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Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) stands as a major contributor to cancer-related fatalities within China. There is an urgent need to identify accurate biomarkers for recurrence predicting in CRC. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing was used to perform a comparative analysis of methylation profiles in tissue samples from 30 recurrence to 30 non-recurrence patients with CRC. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator method was performed to select the differential methylation regions (DMRs) and built a DNA methylation classifier for predicting recurrence. Based on the identified top DMRs, a methylation classifier was built and consisted of eight hypermethylated DMRs in CRC. The DNA methylation classifier showed high accuracy for predicting recurrence with an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.825 (95% CI 0.680–0.970). The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated that CRC patients with high methylation risk score, evaluated by the DNA methylation classifier, had poorer survival than low risk score (Hazard Ratio 4.349; 95% CI 1.783–10.61, P = 0.002). And only CRC patients with low methylation risk score could acquire benefit from adjuvant therapy. The DNA methylation classifier has been proved as crucial biomarkers for predicting recurrence and exhibited promising prognostic value after curative surgery in patients with CRC.

Ecosystems at the southern edge of the permafrost distribution are highly sensitive to global warming. Changes in soil freeze-thaw cycles can influence vegetation growth in permafrost regions. Extant studies mainly focused on analyzing the differences of vegetation dynamics in different permafrost regions. However, the intrinsic drivers of permafrost degradation on vegetation growth remain elusive yet. Based on the top temperature of permafrost (TTOP) model, we simulated the spatial distribution of permafrost in Northeast China (NEC) from 2001 to 2020. Using the data of the vegetation Net Primary Productivity (NPP), vegetation phenology, climate and permafrost phenology, and analytical methods including partial correlation, multiple linear regression, and path analysis, we explored the response of vegetation growth and phenology to soil freeze-thaw changes and climate change under different degrees of permafrost degradation. Overall, the start date of the growing season (SOS) was very sensitive to the start date of soil thaw (SOT) changes, and multiple regression analyses showed that SOT was the main factor influencing SOS in 41.8% of the NEC region. Climatic factors remain the main factors affecting vegetation NPP in NEC, and the results of partial correlation analysis showed that only 9.7% of the regional duration of soil thaw (DOT) had a strong correlation with vegetation NPP. Therefore, we determined the mechanism responsible for the soil freeze-thaw changes and vegetation growth relationship using the path analysis. The results indicated that there is a potential inhibitory effect of persistent permafrost degradation on vegetation growth. Our findings would contribute to the improvement of process-based models of forest dynamics in the boreal region, which would help to plan sustainable development and conservation strategies in permafrost areas.

Abstract Background Acute mesenteric ischemia is a rare but lethal disease. Acute occlusive mesenteric ischemia consists of mesenteric artery embolism, mesenteric artery thrombosis, and mesenteric vein thrombosis. This study aimed to investigate the factors that may affect the outcome of acute occlusive mesenteric ischemia. Methods Data from acute occlusive mesenteric ischemia patients admitted between May 2016 and May 2022 were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether complications(Clavien‒Dindo ≥ 2) occurred within 6 months of the first admission. Demographics, symptoms, signs, laboratory results, computed tomography angiography features, management and outcomes were analyzed. Results 59 patients were enrolled in this study. Complications(Clavien‒Dindo ≥ 2) occurred within 6 months of the first admission in 17 patients. Transmural intestinal necrosis, peritonitis, white blood cell count, percentage of neutrophils, percentage of lymphocytes, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase isoenzyme, cardiac troponin I, laparoscopic exploration rate, open embolectomy rate, enterostomy rate, length of necrotic small bowel, length of healthy small bowel, surgical time and intraoperative blood loss differed significantly between groups. Creatine kinase isoenzyme (OR = 1.415, 95% CI: 1.060–1.888) and surgical time (OR = 1.014, 95% CI: 1.001–1.026) were independent risk factors associated with complications(Clavien‒Dindo ≥ 2). Conclusions Our analysis suggests that acute occlusive mesenteric ischemia patients with a creatine kinase isoenzyme level greater than 2.22 ng/mL or a surgical time longer than 156 min are more likely to experience complications’(Clavien‒Dindo ≥ 2) occurrence within 6 months of the first admission.

