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Abstract Aerosol jet printing has the potential to fabricate fine features on various substrates due to its large stand-off distance. However, the presence of overspray and instability, particularly at high printing resolutions, has limited its widespread application. In this study, we introduce an efficient approach called annular acoustic focusing for aerosol jet printing. By determining the optimal focusing frequency (5.8 MHz) for silver nanoparticles using a particle ejection model, we achieve precise and stable printing. We also propose a modified print nozzle geometry, resulting in ultrafine traces (line width

Abstract Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been associated with alterations in the brain cortical structure. Nonetheless, the causality between COPD and brain cortical structure has not been determined. In the present study, we used Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causal effects of genetic predicated COPD on brain cortical structure, namely cortical surface area (SA) and cortical thickness (TH). Genetic association summary data for COPD were obtained from the FinnGen consortium (N = 358,369; Ncase = 20,066). PRISm summary genetic data were retrieved from a case–control GWAS conducted in the UK Biobank (N = 296,282). Lung function indices, including forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC, were extracted from a meta-analysis of the UK Biobank and SpiroMeta consortium (N = 400,102). Brain cortical structure data were obtained from the ENIGMA consortium (N = 51,665). Inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary analysis, and a series of sensitivity tests were exploited to evaluate the heterogeneity and pleiotropy of our results. The results identified potential causal effects of COPD on several brain cortical specifications, including pars orbitalis, cuneus and inferior parietal gyrus. Furthermore, genetic predicated lung function index (FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC), as well as PRISm, also has causal effects on brain cortical structure. According to our results, a total of 15 functional specifications were influenced by lung function index and PRISm. These findings contribute to understanding the causal effects of COPD and lung function to brain cortical structure.

Abstract Osteosarcoma (OS) is a heterogeneous malignant spindle cell tumor that is aggressive and has a poor prognosis. Although combining surgery and chemotherapy has significantly improved patient outcomes, the prognosis for OS patients with metastatic or recurrent OS has remained unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is imperative to gain a fresh perspective on OS development mechanisms and treatment strategies. After studying single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data in public databases, we identified seven OS subclonal types based on intra-tumor heterogeneity. Subsequently, we constructed a prognostic model based on pro-protein synthesis osteosarcoma (PPS-OS)-associated genes. Correlation analysis showed that the prognostic model performs extremely well in predicting OS patient prognosis. We also demonstrated that the independent risk factors for the prognosis of OS patients were tumor primary site, metastatic status, and risk score. Based on these factors, nomograms were constructed for predicting the 3- and 5-year survival rates. Afterward, the investigation of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) revealed the vital roles of γδ T-cell and B-cell activation. Drug sensitivity analysis and immune checkpoint analysis identified drugs that have potential application value in OS. Finally, the jumping translocation breakpoint (JTB) gene was selected for experimental validation. JTB silencing suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasion of OS cells. Therefore, our research suggests that PPS-OS-related genes facilitate the malignant progression of OS and may be employed as prognostic indicators and therapeutic targets in OS.

An in-depth understanding of the bimodal scale particle reinforced composites, including the particle content and size, phase constitution and distribution, and their effects on mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms, is essential to advance the study of high performance high entropy alloys (HEAs). In this study, the bimodal-sized (nano + micron)(N + M)-Al2O3P/CoCrFeMnNi reinforced composites and monomadal-sized micron(M)-Al2O3P/CoCrFeMnNi reinforced composites were successfully fabricated using a two-step ball milling process in conjunction with spark plasma sintering (SPS) technology. Results showed that the Al2O3P/CoCrFeMnNi composites primarily consisted of fcc structure, with Al2O3 and MnAl2O4 as secondary phases. The M-Al2O3P reinforced composites contained obvious heterogeneous structure while (N + M)-Al2O3P reinforced composites exhibited a multi-scale grain structure comprising of double-sized reinforcement and multiple-sized matrix grains. The yield strength (YS) of bimodal-size particle reinforced composites was higher than that of monomadal particle reinforced composites. For example, the YS of (N-5)/(M − 5) and (N-5)/(M − 10) composites was 117% and 133% higher than that of HEA, respectively. Intriguingly, (N + M)-Al2O3P reinforced composites effectively addressed the issue of reduced material strength caused by a high concentration of particles with a monomadal size. Moreover, the composites of (N-5)/(M − 5) and (N-5)/(M − 10) with a high content of lightweight Al2O3P effectively contributed to the reduction in density of HEA, exhibiting a decrease by 11% and 17% compared to pure HEA, respectively.

Polypropylene is one of the most widely used synthetic resins, which is mainly synthesized with Ziegler-Natta catalysts. In this paper, the functionalized Ziegler-Natta catalyst is applied to prepare high-performance polypropylene. A new way to synthesize functionalized Ziegler-Natta catalysts is to dope with inorganic nanoparticles. The MgCl2/TiCl4/BMMF catalysts doped with halloysite nanotubes were prepared and applied to synthesize polypropylene containing less than 200ppm halloysite nanotubes. It is found that doping nanotubes in Ziegler-Natta catalyst has little impact on the structure, composition and activity of the catalyst, and polypropylene with high isotactic degree and molecular weight was synthesized with the functionalized Ziegler-Natta catalyst. Halloysite nanotubes are found to be dispersed in polypropylene in the form of individual nanotube, forming percolated network in the polymer melt effectively. Moreover, the polypropylene containing halloysite nanotubes exhibited better mechanical and thermal resistance properties as compared with conventional polypropylene, and the thermo-oxidative properties of which do not deteriorate as the introduction of nanotubes. This research provides a facile way to relieve the contradiction between the high activity of catalyst and high content of nanoparticles during the preparation of polyolefin nanocomposites by in-situ polymerization, and a new idea to prepare polyolefin nanocomposites by in-situ polymerization.

Abstract Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which cannot be synthesized by animals and must be supplied from the diet, have been strongly associated with human health. However, the mechanisms for their accretion remain poorly understood. Here, we show that LDL receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5), but not its homolog LRP6, selectively transports unesterified PUFAs into a number of cell types. The LDLa ligand-binding repeats of LRP5 directly bind to PUFAs and are required and sufficient for PUFA transport. In contrast to the known PUFA transporters Mfsd2a, CD36 and FATP2, LRP5 transports unesterified PUFAs via internalization to intracellular compartments including lysosomes, and n-3 PUFAs depend on this transport mechanism to inhibit mTORC1. This LRP5-mediated PUFA transport mechanism suppresses extracellular trap formation in neutrophils and protects mice from myocardial injury during ischemia-reperfusion. Thus, this study reveals a biologically important mechanism for unesterified PUFA transport to intracellular compartments.

