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In practical decision-making problems, the different reliability levels of decision-makers in their evaluation information are usually ignored by most existing decision-making methods. Then, a neutrosophic Z-number (NZN) is a powerful modelfor simultaneously describingthe restraint and associated reliability of evaluation information in view of truth, indeterminacy, and falsity Z-numbers. This paper first proposed a logarithmic similarity measure (LSM) of NZN sets, which is more flexible and can change its measure result by adjusting the exponential parameters of the restraint and reliability. Then, a multi-attribute decision-making approachis developed based on the presentedLSM of NZN sets, and its applicability and flexibility are further illustrated by a case study of undergraduate teaching quality assessment.

Background: As an innovative treatment, stapled transperineal rectovaginal fistula repair (STR) for rectovaginal fistula (RVF) has demonstrated effectiveness in preliminary reports. This study aims to compare STR with rectal mucosal advancement flap repair (RAF), a widely utilized surgical procedure, for the surgical outcome of the low- and mid-level RVF. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients with low- and mid-level RVF who underwent STR or RAF were included from both the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Xi'an Daxing Hospital. Among the 99 total patients, 77 underwent STR and 22 underwent RAF. Patient demographics, operative data, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. Recurrence rate and associated risk factors were evaluated. Results: There were no statistically significant differences among patients in terms of clinical characteristics like age, BMI, aetiology, and fistula features. During the follow-up period of 20 months (interquartile range 3.0–41.8 months), a total of 28 patients relapsed, with a significantly lower recurrence rate in the STR group (20.8 %) than in the RAF group (54.6 %) (P = 0.005). In the multivariate Cox analysis, STR was an independent protective factor against recurrence (HR: 0.37, 95%CI: 0.17–0.79, P = 0.01). Logistic regression indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between these two procedures in terms of surgical complications (OR: 0.53, 95%CI: 0.19–1.48, P = 0.23). Conclusion: For low- and mid-level RVF, STR may be an alternative option for treatment modality that offers a lower recurrence rate, without observed disadvantage in terms of surgical complication rates.

Abstract Although the concentrations of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biomarkers Aβ1–40, Aβ1–42 and tau protein are very low in human plasma, ultrasensitive assays such as immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) are able to precisely quantify them. Review articles have described the detailed working mechanism of IMR and revealed the feasibility of detecting early-stage AD by assaying these plasma biomarkers with IMR. In this review, we aimed to compare the significance of these plasma biomarkers in predicting cognitive decline in patients with Down syndrome, stroke, or amnestic mild cognitive impairment based on findings in the literature. We found that plasma Aβ1–42 might play the predominant role in predicting cognitive decline in these patients.

Using membership of 85 open clusters from previous studies based on Gaia Data Release 3 data, we identify binary candidates in the color–magnitude diagram for systems with mass ratio q > 0.4. The binary fraction is corrected for incompleteness at different distances due to the Gaia angular resolution limit. We find a decreasing binary fraction with increasing cluster age, with substantial scatter. For clusters with a total mass >200 M _⊙ , the binary fraction is independent of cluster mass. The binary fraction depends strongly on stellar density. Among the four types of cluster environments, the lowest-density filamentary and fractal stellar groups have the highest mean binary fraction: 23.6% and 23.2%, respectively. The mean binary fraction in tidal tail clusters is 20.8% and is lowest in the densest halo-type clusters: 14.8%. We find clear evidence of early disruptions of binary stars in the cluster sample. The radial binary fraction depends strongly on the clustercentric distance across all four types of environments, with the smallest binary fraction within the half-mass radius r _h and increasing toward a few r _h . Only hints of mass segregation are found in the target clusters. The observed amounts of mass segregation are not significant enough to generate a global effect inside the target clusters. We evaluate the bias of unresolved binary systems (assuming a primary mass of 1 M _⊙ ) in 1D tangential velocity, which is 0.1–1 km s ^−1 . Further studies are required to characterize the internal star cluster kinematics using Gaia proper motions.

