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With the development of clinical informatization technology, a large amount of data resources has been accumulated in the medical field, among which Athletes’ electronic medical records (EMRs) are one of the important data sources of clinical informatization and contain rich medical knowledge, how to obtain valuable biometric features from these data has become the basis of medical intelligence research. Therefore, this paper takes structured text as the entry point, and firstly, the research status of information extraction is elaborated. Moreover, in the work of e-medical biometrics recognition, medical text is added to the language model BERT for pre-training and fine-tuning, and a multi-head self-attention mechanism is introduced to incorporate a bidirectional LSTM model for feature extraction, and biometric features are extracted by using a stochastic conditional field as a classification constraint. This design bypasses the character-level image segmentation step for text line images, thus avoiding the overall accuracy degradation caused by the backward accumulation of errors in character segmentation. Finally, the experimental results show that the model can effectively accomplish the related biological feature extraction tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] As a typical structure of carbonate rocks, the formation of stylolites is of great significance for the enrichment of organic matter and fluid migration within the carbonate rock itself. However, there is currently no in-depth research on the source of organic matter and the mechanism of fluid transport in stylolites. [Methods] This study collected carbonate core samples containing stylolites from the Dachigan structural belt in the eastern Sichuan Basin. The stylolites and matrix were respectively subjected to organic carbon and pyrolysis (Rock-Eval), common thin section observation, thin section observation under fluorescent light, whole rock X-ray diffraction, carbon and oxygen isotopes and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and other testing items. [Results and Conclusions] The organic matter occurred in the stylolites is mainly in the form of three types including soluble organic matter, pyrobitumen, and bitumen, indicating that the organic matter in the stylolites is mainly the secondary migrated organic matter. Secondary dolomite and pyrite are well developed in the stylolites that the intercrystalline pore spaces and fractures are retained, thereby to provide good conditions for the accumulation and migration of oil and gas. The strong cementation on the contact between the stylolites and matrix and the formation of secondary minerals nearby may be the results of fractionation when the hydrocarbon fluid migrates from the matrix to stylolites. Through analysis, it is believed that the strong cementation at the contact interface between the suture and the matrix, as well as the formation of nearby secondary minerals, are the reasons for the fractionation effect of hydrocarbon fluids when migrating from the matrix to the suture. Through this study, it was found that during the development of sutures, the organic matter in the sutures will crack and form natural gas during the high evolution stage. When mixed with natural gas of other origins, it will affect the identification of natural gas sources ; When the suture line serves as a migration channel for crude oil, the fractionation effect on crude oil can also cause certain difficulties in identifying the source of crude oil. Therefore, appropriate biomarker comparison parameters should be selected to analyze the oil source relationship, and the spatial variation pattern of crude oil properties should also be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The clinical outcomes of patients who received a cervical collar after anterior cervical decompression and fusion were evaluated by comparison with those of patients who did not receive a cervical collar. Methods: All of the comparative studies published in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases as of 1 October 2023 were included. All outcomes were analysed using Review Manager 5.4. Results: Four studies with a total of 406 patients were included, and three of the studies were randomized controlled trials. Meta-analysis of the short-form 36 results revealed that wearing a cervical collar after anterior cervical decompression and fusion was more beneficial (P < 0.05). However, it is important to note that when considering the Neck Disability Index at the final follow-up visit, not wearing a cervical collar was found to be more advantageous. There were no statistically significant differences in postoperative cervical range of motion, fusion rate, or neck disability index at 6 weeks postoperatively (all P > 0.05) between the cervical collar group and the no cervical collar group. Conclusions: This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed no significant differences in the 6-week postoperative cervical range of motion, fusion rate, or neck disability index between the cervical collar group and the no cervical collar group. However, compared to patients who did not wear a cervical collar, patients who did wear a cervical collar had better scores on the short form 36. Interestingly, at the final follow-up visit, the neck disability index scores were better in the no cervical collar group than in the cervical collar group. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023466583. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing demand for scratch-resistant flexible electronics, the development of transparent coatings with good scratch resistance and self-healing properties has emerged as a key research topic. In this study, a high-strength self-healing poly(urethane – urea) (PUU)-based nanocomposite coating was prepared by introducing functionalized nanodiamond (ND) into a PUU matrix via solution blending. The PUU matrix had hard-segment repeating units and was constructed using isophorone diamine and isophorone isocyanate. The ND particles were modified using a silane coupling agent, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, to obtain well-dispersed KH-ND nanoparticles. KH-ND promoted microphase separation in the PU matrix, inducing the formation of dense and homogeneous hard domains that dissipated stress, prevented further crack development, and improved the mechanical properties and scratch resistance of the coating. In addition, the coating exhibited excellent self-healing properties. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the self-healing and hardening mechanisms of the coating. The environmentally friendly PUU/KH-ND coating is easy to prepare and has broad application prospects in transparent and anti-scratch coatings for flexible electronics, automobiles, and home appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wakes produced by underwater vehicles, particularly submarines, in density-stratified fluids play a pivotal role across military, academic, and engineering domains. In comparison to homogeneous fluid environments, wakes in stratified flows exhibit distinctive phenomena, including upstream blocking, pancake eddies, internal waves, and variations in hydrodynamic performance. These phenomena are crucial for optimizing the operation of underwater vehicles. This review critically assesses the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic aspects of these wakes through an integration of theoretical, experimental, and numerical approaches. The hydrodynamic wake evolution, comprising near-wake, non-equilibrium, and quasi-two-dimensional regimes, is scrutinized. The underlying physics, encompassing energy transformation, vertical motion suppression, and momentum dissipation, are analyzed in detail. Special emphasis is placed on numerical methods, encompassing diverse approaches and turbulence models and highlighting their differences in fidelity and computational cost. Numerical simulations not only provide insights into the intricate interplay among various factors but also emerge as a crucial focal point for future research directions. In the realm of thermodynamic wakes, we delve into the thermal wake induced by the discharge of high-temperature cooling water and the cold wake resulting from the stirring of seawater. The generation, evolution, and ascent to the free surface of these wakes are explored. Additionally, this review identifies and analyzes current research shortcomings in each aspect. By systematically addressing existing knowledge gaps, our study contributes novel insights that propel academic progress and bear significant implications for submarine engineering. This work not only enhances our understanding of the intricate dynamics involved but also provides a foundation for future research endeavors