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As the processing power of mobile terminals increases, wireless network applications such as voice assistants can put more context-sensitive tasks on the mobile terminals, thus reducing the wireless network bandwidth needed and the cost of data storage in the cloud. Co-reference annotation, identifying the same semantics in context, is one of the critical techniques in these tasks. However, there are some problems with the existing co-reference annotation standards. First, the annotation is incomplete. Second, the types of annotated mentions are inconsistent. Third, there are currently no metrics for the above characteristics. Analyzing the above-mentioned issues, this paper proposes a new co-reference annotation standard. The new standard can annotate more semantics and co-reference relations and only adopts two types of mentions for annotation. Meanwhile, this paper presents a performance evaluation corpus and designs three performance metrics for evaluating the new standard according to the completeness of semantic annotation, the completeness of co-reference annotation, and the consistency of mention. The experiment shows that the new standard outperforms all the baseline methods and achieves 0.95 in the completeness of semantic annotation, 0.68 in the completeness of co-reference annotation, and 0.57 in the consistency of types of mentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inorganic solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) play a vital role in high‐energy all‐solid‐state batteries (ASSBs). However, the current method of SSE preparation usually involves high‐energy mechanical ball milling and/or a high‐temperature annealing process, which is not suitable for practical application. Here, a facile strategy is developed to realize the scalable synthesis of cost‐effective aluminum‐based oxyhalide SSEs, which involves a self‐propagating method by the exothermic reaction of the raw materials. This strategy enables the synthesis of various aluminum‐based oxyhalide SSEs with tunable components and high ionic conductivities (over 10−3 S cm−1 at 25 °C) for different cations (Li+, Na+, Ag+). It is elucidated that the amorphous matrix, which mainly consists of various oxidized chloroaluminate species that provide numerous sites for smooth ion migration, is actually the key factor for the achieved high conductivities. Benefit from their easy synthesis, low cost, and low weight, the aluminum‐based oxyhalide SSEs synthesized by our approach could further promote practical application of high‐energy‐density ASSBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of active single-atom catalysts for the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) offers a promising strategy for lowering the cost of green hydrogen. Pt single atoms were in-situ anchored on layered double hydroxide (CoFeLDH) nanosheets using CV scanning electrodeposition with an optimal 40 cycles. The HAADF-STEM analysis confirmed the monoatomic dispersion of Pt in the CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls catalyst, whereas XAFS showed that Pt was coordinated with four oxygens. Density functional theory calculation revealed a drop in the reaction energy barrier of the rate-limiting Volmer step during water splitting over the CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls catalyst from 2.28 to 1.78 eV. Additionally, the free energy for hydrogen desorption decreased from 1.52 to −0.02 eV. The CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls catalyst demonstrated excellent HER kinetics by achieving a −10 mA/cm2 current density at 45 mV overpotential. It also exhibited sustained high activity for around 100 h in stability studies. Synthesis of in-situ anchored Pt single atom catalyst CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls for alkaline HER. [Display omitted] • Pt single atoms were in-situ anchored on CoFeLDH nanosheets through electrodeposition for HER. • The CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls exhibited a low overpotential of 45 mV at 10 mA/cm2. • HAADF-STEM and XAFS confirmed the monoatomic Pt in CoFeLDH-Pt 40cls. • DFT calculations showed that Volmer step decreased from 2.28 eV to 1.78 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Vortex structures and flow scenarios of noncircular vortex rings impinging onto walls were studied by conducting a large eddy simulation. Three orifice aspect ratios, ARs = 3, 5, and 7, and six dimensionless orifice-to-wall distances, in the range H = 0.71–1.90, were considered for elliptic impinging synthetic jets. At H = 0.95–1.19, the results exhibit different flow scenarios from those of circular vortex rings, which directly interact with the wall to produce a secondary vortex ring. New scenarios are attributed to mutual interactions between the primary vortex ring, the arc-shaped vortex, the wall, and the arc-shaped vortex is unique to noncircular vortex rings. These scenarios are further divided into two categories depending on whether the primary vortex ring can merge with the arc-shaped vortex, which is strongly affected by their separation distance and circulation ratio at the onset of vortex–wall interactions. For small separation distance and circulation ratio, the primary vortex ring swallows the arc-shaped vortex, leading to a strong crescent-shaped secondary vortex or a secondary vortex ring at different ARs. However, as the separation distance or circulation ratio increases, the interactions between the primary vortex ring and arc-shaped vortex weaken so that the latter escapes from entrainment by the primary vortex ring, leading to a weak crescent-shaped vortex. Finally, an AR-H map is constructed to illustrate the flow scenarios for all the cases. These findings provide new insights into the intricate dynamics of noncircular ring–wall interactions and may help us understand the heat transfer performance of noncircular impinging synthetic jets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) is a primary contributor to visual impairment and severe vision loss globally, but the prevailing treatments are often unsatisfactory. The development of conventional treatment strategies has largely been based on the understanding that the angiogenic switch of endothelial cells (ECs) is mainly dictated by angiogenic growth factors. Even though treatments targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), like ranibizumab, are widely administered, more than half of patients still exhibit inadequate or null responses, suggesting the involvement of other pathogenic mechanisms. With advances in research in recent years, it has become well recognized that EC metabolic regulation plays an active rather than merely passive responsive role in angiogenesis. Disturbances of these metabolic pathways may lead to excessive neovascularization in angiogenic diseases such as wet AMD, therefore targeted modulation of EC metabolism represents a promising therapeutic strategy for wet AMD. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the potential applications of EC metabolic regulation in wet AMD treatment from multiple perspectives, including the involvement of ECs in wet AMD pathogenesis, the major endothelial metabolic pathways, and novel therapeutic approaches targeting metabolism for wet AMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) and CD8 + T-cells are potential prognostic indicators for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We established a novel scoring system for evaluating the risk for PDAC based on TLS- and CD8 + T-cell-related genes. Methods: We analyzed single-cell sequence data from PDAC patients in the Genome Sequence Archive. Bioinformatics and machine algorithms established and validated a scoring method (T-C score) based on PDAC survival-related genes highly expressed in TLSs and CD8 + T-cells. Patients were stratified into the low- and high-T-C score groups. Differences in survival, pathway enrichment, mutation status, immune cell infiltration, expression of immune checkpoint-associated genes, tumor stemness, and response to antitumor therapy were compared through computer simulation methods. Results: Overall survival differed significantly between the training and validation cohorts’ low- and high-T-C score groups. The low-T-C score group correlated with lower tumor mutation burden and lower levels of tumor stemness compared with the high-T-C score group. Patients with lower T-C scores exhibited advantages in immunotherapeutic responses and might be more sensitive to the chemotherapeutic regimen and multi-kinase inhibitors. Conclusion: The T-C score could serve as an effective model for predicting the survival and therapeutic responses of patients with PDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyroxenites, comprising only approximately 2 %–10 % by volume of the upper mantle, are among the most important lithological heterogeneity in the mantle. The formation of pyroxenite veins within peridotites is often attributed to migrating melts which provides an important mechanism for crust-mantle interaction. The Re–Os isotope system provides valuable insight into crust-mantle interaction, as there is a significant contrast in 187Os/188Os between