The arrival time and energy of FRBs traverse the time-energy bivariate space like a Brownian motion.

The origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs), the brightest cosmic explosion in radio bands, remains unknown. We introduce here a novel method for a comprehensive analysis of active FRBs' behaviors in the time-energy domain. Using "Pincus Index" and "Maximum Lyapunov Exponent", we were able to quantify the randomness and chaoticity, respectively, of the bursting events and put FRBs in the context of common transient physical phenomena, such as pulsar, earthquakes, and solar flares. In the bivariate time-energy domain, repeated FRB bursts' behaviors deviate significantly (more random, less chaotic) from pulsars, earthquakes, and solar flares. The waiting times between FRB bursts and the corresponding energy changes exhibit no correlation and remain unpredictable, suggesting that the emission of FRBs does not exhibit the time and energy clustering observed in seismic events. The pronounced stochasticity may arise from a singular source with high entropy or the combination of diverse emission mechanisms/sites. Consequently, our methodology serves as a pragmatic tool for illustrating the congruities and distinctions among diverse physical processes.

Blood-nerve barrier enhances chronic postsurgical pain via the HIF-1α/ aquaporin-1 signaling axis.

BACKGROUND: Blood nerve barrier (BNB) participates in the development of neuropathic pain. AQP1 is involved in peripheral pain perception and is negatively correlated with HIF-1α phenotype, which regulates endothelial permeability. However, the role of HIF-1α-AQP1-mediated BNB dysfunction in Chronic Postsurgical Pain (CPSP) has not been reported. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 5 groups: (i) Naive group; (ii) Sham group; (iii) SMIR group: skin/muscle incision and retraction for one hour. Behavioral tests were performed for the three groups, BNB vascular permeability and western blotting were conducted to determine HIF-1α and AQP1 protein expression. (iv) The SMIR + HIF-1α inhibitor group; (v) SMIR + DMSO group. Rats in the two groups were administered with HIF-1α inhibitor (2ME2) or DMSO intraperitoneally on the third day post-SMIR surgery followed by performance of behavioral tests, BNB permeability assessment, and determination of HIF-1α, AQP1 and NF200 protein levels. RESULTS: The permeability of BNB was significantly increased and the expression of AQP1 was downregulated on the 3rd and 7th days post-operation. AQP1 is mainly located in neurons and NF200, CGRP-positive nerve fibers. HIF-1α was highly expressed on the third day post-operation. HIF-1α inhibitor reversed the decrease in AQP1 expression and increase in NF200 expression, barrier permeability and hyperalgesia induced by SMIR on the 3rd day post-surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Early dysfunction of BNB mediated by HIF-1α/AQP1 activated by SMIR may be an important mechanism to promote acute postoperative painful transformation of CPSP. Preadaptive protection of endothelial cells around nerve substructures may be an important countermeasure to inhibit CPSP transformation. Early impairment of BNB function mediated by HIF-1α/AQP1 activated by SMIR may be an important mechanism for promoting acute postoperative pain transformation of CPSP.

Magnetic field reversal in the turbulent environment around a repeating fast radio burst.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief, intense flashes of radio waves from unidentified extragalactic sources. Polarized FRBs originate in highly magnetized environments. We report observations of the repeating FRB 20190520B spanning 17 months, which show that the FRB's Faraday rotation is highly variable and twice changes sign. The FRB also depolarizes below radio frequencies of about 1 to 3 gigahertz. We interpret these properties as being due to changes in the parallel component of the magnetic field integrated along the line of sight, including reversing direction of the field. This could result from propagation through a turbulent magnetized screen of plasma, located 10-5 to [Formula: see text] parsecs from the FRB source. This is consistent with the bursts passing through the stellar wind of a binary companion of the FRB source.

Role of the blood-spinal cord barrier: An adheren junction regulation mechanism that promotes chronic postsurgical pain.

