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This document summarizes a study on inherited coagulation factor VII deficiency (FVIID) in Taiwan. The study examined the genetic features, clinical presentations, and laboratory findings of 33 patients with FVIID. The patients had varying levels of FVII:C and experienced symptoms such as mucocutaneous bleeding and postoperative hemorrhage. The study identified two new genetic variants and found a wide range of bleeding manifestations. Treatment options for bleeding events included fresh frozen plasma, prothrombin complex concentrate, recombinant activated coagulation factor VII (rFVIIa), and oral tranexamic acid. The study contributes to our understanding of FVIID in Taiwan. [Extracted from the article]

The escalating environmental impact of pollution and the imperative to reduce carbon emissions have heightened the significance of developing biobased materials from natural biomass for electronic devices. This study investigates the utilization of biofermentation‐produced recombinant spider silk and animal‐derived hemin to create a novel biobased electret for field‐effect transistor memory. A critical challenge arises from the incompatibility between natural photoresponsive molecules and insulating biomaterials, resulting in severe phase separation that compromises film quality and morphology uniformity. This study systematically examines the effects of various film deposition and manufacturing techniques on the biobased electret's morphology, phase separation, and performance. Different methods demonstrate distinct advantages in terms of molecular aggregation/segregation, morphological homogeneity, and device performance. Phototransistor memory devices fabricated using spin coating and spray coating techniques exhibit robust aggregations and high memory windows of ≈30 V. Conversely, devices produced through solution shearing and electrospinning methods display enhanced smooth morphologies and high photoresponsivity. The phototransistor memory comprising electrospun fibers holds the potential to achieve the highest memory ratio, reaching ≈105. These findings not only highlight the applications of biobased materials through scalable film deposition processes but also underscore the importance of refining their morphology, phase separation, and performance in optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southwest vortices (SWVs) are a unique type of mesoscale vortex that frequently induce torrential rainfall in China. In this study, we focused a long‐lived quasi‐stationary SWV, which was the primary system for producing an extremely heavy rainstorm within/around Sichuan (the maximum hourly precipitation was ~103.8 mm) in Mid July 2021. After reproduced the SWV's formation by using Weather Research and Forecasting model, we conducted trajectory analyses and topography sensitivity simulations to understand the effects of complicated topography on the vortex's formation. It is found that, the regions south and southwest of the SWV acted as the most important source regions for the air clusters that formed the SWV (proportion ≥ 65%), and the air clusters originated from the upper layer contributed the most (≥60%). Of these, the air clusters sourced from the upper layer southwest and south of the SWV played the most important role in the SWV's formation, as their increase in cyclonic vorticity and their contributions to trajectory number and vorticity were all much larger than those of the others. Sensitivity simulations indicated that, detailed topography features around the Sichuan Basin were crucial in determining the structure, intensity and precipitation of the SWV, whereas, the topography features were not a decisive factor for the SWV's formation. In summary, our findings are useful to enrich the current understanding of the SWVs' formation, which would be helpful to improve the related forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 26–27 June 2022, mainly influenced by three mesoscale vortices, central‐eastern China (particularly for Henan and Shandong) experiences the first widespread torrential rainfall event of the 2022 flood season (maximum 24‐hr accumulated precipitation is ∼380.9 mm), resulting in severe social impacts. The three mesoscale vortices form and sustain under favorable background conditions, mainly including a strong upper‐level divergence, an intense middle‐level warm advection, and a powerful lower‐level convergence associated with a low‐level jet. Among the vortices, the vortex which forms over Shandong, lasts for ∼9 hr, and makes a much larger contribution than the other vortices to the accumulated precipitation, is defined as the primary vortex. More than a half of the hourly precipitation peaks in this event appear in the life span of the primary vortex, which is closely related to the variations of the vortex in its cyclonic‐vorticity and vertical extent. Backward trajectory analysis indicates that air particles originating from the lower troposphere southwest of the primary vortex contribute the most to its formation (∼82.7%). These air particles mainly experience a notable increase in their cyclonic‐vorticity due to convergence‐related vertical stretching, which directly renders the formation of primary vortex. During the whole life span of the primary vortex, convergence‐related vertical stretching is the most favorable factor for its development/sustainment, and the convection‐related vertical transport of cyclonic vorticity ranks second; whereas, the horizontal transport is the most detrimental factor. Moisture budget shows that Southeast China is the most important moisture source for this event (accounting for ∼48.9%). Plain Language Summary: Due to global warming, extreme weather and climate events occur with a higher frequency and a stronger intensity in China. Of these, a widespread heavy rainfall occurs in central‐eastern China during 26–27 June 2022, which causes severe impacts on society. Our attention is drawn to understand how the extreme rainstorm forms and where the main moisture sources are located. For this, we analyze this event by using automatic station data and reanalysis data and discover that three mesoscale vortices are the primary reason for the heavy rainfall. Among the vortices, the one with the longest life span contributes the most to the accumulated precipitation. The strong convergence in the lower troposphere dominates the formation/maintenance of the vortex. Southeast China continuously supplies moisture for the rainfall (∼48.9% in contribution). This research is helpful to enhance the understanding of this type of heavy rainfall event. Key Points: Affected by three mesoscale vortices, central‐eastern China experiences torrential rainfall, with a rainfall peak of ∼380.9 mm observedThe primary vortex, which is produced by vertical stretching, is directly related to more than a half of the hourly rainfall peaksSoutheast China provides ∼48.9% of the moisture for the rainfall, which is mainly transported by the Southwesterly/southerly wind [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium are traditional Chinese herb medicines and similar in morphology and some chemical components but differ in drug properties, so they cannot be mixed. However, the processed products of them are often sold in the form of slices, powder, and capsules, which are difficult to identify by traditional morphological methods. Furthermore, an accurate evaluation of P. ginseng, P. quinquefolium and the processed products have not been conducted. Objective: This study aimed to establish a catalysed hairpin assembly (CHA) identification method for authenticating products made from P. ginseng and P. quinquefolium based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) differences. Method: By analysing the differences of SNP in internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) in P. ginseng and P. quinquefolium to design CHA‐specific hairpins. Establish a sensitive and efficient CHA method that can identify P. ginseng and P. quinquefolium, use the sequencing technology to verify the accuracy of this method in identifying Panax products, and compare this method with high‐resolution melting (HRM). Results: The reaction conditions of CHA were as follows: the ratio of forward and reverse primers, 20:1; hairpin concentration, 5 ng/μL. Compared with capillary electrophoresis, this method had good specificity and the limit of detection was 0.5 ng/μL. The result of Panax product identification with CHA method were coincidence with that of the sequencing method; the positive rate of CHA reaction was 100%. Conclusion: This research presents an effective identification method for authenticating P. ginseng and P. quinquefolium products, which is helpful to improve the quality of Panax products. The specific hairpins were designed based on the difference in SNP in the ITS2 of Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium, and the CHA identification method for Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolium was successfully established for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developmental fate of ovarian follicles is primarily determined by the survival status (proliferation or apoptosis) of granulosa cells (GCs). Owing to the avascular environment within follicles, GCs are believed to live in a hypoxic niche. Follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) has been reported to improve GCs survival by governing hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α)‐dependent hypoxia response, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Growth arrest‐specific gene 6 (GAS6) is a secreted ligand of tyrosine kinase receptors, and has been documented to facilitate tumor growth. Here, we showed that the level of GAS6 was markedly increased in mouse ovarian GCs after the injection of FSH. Specifically, FSH‐induced GAS6 expression was accompanied by HIF‐1α accumulation under conditions of hypoxia both in vivo and in vitro, whereas inhibition of HIF‐1α with small interfering RNAs/antagonist repressed both expression and secretion of GAS6. As such, Luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that HIF‐1α directly bound to a hypoxia response element site within the Gas6 promoter and contributed to the regulation of GAS6 expression in response to FSH. Notably, blockage of GAS6 and/or its receptor Axl abrogated the pro‐survival effects of FSH under hypoxia. Moreover, phosphorylation of Axl by GAS6 is required for FSH‐mediated Akt activation and the resultant pro‐survival phenotypes. Finally, the in vitro findings were verified in vivo, which showed that FSH‐induced proliferative and antiapoptotic effects in ovarian GCs were diminished after blocking GAS6/Axl using HIF‐1α antagonist. These findings highlight a novel function of FSH in preserving GCs viability against hypoxic stress by activating the HIF‐1a‐GAS6‐Axl‐Akt pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the serious complications of the accumulated cardiovascular system in the long course of diabetes. To date, there is no effective treatment available for DCM. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a novel r2egulatory RNA that participates in a variety of cardiac pathological processes. However, the regulatory role of circular RNA MAP3K5 (circMAP3K5) in DCM is largely unclear. Methods and Results: Microarray analysis of DCM rats' heart circular RNAs was performed and the highly species‐conserved circRNA mitogen‐activated protein kinase kinase kinase 5 (circMAP3K5) was identified, which participates in DCM processes. High glucose‐provoked cardiotoxicity leads to the up‐regulation of circMAP3K5, which mechanistically contributes to cardiomyocyte cell death. Also, in high glucose‐induced H9c2 cardiomyocytes, the level of apoptosis was significantly increased, as well as the expression of circMAP3K5. In contrast, the depletion of circMAP3K5 could reduce high glucose‐induced apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. In terms of mechanism, circMAP3K5 acts as a miR‐22‐3p sponge and miR‐22‐3p directly target death‐associated protein kinase 2 (DAPK2) in H9c2 cardiomyocytes, where in circMAP3K5 upregulates DAPK2 expression by targeting miR‐22‐3p. Moreover, we also found that miR‐22‐3p inhibitor and pcDNA DAPK2 could antagonize the protective effects brought by the depletion of circMAP3K5. Conclusion: CircMAP3K5 is a highly conserved noncoding RNA that is upregulated during DCM process. We concluded that circMAP3K5 promotes high glucose‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis by regulating the miR‐22‐3p/DAPK2 axis. The results of this study highlight a novel and translationally important circMAP3K5‐based therapeutic approach for DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Emicizumab mimicking the cofactor function of activated factor VIII (FVIII) restores haemostasis. Methods: This nationwide observational study aimed to retrospectively investigate efficacy, safety, and cost in 1 year before and up to 3 years after emicizumab prophylaxis for haemophilia A (HA) patients with FVIII inhibitors. Results and discussion: A total of 39 severe HA patients with a median age of 23.0 years were enrolled. The median historical peak FVIII inhibitor titre was 174.2 BU/mL with an interquartile range of 56.5–578.8 BU/mL. The median annualized bleeding rate reduced from 24 to 0 events in the first year after emicizumab prophylaxis (p <.01) and sustained in the second and third years. The median annualized joint bleeding rate reduced to 0 and maintained up to 3 years (p <.01). Twenty‐seven patients (69.2%) had target joints before emicizumab prophylaxis and only seven patients (17.9%) of them had target joints after prophylaxis. Medical costs, including cost of haemostatic therapy, frequency of outpatient department visits, emergency room visits and hospital admission, were significantly reduced after emicizumab prophylaxis (p <.01). FVIII inhibitor titre decreased after emicizumab prophylaxis. Overall, three (7.7%) patients experienced 202 grade 1 drug‐related adverse events after emicizumab prophylaxis. No serious adverse events were reported during emicizumab prophylaxis period. The adherence to emicizumab prophylaxis was 100% up to 3 years. Conclusions: HA patients with FVIII inhibitors treated with emicizumab prophylaxis resulted in a significant reduction in treated bleeds and associated costs. No new safety events were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies describing the clinical presentation and prognosis of patients with silent PIT1 (pituitary specific transcription factor)‐lineage pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) are rare. We identified patients with positive PIT1 tumor staining but without evidence of hormone hypersecretion at a tertiary center. Clusters were obtained according to cell morphology and immunostaining from each patient's digitally segmented whole slide image. We compared the clinical presentations, radiological features, and prognoses of the different clusters. We identified 146 patients (68 male, 42.9 ± 14.1 years old) with silent PIT1‐lineage PitNETs. Morphology clustering suggested that tumors with large nuclei and apparent eccentricity were associated with a higher proportion of aggressiveness and a higher hazard of recurrence [hazard ratio (HR): 2.64, (95% CI, 1.06–6.55), p = 0.037]. Immunohistochemical clustering suggested that tumors with thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) staining or all negative PIT1‐lineage hormones were associated with a higher proportion of aggressiveness and a higher risk of recurrence [HR: 12.4, (95% CI, 1.60–93.5), p = 0.015]. We obtained three‐tier risk profiles by combining morphological and immunohistochemical clustering. Patients with the high‐risk profile presented the highest recurrence rate compared with those in the medium‐risk and low‐risk profiles [HR: 3.54, (95% CI, 1.40–8.93), p = 0.002]. In conclusion, digital image analysis based on cell morphology and immunohistochemical staining allows objective stratification of patients with silent PIT1‐lineage tumors. Typical morphological characteristics of high‐risk tumors are large tumor nuclei and high eccentricity, and typical immunostaining characteristics are TSH staining or negative staining for all PIT1‐lineage hormones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interfacial side reactions and space charge layers between the oxide cathode material and the sulfide solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs), along with the structural degradation of the active material, significantly compromise the electrochemical performance of all‐solid‐state batteries (ASSLBs). Surface coating and bulk doping of the cathodes are considered the most effective approaches to mitigate the interface issues between the cathode and SSEs and enhance the structural integrity of composite cathodes. Here, a one‐step low‐cost means is ingeniously designed to modify LiCoO2 (LCO) with heterogeneous Li2TiO3/Li(TiMg)1/2O2 surface coating and bulk gradient Mg doping. When applied in Li10GeP2S12‐based ASSLBs, the Li2TiO3 and Li(TiMg)1/2O2 coating layers effectively suppress interfacial side reactions and weaken space charge layer effect. Furthermore, gradient Mg doping stabilizes the bulk structure to mitigate the formation of spinel‐like phases during local overcharging caused by solid‐solid contact. The modified LCO cathodes exhibit excellent cycle performance with a capacity retention of 80 % after 870 cycles. This dual‐functional strategy provides the possibility for large‐scale commercial implementation of cathodes modification in sulfide based ASSLBs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P2‐type layered oxide material Na2/3Ni1/3Mn2/3O2 is a