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In posterior spine surgery, retractors exert pressure on paraspinal muscles, elevating intramuscular pressure and compromising blood flow, potentially causing muscle injury during ischemia–reperfusion. Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761), known for its antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties and its role in treating cerebrovascular diseases, is investigated for its protective effects against muscle ischemia–reperfusion injury in vitro and in vivo. Animals were randomly divided into the control group, receiving normal saline, and experimental groups, receiving varying doses of EGb761 (25/50/100/200 mg/kg). A 2‐h hind limb tourniquet‐induced ischemia was followed by reperfusion. Blood samples collected pre‐ischemia and 24 h post‐reperfusion, along with muscle tissue samples after 24 h, demonstrated that EGb761 at 1000 μg/mL effectively inhibited IL‐6 and TNF‐α secretion in RAW 264.7 cells without cytotoxicity. EGb761 significantly reduced nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and increased glutathione (GSH) levels compared to the control after 24 h. Muscle tissue sections revealed more severe damage in the control group, indicating EGb761's potential in mitigating inflammatory responses and oxidative stress during ischemia–reperfusion injury, effectively protecting against muscle damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTARCTThe article examines the role of collective music-making in the era of digital technologies in enriching and stimulating the creative process of vocal ensembles. The research utilized online surveys, questionnaires, and statistical data analysis for a comparative analysis of the impact of digital tools and online platforms on the creativity of students. Statistical methods, including comparative analysis of mean values and calculation of t-indicators, were employed for processing and analyzing the obtained data. Since t ≈ –6.85, which is less than the tabulated value of –1.655, it indicates that the difference between the mean values of the control and experimental groups is statistically significant at the significance level of 0.05. The analysis results indicate a statistically significant influence of using digital tools and online platforms for music creation on students’ creative process. The survey also revealed that digital tools allow for sound experimentation (28%), provide accessibility and flexibility in learning (27%), offer immediate feedback (20%), and enhance interactivity and collaboration (25%) through online platforms. This work expands understanding of effective approaches to integrating digital tools into music education and enhancing teaching methodologies aimed at developing students’ creative potential. The findings underscore the importance of integrating digital technologies into music education to enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching in vocal ensembles. Thus, the research fills a gap in contemporary knowledge regarding the optimal use of digital technologies in vocal ensembles and may be beneficial for educational institutions and music teachers seeking to optimize teaching and student development processes in the modern digital environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe and compare real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes among individuals with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) receiving second-line therapies (rituximab, romiplostim, or eltrombopag). A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a large administrative claims database (January 2013–May 2020) among continuously enrolled patients ≥18 years prescribed second-line ITP therapies. The index date was the date of the first claim of the study medications. Treatment patterns and outcomes were measured during the 12-month follow-up period. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to balance covariates across treatment groups. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare treatment patterns and bleeding risk outcomes. A total of 695 patients were included (rituximab, N = 285; romiplostim, N = 212; eltrombopag, N = 198). After IPTW, all baseline covariates were balanced. Compared to eltrombopag, patients in the rituximab cohort were 57% more likely to receive other ITP therapies (systematic corticosteroids or third-line therapies) during the follow-up period (odds ratio [OR] = 1.571, p =.030). There was no significant difference in the odds of receiving a different second-line therapy or experiencing a bleeding-related episode among three groups (p >.050). Patients in the romiplostim cohort were 69% more likely to receive rescue therapy compared to those in the rituximab cohort (OR = 1.688, p =.025). Patients with ITP receiving rituximab were more likely to need other ITP therapies but did not experience higher risk of bleeding compared to those receiving eltrombopag or romiplostim. Benefits, risks, cost-effectiveness, and patient preference should all be considered in optimizing second-line therapy for ITP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the discovery of pulsars, the rotating-lighthouse model has been the choice of model to explain the radiation pulsation of pulsars. After discovering that some main sequence stars (e.g. CU Virginis) and ultracool dwarfs (e.g. TVLM 513−46546) also behave like pulsars, the lighthouse model was again adopted to explain their pulse signals. Our research found that if we use the magnetic-field oscillation (MO) model, we can explain the pulse radiation results better regardless of whether its source is a neutron star, a main-sequence star, or an ultracool dwarf. We propose a verifiable prediction that can be used to evaluate the MO model. Our prediction is that there is a 90° phase lag between the magnetic field and radio signal of TVLM 513−46546, and the zero-crossing point of the magnetic field is the moment when the direction of the light's circular polarization is reversed. No new observations are needed to check this prediction, but certain existing data needs to be re-mined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G be a graph with no isolated vertex. A semitotal forcing set of G is a (zero) forcing set S such that every vertex in S is within distance 2 of another vertex of S. The semitotal forcing number $F_{t2}(G)$ is the minimum cardinality of a semitotal forcing set in G. In this paper, we prove that it is NP-complete to determine the semitotal forcing number of a graph. We also prove that if $G\neq K_n$ is a connected graph of order $n\geq 4$ with maximum degree $\Delta \geq 2$ , then $F_{t2}(G)\leq (\Delta-1)n/\Delta$ , with equality if and only if either $G=C_{4}$ or $G=P_{4}$ or $G=K_{\Delta ,\Delta }$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effect of K33 only mutant ubiquitin (K33O) on bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells' (BMDCs') maturity, antigen uptake capability, surface molecule expressions and BMDC‐mediated CTL priming, and further investigate the role of PI3K‐Akt engaged in K33O‐increased BMDC maturation, antigen uptake and presentation, surface molecule expressions and BMDC‐based CTL priming. BMDCs were conferred K33O and other ubiquitin mutants (K33R, K48R, K63R‐mutant ubiquitin) incubation or LY294002 and wortmannin pretreatment. PI3K‐Akt phosphorylation, antigen uptake, antigenic presentation and CD86/MHC class I expression in BMDC were determined by western blot or flow cytometry. BMDC‐based CTL proliferation and priming were determined by in vitro mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), ex vivo enzyme‐linked immunospot assay (Elispot) and flow cytometry with intracellular staining, respectively. The treatment with K33O effectively augmented PI3K‐Akt phosphorylation, BMDCs' antigen uptake, antigenic presentation, CD86/MHC class I and CD11c expressions. MLR, Elispot and flow cytometry revealed that K33O treatment obviously enhanced CTL proliferation, CTL priming and perforin/granzyme B expression. The pretreatment with PI3K‐Akt inhibitors efficiently abrogated K33O's effects on BMDC. The replenishment of K33 only mutant ubiquitin augments BMDC‐mediated CTL priming in bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells via PI3K‐Akt signalling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impact crater detection is one of the most important and critical studies of the geological history of planetary surfaces. Recent literature on crater identification demonstrates the powerful potential of deep-learning algorithms. However, these methods potentially assumed that the detection is conducted in devices with sufficient computing resources, and used networks with massive learnable parameters to obtain superb performance. In this paper, we proposed a lightweight tensorial convolutional neural network (CNN) for lunar impact crater detection. Specifically, we develop a tensorial you only look once (TYOLO) network