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Cationic cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB) is an effective and common intercalator for interlayered modification in layered materials, while its biotoxicity remains an issue. To improve biosafety and biocompatibility of the drug delivery system, the nontoxic chitosan (CS) was introduced into CTAB‐modified kanemite (Ka‐CTAB). Accordingly, the obtained Ka‐CTAB/CS was further used as a drug carrier of methotrexate (MTX). Various characterizations were employed to investigate the drug delivery system based on the Ka‐CTAB/CS. Results revealed that the loading capacity of the drug delivery system based on the Ka‐CTAB/CS for MTX was about 13.47%, and the drug delivery system exhibited slow and sustained release of drugs either in phosphate buffer solution (pH = 7.4) or in HCl solution (pH = 1.35). The introduction of CS in Ka‐CTAB/CS not only replaced a part of CTAB in composition but also prevented CTAB molecules falling off the carrier during the drug‐releasing process. In the methyl orange dye assay, the concentration of free CTAB shed from Ka‐CTAB/CS was as low as 8.09 × 10−7 mol/L after 24 h. In an in vitro cell viability assay using HepG2 cells, Ka‐CTAB/CS also exhibited lower cytotoxicity compared to previous Ka‐CTAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique edge states of the zigzag β-SiC7 nanoribbons aroused our attention, and therefore, based on first-principles calculations, we investigated their spin-dependent electronic transport properties by constructing controllable defects to modulate these special edge states. Interestingly, by introducing rectangular edge defects in the SiSi and SiC edge-terminated systems, not only the spin-unpolarized is successfully converted to completely spin-polarized, but also the direction of polarization can be switched, thus enabling a dual spin filter. The analyses further reveal that the two transmission channels with opposite spins are spatially separated and that the transmission eigenstates are highly concentrated at the relative edges. The specific edge defect introduced only suppresses the transmission channel at the same edge but reserves the transmission channel at the other edge. In addition, for the CSi and CC edge-terminated systems, an additional spin-down band exists due to spin splitting in the spin-up band at EF, so that besides the original spatially separated two spin-opposite channels, an extra spin channel is distributed at the upper edge, resulting in unidirectional fully spin-polarized transport. The peculiar spatially separated edge states and excellent spin filtering properties could open up further possibilities for β-SiC7-based electronic devices in spintronics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the role of surface-modified 3D printed titanium implants in modulating oral soft tissue closure and antimicrobial properties. Eighteen 6-month-old healthy adult New Zealand White rabbits were selected as experimental animals, the left and right mandibular teeth of each experimental animal were randomly divided into two groups, and the bilateral first premolar teeth were extracted after general anesthesia, and one implant was implanted into each of the magnesium/zinc ionized surface-treated group (experimental group) and the surface-untreated group (control group), with a total of 36 implants, i.e., 18 implants for the experimental group and 18 implants for the control group. Bilateral mandibular samples from both groups were removed after 2 and 4 weeks of implantation to investigate the attachment and spreading of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) on the surface of the samples, their proliferative and migratory behaviors as well as the expression levels of related gene proteins (CoL-1 and TGF-β), and HE staining of the soft tissues of the samples and inflammatory cell counts. After 2 and 4 weeks of implantation, the experimental group's HGFs adhesion and spreading were significantly better than that of the control group, the migration and proliferation of HGFs were significantly greater than that of the control group (p <.05), and the expression of CoL-1 and TGF-β genes was significantly higher than that of the control group (p <.05), and the inflammatory cell count was significantly smaller than that of the control group (p <.05). Surface modification by magnesium and zinc ions enhances the sealing performance and antimicrobial performance of 3D printed titanium implants in oral soft tissues, with significant effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Family-centered empowerment programs have been widely used in the pediatric field. Therefore, the current study investigated the effectiveness of family empowerment programs on caregiving ability and adverse mood among caregivers of children with acute leukemia. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a family empowerment program on the caregiving ability and adverse mood of caregivers of children with acute leukemia. Methods: Sixty-eight children with acute leukemia and their family caregivers admitted to our hospital were selected for the study. The control group received routine care during hospitalization, and the family empowerment program was implemented in the intervention group to compare the changes in caregiving capacity (FCTI), illness uncertainty (PPUS) and anxiety(SAS)of the caregivers of the two groups. Results: After 8 weeks of intervention, the FCTI score of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.001), and the difference between the scores before and after the intervention was statistically significant (P < 0.001); the PPUS score of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05), and the difference between the scores before and after the intervention was statistically significant (P < 0.001); the SAS score of the intervention group was lower than that of the control group after intervention(P < 0.05), and the score difference before and after intervention was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Family empowerment program is beneficial in improving caregiving capacity and reducing disease uncertainty and anxiety among caregivers of children with acute leukemia. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2300073476 2023-07-12 Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater (GW)–surface water (SW) interactions profoundly impact aquatic systems. In karst regions characterized by the coexistence of various media, the hyporheic zone (HZ) remains poorly understood. This study explores the HZ by examining karst development and various hydrological, hydrochemical, and biological processes. The research reveals high development of karst and difference in water environment may suggest a diversity of water sources beyond GW, leading to the formation of a karst hyporheic zone (KHZ). Four common KHZ types are proposed based on karst development, with a focus on spring outlet and karst window types. Interactions in these zones are driven by river backflow and GW abstraction in high- and low-water periods, respectively. KHZs may have water quality purification capabilities, but further research on biogeochemical processes is needed. This study provides preliminary insight into KHZs in karst water systems and suggests key scientific questions for future research in South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traditional biochemical screening for neonatal inherited metabolic diseases has high false-positive rates and low positive predictive values, which are not conducive to early diagnosis and increase parents' anxiety. This study analysed the relationship between gene variant carriers and their biochemical indicators in traditional biochemical screening, aiming to find explanations for false positives in newborns. Results: This retrospective study included 962 newborns. Newborns underwent traditional biochemical screening at birth using blood staining and genomic sequencing of their stored blood staining using the NeoSeq Pro panel, which was able to detect 154 pathogenic genes and 86 diseases. A total of 632 newborns were carriers of gene variants. 