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Abstract The linear power amplifier (LPA) suffers from low power supply utilization in the DC power supply mode, leading to reduced output efficiency. This paper constructs an efficient power supply mode based on closed‐loop dynamic power supply system (CLDPSs). The CLDPSs can generate a pair of bipolar dynamic power supplies based on a predetermined signal to provide power to LPA, which can maintain a small voltage drop between the power supply and the output of LPA, thereby improving the power supply utilization of LPA. In addition, the study also focuses on the conflicting relationship between the output ripple and the dynamic performance of the CLDPSs, for which a new parametric design of the LC filter circuit is proposed, aiming to achieve a balance between these two aspects. Finally, a voice coil motor driving platform is constructed for experimental testing. The results demonstrate that the output ripple and dynamic performance of the CLDPSs can be balanced. In comparison to the DC power supply mode, the CLDPSs power supply mode can enhance the efficiency of LPA by 2 times while the driving accuracy of voice coil motor is basically unchanged.

Abstract Predicting and understanding the phenomenon of surface subsidence caused by coal mining in working faces with faults are important issues for safe coal mining and efficient production. In numerical simulation experiments, it was found that the phenomenon of surface subsidence manifests when faults exist, and the degree of influence of faults with different dip angles on surface subsidence varies. This phenomenon is attributed to fault activation. According to the experimental results, the impact of faults with different dip angles on surface subsidence falls into three levels: level I for 35° faults, level II for 45° and 55° faults, and level III for 65° and 75° faults. Similarly, the relationship between the difficulty of fault activation and the dip angle of faults can be categorized as 35° faults prone to activation, 45° and 55° faults difficult to activate, and 65° and 75° faults not prone to activation. The probability integral correction model for fault mining, which integrates the surface subsidence values caused by fault-induced attenuation and the subsidence arising from separation spaces, was introduced, thereby constructing a surface subsidence prediction model. This proposed prediction model can accurately predict surface subsidence, with a root mean square error of 10.74 mm between the predicted and measured values, as validated using DInSAR results from the III 6301 working face in the Jincheng mining area.

Abstract Background The SET domain group (SDG) genes encode histone lysine methyltransferases, which regulate gene transcription by altering chromatin structure and play pivotal roles in plant flowering determination. However, few studies have investigated their role in the regulation of flowering in upland cotton. Results A total of 86 SDG genes were identified through genome-wide analysis in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). These genes were unevenly distributed across 25 chromosomes. Cluster analysis revealed that the 86 GhSDGs were divided into seven main branches. RNA-seq data and qRT‒PCR analysis revealed that lysine methyltransferase 3 (KMT3) genes were expressed at high levels in stamens, pistils and other floral organs. Using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), functional characterization of GhKMT3;1a and GhKMT3;2a revealed that, compared with those of the controls, the GhKMT3;1a- and GhKMT3;2a-silenced plants exhibited later budding and flowering and lower plant heightwere shorter. In addition, the expression of flowering-related genes (GhAP1, GhSOC1 and GhFT) significantly decreased and the expression level of GhSVP significantly increased in the GhKMT3;1a- and GhKMT3;2a-silenced plants compared with the control plants. Conclusion A total of 86 SDG genes were identified in upland cotton, among which GhKMT3;1a and GhKMT3;2a might regulate flowering by affecting the expression of GhAP1, GhSOC1, GhFT and GhSVP. These findings will provide genetic resources for advanced molecular breeding in the future.

Surrounding rocks of underground engineering are subjected to long-term seepage pressure, which can deteriorate the mechanical properties and cause serious disasters. In order to understand the impact of seepage pressure on the mechanical property of sandstone, uniaxial compression tests, P-wave velocity measurements, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests were conducted on saturated sandstone samples with varied seepage pressures (i.e. 0 MPa, 3 MPa, 4 MPa, 5 MPa, 6 MPa, 7 MPa). The results demonstrate that the mechanical parameters (uniaxial compressive strength, peak strain, elastic modulus, and brittleness index), total energy, elastic strain energy, as well as elastic strain energy ratio, decrease with increasing seepage pressure, while the dissipation energy and dissipation energy ratio increase. Moreover, as seepage pressure increases, the micro-pores gradually transform into meso-pores and macro-pores. This increases the cumulative porosity of sandstone and decreases P-wave velocity. The numerical results indicate that as seepage pressure rises, the number of tensile cracks increases progressively, the angle range of microcracks is basically from 50°-120° to 80°-100°, and as a result, the failure mode transforms to the tensile-shear mixed failure mode. Finally, the effects of seepage pressure on mechanical properties were discussed. The results show that decrease in the effective stress and cohesion under the action of seepage pressure could lead to deterioration of strength behaviors of sandstone.

BackgroundInfertility is increasingly recognized as a global health issue affecting couples of reproductive age, with male factors contributing to approximately 50% of infertility cases. However, the association between depression and anxiety-two of the most prevalent mental health conditions-and impaired male fertility remains a subject of ongoing debate.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, male participants seeking fertility counseling at an IVF clinic were recruited. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), respectively. Generalized linear regression models (GLMs) were employed to investigate the relationships between mental health status and semen parameters.ResultsStatus of depression was negatively associated with semen quality parameters, whereas no statistically significant association was recognized between anxiety and semen quality except that sperm concentration was decreased by 25.60 (95% CI, 1.226 to 49.965, P=0.040) ×106/ml in moderate to severe anxiety group referring to normal group. Furthermore, when stratified by sleep duration, moderate to severe depression group showed a great decrease in progressive motility (PR), total motility, concentration and total sperm count (TSC) as referred to normal group in participants with sleep duration less than 7 hours.ConclusionThe present study revealed that depression rather than anxiety was a negative factor that affected semen quality, especially in individuals with shorter sleep duration.

High-quality land-use/land-cover mapping with optical remote sensing images yet presents significant work. Even though fully convolutional semantic segmentation models have recently contributed to popular solutions, the lack of annotation data may lead to severe degradations in their inference performance. Besides, the category confusion in high-resolution representations will further exacerbate the adverse effects. In this paper, we propose a category-sensitive semi-supervised semantic segmentation framework to address these weaknesses by employing massive unlabeled data. With the perturbations from adopted hybrid data augmentation structures, we first focus on the output space and execute regularization constraints to learn category-specific discriminative features. It is formulated with a consistency self-training procedure where a dynamic class-balanced threshold selection scheme is proposed to provide high-confident pseudo supervisions for each category. In addition, we introduce pixel-wise contrastive learning on the common embedding space from both labeled and unlabeled data domains to further facilitate the semantic dependencies among category features, in which the reliable labels are leveraged as guidance for pixel sample selection. We verify the proposed framework on two benchmark land-use/land-cover datasets, and the experimental results demonstrate its competitive performance to other state-of-the-art semi-supervised methods.

Quasi-Zero Stiffness (QZS) is essential for low-frequency passive vibration isolation, with the negative stiffness mechanism (NSM) being pivotal for achieving QZS. Mechanical spring-based NSMs often face issues like contact friction, parasitic high-frequency modes, and stiffness nonlinearity. This paper presents a new magnetic NSM designed to overcome these challenges effectively. The mechanism is applied to a Fast Steering Mirror (FSM) as a case study, enhancing its vibration isolation performance. Initially, a torque model for the magnetic NSM is established, exploring the impact of various structural dimensions on torque and nonlinear issues. The magnetic NSM features adjustable negative stiffness and a large, adjustable linear working range. Experiments were designed to validate the principle of the magnetic NSM and its effect on the QZS FSM’s vibration isolation performance. The experimental results confirm the accuracy of the magnetic NSM principle. The QZS FSM stiffness is significantly reduced to quasi-zero stiffness, resulting in a decrease of the resonance peak from 20.1 to −12.8 dB and lowering the minimum suppressible vibration frequency from 54.63 to 3.44 Hz, thereby enhancing the vibration isolation performance of the QZS FSM.

