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The high manufacturing cost of sulfoaluminate cement (SAC) has limited its application for a long time. The addition of solid waste in raw material can solve this problem and provide an effective method for green manufacturing of cement. In this study, ferrite-rich SAC (FSAC) clinker was calcined using red mud (RM) in combination with limestone, bauxite and anhydrite. The effects of anhydrite and desulfurization gypsum (DSG) on the hydration and mechanical properties of cement were evaluated. Results show that RM-based FSAC can be calcined at 1300 °C, and the hydration process is closely related to the varieties and quantities of the calcium sulfate set regulator. Anhydrite promotes the early compressive strength of cement minimally, but it can increase the strength to 94.61 MPa in 3 days. DSG can increase the strength to 30 MPa in 4 h, but the strength shrinkage occurs in the later stage. The reaction between different gypsum with water is the most significant effect on the hydration properties of cement. The cement prepared by anhydrite (12 wt%), DSG (3 wt%) and clinker (85 wt%) has the characteristics of fast mechanical strength development in the early hydration and continuous development after 1 day, which proves that the preparation of ferrite-rich sulfoaluminate cement using red mud and DSG is feasible.

Background/Aims The aim of this study was to analyze the chronological changes in postoperative complications in surgical ulcerative colitis patients over the past decade in China and to investigate the potential parameters that contributed to the changes. Methods Ulcerative colitis patients who underwent surgery during 2008–2017 were retrospectively enrolled from 13 hospitals in China. Postoperative complications were compared among different operation years. Risk factors for complications were identified by logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 446 surgical ulcerative colitis patients were analyzed. Fewer short-term complications (24.8% vs. 41.0%, P=0.001) and more laparoscopic surgeries (66.4% vs. 25.0%, P

Abstract This study performed large-scale single shear tests on Haikou red clay and arbor taproot to explore the anti-sliding effect and deformation characteristics of rainforest arbor roots under a shallow landslide. The law of root deformation and the root–soil interaction mechanism were revealed. The results indicated the significant reinforcing effect of arbor roots on the shear strength and ductility of soil, which increased with the decrease of normal stress. The soil reinforcement mechanism of arbor roots was attributed to their friction and retaining effects through an analysis of the movement of soil particles and the deformation pattern of roots during the shear process. The root morphology of arbors under shear failure could be described using an exponential function. Consequently, an advanced Wu model which better reflected the stress state and deformation of roots was proposed based on the concept of curve segment superposition. The results are believed to a reliable experimental and theoretical basis for the in-depth study of soil consolidation and sliding resistance effects of arbor roots, and further lay a foundation for the slope protection by arbor roots.

This paper examines the response characteristics of a warship’s double-layer plates under a secondary near-field explosion after the ship’s outer plate has been perforated by shaped metal jets. First, the effectiveness of the Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) method was validated, showing numerical simulations to be well aligned with experimental results. Subsequently, the damage inflicted on the outer plate by metal jets was simplified to a prefabricated orifice, further studying the explosive impact response of double-layer plates under different inter-compartmental water levels and charge distances. Our findings indicated the following: (1) shockwave and bubble pulsation loads are the main causes of deformation in the outer plate; (2) the driving of the outer plate and the flooding water between compartments are the main causes of deformation in the inner plate; and (3) deformation in the outer plate will decrease as the water level in the compartment increases, while deformation in the inner plate will increase with the increasing water level. Consequently, under certain specific damage, the ingress of water into a compartment effectively enhances the explosion resistance of the double-layer plates.

The density of the ocean is unevenly distributed along the depth direction, showing a stratified structure. When there is an external disturbance, large-scale internal solitary waves are easily generated. The internal solitary waves are bounded by the intermediate pycnocline, and the currents in the upper and lower layers will flow in opposite directions. This generates strong shear forces that threaten the safety of marine structures. In this paper, the flow field distribution characteristics of a cylinder under the action of internal solitary waves at different scales are analyzed as a research object. The whole cylinder is discretized into 40 regions, and the horizontal force applied to each section of the cylinder is extracted. The force characteristics of the cylinder are analyzed. It is concluded that the pressure is the main factor determining the magnitude of the total combined force. In addition, the paper extracts the main flow structures from the modal decomposition point of view and explains the reasons affecting the force behavior of the cylinder.