56% of congenital hypothyroidism carriers had higher thyroid-stimulating hormone levels than normal newborns. Abnormal biochemical indices were detected in 71% of carriers of organic acid metabolic diseases, 69% of carriers of amino acid metabolic diseases, and 85% of carriers of fatty acid β oxidation disorders. In carriers associated with organic acid metabolic diseases, the propionylcarnitine (C3), C3/acetylcarnitine (C2), and methylmalonylcarnitine (C4DC) + 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine (C5OH) levels were higher than those in non-carriers (C3: 4.12 vs. 1.66 µmol/L; C3/C2: 0.15 vs. 0.09; C4DC + C5OH: 0.22 vs. 0.19 µmol/L). In carriers associated with amino acid metabolic diseases, phenylalanine levels were higher than those in non-carriers (68.00 vs. 52.05 µmol/L). For carriers of fatty acid β oxidation disorders, butyrylcarnitine levels were higher than those in non-carriers (0.31 vs. 0.21 µmol/L), while the free carnitine levels were lower than those in non-carriers (14.65 vs. 21.87 µmol/L). There was a higher occurrence of carriers among newborns who received false-positive results for amino acid metabolic diseases compared to those who received negative results (15.52% vs. 6.71%). Similarly, there was a higher occurrence of carriers among newborns who received false-positive results for fatty acid β oxidation disorders compared to those who received negative results (28.30% vs. 7.29%). Conclusions: This study showed that the carriers comprised a large number of newborns. Carriers had abnormal biochemical indicators compared with non-carriers, which could explain the false-positive rate for newborns using traditional newborn biochemical screening, especially in amino acid metabolic and fatty acid β oxidation disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugarcane top is one of the main by-products of sugarcane, which is rich in resources and comprehensive in nutritional value, and is one of the sources of roughage for ruminants. Silage is an effective method to preserve and develop sugarcane top feed, but the high content of carbohydrate and yeast makes natural silage easy to deteriorate, and the high content of fiber will affect the digestibility and palatability of the feeding animals. At present, the research on sugarcane top silage mainly focuses on the use of various additives, mixed silage with other materials, the effect of sugarcane top silage on ruminants, and the influence of sugarcane harvest time, varieties and silage time on silage. In this paper, the effects of additives, mixed silage and other factors on the quality, nutritional value, aerobic stability and feeding effect of sugarcane top silage were summarized, which provided reference for promoting the utilization of sugarcane top and the preparation of high-quality silage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of battery health is an effective means of improving the safety and reliability of electrical equipment. However, developing data-driven models to estimate battery state of health (SOH) is challenging when the amount of data is restricted. In this regard, this study proposes a method for estimating the SOH of lithium batteries based on sample data generation and a temporal convolutional neural network. First, we analyzed the charge/discharge curves of the batteries, from which we extracted features that were highly correlated with the SOH decay. Then, we used a Variational Auto-Encoder (VAE) to learn the features and distributions of the sample data to generate highly similar data and enrich the number of samples. Finally, a temporal convolutional neural network (TCN) was built to mine the nonlinear relationship between features and SOH by combining the source and extended domain data to realize SOH estimation. The experimental results show that the proposed method in this study has less than 2% error in SOH estimation, which improves the accuracy by 64.9% based on its baseline model. The feasibility of using data-driven models for battery health management in data-constrained application scenarios is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Pan proposed a semi-quantum dialogue scheme with Bell entangled states Pan (Int. J. Theor. Phys. 59, 1364-1371, 2020). Here we re-examin the security of it and discover a security vulnerability in the original scheme. Eavesdropper Eve may utilize double controlled-not operation attack to obtain Bob’s secret without being detected. Finally, we give an improvement of the semi-quantum dialogue protocol and prove its security. We sincerely hope the researchers pay enough attention to double controlled-not operation attack hidden in semi-quantum cryptography protocols and design truly secure semi-quantum protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper involves a novel adaptive control approach of a flexible wing system with hysteresis nonlinearity. The usual control design strategies based on the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are inapplicable due to the flexible wing system described in the partial differential equations (PDEs), and the design of the control algorithm becomes highly intricate. Firstly, the inverse dynamic model of hysteresis is introduced to compensate for the hysteresis nonlinearity. Considering the unknown external disturbances, an adaptive technique is utilized for compensation. Then, the direct Lyapunov approach is employed to prove the bounded stability of the system. Lastly, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated via simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: A reduction in hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is the most accurate marker for assessing the severity of portal hypertension and the effectiveness of intervention treatments. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic potential of blood‐based proteomic biomarkers in predicting HVPG response amongst cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension due to Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and had achieved sustained virologic response (SVR). Methods: The study comprised 59 patients from two cohorts. Patients underwent paired HVPG (pretreatment and after SVR), liver stiffness (LSM), and enhanced liver fibrosis scores (ELF) measurements, as well as proteomics‐based profiling on serum samples using SomaScan® at baseline (BL) and after SVR (EOS). Machine learning with feature selection (Caret, Random Forest and RPART) methods were performed to determine the proteins capable of classifying HVPG responders. Model performance was evaluated using AUROC (pROC R package). Results: Patients were stratified by a change in HVPG (EOS vs. BL) into responders (greater than 20% decline in HVPG from BL, or <10 mmHg at EOS with >10 mmHg at BL) and non‐responders. LSM and ELF decreased markedly after SVR but did not correlate with HVPG response. SomaScan (SomaLogic, Inc., Boulder, CO) analysis revealed a substantial shift in the peripheral proteome composition, reflected by 82 significantly differentially abundant proteins. Twelve proteins accurately distinguished responders from non‐responders, with an AUROC of.86, sensitivity of 83%, specificity of 83%, accuracy of 83%, PPV of 83%, and NPV of 83%. Conclusions: A combined non‐invasive soluble protein signature was identified, capable of accurately predicting HVPG response in HCV liver cirrhosis patients after achieving SVR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver fibrosis occurs in any chronic liver disease, where extraordinary increase of extracellular matrix components is caused by the hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. HOXC8 has been disclosed to participate inregulating cell proliferation and fibrosis in tumors. However, the role of HOXC8 in liver fibrosis and the underlying molecular mechanisms has not yet been investigated. In this study, we founded that HOXC8 mRNA and protein was elevated in a carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4)-induced liver fibrosis mouse model and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-treated human (LX-2) HSC cells. Importantly, we observed that downregulating HOXC8 alleviates liver fibrosis and suppressed the fibrogenic gene induction induced by CCl 4 in vivo. In addition, inhibition of HOXC8 suppressed the HSC activation and the expression of fibrosis-associated genes (α-SMA and COL1a1) induced by TGF-β1 in LX-2 cells in vitro, while HOXC8 overexpression had the opposite effects. Mechanistically, we demonstrated HOXC8 activates TGFβ1 transcription and enhanced the phosphorylated Smad2/Smad3 levels, suggesting a positive feedback loop between HOXC8 and TGF-β1 that facilitates TGF-β signaling and subsequent HSCs activation. Collectively, our data strongly indicated that a HOXC8/TGF-β1 positive feedback loop plays as a critical role in controlling the HSC activation and in the liver fibrosis process, suggesting that inhibition of HOXC8 may serve as a promoting therapeutic strategy for diseases characterized by liver fibrosis. • HOXC8 was identified as a potential therapeutic target for liver fibrosis. • HOXC8 activates TGFβ1 transcription and promotes TGF-β/SMAD2/SMAD3 signaling and subsequent HSCs activation. • A HOXC8/TGF-β1 positive feedback loop plays as a crucial role in controlling the HSC activation and in the progression of liver fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an optical waveguide evanescent field fluorescence microscopy is studied. Based on Maxwell's equation, a seven‐layer theoretical analysis model is developed for the evaluation of an optical waveguide excitation fluorescence microscopy. The optical waveguide excitation fluorescence microscopy structure is systematically and comprehensively analysed at the wavelengths of 488, 532 and 646 nm for fluorescent dyes. The analysis results provide some useful suggestions, which will be beneficial to the research of an optical waveguide evanescent field fluorescence microscopy. LAY DESCRIPTION: An optical waveguide evanescent field fluorescence microscopy is studied in this paper. Considering the existence of cells, a seven‐layer theoretical analysis model of the optical waveguide excitation fluorescence microscopy is