Abstract Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of adult disability. Ischemia leads to progressive neuronal death and synapse loss. The engulfment of stressed synapses by microglia further contributes to the disruption of the surviving neuronal network and related brain function. Unfortunately, there is currently no effective target for suppressing the microglia-mediated synapse engulfment. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is an important participant in innate immune response. In the brain, microglia are the primary cell type that mediate immune response after brain insult. The intimate relationship between STING and microglia-mediated neuroinflammation has been gradually established. However, whether STING affects other functions of microglia remains elusive. In this study, we found that STING regulated microglial phagocytosis of synapses after photothrombotic stroke. The treatment of STING inhibitor H151 significantly improved the behavioral performance of injured mice in grid-walking test, cylinder test, and adhesive removal test after stroke. Moreover, the puncta number of engulfed SYP or PSD95 in microglia was reduced after consecutive H151 administration. Further analysis showed that the mRNA levels of several complement components and phagocytotic receptors were decreased after STING inhibition. Transcriptional factor STAT1 is known for regulating most of the decreased molecules. After STING inhibition, the nucleus translocation of phosphorylated STAT1 was also suppressed in microglia. Our data uncovered the novel regulatory effects of STING in microglial phagocytosis after stroke, and further emphasized STING as a potential drug-able target for post-stroke functional recovery.

Abstract Objective The purpose of this article is to systematically review the association between dry eye and sleep quality. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and grey literature databases were searched for observational studies published before April 2023. Meta-analysis was performed using STAT15 software. Results A total of 21 studies with 419,218 participants were included. The results showed that the dry eye subjects had a worse sleep quality than the healthy population, with poorer subjective sleep quality, longer sleep latency, and a higher risk of unhealthy sleep duration such as insufficient sleep or excessive sleep. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores of the dry eye subjects were significantly higher than those of the control subjects (WMD = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.06, 2.50, P

Abstract To investigate the hypolipidemic and modulation effects of probiotics, the golden hamster of hyperlipidemia model was established and intervened with Lactobacillus fermentum GLF‐217 (GLF‐217) and lovastatin (LOV) for 6 weeks. Body weight and serum biochemical indexes were measured, and liver, colonic contents, and feces were collected after autopsy for pathological and gut microbiota analysis. The results showed that the intervention of GLF‐217 and LOV could significantly reduce serum lipid levels and liver fat accumulation in golden hamsters on a high‐fat diet, more importantly, the LOV intervention could cause damage to the liver. The LOV intervention significantly reduced the contents of short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the colonic and downregulated the abundance of SCFAs‐producing bacteria, but GLF‐217 intake increased butyric acid, thus reducing blood lipids and protected the liver. This study elucidates the possible mechanism of the hypolipidemic effect of probiotics in terms of regulating gut microbiota.

Abstract Globally there is already a lot of pressure on water resources because of climate change, economic development, as well as an increasing global populace. Many rivers originate in the mountains, where snowfall fluctuations and the global climate’s inherent unpredictability affect the hydrological processes. Climate change sensitivity has been recognized in recent years and would affect hydropower, such as humidity, cloudiness, and precipitation, that are considered; global warming emerges as one of the most important contributors to climate change. The Yangtze River supports rich biodiversity and provides important ecosystem services for human survival and development. In addition, climate changes, particularly short-term and long-term precipitation and temperature fluctuations, influence the snow regime and the hydrological development of river flow response at the basin and sub-basin scales. More precise this review focused to understand the hydropower potential, freshwater fisheries, and hydrological response of snow dynamics in snow-dominated basins.

Anesthesia inhibits neural activity in the brain, causing patients to lose consciousness and sensation during the surgery. Layers 2/3 of the cortex are important structures for the integration of information and consciousness, which are closely related to normal cognitive function. However, the dynamics of the large-scale population of neurons across multiple regions in layer 2/3 during anesthesia and recovery processes remains unclear. We conducted simultaneous observations and analysis of large-scale calcium signaling dynamics across multiple cortical regions within cortical layer 2/3 during isoflurane anesthesia and recovery in vivo by high-resolution wide-field microscopy. Under isoflurane-induced anesthesia, there is an overall decrease in neuronal activity across multiple regions in the cortical layer 2/3. Notably, some neurons display a paradoxical increase in activity during anesthesia. Additionally, the activity among multiple cortical regions under anesthesia was homogeneous. It is only during the recovery phase that variability emerges in the extent of increased neural activity across different cortical regions. Within the same duration of anesthesia, neural activity did not return to preanesthetic levels. To sum up, anesthesia as a dynamic alteration of brain functional networks, encompassing shifts in patterns of neural activity, homogeneousness among cortical neurons and regions, and changes in functional connectivity. Recovery from anesthesia does not entail a reversal of these effects within the same timeframe.

Abstract Background The three-finger proteins are a collection of disulfide bond rich proteins of great biomedical interests. Scalable recombinant expression and purification of bioactive three-finger proteins is quite difficult. Results We introduce a working pipeline for expression, purification and validation of disulfide-bond rich three-finger proteins using E. coli as the expression host. With this pipeline, we have successfully obtained highly purified and bioactive recombinant α-Βungarotoxin, k-Bungarotoxin, Hannalgesin, Mambalgin-1, α-Cobratoxin, MTα, Slurp1, Pate B etc. Milligrams to hundreds of milligrams of recombinant three finger proteins were obtained within weeks in the lab. The recombinant proteins showed specificity in binding assay and six of them were crystallized and structurally validated using X-ray diffraction protein crystallography. Conclusions Our pipeline allows refolding and purifying recombinant three finger proteins under optimized conditions and can be scaled up for massive production of three finger proteins. As many three finger proteins have attractive therapeutic or research interests and due to the extremely high quality of the recombinant three finger proteins we obtained, our method provides a competitive alternative to either their native counterparts or chemically synthetic ones and should facilitate related research and applications.

Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis by synthesizing multiple literature sources to explore whether there are any differences between elastic fixation and rigid fixation in the treatment of acute tibiofibular syndesmosis injuries. The aim was to provide effective guidance for clinical treatment. Methods We conducted a comprehensive search across seven databases, including both Chinese and English, to include all studies related to the treatment of acute tibiofibular syndesmosis injuries with elastic fixation and rigid fixation published between January 1, 2013, and November 15, 2022. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we rigorously screened, assessed, and extracted data from the included studies. The outcome measures included AOFAS scores at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively; tibiofibular clear space (TBCS) and tibiofibular overlap distance (TBOL) at the early postoperative and 12-month follow-up; intraoperative blood loss; operative time; time to full weight-bearing postoperatively; and postoperative complications. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4. Results A total of 35 studies were included, comprising 16 randomized controlled trials and 19 retrospective cohort studies. The study population included 2120 cases, with 1044 cases in the elastic fixation group and 1076 cases in the rigid fixation group. The elastic fixation group had higher AOFAS scores at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively compared to the rigid fixation group. Although the elastic fixation group had a slightly larger TBCS than the rigid fixation group in the early postoperative period, the difference between the two groups became statistically insignificant at 12 months postoperatively. There was no statistically significant difference in TBOL between the two groups in the early postoperative period, but at 12 months, the elastic fixation group had a greater TBOL than the rigid fixation group. Additionally, the elastic fixation group had lower rates of postoperative local irritation, wound infection, and postoperative internal fixation loosening or rupture compared to the rigid fixation group. The rate of postoperative tibiofibular redislocation did not differ statistically between the two groups. The time to full weight-bearing was shorter in the elastic fixation group than in the rigid fixation group. Although the elastic fixation group had a slightly longer operative time, there was no statistically significant difference in intraoperative blood loss between the two groups. Conclusion Compared to rigid fixation, elastic fixation in the treatment of acute tibiofibular syndesmosis injuries offers several advantages, including better postoperative ankle joint function recovery, more precise anatomical reduction of the syndesmosis postoperatively, a lower incidence of postoperative complications, and shorter time to full weight-bearing postoperatively. These findings provide robust guidance for clinical treatment.

