Search

Obtaining high-performance cathodes is critical for protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs), as cathode performance significantly impacts fuel cell performance. A full understanding of the interactions among the diverse properties of cathode materials would benefit cathode design. In this study, PrBaFe2O6−δ (PBF) was doped with various dopants, including cobalt (Co), Ni, Cu, Zn, and Mn. Experiments and first-principles calculations are used to study the key properties of dopant-modified PrBaFe2O6−δ, including oxygen vacancy (VO) creation, hydration ability, proton mobility, and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. There is no perfect dopant that can improve every property to its full potential. Instead, different dopants can impact different properties of the material. Co-dopant has the best cathode performance since it balances the material’s instinctive properties, even though it does not provide a significant advantage in the formation of VO. PCFC utilizing Co-doped PrBaFe2O6−δ cathode has a high performance of 1680 mW·cm−2 at 700 °C, which is greater than that of the other dopant-tailored PrBaFe2O6−δ cathodes reported in this study and is one of the largest ever recorded for PrBaFe2O6−δ-based cathodes for PCFCs. Co-doped PrBaFe2O6−δ cathode is further demonstrated to be robust, with excellent operational stability. This study not only provides a potential cathode candidate for PCFCs but also suggests an intriguing approach to cathode design by carefully examining and balancing different vital properties of the material.

Abstract Aiming at the problems of traditional ship cold chain monitoring systems being easily affected by environmental factors, difficult to achieve real‐time monitoring in the open sea without network signals, and low efficiency in transmitting Beidou short message data, a multi‐link compressed transmission ship cold chain monitoring system was designed by combining 5G technology, Beidou short message transmission technology, and multi‐protocol transmission technology. The system can adaptively switch the strength of wireless signals to ensure that information transmission is not lost. At the same time, a Beidou short message compressed transmission method was proposed to improve transmission efficiency. Test results show that the system can accurately complete data collection and processing, with small system errors, effectively improving the reliability and efficiency of the monitoring system, and has high application value.

Abstract O-linked-N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) is a common and important post-translational modification (PTM) linking O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues in proteins. Extensive research indicates its impact on target protein stability, activity, and interactions. O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) is a critical enzyme that catalyzes O-GlcNAc modification, responsible for adding O-GlcNAc to proteins. OGT and O-GlcNAcylation are overexpressed in many tumors and closely associated with tumor growth, invasion, metabolism, drug resistance, and immune evasion. This review delineates the biochemical functions of OGT and summarizes its effects and mechanisms in tumors. Targeting OGT presents a promising novel approach for treating human malignancies.

Objective·To investigate the changes of adipose tissues in mice after high-fat diet before and during pregnancy and the potential effects on adipose tissues in their offspring.Methods·C57BL/6J female mice were randomly assigned to the normal diet (CON group, n=12) or the high-fat diet (HFD group, n=12) for 5 weeks. The two groups were further subdivided according to pregnancy: a normal diet non-pregnancy group (CON-UN group), a normal diet pregnancy group (CON-P group), a high-fat diet non-pregnancy group (HFD-UN group), and a high-fat diet pregnancy group (HFD-P group). The original diet was maintained during pregnancy and lactation. White adipose tissues (WAT) and brown adipose tissues (BAT) were collected from visceral and scapula of mice after 5 weeks of feeding or E18.5d. Offspring from both dietary groups were placed on a normal diet after weaning, and their adipose tissues were collected at the 11th week. H-E staining was used to observe the changes of adipocytes. Flow cytometry was employed to detect the proportions of CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, total T cells, CD4+T/CD8+T and NK cells in WAT. RT-PCR was used to assess the expression of IL-6 and IL-1β mRNA in WAT.Results·After 5 weeks on a high-fat diet, the body weight of female mice in the HFD group was higher than that in the CON group (P

BaCe0.8Fe0.1Ni0.1O3−δ (BCFN) in a perovskite structure is impregnated consecutively by BCFN solution and BCFN suspension into a phase-inversion prepared NiO–Gd0.1Ce0.9O2−δ (GDC) scaffold as an anode for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with on-cell dry reforming of methane (DRM). The whole pore surface of the scaffold is covered by small BCFN particles formed by BCFN solution impregnation; the large pores near the scaffold surface are filled by BCFN aerogels with a high specific surface area produced by BCFN suspension impregnation, which act as a catalytic layer for on-cell DRM. After reduction, the anode consists of a Ni–GDC scaffold and BCFN particles with exsolved FeNi3 nanoparticles. This BCFN-impregnated Ni–GDC anode has higher electrical conductivity, electrochemical activity, and resistance to carbon deposition, with which the cell shows maximum power densities between 1.44 and 0.92 W·cm−2 when using H2 and between 1.09 and 0.50 W·cm−2 when using CO2–CH4 at temperatures ranging from 750 to 600 °C. A stable performance at 400 mA·cm−2 and 700 °C is achieved using 45% CO2–45% CH4–10% N2 for more than 400 h without carbon deposition, benefiting from the impregnated BCFN aerogel with a high specific surface area and water adsorbability.

Platycodon grandiflorus stands as one of the most extensively utilized traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, with triterpenoids and their derivatives serving as its primary medicinal components. Oxido squalene cyclase (OSC), serving as a crucial enzyme in the triterpenoid synthesis pathway, has the capability to enzymatically generate significant quantities of sterols and triterpenoid intermediates. While the OSC gene family has been identified in numerous species, bioinformatics research on this family remains scant. Presently, the specific members of this gene family in Platycodon grandiflorus have yet to be definitively determined. In this study, we successfully identified a total of 15 PgOSC genes within the genome of Platycodon grandiflorus by conducting homology comparisons. These genes were discovered to be unevenly distributed across the five chromosomes of the species, organized in the form of gene clusters. Subsequently, we conducted a thorough analysis of the OSC gene family’s evolutionary relationship by constructing a phylogenetic tree. Other characteristics of PgOSC family members, including gene structure, conserved motifs, protein three-dimensional structure, subcellular localization, and cis-acting elements were thoroughly characterized. Furthermore, We analyzed the expression of PgOSC gene in different tissues of Platycodon grandiflorus by qRT-PCR, and found that the expression of PgOSC genes in root was higher than that in stem and leaf. Upon comparing the effects of salt, heat, and drought treatments, we observed a significant induction of PgOSC gene expression in Platycodon grandiflorus specifically under salt stress conditions. In summary, this study comprehensively identified and analyzed the OSC gene family, aiming to provide basic biological information for exploring the members of PgOSC gene family.

BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate epidemiologic characteristics of major human infection with avian influenza and explore the factors underlying the spatial distributions, particularly H5N6 and H9N2, as H9N2 could directly infect mankind and contribute partial or even whole internal genes to generate novel human-lethal reassortants such as H5N6. They pose potential threats to public health and agriculture.MethodsThis study collected cases of H5N1, H5N6, H9N2, and H7N9 in China, along with data on ecoclimatic, environmental, social and demographic factors at the provincial level. Boosted regression tree (BRT) models, a popular approach to ecological studies, has been commonly used for risk mapping of infectious diseases, therefore, it was used to investigate the association between these variables and the occurrence of human cases for each subtype, as well as to map the probabilities of human infections.ResultsA total of 1,123 H5N1, H5N6, H9N2, and H7N9 human cases have been collected in China from 2011 to 2024. Factors including density of pig and density of human population emerged as common significant predictors for H5N1 (relative contributions: 5.3, 5.8%), H5N6 (10.8, 6.4%), H9N2 (11.2, 7.3%), and H7N9 (9.4, 8.0%) infection. Overall, each virus has its own ecological and social drivers. The predicted distribution probabilities for H5N1, H5N6, H9N2, and H7N9 presence are highest in Guangxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Jiangsu, respectively, with values of 0.86, 0.96, 0.93 and 0.99.ConclusionThis study highlighted the important role of social and demographic factors in the infection of different avian influenza, and suggested that monitoring and control of predicted high-risk areas should be prioritized.

