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Objective To explore the changes in root volume and root resorption in incisor arteries from adult patients with skeletal class Ⅲ malocclusion before and after camouflaged orthodontic treatment and to provide a reference for the clinic. Methods Thirty permanent dentition adult patients with skeletal class Ⅲ malocclusion were included from the Orthodontic Department. CBCT data of each patient at pretreatment and posttreatment were acquired, and 3D digital root models were reconstructed. The whole and segmented root volumes (cervical part, bodily part and apical part) of the right incisors were calculated. Results The root volumes (whole, cervical part, bodily part and apical part) posttreatment were smaller than those pretreatment (P0.05). Mandibular central incisors and lateral incisors showed more root resorption in the apical root than in the cervical root and bodily root (P0.05). The absorption ratio showed a significant difference in the mandibular lateral incisors (P = 0.028). Conclusion After camouflaged orthodontic treatment of adult skeletal class Ⅲ malocclusion, incisor root resorption occurred mainly in the apical part, but the cervical and bodily parts should also be considered. There was a high risk of root resorption in the mandibular incisors.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of different bending angles and traction directions of the traction arm on the stability of the titanium plate for bone-anchored maxillary protraction (BAMP). The titanium plate models with different bending angles of the upper and lower jaws were modelled in three dimensions, where the bending angles were 90°, 120°, 135°, 150°, 180° and recorded as U1-U5 and L1-L5 respectively. Finite element analysis was performed on the titanium plates with different structural parameters to complete the structural design selection study of the titanium plates. The displacement limit was defined and different angular tensile forces were applied to record the equivalent stress and displacement of the titanium plates under each working condition. A total of 120 sets of orthogonal simulation tests were designed, which showed that the stress values at U2, U3 and U4 are smaller at traction angles of 135° (66.152 MPa), 155° (59.015 MPa) and 175° (55.589 MPa) respectively. The displacement is correspondingly smaller at tensile angles of 135° (0.0073 mm), 150° (0.0056 mm) and 160° (0.0058 mm). L2 has the smallest stress value (50.491 MPa) and displacement (0.0062 mm) at a tension angle of 120°. Therefore, it is recommended to design a titanium plate with a mandibular traction arm bending angle of 120° for BAMP, and the traction arm bending angle of the maxillary titanium plate can be flexibly designed according to the clinical traction direction.

The global pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become an urgent public health problem. Spike (S) protein mediates the fusion between the virus and the host cell membranes, consequently emerging as an important target of drug design. The lack of comparisons of in situ full-length S homotrimer structures in different states hinders understanding the structures and revealing the function, thereby limiting the discovery and development of therapeutic agents. Here, the steady-state structures of the in situ full-length S trimer in closed and open states (Sclosed and Sopen) were modeled with the constraints of density maps, associated with the analysis of the dynamic structural differences. Subsequently, we identified various regions with structure and property differences as potential binding pockets for ligands that promote the formation of inactive trimeric protein complexes. By using virtual screening strategy and a newly defined druggable cavity, five ligands were screened with potential bioactivities. Then molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed on apo protein structures and ligand bound complexes to reveal the conformational changes upon ligand binding. Our simulation results revealed that sulforaphane (SFN), which has the best binding affinity, could inhibit the conformational changes of S homotrimer that would occur during the viral membrane fusion. Our results could aid in the understanding of the regulation mechanism of S trimer aggregation and the structure-activity relationship, facilitating the development of potential antiviral agents.

Introduction: Green finance plays a pivotal role in advancing China's ecological civilization construction and achieving sustainable economic and social development. Methods: Using panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2021, this study applies the entropy weighting method and the super-efficiency slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model to assess the levels of green finance and eco-efficiency in each province. Employing spatial statistical methods such as the spatial standard deviation ellipse (SSDE) and the spatial Markov chain, the study reveals the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of green finance and eco-efficiency. Additionally, the spatial Durbin model is used to analyze the direct effects, spatial spillover effects, and spatial heterogeneity features of green finance on regional eco-efficiency. Results: The results show that (1) From 2009 to 2021, green finance and regional eco-efficiency levels exhibited an overall upward trend, though with notable spatiotemporal differences. (2) The direct and spatial spillover effects of green finance on regional eco-efficiency followed a notable inverted U–shaped relationship. However, in most provinces, green finance levels had not yet reached the turning point during the study period, and the impact of green finance on regional eco-efficiency remained largely positive. (3) The effects of green finance on regional eco-efficiency showed considerable structural differences due to regional heterogeneity, with the strongest effects observed in the Eastern regions. Discussion: This study provides policymakers with strategies to enhance regional eco-efficiency through the development of green finance, offering valuable insights for promoting ecological civilization construction and achieving sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the stabilization of quasilinear systems governed by elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs) with variable exponents using the modified Tikhonov approach. Our main focus is to determine the energy decay rate of the solution. The findings have significant potential for practical applications in various fields of science and engineering, where the energy decay rate plays a vital role in system stability and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a severe renal disorder that arises as a complication of diabetes. Liraglutide, an analogue of a glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1) receptor agonist, has been shown to decrease diabetes‐caused renal damage. Nevertheless, the complete understanding of the roles and mechanism remains unclear. In our study, diabetic rat models were created through a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). The level of fasting blood glucose, 24‐h urine protein, serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were assessed. Periodic acid‐Schiff (PAS) staining was applied to examine the pathological changes in renal tissues. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation was measured via dichloro‐dihydro‐fluorescein diacetate (DCFH‐DA) probes. Western blot was conducted to examine the levels of oxidative stress‐related and extracellular matrix (ECM)‐associated proteins. The nuclear translocation of NRF2 was investigated through immunofluorescence and Western blot assays. We demonstrated that liraglutide attenuated DN‐induced oxidative stress and ECM deposition in vitro and in vivo. Liraglutide exerted a reno‐protective effect by promoting nuclear translocation of NRF2 in mesangial cells. ML385, an NRF2 inhibitor, counteracted the beneficial impact of liraglutide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and their derivatives are the most commonly used electron transport materials for quantum dot light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs). However, their ubiquitous issues of severe exciton quenching and poor shelf stability render a limited application in practical use. Herein, the mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)‐capped ZnMgO (MPA‐ZMO) NPs with good optoelectronic properties are proposed to address these problems for efficient and stable QLEDs. The massive oxygen vacancy defects at the ZMO NP surface are effectively passivated by MPA, which inhibits the defect‐associated exciton quenching for bright emission. Besides, an improvement in electron mobility and an upward energy band is also achieved for MPA‐capped ZMO NPs, enabling good carrier injection and transportation. The superior optoelectronic properties contribute great enhancements of the device performances with over 30% increase in external quantum efficiency (EQE) from 16.5 to 21.6% and over 2.5‐fold improvement in a lifetime from 2636.41 to 6601.29 h at 1000 cd m−2, together with the impressive QLED shelf stability of less than 5% variation in device efficiency during 3‐week storage, showing one of the best performances among currently reported ZMO‐based QLEDs. Consequently, this work contributes an effective approach to decorating the inorganic metal oxide NPs for efficient and stable QLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have emerged as an alternative to conventional phosphors for wide color gamut displays. However, the issues of poor stability and low emission efficiency of pure‐red CsPbBrxI3‐x NCs set an obstacle to their practical application. Herein, the synergistic effect of Mn doping and mesoporous SiO2 sealing is reported through in situ formation of Mn‐doped NCs into mesoporous SiO2 nanospheres (MnNCs@SiO2) to structurally and spatially stabilize the perovskite NCs for bright and stable pure‐red emitter. The large bonding energy of Mn‐halogen effectively suppresses the halide vacancy defects, prompting the highest photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) up to 84% (634 nm) among the pure‐red composite analogs. More importantly, the nanocrystal structure stability is fundamentally improved by the enhanced formation energy with Mn doping, together with the spatial isolation by SiO2 nanospheres. The MnNCs@SiO2 films exhibit impressive stabilities against high‐temperature heating, thermal cycle test, UV irradiation, water, and acid/alkali erosion, representing one of the most stable pure‐red perovskite emitters. By integrating fabricated all‐perovskite CsPbX3 single color conversion film into the liquid crystal display (LCD) modules, a wide color gamut of 128% of NTSC is achieved, enabling an excellent color rendition for high‐saturation object colors toward practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and edge nodes, edge computing has taken on much of the real-time data processing and low-latency response tasks which were previously managed by cloud computing. However, edge computing often encounters challenges such as network instability and dynamic resource variations, which can lead to task interruptions or failures. To address these issues, developing a fault-tolerant scheduling mechanism is crucial to ensure that a system continues to operate efficiently even when some nodes experience failures. In this paper, we propose an innovative fault-tolerant scheduling model based on asynchronous graph reinforcement learning. This model incorporates a deep reinforcement learning framework built upon a graph neural network, allowing it to accurately capture the complex communication relationships between computing nodes. The model generates fault-tolerant scheduling actions as output, ensuring robust performance in dynamic environments. Additionally, we introduce an asynchronous model update strategy, which enhances the model's capability of real-time dynamic scheduling through multi-threaded parallel interactions with the environment and frequent model updates via running threads. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperformed the baseline algorithms in terms of quality of service (QoS) assurance and fault-tolerant scheduling capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with the tenets of displacement deviation theory, the distribution of accelerating positions was the main reason for the uneven output sliver. To elucidate this phenomenon, a dynamic drafting model with controllable fiber proportion was developed in this paper to simulate the accelerating process of the floating fiber. The model was employed to investigate the impact of the friction field on the distribution of accelerating positions, achieved through the manipulation of friction field distribution and fiber proportion in the drafting zone. The simulation results indicated that, with various drafting conditions, the friction field at the position with a higher slow fiber proportion always made the accelerating position distribution closer to the front roller. In addition, the duration of the friction field influence on the fiber floating process was found to be directly proportional to its effect on the accelerating position distribution. Furthermore, there was a critical slow fiber proportion, which increased in tandem with the augmentation of slow fiber proportions in the drafting zone. The friction field at the position where the proportion of slow fibers was higher than the critical slow fiber proportion made the accelerating position distribution closer to the front roller; otherwise, the friction field made the accelerating position distribution closer to the back roller. This study can offer a valuable reference for designing more effective friction field distribution to improve the output sliver quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]