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Remote sensing image (RSI) with concurrently high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions cannot be produced by a single sensor. Multisource RSI fusion is a convenient technique to realize high spatial resolution multispectral (MS) images (spatial spectral fusion, i.e. SSF) and high temporal and spatial resolution MS images (spatiotemporal fusion, i.e. STF). Currently, deep learning-based fusion models can only implement SSF or STF, lacking models that perform both SSF and STF. Multiresolution generative adversarial networks with bidirectional adaptive-stage progressive guided fusion (BAPGF) for RSI are proposed to implement both SSF and STF, namely BPF-MGAN. A bidirectional adaptive-stage feature extraction architecture in fine-scale-to-coarse-scale and coarse-scale-to-fine-scale modes is introduced. The designed BAPGF introduces a previous fusion result-oriented cross-stage-level dual-residual attention fusion strategy to enhance critical information and suppress superfluous information. Adaptive resolution U-shaped discriminators are implemented to feed multiresolution context into the generator. A generalized multitask loss function unlimited by no-reference images is developed to strengthen the model via constraints on the multiscale feature, structural, and content similarities. The BPF-MGAN model is validated on SSF datasets and STF datasets. Compared with the state-of-the-art SSF and STF models, results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed BPF-MGAN model in both subjective and objective evaluations.

The repair mechanism for corneal epithelial cell injuries encompasses migration, proliferation, and differentiation of corneal epithelial cells, and extracellular matrix remodeling of the stromal structural integrity. Furthermore, it involves the consequential impact of corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs). In recent years, as our comprehension of the mediating mechanisms underlying corneal epithelial injury repair has advanced, it has become increasingly apparent that growth factors play a pivotal role in this intricate process. These growth factors actively contribute to the restoration of corneal epithelial injuries by orchestrating responses and facilitating specific interactions at targeted sites. This article systematically summarizes the role of growth factors in corneal epithelial cell injury repair by searching relevant literature in recent years, and explores the limitations of current literature search, providing a certain scientific basis for subsequent basic research and clinical applications.

The safety of airport runways is important to guarantee aircraft taking-off, landing, and taxiing, and the comparison of the mechanical response of pavement structures under dynamic and static loading by LS-DYNA has rarely been studied. The purpose of this work is to separate two analysis methods to investigate the mechanical response of rigid airport pavements. Firstly, a tire–road coupling model of an airfield was established to evaluate the suitability of dynamic and static analyses. Then, the effects of landing pitch angles, sinking speeds, and tire pressures on the effective stress, effective strain, and z-displacement of the runway were investigated for both dynamic and static analysis. Finally, the significance of influence factors was analyzed by regression analysis in Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS). The results indicated that the effective stress, effective strain, and z-displacement of the runway increased with a decrease in the landing pitch angle, which also increased with an increase in the sinking speed and tire pressure. It was demonstrated that the difference in pavement mechanical response between dynamic and static analyses progressively widened at high tire pressure and sinking speed. In other words, the static analysis method can be adopted to assess the dynamic mechanical behavior when the landing pitch angle is large and the tire pressure is small. Among the various factors of mechanical response, the effect of tire pressure was the most obvious, followed by sinking speed and landing pitch angle. The work proposes a new approach to understanding the mechanical behavior of runways under complicated and varied conditions, evaluates the applicability of the dynamic and static mechanical analysis methods, identifies key factors in the dynamic and static mechanical analysis of rigid runways, and provides technical support for improving and maintaining the impact resistance of pavement facilities.

IntroductionEelgrass is a typical marine angiosperm that exhibits strong adaptability to high-salt environments. Previous studies have shown that various growth and physiological indicators were significantly affected after the nitrate reductase (NR) pathway for nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in eelgrass was blocked.MethodsTo analyze the molecular mechanism of NO on the adaptability to high-salt environment in eelgrass, we treated eelgrass with artificial seawater (control group) and artificial seawater with 1 mM/L Na2WO4 (experimental group). Based on transcriptomics and metabolomics, we explored the molecular mechanism of NO affecting the salt tolerance of eelgrass.ResultsWe obtained 326, 368, and 859 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by transcriptome sequencing in eelgrass roots, stems, and leaves, respectively. Meanwhile, we obtained 63, 52, and 36 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) by metabolomics in roots, stems, and leaves, respectively. Finally, through the combined analysis of transcriptome and metabolome, we found that the NO regulatory mechanism of roots and leaves of eelgrass is similar to that of terrestrial plants, while the regulatory mechanism of stems has similar and unique features.DiscussionNO in eelgrass roots regulates osmotic balance and antioxidant defense by affecting genes in transmembrane transport and jasmonic acid-related pathways to improve the adaptability of eelgrass to high-salt environments. NO in eelgrass leaves regulates the downstream antioxidant defense system by affecting the signal transduction of plant hormones. NO in the stems of eelgrass regulates ion homeostasis by affecting genes related to ion homeostasis to enhance the adaptability of eelgrass to high-salt environments. Differently, after the NO synthesis was inhibited, the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, as well as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, was regulated by glucose metabolism as a complementary effect to cope with the high-salt environment in the stems of eelgrass. These are studies on the regulatory mechanism of NO in eelgrass, providing a theoretical basis for the study of the salt tolerance mechanism of marine plants and the improvement of terrestrial crop traits. The key genes discovered in this study can be applied to increase salt tolerance in terrestrial crops through cloning and molecular breeding methods in the future.

The geochemical characteristics of a 2.1 m BBW25 core, collected from the Beibu Gulf, have been investigated in terms of the major and trace elements, organic matter, and CaCO3 and AMS 14C dating by XRF, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and more. We have found through previous research that there are issues with unclear delineation of sedimentary evolution environments and inexact responses between chemical weathering intensity and major paleoclimate events in the Beibu Gulf. The AMS 14C dating results indicate that the sedimentary age at the bottom was 19.24 ky b.p. CaCO3, δ13C, C/N, and Sr/Ba indexes show a sedimentary environment change from terrestrial to marine environments and a “jump” of ~4000 years in continent–ocean changes. The evolution of the sedimentary environment of Beibu Gulf was divided into three environments and five sub-environments. The changes in chemical weathering intensity indicators recorded by the CIX and the Fe/Al ratio respond well to the East Asian monsoon cycle, the meltwater events, and the alternation of cold and warm events. This study explains the chemical weathering intensity and sedimentary environment in the BBW25 core by geochemical characteristics and further reveals the paleoenvironmental characteristics and possible driving mechanisms over the past ~20,000 years.