established. Based on this model, the effect of different parameters on the efficiency of optical waveguide excitation fluorescence microscopy is analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal halide perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) exhibiting excellent optoelectronic properties have been commonly synthesized by the ligand-assisted reprecipitation (LARP) method. However, the application of the LARP method for the large-scale production of PNCs is greatly hindered by the heavy use of the toxic antisolvent toluene and alkylamine ligand. In this study, ethanol was used as the antisolvent to synthesize CsPbBr3 PNCs at room temperature, which was enabled by simply using cyclodextrin (α-CD) as the ligand. The proposed method could produce α-CD@CsPbBr3 PNCs with a size of 35.0 ± 0.6 nm, a photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 86.0 ± 0.1%, and a yield of 33.4 ± 0.6% (5 batches). In addition, the obtained α-CD@CsPbBr3 PNCs could persist for 6 months in ethanol with a loss of luminescence of less than 10%. The effective generation, high reproducibility, and long-term stability of the PNCs were contributed from the strong interaction between α-CD and CsPbBr3 and the poor solubility of α-CD in ethanol, which resulted in a firm enclosing of CsPbBr3 crystals within α-CD molecules. Additionally, the anion exchanges of the α-CD@PNCs were rapidly achieved in ethanol by using common salts of KI and NaCl. Using a non-toxic and low-cost antisolvent and ligand, this method is more eco-friendly and economical than ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is a ligand-dependent nuclear receptor and highly expressed in human and rodent lungs. 15-Deoxy-delta-12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2), known for cyclopentenone prostaglandin, is the endogenous ligand of PPARγ. However, the associations among PPARγ, 15d-PGJ2 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were unclear. Methods: All 130 fasting blood samples and 40 lung specimens were obtained from COPD patients and control subjects. Serum 15d-PGJ2 was detected by ELISA. The expressions of oxidative stress indicators were measured using western blotting and PPARγ nuclei were evaluated with immunohistochemistry in lungs. The associations among serum 15d-PGJ2, pulmonary PPARγ and oxidative stress indicators, and COPD were estimated. Results: Serum 15d-PGJ2 was reduced in COPD patients compared with healthy volunteers. Linear and logistic regression analysis indicated that serum 15d-PGJ2 was positively associated with pulmonary function in COPD patients. In addition, PPARγ-positive nuclei were reduced and oxidative stress indicators, included HO-1 and NOX-4, were increased in lungs of COPD patients. Further correlative analysis suggested that pulmonary function parameters was positively correlated with serum 15d-PGJ2 and pulmonary PPARγ-positive nuclei, inversely related to oxidative stress indicators in lungs of COPD patients. Pretreatment with 15d-PGJ2 obviously attenuated TNFα-induced oxidative stress in BEAS-2B cells. Conclusions: Serum 15d-PGJ2 and pulmonary PPARγ are reduced, and oxidative stress is elevated in COPD patients. Serum 15d-PGJ2 is inversely associated with oxidative stress in COPD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First of all, it is necessary to accurately measure the spatial positions of weld grooves when the welding robot performs the automated welding of large workpieces. However, laser stripes are easily affected by light sources and environmental noises in the measurement process based on image recognition. The work designed an automatic measuring system for V-shaped weld seams of large workpieces. First, a mathematical model for calculating the spatial positions of welds was established, and then, a line laser was incident on workpiece grooves to form multiple line segments. Then, image analysis was performed on the intersection of each line segment. These intersection points were brought into the mathematical model after they were mapped to the feature points in the image to calculate the spatial position corresponding to each feature point. Finally, the spatial positions of all discrete points at different positions of the welding seam of the large workpiece were obtained by scanning multiple laser lines to complete the measurement of the entire welding seam. The work proposed a new idea of extracting feature points from weld images that combined Radon transformation, Harris corner detection, and mean clustering to improve the stability and automation of weld location extraction. Multiple groups of different parameter experiments were used to measure two groups of different bevel angles with the length, width, and height of 180 × 60 × 30 mm and 180 × 36.64 × 30 mm, respectively. The maximum measurement error was 0.653 mm, with a minimum measurement error of 0.001 mm, an average measurement error of 0.147 mm, and an average measurement accuracy above 99%. Results showed that the research method with high robustness and noise resistance rapidly could realize the automatic and accurate measurement of weld seams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germacrone and curdione are germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids that are widely distributed and have extensive pharmacological activities; they are the main constituents of 'Xing-Nao-Jing Injection' (XNJ). Studies on the metabolic features of germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids are limited. In this study, the metabolites of germacrone and curdione were characterized by UHPLC-Q-Exactive Oribitrap mass spectrometry after they were orally administered to rats. In total, 60 and 76 metabolites were found and preliminarily identified in rats administered germacrone and curdione, respectively, among which at least 123 potential new compounds were included. New metabolic reactions of germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids were identified, which included oxidation (+4 O and +5 O), ethylation, methyl-sulfinylation, vitamin C conjugation, and cysteine conjugation reactions. Among the 136 metabolites (including 113 oxidation metabolites, two glucuronidation, two methylation, nine methyl-sulfinylation, three ethylation, six cysteine conjugation, and one Vitamin C conjugation metabolites), 32 metabolites were detected in nine organs, and the stomach, intestine, liver, kidneys, and small intestine were the main organs for the distribution of these metabolites. All 136 metabolites were detected in urine and 64 of them were found in feces. The results of this study not only contribute to research on in vivo processes related to germacrane-type sesquiterpenoids but also provide a strong foundation for a better understanding of in vivo processes and the effective forms of germacrone, curdione, and XNJ. [Display omitted] • Distribution of the metabolites of germacrane-type sesquiterpenes were studied. • ESI MS fragmentation rules of germacrane-type sesquiterpenes were summarized. • 60 and 76 metabolites of germacrone and curdione were identified in rats. • Among 136 metabolites, 123 were potential new compounds. • 5 metabolic reactions of germacrane-type sesquiterpenes were discovered in rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The membrane with a leaf vein-like interwoven conductive network is proposed. • The membrane exhibits highly sensitive and linear strain sensing properties. • The high sensitivity is due to the synergies of the hierarchical conductive network. • The membrane possesses outstanding Joule heating performance. • The membrane shows great electrical signal responsiveness to light radiation. The advancement of highly sensitive and multifunctional sensors is beneficial for promoting flexible electronic devices and human healthcare management. Herein, inspired by the bionic leaf structure, a flexible PVA-PEDOT: PSS/TPU-CNT@MXene nanofibrous membrane (PPTCM NFM) with a biomimetic interwoven pattern was constructed to manufacture multifunctional sensors and heating devices using advanced two-nozzle electrospinning and nano-welding technology. Because of the synergetic impact of the interwoven multi-conductive structure among MXene, fragile PVA-PEDOT: PSS (PVA-PP) network, and strong TPU-CNT network, which allowed the distribution of tensile load to each conductive layer, the PPTCM NFM displayed high sensitivity (the maximum gauge factor of 1132.8 at 55 %). Due to the slide of the MXene nanosheets and the stretching of PVA-PP, the PPTCM NFM exhibits fast response and recovery times of 780/780 ms at a low detection limit (1 % strain) and high dynamic response performance (500 mm min−1) under modest strains which enabled its utilization in monitoring both small human motions like facial expressions and throat vibrations. Nevertheless, the TPU-CNT layer provided support under large strains, allowing for the detection of larger-scale movements such as bending of fingers, wrists, elbows, and knees. In addition, the PPTCM NFM makes it easier for the mutual conversion of finger pressure and language. Notably, the PPTCM NFM also possessed outstanding Joule heating capabilities and electrical signal