This research used an experimental study design in which 60 subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental (image e-book guidance) group or a control (text guidance) group after meeting the admission conditions and agreeing to participate in the study. It was proven that providing image e-book guidance before surgery significantly changed the behavior of patients and promoted relief of urinary catheter discomfort through self-efficacy to reduce urinary catheter pain after surgery. It was found that providing image e-book guidance can shorten the time for health education and provide patients with repeated medical education and familiarity with health guidance, which can help to address the important clinical service demand issue and the shortage of nursing staff.

This study investigates the impact of plasma gradient modification and gradient illumination on the optoelectronic properties of buckypaper (BP), a flexible and large-scale material composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The BP samples were subjected to argon ion plasma treatment at varying power levels and durations, thereby creating different carrier concentration gradients on the surface. The photovoltage and photocurrent responses of the samples were then measured under uniform full illumination and gradient illumination conditions. The findings revealed that both plasma gradient modification and gradient illumination significantly enhanced the optoelectronic performance of BP. Notably, the combined application of these two methods yielded superior results compared to the application of either method alone. Specifically, the optimal plasma power for improving BP was found to be 20W. Under conditions of plasma gradient modification and gradient illumination, a photovoltage of 267.76 μV was generated, which represents a 21.44 times increase, and a photocurrent of 15.69 μA, reflecting a 32.69 times enhancement. The mechanism underlying this optoelectronic effect can be attributed to the presence of π-bonds in the carbon atoms. These π-bonds are excited by photons, resulting in the generation of small voltages and currents. This study underscores the potential of BP as an optoelectronic material and introduces a novel approach to enhance its optoelectronic properties through plasma gradient modification and gradient illumination.

Today, the various abilities that nurses require to meet patients’ healthcare needs adequately are all affected by AI-enabled systems. This research used an experimental study design in which 60 subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental (AI image e-book guidance) group or a control (text paper guidance) group after meeting the admission conditions and agreeing to participate in the study. It was proven that providing AI image e-book guidance before surgery significantly changed the behavior of patients and promoted relief of urinary catheter discomfort through self-efficacy to reduce urinary catheter pain after surgery(p=0.000). It was found that providing AI image e-book guidance can shorten the time for health education and provide patients with repeated medical education and familiarity with health guidance, which can help to address the important clinical service demand issue and the shortage of nursing staff.

Background: Strengthening adherence to self-care behaviors in patients with periodontal disease (PD) and reducing plaque index is crucial for improving PD treatment. We evaluated the effectiveness of a theory of planned behavior (TPB)-based health education intervention involving planning strategy on self-care behaviors in patients with PD. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted; 158 and 139 patients comprised the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG), respectively. Both groups received a leaflet, and the EG also received a planning intervention, which was a brief one-on-one counseling session with a planning sheet. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Between-group comparisons of TPB measures revealed significant differences in all domains when controlling for baseline covariates. The EG exhibited significantly higher levels of action and coping planning than the CG at 2-week follow-up (effect size (ES) = 5.54 and 5.57, respectively) and 6-week follow-up (ES = 5.66 and 5.66, respectively). Between-group differences in changes of brushing behaviors increased significantly. More frequent use of dental floss was observed in the EG than in the CG at 2-week and 6-week follow-ups (24.7% and 22.8%, respectively). Conclusions: The intervention involving planning strategy effectively promoted adherence to self-care behaviors in patients with PD.

Identifying group movement patterns of crowds and understanding group behaviors is valuable for urban planners, especially when the groups are special such as tourist groups. In this paper, we present a framework to discover tourist groups and investigate the tourist behaviors using mobile phone call detail records (CDRs). Unlike GPS data, CDRs are relatively poor in spatial resolution with low sampling rates, which makes it a big challenge to identify group members from thousands of tourists. Moreover, since touristic trips are not on a regular basis, no historical data of the specific group can be used to reduce the uncertainty of trajectories. To address such challenges, we propose a method called group movement pattern mining based on similarity (GMPMS) to discover tourist groups. To avoid large amounts of trajectory similarity measurements, snapshots of the trajectories are firstly generated to extract candidate groups containing co-occurring tourists. Then, considering that different groups may follow the same itineraries, additional traveling behavioral features are defined to identify the group members. Finally, with Hainan province as an example, we provide a number of interesting insights of travel behaviors of group tours as well as individual tours, which will be helpful for tourism planning and management.

An oceanic radar altimeter such as TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) is typically for observing elevation changes over the open oceans or large inland lakes/rivers, with limited applications over solid earth due to its large footprint and susceptibility to waveform contamination and slope effect. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to construct a long-term time series of glacier elevation change from T/P-series radar altimeters over two flat surfaces near a glacier terminus and an icefield (Sites A and B, with slopes of 2° and 0.8°) in Mt. Tanggula, Tibet, at elevations over 5400 m. We retracked radar waveforms using the subwaveform threshold algorithm, selected quality altimeter data (1/4 of the original) with nearly the same slope and adjusted the original elevations by fitting with a time-varying, 2nd order surface. The glacier elevation changes at the two sites from T/P (1993–2002) show seasonal elevation oscillations with linear rates at about −3 m/year and abnormal seasonal changes around the 1997–98 El Niño. Site A is over a deep valley in southern Tanggula. Its elevation dropped about 30 m over 1993–2002 (from T/P) and the glacier almost disappeared by 2016 (from altimeters and satellite images). Despite the sporadic Jason-2 and Jason-3 altimeter data, we also derived long-term rates of glacier elevation change over 1993–2017. Landsat-derived glacier area and elevation changes near the two sites confirm the rapid glacier thinning from the altimeters. The glacier meltwater near Site A supplied increasing source water to Chibuzhang Co west of Mt. Tanggula, contributing partially to its accelerated rising lake level. The glacier thinning at Site B (icefield) was correlated with the increased discharge of the Tuotuo River in eastern Mt. Tanggula, a source region of the Yangtze River. The successful detection of glacier thinning at the two sites shows that T/P-series altimeters can serve as a virtual station at a flat glacier spot to monitor long-term glacier elevation changes in connection to climate change. This virtual station concept is particularly useful for inaccessible glaciers, but its implementation faces two challenging issues: increasing the volume of quality altimeter data and improving the ranging accuracy over a targeted mountain glacier spot.

With the growing of university chemistry experiment projects, scientific research personnel, specialized equipment, laboratory accident is increasing yearly. And accident data lacks a safety platform to store related information and cannot be guaranteed for efficient conditional sharing. To solve these problems, we designed a laboratory accident system to store, share related data and predict risk level. In this paper, we manually collected chemistry laboratory accidents by python software and class assignments, then analyses risk factor variables using Spsspro, finally established a prediction model using Stata. We intended to register laboratory related data into proposed chemistry accident system based on data ownership safety architecture. The chemistry accident system can break data barriers using confirmation and authorization key technology to trace non-tampered data source in real time when emergency accident happens. Meanwhile, our proposed system can use our designed accident risk model to predict risk level of any experiment project. It can also recommend appropriate safety education models.

Under the development mode of deep blending of emerging technologies, major projects are important for enhancing China's comprehensive national strength and independent innovation capability. Based on the social benefits of major projects, and considering the influence of reputation factors, an evolutionary game model composed of a general contractor and subcontractor of major projects is established. This paper studies the influence of various factors including the income distribution coefficient of collaborative innovation, and MATLAB simulation software is analyzed the influence of factors on an evolutionary path. The results show that a reasonable income distribution coefficient can promote the game behavior of both parties to the direction of active collaborative innovation; The reduction of innovation cost and the improvement of spillover technology absorption capacity can make innovation subjects tend to choose active collaborative innovation strategies. In addition, reputation loss above a specific threshold can effectively inhibit free-riding behavior and encourage innovation subjects to choose active collaborative innovation strategies. The research results provide reference for promoting major projects' technology innovation.

The potential adverse effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations raise public concerns. Data from Taiwan’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) can provide valuable insights. This study analyzed preliminary application data for COVID-19 vaccine compensation in Taiwan’s VICP, focusing on applicants receiving vaccines between March 2021 and June 2022. Among the 2941 adverse events, 113 cases (3.8%) were deemed causally associated with vaccination, 313 (10.6%) were indeterminate, and 2515 (85.5%) had no causal association. Nearly half (47.6%) of applicants were over 60 years old, and 76.6% had a history of preexisting chronic dis-eases. Among the 426 vaccine-associated or indeterminate cases, the most common causes were hematological diseases and thrombosis. There were 920 mortality cases reported, and 97.4% were unassociated with vaccination. Only five deaths were judged to be associated with the COVID-19 vaccination, all involving the adenovirus vector vaccine and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome. In conclusion, most compensation applications were not causally linked to vaccination. Compared to other countries, the number of applications in Taiwan’s VICP is relatively high. These findings may indicate a need to adjust the application requirements for compensation in Taiwan’s program.

Seven pieces of Lacquer Lian from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty were analyzed by means of cross-section observation, Raman spectroscopy (RS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/ mass spectroscopy (THM-Py-GC/MS). The results demonstrate that Lacquer Lian was consisted by three layers, including pigment layer, undercoat layer and ground layer, and lacquering techniques had undergone minimal changes from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty, the red mineral pigment was cinnabar, the lacquer sap was urushi. Furthermore, Boiled tung oil was found in the ground layer of lacquerwares from Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty.

This project designed a set of network security mechanisms for cloud applications in VANETs. At present, cloud computing is one of the government’s development priorities in the industry. We divide cloud into public, private, and hybrid clouds in this project. Vehicles or passengers can access road conditions or public transport information through the public cloud; public transportation can access current driving records and users can access relevant enterprise information on the private cloud and hybrid cloud is a combination of public and private clouds. Both cloud computing or VANETs require network and information security. At present, many researches on VANETs security only focus on message communication, and neglect information storage. Researches on cloud computing security only focus on information protection, and neglect user privacy and anonymity. This project designed a set of network and information security mechanisms in line with the requirements of Confidentiality, Authentication, Non-repudiation, Conditional Anonymity, and Conditional Untraceability. This project primarily needs to achieve the following: 1.an authentication mechanism to verify the identity of each other between the passenger and the vehicle and to verify the identity with Single Sign-On; 2. vehicle or user privacy and anonymity, which need to be able to replace the anonymous ID and related parameters for the vehicle or the user; 3. a private communication mechanism, which enables any vehicle or user to communicate privately; and 4. an information security encryption method, which can encrypt the information on a cloud server to avoid unauthorized access by internal personnel or hackers.

Anti-interferon (IFN)-γ autoantibodies are linked to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection. Given the elevated risks of herpes zoster (HZ) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi), we aimed to examine the relationship between anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies with HZ development in JAKi-treated patients. In twenty-four RA patients with new-onset HZ and forty-two without HZ, serum titers of anti-IFN-γ autoantibodies, plasma levels of IFN-γ, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and IFN-γ inducible protein-10 (IP-10) were measured by ELISA. Significantly lower MCP-1 levels were observed in patients with HZ compared to those without (median, 98.21pg/ml, interquartile range (IQR) 77.63-150.30pg/ml versus 142.3pg/ml, IQR 106.7-175.6pg/ml, p<0.05). There was no significant difference in anti-IFN-γ titers, IFN-γ levels, or IP-10 levels between patients with and without HZ. Three of 24 patients with HZ had severe HZ with multi-dermatomal involvement. Anti-IFN-γ titers were significantly higher in patients with severe HZ than in those with non-severe HZ (median 24.8ng/ml, IQR 21.0-38.2ng/ml versus 10.5ng/ml, IQR 9.9-15.0ng/ml, p<0.005). In conclusion, patients with HZ had significantly lower MCP-1 levels than those without HZ, and patients with severe HZ had significantly higher titers of anti-IFN-γ than those with non-severe HZ. Given small sample size, our results need further validation in future studies.

This paper aims to build up a preference function to evaluate the public benefits of the type of agricultural farming, biodiversity, water provisions, land use type, ecotourism modes, and a monetary attribute (environmental trust fund and willingness to contribute) associated with an ecosystem service and land use program in a forest park. This study used the choice experiments to build a random utility model, analyze the average preference for the above land use attributes based on the conditional logit and used a latent class model to test the resident’s heterogeneous preferences for land use planning in the forest park. We also estimated the welfare derived from various land use programs. The empirical result had shown that: (1) increasing organic farming area, maintaining the status quo of species biodiversity, increasing the surface water provision, increasing the area of custom flora, increasing the wetland area, and setting up an integrated framework for ecotourism increase the public’s preference for the land use program; (2) we found that farmer and non-farmer haven’t the same land use preferences; (3) the ecotourism development program incorporating biodiversity, organic farming, ethnobotany, and wetland area with integrated ecotourism are more preferred than other land use program scenarios.

