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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that regulate more than 30% of genes in humans. Recent studies have revealed that miRNAs play a crucial role in tumorigenesis. Large sets of miRNAs in human tumors are under-expressed compared to normal tissues. Furthermore, experiments have shown that interference with miRNA processing enhances tumorigenesis. Multiple studies have documented the causal role of miRNAs in cancer, and miRNA-based anticancer therapies are currently being developed. This review primarily focuses on two key points: (1) miRNAs and their role in human cancer and (2) the regulation of tumor suppressors by miRNAs. The review discusses (a) the regulation of the tumor suppressor p53 by miRNA, (b) the critical role of the miR-144/451 cluster in regulating the Itch-p63-Ago2 pathway, and (c) the regulation of PTEN by miRNAs. Future research and the perspectives of miRNA in cancer are also discussed. Understanding these pathways will open avenues for therapeutic interventions targeting miRNA regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The fecal microbiome of common cranes (Grus grus) in Tianjin Tuanbo Bird Natural Reserve (wild group) and Beijing Wildlife Park (semi-captive group) in China were analyzed and compared in this study, and the results showed that Firmicutes and Proteobacteria are the dominant phyla. The Sobs and Chao1 indexes revealed that the richness of gut microbiota in the semi-captive group was higher than in the wild group. Among the analysis of the relationship between plants and intestinal bacteria, Zea mays, Glycine max, and Phragmites australia had a significant correlation with the intestinal bacteria of G. grus. Beta diversity data highlighted the significant differences between the two groups and that the gut microbial taxa of the G. grus were associated with the main functions to adapt the dietary compositions. Taken together, these data will help us evaluate the influence of diet on animal microbiomes and improve our ability to enhance the conservation of this species. The gut microbiota of wild animals can regulate host physical health to adapt to the environment. High-throughput sequencing from fecal samples was used to analyze the gut microbiota communities in common cranes (Grus grus) without harming them. Herein, we compared the fecal microbiome of fifteen G. grus in Tianjin Tuanbo Bird Natural Reserve (wild group) and six G. grus sampled from Beijing Wildlife Park (semi-captive group) in China, using 16S amplicon sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. The results showed that microbiota diversity and composition varied in different groups, suggesting that the gut microbiota was interactively influenced by diet and the environment. A total of 38 phyla and 776 genera were analyzed in this study. The dominant phyla of the G. grus were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Meanwhile, the microbiota richness of the semi-captive group was higher than the wild group. Data on beta diversity highlighted significant differences based on different dietary compositions. Zea mays, Glycine max, and Phragmites australia showed a significant correlation with intestinal bacteria of G. grus. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of diet and microbiomes in semi-captive and wild G. grus living in different environments, thus helping us to evaluate the influence on animal microbiomes and improve conservation efforts for this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the rapid development of deep learning in recent years, image inpainting has made significant progress. As a fundamental task in the field of computer vision, many researchers are committed to exploring more efficient methods, and state-of-the-art research results prove that generative adversarial networks (GAN) have superior performance. However, due to the inherent ill-posedness of image inpainting tasks, these approaches suffer from lack of detailed information, local structural fractures or boundary artifacts. In this paper, we leverage the properties of GAN architecture to process images in more detail and more comprehensively. A novel dual U-Net GAN is designed to inpaint images, which is composed of a U-Net based generator and a U-Net-based discriminator. The former captures semantic information of different scales layer by layer and decodes it back to the original size to repair damaged images, while the latter optimizes the network by combining reconstruction loss, adversarial loss, perceptual loss and style loss. In particular, the U-Net-based discriminator allows per-pixel detail and global feedback to be provided to the generator, guaranteeing the global consistency of the inpainted image and the realism of local shapes and textures. Extensive experiments demonstrate that for different proportions of damage, the images inpainted by our proposed model have reasonable texture structure and contextual semantic information. Furthermore, the proposed model outperforms state-of-the-art models in both qualitative and quantitative comparisons. The code will be available at https://github.com/yjjswu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we analyzed the morphological structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human cells. We identified the two types of viral particles present within the vacuoles of infected cells. Using transmission electron microscopy, we observed that SARS-CoV-2 particles exhibited both low- and high-electron-density structures, which was further confirmed through three-dimensional reconstruction using electron tomography. The budding of these particles was exclusively observed within these vacuoles. Intriguingly, viral particles with low-electron-density structures were confined to vacuoles, whereas those with high-electron-density structures were found in vacuoles and on the cell membrane surface of infected cells. Notably, high-electron-density particles found within vacuoles exhibited the same morphology as those outside the infected cells. This observation suggests that the two types of viral particles identified in this study had different maturation status. Our findings provide valuable insights into the molecular details of SARS-CoV-2 particles, contributing to our understanding of the virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Callicarpa nudiflora can be used as a new green plant feed additive in animal production. The main chemical components of Callicarpa nudiflora are flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, terpenoids, volatile oils, etc. These components play different pharmacological roles in anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, antibacterial, and immune enhancement, which can be used in animal production. In order to promote the further development and citation of Callicarpa nudiflora, the paper summarized the pharmacological activity and mechanism of Callicarpa nudiflora, and summarized its research progress in monogastric animal production, providing a reference for the subsequent development of Callicarpa nudiflora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the effect of early swallowing training on postoperative outcomes of patients who had undergone oral cancer surgery plus free flap reconstruction. Subjects and Methods: In this prospective, randomized controlled trial, 121 patients who had undergone oral cancer surgery plus free flap reconstruction were randomly assigned to the control (n = 59) or intervention group (n = 62). The control group underwent routine nursing measures. The intervention group received swallowing training on the sixth postoperative day. On the 15th day and 1 month after surgery, the swallowing function (Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability‐Oral Cancer [MASA‐OC] score), weight loss rate, time of nasogastric tube removal, and quality of life were evaluated. Results: Patients in the intervention group had higher MASA‐OC scores and better weight loss rates than those in the control group on the 15th day (MASA‐OC: p = 0.014, weight loss: p < 0.001) and 1 month (both p < 0.001) after surgery. The time of nasogastric tube removal and the quality of life was statistically significant between groups (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Early swallowing training improves the swallowing function, nutritional status, and quality of life and shortens the indwelling time of nasogastric tube of patients who have undergone oral cancer surgery plus free flap reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Waiting time, as an important predictor of queue abandonment and patient satisfaction, is important for resource utilization and patient experience management. Medical institutions have given top priority to reforming the appointment system for many years; however, whether the increased information transparency brought about by the appointment scheduling mechanism could improve patient waiting time is not well understood. In this study, the authors examine the effects of information transparency in reducing patient waiting time from an uncertainty perspective. Design/methodology/approach: Leveraging a quasi-natural experiment in a tertiary academic hospital, the authors analyze over one million observational patient visit records