Search

Emerging tribovoltaic nanogenerator (TVNG) technology, which can capture mechanical energy at dynamic semiconductor interfaces and generate instant direct current (DC) outputs, is considered promising to mitigate growing energy demand. However, the unsatisfactory charge excitation and extraction efficiency limit its electrical output stability and even practicability. Here, a novel strategy is proposed to synergistically modulate charge generation and transfer dynamics by integrating ferroelectric and photovoltaic effect with tribovoltaic effect, and thus a multi‐effect coupled Schottky TVNGs is, for the first time, developed. Research indicates that such coupling mechanism involving ferroelectric polarization, photoexcitation, and triboelectricity can allow TVNGs to jointly collect light and mechanical energy to excite more charges, and meanwhile, incorporation of strong electric fields can also be induced by controlled polarization to assist Schottky junction in modulating separation/extraction efficiencies of these charges. Ultimately, this multi‐effect coupled devices deliver impressive DC output of 7.3 V and 69.8 µA, outperforming similar coupled Schottky junction TVNGs. Besides that, its feasibility for multifunctional sensing and photodetection is also demonstrated. This study proposes an effective strategy for modulating performance while extending its functionality, which can expedite the development and potential application of advanced TVNGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the synthesis of key intermediates for the production of fluoroquinolones, a group of antibiotics. The article compares two existing synthetic routes for these intermediates and highlights their limitations. The authors then propose a new synthetic route that utilizes a cheaper starting material and achieves a higher overall yield. The new route is described in detail, including the experimental procedures and results. The authors acknowledge the financial support they received for this research. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Humans are frequently exposed to N-nitrosamines through various sources, including diet, cigarette smoking, contaminated water, the atmosphere, and endogenous nitrosation. Exposure to these carcinogens may also contribute to the gender-specific incidence of liver cancer, which is significantly higher in males than in females, possibly due to the influence of endogenous hormones such as testosterone. However, the effect of testosterone on N-nitrosamine-induced liver cancer and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Purpose: To investigate the effect of testosterone on the development of liver cancer induced by N-nitrosamines exposure. Patients and Methods: Histopathological and immunohistochemical staining techniques were employed to analyze the expression levels and nuclear localizations of key signaling molecules, including androgen receptor (AR), β-catenin, and HMGB1, in both tumor and non-tumor regions of liver samples obtained from human patients and mice. Results: The findings demonstrated a strong correlation between AR and β-catenin in the nuclear region of tumor areas. AR also showed a significant correlation with HMGB1 in the cytoplasmic region of non-tumor areas in both human and mice samples. The study further analyzed the expression levels and patterns of these three proteins during the progression of liver tumors. Conclusion: This study confirms that AR has the ability to modulate the expression levels and patterns of β-catenin and HMGB1 in vivo, thereby exacerbating the progression of liver cancer induced by environmental N-nitrosamines exposure. Importantly, the effect of testosterone on the formation of liver cancer induced by environmental N-nitrosamine exposure intensifies this progression. These findings have important implications for drug safety in clinical practice and emphasize the significance of reducing N-nitrosamines exposure through conscious choices regarding diet and lifestyle to ensure environmental safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To compare the differences in antibiotic use between COPD and non-COPD residents, and to explore the effect of COPD on antibiotic use. Methods Participants aged 40 years old or over from the Songjiang Adult Cohort were included. Information on prescription and baseline survey was collected based on the health information system. A logit-negative binomial Hurdle model was used to explore correlations between COPD and percentage of antibiotic use and average rate of antibiotic prescribing of different types of antibiotic. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between COPD and antimicrobial combination therapy and routes of administration. Results A total of 34576 individuals were included and 1594 (4.6%) were COPD patients. During the 6 years' follow-up, the percentage of antibiotic use for COPD patients was 98.4%, which was 7.88 (95%CI: 5.24–11.85) times of that for non-COPD patients after adjusting for potential confounders. The prescribing rate was 3220 prescriptions (95%CI: 3063.6–3385.2) per 1000 person-years for COPD patients, which was 1.96 (95%CI: 1.87–2.06) times of that for non-COPD patients. Other beta-lactam antibacterials, Macrolides, lincosamides and streptogramins, and quinolone antibacterials were the most commonly used types of antibiotic. Except for aminoglycoside antibacterials, both percentage of antibiotic use and rate of antibiotic prescription were increased in COPD patients. COPD patients were more likely to be prescribed a maximum of two antibiotics (OR=1.34, 95%CI: 1.20–1.50); and were more likely to use antibiotics intravenously (OR=2.77, 95%CI: 2.47–3.11). Conclusion COPD patients were more likely to have increased antibiotic use in a large-scale population-based adult cohort, suggesting COPD patients are a high-priority group for the management of antibiotic use in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold exposure exerts negative effects on hippocampal nerve development in adolescent mice, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Given that ubiquitination is essential for neurodevelopmental processes, we attempted to investigate the effects of cold exposure on the hippocampus from the perspective of ubiquitination. By conducting a ubiquitinome analysis, we found that cold exposure caused changes in the ubiquitination levels of a variety of synaptic-associated proteins. We validated changes in postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) ubiquitination levels by immunoprecipitation, revealing reductions in both the K48 and K63 polyubiquitination levels of PSD-95. Golgi staining further demonstrated that cold exposure decreased the dendritic-spine density in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis revealed that differentially ubiquitinated proteins were enriched in the glycolytic, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), and 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathways. Protein expression analysis confirmed that cold exposure activated the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/HIF-1α pathway. We also observed suppression of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) protein levels and the pyruvate kinase (PK) activity induced by cold exposure. Regarding oxidative phosphorylation, a dramatic decrease in mitochondrial respiratory-complex I activity was observed, along with reduced gene expression of the key subunits NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase core subunit V1 (Ndufv1) and Ndufv2. In summary, cold exposure negatively affects hippocampal neurodevelopment and causes abnormalities in energy homeostasis within the hippocampus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The H3 influenza viruses are widespread in domestic poultry but have been ignored because their pathogenicity in poultry is low. Three human infections with H3N8 influenza viruses have been reported in China since 2022, raising public concern. Here, we comprehensively analyzed 30 H3 subtype avian influenza viruses isolated from live poultry markets in China between 2021 and 2022. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses showed that the H3 viruses have undergone frequent reassortment and have formed complex genotypes. Notably, the viruses that caused human infections in 2022–2023 were highly homologous to the H3N8 viruses circulating in poultry in 2022, with internal genes derived from the H9N2 viruses. The analysis of chicken infections indicated that the novel H3N8 viruses were more infectious in chickens than those that do not carry H9N2 genes, whereas the H3 viruses detected in China in 2021–2022 showed low pathogenicity in mice. Our findings suggest that the novel H3N8 viruses bearing internal H9N2 genes have adapted to and circulated in chickens and pose a threat to human health. These results highlight the need for continued surveillance of the H3 influenza viruses and their impact on the poultry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overconsumption of high-fat foods increases the risk of fatty liver disease (FLD) and liver cancer with long pathogenic cycles. It is also known that the intake of the chemical poison nitrosamine and its nanopreparations can promote the development of liver injuries, such as FLD, and hepatic fibrosis, and significantly shorten the formation time of the liver cancer cycle. The present work confirmed that the coexposure of a high-fat diet (HFD) and nano-diethylnitrosamine (nano-DEN) altered the tumor microenvironment and studied the effect of this coexposure on the progression of fatty liver malignant transformation into liver cancer. Gene transcriptomics and immunostaining were used to evaluate the tumor promotion effect of the coexposure in mice. After coexposure treatment, tumor nodules were obviously increased, and inflammation levels were elevated. The liver transcriptomics analysis showed that the expression levels of inflammatory, fatty, and fibrosis-related factors in the coexposed group were increased in comparison with the nano-DEN- and high-fat-alone groups. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) results showed that coexposure aggravated the high expression of genes related to the carcinomatous pathway and accelerated the formation of the tumor microenvironment. The immunohistochemical staining results showed that the coexposure significantly increased the abnormal changes in proteins related to inflammation, proliferation, aging, and hypoxia in mouse liver tissues. The coexposure of high fat and nano-DEN aggravated the process of steatosis and carcinogenesis. In conclusion, the habitual consumption of pickled foods containing nitrosamines in a daily HFD significantly increases the risk of liver pathology lesions progressing from FLD to liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Biological denitrification has been commonly adopted for the removal of nitrogen from sewage effluents. However, due to the low temperature during winter, microorganisms in the wastewater biological treatment unit usually encounter problems such as slow cell growth and low enzymatic efficiency. Hence, the isolation and screening of cold-tolerant aerobic denitrifying bacteria (ADB) have recently drawn attention. In our previous study, two Pseudomonas strains PMCC200344 and PMCC200367 isolated from Arctic soil demonstrated strong denitrification ability at low temperatures. The two Arctic strains show potential for biological nitrogen removal from sewage in cold environments. However, the genome sequences of these two organisms have not been reported thus far. Results: Here, the basic characteristics and genetic diversity of strains PMCC200344 and PMCC200367 were described, together with the complete genomes and comparative genomic results. The genome of Pseudomonas sp. PMCC200344 was composed of a circular chromosome of 6,478,166 bp with a G + C content of 58.60% and contained a total of 5,853 genes. The genome of Pseudomonas sp. PMCC200367 was composed of a circular chromosome of 6,360,061 bp with a G + C content of 58.68% and contained 5,801 genes. Not only prophages but also genomic islands were identified in the two Pseudomonas strains. No plasmids were observed. All genes of a complete set of denitrification pathways as well as various putative cold adaptation and heavy metal resistance genes in the genomes were identified and analyzed. These genes were usually detected on genomic islands in bacterial genomes. Conclusions: These analytical results provide insights into the genomic basis of microbial denitrification in cold environments, indicating the potential of Arctic Pseudomonas strains in nitrogen removal from sewage effluents at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tribovoltaic nanogenerators (TVNG) are an emerging energy technology featuring high direct current density and continuous power output. Recently, a new kind of perovskite/metal Schottky‐based TVNG has attracted increasing attention, which can co‐harvest mechanical and solar energy to dramatically improve the DC output performance. However, the instability of the perovskite‐metal interface and unnecessary carrier recombination loss limit its practicability. Here, a novel light‐assisted TVNG based on a dynamic N‐type perovskite/P‐type perovskite homojunction is developed. The homojunction design can ensure stable interface contact, and contributes to forming a strong built‐in electric field to promote efficient carrier separation/extraction and decrease interfacial charge recombination loss. In addition, the innovative design of the dual perovskite functional electrode maximizes its photovoltaic characteristics and further facilitates the excitation of more charges based on tribo‐photovoltaic coupling effects. Eventually, the output voltage and current of dynamic perovskite homojunction can boost up to ≈8.72 V and ≈30.84 µA under illumination, showing outstanding performance among the state‐of‐the‐art perovskite‐based TVNGs. These findings demonstrate the great potential of perovskite materials in generating DC power and present a feasible strategy to construct efficient, multifunctional TVNGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses yellowing discoloration in LEDs caused by TiO2 particle degradation in encapsulants. The commonly added TiO2 particles will enhance light reflectance, and accelerate photodegradation but will decrease LED lifespan by lowering lumen quality and causing chromaticity change. To mitigate these effects, Mn particles were coupled with TiO2 particles using photo-reduction. This research examined three parameters Mn2+ ions concentration, UV irradiation duration, and annealing temperature, and the successful Mn-TiO2 coupling achieved. The resulting Mn-TiO2 particles, synthesized at 20 ppm Mn2+ ions and 200 °C annealing temperature, exhibited superior dispersibility and minimal agglomeration compared to TiO2 particles. Next, the photocatalytic performance of Mn-TiO2 particles was optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). These particles exhibited the lowest photodegradation with a rate constant of 0.03092 min-1 and achieved a photodegradation efficiency of 79.92% at 60 min, amongst the others. Photodegradation of methylene blue followed a 1st-order kinetic model. Despite a slightly higher refractive index (RI), epoxy thin films with Mn-TiO2 particles displayed higher transmittance. Mn-TiO2 particles can thus serve as fillers in LED encapsulants to increase RI, reduce photodegradation, and enhance TiO2 particle dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM2.5 was sampled in four seasons of 2021 in Nanchang. Organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble ions were the main chemical compositions in PM2.5. The annual average of OC/PM2.5 and EC/PM2.5 was 17.1% and 2.1%, respectively, while nine water-soluble ions were 56.7%. The order of each ion percentage in PM2.5 was NO3− > SO42− > K+ > Na+ > NH4+ > Cl− > NO2− > Ca2+ > Mg2+. The OC/EC (6.54, 13.17, 8.95, 7.99) and Char-EC/Soot-EC (0.88, 0.64, 1.32, 3.74) indicated that the carbon aerosols mainly originated from coal combustion, biomass combustion, and motor-vehicle emissions. High concentrations of Cl− and Ca2+ in spring were associated with dust sources. A good correlation between Na+, SO42−, and NO3− suggests the formation of Na2SO4 and NaNO3. The results of PM2.5 source apportionment by positive matrix factorisation (PMF) showed five main sources: motor-vehicle sources (18–33%), secondary sources (16–36%), coal combustion sources (16–30%), biomass-combustion sources (10–28%), and dust sources (5–7%). Backward trajectory clustering analysis showed PM2.5 in spring and autumn were more influenced by medium distance and local air but mainly influenced by local sources in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack, commonly called orange jessamine in the family Rutaceae, is an important ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical regions which is famous for its strong fragrance. Although genome assemblies have been reported for many Rutaceae species, mainly in the genus Citrus, full genomic information has not been reported for M. paniculata, which is a prerequisite for in-depth genetic studies on Murraya and manipulation using genetic engineering techniques. Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of M. paniculata and aim to provide insights on the molecular mechanisms of flower volatile biosynthesis. Results: The genome assembly with a contig N50 of 18.25 Mb consists of 9 pseudomolecules and has a total length of 216.86 Mb. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that M. paniculata diverged from the common ancestor approximately 25 million years ago and has not undergone any species-specific whole genome duplication events. Genome structural annotation and comparative genomics analysis revealed that there are obvious differences in transposon contents among the genomes of M. paniculata and Citrus species, especially in the upstream regions of genes. Research on the flower volatiles of M. paniculata and C. maxima at three flowering stages revealed significant differences in volatile composition with the flowers of C. maxima lacking benzaldehyde and phenylacetaldehyde. Notably, there are transposons inserted in the upstream region of the phenylacetaldehyde synthase (PAAS) genes Cg1g029630 and Cg1g029640 in C. maxima, but not in the upstream region of three PAAS genes Me2G_2379, Me2G_2381, and Me2G_2382 in M. paniculata. Our results indicated that compared to the low expression levels of PAAS genes in C. maxima, the higher expression levels of the three PAAS genes in M. paniculata are the main factor affecting the phenylacetaldehyde biosynthesis and causing the content difference of phenylacetaldehyde. The phenylacetaldehyde synthetic activities of the enzymes encoded by M. paniculata PAAS genes were validated by in vitro analyses. Conclusions: Our study provides useful genomic resources of M. paniculata for further research on Rutaceae plants, identifies new PAAS genes, and provides insights into how transposons contribute to variations in flower volatiles among Murraya and Citrus plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the predictive ability of estimated maximum oxygen consumption (e V ˙ O2max) and 6-min walk distance (6MWD) for postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) in adult surgical patients undergoing major upper abdominal surgery. Method: This study was conducted by collecting data prospectively from a single center. The two predictive variables in the study were defined as 6MWD and e V ˙ O2max. Patients scheduled for elective major upper abdominal surgery from March 2019 to May 2021 were included. The 6MWD was measured for all patients before surgery. e V ˙ O2max was calculated using the regression model of Burr, which uses 6MWD, age, gender, weight, and resting heart rate (HR) to predict aerobic fitness. The patients were categorized into PPC and non-PPC group. The sensitivity, specificity, and optimum cutoff values for 6MWD and e V ˙ O2max were calculated to predict PPCs. