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Abstract Background miR-223-3p has been demonstrated as a Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization-related miRNA in bronchiectasis (BE), but its clinical value in BE has not been revealed, which is of great significance for the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of BE. This study aimed to identify a reliable biomarker for screening BE and predicting patients’ outcomes. Methods The serum expression of miR-223-3p was compared between healthy individuals (n = 101) and BE patients (n = 133) and evaluated its potential in distinguishing BE patients. The severity of BE patients was estimated by BSI and FACED score, and the correlation of miR-223-3p with inflammation and severity of BE patients was evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis. BE patients were followed up for 3 years, and the predictive value of miR-223-3p in prognosis was assessed by logistic regression analysis. Results Significant upregulation of miR-223-3p was observed in BE patients, which significantly distinguished BE patients and showed positive correlations with C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) of BE patients. Additionally, miR-223-3p was also positively correlated with BSI and FACED scores, indicating its correlation with inflammation and severity of BE. BE patients with adverse prognoses showed a higher serum miR-223-3p level, which was identified as an adverse prognostic factor and discriminated patients with different prognoses. Conclusion Increasing serum miR-223-3p can be considered a biomarker for the onset, severity, and prognosis of BE.

The development of high-tech firms is a vital driver for the economic growth of a city but their distribution and location determinants at the intra-urban level are still unclear. We aim to deepen the understanding of location determinants of high-tech firms, so we construct an analytical framework and use GeoDetector to investigate high-tech firms in Shenzhen based on firms and POI open data in 2023. We find that high-tech firms are distributed in a spatial pattern of ‘one core and six clusters’ with high density in the western area despite industrial heterogeneity. Agglomeration economies and amenity-based factors play a significant role in the distribution of high-tech firms. Institutional factors and classical locational factors have more significant effects on the location of high-tech service and manufacturing firms, respectively. This study contributes to the literature on study spatial units, the influence of amenities, and industrial specificities. These findings highlight public policies on industrial park planning, transportation systems, and public services.

This paper develops a self-biased magnetoelectric (ME) heterostructure FeCuNbSiB/Ni-PZTFeCuNbSiB/ Ni (FN-P-FN) by bonding magnetization-graded FeCuNbSiB/Ni layers at the free ends of piezoelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) plate. By using the magnetization-graded magnetostrictive layer and end-bonding heterostructure, giant self-biased ME responses and obvious hysteresis are observed in FN-P-FN heterostructure. The experimental results show that the zero-biased ME voltage coefficient of FN-P-FN heterostructure reaches ~183.2 (V/cm Oe), which is ~2.1, ~4.5, and ~41.6 times higher than that of FeCuNbSiB/Ni/PZT, Ni-PZT-Ni, and FeCuNbSiB-PZTFeCuNbSiB composites, respectively. The results indicate that the proposed three-phase end-bonding heterostructure shows promising applications for high-sensitivity self-biased magnetic field sensors and ME transducers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an optimized end-bonding magnetoelectric (ME) heterostructure FeCuNbSiB-PZT-FeCuNbSiB (FPF) for sensitive magnetic field sensor. The heterostructure is made by attaching magnetostrictive Fe73.5Cu1Nb3Si13.5B9 (FeCuNbSiB) foils at the free ends of piezoelectric Pb(Zr1-x,Tix)O3 (PZT) plates. Due to the structural advantages, the FPF has ~3.12 times larger resonance voltage coefficient (αME,r) than traditional FeCuNbSiB/PZT laminate. And compared with the Metglas-PZT-Metglas heterostructure, the FPF heterostructure has stronger ME responses for the excellent magnetic characteristics of FeCuNbSiB. In experiments, the FPF heterostructure is optimal designed through adjusting the thickness of PZT plate (tp) and the length of FeCuNbSiB foil (L). The results demonstrate that the maximum αME,r of 662.1 (V/cm Oe) is observed at 13 Oe DC bias magnetic field when L = 15 mm and tp = 0.6 mm. Based on the giant ME coupling, the DC magnetic field sensitivity for the optimized FPF heterostructure is 3.89 nT at resonant frequency. These results are very promising for the cheap room-temperature magnetic field sensing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]