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Groundwater is an important component of water resources. Excessive exploitation can lead to water scarcity, while excessive groundwater can cause problems such as terrain collapse. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain timely information on groundwater levels (GWL) and make predictions accordingly. Previous methods, considering only the time series of the sites did not consider the spatial relationships between the sites due to the difficulty to handle unstructured site location data. This paper proposes a GWL prediction model based on GCN-LSTM, each GWL site is regarded as a node of the graph. The spatial topological relationship between the sites is determined through Pearson correlation coefficient and Euclidean distance, and the adjacency matrix is constructed. Using the graph convolutional neural network (GCN) mines the spatial characteristics between groundwater level sites, and then inputs the time series data with spatial characteristics into the long short-term memory neural network (LSTM) to mine the temporal characteristics to predict groundwater. In this paper, the GWL data from 18 sites were selected to predict GWL in the next three day. The mean absolute error (MAE), mean squared error (MSE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) are used as evaluation criteria, the mean absolute error of the predicted GWL was 0.13 m, the mean square error was 0.02 m, and the root mean square error was 0.14 m, the proposed prediction model has lower errors than the LSTM and TGCN models. Compared with the long short-term memory network model, this model can shorten the training time and improve the prediction efficiency. And it can reflect the dynamic changes of GWL at multiple sites more efficiently and obtain the changing trend of GWL in the entire region, which has certain practical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gold (Au) with excellent properties, is widely used in many fields, resulting in the depletion of Au resources and environment pollution due to a great deal of wastewater containing Au(III) produced in the industrial production process. Hence, it is necessary to remove and recover Au from wastewater. In this work, a novel hyperbranched polyethyleneimine functionalized porous polyacrylonitrile/graphene oxide nanofiber membrane (HP-PAN/GO) for adsorption of Au(III) was fabricated by electrospinning, hot-water soak and grafting methods. The effect of the solution pH, initial concentration and contact time on the adsorption performance of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was explored by batch experiments. The adsorption process was investigated by pseudo-first-order kinetic, pseudo-second-order kinetic, intra particle diffusion models, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results showed that the HP-PAN/GO with abundant amino functional groups and pore structure was successfully fabricated. The adsorption and reduction of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) were simultaneous, and Au(III) adsorbed HP-PAN/GO was partially reduced to elemental Au with hexagonal flakes and irregular particles, and the maximum adsorption capacity of HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) was 2601.27 mg·g−1. The removal rate of the HP-PAN/GO for Au(III) remained over 83% after five adsorption cycles. Moreover, the HP-PAN/GO had excellent adsorption selectivity in coexisting ion system. The HP-PAN/GO could be a promising candidate for effective removal and recovery of Au(III) in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timetable scheduling is a combinatorial optimization problem that presents formidable challenges for classical computers. This paper introduces a pioneering methodology for addressing the high-speed train timetabling problem through quantum computing. Initially, a comprehensive binary integer programming model, grounded in the space–time network, is proposed (M1). To manage the intricacy of model M1, a knapsack problem reformulation is employed to establish a simplified binary integer programming model (M2). Both M1 and M2 are subsequently converted into quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) models to harness the potential of quantum computing. Several techniques, including the Gurobi solver, simulated annealing, and the coherent Ising machine (CIM) quantum simulator, are deployed to solve the model across four distinct scenarios of varying complexity. The findings indicate that CIM quantum simulator outperforms the simulated annealing method in terms of solution quality for medium-scale problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemongolins A–K (1–11), which are undescribed sesquiterpenoid dimers, were obtained from Artemisia mongolica and characterized through comprehensive spectral data, including HRESIMS, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, and ECD calculations. The absolute configurations of compounds 1, 4, and 7 were undoubtedly determined by a single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Artemongolins A–K (1–11) featured a rare 5/7/5/5/5/10 hexacyclic system composed of a germacrene and a guaianolide by a fused 2-oxaspiro[4,4]nonane-1-one ring system. Antihepatoma evaluation against three human hepatoma cell lines demonstrated that the most active compounds 5 and 6 displayed inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 88.6 and 57.0 (HepG2), 59.1 and 26.4 (Huh7), and 67.5 and 32.5 (SK-Hep-1) µM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice-templating technology holds great potential to construct industrial porous materials from nanometers to the macroscopic scale for tailoring thermal, electronic, or acoustic transport. Herein, we describe a general ice-templating technology through freezing the material on a rotating cryogenic drum surface, crushing it, and then re-casting the nanofiber slurry. Through decoupling the ice nucleation and growth processes, we achieved the columnar-equiaxed crystal transition in the freezing procedure. The highly random stacking and integrating of equiaxed ice crystals can organize nanofibers into thousands of repeating microscale units with a tortuous channel topology. Owing to the spatially well-defined isotropic structure, the obtained Al2O3·SiO2 nanofiber aerogels exhibit ultralow thermal conductivity, superelasticity, good