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The corneal epithelium is the outermost transparent barrier of the eyeball and undergoes continuous self‐renewal by limbal stem cells (LSCs) during its lifetime; however, the impact of aging on LSCs remains largely unknown. Here, we showed that the healing ability of the cornea in elderly macaques (Macaca fascicularis) was significantly decreased compared to that of younger macaques. This delayed wound closure accompanied a disordered cell arrangement and corneal opacity. A novel cytokine, Secreted and Transmembrane 1 (SECTM1), was found to facilitate corneal healing and was upregulated in young macaques upon wounding. Mechanistically, SECTM1 is essential for LSC migration and proliferation, and may partially function through Cell Division Cycle Associated 7 (CDCA7). Notably, the topical application of SECTM1 to aged wounded corneas dramatically promoted re‐epithelialization and improved corneal transparency in both mice and macaques. Our work suggests that aging may impair the expression of healing response factors and injury repair in non‐human primate corneas, and that SECTM1 application could potentially benefit corneal wound healing in clinical treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing experience of international students has attracted increasing academic attention in recent years. Australia's large international student population is largely reliant on lightly-regulated private rental housing, a market sector subject to extreme turbulence during COVID-19. However, while aspects of Australian student housing stress during the pandemic have been already investigated, the specific issues affecting a substantial component of the broader cohort have yet to be examined. Around 130,000 Australian international students were stranded overseas for two years (2020-22) by international border closures. Their experiences cast new light on vulnerable renter precarity in lightly-regulated markets. Via an online survey and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the challenges posed for stranded international students in terms of their Australian tenancies, and how these were handled. Three main findings emerge: 1) uncertainty deriving from travel restrictions reduced student bargaining power in the rental market; 2) inability to terminate leases, unfavourable rent negotiation outcomes and welfare exclusion caused serious financial stress; and 3) widespread subletting exposed students to eviction and exploitation. These findings foreground important downsides of Australia's long-existing neoliberal university regime and inadequate student housing provision that endanger the fundamental purposes of higher education, and risk tarnishing Australia's reputation as an international student destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super-Eddington accretion of neutron stars (NSs) has been suggested both observationally and theoretically. In this paper, we propose that NSs in close-orbit binary systems with companions of helium (He) stars, most of which systems form after the common-envelope phase, could experience super-Eddington stable Case BB/BC mass transfer (MT), and can sometimes undergo accretion-induced collapse (AIC), resulting in the formation of lower mass-gap black holes (mgBHs). Our detailed binary evolution simulations reveal that AIC events tend to happen if the primary NSs have an initial mass |${\gtrsim} 1.7\, {\rm M}_\odot$| with a critical accretion rate of ≳300 times the Eddington limit. These mgBHs would have a mass nearly equal to or slightly higher than the NS maximum mass. The remnant mgBH–NS binaries after the core collapses of He stars are potential progenitors of gravitational-wave (GW) sources. Multimessenger observations between GW and kilonova signals from a population of high-mass binary NS and mgBH–NS mergers formed through super-Eddington stable MT are helpful in constraining the maximum mass and equation of state of NSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stop-jump landing maneuvers are a particularly common source of injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The objective of this study is to determine which kinematic and kinetic parameters contributed to greater ACL strains during stop-jump landings. A combined in vivo /computational modeling approach was used to simulate stop-jump landing activity. Motion capture data from five human participants performing a non-injurious stop-jump landing were used to compute subject- specific muscle forces and 3D kinematics of the knee. These outputs were subsequently used to simulate the activity on a validated computational model of the knee. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine which variables significantly affected the strain in the ACL. The resulting average peak ACL strain during the activity was 7.9 ±2.4%. A bivariate correlation study found that there was a strong correlation between ACL strain and the knee range of flexion during the period from ground contact to peak ground reaction force (GRF) time (R = −0.81, p = 0.08). Neither the quadriceps force nor the instantaneous knee flexion angle during landing or peak GRF was strongly correlated to ACL strain. The results show that strain in the ACL during stop-jump landing could be reduced by increasing the knee range of flexion over time during the landing phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a highly enantioselective intermolecular C−H bond silylation catalyzed by a phosphoramidite‐ligated iridium catalyst. Under reagent‐controlled protocols, propargylsilanes resulting from C(sp3)−H functionalization, as well the regioisomeric and synthetically versatile allenylsilanes, could be obtained with excellent levels of enantioselectivity and good to excellent control of propargyl/allenyl selectivity. In the case of unsymmetrical dialkyl acetylenes, good to excellent selectivity for functionalization at the less‐hindered site was also observed. A variety of electrophilic silyl sources (R3SiOTf and R3SiNTf2), either commercial or in situ‐generated, were used as the silylation reagents, and a broad range of simple and functionalized alkynes, including aryl alkyl acetylenes, dialkyl acetylenes, 1,3‐enynes, and drug derivatives were successfully employed as substrates. Detailed mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations suggest that an η3‐propargyl/allenyl Ir intermediate is generated upon π‐complexation‐assisted deprotonation and undergoes outer‐sphere attack by the electrophilic silylating reagent to give propargylic silanes, with the latter step identified as the enantiodetermining step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic waste deposition in aquatic environments precipitates a decline in water quality, engendering pollution that adversely impacts human health, ecological integrity, and economic endeavors. The evolution of underwater robotic technologies heralds a new era in the timely identification and extraction of submerged litter, offering a proactive measure against the scourge of water pollution. This study introduces a refined YOLOv8-based algorithm tailored for the enhanced detection of small-scale underwater debris, aiming to mitigate the prevalent challenges of high miss and false detection rates in aquatic settings. The research presents the YOLOv8-C2f-Faster-EMA algorithm, which optimizes the backbone, neck layer, and C2f module for underwater characteristics and incorporates an effective attention mechanism. This algorithm improves the accuracy of underwater litter detection while simplifying the computational model. Empirical evidence underscores the superiority of this method over the conventional YOLOv8n framework, manifesting in a significant uplift in detection performance. Notably, the proposed method realized a 6.7% increase in precision (P), a 4.1% surge in recall (R), and a 5% enhancement in mean average precision (mAP). Transcending its foundational utility in marine conservation, this methodology harbors potential for subsequent integration into remote sensing ventures. Such an adaptation could substantially enhance the precision of detection models, particularly in the realm of localized surveillance, thereby broadening the scope of its applicability and impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a highly enantioselective intermolecular C−H bond silylation catalyzed by a phosphoramidite‐ligated iridium catalyst. Under reagent‐controlled protocols, propargylsilanes resulting from C(sp3)−H functionalization, as well the regioisomeric and