properties, biotechnological applications, and biosynthesis of an array of value-added functional sugars including erythritol, threitol, fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides, isomaltulose, trehalose, erythrulose, xylitol, and mannitol using sustainable carbon sources are thoroughly vetted. Finally, we conclude with perspectives that would be helpful to engineer Y. lipolytica in greening the twenty-first century biomedical and biotechnological sectors of the modern world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the influences and potential mechanisms of zein-fucoidan nanoparticle (ZFNPs) loaded with and without curcumin (Cur) on casein (CN) before and after thermal treatment. It was found that the addition of ZFNPs into CN solution slightly promoted its fluorescence. However, significant fluorescence quenching of CN was observed after heating when Cur-loaded ZFNPs (CZFNPs) and free Cur were added. We speculated that Cur released from CZFNPs during heating might access the hydrophobic sites in the interior of CN to interact with tryptophan (Trp) residues, like free Cur. Obviously conformational changes of CN caused by released Cur was stronger than that caused by ZFNPs. FTIR spectra revealed that the influences of CZFNPs on the secondary structure of CN also resulted from both ZFNPs and the loaded Cur molecules. Additionally, with the addition of CZFNPs, ZFNPs and Cur, the average particle size of CN increased before heating but decreased after heating. Although they exhibited a same trend, the CN solutions with ZFNPs and CZFNPs were more homogeneous systems from this aspect. Last but not least, DSC curves showed that the presence of ZFNPs during heating did not alter the thermal stability of CN. Nevertheless, CZFNPs and Cur led to a reduction in the denaturalization temperature of CN, indicating that they were just simply mixed with CN in the solutions rather than bind to CN through covalent bonds. The results obtained in this work may provide theoretical guidance for the application of nano delivery systems in functional foods and beverages. [Display omitted] • Addition of CZFNPs and ZFNPs in casein solution slightly promoted its fluorescence. • Curcumin accessed the hydrophobic site in interior of casein easily with heating. • Influences of CZFNPs on casein resulted from both ZFNPs and loaded curcumin. • ZFNPs, CZFNPs and curcumin were simply mixed with casein rather than bind to it. • Addition of CZFNPs increased colloidal stability of casein, as opposed to curcumin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have suggested that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be predictive of the prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF), but yield conflicting findings. Therefore, we conducted a meta‐analysis to examine the impact of COPD on adverse outcomes in patients with HF. Methods: We systematically searched the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, Cochrane library from inception to August 2020 for the relevant studies. Adjusted risk ratios (RRs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were collected and then pooled by the Review Manager version 5.30 software with a random‐effects model. Results: A total of 18 studies (6 post hoc analyses of trials and 12 observational studies) were included in this meta‐analysis. COPD was associated with an increased risk of all‐cause mortality (hospitalized HF: RR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.20‐1.70; chronic HF: RR 1.24, 95% CI: 1.16‐1.33), but not cardiovascular mortality, in patients with hospitalized HF or chronic HF. In addition, COPD was associated with increased risks of all‐cause hospitalization (RR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.21‐1.42) and HF hospitalization (RR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.21‐1.42) in the chronic HF patients. Conclusions: COPD comorbidity could increase the risk of all‐cause mortality of HF patients. Future research should confirm the findings on hospitalization because of the limited studies included for this outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: More than 2.5 million older Americans die each year. Place of residence in which dying patients receive care plays a crucial role in the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care. Objective: This study aimed to compare proxies' overall rating and ratings for 13 indicators across five major domains of EOL care by place of residence in the last month of decedents' lives. Design: We used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative study of Medicare beneficiaries at age 65 years and older in the United States. Setting/Subjects: Analyses included proxies (N = 1336) of Medicare beneficiaries who passed away between 2013 and 2016. Proxies were categorized into four groups, depending on place of residence in the last month of life and the involvement of hospice. Measurements: Quality of EOL care was assessed using questions modeled after quality of EOL care instruments. We adjusted for demographic data of decedents and proxies. Results: Hospice recipients, regardless of setting, were more likely to experience pain and talk about religion in the last month of life; families of patients without hospice in residential care settings were more likely to report not being kept informed; proxies of patients living in private residences with hospice care reported higher overall ratings. Among hospice recipients, those living in private residences were more likely to be treated with respect. Conclusions: Disparities exist across settings and in overall ratings for quality of EOL domains—particularly, the subdomains of symptom management, decision making, and spiritual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of ultrathin BiOCl 2D nanosheet photocatalysts were prepared by the TBAOH-assisted hydrolysis method in