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The utilization of drag-reducing polymers has long been hindered by their irritancy, corrosiveness, and toxicity across various domains. In this investigation, we explored sodium alginate, a natural drag reducer, for its efficacy in reducing drag and its resilience to shear in millimeter-scale pipelines. Initially, an experimental setup was devised to assess the drag reduction capabilities of sodium alginate at varying concentrations and flow rates using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The relationship between drag reduction (DR), concentration (C), and flow rate (Q) was established by analyzing the experimental data. Subsequently, variance analysis was employed to validate the data accuracy, with a comparison between predicted and experimental DR values revealing an error margin within ± 20%. Analysis of cyclic shear testing of sodium alginate solution in tubes demonstrated its effectiveness as a shear flow drag reducer. Furthermore, results from laser particle size analysis indicated minimal molecular breakage of sodium alginate during cyclic shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has emerged as a widely accepted treatment for achalasia, with limited studies for over 2 years. Additionally, traditional measurements of achalasia after POEM have deficiencies. The study aimed to analyze the long-term outcomes of POEM under different criteria. Methods: Patients with achalasia who received POEM between November 2012 and March 2021 were recruited. Patients and characteristics were shown, and risk factors related to two novel definitions of recurrence, symptomatic reflux, and reflux esophagitis were analyzed. Results: Three hundred and twenty-one patients were included. At a median follow-up of 52 months, twenty-three failures happened (7.17%) under the modified criterion, and forty-seven failures occurred (14.64%) under the normal standard. Hospitalization (P = 0.027) and esophageal myotomy length (P = 0.039) were significantly associated with long-term efficacy under the modified and normal criteria, respectively. Fifty-two patients (16.20%) reported reflux symptoms and endoscopy performed in 88 patients revealed reflux esophagitis in 22 cases (25.00%). There were no predictors in the analysis of symptomatic reflux and gender (P = 0.010), LESP (P = 0.013), IRP (P = 0.015), and the esophageal myotomy length (P = 0.032) were statistically related to reflux esophagitis. Conclusion: POEM is an extremely safe and effective treatment for achalasia with long-term follow-up. Shorter hospitalization and shorter esophageal myotomy length may decrease the incidence of recurrence under the modified and normal criteria, respectively. Long-term outcomes of POEM are unpredictable. No risk factors were related to symptomatic reflux, and male patients with low preoperative LESP and IRP needed relatively shorter esophageal myotomy to prevent reflux esophagitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seawater electrolysis offers a renewable, scalable, and economic means for green hydrogen production. However, anode corrosion by Cl- pose great challenges for its commercialization. Herein, different from conventional catalysts designed to repel Cl- adsorption, we develop an atomic Ir catalyst on cobalt iron layered double hydroxide (Ir/CoFe-LDH) to tailor Cl- adsorption and modulate the electronic structure of the Ir active center, thereby establishing a unique Ir-OH/Cl coordination for alkaline seawater electrolysis. Operando characterizations and theoretical calculations unveil the pivotal role of this coordination state to lower OER activation energy by a factor of 1.93. The Ir/CoFe-LDH exhibits a remarkable oxygen evolution reaction activity (202 mV overpotential and TOF = 7.46 O2 s−1) in 6 M NaOH+2.8 M NaCl, superior over Cl--free 6 M NaOH electrolyte (236 mV overpotential and TOF = 1.05 O2 s−1), with 100% catalytic selectivity and stability at high current densities (400-800 mA cm−2) for more than 1,000 h. The seawater oxidation reaction faces challenges from competitive chloride oxidation reaction. Herein, the authors have utilized chlorine adsorption to modulate the single-atom Ir coordination state and promote seawater oxidation and catalyst stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective strategy for improving microwave absorbing performance was proposed in atomically dispersed bimetallic carbon-based composite materials. The atomically dispersed ZnCo-NC@rGO composites were synthesized though metal-mediated formamide (FA) condensation and carbonization. By adjusting the Co/Zn sites loading, the electromagnetic parameters and absorption performance could be effectively optimized. With the Co/Zn ratio of around 0.01, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) reached − 26.63 dB at absorbing thickness of 1.50 mm, and the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < − 10 dB) was up to 4.52 GHz (12.78–17.30 GHz) at absorbing thickness of 1.60 mm, covering almost the Ku band. A stronger RLmin of − 59.63 dB was obtained with a thickness of 4.70 mm. Different loading of atomically dispersed metal sites induces variations in metal center and ligand structure. This endows ZnCo-NC@rGO excellent impedance matching and synergistic electromagnetic loss effects. In addition, the maximum radar cross section (RCS) reduction value was up to 26.94 dB m2 at a scattering angle of 0°. This study points out a feasible path for the fabrication of carbon-based ultralight synergistic absorbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the drag reduction property of a premixed slurry drag reducer in a millimeter-scale pipe. The aim of this study is to establish the correlation between Darcy friction factor and drag reducer concentration (C) and volume flow (Q). First, the experimental plan was designed by using the response surface method (RSM), and then the experimental data were processed to establish the quadratic correlation between the response variable and the description variable. After that, ANOVA analysis of variance was used to verify the accuracy of the experimental data and the correlation. Finally, the prediction model is extended to a larger concentration and volume flow range, and it is found that the accuracy between the predicted value of friction coefficient and the experimental value is ± 30%, thus verifying that the correlation is suitable for the small-scale fully turbulent region. Compared with traditional experimental design and correlation methods, the implementation of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in this study not only reduces the experimental time but also yields a more robust correlation for predicting the friction coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Central sleep apnea (CSA) is usually distinguished from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In fact, CSA is often a component of severe sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (SAHS), rather than occurring alone. We investigated the clinical characteristics and polysomnography (PSG) parameters of CSA components in patients with severe SAHS. Methods: The clinical