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The "pause button" on Ant Group's dual listing in September 2020 attracted great attention from the fintech companies regarding their use of asset-backed securities (ABS) to lend huge amounts of money to consumers. Chinese regulators responded to this financial practice and introduced a series of regulations to minimize the potential risks of these lending activities and the adverse impacts on consumers. In this paper, the author explains how fintech companies use ABS to conduct their loaning activities, analyzes the risks presented in the industry, and introduces the corresponding policies and regulations.

The copper layer and N-doped carbon layer in Si/Cu/NC material with good long cycle performance inhibit the volume expansion of Si, improve the conductivity and stabilize the SEI membrane.

Big data has the characteristics of large quantity, diversified data, low value density and fast speed. It provides unique and brand-new thinking through technology, and establishes our learning innovation, scientific and technological innovation and management innovation. With the arrival of the big data era, the modernization of government governance capacity has put forward realistic needs for big data, but there are still many specific directions worth in-depth study. In the future, government governance driven by big data should further clarify the concept and core value of big data from the perspective of government governance, focus on the research of big data application in specific governance areas, pay attention to the research of government big data platform construction, and deepen the technology driven research of big data on deepening government system reform. In the era of big data, for public managers, their information literacy will have a great impact on the actual work efficiency and significance. This paper analyzes the important role of information literacy from the perspective of the development of the times and the specific work needs of public managers. Today is an era of big data. Data sharing and data change the future. Nowadays, data is affecting our lives. With the popularization of the Internet and the development of network technology, an era of big data aggregation with huge quantity, unprecedented scale, and extremely fast generation and update speed contains unprecedented social and commercial value. The Internet has changed people's lives. At the same time, network information is also changing people's psychological activities. It is also necessary to focus on analyzing the difficulties of the current network public opinion guidance model, and put forward scientific suggestions on how to establish a sound public opinion guidance mechanism. It is hoped that the research in this paper can further optimize the existing public opinion guidance model and provide an important guarantee for stabilizing the network environment.

In this paper, an analytical solution is developed for the problem of an infinite 1D hexagonal piezoelectric quasi-crystal medium weakened by an elliptical crack and subjected to mixed loads on the crack surfaces. The mixed loads comprise the phonon pressure, phason pressure, electric displacement, and temperature increment, and the crack surfaces can be electrically permeable or impermeable. Based on a general solution, combined with the generalized potential theory, the steady-state 3D thermo-electro-elastic field variables in the quasi-crystal are obtained in terms of elliptic integral functions and elementary functions. Several important physical quantities on the cracked plane, such as the generalized crack surface displacements, normal stresses, and stress intensity factors, are derived in closed forms. An illustrative numerical calculation verifies the presented analytical solution and shows the distribution of the 3D thermo-electro-elastic field. It is indicated that the influence of the phason field on the result is pronounced, especially for the electric field variables, and the electric permeability of crack surfaces has a significant effect on the electric displacement intensity factor at the crack tip.

Yuan Xue,1,2,* Pei-Dong Li,1,2,* Xue-Mei Tang,3,* Zai-Hua Yan,1,2 Shu-Sen Xia,1 Hong-Peng Tian,1 Zuo-Liang Liu,1 Tong Zhou,1 Xue-Gui Tang,4 Guang-Jun Zhang1,2 1The Second Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Intestinal Disease, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Ultrasound, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 4Anorectal Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xue-Gui TangAnorectal Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, 63 Wenhua Road, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 817 2262419Email txg668nc@sohu.comGuang-Jun ZhangThe Second Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, 63 Wenhua Road, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 817 2262419Email zhanggj1977@126.comPurpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world. The prognosis of advanced CRC is still poor. The purpose of this study was to identify a gene expression profile associated with CRC that may contribute to the early diagnosis of CRC and improve patient prognosis.Patients and Methods: Five pairs of CRC tissues and paracancerous tissues were used to identify causative genes using microarray assays. The prognostic value of Cytochrome C Oxidase Assembly Factor 1 Homolog (COA1) in CRC was assessed in 90 CRC patients. Loss-of-function assays, cell proliferation assays using Celigo and MTT, colony formation assays, a subcutaneous xenograft mouse model, and apoptosis assays were used to define the effects of downregulation of COA1 in CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. The underlying molecular mechanisms of COA1 in CRC were also investigated.Results: The causative gene COA1 was identified through microarray analysis. COA1 expression in CRC was notably associated with pathologic differentiation, tumor size, and tumor depth. COA1 expression may act as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of CRC. Knockdown of COA1 inhibited the proliferation of CRC cells in vitro and the tumorigenicity of CRC cells in vivo. Decreased COA1 expression induced apoptosis of CRC cells. Based on the microarray assay results comparing HCT116 cells transfected with lentivirus encoding anti-COA1 shRNA or negative control shRNA, ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) revealed that the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was significantly enriched. Moreover, CCND1, mTOR, AKT1, and MDM2 were identified as the downstream genes of COA1.Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that COA1 promotes CRC cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Our results implicate COA1 as a potential oncogene involved in tumor growth and progression of CRC.Keywords: colorectal cancer, COA1, proliferation, apoptosis, PI3K/AKT signaling

