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Background: Supine percutaneous nephrolithotomy (s-PCNL) offers great benefits from urological and anaesthetic points of view. We present the first evaluation of the outcomes of s-PCNL in Malaysia. Our aim was to explore the safety and efficacy of s-PCNL. Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained from the National Medical Research Register (NMRR ID-21002225-WLP). We retrospectively reviewed 115 patients with renal pelvis stones who underwent single renal access during s-PCNL between November 2020 and May 2023. Patients who underwent simultaneous ipsilateral or contralateral endourological procedures were included. The data were analysed to determine stone-free rates (SFR), major complication rates, blood transfusion rates, operative times and lengths of hospital stay (LOS). Results: The SFR was higher for the single middle calyceal renal access (MCA) group than for the lower calyceal renal access (LCA) or upper calyceal renal access (UCA) groups (OR: 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.63, 4.92). In total, 0, 1 and 2 patients had major complications in the UCA, MCA and LCA groups, respectively (P = 0.453). One of the 115 patients (0.9%) needed blood transfusion. Subgroup analysis revealed mean operative times of 76.3 min and 78.6 min for patients who underwent sole s-PCNL (PCNL-only group) and those who had simultaneous ipsilateral and contralateral endourological procedures (PCNL-plus group), respectively (P = 0.786). The overall mean LOS was 2.9 days. Conclusion: s-PCNL is a safe and effective alternative treatment for renal stones. We would recommend s-PCNL for patients who require an ipsilateral/contralateral endourological procedure (URS/RIRS) because it is time-efficient. All renal accesses are safe. Single MCA is recommended for complete stone clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most abundant form of methylation modification in messenger RNA (mRNA), the distribution of N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) has been preliminarily revealed in herbaceous plants under salt stress, but its function and mechanism in woody plants were still unknown. Here, we showed that global m6A levels increased during poplar response to salt stress. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP‐seq) revealed that m6A significantly enriched in the coding sequence region and 3′‐untranslated regions in poplar, by recognising the conserved motifs, AGACU, GGACA and UGUAG. A large number of differential m6A transcripts have been identified, and some have been proved involving in salt response and plant growth and development. Further combined analysis of MeRIP‐seq and RNA‐seq revealed that the m6A hypermethylated and enrich in the CDS region preferred to positively regulate expression abundance. Writer inhibitor, 3‐deazaneplanocin A treatment increased the sensitivity of poplar to salt stress by reducing mRNA stability to regulate the expression of salt‐responsive transcripts PagMYB48, PagGT2, PagNAC2, PagGPX8 and PagARF2. Furthermore, we verified that the methyltransferase PagFIP37 plays a positively role in the response of poplar to salt stress, overexpressed lines have stronger salt tolerance, while RNAi lines were more sensitive to salt, which relied on regulating mRNA stability in an m6A manner of salt‐responsive transcripts PagMYB48, PagGT2, PagNAC2, PagGPX8 and PagARF2. Collectively, these results revealed the regulatory role of m6A methylation in poplar response to salt stress, and revealed the importance and mechanism of m6A methylation in the response of woody plants to salt stress for the first time. Summary statement: We revealed the regulatory role of m6A methylation in poplar response to salt stress, and revealed the importance and mechanism of m6A methylation in the response of woody plants to salt stress for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crucial role of interface engineering in controlling functionality has been well documented in the (001)-orientated perovskite oxide heterostructures; however, limited attention has been given to other epitaxial orientations. In this study, the (La,Sr)MnO3 heterostructure is selected to present the epitaxial-orientation-dependent interface engineering strategies based on magnetoelectric coupling and oxygen octahedral coupling. When capped by a ferroelectric PbTiO3 layer for interlayer magnetoelectric coupling, the (001) (La,Sr)MnO3 layer exhibits the most significant magnetic modulations compared to (110) and (111) counterparts. This can be attributed to the PbTiO3's out-of-plane polarization that depends on the epitaxial orientations. Also, if considering the interfacial oxygen octahedral structure in terms of epitaxial orientations, the buffer (or cap) layer hosts the most part of interfacial oxygen octahedra and, thus, plays a dominant role in controlling oxygen octahedral coupling of (001)-orientated [or (110)-orientated] perovskite heterostructures. This is consistent with our observations that for the (001) [or (110)] (La,Sr)MnO3 heterostructures, the DyScO3 buffer layer offers the more (or less) effective magnetic modulations compared to the cap one. These findings underscore the orientation-dependent nature of interface engineering in manganite heterostructures as well as in other perovskite heterostructures for tailoring functionalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-Curie-temperature ferromagnets are promising candidates for designing new spintronic devices. Here we have successfully synthesized the single crystal of the itinerant ferromagnet Mn5Ge3 using flux method. Its critical properties were investigated by means of bulk dc magnetization at the boundary of the paramagnetic (PM) and ferromagnetic (FM) phase to determine intrinsic magnetic interactions. Critical exponents with a critical temperature K and with K are acquired by the modified Arrott plot, whereas is deduced by a critical isotherm analysis at K. The self-consistency and reliability of these critical exponents are verified by the Widom scaling law and the scaling equations. Further analysis reveals that the spin interaction