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Interfacial water is ubiquitous on Earth, playing a crucial role in biology, chemistry, physics, materials science, and environmental science. Multiscale, hierarchical water motions on the surface of different materials under different conditions (temperature, hydration extent, pressure, etc.) and the coupling of this motion with the substrate/solute dynamics and the influence of these couplings on the material functions are complex, long lasting, interdisciplinary research topics. We herein focus on the coupling between the picosecond dynamical onset of substrates and their surface water at temperatures lower than the freezing point (273 K) and discuss the recent progress in the study of its molecular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrogen-based mineral phase transformation-flotation process can realize the efficient development of iron-bearing rare earth ores. The isothermal and non-isothermal decomposition mechanisms of bastnasite in the hydrogen atmosphere were studied to optimize the hydrogen-based mineral phase transformation process. The thermal decomposition of bastnasite first produced REOF, which would react with oxygen to produce rare earth oxides and fluorides during the analysis process. The thermal decomposition was an endothermic reaction, and the generated gas were mainly CO 2 and trace CO, with a mass loss of about 20%. Increasing the temperature can greatly promote the thermal decomposition. After thermal decomposition, the particles showed a layered structure, and many parallel slits run through the particles. The porosity and specific surface area of the particles were significantly improved. The apparent activation energy of isothermal decomposition was 71.80 ± 5.40 kJ/mol, and the kinetic mechanism was random nucleation and growth model (n = 2). The apparent activation energy of non-isothermal decomposition was 201.96 kJ/mol, and the kinetic mechanism was phase-boundary controlled reaction mechanism (n ≈ 2). [Display omitted] • Bastnaesite thermally decomposes in H 2 to form REOF, which is easy to be oxidized. • The thermal decomposition reaction of bastnaesite in H 2 is endothermic. • The particles exhibit a layered structure with a high specific surface area after decomposition. • The isothermal and non-isothermal decomposition kinetic mechanisms were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐infrared (NIR) phosphor‐converted light‐emitting diodes (pc‐LEDs) are considered as promising next‐generation light sources for optoelectronic and biomedical applications. Nevertheless, NIR phosphors with large bandwidths, long emission peaks, high external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) and valuable thermal stabilities are challenging to develop. Herein, this study reports a novel gallium germanate host, Ga3Al3Ge2O13 (GAGO), with a large bandgap and rigid host lattice for Cr3+ ion doping. The blue LED excitable GAGO:0.012Cr3+ phosphor can produce broadband NIR emission with a maximum intensity at 816 nm and a full‐width at half‐maximum (FWHM) of 187 nm. Notably, the phosphor also exhibits an excellent EQE of 35.8% and perfect thermal stability (I423 K/I298 K = 67.4%). Moreover, an attractive NIR afterglow duration of more than 24 h is achieved in the GAGO:0.004Cr3+ phosphor. The type and origin of the traps are discussed, and a possible long persistent luminescent (LPL) mechanism is proposed. Finally, an NIR pc‐LED based on a GAGO:0.012Cr3+ phosphor is fabricated. The results demonstrate that the obtained phosphors show great potential for use in night vision, nondestructive detection, bioimaging and information encryption. This study provides new insight into the development of broadband NIR luminescent materials with high efficiency, good thermal stability and extraordinary afterglow performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three congenetic Cd-MOFs with different pores were successfully synthesized via solvent-regulated strategy, and they were used as friction materials to regulate the TENG output, which could drive electrolysis systems to promote the direct bromination of aromatic compounds in high yields with good regioselectivity. [Display omitted] Optimizing friction materials based on molecular diversity in a molecular framework system is an effective method to improve the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). In this study, three cadmium(II) metal–organic frameworks (Cd-MOFs) with different cavities were synthesized solvothermally by the assembly of cadmium nitrate (Cd(NO 3) 2 ·4H 2 O), 4′,4′''-carbonylbis(([1,1′-biphenyl]-3,5-dicarboxylic acid)) (H 4 CBBD), and trans -1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (4,4′-bpe) via a solvent-regulated strategy. The topology and porosity of Cd-MOFs could be controlled effectively by the solvent constituents and were demonstrated to be closely related to their triboelectric behaviors. Theoretical calculations and experimental characterizations revealed that the TENGs fabricated by the Cd-MOF with maximum porosity exhibited the best triboelectric performance owing to the enhanced specific surface area and surface potential. In the applications, the high-output TENGs can be successfully used as an efficient power supply for electrochemical systems, enabling the direct bromination of aromatic compounds in high yields with good regioselectivity. This study provides a simple and feasible method to optimize positive friction materials at the molecular level and develops the practical applications of TENGs in electrochemical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the production process, the presence of surface defects seriously affects the quality of industrial products. Existing defect detectors are not suitable for surface with scattered distribution and complex texture of defects. In this study, a dual-branch information extraction and local attention anchor-free network for defect detection (DLA-FCOS), which is based on the fully convolutional one-stage network, is proposed to accurately locate and detect surface defects of industrial products. Firstly, a dual-branch feature extraction network (DFENeT) is proposed and used to improve the extraction ability of complex defects. Then, a local feature enhancement module is proposed, and a residual connection is established to enrich local semantic information. Meanwhile, the self-attention mechanism is introduced to form local attentional residual feature pyramid networks (LA-RFPN) to eliminate the influences of feature misalignments. The mean average accuracy (mAP) and frames per second (FPS) of the proposed DLA-FCOS on the cut layer of the tobacco packet defect dataset (CLTP-DD) are 96.8% and 20.7, respectively, which meets the requirements for accurate and real-time defect detection. Meanwhile, the average accuracy of the proposed DLA-FCOS on the NEU-DET and GC10-DET datasets is 78.4% and 67.7%, respectively. The results demonstrate that the DLA-FCOS has good feasibility and high generalization capability to perform defect detection tasks of industrial products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objective Methods Results Conclusion Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the synovium, known as synovium mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs), exhibit significant potential for articular cartilage regeneration owing to their capacity for chondrogenic differentiation. However, the microRNAs (miRNAs) governing this process and the associated mechanisms remain unclear. While mechanical stress positively influences chondrogenesis in MSCs, the miRNA‐mediated response of SMSCs to mechanical stimuli is not well understood.This study explores the miRNA‐driven mechano‐transduction in SMSCs chondrogenesis under mechanical stress.The surface phenotype of SMSCs was analysed by flow cytometry. Chondrogenesis capacities of SMSCs were examined by Alcian blue staining. High throughput sequencing was used to screen mechano‐sensitive miRNAs of SMSCs. The RNA expression level of COL2A1, ACAN, SOX9, BMPR2 and miR‐143‐3p of SMSCs were tested by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). The interaction between miR‐143‐3p and TLR4 was confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. The protein expression levels of related genes were assessed by western blot.High‐throughput sequencing revealed a notable reduction in miR‐143‐3p levels in mechanically stressed SMSCs. Gain‐ or loss‐of‐function strategies introduced by lentivirus demonstrated that miR‐143‐3p overexpression hindered chondrogenic differentiation, whereas its knockdown promoted this process. Bioinformatics scrutiny and luciferase reporter assays pinpointed a potential binding site for miR‐143‐3p within the 3′‐UTR of bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2). MiR‐143‐3p overexpression decreased BMPR2 expression and phosphorylated Smad1, 5 and 8 levels, while its inhibition activated BMPR2‐Smad pathway.This study elucidated that miR‐143‐3p negatively regulates SMSCs chondrogenic differentiation through the BMPR2‐Smad pathway under mechanical tensile stress. The direct targeting of BMPR2 by miR‐143‐3p established a novel dimension to our understanding of mechano‐transduction mechanism during SMSC chondrogenesis. This understanding is crucial for advancing strategies in articular cartilage regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of autonomous driving and monitoring technologies, there is increasing attention on non-intrusive target monitoring and recognition. This paper proposes an ArcFace SE-attention model-agnostic meta-learning approach (AS-MAML) by integrating attention mechanisms into residual networks for pedestrian gait recognition using frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) millimeter-wave radar through meta-learning. We enhance the feature extraction capability of the base network using channel attention mechanisms and integrate the additive angular margin loss function (ArcFace loss) into the inner loop of MAML to constrain inner loop optimization and improve radar discrimination. Then, this network is used to classify small-sample micro-Doppler images obtained from millimeter-wave radar as the data source for pose recognition. Experimental tests were conducted on pose estimation and image classification tasks. The results demonstrate significant detection and recognition performance, with an accuracy of 94.5%, accompanied by a 95% confidence interval. Additionally, on the open-source dataset DIAT-μRadHAR, which is specially processed to increase classification difficulty, the network achieves a classification accuracy of 85.