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As most teleosts are unable to synthesize vitamin C, supplemental diets containing vitamin C diets play a crucial role in fish health. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin C on the intestinal enzyme activity and intestinal microbiota of silver pomfre (Pampus argenteus). Four experimental diets were supplemented with basic diets containing 300 mg of vitamin C/kg (group tjl3), 600 mg of vitamin C/kg (group tjl6), and 1200 mg of vitamin C/kg (group tjl12), as well as vitamin C-free supplemental basic diet (group tjl0), respectively. The four diets were fed to juvenile P. argenteus (average initial weight: 4.68 ± 0.93 g) for 6 weeks. The results showed that the activity of SOD (superoxide dismutase) and CAT (catalase) increased significantly while that of MDA (malondialdehyde) decreased significantly in group tjl3 compared to vitamin group tjl0. At the genus level, groups tjl0, tjl6, and tjl12 contained the same dominant microbial community, Stenotrophomonas, Photobacterium, and Vibrio, whereas group tjl3 was dominated by Stenotrophomonas, Delftia, and Bacteroides. Among the fish fed with a basic diet containing 300 mg of vitamin C/kg, the intestines exhibited a notable abundance of probiotic bacteria, including lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus) and Bacillus. The abundance of Aeromonas in groups tjl3 and tjl6 was lower than that of the vitamin C-free supplemental basic diet group, whereas Aeromonas was not detected in group tjl12. In addition, a causative agent of the disease outbreak in cultured P. argenteus, Photobacterium damselae subsp. Damselae (PDD) was the dominant microbiota community in groups tjl0, tjl6 and tjl12, whereas the abundance of PDD in group tjl3 was the lowest among the diets. Taken together, the diets supplied with vitamin C could influence the composition microbial community of P. argenteus. The low level of vitamin C (300 mg of vitamin C/kg per basic diet) supplementation could not only improve the antioxidant capacity but also resist the invasion of pathogenic bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The perception systems of autonomous vehicles face significant challenges under adverse conditions, with issues such as obscured objects and false detections due to environmental noise. Traditional approaches, which typically focus on noise removal, often fall short in such scenarios. Addressing the lack of diverse adverse weather data in existing automotive datasets, we propose a novel data augmentation method that integrates realistically simulated adverse weather effects into clear condition datasets. This method not only addresses the scarcity of data but also effectively bridges domain gaps between different driving environments. Our approach centers on a conditional generative model that uses segmentation maps as a guiding mechanism to ensure the authentic generation of adverse effects, which greatly enhances the robustness of perception and object detection systems in autonomous vehicles, operating under varied and challenging conditions. Besides the capability of accurately and naturally recreating over 90% of the adverse effects, we demonstrate that this model significantly improves the performance and accuracy of deep learning algorithms for autonomous driving, particularly in adverse weather scenarios. In the experiments employing our augmented approach, we achieved a 2.46% raise in the 3D average precision, a marked enhancement in detection accuracy and system reliability, substantiating the model's efficacy with quantifiable improvements in 3D object detection compared to models without augmentation. This work not only serves as an enhancement of autonomous vehicle perception systems under adverse conditions but also marked an advancement in deep learning models in adverse condition research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model that can be used to predict the influencing factors affecting users' use of healthcare applications. Our research structure model is based on the Attention-Interest-Search-Action-Share (AISAS) model, combined with the indicators of personal intention and social identity, to predict we-intention. The proposed model was tested through a survey of 353 users of healthcare applications from mainland China and Taiwan. Based on the five characteristics of the AISAS model, this study integrates three levels of influencing factors (individual dimension, social dimension, and application design dimension) that affect users' use of healthcare applications. It also verifies that users have both personal intention and we-intention when using healthcare applications. This research contributes to the theoretical development of the AISAS model, we-intention and healthcare applications. Finally, implications for theory and practice and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arthropod exoskeleton provides protection and support and is vital for survival and adaption. The integrity and mechanical properties of the exoskeleton are often impaired after pathogenic infection; however, the detailed mechanism by which infection affects the exoskeleton remains largely unknown. Here, we report that the damage to the shrimp exoskeleton is caused by modulation of host lipid profiles after infection with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). WSSV infection disrupts the mechanical performance of the exoskeleton by inducing the expression of a chitinase (Chi2) in the sub-cuticle epidermis and decreasing the cuticle chitin content. The induction of Chi2 expression is mediated by a nuclear receptor that can be activated by certain enriched long-chain saturated fatty acids after infection. The damage to the exoskeleton, an aftereffect of the induction of host lipogenesis by WSSV, significantly impairs the motor ability of shrimp. Blocking the WSSV-caused lipogenesis restored the mechanical performance of the cuticle and improved the motor ability of infected shrimp. Therefore, this study reveals a mechanism by which WSSV infection modulates shrimp internal metabolism resulting in phenotypic impairment, and provides new insights into the interactions between the arthropod host and virus. Author summary: Loosening and softening of the exoskeleton of shrimp is frequently observed after white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. This study reveals that the impairment of the exoskeleton is due to the enrichment of certain long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs), induction of chitinase, and ultimately decrease in cuticle chitin after WSSV infection. The exoskeleton allows for movement through contracting connected muscle; therefore, these WSSV-induced changes impair the motor ability of infected shrimp. The impaired motor ability may increase the chance of an infected shrimp being consumed by a healthy shrimp, thereby facilitating the natural transmission of WSSV. As WSSV exploits LCFAs for virion morphogenesis, we also show that blocking WSSV-induced lipogenesis restores exoskeleton performance, providing a possible strategy for the inhibition of viral transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 200 different serogroups of Vibrio cholerae based on O-polysaccharide specificity have been described worldwide, including the two most important serogroups, O1 and O139. Non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae serogroups generally do not produce the cholera-causing toxin but do sporadically cause gastroenteritis and extra-intestinal infections. Recently, however, bloodstream infections caused by non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae are being increasingly reported, and these infections are associated with high mortality in immunocompromised hosts. We describe a case of non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae bacteremia in a patient with autoimmune pancreatitis and stenosis of the intra- and extrahepatic bile ducts. The clinical manifestations of bacteremia were fever and mild digestive symptoms. The blood cultures showed V. cholerae, which was identified as a non-O1, non-O139 serogroup by slide agglutination tests and PCR. The bloodstream infection of the patient was likely caused by the consumption of contaminated seafood at a banquet. The patient recovered after the administration of a third-generation cephalosporin. Non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae infection presents with or without gastrointestinal manifestations; close attention should be paid to the possibility of disseminated non-O1/non-O139 V. cholerae infection in high-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformer-based models have gained popularity in the field of natural language processing (NLP) and are extensively utilized in computer vision tasks and multi-modal models such as GPT4. This paper presents a novel method to enhance the explainability of transformer-based image classification models. Our method aims to improve trust in classification results and empower users to gain a deeper understanding of the model for downstream tasks by providing visualizations of class-specific maps. We introduce two modules: the "Relationship Weighted Out" and the "Cut" modules. The "Relationship Weighted Out" module focuses on extracting class-specific information from intermediate layers, enabling us to highlight relevant features. Additionally, the "Cut" module performs fine-grained feature decomposition, taking into account factors such as position, texture, and color. By integrating