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Attention is often viewed as a mental spotlight, which can be scaled like a zoom lens at specific spatial locations and features a center-surround gradient. Here, we demonstrate a neural signature of attention spotlight in signal transmission along the visual hierarchy. fMRI background connectivity analysis was performed between retinotopic V1 and downstream areas to characterize the spatial distribution of inter-areal interaction under two attentional states. We found that, compared to diffused attention, focal attention sharpened the spatial gradient in the strength of the background connectivity. Dynamic causal modeling analysis further revealed the effect of attention in both the feedback and feedforward connectivity between V1 and extrastriate cortex. In a context which induced a strong effect of crowding, the effect of attention in the background connectivity profile diminished. Our findings reveal a context-dependent attention prioritization in information transmission via modulating the recurrent processing across the early stages in human visual cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressed patients often suffer from sleep disturbance, which has been recognized to be responsible for glymphatic dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coupling strength of global blood‑oxygen-level-dependent (gBOLD) signals and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflow dynamics, which is a biomarker for glymphatic function, in depressed patients and to explore its potential relationship with sleep disturbance by using resting-state functional MRI. A total of 138 depressed patients (112 females, age: 34.70 ± 13.11 years) and 84 healthy controls (29 females, age: 36.6 ± 11.75 years) participated in this study. The gBOLD-CSF coupling strength was calculated to evaluate glymphatic function. Sleep disturbance was evaluated using the insomnia items (item 4 for insomnia-early, item 5 for insomnia-middle, and item 6 for insomnia-late) of The 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale for depressed patients, which was correlated with the gBOLD-CSF coupling strength. The depressed patients exhibited weaker gBOLD-CSF coupling relative to healthy controls (p = 0.022), possibly due to impairment of the glymphatic system. Moreover, the gBOLD-CSF coupling strength correlated with insomnia-middle (r = 0.097, p = 0.008) in depressed patients. Limitations This study is a cross-sectional study. Our findings shed light on the pathophysiology of depression, indicating that cerebral waste clearance system deficits are correlated with poor sleep quality in depressed patients. • All participants had a strong gBOLD-CSF coupling, which correlated with their age. • Depressed patients had significantly weaker gBOLD-CSF coupling than healthy controls. • Strength of gBOLD-CSF coupling correlated with insomnia-middle in depressed patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary factors have consistently been associated with breast cancer risk. However, there is limited evidence regarding their associations in women with different genetic susceptibility to breast cancer, and their interaction with alcohol consumption is also not well understood. Methods: We analyzed data from 261,853 female participants in the UK Biobank. Multivariable adjusted Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between dietary factors and breast cancer risk. Additionally, we assessed the interaction of dietary factors with alcohol consumption and polygenic risk score (PRS) for breast cancer. Results: A moderately higher risk of breast cancer was associated with the consumption of processed meat (HR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.03, 1.18, p-trend = 0.016). Higher intake of raw vegetables and fresh fruits, and adherence to a healthy dietary pattern were inversely associated with breast cancer risk [HR (95% CI):0.93 (0.88–0.99), 0.87 (0.81, 0.93) and 0.93 (0.86–1.00), p for trend: 0.025, < 0.001, and 0.041, respectively]. Furthermore, a borderline significant interaction was found between alcohol consumption and the intake of processed meat with regard to breast cancer risk (P for interaction = 0.065). No multiplicative interaction was observed between dietary factors and PRS. Conclusion: Processed meat was positively associated with breast cancer risk, and vegetables, fruits, and healthy dietary patterns were negatively associated with breast cancer risk. We found no strong interaction of dietary factors with alcohol consumption and genetic predisposition for risk of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the known association between healthy lifestyles and reduced risk of breast cancer, it remains unclear whether systemic inflammation, as a consequence of unhealthy lifestyles, may mediate the association. Methods: A cohort study of 259,435 female participants in the UK Biobank was conducted to estimate hazard ratio (HR) for breast cancer according to 9 inflammation markers using Cox regression models. We further estimated the percentage of total association between healthy lifestyle index (HLI) and breast cancer that is mediated by these inflammation markers. Results: During 2,738,705 person-years of follow-up, 8,889 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed among 259,435 women in the UK Biobank cohort. Higher level of C-reactive protein (CRP), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), CRP-to-albumin Ratio (CAR), CRP-to-lymphocyte Ratio (CLR), monocyte-to-HDL-c ratio (MHR), and neutrophil-to-HDL-c ratio (NHR) were associated with increased breast cancer risk, while a higher lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) was associated with a lower risk. The inverse association between HLI and breast cancer was weakly mediated by CRP (8.5%), SII (1.71%), CAR (8.66%), CLR (6.91%), MHR (6.27%), and NHR (7.33%). When considering individual lifestyle factors, CRP and CAR each mediated 16.58% and 17.20%, respectively, of the associations between diet score and breast cancer risk, while the proportion mediated for physical activity and breast cancer were 12.13% and 11.48%, respectively. Furthermore, MHR was found to mediate 13.84% and 12.01% of the associations between BMI, waist circumference, and breast cancer. Conclusion: The association of HLI and breast cancer is weakly mediated by the level of inflammation, particularly by CRP and CAR. Systemic inflammatory status may be an intermediate in the biological pathway of breast cancer development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate forecasting of the load of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations is critical for EV users to choose the optimal charging stations and ensure the safe and efficient operation of the power grid. The charging load of different charging stations in the same area is interrelated. However, forecasting the charging load of individual charging station using traditional time series methods is insufficient. To fully consider the spatial-temporal correlation between charging stations, this paper proposes a new charging load forecasting framework based on the Adaptive Spatial-temporal Graph Neural Network with Transformer (ASTNet-T). First, an adaptive graph is constructed based on the spatial relationship and historical information between charging stations, and the local spatial-temporal dependencies hidden therein are captured by the spatio-temporal convolutional network. Then, a Transformer network is introduced to capture the global spatial-temporal dependencies of charging loads and predict the future multilevel charging loads of charging stations. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on two real-world charging load datasets. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed algorithm are verified by experiments. In the Dundee City dataset, the MAE, MAPE, and RMSE values of the proposed model are improved by approximately 71%, 90%, and 67%, respectively, compared to the suboptimal baseline model, demonstrating that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the accuracy of load forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium||sulfur (Li||S) batteries are considered as one of the promising next‐generation batteries due to the high theoretical capacity and low cost of S cathodes, as well as the low redox potential of Li metal anodes (−3.04 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode). However, the S reduction reaction from S to Li2S leads to limited discharge voltage and capacity, largely hindering the energy density of Li||S batteries. Herein, high‐energy Li||S hybrid batteries were designed via an electrolyte decoupling strategy. In cathodes, S electrodes undergo the solid‐solid conversion reaction from S to Cu2S with four‐electron transfer in a Cu2+‐based aqueous electrolyte. Such an energy storage mechanism contributes to enhanced electrochemical performance of S electrodes, including high discharge potential and capacity, superior rate performance and stable cycling behavior. As a result, the assembled Li||S hybrid batteries exhibit a high discharge voltage of 3.4 V and satisfactory capacity of 2.3 Ah g−1, contributing to incredible energy density. This work provides an opportunity for the construction of high‐energy Li||S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium||sulfur (Li||S) batteries are considered as one of the promising next‐generation batteries due to the high theoretical capacity and low cost of S cathodes, as