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Background: The plant-specific YABBY transcription factor family plays important roles in plant growth and development, particularly leaf growth, floral organ formation, and secondary metabolite synthesis. Results: Here, we identified a total of 13 OfYABBY genes from the Osmanthus fragrans genome. These 13 OfYABBY genes were divided into five subfamilies through phylogenetic analysis, and genes in the same subfamily showed similar gene structures and conserved protein motifs. Gene duplication promoted the expansion of the OfYABBY family in O. fragrans. Tissue-specific expression analysis showed that the OfYABBY family was mainly expressed in O. fragrans leaves and floral organs. To better understand the role of OfYABBY genes in plant growth and development, OfYABBY12 was selected for heterologous stable overexpression in tobacco, and OfYABBY12-overexpressing tobacco leaves released significantly fewer volatile organic compounds than wild-type tobacco leaves. Overexpression of OfYABBY12 led to the downregulation of NtCCD1/4 and decreased β-ionone biosynthesis. Correspondingly, a dual-luciferase assay showed that OfYABBY12 negatively regulated the expression of OfCCD4, which promotes β-ionone synthesis. Furthermore, tobacco leaves overexpressing OfYABBY12 were curled and wrinkled and had significantly reduced leaf thickness and leaf inclusions and significantly extended flower pistils (styles). Conclusion: Overall, the results suggest that the OfYABBY gene family may influence the biosynthesis of the floral scent (especially β-ionone) in O. fragrans and may regulate leaf morphogenesis and lateral organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Previous studies have partly discussed the roles of inflammatory cytokines in obesity and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but the causal relationship among inflammatory cytokines, obesity, and SLE is unclear. It is challenging to comprehensively evaluate the causal relationship between these variables. This study aimed to investigate the role of cytokines as intermediates between obesity and SLE. Methods: The inverse‐variance weighted method (IVW) of mendelian randomization (MR) is mainly used to explore the causal relationship between exposure and outcome by using the genetic variation of the open large genome‐wide association studies (GWAS), namely single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to obesity (more than 600 000 participants), inflammatory cytokines (8293 healthy participants) and SLE (7219 cases). Methods such as weighted median, MR‐Egger are used to evaluate the reliability of causality. Reverse analysis is performed for each MR analysis to avoid reverse causality. Cochran's Q statistic and funnel chart are used to detect heterogeneity, MR‐Egger intercept test and leave‐one‐out sensitivity analyses evaluated pleiotropy. Results: Obesity was associated with 25 cytokines, and 3 cytokines were associated with SLE, including CTACK (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.33, p =.002), IL‐18 (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.26, p =.027), SCGFb (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.79, 0.99, p =.044). In the opposite direction, SLE was associated with 18 cytokines, and 2 cytokines were associated with obesity, including IP‐10 (βIVW = −.03, 95% CI: −0.05, −0.01, p =.002), MIP‐1B (βIVW = −.03, 95% CI: −0.05, −0.01, p =.004). Conclusion: Our MR study suggested that CTACK, IL‐18 and SCGFb may play an intermediary role in obesity to SLE, while IP‐10 and MIP‐1B may play an intermediary role in SLE to obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monotonic tensile behavior of plain-woven SiC f /SiC ceramic matrix composites is investigated at 1200 °C and 1350 °C in water–oxygen environments. In addition, tensile–tensile fatigue behavior at 1200 °C in water–oxygen environments is discussed. Specimens are prepared using chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process. To enhance their resistance to oxidation in high-temperature water–oxygen environments, environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) are deposited on their surface. Two rows of film cooling holes (FCHs) with 0.5 mm diameter, each row consisting of five FCHs, are designed to compare the effects of two different hole spacings on specimen fatigue and tensile performance. The evolution of strain and normalized modulus during fatigue cycling is investigated in detail. Microstructures of specimens that failed under tensile and fatigue conditions are observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and elemental analyses of specimens after fatigue test failure are performed using energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results reveal that tensile strength of specimens with large FCH spacing is greater than that of specimens with small FCH spacing. However, fatigue performance of specimens with small FCH spacing was better than that of specimens with large FCH spacing. This phenomenon is caused by a reduction in strength due to stress concentration effect near holes with small FCH spacing. Holes with large FCH spacing are closer to the specimen edge during fatigue test, leading to high failure rate. The oxidation and embrittlement that surround holes caused by FCHs compromised structural integrity of the specimen and allowed water–oxygen environment to penetrate the specimen interior. This has significant impact on mechanical performance of the material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the seroprevalence of anti-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) autoantibodies in non-HIV cryptococcal meningitis (CM) and assess its predictive value for survival. This is a retrospective study of 12 years of non-HIV CM. We detected serum anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, and evaluated the clinical features and outcomes, together with the exploration of prognostic factors for 2-week and 1-year survival. A total of 584 non-HIV CM cases were included. 301 of 584 patients (51.5%) were phenotypically healthy. 264 Cryptococcus isolates were obtained from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture, of which 251 were identified as C. neoformans species complex and 13 as C. gattii species complex. Thirty-seven of 455 patients (8.1%) tested positive for serum anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies. Patients with anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies were more susceptible to C. gattii species complex infection (66.7% vs. 6.3%; p < 0.001) and more likely to develop pulmonary mass lesions with a diameter >3 centimetres (42.9% vs. 6.5%; p 0.001). Of 584 patients 16 (2.7%) died within 2 weeks, 77 of 563 patients (13.7%) died at 1 year, and 93 of 486 patients (19.1%) lived with disabilities at 1 year. Univariant Cox regression analysis found that anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies were associated with lower 1-year survival (HR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.34–5.27; p 0.005). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modelling revealed that CSF cryptococcal antigen titres ≥1:1280 were associated with both, reduced 2-week and 1-year survival rates (HR, 5.44; 95% CI, 1.23–24.10; p 0.026 and HR, 5.09; 95% CI, 1.95–13.26; p 0.001). Presence of serum anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies is predictive of poor outcomes, regardless of host immune status and the causative Cryptococcus species complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spherocylindrical particles encompass elongated spherical particles, such as biomass particles utilized in thermal reactions and capsule pills in the pharmaceutical industry, along with various other particles found in industrial production processes. Understanding the flow behavior of spherocylindrical particles within a spouted bed holds significant practical importance. This study delves into investigating the fluidization characteristics of spherocylindrical particles with varying aspect ratios within a spouted bed. Key parameters studied include particle void fraction, velocity, orientation, and mixing. These were analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics–discrete element method, and the simulation model's accuracy was verified through high-speed photography experiments. The findings revealed distinct void fraction distributions at different locations within the bed. Particles in the higher-bed region exhibited larger void fractions with flatter peaks compared to those in the lower-bed region. Moreover, the correlation between particle aspect ratio and void fraction varied at different heights within the bed. Notably, there was no significant correlation observed between particle aspect ratio and particle velocity. However, the larger the particle aspect ratio/gas velocity, the better the particle mixing quality. Additionally, gas velocity and particle aspect ratio had little effect on particle orientation, but there was a