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In order to study the key flavor characteristics and the influence of oxidation degree of oil on warmed-over flavor of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable. The volatile flavor compounds and taste indexes of different brands of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable were quantitatively detected by headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electronic tongue. The key flavor factors of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable were screened and analyzed by odor activity value (OAV) and principal component analysis. Acid value, peroxide value and TBA value were used to analyze the oxidation degree of oil and warmed-over flavor of different brands of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable. Results showed that a total of 85 volatile compounds were identified from 7 kinds of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable, including 16 alkanes, 19 terpenes, 7 alcohols, 22 aldehydes, 3 ketones, 13 esters, 3 phenols and 2 others. A total of 23 key volatile compounds were screened by OAV, and the substances with OAV>10 were 1-octene-3-ol, hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, capric aldehyde, (E)-2-decenal, (E,E)-2,4-decenal and 1-octene-3-ketone, which were the key flavor substances for pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable. The results of electronic tongue and overripe taste evaluation showed that the taste of 7 kinds of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable were mainly salty, umami and aftertaste. Its overripe taste mainly presented linseed oil taste and rancidity taste. The oil oxidation indexes of 7 kinds of pre-prepared steamed pork with preserved vegetable were higher and the differences were significant (P

Abstract The photothermal conversion properties of tellurium (Te) nanoparticles have been extensively investigated, rendering them a promising candidate for tumor photothermal therapy. However, there is still room for improvement in the development of efficient Te-based drug delivery systems. Here, Te nanoparticles are mineralized with bioactive molecules within attenuated Salmonella (S-Te), which are subsequently taken up by macrophages (RAW264.7) to construct a double-camouflaged delivery platform (RS-Te). Remarkably, RS-Te retains superior photothermal properties under near-infrared irradiation. The mineralization process eliminates bacterial proliferation potential, thereby mitigating the risk of excessive bacterial growth in vivo. Furthermore, the uptake of bacteria by macrophages not only polarizes them into M1 macrophages to induce an anti-tumor immune response but also circumvents any adverse effects caused by complex antigens on the bacterial surface. The results show that RS-Te can effectively accumulate and retain in tumors. RS-Te-mediated photothermal immunotherapy largely promotes the maturation of dendritic cells and priming of cytotoxic T cells induced by near-infrared laser irradiation. Moreover, RS-Te can switch the activation of macrophages from an immunosuppressive M2 phenotype to a more inflammatory M1 state. The double-camouflaged delivery system may offer highly efficient and safe cancer treatment.

Abstract With the rapid development of the civil aviation industry, the demand for secure sharing of civil aviation data is increasing. As a global platform for secure sharing of civil aviation data, the security of the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) system is of great concern. SWIM adopts a service-oriented architecture and realizes the interaction of civil aviation data through a publish-subscribe model. To protect the service privacy while enabling subscribers to subscribe to the service quickly and securely, this paper proposes an efficient Circular Shift and Coalesce-Cuckoo Filter (CSC-CF)-based service Keyword Search (CCKS) scheme assisted by blockchain. This scheme uses the Symmetric-key Hidden Vector Encryption (SHVE) algorithm to encrypt and match service indexes and trapdoors to protect service privacy; the CSC-CF structure is applied to keyword search, which can effectively improve the efficiency of SWIM user subscription service. To improve search accuracy and space utilization, we propose the improved CCKS (ICCKS) scheme by optimizing the query algorithm of CSC-CF and setting a threshold for the number of keyword query failures. ICCKS improves search accuracy by 5–20% compared to CCKS when the filter’s space utilization is between 60 and 90%. Additionally, the scheme stores service topic indexes and registry on the blockchain and implements a smart contract to match indexes and subscription trapdoors, ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of service topics and registry. Security analysis and experimental simulations demonstrate that the scheme is effective and secure in the SWIM system.

Abstract An active-matrix electrowetting-on-dielectric (AM-EWOD) system integrates hundreds of thousands of active electrodes for sample droplet manipulation, which can enable simultaneous, automatic, and parallel on-chip biochemical reactions. A smart detection system is essential for ensuring a fully automatic workflow and online programming for the subsequent experimental steps. In this work, we demonstrated an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled multipurpose smart detection method in an AM-EWOD system for different tasks. We employed the U-Net model to quantitatively evaluate the uniformity of the applied droplet-splitting methods. We used the YOLOv8 model to monitor the droplet-splitting process online. A 97.76% splitting success rate was observed with 18 different AM-EWOD chips. A 99.982% model precision rate and a 99.980% model recall rate were manually verified. We employed an improved YOLOv8 model to detect single-cell samples in nanolitre droplets. Compared with manual verification, the model achieved 99.260% and 99.193% precision and recall rates, respectively. In addition, single-cell droplet sorting and routing experiments were demonstrated. With an AI-based smart detection system, AM-EWOD has shown great potential for use as a ubiquitous platform for implementing true lab-on-a-chip applications.

Abstract The correlation between diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) is well established. Insulin resistance (IR) is considered a primary contributor to elevated CAD risk in diabetic individuals. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index serves as a straightforward surrogate marker for insulin resistance. However, few studies have explored their correlations with myocardial infarction and CAD severity. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the association between the TyG index and the occurrence of myocardial infarction, as well as the severity of coronary artery disease. We conducted a retrospective study involving 3865 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine. Of these, 1724 patients were diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Demographic, biochemical, clinical, and angiographic data were gathered. A robust correlation exists between the TyG index and CAD subtypes, suggesting its potential as an independent clinical diagnostic marker. Moreover, the TyG index exhibited a significant positive correlation with disease severity, as assessed by the Gensini score. Elevated TyG index was associated with an increased predisposition to severe CAD, as indicated by the Gensini score, and myocardial infarction, even after adjusting for well-established cardiovascular risk factors.

SignificancePlaques are clogging deposits formed by the accumulation of fat and calcium on the inner walls of arteries. Their formation can lead to narrowing the inner diameter of the blood vessel and hardening the blood vessel wall, thereby limiting blood flow and inducing various cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and peripheral arterial disease. Numerous factors, such as lifestyle changes and population aging, have lead to an increase in the number of patients with cardiovascular disease in China in recent years. The annual growth rate of vascular interventional therapy has remained at around 17% for a decade due to the continuous development of interventional medical means. China's large population of vascular disease and the special situation of calcified plaque lesions have created a huge demand for rotational interventional therapy. By analyzing the current research on rotary grinding, this paper summarizes the existing deficiencies and suggests a follow-up research direction to accelerate the exploration of rotary grinding's mechanism and master the core technology theory. Progress: Firstly, the research on rotary grinding instruments is summed up in three parts: (1) The rotary grinding therapeutic apparatus mentioned here contains a description of its basic features, including the RA from Boston Science and the OA from CSI. The differences between the two were compared in terms of technical indications, clinical indications, mechanism of action, and product upgrades. (2) The preparation method for the grinding wheel and the differential cutting of the grinding wheel are presented in summary. Currently, grinding wheels are mostly created by electroplating, and some experts have suggested using the "engraving" technique. Differential grinding wheel cutting involves two primary principles. Boston Science proposed differential cutting that utilizes the theory of workpiece deformation during the cutting process of flexible materials. The second mechanism is based upon the theory of the dynamic pressure film in water. (3) A summary was provided regarding the structure and techniques of two different types of special rotary grinding guide wires, as well as the potential negative consequences during operation. Secondly, the differences between treatments are compared, such as rotational atherectomy, conventional balloon stenting, rotational resection, ELCA and shock wave balloon. The advantages of plaque rotary grinding are explained in detail. The likelihood of occurrence, explanations, methods of treatment, and other research on complications following rotational grinding are evaluated and summarized. Slow/non-reflow, vascular dissection, vascular perforation, grinding head incarceration, guide wire bias, etc., are all included. Engineering proposes controlling grinding parameters and improving the performance of related equipment to reduce the probability of complications. Finally, the research related to the mechanism of rotary grinding is examined. The main factors are rotary grinding force, rotary grinding heat, and rotary grinding debris. The grinding force is analyzed in a specific way by the current research, which focuses on the impact of grinding wheel speed and quality, blood vessel diameter, fluid dynamic pressure, and other factors on the grinding force. Research on rotary grinding heat focuses on reducing temperature through liquid scrubbing, but there is limited attention paid to thermal damage from an engineering perspective. The analysis of the wear debris mostly discusses the relationship between the size and the speed of the grinding wheel.Conclusions and Prospects(1) At present, the rotary grinding device and related consumables are all imported from the United States. In the future, Chinese substitution will be an important development direction. The development of Chinese rotary grinding products is under process now. (2) The study of the differential cutting mechanism and the design of the surface characteristics of the rotary grinding head to achieve non-invasive vascular tissue removal and efficient plaque tissue removal plays an important role in reducing other injuries caused by surgery. (3) The safety of the grinding process could be improved by optimizing the grinding parameters. There are few discussions on whether other factors in the grinding process will affect parameters such as grinding force, grinding debris and grinding heat. This is the direction of continuous research. (4) There are few theoretical studies on the grinding guide wire, and the performance of the guide wire is the main factor in determining whether it is biased or broken during the operation. Explore the possibility of processing different materials into high-performance grinding guide wires and new processing methods. On the premise of ensuring product performance, minimizing device costs and surgical costs is also a key research direction in the future. (5) According to the characteristics of plaque removal, the development of new products with better performance, such as laser plaque ablation products, shock wave balloons, etc., is also very marketable.

