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Background: Omicron variant impacts populations with its rapid contagiousness, and part of patients suffered from persistent symptoms termed as long COVID. The molecular and immune mechanisms of this currently dominant global variant leading to long COVID remain unclear, due to long COVID heterogeneity across populations. Methods: We recruited 66 participants in total, 22 out of 66 were healthy control without COVID-19 infection history, and 22 complaining about long COVID symptoms 6 months after first infection of Omicron, referred as long COVID (LC) Group. The left ones were defined as non-long COVID (NLC) Group. We profiled them via plasma neutralizing antibody titer, SARS-CoV-2 viral load, transcriptomic and proteomics screening, and machine learning. Results: No serum residual SARS-CoV-2 was observed in the participants 6 months post COVID-19 infection. No significant difference in neutralizing antibody titers was found between the long COVID (LC) Group and the non-long COVID (NLC) Group. Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling allow the stratification of long COVID into neutrophil function upregulated (NU-LC) and downregulated types (ND-LC). The NU-LC, identifiable through a refined set of 5 blood gene markers (ABCA13, CEACAM6, CRISP3, CTSG and BPI), displays evidence of relatively higher neutrophil counts and function of degranulation than the ND-LC at 6 months after infection, while recovered at 12 months post COVID-19. Conclusion: The transcriptomic and proteomic profiling revealed heterogeneity among long COVID patients. We discovered a subgroup of long COVID population characterized by neutrophil activation, which might associate with the development of psychiatric symptoms and indicate a higher inflammatory state. Meanwhile, a cluster of 5 genes was manually curated as the most potent discriminators of NU-LC from long COVID population. This study can serve as a foundational exploration of the heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of long COVID and assist in therapeutic targeting and detailed epidemiological investigation of long COVID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High-grade atrioventricular block is the primary reason for epicardial permanent pacemaker implantation during the perioperative period in patients with congenital heart disease. Due to the smaller diameter of venous vessels in children, epicardial permanent pacemaker implantation is usually a preferred choice, we report one pediatric patient who received epicardial permanent pacemaker implantation using a new approach. Case presentation: We present the case of a 2-year-old girl who underwent the modified Konno procedure and Pulmonary valvuloplasty surgery and presented after surgery with a High-grade atrioventricular block. At over 20 days after the patient underwent a redo-sternotomy which epicardial permanent pacemaker implantation. Medtronic Model 4965 Capsure Epi ® steroid-eluting unipolar epicardial pacing lead was immobilized on the surface of the right ear. The Medtronic 3830 pacing lead was screwed obliquely and clockwise under direct view from the surface of the right ventricle to the endocardium near the interventricular septum. The patient's recovery was uneventful. Conclusion: In this case report, we demonstrate the feasibility and potential benefits of using the Medtronic 3830 lead for epicardial pacing in a pediatric patient with severe cardiac complications following surgery for congenital heart disease. This approach offers a viable alternative to traditional epicardial pacing methods, particularly in complex cases where conventional leads fail to provide stable pacing thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theoretical investigations have revealed unconventional transport mechanisms within high Brillouin zones of two-dimensional superlattices. Electrons can navigate along channels we call superwires, gently guided without brute force confinement. Such dynamical confinement is caused by weak superlattice deflections, markedly different from the static or energetic confinement observed in traditional wave guides or one-dimensional electron wires. The quantum properties of superwires give rise to elastic dynamical tunneling, linking disjoint regions of the corresponding classical phase space, and enabling the emergence of several parallel channels. This paper provides the underlying theory and mechanisms that facilitate dynamical tunneling assisted by chaos in periodic lattices. Moreover, we show that the mechanism of dynamical tunneling can be effectively conceptualized through the lens of a paraxial approximation. Our results further reveal that superwires predominantly exist within flat bands, emerging from eigenstates that represent linear combinations of conventional degenerate Bloch states. Finally, we quantify tunneling rates across various lattice configurations and demonstrate that tunneling can be suppressed in a controlled fashion, illustrating potential implications in future nanodevices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The measurement of the health literacy level of patients undergoing outpatient surgery has become a major challenge in perioperative nursing of outpatient surgery. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of health literacy on early postoperative recovery of patients undergoing outpatient surgery by developing a health literacy assessment tool for this population. METHODS: A scale for the assessment of health literacy was established based on Nutbeam's health literacy model. From April to September 2021, 264 patients were selected in the daytime operating rooms of six Class A tertiary hospitals in Kunming, Yunnan Province to investigate health literacy and early postoperative rehabilitation quality, and the influencing factors of the two variables were analyzed. RESULTS: An assessment scale of health literacy of patients undergoing outpatient surgery was developed, including 3 dimensions and 24 items. The Cronbach's α coefficient of the total scale was 0.944, the split-half reliability was 0.902, and the content validity was 0.920. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the cumulative variance contribution rate was 66.37%, and the scale had good structural validity. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, functional health literacy, interactive health literacy, and critical health literacy could explain 60.4% of the variation (adjusted R 2 = 0.583) of postoperative recovery quality of patients undergoing outpatient surgery. CONCLUSION: Health literacy of patients undergoing outpatient surgery is an important factor that affects the quality of early postoperative recovery. The health literacy assessment scale can assist medical staff in implementing personalized perioperative nursing and health education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kuroshio intrusion (KI) is a northwestward‐flowing branch of the Kuroshio Current, which enters the South China Sea (SCS) and regulates its temperature, salinity, and water mass exchanges. However, limited direct observations hinder our understanding of KI's mechanisms and responses to climate change. Here, we present a 60‐year bi‐monthly resolved coral oxygen isotope (δ18Oc) record from Dongsha Atoll, the northern SCS. The dry‐season (December–March) δ18Oc record reveals interannual to decadal variabilities of the KI. The impact of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) on Dongsha δ18Oc was more pronounced during the 1970s and 1980s and after the early 2000s, while the influence of the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Dongsha δ18Oc was higher between the 1980s and 1990s. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) may have a relatively minor effect on KI strength or may indirectly modulate KI strength through its influence on ENSO activities. Our Dongsha δ18Oc record highlight the importance of the EAWM, ENSO, and PDO in predicting future KI changes. Plain Language Summary: The Kuroshio intrusion is a branch of the Kuroshio Current. It flows into the South China Sea and affects its temperature, salinity, and water movement. We however know very little how the Kuroshio intrusion responds to climate changes. Here we present a study on the chemical composition of a coral core from Dongsha Atoll in the northern South China Sea. Our study shows that the intrusion varies markedly over the past 60 years and is connected to changes in sea surface salinity. Stronger intrusions align with stronger East Asian winter monsoon intensity and El Niño events. Understanding how the Kuroshio intrusion reacts to climate change is important for effectively managing the potential impacts of global warming on the marine ecosystem. Key Points: A 60‐year‐long coral oxygen isotope record from Dongsha Atoll, South China Sea reveals interannual to decadal variations in the Kuroshio intrusionStrong Kuroshio intrusion, corresponding to high sea surface salinity, is identifiable over the past 60 yearsThe Kuroshio intrusion variations are primarily driven by East Asian winter monsoon changes and also influenced by El Niño‐Southern Oscillation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) C promoter (Cp) hypermethylation, a crucial factor for EBV latent infection of nasopharyngeal epithelial cells, has