Search

Left atrial (LA) dysfunction is involved in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). Multiparametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) strain imaging is a feasible and reproducible tool for examining global and regional LA functions, as well as left ventricular (LV) function in IIM patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of LA strain occurrence and strain rate for LA function assessment using CMR in IIM cases. A total of 36 IIM and 42 healthy control cases were included. Baseline ventricular function was comparatively assessed in both groups. LA strain occurrence and strain rate were examined by cine cardiac magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] utilizing an in-house semiautomated technique. LA global function indexes were quantitated, including reservoir, conduit, and booster-pump functions. A total of 78 participants were enrolled in this study. There was no significant difference in left/right ventricular routine functions between IIM patients and control individuals (p>0.05); the same results (p>0.05) was also observed between patients with high hs-cTnI and normal. However, LV mass index had significant difference (p1=0.003, p2<0.01). Compared with IIM patients and control individuals, only total strain (εs) (p4=0.046) and passive strain (εe) (p4=0.002) showed significant difference, and in cases with high hs-cTnI and normal hs-cTnI, there are differences for εs (p3=0.012) and εe (p4=0.047). The strongest association was found between εe and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) (r=0.581, p<0.01). IIM cases have altered LA reservoir and conduit functions, and LA strain could reflect LA function. • Helpful for early identification of disease changes. • Avoidance of adverse events effectively in the future. • Good clinical application value. • A important noninvasive technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kefir grains are symbiotic microbiota starters in the production of dairy products such as fermented milk, kefir. In recent decades, microbial symbiosis in kefir grains and its role in fermentation have attracted a lot of attention. This study aimed to obtain novel kefirs with different characteristics by "stimulating" kefir grains with juices of Actinidia chinensis, Solanumly copersicum, Daucus carrot, and Lactuca sativa, respectively, before being used as starter cultures for kefir fermentation. Then, compositions of the predominant microbiota in novel kefirs were determined. These novel kefirs showed changes in their physiochemical characteristics and enhanced antimicrobial activities against Shigella dysenteriae, Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia marcescens, and Escherichia coli. Therefore, preprocessing of kefir grains with natural substrates could be a feasible strategy in the production of novel kefirs with different flavors and various health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of study of the REE ID‒ICP‒MS, 86Sr/87Sr, and 147Sm‒143Nd AL ID-TIMS isotope systematics of spinel lherzolite from the Northern Kraka Massif, which is part of the largest (>900 km2) lherzolitic allochthon thrust over the bathyal and shelf deposits of the passive continental margin of the East European Platform, are reported. As a result, an isochron dependence (MSWD = 0.85) was revealed for the first time, which determines the age of 545 ± 26 Ma and the high value of the initial ratio (143Nd/144Nd)0 = 0.512390 ± 0.000054, corresponding to εNd = +8.9 within the model. The resulting REE, 87Sr/86Sr, and 147Sm–143Nd isotopic signatures indicate the melting of an already depleted protolith, which can be identified as a mantle source, with MORB-like parameters. The calculated isochron age of homogenization of the 147Sm–143Nd isotope system in combination with the available complex of geological and geochemical data allows us to place the Late Vendian phase (epoch) of folding and orogeny in the Urals in the interval of 545 ± 26 Ma. Comparison of these data with materials on the geology of Central and Western Europe allows us to correlate the Timanide structures formed as a result of this phase of folding with the Cadomian, which, based on global reconstructions of continents for the end of the Proterozoic, will ultimately authorize the hypothesis of the existence of the Cadomian orogeny on the periphery of Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the S-300 facility (2 MA, 400 kV, 100 ns), the generation of ultra hard X-rays was observed upon magnetic compression of cylindrical nested aluminum arrays with a linear mass of ~350 μg/cm, consisting of aluminum wires with a diameter of 15 μm. At the final phase of compression, a compact pinch is formed, consisting of a large number of hot spots arranged along the axis. This phase is accompanied by the emission of soft X-rays with a duration of ~10 ns. Simultaneously with the soft X-ray pulses, ultra hard X-rays with an energy exceeding 450 keV were detected. Ultra hard X-rays were measured with scintillation detectors shielded with lead 20–70 mm thick. The main cause of overvoltage on the plasma column appears to be sausage instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autologous cell therapy using genetically modified T cells to express chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) has yielded durable responses in patients. However, currently only a small portion of patients are privileged to receive the available therapies. High cost and long manufacturing time contribute to the key limitations on a broader adoption. Researchers have recently demonstrated a process of generating functional CAR T cells within 24 hrs with greater potency. This rapid process provides a new hope in making CAR T therapy affordable and accessible. The reported rapid manufacturing process is still manual operation and involves use of multiple tools. To automate the rapid process for quality cell production, we developed a rapid CAR T manufacturing process on a single platform. Rapid process eliminates in vitro cell expansion and requires much smaller doses compared to conventional process. Manufacturing of CAR-T cells is simplified to: (1) T cell selection, (2) viral transduction, and (3) cell purification. Fresh peripheral blood can now replace leukopak as starting material. We conducted feasibility study on a platform equipped with 3x magnetic cell separation modules. Magnetic cell separation process is column-free automated operation within enclosed sterile lines. First, T cells were isolated directly from peripheral blood from a healthy donor using CD4/CD8 nanomagnetic beads. Then isolated T cells were released using cell