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Abstract Background The adverse effects of early-life tobacco smoke exposure on chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of early-life tobacco smoke exposure with CKD incidence in adulthood, and further explore the modification effects of physical activity (PA). Methods A total of 352,883 participants were included from the UK Biobank. The information on early-life tobacco smoke exposure was assessed by employing in utero tobacco smoke exposure and age of smoking initiation. Weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was calculated for each individual. Cox proportional hazard regression was fitted to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of CKD risk, and to investigate the modification effects of MVPA. Results CKD incidence significantly increased in participants with in utero tobacco smoke exposure (HR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12). Compared with never-smokers, we found a monotonic increase in the risk of CKD with smoking initiation across adulthood (HR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.27), adolescence (HR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.24, 1.35), and childhood (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.43) (P trend

In this paper, the mechanism of the effect of phosphorus and gallium on the oxidation resistance of Sn-0.7Cu brazing alloy was studied based on the calculation of first principles. The calculation shows that the control principle of the anti-oxidation of phosphorus and gallium is that a passivation film is formed on the surface of the substrate, which prevents the subsequent reaction of oxygen in the air with the substrate. Although phosphorus has been shown to be more electronegative, the antioxidant effect of gallium is stronger than that of phosphorus at medium and low oxygen concentrations, because gallium has a lower free energy and is more easily enriched near the passivation film from a kinetic point of view, and its ability to form an oxide layer is stronger than that of phosphorus. The enrichment of doping elements near the passivated film and the antioxidant effect were confirmed by experiments.

Abstract Background Recent studies have found that histone-modified genes play an increasingly important role in tumor progression. Lysine(K) specific demethylase 4A (KDM4A) is a histone lysine-specific demethylase highly expressed in a variety of malignant tumors, data showed that KDM4A was negatively correlated with the Bone Morphogenetic Protein 9 (BMP9) in breast cancer. And previous experiments have demonstrated that exogenous BMP9 significantly inhibits breast cancer development. Materials and methods We detected the expression of KDM4A in breast cancer and the relationship between KDM4A and BMP9 using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot, and verified the interaction between KDM4A and BMP9 by ChIP experiments. At the same time, we also detected whether KDM4A had effects on the RNA and protein stability of BMP9 using actinomycin D and cycloheximide. Measurement of alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) level by ELISA to observe the effect of BMP9 on glutamine metabolism in breast cancer cells. Nucleoplasmic distribution of KDM4A after exogenous BMP9 treatment in breast cancer cells were observed by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. A subcutaneous xenograft tumor model in nude mice was used to study the therapeutic effects of exogenous BMP9 and KDM4A inhibitor (JIB-04) in breast cancer. CCK-8, conoly formation, Transwell, wound healing, and immunohistochemistry were used to monitor the growth of tumor and cell function. Results We found that KDM4A was abnormally highly expressed in breast cancer, and silenced BMP9 expression by removing histone methyl groups from the BMP9 gene region. Meanwhile, KDM4A could also reduce the stability of BMP9 protein. BMP9 inhibit glutamine metabolism in breast cancer, resulting in a decrease in its product α-KG, is confirmed by ELISA. Altered nucleoplasmic distribution of KDM4A due to decreased α-KG was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. Animal experiments confirm that the combination of exogenous BMP9 and JIB-04 shows significantly better results in breast cancer. Conclusions KDM4A silences BMP9 expression by removing histone methyl groups from the BMP9 gene region, leading to further enhancement of glutamine metabolism, which contributes to malignant tumor progression. In addition, using JIB-04 in combination with exogenous BMP9 could inhibit the malignant progression of breast cancer cells and the growth of tumors more significantly.

Abstract Meiosis in males is a critical process that ensures complete spermatogenesis and genetic diversity. However, the key regulators involved in this process and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report an essential role of the m6A methyltransferase METTL16 in meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI), double‐strand break (DSB) formation, homologous recombination and SYCP1 deposition during male meiosis. METTL16 depletion results in a significantly upregulated transcriptome on sex chromosomes in pachytene spermatocytes and leads to reduced DSB formation and recombination, and increased SYCP1 depositioin during the first wave of spermatogenesis. Mechanistically, in pachytene spermatocytes, METTL16 interacts with MDC1/SCML2 to coordinate DNA damage response (DDR) and XY body epigenetic modifications that establish and maintain MSCI, and in early meiotic prophase I, METTL16 regulates DSB formation and recombination by regulating protein levels of meiosis‐related genes. Furthermore, multi‐omics analyses reveal that METTL16 interacts with translational factors and controls m6A levels in the RNAs of meiosis‐related genes (e.g., Ubr2) to regulate the expression of critical meiotic regulators. Collectively, this study identified METTL16 as a key regulator of male meiosis and demonstrated that it modulates meiosis by interacting with MSCI‐related factors and regulating m6A levels and translational efficiency (TE) of meiosis‐related genes.

Under hygrothermal environments, the structural stability and strength of all-fiber composite aircraft are significantly affected during long-term flight use. The wing skin, as a critical structural component, plays a vital role in bearing and transmitting aerodynamic loads. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the structural compressive stability and strength of the wing skin throughout the aircraft's entire life cycle under these conditions. This study employs a real wing carbon fiber foam sandwich structure to investigate the compressive stability and strength of the wing skin structure of a new energy aircraft under actual flight conditions, specifically during the entire process of the room temperature dry state (RTD) and elevated temperature wet state (ETW). Initially, three-point bending tests were conducted on carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates, foam cores, and CFRP reinforced foam sandwich structures. The CFRP laminates fully rebounded after bending damage in both the RTD and ETW environments. While CFRP reinforced foam sandwich structures also rebounded fully in the RTD environment, their rebound performance diminished in hygrothermal conditions due to the thermoplastic mobility of the foam cores, resulting in only weak rebound capabilities. In hygrothermal environments, the thermoplastic mobility of the foam core leads to diminished resilience after bending damage, resulting in only weak rebound capabilities. Subsequently, compressive instability tests were conducted on the wing skin foam sandwich structure. The results indicated that the basic test study effectively predicted the structural test outcomes. Structural components in the RTD environment exhibited overall flexural instability under compressive load, with damage morphology resembling a circular curve; the damaged specimens fully rebounded after unloading. Conversely, specimens in the ETW environment displayed localized instability, characterized by a wrinkled damage profile, resulting in only weak rebound capabilities after unloading.