been recognized as a promising biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) detection. In this study, we develop a novel EBV Cp methylation quantification (E-CpMQ) assay and evaluate its diagnostic performance for NPC detection. A novel qPCR assay for simultaneous quantification of methylated- and unmethylated EBV Cp was developed by the combinational modification of MethyLight and QASM, with an innovative calibrator to improve the detection accuracy and consistency. The NP swab samples and synthetic standards were used for the analytical validation of the E-CpMQ. The diagnostic efficacy of the developed E-CpMQ assay was validated in 137 NPC patients and 137 non-NPC controls. The E-CpMQ assay can detect the EBV Cp methylation ratio in one reaction system under 10 copies with 100 % recognition specificity, which is highly correlated to pyrosequencing with a correlation coefficient over 0.99. The calibrated E-CpMQ assay reduces the coefficient of variation by an average of 55.5 % with a total variance of less than 0.06 units standard deviation (SD). Linear methylation ratio detection range from 4.76 to 99.01 %. The sensitivity and specificity of the E-CpMQ respectively are 96.4 % (95 % CI: 91.7–98.8 %), 89.8 % (95 % CI: 83.5–94.3 %). The developed E-CpMQ assay with a calibrator enables accurate and reproducible EBV Cp methylation ratio quantification and offers a sensitive, specific, cost-effective method for NPC early detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer mortality, with mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) and/or microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC making up more than 80% of metastatic CRC. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are approved as monotherapy in many cancers including a subset of advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) with deficiency in mismatch repair (dMMR) and/or high microsatellite instability (MSI-H). However, proficient mismatch repair and microsatellite stable (pMMR/MSS) cold CRCs have not shown clinical response to ICIs alone. To potentiate the anti-tumor response of PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors in patients with MSS cold cancer, combination strategies currently being investigated include dual ICI, and PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) /VEGF receptor (VEGFR) inhibitors, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) inhibitors, and signal transducer and activation of transcription 3 (STAT3) inhibitors. This paper will review the mechanisms of PD-1/PD-L1 ICI resistance in pMMR/MSS CRC and potential combination strategies to overcome this resistance, summarize the published clinical experience with different combination therapies, and make recommendations for future avenues of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) are available locoregional curative treatments for nonsurgical Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of SBRT versus RFA for HCC. Methods: A computerized bibliographic search was performed using PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science to identify comparative studies. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS), and the secondary outcomes were freedom from local progression (FFLP) and treatment-related complications. Results: In total, there were 17 trials involving 22,180 patients. Patients receiving RFA showed significantly better 1-, 2- year OS (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.50–0.96, P = 0.141,OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53–0.89, P = 0.082), whereas SBRT resulted in significantly better 1-, 2-, 3- year FFLP (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.44–3.34, P = 0.303; OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.12–2.19, P = 0.268; OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.70–2.90, P = 0.470). There were no significant differences for 3-, 5- year OS in both groups (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.65–1.38, P = 0.001; OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.68–1.34, P = 0.016). The overall treatment-related complication rate did not differ significantly between the two treatment arms, while SBRT was significantly associated with Child–Pugh worsening. Conclusions: Though SBRT has excellent FFLP, RFA yields superior short-term survival for HCC. But the discrepancy between FFLP and OS requires further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes manifests as chronic inflammation and leads to the development diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). Targeting key proteins in inflammatory signaling may provide new therapy for DCM. In this study, the authors explore the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of Schisandrin B (Sch B), a natural compound with anti‐inflammatory activity against DCM. It is shown that Sch B prevents high‐level glucose (HG)‐induced hypertrophic and fibrotic responses in cultured cardiomyocytes. RNA sequencing and inflammatory qPCR microarray show that Sch B mainly affects myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)‐dependent inflammatory gene expression in HG‐challenged cardiomyocytes. Further studies indicate that Sch B directly binds to and inhibits MyD88 activation, but does not alter MyD88‐independent Toll‐like receptor signaling in vivo and in vitro. Inhibiting or silencing MyD88 is associated with reduced levels of HG‐induced inflammatory cytokines and myocardial injuries in vitro. Treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetic mice with Sch B protects heart function, reduces myocardial injuries, and decreases secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Cardiomyocyte‐specific MyD88 knockout also protects mice against cardiac inflammation and injury in type 1 diabetic mice. In conclusion, these studies show that cardiomyocyte MyD88 plays an apathogenetic role in DCM and Sch B specifically targets MyD88 to reduce inflammatory DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heme, as an essential component of hemoproteins, is a prosthetic co-factor found in many cells, which is essential for physiologically vital oxygen transport. However, extracellular or circulatory heme is cytotoxic and triggers inflammation. Although the proinflammatory role of heme has been reported to be associated with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling, the exact mechanism remains unknown. Here, we show that heme promotes TLR4 signaling and inflammation via directly physically interacting with TLR4 and its adaptor protein myeloid differentiation protein 2 (MD2). Genetic loss of MD2 ameliorates heme-induced inflammation and inflammatory cytokine production in the spleen of MD2 knockout (MD2-/-) mice. Using mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line, we show that heme induces TLR4 dimerization and MD2/TLR4/MyD88 activation by physically interacting with TLR4 and MD2 in vitro. Genetic loss of MD2 inhibits heme-induced inflammation and MAPK/NF-κB pathway in mouse primary macrophages extracted from MD2-/- mice. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of MD2 by L6H9 ameliorates heme-induced inflammation in macrophages. These findings demonstrate that heme causes inflammation by directly binding to MD2/TLR4 complex, leading to activation of TLR4/MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway and production of downstream effectors of inflammation. [Display omitted] • Heme induces inflammatory response via directly binding to both of TLR4 and MD2. • Deletion of MD2 normalizes heme-induced systemic inflammation in mice. • Inhibition of MD2 attenuates heme-induced inflammation in macrophages. • MD2 could be a target for the therapy of high circulatory heme related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron isotopes (δ 11B) in coral skeletons of Porites have been widely applied to reconstruct past seawater pH (pH SW) on decadal to centennial timescales. However, due to biological regulation within corals, an additional transfer function is required to estimate ambient seawater chemistry during the skeleton growth under the calcification site fluid pH. Temperature may also interfere with coral calcification fluid pH (pH CF) due to changes in kinetics of coral aragonite precipitation, or buffering capacity in coral calcification fluid. To decipher how coral Porites adjusts pH CF in response to pH SW from complex environmental controls, long-term records from sites with least fluctuations in environmental conditions other than pH SW are essential. Here we present a 37-year record of coral δ 11B and B/Ca ratios derived from a coral core collected from southern Maldives, the tropical Indian Ocean. Our results show no clear seasonality in the coral δ 11B and B/Ca ratios between monsoons, but a long-term decline in coral pH CF is evident across the entire record. When applying different existing transfer functions, we also observe discrepancies among the calculated pH CF values, model results and short-term instrumental data. Calculated calcification fluid dissolved inorganic carbon concentration ([DIC] CF) values are relatively low compared to literature, suggesting that coral calcification fluid carbonate chemistry may be under different levels of control, even within the same coral taxa. Thus, coral records from a wider geographic range are required to better