Hierarchical tungsten oxide assemblies such as spindle-like, flowers with sharp petals, nanowires and regular hexagonal structures are successfully synthesized via a solvothermal reduction method by simply adjusting the reaction conditions. On the basis of the experimental results, it is determined that the reaction time significantly influences the phase transition, microstructure and photocatalytic activity of the prepared samples. The possible mechanisms for the phase transition and morphology evolution process have been systematically proposed. Moreover, the as-prepared products exhibit significant morphology-depended photocatalytic activity. The flower-like W18O49 prepared at 6 h possesses large specific surface area (150.1 m²g^-1), improved separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs and decreased electron-transfer resistance by the photoelectrochemical measurements. As a result, the flower-like W₁₈O₄₉ prepared at 6 h exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Methyl orange aqueous solution. The radical trap experiments showed that the degradation of MO was driven mainly by the participation of h⁺ and •O²⁻ radicals.

Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate the availability of portable devices for nasal FeNO measurement, which could replace exhaled NO measurement based on the continuous aspiration of multiple flow measurement systems. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study. The healthy subjects without rhinosinusis disorders (control group) and those with diagnosed allergic rhinitis (AR group) were enrolled in the study. They underwent nasal and bronchial FeNO measurements by both fixed flow NObreath® connected to nasal mask and multiple flows HypAir FeNO®. Results: A total of 153 people were recruited including 63 healthy subjects and 90 subjects with AR. There were no statistically significant differences in anthropometric characteristics between the two groups (P > 0.05). There were a significant increase in FeNO values in the AR group compared to the control group; concentrations of nasal and bronchial FeNO mearsured by NObreath® were 76.0 ± 50.7 ppb (vs 36.0 ± 28.1 ppb, P < 0.01) and 32.3 ± 15.4 ppb (vs 9.2 ± 5.6 ppb, P < 0.001), and those mearsured by NObreath® Hypair FeNO® were 1796.9 ± 523.3 ppb (vs 400.2 ± 123.1 ppb, P < 0.001) and 37.3 ± 23.0 ppb (vs 17.4 ± 18.3 ppb, P < 0.01). A weak correlation between the values measured by NObreath® and Hypair FeNO® devices was observed (r = 0.023 and r = 0.089, respectively; p < 0.05). Conclusions: The handheld NObreath® device is effective in measuring FeNO concentrations in both normal subjects and AR patients. The advantages in price and size, creating a compact, low-cost device that is convenient for use and research.

A new algorithm is developed in this study to automatically detect reinforced concrete structures' rebar locations and diameters using the ground penetrating radar technique. The method approximates the hyperbolic signatures using two-way travel time and bi-quadratic equations. The study includes formulating electromagnetic wave speed in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The algorithm was used in a computer code to provide an automated analysis of ground-penetrating radar data collected from a pre-planned survey grid. Two RC slabs were fabricated and tested to validate the proposed method. The proposed method is efficient in signal processing and accurately and reliably determining the rebar information.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a critical and essential component of zero-emission electro-hydrogen generators. An accurate prediction of its performance is important for optimal operation management and preventive maintenance of these generators. However, the prediction is not simple because the PEMFCs have complex electrochemical reactions with multiple nonlinear relations between operating variables as inputs and voltage as output. In this paper, we propose an efficient prediction approach based on XGBRegressor and Tree-structured Parzen Estimator. In addition, to better select relevant features, Kernel Principal Component Analysis and Mutual Information are jointly used. The proposed approach allows consideration of the dynamic operating conditions of the PEMFC. To test and validate the robustness of the proposed approach, a real data-set of ten PEMFCs was considered. Furthermore, a comparison study with traditional machine learning models, such as artificial neural networks and support vector machine regression, was investigated. The obtained results confirm that our model outperforms the considered traditionel machine learning models.

BackgroundIntracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in pregnancy, estimated at 1 in 10,000 cases, presents significant diagnostic challenges prenatally despite advanced imaging techniques such as ultrasound (US) and MRI. Detecting ICH is crucial for pregnancy management and future treatment decisions aimed at improving fetal survival and reducing brain damage. This report presents the diagnosis and outcomes of two cases of prenatal ICH.Cases presentationThe first case involves a 30-year-old pregnant woman with irregular prenatal care diagnosed with ICH at 32 weeks of gestation via US and MRI. She chose to continue the pregnancy, delivering a 3160g male infant at 36 weeks via cesarean section. Following NICU care including resuscitation and ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement, the infant was discharged. Subsequent examinations showed a reduction in ventricle size. In the second case, a 27-year-old woman taking acenocoumarol for a mechanical heart valve developed fetal subdural hemorrhage detected by US and MRI. She opted to terminate the pregnancy, resulting in a stillborn male infant weighing 1530g.ConclusionFetal ICH presents with varying severity and prognostic implications, diagnosed and graded using US. Fetal cranial MRI may help clarify the etiology. Management remains controversial, with termination of pregnancy potentially warranted in severe cases due to poor prognosis. Further research is needed to refine management and improve outcomes in fetal ICH.

Europium (Eu)-doped fluorapatite (FA) nanorods has a similar biocompatibility with hydroxyapatite (HA) in terms, attracted much attention as cell imaging biomaterials due to their luminescent property. Here, we will discuss the new feature of europium doped fluorapatite (Eu-FA) nanorods as anticancer drug carrier. Eu-FA nanorods was prepared using a hydrothermal method. The morphology, crystal structure, fluorescence and composition are investigated. The specific crystal structure, enabling an effective loading of drug molecules. Doxorubicin (DOX), used as an anticancer model drug, was shown to be effectively loaded onto the surface of the nanorods. The DOX release was fairly pH-dependent, occurring more rapidly at pH 5.5 than pH 7.4 was observed. The intracellular penetration of the DOX-loaded Eu-FA nanorods (Eu-FA/DOX) can be imaged in situ due to the self-fluorescence property. Treatment of melanoma A375 cells with Eu-FA/DOX elicited a more effective apoptosis rate than direct DOX treatment. Overall, Eu-FA show great promise for tracking and treating tumor, may potentially useful as a multifunctional carrier system to effectively load and sustainably deliver drugs.

An emerging picture in cancer biology is that, paradoxically, chemotherapy can actively induce changes that favor cancer progression. These pro-cancer changes can be either inside (intrinsic) or outside (extrinsic) the cancer cells. In this review, we will discuss the extrinsic pro-cancer effect of chemotherapy; that is, the effect of chemotherapy on the non-cancer host cells to promote cancer progression. We will focus on metastasis, and will first discuss recent data from mouse models of breast cancer. Intriguingly, despite reducing the size of primary tumors, chemotherapy changes the tumor microenvironment, resulting in an increased escape of cancer cells into the blood stream. Furthermore, chemotherapry changes the tissue microenvironment at the distant sites, making it more hospitable to cancer cells upon their arrival. We will then discuss the idea and evidence that these devastating pro-metastatic effects of chemotherapy can be explained in the context of stress response. At the end, we will discuss the potential relevance of these mouse data to human breast cancer and their implication on chemotherapy in the clinic.

Extracts of Cordyceps militaris which possess the bioactive capacity such as antimicrobial activity and DPPH-free radical scavenging capacity, are applied to the serum product. This finished serum product has been evaluated the in vitro bioactivity and the stability with expect to find out a good extract with a suitable percentage used for serum product as natural materials on preservatives and antioxidation.

Motivation: there is a paradox at the heart of informatics where practical implementation generally fails to understand the socio-technical impact of novel technologies and disruptive innovation when adopted in `real-world’ systems. This phenomenon, termed technological determinism, is manifested in a time-lag between the adoption of novel technologies and an understanding of the underlying theory which develops following research into their adoption. Methods: we consider informatics theory as it relates to: social informatics and how humans’ function in society, the relationship between society and technology, information systems, information systems design, and human-computer interactions. The challenges posed by novel technologies and disruptive innovation are considered as they relate to information systems and information systems design. Open research questions with directions for future research are discussed with an introduction to and our proposed approach to socio-technical information system design. Significance: we conclude that the adoption of disruptive innovation presents both opportunities and threats for all stakeholders in computerised systems. However, determinism is a topic requiring research to generate a suitable level of understanding and technological determinism remains a significant challenge.

In this article, we introduce some multi-messenger studies of blazars. Main contents contain the following parts, 1. the subclasses of blazars and the observational characteristics, 2. emission variabilities from the multi-messenger observations, 3. the physical origin for the multi-messenger studies. Based on mid-IR observations collected from the $WISE$ database, we collect two sources (BZQ J1700+6830 and BZQ J1842+6809) to analyze the mid-IR variabilities. \\ (1) For BZQ J1700+6830, the period is $P\approx$ 42 hr at the four bands ($W1$, $W2$, $W3$, $W4$); for BZQ J1842+6809, the period is $P\approx$ 123 hr at the two bands ($W1$, $W2$). \\ (2) Using the periodicities, we calculate that the central black hole mass ($BH$) should be $M = (5.44\sim33.0)\times10^8M_{\odot}$ for BZQ J1700+6830 and $M = (1.13\sim6.88)\times10^9M_{\odot}$ for BZQ J1842+6809.\\ (3) For the two sources, during the flaring stage, we find anti-clockwise variation trends based on the time-based relations built by the spectral indices ($\alpha$) and flux densities ($F$).\\ (4) We calculate the Doppler factor ($\delta$) when the sources are in the dimming or brightening stages, and find that with the frequency increasing, the Doppler factor become stronger.

Initial periods of adsorption kinetics play an important role in estimating the initial adsorption rate and rate constant of adsorption process. Several adsorption processes rapidly occur, and the experimental data of adsorption kinetics under the initial periods can contain potential errors. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic model has been popularly applied in the field of adsorption. The use of the nonlinear optimization method to obtain the parameters of the PSO model can minimize error functions during modelling compared to the linear method. However, the nonlinear method has limitations in that it cannot directly recognize potential errors in the experimental points of time-dependent adsorption, especially under the initial periods. In this study, for the first time, the different linear types (Types 1–6) of the PSO model are applied to discover the error points under the initial periods. The result indicated that the fitting method using its linear equations (Types 2–5) is really helpful for identifying the error (doubtful) experimental points from the initial periods of adsorption kinetics. The imprecise points lead to low adjusted R2 (adj-R2), high reduced χ2 (red-χ2), and high Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values. After removing those points, the experimental data were adequately fitted with the PSO model. statistical analyses demonstrated that the nonlinear method must be used for modelling the PSO model because its red-χ2 and BIC were lower than the linear method. Type 1 has been extensively applied in the literature because of its very high adj-R2 (0.9999) and its excellent fitting to experimental points. However, its application should be limited because the potential errors from experimental points were not identified by this type. For comparison, the other kinetic models (i.e., pseudo-first-order, pseudo-nth-order, Avrami, and Elovich) are applied. The modelling result using the nonlinear forms of those models indicated that the fault experimental points from the initial periods were not detected.

The mangrove plant Acanthus ilicifolius and its relative, A. mollis, have been previously proved to possess diverse pharmacological effects. Therefore, evaluating the differentially expressed proteins of these species under tidal flooding stress is essential to fully exploit and benefit from their medicinal values. The roots of A. ilicifolius and A. mollis were exposed to 6 h of flooding stress per day for 10 days. The dry weight, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content, anatomical characteristics, carbon and energy levels, and two-dimensional electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS technology were used to reveal the divergent flooding resistant strategies. A. ilicifolius performed better under tidal flooding stress, which was reflected in the integrity of the morphological structure, more efficient use of carbon and energy, and a higher percentage of up-regulated proteins associated with carbon and energy metabolism. A. mollis could not survive in flooding conditions for a long time, as revealed by incomplete cell structures of the roots, less efficient use of carbon and energy, and a higher percentage of down-regulated proteins associated with carbon and energy metabolism. Energy provision and flux balance played a role in the flooding tolerance of A. ilicifolius and A. mollis.

This study presents a novel approach for quantifying the dynamics of monthly hydraulic geometry relationships in the Jingjiang reach of the Yangtze River by integrating leaf area index (LAI) data as an indicator of riparian vegetation. A comprehensive system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) couples traditional power-law hydraulic geometry equations with LAI, capturing the influence of erosion control on channel morphology. The periodic delayed response theory and automatic differentiation techniques are employed to enhance the modeling framework's capabilities. Calibration and verification demonstrate the models' effectiveness in capturing overall trends in discharge, width, and depth dynamics, outperforming traditional constant-parameter approaches. However, model predictive abilities are limited under extreme climate conditions due to training on normal climate data. Key assumptions, including the periodic delayed response theory's neglect of peak discharges, simplified representation of artificial cut-offs, and reliance on remotely sensed data with limited local validation, introduce uncertainties. The proposed modeling framework shows potential for broader application to other river systems with appropriate adjustments. Future research could incorporate additional environmental factors, integrate models across scales, couple with advanced simulation techniques, and expand stability assessments beyond the riverbed index. By addressing related challenges, this integrated approach lays a foundation for enhancing understanding of river morphodynamics and channel stability.

