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Abstract Background This study aimed to construct a novel nomogram based on the number of positive lymph nodes to predict the overall survival of patients with pancreatic head cancer after radical surgery. Materials and methods 2271 and 973 patients in the SEER Database were included in the development set and validation set, respectively. The primary clinical endpoint was OS (overall survival). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to screen independent risk factors of OS, and then independent risk factors were used to construct a novel nomogram. The C-index, calibration curves, and decision analysis curves were used to evaluate the predictive power of the nomogram in the development and validation sets. Results After multivariate Cox regression analysis, the independent risk factors for OS included age, tumor extent, chemotherapy, tumor size, LN (lymph nodes) examined, and LN positive. A nomogram was constructed by using independent risk factors for OS. The C-index of the nomogram for OS was 0.652 [(95% confidence interval (CI): 0.639–0.666)] and 0.661 (95%CI: 0.641–0.680) in the development and validation sets, respectively. The calibration curves and decision analysis curves proved that the nomogram had good predictive ability. Conclusions The nomogram based on the number of positive LN can effectively predict the overall survival of patients with pancreatic head cancer after surgery.

BackgroundSolid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas (SPN) is a rare and low-grade malignant tumor. It mainly occurs in women of reproductive age, accounting for approximately 1-3% of all pancreatic tumors. SPN has a low incidence rate and is difficult to diagnose before surgery. Some cases may show local infiltration, but distant metastasis rarely occurs. Currently, there is no standardized treatment protocol for SPN.Patient and methodsWe have collected clinical data from 5 patients with solid pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN) of the pancreas who presented with distant metastasis at our hospital. This study retrospectively analyzes their clinical manifestations, imaging characteristics, pathological findings, and treatment outcomes. The aim is to summarize the clinical features of SPN with distant metastasis, thereby improving the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis prediction of this disease. This study also reviews relevant literature.ResultsThe median age of the 5 patients was 32 years old, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:4. All patients underwent enhanced CT scans and were diagnosed with SPN through biopsy or surgical pathology. All 5 patients had liver metastases, and one patient had clavicular lymph node metastasis. Another patient had both lung and clavicular lymph node metastases. Three patients underwent curative surgery, one patient received chemotherapy combined with targeted immunotherapy and subsequently underwent TACE(Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization) and HAIC (Hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy) treatments due to progression. One patient received internal radiation therapy but experienced multiple relapses and eventually died due to complications. The follow-up period ranged from 7 to 53 months, with 2 patients succumbing to the disease.ConclusionAs a low-grade tumor, SPN has a low rate of distant metastasis, typically occurring in only 5%-15% of cases. These metastases often lack characteristic clinical symptoms. Diagnosis can only be confirmed after exclusion of other lesions through imaging and pathological examination. The primary treatment for metastatic SPN is curative surgery, which can lead to a favorable prognosis.

Abstract Extensive investigations on the moiré magic angle in twisted bilayer graphene have unlocked the emerging field—twistronics. Recently, its optics analogue, namely opto-twistronics, further expands the potential universal applicability of twistronics. However, since heat diffusion neither possesses the dispersion like photons nor carries the band structure as electrons, the real magic angle in electrons or photons is ill-defined for heat diffusion, making it elusive to understand or design any thermal analogue of magic angle. Here, we introduce and experimentally validate the twisted thermotics in a twisted diffusion system by judiciously tailoring thermal coupling, in which twisting an analog thermal magic angle would result in the function switching from cloaking to concentration. Our work provides insights for the tunable heat diffusion control, and opens up an unexpected branch for twistronics -- twisted thermotics, paving the way towards field manipulation in twisted configurations including but not limited to fluids.

Abstract Background The purpose of this propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was to compare the effects of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and non-TACE on the long-term survival of patients who undergo radical hepatectomy. Methods PSM analysis was performed for 387 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (single > 3 cm or multiple) who underwent radical resection of HCC at our centre from January 2011 to June 2018. The patients were allocated to a preoperative TACE group (n = 77) and a non-TACE group (n = 310). The main outcome measures were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) since the treatment date. Results After PSM, 67 patients were included in each of the TACE and non-TACE groups. The median PFS times in the preoperative TACE and non-TACE groups were 24.0 and 11.3 months, respectively (p = 0.0117). The median OS times in the preoperative TACE and non-TACE groups were 41.5 and 29.0 months, respectively (p = 0.0114). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that preoperative TACE (hazard ratio, 1.733; 95% CI, 1.168–2.570) and tumour thrombosis (hazard ratio, 0.323; 95% CI, 0.141–0.742) were independent risk factors significantly associated with OS. Conclusions Preoperative TACE is related to improving PFS and OS after resection of HCC. Preoperative TACE and tumour thrombus volume were also found to be independent risk factors associated with OS.