competitive candidate for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Nevertheless, it suffers from the strong P2–O2 phase transition during charging to the high voltage regime, rendering drastic volume variations and poor cycling performance. Here, a Quasi‐zero strain P2‐Na0.75Li0.15Mg0.05Ni0.1Mn0.7O2 cathode is synthesized, which reflects the vanishing P2–O2 transition with a volume change as low as 0.49%, thus resulting in the material an excellent cycling performance (83.9% capacity retention after 500 cycles at 5 C). The low‐volume strain can be attributed to two aspects: (1) the Mg2+ riveted in the Na layer can act as a "pillar" to stabilize the crystal structure under the condition of sodium removal, thus restricting the structural changes under high voltage. (2) The entry of Li+ into the transition metal (TM) layer can mitigate the electron localization in the highly desodiation state and can effectively immobilize the coordination oxygen atoms, thus suppressing the slip of P2–O2 transition. This study not only provides a new insight of Li and Mg synergetic substitution effect on the structural stability of P2‐type cathode, but also an efficient avenue for developing cathode materials of SIBs with ultralow bulk strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To discuss the experience with a novel surgical approach in the treatment of varicocele for fertility or pain in 772 patients. Methods. Retrospective analysis of 772 patients undergoing microsurgical sub-subinguinal (SSI) varicocelectomy in our hospital and the discussion of historical surgical approaches. Results. A total of 690 patients with left varicocele underwent surgical treatment for infertility (n = 519) and pain (n = 171). The sperm concentrations (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) of 519 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 19.24 ± 3.69 (106/ml), 27.42 ± 10.32 (106/ml), and 34.20 ± 16.29 (106/ml) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. The sperm motilities (mean ± SD) of 519 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 13.78 ± 3.25, 20.98 ± 8.21, and 27.59 ± 13.71 (grade (a + b) %) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. Pain was released surgically in 131 (76.6%) of the 171 patients. A total of 82 patients with bilateral varicocele underwent surgical treatment for infertility (n = 58) and pain (n = 24). The sperm concentrations (mean ± SD) of 58 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 19.21 ± 3.24 (106/ml), 27.36 ± 10.26 (106/ml), and 33.87 ± 15.20 (106/ml) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. The sperm motilities (mean ± SD) of 58 patients measured preoperatively, 6 months postoperatively, and 12 months postoperatively were 13.54 ± 2.75, 20.75 ± 8.21, and 28.53 ± 14.83 (grade (a + b) %) ( ∗ ∗ P < 0.01), respectively. Pain was released surgically in 19 (79.2%) of the 24 patients. The probability of occurrence in one artery, two arteries, three arteries, and more than three arteries was 29.5%, 28.8%, 19.9%, and 1.9%, respectively. Conclusion. This surgical approach achieves a small and esthetic skin wound with fewer complications. The SSI approach is a safe and widely adopted surgical approach option for the treatment of varicocele. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Searchable encryption (SE) is considered important as it provides both confidentiality and searchability for the data stored in semi‐trusted environments such as cloud. However, it is rarely deployed because most SE schemes are not native to cloud services as they require database modifications. In this paper, we present an SE scheme called Frequency‐Eliminated Trapdoor‐Character Hopping (FETCH) that, based on novel common‐conditioned‐subsequence‐preserving (CCSP) techniques, is able to work natively with off‐the‐shelf databases and supports wildcard‐based pattern search on encrypted data thereof. In fact, with the CCSP techniques, we transform the problem of wildcard SE searching into a problem of subsequence searching, which is solved fast in most databases and thus fits well with cloud services in general. Although in our security analysis, CCSP removes the possibility of obtaining theoretical indistinguishability between indexed items, we show that FETCH does provide adequate confidentiality protection and fares much better than other existing wildcard SE schemes in terms of query performance, storage overhead, and deployment complexity. In particular, FETCH is able to efficiently handle data sets whose size is multiple orders of magnitude larger than those that existing schemes can comfortably support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T‐cell engagers (TCEs) represent a breakthrough in hematological malignancy treatment but are vulnerable to antigen escape and lack a vaccination effect. The "immunologically cold" solid tumor presents substantial challenges due to intratumor heterogeneity and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, a methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG)‐masked CD44×PD‐L1/CD3 trispecific T‐cell nanoengager loaded with the STING agonist c‐di‐AMP (CDA) (PmTriTNE@CDA) for the treatment of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) is rationally designed. PmTriTNE@CDA shows tumor‐specific accumulation and is preferentially unmasked in response to a weakly acidic TME to prevent on‐target off‐tumor toxicity. The unmasked CD44×PD‐L1/CD3 trispecific T‐cell nanoengager (TriTNE) targets dual tumor‐associated antigens (TAAs) to redirect CD8+ T cells for heterogeneous TNBC lysis while achieving PD‐L1 blockade. PmTriTNE synergized with CDA to transform the cold tumor into a hot tumor, eradicate the large established TNBC tumor, and induce protective immune memory in a 4T1 orthotopic tumor model without causing obvious toxicity. PmTriTNE@CDA shows potent efficacy in cell line‐derived xenograft (CDX) and patient‐derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models. This study serves as a proof‐of‐concept demonstration of a nanobased TCEs strategy to expand therapeutic combinations that previously could not be achieved due to systemic toxicity with the aim of overcoming TNBC heterogeneity and immunotherapy resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very few studies have shown the real origin and timing of de novo variants (DNV) implicated in von Willebrand disease (VWD). We investigated four families with type 2 VWD. First, we conducted linkage analysis using single nucleotide variant genotyping to recognize the possible provenance of DNV. Second, we performed amplification refractory mutation system‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction to confirm the real origin of variant (~0% mutant cells) or presence of a genetic mosaic variant (0%–50% mutant cells) in three embryonic germ layer‐derived tissues and sperm cells. Then, three possible timings of DNV were categorized based on the relative likelihood of occurrence according to the number of cell divisions during embryogenesis. Two each with type 2B VWD (proband 1 p.Arg1308Cys, proband 4 p.Arg1306Trp) and type 2A VWD (proband 2 p.Leu1276Arg, proband 3 p.Ser1506Leu) were identified. Variant origins were identified for families 1, 2 and 3 and confirmed to originate from the mother, father and father, respectively. However, the father of family 4 was confirmed to have isolated germline mosaicism with 2.2% mutant sperm cells. Further investigation confirmed the paternal grandfather to be the origin of variant. Thus, we proposed that DNV originating from the two fathers most likely occurred at the single sperm cell, the one originating from the mother occurred at the zygote during the first few cellular divisions; alternatively, in family 4, the DNV most likely occurred at the early postzygotic development in the father. Our findings are essential for understanding genetic pathogenesis and providing accurate genetic counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial progress has been made in exploring the novel structures and sensing mechanisms for wearable sensors, where high sensitivity plays an essential role. For fiber‐based wearable sensors, the sensitivity mainly depends on the electroconductivity and surface microstructure of fibers. However, preparing highly conductive fibers along with excellent stretchability and long‐term stability via facile and effective approaches is still challenging. Therefore, in this work, wet‐spun poly (3, 4–ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) fibers with a superior conductivity of 105 S cm−1 and exceptional stretchability of 132% have been successfully achieved by adding urea and soluble copper salts into a coagulation bath. With the additional copper ions, the formation of a copper complex with fluff‐like arrays morphology occurs spontaneously on the surface of fibers, while the existence of urea not only