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This paper investigates the learning and control problem of sampled‐data systems with only output measurements. A unified approach is presented by integrating the sampled‐data observer and deterministic learning. First, an adaptive radial basis function network (RBFN) learning controller with a sampled‐data observer is designed to track a recurrent reference model. Along the trajectory estimated by the observer, it is proven that the RBFN weights can exponentially converge to their ideal values with the satisfaction of a persistent excitation (PE) condition and the closed‐loop dynamics can be accurately learned during the output‐feedback process. Second, by using the learning results, a knowledge‐based output‐feedback controller is developed to improve the tracking performance. Further research shows that choosing appropriate parameters for the observer and RBFN can guarantee learning and control performance. The significance of the proposed approach is that the closed‐loop dynamics of the output‐feedback process can be accurately learned and further utilized to improve control performance. Simulation studies indicate the effectiveness and advantages of the learning control approach. By combining deterministic learning and sampled‐data observer, an adaptive radial basis function network (RBFN) controller is designed to achieve the tracking of a recurrent reference model, which leads to the satisfaction of the PE condition. During the stable tracking process, closed‐loop dynamics can be accurately identified/learned by the RBFN under the PE condition. Based on the learned dynamics, a new knowledge‐based controller is developed for another output feedback task, which reduces computational complexity and improves tracking performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) exhibits inferior mechanical and durability properties owing to the deterioration of the recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) surface quality. To improve the surface properties of RCA, the reinforcement efficiency of RAC, and the maneuverability of the surface treatment method, this study used magnesium phosphate cement (MPC), a clinker-free low-carbon cement with excellent bonding properties, to precoat RCA under three-day pre-conditioning. Moreover, variable amounts of fly ash (FA) or granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) were utilized to partly substitute MPC to enhance the compressive strength and chloride ion penetration resistance. Subsequently, FA–MPC and GBFS–MPC hybrid slurries with the best comprehensive performance were selected to coat the RCA for optimal reinforcement. The crushing value and water absorption of RCA, as well as the mechanical strengths and durability of RAC, were investigated, and microstructures around interfaces were studied via BSE-EDS and microhardness analysis to reveal the strengthening mechanism. The results indicated that the comprehensive property of strengthening paste was enhanced significantly through substituting MPC with 10% FA or GBFS. Surface coating resulted in a maximum reduction of 8.15% in the crushing value, while the water absorption barely changed. In addition, modified RAC outperformed untreated RAC regarding compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and chloride ion penetration resistance with maximum optimization efficiencies of 31.58%, 49.75%, and 43.11%, respectively. It was also evidenced that the improved MPC paste properties enhanced the performance of modified RAC. Microanalysis revealed that MPC pastes exhibited an excellent bond with RCA or new mortar, and the newly formed interfacial transition zone between MPC and the fresh mortar exhibited a dense microstructure and outstanding micro-mechanical properties supported with an increase in the average microhardness value of 30.2–33.4%. Therefore, MPC pastes incorporating an appropriate mineral admixture have enormous potential to be utilized as effective RCA surface treatment materials and improve the operability of RCA application in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent deterministic learning methods have achieved locally-accurate identification of unknown system dynamics. However, the locally-accurate identification means that the neural networks can only capture the local dynamics knowledge along the system trajectory. In order to capture a broader knowledge region, this article investigates the knowledge fusion problem of deterministic learning, that is, the integration of different knowledge regions along different individual trajectories. Specifically, two kinds of knowledge fusion schemes are systematically introduced: an online fusion scheme and an offline fusion scheme. The online scheme can be viewed as an extension of distributed cooperative learning control to cooperative neural identification for sampled-data systems. By designing an auxiliary information transmission strategy to enable the neural network to receive information learned from other tasks while learning its own task, it is proven that the weights of all localized RBF networks exponentially converge to their common true/ideal values. The offline scheme can be regarded as a knowledge distillation strategy, in which the fused network is obtained by offline training through the knowledge learned from all individual system trajectories via deterministic learning. A novel weight fusion algorithm with low computational complexity is proposed based on the least squares solution under subspace constraints. Simulation studies show that the proposed fusion schemes can successfully integrate the knowledge regions of different individual trajectories while maintaining the learning performance, thereby greatly expanding the knowledge region learned from deterministic learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mulberry (Morus alba), a widely distributed economic plant, can withstand long-term flooding stress. However, the regulatory gene network underlying this tolerance is unknown. In the present study, mulberry plants were subjected to submergence stress. Subsequently, mulberry leaves were collected to perform quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and transcriptome analysis. Genes encoding ascorbate peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase were significantly upregulated after submergence stress, indicating that they could protect the mulberry plant from flood damage by mediating ROS homeostasis. Genes that regulate starch and sucrose metabolism; genes encoding pyruvate kinase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and pyruvate decarboxylase (enzymes involved in glycolysis and ethanol fermentation); and genes encoding malate dehydrogenase and ATPase (enzymes involved in the TCA cycle) were also obviously upregulated. Hence, these genes likely played a key role in mitigating energy shortage during flooding stress. In addition, genes associated with ethylene, cytokinin, abscisic acid, and MAPK signaling; genes involved in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis; and transcription factor genes also showed upregulation under flooding stress in mulberry plants. These results provide further insights into the adaptation mechanisms and genetics of submergence tolerance in mulberry plants and could aid in the molecular breeding of these plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, based on the sampled-data observer and the deterministic learning theory, a rapid dynamical pattern recognition approach is proposed for univariate time series composed of the output signals of the dynamical systems. Specifically, locally-accurate identification of inherent dynamics of univariate time series is first achieved by using the sampled-data observer and the radial basis function (RBF) networks. The dynamical estimators embedded with the learned knowledge are then designed by resorting to the sampled-data observer. It is proved that generated estimator residuals can reflect the difference between the system dynamics of the training and test univariate time series. Finally, a recognition decision-making scheme is proposed based on the residual norms of the dynamical estimators. Through rigorous analysis, recognition conditions are given to guarantee the accurate recognition of the dynamical pattern of the test univariate time series. The significance of this paper lies in that the difficult problems of dynamical modeling and rapid recognition for univariate time series are solved by incorporating the sampled-data observer design and the deterministic learning theory. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is confirmed by a numerical example and compressor stall warning experiments. • An observer-based recognition approach is proposed for univariate time series. • The challenge of learning dynamical systems from univariate time series is overcome. • Estimators perform recognition tasks, reducing computational complexity. • Average residual norms are used for decisions, which ensures recognition accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Simultaneous bilateral femoral neck fractures are extremely rare without obvious injury. Herein, we report the case of a patient on dialysis presenting with bilateral femoral neck fractures, which is a condition with high complication and mortality rates according to a review of the pertinent literature.Case Presentation: We report the case a 47-year-old female with a history of 8 years of haemodialysis due to polycystic kidney disease who presented with bilateral hip pain during walking. The clinical history and results of physical and radiographic examinations of this patient are shown. Single-stage bilateral hemiarthroplasty was performed after a multidisciplinary team consultation. Three days after the operation, she could ambulate with a walker. The woman gradually regained her previous ability to walk over 6 months after surgery.Conclusions: A multidisciplinary team consultation for perioperative management is necessary and effective in patients on dialysis. Early diagnosis with prompt surgical treatment could lead to favourable recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A photo-recyclable feather biochar (PFB) was prepared via a self-crosslinking method. • The multilayered graphene like structure of PFB was decorated with TiO 2 nanoparticle. • PFB presented synergistic property of both adsorption and visible light degradation. • The mineralization ability of PFB was well evaluated via mass spectrum experiments. Inspired by its special micro-architecture of β-folding layers, the wasted poultry feather was utilized to synthesize a photo-recyclable feather biochar (PFB). In consideration of the crosslinking nature of Ti precursor and keratin, a three-stage method was deployed to develop this biochar. Morphology studies revealed that the PFB was mainly consisted with multilayered graphene like nanosheets, doping with ultrafine TiO 2 nanoparticles homogeneously. Amoxicillin is applied to assess adsorption and photo-degradation abilities. Possessing different functional groups on multilayered graphene oxides like frameworks, the PFB have exhibited excellent adsorption ability and its photo responded region is extended to visible light. Particularly, an extra photo-recyclable behavior was achieved in batch experiments and the reaction mechanism was detected. Up to 80.98% of the absorbability of PFB was reborn after visible light irradiation. The mineralization ability was further studied with total organic carbon (TOC) and mass spectrum (MS) analyses. Besides, considering the cost-free waste feedstocks and easy self-assembling fabrication methods, this photo-recyclable feather biochar is potential in future wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the cost of commercial visible-light photocatalyst, a self-assembly strategy was deployed in producing a Ti-coupled N-embedded chicken feather biochar based catalyst (TINCs). The TINCs were manufactured by blending Ti-contained cross-link agent with hydrolyzed N-embedded chicken feather. These synthesis materials were well characterized with X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, Scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscope, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Surface area analysis and UV–vis absorption spectra. There were multilayered graphene oxide-like structures observed on TINCs, which were similar to the TiO 2 -graphene oxide material. Correspondingly, the TINCs had presented a 90.91% degradation rate of Rhodamine B under visible-light after 240 min. The corresponding TOC of the solution had dropped by 56.26%. Every slice of TINCs was constituted by multilayered graphene oxide-like framework, interspersing with TiO 2 nanoparticles uniformly. Some mechanisms were also analyzed. The cost analysis investigated that TINCs was promising in industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the removal of tetracycline (TC) using multilayered graphene-phase biochar (MGB) derived from waste chicken feather. MGB was produced through a two-stage carbonization and KOH-activation method. MGB was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Raman spectra, Zeta potential and elemental analysis. Various chemical functional groups were demonstrated on the surface of MGB. MGB was featured by a very large BET surface area of 1838 m 2 /g. A rapid equilibrium (within 30 s) and an ultrahigh removal efficiency (up to 99.65%) were obtained when MGB was used in the adsorption of TCs. The adsorption processes were temperature-dependent and the maximum adsorption capacity of MGB was 388.33 mg/g at 30 °C. The data of adsorption isotherms and kinetics were represented well by the Langmuir and Elovich models, respectively. The chemical monolayer adsorption could play an important role in this process. Furthermore, the adsorption of MGB was tolerant with wide pH, high ionic strength and even co-existing anions. Regeneration experiments indicated the removal efficiency was still satisfied (96.61%) even after four cycles. These results have important implications for the future application of animal waste-derived adsorbents in the treatment of wastewater containing antibiotic residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fore-modified method was put forward and hybridized into hydrothermal process with acid, neutral and alkali circumstances. The activated fore-modified bio-hydrochars of feather and cornstalk (AFBF and AFBC) were manufactured. Some thinner carbon layers/smaller micro carbon spheres and much more hydroxyls functional groups were clearly observed in the acid and alkali fore-modified bio-hydrochars (AFBs). Batch experiments were taken to assess the AMOX removal abilities. By contrast, the AFB fore-modified by alkali, has got the most superior adsorbability of 92.87 mg/g. Particularly, the BET surface areas of AFBs increased by 155.46% and the adsorbance of AMOX increased as much as 42.92% than traditional bio-hydrochar. Zeta potentials were introduced to illustrate the interactions between adsorbents and adsorbates under different pH. In addition, the powerful chemical adsorptions processes were also demonstrated by kinetics tests. As a result, the fore- modified method was essential in improving the characters of Bio - hydrochars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearing faults are the most frequent faults of induction motors. The current spectrum analysis is an easy and popular method for the monitoring and detection of bearing faults. After a presentation of the existing fault models, this paper illustrates an analytical approach to evaluate the effects of the slot harmonics on the stator current in an induction motor with bearing fault. Simple and clear theoretical analysis results in some new current characteristic frequencies. Experimental tests with artificial bearing outer raceway fault are carried out by measuring stator current signals. The experimental results by spectral analysis of the stator current agree well with the theoretical inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the path tracking accuracy and robustness of the agricultural machinery navigation system, a sliding-mode variable-structure controller based on exact feedback linearization was presented. Firstly, based on the differential geometry theory and the affine nonlinear kinematics model, the corresponding nonlinear coordinate change matrix and nonlinear state variable feedback equations were deduced, and an exact feedback linearization model was then established. Secondly, based on the exact feedback linearization model, a sliding-mode variable-structure controller was designed by selecting suitable linear switching function and exponential reaching law. Finally, the comparative experiments were carried out. And the experimental results indicated that the proposed method had a high tracking accuracy and robustness. The maximum lateral error of the straight line tracking was less than 0.06 m, and maximum lateral error of the curve path tracking was less than 0.09 m. Experimental results show that the transplanter based on this automatic navigation system can effectively track the predefined path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel grain flow sensor consists of an impact plate and a PVDF (Polyvinylidene Fluoride) piezoelectric film was developed in this research. The kinetic model of the grain flow sensor was built to analyze the steady and transient vibration disturbances which had a significant influence on performance of the sensor, and the results showed that damping ratio of the sensor was the key factor to improve accuracy of the sensor. To maximize damping ratio of the sensor, the thickness of the impact plate and damping material were optimized according to a loss factor model