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Optometry continues to transform, driven by scope expansion and technological advances. While increased scope is consciously chosen by the profession's advocates as a goal and pursued with intent, technological change [...]

The article offers information on the Semantic Reader Project, a free interactive interface for reading research papers. It discusses the development and evaluation of user interfaces powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to support scholars reading research papers and improve their reading experience.

As it stands, relatively few patients are diagnosed with keratoconus in the modal eyecare practice, even though we now know the disease is far more prevalent than previously thought. New [...]

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a hospital physical therapy (PT) referral triggered by scores on a mobility assessment embedded in the electronic health record (EHR) and completed by nursing staff on hospital admission. Data Sources: EHR and billing data from 12 acute care hospitals in a western Pennsylvania health system (January 2017-February 2018) and 11 acute care hospitals in a northeastern Ohio health system (August 2019-July 2021). Study Design: We utilized a regression discontinuity design to compare patients admitted to PA hospitals with stroke who reached the mobility score threshold for an EHR-PT referral (treatment) to those who did not (control). Outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) and 30-day readmission or mortality. Control variables included demographics, insurance, income, and comorbidities. Hospital systems with EHR-PT referrals were also compared to those without (OH hospitals as alternative control). Subgroup analyses based on age were also conducted. Data Extraction: We identified adult patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of stroke and mobility assessments completed by nursing (n = 4859 in PA hospitals, n = 1749 in OH hospitals) who completed their inpatient stay. Principal Findings: In the PA hospitals, patients with EHR-PT referrals had an 11.4 percentage-point decrease in their 30-day readmission or mortality rates (95% CI -0.57, -0.01) relative to the control. This effect was not observed in the OH hospitals for 30-day readmission ([beta] = 0.01; 95% CI -0.25, 0.26). Adults over 60 years old with EHR-PT referrals in PA had a 26.2 percentage-point (95% CI -0.88, -0.19) decreased risk of readmission or mortality compared to those without. Unclear relationships exist between EHR-PT referrals and hospital LOS in PA. Conclusions: Health systems should consider methodologies to facilitate early acute care hospital PT referrals informed by mobility assessments. KEYWORDS functional status measurement, observational data/quasi-experiments, aging/elderly/geriatrics, health care organizations and systems, rehabilitation services What is known on this topic * The World Health Organization and The Joint Commission recommend early interdisciplinary rehabilitation, including physical therapy, in the acute care setting for patients following stroke * Patients after a stroke benefit from mobility, but hospitals experience difficulty keeping patients mobile throughout the hospital stay * Methods are needed to facilitate appropriate referral of patients to physical therapy in the acute care setting with mobility impairments What this study adds * After a stroke, patients with automated EHR-generated hospital physical therapy referrals based on mobility assessments had relatively reduced readmission or mortality rates compared to those without this referral * We found the effect of automated physical therapy referrals on readmission or mortality rates was larger in sicker patients, older adults, and older adults who returned home after a hospitalization * The relationship between acute care rehabilitation services and hospital performance metrics such as length of stay was unclear, probably because additional care comes with a cost of time, 1 | INTRODUCTION Older adults account for almost 50 percent of hospitalizations in U.S. acute care hospitals, excluding maternal and neonatal hospitalizations. (1) In 2018, 13.2 million of the 27.8 [...]

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.Among patients with ROP who had similar GA, patients who received IVB showed similar neurodevelopmental outcomes in comparison with patients who received laser photocoagulation when followed until the mean age of 8 years.

The Earth has undergone countiess changes, but our history bears witness to the wonders of biodiversity and the impact of human beings on this planet. We have moved from a […]

Plurality is a social movement to make technologies go beyond just saving time and more about delivering the promise of democracy. It shows the potential of internet development and technological […]

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) new Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Program has put a spotlight on the entire transportation system and how infrastructure can be leveraged to support mobility and [...]

Deaf community members experience many barriers to clear medical communications. Nurses can take specific actions to strengthen the relationship when interacting with members of the Deaf community and to help reduce miscommunications. Authors review the Third Grade Dolch List and its limitations, as well as the remaining Dolch List grade-linked vocabulary, which are both essential to improve communications with Deaf community members., One proven strategy for reducing health disparities is to increase linguistic access to health information and health care among people with low levels of English literacy (Gibney et al., 2020). [...]

We develop a novel metal contact approach using an antimony (Sb)–platinum (Pt) bilayer to mitigate Fermi-level pinning in 2D transition metal dichalcogenide channels. This strategy allows for control over the transport polarity in monolayer WSe2devices. By adjustment of the Sb interfacial layer thickness from 10 to 30 nm, the effective work function of the contact/WSe2interface can be tuned from 4.42 eV (p-type) to 4.19 eV (n-type), enabling selectable n-/p-FET operation in enhancement mode. The shift in effective work function is linked to Sb–Se bond formation and an emerging n-doping effect. This work demonstrates high-performance n- and p-FETs with a single WSe2channel through Sb–Pt contact modulation. After oxide encapsulation, the maximum current density at |VD| = 1 V reaches 170 μA/μm for p-FET and 165 μA/μm for n-FET. This approach shows promise for cost-effective CMOS transistor applications using a single channel material and metal contact scheme.

