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Abstract The southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is a highly serious plant parasitic nematode species that causes significant economic losses in various crops, including cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Currently, there are no commercial cultivars available with resistance to M. incognita in cucumber. However, the African horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus Naud.), a semi-wild relative of cucumber, has shown high resistance to M. incognita. In this study, we constructed an ultrahigh-density genetic linkage bin-map using low-coverage sequences from an F2 population generated through the cross between C. metuliferus inbred lines CM3 and CM27. Finally, we identified a QTL (quantitative trait locus, QTL3.1) with a LOD (logarithm of the odds) score of 3.84, explaining 8.4% of the resistance variation. Subsequently, by combining the results of qPCR (quantitative PCR) and VIGS (virus-induced gene silencing), we identified two genes, EVM0025394 and EVM0006042, that are potentially involved in the resistance to M. incognita in CM3. The identification of QTLs and candidate genes in this study serve as a basis for further functional analysis and lay the groundwork for harnessing this resistance trait.

Purpose: To present a case of delayed recurrent hyphema following toric ICL implantation. Observations: This case reports a 24-year-old Asian female who presented with sudden decrease in vision in the right eye, accompanied by recurrent massive anterior chamber hemorrhage, six months after bilateral implantation of toric ICL with central holes for myopia correction. Despite initial conservative treatment with immobilization and intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering medication at another hospital, the hyphema persisted. At our hospital, her corrected visual acuity (CDVA) in the right eye was counting fingers (CF) at 50 cm, with visible blood clots and hyphema in the anterior chamber, and an IOP of 40 mmHg. Ultrabiomicroscopy (UBM) indicated a large amount of hyphema in the anterior chamber. Initially, the patient was treated with a combination of three IOP-lowering medications: brimonidine eye drops, brinzolamide eye drops, and timolol eye drops, but the condition recurred. Two weeks later, we performed an anterior chamber hyphema evacuation and ICL removal surgery in the right eye. Postoperatively, the patient's IOP stabilized and her vision gradually recovered. One month after the surgery, a follow-up examination showed a CDVA of LogMAR 0.6 in the affected eye. Conclusion and importance: This case report is essential for characterizing a rare and serious complication following toric ICL implantation, highlighting the importance of close monitoring and timely intervention.

Abstract Background Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a prevalent cause of low back pain. LDH patients commonly experience paraspinal muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration (FI), which further exacerbates the symptoms of low back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial for assessing paraspinal muscle condition. Our study aims to develop a dual‐model for automated muscle segmentation and FI annotation on MRI, assisting clinicians evaluate LDH conditions comprehensively. Methods The study retrospectively collected data diagnosed with LDH from December 2020 to May 2022. The dataset was split into a 7:3 ratio for training and testing, with an external test set prepared to validate model generalizability. The model's performance was evaluated using average precision (AP), recall and F1 score. The consistency was assessed using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Cohen's Kappa. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was calculated to assess the error of the model measurements of relative cross‐sectional area (rCSA) and FI. Calculate the MAPE of FI measured by threshold algorithms to compare with the model. Results A total of 417 patients being evaluated, comprising 216 males and 201 females, with a mean age of 49 ± 15 years. In the internal test set, the muscle segmentation model achieved an overall DSC of 0.92 ± 0.10, recall of 92.60%, and AP of 0.98. The fat annotation model attained a recall of 91.30%, F1 Score of 0.82, and Cohen's Kappa of 0.76. However, there was a decrease on the external test set. For rCSA measurements, except for longissimus (10.89%), the MAPE of other muscles was less than 10%. When comparing the errors of FI for each paraspinal muscle, the MAPE of the model was lower than that of the threshold algorithm. Conclusion The models demonstrate outstanding performance, with lower error in FI measurement compared to thresholding algorithms.