Pipe leakage is an inevitable phenomenon in water distribution networks (WDNs), leading to energy waste and economic damage. Leakage events can be reflected quickly by pressure values, and the deployment of pressure sensors is significant for minimizing the leakage ratio of WDNs. Concerning the restriction of realistic factors, including project budgets, available sensor installation locations, and sensor fault uncertainties, a practical methodology is proposed in this paper to optimize pressure sensor deployment for leak identification in terms of these realistic issues. Two indexes are identified to evaluate the leak identification ability, that is, detection coverage rate (DCR) and total detection sensitivity (TDS), and the principle is to determine priority to ensure an optimal DCR and retain the largest TDS with an identical DCR. Leakage events are generated by a model simulation and the essential sensors for maintaining the DCR are obtained by subtraction. In the event of a surplus budget, and if we suppose the partial sensors have failed, then we can determine the supplementary sensors that can best complement the lost leak identification ability. Moreover, a typical WDN Net3 is employed to show the specific progress, and the result shows that the methodology is largely appropriate for real projects.

In emergency scenarios service vehicles must identify potential route(s) and use the best available route. However, route identification requires intelligent decision-support systems which generally use non-traditional approaches with tools characterised by flexible non-hierarchical structures. Conventional models using group decision-support systems have been applied; however, when used in smart urban environments, emergency response services have limitations in their ability to identify unobstructed paths (routes) in dynamic operating environments. In this paper we introduce a novel path planning method for autonomous vehicle control in emergency situations. The proposed model uses self-organizing maps in an integrated Spiral STC algorithm termed the: Hybrid SOM-Spiral STC model which uses hedge algebras and \emph{Kansei} evaluation in group decision-support. The proposed model has been designed to quantify qualitative factors using sensor derived data processed with human sensibilities and preferences in emergency decision support. The experimental results show that the proposed model achieves significant improvements in group decision-support under dynamic uncertainty. We posit that our novel approach holds the prospect of improvements in the provision of emergency services.

Robotic decision-support systems must facilitate a robots interactions with their environment, this demands adaptability. Adaptability relates to awareness of the environment and `self-awareness', human behaviour exemplifies the concept of awareness to arrive at an optimal choice of action or decision based on reasoning and inference with learned preferences. A similar conceptual approach is required to implement awareness in autonomous robotic systems which must adapt to the current dynamic environment (the context of use). By incorporating `self-awareness' with knowledge of a Robot's preferences (in decision making) the decision maker interface should adapt to the current context of use. This paper proposes a novel approach to enable an autonomous robotics which implements path planning combining adaptation with knowledge reasoning techniques and hedge algebra to enable an autonomous robot to realise optimal coverage path planning under dynamic uncertainty. The results for a cleaning robot show that using our proposed approach demonstrated the capability to avoid both static and dynamic obstacles while achieving optimal path planning with increased efficiency. The proposed approach achieves the multiple decision-making objectives (path planning) with a high-coverage and low repetition rates. Compared to other current approaches, the proposed approach has demonstrated improved performance over the conventional robot control algorithms.

Cloud computing refers to applications delivered as services over the Internet. Cloud systems employ policies that are inherently dynamic in nature and that depend on temporal conditions defined in terms of external events, such as the measurement of bandwidth, use of hosts, intrusion detection or specific time events. In this paper, we investigate an optimized resource management scheme named v-Mapper. The basic premise of v-Mapper is to exploit application-awareness concepts using software-defined networking (SDN) features. This paper makes three key contributions to the field: (1) We propose a virtual machine (VM) placement scheme that can effectively mitigate the VM placement issues for data-intensive applications; (2) We propose a validation scheme that will ensure that a service is entertained only if there are sufficient resources available for its execution and (3) We present a scheduling policy that aims to eliminate network load constraints. An evaluation was carried out with various benchmarks and demonstrated that v-Mapper shows improved performance over other state-of-the-art approaches in terms of average task completion time, service delay time and bandwidth utilization. Given the growing importance of supporting large-scale data processing and analysis in datacentres, the v-Mapper system has the potential to make a positive impact in improving datacentre performance in the future.

In the early stage of new vehicle development, the requirements of maximum performance of the air conditioning (AC) system are obtained through Amesim software simulation, but the calibration control of the AC system is usually carried out in the prototype-build vehicle test stage, and the test time is spanned up to 10 months after spring (autumn), summer and winter, of which up to 2 months are for environment chamber tests. Due to the long calibration cycle of AC control in the road test, which seriously affects the vehicle launch time, virtual calibration technology of air conditioning system is developed to shorten the calibration cycle of AC systems and ensure the quality of vehicles. In the project development stage, the calibration control of the vehicle AC system can be realized to carry out the functional test of the AC system in advance. In that, the grade of maturity for the AC system control can be improved, the on-road calibration test cycle can be shortened, and the development cost can be saved.

Traveling salesman problems (TSPs) are well-known combinatorial optimization problems, and most existing algorithms are challenging for solving TSPs when its scale is large. To improve the efficiency of solving large-scale TSPs, this work presents a novel adaptive layered clustering framework with improved genetic algorithm (ALC\_IGA). The primary idea behind ALC\_IGA is to break down a large-scale problem into a series of small-scale problems. First, the $k$-means and improved genetic algorithm are used to segment the large-scale TSPs layer by layer and generate the initial solution. Then, the developed two phases simplified $2$-opt algorithm is applied to further improve the quality of the initial solution. The analysis reveals that the computational complexity of the ALC\_IGA is between $O(n\log n)$ and $O(n^2)$. The results of numerical experiments on various TSP instances indicate that, in most situations, the ALC\_IGA surpasses the state-of-the-art algorithms in convergence speed, stability, and solution quality. Specifically, the ALC\_IGA can solve instances with $2 \times 10^5$ nodes within 0.15h, $1.4 \times 10^6$ nodes within 1h, and $2 \times 10^6$ nodes in three dimensions within 1.5h.

The key issue in the post-genomic era is how to systematically describe the association between small molecule transcripts or translations inside cells. With the rapid development of high-throughput “omics” technologies, the achieved ability to detect and characterize molecules with other molecule targets opens up the possibility of investigating the relationships between different molecules from a global perspective. In this article, a Molecular Associations Network(MAN) is constructed and comprehensively analyzed by integrating the associations among miRNA, lncRNA, protein, drug, and disease, in which any kind of potential associations can be predicted. More specifically, each node in MAN can be represented as a vector by combining two kinds of information including the attributes of the node itself (e.g. sequences of ncRNAs and proteins, semantics of diseases and molecular fingerprints of drugs) and the manner of the node in the complex network (associations with other nodes). Random Forest classifier is trained to classify and predict new interactions or associations between biomolecules. In the experiment, the proposed method achieves a superb performance with 0.9735 AUC in 5-fold cross-validation, which show that the proposed method can provide new insight for exploration of the molecular mechanisms of disease and valuable clues for disease treatment.

Comprehensively understanding the spatial ecology and habitat preferences of endangered species is essential for population restoration and conservation. We investigated the home range and movement of the endangered Amur soft-shell turtle (Pelodiscus maackii) in the Ussuri River, Heilongjiang Province, Northeastern China. The study involved tracking 19 Amur soft-shell turtles from late June to mid-October, 2022, resulting in complete and partial home range size data for eight subadults and two adults, respectively. The primary analysis focused on eight subadults, and the models that best described daily movement were identified. We also explored the potential factors influencing home range size. Mean movement rate ranged from 39.18 ± 20.04 m to 72.45 ± 29.36 m and was positively correlated with the linear home range and water temperature. The most insightful home range estimate was a 95% kernel density estimate, employing likelihood cross-validation smoothing with constraints set to the river boundaries. The mean home range size was 1.02 ha and was not correlated with body size. Subadults tended to establish well-defined home ranges over time; whereas, defining home ranges for adults proved challenging. This research addresses a gap regarding the ecology of the Amur soft-shell turtle and provides a foundation for future conservation plans.

The shift towards lean production is gradually replacing traditional mass production, and lean accounting is also being mentioned to evaluate operational efficiency based on the lean philosophy, eliminating waste, and simplifying direct cost aggregation along the value stream to improve productivity, distribution, quality, and service. This study aims to evaluate the impact of various factors on the adoption of lean accounting in Vietnamese garment firms, based on data collected from 242 survey questionnaires completed by managers and accountants of Vietnamese garment firms. Through Cronbach's Alpha test, EFA test, and multiple regression analysis to verify and forecast information, eight determinants affecting the adoption of Lean Accounting in Vietnamese garment firms are arranged in descending order of influence, including Leadership, Size, Cost of implementation, Resources, Accounting department, Education and training, Culture, and Competitive pressure. Based on the findings, recommendations are proposed to management businesses and agencies to address shortcomings in the process of applying lean accounting, contributing to making it one of the most effective tools in promoting product development and continuous improvement, enhancing quality and production efficiency.

Most machine learning and deep learning algorithms can only use low-dimensional data as input, but the data that must be processed in practical applications is diverse and irregular. There are two main problems with big dynamic data. (1) The size of the embedding table grows linearly with the vocabulary size, resulting in massive memory consumption. (2) For different newly added vocabularies. To solve these two problems, this paper proposes a novel embedding algorithm that can learn attribute associations with entities based on deep and hash algorithms. Taking movie data as an example, the encoding method and the specific flow of the algorithm are presented in detail, and the effect of dynamic reuse of data models is realized. Compared with the four existing embedding algorithms which can fuse entity attribute information, the deep hash embedding algorithm proposed in this paper has obvious optimization of time and space complexity.

In this paper, we shall introduce the interval-valued spatial error model. Based on the idea of least square method of single-valued case, we give the parameter estimator for interval-valued spatial error model. The theoretical properties of the proposed estimator are proved. Finally, we give the numerical analysis and a real example.

The pandemic SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve to give rise to variants of concern that can escape vaccine-induced immunity. As such, more effective vaccines are urgently needed. In this study, we evaluated virus-like particle (VLP) as a vaccine platform for SAS-CoV-2. The spike, envelope, and membrane proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain were expressed by a single recombinant baculovirus BacMam and assembled into VLPs in cell culture. The morphology and size of the SARS-CoV-2 VLP as shown by transmission electron microscopy was found to be similar to the authentic SARS-CoV-2 virus particle. In a mouse trial, two intramuscular immunizations of the VLP BacMam with no adjuvant elicited spike-specific binding antibodies in both sera and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. Importantly, BacMam VLP -vaccinated mouse sera showed neutralization activity against SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudotyped lentivirus. Our results indicated that the SARS-CoV-2 VLP BacMam stimulated spike-specific immune responses with neutralization activity.

Cervical cancer is a common malignancy in women and has a poor prognosis.More and more studies have shown that autophagy disorder is closely related to the occurrence of tumors. However, the prognostic role of autophagy gene in cervical cancer is still unclear. In this study, we constructed the risk signatures of autophagy related genes to predict the prognosis of cervical cancer. The expression profiles and clinical information of autophagy gene sets were downloaded from the TCGA and GES52903 queues as training sets and validation sets. The cervical normal tissue expression profile data from UCSC XENA website is GTEx data as a supplement to TCGA normal cervical tissue. Univariate COX regression analysis of 17 different autophagy genes with the Consensus approach tumor samples from the TCGA is divided into six subtypes, and the clinical traits in the six subtypes have different distribution, with further then absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multiariable COX regression method finally got seven autophagy genetic risk model is constructed, in the training set, the survival rate of high risk group is lower than the low risk group (p < 0.0001), the validation set,The AUC area of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the training set is 0.894, and the verification set is 0.736. We find that the high and low risk score is closely related to the TMN stage (All P is less than 0.05).The nomogram shows that the risk score combined with other indicators such as age, G,T,M, and N better predicts 1-year, 2-year, 3-year survival, and the DCA curve shows that the risk model combined with other indicators produces better clinical efficacy.Then immune cells in 28 in the enrichment score, there were statistically significant differences, high and low risk most GSEA enrichment analysis, the main enrichment in G2 / M checkpoint high-risk score, Genes defining epithelial and mesenchymal transition, raised in response to the low oxygen levels (hypoxia) gene, gene is important to the mitotic spindle assembly, these are closely related with the occurrence of tumor . In conclusion, our constructed autophagy risk signature may be a prognostic tool for cervical cancer.