of the free damping structure. The optimized results indicated the most appropriate thickness ratio of damping material and the impact plate was 6. A test rig equipped with the novel grain flow sensor and weight sensors which could simulate field situations was built to investigate the performance of the sensor, on which test experiments under different feed flows were conducted. The results showed that the maximum error of the sensor was 3.02% and the mean error was 2.15%, which revealed that the novel grain flow sensor could be used to measure grain flow. Comparing with conventional grain flow sensors, the novel grain flow sensor has the features of high accuracy, simple structure and flexible signal processing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has been considered as one of the most severe threats to poultry industry. In this study, we constructed a series of food grade recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum ( L. plantarum ) strains (RLP) synthesizing either virus hemagglutinin–neuraminidase protein (HN) alone or HN fused with DC cells targeting peptides (DCpep), named RLP(pSIP409-HN) and RLP (pSIP409-HN-DCpep), respectively. The immune responses and protective efficacy were then evaluated in chickens. Results showed that the presence of DCpep in RLP (pSIP409-HN-DCpep) group significantly increased the production of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in intestines and the percentages of CD3 + CD4 + T cells in spleen and peripheral blood leukocytes ( P < 0.05) compared to chickens immunized with RLP (pSIP409-HN). In addition, the similar enhancement effects were also observed with regard to trachea SIgA, T lymphocytes proliferation and survival rates after NDV challenge, even without significant statics differences. The results demonstrated the possibility to take use of DCpep as an immune adjuvant in the design of NDV vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kidney bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important dietary legume crop cultivated and consumed worldwide. A purple cultivar (Zi Bawang) and a green cultivar (Chun Qiu), the main difference of which is in the pod skin color, were selected for the study. Malvidin 3, 5-diglucoside is identified as the major anthocyanin in the pod skin of Zi Bawang by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS. Three regulatory genes PvMYB1 , PvMYB2 , PvTT8-1 and most structural genes are dramatically up-regulated in purple pod skin compared to those in other materials. Significantly decreased expression levels of all regulatory genes and most biosynthetic genes are also detected in the purple skin of pods covered with bags compared to non-covered ones. All the results suggest that PvMYB1 , PvMYB2 and PvTT8-1 might play a critical role in transcriptional activation of most anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in purple kidney bean pod. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer that shows a high mortality and increasing incidence. There are numerous successful treatment options for CRC, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy; however, their side effects and limitations are considerable. Probiotics may be an effective strategy for preventing and inhibiting tumour growth through stimulation of host innate and adaptive immunity. We investigated and compared potential anti-tumour immune responses induced by two isolated Lactobacillus strains, Lactobacillus plantarum A and Lactobacillus rhamnosus b, by pre-inoculating mice with lactobacilli for 14 days. Subsequently, subcutaneous and orthotopic intestinal tumours were generated in the pre-inoculated mice using CT26 murine adenocarcinoma cells and were assessed for response against the tumour. Our results indicated that oral administration with L. plantarum inhibited CT26 cell growth in BALB/c mice and prolonged the survival time of tumour-bearing mice compared with mice administered L. rhamnosus. L. plantarum produced protective immunity against the challenge with CT26 cells by increasing the effector functions of CD8 and natural killer (NK) cell infiltration into tumour tissue, up-regulation of IFN-γ (but not IL-4 or IL-17) production, and promotion of Th1-type CD4 T differentiation. Consequently, our results suggest that L. plantarum can enhance the anti-tumour immune response and delay tumour formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic guidance of agriculture vehicles is a key technology in precision agriculture and widely used in agriculture production. A review of the recent research in agriculture vehicle automatic guidance is presented in this paper, focusing on the position measurement, agriculture models and path tracking. And some forecasts are made on the trends of the agriculture vehicle automatic guidance. Generally, a modern agriculture vehicle automatic guidance system consists of 4 units: A detecting unit that measures the position and orientation of the vehicle; a control unit, as the core of the guidance system, which makes the plan of the path and carries out the path tracking; an executing unit that makes the turn of the wheels according to the command of the control unit; and a monitoring unit, or a field computer as it is called generally, which works as the interface between human and machine. There are 2 main problems to be solved in the agriculture vehicle guidance system. The first one is the measurement of the agriculture vehicle's working conditions, such as its position, heading, speed and wheel angle, among which the most important is the position measurement. There are 2 kinds of position measurement methods: One is the relative method, such as measuring the vehicle's position relative to a guidance baseline based on machine vision; the other is the absolute method, such as measuring the vehicle's absolute position on the earth based on the Global Navigation Satellite System. As the agriculture vehicle automatic guidance system is working in the field, the complicated and non-structured environment makes none of the measurement methods working well all the time. So the multi-sensor data fusion is brought into sharp focus by researchers. By combining measuring data from different sensors with some data fusing methods, such as Kalman filter, particle filter, Hoe filter, and intelligent methods, the measurement accuracy is improved. The integrated navigation systems are mainly GPS/INS, GPS/DR and INS/CNS. The second problem is agriculture modeling and path tracking control methods. Most of the path tracking control algorithms use kinematics models. The two-wheel model is the most frequently used model, in which an agriculture vehicle is regarded as a two-wheel vehicle and its pose is described by its geographical coordinates, heading, wheel angle and speed. Dynamics models based on the Newton second law are another kind of model commonly used. As it takes into account of the change of the vehicle's dynamic characteristics with the external environment and the farm implements, it makes the control algorithms more robust. Besides the control methods based on models, researchers have developed some kind of algorithm without a model. The PID is the most useful control strategy. Another one is the pure pursuit method which simulates the driving behavior of human and has foresight. Nowadays, the agriculture vehicle automatic navigation technologies have widely used in the agriculture production, but many problems still need to be studied further. The advanced navigation technologies are worth studying, such as the headland turning control, obstacle detecting and active collision avoidance, and cooperative navigation by multi vehicles. And the agriculture vehicle internet of things is another interesting research area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improved multiobjective ABC algorithm based on K-means clustering, called CMOABC, is proposed. To fasten the convergence rate of the canonical MOABC, the way of information communication in the employed bees’ phase is modified. For keeping the population diversity, the multiswarm technology based on K-means clustering is employed to decompose the population into many clusters. Due to each subcomponent evolving separately, after every specific iteration, the population will be reclustered to facilitate information exchange among different clusters. Application of the new CMOABC on several multiobjective benchmark functions shows a marked improvement in performance over the fast nondominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), the multiobjective particle swarm optimizer (MOPSO), and the multiobjective ABC (MOABC). Finally, the CMOABC is applied to solve the real-world optimal power flow (OPF) problem that considers the cost, loss, and emission impacts as the objective functions. The 30-bus IEEE test system is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate that, compared to