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We report a design of topological phononic states for underwater sound using arrays of acoustic coupled ring resonators. In each individual ring resonator, two degenerate acoustic modes, corresponding to clockwise and counter-clockwise propagation, are treated as opposite pseudospins. The gapless edge states arise in the bandgap resulting in protected pseudospin-dependent sound transportation, which is a phononic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect. We also investigate the robustness of the topological sound state, suggesting that the observed pseudospin-dependent sound transportation remains unless the introduced defects facilitate coupling between the clockwise and counter-clockwise modes (in other words, the original mode degeneracy is broken). The topological engineering of sound transportation will certainly promise unique design for next generation of acoustic devices in sound guiding and switching, especially for underwater acoustic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We numerically realize the acoustic rainbow trapping effect by tapping an air waveguide with space-coiling metamaterials. Due to the high refractive-index of the space-coiling metamaterials, our device is more compact compared to the reported trapped-rainbow devices. A numerical model utilizing effective parameters is also calculated, whose results are consistent well with the direct numerical simulation of space-coiling structure. Moreover, such device with the capability of dropping different frequency components of a broadband incident temporal acoustic signal into different channels can function as an acoustic wavelength division de-multiplexer. These results may have potential applications in acoustic device design such as an acoustic filter and an artificial cochlea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zero-refractive-index materials may lead to promising applications in various fields. Here, we design and fabricate a near Zero-Refractive-Index (ZRI) material using a phononic crystal (PC) composed of a square array of densely packed square iron rods in air. The dispersion relation exhibits a nearly flat band across the Brillouin zone at the reduced frequency f=0.5443c/a, which is due to Fabry-Perot (FP) resonance. By using a retrieval method, we find that both the effective mass density and the reciprocal of the effective bulk modulus are close to zero at frequencies near the flat band. We also propose an equivalent tube network model to explain the mechanisms of the near ZRI effect. This FP-resonance-induced near ZRI material offers intriguing wave manipulation properties. We demonstrate both numerically and experimentally its ability to shield a scattering obstacle and guide acoustic waves through a bent structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial honeycomb lattices with Dirac cone dispersion provide a macroscopic platform to study the massless Dirac quasiparticles and their novel geometric phases. In this paper, a quadruple-degenerate state is achieved at the center of the Brillouin zone in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice phononic crystal, which is a result of accidental degeneracy of two double-degenerate states. In the vicinity of the quadruple-degenerate state, the dispersion relation is linear. Such quadruple degeneracy is analyzed by rigorous representation theory of groups. Using k.p method, a reduced Hamiltonian is obtained to describe the linear Dirac dispersion relations of this quadruple-degenerate state, which is well consistent with the simulation results. Near such accidental degeneracy, we observe some unique properties in wave propagating, such as defect-insensitive propagating character and the Talbot effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-jitter and low-power source-synchronous serializer/deserializer transmitter (TX) with a data rate of 9.6 Gb/s is presented. The TX consists of five data channels plus one forwarded-clock channel and features a total jitter of 20.39 ps p-p at 10^-12 bit error rate. Low jitter is achieved through the use of a phase-locked loop with bandwidth linearization that has a random RMS jitter of 0.66 ps. A global clock distribution network is proposed to minimize the power-supply-induced jitter and the power consumption. The TX transmits preemphasized data through a current-mode logic driver with a four-tap feedforward equalizer. The on-chip output impedance and the signal amplitude can be accurately calibrated by a successive approximation register logic separately. The total power consumption for the 5 $+$ 1-lane TX physical core fabricated in 65-nm bulk CMOS running at 9.6 Gb/s is 230 mW or 4.8 mW/Gb/s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A 2 GHz two-point modulator which has a separate high-pass control for DCO modulation is implemented in 0.18 \mum CMOS. The proposed modulator with the two-path DCO modulation enables a flexible gain partition for the high-pass and low-pass modulation paths within the DCO and relaxes the DCO nonlinearity with 1-b \Delta\Sigma modulation and embedded finite-impulse response (FIR) filtering. A semi-digital \Delta\Sigma PLL with another FIR filtering in the low-pass modulation enhances PLL linearity with a hybrid loop control. The proposed semi-digital modulator achieves 2.03% RMS EVM with 2 Mb/s GFSK modulation, -132 dBc/Hz phase noise at 3 MHz offset, and -80 dBc reference spur. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigate both experimentally and numerically a complex structure, where ‘face-to-face’ Helmholtz resonance cavities (HRCs) are introduced to construct a one-dimensional acoustic grating. In this system, pairs of HRCs can intensely couple with each other in two forms: a bonding state and an anti-bonding state, analogous to the character of hydrogen molecule with two atoms due to the interference of wave functions of sound among the acoustic local-resonating structures. The bonding state is a ‘bright’ state that interferes with the Fabry–Pèrot resonance mode, thereby causing this state to break up into two modes as the splitting of the extraordinary acoustic transmission peak. On the contrary, the anti-bonding state is a ‘dark’ state in which the resonance mode remains entirely localized within the HRCs, and has no contribution to the acoustic transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a less invasive local treatment for diseases throughout the gastrointestinal tract., Aim: To develop an integrated management protocol and analyze its effects on surgical outcomes and mental health of patients after ESD., Methods: The study population consisted of patients undergoing ESD before implementation of integrated management and those undergoing ESD by the same pool of surgeons after implementation of integrated management., Results: The management group exhibited shortened fasting time and length of hospital stay compared to the control group ( P < 0.05). The management group exhibited a higher incidence rate of postoperative complications than the control group (3 cases vs 11 cases; P = 0.043). The management group exhibited a lower uncertainty score for disease knowledge compared to the control group 12 h after surgery ( P < 0.05). The management group gave more scores on the domains of patient familiarity to the responsible nurses, professional skills of responsible nurses, and general evaluation compared to the control group. The management group had a higher total score of patient satisfaction towards the responsible nurses in term of health care than the control group ( P < 0.01). The management group exhibited lower Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale scores compared to the control group 12 h after surgery ( P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The study demonstrates that integrated management could improve surgical outcomes and mental health of patients undergoing ESD., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Food and Drug Administration of the United States has approved several drugs for treating advanced metastatic renal cell carcinoma, including anti-vascular tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Options for first-line therapy include monotherapy or combination therapy. However, selecting a suitable first-line and second-line treatments to improve overall survival remains an unresolved issue., Objective: To evaluate the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Patients were divided into several grouped according to the treatment sequence of TKI and anti PD-1 administration. The overall survival benefit was evaluated based on the order of administration of anti PD-1 and TKI., Patients and Methods: In this retrospective propensity-matched cohort study, we identified 135 patients with mRCC treated at the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2022. These patients had received anti PD-1 treatment as part of their first or second line of therapy. Statistical analysis was performed from June 1, 2023, to August 1, 2023. The primary outcome measure was OS, from the date of diagnosis to death or the last follow-up. PFS was monitored during treatment. Survival analyses were conducted using Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier estimates. By comparing the complete treatment course of patients, the survival of patients in different groups was compared according to the number of immunotherapy lines., Results: The final cohort comprised 135 patients, of whom 84 received first-line therapy with anti PD-1 (include 6 patients treated with anti PD-1 (tislelizumab, carrelizumab, toripalimab or sintilizumab) alone and 78 patients treated with anti PD-1 combined with anti-vascular TKI (axitinib, sunitinib, solfanitinib or pazopanib)). The remaining 51 patients were treated with anti PD-1 as second-line therapy following an initial regime of TKIs. Patients were initially categorized based on whether anti PD-1 were used in the first-line treatment. It was observed that the OS of patients receiving first-line targeted therapy was higher than those receiving first-line immunotherapy, with a median OS of 33 months versus 15 months. To investigate this outcome further, we refined the patient groups based on the administration sequence of anti PD-1 and TKIs in the treatment regimen. We found that the median PFS of patients with first-line treatments of TKI combined with anti PD-1 was 3.5 months, compared to 14.5 months when TKI combined with anti PD-1 followed first-line TKI ( p =0.0092). The median PFS for second-line treatments was 6.5 months versus 15 months ( p =0.0014). Similarly, the median OS was 16.66 months and 31.88 months, respectively ( p =0.008)., Conclusions: This study indicates that administering immunotherapy following anti-vascular therapy significantly enhances both OS and PFS compared to other sequences of therapies. This finding provides valuable insights and robust data support for clinical decision-making regarding treatment sequencing., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

