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Microseismic (MS) monitoring is an effective method for tracking the development of rock fractures. However, the utilization of existing data is severely limited by current visualization techniques. In this study, the evolution characteristics of MS parameters during the rock fracture process were investigated using MS localization techniques and spatial clustering methods. Machine learning methods were applied to cluster acoustic emission events, enabling the automatic identification of hazardous regions and the construction of crack propagation trajectories. The applicability of clustering methods was assessed using MS monitoring data collected during an in situ rock fracture process. The research results show that the spatial clustering method can effectively delineate hazardous areas, and the changes in these regions reflect the progressive development of rock mass fractures. Regions with a higher proportion of high‐energy MS events pose greater risks. Additionally, the propagation trajectory of MS events can effectively characterize the concentration and development direction of fractures. This study provides valuable insights into the characterization of crack evolution and seepage channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder among patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis (MHD). Depression may reportedly contribute to poor prognosis in several ways, including its effects on platelet function. We hypothesised that depression contributes to the occurrence of cardiocerebral vascular events (CCVE) and dysfunction of arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) in patients undergoing MHD through its effects on platelets. In this prospective cohort study, patients undergoing MHD were recruited and divided into depression and non-depression groups according to their Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) scores. The 286 enrolled patients had 103 occurrences of depressive symptoms (prevalence = 36.01%). Compared with the non-depression group, depression group had a significantly higher cumulative prevalence of CCVE and DAVF during follow-up. Cox regression analysis indicated that higher HAMD scores and lower plasma platelet distribution width (PDW) were common risk factors for CCVE and DAVF. Furthermore, HAMD scores were significantly negatively correlated with plasma PDW and was the main variable affecting changes in PDW, as indicated by multiple linear regression analysis. Depression may increase the risk of CCVE and DAVF in patients undergoing MHD by activating platelets. Plasma PDW may be a convenient indicator of platelet activation status and may predict the risk of CCVE and DAVF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the associations between body composition and temporal eating patterns, including time of first eating occasion, time of last eating occasion, eating window, and eating jet lag (the variability in meal timing between weekdays and weekends). Methods: A total of 131 participants were included in the study. Temporal eating pattern information was collected through consecutive 7-day eat timing questionnaires and photographic food records. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationships of temporal eating patterns with body composition, and age was adjusted. Eating midpoint was additionally adjusted in the analysis of eating window. Results: On weekdays, both later first eating occasion and last eating occasion were associated with lower lean mass, and longer eating window was associated with lower body fat percentage. On weekends, both later first eating occasion and last eating occasion were associated with lower lean mass, and longer eating window was associated with higher FFMI. Longer first eating occasion jet lag was associated with lower lean mass. Conclusion: Our study suggested that earlier and more regular eating patterns may have a benefit on body composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Homologous recombination plays a vital role in the occurrence and drug resistance of gastric cancer. This study aimed to screen new gastric cancer diagnostic biomarkers in the homologous recombination pathway and then used radiomic features to construct a prediction model of biomarker expression to guide the selection of chemotherapy regimens. Methods: Gastric cancer transcriptome data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Machine learning methods were used to screen for diagnostic biomarkers of gastric cancer and validate them experimentally. Computed Tomography image data of gastric cancer patients and corresponding clinical data were downloaded from The Cancer Imaging Archive and our imaging centre, and then the Computed Tomography images were subjected to feature extraction, and biomarker expression prediction models were constructed to analyze the correlation between the biomarker radiomics scores and clinicopathological features. Results: We screened RAD51D and XRCC2 in the homologous recombination pathway as biomarkers for gastric cancer diagnosis by machine learning, and the expression of RAD51D and XRCC2 was significantly positively correlated with pathological T stage, N stage, and TNM stage. Homologous recombination pathway blockade inhibits gastric cancer cell proliferation, promotes apoptosis, and reduces the sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. Our predictive RAD51D and XRCC2 expression models were constructed using radiomics features, and all the models had high accuracy. In the external validation cohort, the predictive models still had decent accuracy. Moreover, the radiomics scores of RAD51D and XRCC2 were also significantly positively correlated with the pathologic T, N, and TNM stages. Conclusions: The gastric cancer diagnostic biomarkers RAD51D and XRCC2 that we screened can, to a certain extent, reflect the expression status of genes through radiomic characteristics, which is of certain significance in guiding the selection of chemotherapy regimens for gastric cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the utilization rate and equity of health examination service among the middle-aged and elderly population in China from 2011 to 2018. The contribution of various determinants to the inequity in health examination service utilization was also examined. Methods: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) were analyzed to assess the health examination service utilization rate among the middle-aged and elderly population. A concentration curve and concentration index were employed to measure the equity of health examination service utilization and decomposed into its determining factors. Horizontal inequity index was applied to evaluate the trends in equity of health examination service. Results: The health examination service utilization rates among the middle-aged and elderly population were 29.45%, 20.69%, 25.40%, and 32.05% in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively. The concentration indexes for health examination service utilization were 0.0080 (95% CI: − 0.0084, 0.0244), 0.0155 (95% CI: − 0.0054, 0.0363), 0.0095 (95% CI: − 0.0088, 0.0277), and − 0.0100 (95% CI: − 0.0254, 0.0054) from 2011 to 2018, respectively. The horizontal inequity index was positive from 2011 to 2018, evidencing a pro-rich inequity trend. Age, residence, education, region, and economic status were the major identified contributors influencing the equity of health examination service utilization. Conclusions: A pro-rich inequity existed in health examination service utilization among the middle-aged and elderly population in China. Reducing the wealth and regional gap, providing equal educational opportunities, and strengthening the capacity for chronic disease prevention and control are crucial for reducing the inequity in health examination service utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on the association between Family Doctor Contract Services (FDCS) and health has only considered a single indicator of health and has not considered the endogeneity of independent variables. This study aimed to evaluate the association from a multidimensional perspective of the health of middle-aged and older people using the instrumental variables method and determine the underlying mechanisms. Using data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study surveys, a total of 19,438 sample was obtained. Health was measured by health related-quality of life (HR-QoL), subjective well-being, and cognitive function. The instrumental variables method was used to estimate