Zinc finger proteins (ZNFs) serve key roles in tumor formation and progression; however, the functions and underlying mechanisms of dysregulated ZNF384 in colorectal cancer (CRC) are yet to be fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study initially aimed to investigate the expression levels of ZNF384 in CRC samples. Moreover, lentiviral ZNF384 overexpression and ZNF384 knockdown models were established in CRC cells. Transwell, wound healing and in vivo tail vein metastasis assays were carried out to evaluate the effects of ZNF384 on CRC cell metastasis. Furthermore, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, western blotting, serial deletion, site-directed mutagenesis, dual-luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were conducted to investigate the potential underlying mechanisms. The results of the present study demonstrated that ZNF384 expression was markedly increased in CRC samples and this was associated with a poor prognosis. Notably, ZNF384 overexpression increased the levels of CRC cell invasion and migration, whereas ZNF384 knockdown inhibited CRC development. Moreover, the results of the present study demonstrated that ZNF384 mediated the expression of MMP2. MMP2 knockdown inhibited ZNF384-mediated CRC cell invasion and migration, whereas MMP2 overexpression ameliorated ZNF384 knockdown-induced inhibition of CRC progression. In addition, the results of the present study demonstrated that hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) had the ability to bind to the ZNF384 promoter, thereby initiating ZNF384 expression. In human-derived CRC samples, the expression levels of ZNF384 were positively correlated with both MMP2 and HIF-1α expression. Collectively, these findings highlighted that ZNF384 may act as a prognostic marker and regulator of CRC metastasis.

When two bodies are in contact, various surface/subsurface damage problems may arise, which significantly shorten the service lives of functional components. These damage problems may further interact with one another and be influenced by such factors as friction and lubrication. Contact mechanics plays an important role in understanding the complex phenomena and analyzing the damage evolution. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the recent progress in contact mechanics for tribological and contact damage–related problems. After a brief introduction of the contact mechanics, the applications of contact mechanics in various problems are systematically elaborated. Finally, the review concludes with future perspectives and major challenges to be addressed. Nanyang Technological University National Research Foundation (NRF) The authors acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12072272 and 11921002) and the SMRT-NTU Smart Urban Rail Corporate Laboratory with funding support from the National Research Foundation, Singapore, SMRT, Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of malignancy worldwide and has a poor prognosis. Non-SMC condensing I complex subunit G (NCAPG) has been reported to be upregulated in numerous types of malignant tumor. However, to the best of our knowledge, its clinicopathological and biological significance in CRC remain to be elucidated. The results of the present study revealed that NCAPG expression levels were upregulated in human CRC tissues and cell lines. The upregulated expression of NCAPG was positively associated with patient clinicopathological characteristics, such as differentiation and tumor size, and independently associated with poor survival. Consistent with the clinical observations, NCAPG was discovered to promote the proliferation and inhibit the apoptosis of CRC cells. Moreover, NCAPG-knockdown inhibited CRC cell proliferation by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Furthermore, NCAPG was identified as a potential target of microRNA (miR)-23b-3p, which was subsequently demonstrated to negatively regulate NCAPG expression. In conclusion, the findings of the current study indicated that the miR-23b-3p/NCAPG/PI3K/AKT signaling axis may play an important role in CRC carcinogenesis, and the status of the molecule may represent a promising prognostic marker for the disease.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, with high morbidity and mortality rates. In particular, locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is difficult to treat and has a high recurrence rate. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NCRT) is one of the standard treatment programs of LARC. If the response to treatment and prognosis in patients with LARC can be predicted, it will guide clinical decision-making. Radiomics is characterized by the extraction of high-dimensional quantitative features from medical imaging data, followed by data analysis and model construction, which can be used for tumor diagnosis, staging, prediction of treatment response and prognosis. In recent years, a number of studies have assessed the role of radiomics in NCRT for LARC. MRI-based radiomics provides valuable data and is expected to become an imaging biomarker for predicting treatment response and prognosis. The potential of radiomics to guide personalized medicine is widely recognized; however, current limitations and challenges prevent its application to clinical decision-making. The present review summarizes the applications, limitations and prospects of MRI-based radiomics in LARC.