One-time application of blended controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer (CRN) has the potential to solve the difficulty of top-dressing fertilizer in the cultivation of rice and reduce the cost of CRN fertilizer application. However, its effects on rice dry matter and nitrogen (N) accumulation and translocation, yield and N-use efficiency (NUE) remain uncertain. Field experiments were carried out at three sites (Mingguang, Chaohu, and Guichi) in the Yangtze River Delta in China to compare the effects of the conventional split applications of urea and the blended CRN and on post-anthesis dry matter and N accumulation and translocation, yield, and NUE in rice at 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 kg N ha-1. The results showed that at the equal N application rates, compared under the conventional N fertilizer treatment, the blended CRN application significantly increased the rice yield by an average of 0.9-6.9%, mainly due to increase the number of spikelets per panicle. The highest yield achieved with blended CRN treatment occurred at 200 kg N ha-1, with an NUE of 45.9%. Moreover, in comparison to the conventional N fertilizer, the blended CRN treatment increased pre-anthesis N translocation (Pre-NT) by 1.0-19.8%, and the contribution of pre-NT to grain N by 0.2-8.7%, and NUE by 3.2-28.4%. Meanwhile, the blended CRN treatment reduced labor costs by 1800 Yuan ha-1 and enhanced the economic gains by 21.5-68.8%. Therefore, one-time application of blended CRN ≤ 200 kg N ha-1 application rate improved rice yield, NUE, and economic profit compared to equivalent rates of split applied conventional N fertilizers.

Abstract Wavelength-selective thermal emitters (WS-TEs) have been frequently designed to achieve desired target emissivity spectra, as a typical emissivity engineering, for broad applications such as thermal camouflage, radiative cooling, and gas sensing, etc. However, previous designs require prior knowledge of materials or structures for different applications and the designed WS-TEs usually vary from applications to applications in terms of materials and structures, thus lacking of a general design framework for emissivity engineering across different applications. Moreover, previous designs fail to tackle the simultaneous design of both materials and structures, as they either fix materials to design structures or fix structures to select suitable materials. Herein, we employ the deep Q-learning network algorithm, a reinforcement learning method based on deep learning framework, to design multilayer WS-TEs. To demonstrate the general validity, three WS-TEs are designed for various applications, including thermal camouflage, radiative cooling and gas sensing, which are then fabricated and measured. The merits of the deep Q-learning algorithm include that it can (1) offer a general design framework for WS-TEs beyond one-dimensional multilayer structures; (2) autonomously select suitable materials from a self-built material library and (3) autonomously optimize structural parameters for the target emissivity spectra. The present framework is demonstrated to be feasible and efficient in designing WS-TEs across different applications, and the design parameters are highly scalable in materials, structures, dimensions, and the target functions, offering a general framework for emissivity engineering and paving the way for efficient design of nonlinear optimization problems beyond thermal metamaterials.

Abstract Amphiphilic polymers (HA-ANI) were prepared by grafting hyaluronic acid (HA) and 6-(2-nitroimidazole)hexylamine (ANI) and then self-assemble in water to form nanoparticles (NPs) that could be loaded with paclitaxel (PTX) and gemcitabine (GEM) by dialysis. Infrared spectroscopy and 1H-NMR indicated the successful synthesis of HA-ANI. Three different ratios of NPs were prepared by adjusting the ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials, and the particle size decreased as the ratio of hydrophilic materials increased. When HA:ANI = 2.0:1, the nanoparticles had the smallest size distribution, good stability and near spherical shape and had high drug loading and encapsulation rates. In vitro release experiments revealed that NADPH could accelerate the drug release from NPs. Cellular uptake rate reached 86.50% at 6 h. The toxic effect of dual drug-loaded nanoparticles (P/G NPs) on MDA-MB-231 cells at 48 h was stronger than that of the free drug. The AO/EB double-staining assay revealed that a large number of late apoptotic cells appeared in the P/G NPs group, and the degree of cell damage was significantly stronger than that of the free drug group. In the cell migration assay, the 24 h-cell migration rate of the P/G NPs group was 5.99%, which was much lower than that of the free group (13.87% and 17.00%). In conclusion, MDA-MB-231 cells could effectively take up P/G NPs, while the introduction of the nano-codelivery system could significantly enhance the toxicity of the drug to MDA-MB-231 cells as well as the migration inhibition effect.

Abstract Multispectral camouflage technologies, especially in the most frequently-used visible and infrared (VIS-IR) bands, are in increasing demand for the ever-growing multispectral detection technologies. Nevertheless, the efficient design of proper materials and structures for VIS-IR camouflage is still challenging because of the stringent requirement for selective spectra in a large VIS-IR wavelength range and the increasing demand for flexible color and infrared signal adaptivity. Here, a material-informatics-based inverse design framework is proposed to efficiently design multilayer germanium (Ge) and zinc sulfide (ZnS) metamaterials by evaluating only ~1% of the total candidates. The designed metamaterials exhibit excellent color matching and infrared camouflage performance from different observation angles and temperatures through both simulations and infrared experiments. The present material informatics inverse design framework is highly efficient and can be applied to other multi-objective optimization problems beyond multispectral camouflage.

