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With the development of photon counting detectors (PCDs), spectral CT achieves higher performance than in the past, thus has better application prospects. In this paper, an adaptive dual effect decomposition (ADED) algorithm is proposed to perform the quantitative estimation of effective atomic number and electron density. The algorithm is an empirical material identification algorithm that achieves calibration by combining polynomials on the projection data and constraining in the image domain. In addition, we also propose an innovative effective atomic number estimation model with an accurate physical model that adaptively adjusts the parameters according to the x‐ray energy and material type. The performance of the algorithm was verified by experiment and simulation in this paper. Compared to the conventional basis material decomposition algorithm, the proposed ADED algorithm reduces the relative error in the quantification of the effective atomic number from 4.5%–12.0% to 0.3%–4.5%. Overall, the results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the accuracy of quantifying the effective atomic number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L-serine and its derivative L-cysteine have broad industrial applications, and their direct fermentative production from renewable biomass is gaining increasing attention. Corynebacterium glutamicum is an extensively studied and well-established industrial microorganism, which is a predominant microbial host for producing amino acids. In this review, updated information on the genetics and molecular mechanisms underlying L-serine and L-cysteine production using C. glutamicum is presented, including their synthesis and degradation pathways, and other intracellular processes related to their production, as well as the mechanisms underlying substrate import and product export are also analyzed. Furthermore, metabolic strategies for strain improvement are systematically discussed, and conclusions and future perspectives for bio-based L-serine and L-cysteine production using C. glutamicum are presented. This review can provide a thorough understanding of L-serine and L-cysteine metabolic pathways to facilitate metabolic engineering modifications of C. glutamicum and development of more efficient industrial fermentation processes for L-serine and L-cysteine production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using animate nouns to refer to entities in the world involves a complex interaction of ontology, cognition and language. The present study evaluates two accounts of the use of animate nouns, with Mandarin Chinese as the vehicle for testing between the competing accounts. One account was proposed by Cheng et al. (2008. How universal is the Universal Grinder? In Marjo van Koppen & Bert Botma (eds.), Linguistics in the Netherlands, 50–62. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins). These researchers contend that the count interpretation is basic for Mandarin animate nouns, due to a lexical blocking effect. To access the alternative, mass interpretation requires some kind of pragmatic coercion. A second account was proposed by Pelletier, based on English (1975. Non-Singular reference: Some preliminaries. Philosophia 5(4). 451–465; 2012. Lexical nouns are both +MASS and +COUNT, but they are neither +MASS nor + COUNT. In Diane Massam (ed.), Count and mass across languages, 9–26. Oxford: Oxford University Press). We extend this account to Mandarin animate nouns, proposing that they are encoded in the mental lexicon with both a count sense and a mass sense. To adjudicate between the accounts, we conducted four experiments that were designed to assess the interpretation assigned to animate nouns by Mandarin-speaking children and adults. The experimental conditions manipulated both the syntactic structures of the sentences and the non-linguistic contexts in which those sentences were presented. The experimental findings support our proposal that both mass and count interpretations of animate nouns are available to children and adults when sentences are presented in contexts that are congruent with these interpretations. The findings also suggest that syntactic structure is an even more critical factor in determining the interpretation that is assigned to animate nouns in Mandarin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy targeting CLL1 has been considered a potent weapon for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of CLL1 CAR-T cell therapy in a larger cohort, with particular attention to cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Among the 32 patients assessed for efficacy, complete remission occurred in 71.88% (23/32) of cases and undetectable minimal residual disease in 14 patients. The CRS developed in all patients, with 8 individuals experiencing ICANS. Severe CRS and ICANS were observed in 11 and 2 patients, respectively. Furthermore, the Endothelial Activation and Stress Index (EASIX) and its derivatives measured before and after CLL1 CAR-T cell infusion were employed for predicting the severe complications. Significant differences were observed in EASIX scores on the day before lymphodepletion (Day BL, P = 0.023), −1 (P < 0.001), +1 (P < 0.001), and +3(P = 0.014); sEASIX scores on Day BL (P = 0.007), −1 (P < 0.001), +1 (P < 0.001), and +3 (P < 0.001); and mEASIX score on Day −1 (P = 0.004) between patients with mild and severe CRS/ICANS. Additionally, there was a significant difference in mEASIX scores between responders and non-responders on Day BL (P = 0.004) and Day −1 (P = 0.044). Our findings indicate that pre- and post-infusion assessments of EASIX/mEASIX/sEASIX scores serve as reliable prognostic indicators for severe CRS/ICANS and treatment response following CLL1 CAR-T cell therapy, which can assist physicians in implementing preemptive treatment strategies for potential severe complications and screening patients who are suitable candidates for CLL1 CAR-T cell therapy. EASIX/mEASIX/sEASIX scores serve as reliable prognostic indicators for severe CRS/ICANS following CLL1 CAR-T cell therapy. The preinfusion mEASIX scores of CLL1 CAR-T cells can effectively predict treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The seagrass Zostera japonica is a dramatically declined endemic species in the Northwestern Pacific from the (sub)tropical to temperate areas, however, it is also an introduced species along the Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia to northern California. Understanding the population's genetic patterns can inform the conservation and management of this species. Location: North Pacific. Methods: We used sequences of the nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and chloroplast trnK intron maturase (matK), and 24 microsatellite loci to survey 34 native and nonnative populations (>1000 individuals) of Z. japonica throughout the entire biogeographic range. We analysed the phylogeographic relationship, population genetic structure and genetic diversity of all populations and inferred possible origins and invasion pathways of the nonnative ones. Results: All markers revealed a surprising and significant deep divergence between northern and southern populations of Z. japonica in the native region separated by a well‐established biogeographical boundary. A secondary contact zone was found along the coasts of South Korea and Japan. Nonnative populations were found to originate from the central Pacific coast of Japan with multiple introductions from at least two different source populations, and secondary spread was likely aided by waterfowl. Main Conclusions: The divergence of the two distinct clades was likely due to the combined effects of historical isolation, adaptation to distinct environments and a contemporary physical barrier created by the Yangtze River, and the warm northward Kuroshio Current led to secondary contact after glacial separation. Existing exchanges among the nonnative populations indicate the potential for persistence and further expansion. This study not only helps to understand the underlying evolutionary potential of a widespread seagrass species following global climate change but also provides valuable insights for conservation and restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of bacterial resistance has become a matter of significant concern globally, prompting extensive research into the development and clinical application of aminoglycoside antibiotics (AGAs) as a crucial antibacterial therapy. One of the primary mechanisms contributing to aminoglycoside antibiotic resistance is the action of aminoglycoside modifying enzymes (AMEs), which modify aminoglycoside antibiotics and consequently confer drug resistance. Chemical modification of the AME action site can eliminate functional groups vulnerable to AMEs, thus improving drug resistance. This study involves the introduction of α‐hydroxy‐γ‐aminobutyric acid and amidine to the 1 and 6′ positions of sisomicin, respectively, to produce a range of 6′‐amidine modified sisomicin derivatives of AGAs. The research evaluates the antibacterial