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Both carbon-based single atom catalysts (SACs) and dual atom catalysts (DACs) have garnered significant attention in the field of electrochemical reactions because of the impressive attributes, including exceptional catalytic activity, selectivity, and cost-effectiveness. The ability to modulate the electronic structure and geometric construction of active sites within SACs/DACs is paramount for unleashing their complete potential, which in turn can ultimately dictate catalytic behavior with unprecedented precision. In this review, the recent major developments of the regulation strategies for modulating electronic structure and geometric construction of carbon-based SACs/DACs are summarized. For the SACs, the recently reported modulation methods are categorized into four strategies, including adjusting the density of single atoms, defect engineering, confinement effect and strain engineering. And for the DACs, the five methods contain bonded dual-atom adjustment, non-bonded and bridged dual-atom adjustment, metal and nonmetal dual-atom adjustment, bilayer dual-atom adjustment and homogeneous dual-atom adjustment. The recently developed synthetic strategies are comprehensively summarized, especially their electronic structure and geometric configuration are discussed in detail, the different catalytic applications of electrochemical reactions, and their unique catalytic mechanism are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and prospects of SACs/DACs for tailoring their electronic structures and geometric arrangements are further discussed.

The generation of space radiation on Earth is essential to study and predict the effects of radiation on space travelers, electronics, or materials during future long-term space missions. Next to the heavy ions of the galactic cosmic rays, solar particle events play a major role concerning the radiation risk in space, which consist of intermediate-energy protons with broad spectra and energies up to a few hundred MeV. This work describes an approach for the ground-based generation of solar particle events. As a proof of principle, a passive beam modulator with a specific funnel-shaped periodic structure was designed and is used to convert a monoenergetic proton beam into a spectral proton energy distribution, mimicking a solar particle event from August 1972, which is known as one of the strongest recorded SPE events. The required proton beam of 220 MeV can be generated at many existing particle accelerators at research or particle therapy facilities. The planning, manufacturing and testing of the modulator is described step by step. Its correct manufacturing and the characteristics of the solar particle event simulator are tested experimentally and by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Future modulators will follow the same concept with minor adjustments such as a larger lateral extension. As of now, the presented beam modulator is available to the research community to conduct experiments at GSI for exposure under solar particle event conditions. In addition, researchers can use and apply the described concept to design and print their individualized modulator to reproduce any desired solar particle event spectrum or request the presented modulator geometry from the authors.

Power Line Communication (PLC) is an emerging technology that utilizes existing electrical power infrastructure for data transmission. It enables communication over power lines, allowing devices to exchange information and access the internet through the power grid. This method offers numerous advantages, including widespread availability, cost-effectiveness, and easy deployment without the need for additional cabling. PLC has found applications in various domains, including smart grid management, home automation, industrial control systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. This abstract provides an overview of PLC, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and key technologies. It also discusses the potential of PLC in transforming power distribution networks into intelligent and interconnected systems. Additionally, emerging trends and future directions for PLC research and development are explored, emphasizing the potential for enhanced reliability, speed, and efficiency in data transmission over power lines. This paper proposed a two way communication from source to load sides using BPSK and QPSK modulation techniques. Monte Carlo simulation is used to predict the transformer theoretical channel (AWGN) and compare the efficiency of the proposed methods. Randomly selected data from 10 k to 50 k size are used to compare the performance curve. Moreover, a test sound data is sent from the source side to the load side and it is observed that using the QPSK modulation technique has almost zero Bit Error Rate (BER).

