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Background: Bacteria play a crucial role in maintaining the health of human skin. Research has demonstrated that probiotics present notable benefits for extraintestinal organs. Despite the extensive research on the impact of probiotics on skin health, there is a notable absence of regulatory frameworks governing their external application, with no approval from the FDA for any probiotic products for external use. The aim of this study is to offer a thorough summary of the research status in the field since 2000 and project future trends. Method: The Web of Science Core Collection and SCI-Expanded index were selected for an extensive search of studies concerning the role of probiotics in skin health since 2000. A total of 1,306 publications were identified. Employing a double-blind method, two subsets of literature were scrutinized and subsequently combined for analysis. Using CiteSpace, this research explored key aspects such as primary countries, institutions, authors, journals, trending topics, research frontiers, and emerging patterns in research related to application of probiotic for skin health. Result: This article included 709 research papers. The number of published papers has shown a rapid increase. The United States had the highest number of research papers (128), and Canada had the highest intermediate centrality (0.23). The University of California System emerged as the most prolific institution. Huang, Chun-Ming has published the most articles, and his research is at the forefront among those prolific authors. Twelve clusters were identified, with cluster #0 skin microbiota, #3 mechanisms, and #8 antimicrobial being the most recent. As for the hot topic, "diversity," "health," "skin microbiome," "oxidative stress," "microbiota," and "antioxidants" have been at the forefront of the current field. The overall research trend has shifted from clinical trials to mechanistic exploration and from oral treatments to external applications, with the research level moving from general categories to specific strains. Conclusion: This paper summarized and visualized academic achievements in the field of probiotic application for skin health using CiteSpace and VOSviewer, offering a systematic and comprehensive perspective, along with a longitudinal overview of this research field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultrathin‐barrier (UTB) AlGaN/GaN heterostructure exhibits great promise as a technology for manufacturing high‐performance normally OFF GaN metal–insulator–semiconductor high‐electron‐mobility transistors (MIS–HEMTs) due to its unique gate recess‐free feature. However, a critical challenge in UTB MIS–HEMTs is the recovery of the 2D electron gas in the access region, particularly with regard to achieving low ON resistance. In this study, a new approach is proposed to address this issue by utilizing a low‐thermal‐budget Al2O3 film grown through atomic layer deposition (ALD). By analyzing the capacitance–voltage characteristic and correlating it with the threshold voltage shift versus dielectric thicknesses for SiNx and Al2O3, high density of positive fixed charges (≈2.382 × 1013 cm−2) is confirmed to be induced at the interface between ALD–Al2O3 and GaN (cap), which is also in good agreement with 1D Poisson simulations of energy band diagrams. The positive charges are probably originated from the interface AlAl bonds revealed by X‐Ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aesthetics medicine, a controversial branch of clinical medicine known for its high degree of commercialization, faces numerous conflicts, particularly in some developing countries. The global aesthetics medicine industry requires enhancements of its legal and supervision framework and risk management systems. Aims: This paper aimed to provide a comprehensive visual analysis of academic achievements related to regulatory and legal issues in the field of aesthetic medicine and to identify its development trends and research hotspots. Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection was employed to retrieve relevant studies, resulting in a total of 602 research articles after selection. Utilizing bibliometric methods and CiteSpace, this study analyzed the primary countries, institutions, authors, journals, hotspots, frontiers, and trends in this domain. Results: The findings indicated rapid increases in the number of published papers. The United States emerged as the leading contributor with 131 research papers and the highest intermediate centrality. Eleven keyword clusters were identified, with "adolescence" and "office‐based surgery" being the most recent topics. We also analyzed the trends and frontiers of legal research in medical aesthetics. Conclusion: The importance of informed consent has been increasingly emphasized, and research in the field of medical aesthetics has been gradually expanding beyond individual cosmetic procedures. The management system has become more comprehensive, moreover, guidelines and medical laws have been continually published, with research shifting toward a holistic perspective that encompasses patients, medical aesthetic providers, and regulatory authorities in the study of medical aesthetics regulation and legislation. This paper also proposes some innovative directions for future research and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

