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We devote to the analysis of blow-up solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with inhomogeneous perturbation. Firstly, we get the sharp threshold of global existence and blow-up for the Cauchy problem. Then, we show the mass concentration properties and the limiting behavior of blow-up solutions. At last, we prove the nonexistence of the minimal mass blow-up solution by using the limiting behavior of blow-up solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Trauma is the fifth‐leading cause of death in China. Despite the establishment of the Chinese Regional Trauma Care System (CRTCS) in 2016, advanced trauma nurse practice has not been incorporated. This study aimed to identify the roles and responsibilities of trauma advanced practice nurse (APN), and to investigate the impact on patient outcomes in a Level I regional trauma centre in mainland China. Design: A single‐centre pre‐ and post‐control design was used. Methods: The trauma APN programme was established based on multidisciplinary experts' consultation. A retrospective study was conducted on all Level I trauma patients over a period of 5 years, spanning from January 2017 to December 2021, with a sample size of 2420. The data were divided into two comparison groups: a pre‐APN programme (January 2017–December 2018; n = 1112) and post‐APN programme (January 2020–December 2021; n = 1308). A comparison analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of trauma APN who were integrated into the trauma care team, with a focus on patient outcomes and time‐efficiency indicators. Results: The certification of the regional Level I trauma centre resulted in a 17.63% increase in the number of trauma patients. The integration of advanced practice nurses (APN) into the trauma care system led to significant improvements in time‐efficiency indicators, with the exception of advanced airway establishment time (p < 0.05). The average emergency department length of stay (LOS) decreased 21%, from 168 to 132 min (p < 0.001); additionally, the mean intensive care unit LOS decreased by nearly 1 day (p = 0.028). Trauma patients who were treated by trauma APN had a higher likelihood of survival, with an odds ratio of 1.816 (95%CI: 1.041, 3.167; p = 0.033), compared to patients who received care prior to the implementation of the trauma APN program. Conclusion: A trauma APN programme has the potential to enhance the quality of trauma care in the CRTCS. Impact: This study elucidates the roles and responsibilities of trauma advanced practice nurses (APN) in a Level I regional trauma centre in mainland China. Trauma care quality was significantly improved after the application of a trauma APN programme. In regions with inadequate medical resources, the utilization of advanced practice trauma nurses can enhance the quality of trauma care. In addition, trauma APN can provide a trauma nursing education programme within the regional centres as a strategy to augment the proficiency of regional trauma nursing. No patient or public contribution, the research data all from trauma data bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: The microRNA miR-29b-3p shows important roles in regulating apoptosis and inflammation. However, its effects on intestinal ischaemia/reperfusion (II/R) injury have not been reported. Here we have investigated the functions of miR-29b-3p on II/R injury on order to find drug targets to treat the injury.Experimental Approach: Two models - in vitro hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) of IEC-6 cells; in vivo, II/R injury in C57BL/6 mice were used. Western blotting and dual-luciferase reporter assays were used and mimic and siRNA transfection tests were applied to assess the effects of miR-29b-3p on II/R injury via targeting TNF receptor-associated factor 3 (TRAF3).Key Results: The H/R procedure decreased cell viability and promoted inflammation and apoptosis in IEC-6 cells, and the II/R procedure also promoted intestinal inflammation and apoptosis in mice. Expression levels of miR-29b-3p were decreased in H/R-induced cells and II/R-induced intestinal tissues of mice compared with control group or sham group, which directly targeted TRAF3. Decreased miR-29b-3p level markedly increased TRAF3 expression via activating TGF-α-activated kinase 1 phosphorylation, increasing NF-κB (p65) levels to promote inflammation, up-regulating Bcl2-associated X expression, and down-regulating Bcl-2 expression to trigger apoptosis. In addition, the miR-29b-3p mimetic and TRAF3 siRNA in IEC-6 cells markedly suppressed apoptosis and inflammation to alleviate II/R injury via inhibiting TRAF3 signallimg.Conclusions and Implications: The miR-29b-3p played a critical role in II/R injury, via targeting TRAF3, which should be considered as a significant drug target to treat the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Dioscin shows potent effects against cancers. We aimed to elucidate its pharmacological effects and mechanisms of action on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in vivo and in vitro.Experimental Approach: Effects of dioscin were investigated in SMMC7721 and HepG2 cells, diethylnitrosamine-induced primary liver cancer in rats, and cell xenografts in nude mice. Isobaric tags for relative and absolution quantitation (iTRAQ)-based proteomics was used to find dioscin's targets