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Key message: The sugar supply in the medium affects the apical hook development of Arabidopsis etiolated seedlings. In addition, we provided the mechanism insights of this process. Dicotyledonous plants form an apical hook structure to shield their young cotyledons from mechanical damage as they emerge from the rough soil. Our findings indicate that sugar molecules, such as sucrose and glucose, are crucial for apical hook development. The presence of sucrose and glucose allows the apical hooks to be maintained for a longer period compared to those grown in sugar-free conditions, and this effect is dose-dependent. Key roles in apical hook development are played by several sugar metabolism pathways, including oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis. RNA-seq data revealed an up-regulation of genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism in plants grown in sugar-free conditions, while genes associated with phenylpropanoid metabolism were down-regulated. This study underscores the significant role of sugar metabolism in the apical hook development of etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovipneumoniae) causes a fatal infection in goats, leading to significant economic losses in the small-ruminant industry worldwide. The present study aimed to characterize the strains of M. ovipneumoniae infecting goats with pneumonia in Anhui Province, China. From November 2021 to January 2023, among 20 flocks, a total of 1320 samples (600 samples of unvaccinated blood, 400 nasal swabs, 200 samples of pleural fluid, and 120 samples of lung tissue) were obtained from goats with typical signs of pneumonia, such as a low growth rate, appetite suppression, increased temperature, discharge from the nose, and a cough. Necropsied goats showed increased pleural fluid, fibrinous pleuropneumonia, and attached localized pleural adhesions. M. ovipneumoniae isolated from the samples were subjected to an indirect hemagglutination test (IHA), PCR amplicon sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, and biochemical identification tests. The overall positivity rate of M. ovipneumoniae was 27.50%. Mycoplasmas were obtained from 80 (20.0%) nasal swabs, 21 (10.5%) pleural fluid samples, and 15 (12.5%) lung samples. PCR amplicon (288 bp) sequencing identified eight strains of M. ovipneumoniae. In a phylogenetic tree, the isolated strains were homologous to the standard strain M. ovipneumoniae Y-98 and most similar to M. ovipneumoniae FJ-SM. Local strains of M. ovipneumoniae were isolated from goats in Anhui province. The identified genomic features and population structure will promote further study of M. ovipneumoniae pathogenesis and could form the basis for vaccine and therapy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and accurate identification of bacteria is of great importance to public health in various fields, including medical diagnostics, food safety, and environmental monitoring. However, most existing bacterial detection methods have very narrow detectable concentration ranges and limited detection information, which easily leads to wrong diagnosis and treatment. This work presents a novel high-throughput microfluidic electrical impedance-based multidimensional single-bacterium profiling system for ultrawide concentration range detection and accurate differentiation of viability and Gram types of bacteria. The electrical impedance-based microfluidic cytometry is capable of multi-frequency impedance quantification, which allows profiling of the bacteria size, concentration, and membrane impedance as an indicator of bacterial viability and Gram properties in a single flow-through interrogation. It has been demonstrated that this novel impedance cytometry has an ultrawide bacterial counting range (102–108 cells per mL), and exhibits a rapid and accurate discrimination of viability and Gram types of bacteria in a label-free manner. Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been used as an analog species for the accuracy assessment of the electrical impedance-based bacterial detection system in an authentic complex beverage matrix within 24 hours. The impedance-based quantifications of viable bacteria are consistent with those obtained by the classical bacterial colony counting method (R2 = 0.996). This work could pave the way for providing a novel microfluidic cytometry system for rapid and multidimensional bacterial detection in diverse areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of temperature and humidity on the absorption spectrum and concentration of nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ) using a compact, portable open optical-path gas detection sensor system. We obtained the absorption coefficient and widened the linear function of the N 2 O absorption spectrum related to temperature by theoretical analysis and the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN). Afterward, we conducted real-time monitoring of N 2 O in both campus and laboratory environments using lasers for a duration of 32 h and 6 h, respectively, and the results were compared and analyzed with the theoretical derivation. The results show that the concentration of N 2 O increased with increasing environmental temperature but decreased with increasing humidity. Furthermore, the variations in temperature and humidity significantly affected the peak values of the second-harmonic (2f) and first-harmonic (1f) signals. Finally, the temperature N 2 O concentration and humidity N 2 O curves were calibrated separately, and temperature changes were positively correlated with the N 2 O concentration, while humidity changes were negatively correlated with the N 2 O concentration. The experimental results indicate that the concentration of N 2 O and its absorption spectra are influenced by humidity and temperature, which has a significant reference value in the absorption and measurement of N 2 O in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft robotic gloves have attracted significant interest in hand rehabilitation in the past decade. However, current solutions are still heavy and lack finger-state monitoring and versatile treatment options. To address this, we present a lightweight soft robotic glove actuated by twisted string actuators (TSA) that provides whole-hand finger motion tracking. We have developed a virtual reality environment for hand rehabilitation training, allowing users to interact with various virtual objects. Fifteen small inertial measurement units are placed on the glove to predict finger joint angles and track whole-hand finger motion. We performed TSA experiments to identify design and control rules, by understanding how their response varies with input load and voltages. Grasping experiments were conducted to determine the grasping force and range of motion. Finally, we showcase an application of the rehabilitation glove in a Unity-based VR interface, which can actuate the operator's fingers to grasp different virtual objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human intent prediction (HIP) and human activity recognition (HAR) are important for human–robot interactions. However, human–robot interface signals are user-dependent. A classifier trained on labeled source subjects performs poorly on unlabeled target subjects. Besides, previous methods used a single learner, which may only learn a subset of features and degrade their performance on target subjects. Last, HIP and HAR require real-time computing on edge devices whose computational capabilities limit the model size. To address these issues, this paper designs an ensemble diverse hypotheses (EDH) and knowledge distillation (EDHKD) method. EDH mitigates the cross-subject divergence by training feature generators to minimize the upper bound of the classification discrepancy among multiple classifiers. EDH also maximizes the discrepancy among multiple feature generators to learn diverse and complete features. After training EDH, a lightweight student network (EDHKD) distills the knowledge from EDH to a single feature generator and classifier to significantly decrease the model size but remain accurate. The performance of EDHKD is theoretically demonstrated and experimentally validated. Results show that EDH can learn diverse features and adapt well to unknown target subjects. With only soft labels provided by EDH, the student network (EDHKD) can inherit the knowledge learned by EDH and classify unlabeled target data of a 2D moon dataset and two human locomotion datasets with the accuracy at 96.9%, 94.4%, and 97.4%, respectively, in no longer than 1 millisecond. Compared to the benchmark method, EDHKD lifts the target-domain classification accuracy by 1.3% and 7.1% in the two human locomotion datasets. EDHKD also stabilizes learning curves. Therefore, EDHKD significantly increases the generalization ability and efficiency of the HIP and HAR. [Display omitted] • A novel, accurate, and efficient unsupervised cross-subject adaptation method. • Ensemble diverse hypotheses can learn diverse features. • Knowledge distillation can increase both accuracy and efficiency. • Theoretic explanation of the ensemble learners and the knowledge distillation. • Comprehensive cross-subject evaluations on wearable sensor datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many diseases, such as stroke, arthritis, and spinal cord injury, can cause severe hand