The pursuit of optimal bandgap and band edge positions is crucial for effective photocatalytic catalysts, leading to significant attentions in both experimental and theoretical research on modulating the band structure of semiconductor photocatalysts. In this study, the electronic, optical and photocatalytic properties of 2D monolayer GaN and GaN/InGaN heterostructures are investigated using DFT calculations. It reveals that introducing strain is an effective approach to not only alter the band gap type from indirect to direct but also influence the magnitude of the band gap. At a 10% tensile strain, a Z-type heterostructure is formed for the 2D GaN/InGaN heterostructures, which proves favorable for enhancing the efficiency of photocatalytic water splitting. However, it is worth noting that the band gap type remains indirect, necessitating additional energy for electron transitions. On the other hand, when increasing the compressive strain from − 2.5% to − 5%, the 2D GaN/InGaN heterostructure transforms from type I to type II, exhibiting direct band gaps with an enhanced light absorption range. This results in a significant redshift and increased optical absorption intensity within the visible light range, leading to a substantial enhancement in photocatalytic efficiency. Consequently, our findings demonstrate that the 2D GaN/InGaN heterostructure holds promising potential as a candidate material for efficient photocatalytic water splitting applications.

Visible Light Communication (VLC) exploits visible light for high-speed data transmission; it serves as the medium for transmission using intensity modulation. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) grants concurrent resource access to users at the physical layer. One of the challenges faced in this access grant is the flickering effect of the perceptible lights. The intensity degradation reduces the access grant as the transmission medium is less utilized. An Access-centric Modulation and Decoding Technique (AMDT) is introduced for VLC systems to address this issue. The proposed technique identifies two influencing factors: the degrading rate and decoding interval. The first factor identifies the feeble access links due to flickering, and the second determines the variation for allocating access links based on degradation. The first factor is estimated using federated learning across the available access links. This learning calculates the degrading factor per interval after the available access links. The learning provides insight into the maximum and minimum variation that reduces or maximizes the decoding interval. Based on the available user access and degraded access links, further allocations are provided using high decoding rates. This process is amendable based on user density and light intensity regardless of the flickering rate.

In this article, a graphene metamaterial based absorber is proposed for controlling and modulating EM waves at terahertz frequency range. Here, we introduced an absorber that can absorb THz radiation over a wide bandwidth of roughly 2.5 THz. The construction of the proposed absorber contains three different layers. In the proposed construction, a silicon layer is used as a dielectric material that separates the graphene patch from the absorber's bottom golden layer. The bandwidth of the proposed absorber can be improved by varying the chemical potential of the graphene material. Compared with the existing literature, the proposed graphene-based metamaterial structure will find numerous potential applications in THz sensing and detecting applications.

Background: Severe cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that require admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and mechanical ventilation assistance show a high mortality rate with currently few therapeutic options available. Severe COVID-19 is characterized by a systemic inflammatory condition, also called “cytokine storm”, which can lead to various multi-organ complications and ultimately death. Lidocaine, a safe local anesthetic that given intravenously is used to treat arrhythmias, has long been reported to have an anti-inflammatory and pro-homeostatic activity. Methods: We studied the capacity of lidocaine to modulate cytokine secretion of mouse and human myeloid cell lines activated by different cytokines or Toll Like Receptor (TLR) ligands (flagellin (FliC), Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) and N-Palmitoyl-S- [2,3-bis(palmitoyloxy)-(2RS)-propyl]-(R)-cysteinyl-(S)-seryl-(S)-lysyl-(S)-lysyl-(S)-lysyl-(S)-lysine x 3HCl (Pam3Cys-SKKKK)) or by Severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection to epithelial cells. Reporter cell lines were used to study modulation of lidocaine of specific signaling pathways. Results: Lidocaine used in combination with dexamethasone, had an additive effect in the modulation of cellular inflammatory response triggered by Tumoral Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFα), Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) as well as different TLR ligands. We also found that lidocaine in combination with dexamethasone modulates the Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway, inflammasome activation as well as interferon gamma receptor (IFNγR) signaling without affecting the type I interferons (Type I IFNs) pathway. Furthermore, we showed that lidocaine and dexamethasone treatment of epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 modulated the expression of chemokines that contribute to pro-inflammatory effects in severe COVID. Conclusions: We reported for the first time in vitro anti-inflammatory capacity of lidocaine on SARS-CoV-2 triggered immune pathways. These results indicated the potential of lidocaine to treat COVID-19 patients and add tools to the therapeutic options available for these concerning cases.