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 6MWD or e V ˙ O2max was constructed and compared using the Z test. The primary outcome measure was the AUC of 6MWD and e V ˙ O2max in predicting PPCs. In addition, the net reclassification index (NRI) was calculated to assess ability of e V ˙ O2max compared with 6MWT in predicting PPCs. Results: A total of 308 patients were included 71/308 developed PPCs. Patients unable to complete the 6-min walk test (6MWT) due to contraindications or restrictions, or those taking beta-blockers, were excluded. The optimum cutoff point for 6MWD in predicting PPCs was 372.5 m with a sensitivity of 63.4% and specificity of 79.3%. The optimum cutoff point for e V ˙ O2max was 30.8 ml/kg/min with a sensitivity of 91.6% and specificity of 79.3%. The AUC for 6MWD in predicting PPCs was 0.758 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.694–0.822), and the AUC for e V ˙ O2max was 0.912 (95%CI: 0.875–0.949). A significantly increased AUC was observed in e V ˙ O2max compared to 6MWD in predicting PPCs (P < 0.001, Z = 4.713). And compared with 6MWT, the NRI of e V ˙ O2max was 0.272 (95%CI: 0.130, 0.406). Conclusion: The results suggested that e V ˙ O2max calculated from the 6MWT is a better predictor of PPCs than 6MWD in patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery and can be used as a tool to screen patients at risk of PPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature thermoelectric materials are the key to miniaturizing refrigeration equipment and have great scientific and social implications, yet their application is hindered by their extreme scarcity. BiTe exhibiting strong spin‐orbit coupling peaks ZT at 600 K. Herein, we discover the synergy effect of Sb doping in BiTe that eliminates the detrimental band inversion and leads to an overlap of conduction band (CB) and valence band that significantly increases the S from 33 to 124 μV K−1. In addition, this effect enhances the μ from 58 to 92 cm2 V−1 s−1 owing to the sharp increase in the CB slope along the Γ‐A in the first Brillouin zone. Furthermore, Sb doping increases the anharmonicity, shortens the phonon lifetime and lowers κlat. Finally, Se/Sb codoping further optimizes the ZT to 0.6 at 300 K, suggesting that Bi0.6Sb0.4Te1−ySey is a potential room‐temperature TE material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Room‐temperature thermoelectric materials are the key to miniaturizing refrigeration equipment and have great scientific and social implications, yet their application is hindered by their extreme scarcity. BiTe exhibiting strong spin‐orbit coupling peaks ZT at 600 K. Herein, we discover the synergy effect of Sb doping in BiTe that eliminates the detrimental band inversion and leads to an overlap of conduction band (CB) and valence band that significantly increases the S from 33 to 124 μV K−1. In addition, this effect enhances the μ from 58 to 92 cm2 V−1 s−1 owing to the sharp increase in the CB slope along the Γ‐A in the first Brillouin zone. Furthermore, Sb doping increases the anharmonicity, shortens the phonon lifetime and lowers κlat. Finally, Se/Sb codoping further optimizes the ZT to 0.6 at 300 K, suggesting that Bi0.6Sb0.4Te1−ySey is a potential room‐temperature TE material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rock mass boreability assessment for tunnel boring machine (TBM) is of great significance for safe and efficient tunneling. This study presented an improved attribute-weighted deep belief network model (IAWDBN) to perform point and interval estimation of rock mass boreability. In the model, the Bayesian optimization algorithm was integrated to optimize the hyper-parameters automatically, and the early stopping strategy was merged to prevent overfitting; 219 sets of data in total were collected from three different tunnel projects to train the model. Each set of data was composed of four input variables (i.e., rock uniaxial compressive strength, rock quality designation, angle between weakness plane and TBM advancing direction, and tunnel diameter) and one corresponding output variable (i.e., field penetration index). In data preprocessing, the Kriging interpolation and CRITIC (criteria importance through intercriteria correlation) weighting algorithms were separately implemented to complement the missing data and determine the variable weight in the database. Then, the model was applied in Yinsong and LXB water conveyance tunnels (China). Results indicated that the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), determination coefficient (R2), and interval coverage probability (ICP) of 37 sets of data in Yinsong water conveyance tunnel were 1.92, 7.88%, 0.9470, and 100%, respectively, and those of 49 sets of data in LXB water conveyance tunnel were 1.95, 5.85%, 0.9913, and 100%, respectively. Further, the impact of data weighting and confidence level on model performance was discussed, verifying the advantage of data weighting and suggesting that the confidence level should not be less than 93%. Finally, the comparison analysis was conducted with back-propagation neural network, extreme learning machine, support vector regression, random forest, one-dimensional convolutional neural network, and long short-term memory network in terms of prediction accuracy and running speed, demonstrating the superiority of the model built in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum entanglement (QE) and quantum steering (QS) are of importance for quantum information processing and computation. Though there are several schemes proposed for their realization, how to increase their degrees encounters a great challenge. In the present manuscript, it is proposed to enhance steady QE and control Gaussian QS for two magnons using a two‐photon field acting on either magnon. The cavity‐magnetic hybrid system consists of a microwave cavity in which two identical Yttrium‐iron‐garnet spheres are placed and the cavity is driven by a Josephson parametric amplifier (JPA) so as to generate steady QE and control Gaussian QS for the two Kittel modes. Besides, a two‐photon driving field acting on either magnon in order to enhance the degree of QE and the ability of QS. The best condition to maximum entanglement and steering degrees for the two magnon modes at ε≈0.8$\varepsilon \approx 0.8\nobreakspace $MHz and r≈2$r \approx 2$ is found via the competitive relationship between the two‐photon driving and JPA. Furthermore, it is revealed that steering direction for the two magnons can be controlled not only by the ratio between the two photon‐magnon coupling parameters but also by the two‐photon driving field, making controllable steering direction become easier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "single-crystal" lithium-rich layered oxide (SC-LLO) material is applied for the first time to construct a composite cathode by a co-sintering process for garnet-based high-energy all-solid-state lithium metal batteries, which exhibit the high initial discharge capacity of ∼226 mA h g−1, and good capacity retention after tens of cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ehm2/1, an Ehm2 transcript variant, regulates the cytoskeleton by binding to plasma membrane proteins. However, the role of Ehm2/1 in breast cancer development remains poorly understood. This study shows that, the expression of Ehm2/1 was decreased in breast cancer and that patients with low Ehm2/1 expression had a significantly poorer prognosis than those with high expression of Ehm2/1. Overexpression of Ehm2/1 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells inhibited cell migration and invasion. Ehm2/1 markedly increased the stability and half-life of E-cadherin. Moreover, Ehm2/1 was collocated with E-cadherin in the plasma membrane of MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, downregulation of Ehm2/1 promoted ubiquitination of E-cadherin, whereas overexpression of Ehm2/1 inhibited ubiquitination of E-cadherin. These results suggest that Ehm2/1 could suppress the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells by increasing E-cadherin stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have made an indelible mark on metastatic colorectal cancer patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) instead of microsatellite stability (MSS) tumors. Clinical studies have explored the introduction of ICIs into treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer patients with MSS; however, the