Search

Weighted set sampling has been proven essential for generating discrete numbers based on their weights and found broad applications in recommendation systems. The extension of this method, known as weighted range set sampling (WRSS), specifies a query range and applies weighted set sampling to the data within that range. With the proliferation of cloud computing, outsourcing encrypted data and data processing tasks to cloud servers has become a common practice to overcome data storage and processing challenges while protecting data privacy. Existing studies have proposed many privacy-preserving solutions for various customized query and data processing tasks, none have specifically addressed privacy-preserving WRSS. In response to this gap, our paper introduces an efficient and privacy-preserving WRSS scheme. We begin by leveraging the three-party secret sharing (TPSS) scheme as a foundation to design an enhanced three-party secret sharing (eTPSS) scheme with superior storage and computational efficiency. Building upon the eTPSS scheme, we introduce a series of private algorithms to safeguard WRSS privacy. Our scheme integrates the use of a binary search tree and the alias method for WRSS, ensuring privacy through eTPSS-based private algorithms. A thorough security analysis under the simulation-based real/ideal worlds model showcases the effectiveness of our proposed scheme. The proposed scheme's efficiency has been substantiated through extensive experiments, demonstrating that our scheme marks a significant advancement in addressing the challenges posed by privacy-preserving WRSS.

Acute myeloid leukemia is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. The epigenetic molecule BRD4 is a member of the bromodomain and extra-terminal family and plays an important role in the occurrence and development of tumors. BRD4 is essential for oncogene expression, including c-Myc. So, BRD4 inhibition is considered as an effective strategy for the treatment of hematological and solid malignancies. In recent years, several small molecule inhibitors targeting BRD4 have been developed. However, these inhibitors had excessive hematological toxicity due to the lack of specific binding to BD1 and BD2 domains of BRD4, while other inhibitors with high selectivity lose their antitumor efficacy. To balance the relationship between efficacy and safety, we developed EP-0108A, a BRD4 inhibitor with moderate selectivity for the BD2 domain over BD1 domain of BRD4. Our results show that EP-0108A has antitumor effects in MV4-11 and Kasumi-1 cell line-derived xenograft mouse models without significant effects on heart or breathing safe in rats and Beagle dogs. In repeated dose toxicity studies, EP-0108A showed reversible hematological and gastrointestinal toxicity in both rats and dogs. Our findings indicate that EP-0108A has the potential to be a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of cancer.

Purpose: To explore the clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma (GHPA) patients with pediatric-onset, so as to facilitate clinical management. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out between 102 pediatric-onset GHPA patients admitted to our hospital from January 2013 to June 2022 and 204 adult-onset GHPA patients who were randomly matched. Results: GHPA with pediatric-onset was predominantly male, associated with higher proportion of genetic syndromes, longer course, and delayed diagnosis. Clinical symptoms of visual field defects and menstrual abnormality were more common. The pediatric-onset group exhibited higher growth hormone (GH) nadir during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), higher rates of hyperprolactinemia, larger maximum diameter of adenoma, and higher rates of optic chiasm compression, suprasellar invasion, and pituitary apoplexy. Hypertension, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) were more common in the adult-onset group. Echocardiography results were similar between the two groups. The pediatric-onset group owned significantly higher treatment scores and proportions of multimodal therapy modality, more surgical complications, and a higher proportion of ki67 ≥ 3%. There was no significant difference in the final cure rate, but male patients with adult-onset had a worse prognosis. The recurrence rate was also similar between two groups. Hypopituitarism was more prevalent in the pediatric-onset group, while the adult-onset group had a higher incidence of other tumors. Conclusion: Pediatric-onset GHPA patients exhibit distinct clinical characteristics compared to adult-onset patients. Multimodal therapy modalities could help to achieve a cure rate comparable to that of adult-onset patients.

This letter proposes a metasurface capable of achieving a –20 dB radar cross section reduction (RCSR) with a relative bandwidth of 123.6%. First, the RCSR performance achieved by introducing phase cancellation and absorption mechanisms within the same frequency band. The focus is on deriving the relationship between the number of nonplanar metal ground units and the reduction bandwidth. Second, a circuit analog absorber (CAA) structure is designed to achieve broadband absorption functionality. In addition, the RCSR performance of the nonplanar metal ground with randomly arranged units is analyzed. Finally, by replacing the ground of the CAA with a nonplanar metal ground, enhanced scattering performance is achieved. A metasurface prototype is fabricated, assembled, and measured for its reflection performance. The experimental results align well with the simulation results, showing a reduction of more than –20 dB from 3.4 GHz to 14.4 GHz.

As one of the most popular queries in Big Data era, the $k$k nearest neighbors ($k$kNN) query plays a significant role in various applications, such as medical diagnosis, signal processing, and recommendation systems. Meanwhile, driven by the advancement of the cloud service, an emerging trend among applications is to outsource the dataset and the corresponding $k$kNN query services to the cloud. However, as the cloud is not fully trusted, those applications will face vital privacy concerns, and thus they usually encrypt data before outsourcing them to the cloud. Because encrypted data are outsourced to cloud, the $k$kNN query over encrypted data has become increasingly attractive, and many solutions have been put forth in recent years. However, existing solutions cannot fully satisfy the objects of returning exact query results, protecting database privacy and query privacy, achieving high query efficiency, and imposing low computational costs at the user side. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose a new practical and privacy-preserving $k$kNN query scheme. Specifically, we first refine the general security requirements for the matrix encryption by systematically analyzing existing algorithms. Then, we design a novel asymmetric matrix encryption (AME) to securely achieve Euclidean distance computation and two distances comparison in a single-party and non-interactive way. Then, based on the AME scheme, we propose a privacy-preserving $k$kNN query scheme, in which a max-heap of size $k$k is used to accelerate query efficiency. Detailed security analysis shows that our proposed scheme is really privacy-preserving. In addition, extensive performance evaluations are conducted, and the results demonstrate that our proposed scheme is also highly efficient.