Synchronously Amplified Photoacoustic Image Recovery (SAPhIRe) offers improved background suppression using non-linear properties of modulatable contrast agents. Using SAPhIRe, multiple contrast agents in the same absorption window can be detected independently based on their unique triplet-state lifetimes. Here, we have demonstrated the unmixing of rose bengal and eosin Y signals from solution based on triplet-state lifetime mapping using both fluorescence and photoacoustics. Varying the pump-probe delay enables resolution and recovery of fast-decaying rose bengal and of slowly decaying eosin Y modulated photoacoustic signals, resulting from optically gated triplet state residence. Distinct images were reconstructed within tissue-mimicking phantom using the fitting coefficients of triplet-state lifetimes. Fluorescence was used to screen for modulation prior to photoacoustic imaging. The results suggest that lifetime unmixing can be utilized to simultaneously detect multiple pathologies with overlapping spectra using photoacoustic imaging.

Communication-based vehicle safety applications have emerged as one of the best solutions to enhance road safety. In this area, visible light communication (VLC) has great potential for such applications, named Vehicular VLC (V-VLC). V-VLC is preferred due to its highly secure, low complexity, and radio frequency (RF) interference-free characteristics, exploiting the line of sight (LoS) propagation of visible light and usage of already existing vehicle light-emitting diodes. This research addresses the application of the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique in V-VLC based vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In this study, we proposed a system integrating NOMA in V-VLC networks and comprehensively provided an analysis of the system. Subsequently, we derived theoretical achievable capacity and an exact bit error rate expression for the proposed scenario. This paper also covers discussions about system performance under the non-ideal NOAM at the receiver, the effect of transmitter-receiver distance, and the impact of different weather conditions. The derived analytical BER and channel capacity expressions are verified with the simulation results.

The sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). inherit low processing, shorter range and low power features with the miniature size to offer wireless transmission. Therefore, in order to fulfil the long-time data sensing need, several Quality of Service (QoS) parameters such as: lesser delay, higher throughput and packet delivery ratio (PDR) with minimum overhead must to be improved. In recent years extensive research efforts have been made to ameliorate these parameters to achieve optimum QoS. However, the rate adaptation and congestion control in WSNs are still least explored areas. The traffic congestion in WSNs is the main reason that results in higher delay and low throughput. In this paper, a new rate aware congestion control (RACC) mechanism has been proposed which defines three levels of congestion based on which the data rate, throughput, overhead and the delay. RACC at the transport layer, improves congestion by source rate regulation at the specific hotspot areas. Further, RACC has been applied to different modulation schemes like: 16 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) and QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) to test the optimum modulation scheme for the proposed approach. The testing is done to ensure the that the data can be sent to the longer distant sensors using appropriate modulation technique suitable for the congestion model (RACC). The simulation outcomes in NS2 tool confirms the improvement of RACC over existing techniques (Delay-aware congestion control protocol (DACC) and Joint energy replenishment and load balancing (J-ERLB)) in WSNs. The overall improvement for RACC over existing techniques follows an improvement percentage 17% for throughput parameter, for packet delivery ratio, it is 8.35%, while for normalized routing overhead it shows 0.56% and for MAC Overhead, average end to end delay, and average remaining energy it shows 0.64%, 2.04% and 59.28% improvement respectively.

We propose a hybrid coded modulation scheme which composes of inner and outer codes. The outer-code can be any standard binary linear code with efficient soft decoding capability (e.g. low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes). The inner code is designed using a deep neural network (DNN) which takes the channel coded bits and outputs modulated symbols. For training the DNN, we propose to use a loss function that is inspired by the generalized mutual information. The resulting constellations are shown to outperform the conventional quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) based coding scheme for modulation order 16 and 64 with 5G standard LDPC codes.