activity, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties, pharmacokinetic properties, cytotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and drug resistance of AGAs. The outcomes of this study are significant in terms of enriching the structural understanding of aminoglycosides, providing insight into their structure–activity relationship, and producing new AGAs with high antibacterial activity, low ototoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear pore complex (NPC) has multiple functions beyond the nucleo-cytoplasmic transport of large molecules. Subnuclear compartmentalization of chromatin is critical for gene expression in animals and yeast. However, the mechanism by which the NPC regulates gene expression is poorly understood in plants. Here we report that the Y-complex (Nup107–160 complex, a subcomplex of the NPC) self-maintains its nucleoporin homeostasis and modulates FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) transcription via changing histone modifications at this locus. We show that Y-complex nucleoporins are intimately associated with FLC chromatin through their interactions with histone H2A at the nuclear membrane. Fluorescence in situ hybridization assays revealed that Nup96, a Y-complex nucleoporin, enhances FLC positioning at the nuclear periphery. Nup96 interacted with HISTONE DEACETYLASE 6 (HDA6), a key repressor of FLC expression via histone modification, at the nuclear membrane to attenuate HDA6-catalyzed deposition at the FLC locus and change histone modifications. Moreover, we demonstrate that Y-complex nucleoporins interact with RNA polymerase II to increase its occupancy at the FLC locus, facilitating transcription. Collectively, our findings identify an attractive mechanism for the Y-complex in regulating FLC expression via tethering the locus at the nuclear periphery and altering its histone modification. The nuclear pore Y-complex acts as a functional compartmentalization platform for histone epigenetic modification at the FLOWERING LOCUS C locus conferring flowering regulation in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells for refractory or relapsed (r/r) B cell no-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients have shown promising clinical effectiveness. However, the factors impacting the clinical response of CAR-T therapy have not been fully elucidated. We here investigate the independent influencing factors of the efficacy of CD19 CAR-T cell infusion in the treatment of r/r B-NHL and to establish an early prediction model. Methods: A total of 43 r/r B-NHL patients were enrolled in this retrospective study. The patients' general data were recorded, and the primary endpoint is the patients' treatment response. The independent factors of complete remission (CR) and partial remission (PR) were investigated by univariate and binary logistic regression analysis, and the prediction model of the probability of CR was constructed according to the determined independent factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and calibration plot were used to assess the discrimination and calibration of the established model. Furthermore, we collected 15 participators to validate the model. Results: Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression analysis of 43 patients showed that the ratio of central memory T cell (Tcm) and naïve T cell (Tn) in cytotoxic T cells (Tc) was an independent risk factor for response to CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in r/r B-NHL. On this basis, the area under the curve (AUC) of Tcm in the Tc and Tn in the Tc nomogram model was 0.914 (95%CI 0.832–0.996), the sensitivity was 83%, and the specificity was 74.2%, which had excellent predictive value. We did not found the difference of the progression-free survival (PFS). Conclusions: The ratio of Tcm and Tn in Tc was found to be able to predict the treatment response of CD19 CAR-T cells in r/r B-NHL. We have established a nomogram model for the assessment of the CD19 CAR-T therapy response presented high specificity and sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: NRG1 fusion is a promising therapeutic target for various tumors but its prevalence is extremely low, and there are no standardized testing algorithms for genetic assessment. Mothods: In this study, we analyzed 3008 tumors using Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to screen for NRG1 translocation and p-HER3 expression. Results: Our results demonstrated no cases with p-HER3 positivity through IHC. Nonetheless, 29 cases (0.96%) were identified positive for NRG1 translocation through FISH, with three different signal types. FISH-positive cases were subsequently subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing. However, only eight of these cases were confirmed with NRG1 fusion through NGS. Notably, we divided FISH into three types and FISH type C group was consistent with NGS results. All NGS NRG1 fusion tumors were adenocarcinomas, with a higher prevalence in females. Our findings indicate that although FISH has limitations in screening NRG1 gene rearrangements, NRG1 fusions can be reliably detected with signals exhibiting low copy numbers of the 5'-end of the gene and no fusion signals. Conclusion: Considering the high cost of NGS, FISH remains a useful method for screening NRG1 fusions in various types of tumors. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms of NRG1 fusion and identifies potential treatment targets for patients suffering from this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

S100B is an essential biomarker in the early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of brain injury. However, the traditional clinical diagnostic assay for S100B detection requires a complex operation or large equipment, which limits its application for rapid point-of-care tests (POCT). This study aimed to establish a lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA) strip test system for S100B determination. PSS-MA-GoldMag nanoparticles were conjugated with anti-S100B antibodies as probes. Using this antibody-nanoparticle composite, an LFIA system based on magnetic quantification was established for S100B detection. For the evaluation of the performance of this LFIA system in clinical practice, 216 clinical samples were assayed using the LFIA test system and a commercial ECLI kit. Using the LFIA system, reliable results could be obtained in 30 min with a detection limit of 0.05 ng mL−1. The coefficient of variation (CV) was <13.8% and <14.03% for intra- and inter-assay precision, respectively. The recoveries were between 95.1 and 107.3%. The relative deviation of the interference experiments was <10%. In the analysis of clinical samples, the result indicated that the sera level of S100B in the detection group did not correlate with gender (p = 0.564 > 0.05) or age (p = 0.083 > 0.05). There is a good correlation between the novel method and the Elecsys®, with a determination coefficient of R2 0.9566, p > 0.05. The Bland–Altman analysis between the two ways shows that the 95% confidence bands between the two methods in measuring S100B were −0.27 ng mL−1 to +0.29 ng mL−1 with a mean difference of +0.006 ng mL−1. These results indicated that the novel LFIA system could be a simple, rapid, convenient, and accurate method for S100B determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the utilization of dual-arm robots has gained substantial prominence across various industries owing to their collaborative operational capabilities. In order to achieve collision avoidance and facilitate cooperative task completion, efficient path planning plays a pivotal role. The high dimensionality associated with collaborative task execution in dual-arm robots renders existing path planning methods ineffective for conducting efficient exploration. This paper introduces a multi-agent path planning reinforcement learning algorithm that integrates an experience replay strategy, a shortest-path constraint, and the policy gradient method. To foster collaboration and avoid competition between the robot arms, the proposed approach incorporates a mechanism known as "reward cooperation, punishment competition" during the training process. Our algorithm demonstrates strong performance in the control of dual-arm robots and exhibits the potential to mitigate the challenge of reward sparsity encountered during the training process. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through simulations and experiments, comparing the results with existing methods and showcasing its superiority in dual-arm robot path planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence, severity, and factors associated with multidimensional fatigue in Chinese patients with newly diagnosed meningiomas. This cross-sectional study included 120 Chinese meningioma patients. Data were collected before surgery, including demographic, clinical, psychological, and sleep characteristics, as well as fatigue scores based on completion of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20). Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis H tests, Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. The results showed there was a high prevalence of severe fatigue for each dimension: general fatigue (33.3%), physical fatigue (27.5%), reduced activity (28.3%), reduced motivation (12.5%), mental fatigue (11.7%), and total fatigue (23.3%). Headache and anxiety were found to be associated with general fatigue. Depression was related with physical fatigue. The Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score and depression were associated with reduced activity. Depression and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score were correlated with reduced motivation, while the KPS score and anxiety were associated with mental fatigue. Importantly, comorbidity, the KPS score, headache, depression, sleep disturbances, and the ESS score remained strong correlates of total fatigue. Our findings indicate that newly diagnosed meningioma patients are affected by multidimensional fatigue. For patients with risk factors of fatigue, targeted interventions are advised to decrease fatigue and improve HRQoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Photon counting spectral CT is a significant direction in the development of CT technology and material identification is an important application of spectral CT. However, spectrum estimation in photon counting spectral CT is highly complex and may affect quantification accuracy of material identification. OBJECTIVE: To address the problem of energy spectrum estimation in photon-counting spectral CT, this study investigates empirical material decomposition algorithms to achieve accurate quantitative decomposition of the effective atomic number. METHODS: The spectrum is first calibrated using the empirical dual-energy calibration (EDEC) method and the effective atomic number is then quantitatively estimated based on the EDEC method. The accuracy of estimating the effective atomic number of materials under different calibration conditions is investigated by designing different calibration phantoms, and accurate quantitation is achieved using suitable calibration settings. Last, the validity of this method is verified through simulations and experimental studies. RESULTS: The results demonstrate that the error in estimating the effective atomic number is reduced to within 4% for low and medium Z materials, thereby enabling accurate material identification. CONCLUSION: The empirical dual-energy correction method can solve the problem of energy spectrum estimation in photon counting spectral CT. Accurate effective atomic number estimation can be achieved with suitable calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application marketplaces collect ratings and reviews from users to provide references for other consumers. Many crowdturfing activities abuse user reviews to manipulate the reputation of an app and mislead other consumers. To understand and improve the ecosystem of reviews in the app market, we investigate the existence of crowdturfing based on the App Store. This paper reports a measurement study of crowdturfing and its reviews in the App Store. We use a sliding window to obtain the relationship graph between users and the community detection method to binary classify the detected communities. Then, we measure and analyze the crowdturfing obtained from the classification and compare them with genuine users. We analyze several features of crowdturfing, such as ratings, sentiment scores, text similarity, and common words. We also investigate which apps crowdturfing often appears in and reveal their role in app ranking. These insights are used as features in machine learning models, and the results show that they can effectively train classifiers and detect crowdturfing reviews with an accuracy of up to 98.13%. This study reveals malicious crowdfunding practices in the App Store and helps to strengthen the review security of app marketplaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non‐destructive inspection of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) through r‐ray Computer Tomography (CT) is a recently developed method that offers several advantages over traditional inspection techniques. This method is non‐invasive, quick, and offers high resolution, leading to significant improvements in inspection and repair efficiency. Post‐image analysis is an important step in PCB inspection and has important practical significance for automatic positioning and determining the location of faults. Usually, the results of image segmentation are an important basis for PCB defect detection, and accurate segmentation results can effectively improve the efficiency and accuracy of PCB inspection and increase the level of automation. This paper discusses two innovative improvements for the automatic segmentation process: firstly determining which slices of an x‐ray CT 3D PCB stack belong to which layer on a physical PCB in an automatic, generic and completely unsupervised way, which is verified on a 4‐layer PCB; secondly proposing a level set‐based image segmentation algorithm for the problem of gray scale inhomogeneity present in PCB CT. Experimental results on real PCB CT images with high aliasing and artifacts show that the proposed model can obtain better performance than the popular active contour models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave-absorbing materials have attracted extensive attention due to the development of electronic countermeasures. In this study, novel nanocomposites with core–shell structures based on the core of Fe-Co nanocrystals and the shell of furan methylamine (FMA)-modified anthracite coal (Coal-F) were designed and fabricated. The Diels-Alder (D-A) reaction of Coal-F with FMA creates a large amount of aromatic lamellar structure. After the high-temperature treatment, the modified anthracite with a high degree of graphitization showed an excellent dielectric loss, and the addition of Fe and Co effectively enhanced the magnetic loss of the obtained nanocomposites. In addition, the obtained micro-morphologies proved the core–shell structure, which plays a significant role in strengthening the interface polarization. As a result, the combined effect of the multiple loss mechanism promoted a remarkable improvement in the absorption of incident electromagnetic waves. The carbonization temperatures were specifically studied through a setting control experiment, and 1200 °C was proved to be the optimum parameter to obtain the best dielectric loss and magnetic loss of the sample. The detecting results show that the 10 wt.% CFC-1200/paraffin wax sample with a thickness of 5 mm achieves a minimum reflection loss of −41.6 dB at a frequency of 6.25 GHz, indicating an excellent microwave absorption performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanjiao, a term of traditional Chinese medicine, which consists of the upper, middle, and lower jiao, is a membrane system that encompasses the zangfu organs. We propose the idea that sanjiao is a four-way membranous channels, internally connecting with the micro-membrane of the zangfu organs, extending to the skin, muscles, tendons, bones, and joints, by which water and fluid is transferred from the upper jiao to the middle jiao, then to the lower jiao, countering the transfer of blood and essence to promote the qi movement and generate health-promoting nutrition. Pulmonary interstitial fibrosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by disorders of both joints and the lung, and it is a condition in which healthy qi deficiency occurs, with phlegm and blood or intertwined that blocks the joints and lung micro-membrane. In the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis, external evils, such as wind, cold, and damp, build up in the joints of the tendons and bones, and prolonged early-stage symptoms would cause phlegm production and blood stasis which may obstruct the joints. Phlegm turbidity and blood stasis remain in the sanjiao membranous channels and stagnate the pulmonary micro-membrane, which may cause the pulmonary interstitial disease. The sanjiao four-way membranous channels is the pathway for joint phlegm and blood stasis flowing to the lungs, and sanjiao obstruction can aggravate phlegm and blood stagnation. The treatment is based on the principle of dredging, transforming, and regulating sanjiao, selecting herbs for regulating qi, promoting blood circulation and expelling wind, and using drugs that tonify the lung, warm the kidney, turn to qi, and regulate the state of zangfu organ. This unblocks the sanjiao membranous channels and dissipates the phlegm and blood stasis turbidity evil of the obstructed lung micro-membrane, and it can effectively treat pulmonary interstitial fibrosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most frequent subtype of thyroid cancer, but 20% of cases are indeterminate (i.e., cannot be accurately diagnosed) based on preoperative cytology, which might lead to surgical removal of a normal thyroid gland. To address this concern, we performed an in-depth analysis of the serum proteomes of 26 PTC patients and 23 healthy controls using antibody microarrays and data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry (DIA-MS). We identified a total of 1091 serum proteins spanning 10–12 orders of magnitude. 