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Heavy rainfall is the main factor inducing the failure of loess slopes. However, the failure mechanism and mode of terraced loess slopes under heavy rainfall have not been well investigated and understood. This paper presents the experimental study on the deformation and failure of terraced loess slopes with different gradients under extreme rainfall conditions. The deformation and failure processes of the slope and the migration of the wetting front within the slope during rainfall were captured by the digital cameras installed on the top and side of the test box. In addition, the mechanical and hydrological responses of the slope, including earth pressure, water content, pore water pressure, and matric suction, were monitored and analyzed under rainfall infiltration and erosion. The experimental study shows that the deformation and failure of terraced loess slopes under heavy rainfall conditions exhibit the characteristic of progressive erosion damage. In general, the steeper the slope, the more severe the deformation and failure, and the shorter the time required for erosion failure. The data obtained from sensors embedded in the slope can reflect the mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of the slope in response to rainfall. The earth pressure and pore water pressure in the slope exhibit a fluctuating pattern with continued rainfall. The failure mode of terraced loess slopes under extreme rainfall can be summarized into five stages: erosion of slope surface and formation of small gullies and cracks, expansion of gullies and cracks along the slope surface, widening and deepening of gullies, local collapse and flow-slip of the slope, and large-scale collapse of the slope. The findings can provide preliminary data references for researchers to better understand the failure characteristics of terraced loess slopes under extreme rainfall and to further validate the results of numerical simulations and analytical solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Betel nut chewing is a significant risk factor for oral cancer due to arecoline, its primary active component. Resveratrol, a non‐flavonoid polyphenol, possesses anti‐cancer properties. It has been shown to inhibit arecoline‐induced oral malignant cells in preliminary experiments but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This research therefore aimed to explore the potential therapeutic targets of resveratrol in treating arecoline‐induced oral cancer. METHODS: Data mining identified common targets and hub targets of resveratrol in arecoline‐induced oral cancer. Gene set variation analysis (GSVA) was used to score and validate the expression and clinical significance of these hub targets in head and neck cancer (HNC) tissues. Molecular docking analysis was conducted on the hub targets. The effect of resveratrol intervention on hub targets was verified by experiments. RESULTS: Sixty‐one common targets and 15 hub targets were identified. Hub targets were highly expressed in HNC and were associated with unfavorable prognoses. They played a role in HNC metastasis, epithelial‐mesenchymal transition, and invasion. Their expression also affected immune cell infiltration and correlated negatively with sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents such as bleomycin and docetaxel. Experiments demonstrated that resveratrol down‐regulated the expression of the hub targets, inhibited their proliferation and invasion, and induced apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Resveratrol inhibits the arecoline‐induced malignant phenotype of oral epithelial cells by regulating the expression of some target genes, suggesting that resveratrol may be used not only as an adjuvant treatment for oral cancer, but also as an adjuvant for oral cancer prevention due to its low toxicity and high efficacy. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels root (ASR) is a medicinal and edible traditional Chinese herb medicine. Understanding the varying efficacies in different ASR segments and their associated pharmacological mechanisms at the metabolome level has been a largely unexplored research area. This study integrates metabolomics, network pharmacology, and molecular docking to investigate the characteristics and mechanisms underlying hemostasis, blood enrichment, and blood circulation promotion in distinct ASR medicinal segments. The distinguishable metabolic spectra were visually presented for the head (ASRH), body (ASRB), and tail (ASRT) in ASR, highlighting the dominant metabolites in each. Furthermore, a network linking components, targeted proteins, signaling pathways, and diseases was constructed. The combined analysis of metabolomics and network pharmacology confirms that ASRT primarily enhances blood circulation, whereas ASRH and ASRB lean toward hemostasis and blood enrichment. The dominant ingredients of ASRT mainly influence signaling pathways of calcium, PI3K‐Akt, and arachidonic acid metabolism by modulating targeted proteins like EGFR, SRC, AKT1, and HSP90AA1, thus enhancing hemodynamics. In contrast, the dominant ingredients of ASRH and ASRB regulate PI3K‐Akt, IL‐17, and JAK‐STAT signaling pathways via proteins, such as CTNNB1, AKT1, SRC, and EP300, playing a role in hemostasis and blood enrichment. These results were subsequently validated by molecular docking. This study innovatively combines metabolomics, network pharmacology, and molecular docking to preliminarily reveal the mechanisms governing hemostasis, blood enrichment, and blood circulation improvement regulated through multiple components, targeted proteins, and pathways in different ASR segments. These findings offer valuable insights for future investigations into the efficacies of distinct ASR segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moiré superlattices, induced by an angular mismatch in layered materials provide a new index of freedom to manipulate the correlated electron states and many‐body properties of excitons. Here, trilayer MoS2 homostructures with the 3R configuration between the middle (M) and the bottom (B) layer and the top‐to‐middle (T‐M) interlayer twists ranging from 10° to 40° are fabricated via NaCl‐assisted chemical vapor deposition. The twist‐dependent interlayer interactions are systematically investigated by polarized low frequency (PLF) and high frequency (HF) Raman spectroscopy. PLF Raman results show that the energy shift in the shear mode, the breathing modes of LB31 and LB32 is respectively the much in 14°‐ and 28°‐T‐M twisted trilayer, among as‐prepared trilayer MoS2 homostructures. Moreover, the T‐M twist further affects the optical properties of the twisted MoS2 trilayer, evidenced by the photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Moiré excitons are enhanced in the top‐layer twisted MoS2 trilayer with a T‐M twists of 28°, which may originate from the interlayer exciton trapped by the periodical moiré potential. The present work demonstrates that the trilayer homostructures tuned by interlayer twists can be an ideal system to tune the energy band structures and exciton properties for their potential applications in the nano‐optical electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lignocellulose is a renewable and sustainable resource used to produce second-generation biofuel ethanol to cope with the resource and energy crisis. Furfural is the most toxic inhibitor of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells produced during lignocellulose treatment, and can reduce the ability of S. cerevisiae to utilize lignocellulose, resulting in low bioethanol yield. In this study, multiple rounds of progressive ionizing radiation was combined with adaptive laboratory evolution to improve the furfural tolerance of S. cerevisiae and increase the yield of ethanol. Results: In this study, the strategy of multiple rounds of progressive X-ray radiation combined with adaptive laboratory evolution significantly improved the furfural tolerance of brewing yeast. After four rounds of experiments, four mutant strains resistant to high concentrations of furfural were obtained (SCF-R1, SCF-R2, SCF-R3, and SCF-R4), with furfural tolerance concentrations of 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and 4.5 g/L, respectively. Among them, the mutant strain SCF-R4 obtained in the fourth round of radiation had a cellular malondialdehyde content of 49.11 nmol/mg after 3 h of furfural stress, a weakening trend in mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, a decrease in accumulated reactive oxygen species, and a cell death rate of 12.60%, showing better cell membrane integrity, stable mitochondrial function, and an improved ability to limit reactive oxygen species production compared to the other mutant strains and the wild-type strain. In a fermentation medium containing 3.5 g/L furfural, the growth lag phase of the SCF-R4 mutant strain was shortened, and its growth ability significantly improved. After 96 h of fermentation, the ethanol production of the mutant strain SCF-R4 was 1.86 times that of the wild-type, indicating that with an increase in the number of irradiation rounds, the furfural tolerance of the mutant strain SCF-R4 was effectively enhanced. In addition, through genome-transcriptome analysis, potential sites related to furfural detoxification were identified, including GAL7, MAE1, PDC6, HXT1, AUS1, and TPK3. Conclusions: These results indicate that multiple rounds of progressive X-ray radiation