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Background: The study of tactile perception during a childhood is extremely important for understanding the social and communicative aspects of the child's development. Tactile perception of stimuli with different valence can have different normative stages of development. Methods: In the present study, we examined changes in linear and nonlinear electroencephalogram (EEG) parameters during the presentation of pleasant (C-tactile optimal stroking), unpleasant (ice stroking), and neutral tactile stimuli in three groups of healthy volunteers: preschoolers 4 and 5 years, school-age children from 8 to 10 years, and adults from 20 to 40 years. Results: According to our findings, child maturation plays a significant role in the perception of pleasant and neutral tactile stimuli. Patterns of EEG dynamics related to tactile perception showed greater similarity between adult volunteers and school-aged children than preschoolers. Conclusions: Non-linear EEG parameters such as fractal dimension (FD), envelope mean frequency (EMF), and power spectral density (PSD) dynamics of the theta-rhythm were particularly sensitive to developmental changes in tactile perception. Hjorth complexity and peak alpha frequency (PAF) scores may serve as indicators of mature perception of C-tactile (CT)-stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabry Disease (FD) is a genetic disease caused by a deficiency in the activity of lysosomal galactosidase A (α-GalA), an enzyme responsible for the catabolism of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). Since lysosomes are present throughout the body and play a crucial role in catabolism and recycling of cytosolic compounds, FD can affect multiple organs and result in various symptoms, including renal, cardiovascular, neurological, cutaneous, and ophthalmic manifestations. Due to the nonspecific symptoms and the rarity of FD, it is often diagnosed late in life. However, introducing targeted therapies such as enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and chaperone therapy has significantly improved FD's natural history and prognosis by restoring α-GalA enzyme activity. Despite the advancements, there are limitations to the currently available therapies, which has prompted research into new potential treatments for FD, including alternative forms of enzyme replacement therapy, substrate reduction therapy, mRNA therapy, and genetic therapy. In this review, we analyze the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of FD, with particular emphasis on promising therapeutic opportunities that could shift the treatment of this rare disease from a standardized to a personalized approach soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of available treatments for Fabry disease (FD) (including enzyme replacement therapy [ERT]) may be restricted by their limited symptom improvement and mode of administration. Lucerastat is currently being investigated in the MODIFY study as oral substrate reduction therapy for the treatment of FD. By reducing the net globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) load in tissues, lucerastat has disease-modifying potential to improve symptoms and delay disease progression. MODIFY is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group Phase 3 study (ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT03425539); here we present the rationale and design of this study. Eligible adults with a genetically confirmed diagnosis of FD and FD-specific neuropathic pain entered screening. Patients were randomized (2:1) to receive either oral lucerastat twice daily or placebo for 6 months; treatment allocation was stratified according to sex and ERT treatment status. The main objectives of MODIFY are to assess the effects of lucerastat on neuropathic pain, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, FD biomarkers, and determine its safety and tolerability. Neuropathic pain and GI symptoms are key features of FD that have a significant impact on quality of life. Despite various tools available to assess pain and GI symptoms, there are currently limited tools available to assess neuropathic and GI symptoms in FD, validated according to health authority guidelines. Based on FDA recommendations, we undertook a patient-reported outcome (PRO) validation study, using a novel eDiary-based PRO tool to assess the validity of evaluating neuropathic pain as a primary efficacy endpoint in MODIFY. Results from the PRO validation study are included. To date, MODIFY is the largest Phase 3 clinical study conducted in patients with FD. Enrollment to MODIFY is now complete, with 118 patients randomized. Results will be presented in a separate publication. Long-term effects of lucerastat are being assessed in the ongoing open-label extension study (NCT03737214).