Tyrosine kinases are significant mediators of the signaling cascade that play vital role in various biological processes. The involvement of tyrosine kinases in regulating and functioning various metabolic pathways in the body has encouraged scientists to study their role in cancer onset and progression extensively. The human genome consists of over 90 tyrosine kinases, making it a wider research domain. To date, drugs incorporating a wide variety of heterocyclic scaffolds have been developed against many tyrosine kinases. However, factors such as drug resistance, undesirable side effects, and toxicity shown by current anticancer agents are significant challenges. These shortcomings compelled medicinal chemists to ponder the development of variable scaffolds with proficient anticancer activity and minimum toxicity. After the discovery of prontosil (the first sulfonamide antibiotic), molecules with sulfonamide moiety were synthesized and tested for bacterial infections, diabetes, inflammation, glaucoma, etc. and soon sulfonamides with oncotherapeutic effects surfaced. ACK1/TNK, BTK, LMTK3, and EGFR, etc., are some of the enzymes belonging to receptor tyrosine kinase family which are customarily mutated or overexpressed in different types of cancer. These enzymes are now widely explored and modulators of these enzymes having the sulfonamide moiety are steadily being launched. In this review we sight to summarize the chemical and biological aspects of these sulfonamide containing compounds as tyrosine kinase modulators and their role in preventing and terminating the progression of cancer.

The FSO communication system offers high data rate investigated over the last few decades because of extraordinary advantages like unlicensed frequency and bandwidth at low power consumption, simple design, hasty, and minimal installation cost, including no right of way. It is essential to investigate solutions against degrading factors like absorption and scattering caused by fog, dust, rain, smog, and uncertain temperature variation of environmental channels. In this work various modulation techniques (AM, CS-NRZ, CS-RZ, DB-NRZ, MDB-NRZ, MDB-RZ, RZ, NRZ) are simulated and used to mitigate the weather attenuation of the specific airfield of Lahore, Pakistan under fog conditions, to provide a reliable FSO communication link for high data rate up to 40 Gbps over a link distance from 1.2 to 1.8 km at transmitted power up to 34 dBm in congested region. The real-time visibility data was taken metrological department for the estimation of attenuation under fog conditions and simulated using Optisys software for further investigation. To choose an FSO communication link, analysis for data rate, link distance, SNR, BER and Q-factor are performed under fog conditions using eight different modulation techniques. An increase in signal channel loss has been observed under fog conditions and performance of the FSO communication system is degraded consequently. The 3 R’s (range, rate, and reliability) depend on each other if the link range is tarnished in a foggy condition that will also degrade the data rate and subsequently, reliability of the FSO system. It is observed that for maximum link distance, the performance parameters of AM modulation technique are prominent and more efficient, offering better Q-factor value at 6.08 dB, lower bit error rate at 7.03 × 10−10, and better SNR of 4.29 dB. The results also show that AM modulation technique offers better signal-to-noise power and has good SNR due to well-received signal power as compared to all other modulation techniques. This research will be helpful to design and implement an FSO communication system under foggy conditions in a metropolitan city to provide a high data communication link among different national institutions.

S100A1, a calcium-binding protein, plays a crucial role in regulating Ca 2+ signaling pathways in skeletal and cardiac myocytes via interactions with the ryanodine receptor (RyR) to affect Ca 2+ release and contractile performance. Biophysical studies strongly suggest that S100A1 interacts with RyRs but have been inconclusive about both the nature of this interaction and its competition with another important calcium-binding protein, calmodulin (CaM). Thus, high-resolution cryo-EM studies of RyRs in the presence of S100A1, with or without additional CaM, were needed. The elegant work by Weninger et al. demonstrates the interaction between S100A1 and RyR1 through various experiments and confirms that S100A1 activates RyR1 at sub-micromolar Ca 2+ concentrations, increasing the open probability of RyR1 channels., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A graphene-based metamaterial structure, consisting of a graphene strip (GS) and a L-shaped graphene-rectangular block (GRB), is proposed to generate the plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) effect. The potential physical properties of the PIT effect are analyzed by using the coupled mode theory (CMT). The PIT has the unique characteristics of controlling light propagation through the static and dynamic regulations, resulting in a prospective switching application. The performance of the optical switch is evaluated through different parameters, including the geometric size, Fermi level and polarization angle. The modulation depth of the amplitude can reach 74.9% with a specific Fermi level, while the maximum polarization extinction ratio can reach 11.34 dB. Furthermore, dual and triple PIT effects are achieved by the designing and optimizing the structure. The maximum multiple switching effect is obtained with a modulation depth of 97.3%, which has a promising prospect in terahertz optical switches.