We introduce a simplified model for wave turbulence theory—the Wick nonlinear Schrödinger equation, of which the main feature is the absence of all self‐interactions in the correlation expansions of its solutions. For this model, we derive several wave kinetic equations that govern the effective statistical behavior of its solutions in various regimes. In the homogeneous setting, where the initial correlation is translation invariant, we obtain a wave kinetic equation similar to the one predicted by the formal theory. In the inhomogeneous setting, we obtain a wave kinetic equation that describes the statistical behavior of the wavepackets of the solutions, accounting for both the transport of wavepackets and collisions among them. Another wave kinetic equation, which seems new in the literature, also appears in a certain scaling regime of this setting and provides a more refined collision picture.

Since there is no current international consensus on the optimal approach for pain management in acute pancreatitis (AP), analgesic practices may vary across different healthcare settings. This study explored global disparities in analgesic use, in particular opioids, during admission and at discharge in hospitalised AP patients. This was a post hoc analysis of the prospective PAINAP database, which included all admissions for AP between April and June 2022 with a 1‐month follow‐up. Demographic details, analgesic use, and clinical outcomes were recorded during admission and at discharge. Odds ratios (ORs) for opioid use during admission and at discharge were identified using multivariable regression analyses. Amongst the 1864 patients (52% males, median age 56 (interquartile range, 41–71)) across three different continents, simple analgesics were predominantly used as the primary analgesic (70%). Opioid use during admission was lowest in European centres (67%). Admission in Asian (OR, 2.53 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.59–4.04), p< 0.001), and Australian (OR, 5.81 (95% CI, 3.19–10.56), p< 0.001) centres was associated with opioid administration during admission compared with European centres. Increased pain severity, longer pre‐admission pain duration, organ failure, and longer length of admission increased opioid use during admission. At discharge, Asian (OR, 2.01 (95% CI, 1.40–2.88), p< 0.001) and Australian (OR, 1.91 (95% CI, 1.28–2.85), p= 0.002) centres were associated with opioid prescription compared with European centres. Increased pain severity, longer pre‐admission pain duration, acute necrotic collections, and walled‐off necrosis also increased the likelihood of opioid prescription at discharge. There are substantial intercontinental differences in opioid use for AP pain. Accordingly, there is a need for international guidelines on pain management in AP.

We explore the extent to which differences in countries' formal and informal institutions reduce cross-border leveraged buyout transactions and the potential influence these same institutions have on how private equity (PE) investors choose to enter these transactions. Although institutional differences have frequently been viewed as barriers to cross-border investment, we find evidence that these same differences may motivate a PE firm's decision to enter the transaction with a syndicate of firms rather than undertaking the transaction on their own. Cultural differences between a PE firm and the target nation are significantly related to the choice to enter the deal via a multinational syndicate. The varying nationalities within the syndicate contribute to enhanced familiarity, with average institutional distances between the syndicate and target firms being significantly lower than for single-PE-1ed deals. Overall, deals undertaken by syndicates are more likely to be successfully completed and require less time in negotiation. These results persist even after accounting for selection bias with regard to target country choice. We explore whether other features of the syndicate are responsible for improved deal outcomes, such as repeated transactions with the same partners, but find no evidence that this is the case. KEYWORDS Institutional Environment, Leveraged Buyouts, Private Equity, Syndicates, 1 | INTRODUCTION Successful corporate reorganization is difficult in any environment, but undertaking this task in a cross-border context is particularly challenging. From the investor's perspective, the formal and informal [...]

Emerging evidence suggested that S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) may be a better serum biomarker for cardiovascular disease than homocysteine (Hcy). However, the role of SAH in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis remains unclear.

With the aim of resolving the threshold voltage drift problem of the silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (SiC mosfet), which is caused by traps, this article presents a study of the laws for the different traps that affect threshold voltage drift and also clarifies the details of the trap that leads to the SiC mosfet threshold voltage drift. First, based on use of the transient current method for trap characterization, we eliminate the interference from the SiC bulk traps, and the time constant spectrum of the gate oxide trap is then obtained accurately. Second, the effects of the different traps on the threshold voltage are studied by filling or releasing the charges from traps with different time constants. The main trap time constant that leads to the SiC mosfet threshold voltage drift is revealed to be 300 ms, whereas the other trap only affects the current and hardly contributes to the threshold voltage drift. Finally, based on the activation energies of the different traps, it is inferred that the trapping mechanism of the traps are the trap-assisted tunneling effect and the hot electron emission effect, and the corresponding trap types are identified as the oxide trap and the interface trap, respectively.

This paper presents a newly developed high-performance mobile single-photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (M-SPI-TOFMS) system for on-line analysis and stereoscopic monitoring of complex gas mixtures. The system is designed for stereoscopic imaging to map the distribution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and trace their emission sources in urban areas and industrial parks. It mainly consists of a SPI-TOFMS instrument, a customized commercial vehicle, a meteorological five-parameter monitor with GPS, a high-power generator, and an uninterruptible power supply. The SPI technique, using a 118 nm VUV lamp, can ionize compounds with an ionization potential below 10.78 eV. Mass spectra obtained using this technique show the profiles of various VOCs and some inorganic compounds. The VOCs composition information and mobile location data are simultaneously sent to the GIS software. In GIS software, this data is used for real-time stereoscopic imaging of VOC distribution and precise tracking of VOC movement. The system can achieve a spatial data resolution of 0.69 mm at 25 km/h due to the microsecond detection speed of the M-SPI-TOFMS instrument. The laboratory test provides a rapid overview characterization of benzene, toluene, and xylene. The M-SPI-TOFMS has limits of detection and mass resolution of 33.7 pptv and 1060, respectively. Several field applications were carried out using M-SPI-TOFMS at various locations to identify VOC sources near different factories. The M-SPI-TOFMS system has a navigation monitoring speed of 25 km/h with a time resolution of 1 s. The widespread use of this system will provide accurate data to support environmental management departments in formulating VOCs pollution control policies and improving control efficiency.