Key Clinical Message: Folliculitis decalvans (FD) is a rare neutrophilic cicatricial alopecia of the scalp that manifest with inflammation, pruritus, pustules, and tufted hair. Most dermatologist treat FD with topical or oral antibiotics. We recommend considering treatment with biologics to preserve and stabilize the ongoing inflammatory process in moderate to severe FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant organ primordia develop successively at the shoot apical meristem (SAM). In Arabidopsis, primordia formed early in development differentiate into vegetative leaves, whereas those formed later generate inflorescence branches and flowers. TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1), a negative regulator of transcription, acts in the SAM to delay flowering and to maintain inflorescence meristem indeterminacy. We used confocal microscopy, time-resolved transcript profiling and reverse genetics to elucidate this dual role of TFL1. We found that TFL1 accumulates dynamically in the SAM reflecting its dual function. Moreover, TFL1 represses two major sets of genes. One set includes genes that promote flowering, expression of which increases earlier in tfl1 mutants. The other set is spatially misexpressed in tfll inflorescence meristems. The misexpression of these two gene sets in tfl1 mutants depends upon FD transcription factor, with which TFL1 interacts. Furthermore, the MADS-box gene SEPALLATA 4, which is upregulated in tfl1, contributes both to the floral transition and shoot determinacy defects of tfl1 mutants. Thus, we delineate the dual function of TFL1 in shoot development in terms of its dynamic spatial distribution and different modes of gene repression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arabidopsis flowering is dependent on interactions between a component of the florigens FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor FD. These proteins form a complex that activates the genes required for flowering competence and integrates environmental cues, such as photoperiod and temperature. However, it remains largely unknown how FT and FD are regulated at the protein level. To address this, we created FT transgenic plants that express the N‐terminal FLAG‐tagged FT fusion protein under the control of its own promoter in ft mutant backgrounds. FT transgenic plants complemented the delayed flowering of the ft mutant and exhibited similar FT expression patterns to wild‐type Col‐0 plants in response to changes in photoperiod and temperature. Similarly, we generated FD transgenic plants in fd mutant backgrounds that express the N‐terminal MYC‐tagged FD fusion protein under the FD promoter, rescuing the late flowering phenotypes in the fd mutant. Using these transgenic plants, we investigated how temperature regulates the expression of FT and FD proteins. Temperature‐dependent changes in FT and FD protein levels are primarily regulated at the transcript level, but protein‐level temperature effects have also been observed to some extent. In addition, our examination of the expression patterns of FT and FD in different tissues revealed that similar to the spatial expression pattern of FT, FD mRNA was expressed in both the leaf and shoot apex, but FD protein was only detected in the apex, suggesting a regulatory mechanism that restricts FD protein expression in the leaf during the vegetative growth phase. These transgenic plants provided a valuable platform for investigating the role of the FT–FD module in flowering time regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Arabidopsis flowering is dependent on interactions between a component of the florigens FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor FD. These proteins form a complex that activates the genes required for flowering competence and integrates environmental cues, such as photoperiod and temperature. However, it remains largely unknown how FT and FD are regulated at the protein level. To address this, we created FT transgenic plants that express the N‐terminal FLAG‐tagged FT fusion protein under the control of its own promoter in ft mutant backgrounds. FT transgenic plants complemented the delayed flowering of the ft mutant and exhibited similar FT expression patterns to wild‐type Col‐0 plants in response to changes in photoperiod and temperature. Similarly, we generated FD transgenic plants in fd mutant backgrounds that express the N‐terminal MYC‐tagged FD fusion protein under the FD promoter, rescuing the late flowering phenotypes in the fd mutant. Using these transgenic plants, we investigated how temperature regulates the expression of FT and FD proteins. Temperature‐dependent changes in FT and FD protein levels are primarily regulated at the transcript level, but protein‐level temperature effects have also been observed to some extent. In addition, our examination of the expression patterns of FT and FD in different tissues revealed that similar to the spatial expression pattern of FT, FD mRNA was expressed in both the leaf and shoot apex, but FD protein was only detected in the apex, suggesting a regulatory mechanism that restricts FD protein expression in the leaf during the vegetative growth phase. These transgenic plants provided a valuable platform for investigating the role of the FT–FD module in flowering time regulation.

Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR) in plants receives electrons from ferredoxin (Fd) and converts NADP+ to NADPH. The affinity between FNR and Fd is weakened by the allosteric binding of NADP(H) on FNR, which is considered as a part of negative cooperativity. We have been investigating the molecular mechanism of this phenomenon and proposed that the NADP(H)-binding signal is transferred to the Fd-binding region across the two domains of FNR, NADP(H)-binding domain and FAD-binding domain. In this study, we analyzed the effect of altering the inter-domain interaction of FNR on the negative cooperativity. Four site-directed FNR mutants at the inter-domain region were prepared, and their NADPH-dependent changes in the K m for Fd and physical binding ability to Fd were investigated. Two mutants, in which an inter-domain hydrogen bond was changed to a disulfide bond (FNR D52C/S208C) and an inter-domain salt bridge was lost (FNR D104N), were shown to suppress the negative cooperativity by using kinetic analysis and Fd-affinity chromatography. These results showed that the inter-domain interaction of FNR is important for the negative cooperativity, suggesting that the allosteric NADP(H)-binding signal is transferred to Fd-binging region by conformational changes involving inter-domain interactions of FNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light and photoperiod are environmental signals that regulate flowering transition. In plants like Arabidopsis thaliana, this regulation relies on CONSTANS, a transcription factor that is negatively posttranslational regulated by phytochrome B during the morning, while it is stabilized by PHYA and cryptochromes 