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Tree detection and canopy area measurement are important and difficult tasks in forest inventory, which are important for understanding forest stand structure. This study utilized remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) aerial photography technology to collect remote sensing images of forests in Xiong County, China, creating a dataset comprising 1200 images of six tree species. Based on this dataset, the paper proposes an optimized model, Att-Mask R-CNN, for canopy detection and segmentation. Att-Mask R-CNN outperforms the original models (Mask R-CNN and MS R-CNN) by achieving 65.29% mean average precision for detection, 80.44% mean intersection over union for segmentation, and 90.67% overall recognition rate for the six tree species. In addition, a pixel statistics method based on segmentation masks is introduced for estimating the vertical projected area of individual tree crowns, and comparisons between the measured and predicted vertical projected area of the crowns of six tree species (100 trees of each class) show an overall goodness-of-fit R2 of 85% and a relative root-mean-square error rRMSE of 12.81%. By using remote sensing images from RPAs and optimizing existing deep learning models, the detection and segmentation of individual tree canopies can be achieved, resulting in a more accurate understanding of forest structure, which provides scientific support for forest management and resource monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance the oxidation resistance and electrical properties of interconnects for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), three Co–Ni alloy coatings with varying contents of Fe doping were prepared onto SUS 430 substrate using electroplating method and oxidized in air at 800 °C for 1000 h. The experimental results demonstrated that the alloy coating significantly enhanced both the oxidation resistance and electrical properties of the interconnect substrate. The multi-layer oxidation structure blocked Cr from diffusing outward. Notably, the (Co,Fe) 3 O 4 /(Ni,Co)O in the oxidized layer of 5% Fe doped Co–Ni coated steel completely transformed into (Fe,Co,Ni) 3 O 4 spinel layer after long term oxidation, which had the lowest activation energy and the strongest ability of restricting oxygen diffusion inward. Thus, the 5% Fe doped Co–Ni coated steel showed superior oxidation resistance (k p = 8.76 × 10−14 g2 cm−4 s−1) and excellent electrical properties (ASR = 13.19 mΩ cm2) following oxidation for 1000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dots (CDs) are luminescent carbon nanoparticles with significant potential in analytical sensing, biomedicine, and energy regeneration due to their remarkable optical, physical, biological, and catalytic properties. In light of the enduring ecological impact of non-biomass waste that persists in the environment, efforts have been made toward converting non-biomass waste, such as ash, waste plastics, textiles, and papers into CDs. This review introduces non-biomass waste carbon sources and classifies them in accordance with the 2022 Australian National Waste Report. The synthesis approaches, including pre-treatment methods, and the properties of the CDs derived from non-biomass waste are comprehensively discussed. Subsequently, we summarize the diverse applications of CDs from non-biomass waste in sensing, information encryption, LEDs, solar cells, and plant growth promotion. In the final section, we delve into the future challenges and perspectives of CDs derived from non-biomass waste, shedding light on the exciting possibilities in this emerging area of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Rhizosphere microorganisms play an important role in promoting plant growth and maintaining soil health. Bacillus altitudinis LZP02 (LZP02) is an efficient plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium that interacts closely with rice radicals. However, the mechanisms mediating the rhizosphere interactions of beneficial strains of microorganisms in native soil are mostly unclear. Methods: This study analysed the rhizosphere-enriched taxonomic and functional properties of the rhizosphere-associated microbiome and determined how they were affected by LZP02 using metagenome sequencing and ITS sequencing after the inoculation of LZP02 in soil. And microorganisms from the rice rhizosphere were identified and cultivated using high-throughput sequencing. Results: LZP02 stimulated some beneficial bacteria, such as Novosphingobium, Acidovorax, Sphingomonas, and Devosia, to the rhizosphere. The enrichment of functional attributes, nitrogen metabolism and bacterial chemotaxis demonstrated an increase in active microbe-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. This study showed that LZP02 stimulated plant growth in three ways: (1) by increasing the relative abundance of most rhizosphere-enriched genus; (2) by increasing the relative abundance of the functional attributes involved in microbe-microbe interactions; and (3) by enriching functional components that are essential for plant fitness, such as nitrogen fixation and bacterial chemotaxis in the rhizosphere microbiome. Finally, inoculation of enriched single strains or synthetic consortia isolated from the radical-associated microbiome using high-throughput cultivation could improve plant growth. Conclusion: This study proposes a new mechanism by which LZP02 influences the nitrogen metabolism of rhizosphere microorganisms and bacterial chemotaxis for rice growth by reshaping the rhizosphere microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the following biharmonic Choquard-type problem Δ 2 u - β Δ u = λ u + (I μ ∗ F (u)) f (u) , in R 4 , ∫ R 4 | u | 2 d x = c 2 > 0 , u ∈ H 2 (R 4) , where β ≥ 0 , λ ∈ R , I μ = 1 | x | μ with μ ∈ (0 , 4) , F(u) is the primitive function of f(u), and f is a continuous function with exponential critical growth. By using the mountain-pass argument, we prove the existence of radial ground-state solutions for the above problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation classification, biomass assessment, and wildfire dynamics are interconnected wildfire-ecosystem components. The Chongli District, located in Zhangjiakou City, was the venue for skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Its high mountains and dense forests create a unique environment. The establishment of alpine ski resorts highlighted the importance of comprehensive forest surveys. Understanding vegetation types and their biomass is critical to assessing the distribution of local forest resources and predicting the likelihood of forest fires. This study used satellite multispectral data from the Sentinel-2B satellite to classify the surface vegetation in the Chongli District through K-means clustering. By combining this classification with a biomass inversion model, the total biomass of the survey area can be calculated. The biomass inversion equation established based on multispectral remote sensing data and terrain information in the Chongli area have a strong correlation (shrub forest R2 = 0.811, broadleaf forest R2 = 0.356, coniferous forest R2 = 0.223). These correlation coefficients are key indicators for our understanding of the relationship between remote sensing data and actual vegetation biomass, reflecting the performance of the biomass inversion model. Taking shrubland as an example, a correlation coefficient as high as 0.811 shows the model's ability to accurately predict the biomass of this type of vegetation. In addition, through multiple linear regression, the optimal shrub, broadleaf, and coniferous forest biomass models were obtained, with the overall accuracy reaching 93.58%, 89.56%, and 97.53%, respectively, meeting the strict requirements for survey accuracy. This study successfully conducted vegetation classification and biomass inversion in the Chongli District using remote sensing data. The research results have important