culture medium. eGFP expressing lentivirus were added to the enriched T cells with other reagents required for viral transduction. After 20 hrs incubation, transfected T cells were purified on a second magnetic module to remove free viruses and transduction medium. T cells were then released and collected in saline solution ready for injection. Starting from 20mL of peripheral blood, we isolated T cells with 95% purity and 70% recovery. >99% of lentivirus was rinsed off during purification. After transduction, >17.5% T cells became GFP positive, with 80% viable cells. Compared to reported process, single platform process saves multiple cell washing steps, achieves cell recovery and purity, and reasonable transduction efficiency. In summary, we demonstrated rapid manufacturing of CART cells on an automated platform is feasible. The platform can be the solution for rapid autologous manufacturing of CAR T cells at close-to-patient settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between strong earthquakes and powerful volcanism in subduction zones are discussed. It is shown that abnormally strong earthquakes or a group of strong earthquakes and powerful volcanic events or volcanic activation of large areas can be considered as an interconnected geodynamic pair. At high level of horizontal compression, magma-conducting faults are clamped and volcanism in the upper part of the crust is hindered. Mega-earthquakes or a series of strong earthquakes reduce the level of the horizontal compression in the crust of the island arc (continent active margin), which creates favorable conditions for the resumption of volcanic activity. For major faults, located along the strike of subduction zones, upward movement of magma during volcanic eruptions or intracrustal magmatism leads to an increase in the stresses of horizontal compression in the surrounding rocks up to the pressure level of rising magma. As a result, the stress state of horizontal compression is restored in the crust and, thus, the cycle is closed. The state in which earthquakes are an effective mechanism for reducing stresses occurs once again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufficient conditions for the existence of optimal trajectories in general optimal control problems with free terminal time as well as in sub-Lorentzian problems are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—The results of the tectonophysical reconstruction of stresses in the crust of Eastern Anatolia, obtained from the analysis of data on earthquake focal mechanisms, have shown that a significant restructuring of the stress state has occurred here in the last 20 years. It was largely confined to the southern and southwestern sectors of the region, covering hundreds of kilometers along the East Anatolian Fault. The data obtained from tectonophysical monitoring not only on the orientation of principal stresses, but also on their normalized values made it possible to calculate Coulomb stresses on faults. The results of fault zoning by intensity and sign of these stresses helped identify both hazardous sections close to the limit state and safe sections with negative Coulomb stress values. It has been established that in the region of the source of the first strong Pazarcık earthquake, which had a complex structure (three segments), there were extended sections with a critically high Coulomb stress level, separated by zones with low and even negative values of these stresses. The epicenter of this earthquake was located on the echelon fault within a section (first segment) with a high Coulomb stress level. The source of the second strong Elbistan earthquake was located on a fault with negative Coulomb stresses. The conducted analysis shows that this second Turkey earthquake may have been caused by stress changes that occurred in the crust of the region after the first strong earthquake. The research results show that Coulomb stresses in systems of closely located and differently oriented faults may be prone to sudden changes during the development of the earthquake on one of hazardous sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate short-term prediction of campus road traffic flow can help improve traffic efficiency, alleviate traffic pressure, and provide travel guidance. This paper proposes a campus road traffic flow short-term prediction method based on an improved extreme learning machine. Firstly, determine the traffic flow parameters of campus roads, including flow rate, occupancy rate, and speed, and use the average of historical traffic flow as the predicted value of future traffic flow. Secondly, the ARIMA model is used to transform non-stationary short-term traffic flow sequences into stationary sequences. Finally, the improved extreme learning machine is used to extract the periodic features of the target road traffic flow data, and the extracted features are input into a random forest for training to obtain short-term traffic flow prediction results. The experimental results show that the proposed method has higher accuracy, shorter prediction time, and higher prediction recall rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resistance of ZnO-nanocoated fabric samples to the action of mold fungi under laboratory and field conditions of the tropical climate of Vietnam was studied at the mycological site of the Hoa Lac Climatic Testing Station, Hanoi. The ZnO nanocoating was applied in a pilot plant using the sol–gel method under the action of powerful ultrasound with a frequency of 19.1 kHz. Laboratory tests showed high antimicrobial resistance of ZnO-nanocoated fabrics in comparison with the reference sample. Under tropical conditions for 24 months, neither fungal growth nor destruction of the fabric structure was detected on impregnated fabric samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A camera exposure time control method that can automatically determine the optimal camera exposure time has been proposed for high-quality digital image correlation (DIC) measurement recently. However, due to the relatively long optimization time required by the adaptive algorithm, this method cannot rapidly find the optimal exposure time during certain high-temperature tests. To improve the efficiency of the camera exposure time control method, we adopted a more efficient adaptive exposure (AE) algorithm and compared its performance with the existing method. The previously used false-position algorithm and the improved average grayscale algorithm are first compared in a static test with changing ambient light. Results reveal that the improved average grayscale algorithm is more efficient in recording high-quality images, thus is