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AbstractIntroduction Many clinical trials have demonstrated the benefits of intraoperative systemic lidocaine administration in major abdominal surgeries. We tested the hypothesis that systemic lidocaine is associated with an enhanced early quality of recovery in patients following laparoscopic colorectal resection.Patients and Methods We randomly allocated 126 patients scheduled for laparoscopic colorectal surgery in a 1:1 ratio to receive either lidocaine (1.5 mg kg−1 bolus over 10 min, followed by continuous infusion at 2 mg kg−1 h−1 until the end of surgery) or identical volumes and rates of saline. The primary outcome was the Quality of Recovery-15 score assessed 24 h after surgery. Secondary outcomes were areas under the pain numeric rating scale curve over time, 48-h morphine consumption, and adverse events.Results Compared with saline, systemic lidocaine improved the Quality of Recovery-15 score 24 h postoperatively, with a median difference of 4 (95% confidence interval: 1–6; p = 0.015). Similarly, the area under the pain numeric rating scale curve over 48 h at rest and on movement was reduced in the lidocaine group (p = 0.004 and p

It has been confirmed that micro-alloying is the effective way to refine the grain size and elevate the properties of pure Ti alloy produced via additive manufacturing. The pure Ti, Ti–2Fe (wt.%) and Ti–4Fe (wt.%) alloys created via Laser Melting Deposition (LMD) are compared based on their grain size, orientation relationship, and mechanical properties. Ti–4Fe displays a significantly lower average grain size of 220 μm in comparison to pure Ti and Ti–2Fe alloys, with average size of 442.3 and 319.6 μm. The superior constitutional supercooling of the former is responsible for the decrease in grain size. The orientation of the α phase is found to be influenced by the solid solution of Fe, with greater Fe content resulting in a preference towards the (0 0 0 1) direction for growth. Furthermore, the inclusion of Fe led to a noteworthy increase in both the yields strength, peaking at 798 MPa, and tensile strength, reaching 880 MPa. This enhancement is attributed to both the fine grain strengthening (54.4%) and the solid solution strengthening of Fe atoms (45.6%).

A comprehensive investigation of friction stirring additive manufacturing (FSAM) Mg–10Li–3Al–3Zn alloy has been conducted to evaluate microstructure evolution and mechanical properties. The results indicated that new intermetallic compounds of Li2MgAl and LiMgZn are precipitated. The microstructure homogeneity is improved and the texture strength of [−1100] is decreased via FSAM. Compared to the base metal, the microhardness of nugget zone has increased by 33%, and the tensile strength of the samples along transverse direction and process direction are 206 MPa and 224 MPa, respectively. The strengthen mechanism of mechanical properties also has been analyzed through phase distribution and grain refinement. The study reveals that FSAM is a significant approach for the additive manufacturing magnesium alloys.

Semen cryopreservation is a promising technology employed in preserving high-quality varieties in animal husbandry and is also widely applied in the human sperm bank. However, the compromised qualities, such as decreased sperm motility, damaged membrane structure, and reduced fertilization competency, have significantly hampered the efficient application of this technique. Therefore, it is imperative to depict various molecular changes found in cryopreserved sperm and identify the regulatory network in response to the cryopreservation stress. In this study, semen was collected from three Chinese Merino rams and divided into untreated (fresh semen, FS) and programmed freezing (programmed freezing semen, PS) groups. After measuring different quality parameters, the ultra-low RNA-seq and tandem mass tag-based (TMT) proteome were conducted in both the groups. The results indicated that the motility (82.63% ± 3.55% vs. 34.10% ± 2.90%, p < 0.05) and viability (89.46% ± 2.53% vs. 44.78% ± 2.29%, p < 0.05) of the sperm in the FS group were significantly higher compared to those in the PS group. In addition, 45 upregulated and 291 downregulated genes, as well as 30 upregulated and 48 downregulated proteins, were found in transcriptomics and proteomics data separately. Moreover, three integrated methods, namely, functional annotation and enrichment analysis, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and two-way orthogonal partial least squares (O2PLS) analysis, were used for further analysis. The results suggested that various differentially expressed genes and proteins (DEGs and DEPs) were mainly enriched in leishmaniasis and hematopoietic cell lineage, and Fc gamma receptor Ia (FCGR1A) was significantly downregulated in cryopreserved sperm both at mRNA and protein levels in comparison with the fresh counterpart. In addition, top five genes (FCGR1A, HCK, SLX4, ITGA3, and BET1) and 22 proteins could form a distinct network in which genes and proteins were significantly correlated (p < 0.05). Interestingly, FCGR1A also appeared in the top 25 correlation list based on O2PLS analysis. Hence, FCGR1A was selected as the most potential differentially expressed candidate for screening by the three integrated multi-omics analysis methods. In addition, Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated that the expression level of FCGR1A was positively correlated with sperm motility and viability. A subsequent experiment was conducted to identify the biological role of FCGR1A in sperm function. The results showed that both the sperm viability (fresh group: 87.65% ± 4.17% vs. 75.8% ± 1.15%, cryopreserved group: 48.15% ± 0.63% vs. 42.45% ± 2.61%, p < 0.05) and motility (fresh group: 83.27% ± 4.15% vs. 70.41% ± 1.07%, cryopreserved group: 45.31% ± 3.28% vs. 35.13% ± 2.82%, p < 0.05) were significantly reduced in fresh and frozen sperm when FCGR1A was blocked. Moreover, the cleavage rate of embryos fertilized by FCGR1A-blocked sperm was noted to be significantly lower in both fresh (95.28% ± 1.16% vs. 90.44% ± 1.56%, p < 0.05) and frozen groups (89.8% ± 1.50% vs. 82.53% ± 1.53%, p < 0.05). In conclusion, our results revealed that the downregulated membrane protein FCGR1A can potentially contribute to the reduced sperm fertility competency in the cryopreserved sheep sperm.

