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• We describe the role of circRNA-miRNA-mRN in breast cancer (BC). • The circRNA-miRNA-mRNA has potential value in the treatment of BC. • We introduced the mechanism of the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA in the development of BC. Among cancers, breast cancer has the highest incidence rate among women and poses a tremendous threat to women's health. Messenger RNA (mRNA), microRNA (miRNA) and circular RNA (circRNA) play vital roles in the progression of breast cancer through a variety of biological effects and mechanisms. Recently, the regulatory network formed by circRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs has piqued attention and garnered interest. CircRNAs bind to miRNAs through a regulatory mechanism in which endogenous RNAs compete to indirectly regulate the expression of mRNA corresponding to downstream target genes of miRNAs, contributing to the progression of breast cancer. The circRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis may be a marker for the early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer and a potential breast cancer treatment target, providing unlimited possibilities for the development of breast cancer biomarkers and therapeutic strategies. This article reviews recent research progress on the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis as a regulatory network of competing endogenous RNAs in breast cancer. Herein, we focus on the mechanism and function of the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA axis in the occurrence and metastasis of breast cancer, and resistance to chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex geological conditions and/or inappropriate shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) operation can significantly degrade both the excavation and safety of tunnel construction. In recent years, the excavation behaviour of shield TBMs has been a popular topic in the literature given the large volume of data automatically collected by modern shields. These datasets provide an excellent opportunity to apply advanced data analysis techniques to improve predictions of shield tunnelling excavation behaviour. In this study, a framework to develop machine learning (ML)-based regression models for predicting the behaviour of an earth pressure balance (EPB) shield machine using tunnelling parameters is proposed. The feasibility of four ML algorithms, namely Linear Regression (LR), Decision Tree Regression (DTR), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR), to predict EPB shield excavation behaviour is explored through their application to a recent tunnelling case history in sandy soils. The results show that the misestimates were primarily attributed to a reduction of screw conveyor rotational speed (SCRS), induced by a lower injection volume, the artificial manipulation of penetration rate (PR), the local variations of total jacking load, and the use of 'breakout' cutterwheel torque (CT). The GBR model provided the best performance, while LR often performs the worst due to its inability to handle highly nonlinear relationships. DTR prevented the overfitting problem by using a lower max depth parameter towards sacrificing its accuracy. The performance of SVR was seriously affected by loss functions. The proposed optimisation scheme that prevents the over-smoothing problem during the STL decomposition elevates further the prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In oats, polyphenols are mainly present in the outer layer of the oat grain in a bound state. This study addressed the limited knowledge regarding the antioxidant activity and in vitro digestion properties of oat brans under three drying methods: steam, microwave, and hot‐air drying. The total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity (OH, DPPH, ABTS, and T‐AOC), and in vitro digestion properties of 60‐ and 80‐mesh oat brans were determined. The steaming‐treated oat brans exhibited higher total polyphenol content, DPPH scavenging rate, and antioxidant capacity than those treated with the other two methods. Moreover, the·OH scavenging capacity and ABTS radical scavenging rate of steaming‐treated oat brans were not significantly different from those of the oat brans treated with the other two methods (p <.05). The three investigated drying methods can increase the in vitro bioavailability of the polyphenol content and antioxidants in oat brans. Novelty impact statement: Steaming, microwaving, and hot‐air drying deeply modified the total phenol content and antioxidants in oat bran. Steaming resulted in the greatest increase in the in vitro bioavailability of polyphenols and their antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of frequent foodborne disease outbreaks due to Staphylococcus aureus contamination necessitates the urgent searching for effective methods to monitor S. aureus. This research aims to construct model with a dynamic survival curve and some static growth curves to predict the behavior of S. aureus in raw pork. Lack of research about S. aureus kinetics in pork under fluctuating temperature conditions across freezing and thawing necessitates this study. One‐step analysis was used to determine the model parameters, which was more efficient than conventional model analysis with two steps. The results of kinetic analysis showed that Tmin (minimum growth temperature) was 6.85°C, which is close to the estimated values in previous reports. Subsequently, validation results indicated the integrated model can accurately predict the behavior of S. aureus regardless of isothermal or nonisothermal conditions with the root‐mean‐square errors (RMSE < 0.44 log CFU/g, 73.9% of the errors of prediction falls within ±0.5 log CFU/g), accuracy factors Af and bias factors Bf were both close to 1. This work may offer an effective method for the assessment of microbial security related to S. aureus in pork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fungi, as eukaryotic organisms, contain two genomes, the mitochondrial genome and the nuclear genome, in their cells. How the two genomes evolve and correlate to each other is debated. Herein, taking the gourmet pine mushroom Tricholoma matsutake as an example, we performed comparative mitogenomic analysis using samples collected from diverse locations and compared the evolution of the two genomes. The T. matsutake mitogenome encodes 49 genes and is rich of repetitive and non‐coding DNAs. Six genes were invaded by up to 11 group I introns, with one cox1 intron cox1P372 showing presence/absence dynamics among different samples. Bioinformatic analyses suggested limited or no evidence of mitochondrial heteroplasmy. Interestingly, hundreds of mitochondrial DNA fragments were found in the nuclear genome, with several larger than 500 nt confirmed by PCR assays and read count comparisons, indicating clear evidence of transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome. Nuclear DNA of T. matsutake showed a higher mutation rate than mitochondrial DNA. Furthermore, we found evidence of incongruence between phylogenetic trees derived from mitogenome and nuclear DNA sequences. Together, our results reveal the dynamic genome evolution of the gourmet pine mushroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high moisture content of lignite restricts its extensive and efficient use. Furthermore, the reabsorption of lignite is also a factor that affects lignite spontaneous combustion. Therefore, it is of great importance to study the process and mechanism of water molecule desorption and adsorption on lignite and coke (25–950°C) to achieve the clean and efficient utilization of lignite and environmental protection. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), thermogravimetric analysis, and other techniques were used in this study to explore the water molecule absorption and desorption processes of lignite pyrolysis at different temperatures (25–950°C) and the special contributions of ether bonds to water molecule adsorption. A mechanism of lignite water molecule adsorption was proposed. The results showed that ether bonds played a special role in the water molecule adsorption by pyrolyzed lignite. The ether bond content was greater in the coal samples at 300 and 950°C, which changed the trend of lignite water molecule absorption and the distribution of water (T2) detected in the 1H-NMR experiments and delayed the escape of water molecules during moisture desorption. The total amount of adsorbed water decreased first and then increased in the coal samples as the pyrolysis temperature increased. However, the maximum adsorption interactions of each coal sample increased first and then decreased. This was the result of the interactions between the pores and the oxygen-containing functional groups. Based on the above analysis, water molecule adsorption mechanism models of lignite and coke were constructed. This study offers a new approach for investigating the water molecule adsorption and adsorption mechanisms of lignite and coke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and evolution of protoplanetary discs (PPDs) are largely governed by disc angular momentum transport, mediated by magnetic fields. In the most observable outer disc, ambipolar diffusion is the primary non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect. In this work, we study the gas dynamics in outer PPDs by conducting a series of global three-dimensional non-ideal MHD simulations with ambipolar diffusion and net poloidal magnetic flux, using the Athena++ MHD code, with resolution comparable to local simulations. Our simulations demonstrate the coexistence of magnetized disc winds and turbulence driven by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI). While MHD winds dominate disc angular momentum transport, the MRI turbulence also contributes