Transition-metal-catalyzed amide bond formation from alcohols and amines is an atom-economic and eco-friendly route. Herein, we identified a highly active in situ N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)/ruthenium (Ru) catalytic system for this amide synthesis. Various substrates, including sterically hindered ones, could be directly transformed into the corresponding amides with the catalyst loading as low as 0.25 mol%. In this system, we replaced the p-cymene ligand of the Ru source with a relatively labile cyclooctadiene (cod) ligand so as to more efficiently obtain the corresponding poly-carbene Ru species. Expectedly, the weaker cod ligand could be more easily substituted with multiple mono-NHC ligands. Further HR-MS analyses revealed that two tetra-carbene complexes were probably generated from the in situ catalytic system.

According to the requirement of 20kg load of casting barrel, we design a three-dimensional model of the robot and analyze the three stages of liquid level change in the casting barrel during the casting process. Through the analysis, it is determined that the time and angle function is an implicit function, and it is impossible to find the analytical expression of time about angle. The kinetic function of the casting barrel is simulated by MATLAB, and it is found that the function image has mutation points, and when the original function is fitted and approximated by fifth-degree polynomial interpolation, the fifth-degree polynomial function image of the time versus the angular acceleration has a large amplitude of oscillation, especially the mutation points. A PID algorithm based on the discretization of the time and acceleration function is introduced for correction, and the results show that this method effectively reduces the oscillation amplitude of the image and improves the coincidence with the original function.

Studies on the neurobiological causes of anxiety disorders suggest that the GABA system in-creases synaptic concentration and enhances the affinity of GABAA (type A) receptors for ben-zo-diazepine ligands. Flumazenil antagonizes the benzodiazepine binding site of the GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) type /benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) complex in the central nervous sys-tem (CNS). The integration of the metabolites of flumazenil by LC-tandem mass spectrometry will complete understanding of the in vivo metabolism of flumazenil and accelerate radio-pharmaceutical inspection and registration. The main goal of our study was to investigate using reversed-phase HPLC (PR-HPLC) coupled with electrospray ionization triple quadrupole tan-dem mass spectrometry (ESI-QqQ MS) for the identification of flumazenil and its metabolites in a hepatic matrix. And a carrier-free nucleophilic fluorination with automatic synthesizer for [18F]flumazenil which applied to in vivo nano-positron emission tomography (Nano-PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging and ex vivo bio-distribution used to analyze in normal rats. The study showed that 50% of the flumazenil was bio-transformed at 60 min by the rat liver homogenate, while one metabolite (M1) was a methyl transesterification product of flumazenil. In a rat liver microsomes system, two metabolites were identified (M2 and M3) as its carboxylic acid and hydroxylated ethylester forms, respectively. [18F]flumazenil in vivo nanoPET/CT imag-ing and ex vivo bio-distribution assay also showed significant effects on GABAA receptor availa-bility in the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, cortex, and hippocampus in the rat brain, worriless about the formation of metabolites. We showed completion of the bio-transformed course of flumazenil by the hepatic system; and [18F]flumazenil can be a good ligand and serve as a PET agent for determination of GABAA/BZR complex for multiplex neurological syndromes in the clinical stage.

Seven pieces of Lacquer Lian from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty (475 BC- 1368 AD) were analyzed by means of cross-section observation, Raman spectroscopy (RS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/ mass spectroscopy (Py-GC/MS). The results demonstrated that Lacquer Lian was consisted by three layers, including pigment layer in the surface, undercoat layer in the middle and ground layer, the red mineral pigment was cinnabar, and mixture of Chinese lacquer and drying oil was applied as main organic materials. Although lacquering techniques had undergone minimal changes from Warring States Period to Yuan Dynasty, the species of drying oil had changed based on the fact that boiled tung oil was found in the ground layer of lacquerwares from Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty. The present research provided direct evidence for the inheritance and development of Chinese lacquer technology.

Aim: To analysis the relationship between healthy adults right ventricular diameter (RVD) and geographical factors. Location: China’s 22 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Methods: Using correlation analysis the relationship between RVD and nine geographic factors, build predictive models by factor analysis. Results: There is significant correlation between RVD and geographical factors, and the annual average temperature is most relevant geographical factors, a predictive model was built by factor analysis: Ŷ = 19.46 + 0.0007072X1 + 0.001034X2 -0.05412X3 -0.001405X4 -0.0006351X5 + 0.02903X6 + 0.01243X7 -0.01033X8 + 0.03816X9 ± 0.63. Then using Kriging interpolation interpolate the geographical distribution of Chinese healthy adult right ventricular diameter reference value in ArcGIS software. Main Conclusion: If geographic factors can be derived in anywhere of China, RVD can be calculated by the model, you can also get RVD from geographical distribution.

Construction productivity entails a wide range of work combinations. When human resources are scarce, it is critical to replace manpower with machinery, and calculating machinery productivity is crucial. Traditional labor productivity methods, however, cannot address dredging complex multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) problems. Aiming to address the limitations of the traditional labor productivity method, this paper extends the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and proposes a new dredging productivity evaluation method. The proposed method can solve the problem of evaluating various combinations of factors (single-input, multiple-input, sin-gle-output, and multiple-output) and the problem suggesting that the efficiency of the DEA method'scalculation results is equal to 1. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified using reservoir dredging examples. The simulation results show that the proposed method has broad applicability, can accurately evaluate the related dredging performance issues, and provide directions for construction managers to improve labor productivity.

No research to date has explored the possibility of context-specific, within-relationship fluctuation in attachment security. In this present article, two cross-sectional studies were designed (1) to develop and validate context-specific attachment scales in Traditional-Chinese, and (2) to explore fluctuations in within-parent attachment security between the contexts of sport and academics, in relation to global attachment patterns and indicators of psychological wellbeing. Results indicated that youth can and do perceive within-parent attachment patterns differently depending upon context but that the relationship of such differences to context-specific outcomes is complex. Of particular interest was that the degree of within-parent attachment variability between contexts was clearly and negatively related to indices of psychological wellbeing. This suggests that contextual variation may be a meaningful and useful way to explore within-parent attachment fluctuation.

This study aims to exploit the distinctive properties of carbon nanotube materials, which are particularly pronounced at the microscopic scale, by deploying fabrication techniques that allow their features to be observed macroscopically. Specifically, we aim to create a semiconductor device that exhibits flexibility and the ability to modulate its electromagnetic wave absorption frequency by means of biasing. Initially, we fabricate a sheet of carbon nanotubes through a vacuum filtration process. Subsequently, phosphorus and boron elements are separately doped into the nanotube sheet, enabling it to embody the characteristics of a PN diode. Measurements indicate that, in addition to the fundamental diode's current-voltage relationship, the device also demonstrates intriguing transmission properties under the TEM mode of electromagnetic waves. It exhibits a frequency shift of approximately 2.3125 GHz for each volt of bias change. The final result is a lightweight and flexible carbon-based semiconductor microwave filter, which can conform to curved surfaces. This feat underscores the potential of such materials for innovative and effective electromagnetic wave manipulation.

This is a survey study that dialysis patients were randomly sampled from a medical center in northern Taiwan, and those who gave their consent to participate were included in this study. The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between depression, hope, and quality of life of dialysis patients. All subjects agreed to take "Beck’s Depression Inventory", " The Chinese version of Herth Hope Index" and " The Chinese version of Kidney Disease Quality of Life" (KDQOL-SFTM). Data were processed using SPSS for descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that patients were 12.45±SD 9.03, which was mild depression, the mean score of hope was 34.25, which was equivalent to 72.60%, and was at the middle level. In KDQOL-SFTM, the score in mental composite (M=42.65, SD=8.81) was higher than in physical composite (M=37.38, SD=9.28), and the score was at the intermediate quality of life, and hope and depression were significantly and negatively correlated. This study suggests that dialysis case managers provide nursing guidance to help dialysis patients learn comfortable care methods and support the resilience they need.

Taiwan is the world’s leading country regarding tuna longline fisheries; the combined catches with those from Japan account for more than half of the global total. However, the bycatch of sea turtles, seabirds, and dolphins in longline fisheries has attracted international concern. Regarding sea turtle conservation, the use of circle hooks in longline fisheries will inevitably become a trend. Meanwhile, Taiwanese fishermen are concerned whether the use of circle hooks will have a negative impact on the catch efficiency of target species. This study was conducted to compare the catch efficiency of circle and tuna hooks by the Taiwanese commercial tuna longline fishing vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The results indicated that if the effects of immersion time were considered, the catch rates of all groups were the same between 4.2-sun circle and tuna hooks. However, the catch rate of 4.0-sun circle hooks was significantly higher than the two types of 4.2-sun circle and tuna hooks. Regarding survival rates, fish caught with circle hooks showed higher survival rates than tuna hooks for total commercial fish, tunas and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). However, the survival rate was only determined at haulback; the relationship between survival rate and immersion time still needs further investigation. Regarding catch sizes, there were no significant differences in the sizes of bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin tuna between circle and tuna hooks. But based solely on mean weight, the value of yellowfin tuna caught using circle hooks may be higher than those using tuna hooks. In summary, the circle hooks used in this study did not show a negative impact on the catch efficiency of Taiwanese longline fisheries, and could show a superior performance than that of tuna hooks. These results could be actively promoted in the industry through the education and training of fishermen; thus enabling Taiwan to comply with international sea turtle conservation trends.

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) may convey high current and sustain high breakdown voltages; it may provide high power control. In a sense, how IGBT demonstrates the capability of power control was not specifically described, and the equivalent bipolar junction transistors (BJT) activated by an applied bias to the insulated gate is intriguing. As seen in Figure 1, IGBT shows an equivalent circuit structure containing two types of BJT, (NPN-type Bipolar transistor and PNP-type Bipolar transistor), which can be modeled as diode-associated transistor. Apparently, as a bias applies to the controlling gate, the channel beneath the gate oxide gets strongly inversed and turns out to be conductive just like what happens on metal-oxide-silicon field effect transistor (MOSFET), which provides necessary igniting currents to both BJTs and thus causes high current gain flowing through them-selves from the bottom. A proposed and renewed formula provides addressing the above scenario and successfully fitting the measured data that forms the characteristic curves. Some parameters in the proposed formula, which includes size and mobility associated constant, threshold voltage, and Early-Voltage-related lambda for MOSFET, explain and explore the underlying physics. IGBT thus enjoy high input impedance and high current gain due to MOSFET (Insulated Gate) and BJT, respectively. This formula combines both merits of MOSFET and BJT in order to fit the measured data. Indeed, the formula intimately fits IGBT electrical characteristic curves, and thus may be qualified and served as a model. The new model is then advisable for designing power integrated circuit to exactly achieve power saving, power control, and power efficiency.

The task of weakly supervised point cloud semantic segmentation has received widespread attention and also has been widely used in autonomous driving, robotics, and modern industries. Due to the high dimensionality and large volume of point cloud data, many technical difficulties appeal to weakly supervised semantic processing, especially segmentation. However, weakly-supervised schemes usually provide only partial labelling information of the underlying point cloud data and thus need to effectively extract local features, geometric information, and contextual relationships only using these limited labelled data for supervised learning. To improve weakly-supervised semantic segmentation, we propose a novel segmentation network through the boundary-based feature aggregation based on a K-NN algorithm with down-sampling operation, and also introduce the smoothness loss and Siamese loss for effective segmentation. The experiments on public datasets demonstrate that our presented segmentation method exceeds most of the existing fully supervised and weakly-supervised methods in terms of mIoU. Specifically, our network has high segmentation accuracy on the labels of objects with similar geometrical structures, such as ceiling, wall, floor, chair and table, reaching 91.2%, 98.8%, 83.3%, 75.3% and 80.2%, respectively. Extensive experiments also illustrate its robustness, effectiveness, and generalization of the proposed weakly supervised segmentation network.

Dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) constitutes an important economic industry in Guizhou Province, China; however, in recent years, stem rot in this region has become increasingly severe. Moreover, the pathogens responsible for stem rot in Guizhou and their sensitivity to fungicides remain elusive. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the causative pathogens of stem rot in this region and analyze their sensitivity to fungicides. Twenty-four isolates were obtained from diseased tissues, from which H-4 and H-5 were selected and confirmed as pathogens. Based on the morphological characteristics of macroconidia, microconidia, and colony morphology, the polygenic phylogenetic tree constructed using internal transcribed spacer, elongation factor 1-alpha, and retinol-binding protein-2 gene fragments, along with carbon source metabolism using FF microplates, the two pathogens were identified as Fusarium oxysporum and F. concentricum respectively. In addition, the in vitro toxicity of eight fungicides against both pathogens were measured based on mycelium growth rate. The results showed that 75% trifloxystrobin·tebuconazole exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on both isolates, with concentration for 50% of maximum effect values of 0.1262 µg/mL and 0.1385 µg/mL, respectively. This study identified two Fusarium spp. as the causative pathogens of stem rot in dragon fruit, with F. concentricum being reported for the first time, and demonstrated the best fungicide for them. These findings hold significant potential for guiding the effective treatment of stem rot in dragon fruit in Guizhou, China.