Chemokines play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression levels of interferon-γ-induced protein-10 (CXCL10) and macrophage inflammatory protein-3α (MIP-3a) were investigated to clarify their clinical significance in HCC.The protein levels of CXCL10 and MIP-3a in the serum of 105 HBV-associated HCC patients, 50 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 50 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 50 healthy donors (HC) were detected by liquid chip technology (Luminex) or ELISA. In addition, their mRNA levels were also determined in liver cancer and adjacent cancer tissue (paracancer; ParaCa) from 65 HCC patients. The online database UALCAN was used to analyze the association between CXCL10 and pathological manifestations of liver cancer. In addition, the diagnostic value of CXCL10/MIP-3a and AFP in HCC patients was determined by analyzing the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC).The protein concentrations of CXCL10 and MIP-3a were significantly higher in the HCC group than in the LC, CHB and HC groups. CXCL10 in sera and liver cancer tissues is significantly positively correlated with ALT, but no significance between CXCL10 in ParaCa tissues and sera-ALT. Their mRNA is significantly higher in cancer tissues than in ParaCa tissues. The areas under the ROC curve of CXCL10, MIP-3a, CXCL10 and MIP-3a combined and AFP were 0.9169, 0.9261, 0.9299 and 0.7880, respectively. Elevated chemokines CXCL10 and MIP-3a in HCC patients may be associated with the clinical manifestation of HCC and could be a potential molecular marker for prognostic evaluation or a therapeutic target for HCC.

Excessive local movement and inflammation are common problems in the process of wound repair, which lead to failure of later repair. In order to solve this problem, inspired by the octopus sucker structure, we successfully developed a photocrosslinked hydrogel that can adsorb skin surface fascia. In addition, extracellular vesicles from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells are encapsulated in the octopus like sucker structure. The morphology and structure of extracellular vesicles in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were detected by scanning electron microscopy and particle size analysis. Through iTRAQ, we tested the expression of angiogenesis related proteins contained in extracellular vesicles. Design small interfering RNA to verify its impact on angiogenic related genes and proteins. Macrophage polarization was detected by immunofluorescence. The expression of new blood vessels was detected by constructing a skin defect model and injecting microfil contrast agent into the heart. When the sucker is firmly adsorbed on the damaged wound, the sucker will slowly degrade. Using its delivery system, it is observed that the extracellular vesicles are released in the wound. Through iTRAQ, it was found that the angiogenesis regulator (angiopoietin-like 4, angiopoietin-like 3 and aminopeptidase N) released in the extracellular vesicles regulates collagen deposition, angiogenesis, and inhibits macrophage aggregation. In addition, the slowly released extracellular vesicles will further inhibit the polarization of proinflammatory macrophages. This biological behavior can provide an adaptive microenvironment for skin regeneration at an early stage. This new bionic octopus sucker structure gel creates a good microenvironment for wound repair and shortens the wound healing time. Therefore, this hydrogel inspired by the octopus sucker structure may provide a good strategy and commercial value for promoting wound repair treatment in clinical practice.

Abstract Background In this study, we comprehensively profiled the T‐cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of the tumor and adjacent normal tissue in patients with HBV‐associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determined the baseline characteristics and clinical significance of TCR. Methods High‐throughput sequencing was used to determine the profile of complementarity‐determining region 3 (CDR3) of the TCR‐β chain variable (TRBV) in the tumor and normal tissue samples of 14 HCC patients. At the same time, TRBV diversity and differences in expression between tumor and normal tissues were investigated. The cumulative frequency of top 100 CDR3 (CF100), clonality, and Shannon entropy as indices to evaluate diversity, Results The diversity of TRBV CDR3 showed no significant difference between tumor and normal tissues. Of the 58 V gene segments in TRBV, TRBV16 and TRBV7‐6 had a significantly higher frequency in the tumor group than in the normal group (p

The aim of this study was to investigate the global epidemiological trends in the incidence and deaths of acute respiratory infections (ARIs), encompassing both upper respiratory infections (URIs) and lower respiratory infections (LRIs), from 1990 to 2021. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease study 2021 (GBD 2021), we utilized the average annual percentage change (AAPC) to examine the trends in the age-standardized incidence rate and deaths rate (ASIR and ASDRs) of URIs and LRIs. In 2021, the global ASIR of URIs and LRIs were 166,770.73 (95 % UI: 148,098.16–189,487.93) per 100,000 and 4283.61 (95 % UI: 4057.03–4524.89) per 100,000, respectively. The highest ASIR of URIs occurred in high-sociodemographic index (SDI) regions (232744.64, 95 % UI: 206887.07–261694.81) per 100,000, whereas LRIs occurred in low-SDI regions (9261.1, 95 % UI: 8741.61–9820.86) per 100,000. In 2021, the global ASDRs of URIs and LRIs were 0.28 (95 % UI: 0.09–0.61) per 100,000 and 28.67 (95 % UI: 25.92–31.07) per 100,000, respectively. The highest ASDRs of both URIs and LRIs were observed in low-SDI regions, with 1.1 (95 % UI: 0.08–2.78) per 100,000 and 70.68 (95 % UI: 62.56–78.62) per 100,000, respectively. From 1990 to 2021, the global ASIR for URIs and LRIs decreased, with AAPCs of −0.17 % (95 % CI: 0.17 % to −0.16 %) and −1.28 % (95 % CI: −1.37 % to −1.22 %), respectively. The global ASDRs also decreased (−3.39 % for URIs; −2.46 % for LRIs). However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ASIR of URIs increased in many countries, especially in high-SDI regions (rate difference before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in ASIR was 2210.19 per 100,000.) and low-SDI regions (rate difference in ASIR: 111.26 per 100,000). The global incidence and deaths related to ARIs have decreased over the past 32 years. However, it remains a significant public health concern, particularly due to the notable incidence of URIs in high SDI regions and the deaths associated with both URIs and LRIs in low SDI regions. Furthermore, an increase in the incidence of URIs was observed in both high- and low-SDI regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for increased attention.

Objective: To develop a model combining clinical and radiomics features from CT scans for a preoperative noninvasive evaluation of Huvos grading of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with HOS. Methods: 183 patients from center A and 42 from center B were categorized into training and validation sets. Features derived from radiomics were obtained from unenhanced CT scans.Following dimensionality reduction, the most optimal features were selected and utilized in creating a radiomics model through logistic regression analysis. Integrating clinical features, a composite clinical radiomics model was developed, and a nomogram was constructed. Predictive performance of the model was evaluated using ROC curves and calibration curves. Additionally, decision curve analysis was conducted to assess practical utility of nomogram in clinical settings. Results: LASSO LR analysis was performed, and finally, three selected image omics features were obtained.Radiomics model yielded AUC values with a good diagnostic effect for both patient sets (AUCs: 0.69 and 0.68, respectively). Clinical models (including sex, age, pre-chemotherapy ALP and LDH levels, new lung metastases within 1 year after surgery, and incidence) performed well in terms of Huvos grade prediction, with an AUC of 0.74 for training set. The AUC for independent validation set stood at 0.70. Notably, the amalgamation of radiomics and clinical features exhibited commendable predictive prowess in training set, registering an AUC of 0.78. This robust performance was subsequently validated in the independent validation set, where the AUC remained high at 0.75. Calibration curves of nomogram showed that the predictions were in good agreement with actual observations. Conclusion: Combined model can be used for Huvos grading in patients with HOS after preoperative chemotherapy, which is helpful for adjuvant treatment decisions.

