Yong Wang

In the present work, the microstructure of the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy has been characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy together with energy-dispersive spectrometry. It has been found that the microstructure of the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy is composed of the amorphous phase, f -Al, f -Al 11 Ce 3 , Al 3 Ce and unidentified phases, quite different from that of the ingot-like alloy consisting of coarse primary f -Al- f -Al 11 Ce 3 dendrites embedded in the f -Al- f -Al 11 Ce 3 eutectic matrix. Moreover, the amorphous phase is dominant in the melt-spun Al 90 Ce 10 alloy according to the XRD and TEM results. Al 3 Ce particles, less than 100 nm in size, are dispersed in the partial amorphous phase. Polygonal f -Al 11 Ce 3 crystals embedded in the f -Al matrix are also observed. The presence of the hexagonal, kite-like and petal-like intermetallic particles surrounded by the amorphous phase indicates that there exist micro-inhomogeneous structures in the Al 90 Ce 10 melt. These results demonstrate that the overheating of the melt has a significant effect on the amorphization of the Al 90 Ce 10 alloy

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption as governments took actions to limit the spread of the virus. Measures such as physical distancing and lockdowns changed living conditions, leading to challenges such as social isolation and reduced connectedness. This study explores COVID-19’s impact on adolescents’ well-being, emphasising family social capital, which refers to supportive adult-child relationships that foster well-being and enhance remote learning. Quantitative data was collected through an online survey from August 2022 to August 2023, involving 4008 students and 3511 parents. Semi-structured interviews with six students and their parents (either the mother or the father) provided in-depth insights into the perceived role of family social capital in shaping adolescents’ well-being during quarantine. Quantitative data revealed that parental education level significantly influenced adolescents’ self-reported well-being and resilience, and family income influenced parents’ perceptions of their children’s well-being. Qualitative data highlighted the importance of strong family bonds, effective parent-child relationships, and robust family support in mitigating the adverse effects of prolonged home quarantine. The research also discovered the role of adolescents’ agency in building social capital through web-based communities. The study contributes to understanding Chinese adolescents’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing implications for supporting their well-being in the post-pandemic era.

Patient-centered care (PCC) is widely endorsed in contemporary medicine, yet philosophical analyses often approach it through concept-first approaches that define patienthood in advance—typically in terms of autonomy, holistic personhood, or rational agency—and then assess clinical practice by reference to these ideals. This paper argues that such an approach can obscure how patienthood is configured in practice. We develop a tool-first approach that treats cognitive, communicative, and material tools as analytically primary for understanding how patients are individuated in clinical reasoning. The argument is grounded in an ethnographic case study conducted in a specialized cancer hospital, focusing on outpatient clinics in medical oncology, colorectal surgery, and palliative care. Rather than treating ethnography as descriptive background, we use it to identify tools-in-use that structure what becomes salient, actionable, and patient-relevant in situated encounters. Across these settings, distinct configurations of tools generate systematically different modes of patienthood. In oncology, staging systems and expectation management configure patients as therapeutic trajectories oriented toward uncertain futures. In surgery, anatomical diagrams and probabilistic framings individuate patients as operative bodies embedded in structured decision spaces. In palliative care, symptom scales, narrative practices, and informational scaffolding configure patients as experiential subjects and epistemic agents. We analyze these differences as instances of structural plurality: patterned, tool-mediated modes of patient individuation that are internally coherent yet irreducible to a single model. On this account, ethical ideals commonly associated with PCC—such as autonomy, shared decision-making, and informed consent—can be understood less as prior normative standards applied to practice, and more as contingent achievements that depend on how tools structure salience, understanding, and possibilities for agency in clinical contexts.

The mechanical environment crucially influences many cell functions 1. However, it remains largely mysterious how mechanical stimuli are transmitted into biochemical signals. Src is known to regulate the integrin-cytoskeleton interaction2, which is essential for the transduction of mechanical stimuli3-5. Using fluorescent resonance energy transfer, here we develop a genetically encoded Src reporter that enables the imaging and quantification of spatio-temporal activation of Src in live cells. We introduced a local mechanical stimulation to human umbilical vein endothelial cells by applying laser-tweezer traction on fibronectin-coated beads adhering to the cells. Using the Src reporter, we observed a rapid distal Src activation and a slower directional wave propagation of Src activation along the plasma membrane. This wave propagated away from the stimulation site with a speed of 18.1 ± 1.7 nm s-1. This force-induced directional and long-range activation of Src was abolished by the disruption of actin filaments or microtubules. Our reporter has thus made it possible to monitor mechanotransduction in live cells with spatio-temporal characterization. We find that the transmission of mechanically induced Src activation is a dynamic process that directs signals via the cytoskeleton to spatial destinations.

