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The precise motion control of a hydraulic motor system has some problems due to uncertain disturbance, complex nonlinear dynamics. Traditional methods are difficult to obtain the desired control performance. In this paper, a new fuzzy neural network (FNN) combined with terminal sling mode control (TSMC) and time delay estimation (TDE) is proposed. FNN is used to adjust the parameter of TSMC to reduce the time for the system to reach the equilibrium point and chatting. To increase the accuracy of the system, TDE is used to compensate the error caused by uncertain disturbance. This controller was simulated in Amesim and Simulink, and the results showed that the control scheme proposed in this paper has the smallest angular displacement error, angular velocity error and variance than other control schemes, such as PID and sliding mode control (SMC). Furthermore, the designed controller was implemented on a drill pipe automatic handling manipulator, and its control performance was verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let A be a complete and cocomplete abelian category with the additional assumption that any direct sum and product of short exact sequences are exact. We explore the relation between balanced pairs and TTF triples in A. The main results are: (1) every balanced pair in A induces a TTF triple; (2) if A has projective covers and injective envelopes, then every TTF triple in A gives rise to a balanced pair, and hence there is a bijection between the equivalence classes of balanced pairs and TTF triples in A ; (3) a balanced pair in A is quasi admissible if and only if its induced TTF triple is centrally splitting. Our first application of these results provide abundant rings over which every balanced pair is quasi admissible, including local rings, commutative semiperfect rings, and commutative Noetherian rings. Another application is the classification of equivalence classes of cohereditary balanced pairs over arbitrary rings. We also present counterexamples to [15, Open questions 3 and 5]. Finally, we prove that the answers to [15, Open questions 2 and 4] are positive for coherent rings with weak global dimension at most one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) is an ectoenzyme anchored on the surface of the cell membrane, and it is closely associated with many diseases. Abnormal expression (>36 U/L) of GGT is involved in the progression of tumors and can act as a biomarker for tumor diagnosis. Here, we presented a series of GGT-activatable fluorescent probes, the P1, the P2 and the P3. By investigating the in vitro properties of the probes, P3 demonstrated the most sensitivity and better water solubility, which benefited from the introduction of the self-elimination moiety of p-aminobenzyl alcohol and the propanesulfonic acid moiety. Importantly, P3 was able to clearly delineate tumor boundaries in live tumor-bearing mice and clinical human liver tissue specimens by spraying in situ, which facilitated accurate resection of tumors under fluorescence guidance. The proposed enzyme-activated fluorescent probe has potential as a surgical resection tool in image-guided surgery. GGT-activatable fluorescent probe P3 was designed to clearly delineate tumor.boundaries via spraying in situ [Display omitted] • A series of near-infrared fluorescent probes responsive to GGT were synthesized. • Overexpression of GGT in cells has been successfully monitored by the probe P3. • The P3 was applied to discriminate cancer tissues from normal tissues accurately. • The P3 could be employed as a visual tool in image-guided tumor resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that threatens eye health and can cause permanent blindness. Since there is no cure for glaucoma, early screening and detection are crucial for the prevention of glaucoma. Therefore, a novel method for automatic glaucoma screening that combines clinical measurement features with image-based features is proposed in this paper. To accurately extract clinical measurement features, an improved UNet++ neural network is proposed to segment the optic disc and optic cup based on region of interest (ROI) simultaneously. Some important clinical measurement features, such as optic cup to disc ratio, are extracted from the segmentation results. Then, the increasing field of view (IFOV) feature model is proposed to fully extract texture features, statistical features, and other hidden image-based features. Next, we select the best feature combination from all the features and use the adaptive synthetic sampling approach to alleviate the uneven distribution of training data. Finally, a gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) classifier for glaucoma screening is trained. Experimental results based on the ORIGA dataset show that the proposed algorithm achieves excellent glaucoma screening performance with sensitivity of 0.894, accuracy of 0.843, and AUC of 0.901, which is superior to other existing methods. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nowadays, the latent power of technology, which can offer innovative resolutions to disease diagnosis, has awakened high-level anticipation in the community of patients as well as professionals. An easy-to-use mobile app is developed by us, which is purposefully intended for those patients with glaucoma.Methods: A mobile App has been invented for smartphones for the convenient use wherever and whenever. The corresponding experiments carried out by public retinal image database and real captured clinical data reveal the ideal classification accuracy of the App. Also, user feedback evaluation is also carried out in terms of performance test as well as and users' experience.Results: For clinical test using Yanbao App, we found 274 patients for the identification with 648 retinal images to be evaluated by glaucoma classification. Of the 243 glaucoma patients, 191 were screened out with an accuracy of 0.7860 (sensitivity); the number of non-glaucoma patients was 310 of 405, and the accuracy reached 0.7654 (specificity).` The total Accuracy amounted to 0.7731, and the result is close to the test performance obtained on public dataset ORIGA and DRISHTI-GS1.Conclusions: Yanbao App can be applied as an innovative approach exploiting mobile technology to enhance the clinicians' efficiency and a balanced medical resources as well as a provided better tiered medical service system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let n ≥ 2 and d ≥ 0 be arbitrary fixed integers. We prove that there exists a ring R such that: (1) R is a right (n , d) -ring; (2) R is not a right (n − 1 , t) -ring for each non-negative integer t ; (3) R is not a right (m , d − 1) -ring (for d ≥ 1) , for each non-negative integer m ; (4) R is a right n -coherent ring; (5) R is not a right (n − 1) -coherent ring. This shows the richness of right (n , d) -rings and right n -coherent rings, and, in particular, answers affirmatively a problem posed by Costa in [D. L. Costa, Parameterizing families of non-Noetherian rings, Comm. Algebra22 (1994) 3997–4011.] when the ring in question is non-commutative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The grain size and major element composition in sedimentary sequences of the Yellow River Basin are presented. • The provenance, transport dynamics and sedimentary characteristics of sediments of the Yellow River is disclosed. • The processes and geomorphological effects of aeolian-fluvial interactions in the Yellow River Basin are identified. • The intensity of aeolian-fluvial interactions is related to sediment erosion and transport. Understanding environmental changes requires the characterization of potential interactions between aeolian and fluvial systems. This study aimed to identify the sedimentary characteristics, provenance, and transport of sediments of the Yellow River Basin, as well as the processes and geomorphological effects of aeolian-fluvial interactions using end-member modelling analysis (EMMA), multidimensional scaling (MDS), and principal component analysis (PCA). Samples (n = 107) collected from sedimentary sequences in the source area, upper, middle, and lower reaches were analyzed for grain size and major element contents. The results showed that sediments in the source area of the Yellow River mainly originated from the Tibetan Plateau, whereas the input of materials from the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) gradually increased from the upper to lower reaches. The sediment transport was jointly controlled by simultaneous or alternating aeolian and fluvial processes. Asynchronism in aeolian activity and rainfall and the non-uniformity of runoff and sediment sources resulted in a concentration of aeolian-fluvial interactions in the river reaches traversing through the deserts and CLP. Fluvial sediments in the upper reaches consisted of wash loads deposited in slow-moving water, whereas rapid replenishment of sediment from the CLP in the middle reaches increased sediment transport capacity, thereby enhancing the uniformity of sedimentary characteristics from the upper to lower reaches. Moreover, numerous gullies in the CLP resulted in increased intensities of aeolian-fluvial interactions, thereby accelerating severe sedimentation in the lower reaches. This study can act as a reference for paleoclimatic reconstruction and for soil and water conservation in large-scale watersheds across a range of climatic zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The physicochemical data of extraction with mixed solvent from the WPA of hydrochloric acid route was studied. • The relation of density, viscosity, temperature and phosphoric acid concentration are expressed by