In this study, the dynamic process of a droplet moving with a substrate until blocked by air flow is investigated experimentally and theoretically. A sequence of experiments has been conducted to investigate the impacts of wetting properties, droplet volumes, air flow velocities, and droplet velocities. The substrate is driven by a linear motion motor to ensure the droplet moves at a certain velocity alongside the substrate. The air flow that is vertically injected from the nozzles toward the substrate is known as an impinging jet. After the air flow impacts the substrate, it will blow horizontally. When the direction of air flow is opposite to that of the droplet movement, a force will be exerted on the surface of the droplet. This action incurs the deformation of the droplet and the cessation of its movement, eventually resulting in an equilibrium state. The droplet shape and motion processes are recorded by a high-speed camera. A mathematical model considering the effect of droplet contact angle, droplet size, droplet moving velocity, and air flow velocity is established in the state of equilibrium. Correlation factors are used in the model for the drag coefficient and air average velocity acting on the droplet. It is found that the air flow rate required to stop the motion of the droplet increases with the droplet moving velocity and the droplet size but reduces with the increase in the static contact angle. The mathematical model, when equipped with suitable correlation factors, exhibits good agreement with experimental data and could potentially be utilized as a predictor of critical velocity for the cessation of the droplet motion.

Abstract Background Homegardens are small-scale land use systems with significant implications for local livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development due to their diverse flora and fauna. Conducting homegarden surveys enables researchers to gain insights into the traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous communities, preserve homegarden biodiversity, and promote sustainable livelihoods. This study has two objectives: first, to collect, record, and organize data on homegarden plants and related traditional knowledge from three communities in the Laershan Plateau, and second, to analyze the species and functional diversity of homegarden plants in the region while exploring the factors that contribute to the heterogeneous distribution of these plants among the communities of three townships. Methods This research employed field surveys in the Laershan Miao Autonomous Region in Xiangxi, China, from September 2021 to August 2023. Data were collected through observation and semi-structured interviews. The study utilized descriptive statistics and quantitative analysis, including the Relative Importance Value (RI), Use Value Index (UV), Jaccard Index (JI), and Comprehensive Index of Land Use Degree (La), to examine the diversity of local homegarden plants and related traditional knowledge, as well as community heterogeneity. Results The study area exhibited rich biodiversity, with 152 plant species recorded belonging to 62 families and 124 genera. These findings highlight the importance of homegarden plants in maintaining ecological balance and enhancing system resilience against disturbances. Homegarden plants serve multiple functions such as food, ornamental, medicinal, and fodder purposes, with edible and trade plants having the most abundant knowledge. Furthermore, this research revealed that communities with similar forest resource compositions may have similar homegarden plant compositions, demonstrating the connection between cultural exchange among different communities and patterns of plant species distribution. Conclusions The Laershan region boasts diverse homegarden plant species crucial for ecological balance and resilience. Their multifunctionality reflects human impact. Plant diversity varies with residents' lifestyles, needs, and cultural exchanges. The close connection between plants and local life is clear. Factors like resource distribution, cultural exchange, and lifestyle influence plant distribution. Further research is needed for conservation and sustainable development. Future research should focus on culturally valuable plant species and traditional knowledge applications.

[Objective] In view of the functional orientation of city railway and the inconsistency in passengers demand for travel convenience, ride comfort, and economy under the current economic and social development, it is necessary to study the train operation scheme for city railway which takes the passenger travel time value into account. [Method] A train operation scheme model considering passenger travel time value is built. In the model, passenger travel cost and train operation cost are taken as the objective function, and train capacity, inter-station passenger flow and the operating train quantity are the main constraint conditions. Meanwhile, Pareto model is used to standardize the time value of various passengers and the operating cost of trains with different marshalling. Targeting the Shanghai urban rail transit airport link as the research background, two types of train marshalling for 4-car and 8-car trains are considered to calculate, analyze and evaluate the train operation scheme for the single trip during peak hours from Hongqiao Railway Station to Shanghai East Station. [Result & Conclusion] The train operation scheme which takes the passenger travel time value into account can minimize the passenger travel cost and better meet the time demands of various passengers. Extending the travel time for passengers with lower time value and shortening the travel time for passengers with higher time value can effectively achieve the economic efficiency of the train operation scheme.

Abstract A national distribution of secondary forest age (SFA) is essential for understanding the forest ecosystem and carbon stock in China. While past studies have mainly used various change detection algorithms to detect forest disturbance, which cannot adequately characterize the entire forest landscape. This study developed a data-driven approach for improving performances of the Vegetation Change Tracker (VCT) and Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithms for detecting the establishment of forest stands. An ensemble method for mapping national-scale SFA by determining the establishment time of secondary forest stands using change detection algorithms and dense Landsat time series was proposed. A dataset of national secondary forest age for China (SFAC) for 1 to 34 and with a 30-m spatial resolution was produced from the optimal ensemble model. This dataset provides national, continuous spatial SFA information and can improve understanding of secondary forests and the estimation of forest carbon storage in China.

Objectives To investigate the long-term efficacy of ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (USgHIFU) for multiple uterine fibroids and the factors associated with recurrence.Materials and methods Five hundred and forty-nine patients with multiple uterine fibroids treated with USgHIFU from June 2017 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBAC) was used to assess menstrual blood loss. The patients were asked to undergo pre- and post-USgHIFU magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and complete routine follow-up after USgHIFU. Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the risk factors associated with recurrence.Results The median number of fibroids per patient was 3 (interquartile range: 3–4), and a total of 1371 fibroids were treated. Among them, 446 patients completed 3 years follow-up. Recurrence, defined as PBAC score above or equal to 100 and/or the residual fibroid volume increased by 10%, was detected in 90 patients within 3 years after USgHIFU, with a cumulative recurrence rate of 20.2% (90/446). The multi-factor Cox analysis showed that age was a protective factor for recurrence. Younger patients have a greater chance of recurrence than older patients. Mixed hyperintensity of fibroids on T2WI and treatment intensity were risk factors for recurrence. Patients with hyperintense uterine fibroids and treated with lower treatment intensity were more likely to experience recurrence than other patients after USgHIFU. No major adverse effects occurred.Conclusions USgHIFU can be used to treat multiple uterine fibroids safely and effectively. The age, T2WI signal intensity and treatment intensity are factors related to recurrence.

Background: Wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt amyloidosis) is primarily diagnosed in elderly men but diagnoses in younger patients and women have recently increased. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine age- and sex-related differences in patients with ATTRwt amyloidosis enrolled in the THAOS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey). Methods: THAOS was a global, longitudinal, observational survey of patients with transthyretin amyloidosis, including both hereditary and wild-type disease, and asymptomatic carriers of pathogenic transthyretin gene variants. Patient characteristics at enrollment were analyzed by age at enrollment and sex (data cutoff date: August 1, 2022). Results: Of 1,251 patients with ATTRwt amyloidosis, 13.7%, 49.1%, 34.5%, and 2.8% were aged

Abstract Coal mining under the geological conditions of a loose layer will lead to the intensification of surface movement and deformation, and mining under the geological conditions of a fault will lead to the living slip of a fault. Mining under both conditions will have a great impact on the safety of coal production. To reveal the evolution law of the coupling mechanism of loose layer and fault on the multi-physical fields of overburden, the numerical simulation method is used to simulate the coupling of loose layer and fault with different thicknesses, analyze the changes of vertical stress on the key strata, the changes of surface subsidence, the evolution of elastic energy on the fault zone and the changes of activated slip area of the fault zone. The simulation analysis shows that the vertical stress change trend of the key strata gradually changes from the "V" shape to the "W" shape at the beginning of mining, and the vertical stress concentration will occur at the fault. The loose layer will promote surface subsidence, and the fault will hinder the surface subsidence to a certain extent. The loose layer and the fault alternately affect the surface subsidence. The elastic energy accumulation on the key strata is mainly concentrated on both sides of the goaf. The elastic energy in the center of the goaf is dissipated. The elastic energy accumulation in the fault zone starts from the shallowly buried fault and gradually develops to the deeply buried fault. The instability of fault activation has gone through the initial stage of activation—the intensification stage of activation—the stable stage of activation. Under the working conditions of no loose layer, thin loose layer, and thick loose layer, the fault zone is the first to undergo living slip, and under the action of an extra-thick loose layer, there is a certain lag in the activation slip of the fault zone.

