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Background: To investigate the clinical characteristics of metachronous second primary malignancies (Met-SPMs) and its impact on prognosis in hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HPC). Methods: We reviewed 593 newly diagnosed HPC patients without invasive synchronous SPMs (Syn-SPMs) who were treated in our cancer center between 2009 and 2019. According to the status during follow-up, patients were classified into three groups: (a) without SPMs (No-SPMs, n = 440), (b) with tumors in situ in the esophagus or stomach (Tis, n = 80), or (c) with Met-SPMs (n = 73). Results: The median follow-up time for entire cohort (n = 593) was 66.7 months. Met-SPMs were present in 12.3% of the cohort (73/593). The predominant site of SPMs was esophagus, followed by lung, oral cavity, thyroid, stomach, and oropharynx. In Met-SPMs group, both index tumor and SPMs were the main causes of death. Tis group exhibited comparable 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) with that of No-SPMs group. The Met-SPMs group had similar 5-year OS rate and better 5-year DSS rate of 47.3% versus 43.6% (odds ratio [OR], 0.931; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.681-1.274, p = 0.657) and 66.3% vs. 46.2% (OR, 0.600; 95% CI, 0.402-0.896, p = 0.012), respectively, compared with the No-SPMs group. Conclusion: The overall incidence of Met-SPMs in HPC was 12.3%. The occurrence of Met-SPMs does not jeopardize the survival outcome of HPC. Routine surveillance of Met-SPMs was requisite for patients with HPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the bottom current flows over a small-scale topographic feature (with characteristic horizontal scale of 0.1-10.0 km), it generates internal lee waves. These lee waves furnish the energy cascade from mesoscale to dissipative scale, resulting in enhanced turbulent mixing. The existing lee wave theory and parameterization are mostly based on uniform background flow. We improve the linear lee wave theory by considering shear background flow and viscous and diffusive effects, which are ubiquitous in the ocean. In particular, the introduction of vertical viscous and diffusive terms effectively improves the problem of critical layer (where the wave frequency is close to the Coriolis frequency) for linear lee waves under weakly dissipative limit. Then, the influences of different types of shear flow on the frequency, vertical wavelength, group velocity, energy flux, energy density, energy dissipation and irreversible mixing of lee waves are explored through both theory and numerical simulation. A bottom-up decreasing background flow can enhance energy dissipation and irreversible mixing below the critical layer. However, in the real ocean, the dissipation and mixing caused by a decreasing background flow may be weaker than that caused by an increasing background flow in a depth integrated sense, especially when considering a bounded domain. Additionally, the theory of wave action conservation in the absence of dissipation, which is commonly used as a criterion in research of internal waves propagating in varying background fields, is extended to a "modified" wave action equation considering dissipation, which may potentially improve the lee wave parameterization in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the high-frequency AC (HFAC) power distribution system, problems such as high switching frequency, a complicated circuit configuration and difficult parameter design still exist in the traditional inverters. A multi-level high-frequency inverter topology based on a forward converter is proposed in this study, which implements the electrical isolation of input and output. With the introduction of variable turns ratio technology, the nine-level output is achieved, which is conductive to the decrease of output harmonics. The selected harmonic elimination method is also adopted to further reduce the output harmonic distortion through the Fourier analysis of output waveforms. Besides, the HFAC output can be achieved at a lower switching frequency for the maximum switching frequency is only double the output frequency. The detailed analysis on operating principles and parameter design of the proposed inverter are provided in this study. Finally, the feasibility of the inverter is verified by the simulations and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a rise in human activities in oceanic areas, making the land–atmosphere interactions over islands a major scientific concern on a global scale. Examining the observation data from offshore areas enables a more comprehensive understanding of the turbulent fluxes in offshore atmospheric environments, patterns of momentum, energy and material exchange between the atmosphere and underlying surface in an oceanic boundary layer, and development of a heterogeneous atmospheric boundary layer. The related findings will assist in developing theoretical models and parameterization schemes to simulate the influence of heterogeneous surfaces on land–atmosphere interactions on the South China Sea Islands. Existing studies on the turbulent fluxes over the South China Sea Islands were mainly conducted on the Nansha Islands, whereas studies on the waters of the South China Sea are scarce. In this study, we used 10 Hz high‐frequency turbulence measurements to calculate the latent and sensible heat fluxes over the South China Sea Islands using the eddy correlation method. These findings were then compared with data from the Dunhuang Gobi, Ordos desert, and Xilingol grassland regions in inland China, along with the observed net radiation and surface heat fluxes. The findings indicate that the energy fluxes over the South China Sea in summer exhibit prominent diurnal variations. The magnitude of either latent or soil heat flux is low, and the net radiation is predominantly transformed into sensible heat flux, which warms the atmosphere. Furthermore, the daily variation curves of sensible and latent heat fluxes are influenced by intermittent turbulence on the islands and reefs, resulting in a less smooth pattern compared with soil heat flux. Although the South China Sea Islands have small land areas and are surrounded by the sea, the land–atmosphere interactions over the underlying surface of this region are similar to those over the underlying surface of grasslands in inland China during summer. The daily mean sensible heat flux on the islands is higher than that in an inland area, and the time lag in its response to sunrise is longer than that in inland areas by approximately 1 h. The overall energy balance ratio is approximately 0.75, c which is in line with the average level, but an energy balance residual of approximately 25% still exists. Furthermore, extreme weather conditions, such as typhoons, can disrupt the diurnal variations of sensible and latent heat fluxes, and the cyclical patterns are subsequently restored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The main focus of this study is to explore the molecular mechanism of IRF7 regulation on RPS18 transcription in M1‐type macrophages in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) tissue, as well as the transfer of RPS18 by IRF7 via exosomes to PAAD cells and the regulation of ILF3 expression. Methods: By utilising single‐cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‐seq) data and spatial transcriptomics (ST) data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, we identified distinct cell types with significant expression differences in PAAD tissue. Among these cell types, we identified those closely associated with lipid metabolism. The differentially expressed genes within these cell types were analysed, and target genes relevant to prognosis were identified. Flow cytometry was employed to assess the expression levels of target genes in M1 and M2 macrophages. Cell lines with target gene knockout were constructed using CRISPR/Cas9 editing technology, and cell lines with target gene knockdown and overexpression were established using lentiviral vectors. Additionally, a co‐culture model of exosomes derived from M1 macrophages with PAAD cells was developed. The impact of M1 macrophage‐derived exosomes on the lipid metabolism of PAAD cells in the model was evaluated through metabolomics analysis. The effects of M1 macrophage‐derived exosomes on the viability, proliferation, division, migration and apoptosis of PAAD cells were assessed using MTT assay, flow cytometry, EdU assay, wound healing assay, Transwell assay and TUNEL staining. Furthermore, a mouse PAAD orthotopic implantation model was established, and bioluminescence imaging was utilised to assess the influence of M1 macrophage‐derived exosomes on the intratumoural formation capacity of PAAD cells, as well as measuring tumour weight and volume. The expression of proliferation‐associated proteins in tumour tissues was examined using immunohistochemistry. Results: Through combined analysis of scRNA‐seq and ST technologies, we discovered a close association between M1 macrophages in PAAD samples and lipid metabolism signals, as well as a negative correlation between M1 macrophages and cancer cells. The construction of a prognostic risk score model identified RPS18 and IRF7 as two prognostically relevant genes in M1 macrophages, exhibiting negative and positive correlations, respectively. Mechanistically, it was found that IRF7 in M1 macrophages can inhibit the transcription of RPS18, reducing the transfer of RPS18 to PAAD cells via exosomes, consequently affecting the expression of ILF3 in PAAD cells. IRF7/RPS18 in M1 macrophages can also suppress lipid metabolism, cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion and intratumoural formation capacity of PAAD cells, while promoting cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Overexpression of IRF7 in M1 macrophages may inhibit RPS18 transcription, reduce the transfer of RPS18 from M1 macrophage‐derived exosomes to PAAD cells, thereby suppressing ILF3 expression in PAAD cells, inhibiting the lipid metabolism pathway, and curtailing the viability, proliferation, migration, invasion of PAAD cells, as well as enhancing cell apoptosis, ultimately inhibiting tumour formation in PAAD cells in vivo. Targeting IRF7/RPS18 in M1 macrophages could represent a promising immunotherapeutic approach for PAAD in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. It is characterized by persistent joint damage. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated notable efficacy in managing RA. Prior investigations have indicated that the ethyl acetate extract of Tetrastigma planicaule (Hook.) Gagnep. (TP) possesses substantial anti‐inflammatory properties, suggesting the potential for screening TCM drugs with antirheumatoid arthritis attributes. However, the precise mechanism underlying its pharmacological effects and material basis remains unclear, impeding the advancement of TCM innovation. Objective. This study is to elucidate the active components and mechanism of TP in the treatment of RA. Materials and Methods. A rat model of collagen‐induced arthritis (CIA) was established for conducting pharmacological experiments to assess the effectiveness of ethyl acetate extract from TP in treating RA. In addition, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics technology was employed to identify potential endogenous biomarkers for further metabolic pathway analysis. The active compounds and key targets were investigated using ultraperformance liquid chromatography‐quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS/MS) technology in combination with network pharmacology. Moreover, common gene targets discovered by metabolomics and network pharmacology were validated by molecular docking with the relevant active components. Result. 12 endogenous biomarkers were screened by 1H‐NMR metabolomics technology. The metabolite pathways are primarily implicated in lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism. 49 compounds were identified in TP, of which 10 were considered active ingredients through network pharmacological analysis. In a comprehensive analysis, it was found that TP exhibited a strong association with the PLA2G4A and lipid metabolite pathways in RA. Molecular docking studies further demonstrated a high affinity between the active compounds of TP and PLA2G4A. Discussion and Conclusions. TP may play a therapeutic role in RA by regulating PLA2G4A and participating in back‐regulating the glycerophospholipid metabolic pathway. The study elucidated the multicomponent, multitarget, and multipathway mechanism of TP in the treatment of RA, laying the groundwork for a deeper understanding of its therapeutic mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA‐HNSCC) have poor survival outcomes. The real‐world efficacy of nimotuzumab plus intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)‐based chemoradiotherapy in patients with LA‐HNSCC remains unclear. A total of 25,442 HNSCC patients were screened, and 612 patients were matched by propensity score matching (PSM) (1:1). PSM was utilized to balance known confounding factors. Patients who completed at least five doses of nimotuzumab were identified as study group. The primary end point was 3‐year overall survival (OS) rate. Log‐rank test examined the difference between two survival curves and Cloglog transformation test was performed to compare survival at a fixed time point. The median follow‐up time was 54.2 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 52.7–55.9) months. The study group was associated with improved OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.57–0.99, p = 0.038) and progression‐free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.58–0.96, p = 0.021). Subgroup analysis revealed that aged 50–60 year, IV, N2, radiotherapy dose ≥ 60 Gy, without previous surgery, and neoadjuvant therapy have a trend of survival benefit with nimotuzumab. Nimotuzumab showed favorable safety, only 0.2% had nimotuzumab‐related severe adverse events. Our study indicated the nimotuzumab plus chemoradiotherapy provides survival benefits and safety for LA‐HNSCC patients in an IMRT era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The time‐series data of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a crucial indicator for global and regional vegetation monitoring. However, the current assessment of global and regional long‐term vegetation changes is subject to large uncertainties due to the lack of spatiotemporally continuous time‐series data sets. Methods: In this study, a long time‐series monthly NDVI data set with a spatial resolution of 250 m from 1982 to 2020 was developed by combining Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and AVHRR (Advanced Very High‐Resolution Radiometer) time‐series NDVI products using the Random Forest (RF) downscaling model. Results: Compared to the MODIS NDVI product, the fused product shows RMSE and mean absolute error ranging from 0 to 0.075 and from 0 to 0.05, respectively, with R2 values mostly above 0.7. Conclusions: The long time‐series NDVI products generated in this study are reliable in terms of accuracy and have great potential for long‐term dynamic monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that focuses on the results of Tibetan Mineral Resources Potential Assessment Project based on the analysis and research of multi-source information data of Nixiong and Jiangla skarn iron ore forecast in Gangdese magmatic arc in Tibet, China. Topics discussed include analysis of iron mineralization law; processing of geological, geophysicalCgeochemical data; and application of Prediction Auxiliary System of Geologic Volume Method in resource reserve estimation.

Objective: To analyze the failure patterns in patients with different histological subtypes of sinonasal malignancies (SNMs). Study Design: Retrospectively gathered data. Setting: Academic university hospital. Methods: Patients with SNMs treated at a tertiary referral center between January 1999 and January 2019 were included. We assessed the failure patterns within different histological subtypes. Results: The study included 897 patients. The median follow‐up time was 100 months. Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) had a moderate risk of developing local recurrence (LR) and distant metastasis (DM). Compared with ACC, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), adenocarcinoma (AC), soft tissue sarcoma (STS), and mucosal melanoma (MM) were classified as a high LR risk group. For DM, neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC), STS, and MM were in the high‐risk group. Conclusions: ACC had intermediate local and distant failure risks, while SCC, AC, STS, and MM were at high LR risks. NEC, STS, and MM were at high DM risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bravais lattices and their lattice parameters are blindly determined using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) patterns of materials with cubic or tetragonal crystal structures. Since the geometric relationships in a single EBSD pattern are overdetermined, the relative errors of determining the lattice parameters as well as the axial ratios are confined to about 0.7 ± 0.4% and 0.07 ± 0.03%, respectively, for ideal simulated EBSD patterns. The accuracy of the crystal orientation determination reaches about 0.06 ± 0.03°. With careful manual band detection, the accuracy of determining lattice parameters from experimental patterns can be as good as from simulated patterns, although the results from simulated patterns are often better than expermental patterns, which are lower quality and contain uncertain systematic errors. The reasonably high accuracy is obtained primarily because the detection of the diffracting‐plane traces and zone axes is relatively accurate. The results here demonstrate that the developed procedure based on the EBSD technique presents a reliable tool for crystallographic characterization of the Bravais lattices of unknown phases. A reliable method which can accurately derive the Bravais‐lattice type and lattice parameters of unknown phases from a single EBSD pattern without a priori knowledge is proposed. By solving the geometric relationships in an EBSD pattern based on a huge overdetermined system of equations, error accumulation can be avoided, with the relative errors confined to ∼1% for lattice parameters, <0.4% for axial ratios and ∼0.1° for crystal orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identifying the lymph node target volume in patients with node‐negative sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) crossing the midline poses a challenge. This study aims to address this. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinically N0 patients with tumors crossing the midline who received elective neck irradiation (ENI) from two centers between 1999 and 2019. The main endpoint was regional relapse‐free survival (RRFS). Results: We included 104 patients: 64 received bilateral ENI, and 40 received ipsilateral‐only ENI (median follow‐up time was 89.99 and 95.01 months, respectively). At 5 years, the RRFS rates were comparable (57.68% vs. 55.83%, p = 0.372), as were the contralateral RRFS (57.68% vs. 61.62%, p = 0.541). Five‐year OS, LRFS, and DMFS showed no significant difference between two groups. Conclusions: Our findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting the potential for avoiding contralateral ENI in SNSCC patients with midline crossing tumors who undergo ipsilateral ENI, covering at least level II. Validation through future prospective studies is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine oncologic outcomes for patients with T4b sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) treated with either surgery plus radiotherapy or definitive radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Between January 1999 and December 2016, 85 patients with T4b SNSCC were analyzed retrospectively, there were 54 who received surgery plus radiotherapy (S + RT group) ± chemotherapy and 31 with definitive radiotherapy (RT group) ± chemotherapy. A 1: 2 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance clinical factors and match patients. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model were used to determine risk factors on survival outcomes. Results: The median follow‐up time was 76.7 months. The cumulative rates of locoregional control (LRC), distant metastasis‐free survival (DMFS), cancer‐specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) at 5 years for entire cohort were 44.6%, 33.1%, 38.8%, and 33.9% respectively. After PSM, a total of 50 patients in S + RT group and 25 patients in RT group were analyzed. The 5‐year LRC, DMFS, CSS, and OS between S + RT and RT group were 58.6% versus 27.5% (p = 0.035), 42.8% versus 20.0% (p = 0.006), 50.3% versus 22.0% (p = 0.005), 44.5% veruss 20.0% (p = 0.004). The 5‐year survival rates with orbital retention between groups were 32.7% and 15.0%, p = 0.080. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed non‐surgical therapy (HR = 3.678, 95%CI 1.951–6.933) and invasion of cranial nerves (other than maxillary division of trigeminal nerves) (HR = 2.596, 95%CI 1.217–5.535) were associated with decreased OS. Conclusion: The inclusion of surgery in the multimodal management of T4b SNSCC might confer a survival benefit. Further prospective studies comparing the oncologic outcomes of S + RT with RT are warranted. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 133:2222–2231, 2023 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the prevalence of hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HPC) with synchronous second primary malignancies (Syn‐SPMs), their impact on clinical outcomes, and associated risk factors in the image‐enhanced endoscopy era. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 673 patients newly diagnosed with HPC at our cancer center between 2009 and 2019. The patients were divided into three groups: (a) no second primary malignancies (N‐SPMs, n = 533); (b) synchronous carcinoma in situ (Syn‐Tis, n = 60); (c) synchronous invasive tumors (Syn‐invasive, n = 80). Propensity score matching was conducted to balance the N‐SPMs and Syn‐invasive groups at a 3:1 ratio. Results: Most (96.1%) underwent pretreatment esophagogastroduodenoscopy evaluation with image‐enhanced endoscopy. The incidence rates were: Syn‐SPMs, 20.8%; Syn‐Tis, 8.9%; Syn‐invasive, 11.9%. At a median follow‐up of 66.7 months, the Syn‐Tis and N‐SPMs groups had a similar 5‐year overall survival (OS; 45.6% vs. 44.5%; hazard ratio [HR], 0.956; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.660–1.385; p = 0.806). Compared to the N‐SPMs group, the Syn‐invasive group had poorer 5‐year OS (27.0% vs. 52.9%; HR, 2.059; 95% CI, 1.494–2.839; p < 0.001). Alcohol consumption was significantly associated with Syn‐SPMs occurrence (odds ratio, 2.055, 2.414, and 3.807 for light, intermediate, and heavy drinkers, respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of Syn‐SPMs among patients with HPC was high. Syn‐invasive SPMs decreased the survival of patients with HPC. Routine screening with image‐enhanced endoscopy should be recommended to detect early‐stage SPMs, especially for heavy alcohol drinkers. Level of Evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 133:1906–1913, 2023 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors are a new treatment strategy for advanced urothelial carcinoma. Therefore, a comparative evaluation of their efficacy and toxicity compared with chemotherapy is necessary. Methods: We comprehensively searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases and performed a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials up to July 2021. We considered overall survival as the primary outcome, and progression‐free survival, objective response rate, and treatment‐related adverse events as secondary outcomes. Results: Overall, 3584 patients from five studies were evaluated. Compared with first‐line chemotherapy, programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors were significantly associated with worse progression‐free survival (p < 0.001) and adverse objective response rates (p < 0.001). However, the treatments were not significantly different in terms of overall survival (p = 0.33). Compared with second‐line chemotherapy, programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors significantly improved overall survival (p < 0.001), and there was no statistically significant difference in progression‐free survival (p = 0.89) or objective response rate (p = 0.34). Compared with chemotherapy, programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors were well tolerated (first‐line chemotherapy: p < 0.001; second‐line chemotherapy: p < 0.001). Conclusions: The efficacy of programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma is not superior to that of first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy but is better than second‐line chemotherapy; however, programmed cell death‐1/ligand 1 inhibitors are safer than first‐ and second‐line chemotherapy and have a broader prospect for use in combination therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On behalf of the journal, AGU, and the scientific community, the editors of Geophysical Research Letters would like to sincerely thank those who reviewed manuscripts for us in 2022. The hours reading and commenting on manuscripts not only improve the manuscripts, but also increase the scientific rigor of future research in the field. With the advent of AGU's data policy, many reviewers have also helped immensely to evaluate the accessibility and availability of data, and many have provided insightful comments that helped to improve the data presentation and quality. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the reviewers in advancing open science, which is a key objective of AGU's data policy. We particularly appreciate the timely reviews in light of the demands imposed by the rapid review process at Geophysical Research Letters. We received 6,687 submissions in 2022 and 5,247 reviewers contributed to their evaluation by providing 8,720 reviews in total. We deeply appreciate their contributions in these challenging times. Plain Language Summary: Individuals in italics provided three or more reviews for GRL in 2022. Key Points: The editors thank the 2022 peer reviewers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editorial board of JGR Atmospheres thanks reviewers who refereed papers in 2022. Plain Language Summary: The editorial board of JGR Atmospheres thanks reviewers who refereed papers in 2022. Key Point: The editors thank the 2022 peer reviewers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The necessity of level III irradiation in patients with node‐negative advanced sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC) is unclear. Methods: Seventy‐eight patients with advanced SNSCC were included. Survival rates were estimated and compared between treatment groups. Results: Twenty‐five patients received ipsilateral levels Ib and II irradiation (group 1) and 53 patients received ipsilateral levels Ib and II plus level III irradiation (group 2). The median follow‐up time was 75.56 months. Five‐year survival rates (regional relapse‐free survival, overall survival, local relapse‐free survival, and distant metastasis‐free survival) were similar between groups 1 and 2 (all p > 0.05). Irradiation doses to the thyroid and larynx were significantly lower in group 1 than in group 2. Conclusions: Ipsilateral irradiation of levels Ib and II neck provides similar regional control and results as irradiation of these levels plus level III, with lower irradiation doses to normal neck tissue, in patients with node‐negative advanced SNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers the problem of detecting range‐spread targets embedded in subspace interference plus Gaussian clutter with an unknown covariance matrix. The target and interference signals are modeled in terms of deterministic signals belonging to two known subspaces, respectively. Based on the Gradient