Contactin-Associated protein-like 2 is a large multidomain neuronal adhesion molecule implicated in a number of neurological disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and language delay. We reveal here by electron microscopy that the architecture of CNTNAP2 is composed of a large, medium, and small lobe that flex with respect to each other. Using epitope labeling and fragments, we assign the F58C, L1, and L2 domains to the large lobe, the FBG and L3 domains to the middle lobe, and the L4 domain to the small lobe of the CNTNAP2 molecular envelope. Our data reveal that CNTNAP2 has a very different architecture compared with neurexin 1α, a fellow member of the neurexin superfamily and a prototype, suggesting that CNTNAP2 uses a different strategy to integrate into the synaptic protein network. We show that the ectodomains of CNTNAP2 and contactin 2 bind directly and specifically, with low nanomolar affinity. We show further that mutations in CNTNAP2 implicated in autism spectrum disorder arenot segregated but are distributed over the whole ectodomain. The molecular shape and dimensions of CNTNAP2 place constraints on how CNTNAP2 integrates in the cleft of axo-glial and neuronal contact sites and how it functions as an organizing and adhesive molecule.

Analysis of gene expression patterns in gastric cancer can help to identify a comprehensive panel of gene biomarkers for predicting clinical outcomes and to discover potential new therapeutic targets. Here, a multi-step bioinformatics analytic approach was developed to establish a novel prognostic scoring system for GC. We first identified 276 genes that were robustly differentially expressed between normal and GC tissues, of which, 249 were found to be significantly associated with overall survival by univariate Cox regression analysis. The biological functions of 249 genes are related to cell cycle, RNA/ncRNA process, acetylation and extracellular matrix organization. A network was generated for view of the gene expression architecture of 249 genes in 265 GCs. Finally, we applied a canonical discriminant analysis approach to identify a 53-gene signature and a prognostic scoring system was established based on a canonical discriminant function of 53 genes. The prognostic scores strongly predicted patients with GC to have either a poor or good OS. Our study raises the prospect that the practicality of GC patient prognosis can be assessed by this prognostic scoring system.

Background: PPM1G is a nuclear localized serine/threonine phosphatase implicated to be a regulator of chromatin remodeling, mRNA splicing, and DNA damage. However, its in vivo function is unknown. Results: Here we show that ppm1g expression is highly enriched in the central nervous system during mouse and zebrafish development. ppm1g-/- mice were embryonic lethal with incomplete penetrance after E12.5. Rostral defects, including neural tube and craniofacial defects were observed in ppm1g-/- embryos associated with increased cell death in the neural epithelium. In zebrafish, loss of ppm1g also led to neural defects with aberrant neural marker gene expression. Primary fibroblasts from ppm1g-/- embryos failed to grow without immortalization while immortalized ppm1g-/- fibroblasts had increased cell death upon oxidative and genotoxic stress when compared to wild type fibroblasts. Conclusions: Our in vivo and in vitro studies revealed a critical role for PPM1G in normal development and cell survival. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Using the ER-fMRI technique, the present study was designed to investigate the neural substrates of language switching among second-language learners. Twelve Chinese college students who were learning English were scanned when they performed language switching tasks. Compared to non-switching conditions, language switching elicited greater activation in the right superior prefrontal cortex, left middle and superior frontal cortex, and right middle cingulum and caudate. When the direction of switching was considered, forward switching, but not backward switching, activated several brain regions related to executive functions relative to non-switching conditions. These results suggest that neural correlates of language switching differ depending on the direction of the switch and that there does not seem to be a specific brain area acting as a "language switch". © 2006.

© 2015 IEEE. Over 50% of HIV+ individuals exhibit neurocognitive impairment and subcortical atrophy, but the pattern of brain abnormalities associated with HIV is still poorly understood. Using parametric surface-based shape analyses, we mapped the 3D profile of subcortical morphometry in 63 HIV+ participants and 31 uninfected controls. The thalamus, corpus striatum, hippocampus, amygdala, brainstem, callosum and ventricles were segmented from brain MRIs. To investigate subcortical shape, we analyzed the Jacobian determinant and radial distances for structure surfaces. We also investigated effects of nadir CD4+ T-cell counts, viral load, and illness duration on subcortical morphology. Our results characterize subcortical morphometry in older HIV+ people, where participants showed significant volumetric enlargements in the thalamus, left pallidum and the ventricles while showing a reduction in the callosum. Further, RD maps revealed atrophy of the left thalamus and expansion of the brainstem in HIV. RD and JD maps of the right pallidum identified tissue expansion associated with illness duration while the left pallidum showed anterior atrophy and posterior expansion associated with viral load.

