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Background: Choledochoscopy is a highly effective approach for managing intrahepatic bile duct stones (IHDs). However, postoperative infection is a common complication that significantly impacts treatment outcomes. Despite its clinical relevance, the risk factors associated with this procedure remain largely unexplored. Methods: This study focused on a consecutive cohort of patients who underwent choledochoscopy for IHDs at our institution between January 2016 and December 2022. The primary objective was to analyze the relationship between various clinical factors and postoperative infection, and to compare the postoperative infection of different choledochoscopic procedures. Results: The study cohort consisted of 126 patients, with 60 individuals (47.6%) experiencing postoperative infection. Notably, preoperative biliary obstruction (odds ratio [OR] 1.861; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.314–8.699; p = 0.010) and operation time (OR 4.414; 95% CI 1.635–12.376; p = 0.004) were identified as risk factors for postoperative infection. Additionally, biliary tract infections (60.00%) were primarily responsible for postoperative infection, with Escherichia coli (47.22%) being the predominant bacterial strain identified in bile cultures. Furthermore, biliary tract obstruction (OR 4.563; 95% CI 1.554–13.401; p = 0.006) and body mass index (BMI) (OR 1.186; 95% CI 1.015–1.386; p = 0.031) were determined to be independent risk factors for postoperative biliary tract infection. Conclusions: The occurrence of postoperative infection in patients undergoing choledochoscopy was primarily associated with the duration of the operation and the presence of preoperative biliary obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Although the relationships between biodiversity and individual ecosystem functions under resource enrichment have been extensively studied, there is limited understanding of how resource‐induced changes affect ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability, along with the underlying biological mechanisms. Location: Inner Mongolia, China. Methods: We investigated the impact of biodiversity mechanisms on ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability through a 3‐year field experiment. This experiment involved augmenting growing season precipitation and nitrogen deposition, conducted in a typical steppe ecosystem of Inner Mongolia alongside regular mowing. Results: Our findings revealed that the addition of water (W) and nitrogen (N) had varying effects on ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability. The combination of N and W additions enhanced ecosystem multifunctionality, whereas both W and N + W additions promoted the temporal stability of ecosystem multifunctionality. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the community‐weighted mean height, in response to nitrogen addition, played a key role in enhancing ecosystem multifunctionality. By contrast, increased species asynchrony because of water addition and greater functional diversity in terms of leaf area contributed to heightened temporal stability of ecosystem multifunctionality. Furthermore, the positive effects of community‐weighted mean height on ecosystem multifunctionality exhibited a gradual increase with rising threshold levels. Conclusions: Our study provides the first evidence of the independent effects of selection, exemplified by community‐weighted mean and complementarity, represented by factors such as species richness, functional diversity and species asynchrony on both ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability. This underscores how global change factors can directly influence ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability while also indirectly modulating biodiversity effects in the short term. Overall, our findings underscore the vital role of biodiversity conservation in enhancing grassland management and the delivery of ecosystem services in the context of global change, particularly in regions subject to extensive mowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy is the main cause of lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS). Previous studies have shown that LF hypertrophy tissue exhibits abnormal lipid accumulation, but the regulatory mechanism remains unclear. The objective of this study was to explore the function and potential mechanism of ACSM5 in LF lipid accumulation. Methods: To assess the ACSM5 expression levels, lipid accumulation and triglyceride (TG) level in LF hypertrophy and normal tissue, we utilized RT-qPCR, western blot, oil red O staining, and TG assay kit. The pearson correlation coefficient assay was used to analyze the correlation between ACSM5 levels and lipid accumulation or TG levels in LF hypertrophy tissue. The role of ACSM5 in free fatty acids (FFA)-induced lipid accumulation in LF cells was assessed in vitro, and the role of ACSM5 in LF hypertrophy in mice was verified in vivo. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of ACSM5 regulating lipid accumulation in LF, we conducted the mRNA sequencing, bioinformatics analysis, and rescue experiments. Results: In this study, we found that ACSM5, which was significantly down-regulated in LF tissues, correlated with lipid accumulation. In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that overexpression of ACSM5 significantly inhibited FFA-induced lipid accumulation and fibrosis in LF cells. In vivo animal experiments further confirmed that overexpression of ACSM5 inhibited LF thickening, lipid accumulation, and fibrosis. Mechanistically, ACSM5 inhibited lipid accumulation of LF cells by inhibiting FABP4-mediated PPARγ signaling pathway, thereby improving hypertrophy and fibrosis of LF. Conclusions: our findings elucidated the important role of ACSM5 in the regulation of LF lipid accumulation and provide insight into potential therapeutic interventions for the treatment of LF hypertrophy. This study further suggested that therapeutic strategies targeting lipid deposition may be an effective potential approach to treat LF hypertrophy-induced LSCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of electromagnetic technology, there is an urgent need for further research on highly efficient and lightweight microwave absorption materials. Transition metal carbides have drawn tremendous attention due to their strong microwave dissipation ability and perfect stability in extreme environments. However, owing to carburization under high temperatures, synthesizing metal carbides with specified morphology is still a challenge. Here, titanium carbide (TiC) with a flake-like structure was prepared through a carbothermic reduction method guided by two-dimensional graphene sheets. The prepared flake-like TiC sheets show excellent microwave absorption properties in 1–40 GHz compared with TiC spherical particles. A minimum reflection loss (RL) of −57.0 dB at 11.8 and 3.2 GHz effective absorption bandwidth (RL < −10 dB) was achieved. Meanwhile, an optimal RL of −57 dB is also achieved at 35.8 GHz together with an even broader absorption bandwidth from 34.2 to 40 GHz (5.8 GHz in total). This excellent microwave absorption performance is attributed to the flake-like morphology, which dramatically enhances the multiple polarization loss. The method of utilizing graphene sheets as a guide to fabricate flake-like TiC not only illuminates a new strategy for fabricating transition metal carbides with specified morphology but also provides an attractive candidate for microwave absorption applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study performs empirical tests to show several behavioral patterns in managerial decision-making using Chinese data. Based on the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, caused by the same family of viruses as COVID-19, we show that firms with board chairs that experienced SARS during their tenure as senior executives invested less in subsequent periods. This effect is evident for board chairs that personally experienced the pandemic and those who prominently perceived their neighbor's operating distress during the SARS outbreak. The impact persists and is amplified by other negative shocks, such as infectious diseases and economic uncertainty, which supports the validity of stimulus generalization theory in corporate finance. Firms with board chairs that experienced SARS invested even less during the COVID-19 pandemic but performed relatively better during this same period than during normal business operations. However, the benefit was somewhat smaller than the overall loss. This study supports the finding that the long-lasting impact of pandemic-induced operating distress can distort the real economy. Our findings have meaningful implications for assessing the long-term economic effects of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To appraise effective predictors for infection in patients with decompensated cirrhosis (DC) by using XGBoost algorithm in a retrospective case-control study. Methods: Clinical data were retrospectively collected from 6,648 patients with DC admitted to five tertiary hospitals. Indicators with significant differences were determined by univariate analysis and least absolute contraction and selection operator (LASSO) regression. Further multi-tree extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) machine learning-based model was used to rank importance of features selected from LASSO and subsequently constructed infection risk prediction model with simple-tree XGBoost model. Finally, the simple-tree XGBoost model is compared with the traditional logical regression (LR) model. Performances of models were evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), sensitivity, and specificity. Results: Six features, including total bilirubin, blood sodium, albumin, prothrombin activity, white blood cell count, and neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio were selected as predictors for infection in patients with DC. Simple-tree XGBoost model conducted by these features can predict infection risk accurately with an AUROC of 0.971, sensitivity of 