enhances their electroconductivity and stretchability, but also endows both with long‐term stability. Meanwhile, the obtained fibers reveal fast response time and ultra‐low detection limit to the external stimuli, and braided fabrics decorated with such fibers own potential applications for wearable electronic textiles. More importantly, this work explores the significance of durability for PEDOT:PSS fiber‐based devices, inspiring a unique path for novel fiber design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 17–22 July 2021, Henan Province experienced the most severe torrential rainfall event since 1975 with a maximum hourly precipitation of 201.9 mm appeared in Zhengzhou, which was the largest hourly rainfall thus far observed by meteorological observation stations over the Chinese Mainland. The appearance of a long‐lived (21‐hr) northwestward‐moving mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) and its interaction with its parent mesoscale convective system (MCS) was crucial to produce the extremely strong heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou. The backward trajectory analysis indicates that air particles in the lower troposphere beneath the MCS over Henan contributed mostly to the MCV's formation. These air particles experienced notable ascending motions and condensation with their strong cyclonic vorticity mostly produced 1‐hr before the MCV's formation. Vorticity budget denotes that strong upward transport of cyclonic vorticity and convergence‐related vertical stretching, both of which were mainly due to convection associated with the parent MCS, acted as dominant factors for the MCV's formation. After formation, the MCV first coupled with its parent MCS, during which its intensity, thickness, and precipitation were all maximized; then, it moved northwestward and decoupled from the MCS, during which it weakened rapidly and finally dissipated. Convection‐related upward cyclonic vorticity transport and inward horizontal advection of cyclonic vorticity associated with an inverted trough over the Henan Province dominated the vortex's development/maintenance in the coupling stage; whereas outward horizontal advection of cyclonic vorticity dominated the MCV's dissipation after it completely decoupled from its parent MCS. These differ notably from the findings documented in previous MCV‐related literature. Key Points: A long‐lived mesoscale vortex was crucial to produce the hourly precipitation of 201.9 mm that appeared in Zhengzhou on 20 July 2021The extremely strong hourly precipitation appeared in the stage when the vortex interacted with its parent mesoscale convective systemConvection‐related upward and net‐import horizontal transport of cyclonic vorticity dominated the vortex's development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfide solid electrolytes with high conductivity that is close to that of liquid electrolyte have been considered to be one of the most promising electrolytes for all‐solid‐state lithium batteries (ASSLBs). Unfortunately, the narrow electrochemical windows of sulfide electrolyte and contact loss at the interface upon cycles much limits the application of sulfide‐based ASSLBs. In this work, an organic quinone cathode, 5,7,12,14‐pentacenetetrone (PT), is used to fabricate an ASSLB with a sulfide electrolyte of glass ceramic 70Li2S‐30P2S5 (LPS). Based on the various in situ/ex situ analyses, it is successfully demonstrated that the decomposition of LPS is negligible and the corresponding effects on interfacial impedance are reversible with optimized carbon additives. In addition, the inherent low Young's modulus of the PT electrode efficiently prevents the contact loss at the interface. As a result, the PT‐based ASSLBs deliver a high specific capacity (312 mAh g−1) and an excellent capacity retention (90.6%) over 500 cycles which is superior to previous reports. Moreover, a carbon‐free ASSLB is constructed by employing Mo6S8 as conductive additives in a PT‐based cathode, which shows an improved rate performance and a long life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations of PSEN1 have been reported in dilated cardiomyopathy pedigrees. Understanding the effects and mechanisms of PSEN1 in cardiomyocytes might have important implications for treatment of heart diseases. Here, we showed that PSEN1 was downregulated in ischemia‐induced failing hearts. Functionally, cardiovascular specific PSEN1 deletion led to spontaneous death of the mice due to cardiomyopathy. At the age of 11 months, the ratio of the heart weight/body weight was slightly lower in the Sm22a‐PSEN1‐KO mice compared with that of the WT mice. Echocardiography showed that the percentage of ejection fraction and fractional shortening was significantly reduced in the Sm22a‐PSEN1‐KO group compared with the percent of these measures in the WT group, indicating that PSEN1‐KO resulted in heart failure. The abnormally regulated genes resulted from PSEN1‐KO were detected to be enriched in muscle development and dilated cardiomyopathy. Among them, several genes encode Ca2+ ion channels, promoting us to investigate the effects of PSEN1 KO on regulation of Ca2+ in isolated adult cardiomyocytes. Consistently, in isolated adult cardiomyocytes, PSEN1‐KO increased the concentration of cytosolic Ca2+ and reduced Ca2+ concentration inside the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) lumen at the resting stage. Additionally, SR Ca2+ was decreased in the failing hearts of WT mice, but with the lowest levels observed in the failing hearts of PSEN1 knockout mice. These results indicate that the process of Ca2+ release from SR into cytoplasm was affected by PSEN1 KO. Therefore, the abnormalities in Ca2+ homeostasis resulted from downregulation of PSEN1 in failing hearts might contribute to aging‐related cardiomyopathy, which might had important implications for the treatment of aging‐related heart diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although explosive cyclones (ECs) have long been a focus of research, there remains a lack of knowledge of the statistical characteristics of their associated maximum surface winds and vertical extents. This study fills this gap by conducting a targeted statistical analysis of ECs in the Northern Hemisphere using the ERA‐I reanalysis data during a 40‐year period. Some new findings are obtained: (a) The average location of formation of ECs undergoes a notable westward and equatorward shift from September to April in the next year which is consistent with the location variations of sea surface temperature's strong gradients in subtropical regions. (b) Extreme ECs with a deepening rate more than 2.0 Bergeron or with a longer lifespan more than 10 days tend to have a larger occurrence number over the Northern Atlantic Ocean than over the Northern Pacific. (c) The maximum surface wind associated with an EC tends to appear between the EC reaching its maximum deepening rate and reaching its minimum central pressure. (d) The northeastern quadrant of ECs accounts for the highest proportion of maximum surface wind and strongest wind speed, as the baroclinic energy conversion is generally strongest in this quadrant. (e) Over 60% of ECs belong to a type of vertically deep cyclone (ECs' top levels show close relationship to ascending motions within their central regions), and they tend to reach their maximum vertical extent around the time when they reach their minimum central pressures. (f) The highest top levels of ECs exhibit an overall upward extending trend as their minimum central pressure decreases or their maximum deepening rate increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mei‐yu season (MYS) is one of the most important components of the East Asian rainy season. As the MYS rainfall is significantly uneven, determining its notable features is crucial to understanding/predicting the MYS precipitation. This study provided the first report on the historical rankings of the accumulated precipitation within different regions during extreme MYSs. It was shown that, in the extreme 2020 MYS, the area‐averaged precipitation within/around the Sichuan Basin ranked first during a 70‐year period. For the first time, quantitative contributions of mesoscale vortices to the total precipitation of extreme MYSs were shown. It was found that, during the 2020 MYS, vortices accounted for up to 50% of the MYS's duration within/around Sichuan Basin, and induced up to 90% of the total precipitation there. The abnormally active vortices in the 2020 MYS were the direct reason for the highest precipitation in the past 70 years within/around the Sichuan Basin. Plain Language Summary: The Mei‐yu season (MYS) is a climatic phenomenon of continuous overcast and rainy weather (typically appears in June and July), that occurs in the Yangtze River Basin, Taiwan, Japan and Southern Korea. As the MYS rainfall was uneven, to determine