NSGA-II, MOPSO, and MOABC, the proposed CMOABC is superior for solving OPF problem, in terms of optimization accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve variable rate spraying, a pressure-based variable rate spaying system was designed to control the spray rate by adjusting the opening percentage of electrical regulating valve at the bypass pipeline. This returns excessive flow discharged by a piston diaphragm pump according to the flow rate of the spray pipeline, and adjusts the boom width by shutting ON or OFF selected solenoid valves at each section. The ARM9 based variable rate controller was designed to measure the system pressure and flow rate, and generate the control signal. A commercial 3W-250 boom sprayer with 12 flat fan spray nozzles was modified to a variable rate sprayer and mounted behind the LOVAL TA800 tractor. The 12 nozzles were divided to 6 boom sections and the pump was derived by the power take-off shaft of the tractor. The variable rate sprayer was represented by a directed graph of fluid network that consists of a set of junctions, called nodes, and certain lines joining a pair of nodes, called the edges. To reduce the complexity of the spray network, the fluid resistance of the short pipeline was ignored, some nodes were merged, one virtual node was increased to represent the external atmospheric pressure, and finally the graph of the variable rate spraying system involved 6 nodes and 12 edges. The flow rate and pressure distribution within the spray network under, steady state conditions was described by the junction of continuity equations and the loop energy equations. The electrical regulating actuator was also modelled to describe the relationship between the voltage control signal and the valve opening percentage. The fuzzy-PID control algorithm was adopted for the nonlinear, time-varying variable rate spraying system to achieve better performance than with the conventional PID control algorithm. The fuzzy control algorithm was used for tuning the PID parameters online. The Smith predictor based on the system model was introduced to overcome the side effects of long time-lag that included the response delay of the flow meter at a low spray rate and the electrical regulating valve and to stabilize the delay of the spray rate. The variable rate spraying experiments were accomplished at 3 different desired nozzle spray rates which are 0.864, 0.72 and 0.576 m3/h for the Smith-Fuzzy PID control and the Fuzzy PID control algorithm without boom section control while the tractor was running at an idle speed of approximately 1 m/s. The results showed that the Smith-Fuzzy PID control algorithm has the better dynamic response and the higher application accuracy than the PID control algorithm, the overshoot and the steady mean absolute error of the former control algorithm were less than 13.1% and 3.52% respectively, and both decreased with the raise of the desired spray rate. The boom section control experiments were also conducted for the Smith-Fuzzy PID control and the PID control algorithm. Two boom sections were turned off at the same time while the spray rate stabilized at a desired spray rate for each nozzle is 0.06 m3/h. The results revealed that the dynamic response curve of the former algorithm had a shorter response time and no overshoot after the two boom sections shut off, and the mean absolute error was 0.017 m3/h and 0.0185 m3/h respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In precision agriculture (PA), an agricultural vehicle navigation system is essential and the navigation control accuracy is important in this system. As straight path tracking is the major operating mode of agricultural vehicles on large fields, a cascaded navigation control method for straight path tracking is proposed in this study. Firstly, a cascaded navigation control structure for the agricultural vehicle was discussed. Based on this structure, the navigation control task was decomposed into two cascaded control tasks, namely, the path tracking control task and the steering control task. Secondly, a relative kinematics model of agricultural vehicles was deduced, and an optimal Proportional-Derivative (PD) method based on the deduced model was developed in the path tracking control task. Then, an improved PD method based on a transition process was proposed in the steering control task to enhance the performance of the steering control subsystem. Finally, the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed method were verified by a series of experiments. Results of the experimental data analysis show that mean value of the lateral position deviation is 0.02 m and standard deviation of the lateral position deviation is 0.04 m, which proves that the proposed method has achieved satisfactory effects on the straight path tracking of agricultural vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional anaerobic sewage treatment facilities are unsuitable for the widely uncontrolled spread of antibiotic residues in hospital or on livestock farm, which have raised the risk levels of high concentrations of antibiotic residues leakages and seriously threatened the aquatic ecology safeties. Thus, to develop an effective adsorbent with safe, low cost, and high firmly adsorptive capacity are imminent required. In this investigated, a self-templating hydrothermal alkali fore-modified & ultrasonic treatment was developed to achieve the highly adsorptive capacity and low desorption rate of biochar. As expected, the prepared biochar adsorbents present plenty of surface functional groups and micro pores. The BET value is raised up 1452 cm2·g−1 for biochar treated by the associated alkali fore-modified and ultrasonic treatment (UFB), whereas it is only 415.8 cm2·g−1 for the biochar treated by traditional carbonization (AC) and 1205 cm2·g−1 for the biochar by further hydrothermal alkali fore-modification (FB). Congruously, UFB exhibits the removal abilities of 397.70 mg·g−1 of levofloxacin (LEV) and 320.99 mg·g−1 of chlorotetracycline (CTC), 3.5–6.3 times absorbability towards familiar antibiotics than traditional biochar. Moreover, the corresponding the lowest desorption of 1.30 mg·g−1 (LEV) and 0.43 mg·g−1 (CTC) mg·g−1 by UFB have been confirmed. Meanwhile, Furthermore, both the adsorption and desorption mechanisms have been addressed by kinetic studies, pore width distributions, XPS and FTIR surveys. It is proposed the fore-modified treatment is more helpful for carbon functionalization while the ultrasonic treatment dedicates to the largely microporous structures. Consequently, the adsorption's capacity and stability of UFB adsorbents is large promoted due to its more micro- and meso-porous structure through a jointly hydrothermal alkali fore-modified and ultrasonic treatment. The present investigation will provide a novel alternative preparation strategy of the highly efficient adsorbent for emergency medical wastewater treatment. Unlabelled Image • The surface area of ultrasonic fore-modified biochar raised 249% than traditional ones. • Biochar's absorbability towards antibiotic raise by 777% while desorption rate decline by 80%. • The fore-modified treatment is more helpful for carbon functionalization. • Ultrasonic treatment contributes to realize the largely increasing of microporous structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrowband photodetectors (NBPDs) that response to light with specific wavelength are attractive in imaging fields. Organic materials meet the demand of NBPDs well as active layer due to their tunable and the narrowband‐absorption properties. However, the responsivity is generally low caused by the hard exciton diffusion as well as severe recombination. Herein, a narrowband‐absorption BODIPY dye is synthetized and applied in vertical‐structural NBPDs as sensitizer bonding with the mesoporous titanium dioxide (mp‐TiO2). The close bonding between BODIPY dyes and mp‐TiO2 effectively enhances the dissociation of excitons. Importantly, the NBPDs present high photomultiplication, the first observation in such dye‐sensitized devices, which is due to the electron injection induced by a thin layer of Spiro‐OMeTAD covered on the hump parts of mp‐TiO2. The NBPDs exhibit high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 534% at 510 nm with a full‐width at half‐maximum (FWHM) of 45 nm, a low dark current of 7.0 × 10‐5 mA cm‐2, and a high detectivity (D*) of 1.5 × 1013 cm Hz1/2 W‐1 (Jones) at −3 V. Besides, the devices own response speed within several milliseconds and excellent stability. The work proposes a strategy to fabricate photomultiplication‐type NBPDs by using intrinsic narrowband‐absorption dyes as active layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An ultrasonic-assistant fore-modified method was developed in SFB preparation. • Specific surface area of SFB is as high as 2368 m2/g, raised 210.60 % to CB. • SFB presented excellent absorbability