0.915, and specificity of 0.900 in training set. The performance of simple-tree XGBoost model is better than that of traditional LR model in training set, internal verification set, and external feature set (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The simple-tree XGBoost predictive model developed based on a minimal amount of clinical data available to DC patients with restricted medical resources could help primary healthcare practitioners promptly identify potential infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments have shown that the ultrahigh strength of nanolayered metallic composites originates from their high-density interfaces of special characteristics. Hence, the modulation of interface structures becomes an effective route to enhance the mechanical performance of the nanolayered composites. One of the general ways to tune the interfacial feature is to introduce interlayers of several nanometers among constituent layers, such as amorphous (disordered) and crystalline (ordered) interlayers. Here, the deformation of a Cu/Ni layered composite with Ag interlayers of different thicknesses was simulated by molecular dynamics simulations. Our simulations show that the yield stress of 25 nm Cu/25 nm Ni nanolayered composites with Ag interlayers can be significantly enhanced, i.e., it can be 56.4% higher than that of their counterparts without interlayers. We also found that the yield strength of the new composites can be maximized by selecting an appropriate thickness for the Ag interlayer. The optimum interlayer thickness is 2.1 nm in tension and 4.2 nm for compression. It is revealed that the extra strength results from the alleviation of stress concentration by stimulating abundant interfacial dislocations at the Cu–Ag and Ag–Ni interfaces. These findings show that the introduction of additional interlayers is a new route to design stronger nanolayered metallic composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increasing evidences have shown that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) display crucial regulatory roles in the occurrence and development of numerous diseases. However, the function and underlying mechanisms of lncRNAs in hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum (HLF) have not been report. Methods: The integrated analysis of lncRNAs sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and real-time quantitative PCR were used to identify the key lncRNAs involved in HLF progression. Gain- and loss-function experiments were used to explore the functions of lncRNA X inactive specific transcript (XIST) in HLF. Mechanistically, bioinformatics binding site analysis, RNA pull-down, dual-luciferase reporter assay, and rescue experiments were utilized to investigate the mechanism by which XIST acts as a molecular sponge of miR-302b-3p to regulate VEGFA-mediated autophagy. Results: We identified that XIST was outstandingly upregulated in HLF tissues and cells. Moreover, the up-regulation of XIST strongly correlated with the thinness and fibrosis degree of LF in LSCS patients. Functionally, knockdown of XIST drastically inhibited proliferation, anti-apoptosis, fibrosis and autophagy of HLF cells in vitro and suppressed hypertrophy and fibrosis of LF tissues in vivo. Intestinally, we uncovered that overexpression of XIST significantly promoted proliferation, anti-apoptosis and fibrosis ability of HLF cells by activating autophagy. Mechanistic studies illustrated that XIST directly medullated the VEGFA-mediated autophagy through sponging miR-302b-3p, thereby enhancing the development and progression of HLF. Conclusion: Our findings highlighted that the XIST/miR-302b-3p/VEGFA-mediated autophagy axis is involved in development and progression of HLF. At the same time, this study will complement the blank of lncRNA expression profiles in HLF, which laid the foundation for further exploration of the relationship between lncRNAs and HLF in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanolayered metallic composites have attracted intensive scientific interests due to their ultrahigh strength. However, the deformation incompatibility among the component layers with high mechanical contrast leads to extremely low tensile ductility in the nanolayered composites, which is a great setback for their engineering applications. Here, by molecular dynamics simulations, we show that a heterogeneous nanolayered design by combining 2.5 nm and 24 nm Cu/Ni bilayers in a composite in an appropriate way can promote the dislocation activity of the hard phase, i.e., the Ni layers. In the new heterogeneous structure, each 24 nm Cu or Ni layer is coated on both surfaces by one 2.5 nm Cu/Ni bilayer. The simulations show that the dislocations in the 24 nm Ni layers can nucleate and glide almost synchronously with those in the 24 nm Cu layers. The enhanced dislocation activities are attributed to the presence of the 2.5 nm Cu layer that can promote the dislocation nucleation and motion in the 24 nm Ni layer by forming more nodes in the dislocation network of the interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate changes in systemic and local immune factors, namely, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, in patients with and without osteoporotic fractures and to explore the effects of active vitamin D3 treatment on immune function and fracture prognosis in patients with osteoporotic fractures. Method: The mRNA expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured before the operation. After the operation, the patients in the control group were treated with conventional fracture treatment and calcium supplementation, and the patients in the treatment group were treated with calcium plus active vitamin D3 in addition to conventional fracture treatment. The serum of each patient was collected on the seventh day after the operation. Results: The expression levels of the three immune factors (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) in the fracture end hematoma samples were significantly positively correlated with those in the serum samples (P < 0.05). The mean values of the serums of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the osteoporosis group were significantly higher than those in the non-osteoporosis group (P < 0.05). The average number of hematomas in the osteoporosis group was significantly higher than that in the non-osteoporosis group (P < 0.05). The results for the active vitamin D3 treatment group were significantly lower than those for the control group (P < 0.05). The mean wrist function score of the active vitamin D3 treatment group was significantly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The average fracture healing time of the treatment group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The relative expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the fracture end hematoma samples was positively correlated with the corresponding levels of these immune factors in the serum samples. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the serum and fracture end hematoma samples of the osteoporotic fracture patients were higher than those of the non-osteoporotic fracture patients. Active vitamin D3 treatment promoted fracture healing by affecting the levels of these immune factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L 0 norm plays a crucial role in sparse optimization, but discontinuities and non-convexity make the minimization of the l 0 norm be an NP-hard problem. To alleviate this problem, we design a smoothing function based on the sigmoid function to approximate the l 0 norm. To illustrate the physical realizability of the smoothing function and the advanced quality of the approximation, the proposed smoothing function is compared experimentally with several existing smoothing functions. Additionally, we analyze the parameters in the functions to determine the quality of the approximation. We investigate the circuit implementation of the proposed function and five existing smoothing functions; the simulation results show the effectiveness of the designed circuit on the Multisim platform. Experiments on the reconstruction of simulated sparse signals and real image data show that the proposed smoothing function is able to reconstruct sparse signals and images with lower mean square error (MSE) and higher peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep learning method for natural-image object detection tasks has made tremendous progress in recent decades. However, due to multiscale targets, complex backgrounds, and high-scale small targets, methods from the field of natural images frequently fail to produce satisfactory results when applied to aerial images. To address these problems, we proposed the DET-YOLO enhancement based on YOLOv4. Initially, we employed a vision transformer to acquire highly effective global information extraction capabilities. In the transformer, we proposed deformable embedding instead of linear embedding and a full convolution feedforward network (FCFN) instead of a feedforward network in order to reduce the feature loss caused by cutting in the embedding process and improve the spatial feature extraction capability. Second, for improved multiscale feature fusion in the neck, we employed a depth direction separable deformable pyramid module (DSDP) rather than a feature pyramid network. Experiments on the DOTA, RSOD, and UCAS-AOD datasets demonstrated that our method's average accuracy (mAP) values reached 0.728, 0.952, and 0.945, respectively, which were comparable to the existing state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron is a trace element necessary for cell growth, development, and cellular homeostasis, but insufficient or excessive level of iron is toxic. Intracellularly, sufficient amounts of iron are required for mitochondria (the center of iron utilization) to maintain their normal physiologic function. Iron deficiency impairs mitochondrial metabolism and respiratory activity, while mitochondrial iron overload promotes ROS production during mitochondrial electron transport, thus promoting potential disease development. This review provides an overview of iron homeostasis, mitochondrial