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As a real-time fluid biopsy method, the detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provides important information for the early diagnosis, precise treatment, and prognosis of cancer. However, the low density of CTCs in the peripheral blood hampers their capture and detection with high sensitivity and selectivity using currently available methods. Hence, we designed a sandwich-type electrochemical aptasensor that utilizes holothurian-shaped AuPd nanoparticles (AuPd HSs), tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs), and CuPdPt nanowire networks (NWs) interwoven with a graphdiyne (GDY) sheet for ultrasensitive non-destructive detection of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. CuPdPt NW–GDY effectively enhanced the electron transfer rate and coupled with the loaded TDNs. The TDNs could capture MCF-7 cells with precision and firmness, and the resulting composite complex was combined with AuPd HSs to form a sandwich-type structure. This novel aptasensor showed a linear range between 10 and 106 cells mL−1 and an ultralow detection limit of 7 cells mL−1. The specificity, stability, and repeatability of the measurements were successfully verified. Moreover, we used benzonase nuclease to achieve non-destructive recovery of cells for further clinical studies. According to the results, our aptasensor was more sensitive measuring the number of CTCs than other approaches because of the employment of TDNs, CuPdPt NW–GDY, and AuPd HSs. We designed a reliable sensor system for the detection of CTCs in the peripheral blood, which could serve as a new approach for cancer diagnosis at an early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive daytime radiative cooling has emerged as a promising green technology for the thermal management of buildings, vehicles, textiles, and electronics. Typically, both high solar reflectance and high thermal emissivity are prerequisites to achieve sufficient daytime cooling. However, colored radiative cooling materials are facing the dilemma of introducing visible light absorption, leading to challenges in balancing cooling and aesthetic demands. Here, three colored bilayer radiative cooling coatings, each comprised of a white base layer and a colored top layer with fluorescence enhancement are fabricated. Three phosphors (Sr2Si5N8:Eu2+, Y3Al5O12:Ce3+, and (Ba,Sr)SiO4:Eu2+) are employed with respective photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of 81%, 95.8%, and 91.0% as the colored pigment in the top layer. To mitigate the contradiction between coloration and solar reflectance, SiO2 microspheres are introduced into the top layer and utilize their Mie‐resonance‐based multiple scattering to increase the photoluminescent (PL) properties of the phosphors, which jointly boosts the effective solar reflectance (ESR) of the top layer. As a result, the three bilayer coatings exhibit soft colors while achieving subambient cooling with temperature drops of up to 1.5 °C. This fluorescence‐enhancement strategy may pave the way for preparing highly efficient radiative cooling coatings with tunable colors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a promising therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) via rectifying gut microbiota. The aim of this study was to identify a mechanism of how specific bacteria-associated immune response contributes to alleviated colitis. Forty donors were divided into high (donor H) and low (donor L) groups according to the diversity and the abundance of Bacteroides and Faecalibacterium by 16S rRNA sequencing. FMT was performed on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Mice with colitis showed significant improvement in intestinal injury and immune imbalance after FMT with group donor H (P < 0.05). Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were identified as targeted strains in donor feces by real-time PCR and droplet digital PCR. Mice with colitis were treated with mono- or dual-bacterial gavage therapy. Dual-bacterial therapy significantly ameliorated intestinal injury compared with mono-bacterial therapy (P < 0.05). Dual-bacterial therapy increased the M2/M1 macrophage polarization and improved the Th17/Treg imbalance and elevated IL-10 production by Tregs compared with the DSS group (P < 0.05). Metabolomics showed increased abundance of lecithin in the glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway. In conclusion, B. thetaiotaomicron and F. prausnitzii, as the key bacteria in donor feces, alleviate colitis in mice. The mechanism may involve increasing lecithin and regulating IL-10 production of intestinal Tregs. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: We demonstrate that donors with high abundance of Bacteroides and Faecalibacterium ameliorate dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice by fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). The combination therapy of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is superior to mono-bacterial therapy in ameliorating colitis in mice, of which mechanism may involve promoting lecithin and inducing IL-10 production of intestinal Tregs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon‐free aluminum electrolysis is crucial for achieving the low‐carbon development and carbon neutrality in the future aluminum industry. NiFe2O4‐based cermet is the potential candidate of inert anode, benefiting from the satisfactory corrosion resistance and high‐temperature conductivity. Herein, complex‐shaped 25(Cu–20Ni)/(NiFe2O4–10NiO) cermets were fabricated via a plastic shaping method using the polyformaldehyde (POM)‐based granular feedstock. The feedstock showed uniform microstructure with evenly dispersed powders wrapped in polymers, which exhibited shear‐thinning behavior during molding. Roles of the feedstock with different powder loadings in the morphology and bending strength of the cermets were investigated. High‐precision gear parts exhibited no deformation, a high relative density over 98%. Investigation of different powder loadings revealed that parts prepared with a 56 vol% loading demonstrate the excellent performance, and possessed an impressive flexural strength of 178.4 MPa. This achievement provided a foundation for the future utilization of complex‐shaped inert anode material components in industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the wings of owls and the tubercles present on humpback whales' flippers, leading-edge serrations have demonstrated the potential to mitigate airfoil–turbulence interaction noise. To deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving this noise reduction, we conducted compressible large-eddy simulations on a rod-airfoil configuration equipped with wavy leading edges (WLEs) of varying amplitudes. All tested serrations exhibited some degree of noise reduction, with the amplitude of the WLE exerting a significant influence on the overall noise reduction effect. Notably, the wavy airfoil with the largest amplitude demonstrated the most substantial noise reduction in the mid-frequency range, achieving a remarkable decrease in up to 2.2 dB in noise levels. Applying multi-process acoustic theory, we delved into sound production on surfaces and near-field structures responsible for generating noise sources. Our findings underscore a crucial mechanism contributing to noise reduction—the source cutoff effects manifested through the significant weakening of noise sources at hill regions along the serrations' surface. Stronger source cutoff effects were observed with larger WLE amplitudes. Furthermore, our study reveals that destructive relationships among sources also play a pivotal role in reducing flow noise. The reduction in mid-frequency noise results from a synergy of the source cutoff effect and destructive source relationships induced by WLEs, while the decrease in low-frequency noise primarily emanates from the source cutoff effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-layer multifunctional metasurface structure is proposed to achieve polarization rotation, perfect polarization conversion, and asymmetric transmission. The design consists of mutually perpendicular rectangular patches, metal pillars, and open-slit metal sheets. By propagating the current through the metal pillars and changing the surface current direction, the dipole can be orthogonally steered to accomplish polarization conversion. The metal in the middle layer can be used to both improve the polarization conversion ratio and ensure high transmittance. The operating band of asymmetric transmission is 8.3–14.7 GHz, where the conversion ratio is above 90% in all of 9–14.2 GHz. In order to verify the proposed concept, the related parameters are designed and measured, the final experimental results match with the simulation results, and the design can be used in the radome, electromagnetic stealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper equates chaff clouds to dipole clusters and studies the electromagnetic scattering problem of dipole clusters based on the linear method of moment (LMM) that solve the electric field Integral equation with the pulse basis function. Firstly, the radar cross section (RCS) of three dipole elements is calculated. The