damage tolerance, and fatigue resistance. These features, together with their natural stability up to 1200 °C, make them highly robust for thermal insulation under extreme thermomechanical environments. Cascading thermal runaway propagation in a high-capacity lithium-ion battery module consisting of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathode, with ultrahigh thermal shock power of 215 kW, can be completely prevented by a thin nanofiber aerogel layer. These findings not only establish a general production route for nanomaterial assemblies that is conventionally challenging, but also demonstrate a high-energy-density battery module configuration with a high safety standard that is critical for practical applications. In this work, the authors present an ice-templating strategy to produce large-scale isotropic nanofiber aerogels using a unique process of freezing the material on a rotating cryogenic drum surface, crushing it, and then re-casting the nanofiber slurry enabling high-throughput and design flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic surfaces often lose the easy-removal ability of liquids during icing & melting cycles due to the impalement phenomena of air pockets. Especially for the most common mixed liquids in normal life, their difficult-removals after icing and melting have brought colossal troubles in the fields of aviation, energy, biomedicine, etc. Here we adopt the ultrafast laser to fabricate the optimal micro-nanostructured surfaces, realizing excellent superomniphobicity for seven environmental-related liquids. It is demonstrated that different droplets on the surfaces recover well to the original Cassie-Baxter state after melting, and can be removed easily at low tilted angles. The ice adhesion strengths of the seven liquids as low as 5 kPa and the micro-nanostructure durability ensure the long-term easy-removal after icing. Compared with the ice adhesion strength of untreated surfaces (264.4 ± 17.6 kPa), those of our designed surfaces have decreased by over 50 times. Icing and melting processes are investigated to reveal the easy-removal mechanisms that specifically distributed solutes and bubbles after icing impact downwards significantly to accelerate the recovery of the Cassie—Baxter state during melting. A series of environmental-related durability experiments including continuous icing & melting cycles, long-term salt spray, and high-pressure water jet impact further demonstrate the surfaces promising for real applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antidepressant activity of (+) and (−)-paeoveitol was first evaluated using the forced swimming test (FST), and (+)-paeoveitol showed potential antidepressant activity by decreasing immobility time of mice (by approximately 26.4%) in the FST at a dose of 20 mg/kg. To explore the structure-activity relationships (SARs) and obtain more potent compounds, twenty derivatives of (+)-paeoveitol were synthesized and evaluated for their agonistic activities on melatonin type I (MT1) and type II (MT2) receptors. As a results, compound 13 with an N-methylpiperazine fragment exhibited obvious effect on MT1 and MT2 receptors with EC50 values of 0.20 and 0.24 mM. Moreover, compound 13 dose-dependently decreased the immobility of mice in the FST and showed an inverted U-shaped dose-effect, and the most efficacious dose (at 40 mg/kg) was comparable to fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) with a reduced immobility time of 29.2% and 34.5%, respectively. In vivo neurochemical assays suggested that compound 13 obviously increased 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and norepinephrine (NE) levels in the mice brain, indicating that its antidepressant effects might be related to the monoaminergic system. In silico ADMET study revealed that 13 has favorable pharmacokinetic properties. These findings suggest that compound 13 could be a potential antidepressant agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By simulating nonequilibrium processes like biological transport, traffic transport, etc., totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (i.e., TASEP) is vital to understand stochastic dynamics of lattice systems. Stochastic networks using TASEP as underlying dynamics make a more practical generalization of traditional exclusion models, which better simulate real transport processes. According to real experimental data, a new network structure of nonaverage weight assignment at nodes is constructed to further understand physical mechanisms of molecular motors transporting along microtubules. Two typical kinesins, KIF3AC and KIF3CC, are used as modeling bases. High-tendency segments and low-tendency segments are introduced to characterize heterogeneous flow distribution at nodes. Multi-body system dynamics affected by the global density are studied. Edge densities are analyzed by using new mean-field theories compared with Monte Carlo simulations. New detailed structures of adsorption and desorption at nodes are considered. In order to restore a motor transport framework more suitable for real systems, analytical solutions and simulations of local statistical densities and phase diagrams affected by particle desorption and no desorption are obtained. This work provides help for understanding dynamical mechanisms of complex networks and other important nonlinear physics depicting molecular motors transport, cytoskeleton designs, structural optimizations, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study demonstrated that guaiane-type sesquiterpenoid ludartin showed potent antihepatoma activity against two human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, HepG2 and Huh7, with IC50 values of 32.7 and 34.3 μM, respectively. In this study, 34 ludartin derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines using an MTT assay in vitro. As a result, 17 compounds increased the activity against HepG2 cells, and 20 compounds enhanced the activity against Huh7 cells; 14 derivatives 2, 4-7, 9, 11, 17, 24, 28-30 and 32-33 were superior to ludartin on both HepG2 and Huh7 cells. In particular, dimeric derivative 33 as the most active compound showed 20-fold and 17-fold enhancement of cytotoxicity against HepG2 and Huh7 cells compared to that of ludartin. These results suggested that compound 33 could serve as a promising lead compound against liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main conclusion: We identified 66 melon SAUR genes by bioinformatic analyses. CmSAUR19, 38, 58, 62 genes are specifically expressed in different stages of fruit growth, suggesting their participation in regulating fruit development. Auxin plays a crucial role in plant growth by regulating the multiple auxin response genes. However, in melon (Cucumis melo L.), the functions of the auxin early response gene family SAUR (Small auxin up RNA) genes in fruit development are still poorly understood. Through genome-wide characterization of CmSAUR family in melon, we identified a total of 66 CmSAUR genes. The open reading frames of the CmSAUR genes ranged from 234 to 525 bp, containing only one exon and lacking introns. Chromosomal position and phylogenetic tree analyses found that the two gene clusters in the melon chromosome are highly homologous in the Cucurbitaceae plants. Among the four conserved motifs in CmSAUR proteins, motif 1, motif 2, and motif 3 located in most of the family protein sequences, and motif 4 showed a close correlation with the two gene clusters. The CmSAUR28 and CmSAUR58 genes have auxin response elements located in the promoters, suggesting they may be involved in the auxin signaling pathway to regulate fruit development. Through transcriptomic profiling in the four developmental stages of fruit and different lateral organs, we selected 16 differentially-expressed SAUR genes for performing further expression analyses. qRT-PCR results showed that five SAUR genes are specifically expressed in flower organs and ovaries. CmSAUR19 and CmSAUR58 were significantly accumulated in the early developmental stage of the fruit. CmSAUR38 and CmAUR62 showed high expression in the climacteric and post-climacteric stages, suggesting their specific role in controlling fruit ripening. This work provides a foundation for further exploring the function of the SAUR gene in fruit development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of China's industrial sector, solid waste emissions have exploded along with the mismatch between treatment efficiency and economic development becoming increasingly prominent. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is one of the most important core areas for the country to participate in economic globalization. Its expansive area and intensive industrial distribution mean more severe challenges for the treatment of industrial solid waste. Through the dynamic data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, this research selects 30 provinces to evaluate the efficiency of industrial solid waste treatment in YREB and non-Yangtze River Economic Belt (NYREB) and discusses the relationships among input, production, re-use, and disposal of industrial solid waste in the two regions. Findings show that the average efficiency of NYREB in recent years for many provinces shows a downward trend and an unstable solid waste treatment effect. Most average efficiency values of solid waste treatment in YREB provinces concentrate at a higher level, but the overall trend is positive. Finally, we note clear and polarizing differences between the two regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reflect new physical insights in understanding nonequilibrium phase transition mechanisms of real mesoscopic transport, a new exclusion process with horizontal and vertical binding energies is constructed. Fruitful developments of mean-field theories including developed simple, 2-lattice cluster, 4-lattice cluster and correlation mean-field theories are given. Typical order parameters are analytically solved and verified by simulation statistics. Evolution laws of phase boundaries with varied lane-changing rates, mobilities and binding energies are found via acquisitions of density profiles and phase diagrams. Fitting effects of developed analytical methods are quantitatively compared via Kullback–Leibler divergence. Findings show that developed simple mean-field theory (SMF) achieves better results in the fitting of each phase, while developed 2-lattice cluster mean-field theory (CMF) has better results in the fitting of low-density and coexistence phases. Developed 4-lattice CMF has better results in fitting low-density phase and high-density part of coexistence one, and developed correlation cluster mean-field theory (CCMF) has better results in the fitting except high-density phase. The minimum correlation element is introduced to explain differences among evaluations of analytical solutions under Kullback–Leibler divergence. The minimum correlation element size of SMF, CCMF, 2-lattice CMF and 4-lattice one is found to be 1, 1.5, 2 and 4, respectively. Intrinsic dynamics are found to have a great impact on analysis solutions, which indicate that analytical results brought by different minimum correlation elements need to be comprehensively considered to determine correlation degree, although evaluation results reveal that deviations between analytical solutions and simulation results increase with the minimum size of the related element. Effectiveness of developed theories is achieved in a more scientifically sound manner, which is helpful for evaluating rationality and effectiveness of analytical methods and critical phenomena of spatial correlations in nonequilibrium multi-body particle interaction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular dynamics simulation (MD) has been conducted to investigate the pressure effect on microstructure of copper during rapid solidification. The pressure increases the onset temperature (Tc) of nucleation but decreases the energy of atoms and the lattice constant of the final face-centered cubic crystal. Before temperature decreases to Tc the average coordination number (ACN) of atoms and the percentage of topologically close-packed atoms (PTCP) increase, while the number of types of the largest standard clusters (KLaSC) decreases and that of the topologically close-packed (KTCP) atoms is about the same. Interestingly they are pressure-independent constants at Tc, with KLaSC = 3300, ACN = 13.08, PTCP = 18.3%, and KTCP = 33 in the super-cooled copper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dammarane triterpenoid (20S,24R)-epoxy-dammarane-3β,12β,25-triol obtained from Cyclocarya paliurus in our previous study showed inhibitory activity on α-glucosidase in vitro with an inhibitory ratio of 32.2% at