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Abstract Fish sex is largely influenced by steroid hormones, especially sex hormones. Here, we established a steroid hormone-free genetic model by mutation of cyp11a1 in Nile tilapia, which was confirmed by EIA assay. Gonadal phenotype and transcriptome analyses showed that the XX mutants displayed sex reversal from female to male but with defective spermatogenesis. Despite the sex reversal, the aromatase encoding gene cyp19a1a was continuously expressed in the gonads of the XX mutants, which might be caused by androgen deficiency. Whole-mount fluorescence in situ hybridization and transcriptome analysis showed that the gonads of the XX mutants firstly developed towards ovary but shifted to testis between 10 to 15 days after hatching. Detailed expression analysis of key sex differentiation pathway genes foxl3 and dmrt1 combined with apoptosis analysis revealed transdifferentiation of germ cells from female to male during sex reversal. Rescue experiments showed that both P5 and E2 treatment rescued the sex reversal of cyp11a1 mutant XX fish. Overall, our results revealed a transient ovary-like stage and transdifferentiation of germ cells from female to male in the early gonads of the steroid hormone-deprived cyp11a1 mutant XX fish.

We presented a novel deep generative clustering model called Variational Deep Embedding based on Pairwise constraints and the Von Mises-Fisher mixture model (VDEPV). VDEPV consists of fully connected neural networks capable of learning latent representations from raw data and accurately predicting cluster assignments. Under the assumption of a genuinely non-informative prior, VDEPV adopted a von Mises-Fisher mixture model to depict the hyperspherical interpretation of the data. We defined and established pairwise constraints by employing a random sample mining strategy and applying data augmentation techniques. These constraints enhanced the compactness of intra-cluster samples in the spherical embedding space while improving inter-cluster samples' separability. By minimizing Kullback-Leibler divergence, we formulated a clustering loss function based on pairwise constraints, which regularized the joint probability distribution of latent variables and cluster labels. Comparative experiments with other deep clustering methods demonstrated the excellent performance of VDEPV.

The rodent gut microbiota is a known reservoir of antimicrobial resistance, yet the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within rodent cecal microbial communities and the specific bacterial species harboring these ARGs remain largely underexplored. This study employed high-throughput sequencing of 122 samples from five distinct rodent species to comprehensively profile the diversity and distribution of ARGs and to identify the bacterial hosts of these genes. A gene catalog of the rodent cecal microbiome was constructed, comprising 22,757,369 non-redundant genes. Analysis of the microbial composition and diversity revealed that Bacillota and Bacteroidota were the dominant bacterial phyla across different rodent species, with significant variations in species composition among the rodents. In total, 3703 putative antimicrobial resistance protein-coding genes were identified, corresponding to 392 unique ARG types classified into 32 resistance classes. The most enriched ARGs in the rodent cecal microbiome were associated with multidrug resistance, followed by glycopeptide and elfamycin antibiotics. Procrustes analysis demonstrated a correlation between the structure of the microbial community and the resistome. Metagenomic assembly-based host tracking indicated that most ARG-carrying contigs originated from the bacterial family Oscillospiraceae. Additionally, 130 ARGs showed significant correlations with mobile genetic elements. These findings provide new insights into the cecal microbiota and the prevalence of ARGs across five rodent species. Future research on a wider range of wild rodent species carrying ARGs will further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the transmission of antimicrobial resistance.

BackgroundArsenic is a human carcinogen. Arsenic and its metabolites affect the expression of p53, but whether there are any changes of p53 phosphorylation and ubiquitination levels in human bronchial epithelium cells (BEAS-2B) are not clear after exposure to arsenic and its metabolites. ObjectiveTo study the effects of arsenic and its metabolites monomethylarsic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) on the expression of tumor suppressor gene p53 in BEAS-2B cells. MethodsDifferent concentrations of sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) were used to infect BEAS-2B cells, and the cell viability was detected with CCK-8 reagent to determine the dose and time of NaAsO2 used for the following study. Based on the results of cell viability, the cells were divided into two panels: a sodium arsenide panel and an arsenic methylation metabolite penal. The doses of sodium arsenite were 0, 2, 4, and 6 μmol·L−1 NaAsO2; the arsenic methylation metabolite panel consisted of 0 μmol·L−1 NaAsO2 group (control), 6 μmol· L−1 MMA group, 6 μmol· L−1 DMA group， and 6 μmol· L−1 NaAsO2 group. The cells were collected after 48 h treatment, and the total protein and total RNA were extracted. The relative levels of p53 mRNA expression were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), the relative expression levels of p53 protein, p53 Ser9 and Ser15 phosphorylated proteins were determined by Western blot, and the level of p53 ubiquitination was detected by co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP). ResultsCompared with the control group, the cell viability rates in all BEAS-2B cells treated by NaAsO2 were significantly reduced (P

IntroductionEnterocytozoon bieneusi is one of the most important zoonotic pathogens, responsible for nearly 90% of human infections. Its host spectrum is broad in China, encompassing humans, non-human primates, domestic animals, wildlife, and wastewater. Wild rodents have the potential to act as carriers of E. bieneusi, facilitating the parasite’s transmission to humans and domestic animals.MethodsThe present study involved the collection of 344 wild rodents, representing nine species, from three provinces in China. The prevalence and genotypes of E. bieneusi were determined through amplification of the ITS gene. Evolutionary analysis was conducted using Mega 5.0 with the neighbor-joining method (Kimura 2-parameter model, 1,000 replicates).ResultsAmong the sampled wild rodents, 41 (11.92%) were tested positive for E. bieneusi. Rattus flavipectus exhibited the highest prevalence (11/39), while Bandicota indica and Rattus rattus sladeni showed no infections (0/39 and 0/5, respectively), highlighting significant differences. Environmental factors strongly influenced E. bieneusi infection; rodents residing in lake beaches (10.27%, 15/146) and fields (19.95%, 18/95) were more susceptible compared to those in mountainous areas (7.77%, 8/103). The study identified four known genotypes (D, Type IV, SDD5, PigEBITS7) and five novel genotypes (HNRV-1 to HNRV-3, GXRL-1, GXRL-2) in the investigated wild rodents, with Genotype D exhibiting the highest prevalence.DiscussionRemarkably, this study reports the presence of E. bieneusi, R. flavipectus, M. fortis, A. agrarius, R. losea, and N. lotipes for the first time. These findings underscore the common occurrence of E. bieneusi infection in wild rodents in China, highlighting its diverse nature and significant potential for zoonotic transmission. Hence, it is imperative to conduct a comprehensive epidemiological investigation of rodent infection with E. bieneusi, particularly focusing on wild rodents that are closely associated with humans. Additionally, developing appropriate measures and monitoring strategies to minimize the risk of infection is essential.

Optically spatial displacement and material modification hold great potential for the appealing applications in nanofabrication and reconfiguration of functional optical devices. Here, we propose and demonstrate a scheme to achieve simultaneous deformation and phase change in vanadium dioxide (VO2)/Si3N4/Au hybrid nanostructures by laser stimuli. Low triggering threshold and significant deformation characteristics of VO2, based on controllable phase transition, are demonstrated in microscale cantilevers. The plasmonic properties of the nanostructure array are further utilized to achieve a polarization-selective dynamic response. The persistence of deformation and dynamical optical modulation are further demonstrated. Such high-precision fabrication methods and non-contact reconfiguration methods are useful for future applications in dynamic optical manipulation.