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for tumor postoperative treatments aimed at recurrence prevention and tissue regeneration have raised wide considerations in the context of the design and functionalization of implants. Herein, an injectable hydrogel system encapsulated with anti-tumor, anti-oxidant dual functional nanoparticles has been developed in order to prevent tumor relapse after surgery and promote wound repair. The utilization of biocompatible gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) was geared towards localized therapeutic intervention. Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8@ceric oxide (ZIF-8@CeO2, ZC) nanoparticles (NPs) were purposefully devised for their proficiency as reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers. Furthermore, injectable GelMA hydrogels loaded with ZC NPs carrying doxorubicin (ZC-DOX@GEL) were tailored as multifunctional postoperative implants, ensuring the efficacious eradication of residual tumor cells and alleviation of oxidative stress. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to substantiate the efficacy in cancer cell elimination and the prevention of tumor recurrence through the synergistic chemotherapy approach employed with ZC-DOX@GEL. The acceleration of tissue regeneration and in vitro ROS scavenging attributes of ZC@GEL were corroborated using rat models of wound healing. The results underscore the potential of the multifaceted hydrogels presented herein for their promising application in tumor postoperative treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicles are among the most important contributors to global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, the lack of fuel-, vehicle type-, and age-specific information about global on-road CO2 emissions in existing datasets, which are available only at the sector level, makes these datasets insufficient to support the establishment of emission mitigation strategies. Thus, a fleet turnover model is developed in this study, and CO2 emissions from global on-road vehicles from 1970 to 2020 are estimated for each country. Here, we analyze the evolution of the global vehicle stock over 50 years, identify the dominant emission contributors by vehicle and fuel type, and further characterize the age distribution of on-road CO2 emissions. We find that trucks accounted for less than 5 % of global vehicle ownership but represented more than 20 % of on-road CO2 emissions in 2020. The contribution of diesel vehicles to global on-road CO2 emissions doubled during the 1970–2020 period, driven by the shift in the fuel-type distribution of vehicle ownership. The proportion of CO2 emissions from vehicles in developing countries such as China and India in terms of global emissions from newly registered vehicles significantly increased after 2000, but global CO2 emissions from vehicles that survived more than 15 years in 2020 still originated mainly from developed countries such as the United States and countries in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NSUN2-intellectual disability syndrome, also known as intellectual disability type 5 (MRT5), is an autosomal recessive disorder that is characterized by intellectual disability (ID), postnatal growth retardation, dysmorphic facies, microcephaly, short stature, developmental delay, language impairment and other congenital abnormalities. The disease is caused by mutations in the NSUN2 gene, which encodes a tRNA cytosine methyltransferase that has an important role in spindle assembly during mitosis and chromosome segregation. In this study, we recruited a family that had two individuals with ID. Whole exome sequencing was performed to identify a homozygous frameshift variant (c.1171_1175delACCAT(p.Thr391fs*18*)) in NSUN2 (NM_017755.5) in the proband. The varint was confirmed as segregating in his affected brother and his parents by Sanger sequencing. The individuals that we described showed a similar dysmorphology profile to that associated with MRT5. To analyze the correlations between genotypes of NSUN2 and phenotypes of individuals with ID, we examined 17 variants and the associated phenotypes from 32 ID individuals in current and previous studies. We concluded that mutations in NSUN2 cause a wide range of phenotypic defects. Although some clinical manifestations were highly variable, the core phenotypes associated with NSUN2 mutations were dysmorphic facies, microcephaly, short stature, ID, growth restriction, language impairment, hypotonia and delayed puberty. Our study expands the genetic spectrum of NSUN2 mutations and helps to further define the genotype-phenotype correlations in MRT5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional tectonic uplift information is recorded by knickpoints distributed in multiple rivers. The changing base level (mainstream) caused by tectonic uplift also controls karst development. Groundwater should drain as springs near the base level due to karstification usually occurring near the base level, but some drains were higher than the present river in the canyon. The assumption is proposed that the spring is more elevated than the current river formed at the older intermittent stage in uplift processes and that knickpoints at the elevation can correspond to the springs. A typical basin south of Daba Mountain is selected to identify the assumption. Three knickpoints with 11 karst landforms suggest that knickpoints can indicate the karst development elevation in the basin. This method is promoted to 29 basins around Daba Mountain which are separated into DTB (North Daba Mountain Pre-Land Thrust Fault Belt) representing north part and DFB (South Daba Mountain Pre-Land Fold Belt) representing south part to verify the effectiveness of the assumption. The result discovers that the knickpoints and karst landforms have a similar high-frequency elevation interval in DFB and little variance in DTB. The reason may be that DFB has better karstification conditions, including precipitation and carbonate rock cover area, than DTB. Knickpoints is an effective indicator for karst development in area that has sufficient karstification condition like DFB. This study may provide a new perspective on the relationship between karst development and tectonic uplift and a method to find the karst groundwater drain elevation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mining generally induces stress concentration around the goaf range, and the hard roof undergoes fracture and instability when the stress exceeds the tensile strength. It is crucial to investigate the mechanical behavior of the hard roof and determine the corresponding influencing factors of fracture. However, the roof load is treated as the normal distribution function or simple piecewise linear function in the existing research, which makes the model applicable only to specific load forms. For this purpose, the eight-segment linear function is used in this study to subdivide the supercharged load acting on the roof based on different foundation conditions, which can help one to avoid complex calculations of mechanical behavior and ensure proximity to the actual load. The coal seam in front of the coal wall is regarded as an elastic foundation, and the deflection curve equation is established by analyzing the force on the roof. The internal force and deformation of the hard roof are obtained before the initial and periodic fractures. The accuracy of this model is verified by comparing it with other models in the literature. The results of parameter sensitivity analysis indicate that with the increase of foundation stiffness, roof thickness, and support resistance, the deflection and bending moment significantly decrease. The deflection, bending moment, and shear force are generally positively correlated with goaf length. When the roof is thin and the coal seam is soft, the initial fracture position occurs at the midspan, while the periodic fracture always occurs inside the coal wall. The fracture position gradually moves toward the coal wall with the increase of coal seam stiffness for both the initial and the periodic fractures. The research results are helpful to understand the