To reveal the influence of variables such as entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, and incubation resources on students' entrepreneurial intentions in vocational colleges, this study took vocational colleges in Zhejiang Province, a province with a strong entrepreneurial climate in China, as an example. The study used a questionnaire to obtain data, and 614 valid questionnaires were collected from seven vocational colleges. The study divided entrepreneurship education into three dimensions: entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, and incubation resources, and used structural equation modeling to investigate the influence of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions while introducing entrepreneurial efficacy as a mediating variable to examine the influence mechanism of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions of higher education students. The results showed that entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurial inspiration, incubation resources, and entrepreneurial efficacy were all significantly and positively correlated with entrepreneurial intentions and that entrepreneurial efficacy mediated between the two dimensions of entrepreneurship education (entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial inspiration) and entrepreneurial intentions. Therefore, to enhance the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in vocational institutions, we should stimulate students' sense of entrepreneurial efficacy, strengthen their entrepreneurial learning and inspire them to start their businesses. In turn, university incubation resources can be developed and utilized to enhance students' entrepreneurial confidence and intentions.

To quantify damage to reinforced concrete (RC) column members after an earthquake, an engineer needs to know the maximum applied force that was generated by the earthquake. Therefore, in this work, piezoceramic transducers are used to detect the applied force on an RC column member under dynamic loading. To investigate the use of post-embedded piezoceramic sensors in detecting the force that is applied to RC columns, eight full-size RC column specimens with various failure modes are tested under specific earthquake loadings. Post-embedded piezoceramic sensors are installed at a range of depths (70-80 mm) beneath the surface of a column specimen to examine the relationship between the signals that are obtained from them and the force applied by the dynamic actuator. The signals that are generated by the post-embedded piezoceramic sensors, which correlate with the applied force, are presented. These results indicate that the post-embedded piezoceramic sensors have great potential as tools for measuring the maximum applied force on an RC column in an earthquake. Restated, signals that are obtained from post-embedded piezoceramic sensors on an RC column in an earthquake can be used to determine the applied force and corresponding damage or residual seismic capacity.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients in a nationwide population. Methods: We conducted a nationwide cohort study between 2003 and 2013 using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The AS cohort included 2210 patients who were newly diagnosed between 2003 and 2013. Randomly selected non-AS controls were matched at a 1:4 ratio based on age, sex and index date. The endpoint of OSA was occurrence or the end of 2013. Cumulative incidences, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated after adjusting for age, gender, comorbidities and co-medications. Multivariate analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards model. Due to violation of the proportionality assumption, landmark analysis was conducted to explore the risk of OSA during specific follow-up periods. Results: The adjusted HR (aHR) of OSA for the AS group was 2.826 (95% C.I. = 1.727–4.625) compared to the control group. On landmark analysis, aHR was 7.919 (95% C.I. = 3.169–19.792) for AS group 0–24 months from index date, and decreased to 1.816 (95% C.I. = 0.944–3.494) at ≥ 24 months from index date. On subgroup analyses increased risks of OSA in AS group compared to the control group were found for both males and females (aHRs were 4.533 (95% C.I. = 1.441–14.262) and 2.672 (95% C.I. = 1.522–4.692) for females and males, respectively). On age stratified analysis, there was significant risk only for the 40–59 age group with aHR of 3.913 (95% C.I. = 1.890–8.102). Conclusions: A higher risk of developing OSA was found among newly diagnosed AS cohort during the 12-year follow-up period, especially within 2 years after AS index date and in the 40–59 age group.

In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a valuable platform for many applications, including communication networks. UAV-enabled wireless communication faces challenges in complex urban and dynamic environments. UAVs can suffer from power limitations and path losses caused by non-line-of-sight connections, which may hamper better communication performance. To address these issues, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) have been proposed as a helpful tool to enhance UAV communication networks. However, due to the high mobility of UAV, complex channel environments, and dynamic RIS configurations, it is challenging to estimate the link quality of ground users. In this paper, we propose a link quality estimation model using a gated recurrent unit (GRU) to assess the link quality of ground users for a multi-user RIS-assisted UAV-enabled wireless communication system. Our proposed framework uses a time series of user channel data and RIS phase shift information to estimate the quality of the link for each ground user. Simulation results showed that the proposed GRU model effectively and accurately estimates the link quality of the ground users in the RIS-assisted UAV-enabled wireless communication network.

Bowlby’s (1969/1982) attachment theory has been employed as a broad and integrative framework to explore human wellness across a range of disciplines. Attachment theory has even been labelled one of the last surviving “grand theories” not to have been completely dismissed, replaced, or extensively reworked (e.g., Carr, 2012; Mercer, 2011). However, despite the ubiquitous nature of some of the theory’s fundamental tenets, there are always possibilities for new conceptual development, extension, and revision. In this paper, we critically explore the idea of “context-specific” attachment within parent-child relationships. We briefly outline critical assumptions and key areas of attachment and articulate potential rationale, conceptualisation, and relevance of contextual attachment.

A multispectral superconducting nanowire single photon detector sensitive to different incident photon wavelength bands, is proposed. The SNSPD consists of a Distributed Bragg Reflector, a gold mirror, and two regions employing four NbN nanowires. Using the DBR both as a filter and a reflector, two distinct detection bands are created. The first detection band has a peak absorbance of > 0.75 at a wavelength of 1143 nm, while the second band has an absorbance of > 0.70 in the wavelength range 1440 to 2000 nm. The design of the device can be tuned to provide sensitivity in different wavelength bands. While SNSPDs do not typically provide photon wavelength sensitivity, the band-selection design proposed in this work opens up potential applications for future quantum communication technology.

Current-voltage characteristics curves of NFinFET are presented and are fitted with the modi-fied current-voltage (I-V) formulas, where the modified term in the triode region is demon-strated to be indispensable. In the as-known I-V formula, important parameters need determin-ing to make both the measured data and the fitting data as close as possible. Those parameters include kN (associated with the sizes of the transistor and mobility), (associated with Early Voltage), and Vth (the threshold voltage). The differences between the measured data and the fit-ting data vary as the applied source-drain bias, proving that the mobility of the carriers is not consistently constant. On the other hand, a modified formula, called kink effect factor, is nega-tively or positively added simulating solitary heat waves, which disturb the propagation of car-riers and thus influence the Source-Drain current (IDS). The new statistical standard deviations () are then found to be effectively suppressed as the kink effect is taken into account.

In the existing group decision-making fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) methods, the consensus among experts has rarely been fully reached. To fill this gap, in this study, a pre-aggregation fuzzy collaborative intelligence (FCI)-based FAHP approach is proposed. In the proposed pre-aggregation FCI-based FAHP approach, fuzzy intersection is applied to aggregate experts’ pairwise comparison results if these pairwise comparison results overlap. The aggregation result is a matrix of polygonal fuzzy numbers. Subsequently, alpha-cut operations are applied to derive the fuzzy priorities of criteria from the aggregation result. The pre-aggregation FCI-based FAHP approach has been applied to select suitable alternative suppliers for a wafer foundry in Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The experimental results revealed that the pre-aggregation FCI-based FAHP approach significantly reduced the uncertainty inherent in the decision-making process by deriving fuzzy priorities with very narrow ranges.

This study investigates the possible mechanisms related to the wide range of relative humidity in cirrus clouds (RHi). Under the closed adiabatic assumption, the impacts of vertical motion and ice crystal deposition/sublimation on RHi are investigated through in situ observations and parcel model simulations. Vertical motion is an active external force that changes the RHi, and ice crystal deposition/sublimation plays a role in mitigating the change in RHi. They are the two most important mechanisms involved in controlling the RHi fluctuation during cirrus evolution and could well explain the wide range of RHi in wave-related cirrus clouds. Furthermore, a comparison of cloud statistical characteristics from both observations and simulations shows that a very low value (e.g., 0.001) for the water vapor ice deposition coefficient is highly unlikely.

Background: In long-term care facilities, there are many residents who do not have the ability to seek shelter by themselves in the case of an emergency. Thus, it is extremely important that the staff of nursing homes are equipped with correct disaster prevention concepts, emergency survival responses, and hazard mitigation measures. Purpose: Discuss the intervention effectiveness of different fire prevention and emergency response trainings at nursing homes and the relationship and predictivity of awareness to self-efficacy. Method: Recruit staff from two nursing homes through purposive sampling, using a two-team pre-and post-test design to collect results from 41 individuals in the experiment group and 40 individuals in the control group. The research tool is the “Nursing Home Fire Prevention and Emergency Response Awareness and Self-Efficacy Scale,” to compare the effectiveness of advanced and general fire safety trainings. Result: After receiving improved advanced fire safety training, the total score and the result of the experiment group on fire prevention and emergency response awareness and self-efficacy had both performed better than the control group who received general fire safety training (p < .001); fire prevention and emergency response awareness has significant and positive correlation with self-efficacy (r=.601, p < .001), and awareness is a significant predictor variable to self-efficacy (p < .001). Conclusion/Practical Application: This study finds that the key to improving learning effectiveness includes adding fire science concept chapter when creating fire safety training material in order to strengthen basic awareness; fire safety training should comprehensively introduce all related duty responsibilities of staff fire defense formation, in turn enabling mutual responsive support for the needs of the site; also, to become familiarized with the knowledge requires appropriate frequency of training and enhancing the staff’s awareness to fire prevention and emergency response, which is the most important key of learning effectiveness.

Buckypaper (BP), a flexible and porous material, exhibits photovoltaic properties when exposed to light. In this study, we have employed Radio Frequency (RF) Sputtering of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) followed by rapid thermal annealing to enhance the photovoltaic response of BP. We investigated the impact of various sputtering parameters, such as the gas flow ratio of argon to oxygen and deposition time, on the morphology, composition, resistivity, and photovoltaic characteristics of ZnO-modified BP. Additionally, the photovoltaic performance of the samples under different illumination modes and wavelengths was compared. It was found that optimal sputtering conditions—argon to oxygen flow ratio of 1:2, deposition time of 20 minutes, and power of 100 watts—resulted in a ZnO film thickness of approximately 45 nanometers. After annealing at 400°C for 10 minutes, the ZnO-modified BP demonstrated a significant increase in photocurrent and photovoltage, along with a reduction in resistivity, compared to unmodified BP. Moreover, under gradient illumination, the ZnO-modified BP exhibited a photovoltage enhancement of 14.70 times and a photocurrent increase of 13.86 times, compared to uniform illumination. Under blue light, it showed a higher photovoltaic response than under other colors. The enhancement in photovoltaic response is attributed to the formation of a Schottky junction between ZnO and BP, an increased carrier concentration gradient, and an expanded light absorption spectrum. Our results validate that ZnO sputtering followed by annealing is an effective method for modifying BP for photovoltaic applications such as solar cells and photodetectors.

In this paper we present the exploration of indoor positioning technologies for UAVs, and navigation techniques for path planning and obstacle avoidance. The objective is to perform warehouse inventory tasks using a drone to search for barcodes or markers to identify the objects. For the indoor positioning techniques, we employ Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO), Ultra-Wideband (UWB), AprilTag fiducial markers, and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). These algorithms encompass global positioning, local positioning, and pre-mapping positioning, comparing the merits and drawbacks of various techniques and trajectories. In UAV navigation, we combine SLAM-based RTAB-Map indoor mapping and navigation path planning of the ROS for indoor environments. This system enables precise drone positioning indoors and utilizes global and local path planners to generate flight paths that avoid dynamic, static, unknown, and known obstacles, demonstrating high practicality and feasibility. To achieve the warehouse inventory inspection, a reinforcement learning approach is proposed to recognize the markers by adjusting the UAV's viewpoint. We address several main problems in inventory management, including efficiently planning paths while ensuring a certain level of detection rate. Two reinforcement learning techniques, AC (Actor-Critic) and PPO (Proximal Policy Optimization), are implemented based on AprilTag identification. Testing is performed in both simulated and real-world environments, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated.Code is available at https://github.com/kellen080/Navigation and https://github.com/kellen080/Indoor\_Positioning.

Aberrant neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation and the loss of barrier integrity in inflamed intestinal tissues have long been associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, whether NETs alter intestinal epithelium permeability during colitis remains elusive. Here, we demonstrated that NETs promote the breakdown in intestinal barrier function for the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation in mouse models of colitis. NETs were abundant in the colon of mice with colitis experimentally induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) or 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). Analysis of the intestinal barrier integrity revealed that NETs impaired gut permeability, enabling the initiation of luminal bacterial translocation and inflammation. Furthermore, NETs induced the apoptosis of epithelial cells and disrupted the integrity of tight junctions and adherens junctions. Intravenous administration of DNase I, an enzyme that dissolves the web-like DNA filaments of NETs, during colitis restored the mucosal barrier integrity which reduced the dissemination of luminal bacteria, and attenuated intestinal inflammation in both DSS and TNBS models. We conclude that NETs serve a detrimental factor in the gut epithelial barrier function leading to the pathogenesis of mucosal inflammation during acute colitis.

