Freezing–thawing indices serve as a comprehensive indicator of both the duration of the freezing/thawing periods and the degree of cold and heat in a given region.In-depth analysis of the freezing-thawing indices not...Freezing–thawing indices serve as a comprehensive indicator of both the duration of the freezing/thawing periods and the degree of cold and heat in a given region.In-depth analysis of the freezing-thawing indices not only enables the prediction of permafrost distribution and its dynamic changes,but also facilitates the assessment of damage risk to infrastructure under freeze-thaw action.In this paper,the air/ground freezing–thawing indices from 1987 to 2017,based on daily temperature observations from meteorological stations along the China–Nepal Highway(CNH),were calculated,and their spatial and temporal variation patterns were analyzed.The results showed that:(1)Both mean annual air temperature and mean annual ground surface temperature along the CNH fluctuated upward,with climate tendency rates of 0.43 and 0.52.C·(10a)~(-1),respectively;(2)The number of days with negative air temperature and ground temperature showed fluctuated downward,with change rates of-8.6 and-8.3 d·(10a)~(-1),respectively;(3)The ranges of air freezing index,air thawing index,ground freezing index,and ground thawing index over the years were 157.05-458.88°C·d,2034.20-2560.73°C·d,108.78-396.83°C·d,and 3515.25-4288.67°C·d,respectively.The climate tendency rates were-5.42,10.22,-6.79,and 12.14.C·d·a-1,respectively,showing a general warming trend;(4)The air freezing index,ground freezing index,and ground thawing index changed abruptly in 1999,2000,and 2002,respectively,evincing significant changes after 2002.The research results can provide a basis for the risk assessment of freezing–thawing erosion and the prevention and control of permafrost engineering diseases along the CNH.展开更多
Organic nanophotocatalysts are promising candidates for solar fuels production,but they still face the challenge of unfavorable geminate recombination due to the limited exciton diffusion lengths.Here,we introduce a b...Organic nanophotocatalysts are promising candidates for solar fuels production,but they still face the challenge of unfavorable geminate recombination due to the limited exciton diffusion lengths.Here,we introduce a binary nanophotocatalyst fabricated by blending two polymers,PS-PEG5(PS)and PBT-PEG5(PBT),with matched absorption and emission spectra,enabling a Forster resonance energy transfer(FRET)process for enhanced photocatalysis.These heterostructure nanophotocatalysts are processed using a facile and scalable flash nanoprecipitation(FNP)technique with precious kinetic control over binary nanoparticle formation.The resulting nanoparticles exhibit an exceptional photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate up to 65 mmol g^(-1) h^(-1),2.5 times higher than that single component nanoparticles.Characterizations through fluorescence spectra and transient absorption spectra confirm the hetero-energy transfer within the binary nanoparticles,which prolongs the excited-state lifetime and extends the namely“effective exciton diffusion length”.Our finding opens new avenues for designing efficient organic photocatalysts by improving exciton migration.展开更多
Polymer binders possess significant potential in alleviating the volume expansion issues of silicon-based anodes,yet remain challenging due to insufficient interfacial interactions with individual components(Si,C,and ...Polymer binders possess significant potential in alleviating the volume expansion issues of silicon-based anodes,yet remain challenging due to insufficient interfacial interactions with individual components(Si,C,and Cu)of the anode.Herein,we report the synthesis of a stable three-dimensional network structure of the PAA-PEA(polyacrylic acid-polyether amines)polymer binder through intermolecular physicochemical dual cross-linking.By incorporating polar functional groups,the binder molecules not only form strong C-O-Si,N-Si,O=C-O-C,and O=C-O-Cu covalent bonds but also enhance non-covalent interactions with Si,C,and Cu,thereby improving adhesion between the binder and each interface of the anode.Furthermore,weak hydrogen bonds,acting as"sacrificial bonds",dissipate energy and disperse accumulated stress,improving the material flexibility.Due to the high mechanical stability of the framework,which combines both rigidity and flexibility and the coupling effect at the three interfaces,the movement and separation of electrode components are effectively restrained,significantly enhancing the cycling stability of silicon-graphite anodes.The PAA-PEA 2000 electrode exhibits a capacity retention of 78% after 500 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g^(-1).This work provides insights into the mechanism of binders and guides the design of polymer binders for high-performance Si-based electrodes.展开更多
Surgical electrodes are frequently associated with disadvantages such as high surface adhesion and severe thermal damage to adjacent normal tissues,which threaten operation quality and patient safety.In this study,by ...Surgical electrodes are frequently associated with disadvantages such as high surface adhesion and severe thermal damage to adjacent normal tissues,which threaten operation quality and patient safety.In this study,by mimicking the micromorphology and bio-anti-adhesion of shark skin,we proposed a strategy that utilized nanoscale aluminium oxide(Al_(2)O_(3))films deposited on bioinspired shark skin(BSS)microstructures to design a composite surface(Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS)and integrated it into both flat sides of the surgical electrodes.Micro/nano-manufacturing of the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS surface was sequentially accomplished using nanosecond laser texturing,atomic layer deposition,and low-temperature annealing,endowing it with excellent blood-repellent properties.Visualisation experiments revealed that the tensile stress gradient of the blood coagulum with increasing thickness under a thermal field prompted it to separate from the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS surface,resulting in anti-adhesion.Furthermore,it was observed for the first time that Al_(2)O_(3) films could transiently excite discharge along a dielectric surface(DADS)to ablate tissues while suppressing Joule heat,thereby minimising thermal damage.A combination of ex vivo tissue and living mouse experiments demonstrated that the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS electrodes exhibited optimal comprehensive performance in terms of anti-adhesion,damage minimisation,and drag reduction.In addition,the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS electrodes possessed remarkable antibacterial efficacy against E.coli and S.aureus.The proposed strategy can meet the extreme application requirements of surgical electrodes to improve operation quality and offer valuable insights for future studies.展开更多
Facial morphology,a complex trait influenced by genetics,holds great significance in evolutionary research.However,due to limited fossil evidence,the facial characteristics of Neanderthals and Denisovans have remained...Facial morphology,a complex trait influenced by genetics,holds great significance in evolutionary research.However,due to limited fossil evidence,the facial characteristics of Neanderthals and Denisovans have remained largely unknown.In this study,we conduct a large-scale multi-ethnic meta-analysis of the genome-wide association study(GWAS),including 9674 East Asians and 10,115 Europeans,quantitatively assessing 78 facial traits using 3D facial images.We identify 71 genomic loci associated with facial features,including 21 novel loci.We develop a facial polygenic score(FPS)that enables the prediction of facial features based on genetic information.Interestingly,the distribution of FPSs among populations from diverse continental groups exhibits relevant correlations with observed facial features.Furthermore,we apply the FPS to predict the facial traits of seven Neanderthals and one Denisovan using ancient DNA and align predictions with the fossil records.Our results suggest that Neanderthals and Denisovans likely share similar facial features,such as a wider but shorter nose and a wider endocanthion distance.The decreased mouth width is characterized specifically in Denisovans.The integration of genomic data and facial trait analysis provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history and adaptive changes in human facial morphology.展开更多
The noise that comes from finite element simulation often causes the model to fall into the local optimal solution and over fitting during optimization of generator.Thus,this paper proposes a Gaussian Process Regressi...The noise that comes from finite element simulation often causes the model to fall into the local optimal solution and over fitting during optimization of generator.Thus,this paper proposes a Gaussian Process Regression(GPR)model based on Conditional Likelihood Lower Bound Search(CLLBS)to optimize the design of the generator,which can filter the noise in the data and search for global optimization by combining the Conditional Likelihood Lower Bound Search method.Taking the efficiency optimization of 15 kW Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor as an example.Firstly,this method uses the elementary effect analysis to choose the sensitive variables,combining the evolutionary algorithm to design the super Latin cube sampling plan;Then the generator-converter system is simulated by establishing a co-simulation platform to obtain data.A Gaussian process regression model combing the method of the conditional likelihood lower bound search is established,which combined the chi-square test to optimize the accuracy of the model globally.Secondly,after the model reaches the accuracy,the Pareto frontier is obtained through the NSGA-II algorithm by considering the maximum output torque as a constraint.Last,the constrained optimization is transformed into an unconstrained optimizing problem by introducing maximum constrained improvement expectation(CEI)optimization method based on the re-interpolation model,which cross-validated the optimization results of the Gaussian process regression model.The above method increase the efficiency of generator by 0.76%and 0.5%respectively;And this method can be used for rapid modeling and multi-objective optimization of generator systems.展开更多