significantly. We observe that magnetic flux spontaneously concentrates into axisymmetric flux sheets, leading to radial variations in turbulence levels, stresses, and accretion rates. Annular substructures arise as a natural consequence of magnetic flux concentration. The flux concentration phenomena show diverse properties with different levels of disc magnetization and ambipolar diffusion. The disc generally loses magnetic flux over time, though flux sheets could prevent the leak of magnetic flux in some cases. Our results demonstrate the ubiquity of disc annular substructures in weakly MRI turbulent outer PPDs and imply a stochastic nature of disc evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu-Based quantum dots (QDs) are of great interest due to their unique properties enabling the replacement of traditional toxic Cd- or Pb-based QDs, for use in bioimaging and biomedical applications. Different reaction conditions have profound effects upon the morphologies and photophysical properties of the obtained QDs, the investigation of which is crucial in order to prepare the highest quality Cu-based QDs. Here, we have carried out a series of studies, optimizing the synthesis of CIZS/ZnS/ZnS QDs via careful control of the ZnS shell deposition. The effects of different reaction temperatures and growth times on the resulting morphologies and optical properties of the QDs have been systematically examined. It has been found that reaction temperature plays a significant role in the resulting optical properties and morphologies, affecting the deposition dynamics of the shell materials and the onset of severe surface ligand degradation. Based on the detailed studies, optimal reaction conditions have been chosen and highly fluorescent CIZS/ZnS/ZnS core/shell/shell heterostructured QDs, with PLQYs as high as 41.6 ± 4.2%, have been produced. In addition, we have achieved for the first time a "giant" ZnS shell (QDs of 13.02 nm in diameter). These results are important for the further development of CIZS/ZnS/ZnS core/shell/shell nanoheterostructures with optimal optical properties and morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neural-network methods have been widely used for the prediction of dose distributions in radiotherapy. However, the prediction accuracy of existing methods may be degraded by the problem of dose imbalance. In this work, a new loss function is proposed to alleviate the dose imbalance and achieve more accurate prediction results. The U-Net architecture was employed to build a prediction model. Our study involved a total of 110 patients with left-breast cancer, who were previously treated by volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy. The patient dataset was divided into training and test subsets of 100 and 10 cases, respectively. We proposed a novel 'sharp loss' function, and a parameter γ was used to adjust the loss properties. The mean square error (MSE) loss and the sharp loss with different γ values were tested and compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.Results: The sharp loss achieved superior dose prediction results compared to those of the MSE loss. The best performance with the MSE loss and the sharp loss was obtained when the parameter γ was set to 100. Specifically, the mean absolute difference values for the planning target volume were 318.87 ± 30.23 for the MSE loss versus 144.15 ± 16.27 for the sharp loss with γ = 100 (p < 0.05). The corresponding values for the ipsilateral lung, the heart, the contralateral lung, and the spinal cord were 278.99 ± 51.68 versus 198.75 ± 61.38 (p < 0.05), 216.99 ± 44.13 versus 144.86 ± 43.98 (p < 0.05), 125.96 ± 66.76 versus 111.86 ± 47.19 (p > 0.05), and 194.30 ± 14.51 versus 168.58 ± 25.97 (p < 0.05), respectively.Conclusions: The sharp loss function could significantly improve the accuracy of radiotherapy dose prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A porous Cu2O/TiO2 hybrid photocatalyst with n-type Cu2O decorated on the mesoporous TiO2 derived from MIL-125 was designed through the in situ Cu2+ ion reduction strategy. Under UV-vis light irradiation, the Cu2O/TiO2 composite with 4.2 wt% of Cu2O displayed the highest hydrogen evolution rate of 14.39 mmol h−1 g−1, which was about 9.6 and 24.8 times that of the original mesoporous TiO2 and pure Cu2O, respectively. The enhancement in photocatalytic activity can be mainly attributed to the type-I band structure formed, which can efficiently enhance the photoexcited charge carrier mobility across the phase interfaces of the Cu2O/TiO2 composite, as evidenced by the UV-DRS spectra, Mott–Schottky curves, and XPS analysis. Besides, the narrow band gap of Cu2O, conducive to the absorption of visible light, and the high specific surface of TiO2 were also found to contribute to the photoactivity enhancement. This work will provide a new perspective for the study of type-I photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a low-thrust reconfiguration strategy for formation flying based on the Jordan normal form and evaluates its performance based on the required control acceleration and fuel cost. First, the relative dynamics of reconfiguration is disposed by Jordan decomposition to describe the unstable component, i.e., the drift velocity along the track direction, which is not explicit in eigenstructure. Next, the initial states of the Jordan-reduced dynamics are regarded as orbital invariants without control to characterize a formation configuration, similar to the definition of orbital elements that are invariants of the unperturbed Keplerian orbit. Based on the derived differential form of ISJD with control, the reconfiguration trajectory is parameterized by a functional integral, the existence of which is then proved analytically by the proposed polynomial series method. The specified optimal trajectories are yielded by the practical Radau pseudospectral method numerically. Finally, the effects of reconfiguring positions and relative orbital orientation on the required acceleration and fuel cost are investigated using a technique for order preference based on similarity to the ideal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on the genetic polymorphisms of 29 Y-STR loci in 1 532 unrelated males of Han population in Southern Jiangxi province and its genetic relationship with other ethnic groups in China was conducted. The Y-STR loci were amplified by DNATyper™ Y29 kit, and capillary electrophoresis was carried out by 3730 genetic analyzer. Y-STR typing was carried out by GeneMapper IDX 1.4 software, and genetic data such as allele frequency and haplotype frequency of 29 Y-STR loci were calculated. Mega-X was used to construct the phylogenetic trees for the selected populations. The molecular variance analysis (AMO- VA) of YHRD online tool software was used to calculate the genetic distance between Southern Jiangxi Han population and other populations, and at the same time to construct multi-dimensional scale map (MDS). After analysis, the gene diversity (GD) values of 29 Y-STR loci ranged from 0.381 5 to 0.876 6. In addition to DYS508, DYS437, DYS391 and DYS438 loci, the GD values of the other 25 gene loci were higher than 0.5. The haplotype diversity (HD) was 0.999 924, indicating that 29 Y-STR loci had high genetic polymorphism in Southern Jiangxi Han population. Compared with the Han population in other areas, the genetic distance between the Han population in Southern Jiangxi and Fujian was the closest (genetic distance Rst is 0.000 2), and that between the Han populations in Southern Jiangxi and Heilongjiang was the furthest (Rst is 0.024 9). Compared with other ethnic groups, the Han nationality in Southern Jiangxi had the closest genetic distance to the Bai nationality in Yunnan (Rst is 0.005 9), and the furthest genetic distance to the Tibetan nationality in Ganzi (Rst is 0.468 9). The results showed that the 29 Y-STR loci in this study have high genetic polymorphism in Southern Jiangxi Han population, which can meet the requirements of family investigation and forensic examination. The data obtained can provide data support for research and application of population of genetics and forensic science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' awareness, usage and attitude towards e-books at the Zhejiang University in China. The research design was quantitative using a convenience sampling method and chi-square analyses were employed. Library staff responsible for digital resources collection had been interviewed. Results indicated that there was a significant difference of students' awareness and usage of general e-books and academic e-books. There was a higher awareness but lower adoption of general e-books. The awareness and level of usage of library provided e-books were both very low. A search engine was generally used to access e-books. Senior undergraduates and postgraduate students mainly accessed e-books from the library website and library catalog. Students, particularly undergraduate students, used e-books mainly for the purpose of leisure. In contrast, postgraduate students tended to use e-books more for academic purposes. The use of mobile devices and computers was preferred when reading e-books; but for academic e-books students preferred print part of them for reading. University students showed strong preference for printing books. Academic libraries should put more efforts on promotion, stimulating demands, and cooperation with teachers to improve e-books usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies have revealed associations between maternal lipid metabolites and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, whether these associations are causal remain uncertain. Objective: To evaluate the causal relationship between lipid metabolites and GDM. Methods: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed based on summary statistics. Sensitivity