Abstract High temperature stress is one of the most severe forms of abiotic stress in alfalfa. With the intensification of climate change, the frequency of high temperature stress will further increase in the future, which will bring challenges to the growth and development of alfalfa. Therefore, untargeted metabolomic and RNA-Seq profiling were implemented to unravel the possible alteration in alfalfa seedlings subjected to different temperature stress (25 ℃, 30 ℃, 35 ℃, 40 ℃) in this study. Results revealed that High temperature stress significantly altered some pivotal transcripts and metabolites. The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) markedly up and down-regulated was 1876 and 1524 in T30_vs_CK, 2, 815 and 2667 in T35_vs_CK, and 2115 and 2, 226 in T40_vs_CK, respectively. The number for significantly up-regulated and down-regulated differential metabolites was 173 and 73 in T30_vs_CK, 188 and 57 in T35_vs_CK, and 220 and 66 in T40_vs_CK, respectively. It is worth noting that metabolomics and transcriptomics co-analysis characterized enriched in plant hormone signal transduction (ko04705), glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism (ko00630), from which some differentially expressed genes and differential metabolites participated. In particular, the content of hormone changed significantly under T40 stress, suggesting that maintaining normal hormone synthesis and metabolism may be an important way to improve the HTS tolerance of alfalfa. The qRT-PCR further showed that the expression pattern was similar to the expression abundance in the transcriptome. This study provides a practical and in-depth perspective from transcriptomics and metabolomics in investigating the effects conferred by temperature on plant growth and development, which provided the theoretical basis for breeding heat-resistant alfalfa.

Abstract Introduction Migraine, as a complex neurological disease, brings heavy burden to patients and society. Despite the availability of established therapies, existing medications have limited efficacy. Thus, we aimed to find the drug targets that improve the prognosis of migraine. Method We used Mendelian Randomization (MR) and Summary-data-based MR (SMR) analyses to study possible drug targets of migraine by summary statistics from FinnGen cohorts (nCase = 44,616, nControl = 367,565), with further replication in UK Biobank (nCase = 26,052, nControl = 487,214). Genetic instruments were obtained from eQTLGen and UKB-PPP to verify the drug targets at the gene expression and protein levels. The additional analyses including Bayesian co-localization, the heterogeneity in dependent instruments(HEIDI), Linkage Disequilibrium Score(LDSC), bidirectional MR, multivariate MR(MVMR), heterogeneity test, horizontal pleiotropy test, and Steiger filtering were implemented to consolidate the findings further. Lastly, drug prediction analysis and phenome-wide association study(PheWAS) were employed to imply the possibility of drug targets for future clinical applications. Result The MR analysis of eQTL data showed that four drug targets (PROCR, GSTM4, SLC4A1, and TNFRSF10A) were significantly associated with migraine risk in both the FinnGen and UK Biobank cohorts. However, only GSTM4 exhibited consistent effect directions across the two outcomes(Discovery cohort: OR(95%CI) = 0.94(0.93–0.96); p = 2.70e − 10; Replication cohort: OR(95%CI) = 0.93(0.91–0.94); p = 4.21e − 17). Furthermore, GSTM4 passed the SMR at p 0.05 at both the gene expression and protein levels. The protein-level MR analysis revealed a strong correlation between genetically predicted GSTM4 with a lower incidence of migraine and its subtypes(Overall migraine: OR(95%CI) = 0.91(0.87–0.95); p = 6.98e-05; Migraine with aura(MA): OR(95%CI) = 0.90(0.85–0.96); p = 2.54e-03; Migraine without aura(MO): OR(95%CI) = 0.90(0.83–0.96); p = 2.87e-03), indicating a strong co-localization relationship (PPH4 = 0.86). Further analyses provided additional validation for the possibility of GSTM4 as a migraine treatment target. Conclusion This study identifies GSTM4 as a potential druggable gene and promising therapeutic target for migraine.

At present, the controllable parameters of micro turbojet engines in engineering applications are mainly speed-fuel flow (hereinafter referred to as flow) control, in which closed-loop proportional–integral–derivative (PID) control is mostly used to achieve a stable control of engine speed under slow engine conditions. For the optimal adjustment of PID parameters, this paper designs an improved evolutionary strategy for the self-tuning of control parameters in the engine speed and flow control system and formulates an improved PI controller based on a neural network. The simulation experimental results show that the method can realistically achieve stable and fast control of the engine under above slow conditions.

To reveal the grinding removal mechanism of 2D SiCf/SiC composites, according to the weaving structure characteristics of 2D SiCf/SiC composites, scratching experiments were conducted on the woven surface (WS) and stacking surface (SS) of 2D SiCf/SiC along 0°, 45°, and 90° directions. The experiments measured the scratching force and scratching depth and observed the scratching surface morphology. The results show that the removal modes for the SiCf/SiC material on WS0 (0° direction of fiber woven surface) are mainly shear, tensile, and bending fracture of longitudinal fibers (ie. the fiber axis is consistent with the feed rate direction), and shear, bending, and tensile fracture of transverse fibers (ie. the fiber axis is perpendicular to the feed rate direction). On WS45 (45° direction of fiber woven surface), the main removal modes are shear, bending, and tensile fracture. On SS0 (0° direction of fiber stacking surface), the main removal modes are extrusion and bending fractures of normal fibers (ie. the fiber axis is perpendicular to the scratching surface), as well as shear, tensile, and bending fractures of longitudinal fibers. On SS90 (90° direction of fiber stacking surface), the main removal modes are ductile removal, shear and bending fractur of normal fibers, and shear, bending, and tensile fracture of transverse fibers. Due to the anisotropy of SiC fibers, different directions and fracture modes exhibit varying mechanical properties. Shear fracture requires the least force, while tensile fracture requires the most force. At the same scratch depth, due to the different fracture modes in the WS0, WS45, SS0, and SS90 directions and varying proportions of shear, bending, and tensile fractures, the order of scratch forces is FSS0 > FWS45 > FSS90 > FWS0. When abrasive particles penetrate the composite material, the SiC matrix is peeled off and removed along with crack expansion and mutual penetration. Part of the matrix is removed by compression and then re-scratched by abrasive particles to form ductile scratches. When cutting 2D SiCf/SiC composite materials, it is advisable to choose the WS0 direction and avoid the SS0 direction as much as possible.