1/2 at the end of daylight hours. CO induces the expression of FT, whose protein travels from the leaves to the apical meristem, where it binds to FD to regulate some flowering genes. Although PHYB delays flowering, we show that light and PHYB positively regulate XAANTAL1 and other flowering genes in the shoot apices. Also, the genetic data indicate that XAL1 and FD participate in the same signaling pathway in flowering promotion when plants are grown under a long-day photoperiod at 22 °C. By contrast, XAL1 functions independently of FD or PIF4 to induce flowering at higher temperatures (27 °C), even under long days. Furthermore, XAL1 directly binds to FD, SOC1, LFY, and AP1 promoters. Our findings lead us to propose that light and temperature influence the floral network at the meristem level in a partially independent way of the signaling generated from the leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree peonies are an economically important crop with flowers of high ornamental value. Most tree peony cultivars in gardens are once-flowering, and the continuous flowering (CF) trait has been revealed only in a few tree peony cultivars, such as 'High Noon' ('HN'). However, the molecular mechanism underlying its CF remains unclear. Here, we demonstrated that PsTFL1 functions as a floral inhibitor via the ectopic expression of PsTFL1 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Our findings suggest that PsFT and PsTFL1 interact with PsFD, and the detected interactions may occur in the nucleus. Compared with the non-CF variety, the gene expression patterns of PsFT, PsTFL1, and PsFD during the flower development indicate that these three genes may be related to the CF habit in tree peony 'HN'. These findings will aid future investigations of CF behavior and promote the breeding of tree peonies and other perennial woody plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we consider the physical layer security in short-packet communications, where a full-duplex (FD) receiver receives information signals from a source while generating artificial noise (AN) to confuse an eavesdropper. Taking into account the finite blocklength coding and the self-interference (SI) in FD mode, we derive new approximation closed-form expression for the secrecy throughput. Moreover, we analyze the asymptotic secrecy throughput in two distinct scenarios, i.e., high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime and infinite blocklength coding, to gain more insights. Our examination illustrates the correctness of our expressions and shows how the critical system variables affect the secrecy throughput.

Based on the rapid development of green finance and the panel data of 30 provinces in China (excluding Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao) from 2007 to 2020, to deeply discuss the relationship between financial development (FD), technological innovation and environmental pollution (EP) control is the centre of this article by using panel fixed-effect and intermediary effect model. The influence of FD on EP is tested by building a benchmark regression model. In addition, the intermediary effect model is adopted to explore how FD affects EP control through technological innovation mechanism. The conclusions show that China's FD can effectively promote regional EP control on the whole, and FD can improve EP through technological innovation mechanism, but there is significant regional heterogeneity: compared with high government intervention areas, FD can promote EP control through technological innovation in low government intervention areas. Therefore, it is suggested that all regions promote the construction of financial infrastructure, upgrade the level of regional financial marketisation, speed up the realisation of regional technological innovation and EP control. This work is conducive to the formulation of appropriate government policies to promote the improvement of the financial system and the establishment of innovative mechanisms, and the reasonable reduction of government intervention and the improvement of the efficiency of financial resource allocation based on the needs of financial market players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pharmacological trials in functional dyspepsia (FD) are associated with high placebo response rates. We aimed to identify the magnitude and contributing factors to the placebo response. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a dichotomous outcome in adult patients with FD that compared an active pharmacotherapeutic treatment with placebo. Our main outcome was identification of the magnitude of the pooled placebo response rate for the following endpoints: symptom responder, symptom‐free responder, adequate relief responder, and combined endpoint responder (i.e., the primary endpoint of each specific trial regarding treatment response). Several putative moderators (i.e., patient, disease, and trial characteristics) were examined. Key Results: We included 26 RCTs in our analysis. The pooled placebo response rate was 39.6% (95% CI 30.1–50.0) using the symptom responder definition, 20.5% (12.8–31.0) using the symptom‐free responder definition, 38.5% (33.8–43.6) using the adequate relief responder definition, and 35.5% (31.6–39.7) using the combined endpoint responder definition. A lower overall baseline symptom score was significantly associated with a higher placebo response rate. No other moderators were found to significantly impact the placebo response rate. Due to the lack of data, no analyses could be performed according to individual FD subtypes or symptoms. Conclusions and Inferences: The pooled placebo response rate in pharmacological trials in FD is about 39%, depending on which responder definitions is used. Future trials should consider applying an entry criterion based on minimal level of symptom severity to decrease the placebo response. We also suggest separate reporting of core FD symptoms pending more concrete harmonization efforts in FD trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare clonal, not malignant, hematological disease characterized by intravascular hemolysis, thrombophilia and bone marrow failure. While this latter presentation is due to a T‐cell mediated auto‐immune disorder resembling acquired aplastic anemia, the first two clinical presentations are largely driven by the complement pathway. Indeed, PNH is characterized by a broad impairment of complement regulation on affected cells, which is due to the lack of the complement regulators CD55 and CD59. The deficiency of these two proteins from PNH blood cells is due to the somatic mutation in the phosphatidylinositol N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferase subunit A gene causing the disease, which impairs the surface expression of all proteins linked via the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. The lack of the complement regulators CD55 and CD59 on PNH erythrocytes accounts for the hallmark of PNH, which is the