for both single and competitive adsorption. • Adsorption mechanism of SFB was analyzed by characterizing/modeling techniques. An ultrasonic-assistant fore-modified method was designed to develop the self-functionalized biochar (SFB) with enhanced adsorbability. Characterized by different morphologies, SFB was presenting particular groups of carbon micro-spheres. Possessing ultrahigh surface area of 2368 m2/g, SFB exhibited excellent adsorption capacity (up to 497 mg/g) towards traditional antibiotic. Besides, more functional groups, which played important roles on the solid-liquid interface interaction, posed on the surface of SFB. The removal efficiency of levofloxacin was up to 99.93 % in the competitive system. Adsorption mechanism was analyzed based on the results of FTIR, kinetics, isotherms and competitive adsorption experiments. The chemisorption affinity on the solid-liquid interface was strong enough, which was proved by isotherms, thermodynamics and K d analyses. Meanwhile, SFB has presented a good resistance against humid acid interference in aqueous environment. Thus, the ultrasonic-assistant fore-modified method was potential in dramatically improving the feature of biochars. SFB presented excellent adsorbability to antibiotics and exhibits extraordinary potential in wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video anomaly detection is widely applied in modern society, which is achieved by sensors such as surveillance cameras. This paper learns anomalies by exploiting videos under the fully unsupervised setting. To avoid massive computation caused by back-prorogation in existing methods, we propose a novel efficient three-stage unsupervised anomaly detection method. In the first stage, we adopt random projection instead of autoencoder or its variants in previous works. Then we formulate the optimization goal as a least-square regression problem which has a closed-form solution, leading to less computational cost. The discriminative reconstruction losses of normal and abnormal events encourage us to roughly estimate normality that can be further sifted in the second stage with one-class support vector machine. In the third stage, to eliminate the instability caused by random parameter initializations, ensemble technology is performed to combine multiple anomaly detectors' scores. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that unsupervised ensemble technology is introduced to video anomaly detection research. As demonstrated by the experimental results on several video anomaly detection benchmark datasets, our algorithm robustly surpasses the recent unsupervised methods and performs even better than some supervised approaches. In addition, we achieve comparable performance contrast with the state-of-the-art unsupervised method with much less running time, indicating the effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of our proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Jilin white goose is an excellent local breed in China, with a high annual egg production and laying eggs mainly from February to July each year. The testis, as the only organ that can produce sperm, can affect the sexual maturity and fecundity of male animals. Its growth and development are affected and regulated by a variety of factors. Proteomics is generally applied to identify and quantify proteins in cells and tissues in order to understand the physiological or pathological changes that occur in tissues or cells under specific conditions. Currently, the female poultry reproductive system has been extensively studied, while few related studies focusing on the regulatory mechanism of the reproductive system of male poultry have been conducted. Results: A total of 1753 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were generated in which there were 594, 391 and 768 different proteins showing differential expression in three stages, Initial of Laying Cycle (ILC), Peak of Laying Cycle (PLC) and End of Laying Cycle (ELC). Furthermore, bioinformatics was used to analyze the DEPs. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment, Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis were adopted. All DEPs were found to be implicated in multiple biological processes and pathways associated with testicular development, such as renin secretion, Lysosomes, SNARE interactions in vesicle trafficking, the p53 signaling pathway and pathways related to metabolism. Additionally, the reliability of transcriptome results was verified by real-time quantitative PCR by selecting the transcript abundance of 6 selected DEPs at the three stages of the laying cycle. Conclusions: The funding in this study will provide critical insight into the complex molecular mechanisms and breeding practices underlying the developmental characteristics of testicles in Jilin white goose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some protozoa (Plasmodium falciparum, Toxoplasma gondii, etc) are used to treat cancer because they can improve tumour‐induced immunosuppression. This study aims to evaluate the antitumour effect of Eimeria stiedae oocyst soluble protein (ESSP). ESSP was extracted, and mice were injected with 5 × 105 CT26 cells in the right axilla, and then, 50 μg of ESSP was intraperitoneally injected for 5 continuous days. The effect of ESSP on tumour immunity was detected by flow cytometry 25 days after the CT26 inoculation. The results showed that ESSP can inhibit the growth of CT26 subcutaneous tumours; significantly increase the expression of MHC I, MHC II, CD80 and CD86 on the surface of splenic dendritic cells; and enhance the level of IL‐12 secretion. ESSP induced an increase in the number of NK cells in the mouse spleen, and the levels of IFN‐γ and CD107 were upregulated in the NK cells and CD8+ T cells. The number of metastatic nodules in the lung tumours in the mice was significantly reduced, and the number of tubes, area of the loops and total length of the tubes were significantly reduced. ESSP enhances the antitumour immune response and inhibits tumour growth, metastasis and angiogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction of byproduct gas flow is of great significance to gas system scheduling in iron and steel plants. To quantify the associated prediction uncertainty, a two-step approach based on optimized twin extreme learning machine (ELM) is proposed to construct prediction intervals (PIs). In the first step, the connection weights of the twin ELM are pretrained using a pair of symmetric weighted objective functions. In the second step, output weights of the twin ELM are further optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO). The objective function is designed to comprehensively evaluate PIs based on their coverage probability, width, and deviation. The capability of the proposed method is validated using four benchmark datasets and two real-world byproduct gas datasets. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach constructs higher quality prediction intervals than the other three conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The gas storage performance of a fixed bed can be improved by using diesel oil to establish gas channels. • At the optimal concentration of THF, the gas storage density of the fixed bed could be improved by 3 times. • The effect of adding diesel and THF in the bed is not significantly better than that of adding them alone. • The final gas recovery of the bed with 7.5 wt% THF could reach 95.01%, indicating a good application prospect. Gas hydrate technology is a new gas storage method developed in recent years and has great application potential. Due to the slow formation kinetics of hydrate and the low actual gas storage density, it is a promising method to prepare the fixed bed filled with wet porous materials to inducing adsorption-hydration coupling effect, so as to improve the gas storage efficiency. In this study, various additives including THF, TBAB and diesel oil were added to the water-bearing activated carbon fixed bed to improve its gas storage capacity. Our experimental results show that the addition of THF or TBAB can significantly promote the gas storage performance of the bed. At the optimum concentration of THF (7.5 wt%), the gas storage density of bed (S b) and gas storage capacity of hydrate (S w) were 128.66 V/V b and 194.26 V/V w , which are 2.89 times and 3.07 times higher than those of wet activated carbon fixed bed without additives, respectively. When 5 wt% TBAB was added, the S b and S w were increased by 1.86 times and 1.87 times, respectively. Moreover, using diesel to establish gas channels in the fixed bed to improve the gas mass transfer between the bulk gas phase and the fixed bed can also significantly improve the gas storage performance of the bed. When the oil-carbon ratio (R o) is 0.5, the S b and S w are 97.97 V/V b and 172.77 V/V w , respectively. However, further increasing the