Low-mass stars and substellar objects are essential in tracing the initial mass function (IMF). We study the nearby young σ Orionis cluster ( d ∼ 408 pc, age ∼ 1.8 Myr) using deep near-infrared (NIR) photometric data in the J , W , and H bands from WIRCam on the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope. We use the water absorption feature to select brown dwarfs photometrically and confirm their nature spectroscopically with IRTF-SpeX. Additionally we select candidate low-mass stars for spectroscopy and analyze their membership and those of literature sources using astrometry from Gaia DR3. We obtain NIR spectra for 28 very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs and estimate their spectral type between M3 and M8.5 (masses ranging between 0.3 and 0.01 M _⊙ ). Apart from these, we also identify five new planetary-mass candidates which require further spectroscopic confirmation of youth. We compile a comprehensive catalog of 170 spectroscopically confirmed members in the central region of the cluster, for a wide mass range of ∼19–0.004 M _☉ . We estimate the star-to-brown-dwarf ratio to be ∼4, within the range reported for other nearby star-forming regions. With the updated catalog of members we trace the IMF down to 4 M _Jup and we find that a two-segment power law fits the substellar IMF better than a log-normal distribution.

Earth-sized exoplanets that transit nearby, late-spectral-type red dwarfs will be prime targets for atmospheric characterization in the coming decade. Such systems, however, are difficult to find via widefield transit surveys like Kepler or TESS. Consequently, the presence of such transiting planets is unexplored and the occurrence rates of short-period Earth-sized planets around late-M dwarfs remain poorly constrained. Here, we present the deepest photometric monitoring campaign of 22 nearby late-M dwarf stars, using data from over 500 nights on seven 1–2 m class telescopes. Our survey includes all known single quiescent northern late-M dwarfs within 15 pc. We use transit injection-and-recovery tests to quantify the completeness of our survey, successfully identify most (>80%) transiting short-period (0.5–1 days) super-Earths ( R >1.9 R _⊕ ), and are sensitive (∼50%) to transiting Earth-sized planets (1.0–1.2 R _⊕ ). Our high sensitivity to transits with a near-zero false-positive rate demonstrates an efficient survey strategy. Our survey does not yield a transiting planet detection, yet it provides the most sensitive upper limits on transiting planets orbiting our target stars. Finally, we explore multiple hypotheses about the occurrence rates of short-period planets (from Earth-sized planets to giant planets) around late-M dwarfs. We show, for example, that giant planets with short periods (

Companies have official vehicles for the convenience and time efficiency of employees to carry out official duties. However, private uses, false reports of fuel consumption, and excessive use by users may harm the company’s finance and reputation. Moreover, it is difficult to quantify and manage the use of official vehicles as they are used by different groups in the company. Locating vehicles also is a problem that is caused by inappropriate management. To solve these problems, an online monitoring and management system of official vehicles is proposed in this study. The system includes a set-top box (STB), key cabinet unit, line bot, and backstage management system in four major units with GPS and moving path tracking functions. The STB functions include GPS mobile tracking, power management, and Wi-Fi communication. The key cabinet unit manages key storage for the STB and detects the location of the set-top box. The backstage management system stores general information and GPS locations of vehicles. Line Bot allows online management, and the backstage management system provides administrators with information on official vehicle uses. The test result of the system shows successful monitoring of the vehicles on identifying moving paths, mileage, and locations with an accuracy of 5 m. The system prevents doubled reservations and informs the exact location of the vehicles. It helps the administrator of the official vehicles monitor and analyze the data of uses of the vehicles to improve the management efficiency and prevent misuse of the vehicles. The system also provides a solution for sharing economy of vehicles.

We present Gemini-NIFS, Very Large Telescope-SINFONI, and Keck-OSIRIS observations of near-IR [Fe ii ] emission that are associated with well-studied jets from three active T Tauri stars—RW Aur A, RY Tau, and DG Tau—taken from 2012 to 2021. We primarily cover the redshifted jet from RW Aur A and the blueshifted jets from RY Tau and DG Tau, in order to investigate long-term time variabilities that are potentially related to the activities of mass accretion and/or the stellar magnetic fields. All of these jets consist of several moving knots, with tangential velocities of 70–240 km s ^−1 , which were ejected from the star with different velocities and at irregular time intervals. Via comparisons with the literature, we identify significant differences in the tangential velocities between 1985–2008 and 2008–2021 for the DG Tau jet. The sizes of the individual knots appear to increase with time, and, in turn, their peak brightnesses in the 1.644 μ m emission decreased by up to a factor of ∼30 during the epochs of our observations. The variety of decay timescales measured in the [Fe ii ] 1.644 μ m emission could be attributed to different preshock conditions should the moving knots be unresolved shocks. However, our data do not exclude the possibility that these knots are due to nonuniform density/temperature distributions with another heating mechanism, or, in some cases, due to stationary shocks without proper motions. Spatially resolved observations of these knots with significantly higher angular resolutions will be necessary to better understand their physical nature.