combined with adaptive laboratory evolution is an effective mutagenic strategy for obtaining furfural-tolerant mutants and that it has the potential to tap genes related to the furfural detoxification mechanism. Highlights: Multi-round progressive X-ray radiation combined ALE bred furfural-resistant mutants Mutants obtained through four rounds of radiation exhibited higher resistance to furfural Membrane integrity, stable mitochondrial function, and antioxidant capacity, played an important role in resisting furfural stress Multi-omics analysis identified many potential mutational sites that enhance the strain's furfural tolerance [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the fundamental techniques in genetic engineering is the creation of Escherichia coli competent cells using the CaCl2 method. However, little is known about the mechanism of E. coli competence formation. We have previously found that the cspA gene may play an indispensable role in the preparation of E. coli DH5α competent cells through multiomics analysis. In the present study, the cellular localization, physicochemical properties, and function of the protein expressed by the cspA gene were analyzed. To investigate the role of the cspA gene in E. coli transformation, cspA‐deficient mutant was constructed by red homologous recombination. The growth, transformation efficiency, and cell morphology of the cspA‐deficient strain and E. coli were compared. It was found that there were no noticeable differences in growth and morphology between E. coli and the cspA‐deficient strain cultured at 37°C, but the mutant exhibited increased transformation efficiencies compared to E. coli DH5α for plasmids pUC19, pET‐32a, and p1304, with enhancements of 2.23, 2.24, and 3.46 times, respectively. It was proved that cspA gene is an important negative regulatory gene in the CaCl2 preparation of competent cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ball bearings play a pivotal role in rotating machinery, making it crucial to detect their wear condition in real time for preventive maintenance. This paper proposes a novel method, involving one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) and lubricating oil, which is sensitive to early abnormal wear, to intelligently predict the wear condition of ball bearings. To achieve that, an industrial-level gas turbine is used in the test to simulate the practical working conditions. During the machine's operation, the lubricating oil is sampled at different time intervals for spectral oil analysis (SOA), which is later utilized as the input data set. The 1DCNN model is then constructed and fine-tuned to extract its wear characters, and finally outputs a one-dimensional time-sequence feature vector of the SOA data, providing wear information for the upcoming hours. The predicted results have shown that the 1DCNN model can effectively predict the trend of wear condition with higher accuracy of over 97% and better generalization performance compared with the BP neural networks. Additionally, the validation test results have also verified the reliability of the 1DCNN model, which can be useful for manufacturing industries in reducing costly maintenance fees by early detection of potential failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy-ion beam irradiation (HIBI) is useful for generating new germplasm in plants and microorganisms due to its ability to induce high mutagenesis rate, broad mutagenesis spectrum, and excellent stability of mutants. However, due to the random mutagenesis and associated mutant breeding modalities, it is imperative to improve HIBI-based mutant breeding efficiency and quality. This review discusses and summarizes the findings of existing theoretical and technical studies and presents a set of tandem strategies to enable efficient and high-quality HIBI-based mutant breeding practices. These strategies: adjust the mutation-inducing techniques, regulate cellular response states, formulate high-throughput screening schemes, and apply the generated superior genetic elements to genetic engineering approaches, thereby, improving the implications and expanding the scope of HIBI-based mutant breeding. These strategies aim to improve the mutagenesis rate, screening efficiency, and utilization of positive mutations. Here, we propose a model based on the integration of these strategies that would leverage the advantages of HIBI while compensating for its present shortcomings. Owing to the unique advantages of HIBI in creating high-quality genetic resources, we believe this review will contribute toward improving HIBI-based breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The diagnosis of glioma has advanced since the release of the WHO 2021 classification with more molecular alterations involved in the integrated diagnostic pathways. Our study aimed to present our experience with the clinical features and management of astrocytoma, IDH mutant based on the latest WHO classification. Methods: Patients diagnosed with astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant based on the WHO 5th edition classification of CNS tumors at our center from January 2009 to January 2022 were included. Patients were divided into WHO 2–3 grade group and WHO 4 grade group. Integrate diagnoses were retrospectively confirmed according to WHO 2016 and 2021 classification. Clinical and MRI characteristics were reviewed, and survival analysis was performed. Results: A total of 60 patients were enrolled. 21.67% (13/60) of all patients changed tumor grade from WHO 4th edition classification to WHO 5th edition. Of these, 21.43% (6/28) of grade II astrocytoma and 58.33% (7/12) of grade III astrocytoma according to WHO 4th edition classification changed to grade 4 according to WHO 5th edition classification. Sex (p = 0.042), recurrent glioma (p = 0.006), and Ki‐67 index (p < 0.001) of pathological examination were statistically different in the WHO grade 2–3 group (n = 27) and WHO grade 4 group (n = 33). CDK6 (p = 0.004), FGFR2 (p = 0.003), and MYC (p = 0.004) alterations showed an enrichment in the WHO grade 4 group. Patients with higher grade showed shorter mOS (mOS = 75.9 m, 53.6 m, 26.4 m for grade 2, 3, and 4, respectively, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Patients diagnosed as WHO grade 4 according to the 5th edition WHO classification based on molecular alterations are more likely to have poorer prognosis. Therefore, treatment should be tailored to their individual needs. Further research is needed for the management of IDH‐mutant astrocytoma is needed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petroleum hydrocarbons are a stubborn pollutant that is difficult to degrade globally, and plant-microbial degradation is the main way to solve this type of pollutant. In this study, the physiological and ecological responses of alfalfa to petroleum hydrocarbons in different concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soil with KB1 (Rhodococcus erythropolis) were analyzed and determined by laboratory potting techniques. The growth of alfalfa (CK) and alfalfa with KB1 (JZ) in different concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil was compared and analyzed. The results of the CK group showed that petroleum hydrocarbons could significantly affect the activity of alfalfa antioxidant enzyme system, inhibit the development of alfalfa roots and the normal growth of plants, especially in the high-concentration group. KB1 strain had the ability to produce IAA, form biofilm, fix nitrogen, produce betaine and ACC deaminase, and the addition of KB1 could improve the growth traits of alfalfa in the soil contaminated with different concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons, the content of soluble sugars in roots, and the stress resistance and antioxidant enzyme activities of alfalfa. In addition, the degradation kinetics of the strain showed that the degradation rate of petroleum could reach 75.2% after soaking with KB1. Furthermore, KB1 can efficiently degrade petroleum hydrocarbons in advance and significantly alleviate the damage of high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons to plant roots. The results showed that KB1 strains and alfalfa plants could effectively enhance the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, which provided new ideas for improving bioremediation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a promising immunotherapy approach, but glioblastoma clinical trials have not yielded satisfactory results. Objective: To screen glioblastoma patients who may benefit from immunotherapy. Methods: Eighty‐one patients receiving anti‐PD1/PD‐L1 treatment from a large‐scale clinical trial and 364 patients without immunotherapy from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were included. Patients in the ICI‐treated cohort were divided into responders and nonresponders according to overall survival (OS), and the most critical responder‐relevant features were screened using random forest (RF). We constructed an artificial neural network (ANN) model and verified its predictive value with immunotherapy response and OS. Results: We defined two groups of ICI‐treated glioblastoma patients with large differences in survival benefits as nonresponders (OS ≤6 months, n = 18) and responders (OS ≥17 months, n = 8). No differentially mutated genes were observed between responders and nonresponders. We performed RF analysis to select the most critical responder‐relevant features and developed an ANN with 20 input variables, five hidden neurons and one output neuron. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and the DeLong test demonstrated that the ANN had the best performance in predicting responders, with an AUC of 0.97. Survival analysis indicated that ANN‐predicted responders had significantly better OS rates than nonresponders. Conclusion: The 20‐gene panel developed by the ANN could be a promising biomarker for predicting immunotherapy response and prognostic benefits in ICI‐treated GBM patients and may guide oncologists to accurately select potential responders for the preferential use of ICIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-energy consumption and high-emission industries contribute a lot to economic development, but their carbon emissions are also huge. In order to achieve the dual-carbon target as early as possible, it is necessary to reduce the carbon emissions of high-energy consumption and high-emission industries. This paper selected five representative factors (population, per capita gross domestic product (GDP), energy intensity, energy structure and carbon emission coefficient) and adopted the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method to decompose the driving factors of carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper uses Tapio decoupling model to analyze the decoupling relationship between the two factors with the greatest impact on carbon emissions and carbon emissions. The results show that: (i) There is a good decoupling between high-energy consumption and high-emission industries and per capita GDP, and the impact of per capita GDP on carbon emissions will gradually decrease in the future; (ii) The decoupling relationship between carbon emissions and energy intensity is poor. For some industries, the reduction of energy intensity can help reduce carbon emissions. Finally, this paper puts forward some suggestions to promote carbon emission reduction. This paper provides theoretical support for studying how to reduce carbon emissions and formulate relevant emission reduction policies in the high-energy consumption and high-emission industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predictive markers and prognostic models are useful for the individualization of cancer treatment. In this study, we sought to identify clinical and molecular factors to predict overall survival in recurrent glioma patients receiving bevacizumab-containing regimens. A cohort of 102 patients was retrospectively collected from June 2011 to January 2022 at our institution. A nomogram was generated by Cox regression and feature selection algorithms based on 19 clinicopathological and 60 molecular variables. The model's performance was internally evaluated by bootstrapping in terms of discrimination and calibration. The median overall survival from the initiation of bevacizumab administration to death or last follow-up was 11.6 months (95% CI: 9.2–13.8 months) for all 102 patients, 10.2 months (95% CI: 6.4–13.3 months) for 66 patients with grade 4 tumors, and 13.8 months (lower limit of 95% CI: 11.5 months) for 36 patients with tumors of grade lower or not available. In the final model, a lower WHO 2021 grade (Grade lower or not available vs. Grade 4, HR: 0.398, 95% CI: 0.223–0.708, p = 0.00172), having received adjuvant radiochemotherapy (Yes vs. No, HR: 0.488, 95% CI: 0.268–0.888, p = 0.0189), and wildtype EGFR (Wildtype vs. Altered, HR: 0.193, 95% CI: 0.0506–0.733, p = 0.0157; Not available vs. Altered, HR: 0.386, 95% CI: 0.184–0.810, p = 0.0118) were significantly associated with longer overall survival in multivariate Cox regression. The overall concordance index was 0.652 (95% CI: 0.566–0.714), and the areas under the time-dependent curves for 6-, 12-, and 18-month overall survival were 0.677 (95% CI: 0.516–0.816), 0.654 (95% CI: 0.470–0.823), and 0.675 (95% CI: 0.491–0.860), respectively. A prognostic model for overall survival in recurrent glioma patients treated with bevacizumab-based therapy was established and internally validated. It could serve as a reference tool for clinicians to assess the extent the patients may benefit from bevacizumab and stratify their treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a large number of new energy vehicles being put into use, it is the general trend for traditional fuel vehicles to withdraw from the market in an orderly manner. Determining the optimal ratio between them in this process is of great significance to the low-carbon sustainable development of cities. Therefore, considering the constraints of urban automobile development planning and air pollution prevention and control policies, a multi-objective model to minimize pollutants and costs is constructed in this paper. Through model calculation and sensitivity analysis of dynamic impact relationship of different types of vehicles, it is determined that when new energy vehicles account for around 36% in Beijing, 57% in Shanghai and 46% in Guangzhou, the pollutant emissions can be minimized without causing a significant increase in social costs. Additionally, compared with 2030, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can achieve emission reductions of 320,000 tons, 200,000 tons and 250,000 tons, respectively, in 2050 if they implement the policy of banning the sale and delisting of fuel vehicles, which could provide suggestions for the guidance of the low-carbon development plan of the automobile industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgroud: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among the most aggressive cancers, with current treatments limited in efficacy. A significant hurdle in the treatment of GBM is the resistance to the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide (TMZ). The methylation status of the MGMT promoter has been implicated as a critical biomarker of response to TMZ. Methods: To explore the mechanisms underlying resistance, we developed two TMZ‐resistant GBM cell lines through a gradual increase in TMZ exposure. Transcriptome sequencing of TMZ‐resistant cell lines revealed that alterations in histone post‐translational modifications might be instrumental in conferring TMZ resistance. Subsequently, multi‐omics analysis suggests a strong association between histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9ac) levels and TMZ resistance. Results: We observed a significant correlation between the expression of H3K9ac and MGMT, particularly in the unmethylated MGMT promoter samples. More importantly, our findings suggest that H3K9ac may enhance MGMT transcription by facilitating the recruitment of the SP1 transcription factor to the MGMT transcription factor binding site. Additionally, by analyzing single‐cell transcriptomics data from matched primary and recurrent GBM tumors treated with TMZ, we modeled the molecular shifts occurring upon tumor recurrence. We also noted a reduction in tumor stem cell characteristics, accompanied by an increase in H3K9ac, SP1, and MGMT levels, underscoring the potential role of H3K9ac in tumor relapse following TMZ therapy. Conclusions: The increase in H3K9ac appears to enhance the recruitment of the transcription factor SP1 to its binding sites within the MGMT locus, consequently upregulating MGMT expression and driving TMZ resistance in GBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal management of electrical energy systems is a major concern for energy providers facing uncertainties. In this work, energy demand management and dispatch in the electricity microgrid are performed using an interval optimization strategy under conditions of electricity price uncertainty. Demand dispatch is implemented through the Demand Response Program (DRP) incentive modeling. As a solution, incentive modeling based on the price of the offer to reduce electricity demand during peak periods is proposed. In order to minimize the effects of electricity price uncertainty, the interval optimization approach is used. The main goal of the proposed approach is to minimize the operational cost, and the epsilon constraint-based fuzzy method was used to solve and handle the problem. Finally, the power microgrid was used in different case studies for the results of the numeric simulations and for the positive effects of the proposed modeling under conditions of uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive impairment is a common feature among patients with diffuse glioma. The objective of the study is to investigate the relationship between preoperative cognitive function and clinical as well as molecular factors, firstly based on the new 2021 World Health Organization’s updated classification of central nervous system tumors. A total of 110 diffuse glioma patients enrolled underwent preoperative cognitive assessments using the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Clinical information was collected from medical records, and gene sequencing was performed to analyze the 18 most influenced genes. The differences in cognitive function between patients with and without glioblastoma were compared under both the 2016 and 2021 WHO classification of tumors of the central nervous system to assess their effect of differentiation on cognition. The study found that age, tumor location, and glioblastoma had significant differences in cognitive function. Several genetic alterations were significantly correlated with cognition. Especially, IDH, CIC, and ATRX are positively correlated with several cognitive domains, while