implications for the prevention and control of forest fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, using variational methods, we obtain that the existence of a nontrivial solution for a fractional (p, q)-Kirchhoff type problem with a generalized Choquard nonlinearity, a critical Hardy–Sobolev term and magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the security risk of projects in high-risk areas is particularly important. This paper develops a security risk assessment model for projects in high-risk areas based on the target loss probability model and Bayesian game model. This model is modeled from the perspective of attack-defense confrontation and addresses the issue that traditional risk assessment focuses on the analysis of the attacker yet neglects to analyze the defender—the defender's optimum defensive information is not quantitatively determined. The risk level, optimum defensive resource value, and optimum defensive strategy of the project are determined through the analysis of a project in the high-risk area. This enables the project's risk manager to adjust the defensive resources reasonably and optimally, confirming the objectivity and feasibility of the model and offering a new benchmark for security risk assessment, which has significant practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BRAF is one of the most frequently mutated oncogenes, with an overall frequency of about 50%. Targeting BRAF and its effector mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) is now a key therapeutic strategy for BRAF-mutant tumors, and therapies based on dual BRAF/MEK inhibition showed significant efficacy in a broad spectrum of BRAF tumors. Nonetheless, BRAF/MEK inhibition therapy is not always effective for BRAF tumor suppression, and significant challenges remain to improve its clinical outcomes. First, certain BRAF tumors have an intrinsic ability to rapidly adapt to the presence of BRAF and MEK1/2 inhibitors by bypassing drug effects via rewired signaling, metabolic, and regulatory networks. Second, almost all tumors initially responsive to BRAF and MEK1/2 inhibitors eventually acquire therapy resistance via an additional genetic or epigenetic alteration(s). Overcoming these challenges requires identifying the molecular mechanism underlying tumor cell resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors and analyzing their specificity in different BRAF tumors. This review aims to update this information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Meconium is a common finding in amniotic fluid and placental specimens, particularly in term and post-term pregnancies. The objective of this paper was to perform a meta-analysis to examine the impact of endotracheal suctioning on the occurrence of meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS), mortality, and complications. Study Design PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane library were systematically searched for comparative studies. Odds ratios (ORs), weighted mean differences (WMDs), and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to compare the outcomes. Results Twelve studies were included in the meta-analysis. There were no significant impacts of endotracheal suctioning on the occurrence of MAS (OR = 3.05, 95% CI: 0.48–19.56), mortality (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 0.35–4.44), the need for mechanical ventilation (OR = 4.20, 95% CI: 0.32–54.72), the occurrence of pneumothorax (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.34–2.85), persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 0.58–2.98), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.52–1.30), and length of stay (WMD = −0.11, 95% CI: −0.99–0.77). Conclusion Routine endotracheal suctioning at birth is not useful in preventing MAS, mortality, mechanical ventilation, PPHN, HIE, and prolonged length of stay in neonates born through MSAF. Key Points Routine suctioning is not recommended for newborns. Endotracheal aspiration is not beneficial for MAS. Future research may focus on selected neonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assume that the class of all Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat modules is closed under extensions. We define a notion of Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat dimension for complexes and consider equivalent characterizations of the finiteness of Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat dimension of complexes. Furthermore, in addition, assume that R is a right coherent ring. We construct the relative singularity category with respect to Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat modules, as the triangulated quotient of the triangulated subcategory of Db(R) consisting of all complexes with both finite Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat dimension and cotorsion dimension by the bounded homotopy category of flat-cotorsion modules, and show that the relative singularity category is triangulated equivalent to the stable category of the Frobenius category consisting of all Gorenstein (ℒ,풜)-flat and cotorsion modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion migration is a notorious phenomenon observed in ionic perovskite materials. It causes several severe issues in perovskite optoelectronic devices such as instability, current hysteresis, and phase segregation. Here, we report that, in contrast to lead halide perovskites (LHPs), no ion migration or phase segregation was observed in tin halide perovskites (THPs) under illumination or an electric field. The origin is attributed to a much stronger Sn‐halide bond and higher ion migration activation energy (Ea) in THPs, which remain nearly constant under illumination. We further figured out the threshold Ea for the absence of ion migration to be around 0.65 eV using the CsSnyPb1‐y(I0.6Br0.4)3 system whose Ea varies with Sn ratios. Our work shows that ion migration does not necessarily exist in all perovskites and suggests metallic doping to be a promising way of stopping ion migration and improving the intrinsic stability of perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion migration is a notorious phenomenon observed in ionic perovskite materials. It causes several severe issues in perovskite optoelectronic devices such as instability, current hysteresis, and phase segregation. Here, we report that, in contrast to lead halide perovskites (LHPs), no ion migration or phase segregation was observed in tin halide perovskites (THPs) under illumination or an electric field. The origin is attributed to a much stronger Sn‐halide bond and higher ion migration activation energy (Ea) in THPs, which remain nearly constant under illumination. We further figured out the threshold Ea for the absence of ion migration to be around 0.65 eV using the CsSnyPb1‐y(I0.6Br0.4)3 system whose Ea varies with Sn ratios. Our work shows that ion migration does not necessarily exist in all perovskites and suggests metallic doping to be a promising way of stopping ion migration and improving the intrinsic stability of perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speech listeners focus on a speaker's face to acquire different information in social communication. Fixation on the mouth associates with language processing and attention to the eyes is mainly driven by social/emotional cues. Here, we investigated how selective attention to the eyes and mouth would vary with language-emotion interaction during speech processing when unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals [Chinese, the first language (L1); English, a later-learned language (LX) of upper-intermediate proficiency] viewed a speaker narrating stories of different valence in their L1 and LX. Results showed that when listening to negative stories in Chinese relative to English, bilinguals attended to the eyes more, indicating that LX emotionality is weaker than that in L1, reducing gaze to the eyes where human adults primarily seek for emotional cues. In