Search

The failure rates of phase 3 trials are high. Incorrect sample size due to uncertainty of effect size could be a critical contributing factor. Adaptive sequential design (ASD), which may include one or more sample size re-estimations (SSR), has been a popular approach for dealing with such uncertainties. The operating characteristics (OCs) of ASD, including the unconditional power and mean sample size, can be substantially affected by many factors, including the planned sample size, the interim analysis schedule and choice of critical boundaries and rules for interim analysis. We propose a systematic, comprehensive strategy which uses iterative simulations to investigate the operating characteristics of adaptive designs and help achieve adequate unconditional power and cost-effective mean sample size if the effect size is in a pre-identified range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light irradiation is an external stimulus, rapidly developed in switchable atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) via photo‐activation methods in recent years. Herein, a photo‐deactivation strategy is introduced to regulate ATRP with the assistance of photoswitchable hexaarylbiimidozole (HABI). Under visible light irradiation and in the presence of HABI, ATRP is greatly decelerated or quenched depending on the concentration of HABI. Interestingly, with visible light off, ATRP can proceed smoothly and follow a first‐order kinetics. Moreover, photo‐switchable ATRP alternatively with light off and on is demonstrated. Besides, the mechanism of photo‐deactivation ATRP involving radical quenching is proposed in the presence of HABI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We compared the signal intensity ratio (SIR) of the cochlear basal turn between Meniere's disease and healthy controls to investigate potential damage of the blood–labyrinth barrier in Meniere's disease. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with unilateral definite Meniere's disease and 24 healthy controls were enrolled. 3D-FLAIR scan was conducted to assess the grades of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's patients while measuring the SIR of cochlear basal turns in both groups. The differences of bilateral SIR between Meniere's disease and healthy control were compared, and the correlation between the SIR on affected ear in Meniere's disease and the grades of cochlear and vestibular hydrops were analyzed. Results: SIR of affected ear in Meniere's disease exhibited significant increase compared to that of unaffected ear. No significant difference was observed in SIR between the two ears in the healthy control. Furthermore, the SIR of unaffected side in Meniere's disease was higher than that of both ears in healthy controls. The SIR in affected ear of Meniere's disease exhibited positive correlation with hydrops in both cochlea and vestibula. Conclusion: The permeability of blood–labyrinth barrier is increased in Meniere's disease, in combination with the typical criteria of Meniere's disease it may be a good biological marker. Destruction of blood–labyrinth barrier may be one of the causes of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-arm phase II trials are very common in oncology. A fixed sample trial may lack sufficient power if the true efficacy is less than the assumed one. Adaptive designs have been proposed in the literature. We propose a Simon’s design based, adaptive sequential design. Simon’s design is the most used fixed sample design for single-arm phase II oncology trials. A prominent feature of Simon’s design is that it minimizes the sample size when there is no clinically meaningful efficacy. We identify Simon’s trial as a special group sequential design. Established methods for sample size re-estimation (SSR) can be readily applied to Simon’s design. Simulations show that simply adding SSR to Simon’s design may still not provide desirable power. We propose some expansions to Simon’s design. The expanded design with SSR can provide even more power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart farming is revolutionizing agriculture by integrating advanced technologies to enhance productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. This paper proposes a novel, 5G-enabled Pest and Disease Detection and Response System (PDDRS) that synergizes environmental sensor data with image analytics for comprehensive Plant Disease Detection (PDD). By leveraging the high bandwidth and ultra-low latency capabilities of 5G, our integrated system surpasses traditional communication technologies, facilitating real-time data analytics and immediate intervention strategies. We introduce two Machine Learning (ML) models: an image-based Mask R-CNN with FPN, which achieves a precision of 91.1% and an accuracy of 95.1%, and an environmental-based FFNN + LSTM model, evaluated for ACC, AUC, and F1-Score, showing promising results in disease forecasting. Our experiments demonstrate that the PDDRS significantly enhances throughput and latency performance under various connected devices, showcasing a scalable, cost-effective solution suitable for next-generation smart farming. These advancements collectively empower the PDDRS to deliver actionable insights, enabling targeted applications such as precise pesticide deployment, and stand as a testament to the potential of 5G in agricultural innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To establish a student-centered teaching quality assurance system in English teaching in universities, it is necessary to establish an educational philosophy of survival based on quality, achieve student-centered learning, optimize the allocation of English teaching resources, and reform evaluation standards; To address the problems in English teaching, we need to raise awareness of the construction of a "student-centered" teaching quality assurance system, carry out "student-centered" teacher training activities, and improve teachers' professional skills; At the same time, we will establish a student-centered English curriculum system, promote the reform and innovation of teaching models, establish a diversified English teaching evaluation system, and ensure the high efficiency and quality of English teaching in universities. The college English teaching quality evaluation is the MAGDM. Recently, the TODIM and MABAC technique has been employed to manage MAGDM. The interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) are employed as a useful tool for portraying uncertain information during the college English teaching quality evaluation. In this paper, the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy TODIM-MABAC (IVIF-TODIM-MABAC) technique is built to manage the MAGDM under IVIFSs. At last, the numerical example for college English teaching quality evaluation is employed to show the IVIF-TODIM-MABAC decision technique. The main contribution of this paper is outlined: (1) the TODIM technique based on MABAC has been extended to IVIFSs based on Entropy technique; (2) the Entropy technique is employed to manage weight based on score values under IVIFSs. (3) the IVIF-TODIM-MABAC technique is founded to manage the MAGDM under IVIFSs; (4) a numerical example for college English teaching quality evaluation and some comparative analysis is supplied to verify the proposed technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to reduce the time delay between gadolinium injection and 3D-FLAIR (three-dimensional fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) MRI by using a single dose of intravenous gadobutrol in Menière's disease patients. 