The current study aimed to explore sex-influenced risk factors for cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan. This cross-sectional study was a secondary analysis using a population-based design. We accessed and analyzed data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging survey of 2011. Participants were older adults aged ≥55 years living in non-indigenous townships. A total of 3,392 community-dwelling older adults were included. Results showed that the prevalence of cognitive impairment in females and males was 15.3% and 5.7%, respectively. Having a low educational level and being single (i.e., single, widowed, or divorced) were risk factors for cognitive impairment in both sexes. Males who had more than two chronic diseases had a higher risk of cognitive impairment. Self-reported hearing loss and depression increased risk of cognitive impairment in older females. Older age, lower educational level, and single marital status were associated with cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan. The effects of self-reported hearing loss, depression, and chronic disease on cognitive impairment were influenced by sex. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 48(6), 19–25.], Cognitive function refers to multiple mental processes, such as attention, memory, learning, language, decision making, executive function, and psychomotor processing (Papakostas, 2014). These abilities are indispensable for a healthy life. [...]

• A CALPHAD-aided strategy is implemented to design a high-performance Ni 45.9 Fe 23 Cr 23 V 4 Nb 3 Mo 1 B 0.1 (at.%) medium entropy alloy strengthened by D0 22 nanoparticles. • The newly designed alloy exhibits excellent mechanical properties at both room and intermediate temperatures, with ultimate tensile strength and fracture elongation of ∼845 MPa and 27.5 % at 700 °C, respectively, and ∼589 MPa and 24.3 % at 800 °C, respectively. • The superior combination of strength and ductility over a wide temperature range is primarily attributed to the high-density interactions of planar dislocation configurations (mainly stacking faults) and the shearable D0 22 nanoparticles. • Anomalous deformation twinning at 800 °C can be activated due to the localized stress concentration, the locally low stacking-fault energy, and especially the high diffusion rate at grain boundaries. Precipitation-strengthened medium/high-entropy alloys (MEAs/HEAs) have great potential for high-temperature applications. In this study, we designed a novel Ni 45.9 Fe 23 Cr 23 V 4 Nb 3 Mo 1 B 0.1 (at.%) MEA alloy, hardened by the D0 22 (Ni, Fe, Cr) 3 (Nb, V)-type nanoprecipitates, with an excellent strength-ductility combination from room to elevated temperatures. Specifically, the tensile strengths, at 700 and 800 °C, could be maintained as high as 845 and 589 MPa, respectively; meanwhile, elongations at all testing temperatures exceeded 25 % without any intermediate-temperature embrittlement. The temperature-dependent deformation mechanisms were unraveled using multi-scale characterizations, which involved profound slip planarities, such as stacking fault (SF) networks and deformation twins (DTs). Furthermore, the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) to initiate SFs in both face-centered cubic (FCC) and D0 22 phases was evaluated, and the possible reasons for the origin of anomalous DTs at 800 °C were discussed in detail. The main findings demonstrate that the shearable D0 22 nanoparticles can provide the FCC matrix with considerable dislocation storage capacity, reinforcing strain hardening at ambient and intermediate temperatures. This work provides fundamental insights into the controllable design and deformation mechanisms of high-performance D0 22 -strengthened MEAs/HEAs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

•All-range multistable liquid crystal wave plate controlled by voltage and frequency.•Phase retardation depends on the accumulation of silica nanoparticles on the substrate.•Electrophoretic motion of silica nanoparticles corresponds to the frequency of the AC pulse.•Applying RP-AC pulse increases phase retardation.•Normal AC pulse decreases phase retardation.

CsBi3I10perovskite films were synthesized by an antisolvent-assisted spin-coating method. The morphology and crystal structure of the CsBi3I10perovskite film were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, confirming its crystallinity and purity. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectra revealed two excitonic peaks peaked at 496 and 626 nm. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) was utilized to probe the exciton dynamics that reveal three dominant processes attributed to hot electron cooling, trapping to trap states, electron–hole recombination, and a possible dissociative pathway or high density of defect states coupled with the first excited electronic state or conduction band (CB), which lead an overall short-lived photoinduced charge carrier or exciton. A kinetic model was proposed to simulate and explain these processes that lead to an overall short exciton lifetime.

•RHDgenotyping enables D-positive patients with sickle cell disease and history of anti-D to return to D-positive blood transfusion.•RHDgenotyping patients and blood donors can conserve Rh-negative blood supplies.