Osteoclasts are crucial in the events leading to bone metastasis of lung cancer. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) affects osteogenesis by regulating the survival of osteoclast precursors (OCPs) and is enriched in lung cancer cells. However, how factors derived from tumor cells that metastasize to bone affect osteoclastogenesis remains poorly understood. We examined whether IL-17A derived from lung cancer cells affects osteoclast differentiation by regulating OCP apoptosis. IL-17A expression was inhibited in A549 non-small cell lung cancer cells using RNA interference. Compared with conditioned medium (CM) from A549 cells (A549-CM), CM from IL-17A-deficient A549 cells (A549-si-CM) suppressed osteoclastogenesis. The mRNA expression of osteoclast-specific genes was downregulated following A549-si-CM treatment. Furthermore, A549-si-CM promoted osteoclast precursor apoptosis at an early stage of osteoclastogenesis, which was related to the promotion of caspase-3 expression by A549-si-CM during osteoclast differentiation. In vivo experiments also showed that inhibition of IL-17A expression in A549 cells reduced osteoclast activation and bone tissue destruction. Collectively, our results indicate that IL-17A deficiency inhibits lung cancer-induced osteoclast differentiation by promoting apoptosis of osteoclast precursors in the early stage of osteoclast formation and that IL-17A is a potential therapeutic target for cancer-associated bone resorption in patients with lung cancer.

Abstract The manipulation of internal interactions at the molecular level within biological fibers is of particular importance but challenging, severely limiting their tunability in macroscopic performances and applications. It thus becomes imperative to explore new approaches to enhance biological fibers’ stability and environmental tolerance and to impart them with diverse functionalities, such as mechanical recoverability and stimulus-triggered responses. Herein, we develop a dynamic imine fiber chemistry (DIFC) approach to engineer molecular interactions to fabricate strong and tough protein fibers with recoverability and actuating behaviors. The resulting DIF fibers exhibit extraordinary mechanical performances, outperforming many recombinant silks and synthetic polymer fibers. Remarkably, impaired DIF fibers caused by fatigue or strong acid treatment are quickly recovered in water directed by the DIFC strategy. Reproducible mechanical performance is thus observed. The DIF fibers also exhibit exotic mechanical stability at extreme temperatures (e.g., −196 °C and 150 °C). When triggered by humidity, the DIFC endows the protein fibers with diverse actuation behaviors, such as self-folding, self-stretching, and self-contracting. Therefore, the established DIFC represents an alternative strategy to strengthen biological fibers and may pave the way for their high-tech applications.

At present, many high-temperature pipelines need to carry out non-stop detection under high-temperature conditions, and an ultrasonic guided wave is undoubtedly one of the solutions with the highest potential to solve the problem. However, there is a lack of research on the propagation characteristics of longitudinal guided wave modes in high-temperature pipelines. Based on the Green–Naghdi (GN) generalized thermoelastic theory, a theoretical model of thermoelastic guided waves in an orthotropic hollow cylinder with a temperature field is established by using the Legendre polynomial series expansion method. Firstly, based on the GN thermoelastic theory, the coupling equations expressed by displacement and temperature are established by introducing the rectangular window function. The curves of dispersion, displacement, and temperature of the guided wave are numerically solved by using this equation. Subsequently, the influence of the diameter-to-thickness ratio on the dispersion of the longitudinal thermoelastic guided wave is analyzed at the same temperature. Finally, the effect of temperature field variation on the phase velocity dispersion is discussed, which provides a theoretical basis for the study of the dispersion characteristics of hollow cylindrical pipes containing temperature fields.

The effects of different processing methods on the nutritional components of sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) are of concern to consumers who select sea cucumber products. This study employed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to examine the metabolites in fresh, unsoaked salted, soaked salted, and instant sea cucumber body wall samples sourced from Dalian, China. Metabolites were evaluated utilizing partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and subsequently subjected to KEGG metabolic pathway analysis for further investigation. PLS-DA effectively discriminated the body wall metabolites of sea cucumbers obtained via various processing techniques. The differential metabolites identified predominantly encompassed amino acids, lipids, and carbohydrates. Subsequent KEGG metabolic pathway analysis demonstrated a significant association between lipid, carbohydrate, and amino acid metabolism and the specific processing methods employed. The assessment of nutritional differences corresponding to the various A. japonicus processing methods was conducted. The findings of this study can assist in the choice of sea cucumber products and the selection of suitable processing methods.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is a pressing clinical issue that impedes wound healing. Pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages is required to clear bacteria and recruit various cell types during the initial phase of wound healing, but timing of this process is crucial. Herein, a microenvironment-responsive nanofibrous dressing capable of timely macrophage phenotype transition in vivo is constructed by coating copper ions (Cu2+)-polydopamine (PDA) networks on poly (ε-caprolactone) fiber (PCL-fiber) membrane. During the initial post-implantation period, the nanofibrous dressing show pH-sensitive Cu2+ release in the acidic infection microenvironment. The release Cu2+ have a direct killing effect on MRSA, and promote the proinflammatory M1 phenotype of macrophages to enhance the antibacterial macrophage response. Later, PDA to become a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger when in microenvironments with elevated ROS levels, which conferred the dressing with an immunomodulatory activity that convert M1 macrophages into M2 macrophages. In vivo examination in an MRSA infected full-thickness skin wounds of rat model demonstrates that this dressing significantly facilitated infection eradication and wound healing through modulating local inflammatory phenotype. Overall, this study offers a simple and effective approach for timely manipulation of inflammation progression to promote infected wound healing.

