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Objective: To evaluate the application of a rehabilitation management protocol for urinary incontinence after robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 114 patients who underwent RALP between August 2021 and November 2021 as the control group and a prospective analysis of 114 patients who underwent RALP between May 2022 and August 2022 as the experimental group. The rehabilitation management protocol focused on preoperative stage, postoperative care, day of catheter removal, 1 month postoperative, 3 months postoperative, 6 months postoperative, and 12 months or more postoperative. Results: The 24-h pad test was significantly lower in the experimental group compared with the control group at 2 and 6 months after RALP (both P < 0.01). The scores of the international consultation on incontinence questionnaire-short form (ICIQ-SF) in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group at 1 month after RALP (P < 0.01).The scores of quality of life in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group at 1, 2, and 6 months after RALP (all P < 0.01).The scores of Broome Pelvic Muscle Self-efficacy Scale (BPMSES) were lower than those of the control group at 1, 2, 3, and 6 months after RALP (all P < 0.01). Conclusion: The application of the rehabilitation management protocol had significant beneficial effects on urinary functions and quality of life in patients with prostate cancer after RALP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the problem of aperture fill time (AFT) for wideband sparse arrays, variable fractional delay (VFD) FIR filters are applied to eliminate linear coupling between spatial and time domains. However, the large dimensions of the filter coefficient matrix result in high system complexity. To alleviate the computational burden of solving VFD filter coefficients, a novel multi–regultion minimax (MRMM) model utilizing the sparse representation technique has been presented. The error function is constrained by the introduction of L2–norm and L1–norm regularizations within the minimax criterion. The L2–norm effectively resolves the problems of overfitting and non–unique solutions that arise in the sparse optimization of traditional minimax (MM) models. Meanwhile, the use of multiple L1–norms enables the optimal design of the smallest sub–filter number and order of the VFD filter. To solve the established nonconvex model, an improved sequential–alternating direction method of multipliers (S–ADMM) algorithm for filter coefficients is proposed, which utilizes sequential alternation to iteratively update multiple soft–thresholding problems. The experimental results show that the optimized VFD filter reduces system complexity significantly and corrects AFT effectively in a wideband sparse array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the adiabatic approximation to slow but finite-time thermodynamic processes and obtain the full counting statistics of work. The average work consists of change in free energy and the dissipated work, and we identify each term as a dynamical- and geometric-phase-like quantity. An expression for the friction tensor, the key quantity in thermodynamic geometry, is explicitly given. The dynamical and geometric phases are proved to be related to each other via the fluctuation-dissipation relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we demonstrate that the Stokes constants of unrefined free energies and the Stokes constants of Nekrasov-Shatashvili free energies of topological string on a non-compact Calabi-Yau threefold are identical, possibly up to a sign, for any Borel singularity which is not associated to a compact two-cycle that intersects only with non-compact four-cycles. Since the Stokes constants of Nekrasov-Shatashvili free energies are conjectured to coincide with those of quantum periods and therefore have the interpretation of BPS invariants, our results give strong support that the Stokes constants of unrefined free energies may also be identified with BPS invariants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large quantity of coal fly ash is generated worldwide from thermal power plants, causing a serious environmental threat owing to disposal and storage problems. In this work, for the first time, coal fly ash is converted into advanced and novel aerogel fibers and high-purity α-Al2O3. Silica–bacterial cellulose composite aerogel fibers (CAFs) were synthesized using an in situ sol-gel process under ambient pressure drying. Due to the unique "nanoscale interpenetrating network" (IPN) structure, the CAFs showed wonderful mechanical properties with an optimum tensile strength of 5.0 MPa at an ultimate elongation of 5.8%. Furthermore, CAFs with a high porosity (91.8%) and high specific surface area (588.75 m2/g) can inherit advanced features, including excellent thermal insulation, stability over a wide temperature range, and hydrophobicity (contact angle of approximately 144°). Additionally, Al2O3 was simultaneously extracted from the coal fly ash to ensure that the coal fly ash was fully exploited. Overall, low-cost woven CAFs fabrics are suitable for wearable applications and offer a great approach to comprehensively use coal fly ash to address environmental threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A moderate intake of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) is associated positively with improved insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dietary intake of unsaturated fatty acids/total fats (UFA/TF) and insulin resistance. Methods: 15,560 participants were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database enrolled between March 2017 and 2020, and excluded those under 20 years of age, pregnant, or with missing data for key research items. Finally, 7,630 participants were included in the study. R software was used for data analysis that included: (1) general descriptive statistics; (2) comparison of differences in baseline information of three UFA/TF groups, namely low, medium, and high ratios; (3) calculation of the correlation between the UFA/TF ratio and markers of insulin resistance: triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR); (4) stratification of the study subjects into two groups, with or without insulin resistance, using a cut-off value of HOMA-IR ≥ 2, followed by logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between UFA/TF and insulin resistance status in the two groups; and (5) further stratification of the subjects according to age, gender, body mass index (BMI), race, total energy intake, total protein, total carbohydrate, total sugars, total dietary fiber, total fat, alcohol consumption, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia to analyze the impact of UFA/TF on insulin resistance status in different subgroups. Results: (1) A high UFA/TF level was associated with a low TyG index and HOMA-IR [β (vs. TyG index) = -0.559, 95% CI: (-0.821~-0.297), P < 0.001; β (vs. HOMA-IR) = -0.742, 95% CI: (-1.083~-0.402), P < 0.001]. This negative relationship became more pronounced when UFA/TF exceeded 57.9% (i.e., the higher group). (2) Logistic regression analysis showed that a higher UFA/TF level was associated with a lower risk of developing insulin resistance [Q3 vs. Q1: 0.838 (95%CI: 0.709 ~ 0.991); P for trend = 0.038]. After adjusting for covariates such as gender, age, and BMI, this protective effect remained significant (P value < 0.05). (3) Analysis also showed that increased UFA/TF intake reduced the risk of developing insulin resistance (OR = 0.266, 95% CI: (0.075 ~ 0.946), P = 0.041). Subgroup analysis showed that although elevated UFA/TF intake showed no statistically significant difference in its effect in most subgroups, the large study population in this study provides valuable insights on potential changes. Increased UFA/TF intake may confer relatively greater benefits within specific subgroups, particularly among the elderly [Q3 age group, OR = 0.114, 95%CI: (0.012 ~ 1.078), P = 0.058], females [OR = 0.234, 95%CI: (0.041 ~ 1.333), P = 0.102], those with a BMI ≤ 25 kg/m²[OR = 0.191, 95%CI: (0.016 ~ 2.344), P = 0.196], and individuals without hypercholesterolemia [OR = 0.207, 95%CI: (0.042 ~ 1.013), P = 0.0519]. The impact of high UFA/TF levels within subgroups based on the presence or absence of coronary heart disease and stroke displayed contrasting trends. In those without coronary heart disease, there was a significant protective effect against insulin resistance [OR = 0.254, 95% CI: (0.07 ~ 0.929), P = 0.0384], while in the stroke subgroup, a significantly protective effect against insulin resistance was observed [OR = 0.002, 95%CI: (0 ~ 0.695), P = 0.0376]. Conclusion: A high dietary intake of UFA relative to total fat consumption could be a protective factor against the risk of developing insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. In this study, a new model of immune-related genes was developed to predict the overall survival and immunotherapy efficacy in patients with ccRCC. Immune-related genes were obtained from the ImmPort database. Clinical data and transcriptomics of ccRCC samples were downloaded from GSE29609 