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The development of efficient, stable, and cost‐effective heterogeneous catalysts for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of biomass‐derived furfural (FAL) is highly desired. Herein, series of N‐doped graphitic carbon embedded CoNi bimetallic alloy nanoparticles were fabricated and used for the CTH of FAL to value‐added furfuryl alcohol (FOL) with renewable isopropanol as hydrogen donor. Intrinsic catalytic activity examination indicated the catalytic performance of NixCoy@NGC (x:y=1 : 3, 1 : 1, 3 : 1) nanocatalysts were sensitive to their chemical compositions. The optimal Ni1Co1@NGC nanocatalyst with Ni/Co mole ratio of 1 : 1 afforded a largest FOL yield of 89.3% with nearly full conversion of FAL. The synergistic effect enabled by bimetallic alloys and the abundant N‐based Lewis base sites and surface Co−N active species were revealed based on systematic structural characterization, responsible for the excellent catalytic efficiency of bimetallic Ni1Co1@NGC nanocatalyst for CTH of FAL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fly ash content on the strength development of soft clay stabilized by one-part geopolymer (OPG) under K0 stress conditions. In this study, a novel curing stress system under K0 conditions was developed to investigate the strength development of OPG-stabilized soil when subjected to different stresses at various depths. Several combinations of fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) as aluminosilicate precursors triggered by solid NaOH (NH) with certain amounts of water were prepared as OPG binders. The OPG-stabilized soil samples were cured under vertical stresses of 0, 50, 100, and 200 kPa for 1, 3, 7, and 14 days. During curing, the skeleton improvement of OPG-stabilized soil was recorded by a tactile pressure sensor, and the strength development of samples under different curing stresses and curing times was evaluated by the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and shear wave velocity (VS). Additionally, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) were also used to illustrate the role and contribution of factors on the hydrate composition and microstructure, especially the role of the porosity. The results indicated that the strength of the sample increased substantially with a reduction in porosity due to the curing stress. Furthermore, the optimum content of FA (FA/GGBFS=0.1) could improve the workability and microstructure of OPG-stabilized soil samples, as reflected by the increase in the UCS and VS. Finally, the UCS prediction of OPG-stabilized soft clay under curing stress is proposed based on the shear wave velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a simple method to design experiments for drawing the light paths at a lens to find its effective focal length and principal planes. In the designed experiments, long-exposure photography was used to record the light scattered using a moving sheet of paper, thus revealing the light path. According to the proposed experimental method, (1) the effective focal length of a lens and (2) the principal planes of a lens can be measured. Moreover, the system is easy to build, inexpensive, and can promote students' understanding of geometric optics by providing an intuitive physical phenomenon. The work is also of pedagogic interest as it reveals a new simple experimental method to find the principal planes of a thick lens and its effective focal length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test diagnostic accuracy of changes in thickness (TH) and cross-sectional area (CSA) of muscle ultrasound for diagnosis of intensive care unit acquired weakness (ICU-AW). Fully conscious patients were subjected to muscle ultrasonography including measuring the changes in TH and CSA of biceps brachii (BB) muscle, vastus intermedius (VI) muscle, and rectus femoris (RF) muscles over time. 37 patients underwent muscle ultrasonography on admission day, day 4, day 7, and day 10 after ICU admission, Among them, 24 were found to have ICW-AW. Changes in muscle TH and CSA of RF muscle on the right side showed remarkably higher ROC-AUC and the range was from 0.734 to 0.888. Changes in the TH of VI muscle had fair ROC-AUC values which were 0.785 on the left side and 0.779 on the right side on the 10th day after ICU admission. Additionally, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Acute Physiology, and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores also showed good discriminative power on the day of admission (ROC-AUC 0.886 and 0.767, respectively). Ultrasonography of changes in muscles, especially in the TH of VI muscle on both sides and CSA of RF muscle on the right side, presented good diagnostic accuracy. However, SOFA and APACHE II scores are better options for early ICU-AW prediction due to their simplicity and time efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) deep beams were tested to investigate the shear performance, including peak loads, failure modes, mid-span deflections, and cracking patterns. The parameters include the shear span-to-depth ratio and the dimensions of the steel skeleton. The digital image correlation (DIC) technique was utilized for real-time recording of the in-plane strain and deformation. The experiment results show that the failure modes of specimens could be concluded as two forms: diagonal compression failure and shear failure. The DIC technique was proved to be efficient for tracking the development of crack patterns and recording the failure modes. The corresponding numerical analyses based on experiments were carried out and demonstrated to be a reliable method to simulate the shear response. Furthermore, the most significant parameters and their interactions were identified by finite element models parameter analysis. The steel skeleton height and shear span-to-depth ratio were the main parameters affecting shear capacity. A design formula based on the strength superposition method was presented. The calculated results were basically in agreement with the test results, where the mean and coefficient of variation were 1.04 and 0.09, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining Matrix Factorization (MF) with Network Embedding (NE) has been a promising solution to social recommender systems. However, in most of the current combined schemes, the user-specific linking proportions learned by NE are fed to the downstream MF, but not reverse, which is sub-optimal as the rating information is not utilized to discover the linking features for users. Furthermore, the existing combined models mainly focus on enhancing the representation learning for users by exploiting user–user network, yet ignore the representation improvement for items. In this paper, we propose a novel social recommendation scheme, called MF with dual-network collaborative embedding (MF-decoding), which jointly optimizes an integrated objective function of MF and NE, in which both MF and NE tasks can be mutually reinforced in a unified learning process. In particular, the explicit user–user network and the implicit item–item network are collaboratively used by MF-decoding to enhance the representation learning for users and items simultaneously. Our encouraging experimental results on three benchmarks validate the superiority of the proposed MF-decoding model over state-of-the-art social recommendation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes (Exos) are promising vehicles for brain drug delivery due to nanosize and the ability to breach the blood–brain barrier (BBB). But the low yield of natural exosomes limits its application for nanomedicine. The generation of bioinspired nanovesicles (BNVs) that mimicking Exos is attractive, but there is a lack of comparative evaluation of Exos and BNVs. Here, we perform the first head-to-head comparison study of Exos and BNVs for brain tumor drug delivery. We show that BNVs derived from brain-derived endothelial cells are competent alternative nanocarrier to natural exosomes. The drug-loading capacity of Exos and BNVs are similar, but the yield of BNVs is substantially higher (500-fold) than Exos. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded BNVs (BNV/DOX) and DOX-loaded Exos (Exo/DOX) showed similar pharmacokinetic profiles and prolonged circulation od DOX. Despite inconsistent mechanisms, BNV/DOX can across the BBB, and exhibit suppression effects similar to Exo/DOX on the progress of glioblastoma (GBM) in zebrafish and in vivo subcutaneous and orthotopic xenografts mice models, with minimal systemic toxicity. Findings from this head-to-head comparison study indicate that autologous BNVs is a effective alternative of Exos for brain tumor nanomedicine. [Display omitted] • bEnd.3 cells-derived bioinspired nanovesicles (BNVs) by serial extrusion method showed 500-fold higher yield than exosomes. • bEnd.3 cells-derived BNVs and exosomes can breach the blood–brain barrier via different mechanisms. • BNVs and exosomes contain doxorubicin exhibited similar effects on suppression of the progression of glioblastoma in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes are lipid bilayer membrane vesicles and are emerging as competent nanocarriers for drug delivery. The clinical translation of exosomes faces many challenges such as massive production, standard isolation, drug loading, stability and quality control. In recent years, artificial exosomes are emerging based on nanobiotechnology to overcome the limitations of natural exosomes. Major types of artificial exosomes include 'nanovesicles (NVs)', 'exosome-mimetic (EM)' and 'hybrid exosomes (HEs)', which are obtained by top-down, bottom-up and biohybrid strategies, respectively. Artificial exosomes are powerful alternatives to natural exosomes for drug delivery. Here, we outline recent advances in artificial exosomes through nanobiotechnology and discuss their strengths, limitations and future perspectives. The development of artificial exosomes holds great values for translational nanomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small number of pluripotent cells within early embryo gives rise to all cells in the adult body, including germ cells. Hence, any mutations occurring in the pluripotent cell population are at risk of being propagated to their daughter cells and could lead to congenital defects or embryonic lethality and pose a risk of being transmitted to future generations. The observation that genetic errors are relatively common in preimplantation embryos, but their levels reduce as development progresses, suggests the existence of mechanisms for clearance of aberrant, unfit or damaged cells. Although early human embryogenesis is largely experimentally inaccessible, pluripotent stem cell (PSC) lines can be derived either from the inner cell mass (ICM) of a blastocyst or by reprogramming somatic cells into an embryonic stem cell-like state. PSCs retain the ability to differentiate into any cell type in vitro and, hence, they represent a unique and powerful tool for studying otherwise intractable stages of human development. The advent of PSCs has also opened up a possibility of developing regenerative medicine therapies, either through PSC differentiation in vitro or by creating interspecies chimeras for organ replacement. Here, we discuss the emerging evidence of cell selection in human PSC populations in vivo and in vitro and we highlight the implications of understanding this phenomenon for human development and regenerative medicine. • Cell selection might play a role in human embryo development. • Pluripotent stem cells provide a platform for studying human development. • Cell competition occurs in human pluripotent stem cell cultures. • Cell competition is a barrier to interspecies chimerism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain-arranged grinding tool refers to a kind of grinding tool in which the position of abrasive grains on grinding tool can be controlled artificially. In this paper, a new method for fabrication of grain-arranged grinding tool is proposed, which is to directly coat the mask material (UV ink) on the metal substrate, and then by combining laser ablation and grain electroplating technology, the grinding tool with orderly arrangement of abrasive grains can finally be obtained. For the proposed fabrication method, the fabrication process is introduced in detail, mainly including the relationship between laser ablation parameters and the ablated mask hole depth, and the relationship between mask hole aspect ratio and the morphology of the plated layer in the mask hole. It is found that for laser ablation of UV ink, the critical laser power to remove the UV ink is 1.79 W, and the critical ablation threshold is 0.269 J/cm2. When the used laser power is 5.4–21 W, the relationship between laser power and the ablated hole depth is basically linear. For mask hole electroplating process, it is found that the unevenness of the plated layer in the mask hole and the growth rate of the plating layer increase with the decrease of the mask hole aspect ratio. By using the proposed method, grain-arranged grinding tool with 6 mm diameter, 95 μm grain size, and 150 μm grain spacing has been successfully fabricated, and its processing performance has been preliminarily validated by machining experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the relationship between the severity of diabetic retinopathy and the future risk of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), myocardial infarction (MI), congestive heart failure (CHF), and all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Retrospective cohort study. Patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent diabetic retinopathy screening via fundus photography. The relationship between retinopathy status and the 5-year risk of first-time CVA, MI, CHF, and all-cause mortality was investigated using multivariate Cox proportional hazards regressions that controlled for age, gender, race or ethnicity, hemoglobin A1c, duration of diabetes, high-density lipoprotein level, low-density lipoprotein level, history of hypertension, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, tobacco use, statin use, body mass index, urine microalbumin-to-creatinine ratio, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. Five-year risk of first-time CVA, MI, CHF, and all-cause mortality. Seventy-seven thousand three hundred seventy-six patients were included in this study. The average age was 59.8 years with 53.6% male, 31.2% non-Hispanic White, and 41.4% Hispanic patients. Diabetic retinopathy was significantly associated with all outcomes on multivariate analysis. Compared with patients with no retinopathy, those with minimal nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) had a higher risk of CVA (hazard ratio [HR], 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18–1.46), MI (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.15–1.46), CHF (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.19–1.40), and death (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.05–1.25). Similarly, patients with moderate to severe NPDR had a higher risk of each outcome (CVA: HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.29–1.89; MI: HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.57–2.34; CHF: HR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.66–2.18, and death: HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.32–1.82), as did patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (CVA: HR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.84–3.48; MI: HR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.26–2.83; CHF: HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.47–2.59; and death: HR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.36–2.56). Diabetic retinopathy is significantly associated with future risk of CVA, MI, CHF, and death, with higher degrees of retinopathy appearing to carry a heightened risk for each outcome. Retinal information may provide valuable insights into patients' risk of future vascular disease and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using radio frequency (RF) and unipolar medium frequency direct-current (DC) pulsed magnetron sputtering methods, (Ti/ZnO)N compositionally modulated nano multilayer films were prepared on the glass substrate, the effects of number of modulation cycles on the the structure and transparent conductive properties of the films were investigated. The results of X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, ultraviolet-visible transparent spectroscopy and Hall effect show that the