Patients receiving hemodialysis are at risk of vascular access infections (VAIs) and particularly vulnerable to the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Hemodialysis patients were also at increased risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study determined the change in the molecular and antibiotic resistance profiles of S. aureus isolates from VAIs during the pandemic compared with before. 102 S. aureus isolates were collected from VAIs between November 2013 and December 2021. Before the pandemic, 69 isolates were collected, 58%, 39.1%, and 2.9% from arteriovenous grafts (AVGs), tunneled cuffed catheters (TCCs), and arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs), respectively. The prevalence of AVG and TCC isolates changed to 39.4% and 60.6%, respectively, of 33 isolates during the pandemic. Sequence type (ST)59 was the predominant clone in TCC-methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and AVG-MRSA before the pandemic, whereas the predominant clone was ST8 in AVG-MRSA during the pandemic. ST59 carrying the ermB gene was resistant to clindamycin and erythromycin. By contrast, ST8 carrying the msrA gene was exclusively resistant to erythromycin. The ST distribution for different VAIs changed from before to during the pandemic. The change in antibiotic resistance rate for different VAIs was closely related to the distribution of specific STs.

The feed-forward loop (FFL) is an important and basic network motif to understand specific biological functions. Cyclic-AMP (cAMP) receptor protein (CRP), a transcription factor (TF), mediates catabolite repression and regulates more than 400 genes in response to changes in intracellular concentrations of cAMP in Escherichia coli. CRP participates in some FFLs like araBAD and araFGH operons and adapt to fluctuating environmental nutrients thus enhancing the survivability of E. coli. Although computational simulations have been used to explore the potential functionality of FFLs, a comprehensive study of the functions of all structural types based on in vivo data is lacking. Also, the regulatory role of CRP-mediated feed-forward loops (CRP-FFLs) remain unclear to date. Using EcoCyc and RegulonDB, we identified 393 CRP-FFLs in the E. coli. Dose-response genomic microarray of E. coli revealed dynamic gene expression of each target gene of CRP-FFLs in response to a range of cAMP dosages. All eight types of FFLs were present in CRP regulon with various expression patterns of each CRP-FFL, that were further divided into five functional groups. Microarray and reported regulatory relationships identified 202 CRP-FFLs which were directly regulated by CRP in these eight types of FFLs. Interestingly, 30% (147/482) of genes were directly regulated by CRP and CRP-regulated TFs, indicating that these CRP-regulated genes were also regulated by other CRP-regulated TFs responding to environmental signals through CRP-FFLs. Furthermore, we applied gene ontology annotation to reveal the biological functions of CRP-FFLs.

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.

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.

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.

An antenna sensor is proposed to execute dual functions of antenna and sensor in the wireless sensor system, in order to reduce data loss and to increase transmission rate by omitting a certain interface. The as-made sensor was test at a center frequency of 46 MHz for measuring human finger postures using principle of dipole antenna. The antenna sensor was attached on a wearable glove. The results showed that the motion sensor can accurately identify finger angles at 0°, 20°, 40°, 60° and 80°.

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 research proposes a near-infrared hyperspectral imaging/two-branch convolutional neural network (NIR-HSI/2B-CNN) algorithmic scheme to detect mango anthracnose of the species Colletotrichum asianum at the early stages of disease development. In the algorithmic model development, root mean square propagation was used as the solver to train the neural network, given 150 epochs. In addition, spectral raw data was preprocessed to transform it into an understandable and efficient format. The optimal classification model was the 2B-CNN model with 1st-derivative preprocessing, achieving an accuracy of 0.94 for the calibration set and 0.71 for the prediction set. The proposed NIR-HSI/2B-CNN scheme could detect anthracnose mangoes since the the first day of inoculation of the spore suspension (i.e., day 0) through to day 3, achieving a moderate classification accuracy. Meanwhile, the accuracy of conventional convolutional neural networks (CNN) were within a range of 0.66-0.67 for the calibration set and 0.55-0.57 for the prediction set. The results indicated that incorporating spatial features in the 2B-CNN modeling enhanced the prediction performance of the algorithm. The proposed NIR-HSI/2B-CNN algorithmic scheme needs refinements to be able to reliably sort mango fruits into those suitable for premium fresh consumption and export without anthracnose and those for domestic consumption or processing. The novelty of this research lies in the use of NIR-HSI and 2B-CNN algorithm to detect plant pathogens at the early stages of disease development. In addition, the new method of natural simulation to deposit the fungal spores onto the mango surface by spraying spore suspension onto the mango surface where the conidia penetrated unaided into the underneath of the mango peel is proposed.

Gesture recognition technology has been quickly developed in the field of human-computer interaction. The multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar has been widely adopted in gesture recognition because of its notable spatial resolution. In this work, a highly accurate MIMO radar-based hand gesture recognition algorithm with very low complexity is proposed. To make the proposed system applicable in the industry and work well even when the size of the training data is limited, we applied several low-complexity adaptive signal processing methods to extract features and reduce the noise effect. First, spectrum analysis is applied to range-Doppler maps (RDMs) and a cell-averaging constant false alarm rate (CA-CFAR) with mirror filters is applied to improve the robustness to noise. Afterward, the features related to the distance, speed, direction, and the elevation angle of the moving object are determined by the proposed adaptive signal analysis techniques and the random forest is applied for classification. The proposed system has the capability to precisely distinguish and identify eight motions, including waving, moving to the left or right, patting, pushing, pulling, and rotating clockwise or anticlockwise, with an accuracy of 95%. Experiments demonstrate the capability of the proposed hand gesture recognition system to classify different movements precisely.

There is clinical concern about the combined use of alcohol and opiates. Several lines of evidence support an interaction between alcohol and the endogenous opioid system. Thus, we hypothesized that ethanol by causing the release of opioid peptides may sensitize the system to the action of exogenous opioids such as morphine. In this study, using the place conditioning paradigm as an animal model of reward, we determined whether a morphine challenge would alter the pre-established preference induced by ethanol conditioning in mice, and whether this response was mediated by the mu opioid receptor (MOP). Given that ethanol exposure stimulates the release of opioid peptides, we also assessed the role of beta-endorphin (β-END) and enkephalins (ENKs) in this response. Mice lacking MOP, β-END and/ or ENKs as well as their respective wild-type controls were tested for baseline place preference on day 1, conditioned with ethanol (2 g/kg) versus saline on days 2 to 4 and then tested under a drug-free state for postconditioning place preference on day 5. On day 8, mice received a single injection of morphine (5 mg/kg) and were tested for place preference. On each test day, mice were placed in the central neutral chamber and allowed to freely explore the conditioning chambers. The amount of time that mice spent in each chamber was recorded. We found that a challenge dose of morphine given on day 8 enhanced the CPP response in mice previously conditioned with ethanol. This response was abolished in MOP null mice, confirming the role of MOP in this response. Although this enhanced response was not altered in mice lacking either β-end or ENKs compared to their wild-type littermates/controls, it was completely blunted in mice lacking both β-end and enkephalins. Together, these results suggest that these opioid peptides jointly mediate the crosstalk between the rewarding actions of morphine and ethanol.

In this study, we investigated the effects of three surface treatment techniques on 316L stainless steel, low-temperature immersion corrosion, shot peening followed by immersion corrosion, and electrochemical corrosion. Surface alterations were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and α-step thin-film thickness profiling. Human osteoblast adhesion was evaluated using Liu’s stain and metallographic optical microscopy. The results revealed weak cell adhesion after low-temperature immersion and shot peening followed by immersion corrosion. By contrast, electrochemical corrosion, particularly with a high current density and low corrosive solution concentration, resulted in a uniformly corroded surface, thus promoting dense cell adhesion. All three techniques resulted in porous oxide layers. Overall, our experimental findings highlighted shot peening (1 kg/cm2 for 20 s) and electrochemical corrosion (0.5 M HCl) as effective processes. Electrochemical corrosion produced uniformly dense corrosion pits, whereas shot peening produced semicircular grooves with small corrosion pits, both favorable for cell adhesion. Electrochemical corrosion also yielded excellent cell adhesion, emphasizing its suitability for biomedical activity. We developed a process for creating a porous surface layer and thereby enhancing the cell adhesion to 316L stainless steel for potential biomedical implant applications.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the second common hematologic malignancy in children. The incidence of childhood AML is much lower than acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which makes the childhood AML a rare disease in children. The role of genetic abnormalities in AML classification, management and prognosis prediction is much more important than before. The WHO classification of myeloid neoplasms and the European LeukemiaNet (ELN) classification were both revised in 2022. The application of the new information in childhood AML will be upcoming in the next few years. The frequency of each genetic abnormality in adult and childhood AML is different, therefore, in this review we emphasize in well-known genetic subtypes in childhood AML, including Core-binding factor AML (CBF AML), KMT2Ar (KMT2A/11q23 rearrangement) AML, normal karyotypes AML with somatic mutations, unbalanced cytogenetic abnormalities AML, NUP98 11p15/NUP09 rearrangement AML and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Current risk group classification, management algorithm in childhood AML and novel treatment modalities, such as targeted therapy, immune therapy, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy are reviewed. Finally, the indications of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in AML are discussed.

This study explores the advanced integration of Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric systems in Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) to optimize performance. OTEC, a promising renewable energy source, needs help in efficiency maximization. We address this by implementing Bi2Te3 thermoelectric generators (TEGs), known for their high thermoelectric efficiency at low-temperature differences. Our research encompasses a comprehensive simulation and analysis of these TEGs in OTEC systems, examining material properties, system design, and environmental impact. We present a novel approach to integrating these TEGs, optimizing their arrangement, and interfacing with the OTEC cycle to enhance overall efficiency. The study also investigates the durability and cost-effectiveness of Bi2Te3 TEGs in marine environments. Results demonstrate a significant improvement in energy conversion efficiency, highlighting the potential of Bi2Te3 TEGs in sustainable ocean energy exploitation. This work advances material science in renewable energy, providing valuable insights into the practical application of thermoelectric materials in large-scale energy systems. It paves the way for future research on material optimization and system integration, essential for developing efficient and sustainable OTEC systems.

Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder and is one of the top 20 reasons of disability in the world. It causes a huge burden on society. In this study, the prediction models of bipolar disorder were constructed based on the concept of knowledge distillation. The input data consisted of patients of bipolar disorder and matched controls, all of which were selected from the open database MIMIC. The method of kernel density estimation (KDE) was exploited to generate probability density functions (PDF) which identify distributions of input data. The PDF values referred to as the soft labels were combined with the input data to construct the prediction models of bipolar disorder using decision tree and artificial neural network respectively. According to the evaluation results, indicators for identifying positive samples of bipolar disorder were improved. Meanwhile, the indicators for identifying negative samples have also been advanced. In addition, the branching attributes selected by the decision trees can be mapped back to specific disease diagnoses, which are all associated with bipolar disorder. In conclusion, using KDE to generate the soft label information of the input data can make knowledge distillation work and has improved the performances of prediction models for bipolar disorder.