Abstract Background Apostichopus japonicus is an economically important species in the global aquaculture industry. Russian A. japonicus, mainly harvested in the Vladivostok region, exhibits significant phenotypic differentiation, including in many economically important traits, compared with Chinese A. japonicus owing to differences in their habitat. However, both the genetic basis for the phenotypic divergence and the population genetic structure of Russian and Chinese A. japonicus are unknown. Result In this study, 210 individuals from seven Russian and Chinese A. japonicus populations were sampled for whole-genome resequencing. The genetic structure analysis differentiated the Russian and Chinese A. japonicus into two groups. Population genetic analyses indicated that the Russian population showed a high degree of allelic linkage and had undergone stronger positive selection compared with the Chinese populations. Gene ontology terms enriched among candidate genes with group selection analysis were mainly involved in immunity, such as inflammatory response, antimicrobial peptides, humoral immunity, and apoptosis. Genome-wide association analysis yielded eight single-nucleotide polymorphism loci significantly associated with parapodium number, and these loci are located in regions with a high degree of genomic differentiation between the Chinese and Russia populations. These SNPs were associated with five genes. Gene expression validation revealed that three of these genes were significantly differentially expressed in individuals differing in parapodium number. AJAP08772 and AJAP08773 may directly affect parapodium production by promoting endothelial cell proliferation and metabolism, whereas AJAP07248 indirectly affects parapodium production by participating in immune responses. Conclusions This study, we performed population genetic structure and GWAS analysis on Chinese and Russian A. japonicus, and found three candidate genes related to the number of parapodium. The results provide an in-depth understanding of the differences in the genetic structure of A. japonicus populations in China and Russia, and provide important information for subsequent genetic analysis and breeding of this species.

A series of LaFe11.8Si1.2/La65Co35 bulk composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) followed by diffusion annealing. The effect of sintering temperature (1073–1223 K) on the magnetocaloric and other properties of LaFe11.8Si1.2/La65Co35 bulk composites were investigated. The 1:13 phase content in all the annealed samples was ∼90 wt%. The mechanical and magnetocaloric properties of these annealed bulk composites could be improved by tuning the sintering temperature. The Curie temperature (TC) and maximum magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM)max of the annealed samples varied in the range of 211–228 K and 5.56–9.33 J kg−1 K−1, respectively. Selected samples exhibited excellent mechanical and magnetocaloric properties. The (−ΔSM)max value was 9.33 J kg−1 K−1 at TC of 217.8 K. Its maximum compressive strength (σbc)max value was 540 MPa at a strain of 3.48%, which exceeded the mechanical properties of most La–Fe–Si based bulk composites prepared by hot-pressing sintering (HPS). Thus, La–Fe–Si based bulk composites with good comprehensive properties could be obtained by combining SPS and diffusion annealing.

Crop leaf length, perimeter, and area serve as vital phenotypic indicators of crop growth status, the measurement of which is important for crop monitoring and yield estimation. However, processing a leaf point cloud is often challenging due to cluttered, fluctuating, and uncertain points, which culminate in inaccurate measurements of leaf phenotypic parameters. To tackle this issue, the RKM-D point cloud method for measuring leaf phenotypic parameters is proposed, which is based on the fusion of improved Random Sample Consensus with a ground point removal (R) algorithm, the K-means clustering (K) algorithm, the Moving Least Squares (M) method, and the Euclidean distance (D) algorithm. Pepper leaves were obtained from three growth periods on the 14th, 28th, and 42nd days as experimental subjects, and a stereo camera was employed to capture point clouds. The experimental results reveal that the RKM-D point cloud method delivers high precision in measuring leaf phenotypic parameters. (i) For leaf length, the coefficient of determination (R2) surpasses 0.81, the mean absolute error (MAE) is less than 3.50 mm, the mean relative error (MRE) is less than 5.93%, and the root mean square error (RMSE) is less than 3.73 mm. (ii) For leaf perimeter, the R2 surpasses 0.82, the MAE is less than 7.30 mm, the MRE is less than 4.50%, and the RMSE is less than 8.37 mm. (iii) For leaf area, the R2 surpasses 0.97, the MAE is less than 64.66 mm2, the MRE is less than 4.96%, and the RMSE is less than 73.06 mm2. The results show that the proposed RKM-D point cloud method offers a robust solution for the precise measurement of crop leaf phenotypic parameters.

