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Two-terminal structure memristors are the most promising electronic devices that could play a significant role in artificial intelligence applications of the next generation and the post-Moore era. In this work, we fabricated the memristive device by depositing a heterojunction WOx/TiOy functional layer onto an indium tin oxide substrate using magnetron sputtering. The Ag/WOx/TiOy/ITO device exhibits improved memory behavior of bipolar resistive switching (RS) nonvolatile compared to TiOy-based single-layer memristors, enabling it to meet high-density information storage requirements. Moreover, our device exhibited the coexistence of the negative differential resistance effect and the behavior of the RS memory. Through a comprehensive analysis of conductivity on the curve of current–voltage (I–V), a physical model based on the mechanism of space charge-limited current, ohmic conduction, and Schottky emission was suggested to explain the behavior device RS memory. This study's findings demonstrate that including a heterojunction bilayer WOx/TiOy as a functional layer can significantly improve the performance of memristive devices. This advancement expands the potential application of ferroelectric metallic oxide heterojunctions within the field of memristors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thoracolumbar traumatic spondylolisthesis is a relatively rare phenomenon and has poor prognosis due to serious spinal cord or cauda equina injuries. In such cases, closed reduction is a method for restoring the vertebral sequence and may play an important role in the treatment process, although whether it is actually feasible for patients with this condition requires further investigation. The present study included 9 patients with serious thoracolumbar traumatic spondylolisthesis to determine the advantages of closed reduction over total reduction through open surgery. Data from 9 patients (cases 1–9), diagnosed with severe thoracolumbar traumatic spondylolisthesis between June 2012 and August 2023, were retrospectively reviewed. Five patients were treated with closed reduction in an emergency department and subsequently underwent delayed internal fixation surgery at least 48 hours after the injury, and 4 with similar serious injuries underwent emergency surgery. The incidence of complications and recovery of the spinal cord or cauda equina were compared between groups. There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics or adverse events between the 2 groups. The reduction group had a shorter surgical duration and less blood loss than the surgery group. Although patients in the surgery group may have experienced more pain, there were no significant differences between the groups in Oswestry Disability Index or Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores. Thus, regardless of whether closed reduction was chosen, patients experienced a similar quality of life for a relatively prolonged period. Closed reduction may be feasible for serious thoracolumbar traumatic spondylolisthesis, although the safety of this method requires further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the high nonlinearity and complexity, it is still a challenge to forecast traffic flow accurately. Most of the existing methods, which lack the ability to model the dynamic spatio-temporal correlations of traffic flows, rely on a priori knowledge of the graph structure to capture static spatial correlations. However, spatial correlation can be dynamic and the physical structure does not reflect the true relationship between roads. To better capture complex spatio-temporal dependencies and predict traffic conditions on road networks, a new forecasting model based on Transformer and Diffusion Graph Attention Network (T-DGAN) is proposed. This model adopts the Transformer encoder-decoder architecture, where the encoder and decoder contain multiple Spatio-Temporal Convolutional Network Blocks (ST-CB) and Diffusion Graph Attention Blocks (DGA-B), which are utilized to capture the spatio-temporal dependency and the dynamic spatial correlation of traffic flow separately. In addition, an information auxiliary module is added to the decoder to summarize the traffic flow information between the encoder and the decoder. Experiments on different datasets verify that the T-DGAN model has achieved higher forecasting performance than the baseline methods. In PEMS03, the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of T-DGAN to 60 min are improved by 4.28% and 3.66%, compared with the state-of-the-art model, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its powerful brain‐like parallel computing and efficient data processing capabilities, memristors are considered to be the core components for building the next generation of artificial intelligence systems. In this study, the CeOx/WOy heterojunction is employed as the functional layer, and various metal materials are utilized as the top electrode to fabricate the memristor. The results indicate that the memristive performance of the Ag/CeOx/WOy/ITO device can be improved by using Ag as the top electrode. By studying the conductivity mechanism of the device, a conductivity model is established that regulates oxygen vacancies and Ag conductive filaments. Furthermore, using the as‐prepared memristor, it is constructed four basic digital logic circuits: OR, AND, XOR, and XNOR, as well as a half adder and a full adder that can be used for digital arithmetic operations. Specifically, an odd/even checker is developed based on XOR and XNOR logic circuits to verify the correctness of data transmission. Finally, it is also designed and implemented a cryptographic array based on a memristor, which can be applied to encrypt and decrypt a series of numbers and images. Therefore, this work extends the application of memristor toward digital circuits, information transmission, data processing and image security encryption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is an economically important fruit crop worldwide. The widely cultivated grapevine is susceptible to powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe necator. In this study, we used CRISPR-Cas9 to simultaneously knock out VviWRKY10 and VviWRKY30 encoding two transcription factors reported to be implicated in defense regulation. We generated 53 wrky10 single mutant transgenic plants and 15 wrky10 wrky30 double mutant transgenic plants. In a 2-yr field evaluation of powdery mildew resistance, the wrky10 mutants showed strong resistance, while the wrky10 wrky30 double mutants showed moderate resistance. Further analyses revealed that salicylic acid (SA) and reactive oxygen species contents in the leaves of wrky10 and wrky10 wrky30 were substantially increased, as was the ethylene (ET) content in the leaves of wrky10. The results from dual luciferase reporter assays, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays demonstrated that VviWRKY10 could directly bind to the W-boxes in the promoter of SA-related defense genes and inhibit their transcription, supporting its role as a negative regulator of SA-dependent defense. By contrast, VviWRKY30 could directly bind to the W-boxes in the promoter of ET-related defense genes and promote their transcription, playing a positive role in ET production and ET-dependent defense. Moreover, VviWRKY10 and VviWRKY30 can bind to each other's promoters and mutually inhibit each other's transcription. Taken together, our results reveal a complex mechanism of regulation by VviWRKY10 and VviWRKY30 for activation of measured and balanced defense responses against powdery mildew in grapevine. Transcription factors WRKY10 and WRKY30 regulate powdery mildew resistance in grapevine through the salicylic acid and ethylene pathways, respectively, and inhibit each other's transcription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Materials and Methods Results Conclusion Clinical Significance This study aimed to present three indicators that represent the proximal contact area gap change under intercuspal occlusion and to see if and how these indicators influence food impaction with tight proximal contact.Ninety volunteers were recruited for bite force measurement and intraoral scanning. Three‐dimensional surface data and buccal bite data were obtained for 60 impacted and 60 non‐impacted teeth. The scanning data were imported into the Geomagic Studio 2013 to measure three indicators, which included the gap change maximum (Δdm, μm), the buccolingual position of Δdm (P), and the gap expanded buccolingual range (S, mm). The difference between two groups of three indicators and their relationship with food impaction with tight proximal contact were analyzed by the t test, the Pearson chi‐squared test, the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test, and the binary logistic regression analysis (a = 0.05).All indicators (Δdm, P, and S) were statistically different (p < 0.001, p = 0.002, and p < 0.001) in the impacted and non‐impacted groups. Food impaction with tight proximal contact was affected by Δdm and S (p < 0.001, p = 0.039), but not by P (p = 0.409).The excessive increase of the gap change maximum and the gap expanded buccolingual range under bite force promoted the occurrence of food impaction with tight proximal contact.The use of intraoral scanning to measure the characteristics of the proximal contact area gap change under bite force may help to deepen our understanding of the pathogenesis of food impaction with tight proximal contact. Importantly it can provide a reference basis for individualizing