and design the propensity score matching plus the difference in difference (PSM-DID) model and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to address this issue. Findings: The authors confirm that, on average, improved information transparency significantly reduces the waiting time for patients by approximately 6.43 min, a 4.90% reduction. The authors identify three types of uncertainties (resource, process and outcome uncertainty) in the patient visit process that affect patients' waiting time. Moreover, information transparency moderates the relationship between three sources of uncertainties and waiting time. Originality/value: The authors' work not only provides important theoretical explanations for the patient-level factors of in-clinic waiting time and the reasons for information technology (IT)-enabled appointment scheduling by time slot (ITASS) to shorten patient waiting time and improve patient experience but also provides potential solutions for further exploration of measures to reduce patient waiting time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, old urban neighborhood transformation has become a new urban sustainability focus for its significant contribution to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 11. A regeneration-oriented approach is particularly important for Chinese cities with a dwindling land supply, obsoleting infrastructure, and inadequate standard of living. Using a mixed-methods approach informed by BREEAM Communities, we examined two Chinese initiatives—old urban neighborhood renewal (OUNR) and sponge city development (SCD)—through a comprehensive study of pilot project sustainability, policy emphases and gaps, and broader governance implications. We found that SCD's top-down technocratic management was highly efficient in enhancing neighborhood hydrological functions and physical environment. However, successes were undermined by the lack of climate considerations and civic participation. Besides actionable recommendations for applied scholarship and policymaking in China, we provide insight into how the OUNR/SCD initiatives may broadly inform worldwide urban regeneration practices through project and policy experimentations that build adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The plastid is the photosynthetic organelle in plant cell, and the plastid genomes (plastomes) are generally conserved in evolution. As one of the most economically and ecologically important order of angiosperms, Poales was previously documented to exhibit great plastomic variation as an order of photoautotrophic plants. Results: We acquired 93 plastomes, representing all the 16 families and 5 major clades of Poales to reveal the extent of their variation and evolutionary pattern. Extensive variation including the largest one in monocots with 225,293 bp in size, heterogeneous GC content, and a wide variety of gene duplication and loss were revealed. Moreover, rare occurrences of three inverted repeat (IR) copies in angiosperms and one IR loss were observed, accompanied by short IR (sIR) and small direct repeat (DR). Widespread structural heteroplasmy, diversified inversions, and unusual genomic rearrangements all appeared in Poales, occasionally within a single species. Extensive repeats in the plastomes were found to be positively correlated with the observed inversions and rearrangements. The variation all showed a "small-large-moderate" trend along the evolution of Poales, as well as for the sequence substitution rate. Finally, we found some positively selected genes, mainly in C4 lineages, while the closely related lineages of those experiencing gene loss tended to have undergone more relaxed purifying selection. Conclusions: The variation of plastomes in Poales may be related to its successful diversification into diverse habitats and multiple photosynthetic pathway transitions. Our order-scale analyses revealed unusual evolutionary scenarios for plastomes in the photoautotrophic order of Poales and provided new insights into the plastome evolution in angiosperms as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the cult of Mount Wutai was a milestone event in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Crucial in that development was a novel depiction of Mañjuśrī, believed to be transmitting the deity's "true visage" (zhenrong). While consensus suggests that the primary new aspect of that depiction is the ethnicity of the attendant for Mañjuśrī's animal vehicle, it is puzzling that the true visage of a saintly figure is defined externally, by his attendant, rather than internally, within his own stylistic or iconographic configuration. This paper critically re-evaluates arguments and evidence surrounding this issue and argues that the image of the True Visage Mañjuśrī invented at Mount Wutai has specific iconographic features in his own representation. Uncovering the heretofore neglected iconographic specificities provides a more fine-grained understanding of how visual devices contributed to the cult of Mount Wutai, while also bringing renewed thinking about the notion of auspicious images and their replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu 2 Te-based compounds show promise for thermoelectric applications, but their synthesis typically involves ball milling or melting-annealing processes. Here, we present a surfactant-free microwave-assisted solvothermal method for the controlled synthesis of Cu 2 Te 1− x S x (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) nanostructures at 503 K within just 30 min. The substitution of sulfur promotes the formation of a hexagonal structure in Cu 2 Te 1− x S x with x of 0.2 – 0.5, and inhibits phase transitions during heating. Moreover, the alloying of sulfur contributes to a reduction in hole concentrations toward the optimal range, resulting in enhanced power factors (e.g. , 910 μW m−1 K−2 at 825 K for Cu 2 Te 0.9 S 0.1) and reduced thermal conductivity (e.g. , 0.53 W m−1 K−1 at 825 K for Cu 2 Te 0.5 S 0.5). Ultimately, Cu 2 Te 0.5 S 0.5 achieves a maximum dimensionless figure of merit of 0.80 at 825 K. This study offers a controllable solution-based strategy for synthesizing Cu 2 Te-based materials with tunable compositions and enhanced thermoelectric performance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we experimentally demonstrate a novel strategy for broadband acoustic insulation of an arbitrary shaped region by arranging a localized rainbow trapped metastructure at a deep subwavelength scale. The metastructure constitutes radial gradient grooves along the azimuth direction and can help realize localized acoustic rainbow trapping. We show that such metastructures can be used to construct a region with arbitrary geometry for sound insulation and keep high ventilation simultaneously, thus, denoted as an acoustic metacage. Based on the numerical simulations and experimental observations, the results indicate that the broadband soundproof effect of the metacage is robust against the location of the acoustic source. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the soundproof efficiency and the ventilated ratio of the metacage and find that the ventilation window can still achieve a rate of 55% when the transmittance loss is above 10 dB. The proposed acoustic metacage could open up an avenue for realizing broadband sound insulation with high ventilation and an arbitrary shaped area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surgery combined with radiotherapy substantially escalates the likelihood of encountering complications in early-stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma(ESCSCC). We aimed to investigate the feasibility of Deep-learning-based radiomics of intratumoral and peritumoral MRI images to predict the pathological features of adjuvant radiotherapy in ESCSCC and minimize the occurrence of adverse events associated with the treatment. Methods: A dataset comprising MR images was obtained from 289 patients who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection between January 2019 and April 2022. The dataset was randomly divided into two cohorts in a 4:1 ratio.The postoperative radiotherapy options were evaluated according to the Peter/Sedlis standard. We extracted clinical features, as well as intratumoral and peritumoral radiomic features, using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression. We constructed the Clinical Signature (Clinic_Sig), Radiomics Signature (Rad_Sig) and the Deep Transformer Learning Signature (DTL_Sig). Additionally, we fused the Rad_Sig with the DTL_Sig to create the Deep Learning Radiomic Signature (DLR_Sig). We evaluated the prediction performance of the models using the Area Under the Curve (AUC), calibration curve, and Decision Curve Analysis (DCA). Results: The DLR_Sig showed a high level of accuracy and predictive capability, as demonstrated by the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.98(95% CI: 0.97–0.99) for the training cohort and 0.79(95% CI: 0.67–0.90) for the test cohort. In addition, the Hosmer-Lemeshow test, which provided p-values of 0.87 for the training cohort and 0.15 for the test cohort, respectively, indicated a good fit. DeLong test showed that the predictive effectiveness of DLR_Sig was significantly better than that of the Clinic_Sig(P < 0.05 both the training