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Aging is one of the most significant health challenges worldwide and is a primary cause of chronic diseases and physiological decline. Among the myriad changes that occur with aging, alterations in adipose tissue distribution and function have gained considerable attention because of their profound impact on metabolic health and overall well-being. Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) are the two major depots of white adipose tissue, each with distinct roles in metabolism and health. Understanding the characteristics and underlying mechanisms of SAT and VAT is crucial for elucidating the aging process and developing strategies to promote healthy aging. This review focuses on delineating and analyzing the characteristics and intrinsic mechanisms underlying the aging of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue during the aging process, which can contribute to a better understanding of the aging process and enhance healthy aging.

The super volume changes and severe mechanical degradation have been a hindrance in the wide application of silicon based composite electrodes in commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Calendering, one procedure in producing LIBs' electrodes, is indispensable to ensure low porosity and energy density. However, the repercussions of the calendering process on the physical characteristics related to the behavior of silicon (Si) based electrodes during the electrochemical reaction have not been well understood. Thus, on account of the deformation characteristic of cantilever electrodes, an in-situ technique is employed to analyze the repercussions of calendering status on the coupled electro-chemo-mechanical performances. During the electrochemical cycling, Young's modulus and diffusion-induced stress in composite electrodes are quantified. The results show that the swelling strain, the stress and the modulus of the Si-based electrode and the calendering degree are positively correlated. Meanwhile, the stress induced by diffusion in the active layer tends to increase in the stage of lithiation and reverses during the delithiation process. Accompany with the SEM analysis, we conclude that the calendering process can induce larger stress, driving the formation of cracks in electrodes. These findings can help understand how the calendering process could affect the capacity dissipating and lifetime of Si based electrodes.

Doubly-fed variable speed pumped storage unit (VSPSU) adopts slip ring injection AC excitation mode, and its rotor side structure is complex and prone to open-phase faults. It is very important to configure specific open-phase imbalance protection to ensure its safe operation. Traditional doubly-fed motors only stay in the state monitoring stage for rotor electrical imbalance, which cannot meet the requirements of large-capacity VSPSU for fast, real-time, and high-reliability protection. Therefore, this paper proposes a VSPSU rotor open-phase imbalance protection method based on the rotation transformation fault component ratio (FCR). The fundamental frequency component and fault characteristic component of the stator current space vector are extracted by rotation transformation and FCR is calculated, and then different protection action modes are divided according to the amplitude of FCR. To realize the engineering application, a microcomputer protection algorithm suitable for the proposed protection method is further proposed, and then a complete microcomputer protection scheme is formed. Simulation and experiment results show that the proposed protection scheme has high sensitivity and fast action speed. At the same time, the proposed algorithm can be directly embedded in the existing microcomputer protection device to meet the needs of engineering applications.

id="st1" To explore which pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) play a key role in the development of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) by analyzing PRR-associated genes. id="st2" We conducted a comparative analysis of PRR-associated gene expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected with enterovirus 71 (EV-A71) which were derived from patients with HFMD of different severities and at different stages. A total of 30 PRR-associated genes were identified as significantly upregulated both over time and across different EV-A71 isolates. Subsequently, ELISA was employed to quantify the expression of the six most prominent genes among these 30 identified genes, specifically, BST2, IRF7, 1FI16, TRIM21, MX1, and DDX58. id="st3" Compared with those at the recovery stage, the expression levels of BST2 (P=0.027), IFI16 (P=0.016), MX1 (P=0.046) and DDX58 (P=0.008) in the acute stage of infection were significantly upregulated, while no significant difference in the expression levels of IRF7 (P=0.495) and TRIM21 (P=0.071) was found between different stages of the disease. The expression levels of BST2, IRF7, IFI16 and MX1 were significantly higher in children infected with single pathogen than those infected with mixed pathogens, and BST2, IRF7, IFI16 and MX1 expression levels were significantly lower in coxsackie B virus (COXB) positive patients than the negative patients. Expression levels of one or more of BST2, IRF7, IFI16, TRIM21, MX1 and DDX58 genes were correlated with PCT levels, various white blood cell counts, and serum antibody levels that reflect disease course of HFMD. Aspartate aminotransferase was correlated with BST2, MX1 and DDX58 expression levels. id="st4" PRR-associated genes likely initiate the immune response in patients at the acute stage of HFMD.

AbstractBackground Cirrhosis is a disease that imposes a heavy burden worldwide, but its incidence varies widely by region. Therefore, we analysed data on the incidence and mortality of cirrhosis in 204 countries and territories from 1990–2019 and projected the disease development from 2019–2039.Methods Data on the incidence and mortality of liver cirrhosis from 1990 to 2019 were acquired from the public Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. In addition, the average annual percentage change (AAPC) and estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) of the age-standardized rate (ASR) of cirrhosis in different regions were calculated. The estimates of risk factor exposure were summarized, and the proportion of causes and risk factors of liver cirrhosis and their relationship with the human development index (HDI) and socio–demographic index (SDI) were analysed. Trends in the incidence of cirrhosis in 2019–2039 were predicted using Nordpred and BAPC models.Results Globally, the ASR of cirrhosis incidence decreased by 0.05% per year from 25.7/100,000 in 1990 to 25.3/100,000 in 2019. The mortality risk associated with cirrhosis is notably lower in females than in males (13 per 100,000 vs 25 per 100,000). The leading cause of cirrhosis shifted from hepatitis B to C. Globally, alcohol use increased by 14%. In line, alcohol use contributed to 49.3% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 48.4% of global deaths from liver cirrhosis. Countries with a low ASR in 1990 experienced a faster increase in cirrhosis, whereas in 2019, the opposite was observed. In countries with high SDI, the ASR of cirrhosis is generally lower. Finally, projections indicate that the number and incidence of cirrhosis will persistently rise from 2019–2039.Conclusions Cirrhosis poses an increasing health burden. Given the changing etiology, there is an imperative to strengthen the prevention of hepatitis C and alcohol consumption, to achieve early reduce the incidence of cirrhosis.

Schisandra chinensis is a functional fruit with tonic effect and was widely used by traditional Chinese medicine for treatment and health care. The quality of Schisandra chinensis fruit may vary by different storage condition. In this study, the influence of ambient temperature, humidity, packaging materials and period of storage on the quality of Schisandra chinensis fruits were investigated. The contents of main active components lignans and organic acids were simultaneously determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC Orbitrap HRMS). The antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH radical scavenging capacity, ABTS+ inhibition rate and FRAP value. The correlation of multicomponent and antioxidant activity was analyzed by grey relevance analysis. Taking the changes of multicomponent and antioxidant activity as investigation index, Schisandra chinensis fruits under different storage conditions was comprehensively evaluated. Schisandrol A, malic acid, sorbic acid, schizandrin A, schizandrin B, and schisandrol B were the main effective components of antioxidant activity. Ambient temperature at 5 °C and humidity at 40 % were more suitable for Schisandra chinensis fruits and kraft paper bag was better packaging material. Do not exceed 1 year was the effective storage period. For the safety evaluation, no aflatoxin was detected within the storage period of 2 years, demonstrated the storage was satisfactory. This study provided a reference for the high-quality storage and standardized operating procedures for storage of Schisandra chinensis fruits.