High-quality protein–ligand complex structures provide the basis for understanding the nature of noncovalent binding interactions at the atomic level and enable structure-based drug design. However, experimentally determined complex structures are scarce compared with the vast chemical space. In this study, we addressed this issue by constructing the BindingNet data set via comparative complex structure modeling, which contains 69,816 modeled high-quality protein–ligand complex structures with experimental binding affinity data. BindingNet provides valuable insights into investigating protein–ligand interactions, allowing visual inspection and interpretation of structural analogues’ structure–activity relationships. It can also be used for evaluating machine-learning-based scoring functions. Our results indicate that machine learning models trained on BindingNet could reduce the bias caused by buried solvent-accessible surface area, as we previously found for models trained on the PDBbind data set. We also discussed strategies to improve BindingNet and its potential utilization for benchmarking the molecular docking methods and ligand binding free energy calculation approaches. The BindingNet complements PDBbind in constructing a sufficient and unbiased protein–ligand binding data set and is freely available at http://bindingnet.huanglab.org.cn.

Advanced two-dimensional (2D) MXenes have been extensively researched as electrode materials for flexible supercapacitors due to their excellent electronic performance and flexibility. Herein, a facile and effective approach is adopted to synthesize a polypyrrole@bacterial cellulose/MXene (PPy@BC/MXene) hybrid film through a plunge-freezing and vacuum-assisted filtration self-assembly strategy. We have constructed an ordered “building frame structure” with MXene as the “beam and slab” and polypyrrole@bacterial cellulose (PPy@BC) as the “pillar.” Benefiting from this vertical bridge, rapid interlaminar electroconductivity, unimpeded ion diffusion channels, and sufficient reactivity, the synthesized PPy@BC/MXene-25% electrode has achieved a high specific capacitance of 807 F g–1at 0.05 mA cm–2and a capacitance retention of 97.51% after 10 000 cycles at 20 mA cm–2. Besides, PPy@BC/MXene-25% exhibits high strain at break (∼10.8%) and high tensile strength (∼310 MPa). Moreover, the asymmetric microsupercapacitor PPy@BC/MXene-25%//MXene is assembled with PPy@BC/MXene-25% as the anode, which presents an average capacity of 464 F g–1at 0.05 mA cm–2. The specific energy density of the PPy@BC/MXene-25%//MXene capacitor has achieved 135.3 μWh cm–2at a power density of 435.4 μW cm–2at 0.5 mA cm–2. The novel approach exploits a new way to design conductive freestanding flexible electrodes with significantly enhanced electrochemical properties.

A central question in neural tissue engineering is how the tissue-engineered nerve (TEN) translates detailed transcriptional signals associated with peripheral nerve regeneration into meaningful biological processes. Here, we report a skin-derived precursor-induced Schwann cell (SKP-SC)-mediated chitosan/silk fibroin-fabricated tissue-engineered nerve graft (SKP–SCs-TEN) that can promote sciatic nerve regeneration and functional restoration nearly to the levels achieved by autologous nerve grafts according to behavioral, histological, and electrophysiological evidence. For achieving better effect of neuroregeneration, this is the first time to jointly apply a dynamic perfusion bioreactor and the ascorbic acid to stimulate the SKP-SCs secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM). To overcome the limitation of traditional tissue-engineered nerve grafts, jointly utilizing SKP-SCs and their ECM components were motivated by the thought of prolongating the effect of support cells and their bioactive cues that promote peripheral nerve regeneration. To further explore the regulatory model of gene expression and the related molecular mechanisms involved in tissue engineering-aided peripheral nerve regeneration, we performed a cDNA microarray analysis of gene expression profiling, a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis and a validation study on the grafted segments and dorsal root ganglia tissues. A wealth of transcriptomic and bioinformatics data has revealed complex molecular networks and orchestrated functional regulation that may be responsible for the effects of SKP-SCs-TEN on promoting peripheral nerve regeneration. Our work provides new insights into transcriptomic features and patterns of molecular regulation in nerve functional recovery aided by SKP-SCs-TEN that sheds light on the broader possibilities for novel repair strategies of peripheral nerve injury.

Prenatal molecular genetic testing for familial variants that cause inherited disorders has been performed for decades and is accepted as standard of care. However, the spectrum of genes considered for prenatal testing is expanding because of genetic testing for hereditary cancer risk (HCR) and inclusion of conditions with associated cancer risk in carrier screening panels. A few of these disorders, such as ataxia telangiectasia and Bloom syndrome, include increased cancer risk as part of the phenotype, already meet professional guidelines for prenatal testing, and may be associated with increased cancer risk in heterozygous carriers. In addition, recent studies implicate heterozygosity for variants in lysosomal storage disease genes in HCR etiology. Currently, there is no specific professional guidance regarding prenatal testing for HCR. To determine the prevalence of such testing, we reviewed 1345 consecutive prenatal specimens received in our laboratory for familial variant-specific testing and identified 65 (4.8%) with a known or likely HCR component, plus 210 (15.6%) for lysosomal storage disease. These specimens were classified into five distinct categories for clarity and to enable evaluation. Our experience assessing prenatal specimens for variants associated with HCR, with or without a constitutional phenotype, provides metrics for and contributes to the points to consider in prenatal testing for HCR.

