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In order to prevent damage to the support equipment caused by rock burst, a torsion plate energy absorption member is designed to be used with hydraulic columns. Explicit dynamic simulation is used and compared with the tests. The equations of structural parameters to the mean value of the reaction force (Fmean), specific energy absorption (SEA), and mean squared deviation (σ) are constructed based on the response surface method. The structural parameters are optimized using MOPSO. The results indicate that the torsion plate exhibits excellent energy absorption characteristics. The error rate of the simulation compared to the test is less than 5%, indicating a high level of simulation accuracy. All three sets of response fitted equations have R2 above 0.97, indicating a good fit. The three evaluation indexes demonstrate a trend of increasing then decreasing as the torsion angle increases. The wall thickness is positively correlated with the influence of each parameter index, while the effect of fillet radius is reversed. The maximum relative error of the predicted value is 9.50%. After optimization, the Fmean is effectively increased by more than 78%, the SEA is increased by more than 24.72%. The σ is increased by 8.31%, the optimization effect is remarkable.

ABSTRACTIn this study, Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy components were prepared using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Through multi-scale characterisation technology, performance testing and slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) testing, the microstructure, mechanical properties and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of WAAM Al-Zn-Mg-Cu components were studied, revealing the generation mechanism of inhomogeneity and anisotropy. The results show that with the increase of WAAM thermal cycles, the matrix precipitates (MPs), grain boundary precipitates (GBPs) and precipitation-free zones (PFZ) evolve in different paths and increase to varying degrees, resulting in performance decrease and increase in stress corrosion susceptibility, so the inhomogeneity is mainly attributed to differences in precipitated phases. The Inter-layer inclined to the scanning direction and the Inner-layer inclined to the building direction led to anisotropy in tensile strength and SCC behaviour, so the anisotropy is mainly attributed to the grain orientation and fracture mode.

Abstract Distinguishing the independent contributions of tectonic denudation and climate‐driven erosion on the production and supply of clastic materials of Chinese eolian deposits is important in understanding the dynamic links between global climate changes, tectonics, and Asian dust emission. Here, multi‐proxy rock magnetic records of detrital fractions of Chinese eolian deposits since ∼6 Ma, combined with further comparison with dust accumulation rates and geochemical data, suggest that limited production and supply of clastic materials of Chinese eolian deposits were observed between 5.6 and 4.4 Ma in a warmer climate, and thereafter an increasing trend is evident during a cooler world. We propose that intense physical erosion under cooler conditions caused increasing production of fresh detrital components, exerting dominant influences on the sediment supply to Asian eolian deposits. This study provides direct evidence of dynamic coupling between intensified physical erosion and Asian dust activity under late Cenozoic global cooling.

Layered double hydroxide (LDH) is considered a highly promising electrode material for supercapacitors (SCs) due to its high theoretical specific capacitance. However, LDH powders often suffer from poor electrical conductivity, structure pulverization, slow charge transport, and insufficient active sites. Herein, a self‐supporting electrode with a Mott–Schottky heterostructure has been designed for high‐performance SCs. The electrode consists of low crystallinity NiCo‐LDH nanosheets and vertical graphene (VG) directly grown on carbon cloth. The LDH was converted from a metal–organic framework (MOF) by the sol–gel method. This self‐supporting electrode provides fast charge transfer, reducing the pulverization effect and energy barrier. The Mott–Schottky heterostructure of LDH@VG regulates electron density and enhances electron transfer, as confirmed by density functional theory calculation. The optimized LDH@VG heterostructure electrode exhibits an excellent areal capacitance of 5513.8 mF cm−2 and rate capability of 82.1%. Furthermore, the fabricated hybrid SC demonstrates excellent energy density of 404.8 μWh cm−2 at 1.6 mW cm−2 and a remarkable cycling life, with a capacitance of 92.0% after 10 000 cycles. This work not only provides a simple dip‐coating and MOF conversion method to synthesize heterojunction‐based electrodes, but also broadens the horizon for designing advanced electrode materials for SCs.

Abstract Background Vasculopathy is the most common complication of diabetes. Endothelial cells located in the innermost layer of blood vessels are constantly affected by blood flow or vascular components; thus, their mechanosensitivity plays an important role in mediating vascular regulation. Endothelial damage, one of the main causes of hyperglycemic vascular complications, has been extensively studied. However, the role of mechanosensitive signaling in hyperglycemic endothelial damage remains unclear. Methods Vascular endothelial-specific Piezo1 knockout mice were generated to investigate the effects of Piezo1 on Streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia and vascular endothelial injury. In vitro activation or knockdown of Piezo1 was performed to evaluate the effects on the proliferation, migration, and tubular function of human umbilical vein endothelial cells in high glucose. Reactive oxygen species production, mitochondrial membrane potential alternations, and oxidative stress-related products were used to assess the extent of oxidative stress damage caused by Piezo1 activation. Results Our study found that in VECreERT2;Piezo1flox/flox mice with Piezo1 conditional knockout in vascular endothelial cells, Piezo1 deficiency alleviated streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia with reduced apoptosis and abscission of thoracic aortic endothelial cells, and decreased the inflammatory response of aortic tissue caused by high glucose. Moreover, the knockout of Piezo1 showed a thinner thoracic aortic wall, reduced tunica media damage, and increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression in transgenic mice, indicating the relief of endothelial damage caused by hyperglycemia. We also showed that Piezo1 activation aggravated oxidative stress injury and resulted in severe dysfunction through the Ca2+-induced CaMKII-Nrf2 axis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. In Piezo1 conditional knockout mice, Piezo1 deficiency partially restored superoxide dismutase activity and reduced malondialdehyde content in the thoracic aorta. Mechanistically, Piezo1 deficiency decreased CaMKII phosphorylation and restored the expression of Nrf2 and its downstream molecules HO-1 and NQO1. Conclusion In summary, our study revealed that Piezo1 is involved in high glucose-induced oxidative stress injury and aggravated endothelial dysfunction, which have great significance for alleviating endothelial damage caused by hyperglycemia.

Polluted environments often contain large amounts of toxic metals, such as cadmium, which pose a major threat to ecosystems and public health. Contamination by cadmium and its compounds is often observed in areas surrounding zinc mining sites and electroplating factories, and the control of cadmium pollution is essential for environmental safety and health. In this study, a highly efficient and straightforward separation strategy for K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 nanocomposites is successfully developed to capture the Cd ions in the water environment. Batch adsorption experiments revealed that K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 exhibited a high cadmium removal rate (greater than 98 %) at a pH level of 6.0 and solid-liquid ratio of 1.0 g/L at room temperature (298 K). Kinetic analysis revealed that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second-order model and cadmium was rapidly removed in the first 10 min, with chemisorption dominating the capture of Cd2+ by K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4. Adsorption isotherms revealed a heterogeneous adsorption behavior, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 40.78 mg/g. The intrinsic adsorption of Cd2+ by K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 occurring primarily through electrostatic interaction and ion exchange. In addition, K4Fe(CN)6@Fe3O4 exhibited an excellent regeneration capacity. Therefore, integrating Fe3O4 into the metal cyanide not only provided the composite material with excellent chemical stability and selective adsorption sites for Cd2+, but also facilitated subsequent sorbent collection and recovery. Overall, this study presents a simple and feasible approach for integrating Fe3O4 into potassium ferrocyanide frameworks for efficient cadmium removal from contaminated water.

