Search

Oxygen is necessary for life and plays a key pivotal in maintaining normal physiological functions and treat of diseases. Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs) have been studied and developed as a replacement for red blood cells (RBCs) in oxygen transport due to their similar oxygen-carrying capacities. However, applications of HBOCs are hindered by vasoactivity, oxidative toxicity, and a relatively short circulatory half-life. With advancements in nanotechnology, Hb encapsulation, absorption, bioconjugation, entrapment, and attachment to nanomaterials have been used to prepare nanomaterial-related HBOCs to address these challenges and pend their application in several biomedical and therapeutic contexts. This review focuses on the progress of this class of nanomaterial-related HBOCs in the fields of hemorrhagic shock, ischemic stroke, cancer, and wound healing, and speculates on future research directions. The advancements in nanomaterial-related HBOCs are expected to lead significant breakthroughs in blood substitutes, enabling their widespread use in the treatment of clinical diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the escalating demand for Astragalus polysaccharides products developed from Radix Astragali (RA), the necessity for quality control of polysaccharides in RA has become increasingly urgent. In this study, a specific method for the simultaneous determination of seven monosaccharides in polysaccharides extracted from Radix Astragali (RA) has been developed and validated using ultra-performance liquid chromatography equipped with an ultraviolet detector (UHPLC-UV) for the first time. The 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP) derivatizations were separated on a C18 column (Waters ACQUITYTM, Milfor, MA, USA, 1.8 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) using gradient elution with a binary system of 5 mm ammonium formate (0.1% formic acid)-acetonitrile for 24 min. Additionally, seven monosaccharides showed good linear relationships (R2, 0.9971–0.9995), adequate precision (RSD < 4.21%), and high recoveries (RSD < 4.70%). The established method was used to analyze 109 batches of RA. Results showed that the Astragalus polysaccharides (APSs) mainly consist of mannose (Man), rhamnose (Rha), glucose (Glu), galactose (Gal), arabinose (Ara), xylose (Xyl); and fucose (Fuc); however, their composition was different among RA samples from different growth patterns, species, growth years, and origins, and the growth mode of RA and the age of wild-simulated RA can be accurately distinguished by principal component analysis (PCA). In addition, the immunological activity of APSs were also evaluated jointly by measurement of the NO release with RAW264.7, with the results showing that APSs have a promoting effect on the release of NO and exhibit a significant correlation with Man, Glu, Xyl, and Fuc contents. Accordingly, the new established monosaccharides analytical method and APS-immune activity determination in this study can provide a reference for quality evaluation and the establishment of quality standards for RA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The longjaw tapertail anchovy Coilia nasus, which migrates from ocean to freshwater for spawning in spring, is an important anadromous fish with ecological and cultural significance. To determine parasite infection in anadromous C. nasus, a total of 103 fish from the Yangtze River were collected and examined in 2021 and 2022. The overall infection prevalence of nematodes in C. nasus was 100%, with a mean intensity of 13.81 ± 16.45. The mean intensity of nematode infections in 2022 was significantly higher than that observed in 2021 across all sampling sites (p < 0.05). Nematodes were widely detected in the mesentery, pyloric cecum, stomach, and liver, among which the mesentery accounted for the highest proportion, reaching up to 53.52%. A total of eight ascaridoid nematodes belonging to the family Anisakidae and Raphidascarididae were identified by using morphological characters and molecular biological techniques, including two species of Anisakis, five species of Hysterothylacium, and one species of Raphidascaris. A. pegreffii was found as the predominant species, accounting for 48.65% of all identified parasitic nematodes in liver, while Raphidascaris sp. was the most common nematode in the mesentery, pyloric cecum, and stomach, reaching up to 39.81%, 36.21%, and 74.36%, respectively. The present study systematically investigated the parasitic status and community structure of the nematode in C. nasus during its migration in the Yangtze River. This research provides a foundation for studying the impact of nematode parasitism on the reproductive migration and population recruitment of C. nasus, and offers valuable insights for biomarker screening and nematode identification in C. nasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate a reaction-diffusion model incorporating dynamic variables for nutrient, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. Moreover, we account for the impact of time delay in the growth of phytoplankton following nutrient uptake. Our theoretical analysis reveals that the time delay can trigger the emergence of persistent oscillations in the model via a Hopf bifurcation. We also analytically track the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions. Our simulation results demonstrate stability switches occurring for the positive equilibrium with an increasing time lag. Furthermore, the model exhibits homogeneous periodic-2 and 3 solutions, as well as chaotic behaviour. These findings highlight that the presence of time delay in the phytoplankton growth can bring forth dynamical complexity to the nutrient-plankton system of aquatic habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Regular exercise training benefits cardiovascular health and effectively reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in cardiac pathophysiology. However, the role of circRNAs in response to exercise training and biological mechanisms responsible for exercise-induced cardiac protection remain largely unknown. Methods and results RNA sequencing was used to profile circRNA expression in adult mouse cardiomyocytes that were isolated from mice with or without exercise training. Exercise-induced circRNA circUtrn was significantly increased in swimming-trained adult mouse cardiomyocytes. In vivo , circUtrn was found to be required for exercise-induced physiological cardiac hypertrophy. circUtrn inhibition abolished the protective effects of exercise on myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion remodelling. circUtrn overexpression prevented myocardial ischaemia–reperfusion-induced acute injury and pathological cardiac remodelling. In vitro , overexpression of circUtrn promoted H9 human embryonic stem cell–induced cardiomyocyte growth and survival via protein phosphatase 5 (PP5). Mechanistically, circUtrn directly bound to PP5 and regulated the stability of PP5 in a ubiquitin–proteasome-dependent manner. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α–dependent splicing factor SF3B1 acted as an upstream regulator of circUtrn in cardiomyocytes. Conclusion The circRNA circUtrn is upregulated upon exercise training in the heart. Overexpression of circUtrn can prevent myocardial I/R-induced injury and pathological cardiac remodelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Y on the solidification process of 7Mo super austenitic stainless steel (7MoSASS) under low cooling rate conditions (10 °C/min) were investigated using high-temperature confocal laser scanning microscopy (HT-CLSM). The in situ observation results indicate that Y samples promote an increase in austenite nucleation density. After 10 s of nucleation, the nucleation density increased by 149.53/mm2 for the Y sample. Furthermore, variance analysis indicated that Y addition improved the uniformity of the 7MoSASS solidification microstructure under low cooling rate conditions. The Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov (JMAK) theory results showed that when the solid phase ratio was 0.5, the nucleation mode of the Y sample transitioned from saturation site nucleation to saturation site nucleation + Avrami nucleation. YAlO3 has a low lattice disregistry value with austenite, making it a suitable heterogeneous nucleation core for promoting the early nucleation of austenite. During the late stages of solidification, Y accumulates in the residual liquid phase, providing a greater degree of compositional undercooling. SEM-EDS analysis showed that Y contributed to the refinement of the 7MoSASS solidification microstructure, with the proportion of precipitated phases decreasing by approximately 7.5%. Cr and Mo were the main elements exhibiting positive segregation in 7MoSASS, and the Cr segregation ratio increased in the Y sample, while the Mo segregation ratio decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the self-healing performance of macroscopic fractures of asphalt mixtures, semicircular bending (SCB) tests were used to test 90# base asphalt mixtures, SBS (Styrene–Butadiene–Styrene) modified asphalt mixtures, and SBS + CR (Chloroprene