quantify coral response to ocean acidification, and our results can serve as a baseline for future comparisons. • This is the first coral's carbonate chemistry record in the tropical Indian Ocean. • Porites calcification pH is sensitive to ocean acidification, but the transfer function to seawater pH needs re-evaluation. • A different internal energy/dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) supply might explain the lower [DIC] CF observed in Maldives corals. • Data from a wider geographic range is required to constrain the impacts of ocean acidification on corals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sepsis is still a major public health concern and a medical emergency due to its high morbidity and mortality. Accurate and timely etiology diagnosis is crucial for sepsis management. As an emerging rapid and sensitive pathogen detection tool, digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) has shown promising potential in rapid identification of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes. However, the diagnostic value and clinical impact of ddPCR tests remains to be studied in patients with suspected sepsis. PROGRESS trial is aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a novel ddPCR assay compared with standard practice.Methods: PROGRESS is a multicenter, open-label, pragmatic randomized controlled trial (pRCT) set in ten hospitals, including departments of infectious disease and intensive care units. In this study, a total of 2292 patients with suspected sepsis will be randomly assigned to two arms: the ddPCR group and the control group with a ratio of 3:1. The primary outcome is the diagnostic efficacy, that is, the sensitivity and specificity of the ddPCR assay compared with the synchronous blood culture. Secondary outcomes include the mortality rates and the mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at follow-up time points, the length of stay in the hospital, the time to directed antimicrobial therapy, duration of broad-spectrum antibiotic use, and the EQ-5D-5L score on day 90.Discussion: It is the first multicenter pragmatic RCT to explore the diagnostic efficacy and clinical impact of the ddPCR assay in patients with suspected sepsis, taking advantage of both RCT's ability to establish causality and the feasibility of pragmatic approaches in real-world studies (RWS). This trial will help us to get a comprehensive view of the assay's capacity for precise diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. It has the potential to monitor the pathogen load change and to guide the antimicrobial therapy, making a beneficial impact on the prognosis of sepsis patients.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT05190861. Registered January 13, 2022-'Retrospectively registered', https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05190861 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is one of the most important reactive oxygen species (ROS) and plays an important role in pathological processes and relevant diseases. However, the highly sensitive/selective detection of HOCl with fast response time is still in demand. In this study, a ratiometric fluorescent probe for the highly selective detection of hypochlorous acid was constructed based on combined intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanisms. In the designed probe, a coumarin derivative was used as the energy donor and a naphthalimide fluorophore was chosen as the energy receptor, which was modified with a dimethylthiocarbamate group as a HOCl recognition unit. When HOCl was absent, the naphthalimide receptor underwent ICT off and the FRET process from the coumarin donor to the naphthalimide receptor was prevented. Upon adding HOCl, the naphthalimide receptor underwent ICT on and the FRET process took place. The ICT-FRET-based fluorescent probe for hypochlorous acid displayed high selectivity and very short response time (<2 s) and good biocompatibility. Furthermore, I550nm/I480nm of the probe for HOCl exhibited a good linear relationship in the range of 4.0 × 10−7–5.0 × 10−5 mol L−1, and the detection limit of 2.5 × 10−7 mol L−1 was achieved. Moreover, the probe demonstrated almost no cell toxicity and had been effectively applied to the ratiometric fluorescence imaging of HOCl in HeLa cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contamination of creek sediments near industrially nuclear dominated site presents significant environmental challenges, particularly in identifying and quantifying potentially toxic metal (loid)s (PTMs). This study aims to measure the extent of contamination and apportion related sources for nine PTMs in alpine creek sediments near a typical uranium tailing dam from China, including strontium (Sr), rubidium (Rb), manganese (Mn), lithium (Li), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), vanadium (V), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), using multivariate statistical approach and Sr isotopic compositions. The results show varying degrees of contamination in the sediments for some PTMs, i.e., Sr (16.1–39.6 mg/kg), Rb (171–675 mg/kg), Mn (224–2520 mg/kg), Li (11.6–78.8 mg/kg), Cd (0.31–1.38 mg/kg), and Zn (37.1–176 mg/kg). Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that Sr, Rb, Li, and Mn originated from the uranium tailing dam, while Cd and Zn were associated with abandoned agricultural activities, and Ni, Cu, and V were primarily linked to natural bedrock weathering. The Sr isotope fingerprint technique further suggests that 48.22–73.84% of Sr and associated PTMs in the sediments potentially derived from the uranium tailing dam. The combined use of multivariate statistical analysis and Sr isotopic fingerprint technique in alpine creek sediments enables more reliable insights into PTMs-induced pollution scenarios. The findings also offer unique perspectives for understanding and managing aqueous environments impacted by nuclear activities. [Display omitted] • Contents of Cd, Rb, Li, Mn, Zn and Sr in the sediments were significantly enriched. • Environmental health risk to the aquatic organisms were mainly associated with Cd. • Hydrometallurgical activities were major contributors to the enriched PTMs. • Multivariate statistic combined with Sr isotopes is a reliable source decipherment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therioaphis trifolii (Monell) is a well‐known pest in alfalfa cultivation in China. Individuals of T. trifolii were allowed to feed on 10 alfalfa cultivars and their growth, reproduction, and population life table parameters were estimated. Nymphs that fed on Hunter River had the longest development time, whereas nymphs that fed on Defu had the shortest development time. Adults that fed on Debao, Zhongmu No. 2, and Defu had the shortest development time, whereas adults that fed on Golden Empress and Hunter River had the longest development times. Individuals that fed on Zhungeer produced the greatest number of offspring (13.950), and those that fed on Hunter River produced the fewest offspring (6.000). The survival rate of T. trifolii was the highest on Algonquin and lowest on Hunter River, whereas the survival time was the longest on Golden Empress and shortest on Debao. The population that fed on Algonquin had the highest intrinsic growth rate (0.560) and shortest population doubling time (1.237 days), whereas those that fed on Hunter River had the lowest intrinsic growth rate (0.217) and longest population doubling time (3.194 days). The life table parameters of the experimental T. trifolii population were used to quantify the resistance strengths of the cultivars. Results indicate that the Hunter River cultivar may effectively resist damage from T. trifolii. This study provides a theoretical basis for breeding aphid‐resistant alfalfa cultivars, enabling further research into the prevention and control of aphid infestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the natural frequencies of a coupled vehicle–bridge interaction system are time-varying. While this knowledge is useful for applications in bridge health monitoring, it does not provide an understanding of the relations between the excitation and coupled system responses, nor leads to developments of effective control strategies to mitigate vibration. In this paper, a novel theoretical framework for the time-varying displacement transmissibility is developed using a time-frozen technique. The time–frequency characteristics of the transmissibility functions are investigated to gain fundamental understanding and insights of the coupling dynamics in relation to the matching of bridge and vehicle natural frequencies. An important aspect of the transmissibility formulation is that it leads to the development of physics-based vibration control strategies in the frequency domain. By applying the principle of fixed points from vibration absorber designs to the transmissibility functions, an optimally tuned vehicle suspension to mitigate bridge vibration is obtained. The tuning strategy depends only on a priori known structural parameters. Thus, the tuning strategy provides useful guidelines in practice and is shown to be effective in reducing the vibrations of both the moving vehicle and the bridge. This work paves a foundation for further research in the design of bridge-friendly vehicles via parameter tuning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent and serious disorder among children. Video games have shown potential for aiding in child healthcare. Video games could contribute to the assessment and management of ADHD, but there are no previous reviews on this topic. Here, we systematically review the evidence about video game-based assessment tools and interventions for children diagnosed with ADHD. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO database. We searched four databases—PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase and clinicaltrials.gov—to identify original studies exploring either video game-based interventions or video game-based assessment tools in children with ADHD. After initial screening, full text revision and study selection, 22 articles were finally included in the review. Most studies used PC as platform, with a minority using a video console, pad, or 3D device. Video game-based assessment tools were generally effective in discriminating ADHD cases from controls, and in discriminating between ADHD subtypes. Video game-based therapeutic interventions were well accepted and generally effective in improving cognitive areas and decreasing ADHD symptoms. Gamification and cognitive training could be the main mechanisms underlying the usefulness and effectiveness of video game-based assessment tools and interventions. Software optimization and greater collaboration between developers and healthcare professionals are some of the priorities for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we conducted a selective review on the recent progress in physics insight and modeling of flexible cylinder flow-induced vibrations (FIVs). FIVs of circular cylinders include vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) and wake-induced vibrations (WIVs), and they have been the center of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) research in the past several decades due to the rich physics and the engineering significance. First, we summarized the new understanding of the structural response, hydrodynamics, and the impact of key structural properties for both the isolated and multiple circular cylinders. The complex FSI phenomena observed in experiments and numerical simulations are explained carefully via the analysis of the vortical wake topology. Following up with several critical future questions to address, we discussed the advancement of the artificial intelligent and machine learning (AI/ML) techniques in improving both the understanding and modeling of flexible cylinder FIVs. Though in the early stages, several AL/ML techniques have shown success, including auto-identification of key VIV features, physics-informed neural network in solving inverse problems, Gaussian process regression for automatic and adaptive VIV experiments, and multi-fidelity modeling in improving the prediction accuracy and quantifying the prediction uncertainties. These preliminary yet promising results have demonstrated both the opportunities and challenges for understanding and modeling of flexible cylinder FIVs in today's big data era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed‐halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as important semiconductor materials for optoelectronic devices due to the bandgap tunability by halide composition. However, their device applications are hampered by light‐induced ion migration and halide segregation, leading to the formation of lower bandgap domains with red‐shifted photoluminescence. Previous studies of phase segregation in MHPs have predominantly focused on their linear optical properties. Herein, nonlinear absorption (NLA) properties of MAPbBr2I films before and after femtosecond laser irradiation are investigated using the Micro‐I‐scan technique. An unusual NLA switching from reverse‐saturable absorption (RSA) to saturable absorption (SA) under intense laser illumination is found. It is unveiled that the initial RSA originates from two‐photon absorption in uniform bromide‐rich regions of as‐prepared film whereas the SA occurs due to state filling effect in the newly generated low bandgap I‐rich phases under laser irradiation. The switching threshold and effective NLA coefficient are highly dependent on the distribution of halide ions, which is controllable through the laser illumination time. Furthermore, an all‐optical logic gate scheme is demonstrated based on the unusual NLA switching. The results not only unveil that halide segregation results in NLA switching in MHPs but also pave the way for the realization of MHPs‐based nonlinear photonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial synthetic biology sector has made huge investments to achieve relevant miniaturized screening systems for scalable fermentation. Here we present the first example of a high-throughput (>103 genotypes per week) perfusion-based screening system to improve small-molecule secretion from microbial strains. Using the Berkeley Lights Beacon® system, the productivity of each strain could be directly monitored in real time during continuous culture, yielding phenotypes that correlated strongly (r2 > 0.8, p < 0.0005) with behavior in industrially relevant bioreactor processes. This method allows a much closer approximation of a typical fed-batch fermentation than conventional batch-like droplet or microplate culture models, in addition to rich time-dependent data on growth and productivity. We demonstrate these advantages by application to the improvement of high-productivity strains using whole-genome random mutagenesis, yielding mutants with substantially improved (by up to 85%) peak specific productivities in bioreactors. Each screen of ∼5 × 103 mutants could be completed in under 8 days (including 5 days involving user intervention), saving ∼50–75% of the time required for conventional microplate-based screening methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow-induced vibration (FIV) of a flexible cylinder with an upstream wake interference at a subcritical Reynolds number is numerically investigated in this study. Two cylinders are installed in a tandem arrangement with the tandem separation between the cylinder centers set at 5.0 diameters. The downstream cylinder is flexible and placed in the wake of the stationary rigid upstream cylinder. A quasi-three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction (FSI) numerical methodology that couples the strip theory-based Lagrangian discrete vortex method with the finite-element method (FEM) for structural dynamics is developed to simulate the FIV response of the flexible cylinder with the upstream wake interference. The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of an identical isolated cylinder is also numerically simulated as a contrast. This numerical study characterizes the dynamic response of the cylinder FIV with the upstream wake interference and sheds light on the FSI mechanisms responsible for the structural dynamic response. With the upstream wake interference, the cylinder FIV response shows two features distinct from the isolated VIV response: the vibration of large amplitude during the modal resonance branch transition and the extension of the modal resonance branch. The hydrodynamic coefficients database is constructed by the rigid cylinder forced vibration experiment to help explain the FSI properties of the FIV dynamic response. The lower added mass coefficient for the FIV with the upstream wake interference than the VIV of the isolated cylinder guarantees the synchronization between the vortex shedding frequency and the "true" natural frequency of the structure persisting to higher reduced velocity in a certain modal resonance response branch. The excitation coefficient distribution indicates that the cylinder FIV with the upstream wake interference reaches higher amplitude at high reduced velocity, instead of ceasing resonance as the isolated cylinder. The numerical wake visualization is shown and used to explain the correlation between the distribution of hydrodynamic coefficients along the cylinder span and the wake vortex mode. It is found that the upstream wake interference effect is strongly correlated with the vortex–structure interaction pattern between the upstream wake vortices and the downstream motion. When the upstream vortex impinges on the downstream cylinder and splits into subvortices, the effect of the upstream wake interference acting on the downstream cylinder reduces. When the downstream cylinder enters the gap between the upstream vortices over the entire vibration process, the upstream wake has a stronger interference effect on the downstream FIV response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study Keller–Segel type chemotaxis systems with power-like nonlinear sensitivity, production of signals, and switching chemotaxis mechanism. We establish explicit relations to ensure local- and global-in-time boundedness of classical solutions. In the chemo-attractive setting, our results cover and unify separate cases and they are critical to the quite known blow-up results in the existing literature, while, in the chemo-repulsive setting, we find that much wider regimes compared to the attraction case can ensure global existence and boundedness. In comparison to the known results on the dichotomy between global solvability and blow-up for the associated chemo-attraction system, our