outcomes are still limited. Different studies have provided valuable information for understanding the expression and clinical significance of PD-1 and PD-L1 during neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT). However, the value of CTLA-4 and CD86 after nCRT has not been fully studied. We found that CD86 expression was significantly lower in the nCRT-treated group rather than CTLA-4. Improved overall survival in patients with lower CD86 expression could only be observed in patients with low rather than high t/sCD8+ cell densities. Our findings reveal the relationship between the immunosuppressive microenvironment and the CTLA-4/CD86 pathway after nCRT. The synergistic effect of combining immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with neoadjuvant chemo(radio)therapy (nCRT) in colorectal cancer is still limited. We aimed to understand the impact of nCRT on the tumor microenvironment and to explore favorable immune markers of this combination. Herein, we investigated the expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4), CD86, CD4, and CD8 after nCRT and its association with clinicopathological characteristics. Immunostaining of immune-related molecules was performed in 255 surgically resected specimens from rectal cancer patients treated with nCRT. CD4 and CD8 expression on the tumor (tCD4/CD8), stroma (sCD4/CD8), and invasive front (iCD4/CD8) was evaluated. The expression levels of immune-related molecules were significantly lower in the nCRT-treated group, except for CTLA-4 and sCD8. However, patients with higher sCD8+ cell density and CTLA-4 expression had better progression-free survival (PFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS). In addition, higher CD86 expression was associated with poorer overall survival (OS). Higher CTLA-4 expression was associated with higher tCD8+ cell density, whereas CD86 expression was correlated with the cell density of t/sCD8. Prognostic analysis confirmed that the relationships between CTLA-4 and DMFS as well as CD86 and OS were significantly correlated in low rather than high CD8+ cell density. Further the combination of CD8+ cell density and CD86 expression was shown to be an independent prognostic factor of OS, whereas the combination of CTLA-4 was not for DMFS. Together, these results demonstrate significant correlations between CD86 expression and t/sCD8+ cell density in rectal cancer after nCRT and could potentially have clinical implications for combining ICIs and nCRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrin Subunit Alpha 4 (ITGA4) plays important roles in cancers pathogenesis. However, the expression and association with clinicopathological and survival probability have not been previously assessed in gastric cancer (GC). Protein expression of ITGA4 was assessed in TMA using immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological factors and survival. The mRNA expression of ITGA4 was also assessed in the HMU-GC cohort. Bioinformatics function analysis was conducted through GSEA. The "CIBERSORT" package was used for immune infiltration analysis. "SvyNom" package is used to construct prognosis model. ITGA4 knock down using shRNA. The evaluation of cell function was performed by CCK-8 and Transwell invasion and migration experiments. ITGA4 was significantly associated with N classification (P = 0.031), tumor location (P = 0.033), WHO classification (P = 0.007), and poor prognosis in mRNA level. GSEA analysis of the validation cohort suggested that ITGA4 was associated with macrophage infiltration. Immunohistochemistry showed that ITGA4 was associated with poor prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis found that ITGA4 (P = 0.045) and lymph node metastasis rate (P = 0.026) were independent prognostic factors and could construct a prognosis model. ITGA4 knockdown cell line significantly reduced the ability of proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. ITGA4 is associated with patient survival in GC and may be an important prognostic biomarker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is a critical parameter in the disaster prevention of engineering projects, requiring a large budget and a long time to estimate in different rocks or the early stage of a project. If predicted accurately, the UCS of rocks significantly affects geotechnical applications. This paper develops a dataset of 734 samples from previous studies on different countries' magmatic, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Within the study context, three main factors, point load index, P-wave velocity, and Schmidt hammer rebound number, are utilized to estimate UCS. Moreover, it applies extreme learning machines (ELM) to map the nonlinear relationship between the UCS and the influential factors. Five metaheuristic algorithms, particle swarm optimization (PSO), grey wolf optimization (GWO), whale optimization algorithm (WOA), butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA), and sparrow search algorithm (SSA), are used to optimize the bias and weight of ELM and thus enhance its predictability. Indeed, several performance parameters are utilized to verify the proposed models' generalization capability and predictive performance. The minimum, maximum, and average relative errors of ELM achieved by the whale optimization algorithm (WOA-ELM) are smaller than the other models, with values of 0.22%, 72.05%, and 11.48%, respectively. In contrast, the minimum and mean residual error produced by WOA-ELM are less than the other models, with values of 0.02 and 2.64 MPa, respectively. The results show that the UCS values derived from WOA-ELM are superior to those from other models. The performance indices (coefficient of determination (R2): 0.861, mean squared error (MSE): 17.61, root mean squared error (RMSE): 4.20, and value account for (VAF): 91% obtained using the WOA-ELM model indicates high accuracy and reliability, which means that it has broad application potential for estimating UCS of different rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common among people living with HIV. HIV and HCV coinfected patients have higher overall mortality rates compared with HIV mono-infected patients. With its high cure rate of HCV infection, direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment provides an opportunity to improve the survival of the HIV/HCV coinfected population. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between DAA treatment and all-cause mortality among HIV/HCV coinfected people. The study included 7103 Medicare beneficiaries in the United States who were infected with both HIV and HCV between 2014 and 2017. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) of death for patients with and without DAA treatment while controlling for patient characteristics. During the study period, 1675 patients initiated DAA treatment (23.6%). The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of all-cause mortality between patients with and without DAA treatment was 0.37 (95% CI, 0.29–0.48), regardless of cirrhosis status. DAA treatment was associated with a smaller reduction in all-cause mortality for females (aHR, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.30–0.85]) compared with males (aHR, 0.34 [95% CI, 0.25–0.46]). DAA treatment was associated with improved survival among all HIV/HCV coinfected patients regardless of sex or HCV disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet (HDW) was introduced by Wuille in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 32 (BIP32). HDW enables an individual/organization to generate cryptographic keys and subsequently ease the key management problems (e.g., backup and recovery). Since the first HDW algorithm in 2012, HDW has gradually shown its fit for many promising use cases, such as Bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies, global key revocation in FIDO2 standard. In order to achieve all the features (i.e., deterministic derivation, master public key and hierarchy) and the security (i.e., safety of cryptocurrencies and privacy protection of users) requirements for HDW, Yin et al. (ESORICS 2022) conceptualized Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet supporting Stealth Address (HDWSA), and gave a provably secure construction from the standard Computational Diffie-Hellman Assumption. Unfortunately, the construction is not quantum-resistant. In this work, we propose the first HDWSA construction from lattices to fill this gap, we provide the security proof for the construction in the random oracle model (ROM) based on hard problems over lattices. Compared with existing works, to the best of our knowledge, our construction not only captures all the HDW features and security properties, but also provides the potential quantum resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transmission of offshore wind power through High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems is an important way to utilization of offshore renewable energy. However, onshore AC grid faults can make it difficult to transmit the energy from offshore wind farms, resulting in HVDC system overvoltages. Existing solutions to this problem mainly include adding DC or AC energy-dissipation devices, adding communication systems, and improving the fault ride-through(FRT) strategy of wind turbines, which have issues with economics or reliability. Based on this, this paper proposes a device-free, communication-free FRT strategy, and the fault ride-through strategy of wind turbines does not need improvement. The exchange