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To address the issues of low visibility, poor real-time performance, and weak interaction capabilities in the operation of magnetic levitation circular knitting needles, an online monitoring method based on digital twin technology for magnetic levitation knitting needles is proposed. This method first conducts an in-depth analysis of the digital twin five-dimensional model of the magnetic levitation knitting needle to monitor the operational status of the equipment in real time. Additionally, an online monitoring system based on the Unity3D engine and a digital twin-based architecture for magnetic levitation knitting needles are designed. On this basis, the comprehensive monitoring, operation, and maintenance of the magnetic levitation knitting needles are achieved through the design of virtual models, visual interfaces, and real-time data acquisition and driving technology. Finally, this method takes a 5-inch 32-needle magnetic levitation circular knitting machine as the application research object. By analyzing the movement trajectory and real-time current feedback data of the three working positions of the magnetic levitation knitting needles, the rationality, effectiveness, and accuracy of the proposed method and model are demonstrated, achieving online monitoring of the magnetic levitation knitting needles and reflecting the full lifecycle process of the magnetic levitation knitting needles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In air traffic control (ATC), speech communication with radio transmission is the primary way to exchange information between the controller and the pilot. As a result, the integration of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems holds immense potential for reducing controllers' workload and plays a crucial role in various ATC scenarios, which is particularly significant for ATC research. This article provides a comprehensive review of ASR technology's applications in the ATC communication system. Firstly, it offers a comprehensive overview of current research, including ATC corpora, ASR models, evaluation measures and application scenarios. A more comprehensive and accurate evaluation methodology tailored for ATC is proposed, considering advancements in communication sensing systems and deep learning techniques. This methodology helps researchers in enhancing ASR systems and improving the overall performance of ATC systems. Finally, future research recommendations are identified based on the primary challenges and issues. The authors sincerely hope this work will serve as a clear technical roadmap for ASR endeavors within the ATC domain and make a valuable contribution to the research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the civil aviation industry has actively promoted the automation and intelligence of control processes with the increasing use of various artificial intelligence technologies. Air–ground communication, as the primary means of interaction between controllers and pilots, typically involves one or more intents. Recognizing multiple intents within air–ground communication texts is a critical step in automating and advancing the control process intelligently. Therefore, this study proposes a hybrid detection method for multi-intent recognition in air–ground communication text. This method improves recognition accuracy by using different models for single-intent texts and multi-intent texts. First, the air–ground communication text is divided into two categories using multi-intent detection technology: single-intent text and multi-intent text. Next, for single-intent text, the Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration (ERNIE) 3.0 model is used for recognition; while the A Lite Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (ALBERT)_Sequence-to-Sequence_Attention (ASA) model is proposed for identifying multi-intent texts. Finally, combining the recognition results from the two models yields the final result. Experimental results demonstrate that using the ASA model for multi-intent text recognition achieved an accuracy rate of 97.84%, which is 0.34% higher than the baseline ALBERT model and 0.15% to 0.87% higher than other improved models based on ALBERT and ERNIE 3.0. The single-intent recognition model achieved an accuracy of 96.23% when recognizing single-intent texts, which is at least 2.18% higher than the multi-intent recognition model. The results indicate that employing different models for various types of texts can substantially enhance recognition accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, agricultural non-point source pollution has become the main source of water pollution, which mainly comes from the excessive use of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. The TRS is another land system reform in China after the household contract responsibility system, which relaxes the management rights of rural land and clarifies the ownership of land. Using this land reform in China as a case study, this paper constructs panel data for 30 provinces in China to explore the impact of land tenure intensification on agricultural non-point source pollution, using the difference-in-difference (DID) model to identify the causal relationship between the two. The results show that the coefficient of the TRS policy variable is −4.056 at the 1% significance level, indicating that this round of land reform has suppressed agricultural non-point source pollution. The provinces that have implemented TRS have seen an average annual reduction of 405,600 tons in Agnps emissions compared to those that have not implemented TRS, and the scale operation of agriculture and the size of the agricultural economy act as two paths. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy effect of the provinces in non-major food-producing areas is smaller than that of the provinces in major food-producing areas, and the path to realization is also different. Therefore, we should continue to encourage large-scale agricultural operations, cultivate new agricultural business entities, and strengthen the inhibitory effect of TRS on agricultural non-point source pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of global warming and increased rainfall, the hazards and potential risks of landslides are increasing. The rapid generation of a landslide inventory is of great significance for landslide disaster prevention and reduction. Deep learning has been widely applied in landslide identification due to its advantages in terms of its deeper model structure, high efficiency, and high accuracy. This article first provides an overview of deep learning technology and its basic principles, as well as the current status of landslide remote sensing databases. Then, classic landslide deep learning recognition models such as AlexNet, ResNet, YOLO, Mask R-CNN, U-Net, Transformer, EfficientNet, DeeplabV3+ and PSPNet were introduced, and the advantages and limitations of each model were extensively analyzed. Finally, the current constraints of deep learning in landslide identification were summarized, and the development direction of deep learning in landslide identification was analyzed. The purpose of this article is to promote the in-depth development of landslide identification research in order to provide academic references for the prevention and mitigation of landslide disasters and post-disaster rescue work. The research results indicate that deep learning methods have the characteristics of high efficiency and accuracy in automatic landslide recognition, and more attention should be paid to the development of emerging deep learning models in landslide recognition in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laminar flow meter (LFM) boasts several advantages such as no moving parts, a wide range ratio, high measurement accuracy, quick dynamic response, etc., and is a promising technology for micro gas flow measurement. In order to explore the influence of different curvature radii on curved surface gap LFM, three curved structures with different curvature radii were designed. The computational fluid dynamics method is applied to simulate the flow feature of three structures. The simulated velocity cloud and pressure distribution show that the larger the curvature radius, the more stable the flow of gas medium. The relationship between differential pressure and volume flow was obtained through the test within a flow range of 0~540 sccm. Regression analysis revealed that the volume flow measured by the curved surface LFM had a high linear relationship with the differential pressure. Experimental findings indicate that differential pressure of the structure with a curvature radius of 2 mm was greater than that of other two structures (curvature radius of 6 mm and 3 mm) at the same point. This indicates that adding the number of surfaces can effectively increase the pressure loss, so as to obtain a larger range ratio, but will increase the measurement error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An engineering approach was applied to