Succinylation of 14-3-3 theta by CPT1A promotes survival and paclitaxel resistance in nasal type extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: The aggressive and refractory extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL-NT) is a subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Succinylation promotes progression in a variety of tumors, but its mechanism in ENKTL-NT is unclear. METHODS: Bioinformatic analysis was performed to screen differentially expressed genes in the ENKTL dataset. Cell transfection techniques were used for knockdown and overexpression of genes. The mRNA and protein expression were detected using RT-qPCR and western blot, respectively. Immunohistochemical staining was used to assess protein expression in situ. For the detection of cell proliferation activity, CCK-8, clonal formation, and EDU staining assays were used. Flow cytometry was employed to detect apoptosis. Co-immunoprecipitation was utilized for the identification of protein interactions and succinylation modifications. RESULTS: Succinyltransferase CPT1A was highly elevated in ENKTL-NT and was associated with a dismal prognosis. CPT1A knockdown suppressed SNK-6 cells' proliferation and induced apoptosis, while these effects were reversed by the overexpression of 14-3-3theta. Co-immunoprecipitation results showed that CPT1A caused succinylation of 14-3-3theta at site of K85, thereby enhancing the protein stability. Suppression of CPT1A-induced succinylation of 14-3-3theta by ST1326 resulted in the inhibition of SNK-6 cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. Paclitaxel combined with knockdown of CPT1A significantly inhibited the proliferation of ENKTL-NT compared to paclitaxel alone. CONCLUSION: CPT1A induces succinylation of 14-3-3theta at the K85 site, promoting ENKTL-NT proliferation. The anti-ENKTL activity of paclitaxel was improved when combined with CPT1A knockdown.

An Isofibrous Diet with Fiber Konjac Glucomannan Ameliorates Salmonella typhimurium-Induced Colonic Injury by Regulating TLR2-NF-κB Signaling and Intestinal Microbiota in Mice.

This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that dietary konjac glucomannan (KGM) could alleviate Salmonella typhimurium-induced colitis by modulating intestinal microbiota. Mice were fed an isocaloric and isofibrous diet supplemented with either 7% KGM or cellulose and were treated with 5 × 108 CFU of S. typhimurium. The results showed that KGM had an average molecular weight of 936 kDa and predominantly consisted of mannose and glucose at a molar ratio of 1:1.22. In vivo studies demonstrated that dietary KGM effectively mitigated colonic lesions, oxidative stress, disruption of tight junction protein 2 and occludin, and the inflammatory response induced by S. typhimurium. Moreover, KGM administration alleviated the dramatic upregulation of toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and phosphonuclear factor κB (NF-κB) protein abundance, induced by Salmonella treatment. Notably, dietary KGM restored the reduced Muribaculaceae and Lactobacillus abundance and increased the abundance of Blautia and Salmonella in S. typhimurium-infected mice. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the gut microbiota improved by KGM contribute to inhibit inflammation and oxidative stress. These results demonstrated the protective effects of dietary KGM against colitis by modulating the gut microbiota and the TLR2-NF-κB signaling pathway in response to Salmonella infection.

Anomalous Long-Distance Coherence in Critically Driven Cavity Magnonics.

Developing quantum networks necessitates coherently connecting distant systems via remote strong coupling. Here, we demonstrate long-distance coherence in cavity magnonics operating in the linear regime. By locally setting the cavity near critical coupling with traveling photons, nonlocal magnon-photon coherence is established via strong coupling over a 2-m distance. We observe two anomalies in this long-distance coherence: first, the coupling strength oscillates twice the period of conventional photon-mediated couplings; second, clear mode splitting is observed within the cavity linewidth. Both effects cannot be explained by conventional coupled-mode theory, which reveals the tip of an iceberg of photon-mediated coupling in systems under critical driving. Our Letter shows the potential of using critical phenomena for harnessing long-distance coherence in distributed systems.