Ensuring flight safety for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a critical concern, necessitating effective mathematical modeling for safety forecasting in both academic and industrial contexts. This study addresses this need by combining the capabilities of deep neural networks and grey analysis to create a comprehensive mathematical modeling approach focused on spatial information service (SIS). The paper introduces a novel spatial information-aware flight security forecasting model for UAVs, emphasizing the transformative impact of the new methodology. Traditionally, factors influencing flight safety are identified and formulated based on SIS chain technology, SIS management rules, SIS business processes, and spatial SIS chain verification. To address the challenges posed by significant data volatility and missing data in the sample dateset, a non-equally spaced GM (1,1) model with an approximate non-simultaneous exponential law series is developed for prediction. Subsequently, multiple influencing factors are encoded and input into a specific BP neural network structure. The paper concludes with simulation experiments to evaluate the proposed model. The results of the simulation analysis demonstrate that the integration of deep learning and grey analysis in the proposed model effectively recognizes flight security risks with high efficiency. This underscores the transformative potential of the new approach in enhancing UAV flight safety forecasting.

Abstract Aspirin, as a widely used anti-inflammatory drug, has been shown to exert anti-cancer effects in a variety of cancers. PD-L1 is widely expressed in tumor cells and inhibits anti-tumor immunity. This study aims to clarify whether aspirin exerts its anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) effect by inhibiting PD-L1 expression. The rat model of HCC was established by drinking 0.01% diethylnitrosamine (DEN), and aspirin was given by gavage. The gross and blood biochemical indexes of rats were analyzed. CD4 and CD8 expression in liver tissues were investigated by immunohistochemistry. CCK8 assay was used to detect the inhibitory effect of aspirin on the proliferation of HCC cells. The regulatory effect of aspirin on PD-L1 expression was analyzed by western blot. As a result, the tumor number and liver weight ratio in the DEN + ASA group were lower than those in the DEN group (P = 0.006, P = 0.046). Compared with the DEN group, the expression of CD4 in the DEN + ASA group was significantly increased, while CD8 was decreased (all P

Continuous cropping obstacles seriously constrained the sustainable development of the ginseng industry. The allelopathic autotoxicity of ginsenosides is the key “trigger” of continuous cropping obstacles in ginseng. During harvest, the ginseng plants could be broken and remain in the soil. The decomposition of ginseng residue in soil is one of the important release ways of ginsenosides. Therefore, the allelopathic mechanism of ginsenosides through the decomposed release pathway needs an in-depth study. To investigate this allelopathic regulation mechanism, the integrated analysis of transcriptomics and metabolomics was applied. The prototype ginsenosides in ginseng were detected converse to rare ginsenosides during decomposition. The rare ginsenosides caused more serious damage to ginseng hairy root cells and inhibited the growth of ginseng hairy roots more significantly. By high-throughput RNA sequencing gene transcriptomics study, the significantly differential expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained under prototype and rare ginsenoside interventions. These DEGs were mainly enriched in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and metabolic pathways, phytohormone signal transduction, and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum pathways. Based on the functional enrichment of DEGs, the targeted metabolomics analysis based on UPLC-MS/MS determination was applied to screen endogenous differential metabolized phytohormones (DMPs). The influence of prototype and rare ginsenosides on the accumulation of endogenous phytohormones was studied. These were mainly involved in the biosynthesis of diterpenoid, zeatin, and secondary metabolites, phytohormone signal transduction, and metabolic pathways. After integrating the transcriptomics and metabolomics analysis, ginsenosides could regulate the genes in phytohormone signaling pathways to influence the accumulation of JA, ABA, and SA. The conclusion was that the prototype ginsenosides were converted into rare ginsenosides by ginseng decomposition and released into the soil, which aggravated its allelopathic autotoxicity. The allelopathic mechanism was to intervene in the response regulation of genes related to the metabolic accumulation of endogenous phytohormones in ginseng. This result provides a reference for the in-depth study of continuous cropping obstacles of ginseng.

Abstract Stretchability is an essential property for wearable devices to match varying strains when interfacing with soft tissues or organs. While piezoelectricity has broad application potentials as tactile sensors, artificial skins, or nanogenerators, enabling tissue-comparable stretchability is a main roadblock due to the intrinsic rigidity and hardness of the crystalline phase. Here, an amino acid-based piezoelectric biocrystal thin film that offers tissue-compatible omnidirectional stretchability with unimpaired piezoelectricity is reported. The stretchability was enabled by a truss-like microstructure that was self-assembled under controlled molecule-solvent interaction and interface tension. Through the open and close of truss meshes, this large scale biocrystal microstructure was able to endure up to 40% tensile strain along different directions while retained both structural integrity and piezoelectric performance. Built on this structure, a tissue-compatible stretchable piezoelectric nanogenerator was developed, which could conform to various tissue surfaces, and exhibited stable functions under multidimensional large strains. In this work, we presented a promising solution that integrates piezoelectricity, stretchability and biocompatibility in one material system, a critical step toward tissue-compatible biomedical devices.

This paper introduces an adaptive trajectory-tracking control method for uncertain nonlinear systems, leveraging a time-varying threshold event-triggered mechanism to achieve predefined-time tracking. Compared to conventional time-triggering approaches, the employment of a time-varying threshold event-triggered mechanism significantly curtails communication resource wastage without compromising the system’s performance. Furthermore, a novel adaptive control algorithm with predefined timing is introduced. This method guarantees that tracking errors converge to within a small vicinity of the origin within a predefined timeframe, ensuring all signals in the closed-loop system remain bounded. Moreover, by adjusting a controller-related parameter, we can predefine the upper bound of the convergence time. Finally, the efficacy of the control scheme is corroborated by simulation results obtained from a nonlinear manipulator system.

Control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) in nuclear reactors powered by two motor generator units running in parallel, an excitation fault in one of the generators will cause the terminal current to rise in another generator, which will cause the overcurrent protection to operate before the loss-of-excitation protection, resulting in nuclear reactor shutdown. To solve the problem of mismatch between loss-of-excitation protection and overcurrent protection, this paper applies the equivalent circuit and phase diagram analysis, obtains the conclusion that the generator terminal current phase after an excitation fault is significantly different from the current phase after a phase-to-phase short circuit fault, based on this, a generator overcurrent protection criterion of compound fundamental current phase difference is constructed, which can solve the maloperation of overcurrent protection under possible excitation fault in actual engineering. Simulation results of PSCAD/EMTDC verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods under different operating modes and fault conditions.