Background: Ectopic cycle length (ECL) and the distribution patterns of ventricular bigeminy and trigeminy, expressed as their postextrasystolic intervals (PEIs) and interectopic intervals (IEIs), have been poorly pursued. Objective: Based on modulation theory, we hypothesized that the PEIs of bigeminy and trigeminy determine their IEIs and ECL. Methods: Ambulatory electrocardiograms of 1290 patients with ventricular premature complexes (≥3000/day) were studied. To quantify their distribution pattern on the PEI vs IEI curve (PIC), we introduced the following 2 ratios: PEI of trigeminy to PEI of bigeminy ratio (T/B-PEI) and IEI of trigeminy to IEI of bigeminy ratio (T/B-IEI). Distribution patterns were divided into 3 types by T/B-PEI: standard type (1.20). ECL was defined as the average of the bigeminy and trigeminy intervals in the standard type, and bigeminy intervals in the other 2 types. Results: T/B-IEI disclosed significant linear relationship with T/B-PEI (P < .0001). ECLs were longest in the standard type (1905 ± 347 ms; n = 426), followed by the intermediate type (1520 ± 239 ms; n = 607) and reverse type (1317 ± 227 ms; n = 227) (P < .0001). Trigeminy PEI/ECL in the standard type (0.450 ± 0.074) was significantly shorter than that of the other 2 types (P < .0001). Conclusion: We confirmed that T/B-PEI determines T/B-IEI and ECL by discriminating the 3 distribution patterns. Among them, trigeminy PEI/ECL decided the 2 types of modulation by the first sinus QRS, starting at the early delay phase or the later acceleration phase.

Tannic acid (TA) is a natural polyphenol that shows great potential in the field of biomedicine due to its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-tumor, anti-virus, and neuroprotective activities. Recent studies have revealed that liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is closely associated with protein aggregation. Therefore, modulating LLPS offers new insights into the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we investigated the influence of TA on the LLPS of the Alzheimer's-related protein tau and the underlying mechanism. Our findings indicate that TA affects the LLPS of tau in a biphasic manner, with initial promotion and subsequent suppression as the TA to tau molar ratio increases. TA modulates tau phase separation through a combination of hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds. The balance between TA-tau and tau-tau interactions is found to be relevant to the material properties of TA-induced tau condensates. We further illustrate that the modulatory activity of TA in phase separation is highly dependent on the target proteins. These findings enhance our understanding of the forces driving tau LLPS under different conditions, and may facilitate the identification and optimization of compounds that can rationally modulate protein phase transition in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Rashba effect of two-dimensional (2D) materials draws significant attention because this can boost the development of novel spintronic devices. For the purpose of practical applications, the ideal Rashba states should be formed inside the band gap. However, the reports on ideal Rashba states in 2D materials are still scarce. Here, first-principles calculations are utilized to verify the Rashba spin-orbit coupling of the 2D InTe/PtSe2 van der Waals heterostructure. The occurrence of internal electric field leads to Rashba spin splitting at the valence band edge near the Γ point. These Rashba states are entirely located inside the large band gap, which helps to employ them in practical usages like spintronic devices. We also explore the influence of in-plane strains, interlayer coupling, and external electric fields on the Rashba spin splitting. The Rashba coefficients are increased linearly by the tensile strains, while the compressed strains suppress the Rashba spin splitting. The strong interlayer coupling can also promote the Rashba spin splitting. Compared to the strains, the influence of the external electric field on the Rashba effect is not noteworthy. The synchronous change of Rashba coefficients and dipole moments suggests that the internal electric field is a key factor to affect the Rashba spin splitting.