Ratoon rice cultivation has expanded to improve resource use efficiency, increase economic profits, and ensure food security in China in recent years. This article reviewed the development history and research progress of ratoon rice in Anhui Province, located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Key cultivation technologies related to rice variety selection, planting patterns, fertilizer and water management strategies, as well as harvesting methods and stubble heights of the main crop for high-yielding ratoon rice were summarized. Particularly, we described three types of rice ratooning technologies in Anhui, including the technologies for medium-duration indica hybrid variety with the main crop harvested mechanically at high stubble height, for indica-japonica hybrid variety with the main crop harvested mechanically at medium stubble height, and for short-duration indica variety with the main crop harvested mechanically at low stubble height. Additionally, this review analyzed several challenges for the sustainable development of ratoon rice in Anhui, such as poor understanding of mechanisms underlying simultaneous improvement of high yield and high quality, the lack of rice varieties with strong ratooning ability, the yield loss from mechanical harvesting of the main crop, the unstable grain yield due to adverse weather, and the insufficient financial support for R&D. Finally, the prospects for further development of ratoon rice were proposed, including technology development and dissemination, farmers' training, and profit-boosting from premium products.

Filler-reinforced polymer composites demonstrate pervasive applications due to their strengthened performances, multi-degree tunability, and ease of manufacturing. In thermal management field, polymer composites reinforced with thermally conductive fillers are widely adopted as thermal interface materials (TIMs). However, the three dimensional (3D)-stacked heterogenous integration of electronic devices has posed the problem that high-density heat sources are spatially distributed in the package. This situation puts forward new requirements for TIMs, where efficient heat dissipation channels must be established according to the specific distribution of discrete heat sources. To address this challenge, a 3D printing-assisted streamline orientation (3D-PSO) method was proposed to fabricate composite thermal materials with 3D programmable microstructures and orientations of fillers, which combines the shape-design capability of 3D printing and oriented control ability of fluid. The mechanism of fluid-based filler orientation control along streamlines was revealed by mechanical analysis of fillers in matrix. Thanks to the designed heat dissipation channels, composites showed better thermal and mechanical properties in comparison to random composites. Specifically, the thermal conductivity of 3D mesh-shape polydimethylsiloxane/liquid metal (PDMS/LM) composite was 5.8 times that of random PDMS/LM composite under filler loading of 34.8 vol%. The thermal conductivity enhancement efficiency of 3D mesh-shape PDMS/carbon fibers composite reached 101.05% under filler loading of 5.2 vol%. In the heat dissipation application of 3D-stacked chips, the highest chip temperature with 3D-PSO composite was 42.14 °C lower than that with random composites. This is mainly attributed to the locally aggregated and oriented fillers’ microstructure in fluid channels, which contributes to thermal percolation phenomena. The 3D-PSO method exhibits excellent programmable design capabilities to adopt versatile distributions of heat sources, paving a new way to solve the complicated heat dissipation issue in 3D-stacked chips integration application.

Abstract It is widely adopted in thermal metamaterials that mixing different materials could conveniently result in effective thermal conductivities (ETCs) beyond naturally-occurring materials. When multiple materials are isotropically mixed, the ETC is a direct average governed by their filling fractions and given bulk conductivities. That could lead to an inhomogeneous and anisotropic value within the maximal and minimal thermal conductivities of constituent materials. Usually thermal metadevices rely on anisotropic thermal conductivity tensor, whose tensorial elements are frequently inter-dependent and confined within a limited parametric space. It is thus nontrivial to establish a design recipe for advanced thermal metamaterials whose ETCs could cover full-parameter anisotropic space. We demonstrate topological functional cells (TFCs) with copper and polydimethylsiloxane, and show that the anisotropic ETCs traverse their full-parameter space. Such robust scheme based on topology-optimized TFCs unlocks unexplored opportunities for functional thermal metadevices whose parameters may not be reached in previous mixing approaches. This study also sheds light on the developments in emerging acoustic, mechanical and electromagnetic composite materials.

Thermal metamaterials can be used to manipulate heat flow but experimental fabrication is challenging. Here, the authors report robustly printable freeform thermal metamaterials to tackle this challenge by topology optimization and 3D printing.

The dynamic evolution of particle size distributions (PSDs) during coagulation is of great importance in many atmospheric and engineering applications. To date, various numerical methods have been developed for solving the general dynamic equation under different scenarios. In this study, a radial basis function (RBF) method was proposed to solve particle coagulation evolution. This method uses a Gaussian function as the basis function to approximate the size distribution function. The original governing equation was then converted to ordinary differential equations (ODEs), along with numerical quadratures. The RBF method was compared with the analytical solutions and sectional method to validate its accuracy. The comparison results showed that the RBF method provided almost accurate predictions of the PSDs for different coagulation kernels. This method was also verified to be reliable in predicting the self-preserving distributions reached over long periods and for describing the temporal evolution of moments. For multimodal coagulation, the RBF method also accurately predicted the temporal evolution of a bimodal distribution owing to scavenging effects. Moreover, the computational times of the RBF method for these cases were usually of the order of seconds. Thus, the RBF method is verified as a reliable and efficient tool for predicting PSD evolution during coagulation.

