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The ubiquitous smart meters are expected to be a central feature of future smart grids because they enable the collection of massive amounts of fine-grained consumption data to support demand-side flexibility. However, current smart meters are not smart enough. They can only perform basic data collection and communication functions and cannot carry out on-device intelligent data analytics due to hardware constraints in terms of memory, computation, and communication capacity. Moreover, privacy concerns have hindered the utilization of data from distributed smart meters. Here, we present an end-edge-cloud federated split learning framework to enable collaborative model training on resource-constrained smart meters with the assistance of edge and cloud servers in a resource-efficient and privacy-enhancing manner. The proposed method is validated on a hardware platform to conduct building and household load forecasting on smart meters that only have 192 KB of static random-access memory (SRAM). We show that the proposed method can reduce the memory footprint by 95.5%, the training time by 94.8%, and the communication burden by 50% under the distributed learning framework and can achieve comparable or superior forecasting accuracy to that of conventional methods trained on high-capacity servers. Smart meters collect detailed consumption data but struggle with on-device analytics due to hardware and privacy issues. The authors propose an end-edge-cloud federated split learning framework to introduce edge intelligence, reducing memory, training time, and communication burden while maintaining accuracy.

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with various rheumatic diseases. However, more interventions need to be sought. Tripterine, an extract of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F, has been widely studied for its powerful anti-inflammatory effect. However, its mechanism of action in treating connective tissue disease-related (CTD)-ILD remains unclear. Purpose: To investigate the mechanism of tripterine in CTD-ILD treatment by combining network pharmacology and an in vivo experiment. Methods: The related targets of tripterine were obtained after searching the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform, Comparative Toxicogenomics Database, GeneCards, Search Tool for Interacting Chemicals database, and SymMap database. Following this, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, GeneCards, Genebank, and DrugBank were used to screen the targets of CTD-ILD. A target-signalling pathway network was constructed using Cytoscape. Additionally, topological analysis was performed. Protein interaction analysis was performed using the STRING online analysis platform. Following this, Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signalling pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Subsequently, the molecular docking between tripterine and the core targets was verified. Finally, experimental verification was performed in bleomycin-induced model mice. Results: A total of 134 common targets and 10 core targets of tripterine, including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, tumour necrosis factor (TNF), v-rel avian reticuloendotheliosis viral oncogene homolog A, protein kinase B (Akt) α (Akt1), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 1, Jun transcription factor family, tumour protein 53, MAPK3, nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1, and caspase 8, were obtained. GO enrichment analysis revealed that, while treating CTD-ILD, tripterine was mainly involved in cytokine receptor binding, receptor-ligand activity, signal receptor activation, cytokine activity, protein ubiquitination, deoxyribonucleic acid transcriptase activity, etc. The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the most significant signalling pathways were multiple viral infections and the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, TNF, and apoptosis signalling pathways. Molecular docking results revealed that tripterine had good docking activity with the core targets. Experimental studies also demonstrated that tripterine could inhibit the activation of PI3K/Akt, apoptosis, and TNF-α signalling pathways in lung tissue and significantly improve lung pathology and collagen deposition in the model mice. Conclusions: This study preliminarily revealed the potential molecular biological mechanism of tripterine while treating CTD-ILD might be related to inhibiting the PI3K/Akt, apoptosis, and TNF-α signalling pathways. Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. and its extract could be used clinically for treating CTD-ILD.

Background: Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F (TwHF), a Chinese herbal medicine used to treat CTD-ILD patients in China, has been previously found to have immunoinhibitory, antifibrotic and anti inflammatory effects. It has also shown good results in treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TwHF for CTD-ILD. Methods: A systematic search was performed on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and CBM databases up to May 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing TwHF plus conventional therapy versus conventional therapy alone were included. We followed the PRISMA checklist, and applied Cochrane handbook 5.1.0 and RevMan 5.3 for data analysis and quality evaluation of the included studies. Results: Based on Cochrane handbook 5.1.0, nine RCTs consisting 650 patients met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were selected for further analysis. The obtained data showed significant improvement in lung function with TwHF plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment (post-treatment FVC% (MD= 8.68, 95%Cl (5.10, 12.26), p < 0.00001), FEV1% (MD = 11.24, 95%Cl (6.87, 15.61), p < 0.00001), TLC% (MD = 5.28, 95%Cl (0.69, 9.87), p = 0.02)], but no significant difference in the post-treatment DLCO% [(MD = 4.40, 95%Cl (−2.29, 11.09), p = 0.20)]. Moreover, the data showed that TwHF combined with conventional treatment significantly reduced the HRCT integral of patients [MD = -0.65, 95% (-1.01, -0.30), p = 0.0003], the level of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (MD = −9.52, 95%Cl (−11.55, −7.49), p < 0.00001), c-reactive protein (CRP) (MD = −8.42, 95%Cl (−12.47, −4.38), p < 0.0001), and rheumatoid factor (MD = −25.48, 95%Cl (−29.36, −21.60), p < 0.00001). Compared to conventional therapy, TwHF combined with conventional therapy significantly improved clinical effects (RR = 1.33, 95%Cl (1.17, 1.51), p < 0.0001), in five trials with 354 patients. In terms of improvement of symptoms and signs, the TwHF group showed a more significant improvement than the conventional treatment group (Cough (MD = −0.96, 95%Cl (−1.43, −0.50), p < 0.0001), velcro rales (MD = −0.32, 95%Cl (−0.44, −0.20), p < 0.00001), shortness of breath (MD = −1.11, 95%Cl (−1.67, −0.56), p < 0.0001)], but no statistical difference in dyspnea (MD = −0.66, 95%Cl (−1.35, 0.03), p = 0.06). There was no statistical significance in the incidence of adverse reactions. Conclusion: The performed meta-analysis indicated that TwHF combined with conventional treatment was more beneficial to patients for improving symptoms, lung function and laboratory indicators. As it included studies with relatively small sample size, the findings require confirmation by further rigorously well-designed RCTs.