and The Cancer Genome Atlas. An immune-related gene-based prognostic model (IRGPM) was developed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression algorithm and multivariate Cox regression. The reliability of the developed models was evaluated by Kaplan–Meier survival curves and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves. Furthermore, we constructed a nomogram based on the IRGPM and multiple clinicopathological factors, along with a calibration curve to examine the predictive power of the nomogram. Overall, this study investigated the association of IRGPM with immunotherapeutic efficacy, immune checkpoints, and immune cell infiltration. Eleven IRGs based on 528 ccRCC samples significantly associated with survival were used to construct the IRGPM. Remarkably, the IRGPM, which consists of 11 hub genes (SAA1, IL4, PLAUR, PLXNB3, ANGPTL3, AMH, KLRC2, NR3C2, KL, CSF2, and SEMA3G), was found to predict the survival of ccRCC patients accurately. The calibration curve revealed that the nomogram developed with the IRGPM showed high predictive performance for the survival probability of ccRCC patients. Moreover, the IRGPM subgroups showed different levels of immune checkpoints and immune cell infiltration in patients with ccRCC. IRGPM might be a promising biomarker of immunotherapeutic responses in patients with ccRCC. Overall, the established IRGPM was valuable for predicting survival, reflecting the immunotherapy response and immune microenvironment in patients with ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have observed relationships between immune cells and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but their causal links remain undetermined. Based on the public available genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics, we conducted two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate the associations between 731 immune phenotypes and SLE pairs. Pairwise pleiotropy analysis was performed to identify pleiotropic genes for significant immunophenotype–SLE pairs. A comprehensive gene function analysis was undertaken to explore the mechanisms of immune cells in SLE. By using the instrumental variables extracted from GWAS data, we observed that increased levels of five immune phenotypes were causally associated with SLE risk (FDR < 0.05), that were CD20 on IgD+ CD38− naïve, BAFF-R on IgD+ CD38dim, CD39+ secreting Treg AC, CD14− CD16+ monocyte AC, and HLA DR on CD14+ monocyte. Pairwise gene-based analyses identified a total of 38 pleiotropic genes for 5 significant pairs identified and gene set enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of the identified pleiotropic genes in complex pathways (i.e., systemic lupus erythematosus, an integral component of luminal side of endoplasmic reticulum membrane, C-type lectin receptor signaling pathway and regulation of hormone secretion). This study demonstrates that the immune response influences the progression of SLE in a complex pattern. These findings greatly improve our understanding of the interaction between immune response and SLE risk and also aid in the design of therapeutic strategies from an immunological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing polyoxometalate‐cyclodextrin cluster‐organic supramolecular framework (POM‐CD‐COSF) still remains challenging due to an extremely difficult task in rationally interconnecting two dissimilar building blocks. Here we report an unprecedented POM‐CD‐COSF crystalline structure produced through the self‐assembly process of a Krebs‐type POM, [Zn2(WO2)2(SbW9O33)2]10−, and two β‐CD units. The as‐prepared POM‐CD‐COSF‐based battery separator can be applied as a lightweight barrier (approximately 0.3 mg cm−2) to mitigate the polysulfide shuttle effect in lithium‐sulfur batteries. The designed Li−S batteries equipped with the POM‐CD‐COSF modified separator exhibit remarkable electrochemical performance, attributed to fast Li+ diffusion through the supramolecular channel of β‐CD, efficient polysulfide‐capture ability by the dynamic host–guest interaction of β‐CD, and improved sulfur redox kinetics by the bidirectional catalysis of POM cluster. This research provides a broad perspective for the development of multifunctional supramolecular POM frameworks and their applications in Li−S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing polyoxometalate‐cyclodextrin cluster‐organic supramolecular framework (POM‐CD‐COSF) still remains challenging due to an extremely difficult task in rationally interconnecting two dissimilar building blocks. Here we report an unprecedented POM‐CD‐COSF crystalline structure produced through the self‐assembly process of a Krebs‐type POM, [Zn2(WO2)2(SbW9O33)2]10−, and two β‐CD units. The as‐prepared POM‐CD‐COSF‐based battery separator can be applied as a lightweight barrier (approximately 0.3 mg cm−2) to mitigate the polysulfide shuttle effect in lithium‐sulfur batteries. The designed Li−S batteries equipped with the POM‐CD‐COSF modified separator exhibit remarkable electrochemical performance, attributed to fast Li+ diffusion through the supramolecular channel of β‐CD, efficient polysulfide‐capture ability by the dynamic host–guest interaction of β‐CD, and improved sulfur redox kinetics by the bidirectional catalysis of POM cluster. This research provides a broad perspective for the development of multifunctional supramolecular POM frameworks and their applications in Li−S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical vortex arrays are structured light fields with multiple phase singularities that have attracted considerable attention in recent years. Here, we demonstrate the direct generation of an optical vortex array with tunable singularity from a mid-infrared Er: yttrium aluminum perovskite laser under the annular-pumping regime. An axicon combined with a plano–convex lens is used to reshape the pumping beam into an annular one to match the different orders of the Laguerre–Gaussian mode. By adjusting the pump power and the lateral displacement of the gain medium, a tunable vortex array with one to four singularities is obtained in the ∼3-μm mid-infrared wavelength region. The lasing characteristics of the mid-infrared vortex arrays are evaluated and discussed. The experimental results can shed some light on the generation of mid-infrared optical vortex laser arrays and their applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this note we study the resurgent structure of sl(2, ℂ) Chern-Simons state integral model on knot complements S3\41, S3\52 with generic discrete level k ≥ 1 and with small boundary holonomy deformation. The coefficients of the saddle point expansions are in the trace field of the knot extended by the holonomy parameter. Despite increasing complication of the asymptotic series as the level k increases, the resurgent structure of the asymptotic series is universal: both the distribution of Borel plane singularities and the associated Stokes constants are independent of the level k. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are interested in the effective numerical schemes of the time-fractional Black–Scholes equation. We convert the original equation into an equivalent integral-differential equation and then discretize the time-integral term in the equivalent form using the piecewise linear interpolation, while the compact difference formula is applied in the spatial direction. Thus, we derive a fully discrete compact difference scheme with second-order accuracy in time and fourth-order accuracy in space. Rigorous proofs of the corresponding stability and convergence are given. Furthermore, in order to deal effectively with the non-smooth solution, we extend the obtained results to the case of temporal non-uniform meshes and obtain a temporal non-uniform mesh-based compact difference scheme as well as the numerical theory. Finally, extensive numerical examples are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed compact difference schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valorization of chicken manure via pyrolysis can give biowaste a second life to generate value and contribute to the circular economy. In the present study, the thermal degradation and pyrolysis characteristics of chicken manure pyrolysis were investigated via thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) coupled with optimization methods. Thermogravimetric data were obtained for the samples at five heating rates of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 °C/min over a range of temperature under inert conditions. The manure devolatilization process was initiated at between 328 and 367 °C to overcome the global activation energy barrier. The determined activation energy of the manure via Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS), Friedman and Kissinger methods was in the range of 167.5–213.9 kJ/mol. By using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method, the pyrolytic kinetic parameters of the individual component present in the manure were calculated, in which the activation energy for cellulose (227.8 kJ/mol) was found to be higher than that of hemicellulose (119 kJ/mol) and lignin (134.3 kJ/mol). Based on intrinsic transition-state