different models, respectively. Abstract In this study, the mixed solvent of octanol (NOA) and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) was used as extractant to purify wet process phosphoric acid from hydrochloric acid route. Densities and viscosities of leachate, extraction phase and raffinate phase were determined at 293–333 K, respectively. And the relation between density and temperature or phosphoric acid concentration can be expressed as a linear equation, with the maximum deviation of 0.0011 and 0.0027 g cm−3, respectively. Meanwhile, the viscosity of leachate, extraction phase and raffinate phase were measured since its importance on mass transfer occurred in the process of phosphoric acid extraction. And the relation between viscosity and temperature or phosphoric acid concentration can be summarized as a unitary quadratic equation, with the maximum deviation of 0.4489 and 0.1122 mPa·s, respectively. The results show that the densities and viscosities from experiment are generally in good agreement with calculated values from those equations obtained by regression analysis. The combined expanded uncertainty in the reported densities and viscosities are 0.3% and 5.5% of the measured values respectively, each with a coverage factor, k = 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to identify genes with similar function to that of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in invasive lung adenocarcinoma (AC) and to screen the transcription factors that regulate MMPs. The gene expression dataset GSE2514, including 20 invasive lung AC samples and 19 adjacent normal lung samples, was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened using the limma package in R. Genes with similar function to MMPs were identified by K-means clustering. Their correlations with MMPs were validated using Pearson correlation analysis. The expression of MMPs in lung cancer and normal tissues was evaluated by western blot analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and transcriptional regulatory network analyses were performed with Retrieval of Interacting Genes and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery, respectively. As a result, 269 DEGs were identified between invasive lung AC samples and normal lung samples, including 78 upregulated and 191 downregulated genes. Four MMPs (MMP1, MMP7, MMP9 and MMP12), which were upregulated in lung AC, were clustered into one group with other genes, including NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1, claudin 3 (CLDN3), S100 calcium-binding protein P, serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1, collagen type XI α 1 chain, periostin and desmoplakin (DSP), following cluster analysis. Pearson correlation analysis further confirmed correlations between MMP9-CLDN3, MMP9-DSP and MMP12-DSP. PPI network analysis also indicated multiple interactions between MMPs-associated genes. Furthermore, MMPs were commonly regulated by CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α transcription factor. These findings may provide further insight into the mechanisms of MMPs in invasive lung AC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider an open problem posted by Sam and Snowden in 2014 in [12, Problem 11.5] when the category in question is F I G . We prove that, over a commutative coherent ring, every finitely presented FI-module is coherent. It turns out that many properties of finitely presented F I G -modules may be generalized from Noetherian rings to coherent rings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • · The spatial characteristics of grain size and elemental composition in surface sediment of the Yellow River are investigated. • · The weathering nature, recycling characteristics and rock compositions are identified. • · The influence of climate condition and tectonic setting on erosion, weathering, and sedimentary recycling is elucidated. • · The provenance of surface sediment of the Yellow River is disclosed. Geochemical investigations of fluvial sediment help understand the provenance of sediment and surface processes taking place on the Earth at the watershed scale. This study is aimed at identifying the weathering and sedimentary recycling of the surface sediment of the Yellow River using the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), Weathering Index of Parker (WIP), Index of Compositional Variability (ICV), Mafic-Felsic-Weathering (MFW) ternary diagram, and Al-Ti-Zr ternary diagram. Source rocks compositions were clarified using Al 2 O 3 -CaO⁎+Na 2 O-K 2 O (A-CN-K), MFW, discriminant function, and Cr/V vs Y/Ni diagrams. The results demonstrated that the surface sediment of the Yellow River has experienced an overall low intensity of weathering and recycling. However, significant differences were observed in the characteristics of weathering and recycling among the upper, middle, and lower reaches, which is in turn associated with the differences in climatic conditions and tectonic settings. Source rocks manifested a typically mixed type composition, including felsic igneous rocks, intermediate igneous rocks, quartzose sedimentary rocks, and mafic components. Moreover, the sediment in the source area of the Yellow River may have originated from the clastics produced by the abrading of mountain glaciers. Sediment in the area in which the Yellow River flows through the Chinese Loess Plateau primarily originates from loess in the desert in Northwestern China. Sediment in the lower reaches does not only include the sorted sediment flowing down from the upper and middle reaches, but also that imported from regional rivers. This study can furnish a sound scientific basis for the reconstruction of the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental changes that affected large watersheds in arid and semi-arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The spatial distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments of the Yellow River mainstream are investigated. • The contamination degree, ecological risk, and source of heavy metals are explored. • The applicability of risk assessment indices of heavy metals in sediments is elucidated. • The reliability of multivariate statistical analyses for source identification of heavy metals is confirmed. Heavy metals in river sediments pose major threats to aquatic ecological environments and public health. This study investigated the characteristics, sources, and risks of heavy metals in surface sediments from the mainstream of the Yellow River. The grain size, loss on ignition (LOI), and content of Mn, Zn, V, Ni, Pb, and Cr in 61 samples were measured. The contamination level was evaluated using six indices, namely sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), contamination factor (C f), geo-accumulation index (I geo), modified degree of contamination (mC d), potential ecological risk index (RI), and pollution load index (PLI), and their spatial distribution was determined through Kriging interpolation. The sources of heavy metals were defined using multivariate statistical analyses, namely Pearson's correlation analysis (P'CA), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA). The results show that Pb has the highest ecological risk, followed by Cr, Ni, and V, whereas Mn and Zn pose no risk. Mn and Zn mainly originate from natural processes, while Cr from anthropogenic process. V, Pb, and Ni are most likely from mixed sources. The ecological risk of heavy metals increases significantly when the Yellow River passes through the Loess Plateau. Furthermore, compared with SQGs and C f , the assessments of heavy metal contamination by I geo , RI, mC d and PLI are more objective and accurate. This study provides a powerful reference for contamination control and ecological security in the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, sensitive and reliable analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 22 common cephalosporins from the first generation to the fourth generation in pork muscle by liquid chromatographic–tandem mass spectrometric (LC–MS/MS) method. Under the optimized extraction conditions, samples were directly purified through membrane filtration to separate all 22 cephalosporins and the critical pairs of each parent drug were completely separated. Variables affecting the LC–MS/MS were optimized to get a better separation. The excellent selectivity and sensitivity achieved in multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode allowed satisfactory confirmation and quantitation for the 22 cephalosporins. The linear range of the 22 cephalosporins is 0.06–100.0 μg/L with good correlation coefficients (r 2 > 0.9920). The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) of these compounds were in the range 0.04–3.0 μg/L and 0.06–10.0 μg/kg, respectively. The average intra-day recoveries at 3 spiked levels (LOQ, 2LOQ, 4LOQ) were all in the range 83.6–113.0% with RSDs (n = 6) lower than 6.5%. The method of LC–MS/MS developed in this study was initially applied to the research of 22 cephalosporins in 12 retail pork samples and proved to be accurate, sensitive, minimum sample pre-treatment, convenient and practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The prediction bias is mainly caused by data imbalance. • Curriculum coefficients are useful for mining hard samples and improving model generalization. • Teacher-student network ensures unbiased glaucoma diagnoses and evidence map predictions. • The evidence map output by the student network can provide more detailed information. Glaucoma is a disease that causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve. Research on accurate automatic screening algorithms is essential for the prevention and