Aging and obesity are closely related. A key change in the adipose tissue during the aging process is the decline of lipolysis. The excitation of the sympathetic nerve system is a key pathway to promote lipolysis, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this work, in vitro and in vivo aging models with and without tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) knockdown were treated with total saponins from Panax japonicus (TSPJs), and the expression of lipolysis-related proteins was examined. It was found that TSPJs could promote the expression of lipolysis-related genes and TH in adipocytes both in vitro and in vivo, and the expression of lipolysis-related genes was downregulated after TH knockdown. It was inferred that TSPJs could promote the excitation of sympathetic nerves by increasing the expression of TH in adipose tissue, which positively regulated the expression of lipases to revitalize lipolysis. The results suggested that TSPJs resisted aging-induced obesity and could be a potential medication for weight management.

Elevated duct is an atmospheric structure characterized by abnormal refractive index gradients, which can significantly affect the performance of radar, communication, and other systems by capturing a portion of electromagnetic waves. The South China Sea (SCS) is a high-incidence area for elevated duct, so conducting detection and forecasts of the elevated duct in the SCS holds important scientific significance and practical value. This paper attempts to utilize remote sensing techniques for extracting elevated duct information. Based on GPS sounding data, a lapse rate formula (LRF) model and an empirical formula (EF) model for the estimation of the cloud top height of Stratocumulus were obtained, and then remote sensing retrieval methods of elevated duct were established based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) remote sensing data. The results of these two models were compared with results from the elevated duct remote sensing retrieval model developed by the United States Naval Postgraduate School. It is shown that the probability of elevated duct events was 79.1% when the presence of Stratocumulus identified using GPS sounding data, and the trapping layer bottom height of elevated duct well with the cloud top height of Stratocumulus, with a correlation coefficient of 0.79, a mean absolute error of 289 m, and a root mean square error of 598 m. Among the different retrieval models applied to MODIS satellite data, the LRF model emerged as the optimal remote sensing retrieval method for elevated duct in the SCS, showing a correlation coefficient of 0.51, a mean absolute error of 447 m, and a root mean square error of 658 m between the trapping layer bottom height and the cloud top height. Consequently, the encouraging validation results demonstrate that the LRF model proposed in this paper offers a novel method for diagnosing and calculating elevated ducts information over large-scale marine areas from remote sensing data.

Portfolio optimization is a classical and important problem in the field of asset management, which aims to achieve a trade-off between profit and risk. Previous portfolio optimization models use traditional risk measurements such as variance, which symmetrically delineate both positive and negative sides and are not practical and stable. In this paper, a new model with cardinality constraints is first proposed, in which the idiosyncratic volatility factor is used to replace traditional risk measurements and can capture the risks of the portfolio in a more accurate way. The new model has practical constraints which involve the sparsity and irregularity of variables and make it challenging to be solved by traditional Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs). To solve the model, a Learning-Guided Evolutionary Algorithm based on Iϵ+ indicator (Iϵ+LGEA) is developed. In Iϵ+LGEA, the Iϵ+ indicator is incorporated into the initialization and genetic operators to guarantee the sparsity of solutions and can help improve the convergence of the algorithm. And a new constraint-handling method based on Iϵ+ indicator is also adopted to ensure the feasibility of solutions. The experimental results on five portfolio trading datasets including up to 1226 assets show that Iϵ+LGEA outperforms some state-of-the-art MOEAs in most cases.

Introduction: The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) is a remarkable mammal thriving in the extreme Qinghai-Tibet Plateau conditions. Despite the availability of its genome sequence, limitations in the scaffold-level assembly have hindered a comprehensive understanding of its genomics. Moreover, comparative analyses with other Bovidae species are lacking, along with insights into genome rearrangements in the Tibetan antelope.Methods: Addressing these gaps, we present a multifaceted approach by refining the Tibetan Antelope genome through linkage disequilibrium analysis with data from 15 newly sequenced samples.Results: The scaffold N50 of the refined reference is 3.2 Mbp, surpassing the previous version by 1.15-fold. Our annotation analysis resulted in 50,750 genes, encompassing 29,324 novel genes not previously study. Comparative analyses reveal 182 unique rearrangements within the scaffolds, contributing to our understanding of evolutionary dynamics and species-specific adaptations. Furthermore, by conducting detailed genomic comparisons and reconstructing rearrangements, we have successfully pioneered the reconstruction of the X-chromosome in the Tibetan antelope.Discussion: This effort enhances our comprehension of the genomic landscape of this species.

The influence of laser-alloyed stainless steel coatings on the properties of the surfaces of cast iron discs, such as friction-induced vibration and noise, friction coefficient, residual stress, hardness, and corrosion resistance, was investigated in this study. The experimental results show that after laser alloying, the surface hardness of the cast iron discs increased significantly. The residual stresses on the surfaces of the laser-alloyed discs changed from tensile to compressive residual stresses, while any compressive residual stresses increased by more than six times. Most of the laser-alloyed discs demonstrated better performance in friction-induced vibration and noise damping and friction reduction. Metallographic observation and XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis results show that the laser-alloyed layer is mainly a mixture of acicular martensite and dendritic material, while the phase composition of laser-treated discs is mainly martensitic, [Fe, Ni], Fe3Si, Cr23C6, and austenite, which plays a significant role in the improvement of the properties of the laser-alloyed cast iron in physics, tribology and corrosion resistance. This research has significance for the laser surface treatment of various cast irons and steels, which is an increasingly important manufacturing technology in the vehicle friction brake industry.

The coefficients of friction (COFs) is one of the most important parameters used to evaluate the braking performance of a friction brake. Many indicators that affect the safety and comfort of automobiles are associated with brake COFs. The manufacturers of friction brakes and their components are required to spend huge amounts of time and money to carry out experimental tests to ensure the COFs of a newly developed braking system meet the required standards. In order to save time and costs for the development of new friction brake applications, the GRU (Gate Recurrent Unit) algorithm optimized by the improved PSO (particle swarm optimization) global optimization method is employed in this work to predict brake COFs based on existing experimental data obtained from friction braking dynamometer tests. Compared with the LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) method, the GRU algorithm optimized by PSO avoids the accuracy reduction problem caused by gradient descent in the training process and hence reduces the prediction error and computational cost. The combined PSO–GRU algorithm increases the coefficient of determination (R2) of the prediction by 4.7%, reduces the MAE (mean absolute error) by 14.3%, and increases the prediction speed by 40.1% compared with the standalone GRU method. The prediction method based on machine learning proposed in this study can not only be applied to the prediction of automobile braking COFs but also for other frictional system problems, such as the prediction of braking noise and the friction of various bearing transmission components.

