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In this paper, absolute value memristor is introduced into chaotic systems, and a four-dimensional memristor hyperchaotic system with multistability phenomenon is constructed. An image encryption algorithm combining parallel compressive sensing and double parameter fractal sorting matrix chunk scrambling is proposed. The algorithm preprocesses the image with a separable wavelet transform, and the preprocessed image is scrambled in chunks with a double-parameter fractal sorting matrix. The index matrix obtained from chaotic sequence ordering is utilized to perform a second permutation of the permuted image. The process of image Parallel compression sampling produces N different measurement matrices by means of the selection and control of two one-dimensional chaotic systems. At last, the chaotically generated hybrid sequence is being used to control the forward and backward diffusion of the compressed image. Comparative analysis between the experimental simulation results and the security capabilities of other algorithms demonstrates that the algorithm has a great advantage in terms of computational efficiency and reconstruction performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeriamonocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) is a prevalent food-borne pathogen that can cause listeriosis, which manifests as meningitis and other symptoms, potentially leading to fatal outcomes in severe cases. In this study, we developed an aptasensor utilizing carboxylated magnetic beads and Cas12a to detect L. monocytogenes. In the absence of L. monocytogenes, the aptamer maintains its spatial configuration, keeping the double-stranded DNA attached and preventing the release of a startup template and activation of Cas12a's trans-cleavage capability. Conversely, in the presence of L. monocytogenes, the aptamer undergoes a conformational change, releasing the double-stranded DNA to serve as a startup template, thereby activating the trans-cleavage capability of Cas12a. Consequently, as the concentration of L. monocytogenes increases, the observable brightness in a blue light gel cutter intensifies, leading to a rise in fluorescence intensity difference compared to the control. This Cas12a aptasensor demonstrates excellent sensitivity towards L. monocytogenes, with a lowest detection limit (LOD) of 57.15 CFU/mL and a linear range of 4×102 to 4×107 CFU/mL (R2=0.9858). Notably, the proposed Cas12a aptasensor exhibited outstanding selectivity and recovery in beef samples, and could be employed for precise monitoring. This Cas12a aptasensor not only provides a novel fluorescent and visual rapid detection method for L. monocytogenes but also offers simplicity, speed, and stability compared to previous detection methods. Furthermore, it is suitable for on-site detection of beef samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing street walkability is a critical agenda in urban planning and multidisciplinary research, as it facilitates public health, community cohesion, and urban sustainability. Existing evaluation systems primarily focus on objective measurements, often neglecting subjective assessments and the diverse walking needs influenced by different urban spatial elements. This study addresses these gaps by constructing a comprehensive evaluation framework that integrates both subjective and objective dimensions, combining three neighbourhood indicators: Macro-Scale Index, Micro-Scale Index, and Street Walking Preferences Index. A normalization weighting method synthesizes these indicators into a comprehensive index. We applied this framework to assess the street environment within Beijing's Fifth Ring Road. The empirical results demonstrate that: (1) The framework reliably reflects the distribution of walkability. (2) The three indicators show both similarities and differences, underscoring the need to consider the distinct roles of community and street-level elements and the interaction between subjective and objective dimensions. (3) In high-density cities with ring-road development patterns, the Macro-Scale Index closely aligns with the Comprehensive Index, demonstrating its accuracy in reflecting walkability. The proposed framework and findings offer new insights for street walkability research and theoretical support for developing more inclusive, sustainable and walkable cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bioconversion of low value-added phytosterols into high value-added 9α-hydroxy-4-androstene-3,17-dione (9-OHAD) in Mycolicibacterium neoaurum is a representative step in the steroid pharmaceutical industry. However, the complex mycobacterial cell walls with extremely low permeability and flowability greatly decrease the overall conversion efficiency. Herein, we preliminarily identified two key acyltransferases encoded by Mn_TmaT and Mn_SucT required for the proper synthesis of cell wall in mycobacteria and achieved a significant increase in cell permeability by disrupting them without affecting the cell wall structural stability. At length, the destruction of Mn_TmaT and Mn_SucT alone increased the conversion rate of 9-OHAD from 45.3% (6.67 ± 0.39 g/L) to 62.4% (9.19 ± 0.58 g/L) and 67.9% (10.02 ± 0.62 g/L) while the continuous destruction of Mn_TmaT and Mn_SucT did not further improve the conversion efficiency of 9-OHAD. Notably, it was investigated that the continuous destruction of Mn_TmaT and Mn_SucT led to alterations in both the covalent and non-covalent binding layers of the cell wall, resulting in excessive changes in cell morphology and structure, which ultimately decreased 9-OHAD production. Therefore, this study deciphered a pivotal biosynthetic path of cell wall and provided an efficient and feasible construction strategy of 9-OHAD synthesis in mycobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme rainfall events, within the context of climate change, pose a heightened risk of geohazards to mountainous regions. On 22 June 2022, a rainstorm-induced landslide-mudflow occurred in a terraced field in Longsheng County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The disaster began as a rotational slide, and mobilized into a mudflow with high mobility and long runout, causing significant damage to the local community. This event served as a wake-up call not only for the safety of mountain settlements, but also for the protection of terraced fields as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. To elucidate the trigger and mudflow mobilization of the event, field investigation, hydrological and agricultural analyses, and laboratory tests were conducted. It was found that the persistent and record-breaking rainfall directly triggered the disaster by increasing pore water pressure. The transition from paddy terraces to dry terraces was deduced to have contributed to a lack of maintenance in the terrace drainage system, thereby heightening the likelihood of landslides. The mudflow mobilization was attributed to excess pore water pressure generated by soil contraction and an undrained condition maintained by low permeability soil. Soil experiencing sliding may be more susceptible to shear contraction, consequently resulting in long-runout motion. Under conditions of increasing extreme rainfall, greater attention needs to be paid to geo-disaster prevention and terraced field protection in mountainous regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To delve into the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) and semen quality in patients with varicocele. Materials and methods: A total of 246 varicocele patients and 120 healthy adult males were enrolled. Physical examinations and the color Doppler ultrasonography were conducted on patients with varicocele to confirm the diagnosis. Venous blood samples and semen samples were collected from all participants for subsequent analysis. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between their MPV levels and semen quality. A series of statistical analyses were performed to assess the relationship between MPV and semen quality. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between body mass index (BMI), sexual hormones, semen volume, platelet count, and right testicular volume in all three groups (health subjects, varicocele without symptoms, and varicocele with infertility). When conducting regression analysis on two groups with varicocele, the results indicated that a lower MPV is associated with a reduced risk of varicocele accompanied by infertility (OR = 0.557 95% CI: 0.432–0.719, P < 0.001). Further correlation analysis in varicocele patients revealed that high MPV had a statistically negative impact on the occurrence of poor semen quality, affecting sperm concentration, progressive motility, and morphology (all P < 0.001). More importantly, when predicting varicocele associated with infertility, MPV demonstrated high diagnostic sensitivity (AUC = 0.745, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results indicate that MPV is higher in varicocele with infertility and is closely related to semen quality, which may suggest an accompanying decline in semen quality associated with varicocele. However, these conclusions require further experimental validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence strongly supports that PINK1 mutation can mediate mitochondrial autophagy dysfunction in dopaminergic neurons. This study was conducted to determine the role of PINK1 in the pathogenesis of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and find new targets for its treatment. A rigorous literature review was conducted to identify 2801 compounds from more than 200 plants in Asia. Virtual screening was used to shortlist the compounds into 20 groups based on their binding energies. MM/PBSA was used to further screen the compound dataset, and vitexin, luteoloside, and 2′-deoxyadenosine-5′-monophosphate were found to have a score of − 59.439, − 52.421, and − 47.544 kcal/mol, respectively. Pain behavioral quantification, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the effective mechanism. Vitexin had the most significant therapeutic effect on rats with PHN followed by luteoloside; 2′-deoxyadenosine-5′-monophosphate had no significant effect. Our findings suggested that vitexin could alleviate PHN by regulating mitochondrial autophagy through PINK1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electroplastic effect leads to an increase in the plasticity of the material and a decrease in resistance to deformation. In recent years, the electroplastic effect has achieved remarkable results in machining. It is significant in solving the problems of poor material forming quality, low productivity, and complex production processes in traditional machining. Firstly, the basic theory of electroplasticity is summarized. Four aspects are studied: pure electroplastic effect, joule heating effect, skin effect, and magnetic compression effect. Secondly, electroplastic plastic processing is summarized, including electroplastic bulk forming, electroplastic sheet progressive molding, electroplastic friction stir welding, electro-superplastic welding, and electroplastic rolling forming. Research progress and electrical plastic cutting processing are summarized, including electroplastic milling, electroplastic turning, and electroplastic drilling. Finally, the multi-energy field coupling machining technology is summarized, and the development trend and application prospect of the electroplastic effect in the machining field has prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the vertical propagation mechanism of hydraulic fractures (HFs) within thin interbedded rocks can provide the fundamental insights into cross-layer behaviors of HFs and valuable guidance for designing hydraulic fracturing pumping parameters in coal measure strata. Laboratory true-triaxial hydraulic fracturing experiments for horizontal wells are conducted using artificial thin interbedded samples consisting of the cement mortar encapsulating natural coal and mudstone interlayers. A three-dimensional (3D) fracture reconstruction method based on the fluorescent agent and laser scanning technique is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the stimulated reservoir area (SRA) and vertical fracture height (VFH) of HFs under different in-situ stresses, injection rates, fracturing fluid viscosities, lithological combinations and interfacial cementation strengths. Results show that the 3D geometry of HFs exhibits non-planar, asymmetric, and non-uniform propagation within thin interbedded rocks. The propagation patterns of HFs in thin interbedded rocks mainly include arresting, deflecting, penetrating and mixed pattern. The higher vertical stress difference coefficient (λV), injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity facilitate the HF penetration through interlayers, thus increasing the SRA and VFH. A smaller horizontal stress difference coefficient (λH) induces the HF reorientation and significantly increases the SRA, although it has a minor impact on the vertical cross-layer propagation behaviors of HFs. Compared with the mudstone interlayer, the HF is prone to penetrate from the high-modulus sandstone layer into the low-modulus coal interlayer. The values of critical parameters (λV, injection rate, and fracturing fluid viscosity) for cross-layer propagation of HFs increase in the presence of weakly cemented lithological interfaces within thin interbedded rocks. When HFs propagate across interlayers, the injection pressure curve typically exhibits noticeable fluctuations and an upward trend during the injection of low-viscosity fracturing fluid. The key findings of this paper offer valuable insights into the vertical propagation mechanism of HFs and provide guidance for designing hydraulic fracturing treatments in coal measure strata. Highlights: The SRA and VFH of HFs within thin interbedded rocks are quantitatively evaluated using the 3D laser scanning technique under true-triaxial hydraulic fracturing experiments. The higher λV, injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity facilitate the HF penetration through interlayers. The lower λH induces the HF reorientation and significantly increases the SRA. The critical parameter values for cross-layer propagation of HFs increase in the presence of weakly cemented lithological interfaces within thin interbedded rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Abnormal expression of genes regulating anther and pollen development and insufficient accumulation of male sterility (MS)- related metabolites lead to MS in cybrid pummelo Male sterility (MS) is a major cause of seedlessness in citrus, which is an important trait for fresh fruit. Understanding the mechanism of MS is important for breeding seedless citrus cultivars. In this study, we dissected the transcriptional, metabolic and physiological mechanisms of MS in somatic cybrid of pummelo (G1 + HBP). G1 + HBP exhibited severe male sterility, manifesting as retarded anther differentiation, abnormal anther wall development (especially tapetum and endothecium), and deficient pollen wall formation. In the anthers of G1 + HBP, the expression of genes regulating anther differentiation and tapetum development was abnormal, and the expression of genes regulating endothecium secondary lignification thickening and pollen wall formation was down-regulated. The transcription of genes involved in MS-related biological processes, such as jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway, primary metabolism, flavonoid metabolism, and programmed cell death, was altered in G1 + HBP anthers, and the accumulation of MS-associated metabolites, including fatty acids, amino acids, sugars, ATP, flavonols and reactive oxygen species (ROS), was down-regulated in G1 + HBP anthers. In summary, abnormal expression of key genes regulating anther and pollen development, altered transcription of key genes involved in MS-related metabolic pathways, and insufficient accumulation of MS-related metabolites together lead to MS in G1 + HBP. The critical genes and the metabolism pathways identified herein provide new insights into the formation mechanism of MS in citrus and candidate genes for breeding seedless citrus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of substituting equal concentrations of Ni with 0.7 wt% and 1 wt% Cu on the corrosion behavior of Ni-advanced weathering steels (WS) in the simulated tropical marine atmosphere was studied. The results reveal that the effect of substituting Ni with Cu on enhancing the corrosion resistance of Ni-advanced WS is