Patterned quantum dot color converters (QDCCs) convert blue light to green and red light at the pixel level, thus having potential applications in combination with micro-LED and OLED. Lithography is a promising method to fabricate the QDCCs, however, it is still a challenge to achieve highly luminescent and stable patterned QD-photoresist (PR) thick films. Herein, a strategy is developed to fabricate high-performance patterned QDCCs using the lithography process. Firstly, the QDs are modified by replacing their native hydrophobic ligands to achieve compatibility with PRs. Then, a new ligand, diphenylphosphine oxide (DPPO), is introduced to remedy surface defects of the modified QDs. Lastly, conventional lithography is adopted to fabricate QDCCs with a pattern size of 50 × 10 µm and a thickness of 8 µm. The passivation with DPPO is critical to the luminescent properties of the QD-PR films. The DPPO substantially increases the PLQYs of the PR-compatible QDs and the QD-PR films, achieving a supreme PLQY of 71.7% for the green QD-PR films. The present work might shed light on improving the performance of patterned QDCCs and accelerate their applications in new types of display technology.

A previous metabolomic and genome-wide association analysis of maize screened a glucose-6-phosphate 1-epimerase (ZmG6PE) gene, which responds to low-phosphorus (LP) stress and regulates yield in maize’s recombinant inbred lines (RILs). However, the relationship of ZmG6PE with phosphorus and yield remained elusive. This study aimed to elucidate the underlying response mechanism of the ZmG6PE gene to LP stress and its consequential impact on maize yield. The analysis indicated that ZmG6PE required the Aldose_epim conserved domain to maintain enzyme activity and localized in the nucleus and cell membrane. The zmg6pe mutants showed decreased biomass and sugar contents but had increased starch content in leaves under LP stress conditions. Combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis showed that LP stress activated plant immune regulation in response to the LP stress through carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism. Notably, LP stress significantly reduced the synthesis of glucose-1-phosphate, mannose-6-phosphate, and β-alanine-related metabolites and changed the expression of related genes. ZmG6PE regulates LP stress by mediating the expression of ZmSPX6 and ZmPHT1.13. Overall, this study revealed that ZmG6PE affected the number of grains per ear, ear thickness, and ear weight under LP stress, indicating that ZmG6PE participates in the phosphate signaling pathway and affects maize yield-related traits through balancing carbohydrates homeostasis.

We designed a narrow-linewidth external-cavity hybrid laser leveraging a silicon-on-insulator triple Euler gradient resonant ring. The laser’s outer cavity incorporates a compact, high-Q resonant ring with low loss. The straight waveguide part of the resonant ring adopts a width of 1.6 μm to ensure low loss transmission. The curved section is designed as an Euler gradient curved waveguide, which is beneficial for low loss and stable single-mode transmission. The design features an effective bending radius of only 26.35 μm, which significantly improves the compactness of the resonant ring and, in turn, reduces the overall footprint of the outer cavity chip. To bolster the laser power and cater to the varying shapes of semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) spots, we designed a multi-tip edge coupler. Theoretical analysis indicates that this edge coupler can achieve an optical coupling efficiency of 85%. It also reveals that the edge coupler provides 3 dB vertical and horizontal alignment tolerances of 0.76 μm and 2.4 μm, respectively, for a spot with a beam waist radius of 1.98 μm × 0.99 μm. The outer cavity, designed with an Euler gradient micro-ring, can achieve a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) of 30 dB within a tuning range of 100 nm, with a round-trip loss of the entire cavity at 1.12 dB, and an expected theoretical laser linewidth of 300 Hz.

Orthopedic delayed and late infections are devastating afflictions for patients who have undergone implantation. Even though versatile antibacterial modification on medical devices brought the hope of eradicating pathogenic bacteria. The synthesis of late-term antibacterial properties with total morphosynthesis on medical devices nonetheless remains an elusive goal. Herein, we utilize a mineralized strategy coupled with ion exchange to generate lamellar-type magnesium calcium phosphate thin films with a three-step pathway: Construction of nanofiber porous structure on the substrate as ions reservoir, incorporation of magnesium substitutional transition sodium titanate layer, and mineralization of a lamellar calcium phosphate coating. Synthetic lamellar coatings exhibit excellent osteointegration effects in infectious scenarios. More importantly, the underlying transition layer can blow up the possible delayed infection like a landmine after the upper calcium phosphate coating is degraded under the physiological environment. This work highlights the pivotal role of the magnesium ions in mediating the growth of the total morphosynthesis of calcium phosphate coating and the underlying magnesium titanate layer in ensuring the possibility to eliminate delayed infections under time-dependent degradation.

In the distribution grids, grounding fault transfer devices have been widely used to suppress the transient arc grounding fault. Based on the grounding fault transfer device, a high sensitivity faulty section location method is proposed in this paper. When an arc grounding fault occurs, the fault phase bus is earthed by the grounding fault transfer device, which can simultaneously realize arc suppression and faulty section location. There are two grounding transient processes in this method, including fault grounding and active grounding of the faulty phase bus. During the aforementioned processes, the similarity degree of the zero mode current on both directions of the faulty section varies from low to high, whereas there is almost no change in the healthy section. The ratio of S transform energy relative entropy is used to represent the level of change of the similarity degree on both directions of each section. The section with the maximal entropy ratio is determined as the faulty section. The proposed method does not need to set the threshold and presents higher sensitivity for an arc fault. Simulation proves the sensitivity and accuracy of the proposed method.

Rotor winding short circuit is a frequent fault type of generator unit. Compared with the traditional fixed-speed unit using DC excitation, the three-phase AC excitation structure of the variable speed pumped storage unit is more complicated, and the fault diagnosis of the rotor winding short circuit is more difficult. Therefore, this paper proposes an offline diagnosis method for variable speed pumped storage units based on the principle of Repetitive Surge Oscillograph (RSO). Firstly, the application scheme of the repeated pulse method in the variable speed pumped storage unit is designed. By injecting low-voltage pulses into three phases simultaneously and detecting the response curve to determine whether the unit has a short-circuit fault. Then, based on the response characteristics of different rotor winding short-circuit fault types, an identification scheme of rotor winding short-circuit fault types and faulty phases is proposed. Subsequently, the variational mode decomposition (VMD)-teager energy operator (TEO) method is used to estimate the injected pulse and characteristic curve’s initial sudden change position and then the fault position is determined by the time difference and the measured wave velocity. The simulation results show that the fault identification and fault location method proposed in this paper can be effectively applied to various rotor winding short-circuit faults of variable speed pumped storage units.

Using the triaxial high temperature superconducting cables (HTSC) for high density load supply in modern cities is a new development direction. Since the triaxial HTSCs have a different structure from the common cables, their reactance cannot be calculated by conventional methods. In order to establish a basis for further research on operation control, it is important to study the analytical power frequency reactance calculation method of the triaxial HTSC. In this paper, the mathematical model of the triaxial HTSC is established based on the branch parameter method. Based on the model, the analytical calculation method of the three-phase reactance and sequence reactance parameters is established considering the magnetic field coupling and boundary conditions. The calculated values are compared with the measured sequence reactance values of the triaxial HTSC in a pilot project, and the comparison results verify the accuracy and validity of the proposed method. Furthermore, considering the asymmetrical three-phase parameters of the triaxial HTSCs, the impact on the power system operation is tested through the simulation model based on the pilot project network. Simulation results show that the impact is small and does not endanger the system stability.