characteristics and PSG parameters were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Pure or dominant CSA was rare (5% of all patients). Of all patients with CSA, 72% also exhibited other apnea subtypes that contributed to severe SAHS. Among patients with severe SAHS, those with CSA were more likely than others to be older; thinner; exhibit higher prevalences of comorbid coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, and heart failure; a higher apnea/hypopnea index (AHI); mixed apnea index (MAI); an elevated oxygen desaturation index (ODI); and more nighttime oxygen saturation levels < 90%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, comorbid arrhythmia or heart failure, and an elevated ODI were independently associated with CSA. Conclusion: Patients who complain of snoring or apnea may be better evaluated by comprehensive PSG prior to treatment if they are old, show greater hypoxia, or suffer from arrhythmia and/or heart failure, because such patients are more likely than others to exhibit CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although porphyry systems like metallo-phthalocynine are recognized as promising molecular models for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), their poor durability and methanol tolerance are still challenges and need improvement before being considered for practical applications. Herein, we successfully designed and constructed a Fe-phthalocyanine-derived highly conjugated 2D covalent organic framework (2D FePc-COF), using octa-amino-Fe-phthalocyanine (OA-FePc) and cyclohexanone as precursors. The prepared 2D FePc-COF was characterized via multiple analytic techniques. The electrochemical studies indicated that prepared 2D FePc-COF was far more superior to OA-FePc and 20% Pt/C, displaying anodic shift of 100 and 50 mV (vs RHE) in formal potential, respectively. Moreover, this catalyst also demonstrated excellent methanol tolerance and durability (over 10,000 CV cycles). Theoretical investigations revealed that due to extended conjugation and elimination of electron donating groups (-NH2), the shifting of dz2-orbital (Fe) energy took nearer to π*-orbital (O2), allowing optimum coupling of both the orbitals, thereby enhancing 4e− ORR. This work demonstrates the art of molecular design, aiming at improving catalytic activity of macrocyclic molecular systems towards ORR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active flow control is an effective discipline to significantly improve the performance of the flying wing aircraft. The present work aims to investigate the aerodynamics of a high-speed flying wing with the novel co-flow jet (CFJ) technique, where three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations are exploited. Firstly, the aerodynamics of conventional and CFJ flying wings is compared to reveal the CFJ control effects under high-speed conditions. Secondly, the impacts of several pivotal geometrical parameters, namely suction slot location, suction slot angle, and CFJ spanwise location, are further investigated. Results show that applying the CFJ technique could improve the aerodynamic characteristics of the high-speed flying wing. Specifically, the CFJ flying wing could increase the lift by 5.1%, decrease the drag by 15.3%, enhance the corrected aerodynamic efficiency by 5.5%, and augment the corrected productivity efficiency by 10.9% at Cμ = 0.005 and α = 4° compared to the conventional one. The variation in suction slot location scarcely influences the lift generation and the overall aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, the increase in suction slot angle slightly reduces the drag due to the augmented jet reactionary force oriented to the leading-edge. Finally, a larger CFJ spanwise location is more conducive to achieving better aerodynamic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controllable designing of well-defined heterojunction nanostructures provides an insightful strategy for accelerating the kinetics of the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER/OER), but such task is still challenging. Herein, we proposed a protocol of heterojunction interface editing (HIE) strategy by oxygen atoms decoration for synergistic boosting electrocatalytic HER and OER performances. A novel Co/NiCoP nanospheres (NSs) heterojunction was synthesized by crystal seed template transformation method with Ni5P4 microspheres as seeds. The effective oxygen atoms interface editing increased the oxidation state of Co atoms and prolonged the Co-P bond length of Co/NiCoP NSs heterojunction, thus the electron localization on P sites was enhanced, leading to the dramatically elevated HER and OER performances simultaneously. The as-constructed O-Co/NiCoP NSs show excellent electrocatalytic activity with 361 and 430 mV vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) to arrive high current density of 300 mAcm−2 for HER and OER in 1 M KOH as well as good stability. The proposed HIE concept could provide a new perspective on the catalyst design for energy conversion systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the importance of combining digital finance with conventional finance and information technology (IT) to bring new opportunities for green technology innovation and transformation within polluting industries. This study builds a theoretical framework "digital finance → financing constraints → R&D investment → green technology innovation" to demonstrate the causal mechanism between digital finance and firms' green innovation by using the serial two-mediator model. The study shows that digital finance could reduce financial constraints and increase R&D investments, thereby improving enterprises' green technology innovation in the long run. Moreover, based on the moderating effect model, we find that digital transformation in a polluting firm tends to strengthen the linkage between digital finance and green technology innovation through supervising the use of loans, reviewing green technology innovation projects, and reducing managers' short-sighted behaviors to avoid agency problems. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the effects of digital finance on green innovation are more apparent in state-owned enterprises and the regions with lower financial development and with higher financial supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing agents that can accurately differentiate tumors from normal healthy tissues is of utmost importance for safe cancer therapy. Active targeting has been considered as an effective technique for tumor recognition. In this work, we demonstrate a folate-functionalized nanoscale covalent organic framework (FATD nCOF) highly specific to cancer cells through active targeting of their enriched folate receptors (FRs). The FATD nCOF prepared by simple post-synthetic modification of the COF surface defeats disperses well in water and exhibits a high loading capacity for various anticancer drugs. The biocompatible FATD nCOF is selectively internalized by FR-harboring cancer cells and consequently augments the efficacy of the loaded drug, Withaferin A (Wi-A), for targeted cancer cell killing. In biomolecular mechanism