and test cohorts). The calibration plot of DLR_Sig indicated excellent consistency between the actual and predicted probabilities, while the DCA curve demonstrating greater clinical utility for predicting the pathological features for adjuvant radiotherapy. Conclusion: DLR_Sig based on intratumoral and peritumoral MRI images has the potential to preoperatively predict the pathological features of adjuvant radiotherapy in early-stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma (ESCSCC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preservation of executive function, like inhibition, closely links to the quality of life in senior adults. Although neuroimaging literature has shown enhanced inhibitory function followed by aerobic exercise, current evidence implies inconsistent neuroplasticity patterns along different time durations of exercise. Hence, we conducted a 12-week exercise intervention on 12 young and 14 senior volunteers and repeatedly measured the inhibitory functionality of distinct aspects (facilitation and interference effects) using the numerical Stroop task and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Results showcased improved accuracy and reduced reaction times (RT) after 12-week exercise, attributed to frontoparietal and default mode network effects. In young adults, the first phase (0 to six weeks) exercise increased the activation of the right superior medial frontal gyrus, associated with reduced RT in interference, but in the second intervention phase (six to twelve weeks), the decreased activation of the left superior medial frontal gyrus positively correlated with reduced RT in facilitation. In senior adults, the first six-week intervention led to reduced activations of the inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus, and default mode network regions, associated with the reduced RT in interference. Still, in the second intervention phase, only the visual area exhibited increased activity, associated with reduced RT in interference. Except for the distinctive brain plasticity between the two phases of exercise intervention, the between-group comparison also presented that the old group gained more cognitive benefits within the first six weeks of exercise intervention; however, the cognitive improvements in the young group occurred after six weeks of intervention. Limited by the sample size, these preliminary findings corroborated the benefits of aerobic exercise on the inhibitory functions, implying an age × exercise interaction on the brain plasticity for both facilitation and interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silk fibroin (SF) is a biodegradable protein and possesses superior skin‐friendliness, biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, and non‐toxicity. However, SF has a series of drawbacks. For example, the application of SF in water filtration is limited by its inadequate ability to adsorb heavy metal ions. It is not inherently antibacterial, making SF ineffective as a filter to eliminate airborne bacteria. SF without conductivity is not suitable for use in sensors and triboelectric nanogenerators. In tissue engineering, deficient mechanical and anti‐inflammatory properties also have an influence on the rate of wound recovery. While physical and chemical modifications will improve its application properties as well as broaden its application areas. This review describes the modification of SF by filling, blending, structural adjustment, post treatment, crosslinking, grafting, and in situ polymerization to provide it with other functional properties. Modified SF fibers prepared by various methods (e.g., wet/dry/microfluidic spinning, electrospinning) are discussed, and they can be used in water/air filtration, chemical/pressure/strain sensors, triboelectric nanogenerators, artificial skin, wound dressings, and tissue scaffolds. Finally, the development trend of the modified SF fibers is prospected. This review has a reference significance on how to use modified SF fibers to improve filtration efficiency, sensor performance, and wound recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular aging is directly related to several major diseases including clinical primary hypertension. Conversely, elevated blood pressure itself accelerates vascular senescence. However, the interaction between vascular aging and hypertension has not been characterized during hypertensive aging. To depict the interconnectedness of complex mechanisms between hypertension and aging, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of aorta, femoral and mesentery arteries, respectively, from male Wistar Kyoto rats and male spontaneously hypertensive rats aging 16 or 72 weeks. We integrated 12 data sets to map the blood vessels of senile hypertension from 3 perspective: vascular aging, hypertension, and vascular type. We found that aging and hypertension independently exerted a significant impact on the alteration of cellular composition and artery remodeling, even greater when superimposed. Consistently, smooth muscle cells (SMCs) underwent phenotypic switching from contractile toward synthetic, apoptotic, and senescent SMCs with aging/hypertension. Furthermore, we identified 3 subclusters of Spp1 high, encoding protein osteopontin (OPN), synthetic SMCs, Spp1 high matrix activated fibroblasts, and Spp1 high scar-associated macrophage involved in hypertensive aging. Spp1 high scar-associated macrophage enriched for reactive oxygen species metabolic process and cell migration-associated function. Cell–cell communication analysis revealed Spp1-Cd44 receptor pairing was markedly aggravated in the hypertensive aging condition. Importantly, the concentration of serum OPN significantly potentiated in aged hypertensive patients compared with the normal group. Thus, we provide a comprehensive cell atlas to systematically resolve the cellular diversity and dynamic cellular communication changes of the vessel wall during hypertensive aging, identifying a protein marker OPN as a potential regulator of vascular remodeling during hypertensive aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guided-mode resonance (GMR) gratings have emerged as a promising sensing technology, with a growing number of applications in diverse fields. This study aimed to identify the optimal design parameters of a simple-to-fabricate and high-performance one-dimensional GMR grating. The structural parameters of the GMR grating were optimized, and a high-refractive-index thin film was simulated on the grating surface, resulting in efficient confinement of the electric field energy within the waveguide. Numerical simulations demonstrated that the optimized GMR grating exhibited remarkable sensitivity (252 nm/RIU) and an extremely narrow full width at half maximum (2 × 10−4 nm), resulting in an ultra-high figure of merit (839,666) at an incident angle of 50°. This performance is several orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional GMR sensors. To broaden the scope of the study and to make it more relevant to practical applications, simulations were also conducted at incident angles of 60° and 70°. This holistic approach sought to develop a comprehensive understanding of the performance of the GMR-based sensor under diverse operational conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The multicarrier technology used in fourth‐generation (4G) and fifth‐generation (5G) communications is quite susceptible to multipath fading and Doppler frequency shift, which is more prominent in high mobility environments. Therefore, the accuracy of timing and frequency synchronization impacts the overall system performance significantly. Existing synchronization methods rely on the correlation of the preamble sequences and are, hence, vulnerable to severe multipath effect and Doppler effect. In this article, we propose a novel scheme leveraging deep neural network (DNN) to achieve high‐precision synchronization in high mobility environments. Concretely, a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture is proposed to extract the hidden features of received signals for timing deviation estimation. In the following, a fully connected (FC) model is demonstrated to classify the optimal carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimate from several CFO candidates. The proposed synchronization scheme is assessed under extended vehicular A (EVA) channel with various Doppler frequency shifts. Simulation results corroborate that the proposed DNN‐based scheme achieves a significant performance gain over the conventional correlation methods, and the proposed timing deviation estimation scheme exhibits an excellent complexity reduction; wherefore, it is extremely promising for multicarrier transmission systems in high mobility environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing evidence that recombinant human P2Y purinoceptor 6 (P2RY6) may be involved in inflammatory responses. However, the role of P2RY6 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unknown. Methods: We used transcriptomic, genomic, single-cell transcriptomic, and methylation sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas database to analyze the aberrant status and prognostic value of P2RY6 in a variety of tumors. The LUAD single-cell sequencing dataset was used to