This study explores the mechanism of action of Danhongqing formula (DHQ), a compound-based Chinese medicine formula, in the treatment of cholestatic liver fibrosis.

Dendrobium officinaleKimura et Migo has long been utilized in traditional Chinese medicine and other Asian cultures for its medicinal properties. One of the key bioactive compounds found in D. officinaleis D. officinalepolysaccharides (DOPs). Recent studies have indicated that the rhizosphere microbiome can influence the accumulation of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants. Our findings revealed that the bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes played a significant role in shaping the ecological stability of the rhizosphere bacteria associated with D. officinale. Additionally, Pandoraeamay have the potential to enhance the production of polysaccharides in D. officinale. Overall, this research contributes to our understanding of the intricate relationship between the rhizosphere microbiome and the accumulation of bioactive compounds in D. officinale. It highlights the potential of specific bacterial taxa, such as Pandoraea, in promoting the production of polysaccharides, thus further establishing the medicinal value of this plant. Our results provide insights for further development of specific fertilizers for medicinal plants.

Passive acoustic mapping (PAM) has emerged as a valuable imaging modality for monitoring the cavitation activity in focused ultrasound therapies. When it comes to imaging in the human abdomen, convex arrays are preferred due to their large acoustic window. However, existing PAM methods for convex arrays rely on the computationally expensive delay-and-sum (DAS) operation limiting the image reconstruction speed when the field-of-view (FOV) is large. In this work, we propose an efficient and frequency-selective PAM method for convex arrays. This method is based on projecting the helical wave spectrum (HWS) between cylindrical surfaces in the imaging field. Both the in silico and in vitro experiments showed that the HWS method has comparable image quality and similar acoustic cavitation source localization accuracy as the DAS-based methods. Compared to the frequency-domain and time-domain DAS methods, the time-complexity of the HWS method is reduced by one order and two orders of magnitude, respectively. A parallel implementation of the HWS method realized millisecond-level image reconstruction speed. We also show that the HWS method is inherently capable of mapping microbubble (MB) cavitation activity of different status, i.e., no cavitation, stable cavitation, or inertial cavitation. After compensating for the lens effects of the convex array, we further combined PAM formed by the HWS method and B-mode imaging as a real-time dual-mode imaging approach to map the anatomical location where MBs cavitate in a liver phantom experiment. This method may find use in applications where convex arrays are required for cavitation activity monitoring in real time.

Abstract: Objective: To evaluate and describe CT and endoscopic imaging findings in patients with pathologically confirmed gastrointestinal tract lymphangiomas. Methods: Findings from imaging examinations in 6 patients with pathologically confirmed lymphangioma were retrospectively reviewed (computed tomographic images obtained in 6 patients and endoscopic images obtained in 4 patients were available for review). Two radiologists evaluated lesion location, size, shape, edge, number, attenuation, the thickness of capsule wall and the degree of enhancement through PACS or workstation. Results: Lymphangiomas in gastrointestinal tract showed similar features in CT imaging: Contrast-enhanced CT scan showed the oval submucosal masses with homogeneous low attenuation. The lymphangioma appeared as a well-defined, smoothly marginated and non-enhancing cystic mass with intact overlying intestinal mucosa. In one case, the lymphangiomas were multiple with volvulus. Remarkably, CT imaging showed 2 patients with intussusception due to the mass. Endoscopic photographs manifested multiple colplanate mucosal protrusions in the gastric wall or intestinal wall. One case showed submucosal pedunculated proliferative lesion with adenomatous surface. Conclusions: Lymphangiomas exhibited typical appearances that reflected their cystic pathologic features. They showed similar features in CT imaging: well-demarcated, non-enhancing, homogeneous low attenuation cystic masses with intact overlying mucosa. Endoscopic photographs showed submucosal masses with distension of overlying mucosal vessels.

Big data and bursting cloud computing technologies have facilitated an increasing trend of outsourcing data-driven services to the cloud, where the reverse kNN (RkNN) query is a popularly outsourced query service. The RkNN query aims to retrieve objects having the query object as kNN and widely applied in the product recommendation. Considering privacy concerns, the outsourced query services are demanded to protect data privacy, and consequently a series of privacy-preserving query solutions have been put forth. Nevertheless, RkNN query over high-dimensional data has not been studied to date. In this work, we design the first efficient and privacy-preserving RkNN query scheme over encrypted high-dimensional data, named PHRkNN. Specifically, we first introduce a pivot filter condition for the RkNN query and utilize it to deliberately design a pivot filter R-tree (PFR-tree) to organize the high-dimensional dataset such that the RkNN query has sublinear query efficiency. Then, we propose our PHRkNN scheme by designing some homomorphic encryption based private algorithms and applying them to privately achieve PFR-tree based RkNN query. After that, we propose an oblivious PHRkNN scheme on the basis of the PHRkNN scheme by designing a private random tree permutation (PRTP) algorithm to protect the access pattern privacy. The security of our PHRkNN scheme and oblivious PHRkNN scheme is proved by the simulation-based security analysis. The performance is verified through computational costs and communication overheads evaluation.

In this letter, a Sigmoid-shaped curve is proposed to enhance the contrast between blood vessels and static tissue in optical coherence tomography angiography. Different from the conventional parabolic curve, the Sigmoid-shaped function biases the decorrelation histogram towards both ends, which suppresses the static tissue background as well as enhances the flow signal in the blood vessels region. An intensity mask is generated to remove the decorrelation signal at the noise level and then the filtering method is used to improve the image quality. A white diffuse plate has been used and verified to remove the static background deeper when our method is applied, and the z-axis range of static signal increases from $27.3~\mu $ m to $31.9~\mu $ m, indicating the extent of decorrelation has been improved by 17%. We demonstrate that the contrast of vascular image of the mouse ear has been improved from 32.6 to 43.1, compared with the conventional decorrelation method.

