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A novel powered ankle–foot prosthesis is designed. The effect of wearing the novel prosthesis and an energy-storage-and-return (ESAR) foot on lower-limb biomechanics is investigated to preliminarily evaluate the design. With necessary auxiliary materials, a non-amputated subject (a rookie at using prostheses) is recruited to walk on level ground with an ESAR and the novel powered prostheses separately. The results of the stride characteristics, the ground reaction force (GRF) components, kinematics, and kinetics in the sagittal plane are compared. Wearing the powered prosthesis has less prolongation of the gait cycle on the unaffected side than wearing the ESAR foot. Wearing ESAR or proposed powered prostheses influences the GRF, kinematics, and kinetics on the affected and unaffected sides to some extent. Thereinto, the knee moment on the affected side is influenced most. Regarding normal walking as the reference, among the total of 15 indexes, the influences of wearing the proposed powered prosthesis on six indexes on the affected side (ankle's/knee's/hip's angles, hip's moment, and Z- and X-axis GRF components) and five indexes on the unaffected side (ankle's/knee's/hip's angles and ankle's/hip's moments) are slighter than those of wearing the ESAR foot. The influences of wearing the powered prosthesis on two indexes on the unaffected side (knee's moment and X-axis GRF component) are similar to those of wearing the ESAR foot. The greatest improvement of wearing the powered prosthesis is to provide further plantarflexion after reaching the origin of the ankle joint before toe-off, which means that the designed powered device can provide further propulsive power for the lifting of the human body's centre of gravity during walking on level ground. The results demonstrate that wearing the novel powered ankle–foot prosthesis benefits the rookie in recovering the normal gait more than wearing the ESAR foot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 2D In 2 O 3 is decorated on 2D BiOBr to form a Z-scheme heterojunction. • This work achieves improved internal electric field and charge separation. • The B 3 I 1 composite exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity. • The mechanism of photocatalytic CO 2 reduction into CO is proposed. CO 2 photocatalytic reduction is an excellent strategy for promoting solar-to-chemical energy conversion and alleviating the severe environmental crisis. In this study, 2D indium oxide (IO) is decorated on 2D bismuth oxybromide (BOB) nanosheets to gain BOB/IO (B x I y) heterojunction. The optimal B 3 I 1 composite affords a CO production rate of 54.2 μmol⋅g−1, about 2.2 times and 11.3 times higher than those of the pristine BOB and IO, respectively. The introduction of IO significantly enhances the internal electric field (IEF), leading to accelerated charge transfer and prolonged lifetime of the photogenerated carriers. In the B x I y composite, the BOB and IO serve as the electron acceptor and donor, respectively, facilitating the reduction of CO 2 and oxidation of H 2 O. In-situ DRIFTs spectra are used to confirm the catalytic active sites and provide insights into the mechanism of CO 2 photoreduction. The results suggest *COOH and *CO 2 – species played a crucial role in the formation of CO. This work presents a valuable perspective on understanding the charge transfer route and developing highly efficient photocatalysts for CO 2 photoreduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusion\nCLINICAL SIGNIFICANCEAberrant DNA methylation has been identified as biomarkers for breast cancer detection. Coiled-coil domain containing 12 gene (CCDC12) implicated in tumorigenesis. This study aims to investigate the potential of blood-based CCDC12 methylation for breast cancer detection.DNA methylation level of CpG sites (Cytosine-phosphate Guanine dinucleotides) in CCDC12 gene was measured by mass spectrometry in 255 breast cancer patients, 155 patients with benign breast nodules and 302 healthy controls. The association between CCDC12 methylation and breast cancer risk was evaluated by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.A total of eleven CpG sites were analyzed. The CCDC12 methylation levels were higher in breast cancer patients. Compared to the lowest tertile of methylation level in CpG_6,7, CpG_10 and CpG_11, the highest quartile was associated with 82, 91 and 95% increased breast cancer risk, respectively. The CCDC12 methylation levels were associated with estrogen receptor (ER) and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) status. In ER-negative and HER2-positive (ER-/HER2+) breast cancer subtype, the combination of four sites CpG_2, CpG_5, CpG_6,7 and CpG_11 methylation levels could distinguish ER−/HER2+ breast cancer from the controls (AUC = 0.727).The hypermethylation levels of CCDC12 in peripheral blood could be used for breast cancer detection.Breast cancer detection could be facilitated by novel blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers.The methylation levels of CpG sites in CCDC12 were higher in breast cancer than those in controls.The combination of four sites CpG_2, CpG_5, CpG_6,7 and CpG_11 methylation levels could distinguish ER-/HER2+ breast cancer subtype from the controls.Breast cancer detection could be facilitated by novel blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers.The methylation levels of CpG sites in CCDC12 were higher in breast cancer than those in controls.The combination of four sites CpG_2, CpG_5, CpG_6,7 and CpG_11 methylation levels could distinguish ER-/HER2+ breast cancer subtype from the controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper presents a subthreshold CMOS voltage reference (VR) that utilizes self‐biased circuits. This voltage reference includes temperature compensation circuits to expand its operating temperature range and reduce its temperature coefficient. The proposed CMOS voltage reference is designed using a standard 0.18‐μm CMOS process and has a small area of only 0.005 mm2. Post‐layout simulation results demonstrate that the power consumption of the circuit at room temperature (25°C) is only 1.65 nW at a power supply voltage of 1 V. In this case, the voltage reference output is 316.56 mV, with an average temperature coefficient (TC) of 11.14 ppm/°C in a wide temperature range from −40°C to 140°C. Furthermore, the line sensitivity (LS) of the circuit is 0.024%/V, and the power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) of the circuit is −86.5 dB at 10 Hz. In summary, the subthreshold CMOS voltage reference structure proposed in this paper demonstrates excellent performance characteristics, such as low power consumption, a small area, and high‐temperature stability. These features make it a promising candidate for voltage reference for low‐power applications with significant changes in environmental temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Evaporation and solution two-step hybrid process are used to fabricate conformal growth of perovskite film on textured silicon substrates. F-PMAI additive enlarged the perovskite grains, induced the (111) preferred orientation and passivated interface defects. We obtained a champion efficiency of 30.05% for a monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell based on a silicon thin film tunneling junction. Monolithic textured perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells (TSCs) are expected to achieve maximum light capture at the lowest cost, potentially exhibiting the best power conversion efficiency. However, it is challenging to fabricate high-quality perovskite films and preferred crystal orientation on commercially textured silicon substrates with micrometer-size pyramids. Here, we introduced a bulky organic molecule (4-fluorobenzylamine hydroiodide (F-PMAI)) as a perovskite additive. It is found that F-PMAI can retard the crystallization process of perovskite film through hydrogen bond interaction between F− and FA+ and reduce (111) facet surface energy due to enhanced adsorption energy of F-PMAI on the (111) facet. Besides, the bulky molecular is extruded to the bottom and top of perovskite film after crystal growth, which can passivate interface defects through strong interaction between F-PMA+ and undercoordinated Pb2+/I−. As a result, the additive facilitates the formation of large perovskite grains and (111) preferred orientation with a reduced trap-state density, thereby promoting charge carrier transportation, and enhancing device performance and stability. The perovskite/silicon TSCs achieved a champion efficiency of 30.05% based on a silicon thin film tunneling junction. In addition, the devices exhibit excellent long-term thermal and light stability without encapsulation. This work provides an effective strategy for achieving efficient and stable TSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four kinds of polypyrrole-thiophene derivatives (PPy-Th) are prepared via solution polycondensation using pyrrole, 3-acylpyrrole, and 2-thenaldehyde as monomers. The structure, molecular weight, micromorphology, thermal degradation, ultraviolet-visible absorption, and luminescence performance of the derivatives are investigated by fourier transform infrared (FTIR), hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis), and fluorescence spectra. FTIR and 1HNMR confirm that the derivatives have been successfully fabricated, and