Search

After the occurrence of mine water inrush, choosing the appropriate emergency evacuation path is very important to reduce the casualty and the mine accident level. The traditional Dijkstra algorithm can not be effectively applied to the dynamic environment of mine water inrush. It can only statically plan a single optimal escape path. In view of the limitations of this algorithm, the time equivalent length is introduced to optimize the traditional Dijkstra algorithm to realize the dynamic change of the optimal escape path with time and water level height. Moreover, the optimized Dijkstra algorithm is combined with the K optimal path algorithm to realize the dynamic planning of multiple optimal escape paths. Field application shows that the optimized dynamic D-K algorithm can be effectively applied to mine water inrush with characteristics of randomness, dynamics and complex, which can provide important decision support for affected personnel to choose emergency escape path.

Abstract Background To use an automated system exploiting the advantages of both a neural network and radiomics for analysis of non‐calcified predominant plaque (NCPP). Methods This study retrospectively included 234 patients. Using the workflow of the previous study, the coronary artery was first segmented, images containing plaques were then extracted, and a classifier was built to identify non‐calcified predominant plaques. Radiomics feature analysis and a visualization tool were used to better distinguish NCPP from other plaques. Results Twenty‐six representative radiomics features were selected. DenseNet achieved an area under the curve of 0.889, which was significantly larger (p = 0.001) than that obtained using a gradient‐boosted decision tree (0.859). The feature variances and energy features in calcified predominant plaque were both different from those in NCPP. Conclusions Our automated system provided high‐accuracy analysis of vulnerable plaques using a deep learning approach and predicted useful features of NCPP using a radiomics‐based approach.

Abstract The structural diversity of biological macromolecules in different environments contributes complexity to enzymological processes vital for cellular functions. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer and electron microscopy are used to investigate the enzymatic reaction of T4 DNA ligase catalyzing the ligation of nicked DNA. The data show that both the ligase–AMP complex and the ligase–AMP–DNA complex can have four conformations. This finding suggests the parallel occurrence of four ligation reaction pathways, each characterized by specific conformations of the ligase–AMP complex that persist in the ligase–AMP–DNA complex. Notably, these complexes have DNA bending angles of ≈0°, 20°, 60°, or 100°. The mechanism of parallel reactions challenges the conventional notion of simple sequential reaction steps occurring among multiple conformations. The results provide insights into the dynamic conformational changes and the versatile attributes of T4 DNA ligase and suggest that the parallel multiple reaction pathways may correspond to diverse T4 DNA ligase functions. This mechanism may potentially have evolved as an adaptive strategy across evolutionary history to navigate complex environments.

Abstract Background Kernel dehydration is an important factor for the mechanized harvest in maize. Kernel moisture content (KMC) and kernel dehydration rate (KDR) are important indicators for kernel dehydration. Although quantitative trait loci and genes related to KMC have been identified, where most of them only focus on the KMC at harvest, these are still far from sufficient to explain all genetic variations, and the relevant regulatory mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we tried to reveal the key proteins and metabolites related to kernel dehydration in proteome and metabolome levels. Moreover, we preliminarily explored the relevant metabolic pathways that affect kernel dehydration combined proteome and metabolome. These results could accelerate the development of further mechanized maize technologies. Results In this study, three maize inbred lines (KB182, KB207, and KB020) with different KMC and KDR were subjected to proteomic analysis 35, 42, and 49 days after pollination (DAP). In total, 8,358 proteins were quantified, and 2,779 of them were differentially expressed proteins in different inbred lines or at different stages. By comparative analysis, K-means cluster, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis based on the proteome data, some important proteins were identified, which are involved in carbohydrate metabolism, stress and defense response, lipid metabolism, and seed development. Through metabolomics analysis of KB182 and KB020 kernels at 42 DAP, 18 significantly different metabolites, including glucose, fructose, proline, and glycerol, were identified. Conclusions In sum, we inferred that kernel dehydration could be regulated through carbohydrate metabolism, antioxidant systems, and late embryogenesis abundant protein and heat shock protein expression, all of which were considered as important regulatory factors during kernel dehydration process. These results shed light on kernel dehydration and provide new insights into developing cultivars with low moisture content.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas12a system is a powerful tool in gene editing; however, crRNA-DNA mismatches might induce unwanted cleavage events, especially at the distal end of the PAM. To minimize this limitation, we engineered a hyper fidelity AsCas12a variant carrying the mutations S186A/R301A/T315A/Q1014A/K414A (termed HyperFi-As) by modifying amino acid residues interacting with the target DNA and crRNA strand. HyperFi-As retains on-target activities comparable to wild-type AsCas12a (AsCas12aWT) in human cells. We demonstrated that HyperFi-As has dramatically reduced off-target effects in human cells, and HyperFi-As possessed notably a lower tolerance to mismatch at the position of the PAM-distal region compared with the wild type. Further, a modified single-molecule DNA unzipping assay at proper constant force was applied to evaluate the stability and transient stages of the CRISPR/Cas ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex. Multiple states were sensitively detected during the disassembly of the DNA-Cas12a-crRNA complexes. On off-target DNA substrates, the HyperFi-As-crRNA was harder to maintain the R-loop complex state compared to the AsCas12aWT, which could explain exactly why the HyperFi-As has low off-targeting effects in human cells. Our findings provide a novel version of AsCas12a variant with low off-target effects, especially capable of dealing with the high off-targeting in the distal region from the PAM. An insight into how the AsCas12a variant behaves at off-target sites was also revealed at the single-molecule level and the unzipping assay to evaluate multiple states of CRISPR/Cas RNP complexes might be greatly helpful for a deep understanding of how CRISPR/Cas behaves and how to engineer it in future.