positively correlated with the substitution of Cu, as the concentration of Cu substitution affects the synergistic effect of Cu/Ni in Ni-advanced WS. With the substitution content of 0.7 wt% Cu, the synergy effect of Cu/Ni on enhancing the densification and protection of the rust layer is weakened which promotes the charge transfer process and accelerates the corrosion process of Ni-advanced WS. As the content of Cu substituting Ni increases up to 1 wt%, the synergy effect of Cu/Ni is stronger than that of Ni at the same content. Consequently, modifies the Ni-depleted region in the rust layer, the α-FeOOH content in the rust layer is increased, makes the rust layer dense, and intensifies the charge transfer resistance at the substrate-rust interface, thereby improving the corrosion resistance of the Ni-advanced WS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, the interest in Al[18F]F as a labeling agent for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radiotracers has risen, as it allows for fast and efficient fluorine-18 labeling by harnessing chelation chemistry. The introduction of Restrained Complexing Agent (RESCA) as a chelator has also shown that chelator-based radiolabeling reactions can be performed in mild conditions, making the radiolabeling process attractively more facile than most conventional radiofluorination methods. The aim of the study was to establish optimized conditions for Al[18F]F labeling of Affibody molecules using RESCA as a complexing agent, using Z09591 and Z0185, two Affibody proteins targeting PDGFRβ and TNFα, respectively, as model compounds. Results: The Al[18F]F labeling of RESCA-conjugated Z09591 was tested at different temperatures (rt to 60 °C) and with varying reaction times (12 to 60 min), and optimal conditions were then implemented on RESCA-Z0185. The optimized synthesis method was: 1.5–2.5 GBq of cyclotron produced fluorine-18 were trapped on a QMA cartridge and eluted with saline solution to react with 12 nmol of AlCl3 and form Al[18F]F. The respective RESCA-conjugated Affibody molecule (14 nmol) in NaOAc solution was added to the Al[18F]F solution and left to react at 60 °C for 12 min. The mixture was purified on a NAP5 size exclusion column and then analyzed by HPLC. The entire process took approximately 35 min, was highly reproducible, indicating the efficiency and reliability of the method. The labeled compounds demonstrated retained biological function for their respective targets after purification. Conclusions: We present a general and optimized method for Al[18F]F labeling of RESCA-conjugated Affibody molecules, which can be widely applied to this class of peptide-based imaging agents. Moreover, radiochemical yields were improved when the labeling was conducted at 37 °C or above. In vitro and in vivo assessment of the respective tracers was promising, showing retained binding capacity as well as moderate defluorination, which is usually regarded as a potential downside for RESCA-conjugated tracers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the synthesis and evaluation of a magnetic chitosan-modified biochar (M-BC-CS) composite, developed from waste maize straw, for the efficient removal of copper ions (Cu2+) and methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions. The composite was characterized using advanced techniques such as SEM, BET, FTIR, XPS, and XRD, confirming its enhanced surface area, porosity, and magnetic properties. The study is aimed at investigating the optimal conditions for adsorption of Cu2+ and MB by M-BC-CS through analysis of the influence of diverse adsorbent dosages, pH levels, reaction times, and initial solution concentrations. The findings demonstrated that the equilibrium duration for the adsorption of Cu2+ and MB by M-BC-CS was 60 min, resulting in corresponding equilibrium adsorption quantities of 54.42 mg/g and 67.23 mg/g, respectively. To elucidate the adsorption mechanism, the present investigation applied the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir isotherm. The outcomes suggested that the adsorption process is attributable to single molecular layer chemisorption. XPS and FTIR analysis determined that ion exchange and electrostatic interactions are the predominant mechanisms responsible for the simultaneous adsorption of Cu2+ and MB, and a competitive relationship exists between these mechanisms. In addition, M-BC-CS exhibited exceptional magnetic separation performance, enabling effortless and effective separation when exposed to an external magnetic field. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that M-BC-CS has good reusability and high adsorption capacity also in real wastewater, thus emphasizing its potential as a promising adsorbent for the elimination of Cu2+ and MB from aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid management remains a critical challenge in the treatment of septic shock, with individualized approaches lacking. This study aims to develop a statistical model based on transcriptomics to identify subgroups of septic shock patients with varied responses to fluid strategy. The study encompasses 494 septic shock patients. A benefit score is derived from the transcriptome space, with higher values indicating greater benefits from restrictive fluid strategy. Adherence to the recommended strategy is associated with a hazard ratio of 0.82 (95% confidence interval: 0.64–0.92). When applied to the baseline hospital mortality rate of 16%, adherence to the recommended fluid strategy could potentially lower this rate to 13%. A proteomic signature comprising six proteins is developed to predict the benefit score, yielding an area under the curve of 0.802 (95% confidence interval: 0.752–0.846) in classifying patients who may benefit from a restrictive strategy. In this work, we develop a proteomic signature with potential utility in guiding fluid strategy for septic shock patients. Fluid management in septic shock lacks personalized approaches, which are critical for improving patient outcomes. Here, the authors show that a proteomic signature can help identify patients who may benefit from a restrictive fluid strategy, potentially reducing hospital mortality rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNAs and their encoded proteins intricately regulate diverse cell types and states within the human body. Dysregulated RNA expressions or mutations can lead to various diseased cell states, including tumorigenesis. Detecting and manipulating these endogenous RNAs offers significant promise for restoring healthy cell states and targeting tumors both in research and clinical contexts. This study presents an RNA-IN and RNA-OUT genetic circuit capable dynamically sensing and manipulating any RNA target in a programmable manner. The RNA-IN module employes a programmable CRISPR-associated protease (CASP) complex for RNA detection, while the RNA-OUT module utilizes an engineered protease-responsive dCas9-VPR activator. Additionally, the CASP module can detect point mutations by harnessing an uncovered dual-nucleotide synergistic switching effect within the CASP complex, resulting in the amplification of point-mutation signals from initially undetectable levels (1.5-fold) to a remarkable 94-fold. We successfully showcase the circuit's ability to rewire endogenous RNA-IN signals to activate endogenous progesterone biosynthesis pathway, dynamically monitor adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and the epithelial-to-mesenchmal trans-differentiation, as well as selective killing of tumor cells. The programmable RNA-IN and RNA-OUT circuit exhibits tremendous potential for applications in gene therapy, biosensing and design of synthetic regulatory networks. RNAs and their encoded proteins intricately regulate diverse cell types and states within the human body. Here the authors report an RNA-IN/OUT genetic circuit to sense and respond any endogenous RNA with single-nucleotide resolution allowing them to dynamically monitor stem cell differentiations, and rewire regulatory networks in mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of limited transmission energy of liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF), a dual-wavelength transmission system with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is proposed in this paper. The proposed