crustal and mantle rocks. Previous Os isotope studies have shown that the forearc mantle wedge mainly consists of highly heterogeneous ancient peridotites. However, limited Re–Os isotope data of forearc mantle pyroxenites exist. Here, two types of mantle pyroxenites from the New Caledonia forearc ophiolite were selected for a comparative study. Contrasting microtextures and geochemical compositions support that these pyroxenites were formed by different processes. The Massif du Sud pyroxenites, hosted in harzburgites, have a cumulate origin and crystallized from boninitic melts generated by remelting of depleted mantle during subduction initiation, whereas the Tiebaghi pyroxenites within the host lherzolites are the products of melt-peridotite reactions. Both types of pyroxenites display highly fractionated highly siderophile element (HSE) patterns. The Massif du Sud pyroxenites are strongly enriched in palladium group platinum-group elements (PPGE) relative to iridium group platinum-group elements (IPGE) with remarkable positive Pt anomalies, which are similar to those of primitive arc lavas and mantle wedge pyroxenite xenoliths. In contrast, the Tiebaghi pyroxenites have flat IPGE but variable PPGE and Re patterns. Compared to the forearc mantle peridotites, the Tiebaghi pyroxenites have higher Os isotope ratios. Ancient basaltic melt percolation followed by long-term (>1 Ga) radiogenic ingrowth can successfully produce the observed correlations of 187Os/188Os with Os or Al 2 O 3 contents. Besides, the oldest Re-depletion model age (T RD) of ∼1.35 Ga has been obtained for the host lherzolites. Therefore, the Tiebaghi pyroxenites and their host lherzolites probably represent a stranded old mantle relict that has undergone ancient partial melting and melt percolation events. Our study supports the presence of highly radiogenic mantle domains in the forearc and provides significant constraints on the role of ancient basaltic melt percolation for generating mantle heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The etiology of flatfoot and cavus foot is multicausal and controversial. So far, no literature reports the relationship between the sagittal morphology of subtalar joint and the alignment of foot. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the subtalar alignment would influence the configuration of foot. Methods: From January 2017 to January 2020, we included 109 feet in the flatfoot group, 95 feet in the cavus group, and 104 feet in the control group in this retrospective comparative study. The Gissane angle and calcaneal posterior articular surface inclination angle represented the sagittal morphology of the subtalar joint. Meary's angle, calcaneal pitch angle, and talar pitch angle reflected the alignment of foot. They were measured in the weightbearing foot X‐rays. The angles in different groups were compared via Mann–Whitney U test. We calculated the correlation between the sagittal alignment of subtalar joint and the alignment of foot using Spearman's correlation analysis. Interobserver and intraobserver reliability were calculated. Results: The Gissane angle, calcaneal posterior articular surface inclination angle, Meary's angle, talar pitch angle, and calcaneal pitch angle were significantly different in the three groups. The Gissane angle had an excellent correlation with the Meary's angle (r = 0.850, p < 0.0001), and the talar pitch angle (r = −0.825, p < 0.0001), and a good correlation with the calcaneal pitch angle (r = 0.638, p < 0.0001). The calcaneal posterior articular surface inclination angle had an excellent correlation with the Meary's angle (r = −0.902, p < 0.001), and the talar pitch angle (r = 0.887, p < 0.0001), and a good correlation with the calcaneal pitch angle (r = −0.702, p < 0.0001). The interobserver and intraobserver reliability for all radiographic measurements was good to excellent. Conclusion: A subtalar joint with a larger Gissane angle and a more horizontal calcaneal posterior articular surface angle tended to have a higher foot arch and vice versa. The inspiration from this study was that the deformities of flatfoot and cavus foot may relate to the subtalar deformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-vp28 gene cyanobacteria have good efficacy as an oral agent against shrimp white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection in shrimp and have promising applications. However, little research on the environmental safety of transgenic cyanobacteria has been published. Species of Cladocera, an order of aquatic arthropods commonly found in aquatic ecosystems, might be exposed to the VP28 protein released from VP28-transgenic cyanobacteria. In this study we cultured Daphnia magna in M4 medium (M4 medium was supplemented with trans-vp28 gene cyanobacteria named S-vp28 group, trans-empty vector cyanobacteria named S-pRL489 group, wild-type cyanobacteria named S-WT group, and Scenedesmus obliquus named G-group as control, respectively) to evaluate the impact of the cyanobacteria on the growth and development of D. magna. In the 21-day toxicology experiment, the results showed the morphology of D. magna showed no abnormalities. The mean number of eggs and the total number of eggs laid by D. magna were not significantly different in these groups. but the shedding time of D. magna in the cyanobacteria group was faster than that of D. magna in the control group. In the 7-day toxicology experiment, we measured the activities of acetylcholinesterase (AchE), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and gene transcription levels of D. magna. The results showed that there were no significant differences in AchE and CAT activities of D. magna in the three cyanobacteria groups. The GST activity of D. magna in the green algae group was significantly higher than that in the cyanobacteria groups. At the same time, there was no significant difference between the S-pRL489 group and the S-vp28 group. We found no significant correlation between enzyme activity levels and gene transcription levels in each group. This study indicates the Trans-vp28 gene cyanobacteria did not adversely affect this non-target species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than two decades of development, Persson's theory has become one of the dominantly used theoretical tools to analyze the interaction between a nominally flat rough surface and a rigid flat. The original theory (Persson in J. Chem. Phys. 115(8):3840–3861, 2001) tends to overestimate and underestimate the relative contact area and strain energy, respectively, for linear elastic purely normal contact. Several fudge factors, obtained empirically based on numerical solutions, have been used to amend the strain energy associated with each wavenumber, resulting in scale history-dependent formulations for the relative contact area and probability density function (PDF) of contact pressure, which significantly complicate the solution process. We provide a new fudge factor that results in simple formulations of the relative contact area and PDF of contact pressure, which only relies on the present scale. Compared with the relative contact area and PDF of contact pressure solved by Green's Function Molecular Dynamics (GFMD), Persson's theory using the new fudge factor shows similar accuracy to other variants. Among all variants of Persson's theory, the use of the new hybrid formulation of strain energy results in the best agreement with GFMD. Using the new fudge factor, various interfacial properties (e.g., the average interfacial gap) can be derived with a simple form, and solved more quickly, with acceptable accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMost solar panels use composite materials to suit the development objectives of large-scale and lightweight spaceship components, resulting in complex nonlinear dynamic characteristics. When describing the dynamic characteristics of thin shell elements in composite materials, the standard 48-DOF fully parameterized thick plate element based on absolute nodal coordinate formulation cannot accurately account for the coupling between the large range of motion and large deformation of thin shell elements, exposing issues such as shear locking, slow convergence, and low computational efficiency. In this study, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is used to create the 36-DOF reduced-order composite thin shell element. The strain and strain energy of the thin-shell element are calculated using the Green-Lagrange strain tensor, while the bending deformation energy of the thin shell element is calculated using the exact expression of curvature, based on continuum mechanics theory and the constitutive relation of the composite material. The generalized mass matrix and stiffness matrix are developed, and the nonlinear dynamic model of the thin shell element is established using the virtual work principle, with numerical simulation used to validate the dynamic characteristics. The results reveal that the dynamic characteristics of the 36-DOF reduced-order composite thin shell element are consistent with those of the virtual prototype, confirming the validity of the model. The proposed model not only addresses the element locking issue, but it also creates a more realistic