N‑methyl D‑aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are closely associated with the development, growth and metastasis of cancer. Glutamate receptor, ionotropic, N‑methyl D‑aspartate‑associated protein 1 (GRINA) is a member of the of the NMDAR family, and its aberrant expression is associated with gastric cancer. However, the role of GRINA in colorectal cancer (CRC) is not completely understood. In the present study, expression profiles of GRINA in several CRC databases were obtained and further verified using clinical CRC samples. The effects of GRINA overexpression on CRC progression both in vivo and in vitro were assessed. Briefly, cell proliferation was detected using MTT assay, and cell migration and invasion ability were evaluated by wound healing and Transwell assay. In addition, the molecular mechanism underlying the upregulated expression of GRINA in CRC was investigated. The regulatory association between GRINA and miR‑296‑3p was detected by luciferase assay, reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR and western blotting. The results demonstrated that GRINA expression levels were significantly increased in tumor samples compared with those in healthy samples, and upregulated expression of GRINA was associated with a less favorable prognostic outcome in patients with CRC. GRINA overexpression significantly increased CRC cell proliferation, invasion and migration. Additionally, it was determined that GRINA was post‑transcriptionally regulated by microRNA (miR)‑296‑3p. Together, the results of the present study suggested the potential importance of the miR‑296‑3p/GRINA axis and highlighted potential novel targets for the management of CRC.

Fluoropolymers with low surface energies are widely used in friction reduction, anti-corrosion, and anti-ice coatings. The fabrication of hierarchical micro- and nanostructures with fluoropolymers is beneficial for industrial application. In this study, a superhydrophobic composite coating was prepared by an improved air plasma spraying technique using feedstocks of Cr and polyfluoroalkoxy (PFA). A fluffy structure was found on the surface of the coating. A similar structure could not be found on the surface when the Fe and PFA powders were used as the feedstocks under the same condition. The characterization results suggest that the fluffy layer was derived from PFA. The formation of such a fluffy structure was attributed to the evaporation of Cr during spraying and their interaction with PFA droplets. This spraying method provides a new route for preparing hierarchical polymers, which have potential applicability in functional coatings.

This paper presents the design method of an adaptive fuzzy controller (AFC) for a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) vibration isolation system with time-varying sinusoidal excitations. In the first place, Kelvin model of MRE isolator without application of driving current is obtained by acceleration sweep experiments on a shake table, which establishes a foundation for the design of adaptive law. Secondly, a semi-active AFC with factor adjustment mechanism is designed based on the transmissibility curves under zero magnetic application and semi-active fuzzy control theory, which is independent of the isolation system model and adaptive to time-varying excitations in amplitudes and frequencies without adopting complicated fast Fourier transformation (FFT) analyzer. Finally, acceleration responses of the system with AFC to time-varying sinusoidal excitations are evaluated by numerical simulation and physical experiments, which indicate that the AFC could maintain satisfying control effect in the presence of time-varying sinusoidal excitations in amplitudes and frequencies, and is also more optimal than conventional fuzzy controller (FC).