To explore the key sites affecting the intracellular assembly of key components of cellulosomes and obtain DocA mutants independent of Ca2+, Swiss-model, GROMACS, PyMOL, and other molecular dynamics simulation software were used for modeling and static and dynamic combination analysis. Site-specific mutation technology was used to mutate DocA, and Biacore was used to test the dependence of Ca2+ on the binding ability of protein DocA mutants and protein Coh, and to analyze the interaction and binding effect of mutant proteins in vitro. Forward intracellular mutant screening was performed based on semi-rational design and high throughput screening techniques. The orientation of mutations suitable for intracellular assembly was determined, and three directional mutant proteins, DocA-S1, DocA-S2, and DocA-S3, were obtained. Ca2+ independent DocA mutants were obtained gradually and their potential interaction mechanisms were analyzed. In the present study, intracellular self-assembly of key components of cellulosomes independent of Ca2+ was achieved, and DocA-S3 was applied to the assembly of key enzymes of L-lysine biosynthesis, in which DapA and DapB intracellular assembly increased L-lysine accumulation by 29.8% when compared with the control strains, providing a new strategy for improving the intracellular self-assembly of cellulosomes and amino acid fermentation efficiency.

Soybean is considered one of the most drought-sensitive crops, and ROS homeostasis can regulate drought tolerance in these plants. Understanding the mechanism of H2O2 homeostasis and its regulatory effect on drought stress is important for improving drought tolerance in soybean. We used different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG) solutions to simulate the progression from weak drought stress (0.2%, 0.5%, and 1% PEG) to strong drought stress (5% PEG). We investigated the responses of the soybean plant phenotype, ROS level, injury severity, antioxidant system, etc., to different weak drought stresses and subsequent strong drought stresses. The results show that drought-treated plants accumulated H2O2 for signaling and exhibited drought tolerance under the following stronger drought stress, among which the 0.5% PEG treatment had the greatest effect. Under the optimal treatment, there was qualitatively describable H2O2 homeostasis, characterized by a consistent increasing amplitude in H2O2 content compared with CK. The H2O2 signal formed under the optimum treatment induced the capacity of the antioxidant system to remove excess H2O2 to form a primary H2O2 homeostasis. The primary H2O2 homeostasis further induced senior H2O2 homeostasis under the following strong drought and maximized the improvement of drought tolerance. These findings might suggest that gradual drought training could result in stepwise H2O2 homeostasis to continuously improve drought tolerance.

Yak milk is a characteristic animal product of yaks in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Although yak milk production is low, it is richer in nutrients such as protein, fat, and lactose, a more comprehensive range of bioactive components, and unique microbial resources than Holstein cow milk. The plateau environment makes yak milk resistant to hypoxia, anti-fatigue, antioxidant, antibacterial, and relieves chronic diseases. In this paper, based on the systematic analysis of yak milk research results in the past 20 years using CiteSpace 6.1.R2, we reviewed yak lactation performance and nutritional efficacy of yak milk. This paper summarizes the improvement of traditional yak dairy processing technology, and also focuses on the microbial diversity of yak milk sources and their beneficial effects. The purpose of this review is to provide scientific support for the development of a quality yak milk industry on the Tibetan plateau.