its notable features is crucial to understanding and predicting the MYS precipitation. We provided the first report on the historical rankings of the accumulated precipitation within different regions during the extreme MYSs of 1954, 1998 and 2020. It is shown that, during the 2020 MYS, the area‐averaged precipitation within/around Sichuan Basin was the highest in the past 70 years. By calculating the quantitative contributions of mesoscale vortices to the total MYS precipitation (this study provided the first report), we attributed the abnormally high precipitation within/around Sichuan Basin of the 2020 MYS to the abnormally active mesoscale vortices in this region. Results show that, during the 2020 MYS, vortices accounted for up to 50% of the MYS's whole duration within/around Sichuan Basin, and induced up to 90% of the total precipitation there. Therefore, improving the forecast of mesoscale vortices is of great importance to improve the MYS‐rainfall prediction. Key Points: Historical rankings of the precipitation within different regions during extreme Mei‐yu seasons were determined for the first timeQuantitative contributions of mesoscale vortices to the total precipitation of the extreme Mei‐yu seasons were shown for the first timeAbnormally active vortices in the 2020 Mei‐yu season were the direct reason for its abnormally high rainfall within/around Sichuan Basin [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a rapid growth in the industrial processing of the large amount of raw materials have caused a severe contamination of dihydroxy benzene‐based isomers and various colored dyes in the environment. For the highly sustainable environment supporting a healthy human life, the development of highly reliable sensor for the determination and elimination of pollutants is of greater importance. Coupling with enhanced sensing performance, the sensor should also be portable, economical and reproducible. Within consideration of the facts, we fabricate a novel electrochemical sensor for the determination of dihydroxy benzene (catechol) based on the bimetallic nanocomposites SiO2/NiS2 (SN). We utilized the amperometric analytical technique for the effective sensing of catechol at the lower concentration. This technique is economical and ultrasensitive to others. The fabricated bimetallic nanocomposites SiO2/NiS2 reinforced electrode showed a good sensitivity 1.719 μA μM−1 cm−2 and limit of detection (LOD) 24.2 nM with the linear range of 0.2 μM to 43.2 μM. Then the bimetallic nanocomposites SN is used for the investigation of removal of methyl orange dye. The SN accelerated the degradation of methyl orange in 8 mins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a neural network (NN)‐based over‐the‐air (OTA) linearisation technique for a highly non‐linear and wide‐band mmWave active phased array (APA) transmitter and compares it with the conventional memory polynomial model (MPM)‐based technique. The proposed NN effectively learns the distinctive non‐linear distortions, which may not easily fit to existing MPM solutions, and can, therefore, successfully cope with the challenges introduced by the high non‐linearity and wide bandwidth. The proposed technique has been evaluated using a state‐of‐the‐art 4 × 4 APA operating in highly non‐linear regions at 28 GHz with a 100‐MHz‐wide 3GPP base‐station signal as input. Experimental results show the pre‐distortion signal generated by the NN exhibits the peak‐to‐average power ratio (PAPR) much lower than the one generated by MPM and consequently superior linearisation performance in terms of adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and error vector magnitude (EVM) for high non‐linearity cases. Using the proposed NN‐based linearisation technique, an improvement of 5‐dB ACLR and 7% points in EVM are achieved, which demonstrates the promising potential of this technique for emerging broadband communication systems such as 5G/6G and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I LMAN1 i gene mutations account for ~70% of the reported cases of F5F8D and I MCFD2 i mutations for the remaining 30%.3 For the mutational analysis, blood samples were collected from those five enrolled index patients as well as from their family members if available. FV coagulant (FV:C) and FVIII coagulant activities (FVIII:C) were determined by one-stage assays using FV-deficient plasma and FVIII-deficient plasma, respectively. In the coagulation system, coagulation factor V (FV) and factor VIII (FVIII) are structurally and functionally homologous proteins. In conclusion, our study characterized five inherited combined factor V- and factor VIII-deficient patients in Taiwan, with the associated genetic mutations identified entirely on the I LMAN1 i gene. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Congenital fibrinogen disorders (CFDs) are caused by mutations in fibrinogen‐encoding genes, FGA, FGB, and FGG, which lead to quantitative or qualitative abnormalities of fibrinogen. Although the diagnosis of CFDs is based on antigenic and functional level of fibrinogen, few genotypes are clearly correlated with phenotype. Methods: In this study, we investigated all of the referred patients diagnosed as CFDs in Taiwan's population between 1995 and 2020. Clinical features, laboratory data and genetic defects were analysed. Functional fibrinogen level was determined by the Clauss method. Antigenic fibrinogen was measured by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Fibrinogen genes were assessed for mutations by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Results: A total of 18 patients from six unrelated families with CFDs were identified. One patient from a consanguineous family was diagnosed as afibrinogenemia type 1A with a novel homozygous frameshift mutation in FGB exon 4. The other five (83.3 %) index patients were all diagnosed as dysfibrinogenemia type 3A caused by two novel and one known mutation. Six (33.3 %) patients from three families had a novel mutation in FGB exon 8. The clinical features and laboratory data were highly variable among these patients with the same mutation. Conclusions: Three novel mutations of CFDs causing afibrinogenemia and dysfibrinogenemia were identified. The point mutation in FGB exon 8 is also a common mutation in Taiwan's population. Considerable phenotypic variability among the patients with an identical mutation was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ternary strategy can be used to optimize the light harvesting (i.e., complementary absorption), energy level alignment, and blend morphology of organic photovoltaics (OPVs). Herein, ZY‐4Cl is chosen as the third component in a PM6:Y6‐based OPV. ZY‐4Cl has a small highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level offset with Y6 (0.02 eV) and a small lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level offset with PM6 (0.06 eV), and provided low energy loss of 0.538 eV for the resulting ternary OPV. Furthermore, the system displayed complementary absorption and a suitable value of χPM6–ZY‐4Cl, and the similar chemical structures of ZY‐4Cl and Y6 assured their great miscibility. The embedding of ZY‐4Cl improved the light harvesting, blend morphology, exciton dissociation, bimolecular/trap‐assisted recombination, and long‐term stability when comparing the ternary OPV with the PM6:Y6‐based binary OPV. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased from 15.5 ± 0.22% for the binary OPV to 17.1 ± 0.23% for the ternary OPV, with the best PCE reaching 17.6%. The unencapsulated ternary OPV exhibited excellent air stability, maintaining 94% of its initial PCE for over 1390 h (25 °C, 40% humidity). This study provides a useful strategy for selecting the third component to improve the OPV performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 93 (38.0%) persons with severe haemophilia had anti-HCV seropositivity, and 152 (62.0%) had anti-HCV seronegativity (Table 2). In comparison with era A (72.1%) when virus-inactivated CFC was available only in small groups of patients and serological screening for anti-HCV was just initiated in 1991, PWH in eras B and C had a significantly lower proportion of HCV infection. Keywords: comorbidity; haemophilia; HCV infection; transfusion-transmitted infection EN comorbidity haemophilia HCV infection transfusion-transmitted infection e458 e461 4 07/21/21 20210701 NES 210701 Haemophilia A (HA) and haemophilia B (HB) caused by mutations in the genes encoding clotting factor VIII and factor IX, respectively, are the most common inherited bleeding disorders.1 The mainstay of treatment for HA and HB is replacement of the missing clotting factors. Of the 4 PWH with HIV infection, all were co-infected with HCV infection. [Extracted from the article]