explore the effect of P2RY6 on the tumor microenvironment. Cell-type identification by estimating relative subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT) was used to quantify immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. We also analyzed the correlation of P2RY6 with immune checkpoints and immune regulation-related genes. The correlation of between tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), and P2RY6 expression was also analyzed simultaneously. Tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry were employed to assess the expression of P2RY6 in internal tumor samples. Results: Our findings indicate that P2RY6 exhibits significantly higher expression levels in various cancer tissues, particularly in LUAD. High expression of P2RY6 was closely associated with a poor prognosis for patients, and it plays a role in regulating immune-related pathways, such as cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. Notably, P2RY6 expression is closely linked to the abundance of CD8 + T cells. Furthermore, we have developed a P2RY6-related inflammation prediction model that demonstrates promising results in predicting the prognosis of LUAD patients, with an AUC (area under the curve) value of 0.83. This performance is significantly better than the traditional TNM staging system. Through single-cell transcriptome sequencing analysis, we observed that high P2RY6 expression is associated with increased intercellular communication. Additionally, pathway enrichment analysis revealed that P2RY6 influences antigen presentation and processing pathways within the LUAD microenvironment. Conclusions: This study suggests that P2RY6 would be a new target for immunotherapy in LUAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two stable barium phosphides, Ba2P and BaP, are predicted by an evolutionary algorithm and first-principles calculations. Ba2P is a layered structure and isostructural to rhombohedral anti-CdCl2. The interlayer distance between Ba–P–Ba layers is larger than the intralayer distance of the Ba–P–Ba layers. BaP adopts a body-centered orthorhombic structure composed of P dumbbells. Rhombohedral Ba2P is metallic, whereas body-centered orthorhombic BaP is a semiconductor that exhibits a band gap of 0.345 eV; the dynamical stabilities of these two compounds were confirmed by phonon calculations and analysis. These findings should encourage further experimental study of the Ba–P system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the star formation surface density (ΣSFR) between the global and H ii regions in a sample of 69 low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) and 68 star-forming (SF) galaxies using data from the H α images. The conventional global ΣSFR, which is defined as the star formation rate (SFR) divided by the area of the global galaxy, may not accurately describe the star formation activity in LSBGs due to the lower number of H ii regions compared to SF galaxies. To address this, we divide the global galaxy into two regions, the H ii region and the diffuse region, and then study the ΣSFR in each region. Our results show that both the SFR and area of the H ii regions in LSBGs are lower than those in SF galaxies, resulting in the H ii region's ΣSFR (SFR/area) being slightly lower in LSBGs than in SF galaxies by 0.28 dex, although the global ΣSFR is at least an order of magnitude lower in LSBGs than in SF galaxies. Furthermore, a significant difference exists between the global and H ii regions in ΣSFR. In LSBGs, ΣSFR increased by 0.80 dex from the global region to the H ii region, while SF galaxies demonstrate a 0.54 dex increase, highlighting the crucial aspect of carefully selecting an appropriate aperture for ΣSFR calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of West Lake, in Hangzhou, China, also is a human-made lake managed since the ninth century CE to maintain selected ecological functions and visual integrity. Using perspectives of cultural and political ecology to examine historical data, we explore the ecosystem services of West Lake and management strategies to maintain these services at different governance levels over five broad periods. Results indicate that West Lake provided varying key ecosystem services to Hangzhou over time. Cultural services, such as recreation and tourism, began to replace provisional services and today are the most important contributions of the site. National, regional, and local policies directly and indirectly enhanced and undermined different ecosystem services over time. The perspectives of cultural and political ecology help understand strategies of creating and guiding long-term change of a managed landscape, providing important implications for sustaining future ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in the topological organization of whole-brain functional networks in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and characterize the relationship of these alterations with pain characteristics. Methods: Thirty-three CLBP patients and 34 matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent fMRI scans. A graph-theoretical approach was applied to identify brain network changes in patients suffering from chronic low back pain given its nonspecific etiology and complexity. Graph theory-based analysis was used to construct functional connectivity matrices and extract the features of small-world networks of the brain in both groups. Then, the whole-brain functional connectivity differences were characterized by network-based statistics (NBS) analysis, and the relationship between the altered brain features and clinical measures was explored. Results: At the global level, patients with CLBP showed significantly decreased gamma, sigma, global efficiency, and local efficiency and increased lambda and shortest path length compared with HCs. At the regional level, there were deficits in nodal efficiency within the default mode network and salience network. NBS analysis demonstrated that decreased functional connectivity was present in the CLBP patients, mainly in the frontolimbic circuit and temporal regions. Furthermore, aspects of topological dysfunctions in CLBP were correlated with pain severity. Conclusion: This study highlighted the aberrant topological organization of functional brain networks in CLBP, which may shed light on the pathophysiology of CLBP and support the development of pain management approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for pancreatic cancer (PC) has achieved certain results. This article was aimed to analyze the trends in NAT in PC over the past 20 years using bibliometric analysis and visualization tools to guide researchers in exploring future research hotspots. Articles related to NAT for PC were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection for the period 2002–2021. The information was analyzed and visualized using VOSviewer, Citespace, Microsoft Excel and R software. The number of articles per year has continued to increase over the past 20 years. Of the 1,598 eligible articles, the highest number was from the United States (760), and an analysis of institutions indicated that the University of Texas System (150) had the highest number of articles. Matthew H. G. Katz had the highest number of citations and the highest H-index. "Pancreatic cancer" (981), "Resection" (623), "Cancer" (553), "Neoadjuvant therapy" (509) and "Survival" (484) were the top five ranked keywords. Combined with the keywords-cluster analysis and citation burst analysis, current research hotspots were the optimal NAT regimen, NAT response assessment, NAT for resectable PC and management of complications. NAT has received increasing attention in the field of PC over the past 20 years, but greater collaboration between countries and additional multicenter randomized clinical trials are needed. Overall, we have revealed current research hotspots and provided valuable information for the choice of future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered van der Waals (vdW) magnets are prominent playgrounds for developing magnetoelectric, magneto‐optic, and spintronic devices. In spintronics, particularly in spincaloritronic applications, low thermal conductivity (κ) is highly desired. Herein, by combining thermal transport measurements with density functional theory calculations, this study demonstrates low κ down to 1 W m−1 K−1 in a typical vdW ferromagnet Cr2Si2Te6. In the paramagnetic state, development of magnetic fluctuations way above Tc = 33 K strongly reduces κ via spin‐phonon scattering, leading to low κ ≈ 1 W m−1 K−1 over a wide temperature range, in comparable to that of amorphous silica. In the magnetically ordered state, emergence of resonant magnon‐phonon scattering limits κ below ≈2 W m−1 K−1, which will be three times larger if magnetic scatterings are absent. Application of magnetic fields strongly suppresses the spin‐phonon scattering, giving rise to large enhancements of κ. This study's calculations well capture these complex behaviors of κ by taking the temperature‐ and magnetic‐field‐dependent spin‐phonon scattering into account. Realization of low κ, which is easily tunable by magnetic fields in Cr2Si2Te6, may further promote spincaloritronic applications of vdW magnets. This study's theoretical approach may also provide a