Abstract The growing interest in valorizing industrial by-products has led researchers to focus on exploring different sources and optimizing collagen extraction conditions over the past decade. While bovine hide, cattle bones, pork, and pig skins remain the most abundant collagen sources, there is a growing trend in the industrial utilization of collagen from non-mammalian species. This review explores alternative marine collagen sources and summarizes emerging trends in collagen recovery from marine sources, with a particular focus on environmentally friendly methods. Additionally, this review covers the colloidal structure-forming properties of marine collagens, including foam, film, gel, and emulsion formation. It also highlights the potential and important applications of marine collagen in various food products. Based on the currently reported marine sources, collagens extracted from fish, jellyfish, and sea cucumbers were found to have the highest yield and mostly comprised type-I collagen, while crustaceans and mollusks yielded lower percentages of collagen. Traditional extraction techniques isolate collagen based on acetic acid and pepsin treatment, but they come with drawbacks such as being time-consuming, causing sample destruction, and using solvents. Conversely, marine collagen extracted using conventional methods assisted with ultrasonication resulted in higher yields and strengthened the triple-stranded helical structures. Recently, an increasing number of new applications have been found in the food industry for marine collagens, such as biodegradable film-forming materials, colloid stabilizers, foaming agents, and micro-encapsulating agents. Furthermore, collagen is a modern foodstuff and is extensively used in the beverage, dairy, and meat industries to increase the stability, consistency, and elasticity of products. Graphical abstract

Since the release of ChatGPT, large language models (LLMs) have played a huge role in various industries. In the field of games, we have used LLMs to act as intelligent AI NPC, which makes NPCs more intelligent. However, there is still an obvious obstacle -the LLMs lacks long-term memory and human-like memory mechanism. This flawed memory mechanism prevents NPCs from Long-term interaction and humanized memory based on conversation records. Recognizing the necessity of long-term memory and humanized memory, we proposed MemoryRepository, a memory mechanism for LLMs specifically used in the AI NPC field.MemoryRepository enables the model to have short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory is more detailed and full, while long-term memory are more concise and partial. MemoryRepository is inspired by human memory and forgetting mechanisms. This mechanism allows AI NPCs to forget and summarize past conversation records, thereby providing long-term interaction capabilities. More importantly, this process of forgetting and summarizing the details of short-term memory into general long-term memories makes NPCs more human-like. MemoryRepository is versatile and can adapt to closed source models such as ChatGPT and open source models such as ChatGLM. To Intuitively verify the effectiveness of MemoryRepository in the field of AI NPC, we created an example in which all NPCs are represented by LLMs adapted to MemoryRepository. The example shows that by embedding LLM in MemoryRepository and fine-tuning NPCs character dialogue data, AI NPC can conduct better long-term conversations and appear more human-like during the interaction process. To validate the effectiveness of MemoryRepository, one hundred pieces of NPCs dialogue data were created and then quantitatively analyzed through evaluation indicators. The analysis results show that NPCs equipped with MemoryRepository can summarize and forget past memories, which enables it to have the ability to hold long-term conversations and conduct more human-like conversations.

Objective To investigate the differences in myopia prevalence and ocular biometry in children and adolescents in Chongqing and Tibet, China.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting The study included children and adolescents aged 6–18 years in Chongqing, a low-altitude region, and in Qamdo, a high-altitude region of Tibet.Participants A total of 448 participants in Qamdo, Tibet, and 748 participants in Chongqing were enrolled in this study.Methods All participants underwent uncorrected visual acuity assessment, non-cycloplegic refraction, axial length (AL) measurement, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement and corneal tomography. And the participants were grouped according to age (6–8, 9–11, 12–14 and 15–18 years group), and altitude of location (primary school students: group A (average altitude: 325 m), group B (average altitude: 2300 m), group C (average altitude: 3250 and 3170 m) and group D (average altitude: 3870 m)).Results There was no statistical difference in mean age (12.09±3.15 vs 12.2±3.10, p=0.549) and sex distribution (males, 50.4% vs 47.6%, p=0.339) between the two groups. The Tibet group presented greater spherical equivalent (SE, −0.63 (−2.00, 0.13) vs −0.88 (−2.88, –0.13), p