IMPORTANCE: Patients with chronic migraine and medication overuse headaches (CM-MOH) represent a particularly burdened subpopulation. This trial provides first, to our knowledge, American Academy of Neurology class I evidence for a preventive therapy in CM-MOH. OBJECTIVE: To assess erenumab efficacy and safety in patients with nonopioid CM-MOH. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: This randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial took place at 67 centers in North America, Europe, and Australia from October 7, 2019, to November 2, 2022. This report reflects the primary analysis conducted in January 2023, using a database snapshot from December 1, 2022, which contains the complete dataset of the double-blind treatment period (DBTP). Participants included adults with CM-MOH who had 1 or more preventive treatment failure(s). There were 992 participants screened and 620 participants enrolled (584 in nonopioid cohort and 36 in opioid cohort) INTERVENTIONS: Erenumab, 70 mg, 140 mg, or placebo, once monthly for 24 weeks. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end point was MOH remission at month 6. Secondary end points included change from baseline in mean monthly acute headache medication days (AHMD) at month 6 and sustained MOH remission throughout the DBTP. Safety end points were adverse events and changes in vital signs. RESULTS: The primary analysis population included 584 participants in the nonopioid-treated cohort with a mean age of 44 years and 482 participants were female (82.5%). Baseline demographics and disease characteristics were balanced across groups. At month 6, 134 participants in the erenumab, 140 mg group (69.1%) (odds ratio [OR], 2.01; 95% CI, 1.33-3.05; P < .001 vs placebo) and 117 in the erenumab, 70 mg group (60.3%) (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.92-2.05; P = .13 vs placebo) achieved MOH remission vs 102 participants in the placebo group (52.6%). AHMD use was also reduced in the erenumab groups vs placebo. Least squares mean (standard error) change from baseline in average monthly AHMD was –9.4 (0.4) days in the erenumab, 140 mg group (difference from placebo, –2.7; 95% CI, –3.9 to –1.6; P < .001) and –7.8 (0.4) days in the erenumab, 70 mg group (difference from placebo, –1.2; 95% CI, –2.4 to –0.1; P = .03), vs –6.6 (0.4) days in the placebo group. MOH remission throughout the DBTP was sustained in 119 participants (61.3%,) 96 participants (49.5%), and 73 participants (37.6%) in the erenumab, 140 mg, 70 mg, and placebo groups, respectively. Adverse events were consistent with the known safety profile of erenumab. Treatment-emergent adverse events incidence in the combined erenumab group was 66.8% (259 participants; constipation 15.2% (59 participants) and COVID-19 13.9% (54 participants) were most common. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, monthly, 140 mg, erenumab injections safely and effectively achieved MOH remission in patients with nonopioid CM-MOH within 6 months. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03971071

The early identification of an individual's dementia risk is crucial for disease prevention and the design of insurance products in an aging society. This study aims to accurately predict the future incidence risk of dementia in individuals by leveraging the advantages of neural networks. This is, however, complicated by the high dimensionality and sparsity of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes when utilizing data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance, which includes individual profiles and medical records. Inspired by the click-through rate (CTR) problem in recommendation systems, where future user behavior is predicted based on their past consumption records, we address these challenges with a multimodal attention network for dementia (MAND), which incorporates an ICD code embedding layer and multihead self-attention to encode ICD codes and capture interactions among diseases. Additionally, we investigate the applicability of several CTR methods to the dementia prediction problem. MAND achieves an AUC of 0.9010, surpassing traditional CTR models and demonstrating its effectiveness. The highly flexible pipelined design allows for module replacement to meet specific requirements. Furthermore, the analysis of attention scores reveals diseases highly correlated with dementia, aligning with prior research and emphasizing the interpretability of the model. This research deepens our understanding of the diseases associated with dementia, and the accurate prediction provided can serve as an early warning for dementia occurrence, aiding in its prevention.

In hospitals, the deterioration of a patient's condition leading to death is often preceded by physiological abnormalities in the hours to days beforehand. Several risk‐scoring systems have been developed to identify patients at risk of major adverse events; however, such systems often exhibit low sensitivity and specificity. To identify the risk factors associated with in‐hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA), we conducted a retrospective cohort study at a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Four machine learning algorithms were employed to identify the factors most predictive of IHCA. The support vector machine model was discovered to be the most effective at predicting IHCA. The ten most critical physiological parameters at 8 h prior to the event were pulse rate, age, white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, body temperature, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, platelet count, and use of central nervous system‐active medication. Using these parameters, we can enhance early warning and rapid response systems in our hospital, potentially reducing the incidence of IHCA in clinical practice.

In this study, we introduce a novel potentiometric biosensor for acetylcholine detection that integrates molybdenum oxide, tungsten trioxide nanoparticles, and dual enzymes: acetylcholinesterase and choline oxidase. This biosensor represents a new application of metal oxides in acetylcholine detection, showcasing the hydrothermal synthesis of tungsten trioxide nanoparticles. Their successful synthesis was confirmed via X-ray diffraction. The molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) film was deposited on a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) through radio frequency sputtering and further modified with tungsten trioxide nanoparticles, acetylcholinesterase, and choline oxidase to significantly enhance the biosensor’s performance, exhibiting high sensitivity, rapid response, high selectivity, and low detection limit. The surface and thickness were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Experimental results demonstrate that the modified acetylcholine biosensor exhibits an exceptional sensitivity of 60.79 mV/decade across a concentration range of 0.01– $100~\mu $ M.

Background: While single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) has gained more popularity in recent years, its application to elderly patients needs further evaluation. Few SILC studies regarded this rapidly growing vulnerable population, and single-incision laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (SILCBDE) was never mentioned. We conducted an observational study of 146 routine SILCBDE to address this issue. Methods: One hundred forty-six consecutive patients underwent SILCBDE with concomitant cholecystectomies during a period of 6 years (July 2012–June 2016 and July 2018–July 2020). Forty patients with an age of 65 years or older were the study target. Characteristics and operative outcomes were compared with the remaining 106 younger patients by retrospective chart review. The primary outcomes include complications and mortality, while the secondary outcomes contain intraoperative blood loss, operative time, procedural conversions, postoperative length of hospital stay, and bile duct stone recurrence. Results: There was no mortality. The bile duct stone clearance rate was 98.6%. The elderly group had higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores, higher comorbidity rate, higher acute cholangitis rate, lower completion intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) rate, longer operative time, more blood loss, longer postoperative hospital stay (p< .001), longer total hospital stay (p< .001), higher procedural conversion rate (p< .05), higher complication rate (p< .001), and the exclusive open conversion (2.5%). The difference in complications derived from Clavien–Dindo grade I. Conclusion: Routine SILCBDE with concomitant cholecystectomy by experienced surgeons is safe and efficacious for elderly patients as for younger patients. Randomized controlled trials are anticipated.