findings reveal that the strong damping effect of chemo-repulsion prevents blow-up. Furthermore, our 3D local-in-time boundedness moves one step further toward the yet-to-be-proven popular saying that no blow-up would occur in the 3D minimal chemo-repulsion model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells and monocyte-derived nurse-like cells (NLCs) is fundamentally important to CLL biology. However, studies of how CLL cells and NLCs interact have been hampered by the need for freshly obtained CLL blood samples, coupled with wide variation in the number of monocytes present in the blood of individual patients. Here, we report the development and validation of a cell-line model of NLCs which overcomes these difficulties. Co-culture of primary CLL cells with THP-1 cells induced to differentiate into macrophages by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) significantly reduced both spontaneous and fludarabine-induced cell death of leukemic cells. Furthermore, compared with their M1-polarized counterparts, M2-polarized macrophages derived from PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells conferred to CLL cells greater protection from spontaneous and fludarabine-induced apoptosis. Since NLCs resemble M2 tumor-associated macrophages, this cell-line model could be useful for investigating the mechanisms through which NLCs protect CLL cells from spontaneous and drug-induced apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biocompatible zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared using a simple co-precipitation method. Through this method, the synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles that are of uniform size and highly crystalline in nature. The particle formation and stability were confirmed with UV–visible spectrometry and the functional groups which present in the particles were identified with FT-IR analysis. The particle size was confirmed with DLS analysis and the charges of the particles were determined by Zeta analysis. Particle size and shape were depicted from SEM analysis. The characterized particles were highly effective against the 6-OHDA induced cell damage in SH-SY5Y cells. The synthesized particles were found to be highly compatible to the selected cells. It recovers the neural cell damage at the concentration of 50 μg/mL. Our formulation thus can be used as an effective drug system for neurotherapy in near future Furthermore, it was found to be capable of inhibiting apoptotic activities in the selected SH-SY5Y cells thus it execute the damage recovery mechanism. Taken as a whole, our synthesized nanomaterials significantly recover the SH-SY5Y cells from 6-OHDA induced cell damage in in vitro system. Further evaluation should be needed to optimize the prepared nanomaterials as a candidate for treating various neural related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact deuterium–deuterium neutron generator for prompt gamma neutron activation analysis was developed at Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry. A neutron yield of 3.6 × 108 s–1 was achieved during of the bombardment of a titanium drive-in target by a 6.8 mA deuteron beam at 115 keV. The deuteron beam was generated by a permanent magnet microwave ion source. An 85 h long run with 1.2 × 108 s–1 average neutron yield was performed at 85 keV and 3.7 mA. The operating mode of the neutron generator reached 99.95%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early and accurate identification of sepsis patients with high risk of in-hospital death can help physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) make optimal clinical decisions. This study aimed to develop machine learning-based tools to predict the risk of hospital death of patients with sepsis in ICUs.Methods: The source database used for model development and validation is the medical information mart for intensive care (MIMIC) III. We identified adult sepsis patients using the new sepsis definition Sepsis-3. A total of 86 predictor variables consisting of demographics, laboratory tests and comorbidities were used. We employed the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), random forest (RF), gradient boosting machine (GBM) and the traditional logistic regression (LR) method to develop prediction models. In addition, the prediction performance of the four developed models was evaluated and compared with that of an existent scoring tool - simplified acute physiology score (SAPS) II - using five different performance measures: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), Brier score, sensitivity, specificity and calibration plot.Results: The records of 16,688 sepsis patients in MIMIC III were used for model training and test. Amongst them, 2949 (17.7%) patients had in-hospital death. The average AUROCs of the LASSO, RF, GBM, LR and SAPS II models were 0.829, 0.829, 0.845, 0.833 and 0.77, respectively. The Brier scores of the LASSO, RF, GBM, LR and SAPS II models were 0.108, 0.109, 0.104, 0.107 and 0.146, respectively. The calibration plots showed that the GBM, LASSO and LR models had good calibration; the RF model underestimated high-risk patients; and SAPS II had the poorest calibration.Conclusion: The machine learning-based models developed in this study had good prediction performance. Amongst them, the GBM model showed the best performance in predicting the risk of in-hospital death. It has the potential to assist physicians in the ICU to perform appropriate clinical interventions for critically ill sepsis patients and thus may help improve the prognoses of sepsis patients in the ICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetative (juvenile-to-adult) and flowering (vegetative-to-reproductive) phase changes are crucial in the life cycle of higher plants. MicroRNA156 (miR156) and its target SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes are master regulators that determine vegetative phase changes. The miR156 level gradually declines as a plant ages and its expression is rapidly repressed by sugar. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of transcriptional regulation of the MIR156 gene remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that Arabidopsis NUCLEAR FACTOR Y A8 (NF-YA8) binds directly to CCAAT cis -elements in the promoters of multiple MIR156 genes, thus activating their transcription and inhibiting the juvenile-to-adult transition. NF-YA8 was highly expressed in juvenile-stage leaves, and significantly repressed with developmental age and by sugar signals. Our results suggest that NF-YA8 acts as a signaling hub, integrating internal developmental age and sugar signals to regulate the transcription of MIR156s , thus affecting the juvenile-to-adult and flowering transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogenous, highly metabolic stressed, poorly irrigated, solid tumor microenvironment – the tumor swamp – is widely recognized to play an important role in cancer progression as well as the development of therapeutic resistance. It is thus important to create realistic in vitro models within the therapeutic pipeline that can recapitulate the fundamental stress features of the tumor swamp. Here we describe a microfluidic system which generates a chemical gradient within connected microenvironments achieved through a static diffusion mechanism rather than active pumping. We show that the gradient can be stably maintained for over a week. Due to the accessibility and simplicity of the experimental platform, the system allows for not only well-controlled continuous studies of the interactions among various cell types at single-cell resolution, but also parallel experimentation for time-resolved downstream cellular assays on the time scale of weeks. This approach enables simple, compact implementation and is compatible with existing 6-well imaging technology for simultaneous experiments. As a proof-of-concept, we report the co-culture of a human bone marrow stromal cell line and a bone-metastatic prostate cancer cell line using the presented device, revealing on the same chip a transition in cancer cell survival as a function of drug concentration on the population level while exhibiting an enrichment of poly-aneuploid cancer cells (PACCs) as an evolutionary consequence of high stress. The device allows for the quantitative study of cancer cell dynamics on a stress landscape by real-time monitoring of various cell types with considerable experimental throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas is a renewable biofuel that contains a lot of CH 4 and CO 2. Biogas can be used to produce heat and electric power while reducing CH 4 , one of greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, it has been getting increasing academic attention. There are some application ways of biogas; biogas can produce hydrogen to feed a fuel cell by reforming process. Urea is also a hydrogen carrier and could produce hydrogen by steam reforming. This study then employes steam reforming of biogas and compares hydrogen-rich syngas production and carbon dioxide with various methane concentrations using steam and aqueous urea solution (AUS) by Thermodynamic analysis. The results show that the utilization of AUS as a replacement for steam enriches the production of H 2 and CO and has a slight CO 2 rise compared with pure biogas steam reforming at a