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Based on the symmetric initiation mechanism of double-wing cracks in coal rock mass induced by high-pressure electro-recoil water pressure, fracturing experiments have been performed on coal rock mass under different water pressures and discharge conditions using high-voltage electric pulse hydraulic fracturing devices. Combined with CT scans, the crack spatial distribution inside the post-break coal rock mass was analyzed and found that the edge of the water injection hole is prone to produce double-wing cracks along the drilling hole diameter. ABAQUS is used to verify the physical test and extend the test conditions, the geometric parameter change, morphological expansion rule and crack initiation mechanism of double-wing crack in coal rock mass under different discharge conditions and ground stress conditions are studied. The results show that the cracks around the borehole of coal rock mass crack symmetrically under the action of high-voltage electric pulse in water. When the impact load of the high-voltage electric pulse is small(3 MPa hydrostatic pressure, 7 kV discharge voltage), cracks crack symmetrically around the drilling hole, and when the impact load is large(3 MPa hydrostatic pressure, 13 kV discharge voltage), most of the cracks inside the specimen crack symmetrically along the radial or tangential wings of the drilling hole, and the cracks change from multiple pairs of double-wing cracks to a pair of double-wing cracks with the weakening of the shock wave energy until only one single wing crack remains. With the increase of discharge voltage, the length, width, area and complexity of the cracks in both wings will increase in different degrees. With the increase of in-situ stress difference, the crack is more inclined to the direction of the maximum principal stress and eventually expands along the direction of the maximum principal stress. The results further shed light on the initiation and propagation laws of double-wing crack during high-voltage electrical pulse fracturing of coal rock in water and provide theoretical support for efficient extraction of coalbed methane from high-voltage electrical pulse fracturing of coal rock mass in water in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The difference in prognosis between invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is still controversial in the academic community. Resolving this controversy can help to more accurately determine patients' prognosis, provide further personalized treatment, alleviate unnecessary psychological burden for some patients, and provide direction for further fundamental research. Patients and methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the SEER Research Plus Data 8 Registries, Nov 2021 sub (1978–2019), including female breast cancer patients diagnosed with ILC or IDC between 2010 and 2015. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed, and key covariates affecting prognosis were selected. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to match patients, and balance tests were conducted to evaluate covariate distribution. Disease-specific survival (DSS) differences between the matched IDC and ILC groups were compared. Results: Following PSM, the covariate differences between the IDC and ILC groups were significantly reduced. The survival analysis revealed a significantly better prognosis for the IDC group than the ILC group (Log-rank test p < 0.001), with a 28.0% increased risk observed in the ILC group. Conclusion: This study provides evidence supporting the existence of significant differences in prognosis between IDC and ILC patients after rigorous matching. The IDC group displayed a significantly better prognosis than the ILC group. Notably, these findings have implications for personalized treatment in clinical practice and contribute to the ongoing academic debate on survival differences between IDC and ILC. However, further research is needed to investigate the biological mechanisms, gene expression, and signaling pathway disparities between IDC and ILC, aiming to provide more targeted guidance for clinical decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random generation of fuzzy measures plays a pivotal role in large-scale decision-making and optimization. Random walks ensure uniform generation and adequate coverage. The Möbius representation of set functions is a valuable tool for establishing the sparse structure of fuzzy measures, with its non-negativity closely linked to monotonicity and convexity/supermodularity checking. We propose three efficient methods