prepared (Ti/ZnO)N compositionally modulated nano-multilayer films have hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO with preferred (002) orientation, and clear compositionally modulated nano-multilayer structure, in which the Ti and ZnO layers are flat, continuous and with uniform thickness, while the interface is clean and without diffusion. The average optical transmittance in the visible range is higher than 85% while the minimum resistivity is at about 2.63 x 10-2 Ω ⋅ cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as a severe opportunistic pathogen with multiple drug resistances. Finding effective vaccines against this pathogen is urgent. Although O‐polysaccharides (OPS) of K. pneumoniae are suitable antigens for the preparation of vaccines given their low levels of diversity, the low immunogenicity (especially serotype O2) limit their application. In this study, a general Escherichia coli host system is developed to produce a nanoscale conjugate vaccine against K. pneumoniae using the Nano‐B5 self‐assembly platform. The experimental data illustrate that this nanoconjugate vaccine can induce an efficient humoral immune response in draining lymph nodes (dLNs) and elicit high titers of the IgG antibody against bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The ideal prophylactic effects of these nanoconjugate vaccines are further demonstrated in mouse models of both systemic and pulmonary infection. These results demonstrate that OPS with low immunogenicity can be changed into an effective antigen, indicating that other haptens may be applicable to this strategy in the future. To the knowledge, this is the first study to produce biosynthetic nanoconjugate vaccines against K. pneumoniae in E. coli, and this strategy can be applied to the development of other vaccines against pathogenic bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental adaptabilities of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) play an important role for high-speed trains' reliability and comfort. The weathering of LDPE depends on environment factors, while the complexity of the weathering processes inhibits the evaluation of environmental weathering risks. To elucidate the correlation between weathering and environmental factors, and to predict the weathering risk of target areas of interest, three-year-long natural weathering tests were conducted at twelve natural exposure stations in China. Properties of weathered LDPE were compared and analysed using factor analysis. The fuzzy recognition method based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was established and used to predict the weathering risk based on environmental database. The results indicate that the factor scores can partitioned the atmospheric environments into five weathering risk grades. This article used the accumulated cumulative temperature of the daily maximum temperature for weathering risk evaluation, which is more scientific than the annual average temperature widely used and is useful for revealing the difference in LDPE weathering in Turpan and Korla. A comparative chart of LDPE's weathering risk in China was established by this fuzzy recognition method for the first time, which caters to the continuous extension of high-speed railway to new regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fault diagnosis is very important to ensure the efficiency and reliability of rotating machinery. Traditional fault diagnosis methods often require manual feature design and extraction, which is an exhausting work in industrial applications. Convolutional neural network (CNN)-based methods have presented a great potential to automatically extract and select representative features for fault diagnosis. In this article, a novel three-step intelligent fault diagnosis method is proposed based on CNN and Bayesian Gaussian mixture (BGM) for rotating machinery. In the fault dataset construction step, multiple binary training datasets are constructed to amplify the difference between one fault mode and the others using a defined fault labeling rule. In the fault feature extraction step, multiple binary classification tasks are, respectively, implemented to learn the representative features for each fault mode through a proposed group of CNN models based on the above-obtained training datasets. In the fault diagnosis step, multiple Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) are adopted to fit the data distributions of the learned fault features, and an BGM model based on GMM parameters and Bayesian network is designed to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between corresponding parameters and fault modes. Two case studies are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed method has a superior performance over the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase-coding methods have been widely used for three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement, which use sinusoidal phase-shifting patterns to recover wrapped phase and the stair phase-coding patterns to determine the fringe order. However, due to the system nonlinearity, random noises, and image blurring, the total number of codewords that can be used is limited. In order to increase the number of codewords, this article presents a two-digit phase-coding (TDPC) strategy, in which each fringe of the sinusoidal phase-shifting patterns corresponds to a two-digit codeword encoded in the phase-coding patterns. In this way, more codewords can be generated without increasing additional patterns. Experiments of the cup and sculptures have been carried out, and the results confirm that the TDPC method can recover the 3-D shape of objects more robustly. Meanwhile, the precision experiment of a standard ball proves the high accuracy of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative inference helps robots to complete large tasks with mutual collaboration in edge-assisted multi-robot systems. It is challenging to provide trusted edge collaborative inference in the presence of malicious nodes. In this article, we propose a blockchain-based collaborative edge knowledge inference (BCEI) framework for edge-assisted multi-robot systems. First, we formulate the inference process at the edge as the collaborative knowledge graph construction and sharing model. Second, to guarantee the trust of knowledge sharing, an efficient knowledge-based blockchain consensus method is presented. Finally, we conduct a case study on the emergency rescue application to evaluate the proposed framework. The experiment results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed framework in terms of latency and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the kinematic and static solutions for solving the static response of the beam column with nonlinear springs are presented by adopting the extended linear matching method (LMM). The extended LMM can be used to predict the displacement response of the beam-column system consisting of perfectly plastic and strain-softening materials. It is found that the kinematic solution generated by the extended LMM demonstrates a monotonic decrease for perfect plastic materials with certain restrictions on the yield surface. The potential energy of the system is proved to decrease with iterations for both perfect plastic and strain-softening materials if the loading multiplier remains constant. The extended LMM method is then applied to analyse the response of the pile system in a 3-leg offshore platform. An incremental procedure is recommended to determine the peak load for the soil exhibiting strain-softening. A displacement-control approach is used with the loading multiplier obtained from the variation of the potential energy. Good convergence of the method is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the kinematic and static solutions for solving the static response of the beam column with nonlinear springs are presented by adopting the extended linear matching method (LMM). The extended LMM can be used to predict the displacement response of the beam-column system consisting of perfectly plastic and strain-softening materials. It is found that the kinematic solution generated by the extended LMM demonstrates a monotonic decrease for perfect plastic materials with certain restrictions on the yield surface. The