All humans will experience the process of birth, old age, illness, and death. However, when faced with life-sustaining decisions, the families of patients are often faced with medical decisions as surrogates. In recent years, the families of patients have started to value the importance of the right to palliative care, although this often requires lengthy discussions. Therefore, this study explored the predictability of factors that affect the feeling experienced by patients’ families when signing Do-Not-Resuscitate Consent. This study used a cross-sectional study and interviewed 90 family members using a structural questionnaire. The study hypotheses were tested using a t-test, one-way analysis of variance, product–moment correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis. Attribute variables of family members, such as gender and whether they live with the patient, are predictors that affect the family member’s feeling experience when signing Do-Not-Resuscitate Consent. The emotional support from medical professionals to family members helps the family member to express their negative feelings on signing Do-Not-Resuscitate Consent; more informational support information provided to family members by medical professionals can alleviate negative feelings felt by family members when signing Do-Not-Resuscitate Consent. This study identified that family members’ knowledge about Do-Not-Resuscitate acquired from medical professionals is relatively low. It is suggested that critical care units regularly conduct training on hospice palliative care, implement standard care procedures of hospice palliative care at critical care units, and provide detailed medical information about advanced decisions to family members so as to reduce their emotional stress. This will ensure that intensive care units can also achieve the goal of critically ill hospice palliative care.

Student mobility is one of the most important indicators to reflect institutional internationalization in a sustainable higher education system. While student mobility issues have been addressed persistently, the phenomenon is rarely discussed in association with higher education expansion. Since higher education sustainable development has received much scholarly attention, monitoring student mobility flows to adjust international strategies is necessary. This study explored practical approaches to detect student mobility flows in the process of higher education expansion. Targeting Taiwan’s higher education system as an example, we addressed the topic of system expansion and the core issues of student mobility. Target series data were collected from 1950 to 2021, including higher education enrollment, gross enrollment ratio (GER), and number of inbound and outbound students. The data were transformed with index formats, for example enrollment increasing ratio (IR) and net flow ratio. The cross-correlation function (CCF) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) were used to determine the correlations of the series data and their future trends. The findings suggested that the effect of system expansion, with GER and IR, might influence the mobility ratios significantly in the process of higher education expansion. This study confirmed that the time series approaches work well in detecting the phenomena of higher education expansion and their effects on student mobility flows in the future.

Heptanuclear {GdIII7} (complex 1) and tetradecanuclear {GdIII14} (complex 2) have been synthesized using a Rhodamine 6G ligand HL (Rhodamine 6G salicylaldehyde hydrazone) and characterized. Complex 1 has a rare disc-shaped structure, where the central Gd ion was connected to the peripheral six GdIII ions via CH3O-/μ3-OH- bridges. Complex 2 has an unexpected three-layer double sandwich structure with a rare μ6-O2- ion in the center of the cluster. Magnetic studies revealed that complex 1 exhibits a magnetic entropy change of 17.4 J kg−1 K−1 at 3 K and 5 T. On the other hand, complex 2 shows a higher magnetic entropy change of 22.3 J kg−1 K−1 at 2 K and 5 T.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play critical roles in the tumor microenvironment (TME), where they are recruited by signals released by cancer cells. Although they have great potential as therapeutic targets for cancer treatment, the dual roles of TAMs in promoting or inhibiting tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis make their function in cancer progression complex. In this review, we provide an overview of the current understanding of TAMs, including their phenotypic diversity, regulatory signaling pathways, and interactions with other cells in the TME. We also discuss the challenges related to the standard isolation protocols of TAMs, inconsistent research results, and translation of TAM knowledge into clinical applications. Additionally, we review the status of clinical trials involving TAMs and potential strategies to overcome the limitations. The future direction of TAM research should focus on developing more targeted therapies that specifically regulate TAM function and non-invasive methods for monitoring TAM activity in cancer patients. A comprehensive understanding of the complex role of TAMs in cancer may lead to the development of more effective treatments and improved outcomes for cancer patients.

In a collaborative forecasting task, experts may have unequal authority levels. However, this has rarely been considered reasonably in the existing fuzzy collaborative forecasting methods. In addition, experts may not be willing to discriminate their authority levels. To address these issues, an auto-weighting fuzzy weighted intersection (FWI) fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach is proposed in this study. In the proposed auto-weighting FWI fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach, experts’ authority levels are automatically and reasonably assigned based on their past forecasting performances. Subsequently, the auto-weighting FWI mechanism is established to aggregate experts’ fuzzy forecasts. The theoretical properties of the auto-weighting FWI mechanism have been discussed and compared with those of the existing fuzzy aggregation operators. After applying the auto-weighting FWI fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach to a case of forecasting the yield of a DRAM product from the literature, its advantages over several existing methods were clearly illustrated.

The introduction of ChatGPT in academia has raised significant concerns, particularly regarding issues like plagiarism and the ethical use of generative text for academic purposes. Existing literature has predominantly focused on ChatGPT adoption, leaving a notable gap in addressing the strategies users employ to mitigate these emerging challenges. To bridge this gap, this research utilizes the Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) to formulate user strategies for reducing uncertainty. These strategies include both interactive and passive approaches. Concurrently, the study identifies key sources of uncertainty, which include concerns related to transparency, information accuracy, and privacy. Additionally, it introduces the concepts of seeking clarification and consulting peer feedback as mediating roles to facilitate reduced uncertainty. We tested these hypotheses with a sample of Indonesian users (N = 566) using structural equation modeling via Smart-PLS 4.0 software. The results confirm that interactive Uncertainty Reduction Strategies (URS) are more effective in reducing uncertainty when using ChatGPT compared to passive URS. Transparency concerns, information accuracy, and privacy concerns are identified as factors that increase the level of uncertainty. In contrast, consulting peer feedback is the most effective strategy for reducing uncertainty compared to seeking clarification at the individual-system level. Insights from the mediating effects confirm that consulting peer feedback significantly mediates uncertainty sources to reduce uncertainty. The study discusses various strategies for the ethical use of ChatGPT by users in the educational context and contributes significantly to theoretical development.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association between periampullary diverticulum (PAD) and difficult biliary cannulation, as well as to evaluate the impact of different types of PAD on the cannulation success rate and adverse events. Methods: A total of 636 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) during the study period were prospectively studied and divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of PAD. In group A, 126 patients had PAD compared with 510 patients in group B without PAD. The primary outcome measurements were ERCP procedures time, selective cannulation techniques, and cannulation difficulty in addition to cannulation success rate and ERCP-related adverse events. The difficult cannulation was analyzed using logistic regression considering age, co-morbidities, the presence of PAD types, and indications as independent factors. Results: The average cohort age was 65.30±16.67 years, and 52.7% were male. Significant higher rates of choledocholithiasis, cholangitis, and biliary pancreatitis were reported in the group of PAD (p<0.05). Successful selective cannulation was achieved in 97.6% in group A and 95.3% in group B (p>0.05). The cannulation time was significantly longer in the presence of PAD (5.1 min, vs. 4.09 min, p<0.05). There was no significant difference in the rate of overall adverse events and post ERCP pancreatic PEP. Conclusion: The presence of PAD did not affect the duration or success of the ERCP procedure. Furthermore, it was associated with longer cannulation time and increase in the cannulation difficulty, especially with PAD type 1.

The relative velocity between objects with finite velocity affects the reaction between them. This effect is known as general Doppler effect. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered gravitational waves and found their speed to be equal to the speed of light c. Gravitational waves are generated following a disturbance in the gravitational field; they affect the gravitational force on an object. Just as light waves are subject to the Doppler effect, so are gravitational waves. This article explores the following research questions concerning gravitational waves: What is the spatial distribution of gravitational waves? Can the speed of a gravitational wave represent the speed of the gravitational field (the speed of the action of the gravitational field upon the object)? What is the speed of the gravitational field? Do gravitational waves caused by the revolution of the Sun affect planetary precession? Can we modify Newton’s gravitational equation through the influence of gravitational waves?

Reactions of Co(OAc)24H2O, N‚N'-bis(3-pyridylmethyl)oxalamide (L) and 4,4’-sulfonyldibenzoic acid (H2SDA) afforded four coordination polymers with the same mixed ligands, {[Co(L)(SDA)(H2O)2]·H2O·CH3OH}n, 1, {[Co(L)0.5(SDA)]·2H2O·0.5L}n, 2, {[Co(L)1.5(SDA)(H2O)]·H2O}n, 3, and {[Co2(L)1.5(SDA)2(H2O)2]·4H2O}n, 4, which have been structurally characterized by using single crystal X-ray crystallography. Complexes 1 – 4 are 2D layers, revealing the topologies of sql, 2,6L1, (4,4)Ia and 6L12, respectively, and demonstrating that the metal to ligand ratio, solvent system and reaction temperature are important in determining the structural diversity. Immersion of these complexes into various solvents show that the structural types govern the chemical stabilities of 1 – 4. Reversible structural transformation can be shown for complexes 1 and 2 upon solvent removal and adsorption, while those of 3 and 4 are irreversible.

The hospital indoor environment plays a significant role in shaping the microbial exposures that humans encounter. Resistance to antibiotics is one of the mechanisms employed by bacteria to develop resilience against stress in indoor environments. The extensive usage of antibiotics has been a key factor in driving changes in the ecological function of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their acquisition by pathogenic bacteria. By integrating the 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing and high throughput-qPCR approaches with water and air dust samples across seven departments at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, China, this study yielded intriguing findings regarding the department-specific variation, transmission, and correlation of bacteria, ARGs and MGEs within the hospital indoor environment. One notable observation was that the seasonal variation played a vital role in shaping the bacterial composition in the overall hospital indoor environment across seven studied departments. Nevertheless, a similar significant seasonal impact was only observed in the blood test room and emergency departments, rather than in the other five departments. Another intriguing finding was the correlation between ARGs and MGEs abundance. This correlation was evident in the overall hospital indoor environment, which was conversely not found in the emergency, pneumology and gynecology departments. Additionally, while there was no significant relationship that occurred between bacterial communities and ARGs/MGEs within the hospital, the gynecology department demonstrated a close link between bacterial communities and the presence of ARGs/MGEs. Notably, the gynecology department also stood out as an important source of bacteria and ARGs/MGEs for other departments. This study underscores the need for careful surveillance and monitoring of antibiotic resistance, particularly in Legionella spp. in man-made water systems. The findings also show the importance of monitoring and understanding the genetic elements such as Tp614 involved in gene transfer and recombination, as well as their impact on antimicrobial treatment efficacy.

The synchronization of complex networks is believed to be closely related to network topology. How to study synchronization of real network without clear topology and parameters? In this Letter, a synchronized stability boundary equation is derived that is system- and disturbance-independent and applicable to arbitrarily coupled grids. The results imply that spontaneous synchronization in a network may be network independent. These conclusions provide new research paths for network synchronization and analyze the synchronization stability of grids in a unified way.

Advanced electrode designs have made single-unit neural recordings commonplace among modern neuroscience research. However, single-unit resolution remains out of reach for the intrinsic neurons of the gastrointestinal system. Single-unit recordings of the enteric (gut) nervous system have been conducted in anesthetized animal models and excised tissue, but there is a large physiological gap between awake and anesthetized animals, particularly for the enteric nervous system. Here, we describe the opportunity for advancing enteric neuroscience offered by single-unit recording capabilities in awake animals. We highlight the primary challenges to microelectrodes in the gastrointestinal system including structural, physiological, and signal quality challenges.

Background: Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) has gradually come to be regarded as an effective therapy, but the hospital mortality rate after ECPR is still high and unpredictable. The present study tested whether age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) can be used as an objective selection criterion to ensure the most efficient utilization of medical resources. Methods: Adult patients (age ³ 18 years) receiving ECPR at our institution between 2006 and 2015 were included. Data regarding ECPR events and ACCI characteristics were collected immediately after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) setup. Adverse events during hospitalization were also prospectively collected. The primary endpoint was survival to hospital discharge. The second endpoint was short-term (2-year) follow-up outcome. Results: A total of 461 patients included in the study were grouped into low ACCI (ACCI 0–3) (240, 52.1%) and high ACCI (ACCI 4–13) (221, 47.9%) groups. The median ACCI was 2 (IQR: 1–3) and 5 (IQR: 4–7) for the low and high ACCI groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)-to-ECMO duration was comparable between the groups (42.1 ± 25.6 and 41.3 ± 20.7 min in the low and high ACCI groups, respectively; P = 0.754). Regarding hospital survival rate, 256 patients (55.5%) died on ECMO support. A total of 205 patients (44.5%) were successfully weaned off ECMO, but only 138 patients (29.9%) survived to hospital discharge (32.1% and 27.6% in low and high ACCI group, P = 0.291). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed CPR-to-ECMO duration and CPR cause of septic shock as significant risk factors for hospital survival after ECPR (P = 0.043 and 0.014, respectively), whereas age and ACCI were not (P = 0.334 and 0.164, respectively). The 2-year survival rate after hospital discharge for the 138 hospital survivors was 96% and 74% in the low and high ACCI groups, respectively (P = 0.002.)Conclusions: High ACCI before ECPR does not predict poor outcome of hospital survival. Therefore, ECPR should not be rejected solely due to high ACCI. However, high ACCI in hospital survivors is associated with a higher 2-year mortality rate than low ACCI, and patients with high ACCI should be closely followed up.

