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Abstract Background Generalized anxiety (GA) is showing a high prevalence among adolescents nowadays; investigations on influencing factors and potential mechanisms are important to inform intervention development. The present two-wave study investigated the ways in which family functioning predicted GA six months later among adolescents, by considering the mediating role of self-identity and cognitive flexibility. Methods Adolescents were recruited from 27 randomly selected classes in two secondary schools in Chongqing and Fujian Province, China. Survey questionnaires assessing family functioning, self-identity, cognitive flexibility and GA were obtained from 1223 adolescents (M age = 13.14, SD = 1.35) at two time points of the 6-month interval. Results The association between family functioning (T1) and GA (T2) was significant (r= -0.152, p

Abstract Background Gonadotropin precisely controls mammalian reproductive activities. Systematic analysis of the mechanisms by which epigenetic modifications regulate the synthesis and secretion of gonadotropin can be useful for more precise regulation of the animal reproductive process. Previous studies have identified many differential m6A modifications in the GnRH-treated adenohypophysis. However, the molecular mechanism by which m6A modification regulates gonadotropin synthesis and secretion remains unclear. Results Herein, it was found that GnRH can promote gonadotropin synthesis and secretion by promoting the expression of FTO. Highly expressed FTO binds to Foxp2 mRNA in the nucleus, exerting a demethylation function and reducing m6A modification. After Foxp2 mRNA exits the nucleus, the lack of m6A modification prevents YTHDF3 from binding to it, resulting in increased stability and upregulation of Foxp2 mRNA expression, which activates the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway to promote gonadotropin synthesis and secretion. Conclusions Overall, the study reveals the molecular mechanism of GnRH regulating the gonadotropin synthesis and secretion through FTO-mediated m6A modification. The results of this study allow systematic interpretation of the regulatory mechanism of gonadotropin synthesis and secretion in the pituitary at the epigenetic level and provide a theoretical basis for the application of reproductive hormones in the regulation of animal artificial reproduction.

In this paper, a direct cooling pipe for hydrogen inside the marine hydrogen storage cylinder (HSC) was designed, and the cooling pipe was simulated and analyzed under different cooling structures and different cooling fluids using ANSYS(Fluent) 2022 R2. The simulation results show that the effect of different cooling fluids on the temperatures were nearly the same. The heat transfer coefficients, however, of various fluids were different, and the cooling temperature was also different after cooling for the same time. The cooling structures mainly affect the cooling rate of the hydrogen due to the contact area with hydrogen inside the HSC. Among the three structures investigated in this study, the cooling capacity of the spiral layout was increased by 0.85 % and 0.63 %, respectively, compared to the rectangular and wavy layout. The rectangular layout has the certain cooling effect, however, in comparison to the spiral tube structure, it has too many corners, which increases the hindering effect on the flow of cooling medium inside the tubes and affects the cooling efficiency. The wavy layout has the largest contact area, but it has the problems of uneven cooling and occupying a large amount of hydrogen storage space. Among the three structures, comprehensively speaking, the spiral layout is considered to be the optimal. The optimal performance parameters were determined by comparing the simulation results of the three layouts during cooling process with hydrogen charging being performed. The results show that the cooling pipe can achieve the hydrogen temperature to be controlled within 358 K before the hydrogen pressure in the HSC reaches 70 MPa, and the maximum temperature is 336.07 K was obtained after the completion of hydrogen filling. This paper gives technical information for optimizing the thermal performance and safety of the hydrogen fueling system.

Study region: The Poyang Lake is located in northern Jiangxi Province, which is the largest fresh water in China. The upstream connection with rivers and downstream access to the Yangtze River create seasonal hydrological regimes, resulting in over 100 seasonal lakes within the floodplain. These lakes provide important habitats for migratory birds to forage and nest during dry seasons, and contribute to floodwater regulation during wet seasons, maintaining lake ecosystem. Study focus: This study has combined laboratory experiments and numerical simulations to mechanically analyze the effect of the depth, width, slope of seasonal lakes, water level amplitude and dry season periods on water recharge patterns, exchange fluxes and solute transport characteristics at the sediment-water interface. New hydrological insights for the region: Reducing the lake area by 33% through adjustments in depth or slope significantly reduces solute transport range (12.81% and 6.5% within 120 min) and high velocity area. The sensitivity of the solute amount in the lakebed to depth is the highest, followed by slope and width. Decreasing water level amplitude during dry seasons increases the flow velocity within the beach, facilitating short-term solute transport towards the lakebed. Extending the duration of dry periods increases cumulative flux of solutes entering the lakebed. These findings contribute to the ecological restoration efforts in floodplains and water pollution control measures.

Healthy coral reefs provide diverse habitats for marine life, playing a crucial role in marine ecosystems. Coral health is under threat due to global climate change, ocean pollution, and other environmental stressors, leading to coral bleaching. Coral bleaching disrupts the symbiotic relationship between corals and algae, ultimately impacting the entire marine ecosystem. Processing complex underwater images manually is time-consuming and burdensome for marine experts. To rapidly locate and monitor coral health, deep neural networks are employed for identifying coral categories, which can facilitate the automated processing of extensive underwater imaging data. However, these classification networks may overlook critical classification criteria like color and texture. This paper proposes a multi-local perception network (ML-Net) for image classification of healthy and bleached corals. ML-Net focuses on local features of coral targets, leveraging valuable information for image classification. Specifically, the proposed multi-branch local adaptive block extracts image details through parallel convolution kernels. Then, the proposed multi-scale local fusion block integrates features of different scales vertically, enhancing the detailed information within the deep network. Residual structures in the shallow network transmit local information with more texture and color to the deep network. Both horizontal and vertical multi-scale fusion blocks in deep networks are used to capture and retain local details. We evaluated ML-Net using six evaluation metrics on the Bleached and Unbleached Corals Classification dataset. In particular, ML-Net achieves an ACC result of 86.35, which is 4.36 higher than ResNet and 8.5 higher than ConvNext. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modules for coral classification in underwater environments.

