Two-dimensional Noncommutative atom Gas with Anandan interaction

Landau like quantization of the Anandan system in a special electromagnetic field is studied. Unlike the cases of the AC system and the HMW system, the torques of the system on the magnetic dipole and the electric dipole don't vanish. By constructing Heisenberg algebra, the Landau analog levels and eigenstates on commutative space, NC space and NC phase space are obtained respectively. By using the coherent state method, some statistical properties of such free atom gas are studied and the expressions of some thermodynamic quantities related to revolution direction are obtained. Two particular cases of temperature are discussed and the more simple expressions of the free energy on the three spaces are obtained. We give the relation between the value of $\sigma$ and revolution direction clearly, and find Landau like levels of the Anandan system are invariant and the levels between the AC system and the HMW system are interchanged each other under Maxwell dual transformations on the three spaces. The two sets of eigenstates labelled by $\sigma$ can be related by a supersymmetry transformation on commutative space, but the phenomenon don't occur on NC situation. We emphasize that some results relevant to Anandan interaction are suitable for the cases of AC interaction and HMW interaction under special conditions.Comment: Latex, 10 page

Study of GaN LED ITO nano-gratings with standing wave analysis

This study reveals the effect of nanoscale ITO transmission gratings on light emission from the top, sides, and bottom of a GaN light-emitting diode (LED), based on the substrate standing wave analysis. First, we show that sapphire substrate thickness affects the standing wave pattern in the LED and find the best- and worst-case sapphire thicknesses. Second, we find that adding nanoscale ITO transmission gratings can improve light extraction by 222% or 253%, depending on the reference chosen. Third, we observe that maximizing top light emission with the nano-grating can significantly reduce bottom and side light emissions. Finally, we study grating performance over different wavelengths and generate the LED spectrum

Modeling of Hydrological Processes in Arid Agricultural Regions

Understanding of hydrological processes, including consideration of interactions between vegetation growth and water transfer in the root zone, underpins efficient use of water resources in arid-zone agriculture. Water transfers take place in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, and include groundwater dynamics, unsaturated zone flow, evaporation/transpiration from vegetated/bare soil and surface water, agricultural canal/surface water flow and seepage, and well pumping. Models can be categorized into three classes: (1) regional distributed hydrological models with various land uses, (2) groundwater-soil-plant-atmosphere continuum models that neglect lateral water fluxes, and (3) coupled models with groundwater flow and unsaturated zone water dynamics. This review highlights, in addition, future research challenges in modeling arid-zone agricultural systems, e.g., to effectively assimilate data from remote sensing, and to fully reflect climate change effects at various model scales

MFAP3L activation promotes colorectal cancer cell invasion and metastasis

AbstractAn abundance of microfibril-associated glycoprotein 3-like (MFAP3L) significantly correlates with distant metastasis in colorectal cancer (CRC), although the mechanism has yet to be explained. In this study, we observed that MFAP3L knock-down resulted in reduced CRC cell invasion and hepatic metastasis. We evaluated the cellular location and biochemical functions of MFAP3L and found that this protein was primarily localized in the nucleus of CRC cells and acted as a protein kinase. When EGFR translocated into the nucleus upon stimulation with EGF, MFAP3L was phosphorylated at Tyr287 within its SH2 motif, and the activated form of MFAP3L phosphorylated ERK2 at Thr185 and Tyr187. Moreover, the metastatic behavior of CRC cells in vitro and in vivo could be partially explained by activation of the nuclear ERK pathway through MFAP3L phosphorylation. Hence, we experimentally demonstrated for the first time that MFAP3L likely participates in the nuclear signaling of EGFR and ERK2 and acts as a novel nuclear kinase that impacts CRC metastasis