IntroductionBlastocystis is one of the most critical intestinal protozoans in various hosts, including humans and mice. To determine the status of Blastocystis infection in wild rodents in China.MethodsA total of 344 faecal samples were collected from seven wild rodent species from three provinces, and the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genes of Blastocystis were amplified to determine their prevalence and subtypes.ResultsOf the 344 samples, 54 (15.70%) were detected as Blastocystis-positive. The prevalence of Blastocystis was 26.14% (40/153), 7.95% (7/88), and 6.80% (7/103) in wild rodents from Hunan Province, Yunnan Province, and Guangxi Province, respectively. The prevalence of Blastocystis in different wild rodent species varied from 0.00% (0/13) in Mus musculus to 40.00% (2/5) in Rattus rattus sladeni. The prevalence of Blastocystis in samples from the lake beach area (27.40%, 40/146) was significantly higher than in those from the mountain (6.80%, 7/103) and field regions (7.37%, 7/95). The prevalence in different seasons was 26.14% in summer (40/153), 7.95% in autumn (7/88), and 6.80% in winter (7/103). Moreover, a total of two Blastocystis subtypes were identified in the investigated wild rodents, including ST4 and ST5.DiscussionThe present study discovered the existence of Blastocystis infection in Rattus favipectus, Microtus fortis, Apodemus agrarius, Bandicota indica, Rattus rattus sladeni, and Rattus losea, expanding the host range of this parasite. The findings also demonstrate that wild rodents may be an important potential infection source for Blastocystis infection in humans and other animals.

Abstract Background Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that can infect a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including humans. It poses significant health risks, particularly in immunocompromised individuals and during pregnancy, leading to severe disease manifestations. The liver, being a crucial organ involved in immune response and metabolic regulation, plays a critical role in the host's defense against T. gondii infection. Methods In this study, we utilized RNA sequencing to investigate the expression profiles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in the liver of mice infected with T. gondii. By employing this method, we obtained a comprehensive overview of the alterations in gene expression occurring in the liver during infection. Results By comparing the infected groups to the control groups, we identified numerous differentially expressed lncRNAs DElncRNAs and DEmRNAs at two stages of infection. Specifically, at the acute infection stage, we found 628 DElncRNAs, and 6346 DEmRNAs. At the chronic infection stage, we identified 385 DElncRNAs and 2513 DEmRNAs. Furthermore, we identified 1959 commonly expressed DEmRNAs, including IL27, Nos2, and Cxcr2, across two infection stages. Enrichment and co-location analyses revealed pathways linked to immune and inflammatory responses during T. gondii infection. Notably, through co-location analysis, our analysis revealed several DElncRNAs, including Gm29156, Gm29157, and Gm28644, which are potentially implicated in the progression of liver inflammation induced by T. gondii. Additionally, functional enrichment analysis disclosed stage-specific characteristics of liver inflammation and immune response, alongside changes in metabolic regulation and immunosuppression pathways. Conclusions Our findings provide valuable insights into the expression patterns of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the liver at different stages of T. gondii infection. We identified potential regulatory factors and pathways implicated in liver inflammation, thereby enhancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying liver inflammation and immune responses during T. gondii infection. These findings could contribute to the development of targeted therapeutic strategies for liver inflammation in the context of T. gondii infection. Graphical Abstract

The development of high-resolution and large field of view remote-sensing cameras is inextricably linked to the application of free-form mirrors. The free-form mirror offers higher design of freedom and is more effective at correcting aberrations in optical systems. The surface shape error of a free-form mirror directly affects the imaging quality of remote-sensing cameras. Consequently, a high-precision free-form mirror detection method is of paramount importance. For the convex free-form surface mirror with a large aperture, a hybrid refractive and diffractive testing method combining computer-generated holography (CGH) and spherical mirrors for high-precision null test is proposed in this paper. When comparing the effect of error and the detection sensitivity of different designs, the results showed that the influence of the system error is reduced by about 42% and the sensitivity is increased by more than 2.6 times. The proposed method can achieve higher testing accuracy and represents an effective and feasible approach for the surface shape detection method.

Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE) and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) are pivotal ecological indicators. Clarifying whether they change synergistically can aid in understanding how terrestrial ecosystems adapt to climate and environmental changes. Utilizing meteorological and remote sensing data, our study assessed the spatial and temporal patterns of CUE and WUE in terrestrial ecosystems within the Huai River Basin from 2001 to 2020. Our findings revealed multi-year annual averages of 0.43 and 0.82 gC kg−1H2O for CUE and WUE, respectively. While CUE showed a significant increasing trend (P 0.05). The primary drivers behind temporal variations in these efficiencies included leaf area index (LAI), temperature, and soil moisture. In 77.96 % of the basin area, CUE and WUE exhibit synergistic changes. LAI was the predominant factor affecting both CUE and WUE, and dual-factor interactions amplify their influence. These insights enhance our understanding of regional carbon and water cycles and offer valuable guidance for the refinement of ecological conservation strategies.

This study investigated the structure of Pleurocinus ostreatus polysaccharide (POP-1) and its effect on immunocompromised mice induced by cyclophosphamide (CY). Novel POP-1 was α- and β-glucopyranose, its molecular weight was 4.78 × 104 Da, it was mainly composed of glucose (88.9%), and it also contained galactose (2.97%), mannose (5.02%), fucose (0.3%), arabinose (0.21%), ribose (0.04%), galactose acid (0.17%), and glucose acid (1.45%). After POP-1 was administered to immunosuppressed mice, results showed that POP-1 increased the body weight, spleen, and thymus index and enhanced T lymphocyte proliferation in mice. POP-1 up-regulated the expression of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ lymphocytes and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ in the mouse spleen to increase immunoglobulin (IgM, IgG, and IgA) and secrete cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) through activation of the JAK/STAT1 signaling pathway. Moreover, POP-1 remarkably reversed the gut-microbiota dysbiosis in immunosuppressed mice by increasing the abundance of Muribaculaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Blautia, and Ligilactobacillus and altered the fecal metabolites by increasing hexahomomethionine, DG(8:0/20:4(5Z, 8Z, 11Z, 14Z)-OH(20)/0:0, 2-((3-aminopyridin-2-yl)methylene)hydrazinecarbothioamide, Ginkgoic acid, and carboxy-ethyl-hydroxychroman, which is closely related to the immunity function. This study indicates that P. ostreatus polysaccharide effectively restores immunosuppressive activity and can be a functional ingredient in food and pharmaceutical products.

Abstract The increase in the aging population has seriously affected our society. Neurodegenerative diseases caused by aging of the brain significantly impact the normal life of the elderly, and delaying brain aging is currently the focus of research. SIRT1 is a viable therapeutic target, and there is mounting evidence that it plays a significant role in the aging process. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) have gained widespread interest as nanotherapeutic agents because of their ability to be injected at high doses to reduce the immune response. The present study focused on the ameliorative effect of MSC-Exos on aging mice and the potential mechanisms of this effect on cognitive impairment and brain aging. In this study, we first tested the neuroprotective effects of MSC-Exos in vitro on H2O2-induced oxidative damage in BV2 cells. An in vivo SAMP8 rapid senescence mouse model showed that MSC-Exos significantly increased SIRT1 gene expression in senescent mice. In addition, MSC-Exos also had an anti-apoptotic effect and reduced oxidative stress in the brains of SAMP8 senescent mice. In conclusion, MSC-Exos may exert neuroprotective effects and help prevent brain senescence in SAMP8 mice by activating the SIRT1 signaling pathway.