Populations with essential hypertension have a high risk of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). In this study, we investigated the mechanism that underlies the progression of hypertension-associated NASH by comparing differences in the development of high fat and cholesterol (HFC) diet-induced NASH among three strains of rats, i.e., two hypertensive strains comprising spontaneously hypertensive rats and the stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive 5/Dmcr, and the original Wistar Kyoto rats as the normotensive control. We investigated histopathological changes and molecular signals related to inflammation in the liver after feeding with the HFC diet for 8 weeks. The diet induced severe lobular inflammation and fibrosis in the livers of the hypertensive rats, whereas it only caused mild steatohepatitis in the normotensive rats. Increased activation of proinflammatory signaling (transforming growth factor-β1/mitogen-activated protein kinases pathway) was observed in the hypertensive strains fed with the HFC diet. In addition, the HFC diet suppressed the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 pathway in the hypertensive rats and led to lower increases in the hepatic expression of heme oxygenase-1, which has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. In conclusion, these signaling pathways might play crucial roles in the development of hypertension-associated NASH.

Reciprocal Personal/Public Protection (RPPP) featured with source control is introduced, Mask Discriminating Mouth and Nose (MDMN) is employed to serve the purpose, which includes polymer based mouth cover with optional nose cover. The new knowledge that mouth is a primary, active and dominant source of the virus has been well established, which is the base of MDMN. Source classification and related source control tools are discussed, mouth cover is recommended as the tool prioritized to use. Liquid droplets is identified as a hard issue related to mask, liquid droplets, mask fitting, comfort and facial recognition constitute real challenges of mask in addition to efficiency, All of these have been addressed with MDMN. Comparisons between MDMN and masks/face covering are taken on four aspects: efficiency and efficacy, tolerance and comfort, cost and waste, and civil rights and public interest. Mouth cover is recommended to replace the face covering and act as both a personal tool and a public utensil, mouth cover with nose cover can provide better protection than N95 etc. RPPP with MDMN, could be an alternative for lockdown, a parallel strategy to vaccine, and a collectively living way during the pandemic era. MDMN, featured with high efficiency protection, high degree comfort, easy wearing, tight-fitting, easy facial recognition & communication, reusability, cost-effective, environment friendly and scale manufacturing more readily and widely etc., is a simple and sustainable solution, which is essential for ordinary people to keep wearing it properly for protection.

This study explores the relationship between mental and physical therapeutic through three dimensions: man-environment relationships; a sense of place and symbolic landscapes. The study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Local residents living in the coastal area of Xinglin Bay are the research objects. Quantitative data analysis revealed that the frequency of residents' visits was an important variable affecting their physical and treatment perceptions. In addition, the significance is higher for females than for males. The text analysis shows that the environment, especially the ecological restoration of water quality and migratory birds, is of great significance to the identity of local residents. Daily activities contribute to a sense of place and are what make the coast a place of therapeutic landscape function.

Although Darwin‘s evolutionary mutation theory has been widely accepted, many endeavors have been tried to challenge it. With more and more observation of successful hybridization and hybrids, the sexual isolation between species has become vague. The mechanism of evolution has been expanded from the classical model of evolution to multiple routes of speciation. Furthermore, a fundamental crossbreeding theory has been raised and proved by two lines of evidences: paleopolyploidy and fan-shaped spectrum of species. Ancient genome duplications are widespread throughout eukaryotic lineages, particularly in plants. The genome polyploidization, especially in the somatic cell hybridization, can break through the sexual incompatibility between diploid counterparts to hybridize and produce new species. By comparing characteristics, all species in every taxon, both in the extinct fossil and extant organisms, can be arranged into fan-shaped spectrum according to their similarity: left primitive type-middle advanced type-right primitive type. The species are primitive at the two ends and advanced at the middle. The primitive two species always resemble two types of more primitive species that can be confirmed as their ancestors respectively, and the middle species is half similar to the two ancestors respectively. These suggest that the species in the spectrum come from two different ancestors by crossbreeding and gene combination. As a sum, advanced species originated from crossbreeding of two primitive ancestors, by major method of polyploidization, and proved by results of fan-shaped spectrum of species. Then, sex is the cause, force and opportunity for evolution.

Shear dynamics simulation under extreme pressure was used to optimise the composition of ester-based lubricant base oil and extreme pressure additives. As a result, the ester-based lubricant in the weak-gel drilling fluid achieves reduction and increases the efficiency in drilling construction, and the field operation efficiency improves. The results of base oil lubrication simulation show that three base oils, namely, methyl oleate, ethyl oleate and butyl oleate, can be stably adsorbed on the surface layer of the shear surface. Methyl oleate has the lowest system temperature after shear stabilisation and has a high load-bearing capacity. The shear stress of methyl oleate decreases by changing the initial shear temperature and speed. It increases by 6.36 MPa when the speed increases from 10 m/s to 30 m/s. At this time, the shear stress of butyl oleate increases by 10.11 MPa. The results of the four-ball friction experiments show that the radius of the abrasion spot of methyl oleate is 179.83 μm, which is smaller than that of the other two base oils. Moreover, the friction coefficient of methyl oleate is 0.0018, which is approximately 1/3 of that of butyl oleate. Methyl oleate has better lubrication efficiency. The shear simulation results are consistent with the experimental results. The simulation can be used for the molecular design of lubricant materials. The oleic acid amide–containing amine group and the glyceride oleic–containing hydroxyl group were selected as the extreme pressure functional components for shear simulation. Results show that the shear stress of oleic acid amide is much lower than that of oleic acid glyceride when the initial shear temperature and speed change. The extreme pressure lubrication component–containing amine group is better than the extreme pressure lubrication material–containing hydroxyl group. The effects of different oleamide contents in the two-component mixtures on the lubricating properties were investigated through shear simulation, with methyl oleate as the base oil and oleamide as the extreme pressure functional component. The simulation results show that the lubricant has the optimal shear stress when 10% oleamide is added to the lubricant. The base properties of the lubricant were tested using a mixture of 90% methyl oleate and 10% oleamide, formulated as a lubricant. Results show that the friction coefficient can be reduced to 0.03 when 0.5% of the lubricant is added to the base mud. Moreover, the lubricant film formed shows high strength. Then, 1% lubricant was added to the weak-gel drilling fluid to evaluate the effect of the lubricant on the gel structure of the drilling fluid. Results show that adding lubricant does not affect the rheological properties of the drilling fluid. The gel structure of the system also remains stable even after 7 days of continuous ageing. The results of the field experiments in Hua3-01 well show that adding 1% ester-based lubricant to the field drilling fluid reduces the drilling friction by 33%. Thus, the efficiency of directional side drilling can be effectively improved, complicated accidents, such as poor starting and stopping of drilling and stuck jamming, can be avoided, and the goals of reducing quantity and increasing efficiency can be completed.

Accurate evaluation of health status of lithium-ion batteries must be deemed as of great significance, insofar as utility and safety of batteries are of concern. Lithium plating, in particular, is notoriously known to be a chemical reaction that can cause deterioration in, or even fatal hazards to, the health of lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which has distinct advantages such as fast or non-destructive over its competitors, suffices in detecting lithium plating and thus has been attracting increasing attention in the field of battery management, but its ability of assessing quantitatively the degree of lithium plating remains largely unexplored hitherto. On this point, this work seeks to narrow that gap, by proposing an EIS-based method that can quantify the degree of lithium plating. The core conception is to eventually circumvent the reliance on state-of-health measurement, and use instead the impedance spectrum, to acquire an estimate on battery capacity loss. To do so, the effects of solid electrolyte interphase formation and lithium plating on battery capacity must be first decoupled, so that the mass of lithium plating can be quantified. Then, based on an impedance spectrum measurement, the parameters of the fractional equivalent circuit model (ECM) of the battery can be identified. These fractional ECM parameters are received as inputs by an artificial neural network, which is tasked to establish a correspondence between the model parameters and the mass of lithium plating. The empirical part of the work revolves around the data collected from an aging experiment, and the validity of the proposed method is truthfully attested by dismantling the batteries, which is otherwise not needed during the actual uptake of the method.

A space charge density wireless measurement system based on the idea of distributed measurement is proposed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density in an ultra-high-voltage direct-current (UHVDC) environment. The proposed system architecture is composed of a number of wireless nodes connected with space charge density sensors and a base station. The space charge density sensor based on atmospheric ion counter method is elaborated and developed, and the ARM microprocessor and Zigbee radio frequency module are applied. The wireless network communication quality and the relationship between energy consumption and transmission distance in the complicated electromagnetic environment is tested. Based on the experimental results, the proposed measurement system demonstrates that it can adapt to the complex electromagnetic environment under the UHVDC transmission lines and can accurately measure the space charge density.

The emergence of CDK4/6 inhibitors, such as palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib, has revolutionized the treatment landscape for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. These agents have demonstrated significant clinical benefits in terms of both progression-free survival and overall survival. However, resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors remains a challenge, limiting their long-term efficacy. Understanding the complex mechanisms driving resistance is crucial for the development of novel therapeutic strategies and improvement of patient outcomes. Translational research efforts, such as preclinical models and biomarker studies, offer valuable insight into resistance mechanisms and may guide the identification of novel combination therapies. This review paper aims to outline the reported mechanisms underlying CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance, drawing insights from both clinical data and translational research in order to help direct the future of treatment for hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer.

The universal health insurance system in Taiwan was formed with good intentions to help vulnerable groups. However, the possibility of bankrupting the system due to wasted medical resources. In this study, using the medical expenditures of the Taiwanese Government and gross domestic product (GDP) as variables, the wavelet analysis method was used to empirically study the correlations and leading-lagging relationships in quarterly data in the period from 1996 to 2016. In addition, the dependent population of the insured was used as the control variable. This population had no income and had high medical demands. Results: After the dependent population was included as a control variable, there was a period of low-frequency (one to four years short-term) linkage correlation, as well as a period of high-frequency (four to eight years long-term) linkage correlation. In addition, for more than eight years, there was also a high degree of linkage correlation, indicating that the linkage between medical expenditures and GDP occurred over the long term. Moreover, since medical expenditures positively affected GDP, one-way causality was observed. However, after 2008, regardless of whether a long or short term was examined, there was almost no linkage correlation. Before 2008, the medical expenditures of the government were positively correlated with economic growth; i.e., they enhanced economic growth. But, after 2008, this effect had already disappeared. The universal health insurance system has long been denounced as a waste of medical resources, and the waste must be immediately stopped. The government urgently needs to find a new solution.

Sinojackia Hu. comprises five to eight Chinese endemic species with high ornamental and medicinal value. However, the generic limits, interspecific relationships and evolutionary history of the genus remain unresolved. In this study, we newly sequenced and assembled three plastomes of S. oblongicarpa and compared them with those of the other congeneric species to explore the taxonomic delimitation of the species and the evolutionary history of the genus. Plastomes structure of Sinojackia species were extremely conserved in terms of number of genes, sequence length and GC content. Codon usage patterns revealed that natural selection may be the main factor shaping codon usage bias. Our phylogenetic tree shows that Sinojackia is monophyletic and can be divided into two clades. Sinojackia oblongicarpa as a distinct species is supported for it is distantly related to S. sarcocarpa. The evolutionary analysis of morphological features indicates that woody mesocarp is an ancestral feature, while mesocarp undeveloped, spongy and fleshy are the later derived. Sinojackia originated in Central-Southeast China during the early Miocene. In this period, it experienced elevated diversification and migrated from the Central-Southeast China to Hunan Province and Sichuan Province with the development of the Asian monsoon and East Asian flora. Sinojackia experienced elevated diversification at intraspecies levels that mainly occurred in the Quaternary. Glacial-interglacial interactions with the monsoon climate may provide favorable expansion conditions for Sinojackia on a small-scale.

3D printing is a non-traditional additive manufacturing process. It is different from the traditional subtractive manufacturing process. It offers exceptional rapid prototyping capabilities and results that traditional subtractive manufacturing methods cannot attain, especially in applications involving curved or intricately shaped components. Despite its advantages, metal 3D printing will face porosity, warpage, and surface roughness issues. These issues will affect the future practical application of the parts indirectly, for example, the structural strength and the parts assembly ca-pability. Therefore, this study compares the qualities of the warpage, weight, and surface rough-ness after milling and grinding processes under the same materials (316L stainless steel) between general rolled steel and 3D additive steel. Experimental results show that 3D printing parts are approximately 13% to 14% lighter than the general rolled steel. The surface roughness performance of 3D printing steel is better than general rolled steel under the same material after milling or grinding processing. The hardness of the 3D printing steel is better than that of the gen-eral rolled steel. The research verifies that 3D additive manufacturing can use surface processing to optimize surface performance and achieve the functions of lightness and hardness.