Background and aimsRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children and the elderly, often progressing to pneumonia and severe sequelae. However, there are currently no feasible and cost-effective interventions with proven efficacy for children, making medications with anti-RSV activity urgently needed. Traditional Chinese medicine has shown promising therapeutic efficacy in alleviating viral infection symptoms. Therefore, we aimed to develop effective strategies for RSV treatment based on traditional Chinese medicine.Methods and resultsThe infection status was assessed in BALB/c mice with or without Xuanfei Formula (XFF) treatment over a one-week period using H&E staining, cytokine assays and RSV titer testing after RSV challenge. Remarkably, on the first day of XFF intervention, both the pro-inflammation cytokine levels in the serum and RSV-N gene copies in the lung of mice were plummeted, compared to the RSV-infected group. This implied that XFF might possess the immune-independent anti-RSV capability. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we employed transcriptome analysis followed by k-means analysis. The reversal effects of XFF against RSV primarily focused on the processes of innate and adaptive immunity. Additionally, we found that XFF administration corrected the disordered fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism processes during RSV infection. Lipidomics profiling indicated consistent cholesterol abundance with transcriptional changes but not fatty acids. Cholesterol synthesis-related genes mRNA levels and cholesterol synthesis intermediates detection supported XFF’s repression upon cholesterol biosynthesis. Aberrantly increased cholesterol production has been reported as necessary for RSV infection. To mimic that, we observed lovastatin treatment inhibited RSV replication and pro-inflammation cytokine expression in vitro. Transcription factor prediction of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in cholesterol synthesis implicated SREBP2. Through network pharmacology, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol were identified as the effective active ingredients within the XFF, with the help of further molecular docking and mass spectrum detection. In vitro experiments demonstrated β-sitosterol and stigmasterol reinforced the bonding between SREBP cleavage-activation protein (SCAP) and insulin-induced gene proteins (INSIGs) to inhibit SREBP2 cleavage maturation and consequent RSV infection.ConclusionXuanfei Formula (XFF) exhibits excellent anti-RSV efficacy by inhibiting SREBP2-mediated cholesterol synthesis to reduce RSV replication and ameliorate inflammation in the lung of infected mice.

To solve the problem of distance education and cope with emergencies, online education has become one of the common educational methods in recent years. Objects: This study aimed to explore the relationship between the teacher-student relationship (TSR) and mental disorders of university students in online education. Measures: 2032 full-time undergraduate and graduate students from a comprehensive university in China participated in the online survey. The Chinese version of the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 Items, the Chinese version of the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MPAI), and the 7-item Teacher-Student Relationship Perception Questionnaire were administered to the students. Results: We found that higher quality of perceived TSR and a lower level of mobile phone addiction were associated with better mental health among undergraduate and graduate students during online education. Mobile phone addiction mediated the relationship between TSR and mental disorders, and hometown setting moderated the relationship between TSR and mobile phone addiction. Specifically, a higher quality of perceived TSR was associated with a lower level of mobile phone addiction. In addition, for students with low-quality perceived TSR, those who came from rural areas had a higher level of mobile phone addiction than those who came from urban areas. In contrast, when students had high-quality perceived TSR, the differences between students from urban and rural areas in mobile phone addiction were insignificant. Conclusion: The results of this study are of great significance in improving the mental health and mobile phone addiction of undergraduate and graduate students during online education and reveal the urban-rural differences in the impact of TSRs during online education.

Abstract As one of the noninvasive screening and diagnostic tools for human breath monitoring of various diseases, chemiresistive devices with nanomaterials as the sensing interfaces for detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have attracted increasing interests. A key challenge for the practical applications is an effective integration of all components in a system level. By integrating with the system components, it provides reliable and rapid results as a fast‐screening method for healthcare, safety, and environmental monitoring. This paper highlights some of the latest developments in chemiresistive sensors designed for the detection of VOCs and human breaths. It begins with a brief introduction to the fundamental principles of chemiresistive sensors with nanoparticle‐structured sensing interfaces. This is followed by a discussion of the recent fabrication methods, with an emphasis on nanostructured materials. Some of the recent examples will be highlighted in terms of recent innovative approaches to sensor applications and system integrations. Challenges and opportunities will also be discussed for the advancement and refinement of the chemiresistive sensor technologies in breath screening and monitoring of diseases.

Abstract Water injection, as a widely used technique to prevent coal burst, can restrain the fractured coal seam and released the energy storage. In this study, laboratory tests were firstly carried out on standard coal specimens with five different water contents (i.e., 0%, 0.6%, 1.08%, 1.5%, 2.0%, and 2.3%). The failure mode, fragment size, and energy distribution characteristics of coal specimens were investigated. Experimental results show that strength, elastic strain energy, dissipated energy, brittleness index, as well as impact energy index decrease with increasing water content. Besides, the failure mode transitions gradually from splitting ejection to tensile-shear mixed failure mode as water content increases, and average fragment size shows positively related to water content. Moreover, scanning electron microscope tests results indicate that water in coal sample mainly causes the mineral softening and defects increase. Furthermore, a numerical model containing roadway excavation was established considering the water on coal burst prevention. Modelling results revealed that water injection can reduce degree of coal burst and ejection velocity of coal blocks, while it will raise up the depth of crack zone and surface displacement of roadway. Combined with laboratory tests and numerical results, the micro mechanism, energy mechanism, and engineering significance of water injection on coal burst prevention were finally analyzed.

Mangroves play a crucial role in improving the water quality of mangrove wetlands. However, current research faces challenges, such as the difficulty in quantifying the impact of mangroves on water quality and the unclear pathways of influence. This study utilized remote sensing imagery to investigate the long-term changes in mangrove forests in the Futian Mangrove National Nature Reserve and constructed a water quality index based on water quality data. Finally, structural equation modeling was employed to explore the pathways of influence and quantify the impact effects of mangroves, climate, and water quality. The study findings revealed several key points: (1) The mangrove forests in the Futian Mangrove National Nature Reserve exhibited a trend of expansion towards the ocean during this period. (2) The seasonal and annual characteristics of water quality in Shenzhen Bay indicated a significant improvement in water quality from 2000 to 2020. (3) Mangroves have significant direct and indirect impacts on water quality, which are more pronounced than the effects of climate factors. These findings not only offer insights for the environmental management and conservation of Shenzhen Bay but also provide support for future comprehensive studies on the response relationships between the morphology, species, and physiological characteristics of mangroves and water quality.

In the original publication [...]

IntroductionAbiotic stress during growth readily reduces cotton crop yield. The different survival tactics of plants include the activation of numerous stress response genes, such as BREVIS RADIX (BRX).MethodsIn this study, the BRX gene family of upland cotton was identified and analyzed by bioinformatics method, three salt-tolerant and cold-resistant GhBRX genes were screened. The expression of GhBRX.1, GhBRX.2 and GhBRXL4.3 in upland cotton was silenced by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) technique. The physiological and biochemical indexes of plants and the expression of related stress-response genes were detected before and after gene silencing. The effects of GhBRX.1, GhBRX.2 and GhBRXL4.3 on salt and cold resistance of upland cotton were further verified.Results and discussionWe discovered 12, 6, and 6 BRX genes in Gossypium hirsutum, Gossypium raimondii and Gossypium arboreum, respectively. Chromosomal localization indicated that the retention and loss of GhBRX genes on homologous chromosomes did not have a clear preference for the subgenomes. Collinearity analysis suggested that segmental duplications were the main force for BRX gene amplification. The upland cotton genes GhBRX.1, GhBRX.2 and GhBRXL4.3 are highly expressed in roots, and GhBRXL4.3 is also strongly expressed in the pistil. Transcriptome data and qRT‒PCR validation showed that abiotic stress strongly induced GhBRX.1, GhBRX.2 and GhBRXL4.3. Under salt stress and low-temperature stress conditions, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) and the content of soluble sugar and chlorophyll decreased in GhBRX.1-, GhBRX.2- and GhBRXL4.3-silenced cotton plants compared with those in the control (TRV: 00). Moreover, GhBRX.1-, GhBRX.2- and GhBRXL4.3-silenced cotton plants exhibited greater malondialdehyde (MDA) levels than did the control plants. Moreover, the expression of stress marker genes (GhSOS1, GhSOS2, GhNHX1, GhCIPK6, GhBIN2, GhSnRK2.6, GhHDT4D, GhCBF1 and GhPP2C) decreased significantly in the three target genes of silenced plants following exposure to stress. These results imply that the GhBRX.1, GhBRX.2 and GhBRXL4.3 genes may be regulators of salt stress and low-temperature stress responses in upland cotton.