Abstract CD8+ T cells play an important role in anti-tumor immunity. Better understanding of their regulation could advance cancer immunotherapies. Here we identify, via stepwise CRISPR-based screening, that CUL5 is a negative regulator of the core signaling pathways of CD8+ T cells. Knocking out CUL5 in mouse CD8+ T cells significantly improves their tumor growth inhibiting ability, with significant proteomic alterations that broadly enhance TCR and cytokine signaling and their effector functions. Chemical inhibition of neddylation required by CUL5 activation, also enhances CD8 effector activities with CUL5 validated as a major target. Mechanistically, CUL5, which is upregulated by TCR stimulation, interacts with the SOCS-box-containing protein PCMTD2 and inhibits TCR and IL2 signaling. Additionally, CTLA4 is markedly upregulated by CUL5 knockout, and its inactivation further enhances the anti-tumor effect of CUL5 KO. These results together reveal a negative regulatory mechanism for CD8+ T cells and have strong translational implications in cancer immunotherapy.

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) has emerged as a cost-effective technology for carbon capture at the combustion source. The reactor, being central to the implementation of CLC, primarily adheres to two technological pathways: the dual fluidized bed reactor and the packed bed reactor. However, the intricate interaction between gas-solid reaction flow and heat/mass transfer processes in these reactors gives rise to diverse operational principles at both macroscopic and microscopic levels across various reactor forms and scales, making performance prediction challenging. Consequently, the rational design of CLC reactors poses a significant challenge in advancing this technology to commercial viability. This article offers an extensive review of the prevailing reactor designs in CLC, delving into reactor characteristics, pivotal aspects of the design process, methodologies, and representative studies in the field. The predominant reactor design approaches are categorized into engineering and numerical methods. The former encompasses phenomenological and similarity analysis methods, whereas the latter consists of macroscopic and computational fluid dynamics simulation methods. Each method possesses its theoretical framework, distinctive characteristics, appropriate applications, and respective advantages and limitations. In practical applications, integrating these aspects is essential. For instance, the engineering design, which is less costly but also less precise, is effective for quickly screening numerous potential design scenarios. In contrast, the numerical design, despite its higher computational demand and greater model complexity, offers improved predictive accuracy and is optimal for validating and refining engineering design solutions.

Abstract Testicular microcirculation is closely related to spermatogenic function and seminiferous tubular function. The diagnosis and monitoring of testicular diseases can be associated with testicular microcirculation; however, there are currently no effective non‐invasive methods for super‐resolution imaging of testicular microcirculation. In this study, we introduced state‐of‐the‐art graph‐based tracking with the Kalman motion model algorithm to non‐invasively image human testicular microcirculation for the first time with a regular frame‐rate clinical ultrasound imaging system (37 Hz). Two distinct testicular vessels with an 81 µm separation were resolved in the testicular vasculature, surpassing all other imaging modalities. In a retrospective study, we performed contrast‐enhanced ultrasound examinations(CEUS) and ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) processing on the included 76 infertile patients and 15 healthy controls from August 2021 to May 2023 and obtained super‐resolution images of testicular microcirculation with sub‐diffraction resolution. Through the results of one‐way analysis of variance tests and receiver operating characteristic analyses, we found that the ULM‐based parameters hold promise as clinical guidance for differentiating between non‐obstructive and obstructive male infertility. The mean vessel diameter achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.920 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.847–0.994, p

Background: Insufficient clinicians' auscultation ability delays the diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD); artificial intelligence provides a solution to compensate for the insufficiency in auscultation ability by distinguishing between heart murmurs and normal heart sounds. However, whether artificial intelligence can automatically diagnose VHD remains unknown. Our objective was to use deep learning to process and compare raw heart sound data to identify patients with VHD requiring intervention. Methods: Heart sounds from patients with VHD and healthy controls were collected using an electronic stethoscope. Echocardiographic findings were used as the gold standard for this study. According to the chronological order of enrollment, the early-enrolled samples were used to train the deep learning model, and the late-enrollment samples were used to validate the results. Results: The final study population comprised 499 patients (354 in the algorithm training group and 145 in the result validation group). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the deep-learning model for identifying various VHDs ranged from 71.4 to 100.0%, 83.5–100.0%, and 84.1–100.0%, respectively; the best diagnostic performance was observed for mitral stenosis, with a sensitivity of 100.0% (31.0–100.0%), a specificity of 100% (96.7–100.0%), and an accuracy of 100% (97.5–100.0%). Conclusions: Based on raw heart sound data, the deep learning model effectively identifies patients with various types of VHD who require intervention and assists in the screening, diagnosis, and follow-up of VHD.

Long-term intensive tillage has led to soil environment degradation, reduced fertility, difficulty in increasing maize yield, and low nitrogen (N) use efficiency in the Mollisol region of northeast China. In order to raise maize yield and improve the soil hydrothermal environment, we conducted field experiments to investigate the effects of different tillage practices and straw returning on the soil hydrothermal environment, maize yield, N fertilizer recovery and loss, aiming to increase both the maize yield and N fertilizer recovery rate. Four treatments were established: flat no-tillage with full straw mulching (NM), ridge no-tillage with full straw mulching (RM), rotary tillage with full straw incorporation (RR), and conventional tillage without straw (CK) as the control treatment. The two-year results indicate that both tillage practices and straw returning increased maize yield and the 15N fertilizer recovery rate, accompanied by improvements in the soil water content (SWC) and regulation of soil temperature changes, as compared to the CK treatment. Specifically, the total 15N fertilizer recovery rate of RM was significantly increased by 15.23% and 23.46%, while the 15N fertilizer losses were notably reduced by 14.99% and 25.12%, respectively, compared to the NM and RR treatments. Additionally, the maize yield of RM was significantly increased by 3.10% in 2021 and 1.97% in 2022 compared to RR (P < 0.05), and it increased by 2.06% in 2021 and 0.91% in 2022 compared to NM (P > 0.05). The mean SWC of the 0–100-cm soil layer in RM significantly increased by 7.99% and 5.74% in 2021 and by 8.09%, and 5.50% in 2022 compared to NM and RR treatments during the maize growth seasons. At 60–80 days after sowing (DAS), when the air temperature was higher, the mean soil temperature of RM was significantly lower than that of the NM and RR treatments, by 0.46 ℃ and 0.54 ℃ in 2021 and by 0.31 ℃ and 0.70 ℃ in 2022. However, as the air temperature decreased at 100–140 DAS, the mean soil temperature in RM was significantly increased by 0.69 ℃ and 0.81 ℃ in 2021 and by 0.73 ℃ and 0.94 ℃ in 2022 compared to the NM and RR treatments. Our study indicates that RM treatment is the most suitable tillage practice and straw returning method in the Mollisol region of northeast China.