The stator single-phase grounding fault location of large generator can provide guidance for rapid maintenance of faults. A third harmonic potential distribution based stator ground fault accurate location method is proposed. The current location methods mainly take coil as location unit and may have location error. However, accurate locate to the slot number is more meaningful for troubleshooting. In addition, the third harmonic potential induced by adjacent slots has larger phase difference, and has more distinct fault characteristics than the fundamental potential. In this paper, the fault location optimization model is constructed based on the analysis of the distribution characteristics of the third harmonic potential. The exhaustive solution of the location model is realized by artificially setting multiple reference points, and finally the reference point closest to the real fault point is obtained. The proposed method can accurately locate the fault slot number. PSCAD simulation verifies that the proposed method is robust against the transition resistance error and has higher accuracy than the existing methods.

The frequent occurrence of ground faults in distribution networks seriously affects the power supply reliability, and the accurate fault section location method is the foundation of automatic distribution systems. Since there are location blind areas in distribution networks with the similarity characteristics distortion of the zero-mode current waveforms, the application of the existing location methods based on the zero-mode current similarity degree are limited. However, when a ground fault occurs in the location blind areas, the polarity relationship characteristics of the zero-mode current remains unchanged. But the location method only based on polarity relationship is seriously affected by the reverse connection of the CTs. Maximum mean discrepancy (MMD) method can comprehensively reflect the waveform similarity degree and polarity relationship between zero-mode currents. Based on the current relationship of the fault zero-mode equivalent circuit, it is concluded that the MMD value of the fault section is larger than that of the normal section in the fault line. On this basis, a small-current ground fault section location method for distribution networks based on MMD is constructed. Simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively eliminate the location blind areas, which can accurately locate the fault section under different line types, fault points and fault conditions. Moreover, it has strong robustness, which is less affected by arc faults and measurement noises.

Safe and reliable generator circuit breaker (GCB) failure protection can ensure effective isolation between generator and system under different fault conditions to avoid generator damage. In this paper, aiming at the existing problems of the GCB failure protection criterions based on current quantities, the voltage quantities are combined to constitute the improved GCB failure protection. Through fault sequence network analysis, it is concluded that there are voltage phasor differences between the two sides of GCB for the normally separated phases, while the values are zero for the rejected phases. On this basis, a GCB failure protection criterion based on the voltage phasor difference is proposed for the generators equipped with PTs at the two sides of GCB. After a generator fault occurs, in the process of de-excitation, the terminal voltage drops quickly except GCB three-phase rejection because of the voltage support from the system side. Moreover, under the GCB three-phase rejection situation, the loads cannot be effectively shed and no terminal voltage increase is caused compared with other GCB operation situations. Thus, the protection criterions based on the voltage variation are proposed to distinguish GCB three-phase rejection situation, including the voltage changing rate criterion and the increased voltage mutation criterion. They are used for generators equipped with only one terminal PT. Simulation results of PSCAD/EMTDC verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

This study developed and evaluated a tailored nomogram to predict the potential occurrence of early lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (LDVT) in patients receiving thrombolytic therapy. We performed several logistic analyses on the training cohort and created a corresponding nomogram to forecast early LDVT. The classification accuracy and the accuracy of predicted probabilities of the multiple logistic regression model were evaluated using area under the curve (AUC) and the calibration graph method. According to the multivariate logistic regression model homocysteine, previous history of hypertension and atrial fibrillation, indirect bilirubin, age, and sex was identified as independent determinants of early LDVT. The nomogram was constructed using these variables. The calibration plots showed a good agreement between the predicted and observed LDVT possibilities in the training and validation cohorts with AUCs being 0.833 (95% CI: 0.774-0.892) and 0.907 (95% CI: 0.801-1.000), respectively. Our nomogram offers clinicians a tool for predicting the individual risk of LDVT in the early stage of acute ischemic stroke in patients receiving thrombolytic therapy, which could lead to early intervention.

BackgroundLower psychological wellbeing is associated with poor outcomes in a variety of diseases and healthy populations. However, no study has investigated whether psychological wellbeing is associated with the outcomes of COVID-19. This study aimed to determine whether individuals with lower psychological wellbeing are more at risk for poor outcomes of COVID-19.MethodsData were from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in 2017 and SHARE's two COVID-19 surveys in June–September 2020 and June–August 2021. Psychological wellbeing was measured using the CASP-12 scale in 2017. The associations of the CASP-12 score with COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality were assessed using logistic models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, household income, education level, and chronic conditions. Sensitivity analyses were performed by imputing missing data or excluding cases whose diagnosis of COVID-19 was solely based on symptoms. A confirmatory analysis was conducted using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). Data analysis took place in October 2022.ResultsIn total, 3,886 individuals of 50 years of age or older with COVID-19 were included from 25 European countries and Israel, with 580 hospitalized (14.9%) and 100 deaths (2.6%). Compared with individuals in tertile 3 (highest) of the CASP-12 score, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of COVID-19 hospitalization were 1.81 (95% CI, 1.41–2.31) for those in tertile 1 (lowest) and 1.37 (95% CI, 1.07–1.75) for those in tertile 2. As for COVID-19 mortality, the adjusted ORs were 2.05 (95% CI, 1.12–3.77) for tertile 1 and 1.78 (95% CI, 0.98–3.23) for tertile 2, compared with tertile 3. The results were relatively robust to missing data or the exclusion of cases solely based on symptoms. This inverse association of the CASP-12 score with COVID-19 hospitalization risk was also observed in ELSA.ConclusionThis study shows that lower psychological wellbeing is independently associated with increased risks of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality in European adults aged 50 years or older. Further study is needed to validate these associations in recent and future waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and other populations.

Porous tantalum (Ta) implants have important clinical application prospects due to their appropriate elastic modulus, and their excellent bone growth and bone conduction ability. However, porous Ta microstructure designs generally mimic titanium (Ti) implants commonly used in the clinic, and there is a lack of research on the influence of the microstructure on the mechanical properties and penetration characteristics, which will greatly affect bone integration performance. This study explored the effects of different microstructure parameters, including the fillet radius of the middle plane and top planes, on the mechanics and permeability properties of porous Ta diamond cells through simulation, and put forward an optimization design with a 0.5 mm midplane fillet radius and 0.3 mm top-plane fillet radius in order to significantly decrease the stress concentration effect and improve permeability. On this basis, the porous Ta structures were prepared by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technology and evaluated before and after microstructural optimization. The elastic modulus and the yield strength were increased by 2.31% and 10.39%, respectively. At the same time, the permeability of the optimized structure was also increased by 8.25%. The optimized microstructure design of porous Ta has important medical application value.

A highly conductive and transparent electrode is essential to achieving a high efficiency in indium tin oxide-free optoelectronic devices. Here, the authors strategically prepare sol-gel-grown zinc oxide films based on photoinduced doping effect and demonstrate enhanced performance of devices.