Learning pathways composed of core subjects with features of reducing cognitive load have better learning outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Changing the course duration or timing of subjects in learning pathways would influence medical students' learning outcomes. Curriculum designers need to consider the strategy of reducing cognitive load and evaluate it continuously. Our institution underwent gradual curricular changes characterized by reducing cognitive load since 2000. Therefore, we wanted to explore the impact of this strategy on our previous cohorts. METHODS: This cohort study explored learning pathways across academic years of more than a decade since 2000. Eight hundred eighty-two medical students between 2006 to 2012 were included eventually. Learning outcomes included an average and individual scores of subjects in different stages. Core subjects were identified as those where changes in duration or timing would influence learning outcomes and constitute different learning pathways. We examined whether the promising learning pathway defined as the pathway with the most features of reducing cognitive load has higher learning outcomes than other learning pathways in the exploring dataset. The relationship between features and learning outcomes was validated by learning pathways selected in the remaining dataset. RESULTS: We found nine core subjects, constituting four different learning pathways. Two features of extended course duration and increased proximity between core subjects of basic science and clinical medicine were identified in the promising learning pathway 2012, which also had the highest learning outcomes. Other pathways had some of the features, and pathway 2006 without such features had the lowest learning outcomes. The relationship between higher learning outcomes and cognitive load-reducing features was validated by comparing learning outcomes in two pathways with and without similar features of the promising learning pathway. CONCLUSION: An approach to finding a promising learning pathway facilitating students' learning outcomes was validated. Curricular designers may implement similar design to explore the promising learning pathway while considering potential confounding factors, including students, medical educators, and learning design of the course.

Activating innate immune responses repolarizes hPSC-derived CAR macrophages to improve anti-tumor activity.

Generation of chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-Ms) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) offers new prospects for cancer immunotherapy but is currently challenged by low differentiation efficiency and limited function. Here, we develop a highly efficient monolayer-based system that can produce around 6,000 macrophages from a single hPSC within 3 weeks. Based on CAR structure screening, we generate hPSC-CAR-Ms with stable CAR expression and potent tumoricidal activity in vitro. To overcome the loss of tumoricidal activity of hPSC-CAR-Ms in vivo, we use interferon-γ and monophosphoryl lipid A to activate an innate immune response that repolarizes the hPSC-CAR-Ms to tumoricidal macrophages. Moreover, through combined activation of T cells by hPSC-CAR-Ms, we demonstrate that activating a collaborative innate-adaptive immune response can further enhance the anti-tumor effect of hPSC-CAR-Ms in vivo. Collectively, our study provides feasible methodologies that significantly improve the production and function of hPSC-CAR-Ms to support their translation into clinical applications.

Iodine Status and Its Influencing Factors in Hospitalized and Healthy Preschool-Age Children.

Iodine is a trace element necessary for synthesizing thyroid hormones. It is especially crucial for the neurodevelopment and intellectual development of children. Preschool-age children admitted to the hospital tend to have more fragile physical and mental health, but few studies demonstrate their iodine status. Our study aimed to investigate the iodine status of hospitalized and healthy preschool-age children and to explore the factors influencing them. From January to December 2021, 426 children aged 3-6 years were admitted to the respiratory department for pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, or bronchiectasis, but they could eat normally and were recruited as hospitalized children. Six hundred ten healthy children aged 3-6 years were included. We collected anthropometric measurements and urine samples from hospitalized and healthy preschool-age children, and iodine status was assessed through urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and urinary iodine/creatinine ratio (UI/Cr). UIC was 40.1 and 166.1 µg/L for hospitalized and healthy preschool-age children, respectively (P < 0.001). Urinary creatinine concentration (UCr) was 0.2 and 0.8 g/L for hospitalized and healthy preschool-age children, respectively (P < 0.001). UIC decreased with increasing height z-scores in hospitalized children (Spearman's rho = -0.11, P = 0.022). A significantly increased risk of UIC < 100 µg/L was found in hospitalized children (OR = 9.1 (6.8, 12.2), P < 0.001) when compared to healthy children. In conclusion, hospitalized preschool-age children are likelier to have iodine insufficiency than healthy preschool-age children, especially those with good linear growth. Measures should be implemented to ensure adequate iodine intake of preschool-age children during hospitalization to avoid affecting their intellectual and physical development. Due to lower UCr in hospitalized children, creatinine is not appropriate for assessing iodine status in hospitalized children.

