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Genome-wide association studies have identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with radiation therapy (RT) toxicities in patients with prostate cancer. SNP rs17599026 in intron 21 of KDM3B is significantly associated with the development of late urinary toxicity, specifically in the increase in urinary frequency 2 years after RT compared with pretreatment conditions. The present study aimed to provide mechanistic insights for this association. Using human tissues and cell lines, we examined the protein expression of KDM3B and molecular mechanisms underlying the SNP modulation by variants of KDM3B SNP alleles. In animals with normal and heterozygous expressions of Kdm3b , we examined the relationship between Kdm3b expression and radiation toxicity. KDM3B rs17599026 lies in a motif important for circular RNA expression that is responsible for sponging miRNAs to regulate KDM3B expression. Using a murine model with heterozygous deletion of the Kdm3b gene, we found that lower Kdm3b expression is associated with altered pattern of urination after bladder irradiation, which is related to differential degrees of tissue inflammation as measured by analyses of gene expression, lymphocyte infiltration, and noninvasive ultrasound imaging. KDM3B SNPs can impact its expression through regulating noncoding RNA expression. Differential KDM3B expression underlies radiation toxicity through tissue inflammation at the molecular and physiological level. Our study outcome offers a foundation for mechanism-based mitigation for radiation toxicity for prostate cancer survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anlotinib is used for the treatment of advanced non‐small cell lung cancer; however, the emergence of drug resistance limits its clinical application. β‐sitosterol may also be used to treat lung cancer, but there have been no studies evaluating β‐sitosterol against anlotinib‐resistant lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism by which β‐sitosterol enhances the sensitivity of lung cancer cells to anlotinib. A549 cells were treated with different concentrations of anlotinib to generate anlotinib‐resistant cells (A549/anlotinib cells). miR‐181a‐3p mimics were transfected into A549/anlotinib cells. A549 and A549/anlotinib cells were treated with β‐sitosterol at various concentrations. The Cell Counting Kit‐8 (CCK‐8) assay was used to measure cell proliferation. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Real‐time quantitative PCR was used to measure the expression of miR‐181a‐3p. The interaction of miR‐181a‐3p with the H/ACA ribonucleoprotein assembly factor (SHQ1) was predicted using the miRDB and TargetScan Human databases and verified with a luciferase reporter assay. The expression of SHQ1, activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), and glucose‐regulated protein 78 (GRP78) were measured by western blot analysis. β‐Sitosterol effectively suppressed A549/anlotinib cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. SHQ1 is a downstream target of miR‐181a‐3p. The expression of miR‐181a‐3p was inhibited; however, SHQ1 expression was increased by β‐sitosterol treatment of A549/anlotinib cells. The inhibition of SHQ1, ATF6, and GRP78 protein expression by β‐sitosterol in A549/anlotinib cells was rescued by increased miR‐181a‐3p. β‐Sitosterol markedly promotes anlotinib‐resistant A549 cell apoptosis and inhibits cell proliferation by activating SHQ1/UPR signaling through miR‐181a‐3p inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index has been proposed as a surrogate marker of insulin resistance. However, the relationship between the TyG index and central blood pressure (BP), has not been well studied in adults. Methods: A total of 715 Chinese adult participants were enrolled in this study. Anthropometric and BP were assessed. The TyG index was calculated as ln[fasting triglycerides(mg/dL) × fasting glucose(mg/dL)/2]. Central BP was measured using SphygmoCor system. Results: The participants were stratified into three groups based on the TyG index, and significant differences were observed in metabolic and cardiovascular parameters and the prevalence of hypertension among the groups. Both brachial (β = 1.38, P = 0.0310; group highest vs. lowest, β = 2.66, P = 0.0084) and aortic (β = 2.38, P = 0.0002; group highest vs. lowest, β = 3.96, P = 0.0001) diastolic BP were significantly and independently associated with the TyG index and increasing TyG index tertile. However, there was no independent association between the TyG index and systolic BP. A one-unit increase in the TyG index was associated with a 46% higher risk of hypertension (P = 0.0121), and compared with the lowest group, participants in the highest group had a 95% higher risk of hypertension (P = 0.0057). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates a significant and independent association between the TyG index and both brachial and aortic diastolic BP in Chinese adults. Furthermore, the TyG index was found to be an independent predictor of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of science and technology, automatic control systems have been applied in more and more fields. At the same time, the requirements for the stability, accuracy, response speed, and self-regulation ability of the system are also increasing. In the wood processing industry, the heating system of factories is an important link to ensure normal production. Therefore, in order to further improve the production efficiency of the wood processing industry and enhance the stability and controllability of the heating system in wood processing production, this article takes into account the delay and coupling effects in the rapid heating process, and combines fuzzy control with temperature control to study and establish a woodworking thermal mechanical coupling model based on fuzzy control algorithm. The results show that compared with traditional PID control, fuzzy control has advantages such as short response time, small overshoot, high steady-state accuracy, fast steady-state recovery, and good dynamic and static performance. Under the condition of rapid heating, the existence of delay effect weakens the effect of Thermal shock, while the coupling effect not only affects the propagation of thermoelastic waves in the elastic body, but also weakens the weakening effect of delay effect on Thermal shock to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the association between body pH value and preoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in geriatric hip fractures. Older adult patients with hip fractures were screened between January 2015 and September 2019. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were collected. Multivariate binary logistic regression and generalized additive models were used to identify the linear and nonlinear associations between pH value and preoperative DVT. Analyses were performed using EmpowerStats and R software. A total of 1465 patients were included in the study. DVT occurred in 476 (32.6%) of these admitted older adults. We observed a nonlinear association between the serum pH value and preoperative DVT in geriatric patients with hip fractures. A pH value of 7.39 was the inflection point in the curve, with pH highly correlated with DVT at pH < 7.39 (odds ratio [OR] 19.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45–260.91; P = 0.0249). Patients with lower pH had a lower chance of preoperative DVT formation, and the risk of DVT increased 18.47-fold for every 0.1 unit change in pH. Although at pH > 7.39, pH was not correlated with DVT (OR 1.26; 95% CI 0.85–1.86; P = 0.2561), the odds of DVT did not vary with pH, and the highest risk of thrombosis was reached. The body pH value is nonlinearly associated with preoperative DVT in geriatric patients with hip fractures, and it could be considered a predictor of the risk of DVT. Registered information This study is registered in the website of Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR: ChiCTR2200057323). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structured carambola-like CoWO4 was fast prepared by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method with the help of urea and NH4F. Physical characterization indicated that the as-obtained CoWO4 displayed a large specific surface area, high dispersion and self-selected orientation of crystal growth. Further electrochemical tests presented a high specific capacity of 492.0 C ⋅ g − 1 at 1 A ⋅ g − 1 , low internal resistance and excellent cycle stability as 137.3% capacity maintenance after 8000 cycles at 20 A ⋅ g − 1 . These excellent electrochemical properties for the as-obtained material indicate that CoWO4 has great potential as hybrid supercapacitor electrode materials. This work also provides a new and effective solution for regulating the morphology of CoWO4-based hybrid supercapacitor materials to further improve the electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the finite element theory, a joint-plane modeling method is employed to connect the corresponding nodes at the joint surface of the woodworking computer numerical control (CNC) machining center bed with a 2-node 12-degree-of-freedom unit. A spatial element model is established, which can show the state of the nodes between joint surfaces when they are stretched, compressed, or twisted; and it can help build a woodworking CNC machining center on a finite element model of bed with the characteristics of the joint surface. The simulated analysis is performed on the model and is compared with the result of simulated analysis on the bed model that ignores the characteristics of the joint surface and modal experiment. The comparison verifies the effectiveness of the modeling method based on the characteristics of the joint surface. The weak link of the machine bed structure is analyzed and optimized. The natural frequency of the bed is improved by2.55% ~ 11.3%. The displacement is reduced by a maximum of 19.4%, and dynamic performance of the bed is improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early studies indicated that the androgen receptor (AR) could promote renal cell carcinoma (RCC) development and metastasis, but its linkage to RCC progression under hypoxia, remains unclear. Results: Here we found AR expression in RCC cells decreased in response to hypoxia, which might then lead to increase the cancer stem cells (CSC) phenotype through the lncTCFL5-2-modulated YBX1/SOX2 signals. The consequences of such hypoxia-modulated AR/lncTCFL5-2/YBX1/SOX2 signals ablity to alter the CSC phenotype might render RCC cells more resistant to targeted therapy with Sunitinib. Mechanism dissection revealed that AR might alter the lncTCFL5-2/YBX1/SOX2 signaling through transcriptional suppression of the lncTCFL5-2 expression via the AR-response-elements (AREs) on the lncTCFL5-2 promoter. The lncTCFL5-2 interacts with YBX1 to increase its stability, which in turn increases SOX2 expression at a transcriptional level via the YBX1-response-elements (YBX1Es) on the SOX2 promoter. The in vivo mouse model with orthotopic xenografts of RCC cells also validates the in vitro data, and a human RCC sample survey demonstrated the clinical significance of the AR/lncTCFL5-2/YBX1/SOX2 signaling axis for the RCC prognosis, likely as a result of regulating CSC phenotypes. Conclusions: Together, these findings suggest that hypoxia may increase the RCC CSC phenotype via altering the AR/lncTCFL5-2/YBX1/SOX2 signaling axis and a potential therapy to target this newly identified signal perhaps may help improve the targeted therapy with Sunitinib to better suppress RCC progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li 3 PO 4 (LPO) deposits were prepared for the electrolytes of all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASS-LBs) by atmospheric plasma-spraying (APS) with sintered powders of three different sizes. The effect of LPO particle size on the microstructure, chemical composition, lattice structure, and ion conductivity of LPO deposits was systematically investigated. Results showed that instead of the conventional lamellar-structured splats with limited inter-splat bonding, columnar-structured grains with chemical inter-splat bonding were formed in APS LPO due to its low melting point. The porosity of the deposits decreases with the decrease in feedstock particle size and deposits with porosity less than 1% can be deposited by using powders smaller than 50 µm. The XRD presented that all deposits have the same phase compositions as that of the sintered powders. Due to more intensively vaporization of P than Li from the molten droplets during APS, the Li/P atomic ratio in the deposits was higher than the stoichiometric ratio of 3 and ranges from 3.02 to 3.17. Owning to the high-quality inter- splat bonding and the slightly deviated Li/P atomic ratio, a high room-temperature ionic conductivity of 4.65 × 10−8 S.cm−1 was achieved for APS LPO deposit by using the LPO particles with sizes of less than 30 µm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel naphthalene based chemosensor SN was efficiently synthesized by one-step method, which can rapidly recognize Al3+by colorimetry and fluorescence dual channel and further continuously detect Fe3+in DMSO/H 2 O (9:1, V/V) with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. • The binding modes of SN to Al3+ and [ SN + Al3+] to Fe3+ were revealed by 1H NMR titration, HRMS, DFT and TD-DFT. • The SN and [ SN + Al3+] have been successfully used to identify Al3+ and Fe3+ in zebrafish organisms. A simple and rapidly responsive novel chemosensor SN (4-(((2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)methylene)amino)-N-(pyrimidine-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide) was designed and synthesized using 2‑hydroxy‑1-naphthaldehyde as a fluorescent group and its structure was characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HRMS. Upon addition of only Al3+ in a mixed solvent system (DMSO/H 2 O, V/ V = 9:1), significant changes in UV–visible and fluorescence spectra were observed. At the same time, the solution exhibited noticeable color changes (from yellow to colorless) and fluorescence responses (from no fluorescence to blue fluorescence). The fluorescence chemosensor SN demonstrated excellent selectivity and sensitivity towards Al3+ with detection limits (LOD) of 1.174 × 10−8 M. Therefore, the SN chemosensor enables rapid and efficient detection of trace amounts of Al3+ in both environmental and biological settings through colorimetric and dual-channel fluorescence responses. Furthermore, under the same conditions, the in-situ generated [ SN + Al3+] system was used for relay detection of Fe3+ without the need for further optimization, purification, or separation steps. The experimental results showed that the addition of Fe3+ led to fluorescence quenching, eliminating interference from Al3+ during Fe3+ detection, and the detection limit was 1.85×10−8 M. In addition, the binding and sensing mechanism of chemosensor SN to Al3+ and [ SN + Al3+] to Fe3+were described in detail by 1H NMR titration experiment, HRMS, density functional theory (DFT) calculation and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). A novel chemical sensor SN based on naphthalene derivative was efficiently synthesized by one-step method, which can rapidly recognize Al3+by colorimetry and fluorescence dual channel and further continuously detect Fe3+in DMSO/H 2 O (V/ V = 9:1), which has excellent anti-interference and specific recognition ability. At the same time, the LOD of the sensor SN to Al3+ and [ SN + Al3+] to Fe3+ can reach 1.174 × 10−8 M and 1.85 × 10−8 M. In addition, based on job's plot experiments, 1H NMR titrations and HR-MS analyses, a plausible mechanism for the interaction of the sensor SN with Al3+ and [ SN + Al3+] with Fe3+ was proposed, and the above-mentioned sensing mechanism was further confirmed by DFT calculation. Meanwhile, the sensor SN and in situ generation [ SN + Al3+] have been successfully applied for the detection of Al3+ and Fe3+ in zebrafish organisms. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal swing coatings with high thermal diffusivity but low thermal conductivity could increase the efficiency of diesel engines by minimizing the piston surface thermal gradient. However, the thermal diffusivity is usually positively related to the thermal conductivity and thus it is generally difficult to deposit thermal barrier coating with a low thermal conductivity but high thermal diffusivity by plasma spraying. In the present work, K 2 Ti 6 O 13 with intrinsic low thermal conductivity and low melting point (1350 °C) was used as the coating material to prepare a coating with a high ratio of thermal diffusivity to thermal conductivity. Results revealed that due to the low melting point feature of K 2 Ti 6 O 13 all plasma sprayed coatings have high inter-splat bonding quality which resulted in a high thermal diffusivity close to the sintered counterpart. K 2 Ti 6 O 13 coatings of high porosity were plasma sprayed by optimizing powder structure, which leads to a low thermal conductivity but influences little the thermal diffusivity. It is also found that the preferential evaporation of potassium oxide from the K 2 Ti 6 O 13 molten droplets leads to the formation of the TiO 2 phase and generates global pores in the coating. At optimized spray conditions by using sintered porous powder, the K 2 Ti 6 O 13 coating with a porosity of 21 % and single K 2 Ti 6 O 13 phase reveals the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.85 W/m·K and a high diffusivity of 0.43 mm2/s. The coating exhibits the highest thermal swing of about 91 °C, having much higher performance than the conventional thermal barrier coatings used for enhancing the thermal swing effect. • K 2 Ti 6 O 13 coatings with a well inter-splat bonding can be prepared by Air Plasma Spraying. • The K 2 Ti 6 O 13 coating with low thermal effusivity was achieved by optimizing the porosity and phase of the coating. • The coating presents excellent thermal swing performance which is attributed to well bonded intersplat interfaces in the coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although biomass-derived metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have garnered increasing attention, their ORR performance is lower than that of commercial 20% Pt/C. To improve their ORR performance, a series of porous carbons with high N contents are prepared by pyrolyzing a mixture of spinach leaf powder and urea at different mass ratios (1:0, 1:5, 1:10, and 1:15) at a high temperature; the resultant materials are labeled as S-850, S-850-5, S-850-10, and S-850-15, respectively. The results indicate that the N contents in the as-synthesized S-850, S-850-5, S-850-10, and S-850-15 products are 5.43, 5.74, 5.93, and 5.93 at%, respectively, which gradually increase with increasing urea contents, while the P and S contents (0.7 and 0.3 at%, respectively) show no change. Among all the as-synthesized products, the sample obtained by the addition of 10 wt.