recommended for the real high-temperature DIC measurement. The rapid adaptive optimal exposure time control method was then applied at the mid-test of the practical high-temperature DIC measurement to examine the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared to the conventional fixed exposure mode, the rapid adaptive exposure time control method will enhance the robustness of the DIC system against the changing thermal radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the diagnostic value and safety of ultrasound-guided core-needle biopsy for peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs). PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library for relevant were searched for studies published up to June 2022. The diagnostic accuracy of US-guided percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) for the diagnosis of PPLs was evaluated using pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR), and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves value (SROC). The search included 12 original studies (3,830 procedures). For US-guided PTNB, the pooled sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of PPLs were 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.91–0.94) and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.96–1.00), respectively. The pooled estimates of the PLR, NLR, and DOR were 134.88 (95% CI: 24.88–731.74), 0.07 (95% CI: 0.06–0.09), and 1,814.95 (95% CI: 333.62–9,873.76), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93–0.97). The overall complication rate was 3.6% (136 of 3,830), including self-limited haemoptysis and asymptomatic pneumothorax, and only six cases of pneumothorax requiring chest tube drainage and one case of severe bleeding were reported. US-guided core-needle biopsy is an excellent diagnostic tool for PPLs, with high accuracy and excellent technical performance and safety. • Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy shows high accuracy for PPLs. • Pooled sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound-guided PTNB for PPLs were high. • The procedure has a low overall complication rate of 3.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report picosecond bunch length measurements using an interferometric method for a 3 MeV electron beam having bunch charge ranging from 1 to 14 pC. The method senses the single-cycle sub-terahertz (THz) pulse emitted by each electron bunch as coherent transition radiation which, in turn, is analyzed using a Michelson-type interferometer, forming an interferogram that is then processed to yield the nominal electron bunch length. This sub-THz coherent radiation intensity was measured using a quasi-optical detector (QOD) operated at room temperature. This experiment was quite challenging since the divergence angle of the sub-THz pulse emitted by the low-energy electron bunch exceeds ±10°, and its pulse energy at the entrance to the detector was as low as 100 pJ. When compared to a conventional helium-cooled silicon composite bolometer designed for frequencies above 0.5 THz, the QOD provided much better signal-to-noise ratio in the ∼80 GHz frequency range, which was critical for the successful measurement of the bunch length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free-electron-laser-based beamlines utilize fully coherent laser pulses with extremely narrow bandwidth allowing direct use of X-rays without monochromators. This could be very beneficial for all users of current and future fourth-generation diffraction-limited synchrotron light sources (DL-SLSs) who need narrowband full-coherence high-brightness X-ray pulses. Based on our previous finding, i.e. that separating the two stages of echo-enabled harmonic generation (EEHG) with a few extra bending-magnet sections provides an effective way to increase the momentum compaction of chicane 1, one can simultaneously achieve adequate prebunching at extremely high harmonics as well as keep the energy modulation to the ideal minimum. This could open the door for cascaded EEHG, toward fully coherent tender and hard X-ray wavelengths. Built on our compact design of a twin-pulse seeding electron beam with an adjustable delay and timing jitter at the level of a few femtoseconds, a cascaded EEHG can be implemented, which includes two EEHG beamlines, where the radiation pulse generated by the first beamline with harmonic h1 could be used as the input seed laser pulse to the second beamline with harmonic h2. Hence, the second radiator could potentially reach very high harmonics [h = h1(20)h2(25-100)] from 500 to 2000, corresponding to tender and hard X-ray wavelengths. It is demonstrated that the cascaded EEHG scheme is compatible with almost any current or planned fourth-generation DL-SLS, with significant benefits for space-limited storage rings in particular. The main advantage is that this scheme requires almost no change of the storage-ring lattice and is fully compatible with other beamlines. Current proposals for rings with much longer straight sections would add self-amplified spontaneous emission as another viable option for storage-ring-based free-electron lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background To date, to our knowledge, there has not been a study on dermatological teaching in the preclinical years (usually the first 2 years of medical school), where the majority of learning takes place in the form of lectures and seminars. Near-peer teaching (NPT) involves students who are at least one academic year more senior imparting knowledge to junior students. The principles behind scaffolding are having a more experienced teacher to guide learning, breaking down learning into smaller tasks and helping to build interest in learning. Objectives To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of NPT in scaffolding dermatological learning among preclinical-year medical students. Methods Near-peer teachers who are content experts in dermatology taught alongside conventional teaching with lecturers. We employed five quiz questions before and after the case launch lecture, where students were first exposed to dermatology. We also invited students to provide feedback using a questionnaire on NPT in dermatology at the end of the case 8 teaching week. Results In total, 74 students participated in the pre- and post-lecture quiz questions, and 47 completed feedback. There was overwhelmingly positive feedback towards NPT, and various learning theories can help explain the success of this project. Conclusions Preclinical students enjoy dermatological teaching with the involvement of suitable near-peers. With the professional barrier removed, students can better relate to