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Purpose: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in acquired resistance to gefitinib in lung cancer. This study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of gefitinib-induced EMT in lung adenocarcinoma cells harboring EGFR mutation. Methods: CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) expression was determined through qRT-PCR, Western blot and flow cytometry assays in lung cancer cell line (PC9) bearing mutated EGFR. Functional role of CXCR4 was inhibited applying siRNAs as well as the specific antagonist AMD3100. The expression of EMT markers was determined, and the migration of PC9 cells was measured with transwell assay. Results: We found that gefitinib promoted the migratory capacity of PC9 cells in vitro, which correlated with EMT occurrence through upregulation of CXCR4. Blocking CXCR4 significantly suppressed gefitinib-induced enhancement of migration and EMT. Moreover, we determined that the upregulation of CXCR4 by gefitinib was dependent on TGF-β1/Smad2 signaling activity. Conclusions: Our study suggested a potential mechanism by which gefitinib induced EMT in cells harboring EGFR mutation through a pathway involving TGF-β1 and CXCR4. Thus, the combination of CXCR4 antagonist and TGFβR inhibitors might provide an alternative strategy to overcome progression of lung cancer after gefitinib treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The value of maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) was overlooked in current studies comparing stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) versus surgery for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Herein, we aimed to compare the 3-year outcomes based on patients for whom SUVmax were available, and to explore the role of SUVmax in clinical decision-making.Methods: From January 2010 to June 2016, data of eligible patients were collected. Patient variables and clinical outcomes were compared in both unmatched and matched groups using propensity score matching (PSM). Multivariate analysis was performed for predictors of poor outcome. The relationship between treatment approach and survival outcome was also evaluated in subgroup patients stratified by SUVmax level.Results: A total of 425 patients treated with either surgery (325) or SBRT (100) were included. Patients receiving SBRT were significantly older, had a higher level of SUVmax and were more likely to have tumor of centrally located. Multivariate analysis showed that SUVmax and tumor size were significant predictors for 3-year OS, LRC, and PFS, while better PFS was also related to peripheral tumor and surgery. The result of PSM analysis also showed that compared to SBRT, surgery could only achieve better PFS. Subgroup analysis indicated that surgery had added advantage of 3-year LRC and PFS for patients in high SUVmax group (SUVmax > 8), but not in low SUVmax group.Conclusions: The study found a superior PFS after surgery while OS and LRC did not differ between SBRT and surgery. Surgery should be recommended for tumor of high SUVmax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xerinae is the most species-rich subfamily of the Sciuridae (Rodentia). This group of animals has a long complex evolutionary history, which witnessed severe environmental changes. In this paper, a comprehensive approach integrating information from fossil records, morphological, molecular and geographical data of extant species, and events of paleoclimate and paleogeography, were used to explore the evolutionary processes in the Xerinae. Xerinae probably originated in Eurasia around the early Oligocene, and dispersed to Africa via the Africa-Eurasia Land Bridge on two occasions during the Miocene, and subsequently evolved into the Protoxerini and African Xerini. The tribe Marmotini derived from a Eurasian ancestor and thrived in North America. Tamias re-occupied Eurasia in the early Miocene, while the distributions of Marmota and ' Spermophilus' genus-groups were restricted to North America at least until the late Miocene. Global cooling and the emergence of grass-dominated ecosystems from 15 Ma are likely to be the main causes for the radiation of Marmotini. The body form of Xerinae displays an allometric mode of evolution, with ground-living taxa, such as Marmota, Cynomys and Xerus notably enlarged, while Tamias has remained slim in body form. To cope with the global environmental changes, particularly the global cooling induced forest degradation and grassland expansion in the late Miocene, most Marmotini developed into true ground squirrels with short tails. The slim body adaptation in Tamias may be related to competition from tree squirrels, or their hoarding behavior, the latter helping them to cope with cold winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During accident, the interlayer of windshield plays an important role in the crash safety of automotive and protection of pedestrian or passenger. The understanding of its energy absorption capability is of fundamental importance. Conventional interlayer material of automotive windshield is made by Polyvinyl butyral (PVB). Recently, a new candidate of high-performance nanoporous energy absorption system (NEAS) has been suggested as a candidate for crashworthiness. For the model problem of pedestrian head impact with windshield, we compare the energy absorption capabilities of PVB and NEAS interlayers, in terms of the contact force, acceleration, velocity, head injury criteria, and energy absorption ratio, among which results obtained from PVB interlayers are validated by literature references. The impact speed is obtained from virtual test field in PC-CRASH, and the impact simulations are carried out using explicit finite element simulations. Both the accident speed and interlayer thickness are varied to explore their effects. The explicit relationships established among the energy absorption capabilities, impact speed, and interlayer material/thickness, are useful for safety evaluation as well as automotive design. It is shown that the NEAS interlayer may absorb more energy than PVB interlayer and it may be a competitive candidate for windshield interlayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

