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Objective: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the occurrence of neutropenia in patients with endometrial cancer (EC) following adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Methods: Retrospective analysis of EC patients who underwent adjuvant CRT from January 2012 to June 2023 in the Department of Gynecology and Oncology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University. Neutropenia was defined as an Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) of peripheral blood neutrophils below 2 × 109/L. Factors affecting neutropenia in EC patients treated with CRT using Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE), and Logistic regression was used to further analyze the effect of adding radiotherapy to different chemotherapy cycles on neutropenia, so that patients receive optimal adjuvant CRT while the risk of neutropenia is appropriately controlled. Results: A total of 144 patients met the inclusion criteria. They underwent 330 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy, of whom 96 (66.7%) developed neutropenia, which occurred 140 times. The results of one-way GEE analysis showed that before CRT, White Blood Cell (WBC) (OR = 0.827; 95%CI, 0.701–0.976), ANC (OR = 0.749; 95%CI, 0.586–0.957), Absolute Monocyte Count (AMC) (OR = 0.047; 95%CI, 0.008–0.283), Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) (OR = 0.857; 95%CI, 0.741–0.991), platinum and docetaxel (platinum/docetaxel) dosing regimen (OR = 2.284; 95%CI, 1.130–4.618) were associated with neutropenia with adjuvant CRT for EC (p < 0.05), results of multifactorial GEE analysis showed that before adjuvant CRT ANC (OR = 0.552; 95%CI, 0.973–2.231), AMC (OR = 0.047; 95%CI, 0.004–0.052), platinum/docetaxel (OR = 2.437; 95%CI, 1.087–5.464) were an independent influence on neutropenia in adjuvant CRT for EC (p < 0.05). Multifactorial Logistic regression shows addition of radiotherapy to the first cycle of chemotherapy (OR = 4.413; 95%CI, 1.238–18.891) was an independent influence of neutropenia (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Patients with low pre-CRT ANC and AMC, platinum/docetaxel dosing regimens need to be closely monitored during each cycle of CRT. Also, the concurrent addition of radiotherapy should be avoided during the first cycle of chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) can differentiate into Schwann cells (SCs) during peripheral nerve injury; in our previous research, we showed that SC-derived exosomes (SC-exos) played a direct induction role while fibroblast-derived exosomes (Fb-exos) had no obvious induction role. The induction role of neural stem cell (NSC)-derived exosomes (NSC-exos) has also been widely confirmed. However, no studies have compared the induction effects of these three types of cells at the same time. Therefore, by investigating the effect of these three cell-derived exosomes upon the induction of BMSCs to differentiate into SCs, this study explored the role of different exosomes in promoting the differentiation of stem cells into SCs cells, and conducted a comparison between the two groups by RNA sequencing to further narrow the range of target genes and related gene pathways in order to study their related mechanisms. Materials and methods: We extracted exosomes from SCs, fibroblasts (Fb) and neural stem cells (NSC) and then investigated the ability of these exosomes to induce differentiation into BMSCs under different culture conditions. The expression levels of key proteins and gene markers were detected in induced cells by fluorescence immunoassays, western blotting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR); then, we statistically compared the relative induction effects under different conditions. Finally, we analyzed the three types of exosomes by RNA-seq to predict target genes and related gene pathways. Results: BMSCs were cultured by three media: conventional (no induction), pre-induction or pre-induction + original induction medium (ODM) with exosomes of the same cell origin under different culture conditions. When adding the three different types of exosomes separately, the overall induction of BMSCs to differentiate into SCs was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The induction ability was ranked as follows: pre-induction + ODM + exosome group > pre-induction + exosome group > non-induction + exosome group. Using exosomes from different cell sources under the same culture conditions, we observed the following trends under the three culture conditions: RSC96-exos group ≥ NSC-exos group > Fb-exos group. The overall ability to induce BMSCs into SCs was significantly greater in the RSC96-exos group and the NSC-exos group. Although there was no significant difference in induction efficiency when comparing these two groups, the overall induction ability of the RSC96-exos group was slightly higher than that of the NSC-exos group. By combining the differentiation induction results with the RNA-seq data, the three types of exosomes were divided into three comparative groups: RSC vs. NSC, RSC vs. Fb and NSC vs. Fb. We identified 203 differentially expressed mRNA target genes in these three groups. Two differentially expressed genes were upregulated simultaneously, namely riboflavin kinase (RFK, ENSRNOG00000022273) and ribosomal RNA processing 36 (Rrp36, ENSRNOG00000017836). We did not identify any co-upregulated target genes for the miRNAs, but did identify one target gene of the lncRNAs, namely ENSRNOG00000065005. Analysis identified 90 GO terms related to nerves and axons in the mRNAs; in addition, KEGG enrichment and GASA analysis identified 13 common differential expression pathways in the three groups. Conclusions: Our analysis found that pre-induction + ODM + RSC96/NSC-exos culture conditions were most conducive with regards to induction and differentiation. RSC96-exos and NSC-exos exhibited significantly greater differentiation efficiency of BMSCs into SCs. Although there was no statistical difference, the data indicated a trend for RSC96-exos to be advantageous We identified 203 differentially expressed mRNAs between the three groups and two differentially expressed target mRNAs were upregulated, namely riboflavin kinase (RFK, ENSRNOG00000022273) and ribosomal RNA processing 36 (Rrp36, ENSRNOG00000017836). 90 GO terms were related to nerves and axons. Finally, we identified 13 common differentially expressed pathways across our three types of exosomes. It is hoped that the efficiency of BMSCs induction differentiation into SCs can be improved, bringing hope to patients and more options for clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: No tillage (No-till, NT), a form of conservation agricultural management, can improve food security and alleviate world climate change by influencing crop yield and soil organic carbon (SOC), but the effects of NT on crop yields and SOC and the major factors which influence these effects remain poorly understood. Methods: We conducted a global meta-analysis using 5230 paired observations from 446 studies to evaluate the effects of NT on upland crop yield and SOC and to explore the associated influencing factors. Results: Generally, NT decreased upland crop yields by 5% (P < 0.05) and increased SOC sequestration by 9.9% (P < 0.05). Specifically, wheat and maize yields decreased by 7.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Our analyses indicate that NT combined with crop residue return and crop rotation reduced the negative effect of NT on crop yield from 5% to 2.44% and increased SOC up to 12.77%. The effects of NT on yield and SOC varied depending on the regulating factors. No-till increased yields in relatively arid areas, but reduced yields in more humid areas, whereas SOC is more likely to increase in humid regions. Soil organic carbon sequestration increased with temperature, but yield losses also increased in warmer regions. Conclusions: Our study suggests that NT combined with crop residue return and crop rotation could enhance SOC sequestration under moist and warm conditions without compromising crop yield. It may also improve soil quality and help alleviate global food security and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the problem of Mittag‐Leffler stability and synchronization for discrete‐time fractional‐order delayed quaternion valued neural networks (DTFODQVNN). Firstly, a criterion is achieved to ensure the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium point (EP) of DTFODQVNN through applying Brouwer's fixed‐point theory. Secondly, based on a Lyapunov function and a new discrete fractional inequality, the stability condition is established by employing a linear matrix inequality approach. In addition, by constructing a proper controller, drive–response synchronization is investigated by means of deploying Lyapunov direct method (LDM). Finally, two examples with simulations test the correctness of the acquired results. Moreover, image encryption is considered as an application based on the chaotic DTFODQVNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working memory (WM) is a central cognitive bottleneck, which has primarily been attributed to its well-known storage limit. However, relatively little is known about the processing limit during the initial memory encoding stage, which may also constrain various cognitive processes. The present study introduces a novel method using dynamic stimulus presentation and hierarchical Bayesian modeling to quantitatively estimate visual WM encoding speed. Participants performed a delayed-estimation task with two memory items continuously changing color hues in perceptually unnoticeable steps. Across three experiments, the recall errors systematically shifted toward the direction of color change, providing a proxy measure of encoding speed. Importantly, the observed shifts were best characterized by a temporal lag during the encoding of different items, supported by a mixture of two distributions with credibly distinct encoding times. A supplementary model-free analysis further confirmed the discrete encoding component in visual WM for multiple items. These findings shed light on the temporal dynamics of WM encoding processes. Public Significance Statement: Working memory (WM) can shape our coherent perception of the world by updating information over time. Despite this ability, the rate at which sensory experiences are encoded into memory is limited. The present study explored how two dynamically changing, but unnoticeable to the observers, colors are encoded into WM. We found that memories for these colors are lagging in time within the spectrum of color changes, providing a temporal metric for assessing the temporal dynamics of memory encoding. Notably, a temporal gap emerged between the two remembered colors, with one being reliably encoded earlier than the other. Our study highlights that multiple objects in the continuous physical world are not captured simultaneously in mind all together but with a temporally discrete gap in between. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public health emergencies are characterized by uncertainty, rapid transmission, a large number of cases, a high rate of critical illness, and a high case fatality rate. The intensive care unit (ICU) is the "last line of defense" for saving lives. And ICU resources play a critical role in the treatment of critical illness and combating public health emergencies. Objective: This study estimates the demand for ICU healthcare resources based on an accurate prediction of the surge in the number of critically ill patients in the short term. The aim is to provide hospitals with a basis for scientific decision-making, to improve rescue efficiency, and to avoid excessive costs due to overly large resource reserves. Methods: A demand forecasting method for ICU healthcare resources is proposed based on the number of current confirmed cases. The number of current confirmed cases is estimated using a bilateral long-short-term memory and genetic algorithm support vector regression (BILSTM-GASVR) combined prediction model. Based on this, this paper constructs demand forecasting models for ICU healthcare workers and healthcare material resources to more accurately understand the patterns of changes in the demand for ICU healthcare resources and more precisely meet the treatment needs of critically ill patients. Results: Data on the number of COVID-19-infected cases in Shanghai between January 20, 2020, and September 24, 2022, is used to perform a numerical example analysis. Compared to individual prediction models (GASVR, LSTM, BILSTM and Informer), the combined prediction model BILSTM-GASVR produced results that are closer to the real values. The demand forecasting results for ICU healthcare resources showed that the first (ICU human resources) and third (medical equipment resources) categories did not require replenishment during the early stages but experienced a lag in replenishment when shortages occurred during the peak period. The second category (drug resources) is consumed rapidly in the early stages and required earlier replenishment, but replenishment is timelier compared to the first and third categories. However, replenishment is needed throughout the course of the epidemic. Conclusion: The first category of resources (human resources) requires long-term planning and the deployment of emergency expansion measures. The second category of resources (drugs) is suitable for the combination of dynamic physical reserves in healthcare institutions with the production capacity reserves of corporations. The third category of resources (medical equipment) is more dependent on the physical reserves in healthcare institutions, but care must be taken to strike a balance between normalcy and emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many factors that affect the yield of Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima), with single nut weight (SNW) being one of the most important. Leaf length is also related to Chinese chestnut yield. However, the genetic architecture and gene function associated with Chinese chestnut nut yield have not been fully explored. In this study, we performed genotyping by sequencing 151 Chinese chestnut cultivars, followed by a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on six horticultural traits. First, we analyzed the phylogeny of the Chinese chestnut and found that the Chinese chestnut cultivars divided into two ecotypes, a northern and southern cultivar group. Differences between the cultivated populations were found in the pathways of plant growth and adaptation to the environment. In the selected regions, we also found interesting tandemly arrayed genes that may influence Chinese chestnut traits and environmental adaptability. To further investigate which horticultural traits were selected, we performed a GWAS using six horticultural traits from 151 cultivars. Forty-five loci that strongly associated with horticultural traits were identified, and six genes highly associated with these traits were screened. In addition, a candidate gene associated with SNW, APETALA2 (CmAP2), and another candidate gene associated with leaf length (LL), CRYPTOCHROME INTERACTING BASIC HELIX-LOOP-HELIX 1 (CmCIB1), were verified in Chinese chestnut and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Our results showed that CmAP2 affected SNW by negatively regulating cell size. CmCIB1 regulated the elongation of new shoots and leaves by inducing cell elongation, potentially affecting photosynthesis. This study provided valuable information and insights for Chinese chestnut breeding research. A genome-wide association study on six horticultural traits from 151 Chinese chestnut cultivars reveals important genes related to leaf and shoot elongation and nut weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lunar water ice resources are important space assets for human survival and sustainable living on the Moon. Detection data indicates that the permanently shadowed regions at the lunar poles contain water ice resources. The efficiency of in-situ extraction of lunar water ice resources depends on its volatile characteristics. In the context of extraction and utilization of water ice resources in the permanently shadowed regions, the sublimation and diffusion processes of lunar water ice are investigated by combining the theory of pure ice sublimation with the fractal theory of porous media. On this basis, a volatilization model for lunar water ice is established to examine the effect of temperature, relative density, and water content on the volatile behaviors of lunar water ice. The findings of this study can provide technical and theoretical support for the in-situ exploration, extraction, and utilization of lunar water ice resources and offer insights into the existence and distribution of lunar water ice resources. • Apply the fractal theory of porous media on the research of icy lunar regolith volatilization. • Establish a volatilization model of water ice within icy lunar regolith. • Investigate the effect of temperature, relative density, and water content on volatilization. • Provide technical support for the exploration and extraction of lunar water ice resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate assessments of the historical and current status of eco-environmental quality (EEQ) are essential for governments to have a comprehensive understanding of regional ecological conditions, formulate scientific policies, and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While various approaches to EEQ monitoring exist, they each have limitations and cannot be used universally. Moreover, previous studies lack detailed examinations of EEQ dynamics and its driving factors at national and local levels. Therefore, this study utilized a remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) to assess the EEQ of China from 2001 to 2021. Additionally, an emerging hot-spot analysis was conducted to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of the EEQ of China. The degree of influence of eight major drivers affecting EEQ was evaluated by a GeoDetector model. The results show that from 2001 to 2021, the mean RSEI values in China showed a fluctuating upward trend; the EEQ varied significantly in different regions of China, with a lower EEQ in the north and west and a higher EEQ in the northeast, east, and south in general. The spatio-temporal patterns of hot/cold spots in China were dominated by intensifying hot spots, persistent cold spots, and diminishing cold spots, with an area coverage of over 90%. The hot spots were concentrated to the east of the Hu Huanyong Line, while the cold spots were concentrated to its west. The oscillating hot/cold spots were located in the ecologically fragile agro-pastoral zone, next to the upper part of the Hu Huanyong Line. Natural forces have become the main driving force for changes in China's EEQ, and precipitation and soil sand content were key variables affecting the EEQ. The interaction between these factors had a greater impact on the EEQ than individual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phospholipase D (PLD) is an enzyme that consists of six isoforms (PLD1–PLD6) and has been discovered in different organisms including bacteria, viruses, plants, and mammals. PLD is involved in regulating a wide range of nerve cells' physiological processes, such as cytoskeleton modulation, proliferation/growth, vesicle trafficking, morphogenesis, and development. Simultaneously, PLD, which also plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and neuroimmune diseases. In this review, family members, characterizations, structure, functions and related signaling pathways, and therapeutic values of PLD was summarized, then five representative diseases including Alzheimer disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), etc. were selected as examples to tell the involvement of PLD in these neurological diseases. Notably, recent advances in the development of tools for studying PLD therapy envisaged novel therapeutic interventions. Furthermore, the limitations of PLD based therapy were also analyzed and discussed. The content of this review provided a thorough and reasonable basis for further studies to