% urea (S-850-10) exhibits the best ORR catalytic performance in an O2-saturated 0.1 M KOH solution with a half-potential of 0.748 V and a diffusion-limited current density of −4.76 mA cm − 2 at 0.4 V. The half-potential and diffusion-limited current density of S-850-10 are improved by 0.53% and 8.61% compared to those of S-850 (0.744 V and −4.35 mA cm − 2 at 0.4 V, respectively). These findings indicate that urea can be used as an N resource to increase the N content of biomass-derived metal-free porous carbon, enhancing its ORR performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two unexpected tetranuclear supramolecular boxes, [Zn4(L')4(CH3OH)2]·2CH3OH (1) and [Co4(L)2(L')2(CH3OH)2]·acetone (2), with M4(μ3-O)2(μ2-O)4 core were obtained through reacting coumarin Schiff base H2L (H2L = 4-hydroxy-3-((2-hydroxyphenyl-imino)-methyl)-2hchrome-2-one) with Zn(OAc)2·4H2O and Co(OAc)2·4H2O, respectively. Interestingly, the original ligand (H2L) has changed into a new structure (H2L') in the process of forming single crystals. The structures of 1 and 2 were characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction. 1 and 2 are tetranuclear structures including four metal centers (Zn(II) or Co(II)), four completely deprotonated ligands (four new (L')2- in 1, two original (L)2- and two new (L')2- in 2), two coordinated methanol molecules and several crystalline solvent molecules. Significantly, due to the action of Zn(II) and Co(II), the original Schiff base H2L completely changed from coumarin skeleton to quinoline skeleton to form a new ligand (H2L') in 1, while in 2 half of the ligands H2L involved in coordination changed to H2L' configuration, the other half maintained the original structure. In 1, Zn1 ions are six-coordinate octahedral configuration and Zn2 are five-coordinate distorted square-pyramidal configuration with τ = 0.38. In 2, Co1 are six-coordinate octahedral configuration and Co2 are five-coordinate triangular bipyramidal configuration with τ = 0.66. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a scheduling problem, in which several streams of status update packets with different priority levels are sent through a shared channel to their destinations. We introduce a notion of lexicographic age optimality, or simply lex-age-optimality, to evaluate the performance of multi-class status update policies. In particular, a lex-age-optimal scheduling policy first minimizes the Age of Information (AoI) metrics for high-priority streams, and then, within the set of optimal policies for high-priority streams, achieves the minimum AoI metrics for low-priority streams. We propose a new scheduling policy named Preemptive Priority, Maximum Age First, Last-Generated, First-Served (PP-MAF-LGFS), and prove that the PP-MAF-LGFS scheduling policy is lex-age-optimal. This result holds (i) for minimizing any time-dependent, symmetric, and non-decreasing age penalty function; (ii) for minimizing any non-decreasing functional of the stochastic process formed by the age penalty function; and (iii) for the cases where different priority classes have distinct arrival traffic patterns, age penalty functions, and age penalty functionals. For example, the PP-MAF-LGFS scheduling policy is lex-age-optimal for minimizing the probability of age violation of a high-priority stream and the time-average age of a low-priority stream. Numerical results are provided to illustrate our theoretical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal ions are common pollutants in water pollution. Amino acids, as important substances in organisms, participate in many life activities. The detection of heavy metal ions and amino acids with high selectivity and sensitivity is important. Therefore, based on H3L (H3L = 4,4′,4′′-triazine-2,4,6-tribenzoic acid) and Eu3+, an Eu-MOF was designed, synthesized and characterized. Single crystal structure analysis showed that the Eu-MOF was crystallized in the orthorhombic space group Fddd, and presents a three-dimensional (3D) porous network structure. The luminescence results show that the Eu-MOF has good luminescence stability. As a multifunctional luminescent sensor, the Eu-MOF can detect Fe3+, Cr2O72−, CrO42− and aspartic acid (Asp) in water systems with high sensitivity and selectivity, and the lowest detection limit (LOD) was 1.12 × 10−6 mol L−1, 1.95 × 10−6 mol L−1, 1.89 × 10−6 mol L−1 and 2.20 × 10−6 mol L−1, respectively. These results indicated that the Eu-MOF has potential application prospects in the detection of Fe3+, Cr2O72−, CrO42− and Asp in water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on tetraphenylethylene as the skeleton, two novel salamo-type fluorescent probes (TPES1 = 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde O-(3-(((-2-hydroxy-5-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)benzylidene)amino)oxy)propyl) oxime and TPES2 = bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde O-(3-(((2-hydroxy-5-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)benzylidene)amino)oxy)propyl) dioxime) were designed and synthesized. Through the colorimetric and fluorescence dual-channel modes, cyanide ions could be specifically recognized by the two probe molecules. Interestingly, the probes TPES1 and TPES2 exhibited completely different spectral behaviors during the recognition process. Of the two, the TPES1 molecule is a ratio-type fluorescent probe, and double fluorescence emission peaks appeared during the titration process. The reason for this phenomenon is due to the rotation of the C–C single bond in tetraphenylethylene, causing the solution system to contain molecules in two states. On the other hand, the TPES2 molecule is a fluorescence-enhanced probe that has undergone two reaction processes of deprotonation and addition reaction successively, causing the fluorescence intensity to increase continuously. Theoretical calculations indicated that the configuration of probe TPES1 is reversed after interacting with cyanide ions (CN−). By calculating the minimum detection limits of TPES1 and TPES2 to CN−, the LOD values were 8.56 × 10−8 M and 5.37 × 10−8 M, respectively. In addition, probe-based test strips have been prepared for quick and simple detection of cyanide ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate recommendations for appropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) of Chinese females. Methods: In total of 3,172 eligible women in the first trimester were recruited into the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study (CPWCS) project. Pregnancy complications and outcomes were collated using the hospital medical records system. The method of occurrence of participants with adverse pregnancy outcomes (Occurrence Method) was conducted to calculate the recommended total GWG for each participant's pre-pregnancy BMI. Occurrence Method data were judged against the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Japanese recommended criteria in terms of the total occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women with appropriate weight gain. Results: The most frequent GWG was ≥ 14 kg and < 16 kg (19.4%), followed by ≥ 10 kg and < 12 kg (15.5%) and ≥ 12 kg and < 14 kg (15.2%). The most frequently occurring adverse pregnancy outcomes were cesarean sections for underweight (30.0%), normal weight (40.4%), overweight (53.6%) and obese (53.7%) women. A large for gestational age (LGA) accounted for 18.0% of the overweight and 20.9% of the obesity group. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) occurred in 16.9% of overweight and 23.1% of obese women. The recommended total GWG in a Chinese women population is ≥ 8 and < 12 kg if underweight, ≥ 12 and < 14 kg for normal weight, ≥ 8.0 and < 10.0 kg if overweight, and < 8 kg for women with obesity. Conclusions: Current Chinese recommendations provide the optimal ranges of GWG to minimize the occurrence of undesirable pregnancy outcomes for each group of pre-pregnancy BMIs in a Chinese population. Trial registration: Registered with ClinicalTrials (NCT03403543). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compound faults diagnosis of bearings and gears in gearboxes is a full-challenging task. The rational usage of meshing resonance is probable to be one of the breakthroughs to solve this problem. However, the existing detection method of meshing resonance is sensitive to noise and has risks of false demodulation. Meanwhile, it is difficult to guarantee that isolated components only contain one fault characteristic. Based on the mentioned problems, a spectrum of full-band preprocessing and 2-D separation method is raised. First, the inverted editing method of the original signal is proposed to reduce noise in the full frequency band. Second, the established resonance detection diagram and the introduced amplitude-level decomposition technique separate the processing results in the frequency and amplitude dimensions. Finally, the separate components are detected, respectively, by envelope analysis. Both the simulation analysis and experimental verification do support the effectiveness of this method. In addition, this article compares the existing method and solves the essential problems as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano‐carbon oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst having a large N atoms content derived from biomass has been widely studied recently in fuel cells. In this paper, yuba of high‐protein (wt. 53 %) was employed as precursor to fabricate N self‐doped porous carbon ORR electrocatalysts with high N content. In terms of ORR performance, Y‐850 exhibited the optimal electrocatalytic activity among all the samples at different pyrolysis temperatures, which is comparable that of commercial 20 % Pt/C. The prominent ORR characteristic of Y‐850 is mainly contributed by its high N content, especially high graphitic‐N content. In order to further improve its ORR performance, ball‐milling was conducted on Y‐850 before and after pyrolysis. The results indicate that an appropriate ball‐milling before pyrolysis can effectively increase the limited current density of ORR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a joint sampling and scheduling problem for optimizing data freshness in multi-source systems. Data freshness is measured by a non-decreasing penalty function of age of information, where all sources have the same age-penalty function. Sources take turns to generate update packets, and forward them to their destinations one-by-one through a shared channel with random delay. There is a scheduler, that chooses the update order of the sources, and a sampler, that determines when a source should generate a new packet in its turn. We aim to find the optimal scheduler-sampler pairs that minimize the total-average age-penalty at delivery times (Ta-APD) and the total-average age-penalty (Ta-AP). We prove that the Maximum Age First (MAF) scheduler and the zero-wait sampler are jointly optimal for minimizing the Ta-APD. Meanwhile, the MAF scheduler and a relative value iteration with reduced complexity (RVI-RC) sampler are jointly optimal for minimizing the Ta-AP. The RVI-RC sampler is based on a relative value iteration algorithm whose complexity is reduced by exploiting a threshold property in the optimal sampler. Finally, a low-complexity threshold-type sampler is devised via an approximate analysis of Bellman’s equation. This threshold-type sampler reduces to a simple water-filling sampler for a linear age-penalty function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microwave-assisted hydrothermal approach with a follow up thermal treatment was employed to prepare 1D porous CoO nanowires, which is constructed by numerous high crystallinity nanoparticles. A significant change in crystal structure of the precursor were observed, as position shift and absence of some diffraction peaks, which was induced by the microwave-assistance during hydrothermal process. Moreover, the precursor's purity was also effectively improved. As a result, the as-synthesized CoO annealed from the microwave-assisted precursor exhibited a morphology and phase structure significantly different from that of without microwave involvement. Benefiting from the 'microwave effect', the microwave-assisted as-fabricated porous CoO nanowires showed an enhanced specific capacitance (728.8 versus 503.7 Fg−1 at 1 A g−1), strengthened rate performance (70.0% versus 53.2% maintenance at 15 A g−1), reduced charge transfer resistance (1.06 Ω versus 2.39 Ω), enlarged window voltage (0.85 versus 0.7 V) and enhanced cycle performance (82.3% versus 76.5% retention after 5000 cycles at 15 A g−1), compared with that of sample without microwave assistance. In addition, the corresponding electrochemical properties are also higher than those reported CoO sample prepared by solvothermal method. In conclusion, this work provides a practical way for enhancing electrochemical properties of supercapacitor materials through adjusting the precursor by microwave assistance into hydrothermal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) induced acoustic noise is studied through simulation investigation of the vibration behavior of the printed circuit board (PCB). The board vibration theory is briefly summarized to understand the key parameters influencing intrinsic board vibration properties. The identified key parameters are the thickness, mass density, and Young's modulus of each board layer. To accommodate the parameter variations in real board fabrication process, a statistical simulation model for PCB vibration modal response is proposed. The simulation results have shown good correlation with the measurement. The sensitivity analysis of board vibration properties to the identified parameters of each layer has also been conducted through simulation. Based on the derived intrinsic board vibration properties, the PCB vibration behavior with capacitor as forced excitation is further analyzed through modal superposition. The simulated results also exhibit good correlation with measurement. With the proposed simulation methods, engineers can evaluate the board vibration behavior at early design stage and some design guidelines for placing MLCCs can be derived to reduce acoustic noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) has gender differences, with the androgen receptor (AR) linked positively with metastasis to the lung. Its linkage to ccRCC bone metastases (RBMs), however, remains unclear. Methods: In the current study, five human RCC and five RCC bone metastasis tissues were deeply sequenced using Arraystar human circRNA V2.0 microarray. We conducted gain‐of‐function screening in vitro and in vivo to elucidate the AR's role in the RBM. Loss/gain‐of‐function was also implemented to verify the roles of related non‐coding RNAs and proteins. Results: We uncovered that RBM also has a gender difference showing higher AR expression may be linked to fewer RBMs, which might involve suppressing osteolytic formation. Mechanism dissection indicates that AR can decrease the circular RNA EXOC7 (circEXOC7), expression via enhancing transcription of DHX9, a regulatory protein in circRNA biogenesis. The circEXOC7 can sponge/suppress miR‐149‐3p resulting in suppressing the CSF1 expression by directly binding to the 3′UTR region of CSF1 mRNA. Results from clinical epidemiological surveys also found that AR has a positive correlation with miR‐149‐3p and a negative correlation with CSF1 in AR‐positive ccRCC tissues. Preclinical studies with Balb/c nude mouse model also validated that targeting this newly verified AR/DHX9/circEXOC7/miR‐149‐3p/CSF1 signaling via altering circEXOC7 or AR could lead to suppressing the RBM progression. Conclusions: These data showed that AR/DHX9/circEXOC7/miR‐149‐3p/CSF1 signaling acts as a valuable feature in the bone metastasis of renal cancer, which may benefit in suppressing the RBM progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-wire sawing with a fixed diamond wire is widely used for the mass production of wafers. In this study, a novel electrolyte jet type electroplating method was devised to improve the productivity of these wires. The method is based on increasing the limiting current density (LCD) in the electroplating unit. First, an electrolyte jet type electroplating unit was designed, and the plating characteristics were investigated. To increase the LCD during plating process, the method of decreasing the depletion layer of nickel ions around the core wire was approached. The experimental results indicated that the LCD can be increased by increasing the flow rate of the electrolyte. Next, the influences of composite plating conditions on the state of abrasive distribution and density of the diamond wires were experimentally verified, and the process of selecting the optimal fabricating conditions was clarified. Lastly, the cutting performance of the prototype diamond wires was verified by slicing a polycrystalline silicon ingot. The relationship between the surface roughness of the sliced wafers and the abrasive density of the diamond wires was studied. • The electroplated diamond wire with high cutting performance is an important tool in slicing silicon or sapphire ingots. • The production cost is directly related to the manufacturing rate, which depends on the current density during electroplating. • In this work, a novel method for increasing the current density by an electrolyte jet type apparatus was presented. • The effects of abrasive density on cutting forces and surface roughness of the sliced wafers were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Schiff base fluorescent probes with "turn-off" fluorescence mechanism can effectively detect Cu2+ ions. • Probe SY is a fluorescent probe with aggregation induced emission (AIE) characteristics. • Probe SY recognizes Cu2+selectively in aqueous solution. • Probe SY can applied to detect Cu2+ in tap water samples. • Probe SY has been good reversibility and recoveries. A highly selective Schiff-type fluorescent probe (SY) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics was synthesized based on salicylaldehyde derivatives. With increasing water content, it exhibits good sensitivity and interference resistance for the detection of Cu2+ in mixed solvents (DMSO/H 2 O, v/ v = 3:2), and uses a fluorescence burst mechanism to rapidly analyze Cu2+ ions in aqueous media with a detection limit as low as 3.98 × 10−8 M, which is well below the permissible standard for Cu2+ (∼20 µM) in drinking water (WHO). Importantly, the probe has been successfully applied to the determination of Cu2+ in real water samples with good reversibility and recoveries ranging from 99.3% to 106.6% in tap water, and can also be used for the detection of Cu2+ ions under 365 nm UV light. In addition, the coordination pattern of the probe with Cu2+ was evaluated by mass spectrometry and working curves, and the stoichiometry of the probe and Cu2+ ions was determined to be 2:1. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) was performed to help understand the electronic nature of SY and Cu2+ complexation and chelation induced quenching mechanism. [Display omitted] A Schiff-type fluorescent probe (SY) was synthesized based on salicylaldehyde derivatives. It exhibits good selectivity and sensitivity to Cu2+ ions in mixtures of solvents (DMSO/H 2 O, v/v = 3:2) and has a "off" fluorescence mechanism. The detection limit was 3.98 × 10−8 M−1. Importantly, the coordination pattern of the probe to Cu2+ ions was evaluated by mass spectrometry and working curve, as well as DFT calculation, the stoichiometry of the probe and Cu2+ ions was determined to be 2:1. Additionally, the fluorescent probe may be utilized to detect Cu2+ ions in real water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multifunctional fluorescent sensor Zn-MOF was successfully prepared by hydrothermal reaction, Zn2+ as node, 1,3,5-tris(1-imidazolyl)-benzene (L) and chiral ligands D(+)-camphoric acid (D-H 2 cam) as linkers. The study of fluorescence properties revealed that it was a multifunctional fluorescence sensor could not only be used to distinguish for HSO 4 −, but also could be used to detect acidic amino acids (Glu, Asp) and relay determination for basic amino acids (Arg, Lys). [Display omitted] • A multifunctional fluorescence sensor Zn-MOF is successfully synthesised. • It can be used to detection of HSO 4 −, acidic amino acids and relay recognition for basic amino acid. • This sensor is fast response, high selectivity, sensitivity, anti-jamming, and recyclability. A multifunctional fluorescent sensor Zn-MOF was successfully prepared by hydrothermal reaction, Zn2+ as node, 1,3,5-tris(1-imidazolyl)-benzene (L) and chiral ligands D(+)-camphoric acid (D-H 2 cam) as linkers. It had been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), circular dichroism (CD), chromaticity coordinates (CIE) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The study of fluorescence properties revealed that the multifunctional fluorescent sensor Zn-MOF exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity to detect HSO 4 − or glutamate (Glu)/aspartic (Asp) by "Turn Off" the emission. Furthermore, the in situ generated [Zn-MOF + Glu/Asp] system was used for the relay detection of arginine (Arg)/lysine (Lys) without separation and purification and exhibited a new fluorescence "Turn On" signal under the same conditions. In addition, the sensing process possessed out-standing cost-saving, rapid responsiveness as well as recyclability in aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

0.5 wt% boron-doped zinc oxide (BZO) films were fabricated by utilizing pulse laser deposition under different growth temperature ranged from 250 to 450 °C. The effect of the growth temperature on the structural, optical, and electrical properties was investigated and discussed. The crystal structure and orientation of BZO thin films were examined by X-ray diffraction. All of the BZO films under various growth temperatures had strong c -axis (002)-preferred orientation. Optical transparency was high (>80%) over a wide spectral range from 400 nm to 700 nm, and the optical bandgap value of BZO are found to be in the range from 3.18 to 3.47eV. According to the experimental data, the resistivity of the BZO film was optimized at ~1.13 × 10−3 Ω-cm and significantly influenced by the growth temperature. • Low resistivity of 0.5 wt% boron-doped ZnO film with 300 °C growth temperature has fabricated with 1.13 × 10−3 Ω-cm. • 300 °C growth temperature of 0.5 wt% boron-doped ZnO film and un-doped ZnO film have compared. • High transparency of 0.5 wt% boron-doped ZnO films have fabricated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, an improved target impedance concept directly correlating circuit output jitter with power distribution network (PDN) R-L-C parameters is proposed. A systematic procedure to develop the target impedance curves is formulated and developed for common CMOS buffer circuits. The relationship between output jitter and PDN R-L-C parameters is analytically derived by evaluating the time domain voltage ripple to jitter transfer relationship along with the relationship between time domain voltage ripple and PDN R-L-C parameters. Given the transient integrated circuit switching current and the jitter specification, multiple target impedance curves can be defined for a specific circuit. The jitter and PDN R-L-C analytical correlations are validated through HSPICE simulation. The application of the proposed target impedance concept with jitter specification is also demonstrated via simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, acoustic noise of printed circuit board (PCB) introduced by multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) on power distribution network (PDN) is studied. The correlation of PDN power rail noise, MLCCs and PCB dynamic characteristics, and PCB acoustic noise is demonstrated on a real mobile product through electrical, vibrational, and acoustic measurements. Two measurement methodologies are proposed to identify the problematic MLCCs on the power rail. One method analyzes the board and MLCCs vibration properties with the external electrical signal applied on the power rail on a product board. Other measurement detects the problematic MLCCs based on the coherence value between the power rail signal during product operation and MLCC vibration characteristics. By replacing the identified original MLCCs with low acoustic noise ones, the PCB vibration is clearly reduced. With the MLCCs’ influence on PCB vibration studied, a measurement methodology is also proposed to analyze the PCB intrinsic vibration properties. The intrinsic modal response of PCB is applied to predict the MLCC-induced PCB vibration. The obtained modal response can also provide design guidelines for MLCC placement to reduce the level of PCB vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of a universal serial bus 3.0 connector caused radio frequency interference (RFI) to a nearby antenna is studied. The connector radiation is modeled by an equivalent stripline-fed slot antenna, based on the analysis of the common mode current path on the connector structure. With the proposed connector model, the original connector radiation source can be replaced by an equivalent magnetic dipole source, which is directly correlated with the physical quantity on the connector. Applying reciprocity theorem, the equivalent dipole source can be applied to predict the coupled noise power to the antenna. The proposed connector radiation mechanism and model are validated through full-wave simulation and measurement. The application of the magnetic dipole source for RFI estimation is demonstrated in a real laptop system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The potential effects of pre-pregnancy body mass (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on pregnancy outcomes remain unclear. Thus, we investigated socio-demographic characteristics that affect pre-pregnancy BMIs and GWG and the effects of pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG on Chinese maternal and infant complications.Methods: 3172 women were enrolled in the Chinese Pregnant Women Cohort Study-Peking Union Medical College from July 25, 2017 to July 24, 2018, whose babies were delivered before December 31, 2018. Regression analysis was employed to evaluate the socio-demographic characteristics affecting pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG values and their effects on adverse maternal and infant complications.Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age groups < 20 years (OR: 1.97), 25-30 years (OR: 1.66), 30-35 years (OR: 2.24), 35-40 years (OR: 3.90) and ≥ 40 years (OR: 3.33) as well as elementary school or education below (OR: 3.53), middle school (OR: 1.53), high school (OR: 1.40), and living in the north (OR: 1.37) were risk factors in maintaining a normal pre-pregnancy BMI. An age range of 30-35 years (OR: 0.76), living in the north (OR: 1.32) and race of ethnic minorities (OR: 1.51) were factors affecting GWG. Overweight (OR: 2.01) and inadequate GWG (OR: 1.60) were risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Overweight (OR: 2.80) and obesity (OR: 5.42) were risk factors for gestational hypertension (GHp). Overweight (OR: 1.92), obesity (OR: 2.48) and excessive GWG (OR: 1.95) were risk factors for macrosomia. Overweight and excessive GWG were risk factors for a large gestational age (LGA) and inadequate GWG was a risk factor for low birth weights.Conclusions: Overweight and obesity before pregnancy and an excessive GWG are associated with a greater risk of developing GDM, GHp, macrosomia and LGA. The control of body weight before and during the course of pregnancy is recommended to decrease adverse pregnancy outcomes, especially in pregnant women aged < 20 or > 25 years old educated below university and college levels, for ethnic minorities and those women who live in the north of China.Trial Registration: Registered at Clinical Trials ( NCT03403543 ), September 29, 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of most common cancers worldwide, however, the treatment for advanced HCC remains unsatisfactory. We focused on the function of the androgen receptor (AR) in HCC and tried to find new treatment strategy based on antiandrogen enzalutamide (Enz). Here, we found that olaparib, a FDA‐approved PARP inhibitor, could enhance the cytotoxicity in HCC cells with a lower BRCA1 expression, and suppressing the AR with either Enz or AR‐shRNA could further increase the olaparib sensitivity to better suppress the HCC cell growth via a synergistic mechanism that may involve suppressing the expression of BRCA1 and other DNA damage response (DDR) genes. Mechanism studies revealed that Enz/AR signaling might transcriptionally regulate the miR‐146a‐5p expression via binding to the Androgen Response Elements on its 5′ promoter region, which could then lead to suppress the homologous recombination‐related BRCA1 expression via direct binding to the mRNA 3′UTR. Preclinical studies using an in vivo mouse model also demonstrated that combining Enz plus olaparib led to better suppression of the HCC progression. Together, these in vitro/in vivo data suggest that combining Enz and olaparib may help in the development of a novel therapy to better suppress the HCC progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinel NiMn2O4 microspheres self-assembled with nanosheets directly grown on a 3D nickel foam were successfully prepared by a facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal process. The structural and morphology evolution behavior and the charge storage mechanism of the as-prepared samples were thoroughly characterized and assessed. It was found that the formation of the product occurred in a stepwise manner, and the steps involved were nucleation, regular growth, and a self-assembly process (from nanosheets to small microspheres and further aggregation to large microspheres), resulting in a flower-like microsphere structure. Furthermore, a study on the energy storage mechanism of the prepared spinel NiMn2O4 indicated that the diffusion-controlled process dominated charge storage at low scan rates, while the capacitive process was dominant as the scan rate increased. As a result, the as-prepared NiMn2O4 showed high specific capacitance up to 768.9 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 when measured by a charge–discharge test and excellent cycling stability (85.8% capacity retention and near 100% Coulombic efficiency after 6000 cycles at 5 A g−1), which indicated that the fabricated products show a great potential in commercial supercapacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IDH1 (Isocitrate dehydrogenase 1) mutation occurring at codon 132 (R132) in prostate cancer (PCa) is considered as a classifier for a subgroup of PCas with accumulation of oncometabolite R-2HG (R-2-hydroxyglutarate). Here we found that adding R-2HG or the mutant IDH1 R132H could promote PCa cell invasion in androgen receptor (AR)-negative PC3 cells or suppressing the AR in AR-positive C4-2 cells. Mechanism dissection revealed that R-2HG could increase circRNA-51217 expression to sponge miRNA-646, which might then lead to increase TGFβ1 expression and thus induce TGFβ1/p-Smad2/3 signaling to increase PCa cell invasion. AR can suppress this R-2HG/circRNA-51217/miRNA-646/TGFβ1/p-Smad2/3 signaling-increased PCa cell invasion via repressing TGFβ1 transcription and inhibiting circRNA-51217 expression through regulating ADAR2 expression. Preclinical studies with an in vivo xenograft mouse model also revealed that PCa cells with the IDH1 R132H mutation have more invasive metastasis. This study demonstrates that IDH1 R132H mutation with increased oncometabolite R-2HG in PCa cells may play important roles to increase PCa cell invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common pediatric malignancy and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. miR-100 is associated with progression of various diseases including AML. The aim of this study was to explore the underlying molecule mechanisms of miR-100 involved in AML. The expressions of miR-100 and ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) in pediatric AML patients and cell lines were monitored using qRT-PCR and western blot assays. MTT assay was carried to evaluate cell viability. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. The binding sites between miR-100 and ATM were predicted by mirtarbase database. Luciferase reporter assay was used to confirm the relationship between miR-100 and ATM. miR-100 expression was highly expressed in bone marrow of AML patients and cell lines. Moreover, Knockdown of miR-100 led to the inhibition of viability and promotion of apoptosis in Kasumi-1 and MV-4-11 cells. miR-100 harbored the 3′UTR of ATM. Meanwhile, the expression of ATM was downregulated in bone marrow of AML patients and AML cell lines. Subsequently, a negative correlation between miR-100 and ATM in bone marrow of AML patients was also observed. Furthermore, ectopic expression of ATM repressed cell viability while enhanced apoptosis. Notably, loss of ATM attenuated the effect of miR-100 depletion on cell viability and apoptosis in AML cells. miR-100 participates in cell viability and apoptosis by targeting ATM in pediatric AML. • miR-100 expression is Significantly elevated in bone marrow of pediatric AML patients and AML cell lines. • miR-100 depletion inhibits cell viability and induces cell apoptosis. • ATM is a direct target of miR-100. • ATM overexpression suppresses cell viability and induces cell apoptosis. • miR-100 regulates AML cell viability and apoptosis by inhibiting ATM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a problem of sampling a Wiener process, with samples forwarded to a remote estimator over a channel that is modeled as a queue. The estimator reconstructs an estimate of the real-time signal value from causally received samples. We study the optimal online sampling strategy that minimizes the mean square estimation error subject to a sampling rate constraint. We prove that the optimal sampling strategy is a threshold policy, and find the optimal threshold. This threshold is determined by how much the Wiener process varies during the random service time and the maximum allowed sampling rate. Further, if the sampling times are independent of the observed Wiener process, the above sampling problem for minimizing the estimation error is equivalent to a sampling problem for minimizing the age of information. This reveals an interesting connection between the age of information and remote estimation error. Our comparisons show that the estimation error achieved by the optimal sampling policy can be much smaller than those of age-optimal sampling, zero-wait sampling, and periodic sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical CoO@MnO2 core–shell arrays with controllable morphology were fabricated by direct growth on 3D nickel foam by a facile two-step hydrothermal method. It was found that the morphology of CoO could be effectively controlled by the amount of loaded NH4F with the assistance of ethylene glycol and urea. As a result, disordered nanowires, highly ordered nanowires, dense nanowire clusters and compact bulk CoO were obtained upon increasing the NH4F amount, which in turn were passed on to the subsequent CoO@MnO2 core–shell arrays. Electrochemical tests indicate that the micro-morphology of the CoO@MnO2 arrays significantly affected their electrochemical performance. Among all the samples, the synthesized hierarchical 1 : 2CoO@MnO2 core–shell arrays formed from highly ordered CoO nanowires exhibited the highest specific capacitance (1505.7 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1), low charge transfer resistance, and excellent rate performance and cycling stability (91.7% retention after 5000 cycles at 5 A g−1 and the coulombic efficiency remained at over 98.6%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate scheduling policies that minimize the age of information in single-hop queueing systems. We propose a Last-Generated, First-Serve (LGFS) scheduling policy, in which the packet with the earliest generation time is processed with the highest priority. If the service times are i.i.d. exponentially distributed, the preemptive LGFS policy is proven to be age-optimal in a stochastic ordering sense. If the service times are i.i.d. and satisfy a New-Better-than-Used (NBU) distributional property, the non-preemptive LGFS policy is shown to be within a constant gap from the optimum age performance. These age-optimality results are quite general: (i) they hold for arbitrary packet generation times and arrival times (including out-of-order packet arrivals); (ii) they hold for multi-server packet scheduling with the