p-Type porous silicon is more suitable for CMOS devices than n-type. Due to its variable microstructure, comparatively large surface area, excellent optical and electrical properties, p-type porous silicon can be used in many potential applications for CMOS/MEMS and device integration. It is difficult to modify the optical-electrical properties of p-type porous silicon. In this paper, the nano/micro structure and photoluminescence (PL) of p-type porous silicon have been investigated by considering of the effects of different current conditions and different electrolytes. The results show that the PL performance can be greatly enhanced by the modification of the HF-containing electrolyte with strong oxidizing agent (H2O2) and organic solvent (DMF). Meanwhile, the p-type porous silicon has good UV response characteristics. It is helpful for understanding the PL of p-type porous silicon nano/micro structure, which also implies a potential method for the design of ultraviolet detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:MicroRNA-7 (miR-7) has been reported to be a tumour suppressor gene. However, whether it has a role in the growth of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and what is its target involved in the tumour growth is still under investigation.Methods:NSCLC tissue sample, NSCLC cell lines and tissue microarray were investigated in this study. Total RNA, miRNA and protein were used for RT-PCR and western blot analysis. Immunohistochemistry was performed in tissues microarray. Cell culture and intervention experiments were performed in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics prediction, western blot and luciferase assay were identified the target of miR-7.Results:In this study, we found that the expression of miR-7 was significantly downregulated not only in NSCLC cell lines, but also in human NSCLC tissues compared with the matched adjacent tissues. Restoration of its expression through miR-7 mimics in A549 and H1299 NSCLC cells inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, and cell-cycle progression in vitro. More importantly, the tumorigenicity in nude mice was reduced after administration of miR-7 in vivo. In advance, through bioinformatic analysis, luciferase assay and western blot, we identified a novel target of miR-7, PA28gamma (a proteasome activator) to be enrolled in the regulation with tumour. PA28gamma mRNA and protein levels are markedly upregulated in NSCLC cell lines and tumour samples, exhibiting a strong inverse relation with that of miR-7. In addition, knockdown of PA28gamma induced similar effects as overexpression of miR-7 in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, miR-7 overexpression or silencing of PA28gamma reduced the cyclinD1 expression at mRNA and protein level in NSCLC cell lines.Conclusion:All these findings strongly imply that the overexpression of PA28gamma resulted from miR-7 downexpression in NSCLC has an important role in promoting cancer cell progress and consequently results in NSCLC growth. Thus, strategies targeting PA28gamma and/or miR-7 may become promising molecular therapies in NSCLC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse effects on the pulmonary circulation in obstructive sleep disordered breathing (SDB) may place children with heart lesions affecting the right ventricle at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. We examined the distribution and effects of SDB in pediatric patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Families of 37 pediatric patients with TOF completed a survey of cardiac symptoms and school performance as well as a Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ), a validated questionnaire for the screening of SDB in children 2–18 years of age. Medical records were reviewed for growth parameters, medical history, and most recent electrocardiogram (ECG) findings. Data from patients with SDB (PSQ score ≥8, n = 14) were compared to data from patients without SDB (PSQ score <8; n = 23). The prevalence of SDB in this population (38%) was significantly higher than the published prevalence of 5% in a healthy general pediatric population ( p < 0.001). No significant difference was found in age, gender, or age and sex standardized body mass index between patients with or without SDB. No difference was seen in medication use or timing of surgical repair, whether primary or palliative. Patients with SDB had a significantly higher cardiac symptom score ( p = 0.01) and increasing PSQ scores correlated with worsening cardiac symptom scores ( p = 0.006). Increasing PSQ scores also correlated with worsening school performance ( p = 0.001). No differences were seen in ECG data. The screened prevalence of SDB in the pediatric population with TOF is higher than in the general population; patients with TOF and SDB are more likely to have worse cardiac symptoms and poor school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of ultrafine-grained and nanograined materials have received a great deal of recent attention because of their unusual and promising values. However, some of the most important mechanisms of deformation remain unclear. In this work, the deformation behavior of ultrafine-grained Al films and ultrafine-grained Fe is studied through in situ nanoindentation in a transmission electron microscope. Deformation-induced coarsening by grain boundary migration was observed in the ultrafine-grained Al films during deformation at room temperature, whereas no grain boundary motion was found in ultrafine-grained Fe. The lack of grain boundary motion in Fe was attributed to the pinning effect of nano-sized particles at the Fe grain boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil heavy metals (HMs) pollution is a growing global concern, mainly in regions with rapid industrial growth. This study assessed the concentrations, potential sources, and health risks of HMs in agricultural soils near marble processing plants in Malakand, Pakistan. A total of 21 soil samples were analyzed for essential and toxic HMs via inductively coupled plasma‒optical emission spectrometry (ICP‒OES), and probabilistic health risks were evaluated via Monte Carlo simulation. The concentrations (mg/kg) of Ca (29,250), P (805.5) and Cd (4.5) exceeded the average shale limits of 22,100, 700, and 3.0 mg/kg, respectively, and indices such as Nemerow's synthetic contamination index (NSCI) and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) categorized the soil sites as moderately polluted. The potential ecological risk index (PERI) indicated considerable to high ecological risk for As and Cd. The deterministic analysis indicated non-carcinogenic risks for children (HI > 1), whereas the probabilistic analysis suggested no significant risk (HI < 1) for both adults and children. Both methods indicated that the total cancer risk for Cr, Ni, Cd, and As exceeded the USEPA safety limits of 1.0E-06 and 1.0E-04. Sensitivity analysis identified heavy metal concentration, exposure duration, and frequency as key risk factors. The study suggested that HM contamination is mainly anthropogenic, poses a threat to soil and human health, and highlights the need for management strategies and surveillance programs to mitigate these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mountain ecosystems are critical hotspots of global biodiversity, yet the dynamics of community assembly along their elevational gradients are not well understood. This gap is primarily due to the complexity of environmental and biotic interactions that influence species distribution and community structure. Although extensive research has been conducted on certain taxa, such as small mammals and bats, comprehensive studies encompassing entire mammal assemblages are lacking. Our research aims to bridge this gap by examining the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity, as well as the assemblage structures of mammal communities across elevational gradients in the