modify the core layers of charge-trapping flash (CTF) memory—the blocking layer, charge-trapping layer, and tunneling layer. The doping of Ti in the charge-trapping layer and the use of Si-doped HfO2 for the tunneling layer could optimize charge capture and leakage control. This design enhances programming and erasing speeds and increases overall device stability by creating more corner fields and using the Coulomb blockade effect. Experimental results demonstrate a larger memory window and better charge retention for the new device at the same charge-trapping layer thickness. These findings signify the advancement of the new CTF memory in balancing fast programming and long-term charge retention. The long-standing contradiction between charge capturing and retention could be partially resolved by using this engineering method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of global industrialization, the requirements for the operating speed and carrying capacity of high-speed trains are increasingly higher. Because the wear and tear of rails gradually increases during the running of high-speed trains, strengthening or repairing rail surfaces is of paramount significance. Laser-directed energy deposition (DED) exhibits significant advantages in improving surface hardness, corrosion resistance, and abrasion resistance. Because of the multiple interacting optimization objectives, the development of a multi-objective optimization method for process parameters is significant for improving DED deposition quality. Response surface design employs multivariate quadratic regression equations to fit the functional relationship between the factors and the responses, which can be employed to find the optimal process parameters and solve multivariate problems. This study develops a multi-objective optimization model with response surface design and 2D process mappings to visually analyze the effects of scanning speed, laser power, and powder feed rate on aspect ratio, dilution rate, and microhardness. The optimal combination of process parameters for Ni-based alloys on U71Mn rail is a laser power of 431 W, a scanning speed of 5.34 mm/s, and a powder feed rate of 1.03 r/min. In addition, a multi-physics field finite element model is developed to analyze the evolution mechanism of the microstructure from the bottom to the top of the single track. This study can provide theoretical and technical support for the surface strengthening or repair of U71Mn rail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas–water relative permeability curve plays a crucial role in reservoir simulation and development for condensate gas reservoirs. This paper conducted a series of high-temperature and high-pressure analysis experiments on real gas cores from Wells A and B in Block L of the Yinggehai Basin to investigate the effects of temperature, pressure, and different types of gas media on gas–water seepage. The gas–water relative permeability was simulated in this experiment through variations in temperature, pressure, and gas composition. Temperature has a significant impact on both gas and water relative permeability, particularly on gas relative permeability. As temperature increases, gas relative permeability shows a substantial increase, while water relative permeability remains relatively unchanged. Under the same effective stress, increasing pressure causes downward shifts in both the gas and water relative permeability curves; however, there is a more pronounced decrease in gas relative permeability. Gas composition has minimal influence on the gas–water relative permeability except at higher water saturation where differences become apparent. When water saturation ranges from 80% to 50%, there is no significant variation observed in the measured relative permeability of different displacement gases. However, as water saturation exceeds 80%, distinctions gradually emerge. The relative permeability of nitrogen is approximately 92% lower than that of mixed gas when the bound water saturation reaches 80%. This investigation provides valuable insights into the characteristics of gas–water relative permeability in high-temperature and high-pressure condensate reservoirs within Yinggehai Basin, thereby offering significant contributions to development strategies for similar reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shading on photovoltaic (PV) modules due to shadows, covering, dust, etc., usually characterized as semi-transparent, will significantly affect the power generation capacity. No systematic study has considered the impact of semi-transparent coverings on the power generation capacity of PV modules. This paper covers a single cell in the PV module using a covering with a transmittance of 18.55% and systematically investigates its impact on the power generation capacity. The open-circuit voltage (Voc) of the PV module is nearly unaffected by semi-transparent coverings because the covered cell can be considered as working at a lower irradiance and thus can output a voltage close to that of the uncovered cell. The short-circuit current (Isc) is significantly affected by coverings because it is co-contributed by the photocurrent (evaluated based on the covering ratio R and transmittance) and the reverse bias current ΔIsc (the covered cell is in a reverse bias state). The ΔIsc increases with R because more charge accumulates at the bi-ends of the covered cell; but, it decreases at full covering, which implies that in a partially covered case the uncovered part contributes more to ΔIsc than the covered part. The fill factor (FF) of the PV module first increases and then decreases with R, as the equivalent resistance of the covered cell increases rapidly with R, which replaces the wire resistance in dominating the series resistance of the PV module when R > 0.6. This work is of great theoretical significance in analyzing the output characteristics of PV modules under real conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the implementation of HfZrO layers for the tunneling, charge trapping, and blocking mechanisms within the device offer benefits in terms of programmability and data retention. This configuration has resulted in a memory device that can achieve a significant difference in threshold voltage of around 2 V per memory level. This difference is crucial for effectively distinguishing between multiple levels of memory in MLC applications. Additionally, the device operates at low programming voltages below 14 V. Furthermore, the device showcases impressive endurance and data retention capabilities, maintaining a large memory window over extended periods and under varying temperature conditions. The advancement in the a-IGZO-based memory device, characterized by its uniform oxide stacking, presents a viable solution to the industry's requirement for memory storage options that are efficient, dependable, and economical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the behavior of memristive devices characterized by oxygen-deficient ZnO and HfZrO films under continuous pulse stimulation. This dynamic reflects the adaptability observed in neural synapses when repeatedly subjected to stress, ultimately resulting in a mitigated response to pressure. Observations show that the conductivity of memristors increases with the augmentation of continuous electrical pulses. However, the momentum of this growth trend gradually diminishes, highlighting the devices' capability to adapt to repetitive pressure. This adjustment correlates with the transition of biological synapses from short-term to persistent memory stages, aligning with the principles of the Ebbinghaus memory model. The architecture of memristors, integrating ZnO and HfZrO in a layered manner, holds promising prospects in replicating the inherent synaptic features found in biological organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of dual-mode synaptic plasticity was conducted in thin-film transistors (TFTs) featuring an HfSe2 channel, coupled with an oxygen-deficient (OD)-HfO2 layer structure. In these transistors, the application of negative gate pulses resulted in a notable increase in the post-synaptic current, while positive pulses led to a decrease. This distinctive response can be attributed to the dynamic interplay of charge interactions, significantly influenced by the ferroelectric characteristics of the OD-HfO2 layer. The findings from this study highlight the capability of this particular TFT configuration in closely mirroring the intricate functionalities of biological neurons, paving the way for advancements in bio-inspired computing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucalyptus globulus is widely introduced and cultivated in Yunnan province. Its foliage is mainly used to extract eucalyptus oil, but the by-product eucalyptus residue has not been fully utilized. Based on the above reasons, in this study, we sought to explore the comprehensive utilization potential of eucalyptus resources. The total composition of eucalyptus residue was analyzed by ultra performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF MS), and the active components and nutrient components of eucalyptus leaf residue were determined by chemical methods and liquid phase techniques. Meanwhile, the antitumor activity of triterpenoids in eucalyptus leaves was evaluated by tetramethylazazole blue colorimetric assay (MTT). The results of qualitative analysis indicated that 55 compounds were identified from eucalyptus residue, including 28 phloroglucinols, 17 terpenoids, 3 flavonoids, 5 fatty acids, 1 amino acid and 2 polyphenols. Among them, the pentacyclic triterpenoids, in eucalyptus residue, were mainly oleanane type and urthane type. The results of quantitative determination indicated that the content of triterpenoid compounds was 2.84% in eucalyptus residue, which could be enhanced to 82% by silicone separation. The antitumor activity results showed that triterpenoid compounds have moderate inhibitory effects on human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231, gastric adenocarcinoma cell SGC-7901 and cervical cancer cell Hela. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 50.67, 43.12 and 42.65 μg/mL, respectively. In this study, the triterpenoids from eucalyptus leaf residues were analyzed to reveal that the triterpenoids from eucalyptus leaf have antitumor effects and have potential to be developed as antitumor drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the prevalence and factors influencing domestic abuse victimization among high-income women in Japan, including physical, psychological, economic, and sexual abuse. The background factors and reality of domestic abuse faced by high-income women have not been sufficiently addressed, although some academic studies contend that economically disadvantaged women are more susceptible to domestic abuse. This study collected data from 359 high-income women in Japan using an online questionnaire survey. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the contributing factors. Approximately one-fifth of high-income women had suffered physical, economic, and sexual domestic abuse, and approximately two-fifths had experienced psychological violence. Adverse childhood experiences, the degree of approval of traditional gender norms, quarrels over opposing views on traditional gender norms, and partners' education levels considerably influenced the prevalence of domestic abuse among high-income female victims. In contrast with the literature, the earnings gap between female victims and their partners did not yield meaningful results. This study examines the experiences of four types of domestic abuse among high-income women in East Asia and highlights the factors that contribute to it, as exemplified by Japan, which is a research direction that has not received sufficient attention. It also offers valuable insight into domestic abuse support policies that target low-income women in contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an approved therapeutic procedure that exerts cytotoxic activity towards tumor cells by activating photosensitizers (PSs) with light exposure to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). Compared to traditional treatment strategies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, PDT not only kills the primary tumors, but also effectively suppresses metastatic tumors by activating the immune response. However, the anti-tumor immune effects induced by PDT are influenced by several factors, including the localization of PSs in cells, PSs concentration, fluence rate of light, oxygen concentration, and the integrity of immune function. In this review, we systematically summarize the influence factors of anti-tumor immune effects mediated by PDT. Furthermore, an update on the combination of PDT and other immunotherapy strategies are provided. Finally, the future directions and challenges of anti-tumor immunity induced by PDT are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous emergence of the concept of 6G, the rapid development of industrial application scenarios, and the rise in demand for dedicated line services, there has been a strong and diverse demand for network capacity. The introduction of fine-granularity FlexE technology provides a new approach to addressing the diversification of Quality of Service (QoS) and the resource waste caused by large granularity (5 Gbps). However, the reduction in granularity leads to a significant increase in the number of slots, posing a serious challenge to deterministic latency assurance, especially in scenarios with dynamic fluctuations in service bandwidth. Sudden bandwidth variations can lead to service interruptions and fluctuations, resulting in uncontrolled network blocking rates. To address this issue, this paper proposes a traffic-driven proactive FlexE slot orchestration algorithm called PMFAN-GDSO. Based on this algorithm, bandwidth variations are calculated in advance based on the bandwidth change provided via the traffic prediction algorithm before service fluctuations occur. This avoids the time-consuming slot orchestration calculations and service abrupt changes. The real-world network datasets indicate that, based on our proposed algorithm, significant time savings of up to 46.8% are achieved compared to non-proactive prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New aquamarine deposits have been found around the world in recent years, and how to compare and distinguish aquamarines of different origin has become a significant problem. Aquamarines from Koktokay, Minas Gerais, and Namaqualand were collected for standard gemology tests, spectroscopy, and chemical analysis in this paper. The spectroscopy experiment included infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Chemical composition analysis comprises electron microprobe and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results show that infrared absorption peaks related to [Fe2(OH)4] and NaH are found in Koktokay and Minas Gerais aquamarines, respectively. Compared with other two origins, Namaqualand aquamarine have strongest type II water Raman peak related to alkali metal content. Compared with aquamarines from other sources, aquamarines from Xinjiang and Minas Gerais are characterized by relatively high aluminum and low alkali contents in chemical composition, while Namaqualand aquamarine have a high scandium content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by a large digital simulation environment, CFD calculation software is used to simulate test results so that they can be effectively applied to engineering practice. This paper explores the suitable outdoor wind environment for residential areas in the hot summer and the cold winter. Taking Xishan Huijing in Changsha as an example, the most unfavorable wind field environment is used as the boundary condition, and the optimal design mode for this residential area is explored based on the Butterfly platform. The research in this paper is mainly divided into five steps: (1) using Rhino 7.0 to establish a 3D model; (2) using the Butterfly 0.0.05 platform to simulate the wind field and export the data at the same time, and to realize the preview through the visualization method; (3) processing the exported simulation data and the calculation of related indices; (4) applying the entropy-based TOPSIS method on the MATLAB 2020 platform to rank the preferred scheme and obtain the corresponding index weights; and (5) using a K-means cluster analysis on SPSS 26 software to optimize the scheme. The results show that (1) the wind environment quality will be overestimated in the summer if the influence of neighboring buildings on the site is not considered, while the opposite is true in the winter, with the error of both reaching two times. (2) The weights of the indicators determined by the TOPSIS entropy weighting method indicate that wind protection in the winter should be prioritized over natural ventilation in the summer in this area. The maximum wind speed in the winter has the most significant weight, reaching 0.287, and the uniformity of the wind field in the summer is the most important, reaching 0.1102. (3) In the layout design of the residential district, the staggered layout of the 60 m high slab houses in the northern, northeastern, and northwestern directions of the site creates a better wind field environment, which attains the highest score by the TOPSIS entropy weighting method, reaching 0.1539, with the second highest score, reaching 0.1511, for the layout method. The research results will provide a scientific basis for the design of residential buildings in the hot-summer and cold-winter regions in China, and also help designers to better grasp the outdoor wind environment of residential buildings in the pre-design stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) and Doppler velocity log (DVL) integrated navigation system are widely used for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Whereas DVL works in the water tracking mode, the velocity provided by DVL is relative to the current layer and cannot be directly used to suppress the divergence of SINS errors. Therefore, the