dipole element is divided into 11 segment line units using pulse basis functions. The actual chaff clouds are modeled as two nearest dipole cluster models, which are cubic dipole cluster with uniform distribution formed and spherical dipole cluster with Gaussian distribution formed. The total RCS and total E‐Field magnitude of two dipole cluster models were calculated. Finally, two physical models are constructed based on the simulation models and an experiment is designed. The electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the two models are measured, which verifies the accuracy of the simulation results and the operability of the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an effective anti-tumor drug accompanied with many side effects, especially heart injury. To explore what effects of sophocarpine (SOP) on DOX-induced heart injury, this study conducted in vivo experiment and in vitro experiment, and the C57BL/6J mice and the H9C2 cells were used. The experimental methods used included echocardiography, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), dihydroethidium (DHE) staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining, western blotting and so on. Echocardiography showed that SOP alleviated DOX-induced cardiac dysfunction, as evidenced by the improvements of left ventricle ejection fraction and left ventricle fractional shortening. DOX caused upregulations of creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), while SOP reduced these indices. The relevant stainings showed that SOP reversed the increases of total superoxide level induced by DOX. DOX also contribute to a higher level of MDA and lower levels of SOD and GSH, but these changes were suppressed by SOP. DOX increased the pro-oxidative protein level of NOX-4 while decreased the anti-oxidative protein level of SOD-2, but SOP reversed these effects. In addition, this study further discovered that SOP inhibited the decreases of Nrf2 and HO-1 levels induced by DOX. The TUNEL staining revealed that SOP reduced the high degree of apoptosis induced by DOX. Besides, pro-apoptosis proteins like Bax, cleaved-caspase-3 and cytochrome-c upregulated while anti-apoptosis protein like Bcl-2 downregulated when challenged by DOX, but them were suppressed by SOP. These findings suggested that SOP could alleviate DOX-induced heart injury by suppressing oxidative stress and apoptosis, with molecular mechanism activating of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the process of L2 orthographic learning in bilinguals with distant L1–L2 orthographies. Chinese–English bilinguals with various English proficiency levels were trained with novel L2 words during a reading task. In contrast to higher proficient learners, those with lower L2 proficiency exhibited increased effects of length, frequency, and lexicality across exposures and at-chance recognition of trained words. Importantly, an additional post-training task assessing the lexical integration of trained words evidenced the engagement in different L1–L2 reading strategies across different levels of L2 proficiency, hence suggesting the L1 holistic processing at the base of the effortful establishment of L2 orthographic representations shown by lower-proficient learners. Overall, these findings indicate the role of L2 proficiency in the influence that cross-linguistic variation exerts on L2 orthographic learning and highlight the need for English education programmes to tackle specific grapheme-to-phoneme skills in non-alphabetic target communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edema disease (ED) is a severe and lethal infectious ailment in swine, stemming from Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). An efficient, user-friendly, and safe vaccine against ED is urgently required to improve animal welfare and decrease antibiotic consumption. Recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASV) administered orally induce both humoral and mucosal immune responses to the immunizing antigen. Their potential for inducing protective immunity against ED is significant through the delivery of STEC antigens. rSC0016 represents an enhanced recombinant attenuated vaccine vector designed for Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis. It combines sopB mutations with a regulated delay system to strike a well-balanced equilibrium between host safety and immunogenicity. We generated recombinant vaccine strains, namely rSC0016 (pS-FedF) and rSC0016 (pS-rStx2eA), and assessed their safety and immunogenicity in vivo. The findings demonstrated that the mouse models immunized with rSC0016 (pS-FedF) and rSC0016 (pS-rStx2eA) generated substantial IgG antibody responses to FedF and rStx2eA, while also provoking robust mucosal and cellular immune responses against both FedF and rStx2eA. The protective impact of rSC0016 (pS-FedF) against Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli surpassed that of rSC0016 (pS-rStx2eA), with percentages of 83.3%. These findings underscore that FedF has greater suitability for vaccine delivery via recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASVs). Overall, this study provides a promising candidate vaccine for infection with STEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: EGFR and ERBB2 exon 20 insertion (Ex20ins) account for a small fraction of patients with EGFR mutations. The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for these patients was still controversial. Methods: This retrospective study enrolled lung cancer patients harboring either EGFR or ERBB2 Ex20ins mutations. All the patients were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy plus ICIs, or platinum-based chemotherapy. The demographic features and clinical outcome of each patient were reviewed and analyzed. Results: When treated with immunochemotherapy, patients with EGFR/ERBB2 Ex20ins mutations (n = 31) had poor PFS compared with those without EGFR mutations (n = 141, 5.0 mon and 11.2 mon, p < 0.001). When compared with those with EGFR classic mutations who received immunotherapy as the salvage therapy (n = 24), these patients with EGFR/ERBB2 Ex20ins mutations had similar PFS (5.0 mon and 4.1 mon, p = 0.625), ORR (37.5% vs. 48.4%), and DCR (70.8% vs. 77.4%). In the patients with EGFR/ERBB2 Ex20ins mutations, the PFS of those treated with chemotherapy (n = 54) and those treated with immunochemotherapy (n = 31) was 6.5 mon vs. 5.0 mon (p = 0.066). In the EGFR Ex20ins subgroup, the PFS of addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy (n = 20) and chemotherapy alone (n = 16) was 8.8 mon and 5.2 mon, respectively (p = 0.082) or immunochemotherapy (n = 15, 8.8 mon and 5.0 mon, p = 0.097). Similarly, in the ERBB2 subgroup, the combination of bevacizumab and chemotherapy achieved a numerically longer PFS over chemotherapy alone (9.1 mon and 4.5 mon, p = 0.253), but there was no statistical significance. Conclusions: This study showed that platinum-based chemotherapy plus ICIs had limited efficiency compared to platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with EGFR/ERBB2 Ex20ins. Chemotherapy plus bevacizumab may be a potential scheme for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of individual consumption behavior in a low-carbon economy is gradually recognized. Social norms have a significant effect on individual purchase behavior. However, the influence mechanism of social norms still needs more research. We conducted two behavioral experiments to explore the specific factors: first, the effect of descriptive norms on personal low-carbon consumption behavior through feedback information, and second, a comparison with injunctive norms, focusing on the impact of the normative focus shift brought by punishment represented by the policy implementation. The results show that social norms can effectively promote individual low-carbon consumption through feedback and high policy implementation efficiency. In particular, after effective policy implementation becomes an inherent element of injunctive norms, injunctive norms are activated and become the focus of norms, significantly improving the purchase rate of low-carbon goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than three decades after Jessie Bernard's argument on marriage is good for men, but not for women, the post-millennium marriage and family literature has largely shown that men's reported marital satisfaction is higher than women's across socio-cultural contexts. This study examines gender differences in marital satisfaction from a social network perspective, investigating the role of 'known friendship network' using cross-sectional, large-N samples in mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States. The 'known friendship network' concept captures the cognitive component of an individual's perception of their knowledge of the spouse's 'interactive networks' [Milardo, R. M. (1989). Theoretical and methodological issues in the identification of the social networks of spouses. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51(1), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/352377. We found that knowing more of one's spouse's friends enhances marital satisfaction in an incremental fashion, especially in Taiwan and the United States. The lower importance in China may reflect China's predominantly kinship-based social networks. Regarding how 'known friendship network' patterns explain marital satisfaction, the United States has the least pronounced gender differences, while the gender gap is most significant in Taiwan. This study contributes to the cross-cultural literature on relationship satisfaction, social networks, and global family change. Our findings have complex implications for marital selectivity and the gendered connotations of marriage, suggesting a marital expectations mismatch among heterosexual couples in some low fertility contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin widely present in raw food and feed materials and is mainly produced by Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium verrucosum. Our previous study showed that OTA principally induces liver inflammation by causing intestinal flora disorder, especially Bacteroides plebeius (B. plebeius) overgrowth. However, whether OTA or B. plebeius alteration leads to abnormal tryptophan-related metabolism in the intestine and liver is largely unknown. This study aimed to elucidate the metabolic changes in the intestine and liver induced by OTA and the tryptophan-related metabolic pathway in the liver. Materials and methods: A total of 30 healthy 1-day-old male Cherry Valley ducks were randomly divided into 2 groups. The control group was given 0.1 mol/L NaHCO3 solution, and the OTA group was given 235 μg/kg body weight OTA for 14 consecutive days. Tryptophan metabolites were determined by intestinal chyme metabolomics and liver tryptophan-targeted metabolomics. AMPK-related signaling pathway factors were analyzed by Western blotting and mRNA expression. Results: Metabolomic analysis of the intestinal chyme showed that OTA treatment resulted in a decrease in intestinal nicotinuric acid levels, the downstream product of tryptophan metabolism, which were significantly negatively correlated with B. plebeius abundance. In contrast, OTA induced a significant increase in indole-3-acetamide levels, which were positively correlated with B. plebeius abundance. Simultaneously, OTA decreased the levels of ATP, NAD+ and dipeptidase in the liver. Liver tryptophan metabolomics analysis showed that OTA inhibited the kynurenine metabolic pathway and reduced the levels of kynurenine, anthranilic acid and nicotinic acid. Moreover, OTA increased the phosphorylation of AMPK protein and decreased the phosphorylation of mTOR protein. Conclusion: OTA decreased the level of nicotinuric acid in the intestinal tract, which was negatively correlated with B. plebeius abundance. The abnormal metabolism of tryptophan led to a deficiency of NAD+ and ATP in the liver, which in turn activated the AMPK signaling pathway. Our results provide new insights into the toxic mechanism of OTA, and tryptophan metabolism might be a target for prevention and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, many cities have launched low-carbon pilot schemes to explore feasible local policies and actions that can be replicated on a larger scale to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions. This synthesis analysis reviews the global literature to analyse the interplay of prescriptive visions, practical responses, and evaluation methods of low-carbon urban experiments. Before 2015, low-carbon urban experiments were regarded as a sub-branch of sustainable development, and prescriptive visions were influenced by sustainability. Low-carbon urban experiments were used as an urban planning tool, and such urban planning concepts impacted the practical response and evaluation methods. After 2015, low-carbon urban experiments were influenced by many more disciplines. Planning still occupies the largest proportion of low-carbon practices, but more advanced technologies – in energy and other fields – have also been adopted and influence the evolution of low-carbon urban experiments. We find several driving factors, including political events and developments, technology change, and contributions from various disciplines including academic research. As carbon neutrality is the long-term target of many nations, achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions through prescriptive visions, practical responses, and evaluation methods in urban experiments demands further investigation, especially in developing countries. Key policy insights Low-carbon initiatives on a small scale are frequently practiced by local and national governments, which has reshaped the low-carbon agenda worldwide. Low-carbon development also demands efforts and commitment on the part of local urban governments to promote low-carbon development in its multiple dimensions. Policymakers at different levels of government and governance should focus on how to build on policy instruments in experimental pilots to take action at broader scales. Policymakers also need to adopt relevant indicators from social science in evaluation methods to reflect social sustainability and inclusiveness concerns in the evaluation of low-carbon urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing large-scale epigenomics data, deep learning tools can predict the regulatory activity of genomic sequences, annotate non-coding genetic variants, and uncover mechanisms behind complex traits. However, these tools primarily rely on human or mouse data for training, limiting their performance when applied to other species. Furthermore, the limited exploration of many species, particularly in the case of livestock, has led to a scarcity of comprehensive and high-quality epigenetic data, posing challenges in developing reliable deep learning models for decoding their non-coding genomes. The cross-species prediction of the regulatory genome can be achieved by leveraging publicly available data from extensively studied organisms and making use of the conserved DNA binding preferences of transcription factors within the same tissue. In this study, we introduced DeepSATA, a novel deep learning-based sequence analyzer that incorporates the transcription factor binding affinity for the cross-species prediction of chromatin accessibility. By applying DeepSATA to analyze the genomes of pigs, chickens, cattle, humans, and mice, we demonstrated its ability to improve the prediction accuracy of chromatin accessibility and achieve reliable cross-species predictions in animals. Additionally, we showcased its effectiveness in analyzing pig genetic variants associated with economic traits and in increasing the accuracy of genomic predictions. Overall, our study presents a valuable tool to explore the epigenomic landscape of various species and pinpoint regulatory deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) variants associated with complex traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of montmorillonite (MMT)/polyamide 610 (PA610) composites were readily prepared by in situ melt polymerization followed by a full investigation in terms of their microstructure, performance, and crystallization kinetics. The kinetic models of Jeziorny, Ozawa, and Mo were used in turn to fit the experimental data, in all of which Mo's analytical method was found to be the best model for the kinetic data. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies were used to investigate the isothermal crystallization behavior and MMT dispersion levels in the MMT/PA610 composites. The experiment results revealed that low MMT content can promote the PA610 crystallization, whilst high MMT content result in MMT agglomeration, and reduce the PA610 crystallization rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we synthesized lactobionic acid-decorated diselenide-linked polyethylene glycol-doxorubicin conjugate (LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX) and prepared free DOX-loaded LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX(DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX) nanoparticles for hepatoma-targeted DOX delivery. LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX can self-assemble into nanoparticles in deionized water and DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles were prepared by loading free DOX into LA-PEG-Se-Se-DOX nanoparticles under sonication. DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles have high DOX loading content of 31.3%. The dynamic scattering analysis shows that DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles have small size (hydrodynamic diameter 4 5. 6 9 ± 0. 