GPC indicates that the derivatives belong to oligomers with narrow molecular weight distribution. For acyl-substituted derivatives, the microstructures are mainly lamellar accumulation. Furthermore, under ultraviolet excitation, the derivatives can produce blue or green light emission, corresponding to the transitions of large π electrons in the conjugated structure of the molecular chains. Especially, the maximum emission wavelengths and Stokes shifts of the acyl-substituted derivatives are markedly larger than that of the non-acyl-substituted derivatives. The fluorescence quantum yield and band gap of the PVT are 4.46% and 2.01 eV, respectively. The fabricated PPy-Th can be used as luminescent materials in the development and application of polymer light-emitting diodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Noodles are a popular staple food for many Asian populations. This study aimed to explore the effects of different resting temperatures (15, 25, 35, 45 °C) and humidity (65%, 75%, 85%, 95%) on the quality of long‐life noodles (LL noodles) by considering the moisture migration and microstructure of gluten network in dough sheets. According to results, at resting conditions (25 °C and 95% relative humidity), the dough sheet exhibited a shorter transverse relaxation time of tightly bound water (T21) and higher relative content (A21), which facilitated a tight combination between other components and water molecules. Additionally, a dense and uniform distribution of gluten network was achieved at 25 °C and 95%, due to a reduction in average length and width of gluten network lines, as well as to increased branching rate. Therefore, LL noodles were endowed with a lower cooking loss rate and higher water absorption rate, and the texture properties including chewiness, hardness, smoothness and elasticity were at optimal level. The present work demonstrated the possibility of using a resting at 25 °C and 95% humidity to enhance the uniformity of gluten network and texture of dough sheets and significantly improved the texture properties of LL noodles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard beams are mainly used for the calibration of strain sensors using their load reconstruction models. However, as an ill-posed inverse problem, the solution to these models often fails to converge, especially when dealing with dynamic loads of different frequencies. To overcome this problem, a piecewise Tikhonov regularization method (PTR) is proposed to reconstruct dynamic loads. The transfer function matrix is built both using the denoised excitations and the corresponding responses. After singular value decomposition (SVD), the singular values are divided into submatrices of different sizes by utilizing a piecewise function. The regularization parameters are solved by optimizing the piecewise submatrices. The experimental result shows that the MREs of the PTR method are 6.20% at 70 Hz and 5.86% at 80 Hz. The traditional Tikhonov regularization method based on GCV exhibits MREs of 28.44% and 29.61% at frequencies of 70 Hz and 80 Hz, respectively, whereas the L-curve-based approach demonstrates MREs of 29.98% and 18.42% at the same frequencies. Furthermore, the PREs of the PTR method are 3.54% at 70 Hz and 3.73% at 80 Hz. The traditional Tikhonov regularization method based on GCV exhibits PREs of 27.01% and 26.88% at frequencies of 70 Hz and 80 Hz, respectively, whereas the L-curve-based approach demonstrates PREs of 29.50% and 15.56% at the same frequencies. All in all, the method proposed in this paper can be extensively applied to load reconstruction across different frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) remain a healthcare challenge and gain considerable attention due to the increasing prevalence rates and insupportable burden on families and society. It is noted that the recognition of children's emotional states plays an important role in the evaluation and intervention process of ASD. In this paper, we aim to address the problem of automatic recognition of the emotional states of ASD children in social interactive scenarios. Since the child can be unconstrained in realistic scenarios, the face occlusion under pose variations and uncertain backgrounds become challenges of this task. To tackle this problem, we employ both facial expressions as well as body poses as cues to recognize the emotional states while most traditional methods only leverage the former. Firstly for the facial information, spatial features are extracted through convolutional neural networks followed by a temporal transformer to extract temporal information. Then for the body pose information, graph convolutional networks combined with the self-attention part are used to represent spatial features and temporal convolutional layers for temporal counterparts. Finally, different multimodal fusion ways are explored to generate final recognition results. We evaluate this method on a challenging database collected by us in real-world child-clinician interactive scenarios and the proposed method achieved significantly better results than baselines using only facial information. Thus it is suggested that there is a potential to assist in clinical practice by providing the recognized emotion as feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia and anemia are common complications in patients with Crohn's Disease (CD). However, few studies have shown the association between sarcopenia and hemoglobin levels in CD patients. This retrospective study aimed to explore such association in Chinese patients with CD. Two hundred and twelve adult CD inpatients who underwent computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations from July 2019 to December 2021 were included in the study. Sarcopenia was defined according to the cutoff value of skeletal muscle index of lumbar spine 3 (SMI-L3) (< 44.77cm2/m2 for males and < 32.5cm2/m2 for females). The CD patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of sarcopenia. Clinical data, hemoglobin levels, and other laboratory data were retrospectively collected. The association between hemoglobin levels and sarcopenia was analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Sarcopenia occurred in 114 CD patients (53.8%). Compared to patients without sarcopenia, patients with sarcopenia had a lower proportion of L1 (30.7% vs. 45.8%, p = 0.032) and B1 classification (58.8% vs. 72.4%, p = 0.037). Patients with sarcopenia had significantly lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) (116.5 ± 22.8 vs. 128.1 ± 21.0, p < 0.001). The prevalence of sarcopenia increased with the decrease in hemoglobin level (p for trend < 0.05). Linear regression analysis showed that hemoglobin levels were associated with SMI-L3 (β = 0.091, p = 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis found that higher hemoglobin levels (OR:0.944; 95% CI: 0.947,0.998; p = 0.036) were independent protective factors for sarcopenia. Lower hemoglobin levels are independently associated factors of sarcopenia in adult Chinese patients with CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a wide band gap semiconductor, alkaline-earth metal sulfides (AES) with low phonon energy, high laser damage threshold, and high transmittance in infrared, have wide application prospects in bioimaging, spectral conversion, and solid-state lighting. However, AES nanocrystals (NCs) suffer from the weak chemical-stability and low mechanical-stability, and can be easily oxidized in humidity and oxygen. Incorporation of AES NCs into inorganic glass is expected to overcome those inherent limitations. In this work, a new type of oxysulfide glass-ceramics containing CaS, SrS, BaS, Sr x Ba 1−x S, and Ca x Sr 1−x S NCs is developed, and average diameters of these AES NCs are tuned in the range of 3–18 nm. Precipitation of AES NCs not only improves the mechanical properties of glass, but also maintains high transmittance (˃60%) in the spectral range of 1–4.3 µm. Results reported in this work offer a new pathway for developing novel oxysulfide glass-ceramics for multi-functional optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate estimation of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) is vital for monitoring changes in forest carbon sinks. However, the spatial heterogeneity of AGB, coupled with inherent uncertainties, poses challenges in acquiring high-quality AGBs. This study introduced a bias-corrected ensemble machine learning (ML) algorithm for AGB downscaling that integrated a ML for AGB mapping with another for residual mapping. The accuracies of six bias-corrected ensemble ML algorithms were evaluated at resolutions of 0.05°, 0.025°, and 0.01°. Moreover, a step-by-step downscaling (SBSD) method was introduced, utilizing bias-corrected ensemble ML algorithms to downscale AGB from 0.1° to 0.05°, 0.025°, and 0.01° resolutions and was compared with the direct downscaling (DD) at three scales. A comparative analysis was conducted in the Daxing'anling Mountains and Xiaoxing'anling Mountains. AGB and corresponding uncertainty maps at three scales were generated using SBSD. The results showed that the efficacy of the XGBoost-based AGB model combined with the random forest-based residual correction model was superior. Spatial patterns in AGB maps generated by SBSD and DD were found to be similar. Notably, SBSD yielded enhanced accuracy in the Daxing'anling Mountains with complex topography, while both performed