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a serious postoperative complication with high incidence, and its pathogenesis involves neuroimmune interactions and the breakdown of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), the decreased level of adheren junction (AJ)-related proteins is an important cause of BSCB injury. Vascular endothelial-cadherin (VE-cadherin) and p120 catenin (p120) constitute the endothelial barrier adheren junction. The Src/p120/VE-cadherin pathway is involved in the regulation of the endothelial barrier function. However, the role of the BSCB-AJ regulatory mechanism in CPSP has not been reported. In this study, we established a skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR) model and evaluated the paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), the effects of an Src inhibitor and p120 knockdown on p-Src, p120 and VE-cadherin expression, as well as BSCB-AJ function in rat spinal cord were observed to explore the regulation of BSCB-AJ function by the p-Src/p120/VE-cadherin pathway in promoting SMIR-induced CPSP. The levels of p-Src, p120 and VE-cadherin in the spinal cord were detected by Western blot. Meanwhile, BSCB permeability test was used to detect the changes in BCSB function. Finally, the spatial and temporal localization of p120 in spinal cord was detected by immunofluorescence. Our findings indicated that p-Src/p120/VE-cadherin could induce BSCB-AJ dysfunction and promote the development of CPSP.

Impact of seborrheic dermatitis on osteoporosis risk: A population-based cohort study.

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone-resorbing disease that easily causes subsequent risk of fracture. Hence, the substantial physical burden of osteoporosis makes it an important public health issue. Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory skin disease. Despite the advances in medication for treating osteoporosis, identifying undiagnosed osteoporosis patients is still challenging. Since osteoporosis and SD share a similar pathobiology, e.g. inflammation and hormonal imbalance, we aimed to investigate whether the existence of SD increases osteoporosis risk by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A total of 7831 patients aged 18-50 years with SD and a control group of 31 324 patients without SD matched by age, gender, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and index date at a ratio of 1:4 during 1996-2010 were recruited in the study. To measure the cumulative incidence and compare the hazard ratios of osteoporosis between each group, the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression models were utilized. It was found that 0.98% of SD patients had osteoporosis. Compared to the non-SD group, the SD group had a 5.95-fold higher osteoporosis risk after adjustment for variables. The impact of SD on osteoporosis risk was largest in the female and young age groups. In addition, the presence of hyperlipidemia, hyperthyroidism, and epilepsy synergistically increased osteoporosis incidence in the SD group. This first large cohort study demonstrated an association between SD and osteoporosis. Since the effect on bone health in SD patients with concomitant diseases is largest in early life, diet or lifestyle recommendations as well as regular bone examinations are advised during follow-up of SD.

Yield-Adjusted Operation for Convolution Filter Denoising.

A perfect denoising for measurement shall remove noise, while keeping signal truth, so it is a dual-objective optimization of the signal yield and the noise residue. The frequency difference between the noise and signal is the basis of band-limited filter denoising. The root cause for the sharp peak denoise distortion is the insufficient spectrum sampling because of the scattered frequency distribution, which makes it hard to achieve dual-objective optimization. Thus, this article proposes a four-step operation of the signal yield adjustment for beyond the band-limited system. The first step is identifying the signal and noise levels in raw data, then adjusting the sampling density of high-signal level areas and enriching it by linear interpolation, then smoothing the reshaped profile, which is friendly to the filter, and finally, restoring the deformed one to its original form. An executable script function has fully achieved the whole operation. Some actual sharp spectra (Raman, NMR, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction) make a comparison between the way with the Savitzky-Golay (SG) method and wavelet (multi-scale) denoising. The results show that all the effects are better than those of the SG filter, all estimations of the yield of signals are more than 99%, and the residue of noise is less than 10%. With multi-scale denoising, this operation is more targeted and gets more rational spectrum profiles─noise reduction without spectrum distortion.

Can Priming Multiple Identities Enhance Divergent Thinking for Middle School Students?

Previous studies have found that promoting multiple identities can improve children's creative performance (divergent thinking). The present study employed a priming paradigm to design two experiments and investigate whether promoting a sense of multiple identities in middle school students could enhance their divergent thinking, a key component of creativity. In Experiment 1, 77 junior high school students were divided into multiple identities and physical trait condition groups. They were instructed to think about a child with multiple identities or physical traits. The results showed that there were no differences in divergent thinking (DT) scores between the two groups. In Experiment 2, we modified the priming method by asking participants to think about and write a description of the various identities or physical traits and employed a subjective top-scoring method to make up for shortcomings in the traditional scoring method when applied to originality. The results still showed no significant difference in scores between the identity and physical trait groups. Thus, the results of this study contradict those of previous research, which found that the identity group demonstrated significantly higher scores on a creativity test than did those in the physical trait group. Several potential factors affect this outcome, but it seems that priming to enhance divergent thinking is not particularly effective. Thus, the social priming effect should be pursued with caution regarding both replicability and generalizability.

ß-elemene combined with temozolomide in treatment of brain glioma.