temperature higher than 800 °C. However, CO 2 formation is less than the initial CO 2 in biogas. At the reaction temperature of 700 °C, carbon formation does not occur in the reforming process for steam/biogas ratios higher than 2. These conditions led to the highest H 2 , CO production, and reforming efficiency (about 125%). The results can be used as operation data for systems that combine biogas reforming and applied to solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), which usually operates between 700 °C to 900 °C to generate electric power in the future. • Use of aqueous urea as replacement for steam enriches hydrogen production. • To avoid carbon formation, the steam to biogas ratio should be greater than 2. • At temperatures above 800 °C, CO 2 formation is less than initial CO 2 in biogas. • We present trendlines of H 2 and CO production with CH 4 concentrations of biogas. • Reforming efficiency of biogas blended with aqueous urea is higher than with steam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we establish two congruences on the truncated Appell series F 3 and F 4 , one of which relates the truncated Appell series F 4 to the values of p-adic Gamma functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a numerical investigation on flow-induced vibration (FIV) of two elastically mounted cylinders in a tandem arrangement at subcritical Reynolds numbers. The tandem spacing between the cylinder centers is set at four cylinder diameters, placing the FIV problem within the full wake interference regime. A fluid-structure interaction numerical methodology based on a two-dimensional discrete vortex method is developed and applied to the FIV simulation of two cylinders. To investigate the effect of the upstream wake frequency and Reynolds number on the FIV response of the downstream cylinder separately, two experimental cases are designed. In one case, the FIV response is investigated with the Reynolds number varying and the upstream wake frequency fixed. In another case, the Reynolds number is fixed and the upstream wake frequency varies. In both cases, the FIV response of the upstream cylinder roughly resembles the lower branch of the typical vortex-induced vibration response of the single cylinder with the upstream reduced velocity varying from 6 to 9. For the downstream cylinder, the FIV response is characterized by two frequency branches: a dominant frequency branch associated with the wake interference mechanism and a secondary frequency branch associated with the upstream vortex shedding mechanism. It is found that the variation of the vortex shedding frequency in the upstream wake has little effect on the amplitude and dominant frequency of the downstream FIV response but directly causes the variation of the secondary frequency as the secondary frequency strictly follows the upstream vortex shedding frequency. The FIV response amplitude and dominant frequency of the downstream cylinder shows a strong dependence on the Reynolds number. The wake pattern of FIV shows that the FIV vortex shedding of each cylinder is directly related to the motion of itself but slightly modified by the wake of other cylinders for the full wake interference regime. The upstream wake vortices interfering with the downstream motion induce a flow in favor of the downstream FIV response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circadian clock perceives seasonal changes in day length and temperature and then regulates numerous internal cellular processes. Arabidopsis thaliana EARLY FLOWERING4 (ELF4) is a key circadian clock component that is involved in transcriptional regulation of the central oscillator and multiple output pathways. However, the functions of ELF4 orthologues in other organisms are poorly understood. Here, we identified ELF4 orthologous genes in two non-flowering organisms, the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas (CrELF4) and the moss Physcomitrella patens (PpELF4). Constitutive expression of CrELF4 and PpELF4 in the Arabidopsis elf4 mutant not only completely rescued its early flowering phenotype, but also induced late flowering. This was associated with decreased transcript levels of CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), two key positive regulators of flowering-time pathways. In addition, expression of CrELF4 and PpELF4 in the Arabidopsis elf4 mutant inhibited hypocotyl elongation and altered the expression of circadian clock-related genes. Taken together, these data suggest that ELF4 orthologous genes in Chlamydomonas and Physcomitrella share an evolutionary conserved role with Arabidopsis ELF4 and indicate that the plant clock component ELF4 is functionally conserved from basal plants to angiosperms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low frequency electrical and optical noise fluctuations of organic light emitting diodes were obtained simultaneously. It had been observed that the voltage and optical noises increased gradually with time as the device was subjected to constant current stress. Correlation between the device electrical and optical noise was established. Computation of the correlation coefficients between the voltage and luminescence noises had been devised and implemented. Results suggested that the correlation increased with the noise frequency and this phenomenon was concluded to be the result of some photons going undetected at low frequencies. It was further observed that the correlation was more consistent under low device current when the current efficiency was higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Brownian motion theory of hopping mobility has been formulated based on the one-dimensional hopping conduction model between localized states. The probability of hopping in the direction of the applied electric field and the duration of the hop between the localized states are assumed to be field dependent and thermally activated. The general form of the Brownian motion mobility model fitted well with the time of flight results measured in the low field regime and for most part of the mobility data extracted from the space charge limited conduction applied to tris-(8-oxyquinolato) aluminum (Alq3) in higher field regime. The Brownian motion model can be modified in order to account for the dependence of charge mobility in the higher electric field regime and at higher temperatures. The variation of charge mobility with applied electric field was fitted using the Brownian motion theory. The hopping time and the hopping distance were extracted from the fit and found to be about 3 ps and 0.9 nm, respectively for Alq3 at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fish intestine is a highly complex organ and plays an important role in fish immunity and nutrition. To characterize the molecular functions of the intestine of ovate pompano, we compared the gene expression differences and explored the molecular functions of the fore- and hind-intestine (FI and HI) using transcriptomic analysis. Our analysis yielded a total of approximately 21 Gb (gigabytes) of clean bases and 144 M of clean reads (mean of 24 M for each sample). Most of the 61,572 genes in the FI and HI were not differentially expressed, and only 105 genes were identified as the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among the 61,572 genes, the genes that exhibited the highest expression levels were mostly related to various digestive enzymes. Among the 105 DEGs, 86 were annotated as immune- and absorption-related genes in ovate pompano. Detailed analysis of these DEGs in FI and HI indicated that the FI required more abundant genes to handle the attacks and digestion, whereas the HI recruited more genes to deal with the absorption, suggesting that FI focused mainly on immunity and digestion, and the HI focused on absorption. Our results provided an insight on the molecular mechanisms of the function of intestine in ovate pompano. • 6 sequenced samples of the fore- and hind-intestine in ovate pompano obtained 61,572 genes. • 105 genes were identified as DEGs in the fore- and hind-intestine. • 86 DEGs were indicated as immune- and absorption-related. • The fore-intestine focused on immunity and digestion, the hind-intestine on absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The circadian clock synchronizes internal and external stimuli to ensure numerous biological processes occur at the optimal time. EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4) is a key evening-phased component of the circadian clock and essential for photoperiod-dependent flowering time regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. There are four homologous ELF4-like (EFL1-EFL4) genes in the Arabidopsis genome but their functions are unknown. Protein sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that these four EFL proteins contained an evolutionarily conserved domain, DUF1313, of unknown function. To investigate the physical roles of these genes in Arabidopsis , we overexpressed the four homologous EFL genes in the elf4 mutant background. Under both long-day (LD) and short-day (SD) conditions, overexpression of EFL1 not only completely rescued the early flowering phenotype of the elf4 mutant, but also delayed flowering. Overexpression of EFL2 , however, failed to rescue this phenotype and overexpression of EFL3 partially rescued the early flowering phenotype. The