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Computer vision in marine ranching enables real-time monitoring of underwater resources. Detecting fish presents challenges due to varying water turbidity and lighting, affecting color consistency. We propose a Foreground Region Convolutional Neural Network (FR-CNN) that combines unsupervised and supervised methods. It introduces an adaptive multiscale regression Gaussian background model to distinguish fish from noise at different scales. Probability density functions integrate spatiotemporal information for object detection, addressing illumination and water quality shifts. FR-CNN achieves 95% mAP with IoU of 0.5, reducing errors from open-source datasets. It updates anchor boxes automatically on local datasets, enhancing object detection accuracy in long-term monitoring. The results analyze fish species behaviors in relation to environmental conditions, validating the method’s practicality.

The artificially submerged cavitation water jet is effectively utilized by ejecting a high-pressure water stream into a low-pressure water stream through concentric nozzles and utilizing the cavitation phenomenon generated by the shear layer formed between the two streams. In this study, we investigated the cavitation characteristics of artificially submerged cavitation water jets by combining numerical simulations and erosion experiments. The results indicate that an appropriate standoff distance can generate more cavitation clouds on the workpiece surface, and the erosion characteristics of the artificially submerged cavitation water jet are most pronounced at a dimensionless standoff distance of SD = 30. The shear effect formed between the two jets plays a crucial role in generating initial cavitation bubbles within the flow field of the artificially submerged cavitation water jet. Moreover, increasing the convergent angle between the two jets can significantly enhance the cavitation effect between them and lead to a more substantial cavitation effect. Simultaneously, increasing the pressure of the high-pressure inner nozzle also contributes to enhancing the cavitation effect of the artificially submerged cavitation water jet.

In order to address the requirements of scientific multidisciplinary observation in diverse small-scale regions, we have introduced the Buoy-based Cable Seafloor Observatory System (BCSOS). This system offers a distinct advantage in contexts where the use of shorter cables is feasible, contrasting with the lengthy cables typically necessary for conventional observatories. The BCSOS consists of three primary components: the Real-Time Electric Communication (RTEC) Buoy, the Power Information Transmission System (PITS), and the Seafloor Observation Subsystem (SOS). The RTEC Buoy is equipped with instruments for measuring sea surface parameters and serves as a data and power hub. The PITS, comprising a robust EM cable, connects the buoy to the SOS, which houses instruments for seafloor observations. The system is designed for a maximum water depth of 100 m and has an expected lifespan of about 5 years. The BCSOS prototypes were deployed at the Huangqi Peninsula, Fujian Province, and successfully documented the process during Typhoon Doksuri (international code 2305) at the end of July 2023. The recorded data from the BCSOS revealed a significant increase in wave height and period as the storm approached the Huangqi Peninsula. Additionally, the RTEC buoy exhibited a notable response to the large waves. The data analysis revealed a distinct pattern between the buoy response and the direction of wave propagation across various sea conditions, that the buoy’s angular movement in pitch and roll directions follows a regular elliptical distribution corresponding to different wave propagation directions. Upon thorough evaluation, future enhancements to the system are slated to concentrate on refining its design, with a particular emphasis on bolstering stability and enhancing corrosion resistance. These improvements are aimed at cementing the system’s long-term viability and performance within the challenging marine environment.

Autonomous lane-change, a key feature of advanced driver-assistance systems, can enhance traffic efficiency and reduce the incidence of accidents. However, safe driving of autonomous vehicles remains challenging in complex environments. How to perform safe and appropriate lane change is a popular topic of research in the field of autonomous driving. Currently, few papers consider the safety of reinforcement learning in discretionary lane-change scenarios. We introduce safe hybrid-action reinforcement learning into discretionary lane change for the first time and propose the Parameterized Soft Actor–Critic with PID Lagrangian (PASAC-PIDLag) algorithm. Furthermore, we conduct a comparative analysis with Parameterized Soft Actor–Critic (PASAC), which is an unsafe version of PASAC-PIDLag. Both algorithms are employed to train the lane-change strategy to output both discrete lane-change decisions and continuous longitudinal vehicle acceleration. Our simulation results indicate that at a traffic density of 15 vehicles per kilometer (15 veh/km), the PASAC-PIDLag algorithm exhibits superior safety with a collision rate of 0%, outperforming the PASAC algorithm, which has a collision rate of 1%. The generalization assessments reveal that at low traffic density levels, both the PASAC-PIDLag and PASAC algorithms are proficient in attaining zero collision rates. However, at high traffic density levels, although both algorithms result in collisions, PASAC-PIDLag has a much lower collision rate than PASAC.

Most of the current studies on autonomous vehicle decision-making and control based on reinforcement learning are conducted in simulated environments. The training and testing of these studies are carried out under the condition of rule-based microscopic traffic flow, with little consideration regarding migrating them to real or near-real environments. This may lead to performance degradation when the trained model is tested in more realistic traffic scenes. In this study, we propose a method to randomize the driving behavior of surrounding vehicles by randomizing certain parameters of the car-following and lane-changing models of rule-based microscopic traffic flow. We trained policies with deep reinforcement learning algorithms under the domain-randomized rule-based microscopic traffic flow in freeway and merging scenes and then tested them separately in rule-based and high-fidelity microscopic traffic flows. The results indicate that the policies trained under domain-randomized traffic flow have significantly better success rates and episodic rewards compared to those trained under non-randomized traffic flow.

This study focuses on a crucial task in the field of autonomous driving, autonomous lane change. Autonomous lane change plays a pivotal role in improving traffic flow, alleviating driver burden, and reducing the risk of traffic accidents. However, due to the complexity and uncertainty of lane-change scenarios, the functionality of autonomous lane change still faces challenges. In this research, we conducted autonomous lane-change simulations using both deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and model predictive control (MPC). Specifically, we used the parameterized soft actor–critic (PASAC) algorithm to train a DRL-based lane-change strategy to output both discrete lane-change decisions and continuous longitudinal vehicle acceleration. We also used MPC for lane selection based on the smallest predictive car-following costs for the different lanes. For the first time, we compared the performance of DRL and MPC in the context of lane-change decisions. The simulation results indicated that, under the same reward/cost function and traffic flow, both MPC and PASAC achieved a collision rate of 0%. PASAC demonstrated a comparable performance to MPC in terms of average rewards/costs and vehicle speeds.