internal force and deformation mechanism of the hard roof and provide a valuable theoretical basis for predicting the fracture mode of the roof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently developed concept of optical skyrmions has introduced an exciting dimension to the emerging field of Poincaré engineering in optical lattices. There remains an unexplored territory in investigating system geometries to enhance the versatility of manipulating the topological landscape within optical lattices. Here, we present both experimental and theoretical evidence showcasing the periodic vectorial characteristics of field- and spin-based skyrmion lattices, generated by plasmonic vortices with varying topological charges. Our findings reveal that the geometric symmetry of the system plays a pivotal role in governing the periodic arrangement of these vortex patterns. Building upon this arrangement, the orbital–orbital coupling of plasmonic vortices gives rise to densely packed energy flow distributions, intricately bonded to topological charges. Consequently, this results in the formation of sublattices within the momentum space, each characterized by distinct k-vectors. Skyrmion and meron topologies, driven by the intrinsic spin–orbital coupling, are presented in these lattices. This proposed framework illuminates how symmetry serves as a fundamental tool in the manipulation of optical lattice topologies, opening up new avenues in fields ranging from optical trapping, laser writing, quantum gas microscopy, to electron quantum state control, each of which is poised to benefit from these nontrivial advances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promoting effect of hematite on the pyrolysis of corn straw was investigated. Hematite significantly increased the production of CO 2 , CO, and H 2 during the fluidization roasting process, while its effect on CH 4 was unremarkable. Control experiments using quartz verified the promotion effect of hematite. Specifically, hematite promoted both active pyrolysis and polycondensation reactions of corn straw but did not remarkably affect its dehydration. By promoting the ring-opening reactions and continuous cracking of macromolecular intermediates, hematite allowed for higher yields of CO 2 , CO, H 2 , alcohols, phenols, esters, and ethers. Hematite also promoted the reforming reactions between CO 2 and CH 4 , as well as between H 2 O and CH 4 , resulting in an insignificant increase in CH 4 production. In the polycondensation stage, hematite exerted a notable deoxidation effect, inducing the conversion of oxygenated compounds into benzene series through processes such as cyclization and aromatization, while generating small molecule products. Hematite played a vital catalyst role in this process, as no significant reforming reaction occurred at this stage in the absence of hematite. Moreover, kinetic analysis demonstrated that hematite changed the reaction mechanism in the active pyrolysis stage and lowered the apparent activation energy by about 80 kJ/mol, thereby confirming its kinetic promotion effect. [Display omitted] • The promotion of hematite on the pyrolysis of corn straw was validated. • Hematite obviously increased the yield of CO 2 , CO and H 2 from straw pyrolysis. • The activation energy was significantly decreased after adding hematite [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf gas exchange plays a critical role in determining crop final yield, and there is a threshold response of leaf gas exchange to water stress. It is of great significance to quantify crop water stress severity by using the response characteristics of leaf gas exchange to drought. However, it is currently unclear whether leaf gas exchange serve as a reliable indicator for predicting crop final yield in response to drought, which affects the accuracy of monitoring agricultural drought using physiological indicators during the crop growing season. This study determined the response threshold of leaf gas exchange to drought for spring wheat through a serials of soil dry-down experiments and used the threshold characteristics to construct and parameterize a spring wheat growth model. Spring wheat were designed to be irrigated with five treatments (with supplementary irrigation at 230 mm, 165 mm, 115 mm, 50 mm and 0 mm). Crop model were used to simulate and analyze the threshold response characteristics of grain yield to drought and compare them to the thresholds of leaf gas exchange indices for spring wheat. The results showed that the response threshold of stomatal conductance of spring wheat to fraction of transpirable soil water was 0.5, which was greater than that of transpiration rate and net photosynthetic rate, 0.4. The parameterized spring wheat growth model with the response threshold of net photosynthetic rate to fraction of transpirable soil water accurately simulated the aboveground biomass and final yield of spring wheat. The response threshold of spring wheat final yield to fraction of transpirable soil water was significantly smaller than that of leaf gas exchange parameters to fraction of transpirable soil water (0.18 versus 0.4). This indicates that there are certain problems in using physiological indicator such as leaf gas exchange indices during crop growing season to determine the agricultural drought severity and reflect the reduction of final crop yields due to drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is still one of the most widespread and harmful infectious diseases in the world. The presence of reservoirs housing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) represents a significant impediment to the development of clinically applicable treatments on a large scale. The viral load in the blood can be effectively reduced to undetectable levels through antiretroviral therapy (ART), and a higher concentration of HIV is sequestered in various tissues throughout the body, forming the tissue reservoir - the source of viremia after interruption treatment. We take the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) as a guideline for this review. In June 2023, we used the Pubmed, Embase, and Scopus databases to search the relevant literature published in the last decade. Here we review the current strategies and treatments for eliminating the HIV tissue reservoirs: early and intensive therapy, gene therapy (including ribozyme, RNA interference, RNA aptamer, zinc finger enzyme, transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9)), 'Shock and Kill', 'Block and lock', immunotherapy (including therapeutic vaccines, broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs), chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy (CAR-T)), and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The existence of an HIV reservoir is the main obstacle to the complete cure of AIDS. Choosing the appropriate strategy to deplete the HIV reservoir and achieve a functional cure for AIDS is the focus and difficulty of current research. So far, there has been a lot of research and progress in reducing the HIV reservoir, but in general, the current research is still very preliminary. Much research is still needed to properly assess the reliability, effectiveness, and necessity of these strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) and homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in the context of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) remains an area of ambiguity. This investigation was designed to elucidate the potential association between RC and HOMA-IR in a cohort of American adults diagnosed with MAFLD. Data from 5533 participants were procured from the 2017–2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) databases. A weighted linear regression model was employed to analyze the association between RC and HOMA-IR in the context of MAFLD. Preliminary analysis revealed that 44.67% of the participants were diagnosed with MAFLD, with a higher prevalence observed in individuals aged 50–64 years (31.84%, p < 0.0001) and in males compared to females (53.48% vs. 46.52%, p < 0.0001). A positive correlation was identified between RC and HOMA-IR in MAFLD patients. The threshold effect analysis model indicated a breakpoint at RC = 30 mg/dl, with a more pronounced positive correlation when RC < 30 mg/dl (β = 0.17, p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis further demonstrated that among all lipid parameters, RC exhibited the largest area under the curve. The study findings suggest a positive correlation between RC and HOMA-IR in MAFLD patients, indicating that elevated RC may serve as an independent risk factor for MAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The large amphibious freshwater apple snail is an important invasive species in China, but there is currently no method available for their surveillance. The development and popularization of smartphones provide a new platform for research on surveillance technologies for the early detection and effective control of invasive species. Methods: The ASI surveillance system was developed based on the infrastructure of the WeChat platform and Amap. The user can directly enter the game interface through the WeChat port on their mobile phone, and the system automatically obtains their location. The user can then report the location of apple snails. The administrator can audit the reported information, and all information can be exported to Microsoft Excel version 2016 for analysis. The map was generated by ArcGIS 10.2 and was used to characterize the spatial and temporal distribution of apple snails in Jiangsu Province. Results: The architecture of ASI consists of three parts: a mobile terminal, a server terminal and a desktop terminal. We published more than 10 tweets on the official WeChat account of the system to announce it to the public, and a total of 207 users in 2020 and 2021 correctly reported sightings of apple snails. We identified 550 apple snails breeding sites in 2020 and 2021, featuring ponds (81%), parks (17%) and farmland (2%). In addition, most of the locations contained snail eggs, and the reporting times mainly occurred between May and September. Conclusions: The ASI is an effective surveillance system that can be used to identify the breeding locations of apple snails and provides the basis of prevention and control for its dispersal. Its successful development and operation provide new potential avenues for surveillance of other public health issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncolytic Newcastle disease virus is a new type of cancer immunotherapy drug. This paper proposes a scheme for delivering oncolytic viruses using hydrogel microneedles. Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) was synthesized by chemical grafting, and GelMA microneedles encapsulating oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were prepared by micro-molding and photocrosslinking. The release and expression of NDV were tested by immunofluorescence and hemagglutination experiments. The experiments proved that GelMA was successfully synthesized and had hydrogel characteristics. NDV was evenly dispersed in the allantoic fluid without agglomeration, showing a characteristic virus morphology. NDV particle size was 257.4 ± 1.4 nm, zeta potential was −13.8 ± 0.5 mV, virus titer TCID50 was 107.5/mL, and PFU was 2 × 107/mL, which had a selective killing effect on human liver cancer cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. The NDV@GelMA microneedles were arranged in an orderly cone array, with uniform height and complete needle shape. The distribution of virus-like particles was observed on the surface. GelMA microneedles could successfully penetrate 5% agarose gel and nude mouse skin. Optimal preparation conditions were freeze-drying. We successfully prepared GelMA hydrogel microneedles containing NDV, which could effectively encapsulate NDV but did not detect the release of NDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the increasing demand for trajectory tracking accuracy and high-efficiency requirements in modern mobile machinery, this paper proposes a practical adaptive robust control method based on the dual-valve parallel electro-hydraulic servo system. Existing tracking control strategies for such servo systems rely on a backstepping method and assume that full states are known, which is stringent in practice. To cope with the problem, we reduce the mathematical model order of the studied system using singular perturbation theory in this paper, and only the position feedback is required for the control implementation. Then, to achieve high accuracy tracking control, a direct adaptive robust control scheme combing with a dynamic flow allocation layer is adopted to synthesize the controller. With this method, parameter uncertainties and load disturbance are rejected, and valve characteristics are considered in the dynamic flow allocation layer to solve the flow redundancy problem, respectively. Convergence of the simplified system tracking results is proved theoretically. Extensive co-simulations and experimental tests are carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, both tracking precision and flow distribution can be achieved efficiently by simple parameter adjustments in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context Overactive bladder is treated mainly with behavioral and drug therapy, and symptoms of urinary frequency and incontinence are challenging to eliminate. There is thus a continuous unmet need for new drugs with a substitution effect mechanism. Objective It not known whether vitamin D deficiency can lead to overactive bladder or urinary incontinence or whether vitamin D supplementation alleviates bladder symptoms. This comprehensive systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether overactive bladder is associated with vitamin D deficiency. Data Sources The PubMed and Cochrane Library databases were searched systematically up to July 3, 2022. Data Extraction Initially, 706 articles were identified in the literature search, of which 13 were included in the systematic review: 4 randomized controlled trials, 3 cohort studies, 3 cross-sectional studies, and 3 case-control studies. Data Analysis An increased risk of overactive bladder and urinary incontinence was observed with vitamin D deficiency (odds ratio [OR] = 4.46; 95%CI, 1.03–19.33; P = 0.046 and OR = 1.30; 95%CI, 1.01–1.66; P = 0.036, respectively). Vitamin D levels were relatively low in patients with overactive bladder or urinary incontinence (SMD = −0.33; 95%CI, −0.61 to −0.06, P = 0.019). On the basis of existing data, the risk of urinary incontinence was reduced by 66% after vitamin D supplementation (OR = 0.34; 95%CI, 0.18–0.66; P = 0.001). Egger test was conducted to assess publication bias, and the results were tested for robustness using a sensitivity analysis. Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of overactive bladder and urinary incontinence, and vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of urinary incontinence. The development of new strategies to prevent or alleviate bladder symptoms is crucial. Vitamin D supplementation may be gaining recognition as an effective strategy for prevention or alleviation of bladder symptoms such as overactive bladder and incontinence. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO registration no. CRD42022351443. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important part of the energy transportation system, oil and gas pipelines are developing toward intelligence and digitalization. Vigorously developing and constructing pipeline networks based on intelligent methods such as big data and neural networks will help improve the efficiency of operation and management. This work provides an overview of recent developments of intelligent methods, including machine learning approaches, heuristic algorithms, and mathematical programming, used in the pipeline industry that can provide beneficial support for various applications enhancing operation and maintenance. Several aspects such as operating condition recognition, safety monitoring, pipeline remaining life prediction, and fault detection are reviewed and discussed. The study shows the need to focus on improving management level and ensuring pipeline safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: ALS2-related disorder involves retrograde degeneration of the upper motor neurons of the pyramidal tracts, among which autosomal recessive Infantile-onset ascending hereditary spastic paralysis (IAHSP) is a rare phenotype. In this study, we gathered clinical data from two Chinese siblings who were affected by IAHSP. Our aim was to assess the potential pathogenicity of the identified variants and analyze their clinical and genetic characteristics. Method: Here, Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on proband to identify the candidate variants. Subsequently, Sanger sequencing was used to verify identified candidate variants and to assess co-segregation among available family members. Utilizing both silico prediction and 3D protein modeling, an analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential functional implications of the variants on the encoded protein, and minigene assays were performed to unravel the effect of the variants on the cleavage of pre-mRNA. Results: Both patients were characterized by slurred speech, astasia, inability to walk, scoliosis, lower limb hypertonia, ankle clonus, contracture of joint, foot pronation and no psychomotor retardation was found. Genetic analysis revealed a novel homozygous variant of ALS2, c.1815G > T(p.Lys605Asn) in two Chinese siblings. To our knowledge, it is the first confirmed case of a likely pathogenic variant leading to IAHSP in a Chinese patient. Conclusion: This study broadens the range of ALS2 variants and has practical implications for prenatal and postnatal screening of IAHSR. Symptom-based diagnosis of IAHSP is frequently difficult for medical practitioners. WES can be a beneficial resource to identify a particular disorder when the diagnosis cannot be determined from the symptoms alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of novel phosphors with excellent luminescence properties for white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) is always a formidable task. Compared with the traditional laborious and aimless "trial and error" experiments, a mineral-inspired prototype strategy can provide an efficient and accurate method. Herein, for the first time, a novel yellow-emitting phosphor NaBaY2(PO4)3:Eu2+ was discovered using the mineral-inspired prototype strategy and cation substitution method. The phosphor was prepared via the high-temperature solid-state reaction method, and its crystal structure, luminescence properties and potential application for WLEDs were