near-peers (and vice versa). Helping students understand the relevance of dermatology in the clinical setting at an early stage and adopting learning tools such as mnemonics, summary tables, comparison tables and mapping teaching with the learning curriculum clearly helped students learn about dermatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinetics of photooxidation of tetrahydrobiopterin was investigated, the quantum yields of the formation of dihydropterin dimers were calculated when using a xenon lamp, a tunable UV laser and a UV LED as UV radiation sources. A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of these sources for the photooxidation process of tetrahydrobiopterin allowed us to conclude that the most effective for the purposes of vitiligo phototherapy are, apparently, UV LED sources with emission maxima in the region of 325 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A process of complex systems identification is examined. It is established that it is impossible to create a universal identification method. Only for a well-identifiable system with a high signal-to-noise ratio for each individual system mode, a high-quality model can be reconstructed. In other cases, if modes with sufficiently small signal-to-noise ratio exist, only a surrogate model can be obtained. For cognitive maps, theoretical foundations are developed, which may be used in approaches to find a surrogate model and then to improve the result using different tuning and learning algorithms. Numerical simulation was used to analyze the identification process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—It is proposed to consider the processes of surface denudation and magmatism in the Earth's crust to explain the formation in it of elevated horizontal compressive stresses in excess of lithostatic pressure. Rock exhumation only partially unloads the crust due by removing the weight of the overburden if the crust at depth was above the yield point. This is due to the fact that in the case of exhumation, the unloading occurs elastically. As a result, residual horizontal compressive stresses acquired at the stage of supercritical cataclastic flow arise in the rock. Another mechanism to account for the formation of additional compressive stresses in the crust involves volcanic and magmatic processes. Magma ascent along subvertical crustal faults and networks of fractures is only possible if magma pressure at the propagation front is above the level of horizontal compression in the rock. The result is that below the magma propagation front, the level of horizontal compressive stresses in the rocks rises to the level of magma pressure. Because the pressure in the subcrustal or intracrustal magma chamber is close to the lithostatic pressure of the overburden, fault-orthogonal stresses above the magma propagation front in the fault exceed the level of vertical compression. Thus, crustal magmatization is capable of changing the crustal stress state from horizontal extension to horizontal shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experimental measurement of high-temperature deformation of thermal protection system (TPS) materials and structures of hypersonic vehicles under harsh aerodynamic heating environments is crucial to assess their thermal and mechanical performances. Objective: In this work, a time-gated active imaging digital image correlation (DIC) technique is proposed for measuring full-field high-temperature deformation on the front surface (heating surface) of a test sample subjected to harsh aerodynamic heating. Methods: With the established time-gated active imaging DIC system that mainly composed of a powerful pulsed laser and a gated single-photon camera, the enormous thermal radiation emitted from the heated sample and the quartz lamp heaters can be suppressed to a negligible level by shielding the most transmitted wavelength using a bandpass optical filter and dramatically reducing the exposure time with the gated single-photon camera. Experiments including a comparison test with unblocked/blocked laser and full-field thermal deformation on the front surface of a test sample heated from room temperature up to 1000 °C were performed to verify the viability of the established system. Results: Results indicate that the recorded image by the time-gated active imaging system is rarely affected by the reflected massive thermal radiation from the quartz lamp heaters. By processing the acquired high-contrast images using the regular DIC algorithm, full-field thermal deformation on the sample surface were extracted at each temperature step. Conclusion: It is believed that the time-gated active imaging DIC is a promising technique for characterizing deformation behaviors of TPS materials and structures in extremely high temperatures and/or suffering from strong aerodynamic heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is a species of tree with heartwood (HW), which forms during aging of sapwood (SW). Due to a clear-cut border between SW and HW, P. sylvestris should be used as a model woody plant for studying patterns of HW formation. Currently, molecular genetic methods are often used to study the processes of trunk tissues' formation in woody plants. A feature of coniferous trees' trunk tissues is a high content of secondary metabolites, a low content of nucleic acids, and potential partial degradation of RNA. In this work, the authors discuss the choice of the most successful method for extracting high-quality RNA for real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in P. sylvestris trunk tissues along the radial vector "conductive phloem/cambial zone–differentiating xylem–exterior part of SW (one to two annual rings)–interior part of SW (one to two annual rings afore transition zone (TZ))–TZ (two annual rings afore HW)" for reproducible RT-PCR data. The expression stability of six potential reference genes (Actin1, α-Tubulin, β-Tubulin, Ef1a, GAPDH, UBQ) was assessed in all describe tissues. Differences in expression levels of target genes are shown by data normalization using reference genes with different stability of expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a general approach to the construction of a self-adjoint dilation for a densely defined dissipative operator with a non-empty set of regular points. The construction involves the boundary pairs for maximal symmetric operators. Several special cases are considered. A minimality criterion for the constructed dilation is proven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of the intersection of the sub-Riemannian sphere on the Cartan group with a 3-dimensional invariant manifold of main