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Increased fire frequency has been shown to promote alien plant invasions in the western United States, resulting in persistent vegetation type change. Short interval fires are widely considered to be detrimental to reestablishment of shrub species in southern California chaparral, facilitating the invasion of exotic annuals and producing "type conversion". However, supporting evidence for type conversion has largely been at local, site scales and over short post-fire time scales. Type conversion has not been shown to be persistent or widespread in chaparral, and past range improvement studies present evidence that chaparral type conversion may be difficult and a relatively rare phenomenon across the landscape. With the aid of remote sensing data covering coastal southern California and a historical wildfire dataset, the effects of short interval fires (

Aims: The causal relationship between sarcopenia‐related traits and ischemic stroke (IS) remains poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the causal impact of sarcopenia‐related traits on IS and to identify key mediators of this association. Methods: We conducted univariable, multivariable two‐sample, and two‐step Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using genome‐wide association study (GWAS) data. This included data for appendicular lean mass (ALM), hand grip strength (HGS), and usual walking pace (UWP) from the UK Biobank, and IS data from the MEGASTROKE consortium. Additionally, 21 candidate mediators were analyzed based on their respective GWAS data sets. Results: Each 1‐SD increase in genetically proxied ALM was associated with a 7.5% reduction in the risk of IS (95% CI: 0.879–0.974), and this correlation remained after controlling for levels of physical activity and adiposity‐related indices. Two‐step MR identified that six mediators partially mediated the protective effect of higher ALM on IS, with the most significant being coronary heart disease (CHD, mediating proportion: 39.94%), followed by systolic blood pressure (36.51%), hypertension (23.87%), diastolic blood pressure (15.39%), type‐2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, 12.71%), and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (7.97%). Conclusion: Our study revealed a causal protective effect of higher ALM on IS, independent of physical activity and adiposity‐related indices. Moreover, we found that higher ALM could reduce susceptibility to IS partially by lowering the risk of vascular risk factors, including CHD, hypertension, T2DM, and hyperlipidemia. In brief, we elucidated another modifiable factor for IS and implied that maintaining sufficient muscle mass may reduce the risk of such disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser cladding technology can obtain a cladding layer with good metallurgical bonding with the substrate and excellent performance. In situ growth of hard phase can effectively solve the problem of uneven distribution of reinforcements directly doped with hard particles. In this paper, 45# steel was adopted as the matrix material, WO3, B4C, Al, and Ni60 powder were used to prepare laser cladding and in situ synthesized WC (Tungsten Carbide) hard phase reinforced Ni‐based cladding layers. The effects of different laser cladding parameters, powder particle size, hard phase content on the microstructures and electrochemical properties of in situ synthesized WC hard phase reinforced Ni‐based cladding layer were analyzed. The results revealed that when the (WO3 + B4C + Al) mixed powder content was 25%, the bulk particles of WC phase in the cladding layer were most uniformly distributed in the cladding layer, which enhances the mechanical properties of the cladding layer. When the B4C particle size was 5 μm, the microhardness of the cladding layer was significantly higher than other cladding layers, and the enhancement mechanism of hardness by B4C is due to the Orowan strengthening caused by too small particle size of B4C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to improve the utilization efficiency of parking facilities in residential areas. The real‐time and fixed‐time shared parking spot allocation models based on a time window constraint are proposed, respectively. The real‐time model adopts the dynamic response service mechanism, introducing a multi‐objective decision weighting method to construct the weighted evaluation function. Then, the 0–1 planning model with user optimization is established, utilizing branch‐bound algorithm for a solution. The fixed‐time model adopts the periodic service mechanism, where a rejection penalty factor is introduced to add penalty cost. Then, the 0–1 programming model with system optimization is constructed, where genetic annealing algorithm solves the large‐scale calculation problem. The results from this case study illustrate the fixed‐time allocation mode has more balanced utilization of parking facilities, whereas over‐utilization of preferred parking lots occurs in the real‐time model; additionally, when supply and demand are in balance, the fixed‐time model can obtain higher system revenues, reduce effective rejection rate by 9.43%, and increase resource utilization efficiency by 5.28%. In conclusion, the real‐time allocation mode reflects the advantage of a user's optimal allocation mode when supply is greater than demand; conversely, the fixed‐time allocation mode has the advantage of optimum system resources utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Conventional theories for jugular bulb (JB) formation are insufficient to explain the high proportion of high JB in adult patients. We aimed to study features of high JB in patients with non‐thrombotic internal jugular venous stenosis (IJVS) and/or transverse sinus stenosis (TSS) to explore the pathogenesis of high JB formation. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients with the diagnosis of non‐thrombotic IJVS and/or TSS. The relationship between IJVS and/or TSS and high JB was explored. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify potential independent risk factors for high JB. Results: A total of 228 patients were included in the final analyses. The proportions of IJVS, dominant‐side IJVS, and non‐TSS in dominant‐side high JB subgroup were higher than those in nondominant‐side high JB subgroup (83.3% vs. 62.5%, p < 0.001; 72.2% vs. 18.3%, p < 0.001; 43.5% vs. 29.2%, p = 0.02). Heights of JBs on dominant sides in IJVS subgroup and non‐TSS subgroup were higher than those in non‐IJVS subgroup and TSS subgroup (12.93 ± 2.57 mm vs. 11.21 ± 2.76 mm, p < 0.001; 12.66 ± 2.71 mm vs. 11.34 ± 2.73 mm, p = 0.003). Multivariate logistic regression indicated an independent association between dominant‐side IJVS and dominant‐side high JB (odds ratio, 29.40; 95% confidence interval, 11.04–78.30; p < 0.001). Conclusion: IJVS and asymmetric transverse sinus were independently and positively associated with high JB, especially dominant‐side IJVS with dominant‐side high JB, indicating a potential hemodynamic relationship between IJVS and high JB formation. Conversely, TTS might impede high JB formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sequences of circular RNAs (circRNAs) produced from back-splicing of exon(s) completely overlap with those from cognate linear RNAs transcribed from the same gene loci with the exception of their back-splicing junction (BSJ) sites. Therefore, examination of global circRNA expression from RNA-seq datasets generally relies on the detection of RNA-seq fragments spanning BSJ sites, which is different from the quantification of linear RNA expression by normalized RNA-seq fragments mapped to whole gene bodies. Thus, direct comparison of circular and linear RNA expression from the same gene loci in a genome-wide manner has remained challenging. Here, we update the previously-reported CIRCexplorer pipeline to version 3 for circular and linear RNA expression analysis from ribosomal-RNA depleted RNA-seq (CIRCexplorer3-CLEAR). A new quantitation parameter, fragments per billion mapped bases (FPB), is applied to evaluate circular and linear RNA expression individually by fragments mapped to circRNA-specific BSJ sites or to linear RNA-specific splicing junction (SJ) sites. Comparison of circular and linear RNA expression levels is directly achieved by dividing FPBcirc by FPBlinear to generate a CIRCscore, which indicates the relative circRNA expression level using linear RNA expression level as the background. Highly-expressed circRNAs with low cognate linear RNA expression background can be readily identified by CIRCexplorer3-CLEAR for further investigation. CIRCexplorer3-CLEAR is publically available at https://github.com/YangLab/CLEAR. Keywords: Circular RNA, Back-splicing, Linear RNA, Pre-mRNA splicing, Ribo− RNA-seq