analyses, validation analyses and reverse MR analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the MR results. Additionally, a phenome-wide MR (Phe-MR) analysis was performed to evaluate potential side effects of the targeted lipid metabolites. Results: A total of 295 lipid metabolites were included in this study, 29 of them had three or more instrumental variables (IVs) suitable for sensitivity analyses. The ratio of triglycerides to phosphoglycerides (TG_by_PG) was identified as a potential causal biomarker for GDM (inverse variance weighted (IVW) estimate: odds ratio (OR) = 2.147, 95% confidential interval (95% CI) 1.415–3.257, P = 3.26e−4), which was confirmed by validation and reverse MR results. Two other lipid metabolites, palmitoyl sphingomyelin (d18:1/16:0) (PSM(d18:1/16:0)) (IVW estimate: OR = 0.747, 95% CI 0.583–0.956, P = 0.021) and triglycerides in very small very low-density lipoprotein (XS_VLDL_TG) (IVW estimate: OR = 2.948, 95% CI 1.197–5.215, P = 0.015), were identified as suggestive potential biomarkers for GDM using a conventional cut-off P-value of 0.05. Phe-MR results indicated that lowering TG_by_PG had detrimental effects on two diseases but advantageous effects on the other 13 diseases. Conclusion: Genetically predicted elevated TG_by_PG are causally associated with an increased risk of GDM. Side-effect profiles indicate that TG_by_PG might be a target for GDM prevention, though caution is advised due to potential adverse effects on other conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reversible solid thermally responsive deep‐blue pure organic room temperature phosphorescent material is constructed by terephthalic acid (PPA), β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD), and poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA). Attributed to the host‐guest interaction of β‐CD to isolate PPA chromophore and the rigid environment offered by hydrogen bonds to suppress the nonradiative decays, amorphous supramolecular assembly PPA‐CD/PVA not only induces a deep‐blue phosphorescence at 410 nm that differing from traditional PPA derivatives with green emission but also enhances the quantum yield up to 30.52%. Uncommonly, this film exhibits a unique reversible thermal stimulation response property with blue and cyan phosphorescence color transitions because heating can destroy the binding behavior between β‐CD and PPA, resulting in redshift phosphorescence emission from PPA stacking. Additionally, with the incorporation of Rhodamine B (RhB) or Sulforhodamine 101 (SR101) into the supramolecular film, color‐tunable phosphorescence from blue to white, yellow, and red relying on the thermal stimulation is realized through triplet‐to‐singlet Förster resonance energy transfer (TS‐FRET) platform. These thermochromic phosphorescence materials are successfully applied in multilevel anticounterfeiting and information encryption, which provides a new simple approach for temperature‐responsive TS‐FRET multicolor luminescence supramolecular materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

316 L steel-based human implants play an important role in the biomedical field. In order to address the problem of immune rejection of 316 L steel-based human implants and further improve the machining efficiency, the surface roughness (SR) and hydrophilicity of 316 L workpieces are improved by electrical discharge machining milling (EDM-milling) instead of die-sinking electrical discharge machining (EDM) and by the incorporation of nano hydroxyapatite (NHAP) powder into the dielectric. The effects of powder concentration of NHAP, reference voltage, peak current, pulse width, and pulse interval on the material removal rate (MRR), electrode wear rate (EWR), SR, and contact angle (CA) of 316 L workpiece processed by powder mixed EDM-milling with NHAP (NHAP-PMEDM-milling) are investigated by single-factor experiment, and comparisons are done with the powder mixed die-sinking electrical discharge machining with NHAP (NHAP-PMEDM). According to the results, the MRR, EWR, SR, and CA of 316 L by NHAP-PMEDM-milling are varied regularly with the variation of experiment parameters. The addition of NHAP powder into deionized water (DW) can reduce the CA of the surface of 316 L steel workpiece to a great extent, with a maximum reduction of 27.9%, while affecting MRR, EWR, and SR very little. In addition, NHAP-PMEDM-milling can increase MRR by 115.5% and reduce EWR, SR, and CA by 43.2%, 13.2%, and 15.9%, respectively, compared with NHAP-PMEDM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a type of breast cancer that is negative for oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, is highly malignant and aggressive, lacks of corresponding targeted therapy, and has a relatively poor prognosis. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of TNBC development and formulating effective treatment strategies for inducing cell death are still urgent tasks in the treatment of TNBC. Research has shown that uncarboxylated osteocalcin can promote the proliferation of prostate cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and TNBC cells, but the mechanism by which GluOC affects TNBC growth and metastasis needs further study. Methods: MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were used for in vitro cell analysis. Key target molecules or pathways were identified by RNA sequencing, and migration ability was detected by scratch assays, Transwell assays, cell adhesion assays and western blot analysis. Fluorescence staining, colony detection, qRT‒PCR and flow cytometry were used to detect apoptosis, oxidative stress, the cell cycle and the stemness of cancer cells, and a xenotransplantation model in BALB/C nude mice was used for in vivo analysis. Results: This study demonstrated that GluOC facilitates the migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells through the ROCK1/MYPT1/MLC2 signalling pathway and promotes the proliferation of TNBC cells via the ROCK1/JAK2/PIK3CA/AKT signalling pathway. Experiments in nude mice demonstrated that GluOC promoted tumour cell proliferation and metastasis in tumour-bearing mice, which further clarified the molecular mechanism of TNBC growth and invasion. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of GluOC in driving TNBC progression and its association with poor patient outcomes. This study clarifies the functional effects of GluOC on TNBC growth, providing insight into the molecular basis of TNBC and potentially providing new ideas for developing targeted therapies to improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal nanoclusters exhibit fascinating molecule-like properties owing to their magic size lying between the small molecules and nanoparticles. This review systematically summarizes their molecule-like properties, including inherent chirality, isomerization, total synthesis, molecular-like optical properties, and DNA-like helical assemblies. Perspectives on future fundamental importance and practical value are also discussed. [Display omitted] Few- to hundred-atom-composed metal nanoclusters (NCs) lie in the transition regime between molecular- and nanometer-scales and have attracted intensive attention for their emerging molecule-like properties that energetically serve various sectors of applications. We here deploy this review in a novel viewpoint, namely the emphasis on the diverse molecule-like properties of metal NCs. We start to clarify the uniqueness in size, precision in total structure, and diversity in species of the molecularly pure metal NCs. This poses the origin of their molecule-like performances. Specifically, it in sequence involves the reminiscent concepts coined in molecular science (i.e., chirality, isomerization, and total synthesis); the most impressive molecule-like optical properties; the emergence of DNA-like helical ensembles mimicking biomolecules and their assemblies. We also provide our perspectives on future molecule-like NCs research, focusing on their fundamental importance and practical value. This review is expected to provide a brand-new viewpoint to revisit the science of metal NCs, by deepening the concept of the metallic molecule and admiring the molecule-like features of metal NCs, which may feed the new vitality and flavors to the various sections of fundamentals and applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fully convolutional networks were developed for predicting optimal dose distributions for patients with left-sided breast cancer and compared the prediction accuracy between two-dimensional and three-dimensional networks. Sixty cases treated with volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy were analyzed. Among them, 50 cases were randomly chosen to conform the training set, and the remaining 10 were to construct the test set. Two U-Net fully convolutional networks predicted the dose distributions, with two-dimensional and three-dimensional convolution kernels, respectively. Computed tomography images, delineated regions of interest, or their combination were considered as input data. The accuracy of predicted results was evaluated against the clinical dose. Most types of input data retrieved a similar dose to the ground truth for organs at risk (p > 0.05). Overall, the two-dimensional model had higher performance than the three-dimensional model (p < 0.05). Moreover, the two-dimensional region of interest input provided the best prediction results regarding the planning target volume mean percentage difference (2.40 ± 0.18%), heart mean percentage difference (4.28 ± 2.02%), and the gamma index at 80% of the prescription dose are with tolerances of 3 mm and 3% (0.85 ± 0.03), whereas the two-dimensional combined input provided the best prediction regarding ipsilateral lung mean percentage difference (4.16 ± 1.48%), lung mean percentage difference (2.41 ± 0.95%), spinal cord mean percentage difference (0.67 ± 0.40%), and 80% Dice similarity coefficient (0.94 ± 0.01). Statistically, the two-dimensional combined inputs achieved higher prediction accuracy regarding 80% Dice similarity coefficient than the two-dimensional region of interest input (0.94 ± 0.01 vs 0.92 ± 0.01, p < 0.05). The two-dimensional data model retrieves higher performance than its three-dimensional counterpart for dose prediction, especially when using region of interest and combined inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a therapeutic effect on diabetic nephropathy (DN) but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study was conducted to investigate whether human umbilical cord-MSCs (hUCMSCs) can induce oxidative damage and apoptosis by activating Nrf2. Methods: We used a type 2 diabetic rat model and a high-glucose and fat-stimulated human glomerular mesangial cell (hGMC) model. Western blotting, RT-qPCR, and TUNEL staining were performed on animal tissues and cultured cells. Nuclear expression of Nrf2 was detected in the renal tissue. Furthermore, Nrf2 siRNA was used to examine the effects of hUCMSCs on hGMCs. Finally, the effect of hUCMSCs on the Nrf2 upstream signalling pathway was investigated. Results: After treatment with hUCMSCs, Nrf2 showed increased expression and nuclear translocation. After Nrf2-specific knockout in hGMCs, the protective effect of hUCMSCs on apoptosis induced by high-glucose and fat conditions was reduced. Activation of the PI3K signalling pathway may be helpful for ameliorating DN using hUCMSCs. Conclusions: hUCMSCs attenuated renal oxidative damage and apoptosis in type 2 diabetes mellitus and Nrf2 activation is one of the important mechanisms of this effect. hUCMSCs show potential as drug targets for DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In China, as the "gatekeepers"of rural residents' health, the primary-level village doctors, play a very crucial role in ensuring and serving the health level of rural residents. However, the burnout of village doctors is gravely threatening the stability of rural primary medical system step by step. This study systematically evaluated the effects of personality, work engagement and alexithymia on burnout of village doctors, and further measured and assessed the mediating effect of alexithymia and work engagement in the association between personality and burnout.Methods: The subjects were 2684 village doctors in Jining, Shandong Province, China, from May to June 2019. Sociodemographic characteristics, alexithymia, personality, work engagement and job burnout were quantitated by self-completed questionnaire and measured by Likert 5-7 scale. One-way ANOVA, Person correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used for statistical analysis and mediating effect evaluation.Results: 2693 questionnaires were collected in total, of which 2684 were valid, with an effective rate of 96.2%. 65.2% of village doctors were diagnosed with burnout, and 54.3% showed moderate to severe emotional exhaustion, 61.6% showed moderate to severe low sense of personal achievement, and 33.9% showed moderate to severe depersonalization burnout. Personality had a direct positive effect on work engagement (β = 0.50, p < 0.001), a direct negative effect on alexithymia (β = - 0.52, p < 0.001) and burnout (β = - 0.50, p < 0.001) respectively. Work engagement had a direct negative effect on burnout (β = - 0.10, p < 0.001), while alexithymia had a direct positive effect on burnout (β = 0.16, p < 0.001). In the path between personality and burnout, both work engagement 95%CI:(- 0.17)-(- 0.08), and alexithymia 95%CI:(- 0.36)-(- 0.09), have significant mediating effects. These results strongly confirm that personality, alexithymia, and work engagement are early and powerful predicators of burnout.Conclusion: According to the results, medical administrators should pay attention to the personality characteristics of village doctors in vocational training, practice selection and job assignment, encourage village doctors to reflect on their own personality actively, and to reduce job burnout by obtaining necessary social support, constructing reasonable achievable career expectations, improving time management ability, and participating in psychological counselling programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetized sintered NdFeB (MS-NdFeB) permanent magnet material is difficult to machine due to high hardness, brittleness, and magnetic force. In this paper, the electrical discharge machining (EDM) of the MS-NdFeB workpiece is studied to improve the machining process of the MS-NdFeB. In addition to the material removal rate (MRR) and the surface roughness (SR), the change rate of the magnetic flux density (MCR) for the MS-NdFeB is proposed and used as the research index of their machining effect by the EDM process. By orthogonal experiments, using the intuitive analysis method and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method, study the influences of the peak current, the pulse on time, the pulse off time, and the magnetic field intensity of the processing area (MF) on the MRR, the SR, and the MCR. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of the machined MS-NdFeB surfaces are obtained based on the experimental design with a one-factor variation. The comparative experiment is performed to reveal the change of the MCR in EDM. The intuitive analysis of the orthogonal experimental result reveals regularities of influences. The ANOVA reveals the significance of influences. The regularities and significance of influences of machining parameters on the machining effects are analyzed assisted by the analysis on these SEM pictures and the comparative experimental results. The optimal combinations of machining parameters for MRR, SR, and MCR are obtained by single-objective optimization. The verification experiments prove the reliability of the single objective optimization results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the dynamic creation of two different geometric quantum discords (GQDs) defined, respectively, via the Hilbert–Schmidt norm (GQD-2) and trace norm (GQD-1) between the two qubits, which are prepared initially in a zero discord two-qubit X-shape state, and subject to a two layers environment that consists of a lossy cavity coupled to the W-coupled lossy cavities. We find that the GQD-2 and GQD-1 exhibit oscillatory behavior in the regime of the strong coupling between the qubit and first-layer cavity environment. And in both the weak and strong coupling regimes, for the greater the number of cavities in the second-layer environment, the GQDs reach their peak value in a larger time and go to zero more slowly. But in the qubit–cavity coupling, the coupling between two nearest neighbor cavities and the decay rate of cavities in the second-layer environment have the opposite effect on the GQDs. Furthermore, the maximum value of GQDs remains unchanged and the steady value increases, or they both decrease, depending on the threshold value of coupling between the two layers environment. Finally, we propose an effective strategy to improve the GQD-2 and GQD-1 by using local filtering operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimed to investigate the clinical significance and biological roles of Daam1 in human GC. Methods: Daam1 protein expression was examined in 124 cases of gastric adenocarcinomas using immunohistochemistry. Daam1 plasmid and siRNA transfection were carried out in SGC7901 and AGS cell lines. CCK-8, colony formation, Annexin V/PI, JC-1 staining, and Western blotting were used to explore the biological functions and potential underlying mechanisms of Daam1 in GC cells. Results: Our results showed that Daam1 was overexpressed in GC specimens. A high Daam1 level was associated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, T status, nodal metastasis, and poor patient survival. Analysis of the Oncomine dataset revealed upregulation of Daam1 mRNA in GC tissues. Western blot showed that Daam1 protein expression was higher in GC cell lines compared to the normal GES-1 cell line. CCK-8 and colony formation assays showed that ectopic Daam1 expression upregulated the cell growth rate and colony number in SGC-7901 cells, while Daam1 siRNA knockdown downregulated the growth rate and colony number in AGS cells. CCK-8 and Annexin V/PI apoptosis assays demonstrated that Daam1 overexpression decreased cisplatin sensitivity and downregulated cisplatin-induced apoptosis. JC1 staining showed that Daam1 overexpression upregulated, while Daam1 depletion downregulated mitochondrial membrane potential. Mechanistically, Daam1 overexpression downregulated p21 and upregulated p-ERK and p-AKT. The increased proliferation rate and decreased cisplatin sensitivity/apoptosis induced by ectopic Daam1 were reversed after treatment with AKT and ERK inhibitors. Conclusion: Taken together, our results showed that Daam1 overexpression was associated with poor prognosis and promoted malignant activity via regulation of ERK and AKT pathways in GC cells, indicating Daam1 is a malignant biomarker and potential therapeutic target in GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastatic tumour recurrence caused by circulating tumour cells (CTCs) after surgery is responsible for more than 90% of tumour-related deaths. A postoperative evaluation system based on the long-term dynamic detection of CTCs helps in guiding the postoperative treatment of tumours in real time and preventing metastases and recurrence of tumours after treatment. In this study, a simple, rapid, and low-cost postoperative evaluation system was established based on the number of CTCs captured by a label-free acoustic separation device from whole blood samples of mice, of which breast tumours were surgically removed, and tumour metastasis was successfully predicted. First, an acoustofluidic device with a custom-designed