most other genes are negatively correlated. For most focused genes, patients with a low number of genetic alterations tended to have better cognitive function. Our study suggested that, in addition to clinical characteristics such as age, histological type, and tumor location, molecular characteristics play a crucial role in cognitive function. Further research into the mechanisms by which tumors affect brain function is expected to enhance the quality of life for glioma patients. This study highlights the importance of considering both clinical and molecular factors in the management of glioma patients to improve cognitive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chronic exposure to excessive endogenous cortisol leads to brain changes in Cushing's disease (CD). However, it remains unclear how CD affects large-scale functional networks (FNs) and whether these effects are reversible after treatment. This study aimed to investigate functional network changes of CD patients and their reversibility in a longitudinal cohort. Methods: Active CD patients (N = 37) were treated by transsphenoidal pituitary surgery and reexamined 3 months later. FNs were computed from resting-state fMRI data of the CD patients and matched normal controls (NCs, N = 37). A pattern classifier was built on the FNs to distinguish active CD patients from controls and applied to FNs of the CD patients at the 3-month follow-up. Two subgroups of endocrine-remitted CD patients were identified according to their classification scores, referred to as image-based phenotypically (IBP) recovered and unrecovered CD patients, respectively. The informative FNs identified by the classification model were compared between NCs, active CD patients, and endocrine-remitted patients as well as between IBP recovered and unrecovered CD patients to explore their functional network reversibility. Results: All 37 CD patients reached endocrine remission after treatment. The classification model identified three informative FNs, including cerebellar network (CerebN), fronto-parietal network (FPN), and default mode network. Among them, CerebN and FPN partially recovered toward normal at 3 months after treatment. Moreover, the informative FNs were correlated with 24-h urinary-free cortisol and emotion scales in CD patients. Conclusion: These findings suggest that CD patients have aberrant FNs that are partially reversible toward normal after treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three distinct medicinal parts of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (Ang) roots are the head, body, and tail (ARH, ARB, and ART, respectively). How endophytic fungi shape the differences in metabolic components among these parts remains unclear. We quantified the distribution of active components and endophytic fungi along the ARH, ARB, and ART and their relationships. Based on the metabolic components and their abundances detected via non-target metabolism, the different medicinal parts were distinguishable. The largest number of dominant metabolic components was present in ART. The difference between ART and ARH was the greatest, and ARB was in a transitional state. The dominant active molecules in ART highlight their effects in haemodynamics improvement, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hormone regulation, while ARH and ARB indicated more haemostasis, blood enrichment, neuromodulation, neuroprotection and tranquilisation, hepatoprotection, and antitumour activities than that of ART. The ARHs, ARBs, and ARTs can also be distinguished from each other based on the endophytic fungi at the microbiome level. The most dominant endophytic fungi were distributed in ART; the differences between ART and ARH were the largest, and ARB was in a transition state, which is consistent with the metabolite distributions. Structural equation modelling showed that the endophytic fungi were highly indicative of the metabolic components. Correlation analysis further identified the endophytic fungi significantly positively correlated with important active components, including Condenascus tortuosus, Sodiomyces alcalophilus, and Pleotrichocladium opacum. The bidirectional multivariate interactions between endophytic fungi and the metabolic components shape their spatial variations along the longitudinal direction in the Ang root. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon emission of the energy industry is mainly generated by power generation. Adjusting the power generation structure of multiple energy sources, so as to control the carbon emission of the power generation industry and measure its emission reduction space, is the key for power generation industry to achieve the goal of "dual carbon targets." This study develops a regional multi-energy generation simulation model, which is based on the core algorithm of generation dispatching approach. The established model can simulate the dispatching of all types of generating units in the region and output the data of power generation and emissions. Considering taking Shanxi Province as example, the output results under the benchmark scenario are obtained to verify the efficiency of the model. The error of renewable energy generation and other generation is less than 4%, which shows that the model has enough credibility. The results of the scenario analysis show that every 5% increase in the utilization rate of wind turbine units will increase almost 20% of the renewable energy power generation, reduce almost 15% of the thermal power and reduce at least 10% of the CO2 emissions. This proves that China's regional power generation industry has certain emission reduction potential. The proposed model has important application value for energy conservation and emission reduction of regional power generation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been widely used for hepatocellular carcinoma. Reducing hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment after TACE remains a challenge as tumor progression is common in post‐TACE patients due to the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. In this study, melatonin loaded on p(N‐isopropyl‐acrylamide‐co‐butyl methylacrylate) (PIB‐M) was used for tumor embolism. Two types of human hepatoma cell lines were used to explore the mechanism by which melatonin prevents the growth and metastasis of cancer cells in vitro. A VX2 rabbit tumor model was used to evaluate the efficacy, mechanism, and safety of PIB‐M in vivo. We found that under hypoxic condition, melatonin could inhibit tumor cell proliferation and migration by targeting hypoxia inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF‐A) in vitro. In vivo, PIB‐M inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in rabbit VX2 tumors by promoting apoptosis of tumor cells and targeting related angiogenic proteins and vascular permeability proteins. A high concentration of melatonin in the PIB‐M group could be maintained in tumor tissue for 72 h after embolization. The liver and kidney functions were most damaged on the first day but recovered to normal on the seventh day after embolization in the PIB‐M group. This novel method may open avenues for reduction of tumor growth and metastasis after TACE and is efficacy and safety, which may be used for treatment for other solid tumors and clinical translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death from cardiovascular disease worldwide. In MI, the loss of blood perfusion causes the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which lead to persistent damage to myocardial cells, such as inflammation. Recently, some biomaterials that can clear excessive ROS and exert anti-inflammatory effects were reported for the treatment of MI. Based on previous studies, emerging two-dimensional nanomaterials, such as black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNs), have a remarkable ability to scavenge ROS. Interestingly, the biodegradability of BPNs is also excellent. In this study, we loaded polydopamine (PDA)-modified BPNs, which enhance the stability of BPNs to a large extent, into an alginate-hyaluronic acid hydrogel (ALGHA) to construct a conducive and injectable microenvironment control platform after MI. The ALGHA-BP-PDA hydrogel exhibited good biocompatibility, and the loaded BP-PDA displayed the ability to continuously capture ROS, which could well regulate oxidative stress in the progression of MI. The clearance of excessive ROS inhibited the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway by downregulating the phosphorylation of IκBα in cardiomyocytes, thereby alleviating the inflammatory response. In summary, the BP-PDA functional microenvironment control platform provides an innovative therapeutic idea for MI therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The latest fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of the central nervous system (CNS) tumors (WHO CNS 5 classification) released in 2021 defined astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4. However, the understanding of this subtype is still limited. We conducted this study to describe the features of astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 and explored the similarities and differences between histological and molecular subtypes. Methods: Patients who underwent surgery from January 2011 to January 2022, classified as astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 were included in this study. Clinical, radiological, histopathological, molecular