Abstract The unique structural features of hard carbon (HC) make it a promising anode candidate for sodium‐ion batteries (SIB). However, traditional methods of preparing HC require special equipment, long reaction times, and large energy consumption, resulting in low throughputs and efficiency. In our contribution, a novel synthesis method is proposed, involving the formation of HC nanosheets (NS‐CNs) within minutes by creating an anoxic environment through flame combustion and further introducing sulfur and nitrogen sources to achieve heteroatom doping. The effect of heterogeneous element doping on the microstructure of HC is quantitatively analyzed by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and image processing technology. Combined with density functional theory calculation, it is verified that the functionalized HC exhibits stronger Na+ adsorption ability, electron gain ability, and Na+ migration ability. As a result, NS‐CNs as SIB anodes provide an ultrahigh reversible capacity of 542.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1, and excellent rate performance with a reversible capacity of 236.4 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 1200 cycles. Furthermore, full cell assembled with NS‐CNs as the can present 230 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 150 cycles. Finally, in/ex situ techniques confirm that the excellent sodium storage properties of NS‐CNs are due to the construction of abundant active sites based on the novel synthesis method for realizing the reversible adsorption of Na+. This work provides a novel strategy to develop novel carbons and gives deep insights for the further investigation of facile preparation methods to develop high‐performance carbon anodes for alkali‐ion batteries.

Background This study comprehensively investigates the association between the expression of nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) and clinical outcomes of urothelial bladder cancer (UBC), as well as the molecular mechanisms by which NNMT in cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) modulates tumor progression and immunotherapy resistance in UBC.Methods Single-cell transcriptomic analyses, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence assays were performed on bladder cancer samples to validate the relationship between NNMT expression and clinical outcomes. A series of experiments, including chromatin immunoprecipitation assay, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay, and CRISPR‒Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9) knockout, together with in vivo models, have been established to determine the molecular functions of NNMT in CAFs in UBC.Results We demonstrated that elevated expression of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) metabolism enzyme NNMT in CAFs (NNMT+ CAFs) was significantly associated with non-response to programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade immunotherapy in patients with UBC and predicted the unfavorable prognosis of UBC in two independent large cohorts. Targeting NNMT using the inhibitor 5-Amino-1-methylquinolinium iodide significantly reduced tumor growth and enhanced the apoptotic effects of the anti-PD-L1 antibody in UBC mouse models. Mechanistically, NNMT+ CAFs recruit tumor-associated macrophages via epigenetic reprogramming of serum amyloid A (SAA) to drive tumor cell proliferation and confer resistance to programmed death-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy.Conclusions NNMT+ CAFs were significantly associated with non-response to PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy in patients with UBC. Elevated NNMT, specifically in CAFs, upregulates SAA expression and enhances the recruitment and differentiation of macrophages in the tumor microenvironment, thereby directly or indirectly promoting tumor progression and conferring resistance to immunotherapies in bladder cancer.

BackgroundThe findings regarding the prognosis of prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDOC) vary widely among different studies. This study aims to investigate the mortality, consciousness recovery and disabilities of patients with PDOC after brain injury.MethodsA total of 204 patients with PDOC were included in a longitudinal cohort study, including 129 males and 75 females. There were 112 cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI), 62 cases of cerebral hemorrhage (CH), 13 cases of cerebral infarction (CI) and 17 cases of ischemic hypoxic encephalopathy (IHE). The status of consciousness at 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 months of the disease course was assessed or followed up using the Revised Coma Recovery Scale (CRS-R). If the patients were conscious, the disability Rating Scale (DRS) was also performed. The prognosis of different PDOC including coma, vegetative state (VS) and minimal conscious state (MCS) was analyzed. The survival patients were screened for variables and included in multivariate binary Logistic regression to screen the factors affecting the recovery of consciousness.ResultsThe mortality rates at 12, 24, 36, and 48 months were 10.7, 23.4, 38.9, and 68.4%, respectively. The median time of death was 18 months (8.75, 29). The probability of MCS regaining consciousness was higher than VS (p 0.05). The mortality rate of coma was higher than that of other PDOC (p 0.05). The probability of consciousness recovery after TBI was the highest and the mortality rate was the lowest. The possibility of consciousness recovery in IHE was the least, and the mortality rate of CI was the highest. The cause of brain injury and initial CRS-R score were the factors affecting the consciousness recovery of patients (p

Abstract Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of Madelung’s deformity. Materials and methods The wrist MRI scans of 19 patients clinically diagnosed with Madelung’s deformity and 20 patients without deformity were consecutively selected from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital between April 2019 and December 2022 for observation, in the case group and control group, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the factors affecting tilting angle and width of central disc (CD, also termed as triangular fibrocartilage, the main component of triangular fibrocartilage complex), while the chi-square test was used to compare the occurrences of CD (radial) attachment displacement, VL, and RTL. p

Objectives The objective of this study was to quantify the morphology, composition, and asymmetry of the paravertebral extensor muscles (PSEMs) in patients with cervical ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) who had different modified K‐line (mK‐line) and the minimum interval between the mK‐line and OPLL (INTmin) values and to investigate the relationship between PSEMs and symptoms and outcomes following laminoplasty. These original findings elucidated that the atrophy of PSEMs could predict decompression outcomes and provided a theoretical basis for paraspinal muscle rehabilitation. Methods A total of 94 consecutive patients who underwent laminoplasty for OPLL between January 2020 and January 2022 were enrolled in this retrospective study. The relative cross‐sectional areas (rCSA), functional cross‐sectional areas (rFCSA), and FCSA/CSA ratio of the multifidus (MF), semispinalis cervicalis (SSCe), semispinalis capitis (SSCa), and splenius capitis (SpCa) were measured at the C3–C7 segments on cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study compared the differences between the mK‐line (+) group and the mK‐line (−) group, as well as between the INTmin

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has garnered considerable attention from educators, policymakers, and scholars within the realms of education and social sciences, achieving notable historical significance. Employing bibliometric analysis, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the most noticeable trend of using AI in education. The corpus comprises a dataset of publications sourced from Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus-indexed journals. It concentrates on contemporary scientific research and innovative methodologies within the education sector, particularly relevant to the intersection of education and technology in the AI era. The results reveal a significant rise in AI-related technological research beginning in 2018, with citations reaching their zenith in 2019. Furthermore, collaborative metrics indicate that the United States and China are leading in publication volume. In addition, the study highlights a rising interest in AI applications within education and healthcare, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract Background Tandem C2 domains, nuclear (TC2N) is a C2 domain-containing protein that belongs to the carboxyl-terminal type (C-type) tandem C2 protein family, and acts as an oncogenic driver in several cancers. Previously, we preliminarily reported that TC2N mediates the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway to inhibit tumor growth of breast cancer (BC) cells. Beyond that, its precise biological functions and detailed molecular mechanisms in BC development and progression are not fully understood. Methods Tumor tissues of 212 BC patients were subjected to tissue microarray and further assessed the associations of TC2N expression with pathological parameters and FASN expression. The protein levels of TC2N and FASN in cell lines and tumor specimens were monitored by qRT-PCR, WB, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry. In vitro cell assays, in vivo nude mice model was used to assess the effect of TC2N ectopic expression on tumor metastasis and stemness of breast cancer cells. The downstream signaling pathway or target molecule of TC2N was mined using a combination of transcriptomics, proteomics and lipidomics, and the underlying mechanism was explored by WB and co-IP assays. Results Here, we found that the expression of TC2N remarkedly silenced in metastatic and poorly differentiated tumors. Function-wide, TC2N strongly inhibits tumor metastasis and stem-like properties of BC via inhibition of fatty acid synthesis. Mechanism-wise, TC2N blocks neddylated PTEN-mediated FASN stabilization by a dual mechanism. The C2B domain is crucial for nuclear localization of TC2N, further consolidating the TRIM21-mediated ubiquitylation and degradation of FASN by competing with neddylated PTEN for binding to FASN in nucleus. On the other hand, cytoplasmic TC2N interacts with import proteins, thereby restraining nuclear import of PTEN to decrease neddylated PTEN level. Conclusions Altogether, we demonstrate a previously unidentified role and mechanism of TC2N in regulation of lipid metabolism and PTEN neddylation, providing a potential therapeutic target for anti-cancer.