and quantifying occlusal adjustment treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, the number of lenslets in Shack–Hartman wavefront sensor (SHWFS) determines its spatial sampling frequency. However, increasing the number of lenslets is limited by the data processing delay time and low sensitivity in the adaptive optics system. In this paper, a wavefront reconstruction method based on ASH-Net for SHWFS is presented to recover the distorted wavefront from the light spots array with high accuracy with a spatial sampling frequency than traditionally required. The results show that the maximum number of Zernike modes recovered by the method is 36, 54, and 70 for 4 × 4, 6 × 6, and 8 × 8 lenslets arrays, respectively. Residual wavefront root mean square values are as low as about 0.02 μ m, corresponding to a Strehl Ratio of 0.99. This method breaks the limitation that the number of reconstructed Zernike modes in the traditional wavefront reconstruction algorithm must be less than the number of effective lenslets. Experiments in lab are used to validate the method. Additionally, fewer lenslets is valuable to improve the detection capability of SHWFS for faint targets. This is important for applications of adaptive optics in areas such as astronomy and retinal imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dazomet is a dry powder formulation that releases toxic gas containing methyl isothiocyanate, which controls soil-borne pests and weeds, improving crop yields when applied to moist soils. To explore the efficacy of dazomet fumigation in the cultivation of the perennial herb Codonopsis pilosula, four typical cultivars (G1, G2, W1 and TCK) in Gansu Province were selected for seedling cultivation after soil fumigation (F) by dazomet, and non-fumigated soil was used as a control (CK). The experiments took 2 years to complete. The functional diversity of the soil enzymes and microorganisms, seedling emergence and physiological characteristics, and the quality and yield of Codonopsis seedlings and Radix were assessed. The results showed that the seed emergence rate, seedling re-green rate and several antioxidant enzymatic activities improved in the treatments involving soil fumigation with dazomet, and membrane lipid peroxidation in the seedlings decreased. On average, compared with those of the respective controls, the root viability and yield of the seedlings of the tested cultivars also increased by 34.87% and 42.4%, respectively, and the incidence of root rot in the seedlings was reduced by 83.9%, compared with their respective controls. After harvest, the yield increased by 23.9%, the incidence of root rot decreased by 61.3%, increase in yield and a 61.3% reduction in incidence, and the medicinal materials were determined to be safe and residue-free. The effects of fumigation were cultivar-specific and were especially prominent in G2. Therefore, soil fumigation with dazomet could improve the quality and productivity of Codonopsis pilosula seedlings. Taken together, these findings suggest that when herbs are bred by seedling transplantation, especially cultivars of good quality but poor resistance or species with rare germplasm resources, soil fumigation provides a way to improve cultivation effectiveness and, more importantly, ensures the probability of successfully breeding the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis, a new type of cell death accompanied by iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation, is implicated in the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD), which is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder that primarily occurred in the elderly population. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major polyphenol in green tea with known neuroprotective effects in PD patients. But whether EGCG-mediated neuroprotection against PD involves regulation of ferroptosis has not been elucidated. In this study, we established a PD model using PINK1 mutant Drosophila. Iron accumulation, lipid peroxidation and decreased activity of GPX, were detected in the brains of PD flies. Additionally, phenotypes of PD, including behavioral defects and dopaminergic neurons loss, were ameliorated by ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 (Fer-1). Notably, the increased iron level, lipid peroxidation and decreased GPX activity in the brains of PD flies were relieved by EGCG. We found that EGCG exerted neuroprotection mainly by restoring iron homeostasis in the PD flies. EGCG inhibited iron influx by suppressing Malvolio (Mvl) expression and simultaneously promoted the upregulation of ferritin, the intracellular iron storage protein, leading to a reduction in free iron ions. Additionally, EGCG downregulated the expression of Duox and Nox , two NADPH oxidases that produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased SOD enzyme activity. Finally, modulation of intracellular iron levels or regulation of oxidative stress by genetic means exerted great influence on PD phenotypes. As such, the results demonstrated that ferroptosis has a role in the established PD model. Altogether, EGCG has therapeutic potentials for treating PD by targeting the ferroptosis pathway, providing new strategies for the prevention and treatment of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases. [Display omitted] • Ferroptosis contributes to neuronal and behavioral defects in PINK1 mutation-induced PD Drosophila model. • Ferroptosis arises from elevated iron influx, reduced iron chelation, increased NADPH oxidases and inhibited ROS clearance. • EGCG administration alleviates characteristics of ferroptosis and phenotypes of PD. • EGCG protects against ferroptosis by restoring iron homeostasis, inhibition of NADPH oxidases and enhancing ROS clearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Mesenteric panniculitis (MP) represents the uncommon, benign and chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the mesenteric adipose tissues. Its etiology, diagnosis and treatment remain unnoticed. Our report focused on shedding more lights on this condition. Patients and methods: Seventeen MP patients were identified by searching the electronic medical record system in the Zhengzhou Ninth People's Hospital using the search terms "Mesenteric panniculitis" from October 2015 to March 2023. All cases were diagnosed with MP through computed tomography (CT). Their clinical features and treatments were analyzed. Results: There were altogether 17 cases enrolled for this analysis. The male to female ratio was 8:9, and the median age at diagnosis was 64 (range: 37–96) years. There were 15 patients (88.2%) showing abdominal pain to varying degrees. The proportions of symptoms of nausea, vomiting and fever were 23.5%, 23.5% and 41.2%, respectively. Neoplastic disease was present in 3 patients (17.6%). Meanwhile, 9 patients (52.9%) had gallstones, 3 (17.6%) had cholecystitis and 1 (5.9%) had gallbladder polyps. Six patients (35.3%) received antibiotics treatment only and 1 (5.9%) received oral antibiotics and prednisone. One patient (5.9%) received antibiotics followed by prednisone treatment, because the symptoms were significantly relieved after antibiotic treatment, while the disease recurred soon after, and the symptoms improved again after prednisone treatment. The abdominal pain in 9 patients (52.9%) was relieved spontaneously. Two patients (11.8%) died, including one due to respiratory failure caused by pneumonia and the other one because of pancreatic cancer with lung and liver metastases. Conclusion: MP is a poorly understood chronic inflammatory disease. Patients often have abdominal pain as the main symptom, accompanied by comorbidities in the gallbladder, and the prognosis is usually good after correct diagnosis and treatment, Therefore, the present report aims to promote the awareness among clinicians of patients with non-classic abdominal symptoms, so as to avoid misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panonychus citri is a worldwide citrus pest that is currently controlled through the use of insecticides. However, alternative strategies are required to manage P. citri. Recent studies suggest that the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter G subfamily plays a crucial role in transporting cuticular lipids, which are essential for the insect's barrier function against microbial penetration. Therefore, investigating the potential of the ABC transporter G subfamily as a control measure for P. citri could be a promising approach. Based on the genome database, the gene was cloned, and the transcriptional response of ABCG23 for the different developmental stages of P. citri and under spirobudiclofen stress was investigated. Our results showed that the expression level of ABCG23 was significantly lower in adult females exposed to treatment compared to the control and was higher in females than males. The knockdown of ABCG23 using RNAi led to a decrease in the survival rate, fecundity, and TG contents of P. citri. Additionally, a lethal phenotype was characterized by body wrinkling and darkening. These results indicate that ABCG23 may be involved in cuticular lipid transportation and have adverse effects on the development and reproduction of P. citri, providing insight into the discovery of new targets for pest management based on the insect cuticle's penetration barrier function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is found that the disordered growth of bottom perovskite film deteriorates the buried interface of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), so developing a new material