Novel inflammatory and insulin resistance indices provide a clue in cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

This study investigated the correlation of newly identified inflammatory and insulin resistance indices with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), and explored their potential to differentiate CAA from hypertensive arteriopathy (HA). We retrospectively analyzed 514 consecutive patients with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD)-related haemorrhage, comparing the differences in novel inflammatory and insulin resistance indices between patients with CAA and HA. Univariate regression, LASSO and multivariate regression were used to screen variables and construct a classification diagnosis nomogram. Additionally, these biomarkers were explored in patients with mixed haemorrhagic CSVD. Inflammatory indices were higher in CAA patients, whereas insulin resistance indices were higher in HA patients. Further analysis identified neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR, OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07-1.30, P < 0.001), and triglyceride-glucose index (TyG, OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.36-0.83, P = 0.005) as independent factors for CAA. Therefore, we constructed a CAA prediction nomogram without haemorrhagic imaging markers. The nomogram yielded an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.811 (95% CI 0.764-0.865) in the training set and 0.830 (95% CI 0.718-0.887) in the test set, indicating an ability to identify high-risk CAA patients. These results show that CSVD patients can be phenotyped using novel inflammatory and insulin resistance indices, potentially allowing identification of high-risk CAA patients without haemorrhagic imaging markers.

Picosecond alexandrite laser treatment of nevus of Ota in children.

BACKGROUND: The picosecond alexandrite laser has been safely and effectively used to treat the nevus of Ota in adults. However, limited data are available for children. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy, safety, and correlative influencing factors of a 755nm picosecond alexandrite laser in the treatment of nevus of Ota in children. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed Chinese children with nevus of Ota who received a 755nm picosecond alexandrite laser treatment in a tertiary dermatological hospital. RESULT: A total of 305 pediatric patients received an average of two treatments achieving an average of 79% pigment clearance. After the first treatment, 22 patients achieved complete clearance (95%-100%), and 72 patients achieved excellent response (75%-94%), with an average initial efficacy of 63% lesion clearance. Treatment at an early age achieved better initial efficacy (0- to 12-month group >1- to 6-year group, 6- to 12-year group). And 0- to 12-month group achieved better final efficacy. More treatment sessions also increased the final efficacy. Both initial efficacy and final efficacy were better when treating a darker lesion. The incidence of complications was 12.1%, with 10.8% being post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and 1.3% being hypopigmentation. The rate of recurrence was 6.6%. LIMITATION: Retrospective study. CONCLUSION: A 755nm picosecond alexandrite laser is safe and effective in treating nevus of Ota in children. Younger to initiate treatment, darker lesions, and more treatments are positively associated with better pigmentation clearance.

Dual Channel H2O2 Photosynthesis in Pure Water over S-Scheme Heterojunction Cs3PMo12/CC Boosted by Proton and Electron Reservoirs.

