Hybrid acoustic metamaterial as super absorber for broadband low-frequency sound

A hybrid acoustic metamaterial is proposed as a new class of sound absorber, which exhibits superior broadband low-frequency sound absorption as well as excellent mechanical stiffness/strength. Based on the honeycomb-corrugation hybrid core (H-C hybrid core), we introduce perforations on both top facesheet and corrugation, forming perforated honeycomb-corrugation hybrid (PHCH) to gain super broadband low-frequency sound absorption. Applying the theory of micro-perforated panel (MPP), we establish a theoretical method to calculate the sound absorption coefficient of this new kind of metamaterial. Perfect sound absorption is found at just a few hundreds hertz with two-octave 0.5 absorption bandwidth. To verify this model, a finite element model is developed to calculate the absorption coefficient and analyze the viscous-thermal energy dissipation. It is found that viscous energy dissipation at perforation regions dominates the total energy consumed. This new kind of acoustic metamaterials show promising engineering applications, which can serve as multiple functional materials with extraordinary low-frequency sound absorption, excellent stiffness/strength and impact energy absorption

Integrated pan-cancer analysis reveals the immunological and prognostic potential of RBFOX2 in human tumors

BackgroundThe role of RNA-binding fox one homolog 2 (RBFOX2) in the progression of multiple tumors is increasingly supported by evidence. However, the unclearness pertaining to the expression of RBFOX2, its prognostic potential, and its correlation with the tumor microenvironment (TME) in pan-cancer persists. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the immunological prognostic value of RBFOX2.MethodsThe Cancer Genome Atlas Gene Expression Omnibus Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), TIMER2.0, Kaplan-Meier (K–M) Plotter, University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer data analysis Portal (UALCAN), cbioportal, and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2) were utilized for a systematic analysis of RBFOX2. This analysis included studying its expression, prognostic value, DNA methylation, enrichment analysis, immune infiltration cells, and immune-related genes. Additionally, qRT-PCR, CCK-8, colony formation, transwell assays, and immunohistochemistry were employed to analyze the expression and biological function of RBFOX2 in liver cancer.ResultsVariations in RBFOX2 expression have been observed across diverse tumors and have been identified as indicators of unfavorable prognosis. It is closely linked to immune infiltration cells, immune checkpoints, chemokines, and chemokine receptors in the TME. Higher levels of RBFOX2 have been significantly associated with low response and poor prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma who receive immunotherapy. Furthermore, the DNA methylation of RBFOX2 varies across different types of cancer and has shown better prognosis in patients with BLCA, BRCA, CESC, COAD, DLBC, HNSC, LAML, LGG, LUAD, PAAD, SKCM and THYM. Interestingly, RBFOX2 expression was found to be lower in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients’ tumor tissues compared to their paired adjacent tissues. In vitro studies have shown that knockdown of RBFOX2 significantly promotes the growth and metastasis of liver cancer cells.ConclusionThis study investigates the correlation between DNA methylation, prognostic value, and immune cell infiltration with the expression of RBFOX2 in pan-cancer and indicates its potential role to inhibit metastasis of liver cancer

Association of Serum Uric Acid with Arterial Stiffness in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Background/Aims: Serum uric acid (SUA) has been proposed as a mediator associated with increased cardiovascular risk and arterial stiffness. However, evidence on the association between SUA and arterial stiffness in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients is lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between SUA and arterial stiffness in PD patients. Methods: The patients who performed vascular profiler test from January 1, 2014 to October 31, 2016, and with SUA values were enrolled. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). The relationship between SUA and baPWV was tested by multiple linear regression models. Results: Of 645 PD patients, mean SUA was 6.80 (±1.29) mg/dL, mean baPWV was 1713 (±505) cm/s. In fully adjusted linear regression models, higher SUA was significantly associated with higher baPWV in young [standardized coefficients (β), 0.085; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.013 to 0.130; P=0.02] but not in elderly (β, -0.194; 95% CI, -0.774 to 0.093; P=0.1) PD patients. In gender-stratified models of young patients, there was a significant association between SUA and baPWV in male (β, 0.115; 95% CI, 0.015 to 0.182; P=0.02) but not in female. Male in the highest gender-specific SUA quartile had a higher baPWV than those in the lowest quartile (β, 0.132; 95% CI, 0.011 to 0.209; P=0.03). This gender difference was reversed when selecting male patients with lower SUA levels (quartile 1 and 2) and female patients with higher SUA levels (quartile 3 and 4). Conclusion: SUA was positively associated with baPWV in young PD patients, and this association was significant in males but not in females, which is possibly explained by the higher SUA level in males than in females