Abstract Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder, in which megakaryocyte dysfunction caused by an autoimmune reaction can lead to thrombocytopenia, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we performed single-cell transcriptome profiling of bone marrow CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) to determine defects in megakaryopoiesis in ITP. Gene expression, cell-cell interactions, and transcriptional regulatory networks varied in HSPCs of ITP, particularly in immune cell progenitors. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis indicated that there was an impaired megakaryopoiesis of ITP. Flow cytometry confirmed that the number of CD9+ and HES1+ cells from Lin−CD34+CD45RA− HSPCs decreased in ITP. Liquid culture assays demonstrated that CD9+Lin−CD34+CD45RA− HSPCs tended to differentiate into megakaryocytes; however, this tendency was not observed in ITP patients and more erythrocytes were produced. The percentage of megakaryocytes differentiated from CD9+Lin−CD34+CD45RA− HSPCs was 3-fold higher than that of the CD9− counterparts from healthy controls (HCs), whereas, in ITP patients, the percentage decreased to only 1/4th of that in the HCs and was comparable to that from the CD9− HSPCs. Additionally, when co-cultured with pre-B cells from ITP patients, the differentiation of CD9+Lin−CD34+CD45RA− HSPCs toward the megakaryopoietic lineage was impaired. Further analysis revealed that megakaryocytic progenitors (MkP) can be divided into seven subclusters with different gene expression patterns and functions. The ITP-associated DEGs were MkP subtype-specific, with most DEGs concentrated in the subcluster possessing dual functions of immunomodulation and platelet generation. This study comprehensively dissects defective hematopoiesis and provides novel insights regarding the pathogenesis of ITP.

Semantic segmentation of remote sensing (RS) images is vital in various practical applications, including urban construction planning, natural disaster monitoring, and land resources investigation. However, RS images are captured by airplanes or satellites at high altitudes and long distances, resulting in ground objects of the same category being scattered in various corners of the image. Moreover, objects of different sizes appear simultaneously in RS images. For example, some objects occupy a large area in urban scenes, while others only have small regions. Technically, the above two universal situations pose significant challenges to the segmentation with a high quality for RS images. Based on these observations, this paper proposes a Mask2Former with an improved query (IQ2Former) for this task. The fundamental motivation behind the IQ2Former is to enhance the capability of the query of Mask2Former by exploiting the characteristics of RS images well. First, we propose the Query Scenario Module (QSM), which aims to learn and group the queries from feature maps, allowing the selection of distinct scenarios such as the urban and rural areas, building clusters, and parking lots. Second, we design the query position module (QPM), which is developed to assign the image position information to each query without increasing the number of parameters, thereby enhancing the model’s sensitivity to small targets in complex scenarios. Finally, we propose the query attention module (QAM), which is constructed to leverage the characteristics of query attention to extract valuable features from the preceding queries. Being positioned between the duplicated transformer decoder layers, QAM ensures the comprehensive utilization of the supervisory information and the exploitation of those fine-grained details. Architecturally, the QSM, QPM, and QAM as well as an end-to-end model are assembled to achieve high-quality semantic segmentation. In comparison to the classical or state-of-the-art models (FCN, PSPNet, DeepLabV3+, OCRNet, UPerNet, MaskFormer, Mask2Former), IQ2Former has demonstrated exceptional performance across three publicly challenging remote-sensing image datasets, 83.59 mIoU on the Vaihingen dataset, 87.89 mIoU on Potsdam dataset, and 56.31 mIoU on LoveDA dataset. Additionally, overall accuracy, ablation experiment, and visualization segmentation results all indicate IQ2Former validity.

Purpose: This paper focuses on the PC industry, analyzing a PC supply chain system composed of one large retailer and two manufacturers. The retailer informs the suppliers of the total order quantity, namely Q, based on demand forecast ahead of the selling season. The suppliers manufacture products according to the predicted quantity. When the actual demand has been observed, the retailer conducts demand learning and determines the actual order quantity. Under the assumption that the products of the two suppliers are one-way substitutable, an integrated decision-making model for dynamic pricing and inventory control is established. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a mathematical model where a large domestic household appliance retailer decides the optimal original ordering quantity before the selling season and the optimal actual ordering quantity, and two manufacturers decide the optimal wholesale price. Findings: By applying this model to a large domestic household appliance retail terminal, the authors can conclude that the model is quite feasible and effective. Meanwhile, the results of simulation analysis show that when the product prices of two manufacturers both reduce gradually, one manufacturer will often wait till the other manufacturer reduces their price to a crucial inflection point, then their profit will show a qualitative change instead of a real-time profit-price change. Practical implications: This model can be adopted to a supply chain system composed of one large retailer and two manufacturers, helping manufacturers better make a pricing and inventory control decision. Originality/value: Previous research focuses on the ordering quantity directly be decided. Limited work has considered the actual ordering quantity based on demand learning. However, this paper considers both the optimal original ordering quantity before the selling season and the optimal actual ordering quantity from the perspective of the retailer.

Abstract Introduction High‐mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is extensively involved in causing ischemic stroke, pathological damage of ischemic brain injury, and neural tissue repair after ischemic brain injury. However, the precise role of HMGB1 in ischemic stroke remains to be elucidated. Methods Comprehensive literature search and narrative review to summarize the current field of HMGB1 in cerebral ischemic based on the basic structure, structural modification, and functional roles of HMGB1 described in the literature. Results Studies have exhibited the crucial roles of HMGB1 in cell death, immunity and inflammation, thrombosis, and remodeling and repair. HMGB1 released after cerebral infarction is extensively involved in the pathological injury process in the early stage of cerebral infarction, whereas it is involved in the promotion of brain tissue repair and remodeling in the late stage of cerebral infarction. HMGB1 plays a neurotrophic role in acute white matter stroke, whereas it causes sustained activation of inflammation and plays a damaging role in chronic white matter ischemia. Conclusions HMGB1 plays a complex role in cerebral infarction, which is related to not only the modification of HMGB1 and bound receptors but also different stages and subtypes of cerebral infarction. future studies on HMGB1 should investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of HMGB1 after cerebral infarction. Moreover, future studies on HMGB1 should attempt to integrate different stages and infarct subtypes of cerebral infarction.

Federated Learning (FL), as a new computing framework, has received significant attentions recently due to its advantageous in preserving data privacy in training models with superb performance. During FL learning, distributed sites first learn respective parameters. A central site will consolidate learned parameters, using average or other approaches, and disseminate new weights across all sites to carryout next round of learning. The distributed parameter learning and consolidation repeat in an iterative fashion until the algorithm converges or terminates. Many FL methods exist to aggregate weights from distributed sites, but most approaches use a static node alignment approach, where nodes of distributed networks are statically assigned, in advance, to match nodes and aggregate their weights. In reality, neural networks, especially dense networks, have nontransparent roles with respect to individual nodes. Combined with random nature of the networks, static node matching often does not result in best matching between nodes across sites. In this paper, we propose, FedDNA, a dynamic node alignment federated learning algorithm. Our theme is to find best matching nodes between different sites, and then aggregate weights of matching nodes for federated learning. For each node in a neural network, we represent its weight values as a vector, and use a distance function to find most similar nodes, i.e., nodes with the smallest distance from other sides. Because finding best matching across all sites are computationally expensive, we further design a minimum spanning tree based approach to ensure that a node from each site will have matched peers from other sites, such that the total pairwise distances across all sites are minimized. Experiments and comparisons demonstrate that FedDNA outperforms commonly used baseline, such as FedAvg, for federated learning.