The transportation industry is rapidly transitioning from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) based vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EVs) to promote clean energy. However, large-scale adoption of EVs can compromise the reliability of the power grids by introducing large uncertainty in the demand. Demand response with a controlled charge scheduling strategy for EVs can mitigate such issues. In this paper, a deep reinforcement learning- based charge scheduling strategy is developed for individual EVs by considering user’s dynamic driving behavior and charging preferences. The temporal dynamics of user’s anxiety about charging the EV battery is rigorously addressed. A dynamic weight allocation technique is applied to continuously tune user’s priority for charging and cost-saving with respect to charging duration. The sequential charging control problem is formulated as a Markov decision process, and an episodic approach to the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm with target policy smoothing and delayed policy update techniques is applied to develop the optimal charge scheduling strategy. A real-world dataset that captures user’s driving behavior, such as arrival time, departure time, and charging duration, is utilized in this study. The extensive simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in minimizing energy cost while satisfying user’s charging requirements.

This paper proposes to combat active eavesdropping by intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) backscatter techniques. To be specific, the source (Alice) sends the confidential information to the intended user (Bob), while the eavesdropper (Willie) transmits jamming signal to interrupt the transmission for more data interception. To enhance the secrecy, an IRS is deployed and connected with Alice through fiber to transform the jamming signal into the confidential signal by employing backscatter techniques. Based on the considered model, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at Bob under the constraints of the transmit power at Alice, the reflection vector at the IRS and the allowable maximum SINR at Willie. To address the optimization problem, an alternate optimization algorithm is developed. The simulation results verify the achievable secrecy gain of the proposed scheme.

Quantum noise limits the sensitivity of laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors. Given the state-of-the-art optics, the optical losses define the lower bound of best possible quantum-limited detector sensitivity. In this work, we come up with the configuration which allows to saturate this lower bound by converting the signal recycling cavity to be a broadband signal amplifier using an active optomechanical filter. We will show the difference and advantage of such a broadband signal recycling scheme compared with the previous white-light-cavity scheme using the optomechanical filter in [Phys.Rev.Lett.115.211104 (2015)]. The drawback is that the new scheme is more susceptible to the thermal noise of the mechanical oscillator. To suppress the radiation pressure noise which rises along with the signal amplification, squeezing with input/output filter cavities and heavier test mass are used in this work.

Excretory-secretory products (ESPs) are the main research targets for investigating the hosts and helminths interaction. Parasitic worms can migrate to parasitic sites and avoid the host immune response by secreting this product. Angiostrongylus cantonensisis an important food-borne zoonotic parasite that causes severe neuropathological damage and symptoms, including eosinophilic meningitis or meningoencephalitis in humans. Benzaldehydes are organic compounds composed of a benzene ring and formyl substituents. This compound has anti-inflammatory and antioxidation properties. Previous studies showed that 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde (3-HBA) and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (4-HBA) can reduce apoptosis in A. cantonensis ESPs treated astrocytes. These results on the protective effect underlying benzaldehyde have primarily focused on cell survival. The study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) and oxidative stress in astrocytes in A. cantonensis ESPs treated astrocytes and to evaluate the therapeutic consequent of 3-HBA and 4-HBA. First, we initially established the RNA-seq dataset in each group, including Normal, ESPs, ESPs+3-HBA, and ESPs+4-HBA. We also found that benzaldehyde (3-HBA and 4-HBA) can stimulate astrocytes to express ER stress-related molecules after ESP treatment. The level of oxidative stress could also be decreased in astrocytes by elevating antioxidant activity and reducing ROS generation. These results suggested that benzaldehyde may be a potential therapeutic compound for human angiostrongyliasis to support brain cell survival by inducing the expression levels of ER stress- and oxidative stress-related pathway.

Introduction: This study aims to elucidate the clinical diagnostic value of S100 Calcium Binding Protein beta (S100B) in epilepsy, a topic of ongoing debate among European and Asian epilepsy research centres.Methods and analysis: A structured long-term research plan was developed, comprising three phases. Phase one involves observational studies investigating the correlation between S100B levels in serum or cerebrospinal fluid and epilepsy. Phase two integrates observational and randomised controlled data to establish baseline S100B levels across diverse epilepsy demographics, underpinning the predictive value of S100B for epilepsy. Phase three focuses on randomised controlled trials to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of S100B as an epilepsy biomarker.Ethics and dissemination: All enrolled patients will provide written consent. The ethics committee of the Second People’s Hospital of Gansu Province, Affiliated Hospital of Northwest Minzu University, China, approved the study (GSSEY2022-KY009-01).Registration: The study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023425431).

Abstract: NFinFET transistors with fin channel length 90nm and a planar MOSFET transistor with channel length 180nm and 90nm are presented with characteristic curves at various gate biases. A finalized algorithm with kink effects is effectively responsible for addressing the field effect transistors. The algorithm includes the modified conventional current-voltage formula and a nonlinear heat-associated kink solution which is simplified as a Gaussian form. Three parameters in modified model includes kN (related with channel width, channel length, and gate oxide capacitor, and proportional to the mobility of carriers)Vth(Threshold Voltage), and (the inverse of Early Voltage). Those parameters are determined to minimize the discrepancies between the measured data and the fitting values, but leave kinks located at around (VGS－Vth), which are deliberately eliminated by the Gaussian form because of the agitation of thermal kink effects. The whole fitting is made to be as close as the as-measured IDS-VDS. In the mean time, those determined parameters are physically meaningful after the analysis has been done.

The cytosolic PNGase (peptide:N-glycanase; Png1 in yeast; NGLY1/Ngly1 in human/mice), also known as peptide-N4-(N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminyl)-asparagine ami-dase, is a well-conserved deglycosylation enzyme (EC 3.5.1.52) which catalyzes the non-lysosomal hydrolysis of an N(4)-(acetyl-β-D-glucosaminyl) asparagine residue into N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminylamine and a peptide containing an aspartate residue. This enzyme (NGLY1) plays essential roles in clearance of misfolded or unassembled gly-coproteins through a process named ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Accumulating evidence also points out that NGLY1 deficiency can cause an autosomal recessive hu-man genetic disorder associated with abnormal development and congenital disorder of deglycosylation. In addition, the loss of NGLY1 can affect multiple cellular pathways, including but not limited to NFE2L1 pathway, Creb1/Atf1-AQP pathway, BMP path-way, AMPK pathway, and SLC12A2 ion transporter, which might be the underlying reasons for a constellation of clinical phenotypes of NGLY1 deficiency. The current comprehensive review indeed uncovers the detailed NGLY1’s structure and its im-portant roles for participation in ERAD, involvement in CDDG and potential treatment for NGLY1 deficiency.

It is known that the class of p-normed spaces (0 < p ≤ 1) is an important generalization of usual normed spaces with rich topological and geometrical structure, but the most of tools and general principles in nature with nonlinearity have not been developed yet, thus the main goal of this paper is to develop tools for nonlinear analysis under the framework of p-vector spaces. In particular, we first develop the general fixed point theorems which provide solutions to answer Schauder conjecture since 1930’s in the affirmative for p-vector spaces when p = 1 (which is just general topological vector spaces); then the one best approximation result for upper semi-continuous mappings is given, which is used as a powerful tool to establish fixed points for non-self set-valued mappings with either inward or outward set conditions; and finally we establish comprehensive existence results of solutions for Birkhoff-Kellogg Problems, and the general principle of nonlinear alternative by including Leray-Schauder alternative and related results. The results given in this paper not only include the corresponding results in the existing literature as special cases, but also expected to be useful tools for the study of nonlinear problems arising from theory to practice.

(1)Background: This report was an effective evaluation of using multimedia educational program for self-care and quality of life in patients with a stoma at postoperative and established a simple threshold for enterostomy self-care skills.(2)Methods:108 patients with enterostomy were randomly assigned to receive either the intervention multimedia education program (including information about preparation for enterostomy care, cleaning method, manual bag replacement steps and precautions). The primary outcome was self-care ability and quality of life (defined as overall enterostomy self-care ability and overall quality of life), which was assessed at 2 weeks after intervention via an interview.(3)Results: Compared with those who in the conventional stoma education program, patients received the multimedia education program significantly improved their overall self-care ability and quality of life in statistically. The threshold of the enterostomy self-care skill scale was 20 points, and its corresponding sensitivity was 77.8%, and the specificity was 75.7%.(4)Conclusions: According to our study, the multimedia education program could enhance self-care ability of home care and quality of life in patients with enterostomy.

This study presents an advanced Simulated Shearer Machine Cutting Experiment System enhanced with digital twin technology. Central to this system is a simulated shearer drum, designed based on similarity theory to mirror the operational dynamics of actual mining cutters accurately. The setup incorporates a modified machining center equipped with sophisticated sensors that monitor various parameters such as cutting states, forces, torque, vibration, temperature and sound. These sensors are crucial for precisely simulating the shearer cutting actions. The integration of digital twin technology is pivotal, featuring a real-time data management layer, a dynamic simulation mechanism model layer, and an application service layer that facilitates virtual experiments and algorithm refinement. This multifaceted approach allows for in-depth analysis of simulated coal cutting, utilizing sensor data to comprehensively evaluate the shearer's performance. The study also includes tests on simulated coal samples. The system effectively conducts experiments and captures cutting condition signals via the sensors. Through time-domain analysis of these signals, gathered while cutting materials of varying strengths, it is determined that the cutting force signal characteristics are particularly distinct. By isolating the cutting force signal as a key feature, the system can effectively distinguish between different cutting modes. This capability provides a robust experimental basis for coal-rock identification research, offering significant insights into the nuances of shearer operation.

The mammalian or mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) integrates multiple intracellular and extra-cellular upstream signals involved in the regulation of anabolic and catabolic processes in cells, and plays a key regulatory role in cell growth and metabolism. Activation of the mTOR signaling pathway has been reported to be associated with a wide range of human diseases. A growing number of in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated that the gut microbes and its complex metabolites can regulate host metabolic and immune responses through the mTOR pathway, and result in disorders of host phys-iological functions. In this review, we summarize the regulatory mechanisms of gut microbes and mTOR in different diseases, and discuss the crosstalk between gut microbes and their metabolites and mTOR in the disorders in gastrointestinal tract, liver, heart and other organs. We also discuss the promising appli-cation of multiple potential drugs that can adjust the gut microbiota and mTOR signal pathways. Despite the limited findings between gut microbes and mTOR, elucidating their relationship may provide new clues for the prevention and treatment of various diseases.

This mini-review explores the comparative efficacy, safety, and clinical outcomes of high-dose proton pump inhibitor (PPI) intravenous infusion versus oral acid pump inhibitor therapy following endoscopic treatment for bleeding peptic ulcers. Recent evidence suggests that intravenous PPIs can significantly reduce the rebleeding rates within the critical first 72 hours post-intervention, with a noted rebleeding rate of 6% compared to 14% in patients receiving oral Vonoprazan (VPZ) therapy. Additionally, the rapid onset of action associated with intravenous administration leads to faster stabilization of vital signs and a reduced need for subsequent blood transfusions. Safety profiles for both intravenous and oral VPZ were favourable, with minimal adverse effects, the most common being transient headaches.However, the findings from our single-centre study with a moderate sample size prompt consideration of more extensive, multicentre trials to enhance the generalizability of the results. Current limitations include potential biases, short-term focus, missing data issues, and a need for long-term outcome data, necessitating further research. Future studies should also explore the cost-effectiveness of intravenous versus oral VPZ and the impact on patient quality of life and long-term mortality rates.This review underscores the importance of tailored PPI therapy in managing bleeding peptic ulcers post-endoscopy. It suggests a potentially pivotal role for intravenous PPIs in high-risk patient groups, advocating for a shift towards more aggressive and immediate care protocols in specific clinical settings.

Combining Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) spectra data and artificial intelligence (AI) has been introduced for rapid prediction on antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) of S. aureus. Based on the AI predictive probability, the cases with probabilities between low and high cut-offs are defined as “grey zone”. We aimed to investigate the underlying reasons of unconfident (grey zone) or wrong predictive AST. A total 479 S. aureus isolates were collected, analyzed by MALDI-TOF, and AST prediction, standard AST were obtained in a tertiary medical center. The predictions were categorized into the correct prediction group, wrong prediction group, and grey zone group. We analyzed the association between the predictive results and the demographic data, spectral data, and strain types. For MRSA, larger cefoxitin zone size was found in the wrong prediction group. MLST of the MRSA isolates in the grey zone group revealed that uncommon strain types composed 80%. Amid MSSA isolates in the grey zone group, the majority (60%) was composed of over 10 different strain types. In predicting AST based on MALDI-TOF AI, uncommon strains and high diversity would contribute to suboptimal predictive performance.