The Beaufort Gyre is the largest freshwater reservoir in the Arctic Ocean. Long-term changes in freshwater reservoirs are critical for understanding the Arctic Ocean, and data from various sources, particularly observation or reanalysis data, must be used to the greatest extent possible. Over the past two decades, a large number of intensive field observations and ship surveys have been conducted in the western Arctic Ocean to obtain a large amount of CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth) data. Multi-machine learning methods were assessed and merged to reconstruct the annual salinity product in the Western Arctic Ocean over the period 2003-2022. Data mining-based machine learning methods reconstructed salinity product based on input variables determined by physical processes, such as sea level pressure, bathymetry, sea ice concentration, and sea ice drift. The root-mean-square error of sea surface salinity, in comparison to deep water, was effectively managed during machine learning, which exhibits higher sensitivity to variations in the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean. The mean absolute errors in freshwater content and halocline depth within the Beaufort Gyre region for the salinity product from 2003 to 2022 are 0.98 m and 1.31 m, respectively, when compared to observational data. The salinity product provides reliable characterizations of freshwater content in the Beaufort Gyre and its variations at halocline depth. In polar regions where lacking observed data, we can build data mining-based machine learning methods to generate reliable data products to compensate for the inconvenience. Furthermore, the application potential of this multi-machine learning results approach for evaluating and integrating extends beyond the salinity field, encompassing hydrometeorology, sea ice thickness, polar biogeochemistry, and other related fields.

The hypersensitive-induced reaction (HIR) gene family is associated with the hypersensitive response (HR) in plant defense against pathogens. Although rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a crucial food crop, studies on its HIR genes are limited. This study identified six HIR members, categorized into three phylogenetic clades. The analyses of phylogenetics, gene structures, and collinear relationships revealed a high conservation of these genes, featuring the stomatin/prohibitin/flotillin/HflK/C domain. OsHIR genes were regulated by cis-acting elements, including ARE, SARE, DRE, LTR, and GARE. OsHIRs were widely expressed in multiple plant organs, including roots, stems, and leaves. These genes respond to various abiotic stresses (like drought and low temperature) and hormone treatments (including ABA, SA, GA, and MeJA) with overlapping yet distinct expression patterns. Our results indicate that OsHIRs are involved in abiotic stresses and hormone responses, which provides a basis for further functional analysis of OsHIRs in rice crop plants.

BackgroundThe five-year recurrence rate for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is as high as 70%. Patients with high-risk recurrence factors experience significantly poorer prognosis. Local regional therapies, including transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), radiotherapy, and emerging immunotherapy, are commonly used adjuvant treatment options. We conducted an indirect comparison of these adjuvant therapies for such patients.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search in public databases for relevant studies and assessed the efficacy and safety of the corresponding therapies by consolidating disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AEs).ResultsA total of eight randomised controlled trials were ultimately included. The Gelman-Rubin plot and kernel density estimation indicate that the stability of the combined model is satisfactory.Conclusionimmunotherapy is not inferior to local regional therapies in delaying tumour recurrence, however, the higher incidence of AEs remains a significant concern. Adjuvant radiotherapy demonstrated superior efficacy in delaying tumour recurrence compared to adjuvant TACE, although further support from phase III clinical trial evidence is required.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42024576316.

Abstract Although quantum dot light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) are extensively studied nowadays, their charge transport mechanism remains a subject of ongoing debate. Here, the hole transport in blue quantum dots (QDs) (CdZnSe/ZnSe/ZnS/CdZnS/ZnS based) is investigated by combining current‐voltage and transient electroluminescence measurements. The study demonstrates that the hole transport in QD thin films is characterized by a trap‐free space‐charge‐limited current with a zero‐field room temperature mobility of 4.4 × 10−11 m2 V−1 s−1. The zero‐field hole mobility is thermally activated with an activation energy of 0.30 eV. Applying the Extended Gaussian Disorder model provides a consistent description of the QD hole current as a function of voltage and temperature. The QD hole mobility is characterized by a hopping distance of 2.8 nm in a Gaussian broadened density of states with a width of 0.12 eV.

Background: As a rare subcutaneous infection, protothecosis is easily misdiagnosed. Similar to other subcutaneous infection, there is no unified standard for treatment, for cases not suitable for surgery, clinicians often use antifungal drugs based on their experience, and the course of treatment varies from several months to several years. Based on the fact that there are few relevant materials and researches on photodynamic therapy (PDT), we conducted a study based on a clinical case that used oral itraconazole combined with 5-aminolevylinic acid photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) to treat a patient with cutaneous protothecosis caused by Prototheca wicherhamii. Methods: Different concentrations of ALA and different light doses were used to investigate the effects of ALA-PDT on the growth inhibition of P. wickerhamii in vitro with Colony-counting Methods. And we used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to visualize the structural changes and the effects of ALA-PDT treating on cellular structures of the P. wickerhamii. Futher, we performed the susceptibility test of P. wickerhamii to itraconazole before and after ALA-PDT in vitro. Results: We have successfully treated a patient with cutaneous protothecosis caused by P. wickerhamii by using combination therapy in a total of 9-week course of treatment. In vitro, ALA-PDT can inhibit the growth of P. wickerhamii when the ALA concentration was 5 mg/mL (P < 0.01), and this effect became stronger as the concentration of ALA or light dose is increased. Using TEM, we confirmed that ALA-PDT can disrupt the cell wall structure and partition structure of P. wickerhamii, which may contribute to its inhibitory effect. Further studies showed that the MIC of itraconazole for P. wickerhamii was decreased after ALA-PDT. Conclusions: ALA-PDT combined with oral itraconazole can be used to treat cutaneous protothecosis. Accordingly, ALA-PDT can destroy the cell wall and partition structure of P. wickerhamii leading to an inhibitory effect on it in vitro, and the effect is enhanced with the increase of ALA concentration and light dose. Also, the sensitivity of P. wickerhamii to itraconazole is observed increased after ALA-PDT. So our study provides a theoretical basis for the promising treatment against cutaneus protothecosis.

Cross-border electricity trade can promote the sustainable development of regional multi-country economies by alleviating the uneven distribution of global energy resources. Hence, designing a reasonable and effective mechanism contributes toward the development of cross-border electricity market. This study established a non-cooperative game model for cross-border electricity trading. Central to our approach is the analysis of multi-participants trading modes influenced by cross-border trading centers. The model distinctively incorporates trading rules and service fees, providing a realistic simulation framework. The results reveal a direct correlation between strategic scope and the dependency of trading strategies on electricity pricing set by trading centers. This research advances the theoretical understanding of game theory application in electricity markets and offers practical insights for policymakers and market operators, particularly in strategizing for price setting and managing cross-border transactions.