Dual channel photo-driven H2O2 production in pure water on small-scale on-site setups is a promising strategy to provide low-concentrated H2O2 whenever needed. This process suffers, however, strongly from the fast recombination of photo-generated charge carriers and the sluggish oxidation process. Here, insoluble Keggin-type cesium phosphomolybdate Cs3PMo12O40 (abbreviated to Cs3PMo12) is introduced to carbonized cellulose (CC) to construct S-scheme heterojunction Cs3PMo12/CC. Dual channel H2O2 photosynthesis from both H2O oxidation and O2 reduction in pure water has been thus achieved with the production rate of 20.1 mmol L-1 gcat. -1 h-1, apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 2.1% and solar-to-chemical conversion (SCC) efficiency of 0.050%. H2O2 accumulative concentration reaches 4.9 mmol L-1. This high photocatalytic activity is guaranteed by unique features of Cs3PMo12/CC, namely, S-scheme heterojunction, electron reservoir, and proton reservoir. The former two enhance the separation of photo-generated charge carriers, while the latter speeds up the torpid oxidation process. In situ experiments reveal that H2O2 is formed via successive single-electron transfer in both channels. In real practice, exposing the reaction system under natural sunlight outdoors successfully results in 0.24 mmol L-1 H2O2. This work provides a key practical strategy for designing photocatalysts in modulating redox half-reactions in photosynthesis.

Factors affecting the intention to wear helmets for e-bike riders: the case of Chinese college students.

As the popularity of electric bicycles (e-bikes) continues to surge, the number of accidents involving them has commensurately increased. A significant factor contributing to the high fatality rate in these accidents is the low usage of helmets among e-bike riders. Helmets have been proven to reduce the severity of injuries, yet their usage remains unexpectedly low. This issue is particularly pronounced among college students, the primary buyer group for e-bikes. Regrettably, there is a lack of research exploring their intentions to wear helmets. Understanding determinants of their intentions to wear helmets is crucial in promoting safe e-bike travel. Therefore, the present study aims to develop an integrated theoretical model that combines the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model (HBM) to examine the factors influencing e-bike riders' helmet-wearing intentions among college students. Additionally, two variables-descriptive norms and law enforcement-are incorporated. The results indicate that the integrated model accounts for 76% of the variance in helmet-wearing intention, surpassing single-theory models. Specifically, the TPB accounts for 65%, while the HBM explains 53%. Notably, law enforcement emerges as the most influential factor, highlighting the crucial role of enforcing regulations and promoting awareness. Other significant factors include subjective and descriptive norms, attitudes, perceived benefits, perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, and perceived severity. These findings provide valuable insights for policy development and targeted interventions aimed at improving helmet wear rates among e-bike riders, especially among the college student population.

Research on the Shale Reservoir Sensitivity by Using the Mineral Analysis Method.

Shale reservoirs have diverse mineral types, and analyzing the sensitivity of the mineral composition to shale pores is of great scientific and engineering significance. In this paper, first, X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments on shale mineral compositions are carried out, and the characteristics of pore structure changes after shale mineral compositions interacted with external fluids (slick water and backflow fluid) are elucidated. Then, the effects of quartz, kaolinite, and pyrite on the pore structure and permeability of shale on the susceptibility to slick water are studied. The results show that (a) quartz and clay minerals are the dominant constituents of each core, with some cores containing minor amounts of plagioclase feldspar and rhodochrosite. (b) The composition of the shale changed significantly following the action of external fluids. The average quartz content of pure shale decreased from 31.62% to 29.1%. The average content of quartz in siliceous shale decreased from 36.53% to 33.5%. The average content of quartz in carbonaceous shale decreased from 9.15% to 8.05%. (c) Factors affecting the sensitivity of shale pore structure and permeability to slick water are mainly quartz, kaolinite, and pyrite. The contents of quartz, kaolinite, and pyrite decreased by an average of 5.1%, 4.6%, and 0.9%, respectively, after slick water action.

Effects of stock enhancement on the macrobenthic community and ecological health in the intertidal zone of the estuarine wetland in Nanhui, China.

Nanhui Dongtan Wetland is an important part of Yangtze Estuary Wetland, and its species diversity has been affected by reclamation in recent years. To increase the diversity of species in reclamation areas, stock enhancement was implemented in the Nanhui Dongtan Wetland in May 2020 as a method of ecological restoration. We investigated macrobenthos before and after release, analysed changes in the macrobenthos and evaluated the ecological health of the sampled area. The diversity index showed species were more abundant and community structure were more diversified after release. Functional groups and redundancy analysis showed that the effects of stock enhancement on macrobenthos in Nanhui Dongtan wetland may be based on changes in secondary productivity. Stock enhancement may promote the resistance of macrobenthic communities to organic pollution without negatively affecting ecological health. As a method of ecological restoration, stock enhancement will play a positive role in the restoration of macrobenthic communities.