theory, the pre-exponential factor and activation energy of the manure can be correlated through a linear equation ln Aα = 0.2006 Eα − 1.2847. The devolatilization characteristics of the chicken manure were elucidated via the optimization process, paving the way for the design of thermochemical conversion reactors and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emamectin benzoate (EMB) is a widely used pesticide and feed additive in agriculture and aquaculture. It easily enters the aquatic environment through various pathways, thus causing adverse effects on aquatic organisms. However, there are no systematic studies regarding the effects of EMB on the developmental neurotoxicity of aquatic organisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the neurotoxic effects and mechanisms of EMB at different concentrations (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 8 μg/mL) using zebrafish as a model. The results showed that EMB significantly inhibited the hatching rate, spontaneous movement, body length, and swim bladder development of zebrafish embryos, as well as significantly increased the malformation rate of zebrafish larvae. In addition, EMB adversely affected the axon length of motor neurons in Tg (hb9: eGFP) zebrafish and central nervous system (CNS) neurons in Tg (HuC: eGFP) zebrafish and significantly inhibited the locomotor behavior of zebrafish larvae. Meanwhile, EMB induced oxidative damage and was accompanied by increasing reactive oxygen species in the brains of zebrafish larvae. In addition, gene expression involvement in oxidative stress-related (cat, sod and Cu/Zn-sod), GABA neural pathway-related (gat1, gabra1, gad1b, abat and glsa), neurodevelopmental-related (syn2a, gfap, elavl3, shha, gap43 and Nrd) and swim bladder development-related (foxa3, pbxla, mnx1, has2 and elovlla) genes was significantly affected by EMB exposure. In conclusion, our study shows that exposure to EMB during the early life stages of zebrafish significantly increases oxidative damage and inhibits early central neuronal development, motor neuron axon growth and swim bladder development, ultimately leading to neurobehavioral changes in juvenile zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a metabolic-associated disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) development is tightly linked to lipid accumulation, inflammatory response, and fibrosis. Our study was intended to expound the role of microRNA (miR)-103a-3p in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. First, potentially relevant genes in NAFLD were screened using microarray analysis. The expression of lipid metabolism-related, inflammatory, and liver fibrosis indicators in the serum of patients with NAFLD was analyzed. We established a NAFLD mouse model and analyzed the serum level of lipid metabolism- and inflammation-related factors and fibrosis in the liver tissues of NAFLD mice. The targeting relationship between miR-103a-3p and HBP1 was examined by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay, RT-qPCR, and Western blot. Finally, the simultaneous effects of miR-103a-3p and HBP1 knockdown on lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, and liver fibrosis in NAFLD mice were analyzed by rescue experiments. MiR-103a-3p was upregulated in the serum of NAFLD patients and liver tissues of NAFLD mice, with increased lipid accumulation, inflammation, and liver fibrosis. HBP1 was reduced in liver tissues of NAFLD mice, and miR-103a-3p bound to and negatively regulated HBP1. Inhibition of miR-103a-3p or promotion of HBP1 improved liver function, decreased lipid accumulation, suppressed inflammatory response, and reduced liver fibrosis in NAFLD mice. Moreover, sh-HBP1 partially reversed the effect of miR-103a-3p inhibitor on NAFLD mice, leading to increased lipid accumulation, elevated inflammation, and fibrosis in the liver of mice. miR-103a-3p inhibits the expression of HBP1, thus suppressing lipid metabolism, stimulating inflammatory responses, and promoting liver fibrosis in NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endoscopic surgery is increasingly utilized for the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC) worldwide, whereas lymph node metastasis (LNM) remains a critical risk factor for the relapse of EGC after endoscopic surgery. Therefore, identifying potential predictive factors and understanding the molecular mechanisms are urgently needed for improving the outcome of EGC patients with LNM. UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase (GNE) is the key enzyme in the process of biosynthesis of CMP-Neu5Ac from UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc), which acts as a substrate for several reactions in glycan metabolism. In this study, we found that GNE was down-regulated in EGC patients with LNM. GNE expression as well as localization, tumor size, intravascular tumor thrombi and Lauren's classification were further identified as independent predictive factors for LNM. Combining GNE expression with traditional risk factors, including tumor size and differentiation degrees, could generate a better model for predicting LNM in EGC patients. Overall, our study implies that low GNE expression is a potential predictor of LNM in EGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The security of quantum key distribution (QKD) is severely threatened by discrepancies between realistic devices and theoretical assumptions. Recently, a significant framework called the reference technique was proposed to provide security against arbitrary source flaws under current technology such as state preparation flaws, side channels caused by mode dependencies, the Trojan horse attacks and pulse correlations. Here, we adopt the reference technique to prove security of an efficient four-phase measurement-device-independent QKD using laser pulses against potential source imperfections. We present a characterization of source flaws and connect them to experiments, together with a finite-key analysis against coherent attacks. In addition, we demonstrate the feasibility of our protocol through a proof-of-principle experimental implementation and achieve a secure key rate of 253 bps with a 20 dB channel loss. Compared with previous QKD protocols with imperfect devices, our study considerably improves both the secure key rate and the transmission distance, and shows application potential in the practical deployment of secure QKD with device imperfections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferon γ (IFN–γ) is now considered to be one of the key molecules in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity. The function of IFN–γ is best described in humans, but less of IFN–γ in fish species has been described at protein level. In the present study, IFN–γ from Gadus macrocephalus (GmIFN–γ) has been examined in terms of bioinformatics, prokaryotic expression, yeast expression, antiviral activity and immune regulatory function. The cDNA of GmIFN–γ contains an open reading frame of 570 nucleotides, coding 189 amino acids. The mature protein contains a nuclear localization signal motif and an obvious IFN–γ signature sequence at the C-terminal. GmIFN–γ is very similar to that of Atlantic cod, with homology up to 89.89%, but less than 32% to other species. GmIFN–γ can be detected in the gills, spleen, intestine, brain and kidney. Interestingly, during early development, a strong signal of GmIFN–γ was not detected until 40 days post hatching. Prokaryotic expression plasmid pET–32a–GmIFN–γ was constructed, and the expression products in BL21 were confirmed by Mass Spectrometry. Meanwhile, the plasmid pGAPZA–GmIFN–γ with Myc tag was constructed and transmitted into Pichia pastoris yeast GS115, and the products were tested using Western blot. The purified GmIFN–γ from either BL21 or yeast has a strong antivirus (Spring viremia of carp virus) effect. The vector of pcDNA3.1–GmIFN–γ was expressed in EPC cell lines; high transcript levels of MHC class I chain-related protein A (MICA) gene were detected; and the exogenous GmIFN–γ protein could also induce MICA expression, indicating that GmIFN–γ could stimulate immune response. The yeast GS115 with GmIFN–γ protein, which is an inclusion body, was given to zebrafish orally, and the transcript of zebrafish IFN–γ was upregulated significantly; however, genes of the interferon type–I signal pathway were not well stimulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Candida parapsilosis carbonyl reductases (CpRCR) have been widely used for the reductive conversion of ketone precursors and chiral alcohol products in pharmaceutical industries. The enzymatic enantioselectivity is believed to be related to the shape complementation between the cavities in the enzymes and the substitutions of the ketone substrates. In this work, we reported an unexpected enantioselectivity in the enzyme reductions of dihydrofuran-3(2H)-one (DHF) to (S)-tetrahydrofuran-3-ol (DHF-ol, enantiomeric excess: 96.4%), while dihydrothiophen-3(2H)-one substrate (DHT) was unproductive under the same experimental conditions. To rationalize the exclusive S-configuration and the specific reactivity of DHF, we carried out molecular dynamics