Abstract Background Hainan Province, China, has been an endemic region with high transmission of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Indigenous malaria caused by P. vivax was eliminated in Hainan in 2011, while imported vivax malaria remains. However, the geographical origin of P. vivax cases in Hainan remains unclear. Methods Indigenous and imported P. vivax isolates (n = 45) were collected from Hainan Province, and the 6 kb mitochondrial genome was obtained. Nucleotide (π) and haplotype (h) diversity were estimated using DnaSP. The numbers of synonymous nucleotide substitutions per synonymous site (d S) and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions per nonsynonymous site (d N) were calculated using the SNAP program. Arlequin software was used to estimate the genetic diversity index and assess population differentiation. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of P. vivax was performed using MrBayes. A haplotype network was generated using the NETWORK program. Results In total, 983 complete mitochondrial genome sequences were collected, including 45 from this study and 938 publicly available from the NCBI. Thirty-three SNPs were identified, and 18 haplotypes were defined. The haplotype (0.834) and nucleotide (0.00061) diversity in the Hainan populations were higher than China’s Anhui and Guizhou population, and the majority of pairwise F ST values in Hainan exceeded 0.25, suggesting strong differentiation among most populations except in Southeast Asia. Most Hainan haplotypes were connected to South/East Asian and China’s others haplotypes, but less connected with populations from China's Anhui and Guizhou provinces. Mitochondrial lineages of Hainan P. vivax belonged to clade 1 of four well-supported clades in a phylogenetic tree, most haplotypes of indigenous cases formed a subclade of clade 1, and the origin of seven imported cases (50%) could be inferred from the phylogenetic tree, but five imported cases (42.8%) could not be traced using the phylogenetic tree alone, necessitating epidemiological investigation. Conclusions Indigenous cases in Hainan display high genetic (haplotype and nucleotide) diversity. Haplotype network analysis also revealed most haplotypes in Hainan were connected to the Southeast Asian populations and divergence to a cluster of China’s other populations. According to the mtDNA phylogenetic tree, some haplotypes were shared between geographic populations, and some haplotypes have formed lineages. Multiple tests are needed to further explore the origin and expansion of P. vivax populations.

Panchromatic sharpening (pansharpening) is an important technology for improving the spatial resolution of multispectral (MS) images. The majority of the models are implemented at the reduced resolution, leading to unfavorable results at the full resolution. Moreover, the complicated relationship between MS and panchromatic (PAN) images is often ignored in detail injection. For the mentioned problems, unsupervised generative adversarial networks with recursive mixed-scale feature fusion for pansharpening (RMFF-UPGAN) are modeled to boost the spatial resolution and preserve the spectral information. RMFF-UPGAN comprises a generator and two U-shaped discriminators. A dual-stream trapezoidal branch is designed in the generator to obtain multiscale information. Further, a recursive mixed-scale feature fusion subnetwork is designed. Perform a prior fusion on the extracted MS and PAN features of the same scale. A mixed-scale fusion is conducted on the prior fusion results of the fine scale and coarse scale. The fusion is executed sequentially in the aforementioned manner building a recursive mixed-scale fusion structure, and finally, generating key information. A compensation information mechanism is also designed for the reconstruction of key information to compensate for information. A nonlinear rectification block for the reconstructed information is developed to overcome the distortion induced by neglecting the complicated relationship between MS and PAN images. Two U-shaped discriminators are designed and a new composite loss function is defined. The presented model is validated using two satellite data and the outcomes reveal better than the prevalent approaches regarding both visual assessment and objective indicators.

Abstract Background An outbreak of Plasmodium malariae infection among forest goers in Sanya City of Hainan Island, China was reported in 2015. In response to this outbreak, an innovative three-layer strategy (TLS) targeted forest goers was adapted based on the 1-3-7 approach. Main text Key elements of TLS are: (i) The village with five malaria cases and adjacent villages were set as the first layer. All residents including forest goers were taken as the high-risk population (HRP). Active case detection (ACD) by blood smear microscopy and PCR was selected as the primary measure, and passive case detection (PCD) as complementary measure. One case was identified under TLS implementation. (ii) The township with cases (Gaofeng Town) and the nearby towns were chosen as the second layer. Only forest goers were screened by ACD, while PCD as a routine screening method. 7831 blood smears collected by ACD and PCD and tested with negative results. (iii) The city with cases (Sanya City) and others 12 counties/county-level cities were selected as the third layer. Malaria cases were monitored passively. A total of 77,555 blood slides were screened by PCD with zero positive sample. For each layer, the malaria vector mosquitoes were monitored using light traps, cattle-baited/human-bait traps. Anopheles minimus (dominant species), An. sinensis and An. dirus were captured. Vector control measures mainly include insecticide residual spraying and long-lasting insecticide nets. The capacity of clinicians, public health practitioners and laboratory technicians has been improved through training. During 2016‒2018, TLS and chemoprophylaxis were implemented in the same areas. In the first layer, all residents were monitored by ACD, and malaria chemoprophylaxis were distributed, 89.5% of forest goers were using chemoprophylaxis against malaria. The blood smears (3126 by ACD plus 1516 by PCD) were with zero positive results. Chemoprophylaxis and ACD were offered to forest goers once a year, and PCD in residents as a complementary measure in the second and third layer, 77.8% and 95.1% of forest goers received chemoprophylaxis. In each layer, vector surveillance and control of malaria and trainings for medical staff were still in place. Conclusions TLS was effective in blocking the outbreak by P. malariae among forest goers in Hainan in malaria elimination stage. However, whether it could prevent the malaria resurgence in the post-elimination phase needs to be further assessed. Graphical Abstract

It is of great significance to explore the physical properties of optical propagation, thus the scholars are keen on the physical essence represented by classical mathematical physics equations. In this paper, a higher order nonlinear Schrödinger equation describing the behavior of polarization mode in optical fibers is firstly analyzed qualitatively, and the existence of periodic and soliton solutions is proved by using bifurcation method. Secondly, all chirped wave patterns with special form for the equation are obtained by using the complete discrimination system for polynomial method and direct integral method, the chirped rational functions and some elliptic functions wave patterns are initially found. As a result, the parameter stability of these patterns is given for the first time, which shows the variant of patterns as the parameters change, and the graphs of several typical patterns are drawn.

Nitric oxide (NO) is an essential molecule for plants, and we have found that NO is mainly synthesized by the nitrate reductase (NR) pathway in eelgrass. To understand the influence of NO on eelgrass, the proline content, the expression of the Na+/H+ antiporter and H+-ATPase, and antioxidant activities were examined under different conditions. The results showed that NO significantly affected these physiological indicators in eelgrass, which played a positive role in eelgrass adaptation to the marine environment. Using RNA-seq, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the genes involved in the NO effects on eelgrass adaptation to high salinity environments. The expression of myosin and glutamine dumper decreased most significantly after inhibiting the NR-dependent NO synthesis. This study shows that the physiological metabolic activities in eelgrass, such as signal transduction process and amino acid metabolism, are closely related to NO under high salinity.