BACKGROUND Glomerular endothelial cell(GENC)injury is a characteristic of early-stage diabetic nephropathy(DN),and the investigation of potential therapeutic targets for preventing GENC injury is of clinical importanc...BACKGROUND Glomerular endothelial cell(GENC)injury is a characteristic of early-stage diabetic nephropathy(DN),and the investigation of potential therapeutic targets for preventing GENC injury is of clinical importance.AIM To investigate the role ofβ-arrestin-2 in GENCs under DN conditions.METHODS Eight-week-old C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin to induce DN.GENCs were transfected with plasmids containing siRNA-β-arrestin-2,shRNA-activating transcription factor 6(ATF6),pCDNA-β-arrestin-2,or pCDNA-ATF6.Additionally,adeno-associated virus(AAV)containing shRNA-β-arrestin-2 was administered via a tail vein injection in DN mice.RESULTS The upregulation ofβ-arrestin-2 was observed in patients with DN as well as in GENCs from DN mice.Knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 reduced apoptosis in high glucose-treated GENCs,which was reversed by the overexpression of ATF6.Moreover,overexpression ofβ-arrestin-2 Led to the activation of endoplasmic reticulum(ER)stress and the apoptosis of GENCs which could be mitigated by silencing of ATF6.Furthermore,knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 by the administration of AAV-shRNA-β-arrestin-2 alleviated renal injury in DN mice.CONCLUSION Knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 prevents GENC apoptosis by inhibiting ATF6-mediated ER stress in vivo and in vitro.Consequently,β-arrestin-2 may represent a promising therapeutic target for the clinical management of patients with DN.展开更多
Although geothermal energy has many clear advantages,including its sustainability and environmentally friendly nature,research into potential geothermal resources across the Longgang Block,Northeast China,has been lim...Although geothermal energy has many clear advantages,including its sustainability and environmentally friendly nature,research into potential geothermal resources across the Longgang Block,Northeast China,has been limited.Here we present the first analysis of the potential geothermal resources in this region that employs joint geological and non-seismic geophysical methods to identify target areas that may be economically viable.We acquire and analyze high-precision gravity,magnetic,and magnetotelluric sounding data,which are constrained using the petrophysical parameters of outcropping rocks across the Longgang Block,to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the region’s deep geological structures and their geothermal resources potential,with a focus on identifying faults,rock masses,and thermal storage structures.We find that Archean granitic gneiss and Mesozoic rock masses in the deeper section of the Longgang Block possess weak gravity anomalies and high resistivities.We also identify thermal storage structures near these deeper geological units based on their extremely low resistivities.The data are used to infer the dip and depth of known or hidden faults,to constrain the spatial distribution of intrusive rock masses,and to determine the spatial distribution of subsurface thermal storage structures.The potential of the target areas for geothermal resources exploitation is divided into three grades based on contact depths between faults and thermal storage structures,and the scale of their thermal storage structures.Our results suggest that a joint non-seismic geophysical approach can be effective in locating and evaluating geothermal resources in complex geological settings.展开更多
The freezing-thawing variation of permafrost active layer increases the complexity of rainfall-runoff processes in alpine river basins,Northwest China.And alpine meadow is the prominent ecosystem in these basins.This ...The freezing-thawing variation of permafrost active layer increases the complexity of rainfall-runoff processes in alpine river basins,Northwest China.And alpine meadow is the prominent ecosystem in these basins.This study selected a small alpine meadow watershed in the upper reaches of the Shule River Basin,China.We investigated alpine rainfall-runoff processes,as well as impacts of summer thaw depth of active layer,soil temperature and moisture variation on streamflow based on in-situ observations from July 2015 to December 2020.Some hydrologic parameters or indices were calculated using statistical methods,and impacts of permafrost change on river runoff were assessed using the variable infiltration capacity model(VIC).In the alpine meadow,surface soil(0–10 cm depth)of the active layer starts to freeze in mid-October each year,and begins to thaw in early April.Also,the deeper soil(70–80 cm depth)of the active layer starts to freeze in late October,and begins to thaw in late June.Moisture content in shallow soils fluctuates regularly,whereas deeper soils are more stable,and their response to rainstorms is negligible.During active layer thawing,the moisture content increases with soil depth.In the alpine meadow,vertical infiltration only occurred in soils up to 40 cm deep,and lateral flow occurred in0–20 and 60–80 cm deep soils at current rainfall intensity.Summer runoff ratios were 0.06–0.31,and runoff floods show lags of 9.5–23.0 h following the rainfall event in the study area.The freeze–thaw process also significantly impacts runoff regression coefficients,which were 0.0088–0.0654 per hour.Recession coefficient decrease negatively correlates with active layer thawing depth in summer and autumn.Alpine river basin permafrost can effectively increase peak discharge and reduce low flow.These findings are highly significant for rainfall–runoff conversion research in alpine areas of inland rivers.展开更多
We presented a control strategy for tablet manufacturing processes based on continuous direct compression.The work was conducted by the experts of pharmaceutical companies,machine suppliers,academia,and regulatory aut...We presented a control strategy for tablet manufacturing processes based on continuous direct compression.The work was conducted by the experts of pharmaceutical companies,machine suppliers,academia,and regulatory authority in Japan.Among different items in the process,the component ratio and blended powder content were selected as the items requiring the control method specific to continuous manufacturing different from the conventional batch manufacturing.The control and management of the Loss in Weight(LIW)feeder were deemed the most important,and the Residence Time Distribution(RTD)model were regarded effective for setting the control range and for controlling of the LIW feeder.Based on these ideas,the concept of process control using RTD was summarized.展开更多
Different cultivars of rice(Oryza sativa)open at different times of the day,and the overlap of anthesis time in rice between the neighbouring cultivars is of crucial importance to the degree of cross pollination in ri...Different cultivars of rice(Oryza sativa)open at different times of the day,and the overlap of anthesis time in rice between the neighbouring cultivars is of crucial importance to the degree of cross pollination in rice.Nevertheless,none of the past experiments with cross pollination between different rice cultivars ever reported the respective flower opening time(FOT)and flower exposure duration(FED)of the parent cultivars,until recently.The authors present here the first record of FOT and FED of 1114 indica rice landraces of South and Southeast Asia,growing during sum-mer and winter seasons in three consecutive years.The authors also present an analysis of the influences of the grow-ing season on the anthesis behaviour,and present the first records of the FOT and FED variability on sunny and cloudy days of a large number of landraces.The data show that rice florets tend to open later in the morning(that is,take longer time to anthesis after sunrise)on sunny days than on cloudy days,and also significantly later during long day seasons(spring and summer)than during short day season(winter);and that FED is inversely related to both FOT and the length of duration from sunrise to first flower opening.The wide ranges of FOT(8:50 a.m.to 12:40 p.m.)and FED(15 to 194 minutes)also suggest the ample time window for receiving pollen from neighbouring cultivars with differ-ent FOT,enhancing the chances of cross pollination between hundreds of rice landraces with FOT and FED overlaps.展开更多
Background: There is a complex interplay between women’s preferences, abortion services availability and the context in which these are provided. Even in countries where it is legal, denial of abortion is common, esp...Background: There is a complex interplay between women’s preferences, abortion services availability and the context in which these are provided. Even in countries where it is legal, denial of abortion is common, especially in low and middle income countries, forcing women to look for the service elsewhere and bringing serious consequences to the health and wellbeing of many women and their families. This non-systematic review pretends to answer the question: Which are the barriers to and facilitators for the access to legal abortion services in low and middle income countries? Methods: A non-systematic bibliographical review. Inclusion criteria: all quantitative, qualitative and evidence synthesis studies performed in low and middle income countries according to the World Bank classification for 2015 and published in English, Spanish and Portuguese language, between 2005 and 2017. Exclusion criteria: articles evaluating the efficacy of interventions, addressing the knowledge about abortion procedures among health care students and personnel, as well as those that only included sex workers. Results: The database search yield 199 articles in MEDLINE. 24 in Scopus and 38 in Scielo. A total of 22 articles including 15 countries from Africa (n = 6), Asia (n = 5), Central and South America (n = 3) and Europe (n = 1). The legal status of abortion in each of these countries was studied and described. For the analysis of the information, three categories of deepening were established: Laws and policies, Service delivery and Women’s abortion care-seeking behavior. Conclusion: the determinants of access to abortion in low and middle income countries are convoluted as multiple delays and barriers usually overlap. Similarly, stigmatization has a great impact across all the steps of abortion provision. Multiple facilitators were proposed in the three aspects of abortion provision, but they need to be adjusted depending on the context of each country.展开更多