chronic, complement‐mediated intravascular hemolysis. This hemolysis results from the impaired regulation of the alternative pathway upstream in the complement cascade, as well as of the downstream terminal pathway. PNH represented the first indication for the development of anti‐complement agents, and the therapeutic interception of the complement cascade at the level of C5 led to remarkable changes in the natural history of the disease. Nevertheless, the clinical use of an inhibitor of the terminal pathway highlighted the broader derangement of complement regulation in PNH, shedding light on the pivotal role of the complement alternative pathway. Here we review the current understanding of the role of the alternative pathway in PNH, including the emergence of C3‐mediated extravascular hemolysis in PNH patients on anti‐C5 therapies. These observations provide the rationale for the development of novel complement inhibitors for the treatment of PNH. Recent preclinical and clinical data on proximal complement inhibitors intercepting the alternative pathway with the aim of improving the treatment of PNH are discussed, together with their clinical implications which are animating a lively debate in the scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent communication technologies beyond the network are proposed by using a new full-duplex protocol. The Media Access Control (MAC) is a data interaction network protocol, which outperforms the IEEE 802.15.4e. This research discusses the planning and execution of full-duplex (FD) pipeline MAC protocol for multihop wireless networks (MWN). The design uses a combination of Radio frequency and baseband methods to realize full-duplexing with smallest impact on cross layer functions. The execution and trial results specify that Pipeline Media Access Control (PiMAC) protocol considerably develops network implementation in terms of transmission protocol (TP) and transmission delay. The advantage of using FD-MAC will increase the range of nodes. Also takes benefit of the FD mode of the antenna, which outperforms additionally 80% for all assessed cases. In this analysis, it was considered of that Psz = 8184 bits and Rc = 1Mbps; that's, TDATA represents an excellent portion of total UTC. Tests on real nodes displays that the FD theme achieves a median gain of 90% in mixture throughput as equated to half-duplex (HD) theme for MWN. The energy consumption of proposed system method is 29.8% reduced when compared with existing system method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Small RNAs (sRNA) are potent regulators of gene expression that can diffuse short distances between cells and move long distances through plant vasculature. However, the degree to which sRNA silencing signals can move from the phloem to the shoot apical meristem (SAM) remains unclear. Results: Two independent transgenic approaches were used to examine whether phloem sRNA silencing can reach different domains of the SAM and silence SAM-expressed genes. First, the phloem companion-cell specific SUCROSE-PROTON SYMPORTER2 (SUC2) promoter was used to drive expression of an inverted repeat to target the FD gene, an exclusively SAM-localized floral regulator. Second, the SUC2 promoter was used to express an artificial microRNA (aMiR) designed to target a synthetic CLAVATA3 (CLV3) transgene in SAM stem cells. Both phloem silencing signals phenocopied the loss of function of their targets and altered target gene expression suggesting that a phloem-to-SAM silencing communication axis exists, connecting distal regions of the plant to SAM stem cells. Conclusions: Demonstration of phloem-to-SAM silencing reveals a regulatory link between somatic sRNA expressed in distal regions of the plant and the growing shoot. Since the SAM stem cells ultimately produce the gametes, we discuss the intriguing possibility that phloem-to-SAM sRNA trafficking could allow transient somatic sRNA expression to manifest stable, transgenerational epigenetic changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the fully differential (FD) sensing and high-precision small-signal output characteristics of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscopes, a low area overhead, high-gain, medium-speed, FD operation amplifier (Op-Amp) is designed for building a small-signal processing delta-Sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The Op-Amp is a two-stage cascade structure, which combines folded cascade (FC) and gain-boosted technology to make the low frequency gain up to 129 dB, to meet the high-precision requirements of 18-bit delta-Sigma ADC. The first stage is FC gain-boosted structure, which uses a small bias current to achieve high-gain and low area overhead. In order to reduce the input noise, process smaller signals, the input pair adopts positive channel Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (PMOS). The second-stage uses a large bias current to achieve a high unity gain bandwidth (UGB). Under the premise that the tail current source of the first stage is PMOS, in order to reduce the area overhead, abandoning the traditional common source (CS) structure of negative channel Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (NMOS) input and PMOS as the current mirror load, adopting a new CS structure that PMOS input and NMOS used as independent bias current source. In this structure, the large overdrive voltage significantly reduces the size of transistors and greatly reduces the area overhead. The Op-Amp was implemented in SMIC 0.18 μm BCD process, 5 V supply voltage. Its post-layout simulation achieved a low-frequency gain of 129 dB, a UGB of 35 MHz and a phase margin (PM) of 62° for a load capacitance of 2 pF. Output voltage swings are ±3.71 V and including common mode feedback (CMFB), bias voltage generating circuit and filter capacitor, the area of Op-Amp is 167.162 μm × 200.82 μm. Behavioral-level verification shows that the designed Op-Amp meets the requirements of high-precision delta-Sigma ADCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is the most common clinical gastrointestinal disease, with complex and prolonged clinical symptoms. The prevalence of FD is increasing year by year, seriously affecting the quality of life of patients. The main causes of FD are related to abnormal gastrointestinal dynamics, increased visceral sensitivity, Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, intestinal flora disturbance and psychological factors. A review of the relevant literature reveals that the mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of FD mainly involve the following pathways:5-HT signal pathway, AMPK signal pathway,C-kit signal pathway, CRF signal pathway, PERK signal pathway,NF-κB signal pathway. Based on a holistic concept, TCM promotes gastrointestinal motility, regulates visceral sensitivity and alleviates gastrointestinal inflammation through multiple signal pathways, reflecting the advantages of multi-level, multi-pathway and multi-targeted treatment of FD.

