Search

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a hemoprotein containing iron porphyrin, which can catalyse a variety of unnatural reactions. Due to its poor reusability and stability, in this study, we developed a new method to prepare Hb-Cu3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflowers (HNFs) by co-incubating Hb with Cu2+. This immobilized Hb was used to catalyse the synthesis of ethyl N-phenylglycinate via the carbene N–H insertion reaction. Under the optimum reaction conditions (aniline 1 mmol; ethyl diazoacetate 1 mmol; deionized (DI) water 10 ml; catalyst (protein content: 15 mg); sodium hydrosulfite 25 mg; 25 °C; 12 h), the catalytic yield of Hb-Cu3(PO4)2 HNFs reached as high as 87% and that of free Hb was 74%. In addition, Hb-Cu3(PO4)2 HNFs can maintain a high catalytic performance after 15 cycles and still achieve yields close to 70% of the initial yield after 60 days of storage, indicating that Hb-Cu3(PO4)2 HNFs have a high potential for application in Hb-catalysed organic reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of early cumulus cell removal (ECCR) during human in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed between January 2011 and December 2019. The study enrolled 1131 couples who underwent IVF treatment with ECCR. After propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio, 1131 couples who underwent overnight coincubation of gametes were selected. The main outcome measure was the cumulative live birth rate. Secondary outcome measures included the cumulative pregnancy rate, polyspermy rate, available embryo rate, miscarriage rate, malformation rate, time to live birth, and oocyte-to-baby rate. Results: There were no significant differences found between the two groups in the polyspermy rate, available embryo rate, miscarriage rate, time to live birth, oocyte-to-baby rate, and neonatal congenital anomalies rate. The results of the study showed that ECCR was associated with a significantly higher cumulative live birth rate and cumulative pregnancy rate, along with a significantly lower fertilization rate. Conclusions: ECCR tended to confer increased cumulative live birth rate and had no negative effect on the neonatal malformation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2020, two moderate earthquakes with magnitudes of MS 5.4 and MS 6.4 occurred in the nappe structure of the boundary between the Southern Tianshan Mountains and Tarim Basin. To investigate the seismogenic structure of these two events, we systematically analyzed the earthquake sequence locations, focal mechanisms, and stress field in the source region. Using the P and S arrival-time data from January 1, 2009, to July 31, 2021, recorded by 18 seismic stations of the Xinjiang network, we obtained precise seismic event locations. Results show that the temporal and spatial distribution of the foreshock and aftershock sequences displays obvious differences in migration behaviors. The former is mainly distributed along the NNW direction, whereas the latter is distributed along the Ozgertau fault in the EW direction and characterized by a double-layer feature. Furthermore, we derived the focal mechanism solutions of the MS ≥ 4.0 events, including the MS 5.4 foreshock and the MS 6.4 main shock. The inversion results illustrate that the MS 5.4 foreshock is a strike-slip event, whereas the main shock and seven aftershocks are thrust events. Based on our results and the regional geological background, we conclude that the seismogenic structures of the MS 5.4 foreshock and MS 6.4 main shock are related to different faults. The MS 5.4 event is located in a blind "quasi-transformation" fault with the NNW direction, and the MS 6.4 earthquake occurs on a blind thrust nappe fault in the EW direction on the Kepingtage (Kalpintag) nappe. Our results indicate that the Tienshan orogenic belt has a complex tectonic environment. The difference in the strikes and dips of the MS 5.4 foreshock and MS 6.4 main shock reflects the stress compression in the near-NS direction in the source region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haplotype "b" shows in the center and other haplotypes diverge from haplotype "b". The size of the circle means the number of individuals in this haplotype Haplotype diversity > 0.5 and nucleotide diversity > 0.005 represent the high level of genetic diversity (Grant and Bowen [5]). Haplotype "e" is the sole haplotype in I O. masou formosanus i , and haplotypes "i" to "l" from MR salmon is unique. Haplotypes "a" and "d" were only observed in I O. masou masou i from Japan, while haplotypes "h" and "g" were observed in I O. masou i subsp. from Biwa Lake. [Extracted from the article]

It is important to explore the effective approaches to prevent dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, significantly decreased full-field electroretinograms wave amplitudes and disordered retina structures were detected in rat retinas of sodium iodate induced dry AMD model. Six a- and b-wave amplitudes and the antioxidant activities were significantly increased, and the outer nuclear layer thickness was significantly improved in the rat retinas treated with the combination of Lactobacillus fermentum NS9 (LF) and aronia anthocyanidin extract (AAE) compared with the model. The effects were much better than the treatment with AAE alone. The proteomics analysis showed the expressions of α-, β- and γ-crystallins were increased by 3–8 folds in AAE treated alone and by 6–11 folds in AAE + LF treatment compared with the model, which was further confirmed by immuno-blotting analysis. Analysis of gut microbial composition indicated that higher abundance of the genus Parasutterella and species P. excrementihominis was found in the AAE + LF treatment compared with the other groups. The results indicated that the combined treatment of AAE + LF is a potential way to prevent the retina degeneration which is significantly better than the AAE treated alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The port groups of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area faces a new competitive and cooperative game structure concerning global competition, making it is necessary to build a comprehensive port coordination and development mechanism. In this study, we apply the logistics model to conduct parameter estimation and evolution trend analysis on the development of the port group and highlight that the current container throughput of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area port group will reach the maximum and the new impetus is needed to push it into the next round of development and evolution. Combined with the theory of ecological population, the Lotka–Volterra model of multiple groups is introduced to study competition and cooperation game, explore their interaction, and provide quantitative support for the formation of different central port groups in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The study provides references for strengthening the construction of complementary resources and coordinated mechanism within the port group, realizing the differential development between ports in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of cooked potato depends on its nutritional components. This study aimed to select suitable potato cultivars for cooking through correlation analysis of their nutritional composition and cooking characteristics. The nutritional components and sensory properties of 10 potatoes from the Xinjiang province were determined. Correlation analysis showed that protein and calcium, as well as the dietary fiber, iron, and phosphorus contents were significantly associated with the total colour difference (ΔE) and softening (p <.05). The umami and kokumi of potatoes after cooking were significantly correlated with isoleucine and tyrosine, as well as lysine, leucine, and isoleucine (p <.01). It could be deduced from the colour, texture characteristics and sensory properties that Longshu11 was suitable for processing mashed potato products, and that Jizhang12, Longshu10 and Heijingang were suitable for fresh-cut. The results provided new ideas and theoretical support for efficiently selecting suitable potato varieties for cooking and processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) induced hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) occurred worldwide and the mortality rate remained high because there were no specific therapies. Defibrotide was effective for HSOS following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. But the pathogenesis of the two types of HSOS were not equivalent. The purpose of this study was to see if defibrotide was also effective in PA induced rat HSOS. Methods: First we improved rat HSOS model by using higher dose (230 mg/kg) of monocrotaline (a kind of PA) as the dose of median lethal