transcription levels of the key flowering time regulation genes CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) were significantly decreased in the EFL1 - and EFL3 -overexpressing transgenic lines in a dose-dependent manner, compared with the elf4 mutant. These results suggest that EFL1 and EFL3 are involved in flowering time regulation in Arabidopsis. Highlights • AtEFL1 was more evolutionarily conserved with ELF4, compared to AtEFL2 and AtEFL3. • Overexpression of AtEFL1 in elf4 mutant not only completely rescued its early flowering phenotype, but also delayed flowering. • Overexpression of AtEFL3 partially rescued the early flowering phenotype of the elf4 mutant. • Overexpression of AtEFL1 and AtEFL3 repressed the expression of FT and CO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We aimed to construct a mortality prediction model using the random forest (RF) algorithm for acute kidney injury (AKI) patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), and compared its performance with that of two other machine learning models and the customized simplified acute physiology score (SAPS) II model.Methods: We used medical information mart for intensive care (MIMIC) III database for model development and performance comparison. The RF model uses the same predictor variable set as that of the SAPS II model. We also developed three other models and compared the RF model with the other three models in prediction performance. Three other models include support vector machine (SVM) model, artificial neural network (ANN) model and customized SAPS II model. In model comparison, the prediction performance of each model was assessed by the Brier score, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), accuracy and F1 score.Results: The final cohort consisted of 19044 patients with AKI in the ICU. The observed in-hospital mortality of AKI patients is 13.6% in the final cohort. The results of model performance comparison show that the Brier score of the RF model is 0.085 (95%CI: 0.084-0.086) and AUROC of the RF model is 0.866 (95%CI: 0.862-0.870). The accuracy of the RF model is 0.728 (95%CI: 0.715-0.741). The F1 score of the RF model is 0.459 (95%CI: 0.449-0.470). The calibration plots show that the RF model slightly overestimates mortality in patients with low risk of death and underestimates mortality in patients with high risk of death.Conclusion: There is great potential for the RF model in mortality prediction for AKI patients in ICU. The RF model may be helpful to aid ICU clinicians to make timely clinical intervention decisions for AKI patients, which is critical to help reduce the in-hospital mortality of AKI patients. A prospective study is necessary to evaluate the clinical utility of the RF model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at providing a substantial step toward the global boundedness and blow-up of solutions to a two-species and two-stimuli chemotaxis model, in which the process of the species results in a short-ranged chemical signaling loop. More precisely, we consider the following Neumann initial-boundary value problem ut=Δu-χ1∇·(u∇v),x∈Ω,t>0,0=Δv-μ2+w,x∈Ω,t>0,wt=Δw-χ2∇·(w∇z)-χ3∇·(w∇v),x∈Ω,t>0,0=Δz-μ1+u,x∈Ω,t>0in the unit disk Ω:=B1(0)⊂R2 with chemotactic sensitivities χ1>0,χ2>0 and χ3≥0 and radially symmetric nonnegative initial data u0 and w0, where μ1andμ2 are given, respectively, by μ1:=m1|Ω| and μ2:=m2|Ω| with m1=∫Ωu0, m2=∫Ωw0.Explicit conditions on χi,μi, u0 and w0 are given for the simultaneous global boundedness and simultaneous finite-time blow-up of classical solutions. Specifically, when the effect of χ3>0 is strong enough in the sense that the dynamical properties of the above system behave like one single-species Keller-Segel chemotaxis system, it is shown that if only the total mass m2<4πχ1 and m2<4πχ3, the solutions are globally bounded, while blow-up may occur provided that m2>4πχ1 and m2>8πχ3. Moreover, in view of the chemotactic signaling loop, one can find a critical mass phenomenon:if 2m1+m2χ3χ2<8πχ2, the problem possesses only globally bounded solutions, whereasif 8πm1χ1+8πm2χ2<2m1m2+m22χ3χ2 and ∫Ωu0|x|2 and ∫Ωw0|x|2 are sufficiently small, the corresponding solution blows up in finite time in the sense that lim supt↗T||u(·,t)||L∞(Ω)+||w(·,t)||L∞(Ω)→∞ with some finite time T>0. The simultaneous blow-up phenomenon for two species is also given in this paper.This, in particular, shows, when χ3=0, that smallness of mass of each species implies global solvability, whereas largeness of masses induces blow-up to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • DCDG-EA algorithm uses reference vector decomposition to solve MaOPs. • CDOS selects an appropriate operator to generate offspring. • CDIS strategy simultaneously considers the convergence and diversity of solutions. Abstract Maintaining a good balance between the convergence and the diversity is particularly crucial for the performance of the evolutionary algorithms (EAs). However, the traditional multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, which have shown their competitive performance with a variety of practical problems involving two or three objectives, face significant challenges in case of problems with more than three objectives, namely many-objective optimization problems (MaOPs). This paper proposes a dynamic convergence–diversity guided evolutionary algorithm, namely (DCDG-EA) for MaOPs by employing the decomposition technique. Besides, the objective space of MaOPs is divided into K subspaces by a set of uniformly distributed reference vectors. Each subspace has its own subpopulation and evolves in parallel with the other subspaces. In DCDG-EA, the balance between the convergence and the diversity is achieved through the convergence–diversity based operator selection (CDOS) strategy and convergence–diversity based individual selection (CDIS) strategy. In CDOS, for each operator of the set of operators, a selection probability is assigned which is related to its convergence and diversity capabilities. Based on the attributed selection probabilities, an appropriate operator is selected to generate the offsprings. Furthermore, CDIS is used which allows to greatly overcome the inefficiency of the Pareto dominance approaches. It updates each subpopulation by using two independent distance measures that represent the convergence and the control diversity, respectively. The experimental results on DTLZ and WFG benchmark problems with up to 15 objectives show that our algorithm is highly competitive comparing with the four state-of-the-art evolutionary algorithms in terms of convergence and diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Here we first reported that graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet (g-C 3 N 4 NS) could effectively quench the chemiluminescence (CL) of luminol-hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) system. According to the new discovery, a label-free and homogeneous CL aptasensing platform was designed for sensitive detecting of biomarkers. In the absence of target, DNA probe containing hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme structure was adsorbed on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 NS, causing the CL quenching of luminol through an electron transfer process. However, in the presence of the target, a DNA-DNA duplex was formed due to DNA hybridization reaction and target recognition effect, which could not be adsorbed onto the g-C 3 N 4 NS surface because of its weak affinity. Thus, the electron transfer was blocked and the CL emission of luminol could be enhanced. The proposed CL aptasensor could detect carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) with a detection limit of 63.0 pg/mL and it can also be used as a general detecting strategy for adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) detection. This aptasensing platform exhibited high sensitivity toward biomarkers and the probe need not be labeled, showing great promise for disease diagnosis. Graphical abstract It was found that g-C 3 N 4 nanosheet (g-C 3 N 4 NS) could effectively quench the chemiluminescence (CL) emission of luminol-hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) system. According to the new discovery, a label-free and versatile CL aptasensor relied on the luminol-hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme-H 2 O 2 system and g-C 3 N 4 NS was developed for sensitive detection of various biomarkers. fx1 Highlights • g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets can efficiently quench the chemiluminescence (CL) of luminol-H 2 O 2 system. • The mechanism of CL quenching is attribute to the photoinduced electron transfer. • A label-free CL aptasensor based on g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets and hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzyme is developed. • The universal aptasensor can be used for sensitive detecting of multiple biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents a grid-independent numerical methodology that couples the strip theory based discrete vortex method (SDVM) with the finite element method (FEM) to simulate the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a long flexible vertical riser. Based on the strip theory, a three-dimensional flow filed is approximately simulated by a series of computational 'flow strips'. A