BackgroundInfection is the main cause of death for patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, pathogen profiles still have not been reported in detail due to their heterogeneity caused by geographic region.ObjectiveTo evaluate the performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and summarize regional pathogen profiles of infected patients after HSCT.MethodsFrom February 2021 to August 2022, 64 patients, admitted to the Department of Hematology of The First Hospital of Jilin University for HSCT and diagnosed as suspected infections, were retrospectively enrolled.ResultsA total of 38 patients were diagnosed as having infections, including bloodstream (n =17), pulmonary (n =16), central nervous system (CNS) (n =4), and chest (n =1) infections. Human betaherpesvirus 5 (CMV) was the most common pathogen in both bloodstream (n =10) and pulmonary (n =8) infections, while CNS (n =2) and chest (n =1) infections were mainly caused by Human gammaherpesvirus 4 (EBV). For bloodstream infection, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (n =3), Staphylococcus epidermidis (n =1), and Candida tropicalis (n =1) were also diagnosed as causative pathogens. Furthermore, mNGS combined with conventional tests can identify more causative pathogens with high sensitivity of 82.9% (95% CI 70.4-95.3%), and the total coincidence rate can reach up to 76.7% (95% CI 64.1-89.4%).ConclusionsOur findings emphasized the importance of mNGS in diagnosing, managing, and ruling out infections, and an era of more rapid, independent, and impartial diagnosis of infections after HSCT can be expected.

In the present work, novel nano-Al2O3p reinforced heterogeneous CoCrFeMnNi matrix composites with 0–7.5 wt% Al2O3p were fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The microstructure evolution and properties, i.e., density, hardness and room temperature compression were systematically studied. The results show that different degrees of heterogeneous matrix organization occurred in the composites. The CoCrFeMnNi-2.5 wt%Al2O3p composite consists of CG region and UFG region of uniformly distributed nano-Al2O3p. And the addition of nano-Al2O3p can effectively refine the matrix grains. Compared to pure HEA, the grain size of CoCrFeMnNi-5.0 wt%Al2O3p composite is refined by 48.5%. With the increase of nano-Al2O3 content, the hardness values of the composites increased by 23.6%–56.7% than those of pure HEA. Among the nanocomposites, the CoCrFeMnNi-5.0 wt%Al2O3p composite exhibits the best strengthening effect, while the CoCrFeMnNi-2.5 wt%Al2O3p composite shows a superior strong-plastic synergistic effect with yield strength, ultimate compressive strength and fracture strain of 913 MPa, 1935 MPa and 38%, respectively. However, with the Al2O3p content further increases to 7.5 wt%, both the strength and plasticity of the composite decrease due to the serious agglomeration of nanoparticles.

Soil salinization has become one of the major problems that threaten the ecological environment. The aim of this study is to explore the mechanism of salt tolerance of hybrid walnuts (Juglans major × Juglans regia) under long-term salt stress through the dynamic changes of growth, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and anatomical structure. Our findings indicate that (1) salt stress inhibited seedling height and ground diameter increase, and (2) with increasing salt concentration, relative water content (RWC) decreased, and proline (Pro) and soluble sugar (SS) content increased. The Pro content reached a maximum of 549.64 μg/g on the 42nd day. The increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (46.80–117.16%), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, total flavonoid content (TFC), and total phenol content (TPC) under salt stress reduced the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA). (3) Increasing salt concentration led to increases and subsequent decreases in the thickness of palisade tissues, spongy tissues, leaves, and leaf vascular bundle diameter. Upper and lower skin thickness, root periderm thickness, root diameter, root cortex thickness, and root vascular bundle diameter showed different patterns of change at varying stress concentrations and durations. Overall, the study concluded that salt stress enhanced the antireactive oxygen system, increased levels of osmotic regulators, and low salt concentrations promoted leaf and root anatomy, but that under long-term exposure to high salt levels, leaf anatomy was severely damaged. For the first time, this study combined the anatomical structure of the vegetative organ of hybrid walnut with physiology and biochemistry, which is of great significance for addressing the challenge of walnut salt stress and expanding the planting area.

IntroductionThis study aimed to analyze how authoritative parenting affects behavioral problems among primary, junior high, and secondary high school students. Today, parental educational anxiety and parent–child relationship conflicts are common in China and are resulting in a high incidence of child behavioral problems. High-quality family education is becoming increasingly important in China. This study sought to provide a reference for developing responsive family education services.MethodsA total of 10,441 parents in Hubei Province, including urban and rural areas, were evaluated using the Parents’ Education Anxiety Questionnaire, Parental Authority Parenting Questionnaire, Parent–Child Relationship Scale, and Self-Made Behavior Problem Scale to determine the internal mechanisms of child behavioral problems in the family system. To make the sample more representative, this study collected data from primary and secondary schools representative of the southeast, northwest, and center of Hubei Province; further, the number of parents involved in each school was controlled at approximately 300 to ensure that the final sample had analytical value.ResultsEducational anxiety directly affected children’s behavioral problems and indirectly affected them through the conflicts between parent and child. This conflict partially mediated educational anxiety and child behavioral problems, and authoritative parenting played a significant regulatory role in this relationship.DiscussionHigher levels of educational anxiety among parents increased the likelihood of a depressed family environment. This can lead to deteriorating parent–child relationships, which can result in children’s problem behaviors. Parents can address these problems by changing their approach to education and adjusting their emotions accordingly.

This Letter proposes a universal wavefront reconstruction approach based on a coupled data set and neural network, aiming to overcome the limitations of current algorithms in terms of universality and wavefront sensing accuracy for variable imaging objects. First, a novel data set, Multi-Object Wavefront Coupling Dataset (MOCD-Dataset), is developed to provide diverse data and enable the network to learn universal wavefront features. Next, a new universal wavefront reconstruction network called Object-Independent Wavefront Decoupling Network (OIWD-Net) is introduced, aiming to separate imaging object information from multiple variable images. Our algorithm eliminates the need for specialized wavefront sensors, has a simple system, high light energy utilization, and does not require customized models for each different type of imaging objects, making it highly practical. By combining the MOCD-Dataset and the OIWD-Net, excellent accuracy in wavefront reconstruction of different imaging objects has been achieved. This research provides a new solution for high-resolution image restoration in fields such as solar structure observation and astronomical high-resolution imaging.