systematically investigated. The NaBaY2(PO4)3 phase was derived from the K2Mg2(SO4)3-type mineral structure and a photoluminescence study revealed that the phosphor can emit bright yellow light with a maximum at 545 nm upon excitation at 351 nm. A WLED lamp was fabricated by the use of a blend of commercial blue-emitting BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+, yellow-emitting NaBaY2(PO4)3:Eu2+ and red-emitting (Ca, Sr)AlSiN3:Eu2+ phosphors with a 380 nm LED chip. The CIE, CCT, Ra and efficiency of the as-fabricated LEDs were measured to be equal to (0.366, 0.365), 4327 K, 91.2 and 40.8 lm W−1, respectively. These results suggest that NaBaY2(PO4)3:Eu2+ could be a promising candidate for n-UV WLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a dual‐optimized adaptive algorithm based on continuous wavelet transform and derivative precise peak capture is developed for fiber cavity ring‐down spectroscopy. Adaptive spectral signal processing is achieved so that peak selection blindness can be effectively solved. To verify the performance of the dual‐optimized adaptive algorithm, a highly sensitive refractive index sensor using a bandgap fiber‐based linear fiber cavity is demonstrated. The developed dual‐optimized adaptive algorithm is compared with the conventional maximum extraction algorithm, and the results show that the dual‐optimized adaptive algorithm has a better performance in suppressing noise and processing superimposed peaks. A stable enhancement factor of 5 is obtained, indicating that the newly developed dual‐optimized adaptive algorithm can generate a high‐quality cavity ring‐down spectrum for applications including refractive index sensors, biosensors, strain gauges, and pressure sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile edge computing as an emerging technique can provide services for mobile terminals, and meanwhile the mobility of users brings new challenges. When a user moves across different areas, the system needs to determine whether to migrate service so as to guarantee quality of experience for the user. However, it is difficult to obtain the optimal migration policy in real time due to the huge state space. Considering delay‐sensitive data‐intensive applications run by mobile terminals with limited battery power, an efficient service migration policy should be able to make a good tradeoff among service cost, service delay and terminal energy consumption. Here, an online Monte Carlo‐based service migration (MCSM) policy is proposed to minimize service cost under constraints of deadline and terminal energy consumption. A penalty mechanism is designed to update reward when partial or all constraints are not meet. State‐action value estimation and policy improvement are triggered only on the completion of each episode. Each episode is traversed reversely to calculate the average cumulative reward so as to improve policy. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can improve service success ratio and reduce average service cost compared to the existing service migration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: OsSWEET1b is a hexose transporter protein, which localized in cell membranes and interacting with itself to form homodimer and knockout of OsSWEET1b resulted in reduced leaves sugar content and accelerating leaf senescence. In the rice genome, the SWEET gene family contains 21 homologous members, but the role of some of them in rice growth and development is still unknown. The function of the sugar transporter OsSWEET1b protein in rice was identified in this research. Expression analysis showed that the expression levels of OsSWEET1b in leaves were higher than that in other tissues. The hexose transport experiment confirmed that OsSWEET1b has glucose and galactose transporter activity in yeast. Subcellular localization indicates that OsSWEET1b protein was targeted to the plasma membrane and BiFC analysis showed that OsSWEET1b interacts with itself to form homodimers. Functional analysis demonstrated that the ossweet1b mutant plants were have reduced the sucrose, glucose, fructose, starch and galactose contents, and induced carbon starvation-related gene expression, which might lead to carbon starvation in leaves at filling stage. The ossweet1b knockout plants showed decreased chlorophyll content and antioxidant enzyme activity, and increased ROS accumulation in leaves, leading to leaf cell death and premature senescence phenotype at filling stage. In ossweet1b mutants, the leaf senescence-related gene expression levels were increased and the abundance of photosynthesis-related proteins was decreased. Loss of OsSWEET1b were affected the starch, sucrose metabolism and carbon fixation in photosynthetic organelles pathway by RNA-seq analysis. The destruction of OsSWEET1b function will cause sugar starvation, decreased photosynthesis and leaf senescence, which leading to reduced rice yield. Collectively, our results suggest that the OsSWEET1b plays a key role in rice leaves carbohydrate metabolism and leaf senescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we consider a robust optimal proportional reinsurance and investment problem in a model with delay and dependent risks, in which the insurer's surplus process is assumed to follow a risk model with two dependent classes of insurance business. The insurer is allowed to purchase proportional reinsurance and invest his surplus in a financial market, which contains one risk-free asset and one risky asset whose price process satisfies a jump-diffusion model. Under the consideration of the performance-related capital inflow or outflow, the insurer's wealth process is modeled by a stochastic differential delay equation. The insurer's aim is to develop the robust optimal reinsurance and investment strategy for the insurer by maximizing the expected exponential utility of the combination of the average historical performance and terminal wealth under the worst-case scenario of the alternative measures. By adopting the stochastic dynamic programming technique, the expressions of the robust optimal strategy and value function are explicitly obtained. Finally, we present some numerical examples to illustrate the effects of some model parameters on the optimal strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A highly excited electronic state of dicopper is observed and characterized for the first time. The [ 39.6 ] 0 u + - X 1 Σ g + ( 0 g + ) system is measured at rotational resolution by using degenerate and two-color resonant four-wave-mixing, as well as laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Double-resonance experiments are performed by labeling selected rotational levels of the ground state by tuning the probe laser wavelength to transitions in the well-known (1-0) band of the B 0 u + - X 1 Σ g + ( 0 g + ) electronic system. Spectra obtained by scans of the pump laser in the UV wavelength range were then assigned unambiguously by the stringent double-resonance selection rules. The absence of a Q-band suggests a parallel transition (ΔΩ = 0) and determines the term symbol of the state as 0 u + in Hund's case (c) notation. The equilibrium constants for 63Cu2 are Te = 39 559.921(92) cm−1, ωe = 277.70(14) cm−1, Be = 0.104 942(66) cm−1, and re = 2.2595(11) Å. These findings are supported by high-level ab initio calculations at the MRCI+Q level, which clearly identifies this state as resulting from a 4p ← 3d transition. In addition, three dark perturber states are found in the v = 1 and v = 2 vibrational levels of the new state. A deperturbation analysis characterizes the interaction and rationalizes the anomalous dips in the excitation spectrum of the [ 39.6 ] 0 u + - X 1 Σ g + ( 0 g + ) system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on multi‐source data, including observation, analysis, model calculation, satellite remote sensing, and scenario estimation data, this study has systematically analysed the warming and dry–wet change characteristics of the Yellow River's upper reaches in the last 60 years. The causes and features of the current warming and humidification and their impact on surface water resources are also discussed. This study found that since 1961, the average temperature in the Yellow River's upper reaches has increased at a rate of 0.37°C/10a, which is more significant than the increases observed for the world, China, and even northwest China in the same period. At the beginning of this century, the rate of change in precipitation in the Yellow River's upper reaches reversed direction from decreasing to increasing, with a significant increase (35 mm/10a) since 2000. Therefore, climate change has shown a significant warming and humidification trend in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. From the dynamic change perspective, the Yellow River's upper reaches were warming and drying in each climatic period from 1961 to 2010; however, the tendency towards dryness slowed period by period. In contrast, the region showed consistent warming and humidification from 1991 to 2020. From the perspective of multiple time scales, the change in average temperature is mainly dominated by the multi‐decadal scale. In contrast, precipitation is dominated by interannual change. The increase in the multi‐decadal component in average temperature and precipitation explains the current warming and humidification. Precipitation changes in the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin are mainly affected by the westerly circulation, the East Asian summer monsoon, and the South Asian summer monsoon circulation systems. However, precipitation was affected by different circulation factors on different time scales. On an interannual scale, it was mainly affected by the South Asian summer monsoon circulation. On an interdecadal scale, it was mainly affected by the westerly wind and the East Asian summer monsoon circulation. On a multi‐decadal scale, it was jointly influenced by the westerly wind, the East Asian summer monsoon, and the South Asian summer monsoon circulation. Under the control of multi‐decadal synergistic enhancement of the westerly, the East Asian summer monsoon, and the South Asian summer monsoon circulations, the vertical field shows an abnormal upward movement. There has been a significant abnormal easterly and southerly airflow that transports water vapour, and cold air is transported along the northwest airflow at the back of the Mongolian cyclone, which makes the climate in the upper reaches of the Yellow River more humid. The warming and humidifying of the upper reaches of the Yellow River has significantly increased runoff and lake area and significantly degraded the frozen soil. The surface water budget in the Yellow River's upper reaches has significantly responded to the current warming and humidification. The actual surface evapotranspiration and surface runoff increased significantly, but the net surface water budget still showed a decreasing trend. The increase in precipitation did not change the surface water deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of plasma membrane integrity poses a serious threat to cells, and the plasma membrane repair mechanism is vital to cell survival. To investigate the plasma membrane repair mechanism, a method for causing controllable plasma membrane injury on single cells and the visualization of the plasma membrane repair process are proposed. A microregion with harmful chemicals is created by open microfluidic probe, which is applied to target single cells for injury. The injury time is precisely controlled by simply moving the target cells in and out of the microregion. Wound‐repair process caused by injury is analyzed by fluorescence imaging in real time, revealing the repair kinetics at the single cell level. Using this method, the effect of external conditions (Ca2+, Mg2+, glucose) on plasma membrane repair in single cells is studied and the dynamics of intracellular species (Ca2+) is monitored. Meanwhile, cellular heterogeneity of plasma membrane repair is revealed. This method provides a precise way to induce chemical plasma membrane injury at the single‐cell level, which is a promising tool to study the mechanism of plasma membrane repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By synergistically employing four key strategies: (I) introducing tetraphenylethylene groups as the central core unit with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) properties, (II) optimizing the π‐conjugated length by extending the building block branches, (III) incorporating flexible groups containing ethylenic bonds, and (IV) applying crystal engineering to attain dense stacking mode and highly twisty conformation, we successfully synthesized a series of hydrogen‐bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) exhibiting exceptional one/two‐photon excited fluorescence. Notably, when utilizing the fluorescently superior building block L2, HOF‐LIFM‐7 and HOF‐LIFM‐8 exhibiting high quantum yields (QY) of 82.1 % and 77.1 %, and ultrahigh two‐photon absorption (TPA) cross‐sections of 148959.5 GM and 123901.1 GM were achieved. These materials were successfully employed in one and two‐photon excited lysosome‐targeting cellular imaging. It is believed that this strategy, combining building block optimization and crystal engineering, holds significant potential for guiding the development of outstanding fluorescent HOF materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By synergistically employing four key strategies: (I) introducing tetraphenylethylene groups as the central core unit with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) properties, (II) optimizing the π‐conjugated length by extending the building block branches, (III) incorporating flexible groups containing ethylenic bonds, and (IV) applying crystal engineering to attain dense stacking mode and highly twisty conformation, we successfully synthesized a series of hydrogen‐bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) exhibiting exceptional one/two‐photon excited fluorescence. Notably, when utilizing the fluorescently superior building block L2, HOF‐LIFM‐7 and HOF‐LIFM‐8 exhibiting high quantum yields (QY) of 82.1 % and 77.1 %, and ultrahigh two‐photon absorption (TPA) cross‐sections of 148959.5 GM and 123901.1 GM were achieved. These materials were successfully employed in one and two‐photon excited lysosome‐targeting cellular imaging. It is believed that this strategy, combining building block optimization and crystal engineering, holds significant potential for guiding the development of outstanding fluorescent HOF materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backfill coal mining technology has drawn widespread attention due to its benefits of "controlling surface deformation and subsidence, reducing mining-induced disturbance in the stope, and recycling solid mine wastes". However, the backfill coal mining technology is still progressing slowly in China. The geological environment of China's mining areas is complex and highly diversified, and backfill coal mining is expected to fulfill different goals in a wide range of engineering scenarios. These facts explain the poor reproducibility of backfill coal mining projects. This study reviews the existing backfill coal mining systems in China. Based on findings from a survey of engineering cases, we summarize five types of new backfill coal mining methods classified by deployment style; namely, borehole grouting backfill, roadway backfill, borehole–roadway backfill, in situ backfill, and roadway-in-situ backfill. A total of 15 backfill coal mining methods falling into the above five categories are described. An engineering design workflow for backfill coal mining consisting of five steps is proposed; namely, identifying the targets of backfill, analyzing the feasibility of deploying the backfill system, comparing the engineering quantities of different engineering schemes, estimating the economic efficiency of backfill, and backfill performance tracking and monitoring. Real cases of backfill engineering design are analyzed to inform the fast and reasonable design of backfill strategy for specific working faces in certain coal mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of society is greatly influenced by the physical strength of its individuals. As heirs of social construction, college students play a crucial role in national progress, and their physical health is an essential component of their well-being. However, the increasing competition for talent in today's rapidly advancing world has led to significant pressure on college students in various aspects of their lives. Despite the importance of physical exercise, students often lack the time and knowledge to engage in appropriate exercise programs that suit their individual needs. To address this issue, this paper proposes an improved K-means algorithm for the classification of college students' physical health data. The traditional K-means algorithm is known to be sensitive to noisy data, and thus, we introduce a variance-like weighting mechanism to improve its clustering accuracy. Our experimental results demonstrate that this algorithm can quickly and accurately cluster physical health data to provide a classification of each student's physical fitness. By using the physical classification of each student, we can recommend more suitable exercise programs to prioritize physical health management. This study highlights the significance of physical health in college students and encourages education departments to improve the efficiency of physical health management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mineral phase transformation (MPT) of hematite to magnetite by reduction roasting is a viable means of developing refractory iron ore resources. However, conventional coal-based reductants are prone to high carbon emissions and environmental pollution. Biomass, as a renewable green reductant, can make the MPT process more environmentally friendly while reducing the environmental impact associated with processing agricultural waste. This study systematically explored the feasibility of waste corn straw as a green reductant for hematite. Under the conditions of 8 min, 700 °C, a mass ratio of corn straw to hematite of 1:4, and a N2 flow rate of 300 mL/min, the best beneficiation indexes were achieved, with an iron grade of 69.82% and an iron recovery of 93.95%. During the MPT process, hematite was reduced under the action of corn straw, and the new magnetite particles were loose and porous, showing an acicular crystal structure. Meanwhile, the corn straw was converted into porous biochar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate aerosol transmission of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) from a source to recipient building using a previously published