dose. So drug effectiveness could be assessed by survival time. Next, male SD rats were divided into 5 groups. They were control group, model group, low dose low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) treatment group, high dose LMWH treatment group and defibrotide treatment group. Rats’ survival time, liver function, white blood cell count and cytokines were compared among the groups. The DeLeve score was used to assess the severity of liver pathology. Results: The model group exhibited typical liver pathology of HSOS, such as hepatic sinus dilation, congestion, endothelial injury of central lobular vein, coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes and fibrin deposition in the subendothelial. The pathologic characteristics indicated that the model was built up successfully. The survival rate was significantly higher in defibrotide group (81.8%) than model group (43.7%), while the survival rates were similar in the two LMWH groups (62.5% and 75%) and model group. The survival time only be prolonged by defibrotide (P=0.028) but not LMWH (P>0.05). DeLeve score was improved most in the defibrotide group than the two LMWH groups (both P<0.01). Changes in DeLeve score, liver function, plasma level of tumor necrosis factor α and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 exhibited the same trends. Conclusion: Defibrotide could improve the outcome of monocrotaline-induced rat HSOS indicating that defibrotide might be a better choice than LMWH in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass materials have abundant natural resources, renewability and good biochemical compatibility, so biomass-based fluorescent materials prepared from biomass materials have gradually become a research hotspot. In particular, the low cost and environmentally friendly properties of chitosan have been widely used in the field of functional materials. Chitosan-based functional materials have attracted extensive attention in the detection and removal of organic and inorganic pollutants. They have been widely used in biological imaging, environmental detection, drug carriers and other fields. This paper reviews the preparation and application of chitosan-based fluorescent probes, including chitosan-derived fluorescent probe materials and chitosan-based carbon quantum dots. At the same time, it focuses on the application research of chitosan-based carbon quantum dots in the fields of environmental detection, cell imaging, drug carriers, photocatalysis, etc. In addition, it provides new ideas and application prospects for the development and application of chitosan-based fluorescent materials in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The terminology of bionanozyme was conceptualized. • Three Zn-heptapeptide bionanozymes with nanofibrous architecture were assembled. • Zn-heptapeptide bionanozymes exhibited favorable hydrolase-like activity towards p -nitrophenyl esters. • Zn-heptapeptide bionanozymes were applied for degradation of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Nanozyme with intrinsic enzyme-like activity has emerged as favorite artificial catalyst during recent years. However, current nanozymes are mainly limited to inorganic-derived nanomaterials, while biomolecule-sourced nanozyme (bionanozyme) are rarely reported. Herein, inspired by the basic structure of natural hydrolase family, we constructed 3 oligopeptide-based bionanozymes with intrinsic hydrolase-like activity by implementing zinc induced self-assembly of histidine-rich heptapeptides. Under mild condition, divalent zinc (Zn2+) impelled the spontaneous assembly of short peptides (i.e. Ac-IHIHIQI-CONH 2 , Ac-IHIHIYI-CONH 2 , and Ac-IHVHLQI-CONH 2), forming hydrolase-mimicking bionanozymes with β -sheet secondary conformation and nanofibrous architecture. As expected, the resultant bionanozymes were able to hydrolyze a serious of p -nitrophenyl esters, including not only the simple substrate with short side-chain (p -NPA), but also more complicated ones (p -NPB, p -NPH, p -NPO, and p -NPS). Moreover, the self-assembled Zn-heptapeptide bionanozymes were also proven to be capable of degrading di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a typical plasticizer, showing great potential for environmental remediation. Based on this study, we aim to provide theoretical references and exemplify a specific case for directing the construction and application of bionanozyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, magnetic tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA)-modified carboxyl–carbon nanotubes were synthesized, characterized, and used as adsorbents to conduct magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for the preconcentration of seven local anesthetic drugs (procaine, lidocaine, mepivacaine, oxybuprocaine, bupivacaine, tetracaine, and cinchocaine) from human plasma. The separation and determination of analytes were performed on high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Several factors affected the extraction efficiency, such as the amount of adsorbents used, extraction time, sample pH, and optimization of elution conditions. Under optimal conditions, satisfactory linear relationships were obtained in the range of 0.02–5.00 mg/L, with the limits of detection (LOD) ranging from 0.003 mg/L to 0.008 mg/L. The recoveries of analytes for spiked human plasma were in the range of 82.0–108%. Moreover, the precision with intra-day and inter-day RSD values were obtained in the range of 1.5–7.7% and 1.5–8.3%. The results indicated that this method could determine the concentration of seven local anesthetic drugs in human plasma with high precision and repeatability and provide support for the clinical monitoring of the concentration of local anesthetic drugs in human plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer constitutes approximately 30% of human breast cancers and is associated with poor outcomes. ∆Np63 is considered a metastasis inhibitor involved with cancer progression. This study aimed to clarify the roles and mechanisms of HER2 and ∆Np63 on scattering and invasion of MCF10A cells. Wild-type or mutant HER2 was cloned and transfected into MCF10A cells. Cell counting and transwell assays were applied to unveil the impact of HER2 upregulation and mutation on proliferation, cell scattering, and invasion. Western blotting and cell accounting were used to investigate the roles of ∆Np63 and p27. In vivo lung colonization assay was used to reveal the influences of HER2 and ∆Np63a on tumor metastasis. The results indicated HER2 remarkably enhanced cell proliferation, invasion, and scattering. Overexpression of either ΔNp63 or E-cadherin led to attenuated HER2-mediated regulation of cell migration, invasion, and scattering. Furthermore, we confirmed that HER2 enhanced cell proliferation but not migration through p27 and independent ∆Np63a. The results revealed that ∆Np63α contributed to the inhibition of HER2-induced metastasis. Collectively, our findings may further our understanding of the regulation of tumor progression and metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gathering pipelines are one of the key upstream infrastructures in the gas industry that link production well to the processing plant. Leak detection is critical for ensuring the safety of pipeline transmission. The detection of small leakage in gathering pipelines consistently poses a formidable challenge. In this paper, a process model is built based on health data of supervisory control and data acquisition system from the actual operating pipeline. In the model structure, the convolutional neural network is used to extract the spatial features, the bi-directional long short-term memory is used to extract the temporal features, and the attention mechanism is employed to allocate the model's attention resources reasonably. Next, the residual between the entity pipeline's output data and the process model's output data is used as a monitoring indicator of the operating state of the pipeline. A clustering-based boundary determination method is proposed to recognize the centroid of normal and small leak conditions, and pipeline leak detection is performed by the Euclidean distance between the monitoring indicator and the centroid. This paper explores the feasibility of fast modeling and leak detection with limited hardware. Field tests for the validation of the proposed methods were implemented in two in-service natural gas gathering pipeline. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly enhances the detection performance of small-size leak. The leak detection rates of 94.06% and 92.16% evinces the potency of the proposed method applied in the leak detection of gathering pipelines across diverse real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gathering pipelines are one of the key upstream infrastructures in the gas industry that link production well to the processing plant. Leak detection is critical for ensuring the safety of pipeline transmission. The detection of small leakage in gathering pipelines consistently poses a formidable challenge. In this paper, a process model is built based on health data of supervisory control and data acquisition system from the actual operating pipeline. In the model structure, the convolutional neural network is used to extract the spatial features, the bi-directional long short-term memory is used to extract the temporal features, and the attention mechanism is employed to allocate the model's attention resources reasonably. Next, the residual between the entity pipeline's output data and the process model's output data is used as a monitoring indicator of the operating state of the pipeline. A clustering-based boundary determination method is proposed to recognize the centroid of normal and small leak conditions, and pipeline leak detection is performed by the Euclidean distance between the monitoring indicator and the centroid. This paper explores the feasibility of fast modeling and leak detection with limited hardware. Field tests for the validation of the proposed methods were implemented in two in-service natural gas gathering pipeline. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly enhances the detection performance of small-size leak. The leak detection rates of 94.06% and 92.16% evinces the potency of the proposed method applied in the leak detection of gathering pipelines across diverse real-world scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since defatted millet bran (DMB) is considered unpalatable and its poor application performance means that it is only used as animal feed, this product is wasted and underutilized. This study altered the shapes of processed DMB particles using superfine grinding technology, physically overcoming the binding forces within the material. This reduced the particle sizes and surface roughness while increasing the tap density, peak temperature, and angles of repose and slide. Superfine grinding significantly disrupted the cell wall matrix, substantially increasing the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant properties compared to coarse and fine powders. Additionally, the superfine powder exhibited high phenolic compound bioaccessibility (vanillic, protocatechuic, syringic, ferulic, and isoferulic acid, and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic). These findings highlighted the potential use of superfine grinding technology to expand DMB application as a functional food. • Superfine grinding enhanced the physicochemical properties of defatted millet bran. • Superfine grinding increased total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. • The bioaccessibility of phenolic compounds were increased in the superfine powder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area requires the establishment of a comprehensive port cooperation mechanism. Coordination is key to port integration. This paper establishes a multi-group Lotka-Volterra model based on the theory of competition and cooperation to study the evolution of the relationships among Hong Kong Port, Shenzhen Port, and Guangzhou Port. The results show that the three major ports have predator-prey roles and form a symbiotic competition and cooperation ecological pattern. The extended Hotelling model is established to study the central ports' spatial differences; the results show that whether it is the central port cooperation body or the entire central port group, the gains from Shenzhen Port-Guangzhou Port cooperation are greater than between either and Hong Kong Port for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's container business. The biggest competitor to Hong Kong Port in the container business is Guangzhou Port. Hong Kong Port will gain more from cooperation with Shenzhen Port and should strengthen such cooperation. The study provides quantitative support and reference for positioning the strategic development of the high-end shipping business in Hong Kong Port, the pilot free-trade port in Shenzhen Port, and the exploration of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong composite port, Guangzhou Port's comprehensive shipping hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are highly conserved stress proteins known as molecular chaperones, which are considered to be cytoplasmic proteins with functions restricted to the intracellular compartment, such as the cytoplasm or cellular organelles. However, an increasing number of observations have shown that HSPs can also be released into the extracellular matrix and can play important roles in the modulation of inflammation and immune responses. Recent studies have demonstrated that extracellular HSPs (eHSPs) were involved in many human diseases, such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, and kidney diseases, which are all diseases that are closely linked to inflammation and immunity. In this review, we describe the types of eHSPs, discuss the mechanisms of eHSPs secretion, and then highlight their functions in the modulation of inflammation and immune responses. Finally, we take cancer as an example and discuss the possibility of targeting eHSPs for human disease therapy. A broader understanding of the function of eHSPs in development and progression of human disease is essential for developing new strategies to treat many human diseases that are critically related to inflammation and immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To ascertain if assisted hatching (AH) increases the risk of placenta-associated diseases and perinatal outcomes after frozen–thawed cleavage-stage embryo transfer. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 924 women who conceived with frozen–thawed cleavage-stage embryos transfer with (n = 390) or without (n = 534) laser-AH between 2013 and 2015. Data were obtained from the database on in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients in Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital. We assessed neonatal (preterm birth, low birthweight, fetal macrosomia, stillbirth) and obstetric (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, post-term pregnancy, gestational diabetes (GDM), preeclampsia, intrahepatic cholestasis (ICP), placenta previa, placental abruption, premature rupture of membranes) outcomes. Results: In twins, the median birthweight was lower in the AH group than that in the control group, and the prevalence of low birthweight (< 2500 g) was significantly higher in the AH group; after adjusting for maternal age, body mass index, mode of fertilization, and parity, no significant difference was found. In twins, no significant difference was detected in the prevalence of stillbirth or preterm pregnancy. In singleton births, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of low birthweight, macrosomia, preterm pregnancy or post-term pregnancy between the two groups. In singletons and twins, there were no significant differences in the prevalence of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, preeclampsia, GDM, ICP, or placenta abruption between the two groups. Conclusions: AH is a relatively safe method and our study provides important information for using this method in carefully selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Differences in hazard reaction time and ERP performance of young novice drivers with different sleep states were compared. • Sleep-deprived drivers performed significantly worse in the no-hazard situation regarding response accuracy and N1 latency. • N2 amplitude is a good indicator that responds to different types of hazards. The present study aimed to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on young novice drivers' cognitive neural processing of different hazard types. A 2 (sleep deprivation group, control group) × 3 (no hazard, covert hazard, overt hazard) mixed experimental design was used. Twenty-eight young drivers were sleep-deprived (no sleep within the past 24 h), while 28 drivers were in the control group (maintaining a normal schedule throughout the week). Eighty pictures containing a covert hazard (20 pictures), overt hazard (20 pictures) and no hazard (40 pictures) were presented. Participants were asked to press the keyboard quickly if they detected a hazard situation. The reaction time, accuracy, and changes in the N1 (100–150 ms) and N2 (250–350 ms) components of event-related potentials (ERP) measured using electroencephalography (EEG) were obtained. Compared to the control group, the response accuracy of sleep-deprived drivers was higher in the cover-hazard situation and their N1 latency was longer in the no-hazard situation. Compared to the no-hazard and overt-hazard situations, the