Offshore oil and gas resources play a crucial role in supplementing the energy needs of human society. The crisscrossing subsea pipeline network, which serves as vital infrastructure for the storage and transportation of offshore oil and gas, requires regular inspection and maintenance to ensure safe operation and prevent ecological pollution. In-line inspection (ILI) techniques have been widely used in the detection and inspection of potential hazards within the pipeline network. This paper offers an overview of ILI techniques used in subsea pipelines, examining their advantages, limitations, applicable scenarios, and performance. It aims to provide valuable insights for the selection of ILI technologies in engineering and may be beneficial for those involved in pipeline integrity management and planning.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have been used to reduce glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus since 2005. This meta-analysis discusses the mechanisms and potential benefits of several GLP-1 RAs. In particular, this meta-analysis focuses on the safety and associations with weight loss, glucose reduction, cardiovascular outcomes, heart failure, and renal outcomes of GLP-1 RAs to determine their benefits for patients with different conditions. In terms of glycemic control and weight loss, semaglutide was statistically superior to other GLP-1 RAs. In terms of cardiovascular outcomes, 14 mg of semaglutide taken orally once daily and 1.8 mg of liraglutide injected once daily reduced the incidence of cardiovascular death, whereas other GLP-1 RAs did not provide similar benefits. Moreover, semaglutide was associated with superior outcomes for heart failure and cardiovascular death in non-diabetic obesity patients, whereas liraglutide worsened heart failure outcomes in diabetic patients with a reduced ejection fraction. Additionally, semaglutide, dulaglutide, and liraglutide were beneficial in terms of composite renal outcomes: These GLP-1 RAs were significantly associated with less new or persistent macroalbuminuria, but not with improved eGFR deterioration or reduced requirement for renal replacement therapy. However, GLP-1 RAs may benefit patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus or obesity.

Reinforcement learning has shown success in solving complex control problems, yet safety remains paramount in engineering applications like energy management systems (EMS), particularly in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). An effective EMS is crucial for coordinating power flow while ensuring safety, such as maintaining the battery state of charge within safe limits, which presents a challenging task. Traditional reinforcement learning struggles with safety constraints, and the penalty method often leads to suboptimal performance. This study introduces Lagrangian-based parameterized soft actor–critic (PASACLag), a novel safe hybrid-action reinforcement learning algorithm for HEV energy management. PASACLag utilizes a unique composite action representation to handle continuous actions (e.g., engine torque) and discrete actions (e.g., gear shift and clutch engagement) concurrently. It integrates a Lagrangian method to separately address control objectives and constraints, simplifying the reward function and enhancing safety. We evaluate PASACLag’s performance using the World Harmonized Vehicle Cycle (901 s), with a generalization analysis of four different cycles. The results indicate that PASACLag achieves a less than 10% increase in fuel consumption compared to dynamic programming. Moreover, PASACLag surpasses PASAC, an unsafe counterpart using penalty methods, in fuel economy and constraint satisfaction metrics during generalization. These findings highlight PASACLag’s effectiveness in acquiring complex EMS for control within a hybrid action space while prioritizing safety.

Compounds that potentiate the activity of clinically available antibiotics provide a complementary solution, except for developing novel antibiotics for the rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). We sought to identify compounds potentiating polymyxin B (PMB), a traditional drug that has been revived as the last line for treating life-threatening GNB infections, thus reducing its nephrotoxicity and heterogeneous resistance in clinical use. In this study, we found a natural product, sanguinarine (SA), which potentiated the efficacy of PMB against GNB infections. The synergistic effect of SA with PMB was evaluated using a checkerboard assay and time–kill curves in vivo and the murine peritonitis model induced by Escherichia coli in female CD-1 mice in vivo. SA assisted PMB in accelerating the reduction in bacterial loads both in vitro and in vivo, improving the inflammatory responses and survival rate of infected animals. The subsequent detection of the intracellular ATP levels, membrane potential, and membrane integrity indicated that SA enhanced the bacterial-membrane-breaking capacity of PMB. A metabolomic analysis showed that the inhibition of energy metabolism, interference with nucleic acid biosynthesis, and the blocking of L-Ara4N-related PMB resistance may also contribute to the synergistic effect. This study is the first to reveal the synergistic activity and mechanism of SA with PMB, which highlights further insights into anti-GNB drug development.

A mulched drip fertigation system is an effective way to improve maize yield, but at present, the efficiency of nutrient delivery and water use are generally low. Therefore, this study conducted optimization field experiments to identify the main factors limiting the delivery of water and fertilizer, including regulations on nitrogen (N) fertilizer, irrigation conditions, planting density and maize varieties, in the semi-arid area of Northeast China. As part of an effort to close the yield gap for maize, an optimized system (DS) for optimal crop, nutrient and water management was designed to improve the agronomic and economic performance of maize farming in the area. The application rate of N fertilizer was 240 kg ha−1; the base fertilizer was applied four times (once at the jointing stage, twice at the belling stage and once at the silking stage); the rates of application of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizer were 90 kg P2O5 ha−1 and 90 kg K2O ha−1, respectively; the irrigation amount was 270 mm ha−1; the maize variety Fumin 985 was planted at a density of 80,000 plants ha−1 in DS; the grain yield of DS reached 13.8 Mg ha−1, 93% of the yield potential. DS yielded an economic benefit of 18,449 yuan ha−1, which was significantly higher than the economic benefit of 13,818 yuan ha−1 achieved under farmers’ practices (FP). Furthermore, the utilization rates of N, P, K, and water were significantly improved under DS. In conclusion, DS increased production potential, with high efficiency in nutrient delivery and water use and low losses of nutrients and water. The crop, fertilizer, and water management of DS provided a technological system to simultaneously improve crop production and resource-use efficiency in the semi-arid area of Northeast China.

This work reports an information-based landmarks assisted simultaneous localization and mapping (InfoLa-SLAM) in large-scale scenes using single-line lidar. The solution employed two novel designs. The first design was a keyframe selection method based on Fisher information, which reduced the computational cost of the nonlinear optimization for the back-end of SLAM by selecting a relatively small number of keyframes while ensuring the accuracy of mapping. The Fisher information was acquired from the point cloud registration between the current frame and the previous keyframe. The second design was an efficient global descriptor for place recognition, which was achieved by designing a unique graphical feature ID to effectively match the local map with the global one. The results showed that compared with traditional keyframe selection strategies (e.g., based on time, angle, or distance), the proposed method allowed for a 35.16% reduction in the number of keyframes in a warehouse with an area of about 10,000 m2. The relocalization module demonstrated a high probability (96%) of correction even under high levels of measurement noise (0.05 m), while the time consumption for relocalization was below 28 ms. The proposed InfoLa-SLAM was also compared with Cartographer under the same dataset. The results showed that InfoLa-SLAM achieved very similar mapping accuracy to Cartographer but excelled in lightweight performance, achieving a 9.11% reduction in the CPU load and a significant 56.67% decrease in the memory consumption.