Background: Takayasu arteritis (TA) is associated with an increased risk of developing complicated comorbidities, which can bring both psychological and physical burdens to the patients. Objective: TA is found to carry a high risk of developing depression. This research aimed to investigate the risk factors and prognosis of depression in TA patients. Design: A longitudinal observation cohort was conducted on TA patients with or without depression to explore the clinical characteristics. Methods: In this cohort study, 90 TA patients were split into two groups with or without depression. Depression was evaluated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in TA patients. TA patients with depression were followed up for at least 3 months. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to find the risk factors and Kaplan–Meier curve analysis to determine the prognosis. Results: We concluded 90 TA patients in this research, 29 of whom were in depression. Indian Takayasu’s Arteritis Activity Score (ITAS2010) ⩾2 (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) 26.664 (2.004–354.741), p = 0.013), interleukin-6 (IL-6) (OR (95% CI) 1.070 (1.022–1.121), p = 0.004), prednisone equivalents (OR (95% CI) 1.101 (1.030–1.177), p = 0.005), and carotidynia (OR (95% CI) 5.829 (1.142–29.751), p = 0.034) have been shown independent risk factors for depression in TA patients. We also identified the association between disease remission with the improvement of HADS-D score (Log-rank p = 0.005, hazard ratio (HR) 0.25) and depression (Log-rank p = 0.043, HR 0.28). Conclusion: Aggressive treatment to achieve remission can promote improvement of depression in patients with TA. Screening for depression should also be performed in patients with elevated disease activity, IL-6, glucocorticoid use, and carotidynia.

Abstract Background The mitosis-to-meiosis switch during spermatogenesis requires dynamic changes in gene expression. However, the regulation of meiotic transcriptional and post-transcriptional machinery during this transition remains elusive. Results We report that methyltransferase-like protein 16 (METTL16), an N6-methyladenosine (m6A) writer, is required for mitosis-to-meiosis transition during spermatogenesis. Germline conditional knockout of Mettl16 in male mice impairs spermatogonial differentiation and meiosis initiation. Mechanistically, METTL16 interacts with splicing factors to regulate the alternative splicing of meiosis-related genes such as Stag3. Ribosome profiling reveals that the translation efficiency of many meiotic genes is dysregulated in METTL16-deficient testes. m6A-sequencing shows that ablation of METTL16 causes upregulation of the m6A-enriched transcripts and downregulation of the m6A-depleted transcripts, similar to Meioc and/or Ythdc2 mutants. Further in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate that the methyltransferase activity site (PP185-186AA) of METTL16 is necessary for spermatogenesis. Conclusions Our findings support a molecular model wherein the m6A writer METTL16-mediated alternative splicing and translation efficiency regulation are required to control the mitosis-to-meiosis germ cell fate decision in mice, with implications for understanding meiosis-related male fertility disorders.

Finding water resources is a crucial objective of lunar missions. However, both hydroxyl (OH) and natural water (H2O) have been reported to be scarce on the Moon. We propose a potential method for obtaining water on the Moon through H2O formation via endogenous reactions in lunar regolith (LR), specifically through the reaction FeO/Fe2O3 + H → Fe + H2O. This process is demonstrated using LR samples brought back by the Chang’E-5 mission. FeO and Fe2O3 are lunar minerals containing Fe oxides. Hydrogen (H) retained in lunar minerals from the solar wind can be used to produce water. The results of this study reveal that 51–76 mg of H2O can be generated from 1 g of LR after melting at temperatures above 1,200 K. This amount is ∼10,000 times the naturally occurring OH and H2O on the Moon. Among the five primary minerals in LR returned by the Chang’E-5 mission, FeTiO3 ilmenite contains the highest amount of H, owing to its unique lattice structure with sub-nanometer tunnels. For the first time, in situ heating experiments using a transmission electron microscope reveal the concurrent formation of Fe crystals and H2O bubbles. Electron irradiation promotes the endogenous redox reaction, which is helpful for understanding the distribution of OH on the Moon. Our findings suggest that the hydrogen retained in LR is a significant resource for obtaining H2O on the Moon, which is helpful for establishing a scientific research station on the Moon.

Prolonged inhalation of environmental crystalline silica (CS) can cause silicosis, characterized by persistent pulmonary inflammation and irreversible fibrosis, but the mechanism has not been elucidated. To uncover the role and underlying mechanism of glycolytic reprogramming in CS-induced pulmonary inflammation, the mouse silicosis models and glycolysis inhibition models were established in vivo. And the CS-induced macrophage activation models were utilized to further explore the underlying mechanism in vitro. The results showed that CS induced lung inflammation accompanied by glycolytic reprogramming and pyroptosis. The application of glycolysis inhibitor (2-DG) suppressed CS-induced pyroptosis and alleviated lung inflammation. In vitro, 2-DG effectively impeded CS-induced macrophage pyroptosis and inflammatory response. Mechanistically, 2-DG suppressed pyroptosis by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation both in vivo and in vitro. Furtherly, metabolite lactate facilitated NLRP3-dependent pyroptosis synergistically with CS particles, while blocking the source of lactate largely alleviated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and subsequent pyroptosis triggered by CS. More profoundly, the increment of lactate induced by CS might drive NLRP3-dependent pyroptosis by increasing histone lactylation levels. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated inhibiting glycolytic reprogramming could alleviate CS-induced inflammatory response through suppressing NLRP3 -dependent pyroptosis. Increased glycolytic metabolite lactate and protein lactylation modifications might represent significant mechanisms during CS-induced NLRP3 activation and macrophage pyroptosis.

Study region: A well-preserved subalpine peatland in the subtropics, the Dajiuhu peatland, in Shennongjia, Hubei Province, China. Study focus: Over a seven-year period, constant in-situ carbon flux monitoring was conducted using the eddy covariance method. The patterns of CO2 and H2O fluxes were analyzed, encompassing both daytime and nocturnal period observations, spanning both growing and non-growing seasons, and the interconnection between carbon and water within the Dajiuhu peatland. Furthermore, this investigation identified meteorological parameters shaping these flux dynamics. New hydrological insights for the region: The water source function was more resilient to the effects of extreme weather events and showed higher stability when compared to the carbon sink function. Daytime carbon-water coupling presented a pronounced negative correlation during the growing season, contrasting with a more complex trinomial relationship evident during the non-growing season; however, nocturnal periods did not reveal any apparent correlation. Relative humidity (RH), water table depth (WTD), and evapotranspiration (ET) emerged as key variables impacting jointly on both CO2 and H2O fluxes. Furthermore, net radiation (Rn) magnifies the hysteresis loops associated with net ecosystem exchanges of CO2 (NEE) during the growing season, with WTD being the prime determinant influencing seasonal fluctuations in hysteresis related to H2O fluxes. These findings exemplify the complexities inherent in the management of carbon and water resources within subalpine peatlands, underscored by their intricately intertwined and inseparable relationship.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), one of the most prevalent pathogenic bacteria worldwide, is the leading cause of gastritis, gastric intestinal metaplasia, and gastric cancer. Antibiotics, the conventional treatment for eliminating H. pylori, often lead to severe bacterial resistance, gut dysbiosis, and hepatic insufficiency and fail to address the inflammatory response or gastric mucosal damage caused by H. pylori infection. In this study, based on 10-week animal experiments, two models of L. salivarius NCUH062003 for the prophylaxis and therapy of H. pylori infection in C57BL/6 mice were established; a comprehensive comparative analysis was performed to investigate the anti-H. pylori effect of probiotics, the reduction in inflammation, and repair of gastric mucosal damage. ELISA, immunohistochemistry, and pathology analyses showed that NCUH062003 decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and reduced neutrophil infiltration in the gastric mucosa lamina propria. Immunofluorescence and biochemical analysis showed that NCUH062003 resisted gastric epithelial cell apoptosis, increased the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in gastric mucosa, and promoted the expression of tight junction protein ZO1 and Occludin. In addition, through high-throughput sequencing, in the probiotic therapy and prophylactic mode, the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota of HP-infected mice were clarified, the potential functions of the gut microbiota were analyzed, the levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were measured, and the effects of L. salivarius NCUH062003 on the gut microbiota and its metabolites in HP-infected mice treated with amoxicillin/metronidazole were revealed. This study provides functional strain resources for the development and application of microbial agents seeking to antagonize H. pylori beyond antibiotics.

