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In this paper, the stress–strain curves of Ti2AlNb are established based on uniaxial impact tests over wide ranges of temperature and strain rate. The Ti2AlNb exhibited the work hardening effect but did not show an obvious yield stage during a quasi-static compression test. In the SHPB test, an obvious temperature softening effect was found, the strain rate strengthening effect was detected when the strain rate was 4000–8000 s−1, and the strain rate softening effect was detected in the range of 8000–12,000 s−1. A function describing the effect of strain rate on the strain rate strengthening parameters under various temperatures was proposed to modify the basic J-C constitutive model. The relative errors between the experimental measured value and predicted values in various experimental conditions with a modified J-C model were less than 5.0%. The results verified that the modified J-C model could accurately describe the dynamic mechanical properties of Ti2AlNb at high temperatures and strain rates. The research could help to illustrate the cutting mechanism and finite element simulation of Ti2AlNb alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) change detection provides a powerful tool for continuous, reliable, and objective observation of the Earth, supporting a wide range of applications that require regular monitoring and assessment of changes in the natural and built environment. In this paper, we introduce a novel SAR image change detection method based on principal component analysis and two-level clustering. First, two difference images of the log-ratio and mean-ratio operators are computed, then the principal component analysis fusion model is used to fuse the two difference images, and a new difference image is generated. To incorporate contextual information during the feature extraction phase, Gabor wavelets are used to obtain the representation of the difference image across multiple scales and orientations. The maximum magnitude across all orientations at each scale is then concatenated to form the Gabor feature vector. Following this, a cascading clustering algorithm is developed within this discriminative feature space by merging the first-level fuzzy c-means clustering with the second-level neighbor rule. Ultimately, the two-level combination of the changed and unchanged results produces the final change map. Five SAR datasets are used for the experiment, and the results show that our algorithm has significant advantages in SAR change detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the event triggered delayed impulsive control strategy for quasi‐synchronization for complex dynamical systems with parameter mismatch and packet loss. By constructing a comparative lemma with time delays and Lyapunov function, a few sufficient synchronization conditions are proposed by Cauchy matrix with time delays to analyze the system. Meanwhile, the possibility of packet loss is also considered and the quasi‐synchronization of the system is investigated by using both event triggered delayed impulsive control and self‐triggered impulsive control mechanisms. Theoretical analysis results are validated by numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective and novel synthesis of β-keto amides had been developed by NaOH promoted hydrolysis of α-oxo ketene-N, S-acetals. It was found that the hydrolysis of α-oxo ketene-N, S-acetals in the presence of 2 equivalent of NaOH in refluxing EtOH (95%) gave β-keto amides in excellent yields. The uses of toxic and harmful amines as well as the prepurification of these nucleophilic reagents were not required in the hydrolysis reaction. The method can extend to gram scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The carbon metabolism pathway is of paramount importance for the growth and development of plants, exerting a pivotal regulatory role in stress responses. The exacerbation of drought impacts on the plant carbon cycle due to global warming necessitates comprehensive investigation into the response mechanisms of Masson Pine (Pinus massoniana Lamb.), an exemplary pioneer drought-tolerant tree, thereby establishing a foundation for predicting future forest ecosystem responses to climate change. Results: The seedlings of Masson Pine were utilized as experimental materials in this study, and the transcriptome, metabolome, and photosynthesis were assessed under varying temperatures and drought intensities. The findings demonstrated that the impact of high temperature and drought on the photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate of Masson Pine seedlings was more pronounced compared to individual stressors. The analysis of transcriptome data revealed that the carbon metabolic pathways of Masson Pine seedlings were significantly influenced by high temperature and drought co-stress, with a particular impact on genes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism. The metabolome analysis revealed that only trehalose and Galactose 1-phosphate were specifically associated with the starch and sucrose metabolic pathways. Furthermore, the trehalose metabolic heat map was constructed by integrating metabolome and transcriptome data, revealing a significant increase in trehalose levels across all three comparison groups. Additionally, the PmTPS1, PmTPS5, and PmTPPD genes were identified as key regulatory genes governing trehalose accumulation. Conclusions: The combined effects of high temperature and drought on photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, transcriptome, and metabolome were more pronounced than those induced by either high temperature or drought alone. Starch and sucrose metabolism emerged as the pivotal carbon metabolic pathways in response to high temperature and drought stress in Masson pine. Trehalose along with PmTPS1, PmTPS5, and PmTPPD genes played crucial roles as metabolites and key regulators within the starch and sucrose metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Meta-analysis of the comparative efficacy of Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (OUKA) for the treatment of spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) and medial knee osteoarthritis (MKOA). Methods: A computerized search was conducted for literature related to OUKA treatments of SONK and MKOA across various databases, including the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WAN FANG, VIP, SinoMed, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, covering the period from each database's inception to September 2023. Literature screening, quality assessment and data extraction were performed according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After extracting the literature data, RevMan 5.4 software was applied to analyse the postoperative knee function score, postoperative knee mobility, postoperative pain, bearing dislocation rate, aseptic loosening, postoperative progression of posterolateral arthritis, and revision rate. Result: A total of 9 studies were included, including 6 cohort studies and 3 matched case‒control studies. A total of 1544 knees were included, including 183 in the SONK group and 1361 in the MKOA group. The meta-analysis results showed that the SONK and MKOA groups showed a significant difference in postoperative knee function scores [MD = 0.16, 95% CI (− 1.20, 1.51), P = 0.82], postoperative knee mobility [MD = − 0.05, 95% CI (− 1.99. 1.89), P = 0.96], postoperative pain [OR = 0.89, 95% CI (0.23, 3.45), P = 0.87], rate of bearing dislocation [OR = 1.28, 95% CI (0.34, 4.81), P = 0.71], aseptic loosening [OR = 2.22, 95% CI (0.56, 8.82), P = 0.26], postoperative posterolateral arthritis progression [OR = 2.14, 95% CI (0.47, 9.86), P = 0.33], and revision rate [OR = 1.28, 95% CI (0.53, 3.04), P = 0.58] were not statistically significant. Conclusion: OUKA treatment with SONK and MKOA can achieve similar satisfactory clinical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megaselia scalaris (Schmitz, 1938) (Diptera: Phoridae) is a common insect in forensic science that is frequently found in indoor cases, particularly on corpses in closed environments. Although this species is useful for estimating the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin) in the absence of Calliphoridae, there is a lack of data on its development in China. Herein, we studied the development of M. scalaris exposed to seven constant temperatures ranging from 16 to 34 °C. The mean (± SD) developmental durations of M. scalaris from egg to adult stage at 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34 °C were 1486.9 ± 75.3, 823.7 ± 42.8, 448.2 ± 59.8, 417.7 ± 19.7, 297.2 ± 27.3, 272.9 ± 10.4, and 253.0 ± 5.0 h, respectively. The mean (± SE) lower developmental threshold temperature (TL) and the thermal summation constant (K) were determined by a linear model as 12.69 ± 0.3 °C and 4965.8 ± 227.9-degree hours, respectively. A nonlinear model estimated the lower developmental threshold temperature, intrinsic optimum temperature, and upper lethal developmental threshold temperature as 14.58, 21.00, and 34.15 °C, respectively. We established three development models to estimate the age of the immature insect, namely the isomegalen diagram, isomorphen diagram, and thermal summation model. In addition, a regression analysis of the relationship between body length and total development time from hatching to pupariation was performed. Our findings provide a basis for applications of M. scalaris in PMImin estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directed energy deposition (DED) technology is gaining traction in the biomedical and aviation industries due to its ability to deposit a variety of materials, create complex structures, and achieve high processing efficiency. 