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Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a significant health issue among the elderly, with severe cases (SCAP) having high mortality rates. This study assesses the predictive significance of the stress hyperglycemia ratio (SHR) in elderly SCAP patients and its impact on outcomes in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Methods and materials: This retrospective study included 406 SCAP patients aged 65 or older from the Second People's Hospital of Lianyungang (January 2020 to December 2023). Data collected included demographics, medical history, vital signs, and lab results. SHR was calculated from initial blood glucose and estimated average glucose (HbA1c). Statistical analyses, including Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis, evaluated SHR's impact on mortality. Mediation models explored the effects of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and SHR. Results: The 28-day mortality rate was 21.67%. Deceased patients had higher age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, procalcitonin, NLR, glucose, and SHR levels compared to survivors (P < 0.05). Both SHR and NLR significantly increased mortality risk, particularly in non-diabetic patients. Combining NLR and SHR improved ROC AUC to 0.898, with 89.80% sensitivity and 81.10% specificity. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed higher cumulative survival for SHR < 1.14, regardless of diabetes status (P < 0.05). NLR mediated 13.02% of the SHR-survival relationship, while SHR mediated 14.06% of the NLR-survival relationship. Conclusion: Elevated SHR is a significant mortality risk factor in elderly SCAP patients, independent of diabetes status. Stringent glucose control and careful monitoring of SHR may improve outcomes in elderly patients with acute respiratory conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the influence of the serpentine nozzle configurations on the flow characteristics and aerodynamic performance of aircraft, the flow features and aerodynamic performances of the double-ducted serpentine nozzles with different aspect ratios (AR), length–diameter ratios (LDR) and shielding ratios (SR) are numerically investigated. The results show that the asymmetric nozzle flow occurs due to the curved profile of serpentine nozzles, and a local accelerating effect exists at the S-bend, causing the increase in wall shear stress. The unilateral unsymmetrical expansion of the tail jet in the upward direction interacts with the separated external flow of the afterbody, forming an obvious cross-shock wave and shear layer structure. The surface pressure of the afterbody increases along the external flow direction, and decreases sharply in the separation point of the boundary layer. With the increase in AR and LDR, the local accelerating effect of the nozzle flow weakens, while with the increase in SR, the accelerating effect increases. The total pressure recovery coefficient, flow coefficient and axial thrust coefficient all decrease with the increase in AR, LDR, and SR. The thrust vector angle decreases with the increase in AR but is less affected by LDR and SR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar‐driven evaporation using hydrogels and photothermal materials is a promising freshwater harvesting technology. However, due to the difficulty of removing volatile pollutants through evaporation and the fact that the evaporation efficiency has reached its limit, further improving efficiency becomes challenging. Therefore, a material simultaneously possessing low water evaporation enthalpy as well as the ability to inhibit volatile pollutants is desired. In this work, a dense inhibitory layer on the hydrogel framework of polyacrylamide introduced into polyvinyl alcohol is designed to enhance its suppression of volatile pollutants and regulate the water state. This not only reduces the energy demand for evaporation but also makes it more effective in treating wastewater containing volatile pollutant ammonia nitrogen. Finally, a high evaporation rate of 3.0 kg m−2 h−1 and an excellent ammonium rejection rate of 90% for high concentration ammonia wastewater are obtained under 1 kW m−2 illumination. This work opens up new avenues of application for the use of photothermal materials in the use of clean solar energy for the separation of freshwater and volatile small molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Messenger RNA (mRNA) cancer vaccines are a new class of immunotherapies that can activate the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, their effectiveness in treating colorectal cancer located on the mucosal surface of the gut is limited due to the insufficient activation of mucosal immune response and inadequate infiltration of cytotoxic T cells into tumors. To address this issue, a new mRNA cancer vaccine is developed that can stimulate mucosal immune responses in the gut by co‐delivering all‐trans‐retinoic acid (ATRA) and mRNA using lipid nanoparticle (LNP). The incorporation of ATRA has not only improved the mRNA transfection efficiency of LNP but also induced high expression of gut‐homing receptors on vaccine‐activated T cells. Additionally, the use of LNP improves the aqueous solubility of ATRA, eliminating the need for toxic solvents to administer ATRA. Upon intramuscular injections, ATRA‐adjuvanted mRNA‐LNP significantly increase the infiltration of antigen‐specific, cytotoxic T cells in the lamina propria of the intestine, mesenteric lymph nodes, and orthotopic colorectal tumors, resulting in significantly improved tumor inhibition and prolonged animal survival compared to conventional mRNA‐LNP without ATRA. Overall, this study provides a promising approach for improving the therapeutic efficacy of mRNA cancer vaccines against colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to explore the incidence of occult lymph node metastasis (OLM) in clinical T1 − 2N0M0 (cT1 − 2N0M0) small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients and develop machine learning prediction models using preoperative intratumoral and peritumoral contrast-enhanced CT-based radiomic data. Methods: By conducting a retrospective analysis involving 242 eligible patients from 4 centeres, we determined the incidence of OLM in cT1 − 2N0M0 SCLC patients. For each lesion, two ROIs were defined using the gross tumour volume (GTV) and peritumoral volume 15 mm around the tumour (PTV). By extracting a comprehensive set of 1595 enhanced CT-based radiomic features individually from the GTV and PTV, five models were constucted and we rigorously evaluated the model performance using various metrics, including the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA). For enhanced clinical applicability, we formulated a nomogram that integrates clinical parameters and the rad_score (GTV and PTV). Results: The initial investigation revealed a 33.9% OLM positivity rate in cT1 − 2N0M0 SCLC patients. Our combined model, which incorporates three radiomic features from the GTV and PTV, along with two clinical parameters (smoking status and shape), exhibited robust predictive capabilities. With a peak AUC