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Abstract Data clustering has attracted the interest of scholars in many fields. In recent years, using heuristic algorithms to solve data clustering problems has gradually become a tendency. The black hole algorithm (BHA) is one of the popular heuristic algorithms among researchers because of its simplicity and effectiveness. In this paper, an improved self-adaptive logarithmic spiral path black hole algorithm (SLBHA) is proposed. SLBHA innovatively introduces a logarithmic spiral path and random vector path to BHA. At the same time, a parameter is used to control the randomness, which enhances the local exploitation ability of the algorithm. Besides, SLBHA designs a replacement mechanism to improve the global exploration ability. Finally, a self-adaptive parameter is introduced to control the replacement mechanism and maintain the balance between exploration and exploitation of the algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, comparison experiments are conducted on 13 datasets creatively using the evaluation criteria including the Jaccard coefficient as well as the Folkes and Mallows index. The proposed methods are compared with the selected algorithms such as the whale optimization algorithm (WOA), compound intensified exploration firefly algorithm (CIEFA), improved black hole algorithm (IBH), etc. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the compared algorithms on both external criteria and quantization error of the clustering problem.

Abstract The rapid evolution of clinical medicine, materials science, and regenerative medicine has rendered traditional implantable scaffolds inadequate for addressing the complex therapeutic demands of various diseases. Currently, implantable scaffolds in clinical practice are mainly made of metal, with the disadvantages of high stiffness, poor toughness, and low deformation. This paper offers a thorough review of shape memory scaffolds (SMSs), emphasizing their distinctive self‐recovery and adaptive functionalities that enhance compatibility with injured tissues, surpassing the capabilities of conventional metallic biomaterials. It delves into the limitations of current clinical scaffolds and the requisite performance metrics for effective implants and outlines the essential materials and fabrication methods for SMSs. Moreover, we enumerate the biomedical applications of SMMs with different response types, including thermology‐responsive, water‐responsive, and light‐responsive. The discussion extends to the burgeoning applications of SMSs in biomedical engineering, including their utility in bone tissue engineering, cardiovascular stenting, tubular structures, and cardiac patches, which underscore their potential in minimally invasive procedures and dynamic tissue interactions. This review concludes with an analysis of current challenges and prospects, providing valuable insights for developing and applying SMSs in the biomedical sector.

Abstract Background Potentially inappropriate prescribing is common among older adults with multimorbidity due to various reasons, from concurrent application of multiple single-disease clinical guidelines to fragmentation of care. Interventions such as medication review have been implemented worldwide to reduce inappropriate prescribing for older adults. However, the implementability of such interventions are underexplored in the outpatient clinics in Singapore’s public hospitals. Hence, the Pro-M study aims to assess the feasibility of implementing a physician-pharmacist collaborative care intervention in geriatric medicine outpatient clinics to facilitate appropriate prescribing for older adults in Singapore. Methods This is a single-arm, non-randomised feasibility study using a pre-post evaluation design. This study consists of two parts: (1) implementation phase of the intervention (6 months) and an (2) evaluation phase (3 months). Eligible patients will be recruited from geriatric medicine outpatient clinics at two public hospitals in Singapore through convenience sampling. The main components of the Pro-M intervention are: (1) pharmacist-facilitated medication reviews with feedback on any medication issues and potential recommendations to physicians, and (2) physicians communicating changes to other relevant prescribers. The evaluation phase will involve surveying and interviewing physicians and pharmacists involved in the implementation of the intervention. A mixed-method approach will be employed for data collection and analysis. The quantitative and qualitative findings will be triangulated and reported using Proctor’s implementation outcomes: appropriateness, penetration, acceptability, fidelity, feasibility, and sustainability. A basic cost analysis will be conducted alongside the study. Discussion This is a phase 2 study to test the feasibility of implementing an intervention that was co-created with stakeholders during phase 1 development of an intervention to optimise prescribing for older adults with multimorbidity. The implementation will be assessed using Proctor’s implementation outcomes to provide insights on the process and the feasibility of implementing medication reviews for older adults with multimorbidity as a routine practice in outpatient clinics. Data collected from this study will inform a subsequent scale-up study. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05756478. Registered on 06 March 2023.