Identification of Rice Transcription Factors Associated with Drought Tolerance Using the Ecotilling Method

The drought tolerance (DT) of plants is a complex quantitative trait. Under natural and artificial selection, drought tolerance represents the crop survival ability and production capacity under drought conditions (Luo, 2010). To understand the regulation mechanism of varied drought tolerance among rice genotypes, 95 diverse rice landraces or varieties were evaluated within a field screen facility based on the ‘line–source soil moisture gradient’, and their resistance varied from extremely resistant to sensitive. The method of Ecotype Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (Ecotilling) was used to analyze the diversity in the promoters of 24 transcription factor families. The bands separated by electrophoresis using Ecotilling were converted into molecular markers. STRUCTURE analysis revealed a value of K = 2, namely, the population with two subgroups (i.e., indica and japonica), which coincided very well with the UPGMA clusters (NTSYS-pc software) using distance-based analysis and InDel markers. Then the association analysis between the promoter diversity of these transcription factors and the DT index/level of each variety was performed. The results showed that three genes were associated with the DT index and that five genes were associated with the DT level. The sequences of these associated genes are complex and variable, especially at approximately 1000 bp upstream of the transcription initiation sites. The study illuminated that association analysis aimed at Ecotilling diversity of natural groups could facilitate the isolation of rice genes related to complex quantitative traits

Neural Regulation of Innate Immunity in Inflammatory Skin Diseases

As the largest barrier organ of the body, the skin is highly innervated by peripheral sensory neurons. The major function of these sensory neurons is to transmit sensations of temperature, pain, and itch to elicit protective responses. Inflammatory skin diseases are triggered by the aberrant activation of immune responses. Recently, increasing evidence has shown that the skin peripheral nervous system also acts as a regulator of immune responses, particularly innate immunity, in various skin inflammatory processes. Meanwhile, immune cells in the skin can express receptors that respond to neuropeptides/neurotransmitters, leading to crosstalk between the immune system and nervous system. Herein, we highlight recent advances of such bidirectional neuroimmune interactions in certain inflammatory skin conditions

Study on the Perceived Risk about the Online Shopping for Fresh Agricultural Commodities and Customer Acquisition

Fresh agricultural commodities have been entering the era of network marketing. However, the coverage population is still relatively small. In this paper, more than 400 online shopping customer survey data are statistically analyzed based on perceived risk multidimensional model by factor analysis method to classify the potential customers' perceived risk, concluding that food safety risks, mental health risk, relative convenience risk, liquidity risk, privacy risk and time risk are the most important risk factors that impact potential customers online shopping of fresh agricultural commodities. By using customers prediction model which is based on the classification and prediction methods to mining potential customers, it comes to the conclusion that men are more likely to purchase fresh agricultural commodities online, specifically, in the male sample, those whose average monthly net purchase cost equals to or is higher than 51 yuan or whose online shopping time equals to or is longer than 3 years and at the same time whose age is younger than 30 are the most potential customers. Finally, it puts forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions from the perspectives of risk control and effective customer acquisition

Neural Regulation of Innate Immunity in Inflammatory Skin Diseases

As the largest barrier organ of the body, the skin is highly innervated by peripheral sensory neurons. The major function of these sensory neurons is to transmit sensations of temperature, pain, and itch to elicit protective responses. Inflammatory skin diseases are triggered by the aberrant activation of immune responses. Recently, increasing evidence has shown that the skin peripheral nervous system also acts as a regulator of immune responses, particularly innate immunity, in various skin inflammatory processes. Meanwhile, immune cells in the skin can express receptors that respond to neuropeptides/neurotransmitters, leading to crosstalk between the immune system and nervous system. Herein, we highlight recent advances of such bidirectional neuroimmune interactions in certain inflammatory skin conditions

Deep subwavelength acoustic metamaterial for low-frequency sound absorption

A novel class of low-frequency sound absorbers based on a honeycomb sandwich panel is theoretically designed and numerically demonstrated. The absorber with a remarkably small thickness (e.g., 1/131 of wavelength) is comprised of a perforated facesheet, a perforated honeycomb core and a non-perforated back panel. Built upon the classical microperforated panel absorber (MPPA), the idea of introducing a perforated honeycomb core which creates a double-layer perforated absorber (DLPA) without adding to the total thickness greatly enhances the low-frequency absorption performance. Theoretical predictions of the sound absorption coefficient are obtained and compared with numerical simulations obtained using the finite element method (FEM). A good agreement is achieved. The proposed sound absorber is promising for low-frequency noise absorption especially when limited space and high mechanical stiffness/strength are simultaneously demanded