in this critical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of brain diseases has increased yearly, threatening human life and health seriously. The Electroencephalogram (EEG) has been playing an important role in clinical practice for diagnosing brain diseases. However, due to the interference of noise and the limitations of manual observation, experts need to spend a lot of time and energy on EEG interpretation, and also is affected by subjective factors, which is prone to misjudgment. Therefore, the establishment of EEG-assisted diagnosis system is of great significance for the clinical diagnosis of brain diseases. With the application of artificial intelligence in EEG auxiliary system, researchers have proposed a series of EEG automatic analysis and anomaly detection algorithms based on deep learning. However, the existing algorithms still have some shortcomings such as inadequate extraction of potential spatio-temporal features in EEG signals. In this paper, the method based on GATs-LSTM is proposed. The comparative analysis of the final experiment shows that, It has demonstrated superior performance on the benchmark dataset with sensitive and specificity as 99.21%, 99.73% and 94.15%, 95.67%. The proposed work shows great results on the benchmark datasets and a big potential for clinics as a support system with medical experts monitoring the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although radiation workers are exposed to much lower doses of neutron-γ rays than those suffered in nuclear explosions and accidents, it does not mean that their health is not affected by radiation. Lower doses of radiation do not always cause morphological aberrations in chromosomes, so more sophisticated tests must be sought to specific alterations in the exposed cells. Our goal was to characterize the specific gene expression in lymphocytes from logging workers who were continuously exposed to low doses of neutron-γ radiation. We hypothesized that the combination of cell type-specific transcriptomes and open chromatin profiles would identify lymphocyte-specific gene alterations induced by long-term radiation with low-dose neutron^-rays and discover new regulatory pathways and transcriptional regulatory elements. Methods: Lymphocytes were extracted from workers who have been occupationally exposed to neutron-γ and workers unexposed to radiation in the same company. mRNA-seq and ATAC-seq (Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin with high-throughput sequencing) were performed, followed integrative analysis to identify specific gene regulatory regions induced by neutron-γ radiation. A qPCR assay was then performed to verify the downregulation of RNA coding for ribosomal proteins and flow cytometry was used to detect ribosomal protein expression and cell cycle alterations. Results: We identified transcripts that were specifically induced by neutron-γ radiation and discovered differential open chromatin regions that correlated with these gene activation patterns. Notably, we observed a downward trend in the expression of both differentially expressed genes and open chromatin peaks. Our most significant finding was that the differential peak upregulated in ATAC-seq, while the differential gene was downregulated in the ribosome pathway. We confirmed that neutron-γ radiation leads to transcriptional inhibition by analyzing the most enriched promoters, examining RPS18 and RPS27A expression by qPCR, and analyzing protein-protein interactions of the differential genes. Ribosomal protein expression and cell cycle were also affected by neutron-γ as detected by flow cytometry. Conclusion: We have comprehensively analyzed the genetic landscape of human lymphocytes based on chromatin accessibility and transcript levels, enabling the identification of novel neutron-γ induced signature genes not previously known. By comparing fine-mapping of open chromatin and RNA reads, we have determined that neutron-γ specifically leads to downregulation of genes in the ribosome pathway, with pseudogenes potentially playing a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Adventitious root formation is a significant limiting factor in the vegetative propagation of economically important plants. Owing to the low germination rates and survival of conventional seed propagation, vegetative propagation remains the best option for large-scale production. Generally, there is a lack of competency for elite plant species cuttings or explants to form adventitious roots. The molecular-level studies of the adventitious root formation have not been explored in many species, such as ramie. As the WUSCEL-related homeobox gene family plays a critical role in promoting vegetative organs and stem cell functioning, we investigated their potential role in adventitious root formation in ramie using genome-wide characterization, gene structure, and expression analysis. The overall result indicated their possible involvement in rooting ramie cuttings. This study thus increases our understanding of the role of these genes and lays a foundation for further studies. A WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) gene family has been implicated in promoting vegetative organs to embryonic transition and maintaining plant embryonic stem cell identity. Using genome-wide analysis, we identified 17 candidates, WOX genes in ramie (Boehmeria nivea). The genes (BnWOX) showed highly conserved homeodomain regions typical of WOX. Based on phylogenetic analysis, they were classified into three distinct groups: modern, intermediate, and ancient clades. The genes displayed 65% and 35% collinearities with their Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa ortholog, respectively, and exhibited similar motifs, suggesting similar functions. Furthermore, four segmental duplications (BnWOX10/14, BnWOX13A/13B, BnWOX9A/9B, and BnWOX6A/Maker00021031) and a tandem-duplicated pair (BnWOX5/7) among the putative ramie WOX genes were obtained, suggesting that whole-genome duplication (WGD) played a role in WOX gene expansion. Expression profiling analysis of the genes in the bud, leaf, stem, and root of the stem cuttings revealed higher expression levels of BnWOX10 and BnWOX14 in the stem and root and lower in the leaf consistent with the qRT-PCR analysis, suggesting their direct roles in ramie root formation. Analysis of the rooting characteristics and expression in the stem cuttings of sixty-seven different ramie genetic resources showed a possible involvement of BnWOX14 in the adventitious rooting of ramie. Thus, this study provides valuable information on ramie WOX genes and lays the foundation for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature processable p-type transparent conductors are essential for flexible transparent electronics. Current research focuses primarily on wide-band gap copper-based oxides for p-type transparent conductors. However, these oxides generally exhibit inferior performance compared to their n-type counterparts, and their high preparation temperature is unfavorable for flexible electronic applications. CuI serves as a p-type transparent conductor with the ability to be prepared at low temperatures while possessing properties comparable to n-type transparent conductors. The conventional method for CuI film fabrication involves iodination of Cu films. Nevertheless, films produced through this approach exhibit a frosted-glass-like appearance and challenging-to-regulate electrical properties, rendering them unsuitable for electronic devices. In this study, we successfully developed composite films of CuI–Cu2O, demonstrating improved surface morphology and electronic properties at room temperature. The inclusion of Cu2O suppresses the migration of CuI grain boundaries during the iodination process, leading to a reduction in CuI grain size and the formation of a polycrystalline structure with a smoother surface. The increased concentration of grain boundaries within the films, along with charge redistribution between Cu2O and CuI, results in a decrease in hole concentration. As the Cu2O content increases, the relative concentration of I vacancies in the films decreases, leading to an enhancement in hole mobility. The film conductivity initially rises and subsequently decreases with higher Cu2O content. For CuI–Cu2O films with optimized Cu2O composition, visible region transparency ranges from 70% to 80%, hole concentration measures 6.16 × 1018 cm−3, hole mobility reaches 25.40 cm2 V−1 s−1, and conductivity amounts to 18.57 S cm−1. Furthermore, after a period of six months, the electrical properties of CuI–Cu2O films exhibit greater stability compared to pure CuI films. These findings are expected to expedite the widespread application of CuI films within transparent electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C), a key regulator of the ABA signaling