in Mn5Ge3 exhibits three-dimensional Ising-like behavior. The magnetic exchange interaction is found to decay as , meaning that the spin interactions exceed the nearest neighbors, which may be related to the different Mn-Mn interactions with inequal exchange strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Fossil fuel power plants are the primary contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, necessitating effective and stable methods for adsorbing CO2 from flue gas under diverse conditions. Achieving this remains challenging due to the complexity of flue gas compositions and the prolonged operation of adsorption processes. RESULTS: This study focuses on enhancing CO2 adsorption in flue gas using attapulgite (ATP), activated by acid and modified with tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) via an impregnation method. Characterization through X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and N2 adsorption–desorption revealed that acidic treatment removed impurities, enhancing BET (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) surface area. TEPA modification significantly increased CO2 adsorption capacity by providing more active sites. Notably, 30TEPA/HATP exhibited the best performance at 3.28 mmol g−1. Optimal CO2 adsorption occurred at 60 °C in simulated flue gas, with water improving amine utilization. Furthermore, 30TEPA/HATP demonstrated consistent CO2 adsorption capacity (3.04 mmol g−1) across concentrations (10–20 vol%) and maintained stability after ten cycles, experiencing only a 7.0% decrease. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the success of low‐cost ATP, modified with TEPA, in achieving excellent CO2 capture and stability under diverse flue gas conditions. This material holds promise for practical engineering applications in mitigating carbon emissions from fossil fuel power plants. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duct bend is one of the important parts of ventilation and dust removal systems, and particles deposited in curved ducts can reduce system efficiency or cause erosion on the bend wall. To investigate whether particle deposition is affected by imposed swirl on fluid flow, this article combines the RSM turbulence model and the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) to predict the deposition efficiency of particles in the bend under high Reynolds number conditions. The results show that the imposed swirl flow modifies the secondary flow initially dominated by the pressure gradient caused by the curvature effect. With the gradual increase of the swirl number (S n ), the deposition efficiency of the particles gradually decreased. However, when the swirl number is low (S n ≤ 0.17), particles with smaller Stokes numbers are more susceptible to the intensity of turbulence. The higher the turbulence intensity near the wall, the easier it is for low inertia particles (St ≤ 0.456) to deposit. The higher swirl intensity dominates the centrifugal force, reduces the turbulent intensity in the central region of the duct, improves the stability of the airflow and makes it easier for particles with larger inertia (St ≥ 0.811) to pass through the bend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the discovery of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) oxide heterointerfaces. Since their discovery, transition metal oxide (TMO) interfaces have emerged as a fascinating and fast‐growing area of research, offering a variety of unique and exotic physical properties which has provided a strong impetus for the rapid advances and actualization of oxide electronics. This review revisits the fundamental mechanisms accounting for the two‐dimensional (2D) conducting interfaces, and how new models proposed to better account for the unique interfacial effects. Recent breakthroughs in the theoretical and experimental domains of oxide interfaces are also discussed including the detection and investigation of 2D quasiparticle. Moving beyond the well‐known LAO/STO interface, this review delves into other systems where unconventional interfacial superconductivity, interfacial magnetism, and spin polarization are dealt with in greater detail. In terms of device applications, this review proceeds with a treatment on the recent developments in domains including field effect transistors and freestanding heterostructure membranes. By emphasizing the opportunities and challenges of integrating oxide interfaces with existing technologies, the review will end off with an outlook projecting the progress and the trajectory of this research domain in the years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural naphthoquinones and their derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities and have thus attracted much attention in modern drug discovery. However, it remains unclear whether naphthoquinones are potential drug candidates for anti-angiogenic agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-angiogenic properties of a novel naphthoquinone derivative, PPE8, and explore its underlying mechanisms. Determined by various assays including BrdU, migration, invasion, and tube formation analyses, PPE8 treatment resulted in the reduction of VEGF-A-induced proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We also used an aorta ring sprouting assay, Matrigel plug assay, and immunoblotting analysis to examine PPE8’s ex vivo and in vivo anti-angiogenic activities and its actions on VEGF-A signaling. It has been revealed that PPE8 inhibited VEGF-A-induced micro vessel sprouting and was capable of suppressing angiogenesis in in vivo models. In addition, PPE8 inhibited VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-2, Src, FAK, ERK1/2, or AKT phosphorylation in HUVECs exposed to VEGF-A, and it also showed significant decline in xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Taken together, these observations indicated that PPE8 may target VEGF-A–VEGFR-2 signaling to reduce angiogenesis. It also supports the role of PPE8 as a potential drug candidate for the development of therapeutic agents in the treatment of angiogenesis-related diseases including cancer.

The programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) tumor-suppressor gene regulates cell apoptosis, protein translation, signal transduction, and induction of mediators of inflammation. However, the mechanism by which PDCD4 is down-regulated and regulates tumor growth remains elusive. In this study, we showed that PDCD4 is down-regulated in glioma cells and acts as a tumor suppressor. Based on the TCGA data, we confirmed that AKT2, but not AKT1 or AKT3, interacts with PDCD4, thus leading to the suppression of PDCD4 in glioma cells. Moreover, the analysis suggested that PDCD4 regulates the expression of IL-5, CCL-5, VEGF, and CXCL10 via the NF-kB pathway. Additionally, depletion of levels of PDCD4 promoted angiogenic activity of glioma cells via the VEGF-STAT3 pathway. When tumor cells over-expressing PDCD4 were injected into nude mice, the increased expression of PDCD4 blocked tumorigenesis and prolonged overall survival. Our study indicates the need to develop drugs that can modulate the expression of PDCD4 and test their efficacy in clinical trials.

ObjectiveTo identify DNA methylation related biomarkers in patients with breast cancer (BC).Materials and MethodsA total of seven BC methylation studies including 1,438 BC patients or breast tissues were included in this study. An elastic net regularized Cox proportional hazards regression (CPH) model was used to build a multi-5′-C-phosphate-G-3′ methylation panel. The diagnosis and prognosis power of the panel was evaluated and validated using a Kaplan–Meier curve, univariate and multivariable CPH, subgroup analysis. A nomogram containing the panel was developed. The relationships between the panel-based methylation risk and the immune landscape and genomic metrics were investigated.ResultsSixty-eight CpG sites were significantly correlated with the overall survival (OS) of BC patients, and based on the result of penalized CPH, a 28-CpG site based multi CpG methylation panel was found. The prognosis and diagnosis role of the panel was validated in the discovery set, validation set, and six independent cohorts, which indicated that higher methylation risk was associated with poor OS, and the panel outperformed currently available biomarkers and remained an independent factor after adjusting for other clinical features. The methylation risk was negatively correlated with innated and adaptive immune cells, and positively correlated with total mutation load, SCNA, and MATH.ConclusionsWe validated a multi CpG methylation panel that could independently predict the OS of BC patients. The Th2-mediated tumor promotion effect—suppression of innate and adaptive immunity—participated in the progression of high-risk BC. Patients with high methylation risk were associated with tumor heterogeneity and poor survival.

Abstract Cyclin‐dependent kinase‐like 2 (CDKL2), a new member of the cyclin‐dependent kinase family, may be involved in gastric cancer (GC) progression. Thus, we conducted this study to explore the clinical effect of CDKL2 in GC. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure CDKL2 levels in gastric tissues. The association of a high CDKL2 level with clinical and pathological characteristics, and the correlation between the CDKL2 level and disease‐free and overall survival were analyzed. Transfection was employed to overexpress CDKL2 in GC cells and to investigate the effect of CDKL2 overexpression on cell proliferation and invasion. Loss of CDKL2 was positively correlated with several clinical and pathological characteristics, and patients with a low CDKL2 level had significantly poorer disease‐free and overall survival than those with a high level (P = .005 and .001, respectively). Univariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model indicated that a low CDKL2 level was a prognosticator for inferior disease‐free survival (P = .007). Based on immmunoblotting data, AGS and HGC‐27 GC cells were chosen for CDKL2 overexpression. Cellular studies revealed that CDKL2 overexpression impaired cell proliferation and invasion. Loss of CDKL2 may serve as a biomarker for predicting GC patient outcomes and a potential therapeutic target for GC treatment.