bottom microcavity array was fabricated to induce highly localised acoustic microstreaming by applying acoustic vibration. Second, experiments of capturing 'defined' cells (artificially mixed individual 4T1 cancer cells into normal blood) based on optimal acoustic streaming were performed. The separation device exhibited a high capture efficiency (>96%). Further applications of capturing the 'true' CTCs derived from postoperative mice were successfully developed to predict tumour prognosis based on the number of captured CTCs. Finally, the prediction was verified through long-term observation of mice with excised tumours. The acoustofluidic device can efficiently capture CTCs and precisely predict tumour metastasis in a low-cost and non-invasive manner. This will help clinicians monitor patients that underwent surgical resection of tumours over a long period of time and facilitate optimal treatment strategies in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We described a novel sequencing technology that can explore complex intracellular processes at the single cell level. • The single-cell sequencing technology has been successfully applied in the field of cancer research. We described the latest development of this technique in the study of cancer pathogenesis and clinical application. • We have made a detailed classification and summary of the existing single-cell sequencing technologies. Tumor heterogeneity is a key characteristic of malignant tumors and a significant obstacle in cancer treatment and research. Although bulk tissue sequencing has wide coverage and high accuracy, it can only represent the dominant cell signal information of each sample, while masking the unique gene expression of rare cells; therefore it cannot represent genes that are unstable within a subgroup, but unchanged in a majority of cells. With the progress of genomic technology, the emergence of single-cell sequencing (SCS) has effectively solved the above problem. Genetic, transcriptomic and epigenetic sequencing at the single-cell level provides an important basis for us to correctly classify the cell subsets of heterogeneous tumor populations and to reveal the process of complex changes in tumor cells at the molecular level. Single-cell sequencing technology has been applied to the field of cancer, revealing exciting discoveries in the potential mechanisms of tumor driver gene mutation, clonal evolution, invasion and metastasis. It also provides favorable conditions for developing new tumor biomarkers and providing more accurate and individualized targeted tumor therapy. Herein, we review the steps and methods of single-cell sequencing and highlight the application of SCS in tumor diagnosis and clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The favorable average curvature effect, also known as the GGJ effect (Glasser et al 1975 Phys. Fluids 18 875), is intrinsically associated with parallel sound wave propagation in a tokamak plasma. This work investigates how the GGJ effect is modified by changing the parallel sound wave behavior. Two physics models beyond the standard single fluid theory, i.e. an anisotropic thermal transport model and a parallel sound wave damping model, are employed to change parallel sound waves in a toroidal plasma, and the consequence on the GGJ effect is demonstrated for two important classes of problems, i.e. the resistive plasma response to the applied resonant magnetic perturbation and the stability of the tearing mode. Toroidal modeling reveals that the GGJ effect is significantly altered by both of the aforementioned physics effects. Compared to the thermal transport physics, which completely removes the GGJ effect, the sound wave damping effect only offers partial mitigation. The differences between these two models are further illustrated in terms of the radial structure of the shielding current and the eigenfunction of the tearing instability. In particular, a fundamental reason for complete suppression of the GGJ effect by the thermal transport is identified as an extra toroidal coupling of the poloidal harmonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is a synthetic inhibitor of human cytokines with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. This study was designed to investigate the expression variation of IL-10 in the multiple sites including cortex, hippocampus, and lung tissues of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) rats and explore the crucial role of IL-10 in alleviating HI brain damage. In this study, neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to the right common carotid artery ligation, followed by 2 h of hypoxia. The expression of IL-10 in the cortex, hippocampus, and lung tissues was measured with immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and western blot (WB). Immunofluorescence double staining was performed to observe the localization of IL-10 in neurons and astrocytes. Moreover, not-targeting and targeting IL-10 siRNA lentivirus vectors were injected into the rats of the negative control (NC) and IL-10 group, respectively, and the mRNA levels of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and endoplasmic reticulum protein 29 (ERp29) were detected by RT-qPCR following IL-10 silence. The results demonstrated that the IL-10 expression was markedly increased after HI and IL-10 were colocalized with neurons and astrocytes which were badly injured by HI insult. In addition, Bcl-2 and ERp29 were remarkably decreased following IL-10 mRNA interference compared with the NC group. Our findings revealed that IL-10 exerted its antiapoptotic and neuroprotective effects by regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and ERp29, indicating that IL-10 may be a promising molecule target for HIE treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichinellosis is a major foodborne parasitosis caused by Trichinella spiralis. In the present study, a serine protease gene from an adult T. spiralis (Ts-Adsp) cDNA library was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by Ni-affinity chromatography. Previous studies of our laboratory have found that mice vaccinated with recombinant Ts-Adsp protein (rTs-Adsp) exhibited partial protection against T. spiralis infection. In this study, the protective effect of rTs-Adsp against T. spiralis infection in pigs was further explored. The cell-mediated and humoral immune responses induced by rTs-Adsp were measured, including the dynamic trends of specific antibody levels (IgG, IgG1, IgG2a and IgM), as well as the levels of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10) in the serum. Moreover, the changes in T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and neutrophils were measured to evaluate cellular immune responses in pigs vaccinated with rTs-Adsp. The results indicated that a Th1-Th2 mixed immune response with Th1 predominant was induced by rTs-Adsp after vaccination. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the proportions of CD4+ T cells, B cells, and neutrophils in the immunized groups were significantly increased. Furthermore, pigs vaccinated with rTs-Adsp exhibited a 50.9% reduction in the muscle larvae burden, compare with pigs from the PBS group five weeks after challenged. Our results suggested that rTs-Adsp elicited partial protection and it could be a potential target molecule for preventing and controlling Trichinella transmission from pigs to human. Author summary: Trichinellosis is a global foodborne parasitic disease caused by consuming raw or poorly cooked meat. The porcine products are the most common source. Therefore, it will have a great significance for public health security and human health to prevent and control the trichinellosis. We previously found that mice vaccinated with recombinant Adsp protein (rTs-Adsp) exhibited partial protection against T. spiralis infection. In this study, the protective effect of rTs-Adsp against challenge infections with T. spiralis in pigs was further explored. We found that rTs-Adsp elicited partial protection and it could be an important target molecule for preventing and controlling T. spiralis transmission from pigs to human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has recently been shown that the inner region of protoplanetary discs (PPDs) is governed by wind-driven accretion, and the resulting accretion flow showing complex vertical profiles. Such complex flow structures are further enhanced due to the Hall effect, especially when the background magnetic field is aligned with disc rotation. We investigate how such flow structures impact global dust transport via Monte Carlo simulations, focusing on two scenarios. In the first scenario, the toroidal magnetic field is maximized in the mid-plane, leading to accretion and decretion flows above and below. In the second scenario, the toroidal field changes sign across the mid-plane, leading to an accretion flow at the disc mid-plane, with decretion flows above and below. We find that in both cases, the contribution from additional gas flows can still be accurately incorporated into the advection-diffusion framework for vertically integrated dust transport, with enhanced dust radial (pseudo-)diffusion up to an effective α eff ∼ 10−2 for strongly coupled dust, even when background turbulence is weak α < 10−4. Dust radial drift is also modestly enhanced in the second scenario. We provide a general analytical theory that accurately reproduces our simulation results, thus establishing a framework to model global dust transport that realistically incorporates vertical gas flow structures. We also note that the theory is equally applicable to the transport of chemical species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sample pre-treatment plays an important role in sample analysis, which directly affects the accuracy and reliability of the results. In this work we studied the