synthetically versatile allenylsilanes, could be obtained with excellent levels of enantioselectivity and good to excellent control of propargyl/allenyl selectivity. In the case of unsymmetrical dialkyl acetylenes, good to excellent selectivity for functionalization at the less‐hindered site was also observed. A variety of electrophilic silyl sources (R3SiOTf and R3SiNTf2), either commercial or in situ‐generated, were used as the silylation reagents, and a broad range of simple and functionalized alkynes, including aryl alkyl acetylenes, dialkyl acetylenes, 1,3‐enynes, and drug derivatives were successfully employed as substrates. Detailed mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations suggest that an η3‐propargyl/allenyl Ir intermediate is generated upon π‐complexation‐assisted deprotonation and undergoes outer‐sphere attack by the electrophilic silylating reagent to give propargylic silanes, with the latter step identified as the enantiodetermining step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is concerned with constructing a confidence interval for a target policy's value offline based on a pre-collected observational data in infinite horizon settings. Most of the existing works assume no unmeasured variables exist that confound the observed actions. This assumption, however, is likely to be violated in real applications such as healthcare and technological industries. In this article, we show that with some auxiliary variables that mediate the effect of actions on the system dynamics, the target policy's value is identifiable in a confounded Markov decision process. Based on this result, we develop an efficient off-policy value estimator that is robust to potential model misspecification and provide rigorous uncertainty quantification. Our method is justified by theoretical results, simulated and real datasets obtained from ridesharing companies. A Python implementation of the proposed procedure is available at. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) have been frequently observed on long-span bridges (LSBs) in recent years. Unlike other destructive aerodynamic phenomena of LSBs, VIVs are self-limited in amplitude, primarily affecting the serviceability of LSBs through unpleasant users' feelings characterized by human body vibration. Most existing studies discussed this issue based on a popular human body vibration measure, the human comfort index (HCI) in ISO 2631-1. However, the HCI is primarily concerned with vibration above 0.5 Hz, which might be unsuitable for disclosing the influence of VIV because of the low-frequency features of LSBs' VIVs. To address this limitation, this study advocates using the motion sickness index (MSI) to revisit the serviceability of LSBs experiencing VIVs based on an innovative wind-traffic-bridge simulation platform. Different from current studies exclusively focusing on vehicle riders, this paper additionally incorporates a vibration model for standing persons to understand the feelings of the pedestrians on the bridge. On this basis, the influence of VIV and traffic load is comprehensively examined. The results indicate that the HCI is inappropriate for exploring the serviceability of LSBs under VIVs regarding users' feelings, but the MSI is a good alternative. Moreover, the increasing traffic load can obviously mitigate the adverse effect of VIVs on the bridge's serviceability, which may be utilized to control VIVs of LSBs in real-world engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A population of binary stellar-mass black hole (BBH) mergers are believed to occur embedded in the accretion disc of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In this Letter , we demonstrate that the jets from these BBH mergers can propagate collimatedly within the disc atmosphere along with a forward shock and a reverse shock forming at the jet head. Efficient proton acceleration by these shocks is usually expected before the breakout, leading to the production of TeV−PeV neutrinos through interactions between these protons and electron-radiating photons via photon–meson production. AGN BBH mergers occurring in the outer regions of the disc are more likely to produce more powerful neutrino bursts. Taking the host AGN properties of the potential GW190521 electromagnetic (EM) counterpart as an example, one expects ≳1 neutrino events detectable by IceCube if the jet is on-axis and the radial location of the merger is R ≳ 105 R g, where R g is the gravitational radius of the supermassive BH. Neutrino bursts from AGN BBH mergers could be detected by IceCube following the observation of gravitational waves (GWs), serving as precursor signals before the detection of EM breakout signals. AGN BBH mergers are potential target sources for future joint GW, neutrino, and EM multi-messenger observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria contain a local genome (mtDNA) comprising a small number of genes necessary for respiration, mitochondrial transcription and translation, and other vital functions. Various stressors can destabilize mtDNA leading to mtDNA loss. While some cells can survive mtDNA loss, they exhibit various deficiencies. Here, we investigated the impact of proteotoxicity on mitochondrial function by inducing mitochondrial unfolded protein stress in budding yeast. This led to rapid mtDNA loss, but aerobic conditioning imparted transient resistance to mitochondrial protein stress. We present a quantitative model of mtDNA loss in a growing cell population and measure its parameters. To identify genetic adaptations to mtDNA depletion, we performed a genome-wide screen for gene dosage increases that affect the growth of cells lacking mtDNA. The screen revealed a set of dosage suppressors that alleviate the growth impairment in mtDNA-deficient cells. Additionally, we show that these suppressors of mtDNA stress both bolster cell proliferation and prevent mtDNA loss during mitochondrial protein stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The protective mechanism of dexmedetomidine on the brains of patients undergoing craniocerebral surgery remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of dexmedetomidine on cognitive function, oxidative stress, and brain protection in such patients. Methods: Fifty-four patients who underwent craniocerebral surgery at our hospital from January 2020 to June 2023 were retrospectively selected as study subjects. They were divided into two groups: the control group (n = 27) and the study group (n = 27), based on different auxiliary anesthesia protocols. Patients in the study group received dexmedetomidine before anesthesia induction, using a midline intravenous pump to assist anesthesia, while the control group received an equivalent amount of normal saline. The remaining anesthesia induction and maintenance protocols were consistent for both groups. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) before and 1 day after surgery for both groups. Oxidative stress indicators, including malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in the serum of both groups, were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, changes in postoperative brain injury indicators, namely neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and central nervous system-specific protein (S100β), were detected and compared in the serum of both groups. Concurrently, postoperative adverse reactions were recorded for both groups. Results: The MMSE scale scores of both groups of patients 24 hours after surgery were significantly lower than those before surgery. However, the MMSE scale scores of the study group patients were notably higher than those in the control group, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). One hour after surgery, the serum levels of MDA, GSH-Px, and SOD in both groups of patients were significantly elevated compared to pre-surgery levels. Yet, the study group exhibited significantly lower levels of MDA, GSH-Px, and SOD in comparison to the control group, and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The serum levels of NSE and S100β in both groups were markedly higher than preoperative levels 24 hours after surgery. However, the study group demonstrated significantly lower levels of serum NSE and S100β compared to the control group, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the study group was 7.41% (2/27), indicating a decreasing trend compared to 18.52% (5/27) in the control group. However, this difference did not reach statistical significance (χ² = 1.477, p = 0.224). Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine-assisted anesthesia in craniocerebral surgery can effectively enhance postoperative cognitive function, mitigate oxidative stress, and facilitate overall postoperative recovery for patients. The intervention exhibits a favorable safety profile with no reported serious adverse reactions, establishing it as a relatively safe and reliable approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper mainly focuses on the classification of PPCPs in water bodies, their sources and their hazards, and focuses on the treatment technology of PPCPs in wastewater at home and abroad, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment technology and the current status of its application, with a view to discovering highly efficient measures for the treatment of PPCPs in wastewater, and providing reference for the development of wastewater treatment technology of PPCPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) in males is associated with a poor prognosis and a higher risk of treatment-related adverse effects, with high mortality among cancers globally. It is thus imperative to explore novel potential molecules with dual therapeutic and biomarker functions. Based on the recent research findings, the expression levels of ataxia telangiectasia mutant kinase (ATM) in prostate cancer (PC) tissues collected from CRPC patients were higher than hormone-dependent PC patients. Using CRPC cell lines (C4–2 and CWR22Rv1), the transwell chamber experiments revealed ATM promoted macrophage recruitment in CRPC cells in vitro via C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12). Further in vitro investigations demonstrated that polarized macrophages prevented NK cell recruitment and reduced the immunocidal activity of NK cells against CRPC cell lines. Moreover, ATM boosted programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression while inhibiting NK group 2D (NKG2D) ligand expression in selected cell lines via PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The in vivo investigations revealed ATM induced proliferation of CRPC and macrophage recruitment, while the NK cell recruitment was found to suppress ATM expression and CRPC proliferation. In conclusion, it could be demonstrated that inhibiting ATM increased the susceptibility of CRPC to NK cell inhibitors by dampening the CXCL12 and PI3K/AKT-PD-L1 pathways, thereby offering a novel and individualized treatment protocol for treating CRPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of highly efficient and environmentally friendly solvents for dissolving cellulose, which is the most abundant natural polymer on Earth, remains a challenge, hindering its full utilization. Herein, a green protic ionic liquid, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidinium methoxyacetate ([TMGH][MAA]), was found to exhibit attractive capacity to dissolve natural cellulose with an appropriate TMG/MAA molar ratio of 7 : 3 at 80 °C. The solubility of cotton linter and ultra-high molecular weight cotton fibers reached 13% (w/w) and 3% (w/w), respectively, surpassing that of most solvent systems currently used for the dissolution of cellulose. The experimental and simulation results verified that the excellent dissolution ability of [TMGH][MAA] for cellulose is mainly attributed to the destruction of the intrinsic hydrogen-bond networks in cellulose by the synergistic interactions of the [TMGH] cations and [MAA] anions with the hydroxyl groups in the cellulose chains, acting as highly efficient "intermolecular scissors". The superiority of this novel dissolution system was further demonstrated by the remarkable comprehensive properties of the regenerated cellulose film including satisfactory thermostability, high transparency, and excellent mechanical properties. Furthermore, the satisfactory recovery performance of this solvent highlights its significant feasibility for large-scale industrial manufacturing. The proposed [TMGH][MAA] in this study exhibits great potential as a next-generation processing solvent for dissolving, and thus processing cellulose, promoting the sustainable development of high-value-added cellulose materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies an optimization problem of antenna placement for multiple heading angles of the target in a distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar system. An improved method to calculate the system's coverage area in light of the changing target heading is presented. The antenna placement optimization problem is mathematically modelled as a sequential decision problem for compatibility with reinforcement learning solutions. A reinforcement learning agent is established, which uses the long short-term memory (LSTM)-based proximal policy optimization (PPO) method as the core algorithm to solve the antenna placement problem. Finally, the experimental findings demonstrate that the method can enhance the coverage area of antenna placement and thus has reference value for providing new ideas for the antenna placement optimization of distributed MIMO radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The distribution function is essential in statistical inference and connected with samples to form a directed closed loop by the correspondence theorem in measure theory and the Glivenko-Cantelli and Donsker properties. This connection creates a paradigm for statistical inference. However, existing distribution functions are defined in Euclidean spaces and are no longer convenient to use in rapidly evolving data objects of complex nature. It is imperative to develop the concept of the distribution function in a more general space to meet emerging needs. Note that the linearity allows us to use hypercubes to define the distribution function in a Euclidean space. Still, without the linearity in a metric space, we must work with the metric to investigate the probability measure. We introduce a class of metric distribution functions through the metric only. We overcome this challenging step by proving the correspondence theorem and the Glivenko-Cantelli theorem for metric distribution functions in metric spaces, laying the foundation for conducting rational statistical inference for metric space-valued data. Then, we develop a homogeneity test and a mutual independence test for non-Euclidean random objects and present comprehensive empirical evidence to support the performance of our proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies an optimization problem of antenna placement for multiple heading angles of the target in a distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar system. An improved method to calculate the system's coverage area in light of the changing target heading is presented. The antenna placement optimization problem is mathematically modelled as a sequential decision problem for compatibility with reinforcement learning solutions. A reinforcement learning agent is established, which uses the long short-term memory (LSTM)-based proximal policy optimization (PPO) method as the core algorithm to solve the antenna placement problem. Finally, the experimental findings demonstrate that the method can enhance the coverage area of antenna placement and thus has reference value for providing new ideas for the antenna placement optimization of distributed MIMO radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The size of the oil pipes in the factory is relatively large, making them inconvenient to handle. There are few existing oil pipe handling devices, and a 2P2R four degree of freedom manipulator device has been innovatively designed to complete the oil pipe handling work. First, the three-dimensional model of the manipulator was established using SolidWorks software, and then the improved D-H method was used to carry out the kinematics modeling of the manipulator system, and the forward and Inverse kinematics equations were derived. Then, the MATLAB software was used to carry out the kinematics analysis of the manipulator, and the manipulator workspace was calculated. The movement trajectory, as well as the displacement, speed, and acceleration curves under the trajectory were obtained using the fifth order Polynomial interpolation method, Finally, the 3D model was imported into Adams software, and an Adams virtual prototype was established for dynamic analysis. The force and torque curves of each joint were obtained, laying the foundation for further design and research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facial nerve schwannomas are rare, benign, slow-growing tumors that can