Background: Malaria around the China-Myanmar border is a serious health problem in the countries of South-East Asia. An. minimus is a principle malaria vector with a wide geographic distribution in this area. Malaria is endemic along the boundary between Yunnan province in China and the Kachin State of Myanmar where the local Anopheles community and the malaria transmission vectors have never been clarified. Methods. Adult Anopheles specimens were collected using CDC light traps in four villages along the border of China and Myanmar from May 2012 to April 2013. Morphological and molecular identification of mosquito adults confirmed the species of Anopheles. Blood-meal identification using the female abdomens was conducted using multiplex PCR. For sporozoite detection in An. minimus, sets of 10 female salivary glands were pooled and identified with SSU rDNA using nested PCR. Monthly abundance of An. minimus populations during the year was documented. The diversity of Anopheles and the role of An. minimus on malaria transmission in this border area were analyzed. Results: 4,833 adult mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles were collected and morphologically identified to species or species complex. The Anopheles community is comprised of 13 species, and 78.83% of our total specimens belonged to An. minimus s.l., followed by An. maculatus and the An. culicifacies complex. The quantity of trapped An. minimus in the rainy season of malaria transmission was greater than during the non-malarial dry season, and a peak was found in May 2012. An. minimus fed on the blood of four animals: humans, cattle, pigs and dogs. 1,500 females of An. minimus were pooled into 150 samples and tested for sporozoites: only 1 pooled sample was found to have sporozoites of Plasmodium vivax. Conclusion: Anopheles is abundant with An. minimus being the dominant species and having a high human blood index along the China-Myanmar border. The sporozoites in An. minimus were determined to be Plasmodium vivax with a 0.07-0.7% infection rate. © 2013Yu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

The ongoing pandemic has transformed communication modes globally. Especially in the case of higher education, where countermeasures against coronavirus disease 2019 have affected students’ learning experience. This study emphasized the case of business simulation games, where critical factors were underlined to define learners’ intention to use an online learning environment through the lens of task technology fit as a theoretical stance. This study considered the statistical analysis of 523 students who attended the business simulation module online at the tertiary level of education. Findings conclude that flow experience is the most critical factor to define learners’ perceived TTF in the case of an online learning experience. However, the learners’ self-efficacy is significant enough to map learners’ intentions to use an online environment for learning. The study discussed several theoretical and practical implications for learners’ educators and policymakers.

The identification and analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamic traffic patterns in citywide road networks constitute a crucial process for complex traffic management and control. However, city-scale and synchronal traffic data pose challenges for such kind of quantification, especially during peak hours. Traditional studies rely on data from road-based detectors or multiple communication systems, which are limited in not only access but also coverage. To avoid these limitations, we introduce real-time, traffic condition digital maps as our input. The digital maps keep spatiotemporal urban traffic information in nature and are open to access. Their pixel colors represent traffic conditions on corresponding road segments. We propose a stacked convolutional autoencoder-based method to extract a low-dimension feature vector for each input. We compute and analyze the distances between vectors. The statistical results show different traffic patterns during given periods. With the actual data of Chongqing city, we compare the feature extraction performance between our proposed method and histogram. The result shows our proposed method can extract spatiotemporal features better. For the same data set, there is little difference in the number distribution of red pixels found in the statistics result of the histogram, while differences do exist in the results of our proposed method. We find the most fluctuated morning is on Friday; the most fluctuated evening is on Tuesday; and the most stable evening is on Wednesday. The distance captured by our method can represent the evolution of different traffic conditions during the morning and evening peak hours. Our proposed method provides managers with assistance to sense the dynamics of citywide traffic conditions in quantity.

Selective photothermolysis is the basic principle for laser treatment of vascular malformations such as port wine stain birthmarks. During cutaneous laser surgery, blood inside blood vessels is heated due to selective absorption of laser energy, while the surrounding normal tissue is spared. As a result, the blood and the surrounding tissue experience a local thermodynamic non-equilibrium condition. Traditionally, the PWS laser treatment process was simulated by a discrete-blood-vessel model that simplifies blood vessels into parallel cylinders buried in a multi-layer skin model. In this paper, PWS skin is treated as a porous medium made of tissue matrix and blood in the dermis. A two-temperature model is constructed following the local thermal non-equilibrium theory of porous media. Both transient and steady heat conduction problems are solved in a unit cell for the interfacial heat transfer between blood vessels and the surrounding tissue to close the present two-temperature model. The present two-temperature model is validated by good agreement with those from the discrete-blood-vessel model. The characteristics of the present two-temperature model are further illustrated through a comparison with the previously-used homogenous model, in which a local thermodynamic equilibrium assumption between the blood and the surrounding tissue is employed. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc.

We say that a computably enumerable (c. e.) degree a is plus-cupping, if for every c.e. degree x with $0 < x \leq a$ , there is a c. e. degree $y \not= 0'$ such that $x \vee y = 0/\'$ . We say that a is n-plus-cupping. if for every c. e. degree x, if $0 < x \leq a$ , then there is a $low_n$ c. e. degree 1 such that $x \vee l = 0'$ . Let PC and $PC_n$ be the set of all plus-cupping, and n-plus-cupping c. e. degrees respectively. Then $PC_{1} \subseteq PC_{2} \subseteq PC_3 = PC$ . In this paper we show that $PC_{1} \subset PC_2$ , so giving a nontrivial hierarchy for the plus cupping degrees. The theorem also extends the result of Li, Wu and Zhang [14] showing that $LC_{1} \subset LC_2$ , as well as extending the Harrington plus-cupping theorem [8]