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Transition metal-catalyzed addition of organometallics to aryl(alkyl)alkynes has been well known to proceed with the regioselectivity in forming a carbon–carbon bond at the alkyl-substituted carbon (β-addition). Herein, the reverse regiochemistry with high selectivity in giving 1,1-diarylalkenes (α-addition) was realized in the reaction of arylboronic acids with aryl(alkyl)alkynes by use of a rhodium catalyst coordinated with a chiral diene ligand, whereas the arylation of the same alkynes proceeded with the usual regioselectivity (β-addition) in the presence of a rhodium/DM-BINAP catalyst. The regioselectivity can be switched by the choice of ligands on the rhodium catalysts. This reverse regioselectivity also enabled the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of phoenix-like axially chiral alkylidene dihydroanthracenes with high enantioselectivity through an α-addition/1,4-migration/cyclization sequence. Transition-metal-catalysed additions of carbon species to aryl(alkyl)alkynes is an established and useful methodology for building towards useful molecular complexity. Here, the authors present rhodium-catalysed regiodivergent additions to aryl(alkyl)alkynes, which allows access to the uncommonly found α-addition products through modulation of the ligand choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The facile reconfiguration of phases plays a pivotal role in enhancing the electrocatalytic production of H2 through heterostructure formation. While chemical methods have been explored extensively for this purpose, plasma-based techniques offer a promising avenue for achieving heterostructured nano-frameworks. However, the conventional plasma approach introduces complexities, leading to a multi-step fabrication process and challenges in precisely controlling partial surface structure modulation due to the intricate interaction environment. In our pursuit of heterostructures with optimized oxygen evolution reaction (OER) behavior, we have designed a facile auxiliary insulator-confined plasma system to directly attain a Ni3N–NiO heterostructure (hNiNO). By meticulously controlling the surface heating process during plasma processing, such approach allows for the streamlined fabrication of hNiNO nano-frameworks. The resulting nano-framework exhibits outstanding catalytic performance, as evidenced by its overpotential of 320 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2, in an alkaline environment. This stands in stark contrast to the performance of NiO-covered Ni3N fabricated using the conventional plasma method (sNiNO). Operando plasma diagnostics, coupled with numerical simulations, further substantiates the influence of surface heating due to auxiliary insulator confinement of the substrate on typical plasma parameters and the formation of the Ni3N–NiO nanostructure, highlighting the pivotal role of controlled surface temperature in creating a high-performance heterostructured electrocatalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the rock-breaking process of a 17-inch disc-type cutterhead in a full-face tunnel boring machine (TBM), we utilized the discrete element method software EDEM to analyze the in-fluence of relevant parameters (cutter spacing, penetration depth, installation radius, phase difference) on rock-breaking loads and efficiency. Firstly, validate the rationality of the discrete element model for the disc cutter rock-breaking process. Subsequently, establish a simulation of sequential rock-breaking with multiple rotating disc cutters and analyze the load characteristics as well as specific energy consumption. Simulation results indicate that within certain parameter ranges, an increase in cutter penetration depth leads to an increase in average load force, while an increase in cutter spacing and installation radius initially results in an increase in average load force followed by a decrease. An increase in phase difference results in an initial decrease in average load force followed by an increase. Based on orthogonal tests, a combination of rock-breaking parameters with values of 100 mm for cutter spacing, 8 mm for penetration depth, 650 mm for installation radius, and 45° for phase difference was found to yield lower specific energy consumption. This method can provide reference for cutter arrangement and cutterhead performance prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) present a significant challenge to global public health, with prolonged drug use not only impairing individual health but also hindering social development. Despite various interventions aimed at addressing drug abuse and dependence, a high relapse rate remains a prominent issue. In light of this, this study aims to explore the impact of perceived stress on the relapse of individuals with SUDs, as well as the mediating role of self-control and the moderating role of social support, in hopes of providing new perspectives for interventions to reduce the risk of relapse among individuals with SUDs. By utilizing a convenience sampling method, 420 male individuals with SUDs were recruited from detoxification centers in Guangxi, China. They completed questionnaires on perceived stress, self-control, social support, and tendencies towards relapse. A total of 401 valid datasets were obtained and analyzed using the SPSS Process plugin to conduct a moderated mediation model analysis. Results: (1) Perceived stress had a positive impact on the relapse of individuals with SUDs, (2) Self-control played a partial mediating role between perceived stress and the relapse, (3) The direct effect of perceived stress on the relapse and its first half of the indirect effect were moderated by social support. The research emphasize the critical importance of learning stress management strategies, enhancing self-control, and receiving comprehensive social support in the prevention and treatment of substance dependence. By strengthening self-control and social support as both internal and external resources, the likelihood of relapse among individuals with SUDs can be reduced, contributing to more effective and comprehensive drug rehabilitation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ESs) refer to the continuous provisioning of ecosystem goods and services that benefit human beings. Over recent decades, rapid urbanization has exerted significant pressure on coastal ecosystems, resulting in biodiversity and habitat loss, environmental pollution, and the depletion of natural resources. In response to these environmental challenges, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were proposed. Given the pressing need to address these issues, understanding the changes in ESs under the SDGs is crucial for formulating specific ecological strategies. In this study, we first analyzed land use and cover change in the Zhejiang coasts of China during 2000–2020. Then, we investigated the spatiotemporal configuration of ESs by integrating carbon storage (CS), soil