Abstract 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (DAHPS) is a key enzyme in the shikimate pathway for the biosynthesis of aromatic compounds. L-Phe and L-Tyr bind to the two main DAHPS isoforms and inhibit their enzyme activities, respectively. Synthetic biologists aim to relieve such inhibitions in order to improve the productivity of aromatic compounds. In this work, we reported a point mutant of yeast DHAPS, Aro3D154N, which retains the wild type enzyme activity but converts it highly inert to the inhibition by L-Phe. The Aro3 crystal structure along with the molecular dynamics simulations analysis suggests that the D154N mutation distant from the inhibitor binding cavity may reduce the binding affinity of L-Phe. Growth assays demonstrated that substitution of the conserved D154 with asparagine suffices to relieve the inhibition of L-Phe on Aro3, L-Tyr on Aro4, and the inhibitions on their corresponding homologues from diverse yeasts. The importance of our discovery is highlighted by the observation of 29.1% and 43.6% increase of yield for the production of tyrosol and salidroside respectively upon substituting ARO3 with ARO3 D154N . We anticipate that this allele would be used broadly to increase the yield of various aromatic products in metabolically diverse microorganisms.

Abstract Pentamethyl cyanine dyes are promising fluorophores for fluorescence sensing and imaging. However, advanced biomedical applications require enhanced control of their excited‐state properties. Herein, a synthetic approach for attaching aryl substituents at the C2’ position of the thio‐pentamethine cyanine (TCy5) dye structure is reported for the first time. C2’‐aryl substitution enables the regulation of both the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) and photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanisms to be regulated in the excited state. Modulation of these mechanisms allows the design of a nitroreductase‐activatable TCy5 fluorophore for hypoxic tumor photodynamic therapy and fluorescence imaging. These C2’‐aryl TCy5 dyes provide a tunable platform for engineering cyanine dyes tailored to sophisticated biological applications, such as photodynamic therapy.

[Objective] To enhance metro passenger riding experience, the speed range at which the carbody exhibits optimal stability while passing through tracks laid with floating slabs is explored. [Method] Using simulation software, a dynamics model of metro vehicle-floating slab track-subgrade is established to analyze the carbody vibration conditions when standard and worn wheels pass through tracks with or without steel spring floating slabs. Comparative analysis is conducted on the changes in carbody vertical stability index in time and frequency domains under different speed conditions, both before and after the installation of floating slabs. Additionally, under the floating slab track system, the change law of time and frequency domains of parameters such as carbody vertical vibration acceleration is compared between the worn and standard wheels passing through the floating slab track system. [Result & Conclusion] The presence of floating slabs at different speeds increases train stability index, showing an average increase of 5.8% compared to scenarios without floating slabs. The lateral stability index has a reducing effect on stability index when the speed is below 60 km/h. In the floating slab system, the presence of worn wheels exacerbates carbody vertical vibration, particularly noticeable when trains are running at high-speed. The vertical acceleration frequencies during metro vehicle passing tracks concentrate in the low-frequency range of 0-10 Hz, while the lateral ones concentrate in the 0-30 Hz range. When metro vehicles pass through sections with floating slabs at the speed in 48-60 km/h range, the carbody vertical stability index with worn wheels is approximately 1.8, and the lateral one is around 1.1, both of which are relatively low, indicating less carbody vibration and lateral movement, thus better stability.

As important environmental factors, the light spectra and tank colours have not received sufficient attention. Most fishes have the ability to perceive environment, distinguish colours, and exhibit preferences or aversions towards different environments, which can provide a reference for the design of their rearing environment. Tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is an important mariculture species in China and East Asia, but its preference for illumination spectra and tank colours is unclear. This study focuses on the preferences of juvenile tiger puffers for different spectra and tank background colours in different rearing backgrounds and body sizes. The experiments were conducted in a preference testing device, and the behavioural videos were recorded and analysed using a motion behaviour tracking system (EthoVision XT 12). The results show that the puffers showed preference for short-wavelength lights ((i.e., cyan, green, etc.), avoidance of long-wavelength light (i.e., red) and less stay time in the full light spectrum and dark. For tank colours, the puffers showed a preference for light background colours (i.e., white), and avoidance of deep background colours (i.e., dark, red, etc.). Fish body sizes and original breeding environment could significantly affect the selective preference of juvenile puffer (P

Abstract Background The gut microbiota plays an essential role in maintaining gut homeostasis and improving performance, with the composition of microbial communities visibly differing across different laying stages in hens and significantly correlating with egg production. To gain further insights into the association between microbial community characteristics and laying periods in Hy-Line variety brown and Isa brown laying hens, we conducted a 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing survey. Results Our result revealed the diversity of bacteria in the early laying period was commonly higher than peak, and in Hy-Line variety brown laying hens were generally higher than Isa brown. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed that the structure and composition of the gut microbiota of laying hens exhibited significant differences among different groups. Phylum Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteriota were found that dominant in the host’s feces. Therein, the abundance of Fusobacteriota was higher in the peak period than in the early period, while the abundance of Cyanobacteria in the early period was higher in two breeds of hens. Furthermore, random forest based on machine learning showed that there were several distinctly abundant genera, which can be used as potential biomarkers to differentiate the different groups of laying periods and breeds. In addition, the prediction of biological function indicated the existing discrepancy in microbial function among the microbiota of four groups. Conclusions Our findings offer new insights into the bacterial diversity and intestinal flora composition of different strains of laying hens during various laying periods, contributing significantly to the improvement of production performance and the prevention of chicken diseases.

Abstract While the uniform linear array (ULA) is a well‐known array configuration being widely used in various practical application scenarios, it also encounters numerous challenges in the field of direction‐of‐arrival (DOA) estimation. Specifically, it is difficult for the ULA to achieve a satisfactory DOA estimation accuracy, especially in the case of closely spaced sources. That is because that the resolvability of ULA is severely restricted by its limited DOA. To circumvent this issue and further improve the DOA estimation performance, a new array geometry is designed. Inspired by the fact that some linear sparse co‐arrays can yield higher DOFs and larger array apertures, the proposed array configuration is developed by nesting two or more minimum‐redundant arrays in a dedicated way. The simulation results indicate that the proposed array configuration can significantly increase the DOFs and the length of virtual array apertures, and an improved estimation accuracy can be accepted.

Abstract Background This study presented the mortality trend of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in Chinese residents from 2010 to 2019 and provided a basis for further establishment of relevant interventions. Methods Data, such as sex, age, urban and rural areas, and death status, were extracted from the China Death Surveillance Dataset from 2010 to 2019, with mortality and age-adjusted death rates (AADRs) as the main indicators. The joinpoint regression model was used to analyze mortality and AADRs trends in IHD. A semi-structured expert interview was conducted to propose targeted intervention measures and countermeasures. Results We observed an overall upward trend in IHD mortality rates and AADRs in China from 2010 to 2019 (average annual percentage change [AAPC] = 5.14%, AAPCAADRs = 1.60%, P 0.05) mortality rates increased, with the mortality rate higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In the age analysis, mortality rate was higher in middle-aged and older adults than in other age groups. The age-sex cross-analysis found the highest trend in mortality rates among females aged ≥ 75 years (annual percentage change [APC] = 2.43%, P

The technology of CO2 geological storage and CH4 intensive mining (CO2-ECBM) in coal seams integrates greenhouse gas emission reduction and new fossil energy development and has great development prospects. The CO2 injection, CO2 sequestration mechanism and storage capacity, and CH4 stimulation effect constitute the core content of the effectiveness of CO2-ECBM, among which CO2 injection is the most critical. Traditional seepage analysis methods often struggle to tackle flow-related issues influenced by microscale effects and intricate channels. This paper highlights the advantages of employing lattice Boltzmann (LBM) numerical simulations to study CO2 seepage behaviors when teaching a Rock Mass Seepage Mechanics Course. This course primarily covers topics such as the pore structure of rock, unstable liquid seepage, gas seepage theory and related subjects. Its goal is to provide students with a solid theoretical foundation to address the complexities of fluid seepage in pours media encountered in practical scenarios. A novel LBM-based methodology was employed to estimate the CO2 seepage capacity by incorporating the effects of different concentrations of [Bmin]Cl solution (0 wt%, 1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt%). The CO2 velocity distribution cloud map of each coal sample was simulated; the average velocity distribution curve of each coal sample was obtained; and the velocity profile of the seepage channel of each coal sample was described. This study can provide theoretical guidance for the technology of CO2 geological storage and CH4 intensive mining in coal seams.