comparably in the Xiaoxing'anling Mountains with milder topography, highlighting SBSD's advantages in high heterogeneity areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of mass tourism, more and more people are attracted by internet-famous site. With people's demand for travel surged, tourists are getting together in one scenic spot with doubling numbers, which easily leads to high concentration of tourists with uncontrollable security risks. It needs to be highly valued by the tourism department. Monitoring and issuing warnings for crowd density in scenic areas with Highly Aggregated Tourist Crowds (HATCs) is an urgent challenge that needs to be addressed. In this paper, Highly Aggregated Tourist Crowds is taken as the research objective, and a VGGT-Count network model is proposed to forecast the density of HATCs. The experimental outcomes demonstrated a substantial improvement in counting accuracy for the ShanghaiTech B and UCF-QNRF datasets. Furthermore, the model allows for real-time monitoring of tourist attractions, enabling advanced prediction of high concentrations in scenic areas. This timely information can alert relevant authorities to implement preventive measures such as crowd control and flow regulation, thereby minimizing safety hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia and anemia are common complications in patients with Crohn's Disease (CD). However, few studies have shown the association between sarcopenia and hemoglobin levels in CD patients. This retrospective study aimed to explore such association in Chinese patients with CD. Two hundred and twelve adult CD inpatients who underwent computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations from July 2019 to December 2021 were included in the study. Sarcopenia was defined according to the cutoff value of skeletal muscle index of lumbar spine 3 (SMI-L3) (< 44.77cm2/m2 for males and < 32.5cm2/m2 for females). The CD patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of sarcopenia. Clinical data, hemoglobin levels, and other laboratory data were retrospectively collected. The association between hemoglobin levels and sarcopenia was analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Sarcopenia occurred in 114 CD patients (53.8%). Compared to patients without sarcopenia, patients with sarcopenia had a lower proportion of L1 (30.7% vs. 45.8%, p = 0.032) and B1 classification (58.8% vs. 72.4%, p = 0.037). Patients with sarcopenia had significantly lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) (116.5 ± 22.8 vs. 128.1 ± 21.0, p < 0.001). The prevalence of sarcopenia increased with the decrease in hemoglobin level (p for trend < 0.05). Linear regression analysis showed that hemoglobin levels were associated with SMI-L3 (β = 0.091, p = 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis found that higher hemoglobin levels (OR:0.944; 95% CI: 0.947,0.998; p = 0.036) were independent protective factors for sarcopenia. Lower hemoglobin levels are independently associated factors of sarcopenia in adult Chinese patients with CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia and anemia are common complications in patients with Crohn's Disease (CD). However, few studies have shown the association between sarcopenia and hemoglobin levels in CD patients. This retrospective study aimed to explore such association in Chinese patients with CD. Two hundred and twelve adult CD inpatients who underwent computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations from July 2019 to December 2021 were included in the study. Sarcopenia was defined according to the cutoff value of skeletal muscle index of lumbar spine 3 (SMI-L3) (< 44.77cm2/m2 for males and < 32.5cm2/m2 for females). The CD patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of sarcopenia. Clinical data, hemoglobin levels, and other laboratory data were retrospectively collected. The association between hemoglobin levels and sarcopenia was analyzed by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. Sarcopenia occurred in 114 CD patients (53.8%). Compared to patients without sarcopenia, patients with sarcopenia had a lower proportion of L1 (30.7% vs. 45.8%, p = 0.032) and B1 classification (58.8% vs. 72.4%, p = 0.037). Patients with sarcopenia had significantly lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) (116.5 ± 22.8 vs. 128.1 ± 21.0, p < 0.001). The prevalence of sarcopenia increased with the decrease in hemoglobin level (p for trend < 0.05). Linear regression analysis showed that hemoglobin levels were associated with SMI-L3 (β = 0.091, p = 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis found that higher hemoglobin levels (OR:0.944; 95% CI: 0.947,0.998; p = 0.036) were independent protective factors for sarcopenia. Lower hemoglobin levels are independently associated factors of sarcopenia in adult Chinese patients with CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MiR399 plays an important role in plant growth and development. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the evolutionary characteristics of the MIR399 gene family in grapevine and investigate its role in stress response. To comprehensively investigate the functions of miR399 in grapevine, nine members of the Vvi-MIR399 family were identified based on the genome, using a miRBase database search, located on four chromosomes (Chr 2, Chr 10, Chr 15, and Chr 16). The lengths of the Vvi-miR399 precursor sequences ranged from 82 to 122 nt and they formed stable stem–loop structures, indicating that they could produce microRNAs (miRNAs). Furthermore, our results suggested that the 2 to 20 nt region of miR399 mature sequences were relatively conserved among family members. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Vvi-MIR399 members of dicots (Arabidopsis, tomato, and sweet orange) and monocots (rice and grapevine) could be divided into three clades, and most of the Vvi-MIR399s were closely related to sweet orange in dicots. Promoter analysis of Vvi-MIR399s showed that the majority of the predicted cis-elements were related to stress response. A total of 66.7% (6/9) of the Vvi-MIR399 promoters harbored drought, GA, and SA response elements, and 44.4% (4/9) of the Vvi-MIRR399 promoters also presented elements involved in ABA and MeJA response. The expression trend of Vvi-MIR399s was consistent in different tissues, with the lowest expression level in mature and young fruits and the highest expression level in stems and young leaves. However, nine Vvi-MIR399s and four target genes showed different expression patterns when exposed to low light, high light, heat, cold, drought, and salt stress. Interestingly, a putative target of Vvi-MIR399 targeted multiple genes; for example, seven Vvi-MIR399s simultaneously targeted VIT_213s0067g03280.1. Furthermore, overexpression of Vvi_MIR399e and Vvi_MIR399f in Arabidopsis enhanced tolerance to drought compared with wild-type (WT). In contrast, the survival rate of Vvi_MIR399d-overexpressed plants were zero after drought stress. In conclusion, Vvi-MIR399e and Vvi-MIR399f, which are related to drought tolerance in grapevine, provide candidate genes for future drought resistance breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AB 3 -type La-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys are known for their high electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity. However, their practical application has been hindered by fast capacity degradation. Herein, we managed to improve their cycle life by synchronizing the hydrogen absorption/desorption behaviors of [A 2 B 4 ] and [AB 5 ] subunits based on a series of AB 3 -type single-phase La 0.60 R 0.12 Mg 0.28 Ni 3 (R = La, Pr, Nd, Gd) superlattice alloys. This is achieved by the preferable occupation of Pr, Nd and Gd in [A 2 B 4 ] subunits rather than [AB 5 ] subunits compared to La, which decreases the volume difference between [A 2 B 4 ] and [AB 5 ], significantly reducing the mismatch between [A 2 B 4 ] and [AB 5 ] during hydrogen absorption/desorption. Resultantly, the microstrain of the R = Gd alloy is only half that of the R = La alloy, leading to enhanced anti-pulverization and anti-oxidation/corrosion resistance, as well as an improved cycle stability. The S 100 of the R = Gd alloy is more than 15 % higher than the R = La alloy. Moreover, the plateau pressure is adjusted to a proper level, enabling an increase in the high-rate dischargeability (HRD 1500) from 53.6 % (R = La) to 66.4 % (R = Gd). This work provides impressive insights into developing high-performance superlattice hydrogen storage alloys. [Display omitted] • Single-phase AB 3 -type superlattice alloys with different RE elements are acquired. • V [A2B4] and V [AB5] are equalized by selective occupation of RE elements. • H 2 absorption/desorption of [A 2 B 4 ] and [AB 5 ] subunits are synchronized. • Not only is cycle stability greatly enhanced, but HRD is also improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common spinal surgical disease. Low back and leg pain caused by LDH is the main factor leading to functional disability, which has caused a serious burden to patients and society. Osteoking can delay the progression of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, and even has a significant effect on the prevention of deep vein thrombosis after fracture surgery. In recent years, it has been gradually used in the treatment of LDH and has received significant results. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to predict the mechanism of Osteoking in the treatment of LDH through network pharmacology and verify it by molecular docking method. Methods: The TCMSP database was used to collect the relevant active components and targets of Osteoking, while the GeneCards, OMIM and DisGeNET databases were utilized to collect the relevant disease targets of LDH. The Venny 2.1.0 software was employed to obtain the intersecting gene targets of Osteoking and LDH. PPI network construction and core target selection were performed using Cytoscape 3.9.0 software. The Metascape database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the relevant targets. Finally, molecular docking was conducted using AutoDock software. Results: The study identified 116 potential targets and 26 core targets for the treatment of LDH with Osteoking. Pathways in cancer, Alzheimer's disease, microRNAs in cancer and the IL-17 signalling pathway were among the main involved signalling pathways. Molecular docking results demonstrated that the key targets AKT1, IL-6, ALB, TNF and IL-1β exhibited relatively stable binding activities with the main active components of Osteoking. Conclusions: Osteoking can alleviate the symptoms of lumbar disc herniation through the modulation of multiple targets and signalling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subcortical brain regions play essential roles in the pathology of social anxiety disorder (SAD). While adolescence is the peak period of SAD, the relationships between altered development of the subcortical regions during this period and SAD are still unclear. This study investigated the age-dependent alterations in structural co-variance among subcortical regions and between subcortical and cortical regions, aiming to reflect aberrant coordination during development in the adolescent with SAD. High-resolution T1-weighted images were obtained from 76 adolescents with SAD and 67 healthy controls (HC), ranging from 11 to 17.9 years. Symptom severity was evaluated with the Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SASC) and the Depression Self Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C). Structural co-variance and sliding age-window analyses were used to detect age-dependent group differences in inter-regional coordination patterns among subcortical regions and between subcortical and cortical regions. The volume of the striatum significantly correlated with SAD symptom severity. The SAD group exhibited significantly enhanced structural co-variance among key regions of the striatum (putamen and caudate). While the co-variance decreased with age in healthy adolescents, the co-variance in SAD adolescents stayed high, leading to more apparent group differences in middle adolescence. Moreover, the striatum's mean structural co-variance with cortical regions decreased with age in HC but increased with age in SAD. Adolescents with SAD suffer aberrant developmental coordination among the key regions of the striatum and between the striatum and cortical regions. The degree of incoordination is age-dependent, which may represent a neurodevelopmental trait of SAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europium (Eu) in coal and sedimentary rocks has important mineral resource potential as well as being a crucial parameter in geochemical studies that can represent changes in the depositional environment during coal deposition and identify the depositional source region. Therefore, it is essential to realize the precise measurement of Eu in coal as this could be a useful parameter for paleoenvironmental reconstruction studies and the exploration of mineral resources. During inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis, polyatomic ions of Ba may interfere with Eu, causing the observed value to be higher than the actual value. This paper develops a new approach for Eu determination by using a high-resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS). The mass spectral interference and correction of Eu in the coal and sedimentary rock samples at low, medium, and high resolutions were investigated. The results showed that in the high-resolution mode (resolution = 10,000 amu), the interference of polyatomic ions of Ba could be distinguished from Eu; hence, Eu was determined under this circumstance. Under the optimal experimental circumstances, the detection limit was 0.006 μg/mL, the relative standard deviation was 0.80%–1.22%, and the linear correlation coefficient of the standard curve was over 0.9999. The recoveries of the 103Rh internal standard solution ranged from 94.41% to 100.10%. This method was verified using standard reference materials and selected samples, which demonstrated its high sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability, and a low detection limit, making it appropriate for detecting Eu in samples of coal and sedimentary rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMastitis in cows is caused by the inflammation of the mammary glands due to an infection by external pathogenic bacteria. Mammary gland epithelial cells, which are in direct contact with the external environment, are responsible for the first line of defense of the mammary gland against pathogenic bacteria, playing an essential role in immune defense. To investigate the mechanism of bovine mammary epithelial cells in the inflammatory process, we treated the cells with LPS for 12 hours and analyzed the changes in mRNA by transcriptome sequencing. The results showed that compared to the control group, the LPS treatment group had 121 up-regulated genes and 18 down-regulated genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that these differential genes were mainly enriched in the IL-17 signaling pathway, Legionellosis, Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, and other signaling pathways. Furthermore, the expression of GRO1 and CXCL3 mRNAs increased significantly after LPS treatment. These findings provide new insights for the treatment of mastitis in cows in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastitis is usually caused by a variety of pathogenic bacteria that seriously impact the health and milk-production ability of dairy cows, with consequent, economically detrimental effects on the dairy industry. Forsythoside A (FTA), isolated from the fruit and leaves of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl (Oleaceae), has been reported to have significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects. However, it is not clear whether FTA exerts a protective effect against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bovine mastitis and its potential gene signature. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was performed to analyze the differences between the mRNA and enrichment pathway of bovine mammary epithelial cells of the control, LPS, and LPS + FTA groups. The results showed that there were 139 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (p-value < 0.05, |log2FoldChange| > 1, FPKM > 1) in the LPS group compared with the control group, including 121 up-regulated genes and 18 down-regulated genes, which were mainly enriched in the cellular response to lipopolysaccharide, cytokine activity, protein binding, and IL-17 signaling pathway based on Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis, respectively. Compared with the control group and LPS + FTA group, there were 349 DEGs, including 322 up-regulated genes and 27 down-regulated genes. They were mainly enriched in protein localization to organelles, centrosomes, binding, and the IL-17 signaling pathway, based on GO and KEGG analysis. Compared to the LPS group, the LPS + FTA group had 272 DEGs, including 259 up-regulated genes and 13 down-regulated genes, which were mainly enriched in RNA processing, IL-6 receptor binding, and the lysosome pathway, based on GO and KEGG analyses. It can be seen that LPS stimulation induced the expression of inflammation-related genes, IL-17 and IL-6, whereas FTA treatment promoted the expression of the spliceosome-, lysosome-, and oxidative stress-related genes HSP70, HSPA8, and PARP2. The study utilized RNA-sequencing analysis of FTA against LPS-challenged bovine mammary epithelial cells to explore key mRNA findings that may be strongly associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, and provides a theoretical reference for further elucidation of molecular mechanisms of bovine mastitis and therapeutic effects of FTA against bovine mastitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the synthesis of a series of temperature‐sensitive non‐classical early Ln(II) (Ln=lanthanide) complexes, [K(2.2.2‐cryptand)][Ln(Cptt)3] (Cptt=C5H3tBu2‐1,3; 1‐Ln; Ln=La−Nd). Complexes 1‐Ln were typically prepared using Schlenk line techniques rather than more common glove box protocols, by the reduction of the parent Ln(III) complexes [Ln(Cptt)3] (2‐Ln) with KC8 in THF in the presence of 2.2.2‐cryptand at −30 °C. The majority of the 2‐Ln series have been reported previously by the salt metathesis reactions of 3 eq. KCptt with parent LnCl3, and these methods were adapted here to afford 2‐Pr. Complexes 1‐Ln and 2‐Pr were characterized by single crystal XRD, elemental analysis, ATR‐IR and UV‐Vis‐NIR spectroscopy; 1‐La and 2‐Pr were additionally characterized by c.w. EPR spectroscopy, and variable temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed on 2‐Pr. During attempts