The emergence of cloud computing enables various healthcare institutions to outsource pre-diagnostic models and provide timely and convenient services for patients. However, healthcare institutions and patients have serious concerns about potential privacy leakage as cloud servers cannot be fully trusted. In this paper, a privacy-preserving cloud-assisted medical pre-diagnosis scheme, named NAIAD, is proposed, where patients can securely query the outsourced model and obtain their pre-diagnostic results. Specifically, the pre-diagnostic model is constructed on $k$k-Nearest Neighbor ($k$kNN), and Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is chosen as the similarity metric to achieve high accuracy. Accordingly, a secure MD-based comparison method (SMDC) is designed based on a matrix encryption technique. The method is a basic module of NAIAD that enables cloud servers to compare encrypted medical records and achieve privacy-preserving $k$kNN-based pre-diagnosis with linear complexity. To further improve the computational efficiency, medical records are first clustered and encrypted to construct a hierarchical index tree, then patients can query the tree to speed up the query process. Detailed security analysis indicates NAIAD can resist closeness-same-pattern chosen-plaintext attack, and extensive experiments on real-world and synthetic databases demonstrate NAIAD has high query efficiency and pre-diagnosis accuracy.

Intrauterine adhesion is a major cause of female reproductive disorders. Although we and others uncontrolled pilot studies showed that treatment with autologous bone marrow stem cells made a few patients with severe intrauterine adhesion obtain live birth, no large sample randomized controlled studies on this therapeutic strategy in such patients have been reported so far. To verify if the therapy of autologous bone marrow stem cells-scaffold is superior to traditional treatment in moderate to severe intrauterine adhesion patients in increasing their ongoing pregnancy rate, we conducted this randomized controlled clinical trial. Totally 195 participants with moderate to severe intrauterine adhesion were screened and 152 of them were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either group with autologous bone marrow stem cells-scaffold plus Foley balloon catheter or group with only Foley balloon catheter (control group) from February 2016 to January 2020. The per-protocol analysis included 140 participants: 72 in bone marrow stem cells-scaffold group and 68 in control group. The ongoing pregnancy occurred in 45/72 (62.5%) participants in the bone marrow stem cells-scaffold group which was significantly higher than that in the control group (28/68, 41.2%) (RR=1.52, 95%CI 1.08–2.12, P=0.012). The situation was similar in live birth rate (bone marrow stem cells-scaffold group 56.9% (41/72) vs.control group 38.2% (26/68), RR=1.49, 95%CI 1.04–2.14, P=0.027). Compared with control group, participants in bone marrow stem cells-scaffold group showed more menstrual blood volume in the 3rd and 6th cycles and maximal endometrial thickness in the 6th cycle after hysteroscopic adhesiolysis. The incidence of mild placenta accrete was increased in bone marrow stem cells-scaffold group and no severe adverse effects were observed. In conclusion, transplantation of bone marrow stem cells-scaffold into uterine cavities of the participants with moderate to severe intrauterine adhesion increased their ongoing pregnancy and live birth rates, and this therapy was relatively safe.

[Display omitted]

Objective: Summarize and analyze the characteristics of patients with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) who were diagnosed with malignant tumors that do not belong to MEN-1 components. Methods: Clinical data from patients with MEN-1 who visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital between April 2012 and April 2022 were collected. We compared the clinical characteristics of patients with malignant tumors outside of their MEN-1 components to those without additional tumors. MEN-1 gene testing was performed on most of these patients using Sanger sequencing, whole-exome sequencing, or MLPA. Results: A total of 221 MEN-1 patients were diagnosed, of which 23 (10.40%) were found to have malignant tumors that did not belong to MEN-1 components, including papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) (4.52%), breast cancer (1.81%), urologic neoplasms (1.35%), primary hepatic carcinoma (PCC) (0.09%), meningeal sarcoma (0.05%), glioblastoma (0.05%), cervical cancer (0.05%), and lung carcinoma (0.05%). MEN-1 gene mutations were identified in 11 patients, including missense mutations, frameshift mutations, and splice mutations. The prevalence of each endocrine neoplasm, particularly gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, was higher in MEN-1 patients with other malignant tumors compared to MEN-1 patients without malignant tumors. Conclusion: Our retrospective study revealed a higher incidence of non-MEN-1 component malignant tumors in MEN-1 patients, especially breast cancer, PTC, and urologic neoplasms. These patients also exhibit more severe clinical phenotypes of MEN-1.