test criterion, two adaptive detectors are devised for rejecting subspace interference in homogeneous and partially homogeneous environments, respectively. Both of the proposed detectors theoretically exhibit a desirable property of a constant false alarm rate with respect to the clutter covariance matrix as well as the power level. Furthermore, the numerical results show that, compared with their existing counterparts, the proposed detectors exhibit better detection performance and satisfactory suppression performance for the interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, deep learning has been extensively used for ionospheric total electron content (TEC) prediction, and many models can yield promising prediction results, particularly under quiet conditions. Owing to the ionosphere's intricate and dramatic changes during geomagnetic storms, the high‐reliable prediction of the storm‐time ionospheric TEC remains a challenging problem. In this study, we developed a new deep learning‐based multi‐model ensemble method (DLMEM) to forecast geomagnetic storm‐time ionospheric TEC that combines the Random Forest (RF) model, the Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithm, and the Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) network with the attention mechanism. Seven features in 170 geomagnetic storm events, including the three components Bx, By and Bz of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the Kp and Dst indices of geomagnetic activity data, the F10.7 index of solar activity data and global TEC data, were used for modeling. The test set results showed that the DLMEM model can reduce the root mean square errors (RMSE) by an average of 43.6% in comparison to our previously presented model Ion‐LSTM, especially during the recovery period of geomagnetic storms. Furthermore, compared to Ion‐LSTM, the RMSE values of the low‐, middle‐ and high‐latitude single‐station forecast TEC can be greatly decreased by 33%, 53% and 59%, respectively. It was shown that the new model allows for more precise short‐term global ionospheric forecasting during geomagnetic storms, enabling real‐time monitoring of ionospheric changes. Plain Language Summary: The short‐term ionospheric TEC prediction is currently a research focus regarding ionospheric physics and the associated space weather effects. Owing the complex temporal‐spatial variation characteristics of the ionosphere, it brings great difficulties and challenges to ionospheric prediction. Though the rapidly developing machine learning method can discover intricate structures in large data sets, it remains a great problem in ionospheric TEC prediction, especially during geomagnetic storms. This study proposed a deep learning model for storm‐time ionospheric prediction. For the new model, the input data cover more than one solar cycle. Specifically, the geomagnetic indices, interplanetary magnetic field, and global ionospheric maps during storms were selected as data sets. Additionally, the model's structure was redesigned to fit the characteristics of geomagnetic storms, and the model ensembling technique and attention mechanism were used to construct the model. The prediction results show that the new model has a significant improvement over the previous model and performs well during geomagnetic storms. Key Points: A geomagnetic storm‐time ionosphere forecasting model is developed using a deep learning‐based multi‐model ensemble method (DLMEM)Model ensembling and attention mechanism were used to construct the DLMEM, which structure was redesigned to fit the feature of stormsThe DLMEM model can accurately and effectively forecast the global ionospheric total electron content during geomagnetic storms events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the relationship between exchange rate fluctuations and oil prices, this paper combines the copula function to study the correlation between exchange rate fluctuations and oil price changes, conducts a more comprehensive study of the copula function, and applies the algorithm to some practical classification problems. Moreover, this paper improves some defects in the algorithm and combines some new learning frameworks in machine learning to generalize the copula function to a variety of learning models. In addition, this paper studies how to use the coverage algorithm to construct classifiers under various problems and proposes corresponding improvement strategies according to the characteristics of various problems. Finally, this paper builds a correlation analysis algorithm model and uses simulation research to verify that there is a relatively obvious correlation between exchange rate fluctuations and oil price changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although huge attentions are paid to the bionic robot research, preparing flexible actuators with high sensitivity, fast response, and long lifespan are still in great challenge. Herein, an enhanced actuator based on the ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) and carboxylic multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (CMWCNTs) is presented. The nanoscale decoration of MWCNT materials leads to the effectively application of doped and decorated carbon‐based devices for actuators. In the study, morphologies of CMWCNTs are evaluated with transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). By the home‐setup platform, the electrical conductivity and driving performance are evaluated. Using tensile‐testing machine, mechanical properties, such as the elastic modulus and tensile strength, are assessed. Results show that performances including electronic, mechanical, and driving activities of the ionic polymer–metal composite actuator are significantly improved. The maximum output force and sensitivity of the actuators are increased at rates of 24% and 130%, respectively. The mechanism is attributed to carboxylic groups in the acceleration of hydrated cations movement. Additionally, the surface conductivity, mechanical strength, and dispersion are far superior to those walled carbon nanotubes (WCNT)‐doped actuators reported previously. IPMC‐embedded nanotube designs provide a high potential for the development of robotic‐assisted manipulations, such as biomedical robots and microelectromechanical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using 3D sonic crystals as acoustic higher‐order topological insulators (HOTIs), 2D surface states described by spin‐1 Dirac equations at the interfaces between the two sonic crystals with distinct topology but the same crystalline symmetry are discovered. It is found that the Dirac mass can be tuned by the geometry of the two sonic crystals. The sign reversal of the Dirac mass reveals a surface topological transition where the surface states exhibit zero refractive index behavior. When the surface states are gapped, 1D hinge states emerge due to the topology of the gapped surface states. The zero refractive index behavior and the emergent topological hinge states are confirmed experimentally. This study reveals a multidimensional Wannier orbital control that leads to extraordinary properties of surface states and unveils an interesting topological mechanism for the control of surface waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

β‐Ga2O3 solar‐blind photodetectors (PDs) are attracting great attention for broad applications. However, their detection sensitivities are still lower than expected after tremendous efforts. The phenomenon of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) offers another approach beyond conventional techniques to engineer the photodetection performance, but extending the plasmonic properties into the deep‐ultraviolet region faces severe challenges, among which strictly controlling the nanostructures structural properties is extremely prominent besides material selection. Herein, well‐defined Al@Al2O3 core−shell nanostructure arrays are fabricated with sub‐50 nm feature sizes, narrow dimension distributions, periodic graphene‐like patterns, and extremely high densities (up to 152.7 counts µm−2). The decorated β‐Ga2O3 PDs exhibit significantly enhanced sensitivities without response spectra broadening. Particularly, the sample with a 42‐nm nanostructure array possesses an ultrahigh specific detectivity (4.22 × 1015 Jones), being one of the top among film‐type gallium oxide PDs, and an excellent responsivity of 216.0 A W−1 peaked at 235 nm. Moreover, the passivation effect of self‐terminating native oxide shell is confirmed. The finite‐difference time‐domain simulations based on isolated, dimer, and arrayed models not only demonstrate the presence of LSPR, but also reveal the critical contribution of nanostructure density. The findings provide an alternative platform to break the bottleneck and develop ultra‐sensitive, truly solar‐blind PDs for advanced optoelectronic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water‐mass transports in the vast and seemingly quiescent abyssal ocean, basically along topographically‐guided pathways, play a pivotal role in the Earth's climate. The pulse of abyssal circulations can be taken with observations at topographic choke points. The Yap‐Mariana Junction (YMJ) is the exclusive choke point through which the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW) enters the Philippine Sea. Here, we quantify the LCDW transport and its