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Sarcopenia is characterized by accelerated muscle mass and function loss, which burdens and challenges public health worldwide. Several studies indicated that selenium deficiency is associated with sarcopenia; however, the specific mechanism remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that selenoprotein W (SELENOW) containing selenium in the form of selenocysteine functioned in sarcopenia. SELENOW expression is up-regulated in dexamethasone (DEX)-induced muscle atrophy and age-related sarcopenia mouse models. Knockout (KO) of SELENOW profoundly aggravated the process of muscle mass loss in the two mouse models. Mechanistically, SELENOW KO suppressed the RAC1-mTOR cascade by the interaction between SELENOW and RAC1 and induced the imbalance of protein synthesis and degradation. Consistently, overexpression of SELENOW in vivo and in vitro alleviated the muscle and myotube atrophy induced by DEX. SELENOW played a role in age-related sarcopenia and regulated the genes associated with aging. Together, our study uncovered the function of SELENOW in age-related sarcopenia and provides promising evidence for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight/obesity is considered an independent risk factor for nephrolithiasis, but little is known about its effect on nephrolithiasis according to metabolic health status. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between various metabolic overweight phenotypes and the occurrence of nephrolithiasis. It also explores whether changes in these phenotypes over time influence the risk of nephrolithiasis. Materials and methods: A total of 10,315 participants free of nephrolithiasis who underwent an annual health checkup from 2017 to 2022 were included in our prospective cohort study. They were categorized into four groups according to the presence of overweight and metabolic abnormalities (MA). The primary endpoint was the occurrence of renal stones. Multivariable Cox analysis was conducted to elucidate the relationship between metabolic overweight phenotypes and incident nephrolithiasis. Results: During a median follow-up duration of 4.02 years, nephrolithiasis occurred in 1,468 (14.23%) participants. In the full cohort, we observed that the 5-year cumulative incidences of nephrolithiasis were highest in the metabolically healthy overweight (MHO) and metabolically abnormal overweight (MAO) groups. The hazard ratios (HRs) for nephrolithiasis, relative to metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW), ranged from 1.19 (95% CI:1.03–1.37; MHO) to 1.32 (95% CI:1.15–1.51; MAO). Furthermore, individuals with persistent MHO throughout follow-up were at a 1.42-fold increased risk of nephrolithiasis (P < 0.001), and 32.17% of individuals experienced changes in phenotype during follow-up. Among MAO subjects, those who transitioned to MHO and MHNW had a 26% and 45% lower risk of incident nephrolithiasis, respectively, compared to those who persisted in the MAO phenotype. Conclusion: Individuals in the MHO and MAO groups exhibit an elevated risk of incident nephrolithiasis in this prospective cohort study. A significant proportion of nephrolithiasis cases may be potentially preventable through the appropriate management of metabolic risk factors for MAO subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern margin of the North China Craton is one of the most important porphyry-skarn molybdenum ore belts in the world. The eastern Hebei Province, which contains a high number of molybdenum and gold (molybdenum) resources, is an important portion of the northern margin of the North China Craton. Xichanggou and Huashi, located in eastern Hebei, are quartz-molybdenum vein deposits that are intimately associated with intrusions that are deeply concealed in the mining area. This work presents two zircon U-Pb dates and ten molybdenite Re-Os ages from samples of the aforementioned two deposits in order to determine the timing of the intrusion and mineralization. The zircon U-Pb ages of the quartz monzonite porphyry from Xichanggou are determined to be 163.3 ± 0.3 Ma and 162.8 ± 0.4 Ma. The molybdenite Re-Os dating yielded ages of 160.3 ± 4.6 Ma for Xichanggou and 171.4 ± 19 Ma for Huashi, respectively. The isotopic composition of oxygen and hydrogen of the ore-forming fluid from Huashi, as indicated by the δDV-SMOW values (−80.0‰ to −67.6‰) and δ18OH2O values (−1.86‰ to 2.33‰), suggests that the fluid is primarily composed of water derived from magma, with some contribution from atmospheric precipitation. The sulfur isotope values (δ34S) of sulfides from Xichanggou range from 6.5‰ to 7.1‰, while the δ34S values from Huashi range from 3.3‰ to 4.9‰. The lead isotope ratios (206Pb/204Pb and 207Pb/204Pb) of sulfides from Xichanggou and Huashi average at 17.414, 15.428, and 17.591, 15.379, respectively. The Re-Os isotopic compositions of ore sulfides mostly fall within the range of 318 ppm to 50,114 ppm. These isotopic compositions indicate that the materials responsible for the formation of the ores in Xichanggou and Huashi primarily originate from the melting of lower crust materials that have been contaminated by the mantle. Based on the regional data, the molybdenum deposits in eastern Hebei were formed in multiple periods, specifically approximately 170 Ma and 160 Ma in Huahsi and Xichanggou, respectively. The subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate during the middle–late Jurassic period led to the partial remelting of lower crust material, resulting in the acquisition of a significant quantity of metal elements (Mo), which were subsequently deposited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of lung adenocarcinoma to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a recognized resistance mechanism and a hindrance to therapies using epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The paucity of pretranslational/posttranslational clinical samples limits the deeper understanding of resistance mechanisms and the exploration of effective therapeutic strategies. Here, we developed preclinical neuroendocrine (NE) transformation models. Next, we identified a transcriptional reprogramming mechanism that drives resistance to erlotinib in NE transformation cell lines and cell-derived xenograft mice. We observed the enhanced expression of genes involved in the EHMT2 and WNT/ß-catenin pathways. In addition, we demonstrated that EHMT2 increases methylation of the SFRP1 promoter region to reduce SFRP1 expression, followed by activation of the WNT/ß-catenin pathway and TKI-mediated NE transformation. Notably, the similar expression alterations of EHMT2 and SFRP1 were observed in transformed SCLC samples obtained from clinical patients. Importantly, suppression of EHMT2 with selective inhibitors restored the sensitivity of NE transformation cell lines to erlotinib and delayed resistance in cell-derived xenograft mice. We identify a transcriptional reprogramming process in NE transformation and provide a potential therapeutic target for overcoming resistance to erlotinib. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of symplectic scalar fermion of LeClair and Neubert is studied. The theory evades the conventional spin-statistics theorem because its Hamiltonian is pseudo Hermitian. The definition of pseudo Hermiticity is examined in the interacting and the Heisenberg picture. For states that evolve under pseudo Hermitian Hamiltonians, we define the appropriate inner-product and matrix element of operators that preserve time translation symmetry. The resulting S-matrix is shown to satisfy the generalized unitarity relation. We clarify the derivation of the symplectic currents and charges. By demanding the currents and charges to be pseudo Hermitian, the global symmetry of the free Lagrangian density reduces from Sp(2, ℂ) to SU(2). By explicit calculations, we show that the LeClair-Neubert model of N quartic self-interacting scalar fermions admits generalized unitary evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) stands as one of the most widely prescribed chemotherapeutics. Despite over 60 years of study, a systematic synopsis of how 5-FU binds to proteins has been lacking. Investigating the specific binding patterns of 5-FU to proteins is essential for identifying additional interacting proteins and comprehending their medical implications. In this review, an analysis of the 5-FU binding environment was conducted based on available complex structures. From the earliest complex structure in 2001 to the present, two groups of residues emerged upon 5-FU binding, classified as P- and R-type residues. These high-frequency interactive residues with 5-FU include positively charged residues Arg and Lys (P type) and ring residues Phe, Tyr, Trp, and His (R type). Due to their high occurrence, 5-FU binding modes were simplistically classified into three types, based on interactive residues (within <4 Å) with 5-FU: Type 1 (P-R type), Type 2 (P type), and Type 3 (R type). In summary, among 14 selected complex structures, 8 conform to Type 1, 2 conform to Type 2, and 4 conform to Type 3. Residues with high interaction frequencies involving the N1, N3, O4, and F5 atoms of 5-FU were also examined. Collectively, these interaction analyses offer a structural perspective on the specific binding patterns of 5-FU within protein pockets and contribute to the construction of a structural interactome delineating the associations of the anticancer drug 5-FU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Well-being is an important issue in workplace. One of these assessment tools of well-being, Workplace PERMA Profiler, is based on Seligman’s five dimensions well-being. Prolonged fatigue may last for a long time, leading a great impact on both employees and enterprises. However, rare studies about the association between wellbeing and fatigue had been investigated. Our aim is to establish the Chinese version Profiler, and to discovery the association between workplace well-being and fatigue. Methods The Chinese version was established according to International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) task force guidelines. In the study, researchers employed simple random sampling by approaching individuals undergoing health checkups or receiving workplace health services, inviting them to participate in a questionnaire-based interview. Prolonged Fatigue was evaluated by Checklist Individual Strength (CIS). The reliability was evaluated by Cronbach’s alphas, Intra-class Correlation Coefficients (ICCs), and measurement errors. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis and correlational analyses were assessed for the validity. Results The analyses included 312 Chinese workers. Cronbach’s alphas of the Chinese version ranged from 0.69 to 0.93, while the ICC ranged from 0.70 to 0.92. The 5-factor model of confirmatory factor analysis revealed a nearly appropriate fit (χ2 (82)=346.560, Comparative Fit Index [CFI]=0.887, Tucker-Lewis Index [TLI]=0.855, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA]=0.114, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual [SRMR]=0.060). Moreover, the CIS and its four dimensions were significantly and negatively associated with the Positive Emotion, while they are positively associated with Engagement dimension except CIS-Motivation dimension. Conclusion The Chinese version Workplace PERMA-Profiler indicate nice reliability and validity. Furthermore, all CIS dimensions were negatively influenced by Positive Emotion, while commonly positively associated with Engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In this study, the therapeutic effect of 5‐aminolevulinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA‐PDT) in comparison to blue/red light combined with intralesional triamcinolone injection for severe inflammatory acne was evaluated and analyzed. Methods: One hundred and four cases of severe inflammatory acne were analyzed in this study. They were divided into two groups as control and observation groups, 52 cases in each group. The control group (group A) received red and blue light combined with triamcinolone injection and lidocaine injection (1:4), while the observation group (Group B) was treated with ALA‐PDT. Finally, the therapeutic effect and the occurrence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results: After 2, 4 and 6 weeks, the effectiveness rates of group B was 28.85%, 75.00%, and 86.54%, respectively while it was 9.62%, 51.92%, and 69.23%, respectively in group A. The difference between A and B was statistically remarkable (χ2 = 6.1905, 5.9713, 4.5217, p = 0.0128, 0.0145, 0.0335 at p < 0.05). In addition, the incidence of adverse reactions in B was 5.77%, lower than A (32.69%). This difference between A and B was statistically remarkable (χ2 = 12.1333, p = 0.0005). After 2, 4, and 6 weeks of treatment, the number of residual lesions in the group B group was remarkably lower than group A (p < 0.01). There was remarkable difference in the incidence of pain, burning sensation, pigmentation and erythema between the two groups. Conclusions: The therapeutic effect of ALA‐PDT in the treatment of severe acne is better than red blue light combined with triamcinolone injection and lidocaine injection. In addition, ALA‐PDT has an ideal effect in the treatment of severe acne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aeromonas species, Gram-negative, non-sporulating, facultative, and anaerobic bacilli, widely distributed in aquatic environments, derive various infections, including bacteremia. Most of these infections were opportunistic and found in patients with predisposing conditions. Among the infections, bacteremia remains with notable mortality, reported from 15% to 45%. However, predicting systems for assessing the mortality risk of this disease have yet to be investigated. We aimed to validate the performance of specific predictive scoring systems to assess the clinical outcomes of Aeromonas bacteremia and applied the revised systems to predict mortality risk. Methods: A retrospective observational study reviewed patients with bacteremia caused by Aeromonas spp. based on at least one positive blood culture sample collected in the emergency department from January 2012 to December 2020. The outcome was in-hospital mortality. We used seven predictive scoring systems to predict the clinical outcome. According to the effectiveness in predicting mortality, we revised three of the seven predictive scoring systems by specific characteristics to refine their risk-predicting performances. Results: We enrolled 165 patients with bacteremia caused by Aeromonas spp., including 121 males (73.3%) and 44 females (26.7%), with a mean age of 66.1 ± 14.9 years and an average length of hospital stay of 12.4 ± 10.9 days. The overall mortality rate was 32.7% (54/165). The non-survivors had significantly higher scores in MEDS (6.7 ± 4.2 vs. 12.2 ± 3.3, p < 0.001), NEWS (4.0 ± 2.8 vs. 5.3 ± 3.0, p = 0.008), and qSOFA (0.3 ± 0.6 vs. 0.6 ± 0.7, p = 0.007). Regarding mortality risk prediction, the MEDS demonstrated the best predictive power with AUC of ROC measured up to 0.834, followed by NEWS (0.626) and qSOFA (0.608). We revised the MEDS, NEWS, and qSOFA by hemoglobin and lactate. We found that the revised scores had better powerful performance, including 0.859, 0.767, and 0.691 of the AUC of ROC, if the revised MEDS ≥10, revised NEWS ≥8, and revised qSOFA ≥2, respectively. Conclusions: MEDS, NEWS, and qSOFA were good tools for predicting outcomes in patients with Aeromonas spp. bacteremia. The revised MEDS, NEWS, and qSOFA demonstrated more powerful predicting performance than the original scoring systems. We suggested that patients with higher scores in revised MEDS (≥10), revised NEWS (≥8), and revised qSOFA (≥2) received early goal-directed therapy and appropriate broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment as early as possible to reduce mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a monocular biological microscope with colorful 3D reconstruction and an extended depth of field using an electrically tunable lens. It is based on a 4f optical system with an electrically tunable lens at the confocal plane. Rapid and extensive depth scanning while maintaining consistent magnification without mechanical movement is achieved. We propose an improved Laplacian operator that considers pixels in diagonal directions to provide enhanced fusion effects and obtain more details of the object. Accurate 3D reconstruction is achieved using the shape-from-focus method by tuning the focal power of the electrically tunable lens. We validate the proposed method by performing experiments on biological samples. The 3D reconstructed images obtained from the biological samples match the actual shrimp larvae and bee antenna samples. Two standard gauge blocks are used to evaluate the 3D reconstruction performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the extended depth of fields are 120 µm, 240 µm, and 1440 µm for shrimp larvae, bee tentacle samples, and gauge blocks, respectively. The maximum absolute errors are −39.9 μm and −30.6 μm for the first and second gauge blocks, which indicates 3D reconstruction deviations are 0.78% and 1.52%, respectively. Since the procedure does not require any custom hardware, it can be used to transform a biological microscope into one that effectively extends the depth of field and achieves highly accurate 3D reconstruction results, as long as the requirements are met. Such a microscope presents a broad range of applications, such as biological detection and microbiological diagnosis, where colorful 3D reconstruction and an extended depth of field are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak, many people were infected, and the symptoms may persist for several weeks or months for recovering patients. This is also known as "long COVID" and includes symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, et cetera. The COVID-19 virus may trigger hyper-inflammation associated with cytokine levels in the body. COVID-19 can trigger inflammation in the joints, which can lead to osteoarthritis (OA), while long-term COVID-19 symptoms may lead to joint damage and other inflammation problems. According to several studies, sesame has potent anti-inflammatory properties due to its major constituent, sesamin. This study examined sesamin's anti-inflammatory, anti-osteoarthritis, and anti-COVID-19 effects. Moreover, in vivo and in vitro assays were used to determine sesamin's anti-inflammatory activity against the RAW264.7 and SW1353 cell lines. Sesamin had a dose-dependent effect (20 mg/kg) in a monoiodoacetic acid (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis rat model. Sesamin reduced paw swelling and joint discomfort. In addition, the findings indicated that sesamin suppressed the expression of iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) in the RAW264.7 cell line within the concentration range of 6.25–50 μM. Furthermore, sesamin also had a suppressive effect on MMP (matrix metalloproteinase) expression in chondrocytes and the SW1353 cell line within the same concentration range of 6.25–50 μM. To examine the anti-viral activity, an in silico analysis was performed to evaluate sesamin's binding affinity with SARS-CoV-2 RdRp (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase) and human ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2). Compared to the controls, sesamin exhibited strong binding affinities towards SARS-CoV-2 RdRp and human ACE2. Furthermore, sesamin had a higher binding affinity for the ACE2 target protein. This study suggests that sesamin shows potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity for drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by CAG repeats expansion. Cognitive decline contributes to the loss of daily activity in manifest HD. We aimed to examine the cognition status in a Chinese HD cohort and explore factors influencing the diverse cognitive domains. Methods: A total of 205 participants were recruited in the study with the assessment by neuropsychological batteries, including the mini–mental state examination (MMSE), Stroop test, symbol digit modalities test (SDMT), trail making test (TMT), verbal fluency test (VFT), and Hopkins verbal learning test–revised, as well as motor and psychiatric assessment. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression models were applied to investigate the correlation. Results: Only 41.46% of patients had normal global function first come to our center. There was a significantly difference in MMSE, Stroop test, SDMT, TMT, and VFT across each stage of HD patients (p <.05). Apathy of PBA‐s was correlated to MMSE, animal VFT and Stroop‐interference tests performance. Severity of motor symptoms, functional capacity, age, and age of motor symptom onset were correlated to all neuropsychological scores, whereas education attainment and diagnostic delay were correlated to most neuropsychological scores except TMT. Severity of motor symptoms, functional capacity, and education attainment showed independent predicting effect (p <.05) in diverse cognitive domains. Conclusion: Cognitive impairment was very common in Chinese HD patients at the first visit and worse in the patients in advanced phase. The severity of motor symptoms and functional capacity were correlated to the diverse cognitive domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C22H23N3O9Cu, triclinic, P 1 ‾ (no. 2), a = 9.0356(2) Å, b = 9.6247(3) Å, c = 14.2969(3) Å, α = 86.989(2)°, β = 86.414(2)°, γ = 66.913(2)°, V = 1140.98(5) Å3, Z = 2, Rgt(F) = 0.0405, wRref(F2) = 0.1172, T = 297.88(10) K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ji-Ming-Shan (JMS) is a traditional prescription use for patients with rheumatism, tendons swelling, athlete's foot, diuresis and even gout. This study developed a rapid and sensitive method for the analysis of JMS chemical components in the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription and in the serum samples of rats which were administered with the herbal extract. Two mass spectrometric approaches were used namely Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) method for the major metabolites of the JMS extract while Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was employed for the detection of the JMS metabolites in the sera of rats. It was revealed that the major components in the JMS extract were identified to be narirutin and hesperidin. It was confirmed that 17 compounds were determined in JMS prescription extract and 16 metabolites resulting from the biotransformation of narirutin and hesperidin were identified in the serum samples. In silico analyses also revealed that the metabolite hersperidin-7-glucoside exhibited the best binding ability with respect to the Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme target. This study showcased the possible biochemical mechanism involved in the therapeutic efficiency of JMS components and their biotransformation products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term respirator users admitted to intensive care units need to be transferred to a respiratory care center (RCC) for weaning. It may cause malnutrition in critical care patients, which may manifest as a reduction in respiratory muscle mass, lower ventilatory capacity, and decreased respiratory tolerance. This study aimed to assess that if the patients' nutritional status were improved, it could help RCC patients to wean from respirators. All participants were recruited from the RCC of a medical foundation in the city and Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital. The indicators include serum albumin level, respirator detachment index, maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax), rapid shallow breathing index, and body composition measurements. We recorded the length of hospital stay, mortality, and RCW (respiratory care ward) referral rate for these participants and analyzed the differences in relevant research indicators between those who were and weren't weaned off. 43 of 62 patients were weaned from respirators, while 19 failed. The resuscitation rate was 54.8%. Patients with respirator weaning had a lower number of RCC admission days (23.1 ± 11.1 days) than respirator-dependent patients (35.6 ± 7.8 days, P < 0.05). The PImax of successfully weaned patients had a greater reduction (− 27.09 ± 9.7 cmH2O) than unsuccessful ones (− 21.4 ± 10.2 cmH2O, P < 0.05). The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores of successfully weaned patients (15.8 ± 5.0) were lower than those who were not (20.4 ± 8.4, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in serum albumin levels between the two groups. In the successfully weaned patients, the serum albumin concentration was increased from 2.2 ± 0.3 to 2.5 ± 0.4 mg/dL, P < 0.05. Improved nutritional status can help RCC patients to wean from respirators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The triglyceride glucose-body mass index (TyG-BMI index) has been considered a reliable surrogate measure of insulin resistance; however, its ability to predict the incidence of cardiovascular disease in individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the correlation between the TyG-BMI index and cardiovascular incidence. Methods: A total of 2533 consecutive participants who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation were included. Data from 1438 patients was analyzed in the study. The endpoint was defined as a composite of acute myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, stroke, and all-cause mortality (major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events, MACCEs) at 34-month follow-up. The formula for calculating the TyG-BMI index is ln [fasting triglyceride (mg/dL) × fasting blood glucose (mg/dL)/2] × BMI. Results: Among the 1438 participants, 195 incident patient cases of MACCEs were ascertained. The incidence of MACCEs showed no statistically significant differences in the TyG-BMI index tertiles in the overall population. Further exploratory subgroup analysis and multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed a linear relationship between the TyG-BMI index (per 1 SD increased) and MACCEs in the elderly patients (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.011–1.467, p = 0.038) and in the female patients (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1.004–1.764, p = 0.047). The addition of the TyG-BMI index to traditional risk factor models in elderly and female patients did not improve risk prediction for MACCEs. Conclusion: A higher TyG-BMI index was proportionally related to an increased incidence of MACCEs in the elderly or female patients. However, the inclusion of the TyG-BMI index did not provide better predictive performance for MACCEs in the elderly, specifically in female patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a compact two-dimensional varifocal-scanning imaging device, with the capability of continuously variable focal length and a large scanning range, actuated by artificial muscle material. The varifocal function is realized by the principle of laterally shifting cubic phase masks and the scanning function is achieved by the principle of the decentered lens. One remarkable feature of these two principles is that both are based on the lateral displacements perpendicular to the optical axis. Artificial muscle material is emerging as a good choice of soft actuators capable of high strain, high efficiency, fast response speed, and light weight. Inspired by the artificial muscle, the dielectric elastomer is used as an actuator and produces the lateral displacements of the Alvarez lenses and the decentered lenses. A two-dimensional varifocal scanning imaging device prototype was established and validated through experiments to verify the feasibility of the proposed varifocal-scanning device. The results showed that the focal length variation of the proposed varifocal scanning device is up to 4.65 times higher (31.6 mm/6.8 mm), and the maximum scanning angle was 26.4°. The rise and fall times were 110 ms and 185 ms, respectively. Such a varifocal scanning device studied here has the potential to be used in consumer electronics, endoscopy, and microscopy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urine albumin concentration and albumin–creatinine ratio are important for the screening of early-stage kidney damage. Commutable urine certified reference materials (CRMs) for albumin and creatinine are necessary for standardization of urine albumin and accurate measurement of albumin–urine ratio. Two urine CRMs for albumin and creatinine with certified values determined using higher-order reference measurement procedures were evaluated for their commutability on five brands/models of clinical analyzers where different reagent kits were used, including Roche Cobas c702, Roche Cobas c311, Siemens Atellica CH, Beckman Coulter AU5800, and Abbott Architect c16000. The commutability study was conducted by measuring at least 26 authentic patient urine samples and the human urine CRMs using both reference measurement procedures and the routine methods. Both the linear regression model suggested by the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines and log-transformed model recommended by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) Commutability Working Group were used to evaluate the commutability of the human urine CRMs. The commutability of the human urine CRMs was found to be generally satisfactory on all five clinical analyzers for both albumin and creatinine, suggesting that they are suitable to be used routinely by clinical laboratories as quality control or for method validation of urine albumin and creatinine measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wedge