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Seismological observations suggest that Earth’s inner core (IC) is heterogeneous and anisotropic. Increasing seismological observations make the understanding of the mineralogy and mechanism for the complex IC texture extremely challenging, and the driving force for the anisotropic texture remains unclear. Under IC conditions, hydrogen becomes highly diffusive like liquid in the hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) solid Fe lattice, which is known as the superionic state. Here, we reveal that H-ion diffusion in superionic Fe-H alloy is anisotropic with the lowest barrier energy along the c-axis. In the presence of an external electric field, the alignment of the Fe-H lattice with the c-axis pointing to the field direction is energetically favorable. Due to this effect, Fe-H alloys are aligned with the c-axis parallel to the equatorial plane by the diffusion of the north–south dipole geomagnetic field into the inner core. The aligned texture driven by the geomagnetic field presents significant seismic anisotropy, which explains the anisotropic seismic velocities in the IC, suggesting a strong coupling between the IC structure and geomagnetic field. Earth’s inner core is heterogeneous and anisotropic. A new study based on computational simulation reveals the presence of ionic hydrogen flux in iron crystals, driven by the dipole geomagnetic field, which promotes the formation of observed inner core structure.

Background The oncologic safety of laparoscopic-assisted surgery for synchronous colorectal cancer (SCRC), a distinct high-risk subgroup, remains under-investigated. This study aimed to compare the short-term and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted versus open surgery for SCRC. Methods A retrospective analysis of a cohort of 178 consecutive patients undergoing curative-intent surgery for SCRC between June 2007 and April 2019 was performed. To balance baseline covariates for the primary analysis, overlap weighting (OW) was applied to the cohort (133 laparoscopic, 45 open). A 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was conducted as a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcomes were 5-year overall survival (OS) and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS). Results In the primary OW analysis, the laparoscopic group showed significantly less estimated blood loss (median, 100 mL vs. 200 mL; P  = 0.003) and shorter time to first liquid diet (median, 4 vs. 5 days; P  = 0.005) than the open surgery group. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of 5-year OS (75.1% vs. 62.8%; P  = 0.088) or 5-year DFS (65.69% vs. 59.3%; P  = 0.110). Furthermore, in the multivariable Cox analysis, the laparoscopic approach was not an independent predictor of OS (adjusted HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.35–1.06) or DFS (adjusted HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.41–1.18). These findings were consistent in the PSM sensitivity analysis. Conclusions In this study, laparoscopic-assisted surgery for SCRC offered improved short-term outcomes while maintaining long-term oncologic safety.

Interoception refers to the perception of the internal bodily states. Recent accounts highlight the role of the insula in both interoception and the subjective experience of anxiety. The current study aimed to delve deeper into the neural correlates of cardiac interoception; more specifically, the relationship between interoception-related insular activity, interoceptive accuracy, and anxiety. This was done using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an experimental design in which 40 healthy volunteers focused on their heartbeat and anxious events. Interoceptive accuracy and anxiety levels were measured using the Heartbeat Perception Task and State Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. The results showed posterior, mid and anterior insular activity during cardiac interoception, whereas anxiety-related activation showed only anterior insular activity. Activation of the anterior insula when focused on cardiac interoception was positively correlated to state and trait anxiety levels, respectively. Moreover, the mid-insular activity during the cardiac attention condition not only related to individuals’ interoceptive accuracy but also to their levels of state and trait anxiety, respectively. These findings confirm that there are distinct neural representations of heartbeat attention and anxious experience across the insular regions, and suggest the mid-insula as a crucial link between cardiac interoception and anxiety.

Analog In-memory Computing (IMC) has demonstrated energy-efficient and low latency implementation of convolution and fully-connected layers in deep neural networks (DNN) by using physics for computing in parallel resistive memory arrays. However, recurrent neural networks (RNN) that are widely used for speech-recognition and natural language processing have tasted limited success with this approach. This can be attributed to the significant time and energy penalties incurred in implementing nonlinear activation functions that are abundant in such models. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the implementation of a non-linear activation function integrated with a ramp analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) at the periphery of the memory to improve in-memory implementation of RNNs. Our approach uses an extra column of memristors to produce an appropriately pre-distorted ramp voltage such that the comparator output directly approximates the desired nonlinear function. We experimentally demonstrate programming different nonlinear functions using a memristive array and simulate its incorporation in RNNs to solve keyword spotting and language modelling tasks. Compared to other approaches, we demonstrate manifold increase in area-efficiency, energy-efficiency and throughput due to the in-memory, programmable ramp generator that removes digital processing overhead. The authors experimentally demonstrate the implementation of a non-linear activation function integrated with a ramp analog-to-digital conversion at the periphery of the memory to improve in-memory implementation of recurrent neural networks.

