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Abstract The etiology of primary open angle glaucoma is constituted by both intraocular pressure-dependent and intraocular pressure-independent mechanisms. However, GWASs of traits affecting primary open angle glaucoma through mechanisms independent of intraocular pressure remains limited. Here, we address this gap by subtracting the genetic effects of a GWAS for intraocular pressure from a GWAS for primary open angle glaucoma to reveal the genetic contribution to primary open angle glaucoma via intraocular pressure-independent mechanisms. Seventeen independent genome-wide significant SNPs were associated with the intraocular pressure-independent component of primary open angle glaucoma. Of these, 7 are located outside known normal tension glaucoma loci, 11 are located outside known intraocular pressure loci, and 2 are novel primary open angle glaucoma loci. The intraocular pressure-independent genetic component of primary open angle glaucoma is associated with glaucoma endophenotypes, while the intraocular pressure-dependent component is associated with blood pressure and vascular permeability. A genetic risk score for the intraocular pressure-independent component of primary open angle glaucoma is associated with 26 different retinal micro-vascular features, which contrasts with the genetic risk score for the intraocular pressure-dependent component. Increased understanding of these intraocular pressure-dependent and intraocular pressure-independent components provides insights into the pathogenesis of glaucoma.

Abstract Sepsis and hypertension pose significant health risks, yet the optimal mean arterial pressure (MAP) target for resuscitation remains uncertain. This study investigates the association between average MAP (a-MAP) within the initial 24 h of intensive care unit admission and clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis and primary hypertension using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) IV database. Multivariable Cox regression assessed the association between a-MAP and 30-day mortality. Kaplan–Meier and log-rank analyses constructed survival curves, while restricted cubic splines (RCS) illustrated the nonlinear relationship between a-MAP and 30-day mortality. Subgroup analyses ensured robustness. The study involved 8,810 patients. Adjusted hazard ratios for 30-day mortality in the T1 group (

Abstract Patchouli alcohol (PA) is a widely used pharmaceutical ingredient in various Chinese traditional herbal medicine (THM) formulations, known for its modulatory effects on the gut microbiota. The present study investigated PA's anti-inflammatory and regulatory effects on gut microbiota and its mode of action (MOA). Based on the assessments of ulcerative colitis (UC) symptoms, PA exhibited promising preventions against inflammatory response. In accordance, the expressions of pro-inflammatory factors, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and chemokine ligand 5 were significantly attenuated under PA treatment. Furthermore, PA enhanced the intestinal barrier damage caused by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Interestingly, PA exhibited negligible inventions on DSS-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis. PA did not affect the diversity of the DSS gut microbiota, it did alter the composition, as evidenced by a significant increase in the Firmicutes-Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. Finally, the MOA of PA against inflammation in DSS-treated mice was addressed by suppressing the expressions of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). In conclusion, PA prevented inflammatory response in the DSS-induced UC mice model via directly suppressing HO-1 and iNOS-associated antioxidant signal pathways, independent of its effects on gut microbiota composition.

The dynamic response characteristics between the multiple energy flows of electricity-hydrogen-heat in the renewable energy DC off-grid hydrogen production system are highly coupled and nonlinear, which leads to the complexity of its energy conversion and transmission law. This study proposes a model to describe the dynamic nonlinear energy conversion and transmission laws specific to such systems. The model develops a nonlinear admittance framework and a conversion characteristic matrix for multi-heterogeneous energy flow subsystems, based on the operational characteristics of each subsystem within the DC off-grid hydrogen production system. Building upon this foundation, an energy hub model for the hydrogen production system is established, yielding the electrical, thermal, and hydrogen energy outputs along with their respective conversion efficiencies for each subsystem. By discretizing time, the energy flow at each time node within the hydrogen production system is computed, revealing the system’s dynamic energy transfer patterns. Experiments were conducted using measured wind speed and irradiance data from a specific location in eastern China. Results from selected typical days were analyzed and discussed, revealing that subsystem characteristics exhibit nonlinear variation patterns. This highlights the limitations of traditional models in accurately capturing these dynamics. Finally, a simulation platform incorporating practical control methods was constructed to validate the model’s accuracy. Validation results demonstrate that the model possesses high accuracy, providing a solid theoretical foundation for further in-depth analysis of DC off-grid hydrogen production systems.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), a heterogeneous hematological malignancy, is caused by the developmental arrest of normal T-cell progenitors. The development of targeted therapeutic regimens is impeded by poor knowledge of the stage-specific aberrances in this disease. In this study, we performed multi-omics integration analysis, which included mRNA expression, chromatin accessibility, and gene-dependency database analyses, to identify potential stage-specific druggable targets and repositioned drugs for this disease. This multi-omics integration helped identify 29 potential pathological genes for T-ALL. These genes exhibited tissue-specific expression profiles and were enriched in the cell cycle, hematopoietic stem cell differentiation, and the AMPK signaling pathway. Of these, four known druggable targets (CDK6, TUBA1A, TUBB, and TYMS) showed dysregulated and stage-specific expression in malignant T cells and may serve as stage-specific targets in T-ALL. The TUBA1A expression level was higher in the early T cell precursor (ETP)-ALL cells, while TUBB and TYMS were mainly highly expressed in malignant T cells arrested at the CD4 and CD8 double-positive or single-positive stage. CDK6 exhibited a U-shaped expression pattern in malignant T cells along the naïve to maturation stages. Furthermore, mebendazole and gemcitabine, which target TUBA1A and TYMS, respectively, exerted stage-specific inhibitory effects on T-ALL cell lines, indicating their potential stage-specific antileukemic role in T-ALL. Collectively, our findings might aid in identifying potential stage-specific druggable targets and are promising for achieving more precise therapeutic strategies for T-ALL.

Abstract Microbial cell factories serve as pivotal platforms for the production of high-value natural products, which tend to accumulate on the cell membrane due to their hydrophobic properties. However, the limited space of the cell membrane presents a bottleneck for the accumulation of these products. To enhance the production of intracellular natural products and alleviate the burden on the cell membrane caused by product accumulation, researchers have implemented various membrane engineering strategies. These strategies involve modifying the membrane components and structures of microbial cell factories to achieve efficient accumulation of target products. This review summarizes recent advances in the application of membrane engineering technologies in microbial cell factories, providing case studies involving Escherichia coli and yeast. Through these strategies, researchers have not only improved the tolerance of cells but also optimized intracellular storage space, significantly enhancing the production efficiency of natural products. This article aims to provide scientific evidence and references for further enhancing the efficiency of similar cell factories.