An ore has a lead grade of 2.56%, a zinc grade of 9.17%, and an associated silver grade of 18.60 g/t in Northwest China, which is a low-lead and high-zinc sulfide ore. In order to solve the problem of serious lead-zinc mixing and high zinc contented in the lead concentrate, a large number of experimental studies have been done on the ore. Combined with process mineralogy, a large number of zinc-inhibiting agents were explored, and finally the composite inhibitor T122 was determined to have a good effect. According to the optimum process conditions determined by conditional test and open-circuit test, the closed-circuit process test was carried out, and the final index of the lead concentrate was 62.22%, the recovery rate was 92.42% and the lead concentrate containing 5.79% zinc. The grade of zinc in zinc concentrate is 57.07% and the recovery rate is 92.45%. The associated elements were well enriched and recovered, and the silver grade in lead concentrate was 390.90 g/t, and the silver recovery rate was 76.50%. Lead, zinc and their associated silver have been well recovered and the comprehensive utilization of mineral resources has been realized.

In this paper, theoretical analysis and system simulations are carried out to study the effects of the transmitter-compensated inductance mistuning on charging power, transfer efficiency, and the phase angle between the input voltage and input current in a wireless power transfer (WPT) system using inductor/capacitor/capacitor-series (LCC-S) topology. To cancel out the effects of the mistuning, an integrated transmitting coil design scheme is proposed, in which the transmitting coil is unipolar while the compensation coils are bipolar. Theoretical calculations and simulations are performed to show that the proposed compensation inductor guarantees the stability of the compensation inductance when the permeability of the magnetic sheet changes. Furthermore, it is verified that by using the integrated structure the effect of the horizontal misalignment can be ignored. Finally, an experimental platform is built to validate the above results of theoretical analysis and simulation. This proves that the theoretical analysis and simulation results are consistent with each other, which confirmed the stability and feasibility of the integrated compensation inductor.

To enhance the stability and disturbance rejection of wireless charging systems for electric vehicles, we designed a bilateral collaborative control strategy based on BP neural networks, achieving closed-loop constant voltage control for the secondary rectification circuit. Integrating BP neural network adaptive PID parameters with dual-phase-shift control, this strategy outperforms conventional incremental PID controllers in terms of response time and overshoot. Validated on an 11 kW experimental platform, our approach demonstrated efficient response under disturbances; with a load switch from 10 Ω to 12 Ω, the system exhibited a mere 5% fluctuation rate and an impressive efficiency of up to 92.96%.