Thermal conductivity of material is one of the basic physical properties and plays an important role in manipulating thermal energy. In order to accelerate the prediction of material structure with desired thermal property, machine learning algorithm has been widely adopted. However, in the optimization of multivariable material structure such as different lengths or proportions, the machine learning algorithm may be required to be reconducted again and again for each variable, which will consume a lot of computing resources. Recently, it has been found that the thermal conductivity of aperiodic superlattices is closely related to the degree of the structural randomness, which can also be reflected in their local pattern structures. Inspired by these, we propose a new pattern analysis method, in which machine learning only needs to be carried out for one time, and through which the optimal structure of different variables with low thermal conductivity can be obtained. To verify the method, we compare the thermal conductivities of the structure obtained by pattern analysis, conventional machine learning, and previous literature, respectively. The pattern analysis method is validated to greatly reduce the prediction time of multivariable structure with high enough accuracy and may promote further development of material informatics.

Yield loss of ratoon crops caused by the rolling damage to the left stubble from mechanically harvesting main crops has been reported in previous studies. However, limited attention has been paid to identify the effect of the mechanical harvesting of the main crop on the yield of a non-rolled zone (NRZ) of a ratoon crop. A two-year field experiment on ratoon rice with two harvest methods (mechanical harvesting: MEH; manual harvesting: MAH) of a main crop was conducted to identify whether there is a border effect on the yield of the NRZ, and to evaluate whether the border effect will compensate for the yield loss of the ratoon crop. On average, MEH reduced the grain yield of the ratoon crop by 17.6% compared with MAH. The yield of the rolled zone (RZ) in MEH was 66.1–70.3% lower than that of MAH, which was attributed to the lower panicle m−2, grain filling percentage, total dry weight, and harvest index. In contrast, the yield of the NRZ in MEH was 2.7–10.8% higher than that of MAH. The yield differences of the non-rolled single row (R1), side row (R2), and middle row (R3) in the NRZ compared with MAH were 22.9%, 8.5%, and −10.1%, respectively, which were mainly explained by the panicle m−2, spikelets m−2, total dry weight, and regeneration rate. These results suggest that rolling during the mechanical harvesting of the main crop induced a border effect on the yield of the NRZ, which reduced the yield loss of the ratoon crop. The yield gain of the NRZ was attributed to the increased yield of R1 and R2 rather than R3.

When an object is illuminated, part of the incident light is absorbed by the object that does not contribute to the illumination. If the light source's spectrum can be optimized by decreasing the light energy along the absorbed wavelengths, substantial energy can be saved. In this study, a spectrum optimization method by means of a genetic algorithm to minimize the light energy along the absorbed wavelengths while maintaining the light quality of the light source was proposed. Under the constraint that the color differences of the object illuminated by the optimized illuminant and the reference illuminant do not exceed specified levels, maximum energy saving ratio (ESR) is achieved for various reference illuminants. It is found that through the proposed method effectively saving the energy, for a monochromatic object, the ESR can reach 49.5% with barely recognizable color difference, whereas for a polychromatic object, the ESR can reach 55.2% with an acceptable color difference for each patch of the object.

Our modern lives have been radically revolutionized by mechanical or electric machines that redefine and recreate the way we work, communicate, entertain, and travel. Whether being perceived or not, human-machine interfacing (HMI) technologies have been extensively employed in our daily lives, and only when the machines can sense the ambient through various signals, they can respond to human commands for finishing desired tasks. Metamaterials have offered a great platform to develop the sensing materials and devices from different disciplines with very high accuracy, thus enabling the great potential for HMI applications. For this regard, significant progresses have been achieved in the recent decade, but haven’t been reviewed systematically yet. In the Review, we introduce the working principle, state-of-the-art sensing metamaterials, and the corresponding enabled HMI applications. For practical HMI applications, four kinds of signals are usually used, i.e., light, heat, sound, and force, and therefore the progresses in these four aspects are discussed in particular. Finally, the future directions for the metamaterials-based HMI applications are outlined and discussed.

Lattice heat conduction can be modulated via nanostructure interfaces. Although advances have been made by viewing phonons as particles, the controllability should be enhanced by fully utilizing their wave nature. By considering phonons as coherent waves, herein we design an optimized aperiodic superlattice that minimizes the coherent phonon heat conduction by alternatingly coupling coherent phonon transport calculations and machine learning. The thermal conductivity of the fabricated aperiodic superlattice agrees well with the calculations over a temperature range of 77–300 K, indicating that complex aperiodic wave interference of coherent phonons can be controlled. The thermal conductivity of the aperiodic superlattice is significantly smaller than the conventional periodic superlattice due to enhanced phonon localization. The optimized aperiodic structure is formed by connecting weakly correlated local structures that introduce interference over broad phonon frequencies. Controlling coherent phonons by aperiodic interferences opens a new route for phonon engineering.

Directional heat transfer may be hard to realize due to the fact that heat transfer is diffusive. In this paper, we try to take one step forward based on the transformation thermodynamics. A special structure and meta-device is proposed to “reflect” the heat flow directionally–just like the mirror to the light beam, in which the heat flow just one-time changes the direction rather than gradually changing the directions in isotropic materials. The benefits of such thermal reflection meta-device are discussed by comparing the corresponding thermal resistance with the same structures of isotropic materials. The proposed meta-device is verified to possess the low thermal resistance and high heat transfer ability with least energy loss, and can be made by nature-existing isotropic materials with specific structures.