Analysis of the relationships among ecosystem services (ESs) can help ensure that benefits from ecosystems are consistent over time. This study explored the spatial and temporal patterns of water supply (WS), grain supply (GS), carbon storage (CS), water conservation (WC), soil conservation (SC), and habitat quality (HQ) in the Wujiang River Basin (WJRB) from 2000 to 2020 and the trade-off/synergy relationships of ESs. The ESs in the WJRB are downstream > midstream > upstream in space, with the greatest increase and decrease in the upstream and midstream temporal dimensions, respectively. The WS, WC, and SC underwent a trend shift in 2005 due to climatic influences, whereas GS and HQ underwent a trend shift in 2010 due to human social development. GS formed a trade-off with other ESs in the spatial pattern, whereas WS formed a trade-off with CS and WC in the temporal dimension. Adjusting the GS spatial pattern reduces the trade-off between ESs in the spatial pattern, allowing for focusing on monitoring soil and water erosion-prone areas to prevent extensive soil erosion during heavy precipitation years; this reduces the trade-off between ESs in the time dimension in the WJRB. This provides a theoretical basis for achieving high-quality WJRB development.

BRAFV600-mutant melanoma relies on hyperactivation of the MAPK/ERK pathway for tumorigenesis, with BRAF/MEK inhibitors (BRAFi/MEKi) improving patient outcomes. However, therapeutic resistance frequently emerges, and male patients show poorer responses and outcomes, partially linked to androgen receptor (AR) overexpression. Here, we uncover a mechanistic link between AR signaling and autophagic resistance in BRAFV600-mutant melanoma. We show that BRAFi treatment upregulates AR expression, which induces cytoprotective autophagy through transcriptional activation of DRAM1, a key autophagy-related gene. Functional studies reveal that AR-driven autophagy confers resistance to BRAFi by enhancing cellular survival under therapeutic stress. Our findings establish AR-regulated autophagy as a critical resistance mechanism and provide preclinical evidence for combining AR-targeting PROTAC degrader ARV110 with autophagy inhibitors to overcome BRAFi resistance.

Objective The AMORAL model emphasizes that adverse environments foster malevolent creativity. Parental technoference, as a adverse family environment characterized by the disruption of parent-child interpersonal interactions due to parents’ use of digital technology, may be associated with malevolent creative behavior. In addition, parental technoference increases children’s susceptibility to engaging in phubbing, which refers to prioritizing mobile device use over face-to-face interaction in social contexts. However, existing research has not thoroughly examined the direct association between parental technoference and malevolent creative behavior, nor have the underlying psychological mechanisms been adequately explored. To address this gap, the present study aims to investigate the relationship between parental technoference and malevolent creative behavior, the mediating role of phubbing in this association, and the moderating effect of mindfulness on this mediation. Methods A sample of 792 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.75 years, SD = 1.56) completed the Parental Technoference Scale, the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale, the Brief Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, and the Phubbing Scale. Results Parental technoference positively correlated with malevolent creative behavior, and phubbing mediated the connection between parental technoference and malevolent creative behavior. Moreover, mindfulness moderated the indirect effect of the mediation model. Specifically, mindfulness mitigated the positive association between parental technoference and phubbing, while strengthening the positive relationship between phubbing and malevolent creative behavior. Conclusion The higher parental technoference, the higher level of phubbing, which in turn boosted the tendency of malevolent creative behavior. This indirect relationship was moderated by mindfulness, such that individuals with higher levels of mindfulness were more effective in buffering the adverse effects of phubbing arising from parental technoference, while also demonstrating an increased tendency toward malevolent creative behavior as a consequence of phubbing.