Central and East Himalayas, exploring how diverse ecological and evolutionary processes impact community assembly. Methods: We analyzed mammal elevational diversity patterns using species richness, functional diversity (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD). We compared the observed values of community structure, such as mean pairwise phylogenetic distance (MPD) and mean pairwise functional distance (MFD), with null-model corrected effect sizes to identify patterns and processes of community assembly. Using structural equation modeling and hierarchical partitioning, we investigated the relationships between climate, productivity, and various facets of diversity, describing the organization of each component across different elevations. Results: Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity generally decreased with elevation but showed varied patterns such as mid-elevation peaks, low-elevation plateaus, or monotonic declines across different regions. Richness-controlled functional diversity increased towards mid-low elevations and decreased at higher elevations in both regions, whereas richness-controlled phylogenetic diversity lacked consistent patterns. Phylogenetic structures tended to cluster from mid to high elevations, indicating closer relationships than those observed in random communities, likely due to significant environmental turnover near tree lines. Functional structure showed greater clustering at high elevations and increased over-dispersion at lower elevations, suggesting that species are more functionally similar than expected at higher elevations and more diverse at lower elevations. Our results revealed that environmental factors, evolutionary histories, and trait-driven ecological processes collectively shape species richness along these gradients. Conclusions: Our results showed incongruent community structures across phylogenetic and functional diversity. Generally, functional traits are closely linked to environmental conditions, reducing the chance of observing traits that are misaligned with their surroundings. Species with similar ecological roles or distinct evolutionary lineages often show convergent adaptations to highland environments. Additionally, our findings emphasize that community assembly varies with the biogeography and diversification history of individual mountain ranges, complicating the development of a generalized theory. Using multiple measures is important for accurate community structure assessments and effective conservation planning, as variable elevational patterns exist across different diversity dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TIMM9 has been identified as a mediator of essential functions in mitochondria, but its association with pan-cancer is poorly understood. We herein employed bioinformatics, computational chemistry techniques and experiments to investigate the role of TIMM9 in pan-cancer. Our analysis revealed that overexpression of TIMM9 was significantly associated with tumorigenesis, pathological stage progression, and metastasis. Missense mutations (particularly the S49L variant), copy number variations (CNV) and methylation alterations in TIMM9 were found to be associated with poor cancer prognosis. Moreover, TIMM9 was positively related with cell cycle progression, mitochondrial and ribosomal function, oxidative phosphorylation, TCA cycle activity, innate and adaptive immunity. Additionally, we discovered that TIMM9 could be regulated by cancer-associated signaling pathways, such as the mTOR pathway. Using molecular simulations, we identified ITFG1 as the protein that has the strongest physical association with TIMM9, which show a promising structural complement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monofluoroalkenes serve as nonhydrolyzable mimetics of amides and are frequently encountered in drug candidates. Herein we report a regio-, enantio-, and stereoselective NiH-catalyzed ipso- and migratory defluorinative olefin cross-coupling employing readily available olefins and gem-difluoroalkenes under mild conditions. This approach enables the efficient synthesis of a broad array of structurally diverse monofluoroalkenes bearing a tertiary allylic stereogenic center. Mechanistically, the challenging migratory defluorinative olefin cross-coupling process is successfully realized through a ligand relay catalytic strategy, enabling the formal C(sp3)–H/C(sp2)–F activation with high levels of regio-, stereo-, and enantiocontrol. Monofluoroalkenes serve as nonhydrolyzable mimetics of amides and are frequently encountered in drug candidates. Herein, the authors report a regio-, enantio-, and stereoselective NiH-catalyzed ipso- and migratory defluorinative olefin cross-coupling employing readily available olefins and gem-difluoroalkenes under mild conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some human-machine systems are designed so that machines (robots) gather and deliver data to remotely located operators (humans) through an interface to aid them in classification. The performance of a human as a (binary) classifier-in-the-loop is characterized by probabilities of correctly classifying objects (or points of interest) as a true target or a false target. These two probabilities depend on the time spent collecting information at a point of interest (POI), known as dwell time. The information gain associated with collecting information at a POI is then a function of dwell time and discounted by the revisit time, i.e., the duration between consecutive revisits to the same POI, to ensure that the vehicle covers all POIs in a timely manner. The objective of the routing problem for classification is to route the vehicles optimally, which is a discrete problem, and determine the optimal dwell time at each POI, which is a continuous optimization problem, to maximize the total discounted information gain while visiting every POI at least once. Due to the coupled discrete and continuous problem, which makes the problem hard to solve, we make a simplifying assumption that the information gain is discounted exponentially by the revisit time; this assumption enables one to decouple the problem of routing with the problem of determining optimal dwell time at each POI for a single vehicle problem. For the multi-vehicle problem, since the problem involves task partitioning between vehicles in addition to routing and dwell time computation, we provide a fast heuristic to obtain high-quality feasible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-floating car-sharing (FFCS) services allow users to rent electric vehicles by the minute without restrictions on pick-up or drop-off locations within the service area of the rental company. Beyond enlarging the choice set of mobility options, FFCS may reduce congestion and emissions in cities, depending on the service's usage and substitution patterns. In this paper, we shed light on this by analyzing the universe of FFCS trips conducted through a leading company in Madrid during 2019. We correlate FFCS usage patterns with data on traffic conditions, demographics, and public