transmission factor Qp is the main influence on the number and location of transmission wavelengths as well as the bandwidth of each transmission wavelength for dual-wavelength systems. Dual-wavelength LCTF can improve the effective transmission energy of the system by increasing the number of filtering channels, and the transmission energy can be increased by about 1.8 times and 70% at short and long wavelengths, respectively, which improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the system. Moreover, the dual-wavelength LCTF system is even possible to increase the transmission energy by about 7% at a 33% increase in spectral resolution. Therefore, the dual-wavelength LCTF transmission method not only can improve the SNR of target detection with dual-wavelength response features, but also can effectively solve the problem of contradiction between spectral resolution and spectral transmission energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of a ZVT PWM boost converter is analyzed in detail in this study. In addition, the comprehensive parasitic parameters are taken into consideration. It is discovered that some unexpected modes, referred to as sneak circuit modes, occur during the operation of the converter, when certain excitation conditions are applied. Parasitic parameters and dynamic sneak paths impact the converter operating performance, causing both positive and negative effects. The effects of sneak circuits and excitation conditions are analyzed so that those with negative effects can be eliminated, and those with positive effects can be utilized. In contrast to previous works, sneak circuit phenomena are utilized to optimize the converter performance. Furthermore, parasitic circuit elements are identified and quantitatively determined to estimate their impact on the switching performance of the converter. Combining parameter optimization and topology optimization, soft switching is achieved in both the main power switch and the auxiliary power switch, and waveform distortion is reduced. Finally, simulation and experimental results are included to verify the theoretical analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a Wide tunble in C + L band single-wavelength passively Q-switched fiber laser (PQFL) consisting of cascaded doped fiber segments and a tunable band-pass filter (TBF) is proposed. The TBF achieves precise tuning of the wavelength with a maximum tunable range of 45.04 nm (1529.08–1574.12 nm). When the fiber is non-completely pumped, erbium-doped fiber (EDF) and erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber (EYDF) act as saturable absorbers (SA). It has different nonlinearities under different pump power combinations, producing passively Q-switched pulses with repetition frequencies from 8.23 kHz to 46.47 kHz and pulse widths reduced from 12.82 μs to 2.00 μs. In addition, the wavelength range of passively Q-switched is also changing from 11.55 nm to 31.04 nm. In the experiment, the change in the wavelength range of the passively Q-switched pulse was explained by analyzing the gain saturation absorption characteristics of the EDF and the EYDF. In the experiment, only four devices are used to achieve single-wavelength wide tuning and passively Q-switched, which is enough to prove the simplicity and compactness of the structure. The proposed FQFL has broad application prospects in the fields of distributed sensing systems and bio-medical imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-distillation method guides the model learning via transferring knowledge of the model itself, which has shown the advantages in object segmentation. However, it has been proved that uncertain pixels with predicted probability close to 0.5 will restrict the model performance. The existing self-distillation methods cannot guide the model to enhance its learning ability for uncertain pixels, so the improvement is limited. To boost the student model's learning ability for uncertain pixels, a novel self-distillation method is proposed. Firstly, the predicted probability in the current training sample and the ground truth label are fused to construct the teacher knowledge, as the current predicted information can express the performance of student models and represent the uncertainty of pixels more accurately. Secondly, a quadratic mapping function between the predicted probabilities of the teacher and student model is proposed. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed method using the mapping function can guide the model to enhance the learning ability for uncertain pixels. Finally, the essential difference of utilizing the predicted probability of the student model in self-distillation is discussed in detail. Extensive experiments were conducted on models with convolutional neural networks and Transformer architectures as the backbone networks. The results on four public datasets demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively improve the student model performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-sulfur batteries have become a research hotspot in the field of energy storage due to their high capacity and low cost. However, lithium metal anodes' short cycle life and safety performance severely limit their commercial application. Here, we used an "in situ" method to form a stable artificial solid electrolyte interface on the surface of the metal lithium, which can control the electrochemical behavior of the interface between the lithium metal and the electrolyte and inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites. The electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur batteries with protected lithium anode is greatly enhanced. The discharge capacity remains at 1519.6 mAhg−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C. In addition, the rate capability of lithium-sulfur batteries is also significantly improved, delivering a reversible capacity of 685.7 mAh g−1 at 0.5 C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a novel method for detecting facial landmarks, termed the spatial fusion regression augmentation network (SFRA), which aims to improve the spatial generalization capabilities of coordinate based regression techniques. The SFRA consists of three components, namely, the landmark feature enhancement network (LFE), spatial relationship modeling network (SRM), and landmark coordinate regression (LCR) network. The LFE is capable of incorporating prior information into the extracted landmark features, thus boosting their representational capacity. The SRM is capable of understanding the local interaction and global interaction among the landmark patches before they are passed to the LCR to predict the coordinates of the landmarks. Then, the output from each predicted coordinates from the LCR feeds into the subsequent stage’s LFE to improve feature representation, creating a pyramid-like multistage structure that refines details progressively from a coarse to a fine level, ultimately achieving precise facial landmark predictions. The proposed method was rigorously tested on the 300W, WFLW and COFW datasets, achieving normalized mean error (NME) metrics of 3.07%, 4.11% and 3.29% respectively, thus placing it to be the best performing coordinate based regression methods; its performance when compared with the best heatmap based regression methods, is mixed, in that on the WFLW dataset, it is better, on the 300W dataset it is slightly worse, and on the COFW dataset, it is better if the normalization factor in the NME metric is based on inter-ocular distances, while using inter-pupil distances, it is slightly worse than the best method in the heatmap based regression methods. Lastly, ablation studies are performed to confirm the efficacy of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chromobox Homolog 1 (CBX1) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including the evolution and advancement of diverse cancers. The role of CBX1 in pan-cancer and its mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, remains to be further investigated. Methods: Bioinformatics approaches were harnessed to scrutinize CBX1's expression profile, its association with tumor staging, and its potential impact on patient outcomes across various cancers. Single-cell RNA sequencing data facilitated the investigation of CBX1 