and investigate its mechanism.Key Results: In SMMC7721 and HepG2 cells dioscin markedly inhibited cell proliferation and migration, induced apoptosis, autophagy, and DNA damage. It inhibited DEN-induced primary liver cancer in rats, markedly changed body weights and restored levels of α fetoprotein, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, γ-glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and Ki67. It also inhibited growth of xenografts in mice. In SMMC7721 cells, 191 differentially expressed proteins were found after dioscin, based on iTRAQ-based assay. TP53-inducible glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) was identified as being significantly down-regulated by dioscin. Dioscin induced cell apoptosis, autophagy, and DNA damage via increasing expression levels of p53, cleaved PARP, Bax, cleaved caspase-3/9, Beclin-1, and LC3 and suppressing those of Bcl-2, p-Akt, p-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), CDK5, p-ataxia telangiectasia-mutated gene (ATM). The transfection of TIGAR siRNA into SMMC7721 cells and xenografts in nude mice further confirmed that the potent activity of dioscin against HCC is evoked by adjusting TIGAR-mediated inhibition of p53, Akt/mTOR, and CDK5/ATM pathways.Conclusions and Implications: The data suggest that dioscin has potential as a therapeutic, and TIGAR as a drug target for treating HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under partially shaded conditions (PSC), a photovoltaic (PV) array takes on more complex characteristics. It is very difficult and utterly necessary for PV system designers to understand and predict them. Other than the prevailing methodology of solving a set of non‐linear equations, the proposed methodology focuses on three key points of short circuit, MPP and open circuit. Besides, its V–I curve is split into three regions and replaced by three asymptote lines. From this viewpoint, this paper presents a novel Psim‐based piece‐wise linear macro‐model whose circuit parameter values are determined based on the foregoing three key points. The novel model, compared with the other published models, is characterised by short running time, relative high accuracy, and reliable unique solution. This model avoids the computational complexity and convergence issue. Furthermore, based on the novel model, an optimising configuration‐simulation model is presented for PV system designers to optimise PV array configurations under several given shaded patterns. Two new concepts of power and voltage reducing rate shall be introduced to estimate the PSC effect. The novel model and formulas, therefore, shall provide a good solution for studying the behavior of a large‐scale PV array in a complex scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We assessed the evolution of lung aeration by "Lung Ultrasound Score" to predict the acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with paraquat intoxication. Methods: Patients with paraquat intoxication treated in the intensive care unit were reviewed. Patients who had been assessed by transthoracic lung ultrasound at 3 time points as day 1, day 3, and day 7 after the treatment were analyzed. Lung aeration was represented by the lung ultrasound score. The relationship of the score with the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome was evaluated. Results: There were 50 patients included. On day 7, 18 patients developed the acute respiratory distress syndrome. The acute respiratory distress syndrome patients demonstrated a higher mortality rate than that for the non-acute respiratory distress syndrome patients (88.9% vs 31.5%, p < 0.001). In addition, the acute respiratory distress syndrome patients not only had a higher creatinine level (p < 0.001), and Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment 48-h scores (p < 0.001), and a longer time to gastric lavage but also suffered from a lower PaO2/FiO2 (p < 0.001) and a higher lung ultrasound score (p < 0.001) compared to those in the non-acute respiratory distress syndrome patients. The decrease in PaO2/FiO2 between day 3 and day 7 correlated with the increase in lung ultrasound score between day 3 and day 7. There was also a significant correlation between the Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment score and lung ultrasound score in acute respiratory distress syndrome patient on day 7. Conclusion: The transthoracic lung ultrasound may be a useful tool for lung aeration assessment on patients with paraquat intoxication receiving treatment. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of this screening strategy on predicting acute respiratory distress syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma membrane NADPH oxidases are major producers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plant cells under normal growth and stress conditions. In the present study the total activity of rice NADPH oxidases and the transcription of OsRbohA, which encodes an Oryza sativa plasma membrane NADPH oxidase, were stimulated by drought. OsRbohA was expressed in all tissues examined throughout development. Its mRNA was upregulated by a number of factors, including heat, drought, salt, oxidative stress and methyl jasmonate treatment. Compared with wild-type (WT), the OsRbohA-knockout mutant osrbohA exhibited upregulated expression of other respiratory burst oxidase homolog genes and multiple