Abstract Background To compare the bleb morphologies of phacoemulsification combined with Ex-PRESS implantation (Phaco-ExPRESS), phaco trabeculectomy (Phaco-Trab), and trabeculectomy (Trab) in postoperative two years. Methods Patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) with or without cataracts were included in this study. All patients underwent surgeries of either Phaco-ExPRESS, Phaco-Trab, or Trab. The morphologic structures of the filtering bleb, including microcysts area, hyperreflective dot density, and stromal connective tissue under in vivo confocal microscope (IVCM), were compared between the three groups. The data were collected preoperatively and postoperatively at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, and 24 months. Results Eighty-nine eyes from 89 patients were enrolled, including 32 in the Phaco-ExPRESS group, 25 in the Phaco-Trab group, and 32 in the Trab group. In a 24-month follow-up, bleb morphologies in Phaco-ExPRESS were similar to the Trab group. The area of epithelial microcysts was significantly increased in Phaco-ExPRESS and Trab groups while significantly decreased in Phaco-Trab. At postoperative 24 months, the complete success rate was 65.1% in Phaco-ExPRESS, 32.0% in Phaco-Trab, and 59.4% in the Trab group (P = 0.03). The phaco-Trab group had more postoperative anti-glaucoma medications than the other two groups (P

The effects of the ratio change of SPI and WG (11: 1, 10: 2, 9: 3, 8: 4, 7: 5, 6: 6 and 5: 7) on the product characteristics of plant-based meat analogues (PBMAs) were investigated. The results show that the addition of WG significantly reduces the hardness and chewiness of PBMAs, but significantly improves the springiness and brightness of PBMAs. When the ratio of SPI to WG is 9: 3, PBMAs has the best fiber structure, storage modulus and apparent viscosity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results showed that the transition from α-helix to β-fold was an important reason for PBMAs fibers reinforcement. The intermolecular interaction of protein shows that the enhancement of fiber structure of PBMAs is related to the increase of disulfide bonds. In this study, low cost and high simulation degree PBMAs are provided as a reference for developing PBMAs.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological cancer all over the world. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) nuclear-enriched autosomal transcript-1 (NEAT1) have been reported to play important roles in the development and progression of multiple human malignancies like MM. However, the functional role and molecular mechanism of NEAT1 in MM progression still needs more support to identify potential targets of MM. In the present study, we focused on the clinical and biological significance of NEAT1 in MM. We demonstrated that NEAT1 was up-regulated in MM tissues and cell line. NEAT1 silencing significantly inhibited cell proliferation and promoted cell apoptosis in vitro. And we illustrated that miR-485-5p was a direct target of NEAT1 and the effect of down-regulated NEAT1 on MM cells was partially reversed by the miR-485-5p antisense oligonucleotide (ASO-miR-485-5p). Further investigation revealed that ABCB8 directly interacted with miR-485-5p. Similarly, in vivo experiments confirmed that down-regulated NEAT1 inhibited tumor growth and ABCB8 expression. Taken together, our results demonstrate for the first time that NEAT1/miR-485-5p/ABCB8 axis may be a key pathway for the development and progression of MM, and they may provide a novel avenue for targeted therapy.

BackgroundCoronary vasospasm (CVS) is a common cardiovascular condition, yet its implications should not be underestimated. Regrettably, the current diagnostic and treatment standards for CVS in China are not standardized, severely affecting the quality of life for patients with this condition.Case presentationA 68-year-old male presented to the hospital one month prior due to recurrent chest pain. Coronary angiography (CAG) revealed a mid-segment muscle bridge with plaque formation in the left anterior descending artery, followed by pharmacological balloon angioplasty. The primary diagnosis post-operation was acute non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and coronary artery myocardial bridging. This time, the patient experienced nocturnal chest pain with a dynamic increase in troponin levels. Emergency CAG showed the left anterior descending and right coronary arteries were fine, with segmental narrowing reaching 95%–99%. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) indicated negative remodeling of the mid-segment lumen associated with myocardial bridging, with the smallest lumen area being 2.19 mm2. After intracoronary administration of nitroglycerin, the original most narrowed lumen area increased to 8.81 mm2. Consequently, a definitive diagnosis of CVS with coronary artery myocardial bridging was made, and the medication treatment plan was promptly adjusted. The patient's symptoms disappeared, and he was discharged. Follow-up after more than three months showed no recurrence of symptoms.ConclusionIn cases where provocative agents are contraindicated, CAG combined with IVUS can optimize the differential diagnosis of CVS. There is an urgent need in China to improve epidemiological data on CVS and establish standardized diagnostic and treatment protocols.

The present study aims to investigate the effects of dietary Chinese herbs mixture (CHM) including Artemisia capillaris, Gardenia jasminoides, Scutellaria baicalensis, Reynoutria japonica and Uncaria rhynchophylla on the growth performance, anti-oxidative and immune responses, and intestine and liver histology of juvenile large yellow croaker Larimichthys crocea (initial body weight: 17.03 ± 0.03 g), which were fed graded levels of CHM (0 (control group), 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg, respectively) for 60 days. The results indicated that supplementing 250 and 500 mg/kg CHM in diet significantly increased the weight gain rate and decreased the feed conversion ratio of juvenile large yellow croaker (P < 0.05). The activities of lipase, chymotrypsin, γ-glutamyl transferase and Na+, K+-ATPase were significantly increased in CHM250 and/or CHM500 groups (P < 0.05). Besides, the levels of total anti-oxidative capacity, immunoglobulin M, complement 3 and complement 4 were significantly increased in the CHM250 and/or CHM500 groups (P < 0.05). The expressions of anti-oxidation gene (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, nrf2), anti-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-10, il-10 and transforming growth factor-β, tgf-β) and anti-apoptotic gene (B-cell lymphoma-2, bcl-2) in liver were significantly up-regulated, while the malondialdehyde content and the expressions of kelch like ECH associated protein 1 (keap1) and nuclear factor κB p65 (nf-κb p65) were significantly down-regulated after supplementing 250 and/or 500 mg/kg CHM in diet (P < 0.05). The histological analysis of liver and intestine showed the better morphology in CHM250 and CHM500 groups than the control group. In conclusion, above results indicated that dietary CHM (250 – 500 mg/kg) significantly improved the growth performance, anti-oxidative capacity, immunity and histology of liver and intestine of juvenile large yellow croaker.

Abstract Background Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) shares treatment strategies with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Due to OCCC's rarity, there's a lack of prospective studies on its surgery, resulting in heterogeneous and limited existing data. This study aims to clarify the prognostic significance of lymphadenectomy in OCCC patients. Methods We systematically searched Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar until July 2023 for studies investigating lymphadenectomy's effects on OCCC patients. We calculated pooled hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). This study is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021270460). Results Among 444 screened articles, seven studies (2883 women) met inclusion criteria. Our analysis revealed that lymphadenectomy significantly improved disease-specific survival (DSS) (HR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.60–0.95, P = 0.02) and disease-free survival (DFS) (HR = 0.58, 95%CI = 0.34–0.99, P = 0.05). However, it did not significantly affect overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.80, 95%CI = 0.60–1.06, P = 0.12) or progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.95, 95%CI = 0.64–1.42, P = 0.79). Notably, some earlier studies reported no survival benefit, warranting cautious interpretation. Conclusion Lymphadenectomy does not significantly enhance OS and PFS for OCCC but does improve DFS and DSS. Tailoring treatment to individual patient profiles is imperative for optimal outcomes. Precise preoperative or intraoperative lymph node metastasis detection is essential for identifying candidates benefiting from lymphadenectomy. Collaborative international efforts and an OCCC database are pivotal for refining future treatment strategies.