Whether and how P2X7 receptor knockout (KO) modulates central post-stroke pain (CPSP) induced by lesions of the ventrobasal complex (VBC) of the thalamus regarding behavioral, molecular, and electrical recording parameters remains unclear. Following the experimental protocols of a rat hemorrhage CPSP model, the VBC of the thalamus of wild-type and P2X7 receptor KO mice was injected with 10 mU/0.2 μl type IV collagenase to produce an animal model of stroke-like thalamic hemorrhage. Behavioral data showed that the CPSP group induced thermal and mechanical pain, while the P2X7 receptor KO group showed reduced thermal and mechanical pain behaviors. Molecular assessments revealed that the CPSP group had lower expression of NeuN and KCC2 and higher expression of GFAP, IBA1, and BDNF. The P2X7 KO group showed lower expression of GFAP, IBA1, and BDNF and higher expression of KCC2 than the CPSP group. The expression of NKCC1, GABAa receptor, and TrkB did not differ significantly between the control, CPSP, and P2X7 receptor KO groups. Muscimol application increased multiunit numbers and [Cl-] influx in the membrane in the CPSP group, while P2X7 receptor KO reduced multiunit activity and [Cl-] outflux. P2X4 receptor expression was significantly decreased in the 100 kb but not the 50 kb site in the P2X7 receptor KO group. Altogether, the P2X7 hypothesis of CPSP was proposed, wherein P2X7 receptor KO changed the CPSP pain behavior, numbers of astrocytes and microglia, CSD amplitude of the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial dorsal thalamus, BDNF and KCC2 expression, [Cl-], and P2X4 activation in 100 kb with P2X7 receptors. The present findings have implications for the clinical treatment of CPSP symptoms.

The work is devoted to the search for effective solutions to the applied problem of early diagnostics of plant stress in the conditions of smart farming and based on modern explicable artificial intelligence (XAI). The study mostly oriented on the theory and practice of XAI, focused on the use of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) and Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) sensor data at the input of a neural network. The first our goal is to build an XAI neural network, explainable due to its structure, the input of which is a datascientist oriented HSI 'explanator', and the output is a biologist oriented TIR 'explanator'. In the middle is SLP-regressor which solves the universal problem of training HSI pixels to temperatures of plants, needed for early plant stress diagnostic. The result can be considered as prototype of a special XAI explanator which is assigned to transform explanator specialized on area 1 onto explanator specialized on area 2. Using this HSI-TIR explanator we ensured the follows: extend HSI data by TIR attribute; providing TIR data for early diagnostic of plant stress; reducing dimensionality HSI needed for TIR training 25 times (from 204 to 8) preserving the same accuracy of temperature prediction (RMSE=0.2-0.3C). This reducing was achieved without using PCA methods. The constructed model is computationally efficient in training: the average training time is significantly less then 1 min (Intel Core i3-8130U, 2.2 GHz, 4 cores, 4 GB). One of the 8 channels, 820 nm, is the leader in correlation with TIR, what allows building local linear temperature prediction functions.

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.

Due to their independent structure, piping, and access, townhouses offer great flexibility in floor plan changes and high spatial autonomy, making them the mainstream housing type in Taiwan. This study focuses on row houses and examines 2022 completion cases in Kaohsiung City. It collects floor plans from 14 newly constructed buildings, totaling 227 units, and analyzes spatial dimensions including facade width, depth, habitable room, staircases, bathrooms, and total floor area for each case. The objective of this study is to examine the spatial layout of row houses in Kaohsiung City, with the aim of providing reference for future planning and design of such structures. The study resulted showed that 81.8% of the row houses analyzed have a total floor area per unit ranging from 136 to 192 m², a facade width between 4.1 and 6.38 meters, and a building depth from 7.67 to 12.68 meters. In addition, low negative correlation between facade width and total floor area, a high positive correlation between building depth and total floor area, and a moderate negative correlation between facade width and building depth. The spatial distribution within these houses includes 78% allocated to habitable room, 13.1% to staircases, and 8.7% to bathrooms. The total area of habitable room and bathrooms increases with the total floor area of the building. However, the total area of staircases remains almost constant as the area of habitable room increases. Furthermore, the most common location for staircase planning is the rear-right (RB) position, while the least common is the rear-left (LB) position. Among various staircase types, the C-shaped staircase has the largest average area per floor and the highest average proportion. Conversely, the I-shaped staircase has the smallest average area and the lowest average proportion. The U-shaped staircase is the most frequently planned, whereas the C-shaped staircase is the least frequently used.

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.

Attracting and retaining international students has been widely discussed in higher education settings. Increasing the number of international students has become an indispensable strategy for national and global competition. This study focuses on effective strategies and international students' issues regarding satisfaction in the most popular STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs. We designed a structural equation modeling (SEM) method to determine the effect of institutional mediation between push factors and satisfaction factors for the development of better strategies by which to attract and retain international students. Taking Taiwan as an example, this study employed a self-designed questionnaire to collect data: 485 degree-seeking international students in STEM programs were invited and successfully participated in this study during spring 2021. IBM SPSS 26 and AMOS 26 (Analysis of Moment Structure) were used to carry out the data analysis. We employed reliability, factor, and SEM analyses. This study assumed that the impact of push factors can be modified by institutional situations and result in international students’ satisfaction with their learning and environment and regarding migration policy. The results revealed that the predictors, mediation, and criteria were significant at the 0.05 or 0.01 levels. The findings suggest that push factors impact international students’ satisfaction when using institutional leadership and international strategy. The results of the bootstrap with a generalized least square method showed that the SEM model fit in 2000 bootstrap samples. The effect of institutional mediation can provide useful information for STEM programs to boost their future recruitment and retention strategies. This study provides an innovative approach to the detection of issues among international students in specific programs. These findings can enrich our knowledge regarding attracting and retaining global students in higher education settings.

The circular supply chain was applied to many industries in the past studies, whereas the rubber recycling industry has not been explored in detail yet. Therefore, this study indentified the key factors of the circular supply chain used in remanufactured products, thereby perfecting its framework. This study put forward 5 aspects and 19 criteria for reference, so that companies in the rubber recycling industry are able to clearly know the direction of implementation when con-structing the circular supply chain for remanufactured products. This study integrated expert opinions with the fuzzy Delphi method and the fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory proposed key factors, and performed the ranking of importance. The results have displayed that key aspects include the circular business model (A3), increasing the value of resources in the supply chain (A4), and risk management of the circular supply chain (A2). The factors that the rubber recycling industry needs to pay attention to are: optimizing the production process (C2), sharing data in the product lifecycle (C4), effectively tracking and recycling products (C5), redesigning remanufactured products (C13), enhancing resource efficiency (C16), and identifying waste composition and separating materials (C14) . Based on the abovementioned, we had a discussion in this study.

The open burning of sugarcane residue is commonly used as a low-cost and fast method during pre-harvest and post-harvest periods. However, this practice releases various pollutants, including dioxins. This study aims to predict polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs, or dioxins) emissions using the Grey Model (GM (1,1)) and to map the annual flux spatial distribution at the provincial level from 2023 to 2028. Using the activity rate of dry crop residue from national agencies and literature, and following the guidelines set by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), an annual emission inventory was developed at the provincial level. The distribution of emissions from 2016 to 2022 was then mapped. The average PCDD/Fs emission values exhibit significant variation among the provinces, averaging 309 pg TEQ/year. Spatially, in line sugarcane production, South Sumatra and East Jawa consistently show high emissions, often exceeding 400 pg/m². Emissions based on the UNEP emission factor tend to be higher compared to other factors, due to its generic nature and lack of regional specificity. The emission predictions using the Grey Model GM (1,1) indicate that North Sumatra is expected to experience a steady increase in PCDD/Fs emissions, whereas South Sumatra and Lampung are projected to see a slight decline. This forecast assumes there will be any changes in regional intervention strategies. Most regions in Jawa Island show a gradual increase in emissions, except for East Jawa, which is predicted to have a slight decline from 416 pg/year in 2023 to 397 pg/year in 2028. Additionally, regions like Gorontalo and parts of East Jawa are projected to remain "hotspots" with consistently high emissions, suggesting the need for targeted interventions. Future studies should consider developing monthly emissions profiles to account for local agricultural practices and seasonal conditions. The emission data generated in this study, which includes both spatial and temporal distributions, is valuable for air quality modeling studies. Utilizing this data can help assess the impact of current and future emissions on ambient air quality.

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.

Water plays a vital role in the healthy growth of pears. Early detection of water stress can play a significant role in the timely management of water deficiency for pear yield. Most current methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming, only provide point measurements, and could be destructive. In this research, a real-time non-destructive method using a push-broom hyperspectral system (400-1000nm) was used to collect hyperspectral image data and detect the water stress of the pear seedling leaves. To build a reliable prediction model, machine learning techniques were used. The Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA) was applied for optimal wavelength selection. In particular, CNN was applied to obtain the features of key wavelengths. Both the CNN features and key wavelengths were put into RR-MLR, BLR and ENN for analysis. The training accuracy of the three modellings all reach the accuracy above 70% after about 100 epochs, while combination of CNN features outperformed the mere main spectra analysis. This research demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging coupled with machine learning techniques could be applied to predict the water content of pear leaves predict non-destructively.

This study proposes an image recognition method to assist swine farm managers in collecting health data related to pig feeding and excretion. Analyzing the correlation between sow health data and indoor air quality in the pigsties revealed significant influences of air quality indicators on sow health. Increased levels of TVOC, CO2, and temperature were found to negatively affect feeding health, while increased temperature, humidity, and PM10 were found to negatively impact excretion health. These findings provide a basis for evaluating variables when constructing future sow disease prediction models. Analyzing the correlation between pig health status and air quality can help swine farm managers improve sow production environments, reduce disease risks, enhance production efficiency, and provide valuable insights for future research on disease prediction models.