In plants, WRKY transcription factors play a crucial role in plant growth, development, and response to abiotic and biotic stress. Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important legume crop. However, cowpea Fusarium wilt (CFW), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. tracheiphilum (Fot), poses a serious threat to its production. In this study, we systematically identified members of the cowpea WRKY (VuWRKY) gene family and analyzed their expression patterns under CFW stress. A total of 91 WRKY transcription factors were identified in the cowpea genome. Phylogenetic and synteny analyses indicated that the expansion of VuWRKY genes in cowpea is primarily due to recent duplication events. Transcriptome analysis of cowpea inoculated with Fo revealed 31 differentially expressed VuWRKY genes, underscoring their role in the response to CFW infection. Four differentially expressed WRKY genes were selected for validation. Subcellular localization and Western blot assays showed their nuclear localization and normal expression in N. benthamiana. Additionally, yeast one-hybrid assays demonstrated that VuWRKY2 can bind to the promoter region of the Catalase (CAT) gene, indicating its potential role in transcriptional regulation. This study establishes a foundation for further exploration of the role and regulatory mechanisms of VuWRKY genes in response to CFW stress.

Focused on the problem that the planned routes cannot meet the personalized demand of different users in route planning of personalized self-driving tour, a keyword-aware optimal route planning method based on different user interests was proposed.Firstly, the road network information preprocessing model was set up and the road network information query graph was built by the road network information preprocessing algorithm.Secondly, the inverted index algorithm was proposed to prune the road network information query graph according to the personalized requirements from users, which improved the execution efficiency of keyword-aware optimal route planning method and reduced the memory cost of large-scale data processing effectively.Finally, the keyword-aware optimal route planning algorithm was proposed to realize personalized recommendation according to user interest by bidirectional parallel extension.The experimental results show that the method not only realizes the route planning to meet the individual needs of users but also improves the execution efficiency of the method through pruning and bidirectional parallel extension.

Trichoderma harzianum exhibits a strong biological control effect on many important plant pathogens, such as Fusarium oxysporum, Botrytis cinerea, and Meloidogyne. However, its biocontrol effectiveness is weakened or reduced under salt stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular response of T. harzianum to salt stress at the whole-genome level. Here, we present a 44.47 Mb near-complete genome assembly of the T. harzianum qt40003 strain for the first time, which was assembled de novo with 7.59 Gb Nanopore sequencing long reads (~170-fold) and 5.2 Gb Illumina short reads (~116-fold). The assembled qt40003 genome contains 12 contigs, with a contig N50 of 4.81 Mb, in which four of the 12 contigs were entirely reconstructed in a single chromosome from telomere to telomere. The qt40003 genome contains 4.27 Mb of repeat sequences and 12,238 protein-coding genes with a BUSCO completeness of 97.5%, indicating the high accuracy and completeness of our gene annotations. Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis was used to investigate gene expression changes related to salt stress in qt40003 at 0, 2% (T2), and 4% (T4) sodium chloride concentrations. A total of 2,937 and 3,527 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained under T2 and T4 conditions, respectively. GO enrichment analysis showed that the T2-treatment DEGs were highly enriched in detoxification (p

Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are known for their long-term stability. Using six years of observations from the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), we have conducted an in-depth analysis of the X-ray timing results for six MSPs: PSRs B1937+21, B1821-24, J0437-4715, J0030+0451, J0218+4232, and J2124-3358. The timing stability parameter σz has been calculated, revealing remarkable timing precision on the order of 10−14 for PSRs B1937+21 and J0437-4715, and 10−13 for PSRs B1821-24, J0218+4232, and J0030+0451 over a timescale of 1000 days. These findings underscore the feasibility of autonomous in-orbit timekeeping using X-ray observations of MSPs. In addition, the consistency of long-term spin-down noise in the X-ray and radio bands has been investigated by comparison with IPTA radio data.

Purpose: To compare the function and morphology of the meibomian glands and the ocular surface of individuals from highland and lowland. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial. The study was performed with 104 individuals (51 individuals from the highland and 53 individuals from the lowland). Detailed eye examinations comprising tear meniscus height, lipid layer grading, non-invasive Keratograph tear breakup time (NIKBUT), and scoring of the meibomian glands from the upper and lower eyelids of the individuals were performed by Keratograph 5M (OCULUS, Wetzlar, Germany). Symptoms related to dry eye disease were assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Results: In the highland group, tear meniscus height was lower (P = 0.024), lipid layer grade, as well as all the meiboscores were higher (P < 0.05) than that in the lowland group. The OSDI (P = 0.018) and the percentage of dry eye disease were also higher as compared to that of the lowland group (P = 0.032). The first NIKBUT and average NIKBUT did not differ significantly between groups. The frequency of plugged meibomian gland orifices was greater in the lowland group compared to the highland group (P = 0.036). Conclusion: It was observed that dry eye disease was more common in the highland group. The morphological changes of meibomian gland dropout were significant in highlanders as demonstrated objectively with Keratograph 5M. Our study may raise a concern for environmental influences on ocular surface changes.