Hajj and Umrah are two main religious duties for Muslims.To help faithfuls to perform their religious duties comfortably in overcrowded areas,a crowd management system is a must to control the entering and exiting for...Hajj and Umrah are two main religious duties for Muslims.To help faithfuls to perform their religious duties comfortably in overcrowded areas,a crowd management system is a must to control the entering and exiting for each place.Since the number of people is very high,an intelligent crowd management system can be developed to reduce human effort and accelerate the management process.In this work,we propose a crowd management process based on detecting,tracking,and counting human faces using Artificial Intelligence techniques.Human detection and counting will be performed to calculate the number of existing visitors and face detection and tracking will be used to identify all the humans for security purposes.The proposed crowd management system is composed form three main parts which are:(1)detecting human faces,(2)assigning each detected face with a numerical identifier,(3)storing the identity of each face in a database for further identification and tracking.The main contribution of this work focuses on the detection and tracking model which is based on an improved object detection model.The improved Yolo v4 was used for face detection and tracking.It has been very effective in detecting small objects in highresolution images.The novelty contained in thismethod was the integration of the adaptive attention mechanism to improve the performance of the model for the desired task.Channel wise attention mechanism was applied to the output layers while both channel wise and spatial attention was integrated in the building blocks.The main idea from the adaptive attention mechanisms is to make themodel focus more on the target and ignore false positive proposals.We demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed method through expensive experimentation on a publicly available dataset.The wider faces dataset was used for the train and the evaluation of the proposed detection and tracking model.The proposed model has achieved good results with 91.2%of mAP and a processing speed of 18 FPS on the Nvidia GTX 960 GPU.展开更多
Objective:To make evidence-based decisions based on broad mortality trends for Razavi Khorasan province,Iran.Methods:In order to determine the baseline number of deaths,we used univariate time series analyses for mont...Objective:To make evidence-based decisions based on broad mortality trends for Razavi Khorasan province,Iran.Methods:In order to determine the baseline number of deaths,we used univariate time series analyses for monthly data from the monthly vital statistics reports(From April 2015 to March 2022).For excess mortalities,these baselines were subtracted from reported deaths with a 95%prediction interval.To compare time and causes,a P-score was calculated.Results:From March 2020 to March 2022,there were 61949 registered deaths,and the estimated deaths with a 95%confidence interval(CI)were 43246.16(35718.28,50774.05).So,in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022,the death counts were 35.15%and 51.33%higher than projected.A total of 18666 cardiovascular diseases were reported and a total of 15704.46(12006.95,19401.96)was estimated.The P-score for this duration was 14.49%and 23.23%higher than expected.Infectious and parasitic diseases plus COVID-19 were 16633 and estimated to be 1044.87(456.77,1632.96).A total of 4420 diseases of the respiratory system were reported,and 4564.94 deaths were predicted(2277.43,6852.43).In the first year of the pandemic,the P-score dropped to-35.28%and in the second year,it jumped sharply to 22.38%.Conclusions:Excess mortality,along with cause-specific mortality,can be helpful for monitoring trends and developing public health policies at the local,national,and international levels.展开更多
Objective Considering the importance of out-of-hospital services,the emergence of home care nursing,and the need for an ethical framework in nursing practice,the present study aimed to explore the nurses’experience o...Objective Considering the importance of out-of-hospital services,the emergence of home care nursing,and the need for an ethical framework in nursing practice,the present study aimed to explore the nurses’experience of ethical values of home care nursing.Methods The data of the study was collected using face-to-face individual interviews.Through purposive sampling,20 nurses who worked in the home care centers in four cities of Iran in 2020 were interviewed.They shared their experiences of the ethical values of home care nursing.Then,the interviews were analyzed based on the content analysis approach and using Graneheim and Lundman method.Results In the present study,416 codes were extracted.Merging these codes based on the similarity,seven main themes,and 16 sub-themes were extracted.The themes included perception of the professional identity,respect for the client’s autonomy,respecting privacy,establishing human interaction,maintaining mutual safety,observance of justice,and cultural-religious competence.The sub-themes included responsibility,development of professional and inter-professional interactions,maintaining the professional status at home,providing the holistic artistic care,patient’s privacy,nurse’s privacy,and maintaining the confidentiality of information,respect for the client’s choice,honestly informing,empathetic interaction,adjusting the power positions,client's safety,nurse’s safety,establishing justice,respect for the religious beliefs at home and cultural sensitivity.Conclusion The participants stated that due to entering the patient’s privacy in the home care cases,the ethical values such as perception of the professional identity,privacy,family interactions’management,mutual security,and cultural-religious competence became doubly important compared to the hospital caring.展开更多
Background:The scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment(PG-SGA)has been widely used to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients.The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in PG-SGA sc...Background:The scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment(PG-SGA)has been widely used to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients.The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in PG-SGA scores and the 7 domain scores of the PG-SGA in male and female cancer patients.Methods:This study was conducted at 72 hospitals from July 2013 to December 2018,a part of the Investigation on Nutritional Status and its Clinical Outcomes of Common Cancers.The PG-SGA was recorded to evaluate the nutritional status of patients.A total of 19,528 patients with 13 common malignancies were included in this study.Student t test and the χ^(2) test were applied to analyze the sex diferences in the 7 domain scores.The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database was used to analyze the expression levels of symptom-related genes.Results:There were significant sex dfferences in the PG-SGA(P=0.032),notably in patients with gastric cancer(male vs female:9.09±4.86 vs 9.58±5.07,P=0.005)and esophageal cancer(9.64±4.90 vs 10.46±4.96,P=0.011)and the average total PG-SGA of female patients was slightly higher than that of male patients(7.64±4.98 vs 7.77±5.14).The differences were mainly related to the weight,eating,symptom,as well as activity and physical function scores in the stratified analysis.Possible causes of the sex differences were the rates of nausea,vomiting,dry mouth,and other symptoms,in both gastric and esophageal cancer patients.Analysis of the TCGA database suggested that most of the related genes were sex neutral,except for genes related to dysphagia in gastric cancer(VEGFC was higher in female patients,VEGFA and VEGFB higher in male patients).Conclusions:There are sex differences in the PG-SGA scores in patients with various tumor types(female patients generally had higher scores than male patients),with differences mainly in the weight,eating,symptom,as well as activity and physical function scores.The sex differences in PG-SGA scores might be due to the differences in the clinical manifestations of the disease,and further studies should be carried out to investigate other factors influencing the PG-SGA scores in cancer patients.This study provides basic data supporting the individualized nutritional treatment of cancer patients in clinical practice.展开更多
The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2)is a primary cell surface viral binding receptor for SARS-CoV-2,so finding new regulatory molecules to modulate ACE2 expression levels is a promising strategy against COVID-19....The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2)is a primary cell surface viral binding receptor for SARS-CoV-2,so finding new regulatory molecules to modulate ACE2 expression levels is a promising strategy against COVID-19.In the current study,we utilized islet organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells(hESCs),animal models and COVID-19 patients to discover that fibroblast growth factor 7(FGF7)enhances ACE2 expression within the islets,facilitating SARS-CoV-2 infection and resulting in impaired insulin secretion.Using hESC-derived islet organoids,we demonstrated that FGF7 interacts with FGF receptor 2(FGFR2)and FGFR1 to upregulate ACE2 expression predominantly inβcells.This upregulation increases both insulin secretion and susceptibility ofβcells to SARS-CoV-2 infection.Inhibiting FGFR counteracts the FGF7-induced ACE2 upregulation,subsequently reducing viral infection and replication in the islets.Furthermore,retrospective clinical data revealed that diabetic patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms exhibited elevated serum FGF7 levels compared to those with mild symptoms.Finally,animal experiments indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infection increased pancreatic FGF7 levels,resulting in a reduction of insulin concentrations in situ.Taken together,our research offers a potential regulatory strategy for ACE2 by controlling FGF7,thereby protecting islets from SARS-CoV-2 infection and preventing the progression of diabetes in the context of COVID-19.展开更多