value of 0.772 in the external validation cohort, the model outperformed the alternative models. The nomogram significantly enhanced diagnostic precision for radiologists and added substantial value to the clinical decision-making process for cT1 − 2N0M0 SCLC patients. Conclusions: The incidence of OLM in SCLC patients surpassed that in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The combined model demonstrated a notable generalization effect, effectively distinguishing between positive and negative OLMs in a noninvasive manner, thereby guiding individualized clinical decisions for patients with cT1 − 2N0M0 SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of a core–shell structure by coating silicon (Si) nanoparticles with a carbon layer is considered a promising method to address the poor conductivity of a Si-based anode and volume expansion of silicon particles during the charging/discharging process. However, Si/C composite anodes usually perform below expectations with a single layer of carbon utilized as the coating layer, while introducing multilayer carbon coating results in the additional complexity and cost. To overcome this challenge, in this work, waterborne polyurethane (WPU) had been simply mixed with the Si nanoparticles to form the Si/WPU composite via the hydrogen bonds, and the core–shell structure with the single carbon layer containing N atoms (Si@NC) was obtained after the pyrolysis of the composite. The carbon layer not only significantly alleviated the breakage of the anode caused by the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles but also optimized the rate performance of the anode. At a current density of 0.5 A g–1, the discharge specific capacity of the Si@NC anode is still as high as 945.63 mAh g–1 after 300 cycles, surpassing various single-layer carbon and multilayer carbon-coated Si-based anodes. This work provides a convenient and feasible method for preparing economical Si/C composite anode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The layup quality of prepreg fibers onto complex surfaces is the most concerned issue in automated fiber placement (AFP), which is intimately related to the contact stress in tractive rolling contact. An analytical model of tractive rolling contact is proposed in this paper to clarify the defects mechanism during the AFP process, which considers the mold curvatures, mechanical properties of contacted objects, and pose information to make it suitable for irregular surfaces and arbitrary conditions. Classical Hertz theory in this model is expanded to 3D contact area, and multi‐scale deformations are united in the accurate calculation of contact stress under geometric constraints. Based on the model, the phenomena of adhesion, microslip, and the transition between them in AFP are systematically analyzed. For engineering applications, a discrete processing strategy is proposed to quickly obtain the local curvatures of the mold. Additionally, an algorithm is designed to calculate the contact stress of any path. Experimental results on an aircraft component demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed model in restoring the contact stress distribution during AFP. In conjunction with specific layup information, this model exhibits utility in forecasting laying defects and parameter optimization. Highlights: An analytical modeling approach based on Hertz theory is proposed to calculate the contact stress in automated fiber placement.A model‐based algorithm is designed and combined with the proposed discrete scheme to quickly restore the contact stress distribution.Contact states related to stress are systematically investigated and defects analysis based on computational mechanics results is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study explores the correlation between life satisfaction and ADHD symptoms. It also discusses whether resilience mediates the correlation between ADHD symptoms and life satisfaction. Method: We surveyed 297 dental students. A total of 291 completed a self-report scale consisting of the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, Wender Utah Rating Scale, Life Satisfaction Scale, and Conner–Davidson Resilience Scale. The study used hierarchical linear regression analysis, resampling, and asymptotic strategies for data processing. Results: The ADHD screening results of the self-report scale were positive for 6.87% of the students. This positive rate differed among participants of diverse ages and varying paternal education levels. ADHD symptoms were negatively correlated with life satisfaction and resilience. Life satisfaction was observably positively associated with resilience. Resilience serves as a mediating role between life satisfaction and the two symptoms of ADHD. Conclusion: Resilience intervention programs can enhance the life satisfaction of dental students, especially those with positive ADHD symptoms screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4-mediated nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway regulates the production of inflammatory factors and plays a key role in the pathogenesis of gouty arthritis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the link among TLR4 gene polymorphisms at various loci, protein expression, and gouty arthritis susceptibility. Methods: Between 2016 and 2021, a case-control study was used to collect a total of 1207 study subjects, including 317 male patients with gouty arthritis (gout group) and 890 healthy males (control group). The association between gout susceptibility and different genetic models was analyzed by typing three loci of the TLR4 gene (rs2149356, rs2737191, and rs10759932) using a multiplex point mutation rapid assay, and the association between protein expression and gout was confirmed by measuring TLR4 protein concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Results: In a codominant models AA and AG, the rs2737191 polymorphism in the gout group increased the risk of gout compared to the AA genotype (OR = 2.249, 95%CI 1.010~5.008), and the risk of gout was higher for those carrying the G allele compared to the A allele (OR = 2.227, 95%CI 1.006~4.932). TLR4 protein expression was different between the two groups with different locus genotypes. The differences in TLR4 protein expression between the gout group and control group were statistically significant between the following genotypes: the GG and GT genotypes of the rs2149356 polymorphism; the AA and AG genotypes of the rs2737191 polymorphism; and the TT and TC genotypes of the rs10759932 polymorphism(P<0.05). The TLR4 protein level in the gout group (19.19±3.09 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in the control group (15.85±4.75 ng/ml). Conclusion: The AG genotype of the TLR4 gene rs2737191 polymorphism may be correlated with the development of gouty arthritis. The level of TLR4 protein expression is significantly higher in patients with gouty arthritis than in controls, and there is a correlation between high TLR4 protein expression and the development of gouty arthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MgAgSb alloy has attracted wide attention due to its inherent