Niviventer sacer (Rodentia: Muridae) had been regarded as a subspecies of N. confucianus, i.e. N. c. sacer, and was raised as a distinct species recently by our laboratory. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of N. sacer first and annotated the genome structure. The total length of the genome was 16,308 base pairs (bp) containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and a control region. We also constructed the phylogenetic tree by maximum-likelihood method and it demonstrated that N. sacer was the sister clade of N. confucianus.

Tian et al. use mathematical modelling to estimate the impact of various interventions on malaria incidence on Hainan Island, also taking into account climate change. They find that although malaria transmission has been exacerbated by climate change, insecticide-treated bed nets and other interventions were effective in controlling the disease.

Abstract In this study, we proposed a new data-driven hybrid technique by integrating an ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), with a nonlinear autoregressive artificial neural network (NARANN), called the EEMD-ARIMA-NARANN model, to perform time series modeling and forecasting based on the COVID-19 prevalence and mortality data from 28 February 2020 to 27 June 2020 in South Africa and Nigeria. By comparing the accuracy level of forecasting measurements with the basic ARIMA and NARANN models, it was shown that this novel data-driven hybrid model did a better job of capturing the dynamic changing trends of the target data than the others used in this work. Our proposed mixture technique can be deemed as a helpful policy-supportive tool to plan and provide medical supplies effectively. The overall confirmed cases and deaths were estimated to reach around 176,570 [95% uncertainty level (UL) 173,607 to 178,476] and 3454 (95% UL 3384 to 3487), respectively, in South Africa, along with 32,136 (95% UL 31,568 to 32,641) and 788 (95% UL 775 to 804) in Nigeria on 12 July 2020 using this data-driven EEMD-ARIMA-NARANN hybrid technique. The contributions of this study include three aspects. First, the proposed hybrid model can better capture the dynamic dependency characteristics compared with the individual models. Second, this new data-driven hybrid model is constructed in a more reasonable way relative to the traditional mixture model. Third, this proposed model may be generalized to estimate the epidemic patterns of COVID-19 in other regions.

Abstract Background The immunomodulatory abnormalities of silicosis are related to the lymphocyte oxidative stress state. The potential effect of antioxidant therapy on silicosis may depend on the variation in nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2)-regulated antioxidant genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). As NRF2 is a redox-sensitive transcription factor, its possible roles and underlying mechanism in the treatment of silicosis need to be clarified. Methods Ninety-two male patients with silicosis and 87 male healthy volunteers were randomly selected. PBMCs were isolated from fresh blood from patients with silicosis and healthy controls. The lymphocyte oxidative stress state was investigated by evaluating NRF2 expression and NRF2-dependent antioxidative genes in PBMCs from patients with silicosis. Key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and signaling pathways were identified utilizing RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and bioinformatics technology. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to identify the differences in NRF2 signaling networks between patients with silicosis and healthy controls. Results The number of monocytes was significantly higher in patients with silicosis than that of healthy controls. Furthermore, RNA-Seq findings were confirmed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and revealed that NRF2-regulated DEGs were associated with glutathione metabolism, transforming growth factor-β, and the extracellular matrix receptor interaction signaling pathway in PBMCs from patients with silicosis. The top 10 hub genes were identified by PPI analysis: SMAD2, MAPK3, THBS1, SMAD3, ITGB3, integrin alpha-V (ITGAV), von Willebrand factor (VWF), BMP4, CD44, and SMAD7. Conclusions These findings suggest that NRF2 signaling regulates the lymphocyte oxidative stress state and may contribute to fibrogenic responses in human PBMCs. Therefore, NRF2 might serve as a novel preventive and therapeutic candidate for silicosis.

Primaquine, the only licensed antimalarial drug for eradication of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale malaria, may cause acute hemolytic anemia in individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDd) during treatment. The different prevalence and distribution patterns of G6PDd in Hainan, the ancient malaria-endemic area, are unclear. This study included 5,622 suspected malaria patients between 2009 and 2011 in 11 counties of Hainan. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency prevalence was determined using the fluorescent spot test (FST) and malaria patients was confirmed by a positive light microscopy. The G6PDd prevalence for different ethnic groups, genders, and counties were calculated and compared using χ2-test. Spatial cluster and Spearman rank correlation of G6PDd prevalence and malaria incidence were analyzed. The overall G6PDd prevalence of study population was 7.45%. The G6PDd prevalence of males, Li ethnic minority, and malaria patients was significantly higher than that of females, Han ethnic majority, and non-malarial patients (p < 0.01), respectively. The spatial cluster of G6PDd and malaria located in south-western and central-southern Hainan, respectively, with no significant correlation. The study provides essential information on G6PDd prevalence in ancient malaria-endemic areas of Hainan Province. We also highlight the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between G6PDd prevalence and malaria incidence. These findings provide a reference for the safety of the primaquine-based intervention, even after malaria elimination.

As the global warming crisis becomes increasingly serious, decarbonized integrated electricity-gas system (IEGS) which can reduce CO2 emissions are gradually developed. However, with high proportion of renewable energy access, the inherent randomness and volatility bring great difficulties to energy scheduling optimization of decarbonized IEGS. In this article, for reducing CO2 emissions, meanwhile improving the utilization efficiency of wind power, a novel IEGS architecture with collaborative operation of power-to-gas (P2G), carbon capture system (CCS) and electric vehicles (EVs) is constructed. P2G is operated in a refined model combined with H2 storage and captured CO2 by CCS can be further consumed in reaction of P2G. Besides, EVs are innovatively adopted in IEGS as flexible energy resource to reduce the impact of wind power fluctuations. Additionally, a multi-step day ahead-intraday collaborative optimization framework is proposed to handle with the uncertainty of wind power, more accurate predicted wind power can be adopted under this framework. The objective function of constructed IEGS is minimize the total operating costs, which takes the CO2 processing costs and penalty costs of wind power deviations into consideration. Numerical studies are conducted with different cases, with the constructed structure and proposed multi-step optimization framework, the emissions of CO2 can be efficiently reduced and wind power utilization can be significantly improved, the total operating costs of IEGS can be reduced more than 20% compared with other cases, which demonstrates that the research of this article has better economic benefits and environmental friendliness.