This paper examines the effectiveness of energy absorption anti-impact support in protecting the coal mine roadway from rock burst and ensuring safe production. By establishing an ABAQUS numerical model of the support and wall rock, the mechanical behavior of the system under static and impact loads have been investigated. The analysis includes the deformation of the wall rock, plastic strain, plastic property, and damage range to evaluate the support effect and the synergistic effect with the wall rock. The findings indicate that compared to ordinary support, the energy absorption anti-impact support exhibits a 20.40% increase in maximum deformation, 4.74% increase in maximum stress, 66.67% decrease in maximum plastic strain, and 116.79% increase in maximum absorption energy. The wall rock also experiences a 2.91% increase in maximum deformation and 10.19% increase in maximum stress. These results suggest that energy absorption anti-impact support is effective in improving the anti-impact performance of the support and providing a certain level of protection to both the support and wall rock.

Maritime high-speed over-the-horizon wireless communication is realizable through evaporation ducts. Detailed measurement, analysis, and modeling of duct channels are essential for application of this communication technique. In this paper, X-band electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation systems were developed and deployed for a 133-km over-the-horizon microwave link in coastal areas of the Yellow Sea. The propagation length was 7.7 times the line-of-sight length. Measurement results including the path loss (PL) and meteorological data were obtained during a 54-day period in autumn 2021. The long-term channel results were analyzed on the basis of statistical analysis and model simulations. Results showed that our measurement system, with a maximum measurable power loss of 200 dB, had connected with a probability of 56.2% during the measurement period. Model simulation showed that evaporation duct environments are not ideal in autumn, with an average evaporation duct height (EDH) of 10.6 m. The land breeze in autumn introduced dry and cold air to the link, which could promote evaporation of seawater and reduce PL by approximately 40 dB. Annual spatiotemporal characteristics of EDH showed that evaporation ducts are most suitable for over-the-horizon communication in spring, especially May.

BackgroundDepressive disorders have become an increasingly significant public health issue. This study is intended to show the trend of the incidence of depressive disorders in China, the United States, India and the world from 1990 to 2019, as well as the impact of age, period and cohort on it.MethodsExtracting incidence data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, we determined trends in the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) using Joinpoint regression. An age-period-cohort analysis was implemented to describe the effects of age, period, and cohort, as well as the long-term tendencies.ResultsFrom 1990 to 2019, the ASIR of depressive disorders in China was lower than that in the United States; India is lower than the United States in the first 5 years, showing a downward trend. The incidence in India and the United States is higher than the global average. The ASIR of women in the three countries is higher than that of men. In China, the elderly, early period and people born around 1954 have a higher risk of depressive disorders. In the United States, young people born around 1999 have a higher risk of depressive disorders. India is similar to China.ConclusionFrom 1990 to 2019, the age effect of China as a whole increased, and the period became stable, and the cohort effect declined. The overall age and period effects of the United States reduced, while the cohort effect increased. The age effect in India increased, while the period and cohort effects decreased. Depressive disorders are becoming ever more serious worldwide, and we’d better take measures to reduce its incidence according to the cohort effect of each age group.

Abstract Recently, Raman Spectroscopy (RS) was demonstrated to be a non-destructive way of cancer diagnosis, due to the uniqueness of RS measurements in revealing molecular biochemical changes between cancerous vs. normal tissues and cells. In order to design computational approaches for cancer detection, the quality and quantity of tissue samples for RS are important for accurate prediction. In reality, however, obtaining skin cancer samples is difficult and expensive due to privacy and other constraints. With a small number of samples, the training of the classifier is difficult, and often results in overfitting. Therefore, it is important to have more samples to better train classifiers for accurate cancer tissue classification. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents a novel generative adversarial network based skin cancer tissue classification framework. Specifically, we design a data augmentation module that employs a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to generate synthetic RS data resembling the training data classes. The original tissue samples and the generated data are concatenated to train classification modules. Experiments on real-world RS data demonstrate that (1) data augmentation can help improve skin cancer tissue classification accuracy, and (2) generative adversarial network can be used to generate reliable synthetic Raman spectroscopic data.

BackgroundOnline education has been conducted widely in higher education in recent years. While online teaching brings many opportunities, it also poses numerous challenges and issues. This is especially true for college teachers, for whom teaching is considered to be a profession with a high level of burnout and anxiety. The large-scale application of online teaching methods has put teachers in an even more challenging context, which may lead to teaching anxiety affecting their mental health. In online teaching contexts, the question of what factors affect college teachers' online teaching anxiety is worth exploring to help reduce their online teaching anxiety so as to promote their work performance. In this study, therefore, we conducted a survey of college teachers to develop a model of job environment (job demands and job resources), subjective well-being, and online teaching anxiety, and to explore the influences of job environment and subjective well-being on their online teaching anxiety, as well as the mediating effects of subjective well-being between job environments and online teaching anxiety.MethodOf the 1,060 college teachers who participated, 524 were male (49.4%) and 536 were female (50.6%). An online questionnaire was sent to the teachers in January, 2022. Online teaching anxiety, subjective well-being, and job environment scales were adapted and developed. Descriptive analysis, reliability and validity analysis, and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the collected data.ResultsThe study model showed an adequate fit (χ2 = 440.983, RMSEA = 0.070, GFI = 0.942, AGFI = 0.914, NFI = 0.949, and CFI = 0.956), confirming the relationships of job demands and online teaching anxiety (β = 0.310, p < 0.001), job resources and online teaching anxiety (β = – 0.086, p < 0.01), job demands and subjective well-being (β = – 0.411, p < 0.001), job resources and subjective well-being (β = 0.204, p < 0.001), and subjective well-being and online teaching anxiety (β = – 0.435, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, the results also proved the effects of the mediating role of subjective well-being between job demands (95% CI = [– 0.138, – 0.225]), job resources (95% CI = [– 0.119, – 0.064]), and online teaching anxiety. The model accounted for 33.8% (f2 = 0.401) of online teaching anxiety.ConclusionThe results of this study indicated that it is important to reduce job demands and increase job resources to alleviate college teachers' online teaching anxiety to maintain good mental health; while maintaining a high level of college teachers' subjective well-being is also helpful for promoting their work performance. Furthermore, the indirect effects of job demands and job resources on online teaching anxiety mediated by college teachers' subjective well-being were also significant.

In order to separate the colloidal in high-turbidity water, a kind of magnetic composite (Fe3O4/HBPN) was prepared via the functional assembly of Fe3O4 and an amino-terminal hyperbranched polymer (HBPN). The physical and chemical characteristics of Fe3O4@HBPN were investigated by different means. The Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed that the characteristic absorption peaks positioned at 1110 cm−1, 1468 cm−1, 1570 cm−1 and 1641 cm−1 were ascribed to C–N, H–N–C, N–H and C=O bonds, respectively. The shape and size of Fe3O4/HBPN showed a different and uneven distribution; the particles clumped together and were coated with an oil-like film. Energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) displayed that the main elements of Fe3O4/HBPN were C, N, O, and Fe. The superparamagnetic properties and good magnetic response were revealed by vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The characteristic diffraction peaks of Fe3O4/HBPN were observed at 2θ = 30.01 (220), 35.70 (311), 43.01 (400), 56.82 (511), and 62.32 (440), which indicated that the intrinsic phase of magnetite remained. The zeta potential measurement indicated that the surface charge of Fe3O4/HBPN was positive in the pH range 4–10. The mass loss of Fe3O4/HBPN in thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) proved thermal decomposition. The –C–NH2 or –C–NH perssad of HBPN were linked and loaded with Fe3O4 particles by the N–O bonds. When the Fe3O4/HBPN dosage was 2.5 mg/L, pH = 4–5, the kaolin concentration of 1.0 g/L and the magnetic field of 3800 G were the preferred reaction conditions. In addition, a removal efficiency of at least 86% was reached for the actual water treatment. Fe3O4/HBPN was recycled after the first application and reused five times. The recycling efficiency and removal efficiency both showed no significant difference five times (p > 0.05), and the values were between 84.8% and 86.9%.