This paper describes a dragonfly-inspired Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle (FW-MAV), named HiFly-Dragon. Dragonflies exhibit exceptional flight performance in nature, surpassing most of the other insects, and benefit from their abilities to independently move each of their four wings, including adjusting the flapping amplitude and the flapping amplitude offset. However, designing and fabricating a flapping robot with multi-degree-of-freedom (multi-DOF) flapping driving mechanisms under stringent size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints poses a significant challenge. In this work, we propose a compact microrobot dragonfly with four tandem independently controllable wings, which is directly driven by four modified resonant flapping mechanisms integrated on the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) of the avionics. The proposed resonant flapping mechanism was tested to be able to enduringly generate 10 gf lift at a frequency of 28 Hz and an amplitude of 180° for a single wing with an external DC power supply, demonstrating the effectiveness of the resonance and durability improvement. All of the mechanical parts were integrated on two PCBs, and the robot demonstrates a substantial weight reduction. The latest prototype has a wingspan of 180 mm, a total mass of 32.97 g, and a total lift of 34 gf. The prototype achieved lifting off on a balance beam, demonstrating that the directly driven robot dragonfly is capable of overcoming self-gravity with onboard batteries.

Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the main causes of mobility impairment in the elderly worldwide. Therefore, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is often performed and is one of the most successful surgery and has resulted in substantial quality-of-life gains for people with end-stage arthritis. There is still room for improvement in the standard treatment process in the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative period of TKA. Telerehabilitation has the potential to become a positive alternative to face-to-face rehabilitation nowadays. But it remains unclear how well telemedicine interventions cover the entire surgical pathway (preoperation, intraoperation, postoperation). This study aims to explore the effectiveness of Joint Cloud (JC, an online management platform) compared with existing standard process in regulating functional recovery, pain management, muscle strength changes and other health-related outcomes in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty preoperation, intraoperation and postoperation.Methods and analysis A randomised controlled trial was designed to compare the online management platform (JC) with standard process (SP) in patients undergoing TKA. A total of 186 TKA patients will be randomly assigned to the intervention (n=93) or control (n=93) group. Patients in the intervention group will receive access to the ‘JC’ mini-program. This mini-program provides popular science information (eg, information about OA and TKA), functional exercise information and communication channels. Patients evaluate their condition and functional level through standardised digital questionnaires. The control group of patients will not accept any functions of this mini-program. The primary outcome is knee functional recovery, and the secondary outcomes are pain management, isometric knee extensor muscle strength, patient satisfaction and cost-benefit analysis. Assessments will be performed 1 month and 3 days before surgery (T0) and 1 month and 3 months after surgery. Data analysis will be performed according to the intent-to-treat (ITT) principle. Repeated measures of linear mixed models and parametric and non-parametric testing will be used for statistical analysis.Ethics and dissemination The study was reviewed and approved by the Tianjin Hospital Medical Ethics Review Committee on 10 February 2023 (2022YLS155). Test data are considered highly sensitive but are available upon request. The findings will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications.Trial registration number ChiCTR2300068486.

Aiming to investigate the health risk impact of PM2.5 pollution on a heavily populated province of China. The exposure response function was used to assess the health risk of PM2.5 pollution. Results shows that the total number of premature deaths and diseases related to PM2.5 pollution in Shandong might reach 159.8 thousand people based on the new WHO (2021) standards. The health effects of PM2.5 pollution were more severe in men than in women. Five of the 16 cities in Shandong had higher health risks caused by PM2.5 pollution, including LinYi, HeZe, JiNing, JiNan, and WeiFang. PM2.5 pollution resulted in nearly 7.4 billions dollars in healthy economic cost, which accounted for 0.57% of GDP in Shandong in 2021. HeZe, LiaoCheng, ZaoZhuang, and LinYi were the cities where the health economic loss was more than 1% of the local GDP, accounted for 1.30, 1.26, 1.08, and 1.04%. Although the more rigorous assessment criteria, the baseline concentration was lowered by 30 μg/m3 compared to our previous study, there was no significant increase in health risks and economic losses. China’s air quality improvement strategy may already be having a positive effect.

With the continuous improvement of locomotive operating speed, increasing axle load and increasing traction power, the dynamic excitation of wheel-rail interface and gear pair interface have become more and more intense, directly affecting the operational reliability or even safety of the locomotive or the train. Based on the traditional rotor dynamics and the classical vehicle-track coupled dynamics, a locomotive-track coupled spatial dynamics model is established, in which the dynamic effects from drive system are considered. Under three different combinations of excitation, namely constant mesh stiffness, time-varying mesh stiffness and track geometrical irregularity, the vibration responses of the gear transmission are simulated during the uniform and accelerated operation of the locomotive. By comparing the difference of vibration response, mesh force and dynamic transmission errors of gear pair of traction motor under different combinations of excitation, the influence of different excitation on the vibration characteristics of gear transmission is explored. The following conclusions are drawn: 1) The time-varying mesh stiffness directly affects the vertical and longitudinal vibration of the traction motor. 2) The influence of time-varying mesh stiffness and track geometrical irregularity varies at different speed stages of locomotives. 3) During the acceleration process of the locomotive, resonance phenomenon of the traction motor and gear pair can be caused at a certain speed when considering time-varying mesh stiffness. The conclusions obtained will provide certain reference significance for the selection of design parameters, evaluation of dynamic characteristics, and life prediction of locomotive drive system.

Based on the elastic–plastic contact theory, elastic–plastic contact finite element models for the integrated modular house by flat pack are established. The structural stress and displacement distributions are obtained. An experimental test is conducted to study the performance of the corner fitting joint of the house. The finite element analysis and experimental test comprehensively demonstrated the safety and reliability of the house structure. The results show that the most unfavorable stress point of the house is located at the corner fitting joint. When the end plate connection holes of the corner column seal are designed with through holes and internal screw holes, respectively, the fastening effect of bolting between the corner fitting and corner column using the internal screw hole is better. The reliability of the repeated disassembly and assembly of the house is verified via multiple loading–unloading simulation cycle experiments of the corner fitting joint. The results of the study provide technical support and a reference basis for the optimal design and ensuring the service performance of the integrated modular house by flat pack.

The use of film cooling technology is one of the most effective ways to minimize the damage to wall materials caused by the high-temperature environment in a ramjet. Optimization of the design to achieve the highest film cooling efficiency on the hot wall is the focus of current research. Due to the large number of parameters affecting the film cooling efficiency and the interactions between them, an improved orthogonal design-of-experiments method is chosen to investigate the contribution of different parameters. Flat plate film cooling and transverse groove film cooling are simulated numerically. The results indicated that the contribution of each parameter is ranked as hole spacing (S/D) > incidence angle > blowing ratio for flat plate film cooling; hole spacing > transverse groove depth > blowing ratio > incidence angle for transverse groove film cooling. The film cooling efficiency is inversely proportional to the size of the flow field area affected by the vortex ring and directly proportional to the size of the vortex intensity. Transverse groove film cooling forms a more complete film in most cases, which is better than flat plate film cooling. Within the scope of this study, a complete film at S/D > 2.0 cannot be generated on the flat plate, which should not be used in ramjet.