The characteristics of summertime raindrop size distribution(DSD) and associated relations in the semi-arid region over the Inner Mongolian Plateau(IMP) were investigated,utilizing five-year continuous observations by...The characteristics of summertime raindrop size distribution(DSD) and associated relations in the semi-arid region over the Inner Mongolian Plateau(IMP) were investigated,utilizing five-year continuous observations by a PARSIVEL2disdrometer in East Ujimqin County(EUC),China.It is found that only 7.94% of the 15 664 one-min precipitation samples meet classification criteria as convective rain(CR),but its contribution to the total rainfall amount is 63.87%.Notably,40.72% of the rainfall comes from large-sized raindrops(D> 3 mm),despite the fact that large-sized raindrops account for only 1.73% of the CR total number concentration.Further results show that the mean value of mass-weighted mean diameters(Dm) is larger(2.43 mm) and generalized intercepts(lgN_(W)) is lower(3.19) in CR,aligning with a "continentallike" cluster,which is mainly influenced by the joint impact of in-cloud ice-based processes and the below-cloud environmental background.Also,the empirical relationships of shape-slope(μ-Λ),radar reflectivity-rain rate(Z-R),and rainfall kinetic energy(KE_(time)-Rand KE_(time)-Z) are localized.To quantitatively analyze the impact of DSD parameters on kinetic energy estimation,power-law KE_(time)-R and KE_(time)-Z relationships are derived based on the normalized gamma distribution.N_(W)takes precedence over μ in affecting variabilities of multiplicative coefficients,especially for KE_(time)-R relationship where the multiplicative coefficient is proportional to N_(W)^(-0.287).It should be noted that although the proportion of CR occurring throughout the summer is small,raindrops with lower N_(W) and larger Dmwill generate higher KE_(time),which will bring a higher potential risk of soil erosion in semi-arid regions over IMP.展开更多
The gold deposits in the Jiaodong Peninsula constitute the largest gold mineralized province in China.The mineralization shows common characteristics in their tectonic setting,ore-forming fluid and metallogenic system...The gold deposits in the Jiaodong Peninsula constitute the largest gold mineralized province in China.The mineralization shows common characteristics in their tectonic setting,ore-forming fluid and metallogenic system.Sulfidation and fluid immiscibility are two important mechanisms controlling gold precipitation,both of which consume sulfur in the oreforming fluids.The escape of H2S from the main ore-forming fluids and the decrease of total sulfur concentration not only lead to the efficient precipitation of gold,but also result in the crystallization of reducing minerals such as pyrrhotite and oxidizing minerals such as magnetite.Quartz solubility shows strong dependence on temperature,pressure,and CO2 content.The dependence of quartz solubility on pressure is weak at low temperatures,and progressively stronger at higher temperatures.Similarly,the temperature dependence of quartz solubility is relatively low at low pressures,but becomes gradually stronger at high pressures.The results of solubility modeling can constrain the dissolution and reprecipitation behavior of quartz in the oreforming veins and the formation mechanism of different types of quartz veins.The multi-stage mineralization fluid activity resulted in the complex dissolution structure of quartz in the Jiaodong gold veins.Pyrite in the main metallogenic period in the Jiaodong gold deposits shows complex microstructure characteristics at single crystal scale.The trace elements(mainly the coupling of As-and Au-rich belt)and sulfur isotope composition also display a certain regularity.The As-rich fluids might have formed by the initial pulse of ore-forming fluids through As-rich metasedimentary strata,while the As-Au oscillation zone at the margin of pyrite grains is related to the pressure fluctuation caused by fault activity and the local phase separation of fluids.There is a temporal and spatial evolution of gold fineness in the Jiaodong gold deposits.Water/rock reaction(sulfidation)was the main ore-forming mechanism of early gold mineralization,forming relatively high fineness gold,while significant pressure drop in the shallow part accompanied by fluid phase separation promoted the late gold mineralization,forming low fineness gold.Under cratonic destruction setting,dehydration of the amphibolite and granulite facies metamorphic lower-crust resulted in the formation of Au-CO2-rich ore-forming fluids,which rose along the deep fault and secondary structure,and formed the largescale fault-controlled gold deposits in Jiaodong.展开更多
Metabolites of microorganisms have long been considered as potential sources for drug discovery.In this study,fve new depsidone derivatives,talaronins A-E(1-5)and three new xanthone derivatives,talaronins F-H(6-8),tog...Metabolites of microorganisms have long been considered as potential sources for drug discovery.In this study,fve new depsidone derivatives,talaronins A-E(1-5)and three new xanthone derivatives,talaronins F-H(6-8),together with 16 known compounds(9-24),were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the mangrove-derived fungus Talaromyces species WHUF0362.The structures were elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data and chemical methods including alkaline hydrolysis and Mosher’s method.Compounds 1 and 2 each attached a dimethyl acetal group at the aromatic ring.A putative biogenetic relationship of the isolated metabolites was presented and suggested that the depsidones and the xanthones probably had the same biosynthetic precursors such as chrysophanol or rheochrysidin.The antimicrobial activity assay indicated that compounds 5,9,10,and 14 showed potent activity against Helicobacter pylori with minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)values in the range of 2.42-36.04μmol/L.While secalonic acid D(19)demonstrated signifcant antimicrobial activity against four strains of H.pylori with MIC values in the range of 0.20 to 1.57μmol/L.Furthermore,secalonic acid D(19)exhibited cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines Bel-7402 and HCT-116 with IC_(50) values of 0.15 and 0.19μmol/L,respectively.The structure–activity relationship of depsidone derivatives revealed that the presence of the lactone ring and the hydroxyl at C-10 was crucial to the antimicrobial activity against H.pylori.The depsidone derivatives are promising leads to inhibit H.pylori and provide an avenue for further development of novel antibiotics.展开更多
基金supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(STEP)(Grant No.2021QZKK0202)Shaanxi Provincial Youth Science and Technology Rising Star Project(No.2022KJXX-85)+3 种基金Key Scientific Research Project of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education(No.22JS041)Youth Innovation Team Research Project of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education(Nos.22JP099,21JP137)The Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universitiesthe Support Program for Outstanding Young Talents of Shaanxi Universities(Dr.Tao Luo)。
文摘Freezing–thawing indices serve as a comprehensive indicator of both the duration of the freezing/thawing periods and the degree of cold and heat in a given region.In-depth analysis of the freezing-thawing indices not only enables the prediction of permafrost distribution and its dynamic changes,but also facilitates the assessment of damage risk to infrastructure under freeze-thaw action.In this paper,the air/ground freezing–thawing indices from 1987 to 2017,based on daily temperature observations from meteorological stations along the China–Nepal Highway(CNH),were calculated,and their spatial and temporal variation patterns were analyzed.The results showed that:(1)Both mean annual air temperature and mean annual ground surface temperature along the CNH fluctuated upward,with climate tendency rates of 0.43 and 0.52.C·(10a)~(-1),respectively;(2)The number of days with negative air temperature and ground temperature showed fluctuated downward,with change rates of-8.6 and-8.3 d·(10a)~(-1),respectively;(3)The ranges of air freezing index,air thawing index,ground freezing index,and ground thawing index over the years were 157.05-458.88°C·d,2034.20-2560.73°C·d,108.78-396.83°C·d,and 3515.25-4288.67°C·d,respectively.The climate tendency rates were-5.42,10.22,-6.79,and 12.14.C·d·a-1,respectively,showing a general warming trend;(4)The air freezing index,ground freezing index,and ground thawing index changed abruptly in 1999,2000,and 2002,respectively,evincing significant changes after 2002.The research results can provide a basis for the risk assessment of freezing–thawing erosion and the prevention and control of permafrost engineering diseases along the CNH.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,22338006,92356301,9235630033 and 22375062)Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project(21JC1401700)+4 种基金Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research(22TQ1400100-10)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central UniversitiesShanghai Pujiang Program(22PJ1402400)“Chenguang Program”supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(22CGA32)the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST(2023QNRC001).