High-resolution stereo satellite images (HRSSIs) have the potential to provide the accurate height and volume information, playing a crucial role in assessing building collapses during various natural disasters. However, the time-consuming process of three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction, inadequate vertical accuracy of digital surface model (DSM), and concentrated clustering of buildings pose challenges for collapse assessment focused on buildings. Therefore, we present an improved approach for rapid fine-grained assessment of building collapses. First, the accurate and consistent positioning parameters for HRSSIs are obtained through the combined block adjustment using laser altimetry points, ensuring the generation of DSMs with vertical accuracy exceeding 2 m. Next, a set of rapid 3-D reconstruction techniques is introduced, achieving a significant eightfold improvement in generating DSMs. Subsequently, we deploy an automated workflow for batch processing and registration of open-source building footprints, enabling the accurate extraction of building height changes from dual-time DSMs. Finally, based on the building change image, a large-scale GIS image of building floor-level collapses is generated using connected component detection and threshold classification strategies. These findings have far-reaching implications for postdisaster emergency response, damage assessment, and expeditious reconstruction efforts. In our study, we processed an 800 km2 area in Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey, generating dual-time DSMs within 1 h. This enabled the assessment of floor-level collapses for a total of 48 092 buildings within the area. Validation was conducted on 361 houses in the city center, utilizing Google Street view images as ground truth. Remarkably, our approach achieved a high accuracy rate of 93.27% in floor-level assessment.

Outdoor aerosol processes are often associated with disasters and diseases, which threaten human life and health. Outdoor aerosols are a fluid system affected by meteorological conditions and three-dimensional complex terrain. Their variable wind speed and direction and complex terrain boundary conditions make simulating advection processes difficult. Based on incompressible flow conditions, we designed an adaptive time step algorithm for forward advection for the rapid simulation of aerosol processes. The method is based on the first-order forward semi-Lagrangian advection method with unconditional mass conservation. The first-order truncated error coefficient function theory generates an adaptive time step to control the accuracy of forward advection. Smoke aerosol simulation experiments in two small outdoor scenes were designed, and the effects of the traditional backward advection and forward fixed step methods were compared with the algorithm in this study. The proposed simulation method showed improved accuracy compared with the other two methods in experimental scenarios; moreover, compared with those of the traditional backward method, the computation time was significantly reduced and the conservation of mass was significantly improved. Thus, the proposed method is a fast simulation method for outdoor aerosol numerical prediction.

Cordyceps cicadae, as a new food ingredient, is a valuable edible and medicinal fungi. However, its resources are severely depleted due to environmental limitations and excessive harvesting practices. N6-(2-hydroxyethyl) adenosine (HEA), as an important product of Cordyceps cicadae, has the potential to be used in medical industry due to its diverse disease curing potential. However, the disclosure of HEA synthesis still severely limited its application until now. In this study, the kinetic curves for adenosine and HEA under shaker fermentation were explored. The kinetics of HEA and adenosine production exhibited a competitive pattern, implicating a possibility of sharing a same step during their synthesis. Due to HEA as a derivative of nitrogen metabolism, the effect of different nitrogen sources (peptone, yeast extract, ammonium sulfate, diammonium oxalate monohydrate, ammonium citrate dibasic, and ammonium citrate tribasic) on HEA production in Cordyceps cicadae strain AH 10-4 had been explored under different incubation conditions (shaker fermentation, stationary fermentation, and submerged fermentation). Our results indicated that the complex organic nitrogen sources were found to improve the accumulation of HEA content under shaker fermentation. In contrast, the optimal nitrogen source for the accumulation of HEA under stationary fermentation and submerged fermentation was ammonium citrate tribasic. But submerged fermentation obviously shortened the incubation time and had a comparable capacity of HEA accumulation by 2.578 mg/g compared with stationary fermentation of 2.535 mg/g, implicating a possibility of scaled-up production of HEA in industry by submerged fermentation. Based on the dramatic HEA production by ammonium sulfate as nitrogen resources between stationary and shaker fermentations, alanine, aspartate and glutamate as well as arginine metabolic pathway were related to the production of HEA by comparative transcriptome. Further investigation indicated that glutamic acid, which is an analog of Asp, showed an optimum production of HEA in comparison with other amino acids.

An 84-day feeding trial was carried out to assess the effects of dietary Chinese herbs mixture (CHM) on the growth performance, anti-oxidative capacity, immunity and resistance to heat stress of abalone Haliotis discus hannai. The CHM included, Scutellariae Radix (Scutellaria baicalensis, Gardeniae Fructus (Gardenia jasminoides), Artemisiae Scopariae Herba (Artemisia capillaris), Uncariae Ramulus Cum Uncis (Uncaria rhynchophylla), Polygoni Cuspidati Rhizoma et Radix (Polygonum cuspidatum). Six diets containing 0.00% (control group), 0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06%, 0.08% and 0.10% of CHM were formulated and fed to abalone (initial weight: 3.59 ± 0.03 g). The group with 0.04% of dietary CHM exhibited the highest weight gain rate (WGR), while the survival was not significantly affected by dietary CHM. The optimal level of dietary CHM for abalone was determined to be 0.049% on the basis of the quadratic regression model for WGR. Dietary CHM significantly elevated the activities of lipase, trypsin, cellulase, Na+/K+-ATPase, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and lysozyme and total anti-oxidative capacity. Besides, dietary CHM significantly reduced the malondialdehyde content and alanine amino transferase activity. The mRNA levels of cationic amino acid transporter 1 (cat1) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (nrf2) were significantly up-regulated in the group with 0.04% of dietary CHM. While the mRNA levels of kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (keap1), nuclear factor-κb (nf-κb) and tumor necrosis factor-α (tnf-α) were decreased in dietary CHM supplemented groups. The glucose and cortisol content in the CFH and the falling rate of abalone were significantly lower in the CHM supplemented groups than that in the control group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of CHM improved the growth performance, anti-oxidative capacity, immunity and the resistance to heat stress of abalone. The recommended level of CHM supplemented in diets for abalone was 0.049%.

Filamentous fungi play a crucial role in environmental pollution control, protein secretion, and the production of active secondary metabolites. The evolution of gene editing technology has significantly improved the study of filamentous fungi, which in the past was laborious and time-consuming. But recently, CRISPR-Cas systems, which utilize small guide RNA (sgRNA) to mediate clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated proteins (Cas), have demonstrated considerable promise in research and application for filamentous fungi. The principle, function, and classification of CRISPR-Cas, along with its application strategies and research progress in filamentous fungi, will all be covered in the review. Additionally, we will go over general matters to take into account when editing a genome with the CRISPR-Cas system, including the creation of vectors, different transformation methodologies, multiple editing approaches, CRISPR-mediated transcriptional activation (CRISPRa) or interference (CRISPRi), base editors (BEs), and Prime editors (PEs).

In this paper, we investigate a novel T-S fuzzy parameter varying system with Markov jump, in which parameters depend not only on a Markov chain but also on linear parameter varying elements that take values in convex polytopic sets. Stable conditions and the gain-scheduling controller design method for this system are obtained. Applying Lyapunov function depending on the operation mode and full block S-procedure lemma, we obtain stochastic stabilization conditions. We find that this novel system has two distinct advantages. On the one hand, it inherits the advantages of traditional T-S fuzzy systems in handling nonlinear objects under the frame of T-S fuzzy systems; on the other, it obtains the advantages of dealing with time-varying characteristics from the point of linear parameter varying (LPV) systems. Finally, the theory results are illustrated via numerical simulation.