Abstract Background Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial malignancy in childhood; however, the mechanisms underlying its aggressive characteristics still remain elusive. Methods Integrative data analysis was performed to reveal tumour‐driving transcriptional regulators. Co‐immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry assays were applied for protein interaction studies. Real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual‐luciferase reporter assays were carried out to explore gene expression regulation. The biological characteristics of NB cell lines were examined via gain‐ and loss‐of‐function assays. For survival analysis, the Cox regression model and log‐rank tests were used. Results Cellular nucleic acid‐binding protein (CNBP) was found to be an independent factor affecting NB outcome, which exerted oncogenic roles in ribosome biogenesis, tumourigenesis and aggressiveness. Mechanistically, karyopherin subunit beta 1 (KPNB1) was responsible for nuclear transport of CNBP, whereas liquid condensates of CNBP repressed the activity of switch/sucrose‐nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) core subunits (SMARCC2/SMARCC1/SMARCA4) via interaction with SMARCC2, leading to alternatively increased activity of SMARCC1/SMARCA4 binary complex in facilitating gene expression essential for 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) processing in tumour cells, extracellular vesicle‐mediated delivery of 18S rRNA and subsequent M2 macrophage polarisation. A cell‐penetrating peptide blocking phase separation and interaction of CNBP with SMARCC2 inhibited ribosome biogenesis and NB progression. High KPNB1, CNBP, SMARCC1 or SMARCA4 expression or low SMARCC2 levels were associated with poor survival of NB patients. Conclusions These findings suggest that CNBP phase separation is a target for inhibiting ribosome biogenesis and tumour progression in NB via modulating SWI/SNF complex activity.

In this study, the effect of Fe addition on microstructure evolution and grain refinement mechanism during hot deformation of new Ti-6Al-4V-xFe (x = 0–0.9 wt%) alloys were investigated. The peak stress showed a decreasing trend, and the microstructure presented obvious grain refinement with the increase of Fe content. The flow softening behavior was contributed by dynamic recovery (DRV) and dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The average grain size decreased from 52.2 μm to 11.3 μm, and the fraction of the high angle grain boundary (HAGB) increased from 66.49% to 76.33% when Fe concentration increased from 0 wt% to 0.9 wt%. Fe addition also facilitated in the annihilation of the dislocations, which resulted in a decrease in the average ρGND density. The high Schmid factor (>0.45) content increased with the Fe content in the basal slip (0001) and prismatic slip {101¯1} of the α phase, as well as in the {112¯} and {123¯} slip systems of the β phase. All evidence indicated that Fe addition promoted the hot workability of the Ti-6Al-4V-xFe (x = 0–0.9 wt%) alloys and refined the grain size during hot deformation.

In this study, we prepared nickel and phosphorus decorated graphene nanoflakes (Ni–P@GNFs) as a reinforcement in Ti–6Al–4V (TC4) alloy matrix by an electroless plating method. It can enhance the interface bonding force between GNFs and TC4 matrix, and facilitate uniform dispersion of the GNFs in the TC4 matrix. This in turn relieve severe interface reactions between the metal and the carbon nanomaterial. The Ni–P@GNFs/TC4 composites with different GNFs content (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5 wt.%) were fabricated via short-term ball milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The effects of reinforcement content on microstructures and mechanical properties of Ni–P@GNFs/TC4 composites were studied while the sintered composites were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the mechanical properties of Ni–P@GNFs/TC4 composites were dramatically improved due to the homogeneous dispersion of GNFs in the TC4 matrix. The compressive strength of 0.5 wt.% Ni–P@GNFs/TC4 composite reaches 1133 MPa: this was an increase of 30.6% versus TC4 (867 MPa) while maintaining 34.2% ductility. The strengthening mechanism of the mechanical properties of the composites are discussed.

Abstract Background Metabolic reprogramming sustains tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial malignancy in childhood, while underlying mechanisms and therapeutic approaches still remain elusive. Methods Circular RNAs (circRNAs) were validated by Sanger sequencing. Co-immunoprecipitation, mass spectrometry, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing, and RNA sequencing assays were applied to explore protein interaction and target genes. Gene expression regulation was observed by ChIP, dual-luciferase reporter, real-time quantitative RT-PCR, and western blot assays. Gain- and loss-of-function studies were performed to observe the impacts of circRNA-encoded protein and its partners on the lipid metabolism, mitochondrial activity, growth, invasion, and metastasis of NB cells. Results A novel 113-amino acid protein (p113) of CUT-like homeobox 1 (CUX1) was identified in NB cells treated by serum deprivation. Further validating studies revealed that nuclear p113 was encoded by circRNA of CUX1, and promoted the lipid metabolic reprogramming, mitochondrial activity, proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of NB cells. Mechanistically, p113 interacted with Zuotin-related factor 1 (ZRF1) and bromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) to form a transcriptional regulatory complex, and mediated the transactivation of ZRF1/BRD4 in upregulating ALDH3A1, NDUFA1, and NDUFAF5 essential for conversion of fatty aldehydes into fatty acids, fatty acid β-oxidation, and mitochondrial complex I activity. Administration of an inhibitory peptide blocking p113-ZRF1 interaction suppressed the tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of NB cells. In clinical NB cases, high expression of p113, ZRF1, or BRD4 was associated with poor survival of patients. Conclusions These results indicate that p113 isoform encoded by CUX1 circular RNA drives tumor progression via facilitating ZRF1/BRD4 transactivation.