文摘Organic nanophotocatalysts are promising candidates for solar fuels production,but they still face the challenge of unfavorable geminate recombination due to the limited exciton diffusion lengths.Here,we introduce a binary nanophotocatalyst fabricated by blending two polymers,PS-PEG5(PS)and PBT-PEG5(PBT),with matched absorption and emission spectra,enabling a Forster resonance energy transfer(FRET)process for enhanced photocatalysis.These heterostructure nanophotocatalysts are processed using a facile and scalable flash nanoprecipitation(FNP)technique with precious kinetic control over binary nanoparticle formation.The resulting nanoparticles exhibit an exceptional photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate up to 65 mmol g^(-1) h^(-1),2.5 times higher than that single component nanoparticles.Characterizations through fluorescence spectra and transient absorption spectra confirm the hetero-energy transfer within the binary nanoparticles,which prolongs the excited-state lifetime and extends the namely“effective exciton diffusion length”.Our finding opens new avenues for designing efficient organic photocatalysts by improving exciton migration.
基金financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China[grant number 21878299]。
文摘Polymer binders possess significant potential in alleviating the volume expansion issues of silicon-based anodes,yet remain challenging due to insufficient interfacial interactions with individual components(Si,C,and Cu)of the anode.Herein,we report the synthesis of a stable three-dimensional network structure of the PAA-PEA(polyacrylic acid-polyether amines)polymer binder through intermolecular physicochemical dual cross-linking.By incorporating polar functional groups,the binder molecules not only form strong C-O-Si,N-Si,O=C-O-C,and O=C-O-Cu covalent bonds but also enhance non-covalent interactions with Si,C,and Cu,thereby improving adhesion between the binder and each interface of the anode.Furthermore,weak hydrogen bonds,acting as"sacrificial bonds",dissipate energy and disperse accumulated stress,improving the material flexibility.Due to the high mechanical stability of the framework,which combines both rigidity and flexibility and the coupling effect at the three interfaces,the movement and separation of electrode components are effectively restrained,significantly enhancing the cycling stability of silicon-graphite anodes.The PAA-PEA 2000 electrode exhibits a capacity retention of 78% after 500 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g^(-1).This work provides insights into the mechanism of binders and guides the design of polymer binders for high-performance Si-based electrodes.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.52275425,52405473,and 52405472)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(Grant No.2024A1515010993)。
文摘Surgical electrodes are frequently associated with disadvantages such as high surface adhesion and severe thermal damage to adjacent normal tissues,which threaten operation quality and patient safety.In this study,by mimicking the micromorphology and bio-anti-adhesion of shark skin,we proposed a strategy that utilized nanoscale aluminium oxide(Al_(2)O_(3))films deposited on bioinspired shark skin(BSS)microstructures to design a composite surface(Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS)and integrated it into both flat sides of the surgical electrodes.Micro/nano-manufacturing of the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS surface was sequentially accomplished using nanosecond laser texturing,atomic layer deposition,and low-temperature annealing,endowing it with excellent blood-repellent properties.Visualisation experiments revealed that the tensile stress gradient of the blood coagulum with increasing thickness under a thermal field prompted it to separate from the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS surface,resulting in anti-adhesion.Furthermore,it was observed for the first time that Al_(2)O_(3) films could transiently excite discharge along a dielectric surface(DADS)to ablate tissues while suppressing Joule heat,thereby minimising thermal damage.A combination of ex vivo tissue and living mouse experiments demonstrated that the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS electrodes exhibited optimal comprehensive performance in terms of anti-adhesion,damage minimisation,and drag reduction.In addition,the Al_(2)O_(3)@BSS electrodes possessed remarkable antibacterial efficacy against E.coli and S.aureus.The proposed strategy can meet the extreme application requirements of surgical electrodes to improve operation quality and offer valuable insights for future studies.
基金funded by the following grants and contracts:Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB38020400 to S.W.)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32325013 to S.W.,32271186 to J.T.,31900408 to M.Z.)+5 种基金the CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research(YSBR-077 to S.W.)Shanghai Science and Technology Commission Excellent Academic Leaders Program(22XD1424700 to S.W.)CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences(2019-I2M-5-066 to L.J.and J.W.)Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project(2017SHZDZX01 to L.J.and S.W.)the National Science and Technology Basic Research Project(2015FY111700 to L.J.)the 111 Project(B13016 to L.J.).
文摘Facial morphology,a complex trait influenced by genetics,holds great significance in evolutionary research.However,due to limited fossil evidence,the facial characteristics of Neanderthals and Denisovans have remained largely unknown.In this study,we conduct a large-scale multi-ethnic meta-analysis of the genome-wide association study(GWAS),including 9674 East Asians and 10,115 Europeans,quantitatively assessing 78 facial traits using 3D facial images.We identify 71 genomic loci associated with facial features,including 21 novel loci.We develop a facial polygenic score(FPS)that enables the prediction of facial features based on genetic information.Interestingly,the distribution of FPSs among populations from diverse continental groups exhibits relevant correlations with observed facial features.Furthermore,we apply the FPS to predict the facial traits of seven Neanderthals and one Denisovan using ancient DNA and align predictions with the fossil records.Our results suggest that Neanderthals and Denisovans likely share similar facial features,such as a wider but shorter nose and a wider endocanthion distance.The decreased mouth width is characterized specifically in Denisovans.The integration of genomic data and facial trait analysis provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history and adaptive changes in human facial morphology.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2019YFB1503700)the Hunan Natural Science Foundation-Science and Education Joint Project(2019JJ70063)。
文摘The noise that comes from finite element simulation often causes the model to fall into the local optimal solution and over fitting during optimization of generator.Thus,this paper proposes a Gaussian Process Regression(GPR)model based on Conditional Likelihood Lower Bound Search(CLLBS)to optimize the design of the generator,which can filter the noise in the data and search for global optimization by combining the Conditional Likelihood Lower Bound Search method.Taking the efficiency optimization of 15 kW Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor as an example.Firstly,this method uses the elementary effect analysis to choose the sensitive variables,combining the evolutionary algorithm to design the super Latin cube sampling plan;Then the generator-converter system is simulated by establishing a co-simulation platform to obtain data.A Gaussian process regression model combing the method of the conditional likelihood lower bound search is established,which combined the chi-square test to optimize the accuracy of the model globally.Secondly,after the model reaches the accuracy,the Pareto frontier is obtained through the NSGA-II algorithm by considering the maximum output torque as a constraint.Last,the constrained optimization is transformed into an unconstrained optimizing problem by introducing maximum constrained improvement expectation(CEI)optimization method based on the re-interpolation model,which cross-validated the optimization results of the Gaussian process regression model.The above method increase the efficiency of generator by 0.76%and 0.5%respectively;And this method can be used for rapid modeling and multi-objective optimization of generator systems.