PDTD: a web-accessible protein database for drug target identification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Target identification is important for modern drug discovery. With the advances in the development of molecular docking, potential binding proteins may be discovered by docking a small molecule to a repository of proteins with three-dimensional (3D) structures. To complete this task, a reverse docking program and a drug target database with 3D structures are necessary. To this end, we have developed a web server tool, TarFisDock (<it>Tar</it>get <it>Fis</it>hing <it>Dock</it>ing) <url>http://www.dddc.ac.cn/tarfisdock</url>, which has been used widely by others. Recently, we have constructed a protein target database, <it>P</it>otential <it>D</it>rug <it>T</it>arget <it>D</it>atabase (PDTD), and have integrated PDTD with TarFisDock. This combination aims to assist target identification and validation.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>PDTD is a web-accessible protein database for <it>in silico </it>target identification. It currently contains >1100 protein entries with 3D structures presented in the Protein Data Bank. The data are extracted from the literatures and several online databases such as TTD, DrugBank and Thomson Pharma. The database covers diverse information of >830 known or potential drug targets, including protein and active sites structures in both PDB and mol2 formats, related diseases, biological functions as well as associated regulating (signaling) pathways. Each target is categorized by both nosology and biochemical function. PDTD supports keyword search function, such as PDB ID, target name, and disease name. Data set generated by PDTD can be viewed with the plug-in of molecular visualization tools and also can be downloaded freely. Remarkably, PDTD is specially designed for target identification. In conjunction with TarFisDock, PDTD can be used to identify binding proteins for small molecules. The results can be downloaded in the form of mol2 file with the binding pose of the probe compound and a list of potential binding targets according to their ranking scores.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>PDTD serves as a comprehensive and unique repository of drug targets. Integrated with TarFisDock, PDTD is a useful resource to identify binding proteins for active compounds or existing drugs. Its potential applications include <it>in silico </it>drug target identification, virtual screening, and the discovery of the secondary effects of an old drug (i.e. new pharmacological usage) or an existing target (i.e. new pharmacological or toxic relevance), thus it may be a valuable platform for the pharmaceutical researchers. PDTD is available online at <url>http://www.dddc.ac.cn/pdtd/</url>.</p

Interactive Regimes of Reduced Irrigation and Salt Stress Depressed Tomato Water Use Efficiency at Leaf and Plant Scales by Affecting Leaf Physiology and Stem Sap Flow

Interactive effects of reduced irrigation and salt stress on leaf physiological parameters, biomass accumulation, and water use efficiency (WUE) of tomato plants at leaf and whole plant scales were investigated in a field experiment during 2016 and a greenhouse experiment during 2017. Experiment utilized two irrigation regimes (full, 2/3 of full irrigation) and four soil salt regimes (0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9% in 2016 season; and 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4% in 2017 season). Three salts, sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium sulfate (mass ratio of 2:2:1), were homogeneously mixed with soil prior to packing into containers (0.024 m3). Li-COR 6400 was used to measure tomato leaf physiological parameters. Instantaneous water use efficiency (WUEins, μmol mmol−1) and intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEint, μmol mol−1) were determined at leaf scale, yield water use efficiency (WUEY, g L−1), and dry biomass water use efficiency (WUEDM, g L−1) were determined at whole plant scale. Plants irrigated with 2/3 of full irrigation with zero soil-salt treatment had higher dry biomass and yield per plant, resulting in the highest WUEDM and WUEY at whole plant scale. Increasing soil salinity decreased dry biomass and yield, leading to greater decreases in whole plant WUEDM and WUEY under both irrigation treatments. At full irrigation, no decreases in stomatal conductance (gs, mol m−2 s−1) and slight increase in photosynthetic rate (Pn, μmol m−2 s−1) led to higher WUEint at leaf scale during both years. Under full and reduced irrigation, increasing soil salt content decreased Pn and transpiration rate (Tr, mmol m−2 s−1) and led to reductions in WUEins at the leaf scale. However, compared to full irrigation, reduced irrigation improved WUEins with a significant decline in Tr in no salt and 0.3% soil-salt treatments during both years. For soil salt content of 0.6%, stomatal limitation due to salt stress resulted in higher WUEint, but soil salt content of 0.9% decreased WUEint due to non-stomatal limitation. Soil salt content significantly decreased sap flow, with the maximum variation of daily sap flow per plant of 7.96–31.37 g/h in 2016 and 12.52–36.02 g h−1 in 2017. Sap flow rate was linearly related to air temperature (Ta, °C), solar radiation (Rs, W m−2), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD, kPa). These results advance knowledge on tomato response to abiotic stresses and could improve management of tomato production in water- and salt-stressed areas

