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The concept of watersheds, also called catchments, is fundamental to both flood mitigation and water resource management, as it greatly aids in the calculation of overland flow attributes. Watershed boundaries are typically determined by elevation, as water adheres to the geological characteristics of watersheds under natural circumstances and does not cross watershed boundaries. However, advances in human development have caused elevation and land usage changes, and boundaries between adjacent watersheds in downstream areas with flat terrain have become unclear and unstable. This study chose the Kaoping River watershed and Donggang River watershed as the study area, to investigate the cross-watershed runoff phenomenon under different return period rainfall. Based on land use surveys of the study area, the area in proximity to the boundary between the two watersheds was highly developed, with land primarily used for agriculture, buildings, and transportation. As the study area was highly developed, cross-watershed runoff was observed, even in the 2-year return period rainfall simulation case. The size and depth of the areas where cross-watershed runoff occurred became stable in the simulation cases, with return periods of 25 years or greater due to the surrounding high-elevation terrain obstructing further surface runoff development. Thus, when planning for flood mitigation, cross-watershed runoff from adjacent watersheds must also be considered, in addition to normal surface runoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, cluster analyses are widely used in mental health research to categorize student stress levels. However, conventional clustering methods experience challenges with large datasets and complex issues, such as converging to local optima and sensitivity to initial random states. To address these limitations, this research work introduces an Improved Grey Wolf Clustering Algorithm (iGWCA). This improved approach aims to adjust the convergence rate and mitigate the risk of being trapped in local optima. The iGWCA algorithm provides a balanced technique for exploration and exploitation phases, alongside a local search mechanism around the optimal solution. To assess its efficiency, the proposed algorithm is verified on two different datasets. The dataset-I comprises 1100 individuals obtained from the Kaggle database, while dataset-II is based on 824 individuals obtained from the Mendeley database. The results demonstrate the competence of iGWCA in classifying student stress levels. The algorithm outperforms other methods in terms of lower intra-cluster distances, obtaining a reduction rate of 1.48% compared to Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), 8.69% compared to Mayfly Optimization (MOA), 8.45% compared to the Firefly Algorithm (FFO), 2.45% Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), 3.65%, Hybrid Sine Cosine with Cuckoo search (HSCCS), 8.20%, Hybrid Firefly and Genetic Algorithm (FAGA) and 8.68% Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in minimizing intra-cluster distances, making it a better choice for student stress classification. This research contributes to the advancement of understanding and managing student well-being within academic communities by providing a robust tool for stress level classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, multi-robot region coverage has played an important role in the fields of environmental sensing, target searching, etc., and it has received widespread attention worldwide. Due to the effectiveness in segmenting nearest regions, Voronoi diagrams have been extensively used in recent years for multi-robot region coverage. This paper presents a survey of recent research works on region coverage methods within the framework of the Voronoi diagram, to offer a perspective for researchers in the multi-robot cooperation domain. First, some basic knowledge of the Voronoi diagram is introduced. Then, the region coverage issue under the Voronoi diagram is categorized into sensor coverage and task execution coverage problems, respectively, considering the sensor range parameter. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the application of Voronoi diagrams to the aforementioned two problems is provided. Finally, some conclusions and potential further research perspectives in this field are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: An artificial intelligence-driven elderly monitoring system that preserves the visual privacy of the subjects under surveillance while providing essential visual context and essential wellness status to caregivers. The need for privacy in elderly care is crucial, especially where constant monitoring can intrude on personal dignity. This research introduces the development of a unique camera-based monitoring system designed to address the dual objectives of elderly care: privacy and safety. At its core, the system employs an AI-driven technique for real-time subject anonymization. Unlike traditional methods such as pixelization or blurring, our proposed approach effectively removes the subject under monitoring from the scene, replacing them with a two-dimensional avatar. This is achieved through the use of YOLOv8, which facilitates accurate real-time person detection and pose estimation. Furthermore, the proposed system incorporates a fall detection algorithm that utilizes a residual causal convolutional network together with motion features of persons to identify emergency situations and promptly notify caregivers in the event of a fall. The effectiveness of the system is evaluated to emphasize its advanced privacy protection technique and fall detection capabilities using several metrics. This evaluation demonstrates the system's proficiency in real-world applications and its potential to enhance both safety and privacy in elderly care environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice straw presents challenges as livestock feed due to its low digestibility and the presence of chemical residues. One potential solution is to focus on breeding brittle varieties that possess disease-resistance traits. In this study, AZ1803, a brittle mutant line isolated from the IR64 mutant pool, was chosen for gene identification and breeding. The AZ1803 mutant was crossed to the TNG67 variety to generate a mapping population and to the CS11 variety for fine mapping and breeding. The gene was mapped on chr. 10 between RM467 and RM171 SSR markers and was narrowed down to RM271 and RM5392 with 600 kb proximately interval. The AZ1803 and IR64 sequencing results revealed a substitution mutant in the Exon 9th of the OsCesA7 gene, resulting in an amino acid mutation at the end of the transmembrane domain 5th of the CESA7, responsible for cellulose synthesis for the secondary cell wall. The cellulose content of AZ1803 was reduced by 25% compared with the IR64. A new brittle and disease-resistant variety was bred by using developed markers in marker-assisted selection. In addition, bending tests and bacterial blight inoculation were applied. The bacterial lesion length of the bred variety is 64% lower than that of AZ1803. The rice straw of the new variety can be used for livestock feeding, which increases farmer income and reduces pesticide residues and air pollution from straw burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing planting density is one of the most effective ways to increase soybean yield, but supra-optimum density leads to an increase in the risk of lodged soybean. In this study, two varieties were selected. Heinong84 (lodging-susceptible variety, HN84) had planting densities of 200,000 plants/hm2, 300,000 plants/hm2, and 400,000 plants/hm2. Henong60 (lodging-resistant, HN60) had planting densities of 300,000 plants/hm2, 400,000 plants/hm2, and 500,000 plants/hm2. When the foliar application of uniconazole (50 mg/L) occurred at the beginning of the flowering stage (R1), the plant morphology, fiber composition, and mechanical properties of soybean internodes were determined at the podding and seed filling stages, and the yield was measured at the harvest stage. The results showed that spraying uniconazole at the R1 stage changed the morphology structure of soybean plants (i.e., plant height and petiole length reduction; stem diameter and leafstalk angle increase), improved the internode quality (i.e., increased breaking force, lignin content, cellulose content, hemicellulose content, and stem dry weight per unit length), and increased the number of grains per plant at the harvest stage. Thus, it is concluded that the application of uniconazole improved the plant population structure by changing the