• The CNTs coated with various Ni-based NiM nanoalloys are CVD grown on the graphene nanoscrolls to form unique carbon material scaffold. • The electrons of encapsulated NiM nanoalloys can traverse through the CNT to the outmost loading (CoP) by electron traversing effect. • Due to the varying d-electron orbital characteristic of NiMs, the encapsulated various nims can weaken the interactions of the outmost CoP with H* and push the downshift of the d-band center to different degrees to optimize the HER activity. • The catalytic performance of the outmost CoP can be optimized by changing the encapsulated metal nanoparticles in the unique carbon material scaffold, which is a novel d-band center control engineering strategy for HER. Attaining a highly efficient and inexpensive electrocatalyst is significant for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) but still challenging nowadays. The transition-metal phosphides (TMPs) catalysts with platinum-like electronic structures are a potential candidate for the HER, but those are prone to be strongly bound with hydrogen intermediates (H*), resulting in sluggish HER kinetics. Herein we report a unique hybrid structure of CoP anchored on graphene nanoscrolls@carbon nano tubes (CNTs) scaffold (Ni M @C-CoP) encapsulating various Ni M (M =Zn, Mo, Ni, Co) bimetal nanoalloy via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of CNT on graphene nanoscrolls followed by the impregnation of cobalt precursors and phosphorization for efficiently electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. CoP nanoparticles mainly scattered at the tip of CNT branches which exhibited the analogical ''Three-layer core-shell'' structures. Experiments and density functional theory(DFT) calculations consistently disclose that the encapsulated various NiMs can offer different numbers of electrons to weaken the interactions of outmost CoP with H* and push the downshift of the d -band center to different degrees as well as stabilize the outmost CoP nanoparticles to gain catalytic stability via the electron traversing effect. The electrocatalytic HER activity can be maximumly enhanced with low overpotentials of 78 mV (alkaline) and 89 mV (acidic) at a current density of 10 mA/cm2 and sustained at least 24 h especially for NiZn@C-CoP catalyst. This novel system is distinct from conventional three-layer heterostructure, providing a specially thought of d -band center control engineering strategy for the design of heterogeneous catalysts and expanding to other electrocatalysts, energy storage, sensing, and other applications. Herein we report a unique hybrid structure of CoP anchored on graphene nanoscrolls@CNTs scaffold (NiM@C-CoP) encapsulating varying NiM (M=Zn, Mo, Ni, Co) bimetal nanoalloy for efficiently electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Experiments and density functional theory calculations consistently disclose that the encapsulated NiMs can weaken the interactions of outmost CoP with H* and push the downshift of the d-band center to different degrees via the electron traversing effect. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In engineering application, the saturation voltage drop ( $V_{\text {CE}}$ ) method is widely used for junction temperature prediction. However, it is difficult to characterize the peak temperature by the virtual junction temperature measured by the $V_{\text {CE}}$ method. In this article, the reasons why the virtual junction temperature is lower than the peak junction temperature were explained by analyzing the internal current distributions of the module for different temperature distributions. Using an equivalent model composed of discrete devices, the virtual junction temperatures for different temperature distributions and measuring currents were measured. The current-weighted temperatures for different measuring currents were also calculated using the branch current. The virtual junction temperature and current-weighted temperature were compared and investigated in combination with simulation results under ideal conditions. The variation law of the virtual junction temperature with the sense current and the temperature distribution was determined, which will aid in the measurement of the junction temperature in engineering.

The advance of cloud computing has driven an emerging trend of outsourcing the rapidly growing data and query services to a powerful cloud for easing the local storage and computing pressure. Meanwhile, when taking data privacy into account, data are usually outsourced to the cloud in an encrypted form. As a result, query services have to be performed over the encrypted data. Among all kinds of query services, the reverse kNN query is highly popular in various applications, such as taxi dispatching and targeted push of multimedia information, but its privacy has not received sufficient attention. To our best knowledge, many existing privacy-preserving reverse kNN query schemes still have some limitations on the query result accuracy, dataset privacy, and flexible support for the choice of the query object and the parameter k. Aiming at addressing these limitations, in this paper, we propose an efficient and privacy-preserving reverse kNN query scheme over encrypted data, named PRkNN. Specifically, we first design a modified M-tree (MM-tree) to index the dataset and further present an MM-Tree based reverse kNN query algorithm in the filter and refinement framework. Then, we leverage the lightweight matrix encryption to carefully design a filter predicate encryption scheme (FPE) and a refinement predicate encryption scheme (RPE); and propose our PRkNN scheme by applying them to protect the privacy of the MM-Tree based reverse kNN query algorithm. Detailed security analysis shows that FPE and RPE schemes are selectively secure, and our PRkNN scheme can preserve both query privacy and dataset privacy. In addition, we conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the performance of our scheme, and the results demonstrate that our scheme is efficient.

Designing high-performance carbonous electrodes for capacitive deionization with remarkable salt adsorption capacity (SAC) and outstanding salt adsorption rate (SAR) is quite significant yet challenging for brackish water desalination. Herein, a unique gelation-assisted strategy is proposed to tailor two-dimensional B and N-enriched carbon nanosheets (BNCTs) for efficient desalination. During the synthesis process, boric acid and polyvinyl alcohol were cross-linked to form a gelation template for the carbon precursor (polyethyleneimine), which endows BNCTs with ultrathin thickness (∼2 nm) and ultrahigh heteroatoms doping level (14.5 atom % of B and 14.8 atom % of N) after freeze-drying and pyrolysis. The laminar B, N-doped carbon enables an excellent SAC of 42.5 mg g–1and fast SAR of 4.25 mg g–1min–1in 500 mg L–1NaCl solution, both of which are four times as much as those of activated carbon. Moreover, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation demonstrates that the dual doping of B and N atoms firmly enhances the adsorption capacity of Na+, leading to a prominent chemical SAC for brackish water. This work paves a new way to rationally integrate both conducive surface morphology and systematic effects of B, N doping to construct high-efficiency carbonaceous electrodes for desalination.