by representing the convolutional kernels in tensor train (TT) decomposition. Thus, the parameter redundancy of TYOLO can be greatly reduced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that considers the lightweight CNN model for impact crater detection. We demonstrate the lunar impact crater detection results over the ChangE-2 lunar digital orthophotos model (DOM) and digital evaluated model (DEM). Experimental results show that the proposed TYOLO network can obtain 1.44 × speed up and 39 × compression with 2.4 % improvement in crater detection. Overall, the proposed network demonstrates great potential in spacecraft with emerging computing resource constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polar format algorithm (PFA) is a widely used high-resolution SAR imaging algorithm that can be implemented in advanced widefield staring synthetic aperture radar (WFS-SAR). However, existing algorithms have limited analysis in wavefront curvature error (WCE) and are challenging to apply to WFS-SAR with high-resolution and large-swath scenes. This paper proposes an extended polar format algorithm for joint envelope and phase error correction in WFS-SAR imaging with maneuvering trajectory. The impact of the WCE and residual acceleration error (RAE) are analyzed in detail by deriving the specific wavenumber domain signal based on the mapping relationship between the geometry space and wavenumber space. Subsequently, this paper improves the traditional WCE compensation function and introduces a new range cell migration (RCM) recalibration function for joint envelope and phase error correction. The 2D precisely focused SAR image is acquired based on the spatially variant inverse filtering in the final. Simulation experiments validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractImmunoassay based on the antibodies specific for targets has advantages of high sensitivity, simplicity and low cost, therefore it has received more attention in recent years, especially for the rapid detection of small molecule chemicals present in foods, diagnostics and environments. However, limited by low molecular weight and only one antigenic determinant existed, immunoassays for these small molecule chemicals, namely hapten substances, were commonly performed in a competitive immunoassay format, whose sensitivities were obviously lower than the sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay generally adaptable for the protein targets. In order to break through the bottleneck of detection format, researchers have designed and established several novel noncompetitive immunoassays for the haptens in the past few years. In this review, we focused on the four representative types of noncompetitive immunoassay formats and described their characteristics and applications in rapid detection of small molecules. Meanwhile, a systematic discussion on the current technologies challenges and the possible solutions were also summarized. This review aims to provide an updated overview of the current state-of-the-art in noncompetitive immunoassay for small molecules, and inspire the development of novel designs for small molecule detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Screen time and physical activity behaviors undergo development during early childhood and impact mental health. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the associations between physical activity, screen time, and mental health problems (MHP) in preschoolers. This study examines these associations using a large sample size and brief measures. Methods: A multistage cluster stratified sampling method was used to conduct an observational cross-sectional study of 19,015 Chinese preschoolers in 2020. Information on physical activity, and screen time was collected by a self-administered questionnaire; MHP was assessed by the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Logistic regression models were used to obtain the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of preschoolers' MHP associated with screen time, total physical activities, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and outdoor physical activities. Results: A total of 19,015 participants from the 19,548 recruited population were included in the analyses (missing rate: 2.73%), 52.60% were boys. 64.01%, 57.96%, 35.98%, and 82.64% of preschoolers were reported to meet total physical activities, MVPA, and outdoor activities with screen time recommendations level. The results of multivariable-adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of preschoolers' MHP for comparisons of different levels of screen time (< 2 h/day, 2–4 h/day,≥4 h/day) show that screen time positively associated with MHP after adjusting for confounders (P < 0.05), but the association was not significant among girls with screen time ≥ 4 h/day. In addition, increased engagement in physical activity was reversely linked to MHP (P < 0.05). A stronger association between MHP and MVPA was observed in boys, however, this association was weakened when the total time spent engaging in MVPA exceeded two hours per day (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Less physical activity and more screen time positively relate to MHP, but the relationship differs by type of physical activity, total time, and gender. These findings provide novel insights and evidence supporting for guidelines on physical activity, screen time, and improvement of mental health for preschoolers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this study were to explore students' learning performance, knowledge construction, and behavioral patterns in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) online discussions with/without using Form+Theme+Context (FTC) model guidance scaffolding in visual imagery education. In the online learning activities, the control group did not use the FTC model guidance scaffolding, while the experimental group did. This study employed quantitative content analysis and sequential analysis to investigate the discussion content and behavioral patterns of 63 students from a private university in Taiwan during online discussion learning activities. Results showed that the learning performance of the students in the experimental group outperformed that of students in the control group. Moreover, the study revealed that the two groups of students were primarily sharing or comparing information during discussion. More behaviors of exploring opinions and concepts and communicating or constructing knowledge among group members were observed in the experimental group. Secondly, students in the experimental group participated more in knowledge construction than did students in the control group, and their behavioral patterns were more diverse. Accordingly, this study shows that incorporating the FTC model into learning with sufficient guidance from the instructor could be useful for improving students' visual imagery analysis abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a book review of Ming Du's "The Regulation of Product Standards in World Trade Law." The book explores how product standards are regulated in the legal framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), and examines the impact of WTO disciplines on standard-setting bodies. The book is divided into seven chapters, covering topics such as the basic WTO obligations on product standards, international regulatory cooperation, private standards, and the interaction between standards development processes and WTO requirements. The review highlights the importance of this research for trade law scholars and practitioners, providing a reference for trade disputes involving product standards and guiding the formulation of legitimate standards. [Extracted from the article]