Objective: To explore the inflammatory markers for the development of obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) after adenovirus infection in children. Methods: In this retrospective study, the medical data of 62 children with adenovirus pneumonia treated in our hospital between February 2020 and November 2021 were collected and assigned to an OB group (n = 30) or non-OB group (n = 32) according to the presence of OB. Clinical characteristics of patients included gender, age, prematurity, underlying disease, length of hospitalization, type of adenovirus infection, ventilator use, length of ventilator use, and laboratory index levels. Results: Children with OB were associated with higher serum ferritin levels versus those without (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the immunoglobulin E (IgE), interleukin-6 (IL-6), partial arterial pressure of oxygen (PaO₂), D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lymphocyte absolute values between the two groups of children (P > 0.05). Logistic multifactorial regression analysis revealed that the length of ventilator use and serum ferritin level were inflammatory markers for the development of OB in children with adenovirus pneumonia. Conclusion: The length of ventilator use and serum ferritin levels are inflammatory markers for the development of OB after adenovirus infection in children, and timely measurement of the above indicators in children is instrumental in predicting the prognosis of children.

In considering knowledge graphs in a diverse range of domains of interest, graph neural networks have demonstrated significant improvements in node classification and prediction when applied to graph representation with learning node embedding to effectively represent hierarchical properties of graphs. DiffPool is a deep-learning approach using a differentiable graph pooling technique that generates hierarchical representations of graphs. In operation DiffPool is a differentiable graph pooling technique that generates hierarchical representations of graphs. DiffPool learns a differentiable soft cluster assignment for nodes at each layer of a deep graph neural network with nodes mapped sets of clusters. However, control of the learning process is difficult given the complexity and large number of parameters on an `end-to-end’ model. To address this difficulty we propose an novel approach termed FPool which is predicated on the basic approach adopted in DiffPool (where pooling is applied directly to node representations). Methods designed to enhance data classification have been developed and evaluated using a number popular and publicly available sensor data sets. Experimental results for FPool demonstrate improved classification and prediction performance when compared to alternative methods. Moreover, FPool shows an important reduction in the training time over the basic DiffPool framework.

Robotic path planning is a field of research which is gaining traction given the broad domains of interest to which path planning is an important systemic requirement; the aim being to optimise the efficacy of robotic movements in a defined operational environment. For example, robots have been employed in many domains including: cleaning robots (such as vacuum cleaners), automated paint spraying robots, window cleaning robots, forest monitoring robots, agricultural robots (often driven using satellite and geostationary positional satellite data). Additionally, mobile robotic systems have been utilised in disaster areas and locations hazardous to humans (such as war zones in mine clearance). The coverage path planning problem describes an approach which is designed to determine the path that traverses all points in a defined operational environment while avoiding static and dynamic (moving) obstacles. In this paper we present our proposed Smooth-STC model, the aim of the model being to identify an optimal path, avoid all obstacles, prevent (or at least minimise) backtracking, and maximise the coverage in any defined operational environment. The experimental results in a simulation show that, in uncertain environments, our proposed smooth STC method achieves an almost absolute coverage rate and demonstrates improvement when measured against alternative conventional algorithms.

A enantioselective tandem transformation concerning asymmetric allylic decarboxylative addition and cyclization of N-nosylimines with vinylethylene carbonates (VECs) in the presence of [Rh(C2H4)2Cl]2, chiral sulfoxide-N-olefin tridentate ligand has been developed. The reaction of VECs with various substituted N-nosylimines proceeded smoothly under mild conditions, giving highly functionalized oxazolidine frameworks in good to high yields with good to excellent enantioselectivity.

The need to address climate change and establish sustainable urban environments has driven increased efforts in Europe to develop climate-neutral cities. This study highlights the importance of integrating solar energy technologies and nature-based solutions as key strategies to achieve climate neutrality. By examining current practices, emerging trends, and case examples, it explores the benefits, challenges, and prospects associated with the integration of solar energy and nature-based solutions in urban contexts. The study presents a pioneering approach to assess the urban heat and climate change mitigation benefits of combining building-integrated photovoltaics and nature-based solutions specifically within the European context. The results emphasize the synergistic relationship between nature-based components and solar conversion technology, identifying effective combinations for different climatic zones. In warmer regions of Southern Europe, strategies like rooftop photovoltaics on cool roofs, photovoltaics shadings, green walls, and urban trees have demonstrated effectiveness. Conversely, mid- and high-latitude European cities have seen positive impacts through the integration of rooftop photovoltaics and photovoltaics facades with green roofs and green spaces. As solar cell conversion efficiency improves, the environmental impact of photovoltaics is expected to decrease, facilitating their integration into urban environments. The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating water bodies, cool pavements, spaces with high sky-view factors, and effective planning in urban design to maximize resilience benefits. It also highlights the significance of prioritizing mitigation actions in low-income regions and engaging citizens in the development of social photovoltaics positive energy houses, resilient neighbourhoods, and green spaces. By adopting these recommendations, European cities can lead the way in creating climate-neutral urban environments that prioritize clean energy, nature-based solutions, and the overall well-being of residents. The findings underscore the need for a multidisciplinary approach that combines technological innovation, urban planning strategies, and policy frameworks to effectively achieve climate neutrality in European cities.

Precision and accuracy estimation is an important index used to reflect the measurement performance and quality of a measurement system. To reveal the significance and connotations of the precision and accuracy estimation index of a close-range photogrammetry system, several common precision and accuracy estimation methods used in close-range photogrammetry are explained from a theoretical perspective, and the mechanism of the internal coincidence precision estimation and the external coincidence accuracy estimation are deduced, respectively. Through detailed experimental design and testing, the validity and reliability of the proposed precision and accuracy estimation methods are verified, which provides strong evidence for the quality control, optimisation, and evaluation of the measurement results from a close-range photogrammetry system. At the same time, it has significance for the further development of precision and accuracy estimation analysis of close-range photogrammetry systems.

The irradiation biology of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB, Halyomorpha halys Stål) treated at the nymphal stage was investigated to determine its application for sterile insect technique (SIT). Fifth instar males of BMSB were exposed to gamma-radiation 60Co at different doses of 12, 16, 20, 24 and 64 Gy. Irradiated males were mated with non-irradiated virgin females to assess the longevity of both sexes, female fecundity and fertility of their offspring until the egg stage of the F2 generation. The mortality of each of the developmental stages of the F1 and eggs of the F2 generation was observed to determine whether negative effects from exposure to radiation was inherited. The data indicated that irradiation significantly reduced the lifespan of male insects at doses above 20Gy. Irradiated males did not affect the longevity and fecundity of their female partners, nor either sex of their resulting progeny, but it did reduce the hatch rate of the eggs at all doses tested. The sterility rates of F1 eggs were 55.6%, 73.3%, 74.1% and 74.1% at doses of 12Gy, 16Gy, 20Gy and 24Gy respectively. Eggs were completely sterile (100%) at a dose of 64Gy with no egg hatch recorded. A low hatch rate of F2 eggs illustrated that negative effects from radiation was inherited by the subsequent generation. The results support the potential for the use of SIT for BMSB management by irradiating the fifth instar male nymphs at 16-64Gy.

Stress relaxation tests in cantilever bending were performed on the C7025 and C7035 alloys at 298K and 393K，respectively. The effect of stress-relief treatments on stress relaxation properties was investigated. The structural changes associated with the stress relaxation process were examined using transmission electron microscope. The stress relaxation curve fits well to empirical formula σ*=[Kˊln(t+α₀)+C]^-n for stress relaxation. The curves can be split into two stages. The stress relax quickly in the first stage, slows down in the second stage, and tends to be a certain limit value after a long time. The curve and microstructure reveals that the C7035 alloy has a lower rate of stress relaxation and a higher anti-stress relaxation capacity than the C7025. The first reason is that the movement of vacancies required by spinodal decomposition is inhibited, and the quantity of cobalt -containing vacancies decreases dramatically in the C7035 alloy. The other reason is that the precipitated phases became uniformly diffused in the C7035 alloy. The precipitate phase uniformly distributes in the grain boundaries and the matrix, during the relaxed condition, and thus the dislocations moving is blocked by the precipitates.

Corals are an important habitat for a diverse fauna which is especially rich in branching species. Each colony harbors several species and dozens of individuals forming an integrated symbiotic community. Factors affecting the diversity and abundance of coral symbionts are poorly understood. The present study tested experimentally the relationship between the population density of coral Pocillopora verrucosa and the diversity and abundance of symbionts in planted coral fragments exposed during three months. Colony size and bleaching were also considered as two additional factors. We demonstrated that even at the early stage of the colonies’ formation, the diversity of obligate symbiontson on these corals was higher than in any other studied local faunas of the World Ocean.Species richness and abundance of symbionts were positively related to colony size and density, while no impact of bleaching was found. Species richness and abundance of obligate symbionts increased along with the host population density, while in facultative symbionts, these indexes decreased. We hypothesized that the negative effect of the host density on species richness and abundance of facultative symbionts is caused by the competitive pressure of obligates, which increases with their abundance. Reasons for the different responses of obligate and facultative symbionts to host density were considered.

Rotary tillage is a main management tillage practices and widely applied in the North China Plain. However, the long term rotary tillage (depth of 20 cm) results in soil compaction and plow pan formation, which reduces water use efficiency and nutrient uptake, and then impedes the yield increase. In this study, a 3-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of different depths of tillage on soil bulk density, field capacity, water use, photosynthetic rate, nutrients and maize yields in the North China Plain. Three depths of tillage (D20, depth of 20 cm; D25, depth of 25 cm; D30, depth of 30 cm) were assessed. D25 and D30 significantly reduced soil bulk density and improved field capacity in 10-20 and 20-30 cm soil layer, compared to D20. Soil water consumption for D25 was significantly higher 10.12% and 6.61% than that for D20 and D30, respectively. Photosynthetic rate for D25 significantly improved than that for D20 and D30. Total nitrogen in 0-20cm soil layer decreased with the depths of tillage. The maize yields for D25 significantly increased by 20.92% and 21.56% compared to that for D20 and D30, respectively. Structural equation models showed that the total effects of tillage, total nitrogen, photosynthesis and soil water consumption on yields were 0.019, -0.628, 0.121, and 0.895 (path coefficients λ), respectively. The results demonstrated that D25 could improve maize yields, water use efficiency, photosynthetic rate by improving soil water consumption. Depth of 25 cm is optimal tillage practice for the maize production in the North China Plain.

Background: The role of preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (sCEA) and postopeative tissue CEA (tCEA ) were widely elaborated separately for colorectal cancer (CRC). But the role of the combined sCEA and tCEA was scarcely described by now. Methods: 1757 cases of 0~ⅣCRC from January 2006 to January 2016 in our institution were involved. Clinicopathological features and follow up data were collected. 0 stage was combined into 0&Ⅰ stages. SCEA was classified to normal and high(>10ng/ml) and tCEA were classified into three grades (+,++,+++). So combined groups were six (2ⅹ3). ANOVA and Crosstab were used to analyze continuous and counting data, Univariate and multivariate were analyzed by Cox regression. All data were analyzed by SPSS27 and survival curves with number at risk were visualized by R 4.3.1. Results: Gender, age, tumor location, tumor size, blood loss, T stage, differentiation, harvested lymph nodes, positive lymph nodes, chemotherapy, TNM stage and complication have difference between the combined CEA test (all P

Based on previous research results, we propose a new preprocessing HSS iteration method (PHSS) for the generalized Lyapunov equation. At the same time, the corresponding inexact PHSS algorithm (IPHSS) is given from the angle of application. All the new methods presented in this paper have given the corresponding convergence proof. The numerical experiments are carried out to compare the new method with the existing methods, and the improvement effect is obvious. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are proved from two aspects of theory and calculation.

Nonwoven fabrics have been widely used in textile manufacturing industry as a sheet or web structure because of soft, water-repellent, recycle, ecological and resilient functions. Ultrasonic welding method has been applied for bonding nonwoven fabrics due to clean, fast and reliable approach. In this work, the ultrasonic stepped horn is designed to generate uniform amplitudes on the working surface by using finite element analysis (FEA) simulation. Chromium carbon steels are utilized to produce ultrasonic horns due to high wear resistant and hardness. Isotactic polypropylene nonwoven fabrics fabricated by spunbond process were bonded by continuous ultrasonic sewing machine. Ultrasonic horn with 70 mm in diameter working at 20 kHz, polypropylene (PP) nonwoven density of 80 gsm and various design of welding joints were applied. A typical image in the case of number one was investigated by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of inter-facial micro-structure. However, welding joints of totally eight roller patterns was test the tensile strength of the ultrasonic welding joints on PP nonwoven fabrics. The tensile strength of the welding joints is proportional to the area ratio between the welding area and cycling area. The results showed that the melted zone without welding defects such as crack or blowhole can be seen. Furthermore, the tensile strength of welding joints in eight cases of roller patterns (No.1-No.8) was described in details. The ultrasonic welding joints with brick structures give higher tensile strength while the solid line in the pattern gave less strength.