variability based on mooring observations at the YMJ and the Mariana Trench (MT). The LCDW flows northward toward the Philippine Sea as an intensified current on the western side of the YMJ, with maximum mean velocity reaching 7.6 cm/s. The mean LCDW transports through the MT and the YMJ are 2.2 ± 1.0 Sv and 2.1 ± 0.4 Sv, respectively. Reversal flow at autumn in both the YMJ and MT is captured, indicating seasonal variability of the abyssal flow. Plain Language Summary: Water‐mass transports in the vast and seemingly quiescent abyssal ocean, basically along topographically‐guided pathways, play a pivotal role in the Earth's climate. In the North Pacific, the knowledge on the Yap‐Mariana Junction (YMJ), an exclusive choke point through which the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water (LCDW), the abyssal water from the Antarctic, enters the Philippine Sea, is sparse, leaving a gap in our understanding of the abyssal circulation in the Pacific and accordingly the global overturning circulation. To fill this gap, we quantify the LCDW transport and variability based on a densely distributed deep mooring array at the YMJ and the Mariana Trench. Based on this observational program, we reveal the velocity structure from ∼4,000 m down to the bottom across the YMJ, and estimate the LCDW transport. Besides, temporal variability of the abyssal flows through the YMJ and the Mariana Trench are investigated. This study illuminates the connectivity of abyssal flows between the YMJ and the Mariana Trench, and enhances our understanding of the abyssal circulation in the western North Pacific. Key Points: A densely distributed mooring array was deployed to observe the hitherto barely studied abyssal flow through the Yap‐Mariana JunctionVelocity section and volume transport (2.1±0.4 Sv) of the intense abyssal flow through the Yap‐Mariana Junction are acquiredPathway of the Lower Circumpolar Deep Water and its reversal in autumn are revealed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) causes a significant impact on public health. It is critical to diagnose COVID‐19 patients so that they can receive reasonable treatments quickly. The doctors can obtain a precise estimate of the infection's progression and decide more effective treatment options by segmenting the CT images of COVID‐19 patients. However, it is challenging to segment infected regions in CT slices because the infected regions are multi‐scale, and the boundary is not clear due to the low contrast between the infected area and the normal area. In this paper, a coarse‐refine segmentation network is proposed to address these challenges. The coarse‐refine architecture and hybrid loss is used to guide the model to predict the delicate structures with clear boundaries to address the problem of unclear boundaries. The atrous spatial pyramid pooling module in the network is added to improve the performance in detecting infected regions with different scales. Experimental results show that the model in the segmentation of COVID‐19 CT images outperforms other familiar medical segmentation models, enabling the doctor to get a more accurate estimate on the progression of the infection and thus can provide more reasonable treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), which can separate and quantify thousands of individual petroleum biomarker compounds, is generally acknowledged as the most powerful technique for oil fingerprinting nowadays. Traditional oil fingerprint studies employ the whole suite of biomarkers measured in chromatographic analysis, which is prone to introducing ambiguous variables in the whole set and being time and labour intensive. To extract the most representative and meaningful indicators for the oil fingerprinting and identification, this paper proposes a method based on principal component difference to select a simplified set of biomarkers, providing the possibility of faster elution and analysis procedures. For the purpose of further verifying the reliability and accuracy of our method, identification simulation experiments including principal component analysis (PCA) spatial clustering, hierarchical clustering, and generalized regression neural network are carried out with the whole set and the simplified set of biomarkers, respectively. All the results and analyses demonstrate that the simplified set of biomarkers selected by our proposed method can achieve almost the same or even better identification results than those of the whole set of biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design procedure of a novel transmission line low‐pass filter is presented. The filter has a flexible rejection response for a prescribed cut‐off frequency and an in‐band ripple factor. It is compact by using a Z‐shaped coupled‐line section, which is loaded with open‐circuited stubs. All of the transmission line elements are identical in electrical length, and the impedances can be calculated by solving certain specific equations according to prescribed in‐band specifications. The simulated results show that the circuit can generate low‐pass responses with third‐, fifth‐, and seventh‐order filtering functions. The filter order depends on the number and position of the loading stubs. For verification, two sample filters with cut‐off frequency of 0.5/0.3 GHz are fabricated using a three‐/five‐layer PCB process, which generate seventh‐order low‐pass filtering responses with good selectivity. The experimental results agree well with the predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal waves play important roles in modulating the temperature variations and heat transfers in stratified oceans. However, due to the deep ocean measuring approach limitations, it is still challengeable to characterize the temperature fluctuations induced by internal waves in the deep oceans below 2,000 m. In this study, a fleet of rapid‐sampling deep profiling floats with an approximately daily sampling rate was deployed in the northeastern South China Sea (SCS), Philippine Basin (PB), Mariana Arc (MA), and Kuroshio Extension (KE). Results show that the internal waves, internal tides or near‐inertial waves, have considerable imprints on local temperature fluctuations. Geographically, the internal wave induced temperature fluctuations are generally larger in the PB and MA, indicative of a strong deep signature of internal tides generated by local energetic tide‐topography interactions or radiation from remote sources. The temperature fluctuations at 4,000 m can reach up to 7 m°C in most regions, which may cover up real signals of temperature change, posing challenges to assess the deep ocean warming rate through currently insufficient deep profiling floats. Besides, the amplitude of isopycnal displacement in the PB and MA is evidently larger than in KE at 4,000 m, which implies enhanced diapycnal diffusivity and mixing in the deep layers of open oceans with rough topography. Plain Language Summary: Internal waves are ubiquitous in the global ocean, and their propagations are accompanied by the rise and falls of isopycnals which induce fluctuations in local temperature. However, in situ observations of high‐frequency temperature fluctuations in the deep ocean are still insufficient. Here we used a fleet of rapid‐sampling deep profiling floats to assess the temperature fluctuations induced by internal waves. We found that the magnitude of internal wave induced deep ocean temperature fluctuations is evidently stronger than the long‐term trend, especially in the Philippine Basin (PB) and Mariana Arc (MA) with rough topography. Therefore, a more cautious approach should be used to assess the deep ocean warming rate in areas with strong internal waves. Key Points: Internal waves are found to have considerable imprints on temperature fluctuations using rapid‐sampling deep profiling floatsThe temperature fluctuations can reach 7 m °C at 4,000 m, posing challenges to assess the real deep ocean warming rateThe internal waves induced temperature fluctuations in the deep ocean are generally larger in the Philippine Basin and Mariana Arc [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing a V‐shaped air slot in antenna substrate, the peak gain can be improved significantly for traditional Vivaldi antennas without size enlargement and additional components. The air slot is conformal to the radiating conductors of the target Vivaldi antenna, and can force the electromagnetic wave to propagate within the central dielectric part between the antenna's opening slot, by decreasing the effective dielectric permittivity of the regions along the radiating conductors. As a result, the wave distributes more evenly within the radiating aperture comparing with the traditional designs, especially at high frequencies, hence the peak gain can be enhanced. In addition, the removal of antenna back substrate is evaluated on radiation characteristics, which can further improve antenna gain and front‐to‐back ratio. For verification, three antennas within operating frequency band from 0.8 to 6.0 GHz are designed with the same dimensions (220 mm × 256 mm) but different configurations. The simulations show that the peak gain increases from 2.0 to 12.0 dBi gradually for the air slot loaded antenna. The gain increment is about 4–6 dB from 4.0 to 6.0 GHz comparing with the one without air slot. A sample antenna with both air slot and removal of