Polymyxin, known as the “last line of defense” against bacterial infection, exerts a significant inhibitory effect on a wide range of Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. The presence of strains, specifically Proteus vulgaris species, displaying intrinsic polymyxin resistance poses significant challenges to current clinical treatment. However, the underlying mechanism responsible for this intrinsic resistance remains unclear. Bacterial non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are abundant in genomes and have been demonstrated to have significant regulatory roles in antibiotic resistance across various bacterial species. However, it remains to be determined whether ncRNAs in Proteus vulgaris can regulate intrinsic polymyxin resistance. This study focused on investigating the foodborne Proteus vulgaris strain P3M and its intrinsic polymyxin resistance regulation mediated by ncRNAs. Through a combination of bioinformatics analysis, mutant construction, and phenotypic experimental verification, we successfully identified the ncRNAs involved and their potential target genes. These findings serve as an essential foundation for the precise identification of ncRNAs participating in the intricate regulation process of polymyxin resistance. Additionally, this study offers valuable insights into the efficient screening of bacterial ncRNAs that contribute positively to antibiotic resistance regulation.

The effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strain rapidly wanes over time. Growing evidence from epidemiological studies suggests that influenza vaccination is associated with a reduction in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we investigate the cross-reactive immune responses of influenza vaccination to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein peptides based on in vitro study. Our data indicate enhanced activation-induced-marker (AIM) expression on CD4+ T cells in influenza-vaccination (IV)-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) upon stimulation with spike-protein-peptide pools. The fractions of other immune cell subtypes, including CD8+ T cells, monocytes, NK cells, and antigen-presenting cells, were not changed between IV-treated and control PBMCs following ex vivo spike-protein-peptide stimulation. However, the classical antiviral (IFN-γ) and anti-inflammatory (IL-1RA) cytokine responses to spike-protein-peptide stimulation were still enhanced in PBMCs from both IV-immunized adult and aged mice. Decreased expression of proinflammatory IL-1β, IL-12p40, and TNF-α is associated with inhibited levels of histone acetylation in PBMCs from IV-treated mice. Remarkably, prior immunity to SARS-CoV-2 does not result in modification of histone acetylation or hemagglutinin-protein-induced cytokine responses. This response is antibody-independent but can be mediated by manipulating the histone acetylation of PBMCs. These data experimentally support that influenza vaccination could induce modification of histone acetylation in immune cells and reveal the existence of potential cross-reactive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 antigens, which may provide insights for the adjuvant of influenza vaccine to limit COVID-19-related inflammatory responses.

Conclusion: Casia2 and PS demonstrated significant concordance in measuring postoperative TIOL alignment, with Casia2 offering a more straightforward and accessible alternative, particularly beneficial for patients with suboptimal pupil dilation.

PurposeTo assess the differences in the measurement of central foveal thickness (CFT) in patients with macular edema (ME) between two display modes (1:1 pixel and 1:1 micron) on optical coherence tomography (OCT).DesignThis is a retrospective, cross-sectional study.MethodsGroup A consisted of participants with well-horizontal OCT B-scan images and group B consisted of participants with tilted OCT B-scan. We manually measured the CFT under the two display modes, and the values were compared statistically using the paired t-test. Spearman’s test was used to assess the correlations between the OCT image tilting angle (OCT ITA) and the differences in CFT measurement. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to define the OCT ITA cutoff for a defined CFT difference.ResultsIn group A, the mean CFT in the 1:1 pixel display mode was 420.21 ± 130.61 µm, similar to the mean CFT of 415.27 ± 129.85 µm in the 1:1 micron display mode. In group B, the median CFT in the 1:1 pixel display mode is 409.00 μm (IQR: 171.75 μm) and 368.00 μm (IQR: 149.00 μm) in the 1:1 micron display mode. There were significant differences between the two display modes with the median (IQR) absolute difference and median (IQR) relative difference of 38.00 μm (75.00 μm) and 10.19% (21.91%) (all p = 0.01). The differences in CFT measurement between the two display modes were correlated with the OCT ITA (absolute differences, r = 0.88, p < 0.01; relative differences, r = 0.87, p < 0.01). The AUC for a predefined CFT difference was 0.878 (10 μm), 0.933 (20 μm), 0.938 (30 μm), 0.961 (40 μm), 0.962 (50 μm), and 0.970 (60 μm).ConclusionIn patients with DM, when the OCT B-scan images were well-horizontal, manual CFT measurements under the two display modes were similar, but when the B-scan images were tilted, the CFT measurements were different under the two display modes, and the differences were correlated to the OCT ITA.

In this study, {10–12} tensile twins (TTs) were induced in hot-rolled AZ31 Mg sheets via hot tension along the normal direction. The results demonstrate that the volume fraction of TTs at 2 mm/min is greatly lower than their counterparts at 0.5 mm/min at 100 °C and 200 °C. Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) can decrease twin nucleation rate during hot tensile when the strain rate reaches 2 mm/min. Decrease in critical resolved shear stress of non-basal slips at 200 °C enhances the deformation capability among grains, which dramatically reduces the volume fraction of TTs. Hence, TTs are hardly observed in 200°C-2mm/min sample. Tensile temperature significantly affects the morphology of TT lamellae. Grain boundaries prevents the longitudinal growth of the TTs, and then the thickness of TTs begins to grow to coordinate the deformation, resulting in fine TT lamellae in 100°C-0.5 mm/min. Compared with AR, the basal texture intensity of 100°C-2mm/min and 200°C-2mm/min increases and the occurrence of DRX is the main reason, while basal texture weakening of 100°C-0.5 mm/min and 200°C-0.5 mm/min depends on the formation of TTs. Compared with samples at 200 °C, the samples at 100 °C have higher tensile stresses. The maximum stress of 100°C-0.5 mm/min is 64.97 MPa when tensile strain reaches 0.15 owing to its highest dislocation density. 200°C-2mm/min possesses the highest hardness among the four tension samples, which is associated with the largest fraction of DRXed grains (68.8%) and its refinement strengthening effect. Dislocation strengthening exerts more influence on the hardness of 100°C-0.5 mm/min.

Objective To explore the expression and significance of INHBA in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR and western blot methods were used to measure the expression levels of INHBA in 17 cases of normal skin (NS), 30 cases of actinic keratosis (AK) and 30 cases of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Results The immunohistochemical staining indicated that the positive staining of INHBA was brown-yellow particles in the cytoplasm/nucleus, with positive rates of 23.53%, 66.67% and 86.67%, respectively, in NS, AK and cSCC (χ2=27.10,P=0.001). The relative expression levels of INHBA mRNA in NS, AK and cSCC were 1.097±0.083, 1.328±0.041, 1.731±0.064, respectively (F=48.53, P

In recent years, the photovoltaic (PV) industry has grown rapidly and the scale of grid-connected PV continues to increase. The random and fluctuating nature of PV power output is beginning to threaten the safe and stable operation of the power system. PV power interval forecasting can provide more comprehensive information to power system decision makers and help to achieve risk control and risk decision. PV power interval forecasting is of great importance to power systems. Therefore, in this study, a Quantile Regression-Stacking (QR-Stacking) model is proposed to implement PV power interval prediction. This integrated model uses three models, extreme gradient boosting (Xgboost), light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM) and categorical boosting (CatBoost), as the base learners and Quantile Regression-Long and Short Term Memory (QR-LSTM) model as the meta-learner. It is worth noting that in order to determine the hyperparameters of the three base learners and one meta-learner, the optimal hyperparameters of the model are searched using a Tree-structured Parzen Estimator (TPE) optimization algorithm based on Bayesian ideas. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficient is applied to determine the input characteristics of the model. Finally, the validity of the proposed model is verified using the actual data of a PV plant in China.

