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In this study, the properties of supercapacitors were improved by doping nanomaterials. Transition metal oxides (i.e., MnO2) with Faraday's reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction and silver nanowires (AgNWs) with high conductivity were doped into activated carbon based material to prepare thin-film electrodes. The results indicated that doping with AgNWs can effectively improve the conductivity of the thin film electrode. A conductive network was constructed between activated carbon and MnO2, and the optimal balance between conductivity and specific surface area was achieved through suitable doping. Thus, the electrochemical efficacy of the developed supercapacitor was effectively improved, and its specific capacitance increased from 240.14 F/g before doping to 1020.91 F/g (by 3.25 times) after doping. In addition, the prepared thin-film electrodes had favorable reproducibility at different voltage scan rates. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicated a noticeable decrease in the charge transfer resistance of the thin-film electrodes from 1.46 Ω before doping to 0.66 Ω after doping. The doping of the two nanomaterials preserved their respective advantages and created a synergistic effect. The doping of transition metal oxides with metal AgNWs has applications in thin-film preparation for different types of supercapacitors, thereby enhancing the capacitance effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of metabolic tumour volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) was used to measure the influence of MTV and TLG on survival. The subgroup analysis according to VALSG stage and the measured extent of MTV was performed. Patients with high MTV values experienced a significantly poorer prognosis with a HR of 2.42 (95% CI 1.46-4.03) for overall survival (OS) and a HR of 2.78 (95% CI 1.39-5.53) for progression-free survival (PFS) from the random effect model, and the pooled HR from the fixed effect model was 2.10 (95% CI 1.77-2.50) for OS and 2.27 (95% CI 1.83-2.81) for PFS. Patients with high TLG experienced a poorer prognosis with a HR of 1.61 (95% CI: 1.24-2.07) for OS from the random effect model, and the pooled HR from the fixed effect model was 1.64 (95% CI 1.37-1.96). Heterogeneity among studies was high for MTV in both OS and PFS meta-analyses (I2  = 87% and 88% respectively). After removing one outlier study the heterogeneity was substantially reduced (I2  = 0%) and the pooled HR for the effect of MTV on OS was 1.80 (1.51-2.16, P < 0.00001), and on PFS it was 1.86 (1.49-2.33, P < 0.00001), using either the fixed or random effects model. High MTV is associated with a significantly poorer prognosis OS and PFS, and high TLG is associated with a significantly poorer prognosis regarding OS for SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two yeast strains designated as 20–27–1 and 20–28 were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Tricholoma gambosum and Marasmius maximus, respectively, which were collected in Wudaogou, Weichang county, Chengde area, Hebei Province, China. The multi-locus analysis of the sequences of the rDNA ITS, D1/D2 LSU, and SSU regions, together with partial sequences of two protein-coding genes RPB1 and TEF1 indicates that the two strains are closely related to Nakazawaea ernobii and Nakazawaea holstii, showing the similarity values of 99.3–98.7%, 97.2–97.1%, 91.9–92.5%, and 84.6% in D1/D2 LSU, ITS, TEF1, and RPB1, respectively. Physiologically, the two strains are different from N. ernobii and N. holstii in the assimilation of melibiose, inulin, and DL-lactic acid. Both the phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses indicate that those two strains represent a novel species in the genus Nakazawaea, for which the name Nakazawaea tricholomae f.a., sp. nov. (Fungal Names: FN 571492) is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiotherapy-Induced Skin Injury (RISI) is radiation damage to normal skin tissue that primarily occurs during tumor Radiotherapy and occupational exposure. The risk of RISI is high due to the fact that the skin is not only the first body organ that ionizing radiation comes into contact with, but it is also highly sensitive to it, especially the basal cell layer and capillaries. Typical clinical manifestations of RISI include erythema, dry desquamation, moist desquamation, and ulcers, which have been established to significantly impact patient care and cancer treatment. Notably, our current understanding of RISI's pathological mechanisms and signaling pathways is inadequate, and no standard treatments have been established. Radiation-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, fibrosis, apoptosis, and cellular senescence are among the known mechanisms that interact and promote disease progression. Additionally, radiation can damage all cellular components and induce genetic and epigenetic changes, which play a crucial role in the occurrence and progression of skin injury. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms and pathways is crucial for exploring the potential therapeutic targets for RISI. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the key mechanisms and potential treatment methods for RISI, offering a reference for future research and development of treatment strategies. [Display omitted] • Radiotherapy-induced skin injury affects 95 % of treated patients. • Biomarkers and imaging predict radiotherapy-induced skin injury effectively. • Highlighted mechanisms and pathways involved in radiotherapy-induced skin injury. • Current mainstream treatments for radiotherapy-induced skin injury are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT To reveal the formation process of speech processing with early hearing experiences, we tracked the development of functional connectivity in the auditory and language‐related cortical areas of 84 (36 female) congenitally deafened toddlers using repeated functional near‐infrared spectroscopy for up to 36 months post cochlear implantation (CI). Upon hearing restoration, the CI children lacked the modular organization of the mature speech‐processing