amount of diesel oil will not significantly improve the gas storage density of the bed due to the volume increase of the bed caused by the addition of diesel. When both diesel oil and THF are added to the water-containing fixed bed, the effect will be not significantly better than that of the bed with diesel oil or THF alone because the two accelerators compete with each other. Finally, the gas release and decomposition speed of the water-bearing fixed bed with / without 7.5 wt%THF are investigated. The results show that the final gas recovery of the bed with 7.5 wt% THF could reach 95.01 %, indicating a good application prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A starlike heterocyclic molecule containing an electron‐deficient nonaaza‐core structure and three peripheral isoquinolines locked by three tetracoordinate borons, namely isoquinoline‐nona‐starazine (QNSA), is synthesized by using readily available reactants through a rather straightforward approach. This new heteroatom‐rich QNSA possesses a quasi‐planar π‐backbone structure, and bears phenyl substituents on borons which protrude on both sides of the π‐backbones endowing it with good solubility in common organic solvents. Contrasting to its starphene analogue, QNSA shows intense fluorescence with a quantum yield (PLQY) of up to 62 % in dilute solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A kinetic-assisted machine learning model for microalgae growth curve prediction. • A kinetic model for microalgae growth considering the light–dark cycle. • Python and Differential Evolutionary algorithm were employed for parameter fitting. Traditional predictions of microalgal growth states rely on empirical or easily implementable kinetic models, leading to significant biases and elevated cost. This study proposes a kinetic-assisted machine learning method for predicting the growth curve of microalgal biomass under small sample conditions. Firstly, a microalgae growth kinetic model is constructed based on the logistic model. A two-stage kinetic fitting strategy is specified to account for the light–dark ratio. The Box-Behnken method is employed for experimental design. Then, using Two-stage TrAdaboost.R2 algorithm, the kinetic model is utilized as the source domain, and the experimental design data serves as the target domain for training machine learning models. The results indicate that the proposed method outperforms a single machine learning model in terms of prediction and has the potential to rapidly estimate microalgal growth trends under different conditions and accurately predict harvested biomass, potentially reducing the need for laborious, expensive, and time-consuming laboratory trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable fault diagnosis (FD) is important to ensure safety in nonlinear engineering systems. Modern engineering systems are often subject to unknown complex nonlinearities and varying operation conditions, therefore, one of the main challenges for FD of nonlinear systems is the robustness against these uncertainties. In this paper, a novel robust FD approach combining the reinforcement learning (RL) and the deterministic learning theory (DLT) is developed for a class of discrete-time nonlinear systems. The DLT is employed to pre-train the neural network (NN) aiming at approximating the unknown nonlinear complexity and obtaining dynamical fault models, then RL techniques are employed to adapt the NN parameters to improve the robustness of fault models. The stability of the learning process is rigorously analyzed using Lyapunov-based methods, and the effectiveness of the presented method is validated by a rotating stall warning experiment based on the data from Beihang University compressor test rig. Experiment results demonstrate that compared with other methods, the proposed method can achieve better performance in lead warning time and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the enormous amount of multi-source data produced by various sensors and feature extraction approaches, multi-view clustering (MVC) has attracted developing research attention and is widely exploited in data analysis. Most of the existing multi-view clustering methods hold on the assumption that all of the views are complete. However, in many real scenarios, multi-view data are often incomplete for many reasons, e.g., hardware failure or incomplete data collection. In this paper, we propose an adaptive weighted graph fusion incomplete multi-view subspace clustering (AWGF-IMSC) method to solve the incomplete multi-view clustering problem. Firstly, to eliminate the noise existing in the original space, we transform complete original data into latent representations which contribute to better graph construction for each view. Then, we incorporate feature extraction and incomplete graph fusion into a unified framework, whereas two processes can negotiate with each other, serving for graph learning tasks. A sparse regularization is imposed on the complete graph to make it more robust to the view-inconsistency. Besides, the importance of different views is automatically learned, further guiding the construction of the complete graph. An effective iterative algorithm is proposed to solve the resulting optimization problem with convergence. Compared with the existing state-of-the-art methods, the experiment results on several real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and advancement of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The p38MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) signaling contributes a pivotal role in mammalian ovarian follicular development; however, the knowledge regarding their expression in geese remains unresolved. The objective of the current study was to determine the spatio-temporal expression of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) and mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase 1 (MSK1) genes in the prehierarchical follicles during geese ovarian development. The prehierarchical follicles samples were harvested from 35- to 37-week-old healthy laying geese. HSP27 and MSK1 relative expression in various sized prehierachical follicles was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. Follicular wall localization of HSP27 and MSK1 was examined by using immunohistochemistry. Our results at mRNA level indicated that HSP27 was highly expressed in middle white follicles whereas MSK1 was predominantly expressed in small white follicles. The western blotting results for HSP27 and MSK1 were inconsistent with the RT-qPCR results in various stages of prehierachical follicular development but noticeably, HSP27 proteins were still expressed more in middle white follicles while MSK1 proteins were more abundant in primary follicles. At different stages of prehierarchical development, immunodetections in the granulosa and theca cells revealed that HSP27 was intensively localized in middle white follicles while strong detections of MSK1 were observed in large white follicles. These results indicate HSP27 and MSK1 might be associated to the key regulators of folliculogenesis in geese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supply-side current of an inverter-fed induction motor (IM) is easily accessible and less affected by noises than the motor stator current. This paper proposes a novel sensorless speed estimation method for an IM using the spectrum of the supply-side current. However, due to the influence of fundamental supply frequency, it is difficult to carry out the speed detection straight from the supply-side current signal. In this paper, an analytic model for characterizing the supply-side current of an inverter-fed IM using the modulation theory and the switching function concept is developed. Then, the Hilbert transform is applied to extract the speed harmonic component from the supply-side current. Finally, an interpolated Goertzel algorithm is put forward to enhance the estimation precision of IM speed. The performance of the proposed sensorless speed estimation method is proved by the speed estimation results obtained from hardware experiments of an IM fed by an inverter under different load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the iron and steel enterprises, efficient utilization of byproduct gas is of great significance for energy conservation and emission reduction. This work presents a fuzzy optimal scheduling model for byproduct gas system. Compared with previous work, uncertainties in byproduct gas systems are taken into consideration. In our model, uncertain factors in byproduct systems are described by fuzzy variables and gasholder level constraints are formulated as fuzzy chance constraints. The economy and reliability of byproduct gas system scheduling are sensitive to different confidence levels. To provide a reference for operators to determine a proper confidence level, the risk cost is defined to quantify