The conversion of ethyl levulinate (EL) to produce γ-valerolactone (GVL) through catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) reaction plays a crucial role in the field of biomass catalytic conversion. In this work, a novel Zr-base catalyst with phenate group, phenolic hydroxyl and carboxyl in its structure was prepared by the co-precipitation of natural sources gallic acid and ZrCl4. It was found that Zr-GA has an excellent catalytic performance for this reaction and satisfactory GVL yield could be achieved. Besides, Zr-GA could be easily separated from the reaction system and reused at least six times without a significantly decrease in activity. Meanwhile, various characterizations had proved that Zr-GA is a porous material with acid–base bifunctional sites. The main reason for the high catalytic activity of the Zr-GA was that the synergetic effects of Lewis acid/base sites and Brønsted acid sites and appropriate textural properties. In addition, a possible reaction mechanism was proposed in conjunction with the poisoning experiment and previous reports. The heterogeneous catalyst Zr-GA prepared with gallic acid as a raw material has low cost and recyclability, and has great potential in green chemistry.

Carbon based solid acids (CSAs) were prepared from cellulose and lignin at different carbonization temperatures and applied to hydrolysis of cellulose, which is of great significance for the multiple utilization of biomass. The structure and performance of cellulose based solid acids (CCSAs) and lignin based solid acids (LCSAs) were investigated by TG-DTG, XRD, FT-IR, XPS, elemental analysis, titration methods, etc. And immersion enthalpy was introduced into estimating the hydrophilicity of CSAs. The results show that the optimum carbonization temperature varies for raw material, and the optimum carbonization temperatures of cellulose and lignin are 683 and 653 K respectively. The adsorption capacities of CCSAs and LCSAs may not only be related to phenolic OH density, but may also relate to alkyl side chains and aromatic frameworks. Compared with LCSAs, the CCSAs possess higher immersion enthalpy, indicating that the CCSAs are more easily accessible to substrate, which contributes to hydrolysis. The hydrolysis activities of CCSAs are always higher than those of LCSAs, which may be due to a higher –SO 3 H groups densities and better accessibility between substrate and acid sites for CCSAs. These are determined by a big difference in the chemical composition between cellulose and lignin.

Background Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) is also known as autoimmune exocrine gland disease. Previous studies have confirmed that adaptive immunity plays an important role in the development of this disease. But less is known about the role of the innate immune system. Methods To identify the core pathways, and local infiltrated immune cells in the local immune microenvironment of SS. We verified the activation of these core genes and core signaling pathways in SS model mice by in vivo experiment and transcriptome sequencing. Results Finally, we identified 6 core genes EPSTI1, IFI44L, MX1, CXCL10, IFIT3, and IFI44. All the 6 genes had good diagnostic value. Based on multi-omics sequencing results and experimental studies, we found that cGAS–STING signaling pathway is most relevant to the pathogenesis of SS. By in vivo experiments, we verified that autophagy is the key brake to limit the activation of cGAS–STING signaling pathway. Conclusions Maladaptive activation of autophagy and cGAS–STING signaling pathway are central contributors to the SG pathogenesis of pSS patient. Regulating autophagy by rapamycin may be a possible treatment for Sjögren's syndrome in the future.