The present paper analytically investigates the contact problem of a half-infinite one-dimensional hexagonal quasi-crystal medium punched by a rigid flat-ended cylindrical indenter with uniform heat flux or temperature. The contact between the two objects is assumed to be frictionless. Based on the general solution, the three-dimensional thermo-elastic coupling field variables in the half-space are explicitly obtained by the generalized potential theory method. For the case of heat flux load, the thermo-elastic field variables are expressed in terms of elementary functions and in closed-forms. In contrast, for the case of uniform temperature load, the corresponding variables are in terms of linear integrals, all the integrands are elementary functions. Furthermore, the maximum shear stress and the von Mises stress in the half-space are also obtained. Some significant physical quantities on the contact plane, such as vertical and radial displacements, normal stresses, temperature and heat flux, are presented as well. An illustrative numerical calculation is performed to show the distributions of the thermo-elastic fields in the vicinity of the contact area. The present solution could be served as the theoretical basis for scanning probe microscopy technology to explore the material properties of one-dimensional hexagonal quasi-crystals.

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Current theoretical and experimental methods cannot fully reveal the mechanisms of the rapid and complex thermal shock-induced crack initiation and propagation processes in ceramic materials. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) coupled thermo-mechanical phase-field model (PFM) is developed for thermal shock-induced fracture with the consideration of the temperature dependence of material properties. Compared with other PFMs, the present model can eliminate the unexpected damage evolution at the initially intact area of materials by introducing a temperature-dependent fracture energy threshold. Both the two-dimensional (2D) and 3D phase-field modeling results of thermal shock-induced fracture show strong agreement with the experimental results. The net-like topologies of thermal shock-induced cracks on the specimen surfaces are captured. Specifically, the crack topologies on the bottom surface (i.e., the first part submerged in water) are significantly different from those on the top surface in 3D cases. These essential findings reveal the mechanism that the tensile part of the strain energy mainly dominates the thermal shock-induced cracking in ceramics. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 11972100, 11602043, and 11727802]; the National Science Foundation Project of Chongqing [grant number cstc2019jcyj-msxm1870].

This paper develops a phase-field approach to model hydro-thermally induced crack propagation in thermo-poroelastic media. Both thermal conduction and convection, and the fully thermo-poroelastic coupled effect are taken into consideration in the phase-field model. The fluid content is influenced by the volumetric strain, temperature, and pressure. The heat flux is susceptible to temperature change and fluid flux. The injection fluid pressure and thermal loading trigger the variation of elastic energy, and then drive crack propagation, which is captured by the phase-field variable. A segregated solution scheme and the finite element implementation details are provided here for solving the nonlinear thermo-poroelastic problem. Several examples are tested to verify the present approach and to show its ability to simulate hydro-thermally induced crack propagation in the application of cold fluid injection in a cracked reservoir. The numerical results indicate that the development of the thermal effect on crack propagation is slow when compared with that of the fluid pressure. The present approach can serve as a convenient simulation tool for crack propagation in geothermal and oil/gas reservoir developments. This work is supported primarily by the SMRT-NTU Smart Urban Rail Corporate Laboratory, Singapore. The support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11802189 and 11832007), Sichuan Science and Technology Program, China (No. 2021YJ0513), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2020T130444) is also acknowledged.

Numerical simulation based on extended finite element method was employed to investigate the fatigue crack propagation of nickel-based superalloy at room temperature. Experimental tests on compact tension specimens have performed to obtain fatigue crack propagation parameters in Paris region. The extended finite element method has presented a new approach to solve the stress intensity factors and can effectively predict crack propagation without re-meshing at crack tip. The simulation results are in good accordance with experimental data in real 3D cases.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate integrity and microstructure changes of the electron beam-welded Nimonic 80A and the base metal after aging heat treatment process, i.e., 700 °C/72 h/air cooling. Here, microstructure, microhardness and tensile were investigated by various tools, i.e., scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction, x-ray diffraction analysis and Vickers hardness. Evaluation of microstructure shows that the weld zone mainly consists of columnar dendrites. The effect of aging heat treatment on the microstructure morphology and phase structure is very limited. Also, it was observed that there are obvious segregation and precipitates in intracrystalline and along the grain boundaries after aging heat treatment. Electron backscatter diffraction results show that the weld zone and base metal have a clear difference in the grain boundary characterization and kernel average misorientation at room temperature and after aging heat treatment, which leads to a difference in microhardness of the weld zone. In addition, the relationship between microhardness and tensile strength is discussed.