BackgroundObesity is an increasingly severe global public health issue. This study aims to estimate the cross-sectional association between bone mineral density (BMD) and hyperuricemia (HU) in obesity.MethodA total of 275 obese subjects (126 men and 149 women) participated in this cross-sectional study. Obesity was diagnosed as body mass index (BMI) ≥28 kg/m2, whereas HU was defined as the blood uric acid level of 416 μmol/L in men and 360 μmol/L in women. The BMD of the lumbar spine and right hip was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The multivariable logistic regressions were employed to examine the relationship between BMD and HU in obesity, with the adjustment of gender, age, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking status.ResultThe overall prevalence of HU was 66.9% in this obese population. The mean age and BMI of this population were 27.9 ± 9.9 years and 35.2 ± 5.2 kg/m2, respectively. The multivariable-adjusted OR (the highest vs. lowest BMD quartile) demonstrated a negative relationship between BMD and HU in total (OR = 0.415, 95%CI: 0.182–0.946; p = 0.036), L1 (OR = 0.305, 95%CI: 0.127–0.730; p = 0.008), L2 (OR = 0.405, 95%CI: 0.177–0.925; p = 0.032), and L3 (OR = 0.368, 95%CI: 0.159–0.851; p = 0.020) lumbar vertebrae. In the subgroup analysis for the male population, the BMD was also negatively associated with HU in total (OR = 0.077, 95%CI: 0.014–0.427; p = 0.003), L1 (OR = 0.019, 95%CI: 0.002–0.206; p = 0.001), L2 (OR = 0.161, 95%CI: 0.034–0.767; p = 0.022), L3 (OR = 0.186, 95%CI: 0.041–0.858; p = 0.031), and L4 (OR = 0.231, 95%CI: 0.056–0.948; p = 0.042) lumbar vertebrae. However, such findings did not exist in women. In addition, there was no significant relationship between hip BMD and HU in obesity.ConclusionOur results showed that the lumbar BMD was negatively associated with HU in obesity. However, such findings only existed in men, rather than women. In addition, no significant relationship between hip BMD and HU existed in obesity. Due to the limited sample size and nature of the cross-sectional design, further large prospective studies are still needed to clarify the issues.

Background: Treatment of diabetic wounds is a major challenge in clinical practice. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from adipose-derived stem cells have shown effectiveness in diabetic wound models. However, obtaining ADSC-EVs requires culturing vast numbers of cells, which is hampered by the need for expensive equipment and reagents, extended time cost, and complicated procedures before commercialization. Therefore, methods to extract EVs from discarded tissue need to be developed, for immediate application during surgery. For this reason, mechanical, collagenase-digestive, and constant in-vitro-collective methods were designed and compared for preparing therapy-grade EVs directly from adipose tissue.Methods: Characteristics and quantities of EVs were detected by transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and Western blotting firstly. To investigate the biological effects of EVs on diabetic wound healing, angiogenesis, proliferation, migration, and inflammation-regulation assays were then evaluated in vitro, along with a diabetic wound healing mouse model in vivo. To further explore the potential therapeutic mechanism of EVs, miRNA expression profile of EVs were also identified and analyzed. Results: The adipose tissue derived EVs (AT-EVs) were showed to qualify ISEV identification by nanoparticle tracking analysis and Western blotting and the AT-EVs yield from three methods was equal. EVs also showed promoting effects on biological processes related to diabetic wound healing, which depend on fibroblasts, keratinocytes, endothelial cells, and macrophages both in vitro and in vivo. We also observed enrichment of overlapping or unique miRNAs originate from different types of AT-EVs associated with diabetic wound healing for further investigation.Conclusion: After comparative analyses, a mechanical method was proposed for preparing immediate clinical applicable EVs from adipose tissue that would result in reduced preparation time and lower cost, which could have promising application potential in treating diabetic wounds.

The study of yield traits can reveal the genetic architecture of grain yield for improving maize production. In this study, an association panel comprising 362 inbred lines and a recombinant inbred line population derived from X178 × 9782 were used to identify candidate genes for nine yield traits. High-priority overlap (HPO) genes, which are genes prioritized in a genome-wide association study (GWAS), were investigated using coexpression networks. The GWAS identified 51 environmentally stable SNPs in two environments and 36 pleiotropic SNPs, including three SNPs with both attributes. Seven hotspots containing 41 trait-associated SNPs were identified on six chromosomes by permutation. Pyramiding of superior alleles showed a highly positive effect on all traits, and the phenotypic values of ear diameter and ear weight consistently corresponded with the number of superior alleles in tropical and temperate germplasm. A total of 61 HPO genes were detected after trait-associated SNPs were combined with the coexpression networks. Linkage mapping identified 16 environmentally stable and 16 pleiotropic QTL. Seven SNPs that were located in QTL intervals were assigned as consensus SNPs for the yield traits. Among the candidate genes predicted by our study, some genes were confirmed to function in seed development. The gene Zm00001d016656 encoding a serine/threonine protein kinase was associated with five different traits across multiple environments. Some genes were uniquely expressed in specific tissues and at certain stages of seed development. These findings will provide genetic information and resources for molecular breeding of maize grain yield.

Abstract Chemical space exploration is a major task of the hit-finding process during the pursuit of novel chemical entities. Compared with other screening technologies, computational de novo design has become a popular approach to overcome the limitation of current chemical libraries. Here, we reported a de novo design platform named systemic evolutionary chemical space explorer (SECSE). The platform was conceptually inspired by fragment-based drug design, that miniaturized a “lego-building” process within the pocket of a certain target. The key to virtual hits generation was then turned into a computational search problem. To enhance search and optimization, human intelligence and deep learning were integrated. Application of SECSE against phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH), proved its potential in finding novel and diverse small molecules that are attractive starting points for further validation. This platform is open-sourced and the code is available at http://github.com/KeenThera/SECSE.

To improve the performance of porous tantalum (Ta) manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and meet its application requirements in medicine, the authors of this paper studied the influence of L-PBF process parameters on the strut surface morphology and mechanical performance. It was found that the powder layer thickness had a significant influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties based on statistical analysis. We proposed optimal process parameters of laser power of 150 W, scanning speed of 270 mm/s, thickness of 0.05 mm, and scanning spacing of 0.07 mm. After parameter optimization, we successfully obtained Ta samples with an elastic modulus of 1.352 ± 0.007 GPa and yield strength of 53.217 ± 0.114 MPa. The results show that the elastic modulus and yield strength of porous Ta samples with a porosity of 80% under the optimal process parameters are significantly superior to previous studies. The porous Ta scaffolds with higher mechanical properties fabricated with the optimized process parameters of L-PBF have significant value for applications in medicine.