Objective: In this paper, we aim to show that the immunogenicity of the lyophilized human rabies vaccine (Vero cells) (investigational vaccine) developed by Dalian Aleph Biomedical Co., Ltd. in healthy participants aged 10–60 years old is non-inferior to the lyophilized PVRV (positive control) manufactured by Liaoning Chengda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Shenyang, China), and that its safety is clinically acceptable. Method: A total of 2776 participants were enrolled in this study and divided into four groups: a five-dose test group, a five-dose control group, a four-dose test group, and a four-dose control group. The patients in the four-dose groups (Zagreb) were vaccinated on Days 0 (two doses), 7 (one dose), and 21 (one dose), and those in the five-dose groups (Essen) were vaccinated on Days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28 (one dose each). The rabies-virus-neutralizing antibody assay with the RFFIT was used to assess the immunogenicity, and the adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) were identified and collated. Results: The positive seroconversion rate was up to 100% on Days 14 and 35/42 after vaccination following any procedures in pre-immunization antibody-negative participants, and the positive seroconversion rate and geometric mean concentration (GMC) of the test groups (Zagreb and Essen vaccination procedures) was not inferior to that of the control groups. On Day 7 after vaccination, the immunogenicity of the Zagreb procedure with two doses of the vaccine on Day 0 was superior to the Essen procedure with one dose of vaccine, that is, the former had a higher seroconversion rate and RVNA titer. The non-inferiority criterion of immunogenicity was met for the whole population, the population aged 10–18 years and ≥18 years, and the pre-immunization antibody-positive population. The incidences of all AEs, solicited AEs, and unsolicited AEs in both groups were not statistically significant, and no vaccination-related SAEs were observed. Conclusion: The investigated vaccine is safe, its immunogenicity is non-inferior to that of the control vaccine, and the efficacy of the Zagreb procedure is superior to that of the Essen procedure 7 days after the first dose.

The influences of Mg2+ and Ca2+ on the short-term (1800 s) corrosion behavior of X100 pipeline steel were investigated in a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution saturated with CO2. Either Ca2+ or Mg2+ in the solution inhibited the short-term corrosion of X100 pipeline steel, with the corrosion current density decreasing from 262.4 μA cm−2 to 163.5 μA cm−2 or 80.8 μA cm−2. During longer-term (8−48 h) immersion, the Mg2+ inhibited the formation of the protective scale, whereas the Ca2+ accelerated the formation of the scale. Further, an experimental equation establishing the relationship between the precipitation rate of the corrosion scale and the exposure time was proposed to quantitatively study the effects of Mg2+ and Ca2+ on the precipitation rate of the corrosion scale.

Nano-water-based drilling fluids (NWBDFs) are prepared using nano-copper oxide (CuO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as modification materials. The effects of the temperature and concentration of the nanoparticles (NPs) on the rheological properties are studied using a rotational rheometer and viscometer. Also, the influence of two NPs on the filtration properties is studied using a low-pressure and low-temperature filtration apparatus, as well as a scanning electron microscope (SEM). It is found that MWCNTs with a concentration of 0.05 w/v% have the most obvious influence on the NWBDFs, which improve the stability of the gel structure against temperature and also decrease the filtration rate. Finally, a theoretical model predicating the yield point (YP) and the plastic viscosity (PV) as a function of the temperature considering the influence of the NPs is developed based on DLVO theory.

2,3-Butanediol, acetoin and tetramethylpyrazine have a wide range of applications as important chemicals in the chemical, food and pharmaceutical fields. Bacillus subtilis has a very wide application potential in many industries as a food-safe grade strain and has a good performance as a potential strain for tetramethylpyrazine production. In this study, we constructed a recombinant plasmid with dual promoter to overexpress 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase and introduced it into Bacillus subtilis BS2. The constructed strain (BS-ppb11) was then optimized for fermentation conditions, and the maximum concentration of 2,3-butanediol produced was 96.5 g/L, which was 36.4% higher than that of the original strain, in which the (R,R)-2,3-butanediol had a chiral purity of 94.7%. Meanwhile, BS-ppb11 produced a maximum concentration of 82.2 g/L acetoin, which was 36.7% higher than that of the original strain. Subsequently, through optimization of metabolic conditions, BS-ppb11 produced 34.8 g/L of tetramethylpyrazine in staged batch replenishment fermentation, which was 95.5% higher than the original strain and was the highest ferritin production reported to date for Bacillus subtilis. In addition, we introduced a photocatalytic coenzyme regeneration system in BS-ppb11 to further improve the metabolic yield of 2,3-butanediol by regulating cofactor homeostasis, which laid the foundation for the subsequent in-depth study of the related mechanism.

TiO2 has attracted significant research interest, principally due to its nontoxicity, high stability, and abundance. Carbon-doped TiO2 can improve light absorption efficiency. In order to prepare high-efficiency photocatalysts, carbon-doped composites were prepared by hydrothermal reaction in a high-pressure reactor, and then TiO2/CNT mesoporous composites were prepared by the sol–gel method in an ultrasonic environment. Characterized by SEM and TEM, the composite materials contained TiO2 nanoparticles as well as CNT. After phase analysis, it was the anatase-doped phase. The following infrared light absorption performance and Escherichia coli bactericidal performance tests showed that it had better infrared and visible light absorption performance than pure TiO2. The TiO2/CNT mesoporous nanomaterials synthesized in this work are possible for clean industrial productions.

The Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic poses a significant threat to human health globally. Thus, there is an urgent need for developing effective anti-ZIKV agents. ZIKV non-structural protein 5 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a viral enzyme for viral replication, has been considered an attractive drug target. In this work, we screened an anti-infection compound library and a natural product library by virtual screening to identify potential candidates targeting RdRp. Then, five selected candidates were further applied for RdRp enzymatic analysis, cytotoxicity, and binding examination by SPR. Finally, posaconazole (POS) was confirmed to effectively inhibit both RdRp activity with an IC50 of 4.29 μM and the ZIKV replication with an EC50 of 0.59 μM. Moreover, POS was shown to reduce RdRp activity by binding with the key amino acid D666 through molecular docking and site-directed mutation analysis. For the first time, our work found that POS could inhibit ZIKV replication with a stronger inhibitory activity than chloroquine. This work also demonstrated fast anti-ZIKV screening for inhibitors of RdRp and provided POS as a potential anti-ZIKV agent.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a significant threat to the pig industry in China. However, the epidemiological characteristics of PRRSV after the outbreak of African swine fever in China were not thoroughly investigated. In the present study, the serological and epidemiological investigations of PRRSV in pigs from the Hunan and Hebei provinces of China were assessed. The results showed that 73.12% (95% CI 71.74–74.49) of pigs were positive for PRRSV-special antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Out of 5799 samples, 482 (8.31%, 95% CI 7.60–9.02) samples were positive for PRRSV nucleic acids. The positive rates of PRRSV in healthy pigs from farms and slaughterhouses were 2.27% (47/2072) and 7.70% (217/2818), which were lower than that in diseased pigs (23.98%, 218/909). Furthermore, the full-length OFR5 gene sequences of 43 PRRSV strains were sequenced and analysed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 43 isolates were classified into three lineages, namely lineage 1 (n = 24), lineage 8 (n = 15), and lineage 3 (n = 4). Lineage 1 could be further divided into sublineage 1.5 (n = 2) and sublineage 1.8 (n = 22), and lineage 8 was classified into sublineage 8.1 (n = 3) and sublineage 8.7 (n = 12). Collectively, our findings revealed the severe prevalence of PRRSV in the Hunan and Hebei provinces, where sublineage 1.8 and sublineage 8.7 predominated. The present study provides the update information of the epidemiological and genetic characteristics of PRRSV in the investigated regions, which will be beneficial for PRRS control.

Substrate voltage (VSUB) effects on GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) power application performance with superlattice transition layer structure was investigated. The 2DEG conductivity and buffer stack charge redistribution can be affected by neutral/ionized donor and acceptor traps. As the donor/acceptor traps are excessively ionized or de-ionized by applying VSUB, the depletion region between the unintentionally doped (UID)/Carbon-doped (C-doped) GaN layer may exhibit a behavior similar to the p–n junction. An applied negative VSUB increases the concentration of both the ionized donor and acceptor traps, which increases the breakdown voltage (BV) by alleviating the non-uniform distribution of the vertical electric field. On the other hand, an applied positive VSUB causes the energy band bending flattener to refill the ionized traps and slightly improves the dynamic Ron degradation. Moreover, the amount of electrons injected into the buffer stack layer from the front side (2DEG channel/Ohmic contact) and the back side (AlN nucleation layer/superlattice transition layer) are asymmetric. Therefore, different VSUB can affect the conductivity of 2DEG through the field effect, buffer trapping effect, and charge redistribution, which can change the electrical performance of the device.

During the harvesting of polymetallic nodules on the seabed, the sediment plume due to disturbance on the seabed impacts the benthic ecosystem. A numerical simulation based on the SPH (smooth particle hydrodynamics) method is used to estimate the time and length scale of the plume impact near the seabed during a small-scale harvesting process. The simulation result considerably agrees with the one from the lab-scale water-channel experiment. It is found that, in the sediment plume, the traced sub-plume with iso-surface of lower sediment concentration travels a longer distance, and spends a longer time to achieve the stable state. Moreover, with the increase of the releasing rate of the disturbed sediment, the sub-plume spreads over greater distance, which also needs more time to achieve the stable state.

The development of automatic monitoring and diagnosis systems for cardiac patients over the internet has been facilitated by recent advancements in wearable sensor devices from electrocardiographs (ECGs), which need the use of patient-specific approaches. Premature ventricular contraction (PVC) is a common chronic cardiovascular disease that can cause conditions that are potentially fatal. Therefore, for the diagnosis of likely heart failure, precise PVC detection from ECGs is crucial. In the clinical settings, cardiologists typically employ long-term ECGs as a tool to identify PVCs, where a cardiologist must put in a lot of time and effort to appropriately assess the long-term ECGs which is time consuming and cumbersome. By addressing these issues, we have investigated a deep learning method with a pre-trained deep residual network, ResNet-18, to identify PVCs automatically using transfer learning mechanism. Herein, features are extracted by the inner layers of the network automatically compared to hand-crafted feature extraction methods. Transfer learning mechanism handles the difficulties of required large volume of training data for a deep model. The pre-trained model is evaluated on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) Arrhythmia and Institute of Cardiological Technics (INCART) datasets. First, we used the Pan–Tompkins algorithm to segment 44,103 normal and 6423 PVC beats, as well as 106,239 normal and 9987 PVC beats from the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia and IN-CART datasets, respectively. The pre-trained model employed the segmented beats as input after being converted into 2D (two-dimensional) images. The method is optimized with the using of weighted random samples, on-the-fly augmentation, Adam optimizer, and call back feature. The results from the proposed method demonstrate the satisfactory findings without the using of any complex pre-processing and feature extraction technique as well as design complexity of model. Using LOSOCV (leave one subject out cross-validation), the received accuracies on MIT-BIH and INCART are 99.93% and 99.77%, respectively, suppressing the state-of-the-art methods for PVC recognition on unseen data. This demonstrates the efficacy and generalizability of the proposed method on the imbalanced datasets. Due to the absence of device-specific (patient-specific) information at the evaluating stage on the target datasets in this study, the method might be used as a general approach to handle the situations in which ECG signals are obtained from different patients utilizing a variety of smart sensor devices.

Curcumin is an extract of turmeric (Curcuma longa) which possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and wound-healing effects and has been used as an active compound in biomedical research for many years. However, its poor solubility presents challenges for its use in drug delivery systems. A modified nanogel delivery system, with PNIPAM and β-cyclodextrin grafted onto hyaluronic acid (PNCDHA), was utilized to enhance the solubility. The polymer was characterized by NMR, and the inclusion complex between curcumin and β-cyclodextrin was confirmed by FTIR. The potential of this PNCDHA polymer complex as a drug delivery vehicle was supported by a curcumin encapsulation efficiency of 93.14 ± 5.6% and the release of encapsulated curcumin at 37 °C. At a concentration of 0.5% w/v in water, PNCDHA nanogels were biocompatible with fibroblast cell line (L929) up to a curcumin concentration of 50 µM. There was a direct concentration between curcumin loading and cellular internalization. A more detailed study of the cellular internalization of PNCDHA nanogel should be considered in order to clarify cellular delivery mechanisms and to assess how its viability as a carrier may be optimized.

Excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy has been applied to many fields. In this study, a simple method was proposed to obtain the new constructed three-dimensional (3D) EEM spectra based on the original EEM spectra. Then, the application of the N-PLS method to the new constructed 3D EEM spectra was proposed to quantify target compounds in two complex data sets. The quantitative models were established on external sample sets and validated using statistical parameters. For validation purposes, the obtained results were compared with those obtained by applying the N-PLS method to the original EEM spectra and applying the PLS method to the extracted maximum spectra in the concatenated mode. The comparison of the results demonstrated that, given the advantages of less useless information and a high calculating speed of the new constructed 3D EEM spectra, N-PLS on the new constructed 3D EEM spectra obtained better quantitative analysis results with a correlation coefficient of prediction above 0.9906 and recovery values in the range of 85.6–95.6%. Therefore, one can conclude that the N-PLS method combined with the new constructed 3D EEM spectra is expected to be broadened as an alternative strategy for the simultaneous determination of multiple target compounds.

Polyethylene (PE) is widely used, and it has caused serious environmental problems due to its difficult degradation. At present, the mechanism of PE degradation by microorganisms is not clear, and the related enzymes of PE degradation need to be further explored. In this study, Acinetobacter baumannii Rd-H2 was obtained from Rhizopertha dominica, which had certain degradation effect on PE plastic. The degradation performance of the strains was evaluated by weight loss rate, SEM, ATR/FTIR, WCA, and GPC. The multi-copper oxidase gene abMco, which may be one of the key genes for PE degradation, was analyzed and successfully expressed in E. coli. The laccase activity of the gene was determined, and the enzyme activity was up to 159.82 U/L. The optimum temperature and pH of the enzyme are 45 °C and 4.5 respectively. It shows good stability at 30–45 °C. Cu2+ can activate the enzyme. The abMCO was used to degrade polyethylene film, showing a good degradation effect, proving that the enzyme could be the key to degrading PE.

As the most common cancer of the genitourinary system, prostate cancer (PCa) is a global men′s health problem whose treatments are an urgent research issue. Treatment options for PCa include active surveillance (AS), surgery, endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, etc. However, as the cancer progresses, the effectiveness of treatment options gradually decreases, especially in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), for which there are fewer therapeutic options and which have a shorter survival period and worse prognosis. For this reason, oncolytic viral therapy (PV), with its exceptional properties of selective tumor killing, relatively good safety in humans, and potential for transgenic delivery, has attracted increasing attention as a new form of anti-tumor strategy for PCa. There is growing evidence that OV not only kills tumor cells directly by lysis but can also activate anticancer immunity by acting on the tumor microenvironment (TME), thereby preventing tumor growth. In fact, evidence of the efficacy of this strategy has been observed since the late 19th century. However, subsequently, interest waned. The renewed interest in this therapy was due to advances in biotechnological methods and innovations at the end of the 20th century, which was also the beginning of PCa therapy with OV. Moreover, in combination with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, gene therapy or immunotherapy, OV viruses can have a wide range of applications and can provide an effective therapeutic result in the treatment of PCa.

This study experimentally investigated the axial crushing characteristics of the hybrid tubes with the configuration of aluminum/carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) (1/1) and aluminum/CFRP/aluminum (2/1). The effects of geometry size and fiber lay-up sequence on the axial crushing energy-absorption performances and failure modes of the two types of hybrid tubes were compared. The results showed that the energy absorption of the specimens with [0°/90°] lay-up sequence was better than that of the ones with [45°/−45°] lay-up sequence for both types of hybrid tubes. The proper length of the tubes should be selected to avoid too small a length-to-diameter ratio so that a stable and controllable progressive crushing failure mode can be achieved. When the crushing failure process was relatively stable, the specific energy absorption and crushing force efficiency of the 2/1 hybrid tubes were not affected by the geometric size. The energy absorption of the hybrid tubes was higher than the sum of the energy absorption of all the corresponding individual tubes, showing a positive hybrid effect.

Over the past several years, wearable electrophysiological sensors with stretchability have received significant research attention because of their capability to continuously monitor electrophysiological signals from the human body with minimal body motion artifacts, long-term tracking, and comfort for real-time health monitoring. Among the four different sensors, i.e., piezoresistive, piezoelectric, iontronic, and capacitive, capacitive sensors are the most advantageous owing to their reusability, high durability, device sterilization ability, and minimum leakage currents between the electrode and the body to reduce the health risk arising from any short circuit. This review focuses on the development of wearable, flexible capacitive sensors for monitoring electrophysiological conditions, including the electrode materials and configuration, the sensing mechanisms, and the fabrication strategies. In addition, several design strategies of flexible/stretchable electrodes, body-to-electrode signal transduction, and measurements have been critically evaluated. We have also highlighted the gaps and opportunities needed for enhancing the suitability and practical applicability of wearable capacitive sensors. Finally, the potential applications, research challenges, and future research directions on stretchable and wearable capacitive sensors are outlined in this review.

Saussurea involucrata has been reported to have potential therapeutic effects against myocardial ischemia. The pharmacological effects of oral natural medicines may be influenced by the participation of gut microbiota. In this study, we aimed to investigate the bidirectional regulation of gut microbiota and the main components of Saussurea involucrata. We first established a quantitative method for the four main components (chlorogenic acid, syringin, acanthoside B, rutin) which were chosen by fingerprint using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and found that gut microbiota has a strong metabolic effect on them. Meanwhile, we identified five major rat gut microbiota metabolites (M1–M5) using liquid chromatography tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/MSn-IT-TOF). The metabolic properties of metabolites in vitro were preliminarily elucidated by LC-MS/MS for the first time. These five metabolites of Saussurea involucrata may all have potential contributions to the treatment of myocardial ischemia. Furthermore, the four main components (10 μg/mL) can significantly stimulate intestinal bacteria to produce short chain fatty acids in vitro, respectively, which can further contribute to the effect in myocardial ischemia. In this study, the therapeutic effect against myocardial ischemia of Saussurea involucrata was first reported to be related to the intestinal flora, which can be useful in understanding the effective substances of Saussurea involucrata.