transit availability across the city. We find complementarities between FFCS and public transport in middle-income areas with scarce public transport options. Moreover, we find that the use of FFCS peaks earlier than overall traffic and is broadly used during the summer months. This suggests that FFCS may have smoothed road traffic in Madrid, contributing to a reduction in overall congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer vision tasks are crucial for aerospace missions as they help spacecraft to understand and interpret the space environment, such as estimating position and orientation, reconstructing 3D models, and recognizing objects, which have been extensively studied to successfully carry out the missions. However, traditional methods like Kalman filtering, structure from motion, and multi-view stereo are not robust enough to handle harsh conditions, leading to unreliable results. In recent years, deep learning (DL)-based perception technologies have shown great potential and outperformed traditional methods, especially in terms of their robustness to changing environments. To further advance DL-based aerospace perception, various frameworks, datasets, and strategies have been proposed, indicating significant potential for future applications. In this survey, we aim to explore the promising techniques used in perception tasks and emphasize the importance of DL-based aerospace perception. We begin by providing an overview of aerospace perception, including classical space programs developed in recent years, commonly used sensors, and traditional perception methods. Subsequently, we delve into three fundamental perception tasks in aerospace missions: pose estimation, 3D reconstruction, and recognition, as they are basic and crucial for subsequent decision-making and control. Finally, we discuss the limitations and possibilities in current research and provide an outlook on future developments, including the challenges of working with limited datasets, the need for improved algorithms, and the potential benefits of multi-source information fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calculating the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) between crude oil and carbon dioxide (CO2) is critical for optimizing injection parameters, designing schemes, and predicting production capacity in CO2 injection projects for enhancing oil recovery. However, an accurate approach for obtaining this parameter is not yet established. In order to tackle this issue, a novel approach is suggested, based on the original cell-to-cell model, to determine the MMP and the 97% oil recovery rate as the standard. Using the volume-transformed Peng-Robinson equation of state enhances the precision of fluid volume estimation, as it mainly relies on predicting fluid volume within each cell. Furthermore, to ensure a precise estimation of the ultimate oil recovery rate, it is imperative to employ a total cell count of 500 in all simulations to avoid the problem of numerical dispersion. Finally, a second-order polynomial equation more accurately predicts the infinite-cell oil recovery factor. The accuracy of the modified model is verified by comparing MMP values from five oil and gas systems in the literature. The computational results of the modified multiple-mixing-cell (MMC) approach exhibit a higher level of concordance with the MMPs in the literature. The average relative error is less than 3.96%. The improved MMC algorithm can quickly determine the miscibility mechanism and visually represent the dynamic miscibility process involving multiple oil-gas contacts in a slim tube. This study provides a theoretical and practical basis for addressing the critical scientific issues of CO2-safe storage technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asphalt, a widely utilized binder material in pavement construction, brings notable environmental and economic advantages through its efficient and high-utilization technique of multiple recycling. Nevertheless, the microscale mechanical mechanisms and laws governing the damage evolution in asphalt during repeated aging and recycling processes remain unclear, posing challenges in determining the optimal reclamation method and timing for binder maintenance. This study seeks to bridge this gap by employing microstructural numerical simulation and viscoelastic computational methods to elucidate the fundamental changes in microstructural mechanics and relaxation spectra of asphalt binders during multiple aging and regeneration processes, ultimately enhancing the design efficiency of multiple regeneration pavements. The study's key findings revealed that aging decelerates the relaxation capacity and increases the modulus of asphalt, while regeneration reduces the modulus and enhances relaxation capacity. The initial two aging and regeneration processes significantly influenced the stress distribution in the microscopic phase of the asphalt. Following the third aging and rejuvenation, the stress threshold and area of stress concentration remained relatively unchanged. Aging and regeneration primarily alter the mechanical properties of the microscopic phase, affecting the stress relaxation capacity and complex modulus of asphalt. The present study provides a certain research basis for the micro-mechanism of multiple regeneration asphalt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationwide longitudinal evidence linking cognitive decline with exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) constituents remains scarce in China. By constructing a dynamic cohort based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we aimed to assess individual and joint associations of PM2.5 constituents with cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults in China. Linear mixed-effects models incorporated with quantile-based g-computation were applied to investigate individual and joint associations of long-term exposures to PM2.5 constituents with cognitive function. Among 13,507 respondents, we evaluated 38,950 follow-up records of cognitive function tests. Declines in global cognitive score associated with an interquartile range (IQR) increase in exposure were −1.477 (95% CI: −1.722, −1.232) for nitrate, followed by −1.331 (−1.529, −1.133) for ammonium, −1.033 (−1.184, −0.883) for sulfate, −0.988 (−1.144, −0.832) for organic matter and −0.822 (−0.946, −0.699) for black carbon. An IQR-equivalent increase in joint exposure to these PM2.5 constituents was associated with a decline of −1.353 (−1.659, −1.048) in global cognitive score. Female, younger, and well-educated individuals were at greater vulnerability to cognitive impairment related to individual and joint exposure to PM2.5 constituents. This study suggested that later-life exposures to PM2.5 constituents were associated with cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase unwrapping is a crucial step in almost all Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) applications. However, the presence of noise often introduces phase inconsistencies, known as residues, which lead to ambiguous solutions. This