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The intelligent monitoring of the grinding wheel wear state has the potential to enhance several key aspects of grinding operations, including wheel utilization, wheel dressing, grinding efficiency, grinding quality and so on. In this paper, it is proposed as an acoustic emission signal–based monitoring method of electroplated diamond grinding wheel wear state for C/SiC composite material groove grinding. Firstly, the full-life wear experiment of electroplated grinding wheel grinding C/SiC composites was carried out, and the connection between the acoustic emission signal and the wear state of the grinding wheel was established by frequency domain and time–frequency domain characteristics. Secondly, the time domain, frequency domain and time–frequency domain features of the signals in the stable grinding stage of C/SiC composites were extracted by wavelet packet method. Finally, based on the extracted features, the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) was optimized by Mayfly Algorithm (MA) to realize online monitoring and intelligent recognition of grinding wheel wear. The results show that the sample classification accuracy of this method is 96.67%, which can effectively identify the different states of grinding wheel wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and insulin resistance (IR). We aimed to investigate the association between the triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index that represents IR and VDD in elderly patients with T2DM. We enrolled 572 elderly participants with T2DM in this study. TyG index was calculated as ln [fasting triglyceride (TG, mg/dL) × fasting blood glucose (mg/dL)/2]. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level below 50 nmol/L was defined as VDD. The association between the TyG index and the VDD risk was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis. We observed a significant decreased 25(OH)D level with the increase of the TyG index in elderly diabetic patients, and a negative correlation between the TyG index and 25(OH)D level. The participants in the highest TyG quartile had a 2.40-fold higher risk of VDD than those in the lowest TyG index quartile [OR 2.40; 95% CI 1.47–3.92; P < 0.001]. The association persisted after adjustments for age, sex, smoking, obesity, insulin therapy, hypoglycemic agents' medication, and some biochemical parameters. TyG index may be involved in the pathophysiology of VDD, which could be a predictor for VDD in elderly diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meniscal injury represents a common type of knee injury, accounting for over 50% of all knee injuries. The clinical diagnosis and treatment of meniscal injury heavily rely on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, accurately diagnosing the meniscus from a comprehensive knee MRI is challenging due to its limited and weak signal, significantly impeding the precise grading of meniscal injuries. In this study, a visual interpretable fine grading (VIFG) diagnosis model has been developed to facilitate intelligent and quantified grading of meniscal injuries. Leveraging a multilevel transfer learning framework, it extracts comprehensive features and incorporates an attributional attention module to precisely locate the injured positions. Moreover, the attention-enhancing feedback module effectively concentrates on and distinguishes regions with similar grades of injury. The proposed method underwent validation on FastMRI_Knee and Xijing_Knee dataset, achieving mean grading accuracies of 0.8631 and 0.8502, surpassing the state-of-the-art grading methods notably in error-prone Grade 1 and Grade 2 cases. Additionally, the visually interpretable heatmaps generated by VIFG provide accurate depictions of actual or potential meniscus injury areas beyond human visual capability. Building upon this, a novel fine grading criterion was introduced for subtypes of meniscal injury, further classifying Grade 2 into 2a, 2b, and 2c, aligning with the anatomical knowledge of meniscal blood supply. It can provide enhanced injury-specific details, facilitating the development of more precise surgical strategies. The efficacy of this subtype classification was evidenced in 20 arthroscopic cases, underscoring the potential enhancement brought by intelligent-assisted diagnosis and treatment for meniscal injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar application is widely studied to mitigate the threats of soil degradation to food security and climate change. However, there are big variations in the effects of biochar application on crops, soils, and the atmosphere during crop production. This study provides a global dataset of biochar application effects on crop yield, soil properties, and greenhouse emissions. The dataset is extracted and integrated from 367 peer-reviewed studies with 891 independent field, laboratory, and incubation experiments across 37 countries. This dataset includes 21 variables before and after biochar application (including soil properties, crop yield, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.) of 2438 items, focusing on two main biochar application types: biochar application alone and combined with fertilizers. Background information on climate conditions, initial soil properties, management practices, and characteristics of biochar sources and production is also contained in the dataset. This