We evaluated the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among South Asians living in Ontario, Canada compared to non-South Asians and compared the odds of symptomatic COVID-19 infection and related hospitalizations and deaths among non-vaccinated South Asians and non-South Asians. This was a test negative design study conducted in Ontario, Canada between December 14, 2020 and November 15, 2021. All eligible individuals >18 years with symptoms of COVID-19 were subdivided by ethnicity (South Asian vs other) and vaccination status (vaccinated versus not). The primary outcome was vaccine effectiveness as defined by COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, and secondary outcome was the odds of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and death comparing non-vaccinated South Asians to non-vaccinated non-South Asians. 883,155 individuals were included. Among South Asians, two doses of COVID-19 vaccine prevented 93.8% (95% CI 93.2, 94.4) of COVID-19 infections and 97.5% (95% CI 95.2, 98.6) of hospitalizations and deaths. Among non-South Asians, vaccines prevented 86.6% (CI 86.3, 86.9) of COVID-19 infections and 93.1% (CI 92.2, 93.8) of hospitalizations and deaths. Non-vaccinated South Asians had higher odds of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to non-vaccinated non-South Asians (OR 2.35, 95% CI 2.3, 2.4), regardless of their immigration status. COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths among South Asians living in Canada. The observation that non-vaccinated South Asians have higher odds of symptomatic COVID-19 infection warrants further investigation.

Background. Kidney transplantation (KT) is the best treatment for end-stage renal disease. Although long and short-term survival rates for the graft have improved significantly with the development of immunosuppressants, acute rejection (AR) remains a major risk factor attacking the graft and patients. The innate immune response plays an important role in rejection. Therefore, our objective is to determine the biomarkers of congenital immunity associated with AR after KT and provide support for future research. Materials and Methods. A differential expression genes (DEGs) analysis was performed based on the dataset GSE174020 from the NCBI gene Expression Synthesis Database (GEO) and then combined with the GSE5099 M1 macrophage-related gene identified in the Molecular Signatures Database. We then identified genes in DEGs associated with M1 macrophages defined as DEM1Gs and performed gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Cibersort was used to analyze the immune cell infiltration during AR. At the same time, we used the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network and Cytoscape software to determine the key genes. Dataset, GSE14328 derived from pediatric patients, GSE138043 and GSE9493 derived from adult patients, were used to verify Hub genes. Additional verification was the rat KT model, which was used to perform HE staining, immunohistochemical staining, and Western Blot. Hub genes were searched in the HPA database to confirm their expression. Finally, we construct the interaction network of transcription factor (TF)-Hub genes and miRNA-Hub genes. Results. Compared to the normal group, 366 genes were upregulated, and 423 genes were downregulated in the AR group. Then, 106 genes related to M1 macrophages were found among these genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these genes are mainly involved in cytokine binding, antigen binding, NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity, activation of immune receptors and immune response, and activation of the inflammatory NF-κB signaling pathway. Two Hub genes, namely CCR7 and CD48, were identified by PPI and Cytoscape analysis. They have been verified in external validation sets, originated from both pediatric patients and adult patients, and animal experiments. In the HPA database, CCR7 and CD48 are mainly expressed in T cells, B cells, macrophages, and tissues where these immune cells are distributed. In addition to immunoinfiltration, CD4+T, CD8+T, NK cells, NKT cells, and monocytes increased significantly in the AR group, which was highly consistent with the results of Hub gene screening. Finally, we predicted that 19 TFs and 32 miRNAs might interact with the Hub gene. Conclusions. Through a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis, our findings may provide predictive and therapeutic targets for AR after KT.

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to increase in morbidity and mortality among all types of cancer. DNA methylation, an important epigenetic modification, is associated with cancer occurrence and progression. The objective of this study was to establish a model based on DNA methylation risk scores for identifying new potential therapeutic targets in HCC and preventing cancer progression.MethodsTranscriptomic, clinical, and DNA methylation data on 374 tumor tissues and 50 adjacent normal tissues were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas–Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma database. The gene expression profiles of the GSE54236 liver cancer dataset, which contains data on 161 liver tissue samples, were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. We analyzed the relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression levels after identifying the differentially methylated and expressed genes. Then, we developed and validated a risk score model based on the DNA methylation-driven genes. A tissue array consisting of 30 human hepatocellular carcinoma samples and adjacent normal tissues was used to assess the protein and mRNA expression levels of the marker genes by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR, respectively.ResultsThree methylation-related differential genes were identified in our study: GLS, MEX3B, and GNA14. The results revealed that their DNA methylation levels were negatively correlated with local gene expression regulation. The gene methylation levels correlated strongly with the prognosis of patients with liver cancer. This was confirmed by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical verification of the expression of these genes or proteins in tumors and adjacent tissues. These results revealed the relationship between the level of relevant gene methylation and the prognosis of patients with liver cancer as well as the underlying cellular and biological mechanisms. This allows our gene signature to provide more accurate and appropriate predictions for clinical applications.ConclusionThrough bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation, we obtained three DNA methylation marker: GLS, MEX3B, and GNA14. This helps to predict the prognosis and may be a potential therapeutic target for HCC patients.

A scientific understanding of the trends of water-related ecosystem services (WESs) under different scenarios is crucial to improving WESs and maintaining ecological security. However, there is a lack of high-resolution land use simulation and assessment of WESs under the SSP-RCP scenarios, and the impacts of different land-use change (LUC) on WESs are not clear. This study focused on the Poyang Lake Basin (PYLB), utilizing the SSP-RCP scenarios, the PLUS model and the InVEST model to explore the dynamic changes of land use and WESs historically and in the future, and to reveal the impacts of specific LUC on WESs from 2000 to 2020. The results demonstrated that: (1) The forest land increased under both SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5 scenarios but increased first and then decreased under SSP5-8.5 scenarios; Cropland increased significantly under SSP5-8.5 scenarios, and the construction land showed an expansion trend under the three scenarios. (2) From 2000 to 2020, only the water purification capacity decreased, while the rest of the WESs increased. Under the SSP1-2.6 scenario, the overall benefits of the WESs in the PYLB were the highest. (3) Between 2000 and 2020, deforestation in the PYLB brought about the greatest increase in the water yield (+9.06 × 108 m3). The increase in the construction land brought about the most water conservation loss (−18.19 × 108 m3). Additionally, the forest expansion and cropland reduction brought about the largest increase in soil retention (+3.94 × 105 t and +4.79 × 105 t) and enhanced water purification, and the opposite was true for deforestation. The conclusions can provide an important basis for the ecological protection and high-quality development of the PYLB.

Objective This study is aimed to determine the efficacy of a cocktail style treatment by combining GnRH-antagonist, letrozole, and mifepristone on the prevention of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in high-risk women.Methods This prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial was performed between January 2018 and December 2018. A total of 170 women who identified as high risk of OHSS during the ovarian hyperstimulation and underwent cryopreservation of whole embryos. On the day of oocyte retrieval, the combination group received 0.25 mg Cetrorelix for 3 d, 5 mg letrozole for 5 d, and 50 mg mifepristone for 3 d, the mifepristone group received 50 mg mifepristone for 3 d. A total of 156 cases were included in final analysis. All the frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles were followed up until December 2021.Results The combination group showed significantly decreased incidence of moderate and severe OHSS than mifepristone group (20.5% vs. 42.3%), with remarkably reduced serum estradiol level on hCG + 3 and + 5 d, decreased ovarian diameter, and shortened luteal phase. Oocyte retrieval number, levels of estradiol on hCG + 0 and VEGF, and ovarian diameter on hCG + 5 were associated with the severity of the symptoms. There was no significant difference in cumulative live birth rates (LBRs) between the combination and mifepristone group (74.4% vs. 76.9%).Conclusions The combination treatment effectively reduces the incidence of moderate/severe OHSS in high-risk women.