participants' reaction times and N2 amplitudes were significantly greater, and the response accuracy was significantly lower in the covert-hazard situation. Hazard perception is compromised when drivers are sleep-deprived, especially when they are confronted with covert hazard situations. The findings help understand the negative effects of sleep deprivation in the early stage of young novice drivers' hazard perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stable ventilation system is an essential guarantee for the efficient production and safety of underground workers. In order to solve the big changes in underground air quantity, gas accumulation, and other problems caused by mine main fans switchover. This paper proposes a non-stop switchover system of the mine main fans based on intelligent control and establishes a dynamic optimization model for the switchover process of the mine main fans. The equilibrium optimizer algorithm is improved by chaos mapping and opposition learning machine based on refraction principle to solve the model, and the simulation experiment is carried out with MATLAB. The results show that the proposed method can effectively mitigate the change of underground air quantity during the switchover process of mine main fans. In the 120 s of system operation, the change rate of underground air quantity is consistently within 0.4%, and the two mine main fans always work in the stable interval, which proves the system's high efficiency, stability and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) is a common speech enhancement front end to improve the noise robustness of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems in the far-field cases. However, the traditional GSC is optimized based on the signal level criteria, causing it not to guarantee the optimal ASR performance. To address this issue, we propose a novel dual-channel deep neural network (DNN)-based GSC structure, called nnGSC, which is optimized by using the objective of maximizing the ASR performance. Our key idea is to make each module of the traditional GSC fully learnable and use the acoustic model to perform joint optimization with GSC. We use the coefficients of the traditional GSC to initialize nnGSC, so that both traditional signal processing knowledge and large amounts of data can be used to guide the network learning. In addition, nnGSC can automatically track the target direction-of-arrival (DOA) frame-by-frame without the need for additional localization algorithms. In the experiments, nnGSC achieves a relative character error rate (CER) improvement of 23.7% compared to the microphone observation, 13.5% compared to the oracle direction-based super-directive beamformer, 12.2% compared to the oracle direction-based traditional GSC and 5.9% compared to the oracle mask-based minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. Moreover, we can improve the robustness of nnGSC against array geometry mismatches by training with multi-geometry data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The desired speech detector plays an important role for controlling the speech distortion in spatial filtering based speech enhancement algorithms. However, the conventional complex coherence(CC) based algorithms can only distinguish the coherent speech and diffuse noise. To improve the performance on the scenarios that both the coherent interference and diffuse noise are present, we propose a directional coherence function(DCF) based detector in this paper. Based on a pair of complementary filters which can suppress the diffuse noise and the coherent interference respectively, the DCF is computed as the normalized correlation between the filters' outputs. Meanwhile, the filters are solved by convex programming method and satisfy the constraints on speech distortionless and white noise gain(WNG). Consequently, the value of DCF will be close to 1 only for the desired speech dominated time-frequency(T-F) bins and much smaller than 1 for the noise or interference dominated T-F bins. To extract the desired speech, the DCF based Desired Speech Presence Probability(DSPP) is used to control the adaptation in general sidelobe canceler(GSC), and subsequently used as the post-filtering weight. Systematical experiments on several scenarios show that the proposed algorithm achieves significantly and consistently better noise suppression performance than the narrowband direction-of-arrival(DOA) estimates based algorithms. • We propose a directional coherence function for detecting the desired speech. • We apply the convex programming to design spatial filters. • We propose a new desired speech presence probability (DSPP). • The DSPP informed GSC is used for extracting the desired speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The space‐time is empirically perceived as a pre-existing property of the universe. However, a special kind of perception that takes place in near-death-experiences (NDEs) is challenging this idea. Here, I will illustrate how understanding of this particular state of consciousness (named the bodiless consciousness) helps us re-think the space‐time structure of the physical world. I first speculate that the bodiless consciousness perceives the physical world as nonlocal 4D. I then propose that the space‐time is a “derived” feature subsequent to the emergence of perception of the bodiless consciousness, rather than a pre-existing and unchangeable property. Next, I explain that the space structure only takes place in the classical (or macroscopic) world rather than in the quantum (or microscopic) world, due to its intrinsic imperceptibility to the bodiless consciousness. Without a presupposed structure of the space, the strangeness of the quantum world is expected. Then, I bring up the old measurement problem. I will argue that it is the bodiless consciousness that may entangle with the superposed state of an observed system and trigger the collapse. Finally, I will briefly discuss the potential relationship between electromagnetic wave and consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) exhibits high diversity and complexity in China, challenging the disease surveillance and antiretroviral therapy. Between July 1, 2014 and January 30, 2017, we investigated the profiles of HIV-1 infection stages, genotype distribution and drug resistance mutations (DRMs) using plasma samples from HIV Western blot (WB) confirmed blood donors from five Chinese blood centers (Chongqing, Guangxi, Luoyang, Mianyang, and Urumqi). HIV pol regions consisted of whole protease and partial reverse transcriptase were genotyped and analyzed for DRMs. Lag-Avidity testing was performed to identify the infection stages. Of the 356 HIV-1 WB positive samples tested by Lag-avidity assay, 19.1% (68/356) were recent infections. Genotyping on 356 amplified sequences presented the subtype distributions as following: CRF07_BC (65.7%), CRF08_BC (7.3%), CRF01_AE (19.1%), B (4.2%), CRF55_01B (3.1%), CRF59_01B (0.3%) and CRF68_01B (0.3%). No significant difference in genotype distribution was observed between recent and long-term infections. 48 DRMs were identified from 43 samples, indicating a drug resistance prevalence of 12.1% (43/356), which include seven protease inhibitors (PIs) accessory DRMs (Q58E, L23I and I84M), two PIs major DRMs (M46I, M46L), seven nucleoside RT inhibitors DRMs (D67N, K70Q, K219R and M184L), and 32 non-nucleoside RT inhibitors DRMs (K103N, V179E, K238N, V179D, E138G, G190E, A98G, Y188D and E138A). In addition, we had also identified CRFs from the 01B subtype including CRF55_01B (3.1%), CRF59_01B (0.3%) and CRF68_01B (0.3%). As an important part of the continuous monitoring of HIV-1 circulating strains among blood donors, our findings were expected to contribute to the comprehensive AIDS control and development of proper diagnostics for HIV-1 in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA silencing is one of the conserved antiviral mechanisms in plants, and viruses encode RNA silencing suppressors (RSS) to overcome host RNA silencing and facilitate virus infection. Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV; species Sugarcane streak mosaic virus, genus Poacevirus, family Potyviridae) is a major causal agent of sugarcane mosaic disease in many countries in Asia, including China. In this study, we used Agrobacterium co‐infiltration to show that the SCSMV P1 protein, rather than the helper component‐proteinase (HC‐Pro), functions as a strong RSS to suppress local RNA silencing in Nicotiana benthamiana. Mutational analysis indicated that the 15 amino acids (aa; aa 1–15) of the SCSMV P1 N‐terminus were not important for RNA silencing suppression, but rather another 15 aa domain (aa 108–122) containing a conserved motif (LFR/KNKQAYIST) was essential for efficient silencing suppression by P1. In addition to the 15 aa (aa 344–358) domain in the P1 N‐terminus, another 15 aa domain (aa 65–79) of P1, containing the LXKA motif and one conserved aa (D78), were associated with P1 protein stability. Furthermore, substituting the histidine (H263) residue in P1 with threonine (H263T) or alanine (H263A) also affected P1 protein stability. Notably, the H263 residue is both a positively selected site and part of the serine protease catalytic triad (HDS). Taken together, our data demonstrate that SCSMV P1, and not HC‐Pro, plays a functional role in suppressing RNA silencing, and also show that some conserved motifs and a positivelyselected site in the P1 protein are associated with RSS activity and protein stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of heightened susceptibility to anxiety disorders. Probiotic supplementation had a positive impact on reducing anxiety. The maternal microbiome plays an important role in child health outcomes and in the establishment of the offspring microbiome. Few studies have investigated the impact of gestational probiotic supplementation on the offspring's anxiety. Methods: The present study examined the impact of prenatal Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 supplementation (LAC) on Sprague Dawley rat offspring's anxiety‐like behavior. The behaviors tested in the present study include the elevated plus maze (EPM), the open field test (OFT), and prepulse inhibition (PPI). Analyses of variance were utilized. Results: (a) The performance of LAC adolescent rats in the EPM was similar to that in the OFT, both of which reflect that LAC caused an antianxiety effect in adolescent offspring rats and the antianxiety effect without sex differences; (b) LAC did not change performance in PPI and did not change the sex and age differences in PPI; and c. LAC decreased the body mass of rat offspring. Conclusion: Lactobacillus helveticus NS8 supplementation during gestation might have a moderate antianxiety effect in both males and females (especially adolescents) and be helpful for avoiding excessive body mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid algorithm to construct an improved recurrent neuron network (RNN) for modeling tunnel microwave thermal process. The new design involves a hierarchical learning process, in which the recurrent neurons of RNN are optimized by the cuckoo search (CS) algorithm, while effectiveness and efficiency of the model are guaranteed by using the orthogonal least squares (OLS) method, which is a fast approach for construction of neural networks in a stepwise forward procedure. The major contribution is to integrate seamlessly the OLS model selection and CS neuron optimization in an innovative way so that it can well track the underlying dynamic of this complicated thermal process with a very sparse model. By conducting a microwave rice drying experiment, a set of real-world datasets is used to drive the RNN model. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model compared with existing well-known approaches in terms of modeling accuracy and model compactness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ophiopogonis radix and Liriopes radix are well known for the treatment of dry coughs and phthisis. Liriopes radix is occasionally used as a substitute for Ophiopogonis radix in various prescriptions due to the extremely similar pharmacological activities and clinical efficacies, but they are regarded as two different remedies in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Accordingly, the establishment of a reliable analytical approach for the discrimination and quality evaluation of Ophiopogonis and Liriopes is required. Objective: To establish a simple, accurate, and reliable method that can simultaneously determine multiple components in Ophiopogonis radix and Liriopes radix. To comprehensively compare the chemical compositions of the two herbs and find markers for discrimination and quality assessments. Method: An HPLC-ESI-triple quadrupole (QQQ)-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous characterization and quantification of chemical components in the two herbs. The results were further analyzed by PLS discriminant analysis to provide more information about the chemical differences, as well as to evaluate the quality of each sample. Results: A total of 23 compounds have been characterized and quantified in 31 batches of herbs from different geographical regions, among which liriopesides B, sprengerinin A, ophiopogonin B, and ophiopogonanone E contribute mostly. The contents of homoisoflavonoids were much higher in Ophiopogonis radix than in Liriopes radix, but the levels of steroidal saponins followed a contrary trend. Conclusions: Simultaneous determination of multiple components by HPLC-QQQ-MS/MS coupled with chemometrics analysis is an acceptable strategy to evaluate and control the quality of Ophiopogonis radix and Liriope radix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing body of evidence that abscisic acid (ABA) and the phytochrome-interacting factor (PIF) family of transcription factors interact in light signaling, the regulation of plant growth development, and adaptation to environmental stimuli. In this study, we investigate the role that PIFs play in the regulation of ABA signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings grown under long-day conditions. We showed that PIFs positively regulate ABA signaling in post-germination seedling growth. We analyzed the DNA-binding sites for PIF3 and PIF5 by DNA-affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq) genome-wide. The DAP-seq data showed that G-box motif is the direct binding site of PIF3 and PIF5, and a number of ABA responsive genes are potential targets of PIFs, including PYL3 , PYL6 , PYL12 , SnRK2.2 , CPK4 , CPK6 , ABI5 , ABF3 , and KIN1. Our results provide a basis for understanding the mechanism for PIFs in regulating ABA signal transduction. • pif mutants are insensitive to ABA in seedling growth. • Overexpression of PIF3 and PIF5 enhances sensitivity to ABA in seedling growth. • PIFs positively regulate ABA signaling in post-germination seedling growth. • DAP-seq exhibits PIF3- and PIF5-binding sites genome-wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odd-chain fatty acids (OCFAs) naturally occur in bacteria, higher animals, and in plants. During recent years, they have received increasing attention due to their unique pharmacological properties and usefulness for agricultural and industrial applications. Recently, OCFAs have been identified and quantified in a few organisms, and new pharmacological functions of OCFAs have been reported. Some of the publications are related to the optimization of OCFA production through fermentation and genetic engineering. The present review aims to provide a summary on the recent progress in the field of microbial-derived OCFAs. More specifically, we outline the publications of OCFAs related to (i) different sources of OCFAs; (ii) endogenous synthesis of OCFAs; (iii) production of OCFAs through fermentation; (iv) genetic engineering related to OCFA; and (v) role of OCFAs in human health and disease. Finally, some areas that require further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel heteropolysaccharide defined as FP-1 was enriched from flaxseed hull through hot water extraction (boiling water, 2 h, twice) followed by ion-exchange and size exclusion chromatography. FP-1 is a highly purified heteropolysaccharide with an average molecular weight of 2626 kDa. Its monosaccharide composition includes xylose (35.2%), rhamnose (23.8%), galactose (23.4%), arabinose (10.6%), fucose (4.0%), glucose (2.7%) and mannose (0.3%). Main linkage type of FP-1 backbone includes →2)-α-L-Rha p -(1→, →4)-α-D-Gal p A-(1→, →4)-β-D-Xyl p -(1→, →3,5)-α-L-Araf-(1→, and →2)-α-D-Xyl p -(1→. FP-1 has a triple-helix conformation, indicating its potential bioactivity. FP-1 could stimulate immune responses through inducing mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), nitric oxide (NO), and interleukin (IL-6 and IL-12) in murine macrophages. FP-1 also inhibits hepatitis B virus (HBV) through inhibition of surface antigen (HBsAg) and envelope antigen (HBeAg) expression and interfering with HBV DNA replication. These findings suggest that FP-1 could be potentially developed as functional food ingredient, immune stimulant and vaccine adjuvant. Unlabelled Image • A novel heteropolysaccharide (FP-1) with triple-helix conformation was extracted and purified from flaxseed hull. • FP-1 possesses significant immunomodulation activity by upregulating some immunocytokines. • FP-1 exhibits excellent anti-HBV activity by suppressing secretion of HBV antigens and HBV-DNA replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • An approximate sampled-data model for nonlinear systems with backward triangle sample