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Rationale and objectives: To compare the performance of SS, FOCUS SS, MUSE, and FOCUS MUSE DWI for pulmonary lesions to obtain a better technique for pulmonary DWI imaging. Materials and methods: 44 patients with pulmonary lesions were recruited to perform pulmonary DWI using SS, FOCUS SS, MUSE, and FOCUS MUSE sequences. Then, two radiologists with 12 and 10 years of chest MRI experiences assessed the overall image quality while another two radiologists both with 3 years of experiences evaluated the SNR, DR, and ADC of pulmonary lesions. Using interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and kappa statistics to assess consistency of readers, Friedman test and Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc were used to calculate the difference between sequences. Mann-Whitney test and ROC curve were used to distinguish malignant from benign lesions. Results: All the assessed variables of the four sequences presented good to excellent intra-/inter-observer consistency. Compared with SS, FOCUS SS and MUSE, FOCUS MUSE demonstrated better image quality, including significantly higher 5-point Likert scale score (P 0.05) while MUSE presented with significantly higher SNR over them (P

Background The optimal dosages, timing, and treatment sequencing for standard-of-care neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy necessitate re-evaluation when used in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with resectable, locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (RLaESCC). The SCALE-1 phase Ib study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of short-course neoadjuvant radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy and toripalimab in this patient population.Methods RLaESCC patients with clinical stages cT3-4aN0M0/cT1-4aN+M0 received neoadjuvant paclitaxel (135 mg/m2), carboplatin (area under the curve=5), and toripalimab (240 mg) every 3 weeks for two cycles. Short-course neoadjuvant radiotherapy (30 Gy in 12 fractions; 5 days per week) was administered between neoadjuvant immune-chemotherapy (nICT) doses. Esophagectomies were scheduled 4–6 weeks after completing neoadjuvant treatment. The primary endpoint was safety, with secondary endpoints including pathological complete response (pCR) rate, postoperative complications, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Exploratory biomarker analysis used gene expression profiles via the nCounter platform.Results Of the 23 patients enrolled, all completed neoadjuvant radiotherapy, while 21 cases finished full nICT doses and cycles. Common grade 3/4 adverse events included neutropenia (57%), leukopenia (39%), and skin rash (30%). No grade 3 or higher esophagitis or pneumonitis occured. Twenty patients underwent surgery, and 11 achieved pCR (55%). Two patients (10%) experienced grade IIIb surgical complications. At the database lock, a 2-year PFS rate of 63.8% (95% CI 43.4% to 84.2%) and 2-year OS rate was 78% (95% CI 64.9% to 91.1%) were achieved. Tumor immune microenvironment analysis indicated that tumors with pCR exhibited significantly higher pretreatment T-cell-inflamed score and post-treatment reshaping of antitumor immunity.Conclusions Combining short-course neoadjuvant radiotherapy with chemotherapy and toripalimab demonstrated favorable safety and promising efficacy in RLaESCC patients.Trial registration number ChiCTR2100045104.

Abstract Background Although evidence has revealed that miR-200a-3p is involved in the malignant progression of various tumors, the regulatory mechanism of miR-200a-3p in the development of cervical cancer (CC) cells with different HPV statuses remains unknown. The present study was to investigate the differential effects of either miR-200a-3p or YAP on tumorous cells’ fate in vitro in HPV-negative and HPV-positive cervical cancer cell models, and to explore if the changes in proliferation, migration, and invasion of the CC cells with different HPV statuses could be attributed to the differential interactions between miR-200a-3p and YAP. Methods The colony formation assays, EDU assays and Transwell assays were performed for CC cell proliferation, migration and invasion capacities analysis. The prediction of downstream targets of miR-200a-3p was performed by bioinformatical databases. The dual-luciferase reporter assays were used to validate the binding sites of miR-200a-3p and YAP. The qRT-PCR assays were performed to quantify the mRNA expression of miR-200a-3p and YAP, and the protein levels of YAP were examined by Western blot analysis. Results The results demonstrated that miR-200a-3p overexpression suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion of the HPV-negative C33A cells but promoted the growth and metastasis of HPV-positive CC cells, while YAP promoted the cell growth and metastasis not only in HPV-negative but also in the HPV-positive CC cells. The suppressive role of miR-200a-3p in C33A cells appeared to be mediated partially by direct interaction with YAP, and YAP might participate in miR-200a-3p-mediated cellular changes in CC cells differing from not only the presence or absence of HPV but even also the subtypes of HPV of CC cells. Meanwhile, we preliminarily revealed that the expression level of miR-200a-3p was significantly decreased in HPV-negative, but not in HPV16-positive cervical neoplasm mucus samples. Conclusion miR-200a-3p-mediated functional changes of YAP exhibited regulatory effects on cells’ fate differentially in HPV-negative and HPV-positive cervical cancer cells.