In Taiwan, mountainous areas account for approximately two-thirds of the total area. The steep terrain and concentrated rainfall during typhoons cause landslides, which pose a considerable threat to mountain settlements. Therefore, models for analyzing rainfall-induced landslide hazards are urgently required to ensure adequate land use in mountainous areas. In this study, focusing on Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, we developed a landslide hazard index (IRL) to land use. Using FORMOSA-2 and SPOT-5 satellite images, data were collected before and after four typhoons (one in 2009 and three in 2013). The ArcGIS random tree classifier was used for interpreting satellite images to explore surface changes and disasters, which were used to analyze slope disturbances. The product of the maximum 3-h rolling rainfall intensity and effective accumulated rainfall was used as a rainfall trigger index (IRT). Considering environmental and slope disturbance factors, an index of slope environmental strength potential (ISESP) was developed through logistic regression (LR). Landslide hazard to land use was estimated using IRT and ISESP. The average coefficient of agreement (Kappa) was approximately 0.71 (medium to high accuracy); the overall accuracy of slope environmental strength potential analysis was approximately 80.4%. At a constant ISESP, IRT increased with the increasing hazard potential of rainfall-induced landslides. Furthermore, IRT and ISESP were positively correlated with landslide occurrence. When large ISESP values occur (e.g., fragile environment and high land development intensity), small IRT values may induce landslides.

Caring for dolphins is a delicate process that requires experienced caretakers to pay close attention to their behavioral characteristics. However, caretakers may sometimes lack experience or not be able to give their full attention, which can lead to misjudgment or oversight. To address these issues, a dolphin behavior analysis system has been designed to assist caretakers in making accurate assessments. The study utilized image preprocessing techniques to reduce sunlight reflection in the pool and enhance the outline of dolphins, making it easier to analyze their movements. The dolphins were divided into 11 keypoints using an open-source tool called DeepLabCut, which helped accurately mark various body parts for skeletal detection. The AquaAI Dolphin Decoder (ADD) was then used to analyze six dolphin behaviors. To improve behavior recognition accuracy, the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network was introduced. The ADD and LSTM models were integrated to form the ADD-LSTM system. Several classification models, including unidirectional and bidirectional LSTM, GRU, and SVM, were compared. The results showed that the ADD module combined with a double-layer bidirectional LSTM method achieved high accuracy in dolphin behavior analysis. The accuracy rates for each behavior were over 90%.

This study evaluated the mechanical strengths of three types of orthodontic micro-implants by analyzing their structural configurations. Thirty micro-implants of three types (diameter 1.5 mm, Types A, B, C) were assessed. All micro-implants were manually driven into artificial bones at an 8-mm depth. The insertion torque (IT), pullout strength (PS), and gripping volume (GV) of each type were measured. Intergroup comparisons and intragroup correlation were investigated by statistical analysis. Type B had the greatest inner–outer diameter ratio (0.67), and Type A had the smallest (0.53). The IT of Type A (5.26 Ncm) was significantly (p = 0.038) lower than that of Type C (8.8 Ncm). There was no significant difference in the pullout strength (p = 0.868). The GV of Type A (9.7 mm3) was significant (p < 0.01) greater than Type C (8.4 mm3). Type C was significant (p < 0.01) greater than Type B (7.2 mm3). Spearman’s rho rank correlation test showed that PS of Type B was correlated significantly with GV. In conclusion, the design of thread and its GV were the important factors on the mechanical strengths of micro-implant.

This study aimed to examine the vitamin D status of professional volleyball athletes and to determine its correlation with shoulder muscle strength. We finally included 52 healthy male professional volleyball players (23.2 ± 4.5 years), who were categorized by vitamin D status (<20 ng/mL: deficiency, 20-30 ng/mL: insufficiency, and >30 ng/mL: sufficiency). We examined the strength of the internal rotator (IR) and external rotator (ER) muscles of the shoulder by using isokinetic dynamometer. Fourteen players (26.9%) had vitamin D deficiency, 24 players (46.2%) were vitamin D insufficient, and 14 players (26.9%) were vitamin D sufficient. There was no significant correlation between the vitamin D level and shoulder muscle strength at 60°/s (IR, r = 0.159, p = 0.26; ER, r = 0.245, p = 0.08), and at 180°/s (IR, r = - 0.093, p = 0.51; ER, r = - 0.037, p = 0.79). Moreover, the isokinetic shoulder strengths were not significantly different across the three groups in all settings. In conclusion, vitamin D insufficiency was common in elite volleyball players. Though not being associated with isokinetic muscle weakness, vitamin D should be regularly monitored and supplemented in young elite athletes, considering its importance on musculoskeletal health.

Ecological city is currently a hot topic in urban planning research. How to balance urban development and ecological environment protection has become a focus and difficulty of research. Traditional urban planning is mainly based on experience, but its disadvantage is that it is easy to overlook key geographical factors such as terrain and vegetation, and cannot fully reflect the actual spatial characteristics of the city. Therefore, this article applied the combination of urban and rural planning and environmental remote sensing technology to urban planning and design, obtaining a massive amount of data. Through the actual analysis of Langfang, this paper monitored the vegetation, water, land and landscape data of Langfang through environmental remote sensing technology. By using these data to identify existing problems, this article proposed reasonable planning for the problems, in order to achieve the effective goal of ecological city planning and design. It provided a more accurate analysis of urban structure, including urban planning and urban ecological landscape planning. Among them, ecological landscape planning includes renovating ecological embankments, protecting ecological green belts around the city, and creating characteristic landscape areas, thereby providing more scientific basis for urban planning and design, making urban planning and design more reasonable and scientific. This paper investigated the planned Langfang City, and the average errors of vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data obtained from traditional field surveys were 0.35, 0.33, 0.34, and 0.31, respectively. The average errors of remote sensing technology in obtaining vegetation, soil, water quality, and landscape data were 0.16, 0.15, 0.17, and 0.15, respectively. The total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 before planning was 5.51mg/L and 7.41mg/L, respectively. After planning, the total suspended solids content of waterscape 1-10 was 3.60mg/L and 4.47mg/L, respectively. From this, it can be seen that the error in obtaining data after planning has decreased, and the total suspended solids content has also decreased.

Recent preclinical studies have shown the potential benefits of short-term calorie reduction (SCR) on cancer treatment. In this integrative review, we aimed to identify and synthesize current evidence regarding the feasibility, process, and effects of SCR in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Ovid Medline, PsychINFO, and Embase were searched for original research articles using various combinations of Medical Subject Heading terms. Among the 311 articles identified, seven studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the reviewed studies was small randomized controlled trials or cohort study with fair quality. The results suggest that SCR is safe and feasible. SCR is typically arranged around the chemotherapy with the duration ranging from 24 to 96 hours. Most studies examined the protective effects of SCR on normal cells during chemotherapy. The evidence supports that SCR had the potential to enhance both physical and psychological wellbeing of patients during chemotherapy. SCR is a cost-effective intervention with great potential. Future well-controlled studies with sufficient sample sizes are needed to examine the full and long-term effects of SCR and its mechanism of action.

A convenient and efficient strategy for the preparation of 2-sulfonylindoles has been achieved through iodophor/H2O2-mediated 2-sulfonylation of indoles with readily available sulfonyl hydrazides in aqueous phase. Iodophor is commercially available and serves as the green catalyst and aqueous phase. A series of 2-sulfonylated products from indoles and N-methylpyrrole were synthesized in moderate yields in only 10 min. Control experiments were also conducted to reveal the mechanism. This method is environment friendly, easy to operate and suitable for a wide range of substrates.

Increasing agricultural productivity is indispensable to meet future food demand. Crop im-provement programs rely heavily on genetic diversity. The success of weeds in the ecosystem can be attributed to genetic diversity and plasticity. Weedy rice, a major weed of rice, has diverse morphology and phenology, implying wide genetic diversity. Study was conducted to genotype weedy rice accessions (n =54) previously phenotyped for herbicide tolerance and allelopathic potential using 30 SSR markers. Cultivated rice (CL163, REX) and allelopathic rice (RONDO, PI312777, PI338047) were also included in the study. Nei’s genetic diversity among weedy rice (0.45) was found to be higher than cultivated rice (0.24) but less than allelopathic rice (0.56). The genetic relationship and population structure based on herbicide tolerance and allelopathic po-tential were evaluated. Herbicide-tolerant and susceptible accessions formed distinct clusters in the dendrogram, indicating their genetic variation, whereas no distinction was observed between allelopathic and non-allelopathic weedy rice accessions. Weedy rice accession B2, which was previously reported to have high allelopathy and herbicide tolerance, was genetically distinct from other weedy rice. Results from the study will help leverage weedy rice for rice improvement programs as both rice and weedy rice are closely related, thus having a low breeding barrier.

Lirianthe delavayi has valuable ornamental and medicinal value, is an important economic tree, and has a long history of cultivation. As important regulatory molecules, miRNAs are involved in important physiological processes, such as the plant stress response, organ morphogenesis, hormone secretion, and signaling. In this study, based on miRNA sequencing analysis of wild and cultivated Lirianthe delavayi, we explored the differences in posttranscriptional regulation during the cultivation of Lirianthe delavayi from the aspect of miRNA molecular regulation. The results revealed the following: 1. A total of 365 miRNAs were sequenced and identified, and their first bases had obvious uracil (U) base preferences. Among them, 242 miRNAs were classified into 32 miRNA families; 2. Analysis of miRNA expression differences revealed that 39 miRNAs had significant expression differences between wild and cultivated populations; 3. Bioinformatics target gene prediction and target gene enrichment analysis of significantly differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that the target genes were significantly enriched in plant‒pathogen interactions, sphingolipid metabolism, defense responses, and ADP binding. 4. The plant‒pathogen interaction pathway involves seven differentially expressed miRNAs and 30 miRNA‒target gene regulatory pairs, which are involved mainly in pathogen signature molecule recognition and binding, signal transduction, and the regulation of disease resistance molecules or gene expression; Ath-MIR169g-p3_2ss7AG19GA, ath-MIR169g-p5_2ss7AG19GA, and ath-miR408-3p_L-3 are expressed only in wild population, and it is hypothesized that the domestication process from wild to cultivation species may be accompanied by the loss of disease resistance-related miRNAs. This study provides a reference for exploring the posttranscriptional-level regulatory mechanisms of adaptive changes in Lirianthe delavayi from wild to cultivated.