impairment. Treatment options for these patients are limited by expensive hand rehabilitation devices and dull treatment procedures. In this study, we present an inexpensive soft robotic glove for hand rehabilitation in virtual reality (VR). Fifteen inertial measurement units are placed on the glove for finger motion tracking, and a motor—tendon actuation system is mounted onto the arm and exerts forces on fingertips via finger-anchoring points, providing force feedback to fingers so that the users can feel the force of a virtual object. A static threshold correction and complementary filter are used to calculate the finger attitude angles, hence computing the postures of five fingers simultaneously. Both static and dynamic tests are performed to validate the accuracy of the finger-motion-tracking algorithm. A field-oriented-control-based angular closed-loop torque control algorithm is adopted to control the force applied to the fingers. It is found that each motor can provide a maximum force of 3.14 N within the tested current limit. Finally, we present an application of the haptic glove in a Unity-based VR interface to provide the operator with haptic feedback while squeezing a soft virtual ball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi‐beam reflectarray and transmitarray (TA) antennas are new antennas that can have wide angular coverage. However, they are generally of large profiles. To address the issue, this article proposes a folded TA antenna of high gain and low profile that can produce circularly polarized (CP) multi‐beams. It consists of a main‐reflector, a TA, and a linearly polarized (LP) planar feeding array. It reflects an incident electromagnetic wave twice and converts polarization three times. It has a metasurface that carries out the broadband LP‐to‐CP conversion. A prototype is developed with a height of 1.8λ at 13 GHz. The experimental results show that the antenna can achieve a scanning range of ±10°, a peak gain of 22 dBi, and an aperture efficiency of 20.8%. It has a 3‐dB axial ratio bandwidth of 2.2 GHz (or 16.6%), covering 12.1–14.3 GHz. It features a low profile, high gain, low cost, and easy integration with communication systems (e.g., MIMO transceiver systems). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insecure connected devices can cause serious threats not just to smart home-owners, but also the underlying infrastructural network. There has been increasing academic and regulatory interest in addressing cybersecurity risks from both the standpoint of IoT vendors and that of end-users. In addition to the current data protection and network security legal frameworks, for example, the UK government has initiated the 'Secure by Design' campaign. While there has been work on how organisations and individuals manage their own cybersecurity risks, it remains unclear to what extent IoT vendors are supporting end-users to perform day-to-day management of such risks, and what is stopping the vendors from improving such support. We interviewed 13 experts in the field of IoT and identified three main categories of barriers to making IoT products useably secure: technical, legal and organisational. In this paper we further discuss the policymaking implications of these findings and make some recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in unsupervised domain adaptation have shown that mitigating the domain divergence by extracting the domain-invariant features could significantly improve the generalization of a model with respect to a new data domain. However, current methodologies often neglect to retain domain private information, which is the unique information inherent to the unlabeled new domain, compromising generalization. This paper presents a novel method that utilizes mutual information to protect this domain-specific information, ensuring that the latent features of the unlabeled data not only remain domain-invariant but also reflect the unique statistics of the unlabeled domain. We show that simultaneous maximization of mutual information and reduction of domain divergence can effectively preserve domain-private information. We further illustrate that a neural estimator can aptly estimate the mutual information between the unlabeled input space and its latent feature space. Both theoretical analysis and empirical results validate the significance of preserving such unique information of the unlabeled domain for cross-domain generalization. Comparative evaluations reveal our method's superiority over existing state-of-the-art techniques across multiple benchmark datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemotherapy has been proven to be an efficient strategy for the treatment of prostate cancer (PC). However, the insufficient cellular uptake of drugs is the biggest challenge for PC therapy. Therefore, in order to address the above concern, we developed tumor-targeted hyaluronic acid-silver nanoparticles (HA-Ag NPs), in which hyaluronic acid can specially bind with its receptor CD44 overexpressed on LNCaP cells. HA-Ag NPs have been used to load paclitaxel (PTX) to prepare functionalized silver nanoparticles (HA-Ag-PTX). The average particle size of HA-Ag-PTX was about 70 nm and kept under 120 nm for eight days. androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells (LNCaP) cells show good uptake of HA-Ag-PTX, and HA-Ag-PTX enters LNCaP cells in a clathrin-mediated energy-dependent manner. HA-Ag-PTX exhibits an excellent pH response release of PTX under the acidic condition, which is beneficial to enhance the distribution of PTX in the tumor microenvironment. HA-Ag-PTX effectively suppresses the migration and proliferation of LNCaP cells probably by arresting the cellular cycle at G 0/ G 1 phase and enhancing the production of the reactive oxygen species. It is worth mentioning that HA-Ag-PTX exhibits greater anticancer activity in comparison with free PTX in the LNCaP cell model, indicating that HA-Ag NPs can effectively enhance the anticancer efficacy of PTX. As a whole, these findings suggest that HA-Ag-PTX has promising potential for PC therapy. Hyaluronic acid-modified silver nanoparticle loaded with paclitaxel (HA-Ag-PTX) was prepared in this study. Hyaluronic acid was used as cancer cells-targeted moiety. HA-Ag-PTX exhibited great ability to suppress the migration and proliferation of androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells (LNCaP). Furthermore, HA-Ag-PTX could also induce the apoptosis of LNCaP. These findings suggest that HA-Ag-PTX has promising potential for prostate cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce Hopfield-Energy-Based Learning, a general learning framework that is inspired by energy-based models, to train feedforward neural nets. Our approach includes two training phases applied iteratively: first, the minimization of the internal energy, which captures dependencies between input samples and network parameters, is carried out in an unsupervised manner; second, the problem-dependent supervised external energy (e.g., cross-entropy loss) combined with partially reversed internal energy gradients are back-propagated in a standard manner. The intuition is that the first stage helps parameters to settle into the state that simply partitions data into clusters; while in the second stage, the network is allowed to deviate from that clustering a bit (hence gradient reversal) in order to converge to parameters that ultimately perform well on the task at hand. Notably, the data used for the two steps might not be one and the same (e.g., can come from different domains) and the approach naturally tailors itself to solve unsupervised domain adaptation problems without adopting any distribution alignment techniques. We also show that the proposed training strategy substantially improves the performance of several ConvNets on standard supervised classification tasks; showing improvements of at least 1.2% (2.64% on CIFAR-10, 4.5% on CIFAR-100, and 1.35% on ImageNet). Our formulation is general, performs well in practice, and holds promise for scenarios where labeled data is limited. • We leverage Hopfield-based energy based learning to facilitate feedforward nets. • We introduce a mechanism to adapt compatibility of network parameters w.r.t inputs. • We use gradient reversal layer to control model energy without anti-Hebbian rule. • Our learning strategy outperforms UDA frameworks without any distribution alignment. • Our work has a universal value for network initialization and generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the deployment problem of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with mobile robotic sensor nodes for spatiotemporal monitoring. The proposed approach, deep reinforced learning tree (DRLT), utilizes deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to improve the efficiency of searching the most informative sampling locations. The parameterized sampling locations in an infinite horizon space are modeled according to their spatiotemporal correlations and subject to various constraints, including field estimation error and information gain. And the model-based information gain can be calculated efficiently over an infinite horizon. In this manner, the effectiveness of the sampling locations is learned through DRLT during the exploration by the robotic sensors. Then DRLT can instruct the robotic sensors to avoid unnecessary sampling locations in future iterations. Also, it