estimation and compensation of the ocean current velocity play an essential role in improving navigation positioning accuracy. In recent works, ocean currents are considered constant over a short term in small areas. In the common KF algorithm with the ocean current as a state vector, the current velocity cannot be estimated because the current velocity and the SINS velocity error are coupled. In this paper, two virtual metrology filter (VMF) methods are proposed for estimating the velocity of ocean currents based on the properties that the currents remain unchanged at the adjacent moments. New measurement equations are constructed to decouple the current velocity and the SINS velocity error, respectively. Simulations and lake tests show that both proposed methods are effective in estimating the current velocity, and each has its advantages in estimating the ocean current velocity or the misalignment angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are entering a new epoch characterized by pervasive digitization, where a significant proportion of our daily activities rely on advanced digital and informational technology. Consequently, this study intends to scrutinize the repercussions of digital media and digital financial inclusion on environmentally sustainable growth across 38 selected economies. The research incorporates four distinct empirical analysis techniques: two-stage least squares (2SLS) and the generalized method of moments (GMM). The assessment reveals a meaningful and positive association between digital financial inclusion and green growth per the 2SLS and GMM methodologies. This affirms the notion that digital financial aid fosters ecological sustainability. Conversely, the metrics linked with information and communication technology (ICT) have shown positive significance across all four utilized estimation models. This suggests that an increase in ICT utilization can play a vital role in advancing green growth. In the same vein, the estimated coefficients of research and development initiatives and renewable energy consumption have demonstrated positive significance across all four models. Furthermore, the metrics associated with trade openness have exhibited a positive significance in both the 2SLS and GMM models. Meanwhile, the metric linked with education has displayed a positive significance solely with the GMM technique. Upon evaluation, it can be concluded that digital media, the consumption of renewable energy, and research and development endeavors are principal contributors to green growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the diagenetic evolution of the reservoir in the third member of the Oligocene Weizhou Formation (E3w3) in Weinan Sag of Beibuwan Basin, northern South China Sea. Based on the contents and occurrence states of chlorite, illite, kaolinite and quartz cement were described by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thin section and X-ray diffraction. In the E3w3 reservoir, three different occurrences of chlorite are recognized. These include chlorite coating, leaf-shaped chlorite and tongue-shaped chlorite. Furthermore, three major types of diagenetic kaolinite are observed. These include kaolin crystallization promoted by fluids of meteoric origin, kaolin formed by organic acids and blocky kaolin. In addition, feldspar, by organic acid dissolution, can mainly form kaolinite but also form illite or chlorite in the E3w3 reservoir. Different clay minerals have different effects on reservoir quality, which are controlled by occurrence and diagenetic environment. Compared to the other minerals, chlorite coating has a greater effect on quartz overgrowth. However, If minerals are packed in intergranular pores, they have a negative effect on reservoir quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Sargassum fusiforme has gained increasing attention for its ability to improve human health and reduce the risk of disease. Nevertheless, there have been few reports on the beneficial functions of fermented Sargassum fusiforme. In this study, the role of fermented Sargassum fusiforme in the mitigation of ulcerative colitis was investigated. Both fermented and unfermented Sargassum fusiforme demonstrated significant improvement in weight loss, diarrhea, bloody stools, and colon shortening in mice with acute colitis. Fermented Sargassum fusiforme further protected against goblet cell loss, decreased intestinal epithelium permeability, and enhanced the expression of tight junction proteins. Fermented Sargassum fusiforme reduced oxidative stress, which was demonstrated by a decrease in nitric oxide (NO), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations in the colon of mice and an increase in total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity in the colon. Meanwhile, catalase (CAT) concentrations in both the colon and serum of mice were significantly increased. Fermented Sargassum fusiforme also attenuated the inflammatory response, which was evidenced by the decreased level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the colon. Moreover, fermented Sargassum fusiforme inhibited the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway and increased the production of short-chain fatty acids in the intestine. These findings indicate that fermented Sargassum fusiforme may have the potential to be developed as an alternative strategy for alleviating colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT)-based ceramics are promising lead-free candidates for energy-storage applications due to their outstanding dielectric and ferroelectric properties derived from large polarization. However, the high coercive field and large remnant polarization are unfavorable for practical applications, and thus NBT-based ceramics with relaxation behavior via doping/forming solid solutions with other elements/components have been widely studied. In this work, BaTiO3 (BT) was introduced to the 0.94Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-0.06Bi(Mg2/3Nb1/3)O3 system by a conventional solid-state reaction to form a homogeneous solid solution of 0.94[(1−x)Na0.5Bi0.51TiO3-xBaTiO3]-0.06Bi(Mg2/3Nb1/3)O3 (BNT-100xBT-BMN). As the BT content increased, the proportion of the rhombohedral R3c phase increased while that of the tetragonal P4bm phase decreased, leading to the maximum Pmax (38.29 μC/cm2) and Eb (80 kV/cm) obtained in BNT-7BT-BMN (x = 0.07) composition. Specifically, the optimal energy storage properties of Wrec ~ 1.02 J/cm3 and η ~ 62.91% under 80 kV/cm were obtained in BNT-7BT-BMN ceramics, along with good temperature stability up to 200 °C, which are promising factors for future pulse power applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green diopside is currently popular in the jewelry market due to its attractive color and excellent transparency. Gem-quality diopsides are mainly sourced from Pakistan, Italy, Russia, and other places. The color, geographic origin, and formation mechanism are the main factors affecting the value of gemstones, which can be determined by examining their gemology and composition characteristics. This study systematically characterizes the standard gemology of green diopsides from Pakistan and Russia and compares them with the blue diopsides produced within the skarn process and the diopsides from the nearby region in Russia from previous studies by gemological microscopy, spectral testing (infrared, Raman and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy), and chemical analyses (electron probe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). The results show that the spectral characteristics and phase composition of the green diopside samples from Pakistan and Russia have excellent uniformity and similarity. The high Cr, Fe, V, and Ni contents are the reasons why they appear as green. Meanwhile, the elemental characteristics of the diopside are effective tools for distinguishing different origins of different diopsides. The Russian green diopsides have higher contents of Sr, Sc, Zr, and rare earth elements (REE), indicating that they are related to alkaline ultrabasic rocks, and the source of the diopside sample from Pakistan is metamorphic rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather disturbances, difficult backgrounds, the shading of fruit and foliage, and other elements can significantly affect automated yield estimation and picking in small target apple orchards in natural settings. This study uses the MinneApple public dataset, which is processed to construct a dataset of 829 images with complex weather, including 232 images of fog scenarios and 236 images of rain scenarios, and proposes a lightweight detection algorithm based on the upgraded YOLOv7-tiny. In this study, a backbone network was constructed by adding skip connections to shallow features, using P2BiFPN for multi-scale feature fusion and feature reuse at the neck, and incorporating a lightweight ULSAM attention mechanism to reduce the loss of small target features, focusing on the correct target and discard redundant features, thereby improving detection