pathological, and survival data were collected for analysis. Results: Altogether 33 patients with astrocytoma, IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 were selected, including 20 with histological and 13 with molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma. Tumor enhancement, intratumoral‐necrosis like presentation, larger peritumoral edema, and more explicit tumor margins were frequently observed in histological WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma. Additionally, molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytoma showed a tendency for relatively longer overall survival, while a statistical significance was not reached (47 vs. 25 months, p = 0.22). TP53, CDK6, and PIK3CA alteration was commonly observed, while PIK3R1 (p = 0.033), Notch1 (p = 0.027), and Mycn (p = 0.027) alterations may affect the overall survival of molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytomas. Conclusions: Our study scrutinized IDH‐mutant, Grade 4 astrocytoma. Therefore, further classification should be considered as the prognosis varied between histological and molecular WHO Grade 4 astrocytomas. Notably, therapies aiming at PIK3R1, Notch 1, and Mycn may be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has proposed ambitious goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and will pay more attention to the relationship between economic development and carbon emissions. It's significant to assess the current environmental decoupling and prospect the future conditions in China. This article studies the decoupling status and influencing factors in Chinese provinces from 1996 to 2018 through Tapio decoupling index and decomposition model. The results show that most provinces are currently in a weak decoupling state. The growth of per capita GDP and population will affect the process of strong decoupling, while the optimization of energy intensity, energy structure and industrial structure will promote the realization of strong decoupling. Moreover, this paper prospects the decoupling scenarios of Chinese provinces from 2019 to 2035 and finds that all provinces will achieve strong decoupling before 2040, 2035 and 2030 under different carbon emissions scenarios respectively. To achieve the strong decoupling of economic output and carbon emissions as soon as possible, the government must improve energy efficiency, use renewable energy in large quantities, and promote the industrial transformation and upgrading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low energy consumption has always been one of the core issues in the routing design of underwater sensor networks. Due to the high cost and difficulty of deployment and replacement of current underwater nodes, many underwater applications require the routing protocol design to consider the network lifetime extension problem. Based on this, we designed a new routing protocol that takes into account both low energy consumption and balanced energy consumption, and achieves effective extension of the network lifetime, called adaptive power-controlled depth-based routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (APCDBRP). The protocol consists of two phases: (1) the route establishment phase and (2) the data transmission phase. In the route establishment phase, the initial path is established by the sink node broadcasting beacon packets at the maximum transmission power. The receiving nodes update their routing tables based on the beacon information and forward the beacon packets. In the data transmission phase, APCDBRP introduces a novel forwarding factor that considers both energy efficiency and energy balance. It selects the optimal next hop based on high energy efficiency and relatively abundant energy, thus extending the network's lifetime. Additionally, APCDBRP proposes a new data protection and route reconstruction mechanism to address issues such as network topology changes due to node mobility and data transmission failures. Our simulation is based on AquaSim–Next Generation, which is a specialized tool built on the NS3 platform for researching underwater networks. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to other typical routing protocols, APCDBRP exhibits superior performance in reducing network energy consumption and extending the network's lifetime. It also achieves a high packet delivery rate with lower energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) modulation technique can provide reliable communication in time-varying channels. Due to the dispersive characteristics of underwater acoustic channels, this paper proposes an OTFS-IM underwater acoustic communication system based on Hamming distance optimization to reduce the impact of dispersion in underwater acoustic communication. Firstly, the OTFS-IM underwater acoustic communication system is introduced, which introduces index modulation into the Delay–Doppler (DD) domain to make the OTFS system have stronger anti-Delay–Doppler capability. In contrast, since there is index sequence redundancy in a specific index combination, a Hamming distance optimization model is used to eliminate the redundant combination in the specific index combination sequence and further improve the bit error rate performance of the system. In addition, the Hamming distance optimized OTFS-IM underwater acoustic communication system is verified by simulation analysis. The results show that the proposed Hamming distance optimized OTFS-IM can achieve more reliable bit error rate performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of toppling deformation and failure is common in slopes with anti-dip structures, especially in soft metamorphic rock slopes. This paper aims to explore the instability mechanism of anti-dip layered soft metamorphic rock landslides. Taking the slope of a mining area in the southern Qinling Mountains of China as a geological prototype, a large-scale centrifuge model test and a numerical simulation based on the combined finite and discrete element method (FDEM) were performed. The deformation and failure process, failure mode, and failure path of the slope under rainfall and excavation conditions were simulated. The results show that both the physical centrifuge model test and the new numerical model test can simulate the instability process of anti-dip layered soft metamorphic rock slopes, and the phenomena simulated by the two methods are also very close. Rainfall mainly weakens the mechanical properties of rock, while the excavation at the slope toe mainly changes the stress field distribution and provides space for slope deformation, both of which accelerate the instability of the anti-dip soft metamorphic rock slope. The failure process of an anti-dip layered soft rock slope can be described as follows: bending of the rock layer–tensile fracture along the layer–flexural toppling and cracking perpendicular to the rock layer–extension and penetration of the tensile fracture surface–sliding and instability of the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the cutaneous involvement of acromegaly has been recognized, the submacroscopical skin changes and the extent of skin thickening of patients remain unclear. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the clinical cutaneous manifestations, dermoscopic features, and skin thickness revealed by high‐frequency ultrasound (HFUS) of acromegalic patients. Methods: A case‐control observational study was conducted. Patients with acromegaly and controls were prospectively included and received thorough cutaneous examinations to compare the macroscopical and dermoscopic features. The skin thickness measured by HFUS and its correlation with clinical data were also assessed. Results: Thirty‐seven and 26 patients from acromegalic and control group were included, respectively. Clinical skin manifestations were recorded in detail. Under dermoscopy, red structureless area (91.9% vs. 65.4%, p = 0.021), perifollicular orange halo (78.4% vs. 26.9%, p = 0.005), and follicular plug (70.3% vs. 3.9%, p = 0.001) in the facial area, and perifollicular pigmentation (91.9% vs. 23.1%), broom‐head hairs (83.8% vs. 3.9%), honeycomb‐like pigmentation (97.3% vs. 38.46%), widened dermatoglyphics (81.1% vs. 3.9%) at the extremities (p < 0.001) were more prevalent in acromegaly. The mean skin thickness was 4.10 ± 0.48 mm for acromegaly, and 3.55 ± 0.52 mm for controls (p < 0.001) but no correlation with disease duration, adenoma size, and hormone level was found in acromegaly. Conclusions: Submacroscopical skin changes under dermoscopy and skin thickness increase assessed by HFUS can provide clinicians with subtle evidences for early detection of acromegaly and objective parameters for accurate assessment of its skin involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality have put forward higher requirements for the low-carbon development of power supply. This paper discusses the impacts of multi-energy power generation on carbon emissions for 30 regions in China and proposes low-carbon development suggestions for the electric power industry. The research found that firstly there is a significant strong positive correlation between thermal power and carbon emissions in most regions of China, so the carbon emission reduction of power supply should still focus on thermal power. Secondly, wind power and photovoltaic power have positive effects or negative effects on carbon emissions in different regions. But combined with the analysis results in regions with the rapid