Recently oxide-based thin-film transistors (TFTs) are investigated for emerging applications of the next generation display devices and other electronic circuits (Fortunato, E., et al., 2012. Oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors: A review of recent advances. Advanced Materials, 24 , pp.2945-2986). Despite of the great success in n -type oxide semiconductors with high transparency and high field-effect mobility, high performance P -type oxide TFTs are so highly desired that complementary circuits can be realized with low power and high performance (Ou, W.C., et al., 2008. Anomalous P -channel amorphous oxide transistors based on tin oxide and their complementary circuits. Applied Physics Letters, 92 , p.122113). There are some oxides such as SnO, CuO, Cu₂O and NiO are regarded as promising P -type semiconductor materials. In this investigation, tin oxide SnO x is fabricated to be active layer for TFTs device, and furnace annealing with several combinations of nitrogen and oxygen ambient is compared to enhance the electrical characteristics of P -type SnO x TFTs (Park, K.S., et al., 2009. High performance solution-processed and lithographically patterned zinc-tin oxide thin-film transistors with good operational stability. Electrochemical and Solid-State Lett., 12 , pp.H256-H258). The results show that with N₂+O₂ ambient, 30 minutes furnace annealing, the P -type SnO x TFTs device shows better performance with mobility ( μ FE ) 0.883 cm²/V · S, threshold voltage ( V T ) -4.63 V, subthreshold swing (SS) 1.15 V/decade, and I on / I off ratio 1.01×10₃.