166 differentially expressed proteins were identified that participate in complement activation, coagulation cascades, and platelet degranulation pathways. Furthermore, the analysis of serum proteomes before and after surgery indicated that the expression of proteins such as lactate dehydrogenase A and olfactory receptor family 52 subfamily B member 4, which participate in fibrin clot formation and extracellular matrix-receptor interaction pathways, were changed. Further analysis of the proteomes of PTC and neighboring tissues revealed integrin-mediated pathways with possible crosstalk between the tissue and circulating compartments. Among these cross-talk proteins, circulating fibronectin 1 (FN1), gelsolin (GSN) and UDP-glucose 4-epimerase (GALE) were indicated as promising biomarkers for PTC identification and validated in an independent cohort. In differentiating between patients with benign nodules or PTC, FN1 produced the best ELISA result (sensitivity = 96.89%, specificity = 91.67%). Overall, our results present proteomic landscapes of PTC before and after surgery as well as the crosstalk between tissue and the circulatory system, which is valuable to understand PTC pathology and improve PTC diagnostics in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in the mobile and intelligence industry have led to an explosion in the use of multiple smart devices such as smartphones, tablets, smart bracelets, etc. To achieve lasting security after initial authentication, many studies have been conducted to apply user authentication through behavioral biometrics. However, few of them consider continuous user authentication on multiple smart devices. In this paper, we investigate user authentication from a new perspective—continuous authentication on multi-devices, that is, continuously authenticating users after both initial access to one device and transfer to other devices. In contrast to previous studies, we propose a continuous user authentication method that exploits behavioral biometric identification on multiple smart devices. In this study, we consider the sensor data captured by accelerometer and gyroscope sensors on both smartphones and tablets. Furthermore, multi-device behavioral biometric data are utilized as the input of our optimized neural network model, which combines a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a long short-term memory (LSTM) network. In particular, we construct two-dimensional domain images to characterize the underlying features of sensor signals between different devices and then input them into our network for classification. In order to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of authentication on multiple devices, we introduce an adaptive confidence-based strategy by taking historical user authentication results into account. This paper evaluates the performance of our multi-device continuous user authentication mechanism under different scenarios, and extensive empirical results demonstrate its feasibility and efficiency. Using the mechanism, we achieved mean accuracies of 99.8% and 99.2% for smartphones and tablets, respectively, in approximately 2.3 s, which shows that it authenticates users accurately and quickly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Predominant roles of copper and its transporter, copper transporter 1 (CTR1), in tumorigenesis have been explored recently; however, the upstream regulation of CTR1 and combinational intervention of copper chelators in malignancies remain largely unclear. Methods: CRISPR/Cas9-based kinome screening was used to identify the CTR1 upstream kinases. Immunofluorescence assays were utilised to detect CTR1 localisation. In vitro kinase assays and mass spectrometry were performed to detect CTR1 phosphorylation. Ubiquitination assays were performed to validate CTR1 stability. Colony formation, EdU labelling, Annexin V-FITC/PI-based apoptosis assays were carried out to detect the drug effect on cell growth and apoptosis. Xenografted mouse models were employed to investigate drug effects in vivo. Results: We identify that CTR1 undergoes AMPK-mediated phosphorylation, which enhances CTR1 stabilisation and membrane translocation by affecting Nedd4l interaction, resulting in increased oncogenic roles in breast cancer. Importantly, activation of AMPK with its agonist metformin markedly enhances CTR1 levels, and leads to the combinational usage of AMPK agonists and copper chelators for breast cancer treatment. Conclusions: Our findings not only reveal the crosstalk between energy response and copper uptake via AMPK-mediated CTR1 phosphorylation and stability but also highlight the strategy to combat breast cancer by a combination of AMPK agonists and copper chelators. Significance: The connection between energy response and copper homoeostasis is linked by AMPK phosphorylating and stabilising CTR1, which provides a promising strategy to combat breast cancer by combining AMPK agonists and copper chelators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a common mental illness, which is related to monoamine neurotransmitters and the dysfunction of the cholinergic, immune, glutamatergic, and neuroendocrine systems. The hypothesis of monoamine neurotransmitters is one of the commonly recognized pathogenic mechanisms of depression; however, the drugs designed based on this hypothesis have not achieved good clinical results. A recent study demonstrated that depression and inflammation were strongly correlated, and the activation of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR)-mediated cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) in the cholinergic system exhibited good therapeutic effects against depression. Therefore, anti-inflammation might be a potential direction for the treatment of depression. Moreover, it is also necessary to further reveal the key role of inflammation and α7 nAChR in the pathogenesis of depression. This review focused on the correlations between inflammation and depression as well-discussed the crucial role of α7 nAChR in the CAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Pituitary adenomas (PAs) refers to a group of benign tumors that develop in the pituitary gland and are often characterized by fatigue. However, fatigue has not been documented in any Chinese research involving people with primary PA. The study sought to examine the prevalence, predictors, and correlation of fatigue with the quality of life (QoL) among PA patients in China. Methods. In total, 203 primary PA patients were included in this cross-sectional study. A series of questionnaires were administered, including the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory Brain Tumor (MDASI-BT), Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data analysis was accomplished by Pearson or Spearman correlations, linear regression, and simple path analysis. Results. Severe fatigue prior to the initial diagnosis and preparation for surgery affected 50% of PA patients. Depression, sleep disturbance, and MDASI-BT symptom total scores were independently able to predict patient fatigue. Sleep disturbance mediates the influence of depression on fatigue (IE sleep = 0.296, 95% CI: LB = 0.148 to UB = 0.471). Conclusions. Chinese patients with primary PA often report experiencing fatigue. Depression and poor sleep quality were shown to be significant contributors to PA patients' fatigue. Depression affects PA patients' fatigue directly or indirectly. Medical professionals should take a proactive approach to PA patients suffering from fatigue before initial diagnosis and preoperative preparation to determine necessary interventions early, thus reducing fatigue and ultimately enhancing their QoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease, and topical sequential therapy with a combination of calcipotriol and calcipotriol betamethasone is currently approved topical treatment. However, the exact mechanism by which this treatment regimen relieves psoriasis is unknown. We assembled a cohort of 65 psoriasis patients and divided post-treatment cohort into responder group and non-responder group according to the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score after 12-week treatment. We measured the expression levels of proteins in collected 130 serum samples using our in-depth proteomics platform with a data-independent acquisition mass spectrometer and antibody microarray. We performed bioinformatics analyses of the biologic processes and signaling pathways that were changed in the responder group and constructed a proteomics landscape of psoriasis pathogenesis response to treatment. We then validated the biomarkers of disease severity in an independent cohort of 88 samples using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We first identified 174 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) for comparative analysis of proteins between responders and non-responders at baseline (p < 0.05). Then pathway analysis showed that the responders focused more on signaling molecules and interaction, complement and coagulation cascades, whereas the non-responders more on signal transduction and IL-17 signaling