Fermented vegetable-based foods, renowned for their unique flavors and human health benefits, contain probiotic organisms with reported in vitro antioxidative effects. This study investigates the probiotic properties of Latilactobacillus sakei MS103 (L. sakei MS103) and its antioxidant activities using an in vitro oxidative stress model based on the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage of RAW 264.7 cells. L. sakei MS103 exhibited tolerance to extreme conditions (bile salts, low pH, lysozyme, H2O2), antibiotic sensitivity, and auto-aggregation ability. Moreover, L. sakei MS103 co-aggregated with pathogenic Porphyromonas gingivalis cells, inhibited P. gingivalis-induced biofilm formation, and exhibited robust hydrophobic and electrostatic properties that enabled it to strongly bind to gingival epithelial cells and HT-29 cells for enhanced antioxidant effects. Additionally, L. sakei MS103 exhibited other antioxidant properties, including ion-chelating capability and the ability to effectively scavenge superoxide anion free radicals, hydroxyl, 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. Furthermore, the addition of live or heat-killed L. sakei MS103 cells to H2O2-exposed RAW 264.7 cells alleviated oxidative stress, as reflected by reduced malondialdehyde levels, increased glutathione levels, and the up-regulated expression of four antioxidant-related genes (gshR2, gshR4, Gpx, and npx). These findings highlight L. sakei MS103 as a potential probiotic capable of inhibiting activities of P. gingivalis pathogenic bacteria and mitigating oxidative stress.

In this paper, a gain-enhanced patch antenna with a periodic microstrip rampart line is proposed. The periodic microstrip rampart line can modify the effective dielectric constant of the dielectric plate, and help to improve the gain of the traditional microstrip patch antenna. Based on the antenna design principle, a formula for calculating the gain-enhanced frequency point is proposed. A proposed high gain microstrip antenna is designed, fabricated and tested. The experimental results demonstrate that the gain of the proposed antenna reaches 10.0 dBi, which is 2.55 dB or 79.9% higher than that of the traditional patch antenna at the same operating frequency of 5.8 GHz. The measured and simulated results show a high consistency.

Apostichopus japonicas is an economically important species with high nutritional value. However, our knowledge of its genetic diversity and the genetic changes that occurred during its domestication or trait selection is quite limited. In this study, the whole genomes of 254 A. japonicas samples were resequenced. Analyses of the population genetic structure revealed that the genetic diversity of A. japonicas in the north of China is generally high, there was no difference in the population structure among the six cultured populations, and they were divided into two subpopulations together with AY-1 (new species). The results also showed that the genetic diversity of the AY-1 population was relatively low, the degree of linkage of alleles was high, and this population had been subjected to more positive selection. Based on Tajima’s D, FST analysis, and ROD analysis, the selected intervals and genes of the AY-1 population were identified, with some of the candidate intervals being related to an economically important trait and breeding target, namely, the number of parapodia. Gene Ontology analysis of the candidate genes revealed that the two subpopulations differed in their immune function, protein synthesis, decomposition, and transport, among others. Using GWAS, we identified 39 candidate genes for four economically important traits of A. japonicas, and we verified that those genes contained non-synonymous SNPs. Through this verification, BSL78_00022 and BSL78_00023 were found to be key genes for the number of parapodia in A. japonicas. Of these two genes, BSL78_00022 encodes a protein related to cell differentiation and proliferation, so it was assumed that three non-synonymous substitutions (Ser-Phe, Glu-Asp, and Ala-Val) in this gene are related to the changes in the number of parapodia. Meanwhile, the pleiotropic gene BSL78_04631, which is related to body weight and body wall weight, and promotes protein synthesis and cell growth, has a non-synonymous substitution (IlE-Val), which is assumed to be the reason for the difference in body weight and body wall weight of A. japonicas. These results provide a new perspective for explaining the genetic structure characteristics of A. japonicas and analyzing the selection and economically important traits in the breeding of new species.

In this paper, the problem of the fractional-order linear systems’ simultaneous fault detection and reliable control (SFDC) in the finite frequency domain is investigated. A dynamic observer aimed at detecting faults is designed, which also generates state estimation signals. In particular, it is found that the proposed dynamic-observer-based controller can achieve a better H∞ performance. We derived the detector and controller’s design conditions to achieve H− fault sensitivity performance and H∞ interference attenuation performance in the limited frequency domain based on the generalized KYP lemma, which can achieve a better disturbance attenuation performance and fault sensitivity performance. Finally, the simulation results show the designed method’s effectiveness.

