X‐ray imaging technology has achieved important applications in many fields and has attracted extensive attentions. Dynamic X‐ray flexible imaging for the real‐time observation of the internal ...structure of complex materials is the most challenging type of X‐ray imaging technology, which requires high‐performance X‐ray scintillators with high X‐ray excited luminescence (XEL) efficiency as well as excellent processibility and stability. Here, a macrocyclic bridging ligand with aggregation‐induced emission (AIE) feature was introduced for constructing a copper iodide cluster‐based metal–organic framework (MOF) scintillator. This strategy endows the scintillator with high XEL efficiency and excellent chemical stability. Moreover, a regular rod‐like microcrystal was prepared through the addition of polyvinyl pyrrolidone during the in situ synthesis process, which further enhanced the XEL and processibility of the scintillator. The microcrystal was used for the preparation of a scintillator screen with excellent flexibility and stability, which can be used for high‐performance X‐ray imaging in extremely humid environments. Furthermore, dynamic X‐ray flexible imaging was realized for the first time. The internal structure of flexible objects was observed in real time with an ultrahigh resolution of 20 LP mm−1.
High performance dynamic X‐ray flexible imaging in extremely humid environments was achieved using copper iodide cluster‐based MOF microcrystal scintillator, which shows a high X‐ray absorption efficiency, environmental friendliness, good stability and excellent processability.Twitter: High Performance Dynamic X‐ray Flexible Imaging Realized Using a Copper Iodide
Acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) methods aim to suppress the acoustic coupling for hands‐free speech communication. Traditional AEC works by identifying the acoustic impulse response using adaptive ...algorithms. With recent research advances, deep learning has become an attractive choice for AEC. This paper introduces a two‐stage bidirectional long short term memory (TS‐BLSTM) framework, incorporating multi‐head self‐attention mechanisms after each BLSTM block. This is aimed at better capturing contextual information and further enhancing ability of the model to handle complex acoustic scenarios. The BLSTM blocks are utilized to aggregate magnitude spectrum information, modelling both time and frequency dependencies. Additionally, dilation convolution is introduced to broaden the range of information in each convolution output. The magnitude decoder estimates a mask for the input, resulting in the generation of an estimated magnitude spectrum for near‐end speech. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves promising outcomes.
A two‐stage bidirectional long short term memory (TS‐BLSTM) framework, incorporating multi‐head self‐attention mechanisms after each BLSTM block, is introduced. The BLSTM blocks are utilized to aggregate magnitude spectrogram information, modelling both time and frequency dependencies. Additionally, dilation convolution is introduced to broaden the range of information in each convolution output.
The androgen receptor (AR) pathway is critical for prostate cancer carcinogenesis and development; however, after 18‐24 months of AR blocking therapy, patients invariably progress to ...castration‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which remains an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, finding key molecules that interact with AR as novel strategies to treat prostate cancer and even CRPC is desperately needed. In the current study, we focused on the regulation of RNA‐binding proteins (RBPs) associated with AR and determined that the mRNA and protein levels of AR were highly correlated with Musashi2 (MSI2) levels. MSI2 was upregulated in prostate cancer specimens and significantly correlated with advanced tumor grades. Downregulation of MSI2 in both androgen sensitive and insensitive prostate cancer cells inhibited tumor formation in vivo and decreased cell growth in vitro, which could be reversed by AR overexpression. Mechanistically, MSI2 directly bound to the 3′‐untranslated region (UTR) of AR mRNA to increase its stability and, thus, enhanced its transcriptional activity. Our findings illustrate a previously unknown regulatory mechanism in prostate cancer cell proliferation regulated by the MSI2‐AR axis and provide novel evidence towards a strategy against prostate cancer.
This is the first description of a role for the RNA‐binding protein MSI2 in regulating AR stability in prostate cancer. MSI2 upregulates AR mRNA stability through directly binding with 3′‐UTR of AR mRNA, which indicates that targeting MSI2 may be a novel and unique anti–androgen therapy for prostate cancer.
In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy controller is constructed for a class of nonlinear discrete-time systems with unknown functions and bounded disturbances. The main characteristics of the systems are ...that they take into account the effect of discrete-time dead zone and the system states are not required to be measurable. The stability problem of this class of systems is for the first time to be addressed in this paper. Due to the unavailability of the states and the presence of the discrete-time dead zone, the controller design becomes more difficult. To stabilize the uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems, the fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate the unknown functions, a fuzzy state observer is designed to estimate the immeasurable states, and the effect caused by discrete-time dead zone can be solved via establishing an adaptation auxiliary signal. Based on the Lyapunov approach, it is proved that all the signals of the closed-loop system are the semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error is made within a small neighborhood around zero. The feasibility of the developed control scheme is verified via two simulation examples.