of active power between the AC side and DC side of the onshore MMC is calculated under grid-following and grid-forming control strategy. The reference value of DC voltage and offshore MMC capacitance energy are proposed at different control stages. Especially, the dynamically calculated offshore AC voltage reference values have been theoretically provided. This approach ensures that the HVDC system avoids over-voltage and effectively stores more energy. The effectiveness and correctness of the proposed scheme were verified through simulation on the RTDS platFform. This paper is of great significance to promote the development of offshore renewable energy and ensure the safe operation of offshore wind HVDC systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Synthesis of COFs modified Nylon microfiltration substrates by interfacial polymerization. • The COFs layer has an impact on subsequent IP processes confirmed by MD simulation. • The polyester layer has hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. • The COF-PE/Nylon membrane shows excellent separation performance. Currently, polyester (PE) membranes prepared using green materials have gained more attention in the membrane separation field. Most of the previously reported PE membranes are synthesized on ultrafiltration substrate, which hinders the enhancement of water permeance. This paper proposes a new strategy to fabricate PE membranes with covalent organic frameworks (COFs) modified microfiltration substrate via interfacial polymerization (IP). On the one hand, COFs modify the Nylon microfiltration substrate while affecting the subsequent IP process to obtain the thinner and smoother selective layer. This process was also analyzed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. On the other hand, the excellent hydrophilicity of the PE layer also endowed the anti-fouling properties of the covalent organic frameworks-polyester/Nylon (COF-PE/Nylon) membrane. The optimal COF-PE/Nylon membrane had 99.6 % Congo red (CR) rejection, and dye/salt (CR/NaCl) selectivity was 63.1. Meanwhile, the pure water permeance reached 157.5 L m−2h−1 bar−1, higher than the PE membrane prepared on the ultrafiltration substrate. The present work demonstrated the excellent separation performance of COF-PE/Nylon membranes and provided a reference for subsequent PE membrane preparation on various substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Resveratrol stability was improved by WPI but not affected by reconstituted WPI. • The accelerated degradation of resveratrol ranked in order BSA > α-LA > β-LG. • Interactions of proteins in R-WPI involved non-covalent and disulfide bonds. • R-WPI was more beneficial to resveratrol stability than its constituent proteins. • α-LA had weaker interaction with resveratrol in comparison to BSA and β-LG. Whey protein isolate (WPI) is mainly composed of β-lactoglobulin (β-LG), α-lactalbumin (α-LA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The aim of this study was to compare and analyze the influence of WPI and its three main constituent proteins, as well as proportionally reconstituted WPI (R-WPI) on resveratrol. It was found that the storage stability of resveratrol was protected by WPI, not affected by R-WPI, but reduced by individual whey proteins at 45°C for 30 days. The rank of accelerated degradation of resveratrol by individual whey proteins was BSA > α-LA > β-LG. The antioxidant activity, localization of resveratrol and oxidation of carrier proteins were determined by ABTS, H 2 O 2 assay, synchronous fluorescence, carbonyl and circular dichroism. The non-covalent interactions and disulfide bonds between constituent proteins improved the antioxidant activity of the R-WPI-resveratrol complex, the oxidation stability of the carrier and the solvent shielding effect on resveratrol, which synergistically inhibited the degradation of resveratrol in R-WPI system. The results gave insight into elucidating the interaction mechanism of resveratrol with protein carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ciprofol is a recently developed, short-acting γ-aminobutyric acid receptor agonist sedative that is more potent than propofol, but there have been few clinical studies of this agent to date. Here, we sought to examine the safety and efficacy of ciprofol use for the induction of general anesthesia in individuals undergoing gynecological surgery. Methods: Women between the ages of 18 and 60 years (ASA physical status 1 or 2) who were scheduled to undergo elective gynecological surgery under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to two equally sized groups in which anesthesia induction was performed using either ciprofol or propofol. General anesthesia induction success rates were the primary outcome for this study, while secondary outcomes included changes in BIS during the 10 min following the first administration of the study drug, the duration of successful induction, and adverse event incidence. Results: A total of 120 women were included in the study. A 100% rate of successful induction was achieved in both the ciprofol and propofol groups, with no significant differences between these groups with respect to the duration of successful induction (34.8 ± 15.5 s vs 35.4 ± 9.5 s, P = 0.832), the time to the disappearance of the eyelash reflex (33.7 ± 10.6 s vs 34.0 ± 6.5 s, P = 0.860), or tracheal intubation (58.2 ± 31.1 s vs 53.9 ± 25.4 s, P = 0.448). Adverse event rates, including intubation responses, were significantly lower in the ciprofol group as compared to the propofol group(20% vs 48.33%, P = 0.0019). Ciprofol was associated with reduced injection pain relative to propofol (16.7% vs 58.3%, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Ciprofol exhibits comparable efficacy to that of propofol when used for the induction of general anesthesia in individuals undergoing gynecological surgery and is associated with fewer adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Commentary discusses two recent papers exploring how plants combat infection by vascular pathogens via modulating lignin production and via MAP kinase signaling cascades. For instance, we do not know how the plant immune machinery recognizes diverse vascular pathogens, and whether the MKP1-MAPK-MYB cascade contributes to defense against other vascular pathogens, for example, I Ralstonia solanacearum i , I Xylella fastidiosa i , I phytoplasmas i , and vasculature-feeding insects. Pathogens also attempt to escape or overcome the host plant immune responses; therefore, unlike pathogens specifically infecting mesophyll cells, a large number of bacterial pathogens evolved to colonize the plant vascular system as their niche, so called "vascular pathogens". [Extracted from the article]

The Roseobacter clade represents one of the most abundant groups of marine bacteria and plays important biogeochemical roles in marine environments. Roseobacter genomes commonly contain a conserved gene transfer agent (GTA) gene cluster. A major capsid protein-encoding GTA (g5) has been used as a genetic marker to estimate the diversity of marine roseobacters. Here, the diversity of roseobacters in the coastal seawater of Arctic Kongsfjorden and Antarctic Maxwell Bay was investigated based on g5 gene clone library analysis. Four g5 gene clone libraries were constructed from microbial assemblages representing Arctic and Antarctic regions. The genus Phaeobacter was exclusively detected in Arctic seawater, whereas the genera Jannaschia, Litoreibacter and Pacificibacter were only observed in Antarctic seawater. More diverse genera within the Roseobacter clade were observed in Antarctic clones than in Arctic clones. The genera Sulfitobacter, Loktanella and Yoonia were dominant (higher than 10% of total clones) in both Arctic and Antarctic samples, implying their roles in polar marine environments. The results not only indicated a bipolar or even global distribution of roseobacters in marine environments but also showed their endemic distribution either in the Arctic or Antarctic. Endemic phylotypes were more frequently observed in polar regions than cosmopolitan phylotypes. In addition, endemic phylotypes were more abundant in Arctic samples (84.8% of Arctic sequences) than in Antarctic samples (54.3% of Antarctic sequences). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: TRIpartite motif (TRIM) proteins are important members of the Really Interesting New Gene‐finger‐containing E3 ubiquitin‐conjugating enzyme and are involved in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the diverse expression patterns of TRIMs and their roles in prognosis and immune infiltrates in HCC have yet to be analyzed. Materials: Combined with previous research, we used an Oncomine database and the Human Protein Atlas to compare TRIM family genes' transcriptional levels between tumor samples and normal liver tissues, as verified by the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis database. We investigated the patient survival data of TRIMs from the Kaplan–Meier plotter database. Clinicopathologic characteristics associations and potential diagnostic and prognostic values were validated with clinical and expressional data collected from the cancer genome atlas. Results: We identified TRIM28, TRIM37, TRIM45, and TRIM59 as high‐priority members of the TRIMs family that modulates HCC. Low expression of TRIM28 was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) than high expression (log‐rank p = 0.009). The same trend was identified for TRIM37 (p = 0.001), TRIM45 (p = 0.013), and TRIM59 (p = 0.011). Multivariate analysis indicated that the level of TRIM37 was a significant independent prognostic factor for both OS (p = 0.043) and progression‐free interval (p = 0.044). We performed expression and mutation analysis and functional pathways and tumor immune infiltration analysis of the changes in TRIM factors. Conclusion: These data suggested that TRIM28, TRIM37, TRIM45, and TRIM59 could serve as efficient prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin-film composite (TFC) membranes have been recently applied in the mono/divalent ions separation, which is essential for resource recycle, wastewater treatment, and lithium resource extraction. However, the TFC membranes fabricated between the polyethyleneimine (PEI) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) usually show a low water permeance. Herein, piperazine (PIP) is added in the PEI aqueous phase solution to fabricate a polyamide (PA) layer for the enhancement of water permeance. Meanwhile, the diffusion rate of PIP to the two-phase interface is reduced by the hydrogen bond effect between PIP and MPDTp COFs interlayer, which can weaken the reaction of PIP and TMC and maintain a high ion rejection. Pure water permeance of the obtained PA-PIP/Fe-COF/PES membrane is 16.1 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, and the Li+/Mg2+ separation factor is 73.0, which is almost two times higher than the PA-PIP/PES under Li+/Mg2+ mass ratio of 1:20. Besides, the membrane also keeps satisfactory performance in Na+/Mg2+, Cl−/SO 4 2−, Na+/Ca2+ separation, and ten days of long-term testing. Therefore, this work raises a new strategy to prepare a high-efficiency mono/divalent ions separation nanofiltration membrane. Herein, a MPDTp COFs interlayer was used to slow down the diffusion rate of piperazine (PIP) in the PIP and polyethyleneimine (PEI) mixed aqueous phase. At the interface, PIP reacted with trimesoyl chloride (TMC) was weakened, and the proportion of polyamide (PA) layer generated between PEI and TMC increased and the pore size became smaller. The PA-PIP/Fe-COF/PES membrane showed better and more efficient mono/divalent ions separation performance. [Display omitted] • MPDTp COFs layer is successfully fabricated via the catalysis of Fe(NO 3) 3 ·9H 2 O. • The membrane water permeance increases owing to the addition of PIP. • The reaction between PIP and TMC is weakened by MPDTp COFs interlayer. • The membrane possesses good performance of mono/divalent ions separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild soybean (Glycine soja) is known for its high flavonoid contents, yet the distribution of flavonoids in the seeds is not well understood. Herein, we utilized matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) and metabolomics methods to systematically investigate flavonoid differences in the seed coats and embryos of G. soja and G. max. The results of flavonoid profiles and total flavonoid content analyses revealed that flavonoid diversity and abundance in G. soja seed coats were significantly higher than those in G. max whereas the levels were similar in embryos. Specifically, 23 unique flavonoids were identified in the seed coats of G. soja , including procyanidins, epicatechin derivatives, and isoflavones. Using MALDI-MSI, we further delineated the distribution of the important flavonoids in the cotyledons, hypocotyls, and radicles of the two species. These findings imply that G. soja holds considerable breeding potential to enhance the nutritional and stress resistance traits of G. max. • MALDI-MSI was used for the first time to reveal the distinct distribution patterns of flavonoids in the wild and cultivated soybean seeds. • Compared with cultivated soybeans, flavonoid diversity and abundance in wild soybean seed coats were significantly higher, but similar in embryos. • This study underscores the potential nutritional and breeding value of wild soybean as a reservoir of flavonoid-rich germplasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Several intelligent identification models for microseismic events in TBM tunnelling are proposed. • Recurrent neural networks avoid the complex feature pre-extracted procedure and achieve the end-to-end identification. • A novel multi-metric ranking system is developed to model selection for geological engineers. • The bidirectional long short-term memory network with grey wolf optimization and attention mechanism attains the best identification performance. • Attention mechanism effectively improves the identification ability of the model. For TBM's safe and efficient tunnelling, the microseismic monitoring technique has been widely applied in rockburst warning. However, useful microseismic events are often mixed with noisy events, which seriously affects warning accuracy. To this end, this study proposes several hybrid deep learning-based microseismic identification approaches in TBM tunnelling, where recurrent neural networks directly treat monitored microseismic events as time series and avoid complex feature pre-extraction, and grey wolf optimization and attention mechanism are embedded to optimize model hyper-parameters and recognize value information. Additionally, the learning curve and early-stopping strategy are also integrated to reduce overfitting and underfitting risks. Results in a real TBM-excavated water conveyance tunnel indicate that the bidirectional long short-term memory network model combined with grey wolf optimization and attention mechanism achieves the greatest identification performance among discussed models and provides an effective support for intelligent identification of microseismic events under TBM tunnelling environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop the probabilistic model for assessing rockburst risk in TBM excavation. • Integrate probabilistic ensemble learning and quantum particle swarm optimization. • Merge the data of microseismic monitoring, TBM excavation, and surrounding rock. • Impose physical constraints from engineering activities and geological conditions. • Design a GUI system and validate its efficacy in a TBM diversion tunnel. In recent years, tunnel boring machines (TBMs) have become extensively utilized in underground engineering projects. However, as a prevalent type of dynamic geological hazard, rockburst poses a serious threat to the safety of personnel, equipment, and property. To ensure the safe advancement of TBMs, we integrate the data of microseismic monitoring, TBM excavation, and surrounding rock and establish multiple probabilistic assessment models of rockburst risk using probabilistic ensemble learning and quantum particle swarm optimization. In order to identify the most optimal model for geological engineers, a comprehensive evaluation system is devised based on metrics like accuracy, Cohen's kappa, and F 1 -score. This system provides a thorough assessment of the models' global and local generalization performance. The results indicate that the classification and regression tree-extremely randomized trees (CART-ERT) hybrid model achieves the highest score, demonstrating superior generalization performance with an accuracy of 93.06% and a Cohen's kappa of 0.9074. Moreover, the F 1 -scores for no rockburst, low rockburst, moderate rockburst, and strong rockburst are 0.9412, 0.9444, 0.9189, and 0.9189, respectively. Based on the operational framework of the CART-ERT hybrid model, a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) system is developed. This significantly enhances the practicality and deployability of the model. Through application in a TBM diversion tunnel project in Xinjiang, the on-site early-warning accuracy of rockburst with the GUI system reaches 90%. Notably, the GUI system maintains high early-warning sensitivity and reliability for high-intensity rockburst such as moderate and strong ones. Lastly, to enhance the model's interpretability, a variable importance measure (VIM) analysis on 14 features extracted from three types of heterogeneous data is conducted to assess their contributions to the early warning of rockburst. We discover that the cumulative energy change rate of microseismic events exhibits the highest importance score, indicating its crucial role in rockburst early warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hardware methods are costly and deep learning are slow due to huge computation. • Deep learning and ensemble learning is combined for accurate and fast calibration. • The temperature drift experiments of the filter are designed and conducted. • The calibration accuracy is increased and the computation time is reduced. Accurate and rapid demodulation plays a crucial role in fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing systems. The Fabry-Perot (F-P) filter is a dependable demodulation technique with excellent accuracy. However, the F-P filter suffers from demodulation error drift in a temperature-changing environment. The non-repeatable wavelength scanning affects the accuracy and stability of demodulation. To solve the problem, an accurate and rapid calibration approach is proposed for FBG demodulation. First, the temporal convolutional network (TCN) is utilized to extract the hidden information and long-term temporal relationships in the input features including temperature, a temperature changing rate, and shift of reference grating. Second, a state-of-the-art light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) capable of forecasting demodulation error is adopted for rapid forecasting. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the traditional TCN model and the composited-residual-block TCN (CTCN) model are both discussed, and the temperature-drift experiments are designed and conducted in two temperature-changing environments. The experimental results show that, compared to the widely applied long short-term memory (LSTM) model, the TCN-LightGBM model achieves higher prediction accuracy and reduces computation time by at least 59.68%. The proposed approach is an affordable and effective alternative to the existing hardware-based calibration techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system provides limited information for patients with early death from stage-I and stage-II gastric cancer (GC) and death at >5 years after radical gastrectomy. The aim of this study was to construct nomogram models to predict the mortality risk of these patients. In this study, clinical and pathological data on patients who underwent curative gastrectomy at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between 2000 and 2014 were retrospectively collected. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to screen for sensitive serum immune biomarkers to predict the risk of mortality death >5 years after radical gastrectomy (Group A) and risk of early death in stage-I and stage-II GC (Group B). The prediction model was constructed by combining serum immune markers with clinicopathological features by R Studio. We found that serum fibrinogen (F), systemic immune inflammation (SII), and pTNM stage were independent risk factors for prognosis in Group A (P < 0.05). F, SII, age, Borrmann type, and scope of gastrectomy were independent risk factors for prognosis in Group B (P < 0.05). The area under the curve of the predictive model in Groups A and B was 0.726 and 0.848, respectively. In conclusion, the predictive models of F and SII combined with clinicopathological features can predict high mortality risk in patients with stage-I and stage-II GC and >5 years after radical gastrectomy, which will contribute to the supplement of the traditional AJCC system and to individual survival prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to assess the influence factors of the mutual-support willingness and identify the mutual-support needs of elderly living in rural areas of Hunan Province, China.Methods: Using the Chi-square test and logistic regression to analyze factors influencing Participants' mutual-support willingness and needs.Results: Factors influencing the mutual-support willingness and needs included individual characteristics, family environment, and so on. And the rural elderly's demand for mutual-support is at a relatively high level. The total score for social support for the aged was 36.944 ± 6.487, at a moderate level.Conclusions: It is necessary to objectively evaluate the factors related to mutual-support willingness and needs and take steps to enhance social support and meet elderly the needs of mutual-support, which is of great significance for improving the happiness of the elderly in their later years and alleviating the crisis of population aging in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The incidence and mortality rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has changed in recent years. Our goal is to determine the epidemiological pattern of NPC to help policymakers allocate limited medical resources. Methods: Detailed information about NPC from 2009 to 2019 was collected from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 database. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) and corresponding estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) were calculated to assess NPC's incidence and mortality trends. Results: Globally, there was a consistent increase in the NPC incidence cases from 2009 to 2019 (from 121.65 × 103 cases in 2009 to 176.50 × 103 cases in 2019, increasing by 45.09%). The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of NPC increased from 1.81 in 2009 to 2.12 in 2019 (EAPC = 1.59, 95% CI 1.36–1.81). On the contrary, the mortality of NPC showed a downward trend (ASDR: 0.93 in 2009 and 0.86 in 2019; EAPC = − 0.63, 95% CI − 0.78 to − 0.48), and it was negatively correlated with the social demographic index (SDI) in most regions. Both incidence and mortality rates of high-incidence territories tended to be stable or decline. Males had significantly higher incidence and mortality of NPC than females. The number of patients with onset age greater than 50 years old accounted for the highest proportion. We found that smoking, occupational exposure to formaldehyde, and alcohol use were the main risk factors for NPC-related mortality. Conclusion: Globally, the incidence rate of NPC has been slightly increasing, while the mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) have been decreasing. NPC burden in high-middle and middle SDI areas was the heaviest. The current prevention strategy should be repositioned, and some countries should formulate more targeted approaches to reduce the current burden of NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent proposed Spatial-Temporal Residual Network (ST-ResNet) model is an effective tool to extract both spatial and temporal characteristics and has been successfully applied to urban traffic status prediction. However, the ST-ResNet model only extracts the local spatial characteristics and ignores the very important global spatial characteristics. In this paper, a novel Global-Local Spatial-Temporal Residual Correlation Network (GL-STRCN) model is proposed for urban traffic status prediction to further improve the prediction accuracy of the existing ST-ResNet model. The GL-STRCN model firstly applies Pearson's correlation coefficient method to extract high correlation series. Then, considering both global and local spatial properties, two components consisting of 2D convolution and residual operation are used to capture spatial features. After that, based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) or Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), a novel long-term temporal feature extraction component is proposed to capture temporal features. Finally, the spatial and temporal features are aggregated together in a weighted way for final prediction. Experiments have also been performed using two datasets from TaxiCD and PEMS-BAY. The results indicated that the proposed model produces a better prediction performance compared with the results based on other baseline solutions, e.g., CNN, ST-ResNet, GL-TCN, and DGLSTNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Follow-up time* is calculated from the end of phage therapy The remaining one had urinary tract infection due to PDR-Kp and received bladder instillation with a mixture of four phages for 5 days [[5]]. In addition, in one case receiving a single phage, sputum was collected hourly for culture and phage-resistant strains were detected at the 6th hour after phage therapy, imposing risks of treatment failure and recurrence. Phage therapy is an alternative approach for managing difficult-to-treat infections caused by multi-drug resistant microorganisms such as carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which represents a major challenge for treatment due to very limited options of antimicrobial agents [[1]]. [Extracted from the article]

Risk factors of lung cancer unrelated to smoking are not well-studied, especially among women. Family history has been shown to play a role in predisposing individuals to lung cancer, but this relationship has not been investigated in the Southeast Asian population. A total of 1159 women were recruited in a case–control study conducted in public hospitals in Singapore from 2005 to 2008. After excluding participants with incomplete family history information, 374 cases and 785 controls remained in the final analysis. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for potential confounders. Overall, family history of lung cancer was associated with a higher risk for lung cancer (aOR 2.08, 95% CI 1.25–3.47). When stratified by smoking status, a significant association was observed among never-smokers (aOR 2.78, 95% CI 1.57–4.90). Further stratification by fruit consumption identified a significant association between family history of lung cancer and higher risk of lung cancer among never-smokers who had low fruit consumption (aOR 3.09, 95% CI 1.37–7.01). Our findings suggest that family history of lung cancer is a significant risk factor for lung cancer in Singaporean Chinese women, especially among never-smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cananga odorata is known as a natural perfume tree of the Annonaceae family in Magnoliales. However, its phylogenetic position and the molecular mechanisms involved in the biosynthesis of the floral volatile organic compounds (VOCs) remain unclear.Here, by combining a variety of sequencing platforms, we present a telomere‐to‐telomere (T2T) genome of C. odorata with 735.83 Mb, which represents the highest integrity and assembly quality of genome in magnoliid plants reported to date. Phylogenetic analysis based on multiple datasets and approaches showed that C. odorata, as a member of magnoliids, is sister to eudicots, after their divergence from monocots.Metabolomic of VOCs in the essential oil and flowers scent showed that sesquiterpenes, especially β‐caryophyllene, were the major compounds. Two CoTPS21 homologues derived from tandem duplication events were highly expressed during flower development