Graph-Based Pangenome of Actinidia chinensis Reveals Structural Variations Mediating Fruit Degreening.

Fruit ripening is associated with the degreening process (loss of chlorophyll) that occurs in most fruit species. Kiwifruit is one of the special species whose fruits may maintain green flesh by accumulating a large amount of chlorophyll even after ripening. However, little is known about the genetic variations related to the fruit degreening process. Here, a graph-based kiwifruit pangenome by analyzing 14 chromosome-scale haplotype-resolved genome assemblies from seven representative cultivars or lines in Actinidia chinensis is built. A total of 49,770 non-redundant gene families are identified, with core genes constituting 46.6%, and dispensable genes constituting 53.4%. A total of 84,591 non-redundant structural variations (SVs) are identified. The pangenome graph integrating both reference genome sequences and variant information facilitates the identification of SVs related to fruit color. The SV in the promoter of the AcBCM gene determines its high expression in the late developmental stage of fruits, which causes chlorophyll accumulation in the green-flesh fruits by post-translationally regulating AcSGR2, a key enzyme of chlorophyll catabolism. Taken together, a high-quality pangenome is constructed, unraveled numerous genetic variations, and identified a novel SV mediating fruit coloration and fruit quality, providing valuable information for further investigating genome evolution and domestication, QTL genes function, and genomics-assisted breeding.

Genetic Landscape and Its Prognostic Impact in Children With Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.

CONTEXT.­: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare myeloid neoplasm that predominantly affects young children. OBJECTIVE.­: To investigate genetic alterations and their correlation with clinical characteristics and prognosis in pediatric LCH. DESIGN.­: We performed targeted sequencing to detect mutations in LCH lesions from pediatric patients. RESULTS.­: A total of 30 genomic alterations in 5 genes of the MAPK pathway were identified in 187 of 223 patients (83.9%). BRAF V600E (B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase) was the most common mutation (51.6%), followed by MAP2K1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1) alterations (17.0%) and other BRAF mutations (13.0%). ARAF (A-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase) and KRAS (KRAS proto-oncogene, GTPase) mutations were relatively rare (2.2% and 0.9%, respectively). Additionally, FNBP1 (formin-binding protein 1)::BRAF fusion and MAP3K10 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 10) mutations A17T and R823C were identified in 1 case each, with possible constitutive activation of ERK1/2 phosphorylation. BRAF V600E was more frequent in patients with risk organ involvement, while MAP2K1 mutation was more prevalent in patients with single-system LCH (P = .001). BRAF V600E was associated with craniofacial bone, skin, liver, spleen, and ear involvement (all P < .05). Patients with other BRAF mutations had a higher proportion of spinal column involvement (P = .006). Univariate analysis showed a significant difference in progression-free survival among the 4 molecular subgroups for patients treated with first-line therapy (P = .02). According to multivariate analysis, risk organ involvement was the strongest independent adverse prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 8.854; P < .001); BRAF or MAP2K1 mutation was not an independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS.­: Most pediatric patients with LCH carry somatic mutations involving the MAPK pathway, correlating with clinical characteristics and outcomes for first-line chemotherapy.