Abstract Due to the existence of the magnetic pole edge effect, the actual cogging torque of the existing segmented step skew motor does not reach the theoretical minimum. Thus, a method for suppressing cogging torque of permanent magnet synchronous motor considering the magnetic pole edge effect is proposed. The magnetic pole edge effect is creatively converted into the amplitude and phase offset of the cogging torque generated by each pole segment. On this basis, an optimization problem is constructed in which the fundamental component of cogging torque is zero and the total harmonics is minimum. The optimal magnetic pole length and skew angle parameters of each segment are obtained by solving the optimization problem quantitatively. The results can provide theoretical guidance for motor design, which can minimize the cogging torque of step skew structures. The effectiveness of the proposed method in weakening the cogging torque of the step skew motor is demonstrated by theoretical calculation, 3D finite element analysis, and experimental results.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential diagnostic and prognostic value of gene, Poly A-Binding Protein Interacting Protein 2B (PAIP2B) in pancreatic cancer. We used the gene expression data and clinical information of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and Gene Expression Omnibus database to analyze the expression of PAIP2B in pancreatic cancer samples, and validated the expression of PAIP2B in tumor tissue, using bioinformatics technology to explore the prognostic value of PAIP2B and its possible biological function. A significantly lower level of PAIP2B was observed in pancreatic cancer patients than in controls, and validated by immunohistochemistry. PAIP2B reduced the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells and had a significantly high expression in early stage. Patients with lower levels of PAIP2B had a significantly shorter median survival time than those with higher levels. DNA demethylation played an important role in PAIP2B expression. In addition, PAIP2B expression was significantly associated with the tumor-infiltrating immune cells, especially T cells CD8, T cells CD4 memory resting, macrophages M0, and dendritic cells resting. Our study also found that PAIP2B regulated miRNA function leading to disease progression in pancreatic cancer patients. Our study explored the potential value of PAIP2B as a biological link between prognosis and pancreatic cancer, and provided reference for the follow-up study on the role of PAIP2B in pancreatic cancer.

Abstract The application of a semi‐definite programming (SDP) approach to the Alternating Current Optimal Power Flow problem has attracted significant attention in recent years. However, the SDP relaxation of optimal power flow (OPF) can be computationally intensive and lead to memory issues when dealing with large‐scale power systems. To overcome these challenges, we have developed APD–SDP, an optimisation solver based on a first‐order primal–dual algorithm. This framework incorporates various acceleration techniques, such as rescaling, step size decay and reset, adaptive line search, and restart, to improve efficiency. To further speed up computations, we have developed a customised eigenvalue decomposition component by exploiting the 3 × 3 block structure in the dual SDP formulation. Experimental results demonstrate that APD–SDP outperforms other commercial and open‐source SDP solvers on large‐scale and high‐dimensional PGLib‐OPF datasets.

Abstract Background and aim Liver failure, which is predominantly caused by hepatitis B (HBV) can be improved by an artificial liver support system (ALSS). This study investigated the phenotypic heterogeneity of immunocytes in patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) before and after ALSS therapy. Methods A total of 22 patients with HBV-ACLF who received ALSS therapy were included in the study. Patients with Grade I according to the ACLF Research Consortium score were considered to have improved. Demographic and laboratory data were collected and analyzed during hospitalization. Immunological features of peripheral blood in the patients before and after ALSS were detected by mass cytometry analyses. Results In total, 12 patients improved and 10 patients did not. According to the immunological features data after ALSS, the proportion of circulating monocytes was significantly higher in non-improved patients, but there were fewer γδT cells compared with those in improved patients. Characterization of 37 cell clusters revealed that the frequency of effector CD8+ T (P = 0.003), CD4+ TCM (P = 0.033), CD4+ TEM (P = 0.039), and inhibitory natural killer (NK) cells (P = 0.029) decreased in HBV-ACLF patients after ALSS therapy. Sub group analyses after treatment showed that the improved patients had higher proportions of CD4+ TCM (P = 0.010), CD4+ TEM (P = 0.021), and γδT cells (P = 0.003) and a lower proportion of monocytes (P = 0.012) compared with the non-improved patients. Conclusions Changes in effector CD8+ T cells, effector and memory CD4+ T cells, and inhibitory NK cells are associated with ALSS treatment of HBV-ACLF. Moreover, monocytes and γδT cells exhibited the main differences when patients obtained different prognoses. The phenotypic heterogeneity of lymphocytes and monocytes may contribute to the prognosis of ALSS and future immunotherapy strategies.

Abstract Soft fluidic robots have attracted a lot of attention and have broad application prospects. However, poor fluidic power source and easy to damage have been hindering their development, while the lack of intelligent self-protection also brings inconvenience to their applications. Here, we design diversified self-protection soft fluidic robots that integrate soft electrohydrodynamic pumps, actuators, healing electrofluids, and E-skins. We develop high-performance soft electrohydrodynamic pumps, enabling high-speed actuation and large deformation of untethered soft fluidic robots. A healing electrofluid that can form a self-healed film with excellent stretchability and strong adhesion is synthesized, which can achieve rapid and large-areas-damage self-healing of soft materials. We propose multi-functional E-skins to endow robots intelligence, making robots realize a series of self-protection behaviors. Moreover, our robots allow their functionality to be enhanced by the combination of electrodes or actuators. This design strategy enables soft fluidic robots to achieve their high-speed actuation and intelligent self-protection, opening a door for soft robots with physical intelligence.

Objective Posterior wall (PW) fractures were sometimes associated in both‐column acetabular fractures. How to evaluate pre‐operatively the necessity for the performance of the posterior approach was an issue to be solved. In order to solve this issue, the computer‐assisted virtual surgery technique was used to evaluate if the involved PW in both‐column acetabular fractures (BACF) should be managed through posterior approach and verify the feasibility of this method. Methods Data of a consecutive cohort of 72 patients with both‐acetabular fractures from January 2012 to January 2020 was collected for retrospective study, of which 44 patients had concomitant acetabular PW fractures, and patients without PW fractures were labeled as the BCAF group. Computer‐assisted virtual surgery technique was performed pre‐operatively to evaluate the necessity for performance of posterior approach in 44 patients, and posterior approach was required if more than 3 mm of displacement was still present in the reduced 3D model. The 23 patients without treatment through posterior approach were labeled as the BCAF‐PW− group, and the 21 patients with treatment through posterior approach were labeled as the BCAF‐PW+ group. Operation‐related and post‐operative parameters were recorded. The quality of reduction and functional outcomes were assessed by the Matta scoring system and modified Merle d'Aubigné and Postel scoring system. The measurement data were analyzed using the t‐test of independent samples and rank‐sum test of ranked data between every two groups. Also, the one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data between the three groups. Results Comparing operation‐related and post‐operative parameters in the three groups, some PW fractures in both‐column acetabular fractures could be ignored, and which could be evaluated pre‐operatively for necessity of an additional posterior approach. Operative time (271.2 ± 32.8 mins) and intra‐operative blood loss (1176.7 ± 211.1 mL) were significantly higher in the BCAF‐PW+ group. The excellent/good of reduction (25/28 of the BCAF group, 21/23 of the BCAF‐PW− group, 19/21 of the BCAF‐PW+ group) and functional outcomes (24/28 of the BCAF group, 18/23 of the BCAF‐PW− group, 18/21 of the BCAF‐PW+ group) of three groups were similar. The incidence of complications, such as deep vein thrombosis (4/28 of the BCAF group >3/23 of the BCAF‐PW− group >1/21 of the BCAF‐PW+ group) and injury of lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (3/23 of the BCAF‐PW− group >2/28 of the BCAF group >0/21 of the BCAF‐PW+ group), was no significant difference. Conclusion The partial both‐column acetabular fractures with PW involvement could be managed through a single anterior approach without another posterior approach by evaluation of computer‐assisted virtual surgery technique.