Rubber) composite modified asphalt mixtures. The F-H-F (the asphalt mixture specimen was fatigued for a certain number of times, then healed under certain conditions, and then fatigued until destroyed) test was carried out, and the fatigue life recovery rate of the fatigue test before and after healing was defined as the healing index (HI). The gray correlation analysis method was used to judge the influence degree of influencing factors on fatigue–healing according to the correlation index. The results show the type of asphalt has the most significant influence on the healing ability of the asphalt mixture. In the case of complete healing, the fatigue–healing performance of the SBS + CR composite modified asphalt mixture was the best, followed by the SBS-modified asphalt mixture, and 90# base asphalt. When the healing temperature is close to the softening point of asphalt, the healing performance of 90# base asphalt is better when the healing temperature is low. When the healing time is longer, the healing performance is better, and there is an optimal healing time. The healing index decreased with the increase in the degree of damage. When the degree of damage is too large, the asphalt mixture will be difficult to heal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodine is a well-known oxidant that is widely used in organic syntheses. Thiol oxidation by stoichiometric iodine is one of the most commonly employed strategies for the synthesis of valuable disulfides. While recent advancements in catalytic aerobic oxidation conditions have eliminated the need for stoichiometric oxidants, concerns persist regarding the use of toxic or expensive catalysts. In this study, we discovered that iodine can be used as a cheap, low-toxicity catalyst in the aerobic oxidation of thiols. In the catalytic cycle, iodine can be regenerated via HI oxidation by O2 at 70 °C in EtOAc. This protocol harnesses sustainable oxygen as the terminal oxidant, enabling the conversion of primary and secondary thiols with remarkable efficiency. Notably, all 26 tested thiols, encompassing various sensitive functional groups, were successfully converted into their corresponding disulfides with yields ranging from >66% to 98% at a catalyst loading of 5 mol%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study involves the fabrication and characterization of a multifunctional therapeutic nanocomposite system, as well as an assessment of its in vitro efficacy for breast cancer treatment. The nanocomposite system combines gold nanorods (GNRs) and gold nanoclusters (GNCs) to enable a combination of photothermal therapy and doxorubicin-based chemotherapy. GNRs of various sizes but exhibiting similar absorbance spectra were synthesized and screened for photothermal efficiency. GNRs exhibiting the highest photothermal efficiency were selected for further experiments. GNCs were synthesized in bovine serum albumin (BSA) and integrated into citrate-capped GNRs using layer-by-layer assembly. Glutaraldehyde crosslinking with the lysine residues in BSA was employed to immobilize the GNCs onto the GNRs, forming a stable "soft gel-like" structure. This structure provided binding sites for doxorubicin through electrostatic interactions and enhanced the overall structural stability of the nanocomposite. Additionally, the presence of GNCs allowed the nanocomposite system to emit robust fluorescence in the range of ~520 nm to 700 nm for self-detection. Hyaluronic acid was functionalized on the exterior surface of the nanocomposite as a targeting moiety for CD44 to improve the cellular internalization and specificity for breast cancer cells. The developed nanocomposite system demonstrated good stability in vitro and exhibited a pH- and near-infrared-responsive drug release behavior. In vitro studies showed the efficient internalization of the nanocomposite system and reduced cellular viability following NIR irradiation in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Together, these results highlight the potential of this nanocomposite system for targeted breast cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, nanostructured non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x compacts were prepared by the in-situ reduction of rutile titanium oxide (TiO 2) powder with urea powder via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The crystal structure and particle size of the prepared compacts were examined. The XRD patterns revealed that TiO 2 could be reduced easily by the urea powder to obtain non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x , and the compacts still possessed rutile crystal structures. The average particle sizes of the compacts were less than 250 nm, successfully obtaining the non-stoichiometric TiO 2-x with uniform nanostructures at the sintering temperature of 1073 K. In addition, nanostructured TiO 2- x compacts with Magnéli phase Ti n O 2 n -1 (n = 2, 4, 8) were fabricated by varying the volume fraction of Ti powder in a urea environment via SPS. The results suggested that addition of Ti powder contributed to the formation of Magnéli phases Ti n O 2 n -1 , and the value of n decreased with an increase in the volume fraction of the Ti powder. Furthermore, the thermoelectric properties of the compacts sintered with and without Ti powder were both investigated. The TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact displayed the highest power factor of 5.04 μWcm−1K−2 at 973 K. A lower thermal conductivity was achieved by TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact in the temperature range of 373–973 K, approximately 3 Wm−1K−1, due to the nanostructures and Magnéli phases. The highest ZT value of 0.146 was obtained for the TiO 2 –U13.3-Ti10 compact at 973 K, achieving a reasonable enhancement of thermoelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on depressive-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in rats and to explore the role of the SIRT3/ROS/NLRP3 signaling pathway in this process. Methods: Twenty-nine male 8-week-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into a control group (CON) (nine rats) and a model group (twenty rats). Thirteen chronic stress stimuli were randomly applied once or twice per day for 35 days to induce depression in the model group rats. After the model was established, the model group rats were randomly divided into the CUMS group (CUMS) and the aerobic exercise + CUMS group (EX + CUMS). The EX + CUMS group received 8 weeks of aerobic exercise intervention for 6 days per week. Behavioral assessments were performed using the sucrose preference test and forced swimming test. The expression of SIRT3, NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18 in the hippocampus was detected using RT-PCR. The ROS level in the hippocampus was detected using immunofluorescence. The protein levels of SIRT3 and NLRP3 in the hippocampus were detected using western blotting. The protein levels of IL-1β and IL-18 in the hippocampus were measured using ELISA. Results: After 5 weeks of chronic stress stimuli, the hippocampal function of rats in the CUMS model group was impaired, and their sucrose preference was reduced, while their forced swimming time was prolonged. The expression of SIRT3 decreased, ROS increased, and the expression of NLRP3 and the levels of IL-1β and IL-18 increased. Aerobic exercise increased the sucrose preference of rats, shortened their immobility time, increased the expression of SIRT3, and reduced the levels of ROS, NLRP3, IL-1β, and IL-18. Conclusion: Exercise can improve the depressive behavior of CUMS model rats, and its mechanism may be related to the upregulation of SIRT3 in the hippocampus, which plays an anti-inflammatory role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sequential modular hydrodynamic model integrated with detailed reaction kinetics (SMHM-RK) was developed and validated to predict tar and syngas components produced by the steam gasification of biomass in a fluidized bed gasifier. The simulations showed that the prediction accuracy is sensitive to both models for hydrodynamics and reaction kinetics. The simulations showed that the tar composition predicted by the SMHM-RK was more close to the measured values than those predicted by the well-mixed hydrodynamic model integrated with the same reaction kinetics (WMHM-RK). The predictions showed that the total tar decreased, but the polycyclic aromatic tar compounds increased with the increase in gasification temperature. There was an optimum steam-to-biomass ratio (SBR) for minimizing tar formation. The simulations found that the contents of total tar and heavy tar compounds decreased by increasing the SBR from 0.3 to 0.9, and then increased by further increasing the SBR. The injection of a small amount of oxygen in steam gasification cannot reduce tar formation. The injection of oxygen in steam gasification changed the reaction pathways of naphthalene to produce more naphthalene in the syngas. The de-volatilization rate affects pyrolytic volatile compositions and subsequent tar formation. Therefore, biomass devolatilization and homogeneous gas reactions should be solved simultaneously to accurately predict the syngas and tar composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize is one of the most important economic crops in the world. The integrity of maize grains directly affects the economic value of the maize as a main commodity that depends on the percentage of grains broken (POGB) in mechanized harvesting. Decreasing grain processing breakage is key to achieving mechanical harvesting with high quality. It is difficult to ensure a low POGB, because it depends on different maize varieties, their moisture contents, threshing devices and harvester working speeds. In this paper, the effects of these factors on the POGB are investigated when the working speed of the harvester is 1.0 m·s−1, 1.5 m·s−1 and 2.0 m·s−1, respectively. The different threshing forms, including tangential-axial-flow (TAF), axial-flow with nail-tooth (AFN), axial-flow with rasp bar in big space (AFRBBS) and axial-flow with rasp bar in small space (AFRBSS), are summarized. The POGB of TAF was 5.4% and it was the lowest of four threshing devices when the working speed of the harvester was 1.0 m·s−1, which was suitable to thresh maize at a low working speed. Maize Demeiya No. 1 (DMYN1), XianDa205 (XD205), Demeiya No. 3 (DMYN3) and Hayu189 (HY189) were harvested at different harvester working speeds, and the POGB of maize DMYN1 was the lowest among the four maize varieties. The POGB increased with increases in the working speed of the harvester and the moisture content of the maize grains. The POGB reached a minimum value of 3.5% when maize XD205 with the lowest moisture content was harvested. The results can provide a reference for choosing the maize variety, its moisture content, the threshing device and the working speed of the harvester for decreasing grain processing breakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various features extracted from breast MRI have the potential to serve as noninvasive biomarkers for the prediction of the biologic behavior of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of focal breast edema and breast edema score (BES) on T2-weighted images in providing valuable biological information for breast cancer patients' personalized treatment. Method: Two hundred and five lesions in 201 patients with invasive breast cancer confirmed by surgery or biopsy in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from November 2018 to October 2019 were retrospectively recruited and analyzed in this study. Focal edema and BES were evaluated at fat-suppressed T2 weighted imaging. All the lesions were divided into two groups according to the presence of focal edema. The differences in clinicopathological characteristics between the two groups and between different BES were compared. Results: Two hundred and five lesions in 201 patients with invasive breast cancer were retrospectively recruited and analyzed in this study. On the fat-suppressed T2WI, focal edema was detected in 102 of 205 lesions (49.8%). BES was positively correlated with tumor size (p < 0.001), histologic grade (p = 0.006), Ki-67 index (p < 0.001), and N stage (p = 0.007), and was negatively correlated with expression of ER and PR (p < 0.001). Higher BES was more likely to present in patients with non-luminal breast cancer (p < 0.001) and suggested the possibility of a higher N stage. Conclusions: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness, in which non-luminal breast cancer is more inclined to present focal edema. Breast edema score, a novel and practical tool, helps guide the individualized treatment of patients with invasive breast cancer. Critical relevance statement: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness. Breast edema score helps guide the individualized treatment of patients with invasive breast cancer. Key points: Focal edema on T2WI of breast MRI indicates stronger tumor invasiveness. Non-luminal breast cancer is more inclined to present focal edema. Breast edema score is a novel and practical tool to guide therapy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial learned index constructs a spatial index by learning the spatial distribution, which performs a lower cost of storage and query than the spatial indices. The current update strategies of spatial learned indices can only solve limited updates at the cost of query performance. We propose a novel spatial learned index structure based on a Block Range Index (SLBRIN for short). Its core idea is to cooperate history range and current range to satisfy a fast spatial query and efficient index update simultaneously. SLBRIN deconstructs the update transaction into three parallel operations and optimizes them based on the temporal proximity of spatial distribution. SLBRIN also provides the spatial query strategy with the spatial learned index and spatial location code, including point query, range query and kNN query. Experiments on synthetic and real datasets demonstrate that SLBRIN clearly outperforms traditional spatial indices and state-of-the-art spatial learned indices in the cost of storage and query. Moreover, in the simulated real-time update scenario, SLBRIN has the faster and more stable query performance while satisfying efficient updates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Pirfenidone (PFD), an antifibrotic drug, has various beneficial functions such as antioxidant, antifibrotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying how PFD modulates retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells involved in neovascularization and subretinal fibrosis. Methods. ARPE-19 cell lines were treated with transforming growth factor-beta 2 (TGF-β2) alone or in combination with PFD. RPE cell viability, as a consequence of PFD use, was determined by the CCK-8 assay. Cell migration was assessed by the wound closure assay and quantified by the Image J software. Protein expression of the following markers was measured by the western blot analysis: an epithelial cell marker and E-cadherin; mesenchymal cell markers, fibronectin, matrix metalloprotein-9 (MMP-9), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA); a fibrotic marker and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF); an angiogenesis marker and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); NF-κB/Snail. The mRNA levels of fibronectin and α-SMA were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. VEGF was quantitatively measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. The cell viability assay revealed that PFD had no significant cytotoxic effect on RPE cells at concentrations of less than 1 mg/mL. The cell scratch assay showed that TGF-β2 stimulation significantly improved the migration of RPE cells and that PFD attenuated this effect. PFD significantly inhibited the TGF-β2-induced protein expression of E-cadherin and increased the TGF-β2-induced protein expression of fibronectin, MMP-9, α-SMA, CTGF, and VEGF in ARPE-19 cells. The mRNA expression of fibronectin and α-SMA was inhibited by PFD in TGF-β2-inducedARPE-19 cells. Additionally, the increased intracellular and supernatant expression of VEGF protein was suppressed by PFD. Mechanistically, RPE cells treated with PFD + TGF-β2 exhibited a decrease in phosphorylation of the NF-κB P65 subunit and activation of Snail, compared with the RPE cells treated with TGF-β2 alone. Conclusion. PFD ameliorated TGF-β2-induced neovascularization and fibrosis by suppressing the NF-κB/Snail signaling pathway. Therefore, PFD may be a potential drug in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the accurate prediction of porosity is one of the critical factors for estimating oil and gas reservoirs, a novel porosity prediction method based on Imaged Sequence Samples (ISS) and a Sequence to Sequence (Seq2Seq) model fused by Transcendental Learning (TL) is proposed using well-logging data. Firstly, to investigate the correlation between logging features and porosity, the original logging features are normalized and selected by computing their correlation with porosity to obtain the point samples. Secondly, to better represent the depositional relations with depths, an ISS set is established by slidingly grouping sample points across depth, and the selected logging features are in a row. Therefore, spatial relations among the features are established along the vertical and horizontal directions. Thirdly, since the Seq2Seq model can better extract the spatio-temporal information of the input data than the Bidirectional Gate Recurrent Unit (BGRU), the Seq2Seq model is introduced for the first time to address the logging data and predict porosity. The experimental results show that it can achieve superior prediction results than state-of-the-art. However, the cumulative bias is likely to appear when using the Seq2Seq model. Motivated by teacher forcing, the idea of TL is proposed to be incorporated into the decoding process of Seq2Seq, named the TL-Seq2Seq model. The self-well and inter-well experimental results show that the proposed approach can significantly improve the accuracy of porosity prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Situ microfibrillation is an easy and economical processing method, which has drawn wide concern in recent years. In Situ special-shaped microfibrillar