This paper regards the outer synchronization of multi-layer dynamical networks with additive couplings via aperiodically intermittent pinning control, in which different layers of each multi-layer network have different topological structures. First, a state-feedback intermittent pinning controller is designed in the drive and response configuration, and sufficient conditions to achieve the outer synchronization are derived based on the Lyapunov stability theory and matrix inequalities. Second, outer synchronization problem of multi-layer networks is discussed by setting an adaptive intermittent pinning controller; an appropriate Lyapunov function is selected to prove the criteria of synchronization between the drive multi-layer network and the response multi-layer network. Finally, three simulation examples are given to show the effectiveness of our control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microglial cells are a macrophage-like cell type residing within the CNS. These cells evoke pro-inflammatory responses following thrombin-induced brain damage. Inflammasomes, which are large caspase-1-activating protein complexes, play a critical role in mediating the extracellular release of HMGB1 in activated immune cells. The exact role of inflammasomes in microglia activated by thrombin remains unclear, particularly as it relates to the downstream functions of HMGB1. After receiving microinjections of thrombin, Sprague Dawley rats of 200 to 250 gm were studied in terms of behaviors and immunohistochemical staining. Primary culture of microglia cells and BV-2 cells were used for the assessment of signal pathways. In a water maze test and novel object recognition analysis, microinjections of thrombin impaired rats' short-term and long-term memory, and such detrimental effects were alleviated by injecting anti-HMGB-1 antibodies. After thrombin microinjections, the increased oxidative stress of neurons was aggravated by HMGB1 injections but attenuated by anti-HMGB-1 antibodies. Such responses occurred in parallel with the volume of activated microglia cells, as well as their expressions of HMGB-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and caspase-I. In primary microglia cells and BV-2 cell lines, thrombin also induced NO release and mRNA expressions of iNOS, IL-1β, IL-18, and activated caspase-I. HMGB-1 aggravated these responses, which were abolished by anti-HMGB-1 antibodies. In conclusion, thrombin induced microglia activation through triggering inflammasomes to release HMGB1, contributing to neuronal death. Such an action was counteracted by the anti-HMGB-1 antibodies. The refinement of HMGB-1 modulated the neuro-inflammatory response, which was attenuated in thrombin-associated neurodegenerative disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have risen to prominence as important regulators of biological processes. This study investigated whether circGNB1 functions as a competitive endogenous RNA to regulate the pathological process of oxidative stress in age‐related osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: The relationship between circGNB1 expression and oxidative stress/OA severity was determined in cartilages from OA patients at different ages. The biological roles of circGNB1 in oxidative stress and OA progression, and its downstream targets were determined using gain‐ and loss‐of‐function experiments in various biochemical assays in human chondrocytes (HCs). The in vivo effects of circGNB1 overexpression and knockdown were also determined using a destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) mouse model. Results: Increased circGNB1 expression was detected in HCs under oxidative and inflammatory stress and in the cartilage of older individuals. Mechanistically, circGNB1 sponged miR‐152‐3p and thus blocked its interaction with its downstream mRNA target, ring finger protein 219 (RNF219), which in turn stabilized caveolin‐1 (CAV1) by preventing its ubiquitination at the K47 residue. CircGNB1 inhibited IL‐10 signalling by antagonizing miR‐152‐3p‐mediated RNF219 and CAV1 inhibition. Consequently, circGNB1 overexpression promoted OA progression by enhancing catabolic factor expression and oxidative stress and by suppressing anabolic genes in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, circGNB1 knockdown alleviated the severity of OA, whereas circGNB1 overexpression had the opposite effect in a DMM mouse model of OA. Conclusion: CircGNB1 regulated oxidative stress and OA progression via the miR‐152‐3p/RNF219/CAV1 axis. Modulating circGNB1 could be an effective strategy for treating OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highly conserved ribosomal protein L34 (RPL34) has been reported to play an essential role in the progression of diverse malignancies. RPL34 is aberrantly expressed in multiple cancers, although its significant in colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently unclear. Here, we demonstrated that RPL34 expression was higher in CRC tissues than in normal tissues. Upon RPL34 overexpression, the ability of proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of CRC cells were significantly enhanced in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, high expression of RPL34 accelerated cell cycle progression, activated the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, and induced the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program. Conversely, RPL34 silencing inhibited the CRC malignant progression. Utilizing immunoprecipitation assays, we identified the RPL34 interactor, the cullin-associated NEDD8-dissociated protein 1 (CAND1), which is a negative regulator of cullin-RING ligases. CAND1 overexpression reduced the ubiquitin level of RPL34 and stabilized RPL34 protein. CAND1 silencing in CRC cells resulted in a decrease in the ability of proliferation, migration, and invasion. CAND1 overexpression promoted CRC malignant phenotypes and induced EMT, and RPL34 knockdown rescued CAND1-induced CRC progression. In summary, our study indicates that RPL34 acts as a mediator, is stabilized by CAND1, and promotes proliferation and metastasis, in part, through the activation of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway and induction of EMT in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A subset Z of vertex set V (G) of a graph G is a zero forcing set of G if iteratively adding vertices to Z from V (G) ∖ Z that are the unique neighbor in V (G) ∖ Z of some vertex in Z , results in the entire V (G) of G. The zero forcing number Z (G) of G is the minimum cardinality of a zero forcing set of G. In a recent work, Caro and Pepper (2015) proved that Z (G) ≤ (Δ − 2) n − (Δ − δ) + 2 Δ − 1 , where n , Δ , δ are the order, maximum degree, minimum degree of G , respectively. In this paper we completely characterize extremal graphs attained the upper bound, solving a problem proposed by Lu et al. (2016). Our result further generalizes the characterization of extremal regular graphs obtained by Gentner et al. and Lu et al. in 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombin is a multifunctional serine protein which is closely related to neurodegenerative disorders. The Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is well expressed in microglia cells involving inflammatory disorders of the brain. However, it remains unclear as to how modulation of AhR expression by thrombin is related to the development of neurodegeneration disorders. In this study, we investigated the role of AhR in the development of thrombin-induced neurodegenerative processes, especially those concerning microglia. The primary culture of either wild type or AhR deleted microglia, as well as BV-2 cell lines, was used for an in vitro study. Hippocampal slice culture and animals with either wild type or with AhR deleted were used for the ex vivo and in vivo studies. Simulations of ligand protein docking showed a strong integration between the thrombin and AhR. In thrombin-triggered microglia cells, deleting AhR escalated both the NO release and iNOS expression. Such effects were abolished by the administration of the AhR agonist. In thrombin-activated microglia cells, downregulating AhR increased the following: vascular permeability, pro-inflammatory genetic expression, MMP-9 activity, and the ratio of M1/M2 phenotype. In the in vivo study, thrombin induced the activation of microglia and their volume, thereby contributing to the deterioration of neurobehavior. Deleting AhR furthermore aggravated the response in terms of impaired neurobehavior, increasing brain edema, aggregating microglia, and increasing neuronal death. In conclusion, thrombin caused the activation of microglia through increased vessel permeability, expression of inflammatory response, and phenotype of M1 microglia, as well the MMP activity. Deleting AhR augmented the above detrimental effects. These findings indicate that the modulation of AhR is essential for the regulation of thrombin-induced brain damages and that the AhR agonist may harbor the potentially therapeutic effect in thrombin-induced neurodegenerative disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The first‐line systemic therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a combination of one targeted therapy agent and a chemotherapy doublet. Whether bevacizumab or anti‐epidermal growth factor receptor (anti‐EGFR) monoclonal antibody (mAb) is the more effective addition to a chemotherapy doublet as the first‐line treatment for inoperable KRAS wild‐type mCRC remains controversial in prior clinical trials. Moreover, the association between the sidedness of primary tumors and the efficacy of anti‐EGFR mAb needs to be addressed. Methods: We established a cohort of patients with KRAS wild‐type mCRC who were treated with first‐line targeted therapy plus doublet chemotherapy between 2013 and 2018 using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Secondary surgery was defined as either resection of primary tumors, liver metastases, lung metastases, or radiofrequency ablation. Results: A total of 6482 patients were included; bevacizumab and anti‐EGFR mAb were the first‐line targeted therapies in 