The charge transfer mechanism of the g-C3N4/MoS2heterojunction is still disputed. Some regard it as a type I pathway, some regard it as a type II pathway, and still some regard it as a Z-scheme pathway. Especially, the results obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations are not totally in agreement. Here, we constructed four g-C3N4/MoS2heterojunctions on the basis of the aperture alignment modes of g-C3N4and MoS2. Their morphology and photocatalytic activity were investigated via first-principles and excited state dynamics simulations. By systemically comparing the interfacial binding energy and electronic structure (e.g., band structure, electrostatic potential, and band edge positions) of g-C3N4/MoS2heterojunctions, we found that both type I and type II band alignment structures could be obtained. Moreover, the calculated lifetimes of interlayer photogenerated electrons and holes show that type II g-C3N4/MoS2tends to favor a general type II pathway rather than a Z-scheme pathway. This study could provide a deep understanding of the photocatalytic mechanism of g-C3N4/MoS2van der Waals heterostructures, which will be of great use for applications in photocatalysis.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) imaging, as an optical technology, has been developed at full tilt in the field of life science and nanomaterials. However, the relatively low ECL intensity or the high co-reactant concentration needed in the electrochemical reaction blocks its practical application. Here, we developed an ECL imaging system based on the rGO-TiO2–xcomposite material, where the co-reactant, reactive oxygen species (ROS), is generated in situ under the synergetic effect of of ultrasound (US) and electric irradiation. The rGO-TiO2–xcomposites facilitate the separation of electron (e–) and hole (h+) pairs and inhibit recombination triggered by external US irradiation due to the high electroconductivity of rGO and oxygen-deficient structures of TiO2, thus significantly boosting ROS generation. Furthermore, the increased defects on rGO accelerate the electron transfer rate, improving the electrocatalytic performance of the composite and forming more ROS. This high ultrasonic–electric synergistic efficacy is demonstrated through the enhancement of photon emission. Compared with the luminescence intensity triggered by US irradiation and electric field, an enhancement of ∼20-fold and 10-fold of the US combined with electric field-triggered emission is observed from this composite. Under the optimized conditions, using dopamine (DA) as a model target, the sensitivity of the US combined ECL strategy for detection of DA is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the ECL method. The successful detection of DA at low concentrations makes us believe that this strategy provides the possibility of applying ECL imaging for cellular single-molecule analysis and cancer therapy.

Repeated homoploid hybrid speciation (HHS) events with the same parental species have rarely been reported. In this study, we used population transcriptome data to test paraphyly and HHS events in the conifer Picea brachytyla. Our analyses revealed non-sister relationships for two lineages of P. brachytyla, with the southern lineage being placed within the re-circumscribed P. likiangensisspecies complex (PLSC) and P. brachytyla sensu stricto(s.s.) consisted solely of the northern lineage, forming a distinct clade that is paratactic to both the PLSC and P. wilsonii. Our phylogenetic and coalescent analyses suggested that P. brachytylas.s. arose from HHS between the ancestor of the PLSC before its diversification and P. wilsoniithrough an intermediate hybrid lineage at an early stage and backcrossing to the ancestral PLSC. Additionally, P. purpureashares the same parents and an extinct lineage with P. brachytylas.s. but backcrossing to the other parent, P. wilsoniiat a later stage. We reveal the first case that backcrossing to different parents of the same extinct hybrid lineage produced two different hybrid species. Our results highlight the existence of more reticulate evolution during species diversification in the spruce genus and more complex homoploid hybrid events than previously identified.

The study aims to search for green, non-toxic bio-based plasticizers to replace traditional o-benzene petroleum-based plasticizers used in polyvinyl chloride films for automotive interior decoration. Three bio-based plasticizers – epoxy, polyester, and citrate were chosen and characterized based on refractive index, viscosity, and plasticizing efficiency. The three types of bio-based plasticizers were then applied to PVC films for automotive interiors. The odor rating, emission properties test, tensile test, dynamic thermomechanical test, low-temperature fatigue resistance test, and heat performance test were used to characterize the polyvinyl chloride film’s application properties. The results showed that the properties of epoxy plasticizer and polyester plasticizer are very close to those of traditional o-benzene petroleum-based plasticizers. In particular, polyvinyl chloride films prepared from polyester plasticizers have advantages in mechanical properties. The strength, elongation, and elasticity characteristics of PVC films plasticized with polyester bio-based plasticizer are 8.77 MPa, 533.92%, and 129.74 Nm, respectively. While the PVC films plasticized with epoxy bio-based plasticizer has an excellent heat resistance and aging resistance, with an initial gel temperature of 185.668 °C. However, the polyvinyl chloride film prepared with citrate plasticizer does not meet the requirements for application in automotive interiors due to its poor emission performance.

Purpose: To retrospectively summarize the clinical features of acromegaly complicated with fulminant pituitary apoplexy and analyze the prognostic factors to guide early identification and timely treatment of such patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out to summarize the clinical manifestations, hormone changes, imaging, treatment and follow-up of ten patients with acromegaly complicated with fulminant pituitary apoplexy admitted to our hospital from February 2013 to September 2021. Results: The mean age of the ten patients (five males and five females) at the time of pituitary apoplexy was 37.1 ± 13.4 years old. There were nine cases with sudden severe headaches and five cases with visual impairment. All patients had pituitary macroadenomas, of which six cases with Knosp grade ≥3. The level of GH/IGF-1 hormone after pituitary apoplexy was lower compared with pre-apoplexy, and 1 patient reached biochemical remission spontaneously. Seven patients underwent transsphenoidal pituitary surgery after apoplexy and one patient was treated with long-acting somatostatin analog. The biochemical remission rate was 37.5% in eight patients immediately after treatment and 50% at the last follow-up. Patients with Knosp grade ≥3 were less likely to achieve biochemical remission than those with Knosp grade &lt;3 (16.7% vs. 100%, p= 0.048), and patients who achieved biochemical remission had a smaller maximum tumor diameter [20.1 (20.1,28.0) mm vs. 44.0 (44.0,60) mm, p= 0.016]. Conclusion: Acromegaly complicated with fulminant pituitary apoplexy remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.

Emerging studies have suggested an essential role of fibroblast metabolic reprogramming in the pathogenesis of arthrofibrosis. The metabolic modulator metformin appears to be a therapeutic candidate for fibrotic disorders. However, whether metformin could alleviate arthrofibrosis has not been defined. In this study we have determined if treatment with metformin has beneficial effect on arthrofibrosis and its underlying mechanism.