In this paper, we focus on human pose transfer in different videos, i.e., transferring the dance pose of a person in given video to a target person in the other video. Our methods can be summed up in three stages to tackle this challenging scenario. Firstly, we extract the frames and pose masks from the source video and target video. Secondly, we use our model to synthesize the frames of target person with the given dance pose. Thirdly, we refine the generated frames to improve the quality of outputs. Our model is built on three stages: 1) human pose extraction and normalization. 2) a GAN based on cross-domain correspondence mechanism to synthesize dance-guided person image in target video by consecutive frames and pose stick images. 3) coarse-to-fine generation strategy which includes two GANs: a GAN used to reconstruct human face in target video, the other generates smoothing frame sequences. Finally, we compress the sequential frames generated from our model into video format. Compared with previous works, our model manifests better person appearance consistency and time coherence in video-to-video synthesis for human motion transfer, which makes the generated video look more realistic. The qualitative and quantitative comparisons represent our approach performs significant improvements over the state-of-the-art methods. Experiments on synthetic frames and ground truth validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A series of impact fuel tank experiments are carried out through the ballistic impact method. The ignition abilities of Bi2O3-reinforced PTFE/Al reactive material, metal aluminum, and inert metal steel are compared and analyzed, and the ignition mode of kerosene is explored when PTFE/Al/Bi2O3 impacts the fuel tank at different velocities. The results offer that PTFE/Al/Bi2O3 reactive material has outstanding ignition ability, and the order for ignition ability is PTFE/Al/Bi2O3 reactive material, metal aluminum, and inert metal steel. The kerosene content of the fuel tank has a significant impact on the ignition effect. The ignition effect of PTFE/Al/Bi2O3 reactive material impacting the fuel tank filled with 50% kerosene is weaker than that impacting the full tank. Under different impact velocities, PTFE/Al/Bi2O3 reactive materials display diverse ignition modes for kerosene: kerosene is directly ignited by the flame in the reverse reaction zone under low-velocity conditions, while high-temperature-activated reactive fragments are the ignition heat source of high-velocity conditions.

The conservation of morphology has resulted in considerable issues in the taxonomy of small mammals, especially for the identification of sibling species. Moreover, it is often difficult to completely solve such taxonomic problems by relying only on a single research method. The genus Crocidura is one of the genera with a conservative morphology and high species diversity. Among them, Crocidura attenuata has been considered in the field as the most widely distributed and common species. In fact, it is a species complex containing multiple species, and the classification and distribution of this species is controversial. In this study, the species and distribution of the Crocidura attenuata species complex experienced an integrated revision using three different levels of research methods: molecular, karyotype and morphology. The results show that (1) the C. attenuata species complex contains four known species (C. attenuata, C. tanakae, C. anhuiensis and C. dongyangjiangensis) and a cryptic species distributed in Guangxi, which may be the same undescribed species as the “C. attenuata” distributed in Vietnam. (2) C. attenuata is only distributed around the Sichuan Basin, C. tanakae is the most widely distributed throughout Southern China, and C. anhuiensis and C. dongyangjiangensis are almost sympatric in Southeast China. Furthermore, (3) although the molecular method lacks a unified threshold for species classification, it can rapidly and effectively identify the species of the C. attenuata species complex. Although karyotype and morphology methods cannot completely solve the species classification issues in respect of the C. attenuata species complex, they can provide supplemental information for taxonomic purposes. Therefore, the integrated taxonomic method can present the advantages of different methodological levels, and will provide further evidence for the taxonomy of sibling species with a conservative morphology.

Objective: This research aims to refresh the limited understanding about the canal and vascular structures within the epiphysis and metaphysis of the tibia and femur and their oncological significance.Methods: This study was started with characterization of a novel structure using radiographs and anatomic dissections, followed by a descriptive clinical study with 55 participants to investigate the effects of tumors on this novel discovery and a retrospective cohort study with 82 participants to investigate whether the structure would be a risk factor for tumor recurrence after the curettage of giant cell tumor of bone.Results: A new anatomical knee structure, the Lijianmin-Chengkun (LC) complex, was discovered in healthy adults, and its clinical implications were examined in this study. This new-found anatomical structure is composed of an epiphyseal and metaphyseal canal which surrounds a blood vessel, foramen, and foramen-covered synovium. All LC complexes showed similar radiographical, anatomical, and histological characteristics and were located within specific tibial and femoral intercondylar regions. These LC complexes seem to facilitate tumor residue and extension and may be a risk factor for tumor recurrence after curettage of femoral and tibial giant cell tumors (P = 0.031).Conclusion: The LC complexes are related to local tumor recurrence and bidirectional tumor dissemination between intraosseous and intraarticular regions. These findings have opened up a new perspective and may provide new targets for intervention in malignant and aggressive tumors around the knee joint.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Dongyangjiang White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura dongyangjiangensis), a newly discovered Crocidura species, is sequenced and characterized. The total length of the genome is 16,883 bp, and has similar base composition and gene arrangement to other vertebrates. It contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA), a replication origin (OL) and a control region. The phylogenetic tree shows that C. dongyangjiangensis was fully resolved in a clade with three other species of Crocidura and it has a sibling relationship with Crocidura tanakae. This analysis reveals the evolutionary relationship of 16 Crocidura species.

Niviventer confucianus sacer Thomas, 1908, which has been regarded as a subspecies of N. confucianus, was found to be a distinct species from N. confucianus based on molecular, karyotyping, and morphological characteristics in this study. Niviventer c. sacer was found to belong to a distinct phylogenetic clade in phylogenetic tree constructed using the mitochondrial gene Cytb, it clustered with N. bukit (Bonhote, 1903) from Vietnam and N. confucianus (Milne-Edwards, 1871) from Yunnan, but showed a distant relationship with N. confucianus from adjacent areas. The genetic distance between N. c. sacer and N. confucianus was more than 5.8%, reaching the level of interspecific differentiation. The species delimitation indicates that N. c. sacer is a monophyletic group. The karyotype of N. c. sacer (FN = 55, 8m+4st+32t+X(sm)Y(t)) differed from that of N. confucianus (FN = 59, 6m+4sm+2st+32t+X(sm)Y(t)). In terms of morphological features, the length of incisive foramen (LIF) and length of auditory bulla (LAB) of N. c. sacer is significantly larger than that of N. confucianus and N. bukit (P < 0.05) and the proportion of white tail tip to total tail length is significantly longer at N. c. sacer (≥ 1/3) than that at N. confucianus (≤ 1/3). Therefore, integrated analysis confirmed that N. c. sacer is a distinct species of genus Niviventer rather than a subspecies of N. confucianus or N. bukit, namely N. sacer, which is only distributed in Shandong.