316L stainless steel, known for its exceptional oxidation resistance, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance, finds extensive applications in the nuclear power sector. However, there is a dearth of literature on tool wear when machining additively manufactured alloys, especially under dry and thermal cutting conditions. These conditions are particularly relevant for hybrid additive and subtractive manufacturing (HASM), which aims to reduce clamping steps and energy consumption. Thermal milling appears to be an effective solution for streamlining the processing complexity and enhancing the bonding strength of the HASM interface. This paper aims to reduce energy consumption associated with the complex and time-consuming multi-machine tool machining process. Additionally, it seeks to evaluate the mechanisms of tool wear during the milling of DED 316L stainless steel under dry and thermal conditions using a TiAlN-coated tool at various cutting speeds. The study investigates the effects of milling temperature, number of cutting edges, and milling speed on tool wear, surface roughness, and surface residual stress. Analysis techniques such as 3D optical profilometry are employed to assess abrasive and adhesive wear. The results obtained demonstrate that cooling-free HASM can reduce clamping time and energy consumption. Quadruple-edged tools operating at 3000 r/min exhibit superior milling performance compared to double-edged tools at 2000 r/min. Furthermore, the entire tool wear process is analyzed using parameters such as Ra, Sa, and surface morphology. Examining the impact of high-temperature workpiece milling parameters on tool wear provides valuable insights for producing additive manufacturing parts with superior performance and surface quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

References 1 Li L, Li Y, Quan W. Effects of PmaIAA27 and PmaARF15 genes on drought stress tolerance in pinus massoniana. Orange and blue are aligned amino acid residues for the target and template proteins, respectively, and all other colors are unaligned amino acid residues Graph: Fig. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Auxin plays an important role in plant resistance to abiotic stress. The modulation of gene expression by Auxin response factors (ARFs) and the inhibition of auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) proteins play crucial regulatory roles in plant auxin signal transduction. However, whether the stress resistance of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana), as a representative pioneer species, is related to Aux/IAA and ARF genes has not been thoroughly studied and explored. Results: The present study provides preliminary evidence for the regulatory role of the PmaIAA27 gene in abiotic stress response in Masson pine. We investigated the effects of drought and hormone treatments on Masson pine by examining the expression patterns of PmaIAA27 and PmaARF15 genes. Subsequently, we conducted gene cloning, functional testing using transgenic tobacco, and explored gene interactions. Exogenous auxin irrigation significantly downregulated the expression of PmaIAA27 while upregulating PmaARF15 in Masson pine seedlings. Moreover, transgenic tobacco with the PmaIAA27 gene exhibited a significant decrease in auxin content compared to control plants, accompanied by an increase in proline content - a known indicator of plant drought resistance. These findings suggest that overexpression of the PmaIAA27 gene may enhance drought resistance in Masson pine. To further investigate the interaction between PmaIAA27 and PmaARF15 genes, we performed bioinformatics analysis and yeast two-hybrid experiments which revealed interactions between PB1 structural region of PmaARF15 and PmaIAA27. Conclusion: The present study provides new insights into the regulatory functions of Aux/IAA and ARF genes in Masson pine. Overexpression of PmaIAA gene may have negative effects on the growth of Masson pine, but may improve the drought resistance. Therefore, this study has great application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to investigate the impact of m6A modulators on drug resistance and the immune microenvironment in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The emergence of drug resistance is a significant factor that contributes to relapse and refractory AML, leading to a poor prognosis. Methods: The AML transcriptome data were retrieved from the TCGA database. The "oncoPredict" R package was utilized to assess the sensitivity of each sample to cytarabine (Ara-C) and classify them into distinct groups. Differential expression analysis was performed to identify m6A modulators differentially expressed between the two groups. Select Random Forest (RF) to build a predictive model. Model performance was evaluated using calibration curve, clinical decision curve, and clinical impact curve. The impacts of METTL3 on Ara-C sensitivity and immune microenvironment in AML were examined using GO, KEGG, CIBERSORT, and GSEA analyses. Results: Seventeen out of 26 m6A modulators exhibited differential expression between the Ara-C-sensitive and resistant groups, with a high degree of correlation. We selected the 5 genes with the highest scores in the RF model to build a reliable and accurate prediction model. METTL3 plays a vital role in m6A modification, and further analysis shows its impact on the sensitivity of AML cells to Ara-C through its interaction with 7 types of immune-infiltrating cells and autophagy. Conclusion: This study utilizes m6A modulators to develop a prediction model for the sensitivity of AML patients to Ara-C, which can assist in treating AML drug resistance by targeting mRNA methylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to explore the association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), osteopenia and the risk of all-cause mortality in general population. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 5452 participants ≥ 50 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The associations of osteopenia and adherence to the MD with all-cause mortality, as well as the interaction and moderating effects between the osteopenia and adherence to the MD on the all-cause mortality, were explored via univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The follow-up was from October 1, 2006, to December 31, 2019. The median survival time of patients was 81 months. In total, 4724 people were survived and 728 were dead. Osteopenia was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in people [hazards ratio (HR) = 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23–1.99]. No significant risk of all-cause mortality was found in people with high adherence to the MD compared with those with low adherence to the MD (P > 0.05). Compared to subjects with no osteopenia who had high adherence to the MD, osteopenia people who had high adherence to the MD (HR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.17–1.98) or low adherence to the MD (HR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.23–2.66) were at increased risk of all-cause mortality after adjusting for confounding factors. The relationship between osteopenia and the risk of all-cause mortality was decreased in those with high adherence to the MD (HR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.17–2.11) compared with those with low adherence to the MD (HR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.08–2.41) after adjusting for confounding factors. Conclusion: The adherence to the MD regulated the association between osteopenia and the risk of all-cause mortality, which suggested the importance of adherence to the MD in those with osteopenia, and the MD could be advocated in general people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic entomology case reports are the product of rapid development in the field, the widespread acceptance of the science and the application of forensic entomological knowledge. In this study, we retrospectively summarized information derived from 307 forensic entomology case reports from 1935 to 2022 from a global perspective. Our checklist of relevant information included insect species, specific indoor or outdoor preferences, preferred temperatures, and stages of body decomposition. Finally, a concept and calculation method for postmortem interval (PMI) estimation accuracy was proposed. There were 232 cases using insect developmental data and 28 cases using succession patterns to estimate PMI. A total of 146 species of insects were involved in the cases, of which 62.3% were Diptera and 37.7% were Coleoptera. Postmortem intervals were estimated from eggs in 4 cases, larvae in 180 cases, pupae in 45 cases, and puparia in 38 cases. The majority of cases were from June to October, and the average number of species mentioned in the cases was more at 15–30 °C. Considering the standardization of application, in the majority of cases, insect evidence was collected by other personnel and sent to forensic entomologists, there was a delay in the sampling, and the scene or meteorological data were directly used without correcting. Our data shows that there are still many shortcomings in the universality and standardization of forensic entomology in its practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Equid alphaherpesvirus type 8 (EqHV-8) infection presents equids with severe respiratory disease, abortions, and neurological syndromes. No vaccines and therapeutic molecules have been reported for EqHV-8 control. In the present study, cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP) possesses