Reliable and economical energy storage technologies are urgently required to ensure sustainable energy supply. Hydrogen (H2) is an energy carrier that can be produced environment-friendly by renewable power to split water (H2O) via electrochemical cells. By this way, electric energy is stored as chemical energy of H2, and the storage can be large-scale and economical. Among the electrochemical technologies for H2O electrolysis, solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) operated at temperatures above 500 ℃ have the benefits of high energy conversion efficiency and economic feasibility. In addition to the H2O electrolysis, SOECs can also be employed for CO2 electrolysis and H2O–CO2 co-electrolysis to produce value-added chemicals of great economic and environmental significance. However, the SOEC technology is not yet fully ready for commercial deployment because of material limitations of the key components, such as electrolytes, air electrodes, and fuel electrodes. As is well known, the reactions in SOEC are, in principle, inverse to the reactions in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Component materials of SOECs are currently adopted from SOFC materials. However, their performance stability issues are evident, and need to be overcome by materials development in line with the unique requirements of the SOEC materials. Key topics discussed in this review include SOEC critical materials and their optimization, material degradation and its safeguards, future research directions, and commercialization challenges, from both traditional oxygen ion (O2−)-conducting SOEC (O-SOEC) and proton (H+)-conducting SOEC (H-SOEC) perspectives. It is worth to believe that H2O or/and CO2 electrolysis by SOECs provides a viable solution for future energy storage and conversion.

Abstract Background There are many studies indicating that alterations in the abundance of certain gut microbiota are associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, a causal relationship has not been identified due to confounding factors such as lifestyle, environmental, and possible reverse causal associations between the two. Furthermore, certain host gene mutations can also contribute to the development of CRC. However, the association between genes and gut microbes in patients with CRC has not been extensively studied. Methods We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to reveal the causal relationship between gut microbiota and CRC. We obtained SNPs associated with gut microbiome abundance as instrumental variables (IVs) from a large-scale, multi-ethnic GWAS study, and extracted CRC-related datasets from an East Asian Population genetic consortia GWAS (AGWAS) study and FinnGen consortium, respectively. We analyzed a total of 166 bacterial features at four taxonomic levels, including order, family, genus, and species. The inverse-variance-weighted (IVW), weighted median, MR-Egger, and simple median methods were applied to the MR analysis, and the robustness of the results were tested using a series of sensitivity analyses. We extracted IVs of gut microbiota with direct causal association with CRC for SNP annotation to identify the genes in which these genetic variants were located to reveal the possible host gene-microbiome associations in CRC patients. Results The findings from our MR analysis based on CRC-associated GWAS datasets from AGWAS revealed causal relationships between 6 bacterial taxa and CRC at a locus-wide significance level (P

Abstract Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide, with striking tumor heterogeneity. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms that can be exploited for the treatment of aggressive UBC is a particularly relevant goal. Protein ubiquitination is a critical post-translational modification (PTM) that mediates the degradation of target protein via the proteasome. However, the roles of aberrant protein ubiquitination in UBC development and the underlying mechanisms by which it drives tumor progression remain unclear. In this study, taking advantage of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) 9 technology, we identified the ubiquitin E3 ligase ANAPC11, a critical subunit of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), as a potential oncogenic molecule in UBC cells. Our clinical analysis showed that elevated expression of ANAPC11 was significantly correlated with high T stage, positive lymph node (LN) metastasis, and poor outcomes in UBC patients. By employing a series of in vitro experiments, we demonstrated that ANAPC11 enhanced the proliferation and invasiveness of UBC cells, while knockout of ANAPC11 inhibited the growth and LN metastasis of UBC cells in vivo. By conducting immunoprecipitation coupled with mass spectrometry, we confirmed that ANAPC11 increased the ubiquitination level of the Forkhead transcription factor FOXO3. The resulting decrease in FOXO3 protein stability led to the downregulation of the cell cycle regulator p21 and decreased expression of GULP1, a downstream effector of androgen receptor signaling. Taken together, these findings indicated that ANAPC11 plays an oncogenic role in UBC by modulating FOXO3 protein degradation. The ANAPC11–FOXO3 regulatory axis might serve as a novel therapeutic target for UBC.

Abstract NVS-ZP7-4 was identified as a novel chemical reagent targeting the zinc input protein ZIP7, which accounts for the zinc surge from the apparatus to the cytoplasm. Since zinc dysregulation is related to multiple diseases, in this study, we aimed to identify the anti-tumor effects of NVS-ZP7-4 and explore the molecular mechanisms of NVS-ZP7-4 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. We found that NVS-ZP7-4 inhibited cell viability, caused cell cycle arrest, induced apoptosis, and inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCCLM3 and Huh7 cells. We further investigated the inhibited activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway was involved in the antitumor effect of NVS-ZP7-4 in HCC. Furthermore, NVS-ZP7-4 inhibited HCC tumor growth in vivo. The present study demonstrated that NVS-ZP7-4 is a promising therapeutic target for HCC by regulating PI3K/AKT signaling.

Abstract Urocortin 2 (UCN2) acts as a ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRHR2). UCN2 has been reported to improve or worsen insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in vivo. Here we show that acute dosing of UCN2 induces systemic insulin resistance in male mice and skeletal muscle. Inversely, chronic elevation of UCN2 by injection with adenovirus encoding UCN2 resolves metabolic complications, improving glucose tolerance. CRHR2 recruits Gs in response to low concentrations of UCN2, as well as Gi and β-Arrestin at high concentrations of UCN2. Pre-treating cells and skeletal muscle ex vivo with UCN2 leads to internalization of CRHR2, dampened ligand-dependent increases in cAMP, and blunted reductions in insulin signaling. These results provide mechanistic insights into how UCN2 regulates insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle and in vivo. Importantly, a working model was derived from these results that unifies the contradictory metabolic effects of UCN2.