To solve the problem of recognizing artificial tire-side pressure printing characters with low efficiency and high labor intensity, we propose a CNN-based method for tire surface character recognition. In the image pre-processing, the SSR algorithm is improved to enhance the contrast of characters, and the Normalized Cross Correlation template matching algorithm based on pyramid acceleration is proposed to quickly locate the “DOT” characters and segment them. The improved LeNet-5 network structure is used to recognize characters, and a self-built digital sample library is randomly divided according to the ratio of 8:2 to conduct digital recognition experiments. The experimental results show that the recognition accuracy of the training set can reach 95.9%, and the accuracy of the validation set is 99.5%. The accuracy of the testing set is 95.6%, which meets the practical application requirements. Moreover, the whole algorithm only needs to be implemented on a commonly configured CPU, reducing equipment costs.

This study aimed to determine the effect of irrigation amount (W), nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and zinc (Zn) on the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) of closely planted apple trees on dwarf rootstocks in arid areas of Xinjiang. Taking the “Royal Gala” apple as the experimental material, a mathematical model for Pn was established using the principle of four-factor five-level quadratic regression with a general rotation combination design. The results show that: (1) The regression equations reached significant levels (F = 37.06 > F0.01(11.11) = 4.54). (2) The effect of W, N, K, Zn on Pn is significant with relative importance W > N > Zn > K. (3) The results of single factor analysis showed that with an increase in W, N, K, and Zn, Pn exhibits an n-shaped parabolic response. (4) The positive coupling between W and N is significant, and the positive coupling between W and Zn is also significant. (5) Analysis of the interaction between sets of three factors revealed that W, N, and Zn could be combined to best effect, with the maximum value reaching 12.77 μmol·m−2·s−1. Compared with W×K×Zn and W×N×K, the combination of W×N×Zn reduces W by 9.2% and 6.3%, respectively, which indicates its suitability for use in the dry and water deficient planting environment in Xinjiang. (6) Within the 95% confidence level, when W is 258–294.75 mm, N is 33.44–39.51 kg/hm2, K is 53.82–69.39 kg/hm2, and Zn is 6.46–7.84 kg/hm2, the net photosynthetic rate reaches 11 μmol·m−2·s−1.

In the context of global warming and continuous high temperatures in the northern part of China during summer, the mortality rate of our main breeding species, Strongylocentrotus intermedius, reached 80% in 2020. How sea urchins respond to high temperatures is of great concern to academia and industry. In this study, we examined the antioxidant enzyme activities of different color tube-footed sea urchins under heat stress and compared their transcriptome and microRNA (miRNA) profiles using RNA-Seq. The results showed that the antioxidant enzyme activities of sea urchins were altered by thermal stress, and the changes in peroxidase activities of red tube-footed sea urchins were particularly significant. Investigations revealed that 1,079 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 11 DE miRNAs, and 104 “DE miRNA-DEG” pairs in total were detected in sea urchins under high temperature stress. Several mRNA and miRNAs were significantly changed (e.g. HSP70, DnaJ11, HYAL, CALR, miR-184-p5, miR-92a, miR-92c, and miR-124-p5), suggesting these genes and miRNAs exerted important functions in response to high temperature. At the transcriptional level, red tube-footed sea urchins were found to be more sensitive to high temperature and could respond to high temperature rapidly. DE miRNA-mRNA network showed that miR-92b-3p and PC-5p-7420 were the most corresponding miRNAs. Five mRNAs (DnaJ11, SAR1B, CALR, HYOU1, TUBA) may be potential markers of sea urchin response to high temperature. Possible interaction between miRNA-mRNA could be linked to protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum, Phagosomes, and calcium transport. This study provides a theoretical basis for the molecular mechanism of sea urchin heat tolerance and information that will aid in the selection and breeding of sea urchins with high temperature tolerance.

Strongylocentrotus intermedius is an economically valuable sea urchin species in China. However, its growth and survival are severely constrained by ocean warming and the hypoxia that often accompanies high water temperatures. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression in response to environmental change. In this study, high-throughput RNA sequencing was used to investigate changes in miRNA expression in S. intermedius under heat (25°C), hypoxia (2 mg/L O2), and combined heat and hypoxia stresses. Twelve small RNAs libraries were constructed and 17, 14, and 23 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified in the heat, hypoxia, and combined stress groups (P

Zhang, Cao et al. show that adiponectin is important for the selection and development of T lymphocytes within thymic nurse cell complexes. They find that regulatory T-cells (Treg) expressing adiponectin improve glucose metabolism in obese mice and promote central tolerance to inhibit mammary tumor growth. This study suggests adiponectin-expressing Treg as a promising therapeutic agent against obesity-related metabolic and cancer diseases.

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a clinical condition characterized by a failure to achieve optimal intestinal adaptation, which is necessary to maintain oral/enteral autonomy. At present, the treatment options for SBS are primarily intestinal replacement and rehabilitation. Intestinal rehabilitation mainly includes non-transplantation surgery and intestinal rehabilitation measures. In recent years, intestinal rehabilitation in patients with SBS using nutritional intestinal hormones, especially glucagon-like peptide-2 analogs, has made great progress. Many high-quality studies have provided evidence-based medical findings to support the development of clinical guidelines. This article reviews the latest research advancements regarding the use of glucagon-like peptide-2 analogs (teduglutide, glepaglutide, and apraglutide) in the treatment of SBS.