for monotonicity verification and convexity/supermodularity verification applicable to random walks in Möbius representations, specifically tailored for universal sets larger than ten inputs and k-order fuzzy measures. We first present the baseline methods by directly inspecting monotonicity and convexity constraints. Building on the observation that the majority of initially generated values exhibit non-negativity, we intentionally track negative Möbius values to enhance the computational performance of these baseline approaches. Further, we introduce the more agile methods that employ insertion and merge sorting techniques for both monotonicity and convexity checks in random walks that involve small perturbations of fuzzy measures. To address sparsity in large-scale scenarios, we focus on two major types of measures: k-additive and k-interactive measures, demonstrating their effectiveness through theoretical analysis and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on the preparation in microcapsules of mackerel protein hydrolysates by spray-drying, and their characteristics and stability were analyzed. The result indicated that the optimum conditions for preparing microcapsules were as follows: maltodextrin as the wall material, the ratio of mackerel protein hydrolysates to microporous starch was 2.2:1, and solid concentration was 12% at a temperature of 200°C. The prepared microcapsules had lower water content, better fluidity and persistency. In addition, the microcapsules had less foul odor, higher acceptance, better shape, and more stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A filter-free, image-reject, sub-harmonic downconverted RoF link is proposed based on a dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift keying (DP–QPSK) modulator. At the remote antenna unit, the receiving radio frequency signal is applied to the upper QPSK modulator to achieve carrier-suppressed single-sideband (CS–SSB) modulation. The local oscillator (LO) is applied to the lower QPSK modulator, achieving sub-harmonic single-sideband (SH–SSB) modulation. The I/Q mixing is realized by exploiting a two-channel photonic microwave phase shifter, which mainly consists of a modulator, two polarization controllers, and two polarizers. The image interference signal can be rejected when combing the I and Q IF signals through a 90° electrical hybrid. Because the scheme is simple and filter-free, it has a good image-reject capability over a large frequency tunable range. Moreover, due to the special SH-SSB modulation, the modulated signals are immune to the chromatic dispersion-introduced power fading effect. Last, the sub-harmonic downconverter can decrease the frequency requirement of the LO signal. Experimental results show that an image rejection ratio (IRR) greater than 50 dB can be achieved when transmitted through a 25 km single-mode fiber (SMF). Simultaneously, under different RF signals and IF signals, the IRR has no periodic power fading, only small fluctuations. Image rejection capability of the scheme for the 50-MBaud 16-QAM wideband vector signal is also verified and the demodulation of the desired IF signal with a good EVM of less than 5% is realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionPrognosis after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is highly variable. Compared to clinicopathologic factors, the use of molecular markers to predict outcome has not been well studied. We investigated the prognostic importance of thymidylate synthase (TS) gene expression and polymorphisms in patients after resection of HCC.MethodsPatients who underwent complete resection of HCC for whom tissue was available were identified. TS gene expression level and polymorphisms were determined in HCC specimens. Prognostic factors were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard models.ResultsThe study included 67 patients. In univariate analysis, variables that negatively influenced survival included TNM stage, microvascular invasion, and high TS expression. For the high TS expression group, median survival was 54 months and 5-year actuarial survival was 47%. For the low TS expression group, median survival was not reached and the 5-year actuarial survival was 91%. In multivariate analysis, only high TS expression remained an independent predictor of poor survival (HR = 10.77, 95% CI 1.36-84.91; P = 0.02). TS gene polymorphisms were not associated with TS expression or overall survival.ConclusionsHigh TS expression predicts poor outcome after resection of HCC. Molecular markers might be robust predictors of patient outcome after resection of HCC.