The dynamic brain network can reflect time-varying changes of the BLOD signal fluctuations, and has been widely used in the research of brain diseases identification. This network consists of a set of connection matrices, where each connection matrix represents the relationship between brain regions under a certain period. Researchers often convert these matrices into vectors, and then use the K-means clustering method to divide these matrices into different brain states according to their vector-based distances. Through analyzing these states, they can identify some brain abnormalities. However, simply using the vector-based distances may lead to two problems: 1) it ignores the topological properties and underlying mechanisms of brain networks, and 2) it never considers individual differences between subjects. Hence, to solve these two problems, we propose a novel method, called GK-BSC, for constructing brain states with dynamic brain networks. Specifically, we first use the graph kernel rather than the vector-based distances to measure the similarities between connection matrices of the dynamic brain network. Then, we aggregate these matrices to generate brain states based on these calculated similarities. This aggregation operation is sustained several times on one subject, whereby each subject is represented by a set of hierarchical brain states. Finally, we extract features from these states, and feed them into the multi-instance support vector machine (MI-SVM) for identifying patients. Experiments on a real schizophrenia dataset suggest that our method not only improves the performance of schizophrenia identification, but also accurately locates the brain abnormalities.

Abstract To examine the feasibility of quantitative dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) in the early assessment of the therapeutic response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in esophageal cancer (EC) patients and to determine its value in predicting HIF‐1α expression. EC patients underwent DCE‐MRI 1 week pre‐CRT and 3 weeks post‐CRT (3w‐CRT). According to tumor regression post‐treatment, patients were divided into sensitive group (SG) and resistant group (RG). HIF‐1α expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Quantitative parameters (ktrans, kep, and ve) were compared between the SG and RG groups, as well as between the HIF‐1α(+) and HIF‐1α(−) groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to detect the best predictor of the above parameters in the therapeutic response and in predicting HIF‐1α expression. Totally 34 and 5 patients were included in the SG and RG, respectively. Pre‐ktrans and pre‐kep were decreased significantly in the SG at 3w‐CRT (p

Abstract Background Ischemic stroke poses a severe risk to human health worldwide, and currently, clinical therapies for the disease are limited. Delta opioid receptor (DOR)-mediated neuroprotective effects against ischemia have attracted increasing attention in recent years. Our previous studies revealed that DOR activation by [d-Ala2, d-Leu5] enkephalin (DADLE), a selective DOR agonist, can promote hippocampal neuronal survival on day 3 after ischemia. However, the specific molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the DOR-induced improvements in ischemic neuronal survival remain unclear. Results We first detected the cytoprotective effects of DADLE in an oxygen–glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R) model and observed increased viability of OGD/R SH-SY5Y neuronal cells. We also evaluated changes in the DOR level following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and DADLE treatment and found that DADLE increased DOR levels after ischemia in vivo and vitro. The effects of DOR activation on postischemic autophagy were then investigated, and the results of the animal experiment showed that DOR activation by DADLE enhanced autophagy after ischemia, as indicated by elevated LC3 II/I levels and reduced P62 levels. Furthermore, the DOR-mediated protective effects on ischemic CA1 neurons were abolished by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Moreover, the results of the cell experiments revealed that DOR activation not only augmented autophagy after OGD/R injury but also alleviated autophagic flux dysfunction. The molecular pathway underlying DOR-mediated autophagy under ischemic conditions was subsequently studied, and the in vivo and vitro data showed that DOR activation elevated autophagy postischemia by triggering the AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 signaling pathway, while the addition of the AMPK inhibitor compound C eliminated the protective effects of DOR against I/R injury. Conclusion DADLE-evoked DOR activation enhanced neuronal autophagy through activating the AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 signaling pathway to improve neuronal survival and exert neuroprotective effects against ischemia.