iron metabolism, and how mitochondrial iron imbalances-induced mitochondrial dysfunction contribute to diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change detection is a fundamental problem in remote sensing image processing. Due to the great advantages in learning the knowledge representations and the complex relationship from large-scale datasets, deep learning has made great progress in change detection tasks in remote sensing community. However, most of the existing methods based on deep learning for change detection are implemented by learning differences of image pairs directly without paying considerations in influences of unstructured and temporal changes, or called nature changes, such as light and seasonal changes. In this paper, an end-to-end deep learning network for remote sensing image change detection is proposed, aiming to accurately detect the change of regions from a high-resolution image pair by learning prototype similarity, in which the metric learning is used and it is one of the meta-learning methods to learn change prototypes from support image pairs. The similarity between the query image pairs and the change prototypes can be measured by a learnable CNN metric. The experimental results based on the two public change detection datasets of high-resolution satellite images, CDD and BCDD, show that our proposed method performs better than other state-of-the-art change detection methods with an improvement of 3.5% and 0.4%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypertrophy of ligamentum flavum (HLF) is the mainly cause of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), but the precise mechanism of HLF formation has not been fully elucidated. Emerging evidence indicates that transcription factor 7 (TCF7) is the key downstream functional molecule of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, which participated in regulating multiple biological processes. However, the role and underlying mechanism of TCF7 in HLF is still unclear.Methods: We used mRNAs sequencing analysis of human LF and subsequent confirmation with RT-qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry to identified the TCF7 in HLF tissues and cells. Then effect of TCF7 on HLF progression was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanically, chromatin immunoprecipitation, dual-luciferase reporter assays, and rescue experiments were used to validate the regulation of TCF7/SNAI2/miR-4306 feedback loop.Results: Our results identified for first time that the TCF7 expression was obviously elevated in HLF tissues and cells compared with control, and also found that TCF7 expression had significant positive correlation with LF thickness and fibrosis score. Notably, TCF7 inhibition suppressed the hyper-proliferation and fibrosis phenotype of HLF cells in vitro and ameliorated progression of HLF in mice in vivo, whereas TCF7 overexpression promoted hyper-proliferation and fibrosis phenotype of HLF cells in vitro. Our data further revealed that TCF7 interacted with SNAI2 promoter to transactivated the SNAI2 expression, thereby promoting hyper-proliferation and fibrosis phenotype of HLF cells in vitro. Furthermore, miR-4036 negatively regulated by SNAI2 could negatively feedback regulate TCF7 expression by directly binding to TCF7 mRNA 3'-UTR, thus inhibiting the hyper-proliferation and fibrosis phenotype of HLF cells in vitro.Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that TCF7 inhibition could suppress HLF formation by modulating TCF7/SNAI2/miR-4306 feedback loop, which might be considered as a novel potential therapeutic target for HLF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tripartite motif (TRIM) protein family proteins contain more than 80 members in humans, and most of these proteins exhibit E3 ubiquitin ligase activity mediated through a RING finger domain. Their biological functions are very complex, and they perform diverse functions in cell evolution processes, such as intracellular signaling, development, apoptosis, protein quality control, innate immunity, autophagy, and carcinogenesis. Tripartite motif-containing protein 2 (TRIM2), a member of the TRIM superfamily, is an 81 kDa multidomain protein, also known as CMT2R or RNF86, located at 4q31.3. TRIM2 functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Current studies have shown that TRIM2 can play roles in neuroprotection, neuronal rapid ischemic tolerance, antiviral responses, neurological diseases, etc. Moreover, based on some studies in tumors, TRIM2 regulates tumor proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and drug resistance through different mechanisms and plays a critical role in tumor occurrence and development. This review is aimed at providing a systematic and comprehensive summary of research on TRIM2 and at exploring the potential role of TRIM2 as a biomarker and therapeutic target in many kinds of human diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portfolio management is a decision-making process of periodically reallocating a certain amount of funds into a portfolio of assets, with the objective of maximizing the profits constrained to a given risk level. Due to its nature of learning from dynamic interactions and planning for long-run performance, reinforcement learning (RL) recently has received much attention in portfolio management. However, most of existing RL-based PM approaches in general only consider price changes of portfolio assets and the implicit correlations between price changes, while ignoring the rich relations between companies in the market, such as two assets in the same sector or two companies have a supplier-customer relation, which are very important for trading decision making. To address these limitations, in this paper, we propose GPM, a novel graph convolutional network-based reinforcement learning framework for portfolio management, which first employs Relational Graph Convolutional Network (R-GCN) to extract asset relational features, and then combines relational features with multi-scale temporal features to make trading decisions for better performance. We also introduce softmax with temperature to increase portfolio diversity, which leads to further increase in profits. Experimental results on two real-world datasets: NASDAQ and NYSE, validate the effectiveness of GPM over state-of-the-art PM methods. Further, more experiments are conducted to evaluate GPM with different graph neural networks and different number of network layers, to explore proper settings for different markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discharge coil is the core component of the traditional electromagnetic forming technology. However, the machining of discharge coil is difficult, and the manufacturing cost is expensive. The durability of the coil is also challenged due to the effect of temperature rise, and accumulated coil deformation leads to a change in coil parameters during multiple discharges, which seriously restricts the industrial application of electromagnetic forming. This paper proposes a new electromagnetic forming method, named direct pulse current electromagnetic forming (DPCEMF). The traditional electromagnetic forming method loads the current to the coil, and then, an eddy is inducted on the surface of the workpiece conductor near the coil. However, the new method is a reverse approach, that is, the workpiece is directly loaded with a pulse current, and the surface of the high-conductivity metal block near the workpiece induces an opposite eddy and produces a repulsive electromagnetic force, which in turn causes the high-speed deformation of the workpiece. The discharge coil of conventional electromagnetic forming is replaced with a high-conductivity metal block, which greatly improves the strength, service life, and reliability of the forming system. The DPCEMF process is thermoplastic electromagnetic forming in which heating and electromagnetic forming are conducted simultaneously and completed in microseconds. The method has been well verified by experiments to overcome the forming of a difficult-to-form material, taking a solid step toward realizing the industrial application of electromagnetic forming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of video and music is the most typical combination form in interactive multimedia works, which focuses on the audio-visual presentation characteristics of interactive art. Since both creative practice and theoretical research are still in the development stage, we focus on the creation of audio-visual integration in interactive multimedia works. Theoretical achievements are still very rare, and the guidance of creation theory plays an important role in the improvement of the aesthetic level of works. Therefore, for the development of interactive multimedia works creation, creating a new audio-visual relationship research path has important theoretical value and application value. It also has a certain historical significance for promoting the maturity of this art form. Through interactive virtual reality technology, this paper conducts an in-depth discussion on the simulation of digital media system across media resources. It is more suitable for the user's preference than the PC machine side. From technical means to artistic aesthetic characteristics and practical application, the application field and industry influence of digital media art carried by virtual reality are expounded, and the problems and solutions faced at this stage are proposed. By analyzing the application of virtual reality aesthetics in interaction design, the relationship between the visual level and the experience level of virtual reality aesthetics is discussed. Starting from the basic concepts of virtual reality aesthetics and interaction design, this paper analyzes the virtual reality space architecture and aesthetic dimension of interaction design in the era of artificial intelligence, and the value of virtual reality aesthetics in interaction design. Most interactive multimedia works rely on the open programming environment and have highly open creation tools to realize cross-media creation. The interactive integration of multimedia art and visual