Abstract Widespread distribution of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has led to catastrophic losses to the global pig farming industry. As a result, there is an urgent need for rapid, sensitive and accurate tests for PEDV to enable timely and effective interventions. In the present study, we develop and validate a floating gate carbon nanotubes field-effect transistor (FG CNT-FET)-based portable immunosensor for rapid identification of PEDV in a sensitive and accurate manner. To improve the affinity, a unique PEDV spike protein-specific monoclonal antibody is prepared by purification, and subsequently modified on FG CNT-FET sensor to recognize PEDV. The developed FET biosensor enables highly sensitive detection (LoD: 8.1 fg/mL and 100.14 TCID50/mL for recombinant spike proteins and PEDV, respectively), as well as satisfactory specificity. Notably, an integrated portable platform consisting of a pluggable FG CNT-FET chip and a portable device can discriminate PEDV positive from negative samples and even identify PEDV and porcine deltacoronavirus within 1 min with 100% accuracy. The portable sensing platform offers the capability to quickly, sensitively and accurately identify PEDV, which further points to a possibility of point of care (POC) applications of large-scale surveillance in pig breeding facilities.

Abstract This study investigates the effects of a 12-week brisk walking exercise regimen on motor function improvements in elderly women. Twenty-six elderly women, aged 84.2 ± 3.2 years, participated in a 12-week brisk walking exercise program. Fitness assessments and blood biomarker analyses (including CHO, HDLC, LDLC, TC) were conducted pre- and post-intervention. Additionally, targeted metabolomics was employed to measure short-chain fatty acids, amino acids, and vitamin metabolites. The intervention led to significant enhancements in participants' flexibility (p 1.0, FC > 1.2 or

Human monoamine oxidase B (hMAO-B) has emerged as a pivotal therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease. Due to adverse effects and shortage of commercial drugs, there is a need for novel, highly selective, and reversible hMAO-B inhibitors with good blood-brain barrier permeability. In this study, a high-throughput at-line nanofractionation screening platform was established with extracts from Chuanxiong Rhizoma, which resulted in the discovery of 75 active compounds, including phenolic acids, volatile oils, and phthalides, two of which were highly selective novel natural phthalide hMAO-B inhibitors that were potent, selective, reversible and had good blood‒brain permeability. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations elucidated the inhibition mechanism. Sedanolide (IC50 = 103 nmol/L; SI = 645) and neocnidilide (IC50 = 131 nmol/L; SI = 207) demonstrated their excellent potential as hMAO-B inhibitors. They offset the limitations of deactivating enzymes associated with irreversible hMAO-B inhibitors such as rasagiline. In SH-SY5Y cell assays, sedanolide (EC50 = 0.962 μmol/L) and neocnidilide (EC50 = 1.161 μmol/L) exhibited significant neuroprotective effects, comparable to the positive drugs rasagiline (EC50 = 0.896 μmol/L) and safinamide (EC50 = 1.079 μmol/L). These findings underscore the potential of sedanolide as a novel natural hMAO-B inhibitor that warrants further development as a promising drug candidate.

Developing electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems, such as capacitors, batteries, and fuel cells is crucial to address rapidly growing global energy demands and environmental concerns for a sustainable society. Significant efforts have been devoted to the structural design and engineering of various electrode materials to improve economic applicability and electrochemical performance. The yolk-shell structures represent a special kind of core-shell morphologies, which show great application potential in energy storage, controlled delivery, adsorption, nanoreactors, sensing, and catalysis. Their controllable void spaces may facilitate the exposure of more active sites for redox reactions and enhance selective adsorption. Based on different nanoarchitectonic designs and fabrication techniques, the yolk-shell structures with controllable structural nanofeatures and the homo- or hetero-compositions provide multiple synergistic effects to promote reactions on the electrode/electrolyte interfaces. This review is focused on the key structural features of yolk-shell architectures, highlighting the recent advancements in their fabrication with adjustable space and mono- or multi-metallic composites. The effects of tailorable structure and functionality of yolk-shell nanostructures on various electrochemical processes are also summarized.

Abstract The abnormal deformation of urban surfaces threatens the human living environment, and extreme regional weather can affect the response law of surface deformation. To explore the changes in surface time series response after extreme weather and the causes of deformation in Zhengzhou, the MTInSAR was used to obtain the surface deformation from 2020 to 2022, and the time series changes of groundwater equivalent water height were retrieved by GRACE. The results show that: (a) There are three large subsidence bowls in Zhengzhou, and the maximum subsidence rate is −40.2 mm/yr. (b) The extreme rainstorm in Zhengzhou alleviated the surface deformation quickly, lasting approximately 6 months. However, surface subsidence still occurred after the extreme rainstorm. The water storage coefficient of the elastic skeleton in the Zhengzhou area showed an increasing trend. (c) Precipitation can lead to surface uplift by influencing the change of groundwater level. There is a delay time of 0.75–1 month between groundwater level change and surface uplift response in the characteristic region. These results provide scientific data support and causal analysis for disaster prevention and reduction of abnormal deformation in Zhengzhou.

Background: Changes in protein and lipid levels may occur in the Alzheimer’s disease brain, and DHA can have beneficial effects on it. To investigate the impact of DHA dietary intervention on brain protein and lipid profile in ApoE-/- mice and C57 mice. Method: Three-month-old ApoE-/- mice and C57 mice were randomly divided into two groups respectively, and fed with control diet and DHA-fortified diet for five months. Cortical TC, HDL-C and LDL-C levels and cholesterol metabolism-related protein expression were measured by ELISA or immunohistochemistry methods. Hippocampus were collected for proteomic and lipidomics analysis by LC-MS/MS and differential proteins and lipid metabolites were screened and further analyzed by GO functional annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. Results: DHA intervention decreased cortical TC level in both C57 and ApoE-/- mice (P < 0.05), but caused different change of cortical HDL-C, LDL-C level and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio in C57 and ApoE-/- mice (P < 0.05). Discrepant cortical and hippocampal LDLR, ABCG1, Lox1 and SORT1 protein expression was found between C57 and ApoE-/- mice (P < 0.05), and DHA treatment caused different changes of these proteins in C57 and ApoE-/- mice (P < 0.05). Differential hippocampal proteins and lipids profile were found in C57 and ApoE-/- mice before and after DHA treatment, which were mainly involved in vesicular transport and phospholipid metabolic pathways. Conclusion: ApoE genetic defect caused abnormal cholesterol metabolism, and affected protein and lipid profile, as well as discrepant response of hippocampal protein and lipids profile in the brain of mice given DHA fortified diet intervention.

Aims: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are employed extensively in the management of type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, there is a paucity of real-world data on their safety and tolerability for metabolic and nutritional adverse events in large sample populations. This study aimed to analyse the metabolic and nutritional safety signatures of different GLP-1 RAs by exploring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).Methods: AEs data were extracted from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database for each GLP-1 RA from the time of its launch until the second quarter of 2023. The reported odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), Empirical Bayesian Geometric Mean and Bayesian Confidence Propagation Neural Network were employed to identify AE signals.Results: A system organ class of metabolism and nutrition disorders was employed to filter AE reports, resulting in the identification of 10,450 reports for exenatide, 2,860 reports for liraglutide, 240 reports for albiglutide, 4,847 reports for dulaglutide, 2,905 reports for semaglutide, 1,089 reports for tirzepatide, and 13 reports for lixisenatide. Semaglutide (ROR, 3.34; 95%CI, 3.22), liraglutide (ROR, 2.78; 95%CI, 2.69), and exenatide (ROR, 2.15; 95%CI, 2.11) were associated with metabolism and nutrition disorders. The number of AE signals detected were as follows: albiglutide (n = 1), lixisenatide (n = 2), tirzepatide (n = 11), exenatide (n = 12), liraglutide (n = 16), semaglutide (n = 20), dulaglutide (n = 22). Dehydration was the most frequent AE contributing to serious outcomes for liraglutide (n = 318, 23.93%), dulaglutide (n = 434, 20.90%), semaglutide (n = 370, 25.10%) and tirzepatide (n = 70, 32.86%). The time to onset (TTO) of AE was statistically different between exenatide and the other GLP-1 RAs (p < 0.001), and the Weibull parameters for dehydration for liraglutide, dulaglutide, and semaglutide analyses all showed an early failure-type profile.Conclusion: Our study suggests that exenatide, liraglutide, and semaglutide are more susceptible to metabolic and nutritional AEs than other GLP-1 RAs. Liraglutide, dulaglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepaptide’s potential to induce dehydration, necessitates special attention. Despite certain deficiencies, GLP-1 RAs have considerable potential for the treatment of eating disorders.