3334 (51.4%) and 3148 (48.6%) patients, respectively. Compared with those who received bevacizumab, patients who received anti‐EGFR mAb exhibited significantly longer overall survival (OS; median, 23.1 vs. 20.2 months, p = 0.012) and time to treatment failure (TTF; median, 11.3 vs. 10 months, p < 0.001). Among left‐sided primary tumors, the OS and TTF benefits of anti‐EGFR mAb remained. Among right‐sided primary tumors, the OS and TTF were similar regardless of the type of targeted therapy. In multivariate analyses, first‐line anti‐EGFR mAb therapy remained an independent predictor of longer OS and TTF for left‐sided primary tumors. Patients who received anti‐EGFR mAb were more likely to receive secondary surgery (29.6% vs. 22.6%, p < 0.0001) than patients who received bevacizumab. Conclusion: For patients who received first‐line doublet chemotherapy for KRAS wild‐type mCRC, adding anti‐EGFR mAb was associated with significantly longer OS and TTF, especially for left‐sided primary tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot knowledge graph completion (FSKGC) refers to predicting new facts for a new relation with only few-shot observed entity pairs (triples) as support set. Existing solutions to FSKGC mainly conduct the matching process over entity pair representations. Although effective, a major concern of these models is that the entity interactions are not fully explored, based on the observation that they usually generate the pair representation before the matching stage. Such a design inherently overlooks the fine-grained information from entity interactions, leading to performance decrements in one or three shot, which require matching models to capture more sufficient semantic meanings for prediction. To remedy this issue, in this paper, we explore the entity interactions within and between different instances, i.e. , the co-occurrence of two entities, for FSKGC and propose our model named TransAM, Trans former A ppending M atcher. TransAM solves the FSKGC problem by computing the probability of entity sequence with a well-designed transformer matching network. Specifically, TransAM appends query entity pair to serialized reference entity sequence and utilizes transformer to calculate the probability by capturing intra- and inter- triple entity interactions. To bridge the gap between transformer and the triple structure, TransAM introduces rotary operation to preserve the head and tail roles of entity within the triple and distinguishes different triples by a separated triple position encoding. Empirical studies on two public benchmark datasets NELL-One and Wiki-One show that TransAM outperforms existing metric-learning solutions in MRR and Hits@1 with both one- and three- shot settings, and achieves comparable results on five-shot setting. Datasets and code will be public available at https://github.com/gawainx/TransAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Itch and pain are two closely related sensations that receiving similar encodings at multiple levels. Accumulated evidences suggest that activation of the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and intergeniculate leaflet (vLGN/IGL)-to-lateral and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (l/vlPAG) projections mediates the antinociceptive effects of bright light therapy. Clinical study showed that bright light therapy may ameliorate cholestasis-induced pruritus. However, the underlying mechanism and whether this circuit participates in itch modulation remains unclear. In this study, chloroquine and histamine were utilized to induce acute itch models in mice. Neuronal activities in vLGN/IGL nucleus were evaluated with c -fos immunostaining as well as fiber photometry. Optogenetic manipulations were performed to activate or inhibit GABAergic neurons in the vLGN/IGL nucleus. Our results showed that the expressions of c -fos in vLGN/IGL were significantly increased upon both chloroquine- and histamine-induced acute itch stimuli. GABAergic neurons in vLGN/IGL were activated during histamine and chloroquine-induced scratching. Optogenetic activation of the vLGN/IGL GABAergic neurons exerts antipruritic effect, while inhibiting these neurons exerts pruritic effect. Our results provide evidence that GABAergic neurons in vLGN/IGL nucleus might play a crucial role in modulating itch, which may provide clue for application of bright light as an antipruritic treatment in clinic. • Expressions of c -fos in vLGN/IGL are significantly increased upon both chloroquine- and histamine-induced acute itch stimuli. • The calcium signal activity of GABA neurons in the vLGN/IGL is increased after acute itch stimuli. • VLGN/IGL GABAergic neurons regulate chloroquine- and histamine-induced itching behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Titanium species coordinated with –NH 2 group and oxygen-donor in AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h. • The ligand-to-linker metal charge transfer mechanism occurred in AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h. • AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h showed superior photoactivity and stability under visible light. • Both benzoic acid and maleic anhydride are the key species on AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h. • Both toluene/H 2 O activation and charge mobility are critical in toluene oxidation. Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) over MOF-based photocatalysts is considerably impeded by the weak activation of reactant molecules on the catalyst surface and low charge carrier mobility. In this study, we demonstrate that atomically dispersed Ti species anchored on NH 2 -UiO-66(Zr) (AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)) exhibit high visible-light-responsive photocatalytic activity toward toluene vapor with an 83 % removal efficiency and 89 % CO 2 selectivity. These results are markedly superior to those reported in the literature. More importantly, AUiO-66(Zr/Ti) exhibited excellent catalytic stability during a prolonged reaction, while its pristine AUiO-66(Zr) counterpart underwent rapid catalytic deactivation after a few hours. The optimized sample, AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h, provided extended visible light absorption and enhanced charge carrier mobility due to ligand-to-linker metal charge transfer. Meanwhile, the defect-rich surface of AUiO-66(Zr/Ti)-4h facilitated the activation of H 2 O/toluene molecules into the critical intermediates of hydroxyl, benzoic acid, and maleic anhydride, which were effectively converted under visible light illumination. On the basis of the combined results of the PCO of toluene and material characterization, the structure − activity relationship and the related catalytic mechanism are discussed comprehensively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, due to the large‐scale construction of wind power and shore power projects, the amount of submarine high‐voltage AC cables has been increasing year by year, and they often form a "common corridor" in parallel with adjacent submarine pipelines, resulting in AC interference on pipelines. A lot of research has been carried out on the AC interference law of buried pipelines onshore. However, there is a lack of discussion on the AC interference suffered by submarine pipelines from high‐voltage AC cables. How to understand the AC interference law of high‐voltage AC cables to submarine pipelines and determining the safe distance has become an urgent demand in practical production. Based on this, this paper established a calculation model for AC interference suffered by submarine pipelines from high‐voltage AC cables on through CDGES software. Through simulation calculation, the influence laws of many factors such as parallel distance between AC cables and pipelines, parallel length, cable load current, anticorrosive coating resistivity, and longitudinal pipeline resistance per unit length on AC interference parameters of pipelines were investigated. It was found that the degree of AC interference increases with the increase of the anticorrosive coating resistivity, the load current, and the longitudinal pipeline resistance per unit length, as well as the decrease of the parallel interval. However, with the increase of the parallel length, the AC interference voltage and current density of the pipeline increase firstly, then decrease, and at the end remains unchanged, and it was found that there existed the parallel length with the maximum AC interference and the saturation parallel length with unchanged AC interference. Based on the principles of electromagnetic induction and AC circuits, the main reasons for the parallel length with maximum AC interference and the saturation parallel length were analyzed in this paper. The safe distances avoiding AC corrosion under different parallel lengths and load currents were discussed, which can provide a reference for the evaluation of AC interference of submarine pipelines and