With the extensive application of wireless sensing nodes, the demand for sustainable energy in unattended environments is increasing. Here, we report a self-powered and autonomous vibrational wake-up system (SAVWS) based on triboelectric nanogenerators and micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switches. The energy triboelectric nanogenerator (E-TENG) harvests vibration energy to power the wireless transmitter through a MEMS switch. The signal triboelectric nanogenerator (S-TENG) controls the state of the MEMS switch as a self-powered accelerometer and shows good linearity in the acceleration range of 1–4.5 m/s2 at 30 Hz with a sensitivity of about 14.6 V/(m/s2). When the acceleration increases, the S-TENG turns on the MEMS switch, and the wireless transmitter transmits an alarm signal with the energy from E-TENG, using only 0.64 mJ. Using TENGs simultaneously as an energy source and a sensor, the SAVWS provides a self-powered vibration monitoring solution for unattended environments and shows extensive applications and great promise in smart factories, autonomous driving, and the Internet of Things.

With the wide application of motors in deep sea exploration, deep-sea motors require a higher power density and a longer lifetime. Motor lifetime mainly depends on the thermo-mechanical stress (TMS) load on its stator insulation. Unlike normal motors, deep-sea motors are usually filled with oil to compensate for the high pressure generated by seawater, which leads to high additional viscous drag loss. This, combined with the high pressure, will greatly change the TMS distribution and further influence motor insulation lifetime. Thus, the insulation degradation analysis of deep-sea oil-filled (DSOF) motors due to TMS has become important. This paper presents a TMS analytical model of DSOF motor insulation, considering the joint effects of high pressure and motor temperature. The CFD method is adopted to perform motor thermal analysis, considering temperature effects on viscous drag loss. The FEA method is adopted for thermo-mechanical analysis and to verify the analytical model accuracy. Rainflow counting and the Miner fatigue method are adopted to evaluate motor lifetime. Results show that compared with motors working in normal environments, TMS on DSOF motor insulation can be reduced by up to 59.5% due to high pressure and the insulation lifetime can be increased by up to 16.02%. Therefore, this research can provide references for high power density DSOF motor design.

The plasma membrane separates the interior of the cells from the extracellular fluid and protects the cell from disruptive external factors. Therefore, the self-repairing capability of the membrane is crucial for cells to maintain homeostasis and survive in a hostile environment. Here, we found that micron-sized membrane pores induced by cylindrical atomic force microscope probe puncture resealed significantly (~1.3–1.5 times) faster in drug-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines than in their drug-sensitive counterparts. Interestingly, we found that such enhanced membrane repairing ability was due to the overexpression of annexin in drug-resistant NSCLC cells. In addition, a further ~50% reduction in membrane resealing time (i.e., from ~23 s to ~13 s) was observed through the epithelial-mesenchymal-transition, highlighting the superior viability and potential of highly aggressive tumor cells using membrane resealing as an indicator for assessing the drug-resistivity and pathological state of cancer.

In order to decrease the difficulty of cold workability and study the recrystallization behavior of high-grade non-oriented silicon steel, Si content and normalization temperature were optimized simultaneously. The microstructure and texture of both hot-rolled sheet and normalized annealing sheet presented a gradient distribution. With the decrease in Si content from 3.02% to 2.54% and increase in normalization temperature from 850 °C to 920 °C, Goss texture ({110}) intensity at surface layer and α-fiber (//RD) texture intensity were strengthened, and α-fiber texture gradually turned to α*-fiber ({1 1 h}) in the normalized annealing sheet. Recrystallization ratio and recrystallization grain size were increased both in the hot-rolled sheet and the normalized annealing sheet. The tensile strength and yield strength of normalized annealing sheet were reduced by 65 Mpa, which decreased the cold workability difficulty and improved cold rolling yield. The cold rolled microstructure had wider shear bands which nucleated earlier but recrystallized velocity was slower because of lower cold rolled energy storage during interval recrystallization annealing, resulting in a more heterogeneous grain size distribution in the final annealing sheet.

Strain modulation based on the heterogeneous design of soft substrates is an effective method to improve the sensitivity of stretchable resistive strain sensors. In this study, a novel design for reconfigurable strain modulation in the soft substrate with two-phase liquid cells is proposed. The modulatory strain distribution induced by the reversible phase transition of the liquid metal provides reconfigurable strain sensing capabilities with multiple combinations of operating range and sensitivity. The effectiveness of our strategy is validated by theoretical simulations and experiments on a hybrid carbonous film-based resistive strain sensor. The strain sensor can be gradually switched between a highly sensitive one and a wide-range one by selectively controlling the phases of liquid metal in the cell array with a external heating source. The relative change of sensitivity and operating range reaches a maximum of 59% and 44%, respectively. This reversible heterogeneous design shows great potential to facilitate the fabrication of strain sensors and might play a promising role in the future applications of stretchable strain sensors.

The health effects of diet are long term and persistent. Few cohort studies have investigated the influence of maternal dietary patterns during different gestational periods on offspring’s health outcomes. This study investigated the associations between maternal dietary patterns in the mid- and late-gestation and infant’s neurodevelopment at 1 year of age in the Jiangsu Birth Cohort (JBC) Study. A total of 1178 mother–child pairs were available for analysis. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate dietary intake at 22–26 and 30–34 gestational weeks (GWs). Neurodevelopment of children aged 1 year old was assessed using Bayley-Ⅲ Screening Test. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Poisson regression were used to extract dietary patterns and to investigate the association between dietary patterns and infant neurodevelopment. After adjusting for potential confounders, the maternal ‘Aquatic products, Fresh vegetables and Homonemeae’ pattern in the second trimester was associated with a lower risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development, respectively (cognition: aRR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.74–0.94; gross motor: aRR = 0.80; 95% CI 0.71–0.91), and the similar pattern, ‘Aquatic products and Homonemeae’, in the third trimester also showed significant association with decreased risk of failing age-appreciate cognitive and receptive communication development (cognition: aRR = 0.89; 95% CI 0.80–0.98; receptive communication: aRR = 0.91; 95% CI 0.84–0.99). Notably, adherence to the dietary pattern with relatively high aquatic and homonemeae products in both trimesters demonstrated remarkable protective effects on child neurodevelopment with the risk of being non-competent in cognitive and gross motor development decreasing by 59% (95% CI 0.21–0.79) and 63% (95% CI 0.18–0.77), respectively. Our findings suggested that adherence to the ‘Aquatic products and Homonemeae’ dietary pattern during pregnancy may have optimal effects on offspring’s neurodevelopment.