the concentration of 200 μM. In order to reveal the structure-activity relationships (SARs) and get more active compounds, 42 derivatives of (20S,24R)-epoxy-dammarane-3β,12β,25-triol were synthesized by chemical modification on the hydroxyls (C-3 and C-12), rings A and E, and assayed for their α-glucosidase and PTP1B inhibitory activities. Two compounds (8, 26) increased activity against α-glucosidase, and four compounds (8, 15, 26, 42) significantly inhibited PTP1B. It was noted that compounds 8 and 26 could inhibit both α-glucosidase and PTP1B as dual-target inhibitors with IC50 values of 489.8, 467.7 μM (α-glucosidase) and 319.7, 269.1 μM (PTP1B). Compound 26 was revealed to be a mix-type inhibitor on α-glucosidase and a noncompetitive-type inhibitor on PTP1B based on enzyme kinetic study. Furthermore, compound 42 could selectively inhibited PTP1B as a mix-type inhibitor with IC50 value of 134.9 μM, which was 2.5-fold higher than the positive control, suramin sodium (IC50 339.0 μM), but not inhibit α-glucosidase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-icing superhydrophobic surfaces have been a key research topic due to their potential application value in aviation, telecommunication, energy, etc. However, superhydrophobicity is easily lost during icing & melting cycles, where the water-repellent Cassie-Baxter state turns to the sticky Wenzel state. The reversible transition during icing & melting cycle without external assistance is challenging but vital for reliable anti-icing superhydrophobic performance, such a topic has rarely been reported. Here we demonstrate a spontaneous Wenzel to Cassie-Baxter dewetting transition during icing & melting cycle on well-designed superhydrophobic surfaces. Bubbles in ice droplets rapidly impact the micro-nano valleys under Marangoni force, prompting the continuous recovery of air pockets during melting processes. We establish models to confirm the bubbles movement broadens the dewetting conditions greatly and present three criteria for the dewetting transitions. This research deepens the understanding of wettability theory and extends the design of anti-icing superhydrophobic surfaces. Despite promising for anti-icing applications, structured superhydrophobic surfaces usually lose their hydrophobicity after a few icing/melting cycles. Here, authors investigate specific structured surfaces and air bubbles on frozen ice droplets to propose three criteria to enable dewetting transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular dynamics simulation has been conducted in Ni73Co27 and Ni74Co26 alloys during rapid solidification at the cooling rate of 1 × 1012 K/s. It indicates that two phase transitions occur with twice drops, and the number of FCC increases suddenly in Ni73Co27 alloy. And finally, FCC atoms are dominant with the amount of 92.94% at 300 K, which neatly arranges themselves into the crystalline structure. A lot of topologically close-packed clusters are formed in Ni74Co26 alloy, indicating the formation of metallic glass. The differences between the formations in crystalline hexagon and amorphous pentagon are demonstrated by three-dimensional visualization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The energy generation efficiencies of thermal power and hydropower, which are the two main forces of electric power in China, are important factors affecting the energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development of the country's whole power industry. Methods: Considering regional differences and multiple efficient decision-making units (DMUs), this research uses the meta-Frontier super-efficiency slack-based measure (meta-SE-SBM) undesirable model to comprehensively evaluate the efficiencies of hydropower and thermal power generation in China. The CO2 emissions of thermal power generation are taken as the undesirable output. Results: The ranking of the average meta-efficiency of thermal power generation in China is Eastern China > Central China > Western China, and all regions show an upward trend. However, the ranking of the average meta-efficiency of hydropower generation is Western China > Central China > Eastern China, and all these regions present a downward trend. In 2017, the technology gap ratio (TGR) values for the thermal power generation efficiency of the eastern and western regions showed a rising trend, while that for the central region showed a declining trend. The TGR values of the hydropower generation efficiency of the western region continued to increase, while those of the central and eastern regions decreased. The development trends of the TGR values of the thermal power or hydropower generation efficiencies of the three regions were not consistent with each other, indicating that technological convergence has not been achieved. In the three regions, the technology gaps in hydropower have slightly expanded, but the technology gaps in thermal power have gradually narrowed. The undesirable output CO2 of the thermal power energy efficiency of the three regions is in a surplus, and the generation of hydropower in the eastern and central regions is insufficient. Conclusions: The government and power industry managers should fully consider regional heterogeneity in the efficiency of hydropower and thermal power to reduce the technology gap in China. The thermal power industry is relatively mature, but its CO2 emissions should be controlled. The hydropower industry needs further policy support to promote an efficiency improvement in it under the condition of resource endowments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystallization and melting behavior of polymers is of theoretical importance. In this work, poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) was selected as an example to study such behavior at low supercooling via introduction of the extended-chain crystal (ECC) of the same polymer as nucleating agent. The crystallization of PBS with its ECC as nucleating agent in a wide temperature range (90–127 °C) and the following melting behavior were studied. It is revealed that the melting point (Tm', for Tc≥113 °C) and the annealing peak temperature (Ta', for Tc=90–100 °C) show similar asymptotic behavior. Both Tm and Ta approach to a value of ca. 3.3 °C higher than the corresponding Tc when the crystallization time tc approaches the starting point. That is to say, the Hoffman-Weeks plot is