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Coloration in oxides meets the challenge in achieving high stability and repeatability simultaneously. In this work, reversible coloration of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) film is demonstrated by alternate ultrafast (UF) laser and continuous wave (CW) laser irradiation. Under UF laser irradiation, oxygen vacancies are introduced in the TiO2 lattice, which lead to the bandgap reduction (2.73 to 1.50 eV) and surface blackening. The blackened area can achieve high resolution with size down to ≈1.1 µm. This coloration in TiO2 also shows excellent thermal stability that color fading is negligible even after thermal annealing at 700 K for 2 h in air. The generated high temperature by CW irradiation is known to be beneficial for the O2 dissociation on defected TiO2, thus promoting the internal oxygen diffusion to eliminate the vacancies. The energy band structure of TiO2 can be recovered accordingly, and decoloration is achieved. TiO2‐NPs film shows stable microstructures with barely changed optical properties after 12 cycles of coloration–decoloration process. This band engineering‐induced reversible coloration can also be applicable for broad oxides, e.g., ZnO, HfO2, and Ga2O3. Such highly stable and reversible coloration is promising in high‐performance micro/nano‐devices development for color display and optical encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of wafer‐scale oxide and semiconductor materials meets the difficulties of residual stress and materials incompatibility. In this work, Ag NPs thin film is contributed as an energy confinement layer between oxide (Sapphire) and semiconductor (Si) wafers to localize the materials interaction during ultrafast laser irradiation. Due to the plasmonic effects generated within constructed dielectric–metal–dielectric structures (i.e., Sapphire–Ag–Si), thermal diffusion and chemical reaction between Ag and its neighboring materials facilitate the microwelding of Sapphire and Si wafers. Ag NPs can be totally sintered within the junction area to bridge oxide and semiconductor, while Al─O─Ag bond and Ag─Si bond are formed at Ag–Sapphire and Ag─Si interfaces, respectively. As‐received heterogeneous joint exhibits a high shear strength up to 5.4 MPa, with the fracture occurring inside Si wafer. Meanwhile, insertion of metal nanolayer can greatly relieve the residual stress‐induced microcracking inside the brittle materials. Such wafer‐scale Sapphire and Si interconnects thus show robust strength and excellent impermeability even after thermal shocking (−40 °C to 120 °C) for 200 cycles. This metal NPs layer‐assisted plasmonic microwelding technology can extend to broad materials integration, which is promising for high‐performance microdevices development in MEMS, MOEMS, or microfluidics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean plants cultivated using mulched drip irrigation planting technology have the following characteristics during the harvest period: green stems and leaves, and a high straw/grain ratio. Moreover, the threshing device of a soybean combine harvester is difficult to adapt to, resulting in an increase in the accumulation and unevenness of the threshed mixture. This leads to an increase in impurity content and the loss rate. We conducted a single-factor experiment on a self-developed longitudinal/axial-flow soybean threshing and separation test bench, employing drum speed, feeding rate, and threshing clearance as experimental factors. The influence of the soybean threshing and separation device's working parameters on the distribution and uniformity of the threshed mixture in the axial and radial directions of the drum was explored through experiments. The results showed that the mass of the threshed mixture and soybean seeds showed a trend of first rapidly increasing and then slowly decreasing in the axial direction of the drum. Additionally, the mass showed a distribution feature of large values on both sides and small values in the middle in the radial direction. A lower drum speed, greater threshing clearance, and a smaller feeding rate make the radial distribution of a threshed mixture more uniform. Based on the combination of the crushing rate and unthreshed rate, the optimal working parameter combination was determined to be as follows: a drum speed of 500 r/min, a feeding rate of 6 kg/s, and a threshing clearance of 25 mm. The findings of this research offer valuable insights for the structural optimization and design enhancement of threshing and cleaning mechanisms within soybean combine harvesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) is a kind of malignant tumor with a poor prognosis and low quality of life in the otolaryngology department. It has been found that microRNA (miRNA) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of various tumors. This study found that the expression level of miRNA-107 (miR-107) in HSCC was significantly reduced. Subsequently, we screened out the downstream direct target gene Neuronal Vesicle Trafficking Associated 1 (NSG1) related to miR-107 through bioinformatics analysis and found that the expression of NSG1 was increased in HSCC tissues. Following the overexpression of miR-107 in HSCC cells, it was observed that miR-107 directly suppressed NSG1 expression, leading to increased apoptosis, decreased proliferation, and reduced invasion capabilities of HSCC cells. Subsequent experiments involving the overexpression and knockdown of NSG1 in HSCC cells demonstrated that elevated NSG1 levels enhanced cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while the opposite effect was observed upon NSG1 knockdown. Further investigations revealed that changes in NSG1 levels in the HSCC cells were accompanied by alterations in ERK signaling pathway proteins, suggesting a potential regulatory role of NSG1 in HSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion through the ERK pathway. These findings highlight the significance of miR-107 and NSG1 in hypopharyngeal cancer metastasis, offering promising targets for therapeutic interventions and prognostic evaluations for HSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fuzzy C-means (FCM) algorithm is one of the most widely used algorithms in unsupervised pattern recognition. As the intensity of observation noise increases, FCM tends to produce large center deviations and even overlap clustering problems. The relative entropy fuzzy C-means algorithm (REFCM) adds relative entropy as a regularization function to the fuzzy C-means algorithm, which has a good ability for noise detection and membership assignment to observed values. However, REFCM still tends to generate overlapping clusters as the size of the cluster increases and becomes imbalanced. Moreover, the convergence speed of this algorithm is slow. To solve this problem, modified suppressed relative entropy fuzzy c-means clustering (MSREFCM) is proposed. Specifically, the MSREFCM algorithm improves the convergence speed of the algorithm while maintaining the accuracy and anti-noise capability of the REFCM algorithm by adding a suppression strategy based on the intra-class average distance measurement. In addition, to further improve the clustering performance of MSREFCM for multidimensional imbalanced data, the center overlapping problem and the center offset problem of elliptical data are solved by replacing the Euclidean distance in REFCM with the Mahalanobis distance. Experiments on several synthetic and UCI datasets indicate that MSREFCM can improve the convergence speed and classification performance of the REFCM for spherical and ellipsoidal datasets with imbalanced sizes. In particular, for the Statlog dataset, the running time of MSREFCM is nearly one second less than that of REFCM, and the accuracy of MSREFCM is 0.034 higher than that of REFCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate retrieval of forest above ground biomass (AGB) based on full-polarization synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data is still challenging for complex surface regions with fluctuating terrain. In this study, the three-step process of radiometric terrain correction (RTC), which includes polarization orientation angle correction (POAC), effective scattering area correction (ESAC), and angular variation effect correction (AVEC), is adopted as the technical framework. In the ESAC stage, a normalized correction factor is introduced based on local incidence angle and radar incidence angle to achieve accurate correction of PolSAR data information and improve the inversion accuracy of forest AGB. In order to verify the validity and robustness of this research method, the full-polarization SAR data of ALOS-2 and the ground measured AGB data collected in the Saihanba research area in 2020 were used for experiments. Our findings revealed that in the ESAC phase, the introduction of the normalized correction factor can effectively eliminate the ESA phenomenon and improve the correlation coefficients of the backscatter coefficient and AGB. Taking the data of 25 July 2020 as an example, ESAC increases the correlation coefficients between AGB and the backscattering coefficients of HH, HV, and VV polarization channels by 0.343, 0.296, and 0.382, respectively. In addition, the RTC process has strong robustness in different AGB statistical models and different date PolSAR data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several approaches are commonly used to estimate the effect of diet on changes of various intermediate disease markers in prospective studies, including "change-score analysis", "concurrent change-change analysis" and "lagged change-change analysis". Although empirical evidence suggests that concurrent change-change analysis is most robust, consistent, and biologically plausible, in-depth dissection and comparison of these approaches from a causal inference perspective is lacking. We intend to explicitly elucidate and compare the underlying