Complete blood blockage and low ectopic embolism risk are urgently needed for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) treatment. However, the clinically available embolic reagents still face the huge challenges of fast recanalization and undesirable migration. In the present work, a temperature‐sensitive poloxamer 407 (F127)/hydroxymethyl cellulose (HPMC)/sodium alginate (SA)‐derived hydrogel (FHSgel) is explored as a novel embolic material in the TACE treatment. With increasing temperature, this FHSgel undergoes sensitive phase transition process, so as to block both mainstream and peripheral vessels. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the close fitness between shapeable FHSgel and vessels, the embolism time is extremely extended. Moreover, the leaked FHSgel could be diluted below the gelation concentration, thus effectively preventing from ectopic embolism. TACE treatment is further conducted for rabbit liver and kidney tumors, wherein the atrophic blood vessels and necrotic tissue demonstrate superior therapy effect. In addition, all three pharmaceutical excipients are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In contrast with the clinical embolic reagents, the temperature‐sensitive FHSgel for the first time completely blocks both mainstream and peripheral vessels with totally biocompatible pharmaceutical excipients, and makes a breakthrough in terms of largely reducing the ectopic embolism risk, thus providing a new generation for interventional embolization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the factors associated with recurrence during long‐term follow‐up in acromegaly and compared the recurrence rate between patients in remission with 2010 vs 2000 consensus criteria. We retrospectively recruited 133 adult acromegalic patients who had undergone transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) from January 2013 to December 2014 and assessed their clinical characteristics, surgical outcomes and recurrence. Surgical remission was defined as normalised insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF‐1) with nadir growth hormone (GH) during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) < 1 μg/ L no less than 3 months after TSS without adjuvant therapy. Recurrence was defined as persistently reelevated IGF‐1 after surgical remission. Cox regression analysis and Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis were performed to evaluate the factors associated with recurrence. Remission was achieved in 77 cases (57.9%) after TSS alone. Recurrence was seen in five cases (6.5%) at 12, 12, 12, 36 and 54 months, respectively, after surgery. Cox regression analysis showed that a nadir GH < 0.4 μg /L (vs 0.4‐1.0 μg /L) at surgical remission (odds ratio [OR] = 0.106; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.017‐0.645; P = 0.015) and Ki‐67 index (OR = 2.636; 95% CI = 1.023‐6.791; P = 0.045) were independent factors influencing recurrence. Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis showed that the median recurrence‐free survival was 36 months (95% CI = 20‐52) for patients with nadir GH 0.4‐1.0 μg /L at surgical remission. The median recurrence‐free survival for patients with nadir GH < 0.4 μg /L at surgical remission was much longer (ie, required further follow‐up to estimate). A failure of GH suppression under 0.4 μg /L during an OGTT in patients with normalised IGF‐1 and a higher Ki‐67 index are independent predictors of recurrence after surgical remission in GH‐secreting pituitary adenomas. Compared to patients with nadir GH < 0.4 μg /L, those with nadir GH 0.4‐1.0 μg /L appear to have a significantly higher risk of recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explosive extratropical cyclone (EEC) is the main disastrous weather system over the ocean and offshore areas in the cold season. As a type of vertically deep system, after decades of studies, key features of EECs' vertical extents still remain vague. Based on a reasonably simulated entire‐troposphere‐thick EEC, this study analyzes variation of the EEC's vertical extent and investigates governing mechanisms for its vertical extending. Main findings are as follows: (a) the EEC's vertical extent showed consistent variation features with its central sea level pressure and lower‐level vorticity (correlation coefficients were ~0.9), whereas its relationship with EEC's maximum surface wind was not significant; (b) EEC's upward extending featured strong ascending motion and rapid cyclonic‐vorticity enhancement at the top level of the cyclone and obvious inflow (convergence) in the lower troposphere. (c) vorticity budget at the EEC's top level shows that net import transport of cyclonic vorticity (by westerly and northwesterly winds) from the trough west of the cyclone dominated its upward extending, and upward transport of cyclonic vorticity from levels below the cyclone's top level acted as the second dominant factor. In contrast, divergence‐related vertical shrinking around the EEC's top level was the most detrimental factor for the cyclone's upward extending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have prepared MoS2/SiO2/TiO2 ternary heterojunction composite for the anti‐corrosion and anti‐fouling applications. The molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) adorned silica (SiO2) nanoparticles are synthesized through the wet chemical process. The prepared MoS2/SiO2 composites is subjected for dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis to understand the particle size, then the X‐Ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the crystal structure and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM) to characterize its morphology. The TiO2 nanoparticles are prepared through stober process. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles along with MoS2/SiO2 composites are fused together in the natural resin for the construction of primary coating mixture (MoS2/SiO2/TiO2). The primary composite coating mixture is coated on the mild steel panels for the analysis. The contact angle analysis is done for the coated mild steel samples to get the insight on its hydrophobicity and the surface smoothness. Further, to perform the corrosion studies, the salt spray analysis is done on the mild steel panels. The MoS2/SiO2/TiO2 ternary heterojunction composite mixture performed well on the anti‐biofouling and anti‐corrosion investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malignant pleural effusion is a common complication in metastatic breast cancer (MBC); however, changes in the pleural microenvironment are poorly characterized, especially with respect to estrogen receptor status. Histologically, MBC presents with increased microvessels beneath the parietal and visceral pleura, indicating generalized angiogenic activity. Breast cancer‐associated pleural fluid (BAPF) was collected and cultured with HUVECs to recapitulate the molecular changes in subpleural endothelial cells. The clinical progression of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) is much more aggressive than that of hormone receptor‐positive breast cancer (HPBC). However, BAPF from HPBC (BAPF‐HP) and TNBC (BAPF‐TN) homogeneously induced endothelial proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. In addition, BAPF elicited negligible changes in the protein marker of endothelial‐mesenchymal transition. Both BAPF‐HP and BAPF‐TN exclusively upregulated JNK signaling among all MAPKs in HUVECs. By contrast, the response to the JNK inhibitor was insignificant in Transwell and tube formation assays of the HUVECs cultured with BAPF‐TN. The distinct contribution of p‐JNK to endothelial angiogenesis was consequently thought to be induced by BAPF‐HP and BAPF‐TN. Due to increased angiogenic factors in HUVECs cultured with BAPF, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) inhibitor was applied accordingly. Responses to VEGFR2 blockade were observed in both BAPF‐HP and BAPF‐TN concerning endothelial migration and angiogenesis. In conclusion, the above results revealed microvessel formation in the pleura of MBC and the underlying activation of p‐JNK/VEGFR2 signaling. Distinct responses to blocking p‐JNK and VEGFR2 in HUVECs cultured with BAPF‐HP or BAPF‐TN could lay the groundwork for future investigations in treating MBC based on hormone receptor status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on hourly geostationary satellite temperature‐of‐black‐body data, 9,754 mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are found to form over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 16 warm seasons. In the whole study period, neither the occurrence numbers of these MCSs nor their other key characteristics are found to have a significant trend of increasing/decreasing. The MCSs can form anywhere over the TP, and ~6.6% of them can move eastward and vacate the TP (defined as the eastward‐moving type [EMT]). The EMTs' mean occurrence frequency and lifespan are ~0.3 per day and ~12.0 hr, respectively. Compared