expression patterns at the individual cell level. The CBX1 expression levels in HCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues were quantified through Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Western Blotting (WB), and Immunohistochemical analyses. A tissue microarray was employed to explore the relationship between CBX1 levels, patient prognosis, and clinicopathological characteristics in HCC. Various in vitro assays—including CCK-8, colony formation, Transwell invasion, and scratch tests—were conducted to assess the proliferative and motility properties of HCC cells upon modulation of CBX1 expression. Moreover, the functional impact of CBX1 on HCC was further discerned through xenograft studies in nude mice. Results: CBX1 was found to be upregulated in most cancer forms, with heightened expression correlating with adverse patient prognoses. Within the context of HCC, elevated levels of CBX1 were consistently indicative of poorer clinical outcomes. Suppression of CBX1 through knockdown methodologies markedly diminished HCC cell proliferation, invasive capabilities, migratory activity, Epithelial−mesenchymal transition (EMT) processes, and resistance to Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Contrastingly, CBX1 augmentation facilitated the opposite effects. Subsequent investigative efforts revealed CBX1 to be a promoter of EMT and a contributor to increased TKI resistance within HCC cells, mediated via the IGF-1R/AKT/SNAIL signaling axis. The oncogenic activities of CBX1 proved to be attenuable either by AKT pathway inhibition or by targeted silencing of IGF-1R. Conclusions: The broad overexpression of CBX1 in pan-cancer and specifically in HCC positions it as a putative oncogenic entity. It is implicated in forwarding HCC progression and exacerbating TKI resistance through its interaction with the IGF-1R/AKT/SNAIL signaling cascade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the degree of automotive intelligence increases, gesture recognition is gaining more attention in human-vehicle interaction. However, existing gesture recognition methods are computationally intensive and perform poorly in multi-modal sensor scenarios. This paper proposes a novel network structure, AL-MobileNet (MobileNet with Attention and Lightweight Modules), which can quickly and accurately estimate 2D gestures in RGB and infrared (IR) images. The innovations of this paper are as follows: Firstly, to enhance multi-modal data, we created a synthetic IR dataset based on real 2D gestures and employed a coarse-to-fine training approach. Secondly, to speed up the model's computation on edge devices, we introduced a new lightweight computational module called the Split Channel Attention Block (SCAB). Thirdly, to ensure the model maintains accuracy in large datasets, we incorporated auxiliary networks and Angle-Weighted Loss (AWL) into the backbone network. Experiments show that AL-MobileNet requires only 0.4 GFLOPs of computational power and 1.2 million parameters. This makes it 1.5 times faster than MobileNet and allows for quick execution on edge devices. AL-MobileNet achieved a running speed of up to 28 FPS on the Ambarella CV28. On both general datasets and our dataset, our algorithm achieved an average PCK0.2 score of 0.95. This indicates that the algorithm can quickly generate accurate 2D gestures. The demonstration of the algorithm can be reviewed in gesturebaolong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine water surge is one of the main safety risks in coal mines. This research offers a novel mine water source identification model (BO-CatBoost) to successfully avoid and control mine sudden water catastrophes by properly identifying the sources of mine water. First, the classification model is trained and built using the Categorical Boosting (CatBoost) algorithm. The Gaussian process Bayesian optimization (BO) algorithm is used to optimize parameters, and the optimal parameter combination is integrated into the CatBoost algorithm to build the BO-CatBoost mine water source identification model, which further improves the accuracy of mine water source identification. The model was also applied to the Pingdingshan mine to verify the practicality of the model. Then, 29 groups of unknown water sources in Pingdingshan were selected as validation samples for the model and compared with the conventional CatBoost, Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (Xgboost) models. The comparison results demonstrate that the accuracy of LightGBM, Xgboost, CatBoost, and BO-CatBoost models can reach 69%, 79.3%, 79.3%, and 100% respectively, and the RMSE is 0.947, 0.643, 0.719, and 0.0 respectively. The comprehensive analysis shows that, when it comes to mine water source detection, the BO-CatBoost model performs noticeably better than other models in terms of discriminative accuracy and generalization capacity. Lastly, the multi-output prediction and decision-making process of the BO-CatBoost water source identification model is visualized by the interpretability analysis performed with the SHAP approach. The research demonstrates that the BO-CatBoost model can more precisely and impartially identify mine water sources, offering fresh concepts for mine water source detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erythritol is a natural non-caloric sweetener, which is produced by fermentation and extensively applied in food, medicine and chemical industries. The final step of the erythritol synthesis pathway is involved in erythritol reductase, whose activity and NADPH-dependent become the limiting node of erythritol production efficiency. Herein, we implemented a strategy combining molecular docking and thermal stability screening to construct an ER mutant library. And we successfully obtained a double mutant ERK26N/V295M (ER*) whose catalytic activity was 1.48 times that of wild-type ER. Through structural analysis and MD analysis, we found that the catalytic pocket and the enzyme stability of ER* were both improved. We overexpressed ER* in the engineered strain ΔKU70 to obtain the strain YLE-1. YLE-1 can produce 39.47 g/L of erythritol within 144 h, representing a 35% increase compared to the unmodified strain, and a 10% increase compared to the strain overexpressing wild-type ER. Considering the essentiality of NADPH supply, we further co-expressed ER* with two genes from the oxidative phase of PPP, ZWF1 and GND1. This resulted in the construction of YLE-3, which exhibited a significant increase in production, producing 47.85 g/L of erythritol within 144 h, representing a 63.90% increase compared to the original chassis strain. The productivity and the yield of the engineered strain YLE-3 were 0.33 g/L/h and 0.48 g/g glycerol, respectively. This work provided an ER mutation with excellent performance, and also proved the importance of cofactors in the process of erythritol synthesis, which will promote the industrial production of erythritol by metabolic engineering of Y. lipolytica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) polymorphisms, 5 serum related molecular levels and the risk of adverse pregnancies in different genders. Methods: Patients aged from 22 to 38 with a history of adverse pregnancy treated in our genetic eugenics clinic of Henan Provincial People's Hospital are selected. The controls aged from 20 to 34 undergoing eugenics examinations in our genetic eugenics clinic that had no history of adverse pregnancy and at least one healthy child are selected. Sanger sequencing and Chemiluminescence Microparticle Immuno Assay (CMIA) are used for detecting the mutations of MTHFR and MTRR and the 5 serum molecular serum levels. Results: In the female group, MTHFR 677 C > T is associated with Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) (P = 0.0017), Chromosomal abnormality (CA) (P = 0.0053), Cleft lip and palate (CLP) (P = 0.0326) and Brain dysplasia (BD) (P = 0.0072); MTHFR 1298 A > C is associated with Infertility (P = 0.0026) and BD (P = 0.0382); MTRR 66 A > G is associated with CLP (P = 0.0131). In the male group, MTHFR 677 C > T is associated with RSA (P = 0.0003), Infertility (P = 0.0013), CA (P = 0.0027) and BD (P = 0.0293). In the female group, the genotype of MTHFR 677 C > T is associated with RSA (P = 0.0017), CA (P = 0.0014) and BD (P = 0.0021); MTHFR 1298 A > C is associated with Infertility (P = 0.0081) and MTRR 66 A > G is associated with Infertility (P = 0.0309). In the male group, the genotype of MTHFR 677 C > T is associated with RSA (P = 0.0008), Infertility (P = 0.0096) and CA (P = 0.0165) and MTRR 66 A > G is associated with Infertility (P = 0.0158) and congenital heart disease (CHD) (P = 0.0218). In the male group, there is statistically significant difference of the serum Homocysteine (Hcy) levels (P < 0.0001) between adverse pregnancy group and controls. In the female group, there is statistically significant difference of the serum vitamin D levels (P = 0.0015) between adverse pregnancy group and controls. Conclusions: Polymorphic variants in MTHFR and MTRR, serum Folic acid (FA), Hcy and B12 levels in the male group and vitamin D levels in the female group are associated differentially with adverse pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influences of Ni element on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cast aluminum alloy 207 (commercial trademark ZL207 alloy in China) was studied by changing the Ni content in the alloy. Three groups of alloys were prepared with different Ni additions of 1.3, 1.6 and 1.9 wt.