dynamic model and increases simulation accuracy. The findings could serve as a theoretical foundation for satellite solar panel on-orbit operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable advances have been made recently in applying reinforcement learning (RL) to packing problems. However, most of these methods lack scalability and cannot be applied in dynamic environments. To address this research gap, we propose a hybrid algorithm called GraphPack to solve the strip packing problem. Two graph neural networks are designed to fully incorporate the problem's structure and enhance generalization performance. SkylineNet encodes the geometry of free space as the context feature, while PackNet, supporting the symmetry of rectangles, chooses the next rectangle to pack from the remaining rectangles at each timestep. We conduct fixed-scale, variable rectangle number and variable strip width experiments to test our method. The experimental results show that our method outperforms classical heuristic methods as well as previous RL methods. Notably, our method exhibits strong generalization ability and produces stable results even when the number of rectangles or strip width differs from that during training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, the COVID‐19 virus has had a significant impact on the physical and mental health of people around the world. Therefore, in order to effectively distinguish COVID‐19 patients, many deep learning efforts have used chest medical images to detect COVID‐19. As with model accuracy, interpretability is also important in the work related to human health. This work introduces an interpretable vision transformer that uses the prototype method for the detection of positive patients with COVID‐19. The model can learn the prototype features of each category based on the structural characteristics of ViT. The predictions of the model are obtained by comparing all the features of the prototype in the designed prototype block. The proposed model was applied to two chest X‐ray datasets and one chest CT dataset, achieving classification performance of 99.3%, 96.8%, and 98.5% respectively. Moreover, the prototype method can significantly improve the interpretability of the model. The decisions of the model can be interpreted based on prototype parts. In the prototype block, the entire inference process of the model can be shown and the predictions of the model can be demonstrated to be meaningful through the visualization of the prototype features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystalline frameworks represent a cutting‐edge frontier in material science, and recently, there has been a surge of interest in energetic crystalline frameworks. However, the well‐established porosity often leads to diminished output energy, necessitating a novel approach for performance enhancement. Thiol‐yne coupling, a versatile metal‐free click reaction, has been underutilized in crystalline frameworks. As a proof of concept, we herein demonstrate the potential of this approach by introducing the energy‐rich, size‐matched, and reductive 1,2‐dicarbadodecaborane‐1‐thiol (CB−SH) into an acetylene‐functionalized framework, Zn(AIm)2, via thiol‐yne click reaction. This innovative decoration strategy resulted in a remarkable 46.6 % increase in energy density, a six‐fold reduction in ignition delay time (4 ms) with red fuming nitric acid as the oxidizer, and impressive enhancement of stability. Density functional theory calculations were employed to elucidate the mechanism by which CB−SH promotes hypergolic ignition. The thiol‐yne click modification strategy presented here permits engineering of crystalline frameworks for the design of advanced energetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystalline frameworks represent a cutting‐edge frontier in material science, and recently, there has been a surge of interest in energetic crystalline frameworks. However, the well‐established porosity often leads to diminished output energy, necessitating a novel approach for performance enhancement. Thiol‐yne coupling, a versatile metal‐free click reaction, has been underutilized in crystalline frameworks. As a proof of concept, we herein demonstrate the potential of this approach by introducing the energy‐rich, size‐matched, and reductive 1,2‐dicarbadodecaborane‐1‐thiol (CB−SH) into an acetylene‐functionalized framework, Zn(AIm)2, via thiol‐yne click reaction. This innovative decoration strategy resulted in a remarkable 46.6 % increase in energy density, a six‐fold reduction in ignition delay time (4 ms) with red fuming nitric acid as the oxidizer, and impressive enhancement of stability. Density functional theory calculations were employed to elucidate the mechanism by which CB−SH promotes hypergolic ignition. The thiol‐yne click modification strategy presented here permits engineering of crystalline frameworks for the design of advanced energetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumour medical image segmentation plays a crucial role in clinical imaging diagnosis. Existing research has achieved good results, enabling the segmentation of three tumour regions in MRI brain tumour images. Existing models have limited focus on the brain tumour areas, and the long‐term dependency of features is weakened as the network depth increases, resulting in blurred edge segmentation of the targets. Additionally, considering the excellent segmentation performance of the Swin Transformer(Swin‐T) network, its network structure and parameters are relatively large. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a brain tumour segmentation framework with deep nuanced reasoning and Swin‐T. It is mainly composed of the backbone hybrid network (BHN) and the deep micro texture extraction module (DMTE). The BHN combines the Swin‐T stage with a new downsampling transition module called dual path feature reasoning (DPFR). The entire network framework is designed to extract global and local features from multi‐modal data, enabling it to capture and analyze deep texture features in multi‐modal images. It provides significant optimization over the Swin‐T network structure. Experimental results on the BraTS dataset demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other state‐of‐the‐art models in terms of segmentation performance. The corresponding source codes are available at https://github.com/CurbUni/Brain‐Tumor‐Segmentation‐Framework‐with‐Deep‐Nuanced‐Reasoning‐and‐Swin‐T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brevibacillus sp. JNUCC 41, characterized as a plant-growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR), actively participates in lipid metabolism and biocontrol based on gene analysis. This study aimed to investigate the crucial secondary metabolites in biological metabolism; fermentation, extraction, and isolation were performed, revealing that methyl indole-3-acetate showed the best hyaluronidase (HAase) inhibitory activity (IC50: 343.9 μM). Molecular docking results further revealed that the compound forms hydrogen bonds with the residues Tyr-75 and Tyr-247 of HAase (binding energy: −6.4 kcal/mol). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrated that the compound predominantly binds to HAase via hydrogen bonding (MM-PBSA binding energy: −24.9 kcal/mol) and exhibits good stability. The residues Tyr-247 and Tyr-202, pivotal for binding in docking, were also confirmed via MD simulations. This study suggests that methyl indole-3-acetate holds potential applications in anti-inflammatory and anti-aging treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the coaction effect of radiative and non-radiative damping on the lifetime of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) mode is a prerequisite for the applications of LSPR. Here, we systematically investigated the coaction effect of radiative and non-radiative damping on the lifetime of the super-radiant and sub-radiant LSPR modes of gold nanorods using time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy (TR-PEEM). The results show that the lifetime of the LSPR mode depends on the length of the gold nanorod, and the different variation behavior of an LSPR mode lifetime exists between the super-radiative mode and the sub-radiative one with the increase of nanorod length (volume). Surprisingly, it is found that the lifetime of the super-radiant LSPR mode can be comparable to or even longer than that of the sub-radiant LSPR mode, instead of the usual claim that a sub-radiant LSPR mode has a longer life than the super-radiant mode. Those TR-PEEM experimental results are supported by finite-difference time-domain simulations and are well explained by the coaction effect with the calculation of the radiative and non-radiative damping rate with the increase of the nanorod volume. We believe that this study is beneficial to build a low-threshold nano-laser and ultrasensitive molecular spectroscopy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitin represents the most abundant source of renewable biomass in marine ecosystems, and its degradation by chitinase holds potential for numerous industrial applications. In this study, a novel hyperthermophilic chitinase, TbChi52, derived from a deep-sea bacterium of the