Summary: An altered gut microbiota is associated with type 1 diabetes (T1D), affecting the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and glucose homeostasis. We previously demonstrated that enhancing serum acetate and butyrate using a dietary supplement (HAMSAB) improved glycemia in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice and patients with established T1D. The effects of SCFA on immune-infiltrated islet cells remain to be clarified. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on islet cells from NOD mice fed an HAMSAB or control diet. HAMSAB induced a regulatory gene expression profile in pancreas-infiltrated immune cells. Moreover, HAMSAB maintained the expression of β-cell functional genes and decreased cellular stress. HAMSAB-fed mice showed preserved pancreatic endocrine cell identity, evaluated by decreased numbers of poly-hormonal cells. Finally, SCFA increased insulin levels in human β-like cells and improved transplantation outcome in NOD/SCID mice. Our findings support the use of metabolite-based diet as attractive approach to improve glucose control in T1D.

The objective of this study was to investigate the therapeutical action of Lactobacillus fermentum CKCC1858 and Lactobacillus plantarum CKCC1312 on ulcerative colitis (UC) and its mechanism. The results showed that L. fermentum CKCC1858 and L. plantarum CKCC1312 were able to relieve UC in DSS-induced mice, manifested in a noticeable increase in food intake, colon length, water intake and weight, and a marked decrease in histological scores and disease activity index. Further studies showed that L. fermentum CKCC1858 and L. plantarum CKCC1312 had the capacity to increase the level of mucin-2, zonula occludens-1 and interleukin-10, decrease the levels of interleukin-1β, interleukin-17A, interferon-γ, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α, and regulated the genes correlated with immune. Simultaneously, we suggested that L. fermentum CKCC1858 and L. plantarum CKCC1312 possess the ability to alleviate UC via regulating the intestinal microbiome and genes expression, improving intestinal mucosa and promoting the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids.

Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate whether the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) correlated with gout in American adults. Method: The study used data from the 2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with 27,710 adults participating. Initially, multivariable analysis was performed, with controls for covariates, to assess the link of DII and gout. Then, restricted cubic splines (RCS) were applied to model the nonlinear relationship of DII and gout. Furthermore, propensity score matching (PSM) as a further study of potential relationships was established. Eventually, subgroup analysis was performed. Result: Participants within the highest DII quartile would be more susceptible to increased risk of gout in the univariate regression model (Q4 vs. Q1, OR = 1.31, CI: 1.05–1.63). Additionally, a positive correlation was detected between gout risk and DII after adjusting on drinking, smoking, gender, race, age, and BMI. Based on RCS analysis, we observed that the risk of gout raised sharply as DII values increased, then flattened, and increased sharply again when the DII was greater than approximately 2.5. After performing the PSM, it was observed that DII correlated in a positive way to the presence of gout on a fully adjusted multivariable model. Subgroup analysis revealed that the link of DII and gout showed no statistical significance in females, blacks, Mexicans, nor in the population that smoked. Conclusion: Greater degrees of pro-inflammation correlate with a higher risk of gout and might be a predisposing factor for gout. Hence, tactics fostering an anti-inflammatory diet for preventing and improving gout in adults should be regarded.

The evolution of power system is a dynamic and complex process. Whether the evolution of power system can adapt to the macro environment and develop with all subsystems within the system depends on the matching and integration development among different evolutionary subjects. Based on the dissipation theory and Brusselator model, this paper constructs an evolutionary synergy model of the power system, and quantitatively analyzes the evolutionary synergy relationship between the evolving subjects of the power system and the overall evolutionary process of the power system. Then, from the socio-technical system transformation theory, we analyze the evolutionary elements of macro-environmental level, meso-institutional level and micro-beneficial level in the process of system transformation in China and the interaction among them. Finally, by comparing the entropy changes of the evolutionary participant subjects and the overall power system at each stage, the endogenous mechanism of the power system, the external elements and their interactions on the system development are studied in order to reveal the evolutionary synergistic law of China’s power system and make suggestions for the development of the new power system.

Ribosome biogenesis is a fundamental process in eukaryotic cells. NOTCHLESS (NLE) is involved in 60S ribosome biogenesis in yeast, but its role in Arabidopsis (A. thaliana) remains exclusive. Here, we found that Arabidopsis NLE (AtNLE) is highly conservative in phylogeny, which encoding a WD40-repeat protein. AtNLE is expressed in actively dividing tissues. AtNLE-GFP is localized in the nucleus. AtNLE physically interacts with the MIDAS domain of AtMDN1, a protein involved in the biogenesis of the 60S ribosomal subunit in Arabidopsis. The underexpressing mutant nle-2 shows short roots and reduced cell number in the root meristem. In addition, the null mutant nle-1 is embryo lethal, and defective embryos are arrested at the early globular stage. This work suggests that AtNLE interacts with AtMDN1, and AtNLE functions in root and embryo development.

Thanks to the rapid development of naked-eye 3D and wireless communication technology, 3D video related applications on mobile devices have attracted a lot of attention. Nevertheless, the time-varying characteristics of the wireless channel is very challenging for conventional source-channel coding based transmission strategy. Also, the high complexity of source-channel coding based transmission scheme is undesired for low power mobile terminals. An advanced transmission scheme named Softcast was proposed to achieve efficient transmission performance for 2D image/video. Unfortunately, it cannot be directly applied to wireless 3D video transmission with high efficiency. This paper proposes a more efficient soft transmission scheme for 3D video with a graceful quality adaptation within a wide range of channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). The proposed method first extends the linear transform to 4 dimensions with additional view dimension to eliminate the view redundancy, and then metadata optimization and chunk interleaving are designed to further improve the transmission performance. Meanwhile, a synthesis distortion based chunk discard strategy is developed to improve the overall 3D video quality under the condition of limited bandwidth. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves the 3D video transmission performance over the wireless channel for low power and low complexity scenarios.