the association. Mediation analysis was employed to analyze the underlying mechanisms. The results of the instrumental variables method showed a correlation between FDCS and health, such as HR-QoL (η = 33.714, p < 0.01), subjective well-being (η = 1.106, p < 0.05), and cognitive function (η = 4.133, p < 0.05). However, we found no evidence that FDCS improved physical health. We also identified reduced utilization of healthcare services and increased social activities as mediators of the effect of FDCS on health. The Chinese government should improve incentive-based initiatives to improve the quality of FDCS. Moreover, more attention needs to be paid to the multidimensional health of middle-aged and older people, especially vulnerable groups, such as older individuals and those in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to investigate the predictive capability of machine learning algorithms for omental metastasis in locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC) and to compare the performance metrics of various machine learning predictive models. A retrospective collection of 478 pathologically confirmed LAGC patients was undertaken, encompassing both clinical features and arterial phase computed tomography images. Radiomic features were extracted using 3D Slicer software. Clinical and radiomic features were further filtered through lasso regression. Selected clinical and radiomic features were used to construct omental metastasis predictive models using support vector machine (SVM), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and logistic regression (LR). The models' performance metrics included accuracy, area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). In the training cohort, the RF predictive model surpassed LR, SVM, DT, and KNN in terms of accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV. Compared to the other four predictive models, the RF model significantly improved PPV. In the test cohort, all five machine learning predictive models exhibited lower PPVs. The DT model demonstrated the most significant variation in performance metrics relative to the other models, with a sensitivity of 0.231 and specificity of 0.990. The LR-based predictive model had the lowest PPV at 0.210, compared to the other four models. In the external validation cohort, the performance metrics of the predictive models were generally consistent with those in the test cohort. The LR-based model for predicting omental metastasis exhibited a lower PPV. Among the machine learning algorithms, the RF predictive model demonstrated higher accuracy and improved PPV relative to LR, SVM, KNN, and DT models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amount of actively cultivated land in China is increasingly threatened by rapid urbanization and rural population aging. Quantifying the extent and changes of active cropland and cropping intensity is crucial to global food security. However, national-scale datasets for smallholder agriculture are limited in spatiotemporal continuity, resolution, and precision. In this paper, we present updated annual Cropland Use Intensity maps in China (China-CUI10m) with descriptions of the extent of fallow/abandoned, actively cropped fields and cropping intensity at a 10-m resolution in recent six years (2018–2023). The dataset is produced by robust algorithms with no requirements for regional adjustments or intensive training samples, which take full advantage of the Sentinel-1 (S1) SAR and Sentinel-2 (S2) MSI time series. The China-CUI10m maps have achieved high accuracy when compared to ground truth data (Overall accuracy = 90.88%) and statistical data (R2 > 0.94). This paper provides the recent trends in cropland abandonment and agricultural intensification in China, which contributes to facilitating geographic-targeted cropland use control policies towards sustainable intensification of smallholder agricultural systems in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the utilization rate and equity of health examination service among the middle-aged and elderly population in China from 2011 to 2018. The contribution of various determinants to the inequity in health examination service utilization was also examined. Methods: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) were analyzed to assess the health examination service utilization rate among the middle-aged and elderly population. A concentration curve and concentration index were employed to measure the equity of health examination service utilization and decomposed into its determining factors. Horizontal inequity index was applied to evaluate the trends in equity of health examination service. Results: The health examination service utilization rates among the middle-aged and elderly population were 29.45%, 20.69%, 25.40%, and 32.05% in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively. The concentration indexes for health examination service utilization were 0.0080 (95% CI: − 0.0084, 0.0244), 0.0155 (95% CI: − 0.0054, 0.0363), 0.0095 (95% CI: − 0.0088, 0.0277), and − 0.0100 (95% CI: − 0.0254, 0.0054) from 2011 to 2018, respectively. The horizontal inequity index was positive from 2011 to 2018, evidencing a pro-rich inequity trend. Age, residence, education, region, and economic status were the major identified contributors influencing the equity of health examination service utilization. Conclusions: A pro-rich inequity existed in health examination service utilization among the middle-aged and elderly population in China. Reducing the wealth and regional gap, providing equal educational opportunities, and strengthening the capacity for chronic disease prevention and control are crucial for reducing the inequity in health examination service utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsidence of the earth's surface induced by mining activities has always been a critical concern in the relevant research fields. This subsidence disrupts the original geological structures and can lead to secondary geological hazards, environmental degradation, and threats to human lives and property. An in-depth investigation of this issue led to us using the three-dimensional finite-difference numerical simulation software FLAC3D 6.0 in this study. The research focuses on the Prang Copper Mine subsidence area in Yunnan Province, China, with a particular emphasis on the comprehensive analysis of the formation mechanisms of a large-scale crack appearing on the south side of the subsidence area. The study also includes a predictive analysis of the future development trends of this crack. The simulation results indicate that the crack formation was a consequence of the combined effects of uneven surface subsidence induced by underground structural interfaces and underground mining activities. As mining activities continued, the non-uniform subsidence of the surface intensified. The northward (Y-axis) displacement difference of characteristic points A and B on both sides of the crack continuously increased, signifying the widening of the crack. Mining activities also influence the displacement in the X-axis direction, potentially posing risks to support structures on either side of existing drainage channels. Therefore, effective control measures are warranted. Furthermore, this study highlights the possibility that new mining activities may further exacerbate subsidence on the south side of the subsidence area. This research provides valuable insights into the complexity of surface subsidence and its associated risks, offering guidance for mining activity planning and safety measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a 780 MPa grade ferritic-bainitic dual-phase steel with excellent matching of strength-plasticity and formability was developed using thermomechanical control processing. Optical microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, and Electron Backscatter Diffraction techniques were used to characterize the microstructure comprehensively, and the effects of coiling temperature on the microstructure, the strength-plasticity, and hole-expansion ratio of the test steels were thoroughly investigated. The results showed that the test steel had an excellent combination of ferrite and bainite at the coiling temperature of 520 °C, 23.7 and 76.3%, respectively, with a hole expansion ratio of 58.5 ± 2.8%. The uniformity of the microstructure was the key to obtaining a high expansion ratio in ferrite-bainite dual-phase steels. The test steels formed granular bainite at low-temperature coiling, while polygonal ferrite was promoted at high-temperature