to modify the buried interface for regulating the crystal growth and defect passivation is an effective approach for improving the photovoltaic performance of PSCs. Here, we developed a new ionic liquid crystal (ILC, 1‐Dodecyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) as both crystal regulator and defect passivator to modify the buried interface of PSCs. The high lattice matching between this ILC and perovskite promotes preferential growth of perovskite film along [001] direction, while the oriented ILC with mesomorphic phase has a strong chemical interaction with perovskite to passivate the interface defect, as a result, the modified buried interface exhibits suppressed defects, improved band alignment, reduced nonradiative recombination losses, and enhanced charge extraction. The ILC‐modified PSC delivers a power conversion efficiency of 24.92 % and maintains 94 % of the original value after storage in ambient for 3000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is found that the disordered growth of bottom perovskite film deteriorates the buried interface of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), so developing a new material to modify the buried interface for regulating the crystal growth and defect passivation is an effective approach for improving the photovoltaic performance of PSCs. Here, we developed a new ionic liquid crystal (ILC, 1‐Dodecyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) as both crystal regulator and defect passivator to modify the buried interface of PSCs. The high lattice matching between this ILC and perovskite promotes preferential growth of perovskite film along [001] direction, while the oriented ILC with mesomorphic phase has a strong chemical interaction with perovskite to passivate the interface defect, as a result, the modified buried interface exhibits suppressed defects, improved band alignment, reduced nonradiative recombination losses, and enhanced charge extraction. The ILC‐modified PSC delivers a power conversion efficiency of 24.92 % and maintains 94 % of the original value after storage in ambient for 3000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertain provenance and tectonic setting of shale has constrained the exploration and exploitation of natural gas in the Wufeng–Longmaxi Formation in the southern Sichuan Basin, China. Therefore, this study analyzed the mineral petrology and geochemistry to assess the effects of sorting, recycling, weathering, and paleoclimate on the deeply buried shale. The findings revealed that the mineral composition is dominated by biogenic quartz, terrigenous clay minerals, and carbonate minerals. Combinations of clay lamina and silty lamina occur in black shale. The geochemical characteristics of these sedimentary rocks remain unaffected by sedimentary sorting and recycling processes. The clastic sediments primarily originate from the felsic igneous rock source that underwent moderate weathering during its initial deposition in the collision environment. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the paleoclimate and paleoprovenance characteristics, Wufeng–Longmaxi Formation characteristics are considered to have undergone six stages, among which the stage of relative enrichment of organic matter corresponds to LM1, LM2–3, and LM4. Following the Hirnantian glacial period, the era has witnessed global warming, marked by glacier melting, a rise in global sea level, and a decrease in terrestrial debris supply, collectively facilitating organic matter enrichment. During the LM5 and LM6–8 periods, the increase in source supply caused by the Leshan–Longnvsi and Qianzhong–Xuefeng uplift inhibited organic matter enrichment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing highly efficient earth‐abundant alternatives to traditional noble metal catalysts is essential for clean and sustainable energy‐conversion and energy‐storage technologies, yet still challenging in limited active sites and weak resistance to electrochemical corrosion. Herein, density‐functional theory calculations demonstrate that hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN), albeit often being considered inert, can generate boron‐active radicals at defective sites by forming heterogeneous structures with graphene‐containing point vacancies, leading to a substantial electron delocalization and charge transfer, indicating a superior catalytic activity. Experimentally, the van der Waals heterostructure is rationally designed with h‐BN nanosheets (BNNs) anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as strongly coupled composite catalysts. Despite the poor conductivity in BN and lower catalytic activity in rGO, the created heterostructures demonstrate unexpected, improved oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with excellent stability in alkaline electrolyte. Qualitative analysis of the valence band offset and theoretical calculation reveal that the formation of heterostructures can significantly drive the electron transfer between C and B atoms near the vacancies across the interface and cause a half‐metallic property of BN, decreasing the free energy barrier of four‐electron OER kinetics. Herein, the synthetic schemes of h‐BNNs are guided as highly active metal‐free OER electrocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are prevalent and distressing concerns for women worldwide. The prevalence of LUTS reaches the first peak during pregnancy and postnatal period. However, less attention has been paid to LUTS around childbirth and little progress has been made in the prevention of LUTS. Understanding the epidemiological characteristics of LUTS around childbirth would inform decision making for health care providers and perinatal women in the prevention of LUTS. The study aims to investigate the epidemiological trends and associated risk factors related to LUTS around childbirth. Methods: Pregnant women were consecutively enrolled during pregnancy in the obstetrical wards of a tertiary hospital and followed up at 6–8 weeks and one year postpartum through a prospective design. Urinary incontinence was assessed with the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form. Other symptoms were measured with questions based on definitions of the International Incontinence Society. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the risk factors for LUTS including urinary incontinence, increased daytime frequency, nocturia and urgency. The report followed the STROBE statement. Results: A total of 1243 pregnant women participated in this study. The prevalence of at least one type of storage symptoms was 94%, 55% and 35% in late pregnancy, at 6–8 weeks and one year postpartum, respectively. The prevalence of urinary incontinence remained at 21% within one year postpartum. The majority of the participants suffered from mild to moderate urinary incontinence. Age, job, BMI before pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, urinary tract infection history, previous history of LUTS, age at first birth and birth mode were predictors of LUTS one year postpartum. Conclusion: LUTS were highly prevalent during pregnancy and postnatal period. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was more stable than that of other LUTS within one year postpartum. Women aged more than 35 years, engaging in manual work, with gestational diabetes mellitus, with a history of urinary tract infection and LUTS, with advanced age at first birth and vaginal delivery were more likely to suffer from LUTS postpartum. The findings provided a novel and deep insight into the epidemiological trends and related risk factors of LUTS around childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To assess the consistency of Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) lexicon interpretation between senior and junior sonologists and to investigate its impact on O-RADS classification and diagnostic performance. Methods: We prospectively studied 620 patients with adnexal lesions, all of whom underwent transvaginal or transrectal ultrasound performed by a senior sonologist (R1) who selected the O-RADS lexicon description and O-RADS category for the lesion after the examination. Meanwhile, the junior sonologist (R2) analyzed the images retained by R1 and divided the lesion in the same way. Pathological findings were used as a reference standard. kappa (к) statistics were used to assess the interobserver agreement. Results: Of the 620 adnexal lesions, 532 were benign and 88 were malignant. When using the O-RADS lexicon, R1 and R2 had almost perfect agreement regarding lesion category, external contour of solid lesions, presence of papillary inside cystic lesions, and fluid echogenicity (к: 0.81–1.00). Substantial agreement in solid components, acoustic shadow, vascularity and O-RADS categories (к: 0.61–0.80). Consistency in classifying classic benign lesions in the O-RADS category was only moderate (к = 0.535). No significant difference in diagnostic performance between them using O-RADS (P = 0.1211). Conclusion: There was good agreement between senior and junior sonologists in the interpretation of the O-RADS lexicon and in the classification of O-RADS, except for a moderate agreement in the interpretation and classification of classic benign lesions. Differences in O-RADS category delineation between sonologists had no significant effect on the diagnostic performance of O-RADS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) show impairment in social functioning. The reward network and the emotional salience network are considered to play important roles in social interaction. The