A periodic microstrip leaky wave antenna (MLWA) constructed of non-uniform aspect ratios microstrip patch periods is presented in this communication. Effective equations and simulations for the relevant antennas are used to obtain the propagation constants of the proposed antenna and design it. However, due to the presence of an open stop-band (OSB) in the broadside direction, double-side parallel-strip lines are then introduced in the antenna design. Truncating and interlacing the unit cells are developed to make them become impedance matched structures with the elimination of the OSB and the improvement of the radiation patterns. As a result, a new antenna configuration is created, and a prototype of the antenna is fabricated and measured. Continuous main beam scanning is observed from back-firing to end-firing with the operating frequency band of 4.8-18 GHz. Excellent agreements between the predicted and measured results are obtained. The measured peak gain of the prototype is 14 dBi, and the gain exceeds 6 dBi over the frequency band.

A multi-frequency patch antenna with double-sided parallel-strip line (DSPSL) periodic offset structure is proposed. The designed antenna consists of a simple rectangular patch as well as an embedded one-dimensional DSPSL periodic offset structure, which is employed to replace the traditional rectangular microstrip patch antenna. The periodic DSPSL structure is characterized leaky wave structure. After the periodic DSPSL structure is embedded, the resonance frequency of rectangular patch is offset, and the leaky wave characteristics can determine the number and position of new operating frequencies. As an application, a tri-band antenna is manufactured and these three operating frequencies can be calculated by the derived formulas studied in this communication. Experiment results suggest that the antenna can work at 4.28, 4.78, and 6.42 GHz, respectively. The results of simulated, measured and calculated show high consistency.

An approximate circuit model to analyze microstrip rampart line in open-stopband (OSB) suppressing is presented. The proposed antenna consists of periodically orthogonally bending microstrip transmission line, and the widths of two transversal lines are adjusted to match the input impedance of the unit cell to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line. The approximate circuit model is presented to analyze the behavior of the PLWA. The prototype antenna shows a seamless frequency scanning from 3.7 to 6.8 GHz with a scanning range of 118° from the backward to forward quadrant. The simulation and measured results have demonstrated that the OSB is successfully suppressed in the improved case.

A novel reconfigurable microstrip magnetic dipole antenna with switchable conical beams is proposed for aerial drone applications. The proposed antenna consists of three sub-cavities that are separated by two groups of shorting posts. To reconfigure the resonant cavities, a number of p-i-n diodes are connected to the shorting posts and are used as RF switches. The antenna is capable of resonating in three different operating states. The theoretical analysis shows that the three resonant modes produce conical beams with different elevation angles. The reconfigurable microstrip magnetic dipole antenna yields an overlapping bandwidth from 2.39 to 2.49 GHz for WLAN 2.4-GHz application and produces switchable conical beams for different operating states. The peak gain is 3.9, 4.0, and 4.3 dBi, respectively, when the elevation angle is 90°, 66°, and 54°. The conical beams have omnidirectional radiation patterns in the azimuth plane for the elevation angles. The proposed antenna shows promise for improving the transmission of aerial drones operating at varying altitudes.

To satisfy the requirements of the emerging wireless communication system, the simultaneous implementation of large frequency ratio and tight coupling is demanded for a dual-band coupler. But most of the existing dual-band coupler structures can only achieve one of them. In this paper, a new coupled line based dual-band coupler structure is proposed. The detailed theoretical analysis is conducted for different ranges of frequency ratio. It was shown that a wide frequency ratio from 1.4 to 11.7 can be achieved even for the designs which require a tight coupling of 3 dB. For higher flexibility, the same circuit topology is further investigated to implement the arbitrary power division ratios over the two bands. More importantly, the design parameters for the large frequency ratio and arbitrary power division ratio are found to be almost independent resulting in a simple design procedure. For demonstration purposes, a dual-band 3 dB coupler with a large frequency ratio of 6 is designed, fabricated and measured. Furthermore, another dual-band coupler with coupling coefficients of 3 dB and 6 dB at 2 GHz and 4 GHz is designed, fabricated and measured. Good agreement between simulation and measurement can be observed for both prototypes.

