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Herein, we report a nanocomposite electrocatalyst with coupled Cu and NiO, showing a high Faraday efficiency of 97% and excellent ammonia production rate (450 mg h−1 cm−2) for nitrate reduction. In situ UV-vis spectroscopic studies confirmed that the synergy between NiO and Cu could avoid NO2− enrichment and promote tandem nitrate reduction to ammonia synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid control strategy is proposed for a SS compensated three-phase wireless power transfer (3P-WPT) system, which realizes full zero-voltage switching (ZVS) operation of the converter during the entire charging process of a battery. First, a mathematical equivalent model of 3P-WPT is established by fundamental harmonic approximation, the ZVS operation of the active bridge in the constant current (CC) charging mode is optimized by considering the relationship between the input impedance, operation frequency, and duty cycle. Consequently, an optimal modulation strategy featuring full ZVS operation is proposed for the constant current and constant voltage (CV) charging modes of 3P-WPT. Second, based on the NSGA-II algorithm, a mathematical model for the multi-objective optimization of coils is established, which aims for a high transmission frequency and power density. The parameters of coils are optimized accordingly. Finally, a 2 kW experimental prototype is built. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy, where the maximum efficiency is up to 90.26% at a full load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study introduces a novel algorithm based on the homotopy analysis method (HAM) to efficiently solve the equation of motion of simply supported transversely and axially loaded double-beam systems. The original HAM was developed for single partial differential equations (PDEs); the current formulation applies to systems of PDEs. The system of PDEs is derived by modeling two prismatic beams interconnected by a nonlinear inner layer as Euler–Bernoulli beams. We employ the Bubnov–Galerkin technique to turn the PDEs' system into a system of ordinary differential equations that is further solved with the HAM. The flexibility and straightforwardness of the HAM in computing time-dependent components of the system's transverse deflection and natural frequencies, in conjunction with the observed fast convergence, offer a robust semi-analytical method for analyzing such systems. Finally, the transverse deflection is built through the modal superposition principle. Thanks to a judicious and high-flexibility selection of initial guesses and convergence control parameters, numerical examples confirm that at most six iterations are needed to achieve convergence, and the results are consistent with the selected benchmark cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional numerical simulations based on an immersed boundary method are performed for the two-foil system with varying spacings, and a staggered arrangement with a spacing normalized by chord length (X d / D , Y d / D) = (2.0 , 2.5) is found to be the most favorable for energy harnessing with the efficiency enhancement of nearly 40% for the downstream foil. By scrutinizing the mean flow characteristics and the instantaneous wake dynamics, it is revealed that convective flow acceleration and vortex impingement in synchronized timing with foil motion are the two primary mechanisms that contribute to significant efficiency improvement. Based on the staggered arrangement for the two-foil system, a V-shape formation is further proposed for the multiple-foil system and verified with the highest efficiency of energy harnessing up to nearly twice that of a single foil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short packet communications play key roles in the Internet-of-Things. Conventional Shannon’s coding theorem is not applicable for short packet communications, and the achievable rate in the finite blocklength regime is related to the blocklength and the decoding error probability. Contrary to conventional physical layer security, wireless information surveillance assumes that the communication users are suspicious users and the eavesdroppers are legitimate monitors, and proactive eavesdropping via jamming has been proposed to improve the eavesdropping performance. Existing works on proactive eavesdropping ignored the scenario when the suspicious users adopt the short packet communications. Thus, this paper tries to develop effective proactive eavesdropping schemes suitable for the short packet suspicious communications. Under the truncated channel inversion power allocation and the modified constant power allocation policies at the suspicious source, the problems of jamming power allocation for maximizing the monitoring success probability subject to the average transmit power constraint at the monitor are investigated. Based on the Dinkelbach-type algorithm, the Lagrange duality method and a novel tractable approximate expression for the decoding error probability, we derive suboptimal solutions to the problems. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions compared to various benchmark algorithms in existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Breast cancer is the frequent cause of disease burden related to cancer among women. It affects one in 20 women globally and up to one in eight women in high-income countries. Cuproptosis is a copper-induced modality of mitochondrial cell death that is involved in tumor proliferation and metastasis. Methods. To construct a prognostic cuproptosis-related signature, LASSO Cox regression analysis was employed. Additionally, ceRNA was developed with an aim of exploring the possible lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory axis in breast cancer. Results. The expression of FDX1, DLD, DLAT, LIAS, LIPT1, GLS MTF1, and PDHA1 was downregulated, while CDKN2A expression level was elevated in breast cancer in contrast with normal tissue. We furthermore reviewed the genetic mutation landscape of genes linked to cuproptosis in breast cancer. Prognosis analysis revealed poor OS and RFS rates in breast cancer patients with elevated levels of CDKN2A and PDHA1 and low levels of MTF1, DLD, LIPT1, and FDX1. We then constructed a cuproptosis-related signature with six genes (DKN2A, MTF1, PDHA1, DLD, LIPT1, and FDX1) for breast cancer, which predicted the OS rate with an accuracy that ranged from medium to high. Further analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the cuproptosis-related prognostic signature and pTNM stage, MSI score, drug sensitivity, TMB score, and immune cell infiltration. Moreover, we identified the lncRNA XIST/miR-92b-3p/MTF1 regulatory axis for breast cancer. Conclusion. Multiomics approaches were used to create a cuproptosis-related signature with six genes (DKN2A, MTF1, PDHA1, DLD, LIPT1, and FDX1) for breast cancer. We discovered the lncRNA XIST/miR-92b-3p/MTF1 regulatory axis for breast cancer, which has not yet been investigated previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed fountain coding plays an important role in rateless code research. The reliability and effectiveness of these coding schemes are increasingly challenged with the growing applications. In this paper, a novel multiple-access network with cooperative relay is presented, and a novel enhanced distributed fountain coding scheme for this network is proposed. The overall degree distributions are derived, and the asymptotic decoding performance is analyzed theoretically by employing the And-Or tree method. On this basis, a design method using joint iterative optimization algorithms is proposed to optimize the degree distributions of the sources and relays. Simulation results show that the proposed enhanced distributed fountain codes outperform the existing generalized distributed fountain codes (GDFC) and have a good performance on both lossless and lossy channels. It reveals that the proposed codes can provide unequal error protection (UEP) property for different sources by introducing the extra cooperative relay. The performance improvement is not restricted to the sources connected to the cooperative relay but applies to all sources. With the additional relay, the proposed codes are able to overcome the effects of bad channel conditions caused by terrain, obstacles, and so on, to avoid communication interruptions and improve the reliability of the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the legitimate surveillance of a suspicious mobile edge computing (MEC) network consisting of a suspicious edge server (SES) and multiple suspicious users (SUs), in the presence of a full-duplex monitor is studied. Each SU has a computation task to complete within a time deadline and can completely or partially offload the task to SES, while the monitor can either jam or assist the suspicious communications during task uploading and result downloading. With the heterogeneous offloading model adopted by the SUs, the problem of optimizing the monitor mode and transmit power to maximize the average ratio of successfully eavesdropped tasks, subject to the monitor transmit power constraint and the task completion time deadline constraint is investigated. The problem is solved via exploring the particular problem structure and adopting the sum-of-ratios optimization. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the benchmark algorithms, especially for the SUs with partial offloading. It is also shown that the proposed algorithm is of low-complexity and achieves almost the same performance as the high-complexity optimal algorithm. Besides, compared to the SUs with binary offloading, the eavesdropping performance for the SUs with partial offloading is shown to be much better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Esophagus cancer (ESCA) is the sixth most frequent cancer in males, with 5-year overall survival of 15%–25%. RNA modifications function critically in cancer progression, and m6A regulators are associated with ESCA prognosis. This study further revealed correlations between m6A and ESCA development. Methods. Univariate Cox regression analysis and consensus clustering were applied to determine molecular subtypes. Functional pathways and gene ontology terms were enriched by gene set enrichment analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was conducted for hub gene screening. Public drug databases were employed to study the interactions between hub genes and small molecules. Results. Three molecular subtypes related to ESCA prognosis were determined. Based on multiple analyses among molecular subtypes, 146 DEGs were screened, and a PPT network of 15 hub genes was visualized. Finally, 8 potential small-molecule drugs (BMS-754807, gefitinib, neratinib, zuclopenthixol, puromycin, sulfasalazine, and imatinib) were identified for treating ESCA. Conclusions. This study applied a new approach to analyzing the relation between m6A and ESCA prognosis, providing a reference for exploring potential targets and drugs for ESCA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The 2045 W laser is used for laser cladding. • This Gaussian light into a rectangular beam conversion facilitates high speed and efficient cladding. • The ball valve is crack-free and its surface hardness has been increased by 2.7 times. In this paper, the laser cladding of Ni60 + WC powder on the stainless-steel ball valves is investigated to improve the corrosion resistance and the wear resistance of industrial ball valves. A 2-kW high-power diode laser source based on beam multiplexing is used as the processing source to clad the ball valves. To make this diode laser source more reliable for laser cladding, a homogenizing optical system is designed and optimized to transform a circular beam spot output from the optical fiber to a rectangular spot with a flat-top distribution. Employing this diode laser source, the laser cladding of the stainless-steel ball valve is successfully achieved by use of the pre-set powder feeding. The hardness testing experiments are then performed on the ball valves of different diameters, followed by the evaluation of the thickness and hardness of the cladding coating. It is experimentally demonstrated that the microhardness of the ball valves is improved by 2.7 times and the cladding layer has no cracks, which proves the superior performance of the stainless-steel ball valves by use of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional numerical computations are carried out for two rigidly connected cylinders of unequal sizes undergoing vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) perpendicular to the free stream. Results are examined for Re = 250 and a fixed diameter ratio of d / D = 0.2. The VIV response of the system is investigated for various positions of the small cylinder, covering a fine grid of wide radial (r) and azimuthal (θ) ranges, relative to the origin of the main cylinder. It is shown that the structural dynamics and hydrodynamic forces are strongly dependent on the arrangements. Regions of VIV reduction and amplification are distinguished, and the highest and lowest oscillation amplitudes are, respectively, acquired at configurations of (r , θ) = (0.7 D , 90 °) and (r , θ) = (0.88 D , 130 °). A deeper analysis in terms of the wake topology and surface pressure is then provided for these two extreme cases, to figure out the underlying mechanisms that lead to such markedly distinct responses. For the former case, the shear layers from two cylinders intensely interact and amalgamate during the oscillation, setting off subsequent processes of shear layer reattachment and downflow that are responsible for the observed high-amplitude response, while for the latter case, the shear layers from the small cylinder are highly stretched and absent from direct interaction with that from the large cylinder, which is favorable for stabilizing the wake and maintaining the low-amplitude response. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is further utilized to correlate the key features of the wake with the dominant coherent structures in the flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, wireless powered cooperative cognitive radio networks (CRNs), which combine the technologies of radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting and CR, have drawn great attention. In such networks, energy cooperation between the cognitive users (CUs) and the wireless powered primary users (PUs) can be performed, where the CUs can charge the PUs wirelessly in exchange for the spectrum access. Specifically, energy cooperation and information transmission is executed in two phases, where the CUs transmit their data signals and the PUs harvest energy from these signals in the first phase, and the PUs transmit their data using the harvested energy in the second phase. In particular, we consider two multiple access schemes for the CUs, namely non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and time-division multiple access (TDMA). For both NOMA and TDMA, the PU sum-rate maximization problems under the minimum CU sum-rate constraint are first simplified by exploring particular problem structure, then are transformed to convex problems, and finally are solved optimally. The PU sum-rates of the two schemes are compared theoretically as well as numerically. It is revealed that the circuit power consumption at the CUs, the required minimum CU sum-rate, and the PU energy harvesting sensitivity and saturation thresholds play key roles in the PU performance comparison of the two schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional numerical simulation for the three circular cylinders at Re = 3900 is carried out by using the large eddy simulation (LES) in this paper. The present numerical model and parameters are verified by solving single cylinder and two cylinders cases. Then, the parameters consisted of spacing ratio (L / D) and incidence angle (α) are checked in three circular cylinders array. The fluid force and near-wake behavior of the two- and three-cylinder systems are analyzed with emphasis. Under a tight arrangement, there are three flow patterns: reattachment flow pattern, large-incidence-angle flow pattern, and biased flow pattern, corresponding to cases with incidence angles of 0, 45, and 90 degrees, respectively. The Strouhal number (St) of the three cylinders is essentially overlapping at α = 0° and α = 90°, the distinctive secondary peaks can be observed at the small spacing ratio in power spectral density (PSD). The mean pressure coefficient of midstream cylinder (MC) influenced by the number of cylinders is negative in the tandem arrangement at the stagnation point, accompanied by reattachment phenomenon the upstream surface of MC with L/D = 1.5. Placing the third cylinder between the two cylinders in a tandem arrangement significantly suppresses their lift oscillations. The phase difference (φ um) between the fluctuating lift of the upstream two cylinders is highly sensitive to the incidence angle of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gene status has become the focus of prognosis prediction. Furthermore, deep learning has frequently been implemented in medical imaging to diagnose, prognosticate, and evaluate treatment responses in patients with cancer. However, few deep learning survival (DLS) models based on mutational genes that are directly associated with patient prognosis in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) have been reported. Additionally, DLS models have not been applied to determine IO-related prognosis based on mutational genes. Herein, we developed a deep learning method to predict the prognosis of patients with lung cancer treated with or without immunotherapy (IO). Methods: Samples from 6542 patients from different centers were subjected to genome sequencing. A DLS model based on multi-panels of somatic mutations was trained and validated to predict OS in patients treated without IO and PFS in patients treated with IO. Results: In patients treated without IO, the DLS model (low vs. high DLS) was trained using the training MSK-MET cohort (HR = 0.241 [0.213–0.273], P < 0.001) and tested in the inter-validation MSK-MET cohort (HR = 0.175 [0.148–0.206], P < 0.001). The DLS model was then validated with the OncoSG, MSK-CSC, and TCGA-LUAD cohorts (HR = 0.420 [0.272–0.649], P < 0.001; HR = 0.550 [0.424–0.714], P < 0.001; HR = 0.215 [0.159–0.291], P < 0.001, respectively). Subsequently, it was fine-tuned and retrained in patients treated with IO. The DLS model (low vs. high DLS) could predict PFS and OS in the MIND, MSKCC, and POPLAR/OAK cohorts (P < 0.001, respectively). Compared with tumor-node-metastasis staging, the COX model, tumor mutational burden, and programmed death-ligand 1 expression, the DLS model had the highest C-index in patients treated with or without IO. Conclusions: The DLS model based on mutational genes can robustly predict the prognosis of patients with lung cancer treated with or without IO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The DRD2 expression is regulated by its promoter region upstream factors or methylation status. • Cancer cell proliferation improved the upregulation of DRD2 and decreased DRD2's downregulation. • DRD2 plays a critical role in the FLNA-ERK signaling pathway. • DRD2 gene is hypomethylated in hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer or it's high-risk factor. We investigated the effect of stem cell marker dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) on the proliferation of hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer cells. High-throughput DNA methylation sequencing on an 850 K chip was used to pre-screen breast cancer tissues with significant methylation differences. The expression of DRD2 in breast cancer and normal breast tissues, and clinical risk factors, were detected by pyrophosphoric acid validation and immunohistochemistry. In vitro and in vivo experiments verified the possible molecular signaling pathways. DRD2 promoter region was hypomethylated in hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer or with high-risk factors compared to the normal tissues. The proliferation of breast cancer cells was enhanced after DRD2 was upregulated and decreased after DRD2 was downregulated. In vivo experiments found that tumor growth and the expression of antigen KI-67 (Ki67) and the cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31) were improved by the overexpression of DRD2 and inhibited by the down expression of DRD2. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated the phosphorylation of filamin A and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (FLNA-ERK) was influenced by the expression of DRD2, suggesting DRD2 plays a role in the FLNA-ERK signaling pathway. Methylation inhibitors (5-aza-2-deoxycytidine, 5-azadc) partially reversed the inhibitory effect of DRD2 down expression on cell proliferation, migration, and tumor growth in animal models, indicating that inhibition of DRD2 methylation promotes cancer development. This study demonstrated the DRD2 promoter region is hypomethylated in hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer or with high-risk factors. The methylation status of the DRD2 promoter and FLNA-ERK signaling pathway and the DRD2 expression in breast cancer treatment need to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wake of wavy cylinder has been shown to exhibit bistability. Depending on the initial condition, the final state of the wake can either develop into steady flow (state I), or periodic shedding (state II). In this paper, we perform numerical simulations to reveal the Reynolds number effects (R e = 30 – 300) on these two wake states. With increasing Reynolds number, the steady vortical structures in state I wake sways back and forth in the spanwise direction, resulting in low-frequency fluctuations in drag forces, but not in lift. For state II, the increase in Reynolds number is associated with the emergence of another spectral peak in the lift coefficient. The secondary frequency is associated with highly three-dimensional vortical structures in the wake. For both states, the wakes transition to turbulent flows at higher Reynolds numbers, with the development of small-scale vortices. We further study the streamwise gust flows over the wavy cylinder. The time-varying inflow velocity results in a wide range of instantaneous Reynolds number spanning from the absolutely unstable flow regime to the bistable regime. Depending on the period of the inflow velocity variation, the wake perturbations grown at the absolutely unstable flow regime can be damped out in state I wake, or grow large enough to trigger the transition to state II, resulting in loss of flow control efficacy. The above analyses reveal novel flow physics of the bistable states at unexplored Reynolds numbers, and showcase the complex transition behavior between the two states in unsteady flows. The insights gained from this study improve the understanding of the wake dynamics of the wavy cylinder. • The Reynolds number effects on the bistable states in the wake of a wavy cylinder are revealed. • A novel unsteady flow which only induces variations in drag but not in lift is discovered. • Complex transition behaviors between the two wake states in streamwise gust flow is unveiled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wide application of remote sensing technology, target detection based on deep learning has become a research hotspot in the field of remote sensing. In this paper, aimed at the problems of the existing deep-learning-based desert land intelligent extraction methods, such as the spectral similarity of features and unclear texture features, we propose a multispectral remote sensing image desert land intelligent extraction method that takes into account band information. Firstly, we built a desert land intelligent interpretation dataset based on band weighting to enhance the desert land foreground features of the images. On this basis, we introduced the deformable convolution adaptive feature extraction capability to U-Net and developed the Y-Net model to extract desert land from Landsat remote sensing images covering the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Finally, in order to analyze the spatial and temporal trends of the desert land in the study area, we used a structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of natural conditions and human activities, i.e., population density (PD), livestock volume (LS), evaporation (Evp), temperature (T), days of sandy wind conditions (LD), humidity (RH), precipitation (P), anthropogenic disturbance index (Adi), and cultivated land (CL). The results show that the F1-score of the Y-Net model proposed in this paper is 95.6%, which is 11.5% more than that of U-Net. Based on the Landsat satellite images, the area of desert land in the study area for six periods from 1990 to 2020 was extracted. The results show that the area of desert land in the study area first increased and then decreased. The main influencing factors have been precipitation, humidity, and anthropogenic disturbance, for which the path coefficients are 0.646, 0.615, and 0.367, respectively. This study will be of great significance in obtaining large-scale and long-term time series of desert land cover and revealing the inner mechanism of desert land area change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Interval analysis model is applied to quantify the uncertainties in the elastic wave tomography of concrete structures. • The relationship between the measurements error and tomography uncertainty was established. • The identified uncertain boundaries provide more information to make a better assessment of the internal condition of concrete. This paper presents a non-probabilistic uncertainty quantification method for the elastic wave tomography of concrete structures. An interval analysis model is applied to establish the relationship between the measurement error and identified tomography images. Measurements of parameters such as travel time and wave amplitude are modeled as intervals described by their upper and lower boundaries. Based on the straight-ray assumption of the wave propagation path, the relationship between wave velocity and travel time measurements is described by a set of linear equations. The inversion linear equation is converted into an extended fuzzy linear equation using interval analysis. Subsequently, a simultaneous iterative reconstruction technique is applied to solve this fuzzy linear equation. In contrast to the traditional methods, the obtained tomography images are described in terms of the upper and lower boundaries. Finally, numerical simulation and experimental investigation using several plain concrete models are conducted to verify the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have revealed that fluid induced forces and wake structure of a cylinder can be significantly modified by varying the cross-section size along its axis. However, the fluid dynamic characteristics behavior of a flexible cable with a sinusoidal wavy surface remains unclear. The current study endeavors to present a systematic investigation of flow-induced vibrations (FIV) of an infinitely long wavy cable with different wave amplitude (A = 0. 1 D to 0. 3 D) and a constant spanwise wavelength λ = 4 π , by using a highly resolved direct numerical simulation employing a high-order spectral/ h p element method at a Reynolds number of 100, corresponding to laminar flow state. A tensioned beam model with a tension value can trigger a single wave is selected to govern the dynamics of the wavy cables. In addition, the structural dynamics are initialized from a standing wave. The present study focuses on the effects of the wave amplitude on the cable wake and the structural dynamic response, including the transverse displacement, wake pattern, vortex formation length, energy transfer, vortex shedding frequency and flow separation angle. Two completely different vibration modes are identified from the numerical cases studied, and hence the wavy cable are divided into control failure (A < 0. 2 D) and optimal wavy cable (0. 2 D ⩽ A ⩽ 0. 