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Previous research has assessed the effects of caesarean delivery (CD) on child neurodevelopment; however, whether the effects stem from the surgical procedure itself or its related medical conditions has not been conclusively determined. This study aimed to evaluate the associations among delivery mode, CD-related medical conditions and early childhood neurodevelopment. A total of 3829 maternal-infant pairs from a longitudinal birth cohort in Wuhan City, China, were included in the primary analysis. The neurodevelopment of the children was assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID), the Conners Comprehensive Behaviour Rating Scale and the Chinese version of the Autism Behavior Checklist. Data on delivery mode and medical conditions were collected via medical records from the study hospital. Among the 3829 children for whom the BSID test was completed at two years of age, 50%, 27%, and 23% were delivered vaginally, by necessary CD, and by elective CD, respectively. Compared with vaginally delivered children, Necessary CD was associated with a 16.67% decrease in Mental Development Index (MDI) scores and a 13.37% decrease in Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) scores, while elective CD showed a 20.63% and 20.99% decrease after FDR correction, respectively. Similarly, among the 2448 children for whom the CBRS was completed, necessary CD was found to be associated with conduct disorders (adjusted β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.09), hyperactivity (adjusted β: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.11), and hyperactivity index (adjusted β: 0.07; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.11), while elective CD was significantly associated with hyperactivity problem scores (adjusted β: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.13). However, no significant association was found between CD and symptoms of autism in children, as assessed by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Conclusion: This study suggested that the adverse impact of CD on child neurodevelopment stems from the procedure itself rather than CD-related medical conditions. It is important to minimize the use of CD when there is no medical necessity. What is Known: • Caesarean delivery (CD) may influence child neurodevelopment and other long-term outcomes. • In China, approximately one-quarter of CD are performed due to maternal request without medical indications. What is New: • The negative impact of CD on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of children may be primarily attributed to the procedure itself, as opposed to related medical conditions. • In the absence of medical indications, unnecessary CD may have adverse impacts on children's neurodevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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To determine the role of internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) in the identification of Spatholobus suberectus and explore the genetic diversity of S. suberectus. A total of 292 ITS2s from S. suberectus and 17 other plant species were analysed. S. suberectus was clustered separately in the phylogenetic tree. The genetic distance between species was greater than that within S. suberectus. Synonymous substitution rate (Ks) analysis revealed that ITS2 diverged the most recently within S. suberectus (Ks = 0.0022). These findings suggested that ITS2 is suitable for the identification of S. suberectus. The ITS2s were divided into 8 haplotypes and 4 evolutionary branches on the basis of secondary structure, indicating that there was variation within S. suberectus. Evolutionary analysis revealed that the GC content of paired regions (pGC) was greater than that of unpaired regions (upGC), and the pGC showed a decreasing trend, whereas the upGC remained unchanged. Single-base mutation was the main cause of base pair substitution. In both the initial state and the equilibrium state, the substitution rate of GC was higher than that of AU. The increase in the GC content was partly attributed to GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). High GC content reflected the high recombination and mutation rates of ITS2, which is the basis for species identification and genetic diversity. We characterized the sequence and structural characteristics of S. suberectus ITS2 in detail, providing a reference and basis for the identification of S. suberectus and its products, as well as the protection and utilization of wild resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Laparoscopic cystectomy for ovarian endometriomas and benign ovarian cysts is often conducted through hemostatic methods, with bipolar electrocoagulation as a common approach. This study evaluated the impact of electrocoagulation, primarily through bipolar energy, versus nonthermal hemostatic methods on ovarian reserve in patients undergoing laparoscopic cystectomy for ovarian endometriomas and benign ovarian cysts. Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted by searching the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the impact of nonthermal hemostatic methods and electrocoagulation on the ovarian reserve during laparoscopic cystectomy were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Randomized Controlled Trials (ROB 2.0) was utilized to assess the quality of the included studies. The meta-analysis included 13 RCTs involving 1043 patients. Postoperative serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels and antral follicle counts (AFCs) were analyzed using Review Manager ver. 5.4. Results: Compared with the bipolar group, patients with endometriomas in the nonthermal hemostatic group exhibited significantly higher postoperative AMH levels at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Conversely, no significant differences in AMH levels were observed in patients with benign ovarian cysts. Similarly, AFCs showed no significant differences, except for lower postoperative AFCs in patients with endometrioma in the electrocoagulation group. Conclusion: Nonthermal hemostatic methods are associated with more effective preservation of the ovarian reserve compared with bipolar electrocoagulation in laparoscopic cystectomy for ovarian endometriomas. However, no significant impact of bipolar electrocoagulation on the ovarian reserve was observed in patients with benign ovarian cysts. Trial registration: Registered in PROSPERO on April 10, 2023; ID # CRD42023413158. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biallelic mutations of the CEBPA gene (CEBPAbi) are generally associated with favorable prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Monoallelic mutations of the CEBPA gene in carboxy-terminal DNA-binding region (CEBPAsmbZIP) and amino-terminal transactivation domains (CEBPAsmTAD) indicate distinct clinical characteristics and therapeutic outcomes. However, further investigation is required to fully understand these differences. In this retrospective study, we enrolled 77 AML patients with CEBPA mutations, including 53 with CEBPAbi, 12 with CEBPAsmbZIP and 12 with CEBPAsmTAD. The clinical characteristics of the three CEBPAmut groups presented significant differences in age, FAB classification, hemoglobin level and platelet count at diagnosis. The CEBPAsmTAD group exhibited shorter 2-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) compared to the CEBPAbi group and CEBPAsmbZIP group in AML patients. The most common co-mutations observed in CEBPAmut AML patients were TET2 and GATA2, which had no effect on prognosis. 