retention (SR), habitat quality (HQ) and water yield (WY) using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model. The driving mechanisms of ESs, which varied by space and time, were also explored using the Geo-detector method. The results revealed that, over the past two decades: 1) the Zhejiang coasts have experienced a significant increase of 2783.72 km2 in built-up land areas and a continuous decrease in farmland areas due to rapid urbanization; 2) owing to higher precipitation, extensive vegetation cover, and reduced anthropogenic disturbances, forests emerge as a crucial land use type for maintaining ecosystem services such as HQ, CS, WY, and SR; 3) ESs have generally declined across the entire Zhejiang coasts, with a significant decrease observed in the northern areas and an increase in the southern areas spatially; 4) the expansion of built-up land areas emerged as the primary factor affecting ecosystem services, while the vegetation factor has been increasingly significant and is expected to become predominant in the near future. Our study provides insights of understanding of ecosystem service theory and emphasizing the importance of preserving biodiversity for long-term sustainable development, and valuable scientific references to support the ecological management decision-making for local governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optogenetics, a technique that employs light for neuromodulation, has revolutionized the study of neural mechanisms and the treatment of neurological disorders due to its high spatiotemporal resolution and cell-type specificity. However, visible light, particularly blue and green light, commonly used in conventional optogenetics, has limited penetration in biological tissue. This limitation necessitates the implantation of optical fibers for light delivery, especially in deep brain regions, leading to tissue damage and experimental constraints. To overcome these challenges, the use of orange-red and infrared light with greater tissue penetration has emerged as a promising approach for tetherless optical neuromodulation. In this review, we provide an overview of the development and applications of tetherless optical neuromodulation methods with long wavelengths. We first discuss the exploration of orange-red wavelength-responsive rhodopsins and their performance in tetherless optical neuromodulation. Then, we summarize two novel tetherless neuromodulation methods using near-infrared light: upconversion nanoparticle-mediated optogenetics and photothermal neuromodulation. In addition, we discuss recent advances in mid-infrared optical neuromodulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is involved in the development of erectile dysfunction (ED). The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between the metabolic score for IR (METS-IR) index and risk of erectile dysfunction in US adults. Methods: This study selected individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Logistic regression analysis, subgroup analysis, and dose–response curve analysis were carried out to assess the relationship between the METS-IR index and ED prevalence. Results: This study ultimately included 1759 participants aged ≥ 20 years, of whom 512 self-reported a history of ED. After adjusting for all confounders, each unit increase in METS-IR index was associated with a 3% increase in erectile dysfunction prevalence (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01–1.04). In almost all subgroups, an increased METS-IR index was associated with a higher prevalence of ED. The dose–response curve displayed a positive non-linear connection between METS-IR value and the prevalence of ED. Conclusion: The study found a positive association between the METS-IR index and ED. METS-IR is useful as a simplified IR evaluation index for early identification of people with high risk of ED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silkworm pupae as widely consumed insect products are good biosources of protein and micronutrients. Silkworm rearing throughout the year can be achieved by feeding them an artificial diet instead of native plants, facilitating extensive pupa production. However, artificial diets are prone to spoilage caused by bacterial contamination. Here, we evaluated the antiseptic effect of ethylparaben (EP, chemical preservative) and medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, natural preservative) in a silkworm artificial diet. Results showed that both preservatives effectively inhibited pathogenic bacterial growth. Furthermore, the addition of EP or MCFA did not negatively impact the production capacity of silkworms and the homeostasis of gut microbiota. However, the expression of genes involved in detoxification such as Ugt2, and immune response such as Cecropin B, were upregulated after EP consumption. Therefore, natural preservative MCFA emerges as a suitable option from a safety perspective. These findings highlight future directions for improving insect artificial diet formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubbers or elastomers play an important role in hi-tech technology and civilian daily life because of their unique and strategical properties. Generally, the rubber additives are essential components for rubbers' practical application. Nowadays, developing novel multifunctional additives has attracted increasing research attention. In this work, low-cost crude carbon dots (CCDs) were used as multifunctional additives for natural rubber/silica system (without any additional modification) through industrial compatible melt-mixing method. The results revealed that the CCDs could disperse well in the NR/silica system, and they could not only endow the rubber compound with excellent anti-aging capability due to CCDs' radical scavenging activity because of their plenty of nitrogen-containing species, but also improve the curing rate and mechanical performance of the rubber composite. Also, the CCDs could reduce the rolling resistance of the rubber composites (tanδ value at 7% strain of the rubber composite could be decreased by 34%), which is promising for the application of energy-saving tire industry. Lastly, the addition of CCDs could effectively reduce the ZnO dosage by at least 40% in the rubber composite without deteriorating its performance. Overall, this work provides valuable guidance to develop novel cheap yet effective additives for the elastomer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to describe the morbidity and mortality of children during the entire COVID-19 pandemic. Age-disaggregated data of 108,003,741 cases and 560,426 deaths were collected from Canada, France, Germany, and Italy. The number of cases and deaths per million people per week, as well as case fatality rates (CFRs), were calculated for patients aged 0–14 and ≥ 15 years. During the first pandemic period in the four countries, starting from weeks 4 to 11 (in 2020) and ending at week 22 (in 2021), the number of deaths per million people