Recently, geopolymer have received more attention due to their high temperature stability and was considered to be a suitable material for preparing fireproof materials. However, dehydration of geopolymer gel phase products at high temperatures has been found to restrict the improvement of its fire resistance. And crystals such as zeolite and zeolite-like were confirmed to possess high-temperature resistance. Therefore, in this study, the preparation of zeolite was referenced and the crystal seeds induction method was used to modulate the composition of metakaolin-based geopolymer. Aiming to transform the gelatinous products to crystals (zeolites) and improve their fire resistance. Effects of zeolite on the composition of the geopolymer phase and its modulation mechanism were explored by XRD, SEM, TG, FT-IR, and 29Si NMR. Results suggested that zeolite promoted the transformation of the geopolymer gel phase to the zeolite crystal phase. New crystals were first generated on the surface and around the original crystals, and their crystal size was significantly reduced. Moreover, the content of zeolite seeds played a vital role in regulating the geopolymer phase composition. The induction effect was optimum, and about 6.19 % of the gel phase was transformed into zeolite when the zeolite content was 10 %, which is conducive to improving the fire resistance of geopolymer. This study provides a novel method for the preparation of high-performance fireproof geopolymer materials.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to evaluate the association between HER-2 expression and clinicopathological features in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).MethodsBetween 2019 and 2022, 204 patients treated with Transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) were included in this study. Data of pathologic T (pT) stage, grades of the tumor, age, sex, tumor size and number of the tumors were collected and compared according to the expression level of the human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2). ROC curve analysis was performed to assess the discriminative ability of HER-2 expression for tumors grades and pT stage. Multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the association between HER-2 expression and tumor grades and pT stage.ResultsPatients were divided into low grade (110, 53.9%) and high grade groups (94, 46.1%) according to the tumor grade. Pathologic stage consisted of pTa in 166 (81.4%) and pT1 in 38 (18.6%). HER-2 expression was semi quantitatively scored to 0 in 44 (21.6%), 1 in 58 (28.4%), 2 in 91 (44.6%), and 3 in 11 (5.4%) cases. HER-2 expression was significantly associated with tumor stages and histological grades, but not with sex, tumor size or number of tumors. The AUC for combination of HER-2 expression with tumor stages and histological grades was 0.652 (p < 0.003) and 0.727 (p < 0.001), respectively.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that HER-2 expression is associated with tumor stages and histological grades in NMIBC. It has diagnostic value for cystoscopic biopsy.

Abstract Although the MAPK/MEK/ERK pathway is prevalently activated in colorectal cancer (CRC), MEK/ERK inhibitors show limited efficiency in clinic. As a downstream target of MAPK, ELK4 is thought to work primarily by forming a complex with SRF. Whether ELK4 can serve as a potential therapeutic target is unclear and the transcriptional regulatory mechanism has not been systemically analyzed. Here, it is shown that ELK4 promotes CRC tumorigenesis. Integrated genomics‐ and proteomics‐based approaches identified SP1 and SP3, instead of SRF, as cooperative functional partners of ELK4 at genome‐wide level in CRC. Serum‐induced phosphorylation of ELK4 by MAPKs facilitated its interaction with SP1/SP3. The pathological neoangiogenic factor LRG1 is identified as a direct target of the ELK4‐SP1/SP3 complex. Furthermore, targeting the ELK4‐SP1/SP3 complex by combination treatment with MEK/ERK inhibitor and the relatively specific SP1 inhibitor mithramycin A (MMA) elicited a synergistic antitumor effect on CRC. Clinically, ELK4 is a marker of poor prognosis in CRC. A 9‐gene prognostic model based on the ELK4‐SP1/3 complex‐regulated gene set showed robust prognostic accuracy. The results demonstrate that ELK4 cooperates with SP1 and SP3 to transcriptionally regulate LRG1 to promote CRC tumorigenesis in an SRF‐independent manner, identifying the ELK4‐SP1/SP3 complex as a potential target for rational combination therapy.