Background: There is currently no consensus regarding the optimal perioperative antiplatelet strategy for carotid artery surgery. This multicentre study aimed to analyse the association between preoperative aspirin monotherapy following postoperative dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) and the risk for stroke and death after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Methods: This cohort study included 821 patients with carotid artery stenosis who underwent CEA. Primary outcomes included any stroke or death up to the one-month postoperative follow-up. Multilevel multivariate regression analyses and descriptive statistics were performed. Results: Patients were predominantly male (53 %), with a mean age of 66.2 years. The primary outcome occurred in 1.6 % of patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibited a high risk for stroke or death (P = 0.011). The occurrence of any local complications in the neck was accompanied by an increase in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P = 0.007). Patients with a high systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P = 0.002) experienced a longer operative duration. The length of hospital stay was longer in the patients with COPD (P = 0.020), minor stroke (P = 0.011), and major stroke (P = 0.001). A positive linear correlation was found between SBP and operative duration in the overall population (β 0.4 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.1–0.7]; P = 0.002). The resultant curve for DBP and any local complications in the neck exhibited a two-stage change and one breakpoint in the entire population (k = 68 mmHg,

Objective: This study was designed to delve into the complexities involved in diagnosing of benign and malignant bone tumors and to assess the potential of AI technologies like ChatGPT in improving diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. The study also explores the few-shot learning as a method to optimize ChatGPT's performance in specialized medical domains such as benign and malignant bone tumors diagnosis. Methods: A total of 1366 benign and malignant bone tumors-related imaging reports were collected and diagnosed by 25 experienced physicians. The gold standard of diagnosis was established by combining clinical, imaging and pathological principles.These reports were then input into the ChatGPT model which underwent a few-shot learning method to generate diagnostic results. The diagnostic results of the physicians and the AI model were compared to evaluate the performance of ChatGPT. An experiment was conducted to assess the influence of different radiologist's reporting styles on the model's diagnostic performance. Furthermore, in-depth analysis of misdiagnosed cases was carried out, categorizing diagnostic errors and exploring possible causes. Results: The diagnostic results generated by ChatGPT showed an accuracy of 0.73, sensitivity of 0.95, and specificity of 0.58. After few-shot learning, ChatGPT demonstrated significant improvement, achieving an accuracy of 0.87, sensitivity of 0.99, and specificity of 0.73, bringing it much closer to the level of physician diagnostics. In an experiment analyzing the influence of the radiologist's reporting style, the model demonstrated higher sensitivity when interpreting reports written by high-level radiologists. In 56 benign cases, ChatGPT misdiagnosed them as malignant. Among these, 35 benign lesions- fibrous dysplasia and osteofibrous dysplasia- were incorrectly identified as metastatic tumors or osteosarcomas; 8 cases of myositis ossificans were wrongly diagnosed as extraosseous osteosarcoma. 7 cases of giant cell tumor of bone at the end of long bone were misdiagnosed as osteosarcoma by intermediate doctors. Chondroblastoma was misdiagnosed as malignant tumor in 6 cases −2 osteosarcoma and 4 chondrosarcoma-In this study, 23 osteosarcoma cases were misdiagnosed by ChatGPT as osteomyelitis; Chondrosarcoma was misdiagnosed as fibrous dysplasia or aneurysmal bone cyst in 8 cases. Four cases of spinal chordoma were misdiagnosed as spinal tuberculosis. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the potential of ChatGPT in the diagnosis of benign and malignant bone tumors, offering advantages like enhanced efficiency and a reduction in missed diagnoses. However, the necessity of collaborative interactions between physicians and ChatGPT in practical settings was underscored. With an examination into AI's capacity in benign and malignant bone tumors diagnosis, this study lays the groundwork for future AI advancements in medicine. Additionally, the benefits of few-shot learning in fine-tuning ChatGPT applications in specialized fields were also demonstrated.

One of the fundamental principles of electrostatics is that an uncharged object will be attracted to a charged object through electrostatic induction as the two approaches one another. We refer to the charged object as a single electrode and examine the scenario where a positive voltage is applied. Because of electrostatic induction phenomenon, single-electrode electrostatics only generates electrostatic attraction forces. Here, we discover that single-electrode electrostatics can generate electrostatic repulsion forces and define this new phenomenon as single-electrode electrostatic repulsion phenomenon. We investigate the fundamental electrostatic phenomena, giving a curve of electrostatic force versus voltage and then defining 3 regions. Remote actuation and manipulation are essential technologies that are of enormous concern, with tweezers playing an important role. Various tweezers designed on the basis of external fields of optics, acoustics, and magnetism can be used for remote actuation and manipulation, but some inherent drawbacks still exist. Tweezers would benefit greatly from our discovery in electrostatics. On the basis of this discovery, we propose the concept of electrostatic tweezers, which can achieve noncontact and remote actuation and manipulation. Experimental characterizations and successful applications in metamaterials, robots, and manipulating objects demonstrated that electrostatic tweezers can produce large deformation rates (>6,000%), fast actuation (>100 Hz), and remote manipulating distance (~15 cm) and have the advantages of simple device structure, easy control, lightweight, no dielectric breakdown, and low cost. Our work may deepen people’s understanding of single-electrode electrostatics and opens new opportunities for remote actuation and manipulation.

Long time and high intensity work makes the wear of the roller of the robotic arm increase gradually, which will affect the performance and service life if not regularly overhauled. In this paper, the sensor is used to obtain roller data from the mechanical arm, and the roller wear characteristics are extracted by combining them with the LSTM model. Based on the autoencoder, the wavelet function is introduced to establish a deep wavelet autoencoder, and the DWAE-GRUNN model is established by combining the gated recurrent unit neural network, which is used for the intelligent detection of the wear of the roller of the robotic arm. The model’s classification performance can be improved by using the CTC loss function, and the parameters can be optimized using the sparrow search algorithm. For the application of the DWAE-GRUNN model in the intelligent detection of roller wear of mechanical arms, this paper validates the model based on the aspects of performance, coefficient selection, and detection results. It is found that the average correct detection rate of the model in this paper is 95.97%, and the optimal accuracy is obtained when the weight attenuation coefficient of the DWAE structure is 0.005. The friction force changes inversely with the degree of smoothness after 3.1h of the detection time of the robotic arm roller, and the stiffness, cumulative large abrasive grains, and cumulative small abrasive grains also show significant changes. Using the DWAE-GRUNN model, changes in the wear of the robotic arm roller can be obtained, providing data support for timely maintenance.

Abstract Paciorek and Wehner raise important questions around our use of the Mann‐Kendall nonparametric trend test on smoothed data for analyzing long‐term hydrometeorological trends in Zhang et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl092293). We thank them for initiating this important conversation and their gracious cooperation in exploring the issues addressed in their comment. In this reply we confirm the inflation of significant p‐values by our choice to smooth, illustrate the relatively minor impacts on the main conclusions of our paper, and add our voices to those of Paciorek and Wehner in highlighting the lack of methodology for hypothesis testing across multiple stations that have spatial structure (i.e., testing for regionally consistent trends).

ObjectiveIn this research, we investigated the current status, hotspots, frontiers, and trends of research in the field of bone-tendon interface (BTI) from 2000 to 2023, based on bibliometrics and visualization and analysis in CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and a bibliometric package in R software.MethodsWe collected and organized the papers in the Web of Science core collection (WoSCC) for the past 23 years (2000–2023), and extracted and analyzed the papers related to BTI. The extracted papers were bibliometrically analyzed using CiteSpace for overall publication trends, authors, countries/regions, journals, keywords, research hotspots, and frontiers.ResultsA total of 1,995 papers met the inclusion criteria. The number of papers published and the number of citations in the field of BTI have continued to grow steadily over the past 23 years. In terms of research contribution, the United States leads in terms of the number and quality of publications, number of citations, and collaborations with other countries, while the United Kingdom and the Netherlands lead in terms of the average number of citations. The University of Leeds publishes the largest number of papers, and among the institutions hosting the 100 most cited papers Hospital for Special Surgery takes the top spot. MCGONAGLE D has published the highest number of papers (73) in the last 10 years. The top three clusters include #0 “psoriatic arthritis”, #1 “rotator cuff repair”, and #2 “tissue engineering”. The structure and function of the BTI and its key mechanisms in the healing process are the key to research, while new therapies such as mechanical stimulation, platelet-rich plasma, mesenchymal stem cells, and biological scaffolds are hot topics and trends in research.ConclusionOver the past 23 years, global research on the BTI has expanded in both breadth and depth. The focus of research has shifted from studies concentrating on the structure of the BTI and the disease itself to new therapies such as biomaterial-based alternative treatments, mechanical stimulation, platelet-rich plasma, etc.