simulations for the reacting complexations of DHF with CpRCR, and DHT with CpRCR. Our calculations indicate that DHF preferentially binds to the small cavity near L119, F285, and W286, while the large cavity near the α1 helix was mainly occupied by solvent water molecules. Moreover, the pre-reaction state analysis suggests that the pro-S conformations were more abundant than the pro-R, in particular for DHF. This suggests that the non-polar interaction of substrate C4-C5 methylene contacting the hydrophobic side-chains of L119-F285-W286, and the polar interaction of funanyl oxygen exposing the solvent environment play important roles in the enantioselectivity and reactivity. The phylogenetic tree of CpRCR homologues implies that a variety of amino acid combinations at positions 285 and 286 were available and thereby potentially useful for redesigning enantioselective reductions of 5-membered-ring heterocyclic ketones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) plays an essential role in driving and regulating global cycling of carbon (C) which is critically important to climate system. However, the pivotal transect-scale determinant factor for the content of soil MBC, along with the variation pattern in different natural forests and soils has not been sufficiently investigated. In this study, 252 soils samples (6 replicates and 3 depths for each site) were sampled from 14 forests which lie in 7 soil types along the 4000 km North-South transect of Eastern China. We found that the highest content of soil MBC in the whole soil profile with 556.69 ± 14.59 mg C kg− 1 occurred in the subalpine coniferous forest, and the lowest content was observed with 53.11 ± 10.22 mg C kg− 1 in warm coniferous forest. From the angle of soil type, in the whole soil profile Haplic Andosol had the highest content of soil MBC with 480 mg C kg− 1, while Haplic ferralsol possessed the lowest content of MBC with 102 mg C kg− 1. In addition, over the North-South transect of Eastern China the strongest correlation was observed in between the content of soil MBC and altitude (ALT) (R2 = 0.64), followed by soil type (R2 = -0.61), mean annual temperature (MAT) (R2 = -0.56). We concluded that the content of soil MBC in natural forests is mainly controlled by ALT on a transect scale. We believed that the soil C in Yue spruce-fir forest was relatively stable, which can be an option to be a specific forest to optimize forest management and to contribute to mitigating climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive models serving as virtual sensors for online optimization and feedback control of diesel engines is gaining increasing attention. However, existing prediction models fall short in simultaneously achieving high prediction accuracy and fast computational speed. In this paper, a novel machine learning algorithm called deep autoencoding support vector regression (DASVR) was proposed, which combines the powerful non-linear feature extraction capability of artificial neural network (ANN) with the good adaptability of support vector regression (SVR) to low-dimensional input spaces. ANN-based autoencoder is firstly employed to extract features from the original high-dimensional input space, forming a low-dimensional latent variable space. SVR is then employed to perform non-linear mapping between latent variables and target output variables. Experiments were conducted on a 16-cylinder marine diesel engine under different load, rail pressure, and injection timing conditions. Prediction models for fuel consumption, NOx, PM, HC, and PM emissions were established based on experimental data and DASVR algorithm. The maximum error of DASVR-based models for the five desired output variables is less than 3.8 % under different operating conditions. DAVSR-based predictive models outperform conventional ANN-based and SVR-based models in terms of both prediction accuracy and real-time capability, and can theoretically meet the real-time requirement below 3000 r/min. • Proposal for a novel machine learning algorithm - DASVR. • Reduce the dimensionality of input space by encoder-decoder neural network. • Map the latent variable space to the output space by SVR. • DASVR outperforms ANN and SVR in both accuracy and speed. • Detailed evaluation of prediction accuracy and speed for both BSFC and emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A 0D transient momentum based spray model to account for time-varying injection rate. • A simplified mixture preparation based on unsteady droplet evaporation. • A modified turbulence model in which combustion-induced turbulence is considered. • Evaluation of HRR prediction accuracy over a broad engine operating range. Existing zero-dimensional heat release models cannot simultaneously give high predictive performance at both high and low loads. This paper presents a fully mechanism-based 0D heat release model with high level of model predictability over very broad operating range of direct-injection diesel engines. A transient momentum-based spray penetration and air-entrainment model is derived, and further combined with a non-steady evaporation model to predict combustible mixture preparation. The total fuel mass and corresponding average concentration for premixed combustion as well as the instantaneous amount of fuel available for diffusion combustion in both rich and lean spray region can be calculated based on ignition delay and mixture preparation. A modified mixing model considering combustion-induced turbulence is proposed to calculate the turbulent mixing intensity. The influence of total fuel mass for premixed combustion, evaporation limitation and combustion-induced turbulence on the prediction results of heat release rate are discussed, which confirms the requirement of load adaptability expansion on the physical depth of model. Moreover, extensive experimental validation of the proposed heat release model has been performed under different loads, engine speeds, injection timing and injection pressure using fixed model parameters. The maximum error of crank angle for 10%, 50% and 90% heat release are no more than 0.3 °CA, 0.7 °CA and 5.2 °CA respectively, which proves that the proposed heat release model has superior prediction performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urosepsis is an infectious complication after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). This study aimed to analyze the perioperative factors related to urosepsis after PCNL for upper urinary calculi and establish a nomogram to predict the probability of postoperative urosepsis based on the risk factors. Methods: The Clinical data of one-stage PCNL for upper urinary stones in patients already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between June 2010 and June 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether urosepsis occurred after surgery, and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses evaluated the risk factors for urosepsis. Moreover, the corresponding nomogram prediction model was determined by the regression coefficient. Results: All 366 patients with diabetes underwent one-stage PCNL. Seventy-one (19.4%) patients had urosepsis after surgery, and their hospitalization time was longer than that of patients without urosepsis. Moreover, the incidence of non-infection-related complications was higher. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed four independent risk factors associated with postoperative urosepsis, including positive urine nitrite (odds ratio [OR] = 3.326, P = 0.007), positive urine culture (OR = 2.213, P = 0.023), intraoperative hypotension (OR = 8.968, P < 0.001), and staghorn calculi (OR = 3.180, P = 0.002). The above independent risk factors were used as variables to construct the nomogram. The nomogram model was internally validated. The calculated concordance index was 0.824. The Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was performed (P = 0.972 > 0.05). The area under the curve of this model was 0.831, indicating that the nomogram model had good accuracy in predicting the probability of urosepsis in patients who underwent PCNL with diabetes and had good consistency with the actual risk. Conclusion: Positive urine culture, positive urine nitrite, staghorn calculi, and intraoperative hypotension were independent risk factors for urosepsis in patients who underwent one-stage PCNL with diabetes. The new nomogram could accurately assess the risk of urosepsis after PCNL in patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain-stiffening properties derived from biological tissue have been widely observed in biological hydrogels and are essential in mimicking natural tissues. Although strain-stiffening has been studied in various protein-based hydrogels, effective approaches for tuning the strain-stiffening properties of protein hydrogels have rarely been explored. Here, we demonstrated a new method to tune the strain-stiffening amplitudes of protein hydrogels. By adjusting the surface charge of proteins inside the hydrogel using negatively/positively charged molecules, the strain-stiffening amplitudes could be quantitively regulated. The strain-stiffening of the protein hydrogels could even be enhanced 