Vitrification is a common technique for cryopreserving oocytes or embryos. However, manual vitrification is tedious and labor-intensive, and can be subject to variations caused by human factors. To address these challenges, we developed an automated vitrification-thawing system (AVTS) based on a cryo-handle. Our study firstly assessed the efficiency of cryoprotectant exchange through comparing the osmolalities of fresh and collected solutions during automated vitrification and thawing, and evaluated the cooling and warming rates of the cryo-handle. We also compared mouse oocyte survival, fertilization and embryo development after thawing and ICSI, and the development of re-frozen cleavage embryos between manual operation and automated system. The results showed that the osmolalities of collected samples were within normal range and comparable to fresh solutions. Furthermore, the automated system could obtain the reliable cooling and warming rates. Particularly, there were no significant differences in oocyte survival rates, fertilization rates, and subsequent embryo development and its quality between two procedures. Our findings suggest that AVTS has no impact on osmolalities of vitrification and thawing solutions, ensuring the proper exchange of cryoprotectants. The cryo-handle also shows the ability to achieve reliable cooling and warming rates, which benefits for the cryopreservation and thawing process. Moreover, the results from mouse oocytes and embryos indicate that automated system has effectively maintained the survival and fertilization of frozen oocytes and supported subsequent embryo development. Therefore, the automated vitrification and thawing system will inevitably represent a superior alternative to manual operation.

IntroductionAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease characterized by extracellular senile plaques including amyloid-β peptides and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles consisting of abnormal Tau. Depression is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD, and clinical evidence demonstrates that depressive symptoms accelerate the cognitive deficit of AD patients. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of depressive symptoms present in the process of AD remain unclear.MethodsDepressive-like behaviors and cognitive decline in hTau mice were induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS). Computational prediction and molecular experiments supported that an asparagine endopeptidase (AEP)-derived Tau fragment, Tau N368 interacts with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR-δ). Further behavioral studies investigated the role of Tau N368-PPAR-δ interaction in depressive-like behaviors and cognitive declines of AD models exposed to CRS.ResultsWe found that mitochondrial dysfunction was positively associated with depressive-like behaviors and cognitive deficits in hTau mice. Chronic stress increased Tau N368 and promoted the interaction of Tau N368 with PPAR-δ, repressing PPAR-δ–mediated transactivation in the hippocampus of mice. Then we predicted and identified the binding sites of PPAR-δ. Finally, inhibition of AEP, clearance of Tau N368 and pharmacological activation of PPAR-δ effectively alleviated CRS-induced depressive-like behaviors and cognitive decline in mice.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that Tau N368 in the hippocampus impairs mitochondrial function by suppressing PPAR-δ, facilitating the occurrence of depressive-like behaviors and cognitive decline. Therefore, our findings may provide new mechanistic insight in the pathophysiology of depression-like phenotype in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is inevitable in kidney transplantations and, as a complex pathophysiological process, it can be greatly impacted by ferroptosis and immune inflammation. Our study aimed to identify the biomarkers of renal IRI (RIRI) and elucidate their relationship with immune infiltration. In this study, the GSE148420 database was used as a training set to analyze differential genes and overlap them with ferroptosis-related genes to identify hub genes using a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), and random forest algorithm (RFA). We verified the hub gene and ferroptosis-related phenotypes in a verification set and animal experiments involving unilateral IRI with contralateral nephrectomy in rats. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of single genes was conducted according to the hub gene to predict related endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) and drugs to establish a network. Finally, we used the Cibersort to analyze immunological infiltration and conducted Spearman’s correlation analysis. We identified 5456 differential genes and obtained 26 ferroptosis-related differentially expressed genes. Through PPI, LASSO, and RFA, Hmox1 was identified as the only hub gene and its expression levels were verified using verification sets. In animal experiments, Hmox1 was verified as a key biomarker. GSEA of single genes revealed the seven most related pathways, and the ceRNAs network included 138 mRNAs and miRNAs. We predicted 11 related drugs and their three-dimensional structural maps. Thus, Hmox1 was identified as a key biomarker and regulator of ferroptosis in RIRI and its regulation of ferroptosis was closely related to immune infiltration.

AbstractHuman umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hucMSCs) have been shown to improve kidney injury. Exosomes have been indicated to be important mediators of renal protection in MSC therapy. In spite of this, the mechanism remains unclear. Our study investigated how exosomes derived from hucMSCs (hucMSC-Ex) improve acute kidney injury (AKI). Exosomes were extracted by using an ultracentrifugation technique and identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and Western blot. Twenty-four male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham group, sham + hucMSC-Ex group, ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) group, and IRI + hucMSC-Ex group. In vitro, we treated rat proximal renal tubular epithelial cell line (NRK-52E) with cisplatin to mimic in vivo models of AKI. The NRK-52E cells were treated with or without 160 μg/mL hucMSC-Ex, and 1 µg/mL cisplatin was added after 9 h. Cells were harvested after 24 h. In the IRI group, the levels of serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were increased; renal tubules were dilated, epithelial cells were vacuolated, and collagen fibers were deposited in the renal interstitium. After treatment with cisplatin, the NRK-52E cells displayed pyroptotic morphology characterized by pyroptotic bodies. The protein expression levels of fibronectin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), vimentin, gasdermin D (GSDMD), caspase-1, interleukin-1 (IL-1β) and NLRP3 in IRI tissues and in cisplatin treatment NRK-52E cells were significantly upregulated. However, after the hucMSC-Ex intervention, kidney injury was effectively improved in vivo and in vitro. The current study shows that pyroptosis is involved in AKI and that hucMSC-Ex improves AKI by inhibiting pyroptosis.

The transmission distance of satellite IoT is much further than terrestrial IoT, resulting in a signifi cant power loss on the transmission link.Thus the received signal power at a receiver will be signifi cantly lower.Combining a high-performance FEC coding and LoRa modulation with a signifi cant spreading factor enables reliable communication at very low signal-to-noise ratios.However, LoRa modulation dramatically decrease spectral effi ciency as the spreading factor increases.An interleaved LoRa transmission scheme that could achieved high spectral effi ciency with a low bit error rate (BER) was proposed.Firstly, a non-coherent soft demodulation algorithm was presented for LoRa and the corresponding performance comparison with the use of Turbo and LDPC codes.Then proposed a soft demodulation algorithm for interleaved-LoRa transmission.Simulation results showed that Turbo coded interleaved-LoRa system outperformed the uncoded system by about 4 dB at a BER=10-5, which was equivalently to a 55%~57% improvement on communication distance in free space.Furthermore, the spectral effi ciency was improved by approximately 23% compared to the existing Turbo-LoRa scheme.

Ticks are an important type of pathogen transmission vector, and pathogens not only cause serious harm to livestock but can also infect humans. Because of the roles that ticks play in disease transmission, reducing tick pathogen infectivity has become increasingly important and requires the identification and characterization of these pathogens and their interaction mechanisms. In this study, we determined the miRNA expression profile of Hemaphysalis longicornis infected with Theileria orientalis, predicted the target genes of miRNAs involved in this infection process, and investigated the role of miRNA target recognition during host–pathogen interactions. The results showed that longipain is a target gene of miR-5309, which was differentially expressed at different developmental stages and in various tissues in the control group. However, the miR-5309 level was reduced in the infection group. Analysis of the interaction between miRNA and the target gene showed that miR-5309 negatively regulated the expression of the longipain protein during the infection of H. longicornis with T. orientalis. To verify this inference, we compared longipain with the blocking agent orientalis. In this study, the expression of longipain was upregulated by the inhibition of miR-5309 in ticks, and the ability of the antibody produced by the tick-derived protein to attenuate T. orientalis infection was verified through animal immunity and antigen–antibody binding tests. The results showed that expression of the longipain + GST fusion protein caused the cattle to produce antibodies that could be successfully captured by ticks, and cellular immunity was subsequently activated in the ticks, resulting in a subtractive effect on T. orientalis infection. This research provides ideas for the control of ticks and tickborne diseases and a research basis for studying the mechanism underlying the interaction between ticks and pathogens.

