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For planar and rigid π-conjugated molecular systems, electrostatic and inductive interactions are pivotal in governing molecular packing structures and electron polarization energies. These electrostatic interactions typically exhibit an anisotropic nature within π-conjugated systems. In this study, we utilize the atoms in molecules (AIM) theory in conjunction with linear response theory to decompose molecular polarizability into distributed atomic polarizability tensors. On the basis of atomic polarizability tensors, we extended an anisotropic polarizable model into the AMOEBA polarizable force field. Both anisotropic and isotropic polarizable models in combination with various density functional theory (DFT)-derived atomic multipoles were applied to optimize the experimental crystals of naphthalene and anthracene. Furthermore, these two types of electrostatic models, coupled with the evolutionary algorithm USPEX program, are utilized to predict the crystal structures of oligoacenes. Our findings demonstrate that the anisotropic polarizable model exhibits superior performance in crystal refinement and crystal structure prediction. This enriched anisotropic polarizable model is seamlessly integrated into the AMOEBA polarizable force field and readily applicable within our modified Tinker program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thyroid cancer is one of the most common endocrine malignancies in clinical practice. Traditional surgery and radioactive iodine ablation have poor treatment results for poorly differentiated thyroid cancer, and there is a risk of metastasis and recurrence. In this study, caffeic acid, a natural herbal extract with certain biological activity, has been as precursor to prepare new caffeic acid carbon nanodots via a one-step hydrothermal method. The caffeic acid carbon nanodots retains part of the structure and biological activity of caffeic acid, and have good biocompatibility, water solubility and stability. The construction of the carbon nanodots could effectively improve their bio-absorption rate and the efficacy. In vitro cell experiments showed that low-dose caffeic acid carbon nanodots had a significant inhibitory effect on poorly differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma BCPAP cells. At low concentrations of 16 µg/mL, the inhibition rate of human thyroid cancer cells BCPAP was ~ 79%. The anti-tumor mechanism was predicted and verified by transcriptome, real-time quantitative PCR and western blot experiments. The caffeic acid carbon nanodots showed to simultaneously downregulate the expression of KRAS, p-BRAF, p-MEK1 and p-ERK1/2, the four continuous key proteins in a MAPK classical signaling pathway. In vivo experiments further confirmed the caffeic acid carbon nanodots could significantly inhibit the tumorigenicity of xenografts in papillary thyroid carcinoma at quite low doses. This piece of work provides a new nanomedicine and therapeutic strategy for highly resistant poorly differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of concomitant medications on the response and survival of patients with advanced digestive tract cancer receiving an immunotherapy-antiangiogenesis combination. Methods: We conducted a three-center observational retrospective study of patients with advanced digestive tract cancer who received programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors plus antiangiogenic agents between March 2019 and July 2022 in China. The patients had one of the three types of primary tumors: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and gastric cancer (GC). Results: The study included 352 patients. The most frequently prescribed co-medications were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (46.3%), proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (38.0%), systemic antibiotics (33.8%), and corticosteroids (30.1%). Probiotics had a direct correlation with a higher objective response rate (ORR) (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.7, p = 0.013). Patients who received PPIs for gastritis/gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 1.0, p = 0.045), anticoagulants (HR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.9, p = 0.009), and probiotics (HR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 1.0, p = 0.034) had longer progression-free survival (PFS). Patients who received PPIs for gastritis/GERD (HR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.9; p = 0.009) had longer overall survival (OS), while patients receiving opioids (HR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.0, p = 0.010) had a significantly higher risk of death. Conclusion: Patients with advanced digestive tract cancer who were administered PPIs for gastritis/GERD indication, anticoagulants, or probiotics in combination with PD-1 inhibitors and antiangiogenic agents experienced improved clinical outcomes. However, opioid administration was linked to reduced OS in patients receiving combined therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross‐regulation of immunity and metabolism is currently a research hotspot in life sciences and immunology. Metabolic immunology plays an important role in cutting‐edge fields such as metabolic regulatory mechanisms in immune cell development and function, and metabolic targets and immune‐related disease pathways. Protein post‐translational modification (PTM) is a key epigenetic mechanism that regulates various biological processes and highlights metabolite functions. Currently, more than 400 PTM types have been identified to affect the functions of several proteins. Among these, metabolic PTMs, particularly various newly identified histone or non‐histone acylation modifications, can effectively regulate various functions, processes and diseases of the immune system, as well as immune‐related diseases. Thus, drugs aimed at targeted acylation modification can have substantial therapeutic potential in regulating immunity, indicating a new direction for further clinical translational research. This review summarises the characteristics and functions of seven novel lysine acylation modifications, including succinylation, S‐palmitoylation, lactylation, crotonylation, 2‐hydroxyisobutyrylation, β‐hydroxybutyrylation and malonylation, and their association with immunity, thereby providing valuable references for the diagnosis and treatment of immune disorders associated with new acylation modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Carotenoids are indispensable to plants and critical components of the human diet. The carotenoid metabolic pathway is conserved across plant species, but our understanding of the genetic basis of carotenoid variation remains limited for the seeds of most cereal crops. To address this issue, we systematically performed linkage and association mapping for eight carotenoid traits using six recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations. Single linkage mapping (SLM) and joint linkage mapping (JLM) identified 77 unique additive QTLs and 104 pairs of epistatic QTLs. Among these QTLs, we identified 22 overlapping hotspots of additive and epistatic loci, highlighting the important contributions of some QTLs to carotenoid levels through additive or epistatic mechanisms. A genome‐wide association study based on all RILs detected 244 candidate genes significantly associated with carotenoid traits, 23 of which were annotated as carotenoid pathway genes. Effect comparisons suggested that a small number of loci linked to pathway genes have substantial effects on carotenoid variation in our tested populations, but many loci not associated with pathway genes also make important contributions to carotenoid variation. We identified ZmPTOX as the causal gene for a QTL hotspot (Q10/JLM10/GWAS019); this gene encodes a putative plastid terminal oxidase that produces plastoquinone‐9 used by two enzymes in the carotenoid pathway. Natural variants in the promoter and second exon of ZmPTOX were found to alter carotenoid levels. This comprehensive assessment of the genetic mechanisms underlying carotenoid variation establishes a foundation for rewiring carotenoid metabolism and accumulation for efficient carotenoid biofortification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (HG-ESS) is