Prostate cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in men in the United States, seriously affecting people's life and health. The Gleason grading system is one of the most reliable methods to quantify the invasiveness of prostate cancer, which is of great significance for risk assessment and treatment planning for patients. However, the task of automating Gleason grading is difficult because of the complexity of pathological images of prostate cancer. This paper presents an automated Gleason grading and Gleason pattern region segmentation method based on deep learning for pathological images of prostate cancer. An architecture combining the atrous spatial pyramid pooling and the multiscale standard convolution is proposed for the segmentation of the Gleason pattern region to get accurate Gleason grading. In addition, the postprocessing procedure based on conditional random fields is applied to the prediction. The quantitative experiments on 1211 prostate cancer tissue microarrays demonstrate that our results have a high correlation with the manual segmentations. The mean intersection over union and the overall pixel accuracy for the Gleason pattern region are 77.29% and 89.51%, respectively. Furthermore, the results of the automatic Gleason grading were comparable to the results of experienced pathologists. The inter-annotator agreements between the model and the pathologists, quantified via Cohen's quadratic kappa statistic, was 0.77 on average. Our study shows that the method of combining different deep neural network architectures is suitable for more objective and reproducible Gleason grading of prostate cancer.

A two-stage denoising algorithm based on local similarity is proposed to process lowly and moderate corrupted images with random-valued impulse noise in this paper. In the noise detection stage, the pixel to be detected is centered and the local similarity between the pixel and each pixel in its neighborhood is calculated, which can be used as the probability that the pixel is noise. By obtaining the local similarity of each pixel in the image and setting an appropriate threshold, the noise pixels and clean pixels in the damaged image can be detected. In the image restoration stage, an improved bilateral filter based on local similarity and geometric distance is designed. The pixel detected as noise in the first stage is filtered and the new intensity value is the weighted average of all pixel intensities in its neighborhood. A large number of experiments have been conducted on different test images and the results show that compared with the mainstream denoising algorithms, the proposed method can detect and filter out the random-value impulse noise in the image more effectively and faster, while better retaining the edges and other details of the image.

Abstract Background Bone mineral density (BMD) has been positively associated with lung function in patients diagnosed with respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis. However, the relationship between BMD and lung function is inconsistent in the general population. Methods To investigate the association between BMD and lung function in a Chinese general population, a total of 1024 adults aged 40–70 years old from Qiliying (an industrial polluted exposure area) and Langgongmiao (the reference area with non-industrial pollution) were recruited and underwent BMD and spirometry tests. Results Both BMD and lung function levels were lower in the exposed area compared to the reference area. In addition, BMD and lung function levels were also lower in females compared to males. Both Spearman and partial correlation analyses showed that BMD was positively correlated with FVC and FEV1. After adjusting linear regression analyses for potential confounding factors, every 0.1 g/cm2 drop in BMD was associated with 53.0 mL decrease in FVC and 33.5 mL decrease in FEV1. Conclusions A reduction of BMD is associated with lower lung function in a general population from China.

The main idea of this paper is to search for all traveling wave solutions to an intrinsic fractional discrete nonlinear electrical transmission line, which plays a essential role in obtaining the new insights in nonlinear voltage dynamics. We first give a brief introduction how to transform the discrete system into a continuous one, which is described by a fractional-order partial differential equation. After that, this equation is handled by conformable fractional transformation and the complete discrimination system for polynomial method (CDSPM). By applying the advanced method, the whole of the exact traveling wave solutions emerged in existing articles are obtained, especially we obtain the solitary wave solutions and elliptic functions solutions which are hardly founded by other methods. Notably, the elliptic functions solutions in rational form are discovered for the first time. Finally, the electrical characteristics and the fractional nature are revealed via graphical represents. By the depicted graphs, we intuitively observe the existence of the phenomena for periodic wave and solitary wave, and the time-fractional derivative is proved do has important influence on the behaviors of the solutions. Considering the significance of the nonlinear electrical transmission line, the acquired results would have wide application in electrical engineering and nonlinear voltage dynamics, liking analyzing and predicting the complex voltage wave propagation phenomenon in realistic electrical transmission system.

In this article, the abundant wave solutions of Boussinesq equations are obtained, which are very important to investigate the waves propagation of shallow water. Firstly, we establish the time-fractional form of (1 + 1) dimensional Boussinesq equations to describe the shallow water waves more accurately. Furthermore, by applying the complete discrimination system for polynomial method, all the possible wave solutions are revealed. Finally, in order to analysis the fractionalize effects efficaciously, the numerical simulations for different type of solutions is carried out and the corresponding graphs are obtained. The whole of the solutions presented in this paper consist of all the results in the published literatures, especially the elliptic functions solutions, which are initially shown. In addition, according to the results obtained by advanced fractional method in mathematical physics, the nature of rich wave propagation patterns could be seen clearly.

The Taiwanese gray shrew (Crocidura tanakae) and Asian gray shrew (C. attenuata) are so similar in size and morphology that the taxonomic status of the former has changed several times since its description; C. tanakae has also been regarded as an endemic species of Taiwan Island. In recent years, molecular identification has led to several reports of C. tanakae being distributed in the mainland of China. In this study, we determine the geographical distribution of C. attenuata and C. tanakae based on more than one hundred specimens collected during 2000 to 2018 over a wide area covering the traditional ranges of the two species in the mainland of China, and show a substantial revision of their distributions. Among 110 individuals, 33 C. attenuata and 77 C. tanakae were identified by Cytb gene and morphologies. Our results show, (1) C. attenuata and C. tanakae are distributed sympatrically in the mainland of China; (2) contrary to the previous reports, the distribution range of C. attenuata is restricted and much smaller than that of C. tanakae in the mainland of China; (3) Hainan Island, like Taiwan Island, is inhabited by C. tanakae only according to the present data.

The effect of a macromolecular additive on the etching rate of aluminum (Al) horizontal etching in the wet process was investigated in this work. The horizontal etching in the Al wet etching process became more evident as the film Al becomes thicker. The proposed macromolecule additive, including polyethylene-polypropylene glycol, was added into the Al etchant solution to reduce the Al horizontal etching rate (ER). The undercut problem during metal patterning can then be improved. By using this method, the Al horizontal ER was reduced from 2.0 to 0.9 μm per minute and the selection ratio between the horizontal and vertical ER was effectively improved from 3 to 1.3 times. As well, a hypothesis of physical mechanism for the improvement was proposed. The dispersed particles from the additive emulsion inhibited the transport and exchange of liquid in a horizontal direction. This work provides an alternative reference to improve the selection ratio performance in the metal wet etching process compared with that when using traditional method.