tendency for particle orientation angles to hover around 45°–60° near the wall region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To deepen the understanding of flow mechanisms related to corner separation and associated control techniques, a passive control scheme based on a vortex generator (VG) installed on the end wall of the cascade passage was adopted. Detailed particle image velocimetry investigations were performed at different attack angles and flow velocities in a low-speed wind tunnel. At a 5° attack angle, the VG control cascade can effectively suppress the corner separation for chord Reynolds numbers (Rec) of 2.1 × 104 and 3.1 × 104. As Rec increases to 3.8 × 104 and 4.8 × 104, the original separation zone is relatively small, and the strong trailing vortex generated by the VG fails to intersect it, instead producing excessive interference to the main flow, resulting in additional flow loss. The separation zone is generally small at a 0° attack angle, and the VG control cascade performs similarly to that at the 5° attack angle. Through analysis of the instantaneous velocity and vorticity, it is discovered that the primary mechanism by which the VG suppresses corner separation is the unsteady disturbance of the trailing vortex to the separation, which increases the kinetic energy in the separation zone, lowers the accumulation of low-energy fluid, thereby suppressing the corner separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate a parabolic–elliptic Keller–Segel system with a logistic term on ℝN$$ {\mathrm{\mathbb{R}}}&#x0005E;N $$, involving mixed local and nonlocal operators −Δ+(−Δ)s$$ -\Delta &#x0002B;{\left(-\Delta \right)}&#x0005E;s $$ with s∈(0,1)$$ s\in \left(0,1\right) $$. At first, we prove that the semigroup {T(x)}t>0$$ {\left\{T(x)\right\}}_{t>0} $$ generated by Δ−(−Δ)s−I$$ \Delta -{\left(-\Delta \right)}&#x0005E;s-I $$ is an analytical semigroup and uses blow‐up arguments in combination with the classical Liouville‐type theorem to demonstrate the regularity of weak solutions of the parabolic equation with the mixed operators. Next, the local existence and uniqueness of classical solutions are established by applying the semigroup theory and regularity results in case of s∈N2N+4,1$$ \mathbf{s}\in \left(\frac{N}{2N&#x0002B;4},1\right) $$. Moreover, we obtain the global existence and boundedness of classical solutions under some conditions on given initial values and the asymptotic behavior of the global solutions with strictly positive initial conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study an initial-boundary value problem of two-dimensional nonhomogeneous asymmetric fluids with magnetic field and density-dependent viscosity μ (ρ) . Applying Desjardins' interpolation inequality and delicate energy estimates, we show the global-in-time existence of a unique strong solution when ‖ ∇ μ (ρ 0) ‖ L q is properly small. Moreover, we prove that the velocity, the micro-rotational velocity, and the magnetic field converge exponentially to zero in H 2 as time goes to infinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) materials for supercapacitor (SC) application are synthesized via a one‐step carbonization and activation method, using a novel composite activating agent with synergistic activation effect from mesophase pitch (MP) as precursor. The prepared mesophase pitch‐based porous carbon (MPPC) exhibits an ultra‐high specific surface area (SSA) of 2955.0 m2 g−1, well‐controlled pore size distribution (PSD), and exceptional electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance of MPPC‐4 attains up to 338.1 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and 250.1 F g−1 at 20 A g−1, demonstrating remarkable rate capability. Furthermore, the assembled symmetric SC achieves a high energy density of 29.83 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 999.93 W kg−1 and still maintains 6.56 Wh kg−1 at a high power density of 19.89 kW kg−1. Furthermore, the SC exhibits advantageous cyclic stability, as evidenced by its remarkable capacitance retention rate of 88.55 % even after 5000 cycles. The utilization of this novel composite activating agent in the synthesis of pitch‐derived porous carbon (PC) electrode materials is an exceptionally effective and inventive process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A drug conjugate consists of a cytotoxic drug bound via a linker to a targeted ligand, allowing the targeted delivery of the drug to one or more tumor sites. This approach simultaneously reduces drug toxicity and increases efficacy, with a powerful combination of efficient killing and precise targeting. Antibody‒drug conjugates (ADCs) are the best-known type of drug conjugate, combining the specificity of antibodies with the cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs to reduce adverse reactions by preferentially targeting the payload to the tumor. The structure of ADCs has also provided inspiration for the development of additional drug conjugates. In recent years, drug conjugates such as ADCs, peptide‒drug conjugates (PDCs) and radionuclide drug conjugates (RDCs) have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The scope and application of drug conjugates have been expanding, including combination therapy and precise drug delivery, and a variety of new conjugation technology concepts have emerged. Additionally, new conjugation technology-based drugs have been developed in industry. In addition to chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, drug conjugate therapy has undergone continuous development and made significant progress in treating lung cancer in recent years, offering a promising strategy for the treatment of this disease. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the use of drug conjugates for lung cancer treatment, including structure-based drug design, mechanisms of action, clinical trials, and side effects. Furthermore, challenges, potential approaches and future prospects are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research has highlighted the regulatory role of miR-182-5p in targeting TLR4 during the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis. In a different context, TLR4 has been identified as a crucial factor in the development of lung ischemia-reperfusion injury, where its upregulation is believed to initiate the injury process. Additionally, miR-199a-3p has been shown to possess cardioprotective properties in simulated ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury models. Materials and Methods: HE and TUNEL were performed to evaluate the cardiac injury and cellular apoptosis of I/R mice under distinct conditions. Real-time PCR was used to analyze the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs under differential conditions. Results: Pretreatment by Shexiang Tongxin Dropping (SXTXD) has been shown to significantly augment the therapeutic efficacy of MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-EXOs) in attenuating cardiac injury in I/R mice. MSC-EXOs effectively restored the repressed miR-182/miR-199a-3p expressions and activated TLR4/CD44 expressions in I/R mice, while SXTXD pretreatment remarkably strengthened the efficiency of MSC-EXOs. Moreover, SXTXD pretreatment notably reinforced the capability of MSC-EXOs to maintain cardiac parameters, including iNOS and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Furthermore, the luciferase assay indicated that miR-182-5p and miR-199a-3p effectively suppressed the luciferase activities of TLR4 and CD44, respectively, through binding to the 3´ UTR. The overexpression of miR-182-5p and miR-199a-3p significantly suppressed the expression of TLR4 and CD44 in H2C6 and RAW264.7 cells. Conclusion: In conclusion, our investigation indicates that MSC-derived exosomes, pretreated with SXTXD, hold promise in mitigating cardiac I/R injury by modulating inflammatory responses through the miR-182-5p/TLR4 axis and miR-199a-3p/CD44 axis. These findings suggest potential therapeutic strategies for addressing I/R-related cardiac complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean residue, as a nutritionally rich byproduct, possesses a high feeding value. However, due to limitations in preservation and utilization technologies, soybean residue is prone to issues such as decay, nutrient loss, and low absorption and utilization rates. The use of fermentation technology can reduce the content of anti-nutritional factors in soybean residue, produce antioxidant and antibacterial active substances, improve utilization efficiency, extend storage time, enhance feeding safety, and contribute to the health of livestock and poultry. The article summarizes the nutritional composition, influencing factors, and applications in ruminant animal production of fermented soybean residue, aiming to provide a reference for popularization and utilization of fermented soybean residue in ruminant production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of lipase in synthesis structured lipids (SLs) from natural oils confers additional