occur in any segment of the facial nerve, although 71% of cases are intratemporal. Surgical resection can lead to facial nerve injury. Facial function recovery after reanimation is usually not better than House-Brackmann (HB) grade III. Thus, for cases of intratemporal facial nerve schwannomas (IFNSs) with favorable facial function (HB grade I or II), observation by periodic magnetic resonance imaging is the mainstay of management. Here, we present a case of a large IFNS with normal facial function in which the mass fully occluded the external auditory canal. The occlusion caused squamous debris to accumulate, potentially leading to cholesteatoma. Faced with this therapeutic dilemma, we chose surgical resection with the patient's informed consent. Stripping surgery was achieved with normal postoperative facial function. There was no postoperative facial paralysis or recurrence at 2-year follow-up. We describe the experience of diagnosis and treatment process for this case, and discuss the possibility of total resection of the tumor with preserving the integrity of facial nerve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For patients with cirrhosis, early diagnosis is the key to delaying the development of liver fibrosis and improving prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of TL1A, which is a susceptibility gene for hepatic fibrosis, and DR3 in the development of cirrhosis and fibrosis. We analyzed the expression of TL1A, DR3, and other inflammatory cytokines associated with liver fibrosis in serum and PBMCs in 200 patients.TL1A methylation level was lower in patients with HBV-associated LC than in the other groups. In addition, the mRNA level and serum of TL1A and DR3 expression levels were found to increase in the LC. Hypomethylation of the TL1A promoter is present in HBV-associated LC, and TL1A and DR3 are highly expressed in HBV-associated cirrhosis. These results indicate that TL1A and DR3 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of LC and TL1A methylation levels may serve as a noninvasive biomarker for early diagnosis and progression of LC. • Methylation has been used to detect the methylation status of the TL1A promoter in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) associated cirrhosis, improving its diagnostic efficiency. • TL1A and DR3 play an important role in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory diseases, and our study also confirmed elevated levels of TL1A and DR3 expression in HBV-associated cirrhosis. • TL1A is involved in the development of HBV-associated cirrhosis inflammation and fibrosis, and after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation, the expression of hepatocirrhosis-related inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1β can be up-regulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Probiotics comprise effective feed additives that can replace antibiotics in animal livestock production. However, mono‐strain probiotics appear less effective because of their instability. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate dietary supplementation with compound probiotics (CPP) on growth performance, diarrhea rate and intestinal mucosal barrier, as well as the possible molecular mechanism, in chicks. In total, 360 1‐day‐old chicks of the Hy‐Line Brown Chicks were randomly divided into the control group (CON, basal diet), chlortetracycline group (500 mg kg−1 CTC) and compound probiotics group (1000 mg kg−1 CPP, consisting of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Enterococcus faecium and yeast). The experiment period was 56 days. Results: The results showed that, in comparison with the CON group, CPP significantly increased the average daily feed intake and average daily gain of chicks and reduced diarrhea (P < 0.05). The probiotic group exhibited increased immune organ (i.e. spleen and thymus) mass and increased levels of serum immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgM and IgG (P < 0.05) compared to the CTC group. In addition, the jejunal mass and morphology were improved in the probiotic group (P < 0.05). Moreover, CPP reinforced jejunal barrier function, as indicated by increased transepithelial electrical resistance, protein expression of occludin and claudin‐1, and diamine oxidase levels in the jejunum (P < 0.05). Likewise, enhanced fluorescence signals of proliferating cell nuclear antigen‐labeled mitotic cells and villin‐labeled absorptive cells in the jejunum (P < 0.05) suggested that CPP promoted intestinal stem cells activity. Mechanistically, the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling pathway, including β‐catenin, TCF4, c‐Myc, cyclin D1 and Lgr5, was amplified in the jejunum by CPP addition (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that dietary supplementation with CPP reinforced the jejunal epithelial integrity by activating Wnt/β‐catenin signaling and enhanced immune function in chicks. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of COVID-19 has caused unprecedented impacts on global public health and many other aspects. Meanwhile, many types of methods have been developed to detect the causative agent, SARS-CoV-2; this has greatly advanced the technologies in the diagnostic field. Here, we describe the development and validation of a sample-in-result-out POCKIT Central SARS-CoV-2 PCR system for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in comparison with a commercial reference real-time RT-PCR assay (TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit). Both assays were specific and did not cross-react with non-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Both assays were able to detect various SARS-CoV-2 strains including some variants. Based on testing serial dilutions of SARS-CoV-2 USA-WA1/2020 isolate, the limit of detection was 0.8 TCID50/mL (1.87 × 103 genomic copies/mL) for POCKIT Central SARS-CoV-2 PCR and 0.16 TCID50/mL (3.75 × 102 genomic copies/mL) for the reference PCR. Subsequently, 183 clinical samples were tested by both assays and the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, and agreement of the POCKIT Central SARS-CoV-2 PCR were 91.7%, 100%, and 94.0%, respectively, when compared to the reference PCR. The compact sample-to-result POCKIT Central SARS-CoV-2 PCR system is a simplified and efficient point-of-care tool for SARS-CoV-2 detection. In addition, this platform can be readily adapted to detect other human and animal viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is a significant factor in transcellular and transepithelial water movement, and abnormal expression of AQP4 has been detected in many types of tumors. The purpose of this study was to explore its role in low-grade gliomas (LGG) using freely available online bioinformatics tools. OncoLnc database was used to analyze Cox coefficients and compare AQP4 expression between various types of tumors; Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis were used to compare gene expression between LGG and normal tissues; University of California Santa Cruz Xena browser generated Kaplan-Meier survival curves in the LGG cohort in The Cancer Genome Atlas and subgroups; LinkedOmics database screened the most relevant genes based on Pearson correlation coefficient; Gene Ontology Biological Process and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis were performed through gene set enrichment analysis to explore possible molecular mechanisms. LGG had higher AQP4 expression compared with normal tissues and ranked first among 21 different types of cancer (P < 0.05). The oligodendroglioma group had the lowest AQP4 expression and the longest overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05). LGG with astrocytoma, isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation, or 1p/19q codeletion had lower AQP4 expression and longer OS (P < 0.001). LGG with lower AQP4 expression, without 1p/19q codeletion, without chemotherapy, and with or without radiation therapy had longer OS (P < 0.05). AQP4 and coexpressed genes were involved in complex biological processes in LGG, including regulation of neurotransmitter level, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway, cell adhesion molecules, and others. AQP4 is a prognostic marker in LGG and its subgroups. Patients with lower AQP4 expression may have longer OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendritic fibromyxolipoma (DFML) is an uncommon benign tumor. We report the first DFML in the right thorax of a child. An 11-year-old girl was admitted because of a giant tumor in the right thorax. An