7 1 nm), near neutral zeta potential, and excellent colloidal stability. The in vitro drug release study indicates that DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles exhibit dual redox-responsive drug release characteristics. The cellular uptake study reveals that DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles can be taken up by hepatoma cells by asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGPR)-mediated pathway. Finally, DOX@LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles exhibit enhanced cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells as compared to LA-PEG-SeSe-DOX nanoparticles, underlining the significance of releasing free DOX for effective tumor cell proliferation inhibition. This work provides a facile and effective strategy for targeted delivery of DOX to hepatoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are related to the pathogenesis and progression of bladder cancer (BC). This research aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of hsa_circ_0008035 (circ_0008035) in BC progression. Methods: Circ_0008035, microRNA (miR)-1,184, and Ras-related protein 2B (RAP2B) levels were examined in BC via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. Cell Counting Kit-8, colony formation, 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine staining, flow cytometry, caspase-3 assay kit, transwell, and tube formation assays were conducted to estimate the effects of circ_0008035 on the malignant phenotypes of BC tumors. The interaction between RNAs and genes was evaluated via a dual-luciferase reporter and RNA immunoprecipitation assays. A xenograft model of BC in nude mice was established to estimate the effect of circ_0008035 in BC in vivo. Results: Circ_0008035 and RAP2B levels were upregulated, while miR-1184 abundance was downregulated in BC tissues and cells. Circ_0008035 knockdown constrained cell proliferation, migration, invasion and angiogenesis but promoted apoptosis in vitro. And circ_0008035 silencing curbed xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Circ_0008035 acted as a miRNA sponge for miR-1184. Circ_0008035 increased RAP2B expression by sponging miR-1184. MiR-1184 downregulation relieved the effects of circ_0008035 knockdown on BC progression. And RAP2B knockdown partly reversed the effects of miR-1184 overexpression on BC progression. Conclusion: Circ_0008035-mediated BC progression via regulating the miR-1184/RAP2B axis, providing a potential target for BC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solute hydrogen trapping has long been proposed as one of the mechanisms for hydrogen embrittlement in steel. It has been reported that the maximum hydrogen trapping energy of metallic solutes ranged from −0.7 eV to −0.9 eV. In this work, the mechanism of metal-H interaction in Cr-Mo steels was investigated with first principles calculations by modelling the binary alloy Fe-X (X = C, Si, Mn, Cr, Mo) system with reference to the chemical composition of Cr-Mo steels. The formation of hydrogen bonds in the case of H atoms located at different sites in Fe-X crystals was analyzed. Results indicated that various atomic doping had different roles in hydrogen effect in the steel, with C, Si and Mo doping making the solid solution of hydrogen in Fe crystals easier, while Mn and Cr doping was rather more difficult. In Fe-Mn and Fe-Cr crystals, the repulsion between Fe lattices was insignificant when H atoms were located in tetrahedral sites, which considerably reduced the binding energy in the crystal. When H atoms were dissolved into the crystal, the interatomic bonding interactions in Fe-X crystals were weakened, resulting in higher charge density fluctuations. The current work extends the understanding of H-atom diffusion and migration in steel from the microscopic scale to the atomic and electronic scales, which underpins the physics for tailoring chemical elements of bcc metals towards higher resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. [Display omitted] • Metal-H interaction was investigated with first principles in Fe-X system. • Various atomic doping had different roles in hydrogen effect in the steel. • The binding energy in Fe-Cr and Fe-Mo crystals varied with H atom location. • Hydrogen embrittlement was associated with lower repulsion between Fe lattices. • H-atom diffusion and migration was interpreted at atomic and electronic scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Src family protein kinases (SFKs) play a key role in cell adhesion, invasion, proliferation, survival, apoptosis, and angiogenesis during tumor development. In humans, SFKs consists of eight family members with similar structure and function. There is a high level of overexpression or hyperactivity of SFKs in tumor, and they play an important role in multiple signaling pathways involved in tumorigenesis. FYN is a member of the SFKs that regulate normal cellular processes. Additionally, FYN is highly expressed in many cancers and promotes cancer growth and metastasis through diverse biological functions such as cell growth, apoptosis, and motility migration, as well as the development of drug resistance in many tumors. Moreover, FYN is involved in the regulation of multiple cancer-related signaling pathways, including interactions with ERK, COX-2, STAT5, MET and AKT. FYN is therefore an attractive therapeutic target for various tumor types, and suppressing FYN can improve the prognosis and prolong the life of patients. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of FYN's structure, expression, upstream regulators, downstream substrate molecules, and biological functions in tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As waves are being developed as a renewable energy source, the development of new predictive algorithms to forecast wave height has garnered considerable interest. This study proposes an innovative hybrid model to predict the wave height, including a two-layer decomposition framework and long short-term memory (LSTM). First, the original wave height series is effectively and quickly decomposed into multiple sub-sequences using complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN). The refined composite multiscale entropy (RCMSE) is then applied to reconstruct these sub-sequences into high-frequency, medium-frequency, low-frequency, and trend components. The respective LSTM is adopted to predict the medium-frequency, low-frequency, and trend components and obtain the sub-results. Subsequently, a series of modes is obtained by the second decomposition of the high-frequency component with variational mode decomposition (VMD), and the sub-result is obtained by forecasting the modes with ensemble LSTM. Finally, we employ the ensemble LSTM to predict all sub-results and obtain the final wave height prediction result, rather than simply adding up all the sub-results linearly. The proposed hybrid model is tested geographically at two buoy stations in eastern New York and Gulf of Mexico. The results show that the proposed hybrid model is more accurate than other benchmark models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common diseases affecting people and leading to high morbidity is kidney injury. The alleviation of inflammation and apoptosis is considered a potential therapeutic approach for kidney injury. Sophocarpine (SOP), a tetracyclic quinolizidine alkaloid, exhibits various beneficial biological properties. To investigate the effects of SOP on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced kidney injury, we randomly divided mice into four groups: Control, ISO, ISO+SOP (20 mg/kg) and ISO+SOP (40 mg/kg). SOP was administered intraperitoneally to the mice over two weeks, accompanied by intraperitoneal stimulation of ISO (10 mg/kg) for another four weeks. After the mice were sacrificed, several methods such as ELISA, staining (H&E, TUNEL, DHE and Masson) and Western blotting were applied to detect the corresponding indicators. The kidney injury serum biomarkers SCr and BUN increased after the ISO challenge, while this effect was reversed by treatment with SOP. Pathological changes induced by ISO were also reversed by treatment with SOP in the staining. The inflammatory cytokines IL-β, IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1 and NLRP3 increased after the challenge with ISO, while they were decreased by treatment with SOP. The apoptotic proteins cleaved-caspase-3 and Bax increased, while Bcl-2 decreased, after the challenge with ISO, and these effects were reversed by treatment with SOP. The antioxidant proteins SOD-1 and SOD-2 decreased after being stimulated by ISO, while they increased after the treatment with SOP. The fibrotic proteins collagen I, collagen III, α-SMA, fibronectin, MMP-2 and MMP-9 increased after the challenge with ISO, while they decreased after the treatment with SOP. We further discovered that the TLR-4/NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathways were suppressed, while the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway was activated. In summary, SOP could alleviate ISO-induced kidney injury by inhibiting inflammation, apoptosis, oxidative stress and fibrosis. The molecular mechanisms were suppression of the TLR-4/NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathways and activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, indicating that SOP might serve as a novel therapeutic strategy for kidney injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol on P - doped amorphous Ni surface. [Display omitted] • Ni nanospheres and nanorods were obtained by altering hydrogen pressure. • The E a of glucose hydrogenation reaction over Ni nanospheres is 32 kJ/mol. • 100 % selectivity to sorbitol over Ni nanospheres was achieved at 140 °C. • Crystallinity and P dopant affect catalyst performance. Structure-activity relationships of Ni particles with different morphologies, crystallinities and compositions were investigated for glucose hydrogenation. Nanorods and nanospheres were obtained respectively by altering