back substrate is fabricated and measured. The measured reflection is better than −10 dB from 0.8 to 6.0 GHz, and the measured gains at (0°,0°) direction are from 2.3 to 11.0 dBi. The antenna patterns at high‐band shows that the main lobe in E‐Plane is narrowed successfully after introducing the V‐shaped air slot. The experimental data agree well with the prediction with in‐band radiation efficiency better than 65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 2‐year moored measurements in the northeastern South China Sea, contributions of multiscale dynamic processes to steric height (SH) at 60 m are quantified. It shows that on average, root‐mean‐squared (RMS) SHs of mesoscales, submesoscales, diurnal and semidiurnal internal tides (ITs), and supertidal internal gravity waves (IGWs) are 7.56, 1.01, 1.19, 2.84, and 1.46 cm, respectively, with their respective relative contributions of 53.8%, 7.2%, 8.5%, 20.2%, and 10.4%. The SHs of ITs and supertidal IGWs are dominated by stationary and nonstationary components, respectively. Seasonally, mesoscales and submesoscales show larger RMS SHs in winter than summer but the opposite occurs for ITs and supertidal IGWs. Although the RMS SH of submesoscales exceeds nonstationary ITs in winter, it is much smaller than the sum of nonstationary ITs and supertidal IGWs. Therefore, to detect submesoscales using SWOT data, approaches to remove the SHs of nonstationary ITs and supertidal IGWs are called for. Plain Language Summary: Steric height (SH) is a key component of sea surface height (SSH) that arises from multiscale processes such as mesoscales, submesoscales, and internal gravity waves (IGWs). A quantitative understanding on constituents of SH is a prerequisite to explore ocean dynamics using satellite‐derived SSH data. Based on moored temperature data in the northeastern South China Sea, contributions of multiscale processes to SH are quantified. Two‐year averaged results show that contributions of mesoscales, submesoscales, internal tides (ITs), and supertidal IGWs to SH account for 53.8%, 7.2%, 28.7%, and 10.4%, respectively. The SHs of ITs and supertidal IGWs are dominated by stationary and nonstationary components, respectively. The above multiscale processes all show notable seasonal variations in term of SH. For mesoscales and submesoscales (ITs and supertidal IGWs), their RMS SHs are larger (smaller) in winter than summer. In winter, the RMS SH of submesoscales reaches 1.26 cm, which exceeds the respective values of nonstationary ITs and supertidal IGWs, but is much smaller than their sum. These results suggest that in addition to nonstationary ITs, supertidal IGWs will also be a large "noise" source for detecting submesoscales from the upcoming SWOT SSH data. Key Points: Contributions of multiscale dynamic processes to the steric height (SH) in the SCS are revealed by 2‐year moored temperature observationsOn average, mesoscales make the dominant contribution to SH, followed by tidal and supertidal motions, and finally submesoscalesSHs of mesoscales and submesoscales are stronger in winter than summer but the opposite occurs for tidal and supertidal motions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Conditional survival (CS) and failure hazard estimations can provide important dynamic prognostic information for clinical decision‐making and surveillance counseling. The current study aimed to investigate the CS and dynamic failure hazard in non‐metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) treated with intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Methods: Conditional overall survival (COS) and progression‐free survival (CPFS) estimates adjusted for age and gender against each AJCC 8th stage were calculated. Multivariable Cox regression (MCR) models were fitted in the entire population at baseline and subsequently separate MCR models were fitted in patients who have maintained event‐free time of 1 to 10 years to generate respective hazard ratio (HR). Annual hazard rates of death and progression over 10 years for each stage were also estimated. Results: A total of 1993 patients were eligible for analysis. The estimated 5‐year OS and PFS for entire cohort were 79.0% and 70.7% at initial diagnosis. After 5 years of event‐free follow‐up, additional 5‐year COS and CPFS increased to 85.9% and 85.5%, respectively. Stage I/II maintained dramatically favorable CS and low hazard (< 5%) of death and progression over time. Relative to stage I/II, stage III manifested non‐significantly higher failure hazard for the first 3 years of survivorship and approached to similar level of stage I/II afterwards. Stage IVA presented most impressive improvement in terms of both COS (∆=9.8%) and CPFS (∆ = 16.8%) whereas still drastically inferior to that of stage I‐III across all conditional time points. After 4 years of follow‐up, progression hazard of stage IVA became relatively steady of approximate 6%. Conclusions: Survival prospect of non‐metastatic NPC improves over years with distinct dynamic patterns across stages, providing important implications for personalized decision‐making in terms of both clinical management and surveillance counseling. Stage‐dependent and hazard‐adapted clinical management and surveillance are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible InGaZnO thin‐film transistors (TFTs) have been extensively investigated over the last decade with an aim to transferring electronic devices from rigid substrates to light‐weight, soft and flexible ones. Firstly, an introduction to flexible InGaZnO TFT is provided, where the superiority over its rigid counterparts is illustrated. Then, the TFT structures are exhibited with their primary film layers, and the material choice and process selection are presented for each layer to explain the fabrication of flexible InGaZnO TFTs with high performance. Afterward, the recent advances on the electrical performance of the flexible InGaZnO TFTs achieved by either material optimization or structure innovation are summarized, and their operating principles and improvement mechanisms are clarified. Next, the recent progresses on the mechanical flexibility of flexible InGaZnO TFTs are presented according to improvement methods. All these improvements enable the flexible InGaZnO TFTs to endure smaller bending radius and more bending cycles even under electrical and illumination stresses. In particular, the mechanisms concerning mechanical bending are demonstrated in detail, which successfully explain the bending‐induced instability in electrical characteristics of flexible InGaZnO TFTs in numerous studies. Finally, the challenges in this area are summarized as guidance for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare malignant neoplasm. Currently, no consistent and universal staging system for ENB exists. The aim of this study is to propose a TNM‐based classification. Subjects and methods: Hundred and forty‐two patients from our institution, with ENB pathologically confirmed between July 1978 and December 2018, were reviewed. All patients were restaged according to the Kadish stage, Morita stage and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T classification from clinical and radiological data. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were performed to determine the impact of various factors. The goodness‐of‐fit and predictive accuracy of the different staging systems were calculated using R software. Results: The median follow‐up time was 57 months (range: 4‐229 months). According to the Kadish system, the 5‐year overall survival (OS) for patients with stage A, B and C was 100%, 83.6% and 64.2%, respectively (P =.055). With respect to the Morita classification, 5‐year OS for stages A, B, C and D was 100%, 83.6%, 70.7% and 50.0%, respectively (P =.004). Analysis based on the proposed staging model demonstrated 5‐year OS for stage I, II, III and IV disease was 100%, 88.9%, 75.9% and 49.0%, respectively (P <.001). In separate multivariate Cox regression models, only the novel staging system exhibited independent effects on OS (P =.004); the Akaike information criterion and Harrell's concordance index were also superior to those calculated for the Kadish or Morita systems. Conclusions: The proposed TNM‐based staging system offers an improved prognostic assessment for patients with ENB. Further verification and refinement from additional dataset application is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigated rice requires intense water management under typical agronomic practices. Cost effective tools to improve the efficiency and assessment of water use is a key need for industry and resource managers to scale ecosystem services. In this research we advance model‐based decomposition and machine learning to map inundated rice using time‐series polarimetric, L‐band Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) observations. Simultaneous ground truth observations recorded water depth inundation during the 2019 crop season using instrumented fields across the study site in Arkansas, USA. A three‐component model‐based decomposition generated metrics representing surface‐, double bounce‐, and volume‐scattering along with a shape factor, randomness factor, and the Radar Vegetation Index (RVI). These physically meaningful metrics characterized crop inundation status independent of growth stage including under dense canopy