基金Supported by Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province,No.2021CXGC011101Special Fund for Taishan Scholars Project,No.tsqn202211324+2 种基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81900669Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province,China,No.ZR2018PH007the Multidisciplinary Innovation Center for Nephrology of the Second Hospital of Shandong University.
文摘BACKGROUND Glomerular endothelial cell(GENC)injury is a characteristic of early-stage diabetic nephropathy(DN),and the investigation of potential therapeutic targets for preventing GENC injury is of clinical importance.AIM To investigate the role ofβ-arrestin-2 in GENCs under DN conditions.METHODS Eight-week-old C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin to induce DN.GENCs were transfected with plasmids containing siRNA-β-arrestin-2,shRNA-activating transcription factor 6(ATF6),pCDNA-β-arrestin-2,or pCDNA-ATF6.Additionally,adeno-associated virus(AAV)containing shRNA-β-arrestin-2 was administered via a tail vein injection in DN mice.RESULTS The upregulation ofβ-arrestin-2 was observed in patients with DN as well as in GENCs from DN mice.Knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 reduced apoptosis in high glucose-treated GENCs,which was reversed by the overexpression of ATF6.Moreover,overexpression ofβ-arrestin-2 Led to the activation of endoplasmic reticulum(ER)stress and the apoptosis of GENCs which could be mitigated by silencing of ATF6.Furthermore,knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 by the administration of AAV-shRNA-β-arrestin-2 alleviated renal injury in DN mice.CONCLUSION Knockdown ofβ-arrestin-2 prevents GENC apoptosis by inhibiting ATF6-mediated ER stress in vivo and in vitro.Consequently,β-arrestin-2 may represent a promising therapeutic target for the clinical management of patients with DN.
基金jointly supported by the open fund from the Key Laboratory of Deep-Earth Dynamics of Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (Award Number J1901-16)the project of graduate education and teaching reform in Shanxi Province (Award Number 2021YJJG147)+4 种基金the teaching reform project “Geographic Modeling, Simulation and Visualization” established by Shanxi Normal University (Award Number 2019JGXM-39)the “Deep Geological Survey in Benxi-Linjiang Area”, a pilot project set up by the China Geological Survey, China (grant number 1212011220247)“The Research Start-up Fund of Shanxi Normal University for Dr. Peng Chong in 2016” (Award Number 0505/ 02070438)“The Research Start-up Fund of Shanxi Normal University for Dr. Liu Haiyan in 2017” (Award Number 0505/02070458)“The Research Fund for Outstanding Doctor in 2017” (Award Number 0503/02010168), established by the Education Department of Shanxi Province for Dr. Liu Haiyan
文摘Although geothermal energy has many clear advantages,including its sustainability and environmentally friendly nature,research into potential geothermal resources across the Longgang Block,Northeast China,has been limited.Here we present the first analysis of the potential geothermal resources in this region that employs joint geological and non-seismic geophysical methods to identify target areas that may be economically viable.We acquire and analyze high-precision gravity,magnetic,and magnetotelluric sounding data,which are constrained using the petrophysical parameters of outcropping rocks across the Longgang Block,to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the region’s deep geological structures and their geothermal resources potential,with a focus on identifying faults,rock masses,and thermal storage structures.We find that Archean granitic gneiss and Mesozoic rock masses in the deeper section of the Longgang Block possess weak gravity anomalies and high resistivities.We also identify thermal storage structures near these deeper geological units based on their extremely low resistivities.The data are used to infer the dip and depth of known or hidden faults,to constrain the spatial distribution of intrusive rock masses,and to determine the spatial distribution of subsurface thermal storage structures.The potential of the target areas for geothermal resources exploitation is divided into three grades based on contact depths between faults and thermal storage structures,and the scale of their thermal storage structures.Our results suggest that a joint non-seismic geophysical approach can be effective in locating and evaluating geothermal resources in complex geological settings.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFC3201102-02)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.42171028,41877156,and 41730751)+1 种基金the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering Foundation(SKLFSE202110)the Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province,China(20JR5RA545)。
文摘The freezing-thawing variation of permafrost active layer increases the complexity of rainfall-runoff processes in alpine river basins,Northwest China.And alpine meadow is the prominent ecosystem in these basins.This study selected a small alpine meadow watershed in the upper reaches of the Shule River Basin,China.We investigated alpine rainfall-runoff processes,as well as impacts of summer thaw depth of active layer,soil temperature and moisture variation on streamflow based on in-situ observations from July 2015 to December 2020.Some hydrologic parameters or indices were calculated using statistical methods,and impacts of permafrost change on river runoff were assessed using the variable infiltration capacity model(VIC).In the alpine meadow,surface soil(0–10 cm depth)of the active layer starts to freeze in mid-October each year,and begins to thaw in early April.Also,the deeper soil(70–80 cm depth)of the active layer starts to freeze in late October,and begins to thaw in late June.Moisture content in shallow soils fluctuates regularly,whereas deeper soils are more stable,and their response to rainstorms is negligible.During active layer thawing,the moisture content increases with soil depth.In the alpine meadow,vertical infiltration only occurred in soils up to 40 cm deep,and lateral flow occurred in0–20 and 60–80 cm deep soils at current rainfall intensity.Summer runoff ratios were 0.06–0.31,and runoff floods show lags of 9.5–23.0 h following the rainfall event in the study area.The freeze–thaw process also significantly impacts runoff regression coefficients,which were 0.0088–0.0654 per hour.Recession coefficient decrease negatively correlates with active layer thawing depth in summer and autumn.Alpine river basin permafrost can effectively increase peak discharge and reduce low flow.These findings are highly significant for rainfall–runoff conversion research in alpine areas of inland rivers.
文摘We presented a control strategy for tablet manufacturing processes based on continuous direct compression.The work was conducted by the experts of pharmaceutical companies,machine suppliers,academia,and regulatory authority in Japan.Among different items in the process,the component ratio and blended powder content were selected as the items requiring the control method specific to continuous manufacturing different from the conventional batch manufacturing.The control and management of the Loss in Weight(LIW)feeder were deemed the most important,and the Residence Time Distribution(RTD)model were regarded effective for setting the control range and for controlling of the LIW feeder.Based on these ideas,the concept of process control using RTD was summarized.
文摘Different cultivars of rice(Oryza sativa)open at different times of the day,and the overlap of anthesis time in rice between the neighbouring cultivars is of crucial importance to the degree of cross pollination in rice.Nevertheless,none of the past experiments with cross pollination between different rice cultivars ever reported the respective flower opening time(FOT)and flower exposure duration(FED)of the parent cultivars,until recently.The authors present here the first record of FOT and FED of 1114 indica rice landraces of South and Southeast Asia,growing during sum-mer and winter seasons in three consecutive years.The authors also present an analysis of the influences of the grow-ing season on the anthesis behaviour,and present the first records of the FOT and FED variability on sunny and cloudy days of a large number of landraces.The data show that rice florets tend to open later in the morning(that is,take longer time to anthesis after sunrise)on sunny days than on cloudy days,and also significantly later during long day seasons(spring and summer)than during short day season(winter);and that FED is inversely related to both FOT and the length of duration from sunrise to first flower opening.The wide ranges of FOT(8:50 a.m.to 12:40 p.m.)and FED(15 to 194 minutes)also suggest the ample time window for receiving pollen from neighbouring cultivars with differ-ent FOT,enhancing the chances of cross pollination between hundreds of rice landraces with FOT and FED overlaps.