low thermal conductivity, excellent thermoelectric (TE) properties, and environmental friendliness. Although the TE performance has been deeply investigated for the temperature range over 300–700 K, while cryogenic range has seldom report. In this study, a systematic investigation on cryogenic TE performance of α-MgAgSb has been performed. α-MgAgSb alloy has been synthesized by ordinary ball milling followed spark plasma sintering process and then further regulated by heat treatment. The power factor of MgAgSb alloy after 10 days of heat-treating increased by 230%, which is attributed to the reduction of the impurity phase and the improvement of the crystallinity achieved by the optimization of heat treatment. The total thermal conductivity decreased by 18% to 1.15 W m−1 K−1, and the maximum ZT reached 0.264 at 173 K, which is 300% enhancement to untreated one. The ZTavg reached to 0.45 over 173–298 K, located at the pinnacle among cryogenic TE materials. In addition, the ZTeng value of 0.23 related to the highest device conversion efficiency of 5.2% demonstrates good device potential. This work reveals that the purity and the cryogenic TE properties of α-MgAgSb alloy can be effectively improved by heat-treating, and demonstrates the greatly potential of MgAgSb materials in the field of liquefied natural gas's cold energy recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, novel two-dimensional (2D) crystals, MSi2N4 (M = Mo, W) materials, have been successfully synthesized experimentally and have comparable excellent catalytic properties as that of MoS2. The suitability of MA2Z4 family materials in photocatalytic water splitting can't be fully determined by whether the bandgap edge of the material cross the standard redox potential of water. Photoelectric properties and electron–hole separation are also critical factors to be considered. We investigated the bandgap edge positions and the photoelectric and the electron–hole excitation properties of 2D MoSi2N4 and its family of materials (CrSi2N4, WSi2N4) in water by first-principles calculations, and the results indicate that WSi2N4 may be a relatively high-performing photocatalyst. Relative to the MoSi2N4 bandgap (1.74 eV), the bandgap of WSi2N4 is 2.06 eV, and the conduction-band minimum edge band potential (−0.42 eV) is close to the hydrogen precipitation potential in water at pH = 7. The bandgaps of the MSi2N4 (M = Mo, W) materials cross the water redox potential (1.23 eV), and both have favorable adsorption for H2O molecules. However, compared with the absorption spectrum and excited states of MoSi2N4 in water, WSi2N4 exhibits a broader and more enhanced visible light absorption range and intensity as well as a higher electron–hole separation. 2D WSi2N4 could achieve the half-reaction of photocatalytic water splitting under visible light irradiation, and the photogenerated electrons in the conduction band can spontaneously reduce H+ ions to hydrogen, suggesting that WSi2N4 might be composed of a heterogeneous structure with other photocatalysts to accomplish the redox of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By two or more modes of transportation to connect with each other and complete the transport process, multimodal transport could significantly improve transport efficiency, reduce costs, while promote energy conservation and emission reduction, compared with the traditional single mode of transport. Therefore, the multimodal transport development reflects the level of national or regional economic development to some extent. In this study, multimodal transport potential index was built to evaluate the possibility of multimodal transport. Remote sensing images from satellites were used to extract roads, railway stations and airports. A method was proposed to derive the road-rail transport potential index and road-air transport potential index, and then for the analysis of multimodal transport potential in 36 cities. Results show that there is a big gap among 36 cities on the development potential of road-rail and road-air transport. Compared with the road-rail transport potential index, the distribution of road-air transport potential index is more consistent among and within the seven regions. Index values of megacity and super cities are much higher than type I and II big cities. Moreover, in the 36 cities, there is a positive correlation between the multimodal transport potential index and GDP. The research results could be used to quantitatively evaluate the development of transport infrastructure, consequently provide more solid and reliable basic information for the planning, design and scheme adjustment of multimodal transport, thus comprehensively improve the efficiency and quality of multimodal transport, serve the territorial spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi-based YbMg2Bi1.98 Zintl compounds represent promising thermoelectric materials. Precise composition and appropriate doping are of great importance for this complex semiconductor. Here, the influence of Zn substitution for Mg on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of p-type YbMg1.85−xZnxBi1.98 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.08, 0.13, 0.23) was investigated. Polycrystalline samples were prepared using induction melting and densified with spark plasma sintering. X-ray diffraction confirmed that the major phase of the samples possesses the trigonal CaAl2Si2-type crystal structure, and SEM/EDS indicated the presence of minor secondary phases. The electrical conductivity increases and the lattice thermal conductivity decreases with more Zn doping in YbMg1.85−xZnxBi1.98, whereas the Seebeck coefficient has a large reduction. The band gap decreases with increasing Zn concentration and leads to bipolar conduction, resulting in an increase in the thermal conductivity at higher temperatures. Figure of merit ZT values of 0.51 and 0.49 were found for the samples with x = 0 and 0.05 at 773 K, respectively. The maximum amount of Zn doping is suggested to be less than x = 0.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the influence of unintended facet arthrodesis on the therapeutic effectiveness of the dynamic neutralization system (Dynesys). Methods: This retrospective study enrolled consecutive patients who underwent posterior decompression and dynamic stabilization for lumbar spondylosis or spinal stenosis. Follow-up assessments included lumbar radiography, lumbar vertebral computerized tomography (CT), visual analog scale (VAS), and Oswestry disability index (ODI). Patients were classified into the facet fusion and non-fusion groups. The differences in the VAS scores for back pain and leg pain, ODI, intervertebral range of motion (ROM) at the surgical segments, and upper adjacent segments were assessed before and after treatment. Results: A total of 49 patients (29 males and 20 females) aged 31–65 years were enrolled and followed-up for over 40 months. Among the patients, 16 (32.7%) experienced unintended facet arthrodesis and were assigned to the fusion group, whereas the remaining patients were assigned to the non-fusion group. There was a significant increase in the incidence of facet arthrodesis