responsiveness to solar light radiation. This interconnected conductive network membrane served as a novel platform material for health monitoring systems and efficient personal thermal management applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate electricity price forecasting (EPF) can provide a necessary basis for market decision making by power market participants to reduce the operating cost of the power system and ensure the system's stable operation. To address the characteristics of high frequency, strong nonlinearity, and high volatility of electricity prices, this paper proposes a short-term electricity price forecasting model based on a two-layer variational modal decomposition (VMD) technique, using the sparrow search algorithm (SSA) to optimize the long and short-term memory network (LSTM). The original electricity price sequence is decomposed into multiple modal components using VMD. Then, each piece is predicted separately using an SSA-optimized LSTM. For the element with the worst prediction accuracy, IMF-worst is decomposed for a second time using VMD to explore the price characteristics further. Finally, the prediction results of each modal component are reconstructed to obtain the final prediction results. To verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed model, this paper uses data from three electricity markets, Australia, Spain, and France, for validation analysis. The experimental results show that the proposed model has MAPE of 0.39%, 1.58%, and 0.95%, RMSE of 0.25, 0.9, and 0.3, and MAE of 0.19, 0.68, and 0.31 in three different cases, indicating that the proposed model can well handle the nonlinear and non-stationarity characteristics of the electricity price series and has superior forecasting performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-based microwave-absorbing materials with a low cost, simple preparation process, and excellent microwave absorption performance have important application value. In this paper, biomass-based carbon fibers were prepared using cotton fiber, hemp fiber, and bamboo fiber as carbon sources. Then, the precise loading of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles on biomass-based carbon fibers with the loading amount in a wide range was successfully realized through a sustainable and low-cost route. The effects of the composition and structure of NiFe2O4/biomass-based carbon fibers on electromagnetic parameters and electromagnetic absorption properties were systematically studied. The results show that the impedance matching is optimized, and the microwave absorption performance is improved after loading NiFe2O4 nanoparticles on biomass-based carbon fibers. In particular, when the weight percentage of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles in NiFe2O4/carbonized cotton fibers is 42.3%, the effective bandwidth of NiFe2O4/carbonized cotton fibers can reach 6.5 GHz with a minimum reflection loss of −45.3 dB. The enhancement of microwave absorption performance is mainly attributed to the appropriate electromagnetic parameters with the ε' ranging from 9.2 to 4.8, and the balance of impedance matching and electromagnetic loss. Given the simple synthesis method, low cost, high output, and excellent microwave absorption performance, the NiFe2O4/biomass-based carbon fibers have broad application prospects as an economic and broadband microwave absorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug-target interactions (DTIs) prediction becomes more and more important for accelerating drug research and drug repositioning. Drug-target interaction network is a typical model for DTIs prediction. As many different types of relationships exist between drug and target, drug-target interaction network can be used for modeling drug-target interaction relationship. Recent works on drug-target interaction network are mostly concentrate on drug node or target node and neglecting the relationships between drug-target. Results: We propose a novel prediction method for modeling the relationship between drug and target independently. Firstly, we use different level relationships of drugs and targets to construct feature of drug-target interaction. Then, we use line graph to model drug-target interaction. After that, we introduce graph transformer network to predict drug-target interaction. Conclusions: This method introduces a line graph to model the relationship between drug and target. After transforming drug-target interactions from links to nodes, a graph transformer network is used to accomplish the task of predicting drug-target interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient metal- and additive-free synthesis of α-keto thioamides has been developed via sulfur oxidation of the Csp3–H bond of α-bromo ketones with amines. This environmentally friendly strategy made it possible to synthesize a wide series of α-keto thioamides with broad functional group tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding nitrogen (N) cycling in different ecosystems is crucial to predicting and mitigating the global effects of altered N inputs. Although wetlands have always been assumed to differ largely from terrestrial ecosystems in N cycling, evidence from direct comparison from the field along wide environmental gradients is lacking. Here, we hypothesized strong coupling of plant and soil δ15N in terrestrial ecosystems due to lower N inputs and losses but weak coupling of plant and soil δ15N in wetlands because of higher N inputs and losses.We performed a large‐scale field investigation on 26 pairs of herbaceous wetland and terrestrial sites across China covering 21 degrees of latitude and determined natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in soils and leaves of 346 dominant and subordinate plant species. We analysed the relationships between leaf and soil δ15N and their drivers including plant functional types in these two types of ecosystems.Plant functional types including mycorrhizal type and N2‐fixing status had consistently significant influences on leaf δ15N in herbaceous wetland and terrestrial ecosystems. Leaf δ15N increased significantly with soil δ15N within and across mycorrhizal types in both ecosystems, and, as hypothesized, the relationships were stronger and steeper in terrestrial than in wetland ecosystems. Moreover, leaf and soil δ15N were positively and significantly correlated within both N2‐fixers and non‐N2‐fixers in terrestrial ecosystems and within only non‐N2‐fixers in wetlands. At the community level, we also found more highly significant relationships between leaf and soil δ15N in terrestrial than in wetland ecosystems. Besides plant functional types, climatic and soil factors contributed to the variation in leaf δ15N in both ecosystems.Synthesis. Weaker relationships between plant and soil δ15N in wetlands at species and community levels support the hypothesis that larger N inputs and losses lead to weaker coupling in the plant–soil systems in wetlands than in terrestrial ecosystems. This provides strong evidence from a large spatial scale for contrasting N cycling in these two types of ecosystems regardless of plant functional type in terms of nutrient uptake strategy. Our findings add to our predictive power of ecosystem N dynamics under environmental changes, for example, land‐use changes and elevated N inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-stage framework consisting of preprocessing, feature extraction and classification is the most commonly used structure in traditional deep learning based steganalysis networks (SNs). Preprocessing, as the core part of the three-stage framework, typically adopts fixed high-pass filters to generate filter residuals, and exploits a feature enhancement module following high-pass filters to improve signal-to-noise ratio of the stego signal, thus strengthening the expression of steganographic features. However, fixed high-pass filters can only provide filter residuals through the linear relationships, rather than complex dependencies automatically learned, among local pixels, which suggests that fixed high-pass filters lack powerful ability of extracting comprehensive steganographic features from the beginning of SNs. Inspired by the motivation, a two-stream-network based SN called TSNet is proposed to extract comprehensive steganographic features from two different perspectives, namely automatic learning and fixed filtering. The discrete cosine transform attention mechanism (DCTAM)-based fusion module (DCTAM-FM) with considering the steganalysis properties is proposed to fuse two streams and enhance channel representation using DCTAM, which is conductive to improving the detection accuracy. Two streams aim to explore different types of residuals from two perspectives, but inevitably lead to a considerable number of parameters and high computational complexity. To this end, the feature extraction stage contains lightweight depthwise separable convolution blocks and the linearly increasing style of the number of channels. Combining the two-stream network, DCTAM-FM as well as the lightweight feature extraction stage, TSNet obtains deep composite features, which can fully express the comprehensive