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Most superhydrophobic surfaces contain fluorine, which is very harmful to the environment. So, it is necessary to change the situation. This paper explains that a simple and fluorine-free plasma technology for superhydrophobic modification of silk fabrics by using one-sided protection method and low-temperature plasma induced grafting polymerization of octamethyl-cyclotetrasiloxane (D4) to form the superhydrophobic films. Treated silk and pristine silk fabrics were measured using field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), and water contact angle measurement. The test results showed that the polymer films could be successful coated on the silk fibers surface via the low-temperature plasma. In addition, it has good durability, thermal stability, and a water contact angle of 152°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-resolution feature of single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology allows researchers to observe cellular gene expression profiles at the single-cell level, offering numerous possibilities for subsequent biomedical investigation. However, the unavoidable technical impact of high missing values in the gene-cell expression matrices generated by insufficient RNA input severely hampers the accuracy of downstream analysis. To address this problem, it is essential to develop a more rapid and stable imputation method with greater accuracy, which should not only be able to recover the missing data, but also effectively facilitate the following biological mechanism analysis. The existing imputation methods all have their drawbacks and limitations, some require pre-assumed data distribution, some cannot distinguish between technical and biological zeros, and some have poor computational performance. In this paper, we presented a novel imputation software FRMC for single-cell RNA-Seq data, which innovates a fast and accurate singular value thresholding approximation method. The experiments demonstrated that FRMC can not only precisely distinguish 'true zeros' from dropout events and correctly impute missing values attributed to technical noises, but also effectively enhance intracellular and intergenic connections and achieve accurate clustering of cells in biological applications. In summary, FRMC can be a powerful tool for analysing single-cell data because it ensures biological significance, accuracy, and rapidity simultaneously. FRMC is implemented in Python and is freely accessible to non-commercial users on GitHub: . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is crucial for our social life, with evidences suggesting that executive function is the cognitive basis of empathy. However, debates about the causal relationship between executive function and empathy still exist. A two-wave and one-year longitudinal follow-up experiment is conducted to investigate this problem, mainly focusing on preschoolers as executive function and empathy develop rapidly in preschoolers. A one-year cross-lagged panel analysis results found that preschoolers' empathy, mainly cognitive empathy, was predicted by inhibitory control. In line with previous studies, these results imply that inhibitory control is the cognitive basis of preschoolers' empathy and future educational practices and training studies should be considered.W [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-resolution feature of single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology allows researchers to observe cellular gene expression profiles at the single-cell level, offering numerous possibilities for subsequent biomedical investigation. However, the unavoidable technical impact of high missing values in the gene-cell expression matrices generated by insufficient RNA input severely hampers the accuracy of downstream analysis. To address this problem, it is essential to develop a more rapid and stable imputation method with greater accuracy, which should not only be able to recover the missing data, but also effectively facilitate the following biological mechanism analysis. The existing imputation methods all have their drawbacks and limitations, some require pre-assumed data distribution, some cannot distinguish between technical and biological zeros, and some have poor computational performance. In this paper, we presented a novel imputation software FRMC for single-cell RNA-Seq data, which innovates a fast and accurate singular value thresholding approximation method. The experiments demonstrated that FRMC can not only precisely distinguish 'true zeros' from dropout events and correctly impute missing values attributed to technical noises, but also effectively enhance intracellular and intergenic connections and achieve accurate clustering of cells in biological applications. In summary, FRMC can be a powerful tool for analysing single-cell data because it ensures biological significance, accuracy, and rapidity simultaneously. FRMC is implemented in Python and is freely accessible to non-commercial users on GitHub: . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1.In this study, the pharmacokinetics of new triazole antifungal iodiconzole creams at target sites after single-dose topical application was investigated. 