coiling. The effect of coiling temperature on grain size is small. Dislocations were redistributed during high-temperature coiling, resulting in a decrease in dislocation density. The higher elongation and hole expansion rate at higher coiling temperatures were attributed to increased polygonal ferrite content, reduced grain size, and enhanced TRIP effect. When coiling at low temperatures, the agglomeration of polygonal ferrite or granular bainite tends to result in a non-uniform distribution of the soft and hard phases of the matrix. At the same time, the strong texture parallel to the rolling direction has a significant difference in plasticity in different directions, leading to non-uniform deformation, which is liable to stress concentration, causing crack nucleation and extension in the hole expanding process, thus reducing the hole expansion performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the crucial role of ventilation systems in mitigating cross-infections, especially in infectious-disease hospitals. This study introduces a dual-design operation ventilation system that can operate under two sets of ventilation conditions for normal and epidemic times. A challenge is optimizing duct diameters for required airflow while maintaining hydraulic balance. We designed an improved genetic algorithm with an adaptive penalty factor and velocity constraint, as well as the improved crossover probability and mutation probability. The improved genetic algorithm is suitable for ventilation system networks, which can find a better combination of air duct diameters to improve the hydraulic balance rate and reduce the usage of air valves, resulting in efficient hydraulic balancing commissioning. A supply air ventilation system of an actual hospital in China was selected as a case study, and the number of imbalanced air ducts was reduced from 14 to 4. Compared with the traditional genetic algorithm, it has a faster search speed and a better global search ability, which is effective for the optimal design of ventilation system networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nipah virus (NiV) causes severe, lethal encephalitis in humans and pigs. However, there is no licensed vaccine available to prevent NiV infection. In this study, we used the reverse genetic system based on the attenuated rabies virus strain SRV9 to construct two recombinant viruses, rSRV9-NiV-F and rSRV9-NiV-G, which displayed the NiV envelope glycoproteins F and G, respectively. Following three immunizations in BALB/c mice, the inactivated rSRV9-NiV-F and rSRV9-NiV-G alone or in combination, mixed with the adjuvants ISA 201 VG and poly (I:C), were able to induce the antigen-specific cellular and Th1-biased humoral immune responses. The specific antibodies against rSRV9-NiV-F and rSRV9-NiV-G had reactivity with two constructed bacterial-like particles displaying the F and G antigens of NiV. These data demonstrate that rSRV9-NiV-F or rSRV9-NiV-G has the potential to be developed into a promising vaccine candidate against NiV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sudden debris flows in underground mines are characterized by strong burstiness, great destructiveness, and difficult monitoring. Traditional single monitoring methods can only roughly judge the probability of underground debris flow occurrences through one-sided potential phenomena, making it difficult to accurately predict sudden underground debris flows. Therefore, effective monitoring methods can prevent or reduce waste and damage to mineral resources caused by mine debris flow disasters. This study is based on the theoretical foundations of rainfall automatic identification program, unsteady flow theory, and wavelet threshold denoising theory. It preprocesses key data such as rainfall, groundwater, and surface displacement with the aim of reducing criterion errors and improving the accuracy of determination. By utilizing the underground debris flow warning determination program, warning determination algorithm, and information management system hosted on the monitoring and warning platform, a comprehensive underground debris flow warning system is integrated. This system incorporates determining parameters such as rainfall, water inflow, groundwater level, surface subsidence, pore water pressure, surrounding rock stress, microseismic phenomena, and underground video recognition, with the innovative approach of "weather-surface-underground" multi-directional monitoring. The system was successfully installed and applied in the Pulang Copper Mine in Yunnan Province, demonstrating good application effectiveness. The results indicate that compared to traditional single monitoring methods, the multi-directional monitoring and warning system for underground debris flows has advantages such as low fault tolerance and high accuracy, making it more suitable for ensuring safe mining in mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabrics with simultaneous thermal and moisture management are of great importance for improving human comfort and saving energy during cold weather. In this study, fabric capable of simultaneous thermal and moisture management was fabricated by using a one-stop solution. This fabric, consisting of polyester fabric and a hydrophobic paste with graphene oxide (GO) nanopowder, was fabricated by a single-side coating. Because of its collaborative influence in regulating thermal moisture, the fabric featured a warming effect, regardless of whether skin perspiration was present. Based on the passive radiative warming ability of GO nanopowder, the fabric exhibited effective warming (producing a skin temperature approximately 2.9 °C higher than that of polyester) in the absence of perspiration. Meanwhile, it achieved efficient directional sweat transportation (with an accumulative one-way transport capability of 1062%) and heat loss reduction during evaporation to maintain an adequate body temperature (approximately 3.0 °C higher than that for polyester and approximately 1.8 °C higher than that for Janus fabric with a hydrophilic layer) in the presence of perspiration to avoid an after-chill effect. Because of simultaneous thermal and moisture management effects, this bilayer hydrophobic fluid diode fabric shows potential for practical applications in static settings (indoor environments with no perspiration) and dynamic settings (indoor exercise scenarios in which sweat is produced) to maintain warmth during cold weather. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a new method to accurately evaluate the overall building envelope thermal performance considering the window–wall correlation, providing a new tool for building thermal design. Firstly, a non-stationary room heat transfer model is established based on the Resistance-Capacity Network method. The influence of solar heat gain through the windows on the heat transfer process of the walls in the actual environment is considered, and the room's integrated thermal resistance and integrated heat capacity indexes describing the overall room thermal resilience performance are proposed. Then, a field research test is conducted around Lhasa to obtain the local dwelling information, climate conditions, and indoor thermal environment. Numerical simulations using EnergyPlus are made to verify the effectiveness of the indexes in describing the overall building (maximum difference within 3.67% MBE and 2.92% CVRMSE) based on the field test results. Finally, the proposed envelope thermal performance index is used to analyze the local residential buildings around Lhasa. The results show that the lack of consideration of window–wall correlation has led to the failure of a local newly built building's actual envelope performance to meet the design requirements. These findings could help to develop the thermal design method of the building envelope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-cycle fatigue testing was carried out for the welded joints of constructional steels containing 0% V + 0.0021% N and 0.10% V + 0.0078% N, and the effects of V-N microalloying on the low-cycle fatigue property of the welded joints were investigated. The results showed that when the total strain amplitudes were 1.2%, 1.4% and 1.6%, the mean low-cycle fatigue lives of the welded joints of steel containing 0.10% V + 0.0078% N were 5050, 2372 and 1535 cycles, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the welded joints of steel containing 0% V + 0.0021% N; however, when the total strain amplitudes increased to 1.8% and 2.0%, the mean low-cycle fatigue lives of the welded joints of steel