Temozolomide (TMZ) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent for malignant glioma. ß-Elemene has been reported to have the ability of passing through the blood-brain barrier and reverse multidrug resistance. In the present study, transport of drugs through the in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) model also suggested that ß-elemene can assist in TMZ transport to the brain. Plasma and brain pharmacokinetics demonstrated that when ß-elemene is used in combination with TMZ, the metabolic rate of TMZ in plasma is slowed, and mean residence time (MRT) in brain is prolonged. The brain tissue distribution at 1 h indicated that the combination of TMZ and ß-elemene promotes the distribution of ß-elemene in the brain but slightly reduces the distribution of TMZ in the brain. Furthermore the antitumor effect and toxicity in vivo were also investigated. The combination of ß-elemene and TMZ was well tolerated and significantly inhibited tumor growth in glioma xenografts. In summary, the present study indicates a synergistic antitumor effect of ß-elemene and TMZ in glioma.

Comprehensive genomic analysis of Bacillus velezensis AL7 reveals its biocontrol potential against Verticillium wilt of cotton.

Verticilllium wilt of cotton is a devastating soil-borne disease, which is caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb. Bacillus velezensis strain AL7 was isolated from cotton soil. This strain efficiently inhibited the growth of V. dahliae. But the mechanism of the biocontrol strain AL7 remains poorly understood. To understand the possible genetic determinants for biocontrol traits of this strain, we conducted phenotypic, phylogenetic and comparative genomics analysis. Phenotypic analysis showed that strain AL7 exhibited broad-spectrum antifungal activities. We determined that the whole genome sequence of B. velezensis AL7 is a single circular chromosome that is 3.89 Mb in size. The distribution of putative gene clusters that could benefit to biocontrol activities was found in the genome. Phylogenetic analysis of Bacillus strains by using single core-genome clearly placed strain AL7 into the B. velezensis. Meantime, we performed comparative analyses on four Bacillus strains and observed subtle differences in their genome sequences. In addition, comparative genomics analysis showed that the core genomes of B. velezensis are more abundant in genes relevant to secondary metabolism compared with B. subtilis strains. Single mutant in the biosynthetic genes of fengycin demonstrated the function of fengycin in the antagonistic activity of B. velezensis AL7. Here, we report a new biocontrol bacterium B. velezensis AL7 and fengycin contribute to the biocontrol efficacy of the strain. The results showed in the research further sustain the potential of B. velezensis AL7 for application in agriculture production and may be a worthy biocontrol strain for further studies.

Improve the performance of independent component analysis by mapping the spectrum to an orthogonal space.

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) has attracted chemists recently, for its charm can separate the independent signals from a mixed system and does not need prior knowledge. However, its dissatisfactory performance for the chemical measured signal is still blocking the practicability. Thus, this paper summarized the ICA processing path from the establishment of rectangular coordinates in linear space to the determination of the corresponding relation between the coordinate system and real components. The primary cause of the deviation between the ICA results and the chemical measurements is that the measuring signal was subject to uncertainty. Besides, uncertainty made the deviation of source signal from the statistical independence assumption, or in other words, it appeared to be nonorthogonal. For this key, it proposed to map the measured value to the high-order derivative space, use the derivative to narrow the peak width, reduce the influence of uncertainty, and improve the separation performance of ICA to chemical measurement signal, such as the spectrum. Actual cases of this paper showed that when up to 6th order, the separating results had been perfect for IR spectra, and even for homologs isomers.

Use of safflower as a trap crop for managing the mirid bug, Lygus pratensis Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Miridae), in cotton fields.

BACKGROUND: Cotton has been increasingly harmed by the mirid bug (Lygus pratensis Linnaeus) in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Using trap plants within or around the border of the cotton may be a beneficial management strategy for this pest of cotton. RESULTS: The potential of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius Linn) as a trap plant for managing L. pratensis was evaluated in laboratory and field experiments. Y-tube olfactometer assays demonstrated that L. pratensis was highly attracted to volatiles derived from safflower. Field experiments showed that safflower plots hosted more L. pratensis (adults and nymphs) than cotton plots. Early-sown safflower had more L. pratensis than mid-sown or late-sown safflower, and was more conducive to the settlement and reproduction of L. pratensis. The density of L. pratensis on safflower trap crops in three sowing patterns was significantly higher than on adjacent cotton. The pattern of intercropping safflower trap crops was more effective at reducing densities of L. pratensis on cotton than placing safflower as 'spot' trap crops or peripheral trap crops. However, this result also may be related to the overall area of the safflower trap crops. With regular chemical control of L. pratensis on safflower trap crops, the number of cotton bolls was increased by 10.04%, whereas the rate of boll damage was reduced by 33.44%, compared to cotton without safflower trap crops and insecticide sprays. CONCLUSION: Safflower shows promise as an effective trap crop for L. pratensis, and may contribute to controlling L. pratensis in cotton. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Field evaluation of sunflower as a potential trap crop of Lygus pratensis in cotton fields.