As a World Cultural Heritage site with sacred landscape featuring an exceptional range of Buddhist art and architecture, much attention has been focused on the sustainable development of Bagan (Myanmar). Particularly, the monitoring of landscape surface subsidence and monument instability is of great importance to the protection and development planning of the Bagan heritage site. In this study, we applied high resolution TerraSAR-X imagery acquired from 2019 to 2020 for deformation monitoring based on the small baseline subset (SBAS) and persistent scatterer synthetic aperture radar interferometry (PSInSAR) approaches. We identified several hotspots and pagodas with displacement anomalies linked to land cover change and previous earthquakes. The cross comparison between SBAS and PSInSAR and the precision of height estimates derived by PSInSAR indicated a millimetric precision of the derived deformation products. The combination of the two multi-temporal SAR interferometry approaches satisfies the two-scale monitoring requirements from landscapes to monuments, particularly for large-scale World Heritage sites. The non-contact monitoring method has potential when traditional methods using field accessibility and surveillance are constrained.

Abstract Microbial production of intracellular compounds can be engineered by redirecting the carbon flux towards products and increasing the cell size. Potential engineering strategies include exploiting clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference (CRISPRi)‐based tools for controlling gene expression. Here, we applied CRISPRi for engineering Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1, a model bacterium for synthesizing intracellular storage lipids, namely wax esters. We first established an inducible CRISPRi system for strain ADP1, which enables tightly controlled repression of target genes. We then targeted the glyoxylate shunt to redirect carbon flow towards wax esters. Second, we successfully employed CRISPRi for modifying cell morphology by repressing ftsZ, an essential gene required for cell division, in combination with targeted knock‐outs to generate significantly enlarged filamentous or spherical cells respectively. The engineered cells sustained increased wax ester production metrics, demonstrating the potential of cell morphology engineering in the production of intracellular lipids.

Abstract Background Dengue fever (DF), influenza, and hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) have had several various degrees of outbreaks in China since the 1900s, posing a serious threat to public health. Previous studies have found that these infectious diseases were often prevalent in the same areas and during the same periods in China. Methods This study combined traditional descriptive statistics and spatial scan statistic methods to analyze the spatiotemporal features of the epidemics of DF, influenza, and HFMD during 2013–2015 in mainland China at the provincial level. Results DF got an intensive outbreak in 2014, while influenza and HFMD were stable from 2013 to 2015. DF mostly occurred during August–November, influenza appeared during November–next March, and HFMD happened during April–November. The peaks of these diseases form a year-round sequence; Spatially, HFMD generally has a much higher incidence than influenza and DF and covers larger high-risk areas. The hotspots of influenza tend to move from North China to the southeast coast. The southeastern coastal regions are the high-incidence areas and the most significant hotspots of all three diseases. Conclusions This study suggested that the three diseases can form a year-round sequence in southern China, and the southeast coast of China is a particularly high-risk area for these diseases. These findings may have important implications for the local public health agency to allocate the prevention and control resources.

Abstract Background Liver carcinoma generally presents as an immunosuppressive microenvironment that promotes tumor evasion. The intercellular crosstalk of immune cells significantly influences the construction of an immunosuppressive microenvironment. This study aimed to investigate the important interactions between immune cells and their targeting drugs in liver carcinoma, by using single-cell and bulk transcriptomic data. Methods Single-cell and bulk transcriptomic data were retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE159977, GSE136103, and GSE125449) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TGCA-LIHC), respectively. Quality control, dimension reduction, clustering, and annotation were performed according to the Scanpy workflow based on Python. Cell–cell interactions were explored using the CellPhone database and CellChat. Trajectory analysis was executed using a partition-based graph abstraction method. The transcriptomic factors (TFs) were predicted using single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC). The target genes from TFs were used to establish a related score based on the TCGA cohort; this score was subsequently validated by survival, gene set enrichment, and immune cell infiltration analyses. Drug prediction was performed based on the Cancer Therapeutics Response Portal and PRISM Repurposing datasets. Results Thirty-one patients at four different states, including health, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and cancer, were enrolled in this study. After dimension reduction and clustering, twenty-two clusters were identified. Cell–cell interaction analyses indicated that macrophage-naive CD4 + T cell interaction significantly affect cancerous state. In brief, macrophages interact with naive CD4 + T cells via different pathways in different states. The results of SCENIC indicated that macrophages present in cancer cells were similar to those present during cirrhosis. A macrophage-naive CD4 + T cell (MNT) score was generated by the SCENIC-derived target genes. Based on the MNT score, five relevant drugs (inhibitor of polo-like kinase 1, inhibitor of kinesin family member 11, dabrafenib, ispinesib, and epothilone-b) were predicted. Conclusions This study reveals the crucial role of macrophage-naive CD4 + T cell interaction in the immunosuppressive microenvironment of liver carcinoma. Tumor-associated macrophages may be derived from cirrhosis and can initiate liver carcinoma. Predictive drugs that target the macrophage-naive CD4 + T cell interaction may help to improve the immunosuppressive microenvironment and prevent immune evasion. The relevant mechanisms need to be further validated in experiments and cohort studies. Graphical Abstract

IntroductionPost-neurosurgical bacterial meningitis (PNBM) is a serious complication for patients who receive neurosurgical treatment, but the diagnosis is difficult given the complicated microenvironment orchestrated by sterile brain injury and pathogenic infection. In this study, we explored potential diagnostic biomarkers and immunological features using a proteomics platform.MethodsA total of 31 patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) who received neurosurgical treatment were recruited for this study. Among them, 15 were diagnosed with PNBM. The remaining 16 patients were categorized into the non-PNBM group. Proteomics analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was conducted on the Olink platform, which contained 92 immunity-related molecules.ResultsWe found that the expressions of 27 CSF proteins were significantly different between the PNBM and non-PNBM groups. Of those 27 proteins, 15 proteins were upregulated and 12 were downregulated in the CSF of the PNBM group. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that three proteins (pleiotrophin, CD27, and angiopoietin 1) had high diagnostic accuracy for PNBM. Furthermore, we also performed bioinformatics analysis to explore potential pathways and the subcellular localization of the proteins.ConclusionIn summary, we found a cohort of immunity-related molecules that can serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for PNBM in patients with aSAH. These molecules also provide an immunological profile of PNBM.

BackgroundEssential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders. Histogram analysis based on brain intrinsic activity imaging is a promising way to identify ET patients from healthy controls (HCs) and further explore the spontaneous brain activity change mechanisms and build the potential diagnostic biomarker in ET patients.MethodsThe histogram features based on the Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (Rs-fMRI) data were extracted from 133 ET patients and 135 well-matched HCs as the input features. Then, a two-sample t-test, the mutual information, and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator methods were applied to reduce the feature dimensionality. Support vector machine (SVM), logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) were used to differentiate ET and HCs, and classification performance of the established models was evaluated by the mean area under the curve (AUC). Moreover, correlation analysis was carried out between the selected histogram features and clinical tremor characteristics.ResultsEach classifier achieved a good classification performance in training and testing sets. The mean accuracy and area under the curve (AUC) of SVM, LR, RF, and KNN in the testing set were 92.62%, 0.948; 92.01%, 0.942; 93.88%, 0.941; and 92.27%, 0.939, respectively. The most power-discriminative features were mainly located in the cerebello-thalamo-motor and non-motor cortical pathways. Correlation analysis showed that there were two histogram features negatively and one positively correlated with tremor severity.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that the histogram analysis of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) images with multiple machine learning algorithms could identify ET patients from HCs and help to understand the spontaneous brain activity pathogenesis mechanisms in ET patients.