pathways. We further identified four candidate biomarkers (COLEC11, C1QA, BNC2, ITIH4) response to treatment. We also found 125 DEPs (p < 0.05) after treatment compared with before treatment in responder group. Pathway analysis showed an enrichment in pathways related to complement and coagulation cascades, phagosome, ECM-receptor interaction, cholesterol metabolism, vitamin digestion and absorption. CD14 was validated as potential biomarkers for the disease severity of psoriasis and treatment targets. In this work, we analyzed the response to topical sequential therapy and finally identified four biomarkers. Additionally, we found that topical sequential therapy may alleviate psoriasis by regulating lipid metabolism and modulating the immune response by affecting the complement activation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coherent beam combining technology applied to multiple vortex beams is a promising method to generate high-power vortex beams. We utilize the coherent combination of multiple Laguerre-Gaussian beams at the waist plane and propose theoretically a practical generation system for a high-power beam carrying orbital angular momentum by considering oblique incidence. The results demonstrate that the orbital angular momentum distribution of the combined field is similar to that of a single Laguerre-Gaussian beam within the Rayleigh length. Moreover, the combined field has relativistic intensity local spots that exhibit stable spatial propagation. The proposed system may potentially be applied to intense vortical fields, large scale nuclear fusion device, such as suppressing stimulated Raman scattering and filamentation when a laser beam propagates in plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the status and change trend of forest in China, an indicator framework was developed using SDG sub-indicators. In this paper, we propose an improved methodology and a set of workflows for calculating SDG indicators. The main modification include the use of moderate and high spatial resolution satellite data, as well as state-of-the-art machine learning techniques for forest cover classification and estimation of forest above-ground biomass (AGB). This research employs GF-1 and GF-2 data with enhanced texture information to map forest cover, while time series Landsat data is used to estimate forest AGB across the whole territory of China. The study calculate two SDG sub-indicators: SDG15.1.1 for forest area and SDG15.2.1 for sustainable forest management. The evaluation results showed that the total forest area in China was approximately 219 million hectares at the end of 2021, accounting for about 23.51% of the land area. The average annual forest AGB from 2015 to 2021 was estimated to be 105.01Mg/ha, and the overall trend of forest AGB change in China was positive, albeit with some spatial differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of bipartite synchronization is addressed for discrete-time networks with antagonistic interactions via hybrid control with impulsive effects. Firstly, a hybrid state-feedback controller, which combines a pinning state-feedback controller and an impulsive state-feedback controller, is presented, and the criterion of the bipartite synchronization is derived by applying the average impulsive interval method. Secondly, for the case of the network states not all being measured, a hybrid measurement-feedback controller, which combines a pinning measurement-feedback controller and a pinning impulsive measurement-feedback controller, is proposed. The time-varying Lyapunov function method is utilized to design the hybrid measurement-feedback controller such that the bipartite synchronization is realized. Finally, some numerical simulations are performed to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed controller design methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection (CAEBV) is a rare but life-threatening progressive disease. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) is the best choice as sometimes HLA-matched donor is not accessible. However, graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) following transplantation remains a major cause of treatment failure and elevated mortality. Post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has recently emerged for effective GVHD prophylaxis in a haploidentical setting in many hematologic malignancies. Here, we report the performance of PTCy for GVHD prophylaxis in a series of CEABV patients treated with haplo-HSCT.Methods: Consecutive pediatric CAEBV patients who were treated with haplo-HSCT and give PTCy for GVHD prophylaxis were analyzed. 1-year GVHD and relapse-free survival (GRFS), overall survival (OS) and cumulative incidence of moderate-to-severe chronic GVHD (cGVHD) were estimated.Results: A total of 8 patients ranging from 2 to 15 years old were included. Among them, 4 patients had early complications after haplo-HSCT. Counts of T-cell subsets increased within 6 months post transplantation, indicating an immune reconstitution. Only 1 patient developed grade II acute GVHD, and 2 patients had moderate cGVHD. One patient died from diffuse alveolar hemorrhage within the first year after transplantation. The 1-year GRFS rate, OS rate and cumulative incidence of moderate-to-severe cGVHD were 62.5%, 87.5% and 25.0%, respectively.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that, among CAEBV patients treated with haplo-HSCT, PTCy may be an alternative choice for the prevention of GVHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Macrosomia is closely associated with poor maternal and fetal outcome. But there is short of studies on the risk of macrosomia in early pregnancy. The purpose of this study is to establish a nomogram for predicting macrosomia in the first trimester.Methods: A case-control study involving 1549 pregnant women was performed. According to the birth weight of newborn, the subjects were divided into macrosomia group and non-macrosomia group. The risk factors for macrosomia in early pregnancy were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. A nomogram was used to predict the risk of macrosomia.Results: The prevalence of macrosomia was 6.13% (95/1549) in our hospital. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that prepregnancy overweight (OR: 2.13 95% CI: 1.18-3.83)/obesity (OR: 3.54, 95% CI: 1.56-8.04), multiparity (OR:1.88, 95% CI: 1.16-3.04), the history of macrosomia (OR: 36.97, 95% CI: 19.90-68.67), the history of GDM/DM (OR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.31-3.98), the high levels of HbA1c (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.00-3.10) and TC (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.00-1.84) in the first trimester were the risk factors of macrosomia. The area under ROC (the receiver operating characteristic) curve of the nomogram model was 0.807 (95% CI: 0.755-0.859). The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 0.716 and 0.777, respectively.Conclusion: The nomogram model provides an effective mothed for clinicians to predict macrosomia in the first trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With advances in networks, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things, humanoid robots are rising in many areas, including elderly care, companion, education, and services in public sectors. Given their sensing and communication functionality, information leakage and unauthorized access will be of big concern. Very often, authentication techniques for service robots, especially those related to behavioral identification, have been developed, in which behavior models are created using raw data from sensors. However, behavioral-based authentication and re-authentication is still an open area for research, including cold start problems, accuracy, and uncertainty. This paper proposes a hierarchical implicit authentication system by joint built-in sensors and trust evaluation, coined sAuth, which exploits sensor data-based sliding window trust model to identify the service robot and its expected users. In order to mitigate the fluctuations of identification results in the real world environment, the trust evaluation is computed via combining the weighted intermediate identification probability of various small sliding windows. The performance of sAuth is evaluated under different scenarios where we show that (i) approximately 5–7% higher accuracy and 2–18% lower equal error rate can be achieved by our method compared to other works; and (ii) the hierarchical scheme with joint sensors and trust sliding windows improves the authentication accuracy significantly by comparing it with only sensor-based authentication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic relapsing–remitting inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that are typically categorized into two subtypes: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Although MSCs therapy has achieved encouraging outcomes in IBD therapy, objective responses are limited in colon fibrosis stenosis owing to the complicated microenvironment of CD and MSCs heterogeneity of quality. Here, we chose IFN-γ and kynurenic acid (KYNA) to overcome the low response and heterogeneity of human adipose-derived MSCs (hADSCs) to treat IBD and expand the therapeutic effects based on the excellent ability of IFN-γ and KYNA to promote indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1) signaling, providing a potential protocol to treat IBD and fibrosis disease. Methods: hADSCs were isolated, cultured, and identified from human abdominal adipose tissue. The CD pathology-like acute colitis and chronic colon fibrosis rat model was induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzen sulfonic acid (TNBS). hADSCs were pretreated in vitro with IFN-γ and KYNA and then were transplanted intravenously at day 1 and 3 of TNBS administration in colitis along with at day 1, 15, and 29 of TNBS administration in chronic colonic fibrosis. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by body weights, disease activity index, pathological staining, real-time PCR, Western blot, and flow cytometry. For knockout of IDO-1, hADSCs were transfected with IDO-1-targeting small gRNA carried on a CRISPR-Cas9-lentivirus vector. Results: hADSCs treated with IFN-γ and KYNA significantly upregulated the expression and secretion of IDO-1, which has effectively ameliorated CD pathology-like colitis injury and fibrosis. Notably, the ability of hADSCs with IDO-1 knockout to treat colitis was significantly impaired and diminished the protective effects of the primed hADSCs with IFN-γ and KYNA. Conclusion: Inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ- and KYNA-treated hADSCs more effectively alleviate TNBS-induced colitis and colonic fibrosis through an IDO-1-dependent manner. Primed hADSCs are a promising new strategy to improve the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs and worth further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power transmission and transformation projects (PTTPs) under new energy grid connections are different from ordinary engineering construction projects. With large investment amounts, various supporting facilities, and high safety and quality requirements, PTTPs are vulnerable to the volatility of new energy power generation, climate, geological conditions, geopolitical environment, technological changes, and other kinds of uncertain factors. Therefore, the investment risk of PTTPs under new energy grid connection is particularly considerable in the project management. For the owner of PTTPs, adopting the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) mode is an effective attempt to solve the project construction problems faced by the owners. Thus, this paper deeply excavates the key risk points of PTTPs in the initial investment phase under the EPC mode and constructs the novel risk evaluation index system from the perspectives of economy, management, policy, society, and environment. An assessment model is established based on triangle fuzzy number-hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTS-TFNs), the entropy method, and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, which is used to evaluate the investment risk of PTTPs to provide reference for power grid corporations to control project risks. Finally, a case study in the Hexi Corridor region, Gansu Province, China, is illustrated to demonstrate the rationality of the decision model and find management risks are the most vital risk factors for PTTPs under EPC mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stigma, besides aggravating the damage caused by the disease, may also lead to unhealthy characteristics in patients and unhealthy situations in society. Individuals with acromegaly disease may suffer from stigma concerns, and the associated factors remain largely unknown. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the levels of perceived stigma in patients with acromegaly and explore the associated factors. Methods: A total of 138 patients with acromegaly were evaluated for having stigma using five previously validated scales: (i) the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness, (ii) the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, (iii) the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, (iv) the Body Image Concern scale, and (v) the Acromegaly Quality of Life scale. The potential determinants of stigma were evaluated using the univariate statistical analysis. A multivariate linear regression model was adopted to assess the predictors of stigma in patients with acromegaly. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between stigma and the quality of life of the patients. Results: Among the 138 respondents, 102 provided consent for participation.The evaluated patients exhibited critically high levels of perceived stigma. The multiple regression analysis revealed high BMI, serious body image concerns, inferiority complex personality, and critical levels of anxiety as the potential predictors of stigma in patients with acromegaly. The overall stigma and internalized stigma were significantly correlated with QoL in these patients. Conclusion: The patients with acromegaly exhibited critically high levels of perceived stigma, which led to psychological distress and disruptions in their daily lives. This finding highlights the importance of addressing the stigma concerns and the necessity for providing additional support to these patients in this regard during follow-up sessions. Further research should focus on developing intervention strategies to decrease the levels of perceived stigma in patients with acromegaly to promote their quality of life and for the psychosocial rehabilitation of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• IFN-γ-induced microglial priming in hippocampus impairs social memory. • IFN-γ disrupts hippocampal microglia-neuron interactions via STAT1 pathway. • Priming of hippocampal microglia results in dysfunction of neural circuit link to social behaviors. Social behavior is inextricably linked to the immune system. Although IFN-γ is known to be involved in social behavior, yet whether and how it encodes social memory remains unclear. In the current study, we injected with IFN-γ into the lateral ventricle of male C57BL/6J mice, and three-chamber social test was used to examine the effects of IFN-γ on their social preference and social memory. The morphology of microglia in the hippocampus, prelimbic cortex and amygdala was examined using immunohistochemistry, and the phenotype of microglia were examined using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The IFN-γ-injected mice were treated with lipopolysaccharide, and effects of IFN-γ on behavior and microglial responses were evaluated. STAT1 pathway and microglia-neuron interactions were examined in vivo or in vitro using western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Finally, we use STAT1 inhibitor or minocycline to evaluated the role of STAT1 in mediating the microglial priming and effects of primed microglia in IFN-γ-induced social dysfunction. We demonstrated that 500 ng of IFN-γ injection results in significant decrease in social index and social novelty recognition index, and induces microglial priming in hippocampus, characterized by enlarged cell bodies, shortened branches, increased expression of CD68, CD86, CD74, CD11b, CD11c, CD47, IL-33, IL-1β, IL-6 and iNOS, and decreased expression of MCR1, Arg-1, IGF-1 and BDNF. This microglia subpopulation is more sensitive to LPS challenge, which characterized by more significant morphological changes and inflammatory responses, as well as induced increased sickness behaviors in mice. IFN-γ upregulated pSTAT1 and STAT1 and promoted the nuclear translocation of STAT1 in the hippocampal microglia and in the primary microglia. Giving minocycline or STAT1 inhibitor fludarabin blocked the priming of hippocampal microglia induced by IFN-γ, ameliorated the dysfunction in hippocampal microglia-neuron interactions and synapse pruning by microglia, thereby improving social memory deficits in IFN-γ injected mice. IFN-γ initiates STAT1 pathway to induce priming of hippocampal microglia, thereby disrupts hippocampal microglia-neuron interactions and neural circuit link to social memory. Blocking STAT1 pathway or inhibiting microglial priming may be strategies to reduce the effects of IFN-γ on social behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the change in the angular momentum of a vortex beam after reflection from a relativistic flying mirror is investigated. This change is determined by performing full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The results confirm that the spin angular momentum and linear momentum carried by the reflected beam are collinear. In addition, we show that the orbital angular momentum is not collinear with the linear momentum carried by the reflected beam owing to the Doppler effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the fire safety of tunnels is attracting more and more attention with the utility tunnel springing up in major cities of China. Faced with challenges from fires in utility tunnels, fire risk analysis is critical and essential to discover the weaknesses of risk. It serves as the foundation of regulatory decision-making