This paper presents a robust and efficient fault detection and diagnosis framework for handling small faults and oscillations in synchronous generator (SG) systems. The proposed framework utilizes the Brunovsky form representation of nonlinear systems to mathematically formulate the fault detection problem. A differential-flatness model of SG systems is provided to meet the conditions of the Brunovsky form representation. A combination of high-gain observer and group method of data handling neural network is employed to estimate the trajectory of the system and to learn/ approximate the fault and uncertainties associated functions. The fault detection mechanism is developed based on output residual generation and monitoring so that any unfavourable oscillation and/or fault occurrence can be detected rapidly. Accordingly, an average L1-norm criterion is proposed for rapid decision making of faulty situations. The performance of the proposed framework is investigated for two benchmark scenarios which are actuation fault and fault impact on system dynamics. The simulation results demonstrate the capacity and effectiveness of the proposed solution for rapid fault detection and diagnosis in SG systems in practice, and thus enhancing service maintenance, protection, and life cycle of SGs.

This investigation aims to discuss the formation process of eddies and the heat transportation in plasma keyhole arc welding. In order to clarify this issue, the measurement of the convection inside the weld pool, the convection on the weld pool surface, also the temperature distribution on the weld pool surface were carried out. The results showed that two eddies were found in the weld pool, which is controlled mainly through the shear force by the plasma flow acting on the weld pool surface. The magnitude, extent and direction of the shear force are thought to be determined primarily by the variation of keyhole profile. The relative shape and strength of each eddy is largely changed depending on the change of the keyhole profile when nozzle diameter changed. These relative strengths of each eddy are considered to decisively govern the heat transport in the weld pool coinciding with the direction of eddies. A larger eddy near the lower part of the keyhole inside the weld pool was found out in the case of 1.6 mm, meanwhile a upward larger eddy was found out near the upper part of the keyhole inside the weld pool in the case of 2.4 mm.

An array of Ag nanowires has been prepared from a facile, templated approach on Cu(BTC) (1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) metal organic framework (MOF) micropillars. The Ag-deposited scaffolding material may be used to prepare electronic or optoelectronic devices for various applications.

We compared performance of a novel encoding Lempel-Ziv complexity (ELZC) with approximate entropy (ApEn), sample entropy (SmpEn) and permutation entropy (PerEn) as nonlinear metric to assess ECG quality. Firstly to compare performance of discerning randomness and inherent nonlinear properties within time series, this study calculated the aforementioned four nonlinear complexity values on several typical artificial time series i.e., Gauss noise, two kinds of noisy time series, two kinds of Logistic series and periodic series, respectively. Then for analyzing sensitivity of the aforementioned four complexity methods to content level of different types noise within ECG recordings, we investigated variation trend of ELZC, ApEn, SmpEn and PerEn in several synthetic ECG recordings containing different types noise (i.e., baseline wander, muscle artefacts, electrode motion, power line and mixed noise) and different signal noise ratios (i.e., 15, 10, 5, 0, −5 and −10 dB). Finally, the four complexity methods were employed to classify the quality of real ECG recordings from the PhysioNet/Computing in Cardiology Challenge 2011 (CINC 2011) of the MIT databases, then receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) and their corresponding area under curve (AUC) were yielded. The results showed ELZC could not only distinguish randomness and chaotic within time series but also reflect content level of noise within time series, and the highest AUC of PerEn, ELZC, SmpEn and ApEn were 0.850, 0.695, 0.474 and 0.461, respectively. The results demonstrated PerEn and ELZC were more effectively than ApEn and SmpEn for assessing ECG quality.

Iron-containing nickel sulfides, selenides, and sulfoselenides were synthesized via a simple two-step hydrothermal reaction (temperature 160 °C) for their application as electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in an alkaline solution (1 mol L–1 KOH). The study demonstrated that iron-containing nickel cobalt sulfides and selenides exhibit superior OER performance with lower overpotentials compared to iron-free nickel cobalt sulfide and selenide, which highlights the significant role of iron in enhancing OER nickel cobalt electrocatalysts: Fe0.1Ni1.4Co2.9(S0.87O0.13)4, η50 = 318 mV; Fe0.2Ni1.5Co2.8(S0.9O0.1)4, η50 = 310 mV; Fe0.3Ni1.2Co2.5(S0.9O0.1)4, η50 = 294 mV; Fe0.6Ni1.2Co2.5(S0.83O0.17)4, η50 = 294 mV, Fe0.4Ni0.7Co1.6(Se0.81O0.19)4, η50 = 306 mV compared to Ni1.0Co2.1(S0.9O0.1)4, η50 = 346 mV and Ni0.7Co1.4(Se0.85O0.15)4, η50 = 355 mV (all values at current densities η50 of 50 mA cm–2). Furthermore, the iron-containing nickel cobalt sulfoselenide Fe0.5Ni1.0Co2.0(S0.57Se0.25O0.18)4 displayed exceptional OER performance with η50 = 277 mV, surpassing the benchmark RuO2 electrode with η50 = 299 mV. The superior performance of the sulfoselenide was attributed to its low charge transfer resistance (Rct) of 0.8 Ω at 1.5 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Moreover, the sulfoselenide demonstrated remarkable stability, with only a minimal increase in overpotential (η50) from 277 mV to 279 mV after a 20 h chronopotentiometry test. These findings suggest that trimetallic iron, nickel and cobalt sulfide, selenide and especially sulfoselenide materials hold promise as high-performance, cost-effective, and durable electrocatalysts for sustainable OER reactions. This study provides a valuable approach for the development of efficient electrocatalytic materials, contributing to the advancement of renewable energy technologies.

Cordyceps sinensis is one rare medicinal fungus produced in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Its quality and price varies hugely with different habitat, and its numerous substitutes have sprung up in functional food markets. This paper aims to discriminate the geographic origin of wild C. sinensis and its substitutes via the element analyzer-isotope ratio mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The δ¹³C values of major fatty acids in the lipids of Cordyceps sinensis are characterized unanimously by the variation relation C_18:0 ﹤ C_18:2 ≈ C_16:0 ﹤ C_18:1; while their fluctuation intervals are notably different between those of neutral and polar lipids. The comparative analysis of the δ¹³C ratios of major fatty acids in lipids of Cordyceps sinensis suggests that the δ¹³C patterns may be sensitive potential indicators to discriminate its geographical origin. The δ¹³C values of individual major fatty acids of lipids from the cultivated stromata of Cordyceps militaris (SCM), the fermented mycelia of Hirsurella sinensis (FMH) and Paecilomyces epiali (FMP) range from −31.2‰ to −29.7‰, −16.9‰ to −14.3‰, and −26.5‰ to −23.9‰, respectively. Their δ¹³C pattern of individual major fatty acids may be used as a potential indicator to discriminate the products of natural C. sinensis and its substitutes.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are investigated for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to their structure diversity, high specific surface area, adjustable pore size and abundant active sites. However, the poor conductivity of most MOFs restricts this application. Herein, through a facile one-step solvothermal method, the Ni-based pillared metal-organic framework [Ni2(BDC)2DABCO] (BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, DABCO = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane), its bimetallic nickel-iron form [Ni(Fe)(BDC)2DABCO] and their modified Ketjenblack (mKB) composites were synthesized and tested towards OER in an alkaline medium (KOH 1 mol L–1). A synergistic effect of the bimetallic nickel-iron MOF and the conductive mKB additive enhance the catalytic activity of the MOF/mKB composites. All MOF/mKB composite samples (7, 14, 22, 34 wt.% mKB) indicated much higher OER performances than the MOFs and mKB alone. The Ni-MOF/mKB14 composite (14 wt. % of mKB) demonstrated an overpotential of 294 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm–2 and Tafel slope of 32 mV dec–1, which is comparable with commercial RuO2 commonly used as a benchmark material for OER. The catalytic performance of Ni(Fe)MOF/mKB14 (0.57 wt% Fe) was improved further to an overpotential of 279 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm–2. The low Tafel slope of 25 mV dec–1 as well as a low reaction resistance due to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement confirm the excellent OER performance of the Ni(Fe)MOF/mKB14 composite. For practical applications, the Ni(Fe)MOF/mKB14 electrocatalyst was impregnated into commercial nickel foam (NF), where overpotentials of 247 and 291 mV at current densities of 10 and 50 mA cm–2, respectively, were realized. The activity was maintained for 30 h at the applied current density of 50 mA cm–2. The electrocatalytic system consisting of earth-abundant Ni and Fe metals only would be attractive for the development of efficient, practical and economical energy conversion materials for efficient OER activity.

MCrAlX (M: Ni or Co or both, X: minor elements) coatings have been widely used to protect hot components in gas turbines against oxidation and hot corrosion at high temperatures. Understanding the influence of the X-elements on oxidation behaviour is important in the design of durable MCrAlX coatings. In this study, NiCoCrAlX coatings doped with Y+Ru and Ce, respectively, were deposited on Inconel-792 substrate by HVOF. The samples were subjected to isothermal oxidation test in laboratory air at 9000, 1000, 1100 ºC and cyclic oxidation test between 100 ºC and 1100 ºC with 1 hour dwell time at 1100 ºC. It was observed that the coating with Ce shows a much higher oxidation rate than the coating with Y+Ru under both isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests. Besides, β-depletion due to interdiffusion between coating and substrate was significantly lower with Ru addition. Simulations results using both a moving phase boundary model and an established oxidation-diffusion model show that Ru stabilize β grains which reduces β-depletion of coating due to substrate interdiffusion. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the influence of Ce and Ru on oxidation behaviour including investigation of the microstructure evolution influenced by oxidation time at coating surface and coating-substrate interface combining experiment and simulation results.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the dominant risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV X protein (HBx) plays crucial roles in HCC carcinogenesis. HBx interferes with several signaling pathways including Notch1 pathway in HCC. In our study, we found that Notch1 was highly expressed in HCC especially in large HCC. Notch1 and HBx co-localized in HCC and their levels were positively correlated with each other. Notch1 expression was more elevated in HepG2.2.15 than that in HepG2. HBx activated Notch1 pathway in HepG2.2.15. Repression of HBx and Notch1 pathway attenuated the growth of HepG2.2.15. Notch1, ERK and AKT pathways were inhibited after a γ-secretase inhibitor treatment. Dual-specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1) and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) were up-regulated after the γ-secretase inhibitor treatment and Hes1 inhibition. Luciferase reporter assays showed that Hes1 repressed the promoters of DUSP1 and PTEN and this was reverted by γ-secretase inhibitor treatment. Western blotting demonstrated that DUSP1 dephosphorylated pERK and PTEN dephosphorylated pAKT. Collectively, we reported a link among HBx, Notch1 pathway, DUSP1/PTEN, and ERK/AKT pathways, which influenced HCC cell survival and could be a therapeutic target for HCC.

Hypochlorite (ClO−) and viscosity both affect the physiological state of mitochondria, and their abnormal levels are closely related to many common diseases. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a mitochondria-targeting fluorescent probes for the dual sensing of ClO− and viscosity. Herein, we have explored a new fluorescent probe XTAP−Bn, which responds sensitively to ClO− and viscosity with off-on fluorescence changes at 558 and 765 nm, respectively. Because the emission wavelength gap is more than 200 nm, XTAP−Bn can effectively eliminate the signal crosstalk during the simultaneous detection of ClO− and viscosity. In addition, XTAP−Bn exhibits a series of advantages, including high selectivity, rapid response, good water solubility, low cytotoxicity, and excellent mitochondrial targeting ability. More importantly, probe XTAP−Bn has been successfully employed to monitor the dynamic change of ClO− and viscosity levels in mitochondria of living cells and zebrafish. Taken together, this work not only provides a reliable tool for identifying mitochondrial dysfunction, but also offers a potential approach for the early diagnosis of mitochondrial-related diseases.

Vector geographic data play an important role in the natural resources and environment sector and other location information services. This is also one of the types of data where the cost to create it is relatively large because of the difficulty in surveying, collecting, and authorizing. The rapid development of the Internet has created many advantages in the distribution, exploitation, and use of vector geographic data, but it also gives rise to many problems such as duplication, redistribution, forgery, and illegal data use. The theft on the Internet is becoming more and more sophisticated and the number of violations is increasing, showing the urgent need to research and develop an effective solution to protect the copyright of vector geographic data and prevent them from being illegally collected and used. Among the major studies and solutions, digital watermarking emerges as an effective method and is an active research area for copyright protection. Towards a good solution for copyright protection of vector geographic data, our study proposes a new algorithm with three main contributions, including: (1) generating short, pseudo-random meaningful watermarks to increase robustness and to enable automated as well as visual manual verifying; (2) building a uniformly distributed mapping between the vertex coordinates and the watermark bit indexes to increase the robustness of the watermarks; and (3) integrate two types of watermarks, namely, spatial domain-based watermarking and zero-watermarking to be resistant to most common attacks on geographic vector data. The algorithm also allows working on all types of vector geographic data, including points, polylines, and polygons.