studies, Wi-A-loaded FATD (FATD@Wi-A) nanocomposites show remarkably a higher rate of apoptosis in FR-enriched cancer cells. Comparative analyses of FR-positive and FR-negative tumor xenografts reveal enhanced selective antitumor activity of FATD@Wi-A nanotherapeutics. Taken together, the study findings suggest that FATD nCOF holds great promise for active targeting of tumors in vivo. Our simple yet effective technology might be valuable for creating new state-of-the-art COFs for chemical and biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A typical ensemble learning process typically uses a forward integration mechanism to construct the ensemble classifier with a large number of base classifiers. Based on this mechanism, it is difficult to adjust the diversity among base classifiers and optimize the structure inside ensemble since the generation process has a certain amount of randomness, which makes the performance of ensemble classifiers heavily dependent on the human design decisions. To address this issue, we proposed an automatic ensemble classifier construction method based on a dual-layer evolutionary search mechanism, which includes a tree coding-based base classifier population and a binary coding-based ensemble classifier population. Through a collaborative searching process between the two populations, the proposed method can be driven by training data to update the base classifier population and optimize the ensemble classifiers globally. To verify the effectiveness of the dual evolutionary ensemble learning method (DEEL), we tested it on 22 classification tasks from 4 data repositories. The results show that the proposed method can generate a diverse decision tree population on the training data while searching and constructing ensemble classifiers from them. Compared with 9 competitor algorithms, the proposed method achieved the best performance on 17 of 22 test tasks and improved the average accuracies by 0.97–7.65% over the second place. In particular, the generated ensemble classifiers show excellent structure, which involve small number and diverse decision trees. That increases the transparency of ensembles and helps to perform interpretability analysis on them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic is a natural element with complex toxicity. Long-term exposure to arsenic can cause a variety of health damage. In recent years, there are some studies on arsenic exposure and liver injury. But few of them tried to measure the quantitative relationship between arsenic exposure and indicators of liver injury in adult. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the relationship between them. This cross-sectional study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2003–2018. Arsenic exposure was assessed using total urinary arsenic and dimethylarsenate acid (DMA). We selected alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total protein (TP), ALT/AST, total bilirubin (TBIL), and albumin (ALB) as markers of liver injury. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the relationship between urinary arsenic concentrations and these markers of liver function injury. In addition, six covariables (age, sex, smoker, alcohol user, BMI, diabetes) were further analyzed in subgroups. A total of 13,420 adults were included in the analysis. The multivariate linear regression analyses showed that urinary DMA was positively correlated with ALT (β 0.135, 95%CI 0.090, 0.180, p < 0.001), AST (β 0.053, 95%CI 0.014, 0.092, p < 0.01), ALT/AST (β 0.052, 95%CI 0.030, 0.074, p < 0.001), TBIL (β 0.061, 95%CI 0.034, 0.089, p < 0.001), and GGT (β 0.178, 95%CI 0.110, 0.246, p < 0.001). Similar results were observed for total urinary arsenic, suggesting a positive association with AST (β 0.048, 95%CI 0.016, 0.081, p < 0.01), ALT (β 0.090, 95%CI 0.049, 0.132, p < 0.001), and TBIL (β 0.062, 95%CI 0.037, 0.088, p < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, sex and smoker showed significant differences between subgroups. Our results demonstrate a positive association between urinary arsenic exposure and liver injury in adults. Sex and smokers may be related to arsenic pathogenicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Several studies showed muscularis macrophages (MMφ) are associated with GI motility disorders. The purpose of this study was to preliminary explore the association between MMφ and achalasia. Methods: Tissue samples of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) high‐pressure zone were obtained from 27 achalasia patients and 10 controls. Immunohistochemistry for MMφ, interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), and glial cells were conducted. Histological characteristics were compared between groups, and correlation analysis was performed. Results: Fewer ICC was found in achalasia compared with controls (P = 0.018), and the level of M1 macrophages was higher than that in controls no matter in terms of the number or the proportion of M1(P = 0.026 for M1 and 0.037 for M1/MMφ). Statistical differences were found between two groups in terms of proportion of M2 and ratio of M1 to M2 (P = 0.048 for M2/ MMφ and < 0.001 for M1/M2). For the correlation analysis, significant correlations were detected between levels of nNOS, ICC, and glial cells in patients with achalasia (P = 0.026 for nNOS and ICC, 0.001 for nNOS and glial cells, 0.019 for ICC and glial cells). There were significant correlations between M2/MMφ and levels of ICC (P = 0.019), glial cells (P = 0.004), and nNOS (P = 0.135). Conclusion: Patients with achalasia had a higher level of M1/M2 ratio in LES and significant correlations were found between M2/MMφ and numbers of ICC and glial cells, which suggested that MMφ were probably associated with occurrence and development of achalasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a major option for common bile duct (CBD) stones. Endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST), endoscopic papillary balloon dilatation (EPBD), and endoscopic sphincterotomy plus balloon dilatation (ESBD) are procedures for opening the bile duct orifice to extract CBD stones during ERCP. The optimal method for extracting small CBD stones (≤ 10 mm) has not yet been proposed. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of these three techniques in extracting small CBD stones. Methods: ERCP for small stones was performed between January 2009 and November 2020 at three tertiary care centers. The incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) was compared among EST, EPBD, and ESBD groups. First and overall success rates of stone extraction, utilization rate of mechanical lithotripsy, and other ERCP complications such as bleeding, perforation, infection, and hyperamylasemia were compared. Results: A total of 2181 patients were enrolled between January 2009 and November 2020. The proportion of young patients (≤ 45 years) in EPBD group was more than those in EST and ESBD group. Stone size in ESBD group was much larger than EST and EPBD group. After propensity score matching, the success rates of first and overall stone extraction in the three groups were high, and the rates of mechanical lithotripsy were low, with no significant difference. The PEP incidences showed no differences among the three groups. The incidence of bleeding complication in EST group was higher than that in EPBD group. No significant differences were observed in other complications between EPBD group and ESBD group. ESBD group had higher incidence of overall, infection, and hyperamylasemia complications than EST group. Conclusion: EPBD is equivalent to ESBD in stone removal efficiency and complication rate, but brings a lower bleeding risk than EST. Therefore, we recommend EPBD as the first choice for small CBD stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: High-quality intestinal preparation could promote intestinal cleanliness and lead to more accurate diagnosis, which patients will benefit from. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of walking exercise and intestinal cleansing interval in bowel preparation before colonoscopy. Methods: A randomized controlled single blind study was conducted during August 2021 to February 2022. Patients requiring colonoscopy were randomly divided into three groups: 0 step, 5000 steps or 10,000 steps during the intestinal preparation. Participants took the same intestinal cleansing drugs 4–6 h prior to the procedure: 2L-dose polyethylene glycol (PEG). Results: A total of 300 patients were enrolled in the experiment (100 patients per group), and the baseline information of the three groups was close. The BBPS of right (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 1.78 ± 0.65 vs 1.88 ± 0.54 vs 2.36 ± 0.69, p < 0.001), transverse (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 2.09 ± 0.78 vs 2.18 ± 0.61 vs 2.59 ± 0.71, p < 0.001) and left (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 2.01 ± 0.91 vs 2.24 ± 0.59 vs 2.51 ± 0.60, p < 0.001) colon in 10,000-step group were significantly higher than others, respectively. And we also drew the same conclusion in the aspect of ADR. The adverse events and patients' satisfaction had no differences between the two groups. Moreover, intestinal cleansing interval (< 5.12 h) was only effective in BBPS of right colon (p < 0.001) and left colon (p = 0.039). Conclusions: This study suggested that participants took 10,000-step walking exercise and took PEG 5.12 h prior to the procedure were effective in routine pre-procedure cleanout for standard colonoscopy. Name of Registry: Effect of starting time of bowel cleansing and walking exercise after bowel cleansing on bowel preparation: A prospective randomized controlled study. Registration Number: ChiCTR2100049214. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are among the most widely studied two-dimensional materials due to their unique physical properties, but synthesis of large area of monolayer TMDCs films is still a great challenge. In this study, a simple and universal promoter-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method is proposed for the synthesis of centimeter-scale of Tungsten disulfide (WS2) membranes. The highly volatile transition metal halides formed by the reaction of Tungstic acid (H2WO4) and Sodium chloride (NaCl) effectively reduces the growth temperature of WS2, and the vulcanization energy barrier for the growth of WS2 monolayer, thus improve the growth rate along the in-plane direction. By optimizing the experimental parameters, high quality of WS2 films in centimeter-sizes are prepared. This study provides a method for the preparation of large-scale WS2 films and lays a foundation for the industrial application of large-scale two-dimensional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genome sequence of a novel circular DNA virus related to members of the genus Badnavirus was identified in diseased jujube trees by high-throughput sequencing and verified by conventional Sanger sequencing of cloned PCR products. The name "jujube badnavirus WS" (JuBWS) is proposed for this virus. Diseased jujube leaves showed yellow mosaic and malformation symptoms, with round chlorotic spots found on diseased fruit. The genome of this virus has a length of 6450 nt and has a typical badnavirus genomic structure with three open reading frames (ORFs). JuBWS was identified as a novel badnavirus based on nucleotide differences in the RNase (RT + RNase H) coding region of ORF3. The JuBWS sequence showed 70.48–76.41% nucleotide sequence identity to other known badnaviruses, thus meeting the taxonomic criterion for establishing a new species within the genus Badnavirus. This study suggested that the novel badnavirus might be a pathogen associated with jujube mosaic disease, and this will be investigated in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Endoscopic resection (ER) is an effective treatment method for gastric submucosal tumors (G-SMTs), but endoscopic resection failure requires emergency surgery. The purpose of this study was to assess potential risk factors for endoscopic resection failure. Methods: A total of 1041 patients with G-SMT undergoing endoscopic resection were enrolled. Twenty-five patients in whom endoscopic resection failed, requiring a transition to surgery midway through the operation, were included in the failed group, and 1016 patients who received successful endoscopic resection were included in the successful endoscopic resection group. Baseline and lesion characteristics were recorded, and the differences in tumor characteristics and risk factors for resection failure of G-SMT were analyzed. Sensitivity analysis was performed to detect the stability of the indicator. Results: Of the 1041cases included, there were 25 cases (2.4%) of failed endoscopic resection. Binary logistic analysis showed that the independent risk factors included tumors originating from deep muscularis propria(OR = 14.42, 95% CI 4.47–46.52), size > 3 cm (OR = 7.75, 95% CI 2.64–22.70), exophytic growth pattern (OR = 4.98, 95% CI 1.62–15.29), endoscopist with less experience (OR = 5.99, 95% CI 1.07–12.19), and irregular borders (OR = 4.13, 95% CI 1.40–12.19). The stable risk factors were tumors size, tumor origin and growth pattern according to sensitivity analysis. Conclusions: Tumors originating from the deep muscularis propria, tumor size > 3 cm, endoscopists with less experience, an exophytic growth pattern, and irregular boundaries were found to be independent risk factors for endoscopic resection failure. To reduce the risk of endoscopic resection failure, physicians should carefully evaluate G-SMT characteristics preoperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-atom metal-incorporated carbon nanomaterials (CMs) have shown great potential towards broad catalytic applications. In this work, we show that N-doped porous CMs embedded with redox-able Zn atoms exhibit superior capacitive performance. High Zn (∼ 2.72 at.%)/N (∼ 12.51 at.