Strontium marking technology is commonly used for extensive marking in stock enhancement and releasing activities. In order to explore the feasibility of this technology for juvenile Takifugu obscurus, five different concentrations of strontium (0, 12, 18, 36, and 72 mg/L) were set up by strontium chloride hexahydrate (SrCl2·6H2O) and T. obscurus were immersed for 7 days. Then, T. obscurus were reared in non-additive water for 25 days. The results showed that the survival rate of all groups was 100%, except the 72 mg/L group, after 7 days of immersion. Moreover, the growths of all the marked groups were better than that of the control group. There was no significant difference between the control and marked groups, except for the 18 mg/L group, indicating that the appropriate concentration of strontium might have positive effect for T. obscurus. The strontium to calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios of otoliths in the marked groups increased with increasing concentration and time, which were higher than the baseline, respectively. Then, the Sr/Ca ratios returned to the original level, but the peak value was still retained, suggesting that the success rate of the strontium marking reached 100%. Notably, the residual strontium content of 18 mg/L group was insufficient for causing negative effects for T. obscurus after 25 days. Therefore, in consideration of the growth, survival, and effect of strontium marking on otolith, 18 mg/L is an appropriate concentration for strontium marking of juvenile T. obscurus. This study confirmed the feasibility of strontium marking for T. obscurus and provided a new approach to rationally and scientifically evaluate the stock enhancement and releasing efficiency of T. obscurus.

Global cerebral ischemia induced by cardiac arrest usually leads to poor neurological outcomes. Numerous studies have focused on ways to prevent ischemic damage in the brain, however clinical therapies are still limited. Our previous studies revealed that delta opioid receptor (DOR) activation with [d-Ala2, d-Leu5] enkephalin (DADLE), a DOR agonist, not only significantly promotes neuronal survival on day 3, but also improves spatial memory deficits on days 5-9 after ischemia. However, the neurological mechanism underlying DADLE-induced cognitive recovery remains unclear. This study first examined the changes in neuronal survival in the CA1 region at the advanced time point (day 7) after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and found a significant amelioration of damaged CA1 neurons in the rats treated with DADLE (2.5 nmol) when administered at the onset of reperfusion. The structure and function of CA1 neurons on days 3 and 7 post-ischemia showed significant improvements in both the density of the injured dendritic spines and the basic transmission of the impaired CA3-CA1 synapses following DADLE treatment. The molecular changes involved in DADLE-mediated synaptic modulation on days 3 and 7 post-ischemia implied the time-related differential regulation of PKCα-MARCKS on the dendritic spine structure and of BDNF- ERK1/2-synapsin I on synaptic function, in response to ischemic/reperfusion injury as well as to DADLE treatment. Importantly, all the beneficial effects of DADLE on ischemia-induced cellular, synaptic, and molecular deficits were eliminated by the DOR inhibitor naltrindole (2.5 nmol). Taken together, this study suggested that DOR activation-induced protective signaling pathways of PKCα-MARCKS involved in the synaptic morphology and BDNF-ERK-synapsin I in synaptic transmission may be engaged in the cognitive recovery in rats suffering from advanced cerebral ischemia.

Objective To identify the factors influencing early recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative resection. Methods Clinical data for 99 patients with HCC undergoing curative resection were analyzed. The clinicopathological factors influencing early recurrence were analyzed by Cox regression. Results Twenty-five of 99 patients (25.3%) suffered from early recurrence. There were significant differences between patients with and without recurrence in terms of tumor diameter, tumor capsular integrity, and preoperative alpha fetoprotein level. Cox regression analysis revealed that a tumor diameter >2.6 cm and preoperatively increased total bilirubin (TBL) level were risk factors for postoperative recurrence, while tumor capsular integrity had a protective effect on postoperative recurrence. After adjusting for preoperative TBL level and tumor capsular integrity, the risk of HCC recurrence was markedly increased in line with increasing tumor diameter in a non-linear manner. Conclusion Tumor diameter >2.6 cm and preoperatively increased TBL level are associated with a higher risk of early recurrence after curative resection in patients with HCC, while tumor capsular integrity is associated with a lower risk of early recurrence.