Leveraging demand-side flexibility resources (e.g., buildings) is a crucial and cost-effective strategy for addressing the operational and infrastructure-related challenges in power grids pursuing deep decarbonization with high renewable energy penetration. However, the demand flexibility opportunities and financial benefits for residential space heating, which are sizeable demand-side flexibility resources, through emerging building energy management solutions (i.e., smart control and phased change material (PCM) thermal storage) across the US are not fully understood. In this paper, we systematically assess the demand flexibility and cost-saving/revenue potentials in residential space heating through detailed building-level simulations for five consecutive years at a 5-min temporal resolution in 20 metro areas across the high-heating-demand regions of the US. The results show a high degree of synergy between PCM thermal storage and smart control, which enables substantial demand flexibility potential, reaching 98.5% of peak load shifting, and electricity cost-saving/revenue potential, reaching 338.3% of electricity cost reductions, for residential space heating in the US. By achieving such performance, adopting smart control and PCM thermal storage is financially viable in 50% of the tested metro areas. The results reveal that the demand flexibility and cost-saving/revenue potentials of residential space heating in the US are further enhanced by higher volatilities in electricity prices. Active PCM thermal storage has lower energy efficiency but much higher energy flexibility than passive PCM thermal storage. Based on the findings, recommendations for integrating PCM thermal storage and smart control systems within residential space heating are provided.

Objective: The study examines the effects of message modalities (visual vs. textual) and rhetorical approaches (narrative vs. expository information) on the elaboration and recall of COVID-19 vaccine information among individuals with diverse levels of science literacy. Methods: We recruited 328 U.S. adults who were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and measured their message elaboration and information recall following exposure to a comic strip, an infographic, a written story, and a short article pertaining to the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Results: Results indicated no significant difference in levels of message elaboration and information recall among the four treatment groups. However, exposure to narratives mitigated the gap in message elaboration, whereas exposure to visual information reduced the disparity in information recall among individuals with varying levels of science literacy. Conclusion: Narratives can serve as a powerful tool for engaging individuals with lower levels of science literacy, as well as reducing the dependence on scientific knowledge for information processing among those with higher literacy levels. Furthermore, the inclusion of visuals in vaccine messages can augment their effectiveness in fostering shared knowledge among audiences with varying levels of science literacy.

Immunotherapy for hematological malignancies is a rapidly advancing field that has gained momentum in recent years, primarily encompassing chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and other modalities. However, its clinical efficacy remains limited, and drug resistance poses a significant challenge. Therefore, novel immunotherapeutic targets and agents need to be identified. Recently, N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most prevalent RNA epitope modification, has emerged as a pivotal factor in various malignancies. Reportedly, m6A mutations influence the immunological microenvironment of hematological malignancies, leading to immune evasion and compromising the anti-tumor immune response in hematological malignancies. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the roles of the currently identified m6A modifications in various hematological malignancies, with a particular focus on their impact on the immune microenvironment. Additionally, we provide an overview of the research progress made in developing m6A-targeted drugs for hematological tumor therapy, to offer novel clinical insights.

Remote sensing scene classification (RSSC) is essential in Earth observation, with applications in land use, environmental status, urban development, and disaster risk assessment. However, redundant background interference, varying feature scales, and high interclass similarity in remote sensing images present significant challenges for RSSC. To address these challenges, this article proposes a novel hierarchical graph-enhanced transformer network (HGTNet) for RSSC. Initially, we introduce a dual attention (DA) module, which extracts key feature information from both the channel and spatial domains, effectively suppressing background noise. Subsequently, we meticulously design a three-stage hierarchical transformer extractor, incorporating a DA module at the bottleneck of each stage to facilitate information exchange between different stages, in conjunction with the Swin transformer block to capture multiscale global visual information. Moreover, we develop a fine-grained graph neural network extractor that constructs the spatial topological relationships of pixel-level scene images, thereby aiding in the discrimination of similar complex scene categories. Finally, the visual features and spatial structural features are fully integrated and input into the classifier by employing skip connections. HGTNet achieves classification accuracies of 98.47%, 95.75%, and 96.33% on the aerial image, NWPU-RESISC45, and OPTIMAL-31 datasets, respectively, demonstrating superior performance compared to other state-of-the-art models. Extensive experimental results indicate that our proposed method effectively learns critical multiscale visual features and distinguishes between similar complex scenes, thereby significantly enhancing the accuracy of RSSC.

With a focus on the problems of complex structure and accumulated lateral clearance in the single degree of freedom non-circular wheel system seedling-picking mechanism, which leads to poor motion accuracy, trajectory, and attitude, this study developed a 2R open-chain chili plug seedling-picking mechanism (SPM) constrained by a differential non-circular wheel system. The picking arm was driven by a single-stage non-uniform speed transmission mechanism to reproduce the seedling-picking trajectory and attitude. A protruding seedling-picking device, SPM control system, and test bench were designed. A kinematic model of a differential non-circular gear system was established, and an optimization design software for the SPM was developed based on kinematic analysis. The kinematic characteristics of the SPM were analyzed under optimal parameters. This study completed the seedling-picking performance test of the SPM on the control panel. The test showed that the designed chili SPM can sequentially complete the processes of seedling picking, conveying, retracting, pushing, and returning under the automatic control of the test bench without damaging the main root. The lateral root damage rate was 15.7%, effectively ensuring the integrity of the seedling bowl substrate.

This paper presents a comprehensive study on optimizing wind farm efficiency by controlling wake effects using the WFSim dynamic simulation model. Focusing on five key factors—yaw wind turbine position, yaw angle, wind farm spacing, longitudinal wind turbine spacing, and yaw rate—we qualitatively analyze their individual and combined impact on the wind farm’s wake behavior and mechanical load. Through a quantitative approach using the orthogonal test method, we assess each factor’s influence on the farm’s overall power output. The findings prioritize the following factors in terms of their effect on power output: yaw wind turbine position, yaw angle, wind farm spacing, longitudinal spacing, and yaw rate. Most significantly, this study identifies optimal working conditions for maximizing the wind farm’s average power output. These conditions include a wind turbine longitudinal spacing of 7.0D, a wind farm spacing of 15.0D, a yaw angle of 30°, and a yaw rate of 0.0122 rad/s, with the first and second rows of turbines in a yaw state. Under these optimized conditions, the wind farm’s average power output is enhanced to 35.19 MW, marking an increase of 2.86 MW compared to the farm’s original configuration. Additionally, this paper offers an analysis of wake deflection under these optimal conditions, providing valuable insights for the design and management of more efficient wind farms.