development of wind power or photovoltaic power, it could be found that wind power and photovoltaic power contributed to reducing carbon emissions when they developed to a certain scale. It is proposed to speed up the construction of wind power and photovoltaic power in regions with rich wind resources or solar resources such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Liaoning, and Gansu. Thirdly, hydropower and nuclear power both have negative effects on carbon emissions. Considering the large demand for electricity in coastal regions where nuclear power is located, it is suggested that coastal regions should gradually promote the construction and application of nuclear power on the basis of safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultraviolet (UV) photodetector has found many applications, ranging from optical communication to environmental monitoring. There has been much research interest in the development of metal oxide-based UV photodetectors. In this work, a nano-interlayer was introduced in a metal oxide-based heterojunction UV photodetector to enhance the rectification characteristics and therefore the device performance. The device, which consists of nickel oxide (NiO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) sandwiching an ultrathin dielectric layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2), was prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS). After annealing, the NiO/TiO2/ZnO UV photodetector exhibited a rectification ratio of 104 under UV irradiation of 365 nm at zero bias. The device also demonstrated a high responsivity of 291 A/W and a detectivity of 6.9 × 1011 Jones at +2 V bias. Such a device structure provides a promising future for metal oxide-based heterojunction UV photodetectors in a wide range of applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of Escherichia coli competent cells by calcium chloride is a common method in molecular biology, but the mechanism is poorly understood. In a previous study, using transcriptomics and proteomics approaches, we found that the expression pattern of the gene loiP was upregulated by CaCl2. In order to investigate the function of the loiP gene in Ca2+- mediated formation of competent cells of E. coli DH5α, the loiP gene deletion strains were constructed by the lambda-derived Red homologous recombination technique. Then, the cell morphology, transformation efficiency, and cell membrane changes of the competent cells of the mutant strain were further explored. Compared with the wild-type E. coli DH5α, the mutant strains have no significant differences in the morphology, growth characteristics, and the permeability of the intracellular membrane. However, the transformation efficiencies of the mutant strains to plasmids of different sizes were significantly reduced, and the permeability of the outer membrane decreased by 2.94 times. These results indicate that the deletion of gene loiP may directly affect the transformation efficiency and outer membrane permeability of E. coli competent cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has made achievements in SO2 emissions reduction in recent years. However, the emissions of SO2 in northern China remain high, which need to be reduced. To effectively control SO2 emissions in northern China, this paper from the perspective of the coordinated treatment of air pollution discusses the impact of energy consumption, economic development, and environmental regulation on SO2 emissions in 14 provinces and regions by the Spatial Lag Model (SLM), Spatial Error Model (SEM), and Spatial Durbin Model (SDM). The study shows that (1) there is an obvious spatial dependence between SO2 emissions and energy consumption; (2) the increase in the scale of industry enterprise can exacerbate SO2 emissions in local and adjacent regions; and (3) the consumption of electricity suppresses SO2 emissions in the local region, and increases SO2 emissions in adjacent regions, which indicated that the electricity transmission can transfer the emissions of SO2. Therefore, in the treatment of SO2, it is necessary to fully consider the characteristics of SO2 transfer in the electric power industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the scale of nuclear power in China continues to expand, the problem of external dependence on uranium resources has become more and more prominent. The guarantee of uranium resources is facing great risks, especially the procurement risks. Therefore, the procurement risks of uranium resources based on the analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive assessment method from multiple perspectives is analyzed in this paper. The results show that the risk values of target region selection, supplier selection and uranium mining are 73.6, 71.3 and 71.8 respectively, which are the main risks. The risk values of procurement contract and procurement cost are 69.3 and 67.5, which are relatively low. They can be regarded as the secondary risks. In addition, the countermeasures of uranium resource procurement risk are put forward from six aspects including risk mitigation, risk prevention, risk transfer, risk avoidance, risk retention and risk backup measures. It is helpful to guide the risk management of China's uranium resources in procurement and transportation activities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing exhaust emissions, promoting economic development, and realizing clean energy utilization have always been concerns in China. To measure the relationship between them, this study selects the data related to energy consumption, economic growth, and exhaust emissions from 2000 to 2019 in 30 Chinese provinces. By constructing a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model, the dynamic relationship between them in China is quantitatively analyzed. The results show that there is a long-term interaction between energy consumption, economic growth, and exhaust emissions. Among them, economic growth is highly dependent on energy consumption, but it can promote the reduction of exhaust emissions. However, energy consumption will produce a large amount of industrial waste, such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, the industrial structure and energy structure have the most obvious impact on reducing industrial sulfur dioxide emissions and carbon emissions, with the proportion between 0.071–0.090 and 0.031–0.032, respectively. Therefore, the adjustment of industrial structure and energy structure is the key to exhaust emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the implementation of China's clean heating plan in 2017, the progress of natural gas replacing coal for heating is still not ideal. With the proposal of the goal of carbon neutralization and the impact of international war, the price, supply, and demand of natural gas have attracted attention. In case of gas shortage, reasonable schemes are required to be allocated to different industries and categories. Therefore, this research divides the gas field into four levels according to the social utility, and establishes the multi-objective distribution optimization model considering the social and economic benefits. The solution of the model is based on genetic algorithm and realized on MATLAB. Multi-objective optimization strategies and several constraints are used to make the algorithm's process of the search is continuously moving closer to the Pareto optimal front. Taking Beijing as an example, two scenarios are set to simulate and optimize, so as to verify the optimization effect of the model. Better quantitative results are created after reallocation of natural gas. The ideal scenario realizes 5.64% more social benefits than 2019 through additional allocation of 117.288 million cubic meters of reserve gas. The constraint scenario creates 0.67% more social benefits with only 0.07% decrease of the economic benefits. The conclusions show that allocating more gas to three main industries can improve the optimization effect and it is necessary to expand the supply of natural gas reserve volume. This paper provides a new perspective of natural gas allocation category and priority, providing theoretical and practical ideas for the planning of natural gas security emergency plan and the development of gas sales plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reliable assessment and design of engineering structures requires appropriate estimation and consideration of different sources of uncertainty. The randomness of seismic ground motion is one major uncertainty that needs to be considered from the perspective of performance-based earthquake engineering. To properly account for this uncertainty and its corresponding effect on pile foundations, a stochastic seismic response analytical framework based on a probability density evolution method and a stochastic ground motion model is proposed for the nonlinear stochastic seismic response analysis of pile foundations. A three-dimensional finite element model of a reinforced concrete pile with a large diameter embedded in the soil foundation is firstly established and calibrated using the full-scale lateral load test results from the literature, in which the nonlinear behavior of soil, the soil–pile interaction, the concrete damaged plasticity, and the steel yielding of the pile are properly modeled. Then, the calibrated three-dimensional numerical model is employed as an illustrative example for the stochastic seismic response analysis using the proposed framework. The