The aim of this study was to microencapsulate probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus 11073) using whey-protein-isolate (WPI)–octenyl-succinic-anhydride-starch (OSA-starch)-complex coacervates and to investigate the effects on probiotic bacterial viability during spray drying, simulated gastrointestinal digestion, thermal treatment and long-term storage. The optimum mixing ratio and pH for the preparation of WPI-OSA-starch-complex coacervates were determined to be 2:1 and 4.0, respectively. The combination of WPI and OSA starch under these conditions produced microcapsules with smoother surfaces and more compact structures than WPI-OSA starch alone, due to the electrostatic attraction between WPI and OSA starch. As a result, WPI-OSA-starch microcapsules showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher viability (95.94 ± 1.64%) after spray drying and significantly (p < 0.05) better protection during simulated gastrointestinal digestion, heating (65 °C/30 min and 75 °C/10 min) and storage (4/25 °C for 12 weeks) than WPI-OSA-starch microcapsules. These results demonstrated that WPI-OSA-starch-complex coacervates have excellent potential as a novel wall material for probiotic microencapsulation.

Altered microenvironmental stiffness is a hallmark of inflammation. It is sensed by the mechanically activated cation channel Piezo1 in macrophages to induce subsequent immune responses. However, the mechanism by which the mechanosensitive signals shape the metabolic status of macrophages and tune immune responses remains unclear. We revealed that Piezo1-deficient macrophages exhibit reduced aerobic glycolysis in resting or liposaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages with impaired LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines in vitro. Additionally, pretreatment with the Piezo1 agonist, Yoda1, or cyclical hydrostatic pressure (CHP) upregulated glycolytic activity and enhanced LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Piezo1-deficient mice were less susceptible to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis, whereas Yoda1 treatment aggravated colitis. Mechanistically, we found that Piezo1 activation promotes aerobic glycolysis through the Ca2+-induced CaMKII-HIF1α axis. Therefore, our study revealed that Piezo1-mediated mechanosensitive signals Piezo1 can enhance aerobic glycolysis and promote the LPS-induced immune response in macrophages.

Wheel and rail wear seriously affects the safety and reliability of train operations. In this study single-carriage and double-carriage models considering the connecting unit of a high-speed train are developed to investigate the normal forces, lateral forces, and lateral displacements of wheelsets. Based on the results from these models, the Archard wear model is employed to predict the wheel wear. In addition, based on the daily measured data, a nonlinear autoregulatory (NAR) model and a wavelet neural network (WNN) model are developed to predict the wheel wear over a longer time period. The simulation results show that, compared with the single-carriage model, the normal forces, lateral forces, and lateral displacements of the wheelsets close to the connecting unit in the double-carriage model increase to a certain extent dependent on the speed. The wheel wear predictions show that the wheel wear on the wheelsets near the connecting unit is slightly larger than on the wheelsets far from the connecting unit. Based on the mean square error, the NAR model has somewhat better performance in the wheel wear prediction than the WNN model. The research results represent an important contribution to the maintenance and safe operation of high-speed trains.

Atmospheric ducts are special super-refractive atmospheric structures that can cause over-the-horizon propagation of electromagnetic waves. Different types of atmospheric ducts have different influences on electromagnetic wave propagation. Owing to the complex marine atmospheric environment, different types of atmospheric ducts often occur together. When evaluating the performance of an electromagnetic system near the sea surface, the combined influence of various atmospheric ducts should be considered comprehensively. In this paper, the statistical distribution of atmospheric ducts over the northern South China Sea is analyzed using sounding data and reanalysis data. This paper uses the parabolic equation model to analyze the propagation characteristics of microwaves near the sea surface in the presence of both surface and evaporation ducts. It is found that compared with cases where only one type of atmospheric duct is considered, a hybrid atmospheric duct structure can capture more microwave energy at a lower receiving height. At an antenna height of 5 m, the path loss begins to fluctuate beyond a propagation distance of 50 km, with the maximum fluctuation reaching about 15 dB. Microwave propagation characteristics at different microwave frequencies and antenna heights are also simulated and analyzed.

Liquid rocket engines with hydrogen peroxide and kerosene have the advantages of high density specific impulse, high reliability, and no ignition system. At present, the cooling problem of hydrogen peroxide engines, especially with regenerative cooling, has been little explored. In this study, a realizable k-epsilon turbulence model, discrete phase model, eddy dissipation concept model, and 10-step 10-component reaction mechanism of kerosene with oxygen are used. The increased rib height of the regenerative cooling channel causes the inner wall temperature of the engine increases, the average temperature of the coolant outlet decreases slightly, and the coolant pressure decreases. The overall wall temperature decreases as the rib width of the regenerative cooling channel increases. However, in the nozzle throat area, the wall temperature increases, the average coolant outlet temperature decreases, and the coolant pressure drop increases. A decrease in the inner wall thickness of the regenerative cooling channel results in a significant decrease in the wall temperature and a small increase in the average coolant outlet temperature. These findings contribute to the further development of the engine with hydrogen peroxide and can guide the design of its regenerative cooling process.

In order to explore the distribution of cyanobacteria in paddy soil under different ecological conditions, the composition, diversity, and environmental drivers of soil cyanobacteria communities in rice fields from six regions of Jilin Province (China) were investigated. The results showed that the 16S amplicon high-throughput sequence detected the existence of cyanobacteria of 16 phyla, 33 orders, 60 families, and 113 genera in the soil of rice fields in Jilin Province. The dominant cyanobacteria populations in Jilin Province paddy soils comprised Cyanobium_PCC-6307, Synechocystis_PCC-6803, Planktothrix_NIVA-CYA_15, and Nodosilinea_PCC-7104. Each soil sample included a significant proportion of nitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacteria Anabaena and Nostoc according to microscopic analysis. The structural properties and diversity of cyanobacteria communities differed by geography, with soil pH and SOC being the main environmental drivers of cyanobacteria community structure. The alkaline soils S1, S2, and S5 displayed greater diversity than the acidic soils S3, S4, and S6, with S5 displaying the greatest cyanobacteria diversity. This research has crucial implications for developing and utilizing local cyanobacteria resources.

For transient mixed Elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) problems, a novel solution is required to predict friction loss and wear in sliding or rolling parts. However, existing solutions have numerous limitations. In general, the lower the oil film thickness is, the more serious the non-linear problem is. This paper presents an efficient solution to tackle the non-linearity of the mixed EHL problem. The elastic deformation in the fluid–solid iteration coupling problem is divided into two parts: One is induced by the hydrodynamic pressure. This part of the deformation is obtained by the unsteady EHL-FBNS (Fischer–Burmeister–Newton–Schur) solver by considering both mass-conserving cavitation and elastic deformation. The other part of the deformation is introduced by the asperity contact pressure. It can be obtained by the Newton–Raphson method. After some limited iterations, the mixed EHL problems can be solved by evaluating the residual total pressure (including hydrodynamic pressure and asperity contact pressure). The proposed methodology was validated against the results from the published literature and applied to characterize the tribological performance of point contact with moving texturing. It appears that the developed method can be effectively used for tracking the tribological behavior of friction pairs.