in the surgical segments over time post-surgery (χ2 = 6.2, p < 0.05). The ROM of the surgical and upper adjacent segments, VAS scores for back pain and leg pain, and ODI were all significantly different before and after the operation (p < 0.05), but not between the fusion and non-fusion groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Although unintended facet arthrodesis is common after Dynesys procedure, the presence of facet arthrodesis does not significantly affect the efficacy of Dynesys in treating lumbar degenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The scaling is a typical and influential problem in oil and gas production and transportation. In this paper, the sampling data of water-injected and mixed transport sea pipe in an offshore oil and gas field is statistically analyzed to obtain the characteristics of water quality. Analytical conditions are adjusted using software to minimize errors in the sampling and analysis process. Based on the adjusted conditions, it simulates different types of scaling that may be generated in the sea pipe and predicts the maximum amount of scaling with different type and scale tendency. The results can provide a data basis useful for inhibiting scale in the production process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the potential risks of water accumulation corrosion, CO2/H2/S corrosion, microbial corrosion and corrosion under sediment scale in a certain submarine oil and gas mixed transmission pipeline. Based on the iron ion content, hanging piece monitoring data and internal detection data at the inlet and outlet of the pipeline, a comprehensive analysis is conducted on the internal corrosion status of the pipeline. Some suggestions for further corrosion control are proposed accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assembling transition-metal oxides (TMOs) and MXene with strong interfacial interactions is an effective method to overcome the drawbacks of TMOs as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) such as large volume expansion and low conductivity. Herein, a CuO nanorod/MXene heterojunction (denoted as CuO/MXene) with a synergistic effect was constructed with a "sheet-rod-pore" hierarchical nanostructure by electrostatic self-assembly. Specifically, encapsulated CuO nanorods exert superiority in the high reversible capacity and increase the interlayer distance of the MXene matrix to explore more storage spaces. MXene could significantly boost the conductivity, accommodate volume variation, and inhibit structure collapse as a buffer network. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm the strong electron transport and lithium affinity at the CuO/MXene heterointerface, elucidating the reasons for the enhanced lithium storage capacity (436.4 mAh g–1 at 500 mA g–1), ion diffusion kinetics, and structural stability after cycling than pure CuO and MXene. When paired with the LiCoO2 cathode, the full cell delivers good cycling stability after 140 cycles, indicating the practical applicability of CuO/MXene. This work not only validates the robust interfacial interaction of TMO/MXene heterojunction but also explores an effective strategy to prepare promising anode materials for the next-generation LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the building field, campus buildings are a building group with great energy-saving potential due to a lack of reasonable energy management policies. The accurate prediction of power energy usage is the basis for energy management. To address this issue, this study proposes a novel combined forecasting model based on clustering results, which can achieve a short-time prediction of daily electricity based on a campus building's electricity data over the past 15 days. Considering the diversity of campus buildings in energy consumption and functional aspects, the selected campus buildings are firstly classified into three categories using K-Means clustering in terms of their daily power consumption. Compared with the mainstream building energy consumption prediction models, i.e., LSTM and SVR, the results show that the combined forecast model is superior to other models. Furthermore, an average percentage fluctuation (APF) index is found to be close to the MAPE, which can reflect the prediction accuracy in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of ternary Cu-ZnO-ZrO2 nanostructures was prepared containing either tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH, TH), polyoxyethylene lauryl ether carboxylic acid (BRIJ35, B5), poly-(ethylene oxide)-poly-(propylene oxide)-poly-(ethylene oxide) (P123 P3), decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DB), poly-(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP, PP), or no surfactant. First, based on the characterization results of XPS, H2-TPR, and other characteristics, the Cu species play vital roles in the process of dimethyl adipate (DMA) hydrogenation, and the Cu+ and Cu0 generated after reduction have a synergistic effect in the hydrogenation process. Results showed that changing the surfactant type and surfactant concentration in the catalyst synthesis has a great effect on the catalytic activity of the catalyst. In particular, the HDO selectivity of the CZZ-4-P3 (52%) catalyst treated with poly-(ethylene oxide)-poly-(propylene oxide)-poly-(ethylene oxide) was significantly improved compared to the untreated CZZ (29%) catalyst, which is related to the highest concentration and number of oxygen vacancies. The larger amount of Ovac might promote the hydrogenation of DMA through interaction with the carbonyl group and then weaken the CO bond. On the other hand, it also has a more surface basic (strong basic) amount on the CZZ catalyst. This will provide more adsorption sites and thus adsorb more DMA molecule. Furthermore, it has a larger dispersion of the Cu and smaller catalyst particles. This may be more conducive to adequate contact between the feedstock and catalyst, reducing diffusion effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniparental-inherited haploid genetic marker of Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNP) have the power to provide a deep understanding of the human evolutionary past, forensic pedigree, and bio-geographical ancestry information. Several international cross-continental or regional Y-panels instead of Y-whole sequencing have recently been developed to promote Y-tools in forensic practice. However, panels based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) explicitly developed for Chinese populations are insufficient to represent the Chinese Y-chromosome genetic diversity and complex population structures, especially for Chinese-predominant haplogroup O. We developed and validated a 639-plex panel including 633 Y-SNPs and 6 Y-Insertion/deletions, which covered 573 Y haplogroups on the Y-DNA haplogroup tree. In this panel, subgroups from haplogroup O accounted for 64.4% of total inferable haplogroups. We reported the sequencing metrics of 354 libraries sequenced with this panel, with the average sequencing depth among 226 individuals being 3,741×. We illuminated the high level of concordance, accuracy, reproducibility, and