Medical image segmentation is essential to image-based disease analysis and has proven to be significantly helpful for doctors to make decisions. Due to the low-contrast of some medical images, the accurate segmentation of medical images has always been a challenging problem. The experiment found that UNet with current loss functions cannot capture subtle information in target contours or regions in low-contrast medical images, which are crucial for subsequent disease diagnosis. We propose a robust loss by incorporating the difference in average radial derivative (ARD), length and region area to further help the network to achieve more accurate segmentation results. We evaluated the proposed loss function using UNet as the base segmentation network compared to five conventional loss functions on one private and four public medical image datasets. Experimental results illustrate that UNet with the proposed loss function can achieve the best segmentation performance, even better than the outstanding deep learning models with original loss functions. Furthermore, three representative datasets were chosen to validate the effectiveness of the proposed δ ARD loss function with seven different models. The experiments revealed δ ARD loss’s plug-and-play feature and its robustness over multiple models and datasets.

Accurate tracking and predicting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) trajectories are essential to ensure mission success, equipment safety, and data accuracy. Maneuverable UAVs exhibit complex and dynamic motion, and conventional tracking algorithms that rely on predefined models perform poorly when unknown parameters are used. To address this issue, this paper introduces a hybrid dual-scale neural network model based on the generalized regression multi-model and cubature information filter (GRMM-CIF) framework. We have established the GRMM-CIF filtering structure to differentiate motion modes and reduce measurement noise. Furthermore, considering trajectory datasets and rates of motion change, a neural network at different scales will be designed. We propose the dual-scale bidirectional long short-term memory (DS-Bi-LSTM) algorithm to address prediction delays in a multi-model context. Additionally, we employ scale sliding windows and threshold-based decision-making to achieve dual-scale trajectory reconstruction, ultimately enhancing tracking accuracy. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of our approach in handling the uncertainty of UAV motion and achieving precise estimations.

Clustering is an important and challenging research topic in many fields. Although various clustering algorithms have been developed in the past, traditional shallow clustering algorithms cannot mine the underlying structural information of the data. Recent advances have shown that deep clustering can achieve excellent performance on clustering tasks. In this work, a novel variational autoencoder-based deep clustering algorithm is proposed. It treats the Gaussian mixture model as the prior latent space and uses an additional classifier to distinguish different clusters in the latent space accurately. A similarity-based loss function is proposed consisting specifically of the cross-entropy of the predicted transition probabilities of clusters and the Wasserstein distance of the predicted posterior distributions. The new loss encourages the model to learn meaningful cluster-oriented representations to facilitate clustering tasks. The experimental results show that our method consistently achieves competitive results on various data sets.

Ultraviolet disinfection is an important method for controlling the large-scale outbreaks of diseases in aquaculture. As a novel and promising light source, ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) has the advantages of safety, high efficiency and no environmental pollution risks. However, it remains unclear whether UV-LEDs can replace traditional UV light sources for aquaculture water treatment processes. Present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of UVC-LEDs (265 nm) on pathogenic bacteria, specifically Aeromonas salmonicida and Escherichia coli. The effects of UVC-LED dose, light conditions, and temperature on bacterial reactivation were also investigated. The results showed that exposure to UVC-LED effectively inactivated both types of bacteria. To achieve 4.5-log inactivation of A. salmonicida and E. coli, 24 mJ/cm2 and 28 mJ/cm2 UVC-LED irradiation were required, and the inactivation rate increased with increasing UVC-LED fluence. Both A. salmonicida and E. coli were revived after UVC-LED disinfection, and photoreactivation was significantly higher than dark reactivation. Bacterial reactivation rate due to high-dose UVC-LED treatment was significantly lower than that of low-dose. After 72 h of reactivation, photoreactivation and dark reactivation rates were 1 ± 0.4% and 2.2 ± 0.2%for A. salmonicida, and 0.02% and 0% for E. coli, respectively. Besides, the photoreactivation rates for the two bacteria exhibited different correlations with temperature. The highest photoreactivation rate for A. salmonicida was 68.7 ± 4% at 20°C, while the highest photoreactivation rate for E. coli was 53.98 ± 2.9% at 15°C for 48 h. This study reveals the rapid and efficient inactivation of bacteria by UVC-LED, and elucidates the mechanism and influencing factors for inactivation and reactivation by UVC-LED. The study also highlights that adequate UVC-LED irradiation and avoidance of visible light after UVC-LED disinfection can effectively inhibit bacterial reactivation. Our findings form a reference for the design and operation of UV disinfection in aquaculture.

Abstract The climate reconstruction of the Tibetan Plateau, which was called the Third Pole Environment, has been a research hotspot in recent years. However, there are few studies on C3 and C4 plants evolution and it is an area of active debate on whether there are C4 plants existing on the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, the paleoclimate of the Hurleg Lake on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau is reconstructed based on n‐alkane‐induced indicators, while the C4 plant evolution history is established by compound‐specific isotope of long‐chain n‐alkanes since 14.1 cal kyr BP. The response of C4 plant evolution history to climate change on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau demonstrated that C3 and C4 plants were sensitive to local and global climate change. Solar radiation in summer, insolation‐affected East Asian monsoon, and seasonal climate (including seasonal variation of the solar radiation, temperature, and precipitation) had significant effects on the long‐term growth of C4. On the other hand, factors such as temperature, precipitation, and other potential factors affected the detailed variation of C4 plants in a relatively short‐term. Our finding maintained the existence of C4 plants in the high‐altitude region and indicated that the abundance of C4 plants might increase significantly and the ecological pattern of vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau will change distinctly in the coming warmer climate conditions.

Among numerous functions performed by the human eye, reading is a common task that best reflects an individual’s understanding and cognitive patterns. Previous studies showed that text comprehension may be determined by comprehension monitoring, a metacognitive process that evaluates and regulates the pattern of comprehension. Herein, we propose a hypothesis: an individual’s cognitive pattern during reading is predictive of the level of reading comprehension. According to the criteria of the College English Test Band Six (CET-6), 80 participants (sophomore and junior) were divided into a pass group (n = 40) and a non-pass group (n = 40). Heatmaps of eye fixation counts were collected by an eye-tracker while each participant executed four reading comprehension tests. Using these heatmaps as inputs, we proposed the Siamese convolutional neural network models to predict the English level of participants. Both strategies of “Trained from scratch” and “Pretrained with fine-tuning” were employed. “Soft Voting” was applied to integrate the predictions from four tests. Results showed that the Siamese network model trained by the datasets with the cluster radius of fixation equal to 25 pixels and connection layer by L1 norm distance has a satisfactory or superior performance to other comparative experiments. The AUC values of Siamese networks trained by the two strategies reach 0.941 and 0.956, respectively. This indicates that the individual reading cognitive pattern captured by the eye-tracker can predict the level of reading comprehension through advanced deep learning models.

ABSTRACT The fungal community, also known as mycobiota, plays pivotal roles in host nutrition and metabolism and has potential to cause disease. However, knowledge of the gut fungal structure in Caprinae is quite limited. In this study, the composition and diversity of the gut mycobiota of Caprinae animals from different geographical locations (Anhui, Jilin, Guangxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and Tibet) were comprehensively characterized by analyzing the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) sequences of the fungal community. The results showed that Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the dominant phyla, which, respectively, accounted for 90.86 to 95.27% and 2.58 to 7.62% of sequences in samples from each region. Nonetheless, the structure of the gut mycobiota was largely different in Caprinae animals in the different provinces. Therein, Sporormiaceae and Thelebolaceae were the dominant fungal families in the samples from Tibet, whereas their abundance was generally low in other regions. The intestinal diversity of individuals from Guangxi was higher than that in other regions. In addition, there were 114 differential genera among all regions. Finally, the co-occurrence network revealed 285 significant correlations in cross-family pairs in the guts of Caprinae animals, which contained 149 positive and 136 negative relationships, with 96 bacterial and 86 fungal participants at the family level. This study has improved the understanding of the mycobiota of ruminants and provided support for the improvement in animal health and productivity. IMPORTANCE In this study, we elucidated and analyzed the structure of the gut mycobiota of Caprinae animals from different regions. This study revealed differences in the structure of the gut mycobiota among Caprinae animals from different geographical environments. Based on previous findings, correlations between fungal and bacterial communities were analyzed. This study adds to previous research that has expanded the present understanding of the gut microbiome of Caprinae animals.