Pre-service student teachers (PSSTs) should improve their metacognition in order to support their long-term development in their future complex teaching and learning lives. Although previous studies have explored the role of metacognition in learners' learning effectiveness, the interrelationships pattern of metacognition elements in the process of metacognition and the metacognition characteristics of different genders and learning performance groups still remain unclear. This study clarified the intrinsic structure of metacognition, and gender and learning performance differences among PSSTs in an online learning community. We collected 33 PSSTs' self-reported reflection data on six learning topics. A total of 1,188 reflection paragraphs were coded and 2,335 metacognitive utterances were presented based on the metacognition model. Subsequently, this study identified metacognitive components among different groups of PSSTs by comparing epistemic networks of self-reported reflections via epistemic network analysis. Results show that metacognitive components of PSSTs in an online learning community were mainly metacognitive experiences (36.32%) and actions (or strategies) (28.01%). Female PSSTs used metacognitive knowledge (21.4%) and goals (or tasks) (15.8%) more frequently, and the relationship between their metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) was closer compared with male PSSTs. Specifically, the ENA results showed that the associations between metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) (connection coefficient: 0.24) of females were stronger than those of males. In addition, the high learning performance group used metacognitive knowledge (18.7%) and goals (or tasks) (15.9%) more frequently, and they also had a closer connection between metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) compared with the high learning performance group. Specifically, the ENA results showed that compared with the low learning performance PSSTs, high learning performance PSSTs' metacognitive knowledge and goals (or tasks) had a higher connection coefficient (0.32). The findings provide broad and important implications for analyzing metacognition of PSSTs in the network environment, and provide new evidence for metacognition differences between different groups (gender and learning performance).

Actinobacteria able to produce varieties of bioactive natural products have been long appreciated by the field of drug discovery and development. Recently, a few of CRISPR/Cas9 systems bearing different types of replicons (pSG5 and pIJ101) were developed to efficiently edit their genomes. Despite wide application in gene editing, their utility in editing challenging DNA regions e.g. high sequence identity has not been compared. In this study, we confirmed that the widely used temperature-sensitive pSG5 replicon is indeed not suitable for editing modular polyketide synthase (PKS) genes due to causing unpredicted gene recombination. This problem can be addressed by replacing the pSG5 with the segregationally unstable pIJ101 replicon. By introducing a counter-selection marker CodA, convenient cloning sites in the single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) and homologous template scaffolds, we developed a new CRISPR-Cas9 system pMWCas9. This system was successfully used to delete/replace erythromycin PKS and other biosynthetic genes in Saccharopolyspora erythraea and Streptomyces sp. AL2110. By swapping the promoters of antB and antC with ermE and kasOp, we achieved a deacyl-antimycin hyper producer which produces a 9-fold higher yield than the original Streptomyces sp. AL2110 strain. Our results provide a robust and useful Cas9 tool for genetic studies in Actinobacteria. Keywords: Biosynthesis, Polyketide synthase, CRISPR/Cas9, Antimycin, Actinobacteria

The maximum wavelength describes trapping features when considering electromagnetic wave propagation in an evaporation duct. However, the results vary between the existing methods used to calculate the maximum wavelength in an evaporation duct. Hence, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the maximum wavelength of electromagnetic propagation in an evaporation duct. First, the existing methods are introduced and the differences between these methods are discussed. Second, the frequency responses from 1 to 20 GHz of the evaporation duct channel are analyzed. The trapping features of different evaporation duct channels are investigated. Based on the frequency responses, the existing methods are compared and evaluated. Finally, the frequency response of the evaporation duct channel was measured in the South China Sea along a 149-km-long propagation path in 2014. The data collected in the experiment are used to verify the conclusion. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the Kerr's method and Kukushkin's method do not represent the cutoff conditions for electromagnetic propagation, while Brekhovskikh's method and Hall's method can calculate the maximum wavelength in an evaporation duct. The recommended value k for using the Turton's method is also given.

Evaporation duct is a layer above the ocean surface due to the inherent humidity inversion at the air-sea boundary layer. The formation of the duct depends on meteorological factors near the ocean surface and is affected by weather process above the ocean. The presence of this duct can have profound effects on over-water electromagnetic propagation at microwave bands. However, the information on evaporation duct features during the period of typhoon is limited. Here we show the impact of a typhoon on evaporation duct using the typhoon Parpiroon occurred in 2012 as an example. It is very interesting to find that there is an “evaporation duct eye” with very low evaporation duct height in the eye of typhoon. The trajectory of the typhoon center is almost consistent with that of the evaporation duct height minimum center during the typhoon Parpiroon. This is also confirmed by 19 more typhoons over northwest Pacific Ocean in 2018. Furthermore, we found that the low wind speed in the typhoon center is the primary cause of this interesting phenomenon. Our results demonstrate the characteristics of evaporation duct distribution during the typhoon process and illustrate the correlation between typhoon trajectory and evaporation duct height minimum center trajectory.

The evaporation duct (ED) is generated by the evaporation of seawater and can be an influential factor of electromagnetic (EM)-wave propagation. Rainfall also affects atmospheric factors and EM-wave propagation. However, the distribution of the ED and path loss (PL) during rainfall has rarely been reported. This paper analyzes the distribution of the atmospheric factors and ED in the South China Sea (SCS). The results show that the evaporation duct height (EDH) in the area of rainfall is generally lower. The effect of the ED on the over-the-horizon (OTH) propagation reaches 0.69 dB km−1 on average, which is 4.3 times stronger than the maximum rain attenuation (0.16 dB km−1) when the rainfall is less than 5 mm h−1. In the SCS, a 53 km long OTH link was established between Donghai Island and Jizhao Bay to observe the PL. The measurement results show that the nearly saturated relative humidity (RH) leads to a high PL. The results also show that the change in the direction of the sea–land breeze causes a 42.4 dB decrease of PL by transferring the moist patches. Rainfall has an attenuation effect on OTH propagation in ED, mainly owing to the high RH.

Temperature sensitivity (Q10) is important to reveal carbon decomposition responding to climate change. It’s remains limited to understand how Q10 of anaerobic soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition is regulated by soil property in various wetlands with distinct hydrological characteristics. In the present study, samples of soil at the depths of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm were collected in three typical Phragmites australis marshes, including a freshwater marsh (FPa), a no-tidal salt marsh (NTPa) and a tidal salt marsh (TPa), in the Yellow River estuary. The soil samples were incubated at 10 °C, 20 °C and 30 °C, respectively, to determine the rates of anaerobic CO2 production, Q10 values, and their relations to soil properties. Over 70-d incubation, temperature rise significantly increased the mean rates by 70%–136% (from 10 °C to 20 °C) and 64%–142% (from 20 °C to 30 °C) among the marshes, with the mean Q10 values ranging from 1.61 to 2.66. The rates of CO2 production and Q10 values were significantly affected by wetland type and soil depth. Among marshes, the Q10 of the FPa and NTPa soils was higher than that of the TPa soil (for 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm but for 20–30 cm); along soil depths, the Q10 of the top soil was higher than that of the subsoil (for FPa and NTPa but for TPa). Q10 was affected by total organic carbon (TOC), salinity and pH, and the effects were different with marshes. TOC was a main factor regulating Q10 for the freshwater and the no-tidal salt marshes, while salinity and pH were main factors for the tidal salt marsh. The findings highlight an interactive mechanism of soil property and tidal underlying the response of SOM decomposition to temperature change in estuarine wetlands.