Chinese, compared with neutral speech, both positive and negative stories increased mouth attention and this effect was not observed in English, suggesting a particularly important role of the mouth in processing emotional information in speech and confirming emotionality reduction in LX. Our study reveals for the first time how linguistic and emotional cues integrated in speech alters attention allocation on speakers’ face to facilitate both speech comprehension and emotional perception in social communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the existence and nonexistence of solutions to the fractional Kirchhoff equation with an external potential V and doubly critical exponents. Under suitable assumptions on V, by using some energy estimates, we obtain the effect of exponent p on the existence of constrained minimizers, that is, the relationship between the existence of solutions on the L 2 -normalized manifold and p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate Na5H5.68 [Na0.17Rh0.83III(C6H8N2)2Cl2]2(C8H8N2)2[As4W40O140Rh4IV(C6H4N2S)2]·nH2O (1) containing 5.66 Rh atoms is prepared; to our knowledge, it owns the largest number of Rh atoms in the Rh-POM family. Compound 1 demonstrates good catalytic performance in the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline and the oxidation of aniline to azobenzene under mild conditions. Moreover, catalyst 1 exhibits high activity, excellent stability and recyclability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An 8-week feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary protein to lipid ratio on fish growth performance, digestive enzyme activity, body composition, serum biochemistry, immunity, and antioxidant capacity of Carassius auratus var. Pengze juveniles. Nine experimental diets were formulated in a 3 × 3 factorial design to contain three protein levels (30%, 35%, and 40%) and three lipid levels (5%, 8%, and 11%), with protein-to-energy (P/E) ratios ranging 19.2–27.1 mg/kJ and named as Diet 1 (30/5), Diet 2 (30/8), Diet 3 (30/11), Diet 4 (35/5), Diet 5 (35/8), Diet 6 (35/11), Diet 7 (40/5), Diet 8 (40/8), and Diet 9 (40/11), respectively. Each diet was randomly assigned to triplicate groups of 20 fish per cylindrical fiberglass tank. The fish fed with Diet 4 had the highest specific growth rate (SGR) among the 9 groups. The whole-body lipid content increased significantly with increasing dietary lipid levels regardless of dietary protein content (P < 0.05), whereas moisture content showed an opposite trend (P < 0.05). The highest values of activities of serum lysozyme (LZM) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) were detected in the fish fed Diet 4 (35/5), whereas malondialdehyde (MDA) was lowest in the fish fed Diet 4. In addition, serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were the lowest, while high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein to total cholesterol ratio (HDL-C/TC) were the highest in the Diet 4 group. The results indicate that a combination of 35.1% protein and 5.1% lipid with dietary CP/GE (mg/kJ) ratio of 24.0 is optimal for the culture of Carassius auratus var. Pengze juveniles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanoluminescence (ML) materials featuring photon emission under mechanical stimulation have attracted the attention of scientists doing researches on structure monitoring, stress sensing, anti-counterfeiting and imaging. In this study, a novel series of ML green phosphors Sr 2- x Ga 2 GeO 7 : x Tb3+ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) have been synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state method for the first time. Their crystal structure, optical properties and attenuation profiles have been investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that the sample is tetragonal with a space group of P 4 ‾ 2 1 m , and Tb3+ partially replaces the lattice position of Sr2+ in the Sr 2 Ga 2 GeO 7 crystals. The green ML emission mechanism is attributable to the typical 5D 4 → 7F 5 transition of Tb3+ ions, similar to persistent luminescence (LPL) and the photoluminescence (PL). To better understand the mechanism of potential LPL and ML in this system, the trap regulation is comprehensively investigated by a series of thermoluminescence (TL) measurements. • Stable and bright green mechanoluminescence is realized in a new host compound with Tb3+ doping. • Its mechanoluminescence mechanism associated with the energy trap is proposed. • The material shows potential in mechano-optical sensing applications such as implementation of writing anti-counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Note: Konjac glucomannan with different molecular weight and the digestive enzyme molecules are depicted by spheres and small irregular shapes, respectively. The arrows represent the digestive enzyme diffusion trajectories. The increased molecular weight and the degree of crowding of konjac glucomannan results in changes in the kinetics and conformation of digestive enzyme molecules. [Display omitted] • The MMC effect induced by KGM could be regulated by the change of MW. • The stronger MMC induced by KGM had a higher ability to inhibit the digestion. • MMC induced by KGM decreased the Michaelis-Menten constants of digestive enzymes. • MMC induced by KGM changed the conformation of digestive enzymes. Konjac glucomannan (KGM) can significantly prolong gastrointestinal digestion. However, it is still worth investigating whether the macromolecular crowding (MMC) induced by KGM is correlated with digestion. In this paper, the MMC effect was quantified by fluorescence resonance energy transfer and microrheology, and the digests of starch, protein, and oil were determined. The digestive enzymes were analyzed by enzyme reaction kinetic and fluorescence quenching. The results showed that higher molecular weight (604.85 ∼ 1002.21 kDa) KGM created a larger MMC (>0.8), and influenced the digestion of macronutrients; the digests of starch, protein, and oil all decreased significantly. MMC induced by KGM decreased the Michaelis-Menten constants (K m and V max) of pancreatic α-amylase (PPA), pepsin (PEP), and pancreatic lipase (PPL). The larger MMC (>0.8) induced by KGM resulted in the decrease of fluorescence quenching constants (K sv) in PPA and PPL, and the increase of K sv in PEP. Therefore, varying degrees of MMC induced by KGM could play a role in regulating digestion and the inhibitory effect on digestion was more significant in a relatively more crowded environment induced by KGM. This study provides theoretical support for the strategies of nutrient digestion regulation from the perspective of MMC caused by dietary fiber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co Ni and 5% Fe doping Co Ni alloy coatings are prepared on SUS 430 substrates as interconnect protect layers for solid oxide fuel cells by electroplating. The electrical characteristics and oxidation resistance of interconnects are enhanced by the alloy coatings after they are oxidized in air at 800 °C for 1000 h and the Co-Ni-Fe alloy coatings showing the better effect. Cr is unable to diffuse outward owing to the multi-layer oxidation structure. Addition of Fe to Co Ni alloy coatings leads to the formation of a (Fe,Co,Ni) 3 O 4 spinel layer with lower activation energy and stronger ability to restrict oxygen diffusion inward. • Two interconnect protective coatings were prepared by electroplating method. • The multilayer oxidized structure prevented the outward diffusion of Cr. • Co-Ni-Fe coated steels exhibited excellent oxidation resistance and lower ASR. • Co-Ni-Fe converted coatings were further characterized by TEM and EPMA. • (Fe,Co,Ni) 3 O 4 layer had excellent electrical properties and thermodynamic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the performance of the Borda counting algorithm in a non-parametric model. The algorithm needs to utilize probabilistic rankings of the items within $m$ -sized subsets to accurately determine which items