This paper incorporates corporate targeted poverty alleviation behaviour into the bond pricing framework for the first time, using a sample of A-share listed companies that issued corporate bonds from 2016 to 2018 to study the impact and mechanism of targeted poverty alleviation behaviour on bond credit spreads. We find that bond-issuing companies’ targeted poverty alleviation behaviour can significantly reduce bond credit spreads, which are more pronounced in subsamples with higher credit risk and lower credit rating and of active participants. In addition, companies’ targeted poverty alleviation behaviour has improved corporate reputation and strategic resource acquisition and reduced information asymmetry and agency costs. Consequently, these results indicate that corporate targeted poverty alleviation is essentially embodied as value features, not tool features, and bond investors can identify the true motivations of engaged enterprises.

ObjectivesTo investigate myopia progression and associated factors of refractive status among children and adolescents in Tibet and Chongqing in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA population-based cross-sectional study was conducted to compare rates of myopia and high myopia, axial length (AL), spherical equivalent (SE), outdoor activity time, digital device use, and frequency of visual examinations for children and adolescents affected by myopia in Chongqing and Tibet in 2021.ResultsA total of 2,303 students from Chongqing and 1,687 students from Tibet were examined. The overall prevalence of myopia and high myopia in these two groups were 53.80 and 7.04% vs. 43.86 and 1.30%, respectively in each case. The Chongqing students had a longer AL than the group from Tibet (23.95 vs. 23.40 mm, respectively; p < 0.001). The mean SE of the students with myopic parents in Tibet was lower than that of the students in Chongqing with myopic parents (−2.57 ± 2.38 diopters (D) vs. −2.30 ± 2.34 D, respectively) (p < 0.001). Conversely, the mean SE of the students from urban areas in Chongqing was lower than that of the students in Tibet (−2.26 ± 2.25 D vs. −1.75 ± 1.96 D, respectively; p < 0.001). The Chongqing students exhibited lower SE (−2.44 ± 2.22 D) than their Tibetan counterparts (mean SE: −1.78 ± 1.65 D (p = 0.0001) when spending more than 2.5 h outdoors. For example, 61.35% of the students in Tibet spent more than 2.5 h outdoors daily, compared with 43.04% of the students in Chongqing. Correspondingly, the proportion of students using digital devices in Tibet (64.43%) was lower than that in Chongqing (100%). For the latter, 38.62% of the students in Chongqing spent more than 2.5 h online using digital devices compared to 10.49% of the students in Tibet. Greater monitoring of visual status was observed for the Chongqing students (mean SE: −1.90 ± 1.98 D) compared with students in Tibet (mean SE: −2.68 ± 1.85 D) (p = 0.0448), with the frequency of optimal examinations being every 6 months. Outdoor activity time was identified as a common risk factor for myopia in both of the populations examined, with odds ratios (ORs) of 1.84 (95% CI: 1.79–1.90) in Chongqing and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.73–0.96) in Tibet. Digital screen time was associated with myopia and high myopia in Chongqing, with ORs of 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08–1.22) and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.94–1.77), respectively. Digital screen time was also found to be a risk factor for high myopia in Tibet (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.77–1.61). The type of digital devices used was also associated with myopia and high myopia in Tibet (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.06–1.68 and OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 0.84–2.58, respectively). Finally, examination frequency was found to correlate with high myopia in the Tibet group (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 0.66–2.71).ConclusionBased on our data, we observed that the prevalence of refractive errors in children and adolescents was significantly lower in Tibet than in Chongqing. These results are potentially due to prolonged outdoor activity time, and the type and time of use for digital devices that characterize the group of children and adolescents from Tibet. It is recommended that parents and children in Chongqing would benefit from increased awareness regarding myopia progression and its prevention.