The digestive tract microorganisms play a very important role in the host's nutrient intake, environmental suitability, and affect the host's physiological mechanism. Previous studies showed that in different seasons, mammalian gut microbes would be different. However, most of them are concentrated in wild animals. It remains unclear how seasonal change affects the gut microbes of Chinese merino fine-wool Sheep. Therefore, in this experiment, we continuously collected blood and feces samples of 50 Chinese merino fine-wool sheep in different seasons, measured the physiological indicators of blood, and passed 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, determined the microbial community structure of fecal microorganisms and predicted flora function by PICRUSt. The results of blood physiological indicators showed that WBC, Neu and Bas in spring were significantly higher than those of other seasons. Fecal microbial sequencing revealed seasonal changes in gut microbial diversity and richness. Among them, Chinese merino fine-wool sheep had the highest gut microbes in summer. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla, and they were unaffected by seasonal fluctuations. LEfSE analysis was used to analyze representative microorganisms in different seasons. The Lachnospiraceae and its genera (Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Lachnospiraceae_AC2044_group, g_unclassified_f_ Lachnospiraceae) were representative microorganisms in the three seasons of spring, summer and winter with harsh environmental conditions; while in autumn with better environmental conditions, the Ruminococcaceae and its genus (Ruminococcaceae_UCG-009 and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005) were the representative microorganism. In autumn, the ABC transporter and the pyruvate metabolic pathway were significantly higher than other seasons. Correlation analysis results showed that Lachnospiraceae participated in the ABC transporters metabolic pathway, which caused changes in the blood physiological indicators. Overall, our results showed that, in response to seasonal changes, Chinese merino fine-wool sheep under house-feeding have adjusted their own gut microbial community structure, causing changes in the metabolism, and thus changing the physiological conditions of the blood. In the cold season, producers should focus on regulating the nutritional level of feed, enhancing the level of butyric acid in young animals to increase the ABC transporter, resist the external harsh environment, and improve the survival rate.

Abstract Background Integrating phenotypic and genotypic information to improve prognostic prediction is under active investigation for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, we developed a new prognostic model for event-free survival (EFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) based on the combination of clinicopathologic variables, gene expression, and mutation data. Methods We enrolled a total of 408 patients from the Cancer Genome Atlas Lung Adenocarcinoma (TCGA-LUAD) project for the study. We pre-selected gene expression or mutation features and constructed 14 different input feature sets for predictive model development. We assessed model performance with multiple evaluation metrics including the distribution of C-index on testing dataset, risk score significance, and time-dependent AUC under competing risks scenario. We stratified patients into higher- and lower-risk subgroups by the final risk score and further investigated underlying immune phenotyping variations associated with the differential risk. Results The model integrating all three types of data achieved the best prediction performance. The resultant risk score provided a higher-resolution risk stratification than other models within pathologically defined subgroups. The score could account for extra EFS-related variations that were not captured by clinicopathologic scores. Being validated for RFS prediction under a competing risks modeling framework, the score achieved a significantly higher time-dependent AUC as compared to that of the conventional clinicopathologic variables-based model (0.772 vs. 0.646, p value < 0.001). The higher-risk patients were characterized with transcriptional aberrations of multiple immune-related genes, and a significant depletion of mast cells and natural killer cells. Conclusions We developed a novel prognostic risk score with improved prediction accuracy, using clinicopathologic variables, gene expression and mutation profiles as input, for LUAD. Such score was a significant predictor of both EFS and RFS. Trial registration This study was based on public open data from TCGA and hence the study objects were retrospectively registered.