hepatic vein pressure (WHVP) accurately estimates the portal pressure (PP) in chronic sinusoidal portal hypertension patients. Whether this applies to patients with acute portal hypertension due to hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) is unclear. Our aim was to assess the agreement between WHVP and PP in patients with HSOS by comparing them to decompensated cirrhosis patients. Methods: From December 2013 to December 2021, patients with pyrrolidine alkaloid-induced HSOS (PA-HSOS) receiving hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement and transjugular intrahepatic portosystem shunt (TIPS) were retrospectively collected and matched with those of patients with virus- or alcohol-related cirrhosis as a cirrhosis group. Pearson's correlation (R), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), scatter plots, and the Bland–Altman method were performed for agreement evaluation. Results: A total of 64 patients were analyzed (30 PA-HSOS and 34 cirrhosis groups). The correlation between WHVP and PP was moderate in the PA-HSOS group (R: 0.58, p = 0.001; ICC: 0.68, p = 0.002) but good in the cirrhosis group (R: 0.81, p < 0.001; ICC: 0.90, p < 0.001). The percentage of patients with inconsistent WHVP and PP in the two groups was 13 (43.3%) and 15 (26.5%) (p = 0.156), respectively, and an overestimation of PP was more common in the PA-HSOS group (33.3% vs. 2.9%, p = 0.004). HVPG and portal pressure gradient (PPG) consistency was poor in both groups (R: 0.51 vs. 0.26; ICC: 0.65 vs. 0.41; p < 0.05). Conclusions: WHVP in patients with PA-HSOS did not estimate PP as accurately as in patients with virus- or alcohol-related cirrhosis, which was mainly due to PP overestimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an independent risk factor for stroke and covert cerebrovascular disease, and up to 40% of stroke patients have concomitant CKD. However, the so-called "cerebrorenal interaction" attracted less attention compared to its cardiorenal counterpart. Diabetes is the leading cause of CKD. The sodium–glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 2 inhibitor is a relatively new class of oral anti-diabetic drugs and has cardiorenal benefits in addition to glucose-lowering effects. In the present perspective, we would like to review the current status and future potential of the SGLT2 inhibitor in cerebro–renal interactions and strokes regardless of the status of diabetes. We propose the potential roles of baseline renal functions and SGLT1/2 dual inhibition in stroke prevention, as well as the additional benefits of reducing atrial fibrillation and hemorrhagic stroke for SGLT2 inhibitors. Further clinical trials are anticipated to test whether SGLT2 inhibitors can fulfill the long-standing unmet clinical need and stop such a vicious cycle of cerebro–renal interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding shooting patterns among different players is a fundamental problem in basketball game analyses. In this paper, we quantify the shooting pattern via the field goal attempts and percentages over twelve non-overlapping regions around the front court. A joint Bayesian nonparametric mixture model is developed to find latent clusters of players based on their shooting patterns. We apply our proposed model to learn the heterogeneity among selected players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) games over the 2018-2019 regular season and 2019-2020 bubble season. Thirteen clusters are identified for 2018-2019 regular season and seven clusters are identified for 2019-2020 bubble season. We further examine the shooting patterns of players in these clusters and discuss their relation to players' other available information. The results shed new insights on the effect of NBA COVID bubble and may provide useful guidance for player's shot selection and team's in-game and recruiting strategy planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phonon lasers, as the counterpart of photonic lasers, have been intensively studied in a large variety of systems; however, (all) most of them are based on the directly coherent pumping. Intuitively, dissipation is unfavorable for lasing. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a mechanism of generating phonon lasing from the dissipative coupling in a multimode optomechanical system. By precisely engineering the dissipations of two membranes and tuning the intensity modulation of the cavity light, the two-membranein-the-middle system exhibits non-Hermitian characteristics and the cavity-mediated interaction between two nanomechanical resonators becomes purely dissipative. The level attraction and damping repulsion are clearly exhibited as the signature of dissipative coupling. After the exceptional point, a non-Hermitian phase transition, where eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenmodes coalesce, two phonon modes are simultaneously excited into the self-sustained oscillation regime by increasing the interaction strength over a critical value (threshold). In distinct contrast to conventional phonon lasers, the measurement of the second-order phonon correlation reveals the oscillatory and biexponential phases in the nonlasing regime as well as the coherence phase in the lasing regime. Our study provides a method to study phonon lasers in a non-Hermitian open system and could be applied to a wide range of disciplines, including optics, acoustics, and quantum many-body physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of the wavelength-scale micropores on metallic surfaces is limited by the high opacity of metal. At present, most micropores reported in the literature are more than 20 µm in diameter, which is not only large in size, but renders them inefficient for processing so that it is difficult to meet the needs of some special fields, such as aerospace, biotechnology, and so on. In this paper, the rapid laser fabrications of the wavelength-scale micropores on various metallic surfaces are achieved through femtosecond MHz burst Bessel beam ablation. Taking advantage of the long-depth focal field of the Bessel beam, high-density micropores with a diameter of 1.3 µm and a depth of 10.5 µm are prepared on metal by MHz burst accumulation; in addition, the rapid fabrication of 2000 micropores can be achieved in 1 s. The guidelines and experimental results illustrate that the formations of the wavelength-scale porous structures are the result of the co-action of the laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) effect and Bessel beam interference. Porous metal can be used to store lubricant and form a lubricating layer on the metallic surface, thus endowing the metal resistance to various liquids' adhesion. The microporous formation process on metal provides a new physical insight for the rapid preparation of wavelength-scale metallic micropores, and promotes the application of porous metal in the fields of catalysis, gas adsorption, structural templates, and bio-transportation fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Robot-assisted laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation (RALUR) and trans-umbilical multiport laparoscopic ureteral reimplantation (TMLUR) are both minimally invasive procedures for benign distal ureteral stricture (DUS). However, TMLUR has rarely been reported in published research, thus the difference in mid-term outcome of these two procedures warrants investigation. Methods: Patients who underwent RALUR or TMLUR for pediatric DUS from April 2017 to November 2020 at our institution were retrospectively analyzed and 56 patients were included in this retrospective comparison. Demographic characteristics, perioperative data and follow-up results were collected and analyzed in RALUR and TALUR groups. Results: RALUR and TMLUR were successfully performed in children aged from 12.0 to 142.0 months, without conversion to open ureteral reimplantation. RALUR took shorter operative time than TMLUR (p = 0.005) with less blood loss (p = 0.001). Meanwhile, patients receiving RALUR encountered a greater financial burden (p < 0.001) with less cosmetic satisfaction than TMLUR. The mean mid-term follow-up time for RALUR and TMLUR was 18.29 months and 24.64 months, respectively. Mid-term follow-up data showed that DUS was relieved with improved renal function after surgery in both groups, with no significant difference. Conclusions: RALUR and TMLUR are both safe and efficient for DUS treatment and achieve comparable mid-term outcomes in children. RALUR can reduce operative time and operative blood loss benefiting from its prominent technical superiority, but may currently bring about greater financial burden, with cosmetic satisfaction remaining to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To alleviate the extremely intrinsical ill-posedness and nonlinearity of electromagnetic inverse scattering under high contrast and low signal to noise ratio (SNR), we propose a deep unfolding network based on generative adversarial network (GAN) under contrast source inversion (CSI) framework, termed UCSI-GAN. The method solves inverse scattering problems (ISPs) using end-to-end generating confrontation way by incorporating a physical model together with its iterative updating formulation into the internal architecture of GAN. First, the nonlinear iterative scheme is extended to a deep unfolding generator network, and the contrast source and contrast updates are mapped to each module of the generator network. Second, to stabilize the imaging process, we add a refinement network to each variable update. Finally, the discriminator network is employed to ensure the authenticity of reconstructed images. The generator network and discriminator network are alternately trained with a generative adversarial learning strategy to reconstruct the properties of the medium object. Numerical experiments demonstrated that the performance of UCSI-GAN is better than traditional CSI and state-of-the-art