containing 0.10% V + 0.0078% N were 575 and 367 cycles, respectively, which were gradually lower than those of the welded joints of steel containing 0% V + 0.0021% N. The reasons causing the difference of low-cycle fatigue life were explained by the dislocation structure and precipitates in the welding heat-affected zone, plastic strain energy density of the welded joints, and fatigue fracture morphology. When the low-cycle fatigue life is between 100 and 200 cycles, the cyclic toughness of the welded joint of steel containing 0.10% V + 0.0078% N is between 57.48 and 78.22 J/cm3, which is higher than that of the welded joint of steel containing 0% V + 0.0021% N, indicating that the welded joint of steel containing 0.10% V + 0.0078% N is able to absorb more energy in a seismic condition, therefore possessing better seismic resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the biomechanical performance of the hybrid lumbar fixation technique with the traditional and cortical bone trajectory techniques using the finite element method. Methods: Four adult wet lumbar spine specimens were provided by the Department of Anatomy and Research of Xinjiang Medical University, and four L1–S1 lumbar spine with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) models at L4–L5 segment and four different fixation techniques were established: bilateral traditional trajectory screw fixation (TT–TT), bilateral cortical bone trajectory screw fixation (CBT–CBT), hybrid CBT–TT (CBT screws at L4 and TT screws at L5) and TT–CBT (TT screws at L4 and CBT screws at L5). The range of motion (ROM) of the L4–L5 segment, von Mises stress of cage, internal fixation, and rod were compared in flexion, extension, left and right bending, and left and right rotation. Results: Compared with the TT–TT group, the TT–CBT group exhibited lower ROM of L4–L5 segment, especially in left-sided bending; the CBT–TT group had the lowest ROM of L4–L5 segment in flexion and extension among the four fixation methods. Compared with the CBT–CBT group, the peak cage stress in the TT–CBT group was reduced by 9.9%, 18.1%, 21.5%, 23.3%, and 26.1% in flexion, left bending, right bending, left rotation, and right rotation conditions, respectively, but not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The peak stress of the internal fixation system in the TT–CBT group was significantly lower than the other three fixation methods in all five conditions except for extension, with a statistically significant difference between the CBT–TT and TT–CBT groups in the left rotation condition (P = 0.017). In addition, compared with the CBT–CBT group, the peak stress of the rod in the CBT–TT group decreased by 34.8%, 32.1%, 28.2%, 29.3%, and 43.0% under the six working conditions of flexion, extension, left bending, left rotation, and right rotation, respectively, but not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Compared with the TT–TT and CBT–CBT fixation methods in TLIF, the hybrid lumbar fixation CBT–TT and TT–CBT techniques increase the biomechanical stability of the internal fixation structure of the lumbar fusion segment to a certain extent and provide a corresponding theoretical basis for further development in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10.3390/s22103641 19 Ma C.Z.-H., Ling Y.T., Shea Q.T.K., Wang L.-K., Wang X.-Y., Zheng Y.-P. 10.3390/bioengineering9100574 28 Wang H., Gao C., Fu H., Ma C.Z.-H., Wang Q., He Z., Li M. Automated Student Classroom Behaviors' Perception and Identification Using Motion Sensors. 2023; 10: 315 15 He C., Yang J.-T., Zheng Q., Mei Z., Ma C.Z.-H. How do Paraspinal Muscles Contract during the Schroth Exercise Treatment in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS)? 2018; 25: 20-27. 10.1080/10749357.2017.1380339 22 Li H., Huang H., Ren S., Rong Q. Leveraging Multivariable Linear Regression Analysis to Identify Patients with Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency Using a Composite Index of the Knee Flexion and Muscle Force. [Extracted from the article]

""We employed radiomics and clinical features to develop and validate a preoperative prediction model to estimate the omental metastases status of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC). A total of 460 patients (training cohort, n = 250; test cohort, n = 106; validation cohort, n = 104) with LAGC who were confirmed T3/T4 stage by postoperative pathology were continuously collected retrospectively, including clinical data and preoperative arterial phase computed tomography images (APCT). Dedicated radiomics prototype software was used to segment the lesions and extract features from the preoperative APCT images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to select the extracted radiomics features, and a radiomics score model was constructed. Finally, a prediction model of omental metastases status and a nomogram were constructed combining the radiomics scores and selected clinical features. An area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to validate the capability of the prediction model and nomogram in the training cohort. Calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the prediction model and nomogram. The prediction model was internally validated by the test cohort. In addition, 104 patients from another hospital's clinical and imaging data were gathered for external validation. In the training cohort, the combined prediction (CP) model (AUC 0.871, 95% CI 0.798–0.945) of the radiomics scores combined with the clinical features, compared with clinical features prediction (CFP) model (AUC 0.795, 95% CI 0.710–0.879) and radiomics scores prediction (RSP) model (AUC 0.805, 95% CI 0.730–0.879), had the better predictive ability. The Hosmer–Lemeshow test of the CP model showed that the prediction model did not deviate from the perfect fitting (p = 0.893). In the DCA, the clinical net benefit of the CP model was higher than that of the CFP model and RSP model. In the test and validation cohorts, the AUC values of the CP model were 0.836 (95% CI 0.726–0.945) and 0.779 (95% CI 0.634–0.923), respectively. The preoperative APCT-based clinical-radiomics nomogram showed good performance in predicting omental metastases status in LAGC, which may contribute to clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great significance for the large‐scale green H2 production. Currently, pressing challenges in the fabrication of cost‐effective HER electrocatalysts are related to their sluggish water dissociation kinetics. Herein, a facile strategy to accelerate the desorption of HER intermediates and water dissociation is proposed. RuNi nanoalloy confined within N‐doped carbon shells (Ru7Ni3@NC/C) with optimized Ru/Ni ratio and the dicyandiamide dosage was prepared. It displays an overpotential (η10) of 16 mV, Tafel slope of 29.9 mV dec−1, and long‐term stability over 10 000 cycles. The decent HER performance on Ru7Ni3@NC/C stems from the core‐shell structure that is favoring the exposure of dispersed active sites, and the synergistic effect to promote water capture and dissociation. This work provides insight into the relationship between the HER performance and the electrochemical behavior of the intermediate adsorbed state, and paves an avenue toward rational design efficient electrocatalysts for HER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For weathering steel used in building, it is necessary not only to ensure weather resistance, but also to improve the strength and yield ratio. This study investigates the strengthening effect of Ti microalloying on the tested steel by conducting continuous cooling transformation tests of undercooled austenite and comparative tests of microstructure and performance at different coiling temperatures, with 0.07 wt.