2-year RFS of 27 CEBPAmut AML patients who underwent allo-HSCT was better than those who did not. MRD3 positive was identified as an influencing factor for 2-year OS and RFS. Allo-HSCT was found to improve the prognosis of CEPBAmut AML patients with positive MRD3 and adverse co-mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID–19 has been associated with a wide range of ongoing symptoms following recovery from the acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Around one in three people with COVID-19 develop neurological symptoms with many reporting neuropathic pain and associated symptoms, including paraesthesia, numbness, and dysesthesia. Whilst the pathophysiology of long COVID-19-associated neuropathic pain remains unclear, it is likely to be multifactorial. Early identification, exclusion of common alternative causes, and a biopsychosocial approach to the management of the symptoms can help in relieving the burden of disease and improving the quality of life for patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formulation of more accurate models to describe tissue mechanics necessitates the availability of tools and instruments that can precisely measure the mechanical response of tissues to physical loads and other stimuli. In this regard, neuroscience has trailed other life sciences owing to the unavailability of representative live tissue models and deficiency of experimentation tools. We previously addressed both challenges by employing a novel instrument called the cantilevered-capillary force apparatus (CCFA) to elucidate the mechanical properties of mouse neurospheres under compressive forces. The neurospheres were derived from murine stem cells, and our study was the first of its kind to investigate the viscoelasticity of living neural tissues in vitro. In the current study, we demonstrate the utility of the CCFA as a broadly applicable tool to evaluate tissue mechanics by quantifying the effect that oxidative stress has on the mechanical properties of neurospheres. We treated mouse neurospheres with non-cytotoxic levels of hydrogen peroxide and subsequently evaluated the storage and loss moduli of the tissues under compression and tension. We observed that the neurospheres exhibit viscoelasticity consistent with neural tissue and show that elastic modulus decreases with increasing size of the neurosphere. Our study yields insights for establishing rheological measurements as biomarkers by laying the groundwork for measurement techniques and showing that the influence of a particular treatment may be misinterpreted if the size dependence is ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the rapid antidepressant potential and the underlying mechanism of Chaihu Shugan San (CSS) in female mice. Methods: Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS was used to determine the content of main components in CSS to determine its stability. Female C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, including control (saline), vehicle (saline), CSS (4 g/kg) and ketamine (30 mg/kg) groups. Mice were subjected to irregular stress stimulation for 4 weeks to establish the chronic mild stress (CMS) model, then received a single administration of drugs. Two hours later, the behavioral tests were performed, including open field test, tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST), novelty suppression feeding test (NSF), and sucrose preference test (SPT). Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression levels of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) subtypes [N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 1 (NR1), NR2A, NR2B], synaptic proteins [synapsin1 and post synaptic density protein 95 (PSD95)], and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Moreover, the rapid antidepressant effect of CSS was tested by pharmacological technologies and optogenetic interventions that activated glutamate receptors, NMDA. Results: Compared with the vehicle group, a single administration of CSS (4 g/kg) reversed all behavioral defects in TST, FST, SPT and NSF caused by CMS (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CSS also significantly decreased the expressions of NMDA subtypes (NR1, NR2A, NR2B) at 2 h in hippocampus of mice (all P<0.01). In addition, similar to ketamine, CSS increased levels of synaptic proteins and BDNF (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Furthermore, the rapid antidepressant effects of CSS were blocked by transient activation of NMDA receptors in the hippocampus (all P<0.01). Conclusion: Rapid antidepressant effects of CSS by improving behavioral deficits in female CMS mice depended on rapid suppression of NMDA receptors and activation of synaptic proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the enhancement in electromagnetic interference (EMI) performance of polymeric composite generally relies on either improving electrical conductivity (σ) for stronger electromagnetic (EM) reflections or tailoring structure for higher EM resonances. Herein, we proposed a novel technique called cyclic pulsating pressure enhanced segregating structuration (CPP-SS), which can reinforce these two factors simultaneously. The structural information was supplied by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), both of which confirmed the formation and evolution of segregate structured ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/graphene composites. Then, the result showed that CPP-SS can significantly improve the σ of samples. Ultimately, advanced specific EMI shielding efficiency of 31.1 dB/mm was achieved for UHMWPE/graphene composite at 1-mm thickness and a low graphene loading of 5 wt%. Meanwhile, it also confirmed that the intrinsic disadvantage of poor mechanical properties of conventional segregated structure composites can be surpassed. This work is believed to provide a fundamental understanding of the structural and performance evolutions of segregated structured composites prepared under CPP-SS, and to bring us a simple and efficient approach for fabricating high-performance, strong and light-weight polymeric EMI shields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental monitoring is a construct of longstanding interest in multiple fields—but what is it? This paper makes two contributions to the ongoing debate. First, we review how the published literature has defined and operationalized parental monitoring. We show that the monitoring construct has often been defined in an indirect and nonspecific fashion and measured using instruments that vary widely in conceptual content. The result has been a disjointed empirical literature that cannot accurately be described as the unified study of a single construct nor is achieving a cumulative scientific character. Second, we offer a new formulation of the monitoring construct intended to remedy this situation. We define parental monitoring as the set of all behaviors performed by caregivers with the goal of acquiring information about the youth's activities and life. We introduce a taxonomy identifying 5 distinct types of monitoring behaviors (Types 1–5), with each behavior varying along five dimensions (performer, target, frequency, context, style). We distinguish parental monitoring from 16 other parenting constructs it is often conflated with and position monitoring as one element within the broader parent-youth monitoring process: the continuous, dyadic interplay between caregivers and youth as they navigate caregivers attempts' to monitor youth. By offering an explicit and detailed conceptualization of monitoring, we aim to foster more rigorous and impactful research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A notable issue, the proper description of mass and charge distributions of fission fragments within non-adiabatic descriptions of fission dynamics, is investigated by performing double particle number projection on the outcomes of time-dependent Hartree–Fock (TDHF) simulation. The induced fission process of the benchmark nucleus 240 Pu is studied. In the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate without any symmetry restrictions, we get the static fission pathway from the two-dimensional potential energy surface, and then the fission dynamics from saddle to scission point are obtained using TDHF. We show that the charge numbers of primary heavy fragments from TDHF simulation strongly depend on the deformations of initial configurations via the two asymmetric fission channels, which can be distinguished according to the dynamical fission trajectories. The charge distribution of fission fragments is well reproduced using the double particle number projection technique. After applying the Gaussian kernel estimation based on the distribution from the double particle number projection technique, the mass distribution is also consistent with the experimental results. Besides, the results of the total kinetic energy of fission fragments are reasonably consistent with the experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop an interference-free and rapid method to elucidate Guanxin II (GX II)'s representative vasodilator absorbed bioactive compounds (ABCs) among enormous phytochemicals. Methods: The contents of ferulic acid, tanshinol, and hydroxysafflor yellow A (FTA) in GX II/rat serum after the oral administration of GX II (30 g/kg) were detected using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Totally 18 rats were randomly assigned to the control group (0.9% normal saline), GX II (30 g/kg) and FTA (5, 28 and 77 mg/kg) by random number table method. Diastolic coronary flow velocity-time integral (VTI), i.e., coronary flow or coronary flow-mediated dilation (CFMD), and endothelium-intact vascular tension of isolated aortic rings were measured. After 12 h of exposure to blank medium or 0.5 mmol/L H2O2, endothelial cells (ECs) were treated with post-dose GX II of supernatant from deproteinized serum (PGSDS, 300 µL PGSDS per 1 mL of culture medium) or FTA (237, 1539, and 1510 mg/mL) for 10 min as control, H2O2, PGSDS and FTA groups. Nitric oxide (NO), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelin-1 (ET-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and phosphorylated phosphoinositide 3 kinase (p-PI3K), phosphorylated protein kinase B (p-AKT), phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (p-eNOS) were analyzed. PGSDS was developed as a GX II proxy of ex vivo herbal crude extracts. Results: PGSDS effectively eliminates false responses caused by crude GX II preparations. When doses equaled the contents in GX II/its post-dose serum, FTA accounted for 98.17% of GX II -added CFMD and 92.99% of PGSDS-reduced vascular tension. In ECs, FTA/PGSDS was found to have significant antioxidant (lower MDA and higher SOD, P<0.01) and endothelial function-protective (lower VEGF, ET-1, P<0.01) effects. The increases in aortic relaxation, endothelial NO levels and phosphorylated PI3K/Akt/eNOS protein induced by FTA/PGSDS were markedly abolished by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NA, eNOS inhibitor) and wortmannin (PI3K/AKT inhibitor), respectively, indicating an endothelium-dependent vasodilation via the PI3K/AKT-eNOS pathway (P<0.01). Conclusion: This study provides a strategy for rapidly and precisely elucidating GX II's representative in/ex vivo cardioprotective absorbed bioactive compounds (ABCs)-FTA, suggesting its potential in advancing precision ethnomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKEs (SPLs) encode plant-specific transcription factors that regulate plant growth and development, stress response, and metabolite accumulation. However, there is limited information on Scutellaria baicalensis SPLs. In this study, 14 SbSPLs were identified and divided into 8 groups based on phylogenetic relationships. SbSPLs in the same group had similar structures. Abscisic acid-responsive (ABRE) and MYB binding site (MBS) cis-acting elements were found in the promoters of 8 and 6 SbSPLs. Segmental duplications and transposable duplications were the main causes of SbSPL expansion. Expression analysis based on transcriptional profiling showed that SbSPL1, SbSPL10, and SbSPL13 were highly expressed in roots, stems, and flowers, respectively. Expression analysis based on quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT‒qPCR) showed that most SbSPLs responded to low temperature, drought, abscisic acid (ABA) and salicylic acid (SA), among which the expression levels of SbSPL7/9/10/12 were significantly upregulated in response to abiotic stress. These results indicate that SbSPLs are involved in the growth, development and stress response of S. baicalensis. In addition, 8 Sba-miR156/157 s were identified, and SbSPL1-5 was a potential target of Sba-miR156/157 s. The results of target gene prediction and coexpression analysis together indicated that SbSPLs may be involved in the regulation of L-phenylalanine (L-Phe), lignin and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis. In summary, the identification and characterization of the SbSPL gene family lays the foundation for functional research and provides a reference for improved breeding of S. baicalensis stress resistance and quality traits. Key message: This report details the characteristics and potential regulatory network of the S. baicalensis SbSPL gene family and demonstrates the potential role of SbSPLs in the abiotic stress response and material accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled quantum teleportation (CQT), which is regarded as the prelude and backbone for a genuine quantum internet, reveals the cooperation, supervision, and control relationship among the sender, receiver, and controller in the quantum network within the simplest unit. Compared with low-dimensional counterparts, high-dimensional CQT can exhibit larger information transmission capacity and higher superiority of the controller's authority. In this article, we report a proof-of-principle experimental realization of three-dimensional (3D) CQT with a fidelity of 97.4% ± 0.2%. To reduce the complexity of the circuit, we simulate a standard 4-qutrit CQT protocol in a 9×9-dimensional two-photon system with high-quality operations. The corresponding control powers are 48.1% ± 0.2% for teleporting a qutrit and 52.8% ± 0.3% for teleporting a qubit in the experiment, which are both higher than the theoretical value of control power in 2-dimensional CQT protocol (33%). The results fully demonstrate the advantages of high-dimensional multi-partite entangled networks and provide new avenues for constructing complex quantum networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although uncoupling protein 4 (UCP4) is the most abundant protein reported in the brain, the biological function of UCP4 in cerebellum and pathological outcome of UCP4 deficiency in cerebellum remain obscure. To evaluate the role of Ucp4 in the cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), we generated the conditional knockdown of Ucp4 in PCs (Pcp2cre;Ucp4fl/fl mice) by breeding Ucp4fl/fl mice with Pcp2cre mice. Series results by Western blot, immunofluorescent staining, and triple RNAscope in situ hybridization confirmed the specific ablation of Ucp4 in PCs in Pcp2cre;Ucp4fl/fl mice, but did not affect the expression of Ucp2, the analog of Ucp4. Combined behavioral tests showed that Pcp2cre;Ucp4fl/fl mice displayed a characteristic bradykinesia in the spontaneous movements. The electromyogram recordings detection excluded the possibility of hypotonia in Pcp2cre;Ucp4fl/fl mice. And the electrical patch clamp recordings showed the altered properties of PCs in Pcp2cre;Ucp4fl/fl mice. Moreover, transmission electron microscope (TEM) results showed the increased mitochondrial circularity in PCs; ROS probe imaging showed the increased ROS generation in molecular layer; and finally, microplate reader assay showed the significant changes of mitochondrial functions, including ROS, ATP, and MMP in the isolated cerebellum tissue. The results suggested that the specific knockdown of mitochondrial protein Ucp4 could damage PCs possibly by attacking their mitochondrial function. The present study is the first to report a close relationship between UCP4 deletion with PCs impairment, and suggests the importance of UCP4 in the substantial support of mitochondrial function homeostasis in bradykinesia. UCP4 might be a therapeutic target for the cerebellar-related movement disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lightweight flexible piezoelectric polymers are demanded for various applications. However, the low instinctively piezoelectric coefficient (i.e. d33) and complex poling process greatly resist their applications. Herein, we show that introducing dynamic pressure during fabrication is capable for poling polyvinylidene difluoride/barium titanate (PVDF/BTO) composites with d33 of ~51.20 pC/N at low density of ~0.64 g/cm3. The melt-state dynamic pressure driven energy implantation induces structure evolutions of both PVDF and BTO are demonstrated as reasons for self-poling. Then, the porous material is employed as pressure sensor with a high output of ~20.0 V and sensitivity of ~132.87 mV/kPa. Besides, the energy harvesting experiment suggests power density of ~58.7 mW/m2 can be achieved for 10 N pressure with a long-term durability. In summary, we not only provide a high performance lightweight, flexible piezoelectric polymer composite towards sustainable self-powered sensing and energy harvesting, but also pave an avenue for electrical-free fabrication of piezoelectric polymers. Lightweight flexible piezoelectric polymers are demanded for various applications, but restricted by the low instinctively piezoelectric coefficient and complex poling process. Here, the authors develop a high performance lightweight, flexible self-poled piezoelectric polymer composite towards sustainable self-powered sensing and energy harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Belt grinding is widely used as the final step in the fabrication of fatigue-resistant surfaces of nickel-based superalloy components, and fatigue life after grinding is one of the most concerning issues. However, the response mechanism of fatigue life under different grinding parameter excitation conditions is not well understood for a long time. In this study, a system framework of fatigue life prediction for nickel-based superalloy abrasive belt based on process reasoning and artificial intelligence algorithm is proposed. Based on the process reasoning method, the mathematical relationship between grinding parameters and fatigue life is established. The equation is solved by RNN and LSMT algorithms embedded in the system, and the excitation response model of process parameters to fatigue life is obtained. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the system is high. The mean squared error (MSE) of the LSTM algorithm is below 0.0441, and the R-squared can be above 0.9956. In addition, experimental verification has been carried out, the observation of the specimen section shows that the process parameters have an effect on the initiation position, distribution, and crack length of the fatigue crack source, which are related to the stress concentration and residual stress distribution at the depth of the grinding scratches. Furthermore, using Spring Boot framework, an intelligent decision-making system based on this system framework is developed by using java and python. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1–11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common in COVID-19 than controls and some (including against MYL7, UCH-L1, and GRIN3B) are more frequent with altered consciousness. Additionally, convalescent participants with neurological complications show elevated GFAP and NfL, unrelated to attenuated systemic inflammatory mediators and to autoantibody responses. Overall, neurological complications of COVID-19 are associated with evidence of neuroglial injury in both acute and late disease and these correlate with dysregulated innate and adaptive immune responses acutely.COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the Mg × K product on the mortality risk of hemodialysis patients with concomitant hypokalemia and lower magnesium levels. This was a prospective observational study of patients in a HD center in southern Taiwan. A total of 444 HD patients were divided into 5 groups by the Mg × K product: group 1, bottom quintile, median Mg × K: 7.87, IQR: 7.03–8.12 (n = 89, age: 64 ± 13 years old); group 2, median Mg × K: 9.37, IQR: 8.97–9.86 (n = 89, age:62 ± 13 years old); group 3, median Mg × K: 10.95, IQR: 10.50–11.26 (n = 89, age:64 ± 13 years old); group 4, median Mg × K: 12.30, IQR: 11.87–12.82 (n = 89, 61 ± 12 years old); and group 5, top quintile, median Mg × K: 14.92, IQR:14.07–16.23 (n = 88, 62 ± 11 years old). The patients were followed up for 2 years to determine the risk of all-cause mortality. Patients with a lower Mg × K product had more comorbidities, malnutrition-inflammation status, and a higher mortality risk. Using multivariable Cox regression analysis, a higher Mg × K [HR, 0.89; 95%CI (0.81–0.98)] was found to be an independent predictor of better survival. HD patients with a lower Mg × K product had more comorbidities, a marked malnutrition-inflammation status, and were associated with long-term mortality. A higher Mg × K value is a favorable survival factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aims to comprehensively examine the shear behavior of rooted soil mixtures at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. Method: The research utilizes the discrete element method (DEM) to investigate the shear behavior of rooted soil mixtures through two-dimensional biaxial tests conducted under the membrane boundary condition. The samples were meticulously prepared, with variations in both the volume fraction of roots and soils. The roots were modeled as multiple bonded rigid blocks, enabling them to undergo deformation when subjected to external forces. Results: From a macroscopic perspective, the rooted samples display deviatoric stress and volumetric strain curves that illustraY. Huangte the stress-strain relationship during shearing. On a microscopic level, the coordination number (representing the contact number per particle) of the rooted soil samples, along with the anisotropy of contact force orientations, serves as valuable descriptors of the evolving microstructures during shearing. Furthermore, the formation of shear bands exhibits variations depending on the content of roots within the samples. Conclusions: The study findings demonstrate that the macroscopic behavior of rooted soils is influenced by multiple factors, including the volume fraction of the mixtures, stiffness, and aspect ratio of soil particles and roots. These findings highlight the intricate and interdependent nature of the mechanical properties within the root-soil mixture. Additionally, it is observed that a higher volume fraction of roots results in a more complex formation of shear bands, further indicating that the mechanical response of the root-soil mixture is significantly influenced by the presence of roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kind of gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) based on a matrix of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) composite lignocellulose (LC) for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with relatively good performances is prepared. The composite membrane containing 5 wt% HEC possesses excellent comprehensive performances, including high electrolyte uptake of 425 wt% and favourable thermal properties. At room temperature, the ionic conductivity is 2.68 × 10–3 S cm–1. Moreover, the lithium-ion transference number is 0.5, the GPE exhibits an electrochemical stability window of 5.4 V and favourable compatibility with electrode and cycling performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate whether meranzin hydrate (MH) can alleviate depression-like behavior and hypomotility similar to Chaihu Shugan Powder (CSP), and further explore the potential common mechanisms. Methods: Totally 120 Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5–8 groups including sham, vehicle, fluoxetine (20 mg/kg), mosapride (10 mg/kg), CSP (30 g/kg), MH (9.18 mg/kg), [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6 (Dlys, 0.5 mg/kg), and MH+Dlys groups by a random number table, 8 rats in each group. And 32 mice were randomly divided into wild-type, MH (18 mg/kg), growth hormone secretagogue receptor-knockout (GHSR-KO), and GHSR+MH groups, 8 mice in each group. The forced swimming test (FST), open field test (OFT), tail suspension test (TST), gastric emptying (GE) test, and intestinal transit (IT) test were used to assess antidepressant and prokinetic (AP) effects after drug single administration for 30 min with absorbable identification in rats and mice, respectively. The protein expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) in the hippocampus of rats were evaluated by Western blot. The differences in functional brain changes were determined via 7.0 T functional magnetic resonance imaging-blood oxygen level-dependent (fMRI-BOLD). Results: MH treatment improved depression-like behavior (FST, OFT) and hypomotility (GE, IT) in the acute forced swimming (FS) rats (all P<0.05), and the effects are similar to the parent formula CSP. The ghrelin antagonist [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6 inhibited the effect of MH on FST and GE (P<0.05). Similarly, MH treatment also alleviated depression-like behavior (FST, TST) in the wild-type mice, however, no effects were found in the GHSR KO mice. Additionally, administration of MH significantly stimulated BDNF and p-mTOR protein expressions in the hippocampus (both P<0.01), which were also prevented by [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6 (P<0.01). Besides, 3 main BOLD foci following acute FS rats implicated activity in hippocampus—thalamus—basal ganglia (HTB) circuits. The [D-Lys3]-GHRP-6 synchronously inhibited BOLD HTB foci. As expected, prokinetic mosapride only had effects on the thalamus and basal ganglia, but not on the hippocampus. Within the HTB, the hippocampus is implicated in depression and FD. Conclusions: MH accounts for part of AP effects of parent formula CSP in acute FS rats, mainly via ghrelin-related shared regulation coupled to BOLD signals in brain areas. This novel functionally connection of HTB following acute stress, treatment, and regulation highlights anti-depression unified theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a major complication of pregnancy. GDM is associated with a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO). The purpose of this study was to assess the association between third-trimester platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentration and the risk of APO in GDM pregnant women. This study selected 406 non-elderly gestational diabetes patients diagnosed in the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from May 2021 to February 2023 as the research objects. According to the presence or absence of APO, they were divided into an APO group (n = 171) and a non-APO group (n = 235). Logistic regression model to evaluate the correlation between PLR and hsCRP and APO in women with GDM; Restricted cubic spline analyses was used to explore nonlinear correlations between PLR or hsCRP and the risk of APO; ROC curve analysis of the diagnostic performance of PLR and hsCRP for APO in women with GDM. APO occurred in 171 of the 406 included participants. Compared with the non-APO group, patients in the APO group had higher PLR and hsCRP levels. The incidence of APO was positively associated with PLR and the hsCRP level in each logistic regression model (P < 0.05). After adjusting for all the risk factors included in this study, restricted cubic spline analyses