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Based on the premise of bounded rationality, this study introduces the value function and decision weight function from prospect theory into the framework of evolutionary game theory to analyze the decision-making process of healthcare institutions, patients, and the government during the vertical integration of electronic health records. The study incorporates factors such as loss aversion, sensitivity to gains and losses, and the degree of awareness and utilization of records, to explain the behavioral tendencies of the three players from the perspective of perceived value. It uses simulations to reveal how factors such as the loss aversion coefficient and sensitivity to perceived value influence the evolutionary outcomes. This research extends the discussion of psychological factors, such as risk attitudes and gain-loss perception, in the context of the vertical integration of electronic health record. The findings indicate that: (1) increasing the initial willingness of all parties to participate is a key factor in encouraging active involvement in the EHR integration process; (2) the value of record awareness and the closeness of medical alliances significantly affect participation behavior, thus accelerating the integration process; (3) factors such as loss aversion, sensitivity to gains and losses, and efficacy loss sensitivity have complex effects on the system’s evolutionary path. Policymakers need to consider the risk perception characteristics of all parties and adjust policies accordingly to promote the stable development of the system.

Emission Trading System (ETS) is an innovative practice under the progress of green development in China. It is also an important method for China to achieve market-oriented environmental governance in ecological civilization construction. The ETS pilot policy has implemented for more than 10 years. However, the co-benefits of ETS pilot policy by the integration of energy consumption, carbon and sulfur dioxide emissions, and wastewater has not been evaluated. In order to fill this gap, we use the 2003–2017 annual data of 30 China’s provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions), and utilize the Difference-in-Differences (DID) model and Propensity Score Matching (PSM-DID) methodology to evaluate the co-benefits of ETS pilot policy on energy conservation and emission reduction. We find that the ETS pilot policy significantly promote energy conservation and emission reduction. Eastern and central China have significantly benefited from the policy, while the western China has not due to the limited technology and innovation as well as an imbalance of the industrial structure. The results provide the policy reference for China’s government and institutions as well as the governments and institutions around the world to fulfill their commitments to save energy and reduce emissions, and early achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutralization.

Isogeometric analysis (IGA) is an effective numerical method for connecting computer-aided design and engineering, which has been widely applied in various aspects of computational mechanics. IGA involves Galerkin and collocation formulations. Exploiting the same high-order non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) bases that span the physical domain and the solution space leads to increased accuracy and fast computation. Although IGA Galerkin provides optimal convergence, IGA collocation performs better in terms of the ratio of accuracy to computational time. Without numerical integration, by working directly with the strong form of the partial differential equation over the physical domain defined by NURBS geometry, the derivatives of the NURBS-expressed numerical solution at some chosen collocation points can be calculated. In this study, we survey the methodological framework and the research prospects of IGA. The collocation schemes in the IGA collocation method that affect the convergence performance are addressed in this paper. Recent studies and application developments are reviewed as well.

Adult neurogenesis involves the generation of functional neurons from neural progenitor cells, which have the potential to complement and restore damaged neurons and neural circuits. Therefore, the development of drugs that stimulate neurogenesis represents a promising strategy in stem cell therapy and neural regeneration, greatly facilitating the reconstruction of neural circuits in cases of neurodegeneration and brain injury. Our study reveals that compound A5, previously designed and synthesized by our team, exhibits remarkable neuritogenic activities, effectively inducing neurogenesis in neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs). Subsequently, transcriptome analysis using high-throughput Illumina RNA-seq technology was performed to further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms by which Compound A5 promotes neurogenesis. Notably, comparative transcriptome analysis showed that the up-regulated genes were mainly associated with neurogenesis, and the down-regulated genes were mainly concerned with cell cycle progression. Furthermore, we confirmed that Compound A5 significantly affected the expression of transcription factors related to neurogenesis and cell cycle regulatory proteins. Collectively, these findings identify a new compound with neurogenic activity and may provide insights into drug discovery for neural repair and regeneration.

Porous structures widely exist in nature and artifacts, which can be exploited to reduce structural weight and material usage or improve damage tolerance and energy absorption. In this study, the authors develop an approach to design optimized porous structures with Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces (TPMSs) in the framework of isogeometric analysis (IGA)-based topological optimization. In the developed method, by controlling the density distribution, the designed porous structures can achieve the optimal mechanical performance without increasing the usage of materials. First, the implicit functions of the TPMSs are adopted to design several types of porous elements parametrically. Second, to reduce the cost of computation, the authors propose an equivalent method to forecast the elastic modulus of these porous elements with different densities. Subsequently, the relationships of different porous elements between the elastic modulus and the relative density are constructed. Third, the IGA-based porous topological optimization is developed to obtain an optimal density distribution, which solves a volume constrained compliance minimization problem based on IGA. Finally, an optimum heterogeneous porous structure is generated based on the optimized density distribution. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated inflammatory liver disease with unclear pathogenesis. The gut microbiota and intestinal barrier play an essential role in AIH. Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) is a central component of mucosal immunity. Herein, we aimed to test the hypothesis that pIgR plays a pivotal role in maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis and gut barrier integrity in an AIH mouse model. The expression of intestinal pIgR shows the variation tendency of falling after rising with the aggravation of experimental AIH (EAH). The deletion of Pigr exacerbates liver damage in EAH. Furthermore, we identified a distinct microbiota profile of Pigr -deficient EAH mice, with a significant increased aboundance in the Oscillospiraceae family, particularly the Anaeromassilibacillus genus. Such a situation occurs because the loss of Pigr inhibits MEK/ERK, a key signal pathway whereby pIgR transports immunoglobulin A (IgA), resulting in reduced IgA secretion, which leads to the destruction of intestinal epithelial tight junction proteins and intestinal flora disturbance. Increased intestinal leakage causes increased translocation of bacteria to the liver, thus aggravating liver inflammation in EAH. Treatment with the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG supernatant reverses liver damage in EAH mice but loses its protective effect without pIgR. Our study identifies that intestinal pIgR is a critical regulator of the adaptive response to S100-induced alterations in gut flora and the gut barrier function, which closely correlates with liver injury. Intestinal upregulation of pIgR could be a novel approach for treating AIH.