health properties and effectively enhances their value-added potential. This paper provided a comprehensive review of recent studies on the enzymatic preparation of SLs, summarizing the advancements in structural design and immobilized enzyme engineering technology to improve the efficiency of their synthesis by enzymatic approaches. The sn-1,3 regiospecific lipase enabled the precise synthesis of SLs, while employing stepwise variable temperature reactions, supercritical fluid reactions, vacuum reactions, and ultrasonic-assisted methods could inhibit the acyl migration effects and further enhance product yield. Furthermore, structural design could enhance the catalytic efficiency, stability, and substrate specificity of lipases to elevate the efficiency and yield in enzymatic synthesis of SLs. Immobilized enzyme technology could enhance enzyme reactivity and stability while reducing the costs of enzymatic synthesis of SLs. In the future, the high-performance enzymes should be developed by combining structural modification and novel immobilization technology on the basis of the clearer understanding of their structure-function characteristics. These insights would contribute to innovation and advancement in efficient and precise enzymatic synthesis processes for SLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pickled mustard, the largest cultivated vegetable in China, generates substantial waste annually, leading to significant environmental pollution due to challenges in timely disposal, leading to decomposition and sewage issues. Consequently, the imperative to address this concern centers on the reduction and comprehensive resource utilization of raw mustard waste (RMW). To achieve complete and quantitative resource utilization of RMW, this study employs novel technology integration for optimizing its higher-value applications. Results: Initially, subcritical hydrothermal technology was applied for rapid decomposition, with subsequent ammonia nitrogen removal via zeolite. Thereafter, photosynthetic bacteria, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, were employed to maximize hydrogen and methane gas production using various fermentation enhancement agents. Subsequent solid-liquid separation yielded liquid fertilizer from the fermented liquid and soil amendment from solid fermentation remnants. Results indicate that the highest glucose yield (29.6 ± 0.14) was achieved at 165–173℃, with a total sugar content of 50.2 g/L and 64% glucose proportion. Optimal ammonia nitrogen removal occurred with 8 g/L zeolite and strain stable growth at 32℃, with the highest OD600 reaching 2.7. Several fermentation promoters, including FeSO4, Neutral red, Na2S, flavin mononucleotide, Nickel titanate, Nickel oxide, and Mixture C, were evaluated for hydrogen production. Notably, Mixture C resulted in the maximum hydrogen production (756 mL), a production rate of 14 mL/h, and a 5-day stable hydrogen production period. Composting experiments enhanced humic acid content and organic matter (OM) by 17% and 15%, respectively. Conclusions: This innovative technology not only expedites RMW treatment and hydrogen yield but also substantially enriches soil fertility. Consequently, it offers a novel approach for low-carbon, zero-pollution RMW management. The study's double outcomes extend to large-scale RMW treatment based on the aim of full quantitative resource utilization of RMW. Our method provides a valuable reference for waste management in similar perishable vegetable plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Increased angiogenesis is a pathological feature of psoriasis, but the pathomechanisms of angiogenesis in psoriasis are not clear. Interleukin‐17A (IL‐17A) is the major effect factor in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Our results showed that IL‐17A can promote angiogenesis and cause endothelial cell inflammation. Autophagy plays an important role not only in regulating inflammation, but also in regulating angiogenesis. Whether angiogenesis in psoriasis is related to autophagy remains unclear. In this study, we treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with IL‐17A to simulate increased angiogenesis to study whether increased angiogenesis in psoriasis is related to autophagy. Methods and Results: Our results showed that treatment of HUVECs with IL‐17A significantly increased angiogenesis and expression levels of mRNA for multiple proinflammatory cytokines (CCL20, IL‐8, CCL2, IL‐6, and IL‐1β) and, while decreasing intracellular levels of nitric oxide (NO) and NO synthase (NOS) activity. Moreover, IL‐17A inhibited autophagy as shown that IL‐17A significantly increased expression levels of LC3II and p62 proteins. Induction of autophagy ameliorated IL‐17A‐mediated inflammatory response and inhibited angiogenesis, accompanied by increased p‐AMPKα(Thr172) and p‐ULK1(Ser555) expression, and decreased p‐mTOR(Ser2448) and p‐ULK1(Ser757) expression. Furthermore, inhibition of either AMPK or lysosomal acidification completely overrode autophagy‐induced changes in angiogenesis and NOS activity. Finally, induction of autophagy decreased apoptosis and caspase‐3 activity in IL‐17A‐treated HUVECs. Conclusions: These results showed that IL‐17A is involved in angiogenesis and inflammatory response by inhibiting autophagy through AMPK signaling pathway, suggesting that autophagy may be a new therapeutic target for psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), which plays a pivotal role in initiating translation in eukaryotic organisms, is often hijacked by the viral genome‐linked protein to facilitate the infection of potyviruses. In this study, we found that the naturally occurring amino acid substitution D71G in eIF4E is widely present in potyvirus‐resistant watermelon accessions and disrupts the interaction between watermelon eIF4E and viral genome‐linked protein of papaya ringspot virus‐watermelon strain, zucchini yellow mosaic virus or watermelon mosaic virus. Multiple sequence alignment and protein modelling showed that the amino acid residue D71 located in the cap‐binding pocket of eIF4E is strictly conserved in many plant species. The mutation D71G in watermelon eIF4E conferred resistance against papaya ringspot virus‐watermelon strain and zucchini yellow mosaic virus, and the equivalent mutation D55G in tobacco eIF4E conferred resistance to potato virus Y. Therefore, our finding provides a potential precise target for breeding plants resistant to multiple potyviruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between postoperative feeding intolerance and defecation, with a view to carrying out prognostic assessment and timely intervention for the recovery of postoperative gastrointestinal function. Methods: The 114 neonates with congenital intestinal atresia who underwent primary anastomosis admitted to Shenzhen Children's Hospital from January 2014 to December 2022 were studied, and the patients' basic information, intraoperative conditions, postoperative feeding and defecation, and hospitalization time were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The risk factors for feeding intolerance after primary anastomosis for intestinal atresia are the gestational days, the time of the first postoperative defecations, the number of defecations on the previous day and the average number of defecations before feeding. Conclusion: The incidence of postoperative feeding intolerance is higher in preterm infants, and pediatricians can decide the timing of breastfeeding on the basis of the patients' defecation. The focus on accurate defecation may be more meaningful in determining and predicting postoperative feeding intolerance in the infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of gas−solid fluidized beds with different particle densities using a coupled computational fluid dynamics−discrete element method. The accuracy of the numerical method is experimentally verified, and the characterization parameters of the gas−solid fluidized bed are evaluated, including velocity distribution, bubble equivalent diameter, dead zone angle, particle force, bed pressure, and mixing index. The effects of five particle densities on the gas−solid fluidized bed were analyzed in detail while contact and drag models were fixed. The predicted results show that an increase in particle density will reduce the distribution of translational and rotational velocities, which will have an inhibitory effect on the bubbles in the bed, with a positive correlation with the angle of the dead zone. It is explained that the main forces on particles during fluidization are contact force, drag force, and pressure gradient force, and the normal contact force is two orders of magnitude larger than the drag force and the pressure gradient force. The phenomenon that the normal contact force is much larger than the tangential contact force is explained. The increase in particle density has an increasing effect on the bed pressure, takes more time to reach a good degree of mixing, and reduces the mixing performance. The study of the effect of particle density on gas−solid fluidized beds can provide theoretical guidance for the structural design as well as theoretical development of subsequent fluidized beds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the reliability of statistical inference for streaming longitudinal data. The authors argue that previous research's assumption of no abnormal data cases is unrealistic and propose a simulation experiment to evaluate their proposed method's performance in the presence of data contamination. The results indicate that the method is robust against mild contamination but exhibits biases and discrepancies with high contamination. The authors suggest further investigation into the weighting function used to achieve robustness. They conclude that the method is resilient against mild contamination and has potential for practical applications. The authors also acknowledge their funding support. [Extracted from the article]

