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BackgroundTelocytes, recently recognized as interstitial cells with a diverse range of potential functions, have attracted considerable attention for their involvement in tumorigenesis. Nevertheless, owing to certain challenges in the isolation and cultivation of telocytes, the research on telocytes has advanced rather slowly. Therefore, it is imperative to study the role and mechanisms of telocytes in tumors.MethodsWe improved the separation method and successfully isolated telocytes by exploiting the combination of cell adhesion and magnetic bead sorting. Telocytes conditioned medium was collected to culture tumor cells and explore the role and mechanisms of telocytes in tumors.ResultsMTT and colony formation assays demonstrated that telocytes promoted tumor cell proliferation. Wound healing experiments and transwell assays indicated that telocytes enhanced tumor cell migration. Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR analysis showed that the expression of E-cadherin was decreased, and that of Vimentin was notably increased. ELISA results revealed that telocytes secreted high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). And the promoting effects were alleviated by the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab.ConclusionOur findings revealed that telocytes promoted tumor cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis through VEGF. Notably, these effects were inhibited by the addition of bevacizumab. In conclusion, our findings illuminated the role of telocytes in promoting tumor progression, and confirmed their crucial regulatory role in the growth of tumor cells.

Composite geotextiles are frequently utilized in water delivery canals and other projects in cold regions. However, the peak strength of the soil-geotextile interface can be degrade due to continuous wet-dry-freeze-thaw (WDFT) cycles, potentially compromising the stability of the infrastructure. This paper presents the use of a temperature-controlled direct shear system to conduct direct shear tests on the interface between the soil and the geotextile composite under a variety of normal pressures, temperatures, and WDFT cycles. The study shows that WDFT has minimal effect on the shear stress-shear displacement curve at positive temperatures. At negative temperatures, the curve transitions from strain hardening to strain softening. At negative temperatures, the average increase in peak strength was 39 %, 56.9 %, and 65.3 % after a single WDFT cycle at −2 °C, −6 °C, and −10 °C, respectively. A gradual decline in peak strength was observed with each subsequent cycle, although the peak strength remained slightly higher than the initial strength. The average growth rates were 6.6 %, 19.3 %, and 29.2 % after ten cycles, respectively. The interfacial cohesion and friction angle exhibited similar trends to those of peak strength. The sensitivity analysis revealed that temperature and WDFT cycles exert a considerable influence on the interface cohesion.

The shear characteristics of the soil-geosynthetic interface are the primary factors affecting the load transmission rules. The interfacial shear parameters are affected by cycles of freeze-thaw and alter as a result of the periodic temperature fluctuations. Using an enhanced temperature-controlled direct shear apparatus, this paper investigates the interfacial shear characteristics between silty clay and composite geotextile according to freeze-thaw cycles. Analysis is done on how the interfacial stress-strain relationship, strength, and strength characteristics are affected by the soil moisture content, normal pressure, and test temperature. The results demonstrate that at low freezing temperatures and high moisture contents, the interfacial stress-strain curve is strongly influenced by cycles of freeze-thaw, and that the interfacial shear strength tends to grow initially before decreasing as the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases. The variations in interfacial shear strength correlate to the changes in interfacial friction angle and interfacial cohesion, and the primary element influencing the variation of shear strength is the alteration in interfacial cohesion. With a high soil moisture content initially, the migrating water has greater effect on shear strength during the freeze-thaw cycle. The findings of the significant level research indicate that the moisture content has a significant influence on the shear strength.

The disposal of barium slag (BS), a hazardous industrial by-product, presents a significant environmental challenge, particularly because of its potential toxicity and underuse. Because of its thermodynamic history of rapid water quenching at high temperatures, BS exhibits high reactivity and alkali-activation potential, making it a promising supplementary cementitious material (SCM). This study addresses the dual problems of hazardous waste management and the development of low-carbon cementitious materials by investigating the feasibility of partially replacing calcium aluminate cement (CAC) with BS. In this study, incorporating BS at a replacement ratio of up to 20 % improved the fluidity of a CAC slurry by 16 % and increased its 3-d and 90-d unconfined compressive strengths by 2.5 % and 42 %, respectively, compared to pure CAC. The initial and final setting times of the CAC were delayed by 60 % and 30 %, respectively, which would be beneficial for construction applications requiring extended workability. Microstructural analysis revealed that BS accelerated the hydration process and significantly altered hydration product compositions. The presence of stable hydration products, such as C2ASH8 and AFm phases, reduced the formation of less durable C3AH6, thereby enhancing both early performance and long-term durability. Leaching tests confirmed that Ba²⁺ ions were effectively immobilised within the hydration matrix, ensuring the environmental safety of CAC–BS composites. This study advances the sustainable use of BS and contributes to the development of low-carbon cementitious materials with improved performance and environmental safety. The findings hold significant industrial relevance by promoting resource-efficient construction materials and addressing global industrial by-product challenges, thereby contributing to the circular economy and environmental sustainability.