paper builds upon the unscented Kalman filter phase unwrapping method and combines a modified phase gradient estimation algorithm, a pre-filtering step based on a neural network, and previous work to achieve higher precision in unwrapping the phase. The pre-filtering step aims to obtain a fringe-enhanced interferogram. The proposed method estimates the phase gradient of the pre-filtered interference phase and integrates it with the unscented Kalman filter phase unwrapping method. Additionally, it incorporates a strategy based on pixel reliability grades and introduces a new path-following strategy to obtain more accurate unwrapped phases. Unlike the traditional unscented Kalman filter phase unwrapping method, the proposed method can simultaneously unwrap multiple pixels, thereby improving the efficiency of the phase unwrapping process. Experimental results of simulated and real data demonstrate that the method proposed in this paper achieves better unwrapped results, especially when dealing with interferograms containing unclear fringes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibetan pigs are a unique swine strain adapted to the hypoxic environment of the plateau regions in China. The unique mechanisms underlying the adaption by Tibetan pigs, however, are still elusive. Only few studies have investigated hypoxia-associated molecular regulation in the lung tissues of animals living in the plateau region of China. Our previous study reported that ssc-miR-101-3p expression significantly differed in the lung tissues of Tibetan pigs at different altitudes, suggesting that ssc-miR-101-3p plays an important role in the adaptation of Tibetan pigs to high altitude. To understand the underlying molecular mechanism, in this study, the target genes of ssc-miR-101-3p and their functions were analyzed via various methods including qRT-PCR and GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. The action of ssc-miR-101-3p was investigated by culturing alveolar type-II epithelial cells (ATII) of Tibetan pigs under hypoxic conditions and transfecting ATII cells with vectors overexpressing or inhibiting ssc-miR-101-3p. Overexpression of ssc-miR-101-3p significantly increased the proliferation of ATII cells and decreased the expression of inflammatory and apoptotic factors. The target genes of ssc-miR-101-3p were significantly enriched in FOXO and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways required to mitigate lung injury. Further, FOXO3 was identified as a direct target of ssc-miR-101-3p. Interestingly, ssc-miR-101-3p overexpression reversed the damaging effect of FOXO3 in the ATII cells. In conclusion, ssc-miR-101-3p targeting FOXO3 could inhibit hypoxia-induced apoptosis and inflammatory response in ATII cells of Tibetan pigs. These results provided new insights into the molecular mechanisms elucidating the response of lung tissues of Tibetan pigs to hypoxic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced building facades, which include windows, walls, and roofs, hold great promise for reducing building energy consumption. In recent decades, the management of heat transfer via electromagnetic radiation between buildings and outdoor environments has emerged as a critical research field aimed at regulating solar irradiation and thermal emission properties. Rapid advancements have led to the widespread utilization of advanced micro/nanofabrication techniques. This review provides the first comprehensive summary of fabrication methods for heat management materials with potential applications in energy-efficient building facades, with a particular emphasis on recent developments in fabrication processing and material property design. These methods include coating, vapor deposition, nanolithography, printing, etching, and electrospinning. Furthermore, we present our perspectives regarding their advantages and disadvantages and our opinions on the opportunities and challenges in this field. This review is expected to expedite future research by providing information on the selection, design, improvement, and development of relevant fabrication techniques for advanced materials with energy-efficient heat management capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot-carrier transistors are a class of devices that leverage the excess kinetic energy of carriers. Unlike regular transistors, which rely on steady-state carrier transport, hot-carrier transistors modulate carriers to high-energy states, resulting in enhanced device speed and functionality. These characteristics are essential for applications that demand rapid switching and high-frequency operations, such as advanced telecommunications and cutting-edge computing technologies1–5. However, the traditional mechanisms of hot-carrier generation are either carrier injection6–11 or acceleration12,13, which limit device performance in terms of power consumption and negative differential resistance14–17. Mixed-dimensional devices, which combine bulk and low-dimensional materials, can offer different mechanisms for hot-carrier generation by leveraging the diverse potential barriers formed by energy-band combinations18–21. Here we report a hot-emitter transistor based on double mixed-dimensional graphene/germanium Schottky junctions that uses stimulated emission of heated carriers to achieve a subthreshold swing lower than 1 millivolt per decade beyond the Boltzmann limit and a negative differential resistance with a peak-to-valley current ratio greater than 100 at room temperature. Multi-valued logic with a high inverter gain and reconfigurable logic states are further demonstrated. This work reports a multifunctional hot-emitter transistor with significant potential for low-power and negative-differential-resistance applications, marking a promising advancement for the post-Moore era.A mixed-dimensional hot-emitter transistor based on mixed-dimensional graphene/germanium Schottky junctions uses stimulated emission of heated carriers, achieving an ultralow subthreshold swing and a high negative differential resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have proposed leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron having low-energy consumption and tunable functionality without external circuit components. Our LIF neuron has a simple configuration consisting of only three components: one bandgap-engineered resistive switching transistor (BE-RST), one capacitor, and one resistor. Here, the crucial point is that BE-RST with a silicon–germanium heterojunction possesses an amplified hysteric current switching with a low latch-up voltage due to improved hole storage capability and impact ionization coefficient. Therefore, the proposed neuron utilizing BE-RST requires an energy consumption of 0.36 pJ/spike, which is approximately six times lower than 2.08 pJ/spike of pure silicon-RST based neuron. In addition, the spiking properties can be tuned by modulating the leakage rate and threshold through gate bias, which contributes to energy-efficient sparse-activity and high learning accuracy. As a result, our proposed neuron can be a promising candidate