Thermotogae phylum was introduced. TbChi52 exhibits optimal enzymatic activity at 90 ℃ and pH 5.5. Furthermore, it shows exceptional thermal stability characterized by a prolonged thermal denaturation half-life and a significant melting temperature. Functionally, TbChi52 displays dual activities, acting as both an exo-chitinase and a β-N-acetylaminoglucosidase (NAGase). It yields N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc) as the primary product during the hydrolysis of colloidal chitin. Leveraging the robust thermo-stability of TbChi52, a streamlined, one-step purification protocol was developed. A mere 10-minute thermal treatment at 75 ℃ suffices to yield a highly pure TbChi52 preparation with minimal enzyme activity loss in chitin hydrolysis, achieving an 87.4 % hydrolysis rate of colloidal chitin and a 92.7 % purity of GlcNAc. Collectively, the outstanding thermal properties and the simple preparation of TbChi52 highlight its potential for industrial applications. It provides a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to harnessing the world's most abundant marine biomass, along with serving as a potential enzyme-engineered template tailored for specific applications. [Display omitted] • TbChi52 is a hyperthermophilic chitinase with optimal reaction temperature of 90 ℃. • TbChi52 shows robust thermo-stability with a T 1/2 (80 ℃) of 182 min. • TbChi52 displays both exo-chitinase and β-N-acetylaminoglucosidase activities. • A one-step heating strategy was developed for the purification of TbChi52. • TbChi52 achieved 87.4 % hydrolysis of colloidal chitin and 92.7 % purity of GlcNAc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem cell‐derived pancreatic progenitors (SC‐PPs), as an unlimited source of SC‐derived β (SC‐β) cells, offers a robust tool for diabetes treatment in stem cell‐based transplantation, disease modeling, and drug screening. Whereas, PDX1+/NKX6.1+ PPs enhances the subsequent endocrine lineage specification and gives rise to glucose‐responsive SC‐β cells in vivo and in vitro. To identify the regulators that promote induction efficiency and cellular function maturation, single‐cell RNA‐sequencing is performed to decipher the transcriptional landscape during PPs differentiation. The comprehensive evaluation of functionality demonstrated that manipulating LINC MIR503HG using CRISPR in PP cell fate decision can improve insulin synthesis and secretion in mature SC‐β cells, without effects on liver lineage specification. Importantly, transplantation of MIR503HG−/− SC‐β cells in recipients significantly restored blood glucose homeostasis, accompanied by serum C‐peptide release and an increase in body weight. Mechanistically, by releasing CtBP1 occupying the CDH1 and HES1 promoters, the decrease in MIR503HG expression levels provided an excellent extracellular niche and appropriate Notch signaling activation for PPs following differentiation. Furthermore, this exhibited higher crucial transcription factors and mature epithelial markers in CDH1High expressed clusters. Altogether, these findings highlighted MIR503HG as an essential and exclusive PP cell fate specification regulator with promising therapeutic potential for patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a quantitative trade model, this paper evaluates the trade and welfare effects of deep trade agreements in an application to China joining the RCEP and CPTPP. By feeding trade cost shocks from the changes in RTA deepness into the model, we find substantial gains from incorporating legal enforceability and dispute settlement provisions in both agreements. With the CPTPP being deeper than the RCEP, our counterfactual exercise of China joining the CPTPP shows that 69% of its welfare gains come from deepening RCEP provisions to the CPTPP level. For the RCEP members, the gains from deepening non-tariff-related core provisions are quantitatively important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Test anxiety is a prevalent issue that many individuals struggle with. Previous research has indicated that individuals with higher levels of neuroticism are more prone to experiencing test anxiety. However, there is some indirect evidence suggesting that cognitive reappraisal may play a role in moderating this relationship. Thus, the present work aimed to examine the role of cognitive reappraisal in the effect of neuroticism on test anxiety through two studies. Methods: Study 1 used a questionnaire approach, utilizing the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI), the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) with a sample of 596 participants. Study 2 conducted a test-related emotional picture rating task to better measure emotional responses. A total of 180 participants took part in Study 2. Results: Study 1 and Study 2 have converged results: (1) neuroticism positively predicted individuals' test anxiety; (2) the predictive effect of neuroticism on test anxiety was moderated by cognitive reappraisal—the higher cognitive reappraisal ability, the lower the predictive effect of neuroticism on test anxiety. Conclusions: These results indicate that individuals with higher levels of neuroticism may experience stronger test anxiety, while cognitive reappraisal can mitigate test anxiety in neurotic individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of different concentrations of lanthanum chloride on the grain refinement of cobalt deposition layers during the electrochemical deposition process in industrial electrolytes. The impact of different lanthanum chloride concentrations on cobalt electrodeposition behavior was analyzed using the Liner sweep voltammetry curve, cyclic voltammetry curve, and chronoamperometry curve. The microstructure morphology and grain size of the deposition layers were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy and the preferred orientation and crystal structure were analyzed using X-ray diffraction. The results show that the addition of different concentrations of lanthanum chloride to the industrial electrolyte leads to a negative shift in the starting deposition potential of cobalt, an increase in cathode polarization degree, an increase in overpotential, a shortened nucleation relaxation time, and an accelerated nucleation rate during cobalt electrodeposition, resulting in grain refinement of the deposition layers. However, the addition of lanthanum chloride does not change the cobalt electrocrystallization mechanism, nor does it alter the crystal structure of the cobalt deposition layers, which remain in a close-packed hexagonal structure. When 0.2-g L−1 lanthanum chloride is added, the grain growth orientation changes from the (11 2 ¯ 0) plane to the (11 2 ¯ 0) and (10 1 ¯ 0) planes, resulting in a uniform distribution of grain size and obvious grain refinement of the deposition layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercropping soybean in tea plantations is a sustainable cultivation system that can improve the growing environment of tea plants compared to monoculture tea. However, the effects of this system on the photosynthesis activity of tea seedlings have yet to be reported. Therefore, we used tea cultivar 'Zhongcha108' as experimental materials to investigate the effects of intercropping soybean on the canopy spectral parameters and photosynthesis activity of tea seedlings. Canopy spectral reflectance data showed that soybean–tea intercropping (STS) improved the reflectance of 720, 750 and 840 nm bands in tea seedlings' canopy. The vegetation indexes (VIs) value related to photosynthetic pigments in STS was obviously higher than monoculture tea (T). In addition, the Fv/Fm and SPAD value in STS were also clearly higher. Transcriptome analysis data indicated that STS induced the expression of light-harvesting complex (LHC) genes, photosystem subunit (Psbs and Psas) genes and dark reaction biological process genes (FBP1, RPE, Calvin cycle protein CP12-1 and transketolase). These results indicate that STS enhanced the photosynthesis activity. The metabolome analysis showed that STS promoted the accumulation of carbohydrate metabolites, which further provided evidence for the enhancement of photosynthesis in the leaves of tea seedlings. This study enhanced our understanding of how intercropping soybeans in a young tea plantation improves the photosynthesis activity to promote tea seedlings' growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective stroke rehabilitation requires high-dose, repetitive-task training, especially during the early recovery phase. However, the usability of upper-limb rehabilitation technology in acute and subacute stroke survivors remains relatively unexplored. In this study, we introduce subacute stroke survivors to MyoGuide, a mobile training platform that employs surface electromyography (sEMG)-guided neurofeedback training that specifically targets wrist extension. Notably, the study emphasizes evaluating the platform's usability within clinical contexts. Methods: Seven subacute post-stroke patients (1 female, mean age 53.7 years, mean time post-stroke 58.9 days, mean duration per training session 48.9 min) and three therapists (one for eligibility screening, two for conducting training) participated in the study. Participants