a rare malignant tumor with poor prognosis. To overcome the limitations of current treatment for advanced patients, the intervention of targeted drug therapy is urgently needed. Case presentation: A 74-year-old married woman who presented with abdominal distension and lower abdominal pain was admitted to Hebei General Hospital. After surgery, immunohistochemical staining revealed a malignant tumor which was consistent with HG-ESS. Tumor recurrence occurred 2 months after surgery. Then the patient underwent chemotherapy with two courses but responded poorly. Subsequently we observed ATM, BLM, and CDH1 co-mutations by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Then the patient received pamiparib, which resulted in a 10-month progression-free survival (PFS) and is now stable with the administration of sintilimab in combination with pamiparib and anlotinib. Conclusions: Due to the successful use of poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) on HG-ESS, we suggest that the selection of effective targeted drugs combined with anti- programmed death-1 (PD-1) drug therapy based on genetic testing may become a new option for the treatment of homologous repair deficient (HR-deficient) HG-ESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to effectively handle imbalanced data is one of the hot issues in the fields of machine learning and data mining. Undersampling is a popular technique of dealing with imbalanced data. The aim of undersampling is to select an instance subset from the majority class of an imbalanced dataset and then make the dataset balanced. However, the traditional undersampling approaches may lead to the information loss of majority class instances. Therefore, on the basis of the concept of the importance degree of a fuzzy granule, a measure criterion of selecting representative instances from the majority class is presented in this paper by considering the fuzzy relations between the k-nearest neighbors of a majority class instance and the minority class instances. Then, we put forward an undersampling approach based on fuzzy rough sets (USFRS). With the proposed USFRS, the representativeness of the selected majority class instances can be guaranteed and the information loss due to undersampling can be reduced to the utmost extent. Furthermore, USFRS is compared with the relative undersampling methods, and the difference of the experimental results is analyzed by the statistic test. The experimental results demonstrate that USFRS performs well in classification for imbalanced data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung recruitment manoeuvres (RMs) during mechanical ventilation may reduce atelectasis, however, the optimal recruitment strategy for patients undergoing thoracic surgery remains unknown. Our study was designed to investigate whether ultrasound-guided lung RMs is superior to conventional RMs in reducing perioperative atelectasis during thoracic surgery with one-lung ventilation. We conducted a randomised controlled clinical trial from August 2022 to September 2022. Sixty patients scheduled for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) under general anaesthesia were enrolled. Subjects were randomly divided into the ultrasound-guided RMs group (manual inflation guided by lung ultrasound) or conventional RMs group (manual inflation with 30 cmH2O pressure). Lung ultrasound were performed at three predefined time points (1 min after anaesthetic induction; after RMs at the end of surgery; before discharge from postanesthesia care unit [PACU]). The primary outcome was lung ultrasound score before discharge from the PACU after extubation. In the early postoperative period, lung aeration deteriorated in both groups even after lung RMs. However, ultrasound-guided lung RMs had significantly lower lung ultrasound scores when compared with conventional RMs in bilateral lungs (2.0 [0.8–4.0] vs. 8.0 [3.8–10.3], P < 0.01) at the end of surgery, which remained before patients discharged from the PACU. Accordingly, the lower incidence of atelectasis was found in ultrasound-guided RMs group than in conventional RMs group (7% vs. 53%; P < 0.01) at the end of surgery. Ultrasound-guided RMs is superior to conventional RMs in improving lung aeration and reducing the incidence of lung atelectasis at early postoperative period in patients undergoing VATS. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (No. 220,825,810; date of approval: August 5, 2022) and registered on Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (registration number: ChiCTR2200062761). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cryptophyte algae are an evolutionarily distinct and ecologically important group of photosynthetic unicellular eukaryotes. Photosystem II (PSII) of cryptophyte algae associates with alloxanthin chlorophyll a/c-binding proteins (ACPs) to act as the peripheral light-harvesting system, whose supramolecular organization is unknown. Here, we purify the PSII-ACPII supercomplex from a cryptophyte alga Chroomonas placoidea (C. placoidea), and analyze its structure at a resolution of 2.47 Å using cryo-electron microscopy. This structure reveals a dimeric organization of PSII-ACPII containing two PSII core monomers flanked by six symmetrically arranged ACPII subunits. The PSII core is conserved whereas the organization of ACPII subunits exhibits a distinct pattern, different from those observed so far in PSII of other algae and higher plants. Furthermore, we find a Chl a-binding antenna subunit, CCPII-S, which mediates interaction of ACPII with the PSII core. These results provide a structural basis for the assembly of antennas within the supercomplex and possible excitation energy transfer pathways in cryptophyte algal PSII, shedding light on the diversity of supramolecular organization of photosynthetic machinery. The authors report structure of PSII-ACPII from a cryptophyte alga Chroomonas placoidea, providing insights into a distinct supramolecular organization and assembly of antennas in the supercomplex and possible excitation energy transfer pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel detection and rerouting mechanism for distributed adaptive platoon control of non‐linear autonomous connected vehicles under denial of service (DoS) attacks. DoS attacks can cause delays or losses of data packets due to blocked communication channels, leading to reducing platoon performance or even collisions among vehicles. To tackle this issue, the proposed mechanism detects and reroutes communication topology depending on the real‐time topology and the number of link failures. Real‐time detection divides the scenario of DoS attacks into three parts. According to the different scenarios, rerouting mechanisms will be utilized. A controller adapted to real‐time variable communication topology is also designed in this scheme. The adjacency matrix of the real‐time communication topology generated by the rerouting mechanism is used to update the controller so that the platoon can remain in a stable state without being affected by DoS attacks. In addition, the sliding mode controller and the observer are designed by solving linear matrix inequalities, and the platoon stability and internal stability are proven. Numerical simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed mechanism and control design can reduce the vehicle state estimate error and platoon‐tracking error to ideal states under DoS attacks. The proposed method solves the problem that the existing methods have not considered the number of link failures and the inability to restore communication when the communication topology is paralyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational therapy is a profession with origins rooted in Western values. As culture plays an important role in shaping theory and practice, the curriculum design of academic programs that train future rehabilitation professionals should reflect the local context. As part of an international partnership, a dual-degree graduate program in occupational therapy was established between a Chinese and an American university. A team composed of members from both institutions collaborated on culturally adapting an entry-level master's program in occupational therapy for