ObjectiveDepression is a common complication in Takayasu arteritis (TA). Disorders of the immune system play an important role in both diseases. This study aimed to clarify the feature of cytokines in TA patients with depression.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, serum cytokines were tested in 40 TA patients and 11 healthy controls using the Bio-Plex Magpix System (Bio-Rad®). The state of depression was measured by the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) in TA patients. Logistic regression analysis was performed to find the risk factors of depression in patients with TA.ResultsTA patients with depression had higher ESR, hsCRP, NIH, and ITAS.A than patients without depression (16.00 [10.00, 58.50]mm/H vs. 7.50 [4.50, 17.75]mm/H, p = 0.013; 7.60 [2.32, 46.52]mg/L vs. 0.71 [0.32, 4.37]mg/L, p = 0.001; 2.00 [2.00, 3.00] vs. 1.00 [0.00, 2.00], p = 0.007; 7.00 [4.00, 9.50] vs. 1.50 [0.00, 5.75], p = 0.012, respectively). Additionally, the lower age of onset and levels of IL-4, IL-13, eotaxin, and IP-10 were observed in the depressed group compared with the non-depressed (23.50 [19.25, 32.50]pg./ml vs. 37.00 [23.25, 42.50]pg./ml, p = 0.017; 2.80 [2.17, 3.18]pg./ml vs. 3.51 [3.22, 4.66]pg./ml, p

In order to study the effects of the complexity of raw materials such as collagen and edible fungi on the quality of yak meat enema products and the quality changes in the storage process, and to determine the best processing process of yak meat enema. The study took yak meat enema as the test object, with adding amounts such as yak hoof tendons, shiitake mushrooms, salt and rice wine as the influencing factors. A four-factor, three-level response surface analysis test was conducted using the Box-Behnken method with the sensory evaluation as the response values and a quadratic multinomial regression model was developed based on a single-factor experiments. On this basis, the storage test of yak sausage was carried out, and the changes of edible quality and rheological properties of it were measured and analyzed after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days of storage at 4 ℃. The results showed that the optimal formula of collagen-edible fungi sausage was 10% shiitake mushrooms, 2% yellow rice wine, 20% yak tendon, and 2% salt. Meanwhile, the score of yak sausage was the highest and the quality was the best. The storage test showed that with the extension of the time, the water holding capacity (WHC), pH value, L* value, a* value, hardness, chewiness and recovery of yak sausage gradually decreased, while the b* value and cooking loss gradually increased. Cohesiveness and elasticity did not change significantly, but rheological properties changed significantly (P

Bacterial co-infected pneumonia is an acute inflammatory reaction of the lungs mainly caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Antibiotics are urgently important but have the disadvantage of antibacterial resistance, and alternative treatments with medicinal plants are attractive. On the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, Thalictrum delavayi Franch. (T. delavayi) is an important member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), is rich in alkaloids and has been used in folk medicine for thousands of years. In this study, the extraction process of total alkaloids from the whole T. delavayi plant was optimized and the extract’s therapeutic potential against pulmonary infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli was investigated. The results showed that the optimum experimental conditions for the total alkaloids (2.46%) from T. delavayi were as follows: hydrochloric acid volume fraction of 0.8%, solid–liquid ratio of 1:12 and sonication time of 54 min. The treatment reduced bacterial counts, white blood cell counts and inflammatory cell classification in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the levels of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the serum in experimental groups. The results in our experimental preliminary work suggested that the total alkaloids from T. delavayi had therapeutic effects on mice with Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli mixed infectious pneumonia, providing experimental support for the plant’s therapeutic potential in treating pulmonary infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli.

The future query of moving objects involves predicting their future positions based on their current locations and velocities to determine whether they will appear in a specified area. This technique is crucial for positioning and navigation, and its importance in our daily lives has become increasingly evident in recent years. Nonetheless, the growing volume of data renders traditional index structures for moving objects, such as the time-parameterized R-tree (TPR-tree), inefficient due to their substantial storage overhead and high query costs. Recent advancements in learned indexes have demonstrated a capacity to significantly reduce storage overhead and enhance query efficiency. However, most existing research primarily addresses static data, leaving a gap in the context of future queries for moving objects. We propose a novel future query technique for moving objects based on a learned index (FurMoLi for short). FurMoLi encompasses four key stages: firstly, a data partition through clustering based on velocity and position information; secondly, a dimensionality reduction mapping two-dimensional data to one dimension; thirdly, the construction of a learned index utilizing piecewise regression functions; and finally, the execution of a future range query and future KNN query leveraging the established learned index. The experimental results demonstrate that FurMoLi requires 4 orders of magnitude less storage overhead than TPR-tree and 5 orders of magnitude less than B+-tree for moving objects (Bx-tree). Additionally, the future range query time is reduced to just 41.6% of that for TPR-tree and 34.7% of that for Bx-tree. For future KNN queries, FurMoLi’s query time is only 70.1% of that for TPR-tree and 47.4% of that for Bx-tree.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is considered a “multisystem” disease that simultaneously suffers from metabolic diseases and hepatic steatosis. Some may develop into liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Given the close connection between metabolic diseases and fatty liver, it is urgent to identify drugs that can control metabolic diseases and fatty liver as a whole and delay disease progression. Ferroptosis, characterized by iron overload and lipid peroxidation resulting from abnormal iron metabolism, is a programmed cell death mechanism. It is an important pathogenic mechanism in metabolic diseases or fatty liver, and may become a key direction for improving MASLD. In this article, we have summarized the physiological and pathological mechanisms of iron metabolism and ferroptosis, as well as the connections established between metabolic diseases and fatty liver through ferroptosis. We have also summarized MASLD therapeutic drugs and potential active substances targeting ferroptosis, in order to provide readers with new insights. At the same time, in future clinical trials involving subjects with MASLD (especially with the intervention of the therapeutic drugs), the detection of serum iron metabolism levels and ferroptosis markers in patients should be increased to further explore the efficacy of potential drugs on ferroptosis.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury refers to a new injury caused by reperfusion after the restoration of ischemic tissue or organ blood supply. Salvianic acid A (danshensu) is a primary active ingredient extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza. It has a protective function against I/R injury in the cardiovascular system, brain, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and other organs. This article reviews evidence of the protective effects of Salvianic acid A and its potential mechanisms of action in organ I/R injury protection. The aim of this review is to investigate the role of Salvianic acid A in the treatment of I/R injury, providing a reference resource that could facilitate subsequent studies.