Weeds are among the major constraints to any crop production system, reducing productivity and profitability. Herbicides are among the most effective methods to control weeds, and reliance on herbicides for weed control has increased significantly with the advent of herbicide-resistant crops. Unfortunately, over-reliance on herbicides leads to environmental-health issues and herbicide-resistant weeds, causing human-health and ecological concerns. Crop diversification can help manage weeds sustainably in major crop production systems. It acts as an organizing principle under which technological innovations and ecological insights can be combined to manage weeds sustainably. Diversified cropping can be defined as the conscious inclusion of functional biodiversity at temporal and/or spatial levels to improve the productivity and stability of ecosystem services. Crop diversification helps to reduce weed density by negatively impacting weed seed germination and weed growth. Additionally, diversified farming systems are more resilient to climate change than monoculture systems and provide better crop yield. However, there are a few challenges to adopting a diversified cropping system, which ranges from technology innovations, government policies, farm-level decisions, climate change, and market conditions. In this review, we discuss how crop diversification supports sustainable weed management, the challenges associated with it, and the future of weed management with respect to the diversification concept.

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.

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.

Aluminum wire is a common material for wire bonding due to its resistance to oxidation and low price. It does not melt when becoming a free air ball (FAB) during the electronic flame-off (EFO) process with wettability, and is applied by wedge bonding. This study used 20μm Zn-Coated Al-0.5wt.%Si (ZAS) wires to improve the FAB shape after the EFO process, while maintaining stability of the mechanical properties, including the interface bonding strength and hardness. In order to test circuit stability after ball bonding, the current-tensile test was performed. During the experiment, it was found that 80nm ZAS with wire bonding has lower resistance and higher fusing current. For the bias tensile test, the thicker Zn film diffused into the Al-Si matrix easily, after which the strength was reduced. The ball-bond interfaces had no change in their condition before and after the bias. Accordingly, ZAS could be a promising candidate for ball bonding in the future.

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?

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.

2-(4-Benzyloxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-5-(carbethoxyethylene)-7-methoxy-benzofuran (BMBF), a benzofuran derivative, is an intermediate found in the process of total synthesis of ailanthoidol. Benzofuran derivatives are a class of compounds that possess various biological and pharmacological activities. The present study explored the anti-metastasis effects in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our preliminary findings indicate that BMBF suppresses the proliferation and changes the morphology of Huh7, an HCC cell line with a mutated p53 gene (Y220C). According to scratching motility assay, noncytotoxic concentrations of BMBF significantly inhibited the motility and migration in Huh7 cells. BMBF upregulated the expression of E-cadherin and downregulated the expression of vimentin, Slug, and MMP9, which are associated with epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and metastasis in Huh7 cells. BMBF decreased the expression of integrin α7 and deactivated its downstream signal FAK/AKT and inhibited p53 protein levels. Cell transfection with p53 siRNA resulted in prevention of cell invasion because of the reduced expression of integrin α7, Slug, and MMP-9 in Huh7 cells. BMBF had anti-metastatic effects in PLC/PRF/5, an HCC cell line with R249S, a mutated p53 gene. Our findings indicate that BMBF has anti-metastatic effects in that it downregulates p53 and mediates the suppression of integrin α7, EMT, and MMP-9 in HCC cells with mutated p53 gene.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SpyGlass peroral cholangioscopy (POCS) has greatly improved the diagnosis of biliary strictures by allowing direct visualization and tissue sampling in the bile ducts. Supported by strong registry data and careful analysis, POCS is highly accurate in diagnosis and carries minimal risks. It plays a pivotal role in diagnosis of indeterminate biliary stricture like primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which increases the risk of cancer. POCS facilitates early disease detection through distinctive endoscopic observations and provides essential information with directed biopsies that assess inflammation and potential malignancy. This case study showcased POCS's diagnostic ability when it accurately identified benign findings in a 59-year-old patient with jaundice. Treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid resulted in significant improvements, highlighting the diagnostic performance of POCS. In summary, POCS simplifies complex biliary stricture cases, expedites diagnosis and intervention, and significantly contributes to improving patient outcomes in challenging hepatobiliary conditions.

Background: The target volume for post-mastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) in breast cancer patients with reconstruction has been a subject of debate. This study aimed to assess the radiation dose distribution and treatment outcomes associated with different chest wall (CW) delineation according to ESTRO ACROP guideline for patients underwent implant-based reconstruction. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of breast cancer patients who underwent mastectomy followed by two-stage implant-based breast reconstruction and adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) between 2007 and 2022. The expanders/implants were positioned retropectorally. The chest wall target volumes were categorized into two groups: the prepectoral group, which excluded the deep lymphatic plexus, and the whole expander group. Results: The study included 26 patients, 15 in prepectoral group and 11 in whole expander group. No significant differences were observed in normal organs exposure between the two groups. There was a trend toward a lower ipsilateral lung mean dose in the prepectoral group (10.2 vs. 11.1 Gy, p=0.06). Both groups exhibited limited instances of reconstruction failure and local recurrence. Conclusions: For patients undergoing two-stage expander-implant retropectoral breast reconstruction and PMRT, our data have provided comparable outcomes and normal organs exposure for those omitting the deep lymphatic plexus.

Abstract: Using adjuvants to optimize and increase the efficacy of herbicides is an acceptable manner to reduce herbicides undesirable impact on the environment in sustainable agriculture. In this study, it was demonstrated that the application of 0.1% of the non-ionic surfactant (NIS, Contact) and 0.5 L ha-1 of a crop oil concentrate (COC, Renol) did not improve the efficacy of rimsulfuron on Amaranthus retroflexus. In contrast, the same treatments enhanced performance and rainfastnes of rimsulfuron in Chenopodium album in pot expriments. Increasing non-ionic surfactant concentration to 1 L ha-1 increased rimsulfuron performance around 11-fold for Amaranthus retroflexus compared to around 3-fold for Chenopodium album. The same treatment, also reduced the rainfastness of rimsulfuron on Amaranthus retroflexus while improving the rainfastness of rimsulfuron on Chenopodium album. Measured ED50 and ED90 values of rimsulfuron indicated that the addition of the 0.2 L ha-1 of NIS improved the recommended (60 g ai. ha-1) and the reduced (30 g ai. ha-1) of rimsulfurom in field. The highest potato yield measured (60 tons per ha) when 60 g ai. ha-1 rimsulfuron was applied at three stages (S1, S4, and S7) without using a NIS; not significant differences were measured when the same dose of rimsulfuron was applied at the three (S1, S4, and S7) and two (S1, S4) stages with NIS.

This study explores the public library service evaluation domain through user-generated content on Google Maps, highlighting digital feedback's significant yet underexplored potential in understanding public library patronage across Taiwan's six major cities. Utilizing a mixed-methods research design, this study integrates Google Maps review content analysis with Social Network Analysis to delineate public perceptions and identify areas for service enhancement in public libraries. It innovatively leverages personal experiences extracted from over 60,000 Google Maps reviews to evaluate public library services in cities such as Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. The research taps into the National Library of Taiwan's National Library Statistics System to provide a robust analysis of library performance and user satisfaction, offering a novel perspective by emphasizing user-centric feedback from Google Maps as a primary data source. This approach provides quantitative data on library usage and geographic distribution and enriches our understanding of the qualitative experiences of library users. In analyzing the keywords from Google Maps reviews of public libraries, we categorize and interpret these under the three core LibQUAL+ dimensions—Affect of Service, Information Control, and Library as Place. The findings expose variances in perceived service quality among the cities, with Kaohsiung and Taichung receiving the highest accolades for service satisfaction. Simultaneously, the study identifies potential areas for improvement, particularly in cities with lower satisfaction ratings like Taipei. This personalized feedback illustrates the intimate relationship between public libraries and their communities, offering invaluable insights for policymakers and library management to enhance service delivery and user experience.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) can often bind target molecules with high selectivity and specificity. When used as MIPs, conductive polymers may have unique binding capabilities; they often contain aromatic rings, which have a great tendency to undergo covalent and hydrogen bonding interactions with similarly structured target (or template) molecules. In this work, an electrochemical method was used to optimize the synthetic self-assembly of poly(aniline-co-metanilic acid) and testosterone, forming testosterone-imprinted polymers (TIPs) on sensing electrodes. The linear sensing range for testosterone ranged from 0.1 to 100 pg/mL, and the limit of detection was as low as ~pM. Random urine samples were collected and diluted 1000 fold to measure testosterone concentration using the above TIP sensors in comparison with a commercial ARCHITECT ci 8200 system. The testosterone concentrations in the tested samples were in the range of 0.33± 0.09 to 9.13±1.33 ng/mL. The mean accuracy of the TIP-coated sensors was 90.3 ±7.0 %.

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.

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.

The nonlinear dynamics exhibited by aircraft flying at high angle of attack (AOA) pose great challenges to the design of flight control. The control design based on nonlinear dynamic inversion (NDI) is to reversely find the required control input based on the current nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft and the control objectives to be achieved. Since it is derived from the nonlinear dynamics of the aircraft, a single NDI controller can cover the entire flight envelope without the need for controller switching or gain scheduling. This paper employs the layered structure of the flight control loop to implement the NDI controller through the combination of aerodynamic control and thrust vectoring control (TVC). The resulting NDI controller is applied to an experimental F-16 installed with TVC to verify its high AOA maneuverability in the post-stall region. The verification simulation shows that the experimental F-16 under the NDI control can effectively track the high AOA command and successfully demonstrate the Herbst maneuver by performing the heading reversal with 70° AOA.

Metasurface constitutes one of the most promising technologies for holographic imaging; however, the work for terahertz (THz) metasurface holographic imaging is relatively limited. Here, we propose a THz dielectric geometric-propagation phase metasurface, which can operate dual-mode (reflection and transmission) and reconfigurable multifunctional holographic imaging. The dual-mode is realized by controlling the Fermi energy level (Ef) of the graphene integrated into the metasurface unit, and the reconfigurable three-channel holographic imaging in reflection or transmission mode are achieved by switching the feed polarization among left-handed circular polarization (LCP), right-handed circular polarization (RCP) and linear polarization (LP). The metasurface is designed based on the transmission mode, and a physical model for switching to the reflection mode is established. For the first time to the best of our knowledge, a reflection-transmission dynamic modulation THz holographic imaging metasurface has been developed. The holographic metasurface operates in transmission mode at Ef = 0.1 eV, and in reflection mode at Ef = 0.9 eV. Compared with recently published holographic imaging metasurfaces, the proposed metasurface offers the following advantages: high holographic efficiencies (42.5% to 49%), more holographic imaging channels, dynamic modulation dual-mode operations, and reconfigurability.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are fast becoming the most common chronic liver disease and are often preventable with healthy dietary habits and weight management. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is associated with obesity and NAFLD. However, the impact of different types of SSB, including artificially sweetened beverages (ASB), is not clear after controlling for total sugar intake and total caloric intake. In this study, we examined the association between different SSB consumption and the risk of NAFLD and NASH. A total of 3,739 US adults aged ≥20 years old who had completed 24-hour dietary recall interviews and measurements, including dietary, SSB, smoking, physical activity, and liver stiffness measurement, using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017-2020 surveys were included in this study. Chi-square tests, t-tests, and weighted logistic regression models were utilized for analyses. The prevalence of NASH was 20.5%, and NAFLD (defined without NASH) was 32.7% of .S.U.S. adults. We observed a higher prevalence of NASH/NAFLD in men, Mexican-Americans, sugar intake from SSB, light-moderate alcohol use, individuals with lower physical activity levels, higher energy intake, obesity, and medical comorbidities. Heavy sugar consumption through SSB was significantly associated with NAFLD (aOR=1.60, 95% CI=1.05-2.45). In addition, intake of ASB only (compared to non-SSB category) was significantly associated with NAFLD (aOR=1.78, 95% CI=1.04-3.05), after adjusting for demographic, risk behaviors, and body mass index. Higher sugar intake from SSB and exclusive ASB intake are both associated with the risk of NAFLD.