Most studies on enhanced polymer gels look at modifying the interaction between the polymer matrix and fillers. Here, a new strategy is proposed for the fabrication of a new kind of polyacrylamide/Ca(OH)2 nanocomposite organogel with tunable mechanical properties and temperature tolerance. By changing the solvent component, the properties of an organogel can be modulated without adding further reinforcing agent. Two commonly used organic solvents, glycerin (GL) and ethylene glycol (EG), were used in different weight ratios (GL:EG = 100:0, 70:30, 50:50, 30:70, 0:100) to achieve modulation of the organogel properties. At 25 °C the compressive strength could be regulated in the range 18–29 MPa at 95% strain, and it could be kept in the range 12–46 MPa within the temperature range −25 °C–110 °C. Increasing the proportion of GL, which has a high boiling point, the high and low temperature tolerance of the organogel was strengthened significantly. The EG served as a lubricant and enhanced the tensile recoverability from 77% to 84%. Overall, the properties of the organogel were the best when the GL:EG ratio was 70:30. The solvent-switchable organogel fabricated in this study is a good candidate for extending the field of application of gel materials.

RNA modification is an important form of regulation in cancer biology, that is capable of affecting cell proliferation, migration, other genetic characteristics of tumors, and protein expression. Recent research has shown that dysregulation of RNA modification plays an important role in glioma pathogenesis. A key form of RNA post-transcriptional modification, alternative polyadenylation (APA), may represent a mechanism by which genes escape miRNA-mediated inhibition of cancer. Global shortening of 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR)-mediated APA events have become a potential novel marker of cancer progression. Current treatments in which a single gene or pathway is targeted do not have significant therapeutic benefits for glioma patients, while strategies that are less targeted, in which inhibitors of major regulatory hubs such as APA regulators are utilized, may have superior therapeutic effects. However, the precise mechanisms by which untranslated region-alternative polyadenylation (UTR-APA) regulates glioma are poorly understood. In the present review, we will discuss the important roles of UTR-APA in glioma. In addition to the role of APA in the progression of glioma, we will also explore potential treatment options that target these processes to improve the prognosis of glioma patients.

So as to realize good slow-light effects in a simple graphene-based nano-structure, a n-shaped graphene metasurface is proposed in this paper. Through the detailed studies, plasmon induced transparency (PIT) can be observed in the proposed metasurface, and the bright-dark mode is used to explain the physical mechanism of this phenomenon. Especially, a convenient modulation for PIT can be realized through Fermi level and carrier mobility. In addition, a developed coupled mode theory (CMT) is established for demonstrating the optical responses of the n-shaped graphene metasurface, and the theoretical results are in well agreement with the numerical results. At last, an excellent slow-light effect with ultra-high group index of 2510 can be achieved in the proposed simple graphene-based metasurface. The outstanding performance of slow-light effect may play important roles for designing the plasmonic slow-light devices in terahertz.

In molecular and cellular photoacoustic imaging with exogenous contrast agents, image contrast is plagued by background resulting from endogenous absorbers in tissue. By using optically modulatable nanoparticles, we develop ultra-sensitive photoacoustic imaging by rejecting endogenous background signals and drastically improving signal contrast through time-delayed pump-probe pulsed laser illumination. Gated by prior pump excitation, modulatable photoacoustic (mPA) signals are recovered from unmodulatable background through simple, real-time image processing to yield background-free photoacoustic signal recovery within tissue mimicking phantoms and from ex-vivo tissues. Inherently multimodal, the fluorescence and mPA sensitivity improvements demonstrate the promise of Synchronously Amplified Photoacoustic Image Recovery (SAPhIRe) for PA imaging in diagnosis and therapy.