The hydrodynamic performance of a novel hovering autonomous underwater vehicle, the autonomous underwater helicopter (AUH), with an original disk-shaped hull (HG1) and an improved fore–aft asymmetric hull (HG3), is investigated by means of computational fluid dynamics with the adoption of overlapping mesh method. The hydrodynamic performance of the two hull shapes in surge motion with variation of the angle of attack is compared. The results show that HG3 has less resistance and higher motion stability compared to HG1. With the angle of attack reaching 10 degrees, both HG1 and HG3 achieve the maximum lift-to-drag ratio, which is higher for HG3 compared to HG1. Furthermore, based on the numerical simulation of the plane motion mechanism test (PMM) and according to Routh’s stability criterion, the horizontal movement and vertical movement stability indexes of HG1 and HG3 (GHHG1=1.0, GVHG1=49.7, GHHG2=1.0, GVHG3=2.1) are obtained, which further show that the AUH has better vertical movement stability than the torpedo-shaped AUV. Furthermore, the scale model tail velocity experiment indirectly shows that HG3 has better hydrodynamic performance than HG1.

Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy was usually the α phase of HCP structure at room temperature which had obvious anisotropy. During tube rolling, α grain would be influenced by stress-strain state, deformation amount, ‘Q’ ratio to result the preferred orientation and formed texture. In order to obtain radial texture tube by rolling and improve the service quality of tube in the pipeline system, Φ25 mm Ti-3Al-2.5V alloy tubes was selected as billet for the experiment, and four kinds of tubes with outer diameter of Φ16mm was produced by single pass cold rolling with ‘Q’ ratios ranging from 0.65 to 2.0. The effect of ‘Q’ ratio on the texture of Ti-3Al-2.5V tube was studied. The result indicted that the initial texture of the tube is radial-circumferential equally distributed, and the radial basal texture enhances gradually with increasing ‘Q’ ratio. Since the angle between the C-axis of grain and the radial axis of RD decreases, the C-axis of grain distributes to the radial direction, and the more grain orientation from {112X} pyramidal to {0001} basal plane. The different ‘Q’ ratio would lead to different strain along the radial direction, circumferential direction, axial direction, thus affected the crystal orientation and distribution during tube rolling deformation. When ‘Q’ > 1, the tube mainly produced radial basal texture. By comparison with ‘Q’ < 1, the tube mainly produced circumferential basal texture. As a result, when the initial texture of the tube is radial-circumferential equally distributed, the ideal radial texture of the tube can be obtained by choosing rolling process with ‘Q’ > 2.0.

As one of the most important cellular compartments, the nucleus contains genetic materials and separates them from the cytoplasm with the nuclear envelope (NE), a thin membrane that is susceptible to deformations caused by intracellular forces. Interestingly, accumulating evidence has also indicated that the morphology change of NE is tightly related to nuclear mechanotransduction and the pathogenesis of diseases such as cancer and Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome. Theoretically, with the help of well-designed experiments, significant progress has been made in understanding the physical mechanisms behind nuclear shape transformation in different cellular processes as well as its biological implications. Here, we review different continuum-level (i.e., energy minimization, boundary integral and finite element-based) approaches that have been developed to predict the morphology and shape change of the cell nucleus. Essential gradients, relative advantages and limitations of each model will be discussed in detail, with the hope of sparking a greater research interest in this important topic in the future.

The difference in the degree of cure of the composite in an autoclave is one of the main characterization parameters of the uniformity of the degree of cure of the composite material. Therefore, it is very important to develop an effective method for predicting the difference in the curing degree of a composite autoclave to improve the uniformity of the curing degree of the composite materials. We researched five machine learning models: a fully connected neural network (FCNN) model, a deep neural network (DNN) model, a radial basis function (RBF) neural network model, a support vector regression (SVR) model and a K-nearest neighbors (KNN) model. We regarded the heating rate, holding time and holding temperature of the composite material’s two holding-stage cure profile as input parameters and established a rapid estimation model of the maximum curing degree difference at any time during the molding process. We simulated the molding process of the composite material in an autoclave to obtain the maximum difference in the curing degree as the test sample data to train five machine learning models and compared and verified the different models after the training. The results showed that the RBF neural network model had the best prediction effect among the five models and the RBF was the most suitable algorithm for this model.

The reversible and multi-stimuli responsive insulator-metal transition of VO2, which enables dynamic modulation over the terahertz (THz) regime, has attracted plenty of attention for its potential applications in versatile active THz devices. Moreover, the investigation into the growth mechanism of VO2 films has led to improved film processing, more capable modulation and enhanced device compatibility into diverse THz applications. THz devices with VO2 as the key components exhibit remarkable response to external stimuli, which is not only applicable in THz modulators but also in rewritable optical memories by virtue of the intrinsic hysteresis behaviour of VO2. Depending on the predesigned device structure, the insulator-metal transition (IMT) of VO2 component can be controlled through thermal, electrical or optical methods. Recent research has paid special attention to the ultrafast modulation phenomenon observed in the photoinduced IMT, enabled by an intense femtosecond laser (fs laser) which supports “quasi-simultaneous” IMT within 1 ps. This progress report reviews the current state of the field, focusing on the material nature that gives rise to the modulation-allowed IMT for THz applications. An overview is presented of numerous IMT stimuli approaches with special emphasis on the underlying physical mechanisms. Subsequently, active manipulation of THz waves through pure VO2 film and VO2 hybrid metamaterials is surveyed, highlighting that VO2 can provide active modulation for a wide variety of applications. Finally, the common characteristics and future development directions of VO2-based tuneable THz devices are discussed.