generic understanding of spin‐phonon scattering, which appears to play important roles in various systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent research progress of metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) and their composites in the field of photocatalytic wastewater treatment is reviewed. The common modification strategies (surface functionalization, loading quantum dots, doping with metal ions and constructing heterojunctions) of this material are summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of each modification strategy are analyzed. The applications of modified MOFs photo catalysts in wastewater treatment, including degradation of organic pollutants, reduction of metal ions and inactivation of bacteria, are briefly introduced. Based on the current research status, the challenges and prospects of MOFs and their composites in the field of photocatalytic treatment of wastewater are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemodivergent tandem radical cyclization offers exciting possibilities for the synthesis of structurally diverse cyclic compounds. Herein, we revealed a chemodivergent tandem cyclization of alkene‐substituted quinazolinones under metal‐ and base‐free conditions, this transformation is initiated by alkyl radicals produced from oxidant‐induced α‐C(sp3)−H functionalization of alkyl nitriles or esters. The reaction resulted in the selective synthesis of a series of mono‐ and di‐alkylated ring‐fused quinazolinones by modulating the loading of oxidant, reaction temperature, and reaction time. Mechanistic investigations show that the mono‐alkylated ring‐fused quinazolinones is constructed by the key process of 1,2‐hydrogen shift, whereas the di‐alkylated ring‐fused quinazolinones is mainly achieved through crucial steps of resonance and proton transfer. This protocol is the first example of remote second alkylation on the aromatic ring via α‐C(sp3)−H functionalization and difunctionalization achieved by association of two unsaturated bonds in radical cyclization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including evolution of ecosystem services from Hangzhou's West Lake; playgrounds in the first half of the 20th century and work of two landscape architects such as Feng Jizhong and Zhu Yufan.

Objective: We evaluated the efficacy and safety of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) with high risk features. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 187 patients treated for DTC from 1985 to 2019. DTC referred to nonanaplastic thyroid cancer originating from follicular cells. PORT was defined as the administration of external beam radiation to the thyroid and regional lymph nodes following surgery for initially diagnosed DTC. The patients were included in the analysis if they received PORT or exhibited any of the following features: (a) pT4 or pN1b according to the 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer, (b) poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC), or (c) unfavourable variants such as anaplastic foci and etc. After 1:1 propensity matching, a total of 108 patients were analyzed according to PORT receipt. The median follow‐up duration of the matched group was 10.4 years. Results: After matching, most of the variables became balanced, but the PORT group still had more PDTC and DTC with anaplastic foci. Radioactive iodine (RAI) was less frequently administered in the PORT group. PORT yielded a significantly higher 5‐year locoregional recurrence free survival (LRFS) than the No PORT group (5‐year LRFS 86.1% vs. 72.7%, p = 0.022), but the 10‐year cancer specific survival (CSS) was similar between them (97.8% vs. 85.9%, p = 0.122). The multivariable analysis indicated that PORT was a favourable prognostic factor (Hazard ratio 0.3, 95% Confidence interval 0.1–0.8, p = 0.02) for LRFS, but not for CSS. Among 133 patients without PORT for initial disease, 39 of them received salvage surgery followed by salvage PORT. No severe toxicity after PORT was reported. Conclusion: PORT reduced locoregional recurrence in DTC patients without severe toxicity. PORT can be an effective and safe treatment to improve locoregional control in DTC with high risk features. However, further study is warranted to identify those who can benefit from PORT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skyrmions with stable vector field configurations have produced various derivatives with various topological textures, such as the Néel type, Bloch type, anti-type, and higher-order Néel type. Here, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that the vector field configuration of Néel-type skyrmionic modes can be locally manipulated using gradient grooves in a deep-subwavelength three-dimensional multilayer cylindrical structure. We experimentally observe that the skyrmionic modes can be contracted or expanded to manipulate the distribution of the velocity vectors by tuning the groove depth gradient along the structural radius, which is robust against structural deformations and defects. This type of controllable acoustic skyrmion provides new dimensions for advanced sound information processing, transportation, and data storage in compact structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stem cells have shown noticeable potential for unlimited self-renewal. They can differentiate into specific somatic cells, integrate into target tissues via cell-cell contact, paracrine effects, exosomes, and other processes and then regulate the target cells and tissues. Studies have demonstrated that transplantation of MSCs could decrease the expression and concentration of collagen in the liver, thereby reducing liver fibrosis. A growing body of evidence indicates that apoptotic MSCs could inhibit harmful immune responses and reduce inflammatory responses more effectively than viable MSCs. Accumulating evidence suggests that mitochondrial transfer from MSCs is a novel strategy for the regeneration of various damaged cells via the rescue of their respiratory activities. This study is aimed at reviewing the functions of MSCs and the related roles of the programmed cell death of MSCs, including autophagy, apoptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis, as well as the regulatory pathogenic mechanisms of MSCs in liver fibrosis. Research has demonstrated that the miR-200B-3p gene is differentially expressed gene between LF and normal liver samples, and that the miR-200B-3p gene expression is positively correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis, suggesting that MSCs could inhibit liver fibrosis through pyroptosis. It was confirmed that circulating monocytes could deliver MSC-derived immunomodulatory molecules to different sites by phagocytosis of apoptotic MSCs, thereby achieving systemic immunosuppression. Accordingly, it was suggested that characterization of the programmed cell death-mediated immunomodulatory signaling pathways in MSCs should be a focus of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a sample of 330 blue edge-on low surface brightness galaxies (ELSBGs). To understand the chemical evolution of ELSBGs, we derived the gas-phase abundance and the [ α /Fe] ratio. Compared with star-forming galaxies, ELSBGs show a flatter trend in the mass–metallicity (M *– Z) relation, which suggests that the oxygen abundance enhancement is inefficient. We focused on 77 ELSBGs with H i data and found that the closed-box model cannot explain their gas fraction and metallicity relation, which implies that infall and/or outflow is needed. We derived the [ α /Fe] ratio of normal ELSBG (<109.5 M ⊙) and massive ELSBG (> = 109.5 M ⊙) using single stellar population grids from the MILES stellar library. The mean [ α /Fe] ratios are 0.18 and 0.4 for normal ELSBG and massive ELSBG, respectively. We suggest that the long timescales of star formation and/or metal-rich gas outflow events caused by SNe Ia winds are likely to be responsible for the α -enhancement of massive ELSBGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Squats and lunges are common exercises frequently applied in muscle-strengthening and therapeutic exercises. The loading devices are often used to increase the training intensity. Objective: To determine the effect of loading devices on muscle activation in squat and lunge and to compare the differences in muscle activation between squat and lunge. Design: Cross-sectional cohort. Participants: Nineteen healthy, male, recreationally active individuals without a history of lower limb injury. Interventions: Each participant performed 10 repetitions of a squat under 5 conditions: unloaded, barbell, dumbbell, loaded vest, and kettlebell, and 10 repetitions of a lunge under 4 conditions: unloaded, barbell, dumbbell, and loaded vest. Main Outcome Measures: The electromyography signals of quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius lateralis and medialis were measured. One-way repeated-measure analysis of variance was used to compare the difference among different loading conditions. Paired t test was used to compare the difference between squat and lunge. Results: The muscle activation in the loaded conditions was significantly higher than that in nonloaded conditions in squat and lunge. Compared with the barbell, dumbbell, and loaded vest conditions, the semitendinosus