Despite recent advancements, therapies remain ineffective against advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), resulting in unsatisfactory therapeutic outcomes. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) offers a promising approach in the treatment of malignant neoplasms. Yet, the exact mechanisms driving CAP-induced cancer cell death are not fully understood. This study revealed a significant reduction in the viability of OSCC cell lines, inactivation of AKT and ERK, and the downregulation of the miR-21, miR-31, miR-134, miR-146a and miR-211 expression followed the CAP treatment. Pretreatment with ZVAD, 3-MA, and Fer-1 synergistically reduced CAP-induced cell death, indicating a combined induction of variable death pathways by CAP. Activation of AKT and ERK, alongside combined treatments using death inhibitors and miRNA mimics, counteracted the cell mortality associated with CAP. CAP-induced downregulation of miR-21, miR-31, miR-187 and miR-211 expression was rescued by AKT and ERK activation. Additionally, CAP treatments notably inhibited the growth of SAS cell xenografts on nude mice. The reduced expression of oncogenic miRNAs in vivo aligned with in vitro findings. In conclusion, our study indicates that CAP jet treatment diminishes OSCC cell viability by abrogating survival signals and oncogenic miRNA expression.

Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) is a problematic common weed species, especially in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). With the wide use of chemical herbicide and herbicide-tolerant transgenic cotton lines, Palmer amaranth populations have developed tolerance to commonly used herbicides. It is imperative to develop alternative weed control methods to slow the evolution of herbicide-resistant weed populations and provide new sources for weed management. Eleven chromosome substitution (CS) cotton lines CS-B26lo, CS-T17, CS-B16-15, CS-B17-11, CS-B12, CS-T05sh, CS-T26lo, CS-T11sh, CS-M11sh, CS-B22sh, and CS-B22lo were screened for weed-suppressing abilities in this study. The cotton lines were tested using the established stair-step structure methodology, which provided scope to study the effect of individual CS lines on the growth and development of Palmer amaranth weed without any interference of other external factors in the greenhouse. Height (cm) and chlorophyll concentration (cci) were measured for each plant in the system. The data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using LSD mean comparisons of the genotypes at the P≤ .05 level. The 14th day after establishment resulted in the most significant variation in Palmer amaranth height reduction among the CS lines. Results indicated that CS-B22sh had the highest effect in reducing Palmer amaranth height and chlorophyll concentration with the most heightened susceptibility for Palmer amaranth. The cluster analysis revealed that Enlist® cotton, CS-CS-B22sh, and CS-T26lo were clustered in one group suggesting similar genetic potential with reference to Palmer amaranth growth and development. CS-B22sh showed novel genetic potential to control the growth and development of Palmer amaranth, a major weed in cotton fields. In the future, it will be interesting to investigate if CS-B22sh exudates from its root contain allelochemicals able to impede the growth and development of Palmer amaranth.

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.

Ambiguity exists over treatment and surveillance strategies after endoscopic submucosal dissec-tion (ESD) for esophageal squamous cell neoplasia (ESCN) with unfavorable histologic features. This study investigated the long-term outcomes of ESD in high-risk ESCN patients. We retro-spectively included early ESCN patients treated with ESD at two medical centers in Taiwan be-tween August 2010 and December 2023. Demographic, endoscopic, and pathological data were collected. Among 146 patients (mean age 59.17 years) with 183 lesions, 73 (50%) had a history of head and neck cancer (HNC). En bloc and R0 resection were achieved in 100% and 95.6% of the lesions, respectively. The 5-year overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS) and local recurrence rates were 42.7%, 94.7% and 11%. R0 resection was significantly associated with re-currence in univariate analysis (adjusted OR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.05-0.99, P=0.05). Alcohol abstinence was independently associated with lower recurrence (adjusted OR: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.08-0.48, P

Background and Objectives: Acculturation is associated with excessive weight gain among immigrants to the U.S. Whether dietary factors mediate this association is unclear. This study aimed to examine whether overall diet quality or specific component(s) of diet quality mediate the association between acculturation and Body Mass Index (BMI) among Mexican American (MA) men and women. Material and Methods: This is a secondary data analysis using dietary intake data from 24-hour dietary recalls, measured height and weight, and self-reported acculturation from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles 1999-2000 to 2011-2012. A total of 6848 MA adults (≥20 yrs) with reliable dietary recall status and body measures were included in the study. Path analyses was performed in Mplus with complex survey design effects adjusted. Results: HEI components of whole grains and sodium were found to play meditating roles in the acculturation-BMI association, and their effects on BMI were opposing [indirect effect were -0.01 (SE 0.00) and 0.02 (0.01), respectively]. In gender-specific analysis, sodium [0.01 (0.00)] was a significant mediator only in MA men; whereas, whole grains [-0.01 (0.00)] was a significant mediator only in MA women. Conclusions: HEI components of whole grains and sodium appeared to be significant dietary mediators in the acculturation-BMI association. Understanding the variations of dietary components and their relationship with acculturation as well as BMI is useful for developing dietary interventions and obesity reduction.

This study examined the use of high dosages of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) (253.7 nm) to deal with various concentrations of air pollutants, such as formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), under various conditions of humidity. We also estimated the emission of ozone as a secondary pollutant of UVGI as treatment. A number of irradiation methods were applied for various durations in field studies to examine the efficiency of removing HCHO, TVOC, bacteria, and fungi. The removal efficiency of air pollutants (HCHO and bacteria) through long-term exposure to UVGI appears to increase with time. The effects on TVOC and fungi concentration were insignificant in the first week; however, improvements were observed in the second week. No differences were observed among the various irradiation methods in this study regarding the removal of HCHO and TVOC; however significant differences were observed in the removal of bacteria and fungi.

Study design: Retrospective observational study. Objectives: To evaluate the change in adjacent segment disease (ASD) after hybrid dynamic stabilization with Dynesys-Transition-Optima (DTO). Methods: In 2012–2020, 115 lumbar spinal stenosis patients with spondylolisthesis re-fractory to nonsurgical management received hybrid dynamic stabilization with DTO system in a single medical center from a single neurosurgeon. After excluding those who did not receive L3–L4 dynamic stabilization and L4–L5 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion fixation and those with incomplete postoperative data (n = 84), the 31 patients studied received follow-up vis-its at 6, 12 and 24 months postoperatively. Radiological assessment applied at the L2–L3, L3–L4 and L5–S1 segments separately included disc height, listhesis distance and angular change while in motion. Implant failure and screw loosening sign were both documented. Results: In the L3–L4 segment, the listhesis distance appeared 1 year after the operation; however, alterations in other segments showed at 6 months. At 2 years, the L3–L4 segment showed significantly less increase in listhesis distance and relatively less disc height reduction than other segments. In motion an-gular change, only the L3–L4 segment had a significant decrease at 2 years. Only the L3–L4 seg-ment maintained negative growth over 2 years in time-dependent assessment of motion angular change. Conclusions: In our study, disc height decreased, listhesis distance increased less and ASD changed later at the index level than the L2–L3 and L5–S1 levels. Angular change was re-duced at the index level while in motion. Although ASD was not significantly prevented, index level degeneration was both minor

In this paper we study a class of impulsive delayed neural networks with parameter uncertainties and reaction-diffusion terms. Using the properties of M-matrices and some inequality techniques, some sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the global exponential stability of the given system. The results obtained are presented by simple algebraic inequalities, which are certainly more concise than previous methods. Finally, the validity and usefulness of our results are illustrated by arithmetic examples.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients infected with COVID-19 may experience abnormal heart rates, posing potential health risks. This study proposes a non-contact method for measuring heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) to effectively reduce the risk of infection and assist healthcare professionals in more accurate diagnosis and treatment. In this study, except for the different image acquisition method, other research processes and methods are similar to the research methods in [15]. The image acquisition method is changed from forehead image to palm image. The new non-contact measurement performance of the proposed method can effectively not only avoid infection concerns but also obtain heart rate and HRV quickly and conveniently, providing higher accuracy for physiological parameters, root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) compared to those in recently published papers.

Currently, data regarding optimal treatment modality, response, and outcome specifically for N3 head and neck cancer are lacking. This study aimed to compare the treatment outcomes between definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) to the neck and upfront neck dissection followed by adjuvant CCRT. 93 N3 squamous cell carcinoma head and neck cancer patients were included. Primary tumor treatment was divided to definitive CCRT (CCRT group) or curative surgery followed by adjuvant CCRT (surgery group). Neck treatment was also classified into two treatment modalities: definitive CCRT to the neck (CCRT group) or curative neck dissection followed by adjuvant CCRT (neck dissection group). Overall, the 2-year overall survival (OS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), regional recurrence-free survival (RRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were 51.8%, 47.3%, 45.6%, and 43.6%, respectively. In both oropharyngeal cancer and nonoropharyngeal cancer patients, in terms of OS, LRFS, RRFS or DMFS no difference was noted regarding primary tumor treatment (CCRT vs. surgery) or neck treatment (CCRT vs. neck dissection). In summary, N3 neck patients treated with definitive CCRT can achieve similar outcomes to those treated with upfront neck dissection followed by adjuvant CCRT. Cautions should be made to avoid overtreatment for this group of patients.

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.