accuracy. The experimental results demonstrate that the model has an mAP of 80.4% and a loss rate of 0.0316. The mAP is 5.5% higher than the original model, and the model size is reduced by 15.81%, reducing the requirement for equipment; In terms of counts, the MAE and RMSE are 2.737 and 4.220, respectively, which are 5.69% and 8.97% lower than the original model. Because of its improved performance and stronger robustness, this experimental model offers fresh perspectives on hardware deployment and orchard yield estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have drawn significant attention for their potential applications in electronics and optoelectronics. To achieve consistent electronic properties and high device yield, uniform large monolayer crystals are crucial. In this report, we describe the growth of high-quality and uniform monolayer WSe2 film using chemical vapor deposition on polycrystalline Au substrates. This method allows for the fabrication of continuous large-area WSe2 film with large-size domains. Additionally, a novel transfer-free method is used to fabricate field-effect transistors (FETs) based on the as-grown WSe2. The exceptional metal/semiconductor interfaces achieved through this fabrication method result in monolayer WSe2 FETs with extraordinary electrical performance comparable to those with thermal deposition electrodes, with a high mobility of up to ≈62.95 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature. In addition, the as-fabricated transfer-free devices can maintain their original performance after weeks without obvious device decay. The transfer-free WSe2-based photodetectors exhibit prominent photoresponse with a high photoresponsivity of ~1.7 × 104 A W−1 at Vds = 1 V and Vg = −60 V and a maximum detectivity value of ~1.2 × 1013 Jones. Our study presents a robust pathway for the growth of high-quality monolayer TMDs thin films and large-scale device fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a phase field method based on the Cahn–Hilliard equation was used to simulate the spinodal decomposition in Zr-Nb-Ti alloys, and the effects of Ti concentration and aging temperature (800–925 K) on the spinodal structure of the alloys for 1000 min were investigated. It was found that the spinodal decomposition occurred in the Zr-40Nb-20Ti, Zr-40Nb-25Ti and Zr-33Nb-29Ti alloys aged at 900 K with the formation of the Ti-rich phases and Ti-poor phases. The spinodal phases in the Zr-40Nb-20Ti, Zr-40Nb-25Ti and Zr-33Nb-29Ti alloys aged at 900 K were in an interconnected non-oriented maze-like shape, a discrete droplet-like shape and a clustering sheet-like shape in the early aging period, respectively. With the increase in Ti concentration of the Zr-Nb-Ti alloys, the wavelength of the concentration modulation increased but amplitude decreased. The aging temperature had an important influence on the spinodal decomposition of the Zr-Nb-Ti alloy system. For the Zr-40Nb-25Ti alloy, with the increase in the aging temperature, the shape of the rich Zr phase changed from an interconnected non-oriented maze-like shape to a discrete droplet-like shape, and the wavelength of the concentration modulate increased quickly to a stable value, but the amplitude decreased in the alloy. As the aging temperature increased to 925 K, the spinodal decomposition did not occur in the Zr-40Nb-25Ti alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magmatic process within upper crust encompasses various contents such as the transition between magmatic and hydrothermal systems and changes in oxygen fugacity (ƒO2), which ultimately play key roles in the formation of porphyry Cu deposits (PCDs). However, tracing these magmatic processes, especially in porphyry systems, is not an easy task. This study reported the detailed process of magmatic fluid exsolution and systematical variation of magmatic ƒO2 within the upper crust of a Tongchang–Chang'anchong porphyry Cu deposit, based on detailed investigations of mineral crystallization sequences and compositional features of the minerals in the fertile porphyries. Results indicate that the fertile porphyries show a high initial ƒO2, with ΔFMQ ≥ +3.0 (ΔFMQ is the deviation of logƒO2 from the fayalite–magnetite–quartz (FMQ) buffer). The magmatic ƒO2 (ΔFMQ) continued to decrease to ~+2 until fluid exsolution occurred at ~790 °C due to wall-rock contamination. The magmatic fluid exsolution process caused a temporary increase in the ƒO2 (to ΔFMQ = ~+3.4). The high magmatic ƒO2 during this process (790–750 °C) resulted in a higher content of ore-forming materials in the exsolved magmatic fluid. When the temperature dropped below 750 °C, the magmatic ƒO2 began to continuously decrease and eventually reached ΔFMQ = ~+0.6. The lower magmatic ƒO2 hindered the further migration of ore-forming materials through the exsolved fluid during this process (< 750 °C). Results of this study indicate that the initial magma during the upper crustal magmatic process of PCDs generally has a high ƒO2, and the contamination of reduced components can significantly decrease the magmatic ƒO2. The early magmatic fluid exsolution process can maintain a high magmatic ƒO2 condition, thereby efficiently extracting ore-forming minerals and producing ore-forming fluids, which is the key to the formation of PCDs. The latter continuous decrease in magmatic ƒO2 during the fluid exsolution process may be the reason preventing the Tongchang–Chang'anchong porphyry Cu deposit to form a giant PCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease with a complex pathogenesis. Re-lapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is the most common subset of MS, accounting for approximately 85% of cases. Recent studies have shown that ferroptosis may contribute to the progression of RRMS, but the underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Herein, this study intended to explore the molecular network of ferroptosis associated with RRMS and establish a predictive model for efficacy diagnosis. Firstly, RRMS-related module genes were identified using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Secondly, the optimal machine learning model was selected from four options: the generalized linear model (GLM), random forest model (RF), support vector machine model (SVM), and extreme gradient boosting model (XGB). Subsequently, the predictive efficacy of the diagnostic model was evaluated using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. Finally, a SVM diagnostic model based on five genes (JUN, TXNIP, NCOA4, EIF2AK4, PIK3CA) was established, and it demonstrated good predictive performance in the validation dataset. In summary, our study provides a systematic exploration of the complex relationship between ferroptosis and RRMS, which may contribute to a better understanding of the role of ferroptosis in the pathogenesis of RRMS and provide promising diagnostic strategies for RRMS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers the spatial analysis and evaluation layout of electric vehicle charging infrastructures, taking the central urban area of Chongqing as an example. Mathematical model analysis, ArcGIS spatial analysis, field investigation, questionnaire measurement, and hierarchical analysis methods are utilized to discuss the current distribution characteristics and supply–demand matching of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in this region. The resulting data can provide references for the optimal layout of charging infrastructure. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) The configuration and demand of charging infrastructure in the central urban area of Chongqing have obvious spatial differentiation and show strong centrality. (2) It is a common phenomenon that the charging infrastructure in the central urban area of Chongqing is in short supply, and it is pressing that a new charging infrastructure be built. (3) In the process of construction and operation of charging infrastructure, various factors, such as economy and traffic, should be comprehensively considered; at the same time, incidents of inefficient operation, such as being crowded out by nonelectric vehicles and unmaintained facility failure, should be minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fullerene-based indoor OPVs, particularly phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), has been regarded as a prospective harvesting indoor light energy source to drive low-power consumption electronic devices such as sensors and IoTs. Due to the low tunability of its inherently spherical structure, the performance of the fullerene-based indoor OPVs seem to hit a bottleneck compared with the non-fullerene materials. Here, we explore the potential application of fullerene derivative bis-PCBM in indoor OPVs, which owns a higher the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level than PCBM. The results show that when blended with PCDTBT, bis-PCBM devices yield a high VOC of up to 1.05 V and 0.9 V under AM 1.5G illumination and 1000 lx indoor light, compared with the corresponding values of 0.93 V and 0.79 V for PCBM