Lagrangian discrete vortex method is employed to numerically solve the unsteady vorticity transport equations of each 'flow strip'. The flexible riser is modelled as a tensioned Bernoulli-Euler beam with the dynamical equation solved by the finite element method in time domain. The two-dimensional DVM code is firstly validated for the VIV simulation of a rigid cylinder that was experimentally studied by Khalak and Williamson (1996). Referring to two typical experimental configurations of Lehn (2003) and Chaplin et al. (2005), the VIV of a long flexible riser immersed in a uniform and stepped incoming flow are numerically simulated, respectively. A good agreement was achieved through detailed comparisons between the present numerical prediction and the experimental data, including the structural in-line and cross-flow VIV response modes, root mean square amplitudes and the dominant frequency. The occurrence of standing and travelling wave responses, dual resonance between in-line and cross-flow motions and figure-eight trajectory are reported. The wake patterns corresponding to two response waves are also presented and investigated. Related to structural local vibration amplitude, two principle vortex patterns resembling the '2S' and '2P' modes are identified in the wake. The standing wave component of structural response determines the vortex shedding pattern. The travelling wave component affects the spanwise vortices shedding at different phases. Highlights • A SDVM-FEM coupled numerical methodology is developed to simulate the VIV of long flexible risers. • Simulation has been carried on two typical experimental configurations to validate the numerical model. • The occurrence of standing and travelling wave responses are reported. • The wake patterns corresponding to two response waves are presented and investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study presents a new concept of the aqueous urea solution (AUS) to replace pure water and uses a thermodynamic analysis to compare the characteristics of steam and autothermal reforming of ethanol with/without AUS. The results show that hydrogen-rich syngas production under steam reforming of ethanol (SRE) with the blended AUS is higher than that under the pure steam. Under autothermal reforming of ethanol (ATRE), syngas yield increases with an increase in urea, and the thermal neutral temperature (TNT) can be adjusted through the amount of AUS because of the endothermic role of urea in the overall reaction. The best operating condition of ATRE is the H 2 O/EtOH equal to 5 and the O 2 /EtOH equal to 1.2 at 800 °C, and the reforming efficiency of ethanol with the AUS reaches 93.17% much higher than that without the AUS. The present results are also verified by an experiment and indicate that the use of AUS as a reactant to replace pure steam in ethanol reforming can increase both syngas yield. Highlights • We analyze steam and autothermal reforming of ethanol blended with aqueous urea. • Blending ethanol and aqueous urea increases syngas yield and reforming efficiency. • For autothermal reforming, a higher added urea reduces thermal neutral temperature. • For ethanol blended with aqueous urea, the highest hydrogen yield exists at 750 °C. • Reforming efficiency with aqueous urea is 93.17% at H 2 O/EtOH of 5, O 2 /EtOH of 1.2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two metal–viologen complexes, formulated as [Cd1.5(H2L)0.5(Cl)3(CH3OH)]n (1) and [Eu2(L)(NO3)4(HOCH2CH2OH)2]n (2), were constructed by a tetracarboxylate anchored bipyridinium-based ligand 1,1′-bis(3,5-dicarboxybenzyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride (H4L·Cl2). Single-crystal X-ray analyses revealed that complex 1 featured a 2D-layered structure, while complex 2 showed a 1D “ladder-like” chain structure. The difference in the central metal ions, anions, solvent molecules, deprotonation degree of the tetracarboxylate ligand, coordination modes and conformations of the ligand have a great influence on the final structure. As expected, incorporation of the viologen moiety to the frameworks led to the predefined photochromism: when samples 1 and 2 were exposed to UV-visible light, a reversible color change from light yellow to blue/dark blue occurred. Moreover, complex 2 exhibited the characteristic emission of Eu(iii) ion in the visible region, and it also displayed an interesting reversible tunable photo-induced luminescence switching behavior: under the irradiation of UV-vis light, the luminescence emission intensity of complex 2 gradually decreased and reached 15% of the starting value after 8 min. These results may not only help to further understand the structure–photoresponse relationships of viologen-based MOFs, but also help to guide the design and synthesis of luminescent materials with photo-modulated switching ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both biobutanol and urea are the environment-friendly hydrogen carrier. This study is to compare hydrogen production between steam reforming of biobutanol and autothermal reforming of biobutanol feed using pure steam and vaporization of aqueous urea (VAU) by a thermodynamic analysis. Hydrogen-rich syngas production, carbon formation, thermal neutral temperature (TNT), and hydrogen production cost are analyzed in both steam reforming and autothermal reforming. The results show that hydrogen-rich syngas production with the use of VAU is higher than that with pure steam not only in steam reforming but also in autothermal reforming. When the VAU/butanol molar ratio is 8, and the O 2 /butanol molar ratio equals 3, the reforming efficiency reaches up to 81.42%. At the same condition, the hydrogen production cost is lower than that without blending urea. Therefore, using VAU to replace pure steam in biobutanol reforming leads to benefits of increasing the hydrogen-rich syngas yield and lowering cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a cyclometalated iridium(III) complex, [Ir(ppy) 2 (HPIP)]Cl ( IrT , ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, HPIP = 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)imidazo[4,5-f]1,10-phenanthroline), was synthesized and characterized. IrT exhibited more cytotoxicity than cisplatin did against several screened cancer cell lines. In particular, the cytotoxicity of IrT against the cisplatin-resistant cell line A549-CP/R is approximately 10 times higher than that of cisplatin. In addition, this complex could perform theranostic functions by simultaneously imaging and tracking mitochondrial morphological changes. Further study suggested that IrT induced changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential and triggered apoptosis via an intrinsic mitochondria-mediated pathway. Thus, IrT exhibited both antitumor and imaging properties, indicating that IrT may be a viable drug candidate as a mitochondria-targeted theranostic anticancer agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the quasilinear chemotaxis system { u t = ∇ ⋅ ( D ( u ) ∇ u ) − χ ∇ ⋅ ( u ∇ v ) + f ( u ) , x ∈ Ω , t > 0 , 0 = Δ v − μ ( t ) + u , x ∈ Ω , t > 0 , with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a bounded domain Ω ⊂ R n with n ≥ 2 , where χ > 0 , μ ( t ) : = 1 | Ω | ∫ Ω u ( x , t ) d x and f ∈ C ( [ 0 , ∞ ) ) ∩ C 1 ( ( 0 , ∞ ) ) is a logistic source of the form f ( s ) = a s − b s κ with a ≥ 0 , b > 0 , κ > 1 and s ≥ 0 , and the diffusion D ∈ C 2 ( [ 0 , ∞ ) ) is supposed to satisfy D ( s ) ≥ D 0 s − m for all s > 0 with some D 0 > 0 and m ∈ R . Given any b > 0 , when the logistic source is strong enough in the sense that κ > m + 3 − 4 n + 2 and κ > 2 , it is shown that for any initial data u 0 ∈ C 0 ( Ω ¯ ) and n ≥ 2 the problem possesses a unique global bounded classical solution. However, when D ( s ) = D 0 s − m for all s > 0 with 4 n − 1 < m ≤ 0 in the sense that n ≥ 5 , and the effect of logistic source is weaker in the sense that κ ∈ ( 1 , ( 3 − m ) n − 2 2 n − 2 ) , it is shown that for arbitrary prescribed M 0 > 0 there exists initial data u 0 ∈ C ∞ ( Ω ¯ ) satisfying ∫ Ω u 0 = M 0 such that the corresponding solution ( u , v ) of the system blows up in finite time in a ball Ω = B 0 ( R ) ⊂ R n with some R > 0 . This result extends the blow-up arguments of the Keller–Segel chemotaxis model with logistic cell kinetics in Winkler [39] to more general quasilinear case. Moreover, since there is a gap in the proof of Zheng et al. [46] , it also presents modified results for the mistake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-time behavior of solutions to an attraction-repulsion chemotaxis system is considered in this paper in a bounded domain under zero-flux boundary conditions if repulsion dominates over attraction. It is known that under the assumption that repulsion balances/overbalances attraction in two or higher dimensions, for any suitably regular initial data all solutions of this system will be global and bounded. The present work further shows that if the degradation rate of a repulsive signal is smaller than the attractive one or the repulsion is suitably strong, this global solutions converge to the steady state for arbitrarily large initial data. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first results on the large time of large-data solutions in a higher-dimensional attraction-repulsion chemotaxis system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]