: In the realm of data management, data preservation stands as a critical undertaking aimed at preserving and upholding the integrity of data. Regardless of whether it concerns personal or enterprise data, the detrimental effects of malicious alterations implemented by attackers cannot be overlooked. Particularly in conventional industrial control environments, the prevalent practice involves the transmission of data from sensors to databases for storage purposes. However, it is essential to recognize that this process exposes the data to various vulnerabilities. Thus, to ensure the long-term security and reliability of the data, it becomes imperative to implement robust data preservation strategies within these industrial control systems. However, the reliance of these databases on physical hard disks introduces inherent vulnerabilities, including the potential for data loss due to disk damage or targeted malicious attacks. Consequently, it becomes imperative to prioritize the implementation of robust data preservation measures. These measures are crucial in mitigating the risk of disruptions and protecting critical data from compromise. By establishing effective data backup systems, employing advanced security protocols, and implementing proactive monitoring mechanisms, organizations can bolster their data preservation capabilities and safeguard against potential threats to data integrity and availability. As a result, many enterprises opt to store their data with third-party providers to ensure data integrity. However, this approach carries inherent risks. If the third-party service experiences an attack or if the data is tampered with, it becomes challenging to verify the integrity of the data. To address these concerns and ensure data preservation within the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), a growing number of individuals are integrating IoT with Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). By leveraging DLT, the integrity of data can be ensured, reducing reliance on centralized third-party storage and enhancing security in the IoT ecosystem. In this article, IOTA is the DLT, which employs Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) to store transaction information. Compared to Ethereum or other blockchain technologies, IOTA offers notable advantages in terms of transaction verification speed, making it highly suitable for real-time IoT environments. However, the conventional transmission path from sensors to IOTA nodes entails a complex route, involving multiple hardware devices before reaching the intended destination. This complexity poses challenges in ensuring data integrity during transmission and introduces vulnerabilities such as man-in-the-middle attacks or SQL injection attacks. To address these issues, we propose a method to streamline the transmission path between sensors and IOTA, specifically tailored for industrial fields with numerous IoT devices. Our approach involves preprocessing the data stored on the server using our method before uploading, ensuring data confidentiality, and leveraging IOTA to guarantee data integrity. To achieve the shortest path between IoT and DLT nodes, it becomes necessary to establish IOTA nodes on lower-level devices, such as Raspberry Pi or IoT controllers. By simplifying the transmission path, we can reduce the potential for tampering and enhance overall data security. Implementing our proposed method enables the assurance of data confidentiality and integrity during both transmission and storage on the server, strengthening the trustworthiness of the IoT, and IOTA integration.

This paper uses the complex regression analysis method to establish the customer’s load regression models, which consider economic indicators, temperature and rainfall. Furthermore, the proposed models are used to study the forecasting feasibility of the future energy sales and summer peak load demand. At first, this paper used least-squares techniques to derive regression models for considering economic indicators and temperature of 34 customer energy sales and total energy sales. Besides, the AMI high voltage customer demand data and system generating capacity for 24 hours were adopted to forecast summer peak load. The above-mentioned data analysis tool is used by EViews software to achieve, in order to verify the feasibility of the research framework. The study found that although its forecasting model accuracy is low only when mixed with temperature and high voltage demands. So, when mixed with high voltage demand data and system generating capacity for 24 hours to forecast peak load, the average error is ± 0.87% and in the majority of its energy sales forecasting model of average error is ±3%. This result can provide power company as future reference.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 poses a devastating threat to human society in terms of health, economy and lifestyle. Establishing accurate and real-time models to predict and assess the impact of the epidemic on the economy is instructive. We have designed a new model to quantitatively assess the impact of the COVID-19 on the economy of China’s mainland. The nominal GDP in the Q1 of 2020 that we predicted for China’s mainland with the Baidu Mi-gration Data is RMB 20,785.7 billion, which is less by 3.59% than that in 2019. The estimated val-ue is confirmed roughly by the official report released in April 17, 2020 (RMB 20,650 billion, 6.8% year-on-year declined). Strict control measures during the epidemic have greatly reduced Chi-na's economic activity and had a serious impact on the country's economy. Orderly promotion of population mobility plays a decisive role in economic recovery.

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.

Upland cotton is sensitive to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and the identification of potentially 2,4-D tolerant cotton chromosome substitution (CS) lines and understanding tolerance mechanisms provide a significant step into the development and genetic improvement of upland cotton to reduce yield loss caused by 2,4-D herbicide effects including the drifts. Experiments were conducted to understand the possible mechanism of herbicide tolerance in CS-T04-15, CS-T07, and CS-B15sh, 2,4-D herbicide-tolerant cotton CS lines compared with TM-1, the 2,4-D herbicide susceptible recurrent parent of the CS line as control, using [14C]2,4-D. Percent absorption rate and translocation patterns of the 14C-labeled herbicide application at 5.17 kBq at 6 to 48 hours after treatment (HAT) were determined. The tolerant cotton CS lines showed 15-19% [14C]2,4-D uptake while TM-1 exhibited a reduced uptake of only 1.4% [14C]2,4-D at 24 HAT. Distribution of the absorbed [14C]2,4-D showed that 2-5% was translocated outside the treated leaf. In TM-1, 77% of the herbicide was translocated above and below the treated leaf, contrasting with the reduced translocation of 14C-labeled herbicide observed in the tolerant CS lines. Interestingly, CS-T04-15 showed a restricted movement of 14C below the treated leaf at 6 to 48 HAT, suggesting a novel mechanism of herbicide tolerance. This finding is the first report on upland cotton demonstrating a complex differential uptake and translocation associated with herbicide tolerance for [14C]2,4-D in cotton CS lines.

With the advancement of the economy and society, policymakers acknowledge the significance of improving rural households' well-being as a crucial factor in promoting sustainable economic and social development. Based on the matching data of China Household Finance Survey and Digital Rural County Index, this study empirically examines the effect and mechanisms of digital village construction on subjective well-being of rural households. The results revealed that digital village construction has a significant improvement in their subjective well-being. The impact of digital village construction is particularly significant in rural areas located in the western regions of China, as well as among households possessing higher levels of human capital. The process through which digital village construction enhances the subjective well-being of rural households involves the augmentation of household income, the promotion of non-farm employment opportunities, and the enhancement of rural governance. This study provides robust micro-empirical evidence highlighting the positive welfare effects of digital rural construction. This study provides insights into the digital village construction within the happiness economy framework, offering a new perspective. The imperative to strengthen rural digital infrastructure and improve farmers' proficiency in modern information skills is a strategic policy aimed at enhancing well-being of rural households.

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.

Perinatal brain injury is a major public health problem burdened with high morbidity, mortality and severe neurological sequelae. Despite advances in neonatal life-saving technologies, neonatal encephalopathy lacks specific and effective treatment. Therefore, mechanisms of central nervous system changes associated with perinatal brain injury have been a hot topic of neonatology research. In recent years, researchers have shifted more focus from neurons themselves to perineuronal cells and intercellular interactions. As a member of the nervous system network, astrocytes are one of the dominant glial cells that regulate ion homeostasis, blood flow, and antioxidant function in the brain. Their changes in molecular mechanisms (e.g., alterations in RNA regulatory networks) during brain injury storms deserve further attention. Non-coding RNAs participate in and promote reactive pathophysiologic changes in astrocytes. The review summarizes and discusses the role of non-coding RNAs in astrocytes in recent years in studies of neonatal brain injury. It focuses on the most studied disease-related ncRNAs: miRNAs, lncRNAs and circRNAs, and hopes to provide possible directions for pathophysiological studies and therapeutic approaches of neonatal brain injury.

In this study, we aimed to develop a deep learning model for identifying bacterial keratitis (BK) and fungal keratitis (FK) by using slit-lamp images. We retrospectively collected slit-lamp images of patients with culture-proven microbial keratitis between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2019, from two medical centers in Taiwan. We constructed a deep learning algorithm, consisting of a segmentation model for cropping cornea images and a classification model that applies convolutional neural networks to differentiate between FK and BK. The model performance was evaluated and presented as the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic curves. A gradient-weighted class activation mapping technique was used to plot the heatmap of the model. By using 1330 images from 580 patients, the deep learning algorithm achieved an average diagnostic accuracy of 80.00%. The diagnostic accuracy for BK ranged from 79.59% to 95.91% and that for FK ranged from 26.31% to 63.15%. DenseNet169 showed the best model performance, with an AUC of 0.78 for both BK and FK. The heat maps revealed that the model was able to identify the corneal infiltrations. The model showed better diagnostic accuracy than the previously reported diagnostic performance of both general ophthalmologists and corneal specialists.

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.

(1) Background: This retrospective study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of one-stage computed tomography (OSCT)- to that of two-stage computed tomography (TSCT)-guided localization for the surgical removal of small lung nodules. (2) Methods: We collected data from patients with ipsilateral pulmonary nodules who underwent localization before surgical removal at Veteran General Hospital Kaohsiung between October 2017 and January 2022. The patients were divided into the OSCT and TSCT groups. (3) Results: We found that OSCT significantly reduced the localization time and risky time compared to TSCT, and the success rate of localization and incidence of pneumothorax were similar in both groups. However, the time spent under general anesthesia was longer in the OSCT group than in the TSCT group. (4) Conclusions: The OSCT-guided approach to localize pulmonary nodules in hybrid operation room is a safe and effective technique for the surgical removal of small lung nodules.

To compare The effects of organic and inorganic impregnation on the properties of unmodified, phenol formaldehyde oligomer-modified (PFOMCF), and sodium silicate-modified Chinese fir wood (SSMCF) were compared using samples prepared using the respiratory impregnation method. Impregnation and reinforcement effects and water resistance of PFOMCF and SSMCF were compared and the results was showed that the weight percentage gain, density increase rate, bending strength, and compressive strength of SSMCF were clearly higher than those of PFOMCF and had a lower water absorption rate within 60 h. The impregnation and reinforcement effects and dimensional stability of SSMCF were better than those of PFOMCF. FT-IR, XRD, CONE, and TGA examinations were used to test and analyze the chemical structure, crystalline structure, flame retardancy, and heat resistance of these modified woods. The results indicated that SSMCF possessed more hydrogen bonds than PFOMCF and that Si–O–Si chemical bonding with high bond energy was formed. Meanwhile, the weakened degree of the diffraction peak of SSMCF was much less than that of PFOMCF. These results explained that the mechanical properties and water resistance of SSMCF were better than PFOMCF. Compared with PFOMCF, SSMCF had a lower heat release rate (HRR), peak-HRR, mean-HRR, total heat release, smoke production rate, and total smoke production as well as higher thermal decomposition temperature and residual rate. Inorganic sodium silicate was shown to be a better flame retardant, while SSMCF had good smoke suppression effects, thermal stability, and safety performance in the case of fire.