Objective: The long-term care insurance (LTCI) system was introduced in 2000 to provide financial support for long-term care services to older adults. What is known on this topic report focuses on a comparative analysis of how the LTCI system has affected older people in Japan. Methods: We obtained data from the literature about the LTCI system, compared and analysed the collected articles, and concluded. Results: The LTCI system has improved access to long-term care services, with more older adults receiving care than before the system’s implementation. This service has improved the quality of life for many elderly individuals who require assistance with daily activities. Furthermore, the LTCI system has alleviated the financial burden of long-term care services since the insurance covers a large portion of the costs. It has made older adults maintain their independence and dignity, as they can afford the necessary care without relying solely on their savings or burdening their families. Conclusions: Japan’s LTCI system has positively impacted older adults by improving access to long-term care services and alleviating financial burdens. However, challenges such as increasing demand and variations in service quality need to be addressed to ensure the system effectively supports older people in Japan.

New antimicrobial approaches are essential to counter antimicrobial resistance. The drug development pipeline is exhausted with emergence of resistance resulting in unsuccessful trials. The lack of an effective drug developed from the conventional drug portfolio has mandated the introspection into the list of potentially effective unconventional alternate antimicrobial molecules. Alternate therapies, that are clinically explicable forms include monoclonal antibodies, antimicrobial peptides, aptamers and phages. Clinical diagnostics optimizes the drug delivery. In the era of diagnostic-based applications, it is logical to draw diagnostic based treatment for infectious diseases. Selection criteria of alternate therapeutics in infectious disease include detection, monitoring of response and resistance mechanism identification. Integrating these diagnostic applications is disruptive to the traditional therapeutic development. The challenges and mitigation methods need to be noted. Applying the goals of clinical pharmacokinetics that include enhancing efficacy and decreasing toxicity of drug therapy this review analyses the strong correlation of alternate antimicrobial therapeutics in infectious diseases. The relationship between drug concentration and the resulting effect defined by the pharmacodynamic parameters are also analyzed. This review analyzes the perspectives of aligning diagnostic initiatives into the use of alternate therapeutics with a particular focus on companion diagnostic applications in infectious diseases.

The next-generation communication systems demand integration of sensing, communication, and power transfer (PT) capabilities, requiring high spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and low cost, while also necessitating robustness in high-speed scenarios. Integrated sensing and communication systems (ISACS) exhibit the ability to simultaneously perform communication and sensing tasks using a single RF signal, while simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) systems can handle simultaneous information and energy transmission, and orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) signals are adept at handling high Doppler scenarios. Combining the advantages of these three technologies, a novel cyclic prefix (CP) OTFS based integrated simultaneous wireless sensing, communication, and power transfer system (ISWSCPTS) framework is proposed in this work. Within the ISWSCPTS, the CP-OTFS matched filter (MF) based target detection and parameters estimation (MF-TDaPE) algorithm is proposed to endow the system with sensing capabilities. To enhance the system’s sensing capability, a waveform design algorithm based on CP-OTFS ambiguity function shaping (AFS) is proposed, which is solved by iteratively method. Furthermore, to maximize the system’s sensing performance under communication and PT Quality of Service (QoS) constraints, a semidefinite relaxation (SDR) beamforming design (SDR-BD) algorithm is proposed, solved using through SDR technique. Simulation results demonstrate that the ISWSCPTS exhibits stronger parameter estimation performance in high-speed scenarios compared to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), waveform designed by CP-OTFS AFS demonstrates superior interference resilience, and beamforming designed by SDR-BD strikes a balance in the overall performance of the ISWSCPTS.

As a manifestation of technological innovation achievements, patents reflect the frontier of technological development in the field. This paper constructs a multi-entity patent collaboration network and analyzes its evolution patterns to provide a reference for innovation organizations to grasp the general direction of innovation development and select partners. Based on the data of collaboration patents of two and three organizations in China's new energy vehicles (NEV) industry from 2008 to 2021, this paper constructs higher-order interaction collaboration innovation networks in different periods to analyze the spatial evolution of networks and patent cooperation activities. The results show that the generalized degree distribution of nodes and edges conforms to the power-law distribution. The two-dimensional simplex networks gradually form triangle groups centered on the core nodes, and the importance of key edges is beginning to emerge. Key organizations and partners, including State Grid Corporation of China, Tsinghua University, and China Electric Power Research Institute, will largely determine the direction for the future development of cooperation innovation. The study also reveals that Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangzhou, and Shanghai are in central positions in the cooperative innovation network, based on their cooperation breadth and depth measures. Additionally, key links formed by Beijing as hubs are not only the center of information exchange but also function as bridges that connect to other regions.

The surface velocity of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) is vital to assessing its stability and mass balance. Previous studies have shown that the AIS basin has a stable multi-year average surface velocity. However, spatiotemporal variations in the surface velocity of the AIS and the underlying physical mechanism remain poorly understood. This study combined offset tracking and DInSAR methods to extract the monthly average surface velocity of the AIS and obtained the inter-annual surface velocity from the ITS_LIVE product. An uneven spatial distribution in inter-annual variation of the surface velocity was observed between 2000–2022, although the magnitude of variation was small at less than 20.5 m/yr. The increase and decrease in surface velocity on the eastern and western-central sides of the AIS, respectively, could be attributed to the change in the thickness of the AIS. There was clear seasonal variation in monthly average surface velocity at the eastern side of the AIS between 2017–2021, which could be attributed to variations in the area and thickness of fast-ice and also to variations in ocean temperature. This study suggested that changes in fast-ice and ocean temperature are the main factors driving spatiotemporal variation in the surface velocity of the AIS.

Colonoscopy, essential for diagnosing and treating colorectal cancer, relies on effective bowel preparation to inspect the colonic mucosa fully. Traditional education methods include printed instructions and verbal explanations, but these may not ensure clear patient understanding. Poor bowel preparation can obscure mucosal visibility, delaying cancer diagnosis and treatment. Using the outpatient’s Android mobile device, the mobile health care model is provided as a nursing guide to assist in bowel preparation for colonoscopy. This single-blinded, randomized trial en-rolled patients for colonoscopy at a Northern Taiwan gastroenterology center. Eligible patients were physically and mentally healthy and could communicate in Chinese. The study tested the ColonClean app during bowel preparation. After the procedure, endoscopists rated the prepara-tion quality using the Aronchick Scale. Data analysis with SPSS software (version 25.0) evaluated if the app significantly improved bowel preparation compared to those who did not use it. Forty patients were recruited for both the control (conventional method) and experimental (conven-tional method plus ColonClean app) groups. In the experimental group, endoscopists assessed bowel preparation quality; all achieved at least "Fair," with 75% receiving "Excellent" or "Good" ratings. The ColonClean App enhanced bowel preparation quality more effectively than tradi-tional nursing guidance.

In this work, we discuss a newly proposed scalar-tensor theory in Minkowski spacetime. The basic frame in Minkowski spacetime is obtained. Consider a charged particle in the electromagnetic field, we make an attempt to connect this theory with conventional quantum theory. Two specific models are chosen to calculate values of the time delay.

Up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNP) under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation have been well investigated in the field of bio-imaging. However, the low up-conversion luminescence (UCL) intensity limits applications. Plasmatic modulation has been proposed as an effective tool to adjust the luminescence intensity and lifetime. In this study discrete dipole approximation (DDA) was explored concerning guiding the design of UCNP@mSiO2-Au structures with enhanced UCL intensity. The extinction effects of gold shells could be changed by adjusting the distance between the UCNPs and the Au NPs by synthesized tunable mesoporous silica (mSiO2) spacers. Enhanced UCL was obtained under 808 nm irradiation. Theoretical predictions could not be demonstrated to full extend by experimental data, indicating that better models for simulation need to better take into account inhomogeneities in particle morphologies.

In recent experimental studies, we reported the aggravating effects of Asian sand dust (ASD) on male reproductive function in mice. However, the effects of fetal ASD exposure on male reproductive function have not been investigated. The present study investigated the effects of fetal ASD exposure on reproductive function in male offspring. Using pregnant CD-1 mice, ASD was administered intratracheally on days 7 and 14 of gestation, and the reproductive function of male offspring was determined at 5, 10, and 15 weeks after birth. The secondary sex ratio was significantly lower in the fetal ASD-exposed mice than in the controls. Histologic examination showed partial vacuolation of seminiferous tubules in immature mice. Moreover, daily sperm production (DSP) was significantly less in the fetal ASD-exposed mice than in the controls. DSP in the fetal ASD-exposed mice was approximately 10% less than the controls at both 5 and 10 weeks. However, both the histologic changes and the DSP decrease were reversed as the mice matured. These findings suggest that ASD exposure affects both the fetal development and the reproductive function of male offspring. In the future, it will be necessary to clarify the onset mechanisms of ASD-induced male fetus death and male reproductive disorders.

It is strongly desirable to accurately detect the clouds in hyperspectral images onboard before compression. However, conventional onboard cloud detection methods are not appropriate to all situation such as shadowed cloud or darken snow covered surfaces which are not identified properly in the NDSI test. In this paper, we propose a new spectral–spatial classification strategy to enhance the orbiting cloud screen performances obtained on hyperspectral images by integrating threshold exponential spectral angle map (TESAM), adaptive Markov random field (aMRF) and dynamic stochastic resonance (DSR). TESAM is performed to classify the cloud pixels coarsely based on spectral information. Then aMRF is performed to do optimal process by using spatial information, which improved the classification performance significantly. Some misclassification points still exist after aMRF processing because of the noisy data in the onboard environment. DSR is used to eliminate misclassification points in binary labeling image after aMRF. Taking level 0.5 data from hyperion as dataset, the average overall accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 96.28% after test. The method can provide cloud mask for the on-going EO-1 images and related satellites with the same spectral settings without manual intervention. The experiment indicate that the proposed method reveals better performance than the classical onboard cloud detection or current state-of-the-art hyperspectral classification methods.

While the global COVID-19 pandemic has been widely acknowledged to affect the mental health of health care workers (HCWs), attention to measures that protect those on the front lines of health outbreak response has been limited. In this cross-sectional study, we examine workplace contextual factors associated with how psychological distress was experienced in a South African setting where a severe first wave was being experienced with an objective of identifying factors that can protect against HCWs experiencing negative impacts. Consistent with mounting literature on mental health effects, we found a high degree of psychological distress (57.4% above General Health Questionnaire cut-off value) and a strong association between perceived risks associated with the presence of COVID-19 in the healthcare workplace and psychological distress (adjusted OR = 2.35, p <.01). Our research indicates that both training (adjusted OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.21 – 0.81) and the reported presence of supportive workplace relationships (adjusted OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.27 – 0.97) were associated with positive outcomes. This evidence that workplace resilience can be reinforced to better prepare for the onset of similar outbreaks in the future suggests that pursuit of further research into specific interventions to improve resilience is well merited.

Precipitation downscaling is widely employed for enhancing the resolution and accuracy of precipitation products from general circulation models (GCMs). In this study, we propose a novel statistical downscaling method to foster GCMs’ precipitation prediction resolution and accuracy for monsoon region. We develop a deep neural network composed of convolution and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent module to estimate precipitation based on well-resolved atmospheric dynamical fields. The proposed model is compared against GCM precipitation product and classical downscaling methods in the Xiangjiang River Basin in South China. Results show considerable improvement compared to the ECMWF-Interim reanalysis precipitation. Also, the model outperforms benchmark downscaling approaches, including 1) quantile mapping, 2) support vector machine, and 3) convolutional neural network. To test the robustness of the model and its applicability in practical forecast, we apply the trained network for precipitation prediction forced by retrospective forecasts from ECMWF model. Compared to ECMWF precipitation forecast, our model makes better use of the resolved dynamical field for more accurate precipitation prediction at lead time from 1 day up to 2 weeks. This superiority decreases along forecast lead time, as GCM’s skill in predicting atmospheric dynamics being diminished by the chaotic effect. At last, we build a distributed hydrological model and force it with different sources of precipitation inputs. Hydrological simulation forced with the neural network precipitation estimation shows significant advantage over simulation forced with the original ERA-Interim precipitation (with NSE value increases from 0.06 to 0.64), and the performance is just slightly worse than the observed precipitation forced simulation (NSE=0.82). This further proves the value of the proposed downscaling method, and suggests its potential for hydrological forecasts.

Turbidity stands as a crucial indicator for assessing water quality, and while turbidity sensors exist their high cost prohibit their extensive use. In this paper, we introduce an innovative turbidity sensor, and it is the first low-cost turbidity sensor which is designed specifically for long-term stormwater in-field monitoring. Its low cost ($23.50 USD), enables the implementation of high spatial resolution monitoring schemes. The sensor design is available under open hardware and open-source licences, and the 3D-printed sensor housing is free to modify based on different monitoring purposes and ambient conditions. The sensor was tested both in the laboratory and in the field. The laboratory results show a strong linear relationship (R2 > 0.99) between the sensor readings and the commercial hand-held turbidimeter (Thermo Scientific AQ4500) results of the solution. In the field, the low-cost sensor measurements were statistically significantly correlated (p < 0.01) to a standard high-cost commercial turbidity sensor (GreenSpan TS-1000). Biofouling and drifting issues were also analysed after the sensors were deployed in the field for more than 6 months, showing both biofouling and drift occur during monitoring. Nonetheless, in terms of maintenance requirements, the low-cost sensor exhibited similar needs compared to the Green-Span sensor.