The isogeometric collocation method (IGA-C), which is a promising branch of isogeometric analysis (IGA), can be considered fitting the load function with the combination of the numerical solution and its derivatives. In this study, we develop an iterative method, isogeometric least-squares progressive-iterative approximation (IG-LSPIA), to solve the fitting problem in the collocation method. IG-LSPIA starts with an initial blending function, where the control coefficients are combined with the B-spline basis functions and their derivatives. A new blending function is generated by constructing the differences for collocation points (DCP) and control coefficients (DCC), and then adding the DCC to the corresponding control coefficients. The procedure is performed iteratively until the stop criterion is reached. We prove the convergence of IG-LSPIA and show that the computation complexity in each iteration of IG-LSPIA is related only to the number of collocation points and unrelated to the number of control coefficients. Moreover, an incremental algorithm is designed; it alternates with knot refinement until the desired precision is achieved. After each knot refinement, the result of the last round of IG-LSPIA iterations is used to generate the initial blending function of the new round of iteration, thereby saving great computation. Experiments show that the proposed method is stable and efficient. In the three-dimensional case, the total computation time is saved twice compared to the traditional method.

Identification and quantification of plant flavonoids are critical to pharmacokinetic study and pharmaceutical quality control due to their distinct pharmacological functions. Here we report on a novel plant flavonoid electrochemical sensor for sensitive and selective detection of dihydromyricetin (DMY) based on double- layered membranes consisting of gold nanoparticles (Au) anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Both rGO-Au and MIPs membranes were directly formed on GCE via in-situ electrochemical reduction and polymerization processes step by step. The compositions, morphologies, and electrochemical properties of membranes were investigated with X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) combined with various electrochemical methods. The fabricated electrochemical sensor labeled as GCEârGO-Au/MIPs exhibited excellent performance in determining of DMY under optimal experimental conditions. A wide linear detection range (LDR) ranges from 2.0x10.sup.-8 to 1.0x10.sup.-4 M together with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 1.2x10.sup.-8 M (S/N = 3) were achieved. Moreover, the electrochemical sensor was employed to determine DMY in real samples with satisfactory results.

The jet impingement cooling technique is regarded as one of the most effective enhanced heat transfer techniques with a single-phase medium. However, in order to facilitate manufacturing, impingement with a large number of smooth circular hole jets is used in engineering. With the increasing maturity of additive technology, some new special-shaped holes (SSHs) may be used to further improve the cooling efficiency of jet impingement. Secondly, the heat transfer coefficient of the whole jet varies greatly on the impact target surface. The experiments with a large number of single smooth circular hole jets show that the heat transfer coefficient of the impact target surface will form a bell distribution—that is, the Nusselt number has a maximum value near the stagnation region, and then rapidly decreases exponentially in the radial direction away from the stagnation region. The overall surface temperature distribution is very uneven, and the target surface will form an array of cold spots, resulting in a high level of thermal stress, which will greatly weaken the structural strength and life of the equipment. Establishing how to ensure the uniformity of jet impingement cooling has become a new problem to be solved. In order to achieve uniform cooling, special-shaped holes that generate a swirling flow may be a solution. This paper presents a summary of the effects of holes with different geometrical features on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics of jet impingement cooling. In addition, the effect of jet impingement cooling with SSHs in different array methods is compared. The current challenges of jet impingement cooling technology with SSHs are discussed, as well as the prospects for possible future advances.

There is no standard neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer in China. The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus immunotherapy for locally advanced esophageal cancer is still being explored. This open-label, randomized phase II study was conducted at a single center between July 2019 and September 2020; 30 patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (T3, T4, or lymph-node positive) were enrolled. Patients were randomized according to the enrollment order at a 1:1 ratio to receive chemotherapy on day 1 and toripalimab on day 3 (experimental group) or chemotherapy and toripalimab on day 1 (control group). The chemotherapeutic regimen was paclitaxel and cisplatin. Surgery was performed 4 to 6 weeks after the second cycle of chemoimmunotherapy. The primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR) rate, and the secondary endpoint was safety and disease-free survival. Thirty patients completed at least one cycle of chemoimmunotherapy; 11 in the experimental group and 13 in the control group received surgery. R0 resection was performed in all these 24 patients. Four patients (36%) in the experimental group and one (7%) in the control group achieved pCR. The experimental group showed a statistically non-significant higher pCR rate ( = 0.079). PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) examination was performed in 14 patients; one in the control group had a PD-L1 CPS of 10, and pCR was achieved; the remaining 13 all had ≤1, and 11 of the 13 patients received surgery in which two (in the experimental group) achieved pCR. Two patients endured ≥grade 3 adverse events, and one suffered from grade 3 immune-related enteritis after one cycle of chemoimmunotherapy and dropped off the study. Another patient died from severe pulmonary infection and troponin elevation after surgery. Although the primary endpoint was not met, the initial results of this study showed that delaying toripalimab to day 3 in chemoimmunotherapy might achieve a higher pCR rate than that on the same day, and further large-sample clinical trials are needed to verify this. ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT03985670.