%. The microstructures of these alloys were characterized by using optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) and compared with the ZL207 master alloy. The results showed that when the content of Ni element is 1.3 wt.%, the tensile strength reached the maximum value of 201 MPa at the temperature of 250 °C. At this element content, the percentage of the second phase also reached the maximum, which was 37.99%. The hardness value showed a gradual increase trend, but the highest value was still less than the hardness value of the ZL207 master alloy. When the Ni element content was 1.9 wt.%, the hardness reached the maximum value, 122 HV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz frequency band (0.1 ~ 10 THz) can provide ultra-high transmitting rates for massive emerging applications. However, due to the radio frequency impairments and limited signal processing property of baseband devices, it is difficult for the current terahertz communication systems to be used in real applications. In this work, we report a 0.22 THz communication system, which can provide 84 Gbps air interface rate over 1.26 kilometers distance. Such a system is underpinned by three breakthroughs, namely, integrating the reported terahertz wireless communication system, redesigning the signal processing in baseband devices, and increasing the cut-off frequency and transmitting power of radio frequency component by parameter optimizing. Being applied to realize the real-time transmission of the uncompressed 8K ultra high-definition video in the 31st International University Sports Federation in Chengdu, China, this work is a leaping advancement to enable terahertz systems from experiment to promising applications. For most real-world wireless applications, long distance and high-speed transmission are needed in tandem. Here, the authors report a 0.22 THz communication system achieving 84 Gbps for real-time uncompressed 8K video transmission over 1.26 km, applied during the 31st FISU in Chengdu, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edge computing nodes close to the perception layer of IoT systems are susceptible to data leaks and unauthorized access. To address these security concerns, this paper proposes a trusted IoT data sharing method based on secure multi-party computation (SMC). By running a reliable third-party blockchain service at edge computing nodes, the data computation relationships between IoT devices in the perception layer are registered in blockchain smart contracts. This constructs a publicly verifiable IoT data sharing method combining on-chain audit verification and off-chain SMC. Furthermore, a Bloom filter is maintained at the on-chain smart contract layer to track the trust status of IoT devices in the perception layer, filtering out non-trustworthy device requests and enabling secure data sharing among trusted devices. Comparative analysis and performance tests demonstrate the proposed method's high computational efficiency for IoT device nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we successfully established a novel gallbladder cancer cell line, designated as GBC-X1, derived from a primary tumor of a gallbladder cancer patient. By comprehensively analyzing the cell line’s phenotype, molecular characteristics, biomarkers, and histological characteristics, we confirmed that GBC-X1 serves as a valuable model for investigating the pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer and developing therapeutic agents. GBC-X1 has been continuously cultured for one year, with over 60 stable passages. Morphologically, GBC-X1 exhibits typical features of epithelial tumors. The population doubling time of GBC-X1 is 32 h. STR analysis validated a high consistency between GBC-X1 and the patient’s primary tumor. Karyotype analysis revealed an abnormal hypertetraploid karyotype for GBC-X1, characterized by representative karyotypes of 98, XXXX del (4) p (12) del (5) p (21) der (10). Under suspension culture conditions, GBC-X1 efficiently forms tumor balls, while subcutaneous inoculation of GBC-X1 cells into NXG mice leads to xenograft formation with a rate of 80%. Drug sensitivity testing demonstrated that GBC-X1 is resistant to oxaliplatin and sensitive to 5-FU, gemcitabine, and paclitaxel. Immunohistochemistry revealed positive expression of CK7, CK19, E-cadherin, MMP-2, CD44, SOX2, and TP53 in GBC-X1 cells, weak positive expression of Vimentin, and a Ki67 positive rate of 35%. Our research highlights GBC-X1 as a novel gallbladder cancer cell line and emphasizes its potential as an effective experimental model for investigating the pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer and drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the phase 3 Coronavirus Efficacy (COVE) trial (NCT04470427), post-dose two Ancestral Spike-specific binding (bAb) and neutralizing (nAb) antibodies were shown to be correlates of risk (CoR) and of protection against Ancestral-lineage COVID-19 in SARS-CoV-2 naive participants. In the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron era, Omicron subvariants with varying degrees of immune escape now dominate, seropositivity rates are high, and booster doses are administered, raising questions on whether and how these developments affect the bAb and nAb correlates. To address these questions, we assess post-boost BA.1 Spike-specific bAbs and nAbs as CoRs and as correlates of booster efficacy in COVE. For naive individuals, bAbs and nAbs inversely correlate with Omicron COVID-19: hazard ratios (HR) per 10-fold marker increase (95% confidence interval) are 0.16 (0.03, 0.79) and 0.31 (0.10, 0.96), respectively. In non-naive individuals the analogous results are similar: 0.15 (0.04, 0.63) and 0.28 (0.07, 1.08). For naive individuals, three vs two-dose booster efficacy correlates with predicted nAb titer at exposure, with estimates -8% (-126%, 48%), 50% (25%, 67%), and 74% (49%, 87%), at 56, 251, and 891 Arbitrary Units/ml. These results support the continued use of antibody as a surrogate endpoint. Using data from a phase 3 efficacy trial, the authors here show that post-boost Omicron BA.1 spike-specific binding and neutralizing antibodies inversely correlate with Omicron COVID-19 and booster efficacy for naive and non-naive participants, supporting the continued use of antibody as a surrogate endpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) aims to solve the lack of annotation in a new dataset which has non-independent identity distribution compare with training data. It has the potential to help the annotation process in medical image segmentation. Existing self-training based UDA approaches utilize the pseudo labels as ground truth labels for domain adaptation, whereas the generated pseudo labels inevitably introducing the noise when training the model for the target domain, which make the training process unstable and the model is difficult to converge. In the meanwhile, most of the methods ignore the class imbalanced problem. To tackle the issue, we propose a class-aware multi-stage unsupervised domain adaptation framework for prostate zonal segmentation task. We