per week and the CFRs in the ≥ 15 years age group were 500 to 2513 and 442 to 1662 times greater, respectively, than those in the 0–14 years age group. The number of deaths per million people per week was significantly lower in the first pandemic period than in the second pandemic period, which started at week 23 (2021) and ended from week 22 to week 25 (2023). During the second pandemic period in the four countries, the disparities between the ≥ 15 years and 0–14 years age groups decreased, and the number of deaths per million people per week in the ≥ 15 years age group was 76 to 180 times greater than it in the 0–14 years age group. Conclusion: Children aged 0–14 years had a far lower mortality risk during the entire COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of viral variants and/or vaccination on the mortality rate is difficult to distinguish. What is Known: • Although extensive studies have focused on COVID-19-induced mortality, most of them are provisional reports performed during the unfolding of the pandemic and provide imprecise conclusion. What is New: • We described the morbidity and mortality for children aged 0–14 years using complete survey data recorded during the entire COVID-19 pandemic. • The number of deaths per million people per week was far lower in children aged 0–14 years, while the number of deaths per million people per week in children aged 0–14 years was significantly higher in the second period which starting from week 23 (2021) and ending at week 22 to 25 (2023) than in the first period which starting from week 1 to 11 (2020) and ending at week 22 (2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial to fully understand the degradation law of commercial LiFePO4 lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in terms of their health and safety status under different operating conditions, as well as the degradation mechanism and influencing factors. This work investigates the evolution patterns of cycling performance in commercial LiFePO4 batteries under different operating conditions, including temperature, electrolyte, charge/discharge rate, and depth of cycling. Structure characterization tests on electrode materials before and after long-term cycles have been carried out to elucidate the failure/degradation mechanisms during battery operation. It has been found that it is a comprehensive effect from different operation conditions that results in performance degradation. Fe element shuttling and Li deposition may cause internal decay of LiFePO4 LIBs. Additionally, working temperatures and the rate and depth of discharge (DOD) should be strictly controlled to achieve high energy retention and long life. This study proposes a perspective that explores the impact of internal and external factors on the degradation of the safety performance in LiFePO4 LIBs, with the aim of improving the safe and stable operation of large-scale LiFePO4 LIB energy storage systems, as it is favorable to unravel their complex multi-dimensional evolution mechanism and coupling effects throughout their life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mean-standard deviation shortest path problem (MSDSPP) incorporates the travel time variability into the routing optimization. The idea is that the decision-maker wants to minimize the travel time not only on average, but also to keep their variability as small as possible. Its objective is a linear combination of mean and standard deviation of travel times. This study focuses on the problem of finding the best- K optimal paths for the MSDSPP. We denote this problem as the KMSDSPP. When the travel time variability is neglected, the KMSDSPP reduces to a K -shortest path problem with expected routing costs. This paper develops two methods to solve the KMSDSPP, including a basic method and a deviation path-based method. To find the k + 1 th optimal path, the basic method adds k constraints to exclude the first- k optimal paths. Additionally, we introduce the deviation path concept and propose a deviation path-based method. To find the k + 1 th optimal path, the solution space that contains the k th optimal path is decomposed into several subspaces. We just need to search these subspaces to generate additional candidate paths and find the k + 1 th optimal path in the set of candidate paths. Numerical experiments are implemented in several transportation networks, showing that the deviation path-based method has superior performance than the basic method, especially for a large value of K . Compared with the basic method, the deviation path-based method can save 90.1% CPU running time to find the best 1000 optimal paths in the Anaheim network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Mechanica Sinica is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The detection of anomalous targets in transmission lines is an important research topic for industrial applications and power grid construction. However, due to the complexity of anomalous targets in the natural environment, existing target detection algorithms have problems such as false and missed detection. To improve the detection performance of anomalous targets, we make the following improvements based on the YOLOX algorithm. First, we assign weights to important target features, extend the perceptual domain of small targets, and enhance their nonlinear representation. Second, the residual network structure is optimized to obtain the key information of the target. Finally, a feature enhancement network with an attention mechanism is proposed to enhance the visibility of anomalous targets in the feature map. The experimental results show that the detection accuracy of the detection model in this paper reaches 82.7% and 91.1% for high-voltage tower bird nest and power line insulator targets, respectively, and the detection speed can reach 72.4 FPS. Compared with the YOLOX network, our method has better detection performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is thought to be related to placental dysfunction, particularly poor extravillous trophoblast (EVT) invasion and migration abilities. However, the pathogenic mechanism is not fully understood. This article describes the impact of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate(cAMP) signaling pathway on EVT behavior, focusing on EVT proliferation, invasion, and migration. Here, we used the HTR8/SV-neo cell line to study human EVT function in vitro. HTR8/SV-neo cells were treated with different concentrations of forskolin (cAMP pathway-specific agonist) to alter intracellular cAMP levels, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as the control. First, a cAMP assay was performed to measure the cAMP concentration in HTR8/SV-neo cells treated with different forskolin concentrations, and cell proliferation was assessed by constructing cell growth curves and assessing colony formation. Cell invasion and migration were observed by Transwell experiments, and intracellular epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker expression was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blotting (WB). According to our research, the intracellular cAMP levels in HTR8/SV-neo cells were increased in a dose-dependent manner, and HTR8/SV-neo cell proliferation, invasion and migration were significantly enhanced. The expression of EMT and angiogenesis markers was upregulated. Additionally, with the increase in intracellular cAMP levels, the phosphorylation of intracellular mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway components was significantly increased. These results suggested that the cAMP signaling pathway promoted the phosphorylation of MAPK signaling components, thus enhancing EVT functions, including proliferation, invasion, and migration, and to a certain extent, providing a novel direction for the treatment of PE patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin-based perovskite solar cells (TPSCs) are among the best candidates for lead-free photovoltaic technology owing to their low toxicity and high theoretical efficiency. However, the efficiency and stability of TPSCs lag far behind their lead counterparts because of the poor controllability of perovskite film growth and the intrinsically easy oxidation of Sn2+. Here we synthesize two pyridyl-substituted fulleropyrrolidines (PPF) with cis (CPPF) and trans (TPPF) configurations and use them as precursor additives. The spatial configurations of the CPPF and TPPF greatly affect their electron density distributions and interactions with perovskite components. Compared with the CPPF, the TPPF has spatially separated pyridine groups that can catch more perovskite colloids through coordination bonds, thus slowing the perovskite crystallization process. The resultant perovskite film displayed better crystal orientation and compactness. The TPPF also remains located at the grain boundaries, improves the interface energy level alignment and suppresses Sn2+ oxidation. As a result, the TPPF-based TPSCs exhibit a high power conversion efficiency of 15.38% (certified 15.14%) and excellent stability, maintaining 99% and 93% of their initial efficiencies after 3,000 h of storage and 500 h of continuous illumination, respectively. This work highlights the importance of regulating coordination in the precursor solution in preparing high-quality tin-based perovskite films, paving the way to more efficient and stable TPSCs. Two precursor additives improve the performance of tin-based perovskite solar cells, delivering a power conversion efficiency of 15.38% and maintaining 93% of the initial efficiency after 500 h of continuous illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has dramatically changed the treatment paradigm for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Due to the complexity and diversity of stage III disease, the inclusion of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in neoadjuvant treatment regimens is also required. However, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) limit the application of ICIs to a certain extent. Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a serious and fatal complication after pneumonectomy that is rarely reported, especially in patients who accept neoadjuvant immunotherapy or chemoimmunotherapy. Case presentation: Herein, we reported four patients with postoperative BPF who received a neoadjuvant regimen of sintilimab plus chemotherapy. Postoperative BPF occurred in the late stage in three patients; one patient underwent bronchoscopic fistula repair, and the fistula was closed well after surgery, and the other two patients gradually recovered within 1–2 months after symptomatic treatment with antibiotics. One patient with BPF after left pneumonectomy died of respiratory failure due to pulmonary infection. We also reviewed the literature on the development of postoperative BPF in patients receiving immuno-neoadjuvant therapy to discuss the clinical process further, postoperative pathological changes, as well as risk factors of BPF patients. Conclusions: Central type lung cancer with stage III may be the risk factors of BPF in cases of neoadjuvant immunochemotherapy for lung cancers patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallized textiles have shown promising applications in the fields of electrical conductivity, Joule heating and electromagnetic shielding. Poor durability, especially washability, has hindered the commercialization process of these functional textiles due to the significant mechanical mismatch between rigid metal parts and textiles. This work constructed ultra-durable conductive cotton fabrics by growing copper nanoparticles with amorphous region-controlled swelling and multivalent bonding forces to complex the metal particles. The enlarged fiber amorphous zone and phenol-amine molecules are used as templates to provide further possibilities for the internal and external enrichment growth of copper nanoparticles, providing good conductivity and high durability of the processed cotton fabric. The created fabric exhibits excellent electrical conductivity (6.09 ± 0.36 × 10−3 Ω/sq), electrothermal conversion (60 s, 1 V, ~ 140 °C) and electromagnetic shielding efficiency (65.32 dB, 8.2–12.4 GHz). Notably, the electrical conductivity of the fabric remains essentially unchanged (Rs/R0 = 1.106) after 100 standard washing tests. This is attributed to the increase in metal particle loading and the enhancement of metal-fiber bonding fastness. Therefore, this work might provide a novel insight for constructing ultra-washable conductive clothing textiles with heating and EMI shielding performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the critical temperature (TC), critical magnetic field (HC), and critical current (JC) of superconducting materials has always been one of the most significant challenges in the field of superconductivity, but progress has been slow over the years. Based on the concept of injecting energy to enhance electron pairing states, in this study, we introduce green-light GaN p-n junction particles (center wavelength 550 nm) as inhomogeneous phases into MgB2 superconducting materials, forming a smart meta-superconductors structure. Leveraging the electroluminescent properties of p-n junctions, we excite and reinforce Cooper pairs, enhancing the superconducting properties of the MgB2 material. Experimental results demonstrate that compared to pure MgB2 samples, the critical transition temperature (TC) has increased by 1.2 K, the critical current (JC) has increased by 52.8%, and the Meissner effect (HC) shows significant improvement in its diamagnetic properties. This phenomenon of enhanced superconducting performance can be explained by the coupling between superconducting electrons and evanescent waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technique for chromosomal insertion of large DNA segments is much needed in plant breeding and synthetic biology to facilitate the introduction of desired agronomic traits and signaling and metabolic