to the MCSs that do not vacate the TP, the EMTs usually have stronger intensity, longer lifespan, and develop more rapidly but generate in a drier environment. The vacating stage of an EMT usually begins in the latter half of its lifespan, and an EMT tends to reach its maximum cloud area when it is about to vacate the TP. After vacating the TP, an EMT usually weakens at first and then enhances again. Vorticity budget indicates that the convergence‐related horizontal shrinking and the convection‐related vertical vorticity transport govern the cyclonic‐vorticity increase/maintenance associated with the longer‐lived EMTs. Of all the EMTs, only ~8% are associated with southwest vortices (SWVs), and the precipitation related to these EMTs contributes ~20% to the local hourly heavy precipitation. Compared to the EMTs that are not related to SWVs, those that are generally vacate the TP sooner, last longer having vacated the TP, and have longer whole lifespans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer‐related deaths worldwide. Novel biomarkers circRNAs can play an important role in the development of gastric cancer as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the abnormal expression of multiple circRNAs and their prognostic value in gastric cancer patients through a meta‐analysis. We researched articles reporting the relationship between circRNAs and the prognosis of gastric cancer published in PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, Wanfang, CNKI, and VIP databases before 31 December 2019. Thirty‐five articles were selected for the meta‐analysis, involving 3135 gastric cancer patients. The total HR values (95% CI) of OS and DFS related to highly expressed circRNAs that indicated worse prognosis were 1.83 (1.64‐2.03; p < 0.001) and 1.66 (1.33‐2.07; p < 0.001), respectively. The total HR (95% CI) of OS and DFS related to highly expressed circRNAs that indicated better prognosis was 0.54 (0.45‐0.66; p < 0.001) and 0.58 (0.43‐0.78; p < 0.001), respectively. Two panels of five circRNAs predicted a more considerable HR value (circ_0009910, hsa_circ_0000467, hsa_circ_0065149, hsa_circ_0081143, and circDLST; and circSMARCA5, circLMTK2, hsa_circ_0001017, hsa_circ_0061276, and circ‐KIAA1244). The results of the meta‐analysis were 2.63 (2.08‐3.33; p < 0.001) and 0.39 (0.27‐0.59; p < 0.001) for OS, respectively. The two panels of dysregulated circRNAs can be considered as more suitable potential prognostic tumor biomarkers in patients with gastric cancer because of their larger HR values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 reanalysis data, in this study, formation mechanisms of a severe windstorm that caused successive trippings of the transmission lines in Southern Xinjiang were investigated. The strong windstorm occurred within a lower‐tropospheric warm region due to adiabatic heating of the descending motions ahead of a shortwave trough in the westerly wind (the blocking effects of high mountain was a key reason for the strong descending motions). The kinetic energy (KE) budget indicates two typically different stages appeared in the variation of the windstorm. The former stage showed a rapid wind KE enhancement in the lower troposphere. The KE increase was mainly governed by the downward stretching of high KE (i.e., downward momentum transportation) from the middle troposphere (rather than from the upper‐level jet) and the KE production due to the work on rotational wind by the pressure gradient force. The latter stage showed a rapid KE decrease mainly due to the transport of KE by the rotational wind and the pressure gradient force's negative work on the rotational wind. In contrast, the vertical advection of KE still acted as transporting high KE from middle troposphere to lower troposphere, which resisted the KE reduce at the lower levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface properties are essential for substrates exhibiting high sensitivity in surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications. In this work, novel SERS hybrid substrates using polystyrene‐block‐poly(methyl methacrylate) and anodic aluminum oxide templates is presented. The hybrid substrates not only possess hierarchical porous nanostructures but also exhibit superhydrophilic surface properties with the water contact angle ≈0°. Such surfaces play an important role in providing uniform enhanced intensities over large areas (relative standard deviation ≈10%); moreover, these substrates are found to be highly sensitive (limit of detection ≈10−12m for rhodamine 6G (R6G)). The results show that the hybrid SERS substrates can achieve the simultaneous detection of multicomponent mixtures of different target molecules, such as R6G, crystal violet, and methylene blue. Furthermore, the bending experiments show that about 70% of the SERS intensities are maintained after bending from ≈30° to 150°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) is the most common organic acidemia in China. This study aimed to characterise the genotypic and phenotypic variabilities, and the molecular epidemiology of Chinese patients with isolated MMA. Patients (n = 301) with isolated MMA were diagnosed by clinical examination, biochemical assays, and genetic analysis. Fifty‐eight patients (19.3%) were detected by newborn screening and 243 patients (80.7%) were clinically diagnosed after onset. Clinical onset ranged from the age of 3 days to 23 years (mean age = 1.01 ± 0.15 years). Among 234 MMA patients whose detailed clinical data were available, 170 (72.6%) had early onset disease (before the age of 1 year), and 64 (27.4%) had late‐onset disease. The 234 MMA patients manifested with neuropsychiatric impairment (65.4%), haematological abnormality (31.6%), renal damage (8.5%), and metabolic crises (67.1%). Haematological abnormality was significantly more common in early‐onset patients than that in late‐onset patients. The incidence of metabolic crises was significantly high (P < 0.001) in patients with mut type than those with other types of isolated MMA. Variations (n = 122) were identified in MMUT, MMAA, MMAB, MMADHC, SUCLG1, and SUCLA2, of which 45 were novel. c.729_730insTT was the most frequent MMUT mutation, with a significantly higher frequency in our patients than that in 151 reported European patients. The frequency of c.914T>C in MMUT in our cohort was also higher than that in 151 European patients. MMUT mutations c.729_730insTT and c.914T>C are specific for the Chinese population. Our study expanded the spectrum of phenotypes and genotypes in isolated MMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1D polymer nanomaterials have attracted significant interest in recent years because of their unique properties and promising applications in various fields. It is, however, still a challenge to fabricate polymer nanoarrays with desired sizes and controlled morphologies. Here, an unprecedented approach, the laser‐assisted nanowetting (LAN) method, to selectively fabricate polymer nanoarrays is presented. Polystyrene (PS) is blended with gold nanorods (AuNRs), which are used to absorb the energy from the laser. After the blend films are brought in contact with AAO templates, the AuNRs at regions shone by the laser beams absorb the energy and heat the surrounding polymer chains, resulting in the formation of PS/AuNRs arrays in selected areas. This work paves a new research direction for developing template‐based polymer nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to an exponential increase in the industrialization and processing of raw materials had duly resulted in the rapid contamination of heavy metals in the land and water. For the sustainable ecosystem and high standard human life, an analytical quantification of cadmium in drinking water, chocolates, drinks and other environmental systems is of greater importance. The current public welfare sector is in high demand for the rational design and fabrication of the economical, user friendly and point of care device for the sensing of toxic heavy metal cadmium in water. In combination with high sensing performance, the sensor must also be highly robust, selective and good reproducibility upon detection. With the understanding of the facts, we report a novel and direct electrochemical based sensing of cadmium ions based on CoMn2O4 nanostructures in the water. Linear Sweep Voltammetry (LSV) was employed for the investigation of cadmium ions detection at a lower concentration for the unswerving electrochemical sensing on a CoMn2O4 nanostructure matrix. Since, the LSV works on the unidirectional sweep principle it eliminates the possible interference of other elements during the reverse sweep. This analytical process is very reliable, low cost and ultrasensitive upon others. The fabricated CoMn2O4 nanostructure modified electrode displayed good sensitivity 3.3454 μAμM−1 cm−2 and limit of detection 0.0124 