antiviral activity against EqHV-8 via HO-1 (heme oxygenase-1) mediated type I interferon (IFN) response; it will be a novel potential molecule to develop an effective therapeutic drug for EqHV-8 prevention. Equid alphaherpesvirus type 8 (EqHV-8) is the causative agent of severe respiratory disease, abortions, and neurological syndromes in equines and has resulted in huge economic losses to the donkey industry. Currently, there exist no therapeutic molecules for controlling EqHV-8 infection. We evaluated the potential antiviral activity of cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP) against EqHV-8 infection. Our results demonstrated that CoPP inhibited EqHV-8 infection in susceptible cells and mouse models. Furthermore, CoPP blocked the replication of EqHV-8 via HO-1 (heme oxygenase-1) mediated type I interferon (IFN) response. In conclusion, our data suggested that CoPP could serve as a novel potential molecule to develop an effective therapeutic strategy for EqHV-8 prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical machining (ECM) is widely used as a special process in the manufacturing of parts. The introduction of a magnetic field can improve manufacturing quality and increase the electrochemical reaction rate. Magnetic fields have a non-negligible influence on processes such as mass transfer, polarization, limiting current density, electrocrystallization, and anodic dissolution in electrochemical reactions. This paper provides a comprehensive review of magnetoelectrochemistry (MEC) techniques and the effect of magnetic fields on ECM. Starting from the MEC effects caused by magnetic fields acting on ECM, as well as Maxwell stress effects and magnetocaloric effect, which have not yet been studied in the field of ECM, this paper summarizes the effect of magnetic field on electrochemical reaction rate, flow field, physicochemical properties of electrolyte, and material formation in ECM, reviews existing magnetic field-assisted ECM technologies, and proposes future applications of magnetic fields in electrochemical additive manufacturing (ECAM) technologies. Finally, the paper provides a summary and outlook to serve as a reference for MEC processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the problem of the adaptive control of nonlinear impulsively coupled complex networks. Firstly, a class of adaptive controllers are designed for the nonlinear impulsive differential equations, where the nonlinear function can be decomposed into matching condition and mismatching condition. Secondly, combining with Lasalle invariant set theorem, Schur complement theorem and some inequality techniques, we consider the synchronization of impulsively coupled complex networks via the general adaptive control. Moreover, this paper proposes the pinning adaptive synchronization results for impulsive dynamical complex networks. Finally, the proposed results are verified by some examples in which simulations are available for comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition and structure of proteins are crucial for charge migration in the solid‐state charge transport (CTp). Despite much progress, it is still challenging to explore the relationship between conformational change and CTp in the complex protein system. Herein, we design three improved light‐oxygen‐voltage (iLOV) domains, and efficiently regulate the CTp of the iLOV self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) by pH induced conformation variation. The current density can be controlled in the range of one order of magnitude. Interestingly, the CTp of iLOV displays negative linear relations with the β‐sheet contents. Single‐level Landauer fitting and transition voltage spectroscopy analysis suggest that β‐sheet‐dependent CTp would be related to the coupling between iLOV and electrodes. This work proposes a new strategy to explore the CTp in complex molecular system. Our findings deepen the understanding on protein structure‐CTp relationship, and provide predictive mode of protein CTp responses for the design of functional bioelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel scale-type delayed inequality based on the time scale theory is established. • Under the saturated impulsive controller, some scale-type exponential synchronization conditions are established. • Some simulations are presented by the chaotic systems and the delayed predator-prey model on different time domains. In this paper, the problem for saturated impulsive control of nonlinear complex dynamical networks with different delays on hybrid time domains is discussed. Firstly, an exponential estimated inequality of delayed dynamical system on time scales is derived. Secondly, combining with time scale theory, comparison principle and matrix measure, some different exponential scale-type synchronization conditions for delayed nonlinear complex networks on hybrid time domains under saturated impulsive controller are given. Further, the impulsive input is constrained by the saturation constraint. Finally, three examples with different time domains are given to prove the validity of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the environment of unknown mutual coupling, many works on direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation with sensor array are prone to performance degradation or even failure. Moreover, there are few literatures on off-grid direction finding using regularized sparse recovery technology. Therefore, the scenario of off-grid DOA estimation in sensor array with unknown mutual coupling is investigated, and then a reweighted off-grid Sparse Spectrum Fitting (Re-OGSpSF) approach is developed in this article. Inspired by the selection matrix, an undisturbed array output is formed to remove the unknown mutual coupling effect. Subsequently, a refined off-grid SpSF (OGSpSF) recovery model is structured by integrating the off-grid error term obtained from the first-order Taylor approximation of the higher-order term into the underlying on-grid sparse representation model. After that, a novel Re-OGSpSF framework is formulated to recover the sparse vectors, where a weighted matrix is developed by the MUSIC-like spectrum function to enhance the solution's sparsity. Ultimately, off-grid DOA estimation can be realized with the help of the recovered sparse vectors. Thanks to the off-grid representation and reweighted strategy, the proposed method can effectively and efficiently achieve high-precision continuous DOA estimation, making it favorable for real-time direction finding. The simulation results validate the superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a multi-focus image fusion algorithm via the distance-weighted regional energy and structure tensor in non-subsampled contourlet transform domain is introduced. The distance-weighted regional energy-based fusion rule was used to deal with low-frequency components, and the structure tensor-based fusion rule was used to process high-frequency components; fused sub-bands were integrated with the inverse non-subsampled contourlet transform, and a fused multi-focus image was generated. We conducted a series of simulations and experiments on the multi-focus image public dataset Lytro; the experimental results of 20 sets of data show that our algorithm has significant advantages compared to advanced algorithms and that it can produce clearer and more informative multi-focus fusion images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-6 (LRP6) is overexpressed in various cancers. The small molecule salinomycin sodium inhibits LRP6. We observed a higher proportion of subjects with non-germinal center B (non-GCB) subtypes having high LRP6 expression than those with GCB subtypes by immunohistochemistry. The PCR and Western blot assays demonstrated increased LRP6 expression in non-GCB subtype cells. In addition, CCK-8 assays and transwell cell migration assays revealed that salinomycin sodium exhibited dose- and time-dependent inhibition of proliferation and migration in non-GCB subtype cells. Furthermore, Western blot assays showed that salinomycin sodium decreased the expression of Bcl2, while increasing the expression of Bax. Additionally, salinomycin sodium suppressed LRP6 expression, blocked LRP6 phosphorylation, and inhibited the Wnt/β-catenin and mTORC1 signaling pathways. Our results suggest that LRP6 is highly expressed in non-GCB subtype. Furthermore, salinomycin sodium inhibited LRP6 expression and the Wnt/β-catenin and mTORC1 signaling in non-GCB subtype cells, and displayed potent anticancer activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve problems of brightness and detail information loss in infrared and visible image fusion, an effective infrared and visible image fusion method using rolling guidance filtering and gradient saliency map is proposed in this paper. The rolling guidance filtering is used to decompose the input images into approximate layers and residual layers; the energy attribute fusion model is used to fuse the approximate layers; the gradient saliency map is introduced and the corresponding weight matrices are constructed to perform on residual layers. The fusion image is generated by reconstructing the fused approximate layer sub-image and residual layer sub-images. Experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed infrared and visible image fusion method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super-resolution (SR) images based on deep networks have achieved great accomplishments in recent years, but the large number of parameters that come with them are not conducive to use in equipment with limited capabilities in real