Association of Oxidative Stress on Cognitive Function: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomisation Study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between oxidative stress and cognitive function, encompassing cognitive performance, intelligence, memory, reaction time, speech and vision by a bidirectional Mendelian randomisation study. Independent genetic variants associated with glutathione S-transferase (GST), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), peroxiredoxin (PRDX), sulfhydryl oxidase (SOX) and thyroid peroxidase (TPO) were explored using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The inverse variance weighted (IVW) or Wald ratio method was employed to ascertain the relationship between antioxidant enzymes and cognitive function. The MR analyses indicated that the MR effect estimates of GST (ß = 0.0352, P = 0.0047, FDR = 0.0164) and TPO (ß = 0.0531, P = 0.0003, FDR = 0.0021) were significantly associated with cognitive performance elevation. Furthermore, genetically predicted GST (ß = 0.0334, P = 0.0043, FDR = 0.0151) and TPO (ß = 0.0496, P = 0.0031, FDR = 0.0151) were found to be associated with high intelligence. Additionally, there were also some associations of SOX (ß = 0.0243, P = 0.0283, FDR = 0.066) on high cognitive performance, TPO (ß = 0.1189, P = 0.0315, FDR = 0.2205) on larger maximum digits remembered correctly, and SOX (ß = - 0.2435, P = 0.0395, FDR = 0.1185) on reaction time. Nevertheless, the associations between antioxidant enzymes and speech and linguistic disorders, as well as visual disturbances, were not significant. We did not find reverse causation between antioxidant enzymes and cognitive function traits. This study provides evidence of potential causal relationships between oxidative stress and cognitive function.

Urolithin A Inhibits Anterior Basolateral Amygdala to Ventral Hippocampal CA1 Circuit to Ameliorate Amyloid-ß-Impaired Social Ability.

Background: Anxiety and social withdrawal are highly prevalent among patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the neural circuit mechanisms underlying these symptoms remain elusive, and there is a need for effective prevention strategies. Objective: This study aims to elucidate the neural circuitry mechanisms underlying social anxiety in AD. Methods: We utilized 5xFAD mice and conducted a series of experiments including optogenetic manipulation, Tandem Mass Tag-labeled proteome analysis, behavioral assessments, and immunofluorescence staining. Results: In 5xFAD mice, we observed significant amyloid-ß (Aß) accumulation in the anterior part of basolateral amygdala (aBLA). Behaviorally, 6-month-old 5xFAD mice displayed excessive social avoidance during social interaction. Concurrently, the pathway from aBLA to ventral hippocampal CA1 (vCA1) was significantly activated and exhibited a disorganized firing patterns during social interaction. By optogenetically inhibiting the aBLA-vCA1 pathway, we effectively improved the social ability of 5xFAD mice. In the presence of Aß accumulation, we identified distinct changes in the protein network within the aBLA. Following one month of administration of Urolithin A (UA), we observed significant restoration of the abnormal protein network within the aBLA. UA treatment also attenuated the disorganized firings of the aBLA-vCA1 pathway, leading to an improvement in social ability. Conclusions: The aBLA-vCA1 circuit is a vulnerable pathway in response to Aß accumulation during the progression of AD and plays a crucial role in Aß-induced social anxiety. Targeting the aBLA-vCA1 circuit and UA administration are both effective strategies for improving the Aß-impaired social ability.

How Mandarin-English bilinguals interpret qián/forward: impact of language proficiencies on retrieval of temporal concepts.

Mandarin qián and English forward are semantically equivalent in the domain of Space, but could be semantically opposite in the domain of Time. In other words, equivalent spatial lexical items could convey opposite temporal concepts. What temporal concepts conveyed by qián and forward would be retrieved by Mandarin-English (M-E) bilinguals with different language proficiencies? Drawing a sample from college students in Mainland China, this study examines how L1 and L2 proficiencies would affect M-E bilinguals' retrieval of temporal concepts by examining their interpretation of the Mandarin temporal metaphor of qián and the English temporal metaphors of forward. The results show that L1 temporal concepts would be retrieved more frequently than L2 temporal concepts regardless of the testing languages, that L1 and L2 proficiencies were not predictors for the way of interpretation, and that the higher L2 proficiency group could retrieve temporal concepts in line with the testing languages with higher accuracy than the lower L2 proficiency group. The findings suggest that bilinguals with higher L2 proficiency may be able to represent temporal concepts with language tags or may have an attentional and/or inhibitory control advantage.