This work investigates the associations of ecological footprints (EF), forest area (FOR), renewable energy (RE), non-renewable energy (EU), financial development (FD), and agricultural value add (AGR) in South Asian economies. The annual data of 1990–2018 is used for analysis. This work uses robust second-generation econometric methodologies. After the validation of cross-sectional dependence (CD), the stationarity test shows stationarity at the level and first difference. The co-integration test shows strong co-integration among the panel data, and the results of cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) show that renewable energy, forest area, and FD are environmentally friendly in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India. The use and promotion of renewable energy in the agricultural sector are suggested. Moreover, agricultural policies need to revise in these countries. FD and forest areas are helpful to mitigate environmental degradation. Therefore, the preservation of forest areas is compulsory for South Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jben is a highly popular soft white cheese consumed in Morocco for its nutritional and health benefits. The aroma and aroma‐active compounds of salted and unsalted Jben were investigated in this study. Aroma compounds were isolated by the purge and trap extraction (PTE) method and analysed by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry‐olfactometry (GC–MS‐O). A total of 36 aroma compounds were characterized Jben samples, among them 30 and 32 compounds were detected in the salted Jben (260.88 mg/kg) and unsalted Jben (230.04 mg/kg) samples respectively. The alcohols, followed by acids and esters, were the most dominant aroma compounds in both samples. A total of 22 (salted Jben) and 25 (unsalted Jben) aroma‐active compounds were detected in the samples using GC–MS‐O. Based on the flavour dilution (FD) factor, the most potent aroma‐active compounds were ethyl caproate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2306, overripe fruit and pineapple odours), isoamyl acetate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2491, apple odour), hexyl acetate (FD = 1024, OAV = 1355, green odour), and isoamyl butyrate (FD = 1024, OAV = 932, green‐fruity odour) for the salted Jben sample and ethyl caproate (FD = 2048, OAV = 2388) and isoamyl acetate (FD = 1024, OAV = 880) for the unsalted Jben sample. The odour activity values (OAVs) ranged from 1 to 2491. The lowest OAVs represent the low aromatic active compounds (FD ≤ 32). The GC–MS‐O results were also consistent with the results of sensory analysis of the Jben samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the downlink transmission of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided cooperative non-orthogonal-multiple-access (C-NOMA), where both half-duplex (HD) and full-duplex (FD) relaying modes are considered. The system model consists of one base station (BS), two users and one RIS. The goal is to minimize the total transmit power at both the BS and at the user-cooperating relay for each relaying mode by jointly optimizing the power allocation coefficients at the BS, the transmit power coefficient at the relay user, and the passive beamforming at the RIS, subject to power budget constraints, the successive interference cancellation constraint and the minimum required quality-of-service at both cellular users. To address the high-coupled optimization variables, an efficient algorithm is proposed by invoking an alternating optimization approach that decomposes the original problem into a power allocation sub-problem and a passive beamforming sub-problem, which are solved alternately. For the power allocation sub-problem, the optimal closed-form expressions for the power allocation coefficients are derived. Meanwhile, with the aid of difference-of-convex rank-one representation and successive convex approximation, an efficient solution for the passive beamforming is obtained. The simulation results validate the accuracy of the derived power control closed-form expressions and demonstrate the gain in the total transmit power brought by integrating the RIS in C-NOMA networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on determining the relationship between carbon emissions, financial development, population, green technology innovation, energy Consumption, and employment rate from 1980 to 2019 in China. The study applies the unit root test, bootstrapped ARDL cointegration, and the Granger causality to examine the data properties and association between the variables of interest. Empirical findings indicate that green technology innovations and financial development play a major role in environmental protection, specifically in the long run. In contrast, energy consumption and employment rate are more vulnerable to protecting the natural environment in China. On the other side, the findings under short-run estimation do not support the role of green technology innovation in reducing environmental degradation. Based on the empirical findings, it is suggested that a strong financial system would help to achieve long-run sustainability and the emissions mitigating effects can be further strengthen by implementing green technologies across industries. In doing so, strict environmental regulations can regulate the financial and traditional industrial sector in adoption of energy efficient technologies.