The quantified residence time distribution (RTD) provides a numerical characterization of mixing in the continue casting tundish, thus allowing the engineer to better understand the metallurgical performance of the reactor. This paper describes a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling study for analyzing the flow pattern and the residence time distribution in a five-strand tundish. Two passive scalar transport equations are applied to separately calculate the E-curve and F-curve in the tundish. The numerical modelling results are compared to the water modelling results for the validation of the mathematical model. The volume fraction of different flow regions (plug, mixed and dead) and the intermixing time during the ladle changeover are calculated to study the effects of the flow control device (FCD) on the tundish performance. The result shows that a combination of the U-baffle with deflector holes and the turbulence inhibitor has three major effects on the flow characteristics in the tundish: i) reduce the extent of the dead volume; ii) evenly distribute the liquid streams to each strand and iii) shorten the intermixing time during the ladle changeover operation.

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.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an etiological agent of hand foot and mouth disease and can also cause neurological complications in young children. However, there are no approved drugs to treat EV71 infections. In this study, we conducted an antiviral drug screening by using a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug library. We identified five drugs that showed dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication. Sertraline was further characterized because it exhibited the most potent antiviral activity with the highest selectivity index among the five hits. The antiviral activity of sertraline was noted for other EV serotypes. The drug’s antiviral effect is not likely associated with its approved indications as an antidepressant and its mode-of-action as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The time-of-addition assay revealed that sertraline inhibited an EV71 infection at the entry stage. We also showed that sertraline partitioned into acidic compartments, such as endolysosomes, to neutralize the low pH levels. In agreement with the findings, the antiviral effect of sertraline could be relieved greatly by exposing virus-infected cells to extracellular low-pH culture media. Together, we have identified an FDA-approved antidepressant with the new indication for the broad-spectrum EV inhibition by blocking viral entry through the alkalization of the endolysosomal route.

The present study aims to identify tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivars with weed-suppressive ability against target weed species in the tomato growing season. A greenhouse study was conducted with 17 tomato cultivars and target weeds Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats), yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.), and large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis L.). Tomato plants and weed species were grown in the same pot. The height, chlorophyll, and dry weight biomass of the weeds were measured 28 days after sowing. The largest effect of tomato interference was on Palmer amaranth. Cultivar 15 reduced Palmer amaranth height, chlorophyll, and biomass by 58, 28, and 83%, respectively. Chlorophyll percentage of yellow nutsedge seedlings was suppressed by 15% by cultivar 64, whereas 13% of its height was reduced by cultivar 20. Cultivar 15 reduced biomass of yellow nutsedge by 40%. The percentage of chlorophyll of large crabgrass was reduced by 22% with cultivar 5, whereas the height and biomass were reduced by 35 and 44% with cultivars 38 and 63, respectively. Factoring all parameters evaluated, cultivars 38, 33, and 7 were most suppressive against the problematic weed species in tomato.

Since sensor-based perception systems are used in autonomous vehicle applications, validating such systems is imperative to guarantee the robustness of the systems before they are being put to use. In this study, a comprehensive corruption-related simulation-based robustness verification and enhancement process for sensor-based perception systems is proposed. Firstly, we present a methodology and scenario-based corruption generation tools for creating diverse simulated test scenarios that can analogously represent real-world traffic environments, especially considering corruption types related to safety concern. Then, an effective corruption similarity filtering algorithm is proposed to remove corruption types with high similarity and identify the representative corruption types to represent all considered corruption types. As a result, we can generate efficient corruption-related robustness test scenarios with less testing time and good scenario coverage. Subsequently, we perform the vulnerability analysis of object detection models to identify model weaknesses and construct an effective training dataset for model vulnerability enhancement. This enhances the tolerance of object detection models to weather and noise-related corruptions, ultimately improving the robustness of the perception system. We employ case studies to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed robustness verification and enhancement procedures. Additionally, we explore the impact of different "similarity overlap threshold" parameter settings on scenario coverage, effectiveness, scenario complexity (size of training and testing datasets), and time costs.

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.

A digital text abstract presents the essential information of an article, and we can find the trend and value of the research by analyzing it rigorously and digging up knowledge. Therefore, this study focuses on the abstracts of index journals in China and Taiwan from July 2010 to June 2020 (a total of 3,283 abstracts). Through the concepts of text mining and natural language processing (NLP), it constructs processes such as text retrieval, text segmentation and word cloud analysis, TF-IDF weight analysis, co-word analysis, network analysis, and trend analysis, and analyses a large amount of text data. The results show that the scope of research in China covers the fields of social sports and sports science, and research in Taiwan covers both natural and social sciences. The network diagram highlights the richness of sports-related research fields in the two regions, but research on sports philosophy is relatively rare. It is suggested that all disci-plines/departments should re-allocate the same resources, so as to show a balanced development trend and help expand a new chapter in the sports academic field.

In this article, we introduce some multi-messenger studies of blazars. Main contents contain the following parts, 1. the subclasses of blazars and the observational characteristics, 2. emission variabilities from the multi-messenger observations, 3. the physical origin for the multi-messenger studies. Based on mid-IR observations collected from the $WISE$ database, we collect two sources (BZQ J1700+6830 and BZQ J1842+6809) to analyze the mid-IR variabilities. \\ (1) For BZQ J1700+6830, the period is $P\approx$ 42 hr at the four bands ($W1$, $W2$, $W3$, $W4$); for BZQ J1842+6809, the period is $P\approx$ 123 hr at the two bands ($W1$, $W2$). \\ (2) Using the periodicities, we calculate that the central black hole mass ($BH$) should be $M = (5.44\sim33.0)\times10^8M_{\odot}$ for BZQ J1700+6830 and $M = (1.13\sim6.88)\times10^9M_{\odot}$ for BZQ J1842+6809.\\ (3) For the two sources, during the flaring stage, we find anti-clockwise variation trends based on the time-based relations built by the spectral indices ($\alpha$) and flux densities ($F$).\\ (4) We calculate the Doppler factor ($\delta$) when the sources are in the dimming or brightening stages, and find that with the frequency increasing, the Doppler factor become stronger.

Concerns regarding the safety of ethoxyquin (EQ) have gradually increased, highlighting the necessity of identifying safer and more effective antioxidants for use in animal feed. This study investigates the effects of a compound antioxidant (CA) as an alternative to ethoxyquin on feed oxidative stability, growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal health in broilers. A total of 351 one-day-old Arbor Acres Plus male broilers were randomly assigned to three treatments with nine replicates of 13 birds each. The experimental treatments included: CON group (basal diet), EQ group (basal diet + 200 g/ton EQ at 60% purity), and CA group (basal diet + 200 g/ton compound antioxidant, which comprises 18% butylated hydroxytoluene, 3% citric acid, and 1% tertiary butylhydroquinone). The experiment lasted for 21 days. Compared to the control group, supplementation with CA significantly reduced the acid value, peroxide value, and malondialdehyde content in the feeds after storage. Moreover, CA supplementation significantly decreased feed intake and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) without affecting weight gain of boilers, while also improving liver antioxidant capacity (increased T-AOC and SOD levels), intestinal antioxidant capacity (increased CAT, HO-1, and GPX7 protein expression), and enhancing the duodenal villus height-to-crypt depth ratio and jejunal villus height. Additionally, CA treatment reduced intestinal barrier permeability (decreased diamine oxidase activity and D-lactate levels), potentially by promoting the expression of Occludin, ZO-1, and Mucin2 protein. Furthermore, the addition of CA elevated the protein levels of NF-κB p50 along with its inhibitory factors, IκB and NF-κB p105, in the intestines of broilers, thereby enhancing immune regulatory capacity. This supplementation also led to an increased abundance of beneficial gut microorganisms, including Lactobacillus, Alistipes, Candidatus Arthromitus, and Turicibacter. In comparison to the EQ group, CA supplementation enhanced feed oxidative stability, decreased the FCR, and improved the intestinal morphology, barrier functions, and inflammatory status in broilers. These findings suggest that this compound antioxidant may serve as a healthier and more effective alternative to ethoxyquin.

Confronting the dual challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change, although extensive research has investigated the influencing factors and practical strategies of urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy, respectively, the unclear mutual nexus between them and the development strategy of collaborative optimization requires further in-depth analysis. This study explores the delicate balance between urban vibrancy and low-carbon sustainability within the confines of Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road. By integrating OpenStreetMap, land use, population, and building carbon emission data, we have developed a reproducible method to estimate total carbon emission and emission intensity per capita. Furthermore, we have introduced vibrancy index data to distinguish the vibrancy evaluation of residential and non-residential land and applied cross-combinational classification technology to dissect the spatial correlation between urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy. The results reveal that the four combination typologies show more significant differences and regularity in residential land. Based on the discovery of spatial correlation, this study puts forward corresponding development strategy suggestions for each typology based on geographical location and the requirements of urban development policies of these four combination typologies. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of integrating carbon emissions and urban vibrancy comprehensively in sustainable urban planning and proposes that various land use combinations need targeted development strategies to achieve this goal, which need to consider population, energy, service facilities, and other diverse aspects.

Bacteria and archaea participate in and are influenced by processes of substance circulation and energy exchanges in natural environment. Generally, the community changes of bacteria and archaea in sediment are mainly driven by seasonality in mid-latitude regions. But in our study, water diversion to Fen river played a more important role on OTU number, diversity and community structure of bacteria and archaea in sediment than seasonal variation, which was found by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology. This phenomenon might be caused by external transferred water on the physicochemical water environment and accelerated release of positive nitrogen from sediment caused by rise of water level. Changes of carbon-nitrogen cycle and increase of electrical conductivity (EC) value induced more diversion-responders than season-responders both for bacteria and archaea. Seasonal changes have been influencing bacteria and archaea mildly throughout the whole study reach. After water diversion, the environment indicators relating to bacteria community obviously changed from nutrients to salinity while that for archaea almost disappeared. Our research showed the effects of human activities on the communities of bacteria and archaea outweigh the forcing from natural seasonal changes in mid-latitude regions and revealed the mechanism, highlighting different responses of bacteria and archaea to environmental changes.