to synthesize 2‐Nd and 2‐Sm we also obtained small crops of crystals of [Nd(Cptt)2(μ‐I)]2 (3) and [Sm(Cptt)2(μ‐Cl)]2 ⋅ C7H8 (4 ⋅ C7H8), respectively; these complexes were also structurally authenticated, and magnetic data was collected for 4 ⋅ C7H8. The combination of data obtained indicate that the Ln(II) centers in 1‐Ln adopt 4fn5d1 electron configurations, in common with other literature examples of [Ln(CpR)3]− anions (CpR=substituted cyclopentadienyl) for these metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooling rate has large effect on the structures and properties of glasses, which may change the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of glasses, and their crystallization behaviors. In this work, effect of cooling rate on the crystallization and optical properties of glasses, which have been utilized to precipitate semiconductor nanocrystals, are investigated using sodium zinc silicate glasses as typical example. Cooling rate strongly affects the structural connectivity of the glasses, and as a result, Na 8 Al 4 Si 4 O 18 nanocrystals are formed as predominant crystalline phases in glasses with larger cooling rate, and ZnS nanocrystals are formed in glasses with smaller cooling rate. Results reported illustrate that it is important to control the cooling rate of the glass in order to modulate the crystallization and optical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals embedded in glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a low-cost, low toxicity and metal-free catalyst with strong light absorption, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based materials have gained wide attention for efficient H2O2 photocatalysis. However, further investigation regarding the charge transfer process and reaction mechanism of H2O2 photoproduction remains to be completed. In this work, bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-ene-2,3,5,6-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) modified g-C3N4 is synthesized through a facile one-step dehydration process, and the H2O2 photoproduction could reach 22.5 μmol within 8 hours. The proposed structure of g-BTDA is confirmed by FTIR, XPS and SEM studies. The transient absorption reveals a 20.88 ps charge transfer process caused by the electron withdrawing ability of the C＝O group, and a 2-electron oxygen reduction pathway is proposed. Our work represents a new strategy for efficient H2O2 photoproduction using easily acquired materials with future application potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sarcopenia occurs in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). However, the association between sarcopenia and loss of response (LOR) to biologic agents remains unclear. This study explored such an association in CD patients. This retrospective study included 94 CD patients who received biologic therapy. The skeletal muscle cross‐sectional area at the third lumbar was assessed by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging for sarcopenia evaluation. A LOR was defined by fecal calprotectin (FC) < 250 μg/g or >50% reduction from baseline levels or other factors, such as the used agent being replaced by other biologic agents. The association between sarcopenia and LOR was assessed by logistic regression analysis. LOR was observed in 54 patients (57.4%). The prevalence of sarcopenia in the LOR group was higher than that in response group (70.4% vs. 40.0%, p = 0.003). Sarcopenia (odds ratio [OR] = 3.89, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.31–11.54), Montreal L1 type (OR = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06–0.60), perianal lesions (OR = 4.08, 95% CI: 1.31–12.70), and monocytes percentage (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.02–1.57) at baseline were independent associated factors for LOR. Sarcopenia was also associated with LOR in patients who received infliximab (OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.11–9.87). Montreal L1 type, perianal lesions, and monocytes percentage (Model 1), and with additional consideration of sarcopenia (Model 2), were developed to predict LOR. Model 2 showed better performance than Model 1 (area under the curve [AUC] 0.82 vs. 0.75). Sarcopenia was associated with the LOR to biological agents or infliximab in adult patients with CD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To assess the image quality feasibility and diagnostic value of zoomed diffusion-weighted imaging (z-EPI DWI) using echo-planar imaging (EPI) compared with conventional DWI (c-EPI DWI) in patients with periampullary disease. Methods: Thirty-six patients with periampullary carcinomas and fifteen with benign periampullary disease were included in this study. All the subjects underwent MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), c-EPI DWI, and z-EPI DWI. Two radiologists independently assessed image quality of the two image sets, including overall image quality and lesion conspicuity. In addition, signal intensity and ADC measurements of DWIs in the periampullary lesions were conducted. Diagnostic accuracies of the combined image sets of MRCP and z-EPI DWI were compared with those of a combined set of MRCP and c-EPI DWI. Results: z-EPI DWI showed significantly better image quality scores (anatomic structure visualization, 2.94 ± 0.24; overall image quality, 2.96 ± 0.17) compared to that with c-EPI DWI (anatomic structure visualization, 2.02 ± 0.22; overall image quality, 2.04 ± 0.24) (both P < 0.01). For all the periampullary malignant lesions and small lesions (≤ 20 mm), there was better delineation of lesion conspicuity and the lesion margin, as well as diagnostic confidence with z-EPI DWI (all P < 0.05). The rate of periampullary malignancy's hyperintense signal on z-EPI DWI was increased to 91.7% (33/36) compared to c-EPI DWI (69.4% (25/36)) (P = 0.023). For all malignant lesions and small lesions, the diagnostic accuracy scores were increased using the MRCP and z-EPI DWI combined set, compared to the MRCP and c-EPI DWI combined set (P < 0.05). Diagnostic accuracy for detection and differentiation of malignant lesions from benign lesions significantly improved for the MRCP and z-EPI DWI combined set compared with MRCP and c-EPI DWI combined set (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between c-EPI DWI and z-EPI DWI in the ADC values of periampullary malignant and benign lesions (P > 0.05). Conclusions: z-EPI DWI has an advantage that could lead to remarkable image quality improvements and enhanced lesion visualization of periampullary carcinomas. z-EPI DWI was superior to c-EPI DWI for detecting, delineating, and diagnosing the lesions, particularly for small challenging lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased stemness is causally linked to the development of chemoresistance in cancers. B-cell receptor-associated protein 31 (BAP31) has been identified to play an oncogenic role in many types of cancer. However, the role of BAP31 in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemosensitivity and stemness of colorectal cancer (CRC) is still unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the biological function and molecular mechanism of BAP31 in regulating 5-FU chemosensitivity and stemness. The correlation between BAP31 expression and 5-FU chemosensitivity was examined using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide and colony formation assays. Cancer stemness was analyzed using tumor sphere formation and Western blot assays. Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses of the knockdown cell lines were performed to explore the possible mechanisms. Finally, we investigated the function of BAP31 by constructing xenograft nude mouse models in vivo. In this study, we demonstrated that BAP31 was increased in CRC cells, and knockdown of BAP31 reduced the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 5-FU, while this effect was reversed by overexpression of BAP31. In addition, knockdown of BAP31 substantially reduced the stemness of CRC cells in vitro. Consistently, knockdown of BAP31 significantly suppressed the tumorigenicity and stemness of CRC in vivo. The functional study further suggested that knockdown of BAP31 downregulated galectin-3 to inhibit the accumulation of β-catenin, which in turn repressed the transcription of downstream target genes (c-MYC, SOX2) of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Knockdown of BAP31 reduced stemness by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to increase 5-FU chemosensitivity. Importantly, intrabodies against BAP31 suppressed tumor growth and enhanced the antitumor effects of 5-FU in vivo. Therefore, using intrabodies against BAP31 may be a strategy for improving the antitumor effect of 5-FU in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sky-radiometer/sun-photometer is the most widely used instrument for obtaining aerosol optical depth (AOD) or aerosol optical properties worldwide. Due to the existence of field of view (FOV, 1°), the radiation received by the sky-radiometer includes the forward scattering in addition to direct solar irradiance. This leads to more diffuse light errors of retrieved AODs, especially for shorter wavelength and heavily polluted weather conditions. Using simulation data of three typical aerosol particles (dust, soot, water-soluble), we first verified the accuracy of the Monte Carlo method for calculating the forward scattering effect. Based on