A periodic fixed-frequency staggered line leaky wave antenna (LWA) with wide-range beam scanning capacity is proposed in this paper. The reconfigurable antenna is based on a periodic staggered line LWA. The dispersion and Bloch characteristics of the periodic antenna is analyzed by the Macro Cell Method (MCM). The open-stop band (OSB) of the antenna can be suppressed effectively using the relationship between widths of oblique feeding lines and stubs. The reconfigurable characteristic is achieved by switches and microstrip lines between the edge gaps of each unit cell. A “supercell” is established by combining several reconfigurable unit cells, and the state is controlled by connecting or disconnecting the edge gaps of each unit cell using switches. Fixed-frequency beam-scanning capacity is implemented due to different propagation constants in different supercell states. The prototyped reconfigurable antenna can scan the beam between 130° and 54° at 4.5 GHz.

AimThis study aimed to explore factors may affect the length of hospital stay after laparoscopic appendectomy.MethodsThe data of 636 patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy between July 2016 and July 2019 in Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into group A (hospital stay ≤3 days, 348 patients) and group B (hospital stay >3 days, 288 patients) according to their hospital stay.Sex, age, disease onset time(time from onset to admission), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, peritonitis, comorbidities, and history of appendicitis; preoperative body temperature (T), white blood cell (WBC) count, percentage of neutrophilic granulocytes, and preoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) level; time from diagnosis to surgery. appendix diameter, appendicolith, and ascites in ultrasound or CT; surgical time(the surgery start time was the time of skin incision, and the end time was the time the anesthesia intubation was removed), intraoperative blood loss (the volume of blood infiltrating into a gauze was calculated by weighing the gauze infiltrated with water and calculating the volume of water), intraoperative adhesions or effusions, and stump closure methods, convert to open appendectomy, appendix pathology(perforated or gangrenous appendicitis were defined as complicated appendicitis and simple or suppurative appendicitis were defined as uncomplicated appendicitis) and antibiotic treatment schemes were analyzed.ResultsSignificant differences were detected between group A and group B in age (37.10 ± 13.52y vs 42.94 ± 15.57y, PConclusionsThe patient with appendicitis was older and had peritonitis, higher preoperative WBC count or CRP level, longer time from diagnosis to surgery, appendicolith, and complicated appendicitis, predicting a prolonged hospital stay. Shorter surgical time and the use of silk ligation for stump closure and cephalosporins + metronidazole for antibiotic treatment might be better choices to obtain a shorter hospital stay.

A backward to forward scanning periodic microstrip leaky wave antenna (MLWA) is presented. The proposed antenna consists of a long rectangular patch with alternating shorting pin on each side, which connects the antenna patch and the ground plane to form periodic shorting circuits. There are two pairs of slots alternately spaced on the long patch to suppress the open stop band (OSB). The OSB problem was initially reduced by optimizing the structural parameters, and the slotting on the patch further improved it. The measured radiation pattern in the y-z plane shows that the antenna can scan electronically from 142° to 39° toward the end-fire (+z direction) when the operating frequency changes from 6 GHz to 12.9 GHz. The measured gain is greater than 5 dBi over the entire operating band.

A miniaturized periodic microstrip leaky wave antenna (MLWA) with shorting pins is proposed in this paper. The suggested antenna consists of a number of stubs that are periodically placed on the side of the transmission line, with the outside edges of the stubs being all integrated with shorting pins. In comparison with the whole-width stubs MLWA, the proposed antenna has an advantage of effective reduction in antenna size for the similar beam-scanning capability. A series of simple and effective equations were obtained to calculate the propagation constant and determine the operating band of the antenna. The consistency of the calculated and measured propagation constant confirms the validity of the parameter equations. As demonstrated by experimental results, the main beam scans electronically and continuously from 145° to 61° in the y-z plane as the operating frequency changes from 5.7 GHz to 11.7 GHz.

Against the background of global warming and rising sea levels, the threat of typhoon disasters to marine engineering structures has become increasingly serious. Therefore, the research on the design standards of marine environmental elements has become an important topic. In this study, two-dimensional joint distributions of wave height and surge height, surge height and wind speed, and wave height and wind speed were constructed based on the Gumbel–Hougaard (G-H) Copula function according to the data of marine environmental elements under extreme sea conditions from Naozhou observation station in the sea waters of western Guangdong, and the Kendall return period is introduced. The joint return periods, co-occurrence return periods, and Kendall return periods of joint distributions were calculated, along with the latter’s corresponding design values of environmental elements. The results showed that the Kendall return periods and the corresponding design values are between two kinds of traditional return periods. After analysis, the conclusion is that the Kendall return period can reflect the occurrence regularity of marine hydrological events more accurately, and the design values of marine environmental elements calculated under this standard can reasonably lower the investment under the premise of ensuring structural safety. Therefore, the Kendall return period can serve as the new selection for marine engineering design and risk management.