these modules, we generate dense class-specific visual explainability maps. We validate our method with extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments on the ImageNet dataset. Furthermore, we conduct a large number of experiments on the LRN dataset, which is specifically designed for automatic driving danger alerts, to evaluate the explainability of our method in scenarios with complex backgrounds. The results demonstrate a significant improvement over previous methods. Moreover, we conduct ablation experiments to validate the effectiveness of each module. Through these experiments, we are able to confirm the respective contributions of each module, thus solidifying the overall effectiveness of our proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing traditional Galerkin method, a coupled-mode flutter is predicted in the supercritical region of simply-supported pipes which constitutes a paradox since the internal flow effect is conservative and there is no energy to sustain the oscillation. Although there is a consensus that the flutter does not exist, the intrinsic mechanism remains to be clarified. This study has found that the internal flow induced Coriolis force term cannot be decoupled in traditional Galerkin method which leads to the dissatisfaction of the convergence conditions required in weighted residual approach (WRA). Moreover, the disparities in the predicted complex frequencies have been witnessed at different base function numbers when the internal flow velocity is sufficiently large. A modified Galerkin method adopting a new set of weighting functions is proposed based on WRA, and the Coriolis force term disappears by use of the orthogonality relations (it is stated that the Coriolis force is not directly omitted). Thus, a convergent solution for the set of residual functions which are identically equal to zeros can be guaranteed. Employing the modified method, the convergence in simulations is confirmed and the flutter phenomenon does not occur. This study can be a workbench for the study on the unsolved or partly solved issues in simulations of fluid-conveying pipes. Moreover, it has demonstrated that the predictions in traditional Galerkin method overestimate the natural frequencies, and it becomes more profound in higher-order natural modes at larger internal flow velocities which are of practice significance for dynamic analysis of flexible pipeline systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Our ability to predict temperature responses of leaf respiration in light and darkness (RL and RDk) is essential to models of global carbon dynamics. While many models rely on constant thermal sensitivity (characterized by Q10), uncertainty remains as to whether Q10 of RL and RDk are actually similar.We measured short‐term temperature responses of RL and RDk in immature and mature leaves of two evergreen tree species, Castanopsis carlesii and Ormosia henry in an open field. RL was estimated by the Kok method, the Yin method and a newly developed Kok‐iterCc method.When estimated by the Yin and Kok‐iterCc methods, RL and RDk had similar Q10 (c. 2.5). The Kok method overestimated both Q10 and the light inhibition of respiration. RL/RDk was not affected by leaf temperature. Acclimation of respiration in summer was associated with a decline in basal respiration but not in Q10 in both species, which was related to changes in leaf nitrogen content between seasons. Q10 of RL and RDk in mature leaves were 40% higher than in immature leaves.Our results suggest similar Q10 values can be used to model RL and RDk while leaf development‐associated changes in Q10 require special consideration in future respiration models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with Idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia (iNOA) can achieve fertility by extracting testicular sperm through microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE). But more than half of iNOA patients still cannot benefit from mTESE. In recent years, some studies had reported that serum hormones may be related to the outcome of sperm retrieval, but few had been verified. We hope to obtain a predictive method that is convenient for clinical application and can help judge the outcome of sperm extraction before implementing mTESE. We performed a retrospective analysis of NOA patients who underwent mTESE in the same andrology center from June 2020 to November 2022. A total of 261 patients with complete data were collected, logistic regression analysis was performed and a predictive model was constructed. Then, from December 2022 to May 2023, one prospective cohort of 48 NOA patients who met the inclusion criteria from the same center was recruited to validate the risk prediction model. We successfully constructed a logistic regression model to predict the outcome of iNOA patients undergoing mTESE and found that higher serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels were associated with failure sperm retrieval, resulting in an AMH cut-off of 2.60 ng/ml. The area under the receiver operating curve was 0.811, the sensitivity was 0.870, and the specificity was 0.705. Decision curve analysis demonstrated that the threshold probability was above 4%, and unnecessary mTESE could be reduced using this model. In a prospective cohort at the same center, 85.42% (41/48) of iNOA patients correctly identified the mTESE outcome using this model. A logistic regression model with AMH as an independent predictor can predict mTESE outcomes in iNOA patients. Preoperative selection of mTESE in patients with iNOA using this model had clinical benefit in reducing unnecessary surgery. The model demonstrated good accuracy in a small prospective cohort validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose and study several inverse problems of identifying/determining unknown coefficients for a class of coupled PDE systems by measuring the average flux data on part of the underlying boundary. In these coupled systems, we mainly consider the non-negative solutions of the coupled equations, which are consistent with realistic settings in biology and ecology. There are several salient features of our inverse problem study: the drastic reduction of the measurement/observation data due to averaging effects, the nonlinear coupling of multiple equations, and the non-negative constraints on the solutions, which pose significant challenges to the inverse problems. We develop a new and effective scheme to tackle the inverse problems and achieve unique identifiability results by properly controlling the injection of different source terms to obtain multiple sets of mean flux data. The approach relies on certain monotonicity properties which are related to the intrinsic structures of the coupled PDE system. We also connect our study to biological applications of practical interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let |$Q$| be a finite acyclic valued quiver. We give the cluster multiplication formulas in the quantum cluster algebra of |$Q$| with arbitrary coefficients, by applying certain quotients of derived Hall subalgebras of |$Q$|⁠. These formulas can be viewed as the quantum version of the cluster multiplication theorem in the classical cluster algebra proved by Caldero–Keller for finite type, Hubery for affine type, and Xiao–Xu for acyclic quivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LiDAR point clouds are significantly impacted by snow in driving scenarios, introducing scattered noise points and phantom objects, thereby compromising the perception capabilities of autonomous driving systems. Current effective methods for removing snow from point clouds largely rely on outlier filters, which mechanically eliminate isolated points. This research proposes a novel translation model for LiDAR point clouds, the 'L-DIG' (LiDAR depth images GAN), built upon refined generative adversarial networks (GANs). This model not only has the capacity to reduce snow noise from point clouds, but it also can artificially synthesize snow points onto clear data. The model is trained using depth image representations of point clouds derived from unpaired datasets, complemented by customized loss functions for depth images to ensure scale and structure consistencies. To amplify the efficacy of snow capture, particularly in the region surrounding the ego vehicle, we have developed a pixel-attention discriminator that operates without downsampling convolutional layers. Concurrently, the other discriminator equipped with two-step downsampling convolutional layers has been engineered to effectively handle snow clusters. This dual-discriminator approach ensures robust and comprehensive performance in tackling diverse snow conditions. The proposed model displays a superior ability to capture snow and object features within LiDAR point clouds. A 3D clustering algorithm is employed to adaptively evaluate different levels of snow conditions, including scattered snowfall and snow swirls. Experimental findings demonstrate an evident de-snowing effect, and the ability to synthesize snow effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adherence to healthy lifestyles can be beneficial for depression among adults, but the intergenerational impact of maternal healthy lifestyles on offspring depressive symptoms is unknown. Methods: In total, 10 368 mothers in Nurses' Health Study II and 13 478 offspring in the Growing Up Today Study were paired. Maternal and offspring healthy lifestyles were defined as a composite score including a healthy