The performance of a gyroscope is directly affected by the fluctuations in the light source power (LSP) in an interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG). Therefore, it is important to compensate for fluctuations in the LSP. When the feedback phase generated by the step wave completely cancels the Sagnac phase in real-time, the error signal of the gyroscope is linearly related to the differential signal of the LSP, otherwise, the error signal of the gyroscope is uncertain. Herein, we present two compensation methods to compensate for the error of the gyroscope when the error is uncertain, which are double period modulation (DPM) and triple period modulation (TPM). Compared with the TPM, DPM has better performance, but it increases the requirements for the circuit. TPM has lower requirements for the circuit and is more suitable for small fiber- coil applications. The experimental results show that, when the frequency of the LSP fluctuation is relatively low (1 kHz and 2 kHz), DPM and TPM do not differ significantly in terms of performance; both of them can achieve an improvement of about 95% in bias stability. When the frequency of the LSP fluctuation is relatively high (4 kHz, 8 kHz and 16 kHz), DPM and TPM can achieve about 95% and 88% improvement in bias stability, respectively.

Evolution of accretion disk and corona during outbursts in black hole binary systems is still unclear. Here, the authors show spectral analysis of MAXI J1820+070 and propose a scenario of a dynamical corona to explain the evolution of the reflection fraction observed by Insight-HXMT.

Abstract Phloem systemicity is a desirable property for insecticides to control sucking insects. However, the development of phloem systemic insecticides is challenging. One possible strategy is to link existed insecticides with endogenous substances so that the resulting conjugates can be transported by specific transporters into the phloem. In this study, novel dipeptide promoieties were introduced into chlorantraniliprole, which is an efficient and broad-spectrum anthranilic diamide insecticide without phloem mobility. Twenty-two new dipeptide-chlorantraniliprole conjugates have been synthesized. Systemic tests showed that all conjugates exhibited phloem mobility in Ricinus communis. In particular, compound 4g with alanyl-alanine dipeptide fragment was able to accumulate in phloem sap (114.49 ± 11.10 μM) in the form of its hydrolysis product 5g. Results of bioassay showed that conjugates 4g and 5g were able to exhibit comparable insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella L. and Spodoptera exigua compared to its parent compound chlorantraniliprole. This work demonstrated that the dipeptide structures were able to contribute to the improvement of the uptake and phloem mobility of chlorantraniliprole, and two phloem mobile conjugates with satisfactory in vivo insecticidal effect was obtained as new candidates for high-efficient insecticides.

An interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (IFOG) demodulates a rotation signal via interferometric light intensity. However, the working environments of IFOGs typically involve great uncertainty. Fluctuations in temperature, air pressure, electromagnetic field, and the power system all cause the power of the superluminescent diode (SLD) light source to fluctuate as well. In this invited paper, we studied the effects of SLD power fluctuation on the dynamic and static performance characteristics of a gyro system through the use of a light-power feedback loop. Fluctuations of 0.5 mA, 1 mA, and 5 mA in the SLD source entering the IFOG caused zero-bias stability to be 69, 135, and 679 times worse. We established an effective method to monitor power fluctuations of SLD light sources and to compensate for their effects without increasing hardware complexity or system cost. In brief, we established a real-time power-sensing and -compensating system. Experimental results showed that for every 0.1 mA increase in the fluctuation amplitude of the driving current, the zero-bias stability became 4 to 7 times worse, which could be reduced about 95% through the use of SLD power compensation.