cover. Machine learning (ML) comparisons employed Random Forest (RF) using the UAVSAR derived parameters to identify cropland inundation status across the region. Outcomes show that RVI, proportion of the double‐bounce within total scattering, and the relative comparison between the double‐bounce and the volume scattering have moderate to strong mechanistic ability to identify rice inundation status with Overall Accuracy (OA) achieving 75%. The use of relative ratios further helped mitigate the impacts of far range incidence angles. The RF approach, which requires training data, achieved a higher OA and Kappa of 88% and 71%, respectively, when leveraging multiple SAR parameters. Thus, the combination of physical characterization and ML provides a powerful approach to retrieving cropland inundation under the canopy. The growth of polarimetric L‐band availability should enhance cropland inundation metrics beyond open water that are required for tracking water quantity at field scale over large areas. Key Points: Cropland inundation assessment has largely focused on open waterQuad polarized L‐band SAR can help detect under canopy inundationThe underlying physical mechanisms driving scattering responses and machine learning algorithms had similar outcomes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction: To investigate the genetic etiology and evaluate the diagnostic application of next‐generation sequencing for diabetes/persistent hyperglycemia in children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: Patients with diabetes/persistent hyperglycemia, presenting with at least one other clinical manifestation (other than diabetes) or with a family history of diabetes, were recruited. The clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients were recorded. Next‐generation sequencing was carried out, and candidate variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. Variant pathogenicity was further evaluated according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guidelines. Results: This study included 101 potential probands, 36 of whom were identified as positive by genetic testing. A further 51.2 and 20.9% of variants were determined to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic, respectively. Variants associated with the disease were primarily identified in 21 genes and three regions of copy number variants. Among the 39 variants in 21 genes, 61.5% (24/39) were novel. The genetic diagnosis of 23 patients was confirmed based on genetic evidence and associated clinical manifestations. We reported GCK variants (21.7%, 5/23) as the most common etiology in our cohort. Different clinical manifestations were observed in one family with WFS1 variants. Conclusions: Our findings support the use of next‐generation sequencing as a standard method in patients with diabetes/persistent hyperglycemia and provide insights into the etiologies of these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of tunnel construction in China, deep buried and long tunnel projects are emerging in areas with complex engineering geological conditions and harsh environment, and thus large deformation of tunnels under conditions of high in situ stress and soft rock becomes increasingly prominent and endangers engineering safety. Therefore, it is of great significance to control the deformation and improve the stability of surrounding rock by analyzing the thickness and distribution law of loose circle according to the unique mechanical properties and failure mechanism of surrounding rock of large deformation soft-rock tunnel. Based on unified strength theory, this paper deduces the radius calculation formula of the loose circle by considering the influence of intermediate principal stress. Furthermore, the theoretical calculations and field tests of the loose circle in the typical sections of grade II and III deformation of Yuntunbao tunnel are carried out, and the thickness and distribution law of loose circle of surrounding rock of large deformation soft-rock tunnel is revealed. The results show that the formula based on the unified strength criterion is applicable for a large deformation tunnel in soft rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Maximum leaf speed is a configurable parameter of MLC in a treatment‐planning system. This study investigated the influence of MLC on the quality of VMAT plans. Methods: Seven MLCs with different maximum leaf speeds (1.0, 1.5, 2.25, 3.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10 cm/s) were configured for an accelerator in treatment‐planning system. Correspondingly, seven treatment plans, with the identical initial optimization parameter, were designed with the mdaccAutoPlan system. Six nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and nine rectal cancer patients were selected, representing complex and simple clinical circumstances. VMAT plan quality was evaluated with PlanIQTM software. The results were statistically analyzed with a one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pairwise comparison tests. Results: The relative changes of plan scores achieved by the seven configured accelerators, with specific maximum MLC leaf speed (MMLS) for each patient, were studied. Two apparent trends of MMLS influence on VMAT plan scores were observed: Plan scores increased with MMLS; Plan scores increased rapidly when MMLS increased from 1 to 3.5, thus the relative change of plan score decreased in this MMLS range. The stationary point of maximum MLC speed (MMSSP) is defined, for the specific MMLS when the relative changes of plan scores is first <5%, as MMLS increases from 1.0 to 10. For rectal plans, MMSSPs were 2.25 for six patients and 3.5 for the other three patients. For NPC plans, MMSSPs were 3.5 for five patients and 2.25 for one patient. Conclusion: This work indicates that MMLS directly influences VMAT plan quality in NPC cases and rectal cancer cases. VMAT plan quality improved conspicuously as MMLS increased from 1 to 3.5, VMAT plan quality with marginal improvement when MMLS is above 3.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tactile detection is a crucial technology in many fields, such as electronic skin, touch screen control, human prostheses, and screen fingerprint identification. Tribotronics has demonstrated active mechanosensation from external mechanical stimuli, which greatly enriches the sensing mechanisms of tactile detection. In this work, a monolithic integrated indium‐gallium‐zinc‐oxide (InGaZnO or IGZO) thin‐film transistor (TFT) array is developed for high‐resolution tactile detection. By using the conventional semiconductor fabrication processes, each IGZO TFT cell in the array shows uniform electrical performance. In addition, the drain–source current can be individually tuned by the electrostatic potential generated by the contact electrification between a movable gate and the gate dielectric. The monolithic integrated array displays a relatively high resolution of 12 pixels per inch and can realize a millimeter‐level tactile perception and motion tracking. This work presents a facile and viable strategy toward micro/nano‐scale tribotronics, which can realize high‐resolution and large‐scale tactile detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a hybrid configuration of reflective elements of at least two different types, the gain of a planar reflectarray antenna is successfully enhanced. According to the calculated phase‐shift distribution, the reflecting surface is covered mainly by traditional low‐loss element such as square patches (SPs) in the first. Then the blank cells, of which the required phase‐shift exceed the operational range of the SP, are covered by other elements having large phase‐shift, for example, the three‐ring patches. As a result, the antenna efficiency is kept in a high level because the low loss elements are in majority. Meanwhile, the main beam efficiency is kept high because the sidelobe level is suppressed by large phase‐shift elements. For verification, an experimental array is fabricated on an inversely suspended, low cost FR4 substrate. The simulated result shows that the sample antenna is advanced in high gain and low sidelobe level, comparing with its traditional counterparts with only one type reflectarray elements. The measured result agrees well with the simulations, which show the gain of the antenna is higher than 26 dB, while the sidelobe suppression is lower than −19 dB. The aperture efficiency reaches about 47.04% at 14.0 GHz, which achieves the performance of high‐cost reflectarray antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have examined the changes in streamflow in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) using observations and hydrological modeling; however, there is a lack of integrated modeling studies that explicitly simulate the natural and human‐induced changes in flood dynamics over the entire basin. Here we simulate the river‐floodplain‐reservoir inundation dynamics over the MRB for 1979–2016 period using a newly integrated, high‐resolution (~5 km) river hydrodynamics‐reservoir operation model. The framework is based on the river‐floodplain hydrodynamic model CaMa‐Flood in which a new reservoir operation scheme is incorporated by including 86 existing MRB dams. The simulated flood extent is downscaled to a higher resolution (~90 m) to investigate fine‐scale inundation