symmetries is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed description of a technique is presented that allows one to solve the inverse geometric problem of magnetostatics for surface defects of a ferromagnetic plate in the three-dimensional case with any configuration of the relative position of magnetic transducers and defects and taking into account the nonlinearity of the response of the ferromagnet to an external stationary magnetic field. The application of the technique to a configuration in which defects are located on the metal surface closest to the magnetic transducers is given for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model non-Newtonian ferrocolloid has been considered in the work. The ferrocolloid is a nanodispersion of ferrite in a viscoelastic fluid, the properties of which are described by the Jeffry's rheological scheme. This scheme is advantageous in the fact that it enables one to adequately describe the Brownian motion of particles under the conditions of retarded viscous stresses. Nonlinear responses of the ferrocolloid to a probe alternating magnetic field have been studied in the simultaneous presence of a constant magnetic field of an arbitrary strength (displacement field). In the aforementioned situation, the spectrum of the system upon longitudinal probing (both imposed films are collinear) contains additional harmonics, i.e., the dynamic magnetization acquires a contribution quadratic with respect to the amplitude of the probe field, while the optical anisotropy arises already in the first order. It has been shown that the spectra of these modes substantially differ from the fundamental components of the response and strongly vary with a rise in the viscoelasticity of the carrier fluid of the colloid. The measurement of the aforementioned characteristics may widen the set of microrheological tests and increase their sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer for consideration and study the concept of a pre-minimal pair. Also we examine extensions of valuations of a field F to valuations of the rational function field F(x) in one variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nostalgia, a bittersweet but predominantly positive emotion, arises from self-relevant and social memories. Evidence suggests that nostalgia is a potential source of happiness. Indeed, at the phenotypic level, this relation appears to be positive albeit tenuous. At the etiologic level, the relation is unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the phenotypic and genetic association between nostalgia and satisfaction with life (SWL). We assessed nostalgia and SWL in 464 twin siblings, including 117 monozygotic twin pairs and 115 dizygotic twin pairs. By comparing monozygotic twins to dizygotic twins, we analyzed the genetic and environmental effects on nostalgia and SWL simultaneously. We observed a small positive association between nostalgia and SWL (rphenotypic = 0.12), with this association being strengthened after neuroticism was partialled out (rphenotypic = 0.17). More importantly, nostalgia and SWL shared some environmental (but not genetic) sources (rnon-shared environment = 0.21), which accounted for the majority (88%) of their phenotypic association. Taken together, the findings support a positive relation between nostalgia and SWL, and further uncover the bases underlying this relation. The study adds to the burgeoning literature on nostalgia and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reaction of diethyl chlorophosphate with aminopyridines furnished a series of new diethyl phosphoramidates. The effect on the reactivity of substituents in the pyridine ring was studied. Structure of the obtained compound was characterized by 1H, 13C, 31P, 2D HMBC 1H–15N NMR spectroscopy, mass-spectrometry, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the preparation of a B4C/ZrB2 composite powder material via boron carbide reduction of zirconium oxide in the presence of carbon nanofiber as a carbon reducing agent. The material was synthesized in the temperature range 1200–1900°C in 20 min. The optimal synthesis temperature was 1650°C, independent of the starting-mixture composition. We have studied characteristics of the composite powders containing 10–30 mol % ZrB2. The 50% particle size of the composite powders with the compositions studied does not exceed 9.5 μm. The powders consist of aggregated particles of the B4C and ZrB2 phases up to 10 and 40 μm in size, respectively. Visual analysis of micrographs of the powders showed that the mixtures containing 20–30 mol % ZrB2 had a uniform modifying additive distribution over the B4C particles and that the content of large and medium inclusions did not exceed 15 vol %. The specific surface area of the samples ranged from 1.3 to 2.1 m2/g. The zirconium diboride particles were uniformly distributed over the boron carbide matrix. Increasing the ZrB2 content of the composite powder material from 10 to 30 mol % improved the thermal stability of the material in an oxidizing medium. The composite material is potentially attractive for ceramic fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperthyroidism and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common diseases of geriatric cats, and often occur concurrently. Thus, a thorough understanding of the influence of thyroid function on renal function is of significant value for all feline practitioners. Among other effects, hyperthyroidism causes protein catabolism and increases renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). These effects render traditional renal markers insensitive for the detection of CKD in cats with uncontrolled hyperthyroidism. Furthermore, the development of iatrogenic hypothyroidism with over treatment of hyperthyroidism can be detrimental to renal function and may negatively affect long‐term survival. This review discusses important diagnostic considerations of feline hyperthyroidism, as well as key treatment modalities, with an emphasis on the use of radioiodine and the importance of post treatment monitoring of thyroid and renal parameters. In Australia, a common curative treatment for cats with benign hyperthyroidism (i.e. thyroid hyperplasia or adenoma) is a fixed dose of orally administered radioiodine, regardless of the serum total thyroxine concentration at the time of diagnosis. This review discusses the long term outcomes of this standard of care in comparison with current, relevant research literature from around the world. Finally, this review explores the use of symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) in assessing renal function before and after treatment in hyperthyroid