learning approaches under high contrast and low SNR condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protonic solid oxide fuel cells (P–SOFCs) is an active field in development of intermediate-temperature fuel cells to render high power density and durability. The use of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to deposit the functional layers and interlayers of P–SOFCs supported on anode substrates offers advantages in reducing both the ohmic and polarization resistances of the cell, which however critically depends on the substrate microstructure. Here we use ashless paper fibers as pore former mixed with NiO and BaCe 0.7 Zr 0.1 Y 0.1 Yb 0.1 O 3-δ (BCZYYb) powders to prepare anode substrates with large, interconnected cylindrical pores, followed by using electrophoretic deposition to deposit NiO-BCZYYb as pore filler to fill the pores exposed on the top surface. With an anode substrate made using 20 wt% paper fiber and PLD-deposited NiO-BCZYYb anode functional layer (AFL), NiO-BCZYYb anode interlayer, and BCZYYb electrolyte layer, the peak power density reaches 550 mW/cm2 at 600 °C, which is 30 % higher than that of the cell with a commercial half-cell composed of NiO-BCZYYb substrate and spin-coated BCZYYb electrolyte layer but the same cathode interlayer and cathode layer. Furthermore, the insertion of a PLD-deposited graded anode interlayer between the AFL and electrolyte layer is found to be critical for high cell durability. [Display omitted] • Ashless paper fiber is used as pore former in fabricating P–SOFC anode substrate. • Paper fiber produces long, thick interconnected pores with higher gas permeability. • Electrophoretic deposition of pore filler effectively fills exposed surface pores. • Graded anode interlayer deposited by pulsed laser deposition raises cell durability. • Cell with 20 wt% paper fiber exhibits the highest cell power density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body measurement traits (BMTs), which are classical quantitative traits of vital responses to body growth, have been studied in pigs, cattle, and sheep for several decades. In chickens, BMTs mainly cover body slope length, keel length, chest width, chest depth, tibia length, and tibia diameter; however, their genetic markers are yet to be considered. In this study, the Wenshang Barred chicken, a meat-egg-type native breed in China, was used to investigate the association between BMTs and the expression of growth-related genes, including GH, IGF1, IGF2, GHRL, IGF1R, IGFBP2, GHF-1, and TSHB. The results revealed that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs3138025 in GH was significantly associated with keel length (P=0.0455 <0.05), rs313810945 in IGF2 was significantly correlated with chest width (P=0.0454 <0.05) and chest depth (P=0.0259 <0.05), and rs317298536 in TSHB significantly affected chest depth (P=0.0399 <0.05). The SNPs were associated with traits reflecting body size and were potentially involved in bone growth, which was consistent with studies in humans, rodents, and other vertebrate species. In addition, a borderline significant association was found between rs317298536 and body weight (P=0.0604). These polymorphic sites may be treated as candidate genetic markers in breeding programs involving Wenshang Barred chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-efficiency wideband double-layer transmitarray antenna (TA) using miniaturized array elements is proposed in the study for millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) applications. The transmitarray consists of 484 dual-polarized elements. Each element is composed of only two layers of identical modified Jerusalem crosses printed on a dielectric substrate. Additional stubs are used for size reduction, leading to a compact size with a periodicity of only $0.44 \lambda _{0}$. It contributes to a high aperture efficiency for the proposed TA. TA is designed, fabricated, and measured. It achieves a peak gain of 28.67 dBi at 31 GHz and a high aperture efficiency of 44%–61.3% within the 1 dB gain bandwidth, which is 10.3% (29.5–32.7 GHz) in the measurement. The proposed dual-polarized double-layer TA demonstrates simplified design complexity, reduced thickness and mass, and lower cost compared with the conventional TAs. It also exhibits high radiation gain and high aperture efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wideband dual-polarized metal lens is proposed in this article for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications. Compared with the traditional lens, the focal length of the proposed novel metal lens can be of any value in theory; in other words, the focal diameter ratio ($f/D$) can be arbitrarily adjusted. The metal 3-D printed technology is used to reduce the fabrication cost. The unit cell of the lens is a square open-ended waveguide. Since the phase velocity of the electromagnetic wave in the metal waveguide is faster than that in the air, the phase compensation can be controlled by adjusting the height of each unit of the lens. It helps to realize the conversion from the quasi-spherical wave of the feed source to the plane wave radiation of the lens. Due to the use of symmetrical elements, the lens can support different dual-polarized radiation (dual-linear polarization and dual-circular polarization). Considering the processing cost and design difficulty, a metal lens with $9\times $ 9 unit cells was processed to verify our design. The $f/D$ is selected as 1. Simulated results for the lens antenna show a peak aperture efficiency (AE) of 43.8% and 38% for linearly polarized (LP) and circularly polarized (CP) radiation, respectively. The antenna shows a stable pattern and wide 3 dB gain bandwidth (26–40 GHz), which covers the entire Ka-band. The measured results of the lens demonstrate a peak gain of 24 dBi and 23 dBic for LP and CP radiation with an aperture of about $7.5\,\,\lambda \times 7.5\,\,\lambda $ ($\lambda $ is the free space wavelength at 30 GHz). The proposed lens features a wide gain bandwidth with dual polarization, low cost, and good radiation performance, which is well suited for mm-wave wireless applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method of spatial prediction using count data that can be reasonably modeled assuming the Conway-Maxwell Poisson distribution (COM-Poisson). The COM-Poisson model is a two parameter generalization of the Poisson distribution that allows for the flexibility needed to model count data that are either over or under-dispersed. The computationally limiting factor of the COM-Poisson distribution is that the likelihood function contains multiple intractable normalizing constants and is not always feasible when using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques. Thus, we develop a prior distribution of the parameters associated with the COMPoisson that avoids the intractable normalizing constant. Also, allowing for spatial random effects induces additional variability that makes it unclear if a spatially correlated Conway- Maxwell Poisson random variable is over or under-dispersed. We propose a computationally efficient hierarchical Bayesian model that addresses these issues. In particular, in our model, the parameters associated with the COM-Poisson do not include spatial random effects (leading to additional variability that changes the dispersion properties of the data), and are then spatially smoothed in subsequent levels of the Bayesian hierarchical model. Furthermore, the spatially smoothed parameters have a simple regression interpretation that facilitates computation. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach using simulated examples, and a motivating application using 2016 US presidential election voting data in the state of Florida obtained from the Florida Division of Elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Information alienation" is a concept formed by combining the idea of "alienation" in philosophy with the characteristics of information itself. Information is a universal property of matter and an objectively existing form of material movement. The purpose of this paper is to study and analyze the alienation technology control of push information based on intelligent algorithms and describe the information alienation. This paper puts forward the problem of pushing information, which is based on intelligent algorithm, then elaborates around the concept of intelligent algorithm and related algorithms, and designs and analyzes the control of media information alienation. The experimental results show that, in the questionnaire survey, 72.34% of the people who very frequently swipe unfriendly information account for a very large proportion. People will always swipe it in various software applications, which is unavoidable. How to control the problem of information alienation needs to be controlled from the user level, the design media level, and the government level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thrombosis in the pulmonary vein stump (PVS) is not a well-known complication after pulmonary lobectomy, but it has the potential to cause embolism to vital organs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for thrombosis in the PVS after pulmonary lobectomy.Methods: A total of 439 patients who underwent pulmonary lobectomy from 2008 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed, and 412 patients were further analyzed. The state of the PVS was evaluated by chest contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT). Univariate analysis was performed to evaluate the potential risk factors for thrombosis in the PVS.Results: Thrombosis in the PVS was detected in 6 of 412 (1.5%) patients, and 5 of them underwent left upper lobectomy (LUL) (5/100, 5.0%) (P = 0.004). In the analyses of the LUL group, postoperative chest radiotherapy was identified as a risk factor for thrombosis in the PVS (P = 0.024), and postoperative atrial fibrillation showed