for executing various spiking neural network applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure-induced phase transformations (PTs) in Si, the most important electronic material, have been broadly studied, whereas strain-induced PTs have never been studied in situ. Here, we reveal in situ various important plastic strain-induced PT phenomena. A correlation between the direct and inverse Hall-Petch effect of particle size on yield strength and pressure for strain-induced PT is predicted theoretically and confirmed experimentally for Si-I→Si-II PT. For 100 nm particles, the strain-induced PT Si-I→Si-II initiates at 0.3 GPa under both compression and shear while it starts at 16.2 GPa under hydrostatic conditions. The Si-I→Si-III PT starts at 0.6 GPa but does not occur under hydrostatic pressure. Pressure in small Si-II and Si-III regions of micron and 100 nm particles is ∼5–7 GPa higher than in Si-I. For 100 nm Si, a sequence of Si-I → I + II → I + II + III PT is observed, and the coexistence of four phases, Si-I, II, III, and XI, is found under torsion. Retaining Si-II and single-phase Si-III at ambient pressure and obtaining reverse Si-II→Si-I PT demonstrates the possibilities of manipulating different synthetic paths. The obtained results corroborate the elaborated dislocation pileup-based mechanism and have numerous applications for developing economic defect-induced synthesis of nanostructured materials, surface treatment (polishing, turning, etc.), and friction. The authors report an in-situ x-ray diffraction study of pressure and strain-induced phase transformations in silicon, an essential electronic material. They observe several different plastic strain-induced transformation phenomena which may inspire practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an easily applicable and rapid switchable hydrophilicity solvent-based liquid–liquid microextraction method was developed for the extraction of parabens (ethyl, propyl, and butyl parabens) from cream samples prior to analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection. Di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid can be used as a switchable hydrophilic extraction solvent which is existed in hydrophilic form in alkaline solution and converted to the hydrophobic formula when the solution is acidified with a mineral acid. Some parameters affecting extraction such as sodium hydroxide volume, hydrochloric acid volume, di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid volume, Fe3O4 amount, vortex mixing time, elution solvent type, elution solvent volume and elution mixing time were examined and their optimum values were determined. Under optimum conditions, the limit of detection and limit of quantification were determined to be 0.03–0.11 µg g−1 and 0.12–0.36 µg g−1, respectively. The calibration graphs exhibited coefficients of determination (R2) greater than 0.9991. The relative standard deviation value was calculated as 1.5–5.7% for intraday and 5.2–8.5% for interday. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of ethyl, propyl and butyl paraben from four different cream samples and relative recovery of 80.5–102.3% were achieved with relative standard deviations of below 5.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong coupling between a single quantum emitter and an optical cavity (at rate Ω) accesses fundamental quantum optics and provides an essential building block for photonic quantum technologies. However, the minimum mode volume of conventional dielectric cavities restricts their operation to cryogenic temperature for strong coupling. Here we harness surface self-assembly to make deterministic strong coupling at room temperature using CdSe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) in nanoparticle-on-mirror (NPoM) plasmonic nanocavities. We achieve a fabrication yield of ~70% for single QD strong coupling by optimizing their size and nano-assembly. A clear and reliable Rabi splitting is observed both in the scattering of each nanocavity and their photoluminescence, which are however not equal. Integrating these quantum elements with electrical pumping allows demonstration of strong coupling in their electroluminescence. This advance provides a straightforward way to achieve practical quantum devices at room temperature, and opens up exploration of their nonlinear, electrical, and quantum correlation properties. A bright pure quantum light source is essential for photonic circuit quantum technologies. Here, authors develop a route to consistently couple single quantum dots into plasmonic nanocavities at high yield, achieving strong coupling at room temperature and electrically pumped devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the conversion rate of preclinical studies for cancer treatment is low, user-friendly models that mimic the pathological microenvironment and drug intake with high throughput are scarce. Animal models are key, but an alternative to reduce their use would be valuable. Vascularized tumor-on-chip models combine great versatility with scalable throughput and are easy to use. Several strategies to integrate both tumor and vascular compartments have been developed, but few have been used to assess drug delivery. Permeability, intra/extravasation, and free drug circulation are often evaluated, but imperfectly recapitulate the processes at stake. Indeed, tumor targeting and chemoresistance bypass must be investigated to design promising cancer therapeutics. In vitro models that would help the development of drug delivery systems (DDS) are thus needed. They would allow selecting good candidates before animal studies based on rational criteria such as drug accumulation, diffusion in the tumor, and potency, as well as absence of side damage. In this review, we focus on vascularized tumor models. First, we detail their fabrication, and especially the materials, cell types, and coculture used. Then, the different strategies of vascularization are described along with their classical applications in intra/extravasation or free drug assessment. Finally, current trends in DDS for cancer are discussed with an overview of the current efforts in the domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable energies from weather are the most ubiquitous and non-depleted resources. However, existing devices exploiting weather-dependent energies are sensitive to weather conditions and geographical locations, making their universal applicability challenging. Herein, we propose an all-weather sustainable glass surface integrating a triboelectric nanogenerator and radiative cooler, which serves as a sustainable device, harvesting energy from raindrops and saving energy on sunny days. By systematically designing transparent, high-performance triboelectric layers, functioning as thermal emitters simultaneously, particularly compatible with radiative cooling components optimized with an evolutionary algorithm, our proposed device achieves optimal performance for all-weather-dependent energies. We generate 248.28 Wm−2 from a single droplet with an energy conversion ratio of 2.5%. Moreover, the