morphology of soybean plants, which was conducive to good light transmission and ventilation, improved the internode quality and lodging resistance, and increased the yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclophilin A, a widely prevalent cellular protein, exhibits peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity. This protein is predominantly located in the cytosol; additionally, it can be secreted by the cells in response to inflammatory stimuli. Cyclophilin A has been identified to be a key player in many of the biological events and is therefore involved in several diseases, including vascular and inflammatory diseases, immune disorders, aging, and cancers. It represents an attractive target for therapeutic intervention with small molecule inhibitors such as cyclosporin A. Recently, a number of novel inhibitors of cyclophilin A have emerged. However, it remains elusive whether and how many cyclophilin A inhibitors function in the inflammatory diseases and cancers. In this review, we discuss current available data about cyclophilin A inhibitors, including cyclosporin A and its derivatives, quinoxaline derivatives, and peptide analogues, and outline the most recent advances in clinical trials of these agents. Inhibitors of cyclophilin A are poised to enhance our comprehension of the molecular mechanisms that underpin inflammatory diseases and cancers associated with cyclophilin A. This advancement will aid in the development of innovative pharmaceutical treatments in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing amount of tourism waste has been a headache for most tourist destinations in China. Guiding tourists to classify waste has become a key concern for tourism waste management. In this study, the TPB-AR-DH model was constructed for the first time to reveal the formation process of tourists' participation in tourism waste classification. The data came from a questionnaire survey sample of 382 tourists to the West Lake Scenic Spot in Hangzhou. The results from the structural equation model and multiple group analysis showed that (1) attitude towards the tourism waste classification, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and ascription of responsibility positively affected tourists' waste classification intention. Especially, the ascription of responsibility was the most influential factor; (2) perceived behavioral control had the largest effects on actual behavior, and waste classification intention played a partly mediating role between perceived behavioral control and actual behavior; (3) tourists' daily habit of waste classification played a significant moderating role between tourists' waste classification intention and actual behavior. On the whole, this study offered a theoretical explanation model to popularize the initiative of tourism waste classification and perfect waste management policies in tourist destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Berberine (BBR) is a natural alkaloid with multiple biotical effects that has potential as a treatment for fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS). However, the mechanism underlying the protective effect of BBR against FLHS remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of BBR on FLHS induced by a high-energy, low-protein (HELP) diet and explore the involvement of the gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism in the protective effects. A total of 90 healthy 140-day-old Hy-line laying hens were randomly divided into three groups, including a control group (fed a basic diet), a HELP group (fed a HELP diet), and a HELP+BBR group (high-energy, high-protein diet supplemented with BBR instead of maize). Our results show that BBR supplementation alleviated liver injury and hepatic steatosis in laying hens. Moreover, BBR supplementation could significantly regulate the gut's microbial composition, increasing the abundance of Actinobacteria and Romboutsia. In addition, the BBR supplement altered the profile of bile acid. Furthermore, the gut microbiota participates in bile acid metabolism, especially taurochenodeoxycholic acid and α-muricholic acid. BBR supplementation could regulate the expression of genes and proteins related to glucose metabolism, lipid synthesis (FAS, SREBP-1c), and bile acid synthesis (FXR, CYP27a1). Collectively, our findings demonstrate that BBR might be a potential feed additive for preventing FLHS by regulating the gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a hazardous substance that poses significant risks to environmental ecosystems and animal organisms. However, the specific consequences of Cr(VI) exposure in terms of liver damage remain incompletely understood. This study aims to elucidate the mechanism by which Cr(VI) disrupts mitochondrial dynamics, leading to hepatic injury in ducks. Forty-eight healthy 8-day-old ducks were divided into four groups and subjected to diets containing varying doses of Cr(VI) (0, 9.28, 46.4, and 232 mg/kg) for 49 days. Our results demonstrated that Cr(VI) exposure resulted in disarranged liver lobular vacuolation, along with increasing the serum levels of ALT, AST, and AKP in a dose-dependent manner, which indicated liver damage. Furthermore, Cr(VI) exposure induced oxidative stress by reducing the activities of T-SOD, SOD, GSH-Px, GSH, and CAT, while increasing the contents of MDA and H2O2. Moreover, Cr(VI) exposure downregulated the activities of CS and MDH, resulting in energy disturbance, as evidenced by the reduced AMPK/p-AMPK ratio and PGC-1α protein expression. Additionally, Cr(VI) exposure disrupted mitochondrial dynamics through decreased expression of OPA1, Mfn1, and Mfn2 and increased expression of Drp-1, Fis1, and MFF proteins. This disruption ultimately triggered mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, as evidenced by elevated levels of caspase-3, Cyt C, and Bax, along with decreased expression of Bcl-2 and the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, at both the protein and mRNA levels. In summary, this study highlights that Cr(VI) exposure induces oxidative stress, inhibits the AMPK-PGC-1α pathway, disrupts mitochondrial dynamics, and triggers liver cell apoptosis in ducks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the intricate dynamics of trust in human–robot interaction (HRI), particularly in the context of modern robotic systems enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI). By grounding our investigation in the principles of interpersonal trust, we identify and analyze both similarities and differences between trust in human–human interactions and human–robot scenarios. A key aspect of our research is the clear definition and characterization of trust in HRI, including the identification of factors influencing its development. Our empirical findings reveal that trust in HRI is not static but varies dynamically with the complexity of the tasks involved. Notably, we observe a stronger tendency to trust robots in tasks that are either very straightforward or highly complex. In contrast, for tasks of intermediate complexity, there is a noticeable decline in trust. This pattern of trust challenges conventional perceptions and emphasizes the need for nuanced understanding and design in HRI. Our study provides new insights into the nature of trust in HRI, highlighting its dynamic nature and the influence of task complexity, thereby offering a valuable reference for future research in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress have been linked to pulmonary fibrosis. However, the relationship between UPR status and pulmonary function and prognosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients remains largely unknown. Through a series of bioinformatics analyses, we established a correlation between UPR status and pulmonary function in IPF patients. Furthermore, thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) was identified as a potential biomarker for prognostic evaluation in IPF patients. By utilizing both bulk RNA profiling and single-cell RNA sequencing data, we demonstrated the upregulation of TSP-1 in lung fibroblasts during pulmonary fibrosis. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) results indicated a positive association between TSP-1 expression and gene sets related to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) pathway in lung fibroblasts. TSP-1 overexpression alone induced mild ER stress and pulmonary fibrosis, and it even exacerbated bleomycin-induced ER stress and pulmonary fibrosis. Mechanistically, TSP-1 promoted ER stress and fibroblast activation through CD47-dependent ROS production. Treatment with either TSP-1 inhibitor or CD47 inhibitor significantly attenuated BLM-induced ER stress and pulmonary fibrosis. Collectively, these findings suggest that the elevation of TSP-1 during pulmonary fibrosis is not merely a biomarker but likely plays a pathogenic role in the fibrotic changes in the lung. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spectral imaging technology, which aims to capture images across multiple spectral channels and create a spectral data cube, has been widely utilized in various fields. However, conventional spectral imaging systems face challenges, such as slow acquisition speed and large size. The rapid development of optical metasurfaces, capable of manipulating light fields versatilely and miniaturizing optical components into ultrathin planar devices, offers a promising solution for compact hyperspectral imaging (HSI). This study proposes a compact snapshot compressive spectral imaging (SCSI) system by leveraging the spectral modulations of metasurfaces with dual-channel switchable metasurface filters and employing a deep-learning-based reconstruction algorithm. To achieve compactness, the proposed system integrates dual-channel switchable metasurface filters using twisted nematic liquid crystals (TNLCs) and anisotropic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructures. These thin metasurface filters are closely attached to the image sensor, resulting in a compact system. The TNLCs possess a broadband linear polarization conversion ability, enabling the rapid switching of the incidence polarization state between x-polarization and y-polarization by applying different voltages. This polarization conversion facilitates the generation of two groups of transmittance spectra for wavelength-encoding, providing richer information for spectral data cube reconstruction compared to that of other snapshot compressive spectral imaging techniques. In addition, instead of employing classic iterative compressive sensing (CS) algorithms, an end-to-end residual neural network (ResNet) is utilized to reconstruct the spectral data cube. This neural network leverages the 2-frame snapshot measurements of orthogonal polarization channels. The proposed hyperspectral imaging technology demonstrates superior reconstruction quality and speed compared to those of the traditional compressive hyperspectral image recovery methods. As a result, it is expected that this technology will have substantial implications in various domains, including but not limited to object detection, face recognition, food safety, biomedical imaging, agriculture surveillance, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical metasurfaces have been widely investigated for their versatile ability to manipulate wavefront and miniaturize traditional optical components into ultrathin planar devices. The integration of metasurfaces with multifunctionality and tunability has fundamentally transformed optics with unprecedented control over light propagation and manipulation. This study introduces a pioneering framework for the development of tunable metasurfaces with multifunctionality, and an example of a tunable metasurface of dual functionalities is proposed and numerically verified as one of the tunable meta-axicon for generating Bessel beams with a variable depth of focus (DOF) and a continuous-zoom metalens. Specifically, this design achieves dual-functional phase modulation by helicity-multiplexing from the combination of the geometric phase as well as the propagation phase and realizes tunability for both functionalities through rotational actuation between double metasurface layers. As a result, dual functionalities with continuous tunability of the proposed TiO2 metasurface are enabled independently for the left and right circularly polarized (LCP and RCP) incidences at 532 nm. Specifically, LCP light triggers the metasurface to function as a tunable axicon, generating non-diffracting Bessel beams with variable numerical apertures (NA) and DOFs. Conversely, the RCP incidence induces it to operate as a continuous-zoom metalens and generates variable spherical wavefront focusing on diverse focal lengths. This study not only initially implements the design of tunable meta-axicon, but also achieves the integration of such a tunable meta-axicon and continuous-zoom metalens within a single metasurface configuration. The proposed device could find potential applications in biological imaging, microscopic measurement, laser fabrication, optical manipulation, multi-plane imaging, depth estimation, optical data storage, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing robust and cost-effective electrocatalysts to boost hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) and oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) is crucially important to electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, bifunctional electrocatalysts, by coupling Co nanoparticles and N-doped carbon nanotubes/graphitic nanosheets (Co@NCNTs/NG), were successfully synthesized via facile high-temperature pyrolysis and evaluated for water splitting. The morphology and particle size of products were influenced by the precursor type of the cobalt source (cobalt oxide or cobalt nitrate). The pyrolysis product prepared using cobalt oxide as a cobalt source (Co@NCNTs/NG-1) exhibited the smaller particle size and higher specific surface area than that of the pyrolysis products prepared using cobalt nitrate as a cobalt source (Co@NCNTs/NG-2). Notably, Co@NCNTs/NG-1 displayed much lower potential −0.222 V vs. RHE for HER and 1.547 V vs. RHE for OER at the benchmark current density of 10 mA cm−2 than that of Co@NCNTs/NG-2, which indicates the higher bifunctional catalytic activities of Co@NCNTs/NG-1. The water-splitting device using Co@NCNTs/NG-1 as both an anode and cathode demonstrated a potential of 1.92 V to attain 10 mA cm−2 with outstanding stability for 100 h. This work provides a facile pyrolysis strategy to explore highly efficient and stable bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban parks beautify the environment and promote urban public health, and their spatial allocation is significant in maintaining environmental justice. However, the current allocation of urban parks focuses on quantity fairness and pays insufficient attention to accessibility and quality fairness. This study investigated the core area of Beijing and analyzed the fairness of urban park allocation based on park accessibility, area, and quality. We used big data crawling, the two-step floating catchment area method, comprehensive equity evaluation of parks, spatial autocorrelation, and non-parametric tests. The results showed inequality in terms of accessibility, area, and quality, with high spatial distribution in the north and low spatial distribution in the south. The accessibility, shortest distance, and total area of urban parks in high-income residential areas were 3.0, 2.1, and 1.8 times higher, respectively, than those of the low-income residential areas. This indicates that high-income groups have better accessibility, live closer to, and have access to larger urban parks. Middle-income and above groups had access to green space, whereas medium-to-low-income residential areas had poor access to parks, particularly high-quality parks. These findings provide decision-making and planning references for the optimal allocation and rational planning of urban parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the largest concerns with world health today is still antibiotic resistance, which is making it imperative to find efficient alternatives as soon as possible. It has been demonstrated that microbes are reliable sources for the creation of therapeutic antibiotics. This research intends to investigate the endophytic microorganisms from several medicinal plants in Fenghuang Mountain (Jiangsu Province, China) and to discover new antibiotics from their secondary metabolites. A total of 269 endophytic strains were isolated from nine distinct medicinal plants. Taxonomic analysis revealed that there were 20 distinct species among these endophytes, with Streptomyces being the most common genus. Three of the target strains were chosen for scale-up fermentation after preliminary screening of antibacterial activities and the metabolomics investigation using LC-MS. These strains were Penicillium sp. NX-S-6, Streptomyces sp. YHLB-L-2 and Streptomyces sp. ZLBB-S-6. Twenty-three secondary metabolites (1–23), including a new sorbicillin analogue (1), were produced as a result of antibacterial activity-guided isolation. Through spectroscopic analysis using MS and NMR, the structures of yield compounds were clarified. According to antibacterial data, S. aureus or B. subtilis were inhibited to varying degrees by sorrentanone (3), emodic acid (8), GKK1032 B (10), linoleic acid (14), toyocamycin (17) and quinomycin A (21). The most effective antimicrobial agent against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and A. baumannii was quinomycin A (21). In addition, quinomycin A showed strong antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus, Cryptococcus neoformans, and two clinical isolated strains Aspergillus fumigatus #176 and #339, with MIC as 16, 4, 16 and 16 µg/mL, respectively. This is the first time that bioprospecting of actinobacteria and their secondary metabolites from medicinal plants in Fenghuang Mountain was reported. The finding demonstrates the potential of endophytic microbes in medical plants to produce a variety of natural products. Endophytic microbes will be an important source for new antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lung has raised significant concerns because of its radiosensitivity. Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) has a serious impact on the quality of patients' lives and limits the effect of radiotherapy on chest tumors. In clinical practice, effective drug intervention for RILI remains to be fully elucidated. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the biological characteristics is essential to reveal the mechanisms underlying the complex biological processes and discover novel therapeutic targets in RILI. In this study, Wistar rats received 0, 10, 20 or 35 Gy whole-thorax irradiation (WTI). Lung and plasma samples were collected within 5 days post-irradiation. Then, these samples were processed using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS). A panel of potential plasma metabolic markers was selected by correlation analysis between the lung tissue and plasma metabolic features, followed by the evaluation of radiation injury levels within 5 days following whole-thorax irradiation (WTI). In addition, the multiple metabolic dysregulations primarily involved amino acids, bile acids and lipid and fatty acid β-oxidation-related metabolites, implying disturbances in the urea cycle, intestinal flora metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction. In particular, the accumulation of long-chain acylcarnitines (ACs) was observed as early as 2 d post-WTI by dynamic plasma metabolic data analysis. Our findings indicate that plasma metabolic markers have the potential for RILI assessment. These results reveal metabolic characteristics following WTI and provide new insights into therapeutic interventions for RILI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tackles the saturation and fault-tolerant attitude tracking problem without unwinding for rigid spacecraft with external disturbances and partial loss of actuator effectiveness faults. A hybrid saturation and fault-tolerant attitude control (HSFC) is proposed. The Lyapunov method is employed to prove that the tracking errors of the spacecraft system tend to the equilibrium point asymptotically with HSFC. The advantages of the HSFC are that it is fault-tolerant, anti-unwinding and explicitly upper bounded a priori which means that both actuator saturation and the unwinding phenomenon can be avoided. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology advancements and modern lifestyle changes have posed a threat to the preservation and development of traditional skills. This research focuses on the sustainable development of Huaihe willow weaving techniques, an intangible cultural heritage of China, with a specific focus on economic and environmental sustainability. The initial step involved analyzing the purchasing intentions of 350 consumers in the Yangtze River Delta region through a questionnaire survey. Based on this analysis, four theoretical hypotheses were formulated. Subsequently, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model consisting of four standard layers and 20 factor layers was constructed. By utilizing judgment matrices, the relative weight values of the standard and factor layers were calculated. Notably, B4 (sustainable innovation) holds the highest weightage at 49%, followed by B2 (product innovation) and B3 (process innovation), each accounting for 20%. B1 (authentic innovation) has a weightage of 11%. This study delves into the interrelation among the crucial factors influencing design innovation in Huaihe willow weaving. Lastly, based on the outcomes of the AHP model, four sustainable design improvement strategies for the development of new Huaihe willow weaving products in the Yangtze River Delta region are proposed. This research sheds light on the sustainable effects of design innovation in the willow weaving traditional craft on commercial and economic progress, from the perspective of consumers. Additionally, it offers experimental data and strategic support for local willow weaving enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region, aiding in the development of new products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) is a key target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is possible that peptides that precisely regulate DPP-IV could be released from coix seed prolamins (CSP), but whether this happens has not yet been investigated. We performed the in silico digestion of CSP and predicted the bioactivity, absorption, transport, toxicity, and allergenicity of the resulting peptides. The simulation predicted that 47 non-toxic bioactive peptides would be released. After screening these, we found that 64.58% of them could possess DPP-IV inhibitory activity. The effect of thermal processing on the amino acid composition and structural properties of CSP was determined, and the DPP-IV inhibitory activity of its digestion-derived peptides was also assessed. The results showed that processing could change the flavour of coix seed and the supply of amino acids. After processing, the spatial conformation of CSP changed from ordered to disordered, and the peptide content and the DPP-IV inhibitory activity of its digestion products significantly increased by 19.89–30.91% and 36.84–42.02%, respectively. These results support the hypothesis that processing can change the protein structure and increase the probability that bioactive peptides will be released. They also have important implications for the development of bioactive peptides and the intensive processing of coix seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate pear sorting plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality of pears and increasing the sales of them. In the domain of intelligent pear sorting, precise target detection of pears is imperative. However, practical implementation faces challenges in achieving adequate accuracy in pear target detection due to the limitations of computational resources in embedded devices and the occurrence of occlusion among pears. To solve this problem, we built an image acquisition system based on pear sorting equipment and created a pear dataset containing 34,598 pear images under laboratory conditions. The dataset was meticulously annotated using the LabelImg software, resulting in a total of 154,688 precise annotations for pears, pear stems, pear calyxes, and pear defects. Furthermore, we propose an Extremely Compressed Lightweight Model for Pear Object Detection (ECLPOD) based on YOLOv7's pipeline to assist in the pear sorting task. Firstly, the Hierarchical Interactive Shrinking Network (HISNet) was proposed, which contributed to efficient feature extraction with a limited amount of computation and parameters. The Bulk Feature Pyramid (BFP) module was then proposed to enhance pear contour information extraction during feature fusion. Finally, the Accuracy Compensation Strategy (ACS) was proposed to improve the detection capability of the model, especially for identification of the calyces and stalks of pears. The experimental results indicate that the ECLPOD achieves 90.1% precision (P) and 85.52% mAP50 with only 0.58 million parameters and 1.3 GFLOPs of computation in the homemade pear dataset in this paper. Compared with YOLOv7, the number of parameters and the amount of computation for the ECLPOD are compressed to 1.5% and 1.3%, respectively. Compared with other mainstream methods, the ECLPOD achieves an optimal trade-off between accuracy and complexity. This suggests that the ECLPOD is superior to these existing approaches in the field of object detection for assisting pear sorting tasks with good potential for embedded device deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan has a rapidly increasing aging population with a considerably high life expectancy rate, which poses challenges for healthcare and medical systems. This study examines three key factors: safety concerns, family expectations, and privacy concerns, and their influence on surveillance system installation decisions. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving a group of physically active older adults in Taiwan, using a questionnaire to collect data on the reasons for in-stalling a surveillance system and preferences for three image privacy protection techniques: blurring the face and transformation to a 2D or 3D character. The study concluded that while safety concerns and family expectations facilitate the adoption of surveillance systems, privacy concerns serve as a significant barrier. Furthermore, older adults showed a clear preference for avatar-based privacy protection methods over simpler techniques, such as blurring. The outcomes of this research will be instrumental in shaping the development of privacy-conscious home surveillance technologies, adeptly balancing safety and privacy. This understanding can pave the way for technology design that skillfully balances privacy concerns with remote monitoring quality, thereby enhancing the well-being and safety of this demographic. These results could possibly be extended to other demographics as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Torsional stiffnesses of chords contribute considerably to the sectional torsional stiffness of steel tubular Vierendeel truss arches and hence determine their out-of-plane buckling. To obtain a more accurate stability design for the Vierendeel truss arches, torsional effects of chords on their out-of-plane stability and failure mechanisms were investigated theoretically and numerically. This paper firstly derives the theoretical formulas of the sectional torsional stiffness and the out-of-plane elastic buckling loads for the pin-ended circular steel tubular Vierendeel truss arches. It is found that incorporating the torsional stiffness of chords can remarkably enhance the sectional torsional stiffness of the Vierendeel truss arches and their out-of-plane elastic buckling loads by ~41%. Then, the out-of-plane elastic buckling loads are calculated for the pin-ended arches by the equilibrium theorem and for the fix-ended arches by the numerical fitting. In both cases, the sectional torsional stiffness and elastic buckling loads are closely dependent on the transverse-to-chord member stiffness ratio (it/ic). Furthermore, the out-of-plane inelastic buckling behaviors are investigated numerically in the end-fixed Vierendeel truss arches with large it/ic, where the ultimate bearing load in full-span radially uniform manner can be significantly enhanced by ~43% by incorporating the torsional stiffness of chords. The calculated reduction factors confirm the design curve b from GB50017-2017 or Eurocode 3 and can provide a conservative design for the out-of-plane stability of the circular steel tubular Vierendeel truss arches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is a long-term inflammatory illness and a leading contributor to tooth loss in humans. Due to the influence of the anatomic parameters of teeth, such as root bifurcation lesions and the depth of the periodontal pocket, basic periodontal treatment on its own often does not completely obliterate flora microorganisms. As a consequence, topical medication has become a significant supplement in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Berberine (BBR) has various pharmacological effects, such as hypoglycemic, antitumor, antiarrhythmic, anti-inflammatory, etc. The target of our project is to develop a safe and non-toxic carrier that can effectively release berberine, which can significantly reduce periodontal tissue inflammation, and to investigate whether berberine thermosensitive hydrogel can exert anti-inflammatory and osteogenic effects by modulating phosphatifylinositol-3-kinase/Protein Kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway. Consequently, firstly berberine temperature-sensitive hydrogel was prepared, and its characterizations showed that the mixed solution gelated within 3 min under 37 °C with a hole diameter of 10–130 µm, and the accumulation of berberine release amounted to 89.99% at 21 days. CCK-8 and live-dead cell staining results indicated that this hydrogel was not biotoxic, and it is also presumed that the optimum concentration of berberine is 5 µM, which was selected for subsequent experiments. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting (WB)results demonstrated that inflammatory factors, as well as protein levels, were significantly reduced in the berberine-loaded hydrogel group, and LY294002 (PI3K inhibitor) could enhance this effect (p < 0.05). In the berberine-loaded hydrogel group, osteogenesis-related factor levels and protein profiles were visibly increased, along with an increase in alkaline phosphatase expression, which was inhibited by LY294002 (p < 0.05). Therefore, berberine thermosensitive hydrogel may be an effective treatment for periodontitis, and it may exert anti-inflammatory and osteogenic effects through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of space technology, the functions of lunar vehicles are constantly enriched, and the structure is constantly complicated, which puts forward more stringent requirements for its ground micro-low-gravity simulation test technology. This paper puts forward a high-precision and high-dynamic landing buffer test method based on the principle of magnetic quasi-zero stiffness. Firstly, the micro-low-gravity simulation system for the lunar vehicle was designed. The dynamic model of the system and a position control method based on fuzzy PID parameter tuning were established. Then, the dynamic characteristics of the system were analyzed through joint simulation. At last, a prototype of the lunar vehicle's vertical constant force support system was built, and a micro-low-gravity landing buffer test was carried out. The results show that the simulation results were in good agreement with the test results. The sensitivity of the system was better than 0.1%, and the constant force deviation was 0.1% under landing impact conditions. The new method and idea are put forward to improve the micro-low-gravity simulation technology of lunar vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkaloids, as one of the largest classes of natural products with diverse structures, are an important source of innovative medicines. Filamentous fungi, especially those derived from the marine environment, are one of the major producers of alkaloids. In this study, three new alkaloids, sclerotioloids A–C (1–3), along with six known analogs (4–9), were obtained under the guidance of the MS/MS-based molecular networking from the marine-derived fungus, Aspergillus sclerotiorum ST0501, collected from the South China Sea. Their chemical structures were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of the spectroscopic data, including 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS. Additionally, the configuration of compound 2 was unambiguously determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction, and that of compound 3 was determined by the TDDFT-ECD approach. Sclerotioloid A (1) represents the first example of 2,5-diketopiperazine alkaloid with a rare terminal alkyne. Sclerotioloid B (2) showed the inhibition of NO production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), with an inhibition rate of 28.92% higher than that of dexamethasone (25.87%). These results expanded the library of fungal-derived alkaloids and further prove the potential of marine fungi in the generation of alkaloids with new scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the leading cause of death in men and has poor therapeutic outcomes. Methods: A novel endostatin 33 peptide was synthesized by adding a specific QRD sequence on the basis of the endostatin 30 peptide (PEP06) with antitumor activity. Then, bioinformatic analysis and subsequent experiments were performed to validate the antitumor function of this endostatin 33 peptide. Results: We found that the 33 polypeptides significantly inhibited growth, invasion and metastasis and promoted the apoptosis of PCa in vivo or vitro, which is more significant than PEP06 under the same conditions. According to 489 cases from the TCGA data portal, the α6β1 high expression group was closely associated with the poor prognosis (Gleason score, pathological N stage, etc.) of PCa and was mainly enriched in the PI3K-Akt pathway. Subsequently, we demonstrated that endostatin 33 peptide can down-regulate the PI3K-Akt pathway via the targeted inhibition of α6β1, thereby inhibiting the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and matrix metalloproteinase in C42 cell