the selection of submarine routing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing bandwidth, videos have been gradually used as submissions for online peer assessment activities. However, their transient nature imposes a high cognitive load on students, particularly lowability students. Therefore, reviewers' ability is a key factor that may affect the reviewing process and performance in an online video peer assessment activity. This study examined how reviewers' ability affected the comments they provided and their reviewing behaviors and performance. Thirty-eight first-year undergraduate students participated in an online video peer assessment activity for 3 weeks. This study analyzed data collected from the teacher's and peer reviewers' ratings, comments provided by peer reviewers, and system logs. Several findings are significant. First, low-ability reviewers preferred to rate higher scores than high-ability reviewers did. Second, low-ability reviewers had higher review errors than high-ability reviewers. Third, highability reviewers provided more high-level comments, while low-ability reviewers provided more low-level comments. Finally, low- and high-ability reviewers showed different behavior patterns when reviewing peers' videos. In particular, low-ability reviewers invested more time and effort in understanding video content, while high-ability reviewers invested more time and effort in detecting and diagnosing problems. These findings are discussed, and several suggestions for improving the instructional and system design of online video peer assessment activities are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper, the first author and his collaborator developed a method to compute an upper bound of the dimension of instanton Floer homology via Heegaard diagrams of 3 -manifolds. In this paper, for a knot inside S 3 , we further introduce an algorithm that computes an upper bound of the dimension of instanton knot homology from knot diagrams. We test the algorithm with all knots up to seven crossings as well as a more complicated knot 1 0 1 5 3 . In the second half of the paper, we show that if the instanton knot Floer homology of a knot has a specified form, then the knot must be an instanton L-space knot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change detection (CD) in high-resolution remote sensing images (RSIs) can be regarded as a binary visual recognition problem. Metric learning (ML) is a reliable method to determine pixel class attributes based on discriminative distance function between learnable image features. However, most related works learn discriminative distance functions in single-scale feature pairs, which suffer from slow convergence and poor local optima, partially due to that the loss function employs only large-scale feature samples while not interacting with the other scale features. Furthermore, more effective features are a prerequisite for improving the performance of ML-based CD. Hence, we propose a novel hierarchical metric learning network (HMLNet) with dual attention for CD in RSIs, where the key point is that hierarchical metric learning is performed in an ensemble manner to improve detection accuracy and accelerate model convergence. Specifically, based on the features extracted from the encoder-decoder backbone, we construct a feature pyramid to handle the complex details of objects at various scales in RSIs, and then perform metric learning between the paired pyramid features at the same scale. In addition, the dual-attention module is proposed to enhance the internal consistency of changed objects and effectively obtain more detailed information by acting on multi-scale pyramid features. Extensive experiments on the two public RSIs CD datasets, and the results demonstrate that the proposed HMLNet can accurately locate changed objects, which consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art CD competitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The serine/threonine protein kinase calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase 2 (CAMKK2) plays critical roles in a range of biological processes. Despite its importance, only a handful of inhibitors of CAMKK2 have been disclosed. Having a selective small molecule tool to interrogate this kinase will help demonstrate that CAMKK2 inhibition can be therapeutically beneficial. Herein, we disclose SGC-CAMKK2-1, a selective chemical probe that targets CAMKK2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunotherapy-related adverse events (irAEs) such as hepatitis or cholestasis have been well recognized. In contrast, acholia was not previously reported as an irAE with a lack of standard treatment. We presented a case of a 68-year-old man with metastatic colon cancer that progressed after several chemotherapy sessions with targeted agents. He received nivolumab plus regorafenib (REGONIVO) as salvage treatment. However, he reported clay-colored stools and jaundice after 3 months of REGONIVO treatment. Computed tomography (CT) revealed no significant biliary tract dilation. Laboratory tests ruled out viral hepatitis or autoimmune hepatitis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography showed multiple filling defects of blood clot formation, and endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage was ineffective. An irAE presenting as acholia and hyperbilirubinemia was diagnosed. Subsequently, the patient was initially administered a corticosteroid only, with an equivalent dose of prednisone (1 mg/kg/day); however, this treatment had only limited effect. After the addition of multiple immunosuppressants, including mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus, the severity of hyperbilirubinemia declined and acholia was resolved. This case demonstrated that irAEs can present as acholia and hyperbilirubinemia without significant biliary obstruction. Although the mechanism of such an unusual irAE remains unclear, it seems to be refractory to corticosteroid treatment alone. A more aggressive strategy, such as multiple immunosuppressants, may be advisable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ashwagandha W. somnifera (L.) Dunal is a popular ethnomedicinal herb endowed with potential pharmacotherapeutic properties. In this study the ethanol extract (EE) and water extract (WE) of ashwagandha roots were qualitatively analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the results showed EE containing withanoside IV (a), physagulin D (b), 27-hydroxywithanone (c), withanoside V (d), withaferin A (e), withastramonolide (f), withanolide A (g), withanone (h), and withanolide B (i) as major bioactive compounds. Antioxidant potential was studied using four in vitro free radical scavenging assays and EE displayed higher antioxidant effect compared to WE for all assays. The EE also showed enzyme inhibitory effect against lipoxygenase (5-LOX) >cyclooxygenases-1 (COX-1) compared to cyclooxygenases-2 (COX-2) and to that of WE. Furthermore, EE demonstrated a potential cytotoxic effect on proliferation of A549 cells in vitro , showing IC 50 values, 394.8 (24 h), 171.9 (48 h) and 126.1 (72 h) μg/mL, respectively. EE extract also exhibited induction of apoptosis in dose dependent manner confirmed with the production of ROS in A549 cells through flow cytometric analysis. The obtained results demonstrated that ashwagandha EE with high concentration of bioactive compounds could act as potential drug candidates against pro-inflammatory enzymes involved in development of inflammation and progression of lung cancer. Further, extensive research is needed to investigate the ashwagandha bioactive compounds responsible for treating inflammation, oxidative stress and lung cancer. [Display omitted] • Ashwagandha an ethnomedicinal herb endowed with potential pharmacotherapeutic properties. • Ashwagandha roots qualitatively analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography for metabolites quantification. • Ethanol root extract showed high enzyme inhibitory effect against lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenases • Ethanol root extract demonstrated a potential cytotoxic effect on A549 cells in vitro. • Ethanol root extract exhibited induction of apoptosis with the production of ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let K be a 1 + α self-conformal set. It is well known that K satisfies the strong open set condition provided it satisfies the open set condition. A point x K is called a trivial point of K if { x } is a connected component of K. Let U be a strong open set for K. In this paper, we show that whether U contains a trivial point of K determines several metrical and topological properties of K , including the maximal power law property and the dimension drop of the connected part of K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfvén's theorem concerning "frozen-in magnetic field" states that the magnetic field lines, passing through an ideal conductive