2.30 healthy Chinese volunteers were randomly divided into three groups after being stratified by sex, each group was given a single topical dose of 1%, 2%, 4% iodiconazole cream (0.4 g). Stratum corneum (SC) samples of treated sites were collected by tape-stripping method after the chosen contact times, and were extracted and analysed by a validated LC-MS method. 3.After single-dose topical application of 1%, 2%, 4% iodiconazole creams, the Cmax of iodiconazole in SC was 1.2 ± 0.7, 2.2 ± 1.0, 2.4 ± 1.0 mg/g; Tmax was 3.3 ± 1.1, 2.9 ± 1.1, 3.8 ± 0.4 h; t1/2 was 6.6 ± 3.4 h, 7.2 ± 4.1 h, 5.9 ± 2.9 h; AUC0-t was 10.9 ± 3.0, 20.8 ± 10.4, 20.9 ± 7.9 mg·h/g; AUC0-∞ was 11.6 ± 2.9, 23.5 ± 14.4, 22.2 ± 8.9 mg·h/g, respectively. The results showed that Cmax, AUC0-t and AUC0-∞ did not increase proportionately with dose, which could also be due to the drug being saturated in the formulation at ∼2%. 4.The results of this study could provide reference for the clinical medication and further study of the formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, seven novel sensitisers with the donor-acceptor-π-spacer-acceptor (D-A-π-A) structure were designed based on the C219 dye by introducing different electron-withdrawing substituents, and their photovoltaic parameters were predicted by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations coupled with the Marcus charge transfer model. Results showed that the introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents can narrow the HOMO–LUMO gap, and remarkably enhance the dye's sunlight absorption. By exactly estimating the charge transfer rates and efficiency in electron injection and recombination processes, the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) for the C219 dye was estimated to be about 7.4% under the standard AM 1.5G solar radiation, which is in excellent agreement with its measured value of 7.6%, suggesting that our calculation scheme is reliable. Moreover, we predicted that the PCE values for most designed dyes are over 10%, indicating that the molecular design strategy used by us in this work is reasonable. Especially, the PCE of dye 1, and 4 were predicted to be as high as 13.0% and 15.7% respectively, illuminating that the –CF3 and –CN are excellent substituents. Totally, our results revealed that the dye 1 and 4 are potential candidates as efficient sensitisers, and worth further study by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of the trial were to study the effects of dietary crude protein (CP) and tannic acid (TA) on rumen fermentation, microbiota and nutrient digestion in beef cattle. Eight growing beef cattle (live weight 350 ± 25 kg) were allocated in a 2 × 2 crossover design using two levels of dietary CP [111 g/kg dry matter (DM) and 136 g/kg DM] and two levels of TA (0 and 16.9 g/kg DM) as experimental treatments. Each experimental period lasted 19 d, consisting of 14-d adaptation and 5-d sampling. The impacts of dietary CP and TA on ruminal microbiota were analysed using high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene. Results indicated that no interactions between dietary CP and TA were found on rumen fermentation and nutrient digestibility. Increasing dietary CP level from 111 to 136 g/kg DM increased the ruminal concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) (p < 0.01) and improved the CP digestibility (p < 0.001). Adding TA at 16.9 g/kg DM inhibited rumen fermentation and decreased the digestibility of dietary CP (p < 0.001), DM (p < 0.05) and organic matter (p < 0.01). Increasing the dietary CP level or adding TA did not affect the relative abundances of the major bacteria Firmicutes and Proteobacteria at the phylum level and Prevotella_1 and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group at the genus level, even though adding TA increased the Shannon index of the ruminal bacterial community. TA was partly hydrolysed to pyrogallol, gallic acid and resorcinol in rumen fluid and the inhibitory effects of TA on rumen fermentation and nutrient digestibility could have been resulted from the TA metabolites including pyrogallol, gallic acid and resorcinol as well as the protein-binding effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AZ80 hollow profile was produced by porthole-die extrusion. The mechanical behavior and microstructure characteristic of extrusion welds in AZ80 hollow profile during different T5 heat treatments were investigated. Five kinds of morphologies of β-Mg17Al12were observed in turn in weld regions under various temperatures. Extrusion weld is not weakest region in AZ80 hollow profile in terms of hardness, the peak hardness of weld regions is roughly equal to the weld-free regions at different aging temperatures, which is attributed to similar volume fraction, morphology, and size of β-Mg17Al12precipitate in weld regions and weld-free regions. The precipitate-free zones (PFZs) usually form near the welds interface in aging process, and the hardness of PFZs is usually lower than those of weld regions and weld-free regions. Aging at 200°C for 24 h is suitable heat treatment system for AZ80 hollow profile, which can achieve excellent mechanical property and simultaneously reduce the width of PFZs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Mesozoic granitoids in the Dabie