are the overall top- $k$ items in a total of $n$ items. The Borda counting algorithm simply counts the cumulative scores for each item from these partial ranking observations. This generalizes a previous work of a similar nature by Shah et al. using probabilistic pairwise comparison data. The performance of the Borda counting algorithm critically depends on the associated score separation $\Delta _{k}$ between the $k$ -th item and the $(k+1)$ -th item. Specifically, we show that if $\Delta _{k}$ is greater than certain value, then the top- $k$ items selected by the algorithm is asymptotically accurate almost surely; if $\Delta _{k}$ is below certain value, then the result will be inaccurate with a constant probability. In the special case of $m=2$ , i.e., pairwise comparison, the resultant bound is tighter than that given by Shah et al., leading to a reduced gap between the error probability upper and lower bounds. These results are further extended to the approximate top- $k$ selection setting. Numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the Borda counting algorithm, compared with the spectral MLE-based algorithm, particularly when the data does not necessarily follow an assumed parametric model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensity of some pixels of the captured fringe will be saturated when fringe projection profilometry is used to measure objects with high reflectivity, which will significantly affect the reconstruction of the measured object. In this paper, we propose a fringe pattern inpainting method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) denoiser prior guided by additional information from a fringe captured in short exposure time. First, a binary mask obtained by Otsu algorithm from the modulation information of the short exposure fringe is used to detect the high-saturation region in the normal exposure fringe. Then, the corrected gray-scales of the region of the short exposure fringe selected by the mask are inserted in the saturated region of the normal fringe to form an initial fringe for iteration. At last, fringe pattern inpainting is achieved by using a CNN denoiser prior. The correct phase can be reconstructed from the inpainted fringes. The computer simulation and experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we propose a new method that combines the support vector machine (SVM) and the long short-term memory (LSTM) model utilizing the theory of quotient space to predict the price of gold by leveraging the price factors that have supposedly an impact on the gold price. The Pearson correlation coefficient is employed to measure the relations between nine price factors and gold price. The five price factors with larger correlation coefficients are picked. Then, by utilizing the Granger causality test, the gold price may change concerning the two price factors when time is a concern, which results in combining the results of the correlation analysis with the results of Granger causality leading to a total of seven price factors. Also, the gold price can be divided into the quarters of the year according to the theory of the quotient space and temporal attribute. With three granularities per month, a 3-layer quotient space is constructed based on the synthesized and calculated granularities. The proposed method provides the prediction results that are compared with the predicted values of some grey models (GM) and the actual gold price, respectively. The results suggested that the prediction results of gold price have a comparable lower error measurement and perform better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat-embryo globulin (WEG) has been shown to confer health benefits, however, it often forms aggregates during industrial production, which decrease its quality and efficacy. In this study, electrostatic interaction between chitosan (CS) and the protein was used to stabilize WEG. Initially, it was observed that the solubility of WEG was lowest in the pH range of 4–5, and its isoelectric point was 4.70. Next, the optimal preparation conditions for CS-WEG complex were pH of 5.903, combination ratio of 1.05, and ionic strength of 77.070 mM. Finally, characterization of the zeta-potential, particle size, rheological properties and fluorescence microscopy of the composite, it was found that addition of CS significantly increased the zeta potential, reduced poly dispersity index, and reduced the particle size to a certain extent. Moreover, addition of CS caused shear thinning and increased viscosity of the complex, but decreased the dispersion stability over time. In summary, these results revealed that CS mainly increased the apparent viscosity and the electrostatic interaction of WEG to improve the dispersion stability when it slowly polymerized with WEG. This study provides important ideas for improving industrialized production of WEG. • Centrifugal acceleration instability predicted the storage stability of WEG. • A certain concentration of ionic strength was conducive for WEG stabilization. • CS improved WEG stability by strong electrostatic interaction and adhesion forces. • The strong water absorption of CS delayed the disaggregation of WEG after 24 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: HS-10234, a novel prodrug of tenofovir (TFV), functions by inhibiting nucleotide reverse transcriptase against retroviral infections including hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As it is a possible substitute for TFV co-administration with emtricitabine, determining the drug-drug interactions (DDI) between HS-10234 and emtricitabine therapy will be helpful for researchers to design and conduct future phase II/III studies and merits careful examination in the era of evolving new combination antiretroviral therapy regimens. Methods: We conducted an open-label, two-sequence, two-period, self-controlled phase I trial that enrolled 36 healthy volunteers randomized into two groups (group 1 and group 2). Eighteen subjects in group 1 were orally administered HS-10234 at a 25-mg daily dose for 7 days during period 1 (D1–D7) followed by co-administration of emtricitabine at a 200-mg dose once daily (QD) for 7 additional days during period 2 (D8–D14). Participants in group 2 were orally administered emtricitabine 200 mg QD for 7 days during period 1 (D1–D7) and then co-administered HS-10234 25 mg QD for 7 additional days during period 2 (D8–D14). Pharmacokinetics (PK) of HS-10234 and emtricitabine were characterized when administered alone and in combination. The concentrations of HS-10234 and its metabolites TFV and emtricitabine were determined using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS)/MS. Peripheral blood monocyte cells (PBMCs) were isolated for detection of intracellular concentrations of HS-10234's active metabolite, intracellular tenofovir diphosphate (TFV-DP) pre-dose and 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 h post-dose on D7 and D14 in group 1. WinNonlin software was used to calculate PK parameters. Results: After multiple-dose administration of HS-10234 with emtricitabine, the AUC0–tau of HS-10234 and TFV-DP was 1.327- and 1.403-fold higher than that with HS-10234 administration alone. The Cmax and AUC0–tau were increased 1.120- and 1.077-fold compared to emtricitabine administration alone. Co-administration of HS-10234 with oral emtricitabine was well tolerated. No serious adverse events were observed. Conclusions: Although a slightly increased steady-state PK exposure of HS-10234 and TFV-DP was observed with co-administration of oral HS-10234 with emtricitabine, these changes were not considered clinically relevant. Thus, dose adjustments are not recommended for HS-10234 combination with emtricitabine. Trial Registration: NCT04477096, July 20, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the Ekeland variational principle, mountain pass theorem and Trudinger–Moser inequality are applied to establish the existence and multiplicity of solutions for the following nonhomogeneous