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Fingerprint-based indoor localization has been a hot research topic. However, the current fingerprint-based indoor localization approaches still rely on a single fingerprint database, where the average level of data at reference points is used as the fingerprint representation. In variable environmental conditions, the variations in signals caused by changes in the environmental states introduce significant deviations between the average level and the actual fingerprint characteristics. This deviation leads to a mismatch between the constructed fingerprint database and the real-world conditions, thereby affecting the effectiveness of fingerprint matching. Meanwhile, the sharp noise interference caused by uncertainties such as personnel movement has a significant interference on the creation of the fingerprint database and fingerprint matching in online stage. Examination of the sampling data after denoising with Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) revealed distinct multi-fingerprint characteristics with clear boundaries at certain access points. Based on these observations, the concept of constructing a fingerprint database using multiple fingerprints is introduced and its feasibility is explored. Additionally, a multi-fingerprint solution based on naive Bayes classification is proposed to accurately represent fingerprint characteristics under different environmental conditions. This method is based on the online stage fingerprints. The corresponding state space is selected using the naive Bayes classifier, enabling the selection of an appropriate fingerprint database for matching. Through simulations and empirical evaluations, the proposed multi-fingerprints construction scheme consistently outperforms the traditional single-fingerprint database in terms of positioning accuracy across all tested localization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although microRNA (miR)-150-5p participates in the progression of renal fibrosis, its mechanism of action remains elusive. Methods: A mouse model of unilateral ureteral obstruction was used. The in vitro renal fibrosis model was established by stimulating human kidney 2 (HK-2) cells with transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1). The expression profiles of miR-150-5p, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), and other fibrosis- and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-linked proteins were determined using Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The relationship between miR-150-5p and ZEB1 in HK-2 cells was confirmed by a dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: Both in vivo and in vitro renal fibrosis models revealed reduced miR-150-5p expression and elevated ZEB1 level. A significant decrease in E-cadherin levels, as well as increases in alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and collagen type I (Col-I) levels, was seen in TGF-β1-treated HK-2 cells. The overexpression of miR-150-5p ameliorated TGF-β1-mediated fibrosis and EMT. Notably, miR-150-5p acts by directly targeting ZEB1. A significant reversal of the inhibitory impact of miR-150-5p on TGF-β1-mediated fibrosis and EMT in HK-2 cells was observed upon ZEB1 overexpression. Conclusion: MiR-150-5p suppresses TGF-β1-induced fibrosis and EMT by targeting ZEB1 in HK-2 cells, providing helpful insights into the therapeutic intervention of renal fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the challenges associated with the low accuracy, complexity of the equipment, and poor interference resistance observed in current wireless multipath channel measurements, this study introduces a novel algorithm called KFSC-WRELAX. This algorithm integrates techniques involving pseudorandom noise (PN) sequences, Kalman filtering (KF), sliding correlation, and weighted Fourier transform combined with the RELAXation (WRELAX) algorithm. An m-sequence is employed as the probing sequence for channel detection. The effectiveness of the KFSC-WRELAX algorithm is demonstrated through both simulation experiments and corridor testing, showing that it can accurately determine the delays in various paths with robust performance at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of −5 dB or higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar emitter signal sorting (RESS) is a crucial process in contemporary electronic battlefield situation awareness. Separating pulses belonging to the same radar emitter from interleaved radar pulse sequences with a lack of prior information, high density, strong overlap, and wide parameter distribution has attracted increasing attention. In order to improve the accuracy of RESS under scenarios with limited labeled samples, this paper proposes an RESS model called TR-RAGCN-AFF-RESS. This model transforms the RESS problem into a pulse-by-pulse classification task. Firstly, a novel weighted adjacency matrix construction method was proposed to characterize the structural relationships between pulse attribute parameters more accurately. Building upon this foundation, two networks were developed: a Transformer(TR)-based interleaved pulse sequence temporal feature extraction network and a residual attention graph convolutional network (RAGCN) for extracting the structural relationship features of attribute parameters. Finally, the attention feature fusion (AFF) algorithm was introduced to fully integrate the temporal features and attribute parameter structure relationship features, enhancing the richness of feature representation for the original pulses and achieving more accurate sorting results. Compared to existing deep learning-based RESS algorithms, this method does not require many labeled samples for training, making it better suited for scenarios with limited labeled sample availability. Experimental results and analysis confirm that even with only 10% of the training samples, this method achieves a sorting accuracy exceeding 93.91%, demonstrating high robustness against measurement errors, lost pulses, and spurious pulses in non-ideal conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bag manipulation through robots is complex and challenging due to the deformability of the bag. Based on the dynamic manipulation strategy, we propose a new framework, ShakingBot, for the bagging tasks. ShakingBot utilizes a perception module to identify the key region of the plastic bag from arbitrary initial configurations. According to the segmentation, ShakingBot iteratively executes a novel set of actions, including Bag Adjustment, Dual-arm Shaking, and One-arm Holding, to open the bag. The dynamic action, Dual-arm Shaking, can effectively open the bag without the need to take into account the crumpled configuration. Then, the robot inserts the items and lifts the bag for transport. We perform our method on a dual-arm robot and achieve a success rate of 21/33 for inserting at least one item across various initial bag configurations. In this work, we demonstrate the performance of dynamic shaking action compared to the quasi-static manipulation in the bagging task. We also show that our method generalizes to variations despite the bag's size, pattern, and color. Supplementary material is available at https://github.com/zhangxiaozhier/ShakingBot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Observational studies have indicated an association between coffee consumption and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Nevertheless, whether the association is causal is still unclear. We conducted a Mendelian randomization study to explore whether coffee consumption is causally related to ALS. Methods: Two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) investigating coffee consumption (n = 129,422 and 375,833, respectively) were adopted to define instrumental variables for coffee consumption (high vs. infrequent/no, 1 cup/day increase, and 50% increase). Summary-level data for ALS were adopted from a large GWAS of ALS with a total of 20,806 cases and 59,804 controls. Results: Genetically predicted higher coffee consumption was not associated with ALS. The ORs were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.93–1.13; p = 0.649) for high vs. infrequent/no, 0.98 (95% CI: 0.84–1.15; p = 0.822) for 1 cup/day increase, 0.97 (95% CI: 0.79–1.19; p = 0.766) for 50% increase. Sensitivity analyses yielded consistent results. No