China, based on a U.S. program, which welcomed its first cohort in September 2019. This article details the timeline and process of program design and adaptation from conception, through implementation to evaluation and revision, with the aim of offering a framework for curriculum adaptation of other academic programs in the U.S. and internationally. The adapted curriculum includes the program mission, vision, and philosophy; the curriculum model with program outcomes and threads; the program scope and sequence; materials and resources; and course-specific objectives, learning activities, and assessments. The authors also share lessons learned through this experience of international collaboration as well as next steps for program evaluation and sustainability. The detailed overview of this international collaboration offers suggestions for individuals and institutions seeking to develop global partnerships and adapt curricula across cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The number of vertebrae is an essential economic trait that can impact the carcass length and meat production in animals. However, our understanding of the candidate genes responsible for vertebral traits in sheep remains limited. To identify these candidate genes, we conducted a series of bioinformatics analyses. Remarkably, we discovered that the region controlling the sheep's vertebral variation may be situated on chromosome 7. Within this region, the ABCD4 gene emerged as a promising candidate gene for vertebral variation. This finding provides a promising perspective for unraveling the genetic basis of the vertebral number in sheep. The number of vertebrae is a crucial economic trait that can significantly impact the carcass length and meat production in animals. However, our understanding of the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes associated with the vertebral number in sheep (Ovis aries) remains limited. To identify these candidate genes and QTLs, we collected 73 Ujimqin sheep with increased numbers of vertebrae (T13L7, T14L6, and T14L7) and 23 sheep with normal numbers of vertebrae (T13L6). Through high-throughput genome resequencing, we obtained a total of 24,130,801 effective single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). By conducting a selective-sweep analysis, we discovered that the most significantly selective region was located on chromosome 7. Within this region, we identified several genes, including VRTN, SYNDIG1L, LTBP2, and ABCD4, known to regulate the spinal development and morphology. Further, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) performed on sheep with increased and normal vertebral numbers confirmed that ABCD4 is a candidate gene for determining the number of vertebrae in sheep. Additionally, the most significant SNP on chromosome 7 was identified as a candidate QTL. Moreover, we detected two missense mutations in the ABCD4 gene; one of these mutations (Chr7: 89393414, C > T) at position 22 leads to the conversion of arginine (Arg) to glutamine (Gln), which is expected to negatively affect the protein's function. Notably, a transcriptome expression profile in mouse embryonic development revealed that ABCD4 is highly expressed during the critical period of vertebral formation (4.5–7.5 days). Our study highlights ABCD4 as a potential major gene influencing the number of vertebrae in Ujimqin sheep, with promising prospects for future genome-assisted breeding improvements in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the motion of charged particles in the electromagnetic field in the inner magnetosphere is essential for space science and space weather. Charge accumulation can occur due to the dipole magnetic and convective electric fields in this region. However, until the recent Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, there were few means to detect charge distribution in situ. We report unambiguous in situ observation of the spatial distribution of the excess charge density in the inner magnetosphere by the MMS mission. We find that a positive (negative) charge accumulates in the dusk (dawn) side inner magnetospheres, which is contrary to the long assumed overall quasi-neutrality of space plasma. These observations and results offer insight into magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling. The magnetospheric multiscale mission (MMS) consists of four identical spacecraft used to collect data on the interaction between the Sun and Earth's magnetic fields and study how the various interactions govern the dynamics of phenomena such as plasmas and particle movement. Here, the authors analyse MMS data on charge distribution, showing that there is a separation of charge on the dawn and dusk sectors of the inner magnetosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel non-intrusive and computer vision-based framework for driver fatigue detection from video is proposed in this paper. To improve the judging accuracy of the driver's facial expressions, the personalized threshold is proposed based on the driver's eye aspect ratio and mouth aspect ratio instead of the traditional average threshold, as individual drivers have different eye and mouth sizes. In order to alleviate the impact of the lack of relevant public data on model training, transfer learning is employed to train the eye and mouth state classifier. Furthermore, to address the low universality and accuracy of driver fatigue detection caused by using only one type of facial features, multiple features, including appearance-based features and deep learning-based features, are utilized. The experiment results indicate that our method achieves a 92.21% F1 score and 29 fps, outperforming traditional methods on the public NTHU-DDD dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structure optimization of stretchable AMOLED for high stretchability and high reliability was studied. High stretchability (>10%) was achieved. To improve the key reliability performance of stretchable OLED, pixel‐size hybrid encapsulation was developed, with which the panel can pass 60o C/90% 360h reliability test. A dynamic stretchable AMOLED module was fabricated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diatoms are dominant marine algae and contribute around a quarter of global primary productivity, the success of which is largely attributed to their photosynthetic capacity aided by specific fucoxanthin chlorophyll-binding proteins (FCPs) to enhance the blue-green light absorption under water. We purified a photosystem II (PSII)-FCPII supercomplex and a trimeric FCP from Cyclotella meneghiniana (Cm) and solved their structures by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structures reveal detailed organizations of monomeric, dimeric and trimeric FCP antennae, as well as distinct assemblies of Lhcx6_1 and dimeric FCPII-H in PSII core. Each Cm-PSII-FCPII monomer contains an Lhcx6_1, an FCP heterodimer and other three FCP monomers, which form an efficient pigment network for harvesting energy. More diadinoxanthins and diatoxanthins are found in FCPs, which may function to quench excess energy. The trimeric FCP contains more chlorophylls c and fucoxanthins. These diversified FCPs and PSII-FCPII provide a structural basis for efficient light energy harvesting, transfer, and dissipation in C. meneghiniana. The cryo-EM structures of an FCP trimer and a PSII-FCPII supercomplex from a diatom are revealed, providing detailed insights into the variety of FCPII and their regulatory roles in green light harvesting, energy transfer and dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In coastal marine sediments, oxygen availability varies greatly, and anoxic conditions can develop quickly over low spatial resolution. Although benthic fungi are important players in the marine carbon cycle, little is known about their adaptation to fluctuating availability of oxygen as terminal electron acceptor. Here, we study which part of a mycobenthic community from oxic coastal sediments can thrive under temporarily anoxic conditions. We test whether phylogeny or certain fungal traits promote plasticity in respect to changes in oxygen availability. Therefore, we incubated mycobenthos under oxic and anoxic conditions, performed ITS2 Illumina tag-sequencing and an additional meta-analysis