fluid, are frozen with the fluid, and the fluid can move along the magnetic field lines but cannot cross them. Here, we present two negative experimental results and an analysis of the theorem. The experimental results prove that Alfvén's theorem cannot correctly explain the evolution of the magnetic field and magnetic resistance; therefore, it is incorrect. Mathematical analysis explains why this theorem is incorrect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer (BC) is a common female malignancy, worldwide. BC death is predominantly caused by lung metastasis. According to previous studies, Dihydrotanshinone I (DHT), a bioactive compound in Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (S. miltiorrhiza), has inhibitory effects on numerous cancers. Here, we investigated the anti-metastatic effect of DHT on BC, where DHT more strongly inhibited the growth of BC cells (MDA-MB-231, 4T1, MCF-7, and SKBR-3) than breast epithelial cells (MCF-10a). Additionally, DHT repressed the wound healing, invasion, and migration activities of 4T1 cells. In the 4T1 spontaneous metastasis model, DHT (20 mg/kg) blocked metastasis progression and distribution in the lung tissue by 74.9%. DHT reversed the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, as well as ameliorated NETs-induced metastasis. Furthermore, it inhibited Ly6G+Mpo+ neutrophils infiltration and H3Cit expression in the lung tissues. RNA sequencing, western blot, and bioinformatical analysis indicated that TIMP1 could modulate DHT acting on lung metastasis inhibition. The study demonstrated a novel suppression mechanism of DHT on NETs formation to inhibit BC metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using steel slag fine aggregate (SSFA) to replace river sand (RS) in making concrete offers a sustainable solution for mitigating the environmental issues owing to the large‐scale mining of RS and disposal of a large amount of steel slag. The mechanical behavior and chemical property of concrete made with SSFA at ambient temperature were investigated extensively. However, relatively few studies have been conducted to investigate the behavior of concrete with SSFA after exposure to elevated temperatures. To fill up this research gap, this paper studied the post‐fire behavior of five concrete mixes with SSFA replacing RS. The effect of SSFA replacement ratio by volume (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) on the heating temperature—time curve, color and appearance changes, weight loss, failure mode, and residual compressive strength of concrete under curing period of 28‐ and 91‐day, after exposure to 25 (ambient temperature), 400, 600, 800, and 1000°C was investigated. Besides, chemical composition at ambient and after exposure to elevated temperatures was analyzed with the aid of X‐ray diffraction. Test results showed that with SSFA partially or totally replacing RS, the heat insulation capability of concrete could be enhanced, especially at the replacement ratio of 75%. Moreover, concrete with RS replaced with SSFA presented larger or comparable residual strength after exposure to elevated temperatures from 600–800°C. Lastly, the design model by EC2 was adopted to predict the residual strength of concrete with and without SSFA. Comparing the design and measured residual strengths, it was concluded that EC2 was conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A subset S of vertex set V(G) of a graph G is a zero forcing set of G if iteratively adding vertices to S from V (G) \ S that are the unique neighbor in V (G) \ S of some vertex in S, results in the entire V(G) of G. Additionally, if the subgraph induced by S is connected, then S is a connected forcing set of G. The zero (resp., connected) forcing number, denoted by F(G) (resp., F c (G) ), of G is the minimum cardinality of a zero (resp., connected) forcing set of G. Davila and Kenter [Theory Appl. Graphs, 2(2) (2015) Article 1] proved that F (G) ≤ n - g + 2 for graphs G of finite girth g and order n (≥ g) . In this paper, first, we restrict G to be connected and improve the upper bound according to the value of g: F (G) ≤ n - g + 2 when g = 3 , 4 or n; F (G) ≤ n - g + 1 when g = 5 , 6 or n - 1 (n ≥ 6) and F (G) ≤ n - g when 7 ≤ g ≤ n - 2 . Further, the extremal graphs are characterized, respectively. Davila et al. [Graphs Combin. 34 (2018) 1159-1174] proved a similar upper bound on F c (G) for 2-connected graphs G with n vertices and finite girth g: F c (G) ≤ n - g + 2 . Secondly, we prove that F c (G) = n - g + 2 if and only if G is C n , or K n , or K a , b for integers a , b ≥ 2 , a + b = n . Finally, we also characterize all connected triangle-free or subcubic graphs G of order n with F (G) = n - 3 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

False information detection can detect false information in social media and reduce its negative impact on society. With the development of multimedia, the multimodal content contained in false information is increasing, so it is important to use multimodal features to detect false information. This paper mainly uses information from two modalities, text and image. The features extracted by the backbone network are not further processed in the previous work, and the problems of noise and information loss in the process of fusing multimodal features are ignored. This paper proposes a false information detection method based on Text-CNN and SE modules. We use Text-CNN to process the text and image features extracted by BERT and Swin-transformer to enhance the quality of the features. In addition, we use the modified SE module to fuse text and image features and reduce the noise in the fusion process. Meanwhile, we draw on the idea of residual networks to reduce information loss in the fusion process by concatenating the original features with the fused features. Our model improves accuracy by 6.5% and 2.0% on the Weibo dataset and Twitter dataset compared to the attention based multimodal factorized bilinear pooling. The comparative experimental results show that the proposed model can improve the accuracy of false information detection. The results of ablation experiments further demonstrate the effectiveness of each module in our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary malignant tumor of the central nervous system. GBM has a very low 5-year survival rate and reaching merely a median of ~15 months even with aggressive treatments. PPARγ (Peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor gamma) agonists (ciglitazone), while being widely used on patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus, also have approved anticancer effects. Their action mechanisms on malignant glioma are not fully understood. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential therapeutic effect of PPARγ agonists on maligant glioma. Glioma cell line and in-vivo/ex-vivo animal model intervened by ciglitazone were used to assess the associated mechanism and therapeutic effect. Our results from in vivo and ex vivo experiments showed that ciglitazone not only inhibited tumor growth and its associated angiogenesis, but it also reduced colony formation and migration of tumors. Ciglitazone inhibited the phosphorylation of STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3) (at the point of tyrosine 705 by increasing both the amount and activity of SHP-2 (Src homology region 2-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 2) proteins, based on evidence obtained from immunoprecipitation and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, ciglitazone activated proteasomes and lysosomes to degrade cell-cycle-related proteins like Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, CDK2 (Cyclin-dependent kinase 2), and CDK4 (Cyclin-dependent kinase 4). Ciglitazone triggered expressions of LC3 (Microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3) and formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs), both of which were implicated in the autophagy pathway. In conclusion, ciglitazone showed the multiple actions to regulate the growth of glioma, which appeared to be a potential candidate for treating malignant glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving force identification (MFI) is one of the challenging tasks in bridge structural health monitoring (SHM). Especially when the vehicles get on and off the bridge, or cross bridge expansion joints and speed humps, the impact of vehicle loads on bridge structures is commonly focused and the accuracy of MFI results still needs further enhancements. To address this issue, a new MFI framework is proposed by using both group sparsity theory and compressed sensing (CS) in this study. Specifically, with the help of the relationship between moving vehicle loads and bridge responses induced by the traffic, a redundant dictionary based on CS is used to establish the motion equation of the vehicle–bridge system in conjunction with classical theory of MFI. A group structure on the sparse coefficient vector of each moving force tends to be divided into different groups (no overlapping), where sparse coefficient vectors and measurement matrices are divided in different groupings and eventually reconstructed for unknown vectors of moving forces. Additionally, the effect of different ratios of number of groups to sparsity (g/k) on the MFI results is considered. Finally, numerical simulations and experimental verifications are carried out to assess the performance and capability of the proposed framework. The illustrated results show that the group lasso could precisely reconstruct the moving forces more accurately after proper grouping. The proposed new MFI framework outperforms the traditional L2 regularization or CS methods with a higher identification accuracy and a good robustness to measurement noises, which can be effectively used for the MFI problem in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropathic pain is well known to occur after damage to the somatosensory system. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) has neuroprotective effects when the central nervous system is subjected to internal and external stimulations. However, the exact mechanism by which AhR regulates neuropathic pain is poorly understood. Nerve explant culture and the chronic constrictive nerve injury (CCI) model in wild or AhR-knockout mice were used in this study. In the nerve explant culture, the ovoid number increased in the AhR−/− condition and was decreased by omeprazole (AhR agonist) in a dose-dependent manner. Increased nerve degeneration and the associated inflammation response appeared in the AhR−/− condition, and these changes were attenuated by omeprazole. High expression of AhR in the injured nerve was noted after CCI. Deletion of AhR aggravated nerve damages and this was restored by omeprazole. Deletion of AhR increased NGF expression and reduced axon number in the paw skin, but this was attenuated by omeprazole. A highly expressed inflammation reaction over the dorsal spinal cord, somatosensory cortex, and hippocampus was noted in the AhR-deleted animals. Administration of omeprazole attenuated not only the inflammatory response, but also the amplitude of somatosensory evoked potential. Deletion of AhR further aggravated the neurobehavior compared with the wild type, but such behavior was attenuated by omeprazole. Chronic constrictive nerve injury augmented AhR expression of the injured nerve, and AhR deletion worsened the damage, while AhR agonist omeprazole counteracted such changes. AhR agonists could be potential candidates for neuropathic pain treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a novel hemin functionalized hybrid aerogel (He@GMA) is synthesized and applied to an electrochemical chip for real-time analysis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The He@GMA shows a typical three-dimensional morphology and excellent peroxidase-like catalytic performance. The He@GMA-enabled electrochemical chip presents satisfactory performance for H2O2 sensing with a low limit of detection (0.96 μM). Besides, the chip platform shows some advantages of less sample consumption and easier detection operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose that technical analysis tools developed to give buy/sell signals in asset trading can be applied to analyze time series datasets in the natural sciences, and we show this explicitly for a study of WHO COVID-19 data. Notably, reliable short term forecasting can provide potentially lifesaving insights into logistical planning, and in particular, into the optimal allocation of resources such as hospital staff and equipment. By reinterpreting COVID-19 daily cases in terms of candlesticks, we are able to apply some of the most popular stock market technical indicators to obtain predictive power over the course of the pandemics. By providing a quantitative assessment of MACD, RSI, and candlestick analyses, we show their statistical significance in making predictions for both stock market data and WHO COVID-19 data. In particular, we show the utility of this novel approach by considering the identification of the beginnings of subsequent waves of the pandemic. Finally, our new methods are used to assess whether current health policies are impacting the growth in new COVID-19 cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the Hausdorff dimension and box dimension of a Bedford-McMullen carpet coincide if and only if the carpet has uniform horizontal fibers. Yang et al. [17] gave a complete Lipschitz classification of such carpets which are totally disconnected and possessing vacant rows. In this paper, we show that if we replace the uniform horizontal fibers condition by a locally uniform horizontal fibers condition, the conclusions of Yang et al. still hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we developed a homogeneous heterophase structure based on the stereochemically-active cubic/orthorhombic SnS (CUB/ORT-SnS) by chemical precipitation and vacuum annealing. By precisely adjusting the annealing temperature, spherical cubic-SnS partially transformed into block-like orthorhombic phase. In the constructed heterophase structure, abundant junction interfaces which directly exposed in the atmosphere, serve as high-active adsorption centers, effectively hoisting the ethanol adsorption capability of SnS. The experimental results show that CUB/ORT-SnS sensor exhibits a response of 184% towards 5 ppm ethanol with rapid response-recovery process at room temperature (RT). Moreover, in order to improve the selectivity of the sensor to ethanol vapor, principal component analysis (PCA) was adopted to realize the specific identification towards ethanol and isopropanol. Further investigations based on DFT calculations and band alignment indicate that local cubic phase SnS of the heterophase structure is the strong electron trap, and forms effective conductive path with ethanol molecules. Benefiting from the enrichment of the interface adsorption sites and the enhancement of carrier transport and diffusion, the heterophase junction of SnS obtains remarkably boosted ethanol-sensing performance. This work constructs a homogeneous heterophase structure for sensing ethanol at RT, which provides a new design strategy for developing high-performance VOCs gas sensors. • Novel cubic/orthorhombic SnS homogeneous heterophase structure was fabricated by controlled method. • The structure-property relationship of the novel homogeneous heterophase junction was studied. • The homogeneous heterogeneous structure realized the rapid response of trace ethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used all over the world and has shown its superiority in some diseases. However, there are no clear evaluation criteria for TCM. In 2019, a list of TCM dominant diseases was published by the Chinese National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This study aimed to systematically summarize the characteristics of 95 TCM dominant diseases and provide a reference for the establishment of evaluation criteria for TCM dominant diseases. Methods. The diagnosis and treatment protocols of all the 95 TCM dominant diseases were screened. The data of disease classification, diseases' code of TCM, length of hospital stay, treatment protocols, and clinical pathways were reviewed and summarized. Results. The diseases of the genitourinary and nervous systems accounted for 14.74% and 12.73% of the TCM dominant diseases, respectively. The length of hospital stay for 55 (57.89%) diseases was no more than less than 14 days. Each disease had its specific Chinese herbal decoction pieces and Chinese patent drugs. Chinese medical injections were not widely used. TCM external treatments for these diseases are abundant, with hundreds optional. Conclusion. Some potentially promising TCM dominant diseases remain to be identified and deserve further research to establish the evaluation criteria of TCM dominant diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In forward‐looking imaging, left‐right Doppler is ambiguous and cross‐range resolution is limited by real aperture, which result in traditional synthetic aperture radar imaging methods no longer applicable. Besides, the impact of three‐dimensional acceleration on an over‐complete dictionary matrix and sparse reconstruction kernel is not considered in conventional super‐resolution forward‐looking imaging methods. To solve these problems, a super‐resolution forward‐looking imaging method for manoeuvering platforms is proposed. First, the range walk caused by forward‐looking geometry and higher‐order phase introduced by three‐dimensional acceleration are eliminated by compensating a pre‐processing function. Subsequently, according to beam steering‐based geometry and linear regression model, the over‐complete dictionary matrix is optimised to more accurately describe the complicated forward‐looking geometry with curved trajectory. Finally, sparsity adaptive