3 D) classes, respectively. It is also revealed that the counter-rotating vortices observed in the optimal wavy cables play an important role in stabilizing the shear layer and elongating the vortex formation length. Furthermore, the three-dimensional wake patterns of the wavy cable are mainly caused by the variations of flow separation angle along its spanwise direction. For the optimal wavy cables, the separation point is almost fixed along its spanwise direction while is variable for the control failure cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies in the digestive system across the world. The function and mechanism of PDLIM1, a cancer-suppressing gene, in gastric cancer progression remain unclear. This study is aimed at investigating the expression features and function of PDLIM1 in GC. RT-qPCR and western blot were used to compare the profiles of PDLIM1 and miR-187 between GC and normal tissues. The cell models of PDLIM1 overexpression and low expression were established in gastric cancer cell lines MKN45 and AGS. CCK8 and BrdU assays measured cell proliferation. Flow cytometry monitored cell apoptosis. Transwell analyzed cell invasion and migration. The influence of miR-187 overexpression on gastric cancer development was assessed. We predicted the targeted correlation between miR-187 and PDLIM1 through bioinformatics, which was corroborated via dual luciferase activity assay and RIP. Meanwhile, the cell model of PDLIM1 overexpression was built in AGS cells transfected with miR-187 mimics. A rescue experiment was conducted to assess the impact of PDLIM1 overexpression on the procancer function of miR-187. As a result, in contrast with normal paracancer tissues, PDLIM1 was substantially downregulated in GC tissues. Moreover, PDLIM1 overexpression considerably dampened proliferation, invasion, and migration in GC cells, boosted the cell apoptosis, and bolstered their sensitivity to cisplatin. PDLIM1 knockdown or miR-187 overexpression dramatically fostered GC cell proliferation, invasion, and migration and repressed cell apoptosis. Mechanism studies demonstrated that PDLIM1 vigorously restrained the profiles of the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway and the downstream target genes. miR-187 targeted PDLIM1, while miR-187 overexpression cramped PDLIM1 expression. The rescue experiment suggested that PDLIM1 overexpression weakened the procancer function of miR-187 in GC cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that PDLIM1 presented a low expression in GC tissues, while miR-187/PDLIM1 participated in GC development and cisplatin sensitivity by mediating the Hippo-YAP signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Previously observational studies did not draw a clear conclusion on the association between fatty liver diseases and bone mineral density (BMD). Our large-scale studies revealed that MAFLD and hepatic steatosis had no causal effect on BMD, while some metabolic factors were correlated with BMD. The findings have important implications for the relationship between fatty liver diseases and BMD, and may help direct the clinical management of MAFLD patients who experience osteoporosis and osteopenia. Purpose: Liver and bone are active endocrine organs with several metabolic functions. However, the link between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and bone mineral density (BMD) is contradictory. Methods: Using the UK Biobank and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) dataset, we investigated the association between MAFLD, steatosis, and BMD in the observational analysis. We performed genome-wide association analysis to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with MAFLD. Large-scale two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) analyses examined the potential causal relationship between MAFLD, hepatic steatosis, or major comorbid metabolic factors, and BMD. Results: After adjusting for demographic factors and body mass index, logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant association between MAFLD and reduced heel BMD. However, this association disappeared after adjusting for additional metabolic factors. MAFLD was not associated with total body, femur neck, and lumbar BMD in the NHANES dataset. Magnetic resonance imaging-measured steatosis did not show significant associations with reduced total body, femur neck, and lumbar BMD in multivariate analysis. TSMR analyses indicated that MAFLD and hepatic steatosis were not associated with BMD. Among all MAFLD-related comorbid factors, overweight and type 2 diabetes showed a causal relationship with increased BMD, while waist circumference and hyperlipidemia had the opposite effect. Conclusion: No causal effect of MAFLD and hepatic steatosis on BMD was observed in this study, while some metabolic factors were correlated with BMD. This has important implications for understanding the relationship between fatty liver disease and BMD, which may help direct the clinical management of MAFLD patients with osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The starch synthase (SS) plays important roles in regulating plant growth and development and responding to adversity stresses. Although the SS family has been studied in many crops, it has not been fully identified in sweet potato and its two related species. In the present study, eight SSs were identified from Ipomoea batatas (I. batata), Ipomoea trifida (I. trifida), and Ipomoea trlioba (I. trlioba), respectively. According to the phylogenetic relationships, they were divided into five subgroups. The protein properties, chromosomal location, phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, cis-elements in the promoter, and interaction network of these proteins were also analyzed; stress expression patterns were systematically analyzed; and real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis was performed. Ipomoea batatas starch synthase (IbSSs) were highly expressed in tuber roots, especially Ipomoea batatas starch synthase 1 (IbSS1) and Ipomoea batatas starch synthase 6 (IbSS6), which may play an important role in root development and starch biosynthesis. At the same time, the SS genes respond to potassium deficiency, hormones, cold, heat, salt, and drought stress. This study offers fresh perspectives for enhancing knowledge about the roles of SSs and potential genes to enhance productivity, starch levels, and resistance to environmental stresses in sweet potatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted three-dimensional direct numerical simulations to investigate the impact of incoming turbulence on the flow dynamics behind a single main cylinder at Reynolds number of Re = 3900. The incoming turbulence is generated by ten side-by-side cylindrical grid bars, whose center-to-center distance T is set equal to 2D, where D is the diameter of both the grid bars and the main cylinder. It is found that in the wake of the grid bars, the non-Gaussian production region and the homogeneous decay region, which are, respectively, located at X / D < 4 and X / D > 4 , were separated by the development of turbulence intensity Ti. Compared to the uniform incoming flow, the hydrodynamic forces induced by the present incoming turbulence are markedly distinct in magnitude. Specifically, the time-averaged drag coefficient C ¯ d is increased by 29.4%, and more surprisingly, the root mean square value of the lift coefficient is increased by as much as 500%. Statistical analysis is then performed, in terms of the Reynolds stresses, mean field, and the turbulent wake visualization to show variations in the flow dynamics. Results indicate that the incoming turbulence could accelerate the turbulent transition of shear layers and lead to a contraction of the vortex formation region. In addition, the long streamwise streaky vortical structures leading to an increase in Reynolds stress are found in front of the cylinder surface, which illustrates that the effect of incoming turbulence has penetrated inside the front boundary layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), distant metastasis is the leading cause of death. Our previous studies have shown that TNBC progression is greatly facilitated by circKIF4A, but uncertainty remains regarding its role in TNBC brain metastasis and the molecular mechanism. In this study, we found notable upregulation of circKIF4A in TNBC cell lines and brain metastases. Inhibition of circKIF4A impaired the ability of TNBC to proliferate, migrate, and cause brain metastasis. Luciferase reporter assays confirmed that circKIF4A competed for binding to miR-637 with STAT3 3' UTR. Western blot analysis revealed that inhibition of circKIF4A decreased STAT3 and p62 expression, while increased the LC3B-II/LC3B–I ratio and the expression of Beclin, indicating that downregulation of circKIF4A induced autophagy by competing with STAT3 for binding to miR-637. By employing a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanism, the circKIF4A-miR-637-STAT3 axis coordinates brain metastasis in TNBC. circKIF4A can therefore be used as a prognostic biomarker for brain metastasis in TNBC and as a therapeutic target. • CircKIF4A was notably upregulated in triple-negative breast cancer brain metastases and cell lines. • Inhibition of circKIF4A impairs invasion and brain metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer cells. • Downregulation of circKIF4A induced autophagy by competing with STAT3 for binding to miR-637. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional large-eddy simulations are carried out for flow past a cylinder beneath a deformable free surface at a fixed Reynolds number of Re = 7550. The results are examined for two Froude numbers of F r = 0.2 and 0.6 and a gap ratio of 0.4, to investigate the effects of the distortion of the free surface on the flow fields and hydrodynamics. At the low Froude number of F r = 0.2 , the deformation of the free surface is small with little influence on the wake characteristics, and an alternative vortex shedding modulated by the free surface is detected in the wake. As the Froude number increases to 0.6, intense interface distortion occurs, which can be divided into three different regions: a hydraulic jump in the region of overtopping, a well-defined long-wavelength wave generation region in the large-scale recirculation zone near the free surface, and a water level recovery slope further downstream. The sudden change in flow regime from locally supercritical to subcritical allows the occurrence of the hydraulic jump. The induced surface waves behind the cylinder are ascribed to the shedding process of three shear layers, two of which are separated from the cylinder surface and one from the free surface. In addition, a jet-like flow originated from the gap between the free surface and the top of the cylinder occurs, exerting a downward thrust on the cylinder and pushing the wake away from the free surface. The Kármán vortex shedding in the wake is suppressed due to the interruption of the jet-like flow. The fluctuations of the wake turbulence and hydrodynamic forces are also suppressed to a low level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) affects many populations, and screening out the high‐risk populations at an early stage is a challenge. As a sarcopenia index, the relationship between creatinine to cystatin C ratio (CCR) and MASLD remains unclear. This cross‐sectional, prospective study aimed to explore the relationship between CCR and MASLD. Design Firstly, explored the correlation between CCR and MASLD in cross‐sectional analyses. Then excluded the population with baseeline diagnosis of MASLD and analyzed the association with baseline CCR levels and the onset of MASLD in the population with available follow‐up data. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) to evaluate the association between CCR levels and MASLD. Patients and Measurements: This study included 368,634 participants from the UK Biobank for cross‐sectional and prospective analyses. The demographic characteristics and laboratory measurements of all participants were obtained from the UK Biobank. MASLD was diagnosed according to the multi‐society consensus nomenclature. Hepatic steatosis was defined as FLI ≥60. Results: We grouped the study participants according to CCR tertiles. In cross‐sectional analyses, participants in CCR tertile 1 had the highest MASLD risk (OR: 1.070, 95% CI: 1.053−1.088, p <.001). And the similar association was observed in the prospective analyses (CCR tertile 1 OR: 1.340, 95% CI: 1.077−1.660, p =.009; CCR tertile 2 OR: 1.217, 95% CI: 1.021−1.450, p =.029, respectively). After stratification by gender, the significant association between CCR and the onset of MASLD was only observed in males (CCR tertile 1 OR: 1.639, 95% CI: 1.160−2.317, p =.005; CCR tertile 2 OR: 1.322, 95% CI: 1.073−1.628, p =.005, respectively). Conclusion: Our results indicated that lower CCR was significantly associated with higher risk of MASLD, based on which predictive models can be developed to screen populations at high risk of developing MASLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a hydraulic lifting pipeline structure widely used in deep-sea oil, gas transportation, and sediment dredging projects, the pipeline configuration is related to the improvement of transportation efficiency and pipeline safety. Particularly, the bending section consumes the most energy and withstands severe erosion. Understanding and predicting the conveying characteristics of two-phase flow in bends is therefore crucial. In this study, CFD-DEM (computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method) simulation method is employed to calculate various cases, considering five parameters: pipeline bending radius and angle, conveying velocity, particle diameter, and concentration, to explore the influence of these parameters on pressure drop and erosion rate of pipeline and result in a data set of hundreds of cases. Based on this data set, seven machine learning models are trained to predict pressure drop and erosion rate, respectively. To enhance model accuracy, the stacking method in ensemble learning is employed to combine multiple models with good performance. Additionally, the Optuna and SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanation) methods are utilized to optimize hyperparameters and explain the degree to which parameters impact the predictions. The result demonstrates that pressure drop is almost unaffected by bending radius, while erosion rate initially decreases and then increases with bending angle, and both increase with other parameters. Among the evaluated models, artificial neural network, XGBoost, and random forest all demonstrate high prediction accuracy. The stacking model further improves the accuracy, with mean absolute error improving by 21.7% and 32.2%, and the SHAP method demonstrated good interpretability, which is basically consistent with CFD-DEM results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LBD family is a plant-specific transcription factor family that plays an important role in a variety of biological processes. However, the function of IbLBD genes in sweet potato remains unclear. In this study, we identified a total of 53 IbLBD genes in sweet potato. Genetic structure showed that most of the IbLBD genes contained only two exons. Following the phylogenetic investigation, the IbLBD gene family was separated into Class I (45 members) and Class II (8) members. Both classes of proteins contained relatively conservative Motif1 and Motif2 domains. The chromosomal locations, gene duplications, promoters, PPI network, and GO annotation of the sweet potato LBD genes were also investigated. Furthermore, gene expression profiling and real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression of 12 IbLBD genes altered in six separate tissues and under various abiotic stresses. The IbLBD genes belonging to Class I were mostly expressed in the primary root, the pencil root, and the leaves of sweet potatoes, while the genes belonging to Class II were primarily expressed in the various sweet potato roots. The IbLBD genes belonging to Class I were mostly expressed in the primary root, the pencil root, and the leaves of sweet potatoes, while the genes belonging to Class II were primarily expressed in the fibrous root, pencil root, and tuber root. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Yak is found in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and represents a meat of high nutritional value and good flavor. However, the production of yak is limited, and yak meat adulteration is a growing concern in the marketplace. To protect consumer rights and prevent unfair competition, it is necessary to use an efficient assay to identify the species of yak meat rapidly and accurately being sold. Methods. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) combined with hydroxy naphthol blue (HNB) was used to identify potential adulterants. The specificity and sensitivity tests of yak-derived components were carried out to achieve the monitoring of yak-derived components. Results. The optimal color development was achieved with an external primer-to-internal primer ratio of 400 nmol/L : 1200 nmol/L, 1.5 mmol/L dNTP, and 0.32 U/μL Bst DNA polymerase with 5 mmol/L MgSO4 at 62°C amplification temperature. The detection sensitivity of LAMP-HNB for yak-derived DNA was up to 1 pg/μL. Conclusion. The LAMP-HNB assays provided a valuable tool for the identification of yak gene from adulterated meat. This further enabled the LAMP-HNB assay to be applicable in the identification of other meat products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum well (QW) diodes have the capability to function as a light-emitting diode or a photodiode and inherently feature a partial emission-detection spectral overlap. Therefore, QW diode can sense light emission from another diode sharing the same QW active region. In association with distributed Bragg reflection (DBR) technique, we here present a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) visible light communication (VLC) over a single channel by using vertical assembly of red, green, and blue (RGB) QW diodes. The identical QW diodes separately functioning as a transmitter and a receiver establish a wireless communications link. The DBRs enable the transmission of longer-wavelength photons or the reflection of shorter-wavelength photons, creating an optical bandpass filter in conjunction with emission-detection spectral overlap, effectively boosting the capacity of an initially single communication channel. Both the transmitter and the receiver can be switched freely by software, forming time-division multiplexing (TDM) wireless light communication system using single optical path. We unite TDM and WDM together to demonstrate real-time TDM multichannel bidirectional communication using the vertical integration of RGB QW diodes, offering the great potential to establish TDM-WDM VLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYP450s) play a crucial role in various biochemical reactions involved in the synthesis of antioxidants, pigments, structural polymers, and defense-related compounds in plants. As sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) holds significant economic importance, a comprehensive analysis of CYP450 genes in this plant species can offer valuable insights into the evolutionary relationships and functional characteristics of these genes. Results: In this study, we successfully identified and categorized 95 CYP450 genes from the sweet potato genome into 5 families and 31 subfamilies. The predicted subcellular localization results indicate that CYP450s are distributed in the cell membrane system. The promoter region of the IbCYP450 genes contains various cis-acting elements related to plant hormones and stress responses. In addition, ten conserved motifs (Motif1-Motif10) have been identified in the IbCYP450 family proteins, with 5 genes lacking introns and only one exon. We observed extensive duplication events within the CYP450 gene family, which may account for its expansion. The gene duplication analysis results showed the presence of 15 pairs of genes with tandem repeats. Interaction network analysis reveals that IbCYP450 families can interact with multiple target genes and there are protein-protein interactions within the family. Transcription factor interaction analysis suggests that IbCYP450 families interact with multiple transcription factors. Furthermore, gene expression analysis revealed tissue-specific expression patterns of CYP450 genes in sweet potatoes, as well as their response to abiotic stress and plant hormones. Notably, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‒PCR) analysis indicated the involvement of CYP450 genes in the defense response against nonbiological stresses in sweet potatoes. Conclusions: These findings provide a foundation for further investigations aiming to elucidate the biological functions of CYP450 genes in sweet potatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a general network model called multi-progressive image deblurring network is proposed to correct blurring artifacts and local imaging details in underwater images. As a solution to nonuniform image distortion, a deformable convolution module was designed to enrich the encoded information of the image representation. Using a stepwise feature refinement module, multi-progressive image deblurring network can reduce the loss of contextual information to produce a more realistic underwater image for subsequent applications. Constructing a loss function based on multi-scale content can help the model improve image perception quality. We conducted experimental evaluations on large-scale image deblurring benchmark datasets, such as GoPro and HIDE, achieving excellent results with 32.84 dB and 31.03 dB peak signal-to-noise ratio, respectively, using the proposed method. Subsequently, a detailed optimization comparison was conducted on the in-house underwater image deblurring dataset. Multi-progressive image deblurring network obtained higher-quality, clearer images. Compared with the current state-of-the-art image deblurring algorithms, the proposed model achieved significant results with a 6.6% increase in deblur performance in peak signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, we conducted ablation experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of all the modules in the proposed framework. • Multi-progressive structure can hierarchically fuse global context information. • MPDNet outperforms almost all the SOTA methods on the benchmark datasets. • MPDNet is enough lightweight for deblurring tasks on mobile computing platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malate dehydrogenase (MDH; EC 1.1.1.37) plays a vital role in plant growth and development as well as abiotic stress responses, and it is widely present in plants. However, the MDH family genes have not been explored in sweet potato. In this study, nine, ten, and ten MDH genes in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and its two diploid wild relatives, Ipomoea trifida and Ipomoea triloba, respectively, were identified. These MDH genes were unevenly distributed on seven different chromosomes among the three species. The gene duplications and nucleotide substitution analysis (Ka/Ks) revealed that the MDH genes went through segmental duplications during their evolution under purifying selection. A phylogenetic and conserved structure divided these MDH genes into five subgroups. An expression analysis indicated that the MDH genes were omni-presently expressed in distinct tissues and responded to various abiotic stresses. A transcription factor prediction analysis proved that Dof, MADS-box, and MYB were the main transcription factors of sweet potato MDH genes. These findings provide molecular features of the MDH family in sweet potato and its two diploid wild relatives, which further supports functional characterizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging deep-ultraviolet (DUV) light communication with attractive features fulfills the increasing demand for novel wireless communication without electromagnetic interference or solar noise influence. Here, we propose, manufacture, and characterize a solar-blind full-duplex light communication system using 275-nm DUV light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Four DUV LEDs connected in series form a unit, and the transmitter consists of an array of three independent units, which can be synchronously controlled using a main processing unit to modulate the emitted light. A solar-blind filter is inserted in front of the receiver due to the lack of an ultraviolet photodetector. Both the transmitter and receiver are encapsulated together to manufacture a full-duplex DUV light communication system, which can independently transmit and receive data with a maximal communication distance of 7 m at the same time. All users within a 46 m2 area of the system have access to the DUV communication network through an integrated wireless module. Real-time video is demonstrated and different types of files could be shared. Based on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the system is finally performed in sunlight with a transmission rate of 10 Mbps and a packet loss rate of 1.28%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-parameter single objective optimization has been studied for decades. In recent, a new setting is applied in this field based on the consideration that solving difficulty scales exponentially with the increase in dimensionality. Under the new setting, differential evolution (DE) still outstands in performance as before. Meanwhile, a new type of population-based metaheuristic—gaining–sharing knowledge-based algorithm, becomes a dark horse. Furthermore, ensemble of the above two types of algorithm is proposed in the literature. Although such ensemble shows good performance, provided that a more reasonable scheme is used for the communication between the constituent algorithms, better ensemble can be obtained. We believe that the new scheme should be with adaptiveness. In this paper, we propose an adaptive scheme for the communication. According to the scheme, individuals chosen based on fitness and lifetime are exchanged. In fact, in the field of DE, it is rare to consider lifetime of individual. However, lifetime is no less important than fitness in our scheme. In our experiment, our ensemble is compared with seven state-of-the-art algorithms. According to experimental results, our ensemble is comparable to one of the peers and better than the other ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a prevalent hematological malignancy that poses significant challenges for treatment. Dysregulated cholesterol metabolism has been linked to tumorigenesis, disease progression, and therapy resistance. However, the correlation between cholesterol metabolism-related genes (CMGs) and the prognosis of MM remains unclear. Univariate Cox regression analysis and LASSO Cox regression analysis were applied to construct an overall survival-related signature based on the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The signature was validated using three external datasets. Enrichment analysis and immune analysis were performed between two risk groups. Furthermore, an optimal nomogram was established for clinical application, and its performance was assessed by the calibration curve and C-index. A total of 6 CMGs were selected to establish the prognostic signature, including ANXA2, CHKA, NSDHL, PMVK, SCAP and SQLE. The prognostic signature demonstrated good prognostic performance and correlated with several important clinical parameters, including number of transplants, International Staging System, albumin, beta2-Microglobulin and lactate dehydrogenase levels. The function analysis and immune analysis revealed that the metabolic pathways and immunologic status were associated with risk score. The nomogram incorporating the signature along with other clinical characteristics was constructed and the discrimination was verified by the calibration curve and C-index. Our findings indicated the potential prognostic connotation of cholesterol metabolism in MM. The development and validation of the prognostic signature is expected to aid in predicting prognosis and guiding precision treatment for MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is challenging for a traditional propulsor to achieve a wide range of force profile manipulation and propulsion efficiency, nature provides a solution for a flapping foil such as that found in birds and turtles. In this paper, we introduce a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithm with great potential for solving nonlinear systems during the simulation to achieve a self-learning posture adjustment for a flapping foil to effectively improve its thrust performance. With DRL, a brute-force search is first carried out to provide intuition about the optimal trajectories of the foil and also a database for the following case studies. We implement an episodic training strategy for intelligent agent learning using the DRL algorithm. To address a slow data generation issue in the computational fluid dynamics simulation, we introduce a multi-environment technique to accelerate data exchange between the environment and the agent. This method is capable of adaptively and automatically performing an optimal foil path planning to generate the maximum thrust under various scenarios and can even outperform the optimal cases designed by users. Numerical results demonstrate how the proposed DRL is powerful to achieve optimization and has great potential to solve a more complex problem in the field of fluid mechanics beyond human predictability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A breakthrough in the technology for virtualizing satellite-borne networks and computing and storage resources can significantly increase the processing capacity and resource utilization efficiency of satellite-borne base stations in response to the development trend in multi-star and multi-system converged satellite internet iterative systems. The protocol processing function of traditional satellite communication systems is generally placed in the ground station system for processing, with poor flexibility and low efficiency. As a result, a reconfigurable digital satellite-borne base station architecture design is suggested, allowing for separation of the hardware and software of the satellite-borne base station and flexible programming and dynamic loading of the satellite-borne base station's functions by software. Meanwhile, a fast adaptive migration algorithm based on multi-dimensional environment awareness is proposed on top of the reconfigurable digital base station, and migration precomputation and real-time computation are added in order to realize rapid deployment of the digital base station system network. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in enhancing system stability and decreasing real-time calculation costs associated with system network migration under conditions of high dynamic changes for each network element in a star-loaded environment. In conclusion, a digital satellite-borne base station system that effectively addresses the issues of low flexibility and high dynamic changes of nodes in the resource-constrained satellite environment can be created by combining the adaptive migration algorithm and the reconfigurable digitized satellite-borne base station architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is still no specific real-world data regarding the clinical activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the elderly with liver cancer. Our study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors between patients aged ≥ 65 years and the younger group, while exploring their differences in genomic background and tumor microenvironment. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at two hospitals in China and included 540 patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors for primary liver cancer between January 2018 and December 2021. Patients' medical records were reviewed for clinical and radiological data and oncologic outcomes. The genomic and clinical data of patients with primary liver cancer were extracted and analyzed from TCGA-LIHC, GSE14520, and GSE140901 datasets. Results: Ninety-two patients were classified as elderly and showed better progression-free survival (P = 0.027) and disease control rate (P = 0.014). No difference was observed in overall survival (P = 0.69) or objective response rate (P = 0.423) between the two age groups. No significant difference was reported concerning the number (P = 0.824) and severity (P = 0.421) of adverse events. The enrichment analyses indicated that the elderly group was linked to lower expression of oncogenic pathways, such as PI3K-Akt, Wnt, and IL-17. The elderly had a higher tumor mutation burden than younger patients. Conclusions: Our results indicated that immune checkpoint inhibitors might exhibit better efficacy in the elderly with primary liver cancer, with no increased adverse events. Differences in genomic characteristics and tumor mutation burden may partially explain these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow pattern and hydrodynamic characteristics of coarse particles in deep-sea hydraulic lifting pipes are simulated using a numerical approach developed by combining the computational fluid dynamics method with a discrete element method in the Euler–Lagrange framework. This paper examines the effects of feed concentration, two-phase flow initial mixture velocity, and particle gradation on the dynamic characteristics of particles and flow pattern in the pipe by validating the rationality of numerical simulation. The results demonstrate that particles are distributed from the pipe center to the pipe wall, while the lift force causes more particles to be distributed in the pipe center. Moreover, greater inertia makes large particles more concentrated in the center. Particle-induced turbulence modifies the lift force and causes particles to move from the pipe center to its wall. Due to the increasing trend of lift force, particles gather toward the center of the pipe at an increasing pace as the initial velocity increases. The greater the feed concentration, the more particles disperse toward the pipe wall due to the violent momentum exchange caused by the high concentration and the significantly altered lift force caused by the high turbulent kinetic energy resulting from a high concentration. From the particle gradation 1:1:1 to 1:6:1, the pressure drop decreases gradually as the reduction in small particles decreases the number of particles near the wall, and the frictional energy loss between the particles and the pipe wall decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of large-scale, multi-scene, and multi-type pavement distress training data reduces the generalization ability of deep learning models in complex scenes, and limits the development of pavement distress extraction algorithms. Thus, we built the first large-scale dichotomous image segmentation (DIS) dataset for multi-type pavement distress segmentation, called ISTD-PDS7, aimed to segment highly accurate pavement distress types from natural charge-coupled device (CCD) images. The new dataset covers seven types of pavement distress in nine types of scenarios, along with negative samples with texture similarity noise. The final dataset contains 18,527 images, which is many more than the previously released benchmarks. All the images are annotated with fine-grained labels. In addition, we conducted a large benchmark test, evaluating seven state-of-the-art segmentation models, providing a detailed discussion of the factors that influence segmentation performance, and making cross-dataset evaluations for the best-performing model. Finally, we investigated the effectiveness of negative samples in reducing false positive prediction in complex scenes and developed two potential data augmentation methods for improving the segmentation accuracy. We hope that these efforts will create promising developments for both academics and the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. It is well known that cancer stem cells can induce cancer metastasis, which causes the majority of cancer-related death, especially in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). TNBC features a high metastatic rate and low metastasis-free survival and is regarded as the most malignant subtype of breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to explore prognostic biomarkers that can predict metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer. Methods. The human triple-negative breast cancerSUM149PT cells were used for the study. The cancer stem cell spheres (sum149-Stem) and paired adherent cancer cells (sum149-Tumor) were collected to extract total RNAs. RNA-seq was used to analysis the mRNA expression of cancer stem cells and paired adherent cancer cells. Two different gene expression omnibus datasets (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gds), GSE58812 and GSE33926, were used to explore the mechanism of different expression genes between stem cells and adherent cancer cells. Seven genes showed prognostic function in all datasets. The STITCH database (https://www.stitchdata.com/) was used to explore the possible metastasis-inhibiting drugs that can target the seven genes. Each gene expression was compared by Pearson analysis. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and Kaplan–Meier survival curve were performed to assess the metastasis prognostic ability of the seven-gene modeling two different GEO datasets. Results. A subset of 7 stemness-related genes (SRGs) containing UCN, ST3GAL5, FDPS, HK2, MALL, LMTK3, and CRHR2 were identified in three independent cohorts. Univariate Cox analysis showed that ST3GAL5 plays an antitumor role in TNBC metastasis, and the other 6 genes promote the metastatic progression of TNBC. The ability of the 7-SRGs gene Cox model to predict TNBC metastasis was constructed with the GSE58812 dataset. Most of the genes showed significant expression in patients with different risk levels. Additionally, the model showed predictive value in another GEO dataset of TNBC patients. ROC curves indicated that the seven-gene model has a significant predictive value of TNBC metastasis. Conclusions. Expression analysis of the 7-SRGs signature model at diagnosis has predictive value for metastasis in TNBC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer metastasis is still a life threat to patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Brain and muscle ARNT‐like protein 1 (BMAL1) is an important biological proteins that can regulate the behavior of cancer cells and their response to chemotherapy. However, the role of BMAL1 in the tumorigenic phenotype of CRC remains unclear. Here, we aim to investigate the functional role and mechanisms of BMAL1 in CRC. Methods: The mRNA expression of BMAL1 was studied using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. The protein level in clinical tissues was confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The effects of BMAL1 on the epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) and proliferation of CRC cell lines (including BMAL1 overexpressed or silencing cells) were studied by Transwell, wound healing, CCK‐8 and colony formation experiments. A series of experiments were conducted to demonstrate the mechanisms of BMAL1 regulating EMT and cancer proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Results: We found that BMAL1 expression was closely related to the poor prognosis of CRC. BMAL1 overexpression promoted cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, we found that BMAL1 may activate the epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway and induce the β‐catenin release further promotes the expression of oncogene c‐Myc and the migration of colorectal cells by activating MAPK pathway. However, BMAL1 silencing achieved the opposite effect. In addition, blocking MAPK‐signaling pathway with specific inhibitors of ERK1/2 and JNK can also downregulate the expressions of c‐Myc in vitro. Taken together, these results suggested that the BMAL1/ c‐Myc‐signaling pathway may regulate the metastasis of CRC through the JNK/ERK1/2 MAPK‐dependent pathway. Conclusions: Our study showed that BMAL1 promotes CRC metastasis through MAPK‐c‐Myc pathway. These results deepen our understanding of the relationship between BMAL1 and tumorigenic phenotypes, which may become a promising therapeutic