a tendency to be a risk factor for thrombosis (P = 0.058).Conclusions: Chest radiotherapy after LUL is a possible risk factor for thrombosis in the PVS. Periodic chest CECT is recommended after postoperative chest radiotherapy for patients after LUL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early identification of adaptive mutations could provide timely help for the control and prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fast accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data provides important support, while also raising a great challenge for the recognition of adaptive mutations. Here, we proposed a computational strategy to detect potentially adaptive mutations from their fixed and parallel patterns in the phylogenetic trajectory. We found that the biological meanings of fixed substitution and parallel mutation are highly complementary, and can reasonably be integrated as a fixed and parallel (paraFix) mutation, to identify potentially adaptive mutations. Tracking the dynamic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, 37 sites in spike protein were identified as having experienced paraFix mutations. Interestingly, 70% (26/37) of them have already been experimentally confirmed as adaptive mutations. Moreover, most of the mutations could be inferred as paraFix mutations one month earlier than when they became regionally dominant. Overall, we believe that the concept of paraFix mutations will help researchers to identify potentially adaptive mutations quickly and accurately, which will provide invaluable clues for disease control and prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research in crisis communication and public relations focuses on relationship quality or outcomes, along with their causes and effects, mainly using cross-sectional survey data. This research expands the COPR theoretical framework by employing big data and deep learning to analyze the dynamics and intricacies of corporate and public stances during a long-term organizational crisis. Focusing on Monsanto/Bayer's Roundup crisis from 2012 to 2022, the study analyzed 232,694 tweets and 334 articles to examine corporate stances, public stances, and various relationship modes formed from both party's standpoints throughout the crisis. The results show the evolving and interdependent interactions between corporations and their publics, as well as the longitudinal impacts of public stances on stock prices. Our findings highlight the application of computational methods for enhancing strategic decision-making in managing organization-public relationships, particularly during prolonged and complex crisis scenarios. • This study applies deep learning and big data to advance the concept of contingent organization-public relationships (COPRs). • Analyses highlight the dynamic and interdependent nature of different relationship modes throughout a 10-year crisis. • Findings reveal the complex dynamics of corporate and public stances and their long-term impact on business outcomes. • An increase in neutral tweets negatively impacted Bayer's stock prices initially, yet this effect diminished over time. • There was mutual influence between public aggressive stances and Monsanto stock prices over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the syntheses of twelve asymmetric curcumin analogs using Pabon's method are reported. Generally, the previously reported yields of asymmetric curcuminoids, such as 9a (53%), 9c (38%), and 9k (38%), have been moderate or low. Herein, we propose that the low yields were due to the presence of water and n-BuNH2 in the reaction media. To prove this formulated hypothesis, we have demonstrated that the yields can be improved by adding molecular sieves (MS) (4 Å) to the reaction mixture, thus reducing the interference of water. Therefore, improved yields (41–76%) were obtained, except for 9b (36.7%), 9g (34%), and 9l (39.5%). Furthermore, compounds 9b, 9d, 9e, 9f, 9g, 9h, 9i, 9j, and 9l are reported herein for the first time. The structures of these synthetic compounds were determined by spectroscopic and mass spectrometry analyses. The free radical scavenging ability of these synthetic asymmetric curcuminoids was evaluated and compared to that of the positive control butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Among the synthesized asymmetric curcuminoids, compounds 9a (IC50 = 37.57 ± 0.89 μM) and 9e (IC50 = 37.17 ± 1.76 μM) possessed effective 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging abilities, and compounds 9h (IC50 = 11.36 ± 0.65 μM) and 9i (IC50 = 10.91 ± 0.77 μM) displayed potent 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) radical scavenging abilities comparable to that of curcumin (IC50 = 10.14 ± 1.04 μM). Furthermore, all the synthetic asymmetric curcuminoids were more active than BHT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Ovarian clear-cell carcinoma is a unique subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer. This collaborative study aimed to provide important information regarding patient demographics and treatment-associated prognostic factors in ovarian clear-cell carcinoma in Asia. Given the difference in prognoses between early- and advanced-stage cohorts, varying predictors between these two cohorts were clarified in separate analyses. Efforts should be made to promote early diagnosis and the inclusion of advanced-stage patients in clinical trials. Additionally, early recognition of poor responders to platinum-based chemotherapy and those with cancer progression occurring within seven months after completing primary chemotherapy should be emphasized in research and clinical settings. Our findings suggest that treatment selection for patients with platinum-resistant/refractory features (e.g., novel biomarkers) or relapsed disease should be based on the results of ongoing clinical trials for ovarian clear-cell carcinoma. Our results (if confirmed) will guide and inform treatment recommendations for patients at risk for poor prognosis. This large-scale study aimed to determine the long-term influences of potential prognostic predictors and progression-free interval (PFI) criteria for grading platinum-sensitivity in ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of OCCC patients presenting at nine tertiary centres (1995–2015), and evaluated patient characteristics, therapeutic factors, clinical outcomes, and hazard ratios for disease progression and death. We enrolled 536 patients (median follow-up, 36.6 months) and developed newly defined distributions of PFIs (seven and 14 months) for grading platinum sensitivity. In the multivariate model, preoperative CA125 levels and chemo-response independently predicted early-stage progression-free survival (PFS) risk. Post-progression cytoreduction correlated with reduced mortality risk. No unfavourable outcomes were observed with respect to coexisting endometriosis, fertility-sparing strategies, or platinum-based regimens. A PFI of <7 months, the strongest predictor of both post-progression mortality and second relapse risks, correlated with chemo-resistance, advanced tumour stage, and shortened post-progression survival. Chemotherapy regimens commonly used in front-line or relapse settings were limited in improving prognoses, especially in the advanced-stage cohort. Clinical trials of novel targeted agents and/or innovative biomarkers for chemoresistance should be comprehensively investigated and offered early to advanced-stage patients or those with OCCC progression occurring within seven months after receiving chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents procedures for determining the optimal solution of token exchanges platform for investors in Taiwan via integrating the best-worst method (BWM) and the technique for ordering preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS). Firstly, this research applies the modified Delphi method to develop the perspectives and factors via literature review and experts opinion. Secondly, the BWM is implemented to obtain weights of perspectives and factors on the linear programming concept. Thirdly, the TOPSIS model is used to rank the optimal solution of the token exchange for investors or corporations. Finally, the proposed model BWMTOPSIS-based procedures will list the optimal token exchanges platform on the three token exchange platforms to investors or corporations in Taiwan on the basis of their rankings in the architecture. The proposed combination framework is able to provide academic and commerce support to investors or corporations in implementing the token into their portfolio as a valuable objective guide to determine the optimal token exchange platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple method to synthesize multibeam radiation patterns with modulated linear spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) is proposed. We analytically proved that, for this specific type of LWA, the superposition of modulated antenna shapes can lead to a direct superposition in its radiation pattern. To validate this method, several simulations are performed, and two antennas are fabricated and tested. These results show that various types of radiation pattern, e.g., single-beam, dual-beam, or multibeam at various directions, can be achieved with little need for design efforts. The proposed antennas have features of the highly diverse radiation pattern, high gain (up to $\sim 14.6$ dBi, measured), wideband, large frequency scanning capability ($\sim 120$ ° with ignorable open stopband effect at broadside), and have very simple structures that are easy to design and fabricate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that explores about the realization of a coupled-mode heat engine with cavity-mediated nanoresonators. It demonstrate an essential class of heat engine in cavity optomechanical systems and provide an ideal platform platform for investigating heat engines of interacting subsystems in small scales with controllability and scalability.