pathway, plays important roles in plant growth and development, hormone signaling, and abiotic stress response. Although the PP2C gene family has been identified in many species, systematic analysis was still relatively lacking in ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.). In the present study, we identified 63 BnPP2C genes from the ramie genome, using bioinformatics analysis, and classified them into 12 subfamilies, and this classification was consistently supported by their gene structures and conserved motifs. In addition, we observed that the functional differentiation of the BnPP2C family of genes was restricted and that fragment replication played a major role in the amplification of the BnPP2C gene family. The promoter cis-regulatory elements of BnPP2C genes were mainly involved in light response regulation, phytohormone synthesis, transport and signaling, environmental stress response and plant growth and development regulation. We identified BnPP2C genes with tissue specificity, using ramie transcriptome data from different tissues, in rhizome leaves and bast fibers. The qRT-PCR results showed that the BnPP2C1, BnPP2C26 and BnPP2C27 genes had a strong response to drought, high salt and ABA, and there were a large number of stress-responsive elements in the promoter region of BnPP2C1 and BnPP2C26. The results suggested that BnPP2C1 and BnPP2C26 could be used as the candidate genes for drought and salt tolerance in ramie. These results provide a reference for further studies on the function of the PP2C gene and advance the development of the mechanism of ramie stress response, with a view to providing candidate genes for the molecular breeding of ramie for drought and salt tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbonate rocks exhibit significant heterogeneity as both a source rock and reservoir. Stylolite formation plays a crucial role in the enrichment of organic matter and the migration of geofluids within carbonate rocks. In order to study the enrichment mechanism of organic matter and the geofluid migration mode in the stylolites developed in carbonate rocks, stylolite-bearing core samples from the Dachigan structural belt in the eastern Sichuan Basin were collected. The stylolites and matrix were subjected to the total organic carbon (TOC) test and Rock-Eval pyrolysis, thin-section observation under fluorescent light, whole-rock X-ray diffraction, carbon and oxygen isotope analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The organic matter occurring in the stylolites is mainly in the form of three types: soluble organic matter, pyrobitumen, and bitumen. This suggests that the organic matter within the stylolites mainly consists of secondary migrated organic matter. The stylolites also exhibit well-developed secondary dolomite and pyrite resulting from late-diagenetic recrystallization. These minerals contribute to the preservation of intercrystalline pore spaces and fractures, providing favorable conditions for oil and gas accumulation and migration. The strong cementation observed at the contact between the stylolites and matrix, along with the presence of secondary minerals nearby, may be attributed to the fractionation of light and heavy oil components during the migration of hydrocarbon fluids from the matrix to the stylolites. The thicknesses of the stylolites vary within the bulk, indicating severe diagenesis in thinner areas. Consequently, this leads to significant fractionation effects. The fractionation of crude oil components by stylolites poses challenges for the study of definitive oil–source correlations. To overcome these challenges, future research could investigate biomarker compounds to attempt oil–source correlations. Additionally, future efforts should take into consideration the spatial variation in the crude oil properties. Understanding the role of stylolites in organic matter enrichment and geofluid migration is crucial for optimizing exploration strategies in the Sichuan Basin, a region of growing importance in the energy industry. Moreover, our findings shed light on the complex interactions within stylolite-bearing rocks, which are not limited to this specific basin. These insights offer valuable contributions to the broader field of geology and reservoir characterization, enhancing our ability to predict and interpret similar geological formations globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logs contain runtime information for both systems and users. As many of them use natural language, a typical log-based analysis needs to parse logs into the structured format first. Existing parsing approaches often take two steps. The first step is to find similar words (tokens) or sentences. Second, parsers extract log templates by replacing different tokens with variable placeholders. However, we observe that most parsers concentrate on precisely grouping similar tokens or logs. But they do not have a well-designed template extraction process, which leads to inconsistent accuracy on particular datasets. The root cause is the ambiguous definition of variable placeholders and similar templates. The consequences include abuse of variable placeholders, incorrectly divided templates, and an excessive number of templates over time. In this paper, we propose our online log parsing approach Cognition. It redefines variable placeholders via a strict lower bound to avoid ambiguity first. Then, it applies our template correction technique to merge and absorb similar templates. It eliminates the interference of commonly used parameters and thus isolates template quantity. Evaluation through 16 public datasets shows that Cognition has better accuracy and consistency than the state-of-the-art approaches. It also saves up to 52.1% of time cost on average than the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remediation of cadmium (Cd) pollution is one of the priorities of global environmental governance and accurate detection of Cd content is a key link in remediation of Cd pollution. This study aimed to compare three methods (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS)) for the determination of Cd with different tissues of various ramie varieties, and distinguish the advantage and disadvantage of each method. In total, 162 samples of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.), which is an ideal plant for heavy metal remediation, were detected and the results showed that the three methods were all suitable for the de-termination of Cd content in ramie. ICP-OES and ICP-MS were simpler, faster, and more sensitive than GF-AAS. ICP-MS could be recommended for the determination of samples with various concentrations of Cd. ICP-OES could be used for measurement of samples with > 100 mg/kg Cd content, while GF-AAS was suitable for the detection of samples with very high (> 550 mg/kg) or very low (< 10 mg/kg) Cd content. Overall, considering the accuracy, stability, and the cost of measurement, ICP-MS was the most suitable method for determination of Cd content. This study provides significant reference information for the research in the field of Cd pollution remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shales in the Carboniferous–Permian Fengcheng (FC) and Lucaogou (LCG) formations in Junggar Basin are important organic rich rocks containing significant oil resources. To evaluate the difference in sedimentary environment conditions and hydrocarbon-generating potential between the FC and LCG formations. Total organic carbon (TOC), Rock-Eval pyrolysis, solvent extraction, column fractionation, stable carbon isotope, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of saturated hydrocarbons and organic petrology from the source rocks of FC and LCG formations. were analyzed. The biomarker composition indicates that during the deposition of FC, LCG-1 to LCG-2, the sedimentary environment for the source rock formations changed with gradual decrease of salinity, from anoxic to dyoxic/suboxic in redox conditions, and from strong stratification to weakened stratification of water. The FC Formation source rock, with main telalginite (planktonic green algae), archaebacteria and minor terrestrial organic matter, deposited in the environment characterized by high salinity and strongly reducing condition. Its TOC content is relatively low with a high original hydrocarbongenerating potential of unit organic material. The LCG Formation source rock deposited in the environment with low salinity and large variations, the organic matter is mainly sourced from telalginite (planktonic green algae), lamalginite, bacteria and higher plants, resulting in strong heterogeneity of the source rock. The abundance of TOC is high, but the original hydrocarbon generation potential of unit organic matter is lower than that of FC Formation. The results provide a geochemical basis for further