Abstract Single atomic catalysts have shown great potential in efficiently electro‐converting O2 to H2O2 with high selectivity. However, the impact of coordination environment and introduction of extra metallic aggregates on catalytic performance still remains unclear. Herein, first a series of carbon‐based catalysts with embedded coupling Ni single atomic sites and corresponding metallic nanoparticles at adjacent geometry is synthesized. Careful performance evaluation reveals NiSA/NiNP‐NSCNT catalyst with precisely controlled active centers of synergetic adjacent Ni‐N4S single sites and crystalline Ni nanoparticles exhibits a high H2O2 selectivity over 92.7% within a wide potential range (maximum selectivity can reach 98.4%). Theoretical studies uncover that spatially coupling single atomic NiN4S sites with metallic Ni aggregates in close proximity can optimize the adsorption behavior of key intermediates *OOH to achieve a nearly ideal binding strength, which thus affording a kinetically favorable pathway for H2O2 production. This strategy of manipulating the interaction between single atoms and metallic aggregates offers a promising direction to design new high‐performance catalysts for practical H2O2 electrosynthesis.

Abstract Background Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a highly heterogeneous and lethal hepatobiliary tumor with few therapeutic strategies. The metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells plays an essential role in the development of tumors, while the metabolic molecular classification of iCCA is largely unknown. Here, we performed an integrated multiomics analysis and metabolic classification to depict differences in metabolic characteristics of iCCA patients, hoping to provide a novel perspective to understand and treat iCCA. Methods We performed integrated multiomics analysis in 116 iCCA samples, including whole‐exome sequencing, bulk RNA‐sequencing and proteome analysis. Based on the non‐negative matrix factorization method and the protein abundance of metabolic genes in human genome‐scale metabolic models, the metabolic subtype of iCCA was determined. Survival and prognostic gene analyses were used to compare overall survival (OS) differences between metabolic subtypes. Cell proliferation analysis, 5‐ethynyl‐2'‐deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, colony formation assay, RNA‐sequencing and Western blotting were performed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of diacylglycerol kinase α (DGKA) in iCCA cells. Results Three metabolic subtypes (S1‐S3) with subtype‐specific biomarkers of iCCA were identified. These metabolic subtypes presented with distinct prognoses, metabolic features, immune microenvironments, and genetic alterations. The S2 subtype with the worst survival showed the activation of some special metabolic processes, immune‐suppressed microenvironment and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS)/AT‐rich interactive domain 1A (ARID1A) mutations. Among the S2 subtype‐specific upregulated proteins, DGKA was further identified as a potential drug target for iCCA, which promoted cell proliferation by enhancing phosphatidic acid (PA) metabolism and activating mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Conclusion Via multiomics analyses, we identified three metabolic subtypes of iCCA, revealing that the S2 subtype exhibited the poorest survival outcomes. We further identified DGKA as a potential target for the S2 subtype.

Begonia longlingensis Y.H.Tan & H.B.Ding, a new species of Begoniaceae from Southwest Yunnan, China, is described and illustrated. Morphologically, it is primarily similar to B. wenshanensis in same section but differs by its hairy inflorescences and ovary (vs. glabrous), five tepals of pistillate flower (vs. three tepals), bracteoles under the ovary (vs. without) and rhizomes well developed (vs. poorly developed). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to consider the impact of source-load uncertainty on traditional power system planning methods, a medium- and long-term optimization planning method based on source-load uncertainty modeling and time-series production simulation is proposed. First, a new energy output probability model is developed using non-parametric kernel density estimation, and the spatial correlation of the new energy output is described using pair-copula theory to model the uncertainty analysis of the new energy output. Secondly, a large number of source-load scenarios are generated using the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation method, and the optimal selection method for discrete state numbers is provided, and then the scenario reduction is carried out using the fast forward elimination technology. Finally, the typical time-series curves of the source-load uncertainty characteristics obtained are incorporated into the optimization planning method together with various flexible resources, such as the demand-side response and energy storage, and the rationality of the planning scheme is judged and optimized based on key indicators such as the cost, wind–light abandonment rate, and loss-of-load rate. Based on the above methods, this paper offers an example of the power supply planning scheme for a certain region in the next 30 years, providing effective guidance for the development of new energy in the region.

Poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is a biomedical plastic that can be used for orthopedic implants, but it offers poor antibacterial properties and bioactivity. In this study, PEEK was sulfonated with the obtained porous structure adsorbing graphene oxide (GO). The surface microstructures and properties of the original PEEK, sulfonated PEEK (SPEEK), and GO-grafted PEEK (GO-SPEEK) were characterized. The results revealed that the GO-SPEEK surface is a 3D porous structure exhibiting superior hydrophilicity to the original PEEK. Although SPEEK was shown to possess antimicrobial properties against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the bactericidal effect was even more significant for GO-SPEEK, at about 86% and 94%, respectively. In addition, the in vitro simulated-body-fluid immersion and cell experiments indicated that GO-SPEEK had much better hydroxyapatite (HA)-precipitation induction capacity and cell–material interactions (e.g., cell adhesion, proliferation, osteodifferentiation, and extracellular matrix mineralization. The tensile test revealed that the mechanical properties of PEEK were maintained after surface modification, as GO-SPEEK has comparable values of elastic modulus and tensile strength to PEEK. Our investigation sought a method to simultaneously endow PEEK with both good antimicrobial properties and bioactivity as well as mechanical properties, providing a theoretical basis for developing high-performance orthopedic implants in the clinic.