Abstract To determine changes in bacterial composition in skin ulcerations in farmed sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus, full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing of different skin samples of A. japonicus was performed on a Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) RS platform. The fact that one of them varies in bacterial diversity than the other two may suggest different stage of skin ulceration, but the answer is inconclusive due to inefficiency in size of sampling pool. After comparing them with three skin samples from three healthy sea cucumbers, respectively, the majority of the results were distinguishable at the species level. The bacterial composition, which increased in diversity during the possible early stage of skin ulceration, exhibited a decrease in diversity at possible advanced stages, except for the predominant Saccharicrinis carchari (846.85 ± 5.75‰). This work may have the first clue implicating Ornithinibacillus contaminans as a potential causative pathogen of skin ulcerations in A. japonicus.

Background/Aims: The roots of Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae) have long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of headaches, vomiting, coughing and hangovers. 2-dodecyl-6-methoxycyclohexa-2, 5-1, 4-dione (DMDD) has been isolated from A. carambola L. roots, and this study was carried out to investigate the potential beneficial effects of DMDD on neuron apoptosis and memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease. Methods: The effects of a DMDD on learning and memory in APP/PS1 transgenic AD mice in vivo were investigated via Morris water maze and Y-type electric maze tests. In vitro, Cell viability was assessed by CCK-8. Apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometry assay, and transmission electron microscopy assay. Relative quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were used to determine the expressions of genes and proteins. Results: The spatial learning and memory deficit, fear memory deficit, as well as apoptosis and loss of neuron in hippocampal area of APP/PS1 mice were reversed by DMDD in APP/PS1 transgenic AD mice. DMDD protected against the Aβ1-42-induced apoptosis, loss of mitochondria membrane potential, induction of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family protein Bax, reduction of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins Bcl-2, and activation of Caspase-3, and -9 in PC-12 cells. The Bcl-2/Bax ratio was also increased in DMDD-pretreated PC-12 cells in vitro and APP/PS1 mice in vivo. Conclusion: DMDD has potential benefit on treating learning and memory deficit in APP/PS1 transgenic AD mice, and its effects may be associated with reversing the apoptosis of neuron via inhibiting Bax/Bcl-2 mediated mitochondrial membrane potential loss.

Abstract Background Associations between ambient air pollution and child health outcomes have been well documented in developed countries such as the United States; however, only a limited number of studies have been conducted in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the acute effects of five ambient air pollutants (inhalable particles [PM10], fine particles [PM2.5], sulfur dioxide [SO2], nitrogen dioxide [NO2] and 0zone [O3]) on children hospital outpatients with respiratory diseases in Shijiazhuang, China. Methods Three years (2013–2015) of daily data, including cause-specific respiratory outpatient records and the concentrations of five air pollutants, were collected to examine the short-term association between air pollution and children’s respiratory diseases; using a quasi-Poisson regression generalized additive model. Stratified analyses by season and age were also performed. Results From 2013 to 2015, a total of 551,678 hospital outpatient records for children with respiratory diseases were collected in Shijiazhuang, China. A 10 μg/m3 increase in a two-day average concentration (lag01) of NO2, PM2.5, and SO2 corresponded to an increase of 0.66% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.30–1.03%), 0.13% (95% CI: 0.02–0.24%), and 0.33% (95% CI: 0.10–0.56%) in daily hospital outpatient visits for children with respiratory diseases, respectively. The effects were stronger in the transition season (April, May, September and October) than in other seasons (the hot season [June to August] and the cool season [November to March]). Furthermore, results indicated a generally stronger association in older (7–14 years of age) than younger children (

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The root of Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae), a traditional Chinese medicine, was mainly used in ancient times in the treatment of urinary calculi, recurrent headache and joint pain. Aim of the study: Our aims were to explore the potential therapeutic effect of the extract of Averrhoa carambola L. (Oxalidaceae) roots (EACR) against hepatic fibrosis in CCl4-treated rats and to understand the underlying molecular mechanism. Materials and methods: Six groups of male Sprague Dawley rats were treated as follows: vehicle (olive oil), CCl4 alone, CCl4+colchicine, CCl4+EACR 1.0 g/kg, CCl4+EACR 0.5 g/kg and CCl4+EACR 0.25 g/kg. At the end of the 12th week, biomarkers of liver function, liver fibrosis, hepatic oxidative stress and antioxidant status were assayed, and histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation of liver tissue were conducted to investigate the liver damage and fibrosis degree. Furthermore, expressions of COL-1a1, α-SMA, TGF-β1, Smad2, smad3, Smad4 and TIMP2 were examined by qPCR and/or western blot. The expressions of apoptosis-related proteins were also detected using western blot analysis. Results: EACR treatment markedly reduced the CCl4-induced elevation of serum aminotransferase activities, liver fibrosis indexes, and the extent of oxidative stress. EACR treatment also significantly reduced the accumulation of collagen and the immunostaining of α-SMA, TGF-β1 and Smad2, 4 and 7 in the liver of CCl4 treated rats. In addition, EACR treatment markedly reversed the CCl4-induced increase in mRNA expression of COL-1a1, α-SMA, TIMP2, TGF-β1, Smad2 and Smad4 and suppressed the expressions of α-SMA, TIMP2, TGF-β1, smad2, 3 and 4, BAX and cleaved caspase-3 proteins. Meanwhile, EACR treatment also significantly elevated the mRNA expression of Smad7 and the protein expression of Smad7 and Bcl-2. Conclusion: These results suggest that EACR has protective activity against liver fibrosis. The anti-fibrotic activity of EACR in vivo is associated with enhanced antioxidant, apoptosis-inhibition and increased MMP-2/TIMP-2 expression ratio, and with modulation of TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway.

Abstract Background Burnout is a health problem in nurses. Individuals with a certain personality are more susceptible to job-related burnout. General self-efficacy (GSE) is an important predictor of job-related burnout. The relationships between general self-efficacy, job-related burnout and different personality types are still not clear. This study aims to analyze the relationships of job-related burnout, stress, general self-efficacy and personality types, as well as their interactions in job-related burnout. Method A cross-sectional survey of 860 nurses was conducted between June and July 2015 in China. We measured their job-related burnout using the scale of the Maslach Occupational Burnout Scale, and personality, stress, and GSE. Machine learning of generalized linear model were performed. Results Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) professional efficacy was significantly associated with gender, marital status, age, job title and length of service. A machine learning algorithm showed that stress was the most important factor in job-related burnout, followed by GSE, personality type (introvert unstable), and job title. Individuals with low GSE and either introversion or unstable (high neuroticism) personality seemed to have stronger burnout when they faced stress (regardless of stress intensity) compared to others. Conclusion Stress, GSE and introvert unstable personality are the top three factors of job-related burnout. GSE moderates the effect of stress on burnout in nurses with extroversion or neuroticism personality. Reducing stress, increasing GSE, and more social support may alleviate job-related burnout in nurses. Nurses with introvert unstable personality should be given more social support in reducing stress and enhancing their GSE.