possibility of replicating a packet over multiple servers; (iii) and they hold for minimizing not only the time-average age and mean peak age, but also for minimizing the age stochastic process and any non-decreasing functional of the age stochastic process. If the packet generation time is equal to the packet arrival time, the LGFS policies reduce to the Last-Come, First-Serve (LCFS) policies. Hence, the age optimality results of LCFS-type policies are also established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A fluorescent chemosensor JT was designed and synthesised. • JT showed good selectivity and high sensitivity for Al3+ without Fe3+. • JT was successfully used for the relay detection of Fe3+. • JT and [JT + Al3+] showed fairly low detection limit. • JT was successfully utilized to detect Al3+ and Fe3+ in test strip and zebrafish experiments. A simple, fast responsive fluorescent chemical sensor for 3-aldehyde-4-hydroxyphenylpropylpyran-2-keto-4-hydroxybenzoyl (JT) was designed and synthesized, which was characterized by 1H NMR and MS. The fluorescent chemical sensor JT showed outstanding selectivity and high sensitivity for identifying Al3+ and the limit of detection (LOD) was 9.76 × 10−8 M in EtOH/H 2 O (9:1, v/v) system. Furthermore, the in situ generated [JT + Al3+] system was used for the relay detection of Fe3+ without separation and purification, and the experimental results showed a new fluorescence quenching signal under the same conditions and the LOD to Fe3+ was 5.21 × 10−7 M. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to obtain optimized structures and orbital energy for the chemical sensor JT, [JT + Al3+] and [JT + Fe3+] complexes. Moreover, the test strips experiments were given for rapid detection of Al3+ and continuous monitoring of Fe3+. Ultimately, it is worth mentioning that we have successfully achieved the recognition of Al3+ and relay identification Fe3+ by the sensor using zebrafish as a biological carrier, which indicate the sensor own excellent practical application prospect. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1950s, the Gros Michel species of bananas were nearly wiped out by the incurable Fusarium Wilt, also known as Panama Disease. Originating in Southeast Asia, Fusarium Wilt is a banana pandemic that has been threatening the multi-billion-dollar banana industry worldwide. The disease is caused by a fungus that spreads rapidly throughout the soil and into the roots of banana plants. Currently, the only way to stop the spread of this disease is for farmers to manually inspect and remove infected plants as quickly as possible, which is a time-consuming process. The main purpose of this study is to build a deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) using a transfer learning approach to rapidly identify Fusarium wilt infections on banana crop leaves. We chose to use the ResNet50 architecture as the base CNN model for our transfer learning approach owing to its remarkable performance in image classification, which was demonstrated through its victory in the ImageNet competition. After its initial training and fine-tuning on a data set consisting of 600 healthy and diseased images, the CNN model achieved near-perfect accuracy of 0.99 along with a loss of 0.46 and was fine-tuned to adapt the ResNet base model. ResNet50's distinctive residual block structure could be the reason behind these results. To evaluate this CNN model, 500 test images, consisting of 250 diseased and healthy banana leaf images, were classified by the model. The deep CNN model was able to achieve an accuracy of 0.98 and an F-1 score of 0.98 by correctly identifying the class of 492 of the 500 images. These results show that this DCNN model outperforms existing models such as Sangeetha et al., 2023's deep CNN model by at least 0.07 in accuracy and is a viable option for identifying Fusarium Wilt in banana crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diamond-like carbon films with Ti dopant (Ti-DLC) are synthesized by reactive magnetron sputtering using a pure Ti metal target. This study determines the effect of methane flow ratios (Rm=CH4/(Ar + CH4), ranging from 4 to 12%) on the surface morphology, microstructure, mechanical properties, and cermet cutting tool insert features of Ti-DLC films. The GIXRD diffraction spectrum for Ti-DLC film depicts an amorphous structure. There are peaks for nano-crystalline TiC at 2θ values of 35.88°, 41.52°, and 60.14°, which respectively correspond to the (111), (200), and (220) planes of the face-centered cubic structure. The characteristic binding energy of C 1s, Ti 2p, and O 1s for Ti-DLC film is determined using a high-resolution XPS spectrum. Increasing Rm flow ratio (reducing Ti metal doping) increases the intensity of the Raman spectrum because there is an increased sp2-C (sp2/sp3 ratio) site fraction for DLC components. The experimental results show that the hardness of the DLC film increases from 11.07 to 14.76 GPa as the Rm flow ratio is increased from 4 to 12%. The adhesive strength of the Ti-DLC film coating is measured using a scratch test and shows that the film adheres well to the substrate. The Ti-DLC films are coated onto cutter inserts for the dry milling of an Inconel 718 workpiece, and the results show that all coated tools have a significantly longer tool life than uncoated tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early studies indicated that the androgen receptor (AR) might play key roles to impact hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression at different stages. Its linkage to hypoxia, a condition that occurs frequently during the HCC progression, however, remains unclear. Here we found that AR/miR-520f-3p/SOX9 signaling is involved in altering HCC cells sensitivity to the Sorafenib therapy under hypoxia via increasing the cancer stem cells (CSC) population. Mechanism dissection revealed that AR might alter the miR-520f-3p/SOX9 signaling through transcriptional regulation via binding to the androgen-response-elements (AREs) on the promoter region of miR-520f, which could then suppress SOX9 mRNA translation via targeting its 3' untranslated region (3'UTR). The in vivo mouse model with orthotopic xenografts of HCC cells also validated the in vitro data, and a human HCC sample survey confirmed the positive linkage of AR/miR-520f-3p/SOX9 signaling to the CSC population during HCC progression. Together, these preclinical findings suggest that hypoxia may increase the HCC CSC population via altering the AR/miR-520f-3p/SOX9 signaling, and targeting this newly identified signaling with the small molecule, miR-520f-3p, may help in the development of the novel therapy to better suppress the HCC progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the recently developed antiandrogen Enzalutamide (Enz) can extend survival for 4.8 months in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients, eventually most of these CRPC patients may develop resistance to the Enz without a clear mechanism. Here we found the expression of Beclin 1 was decreased in both Enz-resistant (EnzR) cell lines (EnzR1-C4-2 and EnzR2-C4-2B) as compared to their parental Enz-sensitive (EnzS) (EnzS1-C4-2 and EnzS2-C4-2B) cells, and targeting the Beclin 1 could lead to increase the Enz-sensitivity in these two CRPC cell lines. Mechanism dissection revealed that Enz might function via altering the interaction between Beclin 1 and the androgen receptor (AR) to decrease the activity of Beclin 1/Vps15/Vps34 complex thus increasing the ERK-mediated growth factor signaling to alter the Enz sensitivity. Interrupting the AR-Beclin 1/ERK signaling with ectopic BECN1 or ERK inhibitor led to alter the Enz sensitivity in both EnzR1-C4-2 and EnzR2-C4-2B cells compared to EnzS1-C4-2 and EnzS2-C4-2B cells, respectively. Together, these results suggest that targeting this newly identified AR-Beclin 1 complex-mediated ERK growth factor signaling with small molecule ERK inhibitor may help potentially develop new therapies to better suppress the EnzR CRPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiO 2 nanotubes (NTs) immobilized on carbon fibers (CFs) were successfully prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis method based on alkali treatment of TiO 2 nanowires (NWs). The as-prepared CFs with TiO 2 -NTs (CFs/TiO 2 -NTs) were characterized with a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The images on FESEM and TEM show that the entire surfaces of CFs are covered by TiO 2 -NTs with the thickness of ca. 7.4 µm. The inner and outer diameters of TiO 2 -NTs are ca. 4.6 and 8.7 nm, respectively. The analyses with EDS and XPS indicate that the main elements on the surface of CFs/TiO 2 -NTs are C, O, and Ti. According to the analysis with XRD, the transformation from titanate NTs to anatase TiO 2 -NTs was realized after annealing treatment. This work may provide a novel method for immobilizing TiO 2 -NTs on flexible non-metallic substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While androgen-deprivation-therapy with the recently developed antiandrogen enzalutamide (Enz) shows promising therapeutic benefits in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa), many patients develop resistance to Enz, which may involve the induction of the androgen receptor (AR) splicing variant 7 (AR-v7). Objective Our aim is to identify the mechanisms responsible for AR-v7 production and to develop novel preclinical approaches to suppress the Enz-resistant (EnzR) PCa. Design, setting, and participants We established EnzR-PCa cell lines and examined the long noncoding RNA Malat1 ( Malat1 ) function in conferring Enz resistance. We also examined the in vivo effects of Malat1 short interfering RNA and the AR-v7 degradation enhancer, ASC-J9 ® . Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Enz resistance and expression of Malat1 and AR-v7. All statistical comparisons were analyzed with a t- test or one way analysis of variance followed by t- test. Results and limitations We demonstrated that Malat1 is indispensable for Enz-induced AR-v7 production in VCaP and EnzR-C4-2 cells. We observed increased AR-v7 and Malat1 expression in our established EnzR-PCa cell lines and in some PCa patients who received Enz treatment. Targeting the Malat1 /AR-v7 axis resulted in altering the PCa resistance to androgen deprivation therapy with Enz. The limitation of this study includes the small sample size from the same human patients before and after receiving Enz treatment. Conclusions Targeting the Malat1 /AR-v7 axis via Malat1 -short interfering RNA or AR-v7 degradation enhancer ASC-J9 ® in EnzR-PCa cell lines and mouse models suppressed EnzR-PCa progression. Patient summary Androgen deprivation therapy-enzalutamide treatment may not be the best choice for prostate cancer patients who have higher expression of the Malat1 /androgen receptor splicing variant 7 axis, and new therapies using Malat1 -short interfering RNA or ASC-J9 ® may be developed in the future to better suppress enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study how to optimally manage the freshness of information updates sent from a source node to a destination via a channel. A proper metric for data freshness at the destination is the age-of-information, or simply age, which is defined as how old the freshest received update is, since the moment that this update was generated at the source node (e.g., a sensor). A reasonable update policy is the zero-wait policy, i.e., the source node submits a fresh update once the previous update is delivered, which achieves the maximum throughput and the minimum delay. Surprisingly, this zero-wait policy does not always minimize the age. This counter-intuitive phenomenon motivates us to study how to optimally control information updates to keep the data fresh and to understand when the zero-wait policy is optimal. We introduce a general age penalty function to characterize the level of dissatisfaction on data staleness and formulate the average age penalty minimization problem as a constrained semi-Markov decision problem with an uncountable state space. We develop efficient algorithms to find the optimal update policy among all causal policies and establish sufficient and necessary conditions for the optimality of the zero-wait policy. Our investigation shows that the zero-wait policy is far from the optimum if: 1) the age penalty function grows quickly with respect to the age; 2) the packet transmission times over the channel are positively correlated over time; or 3) the packet transmission times are highly random (e.g., following a heavy-tail distribution). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clew-like MnO 2 , synthesized by a low-temperature liquid-phase reaction, were thermally treated (300–700 °C) under nitrogen atmosphere to improve its capacitive properties. Crystal structure, porosity, conductivity, microstructure and the electrochemistry properties of thermal treated under nitrogen MnO 2 electrode were measured. The result indicates that thermal treatment under nitrogen can improve MnO 2 electrode's capacitive properties and the maximum specific capacitance is 368.2 F/g at 1 A/g in a 6 mol/L KOH electrolyte for the prepared electrode annealed at 400 °C, which was increased by 102.4% compared with untreated sample (181.9 F/g). Further observation of MnO 2 electrode's microstructure showed that oxygen deficiency-induced phase transformation during thermal treatment under nitrogen leads to co-existence of multivalent Mn, which could improve its electrical conductivity and surface properties, then enhancing its electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unexpected polyhydroxyl-bridged tetranuclear ZnII complex and a benzoquinone compound derived from metal-ion promoted reactivity of Schiff base ligands were synthesized and characterized. The reaction of zinc(II) acetate dihydrate with oxime-type Schiff base ligand HL1 [HL1 = 1-(3-((3,5-dibromosalicylaldehyde)amino)phenyl) ethan-1-one O-benzyl oxime] in methanol, acetone and acetonitrile resulted in the chemoselective cleavage of the C=N bond of the Schiff base HL1 and then the further addition of acetone to two salicylaldehyde molecules derived from cleavage of the C=N bond in situ α,α double aldol reaction promoted by ZnII ions. The newly formed ligands H4L2 coordinate to four ZnII ions forming a defect-dicubane core structure [ZnII 4(H2L2)2(μ3-OCH3)2(μ-OCH3)2(CH3OH)2] (1) bridged exclusively by oxygen-based ligands. The similar ligand HL3 [HL3 = 1-(3- ((3,5-dichlorosalicylaldehyde)amino)phenyl)ethan-1-one O-benzyl oxime)] was employed to react with CdII acetate dihydrate under the same reaction conditions. No aldol addition occurred but a unexpected benzoquinone compound 2,5-bis(((3-(1-((benzyloxy)imino)ethyl) phenyl)imino)methyl)-1,4-benzoquinone (2) formed. The results provided interesting insights into one-pot routes involving in situ reactions act as a strategy for obtaining a variety of polymeric/polynuclear complexes which are inconvenient to obtain from directly presynthesizing the ligands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional (1D) TiO 2 nanomaterials (NMs), including TiO 2 nanowires (NWs) and TiO 2 nanorods (NRs), grown on carbon fibers (CFs) were successfully prepared by a seed-assisted thermal growth method, involving “pre-coating” and “growth” processes. The as-obtained CFs with TiO 2 -NWs (CFs/TiO 2 -NWs) and CFs with TiO 2 -NRs (CFs/TiO 2 -NRs) were characterized with a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Additionally, the photocatalytic activities of CFs/TiO 2 -NWs and CFs/TiO 2 -NRs were evaluated by degrading methylene blue (MB) under UV–vis irradiation. The images on FESEM and TEM show that the entire surfaces of CFs are covered with vertically aligned 1D TiO 2 NMs. The analyses with XPS and XRD indicate that TiO 2 -NWs and TiO 2 -NRs are pure rutile TiO 2 . MB conversions over CFs/TiO 2 -NWs (98.6%) and CFs/TiO 2 -NRs (96.0%) are significantly higher than those over CFs (5.6%) and CFs/TiO 2 -seed layer (28.4%), implying that the 1D TiO 2 NMs covered on CFs can change the micro-structure of CFs and provide more photocatalytically active sites. The photostability tests of CFs/TiO 2 -NWs and CFs/TiO 2 -NRs indicate that they are reusable due to the good immobilization of 1D TiO 2 NMs on CFs. This work provides an intriguing method for growing 1D TiO 2 NMs on flexible substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polo-like kinase 4 (PLK4) is a serine/threonine protein kinase involved in regulating cell mitosis and centriole duplication, and has emerged as a therapeutic target for treating multiple cancers. At first, the design and in vitro validation of PLK4 inhibitors (12a-12e , 17a-17f , 22a-22e) bearing 1 H -pyrazolo[3,4- b ]pyridine scaffold was described and lead compound 22a (IC 50 = 0.106 μM) was identified. Then, selectivity- and activity-guided development of a series of potent and selective type-II PLK4 inhibitors using a homology model approach was carried out. Further structure-based optimization resulted in a potent type-II PLK4 inhibitor 29u (IC 50 = 0.026 μM), which exhibited outstanding selectivity in a panel of 47 kinases at a single concentration of 1.0 μM. Furthermore, compound 29u significantly inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with an IC 50 value of 1.52 μM, while it exhibited no inhibitory effect on normal cell lines (L02 and HUVECs). Meanwhile, the clone formation, senescence and migration abilities of compound 29u were evaluated using MCF-7 cells. The detailed biological evaluation revealed that compound 29u could arrest cell division in S/G2 phase by inhibiting PLK4, and then affect the expression of downstream signalling pathway proteins regulated by PLK4. Moreover, the in vitro preliminary evaluation of the drug-like properties of compound 29u exhibited outstanding plasma stability, moderate liver microsomal stability, and low risk of drug-drug interactions (DDIs). The current discovery will support the further development of compound 29u as a lead compound for PLK4-targeted anticancer drug discovery and as a useful chemical probe for the further biological research of PLK4. [Display omitted] • 29u exhibits superior PLK4 inhibitory activity and kinase selectivity. • Compared with normal cell lines, 29u selectively inhibits MCF-7 cells proliferation. • 29u arrests MCF-7 cells division in S/G2 phase by inhibiting PLK4. • 29u affects the expression of downstream signalling pathway proteins regulated by PLK4. • The discovery of 29u provides a reference for the development of type-II PLK4 inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]