pleiotropic bias and heterogeneity were observed. Conclusion: Using multiple approaches and sensitivity analyses, our MR results show that genetically predicted coffee consumption was not associated with ALS. Further studies are warranted to explore the effect of coffee consumption on ALS progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are highly successful for image super-resolution (SR). However, they often require sophisticated architectures with high memory cost and computational overhead, significantly restricting their practical deployments on resource-limited devices. In this paper, we propose a novel dynamic contrastive self-distillation (Dynamic-CSD) framework to simultaneously compress and accelerate various off-the-shelf SR models, and explore using the trained model for dynamic inference. In particular, to build a compact student network, a channel-splitting super-resolution network (CSSR-Net) can first be constructed from a target teacher network. Then, we propose a novel contrastive loss to improve the quality of SR images via explicit knowledge transfer. Furthermore, progressive CSD (Pro-CSD) is developed to extend the two-branch CSSR-Net into multi-branch, leading to a switchable model at runtime. Finally, a difficulty-aware branch selection strategy for dynamic inference is given. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed Dynamic-CSD scheme effectively compresses and accelerates several standard SR models such as EDSR, RCAN and CARN. [Display omitted] • A novel dynamic contrastive self-distillation (Dynamic-CSD) framework was proposed. • Dynamic-CSD can simultaneously compress and accelerate various SR models. • The Pro-CSD scheme further improves the performance of our CSD scheme. • We combined the dynamic inference with multi-branch SR models trained by Pro-CSD. • Dynamic-CSD allocate resources according to input, making top performance and speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-modality person re-identification (Re-ID) is more challenging than traditional visible Re-ID due to the huge cross-modality gap from heterogeneous images. To alleviate this problem, existing methods often utilize a dual path learning framework equipped with metric loss to learn discriminative features. Despite effectiveness, the inevitable degeneration of intra-modality discrimination by taking cross-modality discrimination into consideration is unsolvable. Such degeneration substantially hinders the model’s capability of further improving feature representations. To mitigate this degeneration, we propose a Dual Mutual Learning (DML) method for cross-modality Re-ID which conducts mutual learning between the cross-modality and each of two single modalities. We design a triple-branch deep model containing the RGB and IR branches and the cross-modality branch. The cross-modality branch is designed to learn modality-invariant feature subspace for appearance similarity measurement. Both the RGB branch and IR branch provide attention supervision information to the cross-modality branch for attention feature alignment so as to enhance the intra-modality discrimination. Experimental results on two standard benchmarks demonstrate DML is superior to state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies suggest that Parkinson's disease (PD) is related with the risk of cardio and cerebrovascular disease. However, the causality is not yet fully established. Therefore, we employed Mendelian randomization to assess whether PD is related to risk of ischemic stroke (IS), IS subtypes, coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarction (MI).Methods: Eighty-eight and eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with PD at the genome-wide significance level, were used as instrumental variables for PD in European and East Asian population respectively. Using a 2-sample MR, we examined associations with IS, IS related subtypes, CAD and MI in European population. We also assessed the causal association of PD with IS and CAD in East Asian population. The primary MR analyses were performed by using the random-effects inverse variance weighted approach.Results: In European population, genetic predisposition to PD was related to higher risk of IS (odds ratio [OR], 1.03 per doubling in odds of PD; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.05; P = 0.002) and cardioembolic stroke (OR, 1.08 per doubling in odds of PD; 95% CI, 1.04-1.12; P = 1.29 × 10-4), but not large artery stroke, small vessel stroke, CAD and MI. In East Asian population, we found no evidence of causal effect of PD on the risk of IS and CAD.Conclusions: This study found that genetic predisposition to PD is related to higher risk of IS and cardioembolic stroke in European population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Higher CRP levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of AD. • The association between genetically predicted CRP levels and AD was consistent in sensitivity analysis. • No directional pleiotropy was observed in the MR-Egger regression. In this study, we examined whether C-reactive protein (CRP) play causal roles in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Summary-level data for AD (71,880 cases and 383,378 controls) was obtained from the large meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies. As instrumental variables, we used 56 single nucleotide polymorphisms (n = 4 for conservative CRP instruments; n = 52 for liberal CRP instruments), previously identified to be associated with CRP levels (n = 194,418 and 204,402 European individuals, respectively). MR estimates were calculated using the inverse-variance weighted approach and complemented with the weighted median, MR-PRESSO, and MR-Egger methods. Genetically predicted elevated CRP levels were significantly associated with an increased risk of AD (conservative CRP instruments: odds ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.04; p = 0.008). Results for liberal CRP instruments showed a consistent trend. Sensitivity analyses generated similar results and no pleiotropic bias was observed. This study indicates that genetically predicted elevated CRP levels may be a causal risk factor for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies have reported that coffee consumption was associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and stroke risk. However, the results are inconclusive.Objective: We aimed to evaluate whether genetically predicted coffee consumption is associated with AD and stroke using Mendelian randomization (MR) design.Methods: Summary-level data for AD (n = 54,162), ischemic stroke (n = 440,328), and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, n = 3,026) were adopted from publicly available databases. Summary-level data for coffee consumption were obtained from two genome-wide association studies, comprising up to 375,833 subjects.Results: Genetically predicted coffee consumption (cups/day) was associated with an increased risk of AD (OR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.05-1.51). Moreover, genetically predicted 50%increase of coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk of ICH (OR: 2.27, 95%CI: 1.08-4.78) but a decreased risk of small vessel stroke (OR: 0.71, 95%CI: 0.51-0.996). Estimate for AD and ICH in FinnGen consortium is directionally consistent. Combined analysis of different databases further confirmed that genetically predicted coffee consumption was associated with an increased risk of AD and ICH. In the multivariable MR analysis, genetically predicted coffee consumption retained a stable effect with AD and ICH when adjusting for smoking (p < 0.05), while the association with AD attenuated when adjusting for alcohol use.Conclusion: Our results indicate that genetically predicted coffee consumption may be associated with an increased risk of AD and ICH. The underlying biological mechanisms warrant further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Observational studies have suggested that increased levels of education and cognition are associated with a reduced risk of epilepsy. However, such associations are easily influenced by confounding or reverse causality. Hence, we conducted a two‐sample univariable and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate the total and independent causal effects of educational attainment and cognition on epilepsy risk. Methods: We performed MR estimates on International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Consortium genome‐wide association study (GWAS) data (15 212 epilepsy cases and 29 677 controls). We then validated the results in FinnGen (3424 epilepsy cases and 110 963 controls) and applied meta‐analysis to all the results. Results: In the meta‐analysis of the ILAE and FinnGen results, genetically determined increased educational attainment was associated with a reduced risk of epilepsy (odds ratio [OR] 0.