Principal component analysis (PCA) has been used to study the pathogenesis of diseases. To enhance the interpretability of classical PCA, various improved PCA methods have been proposed to date. ...Among these, a typical method is the so-called sparse PCA, which focuses on seeking sparse loadings. However, the performance of these methods is still far from satisfactory due to their limitation of using unsupervised learning methods; moreover, the class ambiguity within the sample is high. To overcome this problem, this paper developed a new PCA method, which is named the supervised discriminative sparse PCA (SDSPCA). The main innovation of this method is the incorporation of discriminative information and sparsity into the PCA model. Specifically, in contrast to the traditional sparse PCA, which imposes sparsity on the loadings, here, sparse components are obtained to represent the data. Furthermore, via the linear transformation, the sparse components approximate the given label information. On the one hand, sparse components improve interpretability over the traditional PCA, while on the other hand, they are have discriminative abilities suitable for classification purposes. A simple algorithm is developed, and its convergence proof is provided. SDSPCA has been applied to the common-characteristic gene selection and tumor classification on multiview biological data. The sparsity and classification performance of SDSPCA are empirically verified via abundant, reasonable, and effective experiments, and the obtained results demonstrate that SDSPCA outperforms other state-of-the-art methods.
Seeking cost-effective and highly active non-precious hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts is still strongly desired in water splitting. In this work, a low-cost and highly efficient ...HER electrocatalysts of amorphous Ni–S–B coating on nickel mesh is successfully synthesized by means of a simple current-density electrodeposition. The obtained Ni–S–B coating shows superior HER electrocatalytic activity as evidenced by low onset overpotential of 27 mV and 240 mV to drive 10 mA·cm−2 under alkaline conditions. Such high hydrogen evolution activity for Ni–S–B coating can be mainly attributed to the larger surface area (more exposed active sites), faster electron transport between electrode-catalyst-electrolyte interfaces, and nickel mesh substrate. Therefore, Ni–S–B coating can be applied as an efficient HER electrocatalyst to use in alkaline water electrolyzers.
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•The Ni–S–B coating is fabricated via electrodeposition method.•The coating shows a higher HER activity and electrochemical stability.•Unique properties owe to high surface area and the electrical conductivity.
Abstract To estimate the rate of death, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and project the disease burden of ischemic stroke due to relevant risk factors in young adults age 20–49 years by ...sex in China. Data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 were used. The age-standardized mortality (ASMR), age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR), and estimated annual percentage changes (EAPC) were calculated to evaluate the temporal trends from 1990 to 2019. We also used the NORDPRED model to predict ASMR for ischemic stroke due to related risk factors in Chinese young adults over the next 10 years. From 1990 to 2019, the general age-standardized mortality from 2.39 (1.97 to 2.99) in 1990 to 1.8 (1.41 to 2.18) in 2019, EAPC = − 1.23 and DALYs rates (from 171.7 (140.34 to 212.36) in 1990 to 144.4 (114.29 to 177.37) in 2019, EAPC = − 0.86) decreased for ischemic stroke in young adults in China. ASMR and ASDR decreased for all level 1 risk factors (including behavioral, environmental/occupational, and metabolic) from 1990 to 2019, with the slightest decrease for metabolic risks ASMR from 1.86 (1.39 to 2.41) in 1990 to 1.53 (1.15 to 1.92) in 2019, ASDR from 133.68 (99.96 to 173.89) in 1990 to 123.54 (92.96 to 156.98) in 2019 and the largest decrease for environmental/occupational risks ASMR from 1.57 (1.26 to 1.98) in 1990 to 1.03 (0.78 to 1.29) in 2019, ASDR from 110.91 (88.44 to 138.34) in 1990 to 80.03 (61.87 to 100.33) in 2019. In general, high body-mass index, high red meat intake, and ambient particulate matter pollution contributed to the large increase in ASMR and ASDR between 1990 and 2019. Significant reductions in ASMR and ASDR were observed in low vegetables intake, household air pollution from solid fuels, lead exposure, and low fiber intake. In addition, there were sex differences in the ranking of ASMR attributable to risks in ischemic stroke. The disease burden of ischemic stroke attributable to relevant risk factors in young adults in China is greater and has a faster growth trend or a slower decline trend in males than in females (except for secondhand smoke). The apparent increasing trend of ASMR attributable to high fasting plasma glucose, high systolic blood pressure, high body-mass index, and high red meat intake was observed in males but not in females. The projected analysis showed an increasing trend in ASMR between 1990 and 2030 for all specific metabolic risks for males, but a decreasing trend for females. ASMR attributable to ambient particulate matter pollution showed an increasing trend from 1990 to 2030 for both males and females. The burden of ischemic stroke in young adults in China showed a downward trend from 1990 to 2019. Specific risk factors associated with the burden of ischemic stroke varied between the sexes. Corresponding measures need to be developed in China to reduce the disease burden of ischemic stroke among young adults.