The heavy reliance on fossil-based industries for basic chemicals not only contributes to severe global environmental problems but also hampers the sustainable development of the whole society. In addressing this issue, electrocatalysis utilizing biomass-derived platform chemicals provides a promising solution for the directed preparation of high-value chemicals. Among the various electrocatalysts, the remarkable appeal of COFs-based electrocatalysts has engendered great enthusiasm among researchers over the past decade due to the well-defined structure and large surface area of COFs. In this focused review, we highlight vital perspectives on the design, synthesis, and progress of COFs-based electrocatalysts in the electrocatalytic upgrading of biomass-derived platform chemicals. We provide a rational design of COFs-based electrocatalysts by incorporating metal species into the COFs frameworks and then regulate the local coordination environment and microstructure to facilitate efficient access to active centers, mass transportation, and electron transfer. This review offers a comprehensive understanding of the design principles underlying COFs-based electrocatalysts for platform molecules and its derivatives. Specifically, we thoroughly investigate the relationship between structure and performance, as well as synergistic effects within COFs-based electrocatalysts, aiming to shed light on the future design of next-generation electrocatalysts.

Abiotic stresses pose a major increasing problem for the cultivation of maize. Autophagy plays a vital role in recycling and re-utilizing nutrients and adapting to stress. However, the role of autophagy in the response to abiotic stress in maize has not yet been investigated. Here, ZmATG3, which is essential for ATG8-PE conjugation, was isolated from the maize inbred line B73. The ATG3 sequence was conserved, including the C-terminal domains with HPC and FLKF motifs and the catalytic domain in different species. The promoter of the ZmATG3 gene contained a number of elements involved in responses to environmental stresses or hormones. Heterologous expression of ZmATG3 in yeast promoted the growth of strain under salt, mannitol, and low-nitrogen stress. The expression of ZmATG3 could be altered by various types of abiotic stress (200 mM NaCl, 200 mM mannitol, low N) and exogenous hormones (500 µM ABA). GUS staining analysis of ZmATG3-GUS transgenic Arabidopsis revealed that GUS gene activity increased after abiotic treatment. ZmATG3-overexpressing Arabidopsis plants had higher osmotic and salinity stress tolerance than wild-type plants. Overexpression of ZmATG3 up-regulated the expression of other AtATGs (AtATG3, AtATG5, and AtATG8b) under NaCl, mannitol and LN stress. These findings demonstrate that overexpression of ZmATG3 can improve tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses.

Abstract Accurate quantification of the absorption properties of brown carbon (BrC) aerosols is crucial to assess the Earth‐atmosphere radiative impacts of BrC. However, the BrC absorption properties were often misestimated in field observations, due to neglecting the contribution of dust absorption. This study solved this problem by coupling a method for calculating the dust concentration into the traditional model for quantifying BrC absorption. The results show that dust absorption was up to 16.8% of the sum of BrC and dust absorption in northwestern China. The potential contribution of dust to the sum of BrC and dust absorption was significantly higher in the Asia‐located studies (0.4%–16.8%) than in the Americas‐located (

Monitoring the temperature of the coal gangue mountains is fundamental to preventing their spontaneous combustion. However, the existing temperature monitoring systems fail to achieve stable, pollution-free temperature monitoring without affecting vegetation growth in these mountains. To address this issue, this work proposes a flexible thermoelectric device (FTD) based on a protrusion-structured liquid metal elastomer (LME). Utilizing a high-thermal-conductivity LME, the FTD adheres closely to the surface of the gravity heat pipe (GHP), ensuring compatibility between FTD and the curved surface of the GHP. Simultaneously, employing a low-thermal-conductivity elastomer helps concentrate heat onto FTD, thereby enhancing thermoelectric power generation efficiency. Additionally, the impact of the shape, size, and height of the protrusion structure at the cold end of the GHP on its efficiency was also investigated. The practical application of FTD on GHP was demonstrated.