Nano-injection molding technology is an important method for large-scale production of metal-polymer composites of various shapes. The mechanical properties of these materials are closely related to the interfacial process. In this work, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and copper (Cu) were selected as candidate polymer and metal materials, and constructed four different polydopamine (PDA) coatings, including monomer, dimer, linear tetramer, and cyclic tetramer, to modify metal surfaces. The molecular dynamics simulations were launched to investigate the interaction behavior of heterogeneous interfaces during nano-injection molding and the mechanism by which polydopamine affects the adhesion behavior at the copper-polyphenylene sulfide interface. Results showed that the addition of polydopamine caused the polymer chains to form many anchor points on the contact surface, which inhibited the wall-slip behavior of the polymer and led to a mushroom-like movement of the polymer on the wall surface. The interfacial energy, filling rate data revealed that polydopamine contributes to the enhancement of interfacial adhesion properties, and the polydopamine dimer structure is the most effective of the four configurations. The enhancement of interfacial adhesion mainly originates from the enhancement of non-bonding interactions and entanglement anchoring between PPS-PDA. Highlights * Polydopamine coating inhibits polymer slip behavior in nano-injection molding. * Polydopamine enhances bond strength of metal-polymer composites effectively. * Dopamine dimers have better adhesion properties than other structural dopamine. * Polydopamine coating alters the adhesion mechanism at heterogeneous interfaces. * The interface failure mode was closely related to the stress loading mode. KEYWORDS anchoring behaviors, Interface, molecular dynamics simulation, nano-injection molding, polydopamine, 1 | INTRODUCTION With the rapid advancements in micro and nanotechnology, there has been a increasing demand for the production of miniaturized and precisely engineered products. The concept of 'micro' [...]

Pleosporales is a highly diverse (and the largest) order in Dothideomycetes, and it is widespread in decaying plants in various environments around the world. During a survey of fungal diversity in Sichuan Province, China, specimens of hyphomycetous and Thyridaria-like fungi were collected from dead branches of pine trees and cherry trees. These taxa were initially identified as members of Massarinaceae and Thyridariaceae through morphological examination. Phylogenetic analyses of the Thyridariaceae, combining ITS, SSU, LSU, RPB2, and TEF1 sequence data, indicated a distinct clade sister to Pseudothyridariella and Thyridariella, distinct from any genus in the family. Thus, a new genus, Vaginospora, is proposed to accommodate the type species Vaginospora sichuanensis, which is characterized by semi-immersed globose to oblong ascomata with an ostiolar neck, cylindrical to clavate asci with an ocular chamber, and hyaline to dark brown, fusiform, 3–5-transversely septate ascospores with an inconspicuous mucilaginous sheath. Based on the morphological comparisons and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses (ITS, SSU, LSU, RPB2, and TEF1) of the Massarinaceae, we have identified three collections belonging to the genus Helminthosporium, leading us to propose H. filamentosa sp. nov., H. pini sp. nov., and H. velutinum as a new host record. According to Phylogenetic analysis, H. pini formed an independent clade sister to H. austriacum and H. yunnanense, and H. filamentosa represents the closest sister clade to H. quercinum. Helminthosporium pini is distinct from H. austriacum by the shorter conidiophores and H. yunnanense by the longer and wider conidia. The H. filamentosa differs from H. quercinum in having longer conidiophores and smaller conidia. This study extends our understanding of diversity within Thyridariaceae and Helminthosporium. Our findings underscore the rich biodiversity and potential for discovering novel fungal taxa within these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine trees play a crucial role in the forests of Sichuan Province, boasting rich species diversity and a lengthy evolutionary history. However, research and investigation on fungi associated with pine trees are insufficient. This study investigated the diversity of hyphomycetes fungi associated with pine trees in Sichuan Province, China. During the survey, we collected five specimens of hyphomycetes from branches and bark of species of Pinus. Five barcodes were selected for study and sequenced, including ITS, SSU, LSU, TEF1, and RPB2. Morphological examination and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses revealed three new species, viz. Catenulostroma pini sp. nov. within Teratosphaeriaceae, Kirschsteiniothelia longisporum sp. nov. within Kirschsteiniotheliaceae, Sporidesmiella sichuanensis sp. nov. within Junewangiaceae, and two known species, Paradictyoarthrinium diffractum and P. hydei within Paradictyoarthriniaceae, which are the new host records from Pinus species. Catenulostroma pini, distinguished from other species in the genus by its unique morphology, has three conidial morphologies: small terminal helicoconidia, scolecoconidia with many septa, and phragmoconidia conidia. Kirschsteiniothelia longisporum has longer spores when compared to the other species in the genus. According to phylogenetic analysis, Sporidesmiella sichuanensis formed an independent clade sister to S. aquatica and S. juncicola, distinguished by differences in conidial size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UMo-Al monolithic fuel element has a special failure mode of blistering on the cladding surface under high temperature and high burn-up conditions. In order to provide an auxiliary means for the safety analysis and failure limit formulation of the fuel