potential energy of the system is proved to decrease with iterations for both perfect plastic and strain-softening materials if the loading multiplier remains constant. The extended LMM method is then applied to analyse the response of the pile system in a 3-leg offshore platform. An incremental procedure is recommended to determine the peak load for the soil exhibiting strain-softening. A displacement-control approach is used with the loading multiplier obtained from the variation of the potential energy. Good convergence of the method is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an interweave cognitive radio system, cooperative spectrum sensing has been recognised as a key technology to enable secondary users to opportunistically access licensed spectrum band without harmful interference to primary users. At the same time, the unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with spectrum sensing and data transmission facilities is gaining more popularity in different applications. An unmanned aerial vehicle‐based interweave cognitive radio is investigated in which the unmanned aerial vehicle is used as a secondary user, but unlike the participation of multiple secondary users in traditional cooperative spectrum sensing, a virtual cooperative spectrum sensing model is introduced into the periodic spectrum sensing frame structure. Afterwards, the authors further propose an energy‐efficient virtual cooperative spectrum sensing with the sequential 0/1 fusion rule to reduce the average number of decisions without any loss in the detection performance. Sequentially, the authors formulate the optimisation of virtual cooperative spectrum sensing for unmanned aerial vehicle‐based interweave cognitive ratio system as the optimal sequential 0/1 fusion problem on the basis of the K‐out‐of‐N fusion rule and prove the formulated problem indeed has one optimal K, which yields the highest throughput. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the correctness of theoretical analyses and the effectiveness of the virtual cooperative spectrum sensing with the sequential 0/1 fusion rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telomerase acts as an important biomarker for tumor identification, and synthesizes telomeric repeats at the end of chromosome telomeres during the replicative phase of the cell cycle; thus, the expression level of telomerase changes as the cell cycle progresses. TERT mRNA expression and telomerase activity were significantly increased in over 80% of human cancers from tissue specimens. Although many efforts have been made in detecting the activity of TERT mRNA and active telomerase, the heterogeneous behavior of the cell cycle was overlooked, which might affect the accuracy of the detection results. Herein, the AIEgen-based biosensing systems of PyTPA-DNA and Silole-R were developed to detect the cellular level of TERT mRNA and telomerase in different cell cycles. As a result, the fluorescence signal of cancer cells gradually increased from G0/G1, G1/S to S phase. In contrast, both cancer cells arrested at G2/M phase and normal cells exhibited negligible fluorescence intensities. Compared to normal tissues, malignant tumor samples demonstrated a significant turn-on fluorescence signal. Furthermore, the transcriptomics profiling revealed that tumor biomarkers changed as the cell cycle progressed and biomarkers of CA9, TK1 and EGFR were more abundantly expressed at early S stage. In this vein, our study presented advanced biosensing tools for more accurate analysis of the cell-cycle-dependent activity of TERT mRNA and active telomerase in clinical tissue samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabidiol (CBD) exhibits anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties and is suggested to be effective in the pre-clinical and clinical treatment of illnesses of the central nervous system (CNS). Two major types of CNS glial cells, astrocytes and microglia, play critical roles in the development and pathogenesis of CNS diseases. However, the mechanisms by which CBD plays an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective role for these glial cells have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined the effects of CBD on the inflammatory response of mouse primary astrocytes and microglia. We also investigated whether the effect of CBD on cytokine release is mediated by the G protein coupled receptor 3 (GPR3), which was recently identified as a novel receptor for CBD. Our results showed that CBD inhibited inflammatory responses of astrocytes and microglia stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) ligand in vitro and in vivo. In addition, CBD reduced the phosphorylation of STAT3 and NF-κB signaling pathways in LPS-stimulated astrocytes. However, the inhibitory effect of CBD on pro-inflammatory cytokine production was independent of GPR3 expression in both types of glial cells. Thus, although CBD is effective in ameliorating the activation of astrocytes and microglia, its mechanism of action still requires further study. Our data support the concept that CBD may have therapeutic potential for neurological disorders that involve neuroinflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic tumors are classified into endocrine and exocrine types, and the clinical manifestations in patients are nonspecific. Most patients, especially those with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), have lost the opportunity to receive for the best treatment at the time of diagnosis. Although chemotherapy and radiotherapy have shown good therapeutic results in other tumors, their therapeutic effects on pancreatic tumors are minimal. A multifunctional transcription factor, Yin-Yang 1 (YY1) regulates the transcription of a variety of important genes and plays a significant role in diverse tumors. Studies have shown that targeting YY1 can improve the survival time of patients with tumors. In this review, we focused on the mechanism by which YY1 affects the occurrence and development of pancreatic tumors. We found that a YY1 mutation is specific for insulinomas and has a role in driving the degree of malignancy. In addition, changes in the circadian network are a key causative factor of PDAC. YY1 promotes pancreatic clock progression and induces malignant changes, but YY1 seems to act as a tumor suppressor in PDAC and affects many biological behaviors, such as proliferation, migration, apoptosis and metastasis. Our review summarizes the progress in understanding the role of YY1 in pancreatic endocrine and exocrine tumors and provides a reasonable assessment of the potential for therapeutic targeting of YY1 in pancreatic tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During mammalian brain development, neural progenitor cells proliferate extensively but can ensure the production of correct numbers of various types of mature cells by balancing symmetric proliferative versus asymmetric differentiative cell divisions. This process of cell fate determination may be harnessed for developing cancer therapy. Here, we test this idea by targeting KIF20A, a mitotic kinesin crucial for the control of cell division modes, in a genetic model of medulloblastoma (MB) and human MB cells. Inducible Kif20a knockout in both normal and MB-initiating granule neuron progenitors (GNPs) causes early cell cycle exit and precocious neuronal differentiation without causing cytokinesis failure and suppresses the development of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH)-activated MB. Inducible KIF20A knockdown in human MB cells inhibits proliferation both in cultures and in growing tumors. Our results indicate that targeting the fate specification process of nascent daughter cells presents a novel avenue for developing anti-proliferation treatment for malignant brain tumors. Runxiang Qiu et al find that conditional knockout of Kif20a, a regulator of cytokinesis and neural progenitor cell fate, induces early cell cycle exit and precocious neuronal differentiation of cerebellar granule neuron progenitors. They show that Kif20a depletion suppresses tumour formation in genetic and xenograft mouse models of medulloblastoma, indicating the value of targeting daughter cell fate specification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wave–particle duality