on a literature survey. Half of all OTUs showed a plasticity towards changing oxygen availability and exhibited different strategies towards anoxic conditions, with rapid response within hours or a delayed one after several days. The strategy of dimorphism and facultative yeasts were significantly linked to OTU occurrence in anoxic conditions, while phylogeny and other traits had less effect. Our results suggest that different fungal niches are formed over the duration of prolonged anoxic conditions. The taxon-specific proliferation seems to be regulated by the fine-tuning of various traits and factors. It is essential to take these results into account when conducting conceptual work on the functionality of the marine benthos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that the activation of the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is detrimental to the functional recovery of the sciatic nerve, but the regulatory mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome in peripheral nerves are unclear. C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12) can bind to C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) and participate in a wide range of nerve inflammation by regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome. Based on these, we explore whether CXCL12-CXCR4 axis regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome in the peripheral nerve. We found that CXCR4/CXCL12, NLRP3 inflammasome-related components, pyroptosis-related proteins and inflammatory factors in the sciatic nerve injured rats were markedly increased compared with the sham-operated group. AMD3100, a CXCR4 antagonist, reverses the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome, Schwann cell pyroptosis and sciatic nerve demyelination. We further treated rat Schwann cells with LPS (lipopolysaccharide) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to mimic the cellular inflammation model of sciatic nerve injury, and the results were consistent with those in vivo. In addition, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that AMD3100 treatment reduced the phosphorylation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and the expression of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP), which contributes to activating NLRP3 inflammasome. Therefore, our findings suggest that, after sciatic nerve injury, CXCL12-CXCR4 axis may promote Schwann cell pyroptosis and sciatic nerve demyelination through activating NLRP3 inflammasome and slow the recovery process of the sciatic nerve. Studies have shown that the activation of the NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is detrimental to the functional recovery of the sciatic nerve, and C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12) can bind to C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) and participate in a wide range of nerve inflammation by regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome. However, the regulatory mechanisms of the NLRP3 inflammasome in peripheral nerves are unclear. Our findings suggest that, after sciatic nerve injury, CXCL12-CXCR4 axis may promote Schwann cell pyroptosis and sciatic nerve demyelination through activating NLRP3 inflammasome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, we elucidated the changes in metabolites and microbial communities in pregnant ewes during early gestation, and tried to find new biomarkers to predict early pregnancy in sheep. Significant differences were found in the blood biochemical parameters and blood metabolites, but not in the faecal microbial community. At the same time, five potential pregnancy biomarkers were found to predict early pregnancy in ewes. These detected differences will provide a scientific theoretical basis for the rational nutritional regulation of farmers, and these newly discovered biomarkers will promote the development of technology for detecting early pregnancy in sheep in highly cold areas. Ewes undergo complex metabolic changes during pregnancy. Understanding the specific process of these changes is a necessary prerequisite in ewes for regulating and intervening in order to maintain pregnancies. However, there have been relatively few studies on the specific changes that occur in nutritional metabolism in pregnant ewes during early gestation, especially for some landrace ewes in highly cold areas. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) elucidate the changes in metabolites and microbial communities in pregnant ewes during early gestation using metabolomics and 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicon sequencing approaches, and to (2) discover novel early pregnancy-induced biomarkers in the blood and faeces. Rams were placed together with ewes on D0 and removed on D45. During early gestation, blood and faecal samples were collected from ewes in a highly cold area for analysing the metabolites and microbial communities; these were retrospectively classified as the early gestation pregnant (EP) ewe group or the nonpregnant (NP) ewe group based on the lambing status recorded during the expected delivery period. The differences in the plasma biochemical parameters, plasma metabolites, and faecal microbial communities of pregnant and nonpregnant ewes were characterised. The GC, IL-6, O-acetyl-l-serine, L-glutamine, and 6-acetamido-2-oxohexanoic acid were screened out as potential biomarkers for evaluating the occurrence of early pregnancy. These novel early pregnancy-induced metabolites discovered in ewes might allow for the development of technologies to detect early pregnancies in sheep in highly cold areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the suppressive potential of different soils on soybean cyst nematodes (SCN) and to estimate the suppressive mechanism. Fifteen soils (designated as soil A to O) from different agricultural fields with varying organic inputs were added with SCN-infested soil and grown with a green soybean variety. The SCN density in the soil at 6 weeks of soybean growth was markedly different depending on the soils used, indicating a different level of disease suppressiveness. No significant correlation was observed between the SCN density and any of the soil physicochemical and biological characteristics tested. Then, to estimate a suppression mechanism, F-soil that showed the lowest density of SCN was added to the SCN-infested soil with or without streptomycin to kill bacteria and grown with soybean. SCN density was not increased by the addition of streptomycin, indicating that soil bacteria may not be involved in the suppressiveness of F-soil. In total, 128 fungal strains were isolated from the rhizosphere of F-soil and inoculated in a combination or singly in the SCN-infested soil. After repeated screenings, five strains were selected since the SCN density was consistently decreased by them. Sequence analysis showed that they were closest to Clonostachys rosea, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium oxysporum, and Cylindrodendrum alicantinum. All five strains significantly reduced the mobility of second-stage juveniles (J2). Further, C. rosea a2, A. niger a8, and F. oxysporum a25 significantly decreased hatching. Overall, the present study demonstrated that soil fungi played an important role in SCN suppression in F-soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Previous studies indicated that intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, and depressive symptoms were associated with cognitive impairment in OSA patients. Objective: The study aimed to investigate whether sleep characteristics and depressive symptoms affected cognitive abilities mediated by Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers and complement proteins in OSA patients without dementia. Methods: A total of 317 subjects without dementia who had undergone polysomnography, cognitive and neuropsychological evaluations, were recruited. Neuronal-derived exosomes (NDEs) levels for amyloid-β (Aβ), total tau (T-tau), and tau phosphorylated 62 at threonine 181 (P-T181-tau) and astrocyte-derived exosomes (ADEs) levels for complement proteins were measured. Mediation analysis were performed to explore the mediation effects of AD biomarkers (Aβ42, T-tau, P-T181-tau) and complement proteins (C3b and