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Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be optimally managed from a healthcare point of view if detected at a prodromal stage. Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is known as prodromal AD, has attracted extensive attention and research. Objective: To identify the differences in cognitive function and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features between men and women with MCI on the basis of A/T/N classification system ("A" means amyloid-β biomarker, "T" means tau biomarker, and "N" means neurodegeneration biomarker as determined by clinical imaging (e.g., positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) or by the measurement of total tau protein (T-tau) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) and to further explore the correlation between them. Methods: 406 MCI subjects were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database and divided into male and female MCI groups. Differences in demographic characteristics, biomarkers, cognitive assessment performance, and regions of interest (ROIs) of structural MRI were compared between the two groups. The correlations between brain structural changes quantified by MRI and cognitive abilities were investigated through linear regression models. Results: Compared with male MCI subjects, females had significantly higher T-tau concentration in CSF. There were significant differences in ROIs between the sex groups. In the male MCI group, the average cortical thicknesses of the right posterior cingulate, right anterior cingulate and right supramarginal gyrus were more closely correlated with cognitive function. In the female MCI group, the volume of the right rostral anterior cingulate, and the surface area and average cortical thickness of the right isthmus of the cingulate gyrus were more closely correlated with cognitive function. Conclusions: Based on A/T/N classification system, the structural MRI data analysis was closely correlated with the difference of cognitive function from patients with prodromal AD in a sex-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the structural changes in hemicellulose and cellulose from sunflower seeds before and after roasting at 160°C, 190°C, and 220°C. Sugar composition, molecular weight, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetric, and NMR analyses were utilized to determine the structural properties of these polysaccharides and detect the volatile compounds. The results showed that roasting destroyed the microstructure of these hemicelluloses and cellulose. Glucose and arabinose of hemicellulose were more easily degraded than other sugars during roasting. The galacturonic acid content increased from 7.8% to 46.66% after roasting. The hemicellulose obtained at 220°C had a backbone of D‐xylose residues with a β‐(1→4)‐linkage. The molecular weight of cellulosic polysaccharides decreased with the increase of roasting temperature. The crystallinity increased from 28.92% to 31.86% revealing that mainly the amorphous regions of cellulosic polysaccharides were destroyed by roasting. After roasting, the volatile compounds of these polysaccharides were rich in furfural, which was produced by caramelization and the Maillard reaction, contributing to the characteristic aroma of roasted sunflower seeds. This study provides some information on the relationship between structural changes of polysaccharides and the formation of flavor during roasting sunflower seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the quantity and quality of global research on uveitis, visualize the research hotspots, and reveal the study trends in uveitis. Methods: This bibliometric analysis was performed with the data obtained from the Web of Science core collection (WoSCC) database and Scopus. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer were used to analyze and visualize study trends and hotspots. Citespace was used to conduct the cooperation and co-citation network analysis. Results: A total of 5837 and 7195 documents were exported for further analysis in WoSCC and Scopus, respectively. The USA has published the most articles related to uveitis (1627, 27.87%, WoS; 1979, 27.51%, Scopus) and accounted for the most frequency of total citations (42345 times total citations 35 900 times without self-citations in WoSCC database). Most of the papers focusing on uveitis were published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation (761, 13.04% within WoS; 793, 11.02% within Scopus). Additionally, novel biotherapy is the hotspot of uveitis research which also may be a sustained research interest in the future. Conclusions: An increasing trend of publications was found in uveitis research. The USA was the leading contributor in this field, and it was the center of cooperation network. Our study provided an overview of uveitis research, which may serve as a valuable reference and guide for stakeholders interested in uveitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pectin, a heteropolysaccharide derived from plant cell walls, is essential in the food, pharmaceutical, and environmental industries. Currently, citrus and apple peels are the primary sources for commercial pectin production. The yield and quality of pectin extracted from various plant sources significantly differ based on the extraction methods employed, which include physical, chemical, and biological processes. The complex structures of pectin, composed of polygalacturonic acid and rhamnogalacturonan, influence its physicochemical properties and, consequently, its functionality. As a common polysaccharide, pectin finds applications across multiple sectors. In the food industry, it acts as a gelling agent and a packaging material; in pharmaceuticals, it is utilized for drug delivery and wound healing. Environmentally, pectin contributes to wastewater treatment by adsorbing pollutants. Current research focuses on alternative sources, sustainable extraction methods, and multifunctional applications of pectin. Ongoing studies aim to enhance extraction technologies and broaden the applications of pectin, thereby supporting sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are massive amounts of civil aviation safety oversight reports collected each year in the civil aviation of China. The narrative texts of these reports are typically short texts, recording the abnormal events detected during the safety oversight process. In the construction of an intelligent civil aviation safety oversight