Summary: Aging-related cardiac fibrosis represents the principal pathological progression in cardiovascular aging. The Muscleblind-like splicing regulator 2 (MBNL2) has been unequivocally established as being associated with cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, its role in aging-related cardiac fibrosis remains unexplored. This investigation revealed an elevation of MBNL2 levels in the aged heart and senescent cardiac fibroblasts. Notably, the inhibition of MBNL2 demonstrated a capacity to mitigate H2O2-induced myofibroblast transformation and aging-related cardiac fibrosis. Further mechanistic exploration unveiled that aging heightened the expression of SENP1 and impeded the SUMO1 binding with KLF4, and SUMOylation of KLF4 effectively increased by the inhibition of MBNL2. Additionally, the inhibition of TGF-β1/SMAD3 signaling attenuated the impact of over-expression of MBNL2 in inducing senescence and cardiac fibrosis. MBNL2, by orchestrating SUMOylation of KLF4, upregulating the TGF-β1/SMAD3 signaling pathway, emerges as a significant promoter of aging-related cardiac fibrosis. This discovery identifies a novel regulatory target for managing aging-related cardiac fibrosis.

In practical asphalt pavement engineering, asphalt mixture experiences both tensile and compressive stresses, and the stress state plays a pivotal role in determining fatigue performance. This study thoroughly explores the fatigue damage characteristics of asphalt mixture, specifically emphasizing a meticulous analysis of the differences between tensile and compressive moduli. Initially, the compressive and tensile moduli of the asphalt mixture were calculated based on the dual modulus theory. Subsequently, differences in tensile and compressive moduli, along with fatigue performance characteristics, were evaluated through indirect tensile tests. Ultimately, a comprehensive fatigue damage model was proposed to ascertain the critical damage degree of the asphalt mixture, integrating both modulus decay and fatigue damage. The findings reveal that decay rates for the tensile modulus were higher than those observed for the compressive modulus. The tensile damage should be considered more in the design of pavement structures. Upon comparing the critical damage degree determined using the traditional modulus decay model with the comprehensive fatigue damage model, it can be deduced that the latter shows favorable applicability. The compressive fatigue modulus can better characterize the fatigue damage behavior. The model proposed in this study integrates modulus decay and fatigue damage information, offering a more comprehensive depiction of asphalt mixture damage behavior during fatigue processes.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in aging populations. Men typically exhibit higher rates of CHD compared to women, with testosterone levels inversely associated with cardiovascular risk. This study investigates the relationship between testosterone levels and angiographically confirmed CHD, disease severity, and myocardial infarction (MI) among CHD cases. Methods: A cohort of 1724 male patients undergoing diagnostic or interventional coronary angiography was examined. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical data were collected, including serum total testosterone levels. The severity of CHD was assessed using the Gensini score, and MI cases were diagnosed according to World Health Organization criteria. Results: Results revealed significant differences in testosterone levels among CHD subtypes, particularly between MI and unstable angina/stable angina groups (p

Abstract Background SLC25A17, a peroxisomal solute carrier, has been implicated in various physiological and pathological processes. However, its precise roles and underlying mechanisms in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remain incompletely understood. Methods The expression and survival data of breast cancer were derived from TCGA and GEO databases. A variety of in vitro assays were conducted, including proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration, and invasion. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured by immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The levels of autophagy were assessed by mRFP-GFP-LC3 confocal microscopy scanning, western blotting, and electron microscopy. Results SLC25A17 was highly expressed in breast cancer tissues, which was found to be associated with unfavorable prognosis. Functional assays demonstrated that SLC25A17 knockdown suppressed proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, and invasion. Moreover, it prompted apoptosis and autophagy. On the other hand, SLC25A17 knockdown promoted autophagy through triggering ROS accumulation, which was counteracted by N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC). Furthermore, the pro-apoptotic effect of SLC25A17 knockdown was reversed when treated with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA in TNBC cells, suggesting that SLC25A17 knockdown-induced autophagic cell death. Mechanistically, SLC25A17 performed its function through regulation JAK2/STAT3 signaling in TNBC. In a nude mice xenograft study, SLC25A17 knockdown markedly decreased breast tumor growth and metastasis. Conclusion SLC25A17 up-regulation may be a critical factor driving TNBC progression by modulating ROS production and autophagy. Consequently, targeting SLC25A17 could be an effective therapeutic strategy against TNBC.

The Wind turbine converters, as the core components of wind energy conversion systems, are crucial for the performance and reliability of the entire wind power generation system. Due to the uncertainty of wind speed and temperature, the converter load is in a state of fluctuation over the long term. Additionally, there is a correlation between the lifetimes of the submodules within the converter, making it difficult for traditional reliability assessment methods of power electronic equipment to accurately reflect the changes in the reliability of the converter. Therefore, a reliability assessment method for the wind power converter system that comprehensively considers the mission profile, and the correlation of submodule lifetimes is proposed. By establishing a wind turbine model and a thermal network model, combined with the analytical life model, the component lifetime of the module under the mission profile is calculated. Secondly, the Weibull distribution expression of the IGBT module component lifetime is obtained using the Monte Carlo method, and a dynamic Copula reliability calculation model for the series system is established, considering the correlation of submodule lifetimes, to assess the reliability of the entire wind power converter system. The study shows that the mission profile has a significant impact on the lifetime of the IGBT module, especially in high wind speed areas and extreme seasonal conditions, where the component lifetime is consumed more severely. Moreover, the constructed reliability calculation model accurately reflects the impact of the dynamic changes in the correlation of submodule lifetimes on the system’s reliability, verifying that considering the correlation of submodule lifetimes is essential for improving the accuracy of the system reliability assessment.

Plastic lunch box is a topic that food safety has been neglected, and there are few studies on the defects of plastic lunch box production. A multi-scale attention mechanism based on dynamic convolution is designed in this paper to solve the problems of large differences in surface defects of plastic lunch boxes and insensitive perception of multi-scale features. This attention mechanism enables the network to capture complex features adaptively, and enhances the perception of feature channel information and spatial information at various scales. Firstly, this paper integrates the attention mechanism into Slim-neck, and enhances the model’s ability to perceive multi-scale feature information. Secondly, a small target detection layer is added to Slim-neck to solve the semantic information loss problem of various defect features. Then dynamic convolution is integrated into YOLOv8n backbone network to capture complex features adaptively. Finally, MPDIoU is used as the boundary frame loss function, and geometric characteristics are used to improve the model’s perception ability of various defects. Experimental results show that the improved model YOLOv8n-D2SM in this paper achieves 82.8% mAP@0.5 index on the plastic lunch box dataset, which is 10% higher than that of the original model. The detection speed is 26 frames/s, and the number of model parameters is basically consistent with that of the original model. This improvement makes the model more adaptable and reliable in the task of surface defect detection of plastic lunch boxes, which is convenient for deployment and application in actual production scenarios.