ABSTRACTAlcohol dependence (AD) is a worldwide epidemic of psychiatric disorders. Gut microbiota dysbiosis may be involved in the development of AD. Recently, the number of studies on the relationship between gut microbiota and alcohol is increasing. However, most previous studies were focused on rodent models and gut microbiota, and the data about the alteration of the gut fungi in AD patients were scarce. Convincing evidence of the gut microbiota’s role in the development of AD is lacking. Here, we investigated the characteristics of gut microbiota (bacterial) and mycobiota (fungal) dysbioses in AD patients and assessed the role of the gut microbiome on the behaviors of rats by fecal microbiota transfer, trying to illuminate the possible microbiota mechanism in AD development. We found that AD patients developed gut microbiota dysbiosis, displayed by the fact that the bacterial genus of Ruminococcaceae significantly decreased and that of Lachnospiraceae increased and the fungal genus of Saccharomyces and Kurtzmaniella obviously increased and that of Candida decreased. Alcohol consumption disturbs the gut equilibrium between bacteria and fungi. The fungal-to-bacterial species ratio was significantly decreased, and the bacterial-fungal trans-kingdom interactions were reduced. By transplanting the gut microbiota from AD patients to rats, we confirmed that the microbiota from AD patients induced the behavioral alterations associated with alcohol dependence in rats, including increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, reduced exploratory and recognition memory, and higher alcohol preference. Meanwhile, the microbiota from the AD patient donor upregulated the expression levels of cholecystokinin receptors in the frontal lobe, hippocampus, and cortex in rats, which might be involved in the development of alcohol dependence. Our results demonstrate that AD patients developed gut bacterial and fungal microbiota dysbioses and the gut microbiota may be involved in the development of alcohol addiction by regulating the endogenous cholecystokinin and related receptors’ expression. Our data open new avenues for adjuvant treating AD patients via administrating the intestinal microbiota.IMPORTANCEIntestinal microbiome dysbiosis is associated with psychiatric disease through the “microbiota-gut-brain” axis. Here, we revealed that there was obvious intestinal microbiome (including bacterial and fungal) dysbiosis in alcohol-dependent patients. Alcohol consumption seriously disturbs the gut equilibrium between bacteria and fungi, reduces the interactions among bacterial-fungal trans-kingdom, and increases intestinal permeability. Gut microbiota should be considered as a whole to study the development of alcohol dependence. The gut microbiome of alcohol-dependent patients increased the anxiety- and depression-like behavior in rats. The gut microbiota dysbiosis may promote the development of alcohol dependence by regulating the endogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) and related receptors. Hence, regulating the balance of gut microbiota and the endogenous CCK may be a potential strategy for reducing the risk of relapse in alcohol addiction patients.

Objective·To analyze the effects of maternal high-fat diet on placental phenotype, and investigate the role of placental microenvironment in the intergenerational transmission.Methods·The 3-week-old C57BL/6J female mice were fed with either the high-fat diet (HFD group) or the control diet (CD group) for 5 weeks before mating and throughout gestation. Placentas and fetal liver tissues were collected from maternal mice after 20 d of gestation. The effects of maternal HFD on the placental inflammation and placental structure were investigated by hematoxylin-eosin staining (H-E staining), immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and RT-PCR. The lipid deposition levels in fetal livers were also detected. Body weight changes, fasting blood glucose and glucose tolerance levels of the 3-week-old weaned mice were also detected.Results·The body weight of female mice in the HFD group increased significantly, and the liver triacylglycerol (TAG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels were higher than those in the CD group (all P0.05). Compared to the CD group, the body weight, fasting blood glucose level and the area under the glucose tolerance curve of the 3-week-old weaned mice of the HFD group were increased significantly (all P

The author of this article concerns with the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the weak solution to the variation-inequality problem. The Kirchhoff operator is a non-divergence form with space variable parameter. The existence of generalized solution is proved by the Leray-Schauder principle and parabolic regularization. The uniqueness and stability of the solution are also discussed by contradiction.

Robotic manipulators play a pivotal role in modern intelligent manufacturing and unmanned production systems, often tasked with executing specific paths accurately. However, the input of the robotic manipulators is trajectory which is a path with time information. The resulting core technology is trajectory planning methods which are broadly classified into two categories: maximum velocity curve (MVC) methods and multiphase direct collocation (MPDC) methods. This paper concentrates on addressing challenges associated with the latter methods. In MPDC methods, the solving efficiency and accuracy are greatly influenced by the number of discretization nodes. When dealing with systems with complex dynamics, such as robotic manipulators, striking a balance between solving time and path discretization errors becomes crucial. We use a mesh refinement (MR) algorithm to find a suitable number of nodes under the premise of ensuring the path discretization error. So, the actual device can effectively implement the planned solutions. Nonetheless, the conventional application of the MR algorithm requires solving the original problem in each iteration; these processes are extremely time-consuming and may fail to solve when dealing with a complex dynamic system. As a result, we propose a sequential optimal trajectory planning scheme to solve the problem efficiently by dividing the original optimal control (OC) problem into two stages: path planning (PP) and trajectory planning (TP). In the PP stage, we employ a DC method based on arc length and an MR algorithm to identify key nodes along the specified path. This aims to minimize the approximation error introduced during discretization. In the TP stage, the identified key nodes serve as boundary conditions for an MPDC method based on time. This facilitates the generation of an optimal trajectory that maximizes motion performance, considering constant velocity in Cartesian space and dynamic constraints while keeping the path discretization error. Simulation and experiment are conducted with a six-axis robotic manipulator, ROCR6, and show significant potential for a wide range of applications in robotics.

Excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition is a defining feature of cardiac fibrosis. Most notably, it is characterized by a significant change in the concentration and volume fraction of collagen I, a disproportionate deposition of collagen subtypes, and a disturbed ECM network arrangement, which directly affect the systolic and diastolic functions of the heart. Immune cells that reside within or infiltrate the myocardium, including macrophages, play important roles in fibroblast activation and consequent ECM remodeling. Through both direct and indirect connections to fibroblasts, monocyte-derived macrophages and resident cardiac macrophages play complex, bidirectional, regulatory roles in cardiac fibrosis. In this review, we discuss emerging interactions between fibroblasts and macrophages in physiology and pathologic conditions, providing insights for future research aimed at targeting macrophages to combat cardiac fibrosis.

We introduced a terminal alkyne into the core structure of dolutegravir, resulting in the synthesis of 34 novel dolutegravir-1,2,3-triazole compounds through click chemistry. These compounds exhibited remarkable inhibitory activities against two hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, Huh7 and HepG2. Notably, compounds 5e and 5p demonstrated exceptional efficacy, particularly against Huh7 cells, with IC50 values of 2.64 and 5.42 μM. Additionally, both compounds induced apoptosis in Huh7 cells, suppressed tumor cell clone formation, and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, further promoting tumor cell apoptosis. Furthermore, compounds 5e and 5p activated the LC3 signaling pathway, inducing autophagy, and triggered the γ-H2AX signaling pathway, resulting in DNA damage in tumor cells. Compound 5e exhibited low toxicity, highlighting its potential as a promising anti-tumor drug.