Kirchhoff-type elliptic problem: − m ∫ Ω | ∇ u | 2 d x Δ u = f (x , u) + ϵ h (x) in Ω ; u = 0 on ∂ Ω , where Ω is a smooth bounded domain in R 2 , m : R + → R + is a Kirchhoff function, f : Ω × R → R is a continuous function, h ∈ W 0 1 , 2 (Ω) ∗ = W − 1 , 2 , h ≥ 0 , h ≢ 0 , and ε is a small positive parameter. The nonlinearity term f (x , s) behaves like e α 0 s 2 when | s | → ∞ for some α 0 > 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Nitrogen doped-CQDs are prepared from methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) firstly. • The maximum enhancement index can reach 1.27 for CO 2 absorption by CQD nanofluids. • Nearly 6% heat duty can be saved during the regeneration process of nanofluids. • The interaction between CQDs and CO 2 in the absorption process is monitored by in-situ FT-IR. Nanofluids acting as the third-generation absorbents are raising concern. However, the complex preparation method, high material cost, and instability hinder their further promotion. Herein, N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) as a classic organic amine solution was first used to prepare nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) by a mild method, and the effective CQDs yield was determined by TEM, FT-IR, XPS, and fluorescence spectrometry. Generated nitrogen-doped CQDs have abundant surface function groups, a narrow size distribution (1–10 nm), and stable fluorescent properties. Moreover, CQDs nanofluids stability was comprehensively evaluated by Turbiscan stability analyzer, Zeta potential analyzer, and solid content analysis. The results indicated a high stability of CQDs in the amine solution. The CO 2 capture performance of CQDs nanofluids was evaluated by a bubble reactor, and the maximum absorption enhancement index reached 1.27 in the mixed amine solution. The desorption process was also improved and nearly 6 % heat duty was saved. Finally, the enhancement mechanism of CQDs nanofluids was discussed. In contrast to other studies focusing on the mass transfer effect of nanofluids on macroscopic kinetics, the microscopic interaction effect between CQDs and CO 2 was discussed by in-situ FT-IR and XPS. The results prove that apart from the physical adsorption effect, a chemical reaction also exists to capture CO 2 by the nitrogen-doped structure and basic groups on CQDs surface, which endow the unique enhancement effect for CO 2 capture system by CQDs. In general, the advantageous performance ensured the potential of CQDs nanofluids as advanced absorbents to achieve a low manufacturing cost and scale application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkali cations doping is adopted to release the microstrain and passivate the traps in mixed Pb/Sn perovskites. The EQE of Sn 0.2 Pb 0.8 based NIR-PeLEDs reaches a record value of 9.6%. [Display omitted] Substitution of lead (Pb) with tin (Sn) is a very important way to reduce the bandgap of metal halide perovskite for applications in solar cells, and near infrared (NIR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), etc. However, mixed Pb/Sn perovskite becomes very disordered with high trap density when the Sn molar ratio is less than 20%. This limits the applications of mixed Pb/Sn perovskites in optoelectronic devices such as wavelength tunable NIR perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs). In this work, we demonstrate that alkali cations doping can release the microstrain and passivate the traps in mixed Pb/Sn perovskites with Sn molar ratios of less than 20%, leading to higher carrier lifetime and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of Sn 0.2 Pb 0.8 -based NIR PeLEDs is dramatically enhanced from 0.1% to a record value of 9.6% (emission wavelength: 868 nm). This work provides a way of making high quality mixed Pb/Sn optoelectronic devices with small Sn molar ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to study the existence and multiplicity of solutions to fractional (p 1 , p 2 , ... , p k) -Laplacian system by analyzing the relationship between the Nehari manifold and fibering maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we are concerned with the existence of solutions for the following critical fractional p&q-Laplacian system (1) (− Δ) p s 1 u + (− Δ) q s 2 u = λ Q (x) | u | r − 2 u + 2 α α + β | u | α − 2 u | v | β , i n Ω ; (− Δ) p s 1 v + (− Δ) q s 2 v = μ Q (x) | v | r − 2 v + 2 β α + β | u | α | v | β − 2 v i n Ω ; u = v = 0 , i n R n ∖ Ω , where Ω is a smooth bounded set in R n , λ , μ > 0 are two parameters, 0 < s 2 < s 1 < 1 , 1 < q < p < r < p s 1 ∗ , n > p s 1 , and α > 1 , β > 1 satisfy α + β = p s 1 ∗ with p s 1 ∗ = n p n − p s 1 is the fractional Sobolev critical exponent, and (− △) t s is the fractional t-Laplacian operator. By using variational methods, we show that there exists a nontrivial weak solution for system (1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a facile one-step hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) using pork liver. The quantum yield of the prepared N-CDs was as high as 11.74%. The excitation and emission wavelengths of the N-CDs were 329 and 410 nm, respectively. The excitation spectrum of the N-CDs has a big overlap with the absorption band of 6-thioguanine (6-TG), which formed an inner filter effect (IFE) between them. 6-TG acted as an effective absorber in IFE to quench the fluorescence of the N-CDs. The concentration of 6-TG was well linear with the fluorescence quenching intensity of the system from 1 μM to 200 μM. The limit of detection was as low as 0.75 μM. This proposed method was successfully applied in selective and sensitive determination of 6-TG in human serum with recoveries of 96.2–105.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

POM-based hybrid materials with electronic interaction is implemented and demonstrates good performance in the photocatalytic overall water splitting (System 1), 15 folds increase in H 2 evolution in triethanolamine sacrificial reaction system (System 2), and concurrent H 2 production couple with 1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethanol oxidation (System 3) reactions is 3 folds higher than discrete catalyst. [Display omitted] • Hybrid materials with electronic interaction improves the charge separation efficiency. • 15 folds increase in H 2 evolution use hybrid materials in TEOA system. • H 2 production couple with alcohol oxidation is 3 folds higher than discrete catalyst. • Photocatalytic mechanism been systematically studied using various techniques. Efficient separation of the mixed H 2 and O 2 products is a crucial step in the photocatalytic overall water splitting process, often hindered by the slow kinetics of the O 2 -producing half-reaction. One effective approach is to employ organic substrates that can capture the holes, thereby enhancing the overall reaction rate and yielding valuable alcohol oxidation products in parallel. Enhance electronic structure advantages through electrostatic interactions and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, thereby facilitating accelerated electron transfer and boosting the intrinsic photocatalytic activity. This is the first study that demonstrates the successful implementation of Ru oxo cluster-based hybrid materials with electronic interaction and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, NaH[Ru(bpy) 3 ][Ru 8 (CO 3) 4 (CO) 16 Cl 4 ]·EtOH·5H 2 O. The triethanolamine sacrificial reaction system has a remarkable 15-fold increase in H 2 evolution, alongside concurrent H 2 production coupled with 1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethanol oxidation reactions (with a selectivity of 99 %). This observed enhancement is three times higher (HER = 1.60 mmol⋅g−1⋅h−1) than a discrete catalyst NaH 2 (TPA)[Ru 8 (CO 3) 4 (CO) 16 Cl 4 ]·EtOH·5H 2 O (HER = 0.48 mmol⋅g−1⋅h−1). Activity contrast experiments were conducted to gain insights into the photocatalytic reaction pathways, enabling the proposal of potential mechanisms that further elucidate the process. This research presents a significant expansion in the realm of designing and developing novel multifunctional artificial photocatalysts based on polyoxometalate (POMs) with enhanced electronic interactions. These advancements open up exciting possibilities for diverse economic and ecological photoredox applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal rhythms in biological and ecological dynamics are fundamental in regulating the structuring of microbial communities. Evaluating the seasonal rhythms of microorganisms in response to climate change could provide information on their variability and stability over longer timescales (>20-year). However, information on temporal variability in microorganism responses to medium- and long-term global warming is limited. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the temporal dynamics of microbial communities in response to global warming; to this end, we integrated data on the maintenance of species diversity, community composition, temporal turnover rates (v), and community assembly process in two typical ecosystems (meadows and shrub habitat) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our results showed that 21 years of global warming would increase the importance of the deterministic process for microorganisms in both ecosystems across all seasons (R2 of grassland (GL) control: 0.524, R2 of GL warming: 0.467; R2 of shrubland (SL) control: 0.556, R2 of SL warming: 0.543), reducing species diversity and altering community composition. Due to environmental filtration pressure from 21 years of warming, the low turnover rate (v of warming: −3.13/-2.00, v of control: −2.44/−1.48) of soil microorganisms reduces the resistance and resilience of ecological communities, which could lead to higher community similarity and more clustered taxonomic assemblages occurring across years. Changes to temperature might increase selection pressure on specialist taxa, which directly causes dominant species (v of warming: −1.63, v of control: −2.49) primarily comprising these taxa to be more strongly impacted by changing temperature than conditionally (v of warming: −1.47, v of control: −1.75) or always rare taxa (v of warming: −0.57, v of control: −1.33). Evaluation of the seasonal rhythms of microorganisms in response to global warming revealed that the variability and stability of different microbial communities in different habitats had dissimilar biological and ecological performances when challenged with an external disturbance. The balance of competition and cooperation, because of environmental selection, also influenced ecosystem function in complex terrestrial ecosystems. Overall, our study enriches the limited information on the temporal variability in microorganism responses to 21 years of global warming, and provides a scientific basis for evaluating the impact of climate warming on the temporal stability of soil ecosystems. • Microbial community dynamics of grassland in response to global warming were examined • Global warming will reduce species diversity and alter community composition • High temperature might increase the dominance of the deterministic process • Plants mediate indirectly to differences of temperature response in temporal dynamics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 for short) has caused a large number of deaths around the world. We summarized the data reported in the past few months and emphasized that the main causes of death of COVID-19 patients are DAD (Diffuse Alveolar Damage) and DIC (Disseminated intravascular coagulation). Microthrombosis is a prominent clinical feature of COVID-19, and 91.3% of dead patients had microthrombosis. Endothelial damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 cell invasion and subsequent host response disorders involving inflammation and coagulation pathways play a key role in the progression of severe COVID-19. Microvascular thrombosis may lead to microcirculation disorders and multiple organ failure lead to death. The characteristic pathological changes of DAD include alveolar epithelial and vascular endothelial injury, increased alveolar membrane permeability, large numbers of neutrophil infiltration, alveolar hyaline membrane formation, and hypoxemia and respiratory distress as the main clinical manifestations. DAD leads to ARDS in COVID-19 patients. DIC is a syndrome characterized by the activation of systemic intravascular coagulation, which leads to extensive fibrin deposition in the blood. Its occurrence and development begin with the expression of tissue factor and interact with physiological anticoagulation pathways. The down-regulation of fibrin and the impaired fibrinolysis together lead to extensive fibrin deposition. DIC is described as a decrease in the number of platelets and an increase in fibrin degradation products, such as D-dimer and low fibrinogen. The formation of microthrombus leads to the disturbance of microcirculation, which in turn leads to the death of the patient. However, the best prevention and treatment of COVID-19 microthrombosis is still uncertain. This review discusses the latest findings of basic and clinical research on COVID-19-related microthrombosis, and then we proposed the theory of microcirculation perfusion bundle therapy to explore effective methods for preventing and treating COVID-19-related microthrombosis. Further research is urgently needed to clarify how SARS-CoV-2 infection causes thrombotic complications, and how it affects the course and severity of the disease. To cultivate a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanism of this disease. Raise awareness of the importance of preventing and treating microthrombosis in patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a generalized form for the augmented electric field integral equation with perturbation method is studied. By implementing Taylor expansion on all the frequency‐dependent matrix terms and the unknowns, the current coefficients on each frequency order can be obtained in the perturbation method, where the accuracy can be guaranteed near the zero frequency or within the static frequency region. When the frequency goes higher, more expanding terms are required to obtain the accurate results. In order to obtain a wideband solution, a general formulation for the perturbation method is derived and analyzed for the first time. As a result, the improved method can be further extended to dynamic region. Numerical results show that the achieved results for both capacitive circuit problems and plane wave scattering problems are more accurate in comparison with those obtained from the traditional solutions, where the number of the required expanding terms can be determined according to the corresponding error analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The data on the prevalence of resistance to mupirocin (MUP), fusidic acid (FA) and retapamulin (RET) in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from China are still limited. This study aimed to examine these three antibiotics resistance in 1206 MRSA clinical isolates from Eastern China. Phenotypic MUP, FA and RET resistance was determined by minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), and genotypic by PCR and DNA sequencing of the mupA/B, fusB-D, cfr, vgaA/Av/ALC/B/C/E, lsaA-C/E and salA and mutations in ileS, fusA/E, rplC, and 23S RNA V domain. The genetic characteristics of resistance isolates were conducted by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Results: Overall MRSA MUP, FA and RET resistance was low (5.1, 1.0 and 0.3%, respectively). MupA was the mechanism of high-level MUP resistance. All low-level MUP resistance isolates possessed an equivocal mutation N213D in IleS; of these, 2 reported an additional V588F mutation with an impact on the Rossman fold. FusA mutations, such as L461K, H457Q, H457Y and V90I were the primary FA mechanisms among high-level resistance isolates, most of which also contained fusC; however, all low-level