hydrogen pressure during synthesis, and nanobead chains were synthesized for analogy analysis following a known procedure. Glucose hydrogenation over Ni nanosphere catalysts exhibits the lowest reaction barrier (E a = 32 kJ/mol) compared to nanorods and nanobead chains (98 kJ/mol), and a constant sorbitol selectivity of 100 % was obtained at a temperature of 140 °C. A comprehensive characterization with ATR-IR, Raman, XPS, ICP, P-XRD, HRTEM and SAED revealed that the combined factors of poly-crystallinity, amorphous structure and P- dopant make Ni nanospheres superior. This provides a valuable path in the process of designing better non-noble catalysts to definitely avoid the use of noble metals in the future in biomass valorization reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the cell potential method is used to measure activity coefficients of NaCl‐SrCl2‐H2O mixed solution at 318.15 K. The potential values of NaCl in NaCl‐H2O single salt solution were measured, and the standard cell potential E0 and electrode response slope k were fitted with linear regression. Subsequently, the results show that the ion‐selective electrode has a good Nernst response. The mean activity coefficients NaCl in NaCl‐SrCl2‐H2O solution are also determined with Nernst equation, and the total ionic strength in the mixed solution range is from 0.1000 ~ 0.8000 mol·kg−1, the ionic strength fraction of SrCl2 with yb = (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8). Using the mean activity coefficients data and Pitzer model, the Pitzer ion interaction parameters θNa,Sr and ψNa,Sr,Cl of Pitzer equations at 318.15 K are fitted. Furthermore, the mean activity coefficients of SrCl2, permeability coefficient Φ, water activity aw, and excess Gibbs free energy GE were also calculated by Pitzer's equations. The phase equilibria of the NaCl‐SrCl2‐H2O solution at 318.15 K are predicted, and corresponding phase diagram of the ternary solution is plotted according to the calculated solubilities in this work, and comparison of phase equilibria at different temperatures is also presented. The results show that the ion interaction parameters of Pitzer equations obtained in this work can be used for calculation of thermodynamic parameters and prediction of phase equilibria of salt‐water solutions containing strontium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive delay-sensitive and computation-intensive tasks are involved in emerging vehicular applications. These tasks can hardly be all processed by the resource constrained vehicle alone, nor fully offloaded to edge facilities (like road side units) due to their incomplete coverage. To this end, we refer to the new paradigm of vehicular collaborative edge computing (VCEC) and make the best use of vehicles’ idle and redundant resources for energy consumption reduction within the VCEC system. To realize this target, we are faced with several nontrivial challenges, including short-term decision making coupled with long-term queue delay constraints, information uncertainty, and task offloading conflicts. Accordingly, we apply Lyapunov optimization to decouple the original problem into three sub-problems and then tackle them one by one: the first sub-problem is resolved by Lagrange multiplier method; the second is handled by UCB learning-matching approach; the third is addressed by a carefully designed greedy method. Scenarios without volatility and real-world road topology with realistic vehicular traffics are utilized to evaluate the proposed solution. Results from extensive numerical simulations demonstrate that our solution can achieve superior performances compared with the benchmark methods, in terms of energy consumption, learning regret, task backlog, and end-to-end delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Writing is an essential skill that people use throughout their lifetime. Although previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses had reviewed the effect of writing interventions on students with learning disabilities and English learners, we know little about the effective writing process-types interventions for English learners with or at risk for learning disabilities (ELs with LD). Therefore, this systematic review identified and synthesized seven writing intervention studies that include ELs with LD. We further analyzed participant characteristics, interventionist characteristics, instructional methods, and intervention outcomes across studies. The result showed the scarcity of quantitative intervention studies in the area. Some commonly implemented intervention elements are identified and discussed, as well as implications, limitations, and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating the missing part is an important branch of point cloud completion research. However, the existing point cloud completion methods ignore the importance of feature differences between partial and complete point clouds, and have not further optimized the predicted missing point cloud. For this reason, we propose an effective Graph based Missing Part Patching Network (GMP-Net), which is a deep learning model that uses the power of graph convolution to predict missing part of point cloud in a patching manner. First, GMP-Net improves its feature extraction ability through double perspective contrastive learning which extracts better global features with semantic boundaries between missing and incomplete point clouds. Second, a tree structure decoder combined with graph attention is proposed to generate intermediate coarse missing points by gathering topologies from ancestors' information. Third, we propose a new graph convolution technique that refines intermediate generation by constructing a graph between partial and missing points. This approach optimizes the generated missing points with the local feature of the partial points. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed GMP-Net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current rectification behavior has been proved to be essential in modern electronics. Here, a pseudo-diode is proposed based on protonic/electronic hybrid indium-gallium-zinc oxide electric- double-layer (EDL) transistor. The oxide EDL transistors are fabricated by using phosphorous silicate glass (PSG) based proton conducting electrolyte as gate dielectric. A diode operation mode is established on the transistor, originating from field configurable proton fluxes within the PSG electrolyte. Current rectification ratios have been modulated to values ranged between ~4 and ~50 000 with gate electrode biased at voltages ranged between -0.7 V and 0.1 V. Interestingly, the proposed pseudo-diode also exhibits field reconfigurable threshold voltages. When the gate is biased at -0.5 V and 0.3 V, threshold voltages are set to 1.3 V and -0.55 V, respectively. The proposed pseudo-diode may find potential applications in brain-inspired platforms and low-power portable systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human brain is capable of short- and long-term memory with retention times ranging from a few seconds to several years. Electrolyte-gated transistors have drawn attention for their potential to mimic synaptic behaviors in neuromorphic applications, but they generally operate at low voltages to avoid instability and, hence, offer limited tunability. Sputtered silicon dioxide electrolytes are utilized in this work to gate indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors, which offer robust operation at much higher voltages. The synaptic memory behavior is studied under single and multiple pulses and under mild (1 V) and strong stimuli (up to 8 V). The devices are found to be capable of providing an extremely wide range of memory retention time from ∼2 ms to ∼20 000 s, over seven orders of magnitude. Furthermore, based on the experimental data on individual transistors, pattern learning and memorizing functionalities are conceptually demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zymomonas mobilis metabolizes sugar anaerobically through the Entner-Doudoroff pathway with less ATP generated for lower biomass accumulation to direct more sugar for product formation with improved yield, making it a suitable host to be engineered as microbial cell factories for producing bulk commodities with major costs from feedstock consumption. Self-flocculation of the bacterial cells presents many advantages, such as enhanced tolerance to environmental stresses, a prerequisite for achieving high product titers by using concentrated substrates. ZM401, a self-flocculating mutant developed from ZM4, the unicellular model strain of Z. mobilis, was employed in this work to explore the molecular mechanism underlying this self-flocculating phenotype. Comparative studies between ZM401 and ZM4 indicate that a frameshift caused by a single nucleotide deletion in the poly-T tract of ZMO1082 fused the putative gene with the open reading frame of ZMO1083, encoding the catalytic subunit BcsA of the bacterial cellulose synthase to catalyze cellulose biosynthesis. Furthermore, the single nucleotide polymorphism mutation in the open reading frame of ZMO1055, encoding a bifunctional GGDEF-EAL protein with apparent diguanylate cyclase/phosphodiesterase activities, resulted in the Ala526Val substitution, which consequently compromised in vivo specific phosphodiesterase activity for the degradation of cyclic diguanylic acid, leading to intracellular accumulation of the signaling molecule to activate cellulose biosynthesis. These discoveries are significant for engineering other unicellular strains from Z. mobilis with the self-flocculating phenotype for robust production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel defect-rich tungsten-molybdenum oxide modified carbon support (WMO x -C) is prepared by adsorption and calcination of mixed heteropolyacids on Vulcan XC-72 carbon. The Pd/WMO x -C and Pd/C catalysts are fabricated by the liquid reduction method. Results show that the Pd/WMO x -C exhibits a more even distribution and smaller particle size. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the Pd/WMO x -C presents superior electrocatalytic performances and stability than that of Pd/C. The mass activity and specific oxidation activity of Pd/WMO x -C are 3.04 and 1.89 times as those of Pd/C, respectively. In addition, the negatively shifted CO-stripping peak (59 mV than Pd/C), enhanced stability and lower charge transfer resistance value are observed for Pd/WMO x -C. The improvement of electrocatalytic performances of Pd/WMO x -C catalyst may be assigned to the uniformly dispersed Pd with smaller particle size, electronic tuning of Pd by WMO x , rapid change of the oxidation state of molybdenum with the redox couples Mo5+/Mo6+ and resultant defects of Pd/WMO x -C. • The defective Pd/WMO x -C catalyst was fabricated for formic acid oxidation. • The adding of WMO x greatly improves the electrocatalytic activity and stability. • The mechanism of enhanced electrocatalytic performance for Pd/WMO x -C is discussed. • The formation of redox couples of Mo5+/Mo6+ is effective in removal of CO ads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pressure has become an irreplaceable tool in preparing new materials with interesting property. Theoretical calculations, especially combined with structural evolution algorithm, have played a powerful role in accelerating the finding of functional materials. Phosphorus (P) has the ability of forming diverse motifs in element solids and compounds, which are closely related to their physical property. Here we explore high-pressure phase diagram of binary Sc-P compounds with the aim of finding new materials through first-principles structural search calculations. Besides reappearing the known NaCl-type ScP, two P-rich chemical compositions (e.g., ScP4 and ScP2) are identified at high pressures. Interestingly, ScP4 contains a novel three-dimensional P framework composed of eight- and four-membered channels. A one-dimensional Sc chain is located in eight-membered channel. Electronic property calculations disclose that ScP4 is metallic and superconductive. Its superconducting transition temperature (Tc) increases with decreasing pressure, and is up to 11 K at 50 GPa. Pressure-dependent density of states at the Fermi level is mainly responsible for the change of Tc. Other pressure-induced Sc-P phases are also superconductive, but have a weak electron–phonon coupling in comparison with ScP4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is defined as a decline in ovarian function before the age of 40 and is one of the leading causes of infertility in women. The etiology is complex, and the pathogenesis is not clear. The main treatment is hormone replacement therapy, but a growing body of data confirms that such treatment can increase the risk of endometrial disease and cardiovascular disease. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been widely used in patients with POI due to its limited adverse reactions and high efficiency. According to literature reports, CAM therapy for POI mainly includes traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, psychotherapy, dietary supplements, and exercise therapy. This article reviews the application of CAM in the treatment of POI and attempts to determine the therapeutic effects and the mechanisms behind these effects based on existing clinical and experimental studies in order to provide theoretical support for the treatment of POI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The close relationship between histone deacetylase 9 (HDAC9) and immunity has attracted attention. We constructed an immune signature for HDAC9, a vital epigenetic modification, to predict the survival status and treatment benefits in bladder cancer (BC). Methods: An exhaustive analysis of HDAC9 and immunology via the tumor and immune system interaction database (TISIDB) was performed, and an immune prognostic risk signature was developed based on genes enriched in the top five immune-related pathways under high HDAC9 status. Comprehensive analysis of survival curves and Cox regression were used to estimate the effectiveness of the risk signature. The relationship between immunological characteristics and the risk score was evaluated, and the mechanisms were also explored. Results: In the TISIDB, HDAC9 was closely related to various immunological characteristics. The risk signature was obtained based on genes related to prognosis enriched in the top five immune-related pathways under high HDAC9 status. The survival rate of the high-risk BC patients was poor. The risk score was closely related to multiple immunological characteristics, drug sensitivity, immunotherapy benefits and biofunctions. Conclusion: An immune-related prognostic signature established for HDAC9 expression status could independently predict the prognosis of BC patients. The use of this signature could help clinicians make personalized treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both viruses and moods are transmitted through interpersonal contacts, but it has been extremely difficult to track each unique chain of contacts through which particular moods diffuse. By analyzing 56,060 contact records from 113 interlocking, yearlong diaries collected through a web-based platform in Taiwan, we traced mood states before and after each specific contact along a triplet of persons where B contacts C and subsequently contacts A. Multilevel analyses show that both positive and negative emotions are contagious, but the two paths diverge markedly in how the diffusion stops. Positive contact between C and B (which leads to improved mood for B) spreads to A through B's contact with A, making A feel better afterward, regardless of whether B's mood deteriorated between the two interactions. Negative contact between C and B (which leads to worsened mood for B) also spreads to A, making A feel worse after the contact with B. However, the spread of a negative mood discontinues if B's mood improved between the two contacts. The different patterns of diffusion suggest that a negative mood is harder to disperse, probably because people generally make efforts to keep their negative emotions from spreading to others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there are various treatment strategies for colorectal cancer, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy. In recent years, with the continuous development of immunotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can significantly improve the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer patients with high levels of microsatellite instability. In addition to ICIs, neoantigens, as a class of tumor-specific antigens (TSA), are regarded as new immunotherapy targets for many cancer species and are being explored for antitumor therapy. Immunotherapy strategies based on neoantigens include tumor vaccines and adoptive cell therapy (ACT). These methods aim to eliminate tumor cells by enhancing the immune response of host T-cells to neoantigens. In addition, for MSS colorectal cancer, such "cold tumors" with low mutation rates and stable microsatellites are not sensitive to ICIs, whereas neoantigens could provide a promising immunotherapeutic avenue. In this review, we summarized the current status of colorectal cancer neoantigen prediction and current clinical trials of neoantigens and discussed the difficulties and limitations of neoantigens-based therapies for the treatment of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the coming years, an extensive development of offshore wind energy will present a clear trend of clustering offshore wind farms (OWFs). Offshore grid is a novel concept proposed to address the problem of connecting OWFs and integrating large offshore wind energy into the regional onshore power system economically and reliably. Compared with traditional electrical systems in large OWFs, the connection of offshore grid demonstrates some new features. This paper presents a tri-level optimization strategy to optimize offshore grid planning while considering onshore network expansions simultaneously. The proposed strategy turns the optimization of these two complicated electrical networks into three nested optimization models: the 'Point of common coupling (PCC) optimizer', 'Offshore substation (OS) optimizer', and 'Offshore grid optimizer'. An engineering case from the East China Sea is discussed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The results show that offshore grid demonstrates better overall