Abstract Background Surgical management for intracranial and extracranial communicating tumors is difficult due to the complex anatomical structures. Therefore, assisting methods are urgently needed. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the utility of a three-dimensional (3D)-printed model in the treatment of intracranial and extracranial communicating tumors as well as its applicability in surgical planning and resident education. Methods Individualized 3D-printed models were created for eight patients with intracranial and extracranial communicating tumors. Based on these 3D-printed models, a comprehensive surgical plan was made for each patient, after which the patients underwent surgery. The clinicopathological data of patients were collected and retrospectively analyzed to determine surgical outcomes. To examine the educational capability of the 3D-printed models, specialists and resident doctors were invited to review three of these cases and then rate the clinical utility of the models using a questionnaire. Results The 3D-printed models accurately replicated anatomical structures, including the tumor, surrounding structures, and the skull. Based on these models, customized surgical approaches, including the orbitozygomatic approach and transcervical approach, were designed for the patients. Although parameters such as operation time and blood loss varied among the patients, satisfactory surgical outcomes were achieved, with only one patient developing a postoperative complication. Regarding the educational applicability of the 3D-printed model, the mean agreement for all eight questionnaire items was above six (seven being complete agreement). Moreover, no significant difference was noted in the agreement scores between specialists and residents. Conclusion The results revealed that 3D-printed models have good structural accuracy and are potentially beneficial in developing surgical approaches and educating residents. Further research is needed to test the true applicability of these models in the treatment of intracranial and extracranial communicating tumors.

Abstract Heavy cannabis use (HCU) exerts adverse effects on the brain. Structural covariance networks (SCNs) that illustrate coordinated regional maturation patterns are extensively employed to examine abnormalities in brain structure. Nevertheless, the unexplored aspect remains the developmental alterations of SCNs in young adults with HCU for three years, from the baseline (BL) to the 3-year follow-up (FU). These changes demonstrate dynamic development and hold potential as biomarkers. A total of 20 young adults with HCU and 22 matched controls were recruited. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at both the BL and FU and were evaluated using clinical measures. Both groups used cortical thickness (CT) and cortical surface area (CSA) to construct structural covariance matrices. Subsequently, global and nodal network measures of SCNs were computed based on these matrices. Regarding global network measures, the BL assessment revealed significant deviations in small-worldness and local efficiency of CT and CSA in young adults with HCU compared to controls. However, no significant differences between the two groups were observed at the FU evaluation. Young adults with HCU displayed changes in nodal network measures across various brain regions during the transition from BL to FU. These alterations included abnormal nodal degree, nodal efficiency, and nodal betweenness in widespread areas such as the entorhinal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and parahippocampal cortex. These findings suggest that the topography of CT and CSA plays a role in the typical structural covariance topology of the brain. Furthermore, these results indicate the effect of HCU on the developmental changes of SCNs in young adults.

Objective Medial opening‐wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) is considered to be an effective treatment for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) of isolated the medial compartment with varus alignment of the lower extremity. However, the choice of material to fill the void remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the bone union of the osteotomy gap using a novel wedge‐shaped cancellous allograft after MOWHTO and its effect on clinical outcomes. Methods All patients who underwent MOWHTO using a novel wedge‐shaped cancellous allograft combined with TomoFix locking compression plate (LCP) fixation between January 2016 and July 2020 were enrolled. The radiographic parameters including hip‐knee‐ankle angle (HKAA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), femorotibial angle (FTA) and posterior tibial slope angle (PTSA) were measured between pre‐operative and post‐operative radiographs. Knee Society score (KSS) and range of motion (ROM) were assessed preoperatively and at last follow‐up. Patients included in this study were divided into two groups according to the correction angle: small correction group ( 0.05). All patients in this study achieved good bone healing at the final follow‐up and no significant differences in mRUST scores were seen between the SC group and LC group. The KSS‐Knee score and KSS‐Function score improved significantly from 55.4 ± 3.7 and 63.3 ± 4.6 preoperatively to 86.4 ± 2.8 (p 0.05). Conclusion For MOWHTO, the wedge‐shaped cancellous allograft was a reliable choice for providing good bone healing and clinical outcomes.

Methamphetamine (Meth) abuse can cause serious mental disorders, including anxiety and depression. The gut microbiota is a crucial contributor to maintaining host mental health. Here, we aim to investigate if microbiota participate in Meth-induced mental disorders, and the potential mechanisms involved. Here, 15 mg/kg Meth resulted in anxiety- and depression-like behaviors of mice successfully and suppressed the Sigma-1 receptor (SIGMAR1)/BDNF/TRKB pathway in the hippocampus. Meanwhile, Meth impaired gut homeostasis by arousing the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-related colonic inflammation, disturbing the gut microbiome and reducing the microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Moreover, fecal microbiota from Meth-administrated mice mediated the colonic inflammation and reproduced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in recipients. Further, SCFAs supplementation optimized Meth-induced microbial dysbiosis, ameliorated colonic inflammation, and repressed anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. Finally, Sigmar1 knockout (Sigmar1−/−) repressed the BDNF/TRKB pathway and produced similar behavioral phenotypes with Meth exposure, and eliminated the anti-anxiety and -depression effects of SCFAs. The activation of SIGMAR1 with fluvoxamine attenuated Meth-induced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors. Our findings indicated that gut microbiota-derived SCFAs could optimize gut homeostasis, and ameliorate Meth-induced mental disorders in a SIGMAR1-dependent manner. This study confirms the crucial role of microbiota in Meth-related mental disorders and provides a potential preemptive therapy.

In view of the low levels of speed and precision associated with fault detection in transmission lines using traditional algorithms due to resource constraints, a transmission line fault target-detection method for YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once version 8) based on the Rep (Representational Pyramid) Visual Transformer and incorporating an ultra-lightweight module is proposed. First, the YOLOv8 detection network was built. In order to address the needs of feature redundancy and high levels of network computation, the Rep Visual Transformer module was introduced in the Neck part to integrate the pixel information associated with the entire image through its multi-head self-attention and enable the model to learn more global image features, thereby improving the computational speed of the model; then, a lightweight GSConv (Grouped and Separated Convolution, a combination of grouped convolution and separated convolution) convolution module was added to the Backbone and Neck to share computing resources among channels and reduce computing time and memory consumption, by which the computational cost and detection performance of the detection network were balanced, while the model remained lightweight and maintained its high precision. Secondly, the loss function Wise-IoU (Intelligent IOU) was introduced as the Bounding-Box Regression (BBR) loss function to optimize the predicted bounding boxes in these grid cells and shift them closer to the real target location, which reduced the harmful gradients caused by low-quality examples and further improved the detection precision of the algorithm. Finally, the algorithm was verified using a data set of 3500 images compiled by a power-supply inspection department over the past four years. The experimental results show that, compared with the seven classic and improved algorithms, the recall rate and average precision of the proposed algorithm were improved by 0.058 and 0.053, respectively, compared with the original YOLOv8 detection network; the floating-point operations per second decreased by 2.3; and the picture detection speed was increased to 114.9 FPS.

In the process of promoting demand-side management, the core stakeholder groups are government departments, power grid companies, and electricity users. Due to the different positions and conflicting interests of the three parties in the game, intense and complex battles will occur. This paper investigates a tripartite evolutionary game involving government, power grid companies, and electricity users in the context of demand-side management (DSM) and analyzes the dynamic interactions between government departments, power grid companies, and electricity users within the framework of DSM using evolutionary game theory. Using evolutionary game theory, we explore how incentives and strategic interactions among these three stakeholders evolve over time, affecting the stability of DSM policies. The model addresses the asymmetry in the decision-making process and examines the dynamic equilibrium outcomes under various scenarios. The results provide insights into the optimal design of incentive mechanisms to enhance DSM adoption. The findings offer practical recommendations to improve DSM policies, fostering balanced interests between government, grid companies, and users. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of strategic interactions in DSM, revealing how adaptive behaviors can enhance energy efficiency. It also underscores the importance of carefully designed incentive mechanisms in achieving long-term stability and cooperation among key stakeholders.