Background: RECOVER is a multicentre post-approval study of Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor (ETI) in pwCF in Ireland and the UK. The CFAbd-Score is the first validated CF-specific patient reported outcome measure (PROM) focusing on gastrointestinal symptoms; it comprises 28 items in 5 domains. In a preliminary study, we previously reported reductions in abdominal symptoms (AS) in pwCF after 26 weeks of ETI-therapy using the CFAbd-Score., Aim: to assess changes in AS in a second, large cohort and explore novel GI-biomarkers of gut inflammation and cell-proliferation in pwCF over one year of ETI-therapy., Methods: Participants were recruited as part of the RECOVER study at 8 sites (Ireland&UK). The CFAbd-Score was administered prior to ETI-initiation, and subsequently at 1,2,6 and 12 months on treatment. Faecal M2-pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) and calprotectin (FC) were quantified in samples collected at baseline, 1 and 6 months., Results: 108 CFAbd-Scores and 73 stool samples were collected at baseline. After 12 months of ETI-therapy, total CFAbd-Scores had significantly declined (15.0±1.4→9.8±1.2pts/p<0.001), and so had all its five domains of "pain" (16.9±2.0pts→9.9±1.8pts/p<0.01), "GERD" (14.4±1.8→9.9±1.6/p<0.05), "disorders of bowel movements" (19.2±1.4→14.1±1.5/p<0.01), "appetite" (7.0±1.1→4.6±1.2/p<0.01) and "impaired-QoL" (13.3±1.9→7.5±1.5/p<0.001). Levels of M2-PK and FC significantly decreased during ETI-therapy., Discussion: In-depth analysis of AS with the CFAbd-Score reveals a statistically significant, clinically relevant and sustained improvement with ETI. We attribute this to high sensitivity of the implemented CF-specific PROM, developed and validated following FDA-guidelines. Furthermore, for the first time during ETI-therapy a significant decline in faecal M2-PK, a marker of inflammation and cell-proliferation, was found, in parallel to FC., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest JGM reports independent grants and speaker/board honoraria from Vertex, Chiesi, Abbvie and Viatris outside the submitted work. CZ, FD and AB declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest PMN reports independent grants and speaker/board honoraria from Vertex outside the submitted work. JCD and her institution have received fees for Advisory Board participation, clinical trial leadership and speaking engagements from Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the field of CFTR modulators but not directly related to this study, and from AbbVie, Arcturus, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eloox, Enterprise Thearpeutics and Novartis outside the scope of this work., (Copyright © 2023 European Cystic Fibrosis Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Whether it be long-term, like year-ahead, or short-term, such as hour-ahead or day-ahead, forecasting of electricity demand is crucial for the success of deregulated electricity markets. The stochastic nature of the demand for electricity, along with parameters such as temperature, humidity, and work habits, eventually causes deviations from expected demand. In this paper, we propose a feedback-based forecasting methodology in which the hourly prediction by a Fourier series expansion is updated by using the error at the current hour for the forecast at the next hour. The proposed methodology is applied to the Turkish power market for the period 2012–2017 and provides a powerful tool to forecasts the demand in hourly, daily and yearly horizons using only the past demand data. The hourly forecasting errors in the demand, in the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) norm, are 0.87% in hour-ahead, 2.90% in day-ahead, and 3.54% in year-ahead horizons, respectively. An autoregressive (AR) model is also applied to the predictions by the Fourier series expansion to obtain slightly better results. As predictions are updated on an hourly basis using the already realized data for the current hour, the model can be considered as reliable and practical in circumstances needed to make bidding and dispatching decisions.

