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In the face of competition from great powers, the strategic choices that middle powers should make are a theoretical and practical issue that demands careful deliberation and in-depth research. In the post-Cold War era of U.S.–China strategic competition, the middle powers have adopted diverse strategies such as picking sides, hedging, and staying neutral. The behavioral choices of middle powers in the U.S.–China strategic competition are constrained not only by the intensity of U.S.– China competition and the type of dependence on the United States at the systemic level, but also by the strategic preferences of domestic policymakers and strategic elites. The intensity of U.S.–China competition and the dependency structures on great powers, as systemic factors, shape the range of behavioral choices for middle powers in the U.S.–China strategic competition. Meanwhile, domestic factors, acting as mediating variables, convey the directives issued by external structural variables, ultimately influencing and determining middle powers’ specific policies and behavioral patterns in the U.S.–China strategic competition. Canada, South Korea, and Argentina have chosen to pick a side, stay neutral, or hedge at different stages due to a combination of systemic and domestic factors, validating the core argument of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Understanding the current burden of stomach cancer linked to smoking and the variations in trends across different locations, is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies. In this study, we present findings on the age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate attributed to smoking in 204 countries and territories spanning 21 regions from 1990 to 2019. METHODS The data for this study were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019, which assessed 369 diseases and injuries, as well as 87 risk factors in 204 countries and 21 regions. To assess the trend in ASDR and agestandardized DALYs rate, the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was utilized. RESULTS Between 1990 and 2019, smoking was found to be associated with a decrease in ASDR (EAPC = -2.20) and age-standardized DALYs (EAPC = -2.42) rates for gastric cancer. As the sociodemographic index (SDI) increased, the decline in rates also increased gradually. However, the decline was smallest in regions with low SDI (EAPCASDR = -1.34; EAPCage-standardized DALYs rate = -1.38). In 21 regions, both ASDR and DALYs rates experienced a decline. The smallest decline in ASDR was observed in Western Sub-Saharan Africa, with an EAPC of -0.80, while the smallest decline in DALYs rate was found in Oceania, with an EAPC of -0.81. Among the 204 countries analyzed, the Dominican Republic showed the highest increase in ASDR and age-standardized DALYs rate (EAPCASDR = 1.19; EAPCage-standardized DALYs rate = 1.21), followed by Afghanistan (EAPCASDR = 1.09; EAPCage-standardized DALYs rate = 1.09) and Sao Tome and Principe (EAPCASDR = 1.05; EAPCage-standardized DALYs rate = 1.03). In the year 2019, the highest ASDR and age-standardized DALYs rate was observed in East Asia, with the highest rates occurring in Mongolia. CONCLUSIONS The burden of stomach cancer worldwide, adjusted for age, and related to smoking, has shown a decline from 1990 to 2019. However, regional disparities have been identified, with some areas experiencing an increase in this burden. These regions with a higher burden emphasize the necessity for the implementation of strong tobacco control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal gangue and fly ash are major industrial solid wastes containing some nutrients associated with organic or mineral matter. Vegetation restoration depends on high-quality soil in mining sites. Exploring the effects of wood vinegar (WV) irrigation and fly ash addition on the variation in chemical properties of the coal gangue substrate can provide a theoretical basis and data support for the reconstruction of mine soils and resource utilization of mine solid wastes. The indoor soil incubation experiment was conducted by adding fly ash at rates of 0, 10%, 20% and 50% to a coal gangue substrate mixed with coal gangue and raw soil. We analyzed the nutrients and salinity of the mixture of coal gangue substrate and fly ash (CGSFA) after irrigating distilled water (DW) and WV. The results showed that the addition of fly ash decreased the pH of the CGSFA mixture under DW irrigation, and WV irrigation increased the pH of the CGSFA mixture compared with DW irrigation. The addition of fly ash could increase the contents of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) and decrease the contents of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) of the coal gangue substrate. Compared with DW irrigation, WV irrigation increased the contents of TOC, DOC, active organic carbon (AOC) and AP of the CGSFA mixture by 19.3%, 931.1%, 228.1% and 15.6% and decreased the contents of TN and AK by 10.6% and 35.1%, respectively. In addition, the addition of fly ash increased the contents of K+, Ca2+ and SO42– and decreased the Na+ content in the coal gangue substrate. The irrigation of WV increased the contents of Mg2+, HCO3–, Cl– and SO42– of the CGSFA mixture and reduced the contents of K+ and Na+. Overall, fly ash addition and WV irrigation can improve the nutrients and salinity of the mixture of the coal gangue substrate. Considering the accumulation of HCO3–, Cl– and SO42–, it is recommended to choose 10% to 20% fly ash addition to coal gangue substrate and irrigation with WV for the reconstruction of mine soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs along with pathological phenomena such as cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and cardiomyocyte activity. However, few of the specific molecular mechanisms underlying this pathological condition have been mentioned. Methods: All target proteins and markers expression in the study was verified by PCR and western bloting. H9c2 cell morphology and behavior were analyzed using immunofluorescent and proliferation assays, respectively. And, the CTGF protein secreted in cell culture medium was detected by ELISA. Results: We found that high expression of CTGF and low expression of EGFR were regulated by ERK1/2 signaling pathway during the cardiac hypertrophy induced by Ang-II stimulation. CTGF interacted with EGFR, and the interaction is reduced with the stimulation of Ang-II. ERK1/2 serves as the center of signal control during the cardiac hypertrophy. Conclusion: The ERK1/2 cooperates with GPCR and EGFR signaling, and promotes the occurrence and