study of saline-brackish water sedimentary environment shales in the Junggar Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the exploration of unconventional reservoirs progresses, characterizing challenging formations like tight sandstone becomes increasingly complex. Anisotropic parameters play a vital role in accurately characterizing these unconventional reservoirs. In light of this, this paper introduces an approach that uses a dual-constraint anisotropic rock physics model based on compressional and shear wave velocities. The proposed method aims to enhance the precision of anisotropic parameter calculations, thus improving the overall accuracy of reservoir characterization. The paper begins by applying a convolutional neural network (CNN) to predict shear wave velocity, effectively resolving the issue of incomplete shear wave logging data. Subsequently, an anisotropic rock physics model is developed specifically for tight sandstone. A comprehensive analysis is conducted to examine the influence of quartz, clay porosity aspect ratio, and fracture density on compressional and shear wave velocities. Trial calculations using the anisotropic model data demonstrated that the accuracy of calculating anisotropic parameters significantly improved when both compressional and transverse wave velocity constraints were taken into account, as opposed to relying solely on the compressional wave velocity constraint. Furthermore, the rationality of predicting anisotropic parameters using both the shear wave velocity predicted by the convolutional neural network and the measured compressional wave velocity was confirmed using the example of deep tight sandstone in the Junggar Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The clinical outcomes of using a tubular microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation were evaluated by comparison with conventional microdiscectomy. Methods: All of the comparative studies published in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases as of 1 May 2023 were included. All outcomes were analysed using Review Manager 5.4. Results: This meta-analysis included four randomized controlled studies with a total of 523 patients. The results showed that using tubular microdiscectomy for lumbar disc herniation was more effective than conventional microdiscectomy in improving the Oswestry Disability Index (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in operating time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, Visual Analogue Scale, reoperation rate, postoperative recurrence rate, dural tear incidence, and complications rate (all P > 0.05) between the tubular microdiscectomy and conventional microdiscectomy groups. Conclusions: Based on our meta-analysis, it was found that the tubular microdiscectomy group had better outcomes than the conventional microdiscectomy group in terms of Oswestry Disability Index. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of operating time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, Visual Analogue Scale, reoperation rate, postoperative recurrence rate, dural tear incidence, and complications rate. Current research suggests that tubular microdiscectomy can achieve clinical results similar to those of conventional microdiscectomy. PROSPERO registration number is: CRD42023407995. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to conventional reservoirs, the prediction of pressure in ultra-deep tight sandstone formations is difficult. The prediction of seismic pressure is more challenging than well-logging pressure prediction. The main methods for seismic pressure prediction include the equivalent depth method, Eaton method, Fillippone formula, and modified versions. Among them, the Eaton method is widely used and has good effectiveness. However, this method relies on difficult-to-obtain normal compaction trend lines, which leads to low prediction accuracy in space. To address this issue, a method combining the Eaton method and collocated cokriging is proposed. Herein, the Eaton formula is used to predict formation pressure at the well, with compressional wave velocity as the covariate for predicting the main variable—formation pressure. By simulating the shear wave velocity based on seismic compressional wave velocity, the influence of various parameters on the prediction results is analyzed, and the accuracy of this method is verified by comparing it with other methods. The proposed method is then applied to predict formation pressure in the ultra-deep formations of the Junggar Basin. The simulation results show that the collocated cokriging method achieves higher planar accuracy and better matches the experimental expectations in terms of prediction results. The application results also demonstrate the scientific effectiveness of the combined method, which has achieved good results in practical production applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anion doping is an efficient method for modifying the electrical property of the p‐type semiconductor CuI. However, adjustment of the hole density is still challenging. Using sputtering and spin coating techniques, well‐controlled S‐doping of CuI thin films has been realized. The spin‐coated samples present a single (111) out‐of‐plane orientation and very high crystallinity, which is comparable with previously reported epitaxial CuI thin films. The sputtered thin films have advantages in surface morphology and conductivity. Substituting S for I can achieve efficient acceptor doping of CuI for both the physical and chemical growth methods. The highest conductivity of CuI appears at 2.0 at% of S doping, and the doping efficiency is influenced by the self‐compensation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The directional optimization correction (DOC) method is proposed to reduce the performance error between desired and fabricated terahertz (THz) devices. Three 340 GHz terahertz filters with a bandwidth of 20 GHz are designed and fabricated. The traditional global optimization correction (GOC) method and the proposed DOC method are used to optimize and reduce the performance error, respectively. It is garnered that the center frequency error and bandwidth error of the fabricated terahertz filter optimized by the GOC method are reduced to 3.5 GHz (~1.03%) and 2.2 GHz (~11%), respectively. Meanwhile, the center frequency error and bandwidth error of the fabricated terahertz filter optimized by the DOC method are reduced to 0.2 GHz (~0.06%) and 0.4 GHz (~2.0%), respectively, which has fewer optimization parameters and higher accuracy than the GOC method. Furthermore, the in-band return loss (RL) of two optimized terahertz filters based on the DOC and GOC methods is less than 15 dB, and the in-band insertion loss (IL) is less than 2.3 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the incidence of prostate cancer in the male population has been increasing year by year. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) is an important means of prostate cancer diagnosis. The accurate segmentation of the prostate in TRUS images can assist doctors in needle biopsy and surgery and is also the basis for the accurate identification of prostate cancer. Due to the asymmetric shape and blurred boundary line of the prostate in TRUS images, it is difficult to obtain accurate segmentation results with existing segmentation methods. Therefore, a prostate segmentation method called DSU-Net is proposed in this paper. This proposed method replaces the basic convolution in the U-Net model with the improved convolution combining shear transformation and deformable convolution, making the network more sensitive to border features and more suitable for prostate segmentation tasks. Experiments show that DSU-Net has higher accuracy than other existing traditional segmentation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factors (TFs) are one of the most prominent plant-specific TF families and play essential roles in plant growth, development and adaptation to abiotic stress. Although the NAC gene family has been extensively characterized in many species, systematic analysis is still relatively lacking in Apocynum venetum (A. venetum). In this study, 74 AvNAC proteins were identified from the A. venetum genome and were classified into 16 subgroups. This classification was consistently supported by their gene structures, conserved motifs and subcellular localizations. Nucleotide substitution analysis (Ka/Ks) showed the AvNACs to be under the influence of strong purifying selection, and segmental duplication events were found to play the dominant roles in the AvNAC TF family expansion. Cis-elements analysis demonstrated that the light-, stress-, and phytohormone-responsive elements being dominant in the AvNAC promoters, and potential TFs including Dof, BBR-BPC, ERF and MIKC_MADS were