Street trees are of great importance to urban green spaces. Quick and accurate segmentation of street trees from high-resolution remote sensing images is of great significance in urban green space management. However, traditional segmentation methods can easily miss some targets because of the different sizes of street trees. To solve this problem, we propose the Double-Branch Multi-Scale Contextual Network (DB-MSC Net), which has two branches and a Multi-Scale Contextual (MSC) block in the encoder. The MSC block combines parallel dilated convolutional layers and transformer blocks to enhance the network’s multi-scale feature extraction ability. A channel attention mechanism (CAM) is added to the decoder to assign weights to features from RGB images and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). We proposed a benchmark dataset to test the improvement of our network. Experimental research showed that the DB-MSC Net demonstrated good performance compared with typical methods like Unet, HRnet, SETR and recent methods. The overall accuracy (OA) was improved by at least 0.16% and the mean intersection over union was improved by at least 1.13%. The model’s segmentation accuracy meets the requirements of urban green space management.

The cylinder liner and piston ring form the most crucial friction pair in the diesel engine, contributing 35–40% of its overall friction losses. Recent research indicates that transient heat transfer significantly affects piston ring lubrication. However, the impact of such a transfer on varying surface textures and lubrication traits remains unclear. This paper takes the piston ring–cylinder liner of a certain diesel engine as the research object, which is based on a two-dimensional averaged Reynolds function and Greenwood–Tripp micro convex body contact model; establishes a numerical calculation model of the transient heat fluid lubrication characteristics of a vertical piston ring–cylinder liner assembly by combining the oil film thickness equation, energy equation, lubricating oil viscosity–temperature, and viscosity pressure characteristics; avoids large errors associated with assuming different temperature values for lubricants; and also uses the cylinder liner surface texturing technique to examine the effects of surface texturing on lubrication properties in the presence of transient thermal fluids. The findings indicate that employing transient thermal fluid for determining the mean value of the oil film temperature in isothermal lubrication calculations yields comparable values for minimum oil film thickness and frictional power consumption, while the friction power consumption calculated by the transient thermal fluid is slightly lower. The depth of the recesses on the surface of the cylinder liner should be minimized, while the radius of the texture should be maximized, taking into consideration the current circumstances. Compared with a cylindrical texture, a spherical texture achieves lower friction with good lubrication indexes.

BackgroundBoth acute and persistent pain is associated with anxiety in clinical observations, but whether the underlying neural mechanisms differ is poorly understood.MethodsWe used formalin or complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) to induce acute or persistent pain. Behavioral performance was assessed by the paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), open field (OF), and elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. C-Fos staining was used to identify the activated brain regions. Chemogenetic inhibition was further performed to examine the necessity of brain regions in behaviors. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to identify the transcriptomic changes.ResultsBoth acute and persistent pain could lead to anxiety-like behavior in mice. The c-Fos expression indicates that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is activated only in acute pain, whereas the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is activated only in persistent pain. Chemogenetic manipulation reveals that the activation of the BNST excitatory neurons is required for acute pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors. In contrast, the activation of the prelimbic mPFC excitatory neurons is essential for persistent pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors. RNA-seq reveals that acute and persistent pain induces differential gene expression changes and protein–protein interaction networks in the BNST and prelimbic mPFC. The genes relevant to neuronal functions might underline the differential activation of the BNST and prelimbic mPFC in different pain models, and be involved in acute and persistent pain-related anxiety-like behaviors.ConclusionDistinct brain regions and gene expression patterns are involved in acute and persistent pain-related anxiety-like behaviors.

Risk analysis of dam slopes is crucial for ensuring the safety and stability of hydraulic engineering. To improve the accuracy and reliability of risk analysis, we adopt the cloud theory approach and conduct a study on the distribution types of soil shear strength indicators based on indoor geotechnical tests. We propose a “cloud model-Monte Carlo” coupling model that uses the cloud model to describe the uncertainty of risk factors and determine the probability distribution types of shear strength parameters, while the Monte Carlo method is used to simulate random variables in the model. The effectiveness of the proposed model is validated through a risk analysis of a slope of an earth-rock dam, with results showing significantly greater accuracy and reliability compared to traditional methods. The calculation results show that the risk probability corresponding to the design flood level of the dam is 9.01×10-6, exceeding its allowable risk standard of 0.5×10-6, hence the need for reinforcement treatment. The proposed model can accurately evaluate the risk of dams and provide the scientific basis for decision-making in dam safety management.

The wetting deformation of coarse-grained materials can seriously affect the safety of earth and rock dams during initial water storage. The wetting model formulas are expressed in various forms and have complex parameters. Only a small amount of test data is fitted by mathematical statistics, and the universality of the obtained wetting model is unknown. Duncan-Chang E-B constitutive model cannot accurately reflect the wetting deformation characteristics of coarse-grained materials. Through the double-line wetting test of coarse-grained materials, the wetting model proposed by predecessors was verified and analyzed. Based on the indoor wetting test data, the parameters of each wetting model were fitted to analyze the accuracy of each wetting model in describing the wetting deformation characteristics. According to the P-Z model in the elastic-plastic theory and the wetting model formula, the P-Z wetting model is established, and the BP artificial neural network is introduced to establish the artificial neural network wetting deformation prediction model based on the P-Z model. The results show that the relationship between wetting axial strain and wetting stress level is best expressed by the exponential function. The relationship between wetting volumetric strain and wetting stress level is best described by Cheng’s linear function. The relative errors between the predicted and experimental values of the proposed neural network prediction model are all within 6%. The relationship between wetting axial strain and wetting stress level is exponential function, and the relationship between wetting volumetric strain and wetting stress level is linear function. The P-Z wetting model proposed in this research can better reflect the wetting deformation characteristics of coarse-grained materials under complex stress paths. The artificial neural network prediction model based on P-Z wetting model is more reliable and accurate, which can meet the prediction requirements of actual engineering for wetting deformation of coarse-grained materials.