StarCraft is a popular real-time strategy game that has been widely used as a research platform for artificial intelligence. Micromanagement refers to the process of making each unit perform appropriate actions separately, depending on the current state in the the multi-agent system comprising all of the units, i.e., the fine-grained control of individual units for common benefit. Therefore, cooperation between different units is crucially important to improve the joint strategy. We have selected multi-agent deep reinforcement learning to tackle the problem of micromanagement. In this paper, we propose a method for learning cooperative strategies in StarCraft based on role-based montonic value function factorization (RoMIX). RoMIX learns roles based on the potential impact of each agent on the multi-agent task; it then represents the action value of a role in a mixed way based on monotonic value function factorization. The final value is calculated by accumulating the action value of all roles. The role-based learning improves the cooperation between agents on the team, allowing them to learn the joint strategy more quickly and efficiently. In addition, RoMIX can also reduce storage resources to a certain extent. Experiments show that RoMIX can not only solve easy tasks, but it can also learn better cooperation strategies for more complex and difficult tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Due to the limited fast dynamic response of the dual proportional‐integral (PI) control strategy in sensorless speed control, a novel composite control strategy is proposed for sensorless control of the full speed range of the surface‐mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor. This strategy combines dual closed‐loop model predictive control (MPC) with a sliding mode observer (SMO) and a constant current‐frequency ratio (I‐f). The I‐f control scheme is employed in the low‐speed range, while the SMO is utilized for motor speed and rotor position estimation in the medium and high‐speed ranges, enabling the dual‐loop MPC. Furthermore, a new smooth switching method is proposed for transitioning between the two control methods. In addition, the MPC outer loop parameters were thoroughly analyzed and optimized for better dynamic performance of sensorless control. The steady‐state performance of this control strategy is compared to PI control and improved the dynamic responsiveness of the system. Experiments have verified the feasibility of this strategy. Under the control of the MPC outer loop, the steady‐state speed fluctuation of the motor is within 10 r/min. Compared to PI control, the motor settling time was reduced by 17% and 60% during the start‐up phase and after a sudden speed change, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, both experiments and computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the transport characteristics of transient high-temperature dust in a tee duct. The experimental results showed that there is a cavity downstream of the main duct. The simulation results showed that the second flow was generated downstream, and the high-temperature dust moved to the top of the main duct owing to thermal expansion and buoyancy. The temperature change in the particles depended on the site, and the temperature of the particles in the center was higher than that of the surrounding particles. The thermal expansion and buoyancy of high-temperature fluids affected the particle motion through the drag force. The deposition of particles was wing-like and was mainly present on both sides of the tee duct, which was five times the diameter of the main duct. This study provides theoretical guidance for the development of industrial ventilation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying soil amendments such as biochar has been proposed as a means to improve soil properties and reduce greenhouse gas emission from agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of biochar and straw application on rice yield, select soil properties, global warming potential (GWP), and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) over the 3-year period. The study treatments included control (CN), barley straw biochar (BC, 2,000 kg ha−1), barley straw (BS, 2,000 kg ha−1), and BC+BS (each 1,000 kg ha−1). During the rice-growing season, significant interactive effects of BC and BS treatment were observed in major soil properties. The average rice yields in BC, BS, and BC+BS treatments increased by 4.6%, 4.7%, and 18.7%, compared with CN treatment, respectively. Also, BC+BS treatment produced relatively stable yield during the 3-year study. Both BC and BS applications, either alone or in combination, lowered soil bulk density values compared to the CN treatment. Further, BC application produced a low total CH4 flux than other treatments. The total produced GWP over the 3 years occurred in the order: BS ≧ CN > BC+BS > BC treatment. These results clearly demonstrate the advantages of biochar and straw applications in improving rice yield and soil fertility while reducing GWP and GHGI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed a meta‐analysis to compare the effect of preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy on wound complications after resection of extremity soft tissue sarcoma (ESTS). A comprehensive computerised search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP, and Wanfang databases was conducted from their inception to August 2023 to identify studies comparing the effect of preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy on wound complications after ESTS resection. Two investigators independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of the articles. The meta‐analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Nine studies with 1271 patients were included, with 631 and 640 patients in the preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy groups, respectively. The results showed that the incidence of postoperative wound complications after ESTS resection was significantly higher with preoperative radiotherapy than with postoperative radiotherapy (27.26% vs. 12.03%, odds ratio [OR]: 2.88, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.12–3.91, p < 0.001). However, the rate of local recurrence of ESTS was significantly lower with preoperative radiotherapy than with postoperative radiotherapy (8.75% vs. 14.81%, OR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.36–0.91, p = 0.02), and the 3‐year overall survival was significantly higher in the preoperative radiotherapy group than in the postoperative radiotherapy group (82.24% vs. 70.04%, OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.05–3.71, p = 0.03). This pooled analysis suggests that although preoperative radiotherapy increases the rate of wound complications in ESTS compared with postoperative radiotherapy, it significantly reduces the rate of local recurrence after ESTS resection and improves the overall survival of patients. Owing to the limitations in the number and quality of the included studies, additional prospective cohort studies or randomised controlled trials are required to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]