Objectives: The impact of exclusive human milk diet (EHMD) on postnatal growth remains controversial. This study aims to investigate the association between EHMD and short-term growth. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study aims to compare growth between the EHMD and non-EHMD groups among infants <32 weeks of gestation. Primary outcomes include weight, length, and head circumference growth trajectories between birth and 34 weeks postmenstrual age. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed. Results: An EHMD was independently associated with poorer length growth, especially in infants born at ≥28 weeks’ gestation or those exposed to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. While initiating fortification at <26 kcal/oz on an EHMD showed inferior growth, initiating fortification at ≥26 kcal/oz was associated with improved weight growth, and similar length and head circumference growth when compared to the non-EHMD group. Conclusions: An EHMD with initial fortification at ≥26 kcal/oz may be implemented to avoid bovine milk exposure while sustaining comparable growth.

This study discusses the application of the substrate voltage during the recovery time with the dynamic on-resistance (dynamic ${R}_{\text {on}}$ ) method to extract the deep trap states in the buffer layer after the hard-switching stress in p-GaN high electron mobility transistors (p-GaN HEMTs). This method will be more suitable for the detection of the deep trap states where the carriers are difficult to de-trap in the buffer layer. Then, a hard switching stress condition is applied to the device and the degradation is caused by the mechanism of the hot electron effect and the impact ionization. The generated electrons and holes will trap into the buffer layer in the drift region at the gate edge near the drain side and the AlGaN layer under the gate, respectively. Moreover, through the novel of the dynamic ${R}_{\text {on}}$ method with the substrate voltage applied, the deep trap states in the buffer can be extracted.

We presented a rare case of drug-induced thrombotic microangiopathy (DI-TMA) following chemotherapy with the regimen of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) in a patient with malignant ovarian germ cell tumor (MOGCT). The objective is to highlight the difficulty in diagnosing and treating DI-TMA associated with BEP chemotherapy.

The Turkey–Syria earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023, have caused significant human casualties and economic damage. Emergency services require quick and accurate assessments of widespread building damage in affected areas. This can be facilitated by using remote sensing methods, specifically all-day and all-weather Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). In this study, we aimed to improve the detection of building anomalies in earthquake-affected areas using SAR images. To achieve this, we employed Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) to train coherence time series and predict co-seismic coherence. This approach allowed us to generate a Damage Proxy Map (DPM) for building damage assessment. The results of our study indicated that the estimated proportion of building damage in Kahramanmaras was approximately 24.08%. These findings were consistent with the actual damage observed in the field. Moreover, when utilizing the mean and standard deviation of coherence time series, our method achieved higher accuracy (0.761) and a lower false alarm rate (0.136) compared to directly using coherence with only two views of SAR data. Overall, our study demonstrates that this method provides an accurate and reliable approach for post-earthquake building damage assessment.

Organic conjugated polymer dots (Pdots) are considered promising photocatalysts for solar-driven hydrogen production. However, the impact of molecular weight on their photocatalytic activity remains unexplored. In this study, four thiophene-quinoxaline (PTQ)-based Pdots (D-A system) with tunable molecular weights were fabricated to elucidate the effects of molecular weight on Pdot photocatalytic activity. These Pdots serve as highly efficient and stable photocatalysts for visible-light-driven hydrogen generation in a solvent-free organic system, which was achieved for the first time. Low-molecular-weight Pdots exhibited minimal aggregation, small particle sizes, uniform morphology, enhanced charge transfer capability, and superior photocatalytic activity with remarkable photostability. Notably, L-PTQ10 and L-PTQ11 demonstrated exceptional hydrogen evolution rates of 15,807 and 10,411 μmol g−¹ h−¹, respectively, when coupled with a Pt cocatalyst. The findings from our DFT and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations strongly support our hypothesis, highlighting the use of low-molecular-weight PTQ-based Pdots as a promising strategy to develop efficient and stable photocatalysts for solar-driven hydrogen production.

Na4Fe3(PO4)2(P2O7) (NFPP) with the advantages of low cost and stable crystal structure has been considered a highly promising cathode candidate for sodium-ion batteries. However, limited by its undesirable intrinsic conductivity, it still suffers from unsatisfactory electrochemical performance. Herein, we synthesized NFPP/C composites with porous structure (p-NFPP) by a facile self-assembly strategy. Its well-developed pore structure can effectively reduce the ion diffusion path, accelerate electrolyte infiltration and accommodate volume expansion during the charge/discharge process. In addition, in-situX-ray diffraction revealed the superior structural stability of p-NFPP. They enable a high reversible capacity (104.8 mAh g−1), and good rate performance (75.0 mAh g−1at 10 A g−1), and excellent cycling stability (a reversible capacity of 85.1 mAh g−1after 2000 cycles). More importantly, the p-NFPP realizes a stable operation in a wide temperature range of 55°C to −10°C. This work highlights morphology engineering as a powerful strategy to boost the all-climate sodium storage performance of electrode materials.