Cyanobacteria have numerous biotechnological applications in the environment, industry, pharmaceutics, food, feed, and energy which is why future cascading biorefineries are believed to employ cyanobacteria as their feedstock. The present study evaluated the potential of a newly isolated cyanobacterium for its applications in the multiproduct biorefinery. Based on morphology and the gene sequence of 23S rRNA, the strain was identified as Trichocoleus desertorum. Various abiotic growth factors including light, pH, and nutrients were optimized to achieve enhanced biomass production using various wastewaters as low-cost growth media. Accordingly, a 2.24-fold to 6.97-fold higher biomass production (gL-1) and biomass productivity of 0.86 gL-1d-1with a CO2fixation rate of 1.576 gL-1d-1was achieved when cultured in synthetic wastewater. Besides, the impact of wastewater cultivation was studied on the biosynthesis of valuable metabolites including proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and pigments. Accordingly, the lipid content of the wastewater-cultivated strain was increased from 24 to 30%, and protein content was increased from 27 to 46%. The lipids were trans-esterified to biodiesel which was turned out to be good quality biodiesel, as revealed through GC-MS analysis. Additionally, the wastewater-cultivated strain produced 117.35 mgg-1(11.73 % of the total dried biomass) of phycobilin in response to nutrient manipulation, where phycocyanin was shown to be the most prominent pigment with a yield of 94.7 mgg-1, which covered 80% of the total pigments. These remarkable features reflected the promising potential of this strain to be employed as a feedstock in the multiproduct biorefinery.

Zinc-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) not only combines the advantages of batteries and supercapacitors, but also features low cost and environmental friendliness. However, the poor active site density and sluggish diffusion kinetics of carbon cathode brings about low capacity and terrible rate capability of ZHSCs. In this work, an activation assisted template procedure is proposed to synthesize nitrogen and phosphorous dual-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NP-HPC), where phytic acid acts as both doing precursor and activation medium. Benefitting from the synergetic modulation in porosities and surface functionalities, the optimized NP-HPC-2 delivers high capacity (394.51 F g−1at 0.2 A g−1), superior rate capability (200.21 F g−1at 50 A g−1) and excellent durability (95.7 % retention over 10,000 cycles). Consequently, the assembled ZHSC exhibits a remarkable energy density of 140 Wh kg−1and an impressive power density of 40 kW kg−1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the introduction of P doping adjust the distribution of local charge density of edged N with a lowered adsorption energy barrier for Zn2+storage. This work not only sheds light on the integrative effect of structure modulation and functionality regulation but also provide a feasible solution for the preparation of carbon cathodes towards high energy and power density ZHSCs.

Once ovulated, the oocyte has to be fertilized in a short time window or it will undergo post-ovulation aging (POA), whose underlying mechanisms are still not elucidated. Here, we optimized single-cell proteomics methods and performed single-cell transcriptomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic analysis of fresh, POA, and melatonin-treated POA oocytes. POA oocytes showed downregulation of most differentially expressed proteins, with little correlation with mRNA expression, and the protein changes can be rescued by melatonin treatment. MG132 treatment rescued the decreased fertilization and polyspermy rates and upregulated fragmentation and parthenogenesis rates of POA oocytes. MG132-treated oocytes displayed health status at proteome, phosphoproteome, and fertilization ability similar to fresh oocytes, suggesting that protein stabilization might be the underlying mechanism for melatonin to rescue POA. The important roles of proteasome-mediated protein degradation during oocyte POA revealed by single-cell multi-omics analyses offer new perspectives for increasing oocyte quality during POA and improving assisted reproduction technologies.

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. However, challenges in early diagnosis, high risk of liver metastasis, and lack of effective targeted therapy lead to poor prognosis and high mortality of UM. Therefore, generating an effective molecular tool for UM diagnosis and targeted treatment is of great significance. In this study, a UM-specific DNA aptamer, PZ-1, was successfully developed, which could specifically distinguish molecular differences between UM cells and noncancerous cells with nanomolar-range affinity and presented excellent recognition ability for UM in vivo and clinical UM tissues. Subsequently, the binding target of PZ-1 on UM cells was identified as JUP (junction plakoglobin) protein, which held great potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target for UM. Meanwhile, the strong stability and internalization capacity of PZ-1 were also determined, and a UM-specific aptamer-guided “nanoship” was engineered to load and selectively release doxorubicin (Dox) to targeted UM cells, with lower toxicity to nontumor cells. Taken together, the UM-specific aptamer PZ-1 could serve as a molecular tool to discover the potential biomarker for UM and to achieve the targeted therapy of UM.

Plasmonic nanostructures have shown immense potential in photocatalysis because of their distinct photochemical properties associated with tunable photoresponses and strong light–matter interactions. The introduction of highly active sites is essential to fully exploit the potential of plasmonic nanostructures in photocatalysis, considering the inferior intrinsic activities of typical plasmonic metals. This review focuses on active site-engineered plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced photocatalytic performance, wherein the active sites are classified into four types (i.e., metallic sites, defect sites, ligand-grafted sites, and interface sites). The synergy between active sites and plasmonic nanostructures in photocatalysis is discussed in detail after briefly introducing the material synthesis and characterization methods. Active sites can promote the coupling of solar energy harvested by plasmonic metal to catalytic reactions in the form of local electromagnetic fields, hot carriers, and photothermal heating. Moreover, efficient energy coupling potentially regulates the reaction pathway by facilitating the excited state formation of reactants, changing the status of active sites, and creating additional active sites using photoexcited plasmonic metals. Afterward, the application of active site-engineered plasmonic nanostructures in emerging photocatalytic reactions is summarized. Finally, a summary and perspective of the existing challenges and future opportunities are presented. This review aims to deliver some insights into plasmonic photocatalysis from the perspective of active sites, expediting the discovery of high-performance plasmonic photocatalysts.