mean, standard deviation, and probability density function of pile settlement and the dynamic reliabilities of the pile concerning various performance requirements are obtained in the present study. The settlements of the pile show great variability under the excitation of various stochastic ground motions, and the maximum mean value of the pile settlements is about 8 mm. The changing shape of the settlement probability density functions in every moment demonstrates that it is unreasonable to use assumed probabilistic distribution models to characterize the seismic responses of pile foundations during a seismic reliability analysis. Based on the proposed method, it is found that the dynamic reliabilities of the selected reinforced concrete pile concerning four different performance levels are 0, 0.1293, 0.8247, and 1, respectively. The proposed stochastic seismic response analytical method in the present study can provide a proper and comprehensive way to quantify various uncertainties and their corresponding effects on the seismic performance of pile foundations. It can also be used to estimate the actual reliability level of pile foundations that are designed by the current codes when they are subjected to seismic loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to report and discuss clinical analysis, including the diagnosis and treatment of 4 cases of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD) with area postrema syndrome (APS) as the first symptom. Methods: Four patients with intractable nausea, vomiting, and confirmed NMOSD were included in the final analysis. All of these patients were initially misdiagnosed and mismanaged. Results: Among the 4 patients, 3 were admitted to the department of gastroenterology at the onset of the disease, and 2 were not correctly diagnosed and treated promptly due to misdiagnosis. Therefore, their symptoms worsened, and they were transferred to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for life support. No obvious early medulla lesions were found in one patient. One patient was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin, methylprednisolone, and plasma exchange, but there was no significant clinical improvement, after which the disease relapsed during the treatment with low-dose rituximab. Conclusion: The clinical manifestations of NMOSD are complex and diverse, and the initial symptoms, onset age of the patient, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings can influence the final diagnosis. Early identification of the APS and timely therapy can prevent visual and physical disabilities, even respiratory failure, coma, and cardiac arrest. Therefore, it is necessary to identify specific and sensitive serum and imaging markers for predicting the prognosis and recurrence of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Diagnostic statements for pituitary adenomas (PAs) are complex and unstandardized. We aimed to determine the most commonly used elements contained in the statements and their combination patterns and variations in real-world clinical practice, with the ultimate goal of promoting standardized diagnostic recording and establishing an efficient element extraction process. Methods: Patient medical records from 2012 to 2020 that included PA among the first three diagnoses were included. After manually labeling the elements in the diagnostic texts, we obtained element types and training sets, according to which an information extraction model was constructed based on the word segmentation model "Jieba" to extract information contained in the remaining diagnostic texts. Results: A total of 576 different diagnostic statements from 4010 texts of 3770 medical records were enrolled in the analysis. The first ten diagnostic elements related to PA were histopathology, tumor location, endocrine status, tumor size, invasiveness, recurrence, diagnostic confirmation, Knosp grade, residual tumor, and refractoriness. The automated extraction model achieved F1-scores that reached 100% for all ten elements in the second round and 97.3–100.0% in the test set consisting of an additional 532 diagnostic texts. Tumor location, endocrine status, histopathology, and tumor size were the most commonly used elements, and diagnoses composed of the above elements were the most frequent. Endocrine status had the greatest expression variability, followed by Knosp grade. Among all the terms, the percentage of loss of tumor size was among the highest (21%). Among statements where the principal diagnoses were PAs, 18.6% did not have information on tumor size, while for those with other diagnoses, this percentage rose to 48% (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Standardization of the diagnostic statement for PAs is unsatisfactory in real-world clinical practice. This study could help standardize a structured pattern for PA diagnosis and establish a foundation for research-friendly, high-quality clinical information extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese herbal slices (CHSs) are closely associated to microorganisms, whether they are endophytic or epiphytic in plants, or introduced during processing. In this study, the structures and predicted functions of microbial communities in 150 batches of samples from five types of CHSs were investigated by combining pure culture and 16 S rDNA amplicon sequencing. Bile-salt-tolerant gram-negative bacteria were detected in 56.0% of samples, and Salmonella was detected in two batches of Glycyrrhiza slices and in one batch of Rheum slices. The main genera from the Enterobacteriaceae, Bacillaceae, Fibrobacteraceae, and Pseudomonadaceae families were assessed in typical colonies. Amplicon sequencing identified 1200 bacterial genera, including some pharmacopeial-controlled bacteria and many beneficial endophytes of medicinal plants. Around 65% of the genera co-occurred in all five CHSs. In clustering based on different algorithms, the samples from each CHS type were relatively clustered, with some overlap. Ranked from highest to lowest diversity, the CHSs were Rheum, Angelica, Astragalus, Codonopsis, and Glycyrrhiza. Each CHS had its indicator species. Functional annotations suggest that potential microbial transformation uses CHSs as substrates and microbial communities as transformants. Overall, it was demonstrated that, based on their complementary advantages, high-throughput sequencing technology and traditional pure-culture technology together can fully assess the microbial load of CHSs and reduce the misdetection rate. We observed large microbial communities in typical CHSs, demonstrating differences and similarities among different CHS types. These results provide a reference for establishing new microbial limit criteria for CHSs and highlight the importance of further correlating CHS microbial community structure and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is an important cause leading to recurrence and development of head and neck carcinoma (HNC), with the precise mechanisms unclear. Thus, we aimed to identify the key genes involved in LNM and further evaluate their expressions and roles.Methods: A cohort of HNC in the TCGA was analyzed. The study involved three phases (one screening and two validation phases). First, the differentially expressed genes regarding LNM were screened, from which a key gene was identified by a series of data mining approaches. Then, the expressions and roles of the key gene were validated in HNC through bioinformatics. Afterward, the expression of the key gene was detected by qPCR, western blot, and Immunohistochemistry based on a cell model and a tissue microarray. Further, colony formation and transwell migration and invasion assays were used to evaluate the roles of the key gene.Results: SPP1 was overexpressed in HNC tissues and was identified as the key gene. Overexpression of SPP1 in HNC was correlated with advanced pathological stages and T-stage, as well as the presence of LNM, which predicted poor prognosis. The expression of SPP1 was closely associated with the infiltration of immune cells in HNC, especially M2 macrophages. Lab experiments confirmed that SPP1 silence in HNC cells resulted in weakened invasive and metastatic abilities.Conclusion: This study reveals that SPP1 may be a key gene associated with LNM in HNC, raising the possibility of SPP1 as a target for HNC prevention and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant primary brain tumor. Although the standard of care, including maximal resection, concurrent radiotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ), and adjuvant TMZ, has largely improved the prognosis of these patients, the 5-year survival rate is still < 10%. Tumor-treating fields (TTFields), a noninvasive anticancer therapeutic modality, has been rising as a fourth treatment option for GBMs, as confirmed by recent milestone large-scale phase 3 randomized trials and subsequent real-world data, elongating patient overall survival from 16 months to 21 months. However, the mechanisms of antitumor efficacy, its clinical safety, and potential benefits when combined with other treatment modalities are far from completely elucidated. As an increasing number of studies have recently been published on this topic, we conducted this updated, comprehensive review to establish an objective understanding of the mechanism of action, efficacy, safety, clinical concerns, and future perspectives of TTFields. Tumor-treating fields (TTFields), a noninvasive and innovative therapeutic