Based on a review of related concepts and theories this study investigates the different impacts of research and development (R&D) innovation and political background on corporate growth in a particular context. Unlike other studies, we integrate these two factors. We empirically analyze 6079 sets of data from 1292 A-share private manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2012 to 2019. The results show that these factors directly impact corporate growth and have heterogeneous effects at different enterprise growth levels. We find the effect of R&D innovation on corporate growth is more pronounced for young firms. These findings highlight the need for firms to adjust their investments in R&D innovation and political backgrounds at different stages of development to adapt to different markets and political environments.

BackgroundNeuropathic foot ulcers are the leading cause of nontraumatic foot amputations, particularly among patients with diabetes. Traditional methods of monitoring and managing these patients are periodic in-person clinic visits, which are passive and may be insufficient for preventing neuropathic foot ulcers and amputations. Continuous remote temperature monitoring has the potential to capture the critical period before the foot ulcers develop and to improve outcomes by providing real-time data and early interventions. For the first time, the effectiveness of such a strategy to prevent neuropathic foot ulcers and related complications among high-risk patients in a real-world commercial setting is reported. ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a real-world continuous remote temperature monitoring program in preventing neuropathic foot ulcers and amputations in patients with diabetes. MethodsIn this retrospective analysis of a real-world continuous remote temperature monitoring program, 115 high-risk patients identified by clinical providers from 15 geographically diverse private podiatry offices were analyzed. Patients received continuous remote monitoring socks as part of the program. The enrollment was based on medical necessity as decided by their managing physician. We evaluated data from up to 2 years before enrollment and up to 3 years during the program. The primary outcome was the rate of wound development. Secondary outcomes included amputation rate, the severity of the foot ulcers, and the number of visits to an outpatient podiatry clinic after enrolling in the program. ResultsWe observed significantly lower rates of foot ulceration (relative risk reduction [RRR] 0.68; 95% CI 0.52-0.79; number needed to treat [NNT] 5.0; P

The interplay between non-Hermitian effects and topological insulators has become a frontier of research in non-Hermitian physics. However, the existence of a non-Hermitian skin effect for topological-protected edge states remains controversial. In this paper, we discover a new type of the non-Hermitian skin effect called the non-Hermitian chiral skin effect. Non-Hermitian chiral skin effect is induced by inhomogeneous edge dissipation under closed boundary conditions. In particular, the chiral modes of the non-Hermitian chiral skin effect localize around “topological defects” characterized by global dissipation rather than being confined to the system boundaries. We show its detailed physical properties by taking the non-Hermitian Haldane model as an example. As a result, the intrinsic mechanism of the hybrid skin-topological effect in Chern insulators is fully understood via the non-Hermitian chiral skin effect. Therefore this work will be helpful for the research on both non-Hermitian physics and topological quantum states.

In this study, the total synthesis of osajin, scandenone and their analogues have been accomplished. The key synthetic steps include aldol/intramolecular iodoetherification/elimination sequence reactions and a Suzuki coupling reaction to assemble the tricyclic core, chemoselective propargylation and Claisen rearrangement reactions to obtain natural compounds. In addition, we also designed and synthesized twenty-five natural product analogues. All synthetic compounds were screened for anti-inflammatory activity against tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Collectively, Compound 39e and 39d were considered as promising lead compounds for further development.

Background & Objective: Headache is a common symptom and disease. Cervicogenic headache (CH) is a common type of headache that can be effectively treated with both manual therapy (MT) and dry needling (DN). However, the results of MT plus DN (MDN) for CH remain controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of MDN for CH. Methods: A systematic search from database inception to June 1, 2023 on clinical outcome of MDN and MT in the treatment of CH was conducted. Four databases were searched, including Pubmed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library related randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Main outcomes included numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) in the post-treatment, the first month and the third month, extension and flexion in the post-treatment, headache frequency in the first month and the third month, neck disability index (NDI) in the first month and the third month. Results: Three studies involving 263 patients out of 68 studies were conducted. The pooled data showed that there was significant differences in NPRS in the post-treatment, the first month and the third month, extension in the post-treatment, flexion in the post-treatment between MDN group and MT group, but there was no statistically significant difference in the headache frequency in the first month and the third month, NDI in the first month and the third month. Conclusion: Current evidence suggests that MDN may be superior to MT in improving NPRS, extension, and flexion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of increasingly serious resource pressure and urban development imbalance in Beijing, further promote the sustainable development of the city and improve the allocation efficiency of resource factors, this paper divides the resource factors system of Beijing into four parts: economic subsystem, social subsystem, environmental subsystem and resource subsystem. Based on System Dynamics, this paper establishes a System Dynamics model for optimizing the efficiency of capital resource factor allocation, sets up five simulation scenarios combining the misallocation of capital resource factor resources, and analyses how to further optimize resource allocation through system simulation and empirical methods. It is found that the System Dynamics model of capital resource factor allocation efficiency optimization has satisfactory predictability. Additionally, social benefit enhancement type and resource-saving type can realize efficient allocation of economic, social, environmental and resource elements, and provide a conducive idea for further promoting urban sustainable development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]