Performance-Based Hierarchical Fault-Tolerant Control for Closed-Loop Systems With Multiplicative Faults: A Data-Driven Design Method.

Fault-tolerant control (FTC) is vital for the safety and reliability of automatic systems. Most of the existing FTC methods are developed for open-loop systems subject to additive faults, regardless of the widely present control loops and multiplicative faults within systems. In this article, a performance-based FTC strategy is proposed for the closed-loop systems with multiplicative faults. Considering the high efforts in modeling complex systems, the proposed FTC strategy is realized in the data-driven context. Specifically, a nominal feedback-feedforward controller is first established for the fault-free systems. By selecting the system stability and reference tracking behavior as the key performance indices, two performance evaluators are constructed to detect and classify the occurred multiplicative faults based on the fault-induced effects on the system performance. Then, with the aid of the coprime factorization technique, the multiplicative faults, in the form of additive perturbations to the system coprime factors, are estimated utilizing the closed-loop process data. Furthermore, based on the fault knowledge, a hierarchical fault-tolerant tracking controller is developed according to the levels of system performance degradations, where the functional controller parameters are reconfigured with different priorities. Finally, case studies are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Fasting Blood Glucose and Diabetes in 20 Million Chinese Women of Reproductive Age.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence of the associations between fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and diabetes risk from women of reproductive age, in whom diabetes may have adverse long-term health effects for both themselves and future generations, remains scarce. We therefore examined the associations of long-term PM2.5 exposure with fasting blood glucose (FBG) level and diabetes risk in women of reproductive age in China. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study included 20,076,032 women age 20-49 years participating in the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project in China between 2010 and 2015. PM2.5 was estimated using a satellite-based model. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of PM2.5 exposure with FBG level and diabetes risk, respectively. Diabetes burden attributable to PM2.5 was estimated using attributable fraction (AF) and attributable number. RESULTS: PM2.5 showed monotonic relationships with elevated FBG level and diabetes risk. Each interquartile range (27 µg/m3) increase in 3-year average PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 0.078-mmol/L (95% CI 0.077, 0.079) increase in FBG and 18% (95% CI 16%, 19%) higher risk of diabetes. The AF attributed to PM2.5 exposure exceeding 5 µg/m3 was 29.0% (95% CI 27.5%, 30.5%), corresponding to an additional 78.6 thousand (95% CI 74.5, 82.6) diabetes cases. Subgroup analyses showed more pronounced diabetes risks in those who were overweight or obese, age >35 years, less educated, of minority ethnicity, registered as a rural household, and residing in western China. CONCLUSIONS: We found long-term PM2.5 exposure was associated with higher diabetes risk in women of reproductive age in China.

Reversible Photochromism of 4,4'-Disubstituted 2,2'-Bipyridine in the Presence of SO3.

We report an unusual photochromic behavior of 4,4'-disubstituted-2,2'-bipyridine. It was found that in the presence of a SO3 source and HCl, 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dibutyl ester undergoes a color change from yellow to magenta in solution with maximum absorbance at 545 nm upon irradiation with 395 nm light. The photochromism is thermally reversible in solution. Different from the known bipyridine-based photoswitching pathways, the photo response does not involve any metal which form colored complexes or the formation of colored free radical cations like the photo-reduction of viologens. A combination of experimental and computational analysis was used to probe the mechanism. The results suggest the colored species to be a complex formed between N-oxide of the 2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dibutyl ester and SO2; the N-oxide and SO2 are formed from photoactivated oxidation of the bipyridine with SO3 serving as the oxygen source. This complex represents a new addition to the library of photoswitches that is easy to synthesize, reversible in solution, and of high fatigue resistance, making it a promising candidate for applications in photo-switchable materials and SO3 detection. We also demonstrated experimentally similar photochromic behaviors with 2,2'-bipyridine-containing polymers.