the risk of byproduct gas shortage and emission during the scheduling process. The best confidence level is determined through the trade-off between operation cost and risk cost. The experiment results demonstrated that the proposed method can reduce the risk and give a more reasonable optimal scheduling scheme compared with deterministic optimal scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experiments verified the performance of WMPEH with different structural parameters. • Wake excitation and magnetic coupling are used for underwater energy harvesting. • The wake excitation and magnetic coupling can enhance harvesting performance. • Reducing the fixing column diameter can increase the output voltage. • Increasing the vibrating column diameter can enhance performance. • Increasing the vibrating column mass can improve performance. [Display omitted] This paper proposes a wake-excited magnetically coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (WMPEH) to realize the self-powered function of microelectronic devices in a fluid environment. The WMPEH consists of a fixed column, a vibrating column, magnets, and a piezoelectric composite beam. A series of water tunnel experiments are conducted to prove the usefulness of wake excitation and magnetic coupling, and how it positively or negatively affects the harvester's efficacy. Different fixed and vibrating column diameters and the distance between the two columns affect the performance of the WMPEH. The influence of the wake excitation force generated by the fixed columns with diameters of 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm on the vibrating column is analyzed respectively in the experiment. The vibrating column diameter is D , and four different distances are considered, namely 2 D , 3 D , 4 D , and 5 D. The results show that the maximum output voltage of WMPEH is increased by 1.96 and 1.34 times, respectively, compared with that of magnetically coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (MPEH) and conventional piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH). Furthermore, increasing the fixed column diameter leads to a decrease in the output voltage of WMPEH in the case of the same vibrating column diameter. Increasing the diameter and mass of the vibrating column for a specific fixed column diameter can enhance the harvester's performance. The maximum output voltage density of the WMPEH is 75.56 V/cm3 when the vibrating column diameter, the fixed column diameter and the distance between the two columns are 20 mm, 5 mm, and 2 D , respectively. This proposed design can provide the groundwork to promote the performance of the conventional PEH, further enabling the realization of underwater self-powered systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotavirus (RV) infection causes acute, watery dehydrating diarrhea and even death in infants and other young animals, resulting in a severe economic burden; however, little is known about the innate immune mechanisms associated with RV infection. Dendritic cells (DCs), which are professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs), serve as a bridge connecting the innate and adaptive immune system. In this study, the interaction between murine bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) and porcine rotavirus (PRV) was investigated in vitro . Upon stimulation, the expression levels of MHC-II, CD40, CD80, CD86 and CD83 in BMDCs increased in a time-dependent manner, indicating activation and maturation by PRV. In addition, up-regulated Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR3 and NF-κB increased the production of interleukin-12 and interferon-γ. The PRV-stimulated BMDCs also showed increased stimulatory capacity in mixed lymphocyte reactions and promoted the Th1 subtype response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MADS-box genes encode important transcription factors that are involved in many biological processes of plants, including fruit ripening. In our research, a MADS-box gene, SlMBP 8, was identified, and its tissue-specific expression profiles were analysed. SlMBP8 was highly expressed in fruits of the B+4 stage, in senescent leaves and in sepals. To further characterize its function, an RNA interference (RNAi) expression vector of SlMBP8 was constructed and transferred into tomato. In the transgenic plants, the ripening of fruits was shortened by 2–4 days compared to that of wild type. At the same time, carotenoids accumulated to higher levels and the expression of phytone synthase 1 ( PSY1 ), phytoene desaturase ( PDS ) and ς-carotene desaturase ( ZDS ) was enhanced in RNAi fruits. The transgenic fruits and seedlings showed more ethylene production compared with that of the wild type. Furthermore, SlMBP8 -silenced seedlings displayed shorter hypocotyls due to higher endogenous ethylene levels, suggesting that SlMBP8 may modulates the ethylene triple response negatively. A yeast two-hybrid assay indicated that SlMBP8 could interact with SlMADS-RIN. Besides, the expression of ethylene-related genes, including ACO1 , ACO3 , ACS2 , ERF1 , E4 and E8 , was simultaneously up-regulated in transgenic plants. In addition, SlMBP8 -silenced fruits showed higher ethylene production, suggesting that suppressed expression of SlMBP8 promotes carotenoid and ethylene biosynthesis. In addition, the fruits of transgenic plants displayed more rapid water loss and decreased storability compared to wild type, which was due to the significantly induced expressions of cell wall metabolism genes such as PG , EXP , HEX , TBG4 , XTH5 and XYL . These results suggest that SlMBP8 plays an important role in fruit ripening and softening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The proposed device contains magnetic coupling and vortex-induced vibrations. • The structural parameters of vibrating column affect the efficiency. • The magnetic repulsion system is suitable for low-speed water flow environment. • The magnetic attractive system is suitable for high-speed water flow environment. The rapid development of the fifth-generation mobile networks (5G) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is inseparable from a large number of miniature, low-cost, and low-power sensors and actuators. To solve the problem of self-powered underwater wireless sensor nodes (WSNs), this paper proposes a magnetically coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (MPEH) based on fluid-induced vibration (FIV) to achieve high-efficiency performance in low-velocity water environments. The results show that compared with the non-magnetic PEH, the initial vibration velocity, velocity bandwidth, and maximum output voltage of the magnetic attraction coupling piezoelectric energy harvester (MAPEH) are increased by 18.42%, 41.38%, and 5.79% respectively. Besides, it is also shown that the vertical distance between the magnets, the diameter, and the mass of the vibrating column have a significant effect on the vibration characteristics, water velocity bandwidth, and performance of the magnetic repulsion coupled piezoelectric energy harvester (MRPEH). The initial vibration velocity of the MRPEH is reduced by 42.1%, and when the water speed is 0.2 m/s, its output voltage is 12.21 times that of the classical configuration. This proposed structure can provide a reference for the optimization of underwater FIV-based PEH, and also lay a foundation for further interconnection of underwater self-powered sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Silencing SlAGL6 in tomato leads to fused sepal and green petal by influencing the expression of A-, B-class genes. Abstract: AGAMOUS-LIKE6 ( AGL6) lineage is an important clade MADS-box transcription factor and plays essential roles in various developmental programs especially in flower meristem and floral organ development. Here, we isolated a tomato AGL6 lineage gene SlAGL6 and successfully obtained several RNA interference (RNAi) lines. Silencing SlAGL6 led to abnormal fused sepals and light green petals with smaller size. The total chlorophyll content in transgenic petals increased and the morphology of epidermis cells altered. Further analysis showed that A-class gene MACROCALYX ( MC) participating in sepal development and a NAC-domain gene GOBLET involving in boundary establishment were down-regulated in transgenic lines. In transgenic petals, two chlorophyll synthesis genes, Golden2-like1 ( SlGLK1) and Golden2-like2 ( SlGLK2), two photosystem-related genes, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase small chain 3B ( SlrbcS3B) and chlorophyll a/ b-binding protein 7 ( SlCab-7) were induced and three B-class genes TM6, TAP3 and SlGLO1 were repressed. These results suggest that SlAGL6 involves in tomato sepal and petal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coccidiosis caused by Eimeria tenella (coccidian) and other species is a serious parasitic disease that affects