water. The effects of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH) dosages, chlorine source, preparation pH value, ultrasonic treatment, and magnetic stirring on the photocatalytic degradation dynamics of carbamazepine were examined under visible-light irradiation to optimize the preparation parameters. It was found that ultrathin BiOCl prepared with TBAOH dosages of 1 mmol and chlorine source of NaCl in the pH of 2 upon magnetic stirring of 6 h displayed the highest photocatalytic degradation rate constant (0.0038 min−1) of carbamazepine, which is 7.6 times higher than that with the ordinary BiOCl (without TBAOH). To clarify the mechanism on the outstanding photocatalytic activity of ultrathin BiOCl, the elemental composition/state, micromorphology, and separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL). Results showed that the presence of oxygen vacancy, ultrathin nanosheet structure, and improved separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs contributed to the excellent photocatalytic degradation activity of ultrathin BiOCl. The obtained result provides a novel method to fabricate ultrathin BiOCl with excellent photocatalytic degradation activity of carbamazepine under visible-light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on big data, this paper starts from the behavior data of users on social media, and studies and explores the core issues of user modeling under personalized services. Focusing on the goal of user interest modeling, this paper proposes corresponding improvement measures for the existing interest model, which has great difference in interest description among different users and it is difficult to find the user interest change in time. For the above problems, this paper takes user-generated content and user behavior information as the analysis object, and uses natural language processing, knowledge warehouse, data fusion and other methods and techniques to numerically analyze user interest mining based on text mining and multi-source data fusion. We propose a user interest label space mapping method to avoid data sparse problem caused by too many dimensions in interest analysis. At the same time, we propose a method to extract and blend the long-term and short-term interests, and realize the comprehensive evaluation of interests. In the analysis of the big data phase, the user preference social property application preference value law, it is expected to achieve user Internet social media application preference data mining from the perspective of big data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate predictions of remaining useful life (RUL) of important components play a crucial role in system reliability, which is the basis of prognostics and health management (PHM). This paper proposed an integrated deep learning approach for RUL prediction of a turbofan engine by integrating an autoencoder (AE) with a deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN). In the pretraining stage, the reconstructed data of the AE not only participate in its error reconstruction but also take part in the DCGAN parameter training as the generated data of the DCGAN. Through double-error reconstructions, the capability of feature extraction is enhanced, and high-level abstract information is obtained. In the fine-tuning stage, a long short-term memory (LSTM) network is used to extract the sequential information from the features to predict the RUL. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified on the NASA commercial modular aero-propulsion system simulation (C-MAPSS) dataset. The superiority of the proposed method is demonstrated via excellent prediction performance and comparisons with other existing state-of-the-art prognostics. The results of this study suggest that the proposed data-driven prognostic method offers a new and promising prediction approach and an efficient feature extraction scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room temperature liquid metal activated Al-H2O reaction is a valuable method of achieving controllable, instant hydrogen generation. It avoids problems related to degradation of raw materials. In this study, the Ga-In-Sn-Bi alloy-activated Al-H2O reaction was demonstrated to be rate-stable with a hydrogen productivity of 92% and therefore superior to similar reactions activated by Ga-In and Ga-In-Sn alloys. To reveal the relevant activation mechanisms, the electrode potentials of three types of liquid metal alloys were tested. The effects of various liquid metal alloy compositions on hydrogen generation performance were determined via composition analysis and elemental characterization of the used reaction materials. The effects of several reaction conditions on hydrogen generation performance were evaluated. The reaction activation energy and by-product separation were also studied. It is feasible to provide a stable supply of hydrogen to a fuel cell and produce an output power of 0.73 W using a 3 g Al plate. Overall, the room-temperature Ga-In-Sn-Bi alloy-activated Al-H2O reaction can achieve real-time, on-demand hydrogen generation. This makes it a preferred choice to supply hydrogen to fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A procedure was established and fully validated for the screening and quantification of fourteen synthetic antidiabetic adulterants in herbal pharmaceuticals and health foods, including metformin (MF), buformin (BF), phenformin (PHF), rosiglitazone (RGZ), pioglitazone (PGZ), chlorpropamide (CPM), glipizide (GPZ), tolbutamide (TBM), gliclazide (GCZ), glibenclamide (GBM), glimepiride (GMR), repaglinide (RGN), gliquidone (GQD) and nateglinide (NGN). The samples were extracted by methanol and separated by HPLC. Retention times and ultraviolet spectra were used for the preliminary screening, and the suspected adulterants were then confirmed by liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) and quantified by HPLC. The developed procedure was successfully applied to assess twenty-four herbal samples, and PHF, GCZ, GBM, MF, GPZ and BF were found in many. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of simultaneous screening and quantification of these fourteen synthetic antidiabetic adulterants from any matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Niuhuang Jiedu tablet (NJT), a realgar (As2S2) containing Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is a well-known formula. The safety of NJT is of growing concern since arsenic (As) is considered as one of the most toxic elements. NJT was demonstrated to be safer than realgar by our previous experiments and some other studies. The toxicity of realgar has been shown to be related to the amount of soluble or bioaccessible arsenic. In this study, the influences of the other TCMs in NJT on the bioaccessibility of arsenic from realgar, and the roles of gut microbiota during this process were investigated in vitro. Results showed that Dahuang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma), Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix), Jiegeng (Platycodonis Radix), and Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma) could significantly reduce the bioaccessibility of arsenic from realgar in artificial gastrointestinal fluids. Gut microbiota played an important role in decreasing the bioaccessibility of realgar because it was demonstrated to be able to absorb the soluble arsenic from realgar in the incubation medium. Dahuang, Huangqin, and Jiegeng could modulate the gut microbiota to enhance its arsenic absorption activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A strategy for the control of bus voltage (with V and Q limits) is presented. • DG systems are modeled by a P-Q or P-V bus using a Petri net approach. • The proposed bus voltage control strategy is verified using the IEEE test feeders. Distributed generation (DG) systems—particularly photovoltaic (PV) systems—that can control reactive power can change the behavior of a power system network in spite of their relatively small individual capacities because of bidirectional power flow and reactive power control. Therefore, power flow algorithms should be able to accurately model the response of a power system network that includes DG systems. Various power flow algorithms have modeled DG systems as either a P-Q or P-V bus. However, small DG systems connected to the grid by a short line, but not a long transmission line, or predefined mutually between utilities and DG system owners can participate in the control of reactive power. They can adaptively adjust the reactive power output according to their bus voltage. Thus, the objective of this study is to present a strategy that participates in the control of bus voltage within its limits and reactive power by either injecting or absorbing reactive power. For this purpose, this study presents a Petri net approach that a bus to which a DG system is connected is modeled as a P-Q or P-V bus with equality and inequality constraints. The proposed bus voltage control strategy is verified using the well-known IEEE test feeders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is increasingly important to build topic linkages between scientific publications and patents for the purpose of understanding the relationships between science and technology. Previous studies on the linkages mainly focus on the analysis of nonpatent references on the front page of patents, or the resulting citation‐link networks, but with unsatisfactory performance. In the meanwhile, abundant mentioned entities in the scholarly articles and patents further complicate topic linkages. To deal with this situation, a novel statistical entity‐topic model (named the CCorrLDA2 model), armed with the collapsed Gibbs sampling inference algorithm, is proposed to discover the hidden topics respectively from the academic articles and patents. In order to reduce the negative impact on topic similarity calculation, word tokens and entity mentions are grouped by the Brown clustering method. Then a topic linkages construction problem is transformed into the well‐known optimal transportation problem after topic similarity is calculated on the basis of symmetrized Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence. Extensive experimental results indicate that our approach is feasible to build topic linkages with more superior performance than the counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate segmentation of industrial CT images is of great significance in industrial fields such as quality inspection and defect analysis. However, reconstruction of industrial CT images often suffers from typical metal artifacts caused by factors like beam hardening, scattering, statistical noise, and partial volume effects. Traditional segmentation methods are difficult to achieve precise segmentation of CT images mainly due to the presence of these metal artifacts. Furthermore, acquiring paired CT image data required by fully supervised networks proves to be extremely challenging. To address these issues, this paper introduces an improved CycleGAN approach for achieving semi-supervised segmentation of industrial CT images. This method not only eliminates the need for removing metal artifacts and noise, but also enables the direct conversion of metal artifact-contaminated images into segmented images without the requirement of paired data. The average values of quantitative assessment of image segmentation performance can reach 0.96645 for Dice Similarity Coefficient(Dice) and 0.93718 for Intersection over Union(IoU). In comparison to traditional segmentation methods, it presents significant improvements in both quantitative metrics and visual quality, provides valuable insights for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]