17 patients diagnosed with definite unilateral Meniere's disease underwent 3D-FLAIR MRI scans at 2, 4, and 6 h post-intravenous administration of a single-dose of gadobutrol. The signal intensity ratio of bilateral inner ear, cochlear and vestibular hydrops was measured at 2 h, 4 h and 6 h, while the differences in signal intensity ratio and endolymphatic hydrops were evaluated at three time points. The cochlea, vestibule, and semicircular canal exhibit clear structural features with distinct perilymph-endolymph boundaries at 2 h, 4 h, and 6 h. The signal intensity ratio of the affected ear was significantly higher than that of the unaffected ear at 2 h, 4 h, and 6 h. The signal intensity ratio at 4 h and 6 h in both the affected and unaffected ears was significantly higher than that at 2 h, but there was no significant difference between 4 h and 6 h. Cochlear hydrops and vestibular hydrops show no significant differences at these time points, demonstrating excellent consistency. We have demonstrated that 3D-FLAIR images acquired 2 h after intravenous administration of a single-dose gadobutrol are of high quality and equally effective as those obtained at the conventional 4-h time point for diagnosing endolymphatic hydrops in Menière's disease. In clinical practice, the delay time can be safely shortened to 2 h. • Gadobutrol can reduce the delay time between injection of gadolinium agent and MRI scan. • Images taken two hours after the injection of gadobutrol can meet the diagnostic needs. • The use of gadobutrol can improve clinical work efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) have exhibited excellent feature extraction and detail reconstruction capabilities for single image super-resolution (SISR). Nevertheless, most previous DCNN-based methods do not fully utilize the complementary strengths between feature maps, channels, and pixels. Therefore, it hinders the ability of DCNNs to represent abundant features. To tackle the aforementioned issues, we present a Cascaded Visual Attention Network for SISR called CVANet, which simulates the visual attention mechanism of the human eyes to focus on the reconstruction process of details. Specifically, we first designed a trainable feature attention module (FAM) for feature-level attention learning. Afterward, we introduce a channel attention module (CAM) to reinforce feature maps under channel-level attention learning. Meanwhile, we propose a pixel attention module (PAM) that adaptively selects representative features from the previous layers, which are utilized to generate a high-resolution image. Satisfactory, our CVANet can effectively improve the resolution of images by exploring the feature representation capabilities of different modules and the visual perception properties of the human eyes. Extensive experiments with different methods on four benchmarks demonstrate that our CVANet outperforms the state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods in subjective visual perception, PSNR, and SSIM.The code will be made available https://github.com/WilyZhao8/CVANet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The poor targeting delivery efficiency and limited efficacy of single therapeutic approach have consistently posed significant challenges in tumor management. Results: In this research, we have conceived and synthesized a dual-targeting nanodrug delivery system denoted as PDA-DEM-Fe3O4@M, which incorporates a polydopamine nanoparticle (PDA) with photothermal properties, diethyl maleate (DEM) as a chemotherapy agent accelerating tumor apoptosis, iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe3O4) eliciting magnetic targeting effects, and tumor cell membranes (M) contributing to homologous targeting capabilities. The synergistic effect of PDA-induced photothermal therapy and DEM-mediated chemotherapy has been demonstrated in this study to exert a robust inhibitory and cytotoxic influence on tumor cells. Additionally, the biocompatibility of this system has also been demonstrated. Conclusions: Through the synergistic effects of PDA's photothermal therapy and DEM's chemotherapy, this system demonstrated excellent inhibition and killing effects on tumor cells. Furthermore, we established its excellent biological safety profile. This study demonstrated the potential of this nanomaterial for clinical application in tumor therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a leading cause of low back pain. The inflammatory responses caused by aberrant mechanical loading are one of the major factors leading to annulus fibrosus (AF) degeneration and IDD. Previous studies have suggested that moderate cyclic tensile strain (CTS) can regulate anti‐inflammatory activities of AF cells (AFCs), and Yes‐associated protein (YAP) as a mechanosensitive coactivator senses diverse types of biomechanical stimuli and translates them into biochemical signals controlling cell behaviors. However, it remains poorly understood whether and how YAP mediates the effect of mechanical stimuli on AFCs. In this study, we aimed to investigate the exact effects of different CTS on AFCs as well as the role of YAP signaling involving in it. Our results found that 5% CTS inhibited the inflammatory response and promoted cell growth through inhibiting the phosphorylation of YAP and nuclear localization of NF‐κB, while 12% CTS had a significant proinflammatory effect with the inactivation of YAP activity and the activation of NF‐κB signaling in AFCs. Furthermore, moderate mechanical stimulation may alleviate the inflammatory reaction of intervertebral discs through YAP‐mediated suppression of NF‐κB signaling in vivo. Therefore, moderate mechanical stimulation may serve as a promising therapeutic approach for the prevention and treatment of IDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of donor–acceptor (D–A) type luminophores, i.e., aminoboranes containing phenothiazyl substituents 4a, 4b, and 4c, were synthesized and characterized. These aminoborane derivatives showed good air/moisture stability and excellent optical performance. The results revealed that these compounds exhibited typical intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior. Moreover, these luminophores displayed a significant stimuli-induced emission behavior and obvious chromism properties with high reversibility. Upon grinding, the emission spectrum of the ground sample 4c exhibited a significant 106 nm red-shift from 461 to 567 nm. Compared to the B–N-containing compound, the C–N-containing compound 4d did not show any evident AIE properties and MFC phenomenon; hence, interesting electronic, photophysical, luminescence, and chemical properties were only observed for 4a, 4b, and 4c. Comprehensive analysis of the crystal structure and theoretical calculations revealed that the remarkable MFC phenomenon originated due to the strongly twisted conjugated backbones and loose molecular packing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The gut mycobiome of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unexplored. This study aimed to characterize the gut mycobiome in patients with LUAD and evaluate the potential of gut fungi as non-invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis. Methods: In total, 299 fecal samples from Beijing, Suzhou, and Hainan were collected prospectively. Using internal transcribed spacer 2 sequencing, we profiled the gut mycobiome. Five supervised machine learning algorithms were trained on fungal signatures to build an optimized prediction model for LUAD in a discovery cohort comprising 105 patients with LUAD and 61 healthy controls (HCs) from Beijing. Validation cohorts from Beijing, Suzhou, and Hainan comprising 44, 17, and 15 patients with LUAD and 26, 19, and 12 HCs, respectively, were used to evaluate efficacy. Results: Fungal biodiversity and richness increased in patients with LUAD. At the phylum level, the abundance of Ascomycota decreased, while that of Basidiomycota increased in patients with LUAD. Candida and Saccharomyces were the dominant genera, with a reduction in Candida and an increase in Saccharomyces, Aspergillus, and Apiotrichum in patients with LUAD. Nineteen operational taxonomic unit markers were selected, and excellent performance in predicting LUAD was achieved (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.9350) using a random forest model with outcomes superior to those of four other algorithms. The AUCs of the Beijing, Suzhou, and Hainan validation cohorts were 0.9538, 0.9628, and 0.8833, respectively. Conclusions: For the first time, the gut fungal profiles of patients with LUAD were shown to represent potential non-invasive biomarkers for early-stage diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of developing a high-efficiency microwave absorbent remains, because of the compatibility