relation derived by Englert sets an upper bound of the extractable information from wave and particle properties in a two-path interferometer. Surprisingly, previous studies demonstrated that the introduction of a quantum beamsplitter in the interferometer could break the limitation of this upper bound, due to interference between wave and particle states. Along the other line, a lot of efforts have been made to generalize this relation from the two-path setup to the N-path case. Thus, it is an interesting question that whether a quantum N-path beamsplitter can break the limitation as well. This paper systemically studies the model of a quantum N-path beamsplitter, and finds that the generalized wave–particle duality relation between interference visibility and path distinguishability is also broken in certain situations. We further study the maximal extractable information's reliance on the interference between wave and particle properties, and derive a quantitative description. We then propose an experimental methodology to verify the break of the limitation. Our work reflects the effect of quantum superposition on wave–particle duality, and exhibits a new aspect of the relation between visibility and path distinguishability in N-path interference. Moreover, it implies the observer's influence on wave–particle duality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most previous studies compared survival between left-sided and right-sided colon cancer without adjustment for clinicopathological parameters. We investigated the effect of sidedness on survival among patients with early-stage colon cancer, using a propensity score matching method. Methods: The 18 registry custom data within the SEER database were used to identify patients who were diagnosed with colon cancer between 2010 and 2014. A propensity score matching analysis was performed using the nearest neighbor method. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. A Cox proportional hazards model was applied to determine the prognostic factors. Results: In the unmatched cohort, 25,094 (35.72%) patients were diagnosed with left-sided colon cancer and 45,156 (64.28%) with right-sided colon cancer. After propensity score matching, each cohort included 5118 patients, and the clinicopathological characteristics were well balanced. In the unmatched cohort, left-sided colon cancer had superior all-cause (χ2=315, P<0.01) and cancer-specific (χ2=43, P<0.01) survival than right-sided tumors. However, in the matched cohort, no difference was observed for all-cause (χ2=0.7, P=0.4) and cancer-specific (χ2=0, P=0.96) survival between left and right colon cancer. The Cox model did not indicate sidedness as a prognostic factor. In the subgroup analysis, stage II right-sided colon cancer had a better survival outcome, while stage III left-sided tumors had a better survival outcome. Conclusions: After adjusting for clinicopathological characteristics in this study, sidedness showed no impact on survival in early-stage colon cancer. However, sidedness was associated with prognostic differences in stages II and III early-stage colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a decision-making system for precision marketing is presented to deal with real-world problems based on real e-business data collected in a company in Beijing. During the data preprocessing, the authors conducted a cleaning course to make sure the data to be analyzed in the latter part of the paper were credential. Based on the processed data, the authors analyzed consumer purchasing behaviors using three classic recommendation algorithms and made a performance comparison of the three algorithms. At the end of this paper, the authors proposed a series of precision marketing strategies which had been adopted by the data source company and had been proved to be effective in improving the performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐infrared (NIR) organic solid‐state lasers play an essential role in applications ranging from laser communication to infrared night vision, but progress in this area is restricted by the lack of effective excited‐state gain processes. Herein, we originally proposed and demonstrated the cascaded occurrence of excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer for constructing the completely new energy‐level systems. Cascading by the first ultrafast proton transfer of <430 fs and the subsequent irreversible second proton transfer of ca. 1.6 ps, the stepwise proton transfer process favors the true six‐level photophysical cycle, which supports efficient population inversion and thus NIR single‐mode lasing at 854 nm. This work realizes longest wavelength beyond 850 nm of organic single‐crystal lasing to date and originally exploits the cascaded excited‐state molecular proton transfer energy‐level systems for organic solid‐state lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐infrared (NIR) organic solid‐state lasers play an essential role in applications ranging from laser communication to infrared night vision, but progress in this area is restricted by the lack of effective excited‐state gain processes. Herein, we originally proposed and demonstrated the cascaded occurrence of excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer for constructing the completely new energy‐level systems. Cascading by the first ultrafast proton transfer of <430 fs and the subsequent irreversible second proton transfer of ca. 1.6 ps, the stepwise proton transfer process favors the true six‐level photophysical cycle, which supports efficient population inversion and thus NIR single‐mode lasing at 854 nm. This work realizes longest wavelength beyond 850 nm of organic single‐crystal lasing to date and originally exploits the cascaded excited‐state molecular proton transfer energy‐level systems for organic solid‐state lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The necessity of emergency surgery for severe spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SSICH) patients on long-term oral antiplatelet therapy (LOAPT) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and safety of emergency surgery for SSICH patients on LOAPT (SSICH-LOAPT patients). In this study, a retrospective review of patients admitted to our institution for SSICH from January 2012 to December 2018 was conducted. The collected data included demographic, clinical, and surgical information. The outcome was recorded at 3 months after primary hemorrhage. The outcome of SSICH-LOAPT patients receiving emergency surgery and conservative treatment were compared. The risk of postoperative intracranial bleeding (PIB) in operated SSICH-LOAPT patients was further investigated. A total of 522 SSICH patients were retrospectively reviewed, including 181 SSICH-LOAPT patients and 269 operated patients. The total mortality and in-hospital mortality were 40.6% and 19.3%, respectively. As compared with SSICH-LOAPT patients receiving conservative treatment, the operated SSICH-LOAPT patients showed a lower total (p = 0.043) and in-hospital mortality (p = 0.024). When compared with operated patients not on LOAPT, the operated patients on LOAPT exhibited a higher rate of PIB (OR, 2.34; 95% CI 1.14–4.79; p = 0.018). As demonstrated by the multivariate logistic analysis, dual antiplatelet therapy were independent risk factors associated with PIB in operated SSICH-LOAPT patients (OR, 3.42; CI, 1.01–11.51; p = 0.047). Despite of increasing risk of PIB, emergency surgery could improve the outcome of SSICH-LOAPT patients as it could be effective in reducing mortality. Dual antiplatelet therapy was the independent risk factor related to the PIB in operated SSICH-LOAPT patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cisplatin has strong broad‐spectrum anticancer activity and is one of the most effective anticancer drugs currently used. The clinical application of cisplatin has led to the resistance of cancer cells to cisplatin. Tachyplesin is an active, natural marine peptide with antitumour activity. In the present study, we investigated whether tachyplesin can be used in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) A549 and H460 cells as well as the cisplatin‐resistant human A549/DDP NSCLC cell line. The results revealed that tachyplesin treatment significantly inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in