The deployment of proppant to fracture shear is a promising approach to stimulating hydraulic permeability in fractured reservoirs. However, the interactive effects of proppant and surface roughness have not been clearly revealed. To better understand this concern, direct shear tests (DSTs) are implemented on 2D rough fractures with a joint roughness coefficient (JRC) varying from 4 to 6 and 18 to 20 under propped conditions. The results show that peak shear strength is positively proportional to asperity amplitude. The highest peak shear strength is determined with a JRC of 14–16 due to it having the highest asperity of 6.34 mm. The peak shear load was decreased significantly by deploying the proppant. Shear damage only occurs in the localized zone where the upper–lower asperities contact. The shear dilatancy was attributed to both the “shear climbing” effects and the shear damage that caused the frictional slip. The proppants weaken the climbing effect but also prevent the shear damage that in turn promotes shear dilatancy.

Annexins (ANNs) are a structurally conserved protein family present in almost all plants. In the present study, 27 GhANNs were identified in cotton and were unevenly distributed across 14 chromosomes. Transcriptome data and RT-qPCR results revealed that multiple GhANNs respond to at least two abiotic stresses. Similarly, the expression levels of GhANN4 and GhANN11 were significantly upregulated under heat, cold, and drought stress. Using virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), functional characterization of GhANN4 and GhANN11 revealed that, compared with those of the controls, the leaf wilting of GhANN4-silenced plants was more obvious, and the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were lower under NaCl and PEG stress. Moreover, the expression of stress marker genes (GhCBL3, GhDREB2A, GhDREB2C, GhPP2C, GhRD20-2, GhCIPK6, GhNHX1, GhRD20-1, GhSOS1, GhSOS2 and GhSnRK2.6) was significantly downregulated in GhANN4-silenced plants after stress. Under cold stress, the growth of the GHANN11-silenced plants was significantly weaker than that of the control plants, and the activities of POD, SOD, and CAT were also lower. However, compared with those of the control, the elasticity and orthostatic activity of the GhANN11-silenced plants were greater; the POD, SOD, and CAT activities were higher; and the GhDREB2C, GhHSP, and GhSOS2 expression levels were greater under heat stress. These results suggest that different GhANN family members respond differently to different types of abiotic stress.

Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinases (PIP5Ks), essential enzymes in the phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway, are crucial for the abiotic stress responses and the overall growth and development of plants. However, the GhPIP5Ks had not been systematically studied, and their function in upland cotton was unknown. This study identified a total of 28 GhPIP5Ks, and determined their chromosomal locations, gene structures, protein motifs and cis-acting elements via bioinformatics analysis. A quantitative real-time PCR (qRT‒PCR) analysis showed that most GhPIP5Ks were upregulated under different stresses. A virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) assay indicated that the superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities were significantly decreased, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content were significantly increased in GhPIP5K2- and GhPIP5K22-silenced upland cotton plants under abiotic stress. Furthermore, the expression of the stress marker genes GhHSFB2A, GhHSFB2B, GhDREB2A, GhDREB2C, GhRD20-1, GhRD29A, GhBIN2, GhCBL3, GhNHX1, GhPP2C, GhCBF1, GhSnRK2.6 and GhCIPK6 was significantly decreased in the silenced plants after exposure to stress. These results revealed that the silencing of GhPIP5K2 and GhPIP5K22 weakened the tolerance to abiotic stresses. These discoveries provide a foundation for further inquiry into the actions of the GhPIP5K gene family in regulating the response and resistance mechanisms of cotton to abiotic stresses.

Foam concrete is a type of cement mortar in which air bubbles are introduced using an appropriate foaming agent. The complex conditions for the preparation of solid particle stabilized foams limit their wide application in construction. In this study, a method of adding small amounts of calcite (Cal) and muscovite (Mus) to the cement paste matrix is proposed to improve the properties of foam concrete prepared with cationic and anionic surfactants as foaming agents. The effects of mineral powders on the flowability, compressive strength, water absorption, pore characteristics, thermal conductivity and frost resistance of foam concrete were investigated and the enhancement mechanism was revealed by the results of XRD, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and SEM. The results showed that the mineral powders interacted with anionic and cationic surfactants through physical adsorption. Whether anionic or cationic surfactants were used as foaming agents, the addition of mineral powders promoted the formation of shell-like structures around the foam, thus enhancing the performance of foam concrete. As a result, the fluidity, compressive strength and frost resistance of the foam concrete increased, the water absorption and thermal conductivity decreased, and the average size of the pores decreased.

The non-variable stiffness of the flexible hinge in the fast-steering mirror (FSM) cannot adapt to varying load demands. To address this issue, this paper presents an innovative variable-stiffness rotational mechanism designed for use with FSMs. Firstly, the working principle of the variable-stiffness mechanism is introduced, and the influence of the length of each structure on the stiffness and the nonlinear influence are analyzed. Then, the variable-stiffness mechanism is applied to the FSM for the variable-stiffness experiment and variable-load experiment. The experimental results show that the variable-stiffness mechanism designed in this paper can realize the change in stiffness. The errors between the experimental value and the theoretical value of the three sets of experiments are +5.72%, +7.57%, and +6.57%. The FSM’s stiffness nonlinearity is very small, and the resonance frequency of the FSM before and after increasing the load can be consistent. The variable-stiffness mechanism can change the frequency characteristics by changing the rotational stiffness of the FSM.

As the most common malignant tumor, gliomas remain a poor prognosis while chemotherapy resistance is a medical problem for the treatment of glioma. Considering the correlation between drug resistance and ferroptosis, this study aims to explore the mechanism of chemotherapy resistance in glioma from the perspective of epigenetics. Because of the low expression of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) ATXN8 opposite strand (ATXN8OS) in glioma cell lines, the role of ATXN8OS was explored by the detection on ferrous iron (Fe2+)/lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS), function experiments and assays performed with xenograft model, proving that ATXN8OS inhibited temozolomide (TMZ)-resistance of glioma. After subcellular fractionation and FISH assays revealed that ATXN8OS was mainly located in cytoplasm, we determined the RNA binding protein (RBP) of ATXN8OS as adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) via RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pull down and western blot assays. Furthermore, we verified that ATXN8OS stabilized glutaminase 2 (GLS2) mRNA by recruiting ADAR and GLS2 restrained TMZ-resistance of glioma both in vitro and in vivo. Rescue experiments indicated that ATXN8OS modulated TMZ-resistance of glioma through GLS2. In conclusion, ATXN8OS mediated ferroptosis and regulated the TMZ-resistance of glioma via ADAR/GLS2 pathway.

Using the TRMM data and ERA5 reanalysis data, a heavy precipitation case in the eastern slope of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on July 6, 2006 was investigated. Based on the investigations, the precipitation structure characteristics in summer (June-August) over the eastern slope of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were analyzed. Results indicate that the heavy rain case on the eastern slope of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau occurred in the typical circulation with convergence at the lower level and divergence at the upper level. The rain belt extends from northeast to southwest with the maximum rain rate over 20 mm·h-1. The echo top height of convective precipitation is more than 17 km while the echo top height of stratiform precipitation is no more than 15 km. There exists bright band structure at 6.5 km which is similar to the vertical structure of the stratiform precipitation on the non-plateau region. The statistical analysis shows that the summer precipitation frequency on the south-eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the connection area between eastern plateau and southern Sichuan Basin are high. In contrast, the frequency of the stratiform and convective precipitation are low on the north-eastern plateau and Sichuan Basin. The summer daily average precipitation shows similarity with precipitation frequency for the years. The characteristics of vertical structure of precipitation radar reflectivity factor are different in the various area. The vertical structures of precipitation radar reflectivity in the south-eastern and north-eastern regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are similar, but the vertical precipitation structures are different in the non-plateau regions because of the compression induced by the height of the topography. It is also found that there are some similarities between the vertical structure of precipitation in the connection area between eastern plateau and southern Sichuan Basin, the plateau and non-plateau regions. The vertical structure of convective precipitation in the Sichuan Basin, eastern China and tropical and sub-tropical ocean are mostly alike. The same conclusion can be found in the stratiform precipitation except for the height of the bright band is 1 km higher in the Sichuan Basin.