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80‐0.88; P <.001). Similarly, genetically determined increased cognitive function was associated with a reduced risk of epilepsy (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.88‐1.00, P =.043). When educational attainment and cognitive function were included in the same multivariable MR, only educational attainment was still associated with a reduced risk of epilepsy (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.81‐0.95, P =.002). Significance: This MR study provides evidence to support that increased educational attainment can reduce the risk of developing epilepsy independent of cognitive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing successful person re-identification (Re-ID) models often employ the part-level representation to extract the fine-grained information, but commonly use the loss that is particularly designed for global features, ignoring the relationship between semantic parts. In this paper, we present a novel triplet loss that emphasizes the salient parts and also takes the consideration of alignment. This loss is based on the crossing-bing matching metric that also known as Wasserstein Distance. It measures how much effort it would take to move the embeddings of local features to align two distributions, such that it is able to find an optimal transport matrix to re-weight the distance of different local parts. The distributions in support of local parts is produced via a new attention mechanism, which is calculated by the inner product between high-level global feature and local features, representing the importance of different semantic parts w.r.t. identification. We show that the obtained optimal transport matrix can not only distinguish the relevant and misleading parts, and hence assign different weights to them, but also rectify the original distance according to the learned distributions, resulting in an elegant solution for the mis-alignment issue. Besides, the proposed method is easily implemented in most Re-ID learning system with end-to-end training style, and can obviously improve their performance. Extensive experiments and comparisons with recent Re-ID methods manifest the competitive performance of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a tensor multi-task model for person re-identification (Re-ID). Due to discrepancy among cameras, our approach regards Re-ID from multiple cameras as different but related classification tasks, each task corresponding to a specific camera. In each task, we distinguish the person identity as a one-vs-all linear classification problem, where one classifier is associated with a specific person. By constructing all classifiers into a task-specific projection matrix, the proposed method could utilize all the matrices to form a tensor structure, and jointly train all the tasks in a uniform tensor space. In this space, by assuming the features of the same person under different cameras are generated from a latent subspace, and different identities under the same perspective share similar patterns, the high-order correlations, not only across different tasks but also within a certain task, can be captured by utilizing a new type of low-rank tensor constraint. Therefore, the learned classifiers transform the original feature vector into the latent space, where feature distributions across cameras can be well-aligned. Moreover, this model can be incorporated into multiple visual features to boost the performance, and easily extended to the unsupervised setting. Extensive experiments and comparisons with recent Re-ID methods manifest the competitive performance of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel triazine-based covalent organic polycalix[4]arenes, CalCOPs, were synthesized via the copolymerization of calix[4]arene derivatives and 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (TCT) or 2,4-dichloro-1,3,5-triazine (DCT). The resulting CalCOPs have permanent pores that can be regulated by the variation of the alkyl chain lengths of the calixarene backbones and the reaction sites. With the alkyl chain length at the low rim in calixarene units increasing from ethyl to butyl during the reaction, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas decrease with surface areas of 280, 31.5, 18.4 and 1.6 m2 g−1 obtained for CalCOP1, CalCOP2, CalCOP3 and CalCOP4, respectively. Among these CalCOPs, CalCOP1 shows ultrahigh absorption for iodine capture in a water solution with an uptake of up to 232 wt%. Furthermore, the adsorption and release efficiency of iodine were obtained by using the UV–Vis spectroscopy. In addition, these polymers can be recycled at least five times while maintaining high removal capacity, suggesting that CalCOPs are ideal absorbent materials for reversible iodine capture in the mitigation of environmental issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common respiratory syndrome accompanied with an inflammation response. Annexin A5 (AnxA5) has anti‐thrombotic, anti‐apoptotic, and anti‐inflammatory properties. The current study aims to explore the potential effect of AnxA5 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced inflammatory response in alveolar macrophages (AMs). Rat AMs (NR8383) were used in this study, and the cell viabilities at 4, 8, and 16 h after LPS administration with gradient concentrations were determined using cell counting kit‐8 assay. Cell apoptosis and expressions of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and protein were determined by flow cytometry, quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR), and western blot, respectively. We found that LPS suppressed the viability of AMs in a dose‐dependent manner, and it elevated the expression of AnxA5 in AMs. Inhibition of AnxA5 improved the cell viability compared with the LPS group and could reduce the apoptosis rate in comparison with LPS treatment. The knockdown of AnxA5 suppressed the expressions of tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), interleukin (IL‐1β), and IL‐6 at both protein and mRNA levels and regulated the expressions of apoptosis‐related molecules (Bax, Bcl‐2, and caspase‐3). Moreover, the knockdown of AnxA5 improved the expression levels of inhibitory κB (IκB) and nuclear factor E2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) but inhibited the expression of nuclear transcription factor κB (NF‐κB), compared with the LPS group. SN50 and ML385 were used to validate this signaling, and the inhibition of AnxA5 suppressed the LPS‐induced inflammation, indicating that AnxA5 may be a potential anti‐inflammatory target. In addition, NF‐κB/Nrf2 signaling pathway may also be involved in the LPS‐induced inflammatory response of rat alveolar macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical stimulation (ES) as an easy and effective inducing method has been widely used in induction differentiation of stem cells, e.g. osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for bone healing and bone tissue therapies. However, the micro-effect of an inhomogeneous electric field has rarely been investigated for ES in induction differentiation, and conventionally used ex situ assays may preclude accurate assessment due to variation from cell inoculation and treatments. Here, a novel electrical stimulation method with a microelectrode array chip is proposed for osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. The electric field applied onto the MSCs by the microelectrode array is designed similarly with a natural aggregation distribution of differentiated MSCs. The proposed ES method accelerates osteoblast proliferation and differentiation in the electrode array region and generates a larger amount of mineralized deposits, which are assayed via in situ alizarin red staining and morphology observation as well as immunocytochemistry. In addition, this method allows a direct in situ assessment to compare