devices. Nevertheless, the disorders in bis-PCBM suppress the JSC and FF and, therefore, result in a lower efficiency compared to PCBM devices. However, the efficiency and stability differences between the two kinds of cells were much reduced under indoor light conditions. After further optimization of the material composition and fabrication process, bis-PCBM could be an alternative to PCBM, offering great potential for indoor OPV with high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in single-cell sequencing assays for the transposase-accessibility chromatin (scATAC-seq) technique have provided cell-specific chromatin accessibility landscapes of cis-regulatory elements, providing deeper insights into cellular states and dynamics. However, few research efforts have been dedicated to modeling the relationship between regulatory grammars and single-cell chromatin accessibility and incorporating different analysis scenarios of scATAC-seq data into the general framework. To this end, we propose a unified deep learning framework based on the ProdDep Transformer Encoder, dubbed PROTRAIT, for scATAC-seq data analysis. Specifically motivated by the deep language model, PROTRAIT leverages the ProdDep Transformer Encoder to capture the syntax of transcription factor (TF)-DNA binding motifs from scATAC-seq peaks for predicting single-cell chromatin accessibility and learning single-cell embedding. Based on cell embedding, PROTRAIT annotates cell types using the Louvain algorithm. Furthermore, according to the identified likely noises of raw scATAC-seq data, PROTRAIT denoises these values based on predated chromatin accessibility. In addition, PROTRAIT employs differential accessibility analysis to infer TF activity at single-cell and single-nucleotide resolution. Extensive experiments based on the Buenrostro2018 dataset validate the effeteness of PROTRAIT for chromatin accessibility prediction, cell type annotation, and scATAC-seq data denoising, therein outperforming current approaches in terms of different evaluation metrics. Besides, we confirm the consistency between the inferred TF activity and the literature review. We also demonstrate the scalability of PROTRAIT to analyze datasets containing over one million cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella negatively impacts the poultry industry and threatens animals' and humans' health. The gastrointestinal microbiota and its metabolites can modulate the host's physiology and immune system. Recent research demonstrated the role of commensal bacteria and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in developing resistance to Salmonella infection and colonization. However, the complex interactions among chicken, Salmonella, host–microbiome, and microbial metabolites remain unelucidated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore these complex interactions by identifying the driver and hub genes highly correlated with factors that confer resistance to Salmonella. Differential gene expression (DEGs) and dynamic developmental genes (DDGs) analyses and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) were performed using transcriptome data from the cecum of Salmonella Enteritidis-infected chicken at 7 and 21 days after infection. Furthermore, we identified the driver and hub genes associated with important traits such as the heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio, body weight post-infection, bacterial load, propionate and valerate cecal contents, and Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria cecal relative abundance. Among the multiple genes detected in this study, EXFABP, S100A9/12, CEMIP, FKBP5, MAVS, FAM168B, HESX1, EMC6, and others were found as potential candidate gene and transcript (co-) factors for resistance to Salmonella infection. In addition, we found that the PPAR and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) metabolic pathways were also involved in the host's immune response/defense against Salmonella colonization at the earlier and later stage post-infection, respectively. This study provides a valuable resource of transcriptome profiles from chicken cecum at the earlier and later stage post-infection and mechanistic understanding of the complex interactions among chicken, Salmonella, host–microbiome, and associated metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of 5G and vertical industries promotes the development of the energy Ethernet while putting forward fine granularity, flexibility, high reliability, and deterministic low-latency service requirements for the smart grid and the ubiquitous power Internet of Things (UPIoT). As the bearer architecture supporting the next-generation optical transmission network, the Slicing Packet Network (SPN) slice granularity decreases from 5 Gbps to 10 Mbps fine granularity and the frame period of 5 Gbps large-granularity slices is short, so the non-deterministic delay caused by timeslot conflicts has a negligible impact on the end-to-end delay, and the timeslot scheduling is unnecessary. However, due to the reduction in timeslot granularity and the change in frame structure in 10 Mbps slices, the scheduling of conflicting timeslots and the complex device computing management problems need to be solved urgently. In this paper, we establish a model of routing embedded timeslot scheduling for the routing of fine-granularity slices and timeslot scheduling problems in SPN-based FlexE interfaces, for which we propose a deterministic timeslot allocation mechanism supporting end-to-end low-latency transmission. According to the timeslot symmetry, the mechanism can reduce the space of feasible solutions through ant colony optimization and unidirectional neighborhood search (ACO-UNS), so as to efficiently solve the scheduling of conflicting timeslots and provide end-to-end delay guarantee for delay-sensitive services. Finally, we make a comparison between the ACO-UNS algorithm and the timeslot random dispatching algorithm (ACO-RD); the results show that, relative to the ACO-RD, the reduction in the proposed ACO-UNS is 98.721% for the end-to-end delay of fine-granularity slices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the ever-increasing demand for energy, research on energy storage materials is imperative. Thereinto, dielectric materials are regarded as one of the potential candidates for application in advanced pulsed capacitors by reason of their ultrahigh energy-storage density, low energy loss, and good thermal stability. Among the numerous dielectric materials for energy storage, sodium bismuth titanate (Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3, BNT) with high saturation polarization, as one of the successful alternatives to lead-based materials, has been extensively studied. However, degraded dielectric and ferroelectric properties as a consequence of chemical alterations usually produced by inhomogeneity in microstructure and composition due to the ion volatilization during preparing, thus affecting performance of devices. Hence, this review served to encompass the current state and progress on the optimization of energy storage performance in lead-free BNT-based materials over the past few years, including ceramics, multilayer ceramics, thin films, and thick films, involved in solid solution modification, metal/metallic oxide doping, process optimization and other related aspects to optimize energy storage performance. Furthermore, some prospective approach in the improvement of energy storage performance for BNT-based materials were also provided in this work according to the existing theoretical and experimental results, to impel their practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulators in gene regulatory networks (GRNs) are crucial for identifying cell states. However, GRN inference based on scRNA-seq data has several problems, including high dimensionality and sparsity, and requires more label data. Therefore, we propose a meta-learning GRN inference framework to identify regulatory factors. Specifically, meta-learning solves the parameter optimization problem caused by high-dimensional sparse data features. In addition, a few-shot solution was used to solve the problem of lack of label data. A structural equation model (SEM) was embedded in the model to identify important regulators. We integrated the parameter optimization strategy into the bi-level optimization to extract the feature consistent with GRN reasoning. This unique design makes our model robust to small-scale data. By studying the GRN inference task, we confirmed that the selected regulators were closely related to gene expression specificity. We further analyzed the GRN inferred to find the important regulators in cell type identification. Extensive experimental results showed that our model effectively captured the regulator in single-cell GRN inference. Finally, the visualization results verified the importance of the selected regulators for cell type recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated land quality is directly related to national food security; hence, it is necessary to determine