Selective laser melting (SLM) is considered as an important additive manufacturing (AM) technology which can fabricate parts with complex geometry. However, it is difficult to predict the optimal SLM-parameters of metallic materials. In this study, orthogonal experiments were designed to study the influence of SLM-process parameters on the density and fabricated quality of Hastelloy X superalloy. Moreover, the relationship between microstructure evolution and performance of deposited microstructure was studied after heat treatment. The laser power, scanning speed and energy density have a significant effect on the density of the fabricated parts. The optimal parameters for determining Hastelloy X are 250 W laser power, 500 mm/s scanning speed, 100 μm hatch space, and 30 μmlayer thickness. The deposited microstructure is a lamellar microstructure in the horizontal direction and a columnar crystal in the longitudinal direction, and the microstructure is mainly martensite. After solid-solution and aging treatment, grain grows up. Martensite decomposes and the carbide M6C was precipitated during the aging process. The strength of the microstructure decreases slightly due to the growth of grain size.

Abstract Background Phytopathogens secreted effectors during host colonization to suppress or trigger plant immunity. Identification of new effectors is one of the research focuses in recent years. There is only a limited knowledge about effectors of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), the causal agent of wilt disease in Cavendish banana. Results Two transcription factors, SGE1 and FTF1, were constitutively over-expressed in Foc TR4 to partially mimic the in-planta state. Secreted proteins with high purity were prepared through a two-round extraction method. Then the secretome were analyzed via label free proteomics method. A total of 919 non-redundant proteins were detected, of which 74 proteins were predicted to be effector candidates. Among these candidates, 29 were up-regulated and 13 down-regulated in the strain over-expressing SGE1 and FTF1, 8 were up-regulated and 4 down-regulated in either SGE1 or FTF1 over expression strain. Conclusions Through label free proteomics analysis, a series of effector candidates were identified in secretome of Foc TR4. Our work put a foundation for functional research of these effectors.

Abstract Background Aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of metabolic reprogramming that contributes to tumor progression. However, the mechanisms regulating expression of glycolytic genes in neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood, still remain elusive. Methods Crucial transcriptional regulators and their downstream glycolytic genes were identified by integrative analysis of a publicly available expression profiling dataset. In vitro and in vivo assays were undertaken to explore the biological effects and underlying mechanisms of transcriptional regulators in NB cells. Survival analysis was performed by using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Results Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A) and its derived long noncoding RNA (HNF4A-AS1) promoted aerobic glycolysis and NB progression. Gain- and loss-of-function studies indicated that HNF4A and HNF4A-AS1 facilitated the glycolysis process, glucose uptake, lactate production, and ATP levels of NB cells. Mechanistically, transcription factor HNF4A increased the expression of hexokinase 2 (HK2) and solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1), while HNF4A-AS1 bound to heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U (hnRNPU) to facilitate its interaction with CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), resulting in transactivation of CTCF and transcriptional alteration of HNF4A and other genes associated with tumor progression. Administration of a small peptide blocking HNF4A-AS1-hnRNPU interaction or lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA targeting HNF4A-AS1 significantly suppressed aerobic glycolysis, tumorigenesis, and aggressiveness of NB cells. In clinical NB cases, high expression of HNF4A-AS1, hnRNPU, CTCF, or HNF4A was associated with poor survival of patients. Conclusions These findings suggest that therapeutic targeting of HNF4A-AS1/hnRNPU/CTCF axis inhibits aerobic glycolysis and NB progression.

Abstract Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a subclass of non-coding RNAs, play essential roles in tumorigenesis and aggressiveness. Our previous study has identified that circAGO2 drives gastric cancer progression through activating human antigen R (HuR), a protein stabilizing AU-rich element-containing mRNAs. However, the functions and underlying mechanisms of circRNAs derived from HuR in gastric cancer progression remain elusive. Methods CircRNAs derived from HuR were detected by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and validated by Sanger sequencing. Biotin-labeled RNA pull-down, mass spectrometry, RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA electrophoretic mobility shift, and in vitro binding assays were applied to identify proteins interacting with circRNA. Gene expression regulation was observed by chromatin immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase assay, real-time quantitative RT-PCR, and western blot assays. Gain- and loss-of-function studies were performed to observe the impacts of circRNA and its protein partner on the growth, invasion, and metastasis of gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Results Circ-HuR (hsa_circ_0049027) was predominantly detected in the nucleus, and was down-regulated in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Ectopic expression of circ-HuR suppressed the growth, invasion, and metastasis of gastric cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, circ-HuR interacted with CCHC-type zinc finger nucleic acid binding protein (CNBP), and subsequently restrained its binding to HuR promoter, resulting in down-regulation of HuR and repression of tumor progression. Conclusions Circ-HuR serves as a tumor suppressor to inhibit CNBP-facilitated HuR expression and gastric cancer progression, indicating a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

