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A phenomenon has emerged whereby the life expectancy of women is 74.2 years, and men's is 69.8 years. Hence, it is crucial to encourage early retirement planning among women. This study explores the factors influencing retirement planning awareness and readiness among women in Malaysia and China. 100 Malaysians and 200 Chinese completed a self-administered online questionnaire. Using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS, the determinants examined the moderating effect of self-efficacy toward retirement readiness. This study will provide valuable insights for policymakers to adopt better strategies to address women's issues and improve their quality of life. Keywords: Female Retirement Planning; Comparing Malaysia and China; Gender Equality; Quality of Life eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI

The non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are recognized as a key component to provide cost-effective and high-capacity ubiquitous connectivity in the future wireless communications. In this paper, we investigate the secure transmission in a terahertz (THz)-empowered reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-assisted NTN (T-RANTN), which is composed of a low-Earth orbit satellite transmitter, an RIS-installed high-altitude platform (HAP) and two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) receivers, only one of which is trustworthy. An approximate ergodic secrecy rate (ESR) expression is derived when the atmosphere turbulence and pointing error due to the characteristics of THz as well as the phase errors resulting from finite precision of RIS and imperfect channel estimation are taken into account simultaneously. Furthermore, according to the statistical and perfect channel state information of the untrustworthy receiver, we optimize the phase shifts of RIS to maximize the lower bound of secrecy rate (SR) and instantaneous SR, respectively, by using semidefinite relaxation method. Simulation results show that both the approximate expression for the ESR and the optimization algorithms are serviceable, and even when the jitter standard variance of the trustworthy receiver is greater than that of the untrustworthy one, a positive SR can still be guaranteed.

Tubular epithelial cells (TECs) exposed to hypoxia incite tubulointerstitial inflammation (TII), while the exact mechanism is unclear. In this study, we identified that hypoxia evoked tubule injury as evidenced by tubular hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) expression and that renal small extracellular vesicle (sEV) production was increased with the development of TII after ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Intriguingly, KIM-1-positive tubules were surrounded by macrophages and co-localized with sEVs. In vitro, KIM-1 expression and sEV release were increased in hypoxic TECs and the hypoxia-induced inflammatory response was ameliorated when KIM-1 or Rab27a, a master regulator of sEV secretion, was silenced. Furthermore, KIM-1 was identified to mediate hypoxic TEC-derived sEV (Hypo-sEV) uptake by TECs. Phosphatidylserine (PS), a ligand of KIM-1, was present in Hypo-sEVs as detected by nanoflow cytometry. Correspondingly, the inflammatory response induced by exogenous Hypo-sEVs was attenuated when KIM-1 was knocked down. In vivo, exogenous-applied Hypo-sEVs localized to KIM-1-positive tubules and exacerbated TII in IRI mice. Our study demonstrated that KIM-1 expressed by injured tubules mediated sEV uptake via recognizing PS, which participated in the amplification of tubule inflammation induced by hypoxia, leading to the development of TII in ischemic acute kidney injury.

Mobile payment has a pronounced impact on the consumption mode of various industries and provides new clues for sustainable consumption. This study aims to explore the role of perceived risk and perceived technology on sustainable consumption intention and behavior. Moreover, it proposes the structural equation model of mobile payment for sustainable consumption behavior. 574 participants from Chinese higher education institutions filled in the questionnaire. The bootstrapping method was used to solve the problem of mediating factors. Amos 26.0 helped to construct structural equation models. The study determined the negative effect of the perceived mobile payment risk on the perceived mobile payment usefulness, perceived mobile payment ease of use, and sustainable consumption intention. Moreover, the three variables have a particular buffer in the relationship between perceived mobile payment risk and sustainable consumption behavior. Furthermore, perceived mobile payment usefulness positively impacts sustainable consumption intention, and they have a chain-mediated effect on the relationship between perceived mobile payment risk and sustainable consumption behavior. The same effect also occurs in the relationship between perceived mobile payment ease of use and sustainable consumption intention.

Colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the most prevalent cancers, has complex etiology. The dysbiosis of intestinal bacteria has been highlighted as an important contributor to CRC. Fusobacterium nucleatum, an oral anaerobic opportunistic pathogen, is enriched in both stools and tumor tissues of patients with CRC. Therefore, F. nucleatum is considered to be a risk factor for CRC. This review summarizes the biological characteristics and the mechanisms underlying the regulatory behavior of F. nucleatum in the tumorigenesis and progression of CRC. F. nucleatum as a marker for the early warning and prognostic prediction of CRC, and as a target for prevention and treatment, is also described.

Background. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a complex disease and the leading cause of death worldwide. It is caused by genetic and environmental factors or their interactions. Candidate gene association studies are an important genetic strategy for the study of complex diseases, and multiple variants of inflammatory cytokines have been found to be associated with CAD using this method. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is an important inflammatory immune response factor that plays a role in a various inflammatory disease. Clinical tests and animal experiments indicated that IL-5 is involved in CAD development, but the exact mechanisms are unclear. This study investigated the genetic relationship between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL5 and CAD. Materials and Methods. Based on the Chinese Han population, we collected 1,824 patients with CAD and 1,920 control subjects and performed a two-stage case-control association analysis for three SNPs in IL5 (rs2057687, rs78546665, and rs2069812) using the high resolution melt (HRM) technology. Logistic regression analyses were applied to adjust for traditional risk factors for CAD and to perform haplotype and gene interaction analyses. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to study relationships between the selected SNPs and serum lipid levels. Results. In this study, two-stage case-control association analysis revealed that the allele and genotype frequency distributions of the three IL5 SNPs were not statistically significant between the case and control groups. In addition, none of the IL5 haplotypes were associated with CAD. Further stratified analyses were conducted by sex, age, hypertension, and disease status, respectively, and the results revealed that the rs2057687 and rs2069812 of IL5 were associated with CAD in the male group ( p adj = 0.025 , OR, 0.77 (95% CI, 0.62-0.97); p adj = 0.016 , OR, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.70-0.97), respectively); the rs2057687 and rs78546665 of IL5 were associated with late-onset CAD ( p adj = 0.039 , OR, 0.78 (95% CI, 0.62-0.99); p adj = 0.036 , OR, 1.46 (95% CI, 1.02-1.53), respectively); the rs2069812 of IL5 was associated with CAD in the hypertension group ( p adj = 0.036 , OR, 0.84 (95% CI, 0.71-0.99)); and none of the SNPs in IL5 were associated with different CAD states (anatomical CAD and clinical CAD). In addition, the association between SNPs and the serum lipid levels indicated that rs78546665 was positively correlated with triglyceride levels ( p = 0.012 ). Finally, SNP-SNP interaction analyses revealed that interactions of rs2057687 and rs2069812 were associated with CAD ( p adj = 0.046 , OR, 0.77 (95% CI, 0.13-4.68)). Conclusion. This study suggested that the common variants of IL5 might play a role in CAD by affecting the risk factors for CAD and through SNP-SNP interactions, which provides a new target for specific treatment of CAD patients and a theoretical basis for personalized medicine.

An I2-mediated aerobic cyclization reaction of anilines, alkynes, and tertiary amine has been reported. In this protocol, a novel strategy for the synthesis of quinolines using tertiary amines as a C1 synthon via C–N bond cleavage.