The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway is crucial for tumor immunity, leading to the exploration of STING agonists as potential immunotherapy adjuvants. However, their clinical application faces obstacles including poor pharmacokinetics, transient activation, and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Addressing these limitations, our study aims to develop an injectable silk fibroin hydrogel-based in situ vaccine. It incorporates a nanoscale STING agonist, an immunogenic cell death (ICD) inducer, and an immunomodulator to ensure their controlled and sustained release. cGAMP nanoparticles (cGAMPnps) with a core–shell structure ensure optimal delivery of cGAMP to dendritic cells (DCs), thereby activating the STING pathway and fostering DC maturation. ICD-associated damage-associated molecular patterns amplify and prolong STING activation via enhanced type I IFN and other inflammatory pathways, along with delayed degradation of cGAMP and STING. Furthermore, the STING-driven vascular normalization by cGAMPnps and ICD, in conjunction with immunomodulators like antiprogrammed cell death protein 1 antibody (anti-PD-1 Ab) or OX40 ligand (OX40L), effectively remodels the immunosuppressive TME. This in situ gel vaccine, when used independently or with surgery as neoadjuvant/adjuvant immunotherapy, enhances DC and CD8+T-cell activation, suppressing tumor progression and recurrence across various immunologically cold tumor models. It revolutionizes the application of STING agonists in cancer immunotherapy, offering substantial promise for improving outcomes across a broad spectrum of malignancies.

Chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonic acid (F-53B), a commonly utilized alternative for perfluorooctane sulfonate, was detected in pregnant women and cord blood recently. However, the lack of detailed toxicokinetic information poses a significant challenge in assessing the human risk assessment for F-53B exposure. Our study aimed to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for pregnant mice, based on toxicokinetic experiments, and extrapolating it to humans. Pregnant mice were administered 80 μg/kg F-53B orally and intravenously on gestational day 13. F-53B concentrations in biological samples were analyzed via ultraperformance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Results showed the highest F-53B accumulation in the brain, followed by the placenta, amniotic fluid, and liver in fetal mice. These toxicokinetic data were applied to F-53B PBPK model development and evaluation, and Monte Carlo simulations were used to characterize the variability and uncertainty in the human population. Most of the predictive values were within a 2-fold range of experimental data (>72%) and had a coefficient of determination (R2) greater than 0.68. The developed mouse model was then extrapolated to the human and evaluated with human biomonitoring data. Our study provides an important step toward improving the understanding of toxicokinetics of F-53B and enhancing the quantitative risk assessments in sensitive populations, particularly in pregnant women and fetuses.

• A Co 42 Cr 20 Ni 30 Ti 4 Al 4 quinary medium entropy alloy (MEA) with excellent mechanical properties over a wide temperature ranging from 77 to 873 K. • Post heat treatment leads to refinement of grains and heterogeneous precipitation of L1 2 phase. • Stacking faults mediated deformation behavior of the SLMed Co 42 Cr 20 Ni 30 Ti 4 Al 4 MEA. Modern engineering has long been in demand for high-performance additive manufactured materials for harsh working conditions. The idea of high entropy alloy (HEA), medium entropy alloy (MEA), and multi-principal-element alloy (MPEA) provides a new way for alloy design. In this work, we develop a Co 42 Cr 20 Ni 30 Ti 4 Al 4 quinary MEA which exhibits a superiority of mechanical properties over a wide temperature ranging from 77 to 873 K via selective laser melting (SLM) and post-heat treatment. The present MEA achieves an excellent ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1586 MPa with a total elongation (TE) of 22.7 % at 298 K, a UTS of 1944 MPa with a TE of 22.6 % at 77 K, and a UTS of 1147 MPa with a TE of 9.1 % at 873 K. The excellent mechanical properties stem from the microstructures composed of partially refined grains and heterogeneously precipitated L1 2 phase due to the concurrence of recrystallization and precipitation. The grain boundary hardening, precipitation hardening, and dislocation hardening contribute to the high YS at 298 and 77 K. Interactions of nano-spaced stacking faults (SFs) including SFs networks, Lomer–Cottrell locks (L–C locks), and anti-phase boundaries (APBs) induced by the shearing of L1 2 phase are responsible for the high strain hardening rate and plasticity at 77 K. Our work provides a new insight for the incorporation of precipitation hardening and additive manufacturing technology, paving the avenue for the development of high-performance structural materials. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reactive multilayer is a nanoscale interlaced material that is able to release stored energy with proper ignition sources. In this study, the equiatomic Ni/Si RMLs with bilayer thicknesses of 13, 17, 28, 31, 52, 86, 138, 173, and 291 nm were fabricated by magnetron sputtering. The free-standing Ni/Si RMLs were ignited by an infrared LASER, and two-step self-propagation wavefronts were observed. When the bilayer thickness was less than 90 nm, the major products were verified as NiSi2, accompanied by the Ni2Si and amorphous Ni/Si mixture. In contrast, when the bilayer thickness exceeded 130 nm, the primary products were identified as NiSi along with the amorphous Ni/Si mixture. The formation of a single-phase silicide across a large area induces potential applications. A new one-dimensional model was constructed to understand the two-step self-propagation behaviors, simultaneous Ni/Si interdiffusion, and underlying heat loss rate. In our simulation model, the self-propagation velocity depends on the bilayer thickness. The premixed thickness dominates the reaction mechanism because it represents the energy loss during fabrication. When the premixed thickness was low, we observed the immediate ignition of the second wavefront after the ignition of the first wavefront. On the other hand, we observed the ignition and propagation of the first wavefront with high premixed thickness. The two critical temperatures roughly range from 450 to 500 K and from 850 to 1000 K.