Tricyclene, a tricyclic monoterpene naturally occurring in plant essential oils, holds potential for the development of medicinal and fuel applications. In this study, we successfully synthesized tricyclene in E. coli by introducing the heterologous mevalonate (MVA) pathway along with Abies grandis geranyl diphosphate synthase (GPPS) and Nicotiana sylvestris tricyclene synthase (TS) XP_009791411. Initially, the shake-flask fermentation at 30 ◦C yielded a tricyclene titer of 0.060 mg/L. By increasing the copy number of the TS-coding gene, we achieved a titer of 0.103 mg/L. To further enhance tricyclene production, optimal truncation in the N-terminal region of TS XP_009791411 resulted in an impressive highest titer of 47.671 mg/L, approximately a 794.5-fold improvement compared to its wild-type counterpart. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest titer of the heterologous synthesis of tricyclene in E. coli. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that lowering induction temperature and truncating the random coil N-terminal region effectively improved TS solubility, which was closely associated with tricyclene production levels. Furthermore, by truncating other TSs, the titers of tricyclene were improved to different degrees.

The electric heating process for lifting heavy oil has been widely applied. However, research on its temperature field laws mostly focuses on onshore heavy oil wells, while research offshore is limited. Therefore, based on the energy conservation equation and heat transfer theory, a transient one-dimensional wellbore temperature model coupled with the temperature and viscosity of heavy oil and considering the effect of time was developed. In order to verify the accuracy of the model, the results of the previous model were used for comparison with the present model, and the results showed that the model has good accuracy. The results show that a reasonable selection of the process parameters of electric heating can increase the production of heavy oil while saving development costs and improving the economic benefits of the oilfield. The conclusions and recommendations of this paper can provide a theoretical basis and guiding suggestions for the optimal design of process parameters for lifting heavy oil using an offshore electric heating process.

With the popularization of better network access and the penetration of personal smartphones in today’s world, the explosion of multi-modal data, particularly opinionated video messages, has created urgent demands and immense opportunities for Multi-Modal Sentiment Analysis (MSA). Deep learning with the attention mechanism has served as the foundation technique for most state-of-the-art MSA models due to its ability to learn complex inter- and intra-relationships among different modalities embedded in video messages, both temporally and spatially. However, modal fusion is still a major challenge due to the vast feature space created by the interactions among different data modalities. To address the modal fusion challenge, we propose an MSA algorithm based on deep learning and the attention mechanism, namely the Mixture of Attention Variants for Modal Fusion (MAVMF). The MAVMF algorithm includes a two-stage process: in stage one, self-attention is applied to effectively extract image and text features, and the dependency relationships in the context of video discourse are captured by a bidirectional gated recurrent neural module; in stage two, four multi-modal attention variants are leveraged to learn the emotional contributions of important features from different modalities. Our proposed approach is end-to-end and has been shown to achieve a superior performance to the state-of-the-art algorithms when tested with two largest public datasets, CMU-MOSI and CMU-MOSEI.

Maize is one of the major crops that has demonstrated success in the utilization of heterosis. Developing high-yield hybrids is a crucial part of plant breeding to secure global food demand. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for 10 agronomic traits using a typical breeder population comprised 442 single-cross hybrids by evaluating additive, dominance, and epistatic effects. A total of 49 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 69 significant pairs of epistasis were identified, explaining 26.2% to 64.3% of the phenotypic variation across the 10 traits. The enrichment of favorable genotypes is significantly correlated to the corresponding phenotype. In the confident region of the associated site, 532 protein-coding genes were discovered. Among these genes, the Zm00001d044211 candidate gene was found to negatively regulate starch synthesis and potentially impact yield. This typical breeding population provided a valuable resource for dissecting the genetic architecture of yield-related traits. We proposed a novel mating strategy to increase the GWAS efficiency without utilizing more resources. Finally, we analyzed the enrichment of favorable alleles in the Shaan A and Shaan B groups, as well as in each inbred line. Our breeding practice led to consistent results. Not only does this study demonstrate the feasibility of GWAS in F1 hybrid populations, it also provides a valuable basis for further molecular biology and breeding research.