found that the PLR and the hsCRP level were positively associated with the risk of APO. The levels of PLR and hsCRP in the third trimester are related to the occurrence of APO in women with GDM, and high levels of PLR and hsCRP may indicate the occurrence of APO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-testing allows one to characterise quantum systems under minimal assumptions. However, existing schemes rely on quantum nonlocality and cannot be applied to systems that are not entangled. Here, we introduce a robust method that achieves self-testing of individual systems by taking advantage of contextuality. The scheme is based on the simplest contextuality witness for the simplest contextual quantum system—the Klyachko-Can-Binicioğlu-Shumovsky inequality for the qutrit. We establish a lower bound on the fidelity of the state and the measurements as a function of the value of the witness under a pragmatic assumption on the measurements. We apply the method in an experiment on a single trapped 40Ca+ using randomly chosen measurements and perfect detection efficiency. Using the observed statistics, we obtain an experimental demonstration of self-testing of a single quantum system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaming the system, a behavior in which learners exploit a system's properties to make progress while avoiding learning, has frequently been shown to be associated with lower learning. However, when we applied a previously validated gaming detector across conditions in experiments with an algebra tutor, the detected gaming was not associated with reduced learning, challenging its validity in our study context. Our exploratory data analysis suggested that varying contextual factors across and within conditions contributed to this lack of association. We present a new approach, latent variable-based gaming detection (LV-GD), that controls for contextual factors and more robustly estimates student-level latent gaming tendencies. In LV-GD, a student is estimated as having a high gaming tendency if the student is detected to game more than the expected level of the population given the context. LV-GD applies a statistical model on top of an existing action-level gaming detector developed based on a typical human labeling process, without additional labeling effort. Across three datasets, we find that LV-GD consistently outperformed the original detector in validity measured by association between gaming and learning as well as reliability. LV-GD also afforded high practical utility: it more accurately revealed intervention effects on gaming, revealed a correlation between gaming and perceived competence in math and helped understand productive detected gaming behaviors. Our approach is not only useful for others wanting a cost-effective way to adapt a gaming detector to their context but is also generally applicable in creating robust behavioral measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the response mechanism of ecosystem services (ES) to landscape patterns is important in regional landscape planning and sustainable development. In this study, the landscape index and InVEST model were used to quantitatively analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of landscape patterns and ES in the Ganjiang River Basin of China from 1990 to 2020. Furthermore, the bivariate Moran's I method and spatial error model were used to test the spatial correlation between landscape index and ES. The results showed that (1) cropland decreased and construction land increased, and the overall landscape tended to be fragmented, the patch shape complicated, and landscape diversity increased from 1990 to 2020. Water conservation (WC) and soil conservation (SC) capacity increased by 10.56 mm and 16.24 t hm–2 a–1, respectively, whereas carbon storage (CS) decreased by 1.22 t hm–2 a–1. (2) The responses of different typical ES to landscape patterns were different in the landscape index and response degree. Typical ES negatively responded to Shannon's diversity index and patch density. WC was sensitive to the Splitting Index, whereas SC and CS were more responsive to the average patch area. (3) The overall purpose of territorial spatial planning within a basin should be to reduce the fragmentation and heterogeneity of the landscape. According to four local aggregation patterns of landscape index and ES, corresponding measures can be taken according to local conditions in different regions. These results can provide a quantitative basis for landscape management and ecological construction in the Ganjiang River Basin and scientific guidance for the Yangtze River conservation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved energy utilisation, precision, and quality are critical in the current trend of low-carbon green manufacturing. In this study, three abrasive belts were prepared at various wear stages and characterised quantitatively. The effects of abrasive belt wear on the specific grinding energy partition were investigated by evaluating robotic belt grinding of titanium plates. A specific grinding energy model based on subdivided tangential forces of cutting and sliding was developed for investigating specific energy and energy utilisation coefficient EUC. The surface morphology and Abbott–Firestone curves of the belts were introduced to analyse the experimental findings from the perspective of the micro cutting behaviour. The specific grinding energy increased with abrasive belt wear, especially when the belt was near the end of its life. Moreover, the belt wear could lead to a predominance change of sliding and chip formation energy. The highest EUC was observed in the middle of the belt life because of its retained sharp cutting edge and uniform distribution of the grit protrusion height. This study provides guidance for balancing the energy consumption and energy utilization efficiency of belt grinding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cGAS-STING signaling pathway has emerged as a promising target for immunotherapy development. Here, we introduce a light-sensitive optogenetic device for control of the cGAS/STING signaling to conditionally modulate innate immunity, called 'light-inducible SMOC-like repeats' (LiSmore). We demonstrate that photo-activated LiSmore boosts dendritic cell (DC) maturation and antigen presentation with high spatiotemporal precision. This non-invasive approach photo-sensitizes cytotoxic T lymphocytes to engage tumor antigens, leading to a sustained antitumor immune response. When combined with an immune checkpoint blocker (ICB), LiSmore improves antitumor efficacy in an immunosuppressive lung cancer model that is otherwise unresponsive to conventional ICB treatment. Additionally, LiSmore exhibits an abscopal effect by effectively suppressing tumor growth in a distal site in a bilateral mouse model of melanoma. Collectively, our findings establish the potential of targeted optogenetic activation of the STING signaling pathway for remote immunomodulation in mice. Optogenetics makes use of light-sensitive proteins to control biological processes using light. Here, the authors present an optogenetic system that regulates the cGAS/STING pathway remotely and demonstrate its efficacy in murine tumour models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many available chemotherapeutic methods are faced with multiple challenges that range from therapeutic failure to detrimental adverse or toxicity effects. Most of the drugs have low efficacy due to low capability to target specific diseased tissues, minimal biocompatibility and low bioavailability. As a result, they are burden to patients by inducing drug resistance, economic losses and even death. The discovery and utilization of nano-based drug carriers such as superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in drug delivery system (DDS) has been a great achievement for overcoming the pre-existing challenges. After properly coated and appropriately functionalized, they exhibit extensive drug-loading capacity and are able to be circulated in the blood stream without causing immune provocation before achieving the desired therapeutic effects by delivering drug specifically to the targeted site. Furthermore, they can be remotely controlled to release drugs using appropriate stimuli. Therefore, this review has explained important aspects about the utilization of SPIONs as a novel nano-vector for DDS, focusing on their post-synthetic surface modification, functionalization, drug loading and release. This work is potential as it provides a framework into the applications of SPIONs in theranostics of challenging diseases such as cancer by laying down the basic principles of SPION applications in biomedical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether the implementation of a "dual trigger" approach, utilizing gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the GnRH antagonist protocol for in vitro fertilization (IVF), leads to improved pregnancy outcomes compared to the conventional hCG trigger alone. Previous meta-analyses have not provided sufficient evidence to support the superiority of the dual trigger over the hCG trigger in fresh or frozen embryo transfer cycles. Thus, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials were conducted to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the dual trigger on pregnancy outcomes in fresh or frozen embryo transfer cycles. Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted. We searched the Medline and Embase databases for articles up to 2023 by using search terms: "dual trigger," "GnRHa," "hCG," "IVF." Eligible RCTs comparing the dual trigger with the hCG trigger were included. The primary outcome was the live birth rate (LBR) per cycle. The secondary outcomes were the number of oocytes retrieved, number of mature oocytes retrieved, implantation rate, biochemical pregnancy rate, CPR, miscarriage rate and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) rate per started cycle We compared the oocyte maturation and pregnancy outcomes in the dual trigger and hCG trigger groups. In patients undergoing fresh embryo transfer (ET) and frozen–thawed ET, we also conducted a subgroup analysis to evaluate whether dual trigger improves the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR). Results: We included 10 randomised studies, with 825 participants in the dual trigger group and 813 in the hCG trigger group. Compared with the hCG trigger, dual trigger was associated with a significant increase in the LBR per cycle (odds ratio (OR) = 1.61[1.16, 2.25]), number of oocytes retrieved (mean difference [MD] = 1.05 [0.43, 1.68]), number of mature oocytes retrieved (MD = 0.82 [0. 84, 1.16]), and CPR (OR = 1.48 [1.08, 2.01]). Subgroup analyses revealed that dual trigger was associated with a significantly increased CPR in patients who received fresh ET (OR = 1.68 [1.14, 2.48]). By contrast, the dual trigger was not associated with an increased CPR in the patient group with frozen–thawed ET (OR = 1.15 [0.64, 2.08]). Conclusion: The dual trigger was associated with a significantly higher number of retrieved oocytes, number of mature oocytes, CPR, and LBR in IVF than the hCG trigger. The beneficial effect for fresh ET cycles compared with frozen–thawed ET might be associated with increased endometrial receptivity. Relevance: After dual trigger, delaying ET due to the concern of endometrial receptivity might not be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep-burial Ordovician carbonate reservoirs in the Yangshuiwu area (Jizhong Depression) have shown significant hydrocarbon potential since 2016. In this paper, based on the systematic investigation of characteristics and diagenesis of the reservoirs using cores, thin sections, logging, drilling, and geochemical analysis, their controlling factors and formation mechanism were discussed. The three high-quality reservoir belts (RBs) developed in the Ordovician strata are named RB1 (karst reservoirs), RB2 and RB3 (dolostone reservoirs) from top to bottom, each with its own set of pores, vugs, caves, and fractures. The results show that dolostones have relatively higher porosity and permeability than limestones and breccias. Unfilled and partly filled fractures, in particular, multiply enhance reservoir permeability. Additionally, the diagenetic paragenesis developed in marine, meteoric, and burial environments leads to the porosity evolution of Ordovician carbonates, mainly including compaction, calcite cementation, dolomitization, dissolution, and fracturing. Notably, sedimentation and dolomitization controlled by sea-level fluctuations are critical for the reservoirs formation. The tidal-flat sequence of each cycle of sea-level fluctuations influences their distribution. Subaerial meteoric water dissolution triggered by the Late Ordovician uplift plays an important role in the RB1, but has a negligible effect on the RB2 and RB3. Most importantly, the conductive high-angle fractures induced by the activities of the Yangshuiwu and Hexiwu faults from the Eocene to Pliocene can enhance all RBs potential, contributing to the ultimate reservoir quality. Therefore, a four-stage theoretical development model of the Ordovician reservoirs was established in combination with the tectonic background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the quantity and improving the quality of cropland can alleviate the human-land contradiction and promote the sustainable development of agriculture especially in mountainous areas. With the support of the central government's policies, Yan'an, Northern Shaanxi, China implemented a major land consolidation engineering project in the loess hilly-gully region from 2013 to 2018, achieving 33,333.3 ha of new cropland. However, the poor quality of some newly-constructed cropland at the initial stage hindered its efficient utilization. In order to overcome this problem, red clay and Malan loess were compounded in different volume ratios to explore the method to improve the cropland quality. The Root Zone Water Quality Model was used to simulate the effects of different soil treatments on soil water, nitrogen and maize growth. Experimental data were collected from 2018 to 2019 to calibrate and validate the model. The root mean square error (RMSE) of soil water content, nitrate nitrogen concentration, above-ground biomass, leaf area index were in the range of 11.72–14.06 mm, 4.06–11.73 mg kg−1, 835.21–1151.28 kg ha−1 and 0.24–0.47, respectively, while the agreement index (d) between measured and simulated values ranged from 0.70 to 0.96. It was showed that, compared with land constructed with Malan loess only (T1), the soil structure and hydraulic characteristics of land with a volume ratio of red clay and Malan loess of 2:1 (T3) was better. Simulation indicated that, compared with T1, the soil water content and available water content of T3 increased by 14.4% and 19.0%, respectively, while N leaching decreased by 16.9%. The above-ground biomass and maize yield of T3 were 7.9% and 6.7% higher than that of T1, respectively. Furthermore, the water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of T3 increased by 21.0% and 16.6% compared with that of T1. These results indicated that compounding red clay and Malan loess in an appropriate ratio was an effective method to improve soil quality. This study provides a technical idea and specific technical parameters for the construction or improvement of cropland in loess hilly-gully region, which may also provide reference for similar projects in other places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the combined application of dimethylaminohexadecyl methacrylate (DMAHDM) and 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP) on dentin bonding and its antimicrobial properties. DMAHDM was incorporated into the adhesives at 5% by mass, where two commercial adhesives were used: (1) MDP-free adhesive (single bond 2); (2) MDP-containing adhesive (single bond universal, SBU). The microtensile bond strength (μTBS) and nanoleakage were analyzed on the combination. The effects of DMAHDM on the interaction between MDP and hydroxyapatite and the degree of conversion were assessed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Antimicrobial properties were examined by live/dead staining assay, colony-forming units (CFU), and metabolic activity, and cytotoxicity was measured using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. 