Abstract Background Ketamine is administered in the perioperative period for its benefits in analgesia, anti-agitation and anti-depression when administered at a small dose. However, it is not clear whether the intra-operative administration of ketamine would affect emergence under sevoflurane anesthesia. To investigate this effect, we designed this trial. Methods In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we enrolled 44 female patients aged 18–60 who were scheduled to elective laparoscopic gynecological surgeries. All patients were randomly assigned to saline or s-ketamine group. In s-ketamine group, patients received 0.125 mg/kg s-ketamine 30 min after the start of surgery. In saline group, patients were administered the same volume of saline. Sevoflurane and remifentanil were used to maintain general anesthesia. The primary outcome was emergence time. We also assessed postoperative agitation, cognitive function, and delirium. In addition, we collected and analyzed prefrontal electroencephalogram (EEG) during and after general anesthesia. Results There were no significant differences in emergence time between s-ketamine group and saline group (10.80 ± 3.77 min vs. 10.00 ± 2.78 min, P = 0.457). Neither postoperative agitation (4 [3, 4] vs. 4 [3, 4], P = 0.835) nor cognitive function (25.84 ± 2.69 vs. 25.55 ± 2.19, P = 0.412) differed between groups. No postoperative delirium was observed in either group. Subanesthetic s-ketamine resulted in active EEG with decreased power of slow (-0.35 ± 1.13 dB vs. -1.63 ± 1.03 dB, P = 0.003), delta (-0.22 ± 1.11 dB vs. -1.32 ± 1.09 dB, P = 0.011) and alpha (-0.31 ± 0.71 dB vs. -1.71 ± 1.34 dB, P = 0.0003) waves and increased power of beta-gamma bands (-0.30 ± 0.89 dB vs. 4.20 ± 2.08 dB, P

Abstract Introduction This study compares the clinical characteristics of dry eye secondary to primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), drug-induced liver injury (DILI), and viral hepatitis B(HBV) to evaluate the ocular surface damage caused by different types of liver diseases. Methods Thirty healthy people were included as control group. Sixty patients with dry eye secondary to different types of liver disease were included, including 19 cases of PBC, 18 cases of DILI, and 23 cases of HBV. All patients were evaluated by the SPEED questionnaire, corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), noninvasive tear breakup time (NIBUT), Schirmer I test (SIt), tear meniscus height test (TMH), the area of meibomian glands dropout (MG dropout), partial blinking rate (PBR), lipid layer thickness (LLT), meibum expressibility, and meibum quality. Results There are statistical differences in ophthalmic examination results between different types of liver diseases and normal people (P 0.05).The Meibum quality score in the DILI group was significantly higher than the HBV group (P

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cause serious stress to biological health and the soil environment as persistent pollutants. Despite the wide use of biochar in promoting soil improvement, the mechanism of biochar removing soil PAHs through rhizosphere effect in the process of phytoremediation remain uncertain. In this study, the regulation of soil niche and microbial degradation strategies under plants and biochar were explored by analyzing the effects of plants and biochar on microbial community composition, soil metabolism and enzyme activity in the process of PAH degradation. The combination of plants and biochar significantly increased the removal of phenanthrene (6.10%), pyrene (11.50%), benzo[a]pyrene (106.02%) and PAHs (27.10%) when compared with natural attenuation, and significantly increased the removal of benzo[a]pyrene (34.51%) and PAHs (5.96%) when compared with phytoremediation. Compared with phytoremediation, the combination of plants and biochar significantly increased soil nutrient availability, enhanced soil enzyme activity (urease and catalase), improved soil microbial carbon metabolism and amino acid metabolism, thereby benefiting microbial resistance to PAH stress. In addition, the activity of soil enzymes (dehydrogenase, polyphenol oxidase and laccase) and the expression of genes involved in the degradation and microorganisms (streptomyces, curvularia, mortierella and acremonium) were up-regulated through the combined action of plants and biochar. In view of the aforementioned results, the combined application of plants and biochar can enhance the degradation of PAHs and alleviate the stress of PAH on soil microorganisms.

The precise estimation of fluid motion is critical across various fields, including aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, and industrial fluid mechanics. However, refraction at complex interfaces in the light path can cause image deterioration and lead to severe measurement errors if the aberration changes with time, e.g., at fluctuating air–water interfaces. This challenge is particularly pronounced in technical energy conversion processes such as bubble formation in electrolysis, droplet formation in fuel cells, or film flows. In this paper, a flow field estimation algorithm that can perform the aberration correction function is proposed, which integrates the flow field distribution estimation algorithm based on the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique and the novel actuator-free adaptive optics technique. Two different multi-input convolutional neural network (CNN) structures are established, with two frames of distorted PIV images and measured wavefront distortion information as inputs. The corrected flow field results are directly output, which are divided into two types based on different network structures: dense estimation and sparse estimation. Based on a series of models, a corresponding dataset synthesis model is established to generate training datasets. Finally, the algorithm performance is evaluated from different perspectives. Compared with traditional algorithms, the two proposed algorithms achieves reductions in the root mean square value of velocity residual error by 84% and 89%, respectively. By integrating both flow field measurement and novel adaptive optics technique into deep CNNs, this method lays a foundation for future research aimed at exploring more intricate distortion phenomena in flow field measurement.

This paper addresses the guidance of various flight vehicles under multiple constraints in three-dimensional space. A cooperative guidance strategy that satisfies both time and angle constraints is designed to reach a moving target. The strategy is organized into two parts: modeling and programming calculations. First, a nonlinear motion model for guidance is established and normalized, including both the vehicle and the target. Later, the arrival method is automatically determined according to the strategy and depending on the type of target. The cooperative terminal time is determined based on an augmented proportional navigation method. An improved model predictive static programming (MPSP) algorithm was designed as a means of adjusting the adaptive terminal time. Then, the algorithm was used to update the control quantity iteratively until the off-target quantity and the angle of constraints were satisfied. The simulation results showed that the strategy could enable multiple flight vehicles at different initial positions to reach the target accurately at the same time and with the ideal impact angle. The strategy boasts a high computational efficiency and is capable of being implemented in real time.

Using metallurgical solid waste Titanium-extracted Residual Slag (TRS) as mine-filling cementitious material is crucial to reduce the filling cost and promote the utilization of solid waste resources. In this paper, taking the strength of the backfill at different curing ages as the response target, the Design-expert mixing design was used to optimize the proportioning experiment of titanium-extracted residual slag, titanium gypsum, silicate cement, and total tailings, to analyze the interactions and influences of the materials on the strength of the backfill, and to analyze the hydration mechanism of the titanium-extracted residual slag-based filling cementitious materials under the optimal proportioning. The results show that: (1) the order of the sensitivity of each component to the strength of backfill is: composite activator > cement > titanium gypsum > titanium-extracted residual slag, and there are different degrees of interaction between them; (2) the optimal ratio of titanium-extracted residual slag-based filling cementitious materials is TRS:titanium gypsum:cement:composite activator = 55:25:17:3; (3) early strength formation of backfill is mainly related to its hydration products ettringite and C-S-H, the rapid nucleation and cross-growth of ettringite in the early stage forms an effective physical filling effect, which is the main reason for the formation of high early strength, and the later strength of backfill benefited from the continuous accumulation of C-S-H encapsulation and bonding, which further densified its internal structure; (4) the use of titanium-extracted residual slag-based filling cementitious materials contributes to safe, green, and economic mining.