pathways. Here we describe PrimeRoot, a genome editing approach to generate targeted precise large DNA insertions in plants. Third-generation PrimeRoot editors employ optimized prime editing guide RNA designs, an enhanced plant prime editor and superior recombinases to enable precise large DNA insertions of up to 11.1 kilobases into plant genomes. We demonstrate the use of PrimeRoot to accurately introduce gene regulatory elements in rice. In this study, we also integrated a gene cassette comprising PigmR, which confers rice blast resistance driven by an Act1 promoter, into a predicted genomic safe harbor site of Kitaake rice and obtain edited plants harboring the expected insertion with an efficiency of 6.3%. We found that these rice plants have increased blast resistance. These results establish PrimeRoot as a promising approach to precisely insert large segments of DNA in plants. Large genetic cargos are precisely inserted into plant genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,2,4-butanetriol (BT) is a polyol with unique chemical properties, which has a stereocenter and can be divided into D-BT (the S-enantiomer) and L-BT (the R-enantiomer). BT can be used for the synthesis of 1,2,4-butanetriol trinitrate, 3-hydroxytetrahydrofuran, polyurethane, and other chemicals. It is widely used in the military industry, medicine, tobacco, polymer. At present, the BT is mainly synthesized by chemical methods, which are accompanied by harsh reaction conditions, poor selectivity, many by-products, and environmental pollution. Therefore, BT biosynthesis methods with the advantages of mild reaction conditions and green sustainability have become a current research hotspot. In this paper, the research status of microbial synthesis of BT was summarized from the following three aspects: (1) the biosynthetic pathway establishment for BT from xylose; (2) metabolic engineering strategies employed for improving BT production from xylose; (3) other substrates for BT production. Finally, the challenges and prospects of biosynthetic BT were discussed for future methods to improve competitiveness for industrial production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freezing of gait (FoG) is one of the most distressing symptoms of Parkinson's Disease (PD), commonly occurring in patients at middle and late stages of the disease. Automatic and accurate FoG detection and prediction have emerged as a promising tool for long-term monitoring of PD and implementation of gait assistance systems. This paper reviews the recent development of FoG detection and prediction using wearable sensors, with attention on identifying knowledge gaps that need to be filled in future research. This review searched the PubMed and Web of Science databases to collect studies that detect or predict FoG with wearable sensors. After screening, 89 of 270 articles were included. The data description, extracted features, detection/prediction methods, and classification performance were extracted from the articles. As the number of papers of this area is increasing, the performance has been steadily improved. However, small datasets and inconsistent evaluation processes still hinder the application of FoG detection and prediction with wearable sensors in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) in peripheral circulation of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and its role in the development of pSS. Methods: The expression of TIGIT on T cells, B cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and CD14 + monocytes was detected by flow cytometry in pSS and healthy control (HC). The correlations between expression of TIGIT and clinical features and laboratory parameters of pSS were analyzed. Meanwhile, we analyzed the change in expression of TIGIT before and after treatment, and its role in the prognosis of pSS treatment was evaluated. Results: The expression of TIGIT on CD3 + , CD4 + , and CD8 + T cells increased and decreased on CD14 + monocytes in pSS compared to HC; however, there was no significance of B lymphocytes and NK cells. The correlation analysis between the expression of TIGIT on T lymphocytes and CD14 + monocytes and clinical features of pSS showed that the decrease in TIGIT expression on CD14 + monocytes was more closely related to pSS. The expression of TIGIT + CD14 + monocytes negatively correlated with the disease activity of pSS. The expression of TIGIT + CD14 + monocytes of pSS with arthralgia, fatigue, decayed tooth, xerostomia, interstitial lung disease, anti-Ro52 positive, and high IgG decreased compared to that in negative patients. Furthermore, it was significantly lower in active patients than in nonactive patients. After treatment, the expression of TIGIT + CD14 + monocytes tended to increase. Conclusion: Our study suggested that decreased TIGIT expression on CD14 + monocytes was associated with the clinical manifestations, disease activity, and prognosis of pSS patients. TIGIT + CD14 + monocytes may present as a potential target and a biomarker of the prognosis for immunomodulatory therapy in pSS. Key Points • The expression of TIGIT+CD14+ monocytes significantly decreased in pSS patients compared to HC. • There was a negative correlation between TIGIT+CD14+ monocytes and the disease activity of pSS. • TIGIT+CD14+ monocyte expression was associated with the clinical manifestations, autoantibodies, IgG, and prognosis of pSS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To research the relationship between quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) and impaired cognitive function patients who have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) but no dementia. Methods: Subjects who complained of snoring between March 2020 and April 2021 in the Sleep Medicine Center of Weihai Municipal Hospital were included. All subjects underwent overnight in-laboratory polysomnography (PSG) and were assessed using a neuropsychological scale. Standard fast fourier transform (FFT) was used to obtain the electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectral density curve, and to calculate the delta, theta, alpha, and beta relative power and the ratio between slow and fast frequencies. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the risk factors for cognitive impairment in patients who had OSA but no dementia. Correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationship between qEEG and cognitive impairment. Results: A total of 175 participants without dementia who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study. There were 137 patients with OSA, including 76 with mild cognitive impairment (OSA + MCI), 61 without mild cognitive impairment (OSA-MCI), and 38 participants without OSA (non-OSA). The relative theta power in the frontal lobe in stage 2 of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM 2) in OSA + MCI was higher than that in OSA-MCI (P = 0.038) and non-OSA (P = 0.018). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the relative theta power in the frontal lobe in NREM 2 was negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Beijing version scores, and MoCA subdomains scores (visual executive function, naming, attention, language, abstraction, delayed recall and orientation) outside language. Conclusions: In patients who had OSA but no dementia, the EEG slower frequency power increased. The relative theta power in the frontal lobe in NREM 2 was associated with MCI of patients with OSA. These results suggest that the slowing of theta activity may be one of the neurophysiological changes in the early stage of cognitive impairment in patients with OSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The study aimed to investigate the association between lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) levels and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with overweight/obese type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM), and to explore the mechanism of LCN-2 in overweight/obese DR. Methods: The study involved 237 T2DM inpatients divided into the normal group and overweight/obese group, and the two groups were further divided into two subgroups according to the presence or absence of DR. The demographic data and biochemical parameters were measured. Results: LCN-2 levels in overweight/obese groups were higher than those in normal groups (P < 0.001 for all), and patients with DR had higher levels of LCN-2 than those without DR(P < 0.05 for all) in normal groups and overweight/obese groups. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that no significant significance was observed for LCN-2 levels compared to those below the median in the normal group, but individuals with LCN-2 levels above the median had 4.198 times higher risk of developing DR than those below the median (OR = 4.198, 95% CI = 1.676–10.516) after adjustment for potential confounding factors in the overweight/obese group. In the total, normal and overweight/obese groups, the prediction capacity of LCN-2 for DR was 1.56, 1.58 and 1.65 times, respectively. Conclusionsː In conclusion, our study found that LCN-2 levels were higher in overweight/obese patients with DR, and LCN-2 was an independent predictor of DR in T2DM patients with overweight/obese. In addition, LCN-2 may be a valuable predictor of DR-like factors such as the duration of diabetes and hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of temperature on the dynamic parameters of silty clay in a seasonally frozen region was assessed using a GDS dynamic triaxial test system. The strength parameters, dynamic elastic modulus, damping ratio, and other dynamic parameters of the soil samples were analyzed under different temperature conditions. The results demonstrated that the shear strength parameters (internal friction angle and cohesion) of the silty clay under a dynamic load increased significantly with decreasing temperature, and the internal friction angle increased sharply below 0 °C. The dynamic elastic modulus increased as the temperature decreased and changed significantly in the ice-water phase change region. The slope of the dynamic stress–strain curve of the soil sample increased significantly with decreasing temperature. As the temperature decreased, the damping ratio reduced, and the ability of the soil to absorb seismic waves declines. The research results provide new data and information to guide construction projects in seasonally frozen region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have found that the widely-used one-pass node-to-segment (NTS) algorithm for contacts fails to pass the contact patch test. Solution errors at the contacting surfaces resulting from the classical NTS algorithm do not necessarily decrease with the mesh refinement. This paper presents a novel NTS with the explicit dynamic formulation in detail, which can pass the contact patch test. The proposed algorithm consists of the following technical ingredient: (1) A weighted smoothing technique is developed to accurately evaluate contact forces for contact problems; (2) The central difference time integration scheme is utilized for efficiency, to save storage space, and to avoid the use of tangent stiffness matrix; (3) the penalty method is used for ease in implementation; (4) Our NTS algorithm is coded in the smoothed finite element method (S-FEM). Two S-FEM models are adopted for the proposed NTS algorithm: the node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM) and the edge-based smoothed finite element method (ES-FEM) so that automatically generable triangular elements can be used for excellent adaptation. Numerical examples of the proposed algorithm are presented to examine the performance. It is found that the present algorithm alleviates the nonuniformity of contact pressure on both flat and curve boundaries. ES-FEM and NS-FEM combined with the new NTS algorithm have higher convergence rates. In addition, the ES-FEM has more accurate displacement and stress solutions at the same grid level. NS-FEM can even provide an upper bound solution in the strain energy for contact problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread environmental contaminants associated with various health risks including lung cancer. Indoor exposure to PAHs, particularly from the indoor burning of fuels, is significant; however, long-term large-scale assessments of indoor PAHs are hampered by high costs and time-consuming in field sampling and laboratory experiments. A simple fuel-based approach and statistical regression models were developed as a trial to predict indoor BaP, as a typical PAH, in China, and consequently spatiotemporal variations in indoor BaP and indoor exposure contributions were discussed. The results show that the national population-weighted indoor BaP concentration has decreased substantially from 46.1 ng/m3 in 1992 to 6.60 ng/m3 in 2017, primarily due to the increased use of clean energies for cooking and heating. Indoor BaP exposure contributed to > 70% of the total inhalation exposure in most cities, particularly in regions where solid fuels are widely utilized. With limited experimental observation data in building statistical models, quantitative results of the study are associated with high uncertainties; however, the study undoubtedly supports effective countermeasures on indoor PAHs from solid fuel use and the importance of promoting clean household energy usage to improve household air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D reconstruction is the process of obtaining the three-dimensional shape or surface structure of an object, which is widely used in advanced manufacturing fields such as automotive, aerospace, industrial inspection, and reverse engineering. However, due to the structural characteristics of the component itself, the reflective properties of the coating material, and other factors, there may be specular reflection during image acquisition, making it difficult to achieve complete 3D reconstruction of the component. This paper proposes a method to address the