causal model, causal estimand and interpretation of these approaches, intuitively illustrate it with directed acyclic graph (DAG), and further clarify strengths and limitations of the recommended concurrent change-change analysis through simulations. Methods: Causal model and DAG are deployed to clarify the causal estimand and interpretation of each approach theoretically. Monte Carlo simulation is used to explore the performance of distinct approaches under different extents of time-invariant heterogeneity and the performance of concurrent change-change analysis when its causal identification assumptions are violated. Results: Concurrent change-change analysis targets the contemporaneous effect of exposure on outcome (measured at the same survey wave), which is more relevant and plausible in studying the associations of diet and intermediate biomarkers in prospective studies, while change-score analysis and lagged change-change analysis target the effect of exposure on outcome after one-period timespan (typically several years). Concurrent change-change analysis always yields unbiased estimates even with severe unobserved time-invariant confounding, while the other two approaches are always biased even without time-invariant heterogeneity. However, concurrent change-change analysis produces almost linearly increasing estimation bias with violation of its causal identification assumptions becoming more serious. Conclusions: Concurrent change-change analysis might be the most superior method in studying the diet and intermediate biomarkers in prospective studies, which targets the most plausible estimand and circumvents the bias from unobserved individual heterogeneity. Importantly, careful examination of the vital identification assumptions behind it should be underscored before applying this promising method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction of maintenance processes between partners constitutes a complex context, which can be categorized into individual‐ and interactive‐level relationship maintenance processes. Individual‐level maintenance processes refer to both partners' relationship maintenance enactment and perception of partners' relationship maintenance. Interactive‐level relationship maintenance processes include similarity, accuracy, and projection. This study investigated the actor and partner effects of individual and interactive relationship maintenance processes on commitment as moderated by relationship satisfaction. We recruited 193 mixed‐gender married couples from the midwestern US and adopted the two‐intercept actor‐partner interdependence model to analyze the data. The results demonstrated a positive association between husbands' relationship maintenance enactment and their commitment, a negative association between similarity of relationship maintenance enactment and wives' commitment, a positive association between husbands' accuracy and wives' commitment, and a negative association between husbands' projection and their commitment. Satisfaction was strongly associated with participants' commitment and moderated the association between relationship maintenance enactment and commitment for both partners, the association between husbands' maintenance enactment and wives' commitment, and the association between husbands' partner perception and their commitment. Satisfaction also moderated the association between wives' accuracy and husbands' commitment and the association between husbands' projection and both partners' commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests play a significant role in terrestrial ecosystems by sequestering carbon, and forest biomass is a crucial indicator of carbon storage potential. However, the single-frequency SAR estimation of forest biomass often leads to saturation issues. This research aims to improve the potential for estimating forest aboveground biomass (AGB) by feature selection based on a scattering mechanism and sensitivity analysis and utilizing a non-parametric model that combines the advantage of dual-frequency SAR data. By employing GF-3 and ALOS-2 data, this study explores the scattering mechanism within a coniferous forest by using results of target decomposition and the pixel statistics method. By selecting an appropriate feature (backscatter coefficients and polarization parameters) and using stepwise regression models and a non-parametric model (the random forest adaptive genetic algorithm (RF-AGA)), the results revealed that the RF-AGA model with feature selection exhibited excellent AGB estimation performance without obvious saturation (RMSE = 10.42 t/ha, R2 = 0.93, leave-one-out cross validation). The σ H V , σ V H , Pauli three-component decomposition, Yamaguchi three-component decomposition, and VanZyl3 component decomposition of thee C-band and σ H V , σ V H , σ H H , Yamaguchi three-component decomposition, and VanZyl3 component decomposition of the L-band are suited for estimating the AGB of coniferous forests. Volume scattering was the dominant mechanism, followed by surface scattering, while double-bounce scattering had the smallest proportion. This study highlights the potential of investigating scattering mechanisms, sensitivity factors, and parameter selection in the C- and L-band SAR data for improved forest AGB estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis, an inflammatory autoimmune skin disease, is characterized by scaly white or erythematous plaques, which severely influence patients' quality of life and social activities. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from the human umbilical cord (UCMSCs) represent a promising therapeutic approach for psoriasis because of its unique superiority in ethical agreeableness, abundant source, high proliferation capacity, and immunosuppression. Although cryopreservation provided multiple benefits to the cell therapy, it also greatly compromised clinical benefits of MSCs due to impaired cell functions. The current study aims to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of cryopreserved UCMSCs in a mouse model of psoriasis as well as in patients with psoriasis. Our results showed that cryopreserved and fresh UCMSCs have comparable effects on the suppression of psoriasis-like symptoms such as thickening, erythema, and scaling, and serum IL-17 A secretion in mice model of psoriasis. Moreover, psoriatic patients injected with cryopreserved UCMSCs had a significant improvement in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Physician Global Assessment (PGA), and Patient Global Assessments (PtGAs) scores compared to baseline values. Mechanically, cryopreserved UCMSCs markedly inhibit the proliferation of PHA-activated PBMCs, type 1 T helper (Th1) and type 17 T helper (Th17) cell differentiation and secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ, TNF-a and IL-17 A in PBMCs stimulated by anti-CD3/CD28 beads. Taken together, these data indicated that cryopreserved UCMSCs exhibited great beneficial effect on psoriasis. Thus, cryopreserved UCMSCs can be systemically administered as "off-the-shelf" cell product for psoriasis therapy. Trial Registration ChiCTR1800019509. Registered on November 15, 2018—Retrospectively registered, http://www.chictr.org.cn/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Testicular Sertoli cell tumor (SCT) is very rare sex cord-gonadal stromal tumor, and sclerosing SCT (SSCT) is even rarer. So far, no more than 50 cases of SSCT have been reported. 80% of SSCTs are less than 2 cm in diameter, large volume mass is pretty unusual. SSCT is usually benign with very low malignant potential. However, it is easily misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor resulting in the removal of the entire testicle. Case presentation: A 55-year-old Chinese male patient presented with a six months' history of right testis progressively enlargement and negative tumor markers. The physical examination was nothing special except for swelling in the right testicle. Imaging identified a large mass in right testicle with rich blood. A right radical orchiectomy was performed on suspicion of malignancy. However, the tumor was postoperatively diagnosed as SSCT, which pathologically consisted of a tubular pattern with regular nuclei and embedded in a densely collagenous stroma, as well as diffusely positive for vimentin, β-catenin and synaptophysin. After 7 months of follow up, no evidence of local recurrence and metastasis has been observed. Conclusion: This rare case is helpful to expand the knowledge of the testicular tumor and alert us fully understand the rare variant of SCTs in order to choose the optimal management when they encounter SSCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li metal anode is considered as one of the most desirable candidates for next‐generation battery due to its lowest electrochemical potential and high theoretical capacity. However, undesirable dendrite growth severely exacerbates the interfacial stability, thus damaging battery performance and bringing safety concerns. Here, an efficient strategy is proposed to stabilize Li metal anode by digesting dendrites sprout using a 3D flexible superlithiophilic membrane consisting of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and ZnCl2 composite nanofibers (PZEM) as a protective layer. Both the experimental studies and theoretical calculations show the origin of superlithiophilicity ascribed to a strong interaction between ZnCl2 and PVDF to form the ZnF bonds. The multifield physics calculation implies effective removal of local dendrite hotspots by PZEM via a more homogeneous Li+ flux. The PZEM‐covered Li anode (PZEM@Li) exhibits superior Li deposition/stripping performance in a symmetric cell over 1100 cycles at a high current density of 5 mA cm−2. When paired with LiFePO4 (LFP), PZEM@Li|LFP full cell remains stable over 1000 cycles at 2 C with a degradation rate of 0.0083% per cycle. This work offers a new route for efficient protection of Li metal anode