A549 and H460 cells and the combination of tachyplesin and cisplatin significantly suppressed migration and improved sensitivity to cisplatin in A549/DDP cells. Further mechanistic examination revealed that tachyplesin induced apoptosis in A549/DDP cells by increasing Fas, FasL and p‐RIPK1 levels. These results indicated that tachyplesin induces lung cancer death by activating the Fas, mitochondrial and necroptosis pathways. Tachyplesin could be developed as a candidate drug for cisplatin‐resistant NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased traffic volume in China has made it necessary to increase road capacities by widening embankments. Some of these widened embankments are located in thick soft ground that requires extra improvement beforehand. This paper presents a case study using the combined vacuum and surcharge preloading method to improve the thick soft clay foundation for an embankment widening project in Lianyungang, China. The soil improvement procedure used the combined vacuum (approximately 85 kPa) and surcharge (4.8 m in height) preloading method, the instrumentation scheme was first described and field monitoring (including the longitudinal crack along the current embankment) was also performed. After the combined vacuum and surcharge preloading, the ground settled more than 1.4 m, the average consolidation degree was more than 90%, and the cone and sleeve resistance of the soft clays increased by approximately 2–10 times. The water content, void ratio, and compression coefficient were significantly reduced while density, compression modulus, and cohesion increased substantially. These findings can be used to guide the design of the combined preloading method of the embankment widening project along the east coast of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to understand the dynamical collective performances is of particular significance in both theories and applications. In this paper, we are interested in investigating the combined influences of local interaction and processing delay on the asymptotic behavior in a particle model with local communication weights. With new observations, we show that the desired particle system undergoes both periodic flocking and periodic clustering behaviors when the processing delay crosses a threshold value and the eigenvalue 1 of average matrix is semi‐simple. In this case, the connectedness of the particle system may be absent. Also, the number of clusters is discussed by using subspace analysis. In results, some criteria on flocking and clustering emergence with exponential convergent rate are established by the standard functional differential equations analysis when the processing delay is small. When the processing delay reaches the threshold value, the system undergoes periodic flocking and periodic clustering emergence. It also shows that the processing time lags qualitatively change the emergent performances in a nonlinear way. Finally, we conclude this study with several numerical simulations that intuitively illustrate the validity of the theoretical results and address some discussions for both variable communication weight and distributed processing delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel two-axis solar tracker with parallel mechanism is proposed in this paper. A dynamic model is derived by using the virtual work principle and the consumed energy including the mechanical energy and motor energy loss is computed. Taking Beijing as the working location of the solar tracker, the energy consumptions of the parallel solar tracker and its corresponding serial solar tracker are compared based on the premise that the proposed solar tracker and its corresponding serial solar tracker have similar static stiffness. Mechanical energy consumption of the proposed tracker is reduced by 7.55% compared to the serial solar tracker. The motor energy loss of the parallel solar tracker is also significantly lower. This simple and low-energy consumption solar tracker is a good alternative to the traditional solar tracker with large energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aloe vera has been widely used in health and nutritional supplements in Chinese herbal medicine. Furthermore, Aloe vera production has been an emerging industry for making cosmetics and functional food. However, the reported adverse effects raised questions as to whether Aloe vera and its products were safe enough to be used in medicine and health care. In view of this, the safety evaluation of Aloe vera products before marketing is very important. The present study aimed to assess the toxicological profile of Aloe vera soft capsule (ASC), through acute, subacute toxicity and genotoxicity tests. Male and female ICR mice were received by oral gavage 15000 mg/kg bodyweight of ASC in the acute toxicity test. Male and female SD rats were fed on diet blended with different doses of ASC (equivalent to 832.5, 1665 and 3330 mg/kg bodyweight of ASC) for the subacute toxicity test. In the acute toxicity study, no mortality or behavioral changes were observed, indicating the LD50 was higher than 15000 mg/kg bodyweight. In the subacute toxicity test, no significant changes were observed in bodyweight, food consumption, hematological, biochemical or histopathological parameters in the rats exposed. These data suggested that ASC used in this study did not produce any marked subacute toxic effects up to a maximum concentration of 3330 mg/kg bodyweight. In the genotoxicity study, ASC showed no mutagenic activity in the Ames test and no evidence of potential to induce bone marrow micronucleus or testicular chromosome aberrations in ICR mice exposed to 10000 mg/kg bodyweight. Collectively, ASC could be considered safe before it was marketed as a laxative and moistening health food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bile duct invasion is a relatively rare event and is not well characterised in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It remains very difficult to diagnose HCC with bile duct tumour thrombus (BDTT) before surgery. Increasing evidence has revealed that inflammation plays a critical role in tumorigenesis. This study aimed to develop nomograms based on systemic and hepatic inflammation markers to predict microscopic BDTT (micro-BDTT) before surgery in HCC.Methods: A total of 723 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy as initial therapy between January 2012 and June 2020 were included in the study. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for micro-BDTT. The nomograms were constructed using significant predictors, including α-fetoprotein (AFP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), direct bilirubin (DB), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT). The prediction accuracies of the nomograms were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: AFP, ALP, DB, PNI, and γ-GT/ALT were independent risk factors for predicting micro-BDTT (P = 0.036, P = 0.004, P = 0.013, P = 0.012, and P = 0.006, respectively), which were assembled into the nomograms. The area under the ROC curve of the nomograms combining PNI and γ-GT/ALT for predicting micro-BDTT was 0.804 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.730-0.878). The sensitivity and specificity values when used in predicting micro-BDTT before surgery were 0.739 (95% CI: 0.612-0.866) and 0.781 (95% CI: 0.750-0.813), respectively.Conclusions: The nomogram based on combining systemic and hepatic inflammation markers is suitable for predicting micro-BDTT before surgery in HCC patients, leading to a rational therapeutic choice for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information metasurfaces, including digital coding and programmable metasurfaces, have reformed the design theory of metasurfaces from effective medium to coding pattern, and bridged the physical and digital world. Metasurface hologram has shown great potential in imaging and manipulating electromagnetic waves. In this work, bilayer information metasurfaces are proposed to achieve polarization‐encoded holograms in microwave regime. The designed metasurfaces consist of 3‐bit spin‐decoupled meta‐atoms, which possess ultrathin profiles (0.14λ0) and high cross‐polarization transmittance (over 0.8). The incident wave, which is right‐handed