parallel to Tm=Tc line. The crystallization line became parallel to the melting line when PBS was crystallized at Tc higher than 102 °C. Based on these results, we propose that the parallel relationship and the intrinsic similarity between the Ta and the Tm observed at the two ends of the Tc range could be attributed to the metastable crystals formed at the beginning of crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of rice is a serious food safety issue that has recently been gaining significant public attention. Therefore, reduction of Cd accumulation in rice grains is an important objective of rice breeding. The use of favourable alleles of Cd accumulating genes using marker-assisted selection (MAS) is theoretically feasible. In this study, we validated a segment covering OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1 on chromosome 7 of japonica for establishing low-cadmium accumulating indica rice variety. The OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1jap haplotype significantly decreased grain Cd concentration in middle-season indica genetic background. The improved 9311 carrying the OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1jap haplotype with recurrent parent genome recovery of up to 91.6% resulted in approximately 31.8% decrease in Cd accumulation in the grain and with no penalty on yield. There is a genetic linkage-drag between OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1 jap and the gene conditioning heading to days (HTD) in the early-season indica genetic background. Because the OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1-Ghd7jap haplotype significantly increases grain Cd concentration and prolongs growth duration, the linkage-drag between OsHMA3-OsNramp5-OsNramp1 and Ghd7 should be broken down by large segregating populations or gene editing. A novel allele of OsHMA3 was identified from a wide-compatibility japonica cultivar, the expression differences of OsNramp1 and OsNramp5 in roots might contribute the Cd accumulating variation between japonica and indica variety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a large agricultural sector, China is greatly affected by natural disasters caused by extreme weather events. Because the occurrence of natural disasters is closely related to the sharp increased consumption of energy and the massive emissions of carbon dioxide, this research examines relevant data from 2013 to 2017 in four major regions of China that cover 30 provincial administrative regions. Using the two-stage dynamic DEA model, we evaluate total efficiency value, two-stage efficiency value, and the efficiencies of energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and crop disaster areas, setting CO2 as the link between the production stage (first stage) and the crop damage stage (second stage). The research findings show that overall efficiency in China is generally low, whereby the total efficiencies of eastern and northeastern China are higher than those of central and western China. The efficiency value of the first stage (production stage) is greater than that of the second stage (crop damage stage), and the efficiency of most administrative regions' second stage is below 0.3, which is the main reason for the country's low overall efficiency. There is little difference between China's CO2 and energy consumption efficiency scores, but the efficiency values of crop disaster areas fluctuate greatly. The efficiency scores of various indicators in the eastern region are generally higher and more balanced, and the total efficiency scores exhibit a decreasing trend from east to west. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the environmental policy of controlling energy consumption and early warning of natural disasters in the central and western regions, and promote the R&D industry and technological innovation of carbon dioxide emission reduction and disaster control in the economically developed eastern regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of our meta-analysis was to estimate the effect of VTS on obstetric outcomes of ART singletons. Methods: PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched up to January 2019 to find studies reporting the obstetric outcomes of ART singletons with VTS. Dichotomous data were expressed as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Continuous data were expressed as weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% CI. Results: A total of 17 observational studies encompassing more than 60,000 ART singletons were included in this meta-analysis. The impact of VTS on singletons was highly dependent on the definition of VTS, precisely, the vanishing timing and intrauterine growth stage. When VTS happened at or before 14 weeks, regardless of intrauterine growth stage, there were no differences in terms of gestational age (GA) [WMD = − 0.08, 95% CI = − 0.27, 0.10], preterm birth (< 37 weeks) (PTB) [OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.89, 1.70], and low birth weight (< 2.5 kg) (LBW) [OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.00, 2.43] in original singletons versus singleton with VTS. On the contrary, VTS occurred after 14 weeks was associated with significantly shorter GW and lower BW, as well as higher risks of PTB and LBW. When the sac reduced in VTS was an empty gestational sac, there would be no differences in GW, PTB, and LBW between singletons versus singletons with VTS, whereas the loss of a fetus with cardiac-activity was associated with adverse obstetric outcomes. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests whether or not VTS is harmful to obstetric outcomes is highly dependent on the vanishing timing and intrauterine growth stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper selects energy consumption data of 11 provinces in YRB and 19 provinces and cities in non-YRB from 2014 to 2016 and constructs a shared border Metafrontier non-radial directional short model, adding CO2 and AQI indicators as undesirable factors, in order to evaluate the total efficiency and the input and output efficiencies of these two regions. The results are as follows. (1) From the changes in the score and ranking of the two regions' total environmental efficiency, only two provinces in YRB show a slight decrease, while most of them show a stable or rising trend; seven provinces in non-YRB have a low rising rate. This means during the study period that YRB made more progress at energy conservation, emission reduction, and pollution control than other provinces and cities in non-YRB. (2) The efficiency scores of energy consumption, GDP, CO2, and AQI emissions are different in each province. Overall, the situation of YRB is better than that of non-YRB. Not only is the efficiency score of each index higher, but the efficiency difference between provinces and cities within the region is small, which is conducive to the linkage effect of the region and the realization of green coordinated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both resource efficiency and application QoS have been big concerns of datacenter operators for a long time, but remain to be irreconcilable. High resource utilization increases the risk of resource contention between co-located workload, which makes latency-critical (LC) applications suffer unpredictable, and even unacceptable performance. Plenty of prior work devotes the effort on exploiting effective mechanisms to protect the QoS of LC applications while improving resource efficiency. In this paper, we propose MAGI, a resource management runtime that leverages neural networks to monitor and further pinpoint the root cause of performance interference, and adjusts resource shares of corresponding applications to ensure the QoS of LC applications. MAGI is a practice in Alibaba datacenter to provide on-demand resource adjustment for applications using neural networks. The experimental results show that MAGI could reduce up to 87.3% performance degradation of LC application when co-located with other antagonist applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-defined quadruple hydrogen bonding strategy involving dimerization of 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidone (UPy) units is innovatively designed to prepare polyureas with high overall mechanical properties. Three polyureas containing different amounts of UPy units were synthesized by replacing a portion of isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) with a UPy-derived diisocyanate. The formation of quadruple hydrogen bonds in hard segments via UPy dimers was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The mechanical properties of the polyureas were evaluated by uniaxial tensile testing. Compared to the polyurea without UPy units, remarkable improvements in Young's modulus, tensile strength, and toughness were simultaneously achieved when UPy units were incorporated. The mechanism behind the strong strengthening effect rooted in the stronger intermolecular forces among hard segments brought by the quadruple hydrogen bonds, which were stronger than the inherent bidentate and monodentate hydrogen bonds among urea groups, and the slower soft segmental dynamics reaveled by both increased Tg and relaxation time of the soft segments. The mechanism behind the strong toughening effect was ascribed to more effective energy dissipation brought by the quadruple hydrogen bonds that served as stronger sacrificial bonds upon deformation. This work may offer new insight into the design of polyurea elastomers with comprehensively improved mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the anatomical variations of the superior transverse scapular ligament (STSL) for better understanding the possible predisposing factors for suprascapular nerve entrapment. Methods: The study was using fifty 10% formalin solution-fixed human cadaveric shoulders. After dissection of the suprascapular region, the length, medial width, lateral width and middle width of the suprascapular opening were measured for each STSL. Results: The STSL displayed six types as: (1) band-shaped in 11 cases; (2) fan-shaped in 27 cases; (3) triangular-shaped in 5 cases; (4) linear type in 2 cases; (5) bifid in 1 case; (6) absent in 1 case. The ossified type of STSL was found in 3 cases. There were statistically significant differences in the length (P = 0.009), medial width (P = 0.001), lateral width (P = 0.029) of the three types of fan-shaped, band-shaped and triangular-shaped. However, there was no statistical difference in the middle width of the suprascapular opening of the three types (P = 0.340). Conclusion: Knowing the morphological features and variations of the STSL is important for better understanding the anatomical conditions, which could be taken into consideration during open suprascapular operations or arthroscopic decompressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to obtain a translation and adaptation of the anterior cruciate ligament-return to sport after injury (ACL-RSI) into simplified Chinese and validate the simplified Chinese version.Methods: Translation and adaptation were performed according to the guidelines of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Outcome Committee. A total of 122 patients who were diagnosed with an ACL injury and underwent primary arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) between 2015 and 2016 were included in this study. The simplified Chinese version of the ACL-RSI (SC-ACL-RSI), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Lysholm score and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee form were completed. Psychometric evaluations included score distribution, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct and discriminant validity.Results: SC-ACL-RSI scores exhibited a normal distribution without ceiling and floor effects. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.94). The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.98, indicating excellent test-retest reliability. SC-ACL-RSI scores were correlated with all KOOS subscales (r = 0.30 to 0.69, p < 0.001), the IKDC subjective knee form (r = 0.46, p < 0.001) and the Lysholm score (r = 0.56, p < 0.001). The mean scores between patients who returned to the same preinjury level of sport (65.1 ± 14.3) and those who could not return to the same level (51.0 ± 15.0) were significantly different (p < 0.001).Conclusions: The SC-ACL-RSI is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate the psychological impact of a patient returning to sport after ACLR. It is important to evaluate patients' ability to return to sport after an ACL injury. The information provided by the SC-ACL-RSI will affect decisions regarding treatment and rehabilitation plans, which are more likely to influence clinical outcomes.Level Of Evidence: II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of Bupleurum boissieuanum was assembled from high-throughput Illumina sequencing data. The cp genome is 156,108 bp in length, and comprises a pair of 26,303-bp inverted repeat (IR) regions, which are separated by one small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,495 bp and one large single-copy (LSC) region of 86,007 bp. It contains 112 unique genes, with 17 of them being duplicated within the IR. The overall G+C content of the whole genome is 37.7%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC and IR regions are 35.8, 31.4 and 42.8%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to assess inter-relationships among the major clades of Apiaceae, and suggested that B. boissieuanum is closely related to the congeneric B. falcatum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though traditional methods could recognize some facies, e.g. lagoon facies, backshoal facies and foreshoal facies, they couldn't recognize reef facies and shoal facies well. To solve this problem, back propagation neural network (BP-ANN) and an improved BP-ANN with better stability and suitability, optimized by a particle swarm optimizer (PSO) algorithm (PSO-BP-ANN) were proposed to solve the microfacies' auto discrimination of M formation from the R oil field in Iraq. Fourteen wells with complete core, borehole and log data were chosen as the standard wells and 120 microfacies samples were inferred from these 14 wells. Besides, the average value of gamma, neutron and density logs as well as the sum of squares of deviations of gamma were extracted as key parameters to build log facies (facies from log measurements)-microfacies transforming model. The total 120 log facies samples were divided into 12 kinds of log facies and 6 kinds of microfacies, e.g. lagoon bioclasts micrite limestone microfacies, shoal bioclasts grainstone microfacies, backshoal bioclasts packstone microfacies, foreshoal bioclasts micrite limestone microfacies, shallow continental micrite limestone microfacies and reef limestone microfacies. Furthermore, 68 samples of these 120 log facies samples were chosen as training samples and another 52 samples were gotten as testing samples to test the predicting ability of the discrimination template. Compared with conventional methods, like Bayes stepwise discrimination, both the BP-ANN and PSO-BP-ANN can integrate more log details with a correct rate higher than 85%. Furthermore, PSO-BP-ANN has more simple structure, smaller amount of weight and threshold and less iteration time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common subtype of kidney cancers in adults, and microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in ccRCC tumors have been identified and proposed to predict prognosis. In the present study, we comprehensively analyzed the genome-wide miRNA expression profiles in ccRCC, with the aim to generate a tumor-specific miRNA signature of prognostic values. Methods: The miRNA profiles in tumor and the adjacent normal tissue were analyzed, and the association of the differentially expressed miRNAs with patient survival was examined with univariate Cox regression analysis. Finally, a tumor-specific miRNA signature was generated and examined with Kaplan-Meier survival, univariate, and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: A total of 147 miRNAs were found differentially expressed between tumor and matched non-tumor tissues from 58 ccRCC patients. The prognostic values of these differentially expressed miRNAs were subsequently analyzed in the 411 ccRCC patients, and 22 miRNAs were found significantly correlated with patient survival. Finally, a tumor-specific miRNA signature of 22 miRNAs was generated and validated as an independent prognostic parameter. Conclusions: A tumor-specific miRNA signature consisting of 22 miRNAs was identified and validated as an independent prognostic factor, which could serve as a novel biomarker for ccRCC prognostication and help in predicting treatment outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human cancers are endowed with sustained vascularization capability, and their growth, invasion, and metastasis are vascularization dependent. Recently, accumulated body of evidence suggests that endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) can support vasculogenesis and induce angiogenesis through paracrine mechanisms. In addition, numerous clinical studies have revealed the increase in the number of EPCs in the peripheral blood of cancer patients and demonstrated the correlation of circulating EPCs (CEPCs) with the clinical outcomes. This review highlights current enrichment procedures and methods for the detection of CEPCs and different biomarkers to identify CEPCs as well as the functions of EPCs in tumor vascularization. Furthermore, we systematically review available studies on the clinical relevance of CEPCs in cancer patients to explore the potential diagnostic and prognostic values of CEPCs. Although several contrasting results exist, CEPCs can conceivably serve as a promising biomarker for the early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and treatment response indication in the future. Additionally, further well-designed clinical studies with larger sample size and unique, specific enumeration procedures are warranted to achieve further insight into the clinical implications of CEPCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis. However, the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Mg is the most abundant intracellular divalent cation in the body and plays critical roles in many cell functions. We investigated the effect of bFGF on the intracellular Mg concentration ([Mg]) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). bFGF increased [Mg] in a dose-dependent manner, independent of extracellular Mg. This bFGF-induced [Mg] increase was blocked by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (tyrphostin A-23 and genistein), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitors (wortmannin and LY294002) and a phospholipase Cγ (PLCγ) inhibitor (U73122). In contrast, mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors (SB202190 and PD98059) did not affect the bFGF-induced [Mg] increase. These results suggest that bFGF increases the [Mg] from the intracellular Mg stores