Repairing cartilage defects represents a significant clinical challenge. While adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC)-based strategies hold promise for cartilage regeneration, their inherent chondrogenic potential is limited. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from chondrocytes (CC-EVs) have shown potential in enhancing chondrogenesis, but their role in promoting chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs remains poorly understood. Moreover, the clinical application of EVs faces limitations due to insufficient quantities for in vivo use, necessitating the development of effective methods for extracting significant amounts of CC-EVs. Our previous study demonstrated that low-intensity ultrasound (LIUS) stimulation enhances EV secretion from mesenchymal stem cells. Here, we identified a specific LIUS parameter for chondrocytes that increased EV secretion by 16-fold. CC-EVs were found to enhance cell activity, proliferation, migration, and 21-day chondrogenic differentiation of ADSCs in vitro, while EVs secreted by chondrocytes following LIUS stimulation (US-CC-EVs) exhibited superior efficacy. miRNA-seq revealed that US-CC-EVs were enriched in cartilage-regeneration-related miRNAs, contributing to chondrogenesis in various biological processes. In conclusion, we found that CC-EVs can enhance the chondrogenesis of ADSCs in vitro. In addition, our study introduces ultrasound-driven healing as an innovative method to enhance the quantity and quality of CC-EVs, meeting clinical demand and addressing the limited chondrogenic potential of ADSCs. The ultrasound-driven healing unleashes the potential of CC-EVs for chondrogenesis possibly through the enrichment of cartilage-regeneration-associated miRNAs in EVs, suggesting their potential role in cartilage reconstruction. These findings hold promise for advancing cartilage regeneration strategies and may pave the way for novel therapeutic interventions in regenerative medicine.

The generation of p-cymene from the catalytic dehydrogenation of dipentene is one of the most vital approaches for the synthesis of p-cymene in the chemical industry. Herein, CTF polymer was synthesized by an ionothermal method via using terephthalonitrile as monomer and NaCl-KCl-ZnCl2 ternary mixture as catalyst and solvent, and Pd/CTF catalyst was prepared by loading CTF matrix with Pd nanoparticles via a chemical reduction method. The as-obtained Pd/CTF catalyst with the loading amount of 5 wt% Pd showed remarkable catalytic activity in the dehydrogenation of dipentene to p-cymene with a high conversion rate of 100% and a high selectivity of 96% at the reaction temperature of 220 °C in a stainless-steel autoclave containing 0.1 MPa of Ar gas, and also exhibited good stability in the recycling tests. The strong interaction between Pd nanoparticles and CTF and the enhanced electron transfer at the metal-semiconductor interface contribute to the outstanding catalytic performance of Pd/CTF for the dehydrogenation of dipentene to p-cymene. This work demonstrates that the metal-semiconductor catalysts possessed excellent potential in the production of high-value-added chemical products from terpenes conversion.

Introduction and Aims. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal tumors of the digestive system, but its mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to study HCC-related genes, build a survival prognosis prediction model, and provide references for treatment and mechanism research. Methods. Transcriptome data and clinical data of HCC were downloaded from the TCGA database. Screen important genes based on the random forest method, combined with differential expression genes (DEGs) to screen out important DEGs. The Kaplan‒Meier curve was used to evaluate its prognostic significance. Cox regression analysis was used to construct a survival prognosis prediction model, and the ROC curve was used to verify it. Finally, the mechanism of action was explored through GO and KEGG pathway enrichment and GeneMANIA coexpression analyses. Results. Seven important DEGs were identified, three were highly expressed and four were lowly expressed. Among them, GPRIN1, MYBL2, and GSTM5 were closely related to prognosis (P

Abstract Engineering approaches for growth factor delivery have been considerably advanced for tissue regeneration, yet most of them fail to provide a complex combination of signals emulating a natural healing cascade, which substantially limits their clinical successes. Herein, we aimed to emulate the natural bone healing cascades by coupling the processes of angiogenesis and osteogenesis with a hybrid dual growth factor delivery system to achieve vascularized bone formation. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was loaded into methacrylate gelatin (GelMA) to mimic angiogenic signalling during the inflammation and soft callus phases of the bone healing process, while bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) was bound onto mineral coated microparticles (MCM) to mimics osteogenic signalling in the hard callus and bone remodelling phases. An Initial high concentration of bFGF accompanied by a sustainable release of BMP-2 and inorganic ions was realized to orchestrate well-coupled osteogenic and angiogenic effects for bone regeneration. In vitro experiments indicated that the hybrid hydrogel markedly enhanced the formation of vasculature in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), as well as the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). In vivo results confirmed the optimal osteogenic performance of our F/G-B/M hydrogel, which was primarily attributed to the FGF-induced vascularization. This research presents a facile and potent alternative for treating bone defects by emulating natural cascades of bone healing. Graphical Abstract

Abstract Background The poor regenerative capability and structural complexity make the reconstruction of meniscus particularly challenging in clinic. 3D printing of polymer scaffolds holds the promise of precisely constructing complex tissue architecture, however the resultant scaffolds usually lack of sufficient bioactivity to effectively generate new tissue. Results Herein, 3D printing-based strategy via the cryo-printing technology was employed to fabricate customized polyurethane (PU) porous scaffolds that mimic native meniscus. In order to enhance scaffold bioactivity for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) culture, scaffold surface modification through the physical absorption of collagen I and fibronectin (FN) were investigated by cell live/dead staining and cell viability assays. The results indicated that coating with fibronectin outperformed coating with collagen I in promoting multiple-aspect stem cell functions, and fibronectin favors long-term culture required for chondrogenesis on scaffolds. In situ chondrogenic differentiation of hMSCs resulted in a time-dependent upregulation of SOX9 and extracellular matrix (ECM) assessed by qRT-PCR analysis, and enhanced deposition of collagen II and aggrecan confirmed by immunostaining and western blot analysis. Gene expression data also revealed 3D porous scaffolds coupled with surface functionalization greatly facilitated chondrogenesis of hMSCs. In addition, the subcutaneous implantation of 3D porous PU scaffolds on SD rats did not induce local inflammation and integrated well with surrounding tissues, suggesting good in vivo biocompatibility. Conclusions Overall, this study presents an approach to fabricate biocompatible meniscus constructs that not only recapitulate the architecture and mechanical property of native meniscus, but also have desired bioactivity for hMSCs culture and cartilage regeneration. The generated 3D meniscus-mimicking scaffolds incorporated with hMSCs offer great promise in tissue engineering strategies for meniscus regeneration. Graphical Abstract

Active transfer arc-suppression device is a kind of arc suppression device which has been widely used in the distribution network. When a single-phase grounding fault occurs, the bus of faulty phase is actively grounded metallicity in the substation to limit the voltage of faulty phase, so as to realize arc extinction. In this paper, an accurate fault location method is proposed for the distribution network equipped with active transfer arc-suppression device. According to the variation characteristics of the fault traveling wave signals before and after arc-suppression device operation, the fault location formula based on the traveling wave velocity difference of different modes and the fault location formula based on the mutation of aerial-mode traveling wave are combined to obtain the final fault location method that is not affected by ground-mode wave velocity. The proposed method expands the function of active transfer arc-suppression device, makes it have additional fault location ability, and greatly improves the economy of the device. Simulation verifies that the proposed method is not affected by fault conditions, soil resistivity and extreme fault. The absolute error is within 50 m in all cases, which has high reliability.