Drug-resistant pathogens have presented increasing challenges to the discovery and development of new antibacterial agents. The type III secretion system (T3SS), existing in bacterial chromosomes or plasmids, is one of the most complicated protein secretion systems. T3SSs of animal and plant pathogens possess many highly conserved main structural components comprised of about 20 proteins. Many Gram-negative bacteria carry T3SS as a major virulence determinant, and using the T3SS, the bacteria secrete and inject effector proteins into target host cells, triggering disease symptoms. Therefore, T3SS has emerged as an attractive target for antimicrobial therapeutics. In recent years, many T3SS-targeting small-molecule inhibitors have been discovered; these inhibitors prevent the bacteria from injecting effector proteins and from causing pathophysiology in host cells. Targeting the virulence of Gram-negative pathogens, rather than their survival, is an innovative and promising approach that may greatly reduce selection pressures on pathogens to develop drug-resistant mutations. This article summarizes recent progress in the search for promising small-molecule T3SS inhibitors that target the secretion and translocation of bacterial effector proteins.

Voice production occurs through vocal cord and vibration coupled to glottal airflow. Vocal cord lesions affect the vocal system and lead to voice disorders. In this paper, a pathological voice source analysis system is designed. This study integrates nonlinear dynamics with an optimized asymmetric two-mass model to explore nonlinear characteristics of vocal cord vibration, and changes in acoustic parameters, such as fundamental frequency, caused by distinct subglottal pressure and varying degrees of vocal cord paralysis are analyzed. Various samples of sustained vowel /a/ of normal and pathological voices were extracted from MEEI (Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) database. A fitting procedure combining genetic particle swarm optimization and a quasi-Newton method was developed to optimize the biomechanical model parameters and match the targeted voice source. Experimental results validate the applicability of the proposed model to reproduce vocal cord vibration with high accuracy, and show that paralyzed vocal cord increases the model coupling stiffness.

This paper presents a flux-modulated direct drive (FMDD) motor. The key is to integrate the magnetic gear with the PM motor while removing the gear inner-rotor. Hence, the proposed FMDD motor can achieve the low-speed high-torque output and high-speed compact design requirements as well as high-torque density with a simple structure. The output power equation is analytically derived. By using finite element analysis (FEA), the static characteristics of the proposed motor are obtained. Based on these characteristics, the system mathematical model can be established. Hence, the evaluation of system performances is conducted by computer simulation using the Matlab/Simulink. A prototype is designed and built for experimentation. Experimental results are given to verify the theoretical analysis and simulation.

Abstract Polyomavirus enhancer activator 3 (PEA3), an ETS transcription factor, has been documented to regulate the development and metastasis of human cancers. Nonetheless, a thorough analysis examining the relationship between the PEA3 subfamily members and tumour development, prognosis, and the tumour microenvironment (TME) across various cancer types has not yet been conducted. The expression profiles and prognostic significance of the PEA3 subfamily were evaluated using data from the GEO, TCGA, and PrognoScan databases, in conjunction with COX regression analyses and the Kaplan–Meier Plotter. Furthermore, the relationships between PEA3 subfamily expression, stemness scores, tumor microenvironments, immune subtypes, and drug susceptibility across multiple cancer types were explored. We found that ETV1, ETV4 and ETV5 are highly expressed in cancer, and their biological functions are synergistic. In the prognostic analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas, the PEA3 subfamily genes were found to be associated with the prognosis of multiple cancers such as Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), etc., and marked a worse prognosis at different endpoints. In addition, it was significantly correlated with the stromal and immune scores of pan-cancer, and also significantly associated with the RNA stemness score and DNA stemness score of pan-cancer. Expression levels of the PEA3 subfamily genes correlate with immune subtypes of LIHC, LUAD, and Lung squamous cell carcinoma. We also found a variety of drugs with positive and negative associations of ETV1, ETV4 and ETV5. These findings elucidate the role of the PEA3 subfamily gene as a biomarker for carcinogenesis and cancer progression, offering valuable insights for future research into the PEA3 subfamily gene as a potential therapeutic target across various cancer types.

Abstract In situ exploration of the dynamic structure evolution of catalysts plays a key role in revealing reaction mechanisms and designing efficient catalysts. In this work, PtCu/MgO catalysts, synthesized via the co-impregnation method, outperforms monometallic Pt/MgO and Cu/MgO. Utilizing quasi/in-situ characterization techniques, it is discovered that there is an obvious structural evolution over PtCu/MgO from Pt x Cu y O z oxide cluster to PtCu alloy with surface CuO x species under different redox and CO oxidation reaction conditions. The synergistic effect between PtCu alloy and CuO x species enables good CO oxidation activity through the regulation of CO adsorption and O2 dissociation. At low temperatures, CO oxidation is predominantly catalyzed by surface CuO x species via the Mars-van Krevelen mechanism, in which CuO x can provide abundant active oxygen species. As the reaction temperature increases, both surface CuO x species and PtCu alloy collaborate to activate gaseous oxygen, facilitating CO oxidation mainly through the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism.