circularly polarized or left‐handed circularly polarized, is encoded with code "0" or "1". The spin‐decoupled design is combined with diffuse scattering and holographic technology. Based on this, a novel algorithm is proposed to generate coding sequences according to the code of incident wave, to achieve different functionalities for corresponding circularly polarized channels. In this way, polarization‐encoded holograms, including diffuse scattering holograms (code "00"), single channel holograms (code "01" or "10"), and spin‐selective holograms (code "11"), are achieved. Simulated and measured results show that the maximum imaging efficiency can reach up to 65.1%, verifying the high efficiency of this holographic technology. This work is expected to open a way of realizing more complicated and higher efficiency information metasurface holography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative filtering (CF) plays a central role in recommender systems, but often suffers from the data sparsity issue that dramatically degrades the recommendation performance. In this paper, we propose a Semi-Supervised Ensemble Filtering (SSEF) method to improve the recommendation performance by assembling three popular CF techniques in a co-training framework. Concretely, SSEF first initializes three weak predictors with labeled examples by three different CF algorithms independently. Two predictors generated by neighborhood methods are then merged, along with the remaining one generated by latent factor model, serve as two base recommenders, each of which labels the unlabeled examples for the other recommender during the co-training process. To exploit unlabeled data safely, the labeling confidence is estimated by validating the influence of the pseudo-labeled examples on the labeled ones. The final prediction is made by blending the outputs from the three predictors enhanced with unlabeled data. Extensive experiments on three public benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SSEF by comparing to a number of state-of-the-art CF techniques, including semi-supervised, ensemble, and side-information based solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-scale structures, as found in nature (e.g., bone and bamboo), hold the promise of achieving superior performance while being intrinsically lightweight, robust, and multi-functional. Recent years have seen a rapid development in topology optimization approaches for designing multi-scale structures, but the field actually dates back to the seminal paper by Bendsøe and Kikuchi from 1988 (Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 71(2): pp. 197–224). In this review, we intend to categorize existing approaches, explain the principles of each category, analyze their strengths and applicabilities, and discuss open research questions. The review and associated analyses will hopefully form a basis for future research and development in this exciting field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gardenia jasminoides var. radicans Makikno contains rich gardenia yellow pigment (GYP). In this study, the process of pigment extraction was optimized based on a Box–Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The absorbance and antioxidant activity (AA) were considered as responses. The result showed that the optimal extraction conditions were ethanol concentration 65.10%, liquid/solid ratio 10:1 ml/g, extraction time 59.85 min, and extraction temperature 60.04℃ for the maximal response values of absorbance (0.79) and AA (91.30%), respectively. Crude GYP was purified by the 13 different resins. The result showed that BJ‐7514 was suitable for purifying GYP with the absorption ratio of 95.4%. Moreover, the 80% of ethanol eluent is applicable on the BJ‐7514 with the desorption ratio of 91.93%. The major component of GYP (Crocin‐3) was isolated and identified from the purified GYP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broadband absorption enhancement effect in ultrathin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) films is investigated. It is achieved by inserting the MoS2 film between a dielectric film and a one-dimensional silver grating backed with a silver mirror. The broadband absorption enhancement in the visible region is achieved, which exhibits large integrated absorption and short-circuit current density for solar energy under normal incidence. The optical properties of the proposed absorber are found to be superior to those of a reference planar structure, which makes the proposed structure advantageous for practical photovoltaic application. Moreover, the integrated absorption and short-circuit current density can be maintained high for a wide range of incident angles. A qualitative understanding of such broadband absorption enhancement effect is examined by illustrating the electromagnetic field distribution at some selected wavelengths. The results pave the way for developing high-performance optoelectronic devices, such as solar cells, photodetectors, and modulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that associative recognition can be supported by familiarity through integrating more than two stimuli into a unit, but the role of unitization in recollection-based associative recognition remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to illustrate how the level of unitization (LOU) affected recollection-based associative recognition and to examine whether the unitization–congruence between original and rearranged picture pairs (UC) could have effect on the relationship between LOU and associative recognition. In encoding, participants were asked to learn related and unrelated picture pairs, and in retrieval, they needed to distinguish intact pairs from rearranged pairs. We also distinguished the LOU of the pairs based on its status at encoding or retrieval separately. The results showed that: (1) LOU-at-encoding could improve associative recognition through increasing recollection-based associative recognition selectively; (2) LOU-at-retrieval could improve associative recognition through increasing familiarity-based and recollection-based associative recognitions; (3) UC did not moderate the relationship between LOU and associative recognition. Hence, in future studies, researchers do not need to pay much attention to the construction of rearranged pairs to ensure that the LOU between original and rearranged picture pairs is matched. It greatly reduces the difficulty of materials selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large pulmonary artery aneurysm with severe pulmonary valve regurgitation due to the quadricuspid pulmonary valve (Type F) was found in a 54‐year‐old woman with fatigue and dyspnea on exertion, and in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III. The annulus plication and bicuspidization technique were successfully used for the pulmonary valvular reconstruction. Then, the main pulmonary artery was replaced with Dacron graft and the left pulmonary arterioplasty was performed. Postoperative echocardiography confirmed a satisfactory motion of the reconstructed pulmonary valve with trivial regurgitation and no stenosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease and the most frequent type of arthritis. This study aimed to identify the key miRNAs and genes associated with OA progression. Methods: The GSE105027 (microRNA [miRNA/miR] expression profile; 12 OA samples and 12 normal samples) and GSE48556 (messenger RNA [mRNA] expression profile; 106 OA samples and 33 normal samples) datasets were selected from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and miRNAs (DEMs) were analyzed using the limma and ROCR packages in R, respectively. The target genes that negatively correlated with the DEMs were predicted, followed by functional enrichment analysis and construction of the miRNA-gene and miRNA-transcription factor (TF)-gene regulatory networks. Additionally, key miRNAs and genes were screened, and their expression levels were verified by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: A total of 1696 DEGs (739 upregulated and 957 downregulated) and 108 DEMs (56 upregulated and 52 downregulated) were identified in the OA samples. Furthermore, 56 target genes that negatively correlated with the DEMs were predicted and found to be enriched in three