resistance strains carried fusB. Except lsaE gene detected in one isolate, no other resistance mechanisms tested were found among RET-resistant isolates. Additionally, sixteen PFGE types (A-P) were observed, among which type B was the most common (49/76, 64.5%), followed by types E and G (4/76, 5.3% each) and types C and M (3/76, 3.9% each). All resistant strains were divided into 15 ST types by MLST. ST764 (24/76, 31.6%), ST630 (11/76, 14.5%), ST239 (9/76, 11.8%) and ST5 (7/76, 9.2%) were the major types. PFGE type B isolates with the aforementioned STs were mainly found in mupirocin resistant isolates. Conclusions: MUP, FA and RET exhibited highly activity against the MRSA isolates. Acquired genes and chromosome-borne genes mutations were responsible for MUP and FA resistance; however, the mechanism for some RET-resistant isolates remains to be further elucidated. Also, the surveillance to MUP in MRSA should be strengthened to prevent elevated resistance due to the expansion of clones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recognition of human motion posture is of great values in the field of sports. In this paper, inertial sensor technology is employed to recognize four postures including dribbling, passing, catching, and shooting in basketball. The data are collected by four nine‐axis inertial sensors worn on the arm. The time domain and frequency domain features are extracted after the process of smoothing and normalizing. Then 30 eigenvectors are obtained by dimensionality reduction of principal component analysis (PCA), and the support vector machine (SVM) method is used for posture recognition. The experimental results show that after PCA dimensionality reduction, the recognition accuracy of the features as the SVM input is significantly high. Compared with the recognition accuracy of back propagation neural network (BPNN) (85.4%), the average recognition accuracy of SVM is 96%, which verifies the reliability of the method proposed in this study. This research proves the effectiveness of sensor technology in basketball posture recognition, which can provide a reliable guidance for basketball training. © 2020 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solution‐processed metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have attracted much attention for applications in light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) due to their wide color gamut, high color purity, tunable emission wavelength, balanced electron/hole transportation, etc. Although MHPs are very tolerant to defects, the defects in solution‐processed perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) still cause severe nonradiative recombination and device instability. Here, molecular design of additives for dual passivation of both lead and halide defects in perovskites is reported. A bi‐functional additive, 4‐fluorophenylmethylammonium‐trifluoroacetate (FPMATFA), is synthesized by using a simple solution process. The TFA anions and FPMA cations can bond with undercoordinated lead and halide ions, respectively, resulting in dual passivation of both lead and halide defects. In addition, the bulky FPMA group can constrain the grain growth of 3D perovskite, enhancing electron–hole capture rates and radiative recombination rates. As a result, high‐performance PeLEDs with a peak external quantum efficiency reaching 20.9% and emission wavelength at 694 nm are achieved using formamidinium‐cesium lead iodide‐bromide (FA0.33Cs0.67Pb(I0.7Br0.3)3). Furthermore, the operational lifetime of PeLEDs is also greatly improved due to the low trap density in the perovskite film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrated a novel approach to formulating nanofluids with high mass concentration, good colloidal stability, enhanced thermal conductivity and moderate viscosity increase from the β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) modified carbon nanotubes. This method could be applied to a variety of functional nanomaterials and make use of the liquid properties and functions of dispersed nanoparticles to make nanofluids become more efficient heat transfer fluids and industrial application media. A scalable improved two-step method based on mechanical milling technique for the preparation of nanofluids was demonstrated. Highly stable nanofluids with up to 5 wt% of surface-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CD-CNTs) in deionized water were successfully obtained. It was demonstrated that the preparation method could effectively disperse the carbon nanotube aggregates, providing relatively small increases in viscosity (the viscosity of 5 wt% nanofluids was 31 mPa·s averagely). The thermal values of CD-CNTs/water nanofluids reached to their maximum values (1.013 W/(m·K) and 69.68%, respectively) at 5 wt%. Heat was more easily transferred along the carbon nanotubes, which was more efficient than thermal conduction through solid-liquid-solid paths. This study has demonstrated that the proposed surface modification technique and preparation method could together ensure the requirements for achieving MWCNTs nanofluids with high mass concentration and desired properties. Unlabelled Image • The surface modification of MWCNTs was conducted and characterized. • The highest particle concentration of MWCNTs was 5 wt%. • The good stability of nanofluids was confirmed with moderate viscosity increase. • The maximum thermal conductivity enhancement was 69.68% on the 5 wt% nanofluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to study the existence of multiple solutions for the following fractional p -Kirchhoff problem (0.1) M ∫ R 2 n | u (x) − u (y) | p | x − y | n + p s d x d y (− △) p s u = λ | u | q − 2 u + | u | r − 2 u | x | α , in Ω , u = 0 , in R n ∖ Ω , where (− △) p s denotes the fractional p -Laplace operator, Ω is a smooth bounded set in R n containing 0 with Lipschitz boundary, M (t) = a + b t θ − 1 with a ≥ 0 , b > 0 , θ > 1. λ > 0 , 1 < q < p < θ p ≤ r ≤ p α ∗ , p α ∗ = (n − α) p n − p s is the fractional critical Hardy–Sobolev exponent for 0 ≤ α < p s < n. By using fibering maps and Nehari manifold, we obtain that the existence of multiple solutions to problem (0.1) for both Hardy–Sobolev subcritical and critical cases. In particular, the concentration compactness principle will be used to overcome the lack of compactness for the critical case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biological characteristics and clinical outcomes of gastric cancer (GC) are largely dependent on the histopathological type and degree of differentiation. The identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying the histological grade of GC may provide information about tumorigenesis and tumor progression, and may subsequently be used to develop novel therapeutic agents. The present study obtained the RNA sequencing data and clinical characteristics of patients with GC from The Cancer Genome Atlas. A total of 1,400 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened between two histological grades. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was subsequently used to identify nine co-expressed gene modules, and the black module was found to be the most significant for prognosis prediction of tumor. Additionally, the black module was associated with overall survival time, death event, N stage and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that the biological processes of the genes in the black module included 'Wnt signaling pathway' and 'structural molecule activity'. Additionally, 10 network hub genes that were significantly associated with the progression of GC were identified from the black module, and the significance of each hub gene was determined across different TNM stages. Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that keratin 40 and glycine decarboxylase were significantly associated with patient prognosis (P<0.05), suggesting that these genes may serve as potential progression and prognosis biomarkers in GC. The present study identified molecular markers that correlated with histological grade in GC. Therefore, the results obtained in the present study may have important clinical implications on treatment selection, risk stratification and prognosis prediction in patients with GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using Lusternik–Schnirelmann's theory, we prove the existence of infinitely many solutions for fractional p & q -Laplacian system involving critical concave–convex nonlinearities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estradiol (E2) is a first-line drug for osteoporosis (OP) treatment via promotion of osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation. However, a long-term use of E2 would produce side effects thus, it is imperative to discover safer and more effective drugs. Pinoresinol (PINO) has a similar chemical structure to E2. The present study aimed to investigate whether PINO could promote osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation and the potential mechanisms. After treatment with 0.1 µg/l PINO for 2 days, MC3T3-E1 cell migration was assessed by wound healing assay. Estrogen (E2) treatment served as a positive control. RT-qPCR and western blotting were used for mRNA and protein expression analyses. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay and Alizarin red staining were performed to investigate the calcification and mineralization, and the cyclic AMP (cAMP) level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). H89, an inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA), was introduced to verify the role of cAMP/PKA in the effect of PINO on MC3T3-E1 cells. Cell viability was the highest under 48 h of 0.1 µg/l PINO treatment. After treatment with PINO, a significant increase was observed in the migration rate and the expression of collagen type I (Col-I), ALP, osteopontin (OPN), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) (P<0.01). The ALP activity and Alizarin red size in PINO and E2 groups were notably increased. The increased cAMP, PKA and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) levels were also observed in the PINO group. Furthermore, H89 co-treatment abolished the positive effects of PINO on cell viability and migration. PINO had similar effects to E2 on the osteoblastic proliferation and differentiation, and these positive effects may be attributed to the regulation of the cAMP/PKA signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) has been used previously to evaluate severe acute pancreatitis (SAP)-associated complications. However, optimal time points of CECT have not yet been established. The present study aimed to determine optimal timings for CECT to be undertaken for patients with SAP. The results of CECT from 309 patients with SAP, who were classified into either infected or non-infected SAP groups, were retrospectively analyzed. The severity and alterations in the periods within 72 h to >4 weeks of SAP onset were also assessed. In the analysis of the disease severity and changes, acute peripancreatic fluid collection was detected, where the number of areas increased within 1 week of SAP onset but decreased within 4 weeks and longer. However, no significant differences were observed between the infected and non-infected groups. The acute necrotic collection (ANC) areas were ≤30% of the area of the pancreas, with significantly more ANC areas and pancreatic necrosis in the infected SAP group compared with the non-infected SAP group at a time interval of >4 weeks. The exudation of pleural effusion (PE) was elevated within 1 week, but decreased within 2 weeks and longer. The difference in the alteration of the exudation of PE was not statistically different between the two groups. In conclusion, the results suggest that the period between 72 h and 1 week of SAP onset is optimal timing of CECT to assess SAP-associated complications, particularly for infected SAP patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop and validate a simple and effective death risk stratification scale for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). In this ambispective cohort study, we investigated the epidemiological and clinical data of 2245 patients with HFRS (1873 enrolled retrospectively and constituting the training cohort, 372 prospectively recruited as the validation cohort) from September 2008 to December 2021, and identified independent risk factors for 30-day death of HFRS. Using logistic regression analysis, a nomogram prediction model was established and was further simplified into a novel scoring scale. Calibration plot, receiver operating characteristic curve, net reclassification index, integrated discrimination index, and decision curve analysis were used to assess the calibration, discrimination, precision, and clinical utility in both training and validation cohorts. Of 2245 patients with HFRS, 132 (5.9%) died during hospitalization. The nomogram prediction model and scoring scale were developed using six predictors: comorbid hypertension, hypotensive shock, hypoxemia, neutrophils, aspartate aminotransferase, and activated partial thromboplastin time. Both the scale and nomogram were well calibrated (near-diagonal calibration curves) and demonstrated significant predictive values (areas under receiver operating characteristic curves >0.9, sensitivity and specificity >90% in the training cohort and >84% in the validation cohort). The simplified scoring scale demonstrated equivalent discriminative ability to the nomogram, with net reclassification index and integrated discrimination index of 0.022 and 0.007 in the training cohort, 0.126 and 0.022 in the validation cohort. Decision curve analysis graphically represented significant clinical utility and comparable net benefits of the nomogram and scoring scale across a range of threshold probabilities. This evidence-based, factor-weighted, accurate score could help clinicians swiftly stratify HFRS mortality risk and facilitate the implementation of patient triage and tiered medical services during epidemic peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poor stability of carbon nanofluids limits their application in solar desalination process, especially when nanoparticles need to contact with saline water directly. Herein, this study proposes a mild manufacturing route to prepare the highly stable carbon quantum dots (CQDs) nanofluids by microwave method coupling a simple dilution. The systematic stability evaluation was conducted and the results showed almost all of CQDs nanofluids could keep stable in saline water with a wide NaCl concentration range (from 0 to 50 g/L), different co-existing salt ions and organic matters. The high thermal stability of CQDs nanofluids also were proved and the variation of Turbiscan stability index (TSI) value was below 0.24 after five heating cycles. The optical properties were evaluated and nearly 100 % incoming solar energy was captured by 10 vol% CQDs nanofluids. The above results indicate the application potential of CQDs nanofluids in solar desalination process. Moreover, the performance of solar still with CQDs nanofluids was compared with the conventional solar still. The results show that the cumulative water productions are 521 mL in the conventional solar still and 823 mL in the solar still with CQDs nanofluids of an enhancement in the water productivity of 57.9 %. The average energy efficiency of solar still with or without CQDs nanofluids are 34.23 % and 21.52 %, respectively. In addition, the economic analysis was conducted and the results show water production cost is 0.013–0.015 $/L for solar still with CQDs nanofluids. [Display omitted] • 0.9 g/L CQDs generate from PEG-200 within 30 min microwave treatment. • CQDs nanofluids can keep stable with NaCl concentration from 0 to 5 g/L. • Water yield and energy efficiency are enhanced 57.9 % and 12.71 % in the solar still. • The water production cost is 0.013 to 0.015 $/L for solar still with nanofluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]