Abstract Mask-free multi-photon lithography enables the fabrication of arbitrary nanostructures low cost and more accessible than conventional lithography. A major challenge for multi-photon lithography is to achieve ultra-high precision and desirable lateral resolution due to the inevitable optical diffraction barrier and proximity effect. Here, we show a strategy, light and matter co-confined multi-photon lithography, to overcome the issues via combining photo-inhibition and chemical quenchers. We deeply explore the quenching mechanism and photoinhibition mechanism for light and matter co-confined multiphoton lithography. Besides, mathematical modeling helps us better understand that the synergy of quencher and photo-inhibition can gain a narrowest distribution of free radicals. By using light and matter co-confined multiphoton lithography, we gain a 30 nm critical dimension and 100 nm lateral resolution, which further decrease the gap with conventional lithography.

Summary: Monoacylglycerol acyltransferase-2 (MOGAT2), encodes MOGAT enzyme in the re-synthesis of triacylglycerol and protects from metabolism disorders. While, its precise involvement in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression remains inadequately understood. Our study demonstrated that knockout of Mogat2 in Apcmin/+ mice expedited intestinal tumor growth and progression, indicating that Mogat2 plays a tumor-suppressing role in CRC. Mechanically, Mogat2 deletion resulted in a significant alter the gut microbiota, while Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) experiments demonstrated that the gut microbiota in Mogat2 deleted mice promoted tumor growth. Furthermore, we identified Mogat2 as a functional regulator suppressing CRC cell proliferation and tumor growth by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway in vivo. Collectively, these results provide novel insights into the protective double roles of Mogat2, inhibiting of NF-κB pathway and keeping gut microbiota homeostasis in colorectal cancer, which may help the development of novel cancer treatments for CRC.

As an upright tree with multifunctional economic application, Machilus pauhoi is an excellent choice in modern forestry from Lauraceae. The growth characteristics is of great significance for its molecular breeding and improvement. However, there still lack the information of WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) and Auxin response factor (ARF) gene family, which were reported as specific transcription factors in plant growth as well as auxin signaling. Here, a total of sixteen MpWOX and twenty-one MpARF genes were identified from the genome of M. pauhoi. Though member of WOX conserved in the Lauraceae, MpWOX and MpARF genes were unevenly distributed on 12 chromosomes as a result of region duplication. These genes presented 45 and 142 miRNA editing sites, respectively, reflecting a potential post-transcriptional restrain. Overall, MpWOX4, MpWOX13a, MpWOX13b, MpARF6b, MpARF6c, and MpARF19a were highly co-expressed in the vascular cambium, forming a working mode as WOX-ARF complex. MpWOXs contains typical AuxRR-core and TGA-element cis-acting regulatory elements in this auxin signaling linkage. In addition, under IAA and NPA treatments, MpARF2a and MpWOX1a was highly sensitive to IAA response, showing significant changes after 6 hours of treatment. And MpWOX1a was significantly inhibited by NPA treatment. Through all these solid analysis, our findings provide a genetic foundation to growth mechanism analysis and further molecular designing breeding in Machilus pauhoi.

Abstract Traditionally, the clinical evaluation of respiratory diseases was pulmonary function testing, which can be used for the detection of severity and prognosis through pulmonary function parameters. However, this method is limited by the complex process, which is impossible for patients to monitor daily. In order to evaluate pulmonary function parameters conveniently with less time and location restrictions, cough sound is the substitute parameter. In this paper, 371 cough sounds segments from 150 individuals were separated into 309 and 62 as the training and test samples. Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) was applied to transform cough sound into spectrogram, and ResNet50 model was used to extract 2048-dimensional features. Through support vector regression (SVR) model with biological attributes, the data were regressed with pulmonary function parameters, FEV1, FEV1%, FEV1/FVC, FVC, FVC%, and the performance of this models was evaluated with fivefold cross-validation. Combines with deep learning and machine learning technologies, the better results in the case of small samples were achieved. Using the coefficient of determination (R2), the ResNet50 + SVR model shows best performance in five basic pulmonary function parameters evaluation as FEV1(0.94), FEV1%(0.84), FEV1/FVC(0.68), FVC(0.92), and FVC%(0.72). This ResNet50 + SVR hybrid model shows excellent evaluation of pulmonary function parameters during coughing, making it possible to realize a simple and rapid evaluation for pneumonia patients. The technology implemented in this paper is beneficial in judge the patient's condition, realize early screening of respiratory diseases, evaluate postoperative disease changes and detect respiratory infectious diseases without time and location restrictions.