development of cardiac hypertrophy by regulating the expression and binding states of CTGF and EGFR. The study revealed a regulation model based on ERK1/2, suggesting that ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be an important control link for mitigation of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a native scheme to evaluate hydrodynamic force in the lattice Boltzmann method, the momentum exchange method has some excellent features, such as simplicity, accuracy, high efficiency and easy parallelization. Especially, it is independent of boundary geometry, preventing from solving the Navier-Stokes equations on complex boundary geometries in the boundary-integral methods. We review the origination and main developments of the momentum exchange method in lattice Boltzmann simulations. Then several practical techniques to fill newborn fluid nodes are discussed for the simulations of fluid-structure interactions. Finally, some representative applications show the wide applicability of the momentum exchange method, such as movements of rigid particles, interactions of deformation particles, particle suspensions in turbulent flow and multiphase flow, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This survey was a retrospective of a 16-year (1993-2008) study on the incidence, clinical features, and etiological agents of tinea capitis mainly representing the Southeastern China. The diagnosis was confirmed by direct microscopic examination. Eight hundred and sixty-six patients with tinea capitis, 381 males (44%) and 485 females (56%), were enrolled in this study. Patients were between 20 days and 84 years old with an average of 10.5 years and the peak incidence was in the age group of 6-10 (48.5%). Five hundred and sixty-two patients (64.9%) were ectothrix and 303 patients (35.0%) were endothrix with only one patient was favus. The incidence of tinea capitis from 1993 was gradually increasing and reaching to its peak in 2001. Positive cultures of dermatophytes were obtained in 715 patients: Microsporum canis (62.4%) was predominant, followed by Trichophyton violaceum (19.0%), Trichophyton tousurans (9.8%). M. canis was the major pathogen for ectothrix infection, while T. violaceum and T. tousurans contributed to the most endothrix form. M. canis, T. violaceum, and T. rubrum were the major pathogens for kerion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SGS1 encodes a DNA helicase whose homologues in human cells include the BLM, WRN, and RECQ4 genes, mutations in which lead to cancer-predisposition syndromes. Clustering of synthetic genetic interactions identified by large-scale genetic network analysis revealed that the genetic interaction profile of the gene RMI1 (RecQ-mediated genome instability, also known as NCE4 and YPL024W) was highly similar to that of SGS1 and TOP3, suggesting a functional relationship between Rmi1 and the Sgs1/Top3 complex. We show that Rmi1 physically interacts with Sgs1 and Top3 and is a third member of this complex. Cells lacking RMI1 activate the Rad53 checkpoint kinase, undergo a mitotic delay, and display increased relocalization of the recombination repair protein Rad52, indicating the presence of spontaneous DNA damage. Consistent with a role for RMI1 in maintaining genome integrity, rmi1?cells exhibit increased recombination frequency and increased frequency of gross chromosomal rearrangements. In addition, rmi1?strains fail to fully activate Rad53 upon exposure to DNA-damaging agents, suggesting that Rmi1 is also an important part of the Rad53-dependent DNA damage response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-speed cellular automaton is used to simulate the escaping pedestrian flow in a corridor under the open boundary condition. Keeping the total number of people fixed, and pedestrians moving in different speeds, we studied the evolution of pedestrian flow by varying the parameters of system size. The relationships between parameters of system size and the transition time are discussed in this paper. It is found that the transition time tc closely depends on the width (W) of corridor and the maximum speed Vmax of people, it scales as tc∝W-0.80±0.06, and $t_c\propto V_{\rm max}^{-\alpha}$, in which α increases with the width of doors. However, the width of doors and the strength of drift have little influence on the transition time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cellular automaton model with open boundary condition for a crossroad system controlled by a traffic light is presented. The traffic flow and speed of the first part of the road are quite different from those of the second part behind the crossing. The impact of turning probabilities and the cycle times of traffic light on the flow are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive compounds can be valuable research tools and drug leads, but it is often difficult to identify their mechanism of action or cellular target. Here we investigate the potential for integration of chemical-genetic and genetic interaction data to reveal information about the pathways and targets of inhibitory compounds. Taking advantage of the existing complete set of yeast haploid deletion mutants, we generated drug-hypersensitivity (chemical-genetic) profiles for 12 compounds. In addition to a set of compound-specific interactions, the chemical-genetic profiles identified a large group of genes required for multidrug resistance. In particular, yeast mutants lacking a functional vacuolar H+-ATPase show multidrug sensitivity, a phenomenon that may be conserved in mammalian cells. By filtering chemical-genetic profiles for the multidrug-resistant genes and then clustering the compound-specific profiles with a compendium of large-scale genetic interaction profiles, we were able to identify target pathways or proteins. This method thus provides a powerful means for inferring mechanism of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lattice Boltzmann model to simulate phase separation and two-phase flow is proposed. The nonideal force in multiphase flow is directly computed from the free energy. Thermodynamic consistency and Galilean invariance are theoretically analyzed and numerically verified. Remarkably, the theoretical simplicity endues the model with the advantages of high efficiency and easy implementation. We also find that it can work well together with various equations of state in order to simulate different kinds of multiphase flows. Importantly, it has a tunable parameter κ, which can be used to reduce the effect of spurious current and adjust the surface tension to meet the requirements of researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]