BACKGROUND: Lactose maldigestion or intolerance affects a large number of individuals worldwide. If lactose is hydrolyzed by the β‐galactosidase enzyme during the fermentation process, lactose‐intolerant individuals can consume milk products without experiencing diarrhea, flatulence, or other symptoms. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: We isolated and characterized Streptococcus thermophilus, which exhibits high β‐galactosidase activity. This was then used as a starter culture with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus in yogurt to determine the effects of different starter ratios and fermentation temperatures on its organoleptic and physical properties. The β‐galactosidase activity of the isolated strain was 2.60 units mg−1. The optimal temperature was 42 °C for St. thermophilus to acidify yogurt faster than at other temperatures and it was effective in hydrolyzing the lactose in the media and yogurt. The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) population in 37 °C fermented yogurt was higher than in the other samples, but the starters St. thermophilus and Lb. bulgaricus with a ratio of 2:1 used lactose more effectively than other sample ratios. The lactose content decreased significantly at 37 °C, where it was ~50% hydrolyzed. The acceptability of the sensory properties of yogurt was unaffected by relative lower fermentation temperatures (30 and 37 °C), despite using different ratios of St. thermophilus and Lb. bulgaricus as starter cultures. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we aim to study the role of hubs in the network coherence quantified by the Laplacian spectra and choose two families of unicyclic and bicyclic networks with the same network size as our network models. In order to investigate the influence of adding links on the coherence, we construct four types of bicyclic networks with the same average degree. Using the network's regular structures and matrix theories, we obtain analytical solutions of the coherences regarding the degrees of hub nodes. Based on these exact results for the coherence, the network with one hub displays higher coherence compared to the network with two hubs. We then obtain exact relations for the coherences of the bicyclic networks with the same average degree and show that different adding links and hub's positions are responsible for distinct performance of the consensus algorithms. Finally, we show that the coherence and average path length behave in a linear way meaning that smaller average path length results in better coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned with the global well-posedness of strong solutions to the Cauchy problem of nonhomogeneous Navier–Stokes equations with density-dependent viscosity and vacuum in R 3 . With the help of energy method, we prove the global existence and uniqueness of strong solutions provided that the initial mass is properly small. In particular, the initial velocity can be arbitrarily large. This improves He, Li, and Lü's work [Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 239, 1809–1835 (2021)]. Moreover, we also extend the result of Liu [Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. B 26, 1291–1303 (2021)] to the case that large oscillations of the solutions are allowed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child injury is a significant global health issue that contributes to both morbidity and mortality in children. Children with developmental disabilities are at a high risk for injuries due to a combination of environmental barriers and health conditions. However, little research has assessed the prevalence of injuries among this population in China. Using administrative data from a micro insurance programme for children with developmental disabilities (such as autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome) under the age of 19, we estimated the risk of unintentional injuries reported in insurance claims. Between 2017 and 2020, there were 190 insurance claims (0.53%) reporting nonfatal unintentional injuries and six reporting fatal injuries. The cumulative hazard rate of unintentional injuries by the end of 1 year is 1.21% and is negatively associated with children's age. These findings suggest the need for increased safety support for children with developmental disabilities, particularly in early childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neutrophilic airway inflammation is a challenge in asthma management and is associated with poor patient prognosis. Mucin 1 (MUC1), which contains a cytoplasmic tail (MUC1-CT), has been found to mediate glucocorticoid sensitivity in asthma; however, its role in modulating neutrophilic airway inflammation in asthma remains unknown. Methods: Human-induced sputum cells were collected from healthy participants (n = 12), patients with mild-to-moderate asthma (n = 34), and those with severe asthma (n = 18). In vitro human lung bronchial 1 epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) was transfected with small interfering RNA against MUC1 (MUC1-siRNA) and then stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), where some cells were pretreated with a TLR4 inhibitor (TAK-242). In vivo mouse model of asthmatic neutrophil airway inflammation was induced by ovalbumin (OVA)/LPS. Some groups were intraperitoneally injected with MUC1-CT inhibitor (GO-203) and/or TAK-242. Results: The mRNA expression of MUC1 was downregulated in the induced sputum of patients with asthma and correlated with asthmatic neutrophilic airway inflammation. The mRNA expressions of TLR4, MyD88, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, interleukin (IL)-18, and IL-1β in induced sputum cells of patients with asthma were upregulated and related to the mRNA expression of MUC1. LPS activated the TLR4 pathway and NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis in BEAS-2B cells in vitro, which were significantly aggravated after MUC1-siRNA transfection. Furthermore, MUCl-CT interacted with TLR4, and the interaction between TLR4 and MyD88 was significantly increased after MUCl-siRNA transfection. Moreover, TAK-242 ameliorated TLR4/MyD88/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway activation, NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis, and neutrophilic inflammation exacerbated by MUC1 downregulation. GO-203 exacerbated TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway activation in vivo, and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis reduced in a mouse model of asthmatic neutrophil airway inflammation induced by OVA/LPS; these pathological changes were partially alleviated after TAK-242 application. Conclusion: This study revealed that MUC1 downregulation plays an important role in asthmatic neutrophilic airway inflammation. MUC1-CT reduces NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis by inhibiting the activation of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB pathway, thereby attenuating neutrophil airway inflammation in patients with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen nitrates play a significant role in the soil's nutrient cycle, and near-infrared spectroscopy can efficiently and accurately detect the content of nitrate–nitrogen in the soil. Accordingly, it can provide a scientific basis for soil improvement and agricultural productivity by deeply examining the cycle and transformation pattern of nutrients in the soil. To investigate the impact of drying temperature on NIR soil nitrogen detection, soil samples with different N concentrations were dried at temperatures of 50 °C, 65 °C, 80 °C, and 95 °C, respectively. Additionally, soil samples naturally air-dried at room temperature (25 °C) were used as a control group. Different drying times were modified based on the drying temperature to completely eliminate the impact of moisture. Following data collection with an NIR spectrometer, the best preprocessing method was chosen to handle the raw data. Based on the feature bands chosen by the RFFS, CARS, and SPA methods, two linear models, PLSR and SVM, and a nonlinear