The whole life cycle degradation data set of rolling bearings has the characteristics of large capacity, diversity, and non-stationarity. As a powerful tool for processing such time series data in deep learning algorithms, LSTM is prone to the loss of important time series information in the process of the life prediction of rolling bearings, which leads to a decline in prediction accuracy. Therefore, a method for predicting the remaining useful life (RUL) of rolling bearings based on the combination of temporal pattern attention mechanism (TPA) and LSTM is proposed. The method firstly combines hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) to construct a multi-faceted and multi-scale preferred feature set reflecting the degradation information of rolling bearings, then strengthens the information correlation between hidden layers of the LSTM model through TPA and optimates the parameters of the fusion model of TPA and LSTM by using the gazelle optimization algorithm (GOA). Finally, the model is applied to the experimental data set of rolling bearing degradation. The results show that, compared with the traditional model, this method is more suitable for the remaining life prediction of rolling bearings.

To investigate the mechanism of flow-induced vibrations in the cooling system of a double crystal monochromator (DCM), this paper utilizes a multi-physics numerical simulation approach, employing ANSYS and FLUENT platforms to simulate the flow state of liquid nitrogen in the cooling system and explore the amplitude response of the DCM. Initially, simulations were conducted to examine the flow state of liquid nitrogen with varying frequency and amplitude pulsations. Subsequently, modal analysis was employed to investigate the amplitude response of the DCM in the pitch direction vibrations under pulsating excitation. Finally, this research investigated the influence of high heat load-induced liquid nitrogen boiling on a DCM. The results indicate that pipe resistance is the fundamental cause of vibration induced by pulsating excitation. Low-frequency excitation enhances the amplification factor of DCM vibration. In contrast, due to the rapid conversion of fluid kinetic energy to pressure potential energy, high-frequency excitation increases the pulsation amplitude in the pipe. Additionally, there is a linear relationship between the amplitude of liquid nitrogen velocity fluctuations and the response amplitude of a DCM. The slug flow formed after liquid nitrogen boiling generates low-frequency pulse signals, and intermittent fluid impacts cause significant vibrations in the DCM. These research findings provide a reference for the analysis and design of ultra-high-stability DCM cooling systems.

Hot working environment not only affects work efficiency, but also poses a potential threat to the physical and mental health of staff. The current common method for dealing with high temperatures is spray-only or ventilation-only. To investigate the impact of different spray and ventilation modes on indoor high-temperature environments, this study examined their effects on indoor environmental parameters, average skin temperature, and psychological indicators. By establishing an experimental platform for high-temperature thermal environments, a spray ventilation cooling system was implemented, and its cooling efficacy in the indoor thermal environment was analyzed. The environmental classification of the high-temperature working environment under experimental conditions is provided based on the experimental data. A comparison and analysis of environmental parameters and physiological and psychological indicators between moderate and high-temperature environments were conducted. The combination of spray and ventilation modes resulted in a 5.3 °C reduction in air temperature, a 24.1% increase in average relative humidity, and a 3.3 °C reduction in average Wet-bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). The cooling effect was increased by 2.3 °C and the average relative humidity was increased by 10.8% compared to spray-only and ventilation-only modes. In spray and ventilation mode, when the spray volume is increased by 15 mL/min, the air temperature is reduced by 8.2 °C, the average relative humidity is increased by 31.9%, and the average WBGT is reduced by 5.1 °C. This study has guiding significance for finding a reasonable cooling scheme to cope with indoor high-temperature environments.

High-voltage electropulse boring (EPB) is a new drilling method with great potential for drilling and industrialization. The existing high-voltage electropulse boring damage model based on PFC2D does not calibrate the parameters of the rock used in the rock-breaking test, so it is impossible to ensure that the simulated model is consistent with the mechanical properties of the rock in the actual rock-breaking test. The parameters of natural rock were calibrated based on the data results of indoor uniaxial compression and Brazilian splitting tests. Based on the calibrated micro parameters, a geometric model consistent with the size of the high-voltage EPB test was established, and the EPB process was simulated. The simulation results indicated that the shear failure mainly occurred in the process of high-voltage EPB, accompanied by a certain amount of tensile failure. Then, the EPB test was carried out with the high-voltage EPB test system, and an irregular broken hole with a diameter of 60 mm and a depth of 22.5 mm was obtained. The breaking effect was visualized by point cloud software. The results of the EPB rock-breaking test verified the effectiveness of the calibrated parameters. Finally, the influence of the fractures on the rock-breaking effect of high-voltage EPB was studied through the geometric model established with the calibrated parameters. The results showed that the existence of fractures would reduce the energy consumption in the rock-breaking process, and the crushing area tended to develop in the direction of fractures.

Abstract The misinformation effect occurs when people’s memory of an event is altered by subsequent inaccurate information. No study has systematically tested theories about the dynamics of human hippocampal representations during the three stages of misinformation-induced false memory. This study replicates behavioral results of the misinformation effect, and investigates the cross-stage pattern similarity in the hippocampus and cortex using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results show item-specific hippocampal pattern similarity between original-event and post-event stages. During the memory-test stage, hippocampal representations of original information are weakened for true memory, whereas hippocampal representations of misinformation compete with original information to create false memory. When false memory occurs, this conflict is resolved by the lateral prefrontal cortex. Individuals’ memory traces of post-event information in the hippocampus predict false memory, whereas original information in the lateral parietal cortex predicts true memory. These findings support the multiple-trace model, and emphasize the reconstructive nature of human memory.

Traditional diagnosis relies on identifying anatomical abnormality, which offers a stage for various anatomical imaging techniques, such as X-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasonic imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The good capacity of providing anatomical details, especially for soft tissues, popularizes the clinical use of MRI. However, as the understanding of various diseases reaches the molecular level, it is gradually accepted that molecular anomaly often precedes anatomical abnormality. Therefore, molecular imaging, which is aimed at gathering various molecular information in organisms via imaging, starts to gain momentum. Unfortunately, traditional MRI is not capable of molecular imaging. As a result, there is an urgent demand for probes that enable MRI to “see” molecules. A promising design strategy for these probes is to elicit a signal change triggered by the presence of molecular targets, i.e. activation. Benefiting from the rapid development of nanotechnology, a number of nanoparticle-based activatable MRI probes have been developed for molecular imaging. This review summarizes recent advances of activatable MRI nanoprobes for imaging pathological characteristics of cancer, inflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on the design strategies and applications of these probes. In addition, the prospects and challenges of activatable MRI nanoprobes are also discussed.

Testing and isolation remain a key component of public health responses to both persistent and emerging infectious diseases. Although the value of these measures have been demonstrated in combating recent outbreaks including the COVID-19 pandemic and monkeypox, their impact depends critically on the timelines of testing and start of isolation during the course of disease. To investigate this impact, we developed a delay differential model and incorporated age-since-symptom-onset as a parameter for delay in testing. We then used the model to compare the outcomes of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid antigen (RA) testing methods when isolation starts either at the time of testing or at the time of test result. Parameterizing the model with estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and diagnostic sensitivity of the tests, we found that the reduction of disease transmission using the RA test can be comparable to that achieved by applying the RT-PCR test. Given constraints and inevitable delays associated with sample collection and laboratory assays in RT-PCR testing post symptom onset, self-administered RA tests with short turnaround times present a viable alternative for timely isolation of infectious cases.

