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Experimental study on dynamic response of existing tunnel lining structure by adjacent tunnel blasting load
Unveiling genetic signatures of immune response in immune-related diseases through single-cell eQTL analysis across diverse conditions
Abstract Deciphering the intricate regulatory mechanisms underlying biological processes holds promise for elucidating how genetic variants contribute to immune-related disorders. We map genetic effects on gene expression (expression quantitative trait locus, eQTL) using single-cell transcriptomes of 152 samples from 38 healthy individuals, covering baseline state and lipopolysaccharide challenge either before or after Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination. Interestingly, we uncover a monocyte eQTL linked to the LCP1, shedding light on inter-individual variations in trained immunity. Furthermore, we elucidate genetic and epigenetic regulatory networks of CD55 and SLFN5. Of note, our results support the pivotal roles of SLFN5 in COVID-19 pathogenesis by incorporating disease-associated loci, chromatin accessibility, and transcription factor binding affinities, aligning with the established functions of SLFN5 in restricting virus replication during viral infection. Our study provides a paradigm to decipher genetic underpinnings of complex traits by integrating single-cell eQTLs with multi-omics data from patients and public databases.
A Mendelian randomization study of the gut microbiota and risk of knee osteoarthritis and the mediating role of immune cells
Revealing the interplay between decarbonisation, circularity, and cost-effectiveness in building energy renovation
Accelerating RRT* convergence with novel nonuniform and uniform sampling approach
Abstract Path planning plays a crucial role in autonomous mobile robotics. Sampling-based path planners are widely and frequently employed to generate collision-free paths between a start and goal location. Due to its asymptotic optimality, the optimal rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT*) algorithm is the most widely used among these. However, its reliance on uniform sampling often results in slow convergence. To address this issue, this work proposes a novel hybrid sampling method called RRT*-NUS (nonuniform–uniform sampler), which combines both uniform and nonuniform sampling to improve exploration efficiency. The proposed RRT*-NUS method is evaluated against six baseline algorithms: RRT*, Informed RRT*, RRT*-N (normal sampling RRT*), GS-RRT* (goal-oriented sampling RRT*), DR-RRT* (directional random sampling RRT*), and hybrid-RRT* in three different 384*384 2D simulation scenarios. The numerical simulation results indicate that the proposed RRT*-NUS surpasses the baseline RRT* algorithms in terms of planning time and convergence. It outperforms RRT* by 67.5% and Hybrid RRT* by 54% in time performance. Additionally, it achieves a convergence rate of 0.41 units/s, which is 3× faster than RRT* and almost 2× faster than Hybrid RRT*.
Miocene African topography induces decoupling of Somali Jet and South Asian summer monsoon rainfall
Abstract The Miocene epoch, marked by significant tectonic and climatic shifts, presents a unique period to study the evolution of South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) dynamics. Previous studies have shown conflicting evidence: wind proxies from the western Arabian Sea suggest a weaker Somali Jet during the Middle Miocene compared to the Late Miocene, while rain-related records indicate increased SASM rainfall. This apparent decoupling of monsoonal winds and rainfall has challenged our understanding of SASM variability. Here, using the fully coupled EC-Earth3 model, we identify a key driver of this decoupling: changes in African topography rather than other external forcings such as CO2 change. Our simulations reveal that changes in Miocene African topography weakened the cross-equatorial Somali Jet and reduced upwelling in the western Arabian Sea, while simultaneously enhancing monsoonal rainfall by inducing atmospheric circulation anomalies over the Arabian Sea. The weakened Somali Jet fostered a positive Indian Ocean Dipole-like warming pattern, further amplifying the monsoonal rainfall through ocean-atmosphere feedbacks. In contrast, CO2 forcing enhances both Somali Jet and rainfall simultaneously, showing no decoupling effect. These findings reconcile the discrepancies between wind and rainfall proxies and highlight the critical role of African topography in shaping the multi-stage evolution of the SASM system.