ANN model were then established for analysis and comparison. It was found that the drying temperature had a great effect on the detection of soil nitrogen by near-infrared spectroscopy. In the meantime, the SPA-ANN model simultaneously yielded the best and most stable accuracy, with R c 2 = 0.998, R p 2 = 0.989, RMSEC = 0.178 g/kg, and RMSEP = 0.257 g/kg. The results showed that NIR spectroscopy had the least effect and the highest accuracy in detecting nitrogen at 80 °C soil drying temperature. This work provides a theoretical foundation for agricultural production in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of using cyclone spiral inlets on the air flow pattern and the bioparticle separation process has been investigated using an integrated approach of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM). The investigation involved designing and testing six distinct cyclone separators with varied inlet dimensions and positions, featuring both single (SI) and double axisymmetric spiral (DI) inlets. A heterogeneous bio-granular flow was employed in experiments and numerical simulations, that consisted of airflow and jojoba seeds along with their leaves. The study's findings emphasised the critical role of inlet type and design in determining cyclone performance, as illustrated by differences in pressure, velocity, and turbulence parameters of the cyclone airflow. Specifically, the airflow behaviour of the double axisymmetric spiral inlets demonstrated enhanced coordination, resulting in a 4%–14% increase in cyclone performance. Single spiral inlets exhibited reasonable separation capabilities, particularly when the inlet height was increased. However, their performance was undermined by the suspension of seeds at the base of the cyclone. Based on the data collected, the study concludes that the double axisymmetric spiral inlet cyclone design is the most optimised design for achieving the highest performance in separating large particles such as jojoba seeds. The methodology determined the air-particle flow pattern analysis at precise operating conditions, concluding that inlet types and dimensions profoundly influence cyclone performance. These findings serve as a crucial step in developing efficient and effective separation systems for industrial and agricultural applications. [Display omitted] • Evaluation of flow and performance of single and double spiral inlet cyclones. • CFD is used to model the gas flow, and DEM to model and track particles. • Increasing inlet height improved the single spiral inlet cyclone's performance. • Cyclone performance varies significantly with inlet structures and dimensions. • Double spiral inlet cyclone exhibited a 14% performance boost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing methods for subgroup analysis can be roughly divided into two categories: finite mixture models (FMM) and regularization methods with an ℓ1‐type penalty. In this paper, by introducing the group centers and ℓ2‐type penalty in the loss function, we propose a novel center‐augmented regularization (CAR) method; this method can be regarded as a unification of the regularization method and FMM and hence exhibits higher efficiency and robustness and simpler computations than the existing methods. In particular, its computational complexity is reduced from the O(n2)$O(n^2)$ of the conventional pairwise‐penalty method to only O(nK)$O(nK)$, where n is the sample size and K is the number of subgroups. The asymptotic normality of CAR is established, and the convergence of the algorithm is proven. CAR is applied to a dataset from a multicenter clinical trial, Buprenorphine in the Treatment of Opiate Dependence; a larger R2 is produced and three additional significant variables are identified compared to those of the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops an incremental learning algorithm based on quadratic inference function (QIF) to analyze streaming datasets with correlated outcomes such as longitudinal data and clustered data. We propose a renewable QIF (RenewQIF) method within a paradigm of renewable estimation and incremental inference, in which parameter estimates are recursively renewed with current data and summary statistics of historical data, but with no use of any historical subject-level raw data. We compare our renewable estimation method with both offline QIF and offline generalized estimating equations (GEE) approach that process the entire cumulative subject-level data all together, and show theoretically and numerically that our renewable procedure enjoys statistical and computational efficiency. We also propose an approach to diagnose the homogeneity assumption of regression coefficients via a sequential goodness-of-fit test as a screening procedure on occurrences of abnormal data batches. We implement the proposed methodology by expanding existing Spark's Lambda architecture for the operation of statistical inference and data quality diagnosis. We illustrate the proposed methodology by extensive simulation studies and an analysis of streaming car crash datasets from the National Automotive Sampling System-Crashworthiness Data System (NASS CDS). for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fix-grid method of characteristic (MOC) has been the main numerical scheme for modeling the transient pipe flows with an entrapped air pocket, where the Courant number Cr usually equals one (i.e., Cr=1) to ensure its accuracy and stability. However, Cr=1 cannot always be guaranteed in each pipe of real pipe systems; thus, the MOC needs to be approximated by interpolation or wavespeed adjustment. This could lead to large accumulated numerical errors and serious shape distortion of simulated pressure curves. To address this problem, an alternative coupled scheme, which combines the second-order Godunov-type scheme (GTS) and the MOC, is developed. Specifically, the conservation equations with unsteady friction of the water column are numerically solved by the GTS, and the moving air-water interface is modeled and captured by the coupled GTS-MOC scheme. The simulated pressure curves by the GTS-MOC scheme are compared with both MOC results and laboratory experiments. The proposed scheme with unsteady friction can better reproduce the experimental pressure oscillations, and is more robust and efficient than the MOC. The MOC scheme with Cr<1 and coarse grids causes more obvious numerical dissipation during an intensive transient induced by relatively high inlet pressure, in which more high-frequency waves occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) decay resultant lifetime performance of ultraviolet C‐band (UVC) light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) is investigated, and an LED lifetime model is deduced assuming that defect generation is the sole cause for IQE decay and the defect generation process is to maximize the entropy of the defects. The proposed model reveals that the lifetime of an LED is proportional to its radiative recombination coefficient and inversely proportional to the product of its initial nonradiative recombination coefficient and defect growth interest rate, thus providing explicit dependence of the lifetime on the LED junction temperature and current density. The model fits excellently well to full sets of lifetime measurement data, which were collected from UVC LEDs stressed at different currents and different ambient temperatures for 2500 up to ≈10 000 h. The sensitivity of the lifetime to the junction temperature and current density is revealed for some UVC LEDs. Using the model, a lifetime of ≈96 000 h is projected to maintain 70% of the initial optical output power for a UVC LED based on a stress test for ≈10 000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disorder. SHP2, a non‐transmembrane member of the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) family, can be involved in multiple signaling pathways in inflammatory response. To date, it remains to be investigated whether polymorphisms in the SHP2 gene are correlated with SLE in the Chinese Han population. Method: A study comprising 320 SLE patients and 400 healthy individuals was performed. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs4767860, rs7132778, rs7953150) of the SHP2 gene were genotyped using the Kompetitive Allele‐Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction method. Results: Genotypes of rs4767860 (AA, AG + AA) and rs7132778 (AA, AC + AA), and alleles of rs4767860 (A) and rs7132778 (A) were associated with SLE risk. Genotype AA of rs7132778 and allele A of rs7132778 and rs7953150 were associated with oral ulcers in SLE patients. Allele C of rs7132778 and genotype AA and allele A of rs7953150 were associated with pyuria. Patients who carried AA genotype and allele A of rs7953150 are more likely to develop hypocomplementemia. AA and AG genotype frequencies are more raised in patients with SLE with alopecia than in those without alopecia. Patients who carried AA and AG genotypes of rs4767860 had elevated C‐reactive protein levels. Conclusion: Gene polymorphisms of SHP2 (rs4767860, rs7132778) are relevant to SLE susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance degradation of reference-frame-independent measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (RFI-MDI-QKD) protocol caused by the finite key size effect impedes its practical implementation. The protocol utilizes the double-scanning method, which makes it possible to precisely estimate both the counts of single-photon pairs and the phase-flip error. This method effectively counteracts the statistical fluctuation brought on by the finite key size effect. Based on this method, we propose a scheme in this work that substitutes heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) for weak coherent sources (WCS), and we compare the performance of the two schemes by calculating the key rate. The RFI-MDI-QKD using HSPS, according to the results of the simulation, has a lower key rate than the RFI-MDI-QKD using WCS, but it also has a longer transmission distance and a more noticeable improvement in transmission distance at larger rotation angles. Thus, we demonstrate that the RFI-MDI-QKD protocol, based on the double-scanning method and using HSPS, has promising future application potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel numerical model for describing highly transient mixed flows is presented based on the Preissmann slot approach. To overcome the spurious oscillation problems caused by this approach, a numerical scheme named "random choice method" (RCM), in which flow variables of the next time level are obtained by picking a local Riemann solution state at random, is applied herein. Three numerical tests are performed to verify the ability of the proposed model in simulating from single flows to mixed flows. The results show that the RCM gives sharper shock resolutions as compared with the Godunov-type scheme, which causes the smearing of discontinuities. The proposed model can eliminate the numerical oscillations under flow conditions of switching from free-surface flow to pressurized flow, because of its unconditional stability. On further analysis of the experimental verifications, a hybrid method is presented to improve the performance of RCM in the smooth (nonuniform) parts of the flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jojoba granular matter has received exceptional attention since it contains a unique waxy oil. The Jojoba plant is a promising crop for arid and marginal areas with probable value in combatting desertification and soil degradation in dry regions. This study was carried out to estimate some selected physical, mechanical, and aerodynamic properties of Jojoba grains and provide some essential parameters for modeling their granular flow through computational methods. The considered properties were geometrical dimensions, unit volume, unit mass, thousand-grain weight, projected and surface areas, sphericity, bulk and true densities, porosity, static and dynamic angles of repose, static coefficient of friction, terminal velocity, and drag coefficient. At a moisture content of 6.5%, the Jojoba grain properties significantly reveal strong correlations to the unit mass and length at p ≤ 0.01 , where simple linear equations were developed. From the linear dimensions, the grain shape is considered oval or elongated, with an estimated sphericity of 70%. The results showed that the physical characteristics, such as bulk and true density, were 688 and 831 kg m−3, and the average values of unit mass and thousand-grain weight were 0.94 g and 1088.9 g, respectively. The aerodynamic properties of the average terminal velocity and drag coefficient were 18.7 ms−1 and 0. 3, respectively. The rubber surface offered the maximum static coefficient, followed by galvanized steel and Plexiglas in descending order. The mean values of the static and dynamic angles of repose were 40 and 24°, respectively. The obtained data could be necessary for different optimal designs, computational modeling, and development of industrial processes, such as separation, handling, storage, squeezing, sorting, cleaning, harvesting, and post-harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a development plan proposed by China that aims to build a new platform for international cooperation and create new drivers of shared development. South Asia is a key area in the Belt and Road Initiative, including eight countries. As the BRI implemented, China's trade with South Asia has been gradually strengthened. This paper explores the influencing factors of China-South Asia trade under the background of the BRI by using Gravity Model of Trade. The results show that economic growth in China and South Asia, increase of savings rate and improvement of industrialization in South Asia has a significant positive effect on China-South Asia trade. While the development gap between China and South Asia has negative effect on China-South Asia trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) aspergillosis is an uncommon but fatal disease, the diagnosis of which is still difficult. Objectives: We aim to explore the diagnositic performance of noncultural methods for CNS aspergillosis. Methods: In this retrospective study, all pathologically confirmed rhinosinusitis patients in whom cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) galactomannan (GM) test and metagenomic next‐generation sequencing (mNGS) had been performed were included. We evaluated the diagnostic performances of CSF GM optical density indexes (ODI) at different cut‐off values and compared performance with mNGS in patients with and without CNS aspergillosis, as well as in patients with different manifestations of CNS aspergillosis. Results: Of the 21 proven and probable cases, one had positive culture result, five had positive mNGS results and 10 had a CSF GM ODI of >0.7. Sample concordance between mNGS and GM test was poor, but best diagnostic performance was achieved by combination of GM test (ODI of >0.7) and mNGS, which generated a sensitivity of 61.9% and specificity of 82.6%. Further investigation of combination diagnostic performances in different kind of CNS aspergillosis was also conducted. Lowest sensitivity (42.9%) was identified in abscess group, while increased sensitivity (60.0%) was achieved in abscess with encephalitis groups. Combination test exhibited the best performance for encephalitis patients who had only CSF abnormalities, in whom the sensitivity and specificity were 77.8% and 82.6%, respectively. Conclusions: In conclusion, combination of these two tests might be useful for diagnosis of CNS aspergillosis associated with fungal rhinosinusitis, especially in encephalitis patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) combined with the discrete element method (DEM) are powerful tools for analyzing dense gas–solid flows. However, the computational cost of CFD–DEM will be unfeasibly great when simulating large-scale engineering applications with billions of particles. Accordingly, the coarse-grained (CG) CFD–DEM method is applied to solve this problem. This investigated method replaces several smaller particles with larger ones called parcels, aiming to reduce the number of particles and fully consider the collision of particles between composition parcels and the collision of particles within composition parcels. First, high-speed photography verifies the numerical simulation's reliability. Then, the CG CFD–DEM was used to analyze the transient spatial distribution, transient average velocity, pressure drop, bed height, and the mixing state of particles in a dense gas–solid fluidized bed. The CG CFD–DEM was also compared with the CFD–DEM results, which showed a good agreement with the calculation results and proved the accuracy and applicability of the method. Finally, the computation time of the CG CFD–DEM was evaluated, showing a significant decrease in computation time with an increasing coarse ratio (k). This investigation can provide theoretical reference for the numerical simulation of the CG CFD–DEM method in dense gas–solid flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to make good use of new network technology and design the classroom teaching of a course needs to be based on the teaching object, teaching content, and the teacher's mastery of the technology and teaching platform. In teaching design, scholars also put forward different teaching links based on their own teaching experience. The cooperative learning links should be designed in college teaching. To build a positive and interdependent organizational structure and an equal and democratic learning atmosphere will help students to stimulate their learning motivation and sense of responsibility. The fuzzy evaluation of the teaching effect of the "micro-ideological and political" model in medical colleges and universities is viewed as the multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issue. In such paper, Taxonomy method is designed for solving the MAGDM under interval-valued neutrosophic sets (IVNSs). First, the score function