Tellurium exhibits exceptional intrinsic electronic properties. However, investigations into the modulation of tellurium's electronic properties through physical modification are notably scarce. Here, we present a comprehensive study focused on the evolution of the electronic properties of tellurium crystal flakes under plasma irradiation treatment by employing conductive atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The plasma-treated tellurium experienced a process of defect generation through lattice broken. Prior to the degradation of electronic transport performance due to plasma irradiation treatment, a remarkable observation emerged: in the low-energy region of hydrogen plasma-treated tellurium, a notable enhancement in conductivity was unexpectedly detected. The mechanism underlying this enhancement in electronic transport performance was thoroughly elucidated by comparing it with the electronic structure induced by argon plasma irradiation. This study not only fundamentally uncovers the effects of plasma irradiation on tellurium crystal flakes, but also unearths an unprecedented trend of enhanced electronic transport performance at low irradiation energies when utilizing hydrogen plasma. This abnormal trend bears significant implications for guiding the prospective application of tellurium-based 2D materials in the realm of electronic devices.

Abnormal connections in brain networks of healthy people always bring the problems of cognitive impairments and degeneration of specific brain circuits, which may finally result in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Exploring the development of the brain from normal controls (NC) to AD is an essential part of human research. Although connections changes have been found in the development, the connection mechanism that drives these changes remain incompletely understood. The purpose of this study is to explore the connection changes in brain networks in the process from NC to AD, and uncover the underlying connection mechanism that shapes the topologies of AD brain networks. In particular, we propose a model named MINM from the perspective of topology-based mutual information to achieve our aim. MINM concerns the question of estimating the connection probability between two cortical regions with the consideration of both the mutual information of their observed network topologies and their Euclidean distance in anatomical space. In addition, MINM considers establishing and deleting connections, simultaneously, during the networks modeling from the stage of NC to AD. Experiment results show that MINM is sufficient to capture an impressive range of topological properties of real brain networks such as characteristic path length, network efficiency, and transitivity, and it also provides an excellent fit to the real brain networks in degree distribution compared to experiential models. Thus, we anticipate that MINM may explain the connection mechanism for the formation of the brain network organization in AD patients.

A number of experimental and numerical studies point out that incorporating a rotating cylinder can superiorly enhance the aerofoil performance, especially for higher velocity ratios. Yet, there have been less or no studies exploring the effects of lower velocity ratio at a higher Reynolds number. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Moving Surface Boundary-layer Control (MSBC) at lower velocity ratios (i.e. cylinder tangential velocity to free stream velocity) and higher Reynolds number on a symmetric aerofoil (e.g. NACA 0021) and an asymmetric aerofoil (e.g. NACA 23018). In particular, the aerodynamic performance with and without rotating cylinder at the leading edge of the NACA 0021 and NACA 23018 aerofoil was studied on the wind tunnel installed at Aerodynamics Laboratory. The aerofoil section was tested in the low subsonic wind tunnel, and the lift coefficient and the drag coefficient were studied for different angles of attack. The experiments were conducted for two Reynolds numbers: 200000 and 250000 corresponding to two free stream velocities: 20 m/s and 25 m/s, respectively, for six different angle of attacks (-5°, 0°, 5°, 10°, 15° and 20°). This study demonstrates that the incorporation of a leading edge rotating cylinder results in an increase of lift coefficient at lower angle of attacks (maximum around 33%) and delay in stall angle (from 10° to 15°) relative to the aerofoil without rotating cylinder.

A new longitudinal flow heat dissipation theory for cylindrical batteries is proposed in order to increase the energy density and uniform temperature performance of cylindrical lithium-ion battery packs while also shrinking their size by roughly 10%. First, a genetic algorithm is used to identify the single cell's thermal properties. Based on this, modeling and simulation are used to examine the thermal properties of the longitudinal flow-cooled battery pack. It is found that the best coolant flow scheme has one inlet and one outlet from the end face, taking into account the cooling effect of the battery pack and engineering viability. Lastly, Thermal Dummy Cells (TDC) is used to conduct a validation test of the liquid cooling strategy. Additionally, the simulation and test results demonstrated that the liquid cooling solution can keep the battery pack's maximum temperature rise under the static conditions of a continuous, high-current discharge at a rate of 3C to 20 °C and under the dynamic conditions of the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) to 2 °C. In applications where the space requirements for the battery pack are quite severe, the longitudinal flow cooling method has some advantages.

Band-gap alignment engineering has now been extensively studied due to its high potential application. Here we demonstrate a simple route to synthesize two metal oxide layers and align them together according to their bandgaps on surface of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. The metal oxide layers can not only extend absorption spectrum to generate extra carriers but also serve to separate electron-hole pairs more efficiently. As a consequence, the photovoltaic performance of SnO₂/CdO /Si double-layer solar cell (DLSC) is highly improved compared to CdO/Si and SnO₂/Si single-layer solar cells(SLSCs) and SnO₂/CdO/Si double-layer solar cell (DLSC). By the alignment engineering, the SnO₂/CdO/Si DLSC produces a short circuit photocurrent (J_sc) of 38.20 mA/cm², an open circuit photovoltage (V_oc) of 0.575 V and a fill factor (FF) of 68.7%, corresponding to a light to electric power conversion efficiency (η) of 15.09% under AM1.5 illumination. These results suggest that with the use of metal oxide layers by band-gap alignment engineering, new avenues have been opened for developing high-efficiency and cost-effective c-Si solar cells.

In human body, carboxylesterases (CEs) play the crucial roles in xenobiotic metabolism and lipid homeostasis. But the abnormal CEs expression is highly associated with some diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes and liver cancer. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop an efficient tool for the accurate detection of CEs in living organisms. Herein, an innovative near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe TTAP−AB has been designed for CEs detection based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) mechanism. This probe exhibits rapid response (2 min), excellent sensitivity (limit of detection = 8.14×10−6 U/mL), and high selectivity towards CEs. Additionally, owing to the good biocompatibility, probe TTAP−AB enables to monitor the dynamic changes of CEs level under drug-induced modulation in living cells and zebrafish. More importantly, probe TTAP−AB is successfully employed to image the liver tumor and assist tumor resection by the real-time monitoring of CEs, indicating that TTAP−AB is promising to guide liver cancer surgery. Therefore, probe TTAP−AB can not only enrich the strategies for CEs detection in biological systems, but also has great potential for some clinical imaging applications, including medical diagnosis, preclinical research, and imaging-guided surgery.

The material flow dynamic and velocity distribution on the melted domain surface play a crucial role on the joint quality and formation of welding defects. In this study, authors investigated the effects of the low and high currents of plasma arc welding on the material flow and thermodynamics of molten pool and its relationship to the welding defects. The high-speed video camera (HSVC) was used to observe the convection of the melted domain and welded-joint appearance. Furthermore, to consider the Marangoni force activation, the temperature on the melted domain was measured by a thermal HSVC. The results revealed that the velocity distribution on the weld surface was higher than that inside the molten weld pool due to the difference of the massive density between the air and the steel. Moreover, in the case of low welding current (80A) the convection speed of molten was faster than that of the high welding current case (160A) owing to the difference of main driving forces direction and strength, which leading to undercut and humping defects on the weld surface and excessive convex (burn-through) defect at the bottom weld side, respectively. The medium welding current (120A) had two convection patterns with the main flow in backward direction, which resulted in better welding quality without defect. The interaction between the shear force and Marangoni force played a solid state on the convection and heat transportation processes in the plasma arc welding process.

Chemistry has been viewed as one of the most fruitful near-term applications to science of quantum computing. Recent work in transitioning classical algorithms to a quantum computer has led to great strides in improving quantum algorithms and illustrating their quantum advantage. Much less effort has been placed on how one finishes these calculations by using the results from the quantum computer (on the active region of the molecule) and embeds them back into the remainder of the molecule in order to determine the properties of the entire molecule. Such strategies are critical if one wants to expand the focus to biochemical molecules that contain active regions that cannot be properly explained with classical algorithms on classical computers. While we do not solve this problem here, we provide an overview of where the field is going to enable such problems to be tackled in the future.

Dye/salt separation has gained increasing attention in recent years, prompting the quest for cost-effective and environmentally-friendly raw materials for synthesis high performance nanofiltration (NF) membrane for effective dye/salt separation. Herein, a high-performance loose structured NF membrane was fabricated by via a simple vacuum filtration method using a green nanomaterial, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxide radical (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCNF), by sequentially filtrating larger-size and finer-size TOCNFs on a microporous substrate, followed by cross-linked with trimesoyl chloride. The resultant TCM membrane possesses a separating layer composed entirely of pure TOCNF, eliminating the need for other polymer or nanomaterials additives. TCM membranes exhibits high performance and effective dye/salt selectivity. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis shows that the TCM membrane with Fine-TOCNF layer has a tight layered structure. Further characterizations via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirm the presence of functional groups and chemical bonds of the crosslinked membrane. Notably, the optimized TCM-5 membrane exhibits a rejection rate of over 99% for various dyes (Congo red, orange yellow) and 14.2% for NaCl, showcasing a potential candidate for efficient dye wastewater treatment.

A challenge in building large-scale superconducting quantum processors is the precise control and manipulation of the qubit state. However, the crosstalk between the microwave control lines impedes the parallel execution of high-fidelity digital and analog quantum operations. Here, we propose and demonstrate a universal compensation protocol for calibrating the microwave signal crosstalk. We also introduce amplified error sequences to optimize the accuracy. Furthermore, we show a definitive improvement in parallel gate operations with crosstalk cancellation, demonstrating the technique's effectiveness. This work paves the way for superconducting hardware that features automated calibration of microwave crosstalk, leading to enhanced fidelities in multiqubit circuits.

After cut by basecutter, sugarcane stalks are carried to a chopper by the basecutter and the feeding/conveying rollers train of harvester. However, the conventional feeding/conveying channels of sugarcane chopper harvesters, when harvesting seriously lodged sugarcane, have numerous drawbacks, including easy clogging, and poor adaptability. In order to resolve these problems, a novel design and layout method of feeding/conveying and chopping channel are proposed in the paper. And a chopper centrally-mounted channel is designed for a sugarcane chopper harvester as well, which has been implemented in the HN4GDL-91 harvester. The proposed channel consists of a feeding/conveying rollers train, a chopper, and a billet conveying device. By mounting the chopper between the feeding/conveying rollers train and the billets conveying device, the harvester can avoid the chopper chopping back the billets, thus improving the harvest quality. The feeding/conveying rollers train is designed with only a pair of feeding rollers and a pair of conveying rollers, achieving a short channel path. Moreover, the structure of the basecutter and the mechanism carrying stalks to feeding rollers are studied via theoretical analysis and tests. The relationship between the basecutter and the chopper centrally-mounted channel is also conducted in systematic analysis. The results of the theoretical analysis show that the inclination angle of the disc of basecutter should be 2° greater than the angle of the feeding conveying channel (both angles are from the horizontal plane). The inclination angle of the disc of basecutter should go from 10° to 15°. A field experiment with four factors and three levels indicates that the field loss rate is 2.45%, the feed quantity is 16.66 kg/s, and the qualified rate of the billets is 98.02%, while the number of sugarcane stalks in a clump, the ground speed of harvester the rotational speed of the chopper, and the rotational speed of feeding/conveying roller are 10, 1.09 m/s, 390 r/min, and 230 r/min, respectively. It is concluded that the proposed chopper centrally-mounted channel could improve the conveying and harvesting performance significantly.

The increasing amount of municipal sludge in China requires safe and effective management to protect human health and ensure environmental sustainability. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that that decompose organic matter at elevated temperature and under anaerobic conditions, and it has attracted an increasing attention in sludge treatment in the recent years. However, comprehensive environmental and economic assessment of sludge pyrolysis in China's context is rare, due to the small quantities of full-scale sludge pyrolysis plant. In this paper, we applied our design and operation parameters of full-scale sludge pyrolysis plants to generate the material and energy consumptions of the pyrolysis system under various of conditions, including sludge organic content and moisture content, system size, system energy distribution, and whether or not heat substitution is applied. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessment were then applied to investigate the environmental and economic performance of the system Our results demonstrate the significant environmental and economic impacts associated with sludge properties and system size. Generally, sludge with higher organic content and lower moisture content requires less natural gas consumption, which leads to a simultaneous improvement of the system environmental and economic performance. The system economic performance is more sensitive to the system size, and centralized sludge handling using a larger pyrolysis is more economic favorable. In the most ideal case, the average global warming potential and minimum sludge handling price of sludge pyrolysis could be as low as -32.5 kg CO₂-Eq/t DS and 188.8 $/t DS, respectively. Based on these results, we discussed the pathways that could be taken to further optimize the environmental and economic performances of the pyrolysis system.