showed significantly higher activation, and the tibialis anterior showed significantly lower activation in kettlebell condition in squat. No significant difference in muscle activation was found among barbell, dumbbell, and kettlebell conditions in lunge. In addition, quadriceps and hamstring activities were significantly higher in lunge than in squat. Conclusions: Muscle activation was affected by the loading devices in squat but not affected in lunge. Kettlebell squat could be suggested for targeting in strengthening medial hamstring. Progressive strengthening exercise could be recommended from squat to lunge based on sequential activation level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layer‐structured GeSb2Te4 is a promising thermoelectric candidate, while its anisotropy of thermal and electrical transport properties is still not clear. In this study, Ge1–xInxSb2Te4 single crystals are grown by Bridgman method, and their anisotropic thermoelectric properties are systematically investigated. Lower electrical conductivity and higher Seebeck coefficient are observed in the c‐axis due to the higher effective mass in this direction. Intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity is also observed in the c‐axis due to the weak chemical bonding and the strong lattice anharmonicity proved by density functional theory calculation. Indium doping introduces an impurity band in the bandgap of GeSb2Te4 and leads to the locally distorted density of states near the Fermi level, which contributes to enhanced Seebeck coefficient and improved power factor. Ultimately, a peak zT value of 1 at 673 K and an average zT value of 0.68 within 323–773 K are obtained in Ge0.93In0.07Sb2Te4 along the c‐axis direction, which are 54% and 79% higher than that of the pristine GeSb2Te4 single crystal, respectively. This study clarified the origin of intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity and anisotropy transport properties in GeSb2Te4, and shed light on the performance optimization of other layered thermoelectric materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Selenium (Se) has been reported to mitigate the harmful effects of salt stress on plants; however, the internal mechanisms remain unknown. Here, the effects of Se supplementation on tomato plants under salt stress were investigated. Methods: The biomass, relative electrical conductivity (REC), relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic parameter, inorganic ion contents, malondialdehyde (MDA), soluble sugar and proline contents, as well as the regulation of plant hormones of Se application in tomato plants were investigated after exposure to Se and salt stress treatments. Results: Exogenous Se application improved photosynthesis and the water use efficiency (WUE) of tomato plants under salt stress, thereby promoting the growth of tomato plants under salt stress. Se supplementation also maintained the K+ and Na+ homeostasis, reduced the REC, decreased MDA, H2O2 and O2•− contents, and mitigated the oxidative damage caused by salt stress. In addition, exogenous Se increased the salicylic acid (SA) content in tomato leaves and roots via up-regulating the PAL or ICS pathways involved in SA biosynthesis. After pre-treatment with the SA inhibitor 1-aminobenzotriazole, the photosynthetic efficiency of tomato plants decreased, plant growth was weakened, and the REC was increased, indicating that the alleviating role of Se on salt stress was abolished. Conclusions: Our results clarified the roles of Se and its regulation mechanisms in plant salt stress tolerance and the critical involvement of SA in this process. The study of Se in plant abiotic stress tolerance will give a more theoretical foundation for using exogenous Se in agricultural production to enhance crop growth and yield under adversity stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Embryo implantation in a receptive endometrium is crucial for successful pregnancy. Endometrial receptivity (ER) prediction tools based on endometrial transcriptome biomarkers by endometrial biopsy have been used to guide successful embryo implantation in in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients. However, no reliable noninvasive ER prediction method has been established, and one is greatly needed. We aimed to identify biomarkers from uterine fluid transcriptomic sequencing data for establishing noninvasive ER prediction tool and to evaluate its clinical application potential in patients undergoing IVF. Methods: The non-invasive RNA-seq based endometrial receptivity test (nirsERT) was established by analyzing transcriptomic profile of 144 uterine fluid specimens (LH + 5, LH + 7, and LH + 9) at three different receptive status from 48 IVF patients with normal ER in combination with random forest algorithm. Subsequently, 22 IVF patients who underwent frozen-thaw blastocyst transfer were recruited and analyzed the correlation between the predicted results of nirsERT and pregnancy outcomes. Results: A total of 864 ER-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in biological processes associated with endometrium-embryo crosstalk, including protein binding, signal reception and transduction, biomacromolecule transport and cell-cell adherens junctions, were selected. Subsequently, a nirsERT model consisting of 87 markers and 3 hub genes was established using a random forest algorithm. 10-fold cross-validation resulted in a mean accuracy of 93.0%. A small cohort (n = 22) retrospective observation shows that 77.8% (14/18) of IVF patients predicted with a normal WOI had successful intrauterine pregnancies, while none of the 3 patients with a displaced WOI had successful pregnancies. One patient failed due to poor sequencing data quality. Conclusions: NirsERT based on uterine fluid transcriptome biomarkers can predict the WOI period relatively accurately and may serve as a noninvasive, reliable and same cycle test for ER in reproductive clinics. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR-DDD-17013375. Registered 14 November 2017, http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of layered ThB2C are investigated using the first-principles calculations with generalized gradient and local density approximations. The equilibrium geometry and elastic stiffness constants of ThB2C are studied, and various elastic moduli, Poisson's ratios and velocities are estimated from the elastic stiffness constants. ThB2C exhibits brittle characteristics. The phonon dispersion relationship verifies the thermodynamic stability of ThB2C. Considering the effect of phonon vibration on the thermodynamic properties of ThB2C, the variation of Gibbs free energy, bulk modulus and heat capacity at constant pressure with temperature are calculated using quasi-harmonic approximation in the temperature range of 0 − 1 0 0 0 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to verify whether there is a causal relationship between breast cancer and bone mineral density (BMD). Summary statistics for exposures and outcomes were obtained from corresponding genome-wide association studies. The bidirectional and multivariate mediated Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were performed. In the bidirectional MR analysis, breast cancer might reduce the BMD of the heel (HE-BMD) (FDR = 1.51 × 10−4) as might its ER+ subtype (FDR = 1.51 × 10−4). From BMD to breast cancer, no significant association was found (FDR > 0.05). The mediating MR analysis showed that Higher free testosterone (FT) only mediated the causal relationship between breast cancer and HE-BMD by 2.9%; both ER+ type and FT were independent factors of HE-BMD (ER+: P = 0.021; FT: P = 6.88 × 10−6). Higher FT could increase the risk of breast cancer (FDR = 1.21 × 10−3) as could total testosterone (TT) (FDR = 5.81 × 10−3). Similarly, higher FT could increase the risk of ER+ subtype (FDR = 2.51 × 10−6) as could TT (FDR = 5.55 × 10−4). These results indicate that BMD is not a risk factor for breast cancer but breast cancer and its ER+ subtype are risk factors for BMD loss. Furthermore, higher FT and TT levels are associated with both an increased incidence of breast cancer and increased bone density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new heterometallic uranyl-organic frameworks (UOFs), [Cd(phen)2(H2O)2][(UO2)2(BDC)3]·2H2O (1) and [Ni(phen)3][(UO2)2(BDC)3]·2H2O (2), were obtained under hydrothermal conditions. Both crystal structures were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses and the results indicate that both complexes feature a similar 2D honeycomb framework that is connected by rigid benzenedicarboxylate (BDC) ligands and uranyl units. BDC works as a linker to bridge neighboring UO22+ units, where UO22+ is tris-chelated. Different guest molecules guided the stacking of 2D layers and lead into their 3D supramolecular crystal structures with different space groups. As a result, 1 crystallized in a polar space group Cc, whereas 2 belongs to a chiral space group P6122. Thermogravimetric measurements were performed to study their thermal stability. UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements indicate an experimental optical bandgap of 3.87 eV and 3.63 eV, respectively, for 1 and 2. Luminescent studies of both samples show strong green light emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, acoustic