III-nitride heterostructure-based metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs), compared with Schottky and p-GaN gate HEMTs, have demonstrated significant potential in the next-generation high-power electronic devices due to their exceptional gate reliability. This study presents a comprehensive investigation of threshold voltage (VTH) instability in III-nitride heterostructure-based MIS-HEMTs, with a specific emphasis on the interfaces of the multi-heterostructures. Two widely studied amorphous materials, namely, Al2O3 and SiNx, have been extensively examined as primary gate insulators in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs. To efficiently remove native oxides from the (Al)GaN surface, a novel in situ high-temperature remote plasma pretreatment (RPP) technique has been developed. This technique involves sequential application of NH3/N2 plasmas on the (Al)GaN surface before depositing the gate insulators using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. The remarkable RPP process has proven to be a highly effective method for revealing atomic steps on the GaN surface, irrespective of whether the surface has undergone oxidation or etching processes. To further enhance the interface quality and potentially reduce bulk traps in the gate insulator, optimization of deposition temperature and post-deposition annealing conditions have been explored. Additionally, an electron-blocking layer, such as SiON, is incorporated into the MIS-HEMTs to prevent electron injection into bulk traps within the insulator. Novel characterization techniques including constant-capacitance and isothermal-mode deep-level transient spectroscopy have also been developed to explore the failure mechanisms in MIS-HEMTs. These techniques allow for the differentiation between bulk traps in the GaN epitaxy and those present within the gate insulators. This in-depth physical understanding provides valuable insights into the sources of failure in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green development is a primary path for ports and cities to achieve a low-carbon transition under the Sustainable Development Goals and a powerful driving force to elevate regional port–city relations to a high level of coordination. In this paper, twenty port cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) were selected and port environmental efficiency (PEE) was calculated through the window SBM model, while the EW-TOPSIS model was used to evaluate high-quality urban economic development (HED). The coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, the kernel density model, GIS spatial analysis, and the grey prediction model were used to further explore the spatial–temporal dynamic evolution and prediction of the CCD between PEE and HED. The results suggested that: (1) PEE fluctuation in the YRD is increasing, with a trend of seaports achieving higher PEE than river ports; (2) HED in the YRD shows upward trends, and the polarization of individual cities is obvious; (3) Temporally, the CCD in the YRD has risen from 0.438 to 0.518. Shanghai consistently maintains intermediate coordination, and Jiangsu has experienced the most significant increase in CCD. Spatially, CCD is led by Lianyungang, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo-Zhoushan, displaying a decreasing distribution pattern from east to west. The projection for 2026 suggests that all port cities within the YRD will have transitioned to a phase of orderly development. To enhance the coordination level in the YRD, policymakers should consider the YRD as a whole to position the ports functionally and manage them hierarchically, utilize the ports to break down resource boundaries to promote the synergistic division of labor among cities, and then tilt the resources towards Anhui. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To summarise research studies on scar laser therapy since the 21st century using bibliometric methods, and to speculate on the possible development in the future. The literature about scar laser therapy in Web of Science database was searched. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to analyse main countries, institutions, journals，subject hotspots and trends, etc. A total of 884 papers have been published since the 21st century. These publications were written by 653 authors from 515 institutions in 58 countries. The United States published 287 papers in this field and ranks first. Laser in Surgery and Medicine is the most widely published journal, with Shumaker as the core author. The main keyword clustering includes terms such as combination therapy, wound healing, fractional photothermolysis, experience, scar formation, etc. CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used to sort out and summarise the countries, institutions, authors, journals, research hotspots and frontier topics of related literature about scar laser therapy since the 21st century. The current situation of its application and basic scientific research in clinical treatments were summarised briefly. This provides a new idea for the development and research of scar laser therapy in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies examining the relationship between ingroup bias and resource scarcity have produced heterogeneous findings, possibly due to their focus on the allocation of positive resources (e.g. money). This study aims to investigate whether ingroup bias would be amplified or eliminated when perceived survival resources for counteracting negative stimuli are scarce. For this purpose, we exposed the participants and another confederate of the experimenters (ingroup/outgroup member) to a potential threat of unpleasant noise. Participants received some 'relieving resources' to counteract noise administration, the amount of which may or may not be enough for them and the confederate in different conditions (i.e. abundance vs. scarcity). First, a behavioural experiment demonstrated that intergroup discrimination manifested only in the scarcity condition; in contrast, the participants allocated similar amounts of resource to ingroup and outgroup members in the abundance condition, indicating a context‐dependent allocation strategy. This behavioural pattern was replicated in a follow‐up neuroimaging experiment, which further revealed that when contrasting scarcity with abundance, there was higher activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as well as stronger functional connectivity of the ACC with the empathy network (including the temporoparietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex) for ingroup compared to outgroup members. We suggest that ACC activation reflects the mentalizing process toward ingroup over outgroup members in the scarcity condition. Finally, the ACC activation level significantly predicted the influence of resource scarcity on ingroup bias in hypothetical real‐life situations according to a follow‐up examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green port construction has a profound impact on China's international climate commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050. To examine the carbon emission reduction potential of 20 major ports in the Yangtze River Delta port cluster of China, this study takes the perspective of environmental efficiency and employs dynamic exogenous variable DEA in efficiency evaluation. The results show the increasing environmental efficiency of the ports in the Yangtze River Delta, rising from 0.5116 in 2013 to 0.7276 in 2019. Also, there are significant spatial differences in efficiency. After considering exogenous variable, the average efficiency has increased from 0.5537 to 0.6276, indicating that regional green development is a critical factor in port environmental efficiency evaluation. Finally, the overall efficiency of input and output have risen, the slackness of carbon emission shows a trend of decreasing, and there is great potential for reducing carbon emissions from the perspective of port environmental efficiency. The previous studies paid less attention to dynamic efficiency, exogenous variables, and carbon emission. Therefore, this paper is the first comprehensive examination on the carbon emission reduction potential of China's Yangtze River Delta port cluster from the perspective of dynamic environmental efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The isotopic composition of lithium (Li) in clinopyroxene (Cpx), determined via in situ micro‐analysis, has been employed as a potential geochemical tool for studying various geological processes such as crust‐mantle recycling, silicate weathering and fluid‐rock interaction. To obtain precise and accurate Li isotopic compositions in Cpx by LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS, synthetic Cpx matrix‐matched reference materials (RMs) were prepared in this study. Six Cpx‐matrix RMs were prepared by mixing metallic oxides with GSP‐2 (granodiorite) or pure L‐SVEC solution and melting them into glasses (GSP‐2 + oxide; L‐SVEC + oxide). Two representative synthetic glasses, CPXA01 and CPXB01, were subjected to a series of analyses to investigate the possible qualification of the RMs for in situ Li isotope measurement by LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS, including elemental homogeneity analysis (elemental mapping analysis and spot analysis), Li isotopic homogeneity analysis and accurate Li isotopic determination. The applicability of the synthetic Cpx‐matrix RMs was highlighted by comparing the δ7Li values of three natural Cpx calibrated against the synthetic Cpx‐matrix RMs and other