communication is the trend in design development. It follows the law of formal beauty and uses visual language to guide the content. Visual communication adapts to the needs of multiplatform media communication, adds multimedia art elements, and promotes the integration of scientific and technological progress and artistic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new electromagnetic forming method named direct pulse current electromagnetic forming (DPCEMF) is a high-speed forming method which simultaneously combines pulsed current heating and electromagnetic forming. The volumetric heating and electromagnetic forming are completed in microsecond timescale. DPCEMF can solve the forming difficulty for the materials with low conductivity and high strength, such as titanium alloy. The yield stress of titanium alloy sheet is reduced significantly due to the joule heat. The feasibility of the DPCEMF process was validated experimentally in this work. The effect of key parameters on the formation of a corrugated workpiece was investigated. The process window of corrugation workpiece of Ti-6Al-4 V titanium alloy with DPCEM method is proposed. The results show that it can realize the fine replication of the corrugation die and no oxidation occurrence of titanium alloy specimen. This is a consequence of the low flow stress with joule heat and uniform electromagnetic force with high-speed forming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The addition of 5 wt‰ Th can significantly increase the activity of a Cu/Zn/Al methanol catalyst by ca. 25%. • Th promoter booted reduction of copper oxide to Cu0 and Cu+ species as active sites. • The rosasite crystal phase helped to stabilize the catalyst surface structure and improved its stability. • A 250-hour stable lifetime of Cat Th5 showed promising industrial potential. The traditional Cu/Zn/Al catalyst for methanol synthesis from syngas usually exhibits structural instability and carbon deposition. In this work, a trace of thorium (1–20 wt‰) was incorporated to a typical Cu/Zn/Al catalyst for structural modification. It was found that the Th-promoted (5 wt‰) Cu-based catalyst showed an obviously enhanced activity and stability for methanol production from syngas. Under identical testing circumstances, the activity after heat resistance of Cat Th5 was 27.3% higher than the original catalyst (Cat 0) and 23.8% higher than the commercial catalyst (Cat 327). The 250-hour stability test revealed that the ideal Cat Th5 catalyst presented good activity and stability in comparison to the original Cat 0 catalyst. To the best of our knowledge, this result can significantly outperform Cu/Zn/Al benchmarks and rival the state-of-the-art systems. XRD, N 2 physisorption, N 2 O titration, solid-state NMR, H 2 -TPR, semi-in-situ XPS and semi-in-situ XAES were used to comprehensively investigate the improved catalytic properties. Th was shown as a textural promoter and it can boost both metal dispersion and reduction property of reactive Cu species. Therefore, the created larger Cu surface area, smaller CuO particles and higher proportion of Cu+/Cu0 sites were demonstrated to be responsible for the superior catalytic performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study matches multiple rounds of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data from 2012 to 2020 with regional macro fiscal and economic data, and explores the impact of regional fiscal decentralization on citizens' satisfaction with public services from the subjective perception of individual respondents. The study found that the increase in regional fiscal decentralization has a significant positive effect on improving the satisfaction of citizens with public services. However, due to differences in individual characteristics among the surveyed individuals, this effect has obvious heterogeneity. Mechanism analysis showed that the enhancement of local government's awareness of public service supply and the increase of regional fiscal transparency have a promoting effect on the improvement of citizens' satisfaction with public services. From the perspective of the convergence in the perception of public service satisfaction among citizens within the same province, the increase of fiscal decentralization has not effectively promoted the equalization development of public services at the provincial level in China. • Explored the impact of fiscal decentralization on citizens' satisfaction with public services from subjective perception • The increase of fiscal decentralization has a positive effect on improving the satisfaction of citizens with public services • The enhancement of government's awareness and fiscal transparency can promote increase of satisfaction with public services • The increase of fiscal decentralization has not effectively promoted equalization of public services at the provincial level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The combination of ion doping modification and advanced oxidation is a good idea. • Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4 has high catalytic activity for activating PMS to degrade TCH. • Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4 has good adaptability to complex water environments. • Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4 has excellent recycling performance. To address the limited catalytic activity of ZnFe 2 O 4 in advanced oxidation process (AOP), Cu2+-doped ZnFe 2 O 4 (Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4) was synthesized using a simple one-pot hydrothermal method. Comprehensive characterization tests indicated that Cu2+ ions were doped into the lattice of ZnFe 2 O 4 without changing the crystal structure. The introduction of Cu2+ ions made the sample highly ferromagnetic, with a specific magnetization of 25.7 emu/g. Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4 was employed to catalyze the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Systematic experiments indicate that the highest TCH removal reached 96.12 %, which was 40 % higher than that of ZnFe 2 O 4. Coexisting inorganic anions in solution had very limited impact on the catalytic performance of Cu 0.1 Zn 0.9 Fe 2 O 4. And after 5 cycles, the removal rate of TCH remained 71.06 %. ROS quenching tests suggest that 1O 2 and O 2 ·- played a dominant role in the AOP reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The length, width and height of nabkhas showed a significant correlation. • Sand accumulation occurred as nabkha develops on apex–windward slope–leeward slope. • Sand accumulation heights of N. tangutorum and H. ammodendron nabkhas were higher. • Nabkha development is closely related to nabkha morphology and vegetation growth. Nabkhas can effectively reduce wind speed and intercept sand, slowing down the rate of land desertification and playing an important role in the stability of the oasis ecosystem and the conservation of biodiversity. The purpose of this study is to explore the evolutionary mechanism of nabkha development and wind erosion and sand accumulation of different nabkhas during nabkha development in the oasis region. Five typical nabkhas (Nitraria tangutorum, Haloxylon ammodendron, Krascheninnikovia ceratoides, Kalidium foliatum and Artemisia desertorum nabkhas) were selected. Morphological indicators and surface wind erosion and sand accumulation during nabkha development were investigated. Our results confirmed that from the nascent stage to the stable stage, the length, width and height of five nabkhas showed a significant correlation. As nabkha develops, the different parts of nabkha were mainly sand accumulation occurred first on the apex part, then on the windward slope and finally on the leeward slope. When the lateral area of the nabkha was close to the semi-ellipsoidal shape, the nabkha reach the stable stage. The sand accumulation height of Nitraria tangutorum nabkhas is the highest. Haloxylon ammodendron nabkha is able to intercept sand sources from multiple directions due to the pike-shaped branching structure. Kalidium foliatum nabkhas have a high sand accumulation height in the pre-developmental stage. Krascheninnikovia ceratoides and Artemisia desertorum nabkhas are morphologically irregular with limited sand accumulation height. The results indicate that the surface wind erosion and sand accumulation changes during the development of nabkhas were mainly related to the interaction between vegetation growth and nabkha formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aims to provide insight into the role of N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) modification in neoplastic immunity and subsequent tumorigenesis. m6A modification, which is catalyzed by methyltransferases, demethylases and reader proteins, has emerged as a widespread regulatory mechanism that controls immune‐related gene expression and immune reactions during tumorigenesis. Aberrant m6A modification changes the neoplastic immune response in multiple cancers by regulating immune cell infiltration, tumor‐promoting inflammation, immunosuppression, immune surveillance, and antitumor immune responses. m6A modification affects immune cell recruitment and cancer‐promoting inflammation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to alter the progression of HCC. m6A modification has been implicated in the infiltration of immune cells and the activation of immune pathways, changing the proliferation and metastasis of gastric cancer. Immune surveillance and the antitumor immune response in breast cancer were enhanced via m6A modification, which inhibited tumor proliferation. m6A modification participates in neoplastic immunoregulation to influence tumor progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients have compromised mandibular bone architecture/quality, which markedly increase the risks of tooth loosening, tooth loss, and failure of dental implantation. However, it remains lacks effective and safe countermeasures against T2DM-related mandibular bone deterioration. Herein, we studied the effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) on mandibular bone microstructure/quality and relevant regulatory mechanisms in T2DM db/db mice. PEMF