diet, normal body mass index (BMI), never-smoking, light-to-moderate consumption of alcohol, and regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Maternal lifestyles were assessed during their offspring's childhood. Offspring depressive symptoms were repeatedly assessed five times using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-10 (CESD-10); the offspring were between the ages of 14 and 30 when the first CESD-10 was assessed. Covariates included maternal variables (age at baseline, race/ethnicity, antidepressant use, pregnancy complications, etc.) and offspring age and sex. Results: Children of mothers with the healthiest lifestyle had significantly fewer depressive symptoms (a 0.30 lower CESD-10 score, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09–0.50) in comparison with children of mothers with the least healthy lifestyle. The association was only found significant in female offspring but not in males. For individual maternal lifestyle factors, a normal BMI, never-smoking, and adherence to regular physical activity were independently associated with fewer depressive symptoms among the offspring. The association between maternal healthy lifestyles and offspring depressive symptoms was mediated by offspring's healthy lifestyles (mediation effect: 53.2%, 95% CI 15.8–87.3). Conclusions: Our finding indicates the potential mechanism of intergenerational transmission of healthy lifestyles to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms in offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Van der Waals (vdW) layered materials exhibit fruitful novel physical properties. The energy band of such materials depends strongly on their structures, and a tremendous variation in their physical properties can be deduced from a tiny change in inter‐layer spacing, twist angle, or in‐plane strain. In this work, a kind of vdW layered material of spiral antimonene is constructed, and the strain effects in the material are studied. The spiral antimonene is grown on a germanium (Ge) substrate and is induced by a helical dislocation penetrating through few atomic‐layers of antimonene (β‐phase). The as‐grown spiral is intrinsically strained, and the lattice distortion is found to be pinned around the dislocation. Both spontaneous inter‐layer twist and in‐plane anisotropic strain are observed in scanning tunneling microscope (STM) measurements. The strain in the spiral antimonene can be significantly modified by STM tip interaction, leading to a variation in the surface electronic density of states (DOS) and a large modification in the work function of up to a few hundreds of millielectron‐volts (meV). Those strain effects are expected to have potential applications in building up novel piezoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Energy drinks are consumed for a variety of reasons, including to boost mental alertness and energy. We assessed associations between demographic factors and various high-risky behaviours with energy drink consumption as they may be linked to adverse health events.Design: We conducted cross-sectional analysis including basic descriptive and multivariable adjusted logistic regression analyses to characterize demographic and behavioural factors (including diet quality, binge drinking, and illicit drug use, among others obtained via questionnaires) in relation to energy drink consumption.Setting: We used data from two large United States-based cohorts.Participants: 46,390 participants from Nurses' Health Study 3 (NHS3, n=37,302; ages 16-31) and Growing Up Today Study (GUTS, n=9088, ages 20-55).Results: Of the 46,390 participants, 13.2% reported consuming ≥1 energy drink every month. Several risky behaviours were associated with energy drink use, including illegal drug use (pOR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.81), marijuana use (pOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.28, 1.73), smoking (pOR: 1.88. 95% CI: 1.55, 2.29), tanning bed use (pOR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.96, 2.72), and binge drinking (pOR: 2.53, 95% CI: 2.09, 3.07). Other factors, such as high body mass index (BMI), e-cigarette use, and poor diet quality were found to be significantly associated with higher energy drink consumption (P values<0.001).Conclusions: Our findings show that energy drink consumption and high-risk behaviours may be related, which could potentially serve as not only as a talking point for providers to address in outreach and communications with patients, but also a warning sign for medical and other health practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between periodontitis and breast cancer by Mendelian randomization analysis. Materials and methods: We performed a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using publicly released genome-wide association studies (GWAS) statistics. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary analysis. We applied complementary methods, including weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode, MR-Egger regression, and MR-pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) to detect and correct for the effect of horizontal pleiotropy. Results: IVW MR analysis showed no effect of periodontitis on breast cancer (IVW OR=0.99, P =0.14). Similarly, no significant causal relationship between breast cancer and periodontitis was found in reverse MR analysis (IVW OR=0.95, P =0.83). The results of MR-Egger regression, weighted median, and weighted mode methods were consistent with those of the IVW method. Based on sensitivity analyses, horizontal pleiotropy is unlikely to distort causal estimates. Conclusions: Although observational studies have reported an association between periodontitis and breast cancer, the results of our MR analysis do not support a causal relationship between periodontitis and breast cancer. Clinical relevance: Mendelian randomization study can more clearly analyze the causal relationship between periodontitis and breast cancer, in order to provide a certain reference for clinicians and deepen the understanding of the relationship between periodontitis and breast cancer, to explore more possible associations between periodontitis and systemic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly around the world. However, the treatment of vitiligo combined with COVID-19 has not been reported. Astragalus membranaceus (AM) has a therapeutic effect on patients with vitiligo and COVID-19. This study aims to discover its possible therapeutic mechanisms and provide potential drug targets. Using the Chinese Medicine System Pharmacological Database (TCMSP), GEO database and Genecards websites and other databases, AM target, vitiligo disease target, and COVID-19 related gene set were established. Then find the crossover genes by taking the intersection. Then use GO, KEGG enrichment analysis, and PPI network to discover its underlying mechanism. Finally, by importing drugs, active ingredients, crossover genes, and enriched signal pathways into Cytoscape software, a "drug-active ingredient-target signal pathway-" network is constructed. TCMSP screened and obtained 33 active ingredients including baicalein (MOL002714), NEOBAICALEIN (MOL002934), Skullcapflavone II (MOL002927), and wogonin (MOL000173), which acted on 448 potential targets. 1166 differentially expressed genes for vitiligo were screened by GEO. CIVID-19 related genes were screened by Genecards. Then by taking the intersection, a total of 10 crossover genes (PTGS2, CDK1, STAT1, BCL2L1, SCARB1, HIF1A, NAE1, PLA2G4A, HSP90AA1, and HSP90B1) were obtained. KEGG analysis found that it was mainly enriched in signaling pathways such as IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, Necroptosis, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. Five core targets (PTGS2, STAT1, BCL2L1, HIF1A, and HSP90AA1) were obtained by analyzing the PPI network. The network of "active ingredients-crossover genes" was constructed by Cytoscape, and the 5 main active ingredients acting on the 5 core crossover genes acacetin, wogonin, baicalein, bis2S)-2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate and 5,2′-Dihydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxyflavone. The core crossover genes obtained by PPI and the core crossover genes obtained by the "active ingredient-crossover gene" network are intersected to obtain the three most important core genes (PTGS2, STAT1, HSP90AA1). AM may act on PTGS2, STAT1, HSP90AA1, etc. through active components such as acacetin, wogonin, baicalein, bis2S)-2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate and 5,2′-Dihydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxyflavone to activate IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, Necroptosis, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection, and VEGF signaling pathway and other signaling pathways to achieve the effect of treating vitiligo and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cauline leaves on the inflorescence stem of Arabidopsis thaliana may play important roles in supplying photosynthetic products to sinks, such as floral organs. Flag leaves in rice (Oryza sativa) have a higher photosynthetic capacity than other leaves, and are crucial for increasing grain yield. However, the detailed properties of stomata in cauline and flag leaves have not been investigated. In Arabidopsis, stomatal conductance and CO2 assimilation rate were higher in cauline leaves under white light than in rosette leaves, consistent with higher levels of plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase, a