underwent ten days of supervised one-on-one wrist extension training with MyoGuide, which encompassed calibration, stability assessment, and dynamic tasks. All training records including the Level of Difficulty (LoD) and Stability Assessment Scores were recorded within the application. Usability was assessed through the System Usability Scale (SUS) and participants' willingness to continue home-based training was gauged through a self-developed survey post-training. Therapists also documented the daily performance of participants and the extent of support required. Results: The usability analysis yielded positive results, with a median SUS score of 82.5. Compared to the first session, participants significantly improved their performance at the final session as indicated by both the Stability Assessment Scores (p = 0.010, mean = 229.43, CI = [25.74–433.11]) and the LoD (p < 0.001; mean: 45.43, CI: [25.56–65.29]). The rate of progression differed based on the initial impairment levels of the patient. After training, participants expressed a keen interest in continuing home-based training. However, they also acknowledged challenges related to independently using the Myo armband and software. Conclusions: This study introduces the MyoGuide training platform and demonstrates its usability in a clinical setting for stroke rehabilitation, with the assistance of a therapist. The findings support the potential of MyoGuide for wrist extension training in patients across a wide range of impairment levels. However, certain usability challenges, such as donning/doffing the armband and navigating the application, need to be addressed to enable independent MyoGuide training requiring only minimal supervision by a therapist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual tracking of road cracks in unstructured road environment was, is, and remains a crucial and challenging task, which plays a vital role in accurate crack sealing for automated road cracks repair. However, many problems have not been well solved in existing automated road cracks repair, such as the low automation due to partial dependence on manual and the interrupted traffic flow caused by the heavy equipment used. In this article, a cross-entropy-based adaptive fuzzy control (CEAFC) method is proposed, which reaches visual tracking with unmanned mobile robot (VT-UMbot) for road cracks. Specifically, the CEAFC method uses cross-entropy optimization iteration to tune parameters for the tracking controller, and fuzzy logic is constructed to explore robustness improvement. Moreover, a framework of VT-UMbot based on a four-wheel independent differential drive is established, and visual servo and tracking control are integrated into the system. Our experiment shows that the proposed method is extensively evaluated on three road cracks scenarios and achieves state-of-the-art performance with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, monodisperse and nano‐porous poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres with large specific surface area (427.6 m2/g) and rich pore structure were prepared by one‐pot self‐stable precipitation polymerization of 2,2′‐bis[4‐(4‐maleimidophenoxy) phenyl] propane and divinylbenzene. The prepared poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres were employed as dispersive solid‐phase extraction (DSPE) adsorbent for the extraction of triazine herbicides. Under optimized conditions, good linearities were obtained between the peak area and the concentration of triazine herbicides in the range of 1–400 µg/L (R2 ≥ 0.9987) with the limits of detection of 0.12–0.31 µg/L. Triazine herbicides were detected using the described approach in vegetable samples (i.e., cucumber, tomato, and maize) with recoveries of 93.6%–117.3% and relative standard deviations of 0.4%–3.5%. In addition, the recoveries of triazine herbicides remained above 80.7% after being used for nine DSPE cycles, showing excellent reusability of poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres. The adsorption of poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres toward triazine herbicides was a monolayer and chemical adsorption. The adsorption mechanism between triazine herbicides and adsorbents might be a combination of hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction, and π‐π conjugation. The results confirmed the potential use of the poly(bismaleimide‐co‐divinylbenzene) microspheres‐based DSPE coupled to the high‐performance liquid chromatography method for the detection of triazine herbicide residues in vegetable samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of salinity in the South China Sea (SCS), a significant marginal sea connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans, are greatly influenced by the transport of fresh water flux between the two oceans. However, the long-term changes in the intermediate water in the SCS have not been thoroughly studied due to limited data, particularly in relation to its thermodynamic variations. This study utilized reanalysis data products to identify a 60-year trend of freshening in the intermediate waters of the northern South China Sea (NSCS), accompanied by an expansion of low-salinity water. The study also constructed salinity budget terms, including advection and entrainment processes, and conducted an analysis of the salinity budget to understand the impacts of external and internal dynamic processes on the freshening trend of the intermediate water in the NSCS. The analysis revealed that the freshening in the northwest Pacific Ocean and the intensification of intrusion through the Luzon Strait at intermediate levels are the primary drivers of the salinity changes in the NSCS. Additionally, a weakened trend in the intensity of vertical entrainment also contributes to the freshening in the NSCS. This study offers new insights into the understanding of regional deep sea changes in response to variations in both thermodynamics and oceanic dynamic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a lot of potential causes of shoulder fractures due to the joint's greater mobility compared to others in the body. To identify these breaks, doctors use data from imaging modalities like as computed tomography (CT), MRI, or X-rays. The goal of this study is to help clinicians by developing a system that can use quantum photonics and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine whether an X-ray of the shoulder shows a fracture or not. This study uses machine learning photonics and quantum computing to evaluate joint bone dislocation in athletes. Regression-based pulse convolutional segNet architecture with nanophotonic analysis (RPCSeg_NP) is used in this investigation to examine the bone dislocation. The validation accuracy, sensitivity, positive predictive value, and similarity index (SSIM) are measured throughout the experimental study. Artificial intelligence has the ability to precisely identify and categorise proximal humerus fractures on standard shoulder AP radiographs. To find out if using artificial intelligence in the clinic is feasible and if it can enhance patient care and results in comparison to existing orthopaedic evaluations, more research is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn this study, two new (1, 13) and fourteen known (2–12, 14–16) compounds were isolated from the branches and leaves of Daphne retusa. On the basis of chemical evidence and spectral data analysis (UV, ECD NMR, and HR-ESI-MS), the structures of new compounds were elucidated. Furthermore, all compounds have been tested for their inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells, and compound 3 showed obvious inhibitory effect. Through target screening and molecular docking technology, potential binding targets for compound 3 to exert anti-inflammatory effects have been predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary multiscale construction object detection algorithms rely predominantly on fully-supervised deep learning, requiring arduous and time-consuming labeling process. This paper presents a novel semisupervised multiscale construction objects detection (SS-MCOD) by harnessing nearly infinite unlabeled images along with limited labels, achieving more accurate and robust detection results. SS-MCOD uses a deformable convolutional network (DCN)-based teacher-student joint learning framework. DCN uses deformable advantages to extract and fuse multiscale construction object features. The teacher module generates pseudolabels for construction objects in unlabeled images, while the student module learns the location and classification of construction objects in both labeled images and unlabeled images with pseudolabels. Experimental validation using commonly used construction datasets demonstrates the accuracy and generalization performance of SS-MCOD. This research can provide insights for other detection tasks with limited labels in the construction domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A potential strain, Paenibacillus sp. JNUCC32, was isolated and subjected to whole-genome sequencing. Genome functional annotation revealed its active metabolic capabilities. This study aimed to investigate the pivotal secondary metabolites in the biological