and hold function is first derived. • Obtaining a novel expression and stable conditions of zero dynamics in the obtained sampled-data model. • Zero dynamics of the resulting model can be arbitrarily placed by selecting proper parameters from the stable conditions. • Nonlinear systems using those methods in this paper have better control performance. Abstract It is well known that a good approximate sampled-data model is very important in sampled-data controller design of nonlinear continuous-time system because the exact sampled-data model of nonlinear continuous-time system is often unavailable. It is also a truth that unstable zero dynamics of sampled-data model greatly limit the control performance of the system. This paper investigates the properties of approximate sampled-data model and its zero dynamics, which generated during the process of discretization with backward triangle sample and hold (BTSH). Further, a more accurate sampled-data model is obtained for nonlinear systems in BTSH case. The zero dynamics form and stable conditions are also derived. Finally, numerical examples are provided to better show the results developed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Peanuts showed notable differences in the expression patterns of genes under different cultivation. • Differentially expressed genes involved in fatty acid metabolism were identified. • Organic farming downregulated lipids that drive heart disease risk. • Genotype influences peanut nutrient content more than cultivation method. • Establishing a joint strategy of metabolomics and transcriptome for comparative study. To elucidate the nutritional quality of peanut under different farming methods, we selected two cultivars, "jihua13" and "jihua4", to grow in organic and conventional environments, respectively. After harvest, we measured physiological parameters and differential metabolites. Metabolomics showed that most of the amino acids, carbohydrates, and secondary metabolites in organically grown jihua4 were downregulated, which was completely the opposite in jihua13. Fatty acids associated with heart disease and hypertension are reduced in organically grown peanuts. In particular, the highly statistically significant tryptophan betaine seems to be used as a reference to distinguish between organic and conventional cultivation. Mechanisms leading to differences in crop chemical composition are explained by transcriptome analysis. The results of the transcriptome analysis indicated that organic cultivation largely affects the synthesis of amino acids and carbohydrates in jihua13. Combined analysis of transcriptome and metabolomics found that variety jihua13 is more sensitive to farming methods and produces more unsaturated fatty acids than jihua4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is concerned with the development of model-free adaptive control (MFAC) of microwave heating process for the industry application of microwave energy. Precise control of the material's time–temperature profile is essential for preventing thermal runaway. To achieve good tracking performance a data-driven MFAC with input constrain is proposed since it is hard to establish an accurate dynamic model of microwave heating process. The stability of the proposed MFAC algorithm is analyzed. The proposed techniques are implemented and tested on a simple one-dimension non-linear thermodynamics model of the heated product in microwave heating process and the microwave heating system in laboratory, respectively. Simulation and experimental results are presented to compare MFAC with and without considering power input constraint to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Black phosphorus (BP), also known as phosphorene (PP), is a fascinating two-dimensional (2D) material with extraordinary anisotropic mechanical, electronic and optoelectronic properties. However, PP is sensitive to oxygen and moisture and is completely degenerated by oxygen and humid air within 12 h, which limits its applications. Here, we coat PP with hexamethylenediamine (HMA), which allows the coated PP to maintain its original form in aqueous solution for over one month. The stable PP is dotted with gold nanoparticles to facilitate binding to a 3,3′4,4′-polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB77) aptamer (ap) as a biosensor. The aptamer biosensor based on gold nanoparticle-dotted PP nanocomposites (PP-AuNPs) exhibits superior analytical performance, and its sensitivity (391.1 μA cm-2) is approximately three times higher than that of an AuNP-based sensor (AuNP-Ap/Au electrode, 147.2 μA cm-2). This biosensor has a low detection limit (DL) of 33 pg L-1 toward PCB77 with a dynamic response range toward PCB77 from 100 pg L-1 to 10 μg L-1. This research opens up avenues for the use of PP to make multiplexed diagnosis platforms in aqueous systems. Graphical abstract Schematic diagram of the fabrication process of PP. fx1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract An Inland Waterway Transportation System is often claimed to be safe, efficient and economic. However, traffic congestion and vessel collision have become serious threats to marine safety, especially in the one-way waterways. The aim of this paper is to rank the vessels in the controlled waterways of the upper Yangtze River and to generate the optimal traffic commands for each vessel so as to ensure marine safety and traffic efficiency. In this study, the proposed approach is based on the combination of Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) with an Expert System (ES). Vessel data collected from Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) are first analyzed by experts, and some external environment and internal factors are selected as Significant Influencing Factors (SIFs). FAHP is then used for modelling a hierarchical structure and determining the weight of each SIF. Finally, the sorted vessel sequence and appropriate traffic commands can be achieved using ES. The experiment result shows that the waiting time of vessels is averagely decreased about 22 min compared with the existing Traffic Signal Revealing System. This will not only significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of the vessel traffic scheduling, but also increase the waterway capacity by reducing the travelling time. Highlights • A novel approach is proposed to enhance vessel traffic scheduling for the controlled waterways in the upper Yangtze River. • Based on Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process and the Expert System, the AIS data are discussed and analyzed in detail. • Traffic congestion and vessel collisions in the controlled waterways could be preventable using the proposed approach. • The reliability and efficiency of proposed method have been verified by comparing with Traffic Signal Revealing System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millet is a major drought-resistant crop that serves as a nutrient rich food staple in Africa and Asia. In addition, millet contains an abundance of bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity. The intake of antioxidants through the diet is essential for improving human health. This review aimed to evaluate the antioxidant compounds in millet, as well as the factors that influence antioxidant activity. The Millet contained several natural occurring phenolic compounds which include phenolic acids, flavonoids and tannins, in addition to xylo-oligosaccharides (XOs), insoluble fibers and peptides. Certain lipophilic antioxidants, including vitamin E and carotenoids, were extensively distributed among varieties. Furthermore, the bioactivity of the antioxidants can be affected by food processing. Germination and fermentation could enhance the antioxidant properties, due to increased antioxidants content (phenolic compounds). In summary, it is possible to use millet as a nutraceutical and antioxidant food resource to reduce disease risks and maintain health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The receding horizon H ∞ controller is improved for tracking temperature spectrum. • The spectral Galerkin method is improved to derive the microwave heating ODE model. • The controller can tradeoff the relationship of input, boundary and permittivity. • With the help of ODE model and FDTD method, the controller can be implemented. Abstract This paper considers the problem of tracking control for the coupled thermal-electromagnetic model with temperature-dependent permittivity in microwave heating process, where the incident electrical field is subject to the asymmetrical saturation. Due to the nonhomogeneous Neumann boundary condition and inherent infinite-dimensional characteristics for microwave heating process, it is difficult for us to readily design and implement tracking controller. With the help of improved spectral