problem of incomplete 3D reconstruction of strongly reflective objects by recognizing outlier points and filling point cloud holes. The proposed View-Transform-PointNet outlier point recognition network improves the alignment of the initial point cloud plane and implements secondary alignment of the point cloud based on the perpendicularity between the outlier plane in mixed reflection and the point cloud plane. The point cloud hole-filling method is based on the principle of outlier formation and approximates a local Gaussian distribution to linear variation. The distance between the end of each outlier plane and the real surface is calculated to repair the depth information of outlier points. The proposed method achieves a 39.4% increase in the number of point cloud filling, a 45.2% increase in the number of triangular mesh faces, a 46.9% increase in surface area, and a chamfer distance (CD) of 0.4471009, which is better than existing geometric repair methods in terms of standard deviation and smoothness. The method improves the alignment of initial point cloud planes and enhances the accuracy of outlier point recognition, which are the main innovative points of this study. The 3D reconstruction of the repaired point cloud model is achieved through Poisson equation and parameter adjustment. The proposed method reduces the error caused by large curvature in the boundary region and improves the smoothness and accuracy of the reconstructed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a complex inflammatory process with elevated levels of autoantibodies, eosinophils, neutrophils, and various cytokines. Hematological inflammatory biomarkers can reflect inflammatory state in various diseases. Up to now, the correlations of hematological inflammatory biomarkers and disease activity of BP remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to clarify the associations between hematological inflammatory biomarkers and disease activity of BP. The levels of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), platelet-to-neutrophil ratio (PNR) and mean platelet volume (MPV) of 36 untreated BP patients and 45 age and gender matched healthy controls were detected by routine blood tests. The correlations between hematological inflammatory markers and clinical characteristics of BP were statistically analyzed. The Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) was used to measure disease activity of BP. The mean levels of NLR, PLR, PNR and MPV in 36 untreated BP patients were 3.9, 157.9, 45.7 and 9.4 fl, respectively. Increased NLR (p < 0.001), PLR (p < 0.01), and MPV (p < 0.001) but decreased PNR (p < 0.001) were observed in BP patients when compared with healthy controls. In BP patients, the levels of NLR were positively correlated to BPDAI Erosion/Blister Scores (p < 0.01); and the levels of NLR and PLR were both positively correlated to BPDAI without Damage Score (both p < 0.05) and BPDAI Total Score (both p < 0.05). No correlation was found in other statistical analyses between hematological inflammatory markers and clinical characteristics in BP patients involved in the present study. Therefore, NLR and PLR are positively correlated with disease activity of BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to further characterize liver injury aimed at developing novel therapeutic approaches. This study investigated the mechanistic basis of genipin against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-triggered acute liver injury concerning ferroptosis, a novel discovered modality of regulated cell death. All experiments were performed using hepatotoxic models upon CCl4 exposure in mice and human hepatocytes in vitro. Immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, molecular docking, RNA-sequencing and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) were conducted. CCl4 intoxication was manifested with lipid peroxidation-dictated ferroptotic cell death, together with changes in a cascade of ferroptosis-associated events and several regulatory pathways. Both the administration of genipin and ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1) significantly prevented this hepatotoxicity in response to CCl4 intoxication via upregulating GPX4 and xCT (i.e., critical regulators of ferroptosis). RNA-sequencing unraveled that arachidonic acid metabolism was considerably influenced upon genipin treatment. Accordingly, genipin treatment attenuated arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15)-launched lipid peroxidation in terms of UHPLC-MS/MS analysis and inflammation. In vitro, genipin supplementation rescued erastin-induced hepatocellular inviability and lipid ROS accumulation. The siRNA knockdown of GPX4 partially abrogated the protective effects of genipin on erastin-induced cytotoxicity, whereas the cytotoxicity was less severe in the presence of diminished ALOX15 expression in L-O2 cells. In conclusion, our findings uncovered that genipin treatment protects against CCl4-triggered acute liver injury by abrogating hepatocyte ferroptosis, wherein the pharmacological modification of dysregulated GPX4 and ALOX15-launched lipid peroxidation was responsible for underlying medicinal effects as molecular basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To develop a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics nomogram for pre-treatment prediction of histopathologic growth patterns (HGPs) in colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) and to validate its accuracy and clinical value. Materials and methods: This retrospective study included a total of 197 CRLM from 92 patients. Lesions from CRLM were randomly divided into the training study (n = 137) and the validation study (n = 60) with the ratio of 3:1 for model construction and internal validation. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) was used to screen features. Radiomics score (rad-score) was calculated to generate radiomics features. A predictive radiomics nomogram based on rad-score and clinical features was developed using random forest (RF). The performances of clinical model, radiomic model and radiomics nomogram were thoroughly evaluated by the DeLong test, decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC) allowing for generation of an optimal predictive model. Results: The radiological nomogram model consists of three independent predictors, including rad-score, T-stage, and enhancement rim on PVP. Training and validation results demonstrated the high-performance level of the model of area under curve (AUC) of 0.86 and 0.84, respectively. The radiomic nomogram model can achieve better diagnostic performance than the clinical model, yielding greater net clinical benefit compared to the clinical model alone. Conclusions: A CT-based radiomics nomogram can be used to predict HGPs in CRLM. Preoperative non-invasive identification of HGPs could further facilitate clinical treatment and provide personalized treatment plans for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning-based