5% DMAHDM or MDP-containing groups showed increased immediate μTBS compared with the control group. Nanoleakage showed that 5% DMAHDM or MDP-containing groups presented little amount of silver penetration, while the control group exhibited extensive silver uptake along the bonding interface after water storage aging. FTIR showed that the interaction between MDP and hydroxyapatite was not affected by DMAHDM, besides DMAHDM did not hamper the polymerization of the bonding agents. The adhesives added with DMAHDM inhibited biofilm formation and reduced the biofilm CFU and metabolic activity of Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans (P < 0.05). No cytotoxic or slight cytotoxic effect was detected for the experimental materials used (MDP and 5% DMAHDM). The addition of DMAHDM along with MDP can obtain improved dentin bonding with increased antimicrobial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inconel 718 alloy has high strength and work-hardening characteristics that make the material difficult to machine, and the morphology accuracy is difficult to guarantee. The microstructure of the alloy surface can improve the wettability of the material and affect the functional application of the alloy. In this study, a new process for machining square micropillars on the surface of Inconel 718 alloy using laser vertical cross-scanning technique is proposed—laser-belt machining. The microstructure, roughness, wettability, and chemical composition of Inconel 718 alloy surface were characterized. The results show that the morphological features can be effectively ensured by increasing the laser frequency, increasing the laser scanning pitch and decreasing the laser power. In addition, the capillary forces, nanoparticles, and roughness generated by the square micropillars under the effect of material ablation, thermodynamic processes, and oxidation reactions that make the alloy material surface with better wettability. Compared with other processes, this process has a contact angle of 4.7° under specific processing parameters, achieving a wettability transition from hydrophilic to superhydrophilic (contact angle less than 5°). This study provides guidance on the morphological accuracy and wettability analysis of microstructure surfaces using composite processing technology and provides a new idea for the rapid preparation of microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the concept of non-degenerate Bell inequality, we show that quantum entanglement, the critical resource for various quantum information processing tasks, can be quantified for any unknown quantum state in a semi-device-independent manner, where the quantification is based on the experimentally obtained probability distributions and prior knowledge of the quantum dimension only. Specifically, as an application of our approach to multi-level systems, we experimentally quantify the entanglement of formation and the entanglement of distillation for qutrit-qutrit quantum systems. In addition, to demonstrate our approach for multi-partite systems, we further quantify the geometric measure of entanglement of three-qubit quantum systems. Our results supply a general way to reliably quantify entanglement in multi-level and multi-partite systems, thus paving the way to characterize many-body quantum systems by quantifying the involved entanglement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A divide-and-conquer solver coupled with Tensor-Train (TT) format is proposed for solving the d-dimensional time-space fractional diffusion equations with alternating direction implicit finite difference scheme. In contrast to the complexity and storage of divide-and-conquer solver in full storage format, which grows at least exponentially with dimension d, complexity and storage of the proposed solver are O N M log M + r r + (d - 1) r 2 + N log 2 N · r and O M r + (d - 1) r 2 + N r with acceleration by an efficient approximated Toeplitz inversion, where M, N are numbers of spatial and temporal grid points and r is the TT-ranks of related TT format data. Hence they grow slowly with dimension d if the TT-ranks r is low. For reducing the increase of TT-ranks after certain TT operations, TT rounding is performed with introduced error, which is analyzed for giving a criterion for preserving convergence rate of the numerical scheme. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed solver is illustrated by numerical experiments with dimension d up to 20 for case of low TT-ranks initial conditions and source terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The study aims to develop a model to predict the risk of moderate to severe cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in colorectal cancer patients after chemotherapy. Methods: The study population was colorectal cancer patients who received chemotherapy from September 2021 to June 2022 in a grade 3 and first-class hospital. Demographic, clinical, physiological, psychological, and socioeconomic factors were collected 1 to 2 days before the start of chemotherapy. Patients were followed up for 1 to 2 days after the end of chemotherapy to assess fatigue using the Piper Fatigue Scale. A random sampling method was used to select 181 patients with moderate to severe CRF as the case group. The risk set sampling method was used to select 181 patients with mild or no CRF as the control group. Logistic regression, back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN), and decision tree models were constructed and compared. Results: A total of 362 patients consisting of 241 derivation samples and 121 validation samples were enrolled. Comparing the three models, the prediction effect of BP-ANN was the best, with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.83. Internal and external verification indicated that the accuracy of prediction was 70.4% and 80.8%, respectively. Significant predictors identified were surgery, complications, hypokalaemia, albumin, neutrophil percentage, pain (VAS score), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) score, sleep quality (PSQI score), anxiety (HAD-A score), depression (HAD-D score), and nutrition (PG-SGA score). Conclusions: BP-ANN was the best model, offering theoretical guidance for clinicians to formulate a tool to identify patients at high risk of moderate to severe CRF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aero-engine fan blades often use a cavity structure to improve the thrust-to-weight ratio of the aircraft. However, the use of the cavity structure brings a series of difficulties to the manufacturing and processing of the blades. Due to the limitation of blade manufacturing technology, it is difficult for the internal cavity structure to achieve the designed contour shape, so the blade has uneven wall thickness and poor consistency, which affects the fatigue performance and airflow dynamic performance of the blade. In order to reduce the influence of uneven wall thickness, this paper proposes a grinding allowance extraction method considering the double dimension constraints (DDC) of the inner and outer contours of the hollow blade. Constrain the two dimensions of the inner and outer contours of the hollow blade. On the premise of satisfying the outer contour constraints, the machining model of the blade is modified according to the distribution of the inwall contour to obtain a more reasonable distribution of the grinding allowance. On the premise of satisfying the contour constraints, according to the distribution of the inwall contour, the machining model of the blade is modified to obtain a more reasonable distribution of the grinding allowance. Through the grinding experiment of the hollow blade, the surface roughness is below Ra0.4 μm, and the contour accuracy is between − 0.05~0.14 mm, which meets the processing requirements. Compared with the allowance extraction method that only considers the contour, the problem of poor wall thickness consistency can be effectively improved. It can be used to extract the allowance of aero-engine blades with hollow features, which lays a foundation for the study of hollow blade grinding methods with high service performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replacing liquid electrolyte (LE) with gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) can significantly improve the safety and long-term stability of lithium-ion batteries. However, the traditional pure polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based GPE after immersion in the electrolyte has the problem of poor mechanical properties and easy damage. In this article, PMMA was used as the matrix, and low-density polyethylene particles were mixed to prepare a kind of structure-enhanced and heat-resistant GPE by phase inversion method. The prepared GPE has high ionic conductivity at room temperature. It can slow down the temperature rise of the battery by reducing the ionic conductivity at high temperatures, thereby improving the safe application performance of the battery. In addition, the symmetrical battery made of this material can maintain ultra-low overvoltage and run stably for at least 800 h in the overpotential test when the current density is 1 mA cm−2. This study provides new insights for the preparation of high-temperature safety GPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent image inpainting approaches based on deep convolutional neural networks have achieved promising results. However, existing methods fail to consider the global and local consistency of the pixels to be recovered. We designed a cross-hierarchy global and local aware network (CGLANet) to solve these problems. This model refines the high-level feature maps from deeper layers with global pixel attention (GPA), then fuses hierarchical feature maps with proposed local-consistent attention (LCA). The GPA is an image-level block that aims to improve the structural consistency between the restored images and those around the uncorrupted images. The LCA is a patch-level block that guarantees the consistency of local textural details by modeling the semantic relevance between the pixels within the local patches of images. Experiments on benchmark datasets demonstrated