visualized in the TF regulatory network. Among these AvNACs, AvNAC58 and AvNAC69 exhibited significant differential expression in response to drought and salt stresses. The protein interaction prediction further confirmed their potential roles in the trehalose metabolism pathway with respect to drought and salt resistance. This study provides a reference for further understanding the functional characteristics of NAC genes in the stress-response mechanism and development of A. venetum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) requires time-consuming tumor localization by physicians, while automated detection of GIST can help physicians develop timely treatment plans. Existing GIST detection methods based on fully supervised deep learning require a large amount of labeled data for the model training, but the acquisition of labeled data is often time-consuming and labor-intensive, hindering the optimization of the model. However, the semi-supervised learning method can perform better than the fully supervised learning method with only a small amount of labeled data because of the full use of unlabeled data, which effectively compensates for the lack of labeled data. Therefore, we propose a semi-supervised gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) detection method based on self-training using the new selection criterion to guarantee the quality of pseudo-labels and adding the pseudo-labeled data to the training set together with the labeled data after linear mixing. In addition, we introduce the improved Faster RCNN with the multiscale module and the feature enhancement module (FEM) for semi-supervised GIST detection. The multiscale module and the FEM can better fit the characteristics of GIST and obtain better detection results. The experiment results showed that our approach achieved the best performance on our GIST image dataset with the joint optimization of the self-training framework, the multiscale module, and the FEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the solar-thermal technology has opened up a potential green energy harvesting method, it is challenging to suppress the non-negligible energy dissipation while maintaining a high absorbance. Most disordered organic polymers are almost incapable of limiting the absorption in the desired cutoff wavelength range, which is detrimental to the design of selective absorbers. Moreover, the development of absorbers with a periodic plasmonic nanostructure is always lacking in cost-effective scalability. Herein, we report a scalable selective absorber with a quasiperiodic nanostructure composed by an economical widespread surface self-assembly of densely arranged Fe3O4 nano-particles, possessing a high-performance energy conversion for low-grade solar energy. By investigating the scale effect of the quasiperiodic densely arranged plasmonic nanostructure, a significant solar absorption >94% and ideal passive suppression of thermal emissivity <0.2 can be obtained simultaneously. With the synergy of material properties, thermal management, and environmental effect, a flexible planar solar thermoelectric harvester is demonstrated under natural sunlight (AM1.5G), reaching a significant sustaining open-circuit voltage of >20 mV/cm2, without a heat sink. This highly versatile strategy is expected to lead the exploration of energy evolution in fundamental research and pioneer next-generation, high-performance, economical, and practical solar co-harvesting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2023, a critically endangered plant species called Plantago fengdouensis was rediscovered on an island in the Yangtze River in Sichuan, China. This species is endemic to the Yangtze River Basin and was previously thought to be extinct in the wild due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. However, two previously unknown populations of the plant were found in January 2024 on two islands in the Yangtze River. Efforts are being made to protect these populations and conduct further surveys to locate any other wild populations. Seeds have been collected for ex situ conservation and genetic investigation, with the aim of potentially reintroducing the species. [Extracted from the article]

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Porous foam based on renewable materials has attracted extensive attention in green energy conservation and sustainable development. However, there is still a requisite for biomass-based porous foam that could meet the demand for excellent mechanical and high thermal insulation performances for building insulation. Herein, we demonstrated a facile strategy to prepare a porous foam made from a chitosan matrix reinforced by SiC whisker, which shows good performance in building insulation and mechanical strength. The prepared porous foam has a low density (20.1–54.4 kg m−3) and high porosity (>97.0%). The density of the chitosan-SiC porous foam can be controlled by varying the suspension solid and SiC whisker content in the preparation process. Furthermore, the influences of SiC whisker content on the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of the porous foams were also investigated. When the content of SiC whisker is 30 wt%, the prepared porous foam has the highest compression modulus of about 89.8 kPa and also low thermal conductivity of 0.0354 W m−1 K−1. Moreover, the prepared porous foam shows excellent water vapor permeability with a vapor resistance factor of 2.94, which is beneficial for moisture transfer in buildings. This work provides a facile way to manufacture biomass based porous foam, which is potential for energy saving in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, the total content from two Apocynum species leaves (Apocynum venetum and Apocynum hendersonii) collected from the Ili River Valley Region were extracted, and their bioactivities were investigated. The results showed a significant variation in the total flavonoid contents in the leaf samples collected at different periods (June, July, August, and September), with the highest content in August (60.11 ± 0.38 mg RE/g DW for A. venetum and 56.56 ± 0.24 mg RE/g DW for A. hendersonii), and the lowest in June (22.36 ± 0.05 mg RE/g DW for A. venetum and 20.79 ± 0.02 mg RE/g DW for A. hendersonii). The total flavonoid content was comparably higher in A. venetum than in A. hendersonii. Leaves extracts from the two species demonstrated strong bioactivity, which positively correlated with the total flavonoid contents. The anti-oxidative activity of A. venetum was higher than that of A. hendersonii in tandem with its higher flavonoid contents; the antibacterial activity, however, was conversely opposite. Furthermore, a total of 83 flavonoid metabolites were identified in the two species based on UPLC-ESI-MS/MS, out of which 24 metabolites were differentially accumulated. The variability in these metabolites might be the reason for the different bioactivities displayed by the two species. The present study provides insight into the optimal harvest time for Apocynum species planted in the major distribution area of the Ili River Valley and the specific utilization of A. venetum and A. hendersonii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell wall glycine‐rich proteins (GRPs) play important roles in plant growth and development, as well as in the effective prevention of plant diseases. Although members of the GRP family have been identified in several plants, a comprehensive analysis of GRPs has not been reported in Solanaceae plants. In this study, 43 GRPs were identified from Solanum tuberosum (named StGRPs), Solanum lycopersicum, Capsicum annuum and Nicotiana attenuata. The comparative study of these GRPs showed that they were conservative in physical properties, structures of genes and motifs. The expression patterns of Solanum tuberosum StGRPs under biotic and abiotic stress were analysed and presented very diverse profiles in responding to ABA, IAA, GA3, high salinity, pathogen and heat stress. Some StGRPs were preferentially and specifically expressed during the development of petioles and tubers, in which the expression of StGRPs was more sensitive to ABA confirmed by qRT‐PCR analysis. The strongly up‐regulated expression of StGRP1 induced by Ralstonia solanacearum indicated the positive role involved in the resistance against the bacterial wilt pathogen. Tissue localization analyses by Digoxin/fluorescence in situ hybridization indicated that the expression of StGRP1 was vascular‐specific and associated with cell wall thickening in vascular bundles and interfascicular fibres after R. solanacearum inoculation. These findings may provide a new insight into the roles of GRPs in adaptation to diverse stresses and in resistance to R. solanacearum in potatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although widely used in clinical