5-fold under high deformations, while the bulk property, recovery ability and biocompatibility remained almost unchanged. The tuning of strain-stiffening amplitudes using different molecules or in different protein hydrogels was further proved to be feasible. We anticipate that surface charge adjustment of proteins in hydrogels represents a general principle to tune the strain-stiffening property and can find wide applications in regulating the mechanical behaviors of protein-based hydrogels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are closed back‐splicing products of precursor mRNA in eukaryotes. Compared with linear mRNAs, circRNAs have a special structure and stable expression. A large number of studies have provided different regulatory mechanisms of circRNAs in tumors. Challenges exist in understanding the control of circRNAs because of their sequence overlap with linear mRNA. Here, we survey the most recent progress regarding the regulation of circRNA biogenesis by RNA‐binding proteins, one of the vital functional proteins. Furthermore, substantial circRNAs exert compelling biological roles by acting as protein sponges, by being translated themselves or regulating posttranslational modifications of proteins. This review will help further explore more types of functional proteins that interact with circRNA in cancer and reveal other unknown mechanisms of circRNA regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the recent geometrical classification of 6d (1, 0) SCFTs, a major question is how to compute for this large class their elliptic genera. The latter encode the refined BPS spectrum of the SCFTs, which determines geometric invariants of the associated elliptic non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds. In this paper we establish for all 6d (1, 0) SCFTs in the atomic classification blowup equations that fix these elliptic genera to large extent. The latter fall into two types: the unity and the vanishing blowup equations. For almost all rank one theories, we find unity blowup equations which determine the elliptic genera completely. We develop several techniques to compute elliptic genera and BPS invariants from the blowup equations, including a recursion formula with respect to the number of strings, a Weyl orbit expansion, a refined BPS expansion and an ϵ1, ϵ2 expansion. For higher-rank theories, we propose a gluing rule to obtain all their blowup equations based on those of rank one theories. For example, we explicitly give the elliptic blowup equations for the three higher-rank non-Higgsable clusters, ADE chain of −2 curves and conformal matter theories. We also give the toric construction for many elliptic non-compact Calabi- Yau threefolds which engineer 6d (1, 0) SCFTs with various matter representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To retrospectively review the multicenter outcome of patients with ureteral fibroepithelial polyps (UFPs) after endoscopic management with thulium laser. Materials and Methods: A total of 21 adult patients with UFPs were treated in three medical centers between May 2007 and June 2018. We performed ureteroscopy operation and resected the polyps with thulium laser. The Double-J stent was removed 6 weeks after surgery during the 11-year follow-up period. Thereafter, we conducted computed tomography urography (CTU) or ultrasonic checks every 3-6 months. Results: All patients had UFPs resected with thulium laser. The mean length of the UFPs was 3.4 ± 1.43 cm (range 1.8-6.9). They included 12 men and 9 women with a mean age of 41.91 ± 13.56 years. Unilateral polyps were observed in 20 patients (left: n = 13; right: n = 7), whereas 1 patient had bilateral polyps. Back pain was the main symptom (12, 57.14%) identified. The amount of bleeding and the mean surgery time was 8.43 ± 4.02 mL and 42.43 ± 13.53 minutes, respectively. The average length of stay was 4 days (a range of 3-6 days). Notably, no patient exhibited ureteral perforation. We did not observe an increase in hydronephrosis during the follow-up period, ultrasonography showed that it was attenuated 6 weeks later. Besides, 3 months later, CTU revealed favorable recovery without recurrence or ureterostenosis. Conclusions: Ureteroscopy operation combined with thulium laser resection is a minimally invasive and effective method for treating UFPs. Based on our limited multicenter research findings, thulium laser achieves favorable outcomes in restoring drainage from the kidney and reduces recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer‐related mortality worldwide. Methionyl‐tRNA synthetase 2 (Mars2) has been suggested as a biomarker indicating poor prognosis of cancers. This study focuses on the function of Mars2 in GC and the responsible molecules. Mars2 was highly expressed in GC patients according to a transcriptome analysis and the data from the public database, and its high expression was confirmed in the acquired GC cell lines. Downregulation of Mars2 significantly weakened the proliferation, resistance to death, migration and invasion of GC cells. The H3K4me3 modification level was increased in the promoter region of Mars2, which was attributed to reduced abundance of lysine demethylase 5D (KDM5D) in the Mars2 promoter. MicroRNA (miR)‐4661‐5p was identified as an upstream regulator of KDM5D. Downregulation of miR‐4661‐5p led to an increase in the expression of KDM5D while a decline in the expression of Mars2, which reduced the malignant behaviors of GC cells; however, the malignant behaviors of GC cells was restored after further inhibition of KDM5D. To conclude, this study suggested that increased Mars2 expression upon miR‐4661‐5p‐mediated KDM5D downregulation is correlated with malignant degree of GC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The envelope of the orbits of particles released with the same speed but in different directions from a point in an attractive or repulsive Coulomb field is studied with a simple geometric approach. The lawn sprinkler problem and the shadow of the repulsive Rutherford scattering are considered as the limiting cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Aqueous rechargeable batteries (ARBs) have the advantages of low cost, high safety and sustainable environmental friendliness. However, the key challenge for ARBs is the narrow electrochemical stability window of the water, undoubtedly leading to the low output voltage, the underachieved capacity and a low energy density. Prussian blues and their analogues have attracted great research interest for energy storage due to the advantages of facile synthesis, versatile categories and tunable three dimensional frameworks. Herein a flexible integrated potassium cobalt hexacyano ferrates (Co-HCF) on carbon fiber clothes (CFCs) were designed through a feasible route combining the controllable electrochemical deposition and the efficient co-precipitation process. The Co-HCF@CFCs demonstrate an excellent sodium ion storage with a high reversible capacity of 91 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 and 55 mAh g−1 at 10 A g−1 in aqueous electrolytes. The long cycling stability at the high current demonstrate the excellent structure stability of the Co-HCF@CFCs. Analysis on the rate Cyclic voltammograms (CV) profiles reveal the fast electrochemical kinetics with the capacitive controlled process, while galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) tests fast diffusion coefficient related with the sodium ions intercalation/deintercalation in the Co-HCF@CFCs. In addition, the flexible Co-CHF@CFCs also demonstrate excellent performance for quasi-solid-state ARBs even at the high bending angles. The high quality Co-HCF@CFCs with advantage of high rate capability and excellent reversible capacity make them a promising candidate for high performance ARBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification can regulate a variety of biological processes. However, the implications of m6A modification in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remain largely unknown. Here, we systematically evaluated the m6A modification features in more than 2400 LUAD samples by analyzing the multi-omics features of 23 m6A regulators. We depicted the genetic variation features of m6A regulators, and found mutations of FTO and YTHDF3 were linked to worse overall survival. Many m6A regulators were aberrantly expressed in tumors, among which FTO, IGF2BP3, YTHDF1 and RBM15 showed consistent alteration features across 11 independent cohorts. Besides, the regulator-pathway interaction network demonstrated that m6A modification was associated with various biological pathways, including immune-related pathways. The correlation between m6A regulators and tumor microenvironment was also assessed. We found that LRPPRC was negatively correlated with most tumor-infiltrating immune cells. On the other hand, we established a scoring tool named m6Sig, which was positively correlated with PD-L1 expression and could reflect both the tumor microenvironment characterization and prognosis of LUAD patients. Comparison of CNV between high and low m6Sig groups revealed differences on chromosome 7. Application of m6Sig on an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy cohort confirmed that the high m6Sig group demonstrated therapeutic advantages and clinical benefits. Our study indicated that m6A modification is involved in many aspects of LUAD and contributes to tumor microenvironment formation. A better understanding of m6A modification will provide more insights into the molecular mechanisms of LUAD and facilitate developing more effective personalized treatment strategies. A web application was built along with this study (http://www.bioinfo-zs.com/luadexpress/). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two mutants were designed to convert NBPO into (S) and (R)−NBPL respectively. • The catalytic efficiency of L34A/W116A was increased by 26.82-fold compared to the WT. • This integrated engineering avoids the trade-off between activity and stereoselectivity. Green and efficient biosynthesis of two enantiomeric products of N-Boc-pyrrolidinol (NPBL) as key pharmaceutical blocks for treatment of cancer and HIV has received much attention. The precursor, N-Boc-pyrrolidone (NPBO), is considered as a difficult-to-reduce ketone by carbonyl reductases, because it has a bulky Boc group and sterically similar substitutions on either side of the carbonyl group resulting in low stereoselectivity and conversion. Moreover, activity enhancement concomitant with reversal of stereoselectivity is challenging. Carbonyl reductase (CpCR) from Candida parapsilosis shows 90 %ee for (S)-NBPL, but low catalytic efficiency. In this study, we considered both activity and selectivity, and proposed an integrated engineering strategy. The distal site was introduced from an activity perspective and the active pocket sites were introduced by virtual saturation mutagenesis from a stereoselectivity perspective. Mutants L34A/W116A (95 %ee (S)) and L34A/W116T/F285C/W286S (94 %ee (R)) were obtained with 26.8-fold and 2.9-fold higher catalytic efficiencies, respectively. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the mechanism of stereoselective flip-flop and activity enhancement; mutation altered the substrate-binding mode and changed the shape and size of the cavities, thus contributing to the change in the ratio of active conformations in the pre-reactive state. This study, which differs from the traditional method of exchanging large and small pockets, provides a viable approach for the rational design of carbonyl reductases with high stereoselectivity for target substrates. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquiring knowledge of the patterns of soil microbial diversity along elevational gradients and the driving factors of these patterns is important for understanding the dynamics of global nutrient elements. In this study, we analyzed the soil bacterial community composition and diversity using Illumina high-throughput sequencing along an elevational gradient from 670 to 1780 m on Huangshan including 6 vegetation types from base to summit. We found that the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi , accounting for more than 75 % of the sequences. We observed significant variation in soil bacterial community composition across different elevations (ANOSIM P = 0.001). In addition, the soil bacterial diversity increased with increasing elevation from 875 m to 1165 m and decreased with increasing elevation from 1280 m to 1370 m, showing a humpbacked relationship with elevations. Soil pH had the strongest effect on bacterial community composition. In conclusion, soil properties, especially soil pH was the primary factor controlling the elevational distribution of soil bacterial communities on Huangshan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum conference key agreement (CKA) enables key sharing among multiple trusted users with information-theoretic security. Currently, the key rates of most quantum CKA protocols suffer from the limit of the total efficiency among quantum channels. Inspired by the coherent one-way and twin-field quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols, we propose a quantum CKA protocol of three users. Exploiting coherent states with intensity 0 and μ to encode logic bits, our protocol can break the limit. Additionally, the requirements of phase randomization and multiple intensity modulation are removed in our protocol, making its experimental demonstration simple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum cans are commonly used for packaging soft drinks and low-alcohol beverages due to their good recyclability. To enhance the economic cycle and expand the packaging of liquors, the feasibility of commercial 3104 aluminum cans for packaging Chinese liquor was studied. The aluminum's migration into alcoholic solutions was studied using inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to study the corrosion process of epoxy coatings on the aluminum cans. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), infrared attenuated total reflection (IR-ATR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to determine the inner coatings and adhering surfaces of the cans and the corrosion process. The results showed that the maximum aluminum migration in Chinese liquor was 4.3572 mg/kg at 60 °C for 30 days. The epoxy coating was corroded enough to decrease the coating impedance and expose the metal substrate after 25 days. Permeation and aging degradation of coatings are the main factors to consider when packaging liquor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper primarily explores the modeling method of n-level complex helical structures with coal mining machine cables as the research object. The paper first elaborately introduces the modeling method of n-level helix curves based on parametric equations and coordinate transformations, and compensates for the n-level helix curves with corrected pitch, which can obtain more accurate n-level helix curves and improve the accuracy of n-level helix curves modeling. Subsequently, based on this high-precision n-level helix curves modeling method, the paper elaborates on the method of solving pitch and twisting radius of multi-layer helical structure. Calculation scripts were written based on the above methods, which can be used to batch calculate the twisting radius and pitch of each layer structure in multi-layer structures when satisfying the conditions of in-layer tangency, inter-layer tangency, and extrusion deformation, and retain the actual results through logical judgment. Then, based on the above two methods, the paper developed a modeling method for braided structures based on piecewise functions containing fifth-order polynomials, which can effectively avoid the problem of insufficiently dense arrangement of braided lines and easy interference in traditional methods. Finally, a set of modeling tools was developed using C# and Python in Grasshopper to implement the modeling algorithm. Taking the MCPT-1.9/3.3 3120 + 170 + 4 * 10 coal mining machine cable as an example. The cable was modeled using both the method proposed in this paper and the traditional method. Comparative data shows that the method proposed in this paper can reduce errors by 3.31E6 times in the second-level and above helical structures. In addition this paper compares the standard line length, measured line length, and the line length established by the proposed model, showing that the relative errors are both less than 0.1941%. This paper provides a new, systematic, high-precision, and full-process cable modeling method, in which all parameters except the process parameters are accurately solved by equations. It lays a theoretical foundation for the high-precision simulation and intelligent sensing cables, which is of great significance for improving the safety, stability, and efficient development of the coal mining industry. The research results of the paper can not only be applied to the modeling of coal mining machine cables but also can be extended to the modeling of other complex multi-layer helical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in substituting current packaging films with biologically-derived films without compromising mechanical properties and hydrophobicity. In this work, the esterified galactomannan (E -GM) films with good hydrophobicity, excellent oxygen barrier performance and high tensile mechanical strength were synthesized using anhydride esterification method prior to film formation. The hydrophobicity, mechanical properties, barrier properties, thermal stability and ultraviolet absorption of the prepared films were determined to fully investigate the features of galactomannan-based films. The results indicated that GM films can be successfully obtained by esterification. Compared to neat GM film, E -GM-1.5 film (acetic anhydride to GM of 1.5:1) achieved the highest degree of esterification (0.05), hydrophobicity (107°) and mechanical strength (92.0 MPa). In addition, the esterified GM films had lower toxicity for macrophages cells. The prepared E-GM films may provide more opportunities for further advancement and applications in the development of food packaging from natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of abundant hemicelluloses polysaccharides on functional materials are of much