Orogen are of particular geological interest as indicators for Mesozoic lithospheric evolution and because of their close association with porphyry Mo mineralization. Here, we present a study using zircon laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb dating, petrogeochemistry, and Hf isotopic data to constrain the timing of the magmatism and petrogenesis of the Xinxian granites in the Dabie Mo mineralization belt (DMB), Henan Province, China. Field investigations combined with previously published data show that the Xinxian pluton mainly consists of four phases. Zircon LA-ICP-MS U–Pb dating yielded ages from 153.4 ± 1.1 Ma for Phase 1 to 146.4 ± 1.6 Ma for Phase 2, 131.6 ± 1.8 Ma for Phase 3, and 125.5 ± 1.5 Ma for Phase 4. The Xinxian granites have high SiO2contents of 74.94–78.70 wt.% (average: 76.63 wt.%), Al2O3contents of 11.59–13.68 wt.% (average: 13.01 wt.%), and K2O contents of 3.85–4.86 wt.% (average: 4.36 wt.%) with Na2O/K2O ratios of 0.78–1.03 (average: 0.92) and low MgO (0.04–0.15 wt.%), TiO2(0.03–0.13 wt.%), and P2O5(0.006–0.07 wt.%) contents. They are enriched in Rb, U, K, and Hf, but depleted in Ba, Nb, Ta, Sr, P, and Ti. The zirconεHf(t) values for Phases 1, 2, 3, and 4 vary as follows: from – 22.8 to – 20.3 withTDM2values from 2682 to 2869 Ma, from – 24.2 to – 21.2 withTDM2values from 2738 to 2925 Ma, from −24.5 to −21.5 withTDM2values from 2722 to 2915 Ma, and from −22.9 to −19.4 withTDM2values from 2421 to 2643 Ma, respectively. By integrating previous geological, geochronological, and geochemical data for the DMB, we propose that the Xinxian pluton was dominantly sourced from the crust. The granites were most likely derived from the partial melting of the Northern Dabie Complex (NDC) with some Yangtze lower crust and Southern Dabie Complex (SDC). The Xinxian pluton may have formed in a post-collision extensional setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value-at-risk (VaR) is one of the most well-known downside risk measures due to its intuitive meaning and wide spectra of applications in practice. In this paper, we investigate the dynamic mean–VaR portfolio selection formulation in continuous time, while the majority of the current literature on mean–VaR portfolio selection mainly focuses on its static versions. Our contributions are twofold, in both building up a tractable formulation and deriving the corresponding optimal portfolio policy. By imposing a limit funding level on the terminal wealth, we conquer the ill-posedness exhibited in the original dynamic mean–VaR portfolio formulation. To overcome the difficulties arising from the VaR constraint and no bankruptcy constraint, we have combined the martingale approach with the quantile optimization technique in our solution framework to derive the optimal portfolio policy. In particular, we have characterized the condition for the existence of the Lagrange multiplier. When the opportunity set of the market setting is deterministic, the portfolio policy becomes analytical. Furthermore, the limit funding level not only enables us to solve the dynamic mean–VaR portfolio selection problem, but also offers a flexibility to tame the aggressiveness of the portfolio policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aims to explore the effects of different levels of haemoglobin (Hb) on early cerebral metabolism in patients with postoperative severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) . Method: Fifty-nine patients were randomly divided into catheter oxygen group and ventilator-assisted respiratory group. Each group was subsequently divided into three subgroups basing on different Hb level: Hb ≤ 70 g/L subgroup, 71 g/L ≤ Hb≤90 g/L subgroup and Hb ≥ 91 g/L subgroup. The blood samples from the femoral artery and the affected side internal jugular vein were, respectively, taken at the same time from the patient after postoperative 3 days. Results: The incidence of anaemia after severe TBI operation was 88.14%. The VADL and cerebral glucose uptake (CMRglu) in both Hb ≤ 70 g/L and 71 g/L ≤ Hb≤90 g/L patients of oxygen catheter group were less than that in Hb ≥ 91 g/L patients. In the ventilator-assisted breathing group, the VADL and CMRglu of 71 g/L ≤ Hb≤90 g/L patients and Hb ≥ 91 g/L patients were lower than those in Hb ≤ 70 g/L patients. The result from comparing the two 71 g/L ≤ Hb ≤ 90 g/L subgroups showed that the brain metabolic indexs in the ventilator-assisted breathing group were better than those in the catheter oxygen group. Conclusions: In severe TBI postoperative patients, Hb≤90 g/L induced decrease in aerobic oxidation in brain tissue. Moreover, for the same Hb level of 71 g/L ≤ Hb≤90 g/L, ventilator-assisted breathing significantly improved cerebral metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Consider a Markov chain with finite state {0, 1, …,d}. We give the generation functions (or Laplace transforms) of absorbing (passage) time in the following two situations: (1) the absorbing time of statedwhen the chain starts from any stateiand absorbing at stated; (2) the passage time of any stateiwhen the chain starts from the stationary distribution supposed the chain is time reversible and ergodic. Example shows that it is more convenient compared with the existing methods, especially we can calculate