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Triethanolamine (TEA) has been broadly used as the organic amine conditioning agent to modify the workability of cement-based materials. However, the effect of TEA on the structure and property of porous silicate cement membranes has not been reported. In this paper, TEA was applied to study its effect on parameters of porous silicate cement membranes based on the preparation method combining freeze casting and heat-dry curing, because it is easy to form complexes with cement particles. The effect and acting mechanism of TEA on porous silicate cement membranes were researched using a series of characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Results showed that TEA significantly improved the performance of porous silicate cement membranes. The addition of TEA changed the pore morphology of porous silicate cement membranes from lamellar structures to cellular structures, with mesoporous size distribution focusing on 2.5–4.5 nm at TEA doping ratio of 0.16 wt%. The oil-water separation performance could reach up to 99.6 %. Through comprehensive comparison, the porous silicate cement membrane with 1.0 wt% TEA showed better holistic preponderance of oil-water separation and permeation flux. Quantum chemistry calculation and MD simulation were used to briefly explain the influence of TEA on phase transformation. MD showed that adding TEA changed the morphology and structure of ice crystals. The percentage of the Ih structure significantly increased from 53 % to 86 % after adding TEA. This study might expand the application of TEA in other aspects and enlighten relevant workers in new experimental designs. [Display omitted] • TEA noticeably changed the pore morphology form lamellar to cellular structures. • Cement membranes doped TEA showed excellent separation performance and stability. • Effects of TEA on crystals were analyzed via quantum chemistry and MD simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil water-holding capacity decreases due to long-term mineral fertilizer application. The objective of this study was to determine how replacing mineral fertilizer with maize straw affected the soil water retention curve, soil water content, soil water availability, and soil equivalent pore size. Replacement treatments in which 25% (S25), 50% (S50), 75% (S75), and 100% (S100) of 225 kg ha−1 nitrogen from mineral fertilizer (CK) was replaced with equivalent nitrogen from maize straw were conducted for five years in the Loess Plateau of China. The Gardner model was used to fit the soil water retention curve and calculate the soil water constant and equivalent pore size distribution. The results indicated that the Gardner model fitted well. Replacing nitrogen from mineral fertilizer with nitrogen from straw increased soil specific water capacity, soil readily available water, soil delayed available water, soil available water, soil capillary porosity, and soil available water porosity over time. S25 increased field capacity and wilting point from the fourth fertilization year. S50 enhanced soil readily available water, soil delayed available water, soil available water, and soil available water porosity from the fifth fertilization year, whereas S25 and S75 increased these from the third fertilization year or earlier. Soil specific water capacity, soil readily available water, soil delayed available water, soil available water, soil capillary porosity, and soil available water porosity could better reflect soil water-holding capacity and soil water supply capacity compared with field capacity and wilting point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The use of organic amendments improves soil functioning and thus crop productivity. Our previous studies have shown that the banding of organic amendments increases the transpiration efficiency (TE) of wheat plants, but the underlying mechanism remained unclear. This study aims to determine whether and how the organic amendments can increase the TE of corn plants (Zea mays L.). Methods: The effects of nutrient-enriched poultry litter, compost and brown coal on TE were compared with inorganic fertilizer. Corn plants were grown in Chromosol topsoil in pots for 50 days. Results: The poultry litter and compost but not brown coal, increased the TE of corn plants by 25% and 14%, respectively (P < 0.05), compared to inorganic fertilizer. At the leaf level, poultry litter and compost also increased the instantaneous TE due to either decreased transpiration or increased instantaneous CO2 assimilation rates. The increased TE at the plant level was closely associated with increased abundances of soil fungi, bacteria and bacteria in genus Bacillus. Meanwhile, there were increases in the concentrations of leaf hormones abscisic acid (ABA) (> 50%), methyl jasmonate (JA) (> 80%) and indole acetic acid (IAA). Conclusion: Organic amendments enhanced the population of plant beneficial soil microorganisms such as those in the Bacillus genus, which likely led to the increased biosynthesis of leaf hormones ABA and JA, resulting in stomatal close, reduced total transpiration and increased transpiration efficiency of the corn canopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To comprehensively evaluate the impact of agricultural management practices on soil productivity, it is imperative to conduct a thorough analysis of soil bacterial ecology. Deep‐banding nutrient‐rich amendments is a soil management practice that aims to improve plant growth and soil structure by addressing the plant‐growth constraints posed by dense‐clay subsoils. However, the response of bacterial communities to deep‐banded amendments has not been thoroughly studied. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a controlled‐environment column experiment to examine the effects of different types of soil amendments (poultry litter, wheat straw + chemical fertiliser and chemical fertiliser alone) on bacterial taxonomic composition in simulated dense‐clay subsoils. We evaluated the bacterial taxonomic and ecological group composition in soils beside and below the amendment using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and robust statistical methods. Our results indicate that deep‐banded amendments alter bacterial communities through direct and indirect mechanisms. All amendments directly facilitated a shift in bacterial communities in the absence of growing wheat. However, a combination of amendments with growing wheat led to a more pronounced bacterial community shift which was distinct from and eclipsed the direct impact of the amendments and plants alone. This indirect mechanism was evidenced to be mediated primarily by plant growth and hypothesised to result from an enhancement in wheat root distribution, density and rhizodeposition changes. Therefore, we propose that subsoil amendments regardless of type facilitated an expansion in the rhizosphere which engineered a substantial plant‐mediated bacterial community response within the simulated dense‐clay subsoils. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering the complex and synergistic interactions between soil physicochemical properties, plant growth and bacterial communities when assessing agricultural management strategies for improving soil and plant productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the effects of different cropping rotations on soil moisture and economic benefit. Cabbage–maize–cabbage (CMC), beans–maize–cabbage (BMC), and cabbage–cabbage–cabbage (CCC) treatments were set up to study the effects of different crop rotation combinations on soil water storage, evapotranspiration (ET), water use efficiency (WUE), and economic benefit. The results showed that the average soil moisture content decreased initially and then increased with crop rotation, whereas it continued to decrease with continuous cabbage cropping as the crop grew. CMC reduced ET, whereas BMC increased ET from the nodulation to maturation stages of cabbage compared with CCC in the third experimental year. WUE of different crops showed that cabbage > maize > beans. The economic benefit of the CMC was higher than the other treatments in the third planting year. Therefore, the best crop rotation combination in this area is cabbage–maize–cabbage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of porous cement-based materials via freeze casting is a process with great potential. However, freeze-drying and steam curing complicate the preparation process and increase the preparation period. To simplify the process, heat-dry curing was used for replacing freeze-drying and steam curing during operation. The new preparation method combined freeze casting and heat-dry curing possesses characteristics of low-energy, simplicity, and time-saving. Compared with the traditional preparation method of porous cement-based materials, the novel preparation process can shorten preparation time by at least 16 % and retrench energy consumption by at least 18 %. As the improvement condition, temperature of heat-drying curing has great influence on the structure and performance of the samples. Therefore, it is of great significance to discuss the relationship between heat-dry temperatures and structural parameters by SEM, N 2 -adsorption/desorption, TG, and ATR-FTIR. Lamellar pores of membranes can be easier observed at low temperatures than that at 100 °C. The separation performance of oil-water is generally improved with the increase of temperature. Meanwhile, the molecular dynamics simulation was operated to illustrate the reaction mechanism of hydration with three temperatures. This study probably provides more theoretical basis for expanding the application of porous silicate cement membranes. [Display omitted] • Novel coupled method simplifies the fabricating process complexity of cement-based samples. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures on porous silicate cement membranes are discussed. • Silicate cement membranes own excellent permeation, oil-water separation and mechanical strengths. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures are illustrated by using molecular dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparation of porous cement-based materials via freeze casting is a process with great potential. However, freeze-drying and steam curing complicate the preparation process and increase the preparation period. To simplify the process, heat-dry curing was used for replacing freeze-drying and steam curing during operation. The new preparation method combined freeze casting and heat-dry curing possesses characteristics of low-energy, simplicity, and time-saving. Compared with the traditional preparation method of porous cement-based materials, the novel preparation process can shorten preparation time by at least 16 % and retrench energy consumption by at least 18 %. As the improvement condition, temperature of heat-drying curing has great influence on the structure and performance of the samples. Therefore, it is of great significance to discuss the relationship between heat-dry temperatures and structural parameters by SEM, N 2 -adsorption/desorption, TG, and ATR-FTIR. Lamellar pores of membranes can be easier observed at low temperatures than that at 100 °C. The separation performance of oil-water is generally improved with the increase of temperature. Meanwhile, the molecular dynamics simulation was operated to illustrate the reaction mechanism of hydration with three temperatures. This study probably provides more theoretical basis for expanding the application of porous silicate cement membranes. [Display omitted] • Novel coupled method simplifies the fabricating process complexity of cement-based samples. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures on porous silicate cement membranes are discussed. • Silicate cement membranes own excellent permeation, oil-water separation and mechanical strengths. • Influences of heat-dry curing temperatures are illustrated by using molecular dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brain network serves as the physiological foundation for information processing of the brain. Many studies have reported abnormalities of gamma oscillations in Schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the gamma-band connectivity in Schizophrenia patients. We recorded the resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) for 15 schizophrenia patients with refractory auditory hallucinations and 14 healthy controls, with eyes open and closed. The brain network was constructed based on weighted phase lag index for gamma band. Whole scalp metrics (clustering coefficient, global efficiency and local efficiency) and local region metrics (degree and betweenness centrality) in the frontal and temporal lobes were computed. Correlation analyses between network metrics and symptom scales were examined to find associations with symptom severity. Schizophrenia patients had larger global efficiency and local efficiency (p < 0.05) with eyes closed, probably representing greater brain activity and information exchange. For degree and betweenness centrality, schizophrenia patients showed an increase (p < 0.05) in the temporal lobe but a decrease (p < 0.05) in the frontal lobe with eyes closed and open, potentially account for the patients' symptoms such as hallucinations and thought disorders. Local efficiency and frontal lobe degree were positively and negatively correlated with the scales, respectively (both p < 0.05). Altered connectivity of the resting state brain network has been revealed and may be associated with the core symptoms of schizophrenia. Our study provides promising evidence for the investigation of the pathological basis of Schizophrenia and could aid in objective diagnosis. • Gamma connectivity of schizophrenia with refractory auditory hallucinations was analysed using weighted phase lag index. • Hypo-connectivity in the frontal lobe and hyper-connectivity in the temporal lobe and whole scalp were found. • Our findings provided promising evidence for pathological research in schizophrenia and may aid objective diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bent-blade cutter is widely used in machining typical deep-cavity parts such as turbine discs and disc shafts, but few scholars have studied the dynamics of the turning process. The existing mechanism of regenerative chatter in the metal-cutting process does not consider the influence of bending and torsional vibration, the change of tool profile and the complex machining geometry, so it cannot be directly used to reveal the underlying cause of the chatter phenomena in the deep inner cavity part turning process. This paper attempts to investigate the dynamic problem of the bent-blade cutter turning process. The dynamic model of a bent-blade cutter is proposed by considering the regenerative chatter effect. Based on the extended Timoshenko beam element (E-TBM) theory and finite element method (FEM), the coupling between the bending vibrations and the torsional vibrations, as well as the dynamic cutting forces, are modeled along the turning path. The vibration characteristics of the bending–torsion combination of cutter board and cutter bar, together with the dynamical governing equation, were analyzed theoretically. The chatter stability of a bent-blade cutter with a bending and torsion combination effect is predicted in the turning process. A series of turning experiments are carried out to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the presented model. Furthermore, the influence of cutting parameters on the cutting process is analyzed, and the results can be used to optimize the cutting parameters for suppressing machining vibration and improving machining process stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a single nucleotide polymorphism of HTR4 (hydroxytryptamine receptor 4) was detected using DNA sequencing and KASPar (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) technique with the aim of analyzing its effect on growth traits in 1102 sheep. A synonymous mutation g.101220 C > T located on the fifth intron of the ovis HTR4 gene was detected, and association analysis showed that this mutation was significantly associated with growth traits in sheep (p ＜.05), with TT genotypes having significantly lower body weight, height, length and chest circumference than TC and CC genotypes. It showed that the polymorphism of this locus was significantly associated with growth traits in sheep. In addition, qRT-PCR results showed that HTR4 was expressed in different tissues of sheep. It is highly expressed in the liver, spleen and duodenum. As important metabolic, immune and digestive absorption organs in animals, the above tissues can regulate the excitability of intestinal smooth muscle by participating in the body metabolism and nutrient metabolism of sheep, so that sheep can show better growth characteristics. In conclusion, the polymorphic locus identified in HTR4 gene can be used as candidate molecular marker in sheep breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extended lifespan of mechanical oscillator enables its utilization as a reliable medium for information storage. Optomechanical system coupling the cavity mode with mechanical oscillator is a promising device that can transfer the information from the light field to the mechanical oscillator for storage. In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme for quantum state transfer between the optical mode and mechanical oscillator by introducing pulsed coupling to an optomechanical system. By analyzing all the second-order moments, we give a general condition for the pulsed coupling that can guarantee the optomechanical state conversion stably. Then, we take a Gaussian-type pulsed coupling as an example to examine the analysis and show that the state initially prepared in optical mode can be transferred to the mechanical mode stably with high fidelity for storage. Moreover, our scheme exhibits high robustness against the thermal fluctuation of mechanical mode, as well as the variations in the control pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complex integral structure design of the deep cavity parts, large overhang bent-blade cutter is used to machining such parts. Thus, the tools' complex geometry structure, large overhang, and low stiffness, resulting in lateral, axial, and torsional vibration in the machining process, making the actual machining trajectory deviate from the theoretical value, seriously affect the processing quality, producing violent vibration. Therefore, this paper established a model to predict the surface topography of bent-blade cutter considering the combined vibration effect of bending and torsion, including the complicated process geometries, varying tool profiles, and multi-direction vibrations. The influencing factors of the turning surface topography are studied. Meanwhile, based on the cutting edge trajectory, the surface topography is simulated and analyzed by considering the static offset and dynamic vibration of the tool. Besides, based on the extended Timoshenko beam model (E-TBM) theory, the control equation of bent-blade cutter considering the combined effect of bending and torsion is derived and solved by finite element method (FEM). Finally, a series of turning experiments are carried out to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the presented model. The influence rule of turning parameters on surface roughness was studied by theoretical and experimental results, and the turning parameters were optimized to improve the machining quality and accuracy of deep cavity parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to use nitrogen fertilizer is crucial for farmers in boosting crop yield and fostering sustainable agricultural development. We hypothesized that replacing the nitrogen (N) provided by mineral fertilizer with manure would enhance the soil water storage, increase water use efficiency (WUE), maintain maize yield, and improve economic benefits. We performed the experiment by replacing 0% (CK), 25% (M25), 50% (M50), 75% (M75), and 100% (M100) of mineral N fertilizer (225 kg ha–1) with an equivalent amount of N from manure during 2016–2019. M25 and M50 increased the soil water storage at 0–2 m depth after maize harvest, while M25 significantly decreased the evapotranspiration by 5.27–22.14% compared with CK. The replacement treatments significantly increased maize yield and WUE by 6.58–13.62% and 5.68–18.00%, respectively, during the fourth fertilization year. Meanwhile, the net benefits of the replacement treatments were significantly higher than that of CK in the year of higher precipitation and irrigation water. M75 significantly increased net benefits by 8.47–35.51% compared with CK. M75 had the highest comprehensive evaluation score. Thus, the study proposes a combination of 75% N from manure with 25% N from mineral fertilizer to achieve a high maize yield and benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are prevalent and distressing concerns for women worldwide. The prevalence of LUTS reaches the first peak during pregnancy and postnatal period. However, less attention has been paid to LUTS around childbirth and little progress has been made in the prevention of LUTS. Understanding the epidemiological characteristics of LUTS around childbirth would inform decision making for health care providers and perinatal women in the prevention of LUTS. The study aims to investigate the epidemiological trends and associated risk factors related to LUTS around childbirth. Methods: Pregnant women were consecutively enrolled during pregnancy in the obstetrical wards of a tertiary hospital and followed up at 6–8 weeks and one year postpartum through a prospective design. Urinary incontinence was assessed with the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form. Other symptoms were measured with questions based on definitions of the International Incontinence Society. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the risk factors for LUTS including urinary incontinence, increased daytime frequency, nocturia and urgency. The report followed the STROBE statement. Results: A total of 1243 pregnant women participated in this study. The prevalence of at least one type of storage symptoms was 94%, 55% and 35% in late pregnancy, at 6–8 weeks and one year postpartum, respectively. The prevalence of urinary incontinence remained at 21% within one year postpartum. The majority of the participants suffered from mild to moderate urinary incontinence. Age, job, BMI before pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus, urinary tract infection history, previous history of LUTS, age at first birth and birth mode were predictors of LUTS one year postpartum. Conclusion: LUTS were highly prevalent during pregnancy and postnatal period. The prevalence of urinary incontinence was more stable than that of other LUTS within one year postpartum. Women aged more than 35 years, engaging in manual work, with gestational diabetes mellitus, with a history of urinary tract infection and LUTS, with advanced age at first birth and vaginal delivery were more likely to suffer from LUTS postpartum. The findings provided a novel and deep insight into the epidemiological trends and related risk factors of LUTS around childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current routine endometrial preparation protocol for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is hormone replacement treatment (HRT). Letrozole is rarely used in frozen embryo cycles. Evidence confirming whether letrozole-stimulated (LS) protocol is suitable for frozen embryo transfer in patients with PCOS and for whom is suitable remains lacking. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study involving all frozen embryo transfer cycles with LS and HRT for PCOS during the period from Jan 2019 to December 2020 at a tertiary care center. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the differences in clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate, miscarriage rate, the incidence of other pregnancy and obstetric outcomes between LS and HRT protocols after adjusting for possible confounding factors. Subgroup analysis was used to explore the population for which LS protocol was suitable. Results: The results of multivariate logistic regression showed that LS was significantly associated with a higher clinical pregnancy rate (70.9% vs. 64.4%;aOR:1.41, 95%CI: 1.18,1.68), live birth rate (60.5% vs. 51.4% aOR:1.49, 95%CI: 1.27,1.76), and a lower risk of miscarriage (14.7% vs. 20.1% aOR: 0.68, 95%CI: 0.53,0.89), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (6.7% vs. 8.9% aOR: 0.63, 95%CI: 0.42,0.95), and gestational diabetes mellitus (16.7% vs. 20.7% aOR:0.71, 95%CI: 0.53,0.93) than HRT. There were no significant differences in other outcomes such as preterm birth, cesarean delivery, small for gestational age, or large for gestational age between the two endometrial preparation protocols. Subgroup analysis showed that LS had higher live birth rates than HRT in most of the subgroups; in the three subgroups of maternal age ≥ 35 years, menstrual cycle < 35 days, and no insulin resistance, the live birth rates of the two endometrial preparation protocols were comparable. Conclusions: LS protocol could improve the live birth rate and reduce the incidence of miscarriage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus in patients with PCOS. LS protocol is suitable for all types of patients with PCOS. LS should be considered the preferred endometrial preparation protocol for women with PCOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictability and variability of extratropical climate are largely associated with tropical forcing through various teleconnections. The East Asia–Pacific/Pacific-Japan (EAP/PJ) teleconnection is one of the most important factors affecting the summer climate in East Asia. In this work, we confirm the weakening relationship between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the following summer PJ teleconnection after the late 1990s and diagnose the possible causes. The results show that compared with that of in 1981–1998, ENSO is less conducive to the formation of anomalous anticyclones in the following summer in the Northwest Pacific (NWP) and the northward propagating Rossby wave train from latitudes of NWP in 2000–2017, resulting in a weaker summer PJ teleconnection. Meanwhile, variation of ENSO feature since 2000 with a suppressed variability leads to a weakened response in the tropical Indian Ocean in the spring and summer. The reduced sea surface temperature response in the tropical Indian Ocean suppresses the excitation of eastward-propagating Kelvin waves and declines the capacitor effect of the Indian Ocean, which is unfavorable for generating anomalies in the NWP and motivating strong PJ teleconnection in meridional direction. Thus, the weakening relationship of ENSO-PJ after late 1990s is the result of the weakened ENSO's impact on the formation of anticyclones in the following summer in NWP and the declined Indian Ocean capacitor effect on motivating meridionals wave train over East Asia and NWP region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For infertile women with overweight/obesity and insulin resistance (IR), it is uncertain whether intervention before infertility treatment can improve live birth rate (LBR). We implemented a factorial-design study to explore the effectiveness of lifestyle and metformin interventions. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a definitive study. Methods: We randomised 80 women without polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) who planned to start their first or second IVF/ICSI treatment with a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2 and IR. Participants were randomised (1:1:1:1) into four groups: (A) lifestyle intervention, (B) metformin intervention, (C) lifestyle + metformin intervention, or (D) no intervention. All interventions were performed before IVF/ICSI treatment. Results: During 10 months, 114 women were screened and eligible; 80 were randomised, and 72 received the assigned treatment. The recruitment rate was 70.18% (80/114, 95% CI 61.65%–78.70%). An average of 10 participants were randomised each month. None of the participants crossed over from one group to another. Approximately 93.15% (68/73) of the participants achieved good intervention compliance. Only 77.78% (56/72) of the recruited participants started infertility treatment after achieving the goal of the intervention. All randomised participants completed the follow-up. Mild adverse events after metformin administration were reported in 43.24% (16/37) of the cases, although no serious adverse events related to the interventions occurred. The LBR for groups A + C and B + D were 33.33% (12/36) and 33.33% (12/36) (RR = 1.00, 95%CI:0.52–1.92) (lifestyle intervention effect). The LBR for groups B + C and A + D were 43.24% (16/37) and 22.86% (8/35) (RR = 1.89, 95% CI:0.93–3.86) (metformin intervention effect). There was no evidence for an intervention interaction between lifestyle and metformin. We cannot yet confirm the effects of lifestyle, metformin, or their interaction owing to the insufficient sample size in this pilot study. Conclusions: Instituting a 2 × 2 factorial design randomized controlled trial (RCT) is feasible, as the pilot study showed a high recruitment rate and compliance. There is no evidence that lifestyle or metformin improves live birth, and adequately powered clinical trials are required. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov NCT03898037. Registered: April 1, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term and excessive use of mineral fertilizers in a semi-arid region with severe water shortage will lead to soil compaction and poor water-holding capacity. The fertilization method of manure instead of mineral fertilizer has attracted wide attention. It has adverse consequences for the growth and development of crops. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine how replacing mineral fertilizer with manure affects the soil water retention curve, soil water constant, soil water availability, and soil equivalent pore size distribution, and to seek the best scheme of applying manure in semi-arid area and provide theoretical a basis for improving soil water retention capacity. Here, 0% (CK), 25% (M25), 50% (M50), 75% (M75), and 100% (M100) of 225 kg ha−1 nitrogen from mineral fertilizer were replaced with equivalent nitrogen from manure in the Loess Plateau of China under semi-arid conditions. The centrifuge method was used to determine the soil volumetric water content under different water suction levels, and the Gardner model was used to fit and draw its soil water retention curve, and then calculate the soil water constant and equivalent pore size distribution. The results showed that the Gardner model fitted well. The soil saturated water content with the M100 treatment was the highest, whereas the specific water capacity, water availability, and soil porosity with the M75 treatment were the highest. The soil saturated water content showed a downward trend with the increase in nitrogen from manure instead of nitrogen from mineral fertilizer in the partial replacement treatments. This downward trend slowed down over time. The M75 treatment increased field capacity. The M100 treatment increased soil capillary porosity, soil available water porosity, and soil water availability compared with CK from the fifth fertilization. Replacement treatments increased the specific water capacity, soil saturated water content, soil water availability, soil porosity, and reduced the wilting point over time. In the replacement treatments, specific soil water capacity, soil water availability, and soil porosity first rose and then declined with the increase in nitrogen provided by manure replacing that provided by mineral fertilizer. Therefore, the soil water holding capacity and water supply capacity with the M75 treatment were the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small ruminants farming plays an important role in the livelihood of a large part of the population. Herein we aimed to analyze the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms in PRKAA2 gene on the growth-related traits of Hu sheep and Dorper sheep. The body weight and body type of 1254 sheep were measured at 80, 100, 120, 140, 160 and 180d, and 37620 phenotypic data were collected. RT-qPCR analysis was performed to test PRKAA2 gene expressed in different tissues of sheep, with the highest expression level in spleen, followed by kidney. In the present study, the PRKAA2 gene sequencing revealed one polymorphism located on Chr1 (Oar_rambouillet_v1.0), termed as chr1:32832382 G > A, and were significantly associated with growth traits of sheep (p < 0.05). The body weight, body length, chest circumference, and cannon circumference of individuals with AA genotype were significantly higher than those with the GG and GA genotypes (p < 0.05). Our findings reveal that PRKAA2 gene could be used as a marker-assisted selection to improve the growth-related traits of sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze the effects of polymorphisms in GP5 on blood physiological indices of 1065 sheep. The coefficients of variation of the red blood cell count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (HGB), mean platelet volume (MPV), mean erythrocyte hemoglobin content (MCH), and red blood cell distribution-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) were greater than 10%, and there was a very significant correlation between the main indices such as RBC, white blood cell, and platelet count (PLT) and most other indices (p < 0.01). qRT-PCR showed that GP5 was expressed in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, rumen, duodenum, muscle, tail fat, and lymph tissue, with significantly higher expression in the lymph. Subsequently, we detected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in GP5 from group, which identified synonymous mutation g.657 T > C in the first exon of GP5. Association analysis showed significant correlations between the SNP and the physiological traits (p < 0.05), in which the RBC, neutrophilic granulocyte (NEUT) and RDW-CV values in sheep with the TC genotype and TT genotype were markedly lower than those in the CC genotype (p < 0.05). Thus, GP5 polymorphisms could be candidate biomarkers to screen blood physiological indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous silicate cement membranes (PSCMs) fabricated by the freeze casting method show great potential to be utilized in seawater pretreatment, fermentation broth separation, and industrial wastewater treatment due to its merit of high-temperature resistance, low-cost, and hierarchically ordered porous structures, while the freeze casting method is complex and time-consuming. In this work, a combination of freeze casting and heat-dry curing was initially applied to generate PSCMs. The preparation periods of PSCMs could be shortened by simplifying preparation processes and reducing curing time. The resulting membranes presented double-layer structures, containing a nucleation zone (N-zone) with dense structures and a stability zone (S-zone) with lamellar pore structures. The X-ray diffraction pattern of membranes displayed the mixed hexagonal and rhombohedral structures. This novel method could save more than half of energy consumption compared with the traditional preparation technology of silicate cement samples. The membranes with a mesopore size of 3.794 nm showed high permeation performance with pure water flux reaching 207.23 L m−2 h−1 under 0.15 MPa and room temperature. The separation efficiency of oil-water was 78.05% under operating pressure of 0.05 MPa. Molecular dynamics simulation was applied to narrate the microscopic process of transformation during heat-dry curing, and obtained a good similarity of consequences between the computational method simulation and experimental operation. [Display omitted] • Freeze casting combined with heat-dry curing to fabricate porous silicate cement membrane. • Freeze drying and steam curing were replaced using heat-dry curing. • Porous silicate cement membranes showed lamellar porous structures. • Molecular dynamics simulation was used to elucidate the hydration process of heat-dry curing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous cropping of cabbage or kidney bean results in a decrease in yield by influencing the soil environment. To decrease the damage caused by continuous cropping, ten treatments of cabbage–maize–cabbage (CMC), kidney bean–maize–cabbage (BMC), cabbage–cabbage–cabbage (CCC), cabbage–maize–kidney bean (CMB), kidney bean–maize–kidney bean (BMB), kidney bean–kidney bean–kidney bean (BBB), cabbage–cabbage–maize (CCM), cabbage–kidney bean–maize (CBM), kidney bean–kidney bean–maize (BBM) and kidney bean–cabbage–maize (BCM) rotation combinations were set up. The changes in soil nutrients, fungal community structure, composition and diversity in topsoil under the ten crop rotation combinations were analyzed using Illumina NovaSeq high-throughput sequencing technology and chemical technology. Fungal species were abundant in the ten treatments. The OTUs (operational taxonomic units) showed no significant differences. The richness index values of each treatment had significant differences. The diversity index value of the CCC treatment was significantly lower than those of the other treatments. The dominant soil fungal phylum was Ascomycota, and the subordinate soil fungal phylum was Basidiomycota. No significant differences were observed in Ascomycota between the treatments. Basidiomycota in the BBM treatment was significantly higher than that in the CCM treatment. Kickxellomycota was not found in the CCM and CCC treatments. The BBM treatment had no Entorrhizomycota. The dominant soil fungal class belonged to Ascomycota. The common distinction between continuous cropping and crop rotation was Diaporthales, which might be the main fungal order causing continuous cropping disorders. As the best choice, the BBM treatment could prevent soil-borne fungal diseases and provide the basis for the rational crop rotation of cabbage, kidney bean, and maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the rumen is a critical physiological challenge in newborn ruminants. However, the molecular mechanism underlying different stages of rumen development in sheep remains poorly understood. Here, RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed to compare the transcription profiles of rumen development at 7, 28 and 56 days of birth (D7, D28 and D56). We identified 1246, 2257 and 627 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between D7 and D28, between D7 and D56, between D28 and D56, respectively. Also, 70 DGEs were co-expressed at these three time points. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses indicated most DEGs mainly related to transporter activity, channel activity and metabolism pathways. Noteworthy, the expression levels of most genes (CA4, CA9, CA12 and CA14) in nitrogen metabolic pathways were negatively correlated with the papilla length and width, but the papilla length and width were positively correlated with the expression of genes (PLA2G3, SLC26A9, SLC34A3) in ion transport pathway, suggesting that these genes may be involved in nitrogen metabolic and ion transport pathway and thus affect rumen development. These results provide new insight into the changes in RNA expression at different time points of rumen development in Hu sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term extensive application of chemical fertilizers wreaks havoc on soil bacterial structure and function. To reduce the damage caused by chemical fertilizers, a six-year experiment was performed to study the effects of replacing 0% (CK), 25% (S25), 50% (S50), 75% (S75), and 100% (S100) of 225 kg ha−1 mineral nitrogen fertilizer with an equivalent amount of nitrogen from maize straw on the soil bacterial community structure, diversity, and function. The results showed that Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes were the dominant soil bacterial phyla after the replacement treatments. Replacing mineral nitrogen fertilizer with an equivalent amount of nitrogen from maize straw significantly reduced the number of Photobacterium and bacterial populations involved in genetic information processing in soil, but significantly increased the number of bacterial populations involved in organismal systems, human diseases, and environmental information processing. Compared with other treatments, the relative abundance of TK10 significantly increased by 33.52–76.36% in S25. The number of subgroup 6, Gram-negative, biofilm-forming, potentially pathogenic, and anaerobic bacteria significantly increased, whereas that of Chloroflexi and Blastocatellia subgroup 4 significantly decreased in S50 and S75 compared with CK. The number of TK10 and Blastocatellia subgroup 4 in S50 and S100, respectively, was significantly lower than that in CK. Bacterial species were significantly more present in S25 than in S75. The diversity of bacterial species in S75 was significantly lower than that in CK. S25 and S100 were more favorable to increasing the number of Gram-positive, aerobic, mobile-element containing, and stress-tolerant bacteria. Rhodobacteraceae, Pyrinomonadaceae, Xanthobacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae, and Vulgatibacteraceae with statistical differences in CK, S25, S50, S75, and S100, respectively, could be used as biomarkers. Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Nitrospirae could be used as the main basis for the bacterial classification of soil samples in the equivalent substitution of nitrogen chemical fertilizer with maize straw. S25 is ideal for increasing soil bacterial species richness and abundance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A SNP mutation in CmYGP gene encoding Golden2-like transcription factor is responsible for melon yellow-green plant trait. Chlorophylls are essential and beneficial substances for both plant and human health. Identifying the regulatory network of chlorophyll is necessary to improve the nutritional quality of fruits. At least six etiolation genes have been identified in different melon varieties, but none of them have been cloned, and the molecular mechanisms underlying chlorophyll synthesis and chloroplast development in melon remain unclear. Here, the NSL73046, a yellow-green plant (Cmygp) mutant, enabled the map-based cloning of the first etiolation gene in melon. CmYGP encodes a Golden2-like transcription factor. Spatiotemporal expression analyses confirmed the high CmYGP expression in all green tissues, particularly in young leaves and fruit peels. Virus-induced gene silencing and the development of near-isogenic line by marker-assisted selection further confirmed that downregulation of CmYGP can reduce chloroplast number and chlorophyll content, thereby resulting in yellow-green leaves and fruits in melon, and overexpression of CmYGP in tomatoes also led to dark-green leaves and fruits. RNA-seq analysis revealed that CmYGP greatly affected the expression of key genes associated with chloroplast development. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that CmYGP regulate chlorophyll synthesis and chloroplast development thus affect fruit development in melon. This study also offers a new strategy to enhance fruit quality in melon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computer networks, Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) plays a very important role in identifying intrusion behaviors. NIDS can identify abnormal behaviors by analyzing network traffic. However, the performance of classifier is not very good in identifying abnormal traffic for minority classes. In order to improve the detection rate on class imbalanced dataset, we propose a network intrusion detection model based on two-layer CNN and Cluster-SMOTE + K-means algorithm (CSK-CNN) to process imbalanced dataset. CSK combines the cluster based Synthetic Minority Over Sampling Technique (Cluster-SMOTE) and K-means based under sampling algorithm. Through the two-layer network, abnormal traffic can not only be identified, but also be classified into specific attack types. This paper has been verified on UNSW-NB15 dataset and CICIDS2017 dataset, and the performance of the proposed model has been evaluated using such indicators as accuracy, recall, precision, F1-score, ROC curve, AUC value, training time and testing time. The experiment shows that the proposed CSK-CNN in this paper is obviously superior to other comparison algorithms in terms of network intrusion detection performance, and is suitable for deployment in the real network environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how nitrogen (N) fertilisation influences the priming effect (PE) in soils is imperative to predict the carbon loss and subsequent impact on climate. Three contrasting soil types with low mineral N, Vertosol, Calcarosol, and Chromosol, were treated for 4 weeks with the single supplement of N ranging from 0 to 300 mg kg−1 and weekly addition of 13C-glucose. Nitrogen addition did not affect the PE in the clay Vertosol. In contrast, the addition of N to the sandy loam Calcarosol above 10 mg N kg−1 suppressed the PE by 14% in week 1, but increased by 20% at 120 mg N kg−1 in week 4. In the silty loam Chromosol, the addition of 40 and 120 mg N kg−1 increased the PE by 78% in week 4. Nitrogen addition increased the abundance of functional genes for decomposing chitin and recalcitrant phenolic compounds particularly in the Calcarosol which had a high proportion of recalcitrant soil C; the predicted pathways for the degradation of microbial necromass and recalcitrant compounds were also positively related to the PE in this soil. These functions concurred with an increase in the abundance of resource-acquisition strategists such as Microbacteriaceae, Lysobacter, and Sphingomonadaceae over time and under N addition. In the Chromosol rich in labile C, the PE was positively correlated with the predicted pathways for the microbial biosynthesis of diverse metabolites and compounds for growth and enzyme production, corresponding to the rise of Micrococcaceae (high-yield strategists) under N addition. In the Vertosol, although the abundances of C-relevant functional genes were stimulated by N addition, the greater clay content might protect the soil organic C from being further primed. Overall, N-induced alternation of PE is likely dependent of the microbial metabolisation on soil organic C sources which vary among soils, but this N effect may be defective under soil physical protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foam-filled honeycombs have been widely applied due to their excellent load transfer mitigation and energy absorption capacity. In the present study, a layered graded foam concrete-filled auxetic honeycomb was proposed by tuning its overall compression deformation mode to layer-by-layer deformation mode to realize multi-level structural protection. The effect of the honeycomb cell-wall thickness gradient (with an average thickness of 0.25 mm, thickness gradients of 0.30:0.25:0.20, 0.35:0.25:0.15 and 0.40:0.25:0.10, and corresponding positive gradients) and the foam concrete filler density gradient (408:575:848, 848:575:408) on the response mode, load transfer, energy absorption, and Poisson's ratio of the proposed composite was systematically investigated. The results showed that the graded composite exhibited an obvious layered deformation mode and a negative Poisson's ratio effect under relatively low and moderate loading rates (1 m/s, 10 m/s, respectively), especially with the foam concrete density gradient. Under a high loading rate (100 m/s), the graded composite demonstrated progressive collapse initiating from the loading end with a layer-by-layer crushing mode, regardless of the thickness and density gradient. In the response of the composite with a 0.2:0.2:0.2 thickness ratio and a 408:575:848 foam concrete gradient subjected to 1 m/s crushing, the first-layer, second-layer, and third-layer foam concrete absorbed 94.62%, 88.72%, and 86.94% of the total foam concrete energy absorption in the corresponding crushing stage, respectively. Compared with the counterpart homogeneous composites, although the graded composite had an insignificant improvement on energy absorption (less than 5%), it was able to significantly reduce the peak load (as high as 30%) to mitigate the load transfer to the protected structure. The effective Poisson's ratio of the first layer in the composite with positive gradient (408:575:848) increased to −2 then converged to −0.6 under 2 m/s and 10 m/s crushing, and ranged from −0.4 to −0.1 under 50 m/s and 100 m/s crushing, respectively. The effective Poisson's ratio of the middle and bottom layers increased to −2 initially and converged to range −0.4 to −0.1, regardless of the crushing speed. The staged response mode of the graded composite facilitated the realization of multi-level structure protection with significantly reduced peak load transferred to the protected structure and tuned energy absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore whether the associations of 3 blastocyst morphological parameters, namely, degree of blastocyst expansion (expansion), appearance of trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass, with live birth and singleton birth weight are influenced by blastocyst freezing and biopsy.Design: A retrospective study.Setting: An assisted reproductive technology center.Patient(s): 28,515 single blastocyst transfer cycles between January 2014 and August 2019.Intervention(s): Not applicable.Main Outcome Measure(s): Live birth and singleton birth weight.Result(s): Blastocyst transfer cycles were divided into 4 groups: biopsied blastocyst cycles (biopsied-blast), thawed blastocyst cycles (thawed-blast), blastocyst from thawed cleavage embryo cycles (blast-thawed-D3), and fresh blastocyst cycles (fresh-blast). Subgroup analyses by blastocyst stage (day 5 and day 6) were performed in thawed-blast and blast-thawed-D3. Because almost all blastocysts were biopsied on day 6 and fresh blastocysts were transferred on day 5, the biopsied-blast and fresh-blast were not divided into subgroups. First, the associations between blastocyst morphological parameters and live birth were analyzed. To explore the effect of freezing, we compared day-5 frozen cycles (thawed-blast) vs. day-5 fresh cycles (including fresh-blast and blast-thawed-D3) and day 6 frozen cycles (thawed-blast) vs. day-6 fresh cycles (blast-thawed-D3). Inner cell mass and TE were associated with live birth for day 5 embryos, and only TE affected live birth for day-6 embryos. The associations were the same in frozen cycles and fresh cycles. To explore the effect of biopsy, we compared day-6 biopsied cycles (biopsied-blast) vs. day-6 nonbiopsied cycles (including thawed-blast and blast-thawed-D3). All the 3 parameters were associated with live birth in biopsied-blast, whereas only TE was associated with live birth in nonbiopsied cycles. In addition, the associations between blastocyst morphological parameters and singleton birthweight were analyzed. In the 6 subgroups, expansion stage of day-6 embryos in biopsied-blast and TE grade of day-6 embryos in thawed-blast were