Patients suffering from Fabry disease (FD) have an increased risk of developing neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), mostly impairment in cognitive performance and depression. Single cases of psychosis have been reported, however, their association with FD can be coincidental. Furthermore, deficits in social functioning and adaptation as well as specific coping styles in FD patients were observed. Recent studies focused on a longitudinal course of the disease and identified risk factors associated with specific NPS. Since 2001, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) has been available and in preliminary studies seems to improve cognitive impairment and adaptive skills. In this systematic review, we analyze the available literature on the NPS in FD and investigate if there are any differences in their distribution between males and females, children/adolescents and adults, and individuals treated with ERT and untreated. We discuss the role of the psychological, environmental, and molecular alterations and their correlation to psychiatric manifestations in FD. Finally, we would like to increase awareness of the spectrum of NPS in FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, Lu'an Guapian (LAGP) tea consists of tea leaves without tea buds or stems. In this study, we evaluated the aromatic characteristics of LAGP by sensory analysis, aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), and odor activity values. The sensory analysis revealed that LAGP had cooked soybean‐like, cooked chestnut‐like, roasted, cooked corn‐like, fishy, fruity, floral, and grass aromas. Aroma‐active compounds from LAGP were identified by solvent extraction‐solid phase extraction (SE‐SPE) and headspace‐solid phase microextraction (HS‐SPME), and subjected to AEDA. A total of 91 aroma‐active compounds were identified by SE‐SPE‐AEDA with flavor dilution (FD) factors ranging from 1 to 4096. A total of 66 aroma‐active compounds were identified by HS‐SPME‐AEDA with FD of 1 to 128. Nine compounds with FD ≥64 and OAVs ≥1 were major aroma‐active compounds to the aroma of LAGP tea: raspberry ketone (raspberry), (E)‐β‐ionone (floral, raspberry), dimethyl sulfide (cooked corn‐like), indole (animal), phenylacetaldehyde (floral, honey‐like), 2‐ethyl‐3,5‐dimethylpyrazine (roasted), (Z)‐4‐heptenal (cooked soybean‐like, fishy), (Z)‐jasmone (jasmine), and geraniol (rose). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Gastrointestinal symptoms have been reported to occur with COVID infection, and clinicians in COVID‐19‐endemic areas should suspect COVID‐19 infection in patients even if they have no noticeable respiratory symptoms and only gastrointestinal symptoms.

Patients suffering from Fabry disease (FD) have an increased risk of developing neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), mostly impairment in cognitive performance and depression. Single cases of psychosis have been reported, however, their association with FD can be coincidental. Furthermore, deficits in social functioning and adaptation as well as specific coping styles in FD patients were observed. Recent studies focused on a longitudinal course of the disease and identified risk factors associated with specific NPS. Since 2001, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) has been available and in preliminary studies seems to improve cognitive impairment and adaptive skills. In this systematic review, we analyze the available literature on the NPS in FD and investigate if there are any differences in their distribution between males and females, children/adolescents and adults, and individuals treated with ERT and untreated. We discuss the role of the psychological, environmental, and molecular alterations and their correlation to psychiatric manifestations in FD. Finally, we would like to increase awareness of the spectrum of NPS in FD.

Duckweeds (Araceae: Lemnoideae) are aquatic monocotyledonous plants that are characterized by their small size, rapid growth, and wide distribution. Developmental processes regulating the formation of their small leaf-like structures, called fronds, and tiny flowers are not well characterized. In many plant species, flowering is promoted by the florigen activation complex, whose major components are florigen FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein and transcription factor FD protein. How this complex is regulated at the molecular level during duckweed flowering is also not well understood. In this study, we characterized the course of developmental changes during frond development and flower formation in Lemna aequinoctialis Nd, a short-day plant. Detailed observations of frond and flower development revealed that cell proliferation in the early stages of frond development is active as can be seen in the separate regions corresponding to two budding pouches in the proximal region of the mother frond. L. aequinoctialis produces two stamens of different lengths with the longer stamen growing more rapidly. Using high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and de novo assembly of transcripts from plants induced to flower, we identified the L. aequinoctialis FT and FD genes, whose products in other angiosperms form a transcriptional complex to promote flowering. We