ALDH+ H1975 lung adenocarcinoma stem cells (LSCs) are a rare cell population identified in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). LSCs can self-renew, drive tumor initiation, growth, metastasis, and recurrence, and are also the predominant cause of poor prognosis due to their intrinsic resistance to drugs and chemotherapy. Consequently, LSCs are a promising target for LUAD therapy. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), exert many significant regulatory functions in the pathogenesis of human cancers, showing the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that underlie lung carcinogenesis. Nonetheless, research on many known transcripts and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) has already generated new information. Unknown biomarkers in ncRNAs and systematic and comprehensive interrelation with unknown ncRNAs and mRNAs may provide further insights into the biology of LUAD. Herein, a set of novel ncRNAs that include miRNAs, lncRNAs, circRNAs, were identified and differentially expressed patterns of ncRNAs and mRNAs in LSCs and ALDH- H1975 LUAD tumor cells (LTCs) were obtained using stringent bioinformatics pipelines. Through a meta-analysis of the identified landscapes, novel competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks were constructed to reveal the potential molecular mechanisms that regulate the hallmarks of LSCs and LTCs. This study presents a summary of novel ncRNAs and the fundamental roles of differentially expressed ncRNAs implicated in the activity of LSCs and LTCs. In addition, the study also provides a comprehensive resource for the future identification of diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic biomarkers in LUAD.

Grasping the spatial and temporal patterns of forest fires, along with the key factors that drive them and the ability to forecast such events accurately, is essential for the successful management of forests. In China's southern region, forest fires significantly endanger the ecological system, public safety, and economic well-being. Through the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and LightGBM (Light Gradient Boosting Machine) model, this study investigates the determinants of fire incidents and formulates a predictive model for forest fire occurrences, alongside a zoning strategy, within the Central-South area. The results indicate: (i) Spatially, fire points exhibit significant clustering and autocorrelation characteristics; (ii) The Central-South Forest Fire Prediction Model shows exceptional accuracy, reliability, and predictive power, with high performance metrics across training and validation sets, including over 85% accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores, along with AUC values above 89%, underscoring its efficacy in forecasting forest fires and distinguishing between fire events; (iii) Throughout the year, forest fire risks in the Central-South region of China vary by region and season, with risk spikes from March to May in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, and Hainan. From June to August, localized risks are observed in Heyuan and Huangshi, while from September to November, an increase in risk is noted in Guangdong (Meizhou, Heyuan, Shaoguan), Guangxi (Nanning, Hezhou, Yulin), and Hunan (Binzhou, Yongzhou, Hengyang) due to cooler, drier conditions and leaf litter accumulation. From December to February, the risk continues in specific areas across Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, and Hubei.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) ethanol fermentation has left an indelible trace in human history. It is regarded as the original beverage synthesis, and has developed into an essential energy supply for mankind today. However, the history of ethanol synthesis using S. cerevisiae, including the mechanism analysis process, has not been carefully and succinctly reported. In this paper, we review the history of ethanol synthesis using S. cerevisiae. In addition, we also review the substrates that drive S. cerevisiae ethanol synthesis, including the utilization of glucose, sucrose, starch and molasses, in order to summarize the current development status and to contribute to the further improvement of this field.

(1) Background: ganoderic acids (GAs) are specific triterpenes of Ganoderma lucidum. The HPLC fingerprint profile of GAs of the fruiting body has been well-known, but the mycelial fingerprinting remains unclear. (2) Methods: the ethanol extract of the mycelium of G. lucidum (YK-01) was further purified by preparative HPLC. The HPLC spectra for four strains of G. lucidum and one strain of G. formosanum (purple lingzhi) were investigated. (3) Results: nineteen lanostane triterpenes, including five new triterpenes, GA-TP (1), ganodermic acid Jc (GmA-Jc) (2), GmA-Jd (3), GA-TQ1 (4), and ganoderal B1 (5), and fourteen known triterpenes 6-19 were isolated from the ethanol extract. A green chemical HPLC analytical method was developed by using ethanol and acetic acid as mobile phase. These triterpenes comprise of a unique HPLC triterpenoid spectral pattern of G. lucidum mycelium. All four G. lucidum strains showed the same HPLC spectral pattern, whereas G. formosanum displayed a different pattern. Quantitation methods for ganoderic acid T (10) and S (12) were also validated. (4) Conclusions: the triterpenoid HPLC analytical method can be used to identify G. lucidum species, and to determine the contents of GA-T and GA-S.

Recently, Indium Tin Oxide, a highly transparent, well conductive, and CMOS-compatible material, has been paying strong attention to the thermo-optic controlled silicon photonics industry because it allows a miniature of the gap between the core silicon and the heater, thus enabling reducing the electric power consumption and enhancing the switching speed. In this article, we propose an ultralow loss and small-size ITO microheater for the phase shift tuning. The designated microheater is manipulated in realizing a numerical co-design of compact and high bandwidth three-mode converter and three-mode selective router. Simulation results illustrate the 3-dB bandwidth for the three-mode converter and three-mode selective router as much as 100-nm and 40-nm during crosstalk under -25 dB, respectively. Besides, co-designed devices attain relatively large fabrication tolerances corresponding to width and height tolerances of ±50 nm and ±5 nm. In addition, the proposed devices consumed less than 90 mW total power consumption and took a fast switching time below 8 μs. Moreover, both two co-designs can be integrated into an estimated compact footprint of 8 μm2160 μm. Such excellent performances demonstrate the attractive potential of ITO as low-loss thermo-optic phase shifters and open an alternative way for enabling ultrafast and high-speed mode division multiplexing systems and very large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

Background: Recent researches have investigated the biological importance of RNA N1-methyladenosine (m1A) modifications in oncogenesis and progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, whether m1A modifications also have latent effect in tumor microenvironment (TME) generation and immune regulation in HNSCC is unknown. Methods: We evaluated the m1A modification patterns and related to these modification patterns with TME cell infiltration features in 1041 HNSCC samples by bioinformatics approach. Results: The m1A score is an independent prognostic indicator. HNSCC patients with low m1A score group with poor overall survival (OS) was mainly characterized by stroma activation, lack of sufficient immune infiltration, and exhibited an immune- desert TME phenotype. Low m1A scores were also correlated with increased tumor mutation burden (TMB), and HNSCC patients with high TMB and low m1A scores had the worst OS. In addition, anti-CTLA-4 combined with anti-PD1 treatment was more effective in the high m1A score subgroup than in the low m1A score subgroup. Conclusions: This study revealed that m1A modifications play a non-negligible role in developing the TME versatility and complexity of HNSCC. Assessing m1A modification patterns in HNSCC helps improve our comprehension of its TME infiltration profile and guides more effective immunotherapeutic approaches.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), is a notorious migratory pest. After invading China in 2019, the species has established as a year-round breeding population in most of the southern provinces. The area of winter corn in this region has been increasing due to the huge demand of fresh corn consumption which is potentially at risk from this invasive, although S. frugiperda growth and development under changing climate in this region is unclear, particularly the rising temperature during night period. Here we used highest daily temperatures of 27℃, 24℃, 20℃ and night temperatures that were 2℃, 4℃, 6℃ lower giving three daily temperature treatments reflective of winter conditions; GroupⅠ: 27-21℃, 27-23℃, 27-25℃, Group Ⅱ: 24-18℃, 24-20℃, 24-22℃, and Group Ⅲ: 20-14℃, 20-16℃, 20-18℃; to evaluate the effect of increasing night temperature on growth and development of S. frugiperda. Results show that the survival rate of larvae and pupae significantly declined with the daily temperature declining and the night temperature range increasing. Significant developmental effects were observed in all day-night temperature treatment, except for adults, with significant interaction effects for all stages except egg and generation time. Development rate accelerated along with the increasing daily temperature and night temperature, except for the intermediate treatments (Group Ⅱ). The uniformity of pupation and emergence times are higher in high daily temperatures and night temperature. Predictions of FAW development and warnings to local farmers need to be adjusted to take into account the more rapid development. These results will support decision makers to develop long-term management strategies for FAW in southern China.

Calligraphy works have high artistic value, but there is a rampant problem of forgery. Indeed, authentication of traditional calligraphy heavily relies on calligraphers' subjective judgment. Therefore, spurred by the recent development of neural networks, this paper proposes a method for authenticating calligraphy works based on an improved EfficientNet network. Specifically, the developed method utilizes the character box algorithm and the centroid algorithm to extract individual calligraphy characters, which are then augmented and used as the training set for the model. The training process employs CBAM and Self-Attention modules to enhance the attention mechanism of the EfficientNet network. The model is tested on authentic works, imitated works, and works from other calligraphers and is compared with other networks. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively achieves the authentication of calligraphy works, and the improved CBAM-EfficientNet network and SA-EfficientNet network achieve better authentication performance.

Colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) patients combined with hepatic lymph node metastases was a negative prognostic factor associated with outcomes. Up to now, there was still lack of a reliable method to identify the status of hepatic lymph nodes. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive ability of mono-exponential, bi-exponential, and stretched-exponential diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) models to distinguish between benign and malignant hepatic lymph nodes in CRLM patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy prior to surgery. In total, 97 CRLM patients with pathologically proved hepatic lymph node status were included. Various quantitative parameters, including the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from mono-exponential model, D, D*, and f derived from intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model, as well as DDC and α from stretched-exponential model (SEM), were measured. Multivariate analysis revealed that the pre- treatment DDC value and the short diameter of the largest lymph node after treatment were independent predictors of metastatic hepatic lymph nodes. A nomogram combining these two factors demonstrated excellent performance in distinguishing between benign and malignant lymph nodes in CRLM patients, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.873. Therefore, the nomogram can serve as a preoperative assessment tool for determining the status of hepatic lymph nodes and aiding in the decision-making process for surgical treatment in CRLM patients.

Carbonaceous material (CM) is common in meta-sediments and is generally interpreted to be intimately associated with gold mineralization. For the Bumo deposit in Hainan Province, South China, CM is mainly hosted by greenschist facies- to amphibolite-facies metamophic rocks of the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Baoban Group and by auriferous veins and is used as an important gold prospecting indicator. However, the genesis of CM and the relationship with gold mineralization are still not clear. Field work and thin section observation indicates that two types of CM occur, i.e., layered and veinlet. Layered CM, up to meters thick, prevails in the deposit. More importantly, Au-bearing sulfides are commonly distributed along the boundary between the quartz veins and layered CM. In contrast, veinlet CM, co-precipitated with gold and sulfides, has the thickness of micro- to centi- meters, and these thin veins occur in quartz veins and hydrothermally altered rocks. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis indicates that layered CM has a stringy shape and laminate structure, while veinlet CM occurs as isometric particles. Raman carbonaceous material geothermometer indicates that layered CM with high maturity is formed at elevated temperatures of 400 – 550°C, consistent with X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. In contrast, veinlet CM with low maturity is formed at 200 – 350°C, generally consistent with gold mineralization. In addition, layered CM has δ13C values ranging from -30 to -20%, demonstrating a biogenic origin. Consequently, it is interpreted that layered CM is formed by a pre-ore metamorphic event during Caledonian, and its reducing nature promotes gold precipitation via destabilization of aqueous Au bisulfide complexes or facilitating sulfidation. Veinlet CM is hydrothermal origin, and its precipitation modified the chemical conditions of ore fluids, leading to the destabilization of Au complexes and thus favorable for mineralization.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) nanosheets have shown extensive applications due to their excellent physical and chemical properties. However, the low light absorption efficiency limits their application in optoelectronics. By rolling up 2D TMDCs nanosheets, the one-dimensional (1D) TMDCs nanoscrolls are formed with spiral tubular structure, tunable interlayer spacing and opening ends. Due to their increased thickness of scroll structure, the light absorption is enhanced. Meanwhile, the rapid electron transportation is confined along the 1D structure. Therefore, the TMDCs nanoscrolls show improved optoelectronic performance compared to 2D nanosheets. In addition, the high specific surface area and active edge site from bending strain of basal plane make them promising materials for catalytic reaction. Thus, the TMDCs nanoscrolls have attracted intensive attention in recent years. In this review, the structure of TMDCs nanoscrolls is firstly demonstrated and followed by various preparation methods of the TMDCs nanoscrolls. Afterwards, the applications of TMDCs nanoscrolls in the fields of photodetection, hydrogen evolution reaction, and gas sensing are discussed.