the sky-radiometer data collected in Xi'an (2015–2020) where heavy pollution weather is common, the relative errors and correction factors of the AOD were obtained under different conditions, including various short wavelengths (≤400 nm), solar zenith angles (SZAs) and AODs. Our analysis indicates the close dependence of AOD correction factors on wavelength, SZA, AOD and the optical properties of aerosol particles. The mean relative error in Xi'an increases with the decrease of wavelength (~16.1% at 315 nm) and decreases first and then increases with the increase of the SZA. The relative errors caused by forward scattering can exceed 10% when the AOD is greater than 1 and 25% when the AOD is larger than 2 in the ultraviolet (UV) band. The errors with a wavelength greater than 400 nm and an AOD below 1.0 can be within 5%, which can be ignored. The correlation coefficients of AODs before and after a correction from 315 nm to 400 nm are greater than 0.96, which basically increase with the increase of the wavelength. This indicates that the significance of the forward scattering effect in the Xi'an area with heavy pollution cannot be ignored for short wavelengths. However, such effect is negligible at the longer wavelengths and lower AODs (<1.0) of a sky-radiometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Others A recent study reported that the risk of malignancy in SAPHO patients was higher than that in patients with psoriatic arthritis (hazard ratio 6.70; 95% confidence interval 2.227-20.13).[30] The etiology is not completely understood, but the chronic inflammation caused by SAPHO syndrome may play a critical role.[30] CONCLUSION AND PERSPECTIVE In conclusion, a wide range of manifestations are associated with SAPHO syndrome besides synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis. Moreover, other pulmonary manifestations, such as patchy shadows (32.8%), ground-glass opacity (16.4%), and pleural thickening (13.4%), were not uncommon in SAPHO patients.[29] The etiology of brain and pulmonary manifestation within SAPHO syndrome is not understood. SAPHO (synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis) syndrome is a rare clinical entity. A recent case-control study compared the bone mass and prevalence of osteoporosis between healthy persons and SAPHO patients.[14] Twenty-seven SAPHO patients and 70 healthy persons were included. [Extracted from the article]

[Display omitted] • OXPHOS deficiency limits TCA cycle intermediates and reduces de novo heme synthesis. • Hemin partially rescues the inhibited brown adipogenesis by OXPHOS deficiency. • Hemin regulates adipogenic transcription potentially via histone methylation. Mitochondrial functions play a crucial role in determining the metabolic and thermogenic status of brown adipocytes. Increasing evidence reveals that the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system plays an important role in brown adipogenesis, but the mechanistic insights are limited. Herein, we explored the potential metabolic mechanisms leading to OXPHOS regulation of brown adipogenesis in pharmacological and genetic models of mitochondrial respiratory complex I deficiency. OXPHOS deficiency inhibits brown adipogenesis through disruption of the brown adipogenic transcription circuit without affecting ATP levels. Neither blockage of calcium signaling nor antioxidant treatment can rescue the suppressed brown adipogenesis. Metabolomics analysis revealed a decrease in levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates and heme. Heme supplementation specifically enhances respiratory complex I activity without affecting complex II and partially reverses the inhibited brown adipogenesis by OXPHOS deficiency. Moreover, the regulation of brown adipogenesis by the OXPHOS-heme axis may be due to the suppressed histone methylation status by increasing histone demethylation. In summary, our findings identified a heme-sensing retrograde signaling pathway that connects mitochondrial OXPHOS to the regulation of brown adipocyte differentiation and metabolic functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wulong geese (Anser cygnoides orientalis) are known for their excellent egg-laying performance. However, they show considerable population differences in egg-laying behavior. This study combined genome-wide selection signal analysis with transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) to identify the genes related to high egg production in Wulong geese. Results: A total of 132 selected genomic regions were screened using genome-wide selection signal analysis, and 130 genes related to high egg production were annotated in these regions. These selected genes were enriched in pathways related to egg production, including oocyte meiosis, the estrogen signaling pathway, the oxytocin signaling pathway, and progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation. Furthermore, a total of 890 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 340 up-regulated and 550 down-regulated genes, were identified by RNA-seq. Two genes — GCG and FAP — were common to the list of selected genes and DEGs. A non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism was identified in an exon of FAP. Conclusions: Based on genome-wide selection signal analysis and transcriptome data, GCG and FAP were identified as candidate genes associated with high egg production in Wulong geese. These findings could promote the breeding of Wulong geese with high egg production abilities and provide a theoretical basis for exploring the mechanisms of reproductive regulation in poultry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triangular meshes of superior quality are important for geometric processing in practical applications. Existing approximative CVT‐based remeshing methodology uses planar polygonal facets to fit the original surface, simplifying the computational complexity. However, they usually do not consider surface curvature. Topological errors and outliers can also occur in the close sheet surface remeshing, resulting in wrong meshes. With this regard, we present a novel method named PowerRTF, an extension of the restricted tangent face (RTF) in conjunction with the power diagram, to better approximate the original surface with curvature adaption. The idea is to introduce a weight property to each sample point and compute the power diagram on the tangent face to produce area‐controlled polygonal facets. Based on this, we impose the variable‐capacity constraint and centroid constraint to the PowerRTF, providing the trade‐off between mesh quality and computational efficiency. Moreover, we apply a normal verification‐based inverse side point culling method to address the topological errors and outliers in close sheet surface remeshing. Our method independently computes and optimizes the PowerRTF per sample point, which is efficiently implemented in parallel on the GPU. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness, flexibility, and efficiency of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reproduce the tactile perception of multiple contacts on the human tongue surface, it is necessary to use a pressure measurement device with high spatial resolution. However, reducing the size of the array sensing unit and optimizing the lead arrangement still pose challenges. This article describes a deconvolution neural network (DNN) for improving the resolution of tongue surface tactile imaging, which alleviates this tradeoff between tactile sensing performance and hardware simplicity. The model can work without high‐resolution tactile imaging data of tongue surface: First, in the compression test using artificial tongues, the tactile image matrix (7 × 7) with low resolution can be acquired by sensor array with a sparse electrode arrangement. Then, through finite element analysis modeling, combined with the distribution rule of additional stress on the two‐dimensional plane, the pressure data around the existing detection points are calculated, further expanding the tactile image matrix data amount. Finally, the DNN, based on its efficient nonlinear reconstruction attributes, uses the low‐resolution and high‐resolution tactile imaging matrix generated by compression test and finite element simulation, respectively, to train, and outputs high‐resolution tactile imaging information (13 × 13) closer to the tactile perception of the tongue surface. The results show that the overall accuracy of the tactile image matrix calculated by this model is above 88%. Then, we deduced the spatial difference graph of the resilience index of the three kinds of ham sausages through the high‐resolution tactile imaging matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's information society, with the growing integration of the Internet into individuals' lives, problematic Internet use (PIU) among adolescents has become more prevalent. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the correlation between active parental mediation and PIU in adolescents, as well as the potential mediating roles of parent–child relationship and adolescents' hiding online behavior. A total of 539 middle school students (mean age = 13.384) were recruited for this study and participated by completing a series of paper-and-pencil questionnaires. The findings indicated a significant negative relationship between active parental mediation and PIU. Furthermore, both the mediating role of the parent–child relationship and the role of hiding online behavior were found to be significant. Specifically, the mediating role is comprised of two paths: the independent mediating role of the parent–child relationship, and the sequential mediating role involving both the parent–child relationship and hiding online behavior. The study contributes an innovative theoretical perspective to deepen the understanding of the formation mechanism of PIU. Moreover, it offers practical empirical insights for the prevention and intervention of PIU among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel composite SA/AlFu/TiO2 was successfully prepared as a promising adsorbent-photocatalyst for pollutants in wastewater based on aluminum fumarate (AlFu), titanium dioxide (TiO2) and sodium alginate (SA) by the sol–gel method. The crystallinity and structure of the prepared composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM and Raman. The results showed that the TiO2 unit in SA/AlFu/TiO2 was mainly in the amorphous phase. The adsorption and photocatalytic performance of SA/AlFu/TiO2 were evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) under UV light irradiation. The composite SA/AlFu/TiO2 has good adsorption capacity and high photocatalytic activity on MO. The influence of the dosage of AlFu or titanium precursor on the photodegradation of SA/AlFu/TiO2 were discussed. The results showed that the role of AlFu was not only to be used as carrier of the TiO2 unit but also to increase the photodegradation activity of the amorphous TiO2 in SA/AlFu/TiO2. SA/AlFu/TiO2 prepared with 0.5% AlFu and 4 mL tetrabutyl titanate showed the best removal rate of MO with 96.0% after 75 min. The photocatalytic degradation of amorphous SA/AlFu/TiO2 on MO under UV light irradiation followed the combined adsorption/photocatalytic mechanism. The photocatalytic mechanism also demonstrated that ·O2− is the main oxidation-active species in the photocatalytic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Orthognathic surgery has been performed with increasing frequency for the treatment of severe malocclusion, yet the postsurgical neuromuscular recovery of patients has been inadequately studied. Objective: To investigate the effect of short‐term and simple jaw motor training on accuracy and precision of jaw motor control in patients following orthodontic treatment and orthognathic surgery. Methods: Twenty patients who had completed preoperative orthodontics, 20 patients who had undergone bimaxillary orthognathic surgery and 20 age‐and‐gender‐matched healthy controls participated in the study. Participants were asked to perform 10 continuous jaw opening and finger lifting movements before and after a 30‐min motor training session. The variability in the amplitude of these simple movements was expressed as percentage in relation to the target position (accuracy – Daccu) and as coefficient of variation (precision – CVprec) to describe the motor performance. Furthermore, the changes in amplitude before and after training were measured in percentage. Results: Daccu and CVprec of simple jaw and finger movements significantly decreased after motor training (p ≤.018) in all groups. The relative changes in finger movements were higher than jaw movements (p <.001) but with no differences among the groups (p ≥.247). Conclusion: Both accuracy and precision of simple jaw and finger movements improved after short‐term motor training in all three groups, demonstrating the inherent potential for optimization of novel motor tasks. Finger movements improved more than jaw movements but with no differences between groups, suggesting that changes in occlusion and craniofacial morphology are not associated with impaired neuroplasticity or physiological adaptability of jaw motor function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactive sintering has been widely utilized to densify ceramics. Although the technology has numerous advantages, the composition of as-sintered ceramics is hard to be adjusted unless additional products are added. In this work, a novel solid-state route based on the reactions among TiN, Al and B were proposed to consolidate TiB 2 -AlN- h BN ceramics (TAB) with tunable compositions (h BN ≤ 42 vol%, AlN ≤ 45 vol%). Dense TAB with high relative density, refined grain size and homogeneous microstructure were obtained via spark plasma sintering at 1800 °C and 60 MPa. It was found that exothermic reactions between the reactants could be ignited during heating, and the order of temperature at which the combustion process occurred was just opposite to the sequence of adiabatic temperature for individual reactions. Effects of h BN and AlN amounts on the densification, microstructure, mechanical properties, machinability and electrical resistivity of as-sintered ceramics were comprehensively investigated. Compared to AlN, h BN content played a more obvious role on those properties. As h BN contents increased from 0 to 42 vol%, the flexural strength, fracture toughness, Vickers hardness and modulus of TAB continuously decreased. TAB with h BN amounts ≥ 13 vol% exhibited better machinability with surface roughness lower than 2.9 µm after machining. Nevertheless, their electrical resistivity values at room temperature fluctuated in a narrow range between 43 μΩ·cm and 83 μΩ·cm, irrelevant with the h BN amounts. • TiB 2 -AlN- h BN ceramics with tunable compositions were reactively densified without adding external h BN or AlN at reduced temperature. • Relationships between the adiabatic temperature and the temperature when reactions occurred in the TiN-Al-B system were investigated. • TiB 2 -AlN- h BN ceramics with synergistically improved mechanical, electrical and machinability were achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing high-performance ceramic adsorbent with a wide spectrum of properties such as regulatable pore structure, high surface area, ultrahigh organic dye removal efficiency and renewability in an affordable and rational approach is vital for real-life applications. However, integrating all these individual functionalities simultaneously into one bulky material is still challenging. Herein, hierarchical porous ceramic adsorbents with nanofibrous-granular composite structure were proposed via colloidal co-assembly of coal-containing kaolin waste and silicon to resolve the above conflicting demands. Such structure endows the resultant products with satisfactory surface area of 52 m2 g−1, ultrahigh malachite green removal efficiency of 97.6%, outstanding adsorption capacity of 97.6 mg/g, excellent renewability after calcining at 500 °C. Such ceramic adsorbent provides a sustainable and feasible strategy for fabricating water purification materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study aimed to explore the potential mechanisms of KIF23 regulating function in the progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and pinpoint novel therapeutic targets for the clinical treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Firstly, the mRNA and protein level of KIF23 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma was measured using quantitative real-time PCR and western blot. Then, the influence of KIF23 on tumor metastasis and growth in nasopharyngeal carcinoma was determined through the in vivo and in vitro experiments. Lastly, the regulatory mechanisms of KIF23 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma were illustrated in the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. KIF23 was first found to be overexpressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma samples, and its expression was associated with poor prognosis. Then, the nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell’s proliferation, migration, and invasion potential could be improved by inducing KIF23 expression both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, androgen receptor (AR) was found to bind to the KIF23 promoter region directly and enhance KIF23 transcription. At last, KIF23 could accelerate nasopharyngeal carcinoma deterioration via activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. AR/KIF23/Wnt/β-catenin pathway promotes nasopharyngeal carcinoma deterioration. Our findings could serve as a new therapeutic strategy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-modal image fusion can provide more image information, which improves the image quality for subsequent image processing tasks. Because the images acquired using photon counting devices always suffer from Poisson noise, this paper proposes a new three-step method based on the fractional-order variational method and data-driven tight frame to solve the problem of multi-modal image fusion for images corrupted by Poisson noise. Thus, this article obtains fused high-quality images while removing Poisson noise. The proposed image fusion model can be solved by the split Bregman algorithm which has significant stability and fast convergence. The numerical results on various modal images show the excellent performance of the proposed three-step method in terms of numerical evaluation metrics and visual quality. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods on image fusion with Poisson noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase engineering is arising as an effective strategy to regulate the properties, functions and applications of nanomaterials. In particular, amorphous/crystalline (a/c) heterophase nanostructures with enriched active sites, unsaturated coordination structures and abundant phase boundaries have exhibited some intriguing properties in various catalytic applications. This review briefly summarizes the recent advances on the synthetic strategies (e.g., wet-chemical synthesis, thermal annealing, electrochemical strategy, ultrafast heating method and other strategies) and electrocatalytic applications (e.g., water splitting, oxygen reduction reaction, carbon dioxide reduction reaction, nitrogen reduction reaction and organic electrooxidation reaction) of a/c heterophase catalysts. Finally, some challenges and personal perspectives for the a/c heterophase electrocatalysts are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous materials with wrinkled surfaces could have broad applications in catalysis and adsorption. However, designing cellular ceramics with similar structures is challenging. Herein, we demonstrated the binary colloidal self-assembly of γ-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticle/silica gelation network for constructing such materials. The competitive effect between volume shrinkage and surface bend during water evaporation of silica gel contributed to wrinkled aperture surface. During calcination, silica nanoparticles were highly active to react with alumina to form mullite nanocrystals, bringing about high compressive strength at low relative densities. After calcining at 1350 °C, resultant products with hierarchical structure exhibited an outstanding compressive strength of 4.2 MPa, a relatively high surface area of 7.23 m2/g at a porosity level of 83.3%. The current strategy provides a feasible and affordable approach for producing high performance ceramic foams towards practical application fields in catalysis and adsorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-agent formation control is an important part of distributed perception and cooperation, which is convenient to complete various complex tasks and would be a key research direction in the future. This paper reviews the corresponding problems of formation control and the existing centralized and distributed formation control strategies. In particular, we discuss four types of distributed formation control methods based on position and displacement in the global coordinate system and distance and bearing in the nonglobal coordinate system, respectively. Moreover, this paper analyzes affine formation which does not require the global coordinate system. Combined with the current practical applications of multi-agent systems, the latest research for the formation control of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is given. Finally, the challenges and opportunities in this burgeoning field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although keratin can effectively repair hair fibres and enhance their moisture content and flexibility, it has a relatively low affinity for hair. In this study, the effects of transglutaminase (TGase)—commonly used to catalyse crosslinking of proteins or amino acids—in crosslinking serine and hydrolysed wool keratin to repair damaged hair and protect healthy hair were studied. Treatment with a repair solution containing hydrolysed wool keratin, serine, and TGase improved the physical and chemical properties of damaged hair samples. The alkali solubility of damaged hair samples decreased by 50.53%, fracture stress increased from 1.031 to 1.806 N, and fracture strain increased from 9.51 to 19.88 mm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray analysis showed that amide bonds increased in damaged hair samples treated with the repair solution and hair crystallinity increased. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the repair solution improved the thermal stability of damaged hair. After five cycles of washing, the effects of the repair solution were still apparent in damaged hair samples. The enzymatic solution had stronger repair effects than general hair care products and reduced water loss rates in damaged hair samples; repaired hair samples were also softer and brighter. The repair solution was effective in protecting healthy hair samples against chemical damage. The materials used to prepare the repair solution are all bio-based, and treatment with this product is safer and longer lasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, solidification/stabilization (S/S) technology has been put forward for the purpose of improving soil strength and inhibiting contaminant migration in the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated sites. Cement, lime, and fly ash are among the most common and effective binders to treat contaminated soils. During S/S processing, the main interactions that are responsible for improving the soil's behaviors can be summarized as gelification, self-hardening, and aggregation. Currently, precipitation, incorporation, and substitution have been commonly accepted as the predominant immobilization mechanisms for heavy metal ions and have been directly verified by some micro-testing techniques. While replacement of Ca2+/Si4+ in the cementitious products and physical encapsulation remain controversial, which is proposed dependent on the indirect results. Lead and zinc can retard both the initial and final setting times of cement hydration, while chromium can accelerate the initial cement hydration. Though cadmium can shorten the initial setting time, further cement hydration will be inhibited. While for mercury, the interference impact is closely associated with its adapted anion. It should be pointed out that obtaining a better understanding of the remediation mechanism involved in S/S processing will contribute to facilitating technical improvement, further extension, and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of B-cell receptor associated protein 31 (BAP31) is increased in many tumor types, and it is reported to participate in proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. However, the relationship between BAP31 and chemoresistance is uncertain. This study investigated the role of BAP31 in regulating the doxorubicin (Dox) resistance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of proteins was assessed by Western blotting. The correlation between BAP31 expression and Dox resistance was examined by MTT and colony formation assays. Apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry and TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling assays. Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses were performed in the knockdown cell lines to explore the possible mechanisms. In this study, BAP31 was strongly expressed, and knockdown of BAP31 increased Dox chemosensitivity in cancer cells. Furthermore, the expression of BAP31 was higher in the Dox-resistant HCC cells than that in their parental cells; knockdown of BAP31 reduced the half maximal inhibitory concentration value and overcame Dox resistance in Dox-resistant HCC cells. In HCC cells, knockdown of BAP31 increased Dox-induced apoptosis and enhanced Dox chemosensitivity in vitro and in vivo. The potential mechanism by which BAP31 increased Dox-induced apoptosis is that BAP31 inhibited survivin expression by promoting FoxO1 nucleus–cytoplasm translocation. Knockdown of BAP31 and survivin had a synergistic effect on Dox chemosensitivity by enhancing the apoptosis of HCC cells. These findings reveal that BAP31 knockdown enhances Dox chemosensitivity through the downregulation of survivin, suggesting that BAP31 is a potential therapeutic target for improving the treatment response of HCC with resistance to Dox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding the presence of residual active drug compounds in the municipal effluents and the effluents of pharmaceutical factories, the removal of these compounds increases the resistance of microorganisms, and environmental hazards, such as genetic disorders in the aquatic reproduction and possible damage to human health is necessary. In recent years, using the Mixed-Matrix-Membranes (MMMs) for their high removal efficiency was considered. In the present study, polyether sulfone (PES) membranes, and composite membranes with MIL10-OH/Chitosan (CS), were synthesized and characterized. SEM analysis shows that with the addition of MOF modified with CS, the number and size of micropores and porosity increase compared to the PES membrane. By adding 0.05 wt % of MIL101-OH and MIL101-OH/CS to the PES membrane, the pure water flux increased from 5.1 kg/m2 h to 9.2 and 9.9 kg/m2 h. Increased porosity in the membranes led to a decrease in the resistance of flowing water, and ultimately increased the membrane's permeability. Increased membrane hydrophilicity, as well as membrane surface roughness, reduced membrane clogging. By adding MOF with CS to the PES membrane, the flux recovery ratio increased from 45 % to 95 % in terms of the increase of hydrophilic functional groups of membrane. Furthermore, reversible fouling increases and irreversible fouling in MMMs significantly decreased. Diclofenac sodium (DCF) was separated better than cefixime (CFX). Thus, the removal percentage for DCF was 95 % and for CFX drug is 90 %. By comparing the removal percentage, it can be seen that the performance of MMMs with MIL101-OH/CS was better than MMMs with MIL101-OH, and adding CS to MOF and PES membrane improved membrane performance to remove DCF and CFX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]