and were identified as the key sesquiterpene synthases for the production of β‐caryophyllene. In addition, CoSPL3 and CoSPL9 were considered as potential transcription factors for activating the expression of CoTPS21 homologues.Our results shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of the unique floral fragrance in C. odorata and provide new insights into the phylogenetic position of magnoliids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective response rate (ORR), and duration of response (DOR) were of lesser importance. Conclusion: In this study, patients highlighted that improving survival time was the most important and that QoL is also an important consideration. Discussions during treatment decision-making may benefit from broader conversations around treatment characteristics, including impacts on QoL and convenience of the regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, stem cell transplantation has a significant therapeutic effect on spinal cord injury (SCI), however, it is still challenging for the seed cells selection. In this study, in order to explore cells with wide neural repair potentials, we selected the pluripotent stem cells multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells, inducing the in vitro differentiation of human Muse cells into neural precursor cells (Muse-NPCs) by applying neural induction medium. Here, we found induced Muse-NPCs expressed neural stem cell markers Nestin and NCAM, capable of differentiating into three types of neural cells (neuron, astrocyte and oligodendrocyte), and have certain biological functions. When Muse-NPCs were transplanted into rats suffering from T10 SCI, motor function was improved. These results provide an insight for application of Muse-NPCs in cell therapy or tissue engineering for the repair of SCI in future. • Muse cells can be induced into neural precursor cells in vitro. • Muse-NPCs different into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes with their own functions in vitro. • Muse-NPCs promote the restoration of motor function in SCI rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on environmental-friendly surfactants are essential to potentially replace those highly toxic and non-biodegradable commercially available surfactants. Two biocompatible polymeric anionic (AS1) and nonionic (NS1) surfactants were successfully synthesised from palm oil derivatives via polyesterification. The cytotoxicity of surfactants was measured by in vitro succinate dehydrogenase activity (MTT assay). Results revealed that both surfactants achieved cell viability above 80% against human keratinocytes (HaCaT), mouse fibroblasts (3T3), mouse hepatocytes (H2.35) and canine kidney cells (MDCK) in both dose- and time-dependent manners. Antimicrobial potential of both surfactants was evaluated using minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) assay. Results indicated that AS1 had a significant antimicrobial activity against most of the tested Gram-positive bacteria. Meanwhile, only one of the Gram-negative bacteria (Acinetobacter baumannii) was successfully reduced by NS1. Both surfactants were subsequently compounded into natural rubber latex (NRL). From rheological study, AS1 exhibited better viscosity behaviour with longer linear viscoelastic region (LVR) towards high ammonia (HA) NRL, signifying its potential in providing stability in the latex environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most lethal cancer types with high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis. Recent studies have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were associated with the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer. In the current study, we have investigated the expression, biological function and mechanism of a lncRNA CTD-3252C9.4 in pancreatic cancer. Methods: The expression of CTD-3252C9.4 in pancreatic cancer cells and tissues was measured by qRT-PCR. In vitro and in vivo functional experiments assays were implemented for identifying CTD-3252C9.4 function in pancreatic cancer. Molecular relationships among CTD-3252C9.4, IRF1 and IFI6 were investigated via luciferase reporter assay, pulldown assay and ChIP assays. Results: CTD-3252C9.4 was found remarkably decreased in pancreatic cancer cells and tissues. Overexpression of CTD-3252C9.4 suppressed migration, invasion and proliferation, yet facilitated apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Then, IFI6 was identified as a downstream target that could be down-regulated by CTD-3252C9.4 and IFI6 overexpression could counteract the effects of CTD-3252C9.4 upregulation on the survival and apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells. Furthermore, mechanism experiments revealed that IRF1 was a transcriptional factor of IFI6 that can be blocked by CTD-3252C9.4 to inhibit IFI6 transcription. Conclusion: Our data indicated that CTD-3252C9.4 could promote pancreatic cancer cell apoptosis and restrain cell growth via binding IRF1 and preventing the transcription of IFI6, which may become a potential therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever virus (DENV) is a global health threat that is becoming increasingly critical. However, the pathogenesis of dengue has not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we employed bioinformatics analysis to identify potential biomarkers related to dengue fever and clarify their underlying mechanisms. The results showed that there were 668, 1901, and 8283 differentially expressed genes between the dengue-infected samples and normal samples in the GSE28405, GSE38246, and GSE51808 datasets, respectively. Through overlapping, a total of 69 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 51 were upregulated and 18 were downregulated. We identified twelve hub genes, including MX1, IFI44L, IFI44, IFI27, ISG15, STAT1, IFI35, OAS3, OAS2, OAS1, IFI6, and USP18. Except for IFI44 and STAT1, the others were statistically significant after validation. We predicted the related microRNAs (miRNAs) of these 12 target genes through the database miRTarBase, and finally obtained one important miRNA: has-mir-146a-5p. In addition, gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment were carried out, and a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to gain insight into the actions of DEGs. In conclusion, our study displayed the effectiveness of bioinformatics analysis methods in screening potential pathogenic genes in dengue fever and their underlying mechanisms. Further, we successfully predicted IFI44L and IFI6, as potential biomarkers with DENV infection, providing promising targets for the treatment of dengue fever to a certain extent. Author summary: Dengue fever is a mosquito borne viral disease caused by a single stranded RNA virus with four serotypes. DENV infection can cause various diseases, such as breakbone fever, haemorrhagic fever, and shock syndrome. As one of the most viral diseases leading to incidence rate and mortality in animal arthropods, Dengue fever has become an increasingly serious global health threat. However, the pathogenesis of dengue fever has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we used bioinformatics analysis to identify potential biomarkers associated with dengue fever and elucidate their underlying mechanisms. Finally, we predicted that IFI44L and IFI6 might be potential biomarkers of DENV infection. This finding provides a promising target for the treatment of dengue fever to a certain extent. In addition, the Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network were implemented to analyze the key differentially expressed genes after DENV infection, and the related mechanisms were illuminated by this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens, including nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS), is a public health concern. Pennsylvania conducts integrated surveillance for antimicrobial resistance in NTS from human and animal sources. Methods During 2015–2017, clinical laboratories submitted 4478 NTS isolates from humans and 96 isolates were found in 2520 retail meat samples. One hundred nine clinical isolates that shared pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns with meat isolates and all strains from meat samples were tested for susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. Six clinical and 96 NTS isolates from meat sources (total 102) were analyzed by whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Results Twenty-eight (25.7%) of the 109 clinical NTS and 21 (21.9%) of strains from meat sources had resistance to ≥3 antimicrobial drug classes (multidrug resistance). Sixteen of the 102 (15.7%) isolates analyzed by WGS had resistance mechanisms that confer resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins, such as ceftriaxone. We identified bla CTX-M-65 in 2 S. Infantis isolates from clinical and 3 S. Infantis isolates from meat sources. These 5 bla CTX-M-65–positive S. Infantis strains carried ≥5 additional resistance genes plus a D87Y mutation in gyrA that encodes fluoroquinolone resistance. WGS showed that isolates from patients and meat samples were within ≤10 and ≤5 alleles for S. Infantis and S. Reading, respectively. Conclusions A significant proportion of NTS isolates from human and animal sources were multidrug resistant and 16% had genetic mechanisms that confer resistant to ceftriaxone. These results emphasize need for integrated surveillance in healthcare and agricultural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]