The development of functional chloroplasts relies on the fine coordination of expressions of both nuclear and chloroplast genomes. We have been using the Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) yellow variegated ( var2 ) leaf variegation mutant as a tool to dissect the regulation of chloroplast development. In this work, we screened for var2 genetic enhancer modifiers termed enhancer of variegation ( evr ) mutants and report the characterization of the first EVR locus, EVR1 We showed that EVR1 encodes the cytosolic 80S ribosome 40S small subunit protein RPS21B and the loss of EVR1 causes the enhancement of var2 leaf variegation. We further demonstrated that combined S21 activities from EVR1 and its close homolog, EVR1L1, are essential for Arabidopsis, and they act redundantly in regulating leaf development and var2 leaf variegation. Moreover, using additional cytosolic ribosomal protein mutants, we showed that although mutations in cytosolic ribosomal proteins all enhance var2 leaf variegation to varying degrees, the 40S subunit appears to have a more profound role over the 60S subunit in regulating VAR2-mediated chloroplast development. Comprehensive genetic analyses with var2 suppressors that are defective in chloroplast translation established that the enhancement of var2 leaf variegation by cytosolic ribosomal protein mutants is dependent on chloroplast translation. Based on our data, we propose a model that incorporates the suppression and enhancement of var2 leaf variegation, and hypothesize that VAR2/AtFtsH2 may be intimately involved in the balancing of cytosolic and chloroplast translation programs during chloroplast biogenesis., (© 2018 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved.)

Unlabelled: Neuropathic pain, often caused by nerve injury, is a major clinical challenge. Mechanisms that underlie neuropathic pain remain elusive and effective medications are limited. Numerous investigations of pain mechanisms have focused on alterations and phenotypic switches of the nociceptive transmitters and modulators, as well as on their receptors and downstream signaling pathways that have already exerted roles in the pain processes of mature nervous systems. We have demonstrated recently that nerve injury may elicit neuronal alterations that recapitulate events occurring during development. Signaling of the representative activated molecule Wnt thus becomes a trigger for the development of neuropathic pain and is a potential therapeutic target. We report that the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ, which orchestrate Wnt response via incorporation in the β-catenin destruction complex, are key in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and may serve as an "ON-OFF" switch for neuropathic pain status in rats. Peripheral nerve injury causes rapid-onset and long-lasting nuclear accumulation of YAP/TAZ/β-catenin in the spinal dorsal horn. Spinal inhibition or knock-down of either YAP or TAZ suppresses mechanical allodynia induced by nerve injury or the pain initiators lysophosphatidic acid and Wnt3a. Promoting the nuclear accumulation of YAP/TAZ leads to mechanical hypersensitivity in naive animals. Further, we discovered a new small molecule, dCTB, which targets YAP/TAZ/β-catenin and can greatly suppress neuropathic pain and the associated neurochemical alterations. Our study reveals that YAP and TAZ are core mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and are targets in the screening for potent analgesics for the treatment of neuropathic pain., Significance Statement: Mechanisms that underlie neuropathic pain remain elusive. We have demonstrated recently that nerve injury can activate Wnt signaling, which becomes a trigger for the development of neuropathic pain. We report that the transcriptional regulators YAP and TAZ, which orchestrate Wnt response via incorporation in the β-catenin destruction complex, are key in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and may serve as an "ON-OFF" switch for neuropathic pain status. Further, we discovered a new small molecule, dCTB, which targets YAP/TAZ/β-catenin and can greatly suppress neuropathic pain. Our study reveals that YAP and TAZ are core mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and are targets in the screening of potent analgesics for the treatment of neuropathic pain., (Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/3610128-13$15.00/0.)