composites, which with poly(lactic acid)/polyamide 6 (PA6/PLA) together formed special-shaped microfibrils in polyolefin elastomer (POE) matrix, were successfully prepared by using multistage stretching extrusion technology. Four types of PA6 with different viscosity were utilized to investigate the effect of viscosity ratio of PA6 to PLA on the structure evolution of special-shaped microfibrils and the mechanical properties of POE/(PA6/PLA) composites. The morphological observation showed that the viscosity ratio was closely associated to the size and shape of PA6 and greatly affected the microfibrillar morphology of PLA/PA6. When the viscosity ratio of PA6 to PLA was less than 2.2, the "gourd-skewers-like" structure microfibrils were obtained. When the viscosity ratio of PA6/PLA to 14.2 was further increased, the "trepang" structure microfibrils were dominant. The "gourd skewers" structure microfibrils were favorable to improvement the tensile strength, Young's modulus, and viscoelastic properties of POE/(PA6/PLA) blends compared to the "trepang" structure microfibrils. In addition, the morphology of microfibrils exhibited a negligible effect on the melting and crystallization temperature and crystallization degree of PLA and POE matrix. This work provides a new strategy for designing the in situ special-shaped microfibrillar composites with improved mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent agricultural activities in farmland ecosystems bring challenges to crop information extraction from remote sensing (RS) imagery. The accurate spatiotemporal information of crops serves for regional decision support and ecological assessment, such as disaster monitoring and carbon sequestration. Most traditional machine learning algorithms are not appropriate for prediction classification due to the lack of historical ground samples and poor model transfer capabilities. Therefore, a transferable learning model including spatiotemporal capability was developed based on the UNet++ model by integrating feature fusion and upsampling of small samples for Sentinel-2A imagery. Classification experiments were conducted for 10 categories from 2019 to 2021 in Xinxiang City, Henan Province. The feature fusion and upsampling methods improved the performance of the UNet++ model, showing lower joint loss and higher mean intersection over union (mIoU) values. Compared with the UNet, DeepLab V3+, and the pyramid scene parsing network (PSPNet), the improved UNet++ model exhibits the best performance, with a joint loss of 0.432 and a mIoU of 0.871. Moreover, the overall accuracy and macro F1 values of prediction classification results based on the UNet++ model are higher than 83% and 58%, respectively. Based on the reclassification rules, about 3.48% of the farmland was damaged in 2021 due to continuous precipitation. The carbon sequestration of five crops (including corn, peanuts, soybean, rice, and other crops) is estimated, with a total carbon sequestration of 2460.56, 2549.16, and 1814.07 thousand tons in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. The classification accuracy indicates that the improved model exhibits a better feature extraction and transferable learning capability in complex agricultural areas. This study provides a strategy for RS semantic segmentation and carbon sequestration estimation of crops based on a deep learning network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the robust nonlinear mixed H2/H∞ output-feedback control problem for a class of uncertain polynomial systems. Generally, the solvable conditions of such nonlinear output-feedback control problems are nonconvex, whose computations are challenging. By using the semidefinite programming relaxation technique based on sum of squares (SOS) decomposition, the solvable conditions of above control problem are formulated in terms of state-dependent linear matrix equality (LMI), which can be effectively solved. This conversion effectively overcomes the computational difficulties caused by the non-convexity of output-feedback H∞ control design for nonlinear systems. Furthermore, the state-observer and the controller can be designed simultaneously through a single-step SOS condition and constructed in a simple analytical form, thus reducing the computational complexity in a certain degree. In the simulation, the nonlinear mass-spring-damper system is considered to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach. The results show that the proposed method not only guarantees the stability of the system, but also has good transient performance and robust performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are crucial regulators in response to pathogen infection. However, the regulatory mechanisms of WRKY TFs in response to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (Fov), the most devastating pathogen of cotton, remain unclear.Here, transcriptome sequencing indicated that the group IIc WRKY TF subfamily was the most important TF subfamily in response to Fov. Gain‐of‐function and loss‐of‐function analyses showed that group IIc WRKY TFs positively regulated cotton resistance to Fov. A series of chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, yeast one‐hybrid assay and electrophoresis mobility shift assay experiments indicated that group IIc WRKY TFs directly bound to the promoter of GhMKK2 and regulated its expression.Importantly, a novel mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade composed of GhMKK2, GhNTF6 and GhMYC2 was identified. The functional analysis indicated that group IIc WRKY TFs induced the GhMKK2‐GhNTF6 pathway to increase resistance to Fov by upregulating the GhMYC2‐mediated expression of several flavonoid biosynthesis‐related genes, which led to flavonoid accumulation.In conclusion, our study demonstrated a novel disease defense mechanism by which the WRKY‐MAPK pathway promotes flavonoid biosynthesis to defend against pathogen infection. This pathway improves our understanding of the interaction mode between WRKY TFs and MAPK cascades in plant immunity and the vital role of plant flavonoids in pathogen defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aflatoxins B1 (AFB1), deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEA) are the three most prevalent mycotoxins, whose contamination of food and feed is a severe worldwide problem. In order to alleviate the toxic effects of multi-mycotoxins (AFB1 + DON + ZEA, ADZ) on inflammation and apoptosis in swine jejunal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2), three species of probiotics (Bacillus subtilis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pseudomonas lactis at 1 × 105 CFU/mL, respectively) were mixed together to make compound probiotics (CP), which were further combined with 400 μg/mL of glycyrrhinic acid (GA) to make bioactive materials (CGA). The experiment was divided into four groups, i.e., the control, ADZ, CGA and ADZ + CGA groups. The results showed that ADZ decreased cell viability and induced cytotoxicity, while CGA addition could alleviate ADZ-induced cytotoxicity. Moreover, the mRNA expressions of IL-8, TNF-α, NF-Κb, Bcl-2, Caspase-3, ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin-1 and ASCT2 genes, and protein expressions of TNF-α and Claudin-1 were significantly upregulated in ADZ group; while the mRNA abundances of IL-8, TNF-α, NF-Κb, Caspase-3, ASCT2 genes, and protein expressions of TNF-α and Claudin-1 were significantly downregulated in the ADZ + CGA group. In addition, the protein expressions of COX-2, ZO-1, and ASCT2 were significantly downregulated in the ADZ group, compared with the control group; whereas CGA co-incubation with ADZ could increase these protein expressions to recover to normal levels. This study indicated that CGA could alleviate cytotoxicity, apoptosis and inflammation in ADZ-induced IPEC-J2 cells and protect intestinal cell integrity from ADZ damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the blast-loading experiment and numerical simulation are carried out for RC slabs with two typical reinforcement ratios. The time history of reflected shockwave pressures and displacement responses at different positions on the impact surface of the specimens are obtained, and the influence of the reinforcement ratio on the dynamic responses and failure modes of the RC slabs is analyzed. Based on the experimental data, the simulation model of the RC slab is verified, and the results indicate good agreement between the two methods. On this basis, the residual load-bearing capacity of the damaged RC slabs is analyzed. The results show that the load distribution on the impact surface of the slab is extremely uneven under close-in blast loading. The resistance curve shape of the RC slabs varies markedly before and after blast loading, and its load bearing capacity and bending stiffness deteriorate irreversibly. Increasing the reinforcement ratio can impede crack extension, reduce the slab's residual displacement, and, at the same time, reduce the decrease of the damaged slab's load-bearing capacity. The findings of this study will provide insights into the anti-explosion design and damage evaluation of RC slabs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Apriori