Yuan-yuan Wu,1 Wen-Hui Liao,1 Zong-ling Niu,1 Si-Han Zhou,1 Tian-Tian Wu,1 Zhe Li,2 Qi-Hua Zhao,1 Jing-Yuan Xu,2 Ming-jin Xie1 1School of Chemical Science and Technology, Yunnan University, Kunming, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Chemical Biology and Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnostics (Theranostics), School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Ming-jin Xie, Email mjxie@ynu.edu.cnBackground: Gallium (III) metal-organic complexes have been shown to have the ability to inhibit tumor growth, but the poor water solubility of many of the complexes precludes further application. The use of materials with high biocompatibility as drug delivery carriers for metal-organic complexes to enhance the bioavailability of the drug is a feasible approach.Methods: Here, we modified the ligands of gallium 8-hydroxyquinolinate complex with good clinical anticancer activity by replacing the 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands with 5-bromo-8-hydroxyquinoline (HBrQ), and the resulting Ga(III) + HBrQ complex had poor water solubility. Two biocompatible materials, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and graphene oxide (GO), were used to synthesize the corresponding Ga(III) + HBrQ complex nanoparticles (NPs) BSA/Ga/HBrQ NPs and GO/Ga/HBrQ NPs in different ways to enhance the drug delivery of the metal complex.Results: Both of BSA/Ga/HBrQ NPs and GO/Ga/HBrQ NPs can maintain stable existence in different solution states. In vitro cytotoxicity test showed that two nanomedicines had excellent anti-proliferation effect on HCT116 cells, which shown higher level of intracellular ROS and apoptosis ratio than that of cisplatin and oxaliplatin. In addition, the superior emissive properties of BSA/Ga/HBrQ NPs and GO/Ga/HBrQ NPs allow their use for in vivo imaging showing highly effective therapy in HCT116 tumor-bearing mouse models.Conclusion: The use of biocompatible materials for the preparation of NPs against poorly biocompatible metal-organic complexes to construct drug delivery systems is a promising strategy that can further improve drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: gallium complex, nanomedicine, anticancer, colorectal cells, drug delivery, in vivo imaging

Sparse unmixing of hyperspectral images aims to separate the endmembers and estimate the abundances of mixed pixels. This approach is the essential step for many applications involving hyperspectral images. The multi-scale spatial sparse hyperspectral unmixing algorithm (MUA) could achieve higher accuracy than many state-of-the-art algorithms. The regularization parameters, whose combinations markedly influence the unmixing accuracy, are determined by manually searching in the broad parameter space, leading to time consuming. To settle this issue, the adaptive multi-scale spatial sparse hyperspectral unmixing algorithm (AMUA) is proposed. Firstly, the MUA model is converted into a new version by using of a maximum a posteriori (MAP) system. Secondly, the theories indicating that andnorms are equivalent to Laplacian and multivariate Gaussian functions, respectively, are applied to explore the strong connections among the regularization parameters, estimated abundances and estimated noise variances. Finally, the connections are applied to update the regularization parameters adaptively in the optimization process of unmixing. Experimental results on both simulated data and real hyperspectral images show that the AMUA can substantially improve the unmixing efficiency at the cost of negligible accuracy. And a series of sensitive experiments were undertook to verify the robustness of the AMUA algorithm.

A palladium-catalyzed dearomatizing [2+2+1] spiroannulation of indoles with two molecular internal alkynes is developed in the presence of Cu(OAc)