for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amomum tsaoko (AT) is a dietary botanical with laxative properties; however, the active ingredients and mechanisms are still unclear. The active fraction of AT aqueous extract (ATAE) for promoting defecation in slow transit constipation mice is the ethanol-soluble part (ATES). The total flavonoids of ATES (ATTF) were the main active component. ATTF significantly increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and Bacillus and reduced the dominant commensals, such as Lachnospiraceae, thereby changing the gut microbiota structure and composition. Meanwhile, ATTF changed the gut metabolites mainly enriched in pathways such as the serotonergic synapse. In addition, ATTF increased the serum serotonin (5-HT) content and mRNA expression of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A (5-HT2A), Phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), which are involved in the serotonergic synaptic pathway. ATTF increased Transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1), which promotes the release of 5-HT, and Myosin light chain 3(MLC3), which promotes smooth muscle motility. Notably, we established a network between gut microbiota, gut metabolites, and host parameters. The dominant gut microbiota Lactobacillus and Bacillus, prostaglandin J2 (PGJ2) and laxative phenotypes showed the most significant associations. The above results suggest that ATTF may relieve constipation by regulating the gut microbiota and serotonergic synaptic pathway and has great potential for laxative drug development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coupled system composed of a traction network and electric multiple units (EMUs) may oscillate or be prone to instability due to the influence of the large number of nonlinear power electronic devices introduced by the EMUs. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a virtual resistance with a compensation link control strategy for the four-quadrant converters of EMUs. First, based on the actual background, input and output impedance models of the coupled system are established, including the output impedance model of the traction network and the input impedance model of the EMUs. Based on the above models, the factors affecting the stability of the coupled system are analyzed by utilizing the impedance matching analysis method and the generalized Nyquist stability criterion (GNC). In the proposed control strategy, virtual resistance is used to adjust the loop gain and to increase system damping, which can improve the stability margin of the system. Virtual resistance can also increase the initial power equivalent to improve system stability. The introduction of the compensation link is to suppress the increasing tendency of the intermediate DC voltage steady-state error caused by the virtual resistance. The parameters of the virtual impedance and the compensation link are designed by forbidden region criterion to meet engineering requirements. With the proposed control strategy, the maximum EMU number to ensure system stability has been significantly increased. Finally, simulations and experiments verify the correctness of the analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest progress in SACs prepared by mechanical ball milling strategy and versatile heterogeneous catalysis applications of (including thermocatalysis, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis) are summarized. [Display omitted] A mechanochemical ball milling process will spontaneously generate strong shear force and a high local temperature, which will reconstruct the chemical bonds of materials and renovate the surface chemistry characteristics. The ball milling method is a simple and robust strategy to large scale synthesize nanomaterials, and it can also be used to synthesize single atom catalysts (SACs). In this review, we systematically summarized the methodology and principle of ball milling strategy for the preparation of SACs for the first time, which include the solvent-assisted ball-milling strategy, solvent-free ball-milling strategy, and ball-milling abrasion-thermal atomization joint strategy. At the same time, we also summarized the latest progress in heterogeneous catalysis applications of SACs prepared by mechanical ball milling strategy (including thermocatalysis, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis). The challenges and prospects of the ball milling-derived SACs in practical industrial production and application are pointed out as well. Admittedly, the mechanochemical construction of SACs has become a hot research field in sub-nanometer manufacturing and heterogeneous catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims In this study, Mrhst4 , encoding a member of NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase (HDAC), was deleted to evaluate its regulation on the production of Monascus azaphilone pigments (MonAzPs) and mycotoxin, as well as the developmental process in Monascusruber. Methods and results Agrobacterium tumefaciens -mediated transformation was applied in this study to generate the Mrhst4 null strain. Mrhst4 -deleted strain did not display obvious differences in the sexual and asexual reproduction, colonial morphology, and micro-morphology. UV–Vis scan and UPLC detection showed that disruption of Mrhst4 significantly increased the MonAzPs yields, and citrinin content was dramatically enhanced during the tested period. RT-qPCR results showed that the absence of Mrhst4 significantly increased the relative expression of citrinin biosynthetic pathway genes including pksCT, mrl1, mrl2, mrl4, mrl6 , and mrl7. The Western blot assay suggested that deletion of Mrhst4 could significantly elevate the acetylation levels of H3K4, H3K9, H3K18, H3K56, and H4K12, but attenuated the lysine acetylation modification of H4Pan, H4K8, and H4K16. Conclusion MrHst4 is an important regulator involved in secondary metabolism in Monascus ruber. In particular, MrHst4 plays a pivotal role in regulation of citrinin production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyloid‐β (Aβ) is thought to be a critical pathologic factor of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) degeneration in age‐related macular degeneration (AMD). Aβ induces inflammatory responses in RPE cells and recent studies demonstrate the N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) regulatory role in RPE cell inflammation. m6A is a reversible epigenetic posttranslational modification, but its relationship with Aβ‐induced RPE degeneration is yet to be thoroughly investigated. The present study explored the role and mechanism of m6A in Aβ‐induced RPE degeneration model. This model was induced via intravitreally injecting oligomeric Aβ and the morphology of its retina was analyzed. One of m6A demethylases, the fat mass and obesity‐associated (FTO) gene expression, was assessed. An m6A‐messenger RNA (mRNA) epitranscriptomic microarray was employed for further bioinformatic analyses. It was confirmed that Aβ induced FTO upregulation within the RPE. Hypopigmentation alterations and structural disorganization were observed in Aβ‐treated eyes, and inhibition of FTO exacerbated retinal degeneration and RPE impairment. Moreover, the m6A‐mRNA epitranscriptomic microarray suggested that protein kinase A (PKA) was a target of FTO, and the PKA/cyclic AMP‐responsive element binding (CREB) signaling pathway was involved in Aβ‐induced RPE degeneration. m6A‐RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation confirmed that FTO demethylated PKA within the RPE cells of Aβ‐treated eyes. Altered expression of PKA and its downstream targets (CREB and brain‐derived neurotrophic factor) was confirmed by quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analyses. Hence, this study's findings shed light on FTO‐mediated m6A modification in Aβ‐induced RPE degeneration and indicate potential therapeutic targets for AMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Gamma cameras have wide applications in industry, including nuclear power plant monitoring, emergency response, and homeland security. The desirable properties of a gamma camera include small weight, good resolution, large field of view (FOV), and wide imageable source energy range. Compton cameras can have a 4π FOV but have limited sensitivity at low energy. Coded-aperture gamma cameras are operatable at a wide photon energy range but typically have a limited FOV and increased weight due to the thick heavy metal collimators and shielding. In our lab, we previously proposed a 4π-view gamma imaging approach with a 3D position-sensitive detector, with which each detector element acts as the collimator for other detector elements. We presented promising imaging performance for 99mTc, 18F, and 137Cs sources. However, the imaging performance for middle- and high-energy sources requires further improvement. (2) Methods: In this study, we present a new gamma camera design to achieve satisfactory imaging performance in a wide gamma energy range. The proposed gamma camera consists of interspaced bar-shaped GAGG (Ce) crystals and tungsten absorbers. The metal bars enhance collimation for high-energy gamma photons without sacrificing the FOV. We assembled a gamma camera prototype and conducted experiments to evaluate the gamma camera's performance for imaging 57Co, 137Cs, and 60Co point sources. (3) Results: Results show that the proposed gamma camera achieves a positioning accuracy of <3° for all gamma energies. It can clearly resolve two 137Cs point sources with 10° separation, two 57Co and two 60Co point sources with 20° separation, as well as a 2 × 3 137Cs point-source array with 20° separation. (4) Conclusions: We conclude that the proposed gamma camera design has comprehensive merits, including portability, 4π-view FOV, and good angular resolution across a wide energy range. The presented approach has promising potential in nuclear security applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The