%) doping were realized by incorporating Zn2+ and benzamide into the condensation and carbonization of formamide and subsequent annealing at 900 °C. The Zn and N species are mutually benefited during the formation of ZnN4 motif. The as-obtained Zn1NC material affords a very large capacitance of 621 F·g−1 (at 0.1 A·g−1), superior rate capability (∼ 65% retention at 100 A·g−1), and excellent cycling stability (0.00044% per cycle at 10 A·g−1). These merits are attributed to the high Zn/N loading, atomic Zn-boosted pseudocapacitive behavior, large specific surface area (∼ 1,085 m2·g−1), and rich pore hierarchy, thus ensuring both large pseudo-capacitance (e.g., ∼ 37.9% at 10 mV·s−1) and double-layer capacitance. Besides of establishing a new type of high Zn/N-loading carbon materials, our work uncovers the capacitive roles of atomically dispersed metals in CMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Endoscopic closure of chronic gastrointestinal fistulas (CGFs) is challenging due to their epithelialized surfaces. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and long-term closure rate of endosuturing for CGFs with an Apollo Overstitch device. Patients and methods: Consecutive CGF patients undergoing endosuturing for fistula closure from April 2018 to January 2020 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were enrolled for retrospective review. Demographics, fistula characteristics, details of the suturing procedures and outcomes were collected for analysis. Results: Twenty patients (mean age 59.8 ± 9.1 years; 85% males) with a total of 23 CGFs underwent sutured fistula closure. Esophagotracheal fistulas were the most common CGFs (12/23, 52.2%), and prior cancer surgery was the most common fistulization etiology (14/20, 70%). Twelve patients (12/20, 60%) had undergone failed endoscopic attempts at fistula closure before suturing. Additional endoscopic therapies used during suturing were 100% argon plasma coagulation, 50% clip fixation, and 10% stent placement. Although all patients undergoing suturing achieved immediate technical success of fistula closure, sustained fistula closure was observed in only 5 patients (5/20, 25.0%) on surveillance endoscopy 3 months after suturing with a mean follow-up of 19.5 months. Esophagotracheal fistula patients were predisposed to shorter dehiscence-free survival than those with other fistulas (HR 3.378; 95% CI 1.127–10.13). Conclusions: Endosuturing is safe and should be considered for use as the first-line or salvage therapy for CGF closure, primarily for patients with fistulas not involving the trachea. However, the long-term healing of CGFs by suturing is challenging, and CGF patients might not benefit from repeated suturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper systematically investigated experimental thermal cracking potential evaluation results of mass concrete structures undergoing external restraint using different criteria (i.e., second-zero-stress temperature, cracking temperature, ratio of tensile stress to tensile strength). Results showed that the second-zero-stress temperature is not accurate for the thermal cracking potential evaluation. A modified criterion using the ratio of tensile stress to tensile strength combining the facture energy (i.e., the final value of ratio of tensile stress to tensile strength) is more intuitive on the thermal cracking potential evaluation. The criterion using the cracking temperature is appropriate for the thermal cracking potential evaluation on material level. A proposed criterion combining the cracking temperature and the cracking age obtained from a temperature stress testing machine is more effective for the thermal cracking potential evaluation on material and member level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To establish and validate a model to determine the progression risk of gastric low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN). Methods: A total of 705 patients with gastric LGIN at the endoscopy center of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital during January 2010 and August 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Basic clinical and pathological information were recorded. According to the time sequence of the initial examination, the first 605 patients were enrolled in the derivation group, and the remaining 100 patients were used in the validation group. SPSS 19 software was used as statistical analysis to determine independent risk factors for progression of LGIN of the stomach and to establish a risk model. The ROC was used to verify the application value of the predictive model. Results: Univariate and multivariate analysis suggested that sex, multiple location, congestion, ulceration and form were independent risk factors for prolonged or advanced progression in patients with LGIN. Based on this, a predictive model is constructed: P = ex/(1 + ex) X = − 10.399 + 0.922 × Sex + 1.934 × Multiple Location + 1.382 × Congestion + 0.797 × Ulceration + 0.525 × Form. The higher of the P value means the higher risk of progression. The AUC of the derivation group and validation group were 0.784 and 0.766, respectively. Conclusion: Sex, multi-site, hyperemia, ulcer and morphology are independent risk factors for the prolongation or progression of patients with gastric LGIN. These factors are objective and easy to obtain data. Based on this, a predictive model is constructed, which can be used in management of patients. The model can be used to identify high-risk groups in patients with LGIN that may progress to gastric cancer. Strengthening follow-up or endoscopic treatment to improve the detection rate of early cancer or reduce the incidence of gastric cancer can provide a reliable basis for the treatment of LGIN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver drowsiness is a major cause of road accidents. In this study, a novel approach that detects human drowsiness is proposed and investigated. First, driver face and facial landmarks are detected to extract facial region from each frame in a video. Then, a residual-based deep 3D convolution neural network (CNN) that learned from an irrelevant dataset is constructed to classify driver facial image sequences with a certain number of frames for obtaining its drowsiness output probability value. After that, a certain number of output probability values is concatenated to obtain the state probability vector of a video. Finally, a recurrent neural network is adopted to classify constructed probability vector and obtain the recognition result of driver drowsiness. The proposed method is tested and investigated using a public drowsy driver dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that similar to 2D CNN, 3D CNN can learn spatiotemporal features from irrelevant dataset to improve its performance obviously in driver drowsiness classification. Furthermore, the proposed method performs stably and robustly, and it can achieve an average accuracy of 88.