cats. SDMA correlates well with GFR and creatinine in non‐hyperthyroid cats, but our understanding of its performance in hyperthyroid cats remains in its infancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to building various dilatations of linear operators. The explicit construction of a unitary dilation of a compression operator is considered. Then the J-unitary dilatation of a bounded operator is constructed by means of the operator knot concept of a bounded linear operator. Using the Pavlov method, we construct the self-adjoint dilatation of a bounded dissipative operator. We consider spectral and translational representations of the self-adjoint dilatation of a densely defined dissipative operator with a nonempty set of regular points. Using the concept of an operator knot for a bounded operator and the Cayley transform, we introduce an operator knot for a linear operator. By means of this concept, we construct the J-self-adjoint dilatation of a densely defined operator with a regular point. We obtain conditions of isomorphism of extraneous dilations and their minimality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homeodomain‐leucine zipper (HD‐Zip) proteins are plant‐specific transcription factors that play important roles in different biological processes, especially leaf development. However, no studies to date have identified the HD‐Zip genes in Liriodendron chinense nor characterized their functions.We identified the HD‐Zip genes in L. chinense by analysing the phylogeny, chromosome location, structure, conserved motif, cis‐regulatory elements, synteny, post‐transcriptional regulation and expression patterns of these genes during leaf development.A total of 36 LcHD‐Zip genes were identified and divided into four subfamilies (HD‐Zip I to IV). Synteny analysis revealed that segmental duplication was the main force driving the expansion of LcHD‐Zip genes. These 36 LcHD‐Zip genes exhibited 11 different expression patterns. Pattern 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 genes may play important roles in leaf development, such as leaf initiation, leaf polarity establishment, leaf shape development, phytohormone‐mediated leaf growth and leaf epidermal structure formation. Four HD‐Zip III genes were targeted by microRNAs (miRNAs), and the miR165/166a–HD‐Zip regulatory module formed regulated leaf initiation and leaf polarity establishment.Overall, LcHD‐Zip genes play key roles in leaf development of L. chinense. This work provides a foundation for the functional verification of HD‐Zip genes identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a wide category K, we introduce the notions of a K-precomplete map and of a K-subspace. Based on these, we create a uniform method for constructing K-completions of T0-spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neural Decision Tree (NDT) is a hybrid supervised machine‐learning algorithm that combines the self‐limiting property of a decision tree (Classification and Regression Tree [CART]) algorithm with the artificial neural network. We demonstrate the use of NDT for a regression problem of building a prediction model for the plasmasphere electron density with solar and geomagnetic measurements as inputs. Our work replicates the work by Zhelavskaya et al. reported in their 2017 article (I. S. Zhelavskaya et al., 2017, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024406) to show that NDT makes available sophisticated network layout for building a predictive model, thus taking advantage of deep‐learning potential of the neural network. We also demonstrate that with the ability to automatically select an appropriate network layout, as well as, effective initialization, the NDT algorithm allows research scientists in space weather to focus more of their attention on physically and statistically relevant aspects of using machine‐learning techniques. In fact, our example highlights the fact that the basic assumptions of standard supervise machine‐learning problems are often unsatisfied in real‐world space weather applications. Greater attention to these fundamental issues may create significantly different solutions to space weather forecast problems. Plain Language Summary: Machine learning techniques are widely applicable and have numerous breakthrough results in the space weather community. Decision Trees and Artificial Neural Networks are two of the most popular machine learning methods. We demonstrate the use of the technique called Neural Decision Tree (NDT), which is a hybrid method combining decision trees and neural networks, to predict plasmasphere electron density with solar and geomagnetic measurements as inputs. Our work replicates the work by Zhelavskaya et al. reported in their 2017 article to show that NDT makes available model layouts and takes advantage of both neural networks and decision trees. We provide a machine learning method to automatically construct a network‐based model. Such automation allows scientists to focus more on the physical and statistical aspects. Our example highlights the fact that the basic assumptions of standard supervise machine‐learning problems are often unsatisfied in real‐world space weather applications. Greater attention to these fundamental issues may create significantly different solutions to space weather forecast problems. Key Points: Neural Decision Tree (NDT) is an effective tool for building space weather forecast modelsMore elaborate neural network structure initialized using NDT can provide higher performance and training efficiencyPhysics‐based model constraints with statistical assumptions can have a significant impact on designing machine‐learning techniques [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation The rapid development of scRNA-seq technologies enables us to explore the transcriptome at the cell level on a large scale. Recently, various computational methods have been developed to analyze the scRNAseq data, such as clustering and visualization. However, current visualization methods, including t-SNE and UMAP, are challenged by the limited accuracy of rendering the geometric relationship of populations with distinct functional states. Most visualization methods are unsupervised, leaving out information from the clustering results or given labels. This leads to the inaccurate depiction of the distances between the bona fide functional states. In particular, UMAP and t-SNE are not optimal to preserve the global geometric structure. They may result in a contradiction that clusters with near distance in the embedded dimensions are in fact further away in the original dimensions. Besides, UMAP and t-SNE cannot track the variance of clusters. Through the embedding of t-SNE and UMAP, the variance of a cluster is not only associated with the true variance but also is proportional to the sample size. Results We present supCPM, a robust supervised visualization method, which separates different clusters, preserves the global structure and tracks the cluster variance. Compared with six visualization methods using synthetic and real datasets, supCPM shows improved performance than other methods in preserving the global geometric structure and data variance. Overall, supCPM provides an enhanced visualization pipeline to assist the interpretation of functional transition and accurately depict population segregation. Availability and implementation The R package and source code are available at https://zenodo.org/record/5975977#.YgqR1PXMJjM. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of orientational motion of a Brownian magnetic nanoparticle embedded in a viscoelastic medium and subjected to a time-dependent uniform magnetic field is developed. The rheology of the viscoelastic environment of the particle is modeled by the Jeffreys scheme, which under variation of a minimal number of parameters is able to resemble a wide range of soft materials: from a weakly structured (nearly Newtonian) polymer solution to a gel. It is shown that in the Jeffreys model, the diffusional orientational motion of a particle is a combination of two modes, which could be associated with a fast motion within the polymer mesh cell and a slow displacement that involves deformation of the mesh, respectively. The dependencies of the reference times of both relaxation modes on the Jeffreys viscous and elastic parameters and temperature are found. It turns out that in substantially viscoelastic media, the rate of the slow mode (it dominates in relaxation) quadratically depends on the matrix temperature. This effect does not have analogs in linearly viscous systems. For an ensemble of magnetic nanoparticles in viscoelastic and gel Jeffreys matrices: (1) the dynamic magnetic susceptibility is derived and evaluated both within an exact approach and in a simple approximation; (2) the problem of magnetic relaxometry, i.e., evolution of magnetization after step-wise turning off the field, is solved; (3) the specific power loss caused by viscous dissipation generated by the particles under an ac field is analyzed as a function of the rheological parameters. Results (1) and (2) provide simple models for magnetic nanorheology; consideration (3) advances the physics of magnetic hyperthermia in viscoelastic and gel-like media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggests that small vessel disease (SVD) is a risk factor for clinical dementia and may contribute to AD neuropathological changes. Watershed brain regions are located at the most distal areas between arterial territories, making them vulnerable to SVD-related changes. We examined the association of pathologic markers of SVD, specifically arteriolosclerosis in watershed brain regions, with AD pathologic changes. Participants (N = 982; mean age-at-death = 90; 69% women) were enrolled as part of one of two cohort studies of aging and dementia. At autopsy, neuropathological evaluation included semi-quantitative grading of arteriolosclerosis pathology from 2 cortical watershed regions: the anterior watershed (AWS) and posterior watershed (PWS), densities for cortical β-amyloid and tau-tangle pathology, and other common age-related pathologies. Linear regression models examined the association of watershed arteriolosclerosis pathology with β-amyloid and tau-tangle burden. In follow-up analyses, available ex-vivo MRI and proteomics data in a subset of decedents were leveraged to examine the association of whole brain measure of WMH, as a presumed MRI marker of SVD, with β-amyloid and tau-tangle burden, as well as to examine the association of watershed arteriolosclerosis with proteomic tau. Watershed arteriolosclerosis was common, with 45% of older persons having moderate-to-severe arteriolosclerosis pathology in the AWS region, and 35% in the PWS. In fully adjusted models that controlled for demographics and common age-related pathologies, an increase in severity of PWS arteriolosclerosis was associated with a higher burden of tau-tangle burden, specifically neocortical tau burden, but not with β-amyloid. AWS arteriolosclerosis was not associated with β-amyloid or tau pathology. Ex-vivo WMH was associated with greater tau-tangle pathology burden but not β-amyloid. Furthermore, PWS arteriolosclerosis was associated with higher abundance of tau phosphopeptides, that promote formation of tau aggregates. These data provide compelling evidence that SVD, specifically posterior watershed arteriolosclerosis pathology, is linked with tau pathological changes in the aging brain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of improving the strength properties of polymer composite materials based of roving made of basalt complex filaments and epoxy resin as a binder was considered. The main objective of the research is to analyze the physical and mechanical characteristics of basalt composites, as well as the possibilities of their modification by embedding the multiwalled carbon nanotubes and the effect of gamma radiation at different doses. The experimental results for both the pure binder and the basalt composite were presented. It was concluded that the complex modification based on gamma irradiation and embedding the multiwalled carbon nanotubes increases more than 20% the compressive strength on the specimens made of EDT-10P epoxy binder. The strength and elastic modulus investigations carried out on the ring specimens made of basalt composite, subjected to nanomodification and gamma irradiation, showed in increase in the strength characteristics at certain radiation doses within 10-15%. Hypotheses, explaining the strengthening effect associated with changes in the intermolecular interactions under an action of gamma-quantum flux were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates are given of the stability of stationary states of a process of microbiological synthesis with the use of mathematical models of kinetics based on an unstructured approach. The object of research is a continuous biotechnological process, in which, in addition to biomass, the target product is obtained. The stability was assessed with the Hurwitz matrix. The process uses a component that forms an additional amount of the main substrate. Five stages of the solution of the problem are given: the description of a mathematical model that takes into account biological and technological limitations; the determination of