Galerkin method, the traditional partial differential equation (PDE) model is transformed into the linear finite-dimensional ordinary differential equation (ODE) model which can be subsequently used for controller design. Then, the receding horizon H ∞ control strategy is improved to stabilize the derived uncertain ODE error model with asymmetrical input saturation and bounded external disturbance. The outcome of improved algorithm is formulated as a linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) optimization problem, which can be on-line updated by applying the finite-different time-domain (FDTD) method. Finally, the improved control strategy is successfully applied in one-dimensional cavity model for tracking temperature spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The rs36084323 A > G polymorphism in programmed cell death-1(PD-1) gene has been reported to be associated with cancer risk. However, the results of previous studies were inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to identify the potential association, by searching the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and the Chinese CNKI, WANFANG and CBM databases. Data were extracted and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated to assess the strength of the association. A total of 10 relevant studies involving 4445 cancer cases and 5126 controls were recruited. Overall, the results indicated that the PD-1 rs36084323 A > G polymorphism was not statistically associated with cancer risk. However, stratified analysis revealed that there was a statistically reduced cancer risk in Asians(G vs. A, OR = 0.89, 95%CI:0.81–0.97, P = 0.008, I2 = 48.8%; GG vs. AA, OR = 0.79, 95% CI:0.66–0.94, P = 0.008, I2 = 48.7%; GG/AG vs. AA, OR = 0.87, 95%CI:0.76–0.98, P = 0.017, I2 = 34.9%; GG vs. AG/AA, OR = 0.85, 95%CI:0.75–0.97, P = 0.027, I2 = 40%) and in the patients with EOC(AG vs. AA, OR = 0.69, 95%CI:0.54–0.90, P = 0.005, I2 = 0%; GG/AG vs. AA, OR = 0.67, 95%CI:0.52–0.85, P = 0.001, I2 = 0). Meta-regression showed that ethnicity (P = 0.029) but not cancer types (P = 0.792), source of controls (P = 0.207) or ample size (P = 0.585) were the sources of heterogeneity. This meta-analysis demonstrates the PD-1 rs36084323 A > G polymorphism is associated with decreased cancer risk in Asian, and suggests it could potentially serve as a biomarker to screen high-risk individuals. Large-scale and well-designed case-control studies are needed to enrich the evidence of this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cleft palate repair surgery may result in severe pain in the immediate postoperative period. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of different doses of nalbuphine for postoperative analgesia in children with cleft palate. Methods: From November 2019 to June 2021, 90 children (45 males and 45 females, age 9–20 months old, ASA class I—II) were selected for palatoplasty. They were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (Group C), the N1 group (postoperative analgesia with 0.05 mg/kg/h nalbuphine) and the N2 group (postoperative analgesia with 0.075 mg/kg/h nalbuphine). Each group had 30 cases. Nalbuphine was not continuously infused in Group C but was continuously infused in Groups N1 and N2 at rates of 0.05 mg/kg/h and 0.075 mg/kg/h, respectively, for 24 h for postoperative analgesia. The FLACC analgesia score and Ramsay Sedation score were recorded at 10 min (T1), 30 min (T2), 2 h (T3), 12 h (T4) and 24 h (T5) after the operation. Adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting and respiratory depression were observed and recorded. Results: Compared with those in Group C, the FLACC scores in the N1 and N2 groups decreased significantly at T1-T5 (p < 0.05); the Ramsay Sedation score in the N1 group was significantly higher at T3 and T4 (p < 0.05), and that in the N2 group was significantly higher at T1-T5 (p < 0.05). Compared with that in the N1 group, the FLACC score in the N2 group was not significantly different, and the Ramsay Sedation score increased significantly at T5 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Using 0.05 mg/kg/h Nalbuphine continuously for 24 h for postoperative analgesia in children with cleft palate has a better effect and fewer adverse reactions. Trial registration: This study was registered at ChiCTR1900027385 (11/11/2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics are an emerging and persistent form of environmental contaminants, and they have been detected in a variety of environments. Most researchers have focused on microplastics in marine environments, but there are relatively fewer studies on farmland soil ecosystems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate feasible and effective methods for the identification and quantification of microplastics in farmland soil using pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC-MS). In this work, we report on the application of density flotation, filter membranes, and digestion for effective separation and preconcentration of microplastics in soil samples. Subsequently, we optimised the density separation approach according to the number of flotations and the density of the flotation solution. The results showed that flotation twice with NaCl solution and once with ZnCl2 solution achieved a high recovery rate of microplastics at the lowest cost. A recovery percentage of 77.30–94.87% was achieved. The precision of the recovery expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the peak area was 5.05% for polyethylene (PE) microplastics, 1.71% for polypropylene (PP) microplastics, and 0.78% for polystyrene (PS) microplastics. The above data indicated that the proposed method showed excellent reproducibility and high sensitivity. Among the samples, the main component was PE (60%), followed by PP (20%) and PS (20%). The average concentrations of PE, PP, and PS microplastics in the soil were 685.55, 1069.98, and 864.23 μg/g, respectively. Based on these results, we conclude that our method has the potential for application in routine analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial differences of efficiency and development level of regional tourism are evident, and the dynamic grasp of their spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and coupling coordination relationship is important to promote high-quality sustainable tourism development. Herein, we measured the tourism development level of 31 provincial units in China during 2000–2020, introduced the data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index to determine tourism efficiency, used exploratory spatiotemporal data analysis methods to explore the spatiotemporal dynamic characteristics of regional tourism differences and spatial structure, constructed a coupled coordination model of tourism efficiency and development level and analyzed their coupling excellence and synergistic consistency. The results were as follows: (1) The spatial differences of comprehensive tourism efficiency from 31 provinces were evident, and the average situation showed high and low distribution characteristics in the east and west, respectively. The interannual changes showed a fluctuating downward trend, with the scale efficiency playing a supporting role for comprehensive efficiency and technical efficiency playing an influencing and restraining role. (2) Less fluctuation existed in the local spatial structure of tourism efficiency and development level; the direction of dependence was more stable, tourism development level was slightly more volatile, and the spatial dependency direction changes were similar. The tourism efficiency of local structure competition posture was stronger than that of collaboration, with the tourism development level collaboration integration being stronger. (3) The local spatial structure of tourism development level was more stable, the relative position of provincial units was more difficult to change, tourism efficiency of local spatial structure was unstable, and provincial units exhibited a greater possibility of change. (4) Tourism efficiency and the scale of the overall coupling degree and coupling coordination gradually improved, with similar spatiotemporal values. The overall coupling degree and coupling coordination degree of tourism efficiency and development level gradually improved, with similar spatiotemporal heterogeneity and volatility of local evolution. The area with a higher value coupling coordination degree spread slower and more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VO2 with reversible semiconductor-metal phase transition properties is particularly available for the application in smart opto-electrical devices. However, there are rare reports on comparing its phase transition properties at different ranges. In this study, the VO2 films are designed with