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pore hierarchy facilitates the mass transportation/exchange between the interior surface and bulk solution, which is critical for the enhancement of capacitive performance. Herein, by applying in situ foamed Mg chelates as precursors, we managed the scalable fabrication of hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) materials and explored their capacitive applications. Particularly, citric acid first reacted with magnesium nitrate to form Mg chelate while the generated gaseous HNO3 molecules bubbled the intermediate carbon framework to produce abundant open pores. The as-made precursors were then submitted to potassium hydroxide activation for a high carbonization degree and rich meso-/micropores. The optimized sample (HPC-2) exhibited very high specific capacitance of 213.5 F g−1 in neutral NaCl solution and a high rate capability of ~ 67.5% at 10.0 A g−1. Furthermore, it showed impressive capacitive deionization performance regarding high removal efficiency (67.1%), large capacity of 1810.1 mg g−1 (in 2200 mg L−1 NaCl solution), and robust cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is used to treat early esophageal cancer and precancerous lesions. Patients undergoing ESD are prone to esophageal stenosis, which impairs therapeutic efficacy and quality of life. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the potential association between patient demographics and esophageal lesion characteristics with the risk of esophageal stenosis following ESD. Methods: For this retrospective study 190 consecutive patients who underwent ESD between January 2013 and January 2015 were recruited. Data on patient demographics, esophageal lesion-related factors, operation details, esophageal stenosis occurrence and measures taken to prevent or treat stricture were collected, and the normality of distribution of each indicator was assessed with a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Stenosis risk factors were then identified using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Post-ESD esophageal stenosis occurred in 51 cases. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors. A history of EMR/ESD (OR = 4.185, 95% CI: 1.511–11.589), resection circumferential diameter (OR = 1.721, 95% CI: 1.135–2.610), non-en bloc resection (OR = 7.413, 95% CI: 2.398–22.921), submucosal infiltration (OR = 3.449, 95% CI: 1.014–11.734) and circumferential resection range (OR = 57.493, 95% CI: 17.236–191.782) were identified as independent risk factors for post-ESD esophageal stenosis. Spraying porcine fibrin adhesive on the resection bed reduced neither the incidence of postoperative stenosis nor the extent of postoperative dilation. Conclusion: Post-ESD esophageal stenosis is significantly related to size and circumferential range of lesion resection. EMR/ESD history, non-en bloc resection and submucosal infiltration may be additional risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon materials featuring hierarchical pores and atomically dispersed metal sites are promising catalysts for energy storage and conversion applications. Herein, we developed a facile strategy to construct functional carbon materials with a fluffy peony-like structure and dense binary FeCo-Nx active sites (termed as f-FeCo-CNT). By regulating the metal content in precursors, a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected conductive carbon nanotubes network was in-situ formed throughout the atomically dispersed FeCo-NC matrix during pyrolysis. Taking advantage of rich pore hierarchy and co-existence of highly active FeCo-Nx sites and beneficial FeCo alloy nanoparticles, the f-FeCo-CNT material exhibited excellent bifunctional performance towards oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reactions (ORR/OER) with respect to the atomically dispersed FeCo-NC (SA-f-FeCo-NC) and commercial Pt/C+RuO2 mixture, surpassing the SA-f-FeCo-NC with a 20 mV higher ORR half-wave potential and a 100 mV lower OER overpotential (at 10.0 mA/cm2). Remarkably, the f-FeCo-CNT-assembled Zn-air battery (ZAB) possessed a maximum specific power of 195.8 mW/cm2, excellent rate capability, and very good cycling stability at large current density of 20.0 mA/cm2. This work provides a facile and feasible synthetic strategy of constructing low-cost cathode materials with excellent comprehensive ZAB performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A micro-scale finite element method (FEM) was proposed to precisely calculate the heat conduction between mortar and aggregate, and thus to accurately predict the non-uniformity of concrete pouring temperature. The concrete temperature feld during vibration was also precisely calculated by accurate description of heat absorption characteristics of different parts of concrete when vibration. Based on the above method, the prediction model was used to predict the pouring temperature of a practical engineering. The comparison between actual results and simulated values shows that this method can be adopted to accurately predict the non-uniformity of concrete pouring temperature and the influence of mechanized vibration on concrete pouring temperature, and thus accurately predict pouring temperature. The control of casting temperature is crucial for preventing concrete fracture. The study provides a new method for predicting the pouring temperature of concrete structures, which has great practical value in engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Precisely located S doping of atomic Fe-N4 in Fe(N3)(N–C–S) motif was realized. This S doping renders weakened *OH binding and faster charge transfer on Fe-N4. Fe-NSC showed excellent oxygen reduction reaction performance with onset potential ~ 1.09 V and half-wave potential ~ 0.92 V.Immobilizing metal atoms by multiple nitrogen atoms has triggered exceptional catalytic activity toward many critical electrochemical reactions due to their merits of highly unsaturated coordination and strong metal-substrate interaction. Herein, atomically dispersed Fe-NC material with precise sulfur modification to Fe periphery (termed as Fe-NSC) was synthesized, X-ray absorption near edge structure analysis confirmed the central Fe atom being stabilized in a specific configuration of Fe(N3)(N–C–S). By enabling precisely localized S doping, the electronic structure of Fe-N4 moiety could be mediated, leading to the beneficial adjustment of absorption/desorption properties of reactant/intermediate on Fe center. Density functional theory simulation suggested that more negative charge density would be localized over Fe-N4 moiety after S doping, allowing weakened binding capability to *OH intermediates and faster charge transfer from Fe center to O species. Electrochemical measurements revealed that the Fe-NSC sample exhibited significantly enhanced oxygen reduction reaction performance compared to the S-free Fe-NC material (termed as Fe-NC), showing an excellent onset potential of 1.09 V and half-wave potential of 0.92 V in 0.1 M KOH. Our work may enlighten relevant studies regarding to accessing improvement on the catalytic performance of atomically dispersed M-NC materials by managing precisely tuned local environments of M-Nx moiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-to-cell transport of risk molecules is a highly anticipated pathogenic mechanism in the initiation and progression of various neurodegenerative diseases. Extracellular exosome-mediated neuron to neuron transport of α-synuclein (α-syn) is increasingly recognized as a potential etiologic mechanism in Parkinson's disease (PD). Exosomal inflammation has also been increasingly implicated in PD pathogenesis and could trigger, facilitate, or aggravate disease development. However, these mechanisms have not been verified systematically, especially