commonly used RMs with different matrices (NIST SRM 612, BCR‐2G, GOR128‐G, StHs6/80‐G, KL2‐G and T1‐G), respectively. Additionally, CPXB01‐05 RMs with the same matrix but different Li contents were prepared to explore the Li content mismatch effect, which is significant for accurate determination of in situ Li isotopic composition by LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS. The results of the cross‐calibration of Li isotopes in CPXA01 and CPXB01 suggested no obvious Li isotopic fractionation between the two types of glasses (GSP‐2 + oxide; L‐SVEC + oxide). Thus, the two methods of producing Cpx‐matrix RMs are suitable for preparing the matrix‐matched RMs for in situ microanalysis for Li isotopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improvement of port cluster eco-efficiency is of great significance to constructing a world-class shipping hub and the high-quality development of regional economy. This study adopts the Super-EBM (Super-efficiency Epsilon-Based Measure) model to evaluate the eco-efficiency of the Yangtze River Delta port cluster in China, and the GML (Global Malmquist-Luenberger) index, spatial hot spot analysis, gravity center migration model, and the Theil index are combined to reveal the spatial-temporal evolution. The results show that the average eco-efficiency of the Yangtze River Delta port cluster is 0.686, with 55.6% of the ports being below the average, which is directly related to the low scale efficiency. Mainly driven by technical efficiency improvement, the overall eco-efficiency has a growth rate of 8.7% from 2010 to 2019. Moreover, considerable spatial divergence has formed in the port cluster, and the eco-efficiency gravity center has always been in the south of Jiangsu. The overall eco-efficiency gap has widened by 19.92%, and the gap within the region, particularly within Zhejiang, is the major source. To improve the overall eco-efficiency of the port cluster, policymakers should strengthen the technological spillover of ecologically efficient ports in clean production and mechanism reform, while optimizing the resource consolidation system of ports with relatively low eco-efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major subtype of primary liver cancer with a high mortality rate. Pyroptosis and autophagy are crucial processes in the pathophysiology of HCC. Searching for efficient drugs targeting pyroptosis and autophagy with lower toxicity is useful for HCC treatment. Mallotucin D (MLD), a clerodane diterpenoid from Croton crassifolius, has not been previously reported for its anticancer effects in HCC. This study aims to evaluate the inhibitory effects of MLD in HCC and explore the underlying mechanism. We found that the cell proliferation, DNA synthesis, and colony formation of HepG2 cells and the angiogenesis of HUVECs were all greatly inhibited by MLD. MLD caused mitochondrial damage and decreased the TOM20 expression and mitochondrial membrane potential, inducing ROS overproduction. Moreover, MLD promoted the cytochrome C from mitochondria into cytoplasm, leading to cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3 inducing GSDMD-related pyroptosis. In addition, we revealed that MLD activated mitophagy by inhibiting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Using the ROS-scavenging reagent NAC, the activation effects of MLD on pyroptosis- and autophagy-related pathways were all inhibited. In the HepG2 xenograft model, MLD effectively inhibited tumor growth without detectable toxicities in normal tissue. In conclusion, MLD could be developed as a candidate drug for HCC treatment by inducing mitophagy and pyroptosis via promoting mitochondrial-related ROS production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid-thermal-chemical-vapor-deposition (RT-CVD) SiNx gate dielectric was utilized for the fabrication of enhancement-mode GaN-based metal–insulator–semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs) on ultrathin-barrier AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. A plasma-enhanced-atomic-layer-deposited (PEALD) SiNx interfacial layer was adopted to mitigate the high-temperature RTCVD process-induced degradation of the dielectric/III-nitride interface. Based on the dc- and pulsed transfer measurement results, the device with the PEALD-SiNx interfacial layer exhibits low ${V}_{\text {TH}}$ -hysteresis (0.1 V at ${V}_{\text {GS}} = 1, 10$ V) and low interface trap density. Constant-capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy were also conducted to confirm the improvement of the interface quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silicon nitride (SiNx) film deposited at 500 °C by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) is employed as the gate dielectric for GaN-based metal-insulator-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MIS-HEMTs). An interface enhancement technology featuring in situ low-damage NH3/N2 remote plasma pretreatments (RPPs) is developed prior to the SiNx gate dielectric