To study the impact sensitivity and damage effect of PTFE-matrix energetic materials, PTFE-matrix specimens and liners were prepared by molding-vacuum sintering to carry out drop-hammer and impact experiments. The results show that the two metal additives contributed to reducing the impact sensitivity of Al/PTFE. The energy release level of Al/Ni/PTFE and Al/W/PTFE with the same metal content was different at different drop heights. In addition, the collision process, black burning marks and carbon indicate that the energetic liner reacted during the impact process. All perforations were petal-shaped holes because of better radial expansion effect of products. The seven groups of energetic liners can penetrate 3 mm steel plate. The Al/W/PTFE liner with volume fraction of 5% W had the strongest reaming capacity due to its higher strength and density than Al/PTFE liner. The 3 mm steel plate with low strength failed prematurely and the impact energy did not initiate the Ni-Al intermetallic reaction because of low sensitivity of Al/Ni/PTFE. Therefore, the energy release of Al/Ni/PTFE was lower than that of Al/W/PTFE. Only Al/Ni/PTFE liner with volume fraction of 15% Ni can penetrate 10 mm steel plate due to its higher strength and density compared with Al/PTFE and other Al/Ni/PTFE liners. But different with Al/W/PTFE liners, the energy released by the reaction of Al/PTFE initiated the Ni-Al combination, which greatly increased the energy release of the Al/Ni/PTFE and provided better damage effect. The damage effect of reactive materials on target is affected by its strength, density and energy release.

Remote sensing images have been widely applied in various industries; nevertheless, the resolution of such images is relatively low. Panchromatic sharpening (pan-sharpening) is a research focus in the image fusion domain of remote sensing. Pan-sharpening is used to generate high-resolution multispectral (HRMS) images making full use of low-resolution multispectral (LRMS) images and panchromatic (PAN) images. Traditional pan-sharpening has the problems of spectral distortion, ringing effect, and low resolution. The convolutional neural network (CNN) is gradually applied to pan-sharpening. Aiming at the aforementioned problems, we propose a distributed fusion framework based on residual CNN (RCNN), namely, RDFNet, which realizes the data fusion of three channels. It can make the most of the spectral information and spatial information of LRMS and PAN images. The proposed fusion network employs a distributed fusion architecture to make the best of the fusion outcome of the previous step in the fusion channel, so that the subsequent fusion acquires much more spectral and spatial information. Moreover, two feature extraction channels are used to extract the features of MS and PAN images respectively, using the residual module, and features of different scales are used for the fusion channel. In this way, spectral distortion and spatial information loss are reduced. Employing data from four different satellites to compare the proposed RDFNet, the results of the experiment show that the proposed RDFNet has superior performance in improving spatial resolution and preserving spectral information, and has good robustness and generalization in improving the fusion quality.

Background: Hyperglycemia stimulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in initiating and progressing renal fibrosis in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). It is crucial to explore novel renal protective drugs for the treatment of DKD. Objective: The present study is to confirm our hypothesis and to accumulate the information for the application of DMDD (2-Dodecyl-6-methoxycyclohexa-2,5-diene-1,4-dione) as a novel therapeutic agent to potentially inhibit renal fibrogenesis and EMT in the DKD. Methods: High glucose induced renal proximal tubular epithelial cell line (HK-2 cells) was cultured and treated with DMDD. The cell viability and DMDD cytotoxicity were assessed by CCK8. Immunofluorescence was used for detection of TLR4 and downstream protein in normal and high glucose induced HK-2 cells. HK-2 cells were transfected with lentivirus codifying for BAMBI (BMP and activin membrane bound inhibitor) and interfering RNA for determination of the effect of BAMBI over-expression and silencing, respectively. TLR4-BAMBI-Smad2/3 pathway was analyzed by means of RT-PCR and western blot. Results: A high concentration (60mM) of glucose induced significant EMT process and TLR4 expression was increased obviously in this circumstance. DMDD inhibited high expressions of TLR4 and Smad2/3 in HG induced cells and decreased the expression of BAMBI. In addition, the effects of decreased BAMBI expression and increased Smad2/3 expression in HG cultured cells were reversed in the cells of TAK-242 (TLR4 signaling inhibitor) intervention. BAMBI gene silencing dramatically increased EMT process and the over-expression of BAMBI was opposite in HK-2 cells with HG condition. These observations of EMT were ameliorated when the HK-2 cells were pre-treated with DMDD. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that DMDD treatment improves EMT in the HG induced HK-2 cells. In addition, DMDD significantly inhibits EMT by TLR4-BAMBI-Smad2/3 pathway, which hints that DMDD may be an alternative approach in diabetic renal injury.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), coupled with maternal inheritance and relatively high mutation rates, provides a pivotal way for us to investigate the formation histories of populations. The Hui minority with Islamic faith is one of the most widely distributed ethnic groups in China. However, the exploration of Hui’s genetic architecture from the complete mitochondrial genome perspective has not been detected yet. Therefore, in this study, we employed the complete mitochondrial genomes of 98 healthy and unrelated individuals from Northwest China, as well as 99 previously published populations containing 7274 individuals from all over the world as reference data, to comprehensively dissect the matrilineal landscape of Hui group. Our results demonstrated that Hui group exhibited closer genetic relationships with Chinese Han populations from different regions, which was largely attributable to the widespread of haplogroups D4, D5, M7, B4, and F1 in these populations. The demographic expansion of Hui group might occur during the Late Pleistocene. Finally, we also found that Hui group might have gene exchanges with Uygur, Tibetan, and Tajik groups in different degrees and retain minor genetic imprint of European-specific lineages, therefore, hinting the existence of multi-ethnic integration events in shaping the genetic landscape of Chinese Hui group.

With regards to the electromagnetic measurement while drilling (EM-MWD), the extremely-low frequency electromagnetic wave signal (ELF-EM) below 20 Hz is usually used as the carrier of downhole measurement data due to the transmission characteristics of the electromagnetic wave (EM). However, influenced by the low frequency noise of drilling, the ELF-EM signal will be inevitably interfered by field noise, which ultimately impedes decoding. The Fourier band-pass filter can effectively remove out-of-band noise but is incapable of handling in-band noise. Therefore, based on the traditional method, a hybrid algorithm of adaptive Wiener algorithm and correlation detection (AWCD) is designed, so as to enhance the in-band noise processing capability, and the effectiveness of such algorithm is well verified through coding and decoding simulation as well as experimental data. The proposed algorithm, as indicated by theoretical analysis and test data, can effectively solve actual engineering issues, providing methodological references to engineers and technicians.