exposure (20 Gs, 15 Hz) for 12 weeks preserved trabecular bone architecture, increased cortical bone thickness, improved material properties and stimulated bone anabolism in mandibles of db/db mice. PEMF also upregulated the expression of canonical Wnt3a ligand (but not Wnt1 or Wnt5a) and its downstream β-catenin. PEMF improved the viability and differentiation of primary osteoblasts isolated from the db/db mouse mandible, and stimulated the specific activation of Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling. These positive effects of PEMF on mandibular osteoblasts of db/db mice were almost totally abolished after Wnt3a silencing in vitro, which were equivalent to the effects following blockade of canonical Wnt signaling using the broad-spectrum antagonist DKK1. Injection with Wnt3a siRNA abrogated the therapeutic effects of PEMF on mandibular bone quantity/quality and bone anabolism in db/db mice. Our study indicates that PEMF might become a non-invasive and safe treatment alternative resisting mandibular bone deterioration in T2DM patients, which is helpful for protecting teeth from loosening/loss and securing the dental implant stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adhesively bonded sandwich structure with dissimilar materials becomes an important means of lightweight for the next generation of autobody closure panels. However, during the baking process, the complicated change of physical properties of the adhesive can lead to structural mismatch deformation. In this paper, a multi-physics coupling numerical model of the curing process is proposed to reveal the deformation mechanism of adhesively bonded sandwich structures quantitatively. The material constitutive model of the one-component hemming adhesive hemming adhesive is established, considering evolution of curing properties. The curing process of typical aluminum alloy and steel-bonded sandwich structure is simulated in COMSOL Multiphysics. The predicted surface deformation of the component is verified by experiment using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique, which captures the full-field displacement in a non-intrusive manner. Then, the development process of surface deformation of the outer panel and residual internal stress of the adhesive layer is analyzed, and the influence of temperature cycle on the maximum deformation of the component is discussed. The results show that at the beginning of holding stage, the deformed component slightly rebounds, which is related to the chemical shrinkage. Mechanical strain caused by the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and stiffness difference of the inner and outer panels is dominant in the adhesive layer. Reducing the curing rate and maximum holding temperature can reduce the overall deformation of the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars are increasingly widely used in slope support instead of steel bars or steel pipes. GFRP Bars are generally connected with the slope by combining conical nut and tray, but the tray stress still lacks corresponding theoretical calculation and strength verification methods. Therefore, assuming that the tray is an equal thickness thin plate, the internal force distribution of the tray is calculated using the thin plate bending and cavity expansion theory, and compared with the finite element numerical analysis results of the tray. The calculation and analysis show that the elastic theoretical solution of internal force distribution of equal thickness tray is basically the same as the numerical simulation solution of variable thickness tray. The tray loading and free surface are controlled by hoop tensile and radial compressive stress, respectively. The inner wall of the free surface of the tray is the weakest part of the tray, and the ultimate strength of a GFRP tray is 35.81–53.00% of the standard tensile strength of Φ20 GFRP bars by distortion energy density. This theoretical method can be used for stress analysis of variable thickness trays and has played technical support for promoting the application of GFRP bars in slope support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this context, the uses of computers, the Human-computer interface (HCI) system, can assist interaction on-demand services. HCI method facilitates ventilated patients to interact with computers about their needs using their brain's electrical activity. To accomplish this, an HCI framework is developed in this research to facilitate visual feedback system (VFS) using an augmentative communication approach. Augmentative communication (AC.) or icon-based services are incorporated with a portable monitor placed in front of a patient; they can look at the screen to select (ask) their appropriate needs-related icons. The services have been achieved by capturing and processing patients' electromagnetic brain activates during the icon selection by their eye flickering moment recording using wearable Electroencephalogram (EEG). The flickering icons on the screen conveying an appropriate message to the monitoring unit computer, and the monitoring unit can respond to the patient's request using VFS. The HCI system is comprised of the following methodologies to achieve augmentative communication-based services such as EEG signals acquisition, filtering, partition-based feature extraction, and fusion and fish swarm optimized Deep Hopfield neural network FSODHNN based classifier. The evolution results of the VSF based HCI framework are demonstrated successfully. It obtained the highest accuracy of 99.11%, specificity of 99.05%, the sensitivity of 99.09%, and the lowest RMSE of 0.98, MSE of 0.92 in icon identification/ selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemming adhesive has an important influence on the dimensional accuracy and structural stability of autobody closure panels, especially when lightweight dissimilar materials are used. Therefore, detailed material models are urgently needed for reliable bonding quality prediction in the industry. In this study, multi-physics modeling of one-component hemming adhesive during the curing process is proposed, considering the change of curing degree and mechanical properties. Material properties related to temperature and time are measured and analyzed to determine the model parameters. Then, taking a cylindrical adhesive as the research object, the thermal-chemical-structural coupling process is simulated based on the material model. The mechanical response under oscillatory shear load and temperature cycle is investigated, and the simulation results are verified by experiments. Finally, the approach is applied to a typical convex-edge hemming assembly with dissimilar materials, and the simulation deformation accuracy is verified by non-contact measurement. The results show that the predicted reverse torque and normal force of the cylindrical adhesive based on the multi-physics modeling are well correlated with the experimental values, which can reflect the curing process of gel, chemical shrinkage and stress relaxation. The assembly deformation is related to the curing kinetics of the adhesive in the heating stage and slightly rebounds due to chemical shrinkage in the holding stage. It provides an important reference for the bonding quality prediction and performance optimization of hemming adhesive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes, a method for the physical modeling of the perimodiolar electrode, particularly for the process of recovering its preset shape with the guide wire drawn out, based on the composite spring-mass model by employing the virtual-volumetric spring inspired from the traditional spring-mass model. Simulation experiments of modeling and virtual insertion of perimodiolar electrode were carried out. The results indicated that the mean and standard deviation of the difference between the local deformation angles of the simulated and measured sets of mass points, (1, 2, 3), (2, 3, 4), ..., (13, 14, 15), were 6.34 ° and 5.98 ° , respectively. Additionally, the physical model of the perimodiolar electrode can reflect the overall morphological changes of the real perimodiolar electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-domain collaborative filtering (CDCF) is an effective solution to alleviate the data sparsity problem. Most of existing CDCF methods rely on overlapping data, such as users, items or both. But in some realistic scenes, detection and accessibility of overlapping data are difficult or even impossible, which poses a pressing demand for researches on cross-domain recommendation without overlapping data. There actually have been some attempts on addressing this problem by sharing cluster-level rating pattern across source and target domains. But these solutions require explicit ratings, which makes them not suitable for more common implicit feedback recommendation. To address this problem, we propose a novel CDCF model for non-overlapping data scenarios, which adaptively extracts latently overlapping users of source and target domains from all users to build an implicit bridge for knowledge transfer. Specifically, we first design a self-supervised classifier guided by inter-domain contrastive learning to divide domain users into distinct groups based on their preference differences. Then, we perform graph convolution operations on the subgraph formed by such group users and their interactive items to explicitly mine the higher-order collaborative relationships between users and items. Finally, we construct sparse and reasonable implicit bridges between domains by designing flow-aware similarity measures for selective knowledge transfer among the extracted latently overlapping users. Extensive experiments on four public datasets demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed model over several state-of-the-art graph-based single- and cross-domain models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thoracoscopic lobectomy is the main type of surgical treatment for lung cancer. Postoperative patients have complications and decreased pulmonary function, which affects their discharge time and quality of life. Lung ventilator training has been shown to promote the