Software is widely used in many application domains. The most popular software are used by millions every day. How to accurately predict and assess the reliability of developed software is becoming increasingly important for project managers and developers. Previous studies have primarily used the software reliability growth model (SRGM) to evaluate and predict software reliability, but prediction results cannot be accurate at particular times or in particular situations. One of the main reasons is that simplified assumptions and abstractions are usually made to simplify the problem when developing SRGMs. Selecting an appropriate SRGM should depend on the key characteristics of the software project. In this article, we propose a deep learning-based approach for software reliability prediction and assessment. Specifically, we clearly demonstrate how to derive mathematical expressions from the computational methods of deep learning models and how to determine the correlation between them and the mathematical formula of SRGMs, and then, we use the back-propagation algorithm to obtain the SRGM parameters. Furthermore, we further integrate some deep learning-based SRGMs and also propose a method for the weighted assignment of combinations. Three real open source software failure datasets are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed models compared to selected SRGMs. The experimental results reveal that our proposed deep learning-based models and their combinations perform better than several classical SRGMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulating evidence demonstrated that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play pivotal regulatory roles in the pathology of cancers. Disclosing the roles and molecular mechanisms of circRNAs in tumorigenesis and development is essential to identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets. In this study, we explored the role of circVAPA in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression and its associated mechanism. Methods: The expression level of RNA was analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay and colony-forming assay. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion were assessed by transwell assays. Dual-luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down, and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assays were used to test the intermolecular interactions. The role of circVAPA was assessed in vivo. And xenograft tumor tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Results: CircVAPA expression was upregulated in NSCLC tissues and cell lines, and a high level of circVAPA was associated with a poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. CircVAPA silencing suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion and induced the apoptosis of NSCLC cells. CircVAPA served as a molecular sponge for microRNA-342-3p (miR-342-3p). miR-342-3p interference largely reversed circVAPA knockdown-mediated anti-tumor effects in NSCLC cells. Zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) was a target of miR-342-3p, and miR-342-3p overexpression suppressed the malignant behaviors of NSCLC cells largely by downregulating ZEB2. CircVAPA silence repressed xenograft tumor growth in vivo, and IHC assay confirmed that circVAPA silence restrained the proliferation and metastasis but induced the apoptosis of NSCLC cells in vivo. Conclusion: CircVAPA contributes to the progression of NSCLC by binding to miR-342-3p to upregulate ZEB2. CircVAPA/miR-342-3p/ZEB2 axis might be a novel potential target for NSCLC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual-broadband dual-polarized magnetoelectric dipole (ME-dipole) antenna with a shared aperture for 5G applications is proposed in this communication. The antenna is operated at the 2.35–3.93 GHz (N41 and N78) and 24–34 GHz (N257 and N258) dual fifth-generation (5G) bands. Each band exhibits a dual-polarized radiation, and more importantly, the two bands shared the same radiation aperture. In the millimeter-wave (MM-wave) band, the proposed antenna can generate two-dimensional (2-D) multiple beams with dual-polarization, and the switching range at each plane is about ±20°. The antenna is composed of two kinds of ME-dipole. The MM-wave band uses an ME-dipole feeding through the substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) as the source to excite four horn antennas with inclined inner walls to achieve high-gain 2-D switching with dual-polarization. The lower frequency band combines the four horn antennas to achieve a large dual-polarized ME-dipole antenna. The antenna operating mechanism and the design procedure are illustrated in detail. The measured results show that a −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 33.91% (24–33.91 GHz) and 50.31% (2.35–3.93 GHz) is achieved. The peak gain of the proposed antenna in the two bands is 10.67 dBi (3.8 GHz) and 14.85 dBi (32.2 GHz), respectively. Due to the robust characteristics of the ME-dipole and horn antenna, the antenna shows a stable pattern and a wide impedance bandwidth, which covers most of the current 5G microwave and MM-wave bands. The antenna features a shared aperture, large frequency ratio, dual-broadband, dual-polarization, and 2-D multiple beams, which are well suited for the 5G base station applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The importance of social and economic capital as predictors of health is widely documented, yet the complexity of interactions between them and effects on older people's health is still unclear. Combining the material and psychosocial explanations of health, this study explores the potential interactions between social and economic capital in influencing older adults' health in urban and rural China. Methods: Using data from the China Family Panel Survey, physical and mental health in 2018 were regressed on social and economic capital indicators in 2016, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics of 3535 respondents aged 65 and older. Rothman's synergy index was calculated to investigate potential interaction effects. Results: Economic hardships were significantly related to both self-reported health and mental health. Neighborhood cohesion and social participation were significantly associated with mental health for all, bonding trust was significantly associated with mental health for urban older people. We found no significant associations between social capital components and self-reported health. There was an interaction effect between low neighborhood cohesion and economic hardships, and between low social participation and economic hardships, creating an increased burden of poor mental health. The interaction effect between low bonding trust and economic hardships on mental health was apparent only among urban older people. Conclusions: Geographical settings are important factors in the complexity between social and economic capital in affecting older health. Intervention efforts directed towards reducing simultaneously multiple dimensions of deprivation, such as poverty, social exclusion, social isolation, could be helpful in improving older people's health. In materially deprived places, policies to promote health equity by improving social capital but without eliminating poverty may be less effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, landed in Jezero crater (18.4663°N, 77.4298°E) on February 18, 2021 to collect samples from Mars that could be returned to Earth by a future Mars Sample Return campaign. While providing a rich sampling opportunity, Jezero also contains numerous landing hazards including scarps, canyons, mesas, dune fields, rock fields, and smaller craters. The Mars 2020 onboard inertial navigation system, which is the same as that used by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), only provides a very coarse inertially propagated position, which can have error as large as 3.2 km. The Lander Vision System (LVS) was added to Mars 2020 to reduce this position knowledge error to less than 40 m with respect to an on‐board reference map of the landing area. LVS uses a reference map on board to compare with the descent images for lander localization during the terminal stage of Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL). Because the reference map is used directly during EDL, it is critical that it have as little spatial and photometric error as possible. Photometrically, it should resemble as much as possible the real descent images to allow reliable terrain matching. Spatially, it should match as faithfully as possible the real, underlying terrain and contribute minimal error to the final localization solution. On February 18, 2021, the LVS reference map passed its ultimate test. The LVS system executed Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) flawlessly based on the LVS reference map. In addition to its use for TRN, the local hazard map is also registered to the LVS reference map so that the safe target selection (STS) system can select a safe and reachable landing site. The final error between the site targeted by the STS system and the real landing site is estimated at only 5 m. The exceptional performance of LVS indicates that the reference map met mission requirements with comfortable margin. LVS on Mars 2020 represents the first ever use of a reference map during spacecraft EDL. This breakthrough will have profound implications for future lander missions and the scope of scientific inquiry they are able to address. In this paper, we will describe the necessary precursor steps to building the Jezero Crater LVS map, including the methodology to dejitter Context Imager (CTX) images, improve the CTX sensor model, as well as the process used to validate the LVS map accuracy. Key Points: The Lander Vision System used for precision landing by the Mars 2020 mission required