Abstract Primary liver cancer (PLC) poses a leading threat to human health, and its treatment options are limited. Meanwhile, the investigation of homogeneity and heterogeneity among PLCs remains challenging. Here, using single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomic and bulk multi-omics, we elaborated a molecular architecture of 3 PLC types, namely hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHC). Taking a high-resolution perspective, our observations revealed that CHC cells exhibit internally discordant phenotypes, whereas ICC and HCC exhibit distinct tumor-specific features. Specifically, ICC was found to be the primary source of cancer-associated fibroblasts, while HCC exhibited disrupted metabolism and greater individual heterogeneity of T cells. We further revealed a diversity of intermediate-state cells residing in the tumor-peritumor junctional zone, including a congregation of CPE+ intermediate-state endothelial cells (ECs), which harbored the molecular characteristics of tumor-associated ECs and normal ECs. This architecture offers insights into molecular characteristics of PLC microenvironment, and hints that the tumor-peritumor junctional zone could serve as a targeted region for precise therapeutical strategies.

In this study, we developed a first-principle-based full-dispersion Monte Carlo simulation method to study the anisotropic phonon transport in wurtzite GaN thin film. The input data of thermal properties in MC simulations were calculated based on the first-principle method. The anisotropy of thermal conductivity in bulk wurtzite GaN is found to be strengthened by isotopic scatterings and reduced temperature, and the anisotropy reaches 40.08% for natural bulk GaN at 100 K. With the GaN thin film thickness decreasing, the anisotropy of the out-of-plane thermal conductivity is heavily reduced due to both the ballistic transport and the less importance of the low-frequency phonons with anisotropic group velocities. On the contrary, it is observed that the in-plane thermal conductivity anisotropy of the GaN thin film is strengthened by reducing the film thickness. And the anisotropy reaches 35.63% when the natural GaN thin film thickness reduces to 50 nm at 300K with the degree of specularity being zero. The anisotropy is also improved by increasing the surface roughness of the GaN thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise measurement of temperature information is of great importance in the thermal management of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Hitherto, many methods have been proposed to measure the LED temperature, but none of them involve with magnetics. Herein, we developed a noninvasive and precise method to probe the LED temperatures based on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Detailed measurement principle and experimental setup were introduced. Through this setup, the heating and cooling characteristics of LEDs were investigated with different voltage inputs. It is found that higher voltage input leads to higher LED temperature. When the input voltage is 5.2 V, the LED temperature is 326.8 K. The present noninvasive and precise method supplements the existing techniques of temperature measurement in terms of magnetics and opens up new avenues to measure the temperature information where conventional approaches may fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an immunotherapy-resistant malignancy characterized by high cellular heterogeneity. The diversity of cell types and the interplay between tumor and non-tumor cells remain to be clarified. Single cell RNA sequencing of human and mouse HCC tumors revealed heterogeneity of cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF). Cross-species analysis determined the prominent CD36+ CAFs exhibited high-level lipid metabolism and expression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). Lineage-tracing assays showed CD36+CAFs were derived from hepatic stellate cells. Furthermore, CD36 mediated oxidized LDL uptake-dependent MIF expression via lipid peroxidation/p38/CEBPs axis in CD36+ CAFs, which recruited CD33+myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in MIF- and CD74-dependent manner. Co-implantation of CD36+ CAFs with HCC cells promotes HCC progression in vivo. Finally, CD36 inhibitor synergizes with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy by restoring antitumor T-cell responses in HCC. Our work underscores the importance of elucidating the function of specific CAF subset in understanding the interplay between the tumor microenvironment and immune system.

Abstract Background Sirtuins (SIRTs) have key roles in cancer progression. However, the prognostic implications of SIRTs in breast cancer (BC) remains a subject of debate and controversy. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to identify the precise prognostic value of SIRTs in BC patients. Methods Systematic literature searching was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase databases. The pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the association of SIRTs expression and survival outcomes in BC patients. Results A total of 22 original studies with 6317 patients were eligible for this meta-analysis. The results showed that in patients with BC, elevated SIRTs levels were associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) both in univariate (HR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.21–2.00; HR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.32–2.12, respectively) and multivariate analysis models (HR = 2.11, 95% CI 1.48–3.00; HR = 1.70, 95% CI 1.20–2.39, respectively). Notably, further subgroup analysis revealed that overexpression of SIRT1 and SIRT6 predicted poor OS (HR = 2.65, 95% CI 1.54–4.56; HR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.64–3.90, respectively) and DFS (HR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.07–2.56; HR = 2.74; 95% CI 1.88–4.01, respectively) in BC. Conclusions Our data has elucidated that SIRT1 and SIRT6 could serve as prognostic biomarkers for patients with BC and may contribute to refined patient management.