C5b-9) on cognition. Results: The findings revealed that the association between sleep fragmentation and cognition was mediated by Aβ42 (the percentage varied from 18.25% to 30.6%), P-T181-tau (the percentage varied from 24.36% to 32.3%), and C5b-9 (the percentage varied from 30.88% to 60.7%). The influence of depressive symptoms on cognition was only mediated via C3b (the percentage varied from 24.1% to 36.6%). Conclusions: In OSA patients without dementia, Aβ42 and P-T181-tau levels in NDEs, and C5b-9 levels in ADEs mediated the impact of sleep fragmentation on cognitive impairment, and C3b levels in ADEs mediated the impact of depressive symptoms on cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting SYM‐H index is significant in space weather because it quantifies the degree of perturbation of the geomagnetic field during storm. This study presents a composite model to predict SYM‐H index based on solar wind parameters by combining the empirical magnetospheric dynamical equation with neural networks. The formula for predicted SYM‐H originates from the well‐known empirical relationship between interplanetary conditions and the Dst index. In particular, the coefficients in the empirical relationship are determined by using neural networks that excel at approaching the function linking the coefficients and the solar wind parameters. The 1‐ and 2‐hr forecasts of SYM‐H during storm time are reliable, and the precision of some cases is even better than the latest models solely using deep neural networks. Based on the composite model, the dependence of loss time and injection rates of ring current energy on the solar wind parameters and SYM‐H are investigated. Plain Language Summary: Driven by the solar wind, geomagnetic fields can be strongly disturbed, which is called geomagnetic storm. The intensity of storm is quantified by SYM‐H index that denotes the disturbance of magnetic field near equator. Hence, it is important to predict SYM‐H index to provide avoiding space weather disasters. However, due to actively complex interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere, forecasting SYM‐H index with high accuracy is difficult. In this study, we propose a composite model to characterize such complex interaction and predict SYM‐H index accurately. The composite model derives the temporal variation of SYM‐H based on the conservation of energy in inner magnetosphere and uses neural network to specify quantitative variation depending on the solar wind parameters. The prediction accuracy generated by the composite model is comparable with the prediction based on deep neural networks, indicating that the composite model has great application potential for space weather forecast. Key Points: The magnetospheric dynamical equation combining the neural network is used to predict SYM‐H indexComposite model produces more precise prediction of SYM‐H, even better than models solely based on neural networksThe association of coefficients with the physical processes in the magnetosphere is discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lung ultrasound is widely accepted as a reliable, noninvasive tool for evaluating lung status at the bedside. We assessed the impact of perioperative variables on atelectasis and lung aeration using lung ultrasound, and their correlation with postoperative oxygenation in patients undergoing general anesthesia. Methods: This prospective observational study evaluated 93 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo elective non-cardiothoracic surgery under general anesthesia. Lung ultrasound was performed 5 min after admission to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Twelve pulmonary quadrants were selected for each ultrasound examination. The lung ultrasound scores and atelectasis status were calculated. The oxygenation assessment was obtained by arterial blood gas analysis before discharge from the PACU. Results: Thirty-two patients (34%) had atelectasis in at least one of the 12 evaluated segments, whereas 12 patients (13%) had atelectasis in at least three segments. The proportion of B-lines (≥ 3) and atelectasis in the inferolateral and posterior regions was significantly higher than in other regions. Patients with lung ultrasound scores ≥ 5 had a higher body mass index and lower PaO2 before discharge from the PACU than those with scores < 5. Patients with atelectasis had higher body mass indices and lung ultrasound scores. The presence of ≥ 2 regions of atelectasis was associated with lower PaO2. Using multivariate analysis, body mass index, intraoperative body position, and sex independently correlated with lung ultrasound scores. Age and lung ultrasound scores independently correlated with hypoxemia. Conclusion: Lung ultrasound enables early postoperative evaluation of atelectasis and lung aeration, which are closely associated with postoperative oxygenation. Trial registration: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (No.220,825,810; date of approval: August 5, 2022) and registered on Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (number: ChiCTR2200062761). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CSES high precision magnetometer (HPM), consisting of two fluxgate magnetometers (FGM) and one coupled dark state magnetometer (CDSM), has worked successfully for more than 5 years providing continuous magnetic field measurements since the launch of the CSES in February 2018. After rechecking almost every year's data, it has become possible to make an improvement to the in-flight intrinsic calibration (to estimate offsets, scale values and non-orthogonality) and alignment (to estimate three Euler angles for the rotation between the orthogonalized sensor coordinates and the coordinate system of the star tracker) of the FGM. The following efforts have been made to achieve this goal: For the sensor calibration, FGM sensor temperature corrections on offsets and scale values have been taken into account to remove seasonal effects. Based on these results, Euler angles have been estimated along with global geomagnetic field modeling to improve the alignment of the FGM sensor. With this, a latitudinal effect in the east component of the originally calibrated data could be reduced. Furthermore, it has become possible to prolong the updating period of all calibration parameters from daily to 10 days, without the separation of dayside and nightside data. The new algorithms optimize routine HPM data processing efficiency and data quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In coastal marine sediments, oxygen availability varies greatly, and anoxic conditions can develop quickly over low spatial resolution. Although benthic fungi are important players in the marine carbon cycle, little is known about their adaptation to fluctuating availability of oxygen as terminal electron acceptor. Here, we study which part of a mycobenthic community from oxic coastal sediments can thrive under temporarily anoxic conditions. We test whether phylogeny or certain fungal traits promote plasticity in respect to changes in oxygen availability. Therefore, we incubated mycobenthos under oxic and anoxic conditions, performed ITS2 Illumina tag-sequencing and an additional meta-analysis on a literature survey. Half of all OTUs showed a plasticity towards changing oxygen availability and exhibited different strategies towards anoxic conditions, with rapid response within hours or a delayed one after several days. The strategy of dimorphism and facultative yeasts were significantly linked to OTU occurrence in anoxic conditions, while phylogeny and other traits had less effect. Our results suggest that different fungal niches are formed over the duration of prolonged anoxic conditions. The taxon-specific proliferation seems to be regulated by the fine-tuning of various traits and factors. It is essential to take these results into account when conducting conceptual work on the functionality of the marine benthos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study presents the first comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic characterization at E16 in Ujumqin sheep and Hulunbuir short-tailed sheep (the day of mating was defined as day 0, and embryo samples were taken on the 16th day). TBXT mutations are related to