the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs with and without ES on a single chip to avoid culture environment difference. The method provides a fundamental platform for investigating induced differentiation of stem cells and allows integration with multifunctional cell assays to achieve in situ tracking for the differentiation process of stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone tissue engineering scaffolds necessities appropriate physicochemical and mechanical properties to support its renewal. Electrospun scaffolds have been used unequivocally in bone tissue restoration. The main intention of this research is to develop electrospun polyurethane (PU) scaffold decorated with metallic particles and essential oil with advanced properties to make them as a putative candidate. The nanocomposite scaffold exhibited appropriate wettability and suitable fiber diameter compared to the polyurethane scaffold. Interaction of the added constituents with the polyurethane was corroborated through hydrogen bonding formation. Tensile strength of the composites was enhanced compared to the polyurethane scaffold. Thermal analysis depicted the lower weight loss of the composite scaffold than the pristine PU. Blood coagulation was significantly delayed and also the composite surface rendered safe interaction with red blood cells. In vitro toxicity testing using fibroblast cells portrayed the nontoxic behavior of the fabricated material. The above-said advanced properties of the composite scaffold can be warranted for bone tissue engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Two new alkaline earth metal fluorooxoborates, CaB4O6F2 and SrB4O6F2, have been synthesized and characterized. The title compounds are isostructural and crystallize in centrosymmetric space group P 1 ‾ (No. 2). Structurally, the fundamental building blocks, B4O8F2 groups, are connected by B−O bonds to form [B4O6F2]∞ layers, which stack parallelly along the c axis. In addition, BaB4O6F2, a known fluorooxoborate with different crystal structure, was also synthesized and characterized for comparison. The cation size influence on the structure of this MB4O6F2 (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) family is discussed in detail. The diffuse‐reflectance spectroscopy measurements indicate that the cutoff edges of title compounds are below 190 nm. Moreover, first‐principle calculation results demonstrate that MB4O6F2 (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) have large birefringence of 0.091, 0.089, and 0.085 at 1064 nm. Both experimental and theoretical studies suggest that MB4O6F2 (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) are promising birefringent materials for deep‐UV applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The search of new borates with improved functional properties has attracted considerable attention. Herein, a new polar fluorooxoborate, NaB4O6F (NBF) was prepared by high‐temperature solid‐state reaction. NBF belongs to the AB4O6F family (A=alkali metal or ammonium), a series of compounds that undergoes significant cation‐dependent structural changes. NBF is of particular interest owing to the special cation position. Temperature‐dependent ionic conductivity measurements show that NBF is a solid ionic conductor, and it has the lowest active energy of 32.5 kJ mol−1 of fluorooxoborates. NBF also shows a second‐harmonic generation (SHG) response of 0.9×KH2PO4 and 0.2×β‐BaB2O4, at 1064 and 532 nm, respectively, and it has a short UV cutoff edge below 180 nm. Based on bond valence (BV) concepts, symmetry analysis, and the first principles calculation, the unique [B4O6F]∞ layer can be regarded as the “multifunctional unit”, which is responsible for the observed properties of NBF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search of new borates with improved functional properties has attracted considerable attention. Herein, a new polar fluorooxoborate, NaB4O6F (NBF) was prepared by high-temperature solid-state reaction. NBF belongs to the AB4O6F family (A=alkali metal or ammonium), a series of compounds that undergoes significant cation-dependent structural changes. NBF is of particular interest owing to the special cation position. Temperature-dependent ionic conductivity measurements show that NBF is a solid ionic conductor, and it has the lowest active energy of 32.5 kJmol@1 of fluorooxoborates. NBF also shows a second-harmonic generation (SHG) response of 0.9 XKH2PO4 and 0.2 X β-BaB2O4, at 1064 and 532 nm, respectively, and it has a short UV cutoff edge below 180 nm. Based on bond valence (BV) concepts, symmetry analysis, and the first principles calculation, the unique [B4O6F]∞ layer can be regarded as the "multifunctional unit", which is responsible for the observed properties of NBF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PbVOF crystal was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The crystal structure consists of tetranuclear [PbOF] and twinborn VOF units, which share the O and F atoms forming a three-dimensional framework. The birefringence of the compound was investigated using the first principles. The calculations results show that the compound has a large birefringence of 0.336 at 1064 nm. Researches indicate that its large birefringence originates mainly from the distorted VOF groups based on the real-space atom-cutting method and structure-property relationships analysis. Furthermore, the IR spectrum, thermal behaviors, and UV-Vis-IR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of the compound are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apatite-type crystal Pb 10 V 6 O 25 has been grown from high temperature solution by spontaneous crystallization. It crystallizes in the hexagonal space group P 6 3 / m with lattice parameters a = 10.1045(6) Å, c = 7.3503(6) Å and Z = 1. The structure of Pb 10 V 6 O 25 is composed of Pb(1)O 9 polyhedra and VO 4 tetrahedra, which form infinite Pb(1)V 6 O 24 three-dimension (3D) framework with hexagonal star tunnels along the c axis, where Pb(2) 3 O(4) groups are filled. The band gap for Pb 10 V 6 O 25 is calculated to be 2.86 eV, from the UV–Vis–NIR diffuse reflectance spectrum. First-principles calculations are performed to elucidate the electronic structure and optical properties. Thermal behavior and vibration spectroscopy of Pb 10 V 6 O 25 are also reported in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suberization of surface cells is important for potato tubers for water and mineral metabolisms, and disease resistance during growth and development. Observation of structural changes of suberized cell layers can provide the most constructive logical evidence for related research. A quick and effective method to observe suberized cell layer in potato tuber skin is reported in this paper. This improved method removed the common fixation steps and reduced staining time to only 5–10 min. The process to analyze a tuber sample takes less than 30 min. Various types of potato tubers, including mature and immature tubers, PCS (potato common scab) pathogen infected tuber and microtubers were used in this study. Qualified observations were obtained and are presented. The method provides an alternative for research related to tuber skin studies, such as potato tuber disease development, maturation, and storage quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies suggest an association between dietary fiber intake and risk of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer. However, the results are inconsistent.Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis of observational studies to assess this association.Design: All eligible studies were identified by electronic searches in PubMed and Embase through February 2015. Dose-response, subgroup, sensitivity, and publication bias analyses were performed.Results: A total of 15 studies involving 16,885 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled odds ratio for the highest compared with the lowest dietary fiber intake was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.43-0.64). Stratified analyses for tumor subtype, study design, geographic location, fiber type, publication year, total sample size, and quality score yielded consistent results. Dose-response analysis indicated that a 10-g/d increment in dietary fiber intake was associated with a 31% reduction in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer risk. Sensitivity analysis restricted to studies with control for conventional risk factors produced similar results, and omission of any single study had little effect on the overall risk estimate.