steganographic features, and thus brings a high detection accuracy. Experimental results from three benchmark datasets demonstrate that TSNet outperforms current state-of-the-art methods in detection accuracy and has an acceptable computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly considers the post-inverse matrix of a fuzzy relation matrix in terms of addition-min composition. A necessary and sufficient condition for the consistency of the inverse matrix problem is given by transforming the problem into a series of particular fuzzy relation equations. The uniqueness of the post-inverse is also investigated. Furthermore, it is proved that the search for the minimal solutions of the particular fuzzy relation equations can be converted into solving a linear system. Based on these discussions, an algorithm is constructed for solving a post-inverse of a given fuzzy relation matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to study the changes in platelet function and their underlying mechanisms in iron deficiency anemia. Initially, we evaluated platelet function in an IDA mice model. Due to the inability to accurately reduce intracellular Fe2+ concentrations, we investigated the impact of Fe2+ on platelet function by introducing varying concentrations of Fe2+. To probe the underlying mechanism, we simultaneously examined the dynamics of calcium in the cytosol, and integrin αIIbβ3 activation in Fe2+-treated platelets. Ferroptosis inhibitors Lip-1 and Fer-1 were applied to determine whether ferroptosis was involved in this process. Our study revealed that platelet function was suppressed in IDA mice. Fe2+ concentration-dependently facilitated platelet activation and function in vitro. Mechanistically, Fe2+ promoted calcium mobilization, integrin αIIbβ3 activation, and its downstream outside-in signaling. Additionally, we also demonstrated that ferroptosis might play a role in this process. Our data suggest an association between iron and platelet activation, with iron deficiency resulting in impaired platelet function, while high concentrations of Fe2+ contribute to platelet activation and function by promoting calcium mobilization, αIIbβ3 activation, and ferroptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, systematic pharmacology and bioinformatic approaches were employed to identify the potential targets of Polygonum cuspidatum (PC) for treating heart failure (HF). The active ingredients of PC were screened by using the TCMSP database, and HF-related genes were identified in the GEO database. Then, the herb-HF targeted-gene networks were constructed using Cytoscape software. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional analyses were performed to obtain the enriched molecular pathways associated with the pathogenesis of HF. Finally, in vitro experiment was performed to evidence network pharmacology analysis. 170 intersection genes were obtained, and key genes (FOXO3, NFKB1, and TNF) were identified. Besides, GO and KEGG findings indicated that PC treatment of HF was achieved via regulating apoptosis, IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, response to oxidative stress, and response to reactive oxygen species. And cell experiment revealed that PC could decrease the expression of NFKB1 and TNF and increase the expression of FOXO3, SOD1, and GPX1 in H9C2 cells. These findings showed that the therapeutic mechanism of PC in the treatment of HF may be associated with the regulation of inflammation-related and oxidative stress-related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of gynecological cancer-related death. The high mortality and morbidity associated with EOC are mostly due to late diagnosis and chemotherapy drug resistance. Currently, the standard first-line chemotherapy regimen is systemic administration of platinum-based chemotherapy combined with a taxane. A major problem besides cisplatin resistance (occurring in nearly one-third of patients) is the greater toxicity of the drug combinations. A synergistic treatment with drug supporting activity could maximize the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents on tumor cells while decreasing the dosage of each drug to potentially reduce toxicity. The ALDH-blocking agent Disulfiram (DSF), a clinically approved drug used for alcoholism treatment, has displayed promising anti-cancer activity. We previously described that blocking ALDH activity enhances the induction of apoptosis, especially in ovarian cancer stem cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents. In this study, we further investigated the synergistic effect of DSF in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs. The concentration of each chemotherapeutic agent could be significantly reduced with sustained efficacy on tumor cell apoptosis in cell lines in vitro (Dose-Reduction Index at IC50 from 1 to 50). Moreover, the potential chemo-sensitizing effects of DSF on ALDH-associated cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer stem cells were also investigated and shown that in contrast to its high resistance to cisplatin, the cisplatin-resistant cells remain very sensitive to DSF-induced cytotoxicity (apoptosis and necrosis: cisplatin-resistant cells vs. parental cells: 60.4% vs. 20.5%). In combination with DSF and cisplatin, relatively more apoptosis and necrosis were induced in cisplatin-resistant cells than in their parental cells (apoptosis and necrosis: cisplatin-resistant cells vs. parental cells: 81.5% vs. 50.1%). A transcriptome analysis identified that ALDH was mainly enriched in the cancer-associated fibroblasts and showed that ALDH plays roles in responding to oxidative stress, metabolisms, and energy transition in the ALDH-associated cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer stem cells. In conclusion, our data demonstrate a key role of ALDH-associated cisplatin-resistant cancer stem cells and identifies DSF as a potential adjuvant for a rational protocol design by computational quantitative assessment in vitro on ovarian cancer cell lines. Our work contributes to resolving the ALDH-associated cisplatin resistance and provides a resource for the development of novel chemotherapeutic regimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The sFlt1/PlGF ratio is a valuable biomarker for preeclampsia diagnosis. • A higher ratio than 85 could be used as an indicator for adverse outcomes. • Using PlGF levels to predict preeclampsia should start from 20 weeks of pregnancy. The soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1)/placental growth factor (PlGF) ratio is a useful parameter for the diagnosis of preeclampsia. However, a comprehensive comparison of the ratio in preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was still missing and the dynamic levels of PlGF in the process of these diseases needed more clinical evidence. This retrospective study included participants tested for serum sFlt1 and PlGF levels at a national hospital in China throughout 2020. Diagnostic performance of the sFlt1/PlGF ratio and blood pressure was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The correlation of the sFlt1/PlGF ratio with pregnancy outcomes was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Besides, the circulating levels of PlGF were monitored in the time course of different hypertensive disorders' progress. The sFlt1/PlGF ratios were significantly elevated in the women with preeclampsia. The results of ROC analysis showed that, compared with blood pressure, the ratio is reliable for preeclampsia diagnosis from healthy control and shows better performance in distinguishing preeclampsia from other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. A higher ratio than 85 could be used as an indicator of developing severe preeclampsia with adverse outcomes such as preterm delivery. Besides, our results suggested that using PlGF to predict preeclampsia should after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The PlGF and sFlt1/PlGF ratio are worth implementing in clinical management of women with preeclampsia rather than other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Aspergillus and G- bacteria are the predominant strains in FN children. • mNGS is far superior to TPD in detecting fungal infections. • mNGS is conducive to targeted therapy and improved prognosis of FN children. To investigate the application value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in children with hematological diseases presenting with Febrile Neutropenia (FN). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 49 hematological children with FN, and compared the results of mNGS with those of traditional pathogen detection (TPD) and the prognoses of mNGS positive group and negative group. A total of 77 pathogenic strains were identified, of which 70 strains were detected by mNGS, 19 strains by TPD, and Aspergillus and G- bacterias were the predominant strains in FN children who developed bloodstream infections. 