dataset facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the impact of biochar application, supports the utilization of agricultural wastes for biochar production, and assists researchers in refining experimental protocols for further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the tensile behavior of some prevalent synthetic fiber ropes made of polyester, polypropylene, and nylon polymeric fibers. The aim was to generate well-documented experimental statistics and develop simplified stress–strain constitutive laws that can describe the ropes' tensile response. The methodology involved analyzing the thermal history of the fibers using the DSC technique, tensile testing of fibers and yarn components of the rope, and conducting 196 rope tensile tests with optimum testing conditions. Based on the test results, an experimental database of the ropes' tensile characteristics was established, containing different parameters of material properties, rope construction, fiber processing, fiber tensile properties, and rope tensile responses. Subsequently, ANN models were developed and optimized using MATLAB based on the generated dataset's inputs and outputs to predict the studied ropes' tri-linear stress–strain profiles. The results showed that the ANN models accurately predicted the stress–strain properties of ropes represented by the tri-linear approximation with an error of about 5% for the failure strength and strain. The study provides insight into the process-structure–property relationship of synthetic fiber ropes and contributes to minimizing the cost and effort in designing and predicting their tensile properties while contributing to the practical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The contribution of long-term fertilization to soil organic carbon (SOC) storage has been of great concern. To assess the effects of long-term fertilization on SOC storage and stability in top and sub-soil layers, soil samples were collected from a 29-year field experimental station in a typical paddy soil in southern China. The SOC storage of whole soil and SOC fractions was quantified at three soil depths (0–20, 20–40, 40–60 cm) under four treatments: no fertilization (Control), a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK), double the rates of NPK (2NPK), NPK plus manure (NPKM). Results: The increase of Cinput-total was significantly higher than that of SOC storage among different treatments (p < 0.05), indicating that soil fixation of exogenous carbon is limited. Besides, the SOC accumulation and sequestration rates patterned as NPKM > 2NPK > NPK, and these rates were higher at 0–20 cm depth as compared to other depth intervals. Furthermore, for the whole profile, the SOC storage of active pool was higher in the Control (39.6 t C ha−1) than in other treatment (36.2 t C ha−1, p < 0.05). Whereas, fertilization increased the SOC storage of passive pool, ranked as NPKM > 2NPK≈NPK > Control (p < 0.05), indicating that fertilization, especially organic combined with inorganic fertilization, improved SOC stability. From the perspective of soil layers, the difference of SOC storage among treatments for passive pool was mainly resulted from the difference at surface soil, and for active pool were the deeper layers. Additionally, manure application increased the difference among soil layers. Conclusion: This study concluded that non-fertilized treatment could improve the SOC storage of active pool especially in deep soil layers, while fertilization especially manure application could improve the SOC storage and stability in surface soil and increased the difference among soil layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-13 is a hepatocyte-specific, lipid droplet-associated protein. A common loss-of-function variant of HSD17B13 (rs72613567: TA) protects patients against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with underlying mechanism incompletely understood. In the present study, we identify the serine 33 of 17β-HSD13 as an evolutionally conserved PKA target site and its phosphorylation facilitates lipolysis by promoting its interaction with ATGL on lipid droplets. Targeted mutation of Ser33 to Ala (S33A) decreases ATGL-dependent lipolysis in cultured hepatocytes by reducing CGI-58-mediated ATGL activation. Importantly, a transgenic knock-in mouse strain carrying the HSD17B13 S33A mutation (HSD17B1333A/A) spontaneously develops hepatic steatosis with reduced lipolysis and increased inflammation. Moreover, Hsd17B1333A/A mice are more susceptible to high-fat diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Finally, we find reproterol, a potential 17β-HSD13 modulator and FDA-approved drug, confers a protection against nonalcoholic steatohepatitis via PKA-mediated Ser33 phosphorylation of 17β-HSD13. Therefore, targeting the Ser33 phosphorylation site could represent a potential approach to treat NASH. A truncating variant of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-13 (17β-HSD13), a lipid droplet -associated protein, associates with lower risk of chronic liver disease. Here the authors identify a phosphorylation site in 17β-HSD13 which promotes lipolysis, and report that a knock-in mouse with a 17β-HSD13 mutant defective for phosphorylation is more susceptible to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effects of dynamic precipitation and processing parameters on the dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior of 2195 Al-Cu-Li alloy, the hot deformation process was investigated comprehensively with the temperature range of 300-500°C and strain rate range of 0.001-10 s-1. An Arrhenius-type constitutive equation and DRX kinetics model were established based on the corrected stress-strain data to unveil the relationship between processing parameters, flow stress and DRX behavior. The shape of flow curves was associated with the dynamic softening mechanism and the DRX softening fraction gradually increased with the decrease of Zener-Hollomon parameter (Z). Then, the microstructure evolution was further analyzed to elucidate the DRX mechanisms at various Z values. The primary softening mechanism was dynamic recovery (DRV). However, when temperature set between 300 and 400°C, T1 and cubic phases significantly impeded DRV and promoted the occurrence of discontinuous dynamically recrystallization (DDRX) by a strong pinning effect and considerable driving force. As Z value decreased, the recrystallization mechanism transformed from DDRX into continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) attributed to the higher mobility for dislocations. Due to the reduced stored energy and the hindrance of precipitates, grain boundaries were hard to migrate, making it difficult for DDRX grains to grow continuously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that the genetic factors partly influence the development of same-sex sexual behavior, but most genetic studies have focused on people of primarily European ancestry, potentially missing important biological insights. Here, we performed a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) with a total sample of 1478 homosexual males and 3313 heterosexual males in Han Chinese populations and identified two genetic loci (rs17320865, Xq27.3, FMR1NB, Pmeta = 8.36 × 10−8, OR = 1.29; rs7259428, 19q12, ZNF536, Pmeta = 7.58 × 10−8, OR = 0.75) showing consistent association with male sexual orientation. A fixed-effect meta-analysis including individuals of Han Chinese (n = 4791) and European ancestries (n = 408,995) revealed 3 genome-wide significant loci of same-sex sexual behavior (rs9677294, 2p22.1, SLC8A1, Pmeta = 1.95 × 10−8; rs2414487, 15q21.3, LOC145783, Pmeta = 4.53 × 10−9; rs2106525, 7q31.1, MDFIC, Pmeta = 6.24 × 10−9). These findings may provide new insights into the genetic basis of male sexual orientation from a wider population scope. Furthermore, we defined the average ZNF536-immunoreactivity (ZNF536-ir) concentration in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) as lower in homosexual individuals than in heterosexual individuals (0.011 ± 0.001 vs 0.021 ± 0.004, P = 0.013) in a postmortem study. In addition, compared with heterosexuals, the percentage of ZNF536 stained area in the SCN was also smaller in the homosexuals (0.075 ± 0.040 vs 0.137 ± 0.103, P = 0.043). More homosexual preference was observed in FMR1NB-knockout mice and we also found significant differences in the expression of serotonin, dopamine, and inflammation pathways that were reported to be related to sexual orientation when comparing CRISPR-mediated FMR1NB knockout mice to matched wild-type target C57 male mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring unconventional topological quasiparticles and their associated exotic physical properties has become a hot topic in condensed matter physics, thus stimulating extensive interest in recent years. Here, in contrast to the double-Weyl phonons (the topological chiral charge +2) in the trigonal and hexagonal crystal systems, we propose that the unconventional double-Weyl without counterparts in high-energy physics can emerge in the phonons of cubic structures, i.e., SrSi2. Employing a two-band k ⋅ p Hamiltonian, we prove that the quadratic double-Weyl nodes are protected by the fourfold screw rotational symmetry C ̃ 4 . Strikingly, we find that the surface arcs are terminated with the Weyl nodes that possess unequal topological charges with opposite sign (i.e., +2 and −1), leading to unique three-terminal Weyl complex (one quadratic double-Weyl and two linear single-Weyl) with double surface arcs in SrSi2. In addition, we apply a uniaxial tensile strain along z-axis to examine the evolution of the three-terminal Weyl complex when the corresponding symmetries are broken. Our work not only provides an ideal candidate for the realization of the quadratic double-Weyl and the corresponding unique surface arc states, but also broadens the understanding of topological Weyl physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiO2-modified LiMn2O4 materials were synthesized by the electrostatic attraction forces with the followed heat treatment. The surface morphology, structure, and electrochemical performance were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), CV, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopies (EIS), respectively. SEM and XRD patterns revealed that SiO2 was not only coated on the surface, but also partial Si4+ ions diffused into the crystal structure. As a result, the spinel LiMn2O4 modified with 2.0 wt.% SiO2 (LiMn2O4@SiO2-2.0 wt.%) exhibits a discharge specific capacity of 101.2 mAh g−1 over 3.0–4.3 V and with a capacity retention of 97.6% after 100 cycles at 25 °C. Even cycled at 55 °C, its capacity retention is still 88.7%. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the improved reversibility and dynamic behaviors after SiO2 modification. Partial Si4+ doping in LiMn2O4 assists to stabilize its crystal structure, while the SiO2 coating layer on the surface of LiMn2O4 materials helps to reduce the attacks of electrolyte and the dissolution of Mn2+. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spin-coating method was applied to obtain thinner and smoother PEO/LiClO4 polymer electrolyte films (EFs) with a lower level of crystallization than those obtained using a drop-casting method. When the applied frequency was as high as 10 kHz, the specific capacitance of such EFs with thicknesses of 1.5 μm was on the order of 1 μF∙cm−2, a value larger than most of the previously reported results achieved from the same material. We then combined the thin EFs with two-dimensional (2D) materials to fabricate a MoS2 transistor with a top gate right above the channel, defined by a shadow-mask method, and an inverter device. This transistor showed excellent static characteristics and the inverter device showed excellent switching performance at 100 Hz, which indicates a fast polarization response of the thin EFs. Such device architecture is suitable for future low power and flexible electronics based on 2D materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B sheets have been intently studied, and various candidates with vacancies have been reported in theoretical investigations, including their possible growth on metal surfaces. However, a recent experiment reported that the borophene formed on a Ag (111) surface consisted of a buckled triangular lattice without vacancies. Our calculations propose a novel nucleation mechanism of B clusters and emphasize the B-Ag interaction in the growth process of borophene, demonstrating the structural evolution of triangular fragments with various profiles and vacancy distributions. Compared with the triangular lattice without vacancies, we have confirmed that the sheet energetically favored during the nucleation and growth is that containing 1/6 vacancies in a stripe pattern, whose scanning tunneling microscopy image is in better agreement with the experimental observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IL-22-producing CD4 T cells (IL-22CD4 T cells) and Th22 cells (IL-22IL-17IFN-γCD4 T cells) represent newly discovered T-cell subsets, but their nature, regulation, and clinical relevance in gastric cancer (GC) are presently unknown. In our study, the frequency of IL-22CD4 T cells in tumor tissues from 76 GC patients was significantly higher than that in tumor-draining lymph nodes, non-tumor, and peritumoral tissues. Most intratumoral IL-22CD4 T cells co-expressed IL-17 and IFN-γ and showed a memory phenotype. Locally enriched IL-22CD4 T cells positively correlated with increased CD14 monocytes and IL-6 and IL-23 detection ex vivo, and in vitro IL-6 and IL-23 induced the polarization of IL-22CD4 T cells in a dose-dependent manner and the polarized IL-22CD4 T cells co-expressed of IL-17 and IFN-γ. Moreover, IL-22CD4 T-cell subsets (IL-22IL-17CD4, IL-22IL-17CD4, IL-22IFN-γCD4, IL-22IFN-γCD4, and IL-22IL-17IFN-γCD4 T cells), and Th22 cells were also increased in tumors. Furthermore, higher intratumoral IL-22CD4 T-cell percentage and Th22-cell percentage were found in patients with tumor-node-metastasis stage advanced and predicted reduced overall survival. In conclusion, our data indicate that IL-22CD4 T cells and Th22 cells are likely important in establishing the tumor microenvironment for GC; increased intratumoral IL-22CD4 T cells and Th22 cells are associated with tumor progression and predict poorer patient survival, suggesting that tumor-infiltrating IL-22CD4 T cells and Th22 cells may be suitable therapeutic targets in patients with GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes have been detected in tumors. However, the distribution, phenotypic features, and regulation of these cells in gastric cancer remain unknown. Methods: The levels of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, tumor-draining lymph nodes, non-tumor tissues, and tumor tissues of patients with gastric cancer were detected by flow cytometry. Foxp3 induction in CD8Foxp3 T cells was investigated in vitro. The suppressive function of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes was analyzed by their effect on CD4 T-cell proliferation and IFN-γ production. The percentages of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes were evaluated for the association with tumor stage. Results: The frequency of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in non-tumor tissues, and similar results were also observed in tumor-draining lymph nodes compared with peripheral blood. Most intratumoral CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes were activated effector cells (CD45RACD27). TGF-β1 levels were positively correlated with the frequency of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes in tumor tissues, and in vitro TGF-β1 could induce the generation of CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, intratumoral CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes suppressed the proliferation and IFN-γ production of CD4 T cells. Finally, intratumoral CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes were significantly increased with tumor progression in terms of tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Conclusions: Our data have shown that increased intratumoral CD8Foxp3 T lymphocytes are associated