% Ti added to the weathering building test steel. The results show that, with an increase in cooling rate (0.1~50 °C/s), the room temperature microstructure of different cooling rates gradually transitions as follows: F + P, F + P + B, F + B and B + M; in addition, the hardness increases. Polygonal ferrite and pearlite were obtained by coiling at 650 °C; quasi-polygonal ferrite, acicular ferrite, pearlite and a small amount of bainite were obtained by coiling at 600 °C; and bainite was obtained by coiling at 550 °C. With a decrease in coiling temperature, the strength of the test steel increased, the yield ratio increased, the elongation after fracture decreased and the elongation at the yield point decreased. Compared with those observed at 650 °C, the nano precipitation phases observed in the sample at 600 °C were smaller in size, higher in number and higher in dislocation density. The combined action of second-phase precipitation strengthening and dislocation strengthening increased the strength and yield ratio of the test steel. This study will be helpful in guiding the improvement of strength grades for weathering steel used in building and industrial production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture and thermal management fabrics that remove perspiration and regulate skin temperature can improve human comfort. However, fabrics with radiant cooling and rapid sw eat evaporation effects that can address both heat and moisture management remain a challenge. Therefore, a perspiration evaporation fabric based on graphene oxide (GO), polystyrene (PS), and cotton (referred to as G/P-C) was prepared using a simple soaking and electrostatic spinning strategy. When there was no perspiration (indoor scenarios), the fabric exhibited an exceptional radiative cooling capacity. The heat storage power of the G/P-C fabric (0.68 W/m2) was lower than that of cotton (4.63 W/m2) due to the integrated GO nanosheets that absorb human infrared radiation (IR), indicating that less heat was trapped between the skin and the fabric. Additionally, the temperature of human skin covered with the G/P-C fabric decreased by approximately 1.6 °C from that of skin covered with cotton. When there was perspiration (outdoor scenarios), the surface temperature of the resulting fabric increased by 3.2 °C and the evaporation rate was nearly twice that of cotton due to the combination of solar radiation adsorption and directional water transport. This fabric is expected to provide insight into the development of sweat management for personal health and comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying traffic congestion accurately is crucial for improving the expressway service level. Because the distributions of microscopic traffic quantities are highly sensitive to slight changes, the traffic congestion measurement is affected by many factors. As an essential part of the expressway, service areas should be considered when measuring the traffic state. Although existing studies pay increasing attention to service areas, the impact caused by service areas is hard to measure for evaluating traffic congestion events. By merging ETC transaction datasets and service area entrance data, this work proposes a traffic congestion measurement with the influence of expressway service areas. In this model, the traffic congestion with the influence of service areas is corrected by three modules: 1) the pause rate prediction module; 2) the fitting module for the relationship between effect and pause rate; 3) the measurement module with correction terms. Extensive experiments were conducted on the real dataset of the Fujian Expressway, and the results show that the proposed method can be applied to measure the effect caused by service areas in the absence of service area entry data. The model can also provide references for other traffic indicator measurements under the effect of the service area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising number of cyberattacks and cybercriminals around the world has put major threats on the cybersecurity and even the national security of many countries. In response, governments started to introduce policies and regulations to improve cybersecurity. It is increasingly realized that effective cybersecurity policy making largely depends upon optimized policy attention and the effective use of public resources. This article draws on the “attention-driven policy choice model” and the punctuated equilibrium theory to analyze the relationship between policy attention allocation, policy agenda setting, and the choice of policy tools in different periods of cybersecurity development. Using Chinese cybersecurity development as the main context, content analysis of policy texts was conducted to examine the pathway of cybersecurity policy development in China between 1994 and 2019. The findings suggest that there is evidence for punctuated equilibrium with policy stagnation and incrementality being broken up by major events which shift policy attention and subsequently affects agenda setting and the choice of policy tools. The findings of this article will provide important implications for the development of strategic foresight of cybersecurity and the effective use of public resources to improve cybersecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The silique is an important organ in plant reproduction and maintains biodiversity among species; however, little is known about the regulation of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) silique development. In this study, we conducted research on the radish long silique (ls) mutant and wild-type (WT) radish and compared their morphological and molecular markers. The results showed that the mutant obtained by ethyl methane sulfonate treatment had the following stable characteristics: the lengths of mutant and WT siliques were 20.50 and 9.10 cm, respectively; and the ovule number per silique of the mutant and WT was 9.5 and 4.5, respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed abundant polymorphisms between the ls mutant and WT in HZ001, SRC9-022, and OIL2F11 simple-sequence repeat molecular markers, and the expression of LS1 and LS2 (RsNAC66). Arabidopsis thaliana-transformed plants with RsNAC66 overexpression were obtained by the floral dip method. Quantitative PCR showed that LS2 (RsNAC66) was more highly expressed in transformed lines than in WT, and the expression of LS2 (RsNAC66) in the transformed lines was higher in siliques than leaves. Phenotypic analysis revealed abnormal ovule numbers and shoots, and altered plant height in the transformed plant. Phenotypic and gene expression analyses showed that LS2 (RsNAC66) plays an important role on silique length and the number of seeds per silique. Together, the results showed that the radish ls mutant is specific and stable, and thus constitutes an excellent research resource for improving the seed yield of radishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic control of building environment control systems (BECSs) is an important procedure to realize energy consumption reduction while ensuring the occupant's comfort. Two types of BECSs operation logic exist: parameter-based and index-based. This research concluded that based on the literature review and argumentation, index-based operation logic, advanced from parameter-based operation logic, can better fit the dynamic and complex needs of occupants. However, existing index-based operation logic is generally based on a single performance index, while the BECS operation affects the indoor environment in multiple dimensions, thus, a single index cannot describe the operation comprehensively and accurately. Therefore, this study takes shading as an example, summarizes the performance indices of index-based operation logic for shading from two dimensions, and sorts out six typical control strategies according to different control objectives. The operation effect was analyzed and quantified through simulation. The results demonstrate that the index-based operation strategy has positive effects. It is not sensitive to changes in boundary conditions and the control effect is not affected by individual factors. Meanwhile, advice on the index selection for shading is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using deep reinforcement learning to solve traffic signal control problems is a research hotspot in the intelligent transportation field. Researchers have recently proposed various solutions based on deep reinforcement learning methods for intelligent transportation problems. However, most signal control optimization takes the maximization of traffic capacity as the optimization goal, ignoring the concerns of pedestrians at intersections. To address this issue, we propose a pedestrian-considered deep reinforcement learning traffic signal control method. The method combines a reinforcement learning network and traffic signal control strategy with traffic efficiency and safety aspects. At the same time, the waiting time of pedestrians and vehicles passing through the intersection is considered, and the Discrete Traffic State Encoding (DTSE) method is applied and improved to define the more comprehensive states and rewards. In the training of the neural network, the multi-process operation method is adopted, and multiple environments are run for training simultaneously to improve the model's training efficiency. Finally, extensive