is proved in this paper that the proposed algorithm is capable of searching for the near-optimal sampling locations effectively and guaranteeing a minimum field estimation error. Simulation based on national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) datasets is presented, which demonstrates the significant enhancements made by the proposed algorithm. Compared with the traditional approaches, such as the information theory-based greedy approach or random sampling, the proposed method shows a superior performance with regard to both estimation error and planning efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we consider the possible application of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to "citizen scientist"-led health research with mobile devices. We argue that the GDPR likely does cover this activity, depending on the specific context and the territorial scope. Remaining open questions that result from our analysis lead us to call for lex specialis that would provide greater clarity and certainty regarding the processing of health data by for research purposes, including these non-traditional researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A homogeneous fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) was developed for the detection of an agonist salbutamol (SAL). Based on salbutamol-succinate-fluoresceinthiocarbamyl hexylenediamine (SAL-SUC-HDF), a fluorescein tracer with 6-carbon bridge was found to be more sensitive, the optimal FPIA showed the working range from 31.7 to 264.1 ng/mL with an IC50value of 91.4 ng/mL and a limit of detection 16.9 ng/mL. The cross-reactivity to brombuterol and clenbuterol was unexpectedly found to reach 447.3% and 255.8%, respectively. Computer-assisted molecular modeling revealed that the steric structure and electron density surfaces’ effect appeared to be s two important factors to the broad-specific recognition to other agonists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• The preparation of furfural alcohol from furfural over non-noble metal catalyst. • The Co doping amount regulated the amount of L/B acid sites, oxygen vacancy. • The synergetic function between Co and Al enhance the catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of furfural. • The vertical or tilted adsorption configuration ensured highly selective furfural alcohol production. • The Co 3 AlO x catalysts maintained strong physical stability and showed excellent reusability. Furfuryl alcohol (FFA) is an important organic chemical for the chemical industry, however, an efficient chromium-free catalyst with high stability is still expected. Herein, a Co 3 AlO x catalyst was successfully prepared for the synthesis of FFA via the furfural (FF) hydrogenation, which exhibited excellent stability and catalytic activity with a FFA yield of 96.2 %. The Co2+ species significantly promoted the formation of the oxygen vacancy on the surface of Co 3 AlO x , which favored the adsorption and activation of H 2 , The Co3+ species provided anchors for the adsorption of the aldehyde group in FF. The selective adsorption of FF via the O-terminal of the aldehyde group in a vertical or tilted configuration on the surface of Co x AlO y ensured the efficient hydrogenation of FF to FFA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Clinafloxacin is used for the treatment of disease in food-producing animals, e.g. Brucella melitensis, which often occurs in goats; however, the clinafloxacin residue in goat milk may harm human health and result in the development of drug-resistant bacterial strains or allergies. Despite this, there is not a rapid, sensitive and accurate analytical method in goat milk for rapid screening or monitoring purposes. RESULTS One homologous and five heterologous tracers were designed and compared for fluorescence polarization immunoassay ( FPIA) optimization. Based on the combination of a heterologous tracer ( PAZ-FITC, synthesized with pazufloxacin and FITC) and the antibody against clinafloxacin, a highly sensitive FPIA was established for the detection of clinafloxacin residue in goat milk for the first time. The IC50 value was 29.3 µg L−1 for clinafloxacin in the heterologous format - six times lower than that of the combination of the homologous tracers and the antibody. The recoveries ranged from 86.8% to 104.5%, with the relative standard deviation ranging from 4.1% to 7.2%. Validation by high-performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC) confirmed that the results obtained from the proposed FPIA were in agreement with those of HPLC. CONCLUSION This proposed heterologous strategy for enhanced FPIA is sensitive and rapid enough for the high-throughput detection of clinafloxacin residue in goat milk. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Electrostatic potential surface and average local ionization energy of amrinone molecules were studied. • Solubility data 298.15 K was analyzed by using EHSA and KAT-LSER. • Preferential solvation were investigated via inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals method. • Transfer and dissolution properties together with enthalpy–entropy compensation was studied. Two powerful tools of quantum-chemical parameters, minimum negative surface electrostatic potential together with minimum surface average local ionization energy, were employed in this communication to illustrate the electrostatic characteristics of acidity and basicity from a microscopic point of view, correspondingly. The -N = and > NH groups of amrinone molecule are primary sites of electrophilic and nucleophilic attacks. With the help of the famous method of inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals, preferential solvation analysis was executed based on the reported amrinone solubility in four solution systems of EG (1) + water (2), ethanol (1) + water (2), DMF (1) + water (2) and methanol (1) + water (2). In rich water concentrations, amrinone was surrounded preferentially by water; while in intermediate and rich EG/ethanol/DMF/methanol compositions, EG/ethanol/DMF/methanol solvated preferentially amrinone. High basicity of EG/ethanol/DMF/methanol that favored interactions with the acidic groups of amrinone resulted in selective solvation of amrinone by the co-solvent. Deep investigation on the amrinone solubility behavior was done by the partial Hansen solubility parameters. The inspection of molecular interactions on amrinone solubility variation was made in the light of the well-known linear solvation energy relationships, identifying the solubility parameter, hydrogen-bond acidity and dipolarity-polarizability of solutions presented dominant contributions to the solubility variation. The transfer and thermodynamic dissolution properties including entropy, enthalpy and Gibbs free energy change were also derived and deeply discussed. Thermodynamic enthalpy–entropy compensation analysis validated a shift of prevailing mechanism of dissolution from entropy-driven (in rich water compositions) to enthalpy-driven (in rich co-solvent compositions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• LCYB from sweet osmanthus can efficiently β -cyclize lycopene to produce β-carotene. • LCYE from sweet osmanthus is able to cyclize lycopene to produce bicyclic ε-carotene. Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) flowers, as a food flavor additive, are rich in carotenoids, the majority of which are cyclized carotenoids. Lycopene β- and ε-cyclases (LCYB and LCYE, respectively) catalyze the cyclization of the open ends of acyclic lycopene and manipulate the metabolic flux into different downstream branches. Although both LCYB and LCYE have been fully characterized in many plants, little information is available concerning the functions of sweet osmanthus LCYB and LCYE in carotenoid biosynthesis. In this study, we cloned two lycopene cyclase genes OfLCYB and OfLCYE in sweet osmanthus. The expression levels of OfLCYB in the petals gradually increased during flower opening, having a significant positive correlation with total carotenoid contents in each sweet osmanthus cultivar. Pigment complementation assay in Escherichia coli demonstrated that OfLCYB could efficiently β-cyclize both ends of lycopene to produce β-carotene (β,β-carotene), while OfLCYE was able to catalyze the formation of ε-carotene (ε,ε-carotene) at both ends of lycopene. The characterization of LCYB and LCYE from sweet osmanthus drives the first bifurcation step toward β-carotene and α-carotene. Our results will lay theoretical foundation for future metabolic engineering of carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation in sweet osmanthus flowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trichloroethylene (TCE), widely used as an organic solvent in the industry, is a common contaminant in air, soil, and water. Chronic TCE exposure induced hepatocellular carcinoma in mice, and occupational exposure in humans was suggested to be associated with liver cancer. To understand the role of non-genotoxic mechanism(s) for TCE action, we examined the gene expression and DNA methylation changes in the liver of B6C3F1 mice orally administered with TCE (0, 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg b.w. per day) for 5 days. After 5 days TCE treatment at a dose level of 1000 mg/kg b.w., a total of 431 differentially expressed genes were identified in mouse liver by microarray, of which 291 were