life. Therefore, we propose a lightweight feature distillation and enhancement network (FDENet). Specifically, we propose a feature distillation and enhancement block (FDEB), which contains two parts: a feature-distillation part and a feature-enhancement part. Firstly, the feature-distillation part uses the stepwise distillation operation to extract the layered feature, and here we use the proposed stepwise fusion mechanism (SFM) to fuse the retained features after stepwise distillation to promote information flow and use the shallow pixel attention block (SRAB) to extract information. Secondly, we use the feature-enhancement part to enhance the extracted features. The feature-enhancement part is composed of well-designed bilateral bands. The upper sideband is used to enhance the features, and the lower sideband is used to extract the complex background information of remote sensing images. Finally, we fuse the features of the upper and lower sidebands to enhance the expression ability of the features. A large number of experiments show that the proposed FDENet both produces less parameters and performs better than most existing advanced models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the electrostatic discharge behavior of the charged powder is significant for avoiding fire or explosion in the silo. The electrostatic discharge of different polarity powders is not fully revealed, especially for the discharge pattern and the discharge energy distribution. In this study, the electrostatic discharge of different polarity powders during the filling process was examined to explore the discharge behavior in an industrial silo. The results show that the discharge of positively charged powder was compact and the discharge of negatively charged powder was divergent. The point, linear and dendrite discharge were found in the positive charging process. The discharge position and development process of different polarity powders were revealed by the electric field simulation. The relationship among the discharge period, powder polarity and heap surface area were indicated. The probability density distribution of discharge energy on the powder heap surface of 2.7 m was proposed to thoroughly understand the discharge energy of charged powder in the silo. The discharge of positively charged powder might induce more energy release, which was more dangerous than that of negatively charged powder in the silo. [Display omitted] • The discharge pattern of positive polarity powder is revealed. • Discharge development processes of different polarity powders are indicated. • Discharge position and frequency are discussed by electric field simulation. • The probability density distribution of discharge energy is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-focus image fusion plays an important role in the application of computer vision. In the process of image fusion, there may be blurring and information loss, so it is our goal to obtain high-definition and information-rich fusion images. In this paper, a novel multi-focus image fusion method via local energy and sparse representation in the shearlet domain is proposed. The source images are decomposed into low- and high-frequency sub-bands according to the shearlet transform. The low-frequency sub-bands are fused by sparse representation, and the high-frequency sub-bands are fused by local energy. The inverse shearlet transform is used to reconstruct the fused image. The Lytro dataset with 20 pairs of images is used to verify the proposed method, and 8 state-of-the-art fusion methods and 8 metrics are used for comparison. According to the experimental results, our method can generate good performance for multi-focus image fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The decay of human or animal carcasses usually attracts the colonization of large numbers of car-rion-related arthropods, especially Diptera and Coleoptera. Since insects are ectotherms, their colonization and development on carcasses are strongly temperature-dependent and predictable, rendering them a powerful tool for estimating the postmortem interval. Nitidulidae is a large family of common storage and agricultural pests of forensic significance. In this study, the development of the sap beetle Nitidula rufipes (Linnaeus, 1767) was observed under seven constant temperatures between 16 and 34 °C to describe the growth and morphology as well as survival rates of the different developmental stages using multiple scientific imaging and statistical techniques. We showed that N. rufipes can complete its development at temperatures between 16 and 34 °C, where the longest developmental time is 71.0 ± 4.4 days at 16 °C and the shortest is 20.8 ± 2.4 days at 34 °C. Body length measurements combined with morphological characteristics allowed for larval aging and instar discrimination, thus providing relatively complete developmental data for N. rufipes. This information serves to aid forensic investigators in determining the postmortem interval of carcasses using N. rufipes. Coleoptera, including the family Nitidulidae, are valuable for estimating long-term postmortem intervals in the late stage of body decomposition. This study showed that, under seven constant temperatures of 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34 °C, the developmental durations of Nitidula rufipes (Linnaeus, 1767) from oviposition to eclosion were 71.0 ± 4.4, 52.9 ± 4.1, 40.1 ± 3.4, 30.1 ± 2.1, 24.2 ± 2.0, 21.0 ±2.3, and 20.8 ± 2.4 days, respectively. The morphological indexes of body length, the widths of the head capsules, and the distance between the urogomphi of the larvae were measured in vivo. The regression model between larval body length and developmental durations was simulated for larval aging, and the head capsule width and the distance between the urogomphi at different instars were cluster-analyzed for instar discrimination. Based on the developmental durations, larval body length and thermal summation data were obtained, and the isomorphen diagram, isomegalen diagram, linear thermal summation models, and curvilinear Optim SSI models were established. The lower developmental threshold and thermal summation constant of N. rufipes evaluated by the linear thermal summation models were 9.65 ± 0.62 °C and 471.40 ± 25.46 degree days, respectively. The lower developmental thresholds, intrinsic optimum temperature, and upper lethal developmental threshold obtained by Optim SSI models were 10.12, 24.15, and 36.00 °C, respectively. The study of the immature stages of N. rufipes can provide preliminary basic developmental data for the estimation of minimum postmortem interval (PMImin). However, more extensive studies are needed on the effects of constant and fluctuating temperatures on the development of N. rufipes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X‐ray flaw detection is widely used in non‐destructive area. The intuitive defect information can be obtained through the X‐ray film, which is usually digitized into high greyscale image by a 12‐bit or 16‐bit, called super 8‐bit, industrial scanner. When an ordinary 8‐bit monitor displays a super 8‐bit greyscale image, it appears loss of detail information, blurring of the image appears and other problems. Therefore, in this paper, a pseudo‐colour enhancement algorithm for displaying high‐bit RAW images on low‐bit monitor was proposed according to the chromatographic mapping relationship based on the visual characteristics of human eye. First, a high grey‐scale pseudo‐colour enhancement algorithm, called HOTM‐HGL, based on hot metal coding was proposed based on the standard film, whose enhancement effect is better than current mainstream algorithms. Second, aiming at the non‐standard film, a new stretching function called RAW‐Optical‐Stretching was reconstructed to improve HOTM‐HGL algorithm, called HOTM‐HGLS algorithm, whose display effect on ordinary monitors was improved in further. Finally, HOTM‐HGLS algorithm was applied in the detection of X‐ray film defect, which was convenient for the capture of defect information in the weld. Compared with the existing algorithms, various indicators have been greatly improved, enriching the amount of information and strengthening the image recognition effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report on the use of Robotic-assisted total joint arthroplasty (RA-TJA) in China as well as the experience and expectations of Chinese doctors regarding this technology. Method: A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the current status of RA-TJA in China, the practical experience and suggestions for improvement of the technology by joint surgeons who have performed RA-TJA, and the interest and expectations of orthopaedic surgeons who have not used RA-TJA. The questionnaire was administered to all the physicians of the Chinese Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (CAOS). Result: A total of 372 qualified questionnaires were generated, among which 28% (n = 104) of the respondents had performed RA-TJA, among those who had performed RA-TJA. When asked how helpful the joint replacement robot was actually/expected to be, there was no significant difference between the expected and actual experience of nonusers and users (p ≥ 0.05); the biggest disadvantage of the current development of RA-TJA was perceived as additional charges to the patient by those who had used it, while those who had not used it perceived it as a limitation of their hospital, both of which were significant differences. Most respondents in both groups (used: 94.2%; not used: 91.4%) were confident in the clinical development of the joint replacement robot. Conclusion: This survey provides