The petrogenesis of high Ba-Sr granitoids provide a great significance to penetrate the Proto-Tethys evolution in the North Qilian orogenic belt. This paper presents a combination of zircon U-Pb age, whole-rock major and trace element concentrations, and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic data for Caowa high Ba-Sr dioritic intrusion from the eastern part of the North Qilian orogenic belt, aiming to decipher its petrogenesis and tectonic setting. LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating yields an emplacement age of 447±3 Ma for the Caowa intrusion, indicating a magmatic activity of the late Ordovician. The Caowa quartz diorites contain moderate contents of SiO2, MgO, Mg# and resultant high concentrations of Na2O+K2O, Fe2O3T and Al2O3, displaying calc-alkaline and metaluminous characteristics. Their relatively elevated Ba (up to 1165 ppm) and Sr (561 to 646 ppm) contents, with obvious enrichment in LILEs (e.g. Ba、Th、U) and depletion in HFSEs (e.g. Nb、Ta、Ti) resemble those of typical high Ba-Sr granitoids in subduction zone. Together with enriched Sr-Nd isotopic compositons[(87Sr/86Sr)i=0.7082−0.7086, εNd(t)= -5.1 to -4.9], and relatively extensive εHf(t) values (-13.2 to +8.5) of zircons, it suggests that these high Ba-Sr quartz diorites were derived from a mixture magma source between the ancient crust materials and the enriched lithospheric mantle metasomatised by fluid was released from subducted oceanic crust or sediment. Taking into account the ophiolites, high pressure metamorphic rocks and arc magmatic rocks in the region, we infer that affected by the northward subduction of the Qilian Proto-Tethys ocean, the Laohushan oceanic crust of the North Qilian back-arc basin was subducted during the Late Ordovician and resulted in extensive metasomatism of lithospheric mantle by fluids derived from oceanic crust or sediments, and the Caowa high Ba-Sr quartz diorites generated in the process of crust-mantle interaction during the Late Ordovician.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) derived from organic fertilizers may increase soil phosphorus (P) availability. However, the frequently observed correlation between soil P availability and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content has led to an excessive focus on DOC content at the expense of DOM properties. The present study investigated the influence of DOM characteristics on soil P availability by using a 6-year field experiment and microcosms of P sorption in paddy soil. Our results showed that partial replacement of chemical P fertilizer with manure or crop straw increased P fertilizer-use efficiency, even when decreasing chemical P input by 34 %, compared to normal chemical fertilization. The microcosm experiment demonstrated that DOM properties, rather than total DOC content, determine soil P sorption capacity, despite the significant correlation between DOC content and P availability observed in the field experiment. Manure-DOM exerted stronger inhibitory effects on P sorption than straw-DOM, and high molecular weight (HMW)-fractionated DOM exerted stronger inhibitory effects on P sorption than low-molecular-weight-fractionated DOM by 16-20%. The mechanism was rooted in the HMW DOM with unique characteristics (e.g., strong aromaticity, hydrophobicity, abundant humic-like components, carboxyl groups, and benzene ring structures) competing for soil P sorption sites (e.g., reduction in specific surface area and micropore volume), decreasing the soil surface charge (e.g., zeta potential), and thereby suppressing P sorption in paddy soil. Our study points out a promising avenue for regulating organic matter properties with organic fertilization to improve P use efficiency in agricultural soils.

We hypothesise that anti-inflammatory macrolides can alleviate both the NLRP3 inflammasome activation and accelerated senescence in alveolar macrophages in COPD and/or response to cigarette smoke. Lung tissues from COPD patients and mice chronically exposed to cigarette smoke, cultures of human primary alveolar macrophages and macrophages derived from blood (MDM) or THP-1 monocytes were analysed for markers of macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome activation and accelerated senescence using multifluorescence quantitative confocal microscopy, Western blot, flow cytometry and histochemistry. Cultured macrophages were stimulated with 10% cigarette smoke extract (CSE), with or without presence of non-antibiotic macrolides 2'-desoxy-9-(S)-erythromycylamine and azithromycin-based 2'-desoxy molecule. Cigarette smoke and CSE induced in macrophages significant (p

Due to its time effective, joint friendly and highly customizable character whole-body-electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is regarded as a feasible solution for a large variety of training issues particularly in the area of non-athletic application. To identify gaps in research and summarize prevalent evidence we conducted an evidence map on outcomes addressed by WB-EMS trials in middle-aged to older, non-athletic adults. Based on a comprehensive systematic search in five databases and two study registers according to PRISMA, 54 projects published in 80 articles were included. More than 90% of the studies reported outcomes related to the physical fitness or function domain. Body composition parameters were addressed by two thirds of the projects. Health-related outcomes addressed by WB-EMS included cancer/neoplasm (n=7), endocrine regulation (n=8), glucose metabolism (15), nervous system diseases (n=2), cardiovascular system diseases (n=22), non-specific chronic low back pain (n=4), osteopenia (n=5) and diseases of the renal system (n=12). Outcomes related to inflammation were addressed 18 times. Of importance, no studies reported clinically relevant adverse effects related to the WB-EMS intervention. In summary, while considerable evidence on outcomes related to fitness/function and body composition is prevalent, evidence gaps of WB-EMS research were particular evident for diseases of the nervous and cerebrovascular system.

The search for a continuous continental record of interglacial periods in semi-arid regions is problematic due to the absence of stable and continuous sedimentary systems over time in this type of climate. In this work, a relatively stable basin is described and analyzed during the last interglacial in a semi-arid region of the western Mediterranean. For this purpose a geomorphological, stratigraphic and sedimentological study has been carried out, with dating through 230Th. A semi-endorrheic Pleistocene basin has been identified, with two units that correspond to a fluvial-lacustrine system (unit P1) and an alluvial system (unit P2). Unit P1 has been dated in the MIS 5e interglacial episode. A framework is described in which the Aljezares Quaternary basin can be considered as a possible source of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic information in semi-arid regions from the last interglacial period in future studies.

River sediment from two inflow watersheds (Hongze and Tiaoxi) to Hongze and Taihu Lake in Eastern China was analyzed by the sequential extraction procedure. This study aimed to explore a spatial distribution of phosphorus fractions in river sediments and analysed the relationship between different phosphorus fractions and their environmental influence on the sediments within different watersheds in Eastern China. Five fractions of sedimentary phosphorus, including freely sorbed phosphorus, were all analyzed (NH₄Cl-P), redox-sensitive phosphorus (BD-P), bound phosphorus metal oxide (NaOH-P), bound phosphorus calcium (HCl-P) and residual phosphorus (Res-P). The order of rank of the P fractions for the river Anhe was HCl-P>NaOH-P>BD-P>NH₄Cl-P; whereas that of the Suihe river was HCl-P>BD-P>NaOH-P>NH₄Cl-P. For the rank order of the Hongze watershed, HCl-P was higher while the NH₄Cl-P contents were significantly lower. The rank order for the Dongtiaoxi river was NaOH-P > HCl-P> BD-P> NH₄Cl-P and that of Xitiaoxi river was NaOH-P> BD-P> HCl-P> NH₄Cl-P. Compared with phosphorus forms of Tiaoxi watershed, NaOH-P contents were significantly higher in the converse of HCl-P contents were significantly higher in Hongze watershed while both in NH₄Cl-P contents were significantly lower. Variations may be attributed to differential discharge of P watershed form due to land-use changes and urban river ambient conditions.

Three monoruthenium complexes 1(PF6)23(PF6)2 bearing a N(CH3)-bridged ligand have been synthesized and characterized. These complexes have a general formula of [Ru(bpy)2(L)](PF6)2, where L is a 2,5-di(N-methyl-N-(pyrid-2-yl)amino)pyrazine (dapz) derivative with various substituents and bpy is 2,2′-bipyridine. The photophyscial and electrochemical properties of these compounds have been examined. The solid-state structure of complex 3(PF6)2 is studied by single crystal X-ray analysis. These complexes show two well-separated emission bands centered at 451 and 646 nm (max = 195 nm) for 1(PF6)2, 465 and 627 nm (max = 162 nm) for 2(PF6)2, and 455 and 608 nm (max = 153 nm) for 3(PF6)2 in dilute acetonitrile solution, respectively. The emission maxima of the higher-energy emission bands of these complexes are similar, while the lower-energy emission bands are dependent on the electronic nature of substituents. These complexes display two consecutive redox couples owing to the stepwise oxidation of the N(CH3)-bridged ligand and ruthenium component. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations are carried out to elucidate these experimental findings.

The objective of this study was to investigate the umami characteristics of soy sauce using electronic tongue evaluation and amino acid composition and Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis. The soy sauce peptides were isolated from soy sauce using XAD-16 macroporous resin combined with ethanol solution. Results showed that the soy sauce peptide fraction eluted by 60% ethanol (SS-60%) exhibited a prominent umami taste and the umami scores were highly positively correlated with the amino acid nitrogen contents of soy sauces. The umami scores of SS-60% were significantly positively correlated with the contents of free amino acids. Especially, Phe showed the highest positive correlation with the umami scores. In addition, five characteristic ion peaks with m/z at 499, 561, 643, 649, and 855 were identified in the peptide mass fingerprinting. Therefore, this study provides new insights into the umami characteristics for the flavor evaluation and reality identification of soy sauce.

Chemical fertilizers are commonly used to meet the nutritional demands of the crops and boost their yield. However, their high costs and excessive application in soils increases the cost of production and have negative effects on the soil and environmental health. Vermicompost is an organic amendment that can potentially lessen the dependence on chemical fertilizers with additional advantages of sustainable nutrient supply to crops and maintaining soil health. To evaluate the potential of two diverse vermicomposts, sole and combined application of these vermicomposts with reduced rates of chemical fertilizers were used for tomato cultivation in a field study. The results indicated that vermicompost produced from cow dung combined with chemical fertilizers proved to be more effective in improving tomatoes' growth, physiology, yield and nutritional attributes. Combined application of vermicompost and chemical fertilizer significantly improved root length (21.6%), plant height (167%), SPAD value (13.5%),chlorophyll 'a' (96%), chlorophyll 'b' (161%), relative water content (16%), membrane stability index (18%), carotenoid (87%), yield (82%), photosynthetic rate (148%), and fruit diameter (83%) protein (89%), fat (27.5%), fiber (12%), vitamin C (52%), calcium (54%), magnesium (117%), phosphorus (38%), potassium (128%), as compared to control treatment (NP applied). In addition, significant improvements in different soil physico-chemical properties were also pragmatic. The results suggest that vermicompost application with reduced doses of chemical fertilizers can be used to improve crop yield and soil physico-chemical properties.

Cervical cancer, primarily caused by high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) types 16 and 18, is a major global health concern. Persistent HR-HPV infection can progress from reversible pre-cancerous lesions to invasive cervical cancer, which is driven by the oncogenic activity of human papillomavirus (HPV) genes, particularly E6 and E7. Traditional screening methods, including cytology and HPV testing, have limited sensitivity and specificity. This review explores the ap-plication of p16/Ki-67 dual-staining cytology for cervical cancer screening. This advanced im-munocytochemical method allows for simultaneously detecting p16 and Ki-67 proteins within cervical epithelial cells, offering a more specific approach for triaging HPV-positive women. Dual staining and traditional methods are compared, demonstrating their high sensitivity and negative predictive value but low specificity. The increased sensitivity of dual staining results in higher detection rates of CIN2+ lesions, which is crucial for preventing cervical cancer progression. However, its low specificity may lead to increased false-positive results and unnecessary biopsies. The implications of integrating dual staining into contemporary screening strategies, particularly considering the evolving landscape of HPV vaccination and changes in HPV genotype prevalence are also discussed. New guidelines and further research are necessary to elucidate the long-term effects of integrating dual staining into screening protocols.

We propose a new approach of extending the laser filament plasma channel. By adding a circular aperture quartz plate before the focusing lens, the extension of the plasma channel is doubled. The effects of different diameters, thicknesses of the circular aperture quartz plate and different pulse energies on the length of the plasma channel were investigated. The experimental results show that the thickness of the quartz plate and the depth of the hole have little effects on the plasma channel of the filament, and the diameter of the hole in the center of the quartz plate has a significant effect on the length of the optical filament. The moving-focus model is used to explain the extension of the optical filament.

To investigate the role of sulfhydryl groups and disulfide bonds in different protein-stabilized emulsions, N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) was used as sulfhydryl-blocking agent to be added in the emulsion. The addition of NEM to block the sulfhydryl groups resulted in a reduction of the content of disulfide bonds formation, which enabled destruction of the internal structure of the protein molecule, and then decreased the restriction of protein membrane on the oil droplets. Furthermore, with NEM content increasing in the emulsion, a reduction of protein emulsifying activity and emulsion stability also occurred. At the same time, the intermolecular interaction of the protein on the oil droplet interface membrane was destroyed, and the emulsion droplet size increased with the NEM content in the emulsion. Although NEM blocking sulfhydryl groups not to form disulfide bonds has similar effects on three types of protein emulsion, the degree of myofibrillar protein (MP), egg-white protein isolate (EPI), and soybean protein isolate (SPI) as emulsifier had a subtle difference.

The Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (D. citri) is one of the major pests in the citrus industry, which spreads Citrus Huanglongbing disease. It has developed resistance to chemical insecticides. Therefore, searching for greener solutions for pest management is critically important. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the repellent and insecticidal efficacy of essential oils (EOs) from four species of Myrtaceae plants: Psidium guajava (PG), Eucalyptus robusta (ER), Eucalyptus tereticornis (ET), and Baeckea frutescens (BF) against D. citri and to analyze their chemical composition. GC-MS analysis was performed, and the results indicated that the EOs of PG, ER, ET, and BF were rich in terpenoids, ketones, esters, and alcohol compounds. The repellent rate of all four EOs showed that it decreased with exposure time but increased with concentrations of EOs. Repellent rates ranged from 80.50% to 100.00% after treating D. citri for 6 hours with four EOs at 100% concentration and decreased to 67.71% to 85.49% after 24 hours of exposure. Among the compounds from the EOs tested, eucalyptol had the strongest repellent activity, with a 24-hour repellency rate of 100%. The contact toxicity bioassay results showed that all EOs have insecticidal toxicity to D. citri; the LC50 for nymphs was 36.47-93.15 mL/L, and for adults, it was 60.72-111.00 mL/L. These results show that when PG is used as the reference material, both ER, ET, and BF EOs have strong biological activity against D. citri, which provides a scientific basis for the further development of plant-derived agrochemicals.

Ionic gel electrolyte retains the characteristics of non-volatilization, non-flammability and outstanding electrochemical stability of ionic liquid, and shows good electrochemical performance combined with the excellent characteristics of different matrix materials, which is considered to be the best choice to achieve the high energy density and safety at the same time. In this paper, a flexible and self-healing ionic gel electrolyte is prepared by solvent-assisted method based on a zteric ion (ZI) copolymer. Abundant hydrogen bonds and synergistic interaction of ions in the electrolyte system endowed it with wonderful self-healing ability. The ionic conductivity of 9.06×10-4 S cm-1 at room temperature was achieved. Besides, the tLi+ was also increased to 0.312. The self-healing function of the ionic gel electrolyte ensured the long-term tolerance of the SHIGE. The capacity retention rate of the Li//LiFePO4 battery is 96% after 155 cycles at 0.1 C at 60 oC. This polymer electrolyte is expected to solve the problem of increasing polarization，which is caused by the low lithium ions migration number in ionic liquid electrolyte. And ultimately, it gives rise to a good rate performance.

(1) Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) presents a significant challenge in terms of discovering novel diagnostic methods and therapies. Previous research has shed light on the neuroprotective properties of Apelin-13 in neurodegenerative disorders. However, elucidating the mechanism underlying its efficacy in combating AD-related nerve injury is imperative. In this study, we aimed to investigate the mechanism of action of Apelin-13 in an in vivo model of AD induced by streptozocin (STZ); (2) Methods: We utilized an STZ-induced nerve injury model of AD in mice to investigate the effects of Apelin-13 administration. The Apelin-13 was administered intranasally, and cognitive impairment was assessed using standardized behavioral tests. The main methods included behavioral assessment, histological analysis, and biochemical assays to evaluate synaptic plasticity and oxidative stress signaling pathways; (3) Results: Our findings indicate that intranasal administration of Apelin-13 ameliorated cognitive impairment in the STZ-induced AD model. Furthermore, we observed that this effect was potentially mediated through the enhancement of synaptic plasticity and attenuation of oxidative stress signaling pathways; (4) Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that intranasal administration of Apelin-13 holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. By improving synaptic plasticity and mitigating oxidative stress, Apelin-13 may offer a novel approach to neuroprotection in AD and related conditions.

As a dominant mangrove species, Kandelia obovata is distributed in an intertidal marsh with an active H₂S release. Whether H₂S participates in the salt tolerance of mangrove plant is still ambiguous although increasing evidence have demonstrated that H₂S functions in plant responses to multiple abiotic stresses. In this study, as an H₂S donor, NaHS was used to investigate the regulatory mechanism of H₂S on salt tolerance of K. obovata seedlings using a combined physiological and proteomic analysis. The results showed that the reduction in photosynthesis (Pn) caused by 400 mM NaCl was recovered by the addition of NaHS (200 μM). Furthermore, the application of H₂S enhanced the quantum efficiency of PSII and the membrane lipid stability, implying that H₂S is beneficial to the survival of K. obovata seedlings under high salinity. We further identified 37 differentially expressed proteins by proteomic approaches under salinity and NaHS treatment. Among them, the proteins related to photosynthesis, primary metabolism, stress response and hormone biosynthesis were primarily enriched. The physiological and proteomic results highlighted that exogenous H₂S up-regulated photosynthesis and energy metabolism to help K. obovata to cope with high salinity. Specifically, H₂S increased photosynthetic electron transfer, chlorophyll biosynthesis and carbon fixation in K. obovata leaves under salt stress. Furthermore, the abundances of other proteins related to metabolic pathway, such as antioxidation (APX, CSD2, PDX1), protein synthesis (HSP, Cpn 20), nitrogen metabolism (GS2, GS1:1), glycolysis (PGK, TPI), AsA-GSH cycle were increased by H₂S under high salinity. These findings provide new insights into the roles of H₂S in the adaptations of mangrove plant K. obovata to high salinity environment.

The shear failure of surface methane capture borehole (SMCB) is the main cause of shortening life cycle of SMCB but lack of lithological analysis. In order to improve the stability of SMCB and improve efficient drainage period, it is of great significance to investigate the lithology performances for shear failure of SMCB. Based on the direct shear tests and geological method, the results shows that the shear displacement increases as the grain size decreases. Mechanical jump occurs at the lithological boundaries, which is mainly determined by the composition of rock specimens. The cohesion is the mainly possible reason for the step change of shear strength. Lithology with high quartz and low clay may effectively improve shear strength and failure resistance. Boreholes drilled into the weaker siltstone and mudstone sections may potentially experience preferential damage due to the larger shear displacement and shear strength. Protective measures at these sections may improve the stability of the borehole casing. The probing data where it was found that boreholes closure validated the prediction.

Hetero-nanomaterials constructed by plasmonic metals and functional semiconductors show enormous potential in photocatalytic applications, such as water splitting, hydrogen production, CO₂ reduction, pollutants treatment. Their photocatalytic performances can be better regulated through adjusting structure, ingredient, and components arrangement. Therefore, the reasonable design and synthesis of metal/semiconductor hetero-nanostructures is of vital significance. In this article, we briefly review the recent progress in efficiently establishing metal/semiconductor nanomaterials for improved photocatalysis. The defined photocatalysts mainly include traditional binary hybrids, ternary multi-metals/semiconductor and metal/multi-semiconductors heterojunctions. The underlying physical mechanism for the improved photocatalytic activity of the established photocatalysts are highlighted. At the end of this article, a brief summary and possible future perspectives for further development in this field are demonstrated.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) training is critical in clinical practice of occupational therapy (OT) for stroke patients. In the conventional approaches, the therapists simulate various occupational tasks in their healthcare settings or reach their nearby real circumstances for the training. As an alternative technology, immersive virtual reality (IVR) has been used widely in stroke rehabilitation for years; however, limited research has compared occupational performances between virtual and real environments. Our team has established a novel IVR shopping training system for stroke rehabilitation. We recruited 10 stroke patients from our department to test the system. All patients attempted to implement shopping tasks in the virtual and real environments respectively. The Wilcoxon test showed no significant differences between virtual and real environments in memory capacity and time-consuming for implementing tasks, and memory capacities in virtual and real environments presented excellent correlations with the IADL assessment. This study suggests that IVR shopping tasks can be used as an alternative approach in rehabilitation when there is limited resource for implementing shopping training in a real environment, while the psychometric property, clinical effect and the effect transferred to the real environment induced by virtual training require further study.

The fishmeal production industry is essential for providing protein for animal feed in the aquaculture sector. However, the industry faces challenges related to energy consumption and environmental sustainability. This study evaluates the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies in a fishmeal production plant in Vietnam. Data were collected from the plant between 2016 and 2022, and a specific energy consumption (SEC) indicator and a comprehensive methodology were utilized. Implementing an economizer as a WHR technology resulted in a 55.5% decrease in SEC compared to the state before installation. The enhanced energy efficiency also translated to reduced energy consumption per output unit. Moreover, the economizer contributed to annual energy savings of 4,537.57 GJ/year and cost savings of $26,474.49. Additionally, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with producing one ton of fishmeal decreased by 58.37%. These findings highlight the potential for WHR technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of fishmeal production. The study's results provide valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in promoting energy efficiency practices and reducing environmental impact in the industry.

Two-dimensional (2D) bismuth oxyhalides (BiOX) have attracted much attention as potential optoelectronic materials. Expecting for their application diversity, we herewith systematically investigate the tunable properties of 2D BiOX by using first principles calculations. Their electronic and optical properties can be modulated by changing the number of monolayers, applying strain, and/or varying the halogen composition. The bandgap shrinks monotonically and approaches the bulk value, the optical absorption coefficient increases, and the absorption spectrum redshifts, as the layer number of 2D BiOX increases. Carrier transport property can be improved by applying tensile strain, and the ability of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution can be obtained by applying compressive strain. General strain engineering will be effective in linearly tune the bandgap of BiOX in a wide strain range. Strain together with halogen composition variation can tune the optical absorption spectrum to be on demand in the range from visible to ultraviolet. It suggests that that 2D BiOX materials have potential serving as tunable novel photodetectors, can be used to improve clean energy techniques, and are prospective in the field of flexible optoelectronics.

Droughts have a substantial effect on water resources, agriculture, and ecosystems on a worldwide scale. In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, droughts exacerbated by climate change are significantly endangering the region's agricultural sustainability and output. Conventional forecasting techniques frequently do not capture the intricate dynamics of meteorological phenomena associated to drought effectively, prompting the exploration of more advanced methodologies. This work utilises artificial intelligence, par-ticularly machine learning methods like Gradient Boosting and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), to enhance drought pre-diction in the Mekong Delta. The study utilises data from 11 meteorological stations spanning from 1990 to 2022 to create and evaluate Machine Learning models based on several climatic factors. We utilise Gradient Boosting and XGBoost algorithms to estimate the Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and evaluate their effectiveness in comparison to con-ventional forecasting techniques. The results show that Machine Learning, particularly XGBoost, surpasses traditional approaches in predicting SPEI accuracy at various time scales. XGBoost demonstrates skill in understanding the complex relationships between climatic factors, with R² values falling between 0.90 and 0.94 for 1-month forecasts. The progress highlights the potential of Machine Learning in improving drought management and adaptation tactics, proposing the incorporation of Machine Learning forecasting models into decision-making processes to enhance drought resistance in susceptible areas.

Metabolites present in the hemolymph of honey bees play a crucial role in modulating the metamorphic process within the species. However, the precise alterations in metabolite composition, along with the associated variances and regulatory pathways implicated during the larvae-to-pupae metamorphosis of honey bees, remain incompletely elucidated. In this investigation, we gathered hemolymph samples from honey bee larvae at three distinct physiological stages-feeding, prepupal, and pupae and subjected them to metabolite analysis utilizing the liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technique. Employing principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), we identified significant differential metabolites and conducted a metabolic pathway analysis on those differentially up-regulated during the prepupal and pupae stages. Notably, metabolites up-regulated in the hemolymph of prepupal stage larvae primarily governed glucose metabolism and fat digestion and absorption, while those in pupae stage larvae were involved in regulating chitin and lipopolysaccharide precursor formation, as well as the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. These findings bear significant implications for advancing our comprehension of the metamorphic processes in honey bees.

The origin of the nucleus remains a great mystery in life science, although nearly two centuries have passed since the discovery of nuclei. To date, studies of eukaryogenesis have focused largely on micro-evolutionary explanations. Here, we examined macro-patterns of C-values (the total amount of DNA within the haploid chromosome set of an organism) for over 110,000 species and the chromosome numbers for over 11,000 species and their potential links with the state of atmospheric oxidation over geological time. Eukaryogenesis was in sync with an over 2.5 order-of-magnitude increase in genome size from prokaryote to eukaryote, and also with a rapid rise of atmospheric oxidation, suggesting that eukaryogenesis would have resulted from a regime shift of genomes driven by the oxidation-driven complexification and structuralization (e.g. chromatin packing).

p-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) is not only the useful molecular target in treating life-threatening tyrosinemia type I, but also an important target for chemical herbicides. A combined in silico structure-based pharmacophore and molecular docking based virtual screening were performed to identify novel potential HPPD inhibitors. The complex based pharmacophore model (CBP) with 0.721 of ROC used for screening compound showed remarkable ability to retrieve known active ligands from decoy molecule. The ChemDiv database was screened using CBP-Hypo2 as a 3D query, and the best-fit hits subjected to molecular docking with two methods of LibDock and CDOCKER in Accelrys Discovery Studio 2.5(DS 2.5) to discern interactions with key residues at the active site of HPPD. 4 Compounds with top rank in HipHop model and well-known binding model were finally chosen as identification of lead compounds with potentially inhibitory effects on active site of target. The results provided powerful insight to the development of novel HPPD inhibitors herbicides using computational techniques.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.