simulation experiments are conducted on actual intersection scenarios using the simulation software Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO). The results show that compared to Dueling DQN, the waiting time due to our method decreased by 58.76% and the number of people waiting decreased by 51.54%. The proposed method can reduce both the number of people waiting and the waiting time at intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a solar-assisted enhanced vapor injection air-source heat pump (SC-EVIHP) system was built to investigate its heating performance in cold regions. A typical-weather day in Harbin was selected for the experiment, and the heating characteristics of the SC-EVIHP system were explored under variable working conditions. The experimental results showed that the system was greatly affected by solar radiation intensity. On typical-weather days in winter, the maximum values for the heating capacity and COP of the system appeared at the time of maximum radiation intensity. Compared with conventional enhanced vapor injection air-source heat pump systems (EVI-ASHPs), the heating capacity and COP were increased by 24.9% and 12.5% at most, respectively. The COP of the system increased by at most 11.1% under conditions where the outdoor temperature was −12 °C and the outlet hot air temperature of the solar air collector was 40 °C. The SC-EVIHP system works well in a low-temperature environment and can be widely applied in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monocular visual odometry (VO) is an important task in robotics and computer vision. Thus far, how to build accurate and robust monocular VO systems that can work well in diverse scenarios remains largely unsolved. In this article, we propose a framework to exploit monocular depth estimation for improving VO. The core of our framework is a monocular depth estimation module with a strong generalization capability for diverse scenes. It consists of two separate working modes to assist the localization and mapping. With a single monocular image input, the depth estimation module predicts a relative depth to help the localization module on improving the accuracy. With a sparse depth map and an RGB image input, the depth estimation module can generate accurate scale-consistent depth for dense mapping. Compared with current learning-based VO methods, our method demonstrates a stronger generalization ability to diverse scenes. More significantly, our framework is able to boost the performances of existing geometry-based VO methods by a large margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rainfall threshold is a critical hydrodynamic condition for the formation of downhole debris flow and an important parameter for preventing and controlling the formation of downhole debris flow. In this paper, the indoor similar simulation test is used as a research method to study the rainfall threshold and outbreak time of the mud-rock flow induced by the Pulang copper mine. The results show that; 1) When the rainfall intensity is 0.563 mL/min, it will induce a large-energy downhole debris flow. When the rainfall intensity is 0.293 mL/min, there is the potential for the occurrence of underground debris flow. When the rainfall intensity is 0.186 mL/min, there will be no downhole debris flow. 2) Rainfall intensity 0.293 mL/min is the limit critical state for the occurrence of downhole debris flow, and rainfall intensity 0.293 mL/min is the rainfall threshold value for inducing downhole debris flow. 3)When the rainfall intensity is 0.563 mL/min, the eruption times of the underground debris flow induced by different ore outlets of 3#, 4#, and 2# are 240 min, 260 min, and 220 min, respectively. When the rainfall intensity is 0.293 mL/min, the outburst times of underground debris flow induced by the 3, 4, and 2 ore exits are 180 min, 200 min, and 220 min, respectively. Finally, based on the principle of the total amount of water, the scientificity and rationality of the experimental determination of the rainfall threshold are verified. The research results in this article can provide the theoretical basis for the prevention and control of downhole debris flow in the Pulang copper mine and similar mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exterior louver blinds are one of the most common shading devices attached to the building façade, which will not only screen solar radiation but also affect the flow around the building and change the convective heat exchange at the façade. To better understand how different wind directions affect the convective heat properties of louvered building façades, this paper conducted a CFD simulation with the validation of previous wind-tunnel experiments. A total of 63 shading cases and 7 unshaded cases were both investigated by simulations. It was found that with the increase in wind attack angle θ, the surface-averaged convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) at the louvered surface will first increase by about 40~50% (θ from 0° to 60°) and then be cut down by 60% (θ from 60° to 90°). In addition, the convective heat exchange rate at the louver slats will gradually decrease with the growth of θ. Finally, modifications for previous correlations were proposed to quantify the effect of wind directions on the CHTCavg at the blinds and façade, of which the maximum deviation for convective heat exchange rate is less than 18%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne bunyavirus of the Narovirus genus, which is the causative agent of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). CCHF is endemic in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia, with a high case-fatality rate of up to 50% in humans. Currently, there are no approved vaccines or effective therapies available for CCHF. The GEM-PA is a safe, versatile and effective carrier system, which offers a cost-efficient, high-throughput platform for recovery and purification of subunit proteins for vaccines. In the present study, based on a GEM-PA surface display system, a GEM-PA based vaccine expressing three subunit vaccine candidates (G-GP, including G-eGN, G-eGC and G-NAb) of CCHFV was developed, displaying the ectodomains of the structural glycoproteins eGN, eGC and NAb, respectively. According to the immunological assays including indirect-ELISA, a micro-neutralization test of pseudo-virus and ELISpot, 5 μg GPBLP3 combined with Montanide ISA 201VG plus Poly (I:C) adjuvant (A-G-GP-5 μg) elicited GP-specific humoral and cellular immunity in BALB/c mice after three vaccinations via subcutaneous injection (s.c.). The consistent data between IgG subtype and cytokine detection, ELISpot and cytokine detection indicated balanced Th1 and Th2 responses, of which G-eGN vaccines could elicit a stronger T-cell response post-vaccination, respectively. Moreover, all three vaccine candidates elicited high TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 cytokine levels in the supernatant of stimulated splenocytes in vitro. However, the neutralizing antibody (nAb) was only detected in A-G-eGC and A-G-eGC vaccination groups with the highest neutralizing titer of 128, suggesting that G-eGC could elicit a stronger humoral immune response. In conclusion, the GEM-PA surface display system could provide an efficient and convenient purification method for CCHFV subunit antigens, and the G-GP subunit vaccine candidates will be promising against CCHFV infections with excellent immunogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shading facilities are important technology to enable the adjustment of the indoor light and heat environment, and the control logic of the technology relies on data collected by sensors. The sensor position is generally arranged on the work surface, which is only suitable for single rooms with fixed locations. For open-plan offices or other large offices, more study of detailed designs for the sensor position is required. Therefore, various sensor locations for different spaces will be investigated. Based on existing research, the UDI2000 lux [50%] and UDI450–2000 lux [50%] are the key indices for measuring sensor location. The Entropy Weight method is used to determine the weight of each index, and the ideal point method (TOPSIS method) is used to select the best sensor location. Based on the results, recommendations are provided for different space scales, window-to-wall ratios, and building orientations of offices for shading control sensor location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from tumor-associated macrophages are implicated in the progression