the spatial–temporal characteristics and factors that influence its variation. This study analyzed the soil properties and cultivated land quality in the Hang-Jia-Hu Plain, the most important grain production base in Zhejiang Province, located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, from 2017 to 2020. In addition, the factors that influenced cultivated land quality variation were explored. The results showed that soil pH and soil organic matter (SOM) significantly improved from 6.32 and 29.07 g/kg in 2017 to 6.38 and 31.54 g/kg in 2020, whereas the variations in available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) were not significant. More than 60% of the cultivated land still had the potential for soil nutrient status improvement. The cultivated land quality indicator (CLQI) calculated based on the national standard (GB/T 33469-2016) significantly increased from 0.90 in 2017 to 0.91 in 2020. According to the CLQI classification, approximately three quarters of the cultivated land was defined as high-yielding fields. Although the spatial pattern for CLQI was similar between 2017 and 2020, more than 75% of the cultivated land quality showed an increasing trend that was mainly located in the northeastern and central areas. The results of influential factor detection indicated that the improvement in SOM and available soil nutrients including AP and AK was the main reason for the CLQI increase, whereas the climate, topography, and socioeconomic factors had little influence on the change in CLQI. In addition, when influential factors interacted, a significant increase in the explanatory ability for CLQI was obtained, especially for the interaction of SOM and AP variation, which explained 41% of the CLQI variation. This study provides basic foundations and references for cultivated land quality monitoring and improvement in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous disease with different molecular subtypes. Although progress has been made, the identification of TNBC subtype-associated biomarkers is still hindered by traditional RNA-seq or array technologies, since bulk data detected by them usually have some non-disease tissue samples, or they are confined to measure the averaged properties of whole tissues. To overcome these constraints and discover TNBC subtype-specific prognosis signatures (TSPSigs), we proposed a single-cell RNA-seq-based bioinformatics approach for identifying TSPSigs. Notably, the TSPSigs we developed mostly were found to be disease-related and involved in cancer development through investigating their enrichment analysis results. In addition, the prognostic power of TSPSigs was successfully confirmed in four independent validation datasets. The multivariate analysis results showed that TSPSigs in two TNBC subtypes-BL1 and LAR, were two independent prognostic factors. Further, analysis results of the TNBC cell lines revealed that the TSPSigs expressions and drug sensitivities had significant associations. Based on the preceding data, we concluded that TSPSigs could be exploited as novel candidate prognostic markers for TNBC patients and applied to individualized treatment in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria are among the most critical components in soil. The application of nutrients as an important management measure to maintain soil fertility can affect the structure of soil bacterial communities. The objective of this study was to explore the influence of the application of nutrients on the soil bacterial community composition and diversity in a Larix olgensis Henry plantation after thinning using Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology. In July 2015, a middle-aged (27 years old) Larix olgensis forest, afforested in the spring of 1988 (thinning was conducted in the winter of 2012), in MengJiagang National Forest Farm, Jiamusi City, China, was assessed. Four fertilizer treatments were applied, each replicated three times: nitrogen (N, 250 kg/ha); nitrogen + phosphorus (NP, nitrogen 250 kg/ha + phosphorus 50 kg/ha); nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium (NPK, nitrogen 250 kg/ha + phosphorus 50 kg/ha + potassium 30 kg/ha); and a control (CK, no fertilizer). In mid-August 2018, soil samples of a 0–10 cm soil layer were collected; the diversity and composition of soil bacteria under different the application of nutrients conditions were determined by Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology on the MiSeq platform. Our results found that: (1) compared with the CK treatment, long-term the application of nutrients significantly reduced the soil pH and soil total potassium content (p < 0.05); and (2) the continued application of nutrients increased the Chao1 richness index of the soil bacteria in the Larix olgensis plantation (p < 0.05); (3) soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen were key drivers of the soil bacterial community structure. Therefore, the different long-term the application of nutrients regimes did not affect the stability of the soil ecosystem in the Larix olgensis plantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) is a food-borne pathogen that can infect animals and humans. It is currently the most common bacterial pathogen that negatively affects the poultry industry. Although different chicken breeds have been observed to exhibit diverse resistance to ST infection, the underlying genetic mechanisms remain unclear and the genes involved in this differential disease resistance need to be identified. To overcome this knowledge gap, we used a liver transcriptome analysis to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in two different chicken breeds (local Beijing You (BY) and commercial Guang Ming No. 2 broiler line B (GM)) before and after ST infection. We also performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to detect hub genes, and employed selection signal analysis of candidate genes. Three promising genes (EGR1, JUN and FOS) were eventually identified, and were significantly and differentially expressed in the same breed under different conditions, and in the two breeds after ST infection. Hub genes, such as PPFIA4 and ZNF395, were identified using WGCNA, and were associated with the ratio of heterophils to lymphocytes (H/L), an indicator of disease resistance. the present study identified several genes and pathways associated with resistance to ST infection, and found that BY had greater resistance to ST infection than GM. The results obtained provide valuable resources for investigating the mechanisms of resistance to ST infection in different chicken breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Core flow distribution is closely related to the thermal–hydraulic performance and safety of reactors. For natural circulation reactors with a limited driving force, flow distribution optimization is of particular significance, which can be contrived by suitably assigning the inlet resistance of a core assembly channel in reactor design. In the present work, core flow distribution optimization during the fuel life cycle is regarded as a global optimization problem. The optimization objective is to minimize the maximal outlet temperature difference of assembly channels during the fuel life cycle, while the input variable is the inlet resistance coefficient of each assembly channel. The simulated annealing algorithm is applied to the optimization code. The results show that the maximal outlet temperature difference is significantly reduced after optimization, and the resultant core outlet temperature distribution becomes more uniformed. Further evaluation indicates that the optimal solution has good applicability and stability under different reactor conditions. A comparison of the optimization objective function using different temperature difference definitions is also studied in the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chromatin features can reveal tissue-specific TF-DNA binding, which leads to a better understanding of many critical physiological processes. Accurately identifying TF-DNA bindings and constructing their relationships with chromatin features is a long-standing goal in the bioinformatic field. However, this has remained elusive due to the complex binding mechanisms and heterogeneity among inputs. Here, we have developed the GHTNet (General Hybrid Transformer Network), a transformer-based model to predict TF-DNA binding specificity. The GHTNet decodes the relationship between tissue-specific TF-DNA binding and chromatin features via a specific input scheme of alternative inputs and reveals important gene regions and tissue-specific motifs. Our experiments show that the GHTNet has excellent performance, achieving about a 5% absolute improvement over existing methods. The TF-DNA binding mechanism analysis shows that the importance of TF-DNA binding features varies across tissues. The best predictor is based on the DNA sequence, followed by epigenomics and shape. In addition, cross-species studies address the limited data, thus providing new ideas in this case. Moreover, the