tailless or short-tailed phenotypes in vertebrates. In our previous study, we detected the TBXT expression level at a different embryo stage in sheep and found that TBXT exhibited the highest expression at E16. We believe that TBXT plays an important role in E16; thus, we chose E16 as the focus of this study. This comprehensive single-cell map reveals previously unrecognized signaling pathways that will improve our understanding of the mechanism of short-tailed sheep formation. Cell types have been established during organogenesis based on early mouse embryos. However, our understanding of cell types and molecular mechanisms in the early embryo development of Mongolian sheep has been hampered. This study presents the first comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic characterization at E16 in Ujumqin sheep and Hulunbuir short-tailed sheep. Thirteen major cell types were identified at E16 in Ujumqin sheep, and eight major cell types were identified at E16 in Hulunbuir short-tailed sheep. Function enrichment analysis showed that several pathways were significantly enriched in the TGF-beta signaling pathway, the Hippo signaling pathway, the platelet activation pathway, the riboflavin metabolism pathway, the Wnt signaling pathway, regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, and the insulin signaling pathway in the notochord cluster. Glutathione metabolism, glyoxylate, and dicarboxylate metabolism, the citrate cycle, thyroid hormone synthesis, pyruvate metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, thermogenesis, and the VEGF signaling pathway were significantly enriched in the spinal cord cluster. Steroid biosynthesis, riboflavin metabolism, the cell cycle, the Hippo signaling pathway, the Hedgehog signaling pathway, the FoxO signaling pathway, the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, and the Wnt signaling pathway were significantly enriched in the paraxial mesoderm cluster. The notochord cluster, spinal cord cluster, and paraxial mesoderm cluster were found to be highly associated with tail development. Pseudo-time analysis demonstrated that the mesenchyme can translate to the notochord in Ujumqin sheep. Molecular assays revealed that the Hippo signaling pathway was enriched in Ujumqin sheep. This comprehensive single-cell map revealed previously unrecognized signaling pathways that will further our understanding of the mechanism of short-tailed sheep formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early start Denver model (ESDM) has been extensively studied as a promising early intervention approach for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Various methodological drawbacks from earlier ESDM investigations must be rectified to expand the application scopes. For this purpose, the present study recruited a very large sample of 249 autistic children (aged 24–47 months), and used a randomized controlled design to compare outcomes from a mixed ESDM (M‐ESDM) intervention with a mixed discrete trial teaching (M‐DTT) intervention which remains one of the most commonly‐used programming for early intervention. Over the course of a 12‐week period, both groups (i.e., M‐ESDM and M‐DTT groups) received 25 h of intensive intervention per week using individual, group, and parent coaching techniques. Findings showed that: (i) the M‐ESDM significantly outperformed the M‐DTT in enhancing children's developmental abilities in gross motor and personal‐social skills for toddlers and preschoolers, as well as in language for preschoolers with mild/moderate ASD and toddlers; and (ii) the M‐ESDM dramatically reduced the severity of autistic symptoms in toddlers with severe ASD only, when compared to the M‐DTT. However, the M‐ESDM did not outperform the M‐DTT in terms of improving children's developmental abilities in adaptability and fine motor for toddlers and preschoolers, as well as in language for preschoolers with severe ASD. In addition, when compared to the M‐DTT, the M‐ESDM did not show an advantage in reducing the severity of autistic symptoms in toddlers with mild/moderate ASD and preschoolers. Clinical Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Registration number ChiCTR200039492. Lay Summary: Early intervention has a substantial impact on enhancing development for children with autism. The discrete trial teaching (DTT) has been widely used for early intervention, but has various drawbacks that might be solved by the early start Denver model (ESDM). By recruiting a very large sample of 249 autistic children (aged 24–47 months) and adopting a randomized controlled design, this study showed that the ESDM outperformed the DTT in enhancing developmental abilities and reducing the severity of autistic symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of alcohols into value‐added products is of great importance, as simple alcohols are widespread and can be easily derived from both fossil fuels and biomass. The selective functionalization of a sp3 C−H bond on the alkyl side chain of an alcohol over its hydroxyl group would offer an expedient route to expand the chemical space of alcohols but it remains a challenging task. Harnessing the borrowing hydrogen strategy, the β‐arylation of secondary alcohols with aryl bromides has been achieved in this study, which allows for the selective functionalization of a β‐Csp3−H bond in an alcohol substrate. Under the catalysis of a Pd complex, secondary alcohols reacted with aryl bromides to afford 1,2‐diaryl alcohols with broad substrate scope in the presence of a ketone additive. Furthermore, the enantioconvergent version of the reaction has also been realized, transforming racemic secondary alcohols into enantioenriched chiral 1,2‐diaryl alcohols under the cooperative Pd and Ru catalysis. Mechanism studies indicate that the reactions are enabled by borrowing hydrogen catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of alcohols into value‐added products is of great importance, as simple alcohols are widespread and can be easily derived from both fossil fuels and biomass. The selective functionalization of a sp3 C−H bond on the alkyl side chain of an alcohol over its hydroxyl group would offer an expedient route to expand the chemical space of alcohols but it remains a challenging task. Harnessing the borrowing hydrogen strategy, the β‐arylation of secondary alcohols with aryl bromides has been achieved in this study, which allows for the selective functionalization of a β‐Csp3−H bond in an alcohol substrate. Under the catalysis of a Pd complex, secondary alcohols reacted with aryl bromides to afford 1,2‐diaryl alcohols with broad substrate scope in the presence of a ketone additive. Furthermore, the enantioconvergent version of the reaction has also been realized, transforming racemic secondary alcohols into enantioenriched chiral 1,2‐diaryl alcohols under the cooperative Pd and Ru catalysis. Mechanism studies indicate that the reactions are enabled by borrowing hydrogen catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road transport is a scenario for the use of fossil fuels to a large extent, and the process of electrification can slow down this use of fossil fuels. This study analyzes the annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) and the feasibility of electrification in Beijing based on the on-board diagnostics (OBD) of remote monitoring data from more than 9000 HDDVs. The annual NOX and CO2 emissions of 13 industry types were 44,980.9 and 6,658,722.6 tons in 2022. The highest contributor to these NOX and CO2 emissions was concrete trucks, accounting for 27.1% and 17.0% of the 13 industry type vehicles. The electrification of concrete trucks can greatly reduce the diesel emissions in Pinggu and other districts and realize regional emission reduction management. The CO2 emission factor of passenger buses in the Pinggu district was significantly higher than that in other districts, which was 1212.4 g/km, and the electrification of passenger buses could significantly reduce the CO2 emissions in the Pinggu district. This study investigates HDDVs in Beijing, provides a scientific basis for the electrification management of key models in Beijing, and provides a regional reference for the electrification trend of HDDVs in various countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare vitreous angiomosaic images (VAMIs), obtained by widefield swept-source optical coherence tomographic angiography (wfSS-OCTA) and the image of fluorescein fundus angiography (FFA) in the identification of retinal neovascularization (NV) in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: In this prospective observational study, severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) or proliferative DR (PDR) patients were included. All patients underwent FFA and wfSS-OCTA. The number of NVs identified by wfSS-OCTA VAMIs using five fixations 12 × 12 mm montage scans and the resembling FFA images were compared. Results: Fifty-three eyes of 29 patients were enrolled. NVs were detected in 25 eyes by using FFA, including 9 NVs of the disc (NVDs) and 72 NVs elsewhere (NVEs), and in 29 eyes by OCTA, including 11 NVDs and 90 NVEs. The detection rate of NV and NVD of OCTA was comparable to that of FFA (p > 0.05), and the level of agreement was excellent (κ = 0.850, κ = 0.754). Using FFA as the gold standard, the sensitivity for detection of NV by OCTA was 100.0%, specificity was 85.7%, the positive-predictive value was 86.2%, and the negative-predictive value was 100.0%. Compared with FFA, OCTA was superior in terms of the number of NVEs identified (p = 0.024). When we excluded images of patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) intravitreal therapy for < 3 months, OCTA was comparable to FFA in terms of the number of NVEs discovered (p = 0.203), with excellent agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.941). Conclusions: WfSS-OCTA is an independent non-invasive alternative to FFA for NV discovery, NVD detection, and individual NVE identification, particularly in patients with PDR who have a history of prior treatment with anti-VEGF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercetin is an essential flavonoid mostly found in herbal plants, fruits, and vegetables, which exhibits anti‐hypertension properties. However, its pharmacological impact on angiotensin II (Ang II) induced the increase of blood pressure along with in‐depth mechanism needs further exploration. The present study pointed out the anti‐hypertensive role of quercetin and its comprehensive fundamental mechanisms. Our data showed that quercetin treatment substantially reduced the increase in blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, and aortic thickness of abdominal aorta in Ang II‐infused C57BL/6 mice. RNA sequencing revealed that quercetin treatment reversed 464 differentially expressed transcripts in the abdominal aorta of Ang II‐infused mice. Moreover, overlapping KEGG‐enriched signaling pathways identified multiple common pathways between the comparison of Ang II versus control and Ang II + quercetin versus Ang II. Likewise, these pathways included cell cycle as well as p53 pathways. Transcriptome was further validated by immunohistochemistry, indicating that quercetin treatment significantly decreased the Ang II‐induced expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin‐dependent kinase‐4 (CDK4), and cyclin D1, while increased protein expression of p53, and p21 in abdominal aortic tissues of mice. In vitro, quercetin treatment meaningfully decreased the cell viability, arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 phase, and up‐regulated the p53 and p21 proteins expression, as well as down‐regulated the protein expression of cell cycle‐related markers, for example, CDK4, cyclin D1 in Ang II stimulated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). This study addresses pharmacologic and mechanistic perspectives of quercetin against Ang‐II‐induced vascular injury and the increase of blood pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain is a promising technology for data integrity protection due to its non-tampering and traceability. Current works cannot well balance the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality for the large-scale log data protection. To address this issue, a log data security protection model based on smart contract, including micro log data protect environment (MiLDPE) and macro log data protect environment (MaLDPE), is proposed. MiLDPE is the blockchain node associated with the hardware level trusted computing SGX technology to guarantee that the log data can only be audited on the node that generated it. MaLDPE is a cluster of MiLDPE nodes where the log data access is controlled by a group of smart contracts and the log data integrity and confidentiality is ensured by a random node selection algorithm. Finally, the performance of proposed model is demonstrated and verified through numerical experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a cytoplasmic multiprotein complex composed of the innate immune receptor protein NLRP3, the adapter protein apoptosis-associate speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), and the inflammatory protease cysteine-1. Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or other endogenous danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. As part of the innate immune response, activated NLRP3 promotes GSDMD-dependent pyroptosis, and IL-1β and IL-18 are released during inflammation. Aberrantly activated NLRP3 is deeply involved in various inflammatory diseases. Due to its interaction with adaptive immunity. NLRP3 inflammation has increasingly received attention in autoimmune diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a classic autoimmune disease, which mainly causes bone and cartilage damage. Elevated levels of NLRP3 can be detected in the synovium of RA patients. NLRP3 overactivation is strongly associated with RA activity. Mouse models of spontaneous arthritis has shown that NLRP3/IL-1β axis is implicated in periarticular inflammation in RA. In this review, we describe the current understanding of NLRP3 activation in RA pathogenesis and dissect its impact on innate and adaptive immunity. We also discuss the potential application of specific inhibitors of NLRP3 to provide new therapeutic strategies for treating RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D curved shape display with non‐zero Gaussian curvature can only be adapted by a stretchable display panel. Other displays are almost impossible to achieve, even if they are flexible. In this work, we designed a stretchable stacking structure and a 3D deformation process to realize the dome‐shape samples, with reference to the commercial 3D‐shape displays. And a blue‐light 3D scanning method was applied to measure the length change and area change of the dome‐shape samples. The measurement method covered in this paper can be a promising candidate for a standard method of measuring 3D deformation of stretchable displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochromic supercapacitors (ECSCs) have recently received growing attention for potential smart energy storage components in intelligent electronics. However, in the development of ECSCs, the design and assembly of high-performance electrode materials remain ongoing challenges. In this study, Ti3C2Tx MXene and polyoxotungstate (P2W18) were deposited on TiO2 nanowires to construct a unique three-dimensional (3D) porous hybrid film, NW@MXene/P2W18, via a convenient layer-by-layer self-assembly approach. The 3D porous structure of the nanocomposite reduced the aggregation and stacking of Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets during self-assembly, leading to the formation of unobstructed ion diffusion channels and interfacial charge transfer between adjacent layers, resulting in a good electrochemical performance. Compared to the tightly packed structure, the porous hybrid film demonstrated an enhanced electrochromic energy storage performance with a higher areal capacitance (i.e., 19.0 mF cm−2 at a current density of 0.6 mA cm−2), in addition to a high cycling stability (i.e., 90.7% retention rate after 2000 cycles), and an excellent color rendering efficiency. Subsequently, an asymmetric ECSC was fabricated using an NW@MXene/P2W18 film as the cathode and a TiO2 nanowire film as the anode. This ECSC exhibited a high areal capacitance of 4.0 mF cm−2 at a current density of 0.1 mA cm−2 with a wide operating window of 4.5 V, whilst also achieving high-speed color switching between olive green