A simple and innovative method was introduced for the production of green and recoverable flame-retardant cotton fabrics, where sulfonated cotton fabric (COT-SC) was synthesized by oxidizing cotton fabric with sodium periodate, followed by a sulfonation step with sodium bisulfite to provide active sites, which further chelated barium ions (Ba2+) to achieve flame retardancy. The morphological and structural characterizations of the fabricated cotton fabrics (COT-SC-Ba) demonstrated that the cleavage of C2-C3 free hydroxy groups within the cellulose macromolecule was chemically modified for grafting a considerable number of sulfonic acid groups, and Ba2+ ions were effectively immobilized on the macromolecule of the cotton fabric through a chelation effect. Results from cone calorimeter tests (CCTs) revealed that COT-SC-Ba became nonflammable, displayed a delayed ignition time, and decreased the values of the heat release rate (HRR), total smoke release (TSR), effective heat of combustion (EHC), and CO/CO2 ratio. TG/DTG analysis demonstrated that COT-SC-Ba possessed greater thermal stability, fewer flammable volatiles, and more of a char layer during burning than that of the original cotton fabric. Its residual mass was increased from 0.02% to 26.9% in air and from 8.05% to 26.76% in N2, respectively. The COT-SC-Ba not only possessed a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of up to 34.4% but could also undergo vertical burning tests evidenced by results such as the non-afterflame, non-afterglow, and a mere 75 mm char length. Those results demonstrated that the combination of SO3− and Ba2+ promoted the formation of a char layer. Moreover, cotton fabric regained its superior flame retardancy after being washed and re-chelated with Ba2+. Additional characteristics of the cotton fabric, such as the rupture strength, white degree, and hygroscopicity, were maintained at an acceptable level. In conclusion, this research can offer a fresh perspective on the design and development of straightforward, efficient, eco-friendly, and recoverable fire-retardant fabrics.

In light of the crucial role of collaborative R&D in advancing technology within the new energy vehicle industry, this study seeks to explore ways to overcome the barriers to technological innovation by establishing an effective collaborative innovation network. Utilizing joint patent-authorized data from China’s new energy vehicles between 2005 and 2019, the collaborative innovation network was developed, and the Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM) was employed to analyze its formation and evolution mechanisms. The results indicate that the network has undergone significant expansion, closely linked to strong national policy support and the active involvement of innovation participants. The network exhibits effects of expansion, transfer, and closure. External attribute analysis revealed the Matthew effect and geographical compatibility effect and found that organizational compatibility tends to foster complementary cooperation. The findings offer insights into optimizing collaborative innovation networks in the NEVs industry and suggest strategies for policymakers and industry players to promote collaborative innovation.

Female pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common condition, which has a high recurrence rate after reconstructive surgery, and the risk factors for POP recurrence are unclear. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to determine risk factors for POP recurrence. A thorough search of PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database was conducted for relevant publications until 29 October 2022, without language restrictions. A total of 29 studies involving 6597 patients were included, and the recurrence rate of POP after surgery was 37.7%. Significant OR and CI were found for levator avulsion (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.80–3.36), preoperative stage ≥ III (OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.53–2.27), hiatal area on Valsalva manoeuvre (OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03–1.12) and previous pelvic floor surgery (OR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.07–2.39). Levator avulsion, preoperative stage ≥ III, hiatal area on Valsalva manoeuvre and previous pelvic floor surgery are significant risk factors for POP recurrence.IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? It has been reported that genetic factors, parity, obesity, birth-induced injury during delivery, etc. are risk factors for POP development and recurrence after operation. What do the results of this study add? There are few literatures about the risk factors of POP recurrence at present. Our research has increased the information regarding risk factors for POP recurrence. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Our study provides an overview of the risk factors affecting POP recurrence and their contribution (OR, CI) to POP recurrence, which provides valuable evidence-based basis for clinical decision-making in POP treatment and prevention of POP recurrence.