dynamics, and results are validated with ground‐ and satellite‐based observations. It is found that the historical variations in surface water storage have been governed primarily by climate variability; the impacts of dams on river‐floodplain hydrodynamics were marginal until 2009. However, results indicate that the dam impacts increased noticeably in 2010 when the basin‐wide storage capacity doubled due to the construction of new mega dams. Further, results suggest that the future flood dynamics in the MRB would be considerably different than in the past even without climate change and additional dams. However, it is also found that the impacts of dams can largely vary depending on reservoir operation strategies. This study is expected to provide the basis for high‐resolution river‐floodplain‐reservoir modeling for a holistic assessment of the impacts of dams and climate change on the floodpulse‐dependent hydro‐ecological systems in the MRB and other global regions. Key Points: A high‐resolution model is presented for the integrated simulation of river‐floodplain‐reservoir inundation dynamicsHistorical impacts of dams on the Mekong River flood dynamics are found to be marginal compared to that of climate variabilityPotential future dam impacts on the Mekong flood dynamics could be largely different than today even under business‐as‐usual conditions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensity of deep‐ocean mixing critically shapes the global overturning circulation, but the energy cascade participating in the elevated mixing above rough topography remains poorly understood. Using 350‐day moored observations, the energy cascade triggered by eddy‐topography interactions is for the first time revealed in the deep South China Sea. The deep‐ocean observations show bottom‐intensified near‐inertial wave (NIW) pulses during periods of eddy occurrences. Eddy‐induced NIWs appear to catalyze nonlinear wave‐wave interactions, which further cascade energies from NIWs and internal tides to higher‐frequency internal waves (HFIWs) above fk1 frequency. Corresponding to the HFIW enhancement, the kinetic energy spectrum at 3–9 cycles per day increases by 2–9 times, and the spectral slope becomes ~ −1 rather than ~ −2, as predicted by the Garrett‐Munk oceanic internal wave spectrum. A cascade of internal waves above rough topography potentially promotes extracting energy from eddies and tides and dissipating this energy to mix deep waters. Plain Language Summary: Deep‐ocean mixing plays a pivotal role in the ocean meridional overturning circulation, ocean heat transport, and biogeochemical cycle. However, the energy cascade processes above rough topographic features and their contributions to mixing are still the key issues in oceanography. Based on 350 days of in situ mooring observations obtained over rough topography in the deep South China Sea, four pulses of near‐inertial waves (NIWs) corresponding to the passages of mesoscale eddies are revealed. Furthermore, the peaks of higher‐frequency internal waves (HFIWs) in the f interaction frequencies also stand out. NIW pulses are believed to be driven by lee wave dissipation and mixing activities resulting from eddy‐topography interactions; meanwhile, HFIW generation appears to be associated with nonlinear wave‐wave interactions. The observational results about the energy cascade induced by eddy‐topography interactions are expected to be useful for improving parameterizations of deep‐ocean mixing in models of oceanic overturning. Key Points: Deep‐ocean NIW and HFIW pulses during periods of eddy occurrences were observed over the rough topography in the SCSNIWs were bottom intensified and rotated counterclockwise, triggered by eddy‐topography interactionsDeep‐ocean NIW and HFIW pulses along with the internal tide damping indicate nonlinear wave‐wave interactions over rough topography [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorescence detection of petroleum related samples has excellent application value for unconventional oil exploration and petrochemical detection. In this paper, based on the concentration‐resolved fluorescence spectra, the synchronous fluorescence spectra were used in the range of 3.0 × 10−3 g/L to 5.0 g/L for different kinds of petroleum samples and petrochemical products with n‐hexane and isopropanol as extractants. A red shift of the fluorescence spectra with an increase in the concentration was found under both extractants. The solubility of n‐hexane on crude oil was stronger while that of isopropanol was better for aromatic compounds. The results show that the effect of different extracting agents on the spectra can be used to acquire more information about aromatics components in petroleum related samples, which should be carefully considered in the process of quantitative and qualitative analysis of crude oil samples by fluorescence spectra. It is also shown that the combined extraction of different extractants could enhance the analytical ability of the fluorescence spectrometry, and the rapid, non‐contact measurement is promising for in‐field use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a simple method for the fabrication of a magnetic amino‐functionalized zinc metal‐organic framework based on a magnetic graphene oxide composite. The resultant framework exhibited a porous 3D structure, high surface area and good adsorption properties for nitrogen‐containing heterocyclic fungicides. The adsorption process and capacity indicated that the primary adsorption mechanism might be hydrogen bonding and π‐π conjugation. In addition, an optimized protocol for magnetic solid phase extraction was developed (such as adsorbent content, pH, and desorption solvent), and utilized for the extraction of nitrogen‐containing heterocyclic fungicides from vegetable samples. Quantitation by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry offered a detection limit of 0.21–1.0 μg/L (S/N = 3) with correlation coefficients larger than 0.9975. These results demonstrate that magnetic amino‐functionalized zinc metal‐organic framewor is a promising adsorbent for the extraction and quantitation of nitrogen‐containing heterocyclic fungicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diapycnal mixing plays an important role in modulating upper‐ocean heat content of the western equatorial Pacific (WEP) that profoundly impacts the global climate. Given the sparsity of long‐term in situ observations, the mechanisms driving thermocline mixing in the WEP remain poorly understood. Here, based on yearlong mooring measurements in the WEP, we first report that the occurrence of shear instability was significantly enhanced by an anticyclonic subthermocline eddy (STE). As a result of strong subinertial velocity shear and weakened stratification associated with the STE, the Richardson number was decreased below 1/4 and the estimated diapycnal diffusivity was increased by 400%. Moreover, contrary to surface‐intensified anticyclonic eddies, the STE appeared to act as a dynamic barrier for downward penetration of wind‐generated near‐inertial energy, which may also fertilize mixing near the upper thermocline. Given the frequent occurrence of STEs, they may play a pivotal role in driving thermocline mixing in the WEP. Plain Language Summary: Turbulent mixing across density surfaces can bring cold water from the deep to the near‐surface layer of the ocean; it therefore modulates the upper‐ocean heat content of the western equatorial Pacific, which is critically important for the global climate system. Here, based on long‐term velocity and temperature measurements from a bottom‐anchored mooring, we for the first time found that the strong currents associated with a subsurface ocean eddy strongly elevated the upper‐ocean mixing in the western equatorial Pacific through increasing the occurrence of shear instability, which occurs in stratified shear flows when the destabilizing effects of the velocity shear exceeds the stabilizing effects of the density stratification. Given their frequent occurrence in the western equatorial Pacific, the subsurface eddies may provide an important route to driving turbulent mixing therein. Key Points: An anticyclonic subthermocline eddy was documented by a mooring in the western equatorial PacificThe subthermocline eddy significantly elevated the thermocline mixing through shear instability with Ri < 1/4The subthermocline eddy acted as dynamic barrier for the downward penetration of wind‐generated near‐inertial energy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is shown that a stub loaded square loop filter, composed of six sections of commensurate transmission line, can achieve equiripple response in both magnitude and group delay simultaneously, when the admittances of the lines are properly chosen. Design formulas are given to calculate the admittances by given specifications such as fractional bandwidth and in‐band magnitude ripple. An interesting property of this filter is that the group delay can be adjusted while the in‐band magnitude response keeps almost unchanged. For verification, a filter sample is designed, fabricated and measured. In experiment, it exhibits a delay variation of 0.22 ns and minimal insertion loss of 0.21 dB within its passband (|S11| < −13.8 dB) from 0.48 to 1.52 GHz, which agree well with the theoretical predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]