key enzyme for stomatal opening, in guard cells. Moreover, removal of cauline leaves significantly reduced the shoot biomass by approximately 20% and seed production by approximately 46%. In rice, higher stomatal density, stomatal conductance, and CO2 assimilation rate were observed in flag leaves than in fully expanded second leaves. Removal of the flag leaves significantly reduced grain yield by approximately 49%. Taken together, these results show that cauline and flag leaves have important roles in seed production and grain yield through enhanced stomatal conductance and CO2 assimilation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly around the world. However, the treatment of vitiligo combined with COVID-19 has not been reported. Astragalus membranaceus (AM) has a therapeutic effect on patients with vitiligo and COVID-19. This study aims to discover its possible therapeutic mechanisms and provide potential drug targets. Using the Chinese Medicine System Pharmacological Database (TCMSP), GEO database and Genecards websites and other databases, AM target, vitiligo disease target, and COVID-19 related gene set were established. Then find the crossover genes by taking the intersection. Then use GO, KEGG enrichment analysis, and PPI network to discover its underlying mechanism. Finally, by importing drugs, active ingredients, crossover genes, and enriched signal pathways into Cytoscape software, a "drug-active ingredient-target signal pathway-" network is constructed. TCMSP screened and obtained 33 active ingredients including baicalein (MOL002714), NEOBAICALEIN (MOL002934), Skullcapflavone II (MOL002927), and wogonin (MOL000173), which acted on 448 potential targets. 1166 differentially expressed genes for vitiligo were screened by GEO. CIVID-19 related genes were screened by Genecards. Then by taking the intersection, a total of 10 crossover genes (PTGS2, CDK1, STAT1, BCL2L1, SCARB1, HIF1A, NAE1, PLA2G4A, HSP90AA1, and HSP90B1) were obtained. KEGG analysis found that it was mainly enriched in signaling pathways such as IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, Necroptosis, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. Five core targets (PTGS2, STAT1, BCL2L1, HIF1A, and HSP90AA1) were obtained by analyzing the PPI network. The network of "active ingredients-crossover genes" was constructed by Cytoscape, and the 5 main active ingredients acting on the 5 core crossover genes acacetin, wogonin, baicalein, bis2S)-2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate and 5,2′-Dihydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxyflavone. The core crossover genes obtained by PPI and the core crossover genes obtained by the "active ingredient-crossover gene" network are intersected to obtain the three most important core genes (PTGS2, STAT1, HSP90AA1). AM may act on PTGS2, STAT1, HSP90AA1, etc. through active components such as acacetin, wogonin, baicalein, bis2S)-2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,2-dicarboxylate and 5,2′-Dihydroxy-6,7,8-trimethoxyflavone to activate IL-17 signaling pathway, Th17 cell differentiation, Necroptosis, NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection, and VEGF signaling pathway and other signaling pathways to achieve the effect of treating vitiligo and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease associated with disturbed gut microbiota. Currently, the treatments and outcomes of AS are not satisfactory. It is reported that resveratrol (RES) is a major phytoalexin with anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and some other pharmacological effects. However, there are no studies on the role of RES in AS. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect and mechanism of RES on AS. Proteoglycan and complete freund's adjuvant were used to conduct an AS mouse model, and then the AS mice were gavaged with RES (20 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) daily for 4 weeks. Subsequently, the effect of RES on AS mice was assessed by detecting disease severity, inflammatory cytokines, NLRP3 inflammasome, TLR4/NF-κB pathway, intestinal mucosal barrier function, intestinal microbial barrier function. The assessment results indicated that RES could significantly relieve progression and severity of AS, inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-17A, interferon-γ), and promote the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-4). RES intervention caused the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome and TLR4/NF-κB pathway. In terms of intestinal barrier function, experimental results found RES increased zonula occludens-1 and occludin expression, and additionally, changed the composition of the gut microbiota by increasing levels of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium and reducing levels of Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli. Collectively, RES protects PG-induced AS mice by inhibiting inflammatory responses and TLR4/NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway, restoring intestinal mucosal barrier function, and regulating the composition of the gut microbiota. In other words, RES is a potential candidate for the treatment of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of coring in a high in-situ stress environment, the rock core is damaged due to stress release, and core discing is a prominent manifestation of this damage. Pressure-preserved coring has no direct effect on in-situ stress, and its influence on stress release is related to drilling fluid pressure. Yet fluid pressure in the coring process was not considered in most former numerical simulation studies on core discing. In this paper, the discrete element method software PFC3D is used to conduct a numerical simulation of the coring process. According to the two conditions without drilling fluid pressure and with it, and different horizontal in-situ stresses of 5-160 MPa, fracture and discing of the core with drilling are observed. In addition, the law of fracture and discing in the process of coring was studied, and the function of pressure-preserved coring to prevent fracture and discing is explored. Simulation results show nonlinear trends in distribution of discs both in time and in space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase is a master enzyme involved in various plant physiological processes, such as stomatal movements in leaves and nutrient uptake and transport in roots. Overexpression of Oryza sativa PM H+-ATPase 1 (OSA1) has been known to increase NH4+ uptake in rice roots. Although electrophysiological and pharmacological experiments have shown that the transport of many substances is dependent on the proton motive force provided by PM H+-ATPase, the exact role of PM H+-ATPase on the uptake of nutrients in plant roots, especially for the primary macronutrients N, P, and K, is still largely unknown. Here, we used OSA1 overexpression lines (OSA1-oxs) and gene-knockout osa1 mutants to investigate the effect of modulation of PM H+-ATPase on the absorption of N, P, and K nutrients through the use of a nutrient-exhaustive method and noninvasive microtest technology (NMT) in rice roots. Our results showed that under different concentrations of P and K, the uptake rates of P and K were enhanced in OSA1-oxs; by contrast, the uptake rates of P and K were significantly reduced in roots of osa1 mutants when compared with wild-type. In addition, the net influx rates of NH4+ and K+, as well as the efflux rate of H+, were enhanced in OSA1-oxs and suppressed in osa1 mutants under low concentration conditions. In summary, this study indicated that overexpression of OSA1 stimulated the uptake rate of N, P, and K and promoted flux rates of cations (i.e., H+, NH4+, and K+) in rice roots. These results may provide a novel insight into improving the coordinated utilization of macronutrients in crop plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove a recent conjecture, due to Vigren and Dieckmann, about an explicit triple sum formula for a series from Ramanujan's Notebooks. We shall give two proofs: the first one is by evaluation and based on the identity [Display omitted] where { n k } is a Stirling number of the second kind, and the second one is combinatorial in nature and by induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical stress and stability of calcaneal fixations with and without bone defect, before and after bone grafting, through a computational approach. A finite element model of foot-ankle complex was reconstructed, impoverished with a Sanders III calcaneal fracture without bone defect and with moderate and severe bone defects. Plate fixations with and without bone grafting were introduced with walking stance simulated. The stress and fragment displacement of the calcaneus were evaluated. Moderate and severe defect increased the calcaneus stress by 16.11% and 32.51%, respectively and subsequently decreased by 10.76% and 20.78% after bone grafting. The total displacement was increased by 3.99% and 24.26%, respectively by moderate and severe defect, while that of posterior joint facet displacement was 86.66% and 104.44%. The former was decreased by 25.73% and 35.96% after grafting, while that of the latter was reduced by 88.09% and 84.78% for moderate and severe defect, respectively. Our finite element prediction supported that bone grafting for fixation could enhance the stability and reduce the risk of secondary stress fracture in cases of bone defect in calcaneal fracture. • Calcaneal fracture fixation