PIN1-mediated substrate isomerization plays a role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. We hypothesized that genetic polymorphisms in PIN1-related pathways may affect tumor sensitivity to oxaliplatin or irinotecan in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. We analyzed genomic DNA from five cohorts of mCRC patients (total 950) treated with different first-line treatments: oxaliplatin cohorts 1 (n = 146) and 2 (n = 70); irinotecan cohorts 1 (n = 228), and 2 (n = 276); and combination cohort (n = 230). Single nucleotide polymorphisms of candidate genes were analyzed by PCR-based direct sequencing. In the oxaliplatin cohort 1, patients carrying any PIN1 rs2233678 C allele had shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) than the G/G variant (PFS, 7.4 vs. 15.0 months, hazard ratio [HR] 3.24, P

Antitumor activity of [CD8.sup.+] T cells is potentially restrained by a variety of negative regulatory pathways that are triggered in the tumor microenvironment, yet, the exact mechanisms remain incompletely defined. Here, we report that intrinsic RIG- I in [CD8.sup.+] T cells represents such a factor, as evidenced by observations that the tumor-restricting effect of endogenous or adoptively transferred [CD8.sup.+] T cells was enhanced by intrinsic Rig-I deficiency or inhibition, with the increased accumulation, survival, and cytotoxicity of tumor-infiltrating [CD8.sup.+] T cells. Mechanistically, T cell activation-induced RIG-I upregulation restrained STAT5 activation via competitive sequestering of HSP90. In accordance with this, the frequency of RIG-I* tumor- infiltrating [CD8.sup.+] T cells in human colon cancer positively correlated with attenuated survival and effector signatures of [CD8.sup.+] T cells as well as poor prognosis. Collectively, these results implicate RIG-I as a potentially druggable factor for improving [CD8.sup.+] T cell-based tumor immunotherapy., Introduction Tumor-infiltrating [CD8.sup.+] T cells that specifically recognize tumor antigens act as an important type of immune effector and/or regulatory cell in direct control of cancer lesions (1). The binding [...]

An efficient and reliable network alignment serves to find the mapping with maximum similarity between different networks, which is a way to improve our understanding of biology system and biological process. To build such network alignment is a foremost challenging task in computational biology because it involves the bipartite graph matching problem, which is an NP-hard problem. In this work, we propose a novel global biomolecular network alignment method named NFMA. Based on the minimum cost maximum flow problem (MCMFP) of network flow model, NFMA introduces opposite numbers to address the maximum cost problem so that the new model can get the alignment with maximum similarity. Furthermore, based on the existing method used to describe topological structure in undirected network, we present a new measure to identify topological information in directed network, which enables NFMA to extend to alignment in directed network. We conduct three experiments on classical yeast protein-protein interaction networks (PINs) and human PINs. We compare NFMA with other 7 eminent algorithms, and prove that NFMA can obtain an efficient and meaningful alignment which takes both biological similarity and topological similarity into consideration, and the time efficiency of NFMA is also outstanding in that it only takes approximately 250 seconds to get an accurate alignment when aligning two large networks.

To investigate the performance of utilizing the shape memory effect of SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) wire to generate recovery stress, this paper performed single heating recovery stress tests and reciprocating heating-cooling recovery stress tests on SMA wire under varying initial strain conditions. The effects of various strains and different energized heating methods on the recovery stress of SMA wires were explored in the single heating tests. The SMA wire was strained from 2% to 8% initially, and two distinct heating approaches were employed: one using a large current interval for rapid heating and one using a small current interval for slower heating. The experimental outcomes reveal that during a single heating cycle, the temperature-recovery stress relationship of SMA wire exhibits three distinct stages: the martensite phase stage, the transition stage from martensite to austenite phase, and the austenite phase stage. Notably, the choice of heating method does not influence the maximum recovery stress value, and the correlation between initial strain and maximum recovery stress is predominantly linear. Moreover, conducting the reciprocating temperature rise and fall performance test is important to better simulate the scenario in practical engineering where multiple recovery stress in SMA wires for structural repair. In this test, two temperature cycling methods were studied: interval rise and fall, as well as direct rise and fall. In the case of utilizing the interval temperature rise and fall method, it was observed that the recovery stress associated with cooling was significantly higher than that corresponding to heating at the same temperature. Furthermore, the recovery stress was lower upon subsequent heating than that measured during the previous heating cycle. Based on the experimental results, a prediction model for the temperature-recovery stress relationship has been proposed to simplify numerical calculations. It is hoped that an approximate temperature-recovery stress curve can be obtained from the parameters of the SMA wire. The calculated values derived from this model show good alignment with the measured values, indicating its reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]