A novel dual-band printed end-fired antenna with double-sided parallel-strip line (DSPSL) feeding is presented. The DSPSL acts in wideband transition using balanced transmission. Two different modes of the parasitic patches allow the antenna to work in different bands. The printed antenna is designed as a quasi-Yagi structure to achieve directivity in the lower band, and the parallel rectangular patches serve as the parasitic director. These patches act as radiation patches with end-fire direction characteristics in the upper band. The measured bandwidths were 18.3% for the lower frequency band (2.28–2.74 GHz) and 12.6% for the upper frequency band (5.46–6.2 GHz).

A multi-band monopole antenna with the improved inverted-trapezoidal coplanar waveguide (CPW) feeding is presented. The antenna has a simple planar structure, and occupies an area of 15 mm × 50 mm. The proposed antenna consists of an improved inverted-trapezoidal CPW-fed patch, and a series of monopole strips with different length. This monopole antenna utilizes the advantages of the CPW feeding to simplify the structure of the antenna into a single metallic level and achieve high antenna gain. The improved inverted-trapezoidal CPW-fed patch and a meander shorting strip lead to a better impedance matching result and multi-band operation. The experimental results of the proposed antenna are shown and discussed. The antenna generates two wide bands centered at about 900 and 2200 MHz to cover the GSM850/GSM900/DCS/PCS/UMTS/LTE2300/2500 bands and the 2.4 GHz WLAN operation. Meanwhile the antenna covers the 4 G bands of China Telecom (2370–2390 MHz/2635–2655 MHz), China Unicom (2300–2320 MHz/2555–2575 MHz) and China Mobile (1880–1900 MHz/2320–2370 MHz/2575–2635 MHz), too.

Abstract Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) increases the risk of death in patients with sepsis, and its major pathological change is the death of renal tubular cells. However, the mechanism of its occurrence remains unclear. Sepsis can lead to circadian dysregulation, and the rhythm gene NFIL3 has been reported to regulate lipid metabolism. There is compelling evidence that has demonstrated that lipid peroxidation can cause cellular ferroptosis. In this study, we established the in vitro and in vivo models of SA-AKI and confirmed the presence of ferroptosis of the renal tubular epithelial cells in SA-AKI. In addition, analysis of the GEO database showed that NFIL3 was highly expressed in sepsis patients and was highly correlated with the key molecule of ferroptosis, ACSL4. The in vitro and in vivo data suggested that NFIL3 was involved in ferroptosis and inflammation in SA-AKI. Subsequently, loss-of-function experiments revealed that NFIL3 knockdown attenuated ferroptosis and inflammation in renal tubular epithelial cells by downregulating ACSL4 expression, thus protecting SA-AKI. In conclusion, this study is the first to illustrate the involvement of the rhythm gene NFIL3 in SA-AKI, providing new insights and potential therapeutic targets for SA-AKI.

Abstract The permanent magnet eddy‐current coupler (PMEC) is a kind of non‐contact, stepless speed regulation device and has been widely used in transmissions. However, the current PMECs are coaxial and cannot achieve transmission and speed regulation in intersecting axes. An intersecting‐axis permanent magnet (PM) eddy current coupler (IPMEC), which consists of a disk‐type PM rotor and a barrel‐type conductive sheet (CS) rotor arranged with intersecting axes, is proposed. It generates eddy currents through the speed difference between the two rotors and uses the non‐contact electromagnetic force between the eddy currents and permanent magnets to transmit torque. During operation, the speed can be adjusted by altering the coupling area or air gap. A theoretical model of the IPMEC based on the equivalent magnetic circuit method is presented and verified by finite element simulation using ANSYS. Then, the effects of the pole number of the PMs, the radius of the CS rotor and the PM rotor on the performance were analysed, and the design method of the IPMEC was proposed. This study can be used to expand the application range of PMECs.

Cu–15Ni–8Sn alloy is commonly utilized in various applications because of its exceptional strength, elasticity, and softening resistance. Ti microalloying has been employed to enhance the mechanical properties of Cu–15Ni–8Sn alloy. By adding 0.5 wt% Ti, the peak-ageing tensile strength, microhardness, and elastic modulus of the Cu–15Ni–8Sn alloys reach 1401.3 MPa, 479.3 Hv, and 154.7 GPa, respectively, representing the greatest comprehensive performance reported in previous literature. Additionally, the Ti microalloying significantly enhances the softening resistance of Cu–15Ni–8Sn alloys. After ageing at 400 °C for 10 h, the tensile strength of the Cu–15Ni–8Sn-0.5Ti alloy decreases by only around 150 MPa, whereas the alloy without Ti addition experiences a decrease close to 350 MPa. Quantitative analysis reveals that the observed improvements can be attributed to the Ti microalloying inhibiting the dislocation annihilation and the formation of discontinuous precipitation during the ageing process, while simultaneously promoting the precipitation of Ni3Ti. This study provides a theoretical basis for preparing a high-performance Cu–15Ni–8Sn alloy by microalloying.