on whether to take appropriate measures to reduce risk. This study combines a Bayesian network (BN) model and a bow-tie (BT) method to propose a fire risk analysis method to predict the probability of cable fire in utility tunnels. First, cable fire risk factors and five potential accident scenarios are analyzed by BT method; Second, to avoid the influence of uncertain factors in BT, the optimized BN model is applied to the prediction analysis of cable fire probability, which can consider the actual development of cable fire in utility tunnel. This novel approach can better reveal the causal relationship between events and determine the critical basic events by sensitivity analysis. Finally, the probability of cable fire ignition occurrence and scenarios probabilities are periodically updated using the cumulative information collected during a time interval. The results show that this approach can assist in dealing with the uncertainty problem in utility tunnel and the optimized model is more in line with the reality by comparing the results before model optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing methods of human parsing still face a challenge: how to extract the accurate foreground from similar or cluttered scenes effectively. In this paper, we propose a Grammar-induced Wavelet Network (GWNet), to deal with the challenge. GWNet mainly consists of two modules, including a blended grammar-induced module and a wavelet prediction module. We design the blended grammar-induced module to exploit the relationship of different human parts and the inherent hierarchical structure of a human body by means of grammar rules in both cascaded and paralleled manner. In this way, conspicuous parts, which are easily distinguished from the background, can amend the segmentation of inconspicuous ones, improving the foreground extraction. We also design a Part-aware Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (PCRNN) to pass messages which are generated by grammar rules. To further improve the performance, we propose a wavelet prediction module to capture the basic structure and the edge details of a person by decomposing the low-frequency and high-frequency components of features. The low-frequency component can represent the smooth structures and the high-frequency components can describe the fine details. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate GWNet on PASCAL-Person-Part, LIP, and PPSS datasets. GWNet obtains state-of-the-art performance on these human parsing datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the antifouling properties of thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes containing two water-stable metal–organic cages (MOCs). The MOC-containing TFN membranes possess excellent antifouling properties against positively-charged foulants and protein (BSA, up to 99.7% water permeability retention) and achieve up to 100% water permeability recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to map the task of reliable transmission of wireless sensor networks. At the same time, this paper transforms the mapping problem of wireless sensor networks into a problem of reducing the energy consumption of mapping under many constraints such as reliability and scheduling length and uses discrete particle swarm optimization algorithm to map. For optimization, the algorithm performs iterative calculations to obtain the best mapping node for each operation so that the inertia coefficient of the existing particle swarm optimization algorithm is improved and linearly minimized with the number of iterations. When resource-demanding tasks need to allocate dynamic resources to multiple nodes to complete collaboratively, adding the mapping principle of the nearest node in the discrete particle swarm optimization mapping reduces the energy consumption of communication between tasks. An in-depth analysis of the influencing factors of the ice and snow tourism market shows that the per capita disposable income of urban residents and the number of urban residents have a significant impact on the ice and snow tourism market demand. In addition, regression analysis and demand-based forecasting are important methods to analyze the scale and development trend of tourism. At the same time, it shows an important position in the purpose of urban tourism and regional market share so as to provide a basis for decision-making in tourism destination marketing. This paper mainly studies and analyzes the wireless sensor network and further introduces it into dynamic resource allocation and ice and snow tourism, which can promote the continuous development of dynamic resource allocation and ice and snow tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary GPS traces collected by IoT‐enabled vehicle sensors are highly informative and exploitable in the area of human mobility analysis and traffic control. In this work, we focus on generating effective bus routes and networks by analyzing and exploiting the Taxi GPS trajectories. Specifically, we develop a novel framework for yielding potential bus stations by analyzing passenger boarding and getting spots collected by IoT‐enabled vehicle sensors, a novel ant‐colony‐based heuristic for generating serving routes and further for yielding the bus network. For the model validation purpose, we perform extensive simulations upon a dataset of metropolitan traveling traces and illustrate that our approach definitely beats state‐of‐the‐art ones in terms of the number of people served. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Macrosomia is closely associated with poor maternal and fetal outcome. But there is short of studies on the risk of macrosomia in early pregnancy. The purpose of this study is to establish a nomogram for predicting macrosomia in the first trimester. Methods: A case-control study involving 1549 pregnant women was performed. According to the birth weight of newborn, the subjects were divided into macrosomia group and non-macrosomia group. The risk factors for macrosomia in early pregnancy were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. A nomogram was used to predict the risk of macrosomia. Results: The prevalence of macrosomia was 6.13% (95/1549) in our hospital. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that prepregnancy overweight (OR: 2.13 95% CI: 1.18–3.83)/obesity (OR: 3.54, 95% CI: 1.56–8.04), multiparity (OR:1.88, 95% CI: 1.16–3.04), the history of macrosomia (OR: 36.97, 95% CI: 19.90–68.67), the history of GDM/DM (OR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.31–3.98), the high levels of HbA1c (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.00–3.10) and TC (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.00–1.84) in the first trimester were the risk factors of macrosomia. The area under ROC (the receiver operating characteristic) curve of the nomogram model was 0.807 (95% CI: 0.755–0.859). The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 0.716 and 0.777, respectively. Conclusion: The nomogram model provides an effective mothed for clinicians to predict macrosomia in the first trimester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aims to analyze the elements that affect corporate green technology innovation and investigate a method suitable for predicting and evaluating corporate performance. First, the elements of green technology innovation and their relationships are analyzed and explained. Then, the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory is introduced. On this basis, a computer model for the driving mechanism system of corporate green technology innovation is constructed on the Recursive Porus Agent Simulation (Repast) platform. Finally, the Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) model is optimized by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), constituting the PSO-BPNN algorithm to evaluate corporate performance. The results of network training and simulation demonstrate that compared with traditional BPNN, PSO-BPNN achieve a faster convergence speed and fewer errors. Besides, the actual output value has a tiny difference from the expected value, showing the application potential of this algorithm in corporate performance prediction. Moreover, the driving factors of green technology innovation greatly affect the profitability and performance of enterprises. Given insufficient corporate profit margin, continuous technological innovation activities can ensure the normal operation of enterprises. A smaller corporate tax rate can shorten the time for the system to reach equilibrium. When the corporate tax rate is above 0.2, the system takes longer to reach equilibrium. In addition, the public opinion coefficient directly affects the time needed for the system to attain equilibrium. When the public opinion coefficient is within 50,00 ~ 6,000 interval, the time that the system takes to reach equilibrium changes significantly. Furthermore, corporate internal and external driving factors have a direct effect on corporate green technology innovation and performance. The research findings indicate that the PSO-BPNN algorithm is of vital practical value to corporate