deposition, which contributes to an improved surface morphology while remarkably suppressed interface oxides. It is revealed by constant-capacitance deep-level transient spectroscopy that both shallow and deep states at the PEALD-SiNx/III-nitride interface are reduced by about one order of magnitude by the RPP. The in situ RPP and PEALD-SiNx gate dielectric process are implemented into fabrication of enhancement-mode MIS-HEMTs on an ultrathin-barrier AlGaN/GaN heterostructure technology platform. The fabricated MIS-HEMTs deliver an improved threshold stability and maximum output current as compared with devices without the RPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop a self-adaptive and fast thermometry method by combining the original hybrid magnetic resonance thermometry method and the bio heat transfer equation (BHTE) model. The proposed Kalman filtered Bio Heat Transfer Model Based Self-adaptive Hybrid Magnetic Resonance Thermometry, abbreviated as KalBHT hybrid method, introduced the BHTE model to synthesize a window on the regularization term of the hybrid algorithm, which leads to a self-adaptive regularization both spatially and temporally with change of temperature. Further, to decrease the sensitivity to accuracy of the BHTE model, Kalman filter is utilized to update the window at each iteration time. To investigate the effect of the proposed model, computer heating simulation, phantom microwave heating experiment and dynamic in-vivo model validation of liver and thoracic tumor were conducted in this study. The heating simulation indicates that the KalBHT hybrid algorithm achieves more accurate results without adjusting \lambda to a proper value in comparison to the hybrid algorithm. The results of the phantom heating experiment illustrate that the proposed model is able to follow temperature changes in the presence of motion and the temperature estimated also shows less noise in the background and surrounding the hot spot. The dynamic in-vivo model validation with heating simulation demonstrates that the proposed model has a higher convergence rate, more robustness to susceptibility problem surrounding the hot spot and more accuracy of temperature estimation. In the healthy liver experiment with heating simulation, the RMSE of the hot spot of the proposed model is reduced to about 50% compared to the RMSE of the original hybrid model and the convergence time becomes only about one fifth of the hybrid model. The proposed model is able to improve the accuracy of the original hybrid algorithm and accelerate the convergence rate of MR temperature estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Retinal image registration is crucial for the diagnoses and treatments of various eye diseases. A great number of methods have been developed to solve this problem; however, fast and accurate registration of low-quality retinal images is still a challenging problem since the low content contrast, large intensity variance as well as deterioration of unhealthy retina caused by various pathologies. This paper provides a new retinal image registration method based on salient feature region (SFR). We first propose a well-defined region saliency measure that consists of both local adaptive variance and gradient field entropy to extract the SFRs in each image. Next, an innovative local feature descriptor that combines gradient field distribution with corresponding geometric information is then computed to match the SFRs accurately. After that, normalized cross-correlation-based local rigid registration is performed on those matched SFRs to refine the accuracy of local alignment. Finally, the two images are registered by adopting high-order global transformation model with locally well-aligned region centers as control points. Experimental results show that our method is quite effective for retinal image registration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To develop a spectral-spatial (SPSP) excitation RF pulse for simultaneous water and lipid suppression in proton ( 1 H) magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of body extremities. Methods An SPSP excitation pulse is designed to excite Creatine (Cr) and Choline (Cho) metabolite signals while suppressing the overwhelming water and lipid signals. The SPSP pulse is designed using a recently proposed multidimensional Shinnar-Le Roux (SLR) RF pulse design method. A minimum-phase spectral selectivity profile is used to minimize signal loss from T 2 ⁎ decay. Results The performance of the SPSP pulse is evaluated via Bloch equation simulations and phantom experiments. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated using three-dimensional, short repetition-time, free induction decay-based 1 H-MRSI in the thigh muscle at 3 T. Conclusion The proposed SPSP excitation pulse is useful for simultaneous water and lipid suppression. The proposed method enables new applications of high-resolution 1 H-MRSI in body extremities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]