unprecedented fidelity in the onboard reference mapThis study describes methods used to generate an onboard reference map with the required fidelityThis study describes methods used to validate the onboard reference map [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we investigate the performance bottleneck of existing deep learning (DL) systems and propose DLBooster to improve the running efficiency of deploying DL applications on GPU clusters. At its core, DLBooster leverages two-level optimizations to boost the end-to-end DL workflow. On the one hand, DLBooster selectively offloads some key decoding workloads to FPGAs to provide high-performance online data preprocessing services to the computing engine. On the other hand, DLBooster reorganizes the computational workloads of training neural networks with the backpropagation algorithm and schedules them according to their dependencies to improve the utilization of GPUs at runtime. Based on our experiments, we demonstrate that compared with baselines, DLBooster can improve the image processing throughput by 1.4× – 2.5× and reduce the processing latency by 1/3 in several real-world DL applications and datasets. Moreover, DLBooster consumes less than 1 CPU core to manage FPGA devices at runtime, which is at least 90 percent less than the baselines in some cases. DLBooster shows its potential to accelerate DL workflows in the cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disc cutter has a large diameter and more teeth, and obvious tool runout (δi) is produced during disc milling process, so the irregular distribution of cutting force is generated due to uneven distribution of cutting output per tooth (hi*) caused by tool runout. Therefore, the tool runout (δi) must be considered when milling force model of disc milling is established. In the paper, first, milling force model of disc milling is built with a three-teeth alternating disc cutter considering the tool runout (δi). Second, tool runout (δi) is measured by the dial gauge when the revolving speed of disc cutter is 1 r/min, then cutting output per tooth considering tool runout (hi*) is obtained by the formula between cutting output of each tooth (hi) without considering tool runout (δi) and tool runout (δi). Third, the parameters of frictional angle (βn), normal shear angle (ϕn), and shear yield strength (τs) in model coefficients are calibrated by orthogonal cutting experimental. Then, the predictive model of milling force is obtained. Last, the reliability verification experiment of model is conducted. The experiment results show that the model is with high efficiency and precision and the measured force and predictive force is in good agreement in amplitude and trend, which can be used in the study of milling force of disc milling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel wideband circularly polarized (CP) planar array antenna is proposed in this article for the upcoming fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications. The antenna element is fed by a slot etched on the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) for convenient integration. It consists of two additional semicircle patches and two suspend metal posts which are working as the newly proposed polarizers for broadband CP operation. The combined patch, post, and slot generate totally four CP modes which greatly expand the antenna 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth. The antenna operating mechanism and the design procedure are illustrated in detail. The simulated results for the antenna element show an AR bandwidth of 41.28% from 25.66 to 39.01 GHz, an impedance bandwidth of wider than 44.62% from 24.41 to 38.43 GHz, and a gain of 7.25 ± 1 dBic over the frequency band. The antenna shows a stable pattern and wide AR/impedance overlapping bandwidth (25.66–38.43 GHz), which covers most of the current 5G mm-wave bands. To enhance the antenna gain for practical application, a planar 4 × 4 antenna array fed by a fully incorporated SIW network is designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results for the array demonstrate an AR bandwidth of 36.51% from 25.3 to 36.6 GHz, an impedance bandwidth of 40.21% from 24.42 to 36.71 GHz, and a peak gain of 19 dBic. The proposed antenna features a novel broadband CP working principle, low profile, and good radiation performance, which is well suited for 5G mm-wave applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Some estrogen bisselenocyanate compounds with significant cytotoxicity were synthesized. • Introduction of the second selenocyano at different locations shows various effects on cytotoxicity. • Compound 3e displays an IC 50 value of less than 5 μM against tested tumor cells. • Compound 3e shows excellent inhibiting neovascularization and anti-oxidative stress. • Cytotoxicity of 2-selenocyano-3-selenocyano compounds was greatly increased compare to monoselenocyano. The combination of steroid structure and selenocyano group offers high potential for the design and synthesis of new potential anti-tumor drugs. Beginning with estradiol, a series of 2-selenocyano-3-selenocyanoalkyloxyestradiol derivatives with remarkable antiproliferative activity was synthesized. Additionally, a 2,4-bisselenocyanoestradiol was synthesized by directly selenocyanating estradiol diacetate. It was found that the cytotoxicity of 2-selenocyano-3-selenocyanoalkyloxyestradiol derivatives was significantly increased in comparison to the corresponding monoselenocyanate precursor, whereas the cytotoxicity of the 2, 4-bisselenocyanoestradiol derivative was significantly reduced compared to the respective monosubstituted precursor. The introduction of the second selenocyano group at different locations of estradiol shows a various impact on the cytotoxicity of the compounds. Among them, compound 3e showed the best cytotoxicity, with an IC 50 value of less than 5 μM against the tested tumor cells, and strong inhibitory activities against HeLa and MCF-7 cell xenograft tumors in zebrafish, suppressing tumor cell migration and neovascularization. Notably, compound 3e was more effective at inhibiting neovascularization of MCF-7 cell xenograft tumors than the positive control 2-methoxyestradiol. Furthermore, compound 3e showed excellent anti-oxidative stress effect in zebrafish. Therefore, these estrogen bisselenocyanate compounds may be promising anti-tumor agents, warranting further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A series of studies have demonstrated the emerging involvement of transfer RNA (tRNA) processing during the progression of tumours. Nevertheless, the roles and regulating mechanisms of tRNA processing genes in neuroblastoma (NB), the prevalent malignant tumour outside the brain in children, are yet unknown. Methods: Analysis of multi‐omics results was conducted to identify crucial regulators of downstream tRNA processing genes. Co‐immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry methods were utilised to measure interaction between proteins. The impact of transcriptional regulators on expression of downstream genes was measured by dual‐luciferase reporter, chromatin immunoprecipitation, western blotting and real‐time quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) methods. Studies have been conducted to reveal impact and mechanisms of transcriptional regulators on biological processes of NB. Survival differences were analysed using the log‐rank test. Results: c‐Myc was identified as a transcription factor driving tRNA processing gene expression and subsequent malate‐aspartate shuttle (MAS) in NB cells. Mechanistically, c‐Myc directly promoted the expression of glutamyl‐prolyl‐tRNA synthetase (EPRS) and leucyl‐tRNA synthetase (LARS), resulting in translational up‐regulation of glutamic‐oxaloacetic transaminase 1 (GOT1) as well as malate dehydrogenase 1 (MDH1) via inhibiting general control nonrepressed 2 or activating mechanistic target of rapamycin signalling. Meanwhile, lamin A (LMNA) inhibited c‐Myc transactivation via physical interaction, leading to suppression of MAS, aerobic glycolysis, tumourigenesis and aggressiveness. Pre‐clinically, lobeline was discovered as a LMNA‐binding compound to facilitate its interaction with c‐Myc, which inhibited aminoacyl‐tRNA synthetase expression, MAS and tumour progression of NB, as well as growth of organoid derived from c‐Myc knock‐in mice. Low levels of LMNA or elevated expression of c‐Myc, EPRS, LARS, GOT1 or MDH1 were linked to a worse outcome and a shorter survival time of clinical NB patients. Conclusions: These results suggest that targeting c‐Myc transactivation by LMNA inhibits tRNA processing essential for MAS and tumour progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an offline hybrid trajectory optimization approach is proposed for variable-sweep missiles to explore the superiority in the diving phase. Aiming at the maximal terminal velocity with the impact angle constraint, the trajectory optimization model is formulated under multiple constraints, and the aerodynamic analysis in different sweep angles is discussed. Unlike only the attack angle used for the optimization process traditionally, the two-variable optimization scheme on both the attack angle and sweep angle is investigated for variable-sweep missiles. Then, the trajectory optimization problem is transformed into the nonlinear programming problem via a hybrid optimization strategy combining the Gauss pseudospectral method and direct shooting method to obtain the high precision and fast convergence solution. Finally, to verify the feasibility of the optimal trajectory under uncertainties, the tracking guidance law is designed on basis of the gain scheduled linear quadratic regulator control. Numerical simulation results reveal not only of the proposed hybrid optimization strategy but also of the superiority of variable-sweep missiles compared with traditional missiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]