the expectation of the absorbing time directly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is difficult to accurately diagnose and locate faults in the thermal system of power plants due to the coupling of multiple components. The goal of the current study is to develop a model that predicts how the thermodynamic parameters–performance curve is changed when one component exhibits anomalies. This model uses the concept of irreversibility in thermoeconomic structure theory as a means of quantitatively measuring changes in the performance of power plant thermal systems. This is achieved by initially filtering out the effect of anomalies on the control regulation system and subsequently comparing the change in performance to reference values, enabling qualitative analysis to decouple component interactions. Following model construction, advanced process simulation is applied to simulate several typical fault conditions in a 330-MW power plant, and the proposed model is used to diagnose the cause of malfunction based on thermoeconomic analysis. The results indicate that the method has satisfactory feasibility for malfunction diagnosis in a complex energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The steam leakage in HP&IP (high pressure and intermediate pressure) turbine through midspan packing (N2 packing) is called N2 leakage for short. When this leakage changes, its effects on the turbine’s power, superheating heat, reheating heat, and heat rate are analyzed by using the small deviation theory, with the main steam flow kept constant. It was proved that as N2 leakage changed, the HP turbine power and reheating heat changed significantly while that of IP&LP (intermediate pressure and low pressure) turbines changed little. Besides, the calculations pertaining to a supercritical 660 MW steam turbine in variable conditions are carried out. The results indicated that when N2 leakage increased, the change of those parameters was nearly linear, which agreed with the theoretical analysis. The results also demonstrated that the leakage affected the heat rate mainly by changing the HP turbine power and reheating heat. However, as the LP turbine power accounted for a large proportion of the total power of turbines, the impact of its change on the heat rate also should be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Background: Primary osteoarthritis (OA) is a polygenic disease. To investigate the gene expression profile of cartilage and synovium from osteoarthritis and healthy rats using cDNA microarray is beneficial to recognize the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and provide evidence for gene therapy of osteoarthritis. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the gene expression profile of the cartilage and synovium of chronic arthritis and healthy rats through cDNA microarray assay, and identify the differentially expressed genes. This study may be helpful for understanding the role of differentially expressed genes in osteoarthritis and the gene polymorphism of osteoarthritis. Methods: A total of 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group and osteoarthritis group (n == 12 per group). The synovial and cartilage were obtained and total RNA was extracted. cDNA microarray assay was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes, and cluster analysis was conducted. Results and Conclusion: A total of 82 differentially expressed genes were identified, among which 27 were up-regulated and 55 down-regulated. Gene microarray assay is effective to identify differentially expressed genes and may find out novel osteoarthritis associated genes. Multiple genes are involved in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis. The differentially expressed genes provide important information for further studies on the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and gene therapy of osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the repairing ability of nano-hydroxyapatite/recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (Nano-HA/rhBMP-2) composite artificial bone for bone defect and to provide evidence for its application in clinical repair of bone defect. Methods: The animal model of bone defect was made on unilateral radius of 90 New Zealand white rabbits, which were randomly divided into experimental group (group A, bone defect was repaired with Nano-HA/rhBMP-2 composite artificial bone), control group (group B, bone defect was repaired with Nano-HA artificial bone), and blank group (group C, bone defect was unrepaired). The repairing ability for bone defect was evaluated by gross observation, X-ray examination, scanning electron microscope, radionuclide bone imaging and biomechanical analysis at 4th, 8th, and 12th week postoperatively. Results: Both Nano-HA/rhBMP-2 composite artificial bone and Nano-HA artificial bone could stimulate new bone formation, but the former could stimulate more new bone formation and had better repairing ability for bone defect than that of the latter, with statistically significant difference (P <0.05). Conclusion: Nano-HA/rhBMP-2 composite artificial bone has good repairing ability for bone defect and it is hopeful to become an ideal repairing material for bone defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]