experimental study as a test case. The integrated model consisted of CFD simulations of PRRSV aerosol movement in the atmosphere and within the recipient building, viral infectivity decay, and infection dose-response. Specific hours with the appropriate wind direction during two days (June 6 and 7, 2006) were simulated, based on historical weather data. For a given airborne PRRSV concentration exhausted from the source building, the model predicted the PRRSV distribution, infectivity decay, and probability of infection in the recipient building. Simulations indicated that wind affected the aerosol entry into the recipient building, with more stable and continuous aerosol entry at lower wind speed conditions on June 7. Elevated aerosol and PRRSV concentrations on June 7 resulted in pigs being exposed to higher doses of PRRSV than on June 6, but this only made a difference in probability of infection when there was a moderate level of PRRSV (500 TCID m−3) exhausted from the source building. At this level, there was a difference in exposure dose for pigs at different locations (pens). Overall, the positive PRRSV air sample on the morning of June 7 in the previously reported experimental study confirmed the adequacy of the model simulations, which predicted the aerosol transmission event that infected pigs in the recipient building was likely to have occurred on June 7, 2006. • Model simulates aerosol transmission of animal diseases between buildings. • Model integrates CFD with infectivity decay and dose-response for PRRS virus in pigs. • Model able to account for virus levels in infected building and wind conditions. • Model adequately predicted infection probability in a neighbouring building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous elastomeric materials have wide applications in aerospace, electronics, biomedicine, and other fields. However, closed-form analytical solutions for macroscopic strain energy density of high-order porous elastomers have not been well resolved. In this work, we propose a new approach for constitutive modeling of porous elastomeric materials under large deformation, mainly relying on expressing the macroscopic strain energy density function of the composite material as a function of the strain energy of elastomer matrix via a strain-amplification relation. Such amplification relation, as constructed through a thick-walled sphere volume element model, is utilized in a mapping of the macroscopic deformation to the average deformation of elastomer matrix in the sense of the first invariant by a scaling coefficient–amplification factor, which depends on both the initial void volume fraction and the macroscopic volumetric deformation ratio. The analytical stress–stretch relation is then derived and given in simple form of only three material parameters. Discussions on how the factors affect the amplification factor are made and the behavior of the model is shown in several deformation simulations. The prediction results of this model are compared with those of existing models, and reasonable agreement is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthenozoospermia (AZS) is the primary cause of infertility in males. The radial spoke (RS) is an axonemal structure, connecting the peripheral doublet microtubules with the central pair of microtubules. This T‐shaped multiprotein complex functions as a mechanochemical sensor to promote sperm motility. LRRC23 is a novel subunit of the RS complex that is necessary for flagellar assembly and movement in mice. However, the importance of LRRC23 in modulating RS formation in humans remains unclear. Here, we identified a homozygous nonsense mutation in LRRC23 (c.376C>T:p. Arg126X) in an infertile AZS patient whose parents were consanguineous. We verified the adversity of this novel mutation because of its ability to disrupt LRRC23 synthesis and impair RSs integrity. Furthermore, we demonstrated an interaction between LRRC23 and RSPH3 in vitro, indicating that LCCR23 is associated with RS in humans. Meanwhile, the LRRC23‐mutant patient had a good prognosis following intracytoplasmic sperm injection. This study provides strong preliminary evidence that LRRC23 defects are potential causative factors of AZS in humans, which expands our knowledge for improved genetic counseling and better reproductive recommendations for patients with AZS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unveiling intracellular drug metabolism is crucial for improving drug development, which requires real‐time detection with molecular selectivity in the intracellular environment. Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with metal nanoparticles enables the detection of molecules in living cells, but after entering the cells, most nanoparticles are captured into vesicles, limiting the SERS detection inside these compartments. Moreover, the identification of the target signal in the complex intracellular environment is challenging due to Raman fingerprints from endogenous material interfering with the drug signal. To overcome these issues, here the coating of a silver nanowire with zeolitic imidazolate framework‐8 (ZIF‐8) as a novel endoscopic probe with molecular selectivity to investigate the location and metabolism in cells of a common anticancer drug, irinotecan, is reported. Irinotecan in cells is metabolized by carboxylesterase to form SN‐38, which inhibits topoisomerase I and DNA synthesis. Thanks to the molecular selectivity of ZIF‐8, the endoscopic probe selectively adsorbs and detects SERS signal of SN‐38 over irinotecan. This selectivity enables monitoring of the conversion of irinotecan into SN‐38 and following its intracellular location over time. This work clearly shows the potential of metal‐organic framework‐coated nanowire endoscopy to specifically track drug molecules and explore their metabolism in cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth‐telluride‐based alloy is the sole thermoelectric candidate for commercial thermoelectric application in low‐grade waste heat harvest near room temperature, but the sharp drop of thermoelectric properties at higher temperature and weak mechanical strength in zone‐melted material are the main obstacles to its wide development for power generation. Herein, an effective approach is reported to improve the thermoelectric performance of p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 hot‐pressed sample by incorporating Ag5SbSe4. A peak ZT of 1.40 at 375 K and a high average ZT of 1.25 between 300 and 500 K are achieved. Such outstanding thermoelectric performance originates from the synergistic effects of improved density‐of‐states effective mass, reduced bipolar thermal conductivity by the boosted carrier concentration, and suppressed lattice thermal conductivity by the induced phonon scattering centers including substitute point defects, dislocations, stress–strain clusters, and grain boundaries. Comprised of the p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 + 0.10 wt% Ag5SbSe4 and zone‐melted n‐type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3, the thermoelectric module exhibits a high conversion efficiency of 6.5% at a temperature gradient of 200 K, indicating promising applications for low‐grade heat harvest near room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious medical condition that often leads to significant morbidity and mortality. Decompressive craniectomy (DC) is now widely recognized as a primary or secondary treatment option for managing intracranial pressure (ICP) in patients with severe TBI. However, there is a lack of clarity in reviews regarding the impact of DC on TBI outcomes. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of DC in terms of overall mortality and long-term prognosis among patients with TBI. Materials and Methods: We conducted a systematic search of four common databases to include all parallel-arm randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We selected studies that reported outcomes for TBI cases, with DC as a treatment option. The outcomes examined included reduction in mortality, ICP levels, and the proportion of patients with a Glasgow Outcome Scale score >4. Results: Our review finally included eight RCTs [n = 1458, with 749 and 709 patients in the DC and control groups, respectively]. The weighted mean difference for ICP was estimated at -4.01 (95% Confidence interval [CI]: -5.31–-2.71), indicating a statistically significant reduction in ICP levels in the DC group compared to the control group. The pooled risk ratio was 0.67 (95% CI: 0.51–0.89), suggesting a statistically significant 31% decrease in mortality levels in the DC group. Subgroup and sensitivity analyzes were also conducted to address heterogeneity. Discussion and Conclusion: In conclusion, based on our meta-analysis, we find that DC can be considered a crucial surgical intervention for reducing mortality among patients with TBI when compared to control groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate a fiber-optic strain sensor with high and tunable sensitivity by constructing a Fabry–Perot interferometer with tunable stretching length. By improving the ratio of stretching length to interference length for the proposed sensor, the measured strain sensitivity is up to 1932 pm/με, which is an order of magnitude higher than the maximum value of reported fiber-optic strain sensors so far. The sensitivity for a prepared sensor could