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic restricts children and adolescents from doing normal daily activities such as playing outdoors and going to school. The incidence and prevalence of myopia have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the impact of the home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic on the progression of myopia among children and adolescents in Chongqing, China.Methods: The survey was conducted by using stratified samplings. Samples were randomly selected from the 2019 National Student Physique and Health Survey database, and their visual function and refractive data were compared with those in 2020. Vision-related behavior questionnaire including digital screen exposure was applied to investigate the correlation between eye parameter and eye health-related behavior.Results: A total of 1,733 and 1,728 students were enrolled in 2020 and 2019, respectively. The percentage of myopia students was 55.02% in 2020, which was higher than that in 2019 (44.62%). The mean uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA, LogMAR, 0.35 ± 0.42) in 2020 was higher than that in 2019 (0.27 ± 0.36, P < 0.001). The mean spherical equivalent (SE) refraction (−1.94 ± 2.13 D) in 2020 was lower than that in 2019 (−1.64 ± 5.49 D, P < 0.001). For students who used digital devices for online courses, the mean SE in the television group (−1.10 ± 1.49 D) was better than that in the computer group (−2.03 ± 2.37 D, P = 0.0017) and in the cell phone group (−2.02 ± 2.09 D, P = 0.0028). The average duration of online classes (r = −0.27, P < 0.0001), the number of online classes per day (r = −0.33, P < 0.0001), as well as digital screen exposure time (r = −0.20, P < 0.0001) were negatively correlated with SE, and the average time of outdoor activity (r = 0.20, P < 0.0001) was positively correlated with SE.Conclusions: Increased digital screen exposure contributes to myopic progression in children and adolescents of Chongqing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suitable digital devices should be provided for online classes and outdoor activity should be advocated to prevent myopic pandemic.

As a new type of waterproof curtain, several station construction of Qingdao Metro Line 1 successfully used the trench cutting remixing deep wall (TRD). It is difficult to find the factors that affect the wall quality because the method is in situ underground excavating and mixing. This paper has obtained the main factors affecting the TRD quality in Qingdao by studying construction experience and carrying out tests. Geological conditions are fundamental factors. Among them, the parameters of medium-coarse sand layer, the groundwater table, and the humus content are the main factors. The design parameters are the key to high-quality TRD. In the design parameters, the depth inserting into the bedrock, the cement soil ratio, and the mixing time are important factors. And this paper proposes the methods of improving the wall quality, which can provide a theoretical guarantee for the follow-up application of the TRD in the Qingdao area.

Flexible wearable pressure sensors play a pivotal role in healthcare monitoring, disease prevention, and humanmachine interactions. However, their narrow sensing ranges, low detection sensitivities, slow responses, and complex preparation processes restrict their application in smart wearable devices. Herein, a capacitive pressure sensor with high sensitivity and flexibility that uses an ionic collagen fiber material as the dielectric layer is proposed. The sensor exhibits a high sensitivity (5.24 kPa−1), fast response time (40 ms), long-term stability, and excellent repeatability over 3000 cycles. Because the sensor is resizable, flexible, and has a simple preparation process, it can be flexibly attached to clothes and the human body for wearable monitoring. Furthermore, the practicality of the sensor is proven by attaching it to different measurement positions on the human body to monitor the activity signal.