up-regulated and 140 down-regulated. The expression changed genes were involved in key signal pathways including PPAR, proliferation, apoptosis and homologous recombination. Notably, the expression level of a number of vital genes involved in the regulation of DNA methylation, such as Utrf1, Tet2, DNMT1, DNMT3a and DNMT3b, were dysregulated. Although global DNA methylation change was not detected in the liver of mice exposed to TCE, the promoter regions of Cdkn1a and Ihh were found to be hypo- and hypermethylated respectively, which correlated negatively with their mRNA expression changes. Furthermore, the gene expression and DNA methylation changes induced by TCE were dose dependent. The overall data indicate that TCE exposure leads to aberrant DNA methylation changes, which might alter the expression of genes involved in the TCE-induced liver tumorgenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Human activities recognition (HAR) and human intent recognition (HIR) are important for medical diagnosis and human-robot interaction. HAR and HIR usually rely on the signals of some wearable sensors, such as inertial measurement unit (IMU), but these signals may be user-dependent, which degrades the performance of the recognition algorithm on new subjects. Traditional supervised learning methods require labeling signals and training specific classifiers for each new subject, which is burdensome. To deal with this problem, this paper proposes a novel non-adversarial cross-subject adaptation method called Gaussian-guided feature alignment (GFA). The proposed GFA metric quantifies the discrepancy between the labeled features of source subjects and the unlabeled features of target subjects so that minimizing the GFA metric leads to the alignment of the source and target features. The GFA metric is estimated by calculating the divergence between the feature distribution and Gaussian distribution, as well as the mean squared error of the mean and variance between source and target features. This paper analytically proves the effect of the GFA metric and validates its performance using three public human activity datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed GFA achieves 1% higher target classification accuracy and 0.5% lower variance than state-of-the-art methods in case of cross-subject validation. These results indicate that the proposed GFA is feasible for improving the generalization of the HAR and HIR. • The key contributions of the present paper include: The cross-subject validation problems are resolved by proposing a novel Gaussian-guided Feature Alignment (GFA) metric to extract the features of the two domains in a Gaussian distribution space without projecting the features to another vector space, e.g., Hilbert space. A better alignment is achieved by adjusting the mean and variance of the Gaussian distribution based on the mean and variance of the corresponding feature distribution and sorting the data sampled from the feature and Gaussian distributions. The effect of the GFA metric on aligning the target distribution with the source distribution and decreasing the upper bound of the target error is analytically proved. Moreover, the feature extractor is optimized to decrease the variance of the target classification accuracy on the training set to further improve the performance of the cross-subject adaptation. The experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art methods in the case of the cross-subject validation on one motion-sensor-based HIR dataset, one motionsensor- based HAR dataset, and one skeleton-based HAR dataset. Human activities recognition (HAR) and human intent recognition (HIR) are important for medical diagnosis and human-robot interaction. HAR and HIR usually rely on the signals of some wearable sensors, such as inertial measurement unit (IMU), but these signals may be user-dependent, which degrades the performance of the recognition algorithm on new subjects. Traditional supervised learning methods require labeling signals and training specific classifiers for each new subject, which is burdensome. To deal with this problem, this paper proposes a novel non-adversarial cross-subject adaptation method called Gaussian-guided feature alignment (GFA). The proposed GFA metric quantifies the discrepancy between the labeled features of source subjects and the unlabeled features of target subjects so that minimizing the GFA metric leads to the alignment of the source and target features. The GFA metric is estimated by calculating the divergence between the feature distribution and Gaussian distribution, as well as the mean squared error of the mean and variance between source and target features. This paper analytically proves the effect of the GFA metric and validates its performance using three public human activity datasets. Experimental results show that the proposed GFA achieves 1% higher target classification accuracy and 0.5% lower variance than state-of-the-art methods in case of cross-subject validation. These results indicate that the proposed GFA is feasible for improving the generalization of the HAR and HIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Solubility of 3,3′-diamino diphenylsulfone in four mixtures was determined. • Solubility data was correlated by four co-solvency models. • Preferential solvation were investigated via IKBIs method. • Solubility data was analyzed by using EHSA. Experimentation of equilibrium solubility of 3,3′-diamino diphenylsulfone (DDS) in binary solvents of isopropanol/ N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF)/methanol/ethanol + water was executed by means of the shake-flask technique under pressure of 101.2 kPa ranging from 283.15 to 328.15 K. At the experimental conditions of same temperature and same compositions of solvent species, the maximum solubility magnitude of DDS in mole fraction was found in the DMF + water solution system; and the minimum one, in the isopropanol + water solution system. Solubility correlation was made by employing four parametric expressions, e.g. modified Wilson, Jouyban–Acree, mixture response surface (MRS) and modified Jouyban–Acree–van't Hoff, getting the root-mean-square and relative average deviations of no greater than 323.9 × 10−5 and 7.30 %, respectively. The extended Hildebrand solubility approach was practiced here to investigate the inter- and intra-molecule interactions of studied systems. In the regions of poor organic solvent composition, association behavior appears between DDS and solvent species in solutions. What's more, quantitative evaluation of the local compositions of DMF (methanol, isopropanol or ethanol) and water in the vicinity of DDS were carried out by employing the technique of Inverse Kirkwood–Buff integrals. In rich proportions of organic solvents for the studied solution systems, DDS was preferentially solvated by DMF (methanol, isopropanol or ethanol). DDS could mostly serve as a Lewis acid in front to the molecules of DMF (methanol, isopropanol or ethanol). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose a novel alignment method to construct a common feature space under the guidance of a Gaussian prior for UDA. • We introduce a new method to align two distributions by minimizing the direct L1-distance between the decoded samples. • The proposed work achieves state-of-the-art performance on both digit and object classification tasks. In this paper, we focus on the unsupervised domain adaptation problem where an approximate inference model is to be learned from a labeled data domain and expected to generalize well to an unlabeled domain. The success of unsupervised domain adaptation largely relies on the cross-domain feature alignment. Previous work has attempted to directly align features by classifier-induced discrepancies. Nevertheless, a common feature space cannot always be learned via this direct feature alignment especially when large domain gaps exist. To solve this problem, we introduce a Gaussian-guided latent alignment approach to align the latent feature distributions of the two domains under the guidance of a prior. In such an indirect way, the distributions over the samples from the two domains will be constructed on a common feature space, i.e., the space of the prior, which promotes better feature alignment. To effectively align the target latent distribution with this prior distribution, we also propose a novel unpaired L1-distance by taking advantage of the formulation of the encoder-decoder. The extensive evaluations on nine benchmark datasets validate the superior knowledge transferability through outperforming state-of-the-art methods and the versatility of the proposed method by improving the existing work significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phytohormone salicylic acid (SA) plays a crucial role in plant growth and development. However, the mechanism of high-concentration SA-affected gravitropic response in plant root growth and root hair development is still largely unclear. In this study, wild-type, pin2 mutant and various transgenic fluorescence marker lines of Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated to understand how root growth is affected by high SA treatment under gravitropic stress conditions. We found that exogenous SA application inhibited gravitropic root growth and root hair development in a dose-dependent manner. Further analyses using DIRECT REPEAT5 (DR5)-GFP, auxin sensor