performance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aromatic structure of three different-rank vitrinites, V-YJL (Ro =0.61%), V-AW (Ro =1.13%), and V-JC (Ro =2.22%), was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM). Based on the HRTEM experimental results, it was found that with vitrinite reflectance increasing, the distributions of aromatic layers changed from disordered to well-aligned. The shapes of aromatic layers changed from twisted to more straight and parallel. In addition, there were more large-sized aromatic layers in vitrinite samples with larger vitrinite reflectance. XRD experimental data also showed that the sizes (La, Lc and N) of vitrinite crystallite structures increased and the inter-layer spacing (d002) decreased with increasing the vitrinite reflectance, which was consistent with the HRTEM data. AFM images illustrated that the surface morphologies of V-YJL, V-AW, and V-JC vitrinite samples showed as granule-like structure, compact spherical clusters, and irregular network with granular structure. Through comprehensive analysis of HRTEM data, XRD data, and AFM data, it was found that the morphology of the vitrinite samples obtained by AFM was related to the aromatic structural features of vitrinite from HRTEM and XRD. Both the aromatic chemical structure and morphological structure were coal rank dependent, and greatly affected by the arrangement of heterogeneous atoms. This study can provide helpful information on aromatic structure of vitrinite, which is important for investigation of coal and coal clean utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal nutrition can influence the composition of human breastmilk by altering the components that are sensitive to maternal diet pattern. Traditional Tibetan maternal diet pattern among native rural lactating women possesses distinct characteristics due to its unique geographical environment and dietary habits. This study investigated maternal diet pattern and human breastmilk composition of Tibetan lactating women through different lactation stages during the first month postpartum in Shigatse. The results indicated that Tibetan maternal diet profile was apparently monotonous, mainly sufficient in Zanba, buttered tea, red meat, and fatty soup, yet insufficient in white meat, eggs, leafy vegetables, and fruits, leading to imperfect maternal nutritional intakes with high‐level carbohydrates and deficient proteins. Distinctions of maternal diet profiles in various degrees can be discovered upon different lactation stages, which brings multiple influences to the composition of human milk. There was significantly weak‐to‐medium correlation of protein contents between maternal diet intakes and human milk, while other macronutrients correlated insignificantly. Micronutrient constituents in human milk, involving functional unsaturated fatty acids and free essential amino acids, were also impacted by maternal diet intakes through different lactation stages. These results show that more systematic and profound research is requisite for the clarification and development of Tibetan maternal diet to offer more enhanced and individualized nutritional recommendations for Tibetan lactating women and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet laser driven radiation pressure acceleration of Cu crystals is investigated by using particle-in-cell simulations. When an ultrathin Cu crystal is irradiated by a circularly polarized pulse with wavelength λ = 72 nm, waist radius w 0 = 4 λ , and normalized magnitude a 0 = 20 (energy of 85 mJ), a plasma with a lattice structure is generated first. Then, an acceleration field of 14.2 TV/cm can be induced by the radiation pressure of the ultraviolet pulse in the target, which is about one order of magnitude larger than that of optical lasers for the same a0, and the lattice structure exerts effect on the acceleration only in the vicinity of the optimal target thickness. As a result, a quasi-monoenergetic Cu ion beam of energy of 5 GeV (75 MeV/nucleon), a charge of 0.12 nC, and the emittance of 7 × 10 − 9 m rad can be produced, which implies that using ultraviolet lasers instead of optical lasers should turn down the size and emittance of ion sources by orders lower than that of optical lasers. Therefore, a high-performance ion source is produced, which may have potential applications in medical therapy and ion radiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a common disease of the digestive system and probiotics have been reported to be effective in the treatment of functional gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the beverage containing Lactobacillus paracasei LC-37 (LC-37) and its ability to relieve symptoms of FD by a randomized clinical trial. Due to the mechanistic complexity underlying FD, intestinal microbiota and stool metabolomes were also evaluated. The results showed that FD was relieved in participants after treatment with the beverage containing LC-37 for 14 and 28 d. The clinical symptom scores were significantly decreased after these times (abdominal pain and belching were significantly decreased after 14 d and almost absent after 28 d of treatment). Probiotics, such as those containing the Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, and Weissella , significantly increased, and the abundance of harmful bacteria such as Lachnocliostridium significantly decreased. Furthermore, relevant beneficial intestinal metabolites such as pelargonic acid, benzoic acid, and short-chain fatty acids increased, and harmful intestinal metabolites such as hippuric acid decreased. Taken together, these findings suggested that the beverages containing LC-37 can increase the abundance of probiotics and decrease pathogenic bacteria, and thereby improve beneficial intestinal metabolites. Therefore, the beverages containing LC-37 may provide a natural alternative to combat FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High harmonic generation (HHG) is an ideal probing source. In general, all harmonics are coupled with the corresponding input laser when generated, and for applications, they are separated using additional spectrometers. Herein, we report the angular isolation of relativistic harmonics at a predicted emission angle upon generation and, most importantly, a new phase-matching chain selection rule is derived to generate harmonics. Based on the laser plasma mechanism involving two non-collinear relativistic driving lasers, the nth harmonic carrying the information of both input lasers originates from its adjacent (n – 1)th harmonic coupled with one of the input lasers. Meanwhile, the intensity and emission angle of the generated isolated harmonic are both greatly increased compared with those in the gas scheme. These results are satisfactorily verified by theoretical analysis and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, which have physical significance and are essential for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To build a risk prediction model of gestational diabetes mellitus using nomogram to provide a simple-to-use clinical basis for the early prediction of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study is a prospective cohort study including 1385 pregnant women. (1) It is showed that the risk of GDM in women aged ≥ 35 years was 5.5 times higher than that in women aged < 25 years (95% CI: 1.27–23.73, p < 0.05). In the first trimester, the risk of GDM in women with abnormal triglyceride who were in their first trimester was 2.1 times higher than that of lipid normal women (95% CI: 1.12–3.91, p < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve of the nomogram of was 0.728 (95% CI: 0.683–0.772), the sensitivity and specificity of the model were 0.716 and 0.652, respectively. This study provides a simple and economic nomogram for the early prediction of GDM risk in the first trimester, and it has certain accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many methods have united low-level and high-level features to generate the desired accurate high-resolution prediction for human parsing. Nevertheless, there exists a semantic-spatial gap between low-level and high-level features in some methods, i.e., high-level features represent more semantics and less spatial details, while low-level ones have less semantics and more spatial details. In this paper, we propose a Semantic-Spatial Fusion Network (SSFNet) for human parsing to shrink the gap, which generates the accurate high-resolution prediction by aggregating multi-resolution features. SSFNet includes two models, a semantic modulation model and a resolution-aware model. The semantic modulation model guides spatial details with semantics and then effectively facilitates the feature fusion, narrowing the gap. The resolution-aware model sufficiently boosts the feature fusion and obtains multi-receptive-fields, which generates reliable and fine-grained high-resolution features for each branch, in bottom-up and top-down processes. Extensive experiments on three public datasets, PASCAL-Person-Part, LIP and PPSS, show that SSFNet achieves significant improvements over state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]