Abstract Background As a metabolic reprogramming feature, cancer cells derive most of their energy from aerobic glycolysis, while its regulatory mechanisms and therapeutic strategies continue to be illusive. Methods Integrative analysis of publically available expression profile datasets was used to identify critical transcriptional regulators and their target glycolytic enzymes. The functions and acting mechanisms of transcriptional regulators in cancer cells were investigated by using in vitro and in vivo assays. The Kaplan–Meier curve and log‐rank assay were used to conduct the survival study. Results Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1/PU.1), a haematopoietic transcription factor, was identified to facilitate glycolytic process, tumourigenesis, invasiveness, as well as metastasis of colon cancer cells, which was interplayed by tumour‐associated neutrophils. Mechanistically, neutrophils delivered SPI1 mRNA via extracellular vesicles, resulting in enhanced SPI1 expression of cancer cells. Through physical interaction with SPI1‐related protein (SPIB), SPI1 drove expression of glycolytic genes within cancer cells, which in turn induced polarization of neutrophils via glycolytic metabolite lactate. Depletion of neutrophils or SPIB–SPI1 interaction in cancer cells significantly inhibited glycolytic process, tumourigenesis and aggressiveness. Upregulation of SPI1 or SPIB was found to be associated with poor prognosis in patients suffering from colon cancer. Conclusions Therapeutic targeting of SPIB/SPI1‐facilitated interplay of cancerous cells and neutrophils suppresses aerobic glycolysis and progression of cancer.

BackgroundPrevious studies indicate that migrant integration is associated with migrants' characteristics as well as restrictions and opportunities in receiving cities. However, the effect of receiving cities and the relationship between migrants and receiving cities have not been fully explored due to the lack of large samples from cities. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of receiving cities alone and their regulating role in the interaction with individual characteristics.MethodsCross-city data on 154,044 Chinese domestic migrants above 15 years old in 289 cities from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey are used. Migrant integration is assessed by a four-dimensional model proposed by Esser, which is slightly adjusted according to the characteristics of Chinese migrants. A hierarchical linear model is used to measure the proportion of effects of city factors in migrant integration as well as the effects when city factors are considered alone and in interaction with individual factors.ResultsThe individual-level and city-level factors are responsible for 69.81% and 30.19% of the effect on migrant integration, respectively. City political factors do not affect migrant integration directly, and cities with larger sizes and higher wages can directly and significantly improve integration, while higher housing prices will directly inhibit integration. From the cross-level interaction of city and individual, different social, economic and political factors at the city level have an indirect impact on migrant integration by inhibiting or strengthening the effect of individual-level factors on migrant integration.ConclusionThis study is one of the first to show the effect of cities and the relationship between receiving cities and migrants on migrant integration by keeping the national context constant. It is necessary to weaken the social and economic privileges associated with a city's administrative level and reduce the negative impact of cities' social and economic conditions by implementing city agglomeration, developing advantageous industries and optimizing the industrial structure. It is also essential to improve migrants' socioeconomic capital through social support, occupation training and contiguous education.

Abstract Aerobic glycolysis is a hallmark of metabolic reprogramming in tumor progression. However, the mechanisms regulating glycolytic gene expression remain elusive in neuroblastoma (NB), the most common extracranial malignancy in childhood. Herein, we identify that CUT‐like homeobox 1 (CUX1) and CUX1‐generated circular RNA (circ‐CUX1) contribute to aerobic glycolysis and NB progression. Mechanistically, p110 CUX1, a transcription factor generated by proteolytic processing of p200 CUX1, promotes the expression of enolase 1, glucose‐6‐phosphate isomerase, and phosphoglycerate kinase 1, while circ‐CUX1 binds to EWS RNA‐binding protein 1 (EWSR1) to facilitate its interaction with MYC‐associated zinc finger protein (MAZ), resulting in transactivation of MAZ and transcriptional alteration of CUX1 and other genes associated with tumor progression. Administration of an inhibitory peptide blocking circ‐CUX1‐EWSR1 interaction or lentivirus mediating circ‐CUX1 knockdown suppresses aerobic glycolysis, growth, and aggressiveness of NB cells. In clinical NB cases, CUX1 is an independent prognostic factor for unfavorable outcome, and patients with high circ‐CUX1 expression have lower survival probability. These results indicate circ‐CUX1/EWSR1/MAZ axis as a therapeutic target for aerobic glycolysis and NB progression.