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that dietary fiber intake is inversely associated with risk of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer. Further large prospective studies are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2009, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified two variants (rs12425791 and rs11833579) nearNINJ2gene that confer susceptibility to stroke in Caucasian populations. Recently, a number of studies have been conducted to replicate this finding in Asian populations. However, the results are conflicting. Thus, we performed a quantitative analysis to summarize the evidence regarding the association between these two polymorphisms and ischemic stroke risk.Methods: Pertinent studies were identified by searching PubMed and Embase through September 2014. Studies that reported odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between these two polymorphisms and stroke risk were included.Results: Eight independent publications, with 8626 cases and 8046 controls for rs12425791 and 9142 cases and 8657 controls for rs11833579, were included. Overall, significantly increased ischemic stroke risk was associated with rs12425791 A allele when all studies were pooled into the meta-analysis (AA/GA vs. GG: OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01–1.14). However, rs11833579 was not associated with increased stroke risk in any genetic model.Conclusions: These findings indicate that rs12425791 G>A polymorphism may be a low-penetrance susceptibility marker of stroke in Asian populations and further studies are warranted to verify this association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified two common variants (rs12425791 and rs11833579) on Chromosome 12p13 that confer risk for stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these two variants are associated with risk of large artery atherosclerotic (LAA) stroke in a Chinese population. Rs12425791 and rs11833579 were genotyped using the improved multiple ligase detection reaction in 423 patients with LAA stroke and 423 healthy controls. We found a statistically significantly increased risk of LAA stroke associated with the rs12425791AA genotype (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.15–4.51) and rs11833579 AA genotype (OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.16–3.15) compared with their GG genotype. When we evaluated these two polymorphisms together, we found that the combined genotypes with 3–4 variant alleles (rs12425791A and rs11833579A) were associated with an increased risk of LAA stroke (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.26–3.36) compared to 0–2 variants. Moreover, genotype–phenotype correlation analysis showed that rs12425791AA and rs11833579AA carriers had significantly decreased NINJ2 mRNA expression levels in the Chinese population ( P = 0.003 for rs12425791 and P = 0.005 for rs11833579). These results suggested that the rs12425791 and rs11833579 polymorphisms on Chromosome 12p13 may be associated with the risk of LAA stroke and might be used as candidate biomarkers for LAA stroke susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Allocation of health research funds among diseases has never been evaluated in China. This study aimed to examine the relationship between disease-specific funding levels of National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the main governmental resource for health research in China, and burden of disease. Methods: Funding magnitudes for 53 diseases or conditions were obtained from the website of NSFC. Measures of disease burden, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), were derived from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The relationship between NSFC funding and disease burden was analyzed with univariate linear regression. For each measure associated with funding, regression-derived estimates were used to calculate the expected funds for each disease. The actual and expected funds were then compared. We also evaluated the impacts of changes of disease burden metrics since 1990, and differences from the world averages on NSFC funding. Results: NSFC health research funding was associated with disease burden measured in mortality (R = 0.33, P = 0.02), YLLs (R = 0.39, P = 0.004), and DALYs (R = 0.40, P = 0.003). But none of the changes of mortality (R = 0.22, P = 0.12), YLLs (R = −0.04, P = 0.79) and DALYs (R = −0.003, P = 0.98) since 1990 was associated with the funding magnitudes. None of the differences of mortality (R = −0.11, P = 0.45), YLLs (R = −0.11, P = 0.43) and DALYs (R = −0.12, P = 0.38) from that of the concurrent world averages were associated with the funding magnitudes. Measured by DALY, stroke and COPD received the least funding compared to expected; while leukemia and diabetes received the most funding compared to expected. Conclusion: Although NSFC funding were roughly associated with disease burden as measured in mortality, YLLs and DALYs. Some major diseases such as stroke were underfunded; while others such as leukaemia were overfunded. Change of disease burden during the last 20 years and country-specialized disease burden were not reflected in current allocation of NSFC funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been increased interest in recognizing the dynamic and flexible changes in shipborne multi-function radar (MFR) working modes. The working modes determine the distribution of pulse descriptor words (PDWs). However, building the mapping relationship from PDWs to working modes in reconnaissance systems presents many challenges, such as the duration of the working modes not being fixed, incomplete temporal features in short PDW slices, and delayed feedback of the reconnaissance information in long PDW slices. This paper recommends an MFR working mode recognition method based on the ShakeDrop regularization dual-path attention temporal convolutional network (DP-ATCN) with prolonged temporal feature preservation. The method uses a temporal feature extraction network with the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and ShakeDrop regularization to acquire a high-dimensional space mapping of temporal features of the PDWs in a short time slice. Additionally, with prolonged PDW accumulation, an enhanced TCN is introduced to attain the temporal variation of long-term dependence. This way, secondary correction of MFR working mode recognition results is achieved with both promptness and accuracy. Experimental results and analysis confirm that, despite the presence of missing and spurious pulses, the recommended method performs effectively and consistently in shipborne MFR working mode recognition tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the key point of function for aspirin to educe anti-platelet effects, cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) gene polymorphisms have long been suspected as a potential cause for aspirin nonresponsiveness. But this hypothesis has not been confirmed by large longitudinal studies. This study prospectively evaluated the impacts of COX-1 gene polymorphisms on stroke recurrence and other vascular events in a large cohort of Chinese patients with ischemic stroke and treated with aspirin. Between December 2009 and October 2012, consecutive patients with ischemic stroke and treated with aspirin were enrolled. Polymorphisms of four alleles (rs1330344, rs10306114, rs3842788 and rs5788) in COX-1 gene were determined at baseline. The primary endpoint was a composite of nonfatal ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and death from cardiovascular causes. Impacts of COX-1 gene polymorphisms on vascular outcomes were evaluated with multivariate analysis. A total of 859 patients were included in data analysis. The minor allele frequencies of rs1330344, rs10306114, rs3842788 and rs5788 were 38.53%, 0.12%, 6.64% and 5.53%, respectively. During 14.64 ± 7.44 months of follow-up, primary endpoint was observed in 67 (7.80%) patients. Incidence of primary endpoint was higher in patients with CC genotype of rs1330344 than in patients with CT or TT genotype (HR = 1.916, 95% CI: 1.126–3.260, P = 0.016). After being adjusted for potential confounding factors, rs1330344 CC genotype was