approach, has emerged as the fourth most effective treatment option for the management of glioblastomas (GBMs), the most deadly primary brain cancer. According to on recent milestone randomized trials and subsequent observational data, TTFields therapy leads to substantially prolonged patient survival and acceptable adverse events. Clinical trials are ongoing to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of TTFields in treating GBMs and its biological and radiological correlations. TTFields is administered by delivering low-intensity, intermediate-frequency, alternating electric fields to human GBM function through different mechanisms of action, including by disturbing cell mitosis, delaying DNA repair, enhancing autophagy, inhibiting cell metabolism and angiogenesis, and limiting cancer cell migration. The abilities of TTFields to strengthen intratumoral antitumor immunity, increase the permeability of the cell membrane and the blood–brain barrier, and disrupt DNA-damage-repair processes make it a promising therapy when combined with conventional treatment modalities. However, the overall acceptance of TTFields in real-world clinical practice is still low. Given that increasing studies on this promising topic have been published recently, we conducted this updated review on the past, present, and future of TTFields in GBMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Leaf senescence, the final stage of leaf growth and development, is regulated by numerous internal factors and environmental cues. Ethylene is one of the key senescence related hormones, but the underlying molecular mechanism of ethylene-induced leaf senescence remains poorly understood. Results: In this study, we identified one AT-hook like (AHL) protein, AHL9, as a positive regulator of leaf senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana. Overexpression of AHL9 significantly accelerates age-related leaf senescence and promotes dark-induced leaf chlorosis. The early senescence phenotype observed in AHL9 overexpressing lines is inhibited by the ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid suggesting the involvement of ethylene in the AHL9-associated senescence. RNA-seq and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) data identified numerous senescence-associated genes differentially expressed in leaves of AHL9 overexpressing transgenic plants. Conclusions: Our investigation demonstrates that AHL9 functions in accelerating the leaf senescence process via ethylene synthesis or signalling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many researches on convolution neural network (CNN) based in-loop filters have been proposed to improve coding efficiency. However, most existing CNN based filters tend to train and deploy multiple networks for various quantization parameters (QP) and frame types (FT), which drastically increases resources in training these models and the memory burdens for video codec. In this paper, we propose a novel variable CNN (VCNN) based in-loop filter for VVC, which can effectively handle the compressed videos with different QPs and FTs via a single model. Specifically, an efficient and flexible attention module is developed to recalibrate features according to QPs or FTs. Then we embed the module into the residual block so that these informative features can be continuously utilized in the residual learning process. To minimize the information loss in the learning process of the entire network, we utilize a residual feature aggregation module (RFA) for more efficient feature extraction. Based on it, an efficient network architecture VCNN is designed that can not only effectively reduce compression artifacts, but also can be adaptive to various QPs and FTs. To address training data imbalance on various QPs and FTs and improve the robustness of the model, a focal mean square error loss function is employed to train the proposed network. Then we integrate the VCNN into VVC as an additional tool of in-loop filters after the deblocking filter. Extensive experimental results show that our VCNN approach obtains on average 3.63%, 4.36%, 4.23%, 3.56% under all intra, low-delay P, low-delay, and random access configurations, respectively, which is even better than QP-Separate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Studies on hyperprolactinemia and hypopituitarism in acromegaly are limited. We aimed to analyze the preoperative status, postoperative alterations, and correlated factors of hyperprolactinemia and hypopituitarism in acromegaly patients. Methods: This is a single-center cohort study with long-term follow-up. We prospectively enrolled 529 acromegaly patients. Hyperprolactinemia and hypopituitarism were evaluated by testing hypothalamus-pituitary-end organ (HPEO) axes hormones before and after surgery. Results: Hyperprolactinemia (39.1%) and hypopituitarism (34.8%) were common in acromegaly. The incidences of axis-specific hypopituitarism varied (hypogonadism, 29.7%; hypothyroidism, 5.9%; adrenal insufficiency, 5.1%), and multiple HPEO axes dysfunction was diagnosed in 5.3% of patients. Patients with preoperative hyperprolactinemia [hazard ratio (HR)=1.39 (1.08-1.79); p =0.012], hypogonadism [HR=1.32 (1.01-1.73); p =0.047], and hypothyroidism [HR=3.49 (1.90-6.44); p <0.001] had higher recurrence rates than those without. Age, sex, body mass index, tumor size, invasiveness, prolactin staining, ki-67 index, and GH/IGF-1 levels were significantly correlated with preoperative hypopituitarism and hyperprolactinemia. At median 34-month follow-up after surgery, hyperprolactinemia in 95% and axis-specific hypopituitarism in 54%-71% of patients recovered, whereas new-onset hypopituitarism (hypogonadism, 6.2%; hypothyroidism, 4.0%; adrenal insufficiency, 3.2%) was also diagnosed. A shorter tumor diameter was associated with the normalization of preoperative hyperprolactinemia after surgery. Cavernous sinus non-invasion, a shorter tumor diameter, cure at follow-up, and a lower GH nadir level were associated with the improvement of preoperative hypopituitarism after surgery. A larger tumor diameter was associated with the newly developed hypopituitarism after surgery. Conclusion: Hyperprolactinemia and hypopituitarism are common among acromegaly patients and predict worse surgical outcomes. After surgery, improvement and worsening of HPEO axes function co-exist. Correlated factors are identified for clinical management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to analyze the impact of population, property, technology, energy factors, and spatial agglomeration in the logistics industry on carbon emissions. To achieve the goal of peak carbon and carbon neutrality, the relationship between influencing factors and carbon emissions was analyzed based on panel data from the logistics industry for 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2017 using an improved STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model and a spatial lag model (SLM). The results show that population, property, technology, and energy factors in the logistics industry all have different degrees of influence on carbon emissions, wherein population, energy, and property have a greater influence, which implies that carbon emission reduction policies can be carried out considering the relevant aspects. In addition, under the influence of spatial agglomeration, the degree of influence of freight mileage (FM), total fixed-asset investment (TFAI), and industry population (IPOP) on carbon emissions decreases, and the degree of influence of energy intensity (EI) and industry per capita GDP (IPCG) increases. This suggests that corresponding emission reduction policies should be formulated for large urban areas based on technological innovation, infrastructure, and talent training, while smaller urban areas can focus on developing new energy and industrial economies. These findings help to complement the existing literature and provide policymakers with some insights related to urban logistics development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of endovascular treatment for patients with visceral and renal artery aneurysms (VRAAs). Twelve years of experience with interventional procedures and treatment options in our center were also worth discussing. Methods: From January 2009 to December 2020, clinical data of 159 consecutive patients with VRAAs were retrospectively analyzed. Patients' demographic and clinical data were recorded, and the safety and efficacy of endovascular therapy were evaluated. In addition, interventional procedures were also described. Results: A total of 159 patients underwent angiography, and 154 patients were successfully treated with endovascular therapy, with a technical success rate of 96.9%. Of the 154 patients with successful endovascular therapy, 3 patients died within 30 days of treatment, with a 30-day mortality rate of 1.9%, and the remaining patients were clinically successful, with a clinical success rate of 98.1%. Fifty-seven patients underwent emergency interventional treatment due to ruptured aneurysm. There were statistically significant differences in hemoglobin before and after emergency treatment (78.5 ± 22.0 g/dL vs. 93.8 ± 15.0 g/dL, P = 0.00). No other serious complications occurred except death in 3 patients. Conclusion: Endovascular treatment of VRRAs is safe and effective and can significantly improve the symptoms of patients, especially those with ruptured aneurysms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]