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In this study, the response mechanism between macro- and microscales of deep hard-rock diorite is investigated under loading and unloading conditions. Moreover, the statistical theory is combined with particle flow code simulations to establish a correlation between unloading rates observed in laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Subsequent numerical tests under varying confining pressures are conducted to examine the macroscopic mechanical properties and the evolution of particle velocity, displacement, contact force chain failures, and microcracks in both axial and radial directions of the numerical rock samples during the loading and unloading phases. The findings indicate that the confining pressure strength curve displays an instantaneous fluctuation response during unloading, which intensifies with higher initial confining pressures. This suggests that rock sample damage progresses in multiple stages of expansion and penetration. The study also reveals that with increased initial confining pressure, there is a decrease in particle velocity along the unloading direction and an increase in particle displacement and the number of contact force chain failures, indicating more severe radial expansion of the rock sample. Furthermore, microcracks predominantly accumulate near the unloading surface, and their total number escalates with rising confining pressure, suggesting that higher confining pressures promote the development and expansion of internal microcracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are expected to possess high ionic conductivity and conformal interfacial contact with all cell components for all‐solid‐state lithium‐ion batteries. However, the commonly used in situ separator‐assisted approach reduces the ionic conductivity because of the use of inert and non‐ion‐conducting separators. Here, a facile separator‐free dual‐curing strategy combining UV‐curing outside the cell and subsequent thermal‐curing inside the cell is reported, in which the second thermal polymerization process provides improved interfacial properties without sacrificing ionic conductivity. The resulting DC‐SPEs possess high ionic conductivity (0.3 mS cm−1 at 25 °C), a wide electrochemical stability window (4.64 V vs Li/Li+), and improved interfacial properties. The in situ‐formed DC‐SPE can effectively suppress the growth of Li dendrites and achieve stable Li symmetric cell cycling performance at high current density (over 700 h at 0.2 mA cm−2 and 0.2 mAh cm−2). The all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (LMBs) with LiFePO4 demonstrate high coulombic efficiency (>99.93%) and ultrastable cycling stability (900 cycles) at 1C rate under 40 °C. The dual‐curing strategy provides a brand new in situ processing method to avoid the use of expensive and inert separators, which can be widely applied to the development of all‐solid‐state LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal tumors globally. Former investigations discovered that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play an important role in PC development. circRNAs belong to a new class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, which have been found to mediate the progression of diverse types of tumors. Nevertheless, the roles of circRNAs and the underlying regulatory mechanisms in PC remain unknown. In this study, our team employed next-generation sequencing (NGS) to examine the abnormal circRNA expression in PC tissues. The circRNA expression in PC cell lines and tissues was detected. Then, regulatory mechanism and targets were examined with bioinformatics analysis, luciferase reporting analysis, Transwell migration, 5-ethynyl−2′-deoxyuridine, and CCK−8 analysis. An in vivo experiment was employed to elucidate hsa_circ_0014784 roles in PC tumor growth and metastasis. The results showcased abnormal circRNA expression in PC tissues. Our lab also found that hsa_circ_0014784 expression incremented in PC tissues and cell lines, implying that hsa_circ_0014784 functioned in PC progression. hsa_circ_0014784 downregulation inhibited PC proliferation and invasion in vivo and in vitro. The bioinformatics and luciferase report data validated that both miR−214-3p and YAP1 were hsa_circ_0014784 binding partners. The overexpression of YAP1 reversed the migration, proliferation, and epithelial – mesenchymal transition (EMT) of PC cells and the angiogenic differentiation of HUVECs after miR−214-3p overexpression. Taken together, our study found that hsa_circ_0014784 downregulation decremented invasion, proliferation, EMT, and angiogenesis of PC by regulating miR−214-3p/YAP1 signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the constraint-force driven control problem of virtual coupling. To solve the constraint force, the explicit equation of vehicle motion with equality constraints is established using the Udwadia–Kalaba approach. First of all, this study introduces a brief overview of virtual coupling concepts in the European Railway Traffic Management System and some scenes of virtual coupling. The control method is proposed to enable the mechanical system to follow the designed constraint. Moreover, the dynamic model for virtual coupling problem is established. Second, combined with the dynamic model, the equation constraint is designed to make the rail vehicle movenment reach the control objective. By solving the equation based on the Udwadia–Kalaba approach, the control inputs that can render the vehicle to move along the desired trajectory. Third, numerical simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in virtual coupling problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNA VANGL1 (circVANGL1) is generated from two exons of the Van Gogh‐like 1 (VANGL1) gene and serves as a tumor promoter by sponging certain microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the role of circVANGL1 in bladder cancer (BC) is still unclear. So, in order to investigate the role of circVANGL1 in BC, quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) was employed to evaluate the circVANGL1 expression in tumor tissues from BC patients and in BC cell lines. Small interfering RNA against circVANGL1 was constructed and stably transfected into human bladder epithelium immortalized cells (SV‐HUC). Cell invasion and migration were detected in Transwell chambers, cell proliferation was determined by CCK8 assays, and tumorigenesis in nude mice was examined to assess the effect of circVANGL1 in BC. Subcellular localization of circVANGL1 was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The interactive relationships among circVANGL1, miRNA, and relative proteins were confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. The results showed that circVANGL1 was upregulated in both BC tissues and cell lines. Silencing the expression of circVANGL1 suppressed cell invasion, migration, and proliferation during in vitro experiments. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that circVANGL1 upregulated the expression of miR‐1184 target gene insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) by sponging miR‐1184, which promoted the aggressive biological behaviors of BC. Taken together, our results indicate that circVANGL1 acts as a tumor promoter through the novel circVANGL1/miR‐1184/IGFBP2 axis. Hopefully, our study will provide new ideas for the clinical treatment of BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]