ABSTRACTThe comparisons among 126 14C dates of Carexsamples including separated leaf and root parts with acid (A)-treatment and acid-base-acid (ABA)-treatment, and 48 published 14C dates of bulk peat plants on a 92-cm core from Jinchuan Mire in NE China, indicate old carbon influence (OCI) on the 14C dates. The OCI varies with plant species, pretreatment and peat depth. In vascular peat plants such as Carex, humin fractions (remains after ABA treatment) and humic acids are representative of the original plant precursor, while fulvic acids are regarded as the secondary mobile product which should be removed for 14C dating. ABA- treatment removes both fulvic acids and humic acids, whereas A-treatment gets rid of only fulvic acids. Carexroots uptake more dissolved CO2in peat water. Carexleaves may use more CO2(involving degassing CO2) above the peat surface. By removing humic acids throughout ABA treatment, the OCI may vary differently over depth (time). ABA treatment cannot eliminate the fixed OCI in humin fractions of vascular peat plants, instead, this treatment may enhance OCI by removing humic acid which may represent the true age of the plants. In addition, Bacon model results on this core could not show rapid changes in accumulation rate.

ABSTRACTSeven accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates (7260±106∼7607±95 BP averaged 7444±103 BP) on a giant oyster shell, collected from an ancient shore of the Taipei Basin, are similar to the LSC (liquid scintillation counting) 14C age (7260±46 BP) of a grass sample inside the shell. The calibrated 14C ages of the C. gigasby Marine20 are 7490±240∼7805±230 cal BP (average 7660±96 cal BP), generally agreed with the calibrated LSC 14C ages of the grass and the oyster shell. Combined with other 14C ages of shoreline samples in the Taipei Basin, it is evident that sea level rose from 8600 to 7600 cal BP and reached a stand higher than modern sea level. During this marine transgression, the sedimentation rate along the shoreline was very high because 14C dating was not able to detect age differences for 4–5 m thick sediment sequences. Sixty-nine analyses of δ18O and δ13C from the oldest part of the shell exhibit clear seasonal cycles, with a 4-year period of growth in the 5.5-cm section. According to the δ18O values, the ancient oyster grew in a warmer-than-present shoreline environment, suggesting that the current absence of the giant oyster in Taiwan is not due to warming conditions.

Silica encapsulation under ambient conditions is commonly used to shield protein-based nanosystems from chemical stress. However, encapsulation-induced photo- and structural instabilities at elevated temperatures have been overlooked. Using bovine serum albumin-capped fluorescent gold nanoclusters (BSA–AuNCs) as a model, we demonstrated that chaperone/polymer layer-by-layer complexation can stabilize the template to resist encapsulation-induced fragmentation/reorganization and emission increases at 37 °C or higher temperatures. We first wrapped BSA–AuNCs with α-crystallin chaperones (α-Crys) to gain the highest thermal stability at a 1:50 molar ratio and then enfolded BSA–AuNC/α-Crys with thermoresponsive poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) at 60 °C to shield silica interaction and increase the chaperone–client protein accessibility. The resulting BSA–AuNC/α-Crys/PNIPAM (BαP) was encapsulated by a sol–gel process to yield BαP–Si (∼80 ± 4.5 nm), which exhibited excellent structural integrity and photostability against chemical and thermal stresses. Moreover, targeted BαP–Si demonstrated prolonged fluorescence stability for cancer cell imaging. This template stabilization strategy for silica encapsulation is biocompatible and applicable to other protein-based nanosystems.

Undesired coupling to the surrounding environment destroys long-range correlations in quantum processors and hinders coherent evolution in the nominally available computational space. This noise is an outstanding challenge when leveraging the computation power of near-term quantum processors1. It has been shown that benchmarking random circuit sampling with cross-entropy benchmarking can provide an estimate of the effective size of the Hilbert space coherently available2–8. Nevertheless, quantum algorithms’ outputs can be trivialized by noise, making them susceptible to classical computation spoofing. Here, by implementing an algorithm for random circuit sampling, we demonstrate experimentally that two phase transitions are observable with cross-entropy benchmarking, which we explain theoretically with a statistical model. The first is a dynamical transition as a function of the number of cycles and is the continuation of the anti-concentration point in the noiseless case. The second is a quantum phase transition controlled by the error per cycle; to identify it analytically and experimentally, we create a weak-link model, which allows us to vary the strength of the noise versus coherent evolution. Furthermore, by presenting a random circuit sampling experiment in the weak-noise phase with 67 qubits at 32 cycles, we demonstrate that the computational cost of our experiment is beyond the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers. Our experimental and theoretical work establishes the existence of transitions to a stable, computationally complex phase that is reachable with current quantum processors.

Precedential evidence ascertaining the overexpression of LSD1 and HDACs in colorectal cancer spurred us to design a series of dual LSD1-HDAC inhibitors. Capitalizing on the modular nature of the three-component HDAC inhibitory model, tranylcypromine as a surface recognition motif was appended to zinc-binding motifs via diverse linkers. A compendium of hydroxamic acids was generated and evaluated for in vitrocytotoxicity against HCT-116 cells (human colorectal cancer cell lines). The most potent cell growth inhibitor 2(GI50= 0.495 μMm HCT-116 cells) shows promising anticancer effects by reducing colony formation and inducing cell cycle arrest in HCT-116 cells. It exhibits preferential inhibition of HDAC6, along with potent inhibition of LSD1 compared to standard inhibitors. Moreover, Compound 2upregulates acetyl-tubulin, acetyl-histone H3, and H3K4me2, indicative of LSD1 and HDAC inhibition. In vivo, it demonstrates significant antitumor activity against colorectal cancer, better than irinotecan, and effectively inhibits growth in patient-derived CRC organoids.