in vivo. Since serum contains abundant exosomes, the correlation between serum exosomes and PD pathogenesis remains unknown. Here, we show that exosomes from PD patient serum contain more α-syn and inflammatory factors such as IL-1β and TNF-α than neurological normal controls, eventually cause α-syn, ubiquitin, and P62 aggregation in recipient cells. More importantly, the intravenous or intrastriatal treatment of mice with exosomes from PD patient serum could evoke protein aggregation, trigger dopamine neuron degeneration, induce microglial activation, and cause apomorphine-coaxed rotation and movement defects. All these findings imply the exosome pathway as a new pathogenesis mechanism for PD, and therefore may present new targets for therapeutics. Key messages: We have presented the evidence for a relationship between PD (Parkinson's disease) patients' serum exosomes and pathogenesis. PD patients' serum-derived exosomes could induce α-syn, ubiquitin and P62 aggregation in recipient cells. Intravenous or intrastriatal treatments of mice with PD exosomes were able to recapitulate the molecular, cellular and behavioral phenotypes of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain is an intractable disease with few definitive therapeutic options. Anethole (AN) has been confirmed to possess potent anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, but its effect on neuropathic pain has not been reported. The present study was designed to investigate the antinociceptive effect of AN on chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain in mice. AN (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) and pregabalin (40 mg/kg) were intragastric administered for 8 consecutive days from the 7th day post-surgery. Behavioral parameters were measured on different days, namely, 0, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 14, from CCI operation. Additionally, electrophysiological and histopathological changes were analyzed on the 14th day. Afterward, immunofluorescence and Western blot were utilized to examine the activation of glial cells and the expression of inflammatory cytokines, respectively. AN treatment of CCI mice considerably alleviated hyperalgesia and allodynia, ameliorated abnormal sciatic nerve conduction, and restored injured sciatic nerves in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, AN suppressed the activation of glial cells, down-regulated pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL-6, and IL-1β), and up-regulated the anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10). These assays first indicated that AN exerted an antinociceptive effect on CCI-induced neuropathic pain, and might be attributed to the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities of AN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye state recognition is widely used in many fields, such as driver drowsiness recognition, facial expression classification, and human-computer interface technology. This study proposes a novel framework based on the deep learning method to classify eye states in still facial images. The proposed method combines a deep neural network and a deep convolutional neural network to construct a deep integrated neural network for characterizing useful information in the eye region by use of the joint optimization method. A transfer learning strategy is applied to extract effective abstract eye features and improve the classification capability of the proposed model on small sample datasets. Experimental results on the Closed Eyes in the Wild (CEW) and Zhejiang University Eyeblink datasets show that the proposed approach outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. In addition, the effects of transfer learning methods with different pretraining datasets on classification accuracy are investigated with the CEW dataset. A driver drowsiness recognition dataset is constructed and used in an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method in driving environments. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method performs more stably and robustly than do other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, hierarchical porosity of electrode materials has attracted numerous attentions due to allowing the smooth mass transportation and capability of improving the rate performance of electrochemical applications. In this study, hierarchically porous N-doped carbon (HPDC) materials were fabricated in a facile and scalable way via the dehalogenation of polyvinyl dichloride and applied as electrode materials for assembling symmetric aqueous supercapacitors. The resulted supercapacitors were found having a very high specific energy of 21.5 Wh kg in 1.0 M LiSO with a safe operating voltage of 1.8 V. The enhanced capacitive performance was ascribed to both the HPDC's abundant pore hierarchy with a large accessible surface area and also the applicable neutral electrolyte with a wide stable potential. Besides the potentially scalable production of hierarchically porous carbon materials with high capacitive performance, our work may also envision that other halogenated polymers such as polyvinyl chloride and its wastes can be easily converted into useful carbon materials via our developed dehalogenation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective bulk modulus K of brittle porous materials such as concrete is related to the matrix bulk modulus $$K_\mathrm{m}$$ and is affected by factors such as the pore shape and Poisson's ratio. Basing on Walsh functions and the complex variable function solution for the square pore, this paper derives a formula for calculating the effective bulk modulus of a medium with square pores under planar arrangement condition. Meanwhile, the effective bulk modulus of a model with a random pore distribution is calculated using a numerical method. The results of the numerical calculation and the formula are compared with the results of tests and numerical simulations from previous studies. The results show that there is a critical porosity for the theoretical formula; when the porosity is lower than the critical porosity, the results of the single-pore formula match the test and numerical results well, whereas when the porosity exceeds the critical porosity, the results of the multi-pore formula match the test and numerical results; when the porosity is greater than 0.45, the results of the numerical simulation deviate significantly from those of the theoretical formula. A verification of the numerical results versus the theoretical results shows that the square pore formula is an excellent representation of the relationship between the effective bulk modulus and the matrix bulk modulus for porous media such as concrete within limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-deformation cracking is the cracking caused by thermal deformation, autogenous volume deformation or shrinkage deformation. In this paper, an extended finite element calculation method was deduced for concrete crack propagation under a constant hydration and hardening condition during the construction period, and a corresponding programming code was developed. The experimental investigation