μM with a linear range varying up to 0.1 to 761 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rarely seen entire‐troposphere‐thick (ETT) extratropical cyclone that induced a record‐breaking catastrophic rainstorm in Beijing (the largest since 1963) on 20 July 2016 was reproduced reasonably by a convection‐permitting Weather Research and Forecasting Model. This cyclone was the result of a vertical coupling of a lower, a middle, and an upper tropospheric cyclone, which formed at different times and locations. Dry air descending from the stratosphere through a tropopause folding process capped moist air to the middle and lower troposphere, making convection associated with the cyclone relatively shallow. Overall, cyclonic vorticity associated with the ETT cyclone enhanced much rapider than its wind kinetic energy (KE), and formation mechanisms of the ETT cyclone were characterized by layer‐wise features: (i) The formation of the middle and upper tropospheric cyclones was dominated by cyclonic vorticity transport, instead of cyclonic vorticity production, whereas the lower tropospheric cyclone was generated through both cyclonic vorticity transport and convergence‐related cyclonic vorticity production. (ii) Consistent with the cyclonic vorticity intensification, the formation of the lower and middle tropospheric cyclones featured an enhancement of rotational wind KE (in western section of the cyclone, this was mainly due to the work done by the pressure gradient force, but in eastern section, it was mainly due to the inward transport of wind KE by rotational wind), whereas the formation of the upper tropospheric cyclone featured a decrease in the rotational wind KE (particularly in its eastern section), which was in contrast to its increasing cyclonic vorticity. The export of wind KE by a southwesterly wind within the eastern section of the cyclone governed the rotational wind attenuation. Key Points: An entire‐troposphere‐thick extratropical cyclone that induced the largest rainstorm in Beijing since 1963 was reproduced reasonably by WRFInward transport of cyclonic vorticity was a dominant factor for the formation of the lower, middle, and upper tropospheric cyclonesWork done by pressure gradient force governed enhancement of rotational wind kinetic energy of the lower and middle tropospheric cyclone [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: WRKY transcription factors play important roles in response to various abiotic stresses. Previous study have proved that soybean GmWRKY54 can improve stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. Here, we generated soybean transgenic plants and further investigated roles and biological mechanisms of GmWRKY54 in response to drought stress. We demonstrated that expression of GmWRKY54, driven by either a constitutive promoter (pCm) or a drought‐induced promoter (RD29a), confers drought tolerance. GmWRKY54 is a transcriptional activator and affects a large number of stress‐related genes as revealed by RNA sequencing. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment and co‐expression network analysis, together with measurement of physiological parameters, supported the idea that GmWRKY54 enhances stomatal closure to reduce water loss, and therefore confers drought tolerance in soybean. GmWRKY54 directly binds to the promoter regions of genes including PYL8, SRK2A, CIPK11 and CPK3 and activates them. Therefore GmWRKY54 achieves its function through abscisic acid (ABA) and Ca2+ signaling pathways. It is valuable that GmWRKY54 activates an ABA receptor and an SnRK2 kinase in the upstream position, unlike other WRKY proteins that regulate downstream genes in the ABA pathway. Our study revealed the role of GmWRKY54 in drought tolerance and further manipulation of this gene should improve growth and production in soybean and other legumes/crops under unfavorable conditions. Significance Statement: This paper reveals that GmWRKY54 is a transcription factor that effectively modulates drought signaling, GmWRKY54 affects expression of large numbers of downstream genes that possess positive roles in drought tolerance. Using a precise analysis strategy of gene enrichment and co‐expression, it was discovered that GmWRKY54 confers drought tolerance through participating in the ABA and Ca2+ signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water turbidity is an important indicator for water security and environmental security in the Yellow River estuary. However, due to the complex terrain and harsh climatic environment, it is difficult to monitor the water turbidity over the complex surface of the estuary. In this study we applied a self‐organizing map clustering method, an artificial neural network clustering method, to extract turbidity patterns from the long‐term remote sensing data sets in the Yellow River estuary. Based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data from 2000 to 2015, six turbidity patterns were identified by using the self‐organizing map clustering method: high turbidity pattern, moderate turbidity pattern, low turbidity pattern, very low turbidity pattern, extreme high turbidity pattern and sea ice pattern, and the first four patterns appear every year. All patterns have significant seasonal characteristics, and monthly turbidity is dominated by one of these turbidity patterns. The water turbidity in the estuary has decreased in the past 16 years, and the interannual variation of the turbidity pattern is the result of the combination of the sediment transported into the sea by the Yellow River and the wind and waves on the sea surface. Key Points: A self‐organizing map (SOM) clustering method was applied to extract turbidity patterns from long‐term remote sensing data setsSix turbidity patterns were identified in Yellow River estuaryAll turbidity patterns have significant seasonal characteristics, with wind, waves and sediments playing an important role [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li‐rich layered oxides with superior energy density have become appealing alternative cathode materials for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries. However, they still suffer from voltage decay and irreversible capacity loss due to an undesirable phase transition. Normally, the phase transition is caused by the reduction of Mn ions and migration of the transition metals. In order to address this issue, we herein report a facile and efficient strategy to fabricate a well‐structured Li‐rich layered Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 by an optimized sol‐gel method. Experimentally we find that the as‐synthesized layered oxide delivers a high initial discharge capacity as high as 279 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and remains a capacity of 250 mA g−1 after 100 cycles when used as a cathode for lithium‐ion batteries. Mn L‐edge and O K‐edge soft X‐ray absorption spectra reveal that the reduction of Mn ions and the migration of transition metals have been well mitigated. The more things change, the more they stay the same: a Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 cathode material with less stack slippage and cation mixing is fabricated using a facile sol‐gel method, maintaining reduced transition‐metal migration and structural transition, thus delivering excellent electrochemical performance during cycling as cathode for lithium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Inflammation plays a role in the development of both gallstones and gallbladder cancer; however, few studies have investigated the association of circulating inflammation proteins with risk of gallstones. Methods: This study measured 13 cytokines (including 10 interleukins [ILs]) that have been associated with cancer in serum samples collected from 150 gallstone patients and 149 population‐based controls from Shanghai, China, in 1997–2001. This study estimated the associations of each cytokine, categorized into quartiles and coded as a trend, with risk of gallstones using logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Results: Higher levels of IL‐6, IL‐10, IL‐12 (p70), and IL‐13 were associated with increased risk of gallstones (i.e. Ptrend < 0.003, Bonferroni corrected), with odds ratios (ORs) that ranged from ORhighest quartile [Q4] versus lowest quartile [Q1] = 3.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.4, 7.5) for IL‐13 to ORQ4 versus Q1 = 5.7 (95% confidence interval: 2.5, 13.5) for IL‐12 (p70). In a regression model including all four ILs, only IL‐12 retained statistical significance (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study found four circulating ILs that were associated with gallstones. Future studies are needed to validate the findings and evaluate the common pathway or mechanism in the development of gallbladder diseases associated with these cytokine signatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]