High-performance PTFE composites from industrial scrap with enhanced strength and wear resistance
Abstract Due to the high cost of raw materials, this work aims to utilize polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) scrap generated from industrial waste to produce composites possessing superior properties for potential use in various industrial applications. In this respect, PTFE-based composites reinforced with mono- and hybrid granite and boron carbide (B4C) nanoparticles are produced using powder metallurgy (PM) technology. The sintered composites’ physical, mechanical, tribological, and thermal properties and the phase composition and microstructure were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques, respectively. The results indicated that the phase composition of the prepared composites did not change. Adding granite and/or B4C to the PTFE base increased the bulk density and the total porosity, while the relative density decreased. In addition, after adding 5 vol% granite/5 vol% B4C (PTFE6 sample), there was a clear improvement in mechanical properties, including microhardness, ultimate, and Young’s modulus, reaching 123.29%, 91.33%, and 74.17% compared with the unreinforced sample (PTFE0). Moreover, there was a noticeable improvement in the wear rate, fraction coefficient, and thermal expansion coefficient (CTE) value for the same sample, which decreased by approximately 37.17%, 36.50%, and 61.64%.
Adaptive-learning physics-assisted light-field microscopy enables day-long and millisecond-scale super-resolution imaging of 3D subcellular dynamics
Influence of capping chemotherapy prescriptions on efficacy and tolerability in medium and high-risk early-stage breast cancer
Abstract Capping body surface area (BSA) at 2.0 m 2 is a common clinical practice. This empirical practice is intended to mitigate toxicities. In this context, the objective of this study was to investigate in curative situation whether capping chemotherapy prescriptions at 2.0 m 2 had an influence on the efficacy and tolerance of treatment in patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Data from patients with a body surface area (BSA) greater than 2.0 m² who received treatment for medium and high-risk early-stage breast cancer, either in (neo)adjuvant settings, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2018, were examined. Patients were divided into four categories based on the percentage of chemotherapy capping throughout the treatment duration: [90–100]: the reference group, representing fully capped chemotherapy with capping exceeding 90%; [50–90[: capped chemotherapy ranging from 50 to 90%; [10–50[: capped chemotherapy between 10% and 50%; and [0–10[: representing non-capped chemotherapy. A total of 130 patients were included in the analysis, with a median age at diagnosis of 57 years (Interquartile range (IQR): 48–63) and a mean BSA of 2.07 m². Chemotherapy was provided as an adjuvant treatment to 86.9% of the participants. Depending on the capping group, the hematological toxicities were almost similar in all groups whereas non-hematological toxicities were slightly higher in the capped group between [10–50[. Similarly, chemotherapy dose reduction was also higher in capped group between [10–50[in comparison with other groups. A significant difference was observed in non-hematological toxicities of grade ≥ 2 between the reference group [90–100] and the capping group [10–50[(OR 3.59; 95% CI [1.26–10.22], p = 0.017). Prospective studies are needed to support the practice of capping, particularly in curative situations.
Nucleus-translocated glucokinase functions as a protein kinase to phosphorylate TAZ and promote tumour growth
Long term efficacy and safety of MICT of cardiopulmonary function in patients after TAVR extended follow up of ENERGY study
Flexible metal-organic framework films for reversible low-pressure carbon capture and release
Abstract Transitioning metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) from laboratory-scale to carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage applications (CCS) requires in-depth understanding of their adsorption properties and structural stability, especially for film assemblies. However, evaluating their performance is challenging, particularly under low or moderate CO2 pressure conditions, which are key for cost and performance efficiency. Herein, we explore the low-pressure CO2 uptake and release within flexible Zn-based MOF film structures with diverse ligand functionalities, employing quartz crystal microbalance, synchrotron radiation-based infrared spectromicroscopy and grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. To investigate CO2 adsorption and its interaction with Zn-MOF pores, we exploited the framework’s flexibility by triggering structural changes and thus variations of the pore-environment using two stimuli, temperature and light. Results show considerable promise for stimuli-induced on-demand CO2 capture and release at low pressures, demonstrating structural reversibility under near-ambient conditions and highlighting the potential of tailored MOF film structures in advancing green CCS-technologies.
Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups
Abstract Police lineups are conducted with varying delays between the crime and the lineup. Crime-to-lineup delays may adversely affect the detection of the presence and absence of the culprit in the lineup and may potentially affect guessing-based selection. In the present study we examined how these processes change across four crime-to-lineup delays. Participants viewed a staged-crime video and then completed simultaneous photo lineups after no delay or after a delay of one day, one week or one month. The results showed a significant decline in the probability of culprit-presence detection. The form of the decline is best described by a power function with the most rapid decline occurring at short crime-to-lineup delays. Eyewitnesses did not compensate the decline in culprit-presence detection by increasing guessing-based selection, as demonstrated by the fact that the probability of guessing-based selection remained constant across crime-to-lineup delays. The findings underscore the critical importance of conducting lineups as soon as possible after a crime to maximize the probability of memory-based-culprit detection.
Cell surface crowding is a tunable energetic barrier to cell-cell fusion
Abstract Cell-cell fusion is fundamental to processes such as muscle formation and viral infection. An essential step in fusion is close membrane apposition, but cell membranes are crowded with proteins, glycoproteins, and glycolipids, which must be cleared before a fusion pore can be nucleated. Here, we find that cell surface crowding reduces fusogenicity independent of how fusion is driven. We estimate that crowding presents an energetic barrier to membrane apposition on the scale of ~ $${100k}_{{\mbox{B}}}T$$ 100 k B T , greater than that of bare membrane fusion alone. We show that increasing cell surface crowding reduces fusion efficiency of PEG-mediated and fusogen-mediated cell-cell fusion, as well as synthetic membranes under force. Interestingly, we find that differentiating myoblasts naturally decrease their surface crowding prior to fusion. In this work, we show that cell surface crowding presents an underappreciated biophysical barrier that may be tuned developmentally and could be targeted externally to control tissue-specific cell-cell fusion.
Women’s empowerment and nutritional outcomes in India
Multilingual sentiment analysis in restaurant reviews using aspect focused learning
Mathematical methods to model double strip cylindrical fruit preserver using water as heat absorber
Comparison of Niosomal formulation of citrus limon peel extracts and doxorubicin effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells
Real-world study of first-line immunotherapy combined with chemoradiotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Abstract This study aimed to assess the effectiveness, safety, and recurrence patterns of first-line immunotherapy combined with chemoradiotherapy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients. A retrospective analysis of 79 eligible ESCC patients was conducted. Primary outcomes included overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), with secondary outcomes being objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DOR), treatment-related adverse events (trAEs), and treatment failure patterns. The median follow-up was 29.4 months, with median OS unreached and median PFS of 14.6 months (95% CI 10.7–18.5). ORR was 82.3%, and DOR was 96.2%. Factors affecting OS were clinical stage, immunotherapy cycles, immunotherapy and chemoradiotherapy sequence, radiation coverage, mid-treatment lymphocyte count, and short-term efficacy (HR = 2.254, 0.374, 2.653, 2.957, 2.309, 2.789; P = 0.030, 0.019, 0.009, 0.004, 0.001, 0.014). Factors impacting PFS were clinical stage, immunotherapy and chemoradiotherapy, and post-treatment lymphocyte count (HR = 2.135, 2.048, 1.911; P = 0.007, 0.010, 0.001). Among the cohort, 46.8% experienced treatment failure, with 33 receiving second-line treatment, resulting in a median OS of 14.17 months (95% CI 7.303–21.037) and 1- and 2-year OS rates of 56.7% and 24.3%. Notably, 36.7% experienced grade ≥ 2 trAEs, bone marrow suppression most commonly happened, and 5.1% developed esophageal fistulas. Immunotherapy combined with chemoradiotherapy demonstrates strong anti-tumor activity and tolerability in ESCC patients, The radiation for all leisions, sequential immunotherapy combined with chemoradiotherapy, and higher levels of lymph node cell counts are associated with a better prognosis. Large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed for further validation.