abnormal agronomic traits, including reduced biomass, low germination rate and decreased pollen viability and seed fertility. However, OsRbohA-overexpressing transgenic plants showed no differences in these traits compared with WT. Although osrbohA leaves and roots produced more ROS than WT, the mutant had lesser intracellular ROS. In contrast, OsRbohA-overexpressing transgenic plants exhibited higher ROS production at the intracellular level and in tissues. Ablation of OsRbohA impaired the tolerance of plants to various water stresses, whereas its overexpression enhanced the tolerance. In addition, a number of genes related to energy supply, substrate transport, stress response and transcriptional regulation were differentially expressed in osrbohA plants even under normal growth conditions, suggesting that OsRbohA has fundamental and broad functions in rice. These results indicate that OsRbohA-mediated processes are governed by complex signaling pathways that function during the developmental regulation and drought-stress response in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a low dimensional crystal, graphene attracts great attention as heat dissipation material due to its unique thermal transfer property exceeding the limit of bulk graphite. In this contribution, flexible graphene-carbon fiber composite paper is fabricated by depositing graphene oxide into the carbon fiber precursor followed by carbonization. In this full-carbon architecture, scaffold of one-dimensional carbon fiber is employed as the structural component to reinforce the mechanical strength, while the hierarchically arranged two-dimensional graphene in the framework provides a convenient pathway for in-plane acoustic phonon transmission. The as-obtained hierarchical carbon/carbon composite paper possesses ultra-high in-plane thermal conductivity of 977 W m−1 K−1 and favorable tensile strength of 15.3 MPa. The combined mechanical and thermal performances make the material highly desirable as lateral heat spreader for next-generation commercial portable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serum response factor (SRF) is an essential regulator of myogenic and neurogenic genes and the ubiquitously expressed immediate-early genes. The purpose of this study is to determine SRF expression pattern in murine pancreas and examine the role of SRF in pancreatic gene expression. Immunohistochemical analysis of wild-type pancreas and LacZ staining of pancreas from SRF LacZ knock-in animals showed that SRF expression is restricted to β cells. SRF bound to the rat insulin promoter II (RIP II) serum response element, an element conserved in both rat I and murine I and II insulin promoters. SRF activated RIP II, and SRF binding to RIP II and the exon 5-encoded 64-aa subdomain of SRF was required for this activation. Transient or stable knockdown of SRF leads to down-regulation of insulin gene expression, suggesting that SRF is required for insulin gene expression. Further, SRF physically interacted with the pancreas and duodenum homeobox-1 (Pdx-1) and synergistically activated RIP II. Elevated glucose concentration down-regulated SRF binding to RIP II SRE, and this down-regulation was associated with decreased RIP II activity and increased SRF phosphorylation on serine 103. Together, our results demonstrate that SRF is a glucose concentration-sensitive regulator of insulin gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On page 4222, C.‐M. Chen and co‐workers describe how, when graphene meets carbon fibers, the combined thermal conductivity and mechanical stiffness provide this full carbon architecture with a greater potential over copper foil for heat dissipation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the continuity of our previous work (Commun Numer Meth Engng 2003; 19:25-36) which applies the 2D time domain boundary element method (BEM) to solve the transient scattering of SH waves by an inclusion with a unilateral frictional contact interface. The case of the plane wave (P and/or SV wave) incidence is studied. Localized slip and separation at the interface caused by strong incident waves are considered. Therefore the interface involves three different kinds of unknown intervals: slip, separation and stick regions. In order to determine the unknown intervals, an iterative technique is developed. As an example, we compute the scattering of P waves by a cylinder of circular cross-section embedded in an infinite solid. Numerical results for the near field solutions are presented. The distortion of the response waves and the variation of the interface states are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a 2D time domain boundary element method (BEM) to solve the transient SH-wave scattering from an inclusion with a unilateral frictional interface. The incident SH-wave is assumed strong enough to break friction so that localized slip takes place along the interface. The present problem is indeed a non-linear boundary value problem since the mixed boundary conditions involve unknown intervals (the slip and stick zones). In order to determine the intervals, an iterative technique is developed. As an example, we consider the scattering of a circular cylinder embedded in an infinite solid. The numerical results of the interface traction and relative slip velocity are presented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]