be also tuned conveniently by changing the stretching length, and experimental results show that the sensitivity could be tuned from 1932 to 978 pm/με by reducing the stretching length from 12 to 6 mm. Furthermore, the proposed device is economical, straightforward, robust, and reproducible. The advantages make the proposed device promising in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For an automorphism ϕ of a free group F n of rank n , Bestvina and Handel showed that the rank rk (Fix (ϕ)) of the fixed subgroup is not greater than n. Soon after Bestvina and Handel's announcement, their result was generalized by many authors in various directions. In this paper, we are interested in fixed subgroups of endomorphisms of free products, focusing on explicit bounds for their ranks. By introducing a concept of UFP degree and combining some results of O'Neill-Turner, Sela and Sykiotis, we get explicit bounds for fixed subgroups of RAAGs, stably hyperbolic groups and free products of surface groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although pilon fractures are rare in clinical practice, they are difficult to treat because of their complexity. Effective fixation of the fracture fragment is the key to the treatment of pilon fractures. Plate osteosynthesis is common clinically, but there are many types of plates and the evaluation of the effect of fixation plates is not comprehensive. This study attempted to compare the capture effect of different fixation plates on the fracture fragments based on 3D modeling and fine distinctions of fracture fragments. Methods: The computed tomography (CT) images before treatment of 127 patients with pilon fractures from January 2019 to December 2021 were retrospectively collected. The fracture lines were mapped and digitally displayed as 3D images using MIMICS 21 software. APLUS distal tibia anatomical locking plate (Plate A) and ZIMMER distal tibia anatomical plate (Plate B) were placed on a pseudo‐bone model and CT scans were used to determine the number of screws in the major and minor fragments of pilon fractures. The frequency of the two plates capturing the fracture fragments was recorded. Results: Under Assumption 1 or 2, Plate A performed significantly better than Plate B in capturing the major, Chaput, Volkmann, medial malleolus, and die‐punch fracture fragments. Plate A captured markedly more minor fragments than Plate B under Assumption 2 but was not significantly different from Plate B under Assumption 1. Plate A or Plate B showed no obvious difference between major and minor capture rates under the same assumption, and A1 or B1 showed a markedly higher capture rate compared with A2 or B2. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between the major capture rate and the major fragments in B1, and a significant negative correlation between the minor capture rate and the minor fragments in Plates A and B. However, there was no correlation between the major capture rate of Plate A and the major fragments. Conclusion: The APLUS distal tibial anatomical locking plate is superior to the ZIMMER distal tibia anatomical plate in the ability to capture distal tibial fragments in pilon fracture cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that AMPK plays an important role in cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury by participating in apoptosis, but the exact mechanism and target of action remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the protective mechanism of AMPK activation on brain injury secondary to cardiac arrest. HE, Nills and TUNEL assays were used to evaluate neuronal damage and apoptosis. The relationships between AMPK, HNF4α and apoptotic genes were verified by ChIP-seq, dual-luciferase and WB assays. The results showed that AMPK improved the 7-day memory function of rats, and reduced neuronal cell injury and apoptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region after ROSC, while the use of HNF4α inhibitor weakened the protective effect of AMPK. Further research found that AMPK positively regulated the expression of HNF4α, and AMPK could promote the expression of Bcl-2 and inhibit the expression of Bax and Cleaved-Caspase 3. In vitro experiments showed that AMPK ameliorated neuronal injury by inhibiting apoptosis through the activation of HNF4α. Combined with ChIP-seq, JASPAR analysis and Dual-luciferase assay, the binding site of HNF4α to the upstream promoter of Bcl-2 was found. Taken together, AMPK attenuates brain injury after CA by activating HNF4α to target Bcl-2 to inhibit apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vascular mimicry (VM) epitomizes an innovative tumor angiogenesis pathway, potentially serving as an alternate conduit under the assumption of traditional tumor angiogenesis pathway inhibition. The role of VM in pancreatic cancer (PC), however, remains unexplored. Methods: Using differential analysis and Spearman correlation, we identified key long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) signatures in PC from the collected set of VM-associated genes in the literature. We identified optimal clusters using the non-negative matrix decomposition (NMF) algorithm, and then compared clinicopathological features and prognostic differences between clusters. We also assessed tumor microenvironmental (TME) differences between clusters using multiple algorithms. Using univariate Cox regression analyses as well as lasso regression, we constructed and validated new lncRNA prognostic risk models for PC. We used Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) to analyze model-enriched functions and pathways. Nomograms were then developed to predict patient survival in association with clinicopathological factors. In addition, single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis was used to analyze the expression patterns of VM-related genes and lncRNAs in the PC of TME. Finally, we used the Connectivity Map (cMap) database to predict local anaesthetics that could modify the VM of PC. Results: In this study, we developed a novel three-cluster molecular subtype using the identified VM-associated lncRNA signatures of PC. The different subtypes have significantly different clinical characteristics and prognostic value, and also show differential treatment response and TME. Following an in-depth analysis, we constructed and validated a novel prognostic risk model for PC based on the VM-associated lncRNA signatures. Enrichment analysis suggested that high riskscores were significantly associated with functions and pathways, including extracellular matrix remodeling, et al. In addition, we predicted eight local anaesthetics that could modulate VM in PC. Finally, we discovered differential expression of VM-related genes and lncRNAs across various cell types within pancreatic cancer. Conclusion: VM has a critical role in PC. This study pioneers the development of a VM-based molecular subtype that demonstrates substantial differentiation in PC populations. Furthermore, we highlighted the significance of VM within the immune microenvironment of PC. Moreover, VM might contribute to PC tumorigenesis through its mediation of mesenchymal remodeling and endothelial transdifferentiation-related pathways, which offers a new perspective on its role in PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of autonomous driving and robotics, 3D object detection is a difficult, but important task. To improve the accuracy of detection, LiDAR, which collects the 3D point cloud of a scene, is updated constantly. But the density of the collected 3D points is low, and its distribution is unbalanced in the scene, which influences the accuracy of 3D object detectors in regards to object location and identification. Although corresponding high-resolution scene images from cameras can be used as supplemental information, poor fusion strategies can result in decreased accuracy compared with that of LiDAR-point-only detectors. Thus, to improve the detection performance for the classification, localization, and even boundary location of 3D objects, a two-stage detector with density-and-sparsity feature aggregation, called DASANet, is proposed in this paper. In the first stage, dense pseudo point clouds are generated with images from cameras and are used to obtain the initial proposals. In the second stage, two novel feature aggregation modules are designed to fuse LiDAR point information and pseudo point information, which refines the semantic and detailed representation of the feature maps. To supplement the semantic information of the highest-scale LiDAR features for object localization and classification, a triple differential information supplement (TDIS) module is presented to extract the LiDAR-pseudo differential features and enhance them in spatial, channel, and global dimensions. To increase the detailed information of the LiDAR features for object boundary location, a Siamese three-dimension coordinate attention (STCA) module is presented to extract stable LiDAR and pseudo point cloud features with a Siamese encoder and fuse these features using a three-dimension coordinate attention. Experiments using the KITTI Vision Benchmark Suite demonstrate the improved performance of our DASANet in regards to the localization and boundary location of objects. The ablation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the TDIS and the STCA modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]