It is well known that adding elements, especially β-Ti stabilizers, are holding a significant effect on titanium alloy strength due to the solution and precipitate strengthening mechanisms. In order to reveal the Fe strengthening mechanism in titanium, this study investigate the effect of Fe on the stability of β-Ti and the phase transition between α, β and ω phase with first-principle calculations. According to our study, Fe is a strong β-Ti phase stabilizer could owe to the 3d orbital into eg and t2g states which results in strong hybridization between Fe-d orbital and Ti-d orbital. The phase transition from ω to β or from α to β becomes easier for Fe-doped Ti compared to pure titanium. Based on our results, it is found that one added Fe atom can lead the phase transition (ω → β) of at least nine titanium atoms, which further proves that Fe has a strong stabilizing effect on β-Ti phase. This result provides a solid guide for the future design of high-strength titanium with the addition of Fe.

Defect Detection is one of the most important parts of Automatic Identification and Data transmission. Quick Response code (QRcode) is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It isachallenge to detect defect of various QRcode images efficiently and accurately. In this paper, we propose the procedure byaserial of carefully designed preprocessing methods. The defect detection procedure consists of QRcode identification, QRcode reconstruction, perspective transformation, image binarization, morphological operation, image matching, and Blob analysis. By these steps, we can detect defect of different types of QRcode images. The experiment results show that our method has stronger robustness and higher efficiency. Moreover, experiment results on QRcode images show that the prediction accuracy of proposed method reaches 99.07%with an average execution time of 6.592 ms. This method can detect defect of these images in real time.

Abstract Proline synthesis plays an important role in the metabolic reprogramming that contributes to tumor progression. However, the mechanisms regulating expression of proline synthetic genes in neuroblastoma (NB) remain elusive. Herein, through integrative screening of a public dataset and amino acid profiling analysis, myeloid zinc finger 1 (MZF1) and MZF1 antisense RNA 1 (MZF1‐AS1) are identified as transcriptional regulators of proline synthesis and NB progression. Mechanistically, transcription factor MZF1 promotes the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 18 family member A1 and pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate reductase 1, while proline facilitates the aggressiveness of NB cells. In addition, MZF1‐AS1 binds poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) to facilitate its interaction with E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1), resulting in transactivation of E2F1 and upregulation of MZF1 and other oncogenic genes associated with tumor progression. Administration of a small peptide blocking MZF1‐AS1‐PARP1 interaction or lentivirus‐mediated short hairpin RNA targeting MZF1‐AS1 suppresses the proline synthesis, tumorigenesis, and aggressiveness of NB cells. In clinical NB cases, high expression of MZF1‐AS1, PARP1, E2F1, or MZF1 is associated with poor survival of patients. These results indicate that therapeutic targeting of MZF1‐AS1/PARP1/E2F1 axis inhibits proline synthesis and NB progression.

In order to reduce the cost of titanium alloys, a novel low-cost Ti-3Al-5Mo-4Cr-2Zr-1Fe (Ti-35421) titanium alloy was developed. The influence of heat treatment on the microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of the new alloy was investigated. The results showed that the microstructure of Ti-35421 alloy consists of a lamina primary α phase and a β phase after the solution treatment at the α + β region. After aging treatment, the secondary α phase precipitates in the β matrix. The precipitation of the secondary α phase is closely related to heat treatment parameters—the volume fraction and size of the secondary α phase increase when increasing the solution temperature or aging time. At the same solution temperature and aging time, the secondary α phase became coarser, and the fraction decreased with increasing aging temperature. When Ti-35421 alloy was solution-treated at the α + β region for 1 h with aging surpassing 8 h, the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and reduction of the area were achieved in a range of 1172.7–1459.0 MPa, 1135.1–1355.5 MPa, 5.2–11.8%, and 7.5–32.5%, respectively. The novel low-cost Ti-35421 alloy maintains mechanical properties and reduces the cost of materials compared with Ti-3Al-5Mo-5V-4Cr-2Zr (Ti-B19) alloy.