interest. In this work, galactomannan (GM) hydrogels were prepared by dual hydrogen bonding interactions with polymerized poly-acrylic acid (AA) and poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). The hydrogels showed a series of novel and distinctive properties through in situ metal ions immersion. Highly improved ductility with a tensile strain of 230% and tensile stress of 390 kPa were exhibited by PAN-GM-Cu and PAN-GM-Fe respectively. More interestingly, the spontaneous metal ions capture into the network successfully actuated the sensitive curving and shape reconstruction behaviors of the hydrogels to varying degrees, which were tuned by the concentration of the metal ions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared spectroscopy (IR) proved the formation of new coordination bonds between Cu2+/Fe3+ and carboxylates/hydroxyls groups that reinforced and swelled the networks into different curving states. After the curving, PAN-GM-Cu exhibited more satisfied mechanical properties due to the distinctive morphological distribution of Cu2+ on the pores layers of the hydrogels. The intelligent hydrogels proposed in this work would provide new strategies for effective metal ions adsorption, which can be potentially applied on devices actuating, metal ions pollution water treatments, self-reinforcement and shape reconstruction. • Galactomannan-based hydrogels with metal ions capture capability were fabricated. • In situ immersion in metal ions solution actuated curving and shape reconstruction. • Mechanical strength was notably enhanced by adsorbing different metal ions. • Coordination bonds with varied morphological distributions were revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent malignancy in men, and the identification of novel oncogenes is clinically valuable for early screening, prevention and treatment. Recently, the studies have revealed that long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in the development and progression of cancers including prostate cancer. The present study aims to identify a novel lncRNA that correlated with the survival time of prostate cancer patients and try to explore its biological functions in prostate cancer cells. After analysing the prostate carcinoma dataset of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the lncRNA FAM66C was screened with its expression highly correlated with patient survival time, tumour stage and Gleason pattern. Real‐time PCR showed that FAM66C highly expressed in prostate cancer cells, and knockdown FAM66C by siRNAs resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth. Furthermore, the results indicated that FAM66C promoted cell growth due to increasing cell proliferation but not decreasing cell apoptosis. In addition, FAM66C activated the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) signalling to promote cell proliferation. The result of Western Blotting and lysosomal acidity detection showed that knockdown FAM66C increased the protein ubiquitination and the lysosomal acidity. Moreover, inhibition of proteasome pathway could increase the activation of EGFR‐ERK signalling and cell proliferation. Taken together, these results suggested that lncRNA FAM66C activate EGFR‐ERK signalling to promote cell proliferation by inhibiting proteasome pathway in prostate cancer. Significance of the study: We demonstrated that lncRNA FAM66C was associated with clinical progression. In addition, highly expressed lncRNA FAM66C in prostate cancer cell lines promoted cell proliferation. Moreover, lncRNA FAM66C activate the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)‐extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) signalling to promote cell proliferation by inhibiting proteasome pathway in prostate cancer. This study might provide lncRNA FAM66C as a potential therapeutic target gene of prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Spring Seedling Project‐Zhaotong program, a novel continuing medical education program, to improve the knowledge and skills of rural doctors in China. Design: An uncontrolled single‐group pre‐ and post‐intervention design based on quantitative and qualitative methods. Setting: Zhaotong is a prefecture‐level city located in Yunnan, China. Participants: A total of 1866 country doctors practising in Zhaotong were enrolled. Interventions: The Zhaotong program consisted of three stages: remote education, workshops conducted in Zhaotong and field training in Shanghai. Main outcome measures: The effectiveness of the remote education and Zhaotong workshop stages was assessed based on differences between pre‐ and post‐training test scores. Qualitative comments were collected to assess the experience of country doctors following the Shanghai field training stage. Results: In total, 1866 country doctors (46.9% males; mean age: 38.2 ± 9.2 years) participated in the program. The average score of the post‐training test was higher than that of the pre‐training test, both online (P <.001) and offline (P <.001). In regard to the Zhaotong workshops, with the exception of incisions/suturing, the average scores of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, gynaecological examinations and child growth/development were improved after training (P <.001). Qualitative analysis showed that Shanghai field training enhanced understanding of general practice, with the majority of country doctors indicating that they would apply what they learned in daily practice. Conclusion: This study introduced an comprehensive form of continuing medical education for rural doctors in Zhaotong and proved the effectiveness of this program and also provided a reference point for the future development of continuing medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: With the expansion of information technology, cybersecurity vulnerability issues caused by data integrity attacks are becoming a major threat for the modern power industries. Electricity load forecasting under data integrity attacks has attracted great concern for power industries in recent years. However, most conventional load forecasting models lack the capacity to produce accurate results against data corruption. A comprehensive framework for robust load forecasting in the presence of imperfect datasets has not been discussed in the existing literature. This paper introduces a robust load forecasting framework to obtain higher prediction accuracy given different levels of data corruption. Firstly, the corrupted data is corrected by the anomaly detection method based on denoising variational autoencoder. Then, the combined robust forecasting model is established to integrate the independent advantages of different forecasters. The numerical results of case studies on the dataset of Global Energy Forecasting Competition 2014 demonstrate the outstanding effectiveness of the proposed method over other competing methods. Under different degrees of data corruption, the average mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of the proposed model is 2.37 and the average root mean square error (RMSE) of the proposed model is 113.35, which represents the best performance among all competing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Deracemization, the transformation of the racemate into a single stereoisomeric product in 100% theoretical yield, is an appealing but challenging option for the asymmetric synthesis of optically pure chiral compounds as important pharmaceutical intermediates. To enhance the synthesis of (R)-1,3-butanediol from the corresponding low-cost racemate with minimal substrate waste, we designed a stereoinverting cascade deracemization route and constructed the cascade reaction for the total conversion of racemic 1,3-butanediol into its (R)-enantiomer. This cascade reaction consisted of the absolutely enantioselective oxidation of (S)-1,3-butanediol by Candida parapsilosis QC-76 and the subsequent asymmetric reduction of the intermediate 4-hydroxy-2-butanone to (R)-1,3-butanediol by Pichia kudriavzevii QC-1. Results: The key reaction conditions including choice of cosubstrate, pH, temperature, and rotation speed were optimized systematically and determined as follows: adding acetone as the cosubstrate at pH 8.0, a temperature of 30 °C, and rotation speed of 250 rpm for the first oxidation process; in the next reduction process, the optimal conditions were: adding glucose as the cosubstrate at pH 8.0, a temperature of 35 °C, and rotation speed of 200 rpm. By investigating the feasibility of the step-by-step method with one-pot experiment as a natural extension for performing the oxidation–reduction cascade, the step-by-step approach exhibited high efficiency for this cascade process from racemate to (R)-1,3-butanediol. Under optimal conditions, 20 g/L of the racemate transformed into 16.67 g/L of (R)-1,3-butanediol with 99.5% enantiomeric excess by the oxidation–reduction cascade system in a 200-mL bioreactor. Conclusions: The step-by-step cascade reaction efficiently produced (R)-1,3-butanediol from the racemate by biosynthesis and shows promising application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are a promising raw material for galactomannan (GalM) production based upon