Abstract Background Cancer is a life-threatening disease in humans; yet, cancer genes are frequently reported to be under positive selection. This suggests an evolutionary-genetic paradox in which cancer evolves as a secondary product of selection in human beings. However, systematic investigation of the evolution of cancer driver genes is sparse. Results Using comparative genomics analysis, population genetics analysis and computational molecular evolutionary analysis, the evolution of 568 cancer driver genes of 66 cancer types were evaluated at two levels, selection on the early evolution of humans (long timescale selection in the human lineage during primate evolution, i.e., millions of years), and recent selection in modern human populations (~ 100,000 years). Results showed that eight cancer genes covering 11 cancer types were under positive selection in the human lineage (long timescale selection). And 35 cancer genes covering 47 cancer types were under positive selection in modern human populations (recent selection). Moreover, SNPs associated with thyroid cancer in three thyroid cancer driver genes (CUX1, HERC2 and RGPD3) were under positive selection in East Asian and European populations, consistent with the high incidence of thyroid cancer in these populations. Conclusions These findings suggest that cancer can be evolved, in part, as a by-product of adaptive changes in humans. Different SNPs at the same locus can be under different selection pressures in different populations, and thus should be under consideration during precision medicine, especially for targeted medicine in specific populations.

Abstract Background The mechanism of humoral immunity to Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is not clear. In our study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between immunoglobulins and disease activity and the relationship between immunoglobulins and the prognosis of TAK patients. Methods One hundred ninety TAK patients divided into two groups according to whether they had elevated immunoglobulins or not. We compared the demographic data and the clinical data between the two groups. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between immunoglobulin and disease activity, as well as the relationship between their changes. Immunohistochemical staining was used to compare the expression of humoral immune cells in TAK and atherosclerotic patients. One hundred twenty TAK patients who achieved remission within 3 months after discharge were followed up for 1 year. Logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between elevated immunoglobulins and recurrence. Results Disease activity and inflammatory factors were significantly higher in the group with elevated immunoglobulins than in the normal group [NIH (3.0 vs. 2.0, P = 0.001), ITAS-A (9.0 vs. 7.0, P = 0.006)]. Compared with atherosclerotic patients, CD138 + plasma cells were significantly increased in the aortic wall of patients with TAK (P = 0.021). Changes in IgG correlated well with CRP and ESR [CRP (r = 0.40, P = 0.027), ESR (r = 0.64, P

Electrification and distributed energy resources (DERs) are vital for reducing the building sector's carbon footprint. However, conventional reactive control is insufficient in addressing many current building-operation-related challenges, impeding building decarbonization. To reduce building carbon emissions, it is essential to consider dynamic grid electricity mix and incorporate the coordination between DERs and building energy systems in building control. This study develops a novel model predictive control (MPC)-based integrated energy management framework for buildings with multiple DERs considering dynamic grid electricity mix and pricing. A linear, integrated high-fidelity model encompassing adaptive thermal comfort, building thermodynamics, humidity, space conditioning, water heating, renewable energy, electric energy storage, and electric vehicle, is developed. An MPC controller is developed based on this model. To demonstrate the applicability, the developed framework is applied to a single-family home with an energy management system through whole-year simulations considering three climate zones: warm, mixed, and cold. In the simulations, the framework reduces the whole-building electricity costs and carbon emissions by 11.9% - 38.3% and 7.2% - 25.1%, respectively, compared to conventional control. Furthermore, the framework can reduce percent discomfort time from 25.7% - 47.4% to nearly 0%, compared to conventional control. The framework also can shift 86.4% - 100% of peak loads to off-peak periods, while conventional control cannot achieve such performance. The case study results also suggest that pursuing cost savings is possible in tandem with carbon emission reduction to achieve co-benefits (e.g., simultaneous 37.7% and 21.9% reductions in electricity costs and carbon emissions, respectively) with the proposed framework.

The data presented here were collected independently for 6 real buildings by researchers of different institutions and gathered in the context of the IEA EBC Annex 81 Data-driven Smart Buildings, as a joint effort to compile a diverse range of datasets suitable for advanced control applications of indoor climate and energy use in buildings. The data were acquired by energy meters, both consumption and PV generation, and sensors of technical installation and indoor climate variables, such as temperature, flow rate, relative humidity, CO2 level, illuminance. Weather variables were either acquired by local sensors or obtained from a close by meteorological station. The data were collected either during normal operation of the building, with observation periods between 2 weeks and 2 months, or during experiments designed to excite the thermal mass of the building, with observation periods of approximately one week. The data have a time resolution varying between 1 min and 15 min; in some case the highest resolution data are also averaged at larger intervals, up to 30 min.

Stable performance is a key requirement for solar cell devices. Here, spectroscopy combined with depth profiling reveals I2 and PbI2 are distributed evenly in a perovskite solar cell under an electric field, while the electric field itself promotes chemical heterogeneity and device degradation.

Risk-taking is a key factor in corporate competitive advantage, and economic development. The type of strategic configuration that can drive high-level risk-taking is a problem worthy of attention. This study takes 2,219 listed firms in China as samples and performs a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore the linkage effect and path choice of strategic change, corporate social responsibility, innovation, diversification, and financialization with corporate risk-taking (CRT). It finds that: (a) a single strategy does not constitute a necessary condition for high-level CRT; (b) three types of adaptive schemes exist for high-level CRT, among which the risk-taking level is the highest under the path of “Innovation, diversification, and financialization”; and (c) the driving paths of CRT in different regions, industries, and ownership show obvious differences.

BackgroundThis paper reviews nationally representative public opinion surveys on artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States, with a focus on areas related to health care. The potential health applications of AI continue to gain attention owing to their promise as well as challenges. For AI to fulfill its potential, it must not only be adopted by physicians and health providers but also by patients and other members of the public. ObjectiveThis study reviews the existing survey research on the United States’ public attitudes toward AI in health care and reveals the challenges and opportunities for more effective and inclusive engagement on the use of AI in health settings. MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of public opinion surveys, reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles published on Web of Science, PubMed, and Roper iPoll between January 2010 and January 2022. We include studies that are nationally representative US public opinion surveys and include at least one or more questions about attitudes toward AI in health care contexts. Two members of the research team independently screened the included studies. The reviewers screened study titles, abstracts, and methods for Web of Science and PubMed search results. For the Roper iPoll search results, individual survey items were assessed for relevance to the AI health focus, and survey details were screened to determine a nationally representative US sample. We reported the descriptive statistics available for the relevant survey questions. In addition, we performed secondary analyses on 4 data sets to further explore the findings on attitudes across different demographic groups. ResultsThis review includes 11 nationally representative surveys. The search identified 175 records, 39 of which were assessed for inclusion. Surveys include questions related to familiarity and experience with AI; applications, benefits, and risks of AI in health care settings; the use of AI in disease diagnosis, treatment, and robotic caregiving; and related issues of data privacy and surveillance. Although most Americans have heard of AI, they are less aware of its specific health applications. Americans anticipate that medicine is likely to benefit from advances in AI; however, the anticipated benefits vary depending on the type of application. Specific application goals, such as disease prediction, diagnosis, and treatment, matter for the attitudes toward AI in health care among Americans. Most Americans reported wanting control over their personal health data. The willingness to share personal health information largely depends on the institutional actor collecting the data and the intended use. ConclusionsAmericans in general report seeing health care as an area in which AI applications could be particularly beneficial. However, they have substantial levels of concern regarding specific applications, especially those in which AI is involved in decision-making and regarding the privacy of health information.