A data-driven modeling approach is proposed for using system integration scaling factors and positioning performance of an exposure machine system to build models for predicting positioning errors and for analyzing parameter sensitivity. The proposed approach uses a uniform experimental design (UED), multiple regression (MR), back-propagation neural network (BPNN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The UED reduces the number of experimental runs needed to collect data for modeling. The MR, BPNN, and ANFIS are used to construct positioning models of an exposure machine system. The significant system integration scaling factors are determined by ANOVA. The inputs to the data-driven model are system integration scaling factors fx, fy, and fq, and the output is the positioning error. The UED was used to collect 41 experimental data, which comprised 0.0595% of the full-factorial experimental data. Performance tests demonstrated the excellent performance of the UED in collecting data used to build the MR, BPNN, and ANFIS data-driven models. The data-driven models can accurately predict positioning errors during validation. In addition, a sensitivity analyses of parameters showed that design parameters fx and fy have the greatest influence on positioning performance.

Fuzzy logic Taguchi method (FLTM) is used to optimize parameters for wire bonding process. The proposed FLTM integrates orthogonal arrays, signal-to-noise ratios, response tables, analysis of variance (ANOVA), fuzzy logic, and multiple performance characteristics index. The main process parameters for wire bonding are ultrasonication time, ultrasonication power, bond force, bond force time, and search force. The output responses include ball shear and ball size. The orthogonal arrays, signal-to-noise ratios, and response tables reduce the number of experiments needed to find the best factor-level combinations. The significant control factors are determined by ANOVA. In engineering practice, ball size increases as ball shear increases, but an excessively large ball size causes a short circuit, whereas an excessively small ball size cannot provide enough ball shear. Due to the two contradictory output responses, the FLTM is used to find the best process parameters. The experimental results show that the process parameters obtained by the FLTM result in a smaller ball size and a larger ball shear compared with those obtained by statistical methods, artificial intelligence techniques, and previous designs.

Aliskiren is a direct renin inhibitor that has been effective in anti-hypertension. We investigated whether aliskiren could improve the ischemia-induced cardiac injury and whether the autophagy was involved in this effect. A myocardial infarction (MI) model was created by the ligation of the left anterior coronary artery in C57J/BL6 mice. They were treated for 1, 3, 7, and 14 days with vehicle or aliskiren (25 mg/kg/day via subcutaneous injection). In vivo, the MI mice exhibited worse cardiac function by echocardiographic assessment and showed larger myocardial scarring by light microscopy, whereas aliskiren treatment reversed these effects, which were also associated with the changes in caspase-3 and Bcl-2 expression as well as in the number of apoptotic cells. Aliskiren increased autophagy, as demonstrated by LC3B-II expression and transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, H9c2 cardiomyocytes were employed as an in vitro model to examine the effects of aliskiren on apoptosis and autophagy under oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced injury. Aliskiren significantly increased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. The beneficial effects of aliskiren were associated with decreased apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential as well as increased autophagy via increased autophagosome formation. We also found that aliskiren-induced cardiomyocyte survival occurred via AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent autophagy. Taken together, these results indicated that aliskiren increased cardiomyocyte survival through increased autophagosomal formation and decreased apoptosis and necrosis via modulating AMPK expression. AMPK-dependent autophagy may represent a novel mechanism for aliskiren in ischemic cardiac disease therapy.

We present the first study of the masses and decay constants of the pseudoscalar D mesons in two flavors lattice QCD with domain-wall fermion. The gauge ensembles are generated on the 243×48 lattice with the extent Ns=16 in the fifth dimension, and the plaquette gauge action at β=6.10, for three sea-quark masses with corresponding pion masses in the range 260–475 MeV. We compute the point-to-point quark propagators, and measure the time-correlation functions of the pseudoscalar and vector mesons. The inverse lattice spacing is determined by the Wilson flow, while the strange and the charm quark masses by the masses of the vector mesons ϕ(1020) and J/ψ(3097) respectively. Using heavy meson chiral perturbation theory (HMChPT) to extrapolate to the physical pion mass, we obtain fD=202.3(2.2)(2.6) MeV and fDs=258.7(1.1)(2.9) MeV.

The rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has led to many security problems. In order to prevent UAVs from invading restricted areas or famous buildings, an anti-UAV defense system (AUDS) has been developed and become a research topic of interest. Topics under research in relation to this include electromagnetic interference guns for UAVs, high-energy laser guns, US military net warheads, and AUDSs with net guns. However, these AUDSs use either manual aiming or expensive radar to trace drones. This research proposes a dual-axis mechanism with UAVs automatic tracing. The tracing platform uses visual image processing technology to trace and lock the dynamic displacement of a drone. When a target UAV is locked, the system uses a nine-axis attitude meter and laser rangers to measure its flight altitude and calculates its longitude and latitude coordinates through sphere coordinates to provide drone monitoring for further defense or attack missions. Tracing tests of UAV flights in the air were carried out using a DJI MAVIC UAV at a height of 30 m to 100 m. It was set up for drone image capture and visual identification for tracing under various weather conditions by a thermal imaging camera and a full-color camera, respectively. When there was no cloud during the daytime, the images acquired by the thermal imaging camera and full-color camera provide a high-quality image identification result. However, under dark weather, black clouds will emit radiant energy and seriously affect the capture of images by a thermal imaging camera. When there is no cloud at night, the thermal imaging camera performs well in drone image capture. When the drone is traced and locked, the system can effectively obtain the flight altitude and longitude and latitude coordinate values.

Polygonatum gracile P. Y. Li is a perennial rhizomatous medicinal herb endemic to China with recognized medicinal value. Here, the first complete plastid genome of P. gracile is reported and characterized, and the phylogenetic relationships of P. gracile with other Polygonatum species are clarified by phylogenetic inferences based on complete plastid genome sequences. The complete plastid genome of P. gracile is 155,734 bp in length and exhibits the typical quadripartite circular structure consisting of a large single-copy (LSC, 84,385 bp) region, a small single-copy (SSC, 18,519 bp) region, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRa/b, 26,415 bp). A total of 112 unique genes, including 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes were identified. Seven protein-coding genes, eight tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes were duplicated in the IR regions. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicated that P. gracile belongs to sect. Verticillata and is most closely related to P. zanlanscianense Pamp. This study provides a basis for further phylogenetic reconstructions, conservation and utilization of Polygonatum species.

MicroRNA-208a (mir-208a) is essential for cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Endoglin, a co-receptor of transforming growth factor-β is also essential for cardiac fibrosis. Endoglin has been shown to be a target of mir-208a in the in vitro mechanical stress model. Volume overload can lead to heart failure and cardiac fibrosis. The role of mir-208a and endoglin in volume overload heart failure is well known. We sought to investigate the mechanism of regulation of mir-208a and endoglin in volume overload-induced heart failure. Aorta-caval (AV) shunt was performed in adult Sprague-Dawley rats to induce volume overload. Heart weight and heart weight/body weight ratio significantly increased in AV shunt animals. AV shunt significantly increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension as compared to sham group. Mir-208a was significantly induced by AV shunt from 3 to 14 days. Endoglin, myosin heavy chain-β and brain natriuretic peptide were significantly induced by AV shunt from 3 to 14 days. Overexpression of mir-208a in the sham group without AV shunt significantly increased endoglin expression similar to the AV shunt group. Antagomir-208a attenuated the endoglin expression induced by AV shunt. Pretreatment with atorvastatin also attenuated the endoglin expression induced by AV shunt. AV shunt significantly increased myocardial fibrosis as compared to sham group. Overexpression of mir-208a in the sham group significantly increased myocardial fibrosis. Antagomir-208a and atorvastatin significantly attenuated the myocardial fibrosis induced by AV shunt. In conclusion, mir-208a increased endoglin expression to induce myocardial fibrosis in volume overloaded heart failure. Treatment with atorvastatin can attenuate the myocardial fibrosis induced by volume overload through inhibition of endoglin expression.

We report 850 μ m continuum polarization observations toward the filamentary high-mass star-forming region NGC 2264, taken as part of the B -fields In STar forming Regions Observations large program on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. These data reveal a well-structured nonuniform magnetic field in the NGC 2264C and 2264D regions with a prevailing orientation around 30° from north to east. Field strength estimates and a virial analysis of the major clumps indicate that NGC 2264C is globally dominated by gravity, while in 2264D, magnetic, gravitational, and kinetic energies are roughly balanced. We present an analysis scheme that utilizes the locally resolved magnetic field structures, together with the locally measured gravitational vector field and the extracted filamentary network. From this, we infer statistical trends showing that this network consists of two main groups of filaments oriented approximately perpendicular to one another. Additionally, gravity shows one dominating converging direction that is roughly perpendicular to one of the filament orientations, which is suggestive of mass accretion along this direction. Beyond these statistical trends, we identify two types of filaments. The type I filament is perpendicular to the magnetic field with local gravity transitioning from parallel to perpendicular to the magnetic field from the outside to the filament ridge. The type II filament is parallel to the magnetic field and local gravity. We interpret these two types of filaments as originating from the competition between radial collapsing, driven by filament self-gravity, and longitudinal collapsing, driven by the region's global gravity.