lines. Conclusion: The endostatin 33 peptide can exert antitumor effects by inhibiting the PI3K-Akt pathway, especially in tumors with a high expression of the integrin α6β1 subtype, such as prostate cancer. Therefore, our study will provide a new method and theoretical basis for the treatment of prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical research on cause-related marketing in the field of tourism is comparatively lacking. This study aims to examine the role of moral elevation in the cause-related marketing of tourist destinations. Taking Zhangjiajie, China as a case study, based on the stimulus-organism-response framework, this research develops a model of altruistic motivation, moral elevation and tourism support behavior. The results show that altruistic motivation has a significant positive impact on the emotional component, the views of humanity and the desire to be a better person; the desire to be a better person has a significant positive impact on tourism support behavior, and it also plays a mediating role between altruistic motivation and tourism support behavior. This study applies cause-related marketing theory to the research of tourist destinations, which can provide useful suggestions for the marketing of other tourist destinations under the background of the COVID-19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, we identified a series of steroids (1–6) that showed potent anti-virus activities against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with IC50 values ranging from 3.23 to 0.19 µM. In this work, we first semi-synthesized and characterized the single isomer of 5, 25(R)-26-acetoxy-3β,5α-dihydroxycholest-6-one, named as (25R)-5, in seven steps from a commercially available compound diosgenin (7), with a total yield of 2.8%. Unfortunately, compound (25R)-5 and the intermediates only showed slight inhibitions against RSV replication at the concentration of 10 µM, but they possessed potent cytotoxicity activities against human bladder cancer 5637 (HTB-9) and hepatic cancer HepG2, with IC50 values ranging from 3.0 to 15.5 µM without any impression of normal liver cell proliferation at 20 µM. Among them, the target compound (25R)-5 possessed cytotoxicity activities against 5637 (HTB-9) and HepG2 with IC50 values of 4.8 µM and 15.5 µM, respectively. Further studies indicated that compound (25R)-5 inhibited cancer cell proliferation through inducing early and late-stage apoptosis. Collectively, we have semi-synthesized, characterized and biologically evaluated the 25R-isomer of compound 5; the biological results suggested that compound (25R)-5 could be a good lead for further anti-cancer studies, especially for anti-human liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-encapsulated transition metal catalysts have caught the interest of researchers in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to their distinctive architectures and highly tunable electronic structures. In this work, we synthesized N-doped carbon encapsulated with CoNi nanoalloy particles (CoNi@NC) as the electrocatalysts. The metal-organic skeleton ZIF-67 nanocubes were first synthesized, and then Ni2+ ions were inserted to generate CoNi-ZIF precursors by a simple ion-exchange route, which was followed by pyrolysis and with urea for the introduction of nitrogen (N) at a low temperature to synthesize CoNi@NC composites. The results reveal that ZIF-67 pyrolysis can dope more N atoms in the carbon skeleton and that the pyrolysis temperature influences the ORR and OER performances. The sample prepared by CoNi@NC pyrolysis at 650 °C has a high N content (9.70%) and a large specific surface area (167 m2 g−1), with a positive ORR onset potential (Eonset) of 0.89 V vs. RHE and half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.81 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KOH, and the overpotential of the OER measured in 1 M KOH was only 286 mV at 10 mA cm−2. The highly efficient bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalysts synthesized by this method can offer some insights into the design and synthesis of complex metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) hybrid structures and their derivatives as functional materials in energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensing performance is crucial for real-world applications of the embedded piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) sensors in concrete structures. Based on the electromechanical impedances (EMIs) obtained numerically and experimentally from the embedded PZT sensors, effects of installation orientation and interfacial roughness were investigated on their sensitivity and reliability for quantitative concrete stress monitoring. The numerical results suggest a better sensitivity in the embedded 90° PZT sensors, with planar normal perpendicular to the loading direction, where the conductance amplitude variation is 6.5 times of that of the 0° PZT sensors, with normal parallel to load direction. Further, the improved reliability of the PZT sensors with rough interfaces is observed experimentally, which makes them robust for concrete stress monitoring over a wider sensing range from 0 to 20 MPa. Based on the static analyses, it is noted that the sensing performance of the embedded sensor is significantly affected by the interfacial stiffness degradation induced by the enhanced strain surrounding the sensor. These findings suggest that delaying the interfacial stiffness degradation, i.e., with proper installation orientation and interfacial treatment, could improve the sensing performance of the embedded sensors for quantitative concrete stress monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean stem elongation and thickening are related to cell wall composition. Plant morphogenesis can be influenced by blue light, which can regulate cell wall structure and composition, and affect stem growth and development. Here, using proteomics and metabolomics, differentially expressed proteins and metabolites of hypocotyls grown in the dark and under blue light were studied to clarify the effects of blue light on the cell wall structure and carbohydrate metabolism pathway of soybean hypocotyls. Results showed that 1120 differential proteins were upregulated and 797 differential proteins were downregulated under blue light treatment, while 63 differential metabolites were upregulated and 36 differential metabolites were downregulated. Blue light promoted the establishment of cell wall structure and composition by regulating the expression of both the enzymes and metabolites related to cell wall structural composition and nonstructural carbohydrates. Thus, under blue light, the cross-sectional area of the hypocotyl and xylem were larger, the longitudinal length of pith cells was smaller, elongation of the soybean hypocotyl was inhibited, and diameter was increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf senescence is the final stage of leaf development and is essential for storage properties and crop productivity. WRKY transcription factors have been revealed to play crucial roles in several biological processes during plant growth and development, especially in leaf senescence. However, the functions of Brassica napus WRKY transcription factors in leaf senescence remain unclear. In the present study, Bna.A07.WRKY70, one paralogue of Brassica napus WRKY70, was cloned from the B. napus cultivar "Zhongshuang11 (ZS11)". We found that Bna.A07.WRKY70 contains a highly conserved WRKY domain and is most closely related to Arabidopsis thaliana WRKY70. The subcellular localization and transcriptional self-activation assays indicated that Bna.A07.WRKY70 functions as a transcription factor. Meanwhile, RT-qPCR and promoter-GUS analysis showed that Bna.A07.WRKY70 is predominantly expressed in the leaves of B. napus and rosette leaves of A. thaliana. In addition, our results demonstrated that ectopic expression of Bna.A07.WRKY70 in A. thaliana wrky70 mutants could restore the senescence phenotypes to wild-type levels. Consistently, the expression levels of three senescence-related marker genes of wrky70 mutants were restored to wild-type levels by ectopic expression of Bna.A07.WRKY70. These findings improve our understanding of the function of Bna.A07.WRKY70 in B. napus and provide a novel strategy for breeding the new stay-green cultivars in rapeseed through genetic manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing demand for cheap, strong, and lightweight structures has resulted in an increasing need for materials incorporating macroscopic structures such as surface textures in the form of dimples or internal non-uniformities such as porosity. This has highlighted the