devise a class-specific knowledge guidance strategy for training a better pseudo labels generation model. Extensive experimental results show the effectiveness of our approach against existing state-of-the-art approaches on the UDA problem of prostate zonal segmentation benchmark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-documented risk factor of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). The current study was aimed to clarify the effects and mechanisms of NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit A3 (NDUFA3) in human nucleus pulposus cells (HNPCs) exposed to high glucose. NDUFA3 was overexpressed in HNPCs via lenti-virus transduction, which were co-treated with high glucose and rotenone (a mitochondrial complex I inhibitor) for 48 h. Cell activities were assessed for cell viability, cell apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) ratio, oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and mitochondrial complexes I activities. High glucose decreased cell viability, increased apoptotic cells, increased ROS production, decreased MMP levels and OCR values in HNPCs in a dose-dependent manner. Rotenone co-treatment augmented the high glucose-induced injuries on cell viability, apoptosis, ROS production and mitochondrial function. NDUFA3 overexpression counteracted the high glucose-induced injuries in HNPCs. HDAC/H3K27ac mechanism was involved in regulating NDUFA3 transcription. NDUFA3 knockdown decreased cell viability and increased apoptotic cells, which were reversed by ROS scavenger N-acetylcysteine. HDAC/H3K27ac-mediated transcription of NDUFA3 protects HNPCs against high glucose-induced injuries through suppressing cell apoptosis, eliminating ROS, improving mitochondrial function and oxidative phosphorylation. This study sheds light on candidate therapeutic targets and deepens the understanding of molecular mechanisms behind DM-induced IVDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate a class of linear multiplicative programs with positive exponents. By introducing p additional variables, the original problem is reformulated into an equivalent problem (EP) within the output space. Subsequently, a novel global optimization algorithm is introduced to tackle EP. The algorithm primarily leverages two key techniques. One is the outer approximation technique, which tightens the relaxed feasible region of EP and improves the upper bound by carefully examining suitable feasible points. The other is the branch and bound technique to guarantee the global optimality of the solution. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed algorithm, thereby underscoring its potential for real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Laguerre polynomial method has been successfully used to investigate the dynamic responses of a half-space. However, it fails to obtain the correct stress at the interfaces in a layered half-space, especially when there are significant differences in material properties. Therefore, a coupled Legendre-Laguerre polynomial method with analytical integration is proposed. The Rayleigh waves in a one-dimensional (1D) hexagonal quasicrystal (QC) layered half-space with an imperfect interface are investigated. The correctness is validated by comparison with available results. Its computation efficiency is analyzed. The dispersion curves of the phase velocity, displacement distributions, and stress distributions are illustrated. The effects of the phonon-phason coupling and imperfect interface coefficients on the wave characteristics are investigated. Some novel findings reveal that the proposed method is highly efficient for addressing the Rayleigh waves in a QC layered half-space. It can save over 99% of the computation time. This method can be expanded to investigate waves in various layered half-spaces, including earth-layered media and surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility mapping (LSM) with machine learning (ML) models highly depends on the number and accuracy of landslides (positive samples) and non-landslides (negative samples). However, there is no existing standard method for selecting non-landslides, leading to the accuracy of negative samples being challenging to guarantee in previous studies, which leads to the loss of accuracy and reliability of the LSM model. To solve this problem, an information quantity and machine learning integrated model (IQ-ML) is proposed in this paper. The information quantity (IQ) model was introduced to preliminarily determine areas of low and very low landslide susceptibility applicable to non-landslides selection. Then, ML is used to accomplish LSM, with the support of randomly selected non-landslides. For validation purposes, the Jiuzhaigou area was selected as a case study area, three IQ-ML models (IQ-SVM, IQ-RF, and IQ-BPNN) were constructed successively for LSM and cross-validation, and further comparative analysis was conducted with three ML models (SVM, RF, and BPNN) that based on randomly selected non-landslides outside the landslide buffer zone. Finally, the ROC curve was used to evaluate each model's prediction accuracy objectively. The experimental results show that the IQ-ML model proposed in this paper has higher prediction accuracy than the ML model. The AUC of IQ-SVM, IQ-RF, and IQ-BPNN models are 0.986, 0.993, and 0.991, respectively, which are higher than the SVM, RF, and BPNN models. The above result proves that the accurate non-landslide negative samples selected by the IQ model help to improve the accuracy and reliability of ML-based LSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, a catastrophic flood triggered by the extreme precipitation in Sind Province, Pakistan. To better understand the comprehensive response of water vapor, rainfall, topography, and flood, the source of water vapor for the flood was calculated by the NCAR Command Language (NCL) application. Simultaneously, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) data was collected from NASA for overlay analysis with water vapor observations. In addition, a digital elevation model (DEM) was also obtained to analyze the impact of topography on flood inundation. Importantly, multi Sentinel-1 data was used to monitor the long-term changes in flood inundation area. The extreme precipitation is dominated by water vapor continue transferred by southwest monsoon, especially impacted by the occurrence of cyclone. Simultaneously, influenced by the steep terrain that located in the north and west of Pakistan, the extreme precipitation first occurred in Islamabad and its adjacent area, subsequently in Punjab Province, and finally concentrated in Sind Province. The surface runoff induced by rainstorm converged in the junction of Sind and Punjab Province with the pattern of fire hose effect. Subsequently, the flood in Indus River in the Sind Province overflow into the low-lying area along the bank of Indus River due to the terrain of Indus River in these regions has the characteristics of over ground river, and the flood flow capacity is lower than that in northern of Pakistan. In addition, the long-term changes in the flood inundation area can be summarized into four stages: increase slowly period (In June), increase slightly period (In July), increase rapidly period (Between August and the beginning of September), rapidly decline period (After September 15, 2022). Importantly, a conceptual model of disaster caused by the fire pipe effect is summarized based on the comprehensive response of water vapor, rainfall, and topography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent studies demonstrated that chronic prostatitis (CP) is closely related to the gut microbiota (GM). Nevertheless, the causal relationship between GM and CP has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was employed to investigate this association. Methods: The summary data of gut microbiota derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 18,340 individuals in the MiBioGen study served as the exposure, and the corresponding summary statistics for CP risk, representing the outcome, were obtained from the FinnGen databases (R9). The causal effects between GM and CP were estimated using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method supplemented with MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and