shows that initial crack propagation caused by self-deformation loads can be analyzed by this program. This improved algorithm was a preliminary application of the XFEM to the problem of the concrete self-deformation cracking during the hydration and hardening period. However, room for improvement exists for this algorithm in terms of matching calculation programs with mass concrete temperature fields containing cooling pipes and the influence of creep or damage on crack propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The present study aims to evaluate the risk of pancreatic cancer with incretin-based therapy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: We searched EMBASE, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and ClinicalTrials.gov for eligible studies published up to March 06 2016. This meta-analysis includes all studies reporting adverse events of pancreatic cancer with use of incretin-based therapies compared with placebo or non-incretin anti-diabetic drugs in patients with T2DM. We used fixed-effect model to compare pooled relative risk (RR) with related 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 159 randomized trials were identified. Out of these, 135 studies were excluded as pancreatic cancer occurrence had not been included as an end point. The remaining 24 trials enrolling 47,904 participants were further assessed. Overall, no increased risk of pancreatic cancer were detected in association with incretin-based treatment (RR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.37-1.05). The incidence of pancreatic neoplasm was even lower among incretin-based groups than controls (RR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.29-0.87) in trials with duration more than 104 weeks. There was even decreased risk of pancreatic cancer within groups paralleled by incretin-matched placebos (RR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.32-0.93) than by non-incretin anti-diabetic drugs. Neither monotherapy (RR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.38-1.01) nor combination regimen (RR = 0.92, 95% CI 0.45-1.90) of incretin mimetics increased the risk of pancreatic cancer. Conclusion: This meta-analysis shows that incretin-based therapies are not associated with increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer. Interestingly, subgroup analyses suggested lower risk of pancreatic cancer in incretin groups than placebo in long-term studies (>104 weeks). Considering the inconsistent results among randomized trials and previous epidemiological investigations, more such studies should be conducted to clarify the existence or non-existence of this association. Funding: This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81270476 and 81470830). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Altered expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has shown to associate with human cancer development and progression and drug resistance. LncRNA HOX antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) regulates chromatin state and highly expressed in various human cancers. This study analyzed HOTAIR expression in gastric cancer cells and tissues and then assessed the effects of HOTAIR on modulation of gastric cancer cell sensitivity to cisplatin and the underlying molecular events. The data showed that HOTAIR was significantly upregulated in cisplatin-resistant gastric cancer cells and tissues compared with control cells and noncancerous gastric tissues. Overexpression of HOTAIR enhanced gastric cancer cell proliferation, promoted cell cycle G1/S transition, but decreased tumor cell apoptosis. Furthermore, HOTAIR was shown to directly bind to and inhibit miR-126 expression and then to promote VEGFA and PIK3R2 expression and activate the PI3K/AKT/MRP1 pathway. In conclusion, the data demonstrated that high HOTAIR expression acted as a competitive endogenous RNA to promote cisplatin resistance in gastric cancer. Further study will evaluate HOTAIR expression as a biomarker to predict treatment response of cisplatin and explore inhibition of HOTAIR expression as a novel strategy for anti-cisplatin resistance in human gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fenpropathrin is one of the widely used pyrethroids in agriculture and household and also reported to have neurotoxic effects in rodent models. In our Parkinson's disease (PD) clinic, there was a unique patient with a history of daily exposure to fenpropathrin for 6 months prior to developing Parkinsonian symptoms progressively. Since whether fenpropathrin is related to any dopaminergic degeneration was unknown, we aimed in this study to evaluate the neurotoxic effects of fenpropathrin on the dopaminergic system and associated mechanisms in vitro and in vivo. In cultured SH-SY5Y cells, fenpropathrin caused cell death, reactive oxygen species generation, Lewy body-associated proteins aggregation, and Lewy body-like intracytoplasmic inclusions formation. In rodent animals, two different injections of fenpropathrin were used for administrations, intraperitoneal (i.p), or stereotaxical (ST). The rats exhibited lower number of pokes 60 days after first i.p injection, while the rats in ST group showed a significant upregulation of apomorphine-evoked rotations 60 days after first injection. Dcreased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) immunoreactivity, while increased dopamine transporter (DAT) immunoreactivity were observed in rats of either i.p or ST group 60 days after the last exposure to fenpropathrin. However, the number of TH-positive cells in the substantia nigra was more reduced 120 days after the first i.p injection than those of 60 days. Our data demonstrated that exposure to fenpropathrin could mimic the pathologic and pathogenetic features of PD especially in late onset cases. These results imply fenpropathrin as a DA neurotoxin and a possible environmental risk factor for PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spillway tunnel is regarded as hydraulic thin-slab concrete structure which is subject to easy cracking. Temperature stress during construction period is a major reason causing cracking, and selection of timely and reasonable temperature control schemes can result in good crack prevention effect. The researches have shown that a method combining internal water pipe cooling and surface heat preservation is an effective measure that is able to prevent such cracking, and the selection of heat preservation timing and cooling method of internal water pipe will be the major factor influencing temperature control effect. Aiming at this issue, based on certain spillway tunnel and by virtue of 3D finite elements and water pipe cooling calculation method, simulated calculations and analyses on concrete temperature field and stress field of different temperature control schemes are carried out, and the temperature control effects are brought to comparison. Selected results indicate that good temperature control effect can be obtained under timely and reasonable surface heat preservation and water-flow method. This type of method has reference values on similar projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]