characterized the protein-protein interaction of duckweed FT and FD in yeast and examined the functions of the two gene products by overexpression in Arabidopsis. We found that L. aequinoctialis FTL1 promotes flowering, whereas FTL2 suppresses flowering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of fault diagnosis (FD) and fault-tolerant control (FTC) for a class of nonlinear time-varying delay stochastic distribution control (SDC) systems with actuator and sensor faults is investigated in this paper. The Takagi–Sugeno (T-S) model is used to approximate the nonlinear dynamics. The B-spline function is used to approximate the output probability density function (PDF) of the system. According to the output equivalence principle and Laplace transformation, an augmented state vector is designed to solve the time-varying delay problem. An augmented state adaptive diagnosis observer is proposed to estimate the system state, actuator and sensor faults simultaneously. A new fault-tolerant control algorithm is designed based on the PI control strategy to compensate sensor fault and actuator faults simultaneously. The sensor fault is compensated through the information obtained by the observer. The PI controller can compensate for the influence of the actuator fault, and the output PDF of system can still track the desired PDF when fault occurs. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Felodipine (FD) is a dihydropyridine used to treat blood pressure abnormality. FD is known as a secondgeneration calcium channel blocker, by hindering calcium uptake, this medication relaxes and expands the blood vessels, so the flow of blood can run more easily. The main objective of the study was to formulate and evaluate bioadhesive buccal tablets to avoid the first-pass metabolism in the liver and patient acceptance. Bioadhesive buccal tablets were prepared by direct compression method using bioadhesive polymers like carbopol, Hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose K4M and Sodium Carboxy Methylcellulose in different combination with the drug. The physicochemical compatibility of drugs and polymers was studied by FT-IR spectroscopy. prepared tablets were evaluated for permeation study through sheep buccal mucosa, in vitro drug release, swelling index, moisture absorbance, surface pH, Among the prepared formulation containing F6 Shows maximum drug release 100.7 ± 0.09 in 8 hrs, the optimized formulation F6 showed surface pH 6.36 ± 0.219 and swelling index 90.2 % up to eight hours. The optimized formulation followed the Higuchi order diffusion mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Summary: Flowering of many plant species depends on interactions between basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors and systemically transported florigen proteins. Members of the genus Arabidopsis contain two of these bZIPs, FD and FDP, which we show have largely complementary expression patterns in shoot apices before and during flowering. CRISPR-Cas9-induced null mutants for FDP flower slightly earlier than wild-type, whereas fd mutants are late flowering. Identical G-box sequences are enriched at FD and FDP binding sites, but only FD binds to genes involved in flowering and only fd alters their transcription. However, both proteins bind to genes involved in responses to the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA), which controls developmental and stress responses. Many of these genes are differentially expressed in both fd and fdp mutant seedlings, which also show reduced ABA sensitivity. Thus, florigen-interacting bZIPs have distinct functions in flowering dependent on their expression patterns and, at earlier stages in development, play common roles in phytohormone signaling.

In smart home networks, the traffic is often asymmetric (i.e., the uplink traffic load of a node is not equal to its downlink traffic load). This paper is concerned with how to achieve asymmetric transmission for a full-duplex (FD) IoT network (where the AP and nodes are FD-enabled). Most existing related schemes considered a partial FD network consisting of an FD AP and half-duplex (HD) nodes and achieved asymmetric transmission via PHY-layer mechanisms such as power control. However, for an FD network, the MAC-layer scheduling mechanism might be better to achieve asymmetric transmission than the PHY-layer power-control mechanism which will introduce complex interference management. To this end, we propose a simple and novel MAC scheduling scheme called AT-MAC to support asymmetric transmission in an FD IoT network. In our design, we differentiate uplink-dominant (UD) and downlink-dominant (DD) nodes. Upon receiving a packet, a receiver determines whether to execute a reverse transmission to the peer or to initiate a new transmission to a third node according to the type of UD and DD nodes. Next, we develop a theoretical framework to evaluate the throughput of AT-MAC. The extensive simulations verify that our design is very effective (namely, it can achieve the asymmetric transmission, while fully utilizing the FD gain to maximize the system throughput and lower the packet delay) and our theoretical model is very accurate. This paper is very helpful for designing quality-of-service-oriented FD MAC protocols.