We uncover a hub–filament system correlated with massive young stellar associations in G083.097+03.270. Diagnosed with simultaneous ^12 CO, ^13 CO, and C ^18 O line observations, the region is found to host two distinct and elongated filaments having separate velocity components, interacting spatially and kinematically, that appear to have seeded the formation of a dense hub at the intersection. A large velocity spread at the hub, in addition to a clear bridging feature connecting the filaments in velocity, indicate the merging of filaments. Along the filament axis, the velocity gradient reveals a global gas motion with an increasing velocity dispersion inward to the hub signifying turbulence. Altogether, the clustering of Class I sources, a high excitation temperature, a high column density, and the presence of a massive outflow at the central hub suggest enhanced star formation. We propose that the merging of large-scale filaments and velocity gradients along filaments are the driving factors in the mass accumulation process at the hub that have sequentially led to the massive star formation. With two giant filaments merging to coincide with a hub therein with ongoing star formation, this site serves as a benchmark for the “filaments to clusters” star-forming paradigm.

We present observations of polarized dust emission at 850 μ m from the L43 molecular cloud, which sits in the Ophiuchus cloud complex. The data were taken using SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as a part of the BISTRO large program. L43 is a dense ( ${N}_{{{\rm{H}}}_{2}}\sim {10}^{22}$ –10 ^23 cm ^−2 ) complex molecular cloud with a submillimeter-bright starless core and two protostellar sources. There appears to be an evolutionary gradient along the isolated filament that L43 is embedded within, with the most evolved source closest to the Sco OB2 association. One of the protostars drives a CO outflow that has created a cavity to the southeast. We see a magnetic field that appears to be aligned with the cavity walls of the outflow, suggesting interaction with the outflow. We also find a magnetic field strength of up to ∼160 ± 30 μ G in the main starless core and up to ∼90 ± 40 μ G in the more diffuse, extended region. These field strengths give magnetically super- and subcritical values, respectively, and both are found to be roughly trans-Alfvénic. We also present a new method of data reduction for these denser but fainter objects like starless cores.

We study the H ii regions associated with the NGC 6334 molecular cloud observed in the submillimeter and taken as part of the B -fields In STar-forming Region Observations Survey. In particular, we investigate the polarization patterns and magnetic field morphologies associated with these H ii regions. Through polarization pattern and pressure calculation analyses, several of these bubbles indicate that the gas and magnetic field lines have been pushed away from the bubble, toward an almost tangential (to the bubble) magnetic field morphology. In the densest part of NGC 6334, where the magnetic field morphology is similar to an hourglass, the polarization observations do not exhibit observable impact from H ii regions. We detect two nested radial polarization patterns in a bubble to the south of NGC 6334 that correspond to the previously observed bipolar structure in this bubble. Finally, using the results of this study, we present steps (incorporating computer vision; circular Hough transform) that can be used in future studies to identify bubbles that have physically impacted magnetic field lines.

We present BISTRO Survey 850 μ m dust emission polarization observations of the L1495A-B10 region of the Taurus molecular cloud, taken at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). We observe a roughly triangular network of dense filaments. We detect nine of the dense starless cores embedded within these filaments in polarization, finding that the plane-of-sky orientation of the core-scale magnetic field lies roughly perpendicular to the filaments in almost all cases. We also find that the large-scale magnetic field orientation measured by Planck is not correlated with any of the core or filament structures, except in the case of the lowest-density core. We propose a scenario for early prestellar evolution that is both an extension to, and consistent with, previous models, introducing an additional evolutionary transitional stage between field-dominated and matter-dominated evolution, observed here for the first time. In this scenario, the cloud collapses first to a sheet-like structure. Uniquely, we appear to be seeing this sheet almost face on. The sheet fragments into filaments, which in turn form cores. However, the material must reach a certain critical density before the evolution changes from being field dominated to being matter dominated. We measure the sheet surface density and the magnetic field strength at that transition for the first time and show consistency with an analytical prediction that had previously gone untested for over 50 yr.