Given a set of facilities and a set of clients, a reverse $k$ nearest neighbors ( $\text{R}k$ NN) query returns every client for which the query facility is one of the $k$ -closest facilities. $\text{R}k$ NN query has been studied thoroughly for its importance in various fields such as facility location. In this paper, we propose a brand new variant of $\text{R}k$ NN query, namely, maximal group reverse $k$ nearest neighbors (MaxGroupR $k$ NN) query. Given a set of clients, a set of candidate facilities and parameters $k$ and $m$ , MaxGroupR $k$ NN query returns a set of $m$ facilities out of the candidates, such that the total number of $\text{R}k$ NNs of the result set is maximized. The MaxGroupR $k$ NN query is important for multi-facility location problem, which aims to maximize the total potential clients of a group of facilities providing the same service such as chain stores, charging stations and logistic centers. A straightforward solution is to enumerate all possible combinations which is obviously time consuming. In order to address this problem, we present an efficient solution namely MGR, which is based on a well-designed pruning technique. The proposed pruning technique is able to filter out the candidates that cannot contribute to the final result and reduce the computation cost dramatically. Moreover, we propose a well-designed optimization technique that can further reduce the computation cost. A detailed theoretical analysis of our methods is provided and the experimental results also confirm that our proposed methods have high efficiency and scalability.

WEE1 has emerged as an attractive target in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), but how EOC cells may alter their sensitivity to WEE1 inhibition remains unclear. Here, through a cell cycle machinery–related gene RNAi screen, we found that targeting outer dense fiber of sperm tails 2–like (ODF2L) was a synthetic lethal partner with WEE1 kinase inhibition in EOC cells. Knockdown of ODF2L robustly sensitized cells to treatment with the WEE1 inhibitor AZD1775 in EOC cell lines in vitro as well as in xenografts in vivo. Mechanistically, the increased sensitivity to WEE1 inhibition upon ODF2L loss was accompanied by accumulated DNA damage. ODF2L licensed the recruitment of PKMYT1, a functionally redundant kinase of WEE1, to the CDK1–cyclin B complex and thus restricted the activity of CDK1 when WEE1 was inhibited. Clinically, upregulation of ODF2L correlated with CDK1 activity, DNA damage levels, and sensitivity to WEE1 inhibition in patient-derived EOC cells. Moreover, ODF2L levels predicted the response to WEE1 inhibition in an EOC patient–derived xenograft model. Combination treatment with tumor-targeted lipid nanoparticles that packaged ODF2L siRNA and AZD1775 led to the synergistic attenuation of tumor growth in the ID8 ovarian cancer syngeneic mouse model. These data suggest that WEE1 inhibition is a promising precision therapeutic strategy for EOC cells expressing low levels of ODF2L.

Silicosis is one of the most severe interstitial lung fibrosis diseases worldwide, caused by crystalline silica exposure. While the mechanisms and pathogenesis underlying silicosis remained unknown. N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation has received significant attention in a variety of human diseases. However, whether m6A methylation is involved in silicosis has not been clarified. In this study, we conducted methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-Seq) and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) to profile the m6A modification in normal and silicosis mouse models (n = 3 pairs). The global levels of m6A methylation were further assessed by m6A RNA methylation quantification kits, and the major regulators of m6A RNA methylation were verified by qRT-PCR. Our results showed that long-term exposure to crystalline silica led to silicosis, accompanied by increasing levels of m6A methylation. Upregulation of METTL3 and downregulation of ALKBH5, FTO, YTHDF1, and YTHDF3 might contribute to aberrant m6A modification. Compared with controls, 359 genes showed differential m6A methylation peaks in silicosis (P

Developing learner autonomy has been a critical task in English teaching that requires a clear understanding of the feature of classroom environment. This study aims to examine how senior high school students perceive classroom environment and learner autonomy, and how classroom environment exerts its influence on learner autonomy in Chinese EFL learning context. Participants (N = 565) from 15 classes located in northeast of China were selected to fill in an adapted version of What is Happening in This Class (WIHIC) and English Autonomous Learning Ability scale. Interview was conducted to confirm and illustrate the quantitative findings. The results revealed that senior high students had favorable perceptions of English classroom environment and learner autonomy. Grade differences existed in their perceptions. Moreover, we found that 53.7% of the variance in learner autonomy was accounted for by students’ perceptions of English classroom environment, which indicated that English classroom environment had significantly positive effects on learner autonomy. Specifically, task orientation, student involvement, teacher support and finding references were strong predictors to learner autonomy. The possible reasons for the findings were discussed and recommendations for future research were given.

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of the varying thickness rolling process, grounded in the principle of pre-displacement. Within the rolling deformation zone, the subject is divided into three distinct areas: the backward slip zone, sticking zone, and forward slip zone. We propose a model that delineates the sticking-sliding motion between the rolled piece and the roller, all within the context of the rolling deformation zone, and derive a calculation method for determining the longitudinal lengths of both the sliding and sticking zones within this area. Unlike existing full sliding and full sticking models, our sticking-sliding model offers a novel perspective, overcoming inherent limitations when analyzing the rolling process. Furthermore, we establish models to describe the neutral angle and forward slip value and to predict the longitudinal length of the rolled piece during the varying thickness rolling process. A comparison of our calculated results with experimental data demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the method, thereby laying a robust theoretical foundation for the varying thickness rolling process.

Background: The chemokine signaling pathway plays an essential role in the development, progression, and immune surveillance of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Our study aimed to systematically analyze chemokine signaling-related genes (CSRGs) in LUSC patients with stage I–III disease and develop a prediction model to predict the prognosis and therapeutic response.Methods: A total of 610 LUSC patients with stage I–III disease from three independent cohorts were included in our study. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and stepwise multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to develop a CSRG-related signature. GSVA and GSEA were performed to identify potential biological pathways. The ESTIMATE algorithm, ssGSEA method, and CIBERSORT analyses were applied to explore the correlation between the CSRG signature and the tumor immune microenvironment. The TCIA database and pRRophetic algorithm were utilized to predict responses to immunochemotherapy and targeted therapy.Results: A signature based on three CSRGs (CCL15, CXCL7, and VAV2) was developed in the TCGA training set and validated in the TCGA testing set and GEO external validation sets. A Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that patients in the high-risk group had significantly shorter survival than those in the low-risk group. A nomogram combined with clinical parameters was established for clinical OS prediction. The calibration and DCA curves confirmed that the prognostic nomogram had good discrimination and accuracy. An immune cell landscape analysis demonstrated that immune score and immune-related functions were abundant in the high-risk group. Interestingly, the proportion of CD8 T-cells was higher in the low-risk group than in the high-risk group. Immunotherapy response prediction indicated that patients in the high-risk group had a better response to CTLA-4 inhibitors. We also found that patients in the low-risk group were more sensitive to first-line chemotherapeutic treatment and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In addition, the expression of genes in the CSRG signature was validated by qRT‒PCR in clinical tumor specimens.Conclusion: In the present study, we developed a CSRG-related signature that could predict the prognosis and sensitivity to immunochemotherapy and targeted therapy in LUSC patients with stage I–III disease. Our study provides an insight into the multifaceted role of the chemokine signaling pathway in LUSC and may help clinicians implement optimal individualized treatment for patients.