current study investigated alterations in the resting-state (rs-) amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional ALFF (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo) and functional connectivity (fc) in the reward network and the emotional salience network in SZ patients. MRI scans were collected from 60 subjects, including 30 SZ patients and 30 matched healthy controls. SZ symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). We analyzed the ALFF, fALFF and ReHo in key brain regions in the reward network and emotional salience network as well as rs-fc among the bilateral amygdala, lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), medial OFC and insula between groups. The SZ patients demonstrated increased ALFF in the right caudate and right putamen, increased fALFF and ReHo in the bilateral caudate, putamen and pallidum, along with decreased fALFF in the bilateral insula. Additionally, reduced rs-fc was found between the right lateral OFC and the left amygdala, which simultaneously belong to the reward network and the emotional salience network. These findings highlight the association between impaired social functioning in SZ patients and aberrant resting-state ALFF, fALFF, ReHo and fc. Future studies are needed to conduct network-based statistical analysis and task-state fMRI, reflecting live social interaction to advance our understanding of the mechanism of social interaction deficits in SZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of urban industrialization, the increasing ozone concentration (O3) at ground level stresses on the survival of plants. Plants have to adapt to ozone stress. DNA methylation is crucial for a rapid response to abiotic stress in plants. Little information is known regarding the epigenetic response of DNA methylation of plants to O3 stress. This study is designed to explore the epigenetic mechanism and identify a possible core modification of DNA methylation or genes in the plant, in response to O3 stress. We investigated the agronomic traits and genome-wide DNA methylation variations of the Japonica rice cultivar Nipponbare in response to O3 stress at three high concentrations (80, 160, and 200 nmol·mol−1), simulated using open-top chambers (OTC). The flag leaf length, panicle length, and hundred-grain weight of rice showed beneficial effects at 80 nmol·mol−1 O3 and an inhibitory effect at both 160 and 200 nmol·mol−1 O3. The methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism results showed that the O3-induced genome-wide methylation alterations account for 14.72–15.18% at three different concentrations. Our results demonstrated that methylation and demethylation alteration sites were activated throughout the O3 stress, mainly at CNG sites. By recovering and sequencing bands with methylation alteration, ten stress-related differentially amplified sequences, widely present on different chromosomes, were obtained. Our findings show that DNA methylation may be an active and rapid epigenetic response to ozone stress. These results can provide us with a theoretical basis and a reference to look for more hereditary information about the molecular mechanism of plant resistance to O3 pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four-dimensionally printed continuous carbon fiber-reinforced shape memory polymer composite (CFSMPC) is a smart material with the ability to bear loads and undergo deformation. The deformation of CFSMPC can be driven by the electrothermal effect of carbon fibers. In this study, the effect of temperature on the shape memory recovery performance of polylactic acid (PLA) was first studied experimentally. Continuous carbon fibers were incorporated into PLA to design CFSMPCs with thickness gradients and hand-shaped structures, respectively. The distribution strategy of the carbon fibers was determined based on simulations of the electrically driven shape recovery process of the aforementioned structures. Both the simulations and experiments demonstrated that the electrification of the CFSMPC structures resulted in an inhomogeneous temperature field, leading to distinct deformation recovery processes. Eventually, a precise unfolding was achieved for the thickness gradient structure and the five fingers in the hand-shaped structure by utilizing a safe voltage of 6 V. This demonstrates that the 4D-printed CFSMPC with diverse deformations based on an inhomogeneous temperature field has potential applications in actuators, reconfigurable devices, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, interaction between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and EGFR-targeted nanoprobes is a hot topic. Here, we use dark field microscope (DFM) observe different aggregations of EGFR-targeted nanoprobes in diverticulum. Different aggregation states are related to phosphorylation of EGFR. EGFR phosphorylation can be adjusted by gold nanoparticles (GNPs) size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive technique showing improvement effects on Parkinson's disease (PD). Multiple microRNAs (miRs) are dys-expressed during the progression of PD. In the current study, the potential involvement of miRs in the anti-PD effects of rTMS was explored. PD symptoms were induced in mice with 6-OHDA. The expression profile of miRs influenced by rTMS in PD mice was detected by microarray technique and validated by RT-qPCR detection. The PD mice were treated with rTMS and the changes in cognitive behaviors, substantia nigra neuron number, brain histology, and Aβ1-42 level were detected. The activity of miR-409-3p/PDHB axis was also detected to preliminarily explain the interaction between miRs and rTMS. The detection of microarray showed that 266 miRs were dys-expressed in PD mice after the administration of rTMS, including 101 up-regulated ones and 146 down-regulated ones. With validation by RT-qPCR detection, miR-409-3p was selected for subsequent assays. Administrations of rTMS improved cognitive behaviors of mice, increased neuron number, and attenuated brain injuries induced by 6-OHDA. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) level of Aβ1-42 was induced, while the brain level of Aβ1-42 was suppressed by rTMS. Regarding miR-409-3p/PDHB axis, rTMS administrations suppressed miR-409-3p level and increased the expression of PDHB. Administrations of rTMS showed considerable protective effects on brain tissues against PD-induced injuries, which was associated with the changes in miR levels. The current study demonstrated that the inhibition of miR-409-3p by rTMS contributed to the attenuation of PD by inducing PDHB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine diarrhea is a common intestinal illness that is usually caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites, and canine diarrhea may induce morbidity and mortality of domestic dogs if treated improperly. Recently, viral metagenomics was applied to investigate the signatures of the enteric virome in mammals. In this research, the characteristics of the gut virome in healthy dogs and dogs with diarrhea were analyzed and compared using viral metagenomics. The alpha diversity analysis indicated that the richness and diversity of the gut virome in the dogs with diarrhea were much higher than the healthy dogs, while the beta diversity analysis revealed that the gut virome of the two groups was quite different. At the family level, the predominant viruses in the canine gut virome were certified to be Microviridae, Parvoviridae, Siphoviridae, Inoviridae, Podoviridae, Myoviridae, and others. At the genus level, the predominant viruses in the canine gut virome were certified to be Protoparvovirus, Inovirus, Chlamydiamicrovirus, Lambdavirus, Dependoparvovirus, Lightbulbvirus, Kostyavirus, Punavirus, Lederbergvirus, Fibrovirus, Peduovirus, and others. However, the viral communities between the two groups differed significantly. The unique viral taxa identified in the healthy dogs group were Chlamydiamicrovirus and Lightbulbvirus, while the unique viral taxa identified in the dogs with diarrhea group were Inovirus, Protoparvovirus, Lambdavirus, Dependoparvovirus, Kostyavirus, Punavirus, and other viruses. Phylogenetic analysis based on the near-complete genome sequences showed that the CPV strains collected in this study together with other CPV Chinese isolates clustered into a separate branch, while the identified CAV-2 strain D5-8081 and AAV-5 strain AAV-D5 were both the first near-complete genome sequences in China. Moreover, the predicted bacterial hosts of phages were certified to be Campylobacter, Escherichia, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Moraxella, Mediterraneibacter, and other commensal microbiota. In conclusion, the enteric virome of the healthy dogs group and the dogs with diarrhea group was investigated and compared using viral metagenomics, and the viral communities might influence canine health and disease by interacting with the commensal gut microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, remote sensing crop identification is mostly based on all available images acquired throughout crop growth. However, the available image and data resources in the early growth stage are limited, which makes early crop identification challenging. Different crop types have different phenological characteristics and seasonal rhythm characteristics, and their growth rates are different at different times. Therefore, making full use of crop growth characteristics to augment crop growth difference information at different times is key to early crop identification. In this study, we first calculated the