practice, vertebral augmentation procedure (VAP) for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) is not supported. Recently, the effect of recombinant human parathyroid hormone (1–34) (rhPTH) has been paid great attention for its efficacy in anti‐osteoporosis and bone union. This study aims to explore the outcome of rhPTH on acute OVCF and compare it with VAP to clarify its therapeutic advantages. Methods: The retrospective study comprised 71 acute OVCF patients from January 2015 to March 2020: 22 received rhPTH treatment (rhPTH group) and 49 underwent VAP (VAP group). The rhPTH group was 15 women and seven men with an average of 76.18 years, and the VAP group were 35 women and 14 men with an average of 73.63 years. The thoracic/lumbar vertebrae were 14/8 in the rhPTH group and 29/20 in the VAP group. The average follow‐up period was 14.05 months in the rhPTH group and 13.82 months in the VAP group. The two groups were assessed regarding the visual analog score (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), OVCF bone union, bone mineral density (BMD), kyphotic angle (KA), anterior and posterior border height (ABH and PBH, respectively), adverse events and the health‐related quality of life assessed by short form‐36 health survey scores (SF‐36). Categorical variables were analyzed by chi‐square test and continuous variables between groups were analyzed by independent samples t‐test or Mann–Whitney U test according to the normality. Results: During the follow‐up, the VAS was significantly lower in the rhPTH group than in the VAP group at month 3 (0.39 ± 0.6 vs 0.68 ± 0.651) (p = 0.047), month 6 (0.45 ± 0.60 vs 2.18 ± 1.22) (p < 0.001), and month 12 (0.45 ± 0.60 vs 2.43 ± 1.49) (p < 0.001). At month 12, the ODI was significantly lower in the rhPTH group (18.59 ± 3.33%) than in the VAP group (28.93 ± 16.71%) (p < 0.001). Bone bridge was detected on sagittal computed tomography images of all fractured vertebrae in the rhPTH group. The BMD was significantly higher in the rhPTH group (87.66 ± 5.91 Hounsfield units [HU]) than in the VAP group (68.15 ± 11.32HU) (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the changes in KA, ABH, and PBH between groups (all p > 0.05). The incidence of new OVCF was significantly lower in the rhPTH group than in the VAP group (p = 0.042). All scores of SF‐36 were significantly higher in the rhPTH group than in the VAP group (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: In acute OVCF patients, rhPTH was better than VAP in increasing spinal BMD to promote OVCF healing, reduce new OVCF, and improve back pain, physical ability, and health‐related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shallow‐delta sedimentary systems receive both terrestrial and marine organic matter. As oil and gas exploration activities determine that the source rocks of the deep‐water area of the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea, are generally rich in and even dominated by terrestrial organic matter, this has led many researchers to examine the rules governing terrestrial organic matter enrichment in shallow‐delta sea sedimentary systems. However, the deep burial of source rocks in deep‐water areas and the relatively small amount of drilling undertaken have greatly restricted the study of these rules. In this study, the 'forward modeling' research method was used to observe and analyze the deposition and preservation of terrestrial organic matter through flume experiments, where the depositional results were carefully depicted and sampled. The total organic carbon content of selected samples was measured and when combined with qualitative observations and quantitative comparison results, the dominant enrichment areas of terrestrial organic matter were identified. The experimental results show that the overbank parts of the delta front, the dune countercurrent surface, the low‐lying parts, the delta front slope area and the shallow‐prodelta sea area are where terrestrial organic matter is predominantly enriched. This provides an important basis and guidance for the prediction of the development areas of marine source rocks with terrestrial input in the deep‐water areas of the Qiongdongnan Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, ultraviolet photodetectors attract extensive attention from people all over the world due to their applications in solar ultraviolet radiation detection, flame detection, ozone monitoring, missile tracking, and environmental monitoring. A heterojunction is an essential aspect for fulfilling the demand for high-performance self-powered ultraviolet photodetectors. However, it is still very challenging to achieve both good electrical property and transparency for p-type semiconductors and conductors especially at low preparation temperature. This work reports the fabrication of ultrathin, ultra-high-transparency and very smooth CuI films at room temperature by the copper film iodination method, whose figure of merit (FoM) far exceeds those of most of the typical p-type oxides. The obtained p-type CuI films (p-CuI) were fabricated on an n-type Si (n-Si) substrate to construct a heterojunction photodetector. The p-CuI/n-Si photodetector has excellent optoelectronic properties in self-powered mode, including a large responsivity and detectivity (123.3 mA W−1, 5.7 × 1012 Jones), and a fast response speed (rise/decay time of 90 μs/140 μs), which are overall better than those of all types of CuI-based self-powered photodetectors. In addition, the CuI film deposited on the flexible substrate was applied in a CuI photodetector with a metal–semiconductor–metal structure, exhibiting good optoelectronic properties and bending stability, which shows promising applications in transparent, flexible, wearable electronic and optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental faulted basins are widely distributed in eastern China. Many of these basins, in which the faults block oil and gas reservoirs, have been explored. The heterogeneity of the reservoirs in fault block is very strong, shich restricts the further efficient development of these kinds of oil and gas fields. In this study, porosity and permeability tests, the use of thin sections of rock, mercury injection experiment and CT scan were used to investigate reservoir quality characteristics and control factors. The results showed that the content of quartz, feldspar, and debris in rock had a significant control function on the quality of the reservoir. Reservoir performance improved with increase of quartz and feldspar content, and worsened with increase of debris content. Taking the Ek1 reservoir in the Wang Guantun area as the specific research object, we developed the following understanding. On the one hand, the main compaction in the study area was mechanical compaction. When the compaction rate was greater than 60%, the porosity and permeability were inversely proportional to the compaction rate. On the other hand, dissolution pores were relatively developed in the study area, and the main types of dissolution were intragranular and intergranular dissolution pores. When the surface porosity of the dissolution pore was over 9.2%, porosity increased significantly the increase of dissolution surface porosity. This showed that dissolution surface porosity had greatly improved the reservoir porosity in this range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apocynum hendersonii is a traditional medicinal plant used primarily as tea. It has a potential health benefit from its rich bioactive substances. This study investigated the reactivity of solvents of different polarities (ethanol, ethyl acetate, n-hexane, methanol, and water) extracts of the A. hendersonii leaf. The phytochemical composition of the extracts was evaluated using a Fourier Transform Infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR), Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), UHPLC-MS, and Higher Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The result revealed the presence of medicinally important bioactive constituents, including phenols, flavonoids, and polysaccharides. Methanol extracts exhibited the highest flavonoid contents (20.11 ± 0.85 mg QE/g DW) and the second-highest in terms of phenolic (9.25 ± 0.03 mg GAE/g DW) and polysaccharide (119.66 ± 2.65 mg GE/g DW). It also had the highest antioxidant capacity with 60.30 ± 0.52% and 4.60 ± 0.02 µmol Fe2+ per g DW based on a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), respectively. Ethanol extract displayed the maximum antibacterial action against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and the highest inhibition activity against the enzymes tyrosinase and acetylcholinesterase, followed by methanol extract. The principal component analysis revealed a positive correlation between the constituents, bioactivities, and extracts. The overall