postoperative recovery of patients; however, no specific treatment plan has been approved to enhance lung rehabilitation. Therefore, it is necessary to explore methods to promote the postoperative rehabilitation of patients with lung cancer. The patients with lung cancer who were admitted to Banan Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University (Chongqing, China) between January 2022 and January 2023, and who planned to undergo a thoracoscopic lobectomy, were randomly categorized into two groups. The experimental group began lung rehabilitation training 2 weeks before the operation and received individualized nutrition programs. The control group did not receive lung rehabilitation training and nutrition programs. The quality of life, lung function, 6-min walking distance (6MWD), nutritional status, postoperative complications, hospital expenses and hospital stay between the two groups were compared. Finally, 86 and 83 patients were included in the test and control groups, respectively. Regarding the postoperative indicators, the patients in the test group scored higher in all areas of quality of life, exhibited higher lung function and 6MWD, and had significantly higher serum total protein, albumin and hemoglobin levels, and body mass index, compared with the control group. Furthermore, the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, the duration of hospitalization and the hospitalization costs were lower in the experimental group. In conclusion, lung rehabilitation training combined with nutritional intervention can promote the postoperative rehabilitation of patients with lung cancer. The research has been duly registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register platform (registration no. ChiCTR2300078681; registered Dec 15, 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil loss is an environmental concern of global importance. Accurate simulation of soil loss in small watersheds is crucial for protecting the environment and implementing soil and water conservation measures. However, predicting soil loss while meeting the criteria of high precision, efficiency, and generalizability remains a challenge. Therefore, this study first used three machine learning (ML) algorithms, namely, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and artificial neural network (ANN) to develop soil loss models and predict soil loss rates (SLRs). These soil loss models were constructed using field observation data with an average SLR of 1756.48 t/km2 from rainfall events and small watersheds in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau, China. During training, testing and generalizability stages, the average coefficients of determination from the RF, SVM, and ANN models were 0.903, 0.860, and 0.836, respectively. Similarly, the average Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients of efficiency from the RF, SVM and ANN models were 0.893, 0.791 and 0.814, respectively. These results indicated that MLs have superior predictive performance and generalizability, and broad prospects for predicting SLRs. This study also demonstrated that the RF model outperformed better than the SVM and ANN models. Therefore, the RF model was used to simulate the SLR of each small watershed in the Chabagou watershed. Our results showed the four-year (2017–2020) average annual SLR of the small watersheds ranged from 0.73 to 1.63 × 104 t/(km2∙a) in the Chabagou watershed. Additionally, the results also indicated the SLR of small watersheds under the rainstorm event with a 100-year recurrence interval was 4.4–51.3 times that of other rainfall events.Furthermore, this study confirmed that bare land was the predominant source of soil loss in the Chabagou watershed, followed by cropland land and grassland. This study helps to provide the theoretical basis for deploying soil and water conservation measures to realize the sustainable utilization of soil resources in the future. [Display omitted] • Three machine learning algorithms were first used to build soil loss models. • Random forest demonstrated the most favorable performance for soil loss modeling. • Soil loss caused by rainstorms was 4.4–51.3 times that of other rainfall events. • Bare land was the predominant source of soil loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gully erosion susceptibility is high or very high in ∼ 15 %–20 % of the study area. • The random forest model exhibits the highest robustness. • The main factors affecting the gully occurrence were identified. • The elevation ranks first with respect to the importance of the influencing factors. • Comprehensive indicator of human activity was used for modeling. • The gully erosion risk on the Tibetan Plateau has high potential. The environment of the Tibetan Plateau is under stress due to the warming climate and increased human activity, which also increases the risk of soil erosion. Gully erosion is one of the main environmental problems in the Tibetan Plateau. Taking Lhasa River Basin as a representative, investigating the spatial variation and influencing factors in this area will help to understand the current status and mechanism of gully erosion. However, gully erosion factor analysis has not been carried out at the regional scale. Therefore, three machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine, and Logistic Regression, were used to analyze 2224 samples and 18 influencing factors and detect the gully erosion susceptibility in the Lhasa River Basin. Seventy percent of the samples were used to train the model and rank the influencing factors by importance, and 30% were used to assess the prediction ability of the model. Approximately 15%–20% of the study area has a high or very high gully erosion susceptibility. The slopes of the lower Lhasa River and the Nyenchen Tanglha valleys were identified as areas with a high gully erosion susceptibility. The RF model exhibits the best performance, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.969 and 0.894 for the training and testing datasets, respectively. The main factors affecting the occurrence of gully erosion were determined to be the elevation, normalized difference vegetation index, relief, human footprint, mean annual temperature, and distance to the residential area. Elevation has the greatest effect on gully erosion, which can be explained as elevation indirectly controls gully erosion by affecting human activities and rainfall. The findings of this study provide insights into the effects of human activities, climate and permafrost on soil erosion and can serve as a basis for regional land use planning and gully erosion prevention and control in the Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Esophagus cancer (ESCA) is the sixth most frequent cancer in males, with 5-year overall survival of 15%–25%. RNA modifications function critically in cancer progression, and m6A regulators are associated with ESCA prognosis. This study further revealed correlations between m6A and ESCA development. Methods. Univariate Cox regression analysis and consensus clustering were applied to determine molecular subtypes. Functional pathways and gene ontology terms were enriched by gene set enrichment analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was conducted for hub gene screening. Public drug databases were employed to study the interactions between hub genes and small molecules. Results. Three molecular subtypes related to ESCA prognosis were determined. Based on multiple analyses among molecular subtypes, 146 DEGs were screened, and a PPT network of 15 hub genes was visualized. Finally, 8 potential small-molecule drugs (BMS-754807, gefitinib, neratinib, zuclopenthixol, puromycin, sulfasalazine, and imatinib) were identified for treating ESCA. Conclusions. This study applied a new approach to analyzing the relation between m6A and ESCA prognosis, providing a reference for exploring potential targets and drugs for ESCA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic impaction forming of 5052 aluminium alloy sheets using a V-shaped die and a conical die was performed. The conventional quasi-static forming limit curve (QS-FLC) is obtained according to the linear loading condition, which can only describe linear strain paths. However, it cannot accurately evaluate the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming, especially strain paths that have become highly non-linear. In this study, the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming, which considers a bilinear strain path and a continuous highly non-linear strain path, was investigated. The conventional QS-FLC is no longer suitable to evaluate the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming. Therefore, modified FLCs were established in strain space that follow bilinear strain paths and continuous non-linear strain paths. The actual formability improvement was compared with the modified FLC. The maximum safe strain of bilinear strain paths near the sidewall of V-shaped specimens increased in formability by approximately 30% at the discharge voltage of 20 kV compared with conventional QS forming. The maximum safe strains near the apex of the conical specimens increased in formability by approximately 100% at the same discharge energy. It should be noted that the increase in formability above the modified FLC is a conservative estimate, because the limit strains at the necking location were not known in the electromagnetic impaction forming. The influencing factors of the formability improvement of 5052 aluminium alloy sheet in electromagnetic impaction forming were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Late presentation to HIV/AIDS care presents serious health concerns, like increased transmission and high healthcare costs, increased mortality, early development of opportunistic infection, increased risk of antiretroviral therapy drug resistance. Despite the effort to contain the HIV/AIDS epidemic, LP has remained an impediment to individual immune reconstitution and public health. Objective: This review aimed to estimate the prevalence and determine the factors associated with late presentation to HIV/AIDS care. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Wanfang, and Weipu database for articles published from 2010 to 2020. We utilized I2 statistics and Q-test to estimate heterogeneity between studies. Random-effects meta-analysis models were used to calculate the aggregate odds ratio of late presentation to HIV/AIDS care. Results: Of 9563 titles and abstracts retrieved, 189 were identified as potentially eligible and 39 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of late presentation to HIV/AIDS care was 43.26%. The major risk factors were patients ≥ 50 years old (OR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.85–2.58; I2 = 97.44%), married (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.35–1.68; I2 = 96.58%), with heterosexual contact as risk factor for infection (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.73–2.11; I2 = 90.74%) and diagnosed in medical institutions (OR = 2.35,95% CI: 2.11–2.62; I2 = 96.05%). In middle or low HIV prevalence areas, patients ≥ 50 years old (P = 0.01), married (P < 0.01) and diagnosed in medical institutions (P = 0.01) were more likely to be presented late than in high prevalence areas. From 2016–2020, the OR of patients who were married and diagnosed in medical facilities were significantly lower than before (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Patients ≥ 50 years old, married, with heterosexual contact as risk factor for infection, and diagnosed in medical institutions were risk factors of LP. Gender had no significant relationship with LP. In middle or low prevalence areas, patients who were ≥ 50 years old, married, and diagnosed in medical institutions were more likely to be presented late than in other areas. Married patients and those diagnosed in medical institutions after 2015 have a lower risk of LP than before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-linked polyaniline (PANI) gel can provide rapid transfer channels for electrons and ions, and self-cross-linked PANI (SC-PANI) electrodes have been previously reported. However, there are few reports on the preparation of free-standing PANI (FS-PANI) electrodes. Hence, new preparation technologies are required for FS-PANI electrodes and their electrochemical performance must be estimated. Moreover, FS-PANI must be compared with SC-PANI to better estimate their performance. In this study, SC-PANI was prepared using p-phenylenediamine (PPD), phytic acid, aniline (An), and ammonium persulfate as the additive, doping acid, monomer, and oxidant, respectively. Then, it was hydrothermally transformed into FS-PANI. The microstructures of SC-PANI and FS-PANI were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and their electrochemical performances were tested using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge–discharge (CD) measurement, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. When the molar ratio of PPD to An was 0.10, the electrochemical performance of SC-PANI was the best as it achieved the largest specific capacitance (Cs) (403 F/g) and lowest internal resistance. After 2000 CD cycles, Cs remained at 73%. However, the Cs of FS-APNI was 511 F/g and 97% of the initial Cs value was maintained after 2000 CD cycles. This study is expected to provide an effective basis for the future research on free-standing electrode materials for supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrinsic physical property and unique nanostructures of microwave absorbing materials play an important role in their electromagnetic energy conversion. One-dimensional microstructure has been considered as an idea structure for microwave absorbers. Herein, heterogeneous rod-like Ni@Carbon (Ni@C) composites were synthesized by a handy hydrothermal reaction and a subsequent calcination treatment. Morphology analysis indicated that the resultant nanorods are composed by carbon and uniformly dispersed Ni nanoparticles (NPs). The rod-like carbon-magnetic structure could be adequately regulated via hydrothermal synthesis, resulting in tunable nano-micro structure and electromagnetic parameters. Benefiting from the magnetic–dielectric synergetic effect, the appropriate calcination temperature could improve the electromagnetic energy loss. In addition, the polarizing effect between nickel and carbon is demonstrated by density functional theory calculation. Therefore, this rod-like Ni@C composite reveals a favorable microwave absorption. The Ni@C nanorods (NC-3) possess a minimum reflection loss (RL min) of −58.7 dB with a thickness of 1.66 mm at 13.9 GHz and achieved an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.4 GHz. Furthermore, the carbon matrix of Ni@C acts as protective layer for Ni NPs, which could provide stable microwave absorbing performance even after one year measurement. This work introduces a facile and versatile strategy to design rod-like carbon structure as high-efficiency and stable microwave absorbers. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The tension of Cu/Nb nanolayered composites is simulated by atomic simulations. • The normal sample with ordinary interfaces is subject to severe strain localization. • The addition of amorphous interfacial layer gives an enhanced strain delocalization. • Strong strain delocalization is further gained by composition gradient in interface. • The delocalization results from nanotwinning and vortex flow of interfacial layers. Nanostructured metals and alloys possess ultrahigh strength but suffer from severe shear instability (strain localization). Recent experiments have shown that the strength and strain delocalization capability of some novel nanostructured alloys and nanolayered composites can be enhanced simultaneously by introducing nanoscale amorphous interfacial layers. However, the study on the underlying mechanism is still in an embryonic stage due to the ignorance of the complicated elemental composition of the interfacial layers, especially the compositional gradient along the interface thickness. Here, the atomic mechanisms of the tensile deformation of Cu/Nb nanolayered composites with amorphous interfacial layers are systematically investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Depending on whether the composition of the interfacial layers is invariable or has a gradient distribution along the interface thickness, these samples are classified as amorphous or gradient samples, respectively. The simulations of normal Cu/Nb nanolayered composites with ordinary incoherent Cu‒Nb interfaces are also included for comparison, the results of which show that strain localization occurs due to the inhomogeneous plastic deformation between soft and hard grains in the Cu and Nb layers. The strain localization is inhibited in the amorphous samples mainly through the activation of deformation twinning in the Cu and Nb layers that produces a co-deformation between grains. Intriguingly, the gradient arrangement of the elemental composition of the amorphous interfacial layers gives a further stronger strain delocalization by further promoting the co-deformation between grains through stimulating more nanotwins in Cu layers and hindering twin growth in Nb layers, and by producing a much more uniform von Mises strain distribution in the interfacial layers. In addition, a better strain delocalization capability can be obtained when the thickness of the interfacial layers is closer to that of the crystalline ones in the amorphous sample or the range of gradient composition is larger in the gradient one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the comprehensive driver of ecosystem multifunctionality is crucial for effective grassland management. However, the underlying biotic and abiotic mechanisms of ecosystem multifunctionality under global change and land use remain poorly understood. In this study, a 3-year field experiment was conducted in a semi-arid steppe in Inner Mongolia to investigate the relative importance of different biotic and abiotic factors in regulating aboveground ecosystem multifunctionality (AEM) and belowground ecosystem multifunctionality (BEM) in response to resource input after long-term grazing. The experiment involved three grazing intensities (1.5 low, 4.5 moderate, and 9.0 high sheep/ha) with a 7-year difference in grazing history. Precipitation (W) and nitrogen deposition (N) were manipulatively increased during the growing season. The study focused on exploring the effects of various biotic factors (e.g. species richness, functional diversity, plant functional groups) and abiotic factors (e.g. soil environment variables) on AEM and BEM. The results revealed asymmetric responses of AEM and BEM to resource input. Resource input enhanced AEM, but not BEM. However, increasing grazing intensity substantially reduced BEM, though we noted that AEM and BEM decreased the most under moderate grazing. Interestingly, the study found consistent responses of single ecosystem functions and ecosystem multifunctionality to resource input across the three grazing blocks. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated that species richness primarily enhanced AEM, while soil environment played a major role in promoting BEM across different grazing history intensities and the whole grazed system. Multiple biotic and abiotic factors with varying relative importance in different grazing history scenarios controlled AEM and BEM. Species richness exhibited a strong influence on AEM and BEM, but within a narrow effect threshold range, whereas soil environment had a lesser effect size but a wider threshold range. This study provides the first evidence that grazing history and resource enrichment jointly regulate AEM and BEM. The findings highlight the importance of considering biodiversity conservation, soil health, and land use history in management practices aimed at maintaining ecosystem multifunctionality under climate change and human activities scenarios. • AEM and BEM decreased the most under grazing history with moderate intensity. • Resource input enhances AEM and maintains BEM after long-term grazing. • Species richness and soil factors primary controls AEM and BEM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • CATPCA was first used in the spatial modeling with gully head as a case. • CATPCA can evaluate the importance of each classification and factors. • CATPCA can identify the correlation between categorical and numerical factors. • Elevation, human activities, lithology and soil type were the key factors. • CATPCA has great potential in the spatial modeling. Many spatial modeling methods have emerged; however, they require dependent variables, cannot reflect the relationship between categorical variables and numerical variables, and are limited by the interference of data collinearity. Categorical principal components analysis (CATPCA) has the potential to overcome these issues. Therefore, in order to investigate the suitability of CATPCA for spatial modeling, we conducted a case study based on the generation susceptibility of gully heads was determined, including 2310 gully head and 23 variables. CATPCA was first used in the spatial modeling of gully head generation. The first six principal components retained 76.4% of data trends. The area of the training and validation sensitivity curve s were 75.4% and 75.7%, respectively, which reflected good levels. CATPCA can simulate gully head spatial differences, and thus, has great potential for spatial modeling applications. Among the 23 factors, elevation, distance to residential areas, human footprint, lithology, and soil type were identified as the main controlling factors affecting the generation susceptibility of gully heads, with high correlations between them. Low altitudes, close proximity to residential areas, high human footprint, and poor vegetation were associated with high susceptibility. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of the applicability of CATPCA for spatial modeling. CATPCA is a novel solution for spatial modeling strategies that can improve understanding and has great potential for various spatial modeling applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electromagnetic impaction forming of 5052 aluminium alloy sheets using a V-shaped die and a conical die was performed. The conventional quasi-static forming limit curve (QS-FLC) is obtained according to the linear loading condition, which can only describe linear strain paths. However, it cannot accurately evaluate the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming, especially strain paths that have become highly non-linear. In this study, the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming, which considers a bilinear strain path and a continuous highly non-linear strain path, was investigated. The conventional QS-FLC is no longer suitable to evaluate the formability of electromagnetic impaction forming. Therefore, modified FLCs were established in strain space that follow bilinear strain paths and continuous non-linear strain paths. The actual formability improvement was compared with the modified FLC. The maximum safe strain of bilinear strain paths near the sidewall of V-shaped specimens increased in formability by approximately 30% at the discharge voltage of 20 kV compared with conventional QS forming. The maximum safe strains near the apex of the conical specimens increased in formability by approximately 100% at the same discharge energy. It should be noted that the increase in formability above the modified FLC is a conservative estimate, because the limit strains at the necking location were not known in the electromagnetic impaction forming. The influencing factors of the formability improvement of 5052 aluminium alloy sheet in electromagnetic impaction forming were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "type" of diamond had been developed and trended to perfect in last century. The spectral classification depends on ultraviolet visible near infrared spectrum (UV-Vis-NIR) and mid-infrared spectrum (MIR), mainly relates to nitrogen and boron impurity element. The structure models of nitrogen and boron in each type of diamond have tended to be more plausibility, but an enormous number of lattice defects even related to nitrogen are huge challenge for future work to reach a better understanding. This is an impenetrable wall on the way to explore new application areas for diamond. This article compiles some absorption characteristics in the spectra ranged from ultraviolet, visible light to infrared region. Especially the diamond classification system has been summarized completely. Furthermore, some absorbing features detected in the ultraviolet-visible and infrared spectral lines (UV-Vis-MIR) have been come up with a plausible explanation and/or established somewhat more reasonable structure models. It is very referential collecting these spectral characteristics and their corresponding theoretical models for further research and apply diamond materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In drug development, treatments are most often selected at Phase 2 for further development when an initial trial of a new treatment produces a result that is considered positive. This selection due to a positive result means, however, that an estimator of the treatment effect, which does not take account of the selection is likely to over‐estimate the true treatment effect (ie, will be biased). This bias can be large and researchers may face a disappointingly lower estimated treatment effect in further trials. In this paper, we review a number of methods that have been proposed to correct for this bias and introduce three new methods. We present results from applying the various methods to two examples and consider extensions of the examples. We assess the methods with respect to bias of estimation of the treatment effect and compare the probabilities that a bias‐corrected treatment effect estimate will exceed a decision threshold. Following previous work, we also compare average power for the situation where a Phase 3 trial is launched given that the bias‐corrected observed Phase 2 treatment effect exceeds a launch threshold. Finally, we discuss our findings and potential application of the bias correction methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gleditsia sinensis Lam. (Leguminosae), a dioecious perennial arbor, demonstrates important medicinal properties and economic value. These properties can be harnessed depending on the sex of the plant. However, the sex of the plants is difficult to identify accurately through morphological methods before the flowering. Results: We used bulked segregant analysis to screen sex-specific simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in G. sinensis. Five male and five female plants were pooled to form the male and female bulks, respectively, and subjected to whole-genome sequencing. After high-throughput sequencing, 5,350,359 sequences were obtained, in which 2,065,210 SSRs were searched. Among them, the number of duplicated SSRs was the highest. The male plants could reach 857,874, which accounted for 60.86% of the total number of male plants. The female plants could reach 1,447,603, which accounted for 56.25% of the total model of the female plants. Among all the nucleotide repeat types, the A/T-rich motif was the most abundant. A total of 309,516 female strain-specific SSRs were selected by clustering. After designing the primers, the male and female gene pools were amplified, and five pairs of primers (i.e., 27, 34, 36, 39, and 41) were found to amplify the differential bands in the male and female gene pools. Using the five pairs of primers, we performed PCR verification on 10 individuals of known sex, which constructed the gene pool. The female plants amplified a single fragment of lengths (i.e., 186, 305, 266, 203, and 260 bp) and no male plant strip, thereby completing the identification of the male and female sexes of the G. sinensis. Conclusions: This study provides accurate sex identification strategies between female and male plants, thus improving the utilization rate of G. sinensis resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lonicera japonica Thunb. (L. japonica) has the functions of clearing away heat and detoxifying, broad-spectrum antibacterial and anti-virus, etc. More than 70% of anti-inflammatory and cold Chinese patent medicines contain L. japonica. Trichomes comprise specialized multicellular structures that have the capacity to synthesize and secrete secondary metabolites and protect plants from biotic and abiotic stresses. The extraction of trichome secretions has great commercial value. However, little is known about the trichome formation mechanism in L. japonica. Therefore, the study of trichome development between different varieties provides a basis for selecting suitable planting resources. Results: Here, we present a genome-wide comparative transcriptome analysis between two L. japonica cultivars, toward the identification of biological processes and functional gene activities that occur during flowering stage trichome development. In this study, the density and average lengths of flower trichomes were at their highest during three-green periods (S2). Using the Illumina RNA-Seq method, we obtained 134,304 unigenes, 33,733 of which were differentially expressed. In an analysis of 40 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) involved in trichome development, 29 of these were transcription factors. The DEGs analysis of plant hormone signal transduction indicated that plant growth and development may be independent of gibberellin (GA) and cytokinine (CTK) signaling pathways, and plant stress may be independent of jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET) signaling pathways. We screened several genes involved in the floral biosynthesis of odors, tastes, colors, and plant hormones, and proposed biosynthetic pathways for sesquiterpenoid, triterpenoid, monoterpenoid, flavonoid, and plant hormones. Furthermore, 82 DEGs were assigned to cell cycles and 2616 were predicted as plant resistance genes (PRGs). Conclusions: This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the expression profiles of flower development during the seven developmental stages of L. japonica, thereby offering valuable insights into the molecular networks that underly flower development in L. japonica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]