42 cases were in the mNGS-positive group, of which 17 were simple infections, 25 were mixed infections, and 7 were in the negative group; the TPD-positive group contained 19 cases, all of which were simple infections. The detection rate of total and mixed pathogens was higher than that of TPD, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The mNGS positive group was detected earlier than the negative group, and with lower mortality and drug-related adverse events (DRAE), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). For FN children with hematological diseases, early mNGS can effectively improve the efficacy of pathogen detection, and precise treatment after clarifying the pathogens can reduce mortality and avoid antibiotic abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since drug release behavior depends on the interaction between the drugs and carriers, the present work is to study the drug delivery system based on magnesium aluminum layered double hydroxides containing europium (MgAl-Eu-LDH) for chlorogenic acid (CGA). Various characterizations, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectrum, zeta potentials, UV–Vis absorption spectrum, scanning electron scanning electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS), CHN elemental analysis, and fluorescent spectra, were employed to investigate the drug delivery system. Results revealed that the CGA was loaded into MgAl-Eu-LDH. The drug delivery system based on MgAl-Eu-LDH exhibited more slow and sustained release of CGA compared with that of the previous methotrexate or 5-fluorouracil, and the drug release experiment can be reproducible. Moreover, the MgAl-Eu-LDH showed different fluorescence before loading CGA, during loading CGA, and after releasing CGA. These results may provide a reference for the development of CGA drug delivery systems with slow and sustained release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position errors of array elements, which include systematic and random errors, are inevitable and could lead to the degradation of the radiation performance. For an array antenna, the systematic errors come from the continuous deformation of the reflector while the random errors come from the manufacturing and assembly of array elements. The accurate representation of position errors is important to evaluate the effects of position errors on performance in the design of an array antenna. In previous studies, many methods have been proposed to represent the systematic and random errors. However, few studies have considered the high‐order position relevance of array elements resulting from the systematic errors, which could lead to the inaccurate representation of position errors. Here, a γ‐conical representation method is proposed to consider the γ‐order position relevance of successive array elements. The existing conical representation method and the proposed γ‐conical representation method are used as comparisons to generate simulation data of position errors. The corresponding electrical performance of position errors is calculated with antenna theories and Feko. Prediction models are built based on a linear programming support vector regression algorithm to evaluate the ability of different representation methods. Finally, experiments are conducted on a platform with 8 × 8 array elements to demonstrate the superiority of the γ‐conical representation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest advances of solid-state dehydrohalogenation and halogenation reactions of hydrogen bonded halometallate salts from the second sphere coordination perspective are reported. Since the second sphere englobes many different materials, our focus has been limited to outer sphere adducts where protonated organic cations act as outer sphere hydrogen bond donors and transition metal anions act as first sphere hydrogen bond acceptors. This is our attempt to analyze dehydrohalogenation/hydrohalogenation reactions viewed as transformations from the second sphere coordination to first sphere coordination of a complex and vice versa. The examples describe a unique solid-state chemistry and reactivity in outer sphere adducts where C–H, N–H and M–X chemical bonds are cleaved and new M–N and H–X bonds are formed (where M = Cu, Zn, Co, Pt, Pd, Hg and X = Cl, Br). The transformations are induced by external stimuli, mainly by mechanochemical and thermal methods. Different reactivities have been observed depending on the lability of the transition metals, the position of the reacting functional groups in the cations and the relative position of organic cations and metal anions. The reverse hydrohalogenation reactions (i.e., from the first sphere coordination to second sphere coordination) via the gas-solid chemisorption process occur even if the materials are non-porous implying a rather dynamic behaviour of these materials. Moreover, due to the implicit changes in the coordination sphere of transition metal ions, dehydrohalogenation/halogenation reactions allow structure–function correlation to be established, for instance involving optical, sensing and magnetic aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with macroscopic vascular invasion and distant metastasis is an advanced-stage disease with an extremely poor prognosis and low survival rate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic strategies to extend the lives of patients with advanced HCC. Case Presentation: We represent a case of HCC with macroscopic vascular invasion and pulmonary metastasis responding dramatically to the combination treatment with drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) and Huaier granule. A 64-year-old man with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-induced liver cirrhosis was diagnosed with advanced HCC involved renal vein and inferior vena cava accompanied by pulmonary metastasis. The patient received three cycles of on-demand DEB-TACE from 9th September 2016 to 22nd August 2017 and combined with Huaier granule 20 g three times a day orally. Eight months following the treatment, complete response occurred with regression of HCC and vascular thrombus and disappearance of pulmonary metastasis. The levels of AFP had decreased from 8165.8ng/mL to within the normal range (1.7 ng/mL). This is the first case report of complete response of HCC to the combination treatment with DEB-TACE and Huaier granule. At the most recent follow-up, he remained in remission 36 months after cessation of treatment without clinical or imaging evidence of disease recurrence. The current overall survival is 54 months since the initial treatment. Conclusion: Data from this clinical case report suggest that the combination treatment with DEB-TACE and Huaier granule is a promising therapeutic option for advanced HCC with macroscopic vascular invasion and distant metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxylesterases (CEs) are involved in the biotransformation of numerous drugs, environmental toxicants, and carcinogens containing ester groups. Abnormal CEs levels are associated with various diseases, and as such they are widely studied in cells. CEs are also characteristic biomarkers for assisting in the detection of certain strains of bacteria and are involved in important biological processes. Herein, we used two probes including an indene-chalcone-based fluorescent probe which displays green "turn-on" fluorescence response, and a merocyanine-based ratiometric probe to detect CEs, as well as detect and image S. aureus and their chronic biofilms using an acetate ester as recognition group. • Two fluorescent indene-chalcone (turn on) and merocyanine (ratiometric) probes for carboxylesterases were evaluated for bacterial applications. • The probes exhibit rapid response, good optical performance, high selectivity, and high sensitivity. • The probes facilitate the detection and imaging of carboxylesterases in a range of S. aureus species, and clinical biofilms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different edge hydrogenations realize the transition of β -SiC 7 nanoribbons from semiconductors to half-metals to metals. • Spatially separated edge states lead to, arbitrary pairings of upper and lower edge hybridizations are able to diversify the bands near the Fermi level. • The heterojunction H H-zSiC 7 NR-2H H possesses good dual spin filtering properties at low bias and exhibits the NDR phenomenon. Atomic capping is a common approach in edge modification to tune band engineering and can be achieved experimentally through hydrogen plasma etching. Based on first-principles calculations, nine symmetric and asymmetric structures are constructed with different numbers of hydrogen atoms passivated at the edge of β -SiC 7 nanoribbons. An in-depth study reveals that different edge hydrogenations realize the transition from semiconductors to half-metals to metals, firstly, because different numbers of hydrogen atoms lead to different edge atomic orbital hybridizations, and, more importantly and specifically, because the bands around the Fermi level of β -SiC 7 nanoribbons are all derived from the spatially separated edge states, so that arbitrary pairings of upper and lower edge hybridizations are able to diversify the bands near the Fermi level and bring about a richer electronic properties. We also design the metallic H-zSiC 7 NR-H and semiconducting 2H-zSiC 7 NR-H into a