potential for misleading results when applying the current standards for the determination of yield strength to materials incorporating such non-uniformities. In the present study, discontinuous, continuous, and severely continuous (departure from linearity significantly prior to macroscopic yield) yield behaviours during tensile loading have been explored with respect to the determination of yield strength. This has clearly shown the limitations of standard measures as well as the incompatibility of different measures, making the comparison of yield strengths deceptive. Therefore, a novel derivative yield method has been proposed. Based on the second derivative of stress with respect to strain, this method is independent of both yield type and the presence or lack of macroscopic structures, and it correctly identifies the upper yield for discontinuous yield as well as the first significant departure from linearity for continuous yield. Furthermore, the derivative yield method is shown to more accurately characterise the behaviour of dimpled steel, non-arbitrarily quantifying the yield strength for severely continuous yielding. This wide applicability, in many cases, eliminates the need for the comparison of results produced by mutually incompatible yield criteria, e.g., when quantifying strengthening due to dimpling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycoside compounds have attracted great interest due to their remarkable and multifarious bioactivities. In this study, four hitherto unknown 4-methoxy-β-D-glucosyl derivatives were obtained and identified from the marine-derived fungus Metarhizium sp. P2100, including three alpha-pyrone glycosides (1–3) and one phenolic glycoside (4). Their planar structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS. The absolute configurations of 1–3 were determined by a single-crystal X-ray crystallographic experiment, a comparison of the experimental, and a calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, respectively. Compounds 2 and 3 are a pair of rare epimeric pyranoside glycosides at C-7 with a core of aglycone as 2H-pyrone. Compounds 1–4 exhibited weak anti-inflammatory activities. In particular, compounds 1–3 displayed inhibitory activities against α-amylase, showing a potential for the development of a new α-amylase inhibitor for controlling diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop a high-speed and nondestructive mildewed rice grain detection method. First, a set of microscopic images of rice grains contaminated by Aspergillus niger, Penicillium citrinum, and Aspergillus cinerea are acquired to serve as samples, and the mildewed regions are marked. Then, three YOLO-v5 models for identifying regions of rice grain with contamination of Aspergillus niger, Penicillium citrinum, and Aspergillus cinerea in microscopic images are established. Finally, the relationship between the proportion of mildewed regions and the total number of colonies is analyzed. The results show that the proposed YOLO-v5 models achieve accuracy levels of 89.26%, 91.15%, and 90.19% when detecting mildewed regions with contamination of Aspergillus niger, Penicillium citrinum, and Aspergillus cinerea in the microscopic images of the verification set. The proportion of the mildewed region area of rice grain with contamination of Aspergillus niger/Penicillium citrinum/Aspergillus cinerea is logarithmically correlated with the logarithm of the total number of colonies (TVC). The corresponding determination coefficients are 0.7466, 0.7587, and 0.8148, respectively. This study provides a reference for future research on high-speed mildewed rice grain detection methods based on MCV technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refuge Green Space (RGS) plays roles in both rapid evacuation and short-term resettlement in response to sudden natural hazards, especially geological disasters. As a result, its evaluation and location optimization are crucial for the development of sustainable cities. In this study, the Three-Step Floating Catchment Area Method (3SFCA) and Moran's I index were used as measurement models. The rapid evacuation and short-term resettlement capacity of RGS were evaluated by calculating accessibility with 5, 10, 15 and 30 min of walking. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the supply capacity of RGS in the central area of Tianjin and to provide recommendations for future additions to RGS. The results show that over 80% of the research area exhibited relatively poor service capacity within a 5–10 min walking distance, while less than 20% exhibited relatively good service capacity. Within a 15–30 min walking distance, approximately 60% of the study area was not well served by the RGS, while approximately 40% was well served. In conclusion, the layout of RGS in the central area of Tianjin exhibits unevenness and polarization of phenomena, and the supply of different categories of RGS varies widely. There is an insufficient supply of Emergency Sheltered Green Space and Temporary Sheltered Green Space, and that which is available is difficult to reach within 5–10 min. The coverage capacity of Disaster Prevention Park Space is relatively good, essentially covering the entire study area within a 15–30 min walking distance; however, the service capacity is average. Based on these conclusions, areas in which the RGS supply was weak were identified, and future potential RGS additions were identified in conjunction with the Green Space System Plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that is considered to be the main cause of adult tooth loss. Diabetes mellitus (DM) has a bidirectional relationship with periodontitis. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an important pre-inflammatory factor, which participates in the pathophysiological process of periodontitis and diabetes. The interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) is a natural inhibitor of IL-1, and the balance between IL-1ra and IL-1β is one of the main factors affecting chronic periodontitis (CP) and diabetes. The purpose of this study is to develop a drug carrier that is safe and nontoxic and can effectively release IL-1ra, which can effectively slow down the inflammation of periodontal tissues with diabetes, and explore the possibility of lowering the blood sugar of this drug carrier. Therefore, in this experiment, a temperature-sensitive hydrogel loaded with IL-1ra was prepared and characterized, and its anti-inflammatory effect in high-sugar environments in vivo and in vitro was evaluated. The results showed that the hydrogel could gel after 5 min at 37 °C, the pore size was 5–70 μm, and the cumulative release of IL-1ra reached 83.23% on the 21st day. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) showed that the expression of IL-1β, Interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) inflammatory factors decreased after the treatment with IL-1ra-loaded thermosensitive hydrogel. Histological evaluation and micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) showed that IL-1ra-loaded thermosensitive hydrogel could effectively inhibit periodontal inflammation and reduce alveolar bone absorption in rats with diabetic periodontitis. It is worth mentioning that this hydrogel also plays a role in relieving hyperglycemia. Therefore, the temperature-sensitive hydrogel loaded with IL-1ra may be an effective method to treat periodontitis with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural products derived from natural resources, including nutritional functional food, play an important role in human health. In recent years, the study of anti-fungal and other properties of agri-foods and derived functional compounds has been a hot research topic. Candida albicans is a parasitic fungus that thrives on human mucosal surfaces, which are colonized through opportunistic infection. It is the most prevalent cause of invasive fungal infection in immunocompromised individuals, resulting in a wide variety of clinical symptoms. Moreover, the efficacy of classical therapeutic medications such as fluconazole is often limited by the development of resistance. There is an ongoing need for the development of novel and effective antifungal therapy and medications. Infection of C. albicans is influenced by a great quantity of virulence factors, like adhesion, invasion-promoting enzymes, mycelial growth, and phenotypic change, and among others. Furthermore, various natural products especially from food sources that target C. albicans virulence factors have been researched, providing promising prospects for C. albicans prevention and treatment. In this review, we discuss the virulence factors of C. albicans and how