methods have achieved excellent performance in image-deraining tasks. Unfortunately, most existing deraining methods incorrectly assume a uniform rain streak distribution and a fixed fine-grained level. And this uncertainty of rain streaks will result in the model not being competent at repairing all fine-grained rain streaks. In addition, some existing convolution-based methods extend the receptive field mainly by stacking convolution kernels, which frequently results in inaccurate feature extraction. In this work, we propose momentum-contrast and large-kernel for multi-fine-grained deraining network (MOONLIT). To address the problem that the model is not competent at all fine-grained levels, we use the unsupervised dictionary contrastive learning method to treat different fine-grained rainy images as different degradation tasks. Then, to address the problem of inaccurate feature extraction, we carefully constructed a restoration network based on large-kernel convolution with a larger and more accurate receptive field. In addition, we designed a data enhancement method to weaken features other than rain streaks in order to be better classified for different degradation tasks. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world deraining datasets show that the proposed method MOONLIT achieves the state-of-the-art performance on some datasets. Code is available at https://github.com/awhitewhale/moonlit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser combined with subcision has been widely used for the clinical treatment, but the efficacy of the combined therapy on three types of atrophic acne scars remains unreported. This retrospective study analyzed the clinical data of 413 patients with atrophic acne scars, treated with fractional CO2 laser combined with subcision in the combined group and with fractional CO2 laser in the control group. The treatment efficacy was evaluated by the Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) and the Échelle d′évaluation clinique des cicatrices d′acné (ECCA). We reported adverse reactions such as erythema, lump, skin sensitivity, acne recurrence, and hyperpigmentation that occurred in both treatment groups. The treatment efficiency of the combined group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.001). Among the three subtypes of atrophic acne scars, the ECCA scores in the combined group of boxcar-type and rolling-type scars after treatment were lower than those in the control group (P = 0.041, P < 0.001, respectively), and no statistical difference in scores between the two groups for icepick-type scars was seen (P = 0.062). There was no statistical difference in adverse reactions between the two groups (P = 0.361). Fractional CO2 laser combined with subcision is more effective than fractional CO2 laser in the treatment of boxcar-type and rolling-type scars, but there is no significant difference in the treatment of icepick-type scars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal power plants are very important to a country's energy, and dust is a major threat to the safety of thermal power plants. Over the past decade, dust explosion events of various degrees have emerged one after another, leading to serious respiratory disease, lung disease and even death. Therefore, the prediction of dust situation in coal mining face is helpful to take preventive measures in advance to ensure safety and has great significance for reducing dust hazards and avoiding coal dust accidents. The establishment of BP neural network model for the prediction of dust concentration of thermal power plant is practiced. The existing models lack the fitting ability of the algorithm and the inaccuracy of prediction. To address the challenges in the existing models, an improved genetic algorithm is proposed to improve the objective function. The proposed model is based on the optimal weight and threshold value. The threshold value is obtained by the improved genetic algorithm. The neural network prediction model is used to calculate the dust concentration of fully mechanized mining face. The new prediction model is compared with the common model and the standard BP neural network algorithm. The results show that the fitting ability and prediction accuracy of the neural network algorithm of the improved genetic algorithm are significantly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, due to the rapid development of high-performance small molecule acceptor (SMA) materials, the researches on p-type electron donor materials for matching with current efficient SMAs have become important. By means of asymmetric strategies to optimize the energy levels and inter/intramolecular interactions of molecules, we designed and synthesized an asymmetric aromatic side chain quinoxaline-based polymer donor TPQ-0F. Meanwhile, we took advantage of F atom which could form noncovalent interaction and strong electron-withdrawing property, to obtain the optimized quinoxaline-based polymer donors TPQ-1F, TPQ-1Fi and TPQ-2F. Eventually, the binary device based on TPQ-2F achieved an efficient power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.27%, which attributed to balanced hole/electron mobilities, less charge carrier recombination, and more favorable aggregation morphology. Our work demonstrates the great potential of asymmetric aromatic side chain quinoxaline-based polymer donors on optimizing the morphology of blending films, improving inter/intramolecular interactions, and subtly tuning energy level, finally for more efficient organic solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter- and intra-organisational network characteristics equally contribute to firm innovation. This study investigates the relationship between inter-organisational network position and firms' exploratory innovation performance by taking into account the (potentially) moderating effect of intra-organisational network characteristics. This study uses patent data on electric vehicles (including hybrid, battery, and fuel cell) available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (2000–2015). The results show that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between the central position and the exploratory innovation performance of firms, which becomes steeper for firms characterized internally by a cohesive network. In addition, a positive relationship is revealed between broker position and exploratory innovation performance of firms. This relationship becomes stronger when firms display lower levels of network cohesion. Combined, these findings strongly suggest that firms benefit from matching the scale of their external networks with internal heterogeneity, in line with Ashby's notion of requisite variety (Cybernetica 1(2):83–99, 1958). This study provides practical guidance for enterprises to improve their exploratory innovation capability through simultaneously developing intra-organisational and inter-organisational collaborative networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]