IntroductionReceptor-like cytoplastic kinases (RLCKs) are known in many plants to be involved in various processes of plant growth and development and regulate plant immunity to pathogen infection. Environmental stimuli such as pathogen infection and drought restrict the crop yield and interfere with plant growth. However, the function of RLCKs in sugarcane remains unclear.Methods and resultsIn this study, a member of the RLCK VII subfamily, ScRIPK, was identified in sugarcane based on sequence similarity to the rice and Arabidopsis RLCKs. ScRIPK was localized to the plasma membrane, as predicted, and the expression of ScRIPK was responsive to polyethylene glycol treatment and Fusarium sacchari infection. Overexpression of ScRIPK in Arabidopsis enhanced drought tolerance and disease susceptibility of seedlings. Moreover, the crystal structure of the ScRIPK kinase domain (ScRIPK KD) and the mutant proteins (ScRIPK-KD K124R and ScRIPK-KD S253A|T254A) were characterized in order to determine the activation mechanism. We also identified ScRIN4 as the interacting protein of ScRIPK.DiscussionOur work identified a RLCK in sugarcane, providing a potential target for sugarcane responses to disease infection and drought, and a structural basis for kinase activation mechanisms.

Abstract Background The Debriefing Experience Scale (DES) is a tool that is used to explore nursing students’ subjective experiences during a debriefing and to help determine best debriefing practices. A Chinese version of the scale has not been found; its development can enhance learning in simulation activites in Chinese healthcare education programs. Methods A simplified Chinese version of the DES was developed and tested using 34 Chinese undergraduate (second year) nursing students. They participated in six simulation scenarios and debriefings. Eight experts were consulted to determine the content validity of the scale. Critical ratio method, Cronbach’s alpha, intraclass correlation coefficient, correlation coefficient and factor analysis were used in testing the psychometric properties of the scale. Results Analysis of 200 scales showed that the simplified Chinese version of the DES had good potential in discriminatiing Chinese nursing students’ experiences of debriefing. Conclusions The simplified Chinese DES was effective in evaluating the experience of debriefing. A larger sample size and multicenter research is needed to confirm these findings.

We studied the value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in predicting early postoperative tumor recurrence and monitoring tumor burden in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Plasma‐free DNA, germline DNA, and tissue DNA were isolated from 41 patients with HCC. Serial ctDNAs were analyzed by next‐generation sequencing before and after operation. Whole‐exome sequencing was used to detect the DNA of HCC and adjacent tissues. In total, 47 gene mutations were identified in the ctDNA of the 41 patients analyzed before surgery. ctDNA was detected in 63.4% and 46% of the patient plasma pre‐ and postoperation, respectively. The preoperative ctDNA positivity rate was significantly lower in the nonrecurrence group than in the recurrence group. With a median follow‐up of 17.7 months, nine patients (22%) experienced tumor recurrence. ctDNA positivity at two time‐points was associated with significantly shorter recurrence‐free survival (RFS). Tumors with NRAS, NEF2L2, and MET mutations had significantly shorter times to recurrence than those without mutations and showed high recurrence prediction performance by machine learning. Multivariate analyses showed that the median variant allele frequency (VAF) of mutations in preoperative ctDNA was a strong independent predictor of RFS. ctDNA is a real‐time monitoring indicator that can accurately reflect tumor burden. The median VAF of baseline ctDNA is a strong independent predictor of RFS in individuals with HCC.

In 2018, Zhang et al. introduced the Persistent Fault Analysis (PFA) for the first time, which uses statistical features of ciphertexts caused by faulty Sbox to recover the key of block ciphers. However, for most of the variants of PFA, the prior knowledge of the fault (location and value) is required, where the corresponding analysis will get more difficult under the scenario of multiple faults. To bypass such perquisite and improve the analysis efficiency for multiple faults, we propose Chosen-Plaintext based Persistent Fault Analysis (CPPFA). CPPFA introduces chosen-plaintext to facilitate PFA and can reduce the key search space of AES-128 to extremely small. Our proposal requires 256 ciphertexts, while previous state-of-the-art work still requires 1509 and 1448 ciphertexts under 8 and 16 faults, respectively, at the only cost of requiring 256 chosen plaintexts. In particular, CPPFA can be applied to the multiple faults scenarios where all fault locations, values and quantity are unknown, and the worst time complexity of CPPFA is O(28+nf ) for AES-128, where nf represents the number of faults. The experimental results show that when nf > 4, 256 pairs of plaintext-ciphertext can recover the master key of AES-128. As for LED-64, only 16 pairs of plaintext-ciphertext reduce the remaining key search space to 210.

Chemoselective sulfonylation and isonitrilation reactions for the divergent synthesis of valuable diarylmethyl sulfones and isonitrile diarylmethanes starting from easy-to-synthesize para-quinone methides (p-QMs) and commercially abundant p-toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) by using respectively zinc iodide and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as catalysts were developed. The distinguishing feature of this method is that TosMIC plays a dual role from the same substrates in the reaction: as a sulfonyl source or as an isonitrile source. The synthetic utility of this protocol was also demonstrated in the synthesis of difluoroalkylated diarylmethane 5 and diarylmethane ketone derivatives 6 and 7, which are important core structures in natural products and medicines.

