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The proximal point method (PPM) for solving maximal monotone operator inclusion problem is a highly powerful tool for algorithm design, analysis and interpretation. To accelerate convergence of the PPM, inertial PPM (iPPM) was proposed in the literature. In this note, we point out that some of the attractive properties of the PPM, e.g., the generated sequence is contractive with the set of solutions, do not hold anymore for iPPM. To partially inherit the advantages of the PPM and meanwhile incorporate inertial extrapolation steps, we propose an iPPM with alternating inertial steps. Our analyses show that the even subsequence generated by the proposed iPPM is contractive with the set of solutions. Moreover, we establish global convergence result under much relaxed conditions on the inertial extrapolation stepsizes, e.g., monotonicity is no longer needed and the stepsizes are significantly enlarged compared to existing methods. Furthermore, we establish certain $o(1/k)$ convergence rate results, where $k$ denotes the iteration counter. These features are new to inertial type PPMs.

Sufficient iodine intake by pregnant and lactating women is crucial to their offspring's cognitive development. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of iodised salt intake on the iodine status of pregnant and lactating women. Thirty towns were selected from 211 towns in the rural areas of Shijiazhuang city using probability proportionate to size sampling in this cross-sectional survey. In each selected town, forty pregnant women and forty lactating women were randomly selected to contribute urine samples to determine iodine content. The median urinary iodine content (UIC) of 1200 pregnant women in all was 146 (interquartile range (IQR) 88–239) μg/l. The median UIC in the first, second and third trimesters were 166 (IQR 92–276) μg/l, 145 (IQR 83–248) μg/l and 134 (IQR 79–221) μg/l, respectively. The median UIC in the first trimester was significantly higher than that in the third trimester ( P = 0·04). The median UIC of 1200 lactating women in all was 120 (IQR 66–195) μg/l. Their median UIC in every 4-week block was higher than the WHO criteria except in weeks 25–28 and weeks 33–36 of lactation. Pregnant women's median UIC did not correlate with median salt iodine (MSI) ( P = 0·402); however, there was a linear correlation between MSI and the lactating women's median UIC ( P = 0·007). Iodised salt failed to provide adequate iodine to pregnant women possibly due to limited intake of iodised salt during pregnancy, though it was found to provide adequate iodine to lactating women in the rural areas of Shijiazhuang city.

Accurate wetland delineation is the basis of wetland definition and mapping, and is of great importance for wetland management and research. The Zoige Plateau on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was used as a research site for research on alpine wetland delineation. Several studies have analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern and dynamics of these alpine wetlands, but none have addressed the issues of wetland boundaries. The objective of this work was to discriminate the upper boundaries of alpine wetlands by coupling ecological methods and satellite observations. The combination of Landsat 8 images and supervised classification was an effective method for rapid identification of alpine wetlands in the Zoig6 Plateau. Wet meadow was relatively stable compared with hydric soils and wetland hydrology and could be used as a primary indicator for discriminating the upper boundaries of alpine wetlands. A slope of less than 4.5° could be used as the threshold value for wetland delineation. The normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI） in 434 field sites showed that a threshold value of 0.3 could distinguish grasslands from emergent marsh and wet meadow in September. The median normalized difference water index （NDWI） of emergent marsh remained more stable than that of wet meadow and grasslands during the period from September until July of the following year. The index of mean density in wet meadow zones was higher than the emergent and upland zones. Over twice the number of species occurred in the wet meadow zone compared with the emergent zone, and close to the value of upland zone. Alpine wetlands in the three reserves in 2014 covered 1175.19 kin2 with a classification accuracy of 75.6%. The combination of ecological methods and remote sensing technology will play an important role in wetland delineation at medium and small scales. The correct differentiation between wet meadow and grasslands is the key to improving the accuracy of future wetland delineation.

Disruptions of blood pressure (BP) circadian variation are closely associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus, gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms of BP circadian variation is essential for comprehending BP regulation. Human genetic analyses suggest that PR domain-containing protein 16 (PRDM16), a transcription factor highly expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), is significantly associated with BP-related traits. However, the roles of PRDM16 in BP regulation are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that BP in VSMC-specific Prdm16-KO (Prdm16SMKO) mice was significantly lower than that in control mice during the active period, resulting in aberrant BP circadian variation. Mesenteric artery rings from Prdm16SMKO mice showed a reduced response to phenylephrine. Mechanistically, we identified adrenergic receptor α 1d (Adra1d) as a transcriptional target of PRDM16. Notably, PRDM16 exhibited a remarkable circadian expression pattern and regulated the expression of clock genes, particularly Npas2, which is crucial for BP circadian variation regulation. Consequently, PRDM16 deficiency in VSMCs caused disrupted BP circadian variation through a reduced response to adrenergic signaling and clock gene regulation. Our findings provide insights into the intricate molecular pathways that govern circadian fluctuations in BP.