The gut microbiota plays a key role in the function of the host immune system and neuroimmune diseases. Alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota can lead to pathology and altered formation of microbiota-derived components and metabolites. A series of neuroimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis (MG), multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs), Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), and autoimmune encephalitis (AIE), are associated with changes in the gut microbiota. Microecological therapy by improving the gut microbiota is expected to be an effective measure for treating and preventing some neuroimmune diseases. This article reviews the research progress related to the roles of gut microbiota and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in neuroimmune diseases.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex syndrome with many elements, such as chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, loss of dopaminergic neurons, build-up of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) in cells, and energy depletion in neurons, that drive the disease. We and others have shown that treatment with mimetics of the growth factor glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) can normalize energy utilization, neuronal survival, and dopamine levels and reduce inflammation. Liraglutide is a GLP-1 analogue that recently showed protective effects in phase 2 clinical trials in PD patients and in Alzheimer disease patients. We have developed a novel dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist that can cross the blood-brain barrier and showed good protective effects in animal models of PD. Here, we test liraglutide against the dual GLP-1/GIP agonist DA5-CH (KP405) in the A53T tg mouse model of PD which expresses a human-mutated gene of α-synuclein. Drug treatment reduced impairments in three different motor tests, reduced levels of α-syn in the substantia nigra, reduced the inflammation response and proinflammatory cytokine levels in the substantia nigra and striatum, and normalized biomarker levels of autophagy and mitochondrial activities in A53T mice. DA5-CH was superior in almost all parameters measured and therefore may be a better drug treatment for PD than liraglutide.

ObjectiveIt is critical to incorporate residents' preferences into the design of long-term care insurance (LTCI). However, little is known about middle-aged and elderly residents' preferences for personalized need-related attributes of LTCI in China. Through a discrete choice experiment (DCE), we aimed to focus on the direct beneficiaries of LTCI and then elicit their preferences for LTCI under a hypothetical scenario of dysfunction.MethodsAttributes and levels were defined through a literature review and two rounds of expert consultations (n = 8). A D-optimal fractional factorial design was used to generate the DCE questionnaire. Face-to-face interviews with middle-aged and elderly residents were conducted in two cities in Hubei Province, China, between November and December 2020. A mixed logit model was utilized for estimation.ResultsFive attributes were identified and incorporated into the DCE questionnaire. A total of 390 participants completed DCE questionnaires. Care facilities, care content, reimbursement rate, caregivers, and annual premium per person all had a significant impact on residents' preferences. Residents had significantly higher preferences for the LTCI scheme with home and community-based care centers (β = 1.40, p < 0.01), multi-level services (β = 0.44, p < 0.01), 90% reimbursement rate (β = 0.37, p < 0.01), and sufficiently trained caregivers (β = 0.26, p < 0.01). Individual characteristics, such as gender, employment, and education level were the factors that drove heterogeneity in preferences for LTCI.ConclusionThis study provides new evidence on the preferences of middle-aged and elderly residents for personalized need-related public LTCI features. The design of the LTCI scheme in China needs to take these findings into account to maximize the utility for direct beneficiaries of LTCI and enhance their enrollment.

Acer pictum subsp. mono is a colorful tree species with considerable ornamental and economic value. However, little is known about the metabolism and regulatory mechanism of leaf color change in A. p. subsp. mono. To reveal the molecular mechanism of leaf color change in A. p. subsp. mono, the present study examined the bud mutation branches and compared the metabolites of the red leaves (AR) of the bud mutation branches of A. p. subsp. mono with those of the green leaves (AG) of the wild-type branches. It was found that the chlorophyll and carotenoids content of the red leaves decreased significantly, while anthocyanins, and various antioxidant enzymes increased significantly compared with the green leaves. The glycosides cyanidin, pelargonidin, malvidin, petunidin, delphinidin, and peonidin were detected in AR by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The cyanidin glycosides increased, and cyanidin 3-O-glycoside was significantly upregulated. We analyzed the transcriptome and small RNA of A. p. subsp. mono leaves and detected 4061 differentially expressed mRNAs and 116 differentially expressed miRNAs. Through miRNA-mRNA association analysis, five differentially expressed modules were found; one miRNA targeted three genes, and four miRNAs targeted a single gene. Among them, miR160b, miR6300, and miR396g were found to be the key miRNAs regulating stable anthocyanin accumulation in A. p. subsp. mono leaves. By revealing the physiological response of leaf color change and the molecular regulatory mechanism of the miRNA, this study provides new insight into the molecular regulatory mechanism of leaf color change, thereby offering a foundation for future studies.

The circadian rhythm is a physiological phenomenon that occurs in various organisms with a cycle of about 24 hours. Light is one of the important environmental factors affecting biological rhythm. To clarify whether a shift in light spectrum can influence the circadian expression in fish brain, a total of 175 European seabasses [body weight: 32.5 ± 0.71) g; body length: (13.78 ± 0.35) cm] were exposed to white light (WL), red light (RL), yellow light (YL), green light (GL) or blue light (BL). After 50 days of exposure, circadian expressions of four core clock genes (Clock, Bmal1, Per2, Cry1) and Aanat2 gene in brain were examined. The results showed that the temporal expression patterns of positive clock gens (Clock and Bmal1) showed increases during the scotophase and decreases during the photophase, with peaks near the middle of the darkness. Clock gene expression showed a stable circadian rhythm (R2 = 0.578-0.824, P=0.000- 0.027) in all light groups while Bmal1 showed circadian rhythm in WL, GL and RL, not in BL and YL. Daily expression patterns of the negative clock genes oscillated in the opposite phase from the positive clock genes, showing increasing mRNA levels during the light, decreases during the dark, and peaks near the shift from night to day, except Per2 in RL and Cry1 in BL. Compared with WL, the acrophases of Clock and Bmal1 were delayed under all light treatments (BL: + 3.7h, +6.73h; RL: +2.4h,+1.35h; YL: + 4.94h, 2.00h; GL: +0.05, +0.16h). Cry1 showed advanced acrophase under all light treatments (BL: -10.74 h, GL: -3.81 h, RL: -3.93 h, YL: -7.56 h) but Per2 showed delayed acrophase in all light treatments (GL: +0.86 h, RL: +10.35 h, YL: +9.62 h), except in BL (-0.43 h). The acrophase of Aanat2 was advanced by all monochromatic light, the Aanat2 level was significantly increased in RL compared with other light treatment. Therefore, the results indicate that RL may regulate the expression of Aanat2 gene by affecting the expression of clock gene in fish brain. Spectrum can affect the biological clock system of fish, and unreasonable spectrum may disturb the rhythm of gene expression of biological clock of fish. Under the irradiation of light spectrum, some clock genes still maintain obvious circadian oscillation, while the rhythm of some clock genes is not obvious and may be destroyed. Our findings suggest a primary role of light spectrum information to the fish brain circadian system.