The mirid bug Lygus pratensis is an important pest of cotton, and is primarily managed through insecticide application. In this study, conducted in Xinjiang (China), we assessed the relative attractiveness of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) to L. pratensis adults in local cotton plots from 2015-2016 and quantified the associated contribution of inter-planted sunflower strips to suppress field-level L. pratensis populations from 2016-2017. Field-plot trials showed that among six combinations of two sunflower varieties (XKZ6 and SH363) and three planting dates (early-, middle- and late-planted), adult abundance of L. pratensis was highest on early-planted XKZ6 and attained 3.7-5.8 times higher levels than in neighboring cotton plots. In commercial cotton fields, the combined deployment of sunflower strips at field edges and the periodic application of insecticides directed to those strips was found to (1) reduce the mean abundance of L. pratensis population on cotton by 41.9-44.0%, (2) lower the rate of cotton leaf damage by 27.3-30.6% and boll damage by 44.8-46.0%, and (3) increase the number of mature bolls by 7.5%-8.0%. Our work emphasizes how sunflower can be an effective trap crop for L. pratensis and that the establishment of sunflower strips could contribute to its effective and environmentally-sound management in cotton crops.

Blind source separation of coexisting background in Raman spectra.

Due to the Raman signal coexists with other scatter spectra which leads to the low ratio of the wanted signal and high background, the appropriate method should be applied to enhance this ratio. The nature of raw spectra is a multi-source system, so its determinacy must be ensured by multi-input. Besides, the faithfulness of output should be provided. Then, the huge fall within the frequencies of Raman and background almost satisfies separating demand for independent component analysis (ICA), and this analysis can give help to the achievement of the two type signals classing and estimate the optimal number of source and match ICA output signals to Raman or background. Thus, based on ICA and the mixing-entropy criteria, the background and Raman adapting calibration kit (BRACK) method is proposed, which is a kind of multiple raw spectral inputs and multiple output (MIMO) method. This method firstly divides the raw data into two parts of Raman and background by ICA, identifies Raman signal by entropy criterion, then restores the part of Raman signal. BRACK method obtains several advantages, for instance, well-adapted, no need for any additional option or extra-intervention, high fidelity, and no unwanted external information. In principle, the correction of background and Raman signals can be expected to be completed by BRACK method.

Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus velezensis Strain AL7, a Biocontrol Agent for Suppression of Cotton Verticillium Wilt.

Bacillus velezensis AL7, isolated from cotton soil, had strong antagonistic activity to Verticillium dahlia Kleb. The AL7 genome consisted of one chromosome with 3,894,709 bp (46.64% G+C content). Genome annotation predicted 3,706 protein-coding genes, 86 tRNAs, and 27 rRNAs. We sequenced and annotated the complete AL7 genome to help us better understand use of this strain.

21- versus 25-mm Circular Staplers for Cervical Anastomosis: A Propensity-Matched Study.

BACKGROUND: The use of a small circular stapler (CS) has been reported to increase the incidence of benign anastomotic stricture of the intrathoracic anastomosis after esophagectomy, but no study has evaluated the effects of the CS size on cervical esophagogastrostomy. Based on a propensity-matched comparison, the present study was designed to determine whether the perioperative outcomes differ between 21- and 25-mm CSs after minimally invasive esophagectomy with cervical anastomosis. METHODS: From January 2015 to December 2017, 162 patients who received CS cervical esophagogastric anastomosis after minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal cancer were identified from our surgical database. A propensity-matched analysis was used to compare the outcomes between the 21- and 25-mm CS groups. Endpoints included anastomotic leak, dysphagia, reflux, stricture, and other major postoperative outcomes within 6 postoperative months. RESULTS: There were 69 and 93 patients in the 21- and 25-mm CS groups, respectively. Propensity matching produced 57 patients in each group. The two groups were not remarkably different in benign anastomotic stricture rate (P = 0.528). All strictures were resolved by balloon dilatation. The 25-mm CS group had a significantly longer operative time in cervical anastomosis than the 21-mm group (P = 0.005). No statistically significant differences in anastomotic leak rates, dysphagia scores, reflux scores, or other postoperative complications were noted between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a 21-mm CS in minimally invasive esophagectomy with cervical esophagogastric anastomosis did not result in greater anastomotic stricture as compared with a 25-mm CS. The 21-mm CS was associated with a significantly shorter operative time.