its enrichment in galactomannan polysaccharides. In this work, SCG was pretreated by autohydrolysis for maximumly improving GalM extractability by endo -mannanase. The GalM in the prehydolyzate (GalM-PH) and enzymatic hydrolyzate (GalM-EH) were obtained by ethanol precipitation and characterized. Under the optimized autohydrolysis conditions, 50.1% of GalM in pretreated SCG was converted into free GalM in enzymatic hydrolyzate. Compositional analysis results revealed that GalM-PH was comprised of 81.7% galactomannan, higher than that of GalM-EH (76.4%). The molecular weight of GalM-PH and GalM-EH were 44.5 kDa and 28.0 kDa, respectively. Antioxidant assays indicated that both GalM-EH and GalM-PH could scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl radicals and hydroxyl radicals. Immunological and prebiotics analysis showed all GalM preparations exhibited pronounced activities for proliferating the probiotics and proliferating the Macrophages cell for NO production, in which the GalM-EH outperformed the GalM-PH. These results imply that the GalM extracted from SCG are the bioactive substances that can be used as antioxidant, prebiotics, and immunostimulants. Unlabelled Image • Autohydrolysis improved the enzymatic hydrolysis of spent coffee ground. • GalM with low molecular weight can be obtained by endo -mannanase. • GalM showed biologically active of prebiotic and antioxidant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To assess the clinical performance and correlations of automated chemiluminescence assay (CIA) and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies in the diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Methods: The study recruited 505 subjects, including 192 with APS, 193 with connective tissue diseases other than APS, and 120 healthy donors. We measured anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti‐β2‐glycoprotein I (anti‐β2GPI) antibodies IgG, IgM, and IgA in all the samples using both CIA and ELISA. Results: Total agreement between the two methods ranged from 83.50% for anti‐β2GPI IgG antibodies to 92.76% for anti‐β2GPI IgM antibodies in all the groups. Anti‐β2GPI and aCL IgG assays showed the highest Spearman's rho coefficients (anti‐β2GPI IgG = 0.742, aCL IgG = 0.715). Anti‐β2GPI IgG CIA showed the highest sensitivity for diagnosis of APS at 80.21%, which was significantly higher than the sensitivity of anti‐β2GPI IgG ELISA (52.08%). For diagnosis of APS, anti‐β2GPI IgG CIA had the best discrimination power with the area under the curves (AUC) of 0.922, followed by aCL IgG CIA (AUC of 0.905). While the CIA AUC was slightly higher in all cases, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: CIA measurements had a good agreement and correlation with comparative ELISA assays. The CIA anti‐β2GPI IgG however was significantly more sensitive for APS diagnosis. The two assay methodologies showed comparable predictive powers and support the value of the CIA method for improved diagnosis and management of patients with APS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the "good-to-good" app switching phenomenon that has not been specifically addressed in the prior switching literature. Drawing on the consumer learning theory, this study explores how external social word of mouth (WOM) and internal satisfaction influence app users' switching intention through social learning route and analogical learning route. This study also examines the moderating effect of app heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was used to collect data. Two categories of mobile apps with different levels of within-category heterogeneity were targeted in survey questions. A total of 525 valid survey responses were collected. Findings: Social WOM about a competing app increases users' switching intention through both social norm influence and social information influence, resulting in a direct effect on switching intention and an indirect effect through the perceived attractiveness of a competing app. Users' satisfaction with an adopted app positively influences the perceived attractiveness of an unadopted competing app, offering evidence for analogical learning in user switching. Meanwhile, users' satisfaction imposes a direct negative effect on switching intention. A higher level of within-category heterogeneity strengthens (weakens) the positive effect of social WOM (satisfaction) on users' perceived attractiveness of a competing app. Originality/value: This study complements the existing switching literature by disentangling the "good-to-good" switching phenomenon in the mobile app market from the consumer learning perspective. This study extends the understanding of cross-category user switching by considering different levels of product heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The building blocks of 6d (1, 0) SCFTs include certain rank one theories with gauge group G = SU(3), SO(8), F4, E6,7,8. In this paper, we propose a universal recursion formula for the elliptic genera of all such theories. This formula is solved from the elliptic blowup equations introduced in our previous paper. We explicitly compute the elliptic genera and refined BPS invariants, which recover all previous results from topological string theory, modular bootstrap, Hilbert series, 2d quiver gauge theories and 4d N = 2 superconformal HG theories. We also observe an intriguing relation between the k-string elliptic genus and the Schur indices of rank k HG SCFTs, as a generalization of Del Zotto-Lockhart's conjecture at the rank one cases. In a subsequent paper, we deal with all other non-Higgsable clusters with matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with traditional inorganic semiconductor, organic semiconductor can be flexibly specified by hydrogen bonds, coordination bonds, covalent bonds or ionic bonds, and different molecular frameworks, and thus possess broad application prospects. In order to increase the surface defect content, the Zn ions are further doped. These surface defects tend to catch electrons. The surface state energy level is constituted by surface defects, and supposed to locate between the valence band and the conduction band. The zinc doped carbon nitride (Zn:C 3 N 4) nanofilms, known as an organic semiconductor material, have exhibited many excellent chemical properties and have a very wide application prospect. Herein, the Zn:C 3 N 4 nanofilms are synthesized by the thermal polymerization, and their morphology, structure, and chemical composition are also systemically analyzed. Moreover, We demonstrate a 3 μm Q-switched Er:YAP crystal laser modulated by the Zn:C 3 N 4 saturable absorber. The obtained Q-switching pulses have a shortest pulse width of 162.5 ns and a peak power of 16.5 W at a repetition rate of 192.9 kHz. These results reveal that Zn:C 3 N 4 can be used as the promising nonlinear saturable absorber material in the mid-infrared pulsed lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the intensive use of feed additives in livestock farming, animal manure has become a hotspot for antibiotics, heavy metals, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Unlike antibiotics, heavy metals cannot be degraded during composting and thus could pose a persistent co-selective pressure in the proliferation of antibiotic resistance. Passivators are commonly applied to immobilize metals and improve the safety of compost. However, little is known about the effects of various passivators on ARGs and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) during composting and the underlying mechanisms involved. Thus, three typical passivators (biochar, fly ash, and zeolite) were applied during the composting of copper-enriched pig manure, and their effects on ARGs, copper resistance genes, MGEs, and the bacterial communities were examined. Compared to the control, all passivator treatments reduced the abundances of at least six ARGs (tetC , tetG , tetQ , tetX , sul1 , and ermB) by 0.23–1.09 logs and of two MGEs (intI1 and IS CR1) by 26–85% after composting. Biochar and fly ash also significantly reduced the abundances of intI2 and Tn 914/1545. In contrast, abundances of copper resistance genes were not reduced by passivators, implying that the decreased co-selective pressure may not be a major contributor to ARG reductions in this study. Procrustes analysis and redundancy analysis demonstrated that shifts in the bacterial community determined the changes in the abundances of ARGs, and the variation in MGEs and DTPA-Cu can also partially explain the ARG variance. Overall, all of three passivators can be used to reduce the health risks associated with ARGs in livestock manure, and biochar performed the best at reducing ARGs and MGEs. Unlabelled Image • All passivators reduced abundances of six ARGs by 0.23–1.09 logs after composting. • Abundances of mobile genetic elements were 26–85% lower in passivator treatments. • Mitigation of co-selective pressure may not be a major reason for ARG reductions. • Shifts in bacterial community determined variations in ARG during composting. • Appropriate additives can potentially reduce the health risk due to ARGs in compost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]