DII-VENUS, auxin efflux transporter PIN2-GFP, trans-Golgi network/early endosome (TGN/EE) clathrin-light-chain 2 (CLC2)-mCherry and prevacuolar compartment (PVC) (Rha1)-mCherry transgenic marker lines demonstrated that high SA treatment severely affected auxin accumulation, root-specific PIN2 distribution and PIN2 gene transcription and promoted the vacuolar degradation of PIN2, possibly independent of clathrin-mediated endocytic protein trafficking. Our findings proposed a new underlying mechanism of SA-affected gravitropic root growth and root hair development via the regulation of PIN2 gene transcription and PIN2 protein endocytosis in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Inflammatory biomarkers have prognostic significance in the efficacy and safety of combining PD-1 inhibition with chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC. • Lower Baseline PLT and NLR Levels Are Markers of Better Prognosis in Patients with Advanced NSCLC Treated with PD-1 Inhibitors in Combination with Chemotherapy. • Elevated baseline levels of inflammatory markers in patients with advanced NSCLC prior to PD-1 therapy may be strongly associated with the development of immune-related adverse effects. The aim of this study is to scrutinize the prognostic significance of inflammatory biomarkers concerning the effectiveness and safety of combining PD-1 inhibition with chemotherapy in the management of advanced NSCLC. We conducted a retrospective analysis involving 206 NSCLC patients who received treatment at Qingdao Municipal Hospital. The study encompassed the acquisition of baseline clinical attributes and hematological parameters of these patients. The optimal threshold values for PLT and NLR were ascertained based on pre-treatment evaluations, with a particular focus on their association with PFS. Variables linked to PFS were subject to scrutiny through Kaplan-Meier analysis and logistic regression. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve served as the means to determine the ideal cut-off values for categorizing levels of inflammatory markers into high and low classifications. We employed Chi-square tests to evaluate the relationship between elevated and reduced baseline levels of inflammatory markers and irAE. Kaplan-Meier analysis disclosed that patients in the low baseline PLT group and the low NLR group exhibited a substantially more favorable prognosis in contrast to their counterparts in the high baseline PLT and high NLR groups. Multivariate analysis indicated that diminished baseline PLT and NLR levels before treatment independently foretell extended PFS. Chi-square analysis underscored a substantial correlation between baseline WBC, NEUT, LYMPH, MONO, and NLR levels and irAE. Subdued baseline PLT and NLR levels may serve as indicators of a more auspicious prognosis in patients contending with advanced NSCLC undergoing the combination of PD-1 inhibition and chemotherapy. Elevated baseline levels of inflammatory markers antedating PD-1 therapy in advanced NSCLC may be intimately interrelated with the occurrence of irAE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is a transcription factor that serves a role in numerous different types of malignant cancer. Altered expression of chloride channel proteins has been described in a variety of malignancies. However, the association between SOX2 and chloride channel proteins is not yet fully understood. The present study investigated the association between SOX2 and chloride voltage-gated channel 3 (CLC-3) in prostate cancer. Flow cytometry demonstrated that the inactivation of CLC-3 or SOX2 arrested cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, CLC-3 was observed to bind to SOX2, and vice versa, by co-immunoprecipitation. SOX2 appears to initiate and maintain prostate cancer tumorigenesis, in part, by modulating the cell cycle. These findings indicate the potential of SOX2 and CLC-3 as targets for the development of multi-targeted therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enrofloxacin (ENR) is a widely used fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotic for antibacterial treatment of edible animal. In this study, a rapid and highly specific fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) was developed for monitoring ENR residues in animal foods. First, ENR was covalently coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) to produce specific polyclonal antibodies (pAbs). Three fluorescein-labeled ENR tracers (A, B, and C) with different spacers were synthesized and compared to obtain higher sensitivity. Tracer C with the longest arm showed the best sensitivity among the three tracers. The developed FPIA method showed an IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) of 21.49 ng·mL−1 with a dynamic working range (IC20–IC80) of 4.30–107.46 ng·mL−1 and a limit of detection (LOD, IC10) of 1.68 ng·mL−1. The cross-reactivity (CR) of several structurally related compounds was less than 2%. The recoveries of spiked pork liver and chicken samples varied from 91.3% to 112.9%, and the average coefficients of variation were less than 3.83% and 5.13%, respectively. The immunoassay took only 8 min excluding sample pretreatment. This indicated that the established method had high sensitivity, specificity, and the advantages of simplicity. Therefore, the proposed FPIA provided a useful screening method for the rapid detection of ENR residues in pork liver and chicken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rapid emergence and global dissemination of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 have posed formidable challenges in public health. This scenario underscores the urgent need for an enhanced understanding of Omicron's pathophysiological mechanisms to guide clinical management and shape public health strategies. Our study is aimed at deciphering the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying Omicron infections, particularly focusing on the identification of specific biomarkers. Methods: This investigation employed a robust and systematic approach, initially encompassing 15 Omicron-infected patients and an equal number of healthy controls, followed by a validation cohort of 20 individuals per group. The study's methodological framework included a comprehensive multi-omics analysis that integrated proteomics and metabolomics, augmented by extensive bioinformatics. Proteomic exploration was conducted via an advanced Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) system linked with mass spectrometry. Concurrently, metabolomic profiling was executed using an Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system. The bioinformatics component, fundamental to this research, entailed an exhaustive analysis of protein–protein interactions, pathway enrichment, and metabolic network dynamics, utilizing state-of-the-art tools such as the STRING database and Cytoscape software, ensuring a holistic interpretation of the data. Results: Our proteomic inquiry identified eight notably dysregulated proteins (THBS1, ACTN1, ACTC1, POTEF, ACTB, TPM4, VCL, ICAM1) in individuals infected with the Omicron variant. These proteins play critical roles in essential physiological processes, especially within the coagulation cascade and hemostatic mechanisms, suggesting their significant involvement in the pathogenesis of Omicron infection. Complementing these proteomic insights, metabolomic analysis discerned 146 differentially expressed metabolites, intricately associated with pivotal metabolic pathways such as tryptophan metabolism, retinol metabolism, and steroid hormone biosynthesis. This comprehensive metabolic profiling sheds light on the systemic implications of Omicron infection, underscoring profound alterations in metabolic equilibrium. Conclusions: This study substantially enriches our comprehension of the physiological ramifications induced by the Omicron variant, with a particular emphasis on the pivotal roles of coagulation and platelet pathways in disease pathogenesis. The discovery of these specific biomarkers illuminates their potential as critical targets for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, providing invaluable insights for the development of tailored treatments and enhancing patient care in the dynamic context of the ongoing pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rapid emergence and global dissemination of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 have posed formidable challenges in public health. This scenario underscores the urgent need for an enhanced understanding of Omicron's pathophysiological mechanisms to guide clinical management and shape public health strategies. Our study is aimed at deciphering the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying Omicron infections, particularly focusing on the identification of specific biomarkers. Methods: This investigation employed a robust and systematic approach, initially encompassing 15 Omicron-infected patients and an equal number of healthy controls, followed by a validation cohort of 20 individuals per group. The study's methodological framework included a comprehensive multi-omics analysis that integrated proteomics and metabolomics, augmented by extensive bioinformatics. Proteomic exploration was conducted via an advanced Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) system linked with mass spectrometry. Concurrently, metabolomic profiling was executed using an Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system. The bioinformatics component, fundamental to this research, entailed an exhaustive analysis of protein–protein interactions, pathway enrichment, and metabolic network dynamics, utilizing state-of-the-art tools such as the STRING database and Cytoscape software, ensuring a holistic interpretation of the data. Results: Our proteomic inquiry identified eight notably dysregulated proteins (THBS1, ACTN1, ACTC1, POTEF, ACTB, TPM4, VCL, ICAM1) in individuals infected with the Omicron variant. These proteins play critical roles in essential physiological processes, especially within the coagulation cascade and hemostatic mechanisms, suggesting their significant involvement in the pathogenesis of Omicron infection. Complementing these proteomic insights, metabolomic analysis discerned 146 differentially expressed metabolites, intricately associated with pivotal metabolic pathways such as tryptophan metabolism, retinol metabolism, and steroid hormone biosynthesis. This comprehensive metabolic profiling sheds light on the systemic implications of Omicron infection, underscoring profound alterations in metabolic equilibrium. Conclusions: This study substantially enriches our comprehension of the physiological ramifications induced by the Omicron variant, with a particular emphasis on the pivotal roles of coagulation and platelet pathways in disease pathogenesis. The discovery of these specific biomarkers illuminates their potential as critical targets for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, providing invaluable insights for the development of tailored treatments and enhancing patient care in the dynamic context of the ongoing pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of Ca/Fe-phosphate composite CFP(CN) was prepared by a sol–gel method. The effects of pH, reaction time, initial uranium concentration, reaction temperature, and Mn(II) selective adsorption were investigated by static batch experiments. The adsorption process of CFP(CN) on U(VI) was in line with the quasi-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The results of thermodynamic analysis show that the adsorption of U(VI) by CFP(CN) is a spontaneous process with heat absorption and entropy increase. The adsorption mechanism of U(VI) on CFP(CN) was investigated by SEM, XRD and FT-IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind fields provide direct power for exchanging energy and matter in the atmosphere. All-fiber coherent Doppler lidar is a powerful tool for detecting boundary-layer wind fields. According to the characteristics of the lidar echo signal, an adaptive noise-reduction peak retrieval (ANRPR) algorithm is proposed in this study. Firstly, the power spectrum data are divided into several continuous range gates according to the time series. Then, the adaptive iterative reweighted penalized least-squares (airPLS) method is used to reduce the background noise. Secondly, the continuity between spectra is enhanced by 2D Gaussian low-pass filtering. Finally, an adaptive peak-retrieval algorithm is employed to extract the Doppler shift, facilitating the synthesis of a spatial atmospheric 3D wind field through the vector synthesis method. When comparing data from different heights of the meteorological gradient tower, both the horizontal wind-speed correlation and the horizontal wind-direction correlation exceed 0.90. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better robustness and a longer detection distance than the traditional algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advanced prostate cancer (PCa) will develop into castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and lead to poor prognosis. As the primary subtype of CRPC, CRPC-AR accounts for the major induction of PCa heterogeneity. CRPC-AR is mainly driven by 25 transcription factors (TFs), which we speculate may be the key factors driving PCa toward CRPC. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the key regulator and its molecular mechanism mediating PCa progression. Methods: Firstly, we downloaded transcriptomic data and clinical information from TCGA-PRAD. The characteristic gene cluster was identified by PPI clustering, GO enrichment, co-expression correlation and clinical feature analyses for 25 TFs. Then, the effects of 25 TFs expression on prognosis of PCa patients was analyzed using univariate Cox regression, and the target gene was identified. The expression properties of the target gene in PCa tissues were verified using tissue microarray. Meanwhile, the related mechanistic pathway of the target gene was mined based on its function. Next, the target gene was silenced by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for cellular function and mechanistic pathway validation. Finally, CIBERSORT algorithm was used to analyze the infiltration levels of 22 immune cells in PCa patients with low and high expression of target gene, and validated by assaying the expression of related immunomodulatory factor. Results: We found that HOX family existed independently in 25 TFs, among which HOXC10, HOXC12 and HOXC13 had unique clinical features and the PCa patients with high HOXC13 expression had the worst prognosis. In addition, HOXC13 was highly expressed in tumor tissues and correlated with Gleason score and pathological grade. In vitro experiments demonstrated that silencing HOXC13 inhibited 22RV1 and DU145 cell function by inducing cellular DNA damage and activating cGAS/STING/IRF3 pathway. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that high HOXC13 expression suppressed infiltration of γδ T cells and plasma cells and recruited M2 macrophages. Consistent with these results, silencing HOXC13 up-regulated the transcriptional expression of IFN-β, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL10. Conclusion: HOXC13 regulates PCa progression by mediating the DNA damage-induced cGAS/STING/IRF3 pathway and remodels TIME through regulation of the transcription of the immune factors IFN-β, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fertility obstacle exists in hybrid production between distant related species, particularly from different genera. In the present study, by using tissue culture and chromosome doubling technology, radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea L. var. caulorapa DC.) were subjected to intergeneric distant hybridisation. Through a combination of bud pollination and ovary rescue technology, five putative hybrids were obtained, and three of which were identified as true hybrids with the hybrid acquisition frequency of 0.85%. After tissue culture propagation and colchicine doubling treatment, ×Brassicoraphanus allotetraploids were obtained. Chromosome counting confirmed one plant as allotetraploid with a chromosome doubling rate of 2.70% and 14 seedlings with partial chromosome doubling at a chimaeral rate of 37.8%. The allotetraploid hybrid exhibited normal morphological characteristics, fertile pollen, fuller flower buds and developed pods, compared with the primary hybrid plants. In the present study, the distant hybrid plant that combines the R and C genomes was created to provide basic materials for producing new radish germplasm and to act as a useful bridge for gene transfer between the vegetable species of Brassica and Raphanus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The global demand for mutton products has increased due to changes in consumer lifestyles, consumption concepts, and socio-economic developments. The feeding systems are widely acknowledged to significantly affect the growth, development, and body health of livestock. In this study, we evaluated the effects of different feeding methods on growth performance, serum biochemical indexes, rumen fermentation parameters, and fecal microorganisms of Huang-huai sheep. The results show that indoor feeding with restricted grazing artificial grassland can improve fattening performance, antioxidation and immune function activity, and rumen fermentation, as well as change fecal microbiota composition. This study investigated the effects of three feeding systems, indoor feeding (CONT), indoor feeding with time-restricted grazing artificial pasture (4 h/day, G4H), and indoor feeding with an eight-hour daily grazing artificial pasture (G8H), on the growth performance, serum metabolites, ruminal fermentation, and fecal microbiota composition of lambs. Average daily gain showed a tendency (p = 0.081) to be higher for the G4H group compared with the CONT group. Moreover, feeding systems did not have a significant effect on most of the serum biochemical indicators in lambs. Concentrations of serum glutathione peroxidase and immunoglobulins (IgA, gG, and IgM) were significantly lower (p < 0.01) in the CONT group. Additionally, a tendency towards higher levels of volatile fatty acids, acetate, and butyrate was found in animals of the G4H group compared to the CONT group. Furthermore, fecal microbiota composition was altered in G4H and G8H groups, resulting in the increased relative abundance of Firmicutes and Ruminococcaceae UCG-005, as well as the decreased relative abundance of Ruminobacter compared with the CONT group. Overall, these results suggest that indoor feeding with restricted grazing time does not significantly affect fattening performance or rumen fermentation but enhances antioxidation and immune function activity and also alters fecal microbiota composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single-station-based lighting mapping system comprising a microphone array, which detects electromagnetic (EM) and thunder signals, has recently been developed and deployed for lightning observations. Using one microphone array consisting of 19 electret microphones installed on a 3-D steel frame, this system receives and processes the EM and thunder signals to determine the location of lightning thunder sources. We implement a new broadband direction-of-arrival estimation technique, namely, the maximum power beamforming algorithm and derive the 3-D location results based on the time difference between the acoustic signal and the EM signal. In this paper, four cloud-to-ground flashes with different branch channels recorded by the system are analyzed and presented in which the located thunder sources of two lightning flashes are compared with the photograph of the high-speed camera. The details of the system implementation along with the successful reconstruction of the lightning channel in 2-D and 3-D space are discussed. The results indicate that the location system could effectively map the lightning thunder sources, and the result is highly consistent with the high-speed video camera images. Moreover, the acoustic mapping system is capable of locating the main channel produced by the return stroke process; it also depicts the branching channels. It is shown that the system is capable of distinguish different branches of the same lightning; it also obtains different lightning channels occurring almost simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Sperm cryopreservation is one of the key procedures in artificial insemination technology. With the continuous development of cryopreservation technology, the survival rate of frozen sperm has been greatly improved, and it is widely used in artificial insemination technology. However, the molecular regulation of sperm cryopreservation recovery ratio in rams remains poorly understood. The main objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the biomarkers that play a role in sperm freezing tolerance in the proteome levels of the rams. Our results confirm that some proteins and pathways associated with high and low cryopreservation recovery ratios were identified. These findings related to sperm freezing tolerance improve our understanding of molecular mechanisms of sperm resistance to low-temperature environments, and are helpful for livestock breeding. Sperm proteins play vital roles in improving sperm freezing resilience in domestic animals. However, it remains poorly defined which proteins regulate the freezing resilience of spermatozoa in rams (Ovis aries). Here, we compared the proteome of ram sperm with a high cryopreservation recovery ratio (HCR) with that of ram sperm with a low cryopreservation recovery ratio (LCR) using a tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics approach. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to evaluate differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). A total of 2464 proteins were identified, and 184 DEPs were screened. Seventy-two proteins were higher in the LCR group. One hundred and twelve proteins were more abundant in the HCR group, and they were mainly involved in the regulation of oxidative phosphorylation and thermogenesis pathways. Proteins in high abundance in the HCR group included the S100A family, such as S100A8, S100A9, S100A14, and S100A16, effectively controlling for CA2+ and maintaining flagella structure; HYOU1 and PRDX1, which participate in antioxidant protection and anti-apoptosis to prevent cell death; and HSP90B1, which maintains cell activity and immune response. Our results could help illuminate the molecular mechanisms underlying cryopreservation of ram semen and expand the potential direction of cryopreservation of high-quality semen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the frequently occurring lightning flashover problems on ±500 kV dc transmission lines in China, the authors have conducted the research on the dc line arrester since 2011. In this paper, the structure and installation, technical parameters, and protection performances, as well as their deterministic processes of the arrester are presented and analyzed in detail. In 2013, the authors successfully developed the arrester products, and the type tests show that they have excellent performance parameters and can act effectively against the lightning impulse and cutoff the dc follow current. By now more than 500 dc line arresters have been installed and used on seven ±500 kV dc transmission lines in eight provinces of China. About four years of operating experience shows that the arresters work safely and reliably over a long period of time, and have been effectively reducing the lightning flashover rate of the ±500 kV dc lines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Simple Summary: Healthy sperm viability, the core of male fertility, affects the sustainability of livestock breeding. Several studies have shown a strong link between male sperm motility and gut microbial regulation of the host metabolome, testicular function, and gut microbiota. However, few studies have examined the association between the gut microbiome, host metabolome, and testicular function. In this study, the microbiome and metabolome of adult sheep with significantly different sperm viabilities were analyzed. Our results confirm that gut microorganisms and metabolites differ significantly in sheep with different sperm viabilities and are strongly correlated among themselves and with sperm viability. Thus, our study provides new insights into weak spermatozoa in rams. A close association exists among testicular function, gut microbiota regulation, and organismal metabolism. In this study, serum and seminal plasma metabolomes, and the rumen microbiome of sheep with significant differences in sperm viability, were explored. Serum and seminal plasma metabolomes differed significantly between high-motility (HM) and low-motility (LM) groups of sheep, and 39 differential metabolites closely related to sperm motility in sheep were found in seminal plasma metabolomes, while 35 were found in serum samples. A 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that the relative abundance of HM and LM rumen microorganisms, such as Ruminococcus and Quinella, was significantly higher in the HM group, whereas genera such as Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Lactobacillus were enriched in the mid-LM group. Serum hormone assays revealed that serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and MT levels were significantly lower in the LM group than in the HM group, whereas serum glucocorticoid (GC) levels were higher in the LM group than in the HM group, and they all affected sperm motility in sheep. Ruminococcus and other rumen microorganisms were positively correlated with sperm motility, whereas Lactobacillus was negatively correlated with FSH and GCs levels. Our findings suggest that rumen microbial activity can influence the host metabolism and hormone levels associated with fertility in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Novel phenolphthalein haptens were screened using computer-aided chemistry. • Different hapten spacer arms exerted varying effects on their connected epitope. • A highly sensitive and specific antibody to phenolphthalein was produced. • A visual immunoassay was developed for authenticating phenolphthalein in foods. Screening for the hazardous adulterant phenolphthalein (PTH) in slimming foods is necessary. Herein, the linkage of the PTH target epitope with various spacer arms was proposed for hapten design, aiming to produce highly sensitive and specific antibodies targeting PTH. To understand the influence of spacer arms on epitope, comprehensive evaluations were conducted using computer-aided chemistry and animal immunization. The resulting antibody exhibited maximal half-inhibitory concentration (IC 50) of 0.25 ng/mL. Then, a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) was established with detection capability for screening (CCβ) of less than 140, 240, and 25 ng/g for PTH in tea, instant coffee, and oral liquid, respectively. Furthermore, blind sample results agreed well with LFIA and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Therefore, this work not only provides a robust tool for detecting PTH adulteration but also suggests that the careful pairing of spacer arms with hapten epitope is a key factor in advancing rational hapten design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrospun nanofiber mat (NFM) with 3D networks has advantages of high porosity and large specific surface area, but its porous structure limits the application in gas membrane separation. Therefore, in this work, a novel and defect-free nanofibers interpenetrating composite membrane is proposed for CO 2 /N 2 separation. And it is constructed by in-situ polymerization of low-molecular-weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the inner-voids within PAN NFM. In this nanofiber composite membrane (NFCM), PAN nanofibers interpenetrate into PEO matrix to form a "reinforced-concrete" structure with good interfacial compatibility between them, which has been demonstrated by SEM, EDS, ATR-FTIR and C1s XPS characterizations. Particularly, the PAN nanofiber acts as "Rebar" framework, while the void-sealing