result showed A. hendersonii as a rich natural source of antimicrobial and antioxidant bioactive compounds and may be used for future applications in pharmaceuticals and food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compressional and shear wave velocities (Vp and Vs, respectively) are important elastic parameters to predict reservoir parameters, such as lithology and hydrocarbons. Due to acquisition technologies and economy, the shear wave velocity is generally lacking. Over the last few years, some researchers proposed deep learning algorithms to predict the shear wave velocity using conventional logging data. However, these algorithms focus either on spatial feature extraction for different physical properties of rocks or on sequential feature extraction in the depth direction of rocks. Only focusing on feature extraction in a direction of rocks might lead to a decrease in prediction accuracy. Therefore, we propose a hybrid network of a two-dimensional convolutional neural network and the gated recurrent unit (2DCNN-GRU), which can establish more complex nonlinear relationships between the input and output data based on the spatial features extracted by 2DCNN and the sequential features extracted by GRU. In this study, two cases are used to validate the reliability and prediction accuracy of the proposed network. Comparing the prediction results of 2DCNN, GRU, and the proposed network, the proposed network shows better performance. Meanwhile, for improving the prediction accuracy of the proposed network, the relationship is analyzed between the prediction accuracy of the proposed network and the length of the input sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lacustrine shale, represented by the Middle Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Jimsar Depression in the eastern Junggar Basin, has become one of the main areas of shale oil exploration in China. In this study, we used 137 samples of shale from the Lucaogou Formation, drawn from 14 wells in the Jimsar Depression, to investigate their characteristics of pyrolysis, organic carbon and soluble organic matter content, biomarkers, organic microscopic composition, and vitrinite reflectance. Basin simulation and hydrocarbon generation thermal simulation experiments were also conducted in a closed system. The results of this study indicate that the input of an algae source was dominant in the source rocks of the Lucaogou Formation, that the water in which the rocks were deposited had high salinity and strong reducibility, and that the source rocks were oil-prone. The Lucaogou source rocks generally had good hydrocarbon generation capability, but showed significant heterogeneity. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the shales in the Lucaogou Formation entered the oil-generation window as a whole. Currently, the shales of the Lucaogou Formation are generally in the high-maturity stage in the deep part of the depression, producing a large amount of high-maturity oil and condensate gas, while those in the shallow part have relatively low maturity and can only produce a large amount of conventional crude oil. The maximum crude oil generation rate of the Lucaogou Formation shale obtained from the thermal simulation results was 220.2 mg/g of the total organic carbon (TOC), and the maximum hydrocarbon expulsion efficiency was estimated to be 59.3–76.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 60 WRKY family genes of ramie were identified in the ramie. The genes were unevenly distributed across 14 chromosomes in the specie and highly concentrated (72%) in the distal telomeric region. Phylogenetic analysis placed these genes into seven distinct subfamilies groups: I, II (a, b, c, d, e), and III, with group IIc containing only the variant of heptapetide sequence (WRKYGKK). Segmental duplication events (41.7%) was found to be the main driver of BnGWRKY evolution. Thirty eight from among the genes showed collinear relationships with WRKY genes from Arabidopsis thaliana , Cannabis sativa, Oryza sativa , and Zea mays. The number and density of stress and hormone responsives cis -acting elements were comparably higher than other elements, with abundant ARE and rare LTR cis -acting elements indicating the long-standing adaptability of ramie to its natural environment. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of the WRKY target genes revealed their involvement in response to stimuli, immune system processes, transporter protein activity and antioxidant activity. Expression analysis show that most WRKYs were activated by the cadmium stress, more especially the BnGWRKY2 , BnGWRKY15 , BnGWRKY20, BnGWRKY50 and BnGWRKY58. Combining transcriptome, orthologous gene relationships and qPCR result, we established the possible involvement of BnGWRKY50 and BnGWRKY58 in crosstalk mechanism between secondary cell wall thickening and Cd2+ stress. This provided information into the role of BnGWRKY proteins in ramie secondary wall development and cadmium stress response to, and could serve as basis for improvement of the ramie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify members of potato GATA gene (StGATA) family and to provide information for further study on the regulatory role of StGATA transcription factors in potato growth and development and biotic and abiotic stresses. Based on the whole potato genome data, the members of potato GATA transcription factor family were identified and systematically analyzed by bioinformatics online analysis website and software. In total, forty-nine GATA proteins from Solanum tuberosum were identified. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these GATA proteins could be divided into 5 subfamilies. The gene structure and conserved motif analysis revealed that many genes have more than one intron. Forty-nine StGATA genes were distributed on 12 chromosomes randomly. A cis-element analysis inferred that StGATAs contain abiotic stress-related elements. A heatmap showed that many StGATAs are generally expressed in tissues at different developmental stages. A representative member StGATA9 was selected for screening its expression characteristics to identify whether it was induced by Ralstonia solanacearum, abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatment. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays indicated that StGATA9 was induced by R. solanacearum. And StGATA9 was up-regulated by different concentrations of ABA and MJ. Tissue localization showed that StGATA9 was mainly expressed in phloem of leaf vascular bundles and stem vascular system. These results provide a theoretical basis for further experimental cloning and functional verification of the gene, while provides a theoretical basis for the study of molecular mechanism of resistance to bacterial wilt in potato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The clinical outcomes of using a zero-profile for anterior cervical decompression and fusion were evaluated by comparison with anterior cervical plates. Methods: All of the comparative studies published in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, Web of Science, EBSOChost, and EMBASE databases as of 1 October 2021 were included. All outcomes were analysed using Review Manager 5.4. Results: Seven randomized controlled studies were included with a total of 528 patients, and all studies were randomized controlled studies. The meta-analysis outcomes indicated that the use of zero-profile fixation for anterior cervical decompression and fusion was better than anterior cervical plate fixation regarding the incidence of postoperative dysphagia (P < 0.05), adjacent-level ossification (P < 0.05), and operational time (P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, Visual Analogue Scale, Neck Disability Index, or Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale (all P > 0.05) between the zero-profile and anterior cervical plate groups. Conclusions: The systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that zero-profile and anterior cervical plates could result in good postoperative outcomes in anterior cervical decompression and fusion. No significant differences were found in intraoperative blood loss, Visual Analogue Scale, Neck Disability Index, or Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale. However, the zero-profile is superior to the anterior cervical plate in the following measures: incidence of postoperative dysphagia, adjacent-level ossification, and operational time. PROSPERO registration CRD42021278214. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abscisic acid (ABA) is known as an important hormone regulating plant stress resistance, such as salt, drought and heavy metal resistance. However, the relationship between ABA and cadmium (Cd) enrichment in ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) is still unclear to date. This study aimed to reveal the effect of ABA on Cd enrichment in ramie, and we received the following results: (1) Under Cd treatment, the Cd uptake of ramie increased with the increase of Cd concentration, but the chlorophyll content decreased. Under Cd treatment, the ABA content was highest in roots of ramie, followed by that in old leaves, and lowest in new leaves. Long-time treatment of high Cd concentration reduced the ability of endogenous ABA biosynthesis. (2) Spraying ABA on ramie plants (SORP) and adding ABA directly to the culture solution (ADCS) with low concentration can promote the growth of ramie and increase the amount of Cd uptake, and the effect of SORP is better. (3) The molecular reason for the decrease of chlorophyll content due to Cd stress, may be resulted from the down-regulated expression of the chlorophyll synthesis genes (BnPAO and BnNYC1) and the up-regulated expression of the chlorophyll degradation genes (BnCHLH, BnCHLG, BnHAP3A and BnPPR1). The elevated ABA content in ramie plants may due to the up-regulated expression of the ABA synthesis related genes (BnABA1, BnNCED3, and BnNCED5) and the genes (BnABCG40, BnNFXL2, BnPYL9, BnGCR2, BnGTG1, BnBGLU1, BnUTG1, BnVHAG1 and BnABI5) that encoding ABA transport and response proteins, which was consistent with the enhance the Cd uptake in ramie. Our study revealed the relationship between ABA and Cd uptake in ramie, which provided a reference for improving the enrichment of Cd in ramie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of advanced transparent electrical devices has created an urgent demand for wide‐bandgap transparent semiconductors. Herein, a simple, low‐cost ink‐based method for preparation of LaCuOS is introduced. High transmittances of above 60% and 65% at visible (380–750 nm) and mid‐infrared (3–5 μm) wavelengths, respectively, are obtained with LaCuOS films prepared using this ink. With these films, the carrier concentration is above 1018 cm−3, while a conductivity of 5 S cm−1 is obtained, electrical properties that are both higher than those of most transparent p‐type semiconductors. From density functional theory calculations, it is surmised that the improved conductivity of the LaCuOS is a result of its high carrier concentration, and its hole effective mass, which is smaller than that of typical transparent p‐type semiconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet users heavily rely on web search engines for their intended information. The major revenue of search engines is advertisements (or ads). However, the search advertising suffers from fraud. Fraudsters generate fake traffic which does not reach the intended audience, and increases the cost of the advertisers. Therefore, it is critical to detect fraud in web search. Previous studies solve this problem through fraudster detection (especially bots) by leveraging fraudsters' unique behaviors. However, they may fail to detect new means of fraud, such as crowdsourcing fraud, since crowd workers behave in part like normal users. To this end, this paper proposes an approach to detecting fraud in web search from the perspective of fraudulent keywords. We begin by using a unique dataset of 150 million web search logs to examine the discriminating features of fraudulent keywords. Specifically, we model the temporal correlation of fraudulent keywords as a graph, which reveals a very well-connected community structure. Next, we design DFW (detection of fraudulent keywords) that mines the temporal correlations between candidate fraudulent keywords and a given list of seeds. In particular, DFW leverages several refinements to filter out non-fraudulent keywords that co-occur with seeds occasionally. The evaluation using the search logs shows that DFW achieves high fraud detection precision (99%) and accuracy (93%). A further analysis reveals several typical temporal evolution patterns of fraudulent keywords and the co-existence of both bots and crowd workers as fraudsters for web search fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The bast fiber crop ramie can be used as high-quality forage resources, especially in tropical or subtropical region where there is lack of high-quality protein feed. Hongxuan No.1 (HX_1) is a unique ramie variety with a light reddish brown leaf color, which is obviously different from elite cultivar, Zhongzhu No.1 (ZZ_1, green leaf). While, the regulatory mechanism of color difference or secondary metaboliates synthesis between these two varieties have not been studied. Results: In this study, phenotypic, transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of HX_1 and ZZ_1 were conducted to elucidate the mechanism of leaf color formation. Chromaticity value and pigment content measuring showed that anthocyanin was the main metabolites imparting the different leaf color phenotype between the two varieties. Based on LC/MS, at least 14 anthocyanins were identified in leaves of HX_1 and ZZ_1, and the HX_1 showed the higher relative content of malvidin-, pelargonidin-,and cyanidin-based anthocyanins. Transcriptome and metabolome co-analysis revealed that the up-regulated expression of flavonoids synthesis gene was positively correlated with total anthocyanins accumulation in ramie leaf, and the differentfially expression of "blue gene" (F3'5'H) and the "red gene" (F3'H) in leaves bring out HX_1 metabolic flow more input into the cyanidin branch. Furthermore, the enrichment of glycosylated modification pathway (UGT and AT) and the expression of flavonoid 3-O-glucosyl transferase (UFGT), anthocyanidin reductase (ANR), in leaves were significantly influenced the diversity of anthocyanins between HX_1 and ZZ_1. Conclusions: Phenotypic, transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of HX_1 and ZZ_1 indicated that the expression levels of genes related to anthocyanin metabolism contribute to the color formation of ramie variety. Anthocyanins are important plant secandary metabilates with many physiological functions, the results of this study will deepened our understanding of ramie leaf color formation, and provided basis for molecular breeding of functional forage ramie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P-type transparent conductive materials (TCMs) are urgently needed in the development of photoelectric devices. In particular, the P-type TCMs that can be applied in the mid-infrared range are even rarer due to the conflict between the transparent range and the conductivity of materials. In this work, a P-type mid-infrared transparent conductive LaSe2 film is obtained by a two-step method combining the RF sputtering and a selenized annealing process. The crystal structure of the film has been confirmed by x-ray diffraction and Raman spectrum analysis. According to the Hall effect measurement results, the LaSe2 film has a higher conductivity (about 3.6 S/cm) than that of traditional P-type mid-infrared TCMs, which is attributed to its ten times higher carrier concentration (about 1019 cm−3) and a much smaller hole effective mass (about 0.34 me) compared to the conventional P-type mid-infrared TCMs. The transmittance (about 75%) is at the same level as that of the traditional P-type mid-infrared TCMs. In a sense, the LaSe2 is a promising candidate material for the development of mid-infrared photoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary pores are the main reservoir space and transportation channel of oil and gas in reef limestone reservoir. At present, the main method of calculating secondary porosity is restricted by the morphological characteristics of porosity spectrum, regional artificial influence, and accuracy of calculation. We present a new method for calculating secondary porosity of reef limestone reservoir by the nuclear magnetic resonance T 2 spectrum which is calibrated by casting thin section. We begin with analyzing and determining the high correlation between the surface porosity of casting thin section and the total porosity. The objective is confirming the feasibility of the method of calculating secondary porosity by using thin-section information calibrate. Then, we use the surface porosity of thin section as the calibrating data and find the T 2 relaxation time corresponding to the best correlation between the secondary porosity and the secondary surface porosity of casting thin section, that is, the T 2 cutoff value of secondary porosity, through the Monte Carlo method. Finally, we calculate the secondary porosity by using the functional relationship between the secondary surface porosity and the surface porosity. The statistical analysis shows that the method of calculating secondary porosity effectively improves the calculation accuracy of secondary porosity. The secondary porosity calculation results have a high correlation with the reservoir productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]