The 2x-thru de-embedding has emerged as an attractive alternative to the classical TRL for S parameter measurement of printed circuit board and packaging devices, mainly due to its simplicity that only one THRU standard suffices to fully characterize the test fixtures over broad bandwidth. The S parameters after 2x-thru de-embedding are referenced to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line in THRU, and accurate estimation of this reference impedance (Zref) is important for subsequent renormalization and time-domain simulation. In 2x-thru literature, only constant estimate of Zref, mostly based on the time-domain reflectometry (TDR), has been reported. However, the characteristic impedance of a transmission line is frequency dependent, and the TDR may not be flat for high conductor-loss lines. In this article, we analytically show that the TDR is an increasing function in time, and propose an innovative method to estimate Zref by fitting the TDR with a causal impedance model. Simulation and measurement examples are provided to validate the proposed theory and technique, and to show the importance of using accurate Zref for renormalization in 2x-thru de-embedding.

Aquaculture is a crucial and rapidly expanding industry in global food production. Fisheries are also an essential socio-economic activity, providing abundant resources and remarkable prospects. However, due to the deteriorating ecological environment, aquatic animals are often exposed to traumatic conditions and are susceptible to bacterial infections that pose significant challenges for aquaculture production. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the past has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens and sudden outbreaks of infectious diseases, resulting in serious economic losses. Moreover, the use of expensive chemotherapeutic drugs and antibiotics has negative impacts on aquatic environments. Therefore, it is increasingly important to adopt alternative natural agents, such as probiotics and their metabolites, to enhance healthy fish production. Probiotics are microorganisms that have numerous beneficial effects on their hosts. They are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and cost-effective. This review specifically focuses on the use of Bacillussp. as probiotics to promote healthy tilapia production in the aquatic sector, while also examining their interactions with the immune system and gut micro-biota. The information presented in this review can guide future research and promote effective and healthy tilapia culture production.

Supply chain finance (SCF) stems from supply chain management (SCM), where firms deploy various approaches (e.g., inventory management and working capital management) to maximize firm performance. Firms utilize working capital management (WCM) to optimize their operating cash to create firm value. This study focuses on how firms could deploy the WCM approach through receivables, inventories, and payables to maximize long-term and short-term firm performance. It is worth noting that the components in WCM serve different roles in firm performance where shareholders value shorter receivable periods to avoid customer default risk, but firms could benefit from long receivable periods for short-term operation performance. In addition, governments from various countries implemented different policies to reduce adverse economic impacts of the pandemic. The sample includes publicly listed manufacturing companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Australia where different levels of government response have been observed. By using Ordinal Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis and adopting government policy as moderator, the results show that the government actions during the pandemic serve as the mitigating effect in the manufacturing supply chain. The analyses also show that the government policies implemented have successfully supported supply chain resilience during pandemic, especially to loss-making firms from decreased firm value.

This study proposes a charge-mode neural stimulator for electrical stimulation systems that utilizes a capacitor-reuse technique with a residual charge detector and achieves active charge balancing simultaneously. The design is mainly used for epilepsy suppression systems to achieve real-time symptom relief during seizures. A charge-mode stimulator is adopted in consideration of the complexity of circuit design, the high voltage tolerance of transistors, and system integration requirements in the future. The residual charge detector allows users to understand the current stimulus situation, enabling them to make optimal adjustments to the stimulation parameters. On the basis of the information on actual stimulation charge, active charge balancing can effectively prevent the accumulation of mismatched charges on electrode impedance. The capacitor- and phase-reuse techniques help realize high integration of the overall stimulator circuit in consideration of the commonality of the use of a capacitor and charging/discharging phase in the stimulation circuit and charge detector. The proposed charge-mode neural stimulator is implemented in a TSMC 0.18 µm 1P6M CMOS process with a core area of 0.2127 mm2. Measurement results demonstrate the accuracy of the stimulation’s functionality and the programmable stimulus parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed charge-mode neural stimulator for epileptic seizure suppression is verified through animal experiments.

This paper considers the Gaussian multiple access wiretap channel (GMAC-WT) with selfish transmitters, i.e., who are each solely interested in maximizing their individual secrecy rate. The question then arises as to whether selfish transmitters can increase their individual secrecy rate by participating in a collective, i.e, multiple access, protocol instead of operating on their own. If yes, the question arises whether there is a protocol that satisfies all the participating transmitters simultaneously, in the sense that no transmitter has an incentive to deviate from the protocol. Utilizing coalitional game theory, these questions are addressed for the degraded GMAC-WT with an arbitrary number of transmitters and for the non-degraded GMAC-WT with two transmitters. In particular, for the degraded GMAC-WT, cooperation is shown to be in the best interest of all transmitters, and the existence of protocols that incentivize all transmitters to participate is established. Furthermore, a unique, fair, stable, and achievable secrecy rate allocation is determined. For the non-degraded GMAC-WT, depending on the channel parameters, there are cases where cooperation is not in the best interest of all transmitters, and cases where it is. In the latter cases, a unique, fair, stable, and achievable secrecy rate allocation is determined.