cross-sectional data on the current status of Chinese joint surgeons using or not using robots in their daily clinical practice. Improving surgical precision was the consensus of most respondents, while high surgical costs and limitations of hospital conditions were barriers to its development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for strictly noncircular sources under the condition of unknown mutual coupling is concerned, and then a robust real-valued weighted subspace fitting (WSF) algorithm is proposed via block sparse recovery. Inspired by noncircularity, the real-valued coupled extended array output with double array aperture is first structured via exploiting the real-valued conversion. Then, an efficient real-valued block extended sparse recovery model is constructed by performing the parameterized decoupling operation to avoid the unknown mutual coupling and noncircular phase effects. Thereafter, the WSF framework is investigated to recover the real-valued block sparse matrix, where the spectrum of real-valued NC MUSIC-like is utilized to design a weighted matrix for strengthening the solutions sparsity. Eventually, DOA estimation is achieved based on the support set of the reconstructed block sparse matrix. Owing to the combination of noncircularity, parametrized decoupling thought, and reweighted strategy, the proposed method not only effectively achieves high-precision estimation, but also efficiently reduces the computational complexity. Plenty of simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytic bacteria are an important biological control for nematodes. We isolated the nematicidal Bacillus cereus NJSZ-13 from healthy Pinus elliottii trunks. Bioassay experiments showed killing of all tested nematodes by proteins from the NJSZ-13 culture filtrate within 72 h. Degradation of the nematode cuticles was observed, suggesting the action of extracellular bacterial enzymes. The responsible protease was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, and SDS-PAGE. The protease had a molecular weight of 28 kDa and optimal activity at 55 °C and pH 9, indicating an alkaline protease. The study suggests the potential for using this B. cereus NJSZ-13 strain protease to prevent pinewood nematode infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driver misbehavior is one of the major traffic safety hazards as car ownership increases year by year. So, it is important to have driver fatigue detection and behavior recognition. Initially, given the fatigue detection problem that the images captured by the visible light camera cannot capture the eyes of a driver wearing sunglasses or eye glasses. As a solution, this paper introduces a DCT-HSV preprocessing algorithm for infrared images, which is believed to enhance the target characteristics of infrared images. The paper also introduces a more efficient lightweight SSD detection model, which achieves a better balance in terms of model size and detection performance. It also shows a better performance in self-built datasets and basic vehicle operation datasets. Secondly, aiming at the problems of high complexity and poor accuracy of the existing driving behavior detection model, this paper designs a driver abnormal behavior discrimination model based on the comparison twin, which has good performance on the Kaggle public dataset. The relevant experimental detection results show that the method constructed in this paper has high detection accuracy, low warning delay, and good practical use value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Robot‐assisted surgery has been promoted worldwide in recent years. The development of a domestic orthopaedic robot and its clinical application are therefore of great significance. This study aimed to compare the early clinical and radiographic outcomes of domestic robot‐assisted total knee arthroplasty (RA‐TKA) with conventional manual total knee arthroplasty (CM‐TKA). Methods: A total of 77 patients who underwent primary single‐sided TKA from June to December 2020 were prospectively enrolled; resulting in the inclusion of 72 patients. The patients were randomly divided into the RA‐TKA group (37 cases, with TKA being assisted by the Yuanhua Orthopaedic Robotic System) and the CM‐TKA group (35 cases, with TKA being performed using conventional tools). Knee function was evaluated by the knee range of motion (ROM), the American Knee Society Score (KSS), and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Postoperative radiographic results were evaluated by full‐length weight‐bearing X‐rays of the lower limb and anteroposterior and lateral X‐rays of the knee were obtained preoperatively and at 90 days postoperative. The operative duration, blood loss, postoperative knee function, radiographic outcomes, and incidence of complications were compared by Student's t‐test, Mann–Whitney U test, or chi‐square test. Serum levels of inflammatory markers before the operation and 1, 3, and 30 days after the operation were recorded and compared between the two groups. Results: The operation was significantly longer in the RA‐TKA group than in the CM‐TKA group (154.3 vs 115.2 min, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in blood loss (933 vs 863 ml, p = 0.519) between the two groups. The knee ROM, KSS, and WOMAC were significantly improved in both groups 90 days after the operation compared with before the operation (p < 0.05), but there were no significant differences between the two groups (p > 0.05). The incidence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis was not statistically different between the two groups. In the radiographic findings at 90 days postoperatively we found the frequency of lateral tibial component (LTC) angle outliers was significantly lower in the RA‐TKA group (3.0% vs 29.4%, p = 0.003). The neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was significantly lower in the RA‐TKA group than in the CM‐TKA group on day 1 after surgery (9.9 vs 12.7, p = 0.024). Conclusions: RA‐TKA requires more time than CM‐TKA, which may be related to the learning curve and intraoperative registration. The short‐term postoperative knee functional outcomes had no differences between the two groups, and RA‐TKA improved the accuracy of tibial component alignment. Further follow‐up studies are required to investigate the long‐term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning has become the dominant technology in most computer vision tasks. These methods often rely on a large number of labeled sample datasets for training, and in the field of non-destructive testing of welds in industrial manufacturing, weld images with defects are very scarce, and it is still a challenging challenge to construct high-resolution weld defect datasets that meet the requirements. To overcome this limitation, a new data augmentation method for high-resolution X-ray welding defect classification and synthesis based on a small number of real samples is proposed to realize the data augmentation of industrial nondestructive inspection X-ray film defect images. Firstly, to overcome the scarcity of the weld X-ray defect classification dataset, the weld X-ray defect classification dataset (Weld Defect Classification, WDC) is constructed. Secondly, the performance of 16 common deep classification models on WDC datasets is explored. Then, the images of the real local welding defects and the non-defective weld area are fused at random locations, and two data augmentation modes, (Single Image Single Defect, SISD) and (Single Image Multi Defects, SIMD), can generate defect files and annotation files (Visual Object Classes, VOC) at the same time, which can save a lot of time for manual marking. Finally, compared with the traditional data augmentation method, the proposed method can effectively improve the accuracy of defect detection and generalization, the mAP (Mean Average Precision, mAP) @0.5 of YOLOV8X (You Only Look Once, YOLO) and YOLOV5.6.1X is 66.6% and 72.8%, which provides an effective solution for data sample generation in the industrial field. • The weld defect classification dataset (WDC) was constructed. • The performance of 16 deep classification models on WDC datasets was explored. • The first high-resolution X-ray welding defect data augmentation model. • Two data augmentation generation modes, SISD and SIMD. • The first high-resolution X-ray welding defect detection dataset (HRXWDD). • Compared with the traditional method, the best detection performance was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning has become the dominant technology in most computer vision tasks. These methods often rely on a large number of labeled sample datasets for training, and in the field of non-destructive testing of welds in industrial manufacturing, weld images with defects are very scarce, and it is still a challenging challenge to construct high-resolution weld defect datasets that meet the requirements. To overcome this limitation, a new data augmentation method for high-resolution X-ray welding defect classification and synthesis based on a small number of real samples is proposed to realize the data augmentation of industrial nondestructive inspection X-ray film defect images. Firstly, to overcome the scarcity of the weld X-ray defect classification dataset, the weld X-ray defect classification dataset (Weld Defect Classification, WDC) is constructed. Secondly, the performance of 16 common deep classification models on WDC datasets is explored. Then, the images of the real local welding defects and the non-defective weld area are fused at random locations, and two data augmentation modes, (Single Image Single Defect, SISD) and (Single Image Multi Defects, SIMD), can generate defect files and annotation files (Visual Object Classes, VOC) at the same time, which can save a lot of time for manual marking. Finally, compared with the traditional data augmentation method, the proposed method can effectively improve the accuracy of defect detection and generalization, the mAP (Mean Average Precision, mAP) @0.5 of YOLOV8X (You Only Look Once, YOLO) and YOLOV5.6.1X is 66.6% and 72.8%, which provides an effective solution for data sample generation in the industrial field. • The weld defect classification dataset (WDC) was constructed. • The performance of 16 deep classification models on WDC datasets was explored. • The first high-resolution X-ray welding defect data augmentation model. • Two data augmentation generation modes, SISD and SIMD. • The first high-resolution X-ray welding defect detection dataset (HRXWDD). • Compared with the traditional method, the best detection performance was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pet cats are host Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis to humans. • The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis was 0.8 % and 2.0 %. • Cryptosporidium spp. IIdA19G1 subtype was first detected in pet cats in Henan. • Identification of four Giardia duodenalis assemblages in pet cats: A1, C, D, and F. • The infected pet cats were more likely to experience emaciation symptoms. Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis often infect humans, cats, and other mammals, causing diarrhea and being responsible for numerous outbreaks of waterborne and foodborne infections worldwide. The rapid increase in the number of pet cats poses a substantial public health risk. However, there were few reports about the infection of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis infections in pet cats in Henan Province, central China. Thus, to understand the prevalence and genetic distribution of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis in pet cats, and to evaluate the zoonotic potential, possible transmission routes and public health implications of isolates, fecal samples (n = 898) were randomly collected from pet cats in 11 cities in Henan Province, central China. Nested PCR based on the SSU rRNA gene and bg gene was used to the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis , respectively. The prevalence was 0.8 % (7/898) and 2.0 % (18/898) for Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis respectively. Additionally, the Cryptosporidium spp. positive isolates were identified as C. parvum subtype IIdA19G1 by gp60 gene. In the present study, the IIdA19G1 subtype was discovered in pet cats for the first time in China, enriching the information on the host type and geographical distribution of Cryptosporidium spp. in China. For G. duodenalis, a total of 18 G. duodenalis positive samples were identified, belonging to four assemblages: a zoonotic assemblage A1 (4/898), three host-specific assemblages C (8/898), D (5/898), and F (1/898). Interestingly, we found that pet cats infected with Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis are more likely to experience emaciation symptoms compared to the negative group. More importantly, the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis detected in the present study were low, but the subtype IIdA19G1 of Cryptosporidium spp. and the assemblages A1, C, D, and F of G. duodenalis have the potential for zoonotic transmission. Thus, we should focus on preventing and controlling the risk of cross-species transmission that may occur in pet cats in Henan Province. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• You only need to train twice (DKNET) has been designed. • Multi-scale segmentation head based on dynamic kernel. • Multi-scale depth supervision loss function. • Processing the uncertainty of prediction results based on entropy theory. • High-resolution dynamic kernel defect detection model, RSU_DKNet. • Experimental results show that the model designed has the lowest algorithm complexity (0.836 MB). Deep learning usually needs a lot of marking training data, but in the industrial field, it is very difficult and costly to obtain large-scale marking data of weld defects. Therefore, this paper puts forward a new model of industrial small sample weld defect detection, YOTT (You only training twice), to solve this problem by minimizing the use of marking data. Firstly, a multi-scale segmentation head based on a dynamic kernel is designed, which can perceive defect features in advance and fuse multi-scale defect information, to enhance its ability to identify defect information. Secondly, combined with the multi-scale prediction information, a multi-scale depth supervision loss function is designed. In addition, to measure the randomness of the model output, the uncertainty processing of the prediction results based on the entropy model theory is designed, and the uncertainty quantification of the prediction output is obtained at the same time as the model. Finally, to further improve the performance on high-resolution sets, an RSU_DKNet model suitable for high-resolution data sets is designed, which can capture more context information without significantly increasing the computational cost. The experimental results on 9 public data sets show that the performance of the DKNet model designed in this paper is 100 times better than that of the existing advanced models. Moreover, the algorithm complexity of the method designed in this paper is the lowest, and the model size is only 0.836 MB, which has potential application value in solving the problem of industrial small sample defect detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the influence of high-temperature heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of titanium aluminide niobium (γ-TiAlNb) intermetallic compounds. Systematic experiments revealed that heat treatment at 1280 °C resulted in significant changes in various aspects. Firstly, there was a notable reduction in grain size. Secondly, the content of α 2 -Ti 3 Al phase increased significantly, leading to a more complex phase distribution. Thirdly, heat treatment induced the formation of a strip structure of β-Ti phase within the grains, providing unique advantages for the material's thermal stability and mechanical performance. Then, the detailed mechanical performance tests indicated a significant improvement in the material properties of TiAlNb intermetallic compounds at both room and high temperatures following heat treatment. The ultimate tensile strength increased significantly, while the elongation also showed a substantial improvement. Finally, these results were closely associated with the evolution of the microstructure, revealing the precise control mechanism of heat treatment on material performance. Further analysis of elemental distribution demonstrated that heat treatment had a minor impact on the elemental content of TiAlNb intermetallic compounds. In conclusion, this study provides profound insights into the mechanisms underlying the improvement of TiAlNb intermetallic compound properties through heat treatment. The findings offer valuable guidance for the engineering optimization and application of such materials in the future. • Microstructural Refinement: Heat treatment at 1280 °C refines the microstructure of TiAlNb intermetallic compounds, reducing grain size, forming unique structures, and significantly increasing the α 2 -Ti 3 Al phase content. • Improved Room Temperature Tensile Performance: Room temperature tensile properties show notable enhancement post-1280 °C heat treatment, with a 35.5% increase in ultimate tensile strength and a remarkable 39.5% increase in average elongation. • Stable High-Temperature Mechanical Behavior: After heat treatment, TiAlNb compounds maintain superior tensile properties at 750 °C, emphasizing the stability and positive impact of the process on high-temperature mechanical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a pathogen for swine, resulting in substantial economic losses to the swine industry. However, there has been little success in developing effective vaccines or drugs for PRRSV control. In the present study, we discovered that Diltiazem HCl, an inhibitor of L-type Ca2+ channel, effectively suppresses PRRSV replication in MARC-145, PK-15CD163 and PAM cells in dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, it demonstrates a broad-spectrum activity against both PRRSV-1 and PRRSV-2 strains. Additionally, we explored the underlying mechanisms and found that Diltiazem HCl -induced inhibition of PRRSV associated with regulation of calcium ion homeostasis in susceptible cells. Moreover, we evaluated the antiviral effects of Diltiazem HCl in PRRSV-challenged piglets, assessing rectal temperature, viremia, and gross and microscopic lung lesions. Our results indicate that Diltiazem HCl treatment alleviates PRRSV-induced rectal temperature spikes, pulmonary pathological changes, and serum viral load. In conclusion, our data suggest that Diltiazem HCl could serve as a novel therapeutic drug against PRRSV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of remote sensing, due to memory consumption and computational burden, the single-image super-resolution (SISR) methods based on deep convolution neural networks (CNNs) are limited in practical application. To address this problem, we propose a lightweight feature enhancement network (FeNet) for accurate remote-sensing image super-resolution (SR). Considering the existence of equipment with extremely poor hardware facilities, we further design a lighter FeNet-baseline with about 158K parameters. Specifically, inspired by lattice structure, we