When the Al/Ta/PTFE reactive material was sintered at 360 °C in a vacuum sintering furnace, it was found that the material reacted to form a soft fluffy white substance and carbon black. To explore the reaction process further, powder samples of pure PTFE, Al/PTFE, Ta/PTFE and Al/Ta/PTFE, and molded cylindrical specimens were prepared. A TG-DSC test was carried out on the thermal reaction of four reactive materials, and XRD phase analysis was conducted on the white product, formed by the sintering reaction and the residue of the TG-DSC test sample, based on which of the pyrolysis processes and reaction mechanisms were analyzed. The results show that Ta and PTFE could have a chemical reaction at sintering temperature (360 °C) to form soft and fluffy white material TaF3 and carbon black, which can overflow the surface of the specimen and cause cracking of the specimen, which is tightly pressed. Since no obvious exothermic peak showed up on the TG-DSC curve, the composition of the residue of TG-DSC sample at different temperatures was tested and TaF3 was detected in the residue at 350 °C and 360 °C, indicating that Ta began to react with PTFE at a temperature range of 340−350 °C. According to the chemical properties and product formation of Ta, it could be speculated that the reaction mechanism between Ta and PTFE involves the PTFE decomposing first, then the fluorine-containing gas product reacting with metal Ta. According to the temperature range of the reaction, it is estimated that PTFE starts to decompose before 500 °C, but it is not detected effectively by TG-DSC, and the introduction of Ta could also affect the decomposition process of PTFE.

Activation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is known to induce cell apoptosis. MicroRNA-374a (miR-374a), which can suppress PTEN expression, has been found abnormally expressed in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Fortunellin is a citrus flavonoid that is a potential anti-inflammation agent in inflammatory diseases. The present study investigated the effects and mechanisms underlying fortunellin-induced inhibition of PTEN in IBD. Colitis was established in rats by the intracolonic administration of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid to mimic human ulcerative colitis, which is the main type of IBD. miR-374a expression was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and the regulation of PTEN by miR-374a was evaluated by dual luciferase reporter assay. Western blotting was used to measure the corresponding protein expression. Fortunellin ameliorated colitis symptoms, including excessive inflammation and oxidative stress. Fortunellin decreased epithelial cell apoptosis through inhibiting PTEN expression in colitis. Fortunellin-induced downregulation of PTEN could be counteracted by miR-374a depletion. Moreover, knockdown of miR-374a in vivo partly inhibited the effects of fortunellin on rat colitis. In conclusion, PTEN inhibition contributes to the amelioration effects of fortunellin on colitis. It was confirmed that fortunellin targets miR-374a, which is a negative regulator of PTEN. This study provides novel insights into the pathological mechanisms and treatment alternatives of colitis.

We obtained the complete mitochondrial genome of the Indochinese Forest Rat (Rattus andamanensis). The genome is 16,304 bp in length and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 1 control region. The composition and arrangement of genes are analogous to other vertebrates. We used all PCGs to construct phylogenetic tree for R. andamanensis and other 15 Rattus species available on GenBank. The topology indicated that the genus Rattus has two groups and R. andamanensis has a close relationship with R. baluensis, R. tiomanicus, R. rattus, and R. tanezumi.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Southeast Asian shrew (Crocidura fuliginosa) was first sequenced and characterized. The genome was 16,967 base pairs (bp) in length containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The composition and arrangement of genes were analogous to other vertebrates. All PCGs were used to construct phylogenetic tree for C. fuliginosa and other 12 Crocidura species available on GenBank. Phylogenetic result indicated that C. fuliginosa has a close relationship with C. lasiura and C. attenuate. Our results will provide information for further molecular studies about this genus.

To analyze the mechanical properties and reaction characteristics of Al-ZrH2-PTFE (aluminum-zirconium hydride-polytetrafluoroethylene) composites under quasi-static compression, five types of specimens with different ZrH2 contents (0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 30%) were prepared by molding-vacuum sintering. The true stress-strain curves and reaction rates of the different specimens were measured using quasi-static compression. The specific reaction processes were recorded by a high-speed camera. The corresponding reaction products were characterized by the XRD phase analysis, the calorific value was tested by a Calorimeter, and the reaction mechanism was analyzed. According to the results, the strength of the composites increased first and then decreased with the increase in the content of ZrH2. It reached a maximum of 101.01 MPa at 5%. Violent reaction occurred, and special flames were observed during the reaction of the specimens with 5% ZrH2. With the increase in the content of ZrH2, the chemical reaction was hard to induce due to the reduction in strength and toughness of composites. The reaction mechanism of Al/ZrH2/PTFE reveals that high temperatures at crack tip induced the reaction of Al and PTFE. Subsequently, ZrH2 decomposed to release hydrogen and generate ZrC. Calorimetric experiment shows that the calorific value of Al/ZrH2/PTFE with 20% ZrH2 is higher than that of Al/PTFE. The findings verify the potential of ZrH2 as an energetic additive for the enhancement of strength and release of the energy of the composites.

To better understand the thermal decomposition and reaction process of a fluorine-containing powdery thermite, PTFE/Al/MnO2, reactions at different temperatures were investigated by the TG/DSC-MS technique. The corresponding reaction products were characterized with XRD phase analysis. Another three thermite materials, i.e., PTFE/Al, Al/MnO2, and PTFE/MnO2, were also prepared for comparison. Results showed that PTFE behaved as both oxidizer and reducer in PTFE/Al/MnO2 fluorinated thermite. The thermal decomposition and reaction process of as-fabricated ternary thermite could be divided into two stages—the mutual reaction between each of PTFE, Al, and MnO2 and the subsequent reaction produced between Al and Mn2O3/Mn3O4/MnF2. Compared with the three control systems, the specially designed ternary system possessed a shorter reaction time, a faster energy release rate, and a better heat release performance.

Demand response (DR) has become an effective and critical method for obtaining better savings on energy consumption and cost. Buildings are the potential demand response resource since they contribute nearly 50% of the electricity usage. Currently, more DR applications for buildings were rule-based or utilized a simplified physical model. These methods may not fully embody the interaction among various features in the building. Based on the tree model, this paper presents a novel model based control with a random forest (MBCRF) learning algorithm for the demand response of commercial buildings. The baseline load of demand response and optimal control strategies are solved to respond to the DR request signals during peak load periods. Energy cost saving of the building is achieved and occupant’s thermal comfort is guaranteed simultaneously. A linguistic if-then rules-based optimal feature selection framework is also utilized to redefine the training and test set. Numerical testing results of the Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland (PJM) electricity market and Research and Support Facility (RSF) building show that the load forecasting error is as low as 1.28%. The peak load reduction is up to 40 kW, which achieves a 15% curtailment and outperforms rule-based DR by 5.6%.