still independently associated with incidence of primary endpoint (HR = 1.958, 95% CI: 1.151–3.332, P = 0.013). The impacts of other three tested polymorphisms on primary endpoint were unremarkable. In conclusion, in Chinese patients with ischemic stroke and treated with aspirin, CC genotype of rs1330344 may increase the risk of subsequent vascular events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polymorphisms of PDGFRB, MMP-3, TIMP-2, RNF213, TGFB1, Raptor and eNOS genes have been associated with Moyamoya disease (MMD) separately in studies, but their interactions on MMD have never been evaluated in one study. This study enrolled 96 MMD patients and 96 controls to evaluate the contributions and interactions of these polymorphisms on MMD in Chinese Hans. After genotyping, five polymorphisms loci were deemed suitable for analysis, rs3828610 in PDGFRB, rs3025058 in MMP-3, rs8179090 in TIMP-2, rs112735431 and rs148731719 in RNF213. Interactions of different loci on MMD were evaluated by multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method. Significantly higher frequencies of A allele and G/A genotype of rs112735431 in RNF213 were observed in MMD patients compared with controls (P=0.011; P=0.018, respectively). In the dominant model, G/A genotype of rs112735431 was associated with increased risk of MMD (P=0.018). A higher frequency of G allele and G/G genotype of rs148731719 in RNF213 gene in patient than control group (P<0.001; P<0.01, respectively) was also detected. No significant association between MMD and other three loci (P>0.05) was detected. MDR analysis failed to detect any significant interaction among these five loci in the occurrence of MMD (P>0.05), but the combination of three loci (rs112735431 in RNF213, rs3828610 in PDGFRB, rs3025058 in MMP-3) could have the maximum testing accuracy (57.29%) and cross-validation consistency (10/10). The results indicated that RNF213 rs112735431 and rs148731719 may exert a significant influence on MMD occurrence. Compared with this overwhelming effect, the influences of PDGFRB, MMP-3, and TIMP-2 on MMD may be unremarkable in Chinese Hans. There may be no prominent interaction among these five gene polymorphisms on the occurrence of MMD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two novel energetic compounds, 3,4-bis(1′,2′,4′-triazole-3′-yl)furoxan (BTAF) and 3,4-bis(1′-nitro-1′,2′,4′-triazole-3′-yl)furoxan (BNTAF), were prepared and their structures were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS techniques and elemental analysis. The properties of BTAF and BNTAF were estimated. The predicted performance data of BTAF are as follows: density (measured) is 1.75 g/cm3, nitrogen content 50.9%, detonation velocity 7277 m/s, detonation pressure 20.1 GPa and enthalpy of formation +419.7 kJ/mol. The predicted performance data of BNTAF are as follows: density is 1.84 g/cm3, nitrogen content 45.2%, enthalpy of formation +841.5 kJ/mol, detonation velocity 8490 m/s and detonation pressure 32.4 GPa. The main themal properties of BTAF and BNTAF were analyzed by DSC and TG techniques, the results show that BTAF melts with concomitant decomposition at 188.8°C, the melting point of BNTAF is at 99.2°C and its first decomposition temperature is 139.2°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: P53 is a tumor suppressor gene and plays important role in the etiology of breast cancer. Intron 3 sixteen-bp duplication polymorphism of p53 has been reported to be associated with breast cancer risk. However, the reported results remain conflicting rather than conclusive. Methods: A meta-analysis including 19 case-control studies was performed to address this issue. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were adopted to evaluate the association. Results: The overall results suggested that the variant genotypes were associated with a significantly increased breast cancer risk (Del/Ins vs Del/Del: OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00–1.40; Ins/Ins vs Del/Del: OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.09–1.84; Ins/Ins+Del/Ins vs Del/Del: OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.03–1.41). When stratifying by sample size of studies, a significantly elevated risk was also observed among large sample studies (>500 subjects) but not among small sample studies (≤500 subjects). Conclusion: These results suggested that the 16-bp duplication polymorphism of p53 may contribute to susceptibility to breast cancer. Additional well-designed large studies were required to validate this association in different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Color-tunable emissions and LPL are successfully achieved in (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O. • (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O exhibit LPL with a duration of up to 15000 s at RT. • LPL luminescence center originates from triplet exciton recombination. • Defect traps play an important role in the processes of LPL. • The good stability and application of (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O are demonstrated. As result of spin-forbidden transition for triplet exciton, the afterglow lifetime of OIHPs was limited to a few seconds. Herein, color-tunable emissions and LPL at room temperature are successfully achieved in (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O OIHP. The prepared (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O exhibit three distinct emissions peaks at 400 nm, 450 nm, and 480 nm, which are revealed from the dynamic transformation from the keto form to the enol from through the ESIPT process. Notably, the (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O singe crystals perform green LPL with a long duration of 15000 s at room temperature. In-depth theoretical calculations and experimental studies suggest that intrinsic defects of (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O introduce trap states that store the charge carrier and release them to the triplet state of organic components of (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O to achieve LPL. This work offers a valuable method for increasing LPL duration for its triplet exciton in OIHPs by introducing intrinsic defective. Finally, the good stability and optical information encryption application of (C 4 H 6 N 3 O) 2 InCl 5 ·H 2 O are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dielectrophoresis model reduction method to characterize single-cell properties. • Cellular parameters are calculated by a direct solution from cell moving rates. • Measurement accuracy and efficiency are greatly improved by the method. • A microelectrode array chip facilitates high-throughput applications. • Cancer, normal, adherent and suspension cells are measured and analyzed statistically. Characterization of single-cell biophysical properties and cell type classification are significant to study cytopathology, cell sorting, drug screening, etc. Existing methods usually suffer from unsatisfied measurement accuracy and low efficiency. We propose a new dielectrophoresis (DEP) model reduction method to characterize biophysical properties and classify cell types of single cells in situ by directly solving a reduced DEP model from DEP-based cell moving velocities. Cell radius, specific membrane capacitance and cytoplasm conductivity of single cells are directly calculated by using a solution method rather than traditional nonlinear DEP spectrum fitting. The frequencies of DEP signals used for determining the cellular parameters are optimized to achieve minimum errors. By this way, the measurement accuracy and efficiency are greatly improved. Using a homemade electrode-array chip allows simultaneous measurements on multiple single-cells and facilitates high-throughput analyses. We perform experimental measurements on four typical cell lines, including adherent cells (HeLa and MCF-7) and suspension cells (Jurkat and GM12878), cancer cells (HeLa, MCF-7 and Jurkat) and normal cells (GM12878), and demonstrate statistically significant differences in their biophysical properties, which can be used to classify cell types. The proposed model reduction method provides an accurate and efficient approach for characterizing single-cell biophysical properties and classifying cell types, while with real-time, in-situ , label-free, and less invasive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastitis in dairy cows is mainly caused by bacteria, in which Staphylococcus aureus appears frequently. Epithelial cells, as a major physical barrier of mammary gland, play an important role in preventing mastitis in dairy cows. Our previous study reported that Rab11fip4 (an effector of Rab11) was significantly changed in response to stimulation by S. aureus. So, in this study, the role of Rab11A in phagocytosis of bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T) against S. aureus was evaluated. First, changes of Rab11A and Rab11fip4 were analyzed in response to S. aureus by immunofluorescence and western blotting. Subsequently, the effects of Rab11A and Rab11fip4 on proliferation of S. aureus , as well as formation and function of late endosomes (LEs) and lysosomes (LYSs) were investigated. The results showed that, after infection, Rab11A and Rab11fip4 were recruited to phagosomes containing S. aureus. Rab11A promoted bacterial clearance and rescues the destruction of LEs and LYSs by S. aureus , whereas Rab11fip4 did the opposite. These findings provide new insights into phagocytosis and control of S. aureus in host cells, thus lay the foundation to elucidate the pathogenesis of S. aureus in bovine mastitis. • Rab11A and Rab11fip4 were recruited to the phagosomes containing S. aureus. • Rab11A restored the function of late endosomes and lysosomes stimulated by S.aureus and promoted the clearance of S. aureus. • Rab11fip4 blocked phagosomal biogenesis and assisted S. aureus to survive in bovine mammary epithelial cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: Several dwarf and semi‐dwarf genes have been identified in barley. However, only a limited number have been effectively utilized in breeding programs to cultivate lodging resistant varieties. This is due to the common association of dwarf and semi‐dwarf traits with negative effects on malt quality. In this study, we employed gene editing to generate three new haplotypes of sdw1/denso candidate gene gibberellin (GA) 20‐oxidase2 (GA20ox2). These haplotypes induced a dwarfing phenotype and enhancing yield potential, and promoting seed dormancy, thereby reducing pre‐harvest sprouting. Moreover, β‐amylase activity in the grains of the mutant lines was significantly increased, which is beneficial for malt quality. The haplotype analysis revealed significant genetic divergence of this gene during barley domestication and selection. A novel allele (sdw1.ZU9), containing a 96‐bp fragment in the promoter region of HvGA20ox2, was discovered and primarily observed in East Asian and Russian barley varieties. The 96‐bp fragment was associated with lower gene expression, leading to lower plant height but higher germination rate. In conclusion, HvGA20ox2 can be potentially used to develop semi‐dwarf barley cultivars with high yield and improved malt quality. Significance Statement: Gene editing of HvGA20ox2 led to reduced plant height, improved yield potential, and pre‐harvest sprouting in barley. A novel allele sdw1.ZU9 containing a 96‐bp fragment located in the promoter region of HvGA20ox2 results in suppression of the gene expression, leading to reduced plant height and increased germination rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain adaptation in person re-identification (re-ID) has always been challenging, especially for the lack of supervision information on the target domain. Existing methods generally introduced extra supervision by adversarial learning techniques, then added all the augmented data in the training process to optimize the re-ID model. However, the direct utilization of all the generated data not only increases additional computational cost but also ignores the potential correlation between the origin and generated data. In this article, we propose a novel dual-alignment learning framework (DAL) with camera-aware image generation to efficiently and effectively tackle this issue. Specifically, we propose a camera transfer matching module to generate additional training images with different camera styles, and construct the matching pairs with each containing a origin image and one corresponding camera transferred image. To strengthen the correlation of images for each matching pair, we align the pseudo-labels via clustering algorithm to reduce the pseudo-labels distribution discrepancy between the origin and generated images. Besides, to avoid model degeneration affected by some inaccurate pseudo-labels on unlabelled data, we maximize the mutual information to align the image feature representations of matching pair. The DAL allows us to decrease the camera variance and enhance the discrimination ability of re-ID model. Extensive experiments on three large-scale benchmarks demonstrate the superiority of DAL over state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we synthesized two seminaphthorhodafluor red laser dyes SNARF-X1 and SNARF-X2 and investigated their photo-physical properties in different solvents and the laser properties in ethanol. It was found that the wavelengths of absorption and fluorescence emission spectra are not very sensitive to the solvent polarity, while the fluorescence intensities decrease with the increase in solvent polarity. SNARF-X1 and SNARF-X2 not only emit tunable red laser (590–670 nm for SNARF-X1 and 600–680 nm for SNARF-X2) but also show high laser conversion efficiency. The above two dyes also show high photo-stability under 532 nm ND:YAG laser irradiation. In this regard, the half-lives of laser efficiency for SNARF-X1 and SNARF-X2 are 7 h and 6 h, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To overcome the interfacial nature of spin‐orbit torque (SOT) in bilayers, novel bulk SOT (BSOT) is widely investigated to implement high‐density and low‐power spintronic devices. However, the underlying mechanism of efficient BSOT switching remains unclear, especially the anomalously enhanced effective spin Hall angle (θSH) with increasing ferromagnet thickness (tFM), due to lacking simple and high‐tunable material systems. Here, a series of Pt/Co multilayers with invariable thickness gradient and varying stacking numbers is designed to systematically explore BSOT origin and enable efficient switching via engineering symmetry breaking. As tFM increases, the critical current density decreases while the switching efficiency and θSH build up. Comparative experiments directly demonstrate that gradient‐induced local spin current is more efficient than that in the bilayer. Moreover, x‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results reveal that the increasing stacking number can effectively engineer the symmetry breaking at Pt/Co interface to induce strong interfacial spin‐orbit coupling. On this basis, it is concluded that the BSOT effect, as well as the anomalously enhanced switching efficiency, and θSH arises from gradient‐induced bulk and interface symmetry breaking. These findings clarify the underlying mechanism of BSOT, and broaden the scope of material engineering to improve switching efficiency and inspire more memory and computing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic domain is a promising solution for realizing the next-generation information storage, for example, racetrack memory (RM). However, domain nucleation and domain wall (DW) motion are limited by the magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) as the write and read heads. Moreover, the size of a single domain limits the further increase in storage density. In this paper, we report a cross structure for efficient magnetic domain manipulations. With the help of voltage control magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect and antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic (AFM/FM) couplings, a fast, low-power, and highly reliable nucleation can be achieved. We also miniaturize the domain size by applying a voltage on the nanowire, increasing the storage density. An optimized RM device is then proposed combining the data detection via the inverse spin Hall effect (ISHE). The proposed device facilitates the development of high-speed, low power consumption, and high-density RM applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a potential contributor for the sex differences of ischemic stroke heritability. Although mtDNA haplogroups were associated with stroke onset, their impacts on stroke outcomes remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of mtDNA haplogroups