heterojunction, which possesses good dual spin filtering properties at low bias, can achieve a spin polarization transition from -100 % to 100 %, and exhibits the NDR phenomenon. These findings suggest that β -SiC 7 nanoribbons have promising applications in the field of spintronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Change in myofibril degradation and protein structure were induced by frozen storage. • Frozen storage damaged the integrity of myofibril and protein structure. • Higher frozen temperature and long-term storage aggravated myofibril degradation. The effect of frozen time and the temperature on myofibril degradation and the structure of myofibrillar proteins of porcine longissimus muscles were investigated. With extended frozen time and increased temperature, the muscle fibres became broken; the muscle cells became irregularly arranged; and the fragmentation index value, number of ionic bonds, and number of hydrogen bonds of the samples significantly decreased. Meanwhile, the myofibril fragmentation index value, number of hydrophobic interactions, and number of disulphide bonds significantly increased (P < 0.05). After 12 months of storage, the intensities of I 760 /I 1003 , I 850 /I 830 , I 1450 /I 1003 , and I 2945 /I 1003 in the samples frozen at −8 °C were reduced by 4.36 %, 1.28 %, 1.86 %, and 0.74 %, respectively. A reduction in the maximum absorption peak and a red shift were observed in the ultraviolet spectrum. Therefore, frozen storage resulted in significant damage to the tissue microstructureand caused accelerated protein degradation, and the loss of protein structural integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The six‐switch inverter has gained significant attention due to its ability to achieve dual AC voltage outputs with fewer semiconductor power devices. However, with existing pulse width modulation (PWM) algorithms, the switching frequency of the two middle‐position power devices is twice that of the other four power devices at the upper and lower ends. Therefore, this paper proposes an improved PWM algorithm for the six‐switch converter based on the unipolar modulation principle. The proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the switching frequency of the two middle‐position power devices. Research results indicate that, under optimal conditions, the switching frequency of the two middle‐position power devices is as low as the frequency of the AC output voltages, and in the worst‐case scenario, it is only half the carrier frequency. Consequently, the efficiency of the inverter is effectively improved. Additionally, analysis results suggest that, given the same switching frequencies of power devices, the modulation algorithm proposed in this paper for controlling the converter also results in lower Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) for the output voltages compared to traditional modulation algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu–Mn–Ce ternary mixed oxides, prepared via the citric acid complex method and supported on cordierite, were investigated for their catalytic activity in the oxidation of chlorobenzene. The impact of various reaction conditions, including chlorobenzene concentration, GHSV, water vapor and HCl, was thoroughly investigated to analyze oxidative activity, stability, and anti-poisoning ability. Among the catalysts tested, those with 20 wt% CuMnOx and 10 wt% CeO2, calcined at 450 °C for 4 h with one step, exhibited the highest apparent activity with T90 < 300 °C in the feed containing 500ppm chlorobenzene at a space velocity of 10,000 h−1. Notably, Cu–Mn–Ce–O exhibited a stable and effective catalyst performance for the oxidation of chlorinated aromatics under low water vapor (< 5%) and HCl (2%) concentrations. Further insights into the oxidation process were gained via in-situ FTIR spectroscopy and GC–MS analysis. The exceptional performance of Cu–Mn–Ce–O was attributed to the incorporation of CeO2, resulting in a lower H2 reduction peak, smaller particle size, abundant surface active oxygen, and a higher specific surface area. To understand the reaction mechanism, the relationship between inlet and outlet gas compounds and the reaction temperature over Cu–Mn–Ce–O was studied, revealing the presence of NO/NOx during the reaction at temperature up to 300 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Pre‐eclampsia is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality during pregnancy. Although the two forms of this disorder, early‐ (EOPE) and late‐onset of pre‐eclampsia (LOPE) are different, the underlying pathology remains elusive. We aim to unravel the difference and to identify novel biomarkers for EOPE and LOPE. Materials and Methods: A complete comparison of both placental and peripheral blood transcriptomes was performed to investigate the pathology of pre‐eclampsia. Single‐cell transcriptomics of the maternal‐fetal interface were integrated to identify novel biomarkers for EOPE and LOPE which were further verified at protein or mRNA level in patients. Results: We found that the transcriptomes of placentae from EOPE, but not LOPE, were significantly different from their respective controls. Conversely, the transcriptomes of peripheral blood from LOPE were more different from their controls than EOPE. Importantly, we identified that several classical biomarkers of pre‐eclampsia were expressed specifically in extravillous trophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast and only upregulated in EOPE, suggesting they should not be applied to all pre‐eclampsia patients in general. We further identified novel biomarkers for EOPE and LOPE from differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of placental and peripheral blood, respectively. The new biomarkers EBI3, IGF2, ORMDL3, GATA2 and KIR2DL4 were experimentally verified with patient blood samples. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate distinct pathology of EOPE and LOPE, and uncover new biomarkers that can be applied in diagnosis for pre‐eclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient and consistently accurate spatiotemporal salient object detection method to identify the most noticeable object in a video sequence. Intuitively, the underlying motion in a video is a more stable saliency indicator than the apparent color cues that often contain significant variations and complex structures. Based on this observation, we build an efficient and accurate spatiotemporal saliency detection method that uses motion information as a leverage to locate the most dynamic regions in a video sequence. We first analyze the optical flow field to obtain foreground priors, and then incorporate spatial saliency features such as appearance contrasts and compactness measures, into a multi-cue integration framework to combine various saliency cues and achieve temporal consistency. Rigorous experiments on the challenging SegTrackV1, SegTrackV2, and FBMS datasets demonstrate that our method generates comparable or superior performance to state-of-the-art methods while running almost $100\times $ faster at only 0.08 sec/frame. Promising performance and rapid speed imply that the proposed spatiotemporal saliency method can be easily involved in various vision applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent successful methods of person re-identification (person Re-ID) involving deep learning have mostly adopted supervised learning algorithms, which require large amounts of manually labelled data to achieve good performance. However, there are two important unresolved problems, dataset annotation is an expensive and time-consuming process, and the performance of recognition model is seriously affected by visual change. In this paper, we primarily study an unsupervised method for learning visual invariant features using networks with temporal coherence for person Re-ID; this method exploits unlabelled data to learn expressions from video. In addition, we propose an unsupervised learning integration framework for pedestrian detection and person Re-ID for practical applications in natural scenarios. In order to prove the performance of the unsupervised person re-identification algorithm based on visual invariance features, the experimental results were verified on the iLIDS-VID, PRID2011 and MARS datasets, and a better performance of 57.5% (R-1) and 73.9% (R-5) was achieved on the iLIDS-VID and MARS datasets, respectively. The efficiency of the algorithm was validated by using BING + R-CNN as the pedestrian detector, and the person Re-ID system achieved a computation speed of 0.09s per frame on the PRW dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloidal cesium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals (CsPbBr3 PNCs) were synthesized using cyclodextrins (CDs) as a sole ligand at room-temperature. Compared to the conventional synthesis using the combinatorial ligand of oleic acid and oleylamine, the α-CD-mediated synthesis yielded PNCs with a greater productivity, a higher photoluminescence quantum yield (85%), and longer resistances to moisture, heat and laser irradiation. The reason for this phenomenon arises from strong interactions between the CD hydroxyl groups and the perovskite metal ions. Using the non-toxic and low-cost CDs, the synthesis of colloidal PNCs is more economic and eco-friendly than ever. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are versatile proteins that have been suggested to be involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism. This study was designed to investigate the responses of MAPK signaling to chronic ethanol exposure in vivo and in vitro, and try to explore its role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic fatty liver (AFL). Mice were fed with Lieber-Decarli liquid diet (5% ethanol, w/v) for 4 weeks to induce fatty liver, and the chronological changes of MAPK phosphorylation were measured using western blotting. We found that chronic ethanol feeding led to accumulation of triglyceride (TG), decreased phosphorylation of MAPKs, decreased protein level of peroxisomal proliferator activation receptor α (PPARα), and increased protein expression of cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) in mice liver. In vitro study showed that overexpression of CYP2E1 blunted the response of MAPKs to ethanol, and MAPK phosphatase 1 (MKP-1) knockdown by siRNA led to upregulation of PPARα protein level. Lastly, epidermal growth factor (EGF), a well-known MAPK activator, significantly suppressed chronic ethanol-induced hepatic fat accumulation and decline of PPARα expression in mice liver. Collectively, MAPK suppression, possibly due to the activation of hepatic CYP2E1, may be involved in chronic ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the low mechanical strength and difficult bonding of hydrogels to bones which are the major limitations of hydrogels used in bone-regeneration, a new type of calcium polyphosphate incorporated into bioinspired alginate/polyacrylic acid (CPP/PAA-Alg) hybrid double network (DN) hydrogel with both high strength and enhanced osseointergration was prepared by a two-step polymerization with alginate and polyacrylic acid for bone regeneration. The morphology, mechanical properties, swelling, biocompatibility, osseointegration and osteogenic ability of this CPP/PAA-Alg DN hydrogel were investigated. The results show that CPP/PAA-Alg DN hydrogel with highly porous microstructure possesses high water absorption capacity and highly strength properties which meet the requirements of bone repairing. The results of in vitro studies revealed that the CPP/PAA-Alg DN hydrogels can support the spread of cells and promote the cell proliferation. Animal studies demonstrated that the CPP incorporated would enhance the osseointegration of DN hydrogel with host bone at an early stage after implantation to accelerate the regeneration of bone. This research may provide a new way to develop biocompatible biomaterials with high mechanical strength and good osseointegration to meet the needs of bone regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to study the impact of epidural analgesia using low-concentration local anesthetic during the entire labor on maternal and neonatal outcomes.Methods: The authors enrolled 2310 parturient mothers who underwent vaginal delivery at their hospital since January 1, 2019. The parturients were allocated either into the analgesia or into the non-analgesia groups based on whether they received analgesia during the delivery process. To investigate the effects of epidural analgesia using low-concentration local anesthetic on maternal and neonatal outcomes, the authors assessed between-group differences in the labor duration, newborn Apgar score, and maternal and neonatal outcomes.Results: Compared to the non-analgesia group, the first and second labor stage durations in the analgesia group were significantly longer. Similarly, the analgesia group had a higher frequency of oxytocin injections, Category II and III fetal heart rate tracing during labor, and intrapartum fever development. Further, the need for episiotomy and assisted vaginal delivery was higher in the analgesia group than that in the non-analgesia group. Regarding neonatal outcomes, the neonatal hospitalization rate and incidence rate of umbilical cord blood pH < 7.2 were higher in the analgesia group than those in the non-analgesia group. However, there were no significant between-group differences in the incidence rates of stained amniotic fluid, mild neonatal asphyxia, and severe perinatal asphyxia.Conclusion: Patient-controlled epidural analgesia using low-concentration local anesthetic during the entire labor did not increase the incidence rate of severe adverse outcomes in neonates born through vaginal delivery; however, it increased the delivery duration, and thus, the chance of possible perinatal interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: General anesthetics-induced changes of electrical oscillations in the basal ganglia may render the identification of the stimulation targets difficult. The authors hypothesized that while sevoflurane anesthesia entrains coherent lower frequency oscillations, it does not affect the identification of the subthalamic nucleus and clinical outcome.Methods: A cohort of 19 patients with Parkinson's disease with comparable disability underwent placement of electrodes under either sevoflurane general anesthesia (n = 10) or local anesthesia (n = 9). Microelectrode recordings during targeting were compared for neuronal spiking characteristics and oscillatory dynamics. Clinical outcomes were compared at 5-yr follow-up.Results: Under sevoflurane anesthesia, subbeta frequency oscillations predominated (general vs. local anesthesia, mean ± SD; delta: 13 ± 7.3% vs. 7.8 ± 4.8%; theta: 8.4 ± 4.1% vs. 3.9 ± 1.6%; alpha: 8.1 ± 4.1% vs. 4.8 ± 1.5%; all P < 0.001). In addition, distinct dorsolateral beta and ventromedial gamma oscillations were detected in the subthalamic nucleus solely in awake surgery (mean ± SD; dorsal vs. ventral beta band power: 20.5 ± 6.6% vs. 15.4 ± 4.3%; P < 0.001). Firing properties of subthalamic neurons did not show significant difference between groups. Clinical outcomes with regard to improvement in motor and psychiatric symptoms and adverse effects were comparable for both groups. Tract numbers of microelectrode recording, active contact coordinates, and stimulation parameters were also equivalent.Conclusions: Sevoflurane general anesthesia decreased beta-frequency oscillations by inducing coherent lower frequency oscillations, comparable to the pattern seen in the scalp electroencephalogram. Nevertheless, sevoflurane-induced changes in electrical activity patterns did not reduce electrode placement accuracy and clinical effect. These observations suggest that microelectrode-guided deep brain stimulation under sevoflurane anesthesia is a feasible clinical option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is the first cytokine used in tumor biotherapy, but TNF-related drugs are limited by the lack of specific targets. Tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced proteins (TNFAIPs), derived from TNF, is a protein family and participates in proliferation, invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. In order to better understand biological functions and potential roles of TNFAIPs in malignant tumors, this paper in the form of "Gene–Protein–Tumor correlation" summarizes the biological characteristics, physiological functions and mechanisms of TNFAIPs by searching National Center of Biotechnology Information, GeneCards, UniProt and STRING databases. The relationship between TNFAIPs and malignant tumors is analyzed, and protein–protein interaction diagram in members of TNFAIPs is drawn based on TNF for the first time. We find that TNF as a key factor is related to TNFAIP1, TNFAIP3, TNFAIP5, TNFAIP6, TNFAIP8 and TNFAIP9, which can be directly involved in activating TNFAIP1, TNFAIP5, TNFAIP8 and TNFAIP9. We confirm that the mechanism of TNFAIP1, TNFAIP2 and TNFAIP3 inducing tumors may be related to NF-κB signaling pathway, but the mechanism of tumor induction by other members of TNFAIPs is not clear. In the future, translational studies are needed to explore the mechanisms of TNF-TNFAIPs-tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti are perhaps the best studied mosquito species and important carriers of human malaria and arbovirus, respectively. Mosquitoes have daily rhythms in behaviors and show a wide range of activity patterns. Although Anopheles is known to be principally nocturnal and Aedes principally diurnal, details of mosquito activity are not easily assayed in the laboratory. We recently described FlyBox, a simple tracking system for assaying Drosophila locomotor activity rhythms and thought that it might also be applicable to monitoring mosquito activity. Indeed, we show here that FlyBox can easily, conveniently, affordably and accurately measure the activity of Anopheles as well as Aedes over several days. The resulting profiles under light-dark as well as constant darkness conditions are compatible with results in the literature, indicating that this or similar systems will be useful in the future for more detailed studies on a range of insect species and under more diverse laboratory conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]