network and demonstrated a higher degree of immaturity in temporo‐parietal than temporo‐frontal connections. The speech‐processing network appeared to form rapidly with early CI experiences, with two‐thirds of the developing connections following nonlinear trajectories reflecting possibly more than one synaptogenesis‐pruning cycle. A few key features of the mature speech‐processing network emerged within the first year of CI hearing, including left‐hemispheric advantage, differentiation of the dorsal and ventral processing streams, and functional state (speech listening vs. resting) specific patterns of connectivity development. The developmental changes were predictable of future auditory and verbal communication skills of the CI children, with prominent contribution from temporo‐parietal connections in the dorsal stream, suggesting a mediating role of speech‐processing network formation with early hearing experiences in speech acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine circular concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns with 109 MPa concrete were tested under eccentric axial loading to derive the equivalent axial stress-strain models of the steel tube and concrete. Based on the measured strain data and the theory of elasticity and plasticity, the progressions of the axial and hoop stresses at different locations of the steel tube section were obtained. For the compression side of the steel tube, the hoop stress was developed at or after yielding; then, the ratio of the axial stress to the effective stress, σ sa / f e , gradually decreased to a value of around 0.77. For the tension side of the steel tube, σ sa / f e continued to increase after yielding and kept constant when σ sa / f e reached a value of approximately 1.15. Using the developed axial stress-strain model of the steel tube, the equivalent axial stress-strain relationship of concrete was determined by matching the axial load-vertical displacement curve obtained from the fiber model analysis to that from the test. The confinement index, ξ , mainly influences the peak compressive stress and strain of concrete, whereas the eccentricity ratio has some influence on the descending branch of the stress-strain curve. The fiber model with the proposed stress-train models of steel and concrete can well simulate the behavior of circular CFST columns with high-strength concrete under compression-flexural loading when 0.35 ≤ ξ ≤ 0.85, 0.14 ≤ e / D ≤ 0.68, and 3.8 ≤ L e / D (L e is the effective length of a column) ≤ 10.6. • Nine circular CFST columns with 109 MPa concrete were tested under eccentric axial loading. • The axial stress-strain model of the steel tube was developed using the measured strain data. • The equivalent stress-strain relationship of concrete was determined using a matching method. • The influence of the critical parameters on the stress-strain models was examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the formation process of speech processing with early hearing experiences, we tracked the development of functional connectivity in the auditory and language-related cortical areas of 84 (36 female) congenitally deafened toddlers using repeated functional near-infrared spectroscopy for up to 36 months post cochlear implantation (CI). Upon hearing restoration, the CI children lacked the modular organization of the mature speech-processing network and demonstrated a higher degree of immaturity in temporo-parietal than temporo-frontal connections. The speech-processing network appeared to form rapidly with early CI experiences, with two-thirds of the developing connections following nonlinear trajectories reflecting possibly more than one synaptogenesis-pruning cycle. A few key features of the mature speech-processing network emerged within the first year of CI hearing, including left-hemispheric advantage, differentiation of the dorsal and ventral processing streams, and functional state (speech listening vs. resting) specific patterns of connectivity development. The developmental changes were predictable of future auditory and verbal communication skills of the CI children, with prominent contribution from temporo-parietal connections in the dorsal stream, suggesting a mediating role of speech-processing network formation with early hearing experiences in speech acquisition., (© 2024 The Author(s). Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Multi-instance learning (MIL) is a widely applied technique in practical applications that involve complex data structures. MIL can be broadly categorized into two types: traditional methods and those based on deep learning. These approaches have yielded significant results, especially regarding their problem-solving strategies and experiment validation, providing valuable insights for researchers in the MIL field. However, considerable knowledge is often trapped within the algorithm, leading to subsequent MIL algorithms that rely solely on the model's data fitting to predict unlabeled samples. This results in a significant loss of knowledge and impedes the development of more powerful models. In this article, we propose a novel data-driven knowledge fusion for deep MIL (DKMIL) algorithm. DKMIL adopts a completely different idea from existing deep MIL methods by analyzing the decision-making of key samples in the dataset (referred to as the data-driven) and using the knowledge fusion module designed to extract valuable information from these samples to assist the model's learning. In other words, this module serves as a new interface between data and the model, providing strong scalability and enabling prior knowledge from existing algorithms to enhance the model's learning ability. Furthermore, to adapt the downstream modules of the model to more knowledge-enriched features extracted from the data-driven knowledge fusion (DDKF) module, we propose a two-level attention (TLA) module that gradually learns shallow-and deep-level features of the samples to achieve more effective classification. We will prove the scalability of the knowledge fusion module and verify the efficiency of the proposed architecture by conducting experiments on 62 datasets across five categories.