with and without a bone defect was simulated. • Defects in calcaneal fracture elevated the stress and displacement of fragments. • Bone defects might induce instability and risk of stress fracture. • Stress concentration appeared at the cavity of the bone defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently Cheng et al. (2023) [7] generalized the inversion number to partial permutations, which are also known as Laguerre digraphs, and asked for a suitable analogue of MacMahon's major index. We provide such a major index, namely, the corresponding maj and inv statistics are equidistributed, and exhibit a Haglund-Remmel-Wilson type identity. We then interpret some Jacobi-Rogers polynomials in terms of Laguerre digraphs generalizing Deb and Sokal's alternating Laguerre digraph interpretation of some special Jacobi-Rogers polynomials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the shape reconstruction of an inclusion from the faraway measurement of the associated electric field. This is an inverse problem of practical importance in biomedical imaging and is known to be notoriously ill-posed. By incorporating Drude's model of the permittivity parameter, we propose a novel reconstruction scheme by using the plasmon resonance with a significantly enhanced resonant field. We conduct a delicate sensitivity analysis to establish a sharp relationship between the sensitivity of the reconstruction and the plasmon resonance. It is shown that when plasmon resonance occurs, the sensitivity functional blows up and hence ensures a more robust and effective construction. Then we combine the Tikhonov regularization with the Laplace approximation to solve the inverse problem, which is an organic hybridization of the deterministic and stochastic methods and can quickly calculate the minimizer while capture the uncertainty of the solution. We conduct extensive numerical experiments to illustrate the promising features of the proposed reconstruction scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we first present a criterion for the real stability of recursive polynomials by applying the characterization of Borcea and Brändén concerning linear operators preserving stability. As applications, we derive some real stability results occurred in the literature in a unified manner. Moreover, we prove the real-rootedness of peak polynomials in bicolored dyck paths and ternary polynomials. Second, based on the h -polynomials from combinatorial geometry, we use real stability to get two criteria for interlacing property of zeros between a polynomial and its reciprocal polynomial, which in particular imply the alternatingly increasing property of the original polynomial or its reciprocal polynomial. These criteria extend a result of Brändén and Solus and unify such properties for many combinatorial polynomials, including ascent polynomials for k -ary words, descent polynomials on signed Stirling permutations and colored permutations, q -analog of descent polynomials on colored permutations and descent polynomials on color-signed permutations. Furthermore, we also obtain a recurrence relation and zero-interlacing property of q -analog of descent polynomials on colored permutations that extend some results of Brändén and Brenti. In addition, as an application of weak Hurwitz stability, we get the alternatingly increasing property and zero-interlacing property for two kinds of peak polynomials on the dual set of Stirling permutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Q be the affine quiver of type A ˜ 2 n − 1 , 1 and A q (Q) be the quantum cluster algebra associated to the valued quiver (Q , (2 , 2 , ... , 2)). We prove some cluster multiplication formulas, and deduce that the cluster variables associated with vertices of Q satisfy a quantum analogue of the constant coefficient linear relations. We then construct two bar-invariant Z [ q ± 1 2 ] -bases B and S of A q (Q) consisting of positive elements, and prove that B is an atomic basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently revealed significant differences in microarchitectural properties (i.e. global and local morphometries) and mechanical properties between rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP) in cancellous bones. This study compared these properties with those of ageing controls by matching bone volume fraction (BV/TV), the most important determinant for bones' mechanical properties, to investigate whether these bones have similar properties and degenerative potentials. RA, OA and OP femoral heads were harvested from patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery. The selected patients were matched by similar cancellous bone BV/TV, with seven patients in each group. Four samples were prepared from each femoral head and scanned with micro-CT to quantify microarchitectural properties and compression tested to determine mechanical properties. In terms of global morphometry, no significant differences were observed between these diseased bones. In terms of local morphometry, the number of plates in the RA group was significantly greater than that of the OP and control groups. Plate volume density in the RA group was significantly greater than in the control group. Interestingly, the ultimate stresses in the three diseased groups were 77% to 195% lower than in the control group (p < 0.001). Degenerations of global morphometry of cancellous bones in these diseased femoral heads are similar but more severe than in ageing controls matched by BV/TV, as evidenced by pronounced reduction in bone strength. This phenomenon suggests that some local morphometric parameters, along with other factors, such as abnormal collagen, mineralisation, erosion and microdamage, may contribute to further compromising mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the feasibility of using random forest (RF) machine learning algorithm in assessing normal and malignant peripheral pulmonary nodules based on in vivo endobronchial optical coherence tomography (EB-OCT). Methods: A total of 31 patients with pulmonary nodules were admitted to Department of Respiratory Medicine, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, and underwent chest CT, EB-OCT and biopsy. Attenuation coefficient and up to 56 different image features were extracted from A-line and B-scan of 1703 EB-OCT images. Attenuation coefficient and 29 image features with significant p-values were used to analyze the differences between normal and malignant samples. A RF classifier was trained using 70% images as training set, while 30% images were included in the testing set. The accuracy of the automated classification was validated by clinically proven pathological results. Results: Attenuation coefficient and 29 image features were found to present different properties with significant p-values between normal and malignant EB-OCT images. The RF algorithm successfully classified the malignant pulmonary nodules with sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 90.41%, 77.87% and 83.51% respectively. Conclusion: It is clinically practical to distinguish the nature of pulmonary nodules by integrating EB-OCT imaging with automated machine learning algorithm. Diagnosis of malignant pulmonary nodules by analyzing quantitative features from EB-OCT images could be a potentially powerful way for early detection of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) because of their ability to be used as aerial base stations for collecting data from IoT devices have attracted substantial interest in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. In this paper, a novel method has been proposed to increase the quality of the uplink IoT communications and to decrease the transmission power of IoT devices. For this purpose, to compute the UAVs' trajectory, association of device-to-UAV and IoT transmission power, a novel objective function has been defined to optimize the link quality and energy consumption in the considered UAV-based IoT system. Then, for optimizing this objective function, a novel constrained version of gravitational search algorithm is proposed, which is an NP-hard problem. In this algorithm, to handle the constraints, a multiple constraint ranking method is used. Moreover, to calculate the value of the parameter of this method, a fuzzy logic controller is used to control the exploitation and exploration abilities and improve the performance of this algorithm. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, simulations have been performed and the results were compared with those of the other methods. the experimental results show that an increase in system throughput and a decrease in the energy consumption of the considered UAV-based IoT system can be achieved simultaneously using the proposed optimization algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increase of crop yield is always the desired goal, manipulation of genes in relation to plant growth is a shortcut to promote crop yield. The plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase is the plant master enzyme; the energy yielded by ATP hydrolysis pumps H+ out of cells, establishes the membrane potential, maintains pH homeostasis and provides the proton-motive force required for transmembrane transport of many materials. PM H+-ATPase is involved in root nutrient uptake, epidermal stomatal opening, phloem sucrose loading and unloading, and hypocotyl cell elongation. In this review, we summarize the recent progresses in roles of PM H+-ATPase in nutrient uptake and light-induced stomatal opening and discuss the pivotal role of PM H+-ATPase in crop yield improvement and its potential application in agricultural production by modulating the expression of PM H+-ATPase in crops. • Structure and post-translational regulatory of PM H+-ATPase. • Contribution of PM H+-ATPase in nutrient uptake and stomatal opening. • Increase of rice grain yield in the paddy field by PM H+-ATPase overexpression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objectives: To quantify adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) for U.S. healthcare personnel (HCP) at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with infection risk. Methods: March–May 2020 survey of the national Nurses' Health Studies and the Growing Up Today study regarding self-reported PPE access, use, and reuse. COVID-19 endpoints included SARS-CoV-2 tests and COVID-19 status predicted from symptoms. Results: Nearly 22% of 22,232 frontline HCP interacting with COVID-19 patients reported sometimes or always lacking PPE. Fifty percent of HCP reported not needing respirators, including 13% of those working in COVID-19 units. Lack of PPE was cross-sectionally associated with two-fold or greater odds of COVID-19 among those who interacted with infected patients. Conclusion: These data show the need to improve the U.S. infection prevention culture of safety when confronting a novel pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publishing datasets plays an essential role in open data research and promoting transparency of government agencies. However, such data publication might reveal users’ private information. One of the most sensitive sources of data is spatiotemporal trajectory datasets. Unfortunately, merely removing unique identifiers cannot preserve the privacy of users. Adversaries may know parts of the trajectories or be able to link the published dataset to other sources for the purpose of user identification. Therefore, it is crucial to apply privacy preserving techniques before the publication of spatiotemporal trajectory datasets. In this paper, we propose a robust framework for the anonymization of spatiotemporal trajectory datasets termed as machine learning based anonymization (MLA). By introducing a new formulation of the problem, we are able to apply machine learning algorithms for clustering the trajectories and propose to use k-means algorithm for this purpose. A variation of k-means algorithm is also proposed to preserve the privacy in overly sensitive datasets. Moreover, we improve the alignment process by considering multiple sequence alignment as part of the MLA. The framework and all the proposed algorithms are applied to T-Drive, Geolife, and Gowalla location datasets. The experimental results indicate a significantly higher utility of datasets by anonymization based on MLA framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GaAs/Ge heterostructures have been employed in various semiconductor devices such as solar cells, high-performance CMOS transistors, and III–V/IV heterogeneous optoelectronic devices. The performance of these devices is directly dependent on the material quality of the GaAs/Ge heterostructure, while the material quality of the epitaxial GaAs layer on the Ge is limited by issues such as the antiphase domain (APD), and stacking-fault pyramids (SFP). We investigate the epitaxial growth of high-quality GaAs on a Ge (001) mesa array, via molecular beam epitaxy. Following a systematic study of the Ge terrace via an in situ scanning tunneling microscope, an atomically step-free terrace on the Ge mesa measuring up to 5 × 5 μm2 is obtained, under optimized growth conditions. The step-free terrace has a single-phase c (4 × 2) surface reconstruction. The deposition of a high-quality GaAs layer with no APD and SFP is then achieved on this step-free Ge terrace. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron channel contrast image characterizations reveal the defect-free growth of the GaAs layer on the step-free Ge mesa. Furthermore, InAs quantum dots on this GaAs/Ge mesa reveal photoluminescent intensity comparable to that achieved on a GaAs substrate, which further confirms the high quality of the GaAs layer on Ge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prometryne is a widely used herbicide in China to control annual grasses and broadleaf weeds. However, the stability of prometryne makes it difficult to be degraded, which poses a threat to human health. This study presents a bacterial strain isolated from soil samples with a prometryne application history, designated strain DY-1. Strain DY-1, identified as Pseudomonas sp., is capable of utilizing prometryne as a sole carbon source for growth and degrading 100% of prometryne within 48 h from an initial concentration of 50 mg L−1. To further optimize the degradation of prometryne, the prometryne concentration, temperature, pH, and salt concentration were examined. The optimal conditions for degradation of prometryne by strain DY-1 were an initial prometryne concentration of 50 mg L−1, 30 °C, pH 7–8, and NaCl concentration of 200 mg L−1. The same strain also degraded other s-triazine herbicides, including simetryne, ametryne, desmetryne, and metribuzin, under the same conditions. The biodegradation pathway of prometryne was established by isolating sulfoxide prometryne as the first metabolite and by the identification of sulfone prometryne and 2-hydroxy prometryne by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The results illustrated that strain DY-1 achieved the removal of prometryne by gradually oxidizing and hydrolyzing the methylthio groups. A bioremediation trial with contaminated soil and pot experiments showed that after treating the prometryne-contaminated soil with strain DY-1, the content of prometryne was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). This study provides an efficient bacterial strain and approach that could be potentially useful for detoxification and bioremediation of prometryne analogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercharging is the main method to improve the output power of marine diesel engines. Nowadays, most marine diesel engines use turbocharging technology, which increases the air pressure and density into the cylinder and the amount of fuel injected correspondingly so as to achieve the purpose of improving the power. In a marine diesel engine, the turbocharger has become an indispensable part. The performance of turbochargers in a harsh working environment of high temperature and high pressure for a long time will directly affect the performance of diesel engine. Based on the market feedback data from manufacturers, the failure modes of compressor impeller, turbine blade, and turbine disk of marine diesel turbocharger are analyzed, and the statistical model of random factors is established. Using DOE design, the structural strength simulation data of 46 compressors and 62 turbines are obtained, and the response surface model is constructed. On this basis, Monte Carlo sampling is carried out to analyze the reliability of the compressor and turbine. The reliability of the compressor is good, while that of the turbine disk is 0.943 and that of the turbine blade is 0.96, which still has the potential of reliability optimization space. Therefore, a multiobjective optimization method based on the NSGA-II genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain the multiobjective optimization scheme data with the reliability and processing cost of turbine disk and blade as the objective function. After optimization, the reliability of turbine disk and blade is 1, the stress value of turbine blade is optimized by 4.7941%, the stress value of turbine disk is optimized by 3.0136%, the machining cost of the turbine blade is reduced by 15.5087%, and the machining cost of turbine disk is reduced by 3.9907%. At the same time, it is verified by simulation, the data based on NSGA-II multiobjective genetic algorithm are more accurate and have practical engineering reference value. The optimized data based on NSGA-II multiobjective genetic algorithm are used to manufacture new turbine samples, and the accelerated test of simulation samples is carried out. The cycle life of the optimized turbine can reach 101,697 cycles and 118,687 cycles, which is 51.75% and 77.11% longer than that of the unoptimized turbine. It can be seen that the optimized turbine can meet the requirements of the reliability index while reducing the manufacturing cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the inverse reaction coefficient problem for a time dependent nonlocal diffusion equation by utilizing the nonlocal flux measurement from an accessible part of region, which is a continuation and an extension of our recent work (Zheng and Ding 2020 Inverse Problems 36 035006). The uniqueness of inverse reaction coefficient problem is proved. The variational regularization method is proposed to overcome the ill-posedness of inverse problem, and an alternating iteration method is adopted to automatically select regularization parameters. Furthermore, we use Laplace approximation method to capture the statistics information of the solution. In particular, we prove the lower bound of confidence width is rigorously estimated to characterize the reliability of the method. Finally, numerical results indicate that the proposed method could yield an accurate estimate and efficient uncertainty quantification of the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the health and social sciences, two types of mixture models have