For a given set $S\subseteq \mathbb {Z}_m$ and $\overline {n}\in \mathbb {Z}_m$ , let $R_S(\overline {n})$ denote the number of solutions of the equation $\overline {n}=\overline {s}+\overline {s'}$ with ordered pairs $(\overline {s},\overline {s'})\in S^2$ . We determine the structure of $A,B\subseteq \mathbb {Z}_m$ with $|(A\cup B)\setminus (A\cap B)|=m-2$ such that $R_{A}(\overline {n})=R_{B}(\overline {n})$ for all $\overline {n}\in \mathbb {Z}_m$ , where m is an even integer.

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were fabricated in a metal-assisted chemical etching method with two steps including dipping silicon wafers in AgNO3/HF solutions and then in H2O2/HF solutions. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements with a set of incidence angles were carried out on the resulting samples to detect characteristics of silver nanoparticles in the etched silicon. Compared with the uniform size of silver nanoparticles on the surface, the silver nanoparticles in etched silicon were found with size increasing and content decreasing corresponding to the depths. Based on the silver size increasing phenomenon, a detailed supplementary hypothesis about SiNWs formation was proposed about silver disintegration and redeposition in the later stage of silicon etching. For 2, 3, 4, and 8 mM AgNO3 solutions used to study their effect on the SiNWs, it was found that a higher quantity of Ag+ concentration such as 8 mM were not beneficial for producing good quality SiNWs.

A bidirectional dielectric resonator (DR) antenna array using back-to-back quasi-Yagi antenna configuration is proposed and implemented for the first time. The DR operating at higher-order TE3δ1 mode is used as a magnetic dipole, applying for the driver of quasi-Yagi antenna. Due to the high-order mode employment, the antenna gain can be enhanced. By partially loading the metallic strip on the side wall of the DR, the gain can be further enhanced. In addition, a simple dual Marchand balun is constructed for feeding the two quasi-Yagi antennas directly for bidirectional radiation. To verify the design concept, a prototype operating at the X-band is fabricated and measured. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results can be observed.

Here, we explored the influences of dietary inulin (INU) supplementation on growth performance and intestinal health in a porcine model. Thirty-two male weaned pigs (with an average body weight of 7·10 (sd 0·20) kg) were randomly assigned to four treatments and fed with a basal diet (BD) or BD containing 2·5, 5·0 and 10·0 g/kg INU. After a 21-d trial, pigs were killed for collection of serum and intestinal tissues. We show that INU supplementation had no significant influence on the growth performance in weaned pigs. INU significantly elevated serum insulin-like growth factor-1 concentration but decreased diamine oxidase concentration (P < 0·05). Interestingly, 2·5 and 5·0 g/kg INU supplementation significantly elevated the villus height in jejunum and ileum (P < 0·05). Moreover, 2·5 and 5·0 g/kg INU supplementation also elevated the villus height to crypt depth (V:C) in the duodenum and ileum and improved the distribution and abundance of tight-junction protein zonula occludens-1 in duodenum and ileum epithelium. INU supplementation at 10·0 g/kg significantly elevated the sucrase activity in the ileum mucosa (P < 0·05). INU supplementation decreased the expression level of TNF-α but elevated the expression level of GLUT 2 and divalent metal transporter 1 in the intestinal mucosa (P < 0·05). Moreover, INU increased acetic and butyric acid concentrations in caecum (P < 0·05). Importantly, INU elevated the Lactobacillus population but decreased the Escherichia coli population in the caecum (P < 0·05). These results not only indicate a beneficial effect of INU on growth performance and intestinal barrier functions but also offer potential mechanisms behind the dietary fibre-regulated intestinal health.

Meditation is a type of mental training commonly applied in clinical settings and also practiced for general well-being. Brain functional connectivity (FC) patterns associated with meditation have revealed its brain mechanisms. However, the variety of FC methods applied has made it difficult to identify brain communication patterns associated with meditation. Here we carried out a coordinate-based meta-analysis to get preliminary evidence of meditation effects on changing brain network interactions. Fourteen seed-based, voxel-wise FC studies reported in 13 publications were reviewed; 10 studies with seeds in the default mode network (DMN) were meta-analyzed. Seed coordinates and the effect sizes in statistically significant regions were extracted, based on 170 subjects in meditation groups and 163 subjects in control groups. Seed-based d-mapping was used to analyze meditation versus control FC differences with DMN seeds. Meditation was associated with increased connectivity within DMN and between DMN and somatomotor network and with decreased connectivity between DMN and frontoparietal network (FPN) as well as ventral attention network (VAN). The pattern of decreased within-DMN FC and increased between-network FC (FPN and DAN with DMN) was more robust in highly experienced meditators compared to less experienced individuals. The identified neural network interactions may also promote meditation’s effectiveness in clinical interventions for treating physical and mental disorders.

Synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) is an abundant and important presynaptic vesicle protein that binds Ca2+ for the regulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Our previous study reported its localization and function on spindle assembly in mouse oocyte meiotic maturation. The present study was designed to investigate the function of Syt1 during mouse oocyte activation and subsequent cortical granule exocytosis (CGE) using confocal microscopy, morpholinol-based knockdown and time-lapse live cell imaging. By employing live cell imaging, we first studied the dynamic process of CGE and calculated the time interval between [Ca2+]i rise and CGE after oocyte activation. We further showed that Syt1 was co-localized to cortical granules (CGs) at the oocyte cortex. After oocyte activation with SrCl2, the Syt1 distribution pattern was altered significantly, similar to the changes seen for the CGs. Knockdown of Syt1 inhibited [Ca2+]i oscillations, disrupted the F-actin distribution pattern and delayed the time of cortical reaction. In summary, as a synaptic vesicle protein and calcium sensor for exocytosis, Syt1 acts as an essential regulator in mouse oocyte activation events including the generation of Ca2+ signals and CGE.