A self-designed Ti-35421 (Ti-3Al-5Mo-4Cr-2Zr-1Fe wt%) titanium alloy is a new type of low-cost high strength titanium alloy. In order to understand the hot deformation behavior of Ti-35421 alloy, isothermal compression tests were carried out under a deformation temperature range of 750–930 °C with a strain rate range of 0.01–10 s−1 in this study. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used to characterize the microstructure prior to and post hot deformation. The results show that the stress–strain curves have obvious yielding behavior at a high strain rate (>0.1 s−1). As the deformation temperature increases and the strain rate decreases, the α phase content gradually decreases in the α + β phase region. Meanwhile, spheroidization and precipitation of α phase are prone to occur in the α + β phase region. From the EBSD analysis, the volume fraction of recrystallized grains was very low, so dynamic recovery (DRV) is the dominant deformation mechanism of Ti-35421 alloy. In addition to DRV, Ti-35421 alloy is more likely to occur in continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) than discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX).

Short fibers have been widely used to prepare the fiber reinforced asphalt concrete (FRAC). However, internal interactions between fiber and other phases of asphalt concrete are unclear although experimental methods have been used to design the FRAC successfully. In this paper, numerical method was used to investigate the reinforced mechanism of FRAC from microperspective. 2D micromechanical model of FRAC was established based on Monte Carlo theory. Effects of fiber length and content on stress state of asphalt mortar, effective modulus, and viscoelastic deformation of asphalt concrete were investigated. Indirect tensile stiffness modulus (ITSM) test and uniaxial creep test were carried out to verify the numerical results. Results show that maximum stress of asphalt mortar is lower compared to the control concrete when the fiber length is longer than 12 mm. Fiber reduces the stress level of asphalt mortar significantly. Fiber length has no significant influence on the effective modulus of asphalt concrete. Fiber length and content both have notable impacts on the viscoelastic performance of FRAC. Fiber length should be given more attention in the future design of FRAC except the content.

In order to discern the effect of rare earth element Er addition on grain refinement of the most widely used titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, new erbium modified Ti6Al4V alloys with compositions of Ti6Al4V-xEr (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 wt %) were developed and investigated for their microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties in comparison with their unmodified baseline alloy. Microstructural examinations revealed that, by adding Er, (1) the microstructure primarily retained a two-phase structure consisting of α and β, (2) remarkable grain refining occurred, and (3) some Er2O3 and Al2Er disperses were formed largely around the β phase and near the grain boundaries. Mechanical property measurements evidenced an overall enhancement under tension and hardness tests. An increase in both strength and plasticity with increasing Er content was obtained but followed by a drop, while a gradual monotonous improvement in hardness was achieved. The Ti6Al4V-0.2Er alloy exhibits optimal mechanical properties.

Background: Based on research, c.609G>A (p.W203X) is a universal mutation site for MMACHC in methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) combined with homocystinuria, cblC type (cblC disease), and c.467G>A (p.G156D) mutation in families with such disease have not yet been reported. To conduct clinical and molecular genetic analysis of a family with cblC disease. Methods: This work followed the Declaration of Helsinki. All testing methods were performed under the informed consent of our children patients' parents. A second-generation cblC family with 5 members, was selected as the research subject, including sick siblings and parents and an older sister with normal phenotype, given newborn screening for acylcarnitine spectrum via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and diagnosed through combining urine organic acid with homocysteine detection via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with second-generation gene sequencing technology. The peripheral blood of five family members was collected for genomic DNA extraction, and the changes were screened in disease-related MMACHC sequence via PCR and direct DNA sequencing. Results: The family conformed to the autosomal recessive inheritance, the proband and younger sister were cblC patients, diagnosed in February and at 22d given relevant treatment. The proband died, whereas the younger sister received follow-up treatment. Their parents and sister had normal phenotype. In 2 cases, there was compound heterozygous mutation in MMACHC called c.609G>A (p.W203X) nonsense mutation and c.467G>A (p.G156D) missense mutation in exon 4, while the father with normal phenotype had heterozygous mutation c.609G>A in exon 4 coding area. In its protein, the 203rd amino acid changed from tryptophan to a stop codon (p.W203 x). The normal mother and sister had a heterozygous mutation c.467G>A in exon 4 coding area. In its protein, the 156th amino acid changed from glycine to aspartic acid (p.G156D). Conclusions: The cblC family results from c.609G>A (p.W203X) and c.467G>A (p.G156D) compound heterozygous mutations in MMACHC, which has a pathogenic impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]