In this paper, a size-dependent Euler–Bernoulli beam model, which takes the flexoelectricity, piezoelectricity, and dielectricity as well as the surface elasticity into consideration, is established. Theoretical solutions for the static bending deflection of thin beams under different loading (uniformly distributed and concentrated load) and boundary conditions (cantilevered, both ends simply supported, clamped–clamped), are established. Moreover, an iterative finite element algorithm is developed for the analysis of thin flexoelectric beams under any load and boundary conditions. Our numerical results show the direct bulk flexoelectricity always play the role of stiffening the beams with various boundary conditions, while the residual surface stresses behave either stiffening or softening the nanobeams dependent on boundary conditions. The present investigation also demonstrates the size-dependent effects of flexoelectricity on the bending rigidity and piezoelectricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) 4 and selenoprotein P (SELENOP) are abundant, and several variants are expressed in the testis.Objective: We determined the effects of dietary selenium deficiency or excess on sperm quality and expressions of GPX4 and SELENOP variants in rat testis and liver.Methods: After weaning, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a Se-deficient basal diet (BD) for 5 wk until they were 9 wk old [mean ± SEM body weight (BW) = 256 ± 5 g]. They were then fed the BD diet alone (deficient) or with 0.25 (adequate), 3 (excess), or 5 (excess) mg Se/kg for 4 wk. Testis, liver, blood, and semen were collected to assay for selenoprotein mRNA and protein abundances, selenium concentration, GPX activity, 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine concentration, and sperm quality.Results: Dietary selenium supplementations elevated (P < 0.05) tissue selenium concentrations and GPX activities. Compared with those fed BD + 0.25 mg Se/kg, rats fed BD showed lower (P < 0.05) BW gain (86%) and sperm density (57%) but higher (P < 0.05) plasma 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine concentrations (189%), and nonprogressive sperm motility (4.4-fold). Likewise, rats fed BD + 5 mg Se/kg had (P = 0.06) lower BW gain and higher (1.9-fold) sperm deformity rates than those in the selenium-adequate group. Compared with the selenium-adequate group, dietary selenium deficiency (BD) or excess (BD + 3 or 5 mg Se/kg) resulted in 45-77% lower (P < 0.05) nuclear Gpx4 (nGpx4) mRNA abundance in the testis. Rats fed BD had lower (P < 0.05) mRNA levels of 2 Selenop variants in both testis and liver than those in the other groups. Testicular SELENOP was 155-170% higher (P < 0.05) in rats fed BD + 5 mg Se/kg and hepatic c/mGPX4 was 13-15% lower (P < 0.05) in rats fed BD than in the other groups.Conclusions: The mRNA abundance of rat testicular nGPX4 responded to dietary selenium concentrations in similar ways to sperm parameters and may be used as a sensitive marker to assess appropriate Se status for male function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel multipiece actuator configuration is first proposed. This configuration exhibits several advantages over the existing ones, such as: (1) the ability to overcome the deficiency of one-way actuation of PbLaZrTi (PLZT) actuators and (2) all of the actuators in this configuration being placed on the inner surfaces of a thin cylindrical shell and the removal of extra electrical wires between the end surfaces of the actuators. A new index of modal control factors is defined, and an optimization method for allocating actuator is proposed. By using the proposed method, the PLZT actuators can be located in an optimum position. Moreover, in view of the nonlinear and time-variant characteristics of photostrictive actuators, a self-organizing fuzzy sliding mode control (SOFSMC) method is established to attenuate multimodal vibration of photo-electric laminated thin cylindrical shells. A multilevel sliding mode surface is defined as fuzzy input and the SOFSMC method is used to infer the applied light intensity. Its control rule bank can be developed and adjusted continuously via online learning. In addition, using fuzzy sliding mode, the chatter inherent in conventional sliding mode control is therefore managed effectively while ensuring sliding mode behavior. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed approach can efficiently suppress multimodal vibration of photo-electric laminated thin cylindrical shells. It is also founded that SOFSMC can achieve better control effect than fuzzy neural network control (FNNC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper derives a 3-D finite element formulation and an iterative algorithm for multiphysics analysis of coupled anomalous photovoltaic, photo-thermal and pyroelectric effects in PbLaZrTi (PLZT) ceramics. The distinction in the computation aspects of electrical potential, electrical field strength and electrical charge for 0-1 and 0-3 polarized PLZT wafers are discussed thoroughly. The element performance is improved by using an assumed natural strain approach and an enhanced assumed strain method. The transverse displacements of a bimorph 0-1 polarized PLZT actuator were predicted using the present finite element formulation and then verified with the existing analytical solution and experimental results. The static analysis of a cantilevered beam bonded with a 0-1 or 0-3 polarized PLZT actuators was also presented and compared with the theoretical solutions. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the present formulations and algorithm possess superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve for the mode intensity distributions in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) cross section and the propagation constant for the design of fiber bandpass filters, we numerically analyze the modal distributions of the fundamental core mode and different cladding modes. Based on the simulation results, we also experimentally demonstrate a simple fabrication of bandpass filters inscribed on the PCF by inserting a π-phase shift in a 12-period long-period grating (LPG). Two rejection bands with greater than 18 dB isolation and an ultra-wide band of 85.3 nm are achieved. The phase-shifted PCF-LPGs are fabricated using a CO2 laser with point-by-point focused pulses. The proposed fiber bandpass filter is compact and is not influenced by temperature effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with a method to identify multiple cracks in a beam. The novelty of this study is the use of a hierarchical