Background and aim: Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a chronic inflammation that frequently involves the aorta and its major branches. It has been known that atherosclerosis can occur in some TA patients. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis in TA. Methods: This retrospective study enrolled a total of 101 TA patients. All patients were divided into two groups according to the absence or presence of atherosclerosis. Baseline demographic features and clinical characteristics were compared between two groups. A logistic model was applied to determine the risk factors associated with the development of atherosclerosis. Results: Our data suggested that the disease duration of patients in the atherosclerosis group was significantly longer than that of patients in the non-atherosclerosis group [96(18.00, 180.00) versus 48.00(12.00, 111.00) months] ( P = .015). In addition, the average age of patients with atherosclerosis was significantly older compared to patients without atherosclerosis [44.00(38.00, 48.00)versus 28.50(24.00，37.00)years] ( P < .001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of developing atherosclerosis increased by 9.2% per 1 year increase in the disease duration ( P = .005, OR 1.092, 95%CI: 1.027-1.162). Patients with TG/HDL-C ratio more than 0.8875 were associated with a 5.861fold increase of risk developing atherosclerosis ( P < .001, OR 5.861, 95%CI: 2.299-14.939). Conclusion: Our study indicated that prolonged disease duration and elevated TG/HDL-C ratio are associated with the development of atherosclerosis in TA patients.

Background: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a common disease in otology, and steroids play an important role in its treatment. Steroids can be administered systemically or locally, and the efficacies of different administration routes remain controversial. Methods: We searched the Cochrane, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang and Weipu databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on glucocorticoid treatments for SSNHL to compare the efficacy of topical and systemic steroid administration. The Review Manager 5.4 software was used for synthesis of data: the rate of reported hearing improvement and change in pure-tone audiometry (PTA). Results: In all the included studies, when intratympanic administration was compared to systemic therapies, the risk difference (RD) using reported hearing improvement as an outcome measure was 0.08 (95% CI: 0.01–0.14, I2 = 45%). Using PTA changes as an outcome measure in 4 studies, the mean difference (MD) was 10.43 dB (95% CI: 3.68–17.18, I2 = 81%). Hearing improvement RD was also compared among different types of steroid, recovery criteria, follow-up times and diagnostic criteria, and showed no significant differences exception for recovery criteria (>10 dB) (RD -0.06, 95% CI: 0.14-0.2, I2 = 0%). Conclusion: As the initial treatment for SSNHL, topical steroids seem to be superior to systemic steroid administration, especially in patients with contraindications to systemic steroids usage. However, further verification based on high-quality research is needed.

This paper aims to improve planar shape prediction accuracy in the rolling process of medium and thick plates. We present a model based on the strip method that addresses limitations in predicting planar shape variations at the head and tail ends of rolled pieces. By analysing the rolling process, we introduce the concept of an imaginary strip longitudinal length difference to represent planar shape characteristics effectively. By analysing the change in metal shape in the rolling deformation zone, the calculation formula for metal volume in the deformation zone is derived. This establishes a relationship between the longitudinal length difference at the rolled piece ends and the metal volume in the deformation zone. The prediction of plane shape difference between the end and the head of medium and medium-thickness plate is realized. The experimental results confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Laminated bamboo lumber (BLL) and bamboo scrimber (BS) are potential environmentally friendly building materials, considering that they are hygroscopic materials and that their hygrothermal performance is closely related to the occupants’ comfort, their building durability, and building energy consumption. This study carried out material property tests on bamboo-based materials (BLL and BS) and analyzed hygrothermal performance simulations on bamboo exterior wall constructions in five major climatic zones using WUFI. Results show that BS had a greater heat storage capacity than BLL. However, BLL showed a relatively higher moisture sorption capacity, and BLL was more easily permeated by vapor than BS. The water content (WC) of 12 walls of BLL and BS was below 20%. BLL and BS met the requirements of the envelope, and the WC of BS was lower than that of BLL. Based on the results, the walls designed in this study are suitable for the corresponding climate zones. In the cold and severe climate zones especially, the external insulation system walls performed better than the internal insulation system. The external insulation system was recommended for these two climate zones. The design and simulation results of walls made of two types of bamboo-based materials provide a scientific basis for the application of the material.

Efforts to improve preservice teacher education have recently focused on developing teachers’ adequate pedagogical knowledge (PK), content knowledge (CK), and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), which are critical elements of teacher’s professional knowledge, and important indicators of preparedness to teach. However, the development of the three knowledge domains of Chinese preservice English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers is surprisingly under-researched. To fill this gap, this study examined the development of the three knowledge domains of a group of Chinese preservice EFL teachers at different stages of a teacher education program. Specifically, it explored the relationship among the three knowledge domains, and the effects of learning opportunities on their development. Findings revealed that preservice EFL teachers at a later stage outperformed those at an earlier stage with regard to PK and PCK. Our findings also suggested that there were positive correlations among PK, CK, and PCK at different stages of the teacher education program. Furthermore, the findings showed that courses on CK, PK, and PCK, and teaching experience significantly influenced preservice EFL teachers’ professional knowledge. However, the role of classroom observation was not significant. Implications for EFL teacher education and future research were also discussed.

Abstract Background and Aims Before COVID‐19 was declared a global pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and many other organizations published many images of its pathogen (namely SARS‐CoV‐2) to raise public awareness of the disease. Despite their scientific and aesthetic values, such images may convey metaphoric meanings and cause a subsequent impact on viewers' fear and disgust. This study investigated how exposure to the SARS‐CoV‐2 images might shape viewers' fear, disgust, and risk perception of COVID‐19. Methods Seventy images depicting the SARS‐CoV‐2 were collected from the websites of CDC, NIAID, and third‐party organizations in early 2020. We first showed the images to a group of 492 adults recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and asked them to rate their levels of fear and disgust for each image. Results of this pre‐test allowed us to identify images that evoked high, medium, and low levels of fear and disgust, which were then used as treatment stimuli for an online experiment with a national sample of 500 U.S. adults. Results Exposure to the selected SARS‐CoV‐2 images caused different levels of disgust, but not fear, among the members of the national sample. Noticeably, the images evoking the highest level of disgust backfired among those who were least concerned about COVID and caused less fear than images evoking the lowest level of disgust. Image exposure was not associated with risk perception of the disease. Conclusion This study found that the seemingly objective visualizations of the SARS‐CoV‐2 are not emotionally neutral. Scientists, agencies, and media professionals should be mindful of the potential emotional impact of science visualizations, such as when creating the iconic image for COVID‐19 or other infectious diseases.