well as the low redox potential of Li metal anodes (−3.04 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode). However, the S reduction reaction from S to Li2S leads to limited discharge voltage and capacity, largely hindering the energy density of Li||S batteries. Herein, high‐energy Li||S hybrid batteries were designed via an electrolyte decoupling strategy. In cathodes, S electrodes undergo the solid‐solid conversion reaction from S to Cu2S with four‐electron transfer in a Cu2+‐based aqueous electrolyte. Such an energy storage mechanism contributes to enhanced electrochemical performance of S electrodes, including high discharge potential and capacity, superior rate performance and stable cycling behavior. As a result, the assembled Li||S hybrid batteries exhibit a high discharge voltage of 3.4 V and satisfactory capacity of 2.3 Ah g−1, contributing to incredible energy density. This work provides an opportunity for the construction of high‐energy Li||S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A visual and quantitative ELISA-like method for Escherichia coli O157:H7 is developed based on highly catalytic and stable Au@AuPt nanoparticles. The proposed enhanced ELISA method can visually detect 100 CFU mL−1 O157:H7 with high specificity and without the need for strict low-temperature reagent storage, thereby increasing the utility. Moreover, it is applicable to spiked tap water and milk tea samples without additional treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a coupled numerical model to simulate dual-tubing steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process with toe-point injection technique was developed, specially, a more rigorous approach was used to calculate the steam pressure. Based on the model, the distribution of thermophysical properties of steam along the wellbore is investigated. The results indicate that improving the annulus steam temperature uniformity in circulation stage and the annulus steam quality uniformity in production stage is the key to enhancing the reservoir heating uniformity. The influence of the heat transfer from the wellbore to the reservoir on reservoir heating is significant with a low steam injection rate, but the influence is weak with a high steam injection rate. The reservoir temperature nonuniformity is more likely to occur during production stage than during circulation stage, and more attention needs to be paid to optimizing the reservoir temperature uniformity during production stage. A "toe-good" heating effect can be observed with toe-point injection technique, and simultaneous dual-tubing injection technology is a suitable method for solving this problem. The findings of this study can help to better understand the relationship between the distribution of thermophysical properties of saturated steam along the wellbore and reservoir nonuniform heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies time-frequency connectedness using the Diebold Yilmaz method and the Baruník and Křehlík method to examine the relationship among geopolitical risk, traditional energy (coal, oil and gas) and carbon markets. First, geopolitical risk shows stable positive net spillovers in the medium and long term, but fluctuates in the short term. Second, the total connectedness is greater in the short term, and strengthened in the period of rising geopolitical risk with the changes of connectedness paths. Third, in general, the carbon market has greater impact on the geopolitical risk than it has been affected. Finally, as a sub-indicator of geopolitical risk index, geopolitical acts index generally contributes more, but natural gas is more affected by geopolitical threats index. Our results provide useful knowledge for governments to realize their goal of policymaking, and help industrial enterprises make timely adjustments to their energy strategies. In addition, we hope that investors can pay attention to the spillover effect and reduce investment risk. • The impact of geopolitical risk on energy markets tends to stabilize over time. • Geopolitical risk is more affected by carbon market, especially in short term. • High geopolitical uncertainty changes the paths of the connectedness network. • There are differences in the performance of geopolitical risk sub-indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of legume wastewater (LWW), which is an underappreciated functional legume by-product, is explored as a sustainable emulsifier in bakery products. This research aims to advance recycling practices for LWW from pea, chickpea and soybean. The emulsifying properties of oil-in-water LWW emulsions were markedly influenced by the legume type and processing type. The emulsions of soaking and cooking water from soybeans (SS and SC) demonstrated a smaller particle size (125.4–136.2 μm), improved emulsification capabilities, and superior stability compared to those derived from peas and chickpeas. SS and SC established a comparative scale for protein fractions of vicilin, α-legumin, and β-legumin, respectively. The emulsion of chickpea soaking and cooking water showed a significantly larger particle size (104.2–328.6 μm) and lower emulsion stability (50.4 and 55.0%) compared to pea (90.4–285.8 μm, 56.1 and 58.8%) and soybean (125.4–136.2 μm, 57.5 and 60.8%). The PC sponge cake demonstrated a harder texture compared to SC and CC, observed by its notable hardness measurement (475.76 N), which correlates directly with its protein level and the inclusion of legumin. LWW stands out for creating profitable food additives, simultaneously prompting people to view sustainable development from the perspective of the food application. • Novel eco-friendly application of legume wastewater in food product. • Emulsifying abilities of wastewater from pea, chickpea and soybean was performed. • Protein profile and emulsifying properties of legume wastewater correlate strongly. • Soybean wastewater showed good emulsifying properties and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm enhances tolerance to antimicrobials and immune system defenses. Alginate is an important component of biofilm and a virulence factor of P. aeruginosa. The degradation of alginate by alginate lyases has come to serve as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy against P. aeruginosa biofilm, but poor stability of the enzyme limited this application. Thus, PspAlgL, an alginate lyase, can degrade acetylated alginate but has poor thermostability. The 3D structure of PspAlgL was predicted, and the thermostability of PspAlgL was rationally designed by GRAPE strategy, resulting in two variants with better stability. These variants, PspAlgL S270F/E311P and PspAlgL G291S/E311P , effectively degraded the alginate in biofilm. In addition, compared with PspAlgL, these variants were more efficient in inhibiting biofilm formation and degrading the established biofilm of P. aeruginosa PAO1, and they were also able to destroy the biofilm attached to catheters and to increase the sensitivity of P. aeruginosa to the antibiotic amikacin. This study provides one potential anti-biofilm agent for P. aeruginosa infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Estrogen is involved in both bone metabolism and breast cancer proliferation. However, evidence about the risk of breast cancer according to women's bone mineral density (BMD) is scarce, and little is known about their causal associations. METHODS: Women participating in the UK Biobank cohort were used to investigate the association between BMD and the risk of breast cancer using Cox regression models. Instrumental variants associated with estimated BMD (eBMD) were extracted from genome‐wide association studies with European ancestry. Logistic regression was used to calculate the genetic association with breast cancer in the UK Biobank and 2‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess their causal associations with breast cancer. Finally, the pleiotropic conditional false discovery rate (cFDR) method was conducted to further detect common genetic variants between BMD and breast cancer. RESULTS: Compared with the general population, postmenopausal women with BMD T scores <−2.5 had a lower risk of breast cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 0.77; 95% CI, 0.59‐1.00), and this effect was stronger in women with fracture (HR, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.12‐0.82). In MR analysis, no causal associations between eBMD and breast cancer were observed. The cFDR method identified 63 pleiotropic loci associated with both BMD and breast cancer, of which CCDC170, ESR1, and FTO might play crucial roles in their pleiotropy. CONCLUSIONS: An association between BMD and the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the UK Biobank was observed, whereas no evidence supported their causal association. Instead, their association could be explained by pleiotropic genetic variants leading to the pathology of osteoporosis and breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercritical water (SCW) is a novel thermal agent that has been recently utilized for the production of heavy oil. However, a lack of knowledge about its recovery mechanisms limits the application of SCW. In this study, pyrolysis and sandpack flooding experiments were performed to investigate the mechanisms and viability of SCW flooding. Then an innovative simulation model was developed for SCW flooding. Finally, sensitivity studies on SCW flooding were conducted by the developed model. The results showed that SCW flooding yielded