TarFisDock: a web server for identifying drug targets with docking approach

TarFisDock is a web-based tool for automating the procedure of searching for small molecule–protein interactions over a large repertoire of protein structures. It offers PDTD (potential drug target database), a target database containing 698 protein structures covering 15 therapeutic areas and a reverse ligand–protein docking program. In contrast to conventional ligand–protein docking, reverse ligand–protein docking aims to seek potential protein targets by screening an appropriate protein database. The input file of this web server is the small molecule to be tested, in standard mol2 format; TarFisDock then searches for possible binding proteins for the given small molecule by use of a docking approach. The ligand–protein interaction energy terms of the program DOCK are adopted for ranking the proteins. To test the reliability of the TarFisDock server, we searched the PDTD for putative binding proteins for vitamin E and 4H-tamoxifen. The top 2 and 10% candidates of vitamin E binding proteins identified by TarFisDock respectively cover 30 and 50% of reported targets verified or implicated by experiments; and 30 and 50% of experimentally confirmed targets for 4H-tamoxifen appear amongst the top 2 and 5% of the TarFisDock predicted candidates, respectively. Therefore, TarFisDock may be a useful tool for target identification, mechanism study of old drugs and probes discovered from natural products. TarFisDock and PDTD are available at

The prevalence of sarcopenia and risk factors in the older adult in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundUnderstanding the epidemiological information of a certain disease is the first step in related prevention and control work. This article aims to understand the prevalence and associated risk factors of sarcopenia among the older adult (≥60 years old) in China and to provide an evidence-based basis for early identification, management, and prevention of sarcopenia patients.MethodsWe searched seven databases: CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from the establishment of the database until January 31, 2024. The Quality evaluation criteria of cross-sectional studies recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) were used for literature quality evaluation. Stata 18.0 software was used for statistical analysis.ResultsWe finally included 45 studies, involving a total of 37,571 cases. After statistical analysis, we found that the prevalence of sarcopenia among the older adult in China was 20.7% [95% CI (18.3, 23.0%)]. The results of subgroup analysis suggest that: ① According to gender, the prevalence rate of sarcopenia in women (21.6%) is higher than that in men (19.2%); ② According to age, the prevalence rate of older adult people aged ≥80 (45.4%) was the highest, followed by 70–79 (27.2%) and 60–69 (15.7%). ③ According to region, the prevalence rate of the older adult in the south (21.7%) is higher than that in the north (19.0%); ④ According to the time of publication, the prevalence of sarcopenia among the older adult in China has increased (from 19.2% in 2014–2018 to 21.4% in 2019–2024); ⑤ According to the diagnostic criteria, the detection rate of AWGS (2019) is higher than that of AWGS (2014) (24.5% vs. 19.3%). Finally, aging, low BMI, low leg circumference, smoking, depression, osteoporosis, malnutrition and malnutrition risk are all risk factors for sarcopenia among the older adult in China.ConclusionThe prevalence of sarcopenia in the older adult in China was higher (20.7%), which should be paid attention to by relevant health authorities. In addition, aging, low BMI, low calf circumference, smoking, depression, osteoporosis, malnutrition and malnutrition risk are risk factors for the development of sarcopenia in the older adult in China. For these high-risk populations, early identification, prevention, and intervention can be carried out to delay the occurrence and progression of sarcopenia

Automated tooth crown design with optimized shape and biomechanics properties

Despite the large demand for dental restoration each year, the design of crown restorations is mainly performed via manual software operation, which is tedious and subjective. Moreover, the current design process lacks biomechanics optimization, leading to localized stress concentration and reduced working life. To tackle these challenges, we develop a fully automated algorithm for crown restoration based on deformable model fitting and biomechanical optimization. From a library of dental oral scans, a conditional shape model (CSM) is constructed to represent the inter-teeth shape correlation. By matching the CSM to the patient’s oral scan, the optimal crown shape is estimated to coincide with the surrounding teeth. Next, the crown is seamlessly integrated into the finish line of preparation via a surface warping step. Finally, porous internal supporting structures of the crown are generated to avoid excessive localized stresses. This algorithm is validated on clinical oral scan data and achieved less than 2 mm mean surface distance as compared to the manual designs of experienced human operators. The mechanical simulation was conducted to prove that the internal supporting structures lead to uniform stress distribution all over the model

Parallelism and non-parallelism in diabetic nephropathy and diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) and diabetic retinopathy (DR), as microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus, are currently the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and blindness, respectively, in the adult working population, and they are major public health problems with social and economic burdens. The parallelism between the two in the process of occurrence and development manifests in the high overlap of disease-causing risk factors and pathogenesis, high rates of comorbidity, mutually predictive effects, and partial concordance in the clinical use of medications. However, since the two organs, the eye and the kidney, have their unique internal environment and physiological processes, each with specific influencing molecules, and the target organs have non-parallelism due to different pathological changes and responses to various influencing factors, this article provides an overview of the parallelism and non-parallelism between DN and DR to further recognize the commonalities and differences between the two diseases and provide references for early diagnosis, clinical guidance on the use of medication, and the development of new drugs