For floating nuclear power plants, the internal power system adopts the generator–grid directly connected structure. Generator ground fault diagnosis enables the protective device to adaptively determine the generator tripping control mode based on the fault degree, and shorten the troubleshooting time by fault location. To accurately calculate the ground fault current under different system operating modes, a real-time grounding capacitance parameters calculation method without injection devices is proposed based on third harmonic voltage. Using the fault component principle, the ground fault current is calculated including the fundamental and the third harmonic components. Through fuzzy membership function, the ground fault degree function is established including the ground fault current and the system overvoltage. It comprehensively reflects the damage degree of both the generator operating security and the system insulation security. According to the 60° phase-band distribution characteristic of the stator windings, a fault coil location method based on the windings’ electric potential distribution characteristics is proposed. PSCAD/EMTDC simulation results show that the proposed method has high computational accuracy.

Summary: Background: After multiple lines of therapies, no guideline or consensus is currently available for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a novel re-subtyping and treatment strategy based on ctDNA alterations. Methods: This observational, multicentre study recruited 223 patients with metastatic breast cancer intending to receive late-line therapy from Dec 1, 2016, to June 31, 2019. This study took place in Hunan Cancer Hospital, the Forth Hospital of Changsha and Zhuzhou Central Hospital in China. ctDNA alterations were assessed by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Patients with druggable ctDNA alterations were treated with corresponding targeted drugs which are clinically available. Other patients received physician-chosen treatment. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05079074. Findings: The progression-free survival (hazard ratio: 0.45, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.33-0.62, P

Bacteria-associated infection represents one of the major threats for orthopedic implants failure during their life cycles. However, ordinary antimicrobial treatments usually failed to combat multiple waves of infections during arthroplasty and prosthesis revisions etc. As these incidents could easily introduce new microbial pathogens in/onto the implants. Herein, we demonstrate that an antimicrobial trilogy strategy incorporating a sophisticated multilayered coating system leveraging multiple ion exchange mechanisms and fine nanotopography tuning, could effectively eradicate bacterial infection at various stages of implantation. Early stage bacteriostatic effect was realized via nano-topological structure of top mineral coating. Antibacterial effect at intermediate stage was mediated by sustained release of zinc ions from doped CaP coating. Strong antibacterial potency was validated at 4 weeks post implantation via an implanted model in vivo. Finally, the underlying zinc titanate fiber network enabled a long-term contact and release effect of residual zinc, which maintained a strong antibacterial ability against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli even after the removal of top layer coating. Moreover, sustained release of Sr2+ and Zn2+ during CaP coating degradation substantially promoted implant osseointegration even under an infectious environment by showing more peri-implant new bone formation and substantially improved bone-implant bonding strength.

ADME genes are a set of genes which are involved in drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). However, prognostic value and function of ADME genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain largely unclear. In this study, we established an ADME-related prognostic model through the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis in the Cancer Genome Atla (TCGA) training cohort and its robustness was validated by TCGA internal validation cohort and a Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) external cohort. The 14-gene signature stratified patients into high- or low-risk groups. Patients with high-risk scores exhibited significantly poorer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) than those with low-risk scores. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to confirm the signature’s predictive efficacy for OS and DFS. Furthermore, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses showed that immune-related functions and pathways were enriched, such as lymphocyte activation, leukocyte cell-cell adhesion and T-helper cell differentiation. The Cell-type Identification by Estimating Relative Subsets of RNA Transcripts (CIBERSORT) and other analyses revealed that immune cell (especially B cell and T cell) infiltration levels were significantly higher in the low-risk group. Moreover, patients with low-risk scores were significantly associated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatment benefit. In conclusion, we constructed a novel ADME-related prognostic and therapeutic biomarker associated with immune cell infiltration of HNSCC patients.

Abstract Background Nontraumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (NONFH) is a highly disabling orthopedic disease in young individuals. Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) has been reported to be positively associated with NONFH. We aimed to investigate the dysregulating PAI-1 in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and vascular cells in rabbit steroid-induced NONFH. Methods To verify the hypothesis that BMMSCs could promote thrombus formation in a paracrine manner, we collected exosomes from glucocorticoid-treated BMMSCs (GB-Exo) to determine their regulatory effects on vascular cells. microRNA sequencing was conducted to find potential regulators in GB-Exo. Utilizing gain-of-function and knockdown approaches, we testified the regulatory effect of microRNA in exosomes. Results The expression of PAI-1 was significantly increased in the local microenvironment of the femoral head in the ONFH model. GB-Exo promoted PAI-1 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells and vascular endothelial cells. We also revealed that miR-451-5p in GB-Exo plays a crucial role for the elevated PAI-1. Moreover, we identified miR-133b-3p and tested its role as a potential inhibitor of PAI-1. Conclusions This study provided considerable evidence for BMMSC exosomal miR-mediated upregulation of the fibrinolytic regulator PAI-1 in vascular cells. The disruption of coagulation and low fibrinolysis in the femoral head will eventually lead to a disturbance in the microcirculation of NONFH. We believe that our findings could be of great significance for guiding clinical trials in the future.

Abstract The Floating nuclear power plant grid is composed of power generation, in-station power supply and external power delivery. To ensure the safety of the nuclear island, the in-station system adopts a special power supply mode, while the external power supply needs to be adapted to different types of external systems. Because of frequent single phase-ground faults and various fault forms, the fault line selection protection should be accurate, sensitive and adaptive. This paper presents a fault line selection method in cooperation with multi-mode grounding control. Based on the maximum united energy entropy ratio (MUEER), the optimal wavelet basis function and decomposition scale are adaptively chosen, while the fault line is selected by wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM). For high-impedance faults (HIFs), to enlarge the fault feature, the system grounding mode can be switched by the multi-mode grounding control. Based on the characteristic of HIFs, the fault line can be selected by comparing phase differences of zero-sequence current mutation and fault phase voltage mutation before and after the fault. Simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink show the effectiveness of the proposed method in solving the protection problems.