a 13.99% increase in oil recovery in comparison to steam flooding, indicating that SCW flooding is technically applicable to offshore heavy oil reservoirs. Heavy oil upgrading in SCW can suppress coke formation and plays an important role in oil recovery. A novel numerical model for SCW flooding was established based on a history match of experiments. The simulation results suggested that during SCW flooding, SCW could induce heavy oil upgrading to increase oil mobility, and long-term injection of SCW may cause the formation of coke deposits. Higher injection temperatures and pressures would benefit the production performance of SCW flooding. However, an unlimited increase in temperature would damage formations by significant coke deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quick, efficient, fully automated open-source programs to segment muscle and adipose tissues from computed tomography (CT) images would be a great contribution to body composition research. This study examined the concordance of cross-sectional areas (CSA) and densities for muscle, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) from CT images at the third lumbar (L3) between an automated neural network (test method) and a semi-automatic human-based program (reference method). Concordance was further evaluated by disease status, sex, race/ethnicity, BMI categories. Agreement statistics applied included Lin's Concordance (CCC), Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC), Sorensen dice-similarity coefficient (DSC), and Bland–Altman plots with limits of agreement (LOA) within 1.96 standard deviation. A total of 420 images from a diverse cohort of patients (60.35 ± 10.92 years; body mass index (BMI) of 28.77 ± 7.04 kg/m2; 55% female; 53% Black) were included in this study. About 30% of patients were healthy (i.e., received a CT scan for acute illness or pre-surgical donor work-up), while another 30% had a diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The CCC, SCC, and DSC estimates for muscle, VAT, SAT were all greater than 0.80 (>0.80 indicates good performance). Agreement analysis by diagnosis showed good performance for the test method except for critical illness (DSC 0.65–0.87). Bland–Altman plots revealed narrow LOA suggestive of good agreement despite minimal proportional bias around the zero-bias line for muscle, SAT, and IMAT CSA. The test method shows good performance and almost perfect concordance for L3 muscle, VAT, SAT, and IMAT per DSC estimates, and Bland–Altman plots even after stratification by sex, race/ethnicity, and BMI categories. Care must be taken to assess the density of the CT images from critically ill patients before applying the automated neural network (test method). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The aim of this study was to investigate the relative contribution of PDGFB derived specifically from platelets to the remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumors. Platelets are a major source of growth factors, which are released from the platelet granules upon activation. Platelets are continuously activated in the tumor microenvironment, due to their similarities to a wound. However, the role of platelet-derived factors in ECM remodeling has not been fully addressed. To this end, we made use of a mouse model with conditional deletion of PDGFB in platelets, which was crossbred to the RIP1-Tag2 model for pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma. The amount of tumor-associated PDGFB protein showed a 10-fold reduction in mice lacking PDGFB in platelets. Moreover, ECM deposition, the amount of cancer-associated fibroblasts and TGFβ signaling were all reduced in tumors from mice with platelet-specific deletion of PDGFB, demonstrating the significant contribution of a platelet-derived factor to ECM remodeling in tumors. Platelets constitute a major reservoir of platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGFB) and are continuously activated in the tumor microenvironment, exposing tumors to the plethora of growth factors contained in platelet granules. To address the specific role of platelet-derived PDGFB in the tumor microenvironment, we have created a mouse model with conditional knockout of PDGFB in platelets (pl-PDGFB KO). Lack of PDGFB in platelets resulted in 10-fold lower PDGFB concentration in the tumor microenvironment, fewer cancer-associated fibroblasts and reduced deposition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules fibronectin and collagen I in the orthotopic RIP1-Tag2 model for pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. Myosin light chain phosphorylation, promoting cell contraction and, consequently, the mechano-induced release of active transforming growth factor (TGF) β from extracellular compartments, was reduced in tumors from pl-PDGFB KO mice. In agreement, TGFβ signaling, measured as phosphorylated Smad2, was significantly hampered in tumors from mice lacking PDGFB in their platelets, providing a plausible explanation for the reduced deposition of extracellular matrix. These findings indicate a major contribution of platelet-derived PDGFB to a malignant transformation of the tumor microenvironment and address for the first time the role of PDGFB released specifically from platelets in the remodeling of the ECM in tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • VUV photo–Fenton (VPF) accelerated oxidation by VUV/H 2 O, UV/H 2 O 2 and photo–Fenton; • Synchronous hypophosphite oxidation and Ni-EDTA decomplexation are achieved by VPF; • Competition between hypophosphite and Ni-EDTA oxidation in VPF is verified; • •OH is responsible for oxidizing hypophosphite and phosphite in VPF process; • Mechanism and rate-limiting step of hypophosphite oxidation are confirmed. The photo–Fenton process offers a promising alternative for the oxidation of complex heavy metals. However, the potential influence of coexisting substrates may be overlooked. The •OH radicals generated in the photo–Fenton process ensure superior oxidation ability. In this study, we used a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light-assisted photo–Fenton (VPF) process to explore its performance in the synergistic oxidation of Ni-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and coexisting hypophosphite, typical pollutants in electroless nickel plating (ENP) wastewater. Based on electron spin resonance (ESR) and DMSO-probing results, •OH was the predominant reactive oxygen species, and VPF possessed the highest •OH concentration compared to other photochemical processes under identical conditions (pH, Fe, H 2 O 2). Enhanced •OH generation in VPF was attributed to various photochemical reactions, including photo–Fenton, UV/H 2 O 2 , and VUV/H 2 O. Consequently, VPF exhibited efficient Ni-EDTA decomplexation and hypophosphite oxidation. Notably, the evolution and rate-limiting steps during hypophosphite oxidation were demonstrated by experimental results and density functional theory calculations. Hypophosphite was initially oxidized to phosphite, which subsequently oxidized to phosphate. The oxidation of phosphite could be considered the rate-limiting step as it exhibits higher energy barriers than hypophosphite oxidation. Adequate •OH generation in the VPF process could overcome this energy barrier, indicating its potential for application in pollutant removal and resource recovery from ENP wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM)s are critical regulators of glioma progression. As yet, however, TAMs in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutated lower-grade gliomas (LGGs) have not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to determine whether 1p/19q co-deletion status affects the TAM phenotype or its prevalence in IDH mutated LGGs. Methods: TAMs in IDH mutated LGGs were analyzed using transcriptome data from 230 samples in the TCGA database in combination with transcriptome data from single-cell RNA sequencing of IDH-mutated LGGs. Proteins potentially involved in TAM regulation were examined by immuno-staining in primary LGG samples harboring IDH mutations. Essential signaling pathways regulating TAM phenotypes were investigated in a glioma mouse model using small molecule inhibitors. Results: Most of the TAMs in IDH-mutated LGGs expressed the M1 activation markers CD86 and TNF, whereas a subset of individual TAMs co-expressed both M1 and M2-related markers. Bioinformatics analysis in combination with immuno-staining of IDH-mutated patient samples revealed higher amounts of TAMs expressing M2-related markers in 1p/19q non-codeletion IDH-mutated LGGs compared to 1p/19q codeletion LGGs. The levels of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) and macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) were significantly higher in 1p/19q non-codeletion LGGs than in 1p/19q codeletion LGGs. M-CSF and TGFβ1 signal inhibition decreased tumor growth and modulated the TAM phenotype in a glioma mouse model. Conclusions: Our data indicate that 1p/19q co-deletion status relates to distinct TAM infiltration in gliomas, which is likely mediated by M-CSF and TGFβ1 signaling. M-CSF and TGFβ1 signaling may play a pivotal role in regulating the TAM phenotype in glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Absolute neutrophil count in polycythemia vera patients was an independent risk factor indicative of thrombotic events. • The prothrombotic feature of neutrophils was associated with the activation of neutrophil extracellular traps pathway in polycythemia vera. • PRKCD-mediated neutrophil extracellular traps pathway might be activated in polycythemia vera patients. Thrombosis is a major cause of morbimortality in patients with polycythemia vera (PV). Furthermore, neutrophils play a significant role in thrombosis, but their role in the pathogenetic mechanisms of PV is not well characterized. Therefore, we investigated the role and mechanisms by which neutrophils regulate thrombosis in PV patients. U nivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis of clinicopathological factors was performed to determine the independent risk factors of thrombosis in PV. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationship between absolute neutrophil count (ANC) and the hypercoagulable state in PV patients. Bioinformatics analysis of the GSE54644 dataset was used to identify hemostasis-related pathways in neutrophils of PV patients. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of the integrated dataset (GSE57793, GSE26049 and GSE61629) was used to identify neutrophils-related genes and pathways associated with thrombosis in PV. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was performed to identify the differentially activated pathways in PV patients with or without thrombosis using GSE47018 dataset. Our data showed increased ANC in PV patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that ANC was an independent risk factor for the thrombotic events in PV patients before or at diagnosis. ANC correlated with the hypercoagulable state in PV patients. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) pathway was significantly enriched in the neutrophils of PV patients. IPA results demonstrated that PRKCD-mediated NETs pathway was hyperactivated in PV patients with thrombosis. In summary, ANC was an independent risk factor for the thrombotic events in PV patients before or at diagnosis, and PRKCD -mediated NETs pathway was aberrantly activated in the neutrophils of PV patients and was associated with the thrombotic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The impact of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify the patients who may benefit from PMRT. Methods. We retrospectively analysed patients with clinical stage II-III breast cancer who underwent NAC and modified radical mastectomy at our centre from 2007 to 2015. We investigated the relationship amongst locoregional recurrence rate (LRR), disease-free survival (DFS), and clinical pathological characters. Results. A total of 554 patients were analysed in this study. The median follow-up time was 65 months. Amongst the patients, 58 (10.5%) had locoregional recurrence, 138 (24.9%) had distant metastasis, and 72 (13.0%) patients died. The 5-year cumulative incidence of LRR and DFS was 9.2% and 74.2%, respectively. A total of 399 (72%) patients received PMRT and 155 (28%) did not. The 5-year LRR of the patients with PMRT (7.3% vs. 14.1%, P = 0.01) decreased significantly. We found that PMRT was an independent prognostic factor of LRR and DFS. Patients with the persistent involvement of 1–3 lymph nodes (ypN1) and more than 4 positive lymph nodes (ypN2-3) had a better outcome after PMRT than those without. However, the LRR and DFS of patients with negative lymph nodes at the time of surgery (ypN0) and who received PMRT showed no significant benefits. Amongst all patients with the three molecular subtypes of breast cancer, patients with triple-negative breast cancer had the highest pathological complete response rate but the worst prognosis (P = 0.001). Conclusion. Results showed that PMRT significantly reduced the LRR of patients with clinical stage II-III breast cancer after receiving NAC and mastectomy. YpN0 patients derived no local control or survival benefit after receiving PMRT, whereas those with ypN1 and ypN2-3 could obviously benefit from PMRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy has been reported to be an adapt function of plant cells under various stresses. In this report, autophagy-related gene expressions and carbohydrate concentrations in Caragana korshinskii leaf cells under drought stress were investigated. Leaf samples of C. korshinskii plants of an estimated 15-year-old were collected from three sites with different drought stress (annual precipitation range, 325.8 to 440.8 mm) at the Loess Plateau in northwestern China. Autophagy was observed in C. korshinskii samples from all three sites and was revealed by autophagosomes in the cytoplasm of mesophyll cells and increased chloroplasts degradation observed by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, with the drought stress increase, autophagy-related gene expressions were upregulated and leaf concentration of sucrose was increased, while concentrations of monosaccharide sugars such as glucose, fructose and galactose were decreased. The results suggested that drought stress induced autophagy gene expression, which may serve as a survival mechanism for nutrient remobilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many blood donation services around the globe maintain large archives of serum and/or plasma specimens of blood donations which could potentially be used for serologic surveillance and risk assessment of influenza. Harnessing this potential requires robust evidence that the outcomes of influenza serology in plasma, which is rarely used, is consistent with that in serum, which is the conventional choice of specimens for influenza serology. We harvested EDTA-plasma specimens from the blood donation archives of Hong Kong Red Cross Transfusion Services, where EDTA is the type of anticoagulant used for plasma collection, compared their antibody titers and responses to that in serum. Influenza A/H1N1/California/7/2009 and A/H3N2/Victoria/208/2009 were the test strains. Our results showed that antibody titers in 609 matched serum/EDTA-plasma specimens (i.e. obtained from the same donor at the same time) had good agreement inferred by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient, the value of which was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77–0.86) for hemagglutination inhibition assay and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93–0.96) for microneutralization assay; seroconversion rates (based on hemagglutination inhibition titers) during the 2010 and 2011 influenza seasons in Hong Kong inferred from paired EDTA-plasma were similar to that inferred from paired sera. Our study provided the proof-of-concept that blood donation archives could be leveraged as a valuable source of longitudinal blood specimens for the surveillance, control and risk assessment of both pandemic and seasonal influenza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable aqueous batteries are promising energy storage devices because of their high safety and low cost. However, their energy densities are generally unsatisfactory due to the limited capacities of ion‐inserted electrode materials, prohibiting their widespread applications. Herein, a high‐energy aqueous all‐sulfur battery was constructed via matching S/Cu2S and S/CaSx redox couples. In such batteries, both cathodes and anodes undergo the conversion reaction between sulfur/metal sulfides redox couples, which display high specific capacities and rational electrode potential difference. Furthermore, during the charge/discharge process, the simultaneous redox of Cu2+ ion charge‐carriers also takes place and contributes to a more two‐electron transfer, which doubles the capacity of cathodes. As a result, the assembled aqueous all‐sulfur batteries deliver a high discharge capacity of 447 mAh g−1 based on total mass of sulfur in cathode and anode at 0.1 A g−1, contributing to an enhanced energy density of 393 Wh kg−1. This work will widen the scope for the design of high‐energy aqueous batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable aqueous batteries are promising energy storage devices because of their high safety and low cost. However, their energy densities are generally unsatisfactory due to the limited capacities of ion‐inserted electrode materials, prohibiting their widespread applications. Herein, a high‐energy aqueous all‐sulfur battery was constructed via matching S/Cu2S and S/CaSx redox couples. In such batteries, both cathodes and anodes undergo the conversion reaction between sulfur/metal sulfides redox couples, which display high specific capacities and rational electrode potential difference. Furthermore, during the charge/discharge process, the simultaneous redox of Cu2+ ion charge‐carriers also takes place and contributes to a more two‐electron transfer, which doubles the capacity of cathodes. As a result, the assembled aqueous all‐sulfur batteries deliver a high discharge capacity of 447 mAh g−1 based on total mass of sulfur in cathode and anode at 0.1 A g−1, contributing to an enhanced energy density of 393 Wh kg−1. This work will widen the scope for the design of high‐energy aqueous batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Solutions of 200 mg L−1 cefalexin (CLX), an antibiotic with high usage frequency and biodegradation resistance, have been comparatively degraded by electro-Fenton (EF) and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) processes using two kinds of activated carbon fiber (ACF) cathodes with different physical properties. These two ACFs shared similar pore volumes and pore diameters but varied BET surface areas, which were confirmed to be 0.5210 cm3 g−1, 2.26 nm and 921 m2 g−1 for ACF1, while 0.6508 cm3 g−1, 2.16 nm and 1206 m2 g−1 for ACF2, respectively. Their oxidation abilities were comparatively assessed in terms of degradation kinetics and mineralization rates, which increased in the order: ACF1-EF < ACF2-EF < ACF1-PEF < ACF2-PEF. These results confirmed the superiority of ACF with higher surface area, which was correlated to faster H 2 O 2 and OH accumulation in more reaction sites provided. After 120 min electrolysis, ACF1 exhibited 1510 μM H 2 O 2 and 37 μM OH accumulation, while ACF2 generated 1934 μM H 2 O 2 and 85 μM OH. Moreover, ACF cathode with more developed pore structure also revealed faster formation of degradation by-products like inorganic ions (NH 4 + and NO 3 − ions) and short-chain carboxylic acids (acetic, formic, oxamic and oxalic acids), as well as enhanced removal for partial acids. In order to gain a deeper understanding of degradation mechanisms for ACF2-PEF system, evolutions of six aromatic by-products generated from sulfoxidation, hydroxylation and decarboxylation were confirmed by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS determination. Based on the above identifications of the degradation intermediates, a plausible reaction pathway for CLX removal was proposed. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Cefalexin was degraded by EAOPs with varied surface properties ACF cathodes. • Faster decay and higher mineralization achieved by larger specific area cathode. • ACF with higher specific area could promote H 2 O 2 and OH production. • Quicker by-products formation and elimination attained in more porous ACF cathode. • 6 aromatic products were detected and a plausible reaction pathway was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • The designed setup is a useful tool for observing the oil-gas interfacial behavior. • The gas-oil interface of foamy oil was much more stable than that of nonfoamy oil. • The CO 2 -oil film exhibited the highest gas-oil interfacial stability. • Asphaltene properties had an important influence on foamy oil formation. • The asphaltenes from foamy oil contain a greater number of polar functional groups. Abstract Solution gas drive from some heavy oil reservoirs exhibits foamy oil behavior. However, the characteristics of oil that determine whether foamy oil behavior occurs have not been clarified. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive experimental study of gas-oil interfacial properties to provide more in-depth information about foamy oil formation. A new experimental setup for single film stability was designed to investigate the gas-oil interfacial stability and its influencing factors under reservoir conditions. Then, a series of micromodel experiments was conducted in high-pressure etched glass micromodels with foamy and nonfoamy oils to visually study the oil-gas interfacial stability in porous media. Finally, chemical characterization (acid and base number measurements, elemental analyses, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)) was conducted to reveal the characteristic of foamy oil related to foamy oil formation. The results showed that the gas-oil interfacial stability increased at high oil component concentrations, small interfacial areas, and low temperatures. CO 2 -oil films exhibited higher gas-oil interfacial stability than N 2 and mixed gas (90 mol% CH 4 and 10 mol% CO 2) for both foamy and nonfoamy oils. A pressure at which the interfacial stability was minimized was observed. In addition, the gas-oil interface of foamy oil was much more stable than that of nonfoamy oil because the asphaltenes from foamy oil contain a greater number of polar functional groups (hydroxyl groups, carboxylic groups, amine, and heterocyclic rings), which adsorb at the oil-gas interface and increase stability. Therefore, a high asphaltene concentration with abundant polar functional groups could be the characteristic of oils responsible for foamy oil formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Application of liposomes-based drug delivery in treatment of glioma has been hampered by the poor permeability of blood-brain barrier and the low uptake efficiency by glioma tissues. Moreover, many chemotherapy drugs promote the activation of the NF-κB, which plays a role in the development and progression of cancer and chemoresistance. In this report, CB5005 peptide, designed for its dual function in cell membrane penetration and NF-κB inhibition, was conjugated to PEGylated liposomes loaded with doxorubicin (CB5005-LS/DOX) or a fluorescent dye (CB5005-LS/dye). These CB5005-modified liposomes were utilized for targeting and penetrating glioma. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of CB5005-LS/dye showed that modification by CB5005 significantly increased cellular uptake of the liposomes by glioma cells, and substantially improved permeability of the liposomes into tumor spheroids. Intracellular localization studies demonstrated that CB5005-modified liposomes could not only penetrate into glioma cells but also deliver DOX into the nucleus. Cytotoxicity assay indicated that compared with the unmodified DOX liposomes (LS/DOX), CB5005-LS/DOX increased the efficiency of killing glioma cells by more than fivefold. In vivo imaging illustrated that CB5005-modified liposomes, via intravenous injection, distributed fluorescence into the brain and accumulated at tumor xenograft and intracranial glioblastoma in different animal models. More importantly, CB5005-LS/DOX treatment significantly prolonged the survival time of nude mice bearing intracranial glioblastoma. In summary, CB5005-modified liposomes represent a promising drug delivery system for cancer treatment attributing to its unique ability not only to transfer drugs to the tumor sites but also to function as a synergist for chemotherapy of glioma and other human tumors. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether in physical commerce environment or e-commerce environment, cultivating and maintaining customer loyalty is the key factor for enterprises to make profits. How to systematically construct customer relationship and effectively enhance customer loyalty is an important problem that online stores must face in the e-commerce environment. This paper points out the rational and active features of the online customer loyalty. Based on the above analysis, the index system of influence factors of customer loyalty under e-commerce environment is given, which involves three first-level indicators (index of behaviour, attitude and affection) and twelve second-level indicators (number of repeat purchases, frequency of repeat purchases, number of recommendation to other customers, communication time with the customer service, time conversion cost, economic conversion cost, sensitivity degree to the price, premium ability, privacy protection, business reputation, perceived service quality, perfection degree of credit system). The weight of each index is given according to Entropy Method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine (I2) shows great promising as the active material in aqueous batteries due to its distinctive merits of high abundance in ocean and low cost. However, in conventional aqueous I2‐based batteries, the energy storage mechanism of I−/I2 conversion is only two‐electron redox reaction, limiting their energy density. Herein, six‐electron redox chemistry of I2 electrodes is achieved via the synergistic effect of redox‐ion charge‐carriers and halide ions in electrolytes. The redox‐active Cu2+ ions in electrolytes induce the conversion between Cu2+ ions and I2 to CuI at low potential. Simultaneously, the Cl− ions in electrolytes activate the I2/ICl redox couple at high potential. As a result, in our case, I2‐based battery system with six‐electron redox is developed. Such energy storage mechanism with six‐electron redox leads to high discharge potential and capacity, excellent rate capability, as well as stable cycling behavior of I2 electrodes. Impressively, six‐electron‐redox I2 cathodes can match various aqueous metal (e.g. Zn, Mn and Fe) anodes to construct metal||I2 hybrid batteries. These hybrid batteries not only deliver enhanced capacities, but also exhibit higher operate voltages, which contributes to superior energy densities. Therefore, this work broadens the horizon for the design of high‐energy aqueous I2‐based batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine (I2) shows great promising as the active material in aqueous batteries due to its distinctive merits of high abundance in ocean and low cost. However, in conventional aqueous I2‐based batteries, the energy storage mechanism of I−/I2 conversion is only two‐electron redox reaction, limiting their energy density. Herein, six‐electron redox chemistry of I2 electrodes is achieved via the synergistic effect of redox‐ion charge‐carriers and halide ions in electrolytes. The redox‐active Cu2+ ions in electrolytes induce the conversion between Cu2+ ions and I2 to CuI at low potential. Simultaneously, the Cl− ions in electrolytes activate the I2/ICl redox couple at high potential. As a result, in our case, I2‐based battery system with six‐electron redox is developed. Such energy storage mechanism with six‐electron redox leads to high discharge potential and capacity, excellent rate capability, as well as stable cycling behavior of I2 electrodes. Impressively, six‐electron‐redox I2 cathodes can match various aqueous metal (e.g. Zn, Mn and Fe) anodes to construct metal||I2 hybrid batteries. These hybrid batteries not only deliver enhanced capacities, but also exhibit higher operate voltages, which