There is growing evidence that pseudogenes may serve as prognostic biomarkers in several cancers. The present study was designed to develop and validate an accurate and robust pseudogene pairs-based ...signature for the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
RNA-sequencing data from 374 HCC patients with clinical follow-up information were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and used in this study. Survival-related pseudogene pairs were identified, and a signature model was constructed by Cox regression analysis (univariate and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator). All individuals were classified into high- and low-risk groups based on the optimal cutoff. Subgroups analysis of the novel signature was conducted and validated in an independent cohort. Pearson correlation analyses were carried out between the included pseudogenes and the protein-coding genes based on their expression levels. Enrichment analysis was performed to predict the possible role of the pseudogenes identified in the signature.
A 19-pseudogene pair signature, which included 21 pseudogenes, was established. Patients in high-risk group demonstrated an increased the risk of adverse prognosis in the TCGA cohort and the external cohort (all P < 0.001). The novel pseudogene signature was independent of other conventional clinical variables used for survival prediction in HCC patients in the two cohorts revealed by the multivariate Cox regression analysis (all P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis further demonstrated the diagnostic value of the signature across different stages, grades, sexes, and age groups. The C-index of the prognostic signature was 0.761, which was not only higher than that of several previous risk models but was also much higher than that of a single age, sex, grade, and stage risk model. Furthermore, functional analysis revealed that the potential biological mechanisms mediated by these pseudogenes are primarily involved in cytokine receptor activity, T cell receptor signaling, chemokine signaling, NF-κB signaling, PD-L1 expression, and the PD-1 checkpoint pathway in cancer.
The novel proposed and validated pseudogene pair-based signature may serve as a valuable independent prognostic predictor for predicting survival of patients with HCC.
Recent studies have shown that laboratory murine autoimmunity models under the same environment display different outcomes. We established diabetic nephropathy model mice under the same environment ...using the classic streptozotocin method. Renal dysfunction was different among the mice. Proteinuria was more significant in the severe proteinuria group (SP) than in the mild proteinuria group (MP). We hypothesized a role for the gut microbiota in the outcome and reproducibility of induced DN models. 16S rDNA gene sequencing technology was used to analyze the differences in the gut microbiota between the two groups. Here, through fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS), we verified the role of the gut microbiota and its short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) generation in DN mouse renal dysfunction. In the SP group, there was a reduced abundance of Firmicutes (P < 0.0001), and the dominant genus Allobaculum linear discriminant analysis (LDA) >3, P < 0.05 was positively correlated with body weight (Rho = 0.767, P < 0.01) and blood glucose content (Rho = 0.648, P < 0.05), while the dominant genus Anaerosporobacter (LDA > 3, P < 0.05) was positively correlated with 24-hour urinary protein content (Rho = 0.773, P < 0.01). In the MP group, the dominant genus Blautia (LDA > 3, P < 0.05) was negatively correlated with 24-hour urinary protein content (Rho = −0.829, P < 0.05). The results indicated that Allobaculum and Anaerosporobacter may worsen renal function, while Blautia may be a protective factor in DN. These findings suggested that the gut microbiota may contribute to the heterogeneity of the induced response since we observed potential disease-associated microbial taxonomies and correlations with DN.
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•Gut microbiota may modulate the renal function of diabetic nephropathy mice models.•The regulatory effect of renal function is associated with some specific bacteria.•Fecal microbiota transplantation verified the effect of gut microbiota.•Short chain fatty acids generated by gut microbiota may play a critical role.
Herbicide safeners enhance herbicide detoxification in crops without affecting target weed sensitivity. To enhance crop tolerance to the toxicity-related stress caused by the herbicide acetochlor ...(ACT), a new class of substituted phenyl isoxazole derivatives was designed by an intermediate derivatization method as herbicide safeners. Microwave-assisted synthesis was used to prepare the phenyl isoxazole analogues, and all of the structures were confirmed via IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and HRMS. Compound I-1 was further characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. Bioassay results showed that most of the obtained compounds provided varying degrees of safening against ACT-induced injury by increasing the corn growth recovery, glutathione content, and glutathione S-transferase activity. In particular, compound I-20 showed excellent safener activity against ACT toxicity, comparable to that of the commercial safener benoxacor. Gaussian calculations have been performed and the results indicated that the nucleophilic ability of compound I-20 is higher than that of benoxacor, thus the activity is higher than that of benoxacor. These findings demonstrate that phenyl isoxazole derivatives possess great potential for protective management in cornfields.
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