Abstract Returning straw to the field is an effective method for optimizing the soil phosphorus (P) availability, in which bacteria play an important role. However, the effects of various straw incorporation strategies on P transformation between different soil P pools remain unclear. In this study, variations in soil P fractions, phosphatase activities and the abundance of phosphatase genes (phoD, phoX and phoC) as well as a P‐solubilizing gene (pqqC) at DNA (total) and cDNA (transcribed) levels were analysed in three straw incorporation treatments, including chopped straw (StrawD), straw compost (Compost) and straw‐derived biochar (Biochar), and control (no straw, CK). Compared with the CK, the moderately labile inorganic P (NaOH I‐Pi) content significantly decreased and the non‐available P (Residual P) content significantly increased in the StrawD treatment. At the same time, phosphodiesterase (PD) activity and the transcribed phoC and phoX genes as well as total pqqC gene abundance significantly increased in the StrawD treatment, suggesting that the input of chopped straw stimulated P transformations from both organic and inorganic P pools. In addition, the stable Pi (NaOH II‐Pi) content and total pqqC gene abundance in the Biochar treatment were significantly higher than that in the CK, indicating that the input of biochar increased the NaOH II‐Pi that could release available P by Pi‐solubilizing bacteria. In comparison to the CK, the Compost input significantly decreased one labile Pi (resin‐Pi) only. However, its P fractions were significantly different from that of CK, Biochar and StrawD treatments, suggesting that the effects of compost input on P should not be ignored. In conclusion, chopped straw input increased soil P transformation but not available P, biochar input may promote inorganic P transformation, and compost input has a latent effect on P transformation. The study provided a comprehensive understanding of straw incorporation strategies for regulating soil P availability.

Background: and Purpose: As the number of international students from Belt and Road Initiative countries continues to increase in China, it is essential to find methods to improve cross-cultural adaptation in the host country, a crucial aspect of the experiences of international nursing students. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the change in cross-cultural adaptation of international nursing students during the first year in China. Methods: Data collection was conducted for international nursing students (n = 108) between September 2019 and August 2020, focusing on sociocultural adaptation, academic adaptation, and academic performance of international nursing students using validated questionnaires. Results: The mean score at the follow-up time verified an increased level of sociocultural and academic adaptation and academic performance. Academic adaptation is a complete mediator between sociocultural adaptation and academic performance at two-time points, and the size of the mediation effect accounted for 95.9 % of the total effect in six months and 99.0 % in one year. Conclusions: The findings emphasized the importance of sociocultural and academic adaptation in cross-cultural adaptation and suggest that educational institutions should provide learning environments supporting these factors to ensure academic success.

Neuropathic pain (NP) is pain caused by damage to the somatosensory system. It is a common progressive neurodegenerative disease that usually presents with clinical features such as spontaneous pain, touch-evoked pain, nociceptive hyperalgesia, and sensory abnormalities. Due to the complexity of the mechanism, NP often persists. In addition to the traditionally recognized mechanisms of peripheral nerve damage and central sensitization, excessive iron accumulation, oxidative stress, neuronal inflammation, and lipid peroxidation damage are distinctive features of NP in pathophysiology. However, the mechanisms linking these pathological features to NP are not fully understood. The complexity of the pathogenesis of NP greatly limits the development of therapeutic approaches for NP. Ferroptosis is a novel form of cell death discovered in recent years, in which cell death is usually accompanied by massive iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Ferroptosis-inducing factors can affect glutathione peroxidase directly or indirectly through different pathways, leading to decreased antioxidant capacity and accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, ultimately leading to oxidative cell death. It has been shown that ferroptosis is closely related to the pathophysiological process of many neurological disorders such as NP. Possible mechanisms involved are changes in intracellular iron ion levels, alteration of glutamate excitability, and the onset of oxidative stress. However, the functional changes and specific molecular mechanisms of ferroptosis during this process still need to be further explored. How to intervene in the development of NP by regulating cellular ferroptosis has become a hot issue in etiological research and treatment. In this review, we systematically summarize the recent progress of ferroptosis research in NP, to provide a reference for further understanding of its pathogenesis and propose new targets for treatment.

Food safety inspections are an essential aspect of food safety monitoring. Rapid, accurate, and low-cost food analysis can considerably increase the efficiency of food safety inspections. The lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA) technique has recently grown in popularity due to its ease of use and high efficiency. It is currently commonly utilized in food inspection. In this review, we briefly introduce the principle and classification of LFIA, critically discuss the recent application status of LFIA in food contaminantion detection, and finally propose that artificial intelligence and information technology will further advance the development of LFIA in the field of food safety monitoring.