skyrmions have been explored by tailoring velocity vectorial near-field distributions based on the interference of multiple spoof surface acoustic waves, providing new dimensions for advanced sound information processing, transport, and data storage. Here, we theoretically investigate and experimentally demonstrate that a deep-subwavelength spiral metastructure can also generate the acoustic skyrmion configuration. Analyzing the resonant response of the metastructure and observing the spatial profile of the velocity field, we find that the localized skyrmionic modes correspond to eigenmodes of the spiral structure. Thus, the skyrmionic modes do not require carefully tailored external excitation condition and they have multiple resonating frequencies unlike the single skyrmionic mode realized by the interference of multiple waves. We also demonstrate that the topological protected skyrmions supported by the subwavelength metastructure is robust against structure deformations and existence of structure defects. The real-space acoustic skyrmion topology may open new avenues for designing ultra-compact and robust acoustic devices, such as acoustic sensors, acoustic tweezers, and acoustic antennas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in female reproductive system. The incidence of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is only about 10% in clinically suspected early‐stage EC patients. Discovering prognostic models and effective biomarkers for early diagnosis is important to reduce the mortality rate. Methods: A least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was conducted to identify the characteristic dimension decrease and distinguish porgnostic LNM related genes signature. Subsequently, a novel prognosis‐related nomogram was constructed to predict overall survival (OS). Survival analysis was carried out to explore the individual prognostic significance of the risk model and key gene was validated in vitro. Results: In total, 89 lymph node related genes (LRGs) were identified. Based on the LASSO Cox regression, 11 genes were selected for the development of a risk evaluation model. The Kaplan–Meier curve indicated that patients in the low‐risk group had considerably better OS (p = 3.583e−08). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of this model was 0.718 at 5 years of OS. Then, we developed an OS‐associated nomogram that included the risk score and clinicopathological features. The concordance index of the nomogram was 0.769. The survival verification performed in three subgroups from the nomogram demonstrated the validity of the model. The AUC of the nomogram was 0.787 at 5 years OS. Proliferation and metastasis of HMGB3 were explored in EC cell line. External validation with 30 patients in our hospital showed that patients with low‐risk scores had a longer OS (p‐value = 0.03). Finally, we revealed that the most frequently mutated genes in the low‐risk and high‐risk groups are PTEN and TP53, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that LNM plays an important role in the prognosis, and HMGB3 was potential as a biomarker for EC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning methods are a novel way to predict and rank donors' willingness to donate blood and to achieve precision recruitment, which can improve the recruitment efficiency and meet the challenge of blood shortage. We collected information about experienced blood donors via short message service (SMS) recruitment and developed 7 machine learning-based recruitment models using PyCharm-Python Environment and 13 features which were described as a method for ranking and predicting donors' intentions to donate blood with a floating number between 0 and 1. Performance of the prediction models was assessed by the Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score in the full dataset, and by the accuracy in the four sub-datasets. The developed models were applied to prospective validations of recruiting experienced blood donors during two COVID-19 pandemics, while the routine method was used as a control. Overall, a total of 95,476 recruitments via SMS and their donation results were enrolled in our modelling study. The strongest predictor features for the donation of experienced donors were blood donation interval, age, and donation frequency. Among the seven baseline models, the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and Support vector machine models (SVM) achieved the best performance: mean (95%CI) with the highest AUC: 0.809 (0.806–0.811), accuracy: 0.815 (0.812–0.818), precision: 0.840 (0.835–0.845), and F1 score of XGBoost: 0.843 (0.840–0.845) and recall of SVM: 0.991 (0.988–0.994). The hit rate of the XGBoost model alone and the combined XGBoost and SVM models were 1.25 and 1.80 times higher than that of the conventional method as a control in 2 recruitments respectively, and the hit rate of the high willingness to donate group was 1.96 times higher than that of the low willingness to donate group. Our results suggested that the machine learning models could predict and determine the experienced donors with a strong willingness to donate blood by a ranking score based on personalized donation data and demographical details, significantly improve the recruitment rate of blood donors and help blood agencies to maintain the blood supply in emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-carbohydrate diet could achieve cost-sparing effect in aquafeed, but it may cause adverse effects on the growth condition or health status of fish. In order to reduce the adverse effects caused by high carbohydrate diet, mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), a commonly used prebiotics, was used as the feed additive to feed juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (1.19 ± 0.01g) for ten weeks. Three treatments including CON (35% carbohydrate diet), HC (45% carbohydrate diet) and HM (45% carbohydrate supplemented diet with 5 g/kg MOS) were involved. The results showed that MOS supplementation increased the weight gain and body length of juvenile Nile tilapia compared with the HC group. Addition of MOS decreased serum glucose and liver glycogen by increasing enzymes activity related to glycolysis. Furthermore, supplementation of MOS decreased the high carbohydrate diet induced triglycerides accumulation in liver by reducing the expression level of genes related to TG synthesis. Dietary MOS also down-regulated the gene expression level of inflammation factors in liver. Intestinal bacterial composition analyses showed that supplementation of MOS in high carbohydrate diet altered the gut microbial composition and enriched pathways related to the glucose metabolism based on KEGG analyses. In general, our results demonstrated that MOS supplementation in high carbohydrate diet could regulate glucose and lipid homeostasis which may be related to the alteration of gut microbiota. These findings shed light on the application of prebiotics to increase the growth performance, alleviate the metabolic disorders and regulate inflammatory response in aquaculture. • MOS increased growth condition. • MOS alleviated metabolism disorders. • MOS attenuated inflammatory response. • MOS altered gut microbial composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively utilize coal gangue (CG) with low Al/Si ratio, the thermal activation method was used. The activated CG, as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), was added into ordinary Portland cement (OPC) to study its physical properties. The XRD results show that CG undergoes a phase transition from kaolinite to metakaolinite during activation. The NMR tests reveal that the low polymerization state Q3 is continuously broadened, and the Al coordination gradually changes from Al VI to Al V and Al IV. The CG particles are scale-like and glassy with a loose structure. By mixing the activated CG (under 800 °C) with cement (mass ratio = 3:7), the water demand of normal consistency increases by 7.2% and the initial and final setting times extend by 67 min and 81 min, respectively. The rough surface and loose structure of activated CG are the main factors contributing to the higher water demand of normal consistency. The micro-aggregate effect of the activated CG reduces the contact rate between the cement particles and water, and the interparticles, thus slowing down the process of hydration reaction, and leading to longer setting times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we propose a hollow quasi-periodic spoof plasmonic structure to realize the ultrastrong Purcell enhancement of magnetic dipole emission in terahertz frequency range based on quasi-bound states in the continuum. By independently tuning the substructures, we can severally tune the responses of the electric dipole and quadripolar modes supported by groove-substructure, and the magnetic dipolar mode supported in slit-substructure. In particular, we also observe a whispering gallery mode supported by the composite structure, which will move with changing structural parameters. When the magnetic dipole mode close to the whispering gallery mode, the interference between them will emerge to generates a quasi-bound state in the continuum with ultra-high quality factor. Then, based on the quasi-periodic structure, we