algorithm in association rules is the main algorithm used in the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases in data mining, and the algorithm in the current stage of China's medical field of association between chronic diseases has some problems, such as the need to scan the transaction database of cases several times, producing a large data set and more redundant rules. To address the above problems, a data mining algorithm of association rules combining clustering matrix and pruning strategy is proposed, which improves the algorithm by using the clustering matrix method to compress the stored transaction database and introducing the prepruning and postpruning strategy methods on the basis of adding constraint conditions. The experimental results show that the optimization algorithm has unique advantages in reducing the number of database scans and the number of candidate item sets generated and ultimately greatly reduces the running time and I/O load of the algorithm, and the running efficiency of the algorithm is greatly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonstoichiometric TiO2-x compacts were obtained via spark plasma sintering of titanium dioxide powder. The thermoelectric properties of the resulting materials were examined at temperatures varying from 297 to 973 K. Nonstoichiometric TiO2-x compacts were formed and controlled by varying the sintering temperature during the spark plasma sintering process. The as-prepared compacts possessed oxygen deficiencies and various Magnéli phases TinO2n-1 (n = 4–9), because of the complex interplay between the sintering temperature and stoichiometry. The results demonstrated that the introduction of more and more oxygen deficiencies and the resultant formation of Ti4O7 positively affected the electrical resistivity, but also diminished the Seebeck coefficient. Additionally, an increase in the sintering temperature led to a higher reduction degree, causing a further increase in the number of oxygen deficiencies and enhancement of phase evolution and thermal conductivity. Consequently, the introduction of a moderate number of oxygen deficiencies is advisable in upgrading the thermoelectric properties of TiO2. The compact obtained at a sintering temperature of 1073 K displayed a reasonable thermoelectric efficiency (ZT) of 0.169 at 773 K. Furthermore, first-principles calculations demonstrated that the TiO2 band gap is narrowed by the introduction of oxygen deficiencies, and the electrons near the oxygen vacancy can easily break away from atoms, thus leading to the associated electron transition responsible for the significant decrease in electrical resistivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an energy-barycenter-based waveform centroid algorithm (EWCA) for a high-precision Lidar ranging system. Firstly, the emission and echo pulse models of the pulse Lidar ranging system are established. Secondly, based on analyzing the merits and demerits of the conventional waveform centroid algorithm (CWCA) and intensity-weighted waveform centroid discrimination algorithm (IWCD). Moreover, combined with the characteristics of the energy moment distribution, the adaptive strategy is used to select the point with the higher signal as the calculation time series, and we proposed the EWCA to calculate the timing moment. Finally, we compared EWCA with CWCA and IWCD through simulation and actual experiments. The experimental simulation results show EWCA has higher accuracy and robustness than the comparison algorithm with different SNR. EWCA can achieve an average error of 0.1235 ns, a standard deviation of 0.0848 ns, and variance of 0.0072 ns at an SNR of 5 dB. At the same time, the Lidar ranging system is established to compare these methods further, and the ranging error of the proposed method can be within 20 mm when the measured distance is 40 m. This method has higher timing accuracy and application range, which has the potential to handle further ranging tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion (AD), microalgae cultivation, and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are the major biological processes to convert organic solid wastes and wastewater in the agricultural industry into biofuels, biopower, various biochemical and fertilizer products, and meanwhile, recycle water. Various nanomaterials including nano zero valent irons (nZVIs), metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs), carbon-based and multicompound nanomaterials have been studied to improve the economics and environmental sustainability of those biological processes by increasing their conversion efficiency and the quality of products, and minimizing the negative impacts of hazardous materials in the wastes. This review article presented the structures, functionalities and applications of various nanomaterials that have been studied to improve the performance of AD, microalgae cultivation, and MFCs for recycling and valorizing agricultural solid wastes and wastewater. The review also discussed the methods that have been studied to improve the performance of those nanomaterials for their applications in those biological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a narrow sense, polymer composites refer to multiphase materials composed of polymers and other substances with different compositions, shapes, and properties. They can be divided into structural composites and functional composites. In a broad sense, polymer composite materials also include polymer blend systems, collectively referred to as "polymer alloys." The purpose of this paper is at studying how to study the impact of polymer composite materials on the adaptation and comfort of sports and fitness facilities. This paper puts forward the problem of comfort, which is based on the construction materials of sports equipment, and then elaborates on the polymer composite materials and makes a case design and analysis of the applicability of polymer composite materials in sports equipment being carried out. The experimental results show that 34.81% of the people are very satisfied and relatively satisfied with the quality identification of sports equipment and only 41.99% of the people are very satisfied and relatively satisfied with the feeling of sports equipment when exercising. Both are less than half of the total sample size, which shows that the current state of sports facilities is worrying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we proposed a discrete-time sliding mode load thrust observer to reduce the influence of load thrust mutation on the linear motor and improve the antiinterference ability and speed tracking performance of the system. First, the electrical and dynamic models of linear motor are established, and the limitation of conventional double-closed-loop control based on proportional integral (PI) algorithm is analyzed. Second, the extended state equation of velocity and load thrust is given and an improved sliding mode reaching law is designed to establish the discrete-time load thrust observer. Based on Lyapunov theory, the stability of the observer is proved. The observed load thrust is compensated to the controller in the form of feedforward. Finally, a series of comparative experiments were carried out. The experimental results show that compared with the PI control, the maximum speed fluctuation of this method is reduced by about 18.1% when the load changes between no-load and rated load. This means that the method in this article can effectively improve the antidisturbance ability of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on mental health in Chinese older adults, according to the effects of intervention methods, intervention duration, intervention frequency, intervention time, measurement tools, and subject types.Methods: We searched CNKI, Wanfang and Technology Journal Database for randomized control trials, 15 original studies were extracted, reporting on 1509 Chinese older adults (Age: 55-79 years old). We used CMA2.0 software. After heterogeneity test, suitable random effect model was selected.Results: Physical exercise had a positive effect on mental health in Chinese older adults, combined effect [SMD = -1.25, 95% CI (-1.66, -0.84), P ≤ 0.001], anxiety combined effect size [SMD = -1.45, 95% CI (-2.08, -0.83), P ≤ 0.001], depression combined effect size [SMD = -1.02, 95% CI (-1.56, -0.48), P ≤ 0.001]. Significant differences in the intervention types, intervention duration, intervention frequency, intervention time, and measurement tools were found.Conclusion: Physical exercise had positive intervention effect on the mental health of the Chinese older adults, which was applicable to all older adults. Exercise rehabilitation was the more effective, and the best intervention effect on the older hypertension. Due to the high heterogeneity of this study and the limited number of included literature, more high-quality needed to be included in the subsequent studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We evaluated the effects of exposure to high concentrations of particulate matter (PM)10 on preterm birth (PTB) and identified a critical concentration of PM10 that could lead to PTB via a birth-based health information cohort study. Methods. We conducted a birth-based cohort study consisting of nonanomalous singleton births at 22-42 weeks. PTB was defined as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Pregnancy period exposure averages were estimated for PM10 based on the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre (CNEMC). Pregnant women who lived within 50 km of the monitor station were recruited into this study. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between PTB and exposure to PM10 at different pregnancy periods with adjustment for confounding factors. Results. The relative frequency of PTB was 8.7% in the study cohort of 5,291 singleton live births. A total of 1137 women had a high level of PM10 exposure (≥60 μg/m3) in the second trimester of pregnancy. The average concentrations of PM10 in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and throughout pregnancy were 53.8 μg/m3, 54.2 μg/m3, 55.6 μg/m3, and 54.3 μg/m3, respectively. The generalized additive model (GAM) analysis showed that there was a nonlinear correlation between PM10 and PTB in the second trimester of pregnancy (P < 0.001). The adjusted odds ratio between PTB and low concentration PM10 exposure (P M 10 < 60 μg/m3) in the second trimester of pregnancy was 1.01 (95% CI 0.95-1.05). However, high PM10 exposure (P M 10 ≥ 60 μg/m3) in the second trimester of pregnancy had an increased PTB risk even after adjustment for coexisting risk factors with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.78 (95% CI 1.69-1.87), and the incidence of PTB increased with an increase in PM10 exposure. Conclusions. Our research discovered that exposure to high levels of PM10 increases the risk of PTB and the second trimester is the most vulnerable gestational period to ambient air pollution exposure. PM10 concentrations more than 60 μg/m3 are detrimental to pregnant women in their second trimester. This study has implications for health informatics-oriented healthcare decision support systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of society and economy, people's living standards are improving day by day, and increasingly attention is paid to physical health, which has set off a fitness upsurge. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the impact of bodybuilding exercise on physical fitness based on deep learning. It provides a reference for fitness enthusiasts to choose scientific and targeted exercise methods, and provides a theoretical basis for the promotion of bodybuilding and fitness. This paper first gives a general introduction to deep learning and adds image segmentation technology to design experiments for bodybuilding and fitness. The experiment was divided into groups A and B, and control group C. In this paper, recurrent neural network and gated recurrent neural network are introduced to compare and analyze the data, and the stability of data processing with different activation functions is compared. The data results show that under the scientific and reasonable arrangement of exercise conditions, bodybuilding and fitness exercises have a corresponding positive effect on the body shape and posture of the subjects. It is more practical to choose a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. In this paper, based on the deep learning algorithm, compared with the recurrent neural network, the gated recurrent neural network is more suitable for processing sequence problems. In the experimental analysis part, this paper compares and analyzes the experimental results of the data under different activation functions, sigmoid function, and tanh function. It is found that the tanh activation function and the gated recurrent neural network are more stable for data processing. The highest AUC value of the traditional recurrent neural network differs by 0.78 from the highest AUC value of the gated recurrent neural network. The data analysis results are in line with the actual situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel lysosome-targeting PEGylated polyester-based fluorescent pH nanosensor is fabricated by the combination of ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP), side-group modification and subsequent self-assembly. First, a key target amphiphilic copolymer carrier for rhodamine (Rh) pH indicator is synthesized in a facile manner by the ROCOP of phthalic anhydride with allyl glycidyl ether using mPEG-OH and t-BuP1/Et3B as the macroinitiator and binary catalyst, respectively. Subsequently, Rh moieties are covalently attached on the polymer chain with controllable grafting degree via an efficient thiol-ene click reaction. Concurrently, the effect of catalyst systems and reaction conditions on the catalytic copolymerization performance is presented, and the quantitative introduction of Rh is described in detail. Owing to its amphiphilic characteristics, the rhodamine-functionalized polyester-based block copolymer can self-assemble into micelles. With the covalent incorporation of Rh moieties, the as-formed micelles exhibit excellent absorption and fluorescence-responsive sensitivity and selectivity towards H+ in the presence of various metal cations. Moreover, the as-prepared micelles with favorable water dispersibility, good pH sensitivity and excellent biocompatibility also display appreciable cell-membrane permeability, staining ability and pH detection capability for lysosomes in living cells. This work provides a new strategy for the facile synthesis of novel biocompatible polymeric fluorescent pH nanosensors for the fluorescence imaging of lysosomal pH changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To prevent the frequent occurrence of transmission line galloping accidents, many scholars have carried out studies. However, there are still many difficulties that have not been solved. To address the issues that have arisen during the installation of the monitoring system, a new installation technique for the galloping monitoring terminal structure has been developed, and structural design and transmission line impact have been taken into account. A method combining Kalman and Mahony complementary filtering has been shown to solve the problem of wire twisting when galloping is taken into account. The displacement is derived by double-integrating the acceleration, although the trend term has a significant impact on the integration result. To handle the trend term issue and other error effects, a method combining the least-squares method, the adaptive smoothing method, and the time-frequency domain hybrid integration approach is used. Finally, the monitoring terminal's structural design is simulated and evaluated, and the measured amplitude is assessed on a galloping standard test bench. The difference between the measured amplitude and the laboratory standard value is less than 10%, meeting the engineering design criteria. And the galloping trajectory is identical to the test bench trajectory, which is critical for user end monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the dynamic characteristics of vacuum arc in the initial expansion process of a direct current (dc) circuit breaker. Based on the commercial cup-type axial magnetic field (AMF) contact, a 3-D transient magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model is established. In the model, transient equations are used to study the transient characteristics of the vacuum arc. The effect of magnetic field hysteresis is also considered in the method. The dynamic mesh technique is adopted to simulate the electrode separation, which can make the simulation results more accurate. The simulation results show that, during the initial expansion process, with the increase in the current, the arc gradually expands in the electrode gap. The ion pressure, ion number density, axial current density, and energy flux density to the anode gradually decrease. Ion rotation can be observed under the influence of the magnetic field, and the rotation speed will increase with the increase in the current. Two different arc ignition positions are also compared. The result shows that igniting the arc at the contact center is more helpful to the success of the interruption of the dc circuit breaker. The appearance of the arc predicted by the model is consistent with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athlete injury has always been an important factor that plagues sports. In order to reduce the probability of athletes' sports injury and improve the judgment of athletes' action safety, the inherent laws of sports actions are fully excavated, the development of action safety is promoted, and learners and instructors are caused to fully understand the safety of actions. This study uses the LSTM (long short-term memory) cyclic neural network algorithm to judge the safety of athletes in sports competitions. The experiment verifies the effectiveness of the LSTM cyclic neural network algorithm in basketball segmentation and recognition. Sports injury is one of the important factors affecting the performance of all sports, and the problem of athletes' injury is worrying, so it is very necessary to effectively prevent potential sports injuries. Through the