The reactions of the angular ligand 4,4’-oxybis(N-(pyridin-3-yl)benzamide (L1) and 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (1,4-H2NDC) with divalent metal salts yielded three distinct coordination polymers (CPs): {[Zn2(L1)(1,4-NDC)2]MeOH}n, 1, {[Cu(L1)(1,4-NDC)(H2O)]3H2O}n, 2, and {[Cd(L1)(1,4-NDC)]2H2O}n, 3. Complex 1 features a 2-fold interpenetrated 3D framework with the (412.63)-pcu topology, while complex 2 reveals a 1D triple-strained helical chain, and complex 3 displays a 3-fold interpenetrated 3D framework with (66)-dia topology. Additionally, the reactions of the flexible ligand N‚N’-bis(3-methylpyridyl)adipoamide (L2) afforded {[Co4(L2)0.5(1,4-NDC)3(H2O)3(µ3-OH)2]·EtOH·2H2O}n, 4, {[Zn2(L2)(1,4-NDC)2]·2CH3OH}n, 5, and [Cd(L2)(adipic)(H2O)]n (H2adipic = adipic acid), 6, exhibiting a self-catenated 3D framework with the (420.68)-8T32 topology, a 2D layer with the (413·62)-(4,4)IIb topology, and a 2D layer with the (44·62)-sql topology, respectively. The structural diversity observed in complexes 1 - 6 highlights the pivotal influence of the metal center on the degree of entanglement in CPs within mixed-ligand systems. The thermal stability and luminescent properties of complexes 1 - 3, 4, and 6 are also discussed.

ALDH+ H1975 lung adenocarcinoma stem cells (LSCs) are a rare cell population identified in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). LSCs can self-renew, drive tumor initiation, growth, metastasis, and recurrence, and are also the predominant cause of poor prognosis due to their intrinsic resistance to drugs and chemotherapy. Consequently, LSCs are a promising target for LUAD therapy. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), exert many significant regulatory functions in the pathogenesis of human cancers, showing the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that underlie lung carcinogenesis. Nonetheless, research on many known transcripts and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) has already generated new information. Unknown biomarkers in ncRNAs and systematic and comprehensive interrelation with unknown ncRNAs and mRNAs may provide further insights into the biology of LUAD. Herein, a set of novel ncRNAs that include miRNAs, lncRNAs, circRNAs, were identified and differentially expressed patterns of ncRNAs and mRNAs in LSCs and ALDH- H1975 LUAD tumor cells (LTCs) were obtained using stringent bioinformatics pipelines. Through a meta-analysis of the identified landscapes, novel competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed to reveal the potential molecular mechanisms that regulate the hallmarks of LSCs and LTCs. This study presents a summary of novel ncRNAs and the fundamental roles of differentially expressed ncRNAs implicated in the activity of LSCs and LTCs. In addition, the study also provides a comprehensive resource for the future identification of diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic biomarkers in LUAD.

In the paper, we develop some numerical schemes including finite difference scheme and finite volume scheme for the fractional Laplacian operator, and apply the resulted numerical schemes to solve some fractional diffusion equations. First, the fractional Laplacian operator can be characterized as the weak singular integral by a integral operator with zero boundary condition. Second, because of the solution of fractional diffusion equation is usually singular near the boundary, we apply finite difference scheme to discrete fractional Laplacian operator and fractional diffusion equation by fractional interpolation function. Moreover, it is find that the differential matrix of the above scheme is symmetric matrix, and strictly row-wise diagonally dominant in special fractional interpolation function. Third, we show finite volume scheme to discrete fractional diffusion equation by fractional interpolation function, and analyze the properties of differential matrix. Finally, the numerical experiments are given, and verify the correctness of theoretical results and the efficiency of the schemes.

Chemotherapy treatment based on Cisplatin (CDDP) is established as the drug of choice for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Malignant tumors respond to microenvironment alteration through a dynamic balance of mitochondrial fission and fusion. HNSCC is known to have hypoxic conditions, yet the effects and underlying mechanisms of hypoxia on chemosensitivity and mitochondrial dynamics remain unclear. We found that hypoxia promoted mitochondrial fission and CDDP sensitivity in HNSCC cells. Importantly, Mff was shown to be correlated with chemosensitivity in clinical samples of HNSCC that underwent a hypoxic condition. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 α-subunit (HIF-1α) dramatically increased Mff transcriptional expression and directly bound to Mff. Hypoxia enhanced the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulated the expression of Mff via HIF-1α in HNSCC cells. ROS depletion in HNSCC cells attenuated HIF-1α, Mff expression, and mitochondrial fission. Moreover, a knockdown of Mff suppressed hypoxia-induced mitochondrial fission and decreased CDDP chemosensitivity in vivo and in vitro. Our findings revealed that the hypoxia-induced release of ROS promoted mitochondrial fission and CDDP chemosensitivity via the regulation of HIF-1α/Mff in HNSCC cells, indicating that Mff may serve as a new biomarker to predict neoadjuvant chemosensitivity in HNSCC patients

A method of direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation for FMCW radars is presented. In addition to MUSIC and ESPRIT, which are well-known high-resolution DoA estimation algorithms, deep learning has recently emerged as a very promising alternative. It is proposed in this paper to use a 3D convolutional neural network (CNN) for DoA estimation. The 3D-CNN extracts from the radar data cube spectrum features of the region of interest (RoI) centered on the potential positions of the targets, thereby capturing the spectrum phase shift information, which corresponds to DoA, along the antenna axis. Finally, the results of simulations and field experiments are provided to demonstrate the superior performance, as well as the limitations, of the proposed 3D-CNN.

Cymbidium faberi Rolfe is one of the traditional Chinese orchids with important ornamental value, and the cultivation of Cymbidium faberi Rolfe mutant strains with different appearances is essential to increase its economic value, but at present, the acquisition of Cymbidium faberi Rolfe mutant strains basically relies on natural mutation.The objectives of this research were to mutagenize Cymbidium faberi Rolfe protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) and shoots in vitro using sodium azide (NaN3), and to screen and evaluate mutants in mutagenized Cymbidium faberi Rolfe seedlings using morphological characteristics.Cymbidium faberi Rolfe PLBs and shoots were used as mutagenic materials, and co-cultivated in induced shoots growth medium with the addition of 0.0 (control), 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 mg/L and 0.0 (control), 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0 mg/L NaN3 to induce the mutations, and the mortality rates of the PLBs and shoots were increased with the increase of the NaN3 concentration.At 14 d of co-cultivation, PLBs and shoots were most efficiently mutagenized with 1.5 mg/L and 4.0 mg/L NaN3, respectively.After the explants were cultured for 3 months, changes in leaf and flower morphology were observed in some mutants: shorter and thicker leaves, shorter node length, reduced height, and mid-translucent leaves compared with controls; and some Cymbidium faberi Rolfe bloomed prematurely, with single flowers with large, thick petal sepals and small inflorescences, and colours include light green throughout, and a few with purple stamens.This suggests that NaN3 can effectively mutagenise Cymbidium faberi Rolfe PLBs and shoots to satisfy people's demand for Cymbidium faberi Rolfe's ornamental properties while increasing its economic value.

Laminopathies are a spectrum of diseases caused by LMNA mutations. In familial partial lipodystrophy of Dunnigan (FPLD), LMNA plays role in the differentiation and development of adipocytes and lipid metabolism. Changes in LMNA predict not only the differentiation of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) but also the transformation of cancer cells. Hence, our in-depth study aimed to identify the molecular connection between disordered lipid metabolism and hepatic carcinogenesis. We first discovered significant positive correlations between pLMNA and two key rate-limiting enzymes in de novo fatty acid synthesis, acetyl-CoA-carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and fatty acid synthase (FASN), in the liver tissue but not in adipose tissue of obese model rats. Moreover, LMNA knockdown (KD) in rat AD-MSCs prevented the differentiation and maturation of adipocytes. To clarify the mechanistic relationship with lipogenesis, gain- and loss-of-function experiments in which functional changes and the related molecular pathways were investigated in a normal hepatocyte line (7701 cells). Adenosine 5'-monophosphate activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) was found to be activated by abnormalities in the LMNA structure under conditions of LMNA deletion, farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI) treatment and LMNA mutations associated with clinical FPLD pathogenic phenotype. Active AMPKα could directly phosphorylate ACC1 and thus inhibit lipid synthesis but induced glycolysis in both HCC cells and normal cells. The HCC cells could not survive with LMNA knockout (KO) or even KD. Lonafarnib (an FTI) combined with low-glucose conditions significantly decreased the proliferation of HepG2 and MHCC cells by inhibiting glycolysis and the maturation of prelamin A.

A greenhouse dose-response study was conducted to determine the tolerance of three wild tomato accessions (TOM199, TOM198, TOM300) in comparison to a commercial cultivar (Better Boy) against the dicamba application at five rates (0, 70, 140, 210, and 280 g ae ha-1) at 14 and 28 days after treatment (DAT). Several physiological traits were evaluated at 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 DAT. Wild accessions and cultivar were killed at all rates above 70 g ae ha-1 at 14 and 28 DAT, which is why differences between accessions and cultivar were only evident at 70 g ae ha-1. The GR50 (the herbicide rate that causes 50% reduction in dry weight) of Better Boy was 4.4 g ae ha-1 at 28 DAT, and this cultivar was approximately 11-fold more sensitive than wild accessions. At 7 DAT, the levels of H2O2 for wild accessions were lower than Better Boy up to 5 at 70 g ae ha-1 of dicamba. Furthermore, wild accessions showed lower herbicide absorption than Better Boy at all dicamba doses at 1, 3, and 7 DAT. All the three wild accessions expressed tolerance to the dicamba application at the dose of 70 g ae ha-1. At the same time, Better Boy and wild accessions were susceptible to dicamba application at rates of 140, 210, and 280 g ae ha-1.

This paper studies the pilot control strategy and workload of tilt-rotor aircraft dynamic conversion procedure between helicopter mode and fixed-wing mode. A nonlinear flight dynamics model of tilt-rotor aircraft with full flight modes is established. On this basis, a nonlinear optimal control model of dynamic conversion is constructed, considering factors such as conversion corridor limitations, pilot control, flight attitude, engine rated power, and wing stall effects. To assess pilot workload, an analytical method based on wavelet transform is proposed, which examines the mapping relationship between pilot control input's amplitude, constituent frequencies, and control tasks. By integrating the nonlinear optimal control model and the pilot workload evaluation method, the analysis of pilot control strategy and workload during the conversion procedure is conducted, leading to the identification of strategies to reduce pilot workload. The results indicate that incorporating the item of pilot workload in the performance index results in a notable reduction in the magnitude of collective stick inputs and longitudinal stick inputs. Moreover, it facilitates smoother adjustments in altitude and pitch attitude. Additionally, the conversion of the engine nacelle can be achieved at a lower and constant angular velocity. In summary, the conversion and reconversion procedures are estimated to have a low workload (Level 1 ~ Level 2), with relatively simple and easy manipulation for the pilot.