between microwave absorption and high-temperature-resistant performance in practical application. Herein, a facile method is used to obtain serial MXene/BN-zxy composites, where zx:y indicates the weight ratio of MXene and boron nitride (BN) in the composites, with adjustable microwave absorption performance (MAP) which can be regulated by the ratio of MXene and the BN nanosheet. In particular, the as-prepared absorbents with supercapacitance-like structure significantly enhanced the MAP and could be served more than 900 °C. The results of MAP reveal that the minimum reflection loss (RL) can reach −20.94 dB with a MXene/BN-101 composite coating thickness of 4.0 mm; the effective attenuation bandwidth (RL< −10 dB, i.e., 90% microwave energy is attenuated) is up to 9.71 GHz (7.94–17.65 GHz). From a detailed analysis, it is observed that attenuation is the critical limiting factor for MAPs rather than impedance mismatch, which can be assigned to the poor MAP of BN nanosheets. In any case, as-prepared absorbents have potential applications in the field of heating components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between quantitative value of endolymphatic hydrops in the affected ear and the hearing threshold in patients with unilateral Meniere's disease. Study Design: Prospective study. Methods: Forty patients with unilateral definite Meniere's disease were diagnosed in outpatient clinic. We recorded their clinical symptoms (duration of vertigo and tinnitus and duration of vertigo attacks), and obtained the hearing thresholds of high, middle, and low by pure tone audiometry. A 3D-FLAIR MRI revealed endolymphatic hydrops and assessed quantitative values of cochlear and vestibular endolymphatic hydrops. We assessed the correlation between hearing thresholds and quantitative values of endolymphatic hydrops. Results: All patients showed varying degrees of endolymphatic hydrops in the affected ear. With the duration of vertigo, tinnitus and vertigo attacks as control variables, partial correlation analysis showed that the correlation coefficients between quantitative value of cochlear hydrops and hearing thresholds of low, middle, and high tone in the affected ear were 0.581, 0.610, and 0.125, respectively. The correlation coefficients between quantitative value of vestibular hydrops and hearing thresholds of low, middle, and high tone in the affected ear were 0.727, 0.569, and 0.201, respectively. Conclusions: The degree of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease can be revealed and assessed by 3D-FLAIR MRI after intravenous administration of double doses of gadoterate meglumine. Clinical evaluation of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease can be assisted by low- and middle-tone hearing thresholds, thereby providing anatomical support for the clinical symptoms of Meniere's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term usage of bisphosphonates, especially zoledronic acid (ZA), induces osteogenesis disorders and medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) in patients, thereby contributing to the destruction of bone remodeling and the continuous progression of osteonecrosis. Menaquinone-4 (MK-4), a specific vitamin K 2 isoform converted by the mevalonate (MVA) pathway in vivo , exerts the promotion of bone formation, whereas ZA administration suppresses this pathway and results in endogenous MK-4 deficiency. However, no study has evaluated whether exogenous MK-4 supplementation can prevent ZA-induced MRONJ. Here we showed that MK-4 pretreatment partially ameliorated mucosal nonunion and bone sequestration among ZA-treated MRONJ mouse models. Moreover, MK-4 promoted bone regeneration and inhibited osteoblast apoptosis in vivo. Consistently, MK-4 downregulated ZA-induced osteoblast apoptosis in MC3T3-E1 cells and suppressed the levels of cellular metabolic stresses, including oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and DNA damage, which were accompanied by elevated sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression. Notably, EX527, an inhibitor of the SIRT1 signaling pathway, abolished the inhibitory effects of MK-4 on ZA-induced cell metabolic stresses and osteoblast damage. Combined with experimental evidences from MRONJ mouse models and MC3T3-E1 cells, our findings suggested that MK-4 prevents ZA-induced MRONJ by inhibiting osteoblast apoptosis through suppression of cellular metabolic stresses in a SIRT1-dependent manner. The results provide a novel translational direction for the clinical application of MK-4 for preventing MRONJ. [Display omitted] • Menaquinone-4 prevents medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw caused by zoledronic acid. • Menaquinone-4 alleviates zoledronic acid-induced osteoblast apoptosis and osteogenesis obstacles. • Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw possesses multiple cellular metabolic stresses in osteoblasts. • Menaquinone-4 relieves oxidative stress, ER stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and DNA damage via sirtuin 1 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quartic flow velocity field is proposed to establish an online rolling force predicting model for the rolling process of aluminum alloy thick plates. The solving process relies on the energy method. Through comparing the calculated rolling force data and the actual rolling force, it is found that this model can be applied for online rolling force predicting. The assumption of the metal flow velocity in this paper is a beneficial attempt at the plastic mechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a mature shape-controlling technology, the segmented cooling of the work roll can directly change the thermal expansion of the work roll, and that affects the thickness and elongation distribution along the width direction of the strip. However, it cannot improve shape defects at the two edges of a strip. In this paper, edge thermal spraying is applied to solve the shape defects at the two edges of a strip because it can change the temperature field and thermal expansion locally at the two edges of the work roll, which is contrary to cooling. Through establishing and solving the thermodynamic coupling finite element model of the work roll, it was found that edge thermal spraying can raise the temperature and thermal expansion at the edges of the work roll and hardly influence the temperature inside the work roll. The relationship between the local increment of thermal expansion and the temperature difference between cooling water and heating water was fitted to a linear model. Then, this model was applied in a real rolling process, and it was found that the effect of edge thermal spraying on flatness defects at the edges of the work roll was significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the cohesive soil structure necessitates settlement modeling beneath shallow foundations. The goal of this research is to use recently discovered machine learning techniques called the hybridized radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) with sine cosine algorithm (SCA) and firefly algorithm (FFA) to detect settlement (Sm) of shallow foundations. The purpose of using optimization methods was to find the optimal value for the primary attributes of the model under investigation. With R2 values of at least 0.9422 for the learning series and 0.9271 for the assessment series, both the produced SCA - RBFNN and FFA - RBFNN correctly replicated the Sm, which indicates a considerable degree of efficacy and even a reasonable match between reported and modeled Sm. In comparison to FFA - RBFNN and ANFIS - PSO, the SCA - RBFNN is believed to be the more correct method, with the values of R2, RMSE and MAE was 0.9422, 7.2255 mm and 5.1257 mm, which is superior than ANFIS - PSO and FFA - RBFNN. The SCA - RBFNN could surpass FFA one by 25% for the learning component and 14.2% for the test data, according to the values of PI index. Ultimately, it is apparent that the RBFNN combined with SCA could score higher than the FFA and even the ANFIS - PSO, which is the proposed system in the Sm forecasting model, after assessing the reliability and considering the assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indoxyl