differential features between different periods as new features based on images acquired during the early growth stage. Secondly, multi-temporal difference features of each period were constructed by combination, then a feature optimization method was used to obtain the optimal feature set of all possible combinations in different periods and the early key identification characteristics of different crops, as well as their stage change characteristics, were explored. Finally, the performance of classification and regression tree (Cart), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers in recognizing crops in different periods were analyzed. The results show that: (1) There were key differences between different crops, with rice changing significantly in period F, corn changing significantly in periods E, M, L, and H, and soybean changing significantly in periods E, M, N, and H. (2) For the early identification of rice, the land surface water index (LSWI), simple ratio index (SR), B11, and normalized difference tillage index (NDTI) contributed most, while B11, normalized difference red-edge3 (NDRE3), LSWI, the green vegetation index (VIgreen), red-edge spectral index (RESI), and normalized difference red-edge2 (NDRE2) contributed greatly to corn and soybean identification. (3) Rice could be identified as early as 13 May, with PA and UA as high as 95%. Corn and soybeans were identified as early as 7 July, with PA and UA as high as 97% and 94%, respectively. (4) With the addition of more temporal features, recognition accuracy increased. The GBDT and RF performed best in identifying the three crops in the early stage. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using crop growth difference information for early crop recognition, which can provide a new idea for early crop recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salt stress seriously affects plant growth and development and reduces the yield of rice. Therefore, the development of salt-tolerant high-yielding rice cultivars through quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification and bulked segregant analysis (BSA) is the main focus of molecular breeding projects. In this study, sea rice (SR86) showed greater salt tolerance than conventional rice. Under salt stress, the cell membrane and chlorophyll were more stable and the antioxidant enzyme activity was higher in SR86 than in conventional rice. Thirty extremely salt-tolerant plants and thirty extremely salt-sensitive plants were selected from the F2 progenies of SR86 × Nipponbare (Nip) and SR86 × 9311 crosses during the whole vegetative and reproductive growth period and mixed bulks were generated. Eleven salt tolerance related candidate genes were located using QTL-seq together with BSA. Real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis showed that LOC_Os04g03320.1 and BGIOSGA019540 were expressed at higher levels in the SR86 plants than in Nip and 9311 plants, suggesting that these genes are critical for the salt tolerance of SR86. The QTLs identified using this method could be effectively utilized in future salt tolerance breeding programs, providing important theoretical significance and application value for rice salt tolerance breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Porous carbons with high specific surface area are critical engineering materials for current electrochemical capacitors (ECs) technology. Controlling the pore size distribution of porous carbons remains a significant challenge as it is a key aspect in many applications. Herein, we synthesized porous carbon as the electrode material of ECs by means of a two-step synthesis procedure using abandoned feathers as carbon precursor and potassium hydroxide as activating agent. The optimal sample (AFHPC-800–1:3) exhibited an ultra-high specific surface area (S BET) of 3474 m2/g and a huge total pore volume (V T) of 1.82 m3 g−1 as well as abundant small mesopores ranging from 2 to 5 nm in size. The ECs based on the AFHPC-800–1:3 electrode exhibited an ultra-high specific capacitance (C sp) of up to 709F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. More interestingly, a capacitance of 212F g−1 was retained even at 100 A g−1, demonstrating excellent high-rate capacitive performance. Furthermore, the symmetrical capacitor yielded an excellent energy density of 35.1 Wh kg−1 when the specific power density was 625 W kg−1, substantiating the potential of the small mesopores in promoting the overall capacitance and energy density of electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Porous carbons with high specific surface area are critical engineering materials for current electrochemical capacitors (ECs) technology. Controlling the pore size distribution of porous carbons remains a significant challenge as it is a key aspect in many applications. Herein, we synthesized porous carbon as the electrode material of ECs by means of a two-step synthesis procedure using abandoned feathers as carbon precursor and potassium hydroxide as activating agent. The optimal sample (AFHPC-800–1:3) exhibited an ultra-high specific surface area (S BET) of 3474 m2/g and a huge total pore volume (V T) of 1.82 m3 g−1 as well as abundant small mesopores ranging from 2 to 5 nm in size. The ECs based on the AFHPC-800–1:3 electrode exhibited an ultra-high specific capacitance (C sp) of up to 709F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. More interestingly, a capacitance of 212F g−1 was retained even at 100 A g−1, demonstrating excellent high-rate capacitive performance. Furthermore, the symmetrical capacitor yielded an excellent energy density of 35.1 Wh kg−1 when the specific power density was 625 W kg−1, substantiating the potential of the small mesopores in promoting the overall capacitance and energy density of electrode materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature is one of the major environmental stresses that limit crop growth and grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Drought priming at the vegetative stage could enhance wheat tolerance to later cold stress; however, the transgenerational effects of drought priming on wheat offspring's cold stress tolerance remains unclear. Here, the low temperature responses of offspring were tested after the parental drought priming treatment at grain filling stage. The offspring plants from parental drought priming treatment had a higher abscisic acid (ABA) level and lower osmotic potential (Ψo) than the control plants under cold conditions. Moreover, parental drought priming increased the antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation in offspring. In comparison to control plants, parental drought priming plants had a higher ATP concentration and higher activities of ATPase and the enzymes involved in sucrose biosynthesis and starch metabolism. The results indicated that parental drought priming induced low temperature tolerance in offspring by regulating endogenous ABA levels and maintaining the redox homeostasis and the balance of carbohydrate metabolism, which provided a potential approach for cold resistant cultivation in wheat. Parental drought priming induced low temperature tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) offspring. Offspring from parental drought priming had a better redox homeostasis under low temperature. Parental drought priming promoted carbohydrate metabolism of offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To observe the clinical efficacy of a multifunctional laser photoelectric platform combined with hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of l sensitive facia skin. A total of 226 patients with sensitive facial skin treated from March 2019 to November 2021 were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups were given an external moisturizer (shumin moisturizer) once in the morning and once in the evening as basic skin care treatment for the disease. The control group received hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets (0.2 g), twice a day; The observation group was treated with multifunctional laser photoelectric platform combined with hydroxychloroquine orally, and the clinical effects of the two groups were compared. The effective rates of the observation group were 48.67%, 73.45%, and 93.80% at the first, second and fourth weekend of treatment, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control group (15.93%, 30.97%, and 38.93%, respectively), with statistical significance (p < 0.05). On the basis of skin care with an external moisturizer, using a multifunctional laser photoelectric platform combined with hydroxychloroquine can significantly improve the clinical efficacy of facial sensitive skin, superior to hydroxychloroquine alone, with high safety and worthy of clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phosphorus (P) leaching from continuous fertilization is generally neglected in mollisol. The in situ leaching loss of phosphorus (P), especially dissolved organic P, is poorly quantified under organic amendments given its potential environmental risks. In this study, we conducted an in situ soil column experiment, instead of the traditional measuring of the soil layer, in the mollisol area of northeast China to investigate the seasonal variations in different P forms under three typical fertilization practices, including chemical fertilizer (CF), CF supplemented with straw (CFS), and CF co-applied with straw and manure (CFSM). Compared with the CF treatment, CFS treatment generally reduced the leaching loss of dissolved organic P by 57.3% to reduce the total P loss, while the CFSM