Ribosomal protein L12 (RpL12) plays an important role in ovarian development and engorgement in vertebrates and invertebrates. However, the functional characteristics of RpL12 in ticks are not clear. Here, an open reading frame of the RpL12 gene was cloned from cDNA of Haemaphysalis longicornis. Th e sequence was analysed, and expression levels were determined in diff erent tissues and developmental stages using qPCR. To assess the immunization and challenge of ticks, the recombinant protein rRpL12+GST was used in immunological experiments. Th e results showed high conservation of RpL12 among species and comparisons of the amino acid sequence from H. longicornis. RpL12 was approximately 60% expressed in the ovary among the examined tissues of unfed adult female H. longicornis, and the expression level of RpL12 in unfed ticks was signifi cantly lower than that in H. longicornis at the egg and engorged stages. Western blotting showed that rabbit antiserum against H. longicornis adult ticks recognized RpL12, with an average egg weight of 49.94% and a 17.22% reduction in the engorged weight of adult ticks, but the mortality increased only 6.00%. Th ese results suggest that RpL12 could be used to generate anti-tick vaccines and provide novel information on the RpL12 gene of ticks, providing a better understanding of its mechanisms in reproduction and oogenesis.

Abstract A novel self‐healing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)‐based hydrogel is developed by cross‐linking PVA chains through multi dynamic covalent bonds by use of a small cross‐linker composed by 4‐formylphenylboric acid (FPBA) and lysine (Lys). The dynamic borate‐imine‐imine‐borate bond structure between PVA chains endows the hydrogel excellent stretchability and ultra‐fast self‐healing ability without external stimulation. The self‐healing efficiency can attain 94% and the elongation at break can reach up to near 1000% after only 3 min healing. Moreover, the self‐healing of the hydrogel through the contact of two faces from both the same cut position and different cut positions has similar excellent efficiency. The hydrogel with the unusual self‐healing performance and stretchability is used as an ideal material in strain sensors monitoring human movement and tiny vibrations caused by human voice. Interestingly, the sensor can continue to function normally after self‐healing for only ≈3 s. It is expected that this simple strategy of fabricating self‐healing hydrogels with multi dynamic bonds will provide new opportunities in the design and preparation of PVA‐based hydrogels to expand their potential applications in sensors and other various fields.

BackgroundRenal ischemia reperfusion injuries (IRIs) are very common in clinical diagnoses and treatments, which are a common cause of impaired renal functions, worsening pathological damage, affecting disease progression and hindering recovery. Renal IRIs are an inflammatory disease mediated by the adaptive and innate immune system. There is a complex interaction between oxidative stress and immune cell infiltration. Therefore, we aimed to determine biomarkers associated with oxidative stress during renal IRIs and their relationship with immune cell infiltration.MethodA differential gene expression analysis was made based on the GSE148420 dataset from the NCBI Gene Expression Comprehensive Database (GEO) combined with 92 oxidative-stress (OS)-related genes identified in the Molecular Signatures Database. Then we identified differentially-expressed genes (DEOSGs) associated with oxidative stress, which were used for gene ontology (GO) and a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. At the same time, we used PPI protein interaction networks and Lasso regression analysis to identify key genes, which were verified by the validation sets GSE58438 and GSE71647, as well as Western Blot detection on rat renal IRI models. At the same time, PAS staining, HE staining and immunohistochemistry were used to detect tissue damage and expression of markers related to oxidative stress during renal ischemia-reperfusion. Single-gene enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to further clarify the underlying biological functions of key genes. Cibersort was used to analyze the immune cell infiltration during renal IRI and the correlation of key genes with immune cells. At the same time, we constructed a network of transcription-factor (TF)-Hub genes and miRNA-Hub genes. DGIDB was used to predict drugs and molecular compounds that might interact with the Hub genes.ResultsCompared with the control group, a total of 5456 differential genes (DEGs) were measured in the renal IRI group, 2486 of which were upregulated and 2970 were down-regulated. Among them, we found 30 DEGs (DEOSGs) associated with oxidative stress. The results of GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these DEOSGs were mainly enriched in glutathione metabolism, the response to oxidative stress stimulation, the regulation of T cell activation and apoptosis signaling pathways. Through a protein interaction network (PPI) and a LASSO regression analysis, a total of two Hub genes were identified, namely GPX3 and GSTT1, which were validated through external validation sets and animal experiments. Through pathological methods, we found that the pathological damage of renal tissue and the expression of oxidative stress markers increased after renal ischemia-reperfusion. The results of GSEA showed that the Hub genes were related to oxidative stress pathways, apoptosis signaling pathways and immune-response-related signaling pathways. An immunoinfiltration correlation analysis showed that genes GPX3 and GSTT1 were significantly positively correlated with plasma cells and macrophage M0, while were negatively correlated with monocytes and macrophages M1 and M2. Using the Strust, Starbase and DGIDB database, we predicted that 81 transcription factors, 49 miRNAs and 13 drug or molecular compounds might interact with the Hub genes.ConclusionThrough a comprehensive analysis of gene expression, our findings may provide new potential biomarkers for the pathogenesis of renal IRIs and a reliable basis for its early diagnosis as well as treatment.

Abstract Background The local Dong people in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China, with rich biocultural diversity, have developed the traditional rice-duckweed-fish-duck agroecosystem (RDFDA) to support biodiversity conservation and to meet food and cultural needs. However, there is still not much research on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in this area. In particular, there is a lack of traditional knowledge of edible plants used by the Dong people as flavoring to grill fish (Cyprinus carpio) collected from RDFDA, which is extremely valuable in their traditional culture. The study focused on documenting plant species used in grilling fish and analyzing the status of its TEK. Methods Twenty-one sampling points of three Dong minority villages in Qiandongnan were selected for the research. The local TEK associated with plant resources for fish-grilling was recorded through free listing and semi-structured interviews. Fidelity level (FL) and ethnoecological importance value (EIV) indicators were designed to determine the socioeconomic influence of TEK. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) method was used to evaluate the differentiation of edible plant species distribution in dissimilar accessibility types. Results A total of 430 people were interviewed about grilled fish, of whom 75% were men and 85% were farmers. Thirty-four edible plants were documented for fish-grilling in three Dong villages. They belong to 16 plant families, such as Apiaceae, and Asteraceae. The life forms included herbaceous (76%), shrubs (18%) and trees (6%). Leaves are the most commonly used part of for grilling fish, followed by aerial parts, and whole plants. Among these edible plants, Allium hookeri, A. macrostemon and Houttuynia cordata with the highest fidelity level (100%) were cited as edible plants for grilling fish by all informants. The NMDS showed different accessibility types of collection sites, with different importance values. Paddy rice field edge (2.03) has the highest value, followed by forest-farming ecotone (1.74), streamsides (1.71) and woodland (0.48). Conclusion The purpose of this study was to investigate the traditional knowledge of edible plant materials used by the Dong people for grilling fish. The results demonstrate the strong connection between local people, the bio-environment and agroecosystem services. The survey and comparative analysis revealed that plant species with high FL values may be potential sources of natural flavors.

The novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) pandemic has caused enormous impacts around the world. Characterizing the risk dynamics for urgent epidemics such as COVID-19 is of great benefit to epidemic control and emergency management. This article presents a novel approach to characterizing the space-time risks of the COVID-19 epidemic. We analyzed the heavy-tailed distribution and spatial hierarchy of confirmed COVID-19 cases in 367 cities from 20 January to 12 April 2020, and population density data for 2019, and modelled two parameters, COVID-19 confirmed cases and population density, to measure the risk value of each city and assess the epidemic from the perspective of spatial and temporal changes. The evolution pattern of high-risk areas was assessed from a spatial and temporal perspective. The number of high-risk cities decreased from 57 in week 1 to 6 in week 12. The results show that the risk measurement model based on the head/tail breaks approach can describe the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of the risk of COVID-19, and can better predict the risk trend of future epidemics in each city and identify the risk of future epidemics even during low incidence periods. Compared with the traditional risk assessment method model, it pays more attention to the differences in the spatial level of each city and provides a new perspective for the assessment of the risk level of epidemic transmission. It has generality and flexibility and provides a certain reference for the prevention of infectious diseases as well as a theoretical basis for government implementation strategies.