Devices equipped with algorithms for detecting infant cries allow parents to respond immediately to their crying babies. However, improving detection performance often requires complex algorithms that consume more computing resources, leading to increased power consumption and prices. In this study, we propose a novel approach that leverages first-order Wavelet Scattering Coefficients (WSC) as translation-invariant and deformation-stable representations of infant crying sounds. Based on this approach, we introduce an end-to-end Deep Neural Network (DNN) architecture designed to detect crying using merely 17K parameters and 22.7M MACs. The accuracy results, with a 96.98% accuracy rate on open-source datasets, demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our model for detecting infant cries in real-world environments.

In the forthcoming era of big astronomical data, it is a burden to find target sources from ground-based and space-based telescopes. Although machine-learning methods have been extensively utilized to address this issue, the incorporation of in-depth data analysis can significantly enhance the efficiency of identifying target sources when dealing with massive volumes of astronomical data. In this work, we focused on the task of finding active galactic nucleus (AGN) candidates and identifying BL Lacertae objects (BL Lac) or flat spectrum radio quasar (FSRQ) candidates from the 4FGL_DR3 uncertain sources. We studied the correlations among the attributes of the 4FGL_DR3 catalog and proposed a novel method, named fractal dimension–inverse discrete wavelet transform (FDIDWT), to transform the original data. The transformed data set is characterized as low-dimensional and feature-highlighted, with the estimation of correlation features by fractal dimension theory and the multi-resolution analysis by inverse discrete wavelet transform (IDWT). Combining the FDIDWT method with an improved lightweight MatchboxConv1D model, we accomplished two missions: (1) to distinguish the AGNs from others (non-AGNs) in the 4FGL_DR3 uncertain sources with an accuracy of 96.65% ± 1.32%, namely Mission A; and (2) to classify blazar candidates of uncertain type into BL Lacs or FSRQs with an accuracy of 92.03% ± 2.2%, namely Mission B. There are 1354 AGN candidates in Mission A, and 482 BL Lacs candidates and 128 FSRQ candidates were found in Mission B. The results show a high consistency of greater than 98% with the results in previous works. In addition, our method has the advantage of finding less variable and relatively faint sources than ordinary methods.

In our study of the correlations between IceCube-detected neutrino events and γ -ray properties of blazars, we recognize the inherent challenges posed by the limited detection of neutrinos. In this paper, we explore few-shot learning to deal with the class imbalance and few-shot issues presented in the incremental version of the 12 yr Fermi-LAT γ -ray source catalog (4FGL_ DR3). Specifically, we train a triplet network to transform the blazars with neutrino emission (NBs) and nonblazar samples into an embedding space where their similarities can be measured. With two-way three-shot learning, 199 out of 3708 blazars without neutrino emission (non-NBs) are considered as the potential blazars emitting neutrinos (NB candidates, or NBCs for short), with a similarity score against NBs exceeding 98%. Moreover, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test supports our identification of NBCs.

To improve the technical system of the roof cutting pressure releasing gob-side entry retaining technology (RCPRGERT) and provide reference for the adaptive promotion and optimization of the new technology, the entry support system mechanism with RCPRGERT is studied in this paper. Firstly, the stress structure of the roof cutting short beam is analyzed by the mechanical theory analysis method. Then, taking 8304 working face of Tashan Coal Mine as an example, the stress distribution characteristics of the surrounding rock in different entry retaining stages are simulated by numerical simulation, which provides an important reference for the field support design and puts forward an idea of hierarchical support. Finally, an engineering test is carried out in the experimental working face to verify the design of the retaining entry support, which obtains a well entry retaining effect. The research results in this study provide powerful theoretical and practical references for the promotion of RCPRGERT under similar geological conditions.

Seismic interferometry is often proposed as a cost-efficient technique for reservoir monitoring including CO2 sequestration due to its low cost and environmental advantages over active source imaging. Although many studies have demonstrated the ability of seismic interferometry to retrieve surface waves, body wave imaging remains challenging due to their generally lower amplitudes of body waves in seismic interferometry data. An optimum data acquisition strategy can help retrieve low amplitude body waves better, however, rare attempts have been made to evaluate various data acquisition strategies. In this study, we use numerical modeling to examine three different acquisition schemes to evaluate the retrievability of P waves from seismic interferometry data. From our numerical results, we observe that (1) positing receivers beneath the attenuated weathered layer improves the data quality and signal to noise ratio, but additional processing steps including predictive deconvolution and Radom transform filter are necessary to remove the downgoing surface multiples, artifacts that are generated from this data acquisition; (2) vertical seismic profiling (VSP) alongside with the conventional surface seismic acquisition improve the target zone detection; and (3) crosswell acquisition of seismic interferometry is an ineffective means to obtain reflection events due to the non-similarity of ray paths from the noise sources meaning that the required stationary phase theory is not fulfilled.