been widely used by researchers to identify participants within a population with heterogeneous longitudinal trajectories: latent class growth analysis and the growth mixture model. Both methods parametrically model trajectories of individuals, and capture latent trajectory classes, using an expectation-maximization algorithm. However, parametric modeling of trajectories using polynomial functions or monotonic spline functions results in limited flexibility for modeling trajectories; as a result, group membership may not be classified accurately due to model misspecification. In this paper, we propose a smoothing mixture model allowing for smoothing functions of trajectories using a modified algorithm in the M step. Specifically, participants are reassigned to only one group for which the estimated trajectory is the most similar to the observed one; trajectories are fitted using generalized additive mixed models with smoothing functions of time within each of the resulting subsamples. The smoothing mixture model is straightforward to implement using the recently released "gamm4" package (version 0.2-6) in R 3.5.0. It can incorporate time-varying covariates and be applied to longitudinal data with any exponential family distribution, e.g., normal, Bernoulli, and Poisson. Simulation results show favorable performance of the smoothing mixture model, when compared to latent class growth analysis and growth mixture model, in recovering highly flexible trajectories. The proposed method is illustrated by its application to body mass index data on individuals followed from adolescence to young adulthood and its relationship with incidence of cardiometabolic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many important problems are closely related to the zeros of certain polynomials derived from combinatorial objects. The aim of this paper is to observe some results and applications for the Hurwitz stability of polynomials in combinatorics and study other related problems. We first present a criterion for the Hurwitz stability of the Turán expressions of recursive polynomials. In particular, it implies the q -log-convexity or q -log-concavity of the original polynomials. We also give a criterion for the Hurwitz stability of recursive polynomials and prove that the Hurwitz stability of any palindromic polynomial implies its semi- γ -positivity, which illustrates that the original polynomial with odd degree is unimodal. In particular, we get that the semi- γ -positivity of polynomials implies their parity-unimodality and the Hurwitz stability of polynomials implies their parity-log-concavity. Those results generalize the connections between real-rootedness, γ -positivity, log-concavity and unimodality to Hurwitz stability, semi- γ -positivity, parity-log-concavity and parity-unimodality (unimodality). As applications of these criteria, we derive some Hurwitz stability results occurred in the literature in a unified manner. In addition, we obtain the Hurwitz stability of Turán expressions for alternating run polynomials of types A and B and the Hurwitz stability for alternating run polynomials defined on a dual set of Stirling permutations. Finally, we study a class of recursive palindromic polynomials and derive many nice properties including Hurwitz stability, semi- γ -positivity, non- γ -positivity, unimodality, strong q -log-convexity, the Jacobi continued fraction expansion and the relation with derivative polynomials. In particular, these properties of the alternating descents polynomials of types A and B can be implied in a unified approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 70% constriction of trachea marks the onset of a precipitous decrease in airflow. • The Myer-Cotton system can be interpreted in aerodynamics-derived description. • Bioengineering-informed evaluation for assessment of respiratory function. The quantitative relationship between tracheal anatomy and ventilation function can be analyzed by using engineering-derived methods, including mathematical modeling and numerical simulations. In order to provide quantitative functional evaluation for patients with tracheobronchial stenosis, we here propose an aerodynamics-based assessment method by applying computational fluid dynamics analysis on synthetic and patient-specific airway models. By using 3D reconstruction of tracheobronchial tree and computational fluid dynamics simulations, the aerodynamic environment from the stenotic central airway down to the 4th-6th bifurcation of the tracheobronchial tree is examined in both synthetic and patient-derived models. The effects of stenotic anatomy (the degree of stenosis, stenotic length and location) on the aerodynamic parameters, including pressure drop, area-average velocity, volume flow rate, wall shear stress and airflow resistance, are investigated on three-dimensional models of tracheobronchial tree. The results from 36 synthetic models demonstrate that 70% constriction marks the onset of a precipitous decrease in airflow relative to a normal airway. The analyses of simulation results of 8 patient-specific models indicate that the Myer-Cotton stenosis grading system can be interpreted in terms of aerodynamics-derived description, such as flow resistance. The tracheal stenosis significantly influences the resistance of peripheral bronchi, especially for patients with severe stenosis. The present study forms a systematic framework for future development of more robust, bioengineering-informed evaluation methods for quantitative assessment of respiratory function of patients with central airway obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mu-metal shields are widely used in atomic devices, but their magnetic noise related to loss is the key performance limit. The magnetic noise can be calculated by using complex permeability and the magnetic field intensity in the shield. In this study, Bertotti loss separation is used for the first time to accurately calculate the changes of complex permeability due to the hysteresis loss in different frequencies and magnetic field intensities, and we further consider the change in magnetic field intensity due to the induced eddy current, which also increases the accuracy of the magnetic noise calculation. For extremely low frequencies below 20 Hz, the improved noise simulation model differs from the measured results by less than 11%. If the loss separation is not considered, the difference between the measured value and the simulated value would be as high as 54%. The high agreement between the calculation and the experimental results proves the accuracy of the proposed method. Our method can be used in the design and optimization of low-noise magnetic shields to improve the sensitivity of atomic devices [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The association of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) with risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) has been inconsistent in previous studies. Methods: We examined the associations of BMI and WC in relation to risk of GBS among 252,980 participants from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), NHS-II, and the Health Professional Follow-up Study (HPFS). BMI and WC were assessed by self-reported questionnaire, and GBS cases were self-reported. Results: We documented 328 incident GBS cases during a total of 5,422,788 person years of follow-up. Compared to participants with BMI<25kg/m2, the multivariate pooled hazard ratio (HR) of GBS was 1.34 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.73) for overweight participants (25kg/m2≤BMI<30 kg/m2), and 1.68 (95% CI: 1.21, 2.35) for obese participants (BMI≥30 kg/m2) (P for trend = 0.001). Compared to participants with normal WC (<35 inches for women and <40 inches for men), the HR of GBS was 1.55 (95% CI: 1.10, 2.18) for participants with high WC (≥35 inches for women, and ≥40 inches for men). The positive associations of BMI and WC with risk of GBS were attenuated to null after mutually adjusting for BMI and WC. Joint analysis showed that the HR was 1.84 (95% CI: 1.27, 2.66) for participants with high WC and BMI≥25 kg/m2 in comparison to participants with normal WC and BMI<25kg/m2. Conclusion: These data from large cohorts showed that higher BMI and WC jointly were associated with higher risk of GBS. Our study highlighted the importance of maintaining a normal body weight and waist circumference in prevention of GBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show how the absorption and re-radiation energy from molecules in the air can influence the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) performance in high-frequency bands, e.g., millimeter wave (mmWave) and terahertz. In more detail, some common atmosphere molecules, such as oxygen and water, can absorb and re-radiate energy in their natural resonance frequencies, such as 60 GHz, 180 GHz and 320 GHz. Hence, when hit by electromagnetic waves, molecules will get excited and absorb energy, which leads to an extra path loss and is known as molecular attenuation. Meanwhile, the absorbed energy will be re-radiated towards a random direction with a random phase. These re-radiated waves also interfere with the signal transmission. Although, the molecular re-radiation was mostly considered as noise in literature, recent works show that it is correlated to the main signal and can be viewed as a composition of multiple delayed or scattered signals. Such a phenomenon can provide non-line-of-sight (NLoS) paths in an environment that lacks scatterers, which increases spatial multiplexing and thus greatly enhances the performance of MIMO systems. Therefore in this paper, we explore the scattering model and noise models of molecular re-radiation to characterize the channel transfer function of the NLoS channels created by atmosphere molecules. Our simulation results show that the re-radiation can increase MIMO capacity up to 3 folds in mmWave and 6 folds in terahertz for a set of realistic transmit power, distance, and antenna numbers. We also show that in the high SNR, the re-radiation makes the open-loop precoding viable, which is an alternative to beamforming to avoid beam alignment sensitivity in high mobility applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic foot ulcers are a common and severe complication of diabetes mellitus, and a risk factor for amputation. Because of the vessel insufficiency in diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that simulates angiogenesis is of interest to promote wound healing. This systematic review evaluates the last 16 years of in‐vivo studies with VEGF stimulation as a treatment for DFU, developed based on the last published systematic article. A total of 961 articles were identified through databases in two phases. 