Abstract Background To compare the efficacy of Ex-PRESS implantation versus trabeculectomy combined with phacoemulsification. Methods A retrospective 12-month study on patients with coincident primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and cataract. The patients underwent combined phacoemulsification and Ex-PRESS implant (Phaco-ExPRESS, n = 35) or phacotrabeculectomy (Phaco-Trab, n = 35). The morphological structures of the filtering bleb were examined by slit-lamp, anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). Complete success was defined as postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP)

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA) has been suggested as a therapeutic target for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely unclear. In this study, we analyzed DNA next-generation sequencing (NGS) data and clinical information from 86 CLL patients to identify gene markers related to treatment-free survival (TFS) length. We then constructed a genetic network that includes CLL promoters, treatment targets, and TFS-related marker genes. To assess the significance of PPARA within the network, we utilized degree centrality (DC) and pathway enrichment score (EScore). Clinical and NGS data revealed 10 TFS length-related gene markers, including RPS15, FOXO1, FBXW7, KMT2A, NOTCH1, GNA12, EGR2, GNA13, KDM6A, and ATM. Through literature data mining, 83 genes were identified as CLL upstream promoters and treatment targets. Among them, PPARA exhibited a stronger connection to CLL and TFS-related gene markers, as evidenced by its ranking at No. 13 based on DC, compared to most of the other promoters (>84%). Additionally, PPARA co-functions with 70 out of 92 in-network genes in various functional pathways/gene groups related to CLL pathology, such as regulation of cell adhesion, inflammation, reactive oxygen species, and cell differentiation. Based on our findings, PPARA is considered one of the critical genes within a large genetic network that influences the prognosis and TFS of CLL through multiple pathogenic pathways.

The intestinal flora plays an important role in the development of many human and animal diseases. Microbiome association studies revealed the potential regulatory function of intestinal bacteria in many liver diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis, viral hepatitis and alcoholic hepatitis. However, the key intestinal bacterial strains that affect pathological liver injury and the underlying functional mechanisms remain unclear. We found that the gut microbiota from gentamycin (Gen)-treated mice significantly alleviated concanavalin A (ConA)-induced liver injury compared to vancomycin (Van)-treated mice by inhibiting CD95 expression on the surface of hepatocytes and reducing CD95/CD95L-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis. Through the combination of microbiota sequencing and correlation analysis, we isolated 5 strains with the highest relative abundance, Bacteroides acidifaciens (BA), Parabacteroides distasonis (PD), Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (BT), Bacteroides dorei (BD) and Bacteroides uniformis (BU), from the feces of Gen-treated mice. Only BA played a protective role against ConA-induced liver injury. Further studies demonstrated that BA-reconstituted mice had reduced CD95/CD95L signaling, which was required for the decrease in the L-glutathione/glutathione (GSSG/GSH) ratio observed in the liver. BA-reconstituted mice were also more resistant to alcoholic liver injury. Our work showed that a specific murine intestinal bacterial strain, BA, ameliorated liver injury by reducing hepatocyte apoptosis in a CD95-dependent manner. Determination of the function of BA may provide an opportunity for its future use as a treatment for liver disease.

Background Cardiac magnetic resonance image (MRI) has been widely used in diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases because of its noninvasive nature and high image quality. The evaluation standard of physiological indexes in cardiac diagnosis is essentially the accuracy of segmentation of left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) in cardiac MRI. The traditional symmetric single codec network structure such as U-Net tends to expand the number of channels to make up for lost information that results in the network looking cumbersome. Methods Instead of a single codec, we propose a multiple codecs structure based on the FC-DenseNet (FCD) model and capsule convolution-capsule deconvolution, named Nested Capsule Dense Network (NCDN). NCDN uses multiple codecs to achieve multi-resolution, which makes it possible to save more spatial information and improve the robustness of the model. Results The proposed model is tested on three datasets that include the York University Cardiac MRI dataset, Automated Cardiac Diagnosis Challenge (ACDC-2017), and the local dataset. The results show that the proposed NCDN outperforms most methods. In particular, we achieved nearly the most advanced accuracy performance in the ACDC-2017 segmentation challenge. This means that our method is a reliable segmentation method, which is conducive to the application of deep learning-based segmentation methods in the field of medical image segmentation.

BackgroundNeuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood, arising from the sympathetic nervous system. High-risk neuroblastoma (HRNB) remains a major therapeutic challenge with low survival rates despite the intensification of therapy. This study aimed to develop a malignant-cell marker gene signature (MMGS) that might serve as a prognostic indicator in HRNB patients.MethodsMulti-omics datasets, including mRNA expression (single-cell and bulk), DNA methylation, and clinical information of HRNB patients, were used to identify prognostic malignant cell marker genes. MMGS was established by univariate Cox analysis, LASSO, and stepwise multivariable Cox regression analysis. Kaplan–Meier (KM) curve and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (tROC) were used to evaluate the prognostic value and performance of MMGS, respectively. MMGS further verified its reliability and accuracy in the independent validation set. Finally, the characteristics of functional enrichment, tumor immune features, and inflammatory activity between different MMGS risk groups were also investigated.ResultsWe constructed a prognostic model consisting of six malignant cell maker genes (MAPT, C1QTNF4, MEG3, NPW, RAMP1, and CDT1), which stratified patients into ultra-high-risk (UHR) and common-high-risk (CHR) group. Patients in the UHR group had significantly worse overall survival (OS) than those in the CHR group. MMGS was verified as an independent predictor for the OS of HRNB patients. The area under the curve (AUC) values of MMGS at 1-, 3-, and 5-year were 0.78, 0.693, and 0.618, respectively. Notably, functional enrichment, tumor immune features, and inflammatory activity analyses preliminarily indicated that the poor prognosis in the UHR group might result from the dysregulation of the metabolic process and immunosuppressive microenvironment.ConclusionThis study established a novel six-malignant cell maker gene prognostic model that can be used to predict the prognosis of HRNB patients, which may provide new insight for the treatment and personalized monitoring of HRNB patients.

The Sun constantly releases radiation and plasma into the heliosphere. Sporadically, the Sun launches solar eruptions such as flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). CMEs carry away a huge amount of mass and magnetic flux with them. An Earth-directed CME can cause serious consequences to the human system. It can destroy power grids/pipelines, satellites, and communications. Therefore, accurately monitoring and predicting CMEs is important to minimize damages to the human system. In this study we propose an ensemble learning approach, named CMETNet, for predicting the arrival time of CMEs from the Sun to the Earth. We collect and integrate eruptive events from two solar cycles, #23 and #24, from 1996 to 2021 with a total of 363 geoeffective CMEs. The data used for making predictions include CME features, solar wind parameters and CME images obtained from the SOHO/LASCO C2 coronagraph. Our ensemble learning framework comprises regression algorithms for numerical data analysis and a convolutional neural network for image processing. Experimental results show that CMETNet performs better than existing machine learning methods reported in the literature, with a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of 0.83 and a mean absolute error of 9.75 h.

The large consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels has brought about energy depletion and environmental pollution, spawning the production of renewable biofuels, an important alternative to alleviate the energy crisis effectively. As one of the ideal types of biofuel, bioethanol synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has attracted much attention. S. cerevisiae has been developed as essential chassis cells with high efficiency for bioethanol synthesis on account of many advantages. This study systematically summarized the preponderance of S. cerevisiae in biosynthesis. It objectively stated the research strategies of bioethanol synthesis based on S. cerevisiae and the existing bottleneck problems. This study further proposed reasonable prospects for bioethanol synthesis by S. cerevisiae, attempting to provide alternative research strategies.