inner temperature is cooled down by a maximum of 24.1 °C compared to pristine glass. Notably, as the proposed device is realized to provide high transparency up to 80% in the visible range, we are confident that our proposed device can be applied to versatile applications. Weather-dependent energies are sensitive to weather and geographical conditions. Here, authors propose an all-weather sustainable device integrating a triboelectric nanogenerator and radiative cooler, enabling energy harvesting from rain and saving energy on a sunny day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed, GRB 221009A provided a precious opportunity to explore spectral line features. In this article, we performed a comprehensive spectroscopy analysis of GRB 221009A jointly with GECAM-C and Fermi/GBM data to search for emission and absorption lines. For the first time we investigated the line feature throughout this GRB including the most bright part where many instruments suffered problems, and identified prominent emission lines in multiple time intervals. The central energy of the Gaussian emission line evolves from about 37 to 6 MeV, with a nearly constant ratio (about 10%) between the line width and central energy. Particularly, we find that both the central energy and the energy flux of the emission line evolve with time as a power law decay with power law index of −1 and −2, respectively. We suggest that the observed emission lines most likely origin from the blue-shifted electron positron pair annihilation 511 keV line. We find that a standard high latitude emission scenario cannot fully interpret the observation, thus we propose that the emission line comes from some dense clumps with electron positron pairs traveling together with the jet. In this scenario, we can use the emission line to directly, for the first time, measure the bulk Lorentz factor of the jet (Γ) and reveal its time evolution (i.e., Γ ∼ t−1) during the prompt emission. Interestingly, we find that the flux of the annihilation line in the co-moving frame keeps constant. These discoveries of the spectral line features shed new and important lights on the physics of GRB and relativistic jet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the rules for the development of municipalities are rooted in legislation, they are often neglected, and the municipality’s interest in expanding into accessible areas is prioritised over the interests of existing residents, the environment, and local farmers. The goal of this work was, based on the analysis of urban planning documentation and other freely available materials, to obtain knowledge about the driving forces that influence the delimitation of buildable areas and their functional classification. Fourteen municipalities within the South Bohemian Region were chosen for this work. Based on statistical analyses carried out in the CANOCO program, it was found that the most crucial factor for the development of the territory is its current formation, as well as the level of technical infrastructure and civic amenities. Practically all municipalities, regardless of their location, size, natural features or population potential, are most often oriented towards the development of sites for housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, copper acetate was applied as a CMC physical crosslinker for the preparation of CMC hydrogel beads, and then copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) were synthesized with in situ method via alkaline media treatment. Methotrexate as a model anticancer drug was loaded by immersing the hydrogel beads in the standard solution of drug. The FT-IR, XRD, and SEM studies were used to confirm the formation of CuONPs in the hydrogel. Using various analyses, the fabricated Cu-crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose/CuO bio-nanocomposite hydrogel beads (Cu-CMC/CuO) were characterized, confirming the synthesizing CuONPs with a particle size of 50–200 nm. The prepared hydrogel beads showed a maximum swelling rate of 40 at different pH values. To establish the productivity of the bio-nanocomposite hydrogel beads as a controlled-release system, the drug release analyses were performed in mimicking conditions of the cancer tissue microenvironment. The formed CuONPs in the CMC hydrogel matrix enhancing the possible interaction with drug in the conditions of cancer tissue microenvironment make a sustained release profile of about 40% in 8 h. The MTT test confirmed that the hydrogel beads have notable cytotoxicity toward blood cancer cells (K562, IC50 value: about 10 µg/mL). The obtained results presented that the fabricated hydrogel beads could potentially be proposed as an implantable carrier for the administration of anticancer agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint study of agriculture and rural areas is of great significance for safeguarding agricultural development, revitalizing rural areas, and enhancing farmers' well-being. This paper aims to assess the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the coupling and coordination degree of agricultural resilience and rural land use efficiency and their dynamic transfer law and driving mechanisms, based on panel data of 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) in China from 2010 to 2020. The results showed: (1) Good coupling and coordination of agricultural resilience and rural land use efficiency, with reduced temporal differentiation degrees between regions; (2) Significant spatial autocorrelation between the overall coupling and coordination degrees of agricultural resilience and rural land use efficiency, forming cold spot and hot spot spatial patterns in the western and eastern parts, respectively, with a central transition area; (3) A spillover effect of the dynamic transfer process, with a manifested specific law as "club convergence", "Matthew effect", and progressive development characteristics; (4) The key roles of the natural, social, economic, and policy indicators in the coupling and coordination development process of agricultural resilience and rural land use efficiency. However, the selected indicators showed substantial spatial differences in their influences on the coupling and coordination process between provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between higher vocational education and rural revitalization is an essential economic and social issue, especially in a country with a large population and a developing education system like China. This study uses panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2020 to explore the association between higher vocational education and rural revitalization. The empirical results show that, at the national level, both the scale and the quality of higher vocational education significantly promote rural revitalization; the effects of higher vocational education on rural revitalization vary by region: in the eastern and central regions, the scale of higher vocational education significantly promotes rural revitalization, while in the western regions, the quality of higher vocational education