stationary states, which requires assessment of the stability conditions and the calculation of process indices for the adopted stationary states; the formation of a system of equations of the first approximation (a system of linear differential equations of the first order with constant coefficients) and estimation of the coefficients corresponding to the accepted stationary states; the formation of the Hurwitz matrix and the calculation of its elements; and the calculation of indices of necessary and sufficient stability conditions based on the Hurwitz matrix. Three options are given for the calculation of elements of the Hurwitz matrix: the obtainment of the characteristic equation from a system of four differential equations of the first approximation. The calculated relations for the matrix coefficients are determined and the coefficients are calculated as a result of the solution of the equation according to the system of the first approximation with the introduction of eigenvalues. The stability of three stationary states is estimated for the flow rate D = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 h–1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graft copolymers of collagen and polymethyl methacrylate were synthesized in a suspension of an acetic acid dispersion of fish collagen and methyl methacrylate in the presence of tributylborane. The copolymers were characterized by IR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The glass transition temperature is determined for the obtained copolymers. Changes in the synthesis temperature in a range of 25–60 °C did not significantly affect the fraction and molecular weight of the graft polymethyl methacrylate. Microphotographs obtained by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy indicate the destruction of the fibrillous structure of collagen in the copolymer at the synthesis temperature higher than 25 °C. The hydrophilicity and light transmission of films of the synthesized copolymer samples were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of 6-aryl-5-cyano-2-thiouracils was synthesized, the reaction of which with diethyl chloroethynylphosphonate leads to the selective formation of new 3-phosphonylated thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidines. For the starting 6-aryl-5-cyano-2-thiouracils and their phosphonylated derivatives, antiviral activity against influenza A (H1N1) virus and cytotoxicity were studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of zinc oxide in a limited volume of the alkaline electrolyte is studied. Methods of chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry, and chronovoltammetry showed the recovery of zinc oxide in a minimum volume of electrolyte to be a complex process, not obeying the mathematical dependences for the limiting stages of electrochemical processes known in literature. A mathematical model of the zinc-oxide layer recovery in terms of the minimum amount of alkaline electrolyte is suggested. The model takes into account the zincate- and hydroxyl-ion transport in the alkaline electrolyte, the zinc oxide dissolution, and changes of structural characteristics in the surface oxide layer. The reduction of zinc oxide in a limited volume of alkaline electrolyte is shown to be largely determined by the rate of the chemical reaction of zinc oxide dissolution. The applicability of the revealed regularities of the zinc oxide reduction in zincate solutions to the describing of the zinc electrode charging process in alkaline power sources is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether implicit social cognition is developmentally stable or variable, this study investigated three primary types of implicit social cognition (self-esteem, the gender-science stereotype, and racial attitude) across 2 years in a sample of Chinese adolescents and emerging adults (N = 608; 56% female; 15- to 27-year-olds). Rank-order stability analyses indicated that implicit self-esteem and implicit racial attitude manifested low stability (r = .16,.19, respectively), whereas implicit gender-science stereotype was highly stable (r = .75). Latent change score model analyses showed that: (a) the mean level of iinplicit sell-esteem decreased across the 2 years, whereas the mean levels of implicit gender-science stereotype and implicit racial attitude manifested no changes; (b) individual changes were heterogeneous for all the three types of implicit social cognition (while some of the participants manifested increasing tendencies, 15%-46%, the others exhibited decreasing tendencies); (c) 30% of participants manifested similar changes across the three types of implicit social cognition (either increasing or decreasing over time on all three). while the remaining participants exhibited distinct changes across them. Together, these findings indicate that, developmentally, implicit social cognition is variable but also stable, though the degree of valuability and stability vary across individuals and domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of using a technology for zoning hazardous faults developed at the Institute of Physics of the Earth based on natural stress data are presented. The source of these data is catalogs of earthquake focal mechanisms, while inversion of stresses from them is obtained by cataclastic analysis of discontinuous displacements. For the studied region, which includes China's largest provinces, Sichuan and Yunnan, stresses are reconstructed from a regional catalog of focal mechanisms of earthquakes with Mw = 2.0–6.0 for 1999‒2012. The ability to predict the state of faults is based on data on the normalized values of the isotropic and deviator components of the stress tensor. Two variants of fault zoning are presented, which resulted from application of the Drucker–Prager and the Mohr–Coulomb criteria characterizing the elastoplastic and brittle behavior of the crust, respectively. It is shown that the second approach yields better and more detailed information on the state along the active faults of the western Sichuan region. Analysis of the state of the Longmen Shan fold-and-thrust belt prior to the Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008, showed that the distribution of Coulomb stresses along the fault with at least 70% of the length, and a high level of Coulomb stresses (>60% of the critical stresses) should be considered hazardous. Based on the tectonophysical zoning findings, more than 20 sites of active faults with lengths of 60–140 km have been identified in the studied region, which we consider as potential sources of strong earthquakes with magnitudes ≥7.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]