To the Editor,Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare, destructive and progressive neoplastic disease, generally arises in the lung and occurs predominantly in women of childbearing age or premenopausal age [1]. Primary extrapulmonary LAM is extremely rare, with only a handful of cases being reported, leading to limited information being available regarding the pathologic characteristics. Here we report two cases of LAM of the pelvic lymph node, accidentally discovered after surgical staging of ovarian malignancy. This report shows that occult LAM can be detected in surgical staging of pelvic tumors. The diagnosis should be based on clinicopathological features and immunohistochemical examination, to avoid a missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.Written informed consent was obtained from the patient described in this letter, and the investigation was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975). The ethics committees of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University approved this study.The first case was of a 55-year-old postmenopausal woman admitted to the hospital with abnormal uterine bleeding for more than 2 months. Doppler ultrasound suggested mixed cystic-solid echogenicity in the posterior uterus with a size of 10  9.5  7.5 cm, leading to a differential diagnosis of malignant tumor with pelvic lymph node metastasis. The second case was of a 54-year-old woman, who presented with a mass in her right ovary. The patient underwent an oophorectomy ten years ago, for clear cell carcinoma of the left ovary. After reviewing the abdominal computed tomography, a space-occupying lesion was seen in the right ovary, but no further treatment was given at the time and the tumor gradually enlarged. Total hysterectomy, bilateral adnexectomy and lymph node dissection were performed in both patients. Their past and family histories were unremarkable.Final pathological examination revealed that the right ovarian lesion of the first patient was consistent with high-grade serous carcinoma, and the right ovarian lesion of the second patient was consistent with clear cell carcinoma. No lymph node metastases were found in either of the patients, although multifocal spindle cell proliferation was an unexpected finding. A total of 91 lymph nodes were dissected in the first patient, out of which 18 showed spindle cell proliferation, including left pelvic lymph node (3/32), right pelvic lymph node (2/13), paraaortic lymph node...View full text...

The alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol (FA) produce ethyl levulinate (EL) plays a crucial role in the field of biomass conversion. In this work, a novel Zr-base catalyst with sulfonic groups in its structure was prepared by the co-precipitation of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate and ZrOCl 2 (Zr-DBS) under non-toxic conditions. It was found that Zr-DBS has an excellent catalytic performance for this reaction and an EL yield of 95.27% could be achieved. Besides, Zr-DBS could be easily separated from the reaction system and reused at least four times without a significantly decrease in activity. Meanwhile, Zr-DBS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N 2 adsorption–desorption, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH 3 -TPD). The main reason for the high catalytic activity of the Zr-DBS was that the synergetic effects of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites and appropriate textural properties. Graphic Abstract

Background. Aidi injection (ADI) is a compound preparation injection of Chinese herbs used to treat patients of nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in China. This study aimed to reveal the mechanism of ADI in the treatment of NSCLC by using network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods. The related targets of ADI and NSCLC were obtained from multiple databases. The network diagram of disease-drug-components-targets (DDCT) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) was constructed to screen key targets. Then, the key targets and main signaling pathways were screened by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Next, in order to validate the results of network pharmacology, expression analysis and survival analysis of key genes were performed. Finally, we carried out the technology of molecular docking to further validate the accuracy of the above results. Results. A total of 207 targets of ADI and 5282 targets of NSCLC were obtained finally. Through the construction of DDCT and PPI network diagrams, 28 key targets were finally obtained. The results of the KEGG enrichment analysis indicated that multiple signaling pathways were associated with NSCLC, which included the MAPK signaling pathway, the IL-17 signaling pathway, and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. The key genes in the signaling pathway mainly include TP53, CASP3, MMP9, AKT1, PTGS2, and MAPK1. The results of differently expressed analysis of key genes showed that TP53, CASP3, MMP9, AKT1, PTGS2, and MAPK1 had statistical differences in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) compared with normal tissue p<0.001. In lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), the expression of TP53, CASP3, MMP9, AKT1, and PTGS2 had statistical differences compared with normal tissue p<0.001, while the expression of MAPK1 had no statistical difference p>0.05. The results of survival analysis of key genes showed that AKT1, MAPK1, CASP3, MMP9, TP53, and PTGS2 had statistical differences in the OS or RFS of NSCLC patients p<0.05. In addition, the results of molecular docking indicated that the key genes and the main components have good docking activity. Conclusions. This study revealed the potential mechanism of ADI in the treatment of NSCLC with multipathways and multitargets and provided a scientific basis for the in-depth study of ADI in the treatment of NSCLC.

Deformable quadrotors can manipulate their specific structure for specialized tasks or excellent flight performance under diverse conditions. With added deformation mechanism, the quadrotor exhibits higher flexibility; however, this is accompanied by difficulties in modeling analysis and controller design, which are crucial issues. Here, a novel deformable quadrotor that can alter its arm’s length is designed by combining the crank-slider mechanism and cross-configuration. The dynamics, including the attitude and position systems, are analyzed and the former is further described as switched linear parameter varying (SLPV) systems from a control-oriented perspective. In addition, a combined SLPV/proportion-integration-differentiation (PID) attitude controller is developed to handle different deformable quadrotor modes, which guarantees the stability of the closed-loop attitude system during the deformation process and achieves attitude tracking. Furthermore, together with the cascade PID position controller, the entire flight controller is constructed whose feasibility is verified via fixed-point hovering and trajectory tracking experiments.