GHTNet is applied to interpret the relationship among TFs, chromatin features, and diseases associated with AD46 tissue. This paper demonstrates that the GHTNet is an accurate and robust framework for deciphering tissue-specific TF-DNA binding and interpreting non-coding regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization of the ecological network structure in Nanping can provide a scientific reference for guaranteeing ecological safety in Southeast China. This study estimated ecosystem services in Nanping with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model based on land-use data from 2020 to 2025 simulated with the CLUE-S model under the natural development scenario and ecological protection scenario and then explored their trade-offs and synergies. The ecological network structure was, thereafter, optimized in terms of the eco-matrix, eco-corridors and nodes based on simulated land use and ecosystem services. The results suggested that the average habitat quality and total soil retention increased, while the average degradation index and total water yield decreased under the ecological protection scenario, indicating that the ecological environment quality tended to be improved. In addition, soil retention had significant synergies with habitat quality and water yield, and habitat quality had significant trade-offs with ecological degradation and water yield on the regional scale under two scenarios, while ecological degradation also showed significant trade-offs with soil retention and water yield. In addition, the results suggested that 11 additional ecological sources could be added, and the number of eco-corridors increased from 15 to 136; a total of 1019 ecological break points were restored, and 1481 stepping stone patches were deployed, which jointly made network circuitry, edge/node ratio and network connectivity reach 0.45, 1.86 and 0.64, respectively, indicating that optimization could effectively improve the structure and connectivity of the ecological network. These findings can provide a theoretical basis for improving the ecological network structure and ecological service functions in Nanping and other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective identification of robust biomarkers related to prognosis and adjuvant chemotherapy has become a necessary and critical step to predict the benefits of adjuvant therapy for patients with stage II–III colorectal cancer (CRC) before clinical treatment. We proposed a single-cell-based prognostic biomarker recognition approach to identify and construct CRC up- and down-regulated prognostic signatures (CUPsig and CDPsig) by integrating scRNA-seq and bulk datasets. We found that most genes in CUPsig and CDPsig were known disease genes, and they had good prognostic abilities in CRC validation datasets. Multivariate analysis confirmed that they were two independent prognostic factors of disease-free survival (DFS). Significantly, CUPsig and CDPsig could effectively predict adjuvant chemotherapy benefits in drug-treated validation datasets. Additionally, they also performed well in patients with CMS4 subtype. Subsequent analysis of drug sensitivity showed that expressions of these two signatures were significantly associated with the sensitivities of CRC cell lines to multiple drugs. In summary, we proposed a novel prognostic biomarker identification approach, which could be used to identify novel prognostic markers for stage II–III CRC patients who will undergo adjuvant chemotherapy and facilitate their further personalized treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by amplifying the outputting signal or reducing nonspecific binding (NSB) are the key techniques in multiple immunoassay. Aiming at these issues, this paper presents an improved multiple indirect competitive immune surface-enhanced Raman scattering (ci-SERS) assay for the rapid screening of highly toxic rodenticides in food and biological samples, which ensured remarkable accuracy, ultra-sensitivity and reproducibility. The non-fouling polymer brush grafted magnetic beads (the MB@P-CyM) were prepared as multiple competitive recognition substrates after conjugating triplex haptens (the MB@P-CyM-hap). It was demonstrated that the particular 3D hair-like structures of P-CyM not only facilitate conjugate high-density hapten but reduce the steric hindrance from SERS probes recognition, thus enhancing SNB. On the other hand, Au nanoflowers (AuNFs) of high SERS activity were synthesized using a simple one-pot hydrazine reduction. For simultaneously detecting three highly toxic rodenticides, i.e., diphacinone (DPN), bromadiolone (BRD) and tetramine (TET), the obtained AuNFs were fabricated as a SERS-encoded nanoprobe cocktail after successively labeling mono-antibodies/Raman probes. By integrating the MB@P-CyM-hap with the SERS-encoded cocktail, a highly sensitive multiple SERS assay was achieved in less than 2 h with a limit of detection of 0.62 ng mL−1 for BRD, 0.42 ng mL−1 for TET and 1.37 ng mL−1 for DPN, respectively. The recoveries of these rodenticides in spiked food and biological samples were determined and ranged from 72 to 123%. Above all, the proposed modifications show remarkable improvements for high efficient multiple chemical toxin immunoassay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfamates are widespread in numerous pharmacologically active molecules. In this paper, Silver/Bathophenanthroline catalyzed the intramolecular selective amination of primary C(sp3)−H bonds and secondary C(sp3)−H bonds of sulfamate esters, to produce cyclic sulfamates in good yields and with a high site-selectivity. DFT calculations revealed that the interaction between sulfamates and L10 makes the molecule more firmly attached to the catalyst, benefiting the catalysis reaction. The in vitro anticancer activity of the final products was evaluated in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maximize the propulsion efficiency of flapping hydrofoil, a new method is proposed in this paper. The effects of heave amplitude, pitch amplitude, and the phase difference between heave and surge on propulsion performance were analyzed by numerical calculation, and it was found that three motion parameters had interactive effects on flapping hydrofoil propulsion performance. BP neural network was used to fit the three motion parameters and propulsion performance. Using this function model, the optimal motion parameters can be obtained under certain thrust. In this study, the optimization matching under certain thrust was carried out by using this method, and the propulsion efficiency was improved by 7.73%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical and lateral heterostructures consisting of atomically layered two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit intriguing properties, such as efficient charge/energy transfer, high photoresponsivity, and enhanced photocatalytic activities. However, the controlled fabrication of vertical or lateral heterojunctions on metal substrates remains challenging. Herein, we report a facile and controllable method for selective growth of WS2/MoS2 vertical or lateral heterojunctions on polycrystalline gold (Au) foil by tuning the gas flow rate of hydrogen (H2). We find that lateral growth is favored without H2, whereas vertical growth mode can be switched on by introducing 8–10 sccm H2. In addition, the areal coverage of the WS2/MoS2 vertical heterostructures is tunable in the range of 12–25%. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) results demonstrate the quality and absence of cross-contamination of the as-grown heterostructures. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of the H2 flow rate on the morphology of the heterostructures. These pave the way to develop unprecedented 2D heterostructures towards applications in (opto)electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are abundant phosphate mines in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Gem-quality apatite is produced at the Anemzi deposit, but its associated gem mineralogy is relatively poorly studied. In this study, apatite from the Anemzi mine in Morocco was analysed using standard gemmological characterisation methods, including basic tests (hardness, relative density, microscopy, etc.), spectroscopic tests (infrared, Raman, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy), and chemical analyses (electron probe and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). This paper explores the gemmological characteristics of Moroccan apatites and the information on diagenesis recorded for apatites by comparing them with apatites from other sources. Apatite from the Anemzi deposit is an igneous fluorapatite. The relatively high Cl content of the apatite suggests that the magma in the area has a high Cl content, whereas the high Cl/F ratio may indicate that the deposit formed in a slab subduction environment. The characteristics of the major and trace elements indicate high oxygen and sulphur escapes in the apatite-forming magma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]