exploit the potential of PLD in the treatment of neurodegenerative and neuroimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broader implementation of current all‐solid‐state Na−S batteries is still plagued by high operation temperature and inefficient sulfur utilization. And the uncontrollable sulfur speciation pathway along with the sluggish polysulfide redox kinetics further compromise the theoretical potentials of Na−S chemistry. Herein, we report a confined bidirectional tandem electrocatalysis effect to tune polysulfide electrochemistry in a novel low‐temperature (80 °C) all‐solid‐state Na−S battery that utilizes Na3Zr2Si2PO12 ceramic membrane as a platform. The bifunctional hollow sulfur matrix consisting binary atomically dispersed MnN4 and CoN4 hotspots was fabricated using a sacrificial template process. Upon discharge, CoN4 sites activate sulfur species and catalyze long‐chain to short‐chain polysulfides reduction, while MnN4 centers substantially accelerate the low‐kinetic Na2S4 to Na2S directly conversion, manipulating the uniform deposition of electroactive Na2S and avoiding the formation of irreversible products (e.g. Na2S2). The intrinsic synergy of two catalytic centers benefits the Na2S decomposition and minimizes its activation barrier during battery recharging and then efficiently mitigate the cathodic passivation. As a result, the stable cycling of all‐solid‐state Na−S cell delivers an attractive reversible capacity of 1060 mAh g−1 with a high CE of 98.5 % and a high energy of 1008 Wh kgcathode−1, comparable to the liquid electrolyte cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broader implementation of current all‐solid‐state Na−S batteries is still plagued by high operation temperature and inefficient sulfur utilization. And the uncontrollable sulfur speciation pathway along with the sluggish polysulfide redox kinetics further compromise the theoretical potentials of Na−S chemistry. Herein, we report a confined bidirectional tandem electrocatalysis effect to tune polysulfide electrochemistry in a novel low‐temperature (80 °C) all‐solid‐state Na−S battery that utilizes Na3Zr2Si2PO12 ceramic membrane as a platform. The bifunctional hollow sulfur matrix consisting binary atomically dispersed MnN4 and CoN4 hotspots was fabricated using a sacrificial template process. Upon discharge, CoN4 sites activate sulfur species and catalyze long‐chain to short‐chain polysulfides reduction, while MnN4 centers substantially accelerate the low‐kinetic Na2S4 to Na2S directly conversion, manipulating the uniform deposition of electroactive Na2S and avoiding the formation of irreversible products (e.g. Na2S2). The intrinsic synergy of two catalytic centers benefits the Na2S decomposition and minimizes its activation barrier during battery recharging and then efficiently mitigate the cathodic passivation. As a result, the stable cycling of all‐solid‐state Na−S cell delivers an attractive reversible capacity of 1060 mAh g−1 with a high CE of 98.5 % and a high energy of 1008 Wh kgcathode−1, comparable to the liquid electrolyte cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coupling of three-level giant atoms with one-dimensional waveguides can show interesting phenomena of transmission and reflection. Since the non-waveguide mode can cause the dissipation of external atoms, we consider the effect of the dissipation rate on the scattering of single photons in the system with giant atom–waveguide coupling. We find that as the dissipation rate of giant atoms increases, the transmission rate of a single photon increases and the reflection rate decreases. In addition, by varying the phase difference and decay rate, the giant atoms are able to achieve perfect transmission and total reflection over the entire frequency range. We also find and show the conditions for the conversion of the optimal frequency. When the cumulative phase of photons reaches a certain value, the system can achieve perfect transmission, which is independent of frequency. This model of coupling giant atoms with waveguides has a promising application in quantum communication and quantum information processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interior permanent magnet synchronous motor traction system of rail vehicles usually needs to run above base speed. It is necessary to implement high‐efficiency flux weakening control of the traction motor. This paper presents one single current regulation square wave strategy, which can improve the dynamic performance of the flux weakening control of the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor traction system. By proposing a novel switching criterion and the modulation method, smooth switching between the maximum torque per ampere control below base speed and the square wave control above base speed can be realized. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the morphology of the legs and feet of chairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties using statistics, and the characteristics were presented in a data-based mode. With furniture samples collected from museums as the research object, the performances of chair legs and feet from different periods were analyzed using cross-analysis and chi-square tests in SPSS 22.0 to find out if statistically significant differences existed. The results show no statistical difference in the morphology of legs and feet of side chairs and armchairs with curved rest from different periods, while significant statistical differences exist in the morphology of the legs and feet of armchairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The results can help people to have a deeper understanding of the legs and feet of chairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties on a rational cognition level and provide new ideas for the inheritance and innovation of such furniture in modern times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the estimation problem for semi-varying coefficient heteroscedastic instrumental variable models with missing responses. First, we propose the adjusted estimators for unknown parameters and smooth functional coefficients utilizing the ordinary profile least square method and instrumental variable adjustment technique with complete data. Second, we present an adjusted estimator of the stochastic error variance by employing the Nadaraya–Watson kernel estimation technique. Third, we apply the inverse probability-weighted method and instrumental variable adjustment technique to construct the adaptive-weighted adjusted estimators for unknown parameters and smooth functional coefficients. The asymptotic properties of our proposed estimators are established under some regularity conditions. Finally, numerous simulation studies and a real data analysis are conducted to examine the finite sample performance of the proposed estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the inherent non-linearity and open-loop instability of maglev systems, their high-quality control performance is critical in the development stage. Sliding mode control has great potential in the field of maglev vehicle control because of its superior control performance, robustness and interference resistance. In practical applications of sliding mode control, however, the limitations of the hardware physical properties and time delay of the control units of maglev systems can cause chattering, thereby significantly reducing the stability of maglev vehicles. In order to suppress chattering, a modified sliding mode controller that combines the exponential reaching law and continuous control laws is proposed in this study. A single-point levitation experimental platform and corresponding co-simulation model were built, and a parameter influence analysis of the modified sliding mode controller was conducted. This paper presents an adaptive correction method for the sliding mode control parameters based on the aforementioned chattering study. The actual levitation experiments were used to validate the control performance of the proposed controllers. Overall, the conducted research revealed that the modified controllers could effectively suppress chattering and possess excellent robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ETS transcription factors, known as the E26 transformation-specific factors, assume a critical role in the regulation of various vital biological processes in animals, including cell differentiation, the cell cycle, and cell apoptosis. However, their characterization in mollusks is currently lacking. Results: The current study focused on a comprehensive analysis of the ETS genes in blood clam Tegillarca granosa and other mollusk genomes. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed the absence of the SPI and ETV subfamilies in mollusks compared to humans. Additionally, several ETS genes in mollusks were found to lack the PNT domain, potentially resulting in a diminished ability of ETS proteins to bind target genes. Interestingly, the bivalve ETS1 genes exhibited significantly high expression levels during the multicellular proliferation stage and in gill tissues. Furthermore, qRT-PCR results showed that Tg-ETS-14 (ETS1) is upregulated in the high total hemocyte counts (THC) population of T. granosa, suggesting it plays a significant role in stimulating hemocyte proliferation. Conclusion: Our study significantly contributes to the comprehension of the evolutionary aspects concerning the ETS gene family, while also providing valuable insights into its role in fostering hemocyte proliferation across mollusks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the prevalent data-dependent nature of existing pruning criteria, norm criteria with data independence play a crucial role in filter pruning criteria, providing promising prospects for deploying deep neural networks on resource-constrained devices. However, norm criteria based on amplitude measurements have long posed challenges in terms of theoretical feasibility. Existing methods rely on data-derived information such as derivatives to establish reasonable pruning standards. Nonetheless, achieving quantitative analysis of the "smaller-norm-less-important" notion remains elusive within the norm criterion context. To address the need for data independence and theoretical feasibility, we conducted saliency analysis on filters and proposed a regularization-based amplitude saliency pruning criterion (RASP). This amplitude saliency not only attains data independence but also establishes norm criteria for usage guidelines. Furthermore, we further investigated the amplitude saliency, addressing the issues of data dependency in model evaluation and inter-class filter selection. We introduced model saliency and an adaptive parameter group lasso (AGL) regularization approach sensitive to different layers. Theoretically, we thoroughly analyzed the feasibility of amplitude saliency and employed quantitative saliency analysis to validate the advantages of our method over previous approaches. Experimentally, conducted on the CIFAR-10 and ImageNet image classification benchmarks, we extensively validated the improved top-level performance of our method compared to previous methods. Even when the pruned model has the same or even smaller number of FLOP, our method can achieve equivalent or higher model accuracy. Notably, in our ImageNet experiment, RASP achieved a 51.9% reduction in FLOPs while maintaining an accuracy of 76.19% on ResNet-50. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jinshui-Huanxian granules (JHGs), a Chinese herbal compound prescription, have shown a therapeutic effect in reducing lung tissue damage, improving the degree of pulmonary fibrosis, replenishing lungs and kidneys, relieving cough and asthma, reducing phlegm, and activating blood circulation. However, these active compounds' pharmacokinetics and metabolic processes were unclear. This study aimed to compare the pharmacokinetics, reveal the metabolic dynamic changes, and obtain the basic pharmacokinetic parameters of 16 main bioactive compounds after intragastric administration of JHGs in control and pulmonary fibrosis (PF) model rats by using Orbitrap Fusion MS. After administration of JHGs, the rat plasma was collected at different times. Pretreating the plasma sample with methanol and internal standard (IS) solution carbamazepine (CBZ), and it was then applied to a C18 column by setting gradient elution with a mobile phase consisting of methanol 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution. Detection was performed on an electrospray ionization source (ESI), and the scanning mode was SIM. Pharmacokinetic parameters were analyzed according to the different analytes' concentrations in plasma. The matrix effect was within the range of 79.01–110.90%, the extraction recovery rate was 80.37–102.72%, the intra-day and inter-day precision relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 7.76%, and the stability was good, which met the requirements of biological sample testing. The method was validated (r ≥ 0.9955) and applied to compare the pharmacokinetic profiles of the control group and PF model group after intragastric administration of the JHGs. The 16 analytes exhibited different pharmacokinetic behaviors in vivo. In the pathological state of the PF model, most of the components were more favorable for metabolism and absorption, and it was more meaningful to study the pharmacokinetics. Above all, this study provided an essential reference for exploring the mechanism of action of JHGs and guided clinical medication as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our visual experience often varies based on momentary thoughts and feelings. For example, when positive concepts are invoked, visual objects may appear brighter (e.g., a "brighter" smile). However, it remains unclear whether this phenomenological experience is driven by a genuine top-down modulation of brightness perception or by a mere response bias. To investigate this issue, we use pupillometry as a more objective measure of perceived brightness. We asked participants to judge the brightness level of an iso-luminant gray color patch after evaluating the valence of a positive or negative word. We found that the gray color patch elicited greater pupillary light reflex and more frequent "brighter" responses after observers had evaluated the valence of a positive word. As pupillary light reflex is unlikely driven by voluntary control, these results suggest that the conceptual association between affect and luminance can modulate brightness perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replacement of C by N in Ti 3 AlC 2 to form Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y (y<2) MAX solid solutions has attracted much attention due to their tailored mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties. So far, only Ti 3 AlCN, as y = 1 for Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y , has been successfully synthesized, exhibiting improved properties as compared with Ti 3 AlC 2. Theoretical work predicts that Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y solid solutions become more metallic and conductive as more N atoms substitute C atoms. However, there is no report on the successful synthesis of Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y with a wide range of y values. Here we report on the synthesis of Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y sold solutions by a facile pressureless-sintering technique. Influencing factors such as starting mixture, sintering temperature, and Al addition on the formation of Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y have been investigated. The experimental results showed that Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y (y = 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2) solid solution phases can be achieved in the temperature range from 1430 to 1500 °C. The phase composition and microstructure of the resultant phases were characterized. The achieved Ti 3 AlC 2-y N y phases expand the category of MAX solid solutions, and they are the preferred precursors for preparing two dimensional carbonitride Ti 3 C 2-y N y T x MXene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the potential causal link between genetic variants associated with gut microbiome and risk of intracranial aneurysm (IA) using two-sample mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: We performed two sets of MR analyses. At first, we selected the genome-wide statistical significant(P < 5 × 10–8) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs). Then, we selected the locus-wide significant (P < 1 × 10–5) SNPs as IVs for the other set of analyses to obtain more comprehensive conclusions. Gut microbiome genetic association estimates were derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 18,473 individuals. Summary-level statistics for IA were obtained from 79,429 individuals, which included 7,495 cases and 71,934 controls. Results: On the basis of locus-wide significance level, inverse variance weighted(IVW) showed that Clostridia [(odds ratio (OR): 2.60; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00—6.72, P = 0.049)], Adlercreutzia (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.10—2.99, P = 0.021) and Victivallis (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.01—1.88, P = 0.044) were positively related with the risk of unruptured intracranial aneurysm(UIA); Weighted median results of MR showed Oscillospira (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.17—0.84, P = 0.018) was negatively with the risk of UIA and Sutterella (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.04—3.23, P = 0.035) was positively related with the risk of UIA; MR-Egger method analysis indicated that Paraprevotella (OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.13—0.80, P = 0.035) was negatively with the risk of UIA and Rhodospirillaceae (OR: 13.39; 95% CI: 1.44—124.47, P = 0.048) was positively related with the risk of UIA. The results suggest that Streptococcus (OR: 5.19; 95% CI: 1.25—21.56; P = 0.024) and Peptostreptococcaceae (OR: 4.92; 95% CI: 1.32—18.32; P = 0.018) may increase the risk of UIA according to genome-wide statistical significance thresholds. Conclusion: This MR analysis indicates that there exists a beneficial or detrimental causal effect of gut microbiota composition on IAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chicoric acid (CA), a functional food ingredient, is a caffeic acid derivative that is mainly found in lettuce, pulsatilla, and other natural plants. However, the anti-inflammatory effects of CA in acute lung injury (ALI) remain poorly understood. This study was conducted to investigate potential drug usage of CA for ALI and the underlying molecular mechanisms of inflammation. C57BL/6 mice were given injections of liposaccharide (LPS) to establish the in vivo model. Meanwhile, BMDM cells were stimulated with LPS+ATP to build the in vitro model. CA significantly alleviated inflammation and oxidative stress in both the in vivo and in vitro models of ALI through the inhibition of NLR family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3)-mediated pyroptosis. In addition, CA attenuated mitochondrial damage to suppress NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis in the in vivo and in vitro models of ALI by suppressing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via inhibiting the Akt/nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway. CA inhibited the interaction between Akt at T308 and phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDPK1) at S549, thus promoting the phosphorylation of the Akt protein. Furthermore, CA directly targeted the PDPK1 protein and accelerated PDPK1 ubiquitination, indicating that 91-GLY, 111-LYS, 126-TYR, 162-ALA, 205-ASP, and 223-ASP might be responsible for the interaction between PDPK1 and CA. In conclusion, CA from Lettuce alleviated NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis in the ALI model through ROS-induced mitochondrial damage by activating Akt/Nrf2 pathway via PDPK1 ubiquitination. The present study suggests that CA might be a potential therapeutic drug to treat or prevent ALI in pneumonia or COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose, the main component of the plant cell wall, is synthesized by the multimeric cellulose synthase (CESA) complex (CSC). In plant cells, CSCs are assembled in the endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi and transported through the endomembrane system to the plasma membrane (PM). However, how CESA catalytic activity or conserved motifs around the catalytic core influence vesicle trafficking or protein dynamics is not well understood. Here, we used yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)-tagged AtCESA6 and created 18 mutants in key motifs of the catalytic domain to analyze how they affected seedling growth, cellulose biosynthesis, complex formation, and CSC dynamics and trafficking in Arabidopsis thaliana. Seedling growth and cellulose content were reduced by nearly all mutations. Moreover, mutations in most conserved motifs slowed CSC movement in the PM as well as delivery of CSCs to the PM. Interestingly, mutations in the DDG and QXXRW motifs affected YFP-CESA6 abundance in the Golgi. These mutations also perturbed post-Golgi trafficking of CSCs. The 18 mutations were divided into 2 groups based on their phenotypes; we propose that Group I mutations cause CSC trafficking defects, whereas Group II mutations, especially in the QXXRW motif, affect protein folding and/or CSC rosette formation. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the CESA6 catalytic domain is essential for cellulose biosynthesis as well as CSC formation, protein folding and dynamics, and vesicle trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the intelligent age, computers are required to help people complete simple daily work. Among them, computer voice databases and systems occupy a very important position in the field due to their wide application. In order to optimize the system design method, the application of IGA algorithm is proposed, and the performance of the model under the algorithm is compared and tested. The algorithm experiment shows that when the IGA objective function value is 34.4, there is no change, and the number of iterations is 100; Compared with the traditional genetic algorithm, the value of the optimal solution is always the minimum. Then the error of the optimal solution under different algorithms is compared and analyzed. It is found that the error of the optimal solution under IGA operation has the minimum value of 0.0079; The experiment of speech recognition efficiency shows that the speech recognition rate under the intervention of IGA algorithm has increased by 8%, and the overall efficiency is higher than 95%. It can be seen from the above results that IGA is helpful to the acquisition of voice database data, and improves the recognition efficiency. The feasibility of the method is high, which is of great significance to the development of China's intelligent system industry. But at present, the overall progress of the voice system is still limited, so expanding research methods to apply to the field of voice system is still the next research direction that can be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a crack detection method for rail joint screw holes based on the ultrasonic nonlinearity. Experimental and numerical studies are conducted to validate the performance of the proposed approach. The ultrasonic signals excited and received at the rail head are processed by spectral analysis and Wavelet Packet Decomposition (WPD). The third harmonic can be clearly observed from the spectrum analysis, which is supposed to be the nonlinearity of structures. Further, WPD is used to decompose the frequency components of the received signals. A damage index (DI) is defined based on the energy percentage of the energy in the WPD node containing the third harmonic with respect to the total energy of the received signal. It is found that the DI relating to the third harmonic increases with an approximately linear relationship when the crack grows bigger. It can provide a basis for the crack detection and quantification for the rail joint screw holes. A finite element model of the experimentally tested rail is also developed and numerical studies are conducted to verify the ultrasonic nonlinearity in the rail structure. Numerical results have the same trend with the experimental results, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method for crack detection in rail joints based on the high order ultrasonic nonlinear harmonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel flexible penetrometer for planetary regolith exploration is proposed. • Penetration model analysis and validation were conducted. • Principle prototype of the penetrator was developed and the system was verified. In-situ extraction of geological information from planetary subsurfaces is of great importance. To achieve this goal with low power consumption and deep penetration, a novel subsurface sounding system for planetary regolith exploration is proposed based on the operating principle of tape measures. Penetration model analysis and validation were conducted. The penetration mechanics of the penetrator head and body were modeled separately, and static penetration tests were performed to verify the feasibility of the penetrator and modify the penetration load model. As the structural design of the penetrator was completed, a cam-based impact clamping scheme was proposed. The impact system dynamics model was established to analyze the effect of pene-tration resistance and kinetic parameters on the penetration capability of the penetrator. The principle prototype of the penetrator was developed, and a load-free simulated planetary regolith penetration test system was built to verify the correctness of the design. This study may provide technical support for the future application of flexible detectors in planetary exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICU-AW (Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness) is characterized by significant muscle weakness and can be caused by a variety of factors, including immobility, medication use, and underlying medical conditions.ICU-AW can affect critically ill children who have been hospitalized in the PICU for an extended period of time.The knowledge, attitude and practice level of ICU-AW of PICU medical staff directly affect the treatment of critically ill children with ICU-AW.The aim to this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Chinese medical staff regarding critically ill children with intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) and related factors. Methods: A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Questionnaire regarding critically ill children with ICU-AW was distributed to a stratified sample of 530 pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) healthcare workers. The questionnaire consisted of 31 items—with scores of 45, 40, and 40 for each dimension and a total score of 125. Results: The mean total score of Chinese PICU healthcare workers for the KAP questionnaire regarding children with ICU-AW was 87.36 ± 14.241 (53–121), with mean total knowledge, attitudes, and practices scores of 30.35 ± 6.317, 30.46 ± 5.632, and 26.54 ± 6.454, respectively. The population distribution indicated that 50.56%, 46.04%, and 3.4% of healthcare workers had poor, average, and good scores, respectively. Multiple linear regression showed that gender, education, and hospital level classification influenced the KAP level of PICU healthcare workers regarding critically ill children with ICU-AW. Conclusions: Overall, PICU healthcare workers in China have an average KAP level about ICU-AW, and the gender and education level of PICU healthcare workers, as well as the classification of hospitals where they work, predict the KAP status of healthcare workers regarding children with ICU-AW. Therefore, healthcare leaders should plan and develop specific training programs to improve the KAP level of PICU healthcare workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma (OV) is a fatal gynecologic cancer with a five-year survival rate of only 46%. Resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy is a prevalent factor in OV patients, leading to increased mortality. The platinum resistance in OV is driven by transcriptome heterogeneity and tumor heterogeneity. Studies have indicated that ovarian cancer stem cells (OCSCs), which are chemoresistant and help in disease recurrence, are enriched by platinum-based chemotherapy. Stem cells have a significant influence on the OV progression and prognosis of OV patients and are key pathology mediators of OV. However, the molecular mechanisms and targets of OV have not yet been fully understood. In this study, systematic research based on the TCGA-OV dataset was conducted for the identification and construction of key stem cell-related diagnostic and prognostic models for the development of multigene markers of OV. A six-gene diagnostic and prognostic model (C19orf33, CBX2, CSMD1, INSRR, PRLR, and SLC38A4) was developed based on the differentially expressed stem cell-related gene model, which can act as a potent diagnostic biomarker and can characterize the clinicopathological properties of OV. The key genes related to stem cells were identified by screening the genes differentially expressed in OV and control samples. The mRNA-miRNA-TF molecular network for the six-gene model was constructed, and the potential biological significance of this molecular model and its impact on the infiltration of immune cells in the OV tumor microenvironment were elucidated. The differences in immune infiltration and stem cell-related biological processes were determined using gene set variation analysis (GSVA) and single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) for the selection of molecular treatment options and providing a reference for elucidating the posttranscriptional regulatory mechanisms in OV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients who do not achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant systemic treatment (NST) have a significantly worse prognosis. A reliable predictor of prognosis is required to further subdivide non‐pCR patients. To date, the prognostic role in terms of disease‐free survival (DFS) between the terminal index of Ki‐67 after surgery (Ki‐67T) and the combination of the baseline Ki‐67 at biopsy before NST (Ki‐67B) and the percentage change in Ki‐67 before and after NST (Ki‐67C) has not been compared. Aim: This study aimed to explore the most useful form or combination of Ki‐67 that can provide prognostic information to non‐pCR patients. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 499 patients who were diagnosed with inoperable breast cancer between August 2013 and December 2020 and received NST with anthracycline plus taxane. Results: Among all the patients, 335 did not achieve pCR (with a follow‐up period of ≥1 year). The median follow‐up duration was 36 months. The optimal cutoff value of Ki‐67C to predict a DFS was 30%. A significantly worse DFS was observed in patients with a low Ki‐67C (p < 0.001). In addition, the exploratory subgroup analysis showed relatively good internal consistency. Ki‐67C and Ki‐67T were considered as independent risk factors for DFS (both p < 0.001). The forecasting model combining Ki‐67B and Ki‐67C showed a significantly higher area under the curve at years 3 and 5 than Ki‐67T (p = 0.029 and p = 0.022, respectively). Conclusions: Ki‐67C and Ki‐67T were good independent predictors of DFS, whereas Ki‐67B was a slightly inferior predictor. The combination of Ki‐67B and Ki‐67C is superior to Ki‐67T for predicting DFS, especially at longer follow‐ups. Regarding clinical application, this combination could be used as a novel indicator for predicting DFS to more clearly identify high‐risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: At present, there is still a lack of reliable biomarkers for ovarian cancer (OC) to guide prognosis prediction and accurately evaluate the dominant population of immunotherapy. In recent years, the relationship between peripheral blood markers and tumor‐infiltrating immune cells (TICs) with cancer has attracted much attention. However, the relationship between the survival of OC patients and intratumoral‐ or extratumoral‐associated immune cells remains controversial. Methods: In this study, four machine‐learning algorithms were used to predict overall survival in OC patients based on peripheral blood indicators. To further screen out immune‐related gene and molecular targets, we systematically explored the correlation between TICs and OC patient survival based on The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Using the TICs score method, patients were divided into a low immune infiltrating cell group and a high immune infiltrating cell group. Results: The results showed that there was a significant statistical significance between the peripheral blood indicators and the survival prognosis of OC patients. Survival analysis showed that TICs play a crucial role in the survival of OC patients. Four core genes, CXCL9, CD79A, MS4A1, and MZB1, were identified by cross‐PPI and COX regression analysis. Further analysis found that these genes were significantly associated with both TICs and survival in OC patients. Conclusions: These results suggest that both peripheral blood markers and TICs can be used as prognostic predictors in patients with OC, and CXCL9, CD79A, MS4A1, and MZB1 may be potential therapeutic targets for OC immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the full theoretical potential of high energy ZnS electrochemistry, the incomplete and sluggish conversion during battery discharging and high reactivation energy barrier during battery recharging associated with the sulfur cathodes must be overcome. Herein, the atomically dispersed Fe sites with FeN4 coordination are experimentally and theoretically predicted as bidirectional electrocatalytic hotspots to simultaneously manipulate the complete sulfur conversion and minimize the energy barrier of ZnS decomposition. It is discovered that the Fe sites were favorable for strong sulfur and possible zinc polysulfide intermediate adsorption, and ensure nearly complete sulfur to ZnS conversion during discharge. For the following recharging process, the electrodeposited ZnS can be readily reversible charged back to S without a noticeable activation overpotential around FeN4 moieties comparing to pure carbon matrixes. As expected, the freestanding iron embedded carbon fiber cloth supported sulfur cathode delivers a high specific capacity of 1143 mAh g−1 and a lower voltage hysteresis of 0.61 V. As elaborated by postmortem analysis, the degradation mechanism of ZnS cell is the accumulation of inactive ZnS crystals on the cathode side rather than the Zn metallic depletion. More encouragingly, a flexible solid‐state ZnS battery with a high discharge capacity and stable reversibility is also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pendulum system is widely used for vibration attenuation and energy harvesting. This paper considers a pendulum under the attraction of double magnets. The governing equation is obtained by Newton's second law, and it is simplified to Duffing–Holmes oscillator. Its approximate periodic solution with a good accuracy is obtained with easy by Ji-Huan He's frequency formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The decomposition of soil organic matter depends strongly on microbial metabolism, which presents one of the greatest uncertainties in predicting future climate and global carbon (C) dynamics. The study aimed to determine how forest thinning affects microbial metabolism in the short term and decipher the drivers. Method: We determined the metabolic limitation of microbes by extracellular enzymatic stoichiometry and the microbial C use efficiency (CUE) by the biogeochemical-equilibrium model from 1 to 7 years after heavily thinning with debris removal from the forest floor in Robinia pseudoacacia plantations. The effects of thinning were compared with an untreated area. Results: (1) thinning temporarily alleviated microbial relative C limitation whereas intensified P limitation in the short term, and no effects were observed 7 years after thinning. The availability and stoichiometric ratio of soil dissolved nutrients were factors most responsible for variations in microbial metabolic limitation. (2) microbial relative C and nutrient limitations exhibited negative correlations in thinned forests when C resources were sufficient, whereas positive correlations were detected in unthinned controls with insufficient C resources. Further analysis showed that the relationship was driven by ecoenzymatic stoichiometries. (3) CUE decreased by an average of 20.44% over 7 years after thinning. Partial least squares path modeling showed a trade-off between microbial P limitation and CUE, which was mediated by P-acquiring enzyme activity. Conclusion: Soil microorganisms adapted to increased P limitation after high-intensity thinning by increasing investment into nutrient (particularly P) acquisitions via enzymes at the expense of lower metabolic efficient, which tended to reduce soil C storage. This study improves our understanding of microbial metabolic processes and C cycling after thinning in the short term, and provides important insights to climate change mitigation potential associated with managed forest ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate exercise such as voluntary wheel-running can induce physiological cardiac hypertrophy. Notch1 plays an important role in cardiac hypertrophy; however, the experimental results are inconsistent. In this experiment, we aimed to explore the role of Notch1 in physiological cardiac hypertrophy. Twenty-nine adult male mice were randomly divided into a Notch1 heterozygous deficient control (Notch1+/− CON) group, a Notch1 heterozygous deficient running (Notch1+/− RUN) group, a wild type control (WT CON) group, and a wild type running (WT RUN) group. Mice in the Notch1+/− RUN and WT RUN groups had access to voluntary wheel-running for two weeks. Next, the cardiac function of all of the mice was examined by echocardiography. The H&E staining, Masson trichrome staining, and a Western blot assay were carried out to analyze cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac fibrosis, and the expression of proteins relating to cardiac hypertrophy. After two-weeks of running, the Notch1 receptor expression was decreased in the hearts of the WT RUN group. The degree of cardiac hypertrophy in the Notch1+/− RUN mice was lower than that of their littermate control. Compared to the Notch1+/− CON group, Notch1 heterozygous deficiency could lead to a decrease in Beclin-1 expression and the ratio of LC3II/LC3I in the Notch1+/− RUN group. The results suggest that Notch1 heterozygous deficiency could partly dampen the induction of autophagy. Moreover, Notch1 deficiency may lead to the inactivation of p38 and the reduction of β-catenin expression in the Notch1+/− RUN group. In conclusion, Notch1 plays a critical role in physiologic cardiac hypertrophy through the p38 signaling pathway. Our results will help to understand the underlying mechanism of Notch1 on physiological cardiac hypertrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective environmental management and contamination remediation require accurate spatial distributions and predictions of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the soil. However, no single method has been developed to predict soil PTE accurately. This study evaluated the advanced geostatistical method of empirical Bayesian kriging regression prediction (EBKRP), machine learning algorithm of random forest (RF), and hybridized model (RF-EBKRP) to predict and map PTEs content in greenspace soils. As identified by RF, soil organic carbon, organic matter, total (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), topographic features, and urban functional types were used as significant covariates to improve the prediction accuracy of PTEs in soil. The model prediction performance was evaluated using the root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and coefficient of determination (R2). Results showed that RF performed much better than EBKRP in predicting soil PTEs, with lower prediction errors and a higher R2. The RMSE, MAPE, and