economic efficiency and less marine corridor consumption. In addition, the proposed methodology can make the integration of large OWFs more friendly to onshore networks. • A novel methodology for optimal planning offshore wind farm (OWF) clusters electrical systems. • Some new features of offshore grid integrating with onshore grid are summarized. • The demand of friendly integration is incorporated into the offshore grid planning. • A tri-level optimization strategy. • Several case study on a real system are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-stream nutrient uptake is essential in regulating nutrient transport in fluvial ecosystems, yet knowledge of interactions between multiple nutrient uptake still needs to be improved. To reveal the characteristics of interactions between N and P uptake and their seasonal variability, we conducted a series of short-term (i.e., minutes to hours) nutrient addition experiments, including individual nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and combined N plus P additions, in a vegetated forested stream during two contrasting seasons (i.e., the late spring and autumn). Moreover, we explored the responsiveness of N or P uptake rates to their concentrations under the conditions of varying ratios of nitrate-N (NO 3 ¯-N) to ammonium-N (NH 4 +-N) in all N additions. We found a significant interaction between N and P retention and uptake in the stream where it was P-limited. Across all experiments, the responsiveness of NH 4 +-N uptake to increased P concentrations increased with decreasing ratios of NO 3 ¯-N/NH 4 +-N additions in late spring or autumn. In contrast, NO 3 ¯-N uptake showed an opposite pattern. Partial least squares regression results suggested that the hydromorphology (e.g., discharge, channel heterogeneity, aquatic macrophytes) was the main driver and powerfully impacted the whole-reach N and P uptake and their interactions. • Obvious interactions between N and P uptake in a vegetated stream. • Responsiveness of N uptake to increased P varied as added N forms shifted. • Hydromorphology strongly impacted N and P uptake and their interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-twins induced changes in the local grain orientation of the weld can promote dislocation slip, which leads to an increase in the fracture toughness of the weld. [Display omitted] • Microbands and grain boundary dislocation pileup hindered dislocation slip. • Nano-twins promoted dislocation slip and increased the fracture toughness. • Mn addition decreased valence electron concentration and reduced the stability of FCC structures. • Grain refinement with more grain boundaries inhibited crack nucleation and propagation. In this study, 316LN-Mn and 316LN plates were welded by gas tungsten arc welding. The fracture toughness of 316LN-Mn and 316LN steel welds at the cryogenic-temperature of 4.2 K was evaluated by focusing on the effects of microstructures and chemical elements. The results showed that both steel welds did not experience stress-induced martensite transformation during deformation. At 4.2 K, the microbands and dislocation pileup at grain boundaries blocked dislocations, thus reducing the fracture toughness of the welds. The embedded nano-twin clusters inhibited void initiation in the nano-grained matrix and formed a crack-bridging ligament behind the crack, which contributed to higher fracture toughness. It was found that microstructures with dominant equiaxed grains at an average grain size of 30 μm had the highest fracture toughness. While chemically, the reduction of manganese content blurred the outline of the electron density map, reduced the valence electron concentration, resulting in unstable austinites, which informed the significance of manganese content control in design and selection of weld metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of the weakening Indian monsoon on alpine ecosystems was investigated. • Vegetation greenness showed opposite trends between humid and semi-arid areas. • Vegetation greenness increased in humid areas due to more heat and solar radiation. • Vegetation greenness decreased in semi-arid areas because of drought stress. • The weakening monsoon favored vegetation growth in humid but not in semi-arid areas. The weakening Indian monsoon during recent warmer decades has caused greening and browning trends in water- and energy-limited terrestrial ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau, respectively. Little is known, however, on the underlying mechanisms of such divergent responses of vegetation to the monsoon weakening. Herein, using the Indian monsoon index, high-resolution vegetation indices and multi-source climate data, we assessed the response of vegetation greenness to the Indian monsoon from 2000 to 2018 in two adjacent basins dominated by water- and energy-limited ecosystems and located in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The two basins showed opposite greenness trends due to direct and indirect effects of the weakening monsoon. The weakening monsoon increased vegetation greenness in the humid sites due to more heat exposure and solar radiation, but not in dry sites because of amplified drought stress. Thus, a weaker monsoon would not favor productivity in drought-prone ecosystems, whereas it would benefit energy-limited sites due to more radiation and warmer conditions associated to lower cloudiness. The effect of atmospheric circulation and its inter-decadal oscillation on basin-scale ecological processes should be therefore taken into account to refine earth system models and climate forecasts. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neural/mental operations involved in the process of visual word recognition (VWR) are fundamental for the efficient comprehension of written/printed words during reading. The present study used CiteSpace, a visual analysis software, to identify the intellectual landscape where VWR has been reviewed in the past decade. Thus, synthesized co-citation networks were analyzed to explore and discuss the main questions raised in the VWR literature: the research fronts and the emerging trends of research on this topic. Our results showed that the main questions addressed in VWR studies during the last decade have been focused on four main aspects related to "what," "where," "when," and "how" of VWR; to be specific, the different types of representations assessed during VWR ("what"), the locations and the timing of the brain activity involved in VWR ("where" and "when"), and the interactivity among different representations during processing ("how"). Among the revised studies, letter position coding was found to be the main topic of interest, possibly reflecting the critical role of this process. Furthermore, the evidence found in these studies consistently supported that VWR implies access to phonological, semantic, and morphological representations, which interact and modulate the processing of written words, particularly during early stages. Altogether, our findings showed the evolution in VWR literature regarding the different cognitive and neural operations involved in this process, highlighting the growing interest over the last decade toward the top-down way that mental representations interact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winding faults are the most commonly occurring type of fault in offshore doubly-fed generator units. Such faults are difficult to detect and repair, and therefore higher fault identification accuracy is required. Most of the existing research analyzes stator and rotor winding faults separately, but due to the coupling characteristics between windings, it is necessary to analyze doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) winding faults in a unified way. This paper proposes a general fault diagnosis method that can be applied to both the stator and rotor winding faults of DFIGs. First, a general mathematical model of a windings short circuit of a doubly-fed generator is established. Then, according to the mechanism of a turn-to-turn short circuit fault of a DFIG and the expression of a bilateral flux linkage between stator winding and rotor winding, a new fault feature-bilateral flux linkage difference vector (FLDV) is obtained by mathematical derivation. Finally, the recommended value for an experimental motor of feature quantity is set. The proposed method for inter-turn fault (ITF) diagnosis of stator and rotor windings provides technical support for the sustainable development of offshore wind power. A simulation and experiment prove that FLDV has high sensitivity and high reliability for windings ITF diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Internet medical care has been advancing steadily, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the development momentum of Internet medical care in China is more vigorous. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with using the Internet for medical information, to examine the popularisation and implementation of Internet medical treatment and feasible strategies, and promote the further development of Internet medical treatment.