Background. The use of statins is a potential protective factor against the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the contribution of statins to the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods. We searched for PubMed and EMBASE through January 2021. Results. Thirty-two studies (eighteen cohort, eleven case-control, and three randomized controlled trials) reporting 56,838 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in 4,963,518 persons were included. Statin users were less likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma than nonusers (adjusted odds ratio, 0.58; 95% CI: 0.51–0.67). Stratified analysis showed that statins reduced the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in Asian and Western populations (odds ratio, 0.54 vs. 0.60). Besides, statins have protective effects against hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatitis B virus (odds ratio, 0.44; 95% CI: 0.22–0.85) and hepatitis C virus infections (odds ratio, 0.53; 95% CI: 0.49–0.57). Statins have protective effects on people with chronic liver disease (odds ratio, 0.52; 95% CI: 0.40–0.68) and on the general population (odds ratio, 0.60; 95% CI: 0.50–0.72). Lipophilic statins can prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (odds ratio, 0.51, 95% CI: 0.46–0.57), while hydrophilic statins cannot (odds ratio, 0.77, 95% CI: 0.58–1.02). The single-drug analyses showed that simvastatin (odds ratio, 0.53, 95% CI: 0.48–0.59), atorvastatin (odds ratio, 0.54, 95% CI: 0.45–0.64), rosuvastatin (odds ratio, 0.55, 95% CI: 0.37–0.83), lovastatin (odds ratio, 0.30, 95% CI: 0.15–0.62), and pitavastatin (odds ratio, 0.36, 95% CI: 0.17–0.75) had significant benefits. Further studies have shown that those in the high-dose group experienced better effects in preventing hepatocellular carcinoma (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.38 vs. 0.55). Further research found that the combined use of aspirin did not increase the chemoprevention effect of liver cancer (odds ratio, 0.57; 95% CI: 0.40–0.81). In addition, the preventive effect of statins improved with the extension of follow-up time (odds ratio, 0.54 vs. 0.65). Conclusion. Our meta-analysis shows that the use of statins is associated with a lower risk of liver cancer.

Little is known about the treatment of patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) recurrence after being clinically cured by peginterferon alpha(peg-IFN-α)-based regimens. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of peg-IFNα-2b in re-treating patients with HBsAg recurrence after stopping peg-IFN α-based regimens. In this two-center, prospective observational study, 33 patients with HBsAg recurrence after stopping peg-IFN α-based regimens were enrolled and re-treated with an individualized course of peg-IFN α-2b. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine could be injected immediately after HBsAg clearance, according to patients’ willingness. All patients were monitored and followed-up for 48 weeks after peg-IFN α-2b re-treatment stop. The primary endpoint was HBsAg clearance at the end of follow-up. At baseline, all patients had HBsAg levels of

BACKGROUND: Seventy percent of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients are inoperable. Treatment for unresectable patients is essential to improve poor survival. AIMS: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic factors for ICC patients, and investigate the potential treatment strategies for unresectable patients. METHODS: ICC patients were identified in SEER registry in 2004–2013. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed to evaluate the effect of treatment strategies. RESULTS: Of 2248 cases diagnosed in 2010–2013 and staged according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 7th edition, 1706 (76.13%) did not receive cancer-directed surgery. This portion increased compared to those diagnosed between 2004 and 2009 and staged according to the AJCC 6th edition (72.87%). In addition, the percentage of stage 4 cases increased, while stage 3 cases decreased, because AJCC 7th staging system categorized both T4 and N1 patients into stage IV, which were previously categorized into stage III by AJCC 6th staging system. Patients with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) showed a poorer survival in 2004–2009 (P = .0213), but an almost the same survival as patients with tumor resection in 2010–2013 (P = .51), suggesting that RFA performed better in recent years. Lymphadenectomy showed protective effect for unresectable patients. Radiotherapy improved cancer-specific survival in non-surgery patients (P

Cucumber target leaf spot, caused by Corynespora cassiicola, is an emerging disease with a high incidence that causes severe damage to cucumbers on a global scale. Therefore, efforts need to be undertaken to limit the spread and infection of this pathogen, preferably by using environmentally friendly methods. In this study, the effects of temperature and moisture on the sporulation of C. cassiicola were investigated in vitro and in vivo. The novelty of our study refers to the observation of spore production and size as well as the revelation of a correlation between spore size and virulence. On potato dextrose agar (PDA) and cucumber−leaf extract agar (CEA), temperature played a critical role in spore production, which was strongly influenced by both temperature and moisture on detached leaves and cucumber seedlings. Maximum spore production was found at 30 °C on PDA and 25 °C on CEA, cucumber detached leaves and living plants. Lower spore productions were observed with a stepwise change of 5 °C. In addition, the largest spore production was found at 100% relative humidity (RH) in comparison to the other tested moisture. Moreover, moisture was found to be the most important factor affecting spore size, accounting for 83.09–84.86% of the total variance in length and 44.72–73.10% of the total variance in width. The longest−narrowest spores were formed at 100% RH, and the shortest−widest spores were formed at 75% RH. Furthermore, the result showed that larger spores of C. cassiicola were more virulent and small spores were avirulent. Our findings will contribute to the development of new strategies for the effective alleviation and control of cucumber target leaf spot.

Bacteria-associated late infection of the orthopedic devices would further lead to the failure of the implantation. However, present ordinary antimicrobial strategies usually deal with early infection but fail to combat the late infection of the implants due to the burst release of the antibiotics. Thus, to fabricate long-term antimicrobial (early antibacterial, late antibacterial) orthopedic implants is essential to address this issue. Herein, we developed a sophisticated MAO-I2-PCLx coating system incorporating an underlying iodine layer and an upper layer of polycaprolactone (PCL)-controlled coating, which could effectively eradicate the late bacterial infection throughout the implantation. Firstly, micro-arc oxidation was used to form a microarray tubular structure on the surface of the implants, laying the foundation for iodine loading and PCL bonding. Secondly, electrophoresis was applied to load iodine in the tubular structure as an efficient bactericidal agent. Finally, the surface-bonded PCL coating acts as a controller to regulate the release of iodine. The hybrid coatings displayed great stability and control release capacity. Excellent antibacterial ability was validated at 30 days post-implantation via in vitro experiments and in vivo rat osteomyelitis model. Expectedly, it can become a promising bench-to-bedside strategy for current infection challenges in the orthopedic field.

Using the rock mechanics test (RMT) and acoustic emission acquisition system (DS9), based on the energy principle, uniaxial compression, uniaxial cyclic loading, and unloading tests are used to study the energy transformation characteristics of the process of sandstone absorbing axial strain energy, accumulating and releasing elastic strain energy, plastic deformation, and crack extension dissipation energy. The study results show the increase of loading rate, rock fracture surface increases, number of fragments increases, and size of fragments decreases; the sandstone damage process causes: shear damage to tensile shear damage and then splitting damage for change; the input energy and elastic energy increase nonlinearly with an increase of stress, and the dissipative energy is larger at the beginning of loading. After a small decrease, it enters the nonlinear growth stage, and the input energy density grows the fastest. The elastic energy density is the second fastest, and the dissipative energy density grows the slowest; with an increase of loading rate, in any deformation stage, the elastic energy density and dissipation energy density are increased, proportion of elastic energy density is decreased, and proportion of dissipation energy density is increased. Near the peak stress stage, the proportion of elastic energy decreases, and the proportion of dissipative energy increases; the damage variable stress curve of sandstone is “weakly concave”, which is consistent with the logistic function, and the damage evolution process has chaotic dynamics properties; the acoustic emission energy of sandstone in cyclic loading and unloading test has a similar variation with the theoretical calculation of dissipated energy. The cumulative energy curve shows a step-up law, and the stress corresponding to the step point is near the historical maximum stress.