treatment increased the leaching loss of dissolved inorganic P by 20.9% to increase the total P loss. Other than the effects of management practices, precipitation and temperature-oriented environmental factors significantly affected the seasonal variation in leaching loss of both the dissolved and particulate P forms. We conclude that straw incorporation into the mollisol of northeast China is recommended, considering its low leaching risk of P, while a co-amendment of straw and manure resulted in the opposite. Despite the slight environmental risk of P leaching loss (0.75–1.95% of external P input per year) practically quantified by in situ experiments, a proper reduction in chemical P input with organic amendments may be an effective P fertilizer management strategy in mollisol areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cobalt/peroxymonosulfate (Co/PMS) system is an efficient advanced oxidation process (AOP) for degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater, however, has limitations in organic synthesis. Herein, we employ a Co/PMS system to the preparation of biaryl lactones by the valorization of 2‐aryl aromatic acids via intramolecular O‐H/C‐X oxidative coupling. This system exhibits intriguing advantages, such as non‐noble metal catalyst, common oxidant, mild condition, easy workup and product isolation. Mechanism studies, including the radical quenching experiments and multiple probe substrates, suggest that a high‐valent cobalt‐oxo intermediate should be one major active species. Meanwhile, both persulfate radical anion (SO4•−) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) are present in the process and contribute to the organic reaction. This work not only expands the synthetic application of Co/Oxone system beyond environmental fields, but also provides more active intermediates than generally‐accepted SO4•− in the known metal‐based AOPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This paper aimed to study how to analyze and study economic and social development under the new crown epidemic based on the neural network and described the BP neural network. Methodology. Economic forecasts are affected by multiple influencing factors, the relationships between these factors are complex, and it is a nonlinear system with a high degree of uncertainty. The use of traditional forecasting methods has many limitations, and neural network methods can overcome these limitations and achieve good nonlinear forecasting. Research Findings. Through the analysis and statistics of the impact of the SARS epidemic and the new crown epidemic on the economy, by 2021, the economic contribution of final consumption expenditure, total capital formation, and net exports will be 65.4%, 13.7%, and 20.9%, respectively, and the impact of the current new crown virus epidemic on the economy will be greater than that of the SARS epidemic in 2003. Research Implications. The model applied to economic forecasting based on the BP network can achieve good forecasting effect, and scientific and reasonable forecasting methods depend on the in-depth understanding of economic activities and dominance of familiarity with economic theory. Practical Implications. Through the analysis of the economy in the context of political will and the new crown epidemic, it will give more reference to more and more complex emergencies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Changning block and at the Luzhou block, the genetic mechanism of low-resistivity shale and its impact on reservoir quality are currently a hot topic on a world-wide scale. Shale with resistivity lower than 20 Ω·m is widely developed at the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation in the Southern Sichuan Basin, bringing a considerable challenge for reservoir prediction using the electromagnetic method. This paper discusses the genetic mechanisms and reservoir qualities of three low-resistivity shale reservoir types in the Southern Sichuan Basin (the Changning block and Luzhou block). Three primary elements controlling low-resistivity shale distribution in the Southern Sichuan Basin have been deduced: widely distributed gravity flow deposits, poor structural preservation conditions and shale graphitization caused by Emeishan basalt. Specifically, (1) the shale reservoir with a resistivity <12 Ω·m was uniformly distributed with gravity flow deposits in the Southern Sichuan Basin. High clay mineral contents (especially illite) in gravity flow deposits increased cation exchange capacity and irreducible water saturation at shale reservoir, decreasing electrical resistivity. (2) The resistivity of the shale reservoir close to a complex fault-fracture zone was generally lower than 20 Ω·m, indicating that poor structural preservation conditions played an important role in the wide distribution of low-resistivity shale. The resistivity of the shale reservoir near NE-trending faults at the Changning block was significantly lower than that in other areas. (3) Emeishan basalt caused extensive shale graphitization at the west of the Changning block, which was limited at the Luzhou block. The shale resistivity at the Luzhou block was not affected by graphitization. Among three types of low-resistivity shale, type III was characterized by high quartz content, high TOC, high porosity, high gas content and low graphitization. Although the resistivity of type III is generally lower that 20 Ω·m, it is still a favorable exploration target in the Southern Sichuan Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memristors represent cutting-edge technology for extensive applications in integrated electronic devices, high-performance computing, digital and analog circuitry, and artificial intelligence. In this study, we fabricated a memristor device using a thin titanium oxide (TiO x) film as a functional layer by magnetron sputtering. We proposed a physical model to explain the device's resistive switching (RS) behavior based on a comprehensive analysis of conductance derived from current-voltage (I-V) curves. We found that the device exhibited improved resistance switching ratio, durability, and low operating voltage, which are desirable for high-density memory applications. We also revealed the roles of the space charge-limited current (SCLC) mechanism, Ohmic conduction in the RS process, and the formation and rupture of conductive filaments of silver and oxygen vacancies. Our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of TiO x as a functional layer and the importance of magnetron sputtering as a fabrication method for enhancing the performance of memristive devices. Our study also advances the mechanistic understanding of RS and highlights the potential of metal oxides in memristor technology. This research propels the ongoing exploration of innovative materials to enhance memristive devices' functionality and application scope in various technological domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The H9N2 virus can infect not only birds but also humans. The pathogenicity of H9N2 virus infection is determined by an excessive immune response in the lung. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, plays an important regulatory role and has been widely used in the clinical practice. This study was aimed to investigate whether ATRA could regulate the immune response to H9N2 virus infection in the lungs of mice, thereby reducing the pathogenicity of the H9N2 virus in mice. Methods: Mice were infected intranasally with H9N2 virus, and injected intraperitoneally with 0.2 mL of ATRA at low (1 mg/kg), medium (5 or 10 mg/kg), or high therapeutic dose (20 mg/kg), and toxic dose (40, 60, or 80 mg/kg), once per day for 10 days. Clinical signs, survival rates, and lung gross pathology were compared between the ATRA-treated H9N2-infected group, the ATRA group, and the H9N2-infected group, to investigate the effect of different doses of ATRA on the pathogenicity of H9N2 virus. Additionally, the viral load and cytokine concentration of lungs were measured at 3, 5, 7, and 9 days after infection, to investigate the potential mechanism of ATRA in affecting the pathogenicity of the H9N2 virus. Expression levels of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 1 (CRABP1), cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2), and Retinoic acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I) were detected using Western blotting. Results: The ATRA-treated H9N2-infected mice showed more severe clinical signs compared with the H9N2-infected group. The medium and high therapeutic doses of ATRA reduced the survival rates, aggravated lung tissue damage, decreased the expression of interferon beta (IFN-β), and increased the concentrations of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) in the lungs of the H9N2-infected mice. At the same time, the expression patterns of CRABP1, CRABP2, and RIG-I were changed in mice infected by H9N2 and treated with different concentrations of ATRA. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the therapeutic dose of ATRA can increase the pathogenicity of the H9N2 virus. Therefore, the consequences of those infected by influenza virus would be more severe after ATRA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early crop identification can provide timely and valuable information for agricultural planting management departments to make reasonable and correct decisions. At present, there is still a lack of systematic summary and analysis on how to obtain real-time samples in the early stage, what the optimal feature sets are, and what level of crop identification accuracy can be achieved at different stages. First, this study generated training samples with the help of historical crop maps in 2019 and remote sensing images in 2020. Then, a feature optimization method was used to obtain the optimal features in different stages. Finally, the differences of the four classifiers in identifying crops and the variation characteristics of crop identification accuracy at different stages were analyzed. These experiments were conducted at three sites in Heilongjiang Province to evaluate the reliability of the results. The results showed that the earliest identification time of corn can be obtained in early July (the seven leaves period) with an identification accuracy up to 86%. In the early stages, its accuracy was 40~79%, which was low, and could not reach the satisfied accuracy requirements. In the middle stages, a satisfactory recognition accuracy could be achieved, and its recognition accuracy was 79~100%. The late stage had a higher recognition accuracy, which was 90~100%. The accuracy of soybeans at each stage was similar to that of corn, and the earliest identification time of soybeans could also be obtained in early July (the blooming period) with an identification accuracy up to 87%. Its accuracy in the early growth stage was 35~71%; in the middle stage, it was 69~100%; and in the late stage, it was 92~100%. Unlike corn and soybeans, the earliest identification time of rice could be obtained at the end of April (the flooding period) with an identification accuracy up to 86%. In the early stage, its accuracy was 58~100%; in the middle stage, its accuracy was 93~100%; and in the late stage, its accuracy was 96~100%. In terms of crop identification accuracy in the whole growth stage, GBDT and RF performed better than other classifiers in our three study areas. This study systematically investigated the potential of early crop recognition in Northeast China, and the results are helpful for relevant applications and decision making of crop recognition in different crop growth stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of stem cells to divide asymmetrically is crucial for cell-type diversity and tissue homeostasis. Drosophila neural stem cells, also knowns as neuroblasts, utilize asymmetric cell division to self-renew and give rise to differentiated daughter cells. Drosophila neuroblasts relies on the polarized protein complexes on the apical and basal cortex to govern cell polarity and asymmetry. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the neuroblast polarity focusing on how actin cytoskeleton, phosphoinositide lipids and liquid-liquid phase separation regulate the asymmetric cell division of Drosophila neuroblasts. [Display omitted] • Cortical flows mediated by actin cytoskeleton drive asymmetric division cycles of Drosophila neuroblasts. • Phosphatidylinositol lipids facilitate membrane targeting of polarity proteins and Myosin II in the asymmetric division. • Phase separation mediates the localization of polarity proteins in Drosophila neuroblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porphyromonas gingivalis is the main pathogen of chronic periodontitis. However, the specific mechanisms through which P. gingivalis induces immune and inflammatory responses in periodontitis have not been completely elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effects of the P. gingivalis outer membrane protein OmpH (encoded by PG0192 and PG0193) on interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) expression in macrophages to assess the pro‐inflammatory cytokine responses. A PG0192‐PG0193 deletion mutant strain and a com△PG0192‐0193 strain were constructed. Furthermore, rOmpH‐1 and rOmpH‐2 encoded by PG0192 and PG0193, respectively, were cloned, expressed, and purified for subsequent experiments. Notably, the expression of IL‐6 and TNF‐α at mRNA and protein levels was downregulated upon treatment of macrophages with the PG0192‐PG0193 deletion mutant strain, whereas treatment of macrophages with P. gingivalis W83 co‐incubated with rOmpH‐1 or rOmpH‐2 upregulated IL‐6 and TNF‐α mRNA levels. The addition of C5aR antagonist blocked this induction. Overall, our findings provided important insights into the roles of PG0192 and PG0193 for promoting IL‐6 and TNF‐α expression in macrophages exposed to P. gingivalis and revealed the involvement of C5aR in the pro‐inflammatory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from a discrete spectral problem, two new integrable differential-difference hierarchies are presented and their Lax pairs are given, respectively. The first hierarchy is related to the relativistic Toda lattice equation. Darboux transformations for the first systems in the two hierarchies are derived, respectively, accordingly their explicit solutions are obtained. By selecting appropriate parameters, we can see the phenomena of soliton fission or soliton fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Perforated fins in LFFTHXs boost drainage and outperform conventional designs. • Heat transfer efficiency is preserved in optimized models with less material. • Louver angle is critical to airflow, thermal wake, and heat transfer. • LF-2CH models with 18° and 24° angles demonstrate excellent overall performance. To address the inherent drainage challenges of louvered fin and flat tube heat exchangers (LFFTHXs) when used as evaporators, this study presents an innovative louvered fin design with perforations that significantly improve drainage efficiency while reducing fin material usage. Traditional LFFTHXs, despite their superior heat exchange capacity compared to fin-and-tube heat exchangers (FTHXs), suffer from poor drainage of condensate and defrosting water, leading to problems such as metal corrosion, airflow blockage, reduced thermal comfort, and increased energy consumption. Our proposed solution, the perforated fin, especially the models with two combined holes (LF-2CH), shows a significant improvement in drainage performance compared to conventional designs, as confirmed by theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. In addition, we have systematically studied the air-side flow and heat transfer characteristics of different configurations, revealing that 18° and 24° louver angles in the LF-2CH models can enhance heat transfer rates by up to 20.9 % and 18.0 %, respectively, at the lowest fan power compared to conventional louvered fins. By elucidating the impact of louver angle on airflow dynamics and thermal wake patterns, we highlight the LF-2CH models as optimal for evaporator applications, combining improved thermal-hydraulic performance, efficient dewatering capacity, and reduced fin material consumption to provide a compelling advancement in heat exchanger technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High-pressure pyrolysis behaviors of three C5 cyclic hydrocarbons were investigated. • A universal kinetic model for three C5 cyclic fuels was proposed and validated. • Differences among three fuels specific decomposition pathways were evaluated. • Effects of unsaturation on intrinsic reactivity and PAH formation were revealed. To further explore the decomposition behaviors of C5 cyclic hydrocarbons, important components in the transportation fuels and pivotal intermediates in high-density liquid fuels, the pyrolysis of cyclopentane, cyclopentene and cyclopentadiene with different unsaturation degrees were investigated. The experiments of cyclopentane and cyclopentene were performed at 1.0, 30.0 atm and 773–1173 K in a flow tube reactor. The mole fraction profiles of pyrolysis species, involving C1-C5 small hydrocarbons and monocyclic, bicyclic as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs, BAHs and PAHs), were provided. A universal kinetic model for three C5 cyclic fuels pyrolysis chemistry was proposed and reasonably predicted the speciation profiles newly reported in this work and literature, where rate coefficients of the crucial reactions were compared and upgraded. The differences among three fuels specific pathways were evaluated and the effects of unsaturation on the pyrolysis characteristics of intrinsic reactivity and aromatics formation were revealed. Cyclopentene has the highest pyrolysis reactivity, followed by cyclopentane and cyclopentadiene. Simultaneously formed fuel radicals and key intermediates in three C5 cyclic fuels influence the formation channels of small products, MAHs and BAHs. The saturated cyclopentane is easily occur the ring-opening reaction to generate more C2 and C3 species, whereas the increase in unsaturation promotes MAHs and BAHs formation in cyclopentene and cyclopentadiene pyrolysis, especially the toluene, styrene, indene and naphthalene. The rate of production analysis shows the formations of these MAHs and BAHs are strongly dependent on the concentration levels of cyclopentadienyl resonance stabilized radical (RSR). Differently, the dominated growth pathways of three- and four-ring PAHs are barely influenced by the specific fuel chemistry and indenyl plays a crucial role via the typical RSR chain reactions at high pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adamantane derivatives, as promising high-density fuels, have been widely concerned in fields of volume-limited aerospace vehicles due to high density, heat of combustion and thermal oxidation stability. To reveal insights into their high-temperature decomposition behaviors, an experimental and theoretical investigation of adamantane (A) and 1-methyl adamantane (1-MA) pyrolysis was performed in a flow tube reactor at atmospheric to high pressure. Over twenty species were