through the tyrosine kinase/PI3K/PLCγ-dependent signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a group G and a subgroup M of G, we say that a subgroup A of G is a supplement to M in G, if G = MA. We prove that a finite group in which every Sylow normalizer admits a nilpotent supplement is solvable. In particular we confirm a conjecture of Buchthal. Moreover we investigate finite groups in which Sylow normalizers admit solvable supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, we found that a furocoumarin derivative, psoralen (7H-furo[3,2-g][1]benzopyran-7-one), blocked a human Kv1.5 potassium channel (hKv1.5) and has a potential antiarrhythmic effect. In the present study, to develop more potent hKv1.5 blockers or antiarrhythmic drugs, we synthesized ten psoralen derivatives and examined their blocking effects on hKv1.5 stably expressed in Ltk cells. Among the newly synthesized psoralen derivatives, three derivatives (Compounds 5, 9 and 10) showed the open channel-blocking effect. Compound 9 among them was the most potent in blocking hKv1.5. We found that compound 9, one of the psoralen derivatives, inhibited the hKv1.5 current in a concentration-, use- and voltage-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 27.4 ±5.1 nM at +60 mV. Compound 9 accelerated the inactivation kinetics of the hKv1.5 channel, slowed the deactivation kinetics of hKv1.5 current resulting in a tail crossover phenomenon. Compound 9 inhibited hKv1.5 current in a use-dependent manner. These results indicate that compound 9, one of psoralen derivatives, acts on hKv1.5 channel as an open channel blocker and is much more potent than psoralen in blocking hKv1.5 channel. If further studies were done, compound 9 might be an ideal antiarrhythmic drug for atrial fibrillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Torilin was purified from Torilis japonica (Houtt.) DC., and its effects on a rapidly activating delayed rectifier K+ channel (hKv1.5), cloned from human heart and stably expressed in Ltk− cells, as well as the corresponding K+ current (the ultrarapid delayed rectifier, IKUR) were assessed in human atrial myocytes. Using the whole cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique, torilin was found to inhibit the hKv1.5 current in time and voltage-dependent manners, with an IC50 value of 2.51±0.34 μM at +60 mV. Torilin accelerated the inactivation kinetics of the hKv1.5 channel, and slowed the deactivation kinetics of the hKv1.5 current, resulting in a tail crossover phenomenon. Additionally, torilin inhibited the hKv1.5 current in a usedependent manner. These results strongly suggest that torilin is a type of open-channel blocker of the hKv 1.5 channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we give an explicit numerical upper bound for the moduli of arithmetic progressions, in which the ternary Goldbach problem is solvable. Our result implies a quantitative upper bound for the Linnik constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the structural evolution and hereditary mechanism of icosahedral nano-clusters formed during rapid solidification, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study has been performed for a system consisting of 107 atoms of liquid Mg70Zn30 alloy. Adopting Honeycutt-Anderson (HA) bond-type index method and cluster type index method (CTIM-3) to analyse the microstructures in the system it is found that for all the nano-clusters including 2~8 icosahedral clusters in the system, there are 62 kinds of geometrical structures, and those can be classified, by the configurations of the central atoms of basic clusters they contained, into four types: chain-like, triangle-tailed, quadrilateral-tailed and pyramidal-tailed. The evolution of icosahedral nano-clusters can be conducted by perfect heredity and replacement heredity, and the perfect heredity emerges when temperature is slightly less than Tm then increase rapidly and far exceeds the replacement heredity at Tg; while for the replacement heredity, there are three major modes: replaced by triangle (3-atoms), quadrangle (4-atoms) and pentagonal pyramid (6-atoms), rather than by single atom step by step during rapid solidification processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (chRCC) is the third most common subtype of kidney cancers. In the present study, we identified 58 treatment-naïve primary chRCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset and analyzed the genome-wide microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles, with the aim to assess the relationship of miRNA expression with the progression and prognosis of chRCC. Overall, a total of 105 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between tumor and the adjacent normal tissues from 22 chRCC patients. In the unpaired condition (58 chRCC vs. 22 normal tissues), 77 (96.3%) samples were distinguished correctly by the signatures. In the progression-related profiles, 27 miRNAs were selected for pathologic T and 9 for lymph node involvement. In the survival analyses, the expression levels of mir-191, mir-19a, mir-210, and mir-425 were significantly associated with both recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival, while mir-210 was proven as an independent prognostic factor in terms of RFS. In summary, miRNAs are expressed differentially in chRCC, and unique expression of miRNAs is associated with the progression and prognosis of chRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organic solvent-soluble membrane filter (MF) is proposed for the simple and rapid reconcentration with subsequent spectrophotometric determination of trace levels of iron (II) in water. Iron (II) is collected on a nitrocellulose membrane filter as ion associate of an anionic complex, which is formed by iron (II) and Ferrozine and a cation-surfactant. The ion-pair compound and the MF can be dissolved in small volumes of 2-ethoxyethanol and the absorbance of the resulting solution is measured at 560 nm against a reagent blank with molar absorptivity of 4.01 × 104 L mol–1 cm–1. Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentration range 0–10 μg L–1 of iron (II) in water and the detection limit is 0.03 μg L–1 with a 50-fold enrichment factor. The proposed method can satisfactorily be applied to the determination of iron (II) in natural water and sea water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]