Porous graphene (PG) prepared from reduction and KOH activation of graphene oxide was heat-treated under argon atmosphere to obtain a partially graphitized porous carbon with high oxidation resistance. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and N2 adsorption isotherms (77 K) clearly illustrate the structural ordering and porosity change of PG under heat treatment. Pitch-based activated carbon fiber (ACF) was studied for comparison. PG is more graphitizable than ACF under heat treatment because it consists of highly flexible graphene units of larger size than those in ACF. Thermogravimetric studies indicate that heat treatment enhances more the thermal stability of PG than ACF, and metal-loading has a less detrimental effect on the thermal stability of heat-treated PG than heat-treated ACF and other reported carbon supports. Heat-treated PG shows great superiority to other carbon supports due to its both splendid oxidation resistance and high surface area. This study provides a promising route for the preparation of carbon-based catalyst supports for mild oxidative environments.

Cancer immunotherapy by immune checkpoint blockade has been effective in the treatment of certain tumors. However, the association between immune checkpoints and autoimmune diseases remains elusive and requires urgent investigation. Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), characterized by reduced platelet count and a consequent increased risk of bleeding, is an autoimmune disorder with a hyper-activated T cell response. Here, we investigated the contribution of immune checkpoint-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including CD28, ICOS, PD1, TNFSF4, DNAM1, TIM3, CTLA4, and LAG3 to the susceptibility and therapeutic effects of ITP. In this case-control study, 307 ITP patients and 295 age-matched healthy participants were recruited. We used the MassARRAY system for genotyping immune checkpoint-related SNPs. Our results revealed that rs1980422 in CD28 was associated with an increased risk of ITP after false discovery rate correction (codominant, CT vs. TT, OR = 1.788, 95% CI = 1.178–2.713, p = 0.006). In addition, CD28 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was significantly higher in patients with CT than in those with the TT genotype (p = 0.028 and p = 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the T allele of PD1 rs36084323 was a risk factor for ITP severity and the T allele of DNAM1 rs763361 for corticosteroid-resistance. In contrast, the T allele of LAG3 rs870849 was a protective factor for ITP severity, and the T allele of ICOS rs6726035 was protective against corticosteroid-resistance. The TT/CT genotypes of PD1 rs36084323 also showed an 8.889-fold increase in the risk of developing refractory ITP. This study indicates that immune checkpoint-related SNPs, especially CD28 rs1980422, may be genetic factors associated with the development and treatment of ITP patients. Our results shed new light on prognosis prediction, disease severity, and discovering new therapeutic targets.

Various textures are fabricated by a picosecond laser machine on the surfaces of circular stainless steel specimens. Vibrational and tribological effects of laser surface textures are investigated by means of a tribometer and a data acquisition and signal processing (DASP) system. Experimental results show that surface textures can reduce the coefficients of friction (COFs), enhance the wear resistance, and improve the dynamical performance of frictional surfaces. In this study, the surface with micro circular dimples in diameter of 150 μm or textured area density of 25% has the best tribological and dynamical performance. Compared with the non-textured surface, the surface with circular dimples in diameter of 150 μm and 15% textured area density has 27% reduction of COFs, 95% reduction of frictional vibrations, and 66% reduction of frictional noise. The frictional vibrations and noise in the sliding contacts can be effectively reduced by adding graphene to the lubrication oil, and the surface textures enhance the frictional noise reduction performance of lubrication.

Winter wheat cultivar ‘Jagger’ was recently found to have an alien chromosomal segment 2NS that has Lr37, a gene conferring resistance against leaf rust caused by Puccinia triticina. The objective of this study was to map and characterize the gene(s) for seedling leaf rust resistance in Jagger. The recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of Jagger × ‘2174’ was inoculated with leaf rust pathogen THBJG and BBBDB, and evaluated for infection type (IT) response. A major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for THBJG and BBBDB was coincidently mapped to chromosome arm 2AS, and the QTL accounted for 56.6–66.2% of total phenotypic variation in infection type (IT) response to THBJG, and 72.1–86.9% to BBBDB. The causal gene for resistance to these rust races was mapped to the 2NS segment in Jagger. The 2NS segment was located in a region of approximately 27.8 Mb starting from the telomere of chromosome arm 2AS, based on the sequences of the A genome in tetraploid wheat. The Lr17a gene on chromosome arm 2AS was delimited to 3.1 Mb in the genomic region, which was orthologous to the 2NS segment. Therefore, the Lr37 gene in the 2NS segment can be pyramided with other effective resistance genes, rather than Lr17a in wheat, to improve resistance to rust diseases.

Allelic diversity in the wild grass Aegilops tauschii is vastly greater than that in the D genome of common wheat (Triticum aestivum), of which Ae. tauschii is the source. Since the 1980s, there have been numerous efforts to harness a much larger share of Ae. tauschii's extensive and highly variable gene pool for wheat improvement. Those efforts have followed two distinct approaches: production of amphiploids, known as “synthetic hexaploids,” between T. turgidum and Ae. tauschii, and direct hybridization between T. aestivum and Ae. tauschii; both approaches then involve backcrossing to T. aestivum. Both synthetic hexaploid production and direct hybridization have led to the transfer of numerous new genes into common wheat that confer improvements in many traits. This work has led to release of improved cultivars in China, the United States, and many other countries. Each approach to D-genome improvement has advantages and disadvantages. For example, production of synthetic hexaploids can incorporate useful germplasm from both T. turgidum and Ae. tauschii, thereby enhancing the A, B, and D genomes; on the other hand, direct hybridization rapidly restores the recurrent parent's A and B genomes and avoids incorporation of genes with adverse effects on threshability, hybrid necrosis, vernalization response, milling and baking quality, and other traits, which are often transferred when T. turgidum is used as a parent. Choice of method will depend in part on the type of wheat being developed and the target environment. However, more extensive use of the so-far underexploited direct hybridization approach is especially warranted.

Pair programming (PP) can help improve students' computational thinking (CT), but the trajectory of CT skills and the differences between high-scoring and low-scoring students in PP are unknown and need further exploration. In this study, a total of 32 fifth graders worked on Scratch tasks in 16 pairs. The group discourse of three learning topics (comprising 9 projects) was collected. After the audio files were transcribed, 1,303 conversations were obtained. They were analyzed via Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) Webkit, which can reveal the trajectory of students' CT development via analyzing codes of discourse related to CT in PP. Three Scratch learning topics were assessed based on the Dr. Scratch platform to acquire the level of students' CT and to determine the low- and high-scoring groups. Results indicated that CT concepts and CT practices were always closely related in PP and CT practices, and CT perspectives could be gradually and closely related after a long period of CT training. A significant difference between the two groups' CT structures was found. The high-scoring group had more fragments of CT practice and connecting of CT perspectives, while the low-scoring group showed more fragments of CT concepts and expressing of CT perspectives. This research provides insights into cultivating primary school students' CT using Scratch in the context of PP. The findings can provide suggestions for instructors to design instructional interventions to facilitate students' CT skills via PP learning. Instructors can improve CT skills by guiding students to constantly ask questions, and specifying the role swap between driver and navigator in PP. Besides, instructors could give more consideration to the development of CT perspectives, and especially the ability to question.