文摘Background: There is a complex interplay between women’s preferences, abortion services availability and the context in which these are provided. Even in countries where it is legal, denial of abortion is common, especially in low and middle income countries, forcing women to look for the service elsewhere and bringing serious consequences to the health and wellbeing of many women and their families. This non-systematic review pretends to answer the question: Which are the barriers to and facilitators for the access to legal abortion services in low and middle income countries? Methods: A non-systematic bibliographical review. Inclusion criteria: all quantitative, qualitative and evidence synthesis studies performed in low and middle income countries according to the World Bank classification for 2015 and published in English, Spanish and Portuguese language, between 2005 and 2017. Exclusion criteria: articles evaluating the efficacy of interventions, addressing the knowledge about abortion procedures among health care students and personnel, as well as those that only included sex workers. Results: The database search yield 199 articles in MEDLINE. 24 in Scopus and 38 in Scielo. A total of 22 articles including 15 countries from Africa (n = 6), Asia (n = 5), Central and South America (n = 3) and Europe (n = 1). The legal status of abortion in each of these countries was studied and described. For the analysis of the information, three categories of deepening were established: Laws and policies, Service delivery and Women’s abortion care-seeking behavior. Conclusion: the determinants of access to abortion in low and middle income countries are convoluted as multiple delays and barriers usually overlap. Similarly, stigmatization has a great impact across all the steps of abortion provision. Multiple facilitators were proposed in the three aspects of abortion provision, but they need to be adjusted depending on the context of each country.
基金This work was funded by the University of Jeddah,Jeddah,Saudi Arabia,under Grant No.(UJ-21-ICL-4)The authors,therefore,acknowledge with thanks the University of Jeddah technical and financial support.
文摘Hajj and Umrah are two main religious duties for Muslims.To help faithfuls to perform their religious duties comfortably in overcrowded areas,a crowd management system is a must to control the entering and exiting for each place.Since the number of people is very high,an intelligent crowd management system can be developed to reduce human effort and accelerate the management process.In this work,we propose a crowd management process based on detecting,tracking,and counting human faces using Artificial Intelligence techniques.Human detection and counting will be performed to calculate the number of existing visitors and face detection and tracking will be used to identify all the humans for security purposes.The proposed crowd management system is composed form three main parts which are:(1)detecting human faces,(2)assigning each detected face with a numerical identifier,(3)storing the identity of each face in a database for further identification and tracking.The main contribution of this work focuses on the detection and tracking model which is based on an improved object detection model.The improved Yolo v4 was used for face detection and tracking.It has been very effective in detecting small objects in highresolution images.The novelty contained in thismethod was the integration of the adaptive attention mechanism to improve the performance of the model for the desired task.Channel wise attention mechanism was applied to the output layers while both channel wise and spatial attention was integrated in the building blocks.The main idea from the adaptive attention mechanisms is to make themodel focus more on the target and ignore false positive proposals.We demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed method through expensive experimentation on a publicly available dataset.The wider faces dataset was used for the train and the evaluation of the proposed detection and tracking model.The proposed model has achieved good results with 91.2%of mAP and a processing speed of 18 FPS on the Nvidia GTX 960 GPU.
基金supported by Mashhad University of Medical Sciencesapproved by the Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences(Ethics ID:IR.MUMS.REC.1400.144).
文摘Objective:To make evidence-based decisions based on broad mortality trends for Razavi Khorasan province,Iran.Methods:In order to determine the baseline number of deaths,we used univariate time series analyses for monthly data from the monthly vital statistics reports(From April 2015 to March 2022).For excess mortalities,these baselines were subtracted from reported deaths with a 95%prediction interval.To compare time and causes,a P-score was calculated.Results:From March 2020 to March 2022,there were 61949 registered deaths,and the estimated deaths with a 95%confidence interval(CI)were 43246.16(35718.28,50774.05).So,in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022,the death counts were 35.15%and 51.33%higher than projected.A total of 18666 cardiovascular diseases were reported and a total of 15704.46(12006.95,19401.96)was estimated.The P-score for this duration was 14.49%and 23.23%higher than expected.Infectious and parasitic diseases plus COVID-19 were 16633 and estimated to be 1044.87(456.77,1632.96).A total of 4420 diseases of the respiratory system were reported,and 4564.94 deaths were predicted(2277.43,6852.43).In the first year of the pandemic,the P-score dropped to-35.28%and in the second year,it jumped sharply to 22.38%.Conclusions:Excess mortality,along with cause-specific mortality,can be helpful for monitoring trends and developing public health policies at the local,national,and international levels.
基金This research was extracted from PhD thesis and was reviewed by Research Council of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences,Isfahan,Iran and approved with Grant No:398,547.
文摘Objective Considering the importance of out-of-hospital services,the emergence of home care nursing,and the need for an ethical framework in nursing practice,the present study aimed to explore the nurses’experience of ethical values of home care nursing.Methods The data of the study was collected using face-to-face individual interviews.Through purposive sampling,20 nurses who worked in the home care centers in four cities of Iran in 2020 were interviewed.They shared their experiences of the ethical values of home care nursing.Then,the interviews were analyzed based on the content analysis approach and using Graneheim and Lundman method.Results In the present study,416 codes were extracted.Merging these codes based on the similarity,seven main themes,and 16 sub-themes were extracted.The themes included perception of the professional identity,respect for the client’s autonomy,respecting privacy,establishing human interaction,maintaining mutual safety,observance of justice,and cultural-religious competence.The sub-themes included responsibility,development of professional and inter-professional interactions,maintaining the professional status at home,providing the holistic artistic care,patient’s privacy,nurse’s privacy,and maintaining the confidentiality of information,respect for the client’s choice,honestly informing,empathetic interaction,adjusting the power positions,client's safety,nurse’s safety,establishing justice,respect for the religious beliefs at home and cultural sensitivity.Conclusion The participants stated that due to entering the patient’s privacy in the home care cases,the ethical values such as perception of the professional identity,privacy,family interactions’management,mutual security,and cultural-religious competence became doubly important compared to the hospital caring.
基金We are grateful for the financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC1309200).
文摘Background:The scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment(PG-SGA)has been widely used to assess the nutritional status of cancer patients.The purpose of this study is to compare the differences in PG-SGA scores and the 7 domain scores of the PG-SGA in male and female cancer patients.Methods:This study was conducted at 72 hospitals from July 2013 to December 2018,a part of the Investigation on Nutritional Status and its Clinical Outcomes of Common Cancers.The PG-SGA was recorded to evaluate the nutritional status of patients.A total of 19,528 patients with 13 common malignancies were included in this study.Student t test and the χ^(2) test were applied to analyze the sex diferences in the 7 domain scores.The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)database was used to analyze the expression levels of symptom-related genes.Results:There were significant sex dfferences in the PG-SGA(P=0.032),notably in patients with gastric cancer(male vs female:9.09±4.86 vs 9.58±5.07,P=0.005)and esophageal cancer(9.64±4.90 vs 10.46±4.96,P=0.011)and the average total PG-SGA of female patients was slightly higher than that of male patients(7.64±4.98 vs 7.77±5.14).The differences were mainly related to the weight,eating,symptom,as well as activity and physical function scores in the stratified analysis.Possible causes of the sex differences were the rates of nausea,vomiting,dry mouth,and other symptoms,in both gastric and esophageal cancer patients.Analysis of the TCGA database suggested that most of the related genes were sex neutral,except for genes related to dysphagia in gastric cancer(VEGFC was higher in female patients,VEGFA and VEGFB higher in male patients).Conclusions:There are sex differences in the PG-SGA scores in patients with various tumor types(female patients generally had higher scores than male patients),with differences mainly in the weight,eating,symptom,as well as activity and physical function scores.The sex differences in PG-SGA scores might be due to the differences in the clinical manifestations of the disease,and further studies should be carried out to investigate other factors influencing the PG-SGA scores in cancer patients.This study provides basic data supporting the individualized nutritional treatment of cancer patients in clinical practice.