element, this study establishes a numerical simulation method of fuel failure behavior, considering the fracture behavior and the fission gas pressure acting on the cracks for the UMo-Al monolithic fuel element. Numerical simulation is based on ABAQUS software and the extended finite element method (XFEM) established by programming FORTRAN subroutines UMAT, UMATHT, and UAMP and using the thermo-mechanical sequential coupling method. Combined with Python to secondary develop ABAQUS with the FORTRAN subroutine, this study realizes the coupling of fission gas pressure load and crack propagation. This study obtained the failure threshold temperature, blistering height, area, and other blistering characteristics of the UMo-Al monolithic fuel element through numerical simulation of annealing experiments on L1P460 in RERTR-12. A comparison of the numerical simulation results with the RERTR-12 experiment shows that the method established in this study can effectively analyze blistering failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both dissolved H2 in the Urumqi 04 spring water and the H2 in the soil of the Aksu fault belong to the A-type monitoring points of Xinjiang earthquake monitoring, prediction, and evaluation. This paper takes the two as research objects, and analyzes the dynamic variation characteristics of H2 concentration in different occurrence forms. The R-value scoring method and Molchan chart method were used to test the earthquake-reflecting efficiency of H2 concentration and to extract abnormal indexes. The mechanism of H2 reflecting earthquakes in different occurrence forms is discussed and analyzed. The conclusions are as follows: The concentration of dissolved H2 in the Urumqi 04 spring water is less affected by meteorological factors, while the concentration of H2 in the soil of the Aksu fault is influenced by both air pressure and air temperature, mainly by air temperature. The R-value scoring method and Molchan chart method showed that both monitoring points had good short-term prediction efficiency. The good short-term prediction performance of H2 measurement is due to the stable physical and chemical properties of H2 and its extremely fast migration speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving long-term stability is an important issue for large-scale applications of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Unlike laboratory instruments, many applications of LIBS instruments are in harsh outdoor environments, where instrument drift can lead to deterioration of long-term stability, hindering the use of LIBS technology in applications with high-precision requirements. In this work, based on the designed LIBS sensor for molten steel, we analyzed the spectral drift problem of different day measurements, on the basis of which we proposed a drift correction method combining the internal standard and the dominant factor partial least squares (PLS) regression. In this method, spectra are first preprocessed to build an internal standard model of the elemental concentration ratios to spectral line intensity ratios. Then the PLS regression is utilized to construct a corrected model between the spectral intensity and the drift value of the intensity ratio. Finally, elemental concentration predictions are made by using the established internal standard model with modified spectral line intensity ratios. The method was tested on low alloy steel samples. In the experiment, the detection spectra were recorded for 9 days for quantitative analysis and drift correction of the major elements C, Si, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Mn in alloy steels. Compared with the uncalibrated internal standard method, for the prediction of unknown samples over a long period of time, the RMSE values of C, Si, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Mn decreased by 48.74%, 50.00%, 73.30%, 72.15%, 72.57%, and 18.23%, respectively, and the RSD decreased by 27.71%, 42.97%, 35.17%, 38.95%, 55.58%, and 23.40%, respectively. Furthermore, several typical drift correction methods were also studied for comparison, and the proposed method achieved the best results for different test sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This correction notice addresses errors in a research article titled "Research on the Formation Conditions and Preventive Measures of Uranium Precipitates during the Service Process of Medical Isotope Production Reactors." The errors include the use of an incorrect term in the abstract and a mistake in the description of a chemical solution in a paragraph. The correction provides the accurate term and the correct description. Additionally, there were mistakes in a figure and a table, which have been rectified. The authors assure that these corrections do not affect the scientific conclusions of the study. [Extracted from the article]

The growing adoption of digital twins in geomatics sectors requires efficient 3D mapping techniques. However, the complexity and cost of producing cartographically enriched 3D scenes pose significant challenges, hindering widespread application, particularly in domains with limited mapping expertise and budgets. The proposed methodology in this paper leverages recent advances in natural language processing and artificial intelligence, particularly large language models (LLMs), to reduce the expertise required for 3D mapping and to address the high costs and complexity associated with traditional cartographic processes. It introduces a natural language interface for 3D symbology, aimed at simplifying the design and automating the creation of cartographically enriched 3D scene. By allowing cartographers converse with the mapping system, the system translates verbal descriptions into structured symbology rules in 3D digital cartographic model, which are then used to generate cartographically enriched 3D scenes. The method chains multiple ad-hoc LLM-based