system, the automatic classification of safety oversight texts is a key and fundamental task. However, all safety oversight reports are currently analyzed and classified into categories by manual work, which is time consuming and labor intensive. In recent years, pre-trained language models have been applied to various text mining tasks and have proven to be effective. The aim of this paper is to apply text classification to the mining of these narrative texts and to show that text classification technology can be a critical element of the aviation safety oversight report analysis. In this paper, we propose a novel method for the classification of narrative texts in safety oversight reports. Through extensive experiments, we validated the effectiveness of all the proposed components. The experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms existing methods on the self-built civil aviation safety oversight dataset. This study undertakes a thorough examination of the precision and associated outcomes of the dataset, thereby establishing a solid basis for furnishing valuable insights to enhance data quality and optimize information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce an age-structured SIS (susceptible-infectious-susceptible) epidemic model with random diffusion and advection, in which birth and transmission rates depend on individuals. First, the well-posedness of this model was obtained. Next, we established the existence and uniqueness of the nontrivial nonnegative steady state, and derived the basic reproduction number which is also a threshold for the existence of nontrivial nonnegative steady states. Then, we studied the local stability of the nontrivial nonnegative steady state. In particular, we determined the upper and lower bounds of the principal eigenvalue to better obtain the local stability. Finally, we investigated the asymptotic profiles of the principal eigenvalue and the nontrivial nonnegative steady state with respect to diffusion rate and advection rate, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruthenium (Ru) loaded catalysts show high activity and selectivity for ammonia (NH3) synthesis via electrochemical reduction of nitrate (NO3−), but their practical application is still restricted by their high cost and insufficient stability. Herein, a multi‐component electrocatalyst of Ru nanoclusters loaded on phosphorus‐doped/phosphate‐modified and oxygen vacancy (OV)‐rich Fe/Fe3O4 composite nanorods (Ru@P‐Fe/Fe3O4) to synergistically promote electrocatalytic NO3− reduction reaction (NO3−RR)‐to‐NH3 performance via strong metal‐support interaction (SMSI) is reported. Impressively, the best Ru@P‐Fe/Fe3O4 catalyst exhibits outstanding NO3−RR activity, selectivity, and durability in 0.1 M KNO3 + 0.5 M KOH solution, with an NH3 yield rate of 14.37 ± 0.21 mgNH3 h−1 cm−2 (1710.71 ± 25 mgNH3 h−1 mgRu−1) at −0.75 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), an NH3 Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 97.2% at −0.55 V vs. RHE, and a superior stability over 50 h, suppressing most of reported Fe‐based and Ru‐based electrocatalysts. The characterizations and theoretical calculations unveil that the SMSI between Ru nanoclusters and P‐Fe/Fe3O4 composite nanorods can promote the generation of OV, tune the electronic structure of Ru species, and stabilize Ru nanoclusters, thereby reducing the reaction energy barrier of NO3−RR‐to‐NH3, inhibiting the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction, and boosting the NH3 yield rate NH3 FE, and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste plastic polyethylene wax has been widely studied by researchers for its ability to improve the performance of asphalt pavement and its good economic benefits. This article selected new polyethylene wax (NPEW) and recycled polyethylene wax (RPEW) as warm mix agents (PEW) in an equal ratio, and added PEW and rejuvenator (LBS) to the virgin and aged blending asphalt to prepare polyethylene wax warm mix rejuvenated asphalt. The virgin and aged blended asphalt contained 20%, 30%, and 40% aged SBS-modified asphalt (AAM), respectively, to simulate the proportion of old asphalt in the actual road surface rejuvenation process. The temperature sensing performance, high and low temperature performance, and viscosity reduction effect of warm mix recycled asphalt with different PEW and AAM dosages were analyzed through the conventional test and Brookfield viscosity. The results show that the addition of AAM and PEW reduced the temperature sensitivity of warm mix rejuvenated asphalt. When the AAM content in warm mix rejuvenated asphalt was constant, with the increase of PEW content, the high-temperature deformation resistance and low-temperature crack resistance performance were significantly improved. When the content of AAM in warm mix rejuvenated asphalt was low, the addition of PEW effectively reduced viscosity. When the AAM content was 30% and the PEW content was 2%, warm mix rejuvenated asphalt had the best performance and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is associated with pronounced systemic inflammation, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are key components of this response. The primary objective of this study was to establish an NET-related scoring system for patients with HBV-ACLF. A prospective training cohort of 81 patients from the Beijing Ditan Hospital was included. The concentrations of NET markers (cell-free DNA, myeloperoxidase DNA [MPO-DNA], and citrullinated histone H3) in peripheral blood were quantified. Random survival forest, LASSO regression, and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify prognostic factors associated with 90-day mortality in ACLF patients and develop a nomogram for visualization, which was followed by evaluation in a validation cohort (n = 40). NET-related marker levels were significantly higher in the non-survival group than in the survival group (p < 0.05). The NET score was constructed by combining MPO-DNA, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and age data. The score's diagnostic effectiveness, assessed by the area under the curve, yielded values of 0.83 and 0.77 in the training and validation sets, respectively, markedly surpassing those of other established models (p < 0.05). In both groups, the 90-day mortality rates were 88.8% and 75.0%, respectively, for patients categorized as high risk and 18.0% and 12.5%, respectively, for those classified as low risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]