A plentiful number of facial expressions is the basis of natural human–robot interaction for high-fidelity humanoid robots. The facial expression imitation of humanoid robots involves the transmission of human facial expression data to servos situated within the robot’s head. These data drive the servos to manipulate the skin, thereby enabling the robot to exhibit various facial expressions. However, since the mechanical transmission rate cannot keep up with the data processing rate, humanoid robots often suffer from jitters in the imitation. We conducted a thorough analysis of the transmitted facial expression sequence data and discovered that they are extremely redundant. Therefore, we designed a two-stage strategy for humanoid robots based on facial keyframe detection and facial keypoint detection to achieve more natural and smooth expression imitation. We first built a facial keyframe detection model based on ResNet-50, combined with optical flow estimation, which can identify key expression frames in the sequence. Then, a facial keypoint detection model is used on the keyframes to obtain the facial keypoint coordinates. Based on the coordinates, the cubic spline interpolation method is used to obtain the motion trajectory parameters of the servos, thus realizing the robust control of the humanoid robot’s facial expression. Experiments show that, unlike before where the robot’s imitation would stutter at frame rates above 25 fps, our strategy allows the robot to maintain good facial expression imitation similarity (cosine similarity of 0.7226), even at higher frame rates.

Water management is critical for wheat production under extreme drought conditions, and the mechanisms by which root dynamics and soil water utilization affect wheat yield are uncertain. This study was conducted in 2023–2024 under a mesophilic semi-arid climate with a two-factor partitioned experimental design, aiming to assess the response of different irrigation amounts in winter wheat crops on root growth and development, soil water utilization, and yields in different soil horizons. The results showed that variety and irrigation volume had significant effects on the spatial and temporal distribution of root and yield components, with irrigation volume having the greatest effect on yield. Compared with CK, deficit-regulated irrigation significantly promoted root penetration to deeper layers and delayed root senescence. DRWD, RLD, RSA, and RV decreased gradually with increasing soil depth, and the peaks of RLD, RSA, and RV appeared at the tassel to flowering stage, respectively; and under deficit-regulated irrigation, the contribution of the A2W4 treatment to stable yield was greater. Therefore, A2W4 is an effective water-saving irrigation method to improve grain yield and water-use efficiency under deficit-regulated irrigation.

ObjectivesWe explored the relationship between blood pressure variability (BPV) during craniotomy aneurysm clipping and short-term prognosis in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage to provide a new method to improve prognosis of these patients.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the differences between patient groups with favorable modified Rankin Scale (mRS ≤ 2) and unfavorable (mRS > 2) prognosis, and examined the association between intraoperative BPV and short-term prognosis.ResultsThe intraoperative maximum systolic blood pressure (SBPmax, p = 0.005) and the coefficient of variation of diastolic blood pressure (DBPCV, p = 0.029) were significantly higher in the favorable prognosis group. SBPmax (OR 0.88, 95%CI 0.80–0.98) and Neu% (OR 1.22, 95%CI 1.03–1.46) were independent influence factors on prognosis. Patients with higher standard deviations of SBP (82.7% vs. 56.7%; p = 0.030), DBP (82.7% vs. 56.7%; p = 0.030), and DBPCV (82.7% vs. 56.7%; p = 0.030) had more favorable prognosis.ConclusionHigher SBPmax (≤180 mmHg) during the clipping is an independent protective factor for a 90-day prognosis. These results highlight the importance of blood pressure (BP) control for improved prognosis; higher short-term BPV during clipping may be a precondition for a favorable prognosis.

Background. In organ transplantation, ischemia, and reperfusion injury (IRI) is considered as an inevitable event and the major contributor to graft failure. Ischemia-free liver transplantation (IFLT) is a novel transplant procedure that can prevent IRI and provide better transplant outcomes. However, a large animal model of IFLT has not been reported. Therefore, we develop a new, reproducible, and stable model of IFLT in pigs for investigating mechanisms of IFLT in IRI. Methods. Ten pigs were subjected to IFLT or conventional liver transplantation (CLT). Donor livers in IFLT underwent 6-h continuous normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) throughout graft procurement, preservation, and implantation, whereas livers in CLT were subjected to 6-h cold storage before implantation. The early reperfusion injury was compared between the 2 groups. Results. Continuous bile production, low lactate, and liver enzyme levels were observed during NMP in IFLT. All animals survived after liver transplantation. The posttransplant graft function was improved with IFLT when compared with CLT. Minimal histologic changes, fewer apoptotic hepatocytes, less sinusoidal endothelial cell injury, and proinflammatory cytokine (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α) release after graft revascularization were documented in the IFLT group versus the CLT group. Conclusions. We report that the concept of IFLT is achievable in pigs. This innovation provides a potential strategy to investigate the mechanisms of IRI and provide better transplant outcomes for clinical practice.

Summary: Digital liquid sample handling is an enabling tool for cutting-edge life-sciences research. We present here an active-matrix thin-film transistor (TFT) based digital microfluidics system, referred to as Field Programmable Droplet Array (FPDA). The system contains 256 × 256 pixels in an active area of 10.65 cm2, which can manipulate thousands of addressable liquid droplets simultaneously. By leveraging a novel TFT device and circuits design solution, we manage to programmatically manipulate droplets at single-pixel level. The minimum achievable droplet volume is around 0.5 nL, which is two orders of magnitude smaller than the smallest droplet ever reported on active-matrix digital microfluidics. The movement of droplets can be either pre-programmed or controlled in real-time. The FPDA system shows great potential of the ubiquitous thin-film electronics technology in digital liquid handling. These efforts will make it possible to create a true programmable lab-on-a-chip device to enable great advances in life science research.

Quantum networks, endowed with their distinct quantum properties, are poised to emerge as indispensable platforms for the implementation of quantum information technology applications in the near future. Within the realm of quantum networks, the transmission of remote quantum information presents a pivotal and intricate challenge, commonly referred to as the entanglement routing problem. While previous efforts have delved into the intricacies of entanglement routing, there has been a notable oversight concerning the crucial parameter of entanglement fidelity. Hence, this paper introduces a novel Purification-enabled Entanglement Routing Algorithm (PERA). Initially, PERA utilizes the network throughput as the routing metric and ensures fidelity guarantees on all nodes in the link through a hop-by-hop purification process. Subsequently, acknowledging the probabilistic nature of entanglement purification, a strategy involving multiple attempts at purification is employed. Finally, a comprehensive utility function is deployed to address the path selection problem for multiple source–destination pairs. Numerical simulations confirm that PERA establishes entanglement connections with outstanding fidelity guarantees. Concurrently, PERA outperforms the baseline algorithm in terms of network throughput and resource utilization.