on short-term outcomes of neurological functions in patients with ischemic stroke. A total of 303 patients were included, and their clinical data and mtDNA sequences were analyzed. Based on the changes between baseline and 14-day follow-up stroke severity, our results showed that haplogroup N9 was an independent protective factor against neurological worsening in acute ischemic stroke patients. These findings supported that mtDNA variants play a role in post-stroke neurological recovery, thus providing evidences for future pharmacological intervention in mitochondrial function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimal power flow (OPF) is well-known as a significant optimization tool for the security and economic operation of power system, and OPF problem is a complex nonlinear, nondifferentiable programming problem. Thus this paper proposes a Gbest-guided cuckoo search algorithm with the feedback control strategy and constraint domination rule which is named as FCGCS algorithm for solving OPF problem and getting optimal solution. This FCGCS algorithm is guided by the global best solution for strengthening exploitation ability. Feedback control strategy is devised to dynamically regulate the control parameters according to actual and specific feedback value in the simulation process. And the constraint domination rule can efficiently handle inequality constraints on state variables, which is superior to traditional penalty function method. The performance of FCGCS algorithm is tested and validated on the IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus example systems, and simulation results are compared with different methods obtained from other literatures recently. The comparison results indicate that FCGCS algorithm can provide high-quality feasible solutions for different OPF problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Contrastive skeleton-based recognition methods tend to utilize easy positive pairs. • The defect of single-stream contrast and the lack of necessary feature transformation result in easy positives. • Cross-stream contrastive learning introduces hard positives. • Synthetic positive pairs can be generated by feature-level transformation. Self-supervised skeleton-based action recognition enjoys a rapid growth along with the development of contrastive learning. The existing methods rely on imposing invariance to augmentations of 3D skeleton within a single data stream, which merely leverages the easy positive pairs and limits the ability to explore the complicated movement patterns. In this paper, we advocate that the defect of single-stream contrast and the lack of necessary feature transformation are responsible for easy positives, and therefore propose a Cross-Stream Contrastive Learning framework for skeleton-based action Representation learning (CSCLR). Specifically, the proposed CSCLR not only utilizes intra-stream contrast pairs, but introduces inter-stream contrast pairs as hard samples to formulate a better representation learning. Besides, to further exploit the potential of positive pairs and increase the robustness of self-supervised representation learning, we propose a Positive Feature Transformation (PFT) strategy which adopts feature-level manipulation to increase the variance of positive pairs. To validate the effectiveness of our method, we conduct extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets NTU-RGB + D 60, NTU-RGB + D 120 and PKU-MMD. Experimental results show that our proposed CSCLR exceeds the state-of-the-art methods on a diverse range of evaluation protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the syntheses and applications of rhodamine dyes have been extensively researched, their photophysical properties and photostability have rarely been studied. In this study, we systematically investigated the photophysical properties and photostability of six rhodamine dyes by the spectrum measurements, photodegradation experiments and theoretical calculations. It was found that the following structural modifications can lead to the redshift of absorption and fluorescence emission spectra: increasing the alkyls of amino on xanthene; forming rigid ring between the N-linked alkyl and xanthene; and esterification of –COOH on benzene ring. The degradation experiments under 525-nm light irradiation indicated that increasing the alkyls of amino on xanthene improves the photostability, fixing the N-linked alkyls on the xanthene ring to form rigid rings significantly reduces the photostability of rhodamine dyes, and the esterification of –COOH on benzene ring can increase their photostability to some extent. The results of DFT calculations showed that the esterification of –COOH decreases the dihedral angle D1 and increases D2, the variation trends of calculated absorption and emission wavelengths are consistent with the measured results, and the rhodamine dyes with higher electrophilic index usually have higher photostability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the relationship between salt-affected soils and their adjacent river systems is critical to address the challenges posed by soil salinization on agricultural production. Among the various biophysical and land management factors linked to soil salinization, few studies have investigated the importance of the distance along the river. Based on the Hetao Irrigation District of the Yellow River Basin, we collected 5314 soil samples and analyzed 17 soil parameters to explore the relationship between salt-affected soils and their distance along the river. Soil salinization was reinforced by the distance along the river, as a trade-off between soil ion accumulation and nutrient regulation. Soil total water-soluble salt content increased by 16.4 mg kg−1 every kilometer, likely due to ions leaching from the soils upstream and partially accumulating in the soils downstream, especially for Cl-, SO 4 2-, and Na+. Greater input and less solubility of Ca2+ based soil amendments, phosphorus fertilizers, and organic materials on the less salt-affected soils upstream may explain the declines in soil Ca2+, available phosphorus, and soil organic matter with distance along the river. With every kilometer along the river, soil exchangeable sodium and cation exchange capacity increased by 8.89 × 10−4 and 1.26 × 10−2 cmol kg−1, respectively, which led to an increase in soil exchangeable sodium percentage by 9.59 × 10−5. The increase in soil exchangeable sodium along the river was mainly due to Na+ accumulation, while soil cation exchange capacity was regulated by soil organic matter and total nitrogen. Soil pH increased by 1.21 × 10−3 per kilometer along the river, associated with the decrease of soil organic matter. Future saline soil amelioration and reutilization initiatives at regional scales may be improved by accounting for the changes in soil physicochemical properties resulting from the distance along the river. [Display omitted] • Relationship between distance along the river (DAR) and soil salinization was evaluated. • 17 soil parameters were investigated based on 5314 soil samples. • Na+ was the key driving factor for soil salinization. • DAR was a fundamental parameter linked to soil salinization. • Reinforced soil salinization with DAR: a trade-off between ions and nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystal of Li(H 2 O) 4 B(OH) 4 ·2H 2 O has been synthesized via hydrothermal method and its structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The space group of Li(H 2 O) 4 B(OH) 4 ·2H 2 O is P 3 with cell parameters a = b = 6.5601(4) Å, c = 6.1748(3) Å, and Z = 1. The crystal lattice structure is composed of four B(OH) 4 tetrahedra, one Li(H 2 O) 4 tetrahedron and two isolated water molecules. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, UV-vis-IR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, powder second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements and TG/DSC analysis were performed for the title compound. It reveals that the SHG efficiencies of Li(H 2 O) 4 B(OH) 4 ·2H 2 O is about 0.8 times that of KH 2 PO 4 (KDP). The direction and magnitude of the dipole moments in BO 4 and LiO 4 units of Li(H 2 O) 4 B(OH) 4 ·2H 2 O have been quantified using the bond-valence approach, which shows that the SHG response originates from the cooperation of BO 4 and LiO 4 units along c axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]