enhanced chest CT scan indicated a thoracic mass with mild enhancement. Thoracoscopic biopsy revealed that the tumor was composed of stellate and spindle cells embedded within abundant myxoid stroma. Additionally, mature adipocytes, cytoplasmic dendritic processes, short strands of keloidal-type collagen, and plexiform blood vessels were observed. Immunohistochemical staining indicated positive for CD34 and BCL-2. DDIT3 alteration or MDM2 amplification were not observed. The diagnosis of DFML was considered, and complete tumorectomy was performed. In conclusion, definite diagnosis of DFML should be made according to the pathologic features. Accurate diagnosis is crucial to avoid overtreatment because DFML potentially can be mistaken for more aggressive neoplasms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Searching efficiency, which biologists and roboticists are ever concerned about, has become important in physics and information science nowadays. In classical probability-based searching problems, as stigmergy, the increase in graph complexity will decrease the searching efficiency. Here we study the searching efficiency based on the first-passage probability and find a counterintuitive phenomenon in quantum walk on a graph with floating vertices. Connecting one vertex in the floating layer to that in the base layer will speed up the searching rapidity, but such a speed-up effect will be suppressed at once if one more vertex is connected to the already connected vertex in the floating layer. This is a counterintuitive phenomenon in comparison to its classical counterpart, where additional vertices at the side chain will retard the searching rapidity. We also propose an ancillary model that bridges the measurement of the probability and the first-passage probability, which is expected to provide new ideas for quantum simulation by means of qubit chips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regenerated wool keratin fibers (RWKFs) have heretofore attracted tremendous interest according to environmental friendliness, ample resource, and intrinsic biocompatibility for broad applications. In this realm, both uncontrollable keratin fibril assembly procedure and resultant insufficient mechanical strength, have greatly hindered their large‐scale manufacture and commercial viability. Herein, a continuous wet‐spinning strategy is put forward to rebuild wool keratin into compact regenerated bio‐fibers with improved strength via disulfide re‐bonding. Dithiothreitol (DTT) has been introduced to renovate disulfide linkage inside keratin polypeptide chains, and bridge keratin fibrils via covalent thiol bonding to form a continuous backbone as mechanical support. A thus‐derived RWKF manifests a tensile strength of 186.1 ± 7.0 MPa and Young's modulus of 7.4 ± 0.2 GPa, which exceeds those of natural wool, feathers, and regenerated wool or feather keratin fibers. The detailed wet‐spinning technical parameters, such as coagulation, oxidation, and post‐treatment, have been systematically optimized to guarantee the continuous preparation of high‐strength regenerated keratin fibers. This work offers insight into solving the concurrent challenges for continuous manufacture of regenerated protein fibers and sustainability concerns about biomass waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The asynchronous filtering problem for networked fuzzy non‐homogeneous Markov jump systems is investigated, with the consideration of packet dropout and quantization. An event‐triggered dynamic quantization scheme is proposed, and a stability criterion is given to ensure the stochastic stability of the filtering error systems with desired extended dissipative performance. This performance provides a unified framework in the sense that it can degenerate to H∞$$ {H}_{\infty } $$, l2−l∞$$ {l}_2-{l}_{\infty } $$, dissipativity and passivity filter, respectively, under certain parameter sets. Furthermore, an asynchronous filter design method with extended dissipative performance is given based on the proposed stability criterion. In this method, the existence of the quantizer is ensured by dynamic quantization levels and the solution scope of the filter is enlarged by a free‐connection weighting matrices method. The theoretical design and analysis is finally evaluated using a practical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional identification methods for Papaver somniferum and Papaver rhoeas (PSPR) consume much time and labor, require strict experimental conditions, and usually cause damage to the plant. This work presents a novel method for fast, accurate, and nondestructive identification of PSPR. First, to fill the gap in the PSPR dataset, we construct a PSPR visible capsule image dataset. Second, we propose a modified MobileNetV3-Small network with transfer learning, and we solve the problem of low classification accuracy and slow model convergence due to the small number of PSPR capsule image samples. Experimental results demonstrate that the modified MobileNetV3-Small is effective for fast, accurate, and nondestructive PSPR classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focused on the association between night shift and hypertension. Hypertension is a common chronic disease and a major contributor to the global disease burden. Shift work is becoming more and more popular in modern industrial society. Therefore, it is important to explore the impact of night shift on hypertension. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of night-shift work on the risk of hypertension for improving workers' health. Methods: A total of 10,038 Chinese participants were constituted in the cross-sectional study. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline were used to estimate the effect of night shift on hypertension. Results: There were higher odds of having hypertension in any night-shift workers (odds ratio [OR], 1.16 [95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.30]) when compared with day workers. Having 5 to 10 night shifts per month were significantly more likely to be hypertensive (OR, 1.19 [95% confidence interval, 1.03–1.38]). The OR for hypertension increased as the number of night shifts increased as the result of the restricted cubic spline. Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that night shift is associated with an elevated risk of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the discrete-time Markovian jump linear systems (MJLSs) whose mode transition probability matrix (MTPM) can be adjusted by decisions. Motivated by switching law design in switched systems, the optimal decision strategy is proposed for stabilisation and optimisation of such MJLSs where decision cost is taken into account. First, aiming at system stability, the feasible domain of decision is given for stable and unstable MJLSs with initial MTPM. Second, a generalised performance index is put forward which contains both state cost and decision cost, and we obtain the quantitative relationship between the index and decision via stochastic dynamic programming. Finally, for the optimisation of the performance index, a value iteration algorithm is proposed with its convergence proof. This algorithm, searching for the optimal decision within the feasible domain, achieves superior performance on the basis of ensuring stability. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimal decision strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Immobilizing catalyst system faces the challenge of balancing catalysts stability and exposure of active site in water treatment. In this study, a novel in-situ synthesis of monoclinic phase of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 (B)) in cellulose-derived carbon aerogel (TCA) is proposed for processing multi-task in water treatment. The homogeneous gelation reaction supported the high dispersion of TiO 2 (B) in carbon skeleton. Meanwhile, TiO 2 acts as crosslinker to reinforce cellulose network, then the grain refinement of amorphous TiO 2 is limited to obtain TiO 2 (B) during carbonization. Benefiting from the reinforced structure, TCA remains the porous structure after carbonization and exposes more adsorption site than carbon aerogel blended with anatase particles (ACA). The adsorption performance of TCA are 837.3 mg/g, 1156.2 mg/g and 512.6 mg/g on methylene blue, malachite green and crystal violet, respectively. Compared with ACA, the superior interaction between TiO 2 and graphite-like carbon improves the degradation rate of tetracycline from 1.3 × 10–3 min−1 to 8.6 × 10–3 min−1, and maintains the degradation efficiency in 3 rounds cyclic test. Besides, TCA also exhibits nearly twice to ACA on absorption capacity of different oil. This facile in-situ synthesis method offers a new insight in fabricating carbon aerogel immobilized photocatalysts system for multi-task in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Immobilizing catalyst system faces the challenge of balancing catalysts stability and exposure of active site in water treatment. In this study, a novel in-situ synthesis of monoclinic phase of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 (B)) in cellulose-derived carbon aerogel (TCA) is proposed for processing multi-task in water treatment. The homogeneous gelation reaction supported the high dispersion of TiO 2 (B) in carbon skeleton. Meanwhile, TiO 2 acts as crosslinker to reinforce cellulose network, then the grain refinement of amorphous TiO 2 is limited to obtain TiO 2 (B) during carbonization. Benefiting from the reinforced structure, TCA remains the porous structure after carbonization and exposes more adsorption site than carbon aerogel blended with anatase particles (ACA). The adsorption performance of TCA are 837.3 mg/g, 1156.2 mg/g and 512.6 mg/g on methylene blue, malachite green and crystal violet, respectively. Compared with ACA, the superior interaction between TiO 2 and graphite-like carbon improves the degradation rate of tetracycline from 1.3 × 10–3 min−1 to 8.6 × 10–3 min−1, and maintains the degradation efficiency in 3 rounds cyclic test. Besides, TCA also exhibits nearly twice to ACA on absorption capacity of different oil. This facile in-situ synthesis method offers a new insight in fabricating carbon aerogel immobilized photocatalysts system for multi-task in water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most existing studies on transportation infrastructure planning focus on only one or a few critical factors. In addition, the interrelationships among different planning factors were seldom investigated. Therefore, this study aims to develop a holistic understanding of various critical factors and their interrelationships toward future-proofed transportation infrastructure planning. A novel text mining-based approach was proposed in this study to identify the critical factors and their interrelationships based on selected transportation infrastructure planning publications. Two topic modeling techniques, i.e., latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF), were used to identify the critical and emerging topics that may affect transportation infrastructures, resulting in the automatic identification of critical factors. These factors were compiled and converted to a four-level taxonomy via bottom-up grouping. Association rule mining (ARM) was then used to discover relations among the identified factors. Among these interrelationships, eight were found to be significant based on confidence and lift values as two quantitative measures of association rules. These findings could guide transportation infrastructure planners and decision makers to have a holistic approach to planning, building, and managing our transportation infrastructure in the face of future risks and opportunities. This study also demonstrates the potential of using text mining techniques to explore new knowledge in civil infrastructure planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child influenza is an acute infectious disease that places substantial burden on children and their families. Real-time accurate prediction of child influenza epidemics can aid scientific and timely decision-making that may reduce the harm done to children infected with influenza. Several models have been proposed to predict influenza epidemics. However, most existing studies focus on adult influenza prediction. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using the LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) model to predict influenza-like illness (ILI) levels in children between 2017 and 2020 in Shanghai, China. The performance of the LASSO model was compared with that of other statistical influenza-prediction techniques, including autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), random forest (RF), ordinary least squares (OLS), and long short-term memory (LSTM). The LASSO model was observed to exhibit superior performance compared to the other candidate models. Owing to the variable shrinkage and low-variance properties of LASSO, it eliminated unimportant features and avoided overfitting. The experimental results suggest that the LASSO model can provide useful guidance for short-term child influenza prevention and control for schools, hospitals, and governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we mainly investigate the long-time asymptotic behavior of the solution for coupled dispersive AB systems with weighted Sobolev initial data, which allows soliton solutions via the Dbar steepest descent method. Based on the spectral analysis of Lax pairs, the Cauchy problem of coupled dispersive AB systems is transformed into a Riemann–Hilbert problem, and the existence and uniqueness of its solution is proved by the vanishing lemma. The stationary phase points play an important role in determining the long-time asymptotic behavior of these solutions. We demonstrate that in any fixed time cone C x 1 , x 2 , v 1 , v 2 = (x , t) ∈ R 2 ∣ x = x 0 + v t , x 0 ∈ x 1 , x 2 , v ∈ v 1 , v 2 , the long-time asymptotic behavior of the solution for coupled dispersive AB systems can be expressed by N (I) solitons on the discrete spectrum, the leading order term O ( t − 1 / 2 ) on the continuous spectrum, and the allowable residual O ( t − 3 / 4 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Three variations including a novel F11 gene variation were detected in two unrelated Chinese families with coagulation factor XI deficiency, and their possible pathogenesis was elucidated. Methods: The genomic DNA of the probands' pedigrees was extracted, and all exons and flanking sequences of F11 gene were subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing. ClustalX-2.1-win, Mutation Taster, and Swiss-Pdb Viewer software were used to analyze the conservation and impact of the variations on protein function and structure. Results: DNA sequencing showed that the proband one had p.Gly350Glu and p.Trp501stop complex heterozygous variations, while the proband two took p.Pro338Leu and p.Trp501stop compound heterozygous variations. Conservation, structural, and functional analysis of variant amino acids indicated that these three variations were harmful and probably affected the structure and function of the variable protein. Conclusions: Three variations including p.Pro338Leu, p.Gly350Glu, and p.Trp501stop responsible for the reduction of the FXI activities were herein detected. Notably, the p.Pro338Leu variation was discovered for the first time in the world. Furthermore, the p.Gly350Glu was first reported in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the vibration reduction characteristics of SFD to the bending-torsional coupled vibration of the dual-rotor system can provide support for the structural design of aero-engines. Based on the overall eccentric disc model, the bending-torsional coupling dynamic equation of the dual-rotor system is established in this paper. The amplitude and nonlinear periodic characteristics of the dual-rotor system are obtained by combining Newmark-β method and Newton-Raphson method. The results show that the vibration reduction effect of SFD on bending-torsional coupling vibration is closely related to the speed. The vibration reduction effect of SFD is weak at the first-order critical speed range and below, and reduces the torsional amplitude by 70 % at the second-order critical speed range and above. SFD kept the bending-torsional coupling vibration of the dual-rotor system stable in a stable 5-period motion state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mixture unidirectional solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) based on transistor-based devices [i.e., IGBT-based line commutation switch (LCS)] and the thyristor-based devices can combine their respective advantages, however, the conduction loss and cost may increase significantly when expanding to a bidirectional topology because the number of IGBTs had to be doubled with the expansion of unidirectional LCS structure to bidirectional LCS structure composed of two groups of IGBTs in reverse series. In this letter, a full-bridge mixture bidirectional SSCB (FB-MSSCB) requiring only one unidirectional