Dental caries is an oral disease caused by acid production by microbial metabolism and gradual demineralization of tooth enamel, followed by the destruction of tooth structure protein, whose occurrence and development are closely related to the daily diet and nutritional intake. Cow's milk is rich in lactose, protein, minerals, and other nutrients, which is a low caries diet. Many epidemiological surveys, in vivo and in vitro experiments, and clinical studies have supported the positive role of milk and dairy products in caries prevention and treatment. Based on the characteristics that caries are bacterial-mediated and diet-driven, this paper describes the mechanisms involved in the management of dental caries by functional and active components in milk and analyzes different anti-caries dairy products, especially those containing probiotics. Hopefully, it provides some theoretical reference for the prevention and treatment of dental caries through scientific milk consumption in the future.

Aspergillus niger is the main industrial workhorse for global citric acid production. This fungus has complex sensing and signaling pathways to respond to environmental nutrient fluctuations. As the preferred primary carbon source, glucose also acts as a critical signal to trigger intracellular bioprocesses. Currently, however, there is still a knowledge gap in systems-level understanding of metabolic and cellular responses to this vital carbon source. In this study, we determined genome-wide transcriptional changes of citric acid-producing Aspergillus niger in response to external glucose gradient. It demonstrated that external glucose fluctuation led to transcriptional reprogramming of many genes encoding proteins involved in fundamental cellular process, including ribosomal biogenesis, carbon transport and catabolism, glucose sensing and signaling. The major glucose catabolism repressor creA maintained a stable expression independent of external glucose, while creB and creD showed significant downregulation and upregulation by the glucose increase. Notably, several high-affinity glucose transporters encoding genes, including mstA, were greatly upregulated when glucose was depleted, while the expression of low-affinity glucose transporter mstC was glucose-independent, which showed clear concordance with their protein levels detected by in situ fluorescence labeling assay. In addition, we also observed that the citric acid exporter cexA was observed to be transcriptionally regulated by glucose availability, which was correlated with extracellular citric acid secretion. These discoveries not only deepen our understanding of the transcriptional regulation of glucose but also shed new light on the adaptive evolutionary mechanism of citric acid production of A. niger.

Abstract Background and Objective In general, there are not many studies exploring the clinical value of adjuvant chemotherapy or maintenance chemotherapy (AC/MC) after induction chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (IC+CCRT+AC/MC). The purpose of this study was to establish a clinical nomogram for the use of AC/MC in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA‐NPC). Material and Methods Two centers (Guangzhou Medical University Cancer Center [N = 1226] and Zhongshan People's Hospital [N = 150]) recruited 1376 patients with LA‐NPC. All the patients underwent IC+CCRT; 560 patients received AC with cisplatin/nedaplatin plus docetaxel/paclitaxel (TP) or cisplatin/nedaplatin plus fluorouracil (PF), and 81 patients received MC with S‐1. Multivariate Cox regression was used to confirm optimal predictors of progression‐free survival (PFS), and a nomogram was established to identify patients into low‐risk and high‐risk cohorts. Additionally, bootstrap internal validation was performed to further verify our nomogram. Results After propensity score matching (PSM), the survival curves were not statistically different between IC+CCRT+AC/MC and IC+CCRT (all p > 0.05). Then, a nomogram was developed based on variables that were screened by univariate and multivariate Cox regression, including N stage, cumulative platinum dose during CCRT, body mass index (BMI), IC cycles, IC regimen and cervical lymph node (CLN) necrosis and infiltration of adjacent tissues. The results of the nomogram showed that the high‐risk cohort had greatly worse 5‐year DMFS, LRFS, PFS and OS compared to low‐risk cohort (all p