Abstract Background Pregnancy exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) is a vital consideration due to their inadvertent ingestion from environmental contamination. The potential health effects of TiO2NPs on the neurodevelopmental process should be seriously concerned in health risk assessment, especially for the pregnant women who are susceptible to the neurodevelopmental toxicity of nano-sized particles. However, the available evidence of neurodevelopmental toxicity of TiO2NPs remains very limited. Methods In the present study, the pregnant mice were intragastric administered with 150 mg/kg TiO2NPs from gestational day (GD) 8 to 21, the maternal behaviors and neurodevelopment-related indicators in offspring were all assessed at different time points after delivery. The gut microbial community in both dams and their offspring were detected by using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. The gut-brain axis related indicators were also determined in the offspring. Results The results clearly demonstrated that exposure to TiO2NPs did not affect the maternal behaviors of pregnant mice, or cause the deficits on the developmental milestones and perturbations in the early postnatal development of offspring. Intriguingly, our data revealed that pregnancy exposure of TiO2NPs did not affect locomotor function, learning and memory ability and anxiety-like behavior in offspring at postnatal day (PD) 21, but resulted in obvious impairments on these neurobehaviors at PD49. Similar phenomena were obtained in the composition of gut microbial community, intestinal and brain pathological damage in offspring in adulthood. Moreover, the intestinal dysbiosis induced by TiO2NPs might be highly associated with the delayed appearance of neurobehavioral impairments in offspring, possibly occurring through disruption of gut-brain axis. Conclusions This is the first report elucidated that pregnancy exposure to TiO2NPs caused delayed appearance of neurobehavioral impairments in offspring when they reached adulthood, although these perturbations did not happen at early life after delivery. These findings will provide valuable insights about neurodevelopmental toxicity of TiO2NPs, and call for comprehensive health risk assessment of TiO2NPs on the susceptible population, such as pregnant women. Graphical abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe mental illness characterized by obsessions and compulsions. However, its underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Recent studies have suggested that neuroimmune dysregulation is involved in the pathogenesis of OCD. To investigate the role of microglia in this disorder, we established a pharmacological mouse model by using the serotonin (5-HT) 1A/1B receptor agonist RU24969 to mimic monoamine dysregulation in OCD, and we examined the morphological and functional alterations of microglia in this model. We found that RU24969 treatment led to compulsive circling behavior in mice. Strikingly, we found that the density and mobility of microglia in the prelimbic cortex were much lower in RU24969-treated mice than in control mice. Moreover, the expression of cytokines and chemokines, including BDNF, IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, CD80, CD86, MHC-I, and MHC-II, also decreased in RU24969-treated mice. Importantly, we found that injection of BDNF or induction of BDNF expression by trehalose completely reversed microglial dysfunction and reduced stereotypic behavior. These results indicate that microglial dysfunction is closely related to stereotypic behaviors in our mouse model of OCD and that BDNF could be an effective treatment for stereotypic behaviors.

Reservoir dams have varying degrees of damage and hidden dangers under long-term and complex operating conditions, engineering problems mainly focus on the gradual decrease of seepage stability and guarantee rate of deformation and stability of dam foundation. However, due to the complexity of the dam foundation structure and the surrounding environment, the performance degradation of the dam foundation caused by the aging of the impervious structure lacks a systematic study of the process and its mechanism, In particular, the determination of relevant seepage parameters is complicated, moreover the simulation accuracy of its inversion model is not enough to meet the needs of long-term stability evaluation of the dam foundation. In order to study the seepage stability of the dam foundation of the reservoir during operation, a three-dimensional finite element model of complex geological bodies is combined with artificial neural network to establish a model of inversion of seepage field in the dam foundation, According to the 22 groups of predicted grouting schemes, five groups of representative grouting schemes were selected and the seepage characteristics of the same location were analyzed. The conclusions as below: (1) the inversion predicted that when the permeability coefficient was in the range of 3.0 × 10−6 cm/s to 5.0 × 10−6 cm/s, the change range was small, and the curtain's anti-seepage effect was more obvious. (2) The analysis of the dam base surface and the bottom of the grouting area shows that the difference between the water head and seepage gradient of the dam base surface and the bottom of the grouting area under the GZ7 and GZ3 schemes vary significantly with the grouting effect. Among them, especially in the GZ3 scheme, the key parts of the dam foundation surface F2 ~ F4: the seepage gradient value gradually increases, and all reach the maximum value in the GZ3 scheme; For G6 ~ G15 at the bottom of the grouting area, the water head value under the GZ3 scheme is gradually smaller than the three grouting schemes of GZ11, GD3 and GD7, as the water head value gradually decreases, the anti-seepage effect becomes more and more obvious. The above results show that the inversion prediction range is in good agreement with the actual law, when the permeability coefficient is within the predicted range, the anti-seepage effect is optimal. (3) The difference of the water head and seepage gradient difference between the dam foundation and the grouting area near the curtain changes significantly with the grouting effect. Characteristics of seepage field in key parts of the dam foundation under the six curtain grouting coefficients, the water head value F1-F2 decreased by 75%, F3-F13 decreased by 28%, the seepage gradient value F1-F2 decreased by 88%, and F3-F13 decreased by 29%, namely the grouting effect of the dam foundation and the grouting area gradually weakens as the distance between the characteristic part and the curtain increases. The research in this paper can provide a theoretical reference for the analysis and evaluation of dam seepage conditions.

In order to study the strength and development rate of the chemical erosion of the stilling pool base slab and analyze the influence of chemical erosion on the strength and durability of the stilling pool base slab, it established a reverse constitutive model of the chemical erosion of concrete of the stilling pool base slab. The model calculation results show that the results of the model calculation and prototype tests are in good agreement. Conclusion: 1) Most easily soluble mineral components in the concrete of the stilling pool base slab are cement hydration products, such as cement (Ca(OH)2). Compared with the active calcium ion content in the infiltration liquid, the higher the active calcium ion content in the exudate, the stronger the reaction between water seepage and concrete, and the higher the pH value of the exudate; 2) Under given leakage conditions, the greater the amount of material exchange between the stilling pool base slab and the water, the more severe the chemical erosion of the concrete; 3)The intensity of chemical erosion has a good correlation with the degree of damage to the surface of the concrete, that is, when the surface damage is relatively serious, the chemical erosion process is fast, otherwise it is slow.

The rise of migrant workers has been a unique social phenomenon as China goes through industrialization, urbanization, and modernization. They are a special social group formed during the economic and social transition of the country. Migration of rural labor has pushed China on its new path toward industrialization and urbanization. Because of the urban-rural dual system of the country, however, it is difficult for migrant workers to be fully integrated into host cities, making them susceptible to negative emotions and mental health issues. Therefore, their mental health is an issue of great volume in the domains of social undertakings, people's livelihood, and public health. However, existing studies have paid limited attention to the psychological profile of migrant workers and even less to the interplays among their social capital, social integration, and mental health. Targeting China's internal migrant workers, this article tapped the interactions among their social integration, social capital, and mental health with a sample of the cross-sectional data from the China Labor Dynamics Survey (CLDS) in 2018. Multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the moderating action of age by analyzing whether the mediation model differed significantly in the paths among young, middle-aged, and older migrant workers. The SEM based on bootstrapping suggested that, after controlling for the influence of gender, education, marital status, personal annual income, employer type, and self-rated health, migrant workers' social capital positively affect their mental health in a significant way, with social integration playing a mediating role. In terms of age difference, middle-aged migrant workers were more subject to the aforementioned mechanism than young ones, and young migrant workers were more affected by the mechanism than older ones. This study revealed different psycho-social interplays among social capital, social integration, and mental health across young, middle-aged, and elderly migrant workers. The findings could serve as an important theoretical reference and as practical guidance for improving policies concerning migrant workers' mental health and social benefits in the context of economic transition.