Abstract Chemotherapy-induced ovarian dysfunction is a serious adverse effect in premenopausal patients with cancer. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa) protect ovarian function, but its molecular mechanisms have not yet been determined. In this study, we attempted to determine the previously unknown molecular mechanism by which such protection occurs. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels were tested in tumor-bearing nude mice, a series of exploratory experiments were conducted. We discovered that GnRHa protects granulosa cells from chemotherapeutic toxicity in vivo and in vitro. We also showed that CTX-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibits the secretion of AMH, and treatment with GnRHa relieves ER stress and the subsequent unfolded-protein response by modulating mTOR signaling to induce autophagy. The results of mechanistic studies indicated that GnRHa-modulated mTOR signaling to induce autophagy, which alleviated CTX-induced ER stress and promoted the secretion of AMH.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a malignant tumor of the respiratory system with poor prognosis. Recent studies have revealed that N7-methylguanosine (m7G) methylation is a widespread modification occurring in RNA. But the expression of m7G methylation–related genes in LUAD and their correlations with prognosis are still unclear. In this study, we found 12 m7G methylation–related regulators with differential expression between LUAD and normal lung tissues. According to differentially expressed genes (DEGs), all LUAD cases were separated into two subtypes. The prognostic value of each m7G methylation–related gene for survival was evaluated to construct a multigene signature using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. Finally, an m7G methylation–related prognostic signature based on three genes was built to classify LUAD patients into two risk groups. Patients in the high-risk group showed significantly reduced overall survival (OS) when compared with patients in the low-risk group (p < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis confirmed the predictive capacity of the signature. The Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis disclosed that chromosome homeostasis plays an important role in this process. The gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) implied that the immune status was decreased in the high-risk group. To sum up, m7G methylation–related genes play a vital role in tumor immunity and the related signature is a reliable predictor for LUAD prognosis.

Abstract In this study, neodymium and arsenic were sealed into industrial pure iron cylinders at a temperature of 1223 K for 50 h. The interaction mechanism of the Nd–Fe–As system at various atomic ratios was investigated by optical microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Binary compounds Fe12As5, NdAs, Fe2As, and Fe17Nd2 were the main products formed, with traces of NdFeAs compounds. In addition, at high temperatures, As content affected the diffusion of Fe atoms; the diffusion of Fe increased with an increase in the atomic ratio. Furthermore, the diffusion ability of Nd was weaker than that of As. The major diffusion mechanism of Nd was through the Fe atomic vacancy mechanism. As mainly bind to Fe to form Fe and As compounds. The formation of ternary compounds was confirmed by laboratory experiments and mismatch calculations.

Abstract Background Even though treatment modalities such as adjuvant systemic radio-chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have individually have improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates in advanced Gastric Cancer (AGC), the peritoneum still presides as a common site of treatment failure and disease recurrence. The role of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been acknowledged as prophylaxis for peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) in AGC patients and in this study, we aim at investigating the safety and efficacy of the combination of neoadjuvant laparoscopic HIPEC (NLHIPEC) with NAC in the neoadjuvant phase followed by surgery of curative intent with intraoperative HIPEC followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (AC). Methods In this multicenter Phase III randomized controlled trial, 326 patients will be randomly separated into 2 groups into a 1:1 ratio after laparoscopic exploration. The experiment arm will receive the proposed comprehensive Dragon II regimen while the control group will undergo standard R0 D2 followed by 8 cycles of AC with oxaliplatin with S-1 (SOX) regimen. The Dragon II regimen comprises of 1 cycle of NLHIPEC for 60mins at 43 ± 0.5 °C with 80 mg/m2 of Paclitaxel followed by 3 cycles of NAC with SOX regimen and after assessment, standard R0 D2 gastrectomy with intraoperative HIPEC followed by 5 cycles of SOX regimen chemotherapy. The end-points for the study are 5 year PFS, 5 year OS, peritoneal metastasis rate (PMR) and morbidity rate. Discussion This study is one of the first to combine NLHIPEC with NAC in the preoperative phase which is speculated to provide local management of occult peritoneal carcinomatosis or peritoneal free cancer cells while NAC will promote tumor downsizing and down-staging. The addition of the intraoperative HIPEC is speculated to manage dissemination due to surgical trauma. Where the roles of intraoperative HIPEC and NAC have individually been investigated, this study provides innovative insight on a more comprehensive approach to management of AGC at high risk of peritoneal recurrence. It is expected that the combination of NLHIPEC with NAC and HIPEC will increase PFS by 15% and decrease PMR after gastrectomy of curative intent. Trial registration World Health Organization Clinical Trials - International Registry Platform (WHO-ICTRP) with Registration ID ChiCTR1900024552 , Registered Prospectively on the 16th July, 2019.

With the rapid development of electronic commerce, C2C on line auction is rising rapidly. Online auction greatly reduces the cost and time of the organization to participate in the auction and tender bidders. The basic models of online time series search and one-way trading are the time series search problem. A player has one asset for sale and he observes a series of prices sequentially in order to sell the asset in the highest price, i.e., aiming to obtain the best revenue. This paper mainly describes the Spring+ Struts+ Hibernate architecture to realize online trading system based on system not only for the user realizes the brows, buy, and submit orders, purchase and message function, can not only for the company's products and related information is updated, and able to manage product inventory, logistics and orders status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]