the similar crystalline structure and stoichiometry, but different morphologies by inorganic and organic sol-gel methods, and their phase transition characteristics are compared both at infrared and terahertz range. The results indicate that the VO2 film prepared by inorganic sol-gel method shows more compact nanostructure. It results in larger resistivity change, infrared and terahertz switching ratio in the VO2 film. Moreover, it presents that the phase transition intensity of VO2 film in terahertz range is more sensitive to its microstructure. This work is helpful for understanding the susceptibility of terahertz switching properties of VO2 to its microstructure. And it can provide insights for the applications of VO2 in terahertz smart devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep convolutional neural networks have made great progress in recent handwritten character recognition (HCR) by learning discriminative features from large amounts of labeled data. However, the large variance of handwriting styles across writers is still a big challenge to the robust HCR. To alleviate this issue, an intuitional idea is to extract writer-independent semantic features from handwritten characters, while standard printed characters are writer-independent stencils for handwritten characters. They could be used as prior knowledge to guide models to exploit writer-independent semantic features for HCR. In this paper, we propose a novel adversarial feature learning (AFL) model to incorporate the prior knowledge of printed data and writer-independent semantic features to improve the performance of HCR on limited training data. Different from available handcrafted features methods, the proposed AFL model exploits writer-independent semantic features automatically, and standard printed data as prior knowledge is learnt objectively. Systematic experiments on MNIST and CASIA–HWDB show that the proposed model is competitive with the state-of-the-art methods on the offline HCR task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millet plays a major role in food security in Africa and Asia. In addition to being a rich source of nutrients, millet contains many phytochemicals that are potentially beneficial for human health, and several of these compounds are related to its cooking properties. In this study, 172 metabolites and 3 cooking quality traits of millet from the same two cultivars grown both organically and conventionally were analyzed. The results indicated that the differences in the metabolities and cooking quality of the millets could be attributed mostly to the cultivar and whether the millet was grown conventionally or organically. Organic growing conditions only enhanced the accumulation of some carbohydrates such as fructose and glucose. Therefore, cultivar selection was important in organic millet cultivation. The relationships between metabolites and cooking quality traits showed that, overall, 57.43% of the variation in the cooking quality matrix was explained by metabolome matrix, which indicated that some chemical compounds could also be used to evaluate the cooking qualities of millet. These results could contribute to breeding millet to improve its the nutritional properties and cooking qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Au-CdS core-shell nanodogbones with controllable shell thickness were facilely synthesized by one-pot method. Their tunable optical properties have been investigated with UV-Vis spectra and finite-difference time-domain method. With CdS shell thickness increasing, the red-shifted and enhanced surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak is observed as expected, while a new transverse SPR (T-SPR) gradually appeared at the visible region and two T-SPR bands overlap with each other, which broaden absorption band of the corresponding components in the solar spectrum. In addition, Au-CdS NDBs exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance in the photodegradation tests of rhodamine B, and their photocatalytic activities enhanced with CdS shell thicknesses increasing. We believe that the finding will have great potential applications in the solar energy fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential approach of classifying foxtail millet according to geographical origin was investigated using mineral element and chemical composition analysis of samples from various provinces in China. Total 16 mineral elements and five chemical compositions of foxtail millets were analyzed. There were significant differences in 12 elements of millets from different regions. Notable differences were also observed for chemical composition, with Hebei samples showing higher protein content, Henan samples showing higher fat and ash contents and Shandong samples showed higher dietary fiber and amylose contents. Based on the combination of both methods, discriminant analysis provided optimal discrimination among the various geographical origins with a 95.2% classification rate. Our study provides an effective tool to trace the foxtail millet geographic origin through a combination of multi-element and chemical composition analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solution-processed p-type gallium tin oxide (GTO) transparent semiconductor thin films were prepared at a low temperature of 300 °C using ultraviolet (UV)-assisted annealing instead of conventional high-temperature annealing (> 500 °C). We report the effects of UV irradiation time on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of sol-gel derived GTO thin films and a comparison study of the physical properties of UV-assisted annealed (UVA) and conventional thermally annealed (CTA) GTO thin films. The Ga doping content was fixed at 15 at% in the precursor solution ([Ga]/[Sn]+[Ga] = 15%). After a spin-coating and preheating procedure was performed two times, the dried sol-gel films were heated on a hotplate at 300 °C under UV light irradiation for 1–4 h. Each UVA GTO thin film had a dense microstructure and flat free surface and exhibited an average optical transmittance approaching 85.0%. The level of crystallinity, crystallite size, and hole concentration density of the GTO thin films increased with increasing UV irradiation time. In this study, the UVA 4 h thin film samples exhibited the highest hole concentration (9.87 × 10 17 cm −3 ) and the lowest resistivity (1.8 Ω cm) and had a hole mobility of 5.1 cm 2 /Vs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunodeficient mice reconstituted with a human immune system represent a promising tool for translational research as they may allow modeling and therapy of human diseases in vivo. However, insufficient development and function of human natural killer (NK) cells and T cell subsets limit the applicability of humanized mice for studying cancer biology and therapy. Here, we describe a human interleukin 15 (IL15) and human signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPA) knock-in mouse on a Rag2-/- Il2rg-/- background (SRG-15). Transplantation of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells into SRG-15 mice dramatically improved the development and functional maturation of circulating and tissue-resident human NK and CD8+ T cells and promoted the development of tissue-resident innate lymphoid cell (ILC) subsets. Profiling of human NK cell subsets by mass cytometry revealed a highly similar expression pattern of killer inhibitory receptors and other candidate molecules in NK cell subpopulations between SRG-15 mice and humans. In contrast to nonobese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient Il2rg-/- (NSG) mice, human NK cells in SRG-15 mice did not require preactivation but infiltrated a Burkitt's lymphoma xenograft and efficiently inhibited tumor growth following treatment with the therapeutic antibody rituximab. Our humanized mouse model may thus be useful for preclinical testing of novel human NK cell-targeted and combinatory cancer immunotherapies and for studying how they elicit human antitumor immune responses in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common type of malignant tumor. The early-diagnosis and treatment options for HCC are limited, which is primarily due to an incomplete understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of the disease. Yes-associated protein (YAP) overexpression promotes proliferation and phenotypic transformation of HCC cells. Recently, elucidating the molecular mechanisms of the Hippo/YAP signaling pathway and investigating the interactions between the signaling molecules, as a potential strategy for the treatment of HCC, has become an area of interest. The present review will discuss the role of YAP in HCC pathogenesis, and the significance of YAP in diagnosis, treatment and determining the prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]