of IVNSs and Criteria Importance Though Intercrieria Correlation (CRITIC) method is used to derive the attribute weights. Second, then, the interval-valued neutrosophic numbers Taxonomy (IVNN-Taxonomy) method is built to deal with MAGDM problem. Finally, a numerical example for teaching effect evaluation of the "micro-ideological and political" model in medical colleges and universities is given to illustrate the built method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy plays an important role in the infectious processes of diverse pathogens. For instance, cellular autophagy could be harnessed by viruses to facilitate replication. However, it is still uncertain about the interplay of autophagy and swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) in cells. In this study, we reported that SADS-CoV infection could induce a complete autophagy process both in vitro and in vivo, and an inhibition of autophagy significantly decreased SADS-CoV production, thus suggesting that autophagy facilitated the replication of SADS-CoV. We found that ER stress and its downstream IRE1 pathway were indispensable in the processes of SADS-CoV-induced autophagy. We also demonstrated that IRE1-JNK-Beclin 1 signaling pathway, neither PERK-EIF2S1 nor ATF6 pathways, was essential during SADS-CoV-induced autophagy. Importantly, our work provided the first evidence that expression of SADS-CoV PLP2-TM protein induced autophagy through the IRE1-JNK-Beclin 1 signaling pathway. Furthermore, the interaction of viral PLP2-TMF451-L490 domain and substrate-binding domain of GRP78 was identified to activate the IRE1-JNK-Beclin 1 signaling pathway, and thus resulting in autophagy, and in turn, enhancing SADS-CoV replication. Collectively, these results not only showed that autophagy promoted SADS-CoV replication in cultured cells, but also revealed that the molecular mechanism underlying SADS-CoV-induced autophagy in cells. Author summary: SADS-CoV, a novel bat-origin pathogen belonging to the family Alphacoronavirus, was confirmed to be the aetiological agent that caused mass death of piglets in southern China in 2017. Strikingly, since the outbreak of SADS-CoV, multiple studies have highlighted the risk of cross-species transmission due to its broad cell tropism. A better understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms is expected to result in a more specific SADS-CoV prevention and control measures. As yet, the pathogenic mechanisms of SADS-CoV have so far not been characterized well. Here, we found that SADS-CoV infection induced a complete autophagy process in vitro and in vivo to facilitate virus propagation. Furthermore, it's indicated that ER stress and IRE1 pathway played indispensable functions in SADS-CoV-induced autophagy. Notably, we have provided first evidence that SADS-CoV PLP2-TMF451-L490 domain induced autophagy by interacting with substrate-binding domain of GRP78 to activate the IRE1-JNK-Beclin 1 signaling pathway. Overall, our study presented detailed mechanism of SADS-CoV-induced autophagy as well as a contribution for SADS-CoV pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After assigning a thickness d to the carrier recombination region of a light emitting diode (LED), we show that the ABC model involving Shockley–Read–Hall non-radiative, radiative, and Auger recombination coefficients, i.e., A, B, and C, respectively, can bring new insight into the radiative recombination process. In order to fit external quantum efficiency (EQE) data of ultraviolet C-band (UVC) as well as blue LEDs, the ABC model requires the product d · B to be invariant of the injection current. This can be understood that as the thickness of the recombination region increases the radiative recombination coefficient decreases due to reduced electron–hole wavefunction overlaps. For an LED with high internal quantum efficiency (IQE), its quality factor Q (Q = B A C ) usually undergoes a noticeable drop as the injection current increases to pass the current of maximal EQE. This is due to an increase in the thickness of the recombination region and, hence, a reduction in the radiative recombination coefficient as the injected carriers start to drift or diffuse to involve more quantum wells for light emission. Applying this ABC model, we analyze a high-efficiency 268 nm UVC LED, which delivers ∼199 mW optical power under a direct current of 350 mA and obtains a maximal IQE of ∼86.4% and an effective light extraction efficiency of ∼15.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Large tumor suppressor kinase 1 (LATS1), one of the predominant components of the Hippo pathway, has been characterized as a key player controlling the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells, including gastric cancer (GC) cells. However, the mechanism by which the functional stability of LATS1 is modulated has yet to be elucidated. Methods: Online prediction tools, immunohistochemistry and western blotting assays were used to explore the expression of WW domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase 2 (WWP2) in GC cells and tissues. Gain- and loss-of-function assays, as well as rescue experiments were performed to determine the role of the WWP2-LATS1 axis in cell proliferation and invasion. Additionally, the mechanisms involving WWP2 and LATS1 were assessed by coimmunoprecipitation (Co-IP), immunofluorescence, cycloheximide and in vivo ubiquitination assays. Results: Our results demonstrate a specific interaction between LATS1 and WWP2. WWP2 was markedly upregulated and correlated with disease progression and a poor prognosis in GC patients. Moreover, ectopic WWP2 expression facilitated the proliferation, migration and invasion of GC cells. Mechanistically, WWP2 interacts with LATS1, resulting in its ubiquitination and subsequent degradation, leading to increased transcriptional activity of YAP1. Importantly, LATS1 depletion abolished the suppressive effects of WWP2 knockdown on GC cells. Furthermore, WWP2 silencing attenuated tumor growth by regulating the Hippo-YAP1 pathway in vivo. Conclusions: Our results define the WWP2-LATS1 axis as a critical regulatory mechanism of the Hippo-YAP1 pathway that promotes GC development and progression. 4DACTQjHnAfUrjtSe4YKAZ Video Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An energy-dissipation model is developed to simulate rapid filling having an entrapped air pocket within a vertical pipe. Both convective heat transfer and transient wall shear stresses are considered. The resulting predictions are compared both to those obtained via a conventional empirical polytropic model and to experimental data. The comprehensive model accurately reproduces the experimental pressure oscillations. Results reveal that the dynamic behaviour of air pockets in all tested cases approaches a purely adiabatic process over the first two oscillations, but also that the pressure variation then gradually evolves to an isothermal variation. Moreover, the high air temperatures predicted in the numerical simulations account for the observed phenomenon of white mist in the pipe as well as the notably hot pipe wall. Significantly, the conventional empirical polytropic model associated with the adiabatic assumption for the gas phase was sufficient to reproduce the pressures and temperatures during the first two oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy innovation diffusion is an important part of policy process research. Exploring the behavioral mechanism and model of carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion are conducive to a deep understanding of the government' s decision-making process for carbon neutrality policies and provides a micro-foundation and scientific basis for optimizing the paths for carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion. Based on behavioral public administration theory, this study builds a ' structure-psychology-behavior' analysis framework and aggregates 576 texts on carbon neutrality policy to analyze the behavioral mechanisms and modes of carbon neutral policy innovation diffusion. The research finds that the patterns of carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion under various structural and psychological influences are mainly manifested in four types: ' information restraint-prudent absorption,' ' authority control-adherence and compliance,' ' promotional competition-striving for excellence,' and ' normative homogeneity-conformity imitation.' The research results show that it is under social pressure and central policy signals that the transition of carbon neutrality policy occurs from gradual innovation diffusion to rapid innovation diffusion, and that local government' s carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion is primarily motivated by the pursuit of reward/promotion or the avoidance of pressure. However, this also results in a lack of policy convergence and policy reproduction in the process of carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion, which fails to meet the requirements of diversified carbon