contributes to superior energy densities. Therefore, this work broadens the horizon for the design of high‐energy aqueous I2‐based batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel methodology was developed based on oil-based foam to systematically investigate foamy oil stability. The first step was to generate an oil-based analogue model that has similar characteristics of foamy oil. Then, the effects of the key factors were investigated with the created oil-based foam by a new experimental procedure. Moreover, a statistical approach was utilized to ensure reliability of the experimental data. Finally, we proposed a new method to describe foamy oil rupture and simulate its defoaming kinetics. The results showed that the oil-based foam can be precursors to studies on actual foamy oil and other petroleum foams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process using microwave discharge electrodeless lamp (MDEL) as a UV irradiation source was developed for the removal of antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) in water. Comparative degradation of 200 mg L −1 CIP was studied by direct MDEL photolysis, anodic oxidation (AO), AO in presence of electrogenerated H 2 O 2 (AO-H 2 O 2 ), AO-H 2 O 2 under MDEL irradiation (MDEL-AO-H 2 O 2 ), electro-Fenton (EF) and MDEL-PEF processes. Higher oxidation power was found in the sequence: MDEL photolysis < AO < AO-H 2 O 2 < MDEL-AO-H 2 O 2 < EF < MDEL-PEF. Effects of current density, pH, initial Fe 2+ concentration and initial CIP concentration on TOC removal in MDEL-PEF process were examined, and the optimal conditions were ascertained. The releases of three inorganic ions (F − , NH 4 + and NO 3 − ) and two carboxylic acids (oxalic and formic acids) were qualified. Seven aromatic intermediates mainly generated from hydroxylation, dealkylation and defluorination of CIP were detected by UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS technology. Therefore, plausible degradation sequences for CIP degradation in MDEL-PEF process including all detected products were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 @C/N is synthesized by using a solid-state assisted solution method, with polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as carbon/nitrogen source. The morphology of SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 and SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 @C/N samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental mappings. According to the results, C/N layer is uniformly coated on the surface of SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 . Subsequently, the two samples are analyzed by using electrochemical measurements such as galvanostatic charge/discharge tests, rate performance, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 @C/N (initial charge capacity of 166.41 mAh g −1 ) shows enhanced electrochemical capability compared with SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 (156.06 mAh g −1 ). After 150 cycles, SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 @C/N can keep a reversible capacity of 156.58 mAh g −1 with only 5.98% capacity loss at 100 mA g −1 . The improvement is due to the increase of electronic conductivity and the decrease in the redox polarization after coating. Moreover, in-situ XRD is also used to investigate the structural stability of SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 @C/N. All the results prove that the C/N coating has a positive effect on the electrochemical performance of SrLi 2 Ti 6 O 14 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of the number of electric vehicles (EVs) has significantly increased the demand for electricity of residents, which may lead to transformer overload of distribution networks if there is no reasonable power consumption planning. In view of the coordinated charging of EVs under the photovoltaic (PV) energy connected to the power grid, a collaborative charging control strategy is proposed based on a double deep q-network with Prioritized experience replay (DDQN-PER). Specifically, Long–Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network is utilized to capture the uncertainties caused by power requirement, PV power, and real-time electricity price. Then, a modified DDQN approach and the corresponding reward function are applied to solve the cooperative charging problem. In addition, the introduction of a PER mechanism based on TD bias sampling in reinforcement learning alleviates the problem of reward sparsity in learning scenarios and improves the training stability and efficiency. The proposed approach can achieve collaborative scheduling of EVs, which helps reduce the charging cost, promote the consumption of PV energy and avoid transformer overload. Simulation case studies based on real data demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can reduce the charging cost by 30% and increase the PV power utilization by 10% compared to the DDQN algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional understanding of PVT behavior of conventional oil is rather different under foamy oil condition. This paper focuses on the PVT tests with Venezuela heavy oil, and development of a new methodology for equilibrium and non-equilibrium PVT properties of foamy oil. Firstly, the study involved PVT tests to reveal the equilibrium and non-equilibrium PVT properties of foamy oil. Then, in order to give the best equilibrium PVT correlations for field applications, some classic equilibrium PVT correlations were tested against the experimental data with strong foamy oil tendencies. Finally, several functional relationships were developed to describe the time effects on non-conventional PVT properties of foamy oil by fitting the experimental results. Then, a set of models for non-equilibrium PVT properties were proposed and validated with experimental data in literature. The results show that, for the measured crude oil, a higher depletion rate leads to a lower pseudo bubble point pressure and higher oil compressibility, indicating a stronger tendency for foamy oil occurrence. The foamy oil exhibits stable solution GOR, high formation volume factor, low oil density and slightly low oil viscosity below bubble point pressure. The selected and developed equilibrium PVT correlations have a wide scope of application and high precision. A comparison of the estimated and experimental PVT data show differences of 6.55% for solution GOR, 9.05% for oil compressibility, 0.84% for oil FVF, 4.5% for oil viscosity and 0.46% for oil density. The proposed non-equilibrium PVT models for the foamy oils provide average error of 7.07% for solution GOR, 16.07% for oil compressibility, 0.73 for oil FVF and 10.68% for oil viscosity and 0.63% for oil density. Application of this developed methodology can avoid the accomplishment of conventional and non-conventional PVT tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cane is commonly prescribed for the elderly to maintain balance and enhance independent mobility. However, improper use of cane can increase the risk of falling. Understanding the characteristics of cane gait is critical for better establishing proper cane usage norms. The paper aimed to investigate effects of cane use on kinematics and kinetics of lower extremities in the elderly and the young to guide the development of adaptive cane gait. Twenty participants (10 elder and 10 young) were recruited and walked at a self-comfortable speed or with a cane in a two-point gait. The spatiotemporal gait parameters, hip/knee/ankle joint angles and ground reaction force (GRF) were statistically analyzed using MANOVAs to assess the effects of age and cane. Using the cane significantly decreased step length, cadence and speed and increased step time in both age groups. Age and cane had significant effects on ankle plantarflexion angle in initial swing phase (APA-ISw). In cane gait, the peaks of vertical GRF(V-GRF) and anterior-posterior GRF (AP-GRF) in bilateral lower extremities significantly decreased, and the troughs of right V-GRF significantly increased for both groups. These results suggest that using a cane does interfere with the natural gait of the user and insufficient ankle plantarflexion in initial swing phase (ISw) and reduced AP-GRF may be two key risk factors contributing to cane gait instability. Therefore, the users should consider actively increasing ankle plantarflexion in ISw to avoid deteriorating gait performance due to over-reliance on the cane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel self-sustainable solar assisted photoelectro-Fenton (SPEF) system driven by a solar photovoltaic cell was developed for the efficient mineralization of antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP) in water. A comparative degradation of 200 mg L −1 TMP by RuO 2 /Ti anodic oxidation (AO), anodic oxidation with H 2 O 2 electrogeneration (AO-H 2 O 2 ), electro-Fenton (EF) and SPEF was investigated. SPEF was proved to exhibit the highest oxidation power, i.e., more than 80% TOC was removed after 360 min SPEF treatment of 200 mg L −1 of TMP under optimal conditions at pH 3.0, 1.0 mM Fe 2+ and 18 mA cm −2 . Influences of current density, pH, initial Fe 2+ and initial TMP concentration on SPEF process were also studied. Ten aromatic intermediates generated from hydroxylation, carbonylation and demethylation reactions were identified using UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS system during the SPEF treatment, together with three carboxylic acids (oxamic, oxalic