system. Fermentation and extraction were performed, resulting in the isolation of seven known compounds: tryptophol (1), 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (2), ferulic acid (3), maculosin (4), brevianamide F (5), indole-3-acetic acid (6), and butyric acid (7). Tryptophol exhibited favorable pharmacokinetic properties and demonstrated certain tyrosinase inhibitory activity (IC50 = 999 μM). For further analysis of its inhibition mechanism through molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, tryptophol formed three hydrogen bonds and a pro-Michaelis complex with tyrosinase (binding energy = −5.3 kcal/mol). The MD simulation indicated favorable stability for the tryptophol–mushroom tyrosinase complex, primarily governed by hydrogen bond interactions. The crucial residues VAL-283 and HIS-263 in the docking were also validated. This study suggests tryptophol as a potential candidate for antibrowning agents and dermatological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MYB family transcription factors (TFs) play essential roles in various biological processes, yet their involvement in regulating fruit ripening and fruit size in citrus remains poorly understood. In this study, we have established that the R2R3-MYB TF, CsMYB77, exerts a negative regulatory influence on fruit ripening in both citrus and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), while also playing a role in modulating fruit size in citrus. The overexpression of CsMYB77 in tomato and Hongkong kumquat (Fortunella hindsii) led to notably delayed fruit ripening phenotypes. Moreover, the fruit size of Hongkong kumquat transgenic lines was largely reduced. Based on DNA affinity purification sequencing and verified interaction assays, SEVEN IN ABSENTIA OF ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA4 (SINAT4) and PIN-FORMED PROTEIN5 (PIN5) were identified as downstream target genes of CsMYB77. CsMYB77 inhibited the expression of SINAT4 to modulate abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, which delayed fruit ripening in transgenic tomato and Hongkong kumquat lines. The expression of PIN5 was activated by CsMYB77, which promoted free indole-3-acetic acid decline and modulated auxin signaling in the fruits of transgenic Hongkong kumquat lines. Taken together, our findings revealed a fruit development and ripening regulation module (MYB77-SINAT4/PIN5-ABA/auxin) in citrus, which enriches the understanding of the molecular regulatory network underlying fruit ripening and size. The transcription factor CsMYB77 negatively regulates fruit ripening and fruit size in citrus by modulating abscisic acid and auxin-signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle size ratio, tablet thickness, and compaction pressure are three important tableting parameters that affect the obtained tablet spectrum. In this study, the single-factor test and response surface analysis (RSM) were adopted to examine how these three parameters and their interactions affect the analytical measurements performed over terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Tablet samples were composed of a different percent (wt-%) of acetylsalicylic acid within microcrystalline cellulose. Results indicate that change in absorption coefficient was found to be more obvious for a larger particle size ratio. Thinner tablets were sensitive to absorption coefficient effects created as the transmitted THz radiation propagates through the tablet interfaces. Compression pressure has a limited effect on the absorption coefficient. The particle size ratio had the largest effect on the coefficient of correlation of the quantitative regression model, followed by the compaction pressure, and the tablet thickness. In this study, the optimized tableting parameters were determined: tablet thickness of 0.48 mm, particle size ratio of about 1:1, and compaction pressure of 30 MPa. Under this condition, the R2 of the quantitative regression model of acetylsalicylic acid content was 0.971 and 0.998 at the range of acetylsalicylic acid mass fraction between 10 and 90 wt-%, 1 and 30 wt-%, respectively. This study provides a method to effectively reduce the scattering effect of spectral detection of tablets by improving the sample's properties, to provide a reference for enhancing the reliability and accuracy of quantitative measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zephyranthes candida is a frequently cultivated ornamental plant containing several secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, flavonoids, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, extensive research has been conducted only on non-VOCs found in the plant, whereas the production of VOCs and the molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of terpenes remain poorly understood. In this study, 17 volatile compounds were identified from Z. candida flowers using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), with 16 of them being terpenoids. Transcriptome sequencing resulted in the identification of 17 terpene synthase (TPS) genes; two TPS genes, ZcTPS01 and ZcTPS02, had high expression levels. Biochemical characterization of two enzymes encoded by both genes revealed that ZcTPS02 can catalyze geranyl diphosphate (GPP) into diverse products, among which is β-ocimene, which is the second most abundant compound found in Z. candida flowers. These results suggest that ZcTPS02 plays a vital role in β-ocimene biosynthesis, providing valuable insights into terpene biosynthesis pathways in Z. candida. Furthermore, the expression of ZcTPS02 was upregulated after 2 h of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment and downregulated after 4 h of the same treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned with the stability of viscosity solutions to contact Hamilton-Jacobi equation \begin{align*} H(x,\partial _x u(x),u(x))=0, \quad x\in M, \end{align*} where H=H(x,p,u) satisfies Tonelli conditions. We study the relationship between Lyapunov stability of viscosity solutions and the structure of the set of weak KAM solutions to the contact Hamilton-Jacobi equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oviductus Ranae (OR) is one of the "treasures of Changbai Mountain" in China. It is used clinically for the treatment of infirmity after illness, fatigued spirit, cough, hemoptysis, and so forth. In this study, a simple and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of five main effective components (1-methyl hydantoin, estradiol, cholesterol, 7-keto-cholesterol, and 4-cholesten-3-one) in OR and its different processed products. The results indicated that these five components showed good linear relationships within their own concentration ranges along with coefficients of determination ≥0.9996. Average recoveries ranged from 97.67% to 100.06%, with RSDs of 1.45%–1.99%. The proposed method was found to be simple, accurate, and stable, which provided an effective analytical method for quality control and evaluation of OR and its different processed products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory traces are believed to be broadly allocated in cerebral cortices and the hippocampus. Mutual synapse innervations among these brain areas are presumably formed in associative memory. In the present study, we have used neuronal tracing by pAAV-carried fluorescent proteins and neuroligin-3 mRNA knockdown by shRNAs to examine the role of neuroligin-3-mediated synapse formation in the interconnection between primary associative memory cells in the sensory cortices and secondary associative memory cells in the hippocampus during the acquisition and memory of associated signals. Our studies show that mutual synapse innervations between the barrel cortex and the hippocampal CA3 region emerge and are upregulated after the memories of associated whisker and odor signals come into view. These synapse interconnections are downregulated by a knockdown of neuroligin-3-mediated synapse linkages. New synapse interconnections and the strengthening of these interconnections appear to endorse the belief in an interaction between the hippocampus and sensory cortices for memory consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design of organic semiconductors with wide visible light absorption and quick charge separation is of great significance for photocatalytic hydrogen production form water. In this work, the chemical structure of a linear conjugated polymer composed of ethynyl-linked benzene (B) and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) is regulated by thiophene (TP) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [naphthalene (N) and anthracene (A)], and series of polymers including B-BT-TP-x, N-BT-TP-x and A-BT-TP-x (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) are synthesized. After thiophene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon regulation, the polymers exhibit strong absorption in the whole visible light region of 400->650 nm and quick internal charge separation and transfer. Visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production rates of the synthesized polymers follow the order of B-BT (170.0 μmol/h) < B-BT-TP-0.6 (735.3 μmol/h) < N-BT-TP-0.4 (841.5 μmol/h) < A-BT-TP-0.6 (969.2 