genetic algorithm to detect the number, location, and the extent of multiple cracks. To demonstrate the feasibility of the present method, this algorithm is applied to the identification of double or triple cracks in a beam as well as four cracks. The detected crack locations and sizes are in excellent agreement with the actual ones. The numerical simulation reveal the HGA substantially reduces the total number of FE computation required and they are many orders smaller compared to conventional GA. The results also demonstrate the advantages of HGA from the viewpoints of its ability to avoid premature convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative method based on dynamic particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm is presented to demodulate the strain profile along a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) from its reflection spectrum, which is calculated by using the modified transfer matrix method. To improve the optimization performances of algorithm itself, the inertia weight of the DPSO algorithm is adjusted dynamically according to the distance between the individual particle and the global optimal particle in the current population. Then the numerical simulation and experimental verification of the reconstruction of nonuniform strain profiles are comprehensively carried out. Both the simulation examples and experimental results verify the feasibility and validity of the present method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the deformation of the nuclei which belongs to the transitional region between strongly deformed and spherical nuclei, the calculations of the total Routhian surfaces by means of the pairing-deformation-frequency self-consistent cranked shell model were carried out in order to investigate shape evolution in even-mass Os and Pt isotopes (176–202Os and 182–204Pt) starting from the static nuclear ground states. It is found that some nuclear ground states such as in 196Os and 188–194Pt are neither oblate nor prolate. Instead, the ground-state minima in these nuclei are axially asymmetric in shape. In addition, a complementary approach is used to extract equilibrium γ0 value (nonaxially symmetric equilibrium shape parameter), which support our predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the nonlinear bending and free vibration of Timoshenko piezoelectric nanobeam incorporating flexoelectricity and surface effect are investigated for the first time. To take size effect into account, a size-dependent Timoshenko nanobeam model containing additional material length scale parameters is developed based on strain gradient theory. The governing equations and corresponding boundary conditions are obtained by electric enthalpy variation and Hamilton’s principle. By adjusting the values of material length scale parameters, the current Timoshenko piezoelectric nanobeam formulations can be transformed to those based on modified couple stress theory. The generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) is employed to discretize governing differential equations and boundary conditions into a series of nonlinear algebraic equations. Then the algebraic equations are solved by using the Newton iteration method. It is found that strain gradient elastic effect, flexoelectricity, surface effect and applied electric voltage have significant influences on the nonlinear mechanical behaviors of nanobeam. Simulation results indicate that both the strain gradient effect and flexoelectric effect have considerable impacts on the electric field distribution in nanobeams. Moreover, the results also indicate that the influence of flexoelectricity is weakened to some extent due to the consideration of surface effect. The numerical analysis reveals that the present model can be considered reliable to quantitatively investigate size-dependent nonlinear bending and nonlinear free vibration of the piezoelectric nanobeam incorporating flexoelectric and surface effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, analytical solutions for size-dependent static bending and free vibration of a pure 0–3 polarized PbLaZrTi (PLZT) cantilever are developed. This paper also makes the first attempt to investigate the static bending of a cantilever metal beam bonded with discretized 0–3 polarized PLZT actuator based on the modified couple stress theory and composite laminated beam theory. These models involve an internal material length scale parameter used to capture the size effect. In the limit when the internal material length scale parameter goes to zero, this model reduces to classical (local) solutions available in the literature. Exact solutions for the normalized static deflection are obtained as a function of the actuator thickness and the internal material length scale parameter. The simulations show that the size-dependent results developed by the present models have a remarkable difference with those got by the classical solutions when the ratio of the actuator thickness to the internal material length scale parameter is small. It is also observed that an increase in the stiffness parameter of the substrate beam gives rise to an increase in the effect of the material length scale parameter on tip deflections of the cantilever metal beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new interface technique called synchronous charge extraction and voltage inversion (SCEVI), which consists of a synchronous inductor and a buck-boost converter for vibration-based energy harvesting using piezoelectric elements. The theoretical calculation of the harvested power obtained by using such a technique are proposed and compared with the so-called Standard, SECE (Synchronous Electric Charge Extraction), Parallel-SSHI (Parallel Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor) and Series-SSHI (Series Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor) methods commonly used in piezoelectric vibration-powered generator considering both constant displacement amplitude and force amplitude. From the harvested power point of view, SCEVI and Parallel -- SSHI techniques are the better ones and each has its own merits. But the harvested power of SCEVI is independent of the load connected to the generator and Parallel -- SSHI depend on the load resistance. The harvested power of SECE is also independent of the load, but the further experimental results show that the proposed SCEVI interface technique dramatically increases the harvested power by almost up to 150% compared with the SECE method under the same amplitude of displacement excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]