construct a lightweight lattice block (LLB) as a nonlinear feature extraction function to improve the expression ability. Here, channel separation operation makes the upper and lower branches of the LLB only responsible for half of the features, and the weight coefficients calculated through the attention mechanism enable the upper and lower branches to communicate efficiently. Based on LLB, the feature enhancement block (FEB) is designed in a nested manner to obtain expressive features, where different layers are responsible for the features with different texture richness, and then features from different layers are sequentially fused from deep to shallow. Model parameters and multi-adds operations are used to evaluate network complexity, and extensive experiments on two remote-sensing and four SR benchmark test datasets show that our methods can achieve a good tradeoff between complexity and performance. Our code will be available at https://github.com/wangzheyuan-666/FeNet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To report the long‐term outcomes of total hip arthroplasty (THA) with fourth‐generation ceramic‐on‐ceramic (CoC) bearing in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: We retrospectively identified 180 primary THAs performed in 110 patients with AS, including 100 (90.9%) men and 10 women (9.1%), from 2009 to 2011.The mean age of the patients at surgery was 33 years (range, 16 to 65 years). Cementless prostheses with fourth‐generation CoC bearings were used in all patients. Survivorship of the implants and postoperative complications were calculated. Functional improvement was assessed by the hip flexion‐extension range of motion (ROM) and Harris hip score (HHS). A special noise assessment questionnaire was performed at the last follow‐up. The cumulative incidence of noise was calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Clinical characteristics and functional outcomes were compared in the hips with noise to those without noise. Results: The mean follow‐up was 11 years (range, 10 to 12 years), and survivorship of the implants was 99.4% at the most recent follow‐up. The complications included dislocation (one hip, 0.6%), periprosthetic joint infection (one hip, 0.6%), mild to moderate pain (five hips, 2.8%), heterotopic ossification (12 hips, 6.7%), and noise (52 hips, 28.9%). The flexion‐extension ROM improved significantly with a median from 10° (range, 0 ~ 130°) to 100° (30 ~ 130°) after THA (p < 0.001), and the HHS increased significantly from 41 ± 20 to 90 ± 8 (p < 0.001). The cumulative incidence of noise at 0.5, 5, and 10 years was 6.1% (95% CI, 2.6 ~ 9.6), 16.7% (95% CI, 11.2 ~ 22.1), and 28.9% (95% CI, 22.2 ~ 35.5), respectively, and that of squeaking at 0.5, 5, and 10 years was 4.4% (95% CI, 1.4 ~ 7.4), 13.3% (95% CI, 8.4 ~ 18.3), and 23.9% (95% CI, 17.6 ~ 30.1), respectively. None of the patients with noise generation in the hip reported it affecting daily activities or causing dissatisfaction. No differences in age, sex, BMI, disease duration, bilateral THA, the frequency of bony ankylosis, the proportion of using a 36‐mm‐diameter femoral head, pre/postoperative flexion‐extension ROM, or pre/postoperative HHS were found between hips with noise and those without noise (p > 0.05). Conclusion: THAs with fourth‐generation CoC bearings exhibit excellent long‐term survival and clinical outcomes in patients with AS, with a very low dislocation rate. The incidence of noise associated with CoC bearings in THA performed in patients increases over time, but it does not affect postoperative hip function or daily activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Sarcosaprophagous beetles are significant pests, but they are also key indicator insects for postmortem interval estimation. In this paper, the development of Necrobia ruficollis (Fabricius, 1775) at five constant temperatures between 22 °C and 34 °C was investigated. The developmental threshold temperature and thermal summation constant were estimated, the relationship between the larval body length with development time, and the widths of the head capsules and the distance between the urogomphi at different instars were studied. The results provide important basic developmental data for using N. ruficollis to estimate the minimum postmortem interval. Necrobia ruficollis (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) is an important cosmopolitan storage pest, and also frequently appears on highly decomposed and skeletonized corpses. It is a forensically important species expected to indicate a longer postmortem interval (PMI). Therefore, we investigated the development of N. ruficollis at five constant temperatures between 22 °C and 34 °C. Under temperatures of 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34 °C, the mean (±SD) developmental durations from eggs to adults were 93.00 ± 1.63, 70.67 ± 0.94, 65.33 ± 3.40, 47.33 ± 0.94, and 56.66 ± 8.73 days, respectively. According to the developmental time and accumulated degree hours results, an isomorphen diagram and thermal summation model were generated. The calculated values of developmental threshold temperature and accumulated temperature constant were estimated by a linear model to be 14.51 ± 0.52 °C and 684.12 ± 33.85 degree days, respectively. Lower developmental thresholds, intrinsic optimum temperature, and upper lethal developmental threshold temperature were estimated by a nonlinear model to be 14.61, 25.90, and 34.94 °C. Morphological indexes of larvae were obtained by in vivo measurements. A growth curve and an equation of the relationship between development time and body length were simulated. In addition, the widths of the head capsules and the distance between the urogomphi of larvae at different instars were determined by cluster analysis. Classifiers were created and validated by linear discriminant analysis. These results provide important basic developmental data for using N. ruficollis to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (minimum PMI). However, this study was only conducted under constant temperature, and the applicability of these data to variable temperature conditions needs to be further confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 19 to 21 July 2021, Henan province of China experienced an extreme precipitation event that caused massive flooding and great loss of lives. This event is thus far the second heaviest precipitation event observed by rain gauges in this region. Based on the ERA5 reanalysis data, the ECMWF operational global ensemble forecasts and numerical simulations using the ARW-WRF model, impacts of an upper tropospheric cold low (UTCL) on the extreme precipitation are examined. It is found that due to the influence of the persistent intrusion of stratospheric high potential vorticity (PV) air, a long-lived UTCL was detached from the upper level flow a week prior to the extreme precipitation event. The UTCL then moved westward, reaching the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea and maintaining there until the precipitation event ended. During this event, a broad northeast-southwest oriented area of ascending motion associated with the UTCL could be observed in front of the UTCL and strong ascending motions developed in the upper troposphere above Henan province. Analysis of the ECMWF operational global ensemble forecasts reveals that the amount of precipitation over Henan is positively correlated with the UTCL intensity. The UTCL impact on the extreme precipitation and the underlying mechanisms are further investigated based on results of numerical experiments. The control experiment reasonably reproduces the UTCL location as well as the distribution and evolution of the extreme precipitation. When the UTCL intensity is reduced in the initial condition using the piecewise PV inversion for sensitivity experiment, the upper tropospheric divergence reduces correspondingly and the dynamical ascending motion weakens in the second precipitation stage. As a result, the amount and intensity of precipitation both decrease. When the UTCL is completely removed from the initial condition, the sensitivity experiment indicates that the upper tropospheric divergence and dynamical ascending motion further weaken, resulting in a large decrease in precipitation intensity during the whole precipitation period. These findings highlight that the occurrence of the long-lived UTCL is a crucial factor that affects the intensity of the extreme precipitation event. • UTCL-related upper-level signals were detected a week before the event. • Strong upward motions in the upper troposphere above Henan are linked to the UTCL. • UTCL intensity influences both the amount and intensity of the precipitation in Henan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automatic monitoring and detection of maritime targets hold paramount significance in safeguarding national sovereignty, ensuring maritime rights, and advancing national development. Among the principal means of maritime surveillance, infrared (IR) small ship detection technology stands out. However, due to their minimal pixel occupancy and lack of discernible color and texture information, IR small ships have persistently posed a formidable challenge in the realm of target detection. Additionally, the intricate maritime backgrounds often exacerbate the issue by inducing high false alarm rates. In an effort to surmount these challenges, this paper proposes a flexible convolutional network (FCNet), integrating dilated convolutions and deformable convolutions to achieve flexible variations in convolutional receptive fields. Firstly, a feature enhancement module (FEM) is devised to enhance input features by fusing standard convolutions with dilated convolutions, thereby obtaining precise feature representations. Subsequently, a context fusion module (CFM) is designed to integrate contextual information during the downsampling process, mitigating information loss. Furthermore, a semantic fusion module (SFM) is crafted to fuse shallow features with deep semantic information during the upsampling process. Additionally, squeeze-and-excitation (SE) blocks are incorporated during upsampling to bolster channel information. Experimental evaluations conducted on two datasets demonstrate that FCNet outperforms other algorithms in the detection of IR small ships on maritime surfaces. Moreover, to propel research in deep learning-based IR small ship detection on maritime surfaces, we introduce the IR small ship dataset (Maritime-SIRST). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the retinal vessel oxygen saturation in patients with internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS). Methods: This is a cross‐sectional study. Sixteen patients with unilateral moderate or worse ICAS (≥50%) and no fundus diseases were included in the study. Sixteen gender‐ and age‐matched healthy subjects were selected as controls. The mean oxygen saturation and vessel diameters of the retinal arterioles and venules were obtained using a dual‐wavelength spectrophotometric retinal oximeter. Results: In the eye of the stenotic side, the retinal vessel oxygen saturation was 100.14 ± 10.27% in the arterioles and 56.50 ± 10.79% in the venules, and the arteriovenous (A‐V) difference was 43.63 ± 7.71%. In the eye of the contralateral side, the oxygen saturation was 96.55 ± 7.50% in the arterioles and 57.42 ± 9.84% in the venules, and the A‐V difference was 39.39 ± 6.33%. In healthy subjects, the oxygen saturation was 93.22 ± 5.98% in the arterioles and 56.57 ± 7.05% in the venules, and the A‐V difference was 36.65 ± 7.33%. The arteriolar oxygen saturation in the stenotic side was higher than that in the contralateral side (p = 0.025) and that in the healthy subjects (p = 0.027), and the A‐V difference in the stenotic side was significantly higher than that in the contralateral side (p = 0.009) and that in the healthy subjects (p = 0.013). The diameters of the arterioles in the stenotic side were smaller than those in the healthy subjects (p = 0.030). Conclusions: Patients with ICAS had decreased retinal arteriole diameters and increased retinal vessel oxygen saturation in the arterioles and A‐V differences, suggesting the presence of microcirculation disorder and hyperoxia in the retina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The closed working condition of grouting materials leads to insufficient curing water supply during their strength development. In this work, the superabsorbent polymer (SAP) was used as the internal curing agent for grouting material. The effects of SAP content on the rheological and mechanical properties of grouting material were studied under various water-cement ratios (w/c) and curing environments. The time-dependent variation of fresh slurry's viscosity was measured by Brinell viscometer. The pore structure and micromorphology characteristics were analyzed by Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results indicate that the addition of SAP increases the viscosity of fresh slurry and decreases its fluidity, thereby improving the slurry's internal uniformity at a higher w/c. And in its actual working condition, grouting material's strength can be boosted with less than 0.3% SAP dosage. Although SAP will introduce some irregular mesoscopic pores (0.2 − 0.3 mm), the MIP data analysis proves SAP refines the microscopic pore structure of grouting materials. SEM data analysis proves SAP optimizes the microstructure of grouting material, which cured in dry environment. In general, SAP improves the internal uniformity of grouting material by absorbing excess mixing water and gradually releasing it to promote cement hydration, which improves the strength of grouting material. Hence, SAP is a practicable internal curing agent for grouting material and 0.2% is the recommended dosage. • Investigations were done on how SAP affected grouting material performance. • SAP increases the viscosity and improves the internal uniformity of the slurry. • SAP optimizes the microscopic pore structure of the material. • SAP demonstrates a good internal curing effect in sealed and dry environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Owing to the development of the smaller-sized rotational machinery, the demand for the high-speed and low-resistance gas bearing increases rapidly. The research of micro gas bearing in the condition of rarefied gas state is still not satisfied. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present a numerical investigation of the effect of misalignment and rarefaction effect on the comprehensive performance of micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) gas bearing. Design/methodology/approach: The Fukui and Kaneko model is expanded to 2D solution domain to describe the flow field parameters. The finite element method is used to discretize the equation. Newton–Raphson method is used to solve the nonlinear equations for the static performance of gas bearing, and partial deviation method is adopted for the solution of dynamic equations. Findings: The static and dynamic characteristics of MEMS gas bearing are calculated, and the comparison is made to study the influence of rarefaction effect and misalignment. The results show that the rarefaction effect will decrease bearing load capacity compared with traditional solution of Reynolds equation, and the misalignment will reduce the stability of bearing. The influence of misalignment on gas film thickness is also analyzed in this paper. Originality/value: The investigation of this paper emerges the change regularity of comprehensive performance of MEMS gas bearing considering rarefaction effect and misalignment, which provides a reference for the actual manufacturing of MEMS gas bearing and for the safety operation of micro dynamic machinery. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2020-0023/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. For unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), accurate alignment of the limb is crucial. This study is aimed at investigating the efficacy and safety of a three-dimensional printed patient-customized guiding template (3DGT) for UKA. Methods. A total of 22 patients receiving UKA were randomly divided into the 3DGT-UKA group (n = 11) and traditional UKA group (T-UKA group; n = 11). In the 3DGT-UKA group, the line and angle of osteotomy were decided on a 3D image of the limb reconstructed from imaging data; a guiding template was then designed and printed out. The patients in the T-UKA group underwent conventional UKA. Prosthesis size, operation time, postoperative drainage, hip–knee angle (HKA), pain, and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scores were recorded at day 1, week 1, month 1, and month 3 after surgery. Results. There was no significant difference in the size of prostheses between the preoperatively designed and actually used in the 3DGT-UKA group (p > 0.05). HKA was comparable in 3DGT-UKA and T-UKA patients. Operation time was shorter (53.6 ± 6.4 minutes vs. 75.8 ± 7.1 minutes) and wound drainage was less (93.2 ± 3.9 mL vs. 85.2 ± 3.0 mL) in 3DGT-UKA than in T-UKA (p < 0.05). Hospital stay was shorter in the 3DGT-UKA group. The 3DGT-UKA group had a lower VAS score on day 1, week 1, and month 1 and a higher HSS score on week 1 and month 1 after surgery. No varus/valgus deformity or prosthesis loosening was observed in either group at the final follow-up. Conclusion. The 3D-printed patient-customized guiding template may help decrease operation time, decrease blood loss, and improve short-term clinical outcomes in patients undergoing UKA surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note is concerned with the effect of small C 1 perturbations on a discrete dynamical system (X , f) , which has heteroclinic repellers. The question to be addressed is whether such perturbed system (X , g) has heteroclinic repellers. It will be shown that if ∥ f − g ∥ C 1 is small enough, (X , g) has heteroclinic repellers, which implies that it is chaotic in the sense of Devaney. In addition, if X = R n and (X , f) has regular nondegenerate heteroclinic repellers, then (X , g) has regular nondegenerate heteroclinic repellers, where g is a small Lipschitz perturbation of f. Three examples are presented to validate the theoretical conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monolayer diamond film and free-standing diamond/Mo multilayer films were prepared by combining microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) and double glow plasma surface alloying (DGPSA) techniques. The result shows that the film grain size decreases from 70–80 μ m to ∼ 1 0 –20 μ m with the layer number increasing from the monolayer diamond film with a columnar crystal structure to the seven-layer diamond/Mo films, indicating that the Mo interlayer can effectively reduce the grain size. The Mo2C is formed between the Mo and diamond layers, which can improve the bonding strength. The internal stress of these films depends on the number of Mo interlayers and the Mo2C content. Moreover, the fracture strength and abrasion ratio of multilayer diamond films are effectively improved by adding the Mo interlayer. The four-layer diamond/Mo film system has the highest fracture strength and the seven-layer film system has the highest abrasion ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]