Community characteristics of aquatic plant are important indicators for water quality. In order to understand the distribution characteristics of aquatic plants in aquatic ecosystem of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal ( Hangzhou section) , and to analyze the relationship between water quality and plant community, an investigation of the aquatic plants in five typical sites was made in this study. Species composition, biological diversity, quantity distribution and dominant species of aquatic plants in five sites were studied for ecological changes. Physicochemical factors such as temperature, pH value, transparency, dissolved oxygen and main elements of living were also analyzed. Based on the results, the distribution of phytoplankton diversity and environment factor correlations by multivariate statistical analysis were discussed. The trophic levels of these sites were assessed by using related biological standards. Results indicated that the diversity of aquatic plant mainly depends on the diversity of phytoplankton in the typical sites of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. We observed and identified 35 genus algae, including advantage community of Hyalodiscus Ehrenberg and Melosira Agardh, which belonged to Bacillariophyta. According to the impact on the phytoplankton diversity and distribution, factors such as dissolved oxygen, transparency, water temperature, etc. had an obvious influence on the distribution of phytoplankton in the existing 6 environmental factors, while the influence of pH value was the highest. In terms of water quality eutrophication, site Tangxi Bridge and Maiyu Bridge showed a relatively lighter pollution, while site Yiqiao Bridge, Gujia Bridge and Gongchen Bridge showed a higher pollution, and the pollution of site Yiqiao Bridge was the most serious.

This experimental study sought to determine the repeatability of a Video Keratography System specially designed for animals with small eyes. From day 5, ten newly hatched White Leghorn chicks were reared with monocular hyperopic defocus using -5.0D (n = 3), -10.0D (n = 3), -15.0D(n = 4) spherical PMMA lenses on their right eyes; the left eyes served as controls. Two sets of corneal topographical measurements, each set separated by about 5 minutes apart, were collected from both eyes of each animal at the end of 2-wk treatment period (i. e., 19 days of age). Each set of measurements consisted of five consecutive readings of corneal astigmatism. Bland-Altman plots were used to evaluate the repeatability of 3, 4 or all 5 readings from each set of data. When all 5 consecutive readings were used, the mean difference (95% limits of agreement) for the right treated and left untreated eyes were, respectively, -0.09D (-0.81, 0.64) and -0.02D (-0.86, 0.82). There was a tendency that lesser readings from each set of data produced greater difference between the two sets of measurements, although the differences (-0.19D) were not clinically significant. The Video Keratography System specially designed for animals with small eyes produced repeatable measurements for both treated and untreated eyes in chickens. Further studies are needed to validate other biometric features associated with corneal changes during normal and abnormal eye growth.

Objective: To explore the effects and mechanism of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in mouse experimental colitis treated by CLYSTER No. 1., Method: The mouse model of experimental colitis was established by dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-acetic acid (AA) in mice DNCB and AA. Adult KM mouse were randomly divided into four groups: normal control group, experimental colitis model group, SASP and Chinese medicine therapeutic groups. Proportion of CD4 CD25+ Tregs in peripheral blood (PB) and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) was estimated by flow cytometry at the end of one or two week after treating with SASP and CLYSTER No. 1., Result: The model of experimental colitis in mouse was successfully established. Compared with normal control group, the proportion of CD4 CD25 Tregs was markedly decreased in PB and MLN of model control group of experimental colitis. But it was significantly increased in therapeutic groups of SASP and CLYSTER No. 1, and their CD4+ CD25+ Tregs in PB and MLN were much more than the model control group at the end of one or two weeks after treating with SASP and CLYSTER No. 1., Conclusion: CD4+ CD25+ Tregs with strong immune suppression could play a central role in the initiation and development of mouse experiment colitis, and the CLYSTER No. 1 might exert its therapeutic effects on UC by the regulation of number and function of CD4+ CD25+ Tregs.

Objective: To establish a multiplexing Y-STR system and study haplotype frequencies of 4 Y-specific loci in China Han population., Methods: DYS439, DYS390, GATA-A7.2 and DYS393 loci were amplified simultaneously and were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining., Results: When 558 unrelated male individuals from the Han population in China were tested by the multiplex system, DYS439, DYS390, GATA-A7.2 and DYS393 show 7,7,7,6 alleles, respectively. 180 different haplotypes were detected. The power of discrimination of this system was 0.9853., Conclusion: The multiplex amplified system of these 4 Y-specific loci and their database are useful for human origin exploration and forensic practice.

Microdialysis sampling coupled with liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection (LC-ECD) was developed and applied to study the interaction of 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) with bovine serum albumin (BSA). In the LC-ECD, the multi-wall carbon nanotubes fuctionalized with carboxylic groups modified electrode (MWNT-COOH CME) was used as the working electrode for the determination of 6-MP. The results indicated that this chemically modified electrode (CME) exhibited efficiently electrocatalytic oxidation for 6-MP with relatively high sensitivity, stability and long-life. The peak currents of 6-MP were linear to its concentrations ranging from 4.0 x 10(-7) to 1.0 x 10(-4) mol l(-1) with the calculated detection limit (S/N = 3) of 2.0 x 10(-7) mol l(-1). The method had been successfully applied to assess the association constant (K) and the number of the binding sites (n) on a BSA molecular, which calculated by Scatchard equation, were 3.97 x 10(3) mol(-1) l and 1.51, respectively. This method provided a fast, sensible and simple technique for the study of drug-protein interactions.