Objective. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death from cardiovascular disease and has become an important public health problem worldwide. Guizhi Gancao Decoction (GGD) has been shown to be used in the treatment of CHD with good efficacy, but its specific therapeutic mechanism and active ingredients have not been fully clarified. This study aims to identify the active compounds and key targets of GGD in the treatment of CHD, explore the therapeutic mechanism of GGD, and provide candidate compounds for anti-CHD drug development. Methods. The main compounds of GGD were determined by UPLC-MS/MS analysis and screened by SwissADME. The corresponding targets of GGD compounds were obtained from SwissTargetPrediction, and the targets of CHD were obtained from the HERB and GeneCards databases. The STRING 11.5 database was used to analyze the PPI (Protein-Protein Interactions) network of potential therapeutic targets of GGD compounds. Cytoscape 3.7.2 was used to construct target-related networks and find core targets. The GEO database was used to validate the differential expression of core targets. The PANTHER Classification System was used to functionally classify potential therapeutic targets for GGD. The GO biological process analysis and KEGG pathway analysis of targets were completed by DAVID 6.8 database. AutoDockTools 1.5.6 and PyMol 2.5.2 were used to perform molecular docking of core targets with the active GGD compounds. Results. 7 active GGD compounds were obtained based on UPLC-MS/MS and pharmacological parameter evaluation, which corresponded to 131 CHD-related targets. Among them, EGFR, MAPK3, RELA, CCND1, ESR1, PTGS2, NR3C1, CYP3A4, MMP9, and PTPN11 were considered core targets. According to the targets related to CHD, glycyrrhetinic acid, liquiritigenin, and schisandrin are considered key active ingredients. GO biological process and KEGG analysis indicated that the potential targets of GGD in the treatment of CHD involve a variety of biological processes and therapeutic mechanisms. Molecular docking results showed that both the core targets and the corresponding compounds had the good binding ability. Conclusions. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the therapeutic mechanism and active ingredients of GGD for CHD and provides candidate compounds for drug development of CHD.

Thermoelectric (TE) technology enables direct conversion between thermal and electrical energies and thus has been regarded as an alternative for energy harvesting and refrigeration. Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is the most widely used TE material at room temperature due to its high figure of merit (similar to 1). Since the first publication on the electrodeposition of Bi2Te3 films in 1994, a large number of publications has emerged in the last two decades, owing to its advantages such as simple and safe preparation, high deposition rate, convenient micromachining, good compatibility to semiconductor microfabrication techniques and so on. This article reviews the recent research progress in the electrodeposition of Bi2Te3 and its application in TE devices. Additionally, an outlook towards the future development of this area has also been discussed.

miR-124 is a significantly up-regulated miRNA in peripheral blood collected from piglets infected with Salmonella Typhimurium, suggesting that it may play an important role in Salmonella pathogenesis. This study focused on the transcriptomic analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from miR-124 sponge and Salmonella Typhimurium-treated piglets, and trying to investigate the function of miR-124 in Salmonella infection. The transcriptome profiling analysis revealed that 2778 genes in miR-124 sponge + Salmonella Typhimurium treatment versus control, 2271 genes in Salmonella Typhimurium treatment versus control, and 1301 genes in miR-124 sponge + Salmonella Typhimurium versus Salmonella Typhimurium treatment, were differentially expressed, respectively (FDR 0.05 and fold change 2.0). Pathway analysis indicated that the MAPK signaling pathway, Ribosome pathway, and T-cell receptor signaling pathway were the most significantly enriched pathway in differentially expressed genes between miR-124 sponge + Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Typhimurium along treatment (FDR 0.05). Reporter assays and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that miR-124 is a crucial regulatory factor that targets IQ motif containing GTPase-activating protein 2 (IQGAP2). Cell culture experiment indicated that miR-124 attenuated the Salmonella Typhimurium-mediated activation of CDC42 and RAC1 (P 0.05). Cultured PBMCs treated with miR-124 and IQGAP2-siRNA had higher intracellular Salmonella count than control samples, particularly 12 h post-infection (P 0.05). Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that miR-124 treatment reduced the percentage of LAMP-1-positive phagosomes. The miR-124 could be an important regulator for IQGAP2/Rho GTPase pathway in Salmonella Typhimurium-infected PBMCs, and this pathway could be a target for Salmonella that support its infection in PBMCs in piglets.

As an intellectual-intensive industry, film and television creation is a key link in the film industry. The integration of film and television creation and big data can establish a user preference model, directly attack the marketing focus and occupy the commanding heights of profit. Today's film and television productions all use big data to avoid risks. Why is the film market going down instead? This paper discusses the impact of big data application on the value of the film industry at the moment when the big data infrastructure and technology are not yet fully formed.