sulfate (IS) is a protein-bound uremic toxin with vascular toxicity. The primary cause of death in uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis is vascular disease, and it had been reported that vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) trans-differentiation (VT) plays a vital role in the context of vascular diseases, but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) participates in vascular calcification by keeping the balance of extracellular matrix, but its role in IS-induced VT is unclear. Methods: In this study, clinical specimens, animal models, and in vitro VSMCs were used to investigate the role of TSP-1 in IS induced VT and the potential therapeutic methods. Results: We found that TSP-1 was significantly decreased in arterial samples from uremic patients, animal models, and in VSMCs after IS treatment. Downregulation of TSP-1 sufficiently induced the trans-differentiation genotypes of VSMCs. Conclusion: Emodin, the main monomer extracted from rhubarb, could alleviate IS-induced VT in vitro by upregulating TSP-1. Taken together, IS induces VT by downregulating TSP-1. Emodin might be a candidate drug to alleviate VT under IS treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co3O4 catalysts were prepared via carbonate precipitation and subsequent calcination under specific conditions. The different catalysts were characterized as received using several techniques and tested in the total oxidation of toluene or propane. Calcination at low temperature or under dynamic conditions resulted in Co3O4 catalysts with small crystallite sizes and large surface areas. The performances of the Co3O4 catalysts appeared to be closely related to the low-temperature reducibility. The best catalyst, Co-350D, showed a toluene oxidation rate of 44.5 nmol g−1 s−1 at 200 °C and a propane oxidation rate of 54.0 nmol g−1 s−1 at 150 °C. Meanwhile, Co-350D exhibited excellent cycling stability and decent long-term durability in both reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through computer-assisted design, a multiple hydrogen bonding catalyst was developed to achieve efficient hydration of epoxides under mild temperatures and atmospheric pressure, eliminating the use of metals. Through the introduction of multiple hydrogen bonds and the prediction of optimal bond strength, guanidine-functionalized and hydroxyl-bridged IL with four hydrogen bonds exhibited the highest activity, leading to an excellent yield of 97% at 50 °C and 1 bar CO2. A combination of control experiments, isotope labeling experiments and quantum-chemical calculations were carried out to reveal the mechanism, which indicated that the interactions of multiple hydrogen bonds could promote the reaction effectively. We believe this strategy using multiple hydrogen bonding interactions provides a novel idea for developing metal-free catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents studies on a robust adaptive output feedback stabilisation for a class of nonlinear systems, which is subjected to parametric uncertainties and disturbances. The disturbances are considered to be general, i.e. both the matched and unmatched ones are present. A novel robust adaptive control is developed for this problem. A technique is employed to avoid the difficulty in handling the nonlinear gain functions associated with the disturbances. For this, a new Lemma is obtained to handle the nonlinear functions that simplify the controller derivation steps. The unknown parameters and disturbances are tackled by deriving the tuning functions using a backstepping design. Finally, simulation is carried out to validate and show the effectiveness of the proposed robust controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantify the progress of corrosion damage and develop pipeline integrity management strategies, it is necessary to establish a reliable corrosion growth model. Due to the complexity of the corrosion process, the availability of data, and the limitations of various models in their applicability, there is currently no generally accepted optimal corrosion growth prediction methodology. Corrosion data used for modeling, in-line inspection techniques for detecting defects, and sources of uncertainty in the modeling process are briefly described. This paper focuses on reviewing the concepts, the performance, and the application of existing pipeline corrosion growth models. The deterministic and probabilistic models are analyzed in detail according to the core methods involved, and the latest applications of machine learning and deep learning in corrosion growth modeling are also introduced. To leverage the strengths of various models, this paper presents hybrid approach models based on the combinations of the aforementioned models, which have greater performance and interpretability than single models and should be given more attention in the future development of corrosion growth prediction. Finally, some suggestions for future development are put forward in light of the challenges and deficiencies present in the current modeling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of encryption technology, the share of encrypted traffic in the network is increasing, which brings great challenges to the traditional methods of rule-based traffic identification. Deep learning is becoming an inspiring methodology to solve the problem. Previous studies have confirmed that time characteristics play an important role in Tor traffic classification. We find that there is a similarity of time characteristics among different programs. This paper proposes an end-to-end classification framework: the temporal sequence of data fluctuation network (TSDFN). It first extracts the temporal sequence of data fluctuation in the original flow and then uses the GRU network to learn the hidden temporal features. Experiments on public data sets validate the effectiveness of our proposal over other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately measuring the dielectric constant of soil and modeling it during freezing and thawing processes are important foundations of estimating the physical and chemical properties and moisture transfer characteristics of soil. In this study, a new test method was developed by combining five temperature probes and a 5TM sensor. Based on this method, a series of experiments for measuring the dielectric constant were conducted using silty clay as an example. The effects of freezing and thawing processes, water content, and salt on the dielectric constant of soil were comprehensively compared and analyzed. The results showed that the trends of soil dielectric constant as a function of temperature can be divided into a linear stage and a nonlinear stage. The soil dielectric constant measured during the freezing process was larger than that measured during the thawing process at the same negative temperature. However, the differences between them were related to the water content of the soil sample in the positive temperature range. In addition, the soil dielectric constant increased with the increase in water, NaCl, and K2SO4 contents, which was particularly major in the positive temperature range. Finally, a new empirical model was proposed to calculate the dielectric constant of soil. The verification results demonstrated that the calculated dielectric constants agreed well with the measured results. This work can provide references for the measurement and prediction of soil dielectric constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Medication‐related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is the main adverse side effect of bisphosphonates (BPs), mainly owing to the inhibitory effect of BPs on osteoclastogenesis. CircRNAs were identified to be an important factor in regulating cellular processes. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of mmu_circ_0001066 on BP‐inhibited osteoclastogenesis. Materials and methods: The expression of MRONJ‐related miRNA in RANKL‐induced RAW264.7 cells treated with BP was analyzed using qRT‐PCR analysis. Bioinformatics techniques were applied to screen potential circRNAs. Tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining and bone resorption assays were used to examine the effect of mmu_circ_0001066 on osteoclastogenesis. Bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporter assays, and Western blotting assays were performed to investigate the underlying mechanism. Results: Four MRONJ‐related miRNAs were upregulated in BP‐treated RAW264.7 cells, and the expression of mmu_circ_0001066 was negatively correlated with those of MRONJ‐related miRNAs. Furthermore, the upregulation of mmu_circ_0001066 partially attenuated the inhibitory effect of BP on osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells. Mechanistically, upregulated miR‐16 suppressed osteoclastogenesis and miR‐16 inhibitor increased osteoclastogenesis. Furthermore, we have identified that miR‐16 is a downstream effector of mmu_circ_0001066. Conclusion: Our results suggest that mmu_circ_0001066 played an important role in the BP‐mediated suppression of osteoclastogenesis, which lays a foundation for identifying mmu_circ_0001066 as a potential biomarker for MRONJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) based solid‐state electrolytes with good chemical stability against Li–metal, provide a promising solution for practical all solid‐state Li–metal batteries (ASSLMBs). However, the risk of short circuit using thin PEO under semi‐molten state and the oxidative decomposition of PEO by cathodes under high voltage hinder the practical application of PEO‐based ASSLMBs. Here, it is found that by readjusting the Li+ and e– conductivity at anode/cathode interface by introducing Nanodiamonds (NDs) into PEO electrolytes can greatly improve the electrochemical performance of PEO‐based batteries. Under the mediation of high modulus and insulative NDs, the lifespan of Li symmetric cells can increase by 30 times at 0.8 mA cm–2, and high‐voltage Li/LiCoO2 cells show excellent capacity retention under practical testing conditions (50 µm Li and 30 µm PEO electrolyte). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetrical deformation zone of the snake rolling process results in complex metal flow and unknown edge of the deformation zone. In this study, three assumptions about the location of exit thickness appear and the exit thickness is calculated by those three assumptions. By comparing the exit thickness obtained by formulas and the finite element method, one formula with high accuracy is verified and the plastic deformation of the thick plate under several snake rolling conditions is obtained. The results show that through comparing the minimum thickness in different assumptions, the exit of the plastic deformation zone is located at the midpoint of the line between two work rolls' axis and the exit thickness is approximately equal to the length of the line which includes that midpoint and locates between the two work rolls in the vertical direction. Then with the increasing offset distance, the exit thickness increases and that leads to less deformation inside the plate. For maintaining the exit thickness equal to the preset value, an exit thickness compensation model is established according to the geometry of the deformation zone and verified by the results of simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable stiffness laminates and helicoidal composites have gained significant attention in recent years. This paper introduces a novel structure called variable stiffness helicoidal composite laminates, which combines these two materials. The fibers in each layer are arranged in curved paths, and all the layers are stacked in a helicoidal pattern. To ensure uniform thickness throughout the laminate, an equidistant placement method is proposed for designing the curvilinear fibers. By establishing the energy equation and fitting the displacements with Legendre polynomials, a semi-analytical method is proposed to determine the critical buckling load. An integrated design framework is developed to obtain the optimal design. The optimized models show more than 10% enhancement in the critical buckling load compared to the quasi-isotropic laminate under uniaxial compression and in-plane shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch, as a sustainable polymer, is the main source of energy for human beings. However, natural starch usually has some disadvantages, such as unstable structure, and high glycemic index (GI) value, etc. The high GI value can lead to rapid fluctuations in blood glucose, which is harmful to human health. At present, there are diverse starch modification methods to solve this problem. For instance, physical, chemical, and enzymatic modification and so on. Among them, more attention has been paid to the modification of starch by natural pigments, due to the better safety of natural pigments and the resistance of humans to chemical synthetic pigments. Anthocyanins, as one of the natural pigments, are easily available. It is a very promising starch modifier as it possesses various biological activities, such as antioxidant and anticancer. Currently, the interaction of anthocyanins and starch has been widely researched. Therefore, in this review, the characterization of the effects of anthocyanins on the physicochemical properties of starch, the types of complexes, and the mechanisms of reducing digestion properties (in vitro and in vivo) were comprehensively analyzed and summarized. The purpose of this article is to provide information for the development of starch-anthocyanins complexes in low GI foods. [Display omitted] • Anthocyanins form inclusion or non-inclusion complex with starch. • Anthocyanins reduce the activity of starch digestive enzymes through mixed inhibition. • Anthocyanins increase the content of resistant starch (RS) in starch-anthocyanins complex. • Anthocyanins combine to starch through non-covalent bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater images typically suffer from color deviations and low visibility due to the wavelength-dependent light absorption and scattering. To deal with these degradation issues, we propose an efficient and robust underwater image enhancement method, called MLLE. Specifically, we first locally adjust the color and details of an input image according to a minimum color loss principle and a maximum attenuation map-guided fusion strategy. Afterward, we employ the integral and squared integral maps to compute the mean and variance of local image blocks, which are used to adaptively adjust the contrast of the input image. Meanwhile, a color balance strategy is introduced to balance the color differences between channel a and channel b in the CIELAB color space. Our enhanced results are characterized by vivid color, improved contrast, and enhanced details. Extensive experiments on three underwater image enhancement datasets demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. Our method is also appealing in its fast processing speed within 1s for processing an image of size $1024\times 1024 \times 3$ on a single CPU. Experiments further suggest that our method can effectively improve the performance of underwater image segmentation, keypoint detection, and saliency detection. The project page is available at https://li-chongyi.github.io/proj [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeting microtubules (MTs), dynamic and stable proteins in cells, by different ligands have been reported to be a potential strategy to combat cancer cells. Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used as anticancer, antibacterial and free radical scavenging agents, where they come in contact with biological macromolecules. The interaction between the NPs and biological macromolecules like MTs frequently occurs through different mechanisms. A prerequisite for a detailed exploration of MT structures and functions for biomedical applications like cancer therapy is to investigate profoundly the mechanisms involved in MT–NP interactions, for which the full explanation and characterization of the parameters that are responsible for the formation of a NP-protein complex are crucial. Therefore, in view of the fact that the goal of the rational NP-based future drug design and new therapies is to rely on the information of the structural details and protein–NPs binding mechanisms to manipulate the process of developing new potential drugs, a comprehensive investigation of the essence of the molecular recognition/interaction is also of considerable importance. In the present review, first, the microtubule (MT) structure and its binding sites upon interaction with MT stabilizing agents (MSAs) and MT destabilizing agents (MDAs) are introduced and rationalized. Next, MT targeting in cancer therapy and interaction of NPs with MTs are discussed. Furthermore, interaction of NPs with proteins and the manipulation of protein corona (PC), experimental techniques and direct interaction of NPs with MTs, are discussed, and finally the challenges and future perspective of the field are introduced. We envision this review can provide useful information on the manipulation of the MT lattice for the progress of cancer nanomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate chiral photoluminescence and scattering induced by the interaction between chiral phonons and localized plasmon. In the experiment, we constructed a hybrid structure of single gold nanorods and bilayer graphene. The optical chirality was investigated with a helicity-resolved single-particle spectroscopy technique, including the dark-field scattering and photoluminescence spectra. The single-particle spectra can effectively indicate the chiral phonon in bilayer graphene. That is due to the interaction between achiral local surface plasmon resonance and chiral phonons, which influences the plasmon damping at the interface. We propose a plasmon–phonon coupled spectroscopy method for phonon chirality detection. This method provides an advantage for developing high spatial resolution detection of chiral phonon in low-dimensional materials due to the localization of plasmonic near-field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the simultaneous fault estimation for a class of semi‐Markovian jump system with partially bounded known transition rates. A new variable is introduced with a dependence on output information, and then two robust variable‐based observers are designed to gauge the actuator fault and sensor fault concurrently. Significantly, the problem for partially bounded known transition rates is solved by virtue of mathematic techniques. In this way, the existing conditions of the designed observers are given in terms of linear matrix inequality. Furthermore, two examples are implemented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In weakly cemented reservoirs or coal-bed methane reservoirs, the conductivity of hydraulic fractures always declines after a period of production, which greatly influences gas production. In this paper, a comprehensive model considering fine-grained particle migration and proppant embedment is proposed to give a precise prediction for conductivity decline. Then, an experiment was conducted to simulate this process. A published experiment using coal fines was also tested and simulated. The results indicate that both fine-grained particle migration and proppant embedment have great negative effect on conductivity of fractures in weakly cemented sandstone and coal-bed methane reservoirs. The formulation we proposed matches the experimental data smoothly and can be widely used in the prediction of conductivity decline in weakly cemented sandstone and coal-bed methane reservoirs. In order to discuss the influencing factors of the filtration coefficient in the particle transport model, a porous media network model was established based on the theoretical model. The simulation results show that the filtration coefficient increases with the increase in particle size and/or throat size, and the filtration coefficient increases with the decrease in the fluid velocity. At the same time, it was found that the large larynx did not easily cause particle retention. Large size particles tend to cause particle retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gesture recognition plays an important role in smart homes, such as human–computer interaction, identity authentication, etc. Most of the existing WiFi signal-based approaches exploit a large number of channel state information (CSI) datasets to train a gestures classification model; however, these models require a large number of human participants to train, and are not robust to the recognition environment. To address this problem, we propose a WiFi signal-based gesture recognition system with matched averaging federated learning (WiMA). Since there are differences in the distribution of WiFi signal changes caused by the same gesture in different environments, the traditional federated parameter average algorithm seriously affects the recognition accuracy of the model. In WiMA, we exploit the neuron arrangement invariance of neural networks in parameter aggregation, which can improve the robustness of the gesture recognition model with heterogeneous CSI data of different training environments. We carried out experiments with seven participant users in a distributed gesture recognition environment. Experimental results show that the average accuracy of our proposed system is up to 90.4 % , which is very close to the accuracy of state-of-the-art approaches with centralized training models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design requirements of the structural features, the material properties, and the processing capabilities are hard to be satisfied in nanotechnologies simultaneously. In this paper, TiO2 nanoparticles that are chemically reliable have been processed through the doctor blade method to realize a kind of field enhancement nanostructure, aiming to enhance the dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuation performance. It is found that the thrust enhancement rate could be approximately 72% at 13 kV and 8 kHz, compared to the controlled samples. In addition, a threshold phenomenon of the thrust enhancement effect was also found from the experiments, where the applied voltage and frequency lower than specific criteria could both lead to a decrease in the thrust generation and vice versa. It is suggested that the increase in the ionization frequency resulted from the field enhancement effect of the nanostructures is the leading mechanism for the extra thrust generation, which is inconsistent with the experimental examinations of the plasma characteristics and the plasma kinetic simulation. The results suggested that TiO2 nanoparticles could be used to improve the actuation performance in harsh environments with sound substrate compatibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Promoted redox ability of Co 3 O 4 by Cu addition via co-precipitation. • Enhanced toluene oxidation efficiency and durability on Cu-Co oxide. • Poisoning effect of Cu on propane oxidation activity of Co 3 O 4. • Inhibitory effect of Cu on the accumulation of surface carbonaceous species. • Irreversible deactivation of the catalysts caused by NO introduction. Cu-Co mixed oxides were fabricated via co-precipitation, characterized by TG/DTA, FTIR, ICP, XRD, Raman and CO-TPR, and tested in the total oxidation of toluene and propane. Adding an appropriate amount of copper to cobalt oxide caused structural defects and weakened the Co O bond, thereby benefiting the activation of oxygen. Moreover, the reducibility of Co 3 O 4 was greatly improved in the presence of copper. In terms of toluene oxidation, a promoting effect of Cu was observed in both activity and durability, which could be related to the enhanced redox ability induced by the strong Cu-Co interaction and the inhibitory effect of Cu on the accumulation of surface carbonaceous species, respectively. Cu 0.2 Co exhibited the best toluene oxidation performance (T 90 = 240 °C) and excellent long-term durability. On the other hand, in propane oxidation, the activity of the Cu-Co catalysts decreased dramatically as the copper content increased, due to the extremely low intrinsic activity of CuO. The effects of CO 2 , water vapor and NO on propane oxidation over Co 3 O 4 and Cu 0.2 Co were also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Promoted redox ability of Co 3 O 4 by Cu addition via co-precipitation. • Enhanced toluene oxidation efficiency and