the global poultry breeding industry. Lactobacillus strains exhibit a number of properties that make them attractive candidates as delivery vehicles for presentation to the mucosa of compounds with pharmaceutical interest, particularly vaccines. Here, the recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum (co-expressing SO7 and DCpep gene) was constructed, and its efficacy against E. tenella challenge was evaluated in this study. Broiler chickens were orally immunized with live recombinant L. plantarum NC8-pSIP409-SO7-DCpep for two weeks and were then challenged with 5 × 10 4 E.tenella sporulated oocysts per chicken. During the experiment, body weight gains, cecum lesion scores, fecal oocyst shedding and antibody responses in serum and intestinal washes were assessed as measures of protective immunity. The results indicated that chickens immunized with live recombinant L. plantarum can increase body weight gains and serum antibody responses compared to the control groups. Meanwhile, fecal oocyst shedding in the immunized group was significantly reduced (p < 0.01). Moreover, recombinant L. plantarum can significantly relieve pathological damage in cecum, according to lesion scores and histopathologic cecum sections (p < 0.01). Therefore, these results indicate that recombinant L. plantarum NC8-pSIP409-SO7-DCpep could become a promising oral vaccine candidate against E. tenella infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lablab pods, as dietary vegetable, have high nutritional values similar to most of edible legumes. Moreover, our studies confirmed that purple lablab pods contain the natural pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols. Compared to green pods, five kinds of anthocyanins (malvidin, delphinidin and petunidin derivatives) were found in purple pods by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and the major contents were delphinidin derivatives. Besides, nine kinds of polyphenol derivatives (quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol and apigenin derivatives) were detected by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS and the major components were quercetin and myricetin derivatives. In order to discover their molecular mechanism, expression patterns of biosynthesis and regulatory gens of anthocyanins and flavonols were investigated. Experimental results showed that LpPAL, LpF3H, LpF3′H, LpDFR , LpANS and LpPAP1 expressions were significantly induced in purple pods compared to green ones. Meanwhile, transcripts of LpFLS were more abundant in purple pods than green or yellow ones, suggestind that co-pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols are accumulated in purple pods. Under continuously dark condition, no anthocyanin accumulation was detected in purple pods and transcripts of LpCHS , LpANS, LpFLS and LpPAP1 were remarkably repressed, indicating that anthocyanins and flavonols biosynthesis in purple pods was regulated in light-dependent manner. These results indicate that co-pigments of anthocyanins and flavonols contribute to purple pigmentations of pods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Intrauterine growth retardation ( IUGR) can affect kidney development, leading to reduction in glomerular number. However, the associated cellular and molecular mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. This study investigated cell apoptosis and Bcl-2 and Bax expression in the kidney of IUGR pups. Methods The IUGR model was established in pregnant rats with 10% low-protein diet. Renal cell apoptosis was detected using TUNEL staining. Ki67 protein expression was measured by immunohistochemistry. Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA expression was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction ( PCR). Results Significant decreases in the number of glomeruli was observed in the kidney of IUGR pups 2 and 3 months after birth ( P < 0.01). Obvious apoptosis was observed in the kidney in both groups 1 d, 7 d, and 21 d after birth with a peak at 7 d. Significantly higher apoptosis index was observed in the kidney of IUGR pups compared to control pups ( P < 0.01). No significant difference in proliferation was observed between the two groups. Significantly lower Bcl-2 mRNA expression, Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and higher Bax mRNA expression were observed in IUGR pups compared to control pups after birth ( P < 0.01). Conclusion The reduction in glomerular number in IUGR pups is associated with increase in renal cell apoptosis. The reduction in Bcl-2/Bax ratio may play a crucial role in renal cell apoptosis in IUGR pups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the performanceof tannin adsorption on treated coal fly ash. The adsorption capacityof coal fly ash could be enhanced through appropriate pretreatmentby acid. There was an apparent increase of tannin adsorption whenfly ash dosage changed from 0 to 20 g/L. The adsorption isotherm datafitted to Freundlich and Langmuir models. The adsorption process followedpseudo-second-order kinetics. The adsorption processes presented atwo-stage pattern, a rapid adsorption process followed by a slow adsorptionprocess. The adsorbed amount of tannin was higher at 20 °C thanother temperature levels. The thermodynamic studies indicated theadsorption of tannin onto fly ash was exothermic in nature and theentropy of the system decreased during adsorption process. The removalefficiency of tannin adsorption onto fly ash decreased when NaCl concentrationranged from 0 to 0.4 mol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), a model probiotic strain, plays an important role in immune regulatory activity to prevent and treat intestinal inflammation or diarrhea. However, the effect of the immune modulation of LGG on macrophages to prevent Salmonella infection has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were pre-administered LGG for 7 days continuously, and then infected with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium). The results of the in vivo study indicated that LGG could reduce body weight loss, death rate and intestinal inflammatory response caused by S. Typhimurium. LGG also limited S. Typhimurium dissemination to liver and spleen, and thereby protected against infection. In vitro study, we observed that LGG enhanced the phagocytic and bactericidal ability of macrophages and upregulated M1 macrophage characters (e.g. iNOS, NO and IL-12) against S. Typhimurium. In addition, LGG also elevated IL-10 secretion, which was helpful to ameliorate intestinal inflammatory injury caused by S. Typhimurium. In conclusion, LGG could modulate M1 macrophage polarization and offer protective effects against S. Typhimurium infection. • C57BL/6 mice pre-treated with LGG could resist S. Typhimurium infection through evaluation of bodyweight loss, survival rate, and bacterial loads in liver or spleen. • LGG was also observed to upregulate IL-10-expression and ameliorate intestinal inflammatory injury caused by S. Typhimurium through pathological evaluation, at late stage of S. Typhimurium infection. • LGG modulate M1 macrophage polarization through increasing iNOS, NO and IL-12-expression, at early stage of S. Typhimurium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Recombinant L. plantarum NC8-pSIP409-dRVG possessed more G protein, resulting in more functional maturation of DCs. • NC8-pSIP409-dRVG induced significantly higher levels of specific antibody and mixed Th1/Th2 cellular immune responses. • Although RABV-specific VNA response were not strong, NC8-pSIP409-dRVG could provide 60% protection against lethal challenge. Rabies remains an important public health threat in most developing countries. To develop a more effective and safe oral vaccine against rabies, we constructed recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum NC8 carrying one or two copies of the G gene with a dendritic cell-targeting peptide (DCpep) fused at the C-terminal designated NC8-pSIP409-sRVG or NC8-pSIP409-dRVG, respectively. The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of these recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum against RABV were evaluated by oral administration in a mouse model. The results showed that recombinant NC8-pSIP409-dRVG possessed more G protein, resulting in more functional maturation of DCs. After three cycle of oral immunization, NC8-pSIP409-dRVG induced significantly higher levels of specific IgG antibody and mixed Th1/Th2 with a strong Th1-biasd immune response in mice. Most importantly, although the titers of RABV neutralizing antibody (VNA) were below the threshold of 0.5 IU/mL, the NC8-pSIP409-dRVG could protect 60 % of inoculated mice against lethal RABV challenge. These data reveal that recombinant NC8-pSIP409-dRVG may be a novel and promising oral vaccine candidate to prevent and control of animal rabies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]