Research on lean, energy-deficient athletic and military cohorts has broadened the concept of the Female Athlete Triad into the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) syndrome. REDs represents a spectrum of abnormalities induced by low energy availability (LEA), which serves as the underlying cause of all symptoms described within the REDs concept, affecting exercising populations of either biological sex. Both short- and long-term LEA, in conjunction with other moderating factors, may produce a multitude of maladaptive changes that impair various physiological systems and adversely affect health, well-being, and sport performance. Consequently, the comprehensive definition of REDs encompasses a broad spectrum of physiological sequelae and adverse clinical outcomes related to LEA, such as neuroendocrine, bone, immune, and hematological effects, ultimately resulting in compromised health and performance. In this review, we discuss the pathophysiology of REDs and associated disorders. We briefly examine current treatment recommendations for REDs, primarily focusing on nonpharmacological, behavioral, and lifestyle modifications that target its underlying cause-energy deficit. We also discuss treatment approaches aimed at managing symptoms, such as menstrual dysfunction and bone stress injuries, and explore potential novel treatments that target the underlying physiology, emphasizing the roles of leptin and the activin-follistatin-inhibin axis, the roles of which remain to be fully elucidated, in the pathophysiology and management of REDs.In the near future, novel therapies leveraging our emerging understanding of molecules and physiological axes underlying energy availability or lack thereof may restore LEA-related abnormalities, thus preventing and/or treating REDs-related health complications, such as stress fractures, and improving performance.Graphical Abstract

Selective chlorination and volatilization is an effective approach for element separation in non-ferrous metallurgical processes, and has also been used for the separation of iron oxide and copper oxide within steel industry. In this work, to determine and optimize the conditions for copper and iron separation in FeO-Cu2O-CaCl2system, a series of orthogonal experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of reaction temperature, holding time, mole ratio of CaCl2to Cu2O (n(CaCl2)/n(Cu2O)), and gas flow rate on the separation efficiency. Results demonstrated that both reaction temperature and n(CaCl2)/n(Cu2O) take significant effects on the final copper volatilization ratio. In contrast, the gas flow rate and holding time shows a negligible influence on the effect of separation between copper and iron. By increasing the reaction temperature and n(CaCl2)/n(Cu2O), the copper volatilization ratio significantly increases, while the iron volatilization ratio remains at a low level. When the reaction temperature was 1273 K, the holding time was 90 min, n(CaCl2)/n(Cu2O) was 2.0, and the gas flow rate was 100 mL·min−1, the copper volatilization ratio reached 51.08 % and the iron volatilization ratio was only 6.52 %. The chlorination reaction rate of copper was controlled by chemical reaction and the apparent activation energyEawas 57.17 kJ/mol.

Geopolymers (GPs) have been effectively used as an alternative to traditional calcium-based stabilizers for treating problematic expansive soils over the last decade. However, the high cost of precursors and limited availability of traditionally manufactured GPs pose significant challenges for commercial implementation. Utilizing locally available sources to manufacture GPs could address such limitations and promote sustainable development. A research study was designed and implemented to evaluate the efficacy of locally available calcined clay-based GP stabilizers to improve the performance of expansive soils and the results were compared with lime-treated and untreated soils. An array of laboratory studies was conducted using two natural clayey soils and two types of GPs to assess improvements in several engineering properties, including unconfined compressive strength before and after capillary soaking, resilient moduli, and moisture-induced strains. Supplemental microstructural studies using X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscope imaging were conducted to identify the mineralogical changes and detect the precipitation of new reaction products. The engineering studies demonstrated that the application of GP significantly enhanced the strength, durability, and stiffness while reducing the swelling and shrinkage strains in the GP-treated soils. Microstructural analysis revealed that the precipitated GP gels effectively coated the soil particles and provided a uniformly bonded GP–soil matrix that enhanced the engineering performance. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive understanding with respect to the potential of using locally available calcined clay-based GPs as a sustainable and durable alternative in enhancing the engineering properties of expansive soils for the long-term performance of transportation infrastructures.

Integrating structural colors and conductivity into aqueous inks has the potential to revolutionize wearable electronics, providing flexibility, sustainability, and artistic appeal to electronic components. This study aims to introduce bioinspired color engineering to conductive aqueous inks. Our self-assembly approach involves mixing poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) with sulfonic acid-modified polystyrene (sPS) colloids to generate non-iridescent structural colors in the inks. This spontaneous structural coloration occurs because PEDOT:PSS and sPS colloids can self-assemble into core–shell structures and reversibly cluster into photonic aggregates of maximally random jammed packing within the aqueous environment, as demonstrated by small-angle X-ray scattering. Dissipative particle dynamics simulation confirms that the self-assembly aggregation of PEDOT:PSS chains and sPS colloids can be manipulated by the polymer–colloid interactions. Utilizing the finite-difference time-domain method, we demonstrate that the photonic aggregates of the core–shell colloids achieve close to maximum jammed packing, making them suitable for producing vivid structural colors. These versatile conductive inks offer adjustable color saturation and conductivity, with conductivity levels reaching 36 S cm–1through the addition of polyethylene glycol oligomer, while enhanced water resistance and mechanical stability are achieved by doping with a cross-linker, poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether. With these unique features, the inks can create flexible, patterned circuits through processes like coating, writing, and dyeing on large areas, providing eco-friendly, visually appealing colors for customizable, stylish, comfortable, and wearable electronic devices.

Bedaquiline, delamanid and fluoroquinolones are associated with increased QTcF. Whether clofazimine is associated with QTcF prolongation is less clear.