the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art image inpainting models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generating images from text descriptions is a challenging task due to the natural gap between the textual and visual modalities. Despite the promising results of existing methods, they suffer from two limitations: (1) focus more on the image semantic information while fails to fully explore the texture information; (2) only consider to model the correlation between words and image with a fixed scale, thus decreases the diversity and discriminability of the network representations. To address above issues, we propose a Multi-scale Dual-modal Generative Networks (MD-GAN). The core components of MD-GAN are the dual-modal modulation attention (DMA) and the multi-scale consistency discriminator (MCD). The DMA includes two blocks: the textual guiding module that captures the correlation between images and text descriptions to rectify the image semantic content, and the channel sampling module that adjusts image texture by selectively aggregating the channel-wise information on spatial space. In addition, the MCD constructs the correlation between text and image region of various sizes, enhancing the semantic consistency between text and images. Extensive experiments on CUB and MS-COCO datasets show the superiority of MD-GAN over state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks composed of independent sources of entangled particles that connect distant users are a rapidly developing quantum technology and an increasingly promising test-bed for fundamental physics. Here we address the certification of their post-classical properties through demonstrations of full network nonlocality. Full network nonlocality goes beyond standard nonlocality in networks by falsifying any model in which at least one source is classical, even if all the other sources are limited only by the no-signaling principle. We report on the observation of full network nonlocality in a star-shaped network featuring three independent sources of photonic qubits and joint three-qubit entanglement-swapping measurements. Our results demonstrate that experimental observation of full network nonlocality beyond the bilocal scenario is possible with current technology.Full network nonlocality, which certifies nonclassical behaviour in all sources of quantum networks, has so far only been demonstrated in the simplest scenarios. Here, the authors reach a complete experimental demonstration in a complex network involving three-qubit joint measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the dynamics of a predator-stage structured model with cannibalism, degenerate diffusion and free boundaries. The existence and uniqueness of the global solution are discussed firstly. Next, we investigate long time behavior of the predators and the prey. Then a spreading–vanishing dichotomy and the criteria are obtained for two cases. The theoretical analyses indicate that: (i) the propagation profile of the free boundary problem is significantly different from that of the corresponding ordinary differential equations; (ii) the transition ratio of two developing forms (cannibalization and natural maturation) from juvenile to adult stage should be sufficiently small so that predators can spread successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abrasive belt grinding is a commonly used machining technique for many key components, especially on aerospace equipment. The surface roughness results from a belt grinding process are essential for the fatigue performance of workpieces; however, little research was reported on the surface topography generation of abrasive belt grinding. This study proposed a modeling and simulation method for the surface topography of abrasive belt grinding considering its elastic contact. Abrasive grain cloud forming tool was established combining standard grains number with Gaussian distribution. Workpiece surface and tool trajectory were discretized based on Brinell theory, which considered the microscopic cutting effects. Besides, Hertz theory is used to calculate the elastic deformation of rubber contact wheel with the selection of active abrasive grains and redistribution of forces in contact area; as a result, the interaction between multiple abrasive grains and workpiece could be simulated. Moreover, to verify the proposed method, numerical simulations and abrasive belt grinding experiments were conducted and compared. The results show that the minimum profile gap and error can reach 0.003 mm and 1.03% in terms of material removal depth and surface profile, and the error calculation is deeply affected by the denominator (simulation results). The grinding surface texture simulated by the model agrees well with the experimental observations, and the average predicting error of surface roughness is 3.25%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abrasive belt grinding is widely used in typical difficult materials such as titanium alloy, due to its lower grinding temperature and flexible machining. Processing efficiency and processing quality are the two most concerning problems. However, when enhancing processing efficiency, it is a key issue to guarantee the quality of the machining surface. This study provided a parameter optimization model based on the optimization objectives of surface roughness (Ra) and material removal rate (MRR), and the grinding parameters obtained by the solution were verified by experiments. It is found that the performance of the improved non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (CNSGA-II) is generally good. The algorithm can converge faster and the diversity of Pareto solutions is improved. Besides, when the process parameters obtained by the multi-objective optimization model are used for machining, the surface roughness of the workpiece is reduced to 0.499 μm, and the material removal amount can reach 0.115 mg/min. This shows that the method can not only improve the grinding efficiency of titanium alloy workpiece, but also improve the surface quality. Furthermore, the surface morphology is better with the optimal combination of process parameters; there are no obvious tearing and wear debris on the surface of the CNSGA-II (Ra, MRR), which exhibited deeper wear scars than that of the DF (Ra) and improves surface fineness and flatness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing flood hazard risk assessments is vital in early warning systems to mitigate damage resulting from floods. However, assessing flood risk zones is difficult because of complex physical processes. In this study, a two-step flood hazard zoning model based on the random forest (RF) and self-organizing map (SOM) is proposed to yield the flood hazard zones map. In the first step (flood susceptibility analysis), the flood conditioning factors are used to obtain the flood susceptibility values. In the second step (flood hazard zoning), the proposed model not only considers the flood susceptibility value of the self-pixel as the module input, but also simultaneously considers flood susceptibility values of surrounding pixels to yield the flood hazard zoning map. The proposed model was applied to the Lanyang Plain in Yilan County, Taiwan, to demonstrate its advantages. The results indicated that the proposed model with the flood susceptibility values of the self-pixel and surrounding pixels does improve the assessment performance, significantly improving percentage of the effective ratio (ER) from results for the very high and high-risk level zones is 6 and 46%, respectively. The ER of the proposed model also improved by 9.6 and 30% for the very high and high-risk level zones than the conventional model, and it could provide optimal flood hazard zoning maps. In conclusion, the proposed model is expected to be useful in supporting the formulation of adequate disaster mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A versatile magnetometer must deliver a readable response when exposed to target fields in a wide range of parameters. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate that the combination of171Yb+ atomic sensors with adequately trained neural networks enables us to investigate target fields in distinct challenging scenarios. In particular, we characterize radio frequency (RF) fields in the presence of large shot noise, including the limit case of continuous data acquisition via single-shot measurements. Furthermore, by incorporating neural networks we significantly extend the working regime of atomic magnetometers into scenarios in which the RF driving induces responses beyond their standard harmonic behavior. Our results indicate the benefits to integrate neural networks at the data processing stage of general quantum sensing tasks to decipher the information contained in the sensor responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]