μmol/h) using 30 mg catalyst with 1.0 wt% Pt as cocatalyst. In addition, high apparent quantum yield (AQY) values of 8.04%, 5.58% and 0.95% under 550 nm, 650 nm and 700 nm monochromatic lights are obtained using A-BT-TP-0.6 catalyst. The present work provides new insights into design of advanced organic semiconductors for highly efficient photocatalytic solar energy conversion. The modification of thiophene and PAHs enhanced the absorption of the linear conjugated polymer in the visible region of 400–650 nm and accelerated the separation and transfer of internal charge. [Display omitted] • The prepared conjugated polymer exhibits strong absorption in the visible light range of 400∼>650 nm. • A high rate of photocatalytic H 2 evolution of 969.2 μmol/h was achieved with 30 mg of catalyst. • The polymer exhibits high quantum yields at wavelengths of 550 and 700 nm, with values of 8.04% and 0.95%, respectively. • The introduction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons enhance photo-induced charge separation efficiency. • Exploring the Impact of Polymers on Hydrogen Production Efficiency from the Perspective of Electronic Density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an exceedingly intractable issue affecting female endocrine and reproductive health. However, the etiology and intricate pathological mechanisms of PCOS remain unclear. Nowadays, aging was found to share multiple common pathological mechanisms with PCOS, which causes probing into the pathogenesis of PCOS from senescence. However, no bioinformatics analyses have specifically focused on connection between PCOS and ovarian aging. Methods: Differentially expressed aging-related genes in PCOS were identified and then analyzed using function enrichment method. Hub genes were determined based on multiple algorithms, and expression validation of hub genes was performed in both datasets and experiments (human granulosa-like tumor cell line, KGN; human Granulosa Cell, hGCs). Finally, a transcription factor-miRNA-gene network of hub genes was constructed. Results: Here, we identified 73 aging-related differential expression genes (ARDEGs) by intersecting DEGs in PCOS and senescence-related gene set. Furthermore, we performed biological functions and potential pathways of ARDEGs and potential hub genes were also screened by multiple algorithms. From the perspective of immune dysfunction, we analyzed the correlation between PCOS and immune cells. Finally, TF-miRNA-gene networks were constructed. Finally, TF-miRNA-gene networks were constructed. Conclusions: Our work aimed to elucidate the relation between PCOS and cellular senescence based on bioinformatics strategy, deepening the understanding of mechanisms and to seek for novel therapy strategies for improving reproductive lifespan and female health. Exploring the potential molecular mechanism of cell aging in PCOS is expected to bring a new breakthrough for PCOS diagnosis and therapy strategies. And this, might deepen our understanding about intricate mechanisms of ovarian aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance the kinetics of water electrolysis and reduce the cell voltage, the development of highly active and stable non-precious metal bifunctional catalysts is essential. In this study, self-supported heterostructures based on MoS 2 -CoFeLDH were synthesised as the cathode and anode electrocatalysts for overall water splitting in alkaline media. The strong coupling effect at the heterogeneous interfaces of MoS 2 and CoFeLDH improved the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at the cathode. The strong electronegativity of CoFeLDH facilitated the adsorption of H protons, and MoS 2 with strong electrical conductivity promoted the desorption of H 2 molecules. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode was also enhanced because the LDHs had strong adsorption properties for hydroxyl species, and MoS 2 assisted the transfer of hydroxyl species. The MoS 2 -CoFeLDH showed low overpotentials of 100 mV for the HER and 216 mV for the OER at 10 mA/cm2. This bifunctional catalyst required a low voltage of 1.55 V for overall water splitting and remained stable for 48 h. Schematic of MoS 2 -CoFeLDH/NF heterostructure electrodes for overall water splitting. [Display omitted] • MoS 2 -CoFeLDH heterostructures were synthesised for overall water splitting. • The strong coupling effect at heterogeneous interfaces improved HER and OER. • The MoS 2 -CoFeLDH showed low overpotentials of 100 mV for HER and 216 mV for OER at 10 mA/cm2. • The MoS 2 -CoFeLDH only required a low voltage of 1.55 V at 10 mA/cm2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress, which can be activated by a variety of environmental risk factors, has been implicated as an important pathogenic factor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, how oxidative stress drives IBD onset remains elusive. Here, we found that oxidative stress was strongly activated in inflamed tissues from both ulcerative colitis patients and Crohn's disease patients, and it caused nuclear-to-cytosolic TDP-43 transport and a reduction in the TDP-43 protein level. To investigate the function of TDP-43 in IBD, we inducibly deleted exons 2 to 3 of Tardbp (encoding Tdp-43) in mouse intestinal epithelium, which disrupted its nuclear localization and RNA-processing function. The deletion gave rise to spontaneous intestinal inflammation by inducing epithelial cell necroptosis. Suppression of the necroptotic pathway with deletion of Mlkl or the RIP1 inhibitor Nec-1 rescued colitis phenotypes. Mechanistically, disruption of nuclear TDP-43 caused excessive R-loop accumulation, which triggered DNA damage and genome instability and thereby induced PARP1 hyperactivation, leading to subsequent NAD+ depletion and ATP loss, consequently activating mitochondrion-dependent necroptosis in intestinal epithelial cells. Importantly, restoration of cellular NAD+ levels with NAD+ or NMN supplementation, as well as suppression of ALKBH7, an α-ketoglutarate dioxygenase in mitochondria, rescued TDP-43 deficiency-induced cell death and intestinal inflammation. Furthermore, TDP-43 protein levels were significantly inversely correlated with γ-H2A.X and p-MLKL levels in clinical IBD samples, suggesting the clinical relevance of TDP-43 deficiency-induced mitochondrion-dependent necroptosis. Taken together, these findings identify a unique pathogenic mechanism that links oxidative stress to intestinal inflammation and provide a potent and valid strategy for IBD intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally believed that mycorrhiza is a microecosystem composed of mycorrhizal fungi, host plants and other microscopic organisms. The mycorrhiza of Rhododendron dauricum is more complex and the diverse morphology of our investigated results displays both typical ericoid mycorrhizal characteristics and ectomycorrhizal traits. The characteristics of ectendoomycorrhiza, where mycelial invade from the outside into the root cells, have also been observed. In order to further clarify the mycorrhizal fungi members and other fungal communities of R. dauricum mycorrhiza, and explore the effects of vegetation and soil biological factors on their community structure, we selected two woodlands in the northeast of China as samples—one is a mixed forest of R. dauricum and Quercus mongolica, and the other a mixed forest of R. dauricum, Q. mongolica, and Pinus densiflor. The sampling time was during the local growing season, from June to September. High-throughput sequencing yielded a total of 3020 fungal amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were based on sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer ribosomal RNA (ITS rRNA) via the Illumina NovaSeq platform. In the different habitats of R. dauricum, there are differences in the diversity of fungi obtained from mycorrhizal niches, and specifically the mycorrhizal fungal community structure in the complex vegetation of mixed forests, where R. dauricum is found, exhibits greater stability, with relatively minor changes over time. Soil fungi are identified as the primary source of fungi within the mycorrhizal niche, and the abundance of mycorrhizal fungi from mycorrhizal niches in R. dauricum is significantly influenced by soil pH, organic matter, and available nitrogen. The relationship between soil fungi and mycorrhizal fungi from mycorrhizal niches is simultaneously found to be intricate, while the genus Hydnellum emerges as a central genus among mycorrhizal fungi from mycorrhizal niches. However, there is currently a substantial gap in the foundational research of this genus, including the fact that mycorrhizal fungi from mycorrhizal niches have, compared to fungi present in the soil, proven to be more sensitive to changes in soil moisture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadium flow batteries (VFBs) face a challenge with the low reaction rates of the V(II)/V(III) redox couple, which limits the performance of VFBs. Additionally, the negative electrode in VFBs is often accompanied by the persistent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which is difficult to eliminate. Therefore, understanding the spatial distribution of activity on the negative electrode and the HER side reaction on the electrode surface is of critical importance. This study proposes a weak measurement imaging method to characterize the spatial distribution of surface activity and HER onset potential on the negative electrode in VFBs). This method enables the visualization and in situ detection of key parameters such as the absolute values of |ipa|, |ipc|, |∆E|, |ipc/ipa|, and the HER onset potential. By comparing three different types of graphite felts with varying activity levels, it validates the feasibility of this method. Furthermore, electrochemical stability tests are conducted to study the electrodes repeatability, uniformity, and durability. This method holds promise in guiding the design of electrodes with enhanced activity, good reversibility, minimized HER side reactions, and uniform distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of patients with supination-adduction (SAD) type II (OTA/AO 44A2) fractures who had a lateral ankle ligament rupture repaired compared with patients who did not have a lateral ankle ligament repaired using patients who underwent fibula fracture fixation as a control group. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all 104 patients diagnosed with SAD type II fractures from January 2011 to December 2020 and managed operatively was performed. The patients were divided into three groups: 32 patients with ruptures of the lateral ligaments that were not repaired (group A), 34 patients with ruptures of the lateral ligaments that were repaired (group B), and 38 patients with fibula fracture fixation acting as the control group (group C). The objective outcomes including radiographic findings, the ankle range of motion, the manual ankle stress tests, and complications were gained from the record of the last time in outpatient clinics. The functional outcomes including the identification of functional ankle instability (IdFAI) scores were collected postoperatively at 12-month intervals to assess clinical outcomes. The Manchester Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) and Karlsson scoring scale were also recorded at the last follow-up. Results: The mean follow-up of the objective and subjective functional outcomes was 23.4 (range, 13–42) and 76.9 (range, 25–134) months, respectively. There was no significant difference in the radiographic findings, the ankle range of motion and complications between the three groups. All ankles were found to be stable using the manual ankle stress test in both group A and group B. The IdFAI scores showed a significant difference between group A and group B (1.12 ± 1.3 vs 0.35 ± 0.69; p < 0.001) in the first year of follow-up and no significant difference after the first year. No differences were noted in MOXFQ scores or Karlsson scores among the groups. Conclusion: Directly repairing the lateral ligament could minimize the proportion of the first year of postoperative functional ankle instability, although the final stability of the ankle and clinical outcomes were not significantly different in SAD type II fractures. Level of evidence: Level III, retrospective comparative case series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The general deficit in inhibitory control of problematic social media users has received widespread attention. However, the neural correlates of problematic social media use (PSMU) and inhibitory control remain unclear. Additionally, the co-occurrence of the fear of missing out (FoMO) with social media use is common, yet its role in the relationship between PSMU and inhibitory control has not been investigated.Methods: This study aimed to examine the electrophysiological correlates of PSMU and inhibitory control using a modified two-choice oddball task combined with event-related potentials (ERPs), and to explore the role of FoMO in this relationship. A total of 66 participants with varying degrees of PSMU were included in the analysis based on the Problematic Mobile Social Media Usage Questionnaire.Results: The study found that PSMU could impact inhibitory control. Specifically, as the PSMU score increases, the N2 amplitude is greater for social media-related pictures, and the P3 amplitude is smaller, while no significant differences are observed for neutral pictures. This suggests that PSMU affects inhibitory control by consuming more cognitive resources in the early conflict detection stage and leading to insufficient cognitive resources in the later stages of the inhibitory process. Furthermore, FoMO played a mediating role between PSMU and inhibitory control. PSMU could further impact inhibitory control through FoMO.Conclusion: This study provides electrophysiological evidence for deficits in inhibitory control in PSMU and suggests that FoMO may further reduce inhibitory control in PSMU individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies, mobile agents are becoming more commonly used in a variety of industries that require high reliability from their control systems. In an uncertain environment, if the mobile agent control system's state transition includes only one plan, the system will enter the fault state immediately after the plan fails. Therefore, multiple alternative plans can be provided during the system design process to improve system reliability. First, this paper studies and describes the factors associated with the proposed multiple alternative plans, namely the success rate and plan implementation cost. Second, a Policy Generation Algorithm for identifying an appropriate execution sequence of those alternative plans is proposed. Furthermore, we propose a formal method-based pipeline framework for verifying the reliability of a mobile agent control system equipped with multiple alternative plans: we invoke the probabilistic model checking technique to create a Discrete-Time Markov Chain formal model of the mobile agent control system, convert the required properties into Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic formulae, and verify the model using the advanced probabilistic model checker PRISM. A case study is provided to demonstrate the applicability of the suggested methodological framework. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed mobile agent control system with multiple alternative plans can improve system reliability while also meeting the least expected operational cost under the alternative plan set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonate weathering plays a significant role in regulating global carbon budget at short time scales, and thus needs to be better constrained in the context of global warming. Riverine magnesium isotopes (δ26Mg) have the potential to trace carbonate weathering intensity (CWI) but require further testing under various climatic and geological settings. Cation exchange is an important mechanism buffering river water chemistry, especially in catchments characterized by high erosion. However, field evidence on the influence of cation exchange on riverine δ26Mg is rare. In this study, spatial riverine δ26Mg variation within the Three Rivers (i.e., the Jinsha Jiang, the Lancang Jiang, and the Nu Jiang), three extremely-high-erosion catchments in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, was investigated to address this issue. The results showed that riverine δ26Mg values present a wide range from –1.11 ‰ to –0.59 ‰ in the Jinsha Jiang, from –1.39 ‰ to –0.65 ‰ in the Lancang Jiang, and from –1.19 ‰ to –0.50 ‰ in the Nu Jiang. An inversion model was used to partition riverine Mg2+ sources and confirmed that the riverine Mg2+ budget was dominated by carbonate weathering, followed by evaporite dissolution. However, conservative mixing could not explain riverine δ26Mg variation within the Three Rivers catchments, because measured δ26Mg values (δ26Mg measured) systematically deviated from the modeled ones (δ26Mg modeled), with Δ26Mg measured–modeled (δ26Mg measured – δ26Mg modeled) up to 0.79 ‰. The positive correlations between Δ26Mg measured–modeled and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations indicate Mg isotopic fractionation was related to high suspended loads owing to extremely-high erosion rates. Given the significant cation exchange capacity of SPM, Mg2+-Na+ exchange is proposed for the first time as an explanation for the observed δ26Mg variations in the rivers draining the Tibetan Plateau, although the role of carbonate precipitation could not be excluded. The strong positive correlations between riverine δ26Mg and exchangeable Mg/Na ratios in the Three Rivers further support that light Mg isotopes may be preferentially retained in the riverine exchange pool during Mg2+-Na+ exchange, driving riverine δ26Mg towards higher values. Expanding our finding to global rivers, the negative correlation between riverine δ26Mg and CWI can be interpreted by a competition between the fast dissolution of carbonates leading to the enrichment of 24Mg in waters and Mg isotope fractionation induced by cation exchange leading to the depletion of 24Mg in the residual waters. This study provides new insight into cation exchange as a regulator of riverine δ26Mg and Mg cycling, highlighting the robustness of riverine δ26Mg in tracing CWI and constraining the carbon cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]