Comparison of cyanoacrylate and hookwire for localizing small pulmonary nodules: A propensity-matched cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Localizing small pulmonary nodules (SPNs) is a challenge during thoracoscopic resection, but preoperative computed tomography (CT)-guided localization using either cyanoacrylate or hookwire can be helpful. This study compared the safety, efficiency, and operability of the two techniques. METHODS: From September 2013 to November 2018, 269 patients (269 SPNs) who underwent preoperative CT-guided SPN localization were enrolled. A propensity-matched analysis, incorporating 13 variables, was performed to control potential selection bias. RESULTS: All the patients were divided into two groups: CT-guided cyanoacrylate localization group (Group C, n = 149) and CT-guided hookwire localization group (Group H, n = 120). Eighty-six patients were propensity-matched in each group. All SPNs were successfully removed thoracoscopically, and no conversion was required. Localization-related complications in the two groups were similar, including intrapulmonary focal hemorrhage (p = 0.823), pneumothorax (p = 1.000), or hemoptysis (p = 0.121). For pain assessment and management, the cyanoacrylate localization saw a lower pain score (p < 0.001) and less morphine use (p < 0.001). In Group H, the localization took a significantly longer time (p < 0.001). Covering only the patients in Group C, the sub-analysis found that cyanoacrylate localization on the day before surgery did not compromise the accuracy of intraoperative targeting or increase the incidence of complications, compared with the localization on the day of surgery (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Compared to hookwire localization, CT-guided cyanoacrylate localization decreased pain and morphine use and allowed flexible surgical schedules, suggestive of its preferability for the resection of SPNs.

Solid lipid nanoparticles as a drug delivery system to across the blood-brain barrier.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were prepared by biocompatible and biodegradable solid-phase lipids. ß-elemene is a safe natural essential oil with broad-spectrum anti-tumor activity. However, its clinical application has been adversely affected by its poor water solubility and limited bioavailability. SLN incorporation is a potential strategy to bypass the blood-brain barrier, the most important factor limiting the bioactivity of neurotherapeutics. The SLNs-ß has the same efficacy as commercially available elemene in vitro and an enhanced brain drug accumulation in vivo. The survival rate data was promising and acute toxicity experiment proved its safety. All these data suggested that SLN-ß is a safe and effective drug delivery system, especially for brain tumor therapy, and warrants further development.

Natural Biodegradable Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) Nanocomposites with Multifunctional Cellulose Nanocrystals/Graphene Oxide Hybrids for High-Performance Food Packaging.

High-performance and useful graphene oxide (GO) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are easily extracted from natural graphite and cellulose raw materials, and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) is produced by bacterial fermentation from natural plant corn stalks, etc. In this study, novel ternary nanocomposites consisting of PHBV/cellulose nanocrystal-graphene oxide nanohybrids were prepared via a simple solution casting method. The synergistic effect of CNC with GO nanohybrids obtained by chemical grafting (CNC-GO, covalent bonds) and physical blending (CNC/GO, noncovalent bonds) on the physicochemical properties of PHBV nanocomposites was evaluated and the results compared with a single component nanofiller (CNC or GO) in binary nanocomposites. More interestingly, ternary nanocomposites displayed the highest thermal stability and mechanical properties. Compared to neat PHBV, the tensile strength and elongation to break increased by 170.2 and 52.1%, respectively, and maximum degradation temperature (Tmax) increment by 26.3 °C, were observed for the ternary nanocomposite with 1 wt % covalent bonded CNC-GO. Compared to neat PHBV, binary, and 1:0.5 wt % noncovalent CNC/GO based nanocomposites, the ternary nanocomposites with 1 wt % covalent bonded CNC-GO exhibited excellent barrier properties, good antibacterial activity (antibacterial ratio of 100.0%), reduced barrier properties, and lower migration level for both food simulants. Such a synergistic effect yielded high-performance ternary nanocomposites with great potential for bioactive food packaging materials.