Gastrointestinal symptoms have been reported to occur with COVID infection, and clinicians in COVID‐19‐endemic areas should suspect COVID‐19 infection in patients even if they have no noticeable respiratory symptoms and only gastrointestinal symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many outpatients with functional dyspepsia (FD) do not follow the medication schedule recommendations, which can lead to illness relapse. Objective: To investigate whether short message service (SMS) reminders improve medication regimen adherence and therapeutic efficacy in outpatients with FD. Design: Participants with FD were randomly allocated to the control group or intervention group. Patients in the control group received a 4-week medication treatment with no reminders, those in the intervention group received medication treatment plus a daily SMS reminder of dose and medication time. Participants: Newly diagnosed FD patients from April 2019 to June 2019 were recruited from the GI outpatient clinics at Renji Hospital. Measurements: The scores for FD symptoms (LDQ) and psychological conditions (PHQ-9 for depression and GAD-7 for anxiety) were assessed before and after the treatment. The medication possession ratio (MPR) was calculated. Key Results: A total of 352 eligible patients was enrolled in the study. The overall compliance rates of patients in the intervention and control groups were 87.5% and 80.7% in the intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (P = 0.08) and 94.48% and 86.59% in per-protocol (PP) analysis (P = 0.015), respectively. In the intervention group, the compliance rate of younger patients (age ≤ 40 years) was significantly higher than that of age-matched patients in the control group (ITT: 86.1% vs. 70.5%, P = 0.018). Compared with the control group, the reduction in scores of LDQ (9.33 vs. 8.02, P = 0.017), PHQ-9 (6.97 vs. 5.69, P = 0.004), and GAD-7 (8.70 vs.7.53, P = 0.028) was significantly greater in patients receiving SMS reminders. The MPR of patients positively correlated with the reduction in scores of LDQ, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 in both groups. Conclusions: SMS reminders can improve treatment compliance and efficacy in patients with FD. Trial Registration: NCT04052750 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a potential analytic redundancy approach to detect faults in the air data sensor of an aircraft. In modern aircraft, fault detection of air data sensors is performed using a complex voting mechanism, which requires the availability of redundant air data sensor in all situations. However, to continuously monitor operation and performance of these sensors, the analytic redundancy-based air data estimation and fault detection is highly preferred than estimation with air data probe measurements. The proposed algorithm uses the kinematics of aircraft to estimate air data and detect air data sensor fault. In this paper, a simple mathematical model is developed, which does not consider the forces and moments acting on aircraft and uses measurements only from the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Navigation System Data (NSD). In order to implement this approach, the Iterated Optimal Extended Kalman Filter (IOEKF) is developed to estimate air data, which provides an accurate and stable estimation. With the estimated states, the physical air data sensor measurements are compared and the residual is calculated to track each sensor performance and to detect the occurrence of a fault. The key advantage of this approach is that it does not require complex dynamic equations and is free from system uncertainties. The proposed algorithm is simulated in MATLAB software using flight simulator flight data and validated using the real-time flight data of Cessna Citation II transport aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SummaryA precise regulation of flowering time is central to plant species survival. Therefore, mechanisms have evolved in plants to integrate various environmental cues to optimize flowering time. In this study, we show that the product of the wheat gene TaFT, which integrates photoperiod and vernalization signals promoting flowering, interacts with bZIP proteins TaFDL2 and TaFDL6. We also show that TaFDL2 can interact in vitro with five ACGT elements in the promoter of the meristem identity gene VRN1, suggesting that TaFDL2 is a functional homologue of Arabidopsis FD. No direct interactions between the TaFT protein and the VRN1 promoter were detected. Transgenic wheat plants over-expressing TaFT showed parallel increases in VRN1 transcripts, suggesting that TaFT provides transcriptional activation of VRN1, possibly through interactions with the TaFDL2 protein. The same transgenic plants also showed increased transcript levels of TaFT2 (a TaFT paralogue), indicating that TaFT2 acts downstream of TaFT. The fact that TaFT2 interacts with another bZIP protein TaFDL13, which lacks the ability to interact with the VRN1 promoter, suggests that TaFT and TaFT2 have different gene targets. This observation agrees with the functional divergence observed for the TaFT and TaFT2 orthologous genes in rice. The temperate cereals analyzed so far show VRN1 transcripts in the leaves, a characteristic not observed in Arabidopsis or rice. The high levels of TaFDL2 transcripts observed in wheat leaves provide a simple explanation for this difference. We present a hypothesis to explain the conservation of VRN1 expression in the leaves of temperate cereals.

The transition to flowering is a vital process in the lotus life cycle that significantly impacts its ornamental value and seed production. However, the molecular basis of floral transition in lotus remains largely unknown. Here, eight homologous FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) genes were initially characterized in lotus, which were designated as NnFT1 – NnFT8. All of these genes were found to possess the conserved PEBP domain and exhibited high transcript levels in both lotus leaves and floral organs. The pro NnFT:β-glucuronidase (GUS) assay exhibited GUS staining in the vascular tissues of leaves. Furthermore, subcellular localization revealed that NnFT proteins were present in various cellular organelles, including the nucleus, cytoplasm, and endoplasmic reticulum. Overexpression of two NnFT homologs, NnFT2 and NnFT3 , rescued the late flowering phenotype in the Arabidopsis ft-10 mutant, indicating the stimulative roles of NnFTs in floral induction. Moreover, NnFTs demonstrated interactions with a bZIP transcription factor, FLOWERING LOCUS D (NnFD), both in vitro and in vivo. These findings will not only deepen our understanding of the regulatory mechanism underlying lotus floral transition, but also provide valuable genetic resources for creating new lotus varieties with extended blooming periods using molecular strategies in the future. • Eight FLOWERING LOCUS T genes in lotus were initially identified and characterized. • NnFT2 and NnFT3 exhibit prominent expression levels in lotus leaves and carpels. • NnFT2 and NnFT3 interact with NnFD to form complexes both in vitro and vivo. • NnFT2 and NnFT3 play a facilitating role in floral induction in transgenic Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]