It is important to elaborate on versatile strategies for achieving the perfect nonreciprocal reflection amplification, which is the key technology of high-quality nonreciprocal photonic devices. In this work, we ingeniously design a coherent four-level N-type atomic system to harness the nonreciprocal light amplification, in which the uniform distribution of atoms is driven by two strong coupling fields and a weak probe field. In our regime, the strength of the two control fields is designed with linear variation along the x direction to destroy the spatial symmetry of the probe susceptibility, leading to the nonreciprocity of the reflection. In particular, the closed-loop transitions to amplify the probe field are due to the combined effect of the control fields and spontaneous emissions. The numerical simulation indicates that the perfect nonreciprocal reflection amplification can be realized and modulated by the appropriate settings of the control fields and the detuning, Δc. Our results will open a new route toward harnessing nonreciprocity, which can provide more convenience and possibilities in experimental realization.

The introduction of a dynamic model in robot trajectory tracking control design can significantly improve its trajectory tracking accuracy, but there are many uncertainties in the robot dynamic model which can be dealt with through robust control and adaptive control. The prevailing robust control as well as adaptive control methods require real-time computation of robot dynamics, but the extreme complexity of the robot dynamics equations makes it difficult to apply these methods in real industrial systems. To this end, this article proposes a robust adaptive control method based on the desired trajectory, which uses the desired trajectory to compute most of the control terms offline, including the robot’s nominal dynamics and regression matrices, and substantially reduces the need for real-time computation of the feedback signals. The robust term modifies the perturbation of the inertial parameters of the links, the adaptive term learns the friction coefficients of the joints online, and an additional compensation term is designed to satisfy the Lyapunov stability condition of the system. Finally, taking a universal manipulator as the experimental platform, the control performances of different control methods are compared to show the feasibility of the controller and the effective reduction in real-time computational complexity.

Aerial–aquatic robots have promising applications due to their ability to operate in air and water with different motion modes. However, challenges such as water/air transition and multimedia movement still limit their development. Inspired by the aerial–aquatic behavior of wild ducks, an aerial–aquatic robot with tunable tilting motors and a delta wing is introduced. The robot can perform multimode motion, including flying in air, swimming on the water surface, transitioning between air and water, and diving underwater. Besides, the buoyancy design enables the robot to float at the air–water interface without consuming energy. Herein, the performance of the robot, including vertical and horizontal cross‐media performance, power consumption, and endurance in various motion modes, is evaluated. The field experiments show that the proposed robot possesses multimode motion and high maneuverability. This study provides a new idea for the structural design of next‐generation practical aerial–aquatic robots.

Objectives To evaluate the performance of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Risk Probability Index (SLERPI) in patients with SLE using a Chinese cohort.Methods The Chinese cohort included 352 patients with and 385 without SLE (control group). The clinical data of patients, including demographic data, clinical findings and serological profiles, were collected. Patients with an SLERPI score >7 were classified as SLE. The performance of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)-1997, Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC)-2012 and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/ACR-2019 criteria were used as references.Results Of these four classification criteria, SLERPI has the highest sensitivity (98.3% (95% CI 96.3% to 99.4%)), but lowest specificity (89.4% (95% CI 85.8% to 92.2%)). In the control group, patients eligible for the classification criteria for SLE were mainly those with primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) and undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD), which adversely affected the specificity of the classification criteria. Moreover, significantly more patients with pSS and UCTD met SLERPI than those who met other classification criteria. After excluding patients with pSS and UCTD from the control group, the specificity and accuracy of SLERPI improved to 94.3% (95% CI 91.0% to 96.6%) and 96.5% (95% CI 95.0% to 97.9%), respectively, and both outperformed the EULAR/ACR-2019 criteria. The time to SLERPI classification was the same as their clinical time to diagnosis in 261 patients, earlier than the clinical diagnosis in 23 patients and later than the clinical diagnosis in 9 patients. A total of 280 patients had the same time to SLERPI classification as EULAR/ACR-2019, 8 patients had earlier than EULAR/ACR-2019 and 1 patient had later than EULAR/ACR-2019.Conclusion SLERPI performed well in patients with SLE, particularly for the earlier diagnosis of SLE.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. Though the pathogenesis of IBD remains unclear, diet is increasingly recognized as a pivotal factor influencing its onset and progression. Fatty acids, essential components of dietary lipids, play diverse roles in IBD, ranging from anti-inflammatory and immune-regulatory functions to gut-microbiota modulation and barrier maintenance. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), products of indigestible dietary fiber fermentation by gut microbiota, have strong anti-inflammatory properties and are seen as key protective factors against IBD. Among long-chain fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids exhibit pro-inflammatory effects, while oleic acid and ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids display anti-inflammatory actions. Lipid mediators derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids serve as bioactive molecules, influencing immune cell functions and offering both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory benefits. Recent research has also highlighted the potential of medium- and very long-chain fatty acids in modulating inflammation, mucosal barriers, and gut microbiota in IBD. Given these insights, dietary intervention and supplementation with short-chain fatty acids are emerging as potential therapeutic strategies for IBD. This review elucidates the impact of various fatty acids and lipid mediators on IBD and delves into potential therapeutic avenues stemming from these compounds.

Sr2FeCo0.2Ni0.2Mo0.6O6-δ (SFCNM) and Sr2FeNi0.4Mo0.6O6-δ (SFNM) were prepared as the hydrogen electrode materials for solid oxide cells (SOCs) and comparatively investigated by density function theory (DFT) and experiments to demonstrate the benefit of Co addition. The reduced SFCNM (R-SFCNM) and SFNM (R-SFNM) contain exsolved Fe–Co–Ni and Fe–Ni nanoparticles, respectively. DFT indicates that Fe–Co–Ni has optimized combination of the d-band center (descriptor of catalyst activity) and adsorption behavior for H2O, H2, H, and OH. The cell with SFCNM hydrogen electrode, La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.8Mg0.2O3-δ (LSGM) electrolyte, and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) oxygen electrode (Cell-SFCNM) demonstrates a higher performance than that with an SFNM hydrogen electrode (Cell-SFNM) at temperatures between 700 and 850 °C in both solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC, 3% H2O-97% H2/air) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC, 20% H2O-80% H2/air) modes. At 850 and 700 °C, the peak power density is 1.23 and 0.48 ​W·cm−2 in SOFC mode, while the current density is 1.25 and 0.37 ​A·cm−2 at 1.3 V in SOEC mode, respectively. The performance degradation rates at 750 °C are 0.17 ​mV·h−1 in SOFC and 0.15 ​mV·h−1 in SOEC modes within 150 ​h, which are improved by Co doping.

Objective To find an intelligent method to quantify perioperative trauma stress, digitize and visualize perioperative patients stress status and recovery process, and analyze the mechanism of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) strategy to promote rapid recovery of patients from the perspective of autonomic nervous system (ANS). Methods The clinical data of 125 patients received laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer in Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine from February 2020 to May 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the treatment methods, they were divided into ERAS group and control group. A total of 66 patients were included in this study after propensity score matching (PSM) was used to equalize covariates between groups, with 33 patients in each group. The hospital stay, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), HRV parameters (SDNN, pNN50, LF/HF) and the variation of heart rate curve were compared between two groups. Results There was no significant difference in hs-CRP and HRV parameters between the two groups on admission day (P>0.05). The hospital stay and postoperative hs-CRP in ERAS group were lower than those in control group (P0.05). The difference between 4th day after operation and admission was significant at parameters of HRV in control group (P