specificity of the 639-plex panel and found that 610 loci were genotyped with as little as 0.03 ng of genomic DNA in the sensitivity test. 94.05% of the 639 loci were detectable in male-female mixed DNA samples with a mix ratio of 1:500. Nearly all of the loci were genotyped correctly when no more than 25 ng/μL tannic acid, 20 ng/μL humic acid, or 37.5 μM hematin was added to the amplification mixture. More than 80% of genotypes were obtained from degraded DNA samples with a degradation index of 11.76. Individuals from the same pedigree shared identical genotypes in 11 male pedigrees. Finally, we presented the complex evolutionary history of 183 northern Chinese Hans and six other Chinese populations, and found multiple founding lineages that contributed to the northern Han Chinese gene pool. The 639-plex panel proved an efficient tool for Chinese paternal studies and forensic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the application scope of LIDAR has been continuously expanding, especially in object detection. Yet existing LIDAR-based methods focus on detecting vehicles on regular roadways. Scenarios with a higher prevalence of pedestrians and cyclists, such as university campuses and leisure centers, have recently received limited attention. To solve this problem, in this paper we propose a novel detection algorithm named SecondRcnn, which is built upon the SECOND algorithm and introduces a novel two-stage detection method. In the first stage, it utilizes 3D sparse convolution on the voxel LIDAR points to learn feature representations. In the second stage, regression is employed to refine the detection bounding boxes generated by the Region Of Interest pooling network. The algorithm was evaluated on the widely used KITTI data set and demonstrated significant performance improvements in detecting pedestrians (4.61% improvement) and cyclist (6.5% improvement) compared to baseline networks. Our work highlights the potential for accurate object detection in scenarios characterized by a higher presence of pedestrians and cyclists. Advancing the use of LIDAR in the field of 3D detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the natural growth history of peripheral small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) using CT imaging. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 27 patients with peripheral SCLC who underwent at least two CT scans. Two methods were used: Method 1 involved direct measurement of nodule dimensions using a calliper, while Method 2 involved tumour lesion segmentation and voxel volume calculation using the "py-radiomics" package in Python. Agreement between the two methods was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Volume doubling time (VDT) and growth rate (GR) were used as evaluation indices for SCLC growth, and growth distribution based on GR and volume measurements were depicted. We collected potential factors related to imaging VDT and performed a differential analysis. Patients were classified into slow-growing and fast-growing groups based on a VDT cut-off point of 60 days, and univariate analysis was used to identify factors influencing VDT. Results: Median VDT calculated by the two methods were 61 days and 71 days, respectively, with strong agreement. All patients had continuously growing tumours, and none had tumours that decreased in size or remained unchanged. Eight patients showed possible growth patterns, with six possibly exhibiting exponential growth and two possibly showing Gompertzian growth. Tumours deeper in the lung grew faster than those adjacent to the pleura. Conclusions: Peripheral SCLC tumours grow rapidly and continuously without periods of nongrowth or regression. Tumours located deeper in the lung tend to grow faster, but further research is needed to confirm this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collagen membranes with high robustness and a defined stable biodegradation are of a great interest for dental surgery. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a perspective candidate technology for their production, and in this article, the authors demonstrated the capabilities of its modification, a semipermeable barrier-assisted EPD (SBA-EPD). The SBA-EPD process was carried out at 60 V for 1,2, or 3 cycles 20 min each, after which the obtained membranes were crosslinked with 0.625% genipin. SBA-EPD allowed for the fabrication of membranes with high collagen packing density (0.0012 g/mm3) and high robustness, which depended on the number of SBA-EPD cycles. The highest Young's modulus, tensile strength, and strain at failure values of non-crosslinked samples corresponded to 3-cycle deposition (15.11 ± 1.78 MPa, 4.2 ± 1.6 MPa, 60 ± 12%, respectively). However, crosslinking diminished the statistical difference of these parameters among membranes of different deposition cycles (reaching for 3-cycle deposition 64 ± 5 MPa, 9.5 ± 1.1 MPa, 23.7 ± 2.0%, respectively). On day 21 after subcutaneous implantation, the non-crosslinked membranes showed a significant degree of resorption higher than that of crosslinked ones by 3.5 times in absolute values. As well, crosslinked membranes elicited a greater peri-implant pro-fibrotic and giant cell response. Overall, the mechanical characteristics of SBA-EPD membranes were mostly superior to commercially available products used for dental applications, while their biodegradation timeframes fitted the optimal window. The authors hope that their research will attract the attention to SBA-EPD as an emerging and perspective technology for the production of robust and defect-free collagen membranes for dental surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To construct effective prediction models for neoadjuvant radiotherapy (RT) and targeted therapy based on whole-tumor texture analysis of multisequence MRI for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients. Methods: Thirty patients with STS of the extremities or trunk from a prospective phase II trial were enrolled for this analysis. All patients underwent pre- and post-neoadjuvant RT MRI examinations from which whole-tumor texture features were extracted, including T1-weighted with fat saturation and contrast enhancement (T1FSGd), T2-weighted with fat saturation (T2FS), and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences and their corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. According to the postoperative pathological results, the patients were divided into pathological complete response (pCR) and non-pCR (N-pCR) groups. pCR was defined as less than 5% of residual tumor cells by postoperative pathology. Delta features were defined as the percentage change in a texture feature from pre- to post-neoadjuvant RT MRI. After data reduction and feature selection, logistic regression was used to build prediction models. ROC analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance. Results: Five of 30 patients (16.7%) achieved pCR. The Delta_Model (AUC 0.92) had a better predictive ability than the Pre_Model (AUC 0.78) and Post_Model (AUC 0.76) and was better than AJCC staging (AUC 0.52) and RECIST 1.1 criteria (AUC 0.52). The Combined_Model (pre, post, and delta features) had the best predictive performance (AUC 0.95). Conclusion: Whole-tumor texture analysis of multisequence MRI can well predict pCR status after neoadjuvant RT and targeted therapy in STS patients, with better performance than RECIST 1.1 and AJCC staging. Key points: • MRI multisequence texture analysis could predict the efficacy of neoadjuvant RT and targeted therapy for STS patients. • Texture features showed incremental value beyond routine clinical factors. • The Combined_Model with features at multiple time points showed the best performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon–germanium (SiGe) alloy has become one of the representative high-temperature thermoelectric (TE) materials due to its advantages of stability, non-toxicity, oxidation resistance, and high mechanical strength. However, the high thermal conductivity and expensive Ge greatly limit the enhancement of zT value and its application. In this paper, n-type Si90Ge10P2Znx nanocomposites were prepared by ball milling and spark plasma sintering. By adjusting the Zn content and sintering time, multiple phonon-scattering centers, such as Zn precipitates, nano-pores, and layered structures, have been introduced into the SiGe matrix. The thermal conductivity was significantly reduced to 2.59 W m−1 K−1 without deteriorate power factor (PF), thus leading to a high zT value of 1.23 at 873 K. At 323–873 K, the average zT value (zTavg) also reached 0.6, increased by approximately 25% in comparison to the reported value using the same ratio of Si90Ge10. Compared with the conventional radioisotope TE generator with Si80Ge20 composition, the zTavg value increased by nearly 30% with only half of Ge, giving strong impetus to the application of SiGe-based TE materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar‐driven evaporation using hydrogels and photothermal materials is a promising freshwater harvesting technology. Clean water is generally collected through evaporation and subsequent condensation, which requires high energy input due to the inherent high vaporization enthalpy of water. Therefore, it is a great challenge to harvest fresh water efficiently under natural irradiation. Herein, a temperature‐sensitive polyacrylamide‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (A‐PNIPAm) gel is designed to pursue a high water collection rate under low energy input conditions, where the facile and reversible hydrophilic/hydrophobic transition in gels enables the quick acquisition of liquid water. A multifunctional hydrogel (ADS‐PNIPAm) is prepared using polydopamine and sodium alginate with excellent adsorption/filtration properties, which can remove pollutants and generate fresh water rapidly. Consequently, the water collection rate of the ADS‐PNIPAm hydrogel reaches up to 5.89 and 9.8 kg m−2 h−1 under 0.6 and 1 sun irradiation, respectively, which are superior to the previously reported values. Furthermore, ADS‐PNIPAm displays an excellent effect on purifying sewage, such as oils, algae, and dyes pollutants. ADS‐PNIPAm is a promising material for a rapid freshwater generation with solar irradiation only, which provides a new avenue to alleviate water source scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of Internet of Things (IoT), billions of small but smart wireless devices work together to make our cities more intelligent and sustainable. One challenge is that many IoT devices do not have human interfaces and are very difficult for humans to manage. This creates sustainability and security issues. Enabling automatic secret sharing across heterogeneous devices for cryptography purposes will provide the needed security and sustainability for the underlying IoT infrastructure. Therefore, wireless secret sharing is crucial to the success of smart cities. One secret sharing method is to utilize the effect of the randomness of the wireless channel in the data link layer to generate the common secret between legitimate users. This paper models this secret sharing mechanism from the perspective of game theory. In particular, we formulate a non-cooperative zero-sum game between the legitimate users (Alice and Bob) and an eavesdropper (Eve). Alice and Bob's strategy is deciding how to exchange packets to protect the secret, and Eve's strategy is choosing where to stay to better intercept the secret. In a symmetrical game where Eve has the same probability of successfully receiving a packet from Alice and Bob when the transmission distance is the same, we show that both pure and mixed strategy Nash equilibria exist. In an asymmetric game where Eve has different probabilities of successfully receiving a packet from Alice and Bob, a pure strategy may not exist; in this case, we show how a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium can be found. We run simulations to show that our results are better than other approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, we estimated the trend of unintentional injury mortality among children aged under-five years in China during 2010–2020. Methods: Data were obtained from China's Under 5 Child Mortality Surveillance System (U5CMSS). The total unintentional injury mortality and all specific-causes unintentional injury mortality was calculated, annual numbers of deaths and live births were adjusted by a 3-year moving average under-reporting rate. The Poisson regression model and the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel method were used to calculate the average annual decline rate (AADR) and the adjusted relative risk (aRR) of the unintentional injury mortality. Results: In 2010–2020, a total of 7,925 unintentional injury-related deaths were reported in U5CMSS, accounting for 18.7% of all reported deaths. The overall proportion of unintentional injury-related deaths to total under-five children deaths has increased from 15.2% to 2010 to 23.8% in 2020 (χ2 = 227.0, p < 0.001), the unintentional injury mortality significantly decreased from 249.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010 to 178.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, with an AADR 3.7% (95%CI 3.1–4.4). The unintentional injury mortality rate decreased from 2010 to 2020 in both urban (from 68.1 to 59.7 per 100,000 live births) and rural (from 323.1 to 230.0 per 100,000 live births) areas (urban: χ2 = 3.1, p < 0.08; rural: χ2 = 113.5, p < 0.001). The annual rates of decline in rural areas and urban areas were 4.2% (95%CI 3.4–4.9) and 1.5% (95%CI 0.1–3.3), respectively. The leading causes of unintentional injury mortality were suffocation (2,611, 32.9%), drowning (2,398, 30.3%), and traffic injury (1,428, 12.8%) in 2010–2020. The cause-specific of unintentional injury mortality rates decreased with varying AADRs in 2010–2020, except for traffic injury. The composition of unintentional injury-related deaths also varied by age group. Suffocation was the leading cause in infants, drowning and traffic injury were the leading causes in children aged 1–4 years. Suffocation and poisoning has high incidence in October to March and drowning has high in June to August. Conclusion: The unintentional injury mortality rate of children