This study conducted a pharmacoeconomic evaluation of Shaoma Zhijing Granules in the treatment of tic disorder(TD) in children. Firstly, from the perspective of the healthcare system, cost-effectiveness analysis was used to evaluate the economic efficiency of Shaoma Zhijing Granules compared with Changma Xifeng Tablets and Jiuwei Xifeng Granules in the treatment of TD in children. Then, through network Meta-analysis, the overall effectiveness of different regimens was calculated, combined with the total cost of the regimens, to calculate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio(ICER). Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to verify the stability of the study results and the credibility of the conclusions. This study included 17 articles, including 9 articles on Chinese patent medicines(3 on Shaoma Zhijing Granules, 2 on Jiuwei Xifeng Granules, and 4 on Changma Xifeng Tablets), for the treatment of TD in children, and 8 articles on Chinese patent medicines combined with conventional western medicines(3 on Shaoma Zhijing Granules, 2 on Jiuwei Xifeng Granules, and 3 on Changma Xifeng Tablets). In the Chinese patent medicine group, the total cost of Shaoma Zhijing Granules for treating TD was CNY 4 410.00, with clinical total effective rate of 77.53%; the total cost of Jiuwei Xifeng Granules for treating TD was CNY 5 192.70, with clinical total effective rate of 82.13%. The ICER of Jiuwei Xifeng Granules vs Shaoma Zhijing Granules was 169.95, higher than the willingness-to-pay(WTP, cost of increasing efficiency by 1% is CNY 85.70). Therefore, Jiuwei Xifeng Granules did not have a cost-effectiveness advantage over Shaoma Zhijing Granules. The total cost of Changma Xifeng Tablets for treating TD was CNY 1 282.50, with clinical total effective rate of 80.60%. The total cost of Changma Xifeng Tablets was lower and clinical total effective rate was higher than that of Shaoma Zhijing Granules. Overall, Shaoma Zhijing Granules did not have a cost-effectiveness advantage. In the Chinese patent medicine combined with conventional western medicine group, the total cost of Shaoma Zhijing Granules for treating TD + conventional western medicines was CNY 6 768.52/6 778.48, with clinical total effective rate of 96.18%. The total cost of Jiuwei Xifeng Granules + conventional western medicines for treating TD was CNY 6 522.56, with clinical total effective rate of 88.30%. The ICER of Shaoma Zhijing Granules + conventional western medicines vs Jiuwei Xifeng Granules + conventional western medicines was 31.20, lower than WTP. Therefore, Shaoma Zhijing Granules + conventional western medicines had a cost-effectiveness advantage over Jiuwei Xifeng Granules + conventional western medicines. The total cost of Changma Xifeng Tablets + conventional western medicines for treating TD was CNY 1 706.12, with clinical total effective rate of 95.39%. The ICER of Shaoma Zhijing Granules + conventional western medicines vs Changma Xifeng Tablets + conventional western medicines was 6 334.06, higher than WTP. Therefore, although Shaoma Zhijing Granules + conventional western medicines had higher clinical total effective rate compared with Changma Xifeng Tablets + conventional western medicines, it did not have a cost-effectiveness advantage. Overall, for different medication regimens(Chinese patent medicines monotherapy or in combination with conventional western medicines), Shaoma Zhijing Granules and Jiuwei Xifeng Granules both had a cost-effectiveness advantage, but compared with Changma Xifeng Tablets, neither had a cost-effectiveness advantage. For Chinese patent medicines in combination with conventional western medicines, clinical total effective rate of Shaoma Zhijing Granules in combination with conventional western medicines for the treatment of TD in children was the highest.