simple mode methods. Additionally, the false discovery rate (FDR) correction was performed to adjust results. The detection and quantification of heterogeneity and pleiotropy were accomplished through the MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier method, Cochran's Q statistics, and MR-Egger regression. Results: The IVW estimates indicated that a total of 11 GM taxa were related to the risk of CP. Seven of them was correlated with an increased risk of CP, while the remained linked with a decreased risk of CP. However, only Methanobacteria (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.74–0.99), Methanobacteriales (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.74–0.99), NB1n (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.16–1.34), Methanobacteriaceae (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.74–0.99), Odoribactergenus Odoribacter (OR 1.43; 95% CI 1.05–1.94), and Sutterellagenus Sutterella (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.01–1.76) still maintain significant association with CP after FDR correction. Consistent directional effects for all analyses were observed in the supplementary methods. Subsequently, sensitivity analyses indicated the absence of heterogeneity, directional pleiotropy, or outliers concerning the causal effect of specific gut microbiota on CP (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a gut microbiota–prostate axis, offering crucial data supporting the promising use of the GM as a candidate target for CP prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. There is a necessity for randomized controlled trials to validate the protective effect of the linked GM against the risk of CP, and to further investigate the underlying mechanisms involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows that work in a quantum system is quantized with energy; the quantum work is equivalent to the highest eigenenergy (the Debye energy) of the system and the superlubricity of solids is derived from the quantum work. The prerequisite for the superlubricity is that the lateral force at contact surfaces in sliding is less than the Debye force so that the phonon of the solids is not excited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal, extremely aggressive gastrointestinal tumor with a poor prognosis and limited treatment alternatives. Disulfidptosis is a newly defined type of cell death with potential influence on cancer. Research on the association between disulfidptosis and pancreatic cancer is scarce. The expression data of disulfidptosis-related genes were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas-Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (TCGA). Disulfidptosis-related lncRNA signature (DRLS) was developed through the Cox and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis. Differences in enrichment functions, mutational landscape, immune microenvironment, and predicted therapeutic efficacy between high- and low-risk groups were assessed. Consensus clustering analysis was applied to identify the DRLS-related subtypes. Among 98 disulfidptosis-related lncRNAs, 5 lncRNAs were screened thus constructing a prognostic DRLS. DRLS showed high predictive accuracy and was an independent prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer. According to the risk scores calculated from the signature, samples were categorized into high- and low- risk groups. Overall, low-risk patients had a better prognosis, lower mutational occurrences, higher immune cell infiltration and more sensitivity to anti-tumor agents. The DRLS performed well in predicting prognosis and revealed intimate correlation with biological function, mutation status and immune infiltration landscape of pancreatic cancer, providing some insights for future research on the relationship between disulfidptosis and pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel pancreatic cancer cell line, termed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)-X3 cell line, was successfully derived from the primary tumor. Comprehensive analyses of its malignant phenotype, molecular properties, specific biomarkers, and histological features confirmed that PDAC-X3 cells serve as a valuable model for investigating the underlying mechanisms driving pancreatic carcinogenesis and advancing potential therapeutic strategies. The newly established cell line was continuously cultured for over 12 months and was stably passaged through more than 50 generations. Morphologically, PDAC-X3 cells displayed characteristics typical of epithelial tumors. The population doubling time for PDAC-X3 cells was determined to be 50 h. Karyotype analysis revealed that 75% of PDAC-X3 cells presented as hypotriploid, while 25% were sub-tetraploid, with representative karyotypes being 53 and XY der (1) inv (9) der (22). In suspension culture, PDAC-X3 cells efficiently formed organoids. Upon inoculation into BALB/C nude mice, these cells initiated the development of xenograft tumors, achieving a tumor formation rate of 33%. Morphologically, these xenografted tumors closely resembled the primary tumor. Drug sensitivity assays indicated that PDAC-X3 cells exhibited resistance to oxaliplatin but demonstrated sensitivity to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), gemcitabine, and paclitaxel. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that CK7, CK19, E-cadherin, Vimentin, CA19-9 were positively expressed in PDAC-X3 cells. Meanwhile, the expression rate for Ki-67 was 30%, and that for CEA was not detected. Our findings underscore that PDAC-X3 represents a novel pancreatic cancer cell line, positioning it as a valuable model for basic research and the advancement of therapeutic strategies against pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stakes non-cognitive tests frequently employ forced-choice (FC) scales to deter faking. To mitigate the issue of score ipsativity derived, many scoring models have been devised. Among them, the multi-unidimensional pairwise preference (MUPP) framework is a highly flexible and commonly used framework. However, the original MUPP model was developed for unfolding response process and can only handle paired comparisons. The present study proposes the 2PLM-RANK as a generalization of the MUPP model to accommodate dominance RANK format response. In addition, an improved stochastic EM (iStEM) algorithm is devised for more stable and efficient parameter estimation. Simulation results generally supported the efficiency and utility of the new algorithm in estimating the 2PLM-RANK when applied to both triplets and tetrads across various conditions. An empirical illustration with responses to a 24-dimensional personality test further supported the practicality of the proposed model. To further aid in the application of the new model, a user-friendly R package is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cupric ions (Cu2+), pyrophosphate (PPi), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) are involved in a variety of biochemical processes such as DNA replication, cellular metabolism and play an important role in human growth and development. It is of great significance to establish a method for the sensitive detection of Cu2+, PPi and ALP. In this work, polyethyleneimine-capped silver nanoclusters (PEI-AgNCs) were successfully synthesized by a one-pot method using hydrazine sulfate as reductant, exhibiting a unique strong fluorescence emission in the near-ultraviolet region at ∼339 nm. Since the fluorescence of PEI-AgNCs can be quenched by Cu2+ through inner filtering effect (IFE), then recovered by competitive binding of pyrophosphate and Cu2+, and later weakened again by catalytic hydrolysis of alkaline phosphatase, a sensitive and selective strategy based on the changes of fluorescence "ON" or "OFF" was established to detect Cu2+, PPi and ALP. The LODs of these three analytes were 36 nM, 0.2 μM, and 0.14 U L−1 at a S/N ratio of 3, respectively. A series of logic gate circuits for sensing cupric ions, pyrophosphate, and alkaline phosphatase were successfully constructed. The established methods have the potential for biosensing and environmental analysis and the specific UV-A fluorescence property of PEI-AgNCs may be helpful in photonic and optical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]