The present work investigates whether and how decisions in real-world online shopping scenarios can be predicted based on brain activation. Potential customers were asked to search through product pages on e-commerce platforms and decide, which products to buy, while their EEG signal was recorded. Machine learning algorithms were then trained to distinguish between EEG activation when viewing products that are later bought or put into the shopping card as opposed to products that are later discarded. We find that Hjorth parameters extracted from the raw EEG can be used to predict purchase choices to a high level of accuracy. Above-chance predictions based on Hjorth parameters are achieved via different standard machine learning methods with random forest models showing the best performance of above 80% prediction accuracy in both 2-class (bought or put into card vs. not bought) and 3-class (bought vs. put into card vs. not bought) classification. While conventional EEG signal analysis commonly employs frequency domain features such as alpha or theta power and phase, Hjorth parameters use time domain signals, which can be calculated rapidly with little computational cost. Given the presented evidence that Hjorth parameters are suitable for the prediction of complex behaviors, their potential and remaining challenges for implementation in real-time applications are discussed.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the potential causal link between three specific types of occupational exposure on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).MethodA Two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) analysis, comprising univariate MR (UVMR) and multivariate MR (MVMR) analyses, was performed to investigate the potential causal association between three types of occupational exposures, jobs involving mainly walking or standing (JWS), jobs involving heavy manual or physical work (JMP), and jobs involving shift work(JSW) on RA and AS. Genetic variants for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of occupational exposure and AS were obtained from the UK Biobank. GWAS summary data for RA were obtained from FinnGen Biobank analysis. For UVMR, six methods of Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, Weighted Mode, Weighted Median, Simple Mode, MR pleiotropy residual sum, and outlier (MR-PRESSO) were used for the analysis. The MVMR was analyzed using the IVW model as well as the MR-Egger model.ResultsThe UVMR suggested no causal relationship between the three occupational exposure and RA [IVW: P=0.59,0.21,0.63] or AS [IVW: P=0.43,0.57,0.04], as did the bidirectional MR [IVW: P=0.73,0.70,0.16], [IVW: P=0.65,0.68,0.74]. Although unadjusted MVMR suggested a causal relationship between JMP and AS [IVW: OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1.00- 1.02, p = 0.02], the adjusted MVMR denied this relationship and concluded that there was no causal relationship between the other occupational exposure and either RA or AS.ConclusionOur MR analysis did not establish a direct causal relationship between certain occupational exposures and either RA or AS.

Introduction: Understanding and tracking changes in crop water requirements is crucial for effective irrigation, water planning, and future decisions. Determining the reference evapotranspiration (ETO) and crop evapotranspiration (ETC) of China cotton is essential for water resource management.Methods: This study analyzed the spatiotemporal changes in ETO and ETC at 248 standard stations in cotton production regions of China from 1960 to 2019, and the ETO and ETC of each station were quantified by using the CropWat 8.0 and non-parametric Mann-Kendall test. The impacts of climate change on ETO and ETC were evaluated by analyzing the contribution rate and sensitivity coefficient of climate change.Discussion: The results revealed distinct distributions of ETO and ETC across various growth stages and spatial scales in the cotton production regions of China. In the Huanghe Valley, the rate of decline for ETO decreased from 787.23 mm to 769.84 mm, while in the Yangtze Valley cotton region, it decreased from 749.19 mm to 735.01 mm. Similarly, in the Northwest inland cotton regions, the rate of decline for ETO reduced from 991.19 mm to 982.70 mm. As for ETC, the rate of decline decreased from 677.62 mm to 654.33 mm in the Huanghe Valley, from 653.02 mm to 625.50 mm in the Yangtze Valley, and from 916.25 mm to 886.74 mm in the Northwest inland cotton regions. ETO was highly sensitive to maximum air temperature (Tmax), followed by relative humidity (RH), sunshine duration (SD), wind speed at 2 m height (WS), and minimum air temperature (Tmin). WS was the most influential climate variable associated with ETO change, followed by Tmax, SD, RH, and Tmin. Significant declines in WS and SD were indicated in the decrease in ETO in the Huanghe Valley and Yangtze Valley cotton regions. WS showed a significant decrease in ETO in the northwestern inland cotton region. However, decreased RH and increased temperature commonly reversed the trend of ETO from 2000 to 2019, and the northwestern inland cotton region had the most significant upward trend. Amidst high temperatures and drought stress, the irrigation needs of cotton were rising, posing a significant threat to both cotton production and water resources.

Abstract Comparing the responses of closely related species to environmental changes is an efficient method to explore adaptive divergence, for a better understanding of the adaptive evolution of marine species under rapidly changing climates. Oysters are keystone species thrive in intertidal and estuarine areas where frequent environmental disturbance occurs including fluctuant salinity. The evolutionary divergence of two sister species of sympatric estuarine oysters, Crassostrea hongkongensis and Crassostrea ariakensis, in response to euryhaline habitats on phenotypes and gene expression, and the relative contribution of species effect, environment effect, and their interaction to the divergence were explored. After a 2‐month outplanting at high‐ and low‐salinity locations in the same estuary, the high growth rate, percent survival, and high tolerance indicated by physiological parameters suggested that the fitness of C. ariakensis was higher under high‐salinity conditions and that of C. hongkongensis was higher under low‐salinity conditions. Moreover, a transcriptomic analysis showed the two species exhibited differentiated transcriptional expression in high‐ and low‐salinity habitats, largely caused by the species effect. Several of the important pathways enriched in divergent genes between species were also salinity‐responsive pathways. Specifically, the pyruvate and taurine metabolism pathway and several solute carriers may contribute to the hyperosmotic adaptation of C. ariakensis, and some solute carriers may contribute to the hypoosmotic adaptation of C. hongkongensis. Our findings provide insights into the phenotypic and molecular mechanisms underlying salinity adaptation in marine mollusks, which will facilitate the assessment of the adaptive capacity of marine species in the context of climate change and will also provide practical information for marine resource conservation and aquaculture.

Abstract Background Patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) have poor sleep quality due to multiple factors. We aimed to assess the sleep status and related factors of TB patients in Shenzhen, China. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted on 461 TB patients hospitalized at Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital from March 2021 to January 2022, and sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI). Results A total of 459 valid questionnaires were collected, and 238 of the 459 TB patients had general or poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5). Patients’ gender, marriage, nutritional screening score, family atmosphere, fear of discrimination, fear of interactions, and the impact of the disease on their work life had significant effects on sleep quality (P