influence of three common sample pre-treatment methods (direct injection, microwave digestion and wet digestion) on the determination of lead (Pb) content of Chinese health-care wines by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Six different brands of Chinese health wines were selected for the research. After each Chinese health-care wine was digested by three digestion methods, GFAAS was used to detect the Pb content of the samples. For the selected six different health-care wines, the results showed that the Pb content obtained by GFAAS with different pre-treatment methods were different. Microwave digestion had the best recovery, and was proposed to be applied to the pre-treatment of many kinds of health-care wines, while the direct injection method might be suitable only for health-care wine with lesser amounts of ingredients such as sugar. In the practical work, due to the complexity of the base composition of Chinese health-care wines, currently there is no relevant standard analysis method for the pre-treatment of Chinese health wines. According to the accuracies of the three chosen common pre-treatment methods, it was proposed that microwave digestion might be more suitable as a standard digestion method for the determination of Pb in Chinese health-care wines. This work could provide theoretical support for the further establishment of a standard analytical method for the determination of lead and other (heavy) metal elements in Chinese health wines by GFAAS and other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alloying the platinum with the nickel and cobalt is an efficient approach to lessen the usage of Pt without compromising the catalytic performance. Few studies have focused on coupling the Pt with the NiCo/oxide composite for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we synthesize three types of hierarchical Pt 15 -NiCo/oxide composites by impregnation, followed by calcination and hydrogenation treatment. The three electrocatalysts have similar intrinsic activity towards HER in 1.0 M KOH, while the Pt 15 -NiCo/CeO 2−x displays the highest catalytic performance because of its large electrochemically active surface area, showing an extremely small overpotential of 12 mV at 100 mA cm−2, making it the best low-Pt-content electrocatalyst for HER. When used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for urea-assisted hydrogen production, the Pt 15 -NiCo/CeO 2−x demonstrates excellent catalytic performance with a very small cell voltage of 1.36 V to reach 10 mA cm−2 and robust long-term working stability. The outstanding catalytic performance of the Pt 15 -NiCo/CeO 2−x is assigned to the unique-structure-induced abundant active sites, the optimized NiCo/CeO 2−x , the suitable Pt loading, the synergy between the Pt and the NiCo, and the synergy between the PtNiCo and the CeO 2−x. • Three types of hierarchical Pt-NiCo/oxide composites were prepared. • The three Pt 15 -NiCo/oxide composites presented similar intrinsic activity. • The number of active sites is the key factor determining the catalytic performance. • The Pt 15 -NiCo/Ce 2−x has the largest electrochemically active surface area. • The Pt 15 -NiCo/CeO 2−x has a small overpotential of 12 mV at 100 mA cm−2 for HER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postoperative fatigue syndrome (POFS) is an important factor in postoperative recovery. However, the effect of anesthetic drugs on postoperative fatigue in female patients has been rarely studied. This study compared the effects of maintaining general anesthesia with propofol or sevoflurane on the incidence of POFS in patients undergoing laparoscopic hysterectomy. This prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled trial enrolled patients scheduled for laparoscopic hysterectomy. Eligible patients were randomized into the propofol and sevoflurane groups. The primary outcome was the incidence of POFS within 30 Days, defined by a simplified identity consequence fatigue scale (ICFS-10) scores≥24 or Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores of fatigues>6. Secondary outcomes were perioperative grip strength, early ambulation and anal exhaust after surgery, and inpatient days. 32 participants were assigned to the propofol group (P) and 33 to the sevoflurane group (S). Incidence of POFS on postoperative D1 was P (8/32) vs. S (10/33) (p = 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.4–27.00); D3 P (2/32) vs. S (5/33) (p = 0.45,95% CI:5.96–23.76). POFS were not found on postoperative D5 and D30. There were no differences in perioperative grip strength, early ambulation and anal exhaust after surgery, and inpatient days between the two groups. POFS after scheduled laparoscopic hysterectomy was unaffected by anesthesia with propofol vs. sevoflurane. The incidence of POFS was highest on the first postoperative day, at 27.7%, and declined progressively over the postoperative 30 days. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (No. ChiCTR 2,000,033,861), registered on 14/06/2020). • The incidence of fatigue after gynecological operation has decreased significantly. • Propofol or sevoflurane during surgery has no effect on postoperative fatigue • Postoperative fatigue scale scores were highest on the first postoperative day. • Fatigue after ovariectomy needs to be studied in a large sample multicenter study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angong Niuhuang Wan (AGNHW) is a prescription from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used for centuries to treat ischemic stroke (IS) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS). According to a recent study, targeting ferroptosis might be effective in the management of IS and HS. However, the ferroptosis-related effects and mechanisms of AGNHW have not yet been reported. This research examines the anti-ferroptosis mechanisms of AGNHW in the treatment of IS and HS. A system pharmacological approach including in vivo experiment, UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS, network pharmacology, molecular docking, microscale thermophoresis, and in vitro experiment was utilized to study the anti-ferroptosis mechanisms of AGNHW against IS and HS. In vivo experiments indicated that AGNHW enhanced nerve function, decreased cerebral infarct volume, ameliorated histological brain injuries, improved the structural integrity of the blood-brain barrier, ameliorated the mitochondrial dysfunction and morphology disruption, and inhibits ROS, LPO and Fe2+ accumulations in IS and HS rats. Using UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS, the key ingredients of AGNHW-containing serum were identified as bilirubin, berberine, baicalin, and wogonoside. According to the network pharmacology analyses, AGNHW could inhibit ferroptosis by modulating the PPAR and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. The core targets are PPARγ, AKT, and GPX4. Molecular docking and microscale thermophoresis experiments further revealed that the key ingredients have strong interactions with ferroptosis-regulating core proteins. Moreover, in vitro experiment results showed that AGNHW alleviated ferroptosis injury induced by erastin in PC12 cells, increased cell viability, reduced the LPO and Fe2+ levels, and up-regulated mRNA expressions of PPARγ, AKT, and GPX4. AGNHW also up-regulated protein expressions of PPARγ, p-AKT/AKT, and GPX4 in IS and HS rats. AGNHW attenuated ferroptosis in treating IS and HS by targeting the PPARγ/AKT/GPX4 pathway. This work reveals AGNHW's anti-ferroptosis mechanism against IS and HS, but it also develops an integrated approach to demonstrate the common characteristics of drugs in treating different diseases. [Display omitted] • Angong Niuhuang Wan (AGNHW) is used for treating ischemic stroke (IS) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS) by eliminating phlegm and clearing heat. • Mechanism of AGNHW against IS and HS was related to inhibiting oxidative stress-induced ferroptosis in neurons. • Regulation of oxidative stress-induced ferroptosis in neurons was mediated by PPARγ/AKT/GPX4 pathway. • Bilirubin, berberine, baicalin, and wogonoside were the key active ingredients of AGNHW against IS and HS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interleukin-27 (IL-27) is known to play opposing roles in immunology. The present paper considers, specifically, the role IL-27 plays in cancer immunotherapy when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor anti-PD-1. We first develop a mathematical model for this combination therapy, by a system of Partial Differential Equations, and show agreement with experimental results in mice injected with melanoma cells. We then proceed to simulate tumor volume with IL-27 injection at a variable dose F and anti-PD-1 at a variable dose g. We show that in some range of "small" values of g , as f increases tumor volume decreases as long as f < F c (g) and increases in a range where f > F c (g) , where F c (g) is a monotone increasing function of g. This demonstrates that IL-27 can be both anti-cancer and pro-cancer, depending on the ranges of both anti-PD-1 and IL-27. • IL-27 has both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory functions. • IL-27 can be both anti-cancer and pro-cancer when combining with anti-PD-1. • Anti-PD-1 improves the treatment efficacy of IL-27. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Leaf-like Fe 3 O 4 nanosheet arrays with rich Fe2+ and oxygen defects are formed. • Ir-Fe 3 O 4 /IF-T-x is formed via galvanic replacement between IrCl 6 2− ions and Fe2+. • Ir-Fe 3 O 4 /IF-400-2 delivers a low overpotential of 316 mV at 500 mA cm−2 for OER. • The catalyst shows a good long-term stability after 36 h V-t test at 100 mA cm−2. The sluggish kinetics for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) significantly impede the practical applications of electrocatalytic water splitting technology for renewable energy source. The facile design of self-supporting electrocatalysts with high activity and stability for OER catalysis at industrial-grade current density is of paramount significance to mitigate the above bottlenecks. We report herein the construction of iron foam (IF) self-supported Ir-magnetite (Ir-Fe 3 O 4 /IF-T-x) electrode via galvanic replacement between IrCl 6 2− ions and Fe2+ in Fe 3 O 4 nanosheet arrays, which is simply synthesized by annealing IF in air and subsequent thermal treatment in reducing atmosphere. Such pre-treatment enables the growth of leaf-like Fe 3 O 4 nanosheet arrays with rich Fe2+ species and oxygen defects, which facilitate the depositing of Ir on the surface of nanosheet arrays and thereby promote the electrochemical OER performance in basic electrolyte. Impressively, the optimized Ir-Fe 3 O 4 /IF-400-2 delivers the highest electrocatalytic activity with a low overpotential of 316 mV to obtain industrial-grade current density of 500 mA cm−2 for alkaline OER. Meanwhile, the catalyst still shows good long-term stability after 36 h V-t test at 100 mA cm−2. This study offers a simple and efficient pathway to prepare self-supporting electrode for alkaline OER at industrial-grade current density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane-based separation technology for carbon capture has received increasing attention in the world due to low energy consumption, investment and operating cost. However, the simultaneous improvement in selectivity and permeance has faced large challenge for mixed matrix membranes owing to limited affinity sites and transport channels. Herein, the nano-scale MIP-202 (SM-202) was first prepared by inhibited Ostwald ripening strategy during crystal growth, and then nano-scale amorphous MIP-202 (ASM-202) was prepared by thermal chemical reaction. Subsequently, mixed matrix composite membranes (MMCMs) were developed by using ASM-202 as a filler and polyether-block-amide (Pebax) as a polymer matrix, and the hydrophilicity-modified polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane (mPSf) was utilized as a porous support. It is observed that ASM-202 possessed good miscibility with Pebax polymer chains as a result of hydrogen bonds between two phases. Thus, the as-obtained MMCMs showed outstanding CO 2 separation performance (CO 2 permeance: 936 GPU; CO 2 /N 2 selectivity: 52), which were enhanced by 138 % and 108 % over that of the pristine Pebax membrane, as well as 15.3 % and 13.0 % over that of MMCMs incorporating with SM-202, respectively. The improvement in gas separation performance can be explained by the reason that the nano-scale ASM-202 with large specific surface area afforded more unsaturated metal sites and nitrogen-doped structure, thus improving the CO 2 affinity in membranes. Moreover, the loose amorphous structure of ASM-202 provides more transport passageways, which enhanced the diffusion rate of gas molecules through the membranes. Besides, resultant MMCMs maintained great stability for over 360 h using the CO 2 /N 2 mixed gas as feed gas, whose average CO 2 permeance and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity fluctuated at 880 GPU and 47. [Display omitted] • Nano-amorphous MIP-202 was prepared by combining inhibited Ostwald ripening strategy with thermal chemical reaction. • The nano-amorphous MIP-202 enhanced CO 2 permeance and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of MMCMs concurrently. • The nano-scale amorphous MIP-202 had good compatibility with Pebax matrix. • MMCMs revealed a CO 2 permeance of 936 GPU with a CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 52 which was superior to that loaded with MIP-202. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of 1.0 % (w / v) sodium alginate (SA) glazing on surface frost formation and the quality of frozen fish balls in repeated freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles was studied. The optimal glazing property of 1.0 % SA solution was manifested by high transmittance, excellent water resistance, and high ice glazing rate. After seven F-T cycles, compared with the control, the ice production, thawing loss, and total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) value of samples with 1.0 % ice glazing decreased by 28.30 %, 21.02 %, and 27.35 %, while the chewiness and whiteness were increased by 15.02 % and 10.40 %, respectively. Moreover, compared to the control, the microstructure of fish balls glazed with 1.0 % SA was smoother and more uniform, and the ice crystal diameter was smaller. Therefore, 1.0 % SA glazing effectively inhibits the formation of ice crystals, reducing water migration and loss while minimizing damage to the meat structure, thus enhancing the quality of meat products. • 1.0 % sodium alginate (SA) was selected as the ice glazing solution for fish balls. • SA ice glazing reduced surface frosting during freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles. • The quality deterioration in the F-T cycle was inhibited by SA ice glazing. • SA ice glazing has the potential to extend the shelf life of meat products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Propose two-phase partitioning boundaries at the medium surface for drying. • Model drying over time from saturated to unsaturated conditions. • Distinguish the mechanisms of liquid water evaporation and water vapor transport. • Consider the nonequilibrium and interface-dependent phase change of water. To accurately predict the drying of a porous medium from saturated to unsaturated conditions over time, this paper proposes two-phase partitioning boundaries for liquid water evaporation and water vapor transport at the medium surface. A non-isothermal two-phase (liquid water and gas mixtures), two-component (dry air and water vapor) transport model with nonequilibrium and interface-dependent phase change is then developed. The governing equations are then numerical solved using COMSOL Multiphysics software and applied to describe a series of laboratory soil drying tests as examples. The performance of the proposed boundaries at the surface is illustrated by comparison with other three common used boundaries. The results show that a specific flux of vapor at the surface with a zero flux of liquid water cannot be adopted to describe the drying process of initially saturated media due to the lack of interconnected gas-filled pores. The merged liquid-vapor boundary applied in the Darcy–Richards model significantly prolongs the constant rate stage when the liquid water evaporation is dominant. Then, the effects of air/gas–water interfacial area and water retention parameters on the drying process are investigated. A faster reduction in the air–water relative interfacial area at the medium surface will shorten the drying process with earlier dominance of the vapor transport. An increased entry capillary pressure and a decreased pore size distribution index for the water retention curve will result in slower drying, more loss by vapor transport and a more homogeneous distribution of pore water respect to depth. The current study can promote the understanding of the evolution of drying mechanisms of a porous medium from saturated to unsaturated conditions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study in the present paper the multiple stable states of two different atoms in a single-mode quantum cavity by means of variational method. Eigenenergies and eigenstates are obtained analytically in the optical coherent state of cavity field. The ground state displays the known Dicke phase transition from the normal to superradiant phases at the critical value of atom–field coupling. The rich phase diagrams including the stable excited states are presented respectively for two atoms with different level spaces and atom–field couplings. By adjusting the ratios of two-atom couplings or level spaces, one atom can be in the normally populated state, while the other is in the inversely populated state. We also observe the stimulated radiation from the inversely populated state. Particularly, the normal and stimulated radiations are interchangeable respectively for two atoms. Moreover, the maximally entangled state can be generated with two identical atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A wide variety of bacterial adaptative responses to environmental conditions are mediated by signal transduction pathways. Two-component signal transduction systems are one of the predominant means used by bacteria to sense the signals of the host plant and adjust their interaction behaviour. A total of seven open reading frames have been identified as putative two-component response regulators in the gram-negative nitrogen-fixing bacteria Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571. However, the biological functions of these response regulators in the symbiotic interactions between A. caulinodans ORS571 and the host plant Sesbania rostrata have not been elucidated to date. Results: In this study, we identified and investigated a two-component response regulator, AcfR, with a phosphorylatable N-terminal REC (receiver) domain and a C-terminal HTH (helix-turn-helix) LuxR DNA-binding domain in A. caulinodans ORS571. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AcfR possessed close evolutionary relationships with NarL/FixJ family regulators. In addition, six histidine kinases containing HATPase_c and HisKA domains were predicted to interact with AcfR. Furthermore, the biological function of AcfR in free-living and symbiotic conditions was elucidated by comparing the wild-type strain and the ΔacfR mutant strain. In the free-living state, the cell motility behaviour and exopolysaccharide production of the ΔacfR mutant were significantly reduced compared to those of the wild-type strain. In the symbiotic state, the ΔacfR mutant showed a competitive nodule defect on the stems and roots of the host plant, suggesting that AcfR can provide A. caulinodans with an effective competitive ability for symbiotic nodulation. Conclusions: Our results showed that AcfR, as a response regulator, regulates numerous phenotypes of A. caulinodans under the free-living conditions and in symbiosis with the host plant. The results of this study help to elucidate the involvement of a REC + HTH_LuxR two-component response regulator in the Rhizobium-host plant interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a novel semidefinite programming based method to compute robust domains of attraction for state-constrained perturbed polynomial systems. A robust domain of attraction is a set of states such that every trajectory starting from it will approach an equilibrium while never violating a specified state constraint, regardless of the actual perturbation. The semidefinite program is constructed by relaxing a generalized Zubov's equation. The existence of solutions to the constructed semidefinite program is guaranteed, and there exists a sequence of solutions such that their strict one-sublevel sets inner-approximate the interior of the maximal robust domain of attraction in measure under appropriate assumptions. Some illustrative examples demonstrate the performance of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiazole ring is an important active molecular skeleton of drugs. Thiazole in natural products and drugs are usually harmlessly eliminated. However, hepatotoxic reactions may occur due to the biological activation of thiazole to produce reactive thioamide. A typical example is hepatotoxic sudoxicam and safety meloxicam. The only structural difference between them is a methyl group on C5 position of thiazole in meloxicam. The molecular basis for the difference remains unknown and the bioactivation mechanism of the thiazole ring is still obscure. Quantum chemical calculations were performed to elucidate the activation mechanism of the thiazole ring under P450 catalysis, and the influence of the substituents on the activation pathways of thiazole ring was also studied. The calculated results show that the activation of thiazole is closely related to the substituents on the thiazole and spin state of Cpd I. The thiazole and substituted thiazole directly open the ring when catalyzed by doublet spin state Cpd I that catalyzed by the quartet spin state Cpd I can open the ring directly or indirectly, which is related to the substituents. Thiazoles modified with electron-donating substituents mainly undergo direct ring opening, while thiazoles modified with electron-withdrawing groups or weak electron-donating groups mainly undergo indirect ring-opening process accompanied by intermediate formation. The research results laid the foundation for the design of thiazole ring drugs, and also laid a theoretical foundation for the study of reducing the toxicity of thiazole ring drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solvent‐free organic π‐liquids have been attracting increasing attentions owing to the inherent optoelectronic properties accompanied by the advantages of non‐volatility and high processability. Herein, we reported a series of naphthalene derivatives substituted with chiral branched alkyl chains, which are present as liquids (Nap1–3) or solid (Nap4) at room temperature, depending on the substitution positions. Circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) were only observed for enantiomeric Nap2 (2,3‐substituted) liquid. It is suggested that the chiral aggregation in the π‐liquid leads to the CD signal and the chiral excimer resulting in the CPL performance. When achiral anthracene or pyrene was dissolved in Nap2, the π‐liquid could serve as chirality and energy transfer media in which both CD and CPL emerged from the achiral anthracene. A CPL dissymmetry factor (|glum|) of anthracene reached to 5.2×10−2 when dissolved in chiral Nap2 liquid, which is nearly two orders of magnitude higher than that of the pure Nap2 π‐liquid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solvent‐free organic π‐liquids have been attracting increasing attentions owing to the inherent optoelectronic properties accompanied by the advantages of non‐volatility and high processability. Herein, we reported a series of naphthalene derivatives substituted with chiral branched alkyl chains, which are present as liquids (Nap1–3) or solid (Nap4) at room temperature, depending on the substitution positions. Circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) were only observed for enantiomeric Nap2 (2,3‐substituted) liquid. It is suggested that the chiral aggregation in the π‐liquid leads to the CD signal and the chiral excimer resulting in the CPL performance. When achiral anthracene or pyrene was dissolved in Nap2, the π‐liquid could serve as chirality and energy transfer media in which both CD and CPL emerged from the achiral anthracene. A CPL dissymmetry factor (|glum|) of anthracene reached to 5.2×10−2 when dissolved in chiral Nap2 liquid, which is nearly two orders of magnitude higher than that of the pure Nap2 π‐liquid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligoasthenozoospermia (OA) is one of the most common types of male infertility affecting sperm count and sperm motility. Unfortunately, it is difficult for existing drugs to fundamentally improve the sperm quality of OA patients, because the pathological mechanism of OA has not been fully elucidated yet. Morinda officinalis–Lycium barbarum coupled-herbs (MOLBCH), as traditional Chinese Medicines, has been widely used for treating OA over thousands of years, but its molecular mechanism is still unclear. For this purpose, we adopted a comprehensive approach integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking to reveal the bioactive components and potential targets of MOLBCH against OA. The results showed that MOLBCH alleviated apoptosis, promoted male reproductive function, and reduced oxidant stress in the treatment of OA. Ohioensin-A, quercetin, beta-sitosterol and sitosterol were the key bioactive components. Androgen receptor (AR), Estrogen receptor (ESR1), Mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3), RAC-alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase (AKT1), Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) were the core potential targets. PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, prostate cancer, AGE-RAGE signaling pathway in diabetic complications were the most representative pathways. Moreover, molecular docking was performed to validate the strong binding interactions between the obtained core components and targets. These observations provide deeper insight into the pathogenesis of OA and can be used to design new drugs and develop new therapeutic instructions to treat OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The mixture of polymer and water is separated by underwater superpolymphobic meshes. • Underwater superpolymphobicity is achieved on the mesh by fs laser processing. • The structured mesh has excellent repellence to liquid polymer in water. • The separation can alleviate pollution caused by the discharge of liquid polymers. The widespread use of liquid polymers may pollute water, causing grave environmental problems and even various human diseases. The separation of a mixture of a liquid polymer and water is extremely important in research, but the high viscosity, low fluidity, and high adhesion performance of liquid polymers make this task highly challenging. In this paper, we propose a novel strategy for separating a polymer/water mixture wherein porous underwater superpolymphobic micro/nanostructures are used for the first time. Femtosecond laser (fsL) processing is used to form micro/nanoscale surface structures on a stainless steel mesh (SSM), resulting in excellent repellence (underwater superpolymphobicity) to various liquid polymer droplets in water. The laser-induced underwater superpolymphobicity is very stable even though the SSM suffers from different damage treatments (e.g., sandpaper abrasion, acid or alkali solutions corrosion, UV light irradiation, and tape peeling). The underwater superpolymphobicity is ascribed to an underwater Cassie contact state between the underwater liquid polymer and the surface microstructure of the laser-treated SSM. We demonstrate that the underwater superpolymphobic SSM can be effectively and repeatedly used to separate liquid polymer/water mixtures with a high separation efficiency of 99.0% and a high separation flux of 4.45 × 105 L m−2h−1. The mixtures of water and different polymers are successfully separated. Such a separation strategy can potentially alleviate pollution from liquid polymer discharge, recycle waste polymer resources, and be applied in polymer production and manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and selective fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) probe was synthesized by using glucosamine as a single reagent in a one-step hydrothermal treatment and was also characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer, fluorescence spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). N-CDs exhibited a superior water solubility and an excellent fluorescence characteristic and was used as a fluorophore to measure ClO− and NO2− based on their oxidation in the presence of Fe2+. The quenching mechanism of ClO− and NO2− to the system probe of Fe2+@N-CDs was also demonstrated. The detection limit of the probe to ClO− was 0.75 μM in the linear range of 1 to 17.5 μM and for NO2− was 0.85 μM with the linear range of 2.5 to 20 μM. Speciation analysis of ClO− and NO2− could be distinguished due to the different reactive response time to the system probe of Fe2+@N-CDs, and the accuracy was further confirmed by detecting them in actual river water and tap water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]