Rational construction of Z-scheme photocatalysts and exploration of the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism have drawn much attention in the field of CO2 reduction because of its great potential to alleviate energy crisis and environmental problems. In this study, a series of Z-scheme CdS/BiOI composites were constructed by depositing CdS nanoparticles on the surface of BiOI nanosheets. The synthesized materials were characterized comprehensively, and their photoreduction CO2 activities were evaluated. The results show that the composites exhibit higher photoreduction CO2 activity under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) than pure CdS and BiOI. The yields of CO and CH4 for the optimal composite after 3 h irradiation are 3.32 and 0.54 μmol/g, respectively. The improved photocatalytic activity is attributed to Z-scheme transfer mode of the photogenerated charges in the composites. The mechanism of CO2 reduction is proposed and verified experimentally.

Malnutrition and acute kidney injury (AKI) are common complications in hospitalised patients, and both increase mortality; however, the relationship between them is unknown. This is a retrospective propensity score matching study enrolling 46 549 inpatients, aimed to investigate the association between Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002) and AKI and to assess the ability of NRS-2002 and AKI in predicting prognosis. In total, 37 190 (80 %) and 9359 (20 %) patients had NRS-2002 scores <3 and ≥3, respectively. Patients with NRS-2002 scores ≥3 had longer lengths of stay (12·6 (sd 7·8) v. 10·4 (sd 6·2) d, P < 0·05), higher mortality rates (9·6 v. 2·5 %, P < 0·05) and higher incidence of AKI (28 v. 16 %, P < 0·05) than patients with normal nutritional status. The NRS-2002 showed a strong association with AKI, that is, the risk of AKI changed in parallel with the score of the NRS-2002. In short- and long-term survival, patients with a lower NRS-2002 score or who did not have AKI achieved a significantly lower risk of mortality than those with a high NRS-2002 score or AKI. Univariate Cox regression analyses indicated that both the NRS-2002 and AKI were strongly related to long-term survival (AUC 0·79 and 0·71) and that the combination of the two showed better accuracy (AUC 0·80) than the individual variables. In conclusion, malnutrition can increase the risk of AKI and both AKI and malnutrition can worsen the prognosis that the undernourished patients who develop AKI yield far worse prognosis than patients with normal nutritional status.

Findings of epidemiological studies regarding the association between carrot consumption and lung cancer risk remain inconsistent. The present study aimed to summarise the current epidemiological evidence concerning carrot intake and lung cancer risk with a meta-analysis. We conducted a meta-analysis of case–control and prospective cohort studies, and searched PubMed and Embase databases from their inception to April 2018 without restriction by language. We also reviewed reference lists from included articles. Prospective cohort or case–control studies reporting OR or relative risk with the corresponding 95 % CI of the risk lung cancer for the highest compared with the lowest category of carrot intake. A total of eighteen eligible studies (seventeen case–control studies and one prospective cohort study) were included, involving 202 969 individuals and 5517 patients with lung cancer. The pooled OR of eighteen studies for lung cancer was 0·58 (95 % CI 0·45, 0·74) by comparing the highest category with the lowest category of carrot consumption. Based on subgroup analyses for the types of lung cancer, we pooled that squamous cell carcinoma (OR 0·52, 95 % CI 0·19, 1·45), small-cell carcinoma (OR 0·43, 95 % CI 0·12, 1·59), adenocarcinoma (OR 0·34, 95 % CI 0·15, 0·79), large-cell carcinoma (OR 0·40, 95 % CI 0·10, 1·57), squamous and small-cell carcinoma (OR 0·85, 95 % CI 0·45, 1·62), adenocarcinoma and large-cell carcinoma (OR 0·20, 95 % CI 0·02, 1·70) and mixed types (OR 0·61, 95 % CI 0·46, 0·81). Exclusion of any single study did not materially alter the pooled OR. Integrated epidemiological evidence from observational studies supported the hypothesis that carrot consumption may decrease the risk of lung cancer, especially for adenocarcinoma.

In this paper, instabilities in the flow over a circular cylinder of diameter $D$ with dual splitter plates attached to its rear surface are numerically investigated using the spectral element method. The key parameters are the splitter plate length $L$ , the attachment angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ and the Reynolds number $Re$ . The presence of the plates was found to significantly modify the flow topology, leading to substantial changes in both the primary and secondary instabilities. The results showed that the three instability modes present in the bare circular cylinder wake still exist in the wake of the present configurations and that, in general, the occurrences of modes A and B are delayed, while the onset of mode QP is earlier in the presence of the splitter plates. Furthermore, two new synchronous modes, referred to as mode A $^{\prime }$ and mode B $^{\prime }$ , are found to develop in the wake. Mode A $^{\prime }$ is similar to mode A but with a quite long critical wavelength. Mode B $^{\prime }$ shares the same spatio-temporal symmetries as mode B but has a distinct spatial structure. With the exception of the case of $L/D=0.25$ , mode A $^{\prime }$ persists for all configurations investigated here and always precedes the transition through mode A. The onset of mode B $^{\prime }$ occurs for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}>20^{\circ }$ with $L/D=1.0$ and for $L/D>0.5$ with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=60^{\circ }$ . The characteristics of all the transition modes are analysed, and their similarities and differences are discussed in detail in comparison with the existing modes. In addition, the physical mechanism responsible for the instability mode B $^{\prime }$ is proposed. The weakly nonlinear feature of mode B $^{\prime }$ , as well as that of mode A $^{\prime }$ , is assessed by employing the Landau model. Finally, selected three-dimensional simulations are performed to confirm the existence of these two new modes and to investigate the nonlinear evolution of the three-dimensional modes.