Clay sediments are the main component of seabed sediment. Interactions between the nano-sized, disk-shaped and charged clay particles are complicated, as they control the sediment’s rheology. In this study, we studied the rheological behavior of the clay sediment modeled by laponite and bentonite suspensions experimentally using a rotational rheometer. The yield stress decreased when water content increased. Meanwhile, the yield stress of the laponite suspension first increased and then decreased with increasing salinity. It is considered that the face-to-face repulsive electrostatic interaction between clay platelets dominated the yield behavior. A yield stress model was developed to describe the change of the yield stress with both the water content and the salinity. When the system started to flow, the viscosity decreased with increasing shear. A master curve of viscosity is was from the viscosity-stress curves at different water contents if the applied shear stress was normalized by the yield stress and the viscosity normalized by a characteristic viscosity. This study provides a preliminary understanding of the clay sediment rheology and its mechanism for the investigation on the flowing of the sediment systems with strong interparticle interaction.

Reliable sampling technology for deep-sea sediments is a prerequisite for studying the sedimentary environment in the geological history, the mechanical characteristics of sediments and sediment biology. In this study, we develop a new sampling device in order to achieve a convenient and economic pressure sampling for hadal sediments. The overall structure, as well as the key component such as the pressure-holding part, and the sealing structure are designed. The feasibility of the device was verified through field tests. Furthermore, the sampling process is analyzed by the computer simulation. It is found that the sampling length is determined by the open diameter and the installation position of the core keepers. According to the simulation, the structure is optimized, which is beneficial to the further improvement of the sampling length.

A novel electroporation system was developed to introduce transient membrane pores to cells in a spatially and temporally controlled manner, allowing us to achieve fast electrotransfection and live cell staining as well as to systematically interrogate the dynamics of the cell membrane. Specifically, using this platform, we showed that both reversible and irreversible electroporation could be induced in the cell population, with nano-sized membrane pores in the former case being able to self-reseal in ~10 min. In addition, green fluorescent protein(GFP)-vinculin plasmid and 543 phalloidin have been delivered successively into fibroblast cells, which enables us to monitor the distinct roles of vinculin and F-actin in cell adhesion and migration as well as their possible interplay during these processes. Compared to conventional bulk electroporation and staining methods, the new system offers advantages such as low-voltage operation, cellular level manipulation and testing, fast and adjustable transfection/staining and real-time monitoring; the new system therefore could be useful in different biophysical studies in the future.

To reduce weight and improve overall performance of the industrial welding robot, light-weight design using the finite element method and structural topological optimization is presented in this paper. The work analyzed an upper arm of an industrial welding robot in the most unfavorable working condition, both under static and dynamic working situations, using ABAQUS and ADAMS software tools. Then the Tosca unit in ABAQUS was employed to accomplish the structural topological optimization, in order to reduce weight and improve the natural frequencies under the situation of low orders. The analyses results showed that the actual weight had been reduced to 17.9%, and the natural frequencies in low orders had increased. The maximum Mises stress, tensile stress, and elastic displacement of the gyration center had decreased. Lastly, an actual product was produced according to the model obtained from preceding analyses. The experiments of the repeatability tests showed that the overall performance of the optimized upper arm had been improved when compared to the original one. This research can present references and foundations for the kinetic analyses under the static and dynamic working conditions, and structural topological optimization designs for relative industrial welding robots.

Antibacterial viscose cellulose sponges (VCSs) were fabricated by heating cellulose xanthogenate (viscose) containing HAuCl4·nH2O. Viscose was used as the reducing agent and stabilizer for the in situ synthesis of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) onto the VCSs. The morphology, structures, thermal properties, mechanical performance, and antibacterial activities of the sponges were investigated. Results indicate that AuNPs were uniformly immobilized in the VCSs, and the resulting complexes (AuNPs@VCSs) showed enhanced thermal stability and mechanical properties. Additionally, the AuNPs@VCSs exhibited remarkable antibacterial activities, with zone of inhibition diameter of 35.7 and 37.1 mm for Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. The process is simple and applicable at the industrial level and can be applied to the fields of cleaning and sanitation.

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja is an indigenous and multifunction tree species in China, but it is mainly used in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical ingredients. To make a comprehensive evaluation on its bioactive metabolites, antioxidant and antitumor potentials of C. paliurus leaves, the leaf samples were collected from 15 geographic locations (natural populations) throughout its distribution areas. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and colorimetric methods were used to detect the contents of bioactive metabolites. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and reducing power assays. The antiproliferative activity on different cancer cell types was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Contents of bioactive metabolites, and antioxidant and antiproliferative activities in the extracts were significantly affected by solvent and population. In most cases, the contents of flavonoids and triterpenoids, and the antioxidant and antiproliferative activities in the ethanol extracts were higher than the water extracts. The best scavenging capacity of DPPH (IC50 = 0.34 mg/mL) and ABTS (IC50 = 0.50 mg/mL) radical occurred in the ethanol extracts of S15 and S7 population respectively, while the strongest reducing power (EC50 = 0.71 mg/mL) was achieved in the ethanol extracts of S14 population. The antiproliferation effects of C. paliurus extracts on cancer cells varied with different cell types. The HeLa cell was the most sensitive to C. paliurus extracts, and their IC50 values of the ethanol extracts varied from 0.13 to 0.42 mg/mL among C. paliurus populations. Redundancy analysis showed that total polyphenol had the greatest contribution to the antioxidant activity, but total flavonoid was mostly responsible for the antiproliferation effects. These results would provide important scientific evidences not only for developing C. paliurus as a potent antioxidant and antitumor reagent, but also for obtaining the higher yield of bioactive compounds in the C. paliurus plantation.

Lactation is associated with reduced postpartum weight retention and a lower risk of several cardiometabolic disorders in population-based studies. We examined the association between lactation and long-term thyroid function among women with history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a high-risk population for subsequent metabolic complications. The study included 550 women who developed GDM in the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) and followed-up in the Diabetes & Women’s Health Study (2012–2014). We assessed adjusted associations between cumulative lactation duration and concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), and free thyroxine (fT4) measured at follow-up. Women with longer cumulative lactation duration tended to have higher fT3 levels (adjusted β and 95% confidence interval (CI) for ≥12 months vs. none: 0.19 (0.03–0.36); p-trend = 0.05). When restricted to women with a single lifetime pregnancy to control for parity (n = 70), women who lactated for >6 months (vs. none) had higher fT3 levels (0.46 pmol/L (0.12–0.80); p-trend = 0.02) and a higher fT3:fT4 ratio (0.61 (0.17–1.05); p-trend = 0.007). Our findings suggested that a longer duration of lactation may be related to greater serum fT3 levels and fT3:fT4 ratio 9–16 years postpartum among Danish women with a history of GDM. The association was particularly pronounced among women who only had one lifetime pregnancy.