基金This work was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2020YFA0908200 and 2021YFA1101300)GuangDong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(202201011198)+1 种基金Guangzhou Laboratory Key Research Foundation(TL22-21)R&D Program of Guangzhou National Laboratory(SRPG22-021).
文摘The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2(ACE2)is a primary cell surface viral binding receptor for SARS-CoV-2,so finding new regulatory molecules to modulate ACE2 expression levels is a promising strategy against COVID-19.In the current study,we utilized islet organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells(hESCs),animal models and COVID-19 patients to discover that fibroblast growth factor 7(FGF7)enhances ACE2 expression within the islets,facilitating SARS-CoV-2 infection and resulting in impaired insulin secretion.Using hESC-derived islet organoids,we demonstrated that FGF7 interacts with FGF receptor 2(FGFR2)and FGFR1 to upregulate ACE2 expression predominantly inβcells.This upregulation increases both insulin secretion and susceptibility ofβcells to SARS-CoV-2 infection.Inhibiting FGFR counteracts the FGF7-induced ACE2 upregulation,subsequently reducing viral infection and replication in the islets.Furthermore,retrospective clinical data revealed that diabetic patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms exhibited elevated serum FGF7 levels compared to those with mild symptoms.Finally,animal experiments indicated that SARS-CoV-2 infection increased pancreatic FGF7 levels,resulting in a reduction of insulin concentrations in situ.Taken together,our research offers a potential regulatory strategy for ACE2 by controlling FGF7,thereby protecting islets from SARS-CoV-2 infection and preventing the progression of diabetes in the context of COVID-19.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.42325503,42075063,42075066,and 42021004)the Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation and the Meteorological Innovation and Development Project of China(Grant No.2023AFD096)the Beijige Foundation of NJIAS(Grant No.BJG202304).
文摘The characteristics of summertime raindrop size distribution(DSD) and associated relations in the semi-arid region over the Inner Mongolian Plateau(IMP) were investigated,utilizing five-year continuous observations by a PARSIVEL2disdrometer in East Ujimqin County(EUC),China.It is found that only 7.94% of the 15 664 one-min precipitation samples meet classification criteria as convective rain(CR),but its contribution to the total rainfall amount is 63.87%.Notably,40.72% of the rainfall comes from large-sized raindrops(D> 3 mm),despite the fact that large-sized raindrops account for only 1.73% of the CR total number concentration.Further results show that the mean value of mass-weighted mean diameters(Dm) is larger(2.43 mm) and generalized intercepts(lgN_(W)) is lower(3.19) in CR,aligning with a "continentallike" cluster,which is mainly influenced by the joint impact of in-cloud ice-based processes and the below-cloud environmental background.Also,the empirical relationships of shape-slope(μ-Λ),radar reflectivity-rain rate(Z-R),and rainfall kinetic energy(KE_(time)-Rand KE_(time)-Z) are localized.To quantitatively analyze the impact of DSD parameters on kinetic energy estimation,power-law KE_(time)-R and KE_(time)-Z relationships are derived based on the normalized gamma distribution.N_(W)takes precedence over μ in affecting variabilities of multiplicative coefficients,especially for KE_(time)-R relationship where the multiplicative coefficient is proportional to N_(W)^(-0.287).It should be noted that although the proportion of CR occurring throughout the summer is small,raindrops with lower N_(W) and larger Dmwill generate higher KE_(time),which will bring a higher potential risk of soil erosion in semi-arid regions over IMP.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program(Grant No.2016YFC0600105)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41672094,41772080)。
文摘The gold deposits in the Jiaodong Peninsula constitute the largest gold mineralized province in China.The mineralization shows common characteristics in their tectonic setting,ore-forming fluid and metallogenic system.Sulfidation and fluid immiscibility are two important mechanisms controlling gold precipitation,both of which consume sulfur in the oreforming fluids.The escape of H2S from the main ore-forming fluids and the decrease of total sulfur concentration not only lead to the efficient precipitation of gold,but also result in the crystallization of reducing minerals such as pyrrhotite and oxidizing minerals such as magnetite.Quartz solubility shows strong dependence on temperature,pressure,and CO2 content.The dependence of quartz solubility on pressure is weak at low temperatures,and progressively stronger at higher temperatures.Similarly,the temperature dependence of quartz solubility is relatively low at low pressures,but becomes gradually stronger at high pressures.The results of solubility modeling can constrain the dissolution and reprecipitation behavior of quartz in the oreforming veins and the formation mechanism of different types of quartz veins.The multi-stage mineralization fluid activity resulted in the complex dissolution structure of quartz in the Jiaodong gold veins.Pyrite in the main metallogenic period in the Jiaodong gold deposits shows complex microstructure characteristics at single crystal scale.The trace elements(mainly the coupling of As-and Au-rich belt)and sulfur isotope composition also display a certain regularity.The As-rich fluids might have formed by the initial pulse of ore-forming fluids through As-rich metasedimentary strata,while the As-Au oscillation zone at the margin of pyrite grains is related to the pressure fluctuation caused by fault activity and the local phase separation of fluids.There is a temporal and spatial evolution of gold fineness in the Jiaodong gold deposits.Water/rock reaction(sulfidation)was the main ore-forming mechanism of early gold mineralization,forming relatively high fineness gold,while significant pressure drop in the shallow part accompanied by fluid phase separation promoted the late gold mineralization,forming low fineness gold.Under cratonic destruction setting,dehydration of the amphibolite and granulite facies metamorphic lower-crust resulted in the formation of Au-CO2-rich ore-forming fluids,which rose along the deep fault and secondary structure,and formed the largescale fault-controlled gold deposits in Jiaodong.
基金This research was funded by grants from National Key Research and Development Program of China(2018YFC0311002)High-Level Talent Special Support Plan of Zhejiang Province(2019R52009).
文摘Metabolites of microorganisms have long been considered as potential sources for drug discovery.In this study,fve new depsidone derivatives,talaronins A-E(1-5)and three new xanthone derivatives,talaronins F-H(6-8),together with 16 known compounds(9-24),were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the mangrove-derived fungus Talaromyces species WHUF0362.The structures were elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data and chemical methods including alkaline hydrolysis and Mosher’s method.Compounds 1 and 2 each attached a dimethyl acetal group at the aromatic ring.A putative biogenetic relationship of the isolated metabolites was presented and suggested that the depsidones and the xanthones probably had the same biosynthetic precursors such as chrysophanol or rheochrysidin.The antimicrobial activity assay indicated that compounds 5,9,10,and 14 showed potent activity against Helicobacter pylori with minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)values in the range of 2.42-36.04μmol/L.While secalonic acid D(19)demonstrated signifcant antimicrobial activity against four strains of H.pylori with MIC values in the range of 0.20 to 1.57μmol/L.Furthermore,secalonic acid D(19)exhibited cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines Bel-7402 and HCT-116 with IC_(50) values of 0.15 and 0.19μmol/L,respectively.The structure–activity relationship of depsidone derivatives revealed that the presence of the lactone ring and the hydroxyl at C-10 was crucial to the antimicrobial activity against H.pylori.The depsidone derivatives are promising leads to inhibit H.pylori and provide an avenue for further development of novel antibiotics.