detected and identified, including C1-C5 light hydrocarbons, C5-C7 cyclic olefins as well as C6-C12 aromatics. The favorable decomposition channels of A and 1-MA are proposed and the effects of fuel structure characteristics and pressures on product formation behaviors are revealed. For the primary decomposition of A and 1-MA, the contributions of reaction types exhibit the obvious dependence on the pressures and temperatures, involving the unimolecular C-C dissociations by ring-opening, CH 3 -elimination as well as H-abstractions by H and CH 3 attacking. Considering methyl-substitution weakens dissociation energies of C-C and C-H bonds and leads more H-abstraction sites, 1-MA shows a higher pyrolysis reactivity than A. The effects of structure characteristics are also embodied in the formation of newly chain-branched unsaturated species and the concentrations of common small hydrocarbons and aromatics. Compared to A decomposition, the methyl substituent in 1-MA promotes the emergence of 1-butene, 2-methyl-1-butene, mesitylene, methylindane and methylnaphthalene, and increases the concentrations of methane, 2-methylpropene and xylene isomers, formed via β-scission, hydrogen transfer, isomerization and dehydrogenation routes of fuel radicals. Meanwhile, more methyl-substitutions accelerate the decomposition of alkyl-adamantanes and pyrolysis activity follows by a sequence of dimethyl-adamantane > methyl-adamantane > adamantane, boosting the production of methyl-specific species. • Pyrolysis of adamantane (A) and methyl-adamantane (1-MA) were studied at 0.1–3.0 MPa. • A detailed theoretical calculation of adamantane fuels decomposition was performed. • Effects of structure and pressure on pyrolysis behaviors of A and 1-MA were revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is very fatal without surgical treatment. Higher serum sodium can increase in-hospital mortality of many diseases; however, the effect of serum sodium on postoperative in-hospital mortality in AAD patients remains unknown. Methods: We collected a total of 415 AAD patients from January 2015 to December 2019. Patients were classified into four categories (Q1-Q4) according to the admission serum sodium quartile. The cox proportional hazards model evaluated the association between serum sodium and in-hospital mortality. All-cause in-hospital mortality was set as the endpoint. Results: By adjusting many covariates, cox proportional hazards model revealed the in-hospital mortality risk of both Q3 and Q4 groups was 3.086 (1.242–7.671, P = 0.015) and 3.370 (1.384–8.204, P = 0.007) respectively, whereas the risk of Q2 group was not significantly increased. Univariate and multiple Cox analysis revealed that Stanford type A, serum glucose, α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase and serum sodium were risk factors correlated with in-hospital death in AAD patients. Conclusion: The study indicates that the admission serum sodium of AAD patients has a vital impact on postoperative hospital mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panonychus citri, a major citrus pest. In pest management, bifenazate is a novel acaricide with high biological activity against red mites, such as Tetranychus urticae Koch. However, in the field, pests are frequently exposed to sublethal or lethal concentrations of pesticides. At present, its sublethal effects on P. citri have not been reported. Therefore, in order to investigate sublethal effect of bifenazate on biological traits and enzymatic properties of P. citri. The newly emerged females were treated with two concentrations of bifenazate: LC10 and LC30, the development and fecundity were observed. The results showed that female adult duration, fecundity, oviposition days, longevity were decrease compared with control, but pre-oviposition period was longer, net reproductive rate (R0), mean generation (T) were decreased, intrinsic rate of increase (rm), finite rate (λ) were decreased in LC30, however, doubling time was increased. Enzymatic tests showed that CAT, POD, CarE activities were higher in treatments than control. The SOD and GST activities were lower in LC30 than control and LC10, the CYP450 activity was decreased with the increasing concentrations. This study demonstrated that low lethal concentrations of bifenazate adversely affected life table parameters, enzymatic properties in P. citri. Therefore, bifenazate has the potential to control this pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the hybrid piezoelectric-electromagnetic energy harvester (P-EMEH) driven by contactless rotary magnetic plucking. A lumped-parameter model of the hybrid P-EMEH is developed, and the model parameters are determined from the finite element analysis (FEA) method. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of driving force parameters, load resistance, and electromechanical coupling strengths (EMCSs) on the maximal displacements and velocities, average power inputs and outputs, and energy efficiencies of the system for indicating the performance of the hybrid P-EMEH. The results show that the hybrid P-EMEH can obtain the improved power inputs by reducing the gyration radii of the rotary magnet and shortening the gaps between the two magnets. The structural vibrations can be strongly suppressed owing to the optimal piezoelectric power outputs, which can lead to the occurrence of valleys' power of the electromagnetic element. At weak coupling, the hybrid P-EMEH can achieve higher power outputs than the single piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) and the single electromagnetic energy harvester (EMEH). At strong coupling, the use of the PEH is more advantageous for energy harvesting due to wider power bandwidths at high dimensionless frequencies when compared with the hybrid P-EMEH. This work provides a fundamental understanding on the effect of load resistance and EMCSs on the dynamic and electrical characteristics of the magnetically plucked hybrid P-EMEH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Using specials wearable sensors, we explored changes in gait and balance parameters, over time, in elderly patients at high risk of diabetic foot, wearing different types of footwear. This assessed the relationship between gait and balance changes in elderly diabetic patients and the development of foot ulcers, in a bid to uncover potential benefits of wearable devices in the prognosis and management of the aforementioned complication. Methods: A wearable sensor-based monitoring system was used in middle-elderly patients with diabetes who recently recovered from neuropathic plantar foot ulcers. A total of 6 patients (age range: 55–80 years) were divided into 2 groups: the therapeutic footwear group (n = 3) and the regular footwear (n = 3) group. All subjects were assessed for gait and balance throughout the study period. Walking ability and gait pattern were assessed by allowing participants to walk normally for 1 min at habitual speed. The balance assessment program incorporated the "feet together" standing test and the instrumented modified Clinical Test of Sensory Integration and Balance. Biomechanical information was monitored at least 3 times. Results: We found significant differences in stride length (p < 0.0001), stride velocity (p < 0.0001), and double support (p < 0.0001) between the offloading footwear group (OG) and the regular footwear group on a group × time interaction. The balance test embracing eyes-open condition revealed a significant difference in Hip Sway (p = 0.004), COM Range ML (p = 0.008), and COM Position (p = 0.004) between the 2 groups. Longitudinally, the offloading group exhibited slight improvement in the performance of gait parameters over time. The stride length (odds ratio 3.54, 95% CI 1.34–9.34, p = 0.018) and velocity (odds ratio 3.13, 95% CI 1.19–8.19, p = 0.033) of OG patients increased, converse to the double-support period (odds ratio 6.20, 95% CI 1.97–19.55, p = 0.002), which decreased. Conclusions: Special wearable devices can accurately monitor gait and balance parameters in patients in real time. The finding reveals the feasibility and effectiveness of advanced wearable sensors in the prevention and management of diabetic foot ulcer and provides a solid background for future research. In addition, the development of foot ulcers in elderly diabetic patients may be associated with changes in gait parameters and the nature of footwear. Even so, larger follow-up studies are needed to validate our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise registration of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is a nontrivial task since a change in radar-acquisition geometry generates image shifts. In existing system, either the transformation functions are oversimplified, or external measures such as digital elevation model and flight track are required to be precise. In this paper, we proposed a generative Bayesian approach to modelling the displacement vectors that map the position of each pixel in the image, thus avoiding degradation of the transformation function. Rather than providing a point estimate for the transformation function, the proposed method yields a full posterior density function of the transformation function. Especially, the Bayesian model learns all the parameters adaptively, and the procedure is fully automatic. The proposed model is comparable in accuracy to state-of-the-art optical flow methods on the challenging Sintel benchmarks, and outperforms currently published SAR image registration methods on some real SAR data with critical scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]