significantly promotes rural revitalization; the scale of higher vocational education has a positive spatial spillover effect on rural revitalization, while the quality of higher vocational education only has a significant positive effect on the local level of rural revitalization. Furthermore, the effects of higher vocational education on rural revitalization exhibit a threshold effect based on the economic development level and the urban-rural income gap. This study reveals relationships between higher vocational education and rural revitalization, providing references for policymakers and investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A healthy aorta limits excess arterial pulsatility and protects the microvasculature from the effects of fluctuating blood flow and pressure. Aging and various pathologic states impair this cushioning function, a phenomenon known as large-artery stiffening (LAS). LAS is a common risk factor for a plethora of chronic diseases, and an important contributor to the conundrum of vascular morbidity. Importantly, LAS is pathologically different from atherosclerosis as it rather occurs primarily from changes in the medial aortic layer, and can manifest itself in the absence of plaque formation. Clinically, LAS is one of the few biological parameters that more than doubles with aging. With the advent of novel highly effective therapies for atherosclerosis, and the likely decline of other causes of death in the next few decades, prevention and treatment of increased LAS may be one of the most relevant strategies for preventing multimorbidity in aging populations in upcoming decades. LAS characterizes a high-priority therapeutic target to improve cardiovascular disease burden and associated comorbidities. This review aims to (i) provide an overview of insights from genetic research on LAS pathophysiology, and explore the scope of next-generation sequencing methods in the field arterial research; (ii) shed light on the utility of emerging state-of-the-art multi-omics approaches to unravel mechanisms underlying LAS to identify candidate therapeutic targets; (iii) highlight the potential of emerging state-of-the-art integrative multi-omics, motivating their use to address current gaps in understanding sex- and ancestry-specific mechanisms of LAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, biocementation of slope soil was performed using low-cost, commercially available materials to create a nutrient solution with native Cytobacillus hornekea. The high cost of laboratory-grade materials and microbes for biocementation is one of the main obstacles to its popularity. However, the cost of biocementation has been reduced significantly without reducing the strength when low-cost materials were used instead of laboratory-grade materials in this study. Direct shear test results and SEM also proved the suitability of the low-cost biocementation. Artificial rainfall with an intensity of 50–60 mm/h resulted in soil erosion of around 10% and 2% without and with biocementation, respectively. The amount of produced calcium carbonate was around 3.9% while using the low-cost materials with native microbes which is quite comparable with the laboratory-grade materials (3.4%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed to predict the effect of layering of graphene sheets (GSs) embedment in conventional carbon matrix of 4-dimensional carbon/carbon (4D-C/C) composite on the elastic modulus of 4D-C/C composite. Molecular dynamics methodology is employed to execute the nano-scale modeling and analysis of the single GS/layered GSs. Predicted elastic modulus of GS/GSs is utilized to estimate the elastic modulus of GS/GSs reinforced carbon matrix by employing semi-empirical Halpin–Tsai approach. At macro-scale, finite element methodology is utilized and elastic modulus of GS/GSs reinforced 4D-C/C composite is predicted. The elastic moduli of 4D-C/C composite are established to be improved in compared to the without GS/GSs reinforced 4D-C/C composite, due to better load carrying capacity of GSs embedded carbon matrix. Therefore, GS-embedded 4D-C/C composites can successfully replace currently used C/C composites for high strength applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a consensus control method for generic linear multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to stochastic deception attacks on actuators and random denial of service (DoS) attacks over communication channels. In this case, the MASs are communicating over a compromised network where the attackers are performing random DoS attacks and injecting data into the control inputs. A fully-distributed robust-adaptive consensus protocol is designed for both types of stochastic cyber-attacks by taking into account the immediate partial information per node rather than global information and by accounting for the signals added by adversaries. To the best of the authors' knowledge, a fully-distributed consensus control approach with adaptive gains (without requiring any global knowledge for the design) under hybrid cyber-attacks of stochastic nature over a directed graph has been addressed for the first time. Finally, simulation results are presented to further illustrate the theoretical results' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become an extensive concern in biological and social research. As for urban–rural development, narrowing the disparities between urban and rural areas and leading to urban–rural integration is a tendency of urban–rural development worldwide and an inevitable way to create a sustainable human society. China is in a critical stage of significant challenges and opportunities with a scale and pace unique in history. Although some studies have begun to focus on sustainable urban and rural development, they have often neglected to assess issues related to rural areas. China has undergone the adjustment of rural structure and development policies, and the sustainable development of rural areas should be given enough attention. This study constructs a system of indicators related to rural public resources, aiming to assess whether there are distributional inequalities in spatial allocation. The calculations show that: (1) China's rural public resources allocation coefficient is stable at 0.2 to 0.3 at the national level. (2) Even under policy support, a significant decline rate change still occurs. (3) Western education resources are allocated relatively compared with eastern provinces, but resources are rarely in medical and social security. China has implemented a firm macro-control policy regarding resource allocation in rural areas. Furthermore, the government should continue to increase investment in human resources and public facilities to adjust regional differences. This paper analyzes the allocation structure of rural resources based on China's new policy theory. It has opened a new path in sustainable rural development governance and public resource allocation to provide constructive suggestions for sustainable rural development in China and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]