durability on Cu-Co oxide. • Poisoning effect of Cu on propane oxidation activity of Co 3 O 4. • Inhibitory effect of Cu on the accumulation of surface carbonaceous species. • Irreversible deactivation of the catalysts caused by NO introduction. Cu-Co mixed oxides were fabricated via co-precipitation, characterized by TG/DTA, FTIR, ICP, XRD, Raman and CO-TPR, and tested in the total oxidation of toluene and propane. Adding an appropriate amount of copper to cobalt oxide caused structural defects and weakened the Co O bond, thereby benefiting the activation of oxygen. Moreover, the reducibility of Co 3 O 4 was greatly improved in the presence of copper. In terms of toluene oxidation, a promoting effect of Cu was observed in both activity and durability, which could be related to the enhanced redox ability induced by the strong Cu-Co interaction and the inhibitory effect of Cu on the accumulation of surface carbonaceous species, respectively. Cu 0.2 Co exhibited the best toluene oxidation performance (T 90 = 240 °C) and excellent long-term durability. On the other hand, in propane oxidation, the activity of the Cu-Co catalysts decreased dramatically as the copper content increased, due to the extremely low intrinsic activity of CuO. The effects of CO 2 , water vapor and NO on propane oxidation over Co 3 O 4 and Cu 0.2 Co were also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an asynchronous output-feedback controller is proposed for a class of Markovian jump systems (MJSs) with generally bounded transition rates (TRs). Specifically, two cases have been considered, one of which assumes the TR being completely unknown, while the other specifies the TR range. In particular, the designed asynchronous output-feedback controller is independent of the system modes, implying a sustainable controlling behavior against unavailable system modes. It is worth noting that the mode-dependent controller can be treated as a special case of the independent one. Furthermore, the existing conditions of such a controller are acquired in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally a practical example, concerning a single-machine infinite-bus power system, is given to confirm the feasibility of the proposed controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Rice starch (RS) and rice starch-anthocyanins (RS-A) complex present V-type crystal astructure. • RS-A complexes can upregulate gut microbial diversity. • RS-A complexes decrease the Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, thereby reducing the risk of obesity and insulin resistance. • The crystallinity might be a factor influencing the utilization of the starch matrix by the gut microbiota. This study explored the differences in the in vitro fermentation properties of rice starch (RS) and rice starch-anthocyanins complexes (RS-A). Structural characterization suggested that RS and RS-A complexes showed a V-type crystalline structure. The degree of order (DO) and degree of double helix (DD) values of RS and RS-A complexes were enhanced after fermentation. Moreover, the RS-A complexes could improve the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes , Ruminococcaceae , and up-regulate gut microbiota diversity to maintain gut homeostasis. Relative abundance of potential metabolic pathways, such as energy metabolism, digestion system, and carbohydrate degradation overexpressed in the presence of RS-A complexes. The results demonstrated that the RS-A complexes had slower fermentation rates contributing to the transport of the formed short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) to the end of the colon and that the crystallinity might be a factor influencing the utilization of the starch matrix by the gut microbiota for SCFA formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pure and stable M−MoS 2 nanospheres was synthesized by hydrothermal reaction. • The maximum reflection loss value is −39.88 dB at a thickness of 1.3 mm. • The bandwidth with effective attenuation is up to 8.31 GHz. • All of this raw and processed materials are low-cost and easy available. Metallic phase of MoS 2 (M−MoS 2) is a metastable state that does not occur naturally. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no prior preparation of pure and stable M−MoS 2 nanospheres. The high purity, uniform, and stable two-dimensional M−MoS 2 nanospheres were synthesized in ethyl alcohol through a hydrothermal reaction in this study. The as-prepared M−MoS 2 demonstrates excellent microwave absorbing performance (MAP), with a minimum reflection loss (RL) of −39.88 dB at a thickness of 1.3 mm and an effective attenuation bandwidth (RL < -10 dB) up to 8.31 GHz (9.6875–18.0 GHz). These results suggest that M−MoS 2 is a promising and cost-effective option for microwave absorption applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Ir/LaFeO 3 catalysts calcined at 300–600 °C were synthesized by a solvent-free method and tested for propene total oxidation. Various characterizations depicted that iridium was well-dispersed on LaFeO 3 with no detectable iridium-related particles or aggregates. The loading of iridium hardly changed the structural and textural properties of LaFeO 3 , but greatly enhanced the low-temperature reducibility and oxygen mobility, leading to superior propene oxidation activity. For Ir/LaFeO 3 series, the catalytic activity decreased as the calcination temperature increased, due to the declined reducibility and active oxygen species content. Ir/LaFeO 3 -300 was demonstrated to be the optimal catalyst with the best propene oxidation performance (T 90 = 246 °C), excellent long-term stability, and decent water-resistance. Treating Ir/LaFeO 3 -300 in a reducing atmosphere further improved its catalytic performance by enhancing low-temperature reducibility and increasing surface-active oxygen species. Overall, this study provides insights into the synthesis of highly efficient and stable iridium-based catalysts for VOCs oxidation. [Display omitted] • Ir highly dispersed on LaFeO 3 via a solvent free method. • Enhanced catalytic activity due to better reducibility and more active O species. • Catalytic activity of Ir/LaFeO 3 inversely correlated with calcination temperature. • Ir/LaFeO 3 -300 showed best activity, decent stability and water resistance. • Reduction treatment further improved its catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study was designed to assess the correlation between the grades of endolymphatic hydrops and the blood-labyrinth barrier permeability in the affected ear in Meniere's disease, following the administration of intravenous gadolinium contrast. Study Design: Prospective study. Methods: The quantitative values of endolymphatic hydrops were determined after intravenous injection of a double-dose of gadobutrol in 39 patients with unilateral definite Meniere's disease. Additionally, the signal intensity ratio of bilateral cochlear basal turns was evaluated and analyzed; The correlation between the grades of the endolymphatic hydrops and the signal intensity ratio of the cochlear basal turns in the affected ear was examined. Results: The grades of the endolymphatic hydrops can be quantitatively evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The signal intensity ratio of the cochlear basal turns in the affected ear was significantly higher than in the unaffected ear (P =.001); there was a positive correlation between the signal intensity ratio of the cochlear basal turn and the grades of cochlear (r = 0.634, P = 0.000) and vestibular(r = 0.559, P =.000) hydrops in the affected ear. Conclusions: The increased permeability of the blood-labyrinth barrier may play a role in the process of endolymphatic hydrops in Meniere's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Snake Optimizer (SO) is an advanced metaheuristic algorithm for solving complicated real-world optimization problems. However, despite its advantages, the SO faces certain challenges, such as susceptibility to local optima and suboptimal convergence performance in cases involving discretized, high-dimensional, and multi-constraint problems. To address these problems, this paper presents an improved version of the SO, known as the Snake Optimizer