put a magnetic dipole into the hollow structure center and realize the ultrastrong Purcell enhancement of magnetic dipole emission, which can be more than 105. The designed structure can be applied to a variety of magneto-optical devices to greatly enhance Purcell effect in terahertz region. Manipulating the spontaneous emission rate of magnetic dipole with artificial magnetic resonators have been widely investigated to provide the road toward novel magnetic light-matter interactions. However, the emission strength of magnetic dipole still an open challenge due to the lack of high-quality factor cavity with magnetic dipole resonance. Here, we propose a hollow quasi-periodic spoof plasmonic structure to realize the ultrastrong Purcell enhancement of magnetic dipole emission in terahertz frequency range based on quasi-BIC as shown in (a). By independently tuning the substructures, we can severally tune the responses of the electric dipole and quadripolar modes supported by groove-substructure, and the magnetic dipolar mode supported in slit-substructure. Particularly, when the magnetic dipole close to the electric quadrupole, the interference between the magnetic dipolar mode as a bright one and electric quadrupolar modes as a dark one in the quasi-structure can generate a sharp Fano resonance with high quality factor. When we put a magnetic dipole into the structure center and realize the ultrastrong Purcell enhancement of magnetic dipole emission, which can be more than 105 as Figure (b). The designed structure can be applied to a variety of magneto-optical devices to greatly enhance magnetic Purcell effect in terahertz region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca(OH)2, a widely available and low-cost calcium-based desulfurizer, needs further improvement in calcium utilization in flue gas desulfurization. In this experiment, Ca(OH)2 crystals with different morphologies were prepared by doping impurity ions including SO42− and SiO32− by precipitation method, which played directing role in the process of crystal growth. The prepared Ca(OH)2 crystals were applied to cement kiln flue gas desulfurization environment to investigate the effect of crystal morphology on flue gas desulfurization. The observed results illustrated that Ca(OH)2 prepared by SO42− as impurity ion in hexagonal plate shape presents the best desulfurization performance with desulfurization efficiency up to 93%. The structural characterization of Ca(OH)2 crystals by XRD and SEM, and the investigation of the reasons for desulfurization by BET, EDS, and XPS showed that the hexagonal plate-shaped Ca(OH)2 crystals increased the specific surface area and had the highest elemental sulfur content of 5.04% on the (100) crystal plane, and the high surface energy on the (100) plane led to the high reactivity. This confirms the guiding significance of hexagonal plate-like morphology for improving the desulfurization performance of Ca(OH)2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with tunable ordered channels and free organic groups hold great promise in molecular separations owing to the synergy of physical and chemical microenvironments. Herein, we develop a defect engineering strategy to fabricate COF membranes for efficient CO2 separation. Abundant amino groups are in situ generated on the COF nanosheets arising from the missing‐linker defects during the reactive assembly of amine monomer and mixed aldehyde monomers. The COF nanosheets are assembled to fabricate COF membranes. Amino groups, as the CO2 facilitated transport carriers, along with ordered channels endow COF membrane with high CO2 permeances exceeding 300 GPU and excellent separation selectivity of 80 for CO2/N2, and 54 for CO2/CH4 mixed gas under humidified state. Our defect engineering strategy offers a facile approach to generating free organic functional groups in COF membranes and other organic framework membranes for diverse chemical separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent organic framework (COF) membranes with tunable ordered channels and free organic groups hold great promise in molecular separations owing to the synergy of physical and chemical microenvironments. Herein, we develop a defect engineering strategy to fabricate COF membranes for efficient CO2 separation. Abundant amino groups are in situ generated on the COF nanosheets arising from the missing‐linker defects during the reactive assembly of amine monomer and mixed aldehyde monomers. The COF nanosheets are assembled to fabricate COF membranes. Amino groups, as the CO2 facilitated transport carriers, along with ordered channels endow COF membrane with high CO2 permeances exceeding 300 GPU and excellent separation selectivity of 80 for CO2/N2, and 54 for CO2/CH4 mixed gas under humidified state. Our defect engineering strategy offers a facile approach to generating free organic functional groups in COF membranes and other organic framework membranes for diverse chemical separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because most tropical sea cucumbers have been overexploited around the world, the sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota has become increasingly commercially important in recent years. Restocking and aquaculture of H. leucospilota using hatchery-produced seeds could both enhance declining wild populations and provide sufficient beche-de-mer product to satisfy increasing market demand. Identifying an appropriate diet is important for successful hatchery culture of the H. leucospilota. In this study, we trialed different ratios of microalgae Chaetoceros muelleri (2.00 – 2.50 × 10 6 cells/mL) and yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ~ 2.00 × 10 6 cells/mL) in diets for H. leucospilota larvae (6 d after fertilization, referred to as "day 0") at proportions 4 : 0, 3 : 1, 2 : 2, 1 : 3, and 0 : 4 by volume, in 5 treatments (A, B, C, D, and E, respectively). Larval survival rates in these treatments decreased over time, with the survival highest in treatment B (59.24 ± 2.49 %) on day 15 (double that of the lowest rate in treatment E (28.47 ± 4.23 %)). For any sampling event, larval body length in treatment A was always the lowest after day 3, and that for treatment B was always the highest, except on day 15. The maximum percentage of doliolaria larvae occurred in treatment B (23.33%) on day 15, followed by treatments C, D, and E (20.00%, 10.00%, and 6.67%, respectively). No doliolaria larvae occurred in treatment A, and pentactula larvae occurred only in treatment B (3.33%). On day 15 in all treatments, late auricularia larvae had hyaline spheres, but these were not prominent in treatment A. Densities of juveniles attaching to settlement plates varied with treatments, and the values were very low for the larvae only fed microalgae (A, 2.39 ± 1.95 ind per plate) or yeast (E, 2.13 ± 1.05 ind per plate)—only ~5% of the maximum number settling in treatment B (45.56 ± 7.24 ind per plate). Increased larval growth, survival and development, and juvenile attachment indicates that diets combining microalgae and yeast are more nutritionally balanced than single diets for hatchery of H. leucospilota. A combined diet of C. muelleri and S. cerevisiae at a 3 : 1 ratio is optimum for the larvae. Based on our results, we propose a larval rearing protocol to facilitate mass production of H. leucospilota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Natural killer (NK) cells are important innate cytotoxic lymphocytes and can contribute to the immune response through the synthesis and secrete proinflammatory cytokines. In the present study, we assessed and compared the proportion of NK cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes, various cytokine levels and metabolic parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), prediabetes and normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Methods: Individuals with 57 T2DM, 58 prediabetes and 60 NGT were enrolled. Fasting plasma glucose, 2-h postload glucose, fructosamine, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein and triglyceride levels were assessed on an automatic biochemical analyzer. Various cytokine levels in the serum including IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70, and IFN-γ were assessed using ELISA kits. Proportion of NK cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes was assessed by flow cytometry. Results: The proportion of NK in lymphocytes from prediabetes was significantly increased compared with that obtained from T2DM, while the data was significantly decreased compared with that obtained from NGT. Significant increases in fasting plasma glucose, postprandial plasma glucose and triglycerides were observed in prediabetes compared with NGT.IL-12p70 level was significantly lower in prediabetes and T2DM compared with NGT. IL-6 and IFN-γ levels in prediabetes were significantly lower than those in NGT and T2DM patients, in addition IL-6 level in T2DM patients was significantly higher compared to NGT. The trend of IL-10 level was opposite to that of IL-6. Conclusions: The decreased proportion of NK cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes following some cytokine levels (IL-12p70, IL-6,IL-10 and IFN-γ) was likely involved in the development of T2DM and prediabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]