with tumor stage and potentially influence CD4 T-cell functions, which may provide insights for developing novel immunotherapy protocols against gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is dedicated to a study of different extensions of the classical knapsack problem to the case when different elements of the problem formulation are subject to a degree of uncertainty described by random variables. This brings the knapsack problem into the realm of stochastic programming. Two different model formulations are proposed, based on the introduction of probability constraints. The first one is a static quadratic knapsack with a probability constraint on the capacity of the knapsack. The second one is a two-stage quadratic knapsack model, with recourse, where we introduce a probability constraint on the capacity of the knapsack in the second stage. As far as we know, this is the first time such a constraint has been used in a two-stage model. The solution techniques are based on the semidefinite relaxations. This allows for solving large instances, for which exact methods cannot be used. Numerical experiments on a set of randomly generated instances are discussed below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constriction factor method (CFM) is a new variation of the basic particle swarm optimization (PSO), which has relatively better convergent nature. The effects of the major parameters on CFM were systematically investigated based on some benchmark functions. The constriction factor, velocity constraint, and population size all have significant impact on the performance of CFM for PSO. The constriction factor and velocity constraint have optimal values in practical application, and improper choice of these factors will lead to bad results. Increasing population size can improve the solution quality, although the computing time will be longer. The characteristics of CFM parameters are described and guidelines for determining parameter values are given in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective ensemble should consist of a set of networks that are both accurate and diverse. We propose a novel clustering-based selective algorithm for constructing neural network ensemble, where clustering technology is used to classify trained networks according to similarity and optimally select the most accurate individual network from each cluster to make up the ensemble. Empirical studies on regression of four typical datasets showed that this approach yields significantly smaller ensemble achieving better performance than other traditional ones such as Bagging and Boosting. The bias variance decomposition of the predictive error shows that the success of the proposed approach may lie in its properly tuning the bias/variance trade-off to reduce the prediction error (the sum of bias2 and variance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realization of nontrivial band topology in condensed matter systems is of great interest in recent years. Using first-principles calculations and symmetry analysis, we propose an exotic topological phase with tunable ferromagnetic Weyl fermions in a half-metallic oxide CrP2O7. In the absence of spin–orbit coupling (SOC), we reveal that CrP2O7 possesses a hybrid nodal ring. When SOC is present, the spin-rotation symmetry is broken. As a result, the hybrid nodal ring shrinks to discrete nodal points and forms different types of Weyl points. The Fermi arcs projected on the (100) surface are clearly visible, which can contribute to the experimental study for the topological properties of CrP2O7. In addition, the calculated quasiparticle interference patterns are also highly desirable for the experimental study of CrP2O7. Our findings provide a good candidate of ferromagnetic Weyl semimetals, and are expected to realize related topological applications with their attracted features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control over on-surface reaction pathways is crucial but challenging for the precise construction of conjugated nanostructures at the atomic level. Herein we demonstrate a selective on-surface covalent coupling reaction that is templated by metal-organic coordinative bonding, and achieve a porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanoribbon structure. In contrast to the inhomogeneous polymorphic structures resulting from the debrominated aryl-aryl coupling reaction on Au(111), the incorporation of an Fe-terpyridine (tpy) coordination motif into the on-surface reaction controls the molecular conformation, guides the reaction pathway, and finally yields pure organic sexipyridine-p-phenylene nanoribbons. Emergent molecular conformers and reaction products in the reaction pathways are revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy, density functional theory calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, demonstrating the template effect of Fe-tpy coordination on the on-surface covalent coupling. Our approach opens an avenue for the rational design and synthesis of functional conjugated nanomaterials with atomic precision. Synthesizing precise conjugated nanostructures on a surface requires fine control over the covalent reaction pathways. Here, the authors show that reversible coordinative bonds can be used to template on-surface C-C coupling reactions, guiding the formation of porous organic nanoribbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]