947 articles were excluded by exclusion criteria, and four articles met our inclusion criteria and were included. The effects of VEGF on wound healing were analysed in all four studies. In three studies, the VEGF‐treated wounds showed statistically faster healing than those not treated with VEGF. In one study, the VEGF‐treated wounds revealed a positive trend toward faster healing. Furthermore, all four studies were in favor of using VEGF, but concluded that further research is needed. These studies showed a positive trend towards faster healing and was safe when using VEGF topically on humans. Furthermore, viral particles of VEGF seem to have a systematic effect when a dose exceeding 5.0 × 109 vp pr wound. Future research in using VEGF on DFU should focus on VEGF's relevant dosage, release rate, and specific mechanism. This review inspires further research, and a consistent study design is prerequisite such that results are more homogenic and comparable. Much effort is needed to translate the results into our clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employ finite element method to investigate the kinematics of non-axially positioned vesicles through a pore. To complete the coupling between fluid flow and the vesicle membranes, we use the fluid structure interactions with the arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method. Our results demonstrate that the vesicles show different deformations in migration process, in turn an oblique ellipse-shape, slipper-shape, ovalshape. We find that the rotation angle of non-axially positioned vesicles mainly shows the trend of increase, besides the small fluctuation induced by deformation relaxation. Moreover, when the vesicles move towards the axis of the channel, the rotation angle exhibits a decrease because of the decrease of the shear force. However, rotation of axially positioned vesicles hardly occur due to symmetrical shear force. Our results further indicate that the rotation is faster nearby the pore for non-axially positioned vesicles. Our work answers the mapping between the positions of vesicles and deformed states, as well as the change of rotation angle and rotation velocity, which can provide helpful information on the utilization of vesicles in pharmaceutical, chemical, and physiological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined interactions between lifestyle factors and genetic risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D-GR), captured by genetic risk score (GRS) and family history (FH). Our initial study cohort included 20,524 European-ancestry participants, of whom 1,897 developed incident T2D, in the Nurses' Health Study (1984–2016), Nurses' Health Study II (1989–2016), and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986–2016). The analyses were replicated in 19,183 European-ancestry controls and 2,850 incident T2D cases in the Women's Genome Health Study (1992–2016). We defined 2 categories of T2D-GR: high GRS (upper one-third) with FH and low GRS or without FH. Compared with participants with the healthiest lifestyle and low T2D-GR, the relative risk of T2D for participants with the healthiest lifestyle and high T2D-GR was 2.24 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.76, 2.86); for participants with the least healthy lifestyle and low T2D-GR, it was 4.05 (95% CI: 3.56, 4.62); and for participants with the least healthy lifestyle and high T2D-GR, it was 8.72 (95% CI: 7.46, 10.19). We found a significant departure from an additive risk difference model in both the initial and replication cohorts, suggesting that adherence to a healthy lifestyle could lead to greater absolute risk reduction among those with high T2D-GR. The public health implication is that a healthy lifestyle is important for diabetes prevention, especially for individuals with high GRS and FH of T2D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method to determine the spin polarization and its distribution for a spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer are proposed in this paper. The Larmor precession frequency is measured using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis result of the transient response of the magnetometer under the excitation of a series of the step-changed magnetic field. The spin polarization is extracted from the slow-down factor of the precession frequency. The variation of the spin polarization with different pump light intensities and the distribution of the spin polarization along the direction of the pump light are analyzed, and the experimental results are well consistent with the theoretical predictions. The expanded uncertainties of the experimental results vary from 2% to 11% with the increase of the spin polarization and the reason for this variation is analyzed. The advantage of this method is that it allows the accurate measurement of the spin polarization in the pump beam direction within the SERF regime operating state, and it is unaffected by the large optical depth of the vapor cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identified plasma metabolites associated with habitual physical activity among 5,197 US participants from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II), and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). Physical activity was assessed every 2–4 years via self-report questionnaires. Blood was collected in the NHS in 1989–1990, in NHS II during 1996–1999, and in the HPFS during 1993–1995. Metabolic profiling was conducted by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Our study included 337 known metabolites, with 256 of them classified as lipids. We corrected for multiple testing by controlling the tail probability of the proportion of false positives (TPPFP) and accounted for correlated tests using bootstrapping. Physical activity was significantly associated with 20 metabolites after correction for multiple testing (TPPFP < 0.05), and positive associations were found for most of the metabolites, including 2 amino acids (citrulline and glycine), 4 cholesteryl esters (C18:2, C18:1, C16:0, C18:3), 8 phosphocholines (PCs) (C36:4 PC-A, C34:3 PC plasmalogen, C36:3 PC plasmalogen, C34:2 PC plasmalogen, C36:2 PC) and lysophosphatidylcholines (C18:2, C20:5, C18:1), and 3 phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) (C38:3 PE plasmalogen) and lysophosphatidylethanolamines (C18:2, C18:1). We independently replicated the 20 metabolites among 2,305 women in the Women's Health Initiative using 1993 data, and half of the metabolites were replicated. Our study may help identify biomarkers of physical activity and provide insight into biological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of being physically active on cardiometabolic health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A series of N-doped porous carbons are synthesized via the carbonization of a N-rich copolymer. • The proper pore structures and well-distributed N species cooperate for indole adsorption. • A record high adsorptive capacity of 7.35 mmol·g−1 for indole is gotten. • The advantages of N-doped species are shown by the first-principle simulation. Reducing the nitrogen-containing compounds (NCCs) in fuel oils to ultralow level is essential for preventing the oil refining catalysts from being poisoned and for protecting the environment. Adsorptive denitrogenation is proved to be an effective mean to reduce the NCCs content. Herein, a series of N-doped porous carbons (NDPCs) in possession of proper pore structures, large surface area and moderate N species, which is verified through a series of characterization, are synthesized on the basis of the precursor copolymerized between 2,4,6 - tris (chloromethyl)mesitylene and ethylenediamine. The NDPC-700 produced from the copolymer carbonization at 700 °C exhibits a record high adsorptive capacity of 7.35 mmol·g−1 for indole in the model oils, and the stable performance on the NCC adsorption is observed after 10 cycles of regeneration and reusage. The excellent adsorption capacity is attributed to the synergistic effect between porosities and N-containing sites. Moreover, the first-principle simulation proves that the N species, in particular the N-5 species, is helpful to the improvement of the adsorption capacity for indole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]