LCS is proposed, the required number of IGBTs can be reduced by at least half compared with other mixture bidirectional SSCB topologies in the same voltage and current level applications. As a result, the FB-MSSCB has advantages of more economic design and higher efficiency, the conduction loss can be reduced by at least 23.3% in 10 kV MVdc system, while retaining other advantages of mixture bidirectional SSCB, such as the ability to actively interrupt bidirectional fault currents, without introducing additional thyristors, charging power supply, and charging strategy. The working principles and designing guidelines is presented in detail. The feasibility and effectiveness are verified by experiment results and comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the mindsets of independent Chinese tourists in the context of the emerging dynamic mobility perspective. It investigates Chinese tourists' travel impulses, cross-border flows, quality-of-life perceptions, and the meaning of living a mobile lifestyle. Through face-to-face interviews and drawing on narrative descriptions in social media and newsletters, the article draws findings relating to travel motivations, the reconstruction of self, the quality-of-life mindsets, free-itinerary tour mode, and the influences of modern technology. The article aims at addressing the current development trends of Chinese outbound tourists, providing an understanding of the complex characteristics and the gradual release of Chinese outbound tourists' cross-border mobility freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation under the innovation-driven strategy is an important means to alleviate economic-environmental contradictions, based on the three-dimensional framework of market-system -technology constructed by the theory of "asymmetric innovation", this paper deconstructs it into five subdivision indicators of marketization process, environmental regulation, government funding, R&D f unding investment and R&D personnel investment, using a combination of qualitative comparative an alysis (QCA) and necessary condition analysis (NCA), from the perspective of configuration, regional di fferences in China's green technology innovation. Key drivers and implementation paths are studied. T he results show that: (1) The distribution of China's green technology innovation level shows obvious r egional differences and agglomeration radiation effects, and the level of green technology innovation decreases from the eastern coast, the southern coast, the northern coast, the middle reaches of the Ya ngtze River, the southwest, the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the northeast and the great northw est comprehensive economic zone, and the agglomeration radiation effect in the eastern, southern an d northern coastal areas is more significant. (2) The NCA method shows that the marketization proces s, environmental regulation, government funding, R&D funding and R&D personnel investment are all necessary conditions (insufficient) for achieving 20% or more level of green technology innovation, of which R&D funding investment, marketization process and R&D personnel investment are more obvio us. The QCA necessity analysis shows that R&D funding is a necessary condition for achieving green t echnology innovation, and there is no necessary condition for non-green technology innovation. The QCA Essentials Analysis result set is a subset of NCA results, and the conclusions of the two methods c omplement each other. (3) QCA configuration analysis shows that there are two paths to achieve highlevel green technology innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A PEDV/PDCoV/TGEV/SADS-CoV/XIPC 5-plex real-time RT-PCR was developed and validated for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of four swine enteric coronaviruses (PEDV, PDCoV, TGEV and SADS-CoV) in one PCR reaction (XIPC serves as an exogenous internal positive control). The 5-plex PCR had excellent analytical specificity, analytical sensitivity, and repeatability based on the testing of various viral and bacterial pathogens, serial dilutions of virus isolates, and in vitro transcribed RNAs. The 5-plex PCR had comparable diagnostic performance to a commercial PEDV/TGEV/PDCoV reference PCR, based on the testing of 219 clinical samples. Subsequently, 1807 clinical samples collected from various U.S. states during 2019–2021 were tested by the 5-plex PCR to investigate the presence of SADS-CoV in U.S. swine and the frequency of detecting swine enteric CoVs. All 1807 samples tested negative for SADS-CoV. Among the samples positive for swine enteric CoVs, there was a low frequency of detecting TGEV, an intermediate frequency of detecting PDCoV, and a high frequency of detecting PEDV. Although there is no evidence of SADS-CoV presence in the U.S. at present, the availability of the 5-plex PCR will enable us to conduct ongoing surveillance to detect and differentiate these viruses in swine samples and other host species samples as some of these coronaviruses can cause cross-species infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Elucidation of CF in rib-to-deck (RD) joints of coastal weathering steel bridges. • PCF model tailored to addresses multi-mode, multi-site failures of RD joints. • Synergy prognosis executed with traffic data, tests, simulations and predictions. • Effect of traffic-corrosivity, coatings, steel types and weld quality scrutinised. This paper introduces a pioneering probabilistic framework for predicting corrosion fatigue (CF) deterioration for coastal weathering steel bridges, employing WIM data, material testing, fracture mechanics, corrosion modelling, and numerical simulations. A comprehensive three-stage probabilistic CF (PCF) model is adapted to track CF crack growth under uncertainties. The applicability and efficacy of the proposed method are validated through a prototype cable-stayed bridge in Ningbo, China, which is subjected to severe corrosivity and heavy traffics. A thorough investigation is conducted on the impact of coating strategies, steel types, and welding quality on the service reliability of the case-study bridge. The study significantly highlights the superior corrosion fatigue performance of weathering steel bridges, elucidating an apparent improvement in the service life compared to traditional carbon steel bridges. This underscores the potential of weathering steel as a preferred material for coastal bridges facing high corrosive environments. Further enhancements can be expected with the proper design of coating strategies, which requires a defined analysis based on the site condition. In addition, the emphasis on minimizing welding flaws through improved welding processes is recommended, demonstrating a direct correlation with extended service life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have limited efficacy in mismatch repair proficient (pMMR) or metastatic microsatellite stable (MSS) advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). ICIs, in conjunction with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) possessing anti-angiogenic properties, serve as a potential strategy for circumventing the resistance exhibited by MSS or pMMR mCRC to immunotherapeutic interventions. The present study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of ICIs + TKIs and provide a reference for the treatment of CRC. The present systematic review and meta-analysis was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were screened from January 1, 2003 to July 28, 2023. A total of 14 studies were included in qualitative and quantitative analyses, with a total of 819 patients enrolled. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale scores of the 14 cohort studies included were ≥7, indicating they were of a high quality. The objective response rate (ORR) of ICIs + TKIs was 14% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.08–0.24; P=0.132] in patients with advanced or metastatic MSS/pMMR CRC. The disease control rate (DCR) was 65% (95% CI, 0.58–0.74; P<0.0001). The overall incidence of adverse events of varying severity linked to combination of ICIs and TKIs in patients with advanced or metastatic MSS/pMMR CRC was 64% (95% CI, 0.52–0.78; P<0.0001). The incidence of grade ≥3 adverse reactions was 24% (95% CI, 0.14–0.4; P<0.0001). The sensitivity analysis indicated that the exclusion of individual studies did not yield statistically significant variations in combined analysis results. Based on the examination of publication bias, ORR and DCR, Begg's and Egger's tests had P-values of 0.114 and 0.395, respectively. Overall publication bias overall was absent in the Begg's funnel plot, as there was no apparent asymmetry. Nonetheless, the P-values of the Egger's and Begg's tests for adverse reactions and adverse reactions grade ≥3 were P=0.008 and P=0.048, respectively. The asymmetry of the Begg's funnel plots was evident, suggesting the presence of potential publication bias regarding adverse event results. In conclusion, the combination of ICIs and TKIs demonstrates a favorable effectiveness and notable safety profile in the management of patients with advanced or metastatic MSS/pMMR CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability of meshed DC grids mainly relies on their ability in DC fault protection and line power flow managing. Multiple DC circuit breakers (DCCB) and current flow controller (CFC) need to be installed, which significantly increases the system cost. A novel current flow controller integrated with hybrid dc circuit breaker (CFC-IHCB) is proposed to significantly reduce the loss and cost of the whole system. Only one unidirectional IGBT string based main breaker branch is needed for n lines, and the CFC function is integrated into the load communication switches (LCSs). The basic working principle of proposed topology is presented and analyzed. The functionality is verified and a comparison of the proposed solution and other DCCB/CFC solutions is given based on a multi-terminal HVDC system case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-service sea-crossing bridge handles a large number of vehicles, while considerable wind exists on the superstructure and wave exists on the substructure simultaneously, on a daily basis. Apart from the service loads, the bridges may also encounter extreme natural hazards such as earthquake, hurricane, etc., which might greatly threaten the structural safety. In particular, this article attempts to illuminate the influence of the simultaneous service and extreme loads on the dynamic performance of an in-service sea-crossing bridge along with traversing vehicles. To this end, a general earthquake-wind-wave-vehicle-bridge (EWWVB) simulation platform is established, which systematically integrates the interactions between earthquake, wind, wave, vehicle and bridge. The safety indicators are also implemented in the proposed platform to enable the driving safety evaluations of the vehicles travelling on the bridge during earthquakes. With the proposed simulation platform, an illustrative example is presented in which a number of road vehicles are travelling on an in-service prototype sea-crossing cable-stayed bridge during a sudden earthquake event. The results indicate that the extreme seismic load could become the dominant load affecting the dynamic response of the prototype sea-crossing bridge as well as the vehicles running on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the successful detection of a gravitational-wave (GW) signal and its associated electromagnetic (EM) counterparts from GW170817, neutron starâ€"black hole (NSBH) mergers have been highly expected to be the next type of multimessenger source. However, despite the detection of several NSBH merger candidates during the GW third observation run, no confirmed EM counterparts from these sources have been identified. The most plausible explanation is that these NSBH merger candidates were plunging events mainly because the primary black holes (BHs) had near-zero projected aligned spins based on GW observations. In view of the fact that neutron stars (NSs) can be easily tidally disrupted by BHs with high projected aligned spins, we study an evolution channel to form NSBH binaries with fast-spinning BHs, the properties of BH mass and spin, and their associated tidal disruption probability. We find that if the NSs are born first, the companion helium stars would be tidally spun up efficiently, and would thus finally form fast-spinning BHs. If BHs do not receive significant natal kicks at birth, these NSBH binaries that can merge within Hubble time would have BHs with projected aligned spins χ z ≳ 0.8 and, hence, can certainly allow tidal disruption to happen. Even if significant BH kicks are considered for a small fraction of NSBH binaries, the projected aligned spins of BHs are χ z ≳ 0.2. These systems can still be disrupted events unless the NSs are very massive. Thus, NS-first-born NSBH mergers would be promising multimessenger sources. We discuss various potential EM counterparts associated with these systems and their detectability in the upcoming fourth observation run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of the third observing run of the LIGOâ€"Virgoâ€"KAGRA Collaboration, several gravitational-wave (GW) neutron starâ€"black hole (NSBH) candidates have been announced. By assuming that these candidates are real signals with astrophysical origins, we analyze the population properties of the mass and spin distributions for GW NSBH mergers. We find that the primary BH mass distribution of NSBH systems, whose shape is consistent with that inferred from the GW binary BH (BBH) primaries, can be well described as a power law with an index of α = 4.8 âˆ' 2.8 + 4.5 plus a high-mass Gaussian component peaking at ∼ 33 âˆ' 9 + 14 M ⊙ . The NS mass spectrum could be shaped as a nearly flat distribution between ∼1.0 and 2.1 M ⊙. The constrained NS maximum mass agrees with that inferred from NSs in our Galaxy. If GW190814 and GW200210 are NSBH mergers, the posterior results of the NS maximum mass would be always larger than ∼2.5 M ⊙ and significantly deviate from that inferred in Galactic NSs. The effective inspiral spin and effective precession spin of GW NSBH mergers are measured to potentially have near-zero distributions. The negligible spins for GW NSBH mergers imply that most events in the universe should be plunging events, which support the standard isolated formation channel of NSBH binaries. More NSBH mergers to be discovered in the fourth observing run would help to more precisely model the population properties of cosmological NSBH mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of microvascular decompression (MVD) for primary hemifacial spasm (HFS) in patients aged ≥70 years and to compare the outcome with a control cohort of younger patients(<70 years). Methods In this retrospective study, subjects were divided into two groups: an elderly group (patients who were ≥70 years) and a younger group. We compared demographic and clinical data, surgical outcome, MVD-related complications, and duration of operation and hospitalization after MVD between the two groups. Results At a mean follow-up of 32 ± 4.2 months, 188 elderly patients (90.4%) reported an effective outcome without need for any medication versus 379 (91.1%) of the younger cohort. There was no mortality in both cohorts. The prevalence of delayed facial palsy was 4.8% in the elderly group and 4.1% in the younger group. One (0.5%) patient in the elderly group and 3 (0.7%) patients in the younger group suffered cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of MVD-related complications, such as delayed facial palsy, hearing impairment, CSF leakage, and hematoma. Conclusions MVD is an effective treatment option in elderly patients with HFS as well as in younger patients. Age itself seems to be no relevant contraindication or, alternatively, risk factor regarding MVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Chinese people are technically guaranteed a place to live through the hukou system, homelessness is still an issue in China. Our paper aims to explore the home-making strategies of homeless people in the context of China's homelessness policy transition from repatriation to assistance in the post-socialist era, using in-depth interviews with homeless people and others interacting with them in Shanghai's high-prestige downtown area. Drawing on Giddens' structuration theory, we find that homeless people work to create a sense of home through: 1) avoiding the government service centres where freedom, privacy and social contact are restricted; 2) adapting their routines to rigid place management in the daytime and benefitting from strict security at night; and 3) tactically utilising surrounding spaces and facilities to carry out daily activities and develop a sense of home and control. Government assistance through the service centres is inadequate and may even be diametrically opposed to home-making, highlighting room for improvement in government homelessness policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]