agents for entity linking, conversation handling, and symbology rule verification. Prompt engineering methods, such as chain-of-though and retrieval augmented generation, have been used to guide the agents' reasoning process or leverage knowledge base, respectively. Experiment and application in utility networks demonstrates the method's capability to accurately interpret and execute 3D symbology rules from natural language inputs, resulting in cartographically enriched 3D scenes that are reproducible and scalable. This work represents a pioneer study to implement a natural language interface for 3D mapping. It not only enhances the usability and accessibility of 3D mapping in digital twins but also sets a foundational method for future research in natural language-based mapping interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in December 2019 called for a rapid solution, leading to repurposing of existing drugs. Due to its immunomodulatory effect and antiviral properties, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been used in early 2020 for treatment of COVID-19 patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the treatment outcome of HCQ monotherapy in Malaysia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in COVID-19 ward in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), from March to April 2020. A total of 446 COVID-19 patients were recruited, only 325 patients were finally included for analysis. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS, with a significant value set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the patients were 38.5 ±15.5. They were majority male, (n=210, 64.6%) Malaysian (n=239, 73.5%) and Malay ethnicity (n=204, 62.8%). Ninety-one (28%) patients received HCQ monotherapy. HCQ monotherapy was associated with worse outcome (OR: 10.29, 95% CI 1.17-90.80). There was a significant difference in mean length of stay between those with and without HCQ treatment (t323=5.868, p<0.001, 95% CI, 2.56-5.31). The average length of stay for HCQ treated group was 3.84 days longer than those without treatment. 6.6% of the patient receiving HCQ monotherapy encountered adverse drug effects. Conclusion: Similar to study reported worldwide, our study demonstrated that HCQ did not improve length of stay and the outcome of COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine microplastics have become a pernicious global pollution issue. As field surveys to determine microplastic abundance in the marine environment and/or biota become more common, it is important to refine collection techniques to minimize contamination of samples. However, most contemporary sampling equipment is fabricated with plastic components. Microplastic contamination during sample collection can be minimized from the onset by employing techniques that are plastic-less or with minimal plastic-to-sample contact. Here we describe plastic-less equipment and techniques for field sampling of water, sediment, and organisms. Some of these are traditional designs that predate the plastic era and can be revived or repurposed for microplastic sampling. Others are self-developed and fabricated using materials such as metal, wood, silk, and cork. For relatively small costs in time and funds, it is possible to greatly reduce, or eliminate, plastics from the field sampling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal system optimization is critical for energy conservation but challenging due to highly complicated systems and nonlinear governing equations. Herein, an efficient yet accurate optimization algorithm based on generalized Benders decomposition (GBD) is developed to address this challenge. It decomposes the entire optimization into a subproblem and a master problem. The subproblem performs the system simulation by developing a hybrid simulation method, which uses GBD and fixed-point iteration sequentially for acceleration. The master problem is constructed based on the gradients of the objective with respect to decision variables, where the solution of every iteration gives an approximation of the optimal solution. The two generated problems are iteratively solved in an alternating manner to converge towards the optimal solution. Test results of a supercritical carbon dioxide recompression system indicate that the hybrid simulation method expands the convergence region to ∼167 % which is nearly 4 times larger than that of the fixed-point iteration, and consumes about 10 % calculation time compared with sequential modular method. The optimization algorithm reproduces the results obtained from the genetic algorithm but reduces the calculation time for an order-of-magnitude and has higher stability. The high efficiency and accuracy suggest the proposed algorithm as a powerful system optimization tool. • Propose an efficient optimization algorithm for thermal systems based on GBD. • Use decomposition and variables' gradient to accelerate optimization convergence. • Propose a hybrid simulation method to expedite generated optimization subproblems. • The hybrid simulation integrates GBD and fixed-point iteration for complementary. • The optimization is boosted by an order of magnitude compared to GA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging is an intricate process involving interactions among multiple factors, which is one of the main risks for chronic diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). As a member of cysteine protease, cathepsin S (CTSS) has been implicated in inflammation across various diseases. Here, we investigated the role of neuronal CTSS in aging and AD started by examining CTSS expression in hippocampus neurons of aging mice and identified a significant increase, which was negatively correlated with recognition abilities. Concurrently, we observed an elevation of CTSS concentration in the serum of elderly people. Transcriptome and fluorescence‐activated cell sorting (FACS) results