matching pursuit kernel with an improved halting condition is adopted to reconstruct the forward‐looking scene. The proposed method is supported by point target simulation and surface target simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the existing false information detection methods, the quality of the extracted single-modality features is low, the information between different modalities cannot be fully fused, and the original information will be lost when the information of different modalities is fused. This paper proposes a false information detection via multimodal feature fusion and multi-classifier hybrid prediction. In this method, first, bidirectional encoder representations for transformers are used to extract the text features, and S win-transformer is used to extract the picture features, and then, the trained deep autoencoder is used as an early fusion method of multimodal features to fuse text features and visual features, and the low-dimensional features are taken as the joint features of the multimodalities. The original features of each modality are concatenated into the joint features to reduce the loss of original information. Finally, the text features, image features and joint features are processed by three classifiers to obtain three probability distributions, and the three probability distributions are added proportionally to obtain the final prediction result. Compared with the attention-based multimodal factorized bilinear pooling, the model achieves 4.3% and 1.2% improvement in accuracy on Weibo dataset and Twitter dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed model can effectively integrate multimodal information and improve the accuracy of false information detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strength of selection varies among populations and across the genome, but the determinants of efficacy of selection remain unclear. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing data from 467 Boechera stricta accessions to quantify the strength of selection and characterize the pattern of local adaptation. We found low genetic diversity on 0-fold degenerate sites and conserved non-coding sites, indicating functional constraints on these regions. The estimated distribution of fitness effects and the proportion of fixed substitutions suggest relaxed negative and positive selection in B. stricta. Among the four population groups, the NOR and WES groups have smaller effective population size (Ne), higher proportions of effectively neutral sites, and lower rates of adaptive evolution compared with UTA and COL groups, reflecting the effect of Ne on the efficacy of natural selection. We also found weaker selection on GC-biased sites compared with GC-conservative (unbiased) sites, suggested that GC-biased gene conversion has affected the strength of selection in B. stricta. We found mixed evidence for the role of the recombination rate on the efficacy of selection. The positive and negative selection was stronger in high-recombination regions compared with low-recombination regions in COL but not in other groups. By scanning the genome, we found different subsets of selected genes suggesting differential adaptation among B. stricta groups. These results show that differences in effective population size, nucleotide composition, and recombination rate are important determinants of the efficacy of selection. This study enriches our understanding of the roles of natural selection and local adaptation in shaping genomic variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Class B1 G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play important roles in human physiology and disease pathology. Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray crystallography, the 3D structures of all 15 members of this receptor subfamily have been determined in recent years at the near-atomic level. Although they share many structural commonalities, they show distinct features in terms of ligand recognition and receptor activation. In-depth structural analyses have yielded valuable insights into the N termini of both peptide hormones and cognate receptors, the outward movement of transmembrane helix 6 (TM6), the allosteric modulation sites located in the transmembrane domain (TMD), and the constitutive signaling bias mediated by receptor splice variants. These provide new directions for the design of better therapeutic agents, thereby making these targets more druggable. The N termini of some peptides that regulate signal transduction, for example, GLP-1 and GLP-2, show different orientations when interacting with their respective receptors, and TIP39 adopts a unique loop conformation at its N-terminus upon binding to PTH2R. The extracellular domain (ECD) of some class B1 receptors is directly involved in signaling. For example, the N-terminus of GLP‐1R folds down towards the TMD to cover the ligand-binding pocket when bound by non-peptidic agonists. The ECD N-terminal α-helix of VIP2R inserts to the cleft between PACAP27 and ECL1 to stabilize peptide binding. The outward movement of TM6 upon receptor activation could be significantly affected by small molecules acting as allosteric modulators, including an ago-allosteric modulator (ago-PAM) and several negative allosteric modulators (NAMs). There are two forms of signaling bias – ligand-dependent and constitutive – that are mediated by splice variants of the wild-type receptor, for example, SV1 of GHRHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed students' auto‐photographs with transcripts to understand their conceptions of learning and to compare the differences among different grade levels. A total of 549 Taiwanese college students took photographs and wrote accompanying textual descriptions to illustrate how they conceptualised learning. A coding checklist was developed to analyse the characteristics of the students' auto‐photography, and showed that their main view of learning was alone by themselves, the main learning contexts were outside of school, and observing/experiencing/thinking were the main learning activities. The textual data analysed using the content analysis method revealed nine categories of conceptions of learning, namely learning as memorising, gaining higher status, practicing tutorial problems, a process not bound by context or time, the increase of knowledge, applying, autonomous learning, understanding and seeing in a new way. In addition, in cross‐sectional analysis, two main findings were revealed: (1) students' views of learning shifted from stereotypes of acquiring knowledge (e.g. teachers lecturing in classrooms) in the lower grade levels to observing/experiencing learning outside of school in the higher grade levels; and (2) higher‐grade‐level students possessed weaker autonomous learning conceptions than lower‐grade‐level students. The results of this study suggest a possible development trend of students' learning conceptions that warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microwave‐assisted, base‐promoted, tandem cyclization reaction strategy has been developed for the synthesis of cyclohepta[b]chromones and spiro cyclohepta[b]chromones. Readily accessible γ‐alkynyl‐1,3‐diketones undergo intramolecular cyclization and 7‐endo‐trig carbocyclization to afford various cycloheptane‐annelated chromones in one‐pot reactions. This metal‐free protocol also led to the generation of polycyclic ring with a new C−C bond and a new C−O bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Natural selection shapes genome‐wide patterns of diversity within species and divergence between species. However, quantifying the efficacy of selection and elucidating the relative importance of different types of selection in shaping genomic variation remain challenging.We sequenced whole genomes of 101 individuals of three closely related oak species to track the divergence history, and to dissect the impacts of selective sweeps and background selection on patterns of genomic variation.We estimated that the three species diverged around the late Neogene and experienced a bottleneck during the Pleistocene. We detected genomic regions with elevated relative differentiation ('FST‐islands'). Population genetic inferences from the site frequency spectrum and ancestral recombination graph indicated that FST‐islands were formed by selective sweeps. We also found extensive positive selection; the fixation of adaptive mutations and reduction neutral diversity around substitutions generated a signature of selective sweeps. Prevalent negative selection and background selection have reduced genetic diversity in both genic and intergenic regions, and contributed substantially to the baseline variation in genetic diversity.Our results demonstrate the importance of linked selection in shaping genomic variation, and illustrate how the extent and strength of different selection models vary across the genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]