interaction between nutrition and immunity plays a vital role in nutrient digestion, absorption, and metabolism during poultry production. Recent studies showed that the gut microbiota contributes to the development of intestinal mucosal immunity. However, the mechanisms by which gut microbes regulate this process remain unclear. Methods: We compared the intestinal mucosal immunity and gut microbiota of Arbor Acre broilers (AA (lower mucosal immunity) and Chinese native Wuliang Mountain Black-bone chickens (WLMB) (higher mucosal immunity) using 16S rDNA sequencing, transcriptomic analysis, and immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody repertoire sequencing. We then combined 16S rDNA sequencing with transcriptomics to identify the key microbes and found that they were positively correlated with IgA production. Next, we transplanted candidate microbes into 1-day-old broiler to explore their role in intestinal mucosal immunity. Finally, we verified the function of candidate microbial metabolites in regulating the immune function of macrophages and the intestinal-epithelial cells (IECs) using in vitro experiments. Results: WLMB performs stronger mucosal immunity than AA, including higher IgA levels, more diverse IgA antibody repertoire, and higher bacterial affinity. Bacteroides was identified as the key microbes related to the intestinal IgA response. Bacteroides transplantation could increase IgA concentration in the duodenal contents by enhancing the expression of IgA, polymeric immunoglobin receptor (PIgR), B cell-activating factor of the TNF family (BAFF), and activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) in the duodenum. Additionally, Bacteroides-derived isovaleric acid promoted M2 macrophage polarization of macrophage via mTOR/PPAR-γ/STAT3 signaling pathways and regulated the immunologic function of IECs to produce cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-10, IL-4, BAFF, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), thus promoting IgA production in B cells by facilitating AID expression. Conclusion: Our study revealed that Bacteroides modulate the intestinal IgA response and maintain gut health in broilers. Bacteroides may be a promising alternative as an immunomodulatory microbial agent for developing next-generation probiotics for broiler production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine Internet of Things (Marine IoT) attracts growing interest in sensing and exploiting the ocean, it is necessary to build Marine IoT system for observing and processing massive marine environmental data. There exist several problems in building Marine IoT system, such as massive heterogeneous data, underwater limited transmission bandwidth, strong heterogeneity and unbalanced computing-resource load of data-sensing devices. In this paper, the RESTful-Edge Computing (REC)-based Marine IoT model is proposed to achieve efficient integration and procession of massive marine observing data. The REC-MPSO-based computing resource cooperative migration method is then provided for scheduling and migrating computing resource of Marine IoT. (1) The REC model would store and analyze massive data, transmit only valid observing data to the cloud server, to reduce amount of data transmission. (2) By unified scheduling and management of computing resource load, the edge gateway can realize migration of resource loads between different edge sensing devices, thereby maintaining load balance on these devices. (3) The optimal computing resource (task) for cooperative migration could be selected by Multi-group PSO (MPSO) update iteration. It would realize the dynamically adaptive matching between computing tasks and edge sensing devices, and meet the requirements of minimizing energy consumption and delay of computing task migration in Marine IoT. Simulation results verify that the improvement of proposed REC-MPSO method is 10%, 14% and 22% over three pre-existing protocols in terms of time delay, energy consumption of REC-MPSO is 17%, 24%, and 27% lower than three pre-existing protocols for computing resources migration, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, the energy harvesting (EH) relaying node which needs to complete the simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is considered. The EH relaying node uses the EH technique to get the energy supply and uses the directional transmission to improve the performance of SWIPT. The double discrete‐time‐switch (D‐DTS) based energy harvesting–power transfer–information transmission (EH–PT–IT) protocol is designed. One of the discrete‐time‐switch (DTS) controls the receiver of the EH relaying node and the other controls the transmitter. The performance is analysed by considering the average information rate and the average transferred power. The expressions of the average information rate and the average transferred power are derived analytically. The balanced maximization is considered, and the optimal parameters are obtained analytically. The simulations are presented to verify the analytical results and compare the performance. Comparing with previous works, the SWIPT performance using D‐DTS protocol in this work is better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underwater sensor networks system is a promising technology for smart ocean monitoring applications. To address the imbalance problem of network overhead and limited energy of underwater sensor nodes, this paper presents a CH–SH Selection and Sink Path-planning (CSSP) scheme to collect vast amount of data from heterogeneous sensor nodes. The scheme firstly establishes a three-layer network structure model for underwater mobile sensor networks (UMSN) based on multi-mode communication mechanism and provides energy-balanced head nodes (cluster head and sub-cluster head nodes) selection algorithm based on particle swarm iterative optimization. Then, the optimal global-path-plan of mobile sink is proposed to visit all the head nodes to collect data, reduce the multi-hop underwater acoustic transmission distance of relay nodes, and avoid the energy hole problem. Lastly, the upper-layer multi-hop network of UMSN is designed to remotely control local-path-plan over mobile sink, in order to implement joint planning of global and local paths of mobile sink. Simulation results verified that the proposed CSSP scheme outperformed 11%, 16% and 22% over three typical protocols in terms of nodes energy consumption, CSSP was 9%, 12% and 19% lower than three typical protocols in terms of SD of energy consumption, packet delivery ratio of CSSP was 8%, 10% and 12% higher than three typical protocols. The scheme could significantly balance energy and reduce packet loss rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rebaudioside D (RD) is a natural low-calorie, high-sweet sweetener and an excellent sugar substitute. In this study, RD was produced by coupling glucosyltransferase (EUGT11) and sucrose synthase (SUS) with a novel strategy of immobilization to enhance the recyclability of enzymes and decrease the production costs of RD. Recombinant EUGT11 from Oryza sativa and SUS from Arabidopsis thaliana were expressed in Escherichia coli and immobilized onto Fe 3 O 4 @Uio-66 nanocomposite. The results of Fourier transform Infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), magnetic susceptibility (VSM), thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) indicated that the magnetic nanocomposite Fe 3 O 4 @Uio-66 was successfully fabricated and the two enzymes were separately immobilized on Fe 3 O 4 @Uio-66. The reusability, storage, pH and temperature stabilities of the immobilized enzymes were investigated and compared to that of free enzymes. It was more stable towards temperature compared with free enzyme. The kinetic properties of immobilized EUGT11 showed a lower V m and a higher K m compared to free EUGT11, and immobilized SUS showed a lower V m and K m compared to free SUS. The immobilized SUS had around 56% residual activity upon storage a period of 10 days at 4 °C. After 8 times, the catalytic activity of immobilized double enzyme still retained around 80%, which showed a desirable stability and reduced the overall cost of enzymes, indicating that the immobilized enzymes had a good industrial application prospect in RD production. [Display omitted] • Double-enzyme biocatalyst of glucosyltransferase and sucrose synthase was prepared. • Glucosyltransferase and sucrose synthase were first immobilized on Fe 3 O 4 @Uio-66. • The thermostability of enzyme was improved by immobilization. • The activity of immobilized double enzyme was maintained at 80% after 8 times of recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown great potential in treating autoimmune diseases due to their immunomodulatory capability, which has been verified in both animal experiments and clinical trials. Psoriasis is a chronic and remitting immune-related disease. Limited studies have demonstrated that MSCs might be an effective therapeutic approach for managing psoriasis, whose underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. In our present study, human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC-MSCs) were subcutaneously injected into mice with imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation to explore the feasibility of this cellular therapy. The severity of psoriasis-like dermatitis was evaluated by cumulative psoriasis area and severity index score and epidermal thickness of skin tissue sections. Flow cytometric analysis was utilized to detect T helper cells, regulatory T cells, and γδ T cells in skin-draining lymph nodes. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to assess the expression levels of psoriasis-related cytokines and chemokines in mouse dorsal skin lesions. We discovered that hUC-MSCs drastically diminished the severity of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis and suppressed inflammatory cell response. Although the tail vein injection of hUC-MSCs was also effective, it was correlated with higher mortality owing to pulmonary embolism. By comparison, subcutaneous injection with two million hUC-MSCs was identified to be the optimal therapeutic strategy. Furthermore, we uncovered that hUC-MSCs might repress skin inflammation probably through inhibiting interleukin-17-producing γδ T cells. In conclusion, subcutaneous administration of hUC-MSCs might be a promising therapeutic approach for psoriasis. Our findings provide novel insights into the underpinning mechanism of hUC-MSC treatment in the management of psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research about mulberry leaf with different producing area and harvest period will promote its quality control method and utilization in terms of active ingredient extraction and health products research. This study focused on the establishment of fingerprint of mulberry leaves from different harvest periods and different origins, the determination of chlorogenic acid, rutin as well as astragalin with ultrasound assisted liquid extraction. The extraction rate was optimized using response surface method. The optimized conditions were as follows: methanol for extraction, ultrasonic power of 240 W, extraction time of 77 min, methanol concentration of 59 % (v/v) and solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:48 (g/mL). Three ingredients in mulberry leaves were successfully extracted, and the HPLC fingerprint of mulberry leaves was established with 23 common peaks. Good similarity higher than 85.7 % was obtained among the 14 batch of samples from different harvest periods and different origins. The optimized extraction process was stable, reliable and suitable for extracting chlorogenic acid and two flavonoids from mulberry leaf. The established fingerprint exhibited good stability and repeatability, and provided comprehensive chromatographic peaks information. This method can be relied upon for the identification and comprehensive quality control of mulberry leaf. • The chlorogenic acid and flavonoids was feasibly extracted from mulberry leaves. • The response surface methodology was used to optimize the extraction. • Fingerprint of mulberry leaves at various harvesting times and origins was obtained. • The fingerprint can evaluate the quality of mulberry leaf medicinal materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of mass customization, flexible job shop scheduling problem considering assembly stage has widely existed in many manufacturing industries, such as die-casting mould factories. This problem is to find a reasonable machine assignment and operation sequence both in fabrication and assembly stages and simultaneously maximize production efficiency. In reality, energy shortages and environmental pollution have given an impetus to the development of energy-aware production scheduling problems. In this study, we address an energy-aware flexible assembly job shop scheduling problem (EFAJSP) with the objectives of minimizing flow time and energy consumption and first develop a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to solve EFAJSP problem. Then, the model-specific characteristics are extracted and applied to a matheuristic decoding method for exploring the Pareto optimal solution. Due to the complexity of EFAJSP problem, a matheuristic and learning-oriented multi-objective artificial bee colony algorithm (MLABC), which combines the advantages of mathematical programming, reinforcement learning and meta-heuristic algorithm, is proposed. In addition, an initialization, destruction/construction operator and population update operator are proposed and work together to improve the exploration and exploitation performance of the proposed MLABC. Finally, numerical experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MILP model and the superiority of the MLABC over other algorithms in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sample efficiency is a limiting factor for existing distributed multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) algorithms over networked multi-agent systems. In this paper, the sample efficiency problem is tackled by formally incorporating the entropy regularization into the distributed MARL algorithm design. Firstly, a new entropy-regularized MARL problem is formulated under the model of networked multi-agent Markov decision processes with observation-based policies and homogeneous agents, where the policy parameter sharing among the agents provably preserves the optimality. Secondly, an on-policy distributed actor–critic algorithm is proposed, where each agent shares its parameters of both the critic and actor for consensus update. Then, the convergence analysis of the proposed algorithm is provided based on the stochastic approximation theory under the assumption of linear function approximation of the critic. Furthermore, a practical off-policy version of the proposed algorithm is developed which possesses scalability, data efficiency and learning stability. Finally, the proposed distributed algorithm is compared against the solid baselines including two classic centralized training algorithms in the multi-agent particle environment, whose learning performance is empirically demonstrated through extensive simulation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation and seasonal reduction in the Upstream Kuroshio Transport (UKT) have important impacts on surrounding climate and oceanic circulation systems. Therefore, reliable UKT prediction is crucial. In this paper, we propose an intelligent UKT prediction model, KuroshioNet, which is firstly pre-trained with simulation data generated by the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and then fine-tuned with reanalysis data of the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA). Operating at a five-day time resolution and a 0.5°spatial resolution, KuroshioNet has the capability to predict multivariate fields associated with upstream Kuroshio, including 3D variables like velocity, temperature, as well as salinity and 2D variables like sea surface height. Subsequently, the UKT is computed from the predicted fields. We evaluate and analyze the experimental results, which show that KuroshioNet has a lead time of 55 days for UKT prediction. In order to enhance the physical interpretability of KuroshioNet, we conduct an ablation experiment to evaluate the impact of each predictor on prediction skill. It demonstrates that selecting zonal velocity, meridional velocity, temperature, salinity, and SSH contributes to UKT prediction by KuroshioNet. Besides, by analyzing model performance and visualizing what the convolutional kernels learn, we find that KuroshioNet, which has learned from ROMS data, is capable of obtaining better initial performance and acquiring more active kernels to better learn the features in SODA data. Furthermore, we identify the targeted observation sensitive area of UKT seasonal reduction by KuroshioNet with the saliency map method, which is situated to the east of upstream kuroshio. The sensitive area is consistent with the result identified by numerical models and yields 38.1% improvement on prediction demonstrated by observing system simulation experiments. • KuroshioNet predicts multivariate 3D/2D fields associated with Upstream Kuroshio. • KuroshioNet is firstly trained with ROMS data and then with SODA data. • Lead time of prediction is 55 days for UKT, 15–30 days for UKT seasonal reduction. • KuroshioNet is physically interpretable by analyzing what it learns and predictors. • The identified targeted observation sensitive area has a 38.1% gain by OSSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, tailored Mn–Zn ferrite ceramics are prepared by stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology, and its performances are measured utilizing the printing accuracy, magnetic properties, density, and microstructures. The major obstacle forming difficultly by single curing of self-made ferrite pastes with increasing solid content in the printing process is removed by using six scanning numbers. In addition, the prediction formulas of the linewidth and curing depth are established. The printing process parameters, namely scanning space, scanning speed, and laser power, are optimized at 2 μm, 2500 mm/s, and 240 mW, respectively. The size of convex platform bigger than 1 mm × 1.2 mm possessing circular and square holes with a diameter and a side length of 0.2 mm can be printed using the printing process parameters above. Specifically, the sintering temperature and holding time below 1200 °C and 90 min, respectively, are optimized conducive limits. The sintered parts show a density of 4.04 g/cm3 and a saturation magnetization of 58.6 emu/g, along with a small value of coercivity and remanence. The SLA-3D printing, debinding, and sintering technologies can print the complex shapes Mn–Zn ferrite ceramics using the proposed process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers are known to be effective for the correction of facial wrinkles and folds, but there is no clinical study that compares the efficacy of small‐to‐medium‐particle HA fillers and large‐particle HA fillers for the correction of nasolabial folds (NLFs). Moreover, injection depth also plays an important role in the correction of NLFs as well as improvement of facial aesthetics. Objectives: To assess the efficacy, safety, and durability of a small‐to‐medium‐particle HA filler, Restylane, and a large‐particle HA filler, Yishumei, as well as the effect of injection depth in the correction of moderate‐to‐severe NLFs and facial aesthetics in a Chinese population. Methods: This 52‐week, prospective, randomized, double‐blind study enrolled 100 participants with moderate‐to‐severe NLFs. The participants were randomized to receive either Restylane (Group A) or Yishumei (Group B). Group A and Group B were further randomly divided into a superficial injection group (Group A1 & B1) and a deep injection group (Group A2&B2) according to injection depth. Improvement in the Wrinkle Severity Rating Scale (WSRS) score and Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) and participants' satisfaction were evaluated as endpoints. All adverse events were monitored throughout the study. Results: The treatments were well tolerated by all the participants. All four groups showed a reduction in their mean WSRS scores and GAIS scores by week 12. At week 24, the WSRS and GAIS scores did not change in Group A1 and A2, while participants in Group B1 and Group B2 had higher WSRS and GAIS scores than those in the previous weeks. By week 52, the WSRS scores in all the groups returned to almost baseline levels. The mean FACE‐Q scores increased compared with the baseline scores in all groups through week 24. Most participants were satisfied with their treatment, and no meaningful differences were found between the fillers in terms of participant satisfaction. The most common adverse events were swelling, redness, and tenderness at the injection site, but they resolved spontaneously without treatment. Conclusion: The two HA fillers had good therapeutic effect on NLFs in the early stage of treatment, but Restylane had a more prolonged effect. Moreover, compared with the superficial injection, the deep injection provided slight midface lifting and improved facial aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an industry with high energy consumption and high emission, the iron and steel industry not only drives the economic development, but also brings serious environmental pollution problems. In order to achieve green and low-carbon steel manufacturing, reducing CO2 emissions in the blast furnace ironmaking process has become the current mainstream, of which the accurate judgment of the blast furnace status is a key to achieve it. Firstly, combining theory with production experience, this research established 6 evaluation systems of the blast furnace and extracted 22 evaluation parameters from them through mathematical statistics. After completing the data preprocessing with the help of Python, the potential elements in the initial variables were excavated and a comprehensive evaluation model of the blast furnace status was developed by Factor Analysis. Based on this, the status of the blast furnace were divided into four degrees, i.e. good, normal, poor and warning and the rationality was verified by comparison to the production logs. By means of comparing the law of data distribution under different furnace status, the optimal range of operation parameters was summarized. This study is expected to provide guidance for realizing energy conservation and consumption reduction of the blast furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a relaying network with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is considered, where the relaying nodes are energy‐constrained. The relaying nodes rely on energy harvesting (EH) technique for energy supply and they use different directive transmitters for information transmission and energy transfer, respectively, to enhance the SWIPT relaying performance. A novel discrete‐time‐switch and power‐split (DTS‐PS) based energy harvesting mixture transmission (EH‐MT) protocol for each EH decode and forwarding (DF) relaying node is proposed. The expressions for the average information rate and the energy transfer power are derived analytically and verified by simulations. An optimization function is formulated, and the optimal parameters are obtained analytically and verified by simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2011, Zhang's research team, in cooperation with Li and Liu, reported the Pt1/FeOx atomically dispersed catalysts for the first time in the world, and based on this, proposed the concept of "single-atom catalysts". Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have a wide range of industrial application prospects in the catalytic synthesis of fine chemicals due to their high atomic utilization rate and special catalytic activity. With the deepening of the research, the preparation methods of SACs emerge in an endless stream, but it is still an urgent problem to realize the industrial production of highly stable SACs prepared in small batches (gram level) or even in large batches (kilogram level). In this review paper, several typical solvent-free green synthetic strategies (e.g., ball milling, physical mixing, gas migration, and pyrolyzing coordination polymers (including MOFs)) for the batch preparation of SACs are introduced. And typical catalytic application of SACs in green synthesis of fine chemicals by means of oxidation reaction, hydrogenation reaction, coupling reaction and other reactions are also introduced. This is the first review paper focusing on the mass preparation techniques of SACs and their applications in fine chemicals production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate optimal treatment regimen of 308‐nm excimer laser for palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). 77 patients with PPP were randomly assigned to receive low dose (2‐fold of MED as initial dose), medium dose (4‐fold of MED as initial dose) and high dose group (6‐fold of MED as initial dose) and the MED of each patient depended on the ultraviolet light sensitivity of individual's skin which ranged from 0.1 to 0.25 J/cm2. All group received 308‐nm excimer laser treatment three times weekly for 8 weeks. Clinical evaluation based on the Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PP‐PASI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) score. All treatment groups achieved satisfied efficacy at the end of the treatment period with more obvious reduction of PP‐PASI score in high dose group (16.05 ± 4.26) than low and medium dose group (23.67 ± 7.16, p < 0.01; 22.04 ± 5.74, p < 0.01). Improvement of DLQI score was greatest at week 4 for all patients in each group, while DLQI improved more quickly in high/medium dose group than low dose group. Adverse effects of erythema, blistering and erosions were more common with the higher dose regimen. High dose of 308‐nm excimer laser could achieve a better efficacy in PPP treatment, reduce the severity of the disease in patients and improve the life quality of patients. Meantime, the incidence of adverse reactions should be aware of and it's necessary to evaluate the skin and lesion type before the dose selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet–waxy maize is a special type of maize with recessive mutations of waxy gene and a gene disturbed sugar‐starch transition, and its starch is composed of nearly pure amylopectin. The starch physicochemical properties of four inbred lines and six hybrids of sweet–waxy maize are studied. The starch granules are irregular and large in hybrids and oval and small in inbred lines. The chain length, molecular weight, and crystallinity are significantly different among the samples. However, no distinct difference is observed between hybrids and inbred lines. The branching degree of hybrids (except THN2000) is significantly higher than that of inbred lines. The pasting, gelatinization, retrogradation temperatures, peak and breakdown viscosities, retrogradation enthalpy, and percentage are lower in inbred lines than in hybrids. By contrast, trough, final, and setback viscosities and gelatinization enthalpy are indistinctly different between the hybrids and inbred lines. Among the six hybrids, HTN2 is suitable to make glutinous food due to its high viscosity, whereas MTN2 may enable the production of food with minimal retrogradation. The high viscosity of JH1501 and the low retrogradation percentage of JSW15525 among the four inbred lines endow different advantages on quality breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong metal‐support interaction (SMSI) has drawn much attention in heterogeneous catalysts due to its stable and excellent catalytic efficiency. However, construction of high‐performance oxide‐capsulated metal nanostructures meets great challenge in materials thermodynamic compatibility. In this work, dynamically controlled formation of oxide‐capsulated metal nanoparticles (NPs) structures is demonstrated by ultrafast laser plasmonic nanowelding. Under the strong localized electromagnetic field interaction, metal (Au) NPs are dragged by an optical force toward oxide NPs (TiO2). Intense energy is simultaneously injected into this heterojunction area, where TiO2 is precisely ablated. With the embedding of metal into oxide, optical force on Au gradually turned from attractive to repulsive due to the varied metal‐dielectric environment. Meanwhile, local ablated oxides are redeposited on Au NP. Upon the whole coverage of metal NP, the implantation behavior of metal NP is stopped, resulting in a controlled metal‐oxide eccentric structure with capsulated oxide layer thickness ≈0.72–1.30 nm. These oxide‐capsulated metal NPs structures can preserve their configurations even after thermal annealing in air at 600 °C for 10 min. This ultrafast laser plasmonic nanowelding can also extend to oxide‐capsulated metal nanostructure fabrication with broad materials combinations (e.g., Au/ZnO, Au/MgO, etc.), which shows great potential in designing/constructing nanoscale high‐performance catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the passivation of coarse-grained and ultrafine-grained steels was investigated through electrochemical measurements and potentiostatic polarization at 0 V SCE , 0.3 V SCE , 0.5 V SCE , and 0.8 V SCE in 0.1 M NaHCO 3 solutions. Then Mott-Schottky, Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy were adopted to characterize the compositions, topographic structure and semiconductor performance of the passive film. The findings indicate a positive correlation between grain refinement and enhanced corrosion resistance of the passive films. Specifically, grain refinement leads to an increase in the ratio of Fe3+/Fe2+ and average surface roughness, while the trends of