Abstract The Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2, primarily authenticated in November 2021 in South Africa, has initiated the 5th wave of global pandemics. Here, we systemically examined immunological and metabolic characteristics of Omicron variants infection. We found Omicron resisted to neutralizing antibody targeting receptor binding domain (RBD) of wildtype SARS-CoV-2. Omicron could hardly be neutralized by sera of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescents infected with the Delta variant. Through mass spectrometry on MHC-bound peptidomes, we found that the spike protein of the Omicron variants could generate additional CD8 + T cell epitopes, compared with Delta. These epitopes could induce robust CD8 + T cell responses. Moreover, we found booster vaccination increased the cross-memory CD8 + T cell responses against Omicron. Metabolic regulome analysis of Omicron-specific T cell showed a metabolic profile that promoted the response of memory T cells. Consistently, a greater fraction of memory CD8 + T cells existed in Omicron stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). In addition, CD147 was also a receptor for the Omicron variants, and CD147 antibody inhibited infection of Omicron. CD147-mediated Omicron infection in a human CD147 transgenic mouse model induced exudative alveolar pneumonia. Taken together, our data suggested that vaccination booster and receptor blocking antibody are two effective strategies against Omicron.

The space reactor is the primary energy supply for future space vehicles and space stations. The radiator is one of the essential parts of a space reactor. Therefore, the research on radiators can improve the heat dissipation power, reduce the quality of radiators, and make the space reactor smaller. Based on MOOSE multi-physics numerical calculation platform, a simulation program for the combination of heat pipe and fin at the end of heat pipe radiator is developed. It is verified that the calculation result of this program is accurate and the calculation speed is fast. Analyze the heat transfer characteristics of the combination with heat pipe and fin, and obtain its internal temperature field. Based on the calculation results, the influence of structural parameters on the heat dissipation power is analyzed. The results show that when the fin width is 0.25 m, fin thickness is 0.002 m, condensing section length is 0.5425 m and heat pipe radius is 0.014 m, the power-mass ratio is the highest. When the temperature is 700K–900K, the heat dissipation power increases 41.12% for every 100K increase in the operating temperature. Smaller fin width and thinner fin thickness can improve the power-mass ratio and reduce the radiator quality.

Objectives: This study aimed to establish a diagnostic algorithm combining T-SPOT with computed tomography image analysis based on deep learning (DL) for early differential diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Methods: A total of 1049 cases were enrolled, including 467 NTM-PD and 582 PTB cases. A total of 320 cases (160 NTM-PD and 160 PTB) were randomized as the testing set and were analyzed using T-SPOT combined with the DL model. The testing cases were first divided into T-SPOT-positive and -negative groups, and the DL model was then used to separate the cases into four subgroups further. Results: The precision was found to be 91.7% for the subgroup of T-SPOT-negative and DL classified as NTM-PD, and 89.8% for T-SPOT-positive and DL classified as PTB, which covered 66.9% of the total cases, compared with the accuracy rate of 80.3% of T-SPOT alone. In the other two remaining groups, where the T-SPOT prediction was inconsistent with the DL model, the accuracy was 73.0% and 52.2%, separately. Conclusion: Our study shows that the new diagnostic system combining T-SPOT with DL based computed tomography image analysis can greatly improve the classification precision of NTM-PD and PTB when the two methods of prediction are consistent.

In this study, the effects of physical fields on the seawater modification of lignocellulosic fibers obtained from wheat straw were investigated by incorporating three types of physical fields, namely temperature, ultrasonic, and microwave fields, into seawater based on the response surface methodology. The results obtained herein suggests that the optimum parameters of temperature, ultrasonic, and microwave fields were 82.2°C + 53 min, 80 W + 49 min, and 420 W + 28.3 min, respectively. Seawater/physical field modification resulted in lesser hydroxyl groups, hemicellulose content, and silicon content, as well as higher crystallinity, surface roughness, and thermal stability. From the viewpoint of surface, chemical, and thermal properties, seawater/microwave field exhibited the best modification effect, followed by those of seawater/temperature field and seawater/ultrasonic field. The silicon content was decreased from 29.9 to 10.1 wt.% after seawater/microwave field modification. Moreover, the crystallinity and degradation temperature at 5% weight loss increased from 48.5 to 55.2% and 96 to 175°C, respectively.