As the reach of science content in traditional media declines, many institutions and scientists are turning to YouTube as a powerful tool for communicating directly with non-expert publics. They do so with little empirical social science research guiding their efforts. This study explores how video characteristics and social endorsement cues provided by audience members might influence user engagement with online science videos. Shorter videos are more likely to be viewed. Social endorsement cues significantly relate to variations in user engagement, with likes having a consistent positive association with all types of engagement. Implications for science communication through YouTube are discussed.

The role of the CEO in an enterprise's management decisions renders their individual characteristics influential in decisions about mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Personal characteristics are based on many aspects, therefore, we provide a multi-angle insight into the personal characteristics of managers. Drawing on the upper echelons theory, we examine whether CEOs' proactive personality affects merger and acquisition decisions. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is performed using a sample of 64 listed firms in China for the period 2010–2019. There are three solutions for cross-industry mergers, and five for intra-industry mergers. The results suggest that: (a) proactive and overconfident CEOs are inclined toward cross-industry mergers; (b) non-proactive and low-educated CEOs are inclined toward intra-industry mergers; (c) emerging industry enterprises tend to choose intra-industry mergers; (d) overconfident CEOs are more likely to undertake cross-industry mergers in traditional industries.

As the demand for embedded-vision grows, solving large optimization problems in real-time with energy and cost budget is a challenge. We present BAX, a hardware accelerator of bundle adjustment (BA), which solves the least-squares problem of state estimation in visual odometry (VO). BAX consists of a frontend and a backend for control and computation, respectively. The frontend generates instructions on-the-fly executed at the backend to perform the BA algorithm. The backend adopts decoupled access/execute (DAE) architecture, which separates the memory access unit (MAU) from the pipeline. The MAU can prefetch vectors and matrices ahead of computations. To further reduce the latency of data reorganization, three transpose-free dataflows are proposed for matrix multiplication operations on the vector processing unit (VPU). Besides, a unified architecture for both forward and backward substitution is designed for matrix decomposition in the linear solver. All the data are stored in 442kB on-chip memory, and the local map is maintained efficiently by the hierarchical graph memory. Compared with the baseline architecture, the processing time is reduced by 53.9% through the above techniques. BAX is implemented in 32-bit floating-point precision with data normalization on FPGA. It completes a full BA in about 63.44ms at 200MHz, consuming 1.12W power. BAX is $1.73\times $ and $22.38\times $ faster than the desktop and embedded CPUs, respectively, and achieves 90% performance of the GPU at much less power consumption.

Abstract Background Cancer cells undergo global reprogramming of cellular metabolism to satisfy demands of energy and biomass during proliferation and metastasis. Computational modeling of genome-scale metabolic models is an effective approach for designing new therapeutics targeting dysregulated cancer metabolism by identifying metabolic enzymes crucial for satisfying metabolic goals of cancer cells, but nearly all previous studies neglect the existence of metabolic demands other than biomass synthesis and trade-offs between these contradicting metabolic demands. It is thus necessary to develop computational models covering multiple metabolic objectives to study cancer metabolism and identify novel metabolic targets. Methods We developed a multi-objective optimization model for cancer cell metabolism at genome-scale and an integrated, data-driven workflow for analyzing the Pareto optimality of this model in achieving multiple metabolic goals and identifying metabolic enzymes crucial for maintaining cancer-associated metabolic phenotypes. Using this workflow, we constructed cell line-specific models for a panel of cancer cell lines and identified lists of metabolic targets promoting or suppressing cancer cell proliferation or the Warburg Effect. The targets were then validated using knockdown and over-expression experiments in cultured cancer cell lines. Results We found that the multi-objective optimization model correctly predicted phenotypes including cell growth rates, essentiality of metabolic genes and cell line specific sensitivities to metabolic perturbations. To our surprise, metabolic enzymes promoting proliferation substantially overlapped with those suppressing the Warburg Effect, suggesting that simply targeting the overlapping enzymes may lead to complicated outcomes. We also identified lists of metabolic enzymes important for maintaining rapid proliferation or high Warburg Effect while having little effect on the other. The importance of these enzymes in cancer metabolism predicted by the model was validated by their association with cancer patient survival and knockdown and overexpression experiments in a variety of cancer cell lines. Conclusions These results confirm this multi-objective optimization model as a novel and effective approach for studying trade-off between metabolic demands of cancer cells and identifying cancer-associated metabolic vulnerabilities, and suggest novel metabolic targets for cancer treatment. Graphical abstract

Nuclear accidents and decommissioning in the nuclear industry would release a large number of radioactive aerosols which endangers the natural environment and the health of workers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for environment-friendly aerosol suppressants to control and handle environmental pollution problems caused by radioactive aerosols. In this paper, sodium alginate (SA), a type of polyphenol material (TP), and alkyl glycosides (APGs) were selected as the components of the compound aerosol suppressant and the optimal proportion was generated via the method of D-optimal mixture design. Furthermore, the cesium aerosol sedimentation effect of the optimized compound aerosol suppressants was evaluated via sedimentation efficiency, the change in particle concentration cumulative concentration fraction of the cesium aerosol sedimentation process. The results showed that the aerosol sedimentation efficiency was 99.82% which was much higher than nature settlement, 18.6% and water spraying sedimentation, 43.3%. Moreover, after spraying the compound suppressant, it displayed a good effect on settling the cesium aerosol particles with a diameter of less than 1 µm, as the concentration of particles was reduced from 55.49% to 44.53%. Finally, the sedimentation mechanism of the compound aerosol suppressant and cesium aerosol particles, such as the coagulation effect, was analyzed using the particle size distribution.

Predicting the permeability of coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs is significant for coalbed methane exploration and coalbed methane development. In this work, a new fracture permeability model of coalbed methane reservoir with high-dip angle in the southern Junggar Basin, NW China is established based on the Poiseuille and Darcy laws. The fracture porosity in coalbed methane reservoir is calculated by applying 3D finite element method. The formation cementing index m was calculated by combining fractal theory and the data of acoustic logging, compensated neutron logging, and density logging with the space method. Based on Poiseuille and Darcy laws, the curvature τ is introduced to derive this new method for obtaining the permeability of the original fractures in coalbed methane reservoirs. Moreover, this newly established permeability model is compared with the permeability from the well testing, which shows a very good correlation between them. This model comprehensively includes the effects of fracture porosity, reservoir pore structure, and development conditions on fracture permeability. Finally, the permeability prediction of coalbed methane reservoir with high-dip angle in the southern Junggar Basin, NW China is conducted, which correlates very well with the well test permeability ( R 2 = 0.83). Therefore, this model can be used to accurately predict the coalbed methane reservoir permeability of low rank coals in the southern Junggar Basin. The permeability of the No.43 coalbed methane reservoir for the coalbed methane wells without well testing data is evaluated, which ranges from 0.000251 to 0.379632 mD. This significant change in permeability may indicate a complex coalbed methane reservoir structure in the southern Junggar Basin, NW China.