In graph theory, Hamiltonian path refers to the path that visits each vertex exactly once. In this paper, we designed a method to generate random Hamiltonian path within digital images, which is equivalent to permutation in image encryption. By these means, building a Hamiltonian path across bit planes can shuffle the distribution of the pixel’s bits. Furthermore, a similar thought can be applied for the substitution of pixel’s grey levels. To ensure the randomness of the generated Hamiltonian path, an adjusted Bernoulli map is proposed. By adopting these novel techniques, a bit-level image encryption scheme was devised. Evaluation of simulation results proves that the proposed scheme reached fair performance. In addition, a common flaw in calculating correlation coefficients of adjacent pixels was pinpointed by us. After enhancement, correlation coefficient becomes a stricter criterion for image encryption algorithms.

The uvrB gene belongs to the SOS network, encoding a key component of the nucleotide excision repair. The uvrB promoter region contains three identified promoters with four LexA binding sites, one consensus and six potential DnaA binding sites. A more than threefold increase in transcription of the chromosomal uvrB gene is observed in both the ΔlexA ΔsulA cells and dnaAA345S cells, and a fivefold increase in the ΔlexA ΔsulA dnaAA345S cells relative to the wild-type cells. The full activity of the uvrB promoter region requires both the uvrBp1-2 and uvrBp3 promoters and is repressed by both the DnaA and LexA proteins. LexA binds tightly to LexA-box1 at the uvrBp1-2 promoter irrespective of the presence of DnaA and this binding is important for the control of the uvrBp1-2 promoter. DnaA and LexA, however, compete for binding to and regulation of the uvrBp3 promoter in which the DnaA-box6 overlaps with LexA-box4. The transcription control of uvrBp3 largely depends on DnaA-box6. Transcription of other SOS regulon genes, such as recN and dinJ, is also repressed by both DnaA and LexA. Interestingly, the absence of LexA in the presence of the DnaAA345S mutant leads to production of elongated cells with incomplete replication, aberrant nucleoids and slow growth. We propose that DnaA is a modulator for maintenance of genome integrity during the SOS response by limiting the expression of the SOS regulon.

Traditionally, rockburst is considered as a dynamic phenomenon of sudden destruction of coal/rock mass. In this study, rockburst is treated as an event process rather than a phenomenon. This paper introduces typical rockburst process, its classification, mechanism of internal and external causes, and energy criterion. Analysis indicates that rockburst is a dynamic process that includes three sequential phases: burst start-up, burst energy transfer, and rockburst pressure behavior. Excessive static stress concentration in the strata nearby the target zone appears to be the internal cause of rockburst start-up, while the external cause is the disturbance of the static stress concentration and additional load transfer by the concentrated dynamic load occurred at further distance. Potential burst start-up area is the highest stress concentration zone within the region where stress is in the critical equilibrium state. With the identified internal and external factors that contribute to rockburst start-up, it is concluded that the rockburst preventive measures should focus on the monitoring and controlling of originating source of static and dynamic stress concentrations. Field practice proves that the reunderstanding of rockburst and the derived preventive measures are feasible and successful.

An acoustic radiation model of a cavity with a flexible plate treated with constrained layer damping (CLD) is developed by a combination of finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM). An acoustic topology optimization model is established with the objective of minimizing sound radiation power at specific modal frequency and design variables defined as locations of CLD treatments. The evolutionary structural optimization (ESO) method and genetic algorithm (GA) are employed to search optimal CLD configurations. Sound power sensitivity for CLD/plate is derived to determine search direction in ESO optimization procedure. The optimal CLD layouts for the flexible plate with two different boundary conditions are obtained and analyzed. Computational time, optimal layouts, and minimum sound power obtained using ESO and GA are compared. The results demonstrate effectiveness of the two methods, and ESO is more efficient to obtain deterministic and more practical optimal CLD material layouts for minimizing sound radiation power. The influences of CLD materials thickness and exciting force locations on optimal results obtained using ESO are discussed in detail. It is shown that the optimal rejection ratio varies with thicknesses of CLD materials and distribution of normal velocity of the flexible plate. Variation trend of the optimal rejection ratio is opposite for the two boundary conditions.

Preeclampsia is a multi-system disorder involved in pregnancy without an effective treatment except delivery. The precise pathogenesis of this complicated disorder is still not completely understood. The objective of this study is to evaluate the alterations of protein expression and phosphorylations that are important in regulating placental cell function in preterm and term preeclampsia. Using the Protein Pathway Array, 38 proteins in placental tissues were found to be differentially expressed between preterm preeclampsia and gestational age matched control, while 25 proteins were found to be expressed differentially between term preeclampsia and matched controls. Among these proteins, 16 proteins and their associated signaling pathways overlapped between preterm and term preeclampsia, suggesting the common pathogenesis of two subsets of disease. On the other hand, many proteins are uniquely altered in either preterm or term preeclampsia and correlated with severity of clinical symptoms and outcomes, therefore, providing molecular basis for these two subsets of preeclampsia. Furthermore, the expression levels of some of these proteins correlated with neonatal small for gestational age (PAI-1 and PAPP-A) and adverse outcomes (Flt-1) in women with preterm preeclampsia. These proteins could potentially be used as candidate biomarkers for predicting outcomes of preeclampsia.

The ability of seed to germinate under favorable environmental conditions is critical for seedling emergence, plant establishment, subsequent development and growth of adult plants, and it is controlled by internal genetic factors and external environmental factors. Winter wheat in the southern Great Plains is often planted six weeks before the optimal planting date to produce more biomass for cattle grazing during the winter season. A high seed germination rate in this higher soil temperature environment is required for this specific management system. In this study, a major QTL for temperature-sensitive germination was mapped on the short arm of chromosome 3A (QTsg.osu-3A) in a RIL population generated from two winter wheat cultivars. Furthermore, TaMFT-A1, previously reported to regulate seed dormancy and pre-harvest sprouting in spring wheat cultivars, was mapped tightly associated with the peak of QTsg.osu-3A. However, allelic variation in TaMFT-A1 between the two winter wheat cultivars differed from that was observed in spring wheat cultivars. There were 87 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and 12 indels (insertions/deletions) in TaMFT-A1 between the Jagger allele for high germination and the 2174 allele for low germination in the after-ripened seeds, in comparison with 2 SNPs between the two alleles for differential pre-harvest sprouting in spring wheat cultivars. The Jagger TaMFT-A1 allele is a novel haplotype and appears extensively in winter wheat cultivars. TaMFT-A1 transcript levels were up-regulated by high temperature but down-regulated by low temperature or seed storage time. These findings suggest that TaMFT-A1 may invoke different mechanisms for controlling seed dormancy/germination among winter wheat cultivars.