and formic acids) and two inorganic ions (NH 4 + and NO 3 − ) measured. Therefore, a reasonable pathway of TMP degradation in SPEF process was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study is to improve the numerical evaluation of gas injection enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery by establishing a new mathematical coalbed methane (CBM) simulation model, in which the two-dimensional Peng–Robinson equation of state (2D PR EOS) model and the Maxwell-Stefan bidisperse pore diffusion (MS-BPD) model for multicomponent gas adsorption and diffusion are implemented. First, the extended Langmuir, ideal adsorbed solution and 2D PR-EOS models were investigated and compared with the experimental data of pure and mixed gas for modeling multicomponent gas adsorption behavior. Then, the MS-BPD model was developed based on the 2D PR-EOS model, bidisperse diffusion mechanisms, and Maxwell-Stefan diffusion theory, which provided an improved simulation of multicomponent gas diffusion behavior. On the basis of previous research, we developed a new CBM simulation model to analyze the effects of injection gas composition on the gas injection ECBM recovery process. The results indicate that mixed-gas injections are able to enhance methane recovery. The optimum composition of injected gas is 75% N 2 and 25% CO 2 , which increases methane recovery by 25% over the pressure depletion production process. This CBM simulation model will provide an effective technical approach for research and development of CBM by gas injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PdAu 3:1/C-1 and PdAu 3:1/C-2 nanoparticles were prepared in methylene chloride and water, respectively. The syntheses featured the use of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide as a phase-transfer agent and stabilizer. Electrochemical characterization showed that compared with PdAu 3:1/C-2, PdAu 3:1/C-1 had superior ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) activity in alkaline media. The results of X-ray powder diffraction indicated that PdAu 3:1/C-1 was an alloy, whereas PdAu 3:1/C-2 was a heterogeneous mixture of the two metals. Moreover, transmission electron microscope analyses revealed that the PdAu 3:1/C-1 nanoparticles dispersed homogeneously on the carbon carrier without evident aggregation. Further, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results demonstrated that the hydroxyl content was higher on the surface of PdAu 3:1/C-1 than that of PdAu 3:1/C-2. The increase of adsorptive hydroxyl on the surface of PdAu 3:1/C-1 could facilitate the adsorption and oxidation of CO on the catalyst surface, thus improving EOR activity and catalyst stability. Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the central tasks for the visual system is to integrate visual features into objects, which is referred to as the binding problem. To study the binding mechanisms, it has been suggested to use phenomena of feature misbinding to separate active feature binding from feature co-occurence. Taking advantage of a steady-state misbinding of color and motion, we performed psychophysical and event-related potential (ERP) adaptation experiments to investigate the neural mechanisms of the misbinding (i.e., the active color-motion binding). Human subjects adapted to the misbinding of color and motion, as well as their correct binding that was used for identifying neural processes associated with the co-occurrence of color and motion. We found that adaptation to the misbinding and the correct binding could generate color-contingent motion aftereffects (CCMAEs), but in opposite directions. ERP adaptation effects manifested in the earliest ERP component C1. The C1 latency in the misbinding condition was 11ms longer than that in the correct binding condition. In the correct binding condition, the C1 adaptation effect (i.e., the C1 amplitude reduction after adaptation) took place in the peak phase of the C1. The dipole source of the adaptation effect was located in V1. In the misbinding condition, the C1 adaptation effect occurred in the descending phase of the C1 and its dipole source was in V2. In both conditions, the C1 adaptation effects correlated with the CCMAEs across individual subjects. These findings provide human electrophysiological evidence that active feature binding takes place in early visual cortex, but at later processing stages than feature co-occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of experiments were conducted to test thermal conductivity, heavy oil-water, and heavy oil-steam relative permeabilities used in thermal simulations. The effects on these parameters of temperature, pressure and heavy oil viscosity were also studied. Reservoir simulations were conducted to optimize thermal recovery processes for three heavy oil reservoirs with a range of in situ oil viscosities from 342 to 926 mPa·sec by comparing different operating strategies. The results show that multicomponent thermal fluid flooding achieved better performance for lower viscosity heavy oil. However, steam flooding was found to be more effective for intermediate and higher viscosity heavy oil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Breastfeeding in infancy is associated with a lower risk of mortality among children, but the impact on mortality in middle and late adulthood remains unknown. Objectives: To assess the association between breastfeeding in infancy and mortality in middle and late adulthood. Methods: We included 383,627 participants aged 40–73 from the UK Biobank (2006–2010) and followed up until 2021. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all‐cause and cause‐specific mortality according to breastfeeding in infancy were estimated with Cox proportional hazards regression models. We further did a meta‐analysis, including results from our present study and three other cohort studies (PROSPERO; number CRD42022348925). Results: During a total of 4732,751 person‐years of follow‐up, 25,581 deaths were identified. Breastfeeding in infancy was associated with lower risks of mortality in middle and late adulthood, with adjusted HRs (95% CIs) of 0.95 (0.93–0.98) for all‐cause mortality; 0.91 (0.87–0.96) for cardiovascular mortality and 0.94 (0.874–0.999) for respiratory mortality. Specifically, the association with mortality seemed to attenuate with age – stronger in middle‐aged adults than in older adults. A similar association between breastfeeding in infancy and all‐cause mortality was found in the meta‐analysis. Conclusion: Breastfeeding in infancy is associated with a lower risk of mortality – even decades later – in middle and late adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress is one of the most challenging environmental factors for plants, which have evolved various mechanisms to cope with it. However, the role of lipid remodeling caused by heat stress is not yet fully understood. Here, we integrated UPLC-QTOF/MS-based lipidomic and transcriptomic analyzes to uncover the molecular basis of lipid remodeling under heat stress in castor bean (Ricinus communis), an important non-edible oil crop. We detected 297 lipid compounds in castor bean seedlings, of which 54 displayed altered abundances under heat stress. In particular, polyunsaturated triacylglycerols (TAGs) (e.g., TAG54:6, TAG54:7, TAG54:8, and TAG54:9) and diacylglycerols (DAGs) (DAG36:6) significantly increased, while polyunsaturated monogalactosyldiacylglycerols (MGDGs) (MGDG34:3) markedly decreased. When heat stress was subsequently relieved, these lipid molecules recovered to their normal levels. We found that heat-induced TAGs primarily accumulate in the cytosol. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that polyunsaturated fatty acids (FAs) used for TAGs are not derived from de novo synthesis, but likely from the lipids remodeling via lipase activity, and are subsequently esterified into TAGs via diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT). Our results suggest that TAGs may act as intermediates in lipid turnover and provide one mechanism by which plants respond to heat stress, broadening our understanding of how lipid remodeling functions in plant adaptation to heat stress. • Lipidomics analysis reveals that polyunsaturated triacylglycerols accumulate in castor bean seedlings under heat stress. • Triacylglycerols function as an intermediate in lipid turnover and accumulate predominantly in the cytosol. • Heat induces a decrease in polyunsaturated FAs in the chloroplast lipids MGDG and DGDG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand response (DR) is an effective method to lower peak-to-average ratio of demand, facilitate the integration of renewable resources (e.g., wind and solar) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and strengthen the reliability of power system. In smart grid, implementing DR through home energy management system (HEMS) in residential sector has a great significance. However, an algorithm that only optimally controls parts of HEMS rather than the overall system cannot obtain the best results. In addition, single objective optimization algorithm that minimizes electricity cost cannot quantify user’s comfort level and cannot take a tradeoff between electricity cost and comfort level conveniently. To tackle these problems, this paper proposes a framework of HEMS that consists of grid, load, renewable resource (i.e., solar resource), and battery. In this framework, a user has the ability to sell electricity to utility grid for revenue. Different comfort