Objective: Infra-slow fluctuations (ISF, 0.008-0.1 Hz) characterize hemodynamic and electric potential signals of human brain. ISFs correlate with the amplitude dynamics of fast (>1 Hz) neuronal oscillations, and may arise from permeability fluctuations of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). It is unclear if physiological rhythms like respiration drive or track fast cortical oscillations, and the role of sleep in this coupling is unknown., Methods: We used high-density full-band electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy human volunteers (N = 21) to measure concurrently the ISFs, respiratory pulsations, and fast neuronal oscillations during periods of wakefulness and sleep, and to assess the strength and direction of their phase-amplitude coupling., Results: The phases of ISFs and respiration were both coupled with the amplitude of fast neuronal oscillations, with stronger ISF coupling being evident during sleep. Phases of ISF and respiration drove the amplitude dynamics of fast oscillations in sleeping and waking states, with different contributions., Conclusions: ISFs in slow cortical potentials and respiration together significantly determine the dynamics of fast cortical oscillations., Significance: We propose that these slow physiological phases play a significant role in coordinating cortical excitability, which is a fundamental aspect of brain function., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement The authors declare no conflicting interest., (Copyright © 2023 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The virulence of Cryptococcus spp. is modulated in the natural environment through interaction with abiotic and biotic factors, and this can occasionally have implications for the progression of cryptococcosis in mammals. Hence, we evaluated whether the prior interaction of highly virulent Cryptococcus gattii strain R265 with Acanthamoeba castellanii influenced the progression of cryptococcosis. The influence of the capsule on endocytosis was evaluated using amoeba and yeast morphometrics. Mice were intratracheally infected with yeast re-isolated from the amoeba (Interaction), yeast without prior contact with the amoeba (Non-Interaction), or sterile phosphate-buffered saline (SHAM). Morbidity signs and symptoms were monitored during the survival curve, while cytokine and fungal burden measurements and histopathological analysis were performed on the 10th day post infection. Morbidity and mortality parameters in experimental cryptococcosis were influenced by the prior interaction of yeast with amoeba, which led to phenotypic changes in the cryptococcal cells, polysaccharide secretion, and their tolerance to oxidative stress. Our results suggest that a prior yeast-amoeba interaction modulates yeast virulence, which is associated with a greater tolerance to oxidative stress related to the exo-polysaccharide content and influences the progression of cryptococcal infection., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Secondary metabolites and polyphenolic compounds from medicinal plants have been demonstrated to have multiple biological functions with promising research and development prospects. This study examined the effect of β -stigmasterol (with ergosterol) and xylopic acid isolated from Anchomanes difformis on liver mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP)., Methods: The compounds were isolated by vacuum liquid chromatography. Mitochondrial swelling was assessed as changes in absorbance under succinate-energized conditions., Results: 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopic elucidation of the isolates affirmed the presence of β -stigmasterol with ergosterol (1:0.3) and xylopic acid. The isolates reversed the increase in lipid peroxidation and inhibited the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores caused by calcium and glucose. Pharmacological inhibition of mPTP offers a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of mitochondrial-associated disorders., Conclusion: Reduction in the activity of calcium ATPase and the expression of Caspase-3 and -9 were observed, suggesting that they could play a role in protecting physicochemical properties of membrane bilayers from free radical-induced severe cellular damage and be useful in the management of diseases where much apoptosis occurs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.)

Functional bacterial amyloid provides structural stability in biofilm, making it a promising target for anti-biofilm therapeutics. Fibrils formed by CsgA, the major amyloid component in E. coli are extremely robust and can withstand very harsh conditions. Like other functional amyloids, CsgA contains relatively short aggregation-prone regions (APR) which drive amyloid formation. Here, we demonstrate the use of aggregation-modulating peptides to knock down CsgA protein into aggregates with low stability and altered morphology. Remarkably, these CsgA-peptides also modulate fibrillation of the unrelated functional amyloid protein FapC from Pseudomonas, possibly through recognition of FapC segments with structural and sequence similarity with CsgA. The peptides also reduce the level of biofilm formation in E. coli and P. aeruginosa, demonstrating the potential for selective amyloid targeting to combat bacterial biofilm., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)