revealed that CTSS overexpression in neurons aggravated brain inflammatory milieu with microglia activation to M1 pro‐inflammatory phenotype, activation of chemokine C‐X3‐C‐motif ligand 1 (CX3CL1)—chemokine C‐X3‐C‐motif receptor 1 (CX3CR1) axis and janus kinase 2 (JAK2)—signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway. As CX3CL1 is secreted by neurons and acts on the CX3CR1 in microglia, our results revealed for the first time the role of neuron CTSS in neuron–microglia “crosstalk.” Besides, we observed elevated CTSS expression in multiple brain regions of AD patients, including the hippocampus. Utilizing CTSS selective inhibitor, LY3000328, rescued AD‐related pathological features in APP/PS1 mice. We further noticed that neuronal CTSS overexpression increased cathepsin B (CTSB) activity, but decreased cathepsin L (CTSL) activity in microglia. Overall, we provide evidence that CTSS can be used as an aging biomarker and plays regulatory roles through modulating neuroinflammation and recognition in aging and AD process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background This study aims to assess the associations of admission systolic blood pressure (SBP) level with spontaneous reperfusion (SR) and long-term prognosis in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Methods Data from 3809 STEMI patients who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 24 h, as recorded in the Chinese STEMI PPCI Registry (NCT04996901), were analyzed. The primary endpoint was SR, defined as thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 2–3 flow of IRA according to emergency angiography. The second endpoint was 2-year all-cause mortality. The association between admission BP and outcomes was evaluated using Logistic regression or Cox proportional hazards models with restricted cubic splines, adjusting for clinical characteristics. Results Admission SBP rather than diastolic BP was associated with SR after adjustment. Notably, this relationship exhibits a nonlinear pattern. Below 120mmHg, There existed a significant positive correlation between admission SBP and the incidence of SR (adjusted OR per 10-mmHg decrease for SBP ≤ 120 mm Hg: 0.800; 95% CI: 0.706–0.907; p120 mm Hg: 1.019; 95% CI: 0.958–1.084, p = 0.552). In the analysis of the endpoint event of mortality, patients admitted with SBP ranging from 121 to 150 mmHg exhibited the lowest mortality compared with those SBP ≤ 120mmHg (adjusted HR: 0.653; 95% CI: 0.495–0.862; p = 0.003). In addition, subgroups analysis with Killip class I-II showed SBP ≤ 120mmHg was still associated with increased risk of mortality. Conclusion The present study revealed admission SBP above 120 mmHg was associated with higher SR,30-d and 2-y survival rate in STEMI patients. The admission SBP could be a marker to provide clinical assessment and treatment. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04996901), 07/27/2021.

Rapid antigen test (RAT) is widely used for SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnostics. However, test sensitivity has decreased recently due to the emergence of the Omicron variant and its sublineages. Here we developed a panel of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP) specific mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and assessed their sensitivity and specificity to important SARS-CoV-2 variants. We identified seven mAbs that exhibited strong reactivity to SARS-CoV-2 variants and recombinant NP (rNP) by Western immunoblot or ELISA. Their specificity to SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed by negative or low reactivity to rNPs from SARS-CoV-1, MERS, and common human coronaviruses (HCoV-HKU1, HCoV–CO43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-229E). These seven mAbs were further tested by immunoplaque assay against selected variants of concern (VOCs), including two Omicron sublineages, and five mAbs (F461G13, F461G7, F459G7, F457G3, and F461G6), showed strong reactions, warranting further suitability testing for the development of diagnostic assay.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) and the Arctic are the most sensitive regions to global climate change. However, the interdecadal varibility of winter extreme precipitation over the TP and its linkage with Arctic sea ice are still unclear. In this study, the characteristics and mechisnems of the TP extreme precipitation (TPEP) influenced by Arctic sea ice on interdecadal timescale are studied based on the daily precipitation, monthly sea ice concentration and ERA5 reanalysis data from 1980 to 2018. We found that the dominant mode of the TPEP in winter mostly exhibits a uniform spatial variation on the interdecadal timescale, with an opposite weak variation in the southeastern TP, and the Arctic sea ice concentration (SIC) before 2002 are larger than that after 2003. The interdecadal variation of TPEP is affected by two teleconnection wave trains regulated by the Barents and Kara Sea ice. In the light ice years, a remarkable positive geopotential height (HGT) anomaly appears over the Barents‒Kara Sea and a remarkable negative HGT anomaly is located over the Lake Baikal. Two wave trains originating over the Barents‒Kara Sea can be observed. The southern branch forms a wave train through the North Atlantic along the subtropical westerly jet stream, showing a ‘+ − + − +’ pattern of HGT anomalies from Arctic to the TP. Negative HGT anomaly controls the western TP, which creates dynamic and water vapor conditions for the TPEP. The northern branch forms a wave train through the Lake Baikal and the southeast of the TP, showing a ‘+ − +’ HGT anomaly distribution. Positive HGT anomaly controls the southeastern TP, which is not conducive to precipitation in the region. When the SIC in the Barents‒Kara Sea increases, the situation is opposite. The above analysis also reveals the reason for the difference in the east‒west distribution of the TPEP.