ABSTRACTWe investigated a multi-family cluster of 22 cases in Jixi, where pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission resulted in at least 41% of household infections of SARS-CoV-2. Our study illustrates the challenge of controlling COVID-19 due to the presence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission even when extensive testing and contact tracing are conducted.

The position and posture of the hydraulic support seriously affect the efficiency of coal mining and the safety of coal production. However, most of the current detection technologies have poor reliability, and the detection methods are difficult to adapt to the complex environment of coal mines. To effectively monitor the hydraulic support, and thereby improve the efficiency of coal mining, we propose a new method to detect the relative position and posture of the hydraulic support. The method is based on the mathematical idea that three points can determine a plane. Firstly, we use angle sensors and displacement sensors to build the detection device, use STM32 microprocessor to collect data, and realize real-time display of the data on the PC. Then, we conduct a single point detection experiment and a plane moving experiment, and combined the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to optimize the data. Experiment results show that the relative error of the single-point detection can reach 0.53%. Thirdly, we carry out a detection experiment of three points on the plane. Experiment results show that the detection accuracy of the two planes can reach 0.2°. Finally, to test the monitoring effect of the detection device on the hydraulic support, we carry out the relative position and posture detection experiment of the canopy. The experiment results show that the device can effectively detect the posture change of the canopy when the hydraulic support are moving. The method we use is contact measurement, which has high reliability and strong stability. The research on the relative position and posture detection of hydraulic support provides a reliable method to monitor the support working status. It lays the foundation for the intelligent control of the mining working face straightness and the perception of the support posture.

The sensitivity of Hypsizygus marmoreus to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, illumination and CO2 concentration varies greatly in different growth stages. In this paper, the effects of various environmental factors on the growth and development of H. marmoreus were investigated by measuring the enzyme activities of H. marmoreus at different growth stages under different microenvironment conditions in the mushroom room, so as to confirm the influence mechanism of environmental factors on the growth of H. marmoreus. The results showed that at budding stage xylanase and laccase were found significantly positively correlated with CO2 concentration and light intensity, and dramatically negatively correlated with humidity while carboxymethyl cellulose and manganese peroxidase were markedly positively correlated with humidity, and significantly negatively correlated with CO2 concentration and light intensity. On the other hand, in mature fruit bodies xylanase activity was found significantly positively correlated with CO2 concentration and light intensity, and dramatically negatively correlated with humidity while manganese peroxidase activities were found significantly positively correlated with humidity, and dramatically negatively correlated with light intensity. The activity of β-glucosidase in budding and mature fruiting bodies was markedly negatively correlated with CO2 concentration and significantly positively correlated with humidity.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can cause gastrointestinal symptoms in the patients, but the role of gut microbiota in SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. Thus, in this study, we aim to investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 infection affects the composition and function of gut microbiota. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that significant shifts in microbiome composition and function were appeared in both SARS-CoV-2-infected asymptomatic and symptomatic cases. The relative abundance of Candidatus_Saccharibacteria was significantly increased, whereas the levels of Fibrobacteres was remarkably reduced in SARS-CoV-2-infected cases. There was one bacterial species, Spirochaetes displayed the difference between patients and asymptomatic cases. On the genus level, Tyzzerella was the key species that remarkably increased in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. Analyses of genome annotations further revealed SARS-CoV-2 infection resulted in the significant ‘functional dysbiosis’ of gut microbiota, including metabolic pathway, regulatory pathway and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites etc. We also identified potential metagenomic markers to discriminate SARS-CoV-2-infected symptomatic and asymptomatic cases from healthy controls. These findings together suggest gut microbiota is of possible etiological and diagnostic importance for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

In the study of coal mining, the position and posture, the working status, and the straightness of the hydraulic support are critical to the safety of the coal mine. To detect and control the position of a hydraulic support, a model for solving the self-position and posture and a model for solving the relative position and pose of a hydraulic support based on the principle of three points determining a plane in space were established. Then, with the help of particle swarm optimization algorithm and Bang-Bang control algorithm, the hydraulic support position and the posture detection and control system are constructed. Finally, according to the requirements of sensor data collection and online monitoring of the position and posture of hydraulic support, a hydraulic support posture detection and control system is developed, and the simulation experiments of hydraulic support cylinder movement sample collecting, hydraulic support following motion and hydraulic support independent following machine are carried out on the self-developed three-machine intelligent control simulation experiment platform of the working face. However, the test under this simulation platform did not add the load of the top beam. The results show that the self-pose solution model and the relative-pose solution model of the hydraulic support can be used to quickly monitor the position and posture of the hydraulic support group. In the hydraulic support cylinder following motion movement, the largest following error of each cylinder is the balance cylinder, and its maximum error is 2.6 mm. In the hydraulic support independent following machine simulation, the maximum motion error of the support base is 2.2 mm. The position and posture detection and control system developed for hydraulic support can realize accurate detecting and control the position and posture of hydraulic support, as well as meet the requirements for industrial applications.

Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) encompass short-term delirium and long-term cognitive dysfunction. Aging increases the susceptibility to PND, yet the neural mechanism is not known. In this study, we monitored the dynamic changes of neuronal activity in the prelimbic cortex before and after surgery. We found that anesthesia combined with surgery, but not anesthesia alone, induced a prolonged decrease in neuronal activity during the post-operation period in the aged mice, but not in the adult mice. The prolonged decrease in neuronal activity was accompanied by surgery-induced microglial activation and proinflammatory cytokines expression. Importantly, we found that the enriched environment (EE) completely prevented both the prolonged neural inhibition and neuroinflammation, and improved cognitive function in the aged mice. These results indicate that the prolonged neural inhibition correlated to PND and that EE before the surgery could effectively alleviate the surgery- induced cognitive dysfunction.

Summary: Achieving the high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of near-infrared (NIR) emission in iridium(III) complexes still remains a challenge owing to their unsteady excited states which easily decay to the ground states through the nonradiative pathways. Herein, three Ir(III) phosphors in which the cyclometalated ligand 1-phenylisoquinoline-4-carbonitrile (piq-CN) is functionalized with the cyano, tert-butyl, and dimethyl groups are developed (CN-CNIr, Bu-CNIr, and DM-CNIr, respectively). Three simple synthetic steps can afford this class of deep red to NIR Ir(III) emitters. The organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on Bu-CNIr and DM-CNIr attain the maximum EQEs of 7.1% and 7.2% with the emission peaks at 695 and 714 nm, respectively. This strategy using substituted piq-CN derivatives as the cyclometalated ligands can offer an effective approach to promote the radiative rate of NIR-emitting Ir(III) materials. An insight into how the electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substituents on ligands influence the optoelectronic properties of their Ir(III) complexes is also provided.