using Sobol sequential nonlinear factors and different learning strategies (SNDSO). Firstly, using Sobol sequences to generate better distributed initial populations helps to locate the global optimum solution faster. Secondly, the use of nonlinear factors based on the inverse tangent function to control the exploration and exploitation phases effectively improves the exploitation capability of the algorithm. Finally, introducing learning strategies improves the population diversity and reduces the probability of the algorithm falling into the local optimum trap. The effectiveness of the proposed SNDSO in solving discretized, high-dimensional, and multi-constraint problems is validated through a series of experiments. The performance of the SNDSO in tackling high-dimensional numerical optimization problems is first confirmed by using the Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) 2015 and CEC2017 test sets. Then, twelve feature selection problems are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the SNDSO in discretized scenarios. Finally, five real-world technical multi-constraint optimization problems are employed to evaluate the performance of the SNDSO in high-dimensional and multi-constraint domains. The experiments show that the SNDSO effectively overcomes the challenges of discretization, high dimensionality, and multi-constraint problems and outperforms superior algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Resveratrol (Res) is promising food functional factor with favorable antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties, although its poor water solubility and low bioavailability limit extensive application. Therefore, in combination with another promising polysaccharide (Mesona chinensis polysaccharides, MCP), Res‐loaded food nanocarriers (ResNPs) were developed to increase its water solubility, bioactivity and targeting properties. ResNPs were then applied to alleviate dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)‐induced ulcerative colitis. RESULTS: Resveratrol can be well encapsulated in MCP‐based nanoparticles in an amorphous state, improving its water solubility. ResNPs showed pH‐response controlled release behavior in the gastrointestinal tract and increased the enrichment of Res in the colon. In vivo experiments of ResNPs against DSS‐induced ulcerative colitis (UC) revealed that ResNPs significantly improved UC symptoms, modulated intestinal inflammation and down‐regulated oxidative stress levels compared to free Res. ResNPs also play an positive role with respect to inhibiting the mitogen‐activated protein kinase pathway and promoting the expression of tight junction proteins. In addition, ResNPs improved the species composition and relative abundance of intestinal flora in UC mice, which effectively regulated the balance of intestinal flora and promoted the production of short‐chain fatty acids. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that MCP‐based nanoparticles can effectively improve the solubility of resveratrol and enhance its in vivo bioactivity. Moreover, the present study also provides a new strategy for the prevention and treatment of UC with food polyphenol. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuromedin U (NMU), a highly conserved peptide in mammals, is involved in a wide variety of physiological processes, including impairment of pancreatic β-cell function via induction of mitochondrial dysfunction and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, ultimately suppressing insulin secretion. NMU has two receptors, NMU receptor 1 (NMUR1) and NMUR2, both of which are G-protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs). Only NMUR1 is expressed in mouse islets and β cell–derived MIN6-K8 cells. The molecular mechanisms underlying the insulinostatic action mediated by NMUR1 in β cells have yet to be elucidated. In this study, we explored the molecular mechanism driving impairment of insulin secretion in β cells by the NMU–NMUR1 axis. Pretreatment with the Gαi/o inhibitor Bordetella pertussis toxin (PTX), but not the Gαq inhibitor YM254890, abolished NMU-induced suppression of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and calcium response in β cells. Knockdown of Gαi2 and Gαo in β cells counteracted NMU-induced suppression of insulin secretion and gene alterations related to mitochondrial fusion (Mfn1, Mfn2), fission (Fis1, Drp1), mitophagy (Pink1, Park2), mitochondrial dynamics (Pgc-1α, Nrf1, and Tfam), ER stress (Chop, Atp2a3, Ryr2, and Itpr2), intracellular ATP level, and mitochondrial membrane potential. NMU decreased forskolin-stimulated intracellular cAMP in both mouse and human islets. We concluded that NMUR1 coupled to PTX-sensitive Gαi2 and Gαo proteins in β cells reduced intracellular Ca2+ influx and cAMP level, thereby causing β-cell dysfunction and impairment. These results highlight a novel signaling mechanism of NMU and provide valuable insights into the further investigation of NMU functions in β-cell biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon fiber (CF) is a significant multifunction material, which is extensively used in aircraft because of its superb performance. However, its microwave absorption properties (MAPs) are seriously restricted as a result of the impedance mismatch issue. To address this issue, an efficient strategy is conducted by a series of CF@MoS 2 and CF@MoS 2 @Fe 3 O 4 composites that are fabricated by in-situ grown MoS 2 nanosheets (MoS 2 -NS) and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (Fe 3 O 4 -NPs) on the surface of CF. The results of microwave absorption performance (MAP) reveal that the minimum reflection loss (RL) can reach −21.4 dB with a CF@MoS 2 composite coating thickness of 3.8 mm; the effective attenuation bandwidth (RL < −10 dB, i.e. , 90% microwave energy is attenuated) is up to 10.85 GHz (7.15–18.0 GHz). From a detailed analysis, it is observed impedance mismatch is the critical limiting factor for MAPs rather than attenuation. Furthermore, for CF@MoS 2 @Fe 3 O 4 , the MAP is strongly dependent on the level of coating of magnetic Fe 3 O 4 -NPs on the surface of CF@MoS 2 composites. The mechanisms underlying the superb MAP and related phenomena are investigated, opening new directions for fabricating CF-based microwave absorbers with high efficiency and wide-bandwidth. Finally, the occurrence of multi-reflection phenomena of EM waves in absorbers are critically analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts are promising systems for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) elimination. In the last few years, significant efforts have been devoted to improving their catalytic activity at low temperatures. This review summarizes recent progress on single, composite, and supported Co 3 O 4 catalysts for the total oxidation of propane, a representative VOC. First, single Co 3 O 4 modification is comprehensively discussed, including optimization of synthesis parameters, structure construction, morphology control, facet engineering, and defect engineering, with the aim of tuning surface-active species. Secondly, the design and construction of composite Co 3 O 4 are presented in detail, which could produce synergetic effects such as electronic, geometric, and interfacial effects that promote catalytic performance. Thirdly, supported Co 3 O 4 systems desirable in industrial applications are introduced. Moreover, the propane total oxidation mechanisms over Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts are summarized. Some poisoning effects on propane oxidation over Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts are also discussed. Finally, the challenges, opportunities, and future research direction of developing advanced Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts are prospected. [Display omitted] • Single, composite, and supported Co 3 O 4 catalysts for propane total oxidation. • Various routes of promoting propane combustion performance over single Co 3 O 4. • Propane total oxidation mechanisms over Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts. • Poisoning effects on Co 3 O 4 -based catalysts for propane total oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]