polymer PEO serves as "Concrete". They are bonded into a whole through adhesive force to bear the external force together, resulting in elevated mechanical properties than the pure PEO membrane. Furthermore, the CO 2 permeability of each PEO/PAN NFCM shows a minor decease in contrast with corresponding pure PEO membrane due to the barriers of PAN nanofibers to CO 2 molecules. However, the CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of each NFCM has been increased by 13–15 in contrast with its corresponding pure PEO membrane. This enhancement can be explained by the size screening from PAN nanofibers overlapping and stacking and the tortuous transport pathway along the impermeable PAN nanofibers. As a result, the 3:7/PAN NFCM exhibits a CO 2 permeability of 343 Barrer and a CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 65.4, exceeding the Robeson upper bond of 2008. Together with the excellent mechanical properties, the proposed nanofibers interpenetrating composite membrane displays a bright prospect for CO 2 capture. [Display omitted] • Nanofibers interpenetrated composite membrane was proposed to capture CO 2. • The NFCM mimicks "reinforced-concrete" to be mechanically robust. • In-situ polymerization of PEG is proposed to seal the inner-voids within PAN NFM. • Overlap and stack of nanofibers provide size screening and tortuous transport pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report the application of Vitamin D3 (VD3) in nanoparticles of oleoyl alginate ester (OAE)(OAE-VD3). The internalization of fluorescent OAE-VD3 by Caco-2 cells was visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies showed that incorporation into OAE nanoparticles resulted in increased absorption of VD3. Its application in the treatment of rickets was assayed using a model of nutritionally induced vitamin D-deficiency rickets. The results showed that the encapsulated VD3 had better efficacy than that of the free drug in vivo. Our studies provide evidence that OAE nanoparticles are valuable as nutraceutical delivery vehicles to enhance the absorption of VD(3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The review evaluates faba bean (Vicia faba L.; FB) seeds relative to their nutritional composition, their content of antinutritional factors, and their impact on animal performance. The literature indicates that FB plant is a cool‐season, annual grain legume that grows the best in cool and humid conditions. Its seeds are rich in protein, energy, and mineral compounds and have particularly high unsaturated fatty acid levels. However, FB seeds also contain various proportions of antinutritional factors (ANFs) that can interfere with nutrient utilization in nonruminants. The various processing methods are efficient in either reducing or inactivating the ANFs of FB seeds, with extrusion treatment offering the most effective method of improving apparent nutrient and energy digestibility of nonruminants. In vivo studies on ruminants, pigs, poultry, and fishes reveal that FB seeds have the potential to be used as a substitute for soybean meal and/or cereal seeds in livestock diets in order to support milk, meat, and/or egg production. Faba bean plant is a cool‐season, annual grain legume that grows the best in cool and humid conditions. Its seeds are rich in protein, energy, and mineral compounds and have particularly high unsaturated fatty acid levels. Its seeds have the potential to be used as a substitute for soybean meal and/or cereal seeds in livestock diets in order to support milk, meat, and/or egg production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) play a crucial role in promoting the development of lithium metal batteries, as they combine the high ionic conductivity of liquid electrolytes with the enhanced safety provided by solid electrolytes. However, traditional polymer electrolytes are typically poured using non-in-situ methods, which results in poor electrode-electrolyte contact and compromises their performance. In this paper, in situ thermal polymerization is utilized to incorporate di-pentaerythritol pentaacrylate (DPPA) and 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl acrylate (TFOA) into PAN spinning porous membranes. Application of TFOA reduces the crystallinity of GPEs and thus enhancing the Li+ transport capability, which enables the newly constructed GPEs to exhibit an ionic conductivity of 2.52 × 10−3 S cm−1 and a lithium-ion transport number of 0.61 at 30 °C. Simultaneously, fluoro-containing groups actively contribute to the formation of a negative solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film full of LiF, ensuring the stable operation of Li symmetrical batteries for over 2000 h at a current density of 0.40 mA cm−2. The capacity retention rate of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) with commercial NCM811 cathodes reaches 88.2% after 300 cycles. We firmly believe that our newly designed gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) can offer a viable solution for high-voltage and high-rate LMBs. [Display omitted] • TFOA promotes stable SEI formation to improve interface compatibility. • The conductivity and t Li + of DPPA3 reaches 2.52 × 10−3 S/cm and 0.61 at 30 °C. • Li.|DPPA3|Li battery stably cycles at 0.2mA/cm−2 for more than 2000 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical relevance and biological function of the kinesin super-family protein 4A (KIF4A) expression in prostate cancer (PCa).Methods: We examined 1) the relationship between the expression of KIF4A and clinico-pathological characteristics of PCa patients using a tissue microarray and the Cancer Genome Atlas database, 2) the prognostic value of KIF4A expression in patients using Kaplan-Meier plots and 3) the functions of KIF4A in LNCaP and DU145 cells, such as cell proliferation, cell cycle and cell apoptosis.Results: Compared with normal prostate, the mRNA and protein expressions of KIF4A were up-regulated in PCa. The up-regulation expression rates of KIF4A in PCa were significantly related to the Gleason score (P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distant hybridization can enrich the genetic background and diversity of crops by combining different species, and integrate the favorable parental traits or create heterosis. In the present study, intergeneric hybridization was performed between radish and turnip and between radish and Chinese kale by hand emasculation followed by tissue culture of putative hybrid seeds. A total of three and one hybrids were obtained from the cross of 'Long yellow turnip' and 'Golden turnip' with radish, respectively, but no hybrids were obtained in their reverse cross, indicating that the same cross combination has a large difference in the reciprocal crosses, and that the hybrid has certain unidirectionality. The majority of the hybrids of radish and turnip showed male sterility, white petals, and intermediate performance in most morphological traits when compared to their parents. Four true hybrids were obtained by the cross 'Thin neck round radish' × 'Yellow flower kale', while no hybrids were obtained by reverse cross combination. The hybrids looked more like their Chinese kale parents in having inflated stems. All putative intergeneric hybrids were confirmed by agronomic characteristics, chromosome counting, molecular markers, and pollen viability. Three kinds of hybrids were confirmed as genuine hybrids possessing 19, 19, and 18 chromosomes in their corresponding somatic cells by cytological observation. In addition, three kinds of allotetraploids were produced with 38, 38, and 36 chromosomes when chromosome doubling was achieved. In comparison with the diploid hybrid, the pollen viabilities of allotetraploids were significantly improved and a small number of seeds were produced. The improvements of these amphihaploids as useful genetic resources and the potential of intergeneric hybridization to enlarge the gene pool for radish, turnip, and Chinese kale breeding are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fresh semen is most commonly used in an artificial insemination of small ruminants, because of low fertility rates of frozen sperm. Generally, when developing and applying assisted reproductive technologies, sheep and goats are classified as one species. In order to optimize sperm cryopreservation protocols in sheep and goat, differences in sperm proteomes between ram and buck are necessary to investigate, which may contribute to differences in function and fertility of spermatozoa. In the current work, a data-independent acquisition-mass spectrometry proteomic approach was used to characterize and make a comparison of ram (Ovis aries) and buck (Capra hircus) sperm proteomes. A total of 2,109 proteins were identified in ram and buck spermatozoa, with 238 differentially abundant proteins. Proteins identified in ram and buck spermatozoa are mainly involved in metabolic pathways for generation of energy and diminishing oxidative stress. Specifically, there are greater abundance of spermatozoa proteins related to the immune protective and capacity activities in ram, while protein that inhibit sperm capacitation shows greater abundance in buck. Our results not only provide novel insights into the characteristics and potential activities of spermatozoa proteins, but also expand the potential direction for sperm cryopreservation in ram and buck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]