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 408 medical patients who had used online medical services. The one-way analysis of variance or independent samples t-test was used to compare the differences in the influence of demographic characteristics on behavioural intentions of different people seeking medical care. Pearson's correlation was used to evaluate the correlation between different measurement variables. A mediation regression analysis was used to explore the mediating role of trust in Internet medical care.Results: The difference in the influence of Internet medical use frequency on the behavioural intention of different participants was statistically significant (F = 3.311, P = 0.038). Among the influencing factors, personal trust propensity (r = 0.387, P < 0.01), website credibility (r = 0.662, P < 0.01), hospital credibility (r = 0.629, P < 0.01), doctor's credibility (r = 0.746, P < 0.01), and online patient trust (r = 0.874, P < 0.01) were positively correlated with patients' behavioural intentions. In the analysis of intermediary factors, the total effect of the credibility of the diagnosis and treatment website on the behavioural intention of patients was 0.344. The total effect of the credibility of the diagnosis and treatment hospital on the behavioural intention of patients was 0.312; the total effect of the service doctor's credibility on the patient's behavioural intention was 0.385; the total effect of the personal trust tendency on the patient's behavioural intention was 0.296.Conclusions: This study found defects in various factors that produce distrust in Internet medical treatment. It also reveals the positive effect of trust factors on the development and implementation of Internet medical treatment and provides some ideas for improving the use of Internet medical treatment by the masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) resistance is an urgent problem of colorectal cancer (CRC) chemotherapy that needs to be resolved. To investigate 5-FU-associated lncRNAs for CRC might be of great significant. LncRNA ENSG00000254615 was detected by RNA-sequencing. ENSG00000254615 were detected highly expressed in 5-FU-sensitive CRC cells and tissue specimens, and inhibited cell proliferation and attenuated 5-FU resistance in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, ENSG00000254615 participated in the regulation of p21 and Cyclin D1. Taken together, we proposed that ENSG00000254615 inhibits proliferation and attenuates 5-FU resistance of CRC by regulating p21 and Cyclin D1 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is the ninth most common malignant tumor. We constructed a risk signature using immune-related gene pairs (IRGPs) to predict the prognosis of BC patients. Methods: The mRNA transcriptome, simple nucleotide variation and clinical data of BC patients were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (TCGA-BLCA). The mRNA transcriptome and clinical data were also extracted from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets (GSE31684). A risk signature was built based on the IRGPs. The ability of the signature to predict prognosis was analyzed with survival curves and Cox regression. The relationships between immunological parameters [immune cell infiltration, immune checkpoints, tumor microenvironment (TME) and tumor mutation burden (TMB)] and the risk score were investigated. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore molecular mechanisms underlying the risk score. Results: The risk signature utilized 30 selected IRGPs. The prognosis of the high-risk group was significantly worse than that of the low-risk group. We used the GSE31684 dataset to validate the signature. Close relationships were found between the risk score and immunological parameters. Finally, GSEA showed that gene sets related to the extracellular matrix (ECM), stromal cells and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were enriched in the high-risk group. In the low-risk group, we found a number of immune-related pathways in the enriched pathways and biofunctions. Conclusions: We used a new tool, IRGPs, to build a risk signature to predict the prognosis of BC. By evaluating immune parameters and molecular mechanisms, we gained a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the risk signature. This signature can also be used as a tool to predict the effect of immunotherapy in patients with BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing studies focused on the regulatory roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in diverse cancers. This study was to evaluate the function and mechanism of circRNA Scm-like with four malignant brain tumor domains 2 (circ-SFMBT2) in esophageal cancer (EC). Methods: The circ-SFMBT2, microRNA-107 (miR-107) and solute-linked carrier family A1 member 5 (SLC1A5) levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Cell proliferation was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-y1)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, colony formation assay and EdU assay. Cell apoptosis and invasion were detected by flow cytometry and transwell assay. Glutamine metabolism was assessed by the corresponding kits for glutamine consumption, α-ketoglutarate production and glutamate production. Western blot was used for protein quantification. The binding analysis was performed using dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and pull-down assays. The functional research of circ-SFMBT2 in vivo was performed by xenograft tumor assay. Exosomes were identified by morphological observation and protein detection. Results: Circ-SFMBT2 was overexpressed in EC samples and cells. Circ-SFMBT2 downregulation inhibited EC cell proliferation, invasion and glutamine metabolism. Circ-SFMBT2 targeted miR-107 and the regulation of circ-SFMBT2 was achieved by sponging miR-107. SLC1A5 was a target of miR-107, and it worked as an oncogene in EC cells. MiR-107 retarded the EC progression by downregulating SLC1A5. Circ-SFMBT2 could affect the SLC1A5 expression by targeting miR-107. Circ-SFMBT2 regulated EC progression in vivo by miR-107/SLC1A5 axis. Circ-SFMBT2 was transferred by exosomes in EC cells. Conclusion: These results suggested that circ-SFMBT2 upregulated the SLC1A5 expression to promote the malignant development of EC by serving as a miR-107 sponge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problems of inefficient, inflexible and insecure for traditional centralized algorithm in the process of optimization dispatch, and with the application of artificial intelligence technology to smart grids, the novel distributed solution is proposed by using the deep reinforcement learning and the consensus theory to optimize the economic dispatch. Firstly, the optimal commitment sequence of massive units is realized through constructing deep reinforcement learning model. Secondly, the optimal unit output and efficient economic dispatch can be obtained by utilizing the improved consensus algorithm together with Adam's algorithm. Finally, simulation results of IEEE‐14 and IEEE‐162 node systems may demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution for the smart grids with complex network structures, which can not only solve the problem of massive data processing, but also it may reduce the dependence on the exact objective function when dealing with extremely complex load distribution scenes and distributed powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Programmed death 1 (PD-1) and macrophages are the most intriguing candidates in sepsis-induced inflammatory disorders. We aimed to investigate the association between monocyte PD-1 and sepsis severity and the mechanism by which blocking macrophage-associated PD-1 causes inflammatory disorders in sepsis. Materials and methods: We first measured whether the expression of PD-1 on the monocyte subset is clinically associated with sepsis severity in an observational study. This study included 42 septic patients and 16 healthy controls (HCs) whose serum inflammatory factors were examined by Luminex MagPix. Then, we investigated the effect of PD-1 blockade on macrophages from septic mice (C57BL/6 mice) constructed by caecal ligation and puncture (CLP) via RNA sequencing. The positive genes screened by RNA-seq were verified in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells by Western blot. Results: The results showed that the expression of PD-1 on CD14+CD16+ monocytes (intermediate monocytes, IM Mo) was significantly higher in both septic and septic shock patients than in HCs. Further analysis of serum cytokines in septic patients showed that the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly higher than those in HCs, while serum PD-1 levels were decreased in septic patients. More interestingly, blockade of PD-1 on macrophages from septic mice suppressed the gene expression levels of NLRP3/Caspase-4/AKT2/STAT3. The protein levels associated with pyroptosis including NLRP3, Caspase4, GSDMD and NT-GSDMD were significantly decreased in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells treated with PD-1 antibody. Conclusion: Our results suggested that intermediate monocytes with high expression of PD-1 may be involved in the progression of sepsis. PD-1 might play a critical role in regulating the pyroptosis signalling pathway in sepsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]