donor concentration and the content of Fe0 demonstrate a decrease. These findings elucidate the impact of grain refinement on the enhanced corrosion resistance of the passive film. Moreover, it is observed that the corrosion resistance of the passive films initially increases and subsequently diminishes with rising passive potentials. [Display omitted] • Grain refinement improve the corrosion resistance of the passive film. • Grain refinement elevates Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio, enhancing film's corrosion resistance. • Grain refinement improves the integrity of the passive film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with unclear pathogenesis. Interleukin‐33 (IL‐33) is highly expressed in patients with psoriasis, but its role in psoriasis is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible role of IL‐33 in the pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis. IL‐33 expression was determined using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, real‐time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining. CD4+ T cells were sorted using magnetic beads and treated with or without IL‐33. Imiquimod (IMQ) was used to induce psoriatic inflammation in mice. The frequency of immune cells was determined using flow cytometry. The cytokine level in mouse skin was measured using cytometric bead array. Our results showed that IL‐33 was highly expressed in the lesional skin and serum of patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis. IL‐33 inhibited the expression of IL‐17 in CD4+ T cells of psoriasis patients. Subcutaneous injection of IL‐33 alleviated the IMQ‐induced psoriatic inflammation in mice, reduced tumor necrosis factor‐α and IL‐23 expression, and decreased the proportion of T helper type 17 (Th17) cells in the skin‐draining lymph nodes in the mice. Our results suggest that IL‐33 plays a protective role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis by suppressing Th17 cell differentiation and function. The potential therapeutic effect of IL‐33 in treating psoriasis warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption characteristics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) intermediates on pristine and Pt-, Co-decorated antimonenes are studied using dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D). The most energy-favorable site of O atoms on pristine antimonene is the top site, with adsorption energy of 3.81 eV. OH, O2, and OOH tend to adsorb on the vacancy site, with adsorption energy of 2.43 eV, 1.59 eV and 1.04 eV, respectively. The most energy-favorable sites of Pt-, Co-decorated antimonenes are the valley sites, and the adsorption energies are 4.83 eV and 3.47 eV, respectively, which are higher than the binding energies to form dimers. After the antimonene is decorated with Pt, Co, all intermediates are adsorbed on the Pt, Co atom, with significant enhancement of adsorption strength. Furthermore, the ORR process is simulated, and the free energy changes and activation barriers in each step are calculated. There are both four-electron and two-electron paths on pristine antimonene, and the two-electron path is the dominant path. There are solely four-electron paths on Pt-, Co-decorated antimonenes. The free energy decline in each step on Pt-decorated antimonene is more even. However, from a kinetic perspective, there exists similarity in the OOR path on Pt-, Co-decorated antimonenes. The rate-determining steps are the reactions of the adsorbed O atoms reducing to OH on Pt-, Co-decorated antimonenes, and the activation barrier of the rate-determining step on Pt-decorated antimonenes is 0.27 eV lower than that on Co-decorated antimonenes. These findings provide a useful reference for the experimental exploration of monoatom-dispersed antimonenes as fuel cell cathodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The link between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes has not been fully established. We investigated the temporal relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), quantitatively assessed the impact, and evaluated the related mediation effect. Methods: This study involved participants from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study and the UK Biobank. We performed cross-lagged path analysis to compare the relative magnitude of the effects between NAFLD and T2D using two-period biochemical data. Hepatic steatosis and fasting blood glucose elevation (FBG) represented NAFLD and T2D respectively. We fitted two separate Cox proportional-hazards models to evaluate the influence of hepatic steatosis on T2D. Furthermore, we applied the difference method to assess mediation effects. Results: In cross-lagged path analyses, the path coefficients from baseline hepatic steatosis to first repeat FBG (βCMEC = 0.068, βUK−Biobank = 0.033) were significantly greater than the path coefficients from baseline FBG to first repeat hepatic steatosis (βCMEC = 0.027, βUK−Biobank = -0.01). Individuals with hepatic steatosis have a risk of T2D that is roughly three times higher than those without the condition (HR = 3.478 [3.314, 3.650]). Hepatic steatosis mediated approximately 69.514% of the total effect between obesity and follow-up T2D. Conclusions: Our findings contribute to determining the sequential relationship between NAFLD and T2D in the causal pathway, highlighting that the dominant pathway in the relationship between these two early stages of diseases was the one from hepatic steatosis to fasting blood glucose elevation. Individuals having NAFLD face a significantly increased risk of T2D and require long-term monitoring of their glucose status as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose a new model for the dielectric constant and thermal conductivity, and apply it to the design of composites with low dielectric constant and high thermal conductivity based on fractal theory and effective medium theory. In particular, we use this model to prepare porous AlN/BN/SiOC composites with low dielectric constant and high thermal conductivity in different component fractions. We successfully synthesize ceramic samples with low dielectric constants (< 3) and high thermal conductivity (≥ 2 W ⋅ m − 1 ⋅ K − 1 ). These results indicate that the proposed fractal design is valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearing performance degradation assessment has great significance to condition-based maintenance (CBM). A novel degradation modeling method based on EMD-SVD and fuzzy neural network (FNN) was proposed to identify and evaluate the degradation process of bearings in the whole life cycle accurately. Firstly, the vibration signals of bearings in known states were decomposed by empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to obtain the intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) containing feature information. Then, the selected key IMFs which contain the main features were decomposed by singular value decomposition (SVD). And the decomposed results were used as the training samples of FNN. At last, the output results of the tested data were normalized to the health index (HI) through learning and training of FNN, and then the performance degradation degree could be described by the distance between the test sample and the normal one. According to the case study, this modeling method could evaluate the performance degradation of bearings effectively and identify the early fault features accurately. This method also provided an important maintenance strategy for the CBM of bearings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart grids are at risk of a dangerously covert attack called coordinated cyber–physical attack (CCPA), which may cause large-scale line outages or even cascading failures. This is because that the damage of the physical attack can be masked by the coordinated cyberattack. Towards this goal, the attacker usually injects false data into the sensor measurements to manipulate the results of state estimation. In this paper, we propose a moving target defense (MTD) approach that applies controlled randomization to the set of measurements used in state estimation, which invalidates the attacker's prior acquired knowledge regarding power grids, and thus mitigates the coordinated false data injection (FDI) attack. To ensure that the measurement set is able to observe the system, a formal model with observability constraints is developed to select the measurements. Extensive simulations are performed on the standard IEEE bus systems using the MATPOWER simulator, and results show that the proposed MTD approach can prevent more than 50% of the states from being attacked. • Impacts of the physical attack are exposed by mitigating the coordinated cyberattack • Measurement set is randomized to invalidate the attacker's prior acquired knowledge • Formal model with observability constraints is developed to select the measurements • Simulation results under three different attack scenarios respectively are presented • Cost is relatively low and no direct physical impacts are introduced to power system [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method based on singular value decomposition (SVD) and fuzzy neural network (FNN) was proposed to extract and diagnose the fault features of diesel engine crankshaft bearings efficiently and accurately. Firstly, vibration signals of crankshaft bearings in known state under the same working condition were decomposed by EMD to obtain the modal components containing fault-feature information. Then, the singular values of modal components which include the main fault features were used as the initial vector matrix, where the eigenvectors were decomposed to form a fault characteristic matrix. At last, the fault features matrix was trained by the fuzzy neural network, in order to realize the diagnosis and identification of the crankshaft bearings in different states in the form of numerical values. The experiment showed that the