aged under-five years decreased significantly from 2010 to 2020 in China, but great inequity exists in unintentional injury mortality in urban and rural areas. Unintentional injuries are still an important public health problem affecting the health of Chinese children. Effective strategies should be strengthened to reduce unintentional injury in children and these policies and programmes should be targeted to more specific populations, such as rural areas and males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-recombining regions of the Y-chromosome recorded the evolutionary traces of male human populations and are inherited haplotype-dependently and male-specifically. Recent whole Y-chromosome sequencing studies have identified previously unrecognized population divergence, expansion and admixture processes, which promotes a better understanding and application of the observed patterns of Y-chromosome genetic diversity. Results: Here, we developed one highest-resolution Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism (Y-SNP) panel targeted for uniparental genealogy reconstruction and paternal biogeographical ancestry inference, which included 639 phylogenetically informative SNPs. We genotyped these loci in 1033 Chinese male individuals from 33 ethnolinguistically diverse populations and identified 256 terminal Y-chromosomal lineages with frequency ranging from 0.0010 (singleton) to 0.0687. We identified six dominant common founding lineages associated with different ethnolinguistic backgrounds, which included O2a2b1a1a1a1a1a1a1-M6539, O2a1b1a1a1a1a1a1-F17, O2a2b1a1a1a1a1b1a1b-MF15397, O2a2b2a1b1-A16609, O1b1a1a1a1b2a1a1-F2517, and O2a2b1a1a1a1a1a1-F155. The AMOVA and nucleotide diversity estimates revealed considerable differences and high genetic diversity among ethnolinguistically different populations. We constructed one representative phylogenetic tree among 33 studied populations based on the haplogroup frequency spectrum and sequence variations. Clustering patterns in principal component analysis and multidimensional scaling results showed a genetic differentiation between Tai-Kadai-speaking Li, Mongolic-speaking Mongolian, and other Sinitic-speaking Han Chinese populations. Phylogenetic topology inferred from the BEAST and Network relationships reconstructed from the popART further showed the founding lineages from culturally/linguistically diverse populations, such as C2a/C2b was dominant in Mongolian people and O1a/O1b was dominant in island Li people. We also identified many lineages shared by more than two ethnolinguistically different populations with a high proportion, suggesting their extensive admixture and migration history. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that our developed high-resolution Y-SNP panel included major dominant Y-lineages of Chinese populations from different ethnic groups and geographical regions, which can be used as the primary and powerful tool for forensic practice. We should emphasize the necessity and importance of whole sequencing of more ethnolinguistically different populations, which can help identify more unrecognized population-specific variations for the promotion of Y-chromosome-based forensic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Central nervous system leukemia (CNSL) is the most common extramedullary relapse site in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph-positive) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), with a poor prognosis and high relapse rate. Methods: We characterized the clinical data of 21 Ph-positive B-ALL patients to analyze the efficacy and safety of ponatinib for patients with central nervous system relapsed Ph-positive ALL retrospectively. Results: There were 11 males and 10 females in the cohort, and their median age was 45 (9-58) years old. The total CR (complete remission) rate was 90.5%. All 9 patients achieved CR in the ponatinib group, and 10 patients achieved CR in the dasatinib group (100% vs 83.3%, respectively; P =.486) and minimal residual disease-positive CR in the ponatinib group and dasatinib group (88.9% vs 58.3%, P =.178). The medium time after achieving CR was 5 and 8 weeks (P =.047). The total median overall survival (OS) was 31.1 months, and the 3-year OS was 49.0%. The median relapse-free survival (RFS) was 31.0 months, and the 3-year RFS was 45.2%. Patients in the ponatinib group showed a significantly longer OS than those patients in the dasatinib group with (medium OS not reached vs 27.6 months, P =.045) or without (medium OS not reached vs 27.6 months, P =.039) T315I mutations. The median RFS between the ponatinib group and the dasatinib group with T315I was not reached and 16.2 months, P =.065. The median RFS between the ponatinib group and the dasatinib group without T315I was not reached and 16.2 months, P =.036. No treatment-related deaths were observed during the therapy. Conclusion: (1) Ph-positive CNSL patients seemed to have a high rate of response and postinduction MRD negativity with ponatinib and dasatinib, but ponatinib seemed to show a shorter time to achieve remission than dasatinib. (2) Ponatinib maintenance treatment might show superior survival for Ph-positive CNSL patients with or without the T315I mutation. (3) Ponatinib and dasatinib seemed to be both safe for the clinical application of Ph-positive CNSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vapor phase methylation of phenol with methanol is widely carried out to produce a variety of products such as anisole, cresols and xylenols due to their increasing application in industries. Numerous researches have been carried out to understand the mechanistic behavior of phenol methylation. Based on discussion of reaction mechanism, the present article covered methylation of phenol with methanol over various catalysts, including zeolites, metal oxides, spinel, phosphates, sulfates, hydrotalcites and others. Moreover, the influence of reaction conditions and catalyst deactivation behavior were described. Finally, this review paper gives useful insights for the future direction of phenol methylation with methanol. This review provides a summary for the process of phenol methylation with methanol: catalysts, reaction mechanism and deactivated behavior, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the pavement temperature observation data of the transportation meteorological stations along the Xianyang Airport Expressway, China, as well as the datasets of precipitation and sunshine hours obtained from the nearby weather stations, the variation characteristics of local pavement temperatures are investigated for winter in this study. Results indicate that during the daytime, the pavement temperatures are always higher on sunny and cloudy days than those on rainy and snowy days, while during the nighttime, the temperatures on sunny and cloudy days are higher than those on the days with freezing rain and snow, and with the temperatures on rainy and snowy days without icing being further higher. In general, the pavement temperatures in winter features significant periodic oscillations with cycles of roughly 24 h, 12 h, 8 h, 6 h, 5 h and 4 h, which differ slightly at different times for different stations. Moreover, the nowcasting experiments on the local pavement temperatures are also carried out using a regression model via extracting the corresponding periodic features. It shows the mean absolute errors of about 0.6 °C, 1.2 °C, and 1.5 °C for lead times of 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h, respectively. The nowcasting skills are higher on rainy and snowy days, while are inferior on sunny days. For nowcasting cases initialized at nighttime (daytime), the mean absolute errors are 0.4 °C (0.7 °C) and 0.9 °C (1.4 °C) for lead times of 1 h and 2 h. Examinations suggest that the nowcasting system could be well utilized in plain areas of China, whereas it shows relatively larger biases in plateau areas with complex terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) radiomics features in predicting the efficacy of epirubicin combined with ifosfamide in patients with pulmonary metastases from soft tissue sarcoma. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 51 patients with pulmonary metastases from soft tissue sarcoma who received the chemotherapy regimen of epirubicin combined with ifosfamide was performed, and efficacy was evaluated by Recist1.1. ROIs (1 or 2) were selected for each patient. Lung metastases were used as target lesions (86 target lesions total), and the patients were divided into a progression group (n = 29) and a non-progressive group (n = 57); the latter included a stable group (n = 34) and a partial response group (n = 23). Information on lung metastases was extracted from CECT images before chemotherapy, and all lesions were delineated by ITK-SNAP software manually or semiautomatically. The decision tree classifier had a better performance in all radiomics models. A receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted to evaluate the predictive performance of the radiomics model. Results: In total, 851 CECT radiomics features were extracted for each target lesion and finally reduced to 2 radiomics features, which were then used to construct a radiomics model. Areas under the curves of the model for predicting lesion progression were 0.917 and 0.856 in training and testing groups, respectively. Conclusion: The model established based on the radiomics features of CECT before treatment has certain predictive value for assessing the efficacy of chemotherapy for patients with soft tissue sarcoma lung metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization is one of the inherent properties of light that human eyes cannot recognize. The polarized image collected by the optical system can be used for target detection, image enhancement, and dehazing. Nevertheless, a single image only represents certain polarization information on the targets. The fusion of images representing different polarization information is more beneficial to improve the image quality. Therefore, in this paper, we utilize a multiscale decomposition method to decompose the polarization degree image and intensity images into a base layer and detail layers. The local energy method is then used to fuse the base layer, and the nuclear norm is utilized to combine the detail layers. The fused base and detail layers are reconstructed to obtain the final fusion image. The proposed method is analyzed and compared to six state-of-the-art algorithms to exactly evaluate how effective it is. Experiments show that our method increases the contrast and clarity of the fusion image and has excellent details and texture. In addition, the outline of the fused image is clear, and the target is prominent, which is conducive to the target recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater generation by solar distillation is a promising technology to relieve global water scarcity. However, the evaporation of water requires a lot of energy, and the fragile purifier is easily damaged, resulting in low water production in practical applications. Therefore, a material simultaneously possessing low water evaporation enthalpy and strong toughness is desired. Herein, the authors introduced agar into polyacrylamide (AP) to uniquely design hydroxyl group ramparts on the skeleton of hydrogel to uniquely design hydroxyl groups rampart on the skeleton of hydrogel to strengthen robustness of hydrogel and regulate water state, which not only reduces energy demand for evaporation but resists external disturbance. The tensile stress of CNT100‐AP1/9 hydrogel reaches the maximum value of 102 kPa while the tensile strain is 467%. Finally, a high evaporation rate of ≈3 kg m−2 h−1 with 86.2% photothermal conversion efficiency is obtained under 1 kW m−2 illumination. The ingenious structure to wear hydroxyl groups coat on the skeleton of PAM hydrogel opens a new avenue for building a new robust and efficient solar thermal desalination system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the value of the deep learning image reconstruction (DLIR) algorithm (GE Healthcare's TrueFidelity™) in improving the image quality of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) of the chest. First, we retrospectively extracted raw data of chest LDCT from 50 patients and reconstructed them by using model-based adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction-Veo at 50% (ASIR-V 50%) and DLIR at medium and high strengths (DLIR-M and DLIR-H). Three sets of images were obtained. Next, two radiographers measured the mean CT value/image signal and standard deviation (SD) in Hounsfield units at the region of interest (ROI) and calculated the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Two radiologists subjectively evaluated the image quality using a 5-point Likert scale. The differences between the groups of data were analyzed through a repeated measures ANOVA or the Friedman test. Last, our result show that the three reconstructions did not differ significantly in signal (p > 0.05) but had significant differences in noise, SNR, and CNR (p < 0.001). The subjective scores significantly differed among the three reconstruction modalities in soft tissue (p < 0.001) but not in lung tissue (p > 0.05). DLIR-H had the best noise reduction ability and improved SNR and CNR without distorting the image texture, followed by DLIR-M and ASIR-V 50%. In summary, DLIR can provide a higher image quality at the same dose, enhancing the physicians' diagnostic confidence and improving the diagnostic efficacy of LDCT for lung cancer screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the genetic factors that contribute to bleeding events induced by the anticoagulant drug rivaroxaban. Rivaroxaban is commonly used for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, but it carries a risk of major bleeding events, particularly in elderly patients. The article highlights the importance of considering potential side effects and genetic variations when prescribing rivaroxaban. The study identifies 18 genetic variants from 14 genes that may serve as biomarkers for understanding the adverse effects of rivaroxaban. These findings have implications for the development of preventive strategies and may also apply to other anticoagulant drugs. [Extracted from the article]