associated with birth weight, and there are no associations in other subgroups.Conclusion(s): The association of blastocyst morphological parameters with live birth may be affected by blastocyst biopsy and/or genetic testing, and its association with birth weight may be affected by blastocyst freezing and biopsy and/or genetic testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: We aimed to describe a novel mesh-free pelvic repair surgery for apical prolapse and to evaluate the effect of this technique and early outcomes. Methods: We demonstrate the key techniques in a video: exposing the anterior longitudinal ligament (ALL) of the presacral space; securing a non-absorbable suture to the ALL by horoscope stitch; shortening the right uterosacral ligament (USL); placing a non-absorbable suture around the intermediate portion of the left USL for three stitches; placing the non-absorbable suture in the transverse portion of the pubocervical and rectovaginal fascia; locking sutures in place to approximate anterior to posterior connective tissue. Fifteen patients were enrolled to undergo this procedure between December 2020 and April 2021. Results: The mean age of the patients was 60.67 (range 46–69) years, the mean body mass index was 24.25 kg/m2 (range 19.61–30.08). The mean operation time was 103.6 min (range 65–166), and the mean blood loss was 82 ml (range 50–200). No intraoperative complications occurred. All patients gained a significant improvement in anatomical and objective outcomes during a mean 9.93-month follow-up, and there was no recurrence. Conclusions: Our experience showed that this mesh-free repair surgery was a feasible and safe technique for apical prolapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: eHealth interventions represent a promising novel strategy in pelvic floor management for women. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of eHealth interventions among women with or at risk of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) has not been adequately discussed to date. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of eHealth interventions in preventing and treating PFD among women. Methods: Eleven electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from inception until August 28, 2021. Results: Twenty-four RCTs were included in this meta-analysis that included 3691 women. The meta-analysis showed that eHealth interventions were not only vital for preventing PFD (pregnant women: pooled OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.14 to 0.45, p < 0.001; postnatal women: pooled OR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.60, p = 0.005), but also for reducing the severity of PFD (pooled SMD = -0.63, 95% CI: -1.20 to -0.06, p = 0.031). In addition, compared with traditional care, eHealth interventions showed significant positive effects on several outcome indicators, including quality of life (pooled SMD = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.80, p = 0.002), pelvic floor type I muscle strength (pooled OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.30 to 2.82, p = 0.001), pelvic floor type II muscle strength (pooled OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.38 to 3.01, p < 0.001), sexual function (pooled SMD = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.29 to 0.73, p < 0.001), satisfaction (pooled OR = 3.93, 95% CI: 2.73 to 5.66, p < 0.001), and self-efficacy (pooled SMD = 2.62, 95% CI: 2.12 to 3.13, p < 0.001). Conclusions: eHealth interventions are an effective emerging treatment and preventive modality for female PFD. Higher quality, larger scale, and strictly designed RCTs are warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of eHealth interventions on female pelvic floor management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endogenous Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus envelope protein (enJSRV-Env) plays an important role in trophoblast cell fusion in sheep. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Methods : Primary endometrial luminal epithelial cells (LECs) were isolated from the sheep uterus and cocultured with sheep trophoblast cells (STCs). Giemsa staining was conducted to count multinucleated cells in the coculture system. Gain- and loss-of-function assays were performed to explore the role of enJSRV-Env in trophoblast cell fusion in the coculture system. Co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry were carried out to identify the interacting partner of enJSRV-Env in the cocultures. Western blot analysis were conducted to determine the activation of protein kinase A (PKA)/mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) signaling. Results: Primary LECs were identified by the expression of epithelial marker cytokeratin 18. Overexpression of enJSRV-Env promoted the formation of multinucleated cells in the coculture system. enJSRV-Env activated and physically interacted with PKA, along with the activation of MEK/ERK1/2 signaling. PKA inhibition completely reversed enJSRV-Env-induced MEK/ERK1/2 activation, and ERK1/2 inhibition abolished enJSRV-Env-induced formation of multinucleated cells in the coculture system. Conclusion: enJSRV-Env promotes trophoblast cell fusion in the sheep placenta by activating PKA/MEK/ERK1/2 signaling. This finding reveals a novel mechanism underlying the contribution of enJSRV-Env to trophoblast cell fusion during placental morphogenesis. • enJSRV-Env promotes trophoblast cell fusion in the sheep placenta. • This process involves the activation of PKA/MEK/ERK1/2 signaling. • PKA inhibition reversed enJSRV-Env-induced MEK/ERK1/2 activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAMSAP2 has been reported to act as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the expression CAMSAP2 and its potential roles in colorectal cancer remain unclear. In this study, qRT-PCR and immunoblotting analysis were used to detect the mRNA and protein levels of CAMSAP2 in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. Wound-healing, transwell migration and invasion assay were performed to determine whether CAMSAP2 promotes the capabilities of migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. The results showed that CAMSAP2 was highly elevated in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. Moreover, the high CAMSAP2 expression was positively correlated with tumor invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and the poor prognosis of colorectal cancer. Additionally, ectopic expression of CAMSAP2 in colorectal cancer cells promoted the migration and invasion in vitro and enhanced the lung metastasis in nude mice. Conversely, silencing CAMSAP2 resulted in an opposite phenomenon. By gain- and loss-of function experiments, we demonstrated that MMP-1 was a substantial downstream target of CAMSAP2, and it played a crucial role in regulating the migration and invasion induced by CAMSAP2 in colorectal cancer cells. Mechanistically, CAMSAP2 promoted the activation of JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway and subsequently upregulated the transcription activity of MMP-1. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that CAMSAP2 promoted colorectal cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis through activation of JNK/c-Jun/MMP-1 signaling pathway, indicating CAMSAP2 is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Translucent skin is an attribute widely appreciated by people in East Asian countries. There have been studies in the literature to describe the phenomenon by means of clinical grading, instrumental measurement and image analysis. However, due to its subjective and complex nature, skin translucency has not been comprehensively and rigorously characterized and modelled, particularly in the Chinese population. This study is to develop a mathematical model that quantitatively describes skin translucency from visual cues objectively measured from the skin. Materials and Methods: The study was designed to characterize and model skin translucency by incorporating expert evaluation, panel perception and image analysis of multiple skin visual attributes in one analysis. Faces of 36 Chinese females aged 18–65 years old were evaluated by a dermatologist to obtain clinical translucency scores. Subject pairs were formed with a relatively high and low translucency score in each pair. Their faces were judged in person by 9 panellists in paired‐comparison (2‐AFC) fashion to pick a 'more translucent skin' from each subject pair. Front‐view facial images of the subjects were taken, and multiple colour and other visually perceivable skin attributes were measured using image analysis. Bradley‐Terry analysis and multiple regressions were performed to correlate the panel choices of 'more translucent skin' with the objectively measured skin parameters. Results: Multiple skin colour properties affected the panel choices towards translucent skin. Among them skin tone lightness and skin glossiness had positive effects on skin translucency while the hue, colour unevenness, severity of red and dark spots affected it negatively. Subsurface light reflection and skin visual smoothness had some effect but were not statistically significant. A mathematical model was constructed to predict a person's skin translucency from objectively measured skin attributes. Conclusion: The subjective property of skin translucency can be characterized and quantified via a comprehensive modelling process involving clinical grading, panel evaluation, image‐based measurement of skin attributes and statistical analysis. A novel skin parameter, Skin Translucency Index (STI) was established, which provides a way to measure skin translucency, making it possible to assess treatment efficacy before and after product application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme rainfall may cause meteorological disasters and has tremendous impact on societies and economics. Assessing the capability of current dynamic models for rainfall prediction, especially extreme rainfall event prediction, at sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) scale and diagnosing the probable reasons are quite important topics in the current climate study field. This study analyzes the formation mechanisms of the extreme rainfall event during 18–22 July 2021 in