Organic persistent luminescence (pL) systems with photoresponsive dynamic features have valuable applications in the fields of data encryption, anticounterfeiting, and bioimaging. Photoinduced radical luminescent materials have a unique luminous mechanism with the potential to achieve dynamic pL. It is extremely challenging to obtain radical pL under ambient conditions; on account of it, it is unstable in air. Herein, a new semialiphatic polyimide‐based polymer (A0) is developed, which can achieve dynamic pL through reversible conversion of radical under photoexcitation. A “joint–donor–spacer–acceptor” molecular design strategy is applied to effectively modulate the intramolecular charge‐transfer and charge‐transfer complex interactions, resulting in effective protection of the radical generated under photoirradiation. Meanwhile, polyimide‐based polymers of A1–A4 are obtained by doping different amine‐containing fluorescent dyes to modulate the dynamic afterglow color from green to red via the triplet to singlet Förster resonance energy‐transfer pathway. Notably, benefiting from the structural characteristics of the polyimide‐based polymer, A0–A4 have excellent processability, thermal stability, and mechanical properties and can be applied directly in extreme environments such as high temperatures and humidity. A simple and effective polymer structural design strategy is developed for semialiphatic polyimide systems with dynamic persistent luminescence features. The polyimide‐based matrix can stabilize the radical–triplet pair, which generates through the electron‐transfer process by photoirradiation, and simultaneously achieves excellent processability, thermal stability, and mechanical properties, and can be applied directly in extreme environments such as high temperatures and humidity.

Background Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a life-threatening disease with high morbidity and mortality rates due to fatal complications such as aortic rupture. However, molecular mechanisms underlying TAA pathogenesis remain to be fully elucidated. The aorta is naturally surrounded by perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT), which produces and releases adipokines and other factors in a paracrine manner that are pivotal for vascular physiology and pathophysiology. Under healthy conditions, thoracic PVAT resembles brown adipose tissue (BAT) and maintains vascular homeostasis. In response to pathogenic stimuli, PVAT can undergo whitening and become dysfunctional, contributing to the development of vascular diseases. However, a causal relationship between PVAT dysfunction and TAA pathogenesis, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remain unknown. This study investigated the roles of PPARg (a key determinant of adipogenesis) and PRDM16 (a key determinant of brown adipocyte development) in PVAT on TAA development. Methods PVAT samples from TAA patients were collected and evaluated. Mice lacking PVAT and those with dysfunctional PVAT were generated by crossbreeding Ucp1 promoter-driven Cre mice with Pparg floxed mice (brown adipocyte-specific Pparg knockout, Pparg BAKO ) and Prdm16 floxed mice (brown adipocyte-specific Prdm16 knockout, Prdm16 BAKO ), respectively. TAA formation was induced by perivascular application of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) and evaluated through histological staining. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) were used to determine PRDM16 target genes. Results We found that PVAT near TAA lesions in patients exhibited reduced expression of browning markers and increased expression of whitening markers. Pparg BAKO mice showed impaired PVAT development, while Prdm16 BAKO mice displayed a loss of browning in PVAT. Both Pparg BAKO and Prdm16 BAKO mice exhibited aggravated TAA formation. We identified decorin, a small proteoglycan of the extracellular matrix, as a transcriptional repressive target gene of PRDM16. The expression of decorin was increased in dysfunctional PVAT and the plasma of TAA patients. Conclusions The development and maintenance of brown-like characteristics in PVAT are necessary to protect against TAA formation. PVAT dysfunction contributes to TAA development. Our study provides a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing TAA progression by inducing PVAT browning.

Disruptions of blood pressure (BP) circadian variation are closely associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus, gaining insights into the molecular mechanisms of BP circadian variation is essential for comprehending BP regulation. Human genetic analyses suggest that PR domain-containing protein 16 (PRDM16), a transcription factor highly expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), is significantly associated with BP-related traits. However, the roles of PRDM16 in BP regulation are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that BP in VSMC-specific Prdm16-K0 (Prdm76SMKO) mice was significantly lower than that in control mice during the active period, resulting in aberrant BP circadian variation. Mesenteric artery rings from Prdm16SMK0 mice showed a reduced response to phenylephrine. Mechanistically, we identified adrenergic receptor a 1d (Adrald) as a transcriptional target of PRDM16. Notably, PRDM16 exhibited a remarkable circadian expression pattern and regulated the expression of clock genes, particularly Npas2, which is crucial for BP circadian variation regulation. Consequently, PRDM16 deficiency in VSMCs caused disrupted BP circadian variation through a reduced response to adrenergic signaling and clock gene regulation. Our findings provide insights into the intricate molecular pathways that govern circadian fluctuations in BP.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is usually asymptomatic until life-threatening complications occur, predominantly involving aortic rupture. Currently, no drug-based treatments are available, primarily due to limited understanding of AAA pathogenesis. The transcriptional regulator PR domain-containing protein 16 (PRDM16) is highly expressed in the aorta, but its functions in the aorta are largely unknown. By RNA-seq analysis, we found that vascular smooth muscle cell-specific (VSMC-specific) Prdm16-knockout (Prdm16SMKO) mice already showed extensive changes in the expression of genes associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and inflammation in the abdominal aorta under normal housing conditions without any pathological stimuli. Human AAA lesions displayed lower PRDM16 expression. Periadventitial elastase application to the suprarenal region of the abdominal aorta aggravated AAA formation in Prdm16SMKO mice. During AAA development, VSMCs undergo apoptosis because of both intrinsic and environmental changes, including inflammation and ECM remodeling. Prdm16 deficiency promoted inflammation and apoptosis in VSMCs. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 12 (ADAM12) is a gelatinase that can degrade various ECMs. We found that ADAM12 is a target of transcriptional repression by PRDM16. Adam12 knockdown reversed VSMC apoptosis induced by Prdm16 deficiency. Our study demonstrated that PRDM16 deficiency in VSMCs promoted ADAM12 expression and aggravates AAA formation, which may provide potential targets for AAA treatment.