functional terms (e.g., positive regulation of intracellular protein transport) and three pathways (e.g., human cytomegalovirus infection). In addition, three key miRNAs (miR-98-5p, miR-7-5p, and miR-182-5p) and six key genes (murine double minute 2, MDM2; glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta, GSK3B; transmembrane P24-trafficking protein 10, TMED10; DDB1 and CUL4-associated factor 12, DCAF12; caspase 3, CASP3; and ring finger protein 44, RNF44) were screened, among which the miR-7-5p → TMED10/DCAF12, miR-98-5p → CASP3/RNF44, and miR-182-5p → GSK3B pairs were observed in the regulatory network. Moreover, the expression levels of TMED10, miR-7-5p, CASP3, miR-98-5p, GSK3B, and miR-182-5p showed a negative correlation with qRT-PCR verification. Conclusion: MiR-98-5p, miR-7-5p, miR-182-5p, MDM2, GSK3B, TMED10, DCAF12, CASP3, and RNF44 may play critical roles in OA progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel STING agonist, CDGSF, ipsilaterally modified with phosphorothioate and fluorine, was synthesized. The phosphorothioate in CDGSF might be a site for covalent conjugation. Injection of CDGSF generated an immunogenic ("hot") tumor microenvironment to suppress melanoma, more efficiently than dithio CDG. In particular, immunization with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using CDGSF as an adjuvant elicited an exceptionally high antibody titer and a robust T cell response, overcoming the drawbacks of aluminum hydroxide. These results highlighted the therapeutic potential of CDGSF for cancer immunotherapy and the adjuvant potential of the STING agonist in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study is to explore the relationship between the ZBRK1/ZNF350 (Zinc finger and BRCA1-interacting protein with KRAB domain-1; also known as zinc-finger protein 350) gene polymorphism and early-onset breast cancer. Methods: The ZBRK1/ZNF350 gene exon detection analysis was performed with the direct sequencing and Snapshot methods in 80 cases of breast cancer (aged ≤ 40 years old) and 240 healthy subjects (aged ≤ 40 years old). Results: Totally 9 sequence variants were detected, including 5 missense mutations and 4 synonymous mutations, located at EXON3, EXON4 and EXON5, respectively. The rs4987241 and rs3764538 variants were published for the first time, while the remaining variants had been reported before. There were significant differences in the frequency distribution of family history between the breast cancer and control groups. Moreover, there were significant differences in the CT genotype frequency at the rs138898320 locus between the breast cancer and healthy control groups. Compared with the carriers of CC wild genotype at rs138898320, the risk of breast cancer was reduced by 88.3% in the CT mutant genotype carriers, with significant difference. In the stratification with no family history, compared with the carriers of CC wild genotype at rs138898320, significant differences were observed for the CT mutant genotype carriers. In the stratification with family history, there was no significant difference in the variation of rs138898320. Conclusion: The rs138898320 CT mutation genotype of ZBRK1/ZNF350 may reduce the risk of breast cancer, and the protecting effect would be increased in the stratification with no family history. Trial registration Not applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic metasurfaces are structured surfaces consisting of a thin array of subwavelength elements with engineered scattering properties, thus providing a promising means of holographic display by controlling the field distributions. However, the existing metasurface holography has limited capabilities in achieving 3-D fields with simultaneous features of high spatial resolution and energy efficiency due to the design methods. In this work, we present a transmissive metasurface to achieve polarization-dependent field distributions in 3-D space with both high resolution and efficiency. In the design, a new method that utilizes dyadic Green’s function (DGF) as the rigorous propagator is used. Using the method, the sources and fields are linked directly and can be located on arbitrary 3-D points with the intermediate spaces being equal or unequal. The design is successfully validated by full-wave simulations and experimental measurements. The broadband simulation results indicate that the design has a bandwidth of 0.8 GHz. This work demonstrates a feasible and simple route of field synthesis for real-world applications that require high resolution, high efficiency, and 3-D scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tunable dual-band terahertz absorber is designed and investigated. The unit cell of the proposed absorber consists of a graphene monolayer on a guided-mode resonant filter. The graphene absorber presents >40% absorption at two resonance frequencies, which is attributed to the guided mode resonances with different mode numbers. The electric field intensity distribution is analyzed to disclose the physical mechanism of such a dual-band absorption effect. Furthermore, the influence of optical properties of graphene, including Fermi level and relaxation time, on the absorption spectra are investigated. Finally, the influence of geometric parameters on the absorption spectrum is studied, which will provide useful guidance for the fabrication of this absorber. We believe that the results may be useful for developing the next-generation graphene-based optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(ADP-ribose) belongs to a momentous post-translational modification of eukaryotic nuclear protein. Protein poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation mediates numerous cell signalings and is related to some diseases. Poly(ADPribose) is currently available through enzymatic or chemical synthesis. Herein, we summarize the structure characteristics and recent developments in the synthesis of poly(ADP-ribose) from a chemical point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts offers great prospects in biomass conversion. • Controllable synthesis and structure regulation of LDHs nanomaterials briefly described. • Confinement synthesis strategies of LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts discussed in detail. • Typical microenvironment effects of LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts emphasized particularly. • Challenges and perspectives in this rapidly growing field illustrated pertinently. Rational design and targeted synthesis of efficient supported metal nanocatalysts for catalytic transformation of renewable biomass into value-added chemicals and fuels has attracted increasing attentions in heterogeneous catalysis. Precisely tailoring the surface microenvironment of supported metal nanocatalysts including geometric coordination environment and electronic state of metal active sites, especially for highly dispersed single atoms (SAs), nanoclusters (NCs) and nanoparticles (NPs), plays significant roles in improving catalytic performance for biomass conversion. Owing to the atomic-level uniform distribution of constituent metal species, flexible chemical compositions, unique confinement effect and topological transformation property, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) as a family of 2D layered nanomaterials, are believed to be ideal structure platforms to acquire highly dispersed supported metal nanocatalysts with well-designed surface microenvironments. Herein, classic synthesis approaches of LDHs precursors and typical confinement synthesis strategies of highly dispersed LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts (e.g. SAs, NCs, NPs) with specific surface microenvironments are systematically discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on specific microenvironment effects of LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts and their advanced applications for reductive, oxidative and reforming upgrading of various biomass-derived molecules with aim to reveal structure–property relationship and catalytic reaction mechanism. Finally, challenges and perspectives are illustrated to provide further guidance for developing high-performance LDHs-based metal nanocatalysts for efficient and sustainable biomass transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]