treatment of glaucoma. However, due to the imbalance of existing datasets and the existence of some hard samples that accompany other diverse and complex fundus diseases, the performance of current glaucoma screening algorithms is limited. In addition, the lack of interpretability also makes it difficult for the current algorithms to meet the requirements of clinical applications. In this paper, we propose a new multitask curriculum learning framework (MTCLF) for unbiased glaucoma screenings and visualizations of model decision-making areas. MTCLF is a teacher-student framework. The teacher network is used to generate the label evidence map. The student network can diagnose glaucoma and predict the evidence map at the same time with the well-designed dual-branch CNN structure and collaborative learning module. We design two curriculum coefficients θ and σ to guide the training process of the student network in the sample space so that the student network can adaptively balance the sample contribution, reduce the prediction bias and mine hard samples. The experimental results show that the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, AUC and F 2 -score of MTCLF based on the LAG dataset for glaucoma diagnoses are 0.967, 0.961, 0.970, 0.996, and 0.958, respectively. These results are superior to those of the state-of-the-art methods. MTCLF not only achieves the best performance for unbiased glaucoma diagnoses but also generates a reliable evidence map to help clinicians explore fine lesion areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] An MFC was successfully started up using nitrite as cathodic electron acceptor. [•] The optimal HRT was deemed to be 8h in this study. [•] The suitable temperature for power generation was found to be 20°C. [•] The suitable temperature for pollutant removal was found to be 25°C. [•] Free buffer led to 50% decrease of TN removal rate and power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Computer-Aided Plant Design (CAPD) model characterizes its peculiar complex topology among a tremendous number of plant components under complex constraints rather than just geometrical shapes. Lots of watermarking schemes for CAD models have been proposed for geometrical information protection or authentication. However, in the literature, none of them has mentioned the problem of topology authentication for CAPD models yet. In this paper, a semi-fragile watermarking algorithm for topology authentication of CAPD models is presented. We first discuss the problem of topology authentication of CAPD models. Then a subset of the model’s connection points are selected as mark points, also called watermark carriers, according to the mark point selecting principle. We encode the topological relation among components into watermarks. Afterwards, the topology based watermarks are embedded in mark points to keep them in a predefined relationship with neighboring connection points so that any changes will ruin the relationship between marked connection points and neighboring connection points. To the best of our knowledge, our algorithm is the first semi-fragile and blind scheme that can authenticate and verify the topology of CAPD models. Experimental results show that our approach not only can detect and locate malicious topology attacks such as components modification and joint ends modification, but also is robust against various non-malicious attacks such as similarity transformations and simplification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: When fully-mechanized caving face passed fault, rock burst accidence easily occurred. The SOS microseism monitoring system was applied to monitor the microseismic activities all time occurred in the coal and rock mass near the fault area. Variation features of microseismic energy releasing and microseismic frequency were analyzed. Numerical simulation method was used to research the abutment stress distribution when coal face passed fault, which was compared with microseism occurrence rules. When the coal face approached to fault, the abutment stress increases gradually, so the high stress would accumulate near the fault region. When the coal face left fault, the abutment stress decreased. The SOS microseism monitoring results showed that microseismic activity in the fault area had a high instability. When the coal face neared to the fault, total energy value and frequency released by the microseism steadily increased. The maximum energy peak value also had the tendency to rapidly increase. Before the strong shock occurred, there was a period of weak seismic activity. The weak seismic activity showed energy accumulation for strong shock, which can be used to forecast the danger of rock burst. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ethylene is hazardous to the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. To extend shelf life, the accumulation of ethylene should be prevented. High-voltage electrostatic fields have been found to contribute to the removal of ethylene. To develop high-voltage electrostatic equipment for a storage room, the effects of electrode shape, initial ethylene concentration (IEC), and electrode voltage (EV) on high-voltage electrostatic equipment performance were studied. The ethylene removal rate of the needle–needle electrode was significantly higher than that of the needle–plate electrode. When the EV was -17 KV and the IEC was 200 ppm, ethylene in the gases of the exit tube could not be detected after 3–5 s. A mathematical model for the removal efficiency, IEC, and EV was established. The results can contribute to the development of an ethylene cleaner for storage rooms for fresh fruits and vegetables in commercial establishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argopecten irradians is one of the cultivated species of seafood in China. Frozen, dried, and vacuum-packaged scallops are the main processed forms of this species. Due to their high moisture content, vacuum-packaged scallops are perishable during storage; thus, accurately predicting shelf life according to the storage environment is particularly important for the seafood industry. Vacuum-packaged instant scallops stored at 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C were used in the current study. Total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), pH, water activity, color, hardness, and microbiological composition were ascertained during storage. Based on the 10-point hedonic scale, the shelf lives of instant scallops stored at 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C were 96, 78, 60, 42, and 32 days, respectively. Using the Arrhenius equation, a mathematic model based on storage temperature, TVB-N, and storage time was established. The Ea and k0 values were 51 kJ/mol and 3.96 × 106. The model can be used to predict the shelf life for any given temperature-time profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: MicroRNAs control a wide array of biological processes including cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis whose dysregulation is a hallmark of cancer. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is overexpressed in many cancers including glioblastoma and contributes to tumor resistance to chemotherapy. We investigated whether miR-21 mediated chemoresistance to the chemotherapeutic agent VM-26 in glioblastoma cells and sought to identify the candidate target genes for miR-21 by gene expression profiling. Here we report that miR-21 was involved in mediating chemoresistance to VM-26 in glioblastoma cells. Suppression of miR-21 by specific antisense oligonucleotides in glioblastoma cell U373 MG led to enhanced cytotoxicities of VM-26 against U373 MG cells. We further identified and validated LRRFIP1, whose product is an inhibitor of NF-κB signaling, as a direct target gene of miR-21. Our findings suggest that miR-21 represents a promising target for therapeutic manipulation to increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents in treating glioblastoma, a highly lethal type of cancer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The economic and environmental aspects of energy production have become important due to the increasing complexity energy sector and envoirnmental pollution, warranting to test the connection between financial imbalances, energy prices and carbon emission. The study aims to test the impact of vertical fiscal imbalances (VFI) on energy prices and carbon emission trends by considering the dual-perspectives of environmental regulation and industrial structure. The empirical outcomes indicated that vertical fiscal imbalances limited the environmental quality of Pakistan. Furthermore, VFI also caused environmental degradation by affecting industrial structure. VFI inhibits the intensity of environmental regulation, promotes the upgrade of industrial structures, both of which cause additional carbon emissions. The study suggest to energy ministries and energy regulation offices to revisit the machinism of energy prices determination and revised machanisim should provide a user-friendly assessment to understand the actual costs associated with the rising concern of environmental pollution. By this, envoirnmental protection maximization and optimal energy conservation is expacted to increase. Based on empirical findings, the study extends the suggestion that vertical fiscal imbalances should be considered an active indicator by the key policy makers and other stakeholders for energy prices determination and environmental quality upgradation. • Vertical fiscal imbalances can lead to environmental degradation by affecting both environmental regulation and industrial structure. • Vertical fiscal imbalances have a significant impact on carbon emission patterns. • A positively significant coefficient of foreign direct investment supports that it increases the level of carbon emissions. • Energy prices do not reflect the level of environmental damages, significant changes in the environment and fuel-based transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Boron nitride (BN) nanometer films are synthesized on Si(100) substrates by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The surfaces of BN films are treated with hydrogen and oxygen plasma, respectively and studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, atomic force microscopic (AFM) and field emission characteristics. The results show that the surface negative electron affinity (NEA) of the films is increased, the threshold field reduced and the emission current increased due to hydrogen plasma treatment. The effect of oxygen plasma treatment on field emission characteristics of BN films is obscure. The result shows that only the emission current is slightly decreased due to the surface oxidation of BN films. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Boron nitride (BN) nanometer thin films are synthesized on Si (1 0 0) substrates by RF reactive magnetron sputtering. Then the film surfaces are treated in the case of the base pressure below 5 × 10-4 Pa and the temperature of 800 and 1000 °C, respectively. And the films are studied by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), atomic force microscopic (AFM) and field emission characteristics at different annealing temperature. The results show that the surface heat treatment makes no apparent influence on the surface morphology of the BN films. The transformations of the sample emission characteristics have to do with the surface negative electron affinity (NEA) of the films possibly. The threshold electric fields are lower for BN samples without heat-treating than the treated films, which possibly ascribed to the surface negative electron affinity effect. A threshold field of 8 V/μm and the emission current of 80 μA are obtained. The surface NEA is still presence at the heat treatment temperature of 800 °C and disappeared at temperature of 1000 °C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mechanised harvesting of sugarcane can significantly reduce harvesting costs and improve efficiency. However, there are currently issues with poor chopping performance and significant losses of sugarcane juice. This study aimed to investigate the chopping and damage mechanisms of sugarcane and improve the performance of the chopping system through kinematic and dynamic analysis and finite element simulation. Firstly, the factors affecting the chopping performance and causing sugarcane damage were studied by establishing the kinematics and dynamics models of the chopper. The types of sugarcane damage and sugarcane fragments were summarised. Then, a finite element model of the chopping system was built. An anisotropic and nonlinear material model for sugarcane was developed using Fortran. The transient process of chopping was analyzed by the explicit dynamic analysis method, and the chopping and damage mechanism of sugarcane was revealed. The results indicated that a smaller thickness and bevel angle of blade led to a shorter chopping time and a smoother chopping surface. The upper and lower blades of the chopper had unequal axial chopping depths, which was the primary cause of sugarcane damage. The rotational speed ratio of conveying roller to chopping roller and the blade thickness affected step degree of chopping surface. Finally, the chopping system was improved according to the theoretical and simulation analysis results. Experimental results showed that the damage rate decreased by 6.8%, 12.2%, and 12.6% respectively, and the loss rate decreased by 8.1%, 13.9%, and 21.8%, respectively, when the feed rate was 1, 2, and 3 kg s−1. The study results provide a reference for the design and optimization of sugarcane harvester's chopping system. • Kinematics and dynamics of sugarcane chopping process were analyzed. • The types of sugarcane damage and fragments were summarised. • Chopping and damage mechanism of sugarcane were analyzed by finite element method. • Proposed suggestions for improving the chopping system and verified by tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent Innovation Capability of High-Tech Enterprises Based on the attributes of cutting edge endeavours, the foundation of a suitable assessment record framework for the limit of cutting edge ventures' autonomous advancement capacities, utilizing the information originates from, and afterward the far reaching positioning of free development abilities of various undertakings area is accomplished through composite score figuring. Machine Learning algorithmic climate and related movement image arrangement. In method our strategy depends on the utilization of Inception to remove different movement classes of highlights and neural organizations. Volleyball, badminton, and have been utilized for investigation and grouping. So as to check the adequacy of the system and, correlation has been finished with different groupings like Random Forest, and Machine Learning The outcomes show that the degree of free advancement capacity of ventures in our area isn't high, separated. At long last, as indicated by the consequences of the investigation, we set forward some Camille measures and give a few proposals to expand autonomous advancement capacity. Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based equipment and programming drives keen calculations to handle these utilizing temperature and dampness sensor test information. This strategy actualizes a mechanical Internet of Things framework and shows of the measure of FPGA in equipment assets, diminishing a huge exhibition and asset use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugarcane harvester extractors are used to separate impurities during mechanical harvesting and their performance directly determines the impurity content of sugarcane billets. In this study, computational fluid mechanics (CFD) was used to analyse the flow field near the impeller of original design of extractor. The SST k-ω model and realisable k-ε model were used to calculate the turbulence in 2D and 3D flow fields respectively. The simulation results of 2D models showed that sharply shape from the leading to trailing edges of the original blade design could cause more energy losses. An improved blade design with smoother leading edge and trailing edges had improved performance with a maximum lift coefficient increased by 28.7%. 3D simulation results showed that when the fan speed was 1050 rpm, 1350 rpm and 1650 rpm respectively, the total pressure efficiency of the improved extractor was 11.45%, 9.03% and 6.7% higher than the original extractor, respectively. Impurity content experiments showed that when the feed rate was 1 kg s−1, 2 kg s−1 and 3 kg s−1, compared with the original extractor, the impurity content of the improved extractor decreased by 0.46, 0.41 and 0.71 percentage points at most. The results showed that the impurity content and energy consumption of the improved extractor was less than that of the original design of extractor. • Study proposes improvement method of extractor blade using CFD. • Improvements suggested by CFD models verified by experiment. • Blade modified by simple changes improved aerodynamic performance of extractor. • Modified blade enhanced cleaning performance and energy utilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Mg-Zn-Y-Nd alloy micro-tubes with an outer diameter of φ2.46 mm and a wall thickness of 0.14 mm were successfully prepared using an improved technique including hot extrusion with water cooling, multi-pass cold drawing and final annealing treatment. The outer diameter error, inner diameter error and wall thickness error of the cold drawn micro-tubes were 0.58%, 0.36% and 3.43%, respectively. After final annealing at 350 °C for 60 min, the micro-tubes showed refined microstructure with an average grain size of 8.6 μm, a weak texture of the rare earth texture or recrystallization texture, and homogeneously distributed fine second phase particles. The annealed micro-tubes exhibited significantly improved mechanical properties with a yield strength of 240.1 ± 6.0 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 319.9 ± 6.0 MPa and a breaking elongation of 22.2 ± 1.0%. Meanwhile, the typical characteristic of ductile morphology could be observed for the fractured specimens. In addition, the annealed micro-tubes also had better corrosion resistance and showed a uniform corrosion morphology. • The thin-walled Mg alloy micro-tubes were prepared by an improved method. • The rare earth texture and recrystallization texture were formed in the annealed microtube. • The annealed micro-tubes showed weakened texture. • High strength and large elongation of the annealed micro-tubes were achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporosis, which manifests as reduced bone mass and deteriorated bone quality, is common in the elderly population. It is characterized by persistent elevation of macrophage-associated inflammation and active osteoclast bone resorption. Currently, the roles of intracellular metabolism in regulating these processes remain unclear. In this study, we initially performed bioinformatics analysis and observed a significant increase in the proportion of M1 macrophages in bone marrow with aging. Further metabolomics analysis demonstrated a notable reduction in the expression of carnitine metabolites in aged macrophages, while carnitine was not detected in osteoclasts. During the differentiation process, osteoclasts took up carnitine synthesized by macrophages to regulate their own activity. Mechanistically, carnitine enhanced the function of Nrf2 by inhibiting the Keap1-Nrf2 interaction, reducing the proteasome-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of Nrf2. In silico molecular ligand docking analysis of the interaction between carnitine and Keap1 showed that carnitine binds to Keap1 to stabilize Nrf2 and enhance its function. In this study, we found that the decrease in carnitine levels in aging macrophages causes overactivation of osteoclasts, ultimately leading to osteoporosis. A decrease in serum carnitine levels in patients with osteoporosis was found to have good diagnostic and predictive value. Moreover, supplementation with carnitine was shown to be effective in the treatment of osteoporosis. Carnitine activates Nrf2 in macrophage by inhibiting Keap1-Nrf2 protein-protein interaction (PPI), which further exerts anti-osteoporosis effects. In addition, carnitine serves a diagnostic indicator for osteoporosis. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The K sat of Zn-contaminated loess increases with time, while a decreasing trend for Cu-contaminated loess. • The hydrolysis of Zn2+ and the DDL effect are beneficial to the development of water passage. • The Cu 2 O precipitation in the Cu-contaminated loess is the main controlling factor for the weakening of pore connectivity. • The relationship among geochemical action, microstructure evolution, and seepage behavior of heavy-metal contaminated loess is revealed. Heavy metal contamination in soils can pose severe challenges to the safety of geotechnical engineering projects. Loess, which is widely distributed in Northwest China, is a preferred engineering construction material for anti-fouling barriers. Therefore, research on the influence of heavy metal ions on its seepage performance is urgently required. To obtain new insights into the seepage behavior of heavy metal-contaminated loess and its underlying geochemical mechanism, laboratory investigations were performed on the saturated hydraulic conductivity (K sat), leaching, and microstructural characteristics of loess contaminated with Cu2+ and Zn2+. The results indicate that the hydrolysis of Zn2+ creates an acidic environment, which promotes the dissolution of carbonate minerals in loess, enhances the leaching capacity, and leads to the quantitative transformation of small pores (2–8 μm) to mesopores (8–32 μm). Meanwhile, the alternating adsorption of Zn2+ and its diffuse double-layer effect compresses the diffusion layer, increasing the abundance of free water channels. Thus, the K sat of Zn-contaminated loess increases by 81.2% during the seepage period. As for Cu-contaminated loess, its seepage behavior is the opposite of that of Zn-contaminated loess, with a K sat decrease of nearly 50%. The primary factor controlling this phenomenon is the formation and enrichment of Cu 2 O in the lower part of the soil, which inhibits the enlargement of pores and reduces the effective connectivity of pores. The findings of this work provide insight into the seepage behavior of saturated loess under erosion by heavy metals and the underlying geochemical mechanism thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In this study, to provide a theoretical basis for understanding the clinical characteristics of epiphyseal fractures in children and improving their management, we explored and analyzed the proportions of different types of epiphyseal fractures in children and evaluated the causes of injury and epidemiological characteristics. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed children younger than 18 years with fresh epiphyseal fractures who were admitted to our hospital from July 2015 to February 2020. Demographic information, injury mechanisms, fracture characteristics, fracture classification and surgical information were collected. Results: A total of 1124 pediatric patients (1147 epiphyseal fractures), including 789 boys and 335 girls, were included in this study. Epiphyseal fractures were classified as Salter-Harris type II (1002 cases), type IV (105 cases), type III (25 cases), Salter-Harris type I (14 cases), and Salter-Harris type V (1 case). The number of fracture sites peaked in the adolescent group (440 cases). The most three common sites of epiphyseal fractures were the distal radius (460 cases) in which Salter-Harris type II fractures were the most common (454 cases) and Salter-Harris type I (3 cases), Salter-Harris type IV (2 cases), Salter-Harris type III was the least common (1 case). Followed by phalanges of fingers (233 cases) in which Salter-Harris type II fractures were the most common (224 cases) and Salter-Harris type IV (4 cases), Salter-Harris type I (3 cases), Salter-Harris type III fractures were the least common (2 cases). Distal humerus (146 cases) in which Salter-Harris type II fractures were the most common (95 cases), followed by Salter-Harris type IV (49 cases), Salter-Harris type I fractures were the least common (2 cases). The most three important causes of fractures were falls (720 patients), car accident injuries (68 patients), and basketball falls (43 patients). Among the 1124 children with epiphyseal fractures, 1058 were treated mainly by surgery and the ratio of open and closed reduction was 1:5.3. Eighty-eight patients showed an interval > 72 h between the injury and the hospital visit. Among these 88 patients, the most common fracture type was distal radial epiphyseal fracture (32 cases), and all fractures were of Salter-Harris type II. Conclusions: The epidemiological characteristics of epiphyseal fractures in children indicate the need to strengthen health and safety education and protective measures to prevent the occurrence of these fractures in children. In addition, emergency surgeons and orthopedic surgeons in general hospitals should strengthen their basic knowledge of diagnosing and treating epiphyseal injuries in children to reduce missed diagnoses, misdiagnoses or malpractice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed reality can overlay and display 3D digital content in the real world, convey abstract concepts to users, and promote the understanding of complex tasks. However, the abstract graphics overlaid on the physical space may cause a certain cognitive load for local users and reduce the efficiency of collaboration. To improve the efficiency of remote collaboration, we conducted an elicitation study on assembly tasks, explored the user needs for collaboration, and defined the design goals of our remote collaboration method. Inspired by the mirror-neuron mechanism, we present an imitative collaboration method that allows local users to imitate the interaction behavior of remote users to complete tasks. We also propose a series of interaction methods for remote users to select, copy, and interact with the local point clouds to facilitate the expression of collaboration intentions. Finally, the results of a user study evaluating our imitative collaboration method on assembly tasks are reported, confirming that our method improves collaboration efficiency while reducing the cognitive load of local users. • We present a mirror-neuron inspired mixed reality collaboration method. • We propose interaction methods to enhance the expression of collaboration intentions. • We develop a prototype for our collaboration method and conduct a user study. • The results show that our imitative collaboration method increases efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a marine dual fuel diesel engine fueled with the natural gas (NG: 60%, 70% and 80%) ignited by the biodiesel-diesel blended fuel (25%, 50% and 75% biodiesel by volume) was studied under different conditions. Based on the experiment, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was established, and an improved chemical kinetic mechanism was developed to simulate the fuel spray process and combustion process. The ignition, combustion and emission characteristics of diesel engine fueled with different blended fuels were investigated under different load conditions. In addition, the temperature sensitivity of methane mole fraction with different NG energy fractions was analyzed at the 800 K and 1000 K. The results showed that the additions of NG and biodiesel in the blended fuel had a significant effect on the combustion and emission characteristics of the diesel engine. The starting of combustion (SOC) of the dual fuel engine lagged with the increases of NG and biodiesel content. The maximum enhancement of SOC reached 0.72°CA. The biggest influence on temperature was R122, which was the main reason for the shorter ignition delay during the combustion process. In all cases, NO x , CO and soot emissions decreased with increasing NG energy fraction. The maximum values of NO x , CO and soot emissions reached 1590 ppm, 461 ppm and 1.42 E−07 kg. Considering the combustion and emission characteristics of the engine, the best fuel blending ratio was EF80-B25. • A marine dual fuel diesel engine fueled with the natural gas ignited by the biodiesel-diesel blended fuel is investigated. • An improved 3D model and chemical kinetics mechanism are developed. • The optimum fuel mixture ratio of diesel engine is obtained. • The temperature sensitivity of methane mole fraction with different NG energy fractions is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the factors influencing and long-term effects of manual myotomy (MM) occurring during physiotherapy for congenital muscular torticollis (CMT).Methods: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of children with CMT receiving physiotherapy between 2008 and 2018. The children were divided into manual myotomy (MM) and non-manual myotomy (NMM) groups according to whether MM occurred during treatment. We assessed physiotherapy outcomes in children with CMT using craniofacial asymmetry parameters and the Cheng-Tang rating score. By measuring the ear-eye distance, ear-nose distance, eye-mouth distance, ear-mouth distance, half-head circumference, and half-head top at two sides to evaluate craniofacial asymmetry. Based on the Cheng-Tang assessment criteria, we recorded the range of rotation, range of lateral flexion, the status of the contracted muscle, the hardness of the mass, the extent of head tilting during activities and sleeping, the status of daily activities, face size, type of head shape, cranial changes, and subjective head tilting to assess the effectiveness of treatment. Clinical data and outcome indicators (craniofacial asymmetry parameters and Cheng-Tang rating score) were compared.Results: The MM group had a significantly higher total Cheng-Tang rating score than the NMM group (P < 0.05). Age at initial physiotherapy session was the risk factor for MM during physiotherapy.Conclusion: Children with CMT developing MM during physiotherapy generally have a good outcome, although we do not recommend MM as a goal of treatment. Physiotherapists should understand this phenomenon, assess relevant factors to predict risk, and carefully observe treatment to prevent possible complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular ATP plays a key role in regulating plants stress responses. Here, we aimed to determine whether ATP can alleviate the glyphosate toxicity in maize seedlings under high temperature by regulating antioxidant responses. Foliar spraying with 100 μM glyphosate inhibited the growth of maize seedlings at room temperature (25 °C), leading to an increase in shikimic acid accumulation and oxidative stress (evaluated via lipid peroxidation, free proline, and H 2 O 2 content) in the leaves, all of which were further exacerbated by high temperature (35 °C). The growth inhibition and oxidative stress caused by glyphosate were both alleviated by exogenous ATP. Moreover, the glyphosate-induced antioxidant enzyme activity and antioxidant accumulation were attenuated by high temperature, while ATP treatment reversed this inhibitory effect. Similarly, qPCR data showed that the relative expression levels of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (CAT1 , GR1 , and γ-ECS) in maize leaves were upregulated by ATP before exposure to GLY. Moreover, high temperature-enhanced GLY residue accumulation in maize leaves was reduced by ATP. ATP-induced detoxification was attenuated through NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibition. Higher NOX activities and O 2 •− production were noted in ATP-treated maize leaves compared to controls prior to GLY treatment, indicating that the extracellular ATP-induced alleviation of GLY toxicity was closely associated with NOX-dependent reactive oxygen species signalling. The current findings present a new approach for reducing herbicide toxicity in crops exposed to high temperatures. [Display omitted] • High temperatures aggravate glyphosate toxicity in maize seedlings. • ATP treatment alleviates glyphosate toxicity in maize seedlings. • ATP triggers the detoxification system in maize leaves. • ATP promotes glyphosate degradation in maize leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dilated convolutions ensure better feature transfer and accurate classification that result in a sensitivity boost. • Dilated convolutions serve as the main constituents of decoder, encoder blocks and skip connections. • Dilated convolutions of different rates are more effective at capturing dynamically complex blood vessels. • Proposed Weighted multi-output fusion retrieves high fidelity vascular map by extracting critical features from each output block. Retinal image segmentation can help clinicians detect pathological disorders by studying changes in retinal blood vessels. This early detection can help prevent blindness and many other vision impairments. So far, several supervised and unsupervised methods have been proposed for the task of automatic blood vessel segmentation. However, the sensitivity and the robustness of these methods can be improved by correctly classifying more vessel pixels. We proposed an automatic, retinal blood vessel segmentation method based on the U-net architecture. This end-to-end framework utilizes preprocessing and a data augmentation pipeline for training. The architecture utilizes multiscale input and multioutput modules with improved skip connections and the correct use of dilated convolutions for effective feature extraction. In multiscale input, the input image is scaled down and concatenated with the output of convolutional blocks at different points in the encoder path to ensure the feature transfer of the original image. The multioutput module obtains upsampled outputs from each decoder block that are combined to obtain the final output. Skip paths connect each encoder block with the corresponding decoder block, and the whole architecture utilizes different dilation rates to improve the overall feature extraction. The proposed method achieved an accuracy: of 0.9680, 0.9694, and 0.9701; sensitivity of 0.8837, 0.8263, and 0.8713; and Intersection Over Union (IOU) of 0.8698, 0.7951, and 0.8184 with three publicly available datasets: DRIVE, STARE, and CHASE, respectively. An ablation study is performed to show the contribution of each proposed module and technique. The evaluation metrics revealed that the performance of the proposed method is higher than that of the original U-net and other U-net-based architectures, as well as many other state-of-the-art segmentation techniques, and that the proposed method is robust to noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fractures are the most common type of unintentional injury in children, with traumatic upper limb fractures accounting for approximately 80% of all childhood fractures. Many epidemiological investigations of upper limb fractures in children have been conducted, but with the development of society, the patterns of childhood fractures may have changed. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiology and economic cost factors of upper limb fractures in Chinese children. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed children with upper limb fractures or old upper limb fractures hospitalized between December 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, in 22 tertiary children's hospitals, under China's Futang Research Center of Pediatric Development. We used the ICD10 codes on the front sheet of their medical records to identify cases and extracted data on age, sex, injury cause, fracture site, treatment, the year of admission and discharge, visiting time, and various costs during hospitalization from the medical record. Results: A total of 32,439 children (21,478 boys and 10,961 girls) were identified, of whom 32,080 had fresh fractures and 359 had old fractures. The peak age was 3–6 years in both sexes. A total of 4788 were infants, 14,320 were preschoolers, 10,499 were in of primary school age, and 2832 were adolescent. Fractures were most frequent in autumn (August to October). Admissions peaked at 0 o'clock. Among the 32,080 children with fresh upper limb fractures, the most common fracture site was the distal humerus, with a total of 20,090 fracture events including 13,134 humeral supracondylar fractures and 4914 lateral humeral condyle fractures. The most common cause of injuries was falling over. The most common joint dislocation accompanying upper limb fractures occurred in the elbow, involving 254 cases. Surgery was performed in 31,274 children, and 806 did not receive surgery. Among those with clear operative records, 10,962 children were treated with open reduction and 18,066 with closed reduction. The number of cases was largest in the East China region (Anhui Province, Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, and Fujian Province), with 12,065 cases overall. Among the 359 children with old fractures, 118 were admitted with a diagnosis of "old humerus fracture," accounting for the highest proportion; 244 underwent surgical open reduction, 16.16% of whom had osteotomy. For the children with fresh fractures, the average total hospital cost was 10,994 yuan, and the highest average total hospital cost was 14,053 yuan, for humeral shaft fractures. For the children with old fractures, the average total hospital cost was 15,151 yuan, and the highest average total hospital cost was 20,698 yuan, for old ulna fractures. Cost of materials was the principle factor affecting total hospital cost, followed by surgery and anesthesia costs, both in children with fresh fractures and those with old fractures. Significant differences were observed in all hospital costs (P < 0.001) except treatment costs (P = 0.702), between children with fresh fractures and those with old fractures. Among the 32,439 children, full self-payment accounted for the highest proportion of all payment methods, involving 17,088 cases, with an average cost of 11,111 yuan. Conclusion: Information on the epidemiological characteristics of childhood fractures suggests that health and safety education and protective measures should be strengthened to prevent upper limb fractures in children. For both fresh and old fractures, the cost of materials was the principal factor affecting total hospital cost, followed by surgery and anesthesia costs. The overall average total hospital cost is higher in children with old fractures than in children with fresh fractures. Among all children, full self-payment, at 53% of children, accounted for the highest proportion of all payment methods. Hospital costs are