ABSTRACT Most microbiome studies regarding the ruminant digestive tract have focused on the rumen microbiota, whereas only a few studies were performed on investigating the gut microbiota of ruminants, which limits our understanding of this important component. Herein, the gut microbiota of 30 Caprinae animals (sheep and goats) from six provinces in China was characterized using ultradeep (>100 Gbp per sample) metagenome shotgun sequencing. An inventory of Caprinae gut microbial species containing 5,046 metagenomic assembly genomes (MAGs) was constructed. Particularly, 2,530 of the genomes belonged to uncultured candidate species. These genomes largely expanded the genomic repository of the current microbes in the Caprinae gut. Several enzymes and biosynthetic gene clusters encoded by these Caprinae gut species were identified. In summary, our study extends the gut microbiota characteristics of Caprinae and provides a basis for future studies on animal production and animal health. IMPORTANCE We constructed a microbiota catalog containing 5,046 MAGs from Caprinae gut from six regions of China. Most of the MAGs do not overlap known databases and appear to be potentially new species. We also characterized the functional spectrum of these MAGs and analyzed the differences between different regions. Our study enriches the understanding of taxonomic, functional, and metabolic diversity of Caprinae gut microbiota. We are confident that the manuscript will be of utmost interest to a wide range of readers and be widely applied in future research.

BackgroundHypertension remains a challenging public health problem worldwide, and adrenal gland-related diseases are one class of the major causes for secondary hypertension. Among them, one relatively rare pattern is adrenal hyperplastic hypertension caused by adrenal medullary hyperplasia (AMH), leading to excessive secretion of autonomic catecholamine. Given that the pathological changes of adrenal medulla are not well correlated to the onset and even severity of secondary hypertension, the molecular basis why some AMH patients are accompanied with hypertension remains unclear and is worth exploring.AimsFor this reason, this study aims at investigating differentially expressed proteins in clinical AMH tissue, with special focus on the potential contribution of these differentially expressed proteins to AMH development, in order to have a better understanding of mechanisms how AMH leads to secondary hypertension to some extent.Methods and resultsTo this end, AMH specimens were successfully obtained and verified through computed tomography (CT) and haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Proteomic analyses of AMH and control tissues revealed 782 kinds of differentially expressed proteins. Compared with the control tissue, there were 357 types of upregulated proteins and 425 types of downregulated proteins detected in AMH tissue. Of interest, these differentially expressed proteins were significantly enriched in 60 gene ontology terms (P < 0.05), including 28 biological process terms, 14 molecular function terms, and 18 cellular component terms. Pathway analysis further indicated that 306 proteins exert their functions in at least one Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. Western blotting showed enhanced expression of phenylethanolamine N- methyltransferase (PNMT), myelin protein zero (MPZ), and Ras-related protein Rab-3C (RAB3C), and reduced expression of cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) observed in AMH tissue in comparison with controls.ConclusionsClinical AMH specimens display a different proteomic profile compared to control tissue. Of note, PNMT, MPZ, RAB3C, and CD36 are found to differentially expressed and can be potential targets for AMH, providing a theoretical basis for mechanistic exploration of AMH along with hypertension.

Abstract Background The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has improved the capability of automatic breast cancer diagnosis, compared to traditional machine learning methods. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) can automatically select high efficiency features, which helps to improve the level of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). It can improve the performance of distinguishing benign and malignant breast ultrasound (BUS) tumor images, making rapid breast tumor screening possible. Results The classification model was evaluated with a different dataset of 100 BUS tumor images (50 benign cases and 50 malignant cases), which was not used in network training. Evaluation indicators include accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under curve (AUC) value. The results in the Fus2Net model had an accuracy of 92%, the sensitivity reached 95.65%, the specificity reached 88.89%, and the AUC value reached 0.97 for classifying BUS tumor images. Conclusions The experiment compared the existing CNN-categorized architecture, and the Fus2Net architecture we customed has more advantages in a comprehensive performance. The obtained results demonstrated that the Fus2Net classification method we proposed can better assist radiologists in the diagnosis of benign and malignant BUS tumor images. Methods The existing public datasets are small and the amount of data suffer from the balance issue. In this paper, we provide a relatively larger dataset with a total of 1052 ultrasound images, including 696 benign images and 356 malignant images, which were collected from a local hospital. We proposed a novel CNN named Fus2Net for the benign and malignant classification of BUS tumor images and it contains two self-designed feature extraction modules. To evaluate how the classifier generalizes on the experimental dataset, we employed the training set (646 benign cases and 306 malignant cases) for tenfold cross-validation. Meanwhile, to solve the balance of the dataset, the training data were augmented before being fed into the Fus2Net. In the experiment, we used hyperparameter fine-tuning and regularization technology to make the Fus2Net convergence.

Light has long been known to have a profound influence on the growth and development of fish. The previous studies showed that different spectra had different effects on the growth of juvenile Takifugu rubripes. Among them, green light can promote the growth of Takifugu rubripes, but the influence mechanism is unknown. In this study, how different LED spectrums affect fish growth from the perspective of GH/IGF-I axis-related genes and apoptosis genes were deeply explored. In the experiment, juvenile Takifugu rubripes with an initial body length of (9.01 ± 0.70) cm and an initial body weight of (18.05 ± 3.17) g were selected as the research objects. 525 Takifugu rubripes juveniles were selected, cultured and monitored in five different LED spectrum treatment groups: white light (WL, λ 400-780nm), red light (RL, λ 625-630nm), yellow light (YL, λ 590-595nm), green light (GL, λ 525-530nm) and blue light (BL, λ 450-455nm). The photoperiod was 12L:12D, and the light intensity was set to 250 mW/m2. The effects of light spectrum on growth, melatonin synthesis, GH/IGF-I axis and relative expressions of apoptosis-related genes in juvenile Takifugu rubripes were studied, including arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT2), growth hormone (GH), growth hormone receptor type 1 (GHR1), growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), insulin-like growth factor type I (IGF-I), insulin-like growth factor type II (IGF-II), insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP), Bcl-2 protein family (Bcl-2), tumor suppressor (p53) and cysteine protease family (caspase 3, caspase 8, caspase 10) genes. The results showed that the final weight was the highest in the GL group (29.36 ± 3.78 g) and the lowest in the YL group (21.28 ± 2.56 g). The GL indeed promote the growth of Takifugu rubripes. The GHR1, IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP of juvenile Takifugu rubripes cultured under GL were significantly higher than those of WL (control group), BL and YL groups. The relative expression levels of GH and GHRH genes had no difference from those in the WL control group, and the relative expression levels of apoptosis genes in the GL group were significantly lower than those in the BL and YL groups. Under RL, the relative expression levels of all growth genes on the GH/IGF-I growth axis were relatively high. But at the same time, the relative expression of caspase 10 gene in juvenile Takifugu rubripes was high, and the growth state was inhibited. It is speculated that RL might disturb the endocrine system of the juvenile Takifugu rubripes, thus impeded its growth and development. Therefore, different LED spectra can affect the growth of juvenile Takifugu rubripes by affecting the expressions of GH/IGF-I growth axis and apoptosis-related genes: GL significantly promotes the growth of Takifugu rubripes, which may be due to that GL promoted the expressions of growth factors genes such as GHR1, IGF-I, and IGF-II, and decreased the expression of apoptosis-related genes, while the situation in the YL, BL and WL groups was on the contrary. RL significantly inhibited the growth of juvenile Takifugu Rubripes, which may be due to the fact that juvenile Takifugu Rubripes under RL were in a stressful state and the high expression of growth axis-related genes was not sufficient to offset the negative effects of the stress response, resulting in the inhibition of growth performance.