Adding light stabilizers to polymeric materials can inhibit or delay the light aging effect and improve the light resistance of materials. 2-(2′-Hydroxy-5′-methylphenyl) benzotriazole (UV-P), as a typical benzotriazole ultraviolet absorber, is widely used in various polymer synthetic materials and products owning to its outstanding oil resistance, color change resistance and low volatility. Currently, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to develop an environmentally friendly method to produce UV-P. Here, we introduce ionic liquids, tetra-butyl ammonium hydroxide, into the palladium-based catalyst, design a “transfer hydrogenation site - alkaline site” duel active center system, and investigate the physical and chemical properties and possible mechanism of this bifunction catalyst system. Such heterogeneous catalytic transfer hydrogenation method can remain 100% conversion and 93.86% selectivity. This bifunction catalyst also shows an outstanding stability when it was used for ten times, proving a green and efficient transfer hydrogenation method for the synthesis of UV-P.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most familiar primary hepatic malignancy with a poor prognosis. The incidence of HCC and the associated deaths have risen in recent decades. Sorafenib is the first drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for routine use in the first-line therapy of patients with advanced HCC. However, only about 30% of patients with HCC will be benefited from sorafenib therapy, and drug resistance typically develops within 6 months. In recent years, the mechanisms of resistance to sorafenib have gained the attention of a growing number of researchers. A promising field of current studies is ferroptosis, which is a novel form of cell death differing from apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy. This process is dependent on the accumulation of intracellular iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, the increase in intracellular iron levels and ROS can be significantly observed in cells resistant to sorafenib. This article reviews the mechanisms of resistance to sorafenib that are related to ferroptosis, evaluates the relationship between ferroptosis and sorafenib resistance, and explores new therapeutic approaches capable of reversing sorafenib resistance in HCC through the modulation of ferroptosis.

Supply Chain Finance (SCF) refers to the financial service in which banks rely on core enterprises to manage the capital flow and logistics of upstream and downstream enterprises. SCF adopts a self-testing and closed-loop credit model to control funds and risks. The key factor in a successful SCF service is the deployment of SCF business-oriented information systems that allow businesses to form partnerships efficiently and expedite cash flows throughout the supply chain. Blockchain Technology (BCT), featuring decentralization, tamper-proofing, traceability, which is usually paired with the Internet of Things (IoT) in real-world contexts, has been widely adopted in the field of finance and is perfectly positioned to facilitate innovative collaborations among participants in supply chain networks. In this paper, we propose a BCT and IoT-based information management framework (named BC4Regu), which works as the regulatory to improve the information transparency in the business process of SCF. With BC4Regu, the operation cost of the whole supply chain can be significantly reduced through the coordination and integration of capital flow, information flow, logistics and trade flow in the supply chain. The contributions in this paper include: (1) proposing a novel information management framework which leverages Blockchain and IoT to solve the problem of information asymmetry in the trade of SCF; (2) proposing the technical design of BC4Regu, including the Blockchain infrastructure, distributed ledger-based integrated data flow service, and reshaped SCF process; and (3) applying BC4Regu to a group of scenarios and conducting theoretical analysis by introducing the principal-agent model to validate the BC4Regu.

Abstract Background The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 continues to pose a serious threat to human health and social. The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made a serious threat to public health and economic stability worldwide. Given the urgency of the situation, researchers are attempting to repurpose existing drugs for treating COVID-19. Methods We first established an anti-coronavirus drug screening platform based on the Homogeneous Time Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) technology and the interaction between the coronavirus spike protein and its host receptor ACE2. Two compound libraries of 2,864 molecules were screened with this platform. Selected candidate compounds were validated by SARS-CoV-2_S pseudotyped lentivirus and ACE2-overexpressing cell system. Molecular docking was used to analyze the interaction between S protein and compounds. Results We identified three potential anti-coronavirus compounds: tannic acid (TA), TS-1276 (anthraquinone), and TS-984 (9-Methoxycanthin-6-one). Our in vitro validation experiments indicated that TS-984 strongly inhibits the interaction of the coronavirus S protein and the human cell ACE2 receptor. Additionally, tannic acid showed moderate inhibitory effect on the interaction of S protein and ACE2. Conclusion This platform is a rapid, sensitive, specific, and high throughput system, and available for screening large compound libraries. TS-984 is a potent blocker of the interaction between the S-protein and ACE2, which might have the potential to be developed into an effective anti-coronavirus drug.