a headache for those families who will pay on their own. It can lead to a delayed treatment and unhealed fractures or malunion in some children. Therefore, the child trauma care system and training on fractures need to be improved, to reduce the late presentation of fractures. These combined measures will improve children's quality of life, reduce the expenditure of families, and decrease the public health burden. To provide better medical services for children, authorities must improve the allocation of health resources, establish a comprehensive medical security system for children, and set up more child trauma centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-world point cloud objects pose great challenges in point cloud classification as objects acquired by scanning devices from real-world scans are often cluttered with background, and are partial due to occlusions as well as reconstruction errors. In the literature, few works tackle the problem of real-world point cloud classification while existing methods require fully point-level annotated training samples. However, large-scale dense point-level foreground–background labeling for real-world point clouds is a labor-intensive and time-consuming job. Leveraging two auxiliary modules, called semi-supervised point-level pseudo labels generation and noise-robust multi-task loss, the framework can integrate well with existing supervised point cloud classification network. A relational graph convolutional network on the local and non-local graph (PointRGCN) is first proposed to predict point-level foreground–background pseudo labels for each object with sparse ground-truth point-level foreground–background labels in training datasets. Then, a weakly supervised classification network, which combines with an auxiliary foreground–background segmentation branch, is employed to classify real-world point clouds. To cope with noise-containing point-level foreground–background labels generated above, a noise-robust multi-task loss is proposed to train the network accurately. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed framework which is trained with only 1% point-level labels is comparable with many popular or state-of-the-art fully supervised methods. The source code will be available at http://zhiyongsu.github.io. [Display omitted] • A novel weakly supervised framework for real-world point cloud classification. • A local and non-local graph based relational graph convolutional network (PointRGCN). • A noise-robust multi-task loss combining classification and segmentation losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease characterized by cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone remodelling. Currently, conservative treatment strategies cannot effectively alleviate the progression of OA. In this study, we used computer network analysis to show that Nitisinone (NTBC) is closely related to extracellular matrix degradation in OA and mainly interferes with the TNF-α signaling pathway. NTBC is an orphan drug used to treat hereditary type I tyrosinemia by altering phenylalanine/tyrosine metabolic flow. In this study, we found that NTBC effectively reduced chondrocyte inflammation and extracellular matrix degradation induced by TNF-α. Mechanistically, NTBC inhibited the cGAS/STING signaling pathway and reduced activation of the STING-dependent NF-κB pathway to alleviate inflammation. In addition, NTBC inhibited osteoclastogenesis and delayed the occurrence of subchondral bone remodelling. In mice with ACLT-induced osteoarthritis, intra-articular injection of NTBC significantly reduced cartilage degradation and subchondral bone remodelling. NTBC showed impressive therapeutic efficacy as a potential pharmaceutical intervention for the treatment of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of sugarcane top anti-tangling in the silage industry is based on mechanical properties, but there have been no studies on variables and models that can be used to predict them. The aim of this study was to examine how the physical properties, microstructure, and chemical composition of sugarcane top stems, leaves, and veins impact their mechanical properties and evaluate their role in entanglement within the silage industry. This study was carried out by using Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) to analyze the relationship and the influence level between the influencing factors (number of segments, diameter (width), segment distance, density, water content, hemicellulose content, cellulose content, and lignin content) and the mechanical property (tensile strength) of sugarcane tops. The results showed that the determination coefficients of tensile strength on stems, leaves, and veins were 0.9498, 0.9503, and 0.9457 by regression fitting, respectively. The RPD of the prediction model was greater than 3 and the RSEP was all less than 5%, which indicated that the model had a high prediction accuracy. It showed that the influencing factors and the mathematical model can be used to build the mechanical model of sugarcane tops, which was the basis for obtaining the data needed to study the anti-tangling of mechanical equipment. • Anti-tangling problems in the sugarcane top silage industry were analyzed. • Sugarcane tops were studied in a multi-scale and multi-faceted manner. • The factors rank influence the tensile properties of sugarcane tops were obtained. • The determination coefficients were 0.9498, 0.9503, and 0.9457, respectively. • The RPD of the prediction model was greater than 3 and the RSEP was less than 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Topology authentication for computer-aided plant design (CAPD) models features intrinsically complex topological relations. This study investigates a semi-fragile watermarking scheme for CAPD models represented by parametric solids, which offers a solution to the problem of topology authentication. We first analyze the geometrical and topological structures of CAPD models. Then, we propose an effective semi-fragile watermarking method for topology authentication, which is based on Laplacian coordinates and quantization index modulation (QIM), against several attacks. We compute the custom Laplacian coordinate vector for each marked connection point according to the topological relation among joint plant components. The topology-based watermark for each marked connection point is generated from selected attributes of its joint plant component. Watermarks are inserted into the coordinates of marked connection points by adjusting the lengths of their Laplacian coordinate vectors. Both experimental results and theoretical analysis demonstrate that our approach can not only detect and locate malicious topology attacks, such as component modification and joint ends modification, but is also robust against various non-malicious attacks, such as similarity transformations and level-of-detail (LOD). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is not yet a standard drug regimen for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Here, we summarize our experience and successful treatment plan with a critical COVID-19 patient who required mechanical ventilation (MV). A 56-year-old man presented with a fever, cough, and dyspnea. He had not been to a medium/high risk epidemic area in the past year and had no family history of a disease cluster. COVID-19 was suspected based on clinical symptoms and radiologically detected ground-glass lung changes in the context of a normal white blood cell count (WBCC) and lymphocyte fraction (L%). A diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by nucleic acid testing. Initially, he was started on noninvasive ventilation (NIV). Because his respiratory distress worsened over the following 2 h, he was transitioned to mechanical ventilation (MV), placed in prone positioning 12 h/day, and given a multi-pronged pharmacotherapy regimen that included an antiviral cocktail (lopinavir/ritonavir plus α-interferon), an immunity enhancer (thymosin α1), an anti-coagulant to prevent thrombosis (heparin). He was given an antibiotic to treat an opportunistic nosocomial infection. The patient has recovered well. The regimen applied in this case of timely evaluation, early prone positioning with MV, and a multi-pronged pharmacotherapy may be an effective strategy for patients with critical COVID-19, particularly with respect to preventing life-threatening worsening of the illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimetastatic effect of Metformin has been documented in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Presently, we investigated the regulatory mechanism of Metformin in EOC metastasis. First, Girdin was significantly enhanced in EOC tumorous tissues and cell lines. Seconded, knockdown of Girdin significantly suppressed EOC cell viability, migration, and invasion, while upregulation of Girdin produced the opposite effects in vitro and facilitated lung metastasis in EOC cell xenograft in vivo. In addition, we confirmed that the inhibitory effect of Metformin on Girdin expression. Mechanistically, the oncogenic effects of Girdin could be reversed by LY294002 (an AKT pathway inhibitor) and Metformin. These results suggested that Metformin attenuated EOC metastasis through Girdin and targeting Girdin may be a promising therapeutic strategy for EOC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the development and procession of liver fibrosis, peroxisome proliferator - activated receptor (PPAR) &$945; and γ are in charge of the regulation of lipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, anti - liver fibrosis, etc., and are closely related to fat metabolism - related enzymes. As a key enzyme in fat metabolism, acyl - CoA synthetase long - chain family member 1 (ACSL1) is involved in lipid synthesis and catabolism and then causes lipid deposition and inflammation in the liver, so it directly or indirectly promotes hepatic fibrosis. The biological functions and roles of PPAR α and γ and ACSL1 are reviewed ; the action mechanisms of PPAR a and Y in the transcriptional regulation of ACSL1 are briefly described ; the regulatory effects of PPAR a and Y on ACSL1 and their effects on the progression of hepatic fibrosis are analyzed from the aspects of liver lipid metabolism and hepatic stellate cell activation. It is pointed out that in the liver PPAR a and γ are directly or indirectly involved in the progression of hepatic fibrosis by regulating ACSL1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitochondria are cellular energy factory, having an essential role in cellular metabolism. Furthermore, abnormal changes in mitochondrial viscosity have been confirmed to be closely related to many diseases. Therefore, the development of probe that responsive to mitochondrial viscosity and its application in mitochondrial viscosity measurement is considered to be a new tool for understanding diseases. In this paper, a mitochondrial viscosity probe (DICB) with a large Stokes shift (214–253 nm) was designed and synthesized by modifying the structure of the carbazole fluorophore. The probe DICB has a favorable responsive to viscosity in the near-infrared (NIR) region (703 nm). In the water-glycerol system (0.893 cP −945 cP), the fluorescence intensity of DICB at 703 nm has a 74 times increase; in the range of 5.041 cP-856.0 cp, it has a well linear fitting relationship. Meantime, the probe has excellent sensitivity to viscosity. The probe (DICB) has been confirmed to be able to detect changes of mitochondrial viscosity in cell models induced by nystatin, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS); it has also been validated that DICB can be used in the process of autophagy to monitor mitochondrial viscosity. More importantly, DICB can be applied to the detection of abnormal mitochondrial viscosity in inflammatory tissues at the biological level. The outstanding characteristics of DICB for mitochondrial viscosity detection are not only of great importance to the development of viscosity probes, but also provides a universal strategy to study the relationship between inflammatory and mitochondrial viscosity. Image 1 • A mitochondrial viscosity response NIR fluorescence probe DICB was synthesized. • Large Stokes shift of 214–253 nm, selectivity, sensitivity, stability. • Monitoring the mitochondrial viscosity of mitophagy dynamically. • Accurate determination mitochondrial viscosity of inflamed tissues in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a fresh look at the image authentication problem and proposes an alternative framework for personalized authentication based on the hash learning technology. Conventional image authentication methods tend to provide a general authentication framework for all images with the fixed quantization strategy and fixed control parameters determined based on given limited images and attacks. However, they may suffer from more or less misjudgments in practice, not to mention performance degradation when encountering out-of-sample images. Instead of proposing a new feature extraction algorithm, a novel personalized authentication framework which incorporates the distance metric learning technology and supervised quantization strategy to the process of image authentication is proposed in this paper. The tamper detection task is reformulated as a new supervised manipulation classification problem. For each input image, various content-preserving and content-changing samples are generated automatically firstly. Then, feature representations of all samples can be obtained by existing feature extraction methods. After that, a weighted large margin for manipulation classification (WLMMC) scheme is proposed to learn an effective feature mapping space to improve the classification performance between content-changing samples and content-preserving samples. During the quantization stage, a novel supervised personalized quantization strategy (SPQ), which is motivated by the observation that different attacks have different degrees of influence on feature components, is proposed to learn more compact yet discriminative binary codes for each input image. Effectiveness of the proposed framework is qualitatively and quantitatively demonstrated on a variety of images. Extensive experiments show that the proposed framework can significantly improve the authentication performance over the state-of-the-art techniques while achieve more compact hash codes flexibly as required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the development and procession of liver fibrosis, peroxisome proliferator - activated receptor (PPAR) a and Y are in charge of the regulation of lipid metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, anti - liver fibrosis, etc., and are closely related to fat metabolism - related enzymes. As a key enzyme in fat metabolism, acyl - CoA synthetase long - chain family member 1 ( ACSL1 ) is involved in lipid synthesis and catabolism and then causes lipid deposition and inflammation in the liver, so it directly or indirectly promotes hepatic fibrosis. The biological functions and roles of PPAR α and β and ACSL1 are reviewed ; the action mechanisms of PPAR α and β in the transcriptional regulation of ACSL1 are briefly described ; the regulatory effects of PPAR α and βon ACSL1 and their effects on the progression of hepatic fibrosis are analyzed from the aspects of liver lipid metabolism and hepatic stellate cell activation. It is pointed out that in the liver PPAR α and βare directly or indirectly involved in the progression of hepatic fibrosis by regulating ACSL1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is not yet a standard drug regimen for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Here, we summarize our experience and successful treatment plan with a critical COVID-19 patient who required mechanical ventilation (MV). A 56-year-old man presented with a fever, cough, and dyspnea. He had not been to a medium/high risk epidemic area in the past year and had no family history of a disease cluster. COVID-19 was suspected based on clinical symptoms and radiologically detected ground-glass lung changes in the context of a normal white blood cell count (WBCC) and lymphocyte fraction (L%). A diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by nucleic acid testing. Initially, he was started on noninvasive ventilation (NIV). Because his respiratory distress worsened over the following 2 h, he was transitioned to mechanical ventilation (MV), placed in prone positioning 12 h/day, and given a multi-pronged pharmacotherapy regimen that included an antiviral cocktail (lopinavir/ritonavir plus α-interferon), an immunity enhancer (thymosin α1), an anti-coagulant to prevent thrombosis (heparin). He was given an antibiotic to treat an opportunistic nosocomial infection. The patient has recovered well. The regimen applied in this case of timely evaluation, early prone positioning with MV, and a multi-pronged pharmacotherapy may be an effective strategy for patients with critical COVID-19, particularly with respect to preventing life-threatening worsening of the illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the effects of the Hedysarum multijugum Maxim.-Radix Salviae compound (Huangqi-Danshen Compound (HDC)) on oxidative capacity and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with diabetic cardiomyopathy by a network pharmacology-based strategy. Methods. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)@Taiwan, TCM Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), TCM Integrated Database (TCMID), and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) technology were used to obtain and screen HDC's active components, and the PharmMapper database was used to predict HDC human target protein targets. The DCM genes were collected from the GeneCards and OMIM databases, and the network was constructed and analyzed by Cytoscape 3.7.1 and the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Finally, HDC was used to intervene in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) model rats, and important biological processes and signaling pathways were verified using techniques such as immunohistochemistry. Results. A total of 176 of HDC's active components and 442 potential targets were obtained. The results of network analysis show that HDC can regulate DCM-related biological processes (such as negative regulation of the apoptotic process, response to hypoxia, the steroid hormone-mediated signaling pathway, cellular iron ion homeostasis, and positive regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling) and signaling pathways (such as the HIF-1 signaling pathway, the estrogen signaling pathway, insulin resistance, the PPAR signaling pathway, the VEGF signaling pathway, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway). Animal experiments show that HDC can reduce fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1c, and malondialdehyde (MDA) and increase superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) (P < 0.05). The results of immunohistochemistry showed that HDC can regulate the protein expression of apoptosis-related signaling pathways in DCM rats (P < 0.05). Conclusion. It was initially revealed that HDC improves DCM through its antiapoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects. HDC may play a therapeutic role by improving cardiomyocyte apoptosis in DCM rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]