Sinulariolide, a natural product extracted from cultured-type soft coral Sinularia flexibilis, possesses bioactivity against the movement of several types of cancer cell. However, the molecular pathway of its effects on human bladder cancer remain poorly understood. Using a human bladder cancer cell line as an in vitro model, this study investigated the underlying mechanism of sinulariolide against cell migration/invasion in TSGH-8301 cells. We found that sinulariolide inhibited TSGH-8301 cell migration/invasion, and the effect was concentration-dependent. Furthermore, the protein expressions of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) MMP-2 and MMP-9, as well as urokinase, were significantly decreased after 24-h sinulariolide treatment. Meanwhile, the increased expressions of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were in parallel with an increased concentration of sinulariolide. Finally, the expressions of several key phosphorylated proteins in the mTOR signaling pathway were also downregulated by sinulariolide treatment. Our results demonstrated that sinulariolide has significant effects against TSGH-8301 cell migration/invasion, and its effects were associated with decreased levels of MMP-2/-9 and urokinase expression, as well as increased TIMP-1/TIMP-2 expression. The inhibitory effects were mediated by reducing phosphorylation proteins of the PI3K, AKT and mTOR signaling pathway. The findings suggested that sinulariolide is a good candidate for advanced investigation with the aim of developing a new drug for the treatment of human bladder cancer.

The Doppler band compensated by the keystone transform (KT) is limited. Therefore, it needs to be used in conjunction with the Doppler ambiguity compensation function to correct the range migration (RM) caused by maneuvering targets with Doppler ambiguity. However, the KT implemented by sinc interpolation suffers from significant performance loss at boundaries of compensation Doppler bands. Additionally, in a multi-target scenario, KT implementation methods occupy high complexity when the Doppler range of targets spans over two compensation Doppler bands. To address aforementioned issues, this study presents a variable Doppler starting point keystone transform (VDSPKT) method, where a new form of ambiguity compensation function is constructed, turning the Doppler starting point of the compensation band in KT variable. Firstly, the position of the compensation Doppler band is changed from fixed to adjustable as needed, enhancing the flexibility of KT. Crucially, the connection points of the compensation Doppler bands in sinc interpolation are reset, avoiding the performance loss at their boundaries. Also, the compensation band is adjusted to cover the narrow Doppler frequency range caused by targets, significantly improving the computational efficiency. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach effectively addresses the performance degradation and high computational complexity of KT in the aforementioned scenarios, resulting in a computational load reduced by approximately 50% compared to traditional methods.

Familial colorectal cancer (CRC) is only partially explained by known germline predisposing genes. We performed whole genome sequencing in 15 Polish families of many affected individuals, without mutations in known CRC predisposing genes. We focused on loss-of-function variants and functionally characterized them. We identified a frameshift variant in the CYBA gene (c.246delC) in one family and a splice site variant in the TRPM4 gene (c.25-1 G>T) in another family. While both variants were absent or extremely rare in gene variant databases, we identified four additional Polish familial CRC cases and two healthy elderly individuals with the CYBA variant (odds ratio 2.46, 95% confidence interval 0.48-12.69). Both variants led to a premature stop codon and to a truncated protein. Functional characterization of the variants showed that knockdown of CYBA or TRPM4 depressed generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in LS174T and HT-29 cell lines. Knockdown of TRPM4 resulted in decreased MUC2 protein production. CYBA encodes a component in the NADPH oxidase system which generates ROS and controls, e.g., bacterial colonization in the gut. Germline CYBA variants are associated with early onset inflammatory bowel disease, supported with experimental evidence on loss of intestinal mucus barrier function due to ROS deficiency. TRPM4 encodes a calcium-activated ion channel, which in a human colonic cancer cell line controls calcium-mediated secretion of MUC2, a major component of intestinal mucus barrier. We suggest that the gene defects in CYBA and TRPM4 mechanistically involve intestinal barrier integrity through ROS and mucus biology, which converges in chronic bowel inflammation.

In order to foster a more sustainable and eco-friendly trajectory for the construction industry, while concurrently mitigating environmental pollution and energy inefficiency, it is imperative to cultivate an environmentally conscious building and urban environment. Under the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, green building evaluation system (GBRS) has become a research hotspot in the field of green building. This paper systematically summarizes the current research progress based on GBRS, focuses on the current weight and indicators setting, analyzes it with Cite Space software, and puts forward its future development direction. The results show that the weight setting method of green building evaluation system is determined by multidimensional and multi-method. From the perspective of environment, society and economy, the scope of indicators setting is expanding. The green building evaluation system will play a guiding role in green building design, and the evaluation process will continue to be optimized and developed in the direction of intelligence and automation.

Extensive genome structure variation, such as copy number variations (CNVs) and presence/absence variations, is the basis for the remarkable maize genetic diversity; however, the effect of CNVs on maize herbivory defense remains largely underexplored. Here, we report that the naturally occurring duplication of the maize 9-lipoxygenase gene, ZmLOX5, leads to increased resistance of maize to herbivory by fall armyworms (FAW). Previously, we showed that ZmLOX5-derived oxylipins are required for defense against chewing insect herbivores and identified several inbred lines, including Yu796, that contained duplicated CNVs of ZmLOX5, referred to as Yu796-2×LOX5. To test whether introgression of the Yu796-2×LOX5 locus into the herbivore-susceptible B73 background that contains a single ZmLOX5 gene is a feasible approach to increase resistance, we generated a series of near-isogenic lines that contained either 2, 1 or 0 copies of the Yu796-2×LOX5 locus in the B73 background by six back crosses (BC6). Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) confirmed the successful introgression of the Yu796-2×LOX5 locus in B73. The resulting B73-2×LOX5 inbred line displayed increased resistance against FAW associated with increased expression of ZmLOX5, increased wound-induced production of its primary oxylipin product, the α-ketol, 9-hydroxy-10-oxo-12(Z),15(Z)-octadecadienoic acid (9,10-KODA), and the downstream defense hormones regulated by this molecule, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (12-OPDA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Surprisingly, wound-induced JA-Ile production was not increased in B73-2×LOX5, resulting from the increased JA catabolism. Furthermore, B73-2×LOX5 displayed enhanced drought tolerance likely due to increased ABA and 12-OPDA content. Taken together, this study revealed that the duplicated CNV of ZmLOX5 quantitively contributes to maize antiherbivore defense and presents proof-of-concept evidence that the introgression of naturally occurring duplicated CNVs of a defensive gene into the productive, but susceptible, crop varieties is a feasible breeding approach for enhancing plant resistance to herbivory and tolerance to abiotic stress.

Drugs-drugs interactions(DDI) are entities composed of different chemical substructures (functional groups). In existing methods that predict drug–drug interactions based on the usage of substructures, each node is considered the center of a substructure, and adjacent nodes eventually become centers of similar substructures, resulting in redundancy. Furthermore, the significant differ- ences in structure and properties among compounds can lead to unrelated pairings, making it difficult to integrate information. This heterogeneity negatively affects the prediction results. To address these issues, we propose a drug–drug interaction prediction method based on substructure signature learning (DDI-SSL). This method extracts useful information from local subgraphs surrounding drugs and effectively utilizes substructures to assist in predicting drug side effects. Additionally, a deep clustering algorithm is used to aggregate similar substructures, allowing any individual subgraph to be reconstructed using this set of global signatures. Furthermore, we developed a layer-independent collaborative attention mechanism to model the mutual influence between drugs, generating signal strength scores for each class of drugs to mitigate noise caused by heterogeneity. Finally, we evaluated DDI-SSL on a comprehensive dataset and demonstrated improved performance in DDI prediction compared to state-of-the-art methods.

This study examines the Health Silk Road (HSR) as a critical component of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its implications for global health and international relations. The HSR aims to enhance public health and foster international cooperation in the healthcare sector, with objectives including strengthening healthcare infrastructure, expanding China's global health leadership, and enhancing international health cooperation. Through an in-depth analysis of the China-Pakistan collaboration on healthcare under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a case study, this research explores the motives, implications, and potential concerns associated with the HSR. This research posits that the HSR has a mix of positive and negative implications, making it challenging to categorize the initiative as simply good or bad. While the HSR contributes to improved healthcare services, infrastructure, and capacity-building in participating countries, it also raises concerns about debt sustainability, transparency, and China's geopolitical influence. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of the HSR's multifaceted impacts and underscores the importance of open dialogue, cooperation, and the sharing of best practices among stakeholders in order to maximize the initiative's benefits and minimize potential negative consequences. By assessing the motives, implications, and concerns of the HSR, this study offers valuable insights for policymakers, global health practitioners, and scholars, highlighting the significance of international collaboration in addressing shared health challenges and promoting sustainable development.

A revised reversed Carnot cycle without external heat source and temperature gap is proposed to challenge the classic reversed Carnot cycle, heat pumps based on the proposed cycle with super energy efficiency works just like electric heater fitted for any climate including extreme cold weather, the application of these new heat pumps is discussed with conclusion that little real obstacles exist for scale application to address the heating related climate change, also a demonstration case shows a remarkable results to encourage the applications of these new heat pumps.

Multimission satellite altimetry (e.g. ERS, Envisat, TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason) data have enabled a synoptic view of ocean variations in the past decades, including sea-level rise and mesoscale circulations. Since 2016, the Sentinel-3 mission has provided better spatial and temporal sampling compared with its predecessors. The Sentinel-3 Ku/C Radar Altimeter (SRAL) is one of the synthetic aperture radar altimeters (SAR Altimeter) which is more precise in coastal and lake observations. In this study, we validate Sentinel-3 Level-2 products in Baltic Sea coastal areas and two lakes in Estonia. Moreover, the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) Level-3 sea-level anomaly data and the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) reanalysis model outcomes are compared with measurements from a tide gauge network. A dense in situ water level network deployed along the coast for geodetic observation was utilised to provide ground truths for validating altimetry results. Three validation methods were used for Level-2 data: (i) collocated Sentinel-3 and GNSS ship measurements; (ii) a national geoid model (EST-GEOID2017) with sea-level anomaly correction; (iii) collocated Sentinel-3 and buoy measurements. The validations were carried out in seven Sentinel-3A/B overpasses in 2019. Our results show that the uncertainty of the Sentinel-3 Level-2 altimetry product is below decimetre level on the Estonian coast and the targeted lakes. Results from CMEMS Level-3 showed a correlation of 0.8 (RMSE 0.19 m) and 0.91 (RMSE 0.27 m) when compared against tide gauge measurements and NEMO model, respectively.

This study reports multivariate statistical techniques applied including cluster analysis to evaluate and classify the river pollution level in Taiwan, and principal component analysis-multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR) to identify the possible pollution source. Water quality and heavy metal monitoring data from Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was evaluated for 14 rivers in the four regions of Taiwan. The Erren River was classified as the most polluted River in Taiwan. Biochemical oxygen demand, ammonia, and total phosphate concentration in this river were the highest of the 14 rivers evaluated. In addition, heavy metal levels of the following rivers exceeded the Taiwan EPA standard limit: lead - in the Dongshan, Jhuoshuei, and Xinhuwei Rivers; copper - in the Dahan, Laojie, and Erren Rivers; and manganese - in all rivers. Water pollution in the Erren River was estimated to originate 72% from industrial sources, 16% from domestic black water, and 12% from natural sources and runoff from other tributaries. Our research showed that PCA-MLR and the cluster analysis model accomplished our study objectives and will be helpful tools to evaluate water quality in rivers and we suggest that the continuous monitoring should be conducted to monitor water pollution from anthropogenic activities.

Ultralight power generation equipment has high requirements for the power density, continuous operation, and transient stability of the whole machine, and there is a direct conflict between high power density design and substantial stability control in the power unit design. In order to meet the power density requirements of ultra-light power stations, three main problems need to be solved, namely engine speed oscillation and flameout in the process of load power mutation, matching of the generator and engine torque, and stabilizing the voltage waveform of the AC output end. In this paper, we proposed an exquisite control strategy for ultralight power generation systems in engines, generators, and inverters. The effectiveness and practicability of the proposed strategy are verified by both simulation and experiment. The results show that the proposed control strategy can effectively solve the instability problem of the ultralights generator set and improve the stability of the system, where the response recovery can be achieved within 0.9 seconds under the condition of total load increase or decrease, and the mismatching degree of the generator following the engine is reduced by 90%. The strategy could also guarantee long-term stable operation with high-quality electrical energy output.