Real-time non-destructive monitoring of water use efficiency (WUE) is important for screening high-yielding high-efficiency varieties and determining the rational allocation of water resources in winter wheat production. Compared with vertical observation angles, multi-angle remote sensing provides more information on mid to lower parts of the wheat canopy, thereby improving estimates of physical and chemical indicators of the entire canopy. In this study, multi-angle spectral reflectance and the WUE of the wheat canopy were obtained at different growth stages based on field experiments carried out across 4 years using three wheat varieties under different water and nitrogen fertilizer regimes. Using appropriate spectral parameters and sensitive observation angles, the quantitative relationships with wheat WUE were determined. The results revealed that backward observation angles were better than forward angles, while the common spectral parameters Lo and NDDAig were found to be closely related to WUE, although with increasing WUE, both parameters tended to become saturated. Using this data, we constructed a double-ratio vegetation index (NDDAig/FWBI), which we named the water efficiency index (WEI), reducing the impact of different test factors on the WUE monitoring model. As a result, we were able to create a unified monitoring model within an angle range of −20–10°. The equation fitting determination coefficient (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) of the model were 0.623 and 0.406, respectively, while an independent experiment carried out to test the monitoring models confirmed that the model based on the new index was optimal, with R2, RMSE, and relative error (RE) values of 0.685, 0.473, and 11.847%, respectively. These findings suggest that the WEI is more sensitive to WUE changes than common spectral parameters, while also allowing wide-angle adaptation, which has important implications in parameter design and the configuration of satellite remote sensing and UAV sensors.

Evaluating the public welfare level of the urban rail transit systems has not only great significance for the government to provide fair and reasonable subsidies but for the better operation and management of urban rail transit enterprises. An evaluation index system composed of 3 criterion-level indicators and 12 subindexes has been established in this paper. The 3 criterion-level indicators conclude service level, social benefit, and policy loss which are all affected by operation management. Besides, the subjective and objective comprehensive weighting method combined with the analytic hierarchy process method and the entropy weight method is proposed to calculate the index-level weights. Furtherly, the grey correlation-TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation method was designed to calculate the comprehensive evaluation value of the public welfare level of each city. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, urban rail transit systems in 16 Chinese cities are studied as a case study. The results show that (1) the three indicators of passenger travel cost (25.69%), the increase in housing prices around urban rail transit(10.74%), and operating cost ratio(9.95%) are more likely to affect the evaluation of public welfare level of urban rail transit. (2) the level of public welfare in different cities is not balanced. The cities with a relatively high level of public welfare relative closeness exceeding 0.5 include Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Wuxi, and Dalian. (3) Both GDP and urban population are positively correlated with the relative closeness of social benefit and service level. (4) The level of public welfare can be improved by reducing the fare price and improving the service level, such as increasing the network density, reducing the departure interval, and increasing the average speed., Author(s): Ran Meng [1]; Baohua Mao (corresponding author) [1]; Qi Xu [1]; Yang Yang [2] 1. Introduction Urban rail transit companies often suffer from financial losses due to large operating [...]