and dark blue during the charge/discharge processes, ultimately offering new avenues for the development of electrochromic energy storage electrode materials and the design of novel devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new inorganic–organic hybrid compounds, [Co2(HDIBA)2(DIBA)2(H2O)4]·HPW12O40·2H2O (1), [Ni2(HDIBA)2(DIBA)2(H2O)4]·HPW12O40 (2), [Ag(H2DIBA)2·PW12O40]·2H2O (3), [Ag(H2DIBA)2·PMo12O40]·2H2O (4) and [Ag(H2DIBA)2·HSiMo12O40]·2H2O (5) (HDIBA = 3,5-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)benzoic acid), based on Keggin-type polyoxometalates (POMs) have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method. Their structures were characterized through single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The discrete units of 1 are further extended into a 3D supramolecular structure by π–π stacking and hydrogen bonding interactions. In compound 2, wavy ladderlike bimetallic chains are linked by hydrogen bonding interactions to form a 3D supramolecular structure, with POMs filling in the cages. In compounds 3–5, POMs act as bidentate inorganic bridging ligands to link [Ag(H2DIBA)2]3+ into 1D chains. Their cyclic voltammetric behaviors and electrocatalytic properties were studied. Notably, compound 4 exhibits amperometric sensing performance toward BrO3−. The organic dye pollutant removal behaviors of 1–5 were explored. In addition, the antibacterial/antifungal activities and photoluminescence properties of 3–5 were also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the emotional labor of service employees affects customer service misbehavior and repurchase intention and to explore the mechanism and boundary conditions. Methods: We collected a total of 252 pairs of employee–customer valid matching data and used SPSS 24.0 and Mplus7.0 statistical analysis tools to perform statistical analysis and hypothesis testing. Results: The results showed that employees' surface acting has a significant positive impact on customer misbehavior and negative impact on repurchase intention via perceived face threat, while deep acting has a significant negative impact on customer misbehavior and positive impact on repurchase intention via perceived face threat. And customer face threat sensitivity not only moderates the relationship between service employee emotional labor and customer perceived face threat but also moderates the indirect effect of surface acting on customer misbehavior and repurchase intention via customer perceived face threat. Conclusion: Based on face theory, this study explained how and when emotional labor of service employees may affect customer service misbehavior and repurchase intention. These results contribute to the emotional labor and customer service misbehavior literature by introducing perceived face threat as an underlying mechanism and face threat sensitivity as a boundary condition. In addition, this study suggests that service-oriented enterprises should pay attention to the management and guidance of employees' emotional labor and try their best to let employees show deep acting rather than surface acting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the community structure dynamics of fish eggs and larvae in the Yellow River estuary, four trawl surveys were annually conducted between 2011 and 2014, including at 13 stations in 2011 and 18 stations between 2012 and 2014. A total of 2540 eggs and 143 larvae were collected during the four surveys, comprising 25 species, 8 orders, 16 families, and 20 genera. During the survey period, species numbers of eggs first decreased and then increased, while abundances first increased and then decreased. Larval species numbers exhibited the same trends as for eggs, while larval abundances fluctuated across the four years of the study. The primary species represented by the eggs were Konosirus punctatus, Sillago sihama, and Cynoglossus joyeri, while the larval species primarily comprised Amblychaeturichthys hexanema, Chaeturichthys stigmatias, and Engraulis japonicus. Cluster analysis of species compositions for eggs and larvae revealed the presence of four groups, wherein groups 1–3 comprised communities from 12, 3, and 2 stations, respectively, that were primarily distributed in the eastern part of the estuary. In contrast, group four only comprised communities from one station at the western part of the estuary near Bohai Bay. All biodiversity indices were lowest in 2012 and biodiversity of fish egg and larval communities were most correlated with the water depth among the parameters that were measured. Overall, interannual variation in the distribution and diversity of fish egg and larval communities in the Yellow River estuary reflected the responses of fish to environmental variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key challenge in the practical application of electrochromic energy storage devices (EESDs) is the fabrication of high-performance electrode materials. Herein, we deposited K7[La(H2O)x(α2-P2W17O61)] (P2W17La) onto TiO2 nanowires (NW) to construct an NW–P2W17La nanocomposite using a layer-by-layer self-assembly method. In contrast to the pure P2W17La films, the nanocomposite exhibits enhanced electrochromic and electrochemical performance owing to the 3D sea-cucumber-like microstructure. An EESD using the NW–P2W17La film as the cathode exhibited outstanding electrochromic and energy storage properties, with high optical modulation (48.6% at 605 nm), high switching speeds (tcoloring = 15 s, tbleaching = 4 s), and high area capacitance (5.72 mF cm−2 at 0.15 mA cm−2). The device can reversibly switch between transparent and dark blue during the charge/discharge process, indicating that electrochromic contrast can be used as a quantitative indicator of the energy storage status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an adaptive sliding mode control based on an auxiliary distance sensor for nonlinear platoons over vehicular ad‐hoc networks under Denial‐of‐Services (DoS) attacks and external disturbances. DoS attacks can cause packet dropping for the wireless network and will lead to the collision or degradation to adaptive cruise control of platoons. To solve this problem, an adaptive Radial Basis Function (RBF) sliding mode control method is proposed for the attacked platoons. RBF neural networks are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear part and external disturbances contained in the vehicle models. Then the adaptive sliding mode controllers are designed to achieve the control goals: the spacing error converges to zero, and the platoon maintains the string stability. The system's internal stability and string stability are proved. Numerical examples are applied to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with the existing method, the spacing error is decreased from 5.0726, 6.4637 to 0.0264 for secure distributed adaptive platooning control in PF topology and LPF topology, and the average distance is increased from 7.0580 m, 5.7442 m to 11.8498 m for secure distributed adaptive platooning control in PF topology and LPF topology to maintain a safe distance under the situation of DoS attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochromic supercapacitors have received extensive attention owing to their ability to combine electrochromism and energy storage properties. In this paper, a bifunctional electrode material based on Preyssler‐type tungstophosphate (P5W30), polyelectrolyte poly(allylamine hydrochloride) chain (PAH) modified by the iron complex (Fe(phen)3) was synthesized by Layer‐by‐Layer method (LbL). Compared with the film without PAH, the composite film displays large optical contrast (35.17 %), fast response time (2.49/0.90 s for coloring/bleaching), great coloration efficiency (94.73 cm2 ⋅ C−1) and high specific capacitance (10.45 mF cm−2). Moreover, the good cycling stability (83.66 % retention of the original optical modulation after 1500 cycles, capacity retention rate is 91.46 % after 500 cycles) is achieved. In addition, the composite film is also able to visually detect the energy storage level through reversible and rapid color changes, and further use it to assemble device. This work provides an promising candidate for electrochromic and energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]