functional foods and derived functional compounds affect them. Our hope is that this review will stimulate additional thoughts and suggestions regarding nutritional functional food and therapeutic development for patients afflicted with C. albicans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspergillus terreus is well-known for its ability to biosynthesize valuable pharmaceuticals as well as structurally unique secondary metabolites. However, numerous promising cryptic secondary metabolites in this strain regulated by silent gene clusters remain unidentified. In this study, to further explore the secondary metabolite potential of A. terreus, the essential histone deacetylase hdaA gene was deleted in the marine-derived A. terreus RA2905. The results showed that HdaA plays a vital and negative regulatory role in both conidiation and secondary metabolism. Loss of HdaA in A. terreus RA2905 not only resulted in the improvement in butyrolactone production, but also activated the biosynthesis of new azaphilone derivatives. After scaled fermentation, two new azaphilones, asperterilones A and B (1 and 2), were isolated from ΔhdaA mutant. The planar structures of compounds 1 and 2 were undoubtedly characterized by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry analysis. Their absolute configurations were assigned by circular dichroism spectra analysis and proposed biosynthesis pathway. Compounds 1 and 2 displayed moderate anti-Candida activities with the MIC values ranging from 18.0 to 47.9 μM, and compound 1 exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. This study provides novel evidence that hdaA plays essential and global roles in repressing secondary metabolite gene expression in fungi, and its deletion represents an efficient strategy to mine new compounds from A. terreus and other available marine-derived fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research of early warning and control strategy considering driving styles during lane changes is a hotspot in the field of automatic driving. However, many lane-changing studies only emphasize the warning analysis when the following vehicle is faster than the subject vehicle, while neglecting the potential risk when the subject vehicle is faster than the following vehicle in the adjacent lane during lane changes. To study the lane-changing characteristics of drivers considering driving styles and to establish a personalized lane-changing warning model under different relative speed conditions, fifty participants (three females and forty-seven males) were recruited to carry out a real road driving test. A novel Gaussian mixture model with the results of k-means clustering was established to classify driving styles based on two-dimensional variables: average time gap and average minimum time to collision. The clustering result was then verified. In addition, by analyzing the relationship between the subject vehicle and the following vehicle in the adjacent lane during lane changes, a lane-changing warning model considering driving styles under different relative speed conditions was established. Results show that the clustering algorithm proposed in this paper has high separability between samples, achieving a much softer clustering result that can provide a reference for the parameter setting of the personalized driver assistance system. Furthermore, the overall recognition accuracy of the hazardous lane-changing behaviors improved after drivers were classified into different driving styles. The established lane-changing warning model has a better recognition performance for aggressive drivers when compared with the other two driver types. The results provide a basis for the algorithm design of the intelligent lane-changing warning system and can improve the user acceptance of an advanced driver assistance system for self-driving vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, PH13-8Mo stainless steel parts without yttrium and with yttrium (Y) were manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM). The microstructure, phase composition and grain orientation of the stainless steels parts with Y and without Y were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron-backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The characterization results revealed that the addition of Y clearly refined the grain size of the PH13-8Mo steel formed part, resulting in more equiaxed massive grains and in a less anisotropic microstructure. PH13-8Mo stainless steel formed parts were mainly composed of martensite and retained austenite. The addition of Y could significantly increase the content of retained austenite and also generate nano-sized precipitates containing Y. The mechanical test results showed that both strength and toughness of the shaped parts containing Y were improved synergistically. The yield strength reached 1443 MPa, the elongation was 12.2%, and the room temperature impact energy reached 124.25 J/cm2. The strengthening and toughening by Y of the formed parts were mainly attributed to grain refinement, higher volume fraction of the retained austenite and the formation of nano-sized precipitates containing Y. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volcanic soil is a special soil that is well-known for its distinctive texture, vesicular nature, and particle fragility. The fragility characteristic of volcanic soil is the main factor affecting the foundation stability in road engineering. This study focuses on the mechanical properties and particle crushing characteristics of volcanic soil retrieved from Northeast China. A series of triaxial consolidation and drainage shear tests are performed on volcanic coarse-grained soil (5 mm > d > 0.075 mm) under different initial relative densities and effective confining pressures. Results show the peak friction angle of volcanic soil significantly decreases with the increase of confining pressure. The particle crushing degree of volcanic soil increases with the increase of confining pressure, particle size, and relative density. The relative breakage rate of the same particle size group has a good linear relationship with a fractal dimension. Moreover, for the same particle size, the relationship between plastic work and relative breakage rate can be fitted by a power function, which is not significantly affected by relative density or effective confining pressure. From an engineering view, in addition to increasing the compaction degree of volcanic soil, volcanic soil with fine particles used as a roadbed filler can significantly reduce the deformation of the roadbed and improve the bearing capacity of the foundation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of Tarocco blood orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck), which has been cultivated for many years, has degraded substantially. Decreased sugar content, decreased blood color, and increased sour flavor have developed as a result. To improve fruit quality, we studied the effects of bagging and sodium nitroprusside, as a nitric oxide (NO) donor, on the fruit quality of Tarocco blood orange two months before picking. The results showed that NO treatment effectively improved the content of total soluble solids and limonene in the fruit, as well as the color and hardness of the fruit, but reduced the tannin content. It also increased the contents of soluble sugar, fructose, sucrose, vitamin C, amino acids, and mineral elements. NO treatment inhibited the activities of polygalacturonase and pectin esterase, delayed the degradation of protopectin, and promoted the accumulation of anthocyanins, total flavonoids, and flavonoids synthesis. Thus, NO treatment improved the aroma, flavors, and physical properties of blood orange fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new polyketides, eutyketides A and B (1 and 2) and cytosporin X (3), along with four known compounds (4–7), were obtained from the marine-derived fungus Eutypella scoparia. The planar structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by extensive HRMS and 1D and 2D NMR analyses. Their relative configurations of C-13 and C-14 were determined with chemical conversions by introducing an acetonylidene group. The absolute configurations of 1–3 were determined by comparing their experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data with their computed ECD results. All of the isolated compounds were tested for their anti-inflammatory activities on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Compounds 5 and 6 showed stronger anti-inflammatory activities than the other compounds, with the inhibition of 49.0% and 54.9% at a concentration of 50.0 µg/mL, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]