Abstract Fluid‐filled volumes in geological systems can change the local stress field in the host rock and may induce brittle deformation as well as crack propagation. Although the mechanisms relating fluid pressure perturbations and seismicity have been widely studied, the fluid‐solid interaction inside the crack of a host rock is still not well understood. An analog experimental model of fluid intrusion in cracks between planar layers has been developed to study stress conditions at the margins and tips. A combined high‐speed shadowgraph and a photoelasticity imaging system is used to visualize the fluid dynamics and induced stresses on the solid matrix. Cavitation, as well as bubble growth and collapse, occurs along the sawtooth crack margins, which produces a highly localized stress concentration to initiate new subcrack systems. The presence of the bubbles at the crack tip during fluid pressure perturbation can enhance crack propagation.

Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is an emerging biomarker for risk stratification in cardiovascular disease. Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) is an important complication in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In this retrospectively observational study, we aimed to determine the role of GDF-15 and the risk of AKI in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients.The medical records of 1195 patients with AMI were reviewed. After exclusion criteria, a total of 751 eligible patients who underwent CAG or PCI were studied. Preoperative clinical parameters including GDF-15 levels were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors of AKI. Subsequently, to reduce a potential selection bias and to balance differences between the two groups, a propensity score-matched analysis was performed. We recorded the 30-day all-cause mortality of the total study population. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to identify the association between short term survival in AMI patients and GDF-15 level.Among 751 enrolled patients, 106 patients (14.1%) developed AKI. Patients were divided into two groups: AKI group (n = 106) and non-AKI group (n = 645). GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in AKI group compared to non-AKI group (1328.2 ± 349.7 ng/L vs. 1113.0 ± 371.3 ng/L, P

AIMS:To investigate the association between growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS:A total of 311 patients with AMI were studied retrospectively. All patients were divided into two groups according to the occurrence of CIN after PCI. Baseline clinical data were compared between two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors for CIN. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the association between GDF-15, CIN and short-term outcome. RESULTS:There were 80 patients in CIN group (average age was 71.60 ± 13.00 years; 67.5% male) and 231 patients in non-CIN group (average age was 63.80 ± 11.70 years; 71.9%male). The concentration of GDF-15 in CIN group was higher than that of non-CIN group (1232 ± 366.6 ng/L vs. 939.20 ± 309.6 ng/L, P

Based on the heterogeneous multiscale method, this paper presents a finite volume method to solve multiscale convection-diffusion-reaction problem. The paper constructs an algorithm of the optimal order convergence rate in H1-norm under periodic medias.

We propose a fully discrete method for the multiscale Richards’ equation of van Genuchten-Mualem model which describes the flow transport in unsaturated heterogenous porous media. Under the framework of heterogeneous multiscale method (HMM), a fully discrete scheme combined with a regularized procedure is proposed. Including the numerical integration, the discretization is given by C0 piecewise finite element in space and an implicit scheme in time. Error estimates between the numerical solution and the solution of homogenized problem are derived under the assumption that the permeability is periodic. Numerical experiments with periodic and random permeability are carried out for the van Genuchten-Mualem model of Richards’ equation to show the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

A second-order sliding mode (SOSM) controller is proposed to synchronize a class of incommensurate fractional-order chaotic systems with model uncertainties and external disturbances. Based on the chattering free SOSM control scheme, it can be rigorously proved that the dynamics of the synchronization error is globally asymptotically stable by using the Lyapunov stability theorem. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller design approach.

In real-world scenarios, Deep Neural Network (DNN)-powered Keyword Spotting (KWS) systems are typically engineered as lightweight architectures, optimizing for superior performance and low computational complexity in resource-limited devices. However, such lightweight designs often encounter limitations in generalization, particularly when it comes to customizing keywords. This paper presents a two-stage method to customize a Mandarin KWS system rapidly. First, we propose an embedding model to learn the embedding representations of general Mandarin keywords. Subsequently, we facilitate keyword customization with the generalization capability of embedding models through few-shot transfer learning. To improve performance further, in the embedding model, we introduce two scale blocks to fuse acoustic features and employ an Enhanced Extended Long Short-Term Memory (ExLSTM) as the backbone. Experimental results on both English and Mandarin keyword datasets highlight the advantages of the proposed embedding model. In addition, we conduct keyword customization on a self-recorded dataset containing 10 Mandarin keywords. The impressive average accuracy of 97.45% with merely five target samples demonstrates the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]