Henan Province and introduces the Tanimoto Coefficient (TC) to evaluate the prediction performance of S2S models. The results show that confrontation between low-latitude typhoon "In-Fa" and subtropical highs leads to sufficient water vapor transporting to Henan, and that remarkable upward air motion causes strong convergence of water vapor, thereby providing atmospheric conditions for this extreme rainfall event. Furthermore, five S2S models showed limited capability in predicting this extreme rainfall event 20 days in advance with the TCs of four models being below 0.1. Models could capture this event signal 6 days ahead with most TCs above 0.2. The performances of model prediction for this extreme rainfall event were closely related to the fact that the water vapor convergence, vertical movements, relative vorticity, and geopotential height predicted by the NCEP model 20 days ahead were close to the actual situation, in contrast to the other four models 6 days in advance. This study implies that S2S model predictions for this extreme rainfall event show obvious differences, and the application of S2S models in the prediction of extreme events needs to fully consider their prediction uncertainties. The capability of the models to properly reproduce local water vapor convergence and vertical motions is also shown to be crucial for correctly simulating the extreme event, which might provide some hints for the further amelioration of models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of node importance is a critical research topic in network science, widely applied in social networks, transport systems, and computer networks. Prior works addressing this topic either consider a single metric or assign weights for multiple metrics or select features by handcraft, which exist one-sidedness and subjectivity issues. In this paper, to tackle these problems, we propose a new approach named CGNN to identify influential nodes based on deep learning methods, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). CGNN obtains the feature matrices by the contraction algorithm and gets the labels by the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model, which will be leveraged for learning the hidden representations of nodes without utilizing any network metrics as features. We adopt three evaluation criteria to verify CGNN concerning effectiveness and distinguishability, including Kendall's τ correlation coefficient, monotonicity index (MI), and ranking distribution function (RDF). Nine baselines are employed to compare with CGNN on thirty synthetic networks and twelve real-world networks from different domains. Simulation results demonstrate that CGNN manifests better performance than the baselines, in which the values of τ are large and significantly increase, the values of MI approach to 1, and the points in the RDF curves distribute more uniformly. These results may provide reference significance for controlling epidemic spreading and enhancing network robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Achieving better anatomic restoration and decreasing the associated complications are necessary for material repair of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). This study was aimed to investigate host response to tissue-engineered repair material (TERM) in rat models by comparing different materials and study the changes in biomechanical properties over time. Methods: TERM was constructed by seeding adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on electrospun poly(L-lactide)-trimethylene carbonate-glycolide (PLTG) terpolymers. The TERM, PLTG, porcine small intestine submucosa mesh (SIS), and polypropylene (PP) (n = 6 / group per time point) were implanted in rats for 7, 30, 60, and 90 days. Hematoxylin-eosin and Masson's trichrome staining were used to assess the host response, and mechanical testing was used to evaluate the changes in biomechanical properties. Results: In vivo imaging showed that the ADSCs were confined to the abdominal wall and did not migrate to other organs or tissues. The TERM was encapsulated by a thicker layer of connective tissue and was associated with less reduced inflammatory scores compared with PLTG and PP over time. The vascularization of the TERM was greater than that with PP and PLTG over time (p < 0.05) and was greater than that with SIS on day 90. The ultimate tensile strain and Young's modulus of the PP group showed the greatest increases, and the TERM group followed on day 90. Conclusions: This TERM achieved better host integration in rat models and better biomechanical properties, and it may be an alternative material for PFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cosolvent-assisted interfacial polymerization (CAIP) has garnered significant attention due to its capacity to easily and effectively modify the performance of polyamide (PA) reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. To gain deeper understanding of the mechanism of a specific type of cosolvents on the IP reaction, namely N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and N,N-dimethylpropionamide (DMPr) were used as aqueous-phase cosolvents to systematically investigate their effects on the membrane structures and properties under different conditions. Amide cosolvents in the aqueous phase facilitated the diffusion of the amine monomer and the formation of nanovoids within the PA layer as the C-chain length of amides increased. When 1,2-dichloroethane was also included in the organic phase, the extent of the two-phase miscible zone was further increased with its assistance, which contributed to generating the larger nanovoids within the layer, thicker PA layer and extensive exterior PA layers, as well as significantly enhancing the water permeability and selectivity of membranes. Importantly, this study successfully prepared high-performance RO membranes with multilayer nanovoid structures in situ by introducing cosolvents in the IP reaction with permeability up to 2.26 L·m−2·h−1·bar−1, providing theoretical and experimental bases for further enrichment of CAIP. [Display omitted] • Exploring the effects of different amides on the diffusion of amine monomers. • Longer chain DMPr contributes to the formation of multilayered nanovoid structures. • Correlating amine monomer diffusion rate with PA layer evolution. • TFC a-o -DMPr shows water permeability of 2.26 LMH/bar and NaCl rejection of 98.38 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 3D CoAl-LDH-based mesh membrane was fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method. • The membrane showed under-liquid dual superlyophobicity owing to the hierarchical micro-/nanostructures. • The membrane exhibited excellent separation efficiency（＞99.7%） for various oil/water mixtures and surfactant-stabilized emulsions. • The CoAl-LDH-based membrane displayed excellent chemical stability and recyclability. • The LDH/ZnO membrane can both separate and photodegrade the emulsions containing soluble organic pollutants with high removal efficiency (＞99%). Switchable surface wettability has attracted tremendous attention owing to its potential applications, but it is still thorny to construct under-liquid dual superlyophobic surfaces for reversible separation of emulsified oil/water mixtures and treatment of complex oily wastewater. In this work, a CoAl-LDH-based mesh membrane was prepared for switchable separation of emulsified oily wastewater. The interpenetrating CoAl-LDH nanosheets were grown on the stainless steel mesh (SSM) forming a micro-/nano hierarchical structure via a hydrothermal method, which endows the membrane with under-liquid dual superlyophobicity. The obtained CoAl-LDH membrane exhibited switchable separation capability for both oil/water mixtures and oil/water emulsions with high fluxes and efficiencies (99.7%). In addition, the CoAl-LDH membrane could not only separate but also photodegrade the oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions containing soluble organic pollutants. Interestingly, after introducing a ZnO nanorod layer, the LDH/ZnO membrane exhibited progressive removal efficiency (99%) and photodegradation efficiency (＞99%) for methylene blue (MB). The cycled and harsh condition tests also confirmed the stability and robustness of the prepared membranes. The excellent separation performance and photocatalytic property endow the membranes appealing to practical oil/water separation and oily wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The robust correlation between the performance of thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis membranes and the polyamide (PA) active layer determines the necessity of precise design of the PA layer, and this regulation primarily involves the surface morphology and internal characteristics of the PA layer. In this study, we fabricated honeycomb Turing structure or nanovoid-rich TFC series membranes using polar/nonpolar organic phase additives. Characterization and simulation results confirmed that the enhancement of membrane performance relied more on the abundant nanovoids within the PA layer rather than the ordered honeycomb lattice surface. Notably, the TFC-nDCE membrane with multilayer nanovoids exhibited an approximately 89 % improvement in water permeability while maintaining satisfactory salt rejection (98.29 %). We emphasized the significant role of nanovoids in the diffusion process of amine monomers and investigated the potential relationship between nanovoids and the degree of surface cross-linking. Building upon this, a new insight into the formation of nanovoids induced by PA anisotropic growth was presented through a careful analysis of the amine monomer diffusion rate and the morphological evolution of nanovoids. The structure-property relationship between internal structures, surface morphologies, and performances was systematically and thoroughly investigated, pointing out the direction for the rational design of TFC membranes. [Display omitted] • Revealed effects of nanovoids on the water/salt flow in honeycomb Turing PA layer. • Impacts of nanovoids on the physicochemical structure of PA layer were emphasized. • New insights on the anisotropic growth of PA were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nanofiltration (NF) membranes, constructing the interlayer