Background: Copper-based materials have garnered extensive recognition for their effective nature against microorganisms and their minimal toxicity. However, the evaluation for their antibacterial activity is still in its nascent stages, and the evaluation results based on existing criteria are not representative of real-world application. Aim: To evaluate the antibacterial activity and primary determinants of influence of copper-based materials in order to investigate their practical antibacterial activity and potential mechanisms of such materials. Methods: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacterial suspensions were applied via inoculation onto the surfaces of normal and nanostructured copper foil. Following incubation of the inoculated surfaces under diverse experimental conditions—including varying compositions of the bacterial suspension, the use of chemical neutralizers, the existence of organic interferents, and low temperature and humidity—surviving bacteria were enumerated. Using the scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the surface changes of copper-based materials were examined. Findings: Following 1 h of exposure to 37 °C and 90% relative humidity, Staphylococcus aureus was reduced by 4.45 log10 on normal copper foil, while all of the bacteria were eradicated on nanostructured copper foil. In addition, it was discovered that preparing a bacterial suspension with PBS results in a significant number of Escherichia coli fatalities during the test, whereas using TPS promotes the bacteria's normal growth. Furthermore, the outcomes of the antibacterial activity test were diminished when chemical neutralization was employed, and the presence of organic interferents had distinct impacts on normal copper foil and nanostructured copper foil. Additionally, low temperatures and humidity diminished the antibacterial activity of copper foil, whereas normal copper foil produced significantly better results. Conclusion: While copper-based materials exhibit robust antibacterial activity as determined by standard assays, their efficacy in real-world applications is subject to various influencing mechanisms. In order to objectively evaluate the antibacterial activity of copper-based materials and provide precise guidance for their development and practical application, it is essential to regulate test conditions with targeted.

Casein micelle has a structure of outer hydrophilicity and inner hydrophobicity, its typical digestion characteristic is gastric coagulation. Based on calcium content as the key factor to control this process, high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) was firstly used to modify the micelle structure by mediating the tight connection between casein molecules themselves and with colloidal calcium, then the quercetin-loaded delivery systems were prepared. And in order to investigate the effect of exogenous calcium, calcium chloride was added for digestion. The results indicated that HHP broke the limitation of casein micelles as delivery carriers for hydrophobic components and increased the EE from 51.18 ± 3.07 % to 76.17 ± 3.41 %. During gastric digestion, higher pressure and exogenous calcium synergistically increased the clotting ability and inhibited the release of quercetin. In the small intestine, curds decomposed more slowly under higher pressure and calcium concentration, so the degradation of quercetin was effectively inhibited.

We propose a theoretical scheme to improve the phase sensitivity by introducing the number-conserving generalized superposition of product into squeezed thermal state of the traditional SU(1,1) interferometer with intensity detection. We investigate the effect of different parameter and photon losses on phase sensitivity under the condition of the ideal and the realistic phase estimation process, respectively. Moreover, compared with the previous methods, our scheme can not only enhance the phase sensitivity, but also significantly suppress the photon losses with only first-order GSP operation. It means that our scheme needs less resources and less operations to obtain higher phase sensitivity. These above results indicate that our scheme is viable in the phase sensitivity improvement, which may have practical applications in quantum information processing.

Hydrogel is widely employed in flexible electronics and soft robotics as soft mechanical material. Previous reports exploited the swelling properties of hydrogel to achieve large negative deformations, but few reports exhibit multiple deformation modes. This paper designs two-dimensional metamaterials that convert hydrogel swelling deformation into bending deformation, including positive/negative swelling, isotropic/anisotropic, and gradient/bending deformation modes. The regulation of hydrogel swelling on the negative expansion deformation of metamaterials is explored through the theoretical model and finite element analysis. The corresponding relationship between the microstructure deformation and the band gap change during the hydration process is obtained. Inspired by kirigami, we proposed a self-assembly model with substrate expansion-driven three-dimensional microstructure. The results show that the deformation modes of metamaterials may be interconverted through structural design. The band gap can be tuned by swelling deformation.

In remote sensing scene classification (RSSC), restrictions on real-time processing on power consumption, performance, and resources necessitate the compression of neural networks. Unlike artificial neural networks (ANNs), spiking neural networks (SNNs) convey information through spikes, offering superior energy efficiency and biological plausibility. However, the high latency of SNNs restricts their practical application in RSSC. Therefore, there is an urgent need to research ultra-low-latency SNNs. As latency decreases, the performance of the SNN significantly deteriorates. To address this challenge, we propose a novel spatio-temporal pruning method that enhances the feature capture capability of ultra-low-latency SNNs. Our approach integrates spatial fundamental structures during the training process, which are subsequently pruned. We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of these structures across classic network architectures, such as VGG and ResNet, demonstrating the generalizability of our method. Furthermore, we develop an ultra-low-latency training framework for SNNs to validate the effectiveness of our approach. In this paper, we successfully achieve high-performance ultra-low-latency SNNs with a single time step for the first time in RSSC. Remarkably, our SNN with one time step achieves at least 200 times faster inference time while maintaining a performance comparable to those of other state-of-the-art methods.

The integration of terrestrial- and satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD) experiments has markedly advanced global-scale quantum networks, showcasing the growing maturity of quantum technologies. Notably, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as relay nodes has emerged as a promising method to overcome the inherent limitations of fiber-based and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connections. This paper introduces a protocol for measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD) using photon orbital angular momentum (OAM) encoding, with UAVs as relay platforms. Leveraging UAV mobility, the protocol establishes a secure and efficient link, mitigating threats from untrusted UAVs. Photon OAM encoding addresses reference frame alignment issues exacerbated by UAV jitter. A comprehensive analysis of atmospheric turbulence, state-dependent diffraction (SDD), weather visibility, and pointing errors on free-space OAM-state transmission systems was conducted. This analysis elucidates the relationship between the key generation rate and propagation distance for the proposed protocol. Results indicate that considering SDD significantly decreases the key rate, halving previous data results. Furthermore, the study identifies a maximum channel loss capacity of 26 dB for the UAV relay platform. This result is pivotal in setting realistic parameters for the deployment of UAV-based quantum communications and lays the foundation for practical implementation strategies in the field.

Whether fiscal decentralization will lead to agricultural land “non-grainization” has been widely debated in academic circles. How to improve the efficiency of financial support to agriculture and optimize the grain planting structure by clarifying the relationship between central and local powers and responsibilities is the key to ensuring food security. Based on the panel data of 170 cities in China from 2004 to 2017, this paper uses system moment estimation and a threshold effect model to explore the impact of fiscal decentralization on grain planting structure. The results show that (1) fiscal decentralization has a significant negative effect on the share of food crop cultivation in the major grain-producing areas. (2) Taking the wage level, financial support for agriculture, and land finance as the threshold variables, the test finds that there is a threshold effect of fiscal decentralization on the proportion of food crop cultivation, in which land finance dependence and rises in the wage level are conducive to mitigating the negative effect of fiscal decentralization on the proportion of food crop cultivation. (3) For the three major types of food crop varieties, the negative impact of fiscal decentralization on the share of wheat and corn crop cultivation is subject to the threshold effect of wage level, financial support for agriculture, and land finance, while the impact of fiscal decentralization on the share of rice crop cultivation is not significant. The results of the study have an important guiding role for the government to deepen the reform of the tax-sharing system, improve the long-term mechanism of stable growth of financial support for grain, and optimize the layout of the grain industry.

RhlR plays a key role in the quorum sensing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The current structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies of RhlR inhibitors mainly focus on elucidating the functional groups. Based on a systematic review of previous research on RhlR inhibitors, this study aims to establish a systematic, hierarchical screening model for RhlR inhibitors. We initially established a database and utilized principal component analysis (PCA) to categorize the inhibitors into two classes. Based on the training set, pharmacophore models were established to elucidate the structural characteristics of ligands. Subsequently, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and the calculation of binding free energy and strain energy were performed to validate the crucial interactions between ligands and receptors. Then, the screening criteria for RhlR inhibitors were established hierarchically based on ligand structure characteristics, ligand–receptor interaction, and receptor affinity. Test sets were finally employed to validate the hierarchical virtual screening model by comparing it with the current SAR studies of RhlR inhibitors. The hierarchical screening model was confirmed to possess higher accuracy and a true positive rate, which holds promise for subsequent screening and the discovery of active RhlR inhibitors.