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused the current COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a public health crisis that required immediate action. The SARS-CoV-2 virus enters human cells via three receptors, namely cathepsin, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and SARS-CoV receptors. Cathepsin destroys the spike protein (S protein), thereby allowing the entry of viral nucleic acid into human host cells.Methods: Utilizing single-cell transcriptome analysis of brain tissues, the vulnerability of the central nervous system to infection with SARS-CoV-2 in humans was investigated.Results: ACE2 is mainly expressed in endothelial cells, with the highest levels found in ageing endothelial cells. Drug prediction suggests that (-)-catechin reduces the effects of COVID-19 on the nervous system. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that ACE2 was mainly expressed in cerebral vessels. Immunofluroscenceresults showed the co-expression of CD31 and ACE2 in human tissues. Western blot further showed that ACE2 expression was higher in old rats than in young rats.Conclusion: This study provides insight into the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 brain invasion. Accordingly, patients with neurological symptoms who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 should be given individualised care.

Since the Cenozoic, the earth entered a period of relatively active tectonic movement, which led to significant environmental and climatic shifts, including inland drought in Asia, global cooling, and the formation of the Asian monsoon. The Asian aridification has a far-reaching impact on the human living environment, and so do the climate changes in China. The beginning, strengthening, and ending times of the inland drought in Asia have been a long-concerned issue. Therefore, it is necessary to reveal the starting time, evolution process, and underlying driving mechanisms. Because of its unique topography and geographical location, the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is known as the “starter” and “amplifier” of global climate change. It is a key area and an ideal “laboratory” for long-time scale climate change. Located in the central-eastern part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, the Nangqian Basin is not only the confluence area of major monsoons and westerly winds but also the boundary between humid and arid areas. Moreover, the Nangqian section in the basin has a long continuous sedimentary sequence, making it a good carrier for long-time scale climate change research. In this study, biomarkers and total organic carbon (TOC) in the sedimentary strata of the Nangqian Basin in the central-eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau were used to reconstruct the paleoclimate and paleovegetation evolution history over the time interval of 51.8–37.5 Ma. According to the climatic index of the Nangqian Basin, the climate evolution history can be divided into three stages. StageⅠ: during 51.8–46.4 Ma, the depositional environments at this stage were mainly a braided river and an ephemeral shallow pond/lake environment. Also, the value of CPI, δ13Cn-alkanes, and total organic carbon (TOC) was low; meanwhile, ACL value increased with nC27/nC31 decrease, and these obvious change trends might be affected by the mixing of terrestrial sediments brought by rivers. The main peak carbons were nC22 and nC23, the vegetation type was predominantly woody plants, and the climate was relatively humid. Stage Ⅱ: during 46.4–42.7 Ma, Paq and nC27/nC31 values decreased gradually, and ACL, δ13Cn-alkanes, and CPI values increased slowly. Also, the main peak carbon number changed from low to high, and the vegetation type varied from woody to herbaceous. All these proxies displayed that the climate became more arid. Stage Ⅲ: during 42.7–37.5 Ma, Paq, ACL, and nC27/nC31 values did not vary too much, δ13Cn-alkanes values increased slightly, and ACL values decreased slightly, while the main peak carbon number, TOC, and CPI increased significantly, indicating that the climatic conditions continued to get dryer, which may have been affected by the MECO events. In addition, through the comparative study of the climate evolution history of the Eocene in the Nangqian Basin reconstructed by the multi-index system, together with the climate change in the adjacent area, the retreat process of the Paratethys Sea, the global deep-sea oxygen isotopes, and the global atmospheric CO2 concentration, it is considered that the Eocene climate change in the Nangqian Basin is mainly affected by the global climate change and the retreat of the Paratethys Sea. The uplift of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the increase of altitude have little influence on the water vapor of the Nangqian Basin, and the basin was rarely affected by the South Asian monsoon.

The Ediacaran–Cambrian period witnessed episodic extinctions, oxygenation of seawaters, Cambrian explosions, and tectonic events. However, compared with the various high-resolution geochemical records of the early–middle Ediacaran and Cambrian, the available geochemical record of the latest Ediacaran (551–542 Ma) is scarce (especially the strontium isotope and elements), which leads to the ambiguous interpretation of the paleoenvironment of the latest Ediacaran. Therefore, we conducted measurements of strontium isotopes and elemental content of a continuous series of carbonate samples from the Dengying Formation of Well PT1, located in the Sichuan Basin, southeastern Tibetan Plateau, in order to constrain the paleoenvironment of the latest Ediacaran. Strict sample screening was used to ensure that the isotopes and elements were not affected by diagenesis. Our analyses show that the environment and geochemical records of the seawater were controlled by tectonic activities, especially the Gondwana assembly. The global strontium isotope correlation indicates that the Sichuan Basin was a restricted basin (high 87Sr/86Sr values, ∼0.7090), which can be attributed to the existence of a submarine high. Under the background of oxic environment, there were two episodes of anoxic expansion. During the initial stage, the stable terrigenous detrital input and oxic environment provided the prerequisite for the emergence of aerobic organisms in the restricted platform. Then, the decreasing sea level and intense tectonic activities improved the terrigenous detrital input with higher 87Sr/86Sr values (∼0.7095), which stimulated the emergence of aerobic organisms, further resulting in the first episode of anoxic environment. Lastly, a global transgressive resulted in a high sea level, and thus, the Sichuan Basin changed to an open platform. The exchange with extensive oceans led to the increased paleoproductivity, which consumed oxygen and nutrients, further resulting in the second episode of anoxic environment. Thus, the restriction degree, eustatic variations, and the terrigenous detrital input affected the biological evolution and redox conditions.

A thin-walled steel cylindrical shell is a common engineering structure that has an efficient load-carrying capacity. This structure is more easily subjected to partial axial compression loads in application, and buckling is the main failure mode. However, there are few available design methods for partial axially compressed steel cylindrical shells. Motivated by this, a design method called the localized perturbation load approach (LPLA) is proposed in this paper. The finite element framework for the application of LPLA is established. The location and number of perturbation loads are determined by considering the imperfection sensitivity and the buckling failure mode of partial axial compressed cylinders. A series of buckling experiments are carried out to validate the LPLA method. In addition, the reliability of LPLA for the design of cylindrical shells with different imperfection locations and dimensions is also verified. The results show that LPLA can give conservative and reliable lower-bound buckling loads. Therefore, LPLA can be used as a design method for thin-walled steel cylindrical shell structures under partial axial compression in actual engineering.

A wear prediction model is built to research the wear of the curved switch rail in a high-speed turnout. The Archard wear model is used in the wear prediction model to analyze the profile evolution law. The non-Hertzian contact Kik–Piotrowski method based on virtual penetration is used as the contact algorithm for the Archard wear model. A dynamic model of the vehicle–curved switch rail system based on the predicted profiles of the curved switch rail and the measured wheel profiles with different stages is established. The effect of the wheel and curved switch rail profiles’ wear on vehicle dynamic performance is analyzed. The results show that the wheel completely transitions from the stock rail to the curved switch rail between 35 and 50 mm head widths. As the head width of the curved switch rail increased, the position of the maximum wear depth gradually moved to the gauge shoulder. When the total passing weight of the train is 50 Mt, the 20 mm head width curved switch rail side wear reaches a maximum of 5.3 mm. The position in which the wheel transitions from the stock rail to the curved switch rail will be further away from the tip of the curved switch rail due to wheel–rail wear. Regarding the derailment coefficient, the wheel–rail vertical force and lateral force are both significantly impacted. However, they have little effect on the vertical and lateral acceleration of the vehicle. The wear of the wheels and rails has a higher impact on vehicle driving safety and a lower impact on vehicle driving stability.