investigation of different professional athletes, the LSTM cyclic neural network algorithm is used for the whole process of extracting an independent motion action including continuous actions. It is used to distinguish key postures and nonkey postures in an action, and to judge the correctness of the action. Basketball skills here are mainly the movements of basic skills such as moving, passing the ball, dribbling, shooting, breaking with the ball, personal defense, grabbing the ball, stealing the ball, and grabbing the ball. The research results prove that the LSTM recurrent neural network algorithm has a good effect on the safety of athletes. For athletes, 41.9% of people can improve the safety of their movements by strengthening strength training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This system uses Freescale i.MX283 chip as the main control core of the control panel and LPC824 as the main control core of the light control point. ZigBee communication local area network is built. The ZigBee network is used to search all the nodes and display them on the control interface stably. The controller can selectively control the node and communicate with ZigBee. It supports simple and convenient human-computer interaction interface. The control panel can control RGB lamps of lamp control nodes as follows: control the light on and off, adjust the brightness of the light, toggle the color of the light, control the gradient of the light, control the flashing of RGB lamp, control timing switch of RGB lamp, realize the scene effect of the light, etc. After testing, the system is stable and applied to many lighting control occasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the effect of oxygen (O2) as gas admixture on hydrodynamic characteristics of a coaxial double-ring electrode helium plasma jet by a “Z-type” shadowgraphy system. The shadowgraphy images and visual optical photographs show that the addition of O2 will slow down the transition of gas flow from the laminar region to the turbulent region regardless of the plasma is ignited or not. The hydrodynamic behaviors of the plasma jet at the impact region for epoxy resin (EP) and aluminum substrates are also researched. The addition of oxygen reduces the vortex on the surface of both EP and aluminum surface. As a result, with the increase of O2, the decrease of gas temperature caused by reduction of electrons and the reduction of the density difference between the mixed gas and the ambient air weaken the gas velocity and results in a weaker collision between the gas and the substrate, which is the main factor for less vortex on the substrate surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrFeO 3-δ perovskite material is considered as a potential substitute for Ni-based fuel electrodes, while the problem of Sr segregation limits the development of material. Herein, different high-valence elements Ti4+, Nb5+and Mo6+ are gradient doped into La 0.5 Sr 0.5 FeO 3-δ (LSF) to solve Sr segregation and study the influence mechanism for high valence elements. After the LSF is doped by high-valence elements, the reduction stability and CO 2 tolerance are found to be obviously improved in a CO 2 :CO = 1:1 atm. Under the premise of stability, lower-valence element doping requires less Fe4+ reduction and lattice oxygen to match the charge, therefore, La 0.5 Sr 0.5 Fe 0.9 Ti 0.1 O 3-δ (LSFTi5591) possesses more oxygen vacancies than La 0.5 Sr 0.5 Fe 0.9 Nb 0.1 O 3-δ (LSFNb5591) and La 0.5 Sr 0.5 Fe 0.9 Mo 0.1 O 3-δ (LSFMo5591). Since Ti ions possess a weaker binding force with O ions, LSFTi5591 more easily loses lattice oxygen and generates oxygen vacancies under high-temperature and reduction conditions, which results in stronger CO 2 adsorption. Using LSCF-GDC as the oxygen electrode of electrolytic cells, the LSFTi5591 cell (1.35 A cm−2) exhibits higher electrochemical performance than LSFNb5591 (1.18 A cm−2) and LSFMo5591 (1.04 A cm−2) cells due to stronger CO 2 adsorption and dissociation in the medium-frequency resistance range. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the demagnetization fault diagnosis and degree estimation of permanent-magnet synchronous linear motors in linear motion applications with high precision and multiple working conditions, a novel double closed-loop control with an adaptive linear neuron (ALN) model reference adaptive system (MRAS) flux linkage observer is proposed in this article. First, a sliding-mode control (SMC) is introduced to design the velocity loop to obtain good speed adaptability. Then, the MRAS flux observer is established, and the ALN algorithm for modifying the MRAS adaptive law online is designed combining with MRAS flux observer. In addition, the finite element models of normal, weak (F1), mild (F2), moderate (F3), and severe (F4) demagnetization faults are established, and the accurate values of flux linkage under different demagnetization degrees are simulated. Furthermore, the demagnetization fault diagnosis algorithm is introduced with an SMC-ALN-MRAS flux observer. Finally, a prototype motor experimental platform is built, and comparative experiments are designed to confirm the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the dielectric breakdown properties in SF6/CO2 mixed gas, the development of the streamer in SF6/CO2 mixed gas, and the distribution of each component with time were studied. First, the electron transport parameters (mean energy, longitudinal diffusion coefficients, Townsend coefficient, critical reduced electric field coefficients, and electron energy distribution function) in SF6/CO2 mixtures with different ratios in the E/N range of over 50–1000 Td were obtained by two-term Boltzmann equation analysis. Then, coupled with the Boltzmann drift–diffusion equation and Poisson equation, the hydrodynamic model of discharge of SF6/CO2 mixtures in a strongly non-uniform electric field was established. Many different influence factors are considered, such as the gas mixture ratio, applied voltage, space temperature, space pressure, and electrode structures. The results indicate that the increase in SF6 content in the mixed gas will reduce the ionization rate of the total mixed gas, and therefore, it takes a longer time for breakdown. The higher the pressure, the more concentrated the form of the streamer. As the temperature increases, the shape of the streamer head becomes more scattered, and it loses its contoured shape at about 3000 K; in addition, the existence of the maximum electron number density value appears at the tip of the rod electrode rather than at the streamer head. The simulation also revealed that the dielectric strength of SF6/CO2 mixtures is stronger than that of SF6/N2 mixtures and reached a turning point at an SF6 ratio of 60% under extremely non-uniform electric fields, which agreed well with experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional (3-D) model for multispecies vacuum arc considering ionization and recombination process has been built in this article. With the model, the arc behaviors and species characteristics subjected to actual spatial magnetic fields of cup-shaped axial magnetic field (AMF) contact and transverse magnetic field-axial magnetic field (TMF-AMF) contact are investigated and compared. Furthermore, the validity of the model is verified by comparing with the experiments. Simulation results show that contact structures affect the species distributions of the arc by changing magnetic field and current density distributions. More triple charged ions are generated through ionization under higher electron temperature so that the triple charged ions gather where current constricts. The heat flux density is large in the current contraction region, where the contribution from triple charged ions is large as well. Spatial magnetic field distribution affects the Lorentz force acting on ion components. The force distribution is relatively uniform and the species are subject to inward force on the arc edge under cup-shaped AMF contact. For TMF-AMF contact, the double charged ions are subject to the force pointing to the TMF contact arms, whereas the triple charged ions are subject to the force pointing to the arc center. In addition, the consideration of arc species can improve the accuracy of the simulation results of the heat flux distribution, leading to a good agreement of the erosion condition between experiments and simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Battery energy storage system (BESS) plays an important role in solving problems in which the intermittency has to be considered while operating distribution network (DN) penetrated with renewable energy. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes a global centralized dispatch model that applies BESS technology to DN with renewable energy source (RES). The method proposed in this paper aims to minimize the power purchase cost considering network active loss cost as well as voltage deviation penalty cost. Later, second-order cone programming (SOCP) method as well as big M method are applied to make the problem tractable. Last, the method illustrated in this paper is applied and validated on a modified IEEE 33-bus benchmark system to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheduling model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Myopia is the most common type of refractive errors characterized by excessive elongation of the ocular globe. With the increasing prevalence of myopia, improved knowledge of factors involved in myopia development is of particular importance. There are growing evidence suggesting that the choroid plays an important role in the regulation of eye growth and the development of myopia. Studies have demonstrated that thinning choroid is a structural feature of myopia, with a negative correlation between choroidal thickness and axial length, suggesting that the change in choroidal thickness may be a predictive biomarker for long‐term changes in ocular elongation. Given the fact that the choroid is primarily a vascular structure capable of rapidly changing blood flow, variations of choroidal thickness might be primarily caused by changes in choroidal blood flow. Considering that hypoxia is associated with myopia and choroidal blood flow is the main source of oxygen and nourishment supply, apart from the effect on myopia possibly by changing choroidal thickness, decreasing choroidal blood flow may contribute to scleral ischaemia and hypoxia, resulting in alterations in the scleral structure and thus leading to myopia. This review aims to provide an overview of recent work exploring the influence of the choroid on myopia from perspectives of choroidal thickness and blood flow, which may present new predictive indicators for the onset of myopia and new targets for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for myopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a special phenomenon under transverse magnetic field (TMF) contacts, vacuum arc rotation deserves more attention. In this article, rotation characteristics of three typical TMF contacts, i.e., swastika-type, cup-shaped, and double-TMF contacts, are systematically studied. According to arc images, recorded by a high-speed camera, physical terms related to arc rotation such as rotation duration and rotation speed are clearly defined. The magnetic field and Lorentz force are calculated and the force balance of the moving arc is analyzed. On this basis, the effects of arc ignition mode, peak current, and contact type on arc rotation are investigated. Arc voltage noise as well as arc splashing outside caused by rotation is also discussed. The results show that the duration from ignition to rotation in two-point arc ignition (TPAI) mode is usually the shortest because of the rapidest constructed column formation. As the peak current increases, arc rotation becomes easier. Due to stronger TMF, the arc under double-TMF contacts has the longest rotation duration and the highest rotation speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new visual tracking algorithm, which leverages the merits of both template matching approaches and classification models for long-term object detection and tracking. To this end, a regression network is learned offline to detect a set of target candidates through target template matching. To cope with target appearance variations in long-term scenarios, a target-aware feature fusion mechanism is also developed, giving rise to more effective template matching. Meanwhile, a verification network is trained online to better capture target appearance and identify the target from potential candidates. During online update, contaminated training samples can be filtered out through a monitoring module, alleviating model degeneration caused by error accumulation. The regression and verification networks operate in a cascaded manner, which allows tracking to be performed in a coarse-to-fine manner and enforces the discriminative power. To further address the target reappearance issues in long-term tracking, a learning-based switching scheme is proposed, which learns to switch the tracking mode between local and global search based on the tracking results. Extensive evaluations on long-term tracking in the wild have been conducted. We achieve state-of-the-art performance on the OxUvA long-term tracking dataset. Our submission based on the proposed method has also won the 1st place of the long-term tracking challenge in VOT-2018 competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking is a major cause of health inequities. However, sociodemographic differences in adolescent tobacco use are unclear. In a territory-wide school-based anonymous survey in 2018/19, we investigated tobacco use and sociodemographic correlates in 33,991 students (mean age 14.8 ± 1.9 years) in Hong Kong. Tobacco use prevalence and current-ever use ratios by sociodemographic factors were calculated. Generalised linear mixed models were used in association analyses. Current use was highest for cigarettes (3.2%), closely followed by alternative tobacco products (3.0%). Current-ever use ratios were highest for heated tobacco products (HTPs, 0.60), followed by nicotine e-cigarettes (0.52), waterpipe (0.51), and cigarettes (0.35). Use prevalence and current-ever use ratios of all products showed curvilinear relations with perceived family affluence (P values < 0.01), being highest in the richest families. Tobacco use was also associated with more senior grades, the lowest parental education, and boys, but current-ever use ratios of HTPs and waterpipe were higher in girls (P values < 0.05). The results suggested that adolescent ever users of nicotine-containing alternative tobacco products were more likely to keep using them than cigarettes, and the richest adolescents were at the highest risks of tobacco use. Diverse tobacco control measures are needed to improve health equity, especially on alternative tobacco products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among females and is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. Several studies have demonstrated that combination treatments with natural products and tamoxifen can improve the sensitivity and cytotoxicity of oestrogen-positive breast cancer cells in response to tamoxifen. Celastrol, a triterpene from traditional Chinese medicine, has been proven to exert significant anticancer effects on various cancers. Our study is aimed at exploring the interactive antitumour effects of celastrol combined with tamoxifen and the potential underlying anticancer mechanisms in MCF-7 cells. The results from MTT assays, isobolographic analyses, and clonogenic cell survival assays revealed that a combination of celastrol and tamoxifen exerted synergistic cytotoxic effects in MCF-7 cells. The results from Annexin V/PI staining and flow cytometry analysis suggested that celastrol enhanced tamoxifen-mediated apoptosis. In addition, exposure to a combination of celastrol and tamoxifen inhibited cell proliferation by causing G1 phase cell cycle arrest. Moreover, the distribution of LC3 was monitored by immunofluorescence, and the changes in the LC3II and P62 levels detected by western blot analysis suggested that celastrol in combination with tamoxifen triggered autophagy. Furthermore, the decrease in p-Akt and p-mTOR in MCF-7 cells, along with the increase in the autophagy marker proteins LC3II and P62, suggested that the Akt/mTOR pathway might be involved in the triggering of cell autophagy by the combination treatment. However, in an MCF-7-implanted nude mouse model, it was possible to detect significantly decreased tumour volumes and tumour weights and decreased p-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression in the celastrol+tamoxifen group. Therefore, our study provides the first evidence that celastrol combined with tamoxifen exerts synergistic anticancer effects by inducing apoptosis and autophagy in MCF-7 cells. Considering the urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies in anticancer therapy, this combinatorial approach is worthy of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modeling and reconstruction of radar sea clutter (RSC) based on fractal theory is studied in this article. With theoretical derivation and quantitative analysis, the radar clutter reconstruction model based on singularity power spectrum (SPS) and instantaneous singularity exponent (ISE) distribution is proposed. The proposed ISE–SPS model consists of two coupling channels: power measure channel and dimension measure channel. The former is controlled by SPS to characterize the power distribution of signals in the SE domain, while the latter is determined by ISE function to characterize the statistical distribution of ISE. The multiscale wavelet coefficients are estimated based on the coupling of the two channels to reconstruct the RSC. The proposed ISE–SPS method is tested on RSC data in different sea state, from the ice multiparameter imaging X-band (IPIX) radar. Experimental and simulation based on the IPIX radar data set indicates that the proposed method performs better than the N-partitioned random multiplicative model (NRMM) method and SPS-multifractal spectrum (MFS) method, and exceeds the traditional methods by nearly 35% in terms of correlation coefficient and normalized mean square error of MFS and SPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]