Aim The aim of the study was to examine the relationships among nurses' shift work disorder, mental health and burnout to inform efforts to alleviate shift work disorder. Design This cross‐sectional study was conducted in China using a web‐based platform for questionnaire. Methods The study was comprised of a convenience sample of 1,268 Registered Nurses from 21 public hospitals in mainland China from June 2019–July 2019. Participants completed a web‐based survey designed to collect demographic and other self‐reported data. An independent sample t test and Pearson correlation were performed to analyse the relationship between shift work disorder, mental health and burnout. Results The vast majority (98.2%) of the participants were women between the ages of 20–59 years. The participants exhibited a higher incidence of mental health problems (58.1%) and burnout (65.5%) and those with shift work disorder exhibited a higher risk of mental health problems and burnout than those who did not have shift work disorder. Our research demonstrated that shift work disorder, combined with other variables, accounted for 40.5% of the variance in mental health (R2 = .405, adjusted R2 = .401, F = 107.214, p < .001) and 36.5% in burnout (R2 = .365, adjusted R2 = .361, F = 90.323, p < .001). Moreover, burnout negatively regulated the relationship between shift work disorder and mental health. Conclusion High‐risk nurses with shift work disorder were at a much higher risk of mental health problems and burnout.

Background posterior pedicle screw fixation is common method, one of the most severe complications is iatrogenic vascular damage, no report investigated association of different introversion angles (INTAs) and length of pedicle screw. The aims were to investigate the optimal introversion angle and length of pedicle screw for improving the safety of the operation, and to analyze the differences of vascular damage types at L1-S1. Methods Lumbar CT imaging data from110 patients were analyzed by DICOM software, and all parameters were measured by new Cartesian coordinate system, INTAs (L1-L5:5°,10°,15°,S1: 0°, 5°,10°,15°), D O−AVC (the distance between the origin (O) with anterior vertebral cortex (AVC)), D AVC−PGVs (the distance between AVC and the prevertebral great vessels (PGVs)), D O−PGVs (the distance between the O and PGVs). At different INTAs, D AVC−PGVs were divided into four grades: Grade III: D AVC−PGVs ≤ 3 mm, Grade II: 3 mm < D AVC−PGVs ≤ 5 mm, Grade I: D AVC−PGVs > 5 mm, and N: the not touching PGVs. Results The optimal INTA was 5° at L1-L3, the left was 5° and the right was 15° at L4, and screw length was less than 50 mm at L1-L4. At L5, the left optimal INTA was 5° and the right was 10°, and screw length was less than 45 mm. The optimal INTA was 15° at S1, and screw length was less than 50 mm. However, screw length was less than 40 mm when the INTA was 0° or 5° at S1. Conclusions At L5-S1, the risk of vascular injury is the highest. INTA and length of the pedicle screw in lumbar operation are closely related. 3 mm interval of screw length may be more preferable to reduce vascular damage.

The involvement of the gut microbiota in metabolic disorders, and the ability of whole grains to affect both host metabolism and gut microbial ecology, suggest that some benefits of whole grains are mediated through their effects on the gut microbiome. Nutritional studies that assess the effect of whole grains on both the gut microbiome and human physiology are needed. We conducted a randomized cross-over trial with four-week treatments in which 28 healthy humans consumed a daily dose of 60 g of whole-grain barley (WGB), brown rice (BR), or an equal mixture of the two (BR+WGB), and characterized their impact on fecal microbial ecology and blood markers of inflammation, glucose and lipid metabolism. All treatments increased microbial diversity, the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and the abundance of the genus Blautia in fecal samples. The inclusion of WGB enriched the genera Roseburia , Bifidobacterium and Dialister , and the species Eubacterium rectale , Roseburia faecis and Roseburia intestinalis . Whole grains, and especially the BR+WGB treatment, reduced plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) and peak postprandial glucose. Shifts in the abundance of Eubacterium rectale were associated with changes in the glucose and insulin postprandial response. Interestingly, subjects with greater improvements in IL-6 levels harbored significantly higher proportions of Dialister and lower abundance of Coriobacteriaceae. In conclusion, this study revealed that a short-term intake of whole grains induced compositional alterations of the gut microbiota that coincided with improvements in host physiological measures related to metabolic dysfunctions in humans.