and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC) via the transfer of molecular cargo RNAs. We aimed to decipher the impact of microRNA (miR)-15b-5p transferred by M2 macrophage-derived EVs in the metastasis of GC. Methods: Expression of miR-15b-5p was assessed and the downstream genes of miR-15b-5p were analyzed. GC cells were subjected to gain- and loss-of function experiments for miR-15b-5p, BRMS1, and DAPK1. M2 macrophage-derived EVs were extracted, identified, and subjected to co-culture with GC cells and their biological behaviors were analyzed. A lung metastasis model in nude mice was established to determine the effects of miR-15b-5p on tumor metastasis in vivo. Results: miR-15b-5p was upregulated in GC tissues and cells as well as in M2 macrophage-derived EVs. miR-15b-5p promoted the proliferative and invasive potentials, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of GC cells. M2 macrophage-derived EVs could transfer miR-15b-5p into GC cells where it targeted BRMS1 by binding to its 3'UTR. BRMS1 was enriched in the DAPK1 promoter region and promoted its transcription, thereby arresting the proliferative and invasive potentials, and EMT of GC cells. In vivo experiments demonstrated that orthotopic implantation of miR-15b-5p overexpressing GC cells in nude mice displayed led to enhanced tumor metastasis by inhibiting the BRMS1/DAPK1 axis. Conclusions: Overall, miR-15b-5p delivered by M2 macrophage-derived EVs constitutes a molecular mechanism implicated in the metastasis of GC, and may thus be considered as a novel therapeutic target for its treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from tumor-associated macrophages are implicated in the progression and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC) via the transfer of molecular cargo RNAs. We aimed to decipher the impact of microRNA (miR)-15b-5p transferred by M2 macrophage-derived EVs in the metastasis of GC. Methods: Expression of miR-15b-5p was assessed and the downstream genes of miR-15b-5p were analyzed. GC cells were subjected to gain- and loss-of function experiments for miR-15b-5p, BRMS1, and DAPK1. M2 macrophage-derived EVs were extracted, identified, and subjected to co-culture with GC cells and their biological behaviors were analyzed. A lung metastasis model in nude mice was established to determine the effects of miR-15b-5p on tumor metastasis in vivo. Results: miR-15b-5p was upregulated in GC tissues and cells as well as in M2 macrophage-derived EVs. miR-15b-5p promoted the proliferative and invasive potentials, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of GC cells. M2 macrophage-derived EVs could transfer miR-15b-5p into GC cells where it targeted BRMS1 by binding to its 3'UTR. BRMS1 was enriched in the DAPK1 promoter region and promoted its transcription, thereby arresting the proliferative and invasive potentials, and EMT of GC cells. In vivo experiments demonstrated that orthotopic implantation of miR-15b-5p overexpressing GC cells in nude mice displayed led to enhanced tumor metastasis by inhibiting the BRMS1/DAPK1 axis. Conclusions: Overall, miR-15b-5p delivered by M2 macrophage-derived EVs constitutes a molecular mechanism implicated in the metastasis of GC, and may thus be considered as a novel therapeutic target for its treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from tumor-associated macrophages are implicated in the progression and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC) via the transfer of molecular cargo RNAs. We aimed to decipher the impact of microRNA (miR)-15b-5p transferred by M2 macrophage-derived EVs in the metastasis of GC. Methods: Expression of miR-15b-5p was assessed and the downstream genes of miR-15b-5p were analyzed. GC cells were subjected to gain- and loss-of function experiments for miR-15b-5p, BRMS1, and DAPK1. M2 macrophage-derived EVs were extracted, identified, and subjected to co-culture with GC cells and their biological behaviors were analyzed. A lung metastasis model in nude mice was established to determine the effects of miR-15b-5p on tumor metastasis in vivo. Results: miR-15b-5p was upregulated in GC tissues and cells as well as in M2 macrophage-derived EVs. miR-15b-5p promoted the proliferative and invasive potentials, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of GC cells. M2 macrophage-derived EVs could transfer miR-15b-5p into GC cells where it targeted BRMS1 by binding to its 3'UTR. BRMS1 was enriched in the DAPK1 promoter region and promoted its transcription, thereby arresting the proliferative and invasive potentials, and EMT of GC cells. In vivo experiments demonstrated that orthotopic implantation of miR-15b-5p overexpressing GC cells in nude mice displayed led to enhanced tumor metastasis by inhibiting the BRMS1/DAPK1 axis. Conclusions: Overall, miR-15b-5p delivered by M2 macrophage-derived EVs constitutes a molecular mechanism implicated in the metastasis of GC, and may thus be considered as a novel therapeutic target for its treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As a caspase-independent type of cell death, necroptosis plays a significant role in the initiation, and progression of gastric cancer (GC). Numerous studies have confirmed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are closely related to the prognosis of patients with GC. However, the relationship between necroptosis and lncRNAs in GC remains unclear. Methods: The molecular profiling data (RNA-sequencing and somatic mutation data) and clinical information of patients with stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to identify the necroptosis-related lncRNAs (NRLs). Subsequently, univariate Cox regression and LASSO-Cox regression were conducted to establish a 12-NRLs signature in the training set and validate it in the testing set. Finally, the prognostic power of the 12-NRLs signature was appraised via survival analysis, nomogram, Cox regression, clinicopathological characteristics correlation analysis, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Furthermore, correlations between the signature risk score (RS) and immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoint molecules, somatic gene mutations, and anticancer drug sensitivity were analyzed. Results: In the present study, a 12-NRLs signature comprising REPIN1-AS1, UBL7-AS1, LINC00460, LINC02773, CHROMR, LINC01094, FLNB-AS1, ITFG1-AS1, LASTR, PINK1-AS, LINC01638, and PVT1 was developed to improve the prognosis prediction of STAD patients. Unsupervised methods, including principal component analysis and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, confirmed the capability of the present signature to separate samples with RS. Kaplan-Meier and ROC curves revealed that the signature had an acceptable predictive potency in the TCGA training and testing sets. Cox regression and stratified survival analysis indicated that the 12-NRLs signature were risk factors independent of various clinical parameters. Additionally, immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoint molecules, somatic gene mutations, and half-inhibitory concentration differed significantly among different risk subtypes, which implied that the signature could assess the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Conclusion: This 12-NRLs risk signature may help assess the prognosis and molecular features of patients with STAD and improve treatment modalities, thus can be further applied clinically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shielded metal arc welding and welding thermal simulation experiment were carried out for constructional steel containing 0% V and 0.10% V, and the microstructure, precipitation feature, microhardness HV0.2, and −20 °C impact value in the welding heat affected zone (HAZ) were investigated. The results showed that in the coarse-grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ), V and N were completely dissolved in the matrix of steel containing 0.10% V to promote the growth of prior austenite grains, meanwhile the fraction of high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) decreased, thereby leading to the mean −20 °C impact value decreases from 87 J to 18 J. In the grain refined heat affected zone (GRHAZ), V(C, N) precipitates experience re-dissolution and re-precipitation at grain boundaries, V–N microalloying changes the microstructure from lath bainite + granular bainite + small amount of polygonal ferrite to polygonal ferrite + pearlite + martensite, thereby leading to the mean microhardness decreases from 335 HV0.2 to 207 HV0.2, and the mean −20 °C impact value decreased from 117 J to 103 J. In the intercritical heat affected zone (ICHAZ), V(C, N) precipitates experience re-dissolution, re-precipitation, and growth, causing the formation of micro-sized V(C, N) precipitates, thereby leading to the mean −20 °C impact value decreases from 93 J to 62 J. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis is a newly defined mode of programmed oxidative cell death. Knowledge of ferroptosis-related long noncoding (lnc) RNA in the tumor immune microenvironment of colon cancer is lacking. We systematically analyzed the correlations between ferroptosis-related lncRNAs and the tumor microenvironment, immune cell infiltration, and patient prognosis for 379 colon cancer samples in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Using consensus clustering, we divided the 379 colon cancer patients into two subgroups (clusters 1 and 2) based on the differentially expressed ferroptosis-related lncRNAs. Cluster 1 was preferentially associated with longer overall survival, upregulated immune checkpoint inhibitor expressions, higher immunoscores, higher stromal scores, higher estimated scores, and distinct immune cell infiltration. Cancer- and metabolism-related pathways were enriched by gene set enrichment analyses. We constructed a prognostic signature of 15 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs (ZEB1-AS1, LINC01011, AC005261.3, LINC01063, LINC02381, ELFN1-AS1, AC009283.1, LINC02361, AC105219.1, AC002310.1, AL590483.1, MIR4435-2HG, NKILA, AC021054.1, and AL450326.1) and divided the patients into the high- and low-risk-score groups. The signature was validated using TCGA training and testing cohorts. The risk signature was an independent prognostic factor for predicting survival and excellently predicted the prognoses of patients with colon cancer. Moreover, the risk signature was related to immune characteristics. Chemosensitivity analyses showed that low-risk-score patients were more sensitive to sorafenib. In summary, our work revealed the important role of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs in the tumor microenvironment and immune cell infiltration and may help determine personalized prognoses and treatment for patients with colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been recently proposed as hub molecules in various diseases, especially in tumours. We found that circRNAs derived from ribonuclease P RNA component H1 (RPPH1) were highly expressed in colorectal cancer (CRC) samples from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Objective: We sought to identify new circRNAs derived from RPPH1 and investigate their regulation of the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) and RNA binding protein (RBP) networks of CRC immune infiltration. Methods: The circRNA expression profiles miRNA and mRNA data were extracted from the GEO and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets, respectively. The differentially expressed (DE) RNAs were identified using R software and online server tools, and the circRNA–miRNA–mRNA and circRNA–protein networks were constructed using Cytoscape. The relationship between targeted genes and immune infiltration was identified using the GEPIA2 and TIMER2 online server tools. Results: A ceRNA network, including eight circRNAs, five miRNAs, and six mRNAs, was revealed. Moreover, a circRNA–protein network, including eight circRNAs and 49 proteins, was established. The targeted genes, ENOX1, NCAM1, SAMD4A, and ZC3H10, are closely related to CRC tumour-infiltrating macrophages. Conclusions: We analysed the characteristics of circRNA from RPPH1 as competing for endogenous RNA binding miRNA or protein in CRC macrophage infiltration. The results point towards the development of a new diagnostic and therapeutic paradigm for CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colon cancer (CC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumours of the alimentary canal. It is unclear whether pyroptosis-related lncRNA expression is correlated with CC prognosis. We discovered 20 pyroptosis-related lncRNAs that were expressed differently in CC and normal colon tissues in our investigation. Based on differentially expressed genes (DEGs), we grouped all CC patients into two categories (Clusters 1 and 2). Cluster 1 was shown to be connected with a higher overall survival rate, upregulated expression of immune checkpoints, higher immunoscores, higher estimated scores, and immune cell infiltration. Using data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), to create a multigene signature, the predictive significance of each lncRNA linked with pyroptosis for survival was assessed. A 9-lncRNA signature was established using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression method, and all CC patients in the TCGA cohort were classified into low-risk or high-risk groups. The low-risk CC patients had a much greater chance of survival than those in the high-risk group. The risk score is an independent prognostic indicator for predicting survival. In addition, risk characteristics are linked to immune characteristics. In summary, pyroptosis-related lncRNAs can be used to predict CC prognosis and participate in tumour immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Gastric cancer is the most common malignant tumor of the digestive system. It has a poor prognosis and is clinically challenging to treat. Ferroptosis is a newly defined mode of programmed cell death. The roles and prognostic value of ferroptosis-related long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in gastric cancer remain unknown. Results. In the current study, 20 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were identified via univariate Cox analysis, least absolute shrinkage, and selection operator Cox regression analysis and used to construct a prognostic signature and classify gastric cancer patients into high-risk and low-risk groups. The signature was validated using TCGA training and testing cohorts. The risk signature was an independent prognostic indicator of survival and accurately predicted the prognoses of patients with gastric cancer. It was also associated with immune cell infiltration. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to investigate underlying mechanisms that the 20 ferroptosis-related lncRNAs were involved in. Chemosensitivity and immune checkpoint inhibitor analyses indicated that high-risk patients were more sensitive to the immune checkpoint inhibitor programmed cell death protein 1. Conclusions. The important role of ferroptosis-related lncRNAs in immune infiltration identified in the current study may assist the determination of personalized prognoses and treatments in patients with gastric cancer. These 20 lncRNAs can be used as the diagnostic and prognostic markers for gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the incidence rate of gastric cancer ranks fifth, and the mortality rate of gastric cancer ranks third among all malignant tumors. However, the pathogenesis of gastric cancer remains poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that the expression level of NELFE is higher in human gastric cancer tissues than in adjacent nontumor tissues. A high level of NELFE is associated with worse postoperative overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) rates in patients with gastric cancer. Moreover, the expression of NELFE is correlated with high tumor grade and lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer patients. Knockdown of NELFE dramatically inhibits the cell proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer xenografts in vivo. Furthermore, we found that NELFE binding to the 3'UTR of E2F2 affects the mRNA stability of E2F2 to regulate the expression level of E2F2. In gastric cancer, E2F2 also acts as an oncogene to inhibit the proliferation and migration of gastric cancer cells by knocking down the expression level of E2F2. However, overexpressing E2F2 in cells with NELFE knockdown significantly reverses the inhibition of cell proliferation and migration induced by NELFE knockdown. Therefore, NELFE at least partially functions as an oncogene through E2F2. Moreover, CIBERSORTx analysis of the proportion of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) revealed that immune cells are correlated with NELFE and E2F2 expression, suggesting that NELFE and E2F2 might be responsible for the preservation of the immunodominant status for gastric cancer. In conclusion, NELFE acts as an oncogene in gastric cancer and can be used as a potential therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]