neutrality implementation methods. Based on this, we find that it is still necessary to strengthen the value construction of carbon neutrality and ecological civilization, strengthen carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion through mentality governance, encourage local governments to experiment with innovative carbon neutrality policies based on local knowledge and to foster the develop -ment of diversified carbon neutrality policies, improve citizen participation in the process of carbon neutrality policy decision making, and improve the optimization of carbon neutrality policy innovation diffusion by enhancing the ongoing public acceptance and social support of carbon neutrality policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates a simple memristor emulator consisting of a diode bridge and a capacitor. It exhibits pinched hysteresis loops, and what is more striking is the higher frequency, as it operates up to greater than 5 MHz. Based on the proposed memristor, a higher-frequency Colpitts circuit was established. According to the mathematical model of the system, the system only possesses one unstable equilibrium point. Period doubling bifurcation, reverse periodic doubling bifurcation, different types of periodic and chaotic orbits, transient chaos, coexisting bifurcations and offset boosting are depicted. More interestingly, it has coexisting multiple attractors with different topologies, such as a chaotic attractor accompanied with periodic orbits, period-1 orbits with bicuspid structure and periodic-2 orbits with tridentate structure. Moreover, a hardware circuit using discrete components was fabricated and experimental measurements were consistent with the MATLAB numerical results, further confirming the real feasibility of the proposed circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The neurotrophic factor Artemin (ARTN) is involved in tumor proliferation and metastasis. Nonetheless, ARTN's significance in cervical cancer (CC) has not been studied. In our study, we propose to investigate the biological function of ARTN in CC as well as its particular regulatory mechanism. Methods. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to examine the degree of ARTN protein expression in CC patient tissue. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were performed to reveal related genes' levels in CC cells. The CCK-8 test, the colony formation assay, the wound-healing assay, and the transwell assay were utilized to determine the proliferation, migration, and invasion capabilities, respectively. To generate lung metastasis models, stable ARTN-expressing SiHa cells were injected into the caudal tail vein of mice. IHC was used to examine the protein levels in CC mice model tissues. Results. ARTN was overexpressed in CC tissues relative to normal cervical tissues and linked positively with lymph node metastases (P = 0.012) and recurrence (P = 0.015) in CC patients. In vitro, ARTN overexpression promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of CC cells. In contrast, the consequences of depleting endogenous ARTN were the opposite. Moreover, overexpression of ARTN increased lung metastasis of CC cells in vivo and shortened the lifespan of mice models. In addition, ARTN overexpression significantly enhanced AKT phosphorylation on Ser473 and mTOR phosphorylation on Ser2448 and promoted the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cascade. In addition, rapamycin, a selective inhibitor of mTORC1, might rescue the EMT phenotype caused by ARTN. Conclusion. Our findings suggested that ARTN may enhance CC metastasis through the AKT/mTORC1 pathway. ARTN is anticipated to be a novel potential therapeutic target for the treatment of CC metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of self-denigration is a typical example of politeness in Chinese culture. Despite the fact that this phenomenon has attracted much attention from scholars in previous studies, the issue of how to clarify self-denigration in relation to sincerity still remains very much an open question. Thus, the current study aims to revisit self-denigration from the perspective of sincerity. Based on data drawn from TV plays and structured interviews, it is found that sincere self-denigration is often perceived as a form of politeness. On the contrary, insincere self-denigration brings about an impolite evaluation. Thus, the study offers a new way of explaining self-denigration in terms of its politeness and communicative effects. • Self-denigration is more complex than be taken as merely expressing politeness in modern Chinese. • Self-denigration is manifested as a continuum of politeness to impoliteness. • Sincerity affects the interpretation of self-denigration and its communicative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corner stall has a significant impact on the performance of compressor cascades, but it is difficult to predict precisely using conventional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes models. In view of this, first, the Spalart–Allmaras (SA) turbulence model modified with helicity is recalibrated to predict corner stall accurately. The internal reasons why the modified SA model does not overestimate the extent and intensity of corner stall as the original SA model is further explored through the analysis of turbulence transport nature. The investigation of corner stall control in a modified National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 65 cascade by the blended blade and end wall (BBEW) technology is then carried out using the recalibrated MSA model. The numerical results indicate that the BBEW technology can eliminate the separation vortex on the end wall and change the flow field from corner stall to corner separation. The best BBEW scheme reduces the total pressure loss coefficient by 14.13%. The BBEW technology can most significantly enhance the aerodynamic performance of the compressor cascade when the maximum BBEW thickness is close to the trailing edge. When the maximum BBEW thickness is in the same position, the control effect rises first and subsequently falls as the maximum BBEW thickness grows. These research results serve as a guide for choosing turbulence models and designing the BBEW schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the global well-posedness of strong solutions to the three-dimensional (3D) nonhomogeneous magnetohydrodynamic equations with density-dependent viscosity and vacuum. Combined energy method with the structure of the system under consideration, we obtain global existence and uniqueness of strong solutions provided that ‖ ρ 0 ‖ L 1 + ‖ b 0 ‖ L 2 is suitably small. In particular, the initial velocity can be arbitrarily large. Moreover, we also derive exponential decay rates of the solution. As a direct application, we show global strong solutions for the 3D nonhomogeneous Navier–Stokes equations with density-dependent viscosity as long as the initial mass is properly small. This work improves Liu’s result (Z Angew Math Phys 70:Paper No. 107, 2019), where the author requires the smallness condition on ‖ ρ 0 ‖ L ∞ + ‖ b 0 ‖ L 3 . Moreover, we also extend the local strong solutions obtained by Song (Z Angew Math Phys 69:Paper No. 23, 2018) to be a global one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are differences between young and older patients diagnosed with acute aortic dissection. We aimed to explore the differences in echocardiographic and computed tomography angiography (CTA) characteristics between the young and the older patients diagnosed with acute aortic dissection. Methods: The data from 1220 patients with aortic dissection were collected. They were divided into the young and the older groups with the age threshold set at 45 years old. The basic information and imaging data were collected and compared between the two groups. Univariate regression was used to find the risk factors for mortality in each group. Results: Echocardiographic results showed the proportion of left ventricular enlargement (young vs older, 39.9% vs 26.9%, p‐value <.001) and left ventricular dysfunction (22.3% vs 14.1%, p‐value ​​smaller than.001) in the young group was significantly higher. Although there is no statistically significant difference in mortality within 60 days after admission (12.0% vs 15.1%, p‐value equals to.164), the involvements of aortic branches were the risk factor for the mortality in the young group. For the older patients, the left ventricular remodeling detected by echocardiography (left atrial enlargement, ascending aortic dilation, aortic regurgitation) and decreased heart function were the risk factors for mortality. Conclusions: The mortality of the young and the older groups with acute aortic dissection are comparable. The involvements of aortic branches were the mortality risk factors in the young patients while the structural and functional change of the left ventricle detected by echocardiography was the mortality risk factor for the older patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]