The corrosion mechanism of Cu-based crystalline/amorphous composites in NaCl solution is investigated. xCuCrZr/(1–x)CuZrAl (x = 10, 50, 90 wt%) crystalline/amorphous composites with excellent interfacial bonding are fabricated by ball milling and spark plasma sintering (SPS) processes. According to the findings of electrochemical testing and immersion experiments, composites containing 50% amorphous CuZrAl exhibit the lowest corrosion rate. In-depth behavioral analysis reveals that uniform corrosion dominates the crystalline CuCrZr phase, while pitting corrosion dominates the amorphous CuZrAl phase. The corrosion model of the composites is constructed to disclose corrosion processes at various phases as well as the kinetic mechanisms that govern individuals.

Radial jet drilling (RJD) technology is applied to low permeability oil-gas reservoirs, coalbed methane, and shale gas. A self-propelled bit is an integral component. The external flow fields of a new-type of straight–swirling integrated jet (SSIJ) were tested under non-submerged conditions and the key parameters of the jet were studied in this paper. A rock-breaking experiment at a specific target distance was conducted to verify the PIV test results. It is indicated that, from the introduction of a central straight jet, the central low-axial-velocity zone can be eliminated, and the maximum radial and tangential velocities are not at the jet axis. Second, the hydraulic parameters do not affect the velocity distribution law, but significantly affected by nozzle structures. The straight-to-swirl ratio and the dip-angle of an impeller slot should be 0.8 and 45°, respectively, to obtain a flow field with both a higher central velocity and larger coverage area. Through the rock-breaking experiment, it was found that when the dip-angle is 45° (swirl number of 0.45), both the borehole depth and diameter are larger, and the bottom is the flattest, simultaneously, the correctness of the PIV test is verified. Finally, since the two jets (straight & swirling) have interacted and mixed after ejected from the nozzle, there is no constant velocity core, the SSIJ has no initial and basic sections compared with the conventional combined jet, and could be divided into a transition section and uniform-mixing section along the axial. By analyzing the swirl numbers at different positions, it was found that the SSIJ has a straight, weak-swirl, strong-swirl, and periphery jet zones along the radial. The results can guide rock-breaking mechanism revelation and the optimal design of an SSIJ bit for the RJD technology.

To improve the stability and oral absorption effect of salidroside, W/O/W multiple emulsion was prepared with salidroside as the internal aqueous phase and rapeseed oil containing polyglycerol polyricinoleate as the oil phase, and dextran, chitosan and soybean polysaccharide mixed casein as the external aqueous phase. The effects of three polysaccharides with different concentrations on the microstructure, particle size, potential, storage stability, surface hydrophobicity, emulsifying property, embedding rate, drug loading, and in vitro digestion of multiple emulsions were studied. The results showed that compared with the casein control group, chitosan-casein group, and soybean polysaccharide-casein group, dextran-casein W/O/W multiple emulsion had the best stability. A high concentration of dextran could significantly improve the storage stability of dextran-casein multiple emulsions. When the addition of dextran was 1.2%, the average particle size of the multiple emulsions was the smallest, up to 623.03±5.21 nm (P

Abstract On 6 February 2023, a local tsunami was recorded in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea following the Mw 7.7 Turkey–Syria inland strike‐slip earthquake. Due to the lack of underwater observation, the tsunami generation mechanism remains mysterious. To understand the source mechanisms, we analyzed the tsunami waveforms of four nearby tide gauges and located possible sources using a backward tsunami ray tracing approach. We then conducted forward numerical modelings for a range of possible source parameters. We show that there were probably two tsunami sources, inside and outside Iskenderun Bay, which may be related to thick coastal sediments. A source inside the Bay with a characteristic length of 7 km produced dominant periods of 10–30 min with negative initial motion, possibly generated by a landslide. Another source of 6 km length outside the Bay produced dominant periods of 2–10 min with positive initial motions, possibly related with liquefaction.