level indicators are proposed for different home appliances according to their characteristics and user preferences. Based on these comfort level indicators, this paper proposes a multiobjective optimization algorithm for HEMS that minimizes electricity cost and maximizes user’s comfort level simultaneously. Simulation results indicate that the algorithm can reduce user’s electricity cost significantly, ensure user’s comfort level, and take a tradeoff between the cost and comfort level conveniently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the method of contaminated soil remediation technologies at home and abroad, analyzes the soil restoration situation in Inner Mongolia, and puts forward some suggestions on the development direction of soil repair industry for Inner Mongolia. The research methods of this article include literature review, summarization of data, comparison and analysis, and generalization and summarization. The soil restoration has made certain achievements in Inner Mongolia in recent years. But the technical level and policy level are still very imperfect, having not reached the national average. Some recommendations are proposed. The first is to improve soil repair local laws, regulations and technical standards. The second is to increase investment in scientific research in the field of soil restoration, and the introduction of new technology, to encourage independent innovation. The third is tofix soil combined with related industrial projects and avoid redundant construction. The last one is to intensify propaganna to improve public consciousness of the soil pollution prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foamy oil behavior contributes significantly to the anomalously high primary recovery of heavy oils observed in the Orinoco Belt, Venezuela. However, once below the pseudo-bubble pressure, disappearance of this phenomenon results in a rapid increase in the produced GOR and a fast decline in oil production. This paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation, including asphaltene precipitation studies, pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) studies of foamy oil–natural gas mixtures and coreflood tests, for evaluating the feasibility of the natural gas injection process for enhanced heavy oil recovery with foamy oil characteristics. Firstly, asphaltene precipitation tests were carried out to investigate the likelihood of asphaltene deposition problems in MPE3 reservoir during the gas injection process. The natural gas dissolution tests characterized the natural gas diffusion process in the foamy oil, and a new method for determining the natural gas diffusion coefficient in foamy oil was developed on the basis of experimental data. Thereafter, foamy oil swelling tests examined the effects on viscosity reduction and foamy oil swelling of the presence of natural gas. Finally, coreflood tests were carried out to investigate the effects on oil recovery of injection mode and their different process parameters. The results indicate that significant amounts of natural gas could dissolve in the oil, which would cause oil swelling, viscosity reduction and artificial foamy oil formation. Core-flooding tests show that the natural gas huff-n-puff process could increase oil recovery 7.8% compared to the primary pressure depletion process, indicating a greater potential for recovering heavy oil. However, the asphaltene instability could potentially nullify any expected benefits of improved oil recovery with natural gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive cost, unsustainability or complex production of new highly selective electrocatalysts for H 2 O 2 production, especially noble-metal-based ones, is prohibitive in the water treatment sector. To solve this conundrum, biomass-derived carbons with adequate textural properties were synthesized via agarose double-step pyrolysis followed by steam activation. A longer steam treatment enhanced the graphitization and porosity, even surpassing commercial carbon black. Steam treatment for 20 min yielded the greatest surface area (1248 m2 g-1), enhanced the mesopore/micropore volume distribution and increased the activity (E 1/2 = 0.609 V) and yield of H 2 O 2 (40%) as determined by RRDE. The upgraded textural properties had very positive impact on the ability of the corresponding gas-diffusion electrodes (GDEs) to accumulate H 2 O 2 , reaching Faradaic current efficiencies of ~95% at 30 min. Acidic solutions of β-blocker acebutolol were treated by photoelectro-Fenton (PEF) process in synthetic media with and without chloride. In urban wastewater, total drug disappearance was reached at 60 min with almost 50% mineralization after 360 min at only 10 mA cm-2. Up to 14 degradation products were identified in the Cl−-containing medium. [Display omitted] • Gas-diffusion electrodes (GDEs) made from agarose-derived metal-free C electrocatalysts. • Enhanced textural properties upon steam treatment: greater surface area and mesoporosity. • Positive impact of improved textural properties: greater electroactivity and stability of GDEs. • H 2 O 2 electrosynthesis: 60.5% efficiency at 360 min, greater than commercial GDE. • Total degradation of acebutolol by photoelectro-Fenton process, with 14 products identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and lower urinary tract and sexual disorders in clinical settings. We examined whether CSA was associated with two specific aspects of high tone, elevated resting tension pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) in community-dwelling women. Materials and Methods: Data were from 2068 participants (25.5% Black, 9.6% Chinese, 10.8% Japanese, 5.0% Hispanic, and 49.1% Non-Hispanic White) in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multirace/multiethnic longitudinal observational study of women's midlife health. At baseline, enrolled women were 42–52 years old and premenopausal or early perimenopausal. Annual or biennial assessments conducted over 20 years (1996 through 2017) included single-item queries about urgency urinary incontinence and pain with sexual activity used to assess PFD outcomes. The 12th follow-up visit conducted in 2009–2011 assessed the primary exposure, history of CSA, using a single-item response. Multivariate logistic regression models tested study objectives. Results: The prevalence of CSA was 15%, self-reported in 313/2068 women. CSA and PFD, both pain with sexual activity (odds ratio [OR] = 1.56 confidence interval [95% CI = 1.12–2.18]) and urgency urinary incontinence (OR = 1.87 [95% CI = 1.29–2.71]), were significantly associated in unadjusted models. The final adjusted model that included sociodemographic variables and physical and behavioral risk factors was significant for pain with sexual activity (OR = 1.48 [95% CI = 1.08–2.02]), but not for urgency urinary incontinence (OR = 1.38 [95% CI = 0.96–1.98]). Conclusions: In midlife women, pain with sex, but not urgency urinary incontinence, was associated with a history of CSA. A multidisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic approach to PFD is key, inclusive of CSA screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature is one of the most important abiotic factors influencing plant growth and development. Radish is a cool season vegetable crop sensitive to higher temperatures. Heat injuries may affect plant growth, and interfere with formation and thickening of the fleshy taproot. To characterize the heat-stress response in radish, 30-day-old radish seedlings were exposed to a temperature of 40 °C. Leaf samples were then collected from the seedlings at 0 h, 12 h and 24 h after temperature exposure. Proteins extracted from leaves were analyzed with two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), and differentially expressed protein spots were identified by mass spectrometry (MS). In total, 11 differentially expressed proteins were identified successfully by MALDI-TOF MS. Of these, four were heat shock proteins (HSPs), four were related to energy and metabolism, two were related to redox homeostasis, and one was related to signal transduction. These proteins were analyzed further for mRNA levels, corresponding to differential levels of gene expression. The result showed that gene expression profiles at the transcriptional level were not completely consistent with those at translational levels. The differentially expressed heat stress response proteins identified, like small heat shock proteins together with energy and metabolism-related proteins, provide new insights into the molecular basis of plant responses to high temperature stresses in radish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2009 influenza pandemic had a tremendous social and economic impact. To study the genetic diversity and evolution of the 2009 H1N1 virus, a mutation network for the non-structural (NS) gene of the virus was constructed. Strains of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza A virus could be divided into two categories based on the V123I mutation in the NS1 gene: G1 (characterized as 123 Val) and G2 (characterized as 123 Ile). Sequence homology analysis indicated that one type of NS sequence, primarily isolated from Mexico, was likely the original type in this pandemic. The two genotypes of the virus presented distinctive clustering features in their geographic distributions. These results provide additional insight into the genetics and evolution of human pandemic influenza H1N1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]