Visible-light-induced C(sp²)--H phosphorylation of 2H-thiozoles/quinoxalines with H-phosphine oxides was achieved using an inorganic-ligand supported Mo oxide ([N(C4H9)4]2[Mo6O19]) as a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) photocatalyst. The developed photo-driven C(sp²)--P bond formation protocol could furnish a wide range of products with excellent functional group tolerance in a water-based solvent at room temperature, without the addition of metals, bases, additives or external oxidants. A gram-scale reaction can occur in a low catalyst loading system. Moreover, the formulated photocatalyst showed excellent stability and reusability, and also exhibited satisfactory photo-reactivity under sunlight irradiation. The mechanistic investigations supported that the C(sp²)--P bond formation went through radical coupling or radical nucleophilic addition pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of emission control measures implemented by the Chinese government have effectively reduced air pollution of multiple pollutants in many regions of the country in recent decades. However, the impacts of these control measures on environmental persistent free radicals (EPFRs) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), the two groups of chemical species that are known to be linked with adverse human health effects, are still not clear. In this study, we investigated the levels, patterns, and sources of EPFRs and gas- and particle-phase ROS (referred to as G-ROS and P-ROS, respectively) in Beijing during the 2015 China Victory Day Parade period when short-term air quality control measures were imposed. The strict control measures reduced ambient EPFRs, G-ROS, and P-ROS by 18.3%, 24.1%, and 46.9%, respectively. EPFRs in the non-control period (NCP) tended to be radicals centered on a mixture of carbon and oxygen, while those in the control period (CP) were mainly oxygen-centered free radicals. The contribution of G-ROS to the atmospheric oxidizing capacity increased and/or that of P-ROS decreased during CP compared to NCP. The "Parade Blue" days were largely attributed to the dramatic reduction in secondary aerosols, which were also largely responsible for EPFRs and ROS reductions. Our findings demonstrate how effective control measures are in reducing EPFRs and ROS and provide insights into the correlations, sources, and formation processes of EPFRs and ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal mine gangue hills have a significant impact on the ecological environment. To address this challenge, gravity heat pipes have been recognized as an effective means of controlling deep-seated temperature in coal mine gangue hills. Among various factors affecting heat transfer efficiency, the magnitude of external airflow velocity in the heat dissipation section of the heat pipe is critical. In this study, we develop a novel chimney effect model for gravity heat pipes in coal mine gangue hills. We employ the non-isothermal flow multiphysics transient solution method to analyze the single-factor effects of entrance radius, height of outlet section, and radius of outlet section on the average velocity at the chimney outlet. Furthermore, we utilize a comprehensive factorial response surface research method to fit the functional relationship between the average velocity at the chimney outlet and various chimney parameters. Notably, our study introduces the height and radius of the outlet section as constraint conditions based on field conditions. As a result, we determine the optimal chimney parameters for achieving the chimney effect in gravity heat pipes within coal gangue hills. Specifically, we set the chimney inlet radius at 1.05 m, the chimney outlet height at 0.03 m, and the chimney outlet radius at 0.145 m. Comparative analysis reveals that introducing the chimney improves the heat dissipation efficiency of the gravity heat pipe by 2.6%. Overall, our study offers innovative approaches to addressing the challenges associated with coal gangue hills and provides valuable insights into the optimization of gravity heat pipes for efficient heat dissipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research is difficult to fully capture the correlation between gas molecules and pore wall interactions, multiphase flow, and stress distribution in nanopores. Taking gas as an example, a microscopic model was constructed. At the same time, diffusion, seepage, and stress were considered to accurately predict and manage gas transport in nanopores. First, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods were adopted to simulate the motion trajectories and interactions of gas molecules in nanopores. Second, a multiscale model was established based on continuum mechanics to consider the interaction between pore walls and gas molecules, and a diffusion equation was established to describe the diffusion process of gas molecules in pores. Then, finite element analysis and porous media models were used to simulate the seepage behavior of gas in the nanopores. Finally, the stress distribution in the pores was analyzed, and the influence of the interaction between the pore wall and gas molecules on stress was considered. The multifield coupling model was experimentally evaluated from three aspects: diffusion coefficient, seepage behavior, and stress distribution. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of the model in different testing directions were calculated using different simulation tools, such as COMSOL, ANSYS, OpenFOAM, and CFX. The mean values of RMSE and MAE were lower than 0.20 and 0.17, respectively. The constructed model can comprehensively describe gas transmission within nanopores, improving the management accuracy and efficiency., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)