R2 values for the RF model were 0.25–85.32 mg/kg, 3.86–25.40%, and 0.77–0.90, respectively, while the values for the EBKRP method were 0.51–99.03 mg/kg, 5.42–32.13%, and 0.40–0.66. Moreover, the RF-EBKRP method produced more accurate spatial predictions and distributions of PTEs than the individual models, with R2 improvements of 122.5% for EBKRP and 15.58% for RF. The better performances of RF-EBKRP are due to its incorporation of various covariates and its ability to handle complex nonlinear relationships between soil PTEs and covariates. In the end, a hybrid RF-EBKRP method is a promising approach to improving the spatial distribution map of soil PTEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, machine learning methods represented by deep neural networks (DNNs) have been a new paradigm of turbulence modeling. However, in the scenario of high Reynolds numbers, there are still some bottlenecks, including the lack of high-fidelity data and the stability problem in the coupling process of turbulence models and the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solvers. In this paper, we propose an improved ensemble Kalman inversion method as a unified approach of data assimilation and turbulence modeling for separated flows at high Reynolds numbers. A novel ensemble design method based on transfer learning and a regularizing strategy are proposed to improve the method. The trainable parameters of DNN are optimized according to the given experimental surface pressure coefficients in the framework of mutual coupling between the RANS solvers and DNN eddy viscosity models. In this way, data assimilation and model training are integrated into one step to get the high-fidelity turbulence models agree well with experiments directly. The effectiveness of the method is verified by cases of flows around S809 airfoil at high Reynolds numbers. Through assimilation of few experimental states, we can get turbulence models generalizing well to both attached and separated flows at different angles of attack, which also perform well in stability and robustness. The errors of lift coefficients at high angles of attack are significantly reduced by more than three times compared with the traditional Spalart–Allmaras model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goldfish Carassius auratus is an ideal model for exploring fish morphology evolution. Although genes underlying several ornamental traits have been identified, little is known about the effects of artificial selection on embryo gene expression. In the present study, hybrid transcriptome sequencing was conducted to reveal gene expression profiles of Celestial-Eye (CE) and Ryukin (RK) goldfish embryos. Full-length transcriptome sequencing on the PacBio platform identified 54,218 and 54,106 transcript isoforms in CE and RK goldfish, respectively. Of particular note was that thousands of alternative splicing (AS) and alternative polyadenylation (APA) events were identified in both goldfish breeds, and most of them were inter-breed specific. RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing showed that most of the predicted AS and APA were correct. Moreover, abundant long non-coding RNA and fusion genes were detected, and again most of them were inter-breed specific. Through RNA-seq, we detected thousands of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in each embryonic stage between the two goldfish breeds. KEGG enrichment analysis on DEGs showed extensive differences between CE and RK goldfish in gene expression. Taken together, our results demonstrated that artificial selection has led to far-reaching influences on goldfish gene expression, which probably laid the genetic basis for hundreds of goldfish variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer development is a long-lasting process during which macrophages play a pivotal role. However, how macrophages maintain their cellular identity, persistence, expanding and pro-tumor property during malignant progression remains elusive. Inspired by the recent report of the activation of stem cell-like self-renewal mechanism in mature macrophages, we postulate that intra-tumoral macrophages might be trained to assume stem-like properties and memory-like activity favoring cancer development. Herein we demonstrated that tumor infiltrating macrophages rapidly converted into the CD11b+F4/80+Ly6C−Bcl6+ phenotype, and adopted stem cell-like properties involving expression of stemness-related genes, long-term persistence and self-renewing. Importantly, Bcl6+ macrophages stably maintained cell identity, gene signature, metabolic profile, and pro-tumor property even after long-term culture in tumor-free medium, which were hence termed stem cell-like memory macrophages (SMMs). Mechanistically, we showed that transcriptional factor Bcl6 co-opted the demethylase Tet2 and the deacetylase SIRT1 to confer the epigenetic imprinting and mitochondrial metabolic traits to SMMs, bolstering the stability and longevity of trained immunity in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Furthermore, tumor-derived redHMGB1 was identified as the priming signal, which, through TLR4 and mTOR/AKT pathway, induced Bcl6-driven program underpinning SMMs generation. Collectively, our study uncovers a distinct macrophage population with a hybrid of stem cell and memory cell properties, and unveils a regulatory mechanism that integrates transcriptional, epigenetic and metabolic pathways to promote long-lasting pro-tumor immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic or excessive use of realgar induced liver damage. The biomarkers and exact mechanism have not been fully investigated. We performed an untargeted lipidomics study to investigate the effects of realgar on liver lipidome in mice and explore the sensitive biomarker model of realgar induced liver damage. It was found that realgar exposure induced arsenic accumulation in the liver, increased ROS generation, elevated MDA levels, decreased antioxidant enzymes levels, induced cell apoptosis, changed hepatocyte ultrastructure and morphology, and altered ALT, AST levels. Lipidomics study detected 30 classes and 1457 molecules in mice liver. The numbers of 49 and 103 lipid molecules were significantly altered (FDR <0.05) in the livers of 0.45 g/kg and 1.35 g/kg realgar-exposed mice. The glycerophospholipid and sphingomyelin were the most affected lipid class. We focused on the effect of chronic realgar exposure on the mutual transformation of lipid subclasses and the fatty acid chain composition of lipids in mouse liver, and found that realgar affected the mutual transformation of PE-PC, PC-LPC and SM-Cer. Notably, we found that realgar exposure increased PUFAs linked phospholipids in mouse liver tissues. We identified two sensitive lipid molecules [PE (44:2p) and PE (16:0/22:5)] in combination can accurately distinguish and predict realgar induced liver damage, they are associated with oxidative damage and mitochondrial respiration in liver tissue. Our study provides an experimental basis for the mechanism research and early detection of realgar-induced liver damage. [Display omitted] • Chronic realgar exposure disturbed lipid metabolism in the mouse liver revealed by lipidomics. • 1457 lipids were identified, and glycerophospholipid and sphingomyelin were the most affected. • Chronic realgar exposure changed the mutual transformation of lipid classes. • Chronic realgar exposure increased PUFAs linked phospholipids in mouse liver tissues. • A sensitive lipid biomarker model involving two lipid molecules were developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water distribution uniformity is an important control criterion for icy lunar regolith samples during ground simulations and is easily influenced by the sample freezing process. However, the freezing process and characteristics of icy lunar regolith are rarely studied. Therefore, to address this issue, simulated samples of icy lunar regolith with two raw material ratios, various water contents and dry densities were prepared in this study, and the unfrozen water contents of samples at different freezing temperatures were tested by nuclear magnetic resonance instrument. The freezing process of icy lunar regolith from 20 °C to −192.8 °C was analyzed based on the variation of the T 2 spectrum, and the influence of initial water content and dry density of the samples on the variation rules of unfrozen water content with temperature was discussed. The results show that the freezing process includes the subcooling stage, the fast freezing stage, the slow freezing stage and the stable freezing stage. Below −80 °C, the unfrozen water content in both unsaturated and saturated samples reaches a very small order of magnitude. However, at −190 °C, unfrozen water is still present in the pores (<1 nm) of the samples. Unfrozen water can be divided into bound water, capillary water and gravity water. Unfrozen water in samples with the water content of 5 wt% and 10 wt% is mainly bound water, and water migration occurs during freezing. The solid ice formed during the freezing process of saturated samples has similar adsorption or capillary effect on unfrozen water to rock particles. A lower dry density of the sample means a higher initial freezing temperature and can more significantly promote the formation of capillary and gravity water. Finally, a new freezing characteristic model was constructed based on the linear relationship between particle and pore radii. The model well predicts the four variation stages of unfrozen water content with temperature from room temperature (20 °C) to extreme low temperature (−190 °C). And the applicability of the model was verified by quantifying the available surface permafrost data. • Propose a new freezing characteristic model based on particle size distribution. • Validated the applicability of the model to extreme low temperatures. • Temperature, dry density and initial water content affect the four stages of freezing. • Solid ice has adsorption and capillary effect on unfrozen water like rock particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple representations in visual working memory (VWM) can vary in mnemonic precision. This inhomogeneity of VWM precision has received some support from recent studies with the whole-report procedure, in which all memory items are recalled in free or forced orders. Recently, Hao et al. (2021, Cognition, 214, 104739) added a novel item-selection stage before each memory recall and found smaller between-trial variance in mouse trajectory during the selection stage in free-recall condition as compared with forced recall, which was taken as evidence for less between-item interference and the resulting precision benefit under free recall. Here, we reanalyzed the original dataset with a different analytic approach and attempted independent hypothesis testing focusing on within-trial trajectory deviations. We found that the direction of trial-by-trial trajectory bias for the first to-be-recalled item was predictive of the relative mnemonic precision of the remaining items. Critically, this relationship was only present for forced recall but not for free recall. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of recall errors further identified that this relationship was selectively driven by VWM precision. Together, our reanalysis provides evidence for the source of between-item interference and its direct association with variable precision of VWM representations, and further highlights the novel methodological benefits of probing memory decisional processes using mouse trajectory data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ubiquitination is extensively involved in critical signaling pathways through monitoring protein stability, subcellular localization, and activity. Dysregulation of this process results in severe diseases including malignant cancers. To develop drugs targeting ubiquitination-related factors is a hotspot in research to realize better therapy of human diseases. Ubiquitination comprises three successive reactions mediated by Ub-activating enzyme E1, Ub-conjugating enzyme E2, and Ub ligase E3. As expected, multiple ubiquitination enzymes have been highlighted as targets for anticancer drug development due to their dominant effect on tumorigenesis and cancer progression. In this review, we discuss recent progresses in anticancer drug development targeting enzymatic machinery components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malus is an economically important plant that is widely cultivated worldwide, but it often encounters saline–alkali stress. The composition of saline–alkali land is a variety of salt and alkali mixed with the formation of alkaline salt. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been reported to have positive effects on plant responses to abiotic stresses. Our previous study showed that H2S pretreatment alleviated the damage caused by alkaline salt stress to Malus hupehensis Rehd. var. pingyiensis Jiang (Pingyi Tiancha, PYTC) roots by regulating Na+/K+ homeostasis and oxidative stress. In this study, transcriptome analysis was used to investigate the overall mechanism through which H2S alleviates alkaline salt stress in PYTC roots. Simultaneously, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were explored. Transcriptional profiling of the Control-H2S, Control-AS, Control-H2S + AS, and AS-H2S + AS comparison groups identified 1618, 18,652, 16,575, and 4314 DEGs, respectively. Further analysis revealed that H2S could alleviate alkaline salt stress by increasing the energy maintenance capacity and cell wall integrity of M. hupehensis roots and by enhancing the capacity for reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism because more upregulated genes involved in ROS metabolism and sulfur-containing compounds were identified in M. hupehensis roots after H2S pretreatment. qRT-PCR analysis of H2S-induced and alkaline salt-response genes showed that these genes were consistent with the RNA-seq analysis results, which indicated that H2S alleviation of alkaline salt stress involves the genes of the cell wall and sulfur-containing compounds in PYTC roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the outstanding properties, magnetic particles have been widely used as magnetic carriers and adsorbents in a diverse range of fields, such as biomedical diagnostics, food safety, and environmental monitoring, etc. Sorting different magnetic particles from each other based on size simultaneously can be very useful in multiple targets separation. To the best of our knowledge, this research firstly proposes the arc comb structure microfluidic (ACSM) chip for multi-magnetic particles separation based on size by magnetophoresis. And the parameters affecting particle trajectory and separation efficiencies, such as flow velocity, velocity ratio of the two inlets, the remanent flux density of the magnets, and dynamic viscosity of the buffer solution, were investigated by numerical simulations in this study. Particle magnetophoresis spectrum width Θ and general separation ratio P G are put forward to characterize the particles separation efficiency. Under the recommended simulation condition, six kinds of magnetic beads were separated with a general separation ratio P G of 0.83 using the newly designed chip. And the separation ratio p i of the 0.5, 1.8, 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4.5 µm magnetic particle is 100.00%, 98.18%, 66.36%, 97.25%, 97.27% and 96.36%, respectively. This numerical simulation study provides a theoretical basis for multiple magnetic particles' separation before experimental trials and also facilitates the utilization and development of microfluidic chips in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rehabilitation nursing teaching is one of the key points of nursing teaching. The quality of rehabilitation nursing teaching directly affects the comprehensive ability of clinical interns. Therefore, teachers must further deepen the reform of clinical nursing teaching, improve the teaching system, and explore effective clinical nursing teaching methods. This paper introduces the application of the network teaching mode based on sandwich in rehabilitation nursing teaching, which provides guidance and help for the clinical nursing teaching mode. Through sandwich teaching activities for third year students of the nursing department, taking mastering theoretical knowledge, changing critical thinking ability, and changing learning initiative as indicators, this paper analyzes the sandwich teaching mode and discusses the cultivation of nursing students' ability. The experimental results showed that after the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference in the learning initiative of students in the experimental group (t = − 29.713 , p ≤ 0.001). After the intervention, there was a significant difference in the learning initiative of the control group (t = − 3.368 , p ≤ 0.001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media has played an increasingly important role in decision-making for public issues, and the concerns of the public, an important reference for which is in social media, have increasingly attracted attention in the field of large group decision-making (LGDM). On this basis, this paper presents a novel LGDM model based on social media data mining to manage group confidence and consensus. The proposed model comprises three processes, namely (1) term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) keyword extraction, (2) the management of group confidence and consensus, (3) the selection process. In the first process, natural language processing (NLP) technology is used to extract keywords from social media data, and the topic of concern by the public is regarded as the evaluation criteria of decision-making alternatives. Then the TF-IDF weighting method is used to determine the weight of each criterion. Regarding the second process, the concept of the confidence correlation degree is defined, and a novel confidence-consensus model is proposed to manage group confidence and consensus. In the group consensus-reaching process (CRP), if the most incompatible cluster (or subgroup) has a higher confidence correlation degree regarding its own opinions, then it is advised that the weight of the cluster be reduced; if the most incompatible cluster has a lower confidence correlation degree regarding its own opinions, then it is advised that the cluster changes its opinions. In the third process, the weights of the criteria determined by the TF-IDF measure are aggregated, and the decision results are obtained. A case study is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed method, and the results of a comparative analysis reveal the features and advantages of this model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model pruning is one of the main methods of deep neural network model compression. However, the existing model pruning methods are inefficient, there is still a lot of redundancy in the network, and the pruning has a great impact on the accuracy. In addition, the traditional pruning process usually needs to fine-tune the network to restore accuracy, and fine-tuning has a limited effect on accuracy recovery, so it is difficult to achieve a high level of accuracy. In this paper, we propose a new neural network pruning framework: the channel sparsity is realized by introducing a scale factor, and the sparse network is pruned by setting a global threshold, which greatly improves the efficiency of pruning. After pruning, this paper proposes a rewind method to restore the accuracy, that is, save the weight after training, and then reload it on the network for training to restore the accuracy. In addition, we also study the best rewind point of the three networks. The experimental results show that our method significantly reduces the number of parameters and FLOPs without affecting or even improving the accuracy, and the rewind method proposed by us achieves a better accuracy recovery effect than fine-tuning. At the same time, we find that the epoch with the highest accuracy is the best rewind point, and the accuracy is the highest after saving its corresponding weight and retraining the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]