numerical identification of the fuzzy neural network based on the singular value had high fault diagnosis accuracy and stability. This method can also reflect the gradual change of the crankshaft bearings’ fault to some extent, so it has the desired reliability and value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated polygenic inherited skin disease. Many biologic agents have been approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The most commonly utilized biologics include TNF-α antagonists (etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab), IL-12/23P40 antagonist (ustekinumab), IL-23P19 antagonist (guselkumab), IL-17A antagonist (secukinumab and ixekizumab), and IL-17RA antagonist (brodalumab). However, some patients may fail to respond well to their first biologic agent. Reasons for failure include primary failure (lack of initial efficacy), secondary failure (loss of efficacy over time) or the development of adverse effects. For patients desiring maximum skin clearance and better quality of life, switching to a second biologic agent might be a worthwhile option. This review discusses recent clinical studies on switching therapies in treating psoriasis, and found that switching biologic agents can significantly improve outcomes for patients. Some clinical guidelines are also discussed. This research provides some advice on establishing individualized treatment regimens based on clinical needs and pharmacologic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Displaying small multiples is a popular method for visually summarizing and comparing multiple facets of a complex data set. If the correlations between the data are not considered when displaying the multiples, searching and comparing specific items become more difficult since a sequential scan of the display is often required. To address this issue, we introduce CorrelatedMultiples, a spatially coherent visualization based on small multiples, where the items are placed so that the distances reflect their dissimilarities. We propose a constrained multi‐dimensional scaling (CMDS) solver that preserves spatial proximity while forcing the items to remain within a fixed region. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach by comparing CMDS with other competing methods through a controlled user study and a quantitative study, and demonstrate the usefulness of CorrelatedMultiples for visual search and comparison in three real‐world case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different with the relevant literature, the nonlinear systems in the existence of computation burden while sustaining dead-zone constraints is considered in this paper. An adaptive controller and an auxiliary system are cooperatively constructed to compensate for the mismatch between the controller signal and the actuator signal and offset the effect of dead-zone nonlinear function. Integrated with the backstepping method, an adaptive compensation control scheme is developed. • By utilizing the DSC technique combined with the ETC algorithm, the system's operating rate can be effectively promoted and transmission resources can be greatly saved. Accordingly, the control property of the system can be well enhanced. Moreover, the collaborative devise of the adaptive fuzzy controller and the ETC algorithm eliminates the input-to-state stability hypothesis in the existing literature. • The BLF candidates proposed in this article can make the state variables maintain within the prescribed ranges, which is aligned with the requirements of the actual engineering. Furthermore, a variable separation technology is adopted to handle the algebraic loop issue generated by nonstrict-feedback nonlinear systems. Compared with the existing literature, by employing the characteristics of the fuzzy membership function in the FLSs, the construction procedure for the nonstrict-feedback system is simplified. Therefore, the difficulty coefficient of establishing the control algorithm is reduced. In this paper, a novel adaptive fuzzy dynamic surface control (DSC) via the event-triggered mechanism is developed for nonstrict-feedback nonlinear state constrained systems preceded by actuator dead-zone. The utilization of the dynamic surface technique avoids the issue of repeated differentiation of virtual control law and eliminates the drawback of the explosion of complexity with the backstepping technique. By utilizing the universal approximation property of fuzzy logic systems (FLSs), the unknown function is approximated successfully. By combining the DSC and event-triggered control (ETC) scheme, communication and computation strain are alleviated contemporaneously. An adaptive controller and an auxiliary system are cooperatively constructed to offset the effect of dead-zone nonlinear function. By employing the barrier Lyapunov functions (BLFs), all the states can remain within a prescribed interval. The tracking error can be restricted at the origin and all signals of closed-loop systems can be kept within the boundaries by the designed parameter adaptive laws and event-triggered controller. Finally, a numerical simulation result and a practical simulation result of the pendulum are proposed to guarantee the effectiveness of the presented control theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a popular method of substance identification and mapping in many fields. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be introduced as an active light source, which have been widely used with the distinct advantages of small size, low energy consumption, long lifetime, and fast switching. In this paper, we propose an active HSI system that is based on a multi-wavelength LED-array light source. This LED-based HSI system has a simple and stable configuration, without the complex dispersive spectrometer and mechanical scanning device. The proposed HSI system has been validated using the standard color checker, showing a reliable spectral performance. Moreover, the spatial-spectral information of Chinese paper-cuttings has been successfully extracted, which indicates the great potential in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Compared with the similar non-finite time control methods in the relevant literature, the finite-time adaptive controller designed in this paper has the merits that it can and enhance the transient performance of the entire control system and avoid the ISS assumption. • The nonlinear parametric system proposed in this paper is more general than the relevant literature, since the unknown external disturbances, uncertain system parameters, unknown control gain and unpredictable actuator faults are considered in this work simultaneously. The parameter updated laws are designed to estimate the unknown control gain and uncertain system parameters. Moreover, the FLSs are introduced to approximate the uncertain bias fault, which can compensate for the faults in a wider range, with better accuracy. • In the design of the ETC scheme, compared with the existing literature, the intermediate variable is introduced to embed the ETC signal into the actuator fault model and the adaptive control laws to further effectively eliminate the redundant items and avoid the tedious. In this article, the issue of adaptive finite-time event-triggered tracking control is investigated for nonlinearly parameterized systems with unknown faults and unknown control gain. By establishing the proper parameter adaptive laws with the intermediate variable, the problem of system instability caused by the uncertainty of the parametric system and the unknown faults of the actuator can be effectively handled. Simultaneously, the unknown nonlinear term denotes the bias fault is approximated by the fuzzy logic systems (FLSs). Accordingly, an improved event-triggered controller with a varying threshold strategy is developed to rule out the Zeno phenomenon and demonstrate that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semi-globally practically finite-time stable (SGPFS). Finally, a simulation result of the manipulator system is carried out to validate the proposed control scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new class of multi-stress acceleration models with interaction effects is designed. • A multi-stress accelerated degradation model is further developed by incorporating a generalized Wiener process. • Simulation and a real-world case are performed to validate the effectiveness and practical values of the proposed model. Most products operate under multiple stresses. The influences of multi-stress factors on products are commonly not independent and promote a more violent degradation through interactions, referred to as stress interaction effects. However, few studies consider such effects in multi-stress acceleration models, which may reduce the extrapolation precision and further lead to an inaccurate reliability assessment. In this paper, a new class of multi-stress acceleration models with interaction effects is designed to extrapolate more accurate reliability metrics under multi-stress operating conditions. The main stress effect terms are determined by two criteria: physical stress-based ageing law and statistical correlation. The interaction effects are interpreted as the influences of other stress variables on the main stress effects. In particular, the explicit functions of interaction effects are alternative, which can be identified by adaptive optimization using the maximum likelihood criterion. Furthermore, this multi-stress acceleration model is extended to an accelerated degradation model by integrating a generalized Wiener process with nonlinear time scale functions and random effects. The acceleration factor constant principle is utilized to identify the stress-dependent parameters, facilitating a more appropriate model development. Finally, simulation and a real-world case are performed to validate the effectiveness and practical values of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]