target for BMAL1 overexpressing CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface ligand environment plays a dominant role in determining the physicochemical, optical, and electronic properties of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs). Specifically, the ligand‐related electronic traps are the main reason for the carrier nonradiative recombination and the energetic losses in colloidal quantum dot solar cells (CQDSCs), which are usually solved with numerous advanced ligand exchange reactions. However, the synthesis process, as the essential initial step to control the surface ligand environment of CQDs, has lagged behind these post‐synthesis ligand exchange reactions. The current PbS CQDs synthesis tactic generally uses lead oxide (PbO) as lead precursor, and thus suffers from the water byproducts issue increasing the surface‐hydroxyl ligands and aggravating trap‐induced recombination in the PbS CQDSCs. Herein, an organic‐Pb precursor, lead (II) acetylacetonate (Pb(acac)2), is used instead of a PbO precursor to avoid the adverse impact of water byproducts. Consequently, the Pb(acac)2 precursor successfully optimizes the surface ligands of PbS CQDs by reducing the hydroxyl ligands and increasing the iodine ligands with trap‐passivation ability. Finally, the Pb(acac)2‐based CQDSCs possess remarkably reduced trap states and suppressed nonradiative recombination, generating a certified record Voc of 0.652 V and a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 11.48% with long‐term stability in planar heterojunction‐structure CQDSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-Averaged-Navier–Stokes simulations of flow past a circular cylinder beneath a free surface at a Reynolds number of 4. 96 × 1 0 4 . The effects of the free surface on the wake dynamics and hydrodynamics are systematically examined over a parameter space consisting of the Froude number (0.2–0.8) and the gap ratio (0.1–2.0). For high Froude numbers, it is easier to agitate the water to produce violent surface distortion compared to low Froude numbers. Three surface deformation patterns are identified and the underlying mechanisms are proposed. The wake type transition from the wake featured a jet flow, to the one-sided vortex shedding, to the free-surface modulated Kármán vortex shedding, and to the pure Kármán vortex shedding is discussed in detail. The strength hierarchy between the three shear layers present in the wake plays a decisive role in the transition of the wake types. An extra recirculation zone appears near the free surface due to the blocking effect of the front blunt body. The proximity to the free surface exerts a modulation effect on the temporal and spectral characteristics of hydrodynamics. Relatively large mean drag force with substantial fluctuations can be induced when (unilateral or bilateral) vortex shedding process occurs. When a jet dominates the wake, the mean drag force stays at a low level and the hydrodynamic fluctuations are suppressed. The circular cylinder is always subjected to a downward thrust which increases as the cylinder approaches the free surface. The critical range of parameter combinations is provided when the wake dynamics and hydrodynamics are not influenced by the free surface. • Three surface distortion patterns are identified, featuring hydraulic jump and wave. • Five wake types are identified, underlying mechanisms are proposed. • Blockage of the cylinder induces an extra recirculation zone near the free surface. • The free surface exerts temporal and spectral modulations on the hydrodynamics. • Critical parameters are provided when the flow is not affected by the free surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is critical to detect malicious code for the security of the Internet of Things (IoT). Therefore, this work proposes a malicious code detection algorithm based on the novel feature fusion–malware image convolutional neural network (FF-MICNN). This method combines a feature fusion algorithm with deep learning. First, the malicious code is transformed into grayscale image features by image technology, after which the opcode sequence features of the malicious code are extracted by the n-gram technique, and the global and local features are fused by feature fusion technology. The fused features are input into FF-MICNN for training, and an appropriate classifier is selected for detection. The results of experiments show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improvements in its detection speed, the comprehensiveness of features, and accuracy as compared with other algorithms. The accuracy rate of the proposed algorithm is also 0.2% better than that of a detection algorithm based on a single feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thyroid cancer is the most common form of endocrine cancer around the world, and among which papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most ubiquitous pathological sub-kind. Sushi repeat-containing protein X-linked 2 (SRPX2) was reported to be an independent prognostic factor and significantly overexpressed in advanced PTC patients. However, the biological functions of SRPX2 remain ambiguous in PTC. Here, we explored SRPX2 expression profiles and functions in PTC, finding that SRPX2 expression was remarkably upregulated in PTC tissues and cell lines. Further colony formation, CCK-8, as well as transwell assay, suggested that SRPX2 silencing remarkably dampened PTC growth and migration. Mouse xenograft models were established to find that SRPX2 silence remarkably suppressed PTC proliferation and migration in vivo. Following mechanism studies revealed that SRPX2 realized its functions in the PTC process partially through activating the Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) phosphorylation. In conclusion, this study investigated the functions and mechanisms of the SRPX2/FAK pathway in PTC progression. SRPX2 could act as a prospective biologic signature and therapeutic target molecule for PTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GaN-based devices have grown rapidly in recent decades, due to their important research value and application prospects. There is a desire to monolithically integrate different GaN devices into a single chip for the development of future optoelectronic systems with low power consumption. In addition to improved multifunctional performance, a miniature integrated system can result in a significant reduction in material costs, processing costs, and packaging costs. In view of such prospects, we propose monolithic, top-down approaches to build III-nitride transmitter, modulator, waveguide, beam splitter, receiver, and monitor as a single unit onto a conventional GaN-on-silicon wafer without involving regrowth or postgrowth doping. Data communication among these components is realized through light propagation, opening up horizons for GaN optoelectronic systems on a chip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has been recognized as a critical method to improve the sixth generation networks performance. In this paper, a distributed RIS-aided downlink multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) NOMA systems with discrete phase shifts are studied, where the channel directions from base station to paired users can be manipulated with the assistance of RISs by employing the concept of signal alignment. In order to ensure base station can flexibly serve some users with NOMA and others users with spatial division multiple access, a unified precoder and decoder are provide to cancel inter-cluster interference. Subsequently, the channel statistics over Nakagami- $m$ fading channels are derived for near and far users. In particular, considering the cascade channel gain may exists two different cases, Beaulieu series is further adopted to characterize their corresponding cumulative distribution function. In what follows, the outage probability and ergodic rate for three situations within one cluster are derived by utilizing the obtained channel statistics, respectively. Based on the derived results, we also analyze the diversity order and high signal-to-noise ratio slope to provide essential insights into the considered systems. Finally, simulation results are presented to reveal that: 1) selecting the setting of 3-bits resolution can realize a near-aligned performance for our proposed systems; 2) the cascade channel statistic caused by RIS can be evaluated with any number of RIS element and any channel gain via Beaulieu series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metasurfaces have an exceptional capacity to manipulate the phase, amplitude, polarization, or spectrum of light. However, unit cells, or meta‐atoms, of metasurfaces are conventionally designed using regular shapes, limiting performance improvement. The utilization of metasurfaces with freeform shaped meta‐atoms for on‐chip ultraspectral imaging is proposed, where the freeform shaped patterns are generated with controllable feature sizes and boundary curvatures for feasible fabrication. These patterns broaden design diversity and enrich metasurface‐unit spectral response with complicated Bloch modes, thus improving spectral imaging performance with enhanced spectrum recovery precision for broadband spectra and smaller center‐wavelength deviation for narrowband spectra. A snapshot on‐chip ultraspectral imaging, with 356 × 436 spectral pixels is experimentally demonstrated. Spectral resolution is state‐of‐the‐art, at 0.5 nm, and mean fidelity of spectral reconstruction for a standard color board reaches 98.78%. These results support future applications in the field of precise intelligent perception. Moreover, the generating method for freeform shaped patterns also benefits for the forward and inverse designs for high‐performance metasurfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]