between the substrate and polyamide (PA) layer could balance the trade-off effect between the selectivity and permeability. However, the influencing mechanism of the interlayer to the PA layer is mostly indirect, and how to regulate the physicochemical properties of the PA layer to improve the membrane property remains to be investigated. In this study, porous Zn-TCPP nanosheets with active reaction sites were used to construct interlayer and directly participated in interfacial polymerization (IP) reaction through the edge COOH of nanosheets reacting with piperazine (PIP) to further regulate PA layer physicochemical properties. Controlling the amount of nanosheets involved in the reaction, NF membranes with striated Turing structures, higher negatively charged surface and larger effective filtration area were obtained. The NF membrane permeability with Zn-TCPP interlayer was significantly improved by 123 % while the Cl−/ SO 4 2 − selectivity was greatly enhanced to 72.69, meanwhile it showed excellent performance stability. This study presents a new perspective that the interlayer can modulate the NF membrane physicochemical properties to improve its performance by directly participating in the IP reaction. [Display omitted] • Porous Zn-TCPP interlayer directly participates in the IP reaction via peripheral carboxyl groups. • Zn-TCPP interlayer reduces the pore size of substrate and inhibits the downward growth of polyamide. • Surface morphology of NF membranes is changed, and hydrophilicity and electronegativity are enhanced. • Zn-TCPP interlayer improves the selectivity of NF membrane for mono-/di-anions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of concentrated fruit juices on mass transfer and enhancement of health-promoting properties of apple slices treated by an osmotic dehydration process with (PVOD) and without (OD) a vacuum were investigated. Hot air-drying (AD) was used as the finish drying process to produce apple chips. The apple chips obtained by OD + AD and PVOD + AD with grape juice had a total phenol content (TPC) of 81.54 ± 3.66 and 86.09 ± 1.23 mg GAE/100 g of dry matter, respectively, significantly higher than that (24.99 ± 0.46 mg GAE/100 g dry matter) of the chips from fresh apples (control). Similarly, DPPH radical–scavenging activity values of the OD + AD and PVOD + AD chips treated with grape juice were 78.44 ± 3.02% and 81.13 ± 2.47%, respectively, significantly higher than that of the control (26.06 ± 0.53%). The dehydration rate in the OD and PVOD processes was positively correlated with the osmotic pressure difference (Δπ) between the osmotic solution and the apple tissue following an exponential relation, and thus, Δπ has functioned as the driving force for mass transfer in the OD and PVOD processes. Concentrated fruit juices are shown to be effective osmotic solutions to produce colorful apple chips with enhanced health-promoting properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problem of high failure rate and low accuracy in computed tomography (CT) image edge segmentation, we proposed a CT sequence image edge segmentation optimization algorithm using improved convolution neural network. Firstly, the pattern clustering algorithm is applied to cluster the pixels with relationship in the CT sequence image space to extract the edge information of the real CT image; secondly, Euclidean distance is used to calculate similarity and measure similarity, according to the measurement results, convolution neural network (CNN) hierarchical optimization is carried out to improve the convergence ability of CNN; finally, the pixel classification of CT sequence images is carried out, and the edge segmentation of CT sequence images is optimized according to the classification results. The results show that the overall recognition rate of this method is at a high level. The training time is obviously reduced when the training times exceed 12 times, the recall rate is always about 90%, and the accuracy of image segmentation is high, which solves the problem of large failure rate and low accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Urinary incontinence is a common and burdensome problem amongst women. Although it can be prevented, little progress has been made. Identifying individuals at risk remains the key to the prevention of urinary incontinence. Methods: Eligible women were enrolled in the obstetric wards of a tertiary maternity hospital in 2020. Urinary incontinence was measured using a well-accepted questionnaire. Logistic regression with a backward stepwise process was used for predictor selection. The discrimination and calibration of the nomogram were measured using the area under the ROC curve (AUC), Hosmer–Lemeshow test and calibration curve respectively. Bootstrapping procedure with 1000 resamples was used for internal validity. A temporal split (7:3) was made and data collected from the later period were used for temporal validation. Results: Seven predictors including birth mode, urinary incontinence before and during pregnancy, place of residence, feeding pattern, parity, and age at first birth remained in the final model. The AUC was 0.757 (95% CI: 0.72–0.80) and 0.759 (95% CI: 0.70–0.82) in the derivation and validation cohorts respectively. No significant differences were detected in the Hosmer–Lemeshow test and calibration curve in both cohorts. Conclusions: The nomogram proved to be a convenient and reliable tool in the clinical setting for risk assessment of postpartum incontinence, which can be applied during pregnancy and the postnatal period for individual risk estimates of postpartum incontinence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FeTe/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites have been synthesized using hydrothermal method followed by anneal process. The structure and morphology of FeTe/RGO nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. For Na-ion batteries anode, the FeTe/RGO electrode exhibits stable cyclability with a reversible capacity of 360 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1 and good rate capability. For K-ion batteries anode, the FeTe/RGO electrode also exhibits a reversible capacity of 320 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1 and good rate capability. The good electrochemical performance of the FeTe/RGO electrode is ascribed to its unique structure, which can accommodate volume variation of FeTe and enhance the electronic conductivity. The synthesis approach in this work is facile, cost-effective, which can be potentially used to fabricate other metal tellurides/RGO composites as well. Considering the excellent electrochemical properties of FeTe/RGO, it is suggested that the FeTe/RGO is favorable for the potential applications in electrochemical device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-based foams have been extensively employed as eco-friendly alternatives for cushioning materials in transportation. Herein, a series of novel bio-based foams with truss-like microstructures are successfully fabricated using lignocellulosic fibers via the Pluronic F127 soft template method. The lignocellulosic fiber-based foams (F-LFFx) exhibit low density (0.055 g/cm3), excellent compressive strength (0.25 MPa at 80% strain), and good recoverable compressibility (80%–90% under 50% strain). Products packaged with F-LFFx undergo a peak impact acceleration of merely 214.5 G after contacting the ground in drop impact testing, which is only 33% of the molded pulp. Additionally, F-LFFx have superior cushioning performance during simulated vibration testing. Furthermore, thermal images reveal the superior efficacy of F-LFFx in mitigating the impact of external temperatures on enclosed spaces compared with commercial expanded polyethylene (EPE) and corrugated cardboard, exhibiting a temperature difference of only 8.7°C in a hot environment at 80°C and −8.5°C in a cold environment at −78°C. Thus, F-LFFx are excellent candidates for vibration and impact protection as well as thermal insulation in transportation. [Display omitted] • Pluronic F127 facilities the fabrication of lignocellulosic foam for cushion packaging. • A reversible hydrogen bond network and 3D structure co-enhances the foam cushioning performance. • The interlaced network of fibers offers exceptional thermal insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer (GC) remains a global challenge due to the lack of early detection and precision therapies. Genkwadaphnin (DD1), a natural diterpene isolated from the bud of Flos GenkWa (Thymelaeaceae), serves as a Karyopherin β1 (KPNB1) inhibitor. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor effect of DD1 in both cell culture and animal models. Our findings reveal that KPNB1, a protein involved in nuclear import, was highly expressed in GC tissues and associated with a poor prognosis in patients. We demonstrated that DD1, alongside the established KPNB1 inhibitor importazole (IPZ), inhibited GC cell proliferation and tumor growth by enhancing both genomic and non-genomic activity of Nur77. DD1 and IPZ reduced the interaction between KPNB1 and Nur77, resulting in Nur77 cytoplasmic accumulation and triggering mitochondrial apoptosis. The inhibitors also increased the expression of the Nur77 target apoptotic genes ATF3 , RB1CC1 and PMAIP1 , inducing apoptosis in GC cell. More importantly, loss of Nur77 effectively rescued the inhibitory effect of DD1 and IPZ on GC cells in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. In this study, we for the first time explored the relationship between KPNB1 and Nur77, and found KPNB1 inhibition could significantly increase the expression of Nur77. Moreover, we investigated the function of KPNB1 in GC for the first time, and the results suggested that KPNB1 could be a potential target for cancer therapy, and DD1 might be a prospective therapeutic candidate. [Display omitted] • KPNB1 was highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues and associated with a poor patient prognosis. • KPNB1 inhibitor DD1 potently suppresses GC cell survival and tumor growth. • Nur77 acts as a